In my turn I took out my pocket handkerchief and bound it round his
head which pleased him very much, and we became from the moment the best
of friends. I invited him on board the boat, and he readily accepted my
invitation. When on board he was called to from the woods on the opposite
shore by a number of voices which surprised us a little as we did not
expect they were in such numbers. My new acquaintance called out in his
turn to those on shore, and their cries immediately ceased. I have reason
to think...that he assured them he had nothing to fear, which quieted
their alarm.
"Proceeding further we saw a flock of ducks and I ordered one of the
people to fire which he did and was lucky enough to kill two. Never did I
witness stronger marks of surprise than were depicted on the stranger's
countenance when he heard the report of the gun and saw the two ducks
fall into the water. His astonishment was increased when he got on board
the vessel; everything...seemed to fill him with wonder and amazement.
During the time he stayed on board he never quitted my side, and at the
hour of rest he laid himself down near my bed place. I presented him with
a small tomahawk which pleased him very much and he pronounced with much
earnestness the word...'Mogo.' He readily ate of whatever was set before
him; spirits he would not touch, but sugar he took freely. He endeavoured
to repeat our words after us; and was infinitely more tractable than the
native last described. He was an elderly man, short in stature but well
made; his arms and legs were long in proportion to his body which was
slender and straight. Having occasion to despatch my first mate in a boat
to Colonel Paterson I took that opportunity of sending off my New
Hollander with directions that he should be landed on the precise spot
from whence he was taken...When the first mate was returning he was
surprised to find his passenger of the day before on the banks, who
begged to be permitted to return to the vessel with him; he had a young
lad with him whom he desired might accompany him and they were both
brought on board. This lad made me understand that he wished to have a
mogo and I soon found that I could not make a more acceptable present to
a native...
"On the 19th we were rejoined by Colonel Paterson with the whole of his
party. The Colonel had explored a branch of the river on the banks of
which he found a species of flax growing which he thought was valuable.
He had collected specimens of many rare and uncommon plants particularly
some varieties of fern, but unfortunately was deprived of the fruits of
his industry. His servant had made use of the bundle of plants as a
pillow and having placed it too near the fire it was soon in a blaze, and
he was awaked only in time to save his face from being scorched...
"We were now growing short of provisions and no vessel arriving from
Sydney we set about making preparations for our return thither. There was
now a small establishment made for the colliers.* (* At Collier's Point.)
I had built them a convenient hut to shelter them. I left them a boat and
seine with what provisions I was able to spare. We took our departure for
Sydney on the 22nd of July 1801, and arrived there on the 25th."
Six weeks after his return to port, Grant sent in his resignation on the
ground that he had so "little knowledge of nautical surveying." The
resignation was accepted by King, who wrote in reply: "I should have been
glad if your ability as a surveyor or being able to determine the
longitude of the different places you might visit was in anyway equal to
your ability as an officer or a seaman."
A very slight perusal of Grant's narrative of his voyage enables us to
grasp the state of his feelings when he sent in his resignation. It is
evident that he thought he had not been treated fairly, and was glad to
quit New South Wales. He writes of his departure: "The mortifications and
disappointments I met with...induced me to seize the first opportunity of
leaving the country." And it seems possible that when he told King that
he had no knowledge of "nautical surveying," he said so because he knew
King thought he had not, and it looks as if the admission was made as a
pretext to obtain his passage to England, rather than for the purpose of
belittling his own capabilities. That Grant was a fine seaman goes
without saying. That he was personally courageous, his subsequent naval
services proved. He seems to have handled his ship at all times with
extraordinary care, and it may have been that he had studied marine
surveying with less assiduity than seamanship, for the chart that he made
must be admitted to be very imperfect.
Murray, his successor in the command of the brig, is best remembered as
the discoverer of Victoria, and "yet," writes Rusden, "he (Murray) merely
obeyed a distinct order in going thither to trace the coast between Point
Schanck and Cape Albany Otway noticing the soundings and everything
remarkable." Rusden might have added, that Murray probably received some
benefit from Grant's experiences, for at that time he was equally
incompetent as a marine surveyor.
