One Had Been At Sydney And Was Known To Colonel Paterson,
With Whom He Was Able To Converse.
Fires and occasionally the natives
themselves were observed opposite to Ash Island.
A party from the ship
went up an arm of the river in order to try and meet with them, but were
disappointed, as at the entrance there was barely water for the boat. The
opposite (or north) shore to which they now proceeded was found to be
full of flats and shoals over many of which the boat had to be dragged.
Between these flats were gullies of deep water, but there was no regular
channel. Here the trees were encrusted with oysters, and the shore
covered to a great depth with oyster shells. The work was vigorously
pushed forward. Some woodmen were placed on Ash Island to fell and saw
timber. They took a week's provisions, arms, and ammunition, and were
warned to guard against an attack by the crew of the Norfolk or by the
natives. Meanwhile the commander and Paterson visited the coal mine and
found veins of coal of excellent quality, and among the rocks what is
known as "liver of iron." They also saw strange birds, as well as the
wild or native cat, which has been such a pest ever since in most parts
of Australia.
On June 22nd Colonel Paterson took some men, one of whom was a miner, to
look for coal on the island, while Grant and Barrallier with Dr. Harris
sounded the entrance of the harbour. The coal found on the island proved
to be of an inferior kind. On his way back to the ship, Lieutenant Grant
met a stranger named John Loft, who had been wrecked out of a boat
belonging to Mr. Underwood of Sydney. She was cast on shore to the
northward of Port Stephens, and he had been thirty-two days in travelling
to this place from there. He had had two companions, one of whom, he
said, was killed by the natives, the other had eaten a toad fish and
died. The emotions that he felt on meeting his countrymen can be better
imagined than described. "The laugh and the tear had their repeated place
in turns, and his first utterance was, 'I am starving with hunger.'"
On the 23rd Mr. Barrallier and the second mate met a native in the woods
whom they brought on board. "He was a little elderly man, strait made,
and spoke not one syllable that was intelligible." His legs and arms bore
no proportion in length to the rest of his body, and his manner of
ascending the ship's ladder was remarkable and proved that he was much
accustomed to climbing. His method was "to stretch out his arms as far as
he could reach and then bring his feet to the same place with a jerk."
Grant says: "He spoke a jargon of simple sounds as I particularly
observed only a few words that came from him were composed of more than
one syllable.
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