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In his book, Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia Performed Between the Years 1818 and 1820,Vol. I, John Murray, London, 1828; Captain Phillip Parker King gives the following description of Twofold Bay:
pp. xxxv-xxxix.
“The same evening [3rd of September, 1817] I waited upon his Excellency Governor Macquarie at Paramatta [Parramatta], and delivered to him his letters and the despatches which acquainted him with the particulars of my mission; upon which His Excellency, after expressing himself anxious to give every assistance in his power in forwarding the service I had to perform, informed me there were only two vessels belonging to the colony that could suit my purpose: one of one hundred tons that had been lately launched, and the other a brig of seventy tons, the Lady Nelson, that was built at Deptford in the year 1799, and sent out to the colony, expressly for the purpose of surveying the coast; she had, however, for the last ten years, been used as a coal-vessel, and was then hauled upon the slips, undergoing a repair. Upon examining the two vessels, I found that the former, although of convenient burden, not only drew too much water, but was in every other way unsuitable for my purpose; and the latter required much repair before she could be sent to sea, but as there was no other vessel at Port Jackson, either for sale or hire, no choice was left but to prepare the Lady Nelson as quickly as possible; and, as it was found absolutely necessary to give her a new keel, stern-post, and cut-water, besides new decks, with many new beams, there was no probability of completing her for at least four months.
“Fortunately, however, this arrangement was shortly afterwards rendered unnecessary by the arrival, from India, of the Mermaid, a cutter of 84 tons burden, built of teak, and not quite twelve months old: her length was 56 feet; breadth of beam 18 feet 6 inches; and did not, when deep-laden, draw more than 9 fee; her bottom was rather sharper than was convenient for the purpose of taking the ground; but, as I could not expect to find every advantage combined in one vessel that was necessary for the purpose of surveying, the latter objection was of necessity overruled; and being in every other respect superior to the Lady Nelson, and requiring no repairs, she was eventually purchased for the sum of 2000l. sterling, and immediately appropriated to my use.
“A schooner would have been much more convenient; but, as there was no opportunity of making such an alteration, it could not be effected. My statement of the arrangements that were requisite for our accommodation was approved of by the Governor, who gave the necessary orders to the Engineer, a captain of the forty-sixth regiment; and the Deputy Commissary General was instructed to attend to all my demands, and to supply the requisite quantities of provisions and stores; but, notwithstanding every wish on the part of His Excellency to forward our outfit and complete the vessel for sea without delay, it was not until the 21st of December that the alterations were finished. Had we met with as much opposition and inattention from the commissariat department as from the engineer, the vessel should not have been ready for sea for six months [this may be possibly explained by the fact that the 46th regiment left the colony in 1817. Preparations for the departure may have had an impact on the time available to the engineer to complete the task of modifying the Mermaid]; it is, however, a duty I owe to Deputy Commissary General Allan, to acknowledge the readiness with which that officer’s department attended my wants.
“The following is a list of the officers and men who formed the crew of the Mermaid: -
“Commander . . 1 Lieut. Phillip Parker King.
Master’s mates . 2 Mr. Frederick Bedwell.
. “ John Septimus Roe.
Botanical collector 1 “ Allan Cunningham.
Seaman . . . 12
Boys . . . . 2
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Total 18
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“In addition to this establishment, I accepted the proffered services of Boongaree, a Port Jackson native, who had formerly accompanied Captain Flinders in the Investigator, and also on a previous occasion in the Norfolk schooner. This man is well known in the colony as the chief of the Broken Bay tribe; he was about forty-five years of age, of a sharp, intelligent, and unassuming disposition, and promised to be of much service to us in our intercourse with the natives: this addition made our number amount to nineteen, for which we carried provisions for nine months, and twelve weeks’ water.”
pp. 1-7.
“AT the time the Mermaid was ready to commence her voyage, it was the season when the westerly Monsoon blows over the islands of Timor and New Guinea from Australia; it was therefore necessary, in order to benefit by the direction of the wind, to commence the survey of the coast at its western extremity, the North-West Cape: but, to do this, the passage was to be made, by taking the western route, as it is called; that is, by passing through Bass’ Strait, or round Van Dieman’s Land [Tasmania], and steering up the West Coast. In doing this, the vessel would, doubtless, have to encounter much bad weather; and, on her arrival might, probably, be more fit to return than to commence the survey of a dangerous and unknown coast. The passage to the northward, through Torres Strait, would have been, on all accounts, the most advisable route, had the season been more advanced; and, indeed, it would have been even better to wait until March for that purpose; but this would be a loss of time in which much might be effected, were we only fortunate enough to make the western passage without accident: under these circumstances, I was induced to prefer the Bass’ Strait, rather than remain idle, after the vessel was completed.
“Before we left Port Jackson, His Excellency the Governor was made acquainted with my intended mode of proceeding; that, having passed Bass’ Strait to King George the Third’s Sound, I should here complete my water and fuel: then, steering up the West Coast, to commence my survey at the North-West Cape, and examine the coast easterly until the westerly monsoon should begin to decline; upon which I proposed to leave the land, and proceed as far to the eastward as the remainder of the monsoon would allow; when I might examine the coast back with the easterly monsoon as long as my stock of water lasted; and lastly, if I could not get a supply upon the coast, to go to Timor, by which time my provisions would, probably, be so reduced as to oblige my returning to Port Jackson to prepare for a second voyage.
“Having made our final arrangements, we left Port Jackson on the 22nd of December [1817], with a fresh northerly breeze, which continued until the evening of the 24th, when we were abreast of Cape Howe. After this a heavy gale of wind from S.W. obliged us to run into Twofold Bay for shelter, and to repair some trifling damage which we had already sustained,
“Twofold Bay was discovered by Mr. Bass in 1797; and, although it is for the most part too open and exposed to easterly winds for large ships, yet it has a cove on its northern side, in which small vessels find secure anchorage and a convenient place for stopping at, if bound to the southward; and hence its name of Snug Cove. It is completely land-locked, and it is also conveniently affords both wood and water, and is neither difficult to enter nor leave.
“When passing Red Point [26th December, 1817], which is on the south-side of the bay, several natives were seen upon it; one of them came to the verge of the rocks that overhang the extremity of the point, and made violent gestures, but, whether they were those of friendship or hostility, could not be ascertained. Boongaree answered him in the Port Jackson language, but they were equally unintelligible to each other. The native had a spear in one hand, and either a throwing stick [Woomera], or a club, in the other; both of which, with his legs widely extended, he flourished most furiously over his head. This man was quite naked, but a woman near him wore a kangaroo’s skin over her shoulders. Several small parties of natives were seen in the other parts of the bay, but they appeared more anxious to avoid than to court a communication with us.
“On anchoring in Snug Cove, I went on shore with Mr. Roe and Mr. Cunningham: Boongaree also accompanied us, clothed in a new dress, which was provided for him, of which he was not a little proud, and for some time kept it very clean.
“Wood was abundant and near at hand, and the water, which is in a morass at the back of the beach, although shallow, and covered with a species of azolla, was both good and plentiful.
“The soil of the hills, contiguous to Snug Cove, is very good, and covered with luxuriant grass. The country appeared to be thickly wooded, but near the water the trees, which were principally species of the eucalyptus and the causuarina, were small and stunted.
“In our strolls during the day along the beach, and aver the surrounding hills, we did not encounter any inhabitants, although recent signs of them were visible at very step; several beaten paths were observed leading to the morass from different directions, on the banks of which were many shells (haliotis gigantea, Linn,) used by the natives as drinking vessels.
“In the evening, after hauling the seine on the beach without success, we were on the point of embarking, when we discovered, at about seventy or eighty yards up the hill, the heads of three or four natives peeping above the long grass, evidently watching our movements, and probably awaiting our departure to allow them to go to the morass for water. Wishing very much to communicate with these people, we walked towards them, but they suddenly rose and scampered up the hill among the trees, which were so thick as soon to conceal them from our view. Boongaree called to them in vain; and it was not until they had reached some distance that they answered his call in loud shrill voices. After some time spent in parley, in which Boongaree was spokesman on our part, sometimes in his own language, and at others in broken English, which he always resorted to when his own failed in being understood, they withdrew altogether, and we neither heard nor saw any thing more of them.
“The next morning [27th December, 1817], the wind being easterly, we left the bay. On passing Red Point, twenty or thirty natives came to the extreme point of the cliff, shouting and hallooing and making violent gestures; a large group of women and children appeared in the back ground, timidly concealing themselves behind the trees and bushes; another party was quietly seated round small fires on the rocks near the sea-beach, apparently engaged in cooking their fish; and at a little distance from the last group, two canoes were hauled on the rocks.
“The breeze being fresh from N.N.E., we made rapid progress; and at three o’clock p.m., rounded Cape Howe, with every prospect of passing through Bass’ Strait before the wind should veer again to the westward. In passing Cape Howe, we observed large fires burning on the hills, made by the natives for the double purpose of burning off the dry grass and of hunting the kangaroos, which are thus forced to fly from the woods, and thereby fall an easy prey to their pursuers.”
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