Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owe - Volume 1 by John MacGillivray (recommended reading txt) 📖

is formed like the other, or more common kind, of the hollowed out trunk of a large tree, tapering to a point and rising slightly at the ends, which, however, are alike and covered over by a close-fitting piece of wood, each end being thus converted into a hollow cone. The sides are raised by a plank two feet high and end-boards forming a kind of long box, with the seams pitched over. One side is provided with an outrigger similar to that already described, and on the other is a small stage, level with the gunwale, six feet long, planked over, and projecting four feet or thereabouts. The mast is a standing one stepped into a board in the bottom-it is lashed to a stout transverse pole, and is further supported by two fore and aft stays. The halyards reeve through a hole in a projecting arm a foot long at the masthead. But the sail forms the most curious feature in the whole affair.* It measures about fifteen feet in width by eight in depth and is made of rather fine matting stretched between two yards and rounded at the sides. The sail when not in use is rolled up and laid along the platform-when hoisted it stretches obliquely upwards across the mast, confined by the stays, with the lower and foremost corner resting on the stage and the tack secured to the foot of the mast. Both ends being alike, the mast central, and the sail large and manageable, a canoe of this description is well adapted for working to windward. Tacking is simply and expeditiously performed by letting go the tack, hauling upon the sheet, and converting one into the other. The large steering paddles are eight or nine feet long, with an oblong rounded blade of half that length.

(*Footnote. The annexed illustration represents this kind of sail-it was not however taken from the canoe in question, but on a subsequent occasion, and at another part of the Louisiade Archipelago.)

WATERING-CREEK ON SOUTH-EAST ISLAND. ITS SCENERY.

June 26th.

Yesterday afternoon the Rattlesnake was removed to the neighbourhood of the proposed watering-place on South-east Island, and anchored in seventeen fathoms, mud, a mile off shore. Soon after daylight I accompanied Captain Stanley and a party in two boats to ascend the neighbouring creek and determine whether a practicable watering-place existed there. For several hundred yards above the entrance we found the channel preserving a nearly uniform width of about fifteen yards, with low muddy shores covered with mangroves, some of which attained the unusual dimensions of 60 to 80 feet in height, with a circumference at the base of 6 to 8 feet.

DESCRIPTION OF COUNTRY.

To this succeeded during our upward progress a low bank of red clay backed by rising ground and tangled brush, with very large trees at intervals, and others arching over the stream, their branches nearly touching the water. Gigantic climbers hung down in long festoons passing from branch to branch, and the more aged trunks supported clumps of ferns and parasitical plants. Here and there an areca palm shot up its slender stem surmounted by a cluster of pale-green feathery leaves, or the attention was arrested for a moment by a magnificent pandanus-its trunk raised high above the ground by the enormous supporting root-like shoots-or some graceful tree-fern with dark widely-spreading foliage exceeding in delicacy the finest lace.

Meanwhile the creek had slightly narrowed, the dead trees in the water became more frequent and troublesome, and the thickets on the banks encroached more and more upon the channel so as not to allow room for the oars to pass, obliging the men to use them as poles. At every turn in the windings of the stream (still too brackish to be fit to drink) some beautiful glimpse of jungle scenery presented itself as we passed upwards-long vistas and stray bursts of sunshine alternating with the gloomy shadows of the surrounding woods. A deep silence pervaded the banks of this water never before visited by civilised man. Its monotony broken only by the occasional brief word of command, the splash of the oars, or the shrill notes of some passing flights of parrots. The river, for now it might fairly be called one, retained the same character until we had gone up about a mile, when further progress was stopped by a ridge of rocks stretching across from side to side marking the limits of the tidal influence. Over this the rush of fresh water formed a strong rapid backed by a deep, sluggish, winding stream, draining a large basin-like valley bounded behind by the central ridge of the island, the principal hills of which attain an elevation of from 992 to 1,421 feet, and one, Mount Rattlesnake, is 2,689 feet in height. At times the body of water discharged here must be immense, judging from the quantity of driftwood and other detritus lodged in the trees twelve feet above the present level of the stream, probably during the inundations of the rainy season. These floods must also spread over the low land on the margin of the river to a considerable distance, the deep red clay there, evidently the washings of the hills, bearing the marks of having been under water. The jungle in places is very dense, but, with the exercise of a little patience and labour, it can be penetrated at almost every point. On rising ground it is often bordered by a thicket of creeping and climbing plants mixed up with bushes and patches of Hellenia coerulea. The low wooded hills are covered with tall grass growing on very poor soil-of partially decomposed mica-slate with lumps of quartz.

It being considered practicable to water the ship at this place, we returned on board. In the afternoon the first load of water was brought off, and in the course of the week we procured 78 tons with less trouble than had been anticipated. I afterwards repeatedly visited the watering-creek, and a brief account of the productions of its neighbourhood may here be given as a popular contribution to the natural history of the little-known Louisiade Archipelago.

The rock is scarcely ever exposed on the banks of the river except at the rapid before alluded to. Though still mica-slate, it is there of much greater hardness and denser texture than on Pig and Round Islands, and stretches across the stream like a dyke, running nearly north and south with a westerly dip of about 60 degrees. Elsewhere, along the shores of Coral Haven, this mica-slate is of a leaden hue and glistening lustre, yielding to the nail, with a slight greasy feel, especially in some pieces of a shining ash-grey, acted upon by salt-water. From hand specimens alone it is difficult to assign a name to this rock, as it partakes more or less of the characters of mica, chlorite, and talc-schists.

PLANTS.

Among the botanical productions Nepenthes destillatoria, the famous pitcher-plant of the East, deserves mention. It grows abundantly among the tall grass on the skirts of the jungle, and the pitchers invariably contained a small quantity of limpid fluid of a slightly sweetish taste, with small insects floating on its surface. The finest of the tree-ferns (Hemitelium) grew alone near the watering-place, and was cut down to furnish specimens. The trunk measured fifteen feet in height, with a diameter at the base of eight inches.

ANIMALS.

No mammalia were procured on South-east Island-indeed the only one seen was a flying-squirrel which I caught a glimpse of one evening at the river-mouth as it sprung off among the mangroves from the summit of a dead tree-it appeared to be of the size of an ordinary rat, and was probably a Petaurus. Wild pigs must be very numerous-as indicated by fresh marks where they had been wallowing in the beds of the ditch-like rivulets, their footprints everywhere, and well-beaten tracks through the jungle. But none of the animals themselves, probably from their extreme shyness and partially nocturnal habits, were ever encountered by our shooting parties. I was afterwards informed by Mr. Inskip that while in the Bramble, in the neighbourhood of Conde Peninsula, a native in a canoe alongside having his attention directed to a very large boar's tusk which he wore as an ornament, described, by pantomimic gestures, that the animal had cost much trouble in killing it, having repeatedly charged him, and received no less than eight spear wounds before it fell.

Birds were plentiful, but owing to the difficulty of seeing them among the thick foliage, few, comparatively, were shot. The most interesting specimen procured was one of a very handsome scarlet Lory, closely allied to Lorius domicellus, a bird widely spread over the Indian Archipelago. It was usually seen in small flocks passing over the tops of the trees, uttering a loud sharp scream at intervals. Another parakeet, not so big as a sparrow, of a green colour, was sometimes seen in flocks, but we could not succeed in getting one. The Torres Strait and Nicobar pigeons, also Duperrey's Megapodius were common enough, as well as many other birds, twelve species of which are also found in Australia-a most unlooked-for occurrence.

No snakes were seen during our rambles, but small lizards occurred everywhere. A large lizard, apparently Monitor gouldii, was shot from a tree on the banks of the river.

INSECTS.

Although not troubled by mosquitoes, such of us as strolled about much in the bush were sadly tormented by sandflies-a minute two-winged insect whose bite raises a small swelling followed by much itching. On going to bed one night, I counted no less than sixty-three of these marks on my left leg from the ankle to halfway up the thigh, and the right one was equally studded with angry red pimples. Among many kinds of ants I may mention the green one, which is found chiefly on trees and bushes, of the leaves of which it makes its nest. Should one unconsciously disturb them by getting entangled among the branches in the neighbourhood of a nest, he may expect a whole swarm upon him before he can extricate himself, and is first made aware of their presence by feeling sharp stinging pains in various places, especially the neck, caused by their bites. A small firefly (a species of Lampyris) is plentiful, showing out at night like a twinkling phosphorescent spark, slowly flitting about from tree to tree or resting on the leaves wet with dew. Nor must I omit a very splendid day-flying moth (Cocytia durvillei) which is common on the skirts of the woods and thickets; several even came on board the ship at various times.

Very few fish were caught at this anchorage, but on the mudflat at the mouth of the creek, shoals of mullet and guard-fish were seen daily. In the fresh water I observed several small species of Cyprinidae rising at flies, but, not being provided with the requisite tackle, none were caught.

SHELLS.

The muddy mangrove-covered banks of the lower part of the creek furnished the collection with an Auricula and a very fine Cyrena, apparently the same as the Australian and New Guinea C. cyprinoides. Many freshwater shells were found in the neighbourhood of the watering-place-three kinds of Melania, a Mytilus, a Navicella, and five species of Neritina-but most of these have been already described as inhabitants of the Feejee Islands and other places in Polynesia, and elsewhere. One might reasonably have anticipated a rich harvest of land-shells in the damp forests of South-east Island, yet diligent search on the trunks of the trees and among the dead leaves about their roots produced only four species, all of which however are new. The finest of these is a Pupina, the giant of its race, of a glossy reddish pink colour with red mouth.

BARTER WITH NATIVES.