John Lort Stokes

“ He appeared delighted that these blackfellows, as he calls them, have no throwing sticks; for though at times exceedingly valiant in conversation, and very anxious to kill one of the men, and carry off one of their 'gins', or wives—the great end, aim, and ambition of all Australian force or policy—he yet evidently holds these northmen in great dread. They are, according to his account, "Bad men—eat men—Perth men tell me so: Perth men say, Miago, you go on shore very little, plenty Quibra men* go, you go." ”

“ Mr. Usborne was away to-day in one of the boats, seeking a berth for the ship higher up the bay: upon his return he reported that he had been over the banks before mentioned, upon which he found the water very shoal: the face of the country he described as exceedingly low, with mud lumps not unlike ant-hills,* scattered here and there over the face of it, and several clusters of small trees. Natives also had been seen, though no opportunity of approaching them had occurred, as the moment their restless eyes, or quick ears, detected our approach, they most rapidly retreated. ”

“ The evening wore a threatening aspect, though not apparently so much to be dreaded as that of yesterday; however, we were disagreeably out in our anticipations, for about three o'clock a.m. (January 16) a heavy squall burst on us, veering from E.S.E. to E.N.E., broke our best bower anchor, and drove us half a mile out to sea, when the remaining fluke hooked a rock and brought us up. ”

“ I assented at once; for certainly the clouds have very much the appearance of that to which he compared them: he then continued: "Perth man tell me, long, long time back, he make fire, smoke go far away up, far away, stop and never go away more." Miago evidently believed that his friend at Perth had really lighted the fire, the smoke of which had thus gone up "far away, far away," to "stop and never go away more." ”

“ I cannot say that I have myself encountered any of these almost white men, whose existence, as a distinct race, Captain Grey appears to have rather hastily admitted; such variation in form and colour as Mr. Usborne alludes to, may, however, be accounted for by the intercourse which the natives on the north coast hold from time to time with the Malays. ”

“ At this anchorage the flood-tide set E. and by N., from one to one and a half knots per hour. Before weighing I procured a specimen of live coral from the depth of 11 fathoms.
Light airs, and the aid of the flood-tide, carried us into the centre of Roebuck Bay, where we came to an anchor in 7 fathoms, Cape Villaret bearing S. by W. 1⁄2 W. about 10 miles. The fall of the tide here was no less than 18 feet. ”

“ The water was very smooth, but as night approached it thundered and lightened heavily and vividly, and most of us noticed and suffered from a particularly oppressive and overpowering state of the atmosphere, which the heat indicated by the thermometer was by no means sufficiently intense to account for.
January 14.—During the last twenty-four hours we had made but 51 miles progress in the direction of Roebuck Bay; our noon observations placed us in lat. 18° 25' S., long. 120° 13' E., being about 80 miles from the nearest land. We obtained soundings at 72 fathoms, yellow sand and broken shells. ”