Australian Search Party | Page 4

ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL

SOCIETY.

AN AUSTRALIAN SEARCH PARTY -- I.
BY CHARLES H. EDEN.
IN a former narrative, published in the preceding volume of the
ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS, I gave an account of a terrible cyclone
which visited the north-eastern coast of Queensland in the autumn of
1866, nearly destroying the small settlements of Cardwell and
Townsville, and doing an infinity of damage by uprooting heavy timber,
blocking up the bush roads, etc. Amongst other calamities attendant on
this visitation was the loss of a small coasting schooner, named the
'Eva', bound from Cleveland to Rockingham Bay, with cargo and
passengers. Only those who have visited Australia can picture to
themselves the full horror of a captivity amongst the degraded blacks
with whom this unexplored district abounds; and a report of white men
having been seen amongst the wild tribes in the neighbourhood of the
Herbert River induced the inhabitants of Cardwell to institute a search
party to rescue the crew of the unhappy schooner, should they still be
alive; or to gain some certain clue to their fate, should they have
perished.
In my former narrative I described our exploration of the Herbert River,
lying at the south end of Rockingham Channel, with its fruitless issue;
and I now take up the thread of my story from that point, thinking it can
hardly fail to be of interest to the reader, not only as regards the wild
nature of the country traversed, but also as showing the anxiety
manifested by the inhabitants of these remote districts to clear up the
fate of their unhappy brethren. I may also here mention, for the
information of such of my readers as may not have read the preceding
portions of the narrative, that Cardwell is the name of a small township
situated on the shores of Rockingham Bay; and that Townsville is a
settlement some hundred miles further south, known also as Cleveland
Bay.
HOW WE EXPLORED GOULD AND GARDEN ISLANDS.
We were all much pleased at a piece of intelligence brought up by the
'Daylight', to the effect that a party of volunteers had been assembled at
Cleveland Bay, and intended coming up in a small steamer to the south
end of Hinchinbrook, to assist in the search for the missing crew. As it

would be of the utmost importance that both parties should co-operate,
I sent my boat down to the mouth of the channel, with a note to the
leader of the expedition announcing our intention of landing on the
north end of the island and working towards the centre; and requesting
them to scour their end, and then push northward, when we should
most probably meet in the middle of the island. The boat had orders to
wait at the bar until the arrival of the steamer, and then to return with
all speed. In the meanwhile, the 'Daylight' was discharging her cargo,
and we were making preparations for what we well knew would prove
a most arduous undertaking; the sequel will show that we did not
overrate the difficulties before us.
At the risk of being tedious, I must explain to the reader some of the
peculiarities of Hinchinbrook Island. Its length is a little short of forty
miles, and its shape a rude triangle, the apex of which is at the south,
and the north side forming the southern portion of Rockingham Bay.
Now this north side is by no means straight, but is curved out into two
or three bays of considerable extent, and in one of them stand two
islands named Gould and Garden Islands. The latter of these was our
favourite resort for picnics, for the dense foliage afforded good shade,
and, when the tide was low, we were enabled to gather most delicious
oysters from some detached rocks. Gould Island is considerably larger;
but, rising in a pyramid from the sea, and being covered with loose
boulders, it was most tedious climbing. From the township we could,
with our glasses, see canoes constantly passing and repassing between
these two islands; and as the 'Daylight' had a particularly heavy cargo
this trip, and would not be clear for the next two days, we made up our
minds to search the islands, and drive the blacks on to Hinchinbrook, so
that one of our parties must stumble across them when we swept it.
This may seem to the reader unnecessary trouble, but most of our party
were conversant with the habits of the blacks and their limited method
of reasoning; and we judged it probable that the Herbert River gins
would have at once acquainted the Hinchinbrook blacks with our
unceremonious visit, and warned them that we should probably soon
look them up also. Now on the receipt of this unwelcome intelligence,
the first thing that would