Vernon Smith's Diary Part 1

Sunday 2nd [underlined] of us, the Skipper took the dinghy & 2 blackboys over to her, as he knew the Skipper of the "Wai hoi" someone rejoicing in the name Mug - & wanted him to tow us around the spit. Being pressed for time Mug beg to be excused, but we got a pair of paddles from him, to replace those lost out of the dinghy, & some tins of butter & jam - we having run out of them. Anchored soon afterwards (3p.m.) off the end of Quoin Is. for tho' the wind had freshened, the tide was against us. Spent the afternoon reading, as we had got some paper from the "Wai hoi". Anchor was weighed soon after tea & we felt our way down Queen's Channel by the lead line. The tide however, carried us out too far past the end of the spit & it was some time B4 water shallow enough to anchor in could be found. Anchored about 9p.m. for the night. Very heavy dew again. Monday 3rd [underlined] As soon as there was light enough, our Skipper took some bearings, tho' we couldn't see any land, & sail was hoisted before sunrise. Kept in past Clump Id. with a fair breeze, but as the tide from the Fitzmaurice River was against us, we anchored, when the awning was rigged up, decks washed, bedding dried etc. etc. This was @ 9.15a.m. & the sun had got very powerful.

Monday 3rd (Continued) After an hour or two sail was again hoisted, & we entered the mouth of the Fitzmaurice River. It became very interesting as the hills on either side began to close in, & quite exciting as we were whirled thro' a narrow passage between the mainland & some big rocks in the stream. There are 3 of them, & they look extremely dangerous as the navigator approaches them under the influence of wind & tide. They form a line right across the River mouth, & the tide whirls around them so strongly that the sound is like breakers on the ocean beach. The eddies took charge of us at times, but eventually we got through safely, & anchored in a small bight on the R bank, just past these rocks. The lugger behaved very strangely at times - even in there waltzing around in circles at the rate of Knots, or running back on her chain & then rushing forward. But this did not last long, fortunately, or our cable would have got fatally twisted. It ocurred chiefly at the turn of the tides, & the wind probably helped it. Could hear the "breakers" at any time during the night but all turned in early & had a pretty good sleep, with only one or two interruptions, when it was necessary to get up & pay out more chain, etc. Depth here 5 fms. L.W. Cable out 35 fms.

Tuesday 4th [underlined] ("The Glorious Fourth"!) Had an early breakfast as our people wanted to make a trip ashore, which they did about 7.30. Came back @ 9.15, got pick & shovel & prospecting dishes & went ashore again higher up the river. So far we have seen neither bird, fish or animal. Returned again at 11.45 & we immediately set sail, only instead of continuing our river trip, we passed through the rocks again, safely navigating the rip, & set a course for Fossil Point; our leader having decided that the country around this River, can be reached by pack horses when they come to that part of their work. Continued with variable breeze 'till reaching end of Clump Id. when the tide proved too strong for the old hulk, so we anchored in 4 fms. about 5p.m. Heavy dew fell, again. Wednesday 5th. [underlined] Rose & had "Chota hazri" before 6a.m. Tide running strongly against us - though favourable wind. At 7.30 heaved anchor & crept slowly out between the islands Fossil Summit & Table Hill being visible on our right. Made Fossil Head @ 2p.m. & anchored in 6 fms. about a mile from the beach. Party went ashore @ 2.30. Large flock of ducks seen half way out. Bubs was given the new gun & under the gaze of everybody stole quite close & got 4. Party remained on the beach all the afternoon. Mr Brown had a shot later & got 2 ducks. On board we got 2 sharks!

Thursday 6th [underlined] Had early breakfast & went ashore with rest. Mr. B again got 2 ducks from the dinghy, as we neared the beach. After a muddy landing to R of Fossil Head we climbed to the top & then made for Fossil Summit, between 2 & 3 miles inland. It was a fairly easy walk, being through lightly timbered country with grass, some long & dry, some in tufts, which should make good feed for stock. Among the timber, we noticed the woolly-butt, red & white gum & the ink-gum, stringy-bark etc. A good view is obtained of the surrounding country from the Summit (abt 300ft.) & Table Hill stands out prominently a good distance away. After about 20 mins. rest retraced our steps to the Head & searched for fossils among the rocks. A very large number were found, many of them being very good specimens. Were on the point of returning to the lugger for lunch when 3 natives appeared, who were rather dubious about approaching near us, until we called to them & made signs for them to do so. Once a friendly acquaintance was struck up, they lost their timidity, & became rather forward especially one chap with curly hair, bright eyes & fine, large, even teeth. They all had very good teeth however. Their dress consisted of the usual piece of twisted hair around the belly, but

Thursday 6th [underlined] (Continued) but 1 or 2 had bead necklaces, which we could not quite make out where they had got. They seemed to know the name O'Keef & "police" & "revolver", so we concluded they had come in touch with Mr. O'Keef, the Police Constable on the Victoria River - a long way, however, from here. Tobacco was distributed & we made them understand we would return "bye & bye", & told them to send back to their camp & bring the others up. While we were having lunch on board, we could hear them cooey-ing, & see them walking up and down the beach. Bubs was told to tell them to sit down, & by means of signalling with his arms - a system which seems to be universally understood among natives on this coast - got them to do so. About 2p.m. we all returned to the beach, but there were only 4 of them & 3 picaninnies. Continued hunting for fossils & got 2 niggers to work, afer explaining & showing them what we wanted. The other 2 were taken back by the Skipper, who was anxious to get to the camp. A good many more fossils were found, & then we discovered some mullet in 1 of the pools, left there by the last tide, & with the help of the niggers got 1 dozen. They are very sharp at catching the fish by hand, & must have been amused at the efforts of Mr Basedow & myself to catch them. But