Pioneers in Australasia by Harry Johnston

Author:Harry Johnston [Johnston, Harry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, New Age, History, Fiction & Literature
ISBN: 9781613106136
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
Published: 2021-02-24T05:00:00+00:00

Reaching the western extremity of New Britain, Dampier sailed through the strait which still bears his name, into the sea of the Bismarck Archipelago. Off this part of the New Guinea coast there are several small islands which still contain active volcanoes. One of these amazed the crew of Dampier's ship by vomiting fire and smoke with dreadful noises and explosions all through the night at intervals of about half a minute. These convulsions were alternately slight and tremendous, and when they were severe great volumes of flame rose into the sky above the crater, while red-hot streams of lava could be seen running down to the seashore. Why Dampier should have turned to the north and rounded New Britain, instead of pursuing his course southwards to discover the connection—if any—between New Guinea and Australia, it is difficult to understand. Perhaps he thought that the indentation of Huon Gulf indicated the eastern extremity of New Guinea; but even then one would have thought that he would have sailed in that direction in order to circumnavigate this island, and so regain the Malay Archipelago or the coast of Australia. But instead of this he contented himself with once more sailing past the north of New Guinea, till he regained the known regions about Ceram.

He landed on that large island and noticed how it abounded in strange or beautiful birds: cassowaries, pigeons, parrots, and cockatoos. One of the seamen killed two hornbills. From Ceram they made their way back to Timor, calling again at the Dutch settlements. He then thought of revisiting the coast of Australia, but owing to contrary winds made his way instead to Java, from which he voyaged back to the Cape of Good Hope and so towards England. But when off the island of Ascension their ship sprang a leak and they were obliged to abandon it. To their great thankfulness they found a spring of fresh water on the high mountain of Ascension, while plenty of turtle visited the beach. There was also an abundance of goats running wild, and there were edible land-crabs. The hollow rocks afforded a convenient lodging in the mild and equable climate, and before they had spent more than a week on this refuge there arrived a British ship which gave them a passage back to England.

On his return to England he was charged by his officers and men with cruelty, and was found guilty of this charge by a court of enquiry, who decided he was not a fit person to command a king's ship, and fined him all his pay. There must have been some truth in these charges, and friction between him and his men was probably the reason why Dampier ceased his explorations after rounding New Britain. But he soon afterwards obtained the command of a ship belonging to a company of merchants, and in this he made his way back to the Pacific Ocean round Cape Horn. This ship was little else than a pirate vessel, which,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.