CHAPTER XXI 



PHILLIP PARKER KING, IN THE "MERMAID," 1819, AND IN 

 THE "BATHURST," 1821 



FIRST VOYAGE OF " MERMAID." SURVEY OF AUSTRALIAN COAST. A WEEK IN 

 ENDEAVOUR ESTUARY. CULTIVATING THE NATIVES. A RUPTURE AND A SKIRMISH. 

 BOAT NAVIGATION ON ENDEAVOUR RIVER. CHART. SAILING NORTHWARD. 

 CAPE FLINDERS AND FLINDERS ISLANDS. ISLANDS NEAR CAPE GRENVILLE. 

 McARTHUR AND HANNIBAL ISLANDS NAMED. AGROUND. FLOATED WITH 

 DIFFICULTY. ESCAPE RIVER NAMED. TURNS NW. BETWEEN ALBANY AND 

 MOUNT ADOLPHUS ISLANDS. THROUGH PRINCE OF WALES CHANNEL TO BOOBY 

 ISLAND. THIRD VOYAGE OF " MERMAID." TEN DAYS IN ENDEAVOUR ESTUARY. 

 LIMITED INLAND EXPLORATIONS. TRICKY NATIVES. LANDINGS ON LIZARD AND 

 BLIGH'S SUNDAY ISLANDS. COOK'S TRACK FOLLOWED TO BOOBY ISLAND. 

 CAPE WESSEL. BOTANY BAY. SHIP UNFIT FOR FURTHER SERVICE. VOYAGE 

 OF THE " BATHURST." SAILS NORTHWARD ACCOMPANIED BY MERCHANT VESSELS. 

 TRINITY BAY. ACROSS BATHURST BAY. LANDING. SURPRISE ATTACK BY NATIVES. 

 ONE MAN WOUNDED. FLINDERS ISLANDS SHOWN TO BE DISTINCT FROM MAINLAND. 

 CAVE-DRAWINGS ON CLACK'S ISLAND. STRAIT BETWEEN ALBANY ISLAND AND 

 MAINLAND. BY " MERMAID'S " TRACK TO BOOBY ISLAND. To CAPE WESSEL 

 AND SYDNEY. KING'S NEW CHARTS. His SAILING DIRECTIONS FOR THE INNER 

 PASSAGE. 



i. FIRST VOYAGE OF THE "MERMAID" 



CAPTAIN, afterwards Admiral, PHILLIP PARKER KING, a son 

 of Phillip Gidley King, who had been Governor of New 

 South Wales from 1800 to 1805, left England in 1819 in 

 H.M.S. " Mermaid" on a surveying cruise along the 

 Australian coast. 1 He was accompanied by Allan Cunningham 

 as Botanist. 



On 2jth June, 1819, the " Mermaid " anchored in the EN- 

 DEAVOUR RIVER. (SEE MAP E.) Amicable relations were maintained 

 with the NATIVES for nearly a week, but on 2nd July the aboriginal 

 instincts of curiosity and acquisitiveness brought about a rupture. 

 Some of the sailors were washing clothes, to which the natives took 

 a violent fancy, going so far as to insist that one of the sailors 

 should denude himself for their benefit. They threw a spear, and 

 shots had to be fired over their heads before they would desist. 

 Two days later, they attempted to decoy and ambush the white 

 visitors. 



On 8tb July, a boat was rowed up the ENDEAVOUR RIVER to 



1 Narrative of a Survey of Inter tropical and Western Coasts of Australia, 1819-22, 

 by Admiral Phillip P. King. London, 1827. 



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