VOYAGE OF THE "FREAK' 241 



Near the scrub where Kennedy was buried, the party searched 

 for, and found, a prismatic COMPASS which Jackey-Jackey told them 

 he had left there. In another place he had left a sextant, which 

 was not found. The trough of an ARTIFICIAL HORIZON and a bottle 

 of QUICKSILVER were, however, found near the spot where the sextant 

 had been left. 



Captain Simpson was of opinion that Kennedy's body had not 

 been exhumed and that the small mound must have been levelled 

 by rains. As for Jackey-Jackey's idea that the moleskin rag found 

 in the canoe (see Dr. Vallack's Statement, 25th December, 1848) 

 was the one he had bound round Kennedy's head, he admitted that 

 the saddle-bags which the natives certainly carried away, contained 

 trousers exactly similar to those from which he tore the rag. 



" Jackey-Jackey," adds Captain Simpson, " was very quiet, but 

 felt, and felt deeply, during the day. When pointing out the 

 spot where Mr. Kennedy died, I saw tears in his eyes, and no one 

 could be more indefatigable in searching for the remains. His 

 feelings against the natives were bitter, and had any of them made 

 their appearance at the time, I could hardly have prevented him 

 from shooting them." 



The party regained the boat, got clear of the intricate navigation 

 of the inlet before dark and CAMPED on the beach near POINT 

 SHAD WELL at II 'p.m. 



At daybreak on <)tk May, they rowed to the beach of the inlet 

 west of SHARP POINT, where some natives had been seen launching 

 a canoe the previous morning. They found only a CANOE and a 

 CAMP which the natives had abandoned. One of Jackey's aboriginal 

 comrades got a glimpse of a native disappearing into the bush. In 

 the camp was a small piece of red CLOTH identified by Jackey as part 

 of Kennedy's cloak, and a piece of painted CANVAS. The canoe was 

 destroyed. 



The BOATS REJOINED THE SHIP at io a.m. At half-past twelve, 

 the " Freak " and " Coquette " LEFT THE ESCAPE RIVER, to anchor 

 at night on the north side of ALBANY ISLAND. 



On nth May, Jackey-Jackey and his two aboriginal companions 

 were taken in the whaleboat by Mr. Macnate, Chief Officer of the 

 " Freak" up KENNEDY INLET for an estimated distance of 

 1 1 miles and landed at a point where the channel had narrowed to 

 40 feet. From this spot, Jackey-Jackey led across country for 

 about 2 miles straight to the place where he had secreted the PAPERS 

 entrusted to him by Kennedy on 5th December, 1848. The papers 

 had been taken out of the hollow log in which they had been hidden, 

 and had been saturated with water and much damaged. They 

 consisted of a ROLL OF CHARTS and some MEMORANDUM BOOKS, 

 including one in which Jackey-Jackey had drawn sketches. 1 



1 Captain Simpson, on i5th May, 1849, wrote a letter to Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., 

 Commander of H.M.S. " Rattlesnake," which was communicated by the latter to the 



i 16 



