Encounter Bay
14th December
Dear Pa;
I am writing to you to tell you that I am well and that no mishap has befallen me. But I also need to tell you that the Judge, Sir John, is dead.
Well, the exact phrase I suppose would be "missing, presumed dead" as we have been unable to find the body, but I am pretty sure that he is drowned.
Shall I tell you the whole story of what happened after we left Adelaide? It would be the best thing if I did I suppose.
You will remember that the plan was to head to Kingscote in order to meet with the Hartley before sailing to Launceston. Sir John had borrowed Captain Lipson's cutter for the trip. You'll laugh when I tell you that I don't believe Captain Lipson was best pleased, but did not have much say in the matter when Sir John told him that his boat had been borrowed.
On our arrival at Kingscote we were told that the Hartley was not ready to sail and might not be for several days so Sir John suggested that we sail over to Encounter Bay and see how the whalers were getting on and also to see if there might be a ship there sailing to Van Dieman's Land. So the next day (the 4th) we sailed over to the whaling Station, arriving at The Bluff late in the afternoon.
On our arrival we were soon told that there was no ship ready to sail, but Captain MacFarlane told us that we were welcome to stay on board the South Australian, which was anchored in the lee of the Bluff whilst the crew prepared barrels of whale oil for shipment on board the Solway, which was due to arrive in a few days.
We were pleased to find Mr McLaren on board and we spent the evening speaking with him about the company and about his plans for the future (of the which I will tell you more when I see you).
The next day Sir John found himself called upon to act in his official capacity. A sailor had died and Sir John ran an inquest. You would have been pleased to see me acting as Sir John's assistant in the business which resulted in a finding of death being due to "delirium tremens, brought on by excessive drinking". This will, I fancy, confirm you in your opinion of the whalers, which I know is not high. The man was buried on the Bluff and Sir John acted as parson.
On Friday (the 8th) the weather turned bad and a storm blew in from the South East. That night after we had gone below decks to bed, thinking we were moored in a safe harbour, we were awaken by a sudden lurch of the ship. One of the seamen who was below decks with us shouted, "She's dragged her anchor!" and ran up to the deck. It seemed that in the storm the ship had parted its mooring lines. I don't think I will forget in a hurry the moment when the Captain came down to us and said that "as life was the most important thing he would try to get us all landed in a boat" before turning and hurrying back on deck. At that point there was a mighty crash and we had clearly hit something. We rushed up on deck and as unsteady as we were from the storm we could see from the breakers that we had struck the reef that lies off shore. We had struck stern first and were held there for a while by the heavy swell. Then there was a grinding noise as the ship was carried over the reef into the calmer waters nearer shore, but the damage the reef had caused proved too much and she started taking water below decks.
It is a tribute to the Captain that he did, indeed, manage to get us all ashore, with our belongings and even though the ship was driven ashore and wrecked entirely, no hands were lost or injured.
The Judge and I intended to take the next day for a rest day after the excitement of the ship wreck, but late in the evening the Judge told me that "we had a choice to make." He said that we could take Captain Lipson's boat and head back to Kingscote and wait for the Hartley to be ready to sail. But Mr McLaren told us that with the wreck of the South Australia it might be a week before the Hartley sailed while it waited for new goods from Adelaide to take to Launceston. Or, he said, we might head to the lakes and do a little exploring.
I expect that you know that Mr Strangways, Mr Morphett and Mr Hutchinson were exploring the area. They had arrived at Blenkinsop's whaling station further around the Bay on the 1st December and had been spending the time exploring the area. They had borrowed the whaling station's whale boat in order to explore the further reaches of the lake. Now Captain Blenkinsop wished for the return of his whale boat before, as he said, "those three monkeys make a mess of it!"
Mr Hutchinson's party had said that they would camp near the mouth of the river and Captain Blenkinsop proposed that we head to the lake and meet them at their camp site and then sail the whaleboat back to Encounter Bay.
This certainly sounded like a more diverting way to pass the time than a week in Kingscote and so early the next morning the Captain, the Judge, a native guide and I set out on foot along the beach front to the river mouth. The trip took much of the day, but by late afternoon we found the campsite and also found Strangways lounging by the river. He was naturally surprised to see us and when Mr Hutchinson and Mr Morphett returned there was much merriment.
We spent the next two days sailing about the lake in the boat (named The Currency Lass). We sailed around a large island which Captain Blenkinsop named "Hindmarsh Island". He said, with a twinkle in his eye that "everyone will think the thing is named after the Governor, but we'll know Johnny, that you were the one here and who it's really named after!" So now I have my own island!
On Tuesday Captain Blenkinsop decided to take the Lass out through the river mouth into the sea and sail it back into Encounter Bay. Having seen the waves crashing into the beach and having already been in one shipwreck I thought this was a bad idea and when the two whalers who had sailed the boat over with the explorers said that they had been unable to sail the boat in, but had towed it in by hand, my mind was made up and I decided to go overland to the Bluff.
The Judge, however, announced that he had eaten enough kangaroo and wanted to get back to Encounter Bay as quickly as he could. And so Blenkinsop, the Judge, Mr Hutchinson, Mr Strangways and the two crew got into the boat to attempt to sail it out into the ocean.
Mr Morphett and I sailed with them as far as the mouth, stopping at Hindmarsh Island to raise a flag and load the boat with a quantity of whale bone that had been stashed on the beach. As we sailed Mr Morphett said to me "Johnny, you've been around boats much more than I have and your father has salt water for blood. If you say not to sail with them then that's warning enough for me."
We two then went ashore on the mainland, climbing the dunes so we could wave them off. We watched as they sailed out over the rollers. Morphett said that the surf was the worst he had ever seen. And so it proved. The boat sailed out perhaps three quarters of a mile when a giant wave nearly tossed the boat over. Loaded with whalebone, she was riding low and began to flood with water. I was told later that the Judge cried out, "Lord save us! We shall all be drowned!" as the boat fell off the top of the giant wave and was struck by the next. The Judge and the two crew were thrown into the sea. Captain Blenkinsop clung to the mast while the Judge managed to grab hold of an oar. The others caught hold of the boat and clung on for dear life. The waves proved too much for the Captain and the Judge though and they were torn from their safety. Captain Blenkinsop was lost in the sea at once, while the Judge surfaced just once, made a desperate grab for a rope and then disappeared below the waves once and for all.
Morphett and I ran down on to the beach where we were joined by our native guide and some of his fellows. We waded out into the sea and dragged Strangways and Hutchinson ashore. The boat was broken up by the waves.
I cannot imagine how they did it, but within what seemed like moments the natives had a fire blazing for us to warm ourselves by and soon we were joined by more who brought food and water. Our guide, who spoke a little English, told us that the natives could not believe that we had tried to take a boat out in those waves and that they thought that white men must be either very brave or very stupid.
We spent the night on the beach by the native's fire. My feet had become badly blistered by the walking and one of the native women rubbed them with leaves she had crushed which had the surprising effect of easing the pain.
The next morning we found Captain Blenkinsop's body on the beach, but of the others there was no sign. We buried the Captain on the beach and used what we could salvage of the boat to cover the grave. We then walked back to Encounter Bay where I am now. Tomorrow Mr Mclaren has offered to sail Captain Lipson's boat back to Kingscote with me and from there I will continue on to Launceston as we agreed and Mr Mclaren will arrange for someone to sail the boat back to Adelaide and deliver this letter.
This has, I fear, been a greater adventure than I had hoped for and the outcome not as cheerful as I would have like. However, after all I remain
Your loving son
John Hindmarsh
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