Journals Of Two Expeditions Of Discovery In North West And Western Australia Volume 1 (Of 2) by George Grey (read book txt) 📕

Saw Six Or Seven Water Snakes (Hydrus) This Day,  All About Three Feet

Long,  Of A Dirty Yellow Colour,  With Black Stripes,  The Head Black,  They

Were Furnished With Fins Like An Eel,  Were Of A Very Graceful Form,  And

Moved On The Water Exactly Like A Snake,  With The Head A Little Elevated;

When They Dived They Turned Up On Their Backs Before They Sank: We Caught

One Of These Snakes,  Also A Moth And Butterfly. A Large Bat (Pteropus ?)

Flew About The Vessel This Evening And Pitched Several Times On The Boat

Astern. I Once Struck It As It Passed Me,  It Appeared Much Fatigued; We

Were 150 Miles From The Main And Thirty From The Nearest Small Sandy

Island.

 

Sharks.

 

We Caught Two Sharks Today; The Sailors Said That They Saw Fourteen Or

Fifteen Little Sharks Swimming Round One Of These,  And That When The Bait

Was Thrown Into The Water And Made A Noise Some Of These Swam Into Her

Mouth: Directly After They Had Told Me This The Shark Was Caught. I Had

It Opened And Four Young Ones Were Found Inside,  Two Had Never Left The

Uterus,  For They Were Attached To It At The Time,  The Other Two Were Not

So Attached,  And Were Larger Than The Former,  And Swam Well And Strongly

When Put Into The Water: Whether Or Not They Had Ever Left The Mother I

Cannot Of Course Say. I Have Preserved Two In Spirits,  One That Was

Attached And One That Was Not; Two Intestinal Worms Were Found In The

Stomach Of One Of The Sharks.

 

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New And Dangerous Shoal.

 

November 29.

 

This Morning At Twenty Minutes After Nine,  When In Latitude 15 Degrees 26

Minutes 32 Seconds And Longitude 121 Degrees 55 East,  We Suddenly Made

The Very Unpleasant Discovery That We Were In The Midst Of Shoals,  Owing

To Some Negligence In Our Lookout. This Was Not Found Out Until We Were

Hemmed In Between Two,  One Lying Not More Than Fifty Fathoms From Our

Larboard Quarter,  And The Other About Three Times The Distance On The

Starboard Beam. I Went Up To The Mast-Head,  And Distinctly Saw The Rocks,

Not More Than Two Or Three Feet Under Water On The Larboard Side. We

Fortunately Passed Through This Danger Without Accident; And,  Directly We

Cleared It,  Found Bottom At Twenty-Five Fathoms,  Coarse Sand And Shells.

 

Red Island.

 

December 2.

 

I Was Called At Four A.M. To Keep My Watch,  And,  As Soon As I Had

Ascertained That The Men Composing It Were All Present And At Their

Stations,  I Went Up Aloft,  And As I Anticipated A Speck Of Land Soon

Appeared Above The Horizon. This Was Red Island. Other Points Shortly

Rose Behind It: Hill After Hill Came Up Into View,  At A Distance Looking

Like Islands,  Which Indeed Many Of Them Were; But,  On A Nearer Approach,

The Parts Connecting The Others Became Visible,  And The Mainland Of This

Vast Insular Continent Gradually Revealed Itself To Our Anxious Eyes.

 

Making The Land.

 

We Stood On Until Eleven A.M.; But In Making Land There Always Rests A

Certain Degree Of Anxiety Upon The Mind Of The Seaman And Traveller,  More

Especially When That Land Is Imperfectly Known. As There Appeared To Be

Every Chance Of Our Losing The Sea-Horizon,  And Consequently Our Noon

Observation,  If We Stood On And The Breeze Continued,  Our Course Was

Changed To The Other Tack Until That Hour; And Then Having Correctly

Ascertained Our Position,  Red Island Bearing South-East By East,  Distance

8 Miles,  We Once More Stood In For The Land.

 

Red Island Is Small,  Rocky,  And Of No Great Elevation; Its Colour Is A

Very Dark Red; The Sides Are Precipitous,  And In Its Centre Is A Clump Of

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Trees Which Cannot Be Seen Until You Have Run By The Island,  As It Falls

Gradually From The South-West To The North-East,  So That The North-East

Side Is The Least Elevated. We Sounded When About Seven Miles To The

North-West Of It,  And Found Bottom At Twenty-Five Fathoms,  Of Green Sandy

Mud.

 

The Sandbank Laid Down On The Admiralty Charts To The North-East Of Red

Island Is Small And Barren; It Is Very Low,  And At Some Distance Looks

Like A White Rock In The Water; Being Apparently An Island Formed Of The

Same Rock As The Former,  And Topped With Quartz Or White Sand. In

Entering Hanover Bay,  Or Port George The Fourth,  A Good Course Is To Run

Nearly Midway Between This And Red Island. At Sunset We Anchored Off

Entrance Island (Port George The Fourth) In Twenty-Five Fathoms Water.

 

Arrival Off The Coast Of Australia. Aspect Of The Country From

Ship-Board.

 

At The First Streak Of Dawn I Leant Over The Vessel's Side To Gaze Upon

Those Shores I Had So Longed To See. I Had Not Anticipated That They

Would Present Any Appearance Of Inviting Fertility; But I Was Not

Altogether Prepared To Behold So Arid And Barren A Surface As That Which

Now Met My View. In Front Of Me Stood A Line Of Lofty Cliffs,

Occasionally Broken By Sandy Beaches; On The Summits Of These Cliffs And

Behind The Beaches Rose Rocky Sandstone Hills,  Very Thinly Wooded. Whilst

I Mused On This Prospect,  All Hands Were Busied In Getting The Vessel

Under Weigh,  Which Was Soon Accomplished; But There Was Little Or No

Wind,  And The Ship Lay Almost Motionless Upon The Waters.

 

Land At High Bluff Point. Walk To Hanover Bay.

 

By Ten O'clock However We Were Abreast Of High Bluff Point And,  As There

Appeared To Be Little Chance Of Our Having Even A Gentle Breeze For Some

Time,  I Determined To Land With A Party At The Point,  And To Walk From

Thence To Hanover Bay,  Where On Our Arrival We Could Make A Signal To The

Vessel For A Boat To Reconvey Us On Board. By The Adoption Of This Course

I Hoped To Be Able At Once To Select A Spot Affording Water And Forage,

In The Neighbourhood Of Which The Sheep And Stores Might Be Landed; The

Vessel Could Then Proceed Without Delay To The Island Of Timor To Procure

The Requisite Number Of Ponies For Our Expedition,  And,  If She Made A

Quick Passage There And Back,  I Trusted,  Notwithstanding The Numerous

Unforeseen Delays That Had Arisen,  We Might Yet Be Able To Start For The

Interior Before The Rainy Season Set In.

 

Landing And Distress For Want Of Water On The Route.

 

The Necessary Orders Were Soon Given: The Boat Was Lowered And,  Whilst

The Party Prepared Themselves,  I Went Below To Arrange With The Master

The Precise Spot At Which The Vessel Was To Anchor In Order That No

Mistake Might Occur Upon So Vital A Point. This Done,  I Returned Once

More On Deck,  And Found All Ready For Departure.

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The Party To Land Consisted Of Mr. Lushington,  Mr. Walker,  And Three Men

Who Were Selected To Accompany Us. I Also Brought Away Three Of The Dogs,

To Whom I Was Anxious To Give A Run After Their Long Confinement On

Board.

 

The Shore For Which We Pulled Was Not More Than Half A Mile Distant,  And

We Soon Gained The Edge Of A Sandy Beach,  On Which I Sprang,  Eagerly

Followed By The Rest; Every Eye Beaming With Delight And Hope,

Unconscious As We Were How Soon Our Trials Were To Commence.

 

Distressing March.

 

I Soon Found That We Had Landed Under Very Unfavourable Circumstances.

The Sun Was Intensely Hot. The Long And Close Confinement On Board A

Small Vessel Had Unfitted Us All For Taking Any Violent Or Continued

Exercise Without Some Previous Training,  And The Country In Which We Had

Landed Was Of A More Rocky And Precipitous Character Than Any I Had Ever

Before Seen; Indeed I Could Not More Accurately Describe The Hills Than

By Saying That They Appeared To Be The Ruins Of Hills; Composed As They

Were Of Huge Blocks Of Red Sandstone,  Confusedly Piled Together In Loose

Disorder,  And So Overgrown With Spinifex And Scrub That The Interstices

Wore Completely Hidden,  And Into These One Or Other Of The Party Was

Continually Slipping And Falling.

 

The Trees Were Small,  And Their Foliage So Scant And Slight That They

Afforded No Shelter Whatever From The Burning Rays Of The Sun; Which

Appeared To Strike Up Again From The Sandstone With Redoubled Heat,  So

That It Was Really Painful To Touch Or To Stand Upon A Bare Rock: We

Therefore Kept Moving Onwards In The Hope Of Meeting With Some Spot

Favourable For A Halting Place; But The Difficult Nature Of The Ground

Which We Had To Cross Rendered Our Progress Slow And Oppressively

Laborious.

 

A Feeling Of Thirst And Lassitude Such As I Had Never Before Experienced

Soon Began To Overcome All Of Us; For Such A State Of Things We Had

Unfortunately Landed Quite Unprepared,  Having Only Two Pints Of Water

With Us,  A Portion Of Which It Was Necessary To Give To The Dogs; Who

Apparently Suffered From The Heat In An Equal Degree With Ourselves.

These Distressing Symptoms I Can Only Ascribe To The Extreme Heat Of The

Sun Reflected From The Sandstone Rocks,  And Our Previous Long Confinement

On Board.

 

Loss Of Our Three Dogs.

 

Our Small Supply Of Water,  Although But Sparingly Used,  Was Soon

Exhausted; And The Symptoms Of Lassitude,  Before So Excessive,  Now Became

Far Worse. As Usual,  The Endurance Of The Animals Gave Way Before That Of

The Men. We Had Not Completed More Than A Mile Of Our Route (Although It

Was Far More If The Ascents And Descents Were Taken Into Account) When

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