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

Damage From It.

 

December 8.

 

Whilst The Party Continued The Pathway I Landed On The Sandy Beach And

Explored The Interior Of The Country For Several Miles. We Found But Very

Little Fresh Water And The Country Was Dreadfully Burnt Up; The Heavy

Rain Which Had Fallen Last Night However Gave Signs Of The Approach Of

The Wet Season. We Passed Several Dry Watercourses,  In Many Of Which We

Dug For It,  But All That We Obtained Was Brackish. We Had Another Squall

This Afternoon,  Similar To Last Night's.

 

Landing Stock. Labour In Landing Stores.

 

December 9.

 

This Day We Pitched The Tents,  Disembarked The Sheep And Goats,  And Some

Of The Stores. It Was No Slight Pleasure To See For The First Time Those

Animals Landed On A New Country,  And They Appeared Themselves To Rejoice

In Their Escape From The Close Confinement On Shipboard.

 

We Here First Hoisted The British Flag,  And Went Through The Ceremony Of

Taking Possession Of The Territory In The Name Of Her Majesty And Her

Heirs For Ever.

 

The Next Few Days Were Passed In Moving The Stores From The Landing-Place

To The Tent; As It Was Necessary That Before I Allowed The Schooner To

Start We Should Be Amply Provided With All Necessaries So As To Be Able

To Maintain Ourselves For Some Time,  In The Event Of Anything Happening

To The Vessel: This Was Very Fatiguing Work For The Whole Party But They

All Exerted Themselves With The Most Strenuous Energy,  Especially Mr.

Lushington; And Our Labours Were Varied By Several Amusing Novelties

Which Relieved The Monotony Of The Employment.

Volume 1 Chapter 5 (At Hanover Bay) Pg 57

 

Remarkable Fishes.

 

Sometimes As We Sat At Our Dinner Near The Landing-Place We Watched A

Strange Species Of Fish (Genus Chironectes,  Cuvier). These Little Animals

Are Provided With Arms,  At Least With Members Shaped Like Such As Far As

The Elbow,  But The Lower Part Resembles A Fin; They Are Amphibious,

Living Equally Well On The Mud Or In The Water; In Moving In The Mud They

Walk,  As It Were,  On Their Elbows,  And The Lower Arm Or Fin Then Projects

Like A Great Splay Foot; But In Swimming The Whole Of This Apparatus Is

Used As A Fin. They Have Also The Property Of Being Able To Bury

Themselves Almost Instantaneously In The Soft Mud When Disturbed. The

Uncouth Gambols And Leaps Of These Anomalous Creatures Were Very

Singular.

 

Another Remarkable Fish Was A Species Of Mullet Which,  Being Left By The

Retreat Of The High Tides In The Pools Beyond The Rounded Rocks At The

Head Of The Landing-Place,  Was Obliged To Change Its Element From Salt To

Fresh Water,  Which By A Very Remarkable Habit It Appeared To Do Without

Suffering Any Inconvenience. The Natural Hue Of This Fish Was A Very Pale

Red,  But When They Had Been For Some Time In The Fresh Water This Reddish

Tinge Became Much Deeper,  And When Of This Colour I Have Found Them In

Streams A Considerable Distance From The Sea,  As If,  Like Our Salmon,

They Had Quitted It For The Purpose Of Spawning. Indeed Birds,  Insects,

And All Things We Saw,  Were So New And Singular That Our Attention Was

Kept Constantly Excited By The Varied Objects Which Passed Before Us.

 

December 11.

 

I Went On Board In The Morning For The Purpose Of Preparing My Letters,

And About 10 A.M. It Was Reported To Me That A Party Of Natives Had Come

Down To One Of The Sandy Beaches And Were Fishing There. I Immediately

Went Upon Deck And Saw Four Natives In The Sea Opposite To The Beach,

Running About And Fishing. Captain Browne Went On Shore At Once With Me

To Try And Parley With Them,  But As We Approached The Land They Ran Away;

We Remained For Some Time On The Beach And Tried To Follow Their Tracks

Up Into The Country,  But Could See Nothing More Of Them.

 

This Night At 8 P.M. We Had Another Sudden Squall From Off The Land,

Accompanied With Thunder,  Lightning,  And Heavy Rain; It Blew So Hard That

We Were Obliged To Let Go The Best Bower Anchor,  But As Usual It Only

Lasted Twenty Minutes.

 

Preparations For Sending The Vessel To Timor.

 

As Mr. Lushington Was To Accompany The Schooner To Timor,  And I Was

Anxious To Ascertain Which Would Be The Best Direction For Us To Move Off

In On His Return,  I Determined To Commence My Exploring Trips As Soon As

Volume 1 Chapter 5 (At Hanover Bay) Pg 58

Possible. All Hands Still Continued Busily Engaged In Landing The Stores

And Conveying Them To The Tents; But Though The Men Worked Hard Our

Progress Was Slow. Everything Had To Be Carried On The Men's Shoulders,

For The Path,  After The Great Trouble And Labour We Had Bestowed On It,

Was Still So Intricate And Rocky That It Was Impossible To Use Even A

Hand-Barrow. The Intense Heat Of The Sun,  Too,  Incommoded The Men Very

Much At First; But By The 16th Of December All The Stores Were Landed,

And A Considerable Supply Of Water Was Taken Off To The Vessel. I

Determined Therefore Now To Start In My First Exploring Excursion,

Leaving To Mr. Lushington The Task Of Seeing The Watering Of The Schooner

Completed Before He Left For Timor.

 

 

Volume 1 Chapter 6 (Hanover Bay And Its Vicinity) Pg 59

Natives Seen.

 

Sunday December 17.

 

This Morning Directly After Breakfast I Read Prayers To The Men,  And Then

Commenced My Preparations For The Excursion On Which I Intended To Start

In The Evening. Whilst I Was Occupied In Arranging My Papers Mr.

Lushington Observed Two Natives Sitting On The Rocks On The Top Of The

Cliffs Which Overlooked The Valley,  And Gazing Down Intently On Us. The

Instant That He Made Friendly Signs To Them They Rose From Their Seats

And Began To Retreat. Some Of The Party Then Called To Them And One Of

The Natives Answered; But They Still Moved Rapidly Away. I Would Not

Allow Them To Be Followed For Fear Of Increasing Their Alarm,  And In The

Hope That They Would Return,  But Was Disappointed. It Must Have Awakened

Strange Feelings In The Breast Of These Two Savages,  Who Could Never

Before Have Seen Civilized Man,  Thus To Have Sat Spectators And

Overlookers Of The Every Action Of Such Incomprehensible Beings As We

Must Have Appeared; And The Relation To Their Comrades Of The Wonders

They Had Witnessed Could Not Have Been To Them A Whit Less Marvellous

Than The Tales Of The Grey-Headed Irish Peasant,  When He Recounts The

Freaks Of The Fairies,  "Whose Midnight Revels By The Forest Side Or

Fountain" He Has Watched Intently From Some Shrub-Clad Hill.

 

Commencement Of First Excursion.

 

I Started In The Evening,  Accompanied By Corporal John Coles And Private

R. Mustard,  Both Of The Corps Of Royal Sappers And Miners,  And For A

Short Distance By Two Or Three Others Of The Party From The Camp. We

Moved Up The Ravine In Which We Were Encamped In A Nearly Due South

Direction,  And After Following This Course About A Mile Turned Up A

Branch Ravine To The Left,  Bearing 87 Degrees From The North.

 

Character Of The Scenery. Geological Phenomena.

 

The Romantic Scenery Of This Narrow Glen Could Not Be Surpassed. Its

Width At Bottom Was Not More Than Forty Or Fifty Feet,  On Each Side Rose

Volume 1 Chapter 6 (Hanover Bay And Its Vicinity) Pg 60

Cliffs Of Sandstone Between Three And Four Hundred Feet High And Nearly

Perpendicular; Lofty Paper-Bark Trees Grew Here And There,  And Down The

Middle Ran A Beautiful Stream Of Clear,  Cool Water,  Which Now Gushed

Along,  A Murmuring Mountain Torrent,  And Anon Formed A Series Of Small

Cascades. As We Ascended Higher The Width Contracted; The Paper-Bark

Trees Disappeared; And The Bottom Of The Valley Became Thickly Wooded

With Wild Nutmeg And Other Fragrant Trees. Cockatoos Soared,  With Hoarse

Screams,  Above Us,  Many-Coloured Parakeets Darted Away,  Filling The Woods

With Their Playful Cries,  And The Large White Pigeons Which Feed On The

Wild Nutmegs Cooed Loudly To Their Mates,  And Battered The Boughs With

Their Wings As They Flew Away.

 

The Spot I Chose To Halt At For The Night Was At The Foot Of A Lofty

Precipice Of Rocks,  From Which A Spring Gushed Forth. Those Who Had

Accompanied Us From The Camp Now Returned,  Leaving Me And The Two

Soldiers Alone And About To Penetrate Some Distance Into An Utterly

Unknown Country. We Were Each Provided With Ten Days' Provisions And,

Confident In The Steadiness And Courage Of My Men,  I Had Not The

Slightest Anxiety--Feeling That As Long As We Maintained A Cool And

Determined Bearing The Natives Would Make No Attacks Upon Us That We

Could Not Repel.

 

We Soon Erected A Little Hut Of Bark,  Then Kindled A Fire And Cooked Our

Supper,  Consisting Of Tea And Two White Pigeons Which We Had Shot; And By

The Time Our Repast Was Finished It Was Nearly Dark. My Companions Laid

Down To Sleep: I Remained Up For A Short Time To Think Alone In The

Wilderness,  And Then Followed Their Example.

 

Ascent Of A Glen.

 

December 18.

 

At Break Of Day We Were Again Upon Our Route,  Which Lay Up The Valley We

Had Slept In; But,  As Each Of Us Carried Ten Days' Provisions And A Day's

Water,  Besides Our Arms,  The Progress We Made In A Tropical Climate,  When

Thus Laden,  Was Necessarily Slow And Laborious; But The Beauty Of The

Landscape And The Solicitude We All Felt To See More Of This Unexplored

Land Cheered Us On.

 

Tableland At The Summit.

 

Having At Length Reached The Tableland Which This Valley Drained We Found

Ourselves In The Midst Of A Forest,