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

Direction Over Good Land,  We Reached A Valley,

The Largest And Best I Had Yet Seen,  Containing Trees And Birds Such As

We Had Not Before Met With; Kangaroos Were More Plentiful,  And,  For The

First Time,  We Saw The Opossum. The Valley Was More Than A Mile In Width

At The Point Where We First Made It,  And We Had But Just Time To Cross It

And To Gain The Partial Shelter Of Some Rocks When Heavy Rain Again Set

In. We Could Keep No Fire And,  Being Soon Wet Through,  Passed A Wretched

Night.

 

December 21.

 

We All Today Began To Feel The Want Of Food; Since Sunday Night We Had

Subsisted On Nothing But Rice And Tea,  And Only In Very Small Quantities

At A Time,  As The Heavy Rain Had Materially Interrupted Our Cooking. As

There Was Plenty Of Game In This Valley I Determined To Halt For A Day

Previously To My Return To The Party,  For The Double Purpose Of Exploring

The Valley And Of Shooting Game.

 

Cuckoo-Pheasant.

 

The Large Bird Which Was The Most Abundant Here Was The Cuculus Phasianus

Or Pheasant Cuckoo. This Bird In Colour,  In Length Of Tail,  In Its Size,

And General Appearance So Closely Resembles The Hen Pheasant Of England

That,  When It Is On The Wing,  It Is Almost Impossible To Tell The

Difference; Its Habits And Food Are Also Identical With That Of The

English Pheasant. The Chief Point Of Distinction Is That Its Toes Point

Two Before And Two Behind,  In The Same Manner As Those Of A Parrot; But

What Is Very Remarkable About This Bird Is That,  Although,  Like The Other

Scansores,  It Delights In Climbing And Running Up Trees,  It Is Equally

Fond Of Running Along The Ground In The Manner A Pheasant Does.

 

Sporting.

 

This Day I Found Plenty Of These Birds In A Cover Of Long Dry Grass And

Bushes About Half My Height. From This Kind Of Ground I Descended To Deep

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Lagoons In The Bottoms,  With Rushes,  Reeds,  And Dense Tropical Vegetation

Around Them,  Amongst Which The Bamboo And Pandanus Bore A Conspicuous

Figure; As I Beat This Cover The Pheasants,  With Their Whirring Noise,

Rose On All Sides Of Me,  And My Westley Richards Was Kept In Constant

Operation. I Never Enjoyed A Better Day's Pheasant Shooting In Any

Preserve In England; And I May Here Remark That North-Western Australia

Is As Good A Country For Sport In The Shooting Way As I Am Acquainted

With; Whilst For Every Kind Of Sport Except Wild-Fowl Shooting The

Southern Part Of Australia Is The Worst Country In The World. My Bag

Being Full,  And My Companions Very Hungry,  I Had No Excuse For Staying

Longer Away From Them,  And Therefore Returned,  Although Very Loth To

Leave Such Beautiful Scenery And Such Excellent Sport.

 

Fertile Country Descried.

 

In The Interval Between The Showers,  And Whilst The Men Were Trying To

Kindle A Fire,  I Ascended A Sandstone Range Under The Shelter Of Some

Rocks Near The Summit Of Which We Were Encamped; From This Elevated

Position I Saw A Far Better Country To The South Of Us Than Any We Had

Yet Traversed; And The Prospect Was So Cheering In This Direction That I

Felt Assured,  When It Was Once Gained With The Horses,  We Should Be Able

To Travel On With Comparative Rapidity And Facility.

 

Native Haunts.

 

Having Emptied My Bag I Started Again To Commence The Exploration Of The

Valley We Were In. It Sloped First In A North-Easterly And Then In A

Nearly Easterly Direction; The River That Ran Through It Was In Some

Places Almost Dry,  Or Was Rather A Chain Of Large Ponds Than A River,

Several Of These Ponds Being More Than A Hundred Yards Across. I Followed

The Valley Down For About Five Miles In The Direction Of Prince Regent's

River And Found To My Surprise That This Part Was By No Means Thinly

Inhabited By Natives; Still,  As None Of The Traces I Had Yet Seen Were

Very Recent,  I Trusted That We Should Not Fall In With Any Considerable

Body.

 

Traces Of Natives.

 

At Length However I Came Upon A Spot Which A Number Of Them Appeared To

Have Quitted Only An Hour Or Two Before,  And Where They Had Been Sitting

Under A Large Tree At The Edge Of One Of These Ponds; Their Recent Fire

Had Been First Slaked With Water And Sand Then Thrown Over It. I Knew

Therefore That They Had Been Disturbed,  And Most Probably By My Gun; But

Not Before They Had Made A Hearty Meal Of Roasted Fresh-Water Mussels

(Unios) And Nuts Of A Kind Which Grew On A Large Shady Tree In Pods,  Like

A Tamarind Pod,  The Kernel Being Contained In A Shell,  Of Which Each Pod

Held Several,  And The Fruit Tasting Exactly Like Filberts. The Spot Was

Admirably Suited For Their Purpose; Their Bark Beds Were Placed Under The

Shelter Of This Tree And Only A Few Yards Distant From The Pond,  Which

Contained Abundance Of Large Unios.

Volume 1 Chapter 6 (Hanover Bay And Its Vicinity) Pg 66

 

Attack Of Natives.

 

I Sat Down Under The Nut Tree To Consider What Was My Best Plan To Adopt.

From The Signs Around Us The Natives Were Evidently Much More Numerous

Than I Had Expected: In The Event Of Anything Happening To One Of The

Three Our Return To The Main Party Might Be Considerably Impeded,  If Not

Altogether Prevented; And Although,  From The Superiority Of Our Weapons

Over Theirs,  I Entertained But Little Doubt As To The Issue Of Any

Contest We Might Be Forced Into,  The Calls Of Humanity As Well Is Of

Personal Interest Warned Me To Do My Utmost To Avoid An Affray.

 

Return Towards Hanover Bay.

 

I Returned Therefore To The Party And,  Having Made Our Dinner From

Pheasant Soup And Birds Which Had Been First Split In Two And Then Nicely

Roasted On The Ashes,  We Commenced Our Journey Homewards,  Cautiously And

Circumspectly,  That We Might Run No Risk Of Being Surprised. Until The

Evening Began To Close Upon Us We Pursued Our Route Through Scenery

Similar To That We Had Passed The Day Before,  Our Course Laying Several

Miles To The Northward Of Our Former Track; And When We Halted For The

Night I Carefully Chose A Good Position And,  Mentioning My Apprehensions

Concerning The Natives To The Men In Such A Way As To Put Them On Their

Guard Without Exciting Their Alarm,  We Bivouacked For The Night. Soon

After Sunset The Thunderstorms Of The Previous Evening Were Renewed,

Accompanied By Tremendous Rain. This Was Unfortunate As It Rendered It

Nearly Impossible For Us To Keep Our Arms In An Efficient State.

 

December 22.

 

After Passing A Wretched And Uncomfortable Night We Started Before Dawn,

Pursuing A Direction About West By North,  And Passed One Of The Openings

From Prince Regent's River Laid Down In Captain King's Chart,  And There

Left Without A Termination,  Which I Had Thus An Opportunity Of Fixing.

Having Completed About Six Miles I Halted For Breakfast. No Signs

Whatever Of The Natives Had Been Again Seen; This Restored My Confidence

And,  As The Sun Was Intensely Hot And We Were Much Fatigued,  We Lay About

In Rather A Careless And Imprudent Way. Fortunately The Gathering Clouds

Prognosticated That We Should Soon Have Rain; And,  As We Could Get No

Good Shelter Where We Were,  I Ordered The Men To Move On: We Had Just

Gained The Top Of The Range When A Violent Storm Of Rain Overtook Us,  I

Therefore Doubled Back About A Hundred Yards To The Left Of Our Former

Track To Gain Some Rocks Forming A Portion Of A Detached Group Upon A

Tableland,  And Which I Had Observed As We Passed Them.

 

Attacked By Natives.

 

Scarcely Had We Reached These Rocks,  And Sheltered Ourselves Under The

Overhanging Projections,  When I Saw A Savage Advancing With A Spear In

His Right Hand,  And A Bundle Of Similar Weapons In His Left; He Was

Followed By A Party Of Thirteen Others,  And With Them Was A Small Dog Not

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Of The Kind Common To This Country. The Men Were Curiously Painted For

War,  Red Being The Predominant Colour,  And Each Man Carried Several

Spears,  A Rowing Stick,  And A Club. Their Chief Was In Front,  And

Distinguished By His Hair Being Of A Dark Red Colour From Some

Composition With Which It Was Smeared; The Others Followed Him Close,

Noiselessly,  And With Stealthy Pace,  One By One,  Whilst He,  Crouching

Almost To The Earth,  Pricked Off Our Trail.

 

We Remained Concealed And Motionless Until They Had All Passed,  But The

Moment They Came To Where We Had Turned Off They Discovered Our Retreat,

And Raised Loud Shouts Of Triumph,  As,  Forming Themselves Into A

Semicircle,  They Advanced Upon Us,  Brandishing Their Spears And Bounding

From Rock To Rock. It Was In Vain That I Made Friendly Signs And

Gestures,  They Still Closed Upon Us,  And To My Surprise I Heard Their

War-Cry Answered By A Party Who Were Coming Over The High Rocks In Our

Rear,  Which I Had Flattered Myself Protected Us In That Direction.

 

Our Situation Was Now So Critical That I Was Compelled To Assume A

Hostile Attitude. I Therefore Shouted In Answer To Their Cries And,

Desiring The Men To Fire One At A Time If I Gave The Word,  I Advanced

Rapidly,  At The Same Time Firing One Barrel Over Their Heads. This Had

The Desired Effect. With The Exception Of One More Resolute Than The Rest

They Fled On All Sides,  And He,  Finding His Efforts Unavailing,  Soon

Followed Their Example.

 

Return To The Encampment. Hanover Bay.

 

Feeling However That The Neighbourhood We Were In Was A Dangerous One,

And Being Anxious To Know Whether The Party I Had Left At The

Encampment--Only Six In Number--Had Seen These Natives,  I Hurried Our

March,  Although The Rain Fell In Torrents All Day; And We That Night Made

The Camp.

 

Proceedings There During My Absence.

 

I Found The Party All In Good Health And Spirits: They Had Seen Nothing

Whatever Of The Natives During My Absence. The Sailing Of The Lynher Had

Been Unfortunately Delayed Until The 21st Of December. On The 18th And

19th The Tides Had Been So Low That,  Although Mr. Lushington Had Done His

Utmost,  The Schooner Made Little Or No Progress In Her Watering. On The

20th The Crew And Whole Party Were