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

Employed; Yet They Only Succeeded In

Getting Off 280 Gallons For They Were Obliged To Carry The Water In Small

Baricos To The Boat,  Over Slippery Rocks And Deep Mud: And On The 21st,

Thinking It Better To Complete Their Water At Timor,  They Set Sail. This

Difficulty Of Watering Only Arose From The Lowness Of The Tides (Neap)

And Our Ignorance Of The Country. Subsequently We Found No Difficulty In

Procuring It; Indeed No Country In The World Is Better Watered Than This

Portion Of Australia.

 

Since The Sailing Of The Lynher The Party Had Been Actively Engaged 

Volume 1 Chapter 6 (Hanover Bay And Its Vicinity) Pg 68

Building A Shed For The Stores. This Labour Was Still Continued,  After My

Arrival,  And Completed On Christmas Eve.

 

Christmas Dinner.

 

On Christmas Day We All Dined Together In A Little Booth Made Of Boughs,

Which We Dressed Up As Gaily As We Could. I Could Not But Feel

Considerable Pleasure In Seeing The Happy Countenances Of The Men Ranged

Round The Rough Plank That Formed Our Table. We Sat Down,  A Little Band

Of Nine,  Bound Upon An Adventure Of Which The Issue To Any And All Of Us

Was Very Uncertain: Yet No Forebodings Appeared To Damp The Pleasure Of

The Present Moment; And As I Anxiously Looked Round I Could Not Detect

The Slightest Trace Of A Gloomy Thought In Any Of The Cheerful Faces That

Surrounded Me. After Dinner We Drank The Queen's Health,  The First Time

Such A Toast Had Been Given In These Regions; And Then,  Mr. Walker And

Myself Retiring To Talk Alone,  Left The Rest To Their Own Amusements.

 

1838.

 

Planting Useful Seeds.

 

The Interval Between That And New Year's Day Found And Left Us Full Of

Occupation. On This Latter Day I Had Resolved To Do Homage To The Country

By A Seasonable Gift; And Therefore,  Rising With The Earliest Dawn,  Spent

The Whole Day In Planting,  In Various Positions,  Seeds Of The Most Useful

Fruits And Vegetables. Those We Had Already Planted Were Doing Well,  And

I Hoped That This Benefaction Might Prove One Of No Small Value,  Perhaps

To Civilized Man,  Or At Least To The Natives Of The Vicinity.

 

Walk To Munster Water.

 

January 4.

 

A Party Of Us This Day Walked To Hanover Bay For The Purpose Of Making

Some Observations On The Sandy Beach There,  After Which We Went Over To

Prince Regent's River,  Near Munster Water. The Country Until Near The

Bank Of The River At This Point Was Of The Same Sandy Nature As That

About The Beach: There However It Improves; And From The Circumstance Of

My Finding A Regular Haunt Of The Natives I Feel Sure That There Is

Plenty Of Fresh Water In The Neighbourhood. This Place Of Their Sojourn

Resembled One Before Described,  And Many Others I Had Seen. An Extensive

Circle Was Formed By Laying A Large Flat Stone Upon The Ground,  And On

Each Of These A Smaller One; Between The Two They Evidently Crushed The

Shellfish And Nuts Which Formed Their Food. Near Some Of The Stones Were

Laid Huge Shells For The Purpose Of Drinking From; And In The Centre Of

The Circle Were The Marks Of Frequent Fires. We Heard The Natives Calling

To One Another In The Woods,  But Saw None Of Them; And In The Evening

Returned To Our Encampment.

 

Isthmus Near Hanover Bay.

 

Volume 1 Chapter 6 (Hanover Bay And Its Vicinity) Pg 69

January 6.

 

I Made An Excursion This Day For The Purpose Of Examining The Land Lying

Between Port George The Fourth And Hanover Bay: It Consists Of A Low Neck

Which Connects The Peninsula Terminating In High Bluff Point With The

Main. Thus It Is Bounded On Two Sides By The Sea,  And On The Other Two By

Rocky Hills Which Are Perfectly Precipitous,  Both Towards The Main And

The Peninsula; But A Natural Terrace Runs Along Under The Cliff In The

Direction Of Camden Sound,  Which I Believe Would Form A Good Road To That

Harbour. The Tract Thus Enclosed Appears To Be Very Fertile. Porphyry And

Basalt Are The Common Rocks. The Soil Is Rich Vegetable Mould,  Mixed With

Gravel And Covered With The Most Luxuriant Grass. The Trees Were In

General Small. We Only Found Three Springs Here; These However Were

Sufficient To Prove That It Was Well Supplied In This Respect. A Species

Of Plant Was Observed Here,  Which In Appearance And Smell Exactly

Resembled The Jasmine Of England: And It Would Be Difficult To Give Any

Adequate Impression Of The Singular Sensation Of Pleasure Derived From

The Sight Of This Simple Emblem Of Home. Here Were Regular Beaten Tracks

Of The Natives,  As Completely Pathways As Those We Find In England

Leading From A Village To A Farmhouse.

 

Hill Of Shells.

 

Near The Sea We Also Came Upon A Complete Hill Of Broken Shells,  Which It

Must Have Taken Some Centuries To Form,  For It Covered Nearly,  If Not

Quite,  Half An Acre Of Ground,  And In Some Places Was Ten Feet High: It

Was Situated Just Over A Bed Of Cockles,  And Was Evidently Formed From

The Remains Of Native Feasts,  As Their Fireplaces,  And The Last Small

Heaps Of Shells Were Visible On The Summit Of The Hill.* This Neck Of

Land Is Undoubtedly Of The First Importance; For,  Lying As It Does

Between Port George The Fourth And Hanover Bay,  It Commands Two Excellent

Harbours,  And Its Soil Is Moreover Highly Fertile. I Conceive That A

Point Nearer Camden Bay Would Be Of Greater Consequence To The Mother

Country; But,  After Such A Spot,  This Neck Of Land Is The Most Important

Position On The North-West Coast Of Australia.

 

For Some Days After Our Return From This Excursion All Hands Were

Occupied In Drying The Stores,  Which Had Suffered A Little From The Late

Rains; In Planting Barley And Potatoes; And In A Variety Of Occupations

Of The Same Nature

Volume 1 Chapter 6 (Footnote) Pg 70

 

(*Footnote. A Similar Mass Of Shells,  Though Of Smaller Dimensions,  Is

Spoken Of By Captain King,  At Port Essington: A Curious Mound,

Constructed Entirely Of Shells,  Rudely Heaped Together,  Measuring Thirty

Feet In Diameter,  And Fourteen Feet High,  Was Also Noticed Near The

Beach,  And Was Supposed To Be A Burying-Place Of The Indians. King's

Australia Volume 1 Page 87.)

 

Volume 1 Chapter 6 (Hanover Bay And Its Vicinity) Pg 71

 

Excursion To Country About Prince Regent's River.

 

As All The Necessary Magnetic And Astronomical Observations Were Now

Completed I Seized The Opportunity Offered By The First Favourable Day

And Started With A Party Of Three In The Direction Of Prince Regent's

River.

 

We Made The River About Halfway Bay,  And Then Followed Its Course,

Keeping About A Mile Or Two Inland. A Considerable Portion Of The Land In

The Neighbourhood Of The River Was Most Excellent,  Consisting Of Rich

Meadow Plains. The General Proportion Of Good Country Compared With The

Bad Was Still However But Small.

 

Gouty-Stemmed Trees.

 

There Was A Very Remarkable Feature In The Appearance Of This Part Of The

Country,  Caused By The Number Of Gouty Stemmed Trees (A Species Of

Capparis ?) These Trees Grow To A Considerable Height,  And Had The

Appearance Of Suffering From Some Disease,  But,  From The Circumstance Of

All Of Them Being Affected In The Same Way,  This Was Undoubtedly Their

Natural State. I Measured One Of The Largest I Here Saw,  And Found That

At Eighteen Inches Above The Ground Its Circumference Was About

Twenty-Eight Feet Six Inches.

 

The Foliage Of This Tree Was Slight But Graceful,  And It Was Loaded With

A Fruit Of An Elliptical Form,  As Large As A Coconut. This Fruit Was

Enclosed In A Rind,  Closely Resembling That Of The Almond,  And Inside The

Rind Was A Shell Containing A Soft White Pulp,  In Which Were Placed A

Species Of Almond,  Very Palatable To The Taste,  And Arranged In This Pulp

Much In The Manner In Which The Seeds Are Placed In The Pomegranate. Upon

The Bark Of These Trees Being Cut They Yielded In Small Quantities A

Nutritious White Gum,  Which Both In Taste And Appearance Resembles

Macaroni; And Upon This Bark Being Soaked In Hot Water An Agreeable

Mucilaginous Drink Was Produced.

 

This Tree Is,  From This Combination Of Useful Qualities,  A Vegetable

Production Of No Slight Value,  And Probably Comes Near The Cocoa-Nut Tree

In Value. Its Worth Is Well Known To The Natives For Its Vicinity Is One

Of Their Favourite Haunts. Around Nearly All Of Them I Have Found Marks

Of Their Fires,  And On Many Of These Trees Were Several Successive Rows

Of Notches,  Formed In This Manner:

 

All But The Last Row Being Invariably Scratched Out. These Rows Of

Notches Were Evidently Of Different Ages,  And I Imagine Must Indicate The

Number Of Nuts Taken Each Year From The Tree.* I Often Also Found Rude

Drawings Scratched Upon The Trees,  But None Of These Sketches Indicated

Anything But A Very Ordinary Degree Of Talent,  Even For A Savage: Some

Were So Imperfect That It Was Impossible To Tell What They Were Meant To

Volume 1 Chapter 6 (Hanover Bay And Its Vicinity) Pg 71