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

Represent.

 

Singular Pieces Of Sandstone.

 

I This Day Again Remarked A Circumstance Which Had Before This Period

Elicited My Attention; Which Was That We Occasionally Found Fixed In The

Boughs Of Trees,  At A Considerable Height From The Ground,  Pieces Of

Sandstone,  Nearly Circular In Form,  About An Inch And A Half In

Thickness,  And From Four To Five In Diameter,  So That They Resembled

Small Millstones. What Was The Object In Thus Fashioning And Placing

These Stones I Never Could Conceive,  For They Were Generally In The Least

Remarkable Spots: They Cannot Point Out Burial Places,  For I Have Made

Such Minute Searches That In Such A Case I Must Have Found Some Of The

Bones; Neither Can They Indicate Any Peculiar Route Through The Country,

For Two Never Occur Near One Another.

 

Preparation To Build A Boat.

 

On My Return To The Camp I Found That The Schooner Had Not Yet Arrived; I

Now Began To Fear That Some Accident Had Occurred,  And Made My

Preparations Accordingly. The Party Was Fully Prepared To Meet Such A

Misfortune And,  As We Had The Means Of Constructing A Boat Large Enough

To Take Us To Swan River,  I Felt More Anxious For The Safety Of Those In

The Vessel Than For Our Own. That No Time However Might Be Lost I

Examined The Neighbourhood Of The Encampment And Found That Within Our

Immediate Vicinity Were Plenty Of Trees Well Adapted For The Purpose,

Which I Marked,  And Had Some Of Them Felled.

 

 

Volume 1 Chapter 6 (Footrnote) Pg 72

(*Footnote. This Tree Was Also Observed On This Part Of The Continent By

Captain King,  Who Met With It Both At Cambridge Gulf And Careening Bay,

And Describes It As Follows: Mr. Cunningham Was Fortunate In Finding The

Fruit Of The Tree That Was First Seen By Us At Cambridge Gulf,  And Had

For Some Time Puzzled Us From Its Immense Size And Peculiar Appearance.

It Proved To Be A Tree Of The Natural Order Capparides,  And Was Thought

To Be A Capparis; The Gouty Habit Of The Stem,  Which Was Soft And Spongy,

Gave It An Appearance Of Disease; But As All The Specimens,  From The

Youngest Plant To The Full-Grown Tree,  Possessed The Same Deformed

Appearance,  It Was Evidently The Peculiarity Of Its Habit. The Stem Of

The Largest Of These Trees Measured Twenty-Nine Feet In Girt,  Whilst Its

Height Did Not Exceed Twenty-Five Feet. It Bore Some Resemblance To The

Adansonia Figured In The Account Of Captain Tuckey's Expedition To Congo.

King's Australia Volume 1 Page 423.)

Volume 1 Chapter 7 (Hanover Bay And Its Vicinity) Pg 73

Occupation At The Camp.

 

During The Absence Of The Schooner We Had Our Attention Fully Engaged In

Forming A Garden,  Collecting Specimens,  And Building Sheds For The

Volume 1 Chapter 7 (Hanover Bay And Its Vicinity) Pg 74

Stores. So Difficult And Rocky Was The Country We Were In That I Was

Employed For Several Days In Finding A Route By Which Unloaded Horses

Could Travel From The Beach In Hanover Bay To The Point Where We Were

Encamped,  For The Landing-Place At The End Of The Ravine Was So Rocky As

To Be Impracticable For That Purpose. Mr. Walker At Length Discovered A

Pass In The Cliffs,  And By Constructing A Winding Path In This He Thought

That We Should Be Able To Get Loaded Horses Out Of The Valley. I Feared

That He Was Too Sanguine,  And Therefore Daily Renewed My Search In All

Directions. I Travelled Up The Entire Length Of The Ravine That We Were

Encamped In But Found That,  Even Granting It Was Not Flooded,  We Should

Find Great Difficulty In Emerging By This Route.

 

These Circumstances Made Me Resolve Upon The Return Of The Schooner To

Re-Embark The Stores,  And Land Them Again Either Upon A Point I Had Fixed

Upon On The South Bank Of Prince Regent's River,  Or Upon The Neck Of Land

I Have Before Mentioned,  Which Lay Between Port George The Fourth And

Hanover Bay; But I Could Not Finally Decide Upon Either Of The Points

Until The Return Of The Vessel Should Enable Me To Examine The Coast

Between Port George The Fourth And Camden Sound; For My Party Only

Consisted Of Nine Men,  Of Whom With The Exception Of Three Or Four I Knew

Nothing,  And After What I Had Seen Of The Treacherous Disposition Of The

Natives I Did Not Think,  In My Position,  It Would Be Prudent To Absent

Myself From Them For Any Length Of Time.

 

Return Of The Lynher.

 

Amidst Such Exciting And Busy Scenes,  The Time Flew Rapidly Away Until

The 17th Of January,  When About 11 A.M. The Report Of A Carronade Came

Echoing Up The Valley. This Was The Preconcerted Signal Which Was To

Announce To Us That The Vessel Was Safely At Anchor In Hanover Bay. We

Were Of Course All Anxiety To Hear An Account Of Their Adventures,  And To

Ascertain Whether The Horses Were Safe. I Hastened Directly To The

Landing-Place,  Where I Met Mr. Lushington And A Party Coming Ashore From

The Schooner.

 

Relation Of Proceedings At Kupang Timor And Roti.

 

The Following Outline Of Their Transactions Was Soon Given:

 

They Had Quitted Hanover Bay On The 21st December At 9 A.M.,  And Reached

Kupang In The Island Of Timor On The 1st Of January. For The First Three

Days Until They Got Clear Of The Land They Had Every Evening,  Soon After

Sunset,  Heavy Squalls From The North-East,  Accompanied With Thunder,

Lightning,  And Rain; The Prevalent Wind Was However From The North-West.

The Lynher Remained At Kupang Until The 7th,  During Which Time They

Completed Their Water And Collected Coconuts,  Bread-Fruit Trees,  Etc.,  To

Be Planted In Australia; But As Mr. Lushington Found That He Should Be

Able More Easily To Obtain Ponies At The Island Of Roti Than At Kupang,

Volume 1 Chapter 7 (Hanover Bay And Its Vicinity) Pg 75

They Sailed On The Morning Of The 7th For That Place,  And At 7 P.M. Came

To In The Harbour Of Rougun In Eleven Fathoms Water,  With Muddy Bottom.

 

They Were Enabled To Procure At Roti The Requisite Number Of Horses By

The Evening Of The 11th Of January. The People Of This Island Appeared To

Be Excessively Ignorant,  Knew But Little Of The Nature And Value Of

Money,  And Were Much Astonished When They Were Shown A Watch. Their

Favourite Mode Of Disposing Of Their Property Was By Barter; The Articles

They Prized Most Were Muskets And Coarse Gunpowder,  But They Preferred

Having The Gunpowder In A Claret Bottle,  As If This Was Considered By

Them To Be Some Definite Measure Which Bore A Certain Value. They Were

Not Very Particular About The Quality Of The Muskets Provided Their

Outward Form And Appearance Were Tolerably Good. I Have Since Ascertained

That The Natives Of The Little-Frequented Islands Of The Archipelago

Invariably Prefer An Old Musket To A New One,  As They Conceive A Totally

New One May Be Unsafe,  From Having Been Made Merely For The Purpose Of

Sale; Whilst One Which Has Seen Service Has Been Indisputably

Manufactured For Use. If They Entertain Any Doubt About The Goodness Of A

Musket They Generally Insist Upon The Seller's Firing It Off.

 

Mode Of Barter At Roti.

 

The People Of Roti Are Not Allowed To Fix Themselves What Is To Be The

Price Of Their Horses; All The Details Of The Sale Are Settled By An

Assemblage Of Chiefs: Their Constant Cry In Bartering (If Anything Else

Is Offered To Them) Is "Schnapper,  Schnapper" (A Musket,  A Musket). They

Refused At First To Take Percussion Guns In Exchange,  But When They Saw

Captain Browse Cock One Of These,  Pour A Quantity Of Water Over The Lock,

And Fire It Off,  Their Astonishment Knew No Bounds,  And They Then Eagerly

Bartered For Them. When They Found That All The Muskets Were Exhausted

They Were Content To Take Money And Other Articles In Lieu: An Old Dress

Waistcoat Of Mine And A Regulation Breastplate Procured Eight Small

Sheep; And Captain Browse Got Fourteen Goats For A Pair Of Old Pistols.

The Authorities Give Every Encouragement To The Trader; But The Duties

Exacted Are High,  For At Kupang And Roti They Demand Six Rupees Duty For

Every Horse Exported,  Or Musket Imported. Arms And Gunpowder Are No

Longer Considered Contraband.

 

The Inhabitants Of Roti Were Described As Being So Indolent That It Was

Almost Impossible To Induce Them To Do Anything: Although Every Means

Were Used To Tempt Them To Cut A Sufficient Quantity Of Fodder For The

Ponies On Their Passage They Constantly Delayed Doing So And,  Mr.

Lushington's Patience Being At Last Worn Out,  The Vessel Put To Sea On

The 12th Of January 1838.

 

New Island Discovered.

 

On The 13th They Sighted The Hibernian Shoal Which They Made In 11

Degrees 57 Minutes South Latitude And 123 Degrees 22 Minutes 30 Seconds

East Longitude. On Monday 15th Of January At 10 P.M. They Discovered An

Island,  Thus Described In The Log Of The Lynher: