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

In Doing Something Which

Might Tend To Accelerate Our Departure.

 

Heavy Rains.

 

February 1.

 

We Again Had Heavy And Incessant Rain Throughout Wednesday Night,

Accompanied By Thunder And Lightning. At Daylight The Stock-Keeper Came

To Report To Me That Two Horses,  Three Sheep,  And One Goat Were Dead,  And

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That Several Other Horses Appeared To Be In A Very Dangerous State. All

Our Stores With The Exception Of A Few Articles Had Now Been Removed From

The Valley In Which We Had First Encamped; Some Of Our Goats Were Still

Left There,  But The Torrent Had Become So Rapid And Impetuous That It Had

Swept Away The Bridge And Was Now Impassable. Heavy Rains Fell Throughout

The Greater Portion Of The Day,  And Produced A Beautiful Effect In The

Ravines,  For Cascades Were Pouring Over The Cliffs On Each Side,  Sweeping

Every Now And Then Before Them Massive Pieces Of Rock,  The Crash Of Which

In Their Fall Echoed Loudly Through The Valleys.

 

Further Loss Of Stock.

 

February 2.

 

Bad News Came Again This Morning--The Stock-Keeper Met Me With A Very

Rueful Countenance To Report That Another Horse And Two Sheep Had Just

Been Found Dead,  And That Several More Sheep Were Missing. It Still

Rained So Heavily That We Could Not Attempt To Move,  For Already A

Considerable Portion Of Our Stores Was Damaged By The Water Which Had

Filled The Ditch,  And Regularly Flooded The Tent In Which They Were

Placed.

 

Mr. Walker Started With Me For The Purpose Of Marking Off A Road To The

Place We Next Intended To Halt At,  For The Country Was So Rocky That It

Was Necessary To Choose A Path With The Greatest Caution,  Or We Should

Soon Have Become Embarrassed In Precipitous Places Which The Horses Could

Not Have Traversed. Whilst I Was Thus Engaged Mr. Lushington And Two Men

Made Another Unsuccessful Attempt To Get The Goats And Remaining Stores

Across The Stream.

 

Weakness And Obstinacy Of The Ponies.

 

February 3.

 

This Morning The Rain Had Somewhat Abated: The Remaining Stores Were

Brought From The Ravine,  And The Goats Were Swum Across; In The Meantime

The Ponies Were Brought Up And Loaded,  And All Preparations Were At Last

Made For A Start: But A Host Of New Difficulties Arose; Many Of The

Ponies Were Found To Be In Such A Weakly State That They Could With Great

Difficulty Carry Any Weight At All. We Were Obliged To Make A Totally New

Division Of The Stores,  And To Select And Put Aside What Articles We

Could Best Leave Behind. These Preparations Occupied A Considerable Time,

But We At Last Moved Off In A South-East Direction. Our Progress Was

However Very Slow And Tedious; The Ponies,  Though Lightly Loaded,  Were So

Reduced That The Slightest Obstacle Made Many Fall From Weakness,  Whilst

Others Laid Down From Obstinacy,  And The Men Being Inexperienced In

Re-Fixing The Loads,  Each Horse That Fell Delayed Us Considerably. At

Last So Many Were Down At One Time That I Advanced With Such As Were Able

To Move To A Point Distant Not More Than Half A Mile,  Where I Halted For

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The Night; And,  Having Unloaded And Tethered These Horses,  We Returned To

Assist The Others,  And After A Great Deal Of Difficulty Got The Remainder

Of The Weak Ponies Safe To The Encampment.

 

I Slept But Little This Night For I Doubted Whether,  With Our Cattle So

Enfeebled And So Out Of Condition,  We Should Ever Succeed In Penetrating

Any Distance Into The Country. We Were Still A Considerable Way From The

Fertile Plains I Had Seen To The Southward,  Whilst The Intervening Ground

Was Very Difficult To Travel Across And Afforded No Good Feed For The

Ponies. All My Meditations However Only Terminated In The Conviction That

It Was My Duty To Continue To Use My Best Exertions Under Such Adverse

Circumstances.

 

February 4.

 

There Being No Good Grass For The Horses Where We Were,  I Was Obliged To

Move The Party And Commenced By Using Every Method I Could To Lighten The

Loads And To Rid The Expedition Of All Encumbrances. I Left Here A Male

And Female Goat Who,  By Their Obstinacy,  Delayed Our Movements; Thinking

Also That,  If They Escaped The Natives,  Their Offspring Might Become A

Valuable Acquisition To This Land.

 

We Also Left Here 28 Pounds Of Gunpowder,  10 Pounds Of Ball Cartridges,

70 Pounds Of Shot,  200 Pounds Of Preserved Meat,  Some Carpenters' Tools,

And Many Other Useful Articles; Yet,  Notwithstanding This Decrease In The

Loads Of The Ponies,  The Country We Had To Travel Through Was So Bad That

We Only Completed Two Miles In The Course Of The Day; And Yet To Find The

Track By Which We Did Succeed In Crossing The Range Had Cost Me Many

Successive Hours' Walking Under A Burning Sun. The Character Of The

Country We Passed Through Was The Same As These Sandstone Ranges Always

Present; Namely,  Sandy Scrubby Plains,  And Low Ranges Of Ruinous,  Rocky

Hills,  In Trying To Scramble Over Which The Ponies Received Numerous And

Severe Falls. We However Had A Very Beautiful Halting-Place,  Shaded By

Lofty Pines And Affording Fair Feed For The Animals.

 

New Plan Of Movements.

 

February 5.

 

On This Morning It Was Reported To Me That Several Of The Ponies Were In

A Dying State,  And That None Of Them Would Be Again Able To Carry Even

Such Light Loads As They Had Hitherto Done; The Quantity Of Stores They

Could Now Convey Was Quite Inadequate To Supply A Party Of The Strength

We Were Obliged To Move With For Any Great Length Of Time. A New Plan Of

Operations Was Thus Forced Upon Me,  And I Now Resolved To Proceed As

Follows:

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To Advance With Half Our Stores To A Convenient Place For Encamping At,

And Then,  On The Succeeding Day,  To Send Back Some Of The Party With The

Ponies For The Remaining Portion Of The Provisions; Whilst,  Accompanied

By Two Men,  I Marked Off The Road By Which We Were To Move On The

Following Day. This Mode Of Proceeding Would Not Very Much Delay Our

Movements; For The Country We Were At Present In Was Of So Intricate A

Nature That It Was Impossible To Move Loaded Horses Without Previously

Marking A Road For Them; And By Its Adoption I Trusted To Be Able To

Establish A Depot Of Provisions At Some Point Distant From The Coast And

Whence We Could Yet Make A Good Start In A Southerly Direction.

 

Labour Of Tracing Route.

 

In Pursuance Of This Plan Mr. Lushington Returned This Day To Our Last

Camp To Bring Up The Provisions We Had Abandoned; Whilst I Went Off With

Two Men To Endeavour To Pick Out A Route By Which The Ponies Could

Travel. A More Toilsome Day's Work Than We Had Could Not Be Imagined. For

Eleven Hours I Was Incessantly Walking,  Exposed During The Greater Part

Of The Time To The Burning Rays Of A Tropical Sun; And We Found Nothing

But Rocky,  Almost Impassable Sandstone Ranges And Precipitous Ravines. I

However At Last Succeeded In Discovering A Path Along Which It Was Just

Possible We Might Be Able,  By Using Great Care,  To Lead Loaded Horses;

And On My Return To The Camp I Found That All The Remaining Stores Had

Been Brought Up.

 

Descent Into A Valley.

 

February 6.

 

We Began Our Descent This Morning From The Tableland Into A Deep Valley,

Following The Track We Had Yesterday Marked Off,  Which Was Still However

So Rugged And Rocky As To Be Very Difficult To Get Along. Heavy Rains Set

In,  And These Were Always So Cold That The Large Drops Falling Upon Us

Occasioned Quite A Painful Sensation. The Valleys Being All Flooded There

Was No Feed In Them For The Horses And Sheep; I Therefore Was Obliged To

Send Them Back Under Charge Of Mr. Lushington To The Camp,  Which We Had

This Morning Quitted.

 

I Retained Three Men With Me; And After The Remainder Of The Party Had

Moved Off I Left Two Of Them In Charge Of The Stores,  And Started With

Corporal Coles,  Again To Explore The Country In Front Of Us.

 

Character Of The Country. Flooded Ravine.

 

About Half A Mile To The South There Was A Deep Ravine,  Bounded On Each

Side By Lofty Cliffs. This Ravine Resembled In Many Respects The One We

Had First Encamped In,  But It Was Larger; And It Was Now Impossible To

Travel Either Up Or Down In It On Account Of The Great Body Of Water

Which Occupied Its Bed. Just Opposite To Where We Were This Ravine

Separated Into Three Smaller Ones,  Running Up Into The Sandstone Ranges

Along Which I Had Previously Sought For A Route Whereby To Turn And

Travel Round Their Heads; But I Had Found The Country So Rocky,  So

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Impracticable,  And Devoid Of Forage That I Felt Sure It Was Useless To

Attempt To Traverse It.

 

My Next Object Was To Find A Passage Out Of The Main Ravine,  Between The

Points Where The Subsidiary Ravines Ran Into It,  And Where It Joined The

Sea. If I Could Succeed In Doing This Our Difficulties Would,  In A Great

Measure,  Have Terminated,  For No Other Main Ravine Lay Between Us And The

Fertile Plains Which I Had Seen To The Southward; And I Knew That We

Should Find No Difficulty In Traversing The Intervening Sandstone Range,

Which Consisted Of A Series Of Elevated Plains Or Terraces,  Rising One

Behind The Other.

 

With This View Coles And Myself