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

Leaving Three Men At The

Camp. Soon After My Departure These Men Heard The Voices Of Natives In

The Woods,  And Presently They Appeared Themselves In Numbers Which

Rapidly Increased Until There Were Collected Together About Two Hundred

Men,  Women,  And Children. The Party At The Tents Instantly Got Under

Arms,  And Posted Themselves On The Brow Of The Hill On Which Our Tents

Stood; Whilst At Some Distance From Its Base,  And On The Opposite Side Of

The Stream,  The Natives Were Assembled.

 

The Advance Of A Large Armed Body From The Woods Seemed Now To Indicate

That A Hostile Movement Was About To Be Made; One Of My Party Therefore

Shouted Out To Them In A Threatening Tone,  Motioning To Them At The Same

Time To Go Away. The Natives Immediately Answered The Shout,  Then Halted,

And,  After Apparently Consulting Together For Some Time,  Retired A

Little. The Party At The Tents Simultaneously Took Counsel Together And,

Agreeing That It Would Be Imprudent In Their Small Number To Hold

Intercourse,  Under The Existing Circumstances,  With So Large A Body Of

Natives,  It Was Resolved Not To Allow Them To Approach Beyond A Certain

Point,  And,  In The Event Of Any Armed Portion Passing The Stream Towards

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The Tents In Disregard Of Their Signals,  Then To Fire On Them One By One.

 

Proceedings At The Camp.

 

In The Meantime The Women And Little Children Moved Round The Hill,

Examining Everything With The Most Intense Delight: A Pony Which Was In

Front Of The Camp More Particularly Excited Their Attention; The Little

Children Laughed Loudly At It,  And Appeared Also To Laugh At The Party

Themselves,  Regarding Them Much The Same Way That Little Boys Do A

Stranger In Foreign Costume When He Appears In The Streets Of A Country

Village In England. The Native Men Regarded The Pony More Seriously; They

Walked Round And Round,  Examining It Carefully,  And When The Little

Stallion,  Becoming Playful From These Marks Of Attention,  Neighed,  Put

Down His Head,  And Prepared To Fight And Kick Vigorously,  They All Beat A

Precipitate Retreat.

 

The Party At The Tents Overlooked All Their Movements And Heard Every

Word That Was Uttered. They Describe The Language This People Spoke As

Clear,  Distinct,  And Agreeable To The Ear; The Men They Observed To Be A

Fine Race,  Tall And Athletic: Two Were Remarked In Particular,  One Of

Whom Was Very Tall,  And Had His Forehead And Face Painted With White

(Their Sign Of Mourning,  And That There Is A Death To Avenge) Whilst The

Other Was Of A Far Lighter Shade Of Colour Than The Rest,  And These Two

Appeared To Direct The General Movements.

 

After Some Time Distant Shouts Were Heard From Other Natives In The

Direction In Which My Party Had Seen Me Go; And A Large Body Of The

Native Men Instantly Hurried Off In That Quarter,  Headed By The Tall Man

And The Light-Coloured One I Have Just Mentioned. Then Ensued A Pause Of

About Two Hours,  During Which The Native Women And Children Wandered

About In The Distance,  Conversing In Groups: Suddenly Was Heard Shouts,

As Of Distress,  From The Same Quarter,  Which Were Answered By The Natives

In Front Of The Camp,  When All Moved Off In A Hurried Manner And Were

Seen There No More. But In The Interim Another Scene Connected With This

Had Been Passing At A Distance.

 

Events In Tracing A Road.

 

On Quitting The Camp In The Morning I And My Two Companions Traversed For

Some Time Portions Of The Elevated Sandstone Plains Which I Had Passed On

A Former Occasion; And,  After An Hour's Walking Through The Gloomy

Stringy-Bark Forest Which Covered Them,  We Reached A Stream Of Water

Running In A Shallow Valley; And As There Was A Bad Route Down To This I

Halted To Make A Road Which The Ponies Could Traverse. There Was Plenty

Of Water And Forage Hereabouts,  And A Fine Level Country For Our

Proceedings,  So That We Were All In High Hopes And Spirits,  And,  As I

Then Believed,  Our Principal Difficulties Were At An End.

 

Whilst At Work At The Road We All Thought That We Heard A Native Call,

And That Others Answered Him; Having Listened For A Repetition Of These

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Sounds We Again Heard Them,  But They Were So Indistinct In Character That

None Of Us This Time Agreed As To What They Were. I Imagined That It Was

The Call Of A Bird And,  When I Again Heard The Same Sound Very Faintly In

The Distance,  I Felt Convinced It Was Not A Human Voice,  And Proceeded On

My Way Perfectly At Ease.

 

My Attention Was Soon Occupied By Other Objects. I Saw From A Hill I

Ascended Some Remarkable Blue Peaks To The South: This Gave Us Fresh

Hopes; And Nothing Occurred Till About Three-Quarters Of An Hour After We

Had First Heard The Native Call,  When We Arrived At A Short Descent

Covered With Rocks,  From Which Started A Large Kangaroo; I Got A Fair

Shot At,  And Knocked It Over,  But It Sprang Up Again And Hopped Away; We

Then Tried To Track It But Soon Lost Its Footsteps In The Scrubby

Vegetation Of The Gloomy Forest,

 

It Was The Duty Of The Cape Man Who Accompanied Me To Mark A Tree Every

Here And There By Chipping The Bark,  So That The Party Might The Next Day

Easily Recognise The Route Which They Had To Pursue; Upon Looking Back I

Now Perceived That He Had Neglected A Very Remarkable Tree About Twenty

Or Thirty Yards Behind Us,  And Which Stood Close To The Spot Where I Had

Fired At The Kangaroo. I Desired Him To Go Back And Chip It,  And Then To

Rejoin Us; In The Meantime I Stood Musing As To The Best Means Of

Avoiding The Little Rocky Ravine In Our Front.

 

Sudden Surprise By Natives.

 

Finding That The Man Remained Absent Longer Than I Had Expected I Called

Loudly To Him,  But Received No Answer,  And Therefore Passed Round Some

Rocks Which Hid The Tree From My View To Look After Him. Suddenly I Saw

Him Close To Me Breathless And Speechless With Terror,  And A Native With

His Spear Fixed In A Throwing-Stick In Full Pursuit Of Him; Immediately

Numbers Of Other Natives Burst Upon My Sight; Each Tree,  Each Rock,

Seemed To Give Forth Its Black Denizen,  As If By Enchantment.

 

A Moment Before,  The Most Solemn Silence Pervaded These Woods. We Deemed

That Not A Human Being Moved Within Miles Of Us,  And Now They Rang With

Savage And Ferocious Yells,  And Fierce Armed Men Crowded Round Us On

Every Side,  Bent On Our Destruction.

 

Contest With Them. Unfortunate Results.

 

There Was Something Very Terrible In So Complete And Sudden A Surprise.

Certain Death Appeared To Stare Us In The Face: And,  From The Determined

And Resolute Air Of Our Opponents,  I Immediately Guessed That The Man Who

Had First Seen Them,  Instead Of Boldly Standing His Ground,  And Calling

To Coles And Myself For Assistance,  Had At Once,  Like A Coward,  Run Away;

Thus Giving The Natives Confidence In Themselves,  And A Contempt For Us:

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And This Conjecture I Afterwards Ascertained Was Perfectly True.

 

We Were Now Fairly Engaged For Our Lives; Escape Was Impossible,  And

Surrender To Such Enemies Out Of The Question.

 

As Soon As I Saw The Natives Around Me I Fired One Barrel Of My Gun Over

The Head Of Him Who Was Pursuing My Dismayed Attendant,  Hoping The Report

Would Have Checked His Further Career. He Proved To Be The Tall Man Seen

At The Camp,  Painted With White. My Shot Stopped Him Not: He Still Closed

On Us And His Spear Whistled By My Head; But,  Whilst He Was Fixing

Another In His Throwing Stick,  A Ball From My Second Barrel Struck Him In

The Arm And It Fell Powerless By His Side. He Now Retired Behind A Rock,

But The Others Still Pressed On.

 

Imminent Danger.

 

I Now Made The Two Men Retire Behind Some Neighbouring Rocks,  Which

Formed A Kind Of Protecting Parapet Along Our Front And Right Flank,

Whilst I Took Post On The Left. Both My Barrels Were Now Exhausted; And I

Desired The Other Two To Fire Separately,  Whilst I Was Reloading; But To

My Horror,  Coles,  Who Was Armed With My Rifle,  Reported Hurriedly That

The Cloth Case With Which He Had Covered It For Protection Against Rain

Had Become Entangled. His Services Were Thus Lost At A Most Critical

Moment Whilst Trying To Tear Off The Lock Cover; And The Other Man Was So

Paralysed With Fear That He Could Do Nothing But Cry Out,  "Oh,  God! Sir,

Look At Them; Look At Them!"

 

In The Meantime Our Opponents Pressed More Closely Round; Their Spears

Kept Whistling By Us,  And Our Fate Seemed Inevitable. The Light Coloured

Man,  Spoken Of At The Camp,  Now Appeared To Direct Their Movements. He

Sprang Forward To A Rock Not More Than Thirty Yards From Us And,  Posting

Himself Behind It,  Threw A Spear With Such Deadly Force And Aim That,  Had

I Not Drawn Myself Forward By A Sudden Jerk,  It Must Have Gone Through My

Body,  And As It Was It Touched My Back In Flying By. Another

Well-Directed Spear,  From A Different Hand,  Would Have Pierced Me In The

Breast,  But,  In The Motion I Made To Avoid It,  It Struck Upon The Stock

Of My Gun,  Of Which It Carried Away A Portion By Its Force.

 

All This Took Place In A Few Seconds Of Time,  And No Shot Had Been Fired

But By Me. I Now Recognized In The Light-Coloured Man An Old Enemy Who

Had Led On The Former Attack Against Me On The 22nd Of December. By His

Cries And Gestures He Now Appeared To Be Urging The Others To Surround

And Press On Us,  Which They Were Rapidly Doing.

 

Fall Of The Native Chief.