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

Danger,  And Therefore Running A Risk On My Account

That I Can Never Forget.

 

He Dressed My Wound And Told Me That Assistance Was At Hand To Convey Me

To The Tents. Mr. Lushington Soon Arrived With A Pony. It Was Now Growing

Very Late In The Day. I Therefore Did Not Like To Remonstrate Against

Being Moved On Horseback Although,  From The Position Of My Wound,  I

Feared That It Was An Injudicious Mode Of Conveyance In My State. I Was

Placed Upon The Pony And,  Supported By My Comrades,  Moved Onwards To The

Tent.

 

Reach The Camp. Consequences Of The Wound.

 

I Cared But Little For The Want Of Comforts I Must Now Be Subject To.

Therein I Only Shared The Lot Of Many A Worthy Soldier; But One Thing

Made The Night Very Wretched,  For Then Through The Woods Came The

Piercing Shrieks Of Wailing Women And The Mournful Cries Of Native Men,

Sorrowing Over Him Who Had That Day Fallen By My Hand. These Cries Rang

On My Ears All Night,  Startling Me At Every Moment From My Feverish And

Fitful Slumbers.

 

Early Next Morning The Natives Moved Off In A Westerly Direction Without

Having Again Attempted In Any Way Whatever To Molest Us. My Wound Was Not

Today So Painful As I Had Anticipated. Mr. Walker,  At My Request,

Attempted To Heal It By Union By The First Intention,  As I Hoped To Be

Thus Only Compelled To Delay The Party For A Few Days.

 

My Pain And Suffering Were,  After The First Day,  So Great,  Owing To An

Abscess Having Formed In My Hip,  That I Was Unable To Keep A Regular

Journal,  And Will Therefore Give A Short Narrative Of The Events Which

Occurred,  Recommencing My Journal On The 27th Of February,  The Day On

Which I Was Sufficiently Recovered To Enable Me To Proceed With The

Party.

 

Cape Man Sent Back To The Vessel.

 

Two Or Three Days After I Had Been Wounded The Man From The Cape,  Who Had

Been With Me At The Time,  Came To Request That He Might Be Allowed To

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Leave The Party And Return To The Vessel. He Stated Very Fairly That His

Horror And Dread Of The Natives Were So Great He Should Never Be Able To

Face Them; That He Had Never Been Before Placed In Circumstances Of

Danger; And Felt Himself Quite Unable To Cope With Them; That If His Own

Father Had Been With Him When They Attacked Us He Could Not Have Helped

Him; And That He Was Sure He Should Die Of Fright If Ever He Saw Them

Again.

 

I Thought It Would Be Cruel To Compel Him To Remain With The Party,  And

It Was Moreover Impossible To Tell What Evil Effect His Cowardice Might

Produce Upon The Others; When Already He Had,  By Running Away From The

Natives,  Induced Them To Attack Us. The Only Account He Gave Of This

Transaction Was That He Saw A Native Sitting On A Rock With A Spear And,

Feeling Alarmed,  Immediately Ran Away. No One After This Could Feel In

The Least Surprised At The Consequences. The Peculiar Characteristic Of

This Savage Race Appears To Be That They In All Cases Act Upon First

Impulses And Impressions. I Have Repeatedly Remarked This Trait In Their

Character; And Undoubtedly When They Found An Unknown Being In Their

Native Wilds,  Who Fled From Them In Evident Fear,  It Was To Be Expected

That They Would,  In The First Instance,  Feel Very Much Inclined To Run

After,  And Throw A Spear At Him.

 

On The 21st Of February I Sent A Party Under Mr. Walker Back To The

Schooner For The Purpose Of Escorting This Man,  As Well As To Direct The

Captain To Delay Her Departure From The Bay Until The 2nd Day Of May;

Which Delay Would Allow Time For Us To Complete The Exploration Of This

Part Of The Country,  And I Could Then Decide Upon What Course I Had

Better Adopt.

 

Events During Period Of Halt.

 

Mr. Walker Returned On The 22nd,  Having Executed Both These Commissions;

And His Party Brought Back For Me A Little Sugar,  Arrowroot,  And Wine.

All Of These Were Articles Of Which,  In My Present State,  I Stood Much In

Need.

 

My Recovery Was A Good Deal Delayed By The Circumstances In Which I Was

Placed. The Heat In The Store-Tent,  A Portion Of Which I Occupied,  Was

Sometimes As High As 136 Degrees Of Fahrenheit,  And Until The Return Of

Mr. Walker I Had Been Able To Obtain Nothing To Eat Or Drink But Damper

And Tea Without Sugar; I Also Reclined Upon The Ground,  Until Sores Broke

Out From Lying On So Hard A Surface In One Position. Corporal Auger

Latterly However Made A Sort Of Low Stretcher,  Which Gave Me A Little

More Ease. Added To These Bodily Ills Were Many Mental Ones--But I Will

Not Dwell Longer On Times So Replete With Painful Recollections.

 

Anecdote Of Ruston.

 

During The Time I Was Lying In My Tent,  In Great Pain And Very Low

Spirits,  I Was Attended With Every Care And Kindness By Ruston,  The

Sailor I Had Brought From The Cape,  Who Occasionally Suggested Such Odd

Topics Of Comfort As His Philosophy Could Supply; And One Day,  Either

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From Some Expressions I Had Dropped,  Or Other Circumstance,  He Conceived

That The Death Of The Native I Had Shot Was Preying Most Upon My Mind;

Under This Impression He Came Into The Tent,  Seated Himself On A

Flour-Bag Near Me,  And Made His Usual Inquiries As To My Wants And

Desires; Then,  Glancing At Recent Events,  Proceeded To Say: "Well,  Sir,

I'm Sure If I Were You,  I Shouldn't Think Nothing At All Of Having Shot

That There Black Fellow; Why,  Sir,  They're Very Thick And Plentiful Up

The Country." I Did Not Exactly See The Consolation To Be Derived From

This Argument Of Ruston's,  But I Could Not Forbear Smiling At Its

Quaintness,  And Feeling Grateful For The Kindness With Which It Was

Intended.

 

Track Found.

 

During My Illness Mr. Lushington Explored A Track To The Westward Of The

One I Had Formerly Taken,  And Of Which He Reported So Favourably That I

Determined To Pursue It. According To His Account,  By Following It For

Seven Or Eight Miles,  We Should Get Altogether Clear Of The Sandstone

Ranges,  And Enter A Tract Of Country Of Great Fertility. On The 26th Mr.

Walker Reported Me To Be So Much Better That He Thought I Might With

Safety Move On The Next Day On Horseback,  And Preparations Were

Accordingly Made For A Start.

 

A Very Serious Change Had Taken Place In Our Resources In One Respect,

For Only Fourteen Ponies Now Remained Alive Out Of Twenty-Six,  And Many

Of These Were So Weak And In Such Bad Condition As To Be Almost Useless.

On Opening One Of Those Which Had Died About A Hat-Full Of Sand Was Found

In Its Inside,  And It Therefore Appeared Very Probable That The Ponies,

Having Been Landed In The First Instance On Loose Sandy Soil Producing

Only A Short And Scanty Vegetation,  Had Taken Up So Much Sand With Their

Food As To Interfere With The Functions Of The Stomach,  And Hence Had

Arisen Their Gradual Wasting Away And Ultimate Death. I Indeed Entertain

No Doubt That The Great Loss Of Ponies We Sustained Arose From This

Cause.

 

Change Of Plans.

 

This Reduction In The Number Of Our Beasts Of Burden Prevented Me From

Entertaining Further Hope Of Being Able To Proceed For Any Great Distance

Parallel To The Coast In A Southerly Direction. I Therefore Formed A

Depot At Our Present Encampment,  Burying All Such Stores As The Remaining

Ponies Were Unable To Carry On. My Intentions Being Merely To Proceed As

Far As The Supply Of Provisions We Could Carry With Us Would Last,  Then

To Return To Our Position,  And From Thence To The Schooner.

 

Description Of A New Volcanic Country.

 

On The Morning Of The 27th Of February I Was,  In Pursuance Of This Plan

Of Operations,  Lifted On My Horse,  And We Moved On In A South-West

Direction,  Across Sandy Plains Covered With Scrub And A Species Of

Stringy-Bark; But On Travelling For About A Mile And A Half The Character

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Of The Country Became More Rocky And Difficult. After Moving Down A

Slight Descent,  We Came To A Rapid Stream,  The Same One On The Banks Of

Which I Had Heard The Natives' Calls On The Day I Was Wounded; The Banks

Afforded Good Food For The Horses And Trees Which Offered Some Shelter To

The Men From The Burning Heat Of The Sun. I Determined Therefore To Halt

Here For Breakfast; Indeed The Horses Were So Completely Knocked Up That

They Were Incapable Of Travelling Any Further. We Had Already Been

Compelled To Abandon One Of Them In A Dying State Since We Had Started In

The Morning.

 

We Halted For About An Hour And A Half And Then Recommenced Our Journey,

But Were Unfortunate Enough To Miss The Marked Trees,  And Therefore

Wandered A Good Deal In Our Attempts To Find The Right Track. Whilst Thus

Roaming In The Wood We Passed Two Spots About One Hundred Yards Distant

From Each Other,  Which I Imagined To Be Native Burying-Places: They

Consisted Of Piles Of Small Loose Stones So Heaped Together As To Form A

Large Mound; These Mounds Were Placed On Flat Bare Rocks,  One Of Them,

The Smaller,  Had Been Recently Made,  The Other Was Larger And Much Older,

For It Was Partly Overgrown With Plants.

 

View From The Sandstone Range.

 

About 2 P.M. We Reached The Extremity Of The Sandstone Ridges And A

Magnificent View Burst Upon Us. From The Summit Of The Hills On Which We

Stood An Almost Precipitous Descent Led Into A Fertile Plain Below; And

From This Part,  Away To The Southward,  For Thirty To Forty Miles,

Stretched A Low Luxuriant Country,  Broken By Conical Peaks And Rounded

Hills Which Were Richly Grassed To Their Very Summits. The Plains And

Hills Were Both Thinly Wooded,  And Curving Lines Of Shady Trees Marked

Out The Courses Of Numerous Streams. Since I Have Visited This Spot I

Have Traversed Large Portions Of Australia But Have Seen No Land,  No

Scenery To Equal It. We Were Upon The Confines Of A Great Volcanic

District,  Clothed With Tropical Vegetation,  To Which The Isle Of