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

River On Foot. The

Position Which We Had Selected Was However So Unfavourable That We Did

Not Succeed In Reaching The River,  And My Wound Became So Painful That I

Was Scarcely Able To Crawl Back To The Pony.

 

We Then Returned To The Tents,  Which We Reached In The Afternoon,  And I

Sent Another Party Out To Examine The Country And To See If They Could

Find A More Favourable Position For The Tent Where We Might Be Less

Exposed To The Mosquitoes. The Remainder Of The Men Were Employed In

Repairing The Packsaddles And In Mending Our Shoes,  Which Were In A Very

Dilapidated Condition. The Detached Party,  On Their Return,  Reported That

They Could Not Find A More Favourable Position For The Tents; And That We

Appeared To Be On A Low Marshy Tongue Of Land Which The River Nearly

Flowed Round. We This Day Saw The Tracks Of An Emu,  And Of Several Large

Dogs,  And Kangaroos.

 

Ascend A Hill.

 

March 4.

 

By Sunrise I Had Gained The Foot Of The Highest Hill Near Our Encampment.

It Is A Very Remarkable Rocky Eminence; In Height Above The Immediate

Base It Was Only 250 Feet,  But It Rose By A Regular Steep Slope From The

River,  Which Was Distant About Four Miles. I Do Not Think Therefore That

Its Height Above The Level Of The Sea Was Less Than 800 Feet. I Was

Unable To Ride Up This Hill,  From The Rocky Nature Of The Ground,  Which

Was Composed Of A Basalt Resembling That Of The Isle Of France; Its Sides

Were Slightly Wooded And Clothed With A Fine Grass Nearly As High As

Myself. From The Heaviness Of The Dew,  Walking Through A River Would Have

Been About As Agreeable As Walking Through This Grass; But When I Had

Reached The Summit The View Amply Repaid Me For The Trouble Of The

Ascent.

 

View Of The Glenelg From It.

 

The River Flowed Through A Rich And Fertile Country At The Base Of The

Hill,  Having In Some Places Hereabouts A Triple Channel Formed By Large

And Apparently Fertile Islands,  And Its Width Must Have Been At Least

Three Or Four Miles; It However Ran Away So Much To The North-Eastward

That I Began To Fear It Might Be A Great Salt-Water Inlet,  Communicating

In Some Manner With Prince Regent's River,  And That We Might Thus Find

Ourselves Upon A Large Island. I Had A Good View Of The Valley For 10 Or

12 Miles In An Easterly Direction Over A Country Still Very Fertile,  But

All That I Saw Tended To Make Me Believe That The River Had Some

Communication With The Sea,  Somewhere Towards The North-East.

 

We Reached The Camp Before Breakfast; And,  As This Was Sunday And Our

Ponies Were Rapidly Improving From The Goodness Of Their Feed,  I

Determined To Halt Here For A Day Or Two Whilst A Detachment Examined The

Country To Ascertain,  If Possible,  Whether We Were On An Island Or Not,

And Whether It Was Possible To Cross The River Near Our Present Position.

 

Volume 1 Chapter 8 (To The Glenelg River) Pg 105

March 5.

 

This Morning Accordingly An Exploring Party Started; And,  As It Was

Necessary That They Should Traverse The Country On Foot So As To Be Able

To Cross The Low Marshy Grounds Near The River,  I Was,  On Account Of My

Wound,  Unable To Accompany Them,  And Therefore Occupied Myself In Making

A Set Of Magnetic Observations.

 

March 6.

 

This Afternoon Mr. Lushington And The Party Returned,  Having Found The

Northern Bank Of The River To Consist Of Low Marshy Ground Covered With A

Luxuriant Vegetation,  And In Some Places With Such Forests Of Mangrove

Trees That It Was Impossible To Approach The Stream. They However

Succeeded In Reaching One Of The Channels Of The River,  Which Was Upwards

Of 400 Yards Wide; The Rise And Fall Of Tide Was Here About Twenty Feet,

And The Current,  Of Course,  Extremely Rapid. They Reported The River As

Being,  To All Appearance,  Navigable,  And That The Tide Only Set In From

The Westward.

 

The River.

 

As The Southern Bank Of The River Was Bordered By High Rocky Hills They

Saw Nothing Of The Country In That Direction. Their Report Was On The

Whole Satisfactory,  For It Appeared That The Good Country Still Extended

Along The Northern Bank,  And That We Were Upon The Mainland.

 

Porpoises Seen.

 

A Good Idea May Be Formed Of The Size Of The River Where The Party Made

It From The Circumstance Of Their Seeing A Large Shoal Of Porpoises.

 

Iguana. Denseness Of Vegetation.

 

March 7.

 

This Morning We Started Early In A North-Easterly Direction And Travelled

All Day Through A Very Fertile And Picturesque Country. On Our Left Lay

Hills Covered With Grass,  And On Our Right Extensive Plains,  Through

Which Ran The Glenelg. The Vegetation In These Was So Luxuriant That It

Choked The Fresh Water Up; And Whole Plains Were Sometimes Thus Inundated

Ankle Deep. The Country Was Thinly Timbered,  But In General The Trees

Were Of A Very Great Size: One Particularly Took My Fancy,  Having Very

Large Leaves About The Colour Of Those Of The Horse-Chestnut,  And Which

Cast More Shade Around Them Than Any Other Which I Have Seen In

Australia.

 

In The Afternoon,  As We Were Passing Through A Densely Vegetated Bottom,

We Saw A Very Large Iguana Run Up A Tree. This Brute Was Of A Beautiful

Green Colour And Five Or Six Feet Long; It Sat On The Tree,  Making A

Noise Somewhat Like A Snake,  And Was The Largest And Ugliest Of The

Volume 1 Chapter 8 (To The Glenelg River) Pg 106

Lizard Tribe Which I Have Ever Seen On Land. As We Could Make No Use Of

It I Thought It Would Be Wanton To Kill It; So,  After Examining It As

Well As We Could,  We Moved On,  Leaving It Undisturbed.

 

The Black Flies On This Day Changed Their Character,  And Became Much

Smaller Than Those I Had Hitherto Seen.

 

March 8.

 

We Made But Little Progress Today On Account Of The Denseness Of The

Vegetation,  Which Was So Luxuriant That We Found Great Difficulty In

Forcing Our Way Through It; In Several Instances Indeed It Was Wholly

Impassable; And,  After Making An Attempt To Penetrate Through A Jungle,

We Were Obliged To Turn About And Coast Round It. The Numerous Streams We

Met With Were Also A Serious Impediment,  For Many Of These Were So Muddy

And Deep That We Had Great Difficulty In Finding A Place Where We Could

Cross.

 

Signs Of Natives.

 

We Halted For Breakfast Near A Stream Of This Kind,  Under The Shade Of A

Large Group Of The Pandanus. This Was Evidently A Favourite Haunt Of The

Natives,  Who Had Been Feeding Upon The Almonds Which This Tree Contains

In Its Large Complex Fruit,  And To Give A Relish To Their Repast Had

Mingled With It Roasted Unios,  Or Fresh-Water Mussels,  Which The Stream

Produced In Abundance. The Remains Of Some Old Spears Were Also Lying

About,  But The Natives Themselves Were Not Visible.

 

Immediately After Breakfast I Ascended A Hill To See If We Could In Any

Way Get Clear Of The Deep Stream On The Banks Of Which We Had

Breakfasted. The Glenelg Was Distant About Three Miles To The South,  And

I Found That,  In Order To Disengage Ourselves From The Waters Which

Almost Encompassed Us,  We Must Turn Off To The North-West,  And Thus

Almost Double Back On Our Former Track,  As There Was No Other Resource. I

Returned At Once To The Party,  And We Spent The Rest Of The Day In

Crossing Two Deep Streams,  And Then Proceeded About A Mile To The

Eastward,  Where We Halted For The Night On The Bank Of A Rocky

Watercourse,  But Not Containing A Drop Of Water. The Timber Today Was

Larger Than I Had Yet Seen It,  Affording Many New Kinds,  And One In

Particular,  Resembling In Appearance And Quality The English Ash.

 

March 9.

 

We Moved Through A Low Country,  Densely Vegetated,  And Still Abounding In

Deep Sluggish Streams,  Almost Unapproachable,  On Account Of A Dwarf

Bamboo And Other Tropical Plants Which Clothed Their Margins. Some Of

These Streams Were Twenty Feet Deep And Upwards,  And Looked More Like

Canals Than Natural Watercourses.

 

Cascade Of The River.

 

The Point Where We Halted For The Night Was Not Very Distant From The

Volume 1 Chapter 8 (To The Glenelg River) Pg 107

River,  For Its Roaring,  As It Forced Itself Over A Rapid,  Could Be

Distinctly Heard. As It Was Important To Ascertain If It Ceased To Be

Navigable At This Point,  As Well As Whether It Could Be Here Forded Or

Not,  I Ordered A Party To Proceed At Daylight And Examine It,  And In The

Interim We Laid Down To Enjoy Such Repose As Myriads Of Mosquitoes Would

Allow Us.

 

March 10.

 

The Party Started At Dawn And Did Not Return Until The Afternoon. They

Arrived At Low-Water At A Point Where The River Formed A Series Of Rapids

And Was Apparently Broken Into Several Channels; The One Which They

Reached Was Not More Than Fifty Or Sixty Yards Wide,  The Tide At Low

Water Being Full Seven Or Eight Feet Below The Level Of The Rocks Which

Formed The Rapids,  But At High-Water It Rose,  Judging From The Marks On

The Rocks,  As Many Feet Above Them. This Channel Would Therefore Cease To

Be Navigable For Vessels At This Point,  But Large Boats Could Proceed Up

It At High-Water. There Was No Apparent Possibility Of Our Being Able To

Pass It Hereabouts On Account Of The Great Rapidity Of The Current. The

River Continued Fresh Below The Rapids,  And Their Account Of The

Character Of The Country They Saw Was Most Satisfactory.

 

Inconvenient Halting Place.

 

Almost Immediately After They Had Entered The Camp The Rain Began To Fall

In Such Torrents That It Was Impossible For Us To Move; This Was

Unfortunate For Where We Were Halted Was Unfit For A Day's Resting-Place,

And We Should Consequently Be Compelled To Move On Sunday Morning Instead

Of Making It A Day Of Perfect Rest. The Point Where The Party Made The

River Today Was About South Latitude 15 Degrees 41 Minutes; East

Longitude 124 Degrees 53 Minutes.