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

Volume 1 Chapter 9 (To The Upper Glenelg) Pg 108

Works Of Native Industry.

 

March 11.

 

The Country We Traversed This Morning Was Still Marshy,  And Intersected

By Deep Streams. The Party Had Yesterday Fixed Upon A Point For Us To

Encamp At; But,  A Sudden Inundation Having Taken Place,  We Could Not

Cross A Stream Which Lay Between Us And The Spot Selected,  So That We

Were Compelled About Noon To Halt At A Position Very Ill Adapted For Our

Purpose.

 

Various Traces Of Natives.

 

Close To Our Camp Was A Large Mass Of Basaltic Rocks,  On Which The

Natives Had Lately Been,  And Had Left Behind Them A Few Old Spears: Some

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Drawings Were Also Scratched Upon The Rocks,  Representing Heads,  Hands,

And Other Parts Of The Human Frame: They Were However Indifferently

Executed.

 

Another Branch Of Industry Which Had Engaged Their Attention Was The

Manufacture Of Stone Spearheads,  The Chips And Remnants Of Which Were

Lying About On Every Side. As This Looked Very Like A Preparation To Give

Us A Warm Reception I Kept Upon The Alert. From Constantly Sleeping On

The Wet Ground,  And The Exposure I Was Obliged To Undergo,  Such An Attack

Of Rheumatism Had Been Produced In My Left Hip And Knee That I Was Not

Only Crippled But Suffered Such Dreadful Agony From My Wounded Limb That

I Was Able To Pay But Little Attention To Passing Events.

 

I Crept About However As Well As I Could,  And Found That We Were In A

Very Populous Neighbourhood. At One Place A Large Party Of Natives

Appeared To Have Lived For Some Time,  Twelve Bark Beds Having Been Left

In A Circle Round A Fire. In This Respect They Differ In Custom From The

Natives Of The Southern Parts Of Australia,  Who Generally Sleep All Of A

Heap,  Or,  At Least,  Four Or Five Persons Together,  Whereas Each

Individual Here Appeared To Occupy His Own Little Bark Bed. In The Course

Of The Morning's March We Had Passed A Very Neat Native Oven,  Or

Fireplace,  Much More Carefully Constructed Than Anything Of The Kind I

Have Since Seen; It Consisted Of A Hole Sunk Eight Inches Deep In The

Earth,  Which Was Quite Circular,  Three Feet In Diameter,  And Very Neatly

Paved And Lined With Flat Stones; The Last Article Cooked Here Had Been A

Large Quantity Of Turtles' Eggs,  The Remnants Of Which Were Lying

Scattered All Around. This Is A Dish By No Means To Be Despised; And The

Discovery Was Rather Interesting To Me As It Proved That Turtle Came So

Far Up The River. It Rained Hard During The Greater Part Of The Day.

 

March 12.

 

As We Were Preparing To Start This Morning One Of The Ponies Was Found To

Be So Knocked Up As To Be Unable To Proceed; I Therefore Abandoned It,

Though,  I Fear,  In A State Too Far Gone To Recover; But If Perfect Rest

And Abundance Of Good Feed And Water Could Effect A Restoration It Had

Still A Fair Chance.

 

Difficulties Of The Route.

 

A Ford Over The Stream Had Yesterday Been Found Between The Glenelg And

Our Encampment,  Which We Now Succeeded In Getting The Ponies Over,  And,

In Order To Avoid Another Stream,  Which Had Been Seen To The Eastward,  We

Turned North-East,  But In About Three Miles Were Again At Fault,  On The

Banks Of A Deep Brook. I Now Turned Due North And,  After Tracing The

Stream For About A Mile,  Discovered A Ford Across Which,  After A Due

Proportion Of Sticking In The Mud And Falling With Their Loads In The

Deep Water,  We Led All The Ponies,  And Found Ourselves Happily

Established In A Jungle On The Other Side Of It. The Vegetation Here

Consisted Of Grass And Reeds Which Rose So High And Thick That I Could

See Nothing Over Them,  Although There Was Rising Land Within A Mile Of

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Us.

 

We First Endeavoured To Push Through This Jungle In An Easterly

Direction; But,  After Having Very Resolutely Made Our Way Onwards For

About An Hour,  I Saw Some Very High Land To The South-East Of Us,  Distant

Four Or Five Miles,  And Therefore Changed The Direction Of Our March To

Make For These Hills; As Soon As We Had Gained A Clear Place In The

Jungle I Halted For Breakfast,  And,  After Resting For An Hour,  We

Continued,  Notwithstanding The Dreadful Heat Of The Day,  To Move On,  But

Soon Again Came To A Deep,  Sluggish Stream Which Obliged Us To Turn Off

To The North-East; And It Was Not Until Near Nightfall That We Found A

Place Where We Could Cross It.

 

Mount Lyell.

 

Having Traversed The Stream We Proceeded To The Foot Of A Very Lofty

Peak,  The Most Remarkable Hill In This Part Of The Country,  And Which I

Named Mount Lyell,  After C. Lyell,  Esquire. We Here Pitched The Tents,

And Scarcely Was This Operation Performed Ere The Rain Fell In Such

Torrents That The Water Stood Even Under Them To The Depth Of Two Or

Three Inches,  And Yet The Tents Were Fixed In The Best Position That

Could Be Found. The Night Was Dark And Stormy So That,  Even Had A Better

Place Offered,  It Would Now Have Been Useless To Move; We Therefore

Resigned Ourselves To Our Fate And Lay Down On Our Watery Beds,  Which

Possessed At Least One Merit,  That They Were Free From Mosquitoes.

 

March 13.

 

Before The Mists Of Morning Had Cleared Away From The Lofty Hills To The

North-East Of Our Encampment I Had Commenced Their Ascent With A Party Of

Three Men. To My Great Vexation,  On Taking Out The Barometer At The

Bottom Of The Hill,  It Was Broken,  And I Could Therefore No Longer Hope

To Be Able To Obtain The Height Of Remarkable Elevations. I Managed To

Ride The Pony Up The Hill For Some Time,  But The Broken And Rocky Nature

Of The Ground Obliged Me At Last To Walk,  And I Left The Animal Tethered

In Rich Grass Higher Than Itself.

 

View From It. Magnificent Prospect.

 

When We Gained The Summit Of The Hill I Found That In The Mists Of The

Morning We Had Ascended The Wrong Peak. The One We Stood On Was Composed

Of Basalt And At Least Twelve Hundred Feet High; But Mount Lyell,  Another

Peak Springing From The Same Range,  And Not More Than A Mile To The

Eastward,  Must Have Been Four Or Five Hundred Feet Higher. It Was

Moreover Distinguished By A Very Remarkable Feature,  Namely,  A Regular

Circle,  As It Were,  Drawn Round The Peak,  Some Two Hundred Feet Below The

Summit,  And Above This Ring No Trees Grew; The Conical Peak Which Reared

Its Head Above The Region Of Trees Being Only Clothed With The Greenest

Grass,  Whilst That On Which I Stood And All The Others I Could See Were

Thinly Wooded To Their Very Summits.

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The Peak We Had Ascended Afforded Us A Very Beautiful View: To The North

Lay Prince Regent's River,  And The Good Country We Were Now Upon Extended

As Far As The Inlets Which Communicated With This Great Navigable Stream;

To The South And South-Westward Ran The Glenelg,  Meandering Through As

Verdant And Fertile A District As The Eye Of Man Ever Rested On. The

Luxuriance Of Tropical Vegetation Was Now Seen To The Greatest Advantage,

In The Height Of The Rainy Season. The Smoke Of Native Fires Rose In

Various Directions From The Country,  Which Lay Like A Map At Our Feet;

And When I Recollected That All These Natural Riches Of Soil And Climate

Lay Between Two Navigable Rivers,  And That Its Sea-Coast Frontage,  Not

Much Exceeding Fifty Miles In Latitude,  Contained Three Of The Finest

Harbours In The World,  In Each Of Which The Tide Rose And Fell

Thirty-Seven And A Half Feet,  I Could Not But Feel We Were In A Land

Singularly Favoured By Nature.

 

Continuation Of Route. Torrents Of Rain.

 

I Remained For Some Time On The Summit Of This Hill,  Enjoying The

Prospect,  And Taking Bearings. When This Operation Was Completed We

Returned To The Camp And Prepared Once More To Proceed Upon Our Route;

But,  To Our Misfortune,  Had Not Made More Than Two Or Three Miles Through

A Fertile Country When The Rain Again Fell In Such Torrents That We Were

Compelled To Halt. Indeed None But Those Who Have Been In Tropical

Countries Can At All Conceive With What Suddenness And Force These Storms

Burst Upon Us.

 

March 14.

 

We This Morning Made An Attempt To Get Clear Of The Marshes By Following

A South-Easterly Course,  And Were Thus Forced Up Into A Range Of Lofty

Basaltic Mountains,  The Slopes Of Which Were Of The Richest Description.

Had Our Ponies Been Provided With Shoes We Could Have Travelled Here With

Great Speed And Facility,  But The Higher Land Was Invariably Covered With

Sharp Pebbles Over Which The Unshod Ponies Could Only Move With Pain And

Difficulty. When However We Had Gained The Summit Of The Range The View

From It Was Similar To That Which I Have Just Described. Mount Wellington

And Mount Trafalgar Formed Splendid Objects,  Rearing Their Bold Rocky

Heads Over St. George's Basin,  Which Now Bore The Appearance Of Being A

Vast Lake. The Pleasure Of The Prospect Was However In My Eyes Somewhat

Diminished From Seeing On The Other Side Of The Range So Considerable A

Stream That I Anticipated Great Difficulty In Crossing It; I Therefore

Steered A Course Somewhat More Southerly Than Our Former Route And,

Having Reached The Extremity Of The Range,  We Once More Descended Into

The Fertile Lowlands.

 

Glenelg River.

 

Along These Our Course Continued Through An Uninterrupted Succession Of

Rich Flats,  Thinly Wooded But Luxuriantly Grassed,  Until Near Sunset,

When,  As We Were About Descending The Brow Of A Low Hill,  I Found That