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 112

The Glenelg,  Having Made A Sudden Turn,  Was Close To Us,  Whilst In Our

Front,  And Completely Blocking Up Our Passage,  There Was A Very Large

Tributary Which Joined The River From The North-East; I Therefore Halted

The Party Here For The Night,  And At Once Proceeded Down To The River.

 

It Was Quite Fresh And Running At The Rate Of More Than Five Knots An

Hour; The Bed Was Composed Of Fine White Sand,  And Even Close To The

Margin It Was 2 1/2 Fathoms In Depth. The Trees Which Bordered It Were Of

A Gigantic Height And Size,  I Think The Largest That I Have Seen In

Australia; Whilst It Was Almost Impossible To Get Down To The Stream,

From The Denseness Of The Vegetation On Its Banks. Before We Reached The

Main Channel Of The River We Had Several Smaller Ones To Cross,  But Of

Very Insignificant Depth.

 

I Stood For Some Time Watching This Dark Turbid Stream Sweeping Rapidly

Along,  And Could Not But Wonder Where So Great A Body Of Water Could Have

Its Source. I Had Then Seen No Other Australian Rivers,  But Judging From

Description This Differed Widely From Them All.

 

I Have Since Visited Many Of The Most Noted Australian Streams And Found

This Distinguished By Many Peculiar Characteristics; Nor Would I Hesitate

To Say That,  With Exception Perhaps Of The Murray,  It Will Be Found The

Most Important On That Continent; And,  Taking Into Consideration Its

Geographical Position,  The Fertility Of The Country On Its Banks,  As Far

As It Is Yet Known,  And The Rise And Fall Of Tide,  It May Perhaps Not

Yield In Consideration Even To The Murray.

 

Torrents Of Rain.

 

I Now Examined The Tributary Stream Which Here Joined The Glenelg,  And To

My Chagrin Found That It Was So Much Swollen By The Late Rains As To Be

Utterly Impassable. To Attempt To Construct A Bridge Over It Would Have

Been Useless For The Adjacent Ground Was Now So Swampy The Horses Were

Bogged Before We Got Them Near It. I Wandered Up Its Banks As Far As I

Could Before Nightfall,  But Could Not Succeed In Finding Any Place In Our

Vicinity At Which We Might Hope To Effect Our Passage. Just As It Got

Dark The Rain Again Began To Pour In Torrents; Thus,  If Possible,

Rendering Our Position Worse Than Before,  And I Returned Late To The

Tents Much Dispirited At The Unfavourable Weather We Had Encountered.

 

Rise Of The Waters. Marks Of Inundations.

 

On Going Down To The Glenelg The Next Morning I Found It So Swollen By

The Heavy Rain Of The Preceding Night As To Render It Impossible To Get

Near The Main Bed. The River Was Now Far Beyond Its Banks,  And In The

Forks Of The Trees Above Our Heads We Saw Driftwood,  Reeds,  Dead Grass,

Etc.,  Lodged At Least Fifteen Feet Higher Than The Present Level; And

Which Could Only Have Been Left There During Some Great Flood. Whether

These Had Frequently Recurred We Had Of Course No Means Of Judging,  But

During Such Floods The Whole Of The Very Low Country Which We Here Saw To

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The South-West Of Us Must Be Inundated. I Need Scarcely Add That In A

Tropical Country No Ground Could Be Conceived Better Adapted To The

Growth Of Rice Than The Extensive Levels Which Border The Glenelg.

 

A Detached Party Now Went Of To Search For A Route By Which We Could

Proceed. The Stock-Keeper Came And Reported That The Sheep Were Suffering

Greatly From The Continued Rain And Exposure To Wet,  Several Of Them

Having Died During The Night; Only Five Were Thus Left Alive Out Of The

Number We Started With,  And,  One Of These Being In A Drooping State,  I

Had It Killed That We Might Not Lose The Advantage Of It Altogether.

 

Natives.

 

Immediately On The Other Side Of The Tributary Stream Which Lay To The

South Of Us There Rose A High Precipitous Sandy Range,  Similar To Those

We Had Fallen In With On First Landing. This Range Completely Overlooked

Our Encampment From A Distance,  And On It A Party Of Natives Had Posted

Themselves. We Saw The Smoke Of Their Fires And Heard Their Own Cries And

The Yelling Of Their Dogs; And With The Help Of My Telescope I Once

Distinguished Their Dusky Forms Moving About In The Bush.

 

Cockatoos.

 

A Large Flight Of Cockatoos Which Lay Between Us And Them Were Kept In A

Constant State Of Screaming Anxiety From The Movements Of One Or The

Other Party,  And At Last Found Their Position So Unpleasant That They

Evacuated It And Flew Off To Some More Quiet Roosting-Place. Their

Departure However Was A Serious Loss To Us,  As They Played Somewhat The

Same Part That The Geese Once Did In The Capitol; For Whenever Our Sable

Neighbours Made The Slightest Movement The Watchful Sentinels Of The

Cockatoos Instantly Detected It And,  By Stretching Out Their Crests,

Screaming,  Standing On Their Toes On The Highest Trees,  With Their Wings

Spread Abroad To Support Them,  And Peering Eagerly In The Direction Where

The Movement Was Made,  They Gave Us Faithful Intimation Of Every Motion.

 

When Therefore This Advanced Guard Took Unto Themselves Wings And Flew

Away I Was Obliged To Keep All Hands On The Alert To Prevent A Surprise.

Whilst We Were Thus Occupied Our Detachment Returned And Reported The

Country To Be Utterly Impracticable. I Determined However To Examine It

Myself The Next Morning In Order To Be Quite Satisfied Upon So Important

A Point.

 

March 16.

 

I Moved Off At Dawn This Morning With A Party,  But After Following The

Direction Of The Stream For Several Miles I Found That The Whole Of The

Land Between It And The Foot Of The Hills Had Been Rendered By The Heavy

Rains A Marsh Quite Impassable For Horses,  Which Was Rendered The More

Annoying As The Swamp Was Not More Than A Mile In Width,  So That This

Slight Space Alone Prevented Us From Pursuing Our Desired Route. Nothing

However Was Now Left Us But To Turn Once More To The North-West,  And Thus

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To Endeavour To Head The Marsh.

 

Danger From Natives.

 

Just As We Had Prepared To Return Home The Cries Of The Natives Arose

Close To Us; Their Fire Was About Half A Mile Away,  And Their Calls Had

Already Several Times Been Heard. Now That They Were So Near Us I Thought

It Better To Load My Second Barrel With Ball,  For I Did Not Like Their

Hanging About Us In The Way They Had Done For Several Days. On Putting My

Hand Into My Haversack In Order To Prepare Some Ammunition I Found,  To My

Great Dismay,  That I Had Taken In Mistake One Which Belonged To Another

Man And Which Contained No Ammunition; Nor Was There A Ball In Possession

Of Any Person With Me Which Would Fit My Gun And,  As I Knew That The Aim

Of Those With Me Was Not Much To Be Depended On,  Even Under The Coolest

And Most Favourable Circumstances,  I Thought That In The Moment Of A

Desperate Attack It Might Be Still Less Sure; This,  Added To The Want Of

Confidence Incident On Finding Oneself Unarmed And Dependent On The

Protection Of Others,  Made Me Feel Very Uncomfortable Until We Once More

Reached The Tents.

 

Rains Continue. Torrents Of Rain.

 

During The Early Part Of The Day The Rain Fell In Torrents; But,  As It

Cleared Off A Little Soon After Our Arrival,  We Started In A

North-Westerly Direction. Such Violent Storms Of Thunder,  Lightning,  And

Rain Set In When We Had Made About Two Or Three Miles That I Was Again

Obliged To Halt; And As It Continued To Rain Heavily Throughout The

Night,  Our Situation,  Which Was Already Bad,  Might Now Be Said To Be

Hourly Growing Worse; And It Can Readily Be Conceived That,  Between

Rheumatism In My Wounded Limb,  Lying In Water,  And Vexation At The

Constant Difficulties We Experienced,  I Was Too Much Harassed To Be Able

To Sleep.

 

Swamps.

 

The Continued Rain During The Night Had Necessarily Rendered The Marsh

Far More Impracticable Than Before; But,  As No Other Route To The

Southward Could Be Found On Account Of The River Which Lay Upon Either

Hand,  I Was Compelled To Wait Until The Ground Again In Some Measure

Dried. But It Would Have Been Equally As Impossible To Beat A Retreat As

It Was To Get Forward,  For We Were In A Manner Surrounded By Swampy Land,

And When The Loads Were Placed Upon The Ponies They Sank Nearly Up To The

Shoulders In A Bog In Whichever Direction We Attempted To Move; But As

Our Present Position Would Have Been Unsafe In The Event Of An Extensive

Inundation Taking Place I Judged It Necessary At All Events To Reach A

Somewhat Elevated Outlying Hill Of Sandstone Which Was Distant About Two

Miles. This Point We Succeeded At Last In Gaining,  Although Not Without

Severely Injuring And Straining Some Of The Ponies In Effecting It. This

Rising Ground Was However Well Situated For Our Camp Under Present

Circumstances: It Was Composed Of Porous Sandstone,  Which In These

Climates Dries Almost Immediately After Rain. There Was Plenty Of Dead

Volume 1 Chapter 9 (To The Upper Glenelg) Pg 115

Wood Upon It And It Was Surrounded By Richly-Grassed Flats,  Whilst From

The Base Gushed Forth A Clear Spring,  Which Then Murmured Along A Purling

Brook,  Traversing The Flat On Which The Ponies Were Tethered.

 

Snake And Kangaroo.

 

Close To This Spot The Attention Of Mr. Lushington Was Drawn To A Curious

Misshapen Mass Which Came Advancing From Some Bushes