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

Today Found. Its

Fruit In Size,  Appearance,  And Flavour Resembled A Small Black Grape,  But

The Stones Were Different,  Being Larger,  And Shaped Like A Coffee Berry.

All Three Produced Their Fruit In Bunches,  Like The Vine,  And,  The Day

Being Very Sultry,  I Do Not Know That We Could Have Fallen Upon Anything

More Acceptable Than This Fruit Was To Us.

 

Ford The Glenelg. Another River.

 

After Breakfast We Continued Our Route Through A Barren,  Sandy District,

Heavily Timbered; And In The Course Of The Afternoon Met Either The

Glenelg Or A Very Considerable Branch Of That Stream In South Latitude 15

Degrees 56 Minutes,  East Longitude 125 Degrees 8 Minutes: It Was 250

Yards Across And Formed A Series Of Rapids At This Point,  Where It

Emerged From A Rocky Gorge. Just Above The Rapids We Found A Good Ford,

The Average Depth Of Which Was Not More Than Three Feet. After Crossing,

The Banks On The Other Side Were Clothed With A Species Of Casuarina

Which I Did Not Observe Elsewhere. The Country On That Side Of The Stream

Was Sandy And,  As I Found By The Time We Had Proceeded Two Or Three Miles

That We Were Getting Embarrassed In A Sandstone Range,  I Halted The Party

For The Night And Went On To Try If I Could Find A Pass Across It. My

Exertions Were Not However Very Successful: I Came Upon A Path Which I

Thought Might Be Rendered Practicable For The Ponies Over The First Part

Of The Range,  But Found No Line By Which We Could Proceed Without Making

A Road.

 

Weakness Of The Men.

 

March 29.

 

At Dawn This Morning The Men Were At Work Forming The Road; The Poor

Fellows Were However So Much Enfeebled From Constant Fatigue And Very

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Inefficient Nutriment,  Whilst Exposed To The Great Heat Of A Tropical

Climate,  That They Were Unable To Exert The Same Energy As Formerly,  And

I Could Not But Be Struck With The Great Difference In Their Strength As

Evinced In Their Incapacity To Move Stones And Other Obstacles,  Which A

Few Weeks Ago They Would Have Had Little Difficulty In Lifting. The Path

Was However Soon Made As Passable As Our Abilities Permitted,  And We

Started Along It With The Ponies; Some Of Them Were However No Less

Reduced Than The Men And,  In Endeavouring To Lead One Of Them Up A Rocky

Hill,  It Fell,  And From Weakness Sank Under Its Light Load Without Making

An Effort To Save Itself; The Spine Was Thus So Severely Injured As To

Render It Unable To Move The Hinder Extremities; We Therefore Killed The

Poor Creature And Moved On.

 

Sandstone Cave.

 

Throughout The Day We Continued Gradually The Ascent Of The Range Which

We Had Yesterday Commenced. The Large Valley We Were In Led Us By A

Gentle Slope Winding Higher And Higher Amongst The Rocky Hills; At First

It Had Been So Wide As To Appear Like A Plain,  But By Degrees It

Contracted Its Dimensions,  Until,  Towards The Afternoon,  It Suddenly

Assumed Almost The Character Of A Gorge. Just At This Point We Saw In The

Cliffs On Our Left Hand A Cave,  Which I Entered In The Hope Of Finding

Native Paintings.

 

Nor Was I Disappointed For It Contained Several Of A Very Curious

Character. This Cave Was A Natural Chasm In The Sandstone Rocks,  Elevated

At Its Entrance Several Feet Above The Level Of The Ground,  From Which

The Ascent To It Was By A Natural Flight Of Sandstone Steps,  Irregular,

Of Course,  But Formed Of Successive Thin Strata,  Resting One Upon

Another,  And Thus Constituting An Easy Ascent; These Successive Layers

Continued Into The Body Of The Cave,  Quite To The End,  Where Was A

Central Slab,  More Elevated Than The Others,  And On Each Side Of This Two

Other Larger Ones Which Reached The Top Of The Cave And Partly Served To

Support The Immense Sandstone Slab That Formed The Roof.

 

Another Painted Cave.

 

The Cave Was Twenty Feet Deep And At The Entrance Seven Feet High And

About Forty Feet Wide. As Before Stated The Floor Gradually Approached

The Roof In The Direction Of The Bottom Of The Cavern,  And Its Width Also

Contracted,  So That At The Extremity It Was Not Broader Than The Slab Of

Rock,  Which Formed A Natural Seat.

 

Figure Drawn On The Roof.

 

The Principal Painting In It Was The Figure Of A Man,  Ten Feet Six Inches

In Length,  Clothed From The Chin Downwards In A Red Garment Which Reached

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Reached

To The Wrists And Ankles; Beyond This Red Dress The Feet And Hands

Protruded And Were Badly Executed.

 

The Face And Head Of The Figure Were Enveloped In A Succession Of

Circular Bandages Or Rollers,  Or What Appeared To Be Painted To Represent

Such. These Were Coloured Red,  Yellow,  And White; And The Eyes Were The

Only Features Represented On The Face. Upon The Highest Bandage Or Roller

A Series Of Lines Were Painted In Red,  But,  Although So Regularly Done As

To Indicate That They Have Some Meaning,  It Was Impossible To Tell

Whether They Were Intended To Depict Written Characters Or Some Ornament

For The Head. This Figure Was So Drawn On The Roof That Its Feet Were

Just In Front Of The Natural Seat,  Whilst Its Head And Face Looked

Directly Down On Anyone Who Stood In The Entrance Of The Cave,  But It Was

Totally Invisible From The Outside. The Painting Was More Injured By The

Damp And Atmosphere,  And Had The Appearance Of Being Much More

Defaced And Ancient,  Than Any Of The Others Which We Had Seen.*

 

 

Other Paintings.

 

There Were Two Other Paintings,  One On Each Of The Rocks Which Stood On

Either Side Of The Natural Seat; They Were Carefully Executed And Yet Had

No Apparent Design In Them; Unless They Were Intended To Represent Some

Fabulous Species Of Turtle; For The Natives Of Australia Are Generally

Fond Of Narrating Tales Of Fabulous And Extraordinary Animals Such As

Gigantic Snakes,  Etc.

 

One Of The Party Who Appeared Much Amused At These Different Paintings

Walked Straight Up The Cavern,  Gradually Ascending The Steps Until He

Reached The Slab At The End,  And Then,  Taking His Hat Off With A Solemn

Air,  Seated Himself; To His Own,  And Our Surprise,  His Bare Head Just

Touched The Roof Of The Cave,  And On Examining This Part Of It We Found

It Fairly Polished,  And Very Greasy,  From All Appearance Caused By The

Constant Rubbing Against It Of The Head Of A Person Whilst Seated On The

Rock. This And Other Circumstances Led Us To Conjecture That The Cave Was

Frequented By Some Wise Man Or Native Doctor Who Was Resorted To By The

Inhabitants In Cases Of Disease Or Witchcraft. We Saw Many Footmarks

About,  And Found Other Signs Of The Close Presence Of The Natives,  But

They Themselves Remained Invisible.

 

Beautiful Scenery.

 

The Cave Was Situated In An Exceedingly Picturesque Position,  It Occupied

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The Corner Leading From A Wide Valley To A Narrow Ravine,  Down Which Came

Bubbling Along A Clear Deep Stream,  Which Passed Within A Few Yards Of

The Cave's Mouth. After Making Sketches Of The Paintings And For A Few

Minutes Admiring This Romantic Spot We Moved Up The Ravine,  Which

Appeared To Lead By A Gradual Ascent To The Summit Of The Mountain Range

That Now Completely Hemmed Us In Both To The Southward And Eastward.

 

This Ravine,  In The Luxuriance Of Its Vegetation And The Great Size Of

The Trees,  As Well As In Its Rapid Stream,  At Times Leaping In Cascades

Or Foaming In Rapids,  Resembled Those We Had Before Seen In The Sandstone

Ranges,  But It Differed From Them In The Greater Height Of The

Surrounding Hills And Cliffs Which,  Being Overshadowed With Hanging Trees

And Climbing Plants,  Presented As Rich A Painting As The Eye Could

Behold: And,  As These Grew Golden With The Rays Of The Setting Sun Or

Were Thrown Into Deep And Massive Shadows,  I Could Not But Regret That No

Claude Of The Tropics Had Arisen To Transfer To Canvas Scenes Which Words

Cannot Express.

 

But However Beautiful The Scenery Was The Road We Had To Travel Was So

Extremely Inconvenient That The View Scarcely Made Amends For It; We Were

Continually Compelled From Old Land-Slips To Cross From One Side Of The

Stream To The Other,  And This,  From The Depth Of The Ford And The

Slipperiness Of The Rocky Bottom,  Was Sometimes No Easy Task; Moreover

The Ravine Continued Rapidly To Contract In Width And To Become More

Rugged And Precipitous; I Therefore Turned Off To The Right Into A Rocky

Amphitheatre Which Seemed Well Suited For Encamping,  And Halted The Party

For The Night; Then,  Taking One Of My Men With Me,  I Ascended The Cliffs

To See If I Could Make Out Any Line By Which To Get Clear Of The

Precipices Which Embarrassed Us,  But On All Sides I Could Descry Nothing

But Lofty Hills And Frowning Crags,  Except In The Direction Of The Ravine

Which Appeared To Run Directly Into The Heart Of The Mountain Chain; I

Therefore Turned About To Rejoin The Party,  With The Intention Of

Continuing The Same Course The Ensuing Morning As We Had Done This

Evening.

 

Narrow Escape.

 

Both Myself And The Man Who Was With Me Had However A Narrow Escape Of

Being Shot,  For,  As We Were Returning He Let His Rifle Fall And It

Exploded,  The Ball Striking The Rocks Close To Us Before It Glanced Into

The Air.

 

Other Caves.

 

March 30.

 

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