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

Circumstances It Might Have Been

Imagined That We Left These Shores Without A Single Regret; But Such Was

Far From Being The Case: When The Ponies Had Wandered Off,  When All The

Remaining Stores Had Been Removed,  And The Only Marks Of Our Residence In

This Valley Were A Few Shattered Bark Huts,  Young Coconut Plants,  A

Bread-Fruit,  And Some Other Useful Trees And Plants,  I Felt Very Loth To

Leave The Spot. I Considered What A Blessing To The Country These Plants

Must Eventually Prove If They Should Continue To Thrive As They Had Yet

Done And,  As I Called To Mind How Much Forethought And Care Their

Transport To Their Present Position Had Occasioned,  I Would Very Gladly

Have Passed A Year Or Two Of My Life In Watching Over Them And Seeing

Them Attain To A Useful Maturity. One Large Pumpkin Plant In Particular

Claimed My Notice. The Tropical Warmth And Rains,  And The Virgin Soil In

Which It Grew,  Had Imparted To It A Rich Luxuriance: It Did Not Creep

Along The Ground,  But Its Long Shoots Were Spreading Upwards Amongst The

Trees. The Young Coconuts Grew Humbly Amidst The Wild Plants And Reeds,

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Their Worth Unknown. Most Of These Plants I Had Placed In The Ground

Myself,  And Had Watched Their Early Progress: Now They Must Be Left To

Their Fate.

 

Reembarkation.

 

Amidst Such Thoughts We Resumed Our Course Down The Valley And Embarked

In The Boats; But Had Not Proceeded Far When A Dog Belonging To One Of

The Men Was Missed And,  As We Could Not Abandon So Faithful A Companion,

A Party Returned To Search For It,  And The Dog Was Brought Safely On

Board.

 

Sail For The Mauritius.

 

We Then Weighed And Sailed For The Isle Of France,  Where We Arrived On

The 17th May Without Having Met With Any Circumstance On Our Voyage

Worthy Of Record.

 

 

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Natural History.

 

North-Western Australia Seems To Be Peculiarly Prolific In Birds,

Reptiles,  And Insects,  Who Dwell Here Nearly Unmolested,  Mutually Preying

Upon Each Other,  And Thus,  By A Wise Provision,  Setting The Necessary

Check To Their Own Multiplication.

 

Distribution Of Animals.

 

Of Quadrupeds There Are But Few Species,  And Of These The Individuals,

Considered In Proportion To The Surface They Roam Over,  Are Rare. The

Only Species I Observed During A Residence Of Five Months Were Four Of

Kangaroos,  Namely The Large Macropus Giganteus ? Of Shaw,  Two Smaller

Kinds,  One Of Which Is The Petrogale Brachyotis Of Gould,  And A Kangaroo

Rat,  Which Last Is Always Seen Amongst The Rocks On The Sea Coast. One

Species Of Opossum,  A Flying Squirrel (Petaurista) Two Kinds Of Dog,  Of

Which One Is New,  Rats,  And A Fieldmouse. Of These The Kangaroos Are

Alone Numerous,  And Only In Particular Spots.

 

New Kangaroo.

 

I Shot A Female Kangaroo Of The Petrogale Brachyotis Near Hanover Bay,

And By The Preservation Of The Skin And Other Parts Enabled Mr. Gould To

Identify It As A New Species.

 

This Graceful Little Animal Is Excessively Wild And Shy In Its Habits,

Frequenting,  In The Daytime,  The Highest And Most Inaccessible Rocks,  And

Only Descending Into The Valleys To Feed Early In The Morning And Late In

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The Evening. When Disturbed In The Daytime Amongst The Roughest And Most

Precipitous Rocks,  It Bounds Along From One To The Other With The

Greatest Apparent Facility,  And Is So Watchful And Wary In Its Habits

That It Is By No Means Easy To Get A Shot At It. One Very Surprising

Thing Is,  How It Can Support The Temperature To Which It Is Exposed In

The Situations It Always Frequents Amongst The Burning Sandstone Rocks,

The Mercury There During The Heat Of The Day Being Frequently At 136

Degrees. I Have Never Seen These Animals In The Plains Or Lowlands,  And

Believe That They Frequent Mountains Alone.

 

New Domestic Dog.

 

The New Species Of Dog Differs Totally From The Dingo Or Canis

Australiensis. I Never Saw One Nearer Than From Twenty To Thirty Yards,

And Was Unable To Procure A Specimen. Its Colour Is The Same As That Of

The Australian Dog,  In Parts However Having A Blackish Tinge. The Muzzle

Is Narrow,  Long,  Thin,  And Tapers Much,  Resembling That Of A Greyhound,

Whilst In General Form It Approaches The English Lurcher. Some Of The

Party Who Went To Timor Stated It To Resemble Precisely The Malay Dog

Common To That Island,  And Considered It To Be Of The Same Breed; Which I

Think Not Improbable,  As I Cannot State That I Ever Saw One Wild,  Or

Unless In The Vicinity Of Natives; In Company With Whom They Were

Generally Observed In A Domesticated State. On The Other Hand The Canis

Australiensis Was Common In Some Parts In A State Of Nature: Of These I

Saw Several Myself And,  From The Descriptions Given By Other Individuals

Of The Party Of Dogs They Had Observed,  I Recognised Their Identity With

The Same Species. We Heard Them Also Repeatedly Howling During The Night

And,  Although They Never Attacked Our Sheep Or Goats,  Many Portions Of

Dead Animals Were Carried Off By Them. I Saw But Two Flying Squirrels And

Know Not To Which Species Of Petaurista They Are To Be Referred.

 

Other Animals.

 

Both Mice And Rats Are Common,  The Former Precisely Resembling In

Appearance The English Fieldmouse. The Rats On One Occasion Ate Up A Live

Pet Parakeet,  Leaving The Bones Gnawed And Strewed About; And On Another,

When I Had Shot A Crane (Ardea Scolopacea) Intending It For Breakfast,

They In The Night Devoured Nearly The Whole Of It.

 

Checks On Increase Of Animals.

 

The Multiplication Of Kangaroos,  Opossums,  Rats,  Etc. May Be Checked By

Various Causes; But Man,  I Imagine,  Is The Most Deadly Enemy They Have To

Contend With. The Numerous Remains Of These Animals That I Have Seen

About The Native Fires Attest The Number Destroyed. In All Those Caves In

Which I Found Native Paintings Were Representations Either Of Kangaroo

Hunts,  Or Of Men Bringing Down These Animals Dead On Their Shoulders; And

Many A Hollow Tree Bore Witness Of Its Having Been Smoked In Order To

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Drive Forth To Certain Death The Trembling Opossum Or Bandicoot Rat Which

Had Taken Refuge In It.

 

Influence Of Man On Their Habits.

 

A Convincing Proof Of The Dread In Which Man Is Held By The Various Kinds

Of Kangaroos Is Given By Their Extreme Shyness. I Never But On Two Or

Three Occasions Got Within Shot Of The Larger Kangaroos As They Were

Always So Wary; And,  Although I At Different Times Wounded Two,  I Never

Could Succeed In Actually Capturing Either. Now,  When The Detached Party

Sent Forward Just Before We Commenced Our Return To Hanover Bay Crossed A

Range Of Mountains On Which Were Neither Traces Of The Natives Or Their

Fires,  They Found The Direct Reverse Of This To Be The Case,  And Were All

Surprised At The Tameness Of The Kangaroos Compared With Those They Had

Previously Seen.

 

In The Same Way,  When I Entered A New District,  The Birds Merely Flew Up

Into A Lofty Tree Without Attempting To Go Farther Away,  And It Was Not

Until I Had Shot For A Day Or Two In The Neighbourhood Of A Place That

The Birds There Became At All Wild.

 

The Native Dog,  Doubtless Being Dependent For Subsistence Upon The Game

He Can Procure,  Must Contribute To Thin The Numbers Of The Lesser

Animals,  Who Also,  Together Perhaps With The Rapacious Dog Himself,

Frequently Fall A Prey To The Various Snakes That Inhabit The Country; As

Was Evinced In The Event Narrated On The 16th Of March Of The

Destruction,  By Mr. Lushington,  Of The Boa With A Small Kangaroo

Compressed In Its Folds.

 

The Manner,  Too,  In Which I Have Seen The Rapacious Birds Of Prey Soar

Over Plains Where The Small Kangaroos Abound,  Convinces Me That They Also

Bear Their Part In The Destruction Of This Harmless Race.

 

Traces Of An Animal With A Divided Hoof.

 

I Have Already Alluded To The Paucity Of Quadrupeds,  Both In Species And

In Number,  But I Have Still To Record The Remarkable Fact Of The

Existence In These Parts Of A Large Quadruped With A Divided Hoof: This

Animal I Have Never Seen,  But Twice Came Upon Its Traces. On One Occasion

I Followed Its Track For Above A Mile And A Half,  And At Last Altogether

Lost It In Rocky Ground. The Footmarks Exceeded In Size Those Of A

Buffalo,  And It Was Apparently Much Larger,  For,  Where It Had Passed

Through Brushwood,  Shrubs Of Considerable Size In Its Way Had Been Broken

Down And,  From The Openings There Left,  I Could Form Some Comparative

Estimate Of Its Bulk. These Tracks Were First Seen By A Man Of The Name

Of Mustard,  Who Had Joined Me At The Cape,  And Who Had There Been On The

Frontier During The Kaffir War; He Told Me That He Had Seen The Spoor Of

A Buffalo,  Imagining That They Were Here As Plentiful As In Africa. I