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

Course Of My Enquiries For Words Of The Guanche Language

That I Accidentally Heard Yesterday,  From An Old Inhabitant,  Of The

Existence Of A Cave In The Rocks,  About 3 Miles To The North-East Of

Santa Cruz,  Which It Was Impossible To Enter,  But Which,  When Examined

From The Sea,  Could Be Observed To Be Full Of Bones. This Cave,  He Said,

Was Known To The Old Inhabitants By The Name Of La Cueva De Los Guanches;

And According To Traditionary Report It Had Been The Burying-Place Of The

Original Inhabitants Of This Island. Several English Merchants Of Whom I

Made Enquiries Knew Nothing Of It,  Even By Report,  But The Master Of The

Hotel Was Aware Of Its Existence And Promised To Procure Me Guides To It.

Although This Day Was Sunday,  Yet,  As I Was To Sail In The Afternoon,  The

Inducement Was Too Strong To Resist,  And I Started In A Boat At 6 O'clock

With Mr. Walker Our Surgeon,  Taking My Geological Hammer As I Intended To

Return Overland.

 

When We Had Proceeded About A Mile And A Half From Santa Cruz I Was

Astonished To Hear,  From The Rocks On The Shore,  A Loud Roaring Noise,

And To See Large Clouds Apparently Of Ascending Smoke. I Landed To

Ascertain The Cause Of This,  And Found It Arose From One Of Those Hollow

Rocks Which Are Sometimes Seen On Our Own Coast And Are Known By Various

Names,  Such As Blowing Stones,  Boiling Kettles,  Etc. Etc. I Had However

Never Seen One At All To Be Compared To This In Size. It Was Formed By A

Hole In The Rocks Through Which The Water Is First Poured As The Waves

Rush In; And Then Is Partly Driven Out With A Loud Noise Through A Hole

Far Up,  And Partly Returns,  In The Form Of Spray,  By The Opening Through

Which It Was At First Impelled. By Assuming A Proper Position With Regard

To The Sun A Most Beautiful Rainbow Is Seen In This Spray As It Is Dashed

High Into The Air,  And The Whole Is Well Worthy Of A Visit. Having

Collected Some Shells And Geological Specimens We Again Embarked For The

Cave.

Volume 1 Chapter 1 (Commencement Of The Expedition Tenerife) Pg 15

 

On Reaching The Spot We Distinctly Observed,  From The Shore,  The Mouths

Of Two Caves Full Of Bones. As The Guanches Were In The Habit Of

Embalming Their Dead I Entertained Hopes Of Obtaining From Them A Mummy,

Of Which There Are Several Preserved In The Canary Islands. Upon Landing

However I Found That They Were Utterly Inaccessible,  Being Situated In A

Perpendicular Rock About 150 Feet Above The Level Of High Water Mark,  And

A Considerable Distance Beneath The Summit Of The Cliff. I Had Indulged A

Hope Of Being Able To Swing Into One Of The Caves By Means Of A Rope

Suspended From The Top,  But,  Owing To A Large Rock Which Projects From

Above Quite Over Their Mouths,  This Would Be Very Difficult. Several

Bones Had Been Blown Out Of The Apertures,  Which I Collected And Found

Them To Have Belonged To Man,  But Otherwise Displaying Nothing

Remarkable.

 

I Can Scarcely Entertain A Doubt But These Caves Really Were The

Burying-Places Of The Ancient Guanches,  Yet How They Were Approached I

Cannot Conceive; Probably There Might Have Been An Entrance To Them From

The Interior Of The Country. I Searched But My Time Was Short And I Could

Find No Traces Of Such. An Interesting Question Here Remains To Be Solved

And I Trust Some Future Traveller May Be Induced To Attempt It.

 

There Is Only One Other Supposition I Could Frame On This Subject,  And To

This I Am Led From The Fact Of The Bones Lying So Immediately In The

Caves' Mouths. Could A Party Of The Guanches,  When So Oppressed And So

Cruelly Treated By The Spaniards,  Have Taken Refuge By Some Means In

These Caverns,  And Afterwards,  From Their Retreat Being Cut Off,  Have

Found Themselves Unable To Escape And Have Here Perished Miserably;

Looking Out Of The Cavern To The Last For That Assistance They Were Never

Doomed To Receive? If They Had Managed To Enter These Caves By A Narrow

Pathway Running Along The Face Of The Cliffs,  Which The Spaniards

Afterwards Destroyed,  Such An Occurrence Might Readily Have Taken Place.

 

Having Completed My Examination I Dismissed The Boat And Walked Back To

Santa Cruz,  From Whence We Sailed At Five O'clock This Evening.

 

 

 

Volume 1 Chapter 2 (To Bahia And The Cape Of Good Hope) Pg 16

Atmospherical Phenomenon At Sea.

 

Nothing Important Occurred During The Voyage From Tenerife To Bahia; But

One Atmospherical Phenomenon I Think Is Worthy At A Future Day Of Further

Enquiry.

 

I Remarked Constantly,  Just At Sunset,  In These Latitudes,  That The

Eastern Horizon Was Brilliantly Illuminated With A Kind Of Mock Sunset.

This In A Short Time Disappeared,  To Be Soon Succeeded By Another Similar

Volume 1 Chapter 2 (To Bahia And The Cape Of Good Hope) Pg 17

In Character,  But More Faint. I Observed At The Same Time,  In The Western

Horizon,  The Regular Sunset,  And Then Two Appearances,  Like Those Seen In

The East; Perhaps This May Be Fully Accounted For By A Triple Reflection,

As In The Common Theory Of The Rainbow.

 

Land At Bahia.

 

August 17.

 

We Came In Sight Of The Coast Of South America About Noon,  And Dropped

Anchor In The Harbour Of Bahia At Four P.M.; And About Half An Hour After

I Went On Shore With Mr. Lushington,  A Person Of The Name Of Wilson

Taking Us In His Boat: There Was A Slave In The Boat,  And,  Not Knowing

That He Understood English,  I Asked Mr. Wilson Several Questions About

Slaves In General,  And He Gave Me A Good Deal Of Information On This

Subject,  Mentioning Among Other Things That The Price Of A Good Slave

Here Varied From 90 To 100 Pounds,  He Happened To State That The Slaves

Were Wretched In Their Own Country,  And That Frequently Large Numbers

Were Sacrificed To Their Gods. I Never Saw So Fine A Burst Of Natural

Indignation As The Slave In The Boat Evinced At This Statement; His Lip

Curled Up With Scorn,  His Dark Eye Grew Vividly Bright,  And His Frame

Quivered As He Made An Impassioned Reply In Portuguese; I Could Not

Understand All That He Said,  But Caught Enough To Know The Tenor Of It,

That "This Was Not The Case; Englishmen Or Foreigners Never Visited His

Country,  So How Could They Know." It Was Not So Much What He Said But The

Scornful Bitterness Of His Manner That Made An Impression On Me,  Not

Easily To Be Effaced.

 

Night Walk.

 

I Took A Night Walk In The Country This Evening And Experienced Those

Wild And Undescribable Feelings Which Accompany The First Entrance Into A

Rich Tropical Country. I Had Arrived Just Towards The Close Of The Rainy

Season,  When Everything Was In Full Verdure,  And New To Me. The Luxuriant

Foliage Expanding In Magnificent Variety,  The Brightness Of The Stars

Above,  The Dazzling Brilliancy Of The Fireflies Around Me,  The Breeze

Laden With Balmy Smells,  And The Busy Hum Of Insect Life Making The Deep

Woods Vocal,  At First Oppress The Senses With A Feeling Of Novelty And

Strangeness Till The Mind Appears To Hover Between The Realms Of Truth

And Falsehood.

 

The Town Of Bahia.

 

The Town Of Bahia Looks Very Beautiful From The Sea; But On Entering You

Find It Dreadfully Filthy. The Stench Of The Lower Town Is Horrible. Even

The President's Palace Is A Dirty And Wretched-Looking Building: His

Salary,  I Understand,  Is 600 Pounds A Year. By The Last Returns The

Population Of The Town Was 120,000,  100,000 Of Whom Were Blacks. All The

Burdens Here Are Carried By Slaves As There Are No Carts And The Breed Of

Horses Is Small,  Being Perfect Ponies.

Volume 1 Chapter 2 (To Bahia And The Cape Of Good Hope) Pg 18

 

The Exports Are Cotton And Sugar--The Cotton Chiefly To Liverpool,  The

Sugar To All European Countries But England. Their Imports Are English

Cotton Goods And Hardware,  Also Various Manufactured Goods From Germany.

The Nuns Are Famed For The Manufacture Of Artificial Feathers And

Flowers.

 

The Fruit Here Is Excellent,  The Oranges Are Particularly Fine.

 

The Merchants In The Town Are Principally English And German. There Is No

American House. Several Have Started But All Who Made The Attempt Have

Failed.

 

You Cannot Penetrate Any Great Distance Into The Interior As There Are No

Roads But Only Little Pathways Through The Woods. The Indians Are

Frequently Seen Very Near The Town.

 

State Of Society.

 

This Part Of Brazil Offered The Curious Spectacle Of A Great Evil,  Which

Has Been Long Suffered To Exist And Is Now Advancing,  Gradually Yet

Surely,  To That State Which Must Entail Inevitable Destruction On The

Existing Government Of The Country. I Allude To The Immense Slave

Population Which,  Owing To A Short-Sighted Policy,  Has Been Allowed To

Increase So Rapidly From The Frequent And Numerous Importations That At

The Present Moment They Are In The Ratio Of 10 To 1 To The White

Population,  To Whom They Are Also,  Individually,  Immensely Superior In

Physical Strength; The Brazilians Being The Most Insignificant And Feeble

Race Of Men I Have Ever Yet Seen.

 

Dangers From Slave Population.

 

The Blacks Are Perfectly Aware Of Their Own Power,  And About Two Years

Ago Had Arranged A Plan For Seizing The Town And Murdering All The Whites

With The Exception Of Foreigners; Which Miscarried Only By The Affair

Being Discovered A Few Hours Before It Broke Out. This Plan Was However

So Wisely And Boldly Conceived,  Both As A Whole And In Detail,  That It

Alone Affords The Most Conclusive Evidence