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

(*Footnote. Another Authority Says: Tidore Near Ternate Is A Good

Friendly Place. Articles For Trade Are Looking-Glasses Of A Better Kind,

Knives And Forks,  Beads,  Watches,  Printed Calicos,  Blue Pondicherry

Cloth,  Salimpores,  Arms,  Powder,  Flints,  Lead Or Shot,  Razors,  Scissors,

Handkerchiefs; In Return For Which You May Get Pearls,  Pearl-Shell,

Tortoiseshell,  Birds-Of-Paradise,  Nutmegs,  Etc.)

 

Volume 1 Chapter 13 (At Swan River) Pg 182

Plan For Returning To The North-West Coast. Why Abandoned.

 

On Arriving At The Mauritius I Found That My Stay Would Be Unavoidably

Protracted From The State Of My Wound,  Which The Want Of Rest And

Attention Had Prevented From Healing During The Expedition,  Whilst My Men

Were Still Suffering Under The Effects Of The Hardships And Privations

They Had Recently Been Subjected To; My First Step Therefore Was To

Discharge The Lynher,  And The Next To Consider A Plan For Future

Volume 1 Chapter 13 (At Swan River) Pg 183

Operations.

 

The Rivers Fitzroy And Glenelg,  Simultaneously Discovered By Captain

Wickham And Myself,  Although Of Considerable Magnitude,  Were Only

Sufficient To Account For The Drainage Of A Small Portion Of The Vast

Continent Of Australia,  And This Interesting Question,  Far From Being

Placed In A Clearer Point Of View By Our Expeditions,  Was If Possible

Involved In Deeper Obscurity Than Ever. I Was Therefore Anxious To Return

To The North-West Coast And Solve The Mystery That Still Hung Over Those

Regions; But,  After Considering Various Plans And Suggestions,  In Which I

Was Kindly Assisted By The Advice And Opinions Of Sir William Nicolay,

Then Governor Of The Mauritius,  I Was Induced To Forego The Intention Of

Proceeding Again Direct To The North-West,  And To Bend My Course In The

First Instance To Swan River. There I Could Consult Sir James Stirling,

The Governor,  Who Had Been Instructed On Our Departure From England To

Afford Us Every Assistance; And,  According To The Means Which Could Then

Be Obtained,  I Might Either Proceed Again By Sea To The Vicinity Of The

Glenelg Or The Fitzroy; Or,  If A Proper Vessel And Equipments Could Not

Be Had,  I Might Endeavour To Pass The Range To The North-East Of That

Colony,  Ascertain The Direction Of The Streams Which Must Be Thrown Off

By It To The Interior,  And Trace The Main River Into Which They Fell (If

Such There Was) To Its Outlet.

 

Proceed To Swan River.

 

I Accordingly Embarked My Party And The Stores In My Possession At Port

Louis On The 21st August 1838,  And Arrived On The 18th September At Swan

River,  Where I Lost No Time In Communicating My Views To Sir James

Stirling,  Who Concurred In The Plan For Returning To The North-West; And

It Was Arranged That As Soon As The Colonial Vessel Champion,  Then Absent

On A Voyage To St. George's Sound,  Should Come Back To The Swan,  It

Should Be Prepared For The Conveyance To Camden Bay Of Myself And Party,

Reinforced By Such Additional Persons As Might Feel Disposed To Proceed

There At Their Own Cost For Speculative Purposes.

 

Return To The North-West Frustrated.

 

It Was Not However Until The Month Of December Following That The

Colonial Schooner Became Disposable,  And Then New Impediments Arose From

Her Being Found So Much In Want Of Repair As To Be,  In Sir James

Stirling's Opinion,  Scarcely In A Condition To Proceed On Such A Voyage

As We Contemplated,  Whilst The Repairs Required Were Of A Nature Which

Could Not Be Effected In The Colony. From These And Other Considerations,

More Especially The Danger And Disappointment Likely To Be Experienced

For Want Of Proper Equipment,  Which It Was Found Very Difficult To Supply

At The Swan In An Effective And Satisfactory Manner,  The Expedition To

The North-West Was Deemed Unadvisable And For The Present Given Up.

 

It Is Unnecessary Here To Dwell On The Mortification I Felt At Being

Obliged Thus To Abandon My Long-Cherished Projects. The Delays I Had

Volume 1 Chapter 13 (At Swan River) Pg 184

Already Experienced Were Sufficiently Vexatious,  But I Had Endeavoured To

Turn The Time Thus Lost To Some Profit By Endeavouring To Acquaint Myself

With The Resources Of The Country,  As Well As In Acquiring Information Of

A Scientific Nature,  And I Had Attained Such A Knowledge Of The Language

Of The Natives As Enabled Me To Form A Vocabulary Of The Different

Dialects Spoken In These Parts,  Which Was Printed And Forwarded To

England At The Close Of The Year.

 

My Excursions Into The Country From Perth Whilst Awaiting The Arrival And

Fitting Out Of The Champion Were Necessarily Short,  But The Journal Of

One To The Northward,  Made In Company With My Young Friend Mr. Frederick

Smith,  Who Afterwards Fell A Sacrifice In The Expedition To Shark Bay,

Will I Think Be Interesting Enough To Be Inserted Here.

 

Excursion To The North Of Perth.

 

November 30.

 

Mr. Smith And Myself Started At Noon This Day,  Accompanied By Corporal

Auger And Two Natives,  Upon A Trip In A Northerly Direction; About 5 P.M.

We Reached A Lake Distant About Fifteen Miles From Perth,  And Called By

The Natives Mooloore: We Halted Here For The Night.

 

The Horses Were Scarcely Tethered And Our Fire Made When Four More

Natives Joined The Party; Their Names Were Noogongoo,  Kurral,  Jeebar,  And

Dudemurry; They Brought Us A Present Of Twenty-Seven Freshwater

Tortoises,  The Average Weight Of Each Of Which Was Half A Pound. They

Said That,  Although The Lake Was Called Mooloore,  The Name Of The Land We

Were Sitting On Was Doondalup.

 

Story-Telling.

 

As Soon As Supper Was Finished They Became Very Talkative,  And,  In A Sort

Of Recitative,  Recounted Various Adventures; And,  When They Conceived

That They Had Sufficiently Entertained Me,  They Requested Me To Give Them

An Account Of My Adventures In The Northern Part Of The Country,  Where

They Had Heard From Other Natives That I Had Been For Some Time.

 

Having Now Acquired Some Knowledge Of Their Language,  I Was Able To Make

Myself Tolerably Intelligible To Them,  And They Listened With The

Greatest Anxiety And Interest To The Various Misfortunes That Befel Me.

When They Heard That I Had Been Wounded By The Natives To The North No

Persuasions Or Protestations Upon My Part Could Convince Them That My

Object In Now Proceeding In That Direction Again Was Merely To Gratify

Curiosity,  And Not From Motives Of Revenge; But They Kept Continually

Requesting Me Not To Attempt To Kill Anybody Until I Had Passed A Spot

Named Yalgarrin,  About Ten Days Journey To The North,  And They Then

Volume 1 Chapter 13 (At Swan River) Pg 185

Advised Me Indiscriminately To Shoot Everybody I Saw; And Were The More

Urgent In Pressing The Adoption Of This Course Upon Me From The Fact Of A

Quarrel Existing Between Some Of Their Relatives And The Tribe Dwelling

There.

 

After I Had Exhausted The Theme Of My Northern Journey They Desired Me To

Give Them Some Information With Regard To England; I Therefore Related

Various Circumstances Which I Thought Would Amuse Them. Amongst Other

Things I Described The Track Of The Sun In The Heavens In Those Northern

Latitudes; This They Fully Understood,  And It Excited Their Most

Unqualified Admiration. I Now Spoke To Them Of Still More Northern

Latitudes; And Went So Far As To Describe Those Countries In Which The

Sun Never Sets At A Certain Period Of The Year.

 

Its Impression On The Natives.

 

Their Astonishment Now Knew No Bounds: "Ah I That Must Be Another Sun;

Not The Same As The One We See Here," Said An Old Man; And In Spite Of

All My Arguments To The Contrary,  The Others Adopted This Opinion. I

Wound Up The Night's Conversation By An Account Of The Diminutive

Laplanders,  Clothed In Skins Of The Seal Instead Of Kangaroo; And Amidst

The Shouts Of Applause That This Account Excited I Laid Down To Rest. I

This Night Observed A Circumstance Which Had Often Before Struck Me,

Namely,  That Savages Care But Little For Narratives Concerning Civilized

Man,  But That Anything Connected With Other Races In The Same State Is

Most Greedily Received By Them.

 

December 1.

 

Before Sunrise This Morning The Two Natives Yenmar And Nganmar,  Who Had

Accompanied Us From Perth,  Came To Me And Said That,  From What I Had Told

Them Last Night,  It Appeared That Some Cause Of Quarrel Existed Between

Myself And The Natives To The North; And That,  However Pacifically I

Might Now Express Myself,  They Felt Convinced That,  If A Fair Opportunity

Offered,  I Should Revenge Myself Upon Some Northern Native. Now They,

Being Southern Men,  Had Nothing Whatever To Do With These Quarrels And

Disputes,  And Therefore They Should At Once Return To Perth.

 

I Did My Utmost By Means Of Protestations And Promises To Induce Them To

Forego This Resolution,  But In Vain; And The Only Boon I Could Gain From

Them Was That They Would Accompany Me To Another Tribe,  Distant About

Five Miles,  Some Of Whom Would Probably Go On With Me; They,  At The Same

Time,  Assured Me That They Would Preserve The Most Profound Secrecy As To

The Fact Of My Having Any Cause Of Quarrel To The Northward; And Advised

Me To Hold My Tongue Upon This Point And Quietly Shoot The First Man I

Saw There.

 

Meeting With Other Natives.

 

Finding That The Arrangement Pointed Out By These Natives Was The Only