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

Breakers Would Keep

Knocking Him Down And Thus Cutting His Legs To Pieces Against The Rocks.

Mr. Smith However Reached The Shore With The Line,  Receiving Sundry

Severe Cuts And Bruises; And,  To My Great Surprise,  In A Few Minutes More

He Was Again By My Side In The Boat,  Baling Away: It Was Still However

All We Could Do To Keep The Boat Afloat.

 

Boats Driven Ashore.

 

Mr. Walker Now Called Out To Me That His Boat Was Drifting,  And In A

Moment More She Went Ashore. For One Second We Saw Her Dancing Wildly In

Over The Breakers,  And Then She Disappeared From Us,  And We Were Left In

Uncertainty As To Her Fate; For,  Although We Were Close To The Beach,  It

Was Impossible,  Amidst The Din Of Elements,  To Hear What Was Taking Place

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There. An Occasional Vivid Flash Of Lightning Showed Us Dark Figures

Hauling About Some Huge Object,  And Then Again All Was Wrapped In Roar

And Darkness. Mr. Smith And Myself In The Meanwhile Were Baling Away,  And

Ruston Was Striving With The Steer Oar To Keep Her Head To Sea,  For The

Instant She Got The Least Broadside On The Waves Broke Over Her And She

Filled Again.

 

Serious Danger Of Losing The Boats.

 

Mr. Walker,  Nothing Daunted By The Conduct Of The Men,  Having Had His Own

Boat Hauled Up,  Again Swam Off To Us,  And For The Next Hour Or Two We

Kept The Other One Not More Than Half Full; But The Gale,  Which Had Been

Gradually Increasing,  Now Became A Perfect Hurricane,  And It Was Evident

That This Boat Must Also Go Ashore. We Imagined That Mr. Walker's Must Be

Stove In Several Places; And,  As To Have Been Left Without A Boat Would

Have Been Certain Destruction To Us,  I Swam Ashore To Have The Party

Ready To Try And Save Mine By Hauling Her Over The Reef The Instant She

Grounded.

 

I Arrived There With A Few Cuts And Bruises,  And Found The Men On Shore

In A Most Miserable State; Many Of Them Were Perfectly Appalled By The

Hurricane,  Never Having Seen Anything Of The Kind Before,  And Were Lying

Under The Lee Of The Bow Of Mr. Walker's Boat,  Which,  Although He Had

Drawn It Up High And Dry Upon The Sandhills,  Far Above The Usual

High-Water Mark,  Was Again More Than Half Full Of Water And Seaweed From

The Waves Every Now And Then Breaking Over Her Stern. It Was With Great

Difficulty I Roused The Men And Got Them To Clear Out The Seaweed,  Which

Lightened Her Somewhat; We Then Hauled Her Up A Little At A Favourable

Opportunity,  And Advanced Her So Far That We Rather Gained Upon The Water

By Baling,  And Thus,  By Degrees,  Got Her Quite On Land. But As The Storm

Continued The Waves Still Continued To Encroach Upon The Shore,  And We

Were Obliged To Repeat This Operation Of Hauling Up Three Successive

Times In The Night,  Which Was One Of The Most Fearful I Have Ever Passed.

I Lay Drenched Through,  My Wet Shirt Sticking Close To Me And My Blanket

Soaked With Water,  For I Could Not Find My Clothes Again After I Came

Ashore. Whenever A Flash Of Lightning Broke I Looked If The Boat Was

Drifting In,  And There I Saw It Still Dancing About Upon The Waves,

Whilst The Elements Were So Mighty In Their Power That I Felt Shrunk Up

To Nothing,  And Tremulous In My Own Insignificance.

 

The Grey Dawn Stole On And The Boat Gradually Became Visible; She Had

Drifted Somewhat Nearer Shore,  But There Still Were The Three Figures

Discernible In Her,  Ruston Working Away At The Steer-Oar,  And Mr. Smith

And Mr. Walker Alternately Baling. The Storm Now Appeared To Lull A

Little And In A Few Minutes (About Half-Past Five A.M.) It Suddenly

Dropped. The Men Now Looked Out Again And I Could Hear Ruston Saying,  "I

Believe We Are Now Safe,  Sir;" And I Immediately Ordered That Two Men

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Should Go Off And Relieve Mr. Smith And Mr. Walker. They Evidently Feared

To Make The Attempt And Said They Could Not Swim,  Which Was True As Far

As Some Of Them Were Concerned. I Then Ordered Successively Three Men Who

I Knew Could Swim To Take Advantage Of The Lull And Gain The Boat: They

All Attempted It,  But Before They Got Clear Of The Reef Their Hearts

Failed Them,  And They Declared They Could Not Contend With The Waves.

 

Renewal Of The Storm.

 

Just As The Last Man Had Failed,  The Wind,  Which Had Hitherto Been From

The South-East,  Shifted Instantaneously To The North-West. We All Quailed

Or Fell Before It,  For It Came With Sudden And Indescribable Violence;

The Boat Appeared To Hesitate For One Moment,  In The Next She Came

Dancing Wildly In On The Shore. The Men Reached Her As Well As They Could

And We Dragged Her Up. The Storm Now Became So Violent That Even Mr.

Walker,  Who Was A Heavy Man,  Was Blown About By It Like A Child; There

Was Not A Tree On The Island,  But The Bushes Were Stripped From The

Ground,  And I Found It Impossible To Keep My Legs.

 

The Sea All This Time Kept Rising,  Being Heaped Up By The Wind Against

The Shore,  But Whenever A Momentary Lull Came We Took Advantage Of It To

Drag The Boat A Little Further Up; Indeed The Sea Gained On Us So Much

That I Had Made Up My Mind It Would Sweep Away The Intervening Sandhills

And Once More Wash The Face Of The Cliffs. In This Case We Should To A

Certainty Have All Perished.

 

Distress For Water.

 

At Two P.M. The Storm Lulled Considerably,  And I Immediately Despatched

Men In All Directions To Collect Water From Holes In The Rocks,  And Made

The Native And An Old Bushman Try To Light A Fire; For Those Of Us Who

Had Been All The Night And Morning In The Pelting Rain,  With Nothing But

Our Shirts On,  Were Benumbed And Miserable From Cold.

 

March 1.

 

The Men Who Had Gone Out For Water Soon Returned And Reported That They

Had Been Able To Find Very Little Which Was Not Brackish From The Spray

Having Dashed Over The Island; I Therefore Again Reduced The Allowance To

One Pint A Day And Proceeded To Inspect Damages. Yesterday We Had Started

In Good Boats,  With Strong Men,  Plenty Of Provisions,  Everything In The

Best Order; Today I Found Myself In A Very Different Position,  All The

Stores We Had With Us,  With The Exception Of The Salt Provisions,  Were

Spoilt; Our Ammunition Damaged; The Chronometers Down; And Both Boats So

Stoved And Strained As To Be Quite Beyond Our Powers Of Repairing Them

Effectually. Moreover From Want Of Water We Were Compelled To Make For

The Main Before We Could Return Back To Bernier Island To Recruit From

Our Ample Stores There.

 

Repair Of The Boats.

 

Nothing However Could Be Done But To Have The Boats Rendered As Seaworthy

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As Possible And,  Having Given This Order,  The Want The Men Experienced

For Water Was The Best Guarantee That They Would Execute This Task With

The Utmost Diligence. As Soon As I Saw Them At Their Work I Started With

A Party In Search Of Water Whilst Another Party Under Mr. Smith Dug For

It; And Mr. Walker Superintended The Rearrangement Of The Stores And The

Digging Up The Seaweed For The Purpose Of Recovering Lost Articles. I

Returned Just Before Nightfall From A Vain Search; Mr. Smith Had Been

Equally Unsuccessful In His Digging Operations,  And We Thus Had To Lie

Down Upon The Sand Parched With Thirst,  Our Only Chance Of Forgetting Our

Misfortunes Being A Few Minutes Sleep.

 

The Boats Nearly Ready.

 

March 2.

 

The Men Continued Working Hard At The Boats,  And It Appeared That Their

Task Would Be Concluded This Day. I Once More Started To Look For Water

And To Examine The Island; But Our Search Was Again Unsuccessful. On

Measuring The Distance That The Sea Had Risen I Found That It Had Spread

Up In The Direction Of Our Boats Fifty-Three Yards Above High Water Mark;

But What Will Give A Better Idea Of The Hurricane Is The Circumstance Of

My Catching A Cormorant On The Beach,  About Seven O'clock On The Morning

Of The 1st,  And During The Height Of The Storm,  The Bird Not Even

Attempting To Fly,  Being In Appearance Completely Appalled At The

Violence Of The Wind. It Was Reported To Me At Night That Another Hour's

Work In The Morning Would Render The Boats Fit For Sea.

 

Sunday March 3.

 

The Men Had Slept But Little During The Night For They Were Oppressed

With Thirst; And When I Rose In The Morning I Saw Evident Symptoms Of The

Coming Of Another Roasting Day. They Were Busy At The Boats As Soon As

They Could See To Work,  Whilst Mr. Smith And Myself Ascended The Cliffs

To Get A View Towards The Main. When I Looked Down Upon The Calm And

Glassy Sea I Could Scarcely Believe It Was The Same Element Which Within

So Short A Period Had Worked Us Such Serious Damage. To The North-East We

Could See The Lofty White Sandhills In Lyell's Range; To The Eastward

Nothing Was Visible; Yet This Was The Point To Which I Had Determined To

Steer,  For Several Reasons. In The First Place,  The Land In That

Direction Had Never Been Visited; And Secondly,  I Had Found The Shores Of

Dorre Island Covered With Great Forest Trees,  Which Must Have Been Washed

Across The Bay,  And Which From Their Size Could Only Have Been Brought

Out From The Continent By Some Large And Rapid Stream,  Which We At This

Moment Would Gladly Have Seen As There Was Only About A Pint And Half Of

Water Per Man Left.

 

Sail For The Main.

 

When We Returned To Breakfast I Found The Boats Nearly Ready For Sea,  And

About Eleven O'clock They