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

Countenance,  Showed Plainly How Deeply Each One Had Dipped.

 

Mr. Smith And Myself Laughed Heartily At Our Dirty-Faced Companions,  Who

Knelt On Their Hands And Knees Round The Pool; And Whilst They Were

Filling The Beakers With Water We Rested Under The Shade Of The Bush For

A Few Minutes,  And Then Walked Off Towards The Interior; But From The

Undulating Low Nature Of The Ground Our View Was Very Limited,  And As Far

As We Could See There Was No Sign Whatever Of Any Change In The Character

Of The Country. On Returning Again To The Party We Found The Beakers And

Men Equally Full Of Water And Ready For A Start To The Boats.

 

Wading Through The Mud.

 

When We Reached Again The Mangrove Flats A Most Amusing Scene Commenced;

Wading Through The Mud Was Bad Enough Before,  But Now That Each Man Had A

Heavy Keg Of Water Upon His Shoulders The Movements Became Truly

Ludicrous,  More Especially As Both Landsmen And Sailors Were Equally Out

Of Their Element. Each Desperate Plunge Elicited From The Sufferers Oaths

And Expressions Which Only Those Who Have Seen Sailors Completely At A

Nonplus On Shore Can Conceive. They Were Half Humorous,  Half Pathetic,

And Never Did I See Men More Thoroughly Woebegone And Bedaubed With Mud

Than The Party When We Made The Boats Again.

 

Those Whom I Had Left Behind Now Greedily Drank The Water Of Which They

Were So Much In Want,  And,  As It Was Necessary To Complete Our Stock Of

It Here,  After We Had Dined I Despatched All Hands But Mr. Smith And One

Man Back To The Lagoon. Mr. Smith Was Too Unwell To Go Again And I

Remained With Him. This Party Took Their Rations With Them As They Were

To Remain By The Lagoon All Night In Order,  As They Termed It,  "To Have A

Good Bouse Out Of Water,  And A Good Wash," And Were To Return To The

Boats As Soon After Daylight As Possible.

 

We Had Remarked Tracks Of Natives On Shore But,  As I Saw By Their Fires

That They Were Now At Least Eight Or Ten Miles From Us,  I Was Under No

Apprehension Of An Attack From Them. The Mosquitoes However Threatened To

Be Very Troublesome,  And When I Say That Just About Sunset We Were

Completely Blackened From The Numbers That Covered Us I Do Not In The

Least Exaggerate; We Could Not Make A Fire To Keep Them Away,  And I

Therefore Quietly Resigned Myself To My Fate. Poor Smith,  Who Was Already

Very Feverish,  Passed A Night Of Perfect Torment,  And Awoke In The

Morning Seriously Ill. We Soon Heard The Voices Of The Party Returning

And,  Having Helped Them And Their Loads Of Water Out Of The Mud,  We

Returned Down The Creek.

 

Coast The Land To The Northward.

 

March 5.

 

On Standing Out There Was A Fresh Breeze Blowing From The South-East,  And

Volume 1 Chapter 15 (The Gascoyne River Reach And Enter A Mangrove Creek) Pg 219

When We Were About Half A Mile From The Shore The Water To The Northward

Deepened A Great Deal,  For Although It Was Now Nearly Low Tide We Had

Here Two And A Half Fathoms With Sandy Bottom. All Along The Shoals We

Had Met With Abundance Of Shell And Other Fish,  And The Pearl Oyster Was

Very Abundant; Indeed The Shellfish Along These Banks Were More Numerous

And Varied Than I Had Ever Before Found Them. I Saw But Few Shells Which

I Recognised As Belonging To The Southern Portions Of Australia,  Whilst

Many Were Identical With Those Which Occur To The North-West.

 

Examine Another Mangrove Creek. Character Of Their Scenery.

 

There Was No High Land Whatever In Sight; But One Low Hill,  Which Just

Appeared Above The Mangrove Tops,  Bore North By East. After Running

North-East For About Two Miles With The Same Depth Of Water We Came To

Another Opening In The Mangroves Of A More Promising Character Than

Several Small Ones Which We Had Previously Passed,  And As,  From The

Greater Depth Of The Water,  The Extraordinary Low Character Of The Coast,

And The Circumstance Of The Driftwood Upon Dorre Island,  I Expected To

Find A Large River Hereabouts,  I Determined To Examine Even The Smallest

Openings Most Narrowly; We Therefore Ran Straight For This One,  And Found

That It Had A Shoal Mouth With Only Four Feet Water At The Entrance. The

Opening Ran East 1/2 North,  And After We Had Followed It Up For About

Half A Mile It Became Very Narrow And Shoaled To Two Feet,  So We Turned

About And Again Pulled Away To Sea. This Opening,  As Well As The First We

Had Entered,  Appeared Rather Like A Canal Running Through A Woody Grove

Than An Arm Of The Sea; The Mangrove Trees Afforded An Agreeable Shade,

And Were Of The Most Brilliant Green,  Whilst The Blue Placid Water Not

Only Washed Their Roots But Meandered Through The Sinuosities Of The

Forest Like A Quiet Lake Till Sight Of It Was Lost In The Distance.

 

We Now Stood North-North-West Parallel To The Shore,  Which Was Fronted By

Mangroves; And Here We Again Had Only Two And A Half Feet Of Water. A

Very Low Chain Of Hills Extended Parallel To The Shore And About Two

Miles Behind The Mangroves. We Thus Continued Running Along The Coast

Until We Made A Large Opening Which Was About Three-Quarters Of A Mile

Across At The Mouth. On Either Side Of The Entrance Was A Sandy Point,

Covered With Pelicans And Wild-Fowl Who Seemed To View Our Approach With

No Slight Degree Of Surprise. As Yet We Did Not Know The Proper Entrance

To The River (For Such It Was) So That Where We Ran Into It We Had Only

Two Feet Of Water. Three Low Hills Were Immediately In Front Of Us,  And I

Afterwards Ascertained That The Proper Course For Entering Was To Steer

So As To Keep The Centre Of The Opening And The Middle Hill In The Same

Line.

 

Discover One Mouth Of The Gascoyne River,  And Explore The Country In Its

Vicinity.

 

The Opening Now Widened Into A Very Fine Reach,  Out Of Which The Water

Was Running Rapidly,  And When We Had Ascended About A Mile I Saw Large

Volume 1 Chapter 15 (The Gascoyne River Reach And Enter A Mangrove Creek) Pg 220

Trees,  Or Snags (As They Are Called By The Americans) Sticking Up In The

Bed Of The River; As These Trees Were Of A Very Large Size,  And Evidently

Had Come From A Different Country To The One We Saw Upon The River Banks,

I Felt Assured That We Had Now Discovered A Stream Of Magnitude,  And,  The

Eager Expectations Which These Thoughts Awoke In Our Breasts Rendering Us

All Impatient,  We Hauled Down Our Sail And Took To The Oars. The Bed Of

The River However Became Choked With Shallows And Sandbanks,  And When We

Had Ascended It About Three Miles,  The Water Having Shoaled To About Six

Inches,  I Selected A Suitable Place For Our Encampment And Prepared To

Start And Explore The Country On Foot.

 

Survey Of Mouths Of This River And Babbage Island.

 

As Soon As All Had Been Made Snug I Moved Up The River With Three Men.

Its Banks Were Here About Five Feet High; The Bed Of White Sand,  And

About Half A Mile Across; The Centre Of The Channel Was Full Of Salt

Water,  And In Breadth About A Quarter Of A Mile. We Had Not Proceeded

More Than A Few Hundred Yards When We Unexpectedly Came Upon Another

Mouth Of The River As Large As That Upon Which We Stood,  And Which Ran

Off Nearly West. The River Itself Appeared To Come From The North-East,

And We Saw Salt Water Still Further Up Than Where We Were.

 

Natives And A Shark.

 

Just On The Eastern Bank Of The Stream Was A Clump Of Small Trees And

Reeds Which I Walked Up To Examine With A Desire To Recognise Any Trees

Belonging To Known Species,  But To My Horror,  On Looking Into The Reeds,

I Saw What Appeared To Be A Huge Alligator Fast Asleep. The Men Now

Peeped At It And All Agreed That It Was An Alligator. I Therefore

Retreated To A Respectful And Suitable Distance And Let Fly At It With A

Rifle; It Gave,  As We Thought,  A Kind Of Shake,  And Then Took No Further

Notice Of Us. I Therefore Took A Double-Barrelled Gun From One Of The Men

And Drove Two Balls Through The Beast,  And Now Feeling Sure It Must Be

Dead (For It Never Moved) I Walked Up To It,  When,  Upon Examination,  It

Turned Out To Be A Huge Shark,  Of A Totally New Species,  Which Had Been

Left In Some Hole By The Tide Where The Natives Had Found And Killed It,

And,  Being Disturbed By Our Approach,  Had Run Away,  First Hiding It In

This Clump Of Reeds. There Were Two Natives And They Had Made Off Right

Up The Bed Of The River,  Taking The Precaution To Step In One Another's

Tracks So As To Conceal If Possible Their Number.

 

Character Of The River.

 

To Those Who Have Never Seen A River Similar To The One We Were Now Upon

It Is Difficult To Convey A True Idea Of Its Character. It Consisted Of

Several Channels Or Beds Divided From Each Other By Long Strips Of Land,

Which,  In Times Of Flood,  Become Islands; The Main Channel Had An Average

Breadth Of About Two Hundred And Seventy Yards; The Average Height Of The

Volume 1 Chapter 15 (The Gascoyne River Reach And Enter A Mangrove Creek) Pg 221

Bank At The Edge Of It Was About Fifteen Feet,  And The Bed Of The River

Was Composed Of Porous Red Sand Apparently Incapable Of Containing Water

Unless When Previously Saturated With It. After Passing The Highest Point

Reached By The Sea This Huge River Bed Was Perfectly Dry,  And Looked The

Most Mournful,  Deserted Spot Imaginable. Occasionally We Found In This

Bare Sandy Channel Waterholes Of Eighteen Or Twenty Feet In Depth,

Surrounded With Tea Trees And Vegetation,  And The Driftwood,  Washed High

Up Into These Trees,  Sufficiently Attested What Rapid Currents Sometimes

Swept Along The Now Dry Channel. Even The