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

Porous Nature

There Was A Probability Of Our Finding Water By Digging,  Even In This

Apparently Sandy Desert; I Therefore Selected A Spot At The Foot Of The

Highest Hill,  In The Bare Sand,  And Ordered A Well To Be Opened. Our

Efforts Were Crowned With Success; The Well Had Not Been Sunk More Than

Four Or Five Feet When We Came To A Coarse Gravelly Sand,  Saturated With

Water,  Which Was Perfectly Sweet And Good; And When The Well Was Sunk

About Two Or Three Feet Deeper The Water Poured In So Fast That There

Would Have Been No Difficulty In Watering A Ship At This Point.

 

Appearance Of A Lake. Examination Of It.

 

Whilst The Men Were Engaged In Filling The Water Kegs I Ascended The

Highest Sandhill,  The Summit Of Which Was Not Distant More Than A Mile

From The Well. When I Gained This A Most Splendid Sight Burst Upon My

View: To The Westward Stretched The Boundless Sea,  Lashed By The Wind

Into White And Curling Waves; Whilst To The East Of Me Lay A Clear Calm

Volume 1 Chapter 16 (To Kolaina And Back To The Gascoyne Examine The Coast To The North Of The Gascoyne) Pg 229

Unruffled Lake,  Studded With Little Islands. To The North Or North-East I

Could,  Even With A Good Telescope,  See No Limits To This Lake,  And,  With

The Exception Of The Numerous Beautiful Islands With Which It Was

Studded,  I Could,  Even From The Commanding Position Which I Occupied,

Distinguish Nothing Like Rising Land Anywhere Between North By East And

South-East. The Lake Had A Glassy And Fairy-Like Appearance,  And I Sat

Down Alone On The Lofty Eminence To Contemplate This Great Water Which

The Eye Of European Now For The First Time Rested On. I Looked Seaward,

And It Appeared As If Nature Had Heaped Up The Narrow And Lofty Sandy

Barrier On Which I Stood To Shut Out From The Eyes Of Man The Lovely And

Fairy-Like Land Which Lay Beyond It.

 

At Length I Rose And Returned To The Party. The News Of My Discovery

Filled All With Hope; And,  Our Miserable Breakfast Having Been Hurriedly

Despatched,  I Selected Three Men To Accompany Me In My First Examination

Of The Shores Of This Inland Sea. When We Had Gained The Top Of The

Sandhills The Surprise Of These Men Was As Great As My Own,  And They

Begged Me To Allow Them To Return And Endeavour By The United Efforts Of

The Party To Carry One Of The Whale-Boats Over The Intervening Range,  And

At Once To Launch It On This Body Of Water.

 

I However Deemed It More Prudent In The First Instance To Select The Best

Route Along Which To Move The Whale-Boat,  As Well As To Choose A Spot

Which Afforded Facilities For Launching It. In Pursuance Of This

Determination We Descended The Eastern Side Of The Sandhills Which

Abruptly Fell In That Direction With A Slope Certainly Not Much Exceeding

An Angle Of 45 Degrees. I Now Found That The Water Did Not Approach So

Near The Foot Of The Hills As I Had Imagined,  But That Immediately At

Their Base Lay Extensive Plains Of Mud And Sand,  At Times Evidently

Flooded By The Sea; For On Them Lay Dead Shells Of Many Kinds And Sizes,

As Well As Large Travelled Blocks Of Coral. The Water Here Appeared To Be

About A Mile Distant; It Was Also Apparently Boundless In An East And

North-East Direction: And Was Studded With Islands.

 

Remarkable Plains. Delusion From Mirage.

 

We Still All Felt Convinced That It Was Water We Saw,  For The Shadows Of

The Low Hills Near It,  As Well As Those Of The Trees Upon Them,  Could Be

Distinctly Traced On The Unruffled Surface. As We Continued To Advance,

The Water However Constantly Retreated Before Us And At Last Surrounded

Us. I Now Found That We Had Been Deceived By Mirage; The Apparent Islands

Being Really Such Only When These Plains Are Covered By The Sea. In Many

Places The Sandy Mud Was So Moist That We Sank Deeply Into It,  And After

Travelling For Fifteen Miles On A North-East Course I Could Still See No

Limit To These Plains In That Direction,  Nor Could I Either Then Or On

Any Subsequent Occasion Find The Channel Which Connected Them With The

Sea. The Only Mode Of Accounting For Their Being Flooded Is To Suppose

That The Sea At Times Pours In Over The Low Land Which Lies To The North

Of The Gascoyne,  And Flows Northward Through Channels Which Will Be Seen

In The Chart Of This Part Of The Country; But I Then Believed,  And Still

Volume 1 Chapter 16 (To Kolaina And Back To The Gascoyne Examine The Coast To The North Of The Gascoyne) Pg 230

Consider,  That There Is Hereabouts A Communication With Some Large

Internal Water.

 

We Saw No Tracks Of Natives And Only A Few Of Emus And Native Dogs. The

Few Portions Of Rising Ground Which Lay Near The Edge Of These Extensive

Plains Were Sandy,  Scrubby,  And Unpromising; But What We Saw Was So

Little That No Opinion Of The Country Could Fairly Be Deduced From It. We

Dug In Several Places On The Flats And In Their Vicinity But All The

Water We Could Find Was Salt; Whereas In The Narrow Range Of Sandhills

Separating Them From The Sea We Had Discovered Abundance Of Fresh Water

Only Four Or Five Feet Below The Surface Of The Valleys Lying Between

These Hills. As This Range Of More Than Thirty Miles In Length Offered

Many Geological Phenomena I Called It Lyell's Range In Compliment To The

Distinguished Geologist Of That Name; The Plains Themselves I Named The

Plains Of Kolaina (Deceit).

 

Indisposition Of Several Of The Party. Sickness From Delay And

Disappointment.

 

On My Return To The Boats I Found That Mr. Smith Was Still Unwell;

Several Other Men Were Also Complaining; I Myself Was Wearied From

Exertion And Disappointment That My Great Discovery Had Dwindled Away:

The Place Where We Were Was Infested By Land-Crabs Who Kept Running Over

Us Continually,  And The Sand Which Drifted Before The Wind Got Into The

Pores Of The Skin,  And Kept Most Of Us In A Constant State Of Painful

Irritation. The Night Was Therefore Not A Pleasant One.

 

March 9.

 

Throughout The Night The Winds Had Howled Loudly And The Surf Broke

Hoarsely Upon The Shore. The Grey Dawn Of Morning Brought No Comfort With

It: Far Out To Seaward Nothing But Broken Water Could Be Seen,  And Half A

Gale Of Wind Blew From The South By East. The Bad And Insufficient Food I

Had Been Compelled To Eat Had Brought On Violent Sickness And Other Evil

Effects,  And I Found Myself Very Ill. As The Daylight Advanced Report

After Report Came To Me That Some One Of The Party Had Been Attacked By

The Same Diseases Experienced By Mr. Smith And Myself.

 

Examination Of The Shore To The Northward,  And Of The Country To The

South-East.

 

I Was Only Well Enough To Write And Survey A Little,  But I Sent Off A

Party To A Point Which Lay About Six Miles To The North Of Us,  And They

On Their Return Reported That There Was A Continuation Of A Similar Shore

For The Next Fourteen Or Fifteen Miles,  Bordered In Like Manner By Sandy

Muddy Plains Similar To Those Behind The Hills Where We Were.

 

This Party Found One Of The Yellow And Black Water-Snakes Asleep Upon A

Piece Of Dry Seaweed On The Beach And Killed It. The Fact Of This Animal

Being Found On Shore Proves Its Amphibious Character. I Saw Them In One

Instance,  In December 1837,  So Far Out At Sea As To Be Distant 150 Miles

From Land.

Volume 1 Chapter 16 (To Kolaina And Back To The Gascoyne Examine The Coast To The North Of The Gascoyne) Pg 231

 

Sunday March 10.

 

I Spent A Wretched Night From Illness And Foul Weather; The Roaring Of

The Surf On The Shore Was So Loud And Incessant That To One Feverish And

In Want Of Quiet And Rest It Was A Positive Distress,  And Both Mr. Smith,

Myself,  And Half The Men Were At This Time Seriously Indisposed. We Had

Strong Gales Of Wind All Day From South By East,  But In The Afternoon I

Walked Out For Five Miles In An East-South-East Direction With Such Of

The Men As Were Able To Move; Nothing However Could Be Seen But A

Continuation Of The Same Barren,  Treeless Country; We Observed No Signs

Of Natives Except Tracks In The Mud Of A Single Man Who Had Passed Some

Months Ago.

 

It Annoyed Me Now To Find That The Silvering Of The Glasses Of My Large

Sextant Was So Much Injured From The Constant Wettings It Had Experienced

That This Day It Was Almost Useless. I Had Hoped In The Course Of Our

Walk To Have Fallen In With Some Game,  But We Did Not See A Single Bird

With The Exception Of Some Small Ones,  About The Size Of Tomtits,  Which

Flew From Bush To Bush Along The Sandhills.

 

Sufferings From Heat And Privation.

 

We Had A Small Quantity Of Portable Soup With Us,  Nearly All Of Which We

Used,  And It In Some Degree Restored Us,  But Another Miserable Night Was

Passed By Us All And In The Morning I Was Grieved To See How Ill Many Of

The Men Looked. Their Situation Was Really Deplorable And I Had With Me

Neither Medicines Nor Proper Food To Give Them. Abundance Of These Lay At

Our Depot Not More Than Forty Miles From Us,  Yet To Reach It Was

Impossible; And Dawn This Morning Had Only Revealed To Us A Heavier Surf

And Stronger Gale From The Southward Than We Had Yet Experienced. None Of

The Men Were Well Enough To Undergo The Fatigue Of Another Day's Walking,

So I Busied Myself With Making Observations And Taking Bearings,  And Thus

The Forenoon Wore Away. The Point Of The Coast On Which We Were Lay In 24

Degrees 30 Minutes South Latitude,  And The Mean Temperature Up To This

Period Had Been:

 

6 A.M. 76.

12 M. 83.

3 P.M. 87.

6 P.M. 78 Degrees.

 

At Noon A Portion Of Some Disgusting Damper And A Small Piece Of Pork Was

Served Out To Each Of Us And,  Having Soon Disposed Of This,  The Men Lay

Down Under The Side Of The Boats,  Seeking Some Shelter From The Burning

Rays Of A Tropical Sun