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

Which,  Being Reflected Back From The White Sand,

Were Very Oppressive.

 

Affray With The Natives.

 

I Was Occupied In Sketching In A Portion Of The Coastline,  And Whilst

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Thus Engaged I Thought I Saw The Figures Of Two Natives Moving Upon A

Hill A Few Hundred Yards To The North Of Us; They Appeared To Me To Be

Behind Some Low Bushes Which Were Close To The Summit Of This Hill. I

Watched The Bushes Narrowly And Felt Nearly Confident I Saw Them; But

However To Be Sure Beyond A Doubt I Got Up And Took My Eyes From The Spot

For A Few Seconds Whilst I Walked To Get My Telescope. I Then Carefully

Examined The Hill With The Glass And Could See Nothing But The Low Bushes

On It. "A Pretty Bushman I Am," I Thought To Myself,  "To Be Thus Deceived

With Two Old Shrubs; I Should Have Known A Native Better;" And With A

Feeling Almost Of Annoyance At My Mistake I Resumed My Seat On An

Inverted Water-Keg And Went On With My Drawing. Within A Minute's Time An

Alarm Of Natives Was Given,  And Starting Up I Saw From Twenty To Thirty

On Some Sandhills To The North Of Us,  Distant About Two Hundred Yards;

Their Spears Were Fixed In Their Throwing-Sticks And They Evidently Were

Prepared For A Fray. I Therefore Ran To The Boat For My Gun,  Which Ruston

Tried To Get Out For Me; And At This Moment,  On Casting My Eyes Upwards,

I Saw A Native Start Up On The Sandbank Not More Than Fifteen Yards From

Ruston And Myself; He Poised His Spear For One Second,  And It Then Came

Whistling At Us. I Dodged And The Spear Flew Past Without My Seeing What

Became Of It. I Instantly Gave The Order To Watch The Bank And To Fire At

Anything That Showed Itself Above It; And Mr. Walker Now Had Got Hold Of

His Gun And Very Gallantly Ran Up The Bank And Occupied It: In The

Meantime The Native Who Had Thrown The Spear Caught Up A Bag In Each Hand

And Ran Off. Several Shots Which Were Fired At The Distant Natives

Scraped Up The Sand So Near Them That They Found It Prudent To Decamp As

Speedily As They Could.

 

Chase After Stolen Goods.

 

I Found That Ruston Was Wounded Slightly In The Knee By The Spear Which

The Native Had Thrown,  And We Had Also Sustained A Severe Loss In The

Bags Which They Had Carried Off As One Of Them Contained Fourteen

Fishing-Lines And Several Other Articles Of Great Value To Us In Our

Present Position. I Therefore Determined Upon A Pursuit In The Hopes Of

Recovering These,  And Taking Four Or Five Men I Gave Chase. The

Long-Legged Natives Had However Considerably The Advantage Of Us Both In

Bottom,  Wind,  And Cunning; And Whenever They Found We Gained At All Upon

Them They Strewed A Few Articles Out Of The Bags Upon The Ground,  And

These It Took Us Some Time To Collect; And In This Manner,  Alternately

Running And Stopping To Pick Things Up,  I Continued The Pursuit Until

Near Sunset. At This Time Three Of Us Had Completely Outrun The Rest Of

Our Party,  Who Were Far Behind; The Natives Had Also Latterly Made Great

Headway,  So That They Were Rapidly Dropping Us Astern; We Also Had

Recovered Everything But The Fishing-Lines (Which However We Could But

Ill Spare). I Therefore Determined To Collect My Forces And Return To The

Boats. In The Ardour Of Pursuit I Found We Had Come Five Or Six Miles,

And It Had Been For Some Time Dark When We Again Reached The Encampment.

 

The Natives In This Attack Were Far Too Few In Number To Render It A Very

Formidable Affair For From Five-And-Twenty To Thirty Savages,  Armed Alone

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With Spears,  Could Have Availed Very Little Against Eleven Resolute

Europeans With Fire-Arms In Their Hands. The Native Who Had Stolen So

Near Us Was However Most Decidedly A Noble And Daring Fellow: Their

Object Evidently Was To Possess Themselves Of Our Property; And We Had

Had One Man Wounded In The Fray,  And Had Lost Some Fishing-Lines,  Without

Gaining Any Reparation. I Therefore Felt Well Assured That They Would Pay

Us Another Visit; And Thus,  To The Misfortunes We Were Already Suffering

Under,  We Had The New One Added Of Being On Hostile Terms With The

Surrounding Aborigines. It Moreover Set In To Rain Hard And To Blow

Fresher Than Ever Just As We Reached The Boats. I Saw That All That Could

Be Done For Ruston Had Been Attended To,  And Then,  Lying Down,  Tried To

Forget My Troubles In Sleep.

 

Continued Detention From Foul Weather. Desolate And Gloomy Situation.

 

From This Period Up To Friday The 15th Of March The Wind Blew Strong From

The Southward,  Accompanied With Such A Heavy Sea And Tremendous Surf That

To Move Was Impossible. Our Position Was Very Trying; Inactivity,  Under

The Circumstances In Which We Were Situated,  Was Most Difficult To

Support; For The Mind,  Ever Prone To Prey Upon Itself,  Does So Far More

When You Are Compelled To Sit Down And Patiently Submit To Misfortunes

Against Which There Are No Means Of Resistance. Such Was The State To

Which We Were Now Reduced,  On A Barren And Unknown Coast Which The Foot

Of Civilized Man Had Never Before Trodden: Many Of My Party Were

Suffering Acute Bodily Pain From The Badness Of The Provisions On Which

They Were Compelled To Subsist; The Weakness Of Most Of Them,  And Myself

Amongst The Number,  Precluded The Possibility Of Any Distant Explorations

Being Made,  And We Were Kept In A Constant State Of Watchfulness In Order

To Prevent The Natives From Again Surprising Us; For They Repeatedly

Showed Themselves In Our Vicinity,  Hovering About With No Friendly

Intentions. All That Was Left Therefore For Us Was To Sit Upon The Lonely

Beach,  Watching The Winds And The Waters Until Some Favourable Moment

Might Enable Us To Get Off And Once More Engage In That Task Of Which So

Small A Portion Was As Yet Accomplished.

 

Day After Day Did We Sit And Wait For This Favourable Moment Until The

Noise Of The Hoarse Breaking Surf Had Become A Familiar Sound To Our

Ears; But The Longer The Men Watched The More Dispirited Did They Become;

Each Returning Day Found Them More Weak And Wan,  More Gloomy And

Petulant,  Than The Preceding One; And When The Eighth Day Of Constant And

Fruitless Expectation Slowly Closed Upon Us I Felt A Gloomy Foreboding

Creeping Over Me.

 

By Making Observations,  Drawing,  Writing Up My Journal,  Etc. I Had

Managed Hitherto To Keep My Mind Employed. I Had Also Tasked My Ability

To The Utmost To Constantly Invent Some Occupation For The Men,  But My

Resources Of This Nature Were Now All Exhausted; And On Friday Night I

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Stretched Myself On The Sand,  Not To Sleep,  But To Brood,  Throughout The

Weary Night,  On Our Present Position.

 

Consolations Of Religion.

 

It May Be Asked If,  During Such A Trying Period,  I Did Not Seek From

Religion That Consolation Which It Is Sure To Afford? My Answer Is,  Yes;

And I Farther Feel Assured That,  But For The Support I Derived From

Prayer And Frequent Perusal And Meditation Of The Scriptures,  I Should

Never Have Been Able To Have Borne Myself In Such A Manner As To Have

Maintained Discipline And Confidence Amongst The Rest Of The Party: Nor

In All My Sufferings Did I Ever Lose The Consolation Derived From A Firm

Reliance Upon The Goodness Of Providence. It Is Only Those Who Go Forth

Into Perils And Dangers,  Amidst Which Human Foresight And Strength Can

But Little Avail,  And Who Find Themselves,  Day After Day,  Protected By An

Unseen Influence,  And Ever And Again Snatched From The Very Jaws Of

Destruction By A Power Which Is Not Of This World,  Who Can At All

Estimate The Knowledge Of One's Own Weakness And Littleness,  And The Firm

Reliance And Trust Upon The Goodness Of The Creator Which The Human

Breast Is Capable Of Feeling. Like All Other Lessons Which Are Of Great

And Lasting Benefit To Man This One Must Be Learnt Amid Much Sorrowing

And Woe; But,  Having Learnt It,  It Is But The Sweeter From The Pain And

Toil Which Are Undergone In The Acquisition.

 

Put To Sea.

 

March 16.

 

A Great Portion Of Friday Night Was Passed By Me In Walking Up And Down

The Beach,  Anxiously Looking Out Seaward; And It Appeared To Me About

Three O'clock That The Wind Had Much Abated; From This Period Until Dawn

It Continued Gradually To Subside: And As Daylight Stole In I Saw That

The Surf Had Somewhat Fallen. I Resolved At All Events To Lose No Single

Chance That Offered Itself In Our Favour,  So I Turned All Hands Out,  And

In A Few Minutes The Boats Rode Triumphantly Beyond The Surf,  Which Was

Indeed Much Heavier Than I Expected To Have Found It,  And My Boat Was

Nearly Filled In Passing The Outer Bar: But Now The Surf Was Behind Us,

And It Is The Nature Of Man To Laugh At Perils That Are Past. Our

Thoughts Too Were Soon Called To Present Difficulties,  For A Tremendous

Sea Was Running Outside,  The Wind Directly In Our Teeth,  And Every Moment

Freshening Again. Throughout The Whole Of Saturday The Men Toiled

Incessantly At Their Oars,  And When It Wanted About An Hour To Sunset We

Had Only Made About Seven Miles And A Half Of Southing.

 

Compelled Again To Beach The Boats.

 

The Wind Had Again Increased To Such A Degree As To Endanger Our Safety,

And It Appeared To Freshen As The Night Came On. I Therefore Had No

Resource Left But Again To Beach The Boats On This Dangerous Coast. Once