Journals Of Two Expeditions Of Discovery In North West And Western Australia Volume 1 (Of 2) - George Grey (best free e book reader txt) 📗

Ranger,  A Very Fine Young Dog,  Dropped Behind Some Rocks,  And Although We

Turned Back To Look For Him Directly He Was Missed He Could Not Be Found.

 

The Next To Give Way Was Ringhalz,  A Fine Cape Buck-Hound; He Fell

Amongst The Rocks,  And Died Almost Instantly. The Only Dog Now Left Was A

Greyhound,  Who Manifested His Extreme Distress By Constantly Lying Down.

For Some Time We Dragged Him Along,  But He Was At Last From Necessity

Abandoned. The Cry Of Water Was At Length Raised By One Of The Party,  And

Immediately Afterwards We Found Ourselves On The Edge Of A Deep Ravine,

The Precipitous Sides Of Which Were Composed Of Nearly Horizontal Layers

Of Red Sandstone. Down These Some Of Us Contrived To Scramble,  Although

Not Without Difficulty; But On Reaching The Bottom We Had The

Mortification To Find The Water Salt; And As It Would Have Been Very

Laborious To Follow Its Course Along The Bottom Of The Ravine Over The

Mud,  Mangroves,  And Rocks Which Filled It,  We Had The Pleasure Of

Scrambling Up Again As We Best Could.

 

For Some Short Time We Remained Seated On The Edge Of The Cliffs Above

The Ravine; But As There Was No Shelter Here From The Sun's Rays,  And The

Pangs Of Thirst Were Pressing,  I Roused The Men At Last,  And Moved On

Again,  Following The Course Of The Ravine Upwards. We Had Not Walked More

Than Half A Mile When The Salt Water Inlet Terminated And The Bed Of The

Ravine Became Thickly Wooded. At The Moment We Gained This Point Some

White Cockatoos Came Soaring Upwards From Beneath Our Feet; And,  As We

Knew That This Was An Infallible Sign Of The Presence Of Water,  We

Descended Again To Renew Our Search For It.

 

Water Discovered.

 

Our Efforts This Time Were Successful: In A Few Minutes We Found A Pool

Of Brackish Water Which Appeared,  Under The Present Circumstances,  To

Afford The Most Delicious Draughts,  And,  Having Drunk,  We Lay Down By The

Pool To Rest Ourselves. Being However Doubtful As To Which Was The Best

Route To Lead Us Out Of The Ravine We Were Now In,  I Walked Up Its

Course,  Accompanied By Corporal Coles,  Leaving The Others To Rest

Themselves,  And Soon Reached Its Head; When We Found Ourselves In A Small

But Fertile Valley,  Surrounded On All Sides By Rocky Hills. Here Were

Many Tracks Of Natives,  And We Came Upon One Of Their Regular Haunts,

Where They Had Arranged A Circle Of Large Flat Stones Round A Fireplace

Occupying The Centre; On Each Of These Stones Was Laid A Smaller One,

Evidently Used For The Purpose Of Breaking Small Shellfish,  For The

Remains Of The Shells Were Lying Scattered About In All Directions;*

Kangaroo Bones Were Also Plentifully Strewed About,  And Beside Each Pair

Of Stones Was Laid A Large Shell,  Probably Used As A Drinking Cup.

 

Volume 1 Chapter 4 (Footnote) Pg 44

 

(*Footnote. We Found The Marks Of An Encampment Of A Tribe Of Natives.

Eight Or Nine Spots Were Cleared Away Amongst The Grass,  And In The

Centre Of Each Were The Ashes Of A Small Fire,  Close To Which We Noticed

Some Loose Flattened Stones With A Smaller One Lying Upon Them,  Which The

Natives Probably Used For The Purpose Of Bruising Or Grinding The Seeds

Of Plants And Breaking Shellfish. King's Survey Of Australia Volume 1

Page 302.)

Volume 1 Chapter 4 (Hanover Bay) Pg 45

 

Traces Of Natives. Their Huts.

 

Natives Had Been At This Spot Within The Last Day Or Two,  And We Followed

Their Traces,  Which Were Quite Recent,  Across A Dry Watercourse Till They

Led To A Hut Built Of A Framework Of Logs Of Wood,  And In Shape Like A

Beehive,  About Four Feet High And Nine In Diameter. This Hut Was Of A

Very Superior Description To Those I Found Afterwards To Be Generally In

Use In South-Western Australia,  And Differed From Them Altogether In That

Its Low And Narrow Entrance Rendered Access Impossible Without Stooping;

And With The Exception Of This Aperture The Hut Was Entirely Closed.

 

Progress Towards Hanover Bay. Alarming Increasing Debility Of The Men.

Efforts To Reach The Vessel.

 

Considering That The Best Route Out Of These Ravines Would Be By This

Valley,  I Returned With Coles To The Party,  Whom We Found Much Refreshed

And,  Having Consulted With Mr. Lushington As To The Route We Should

Follow To The Vessel After Reaching The Valley,  We Once More Moved On;

But The Same Symptoms Of Lassitude And Thirst Began Very Soon Again To

Afflict Us In An Aggravated Form; Probably From The Brackish Water We Had

All Swallowed. In Less Than Two Hours More These Symptoms Became So

Distressing That I Could Scarcely Induce The Men To Move,  And We

Therefore Halted Under The Shade Of Some High Rocks.

 

It Was Now Growing Late,  And The Nature Of The Country Was So Rocky And

Difficult That I Thought It Would Be Impossible For Us To Attempt To

March In The Night-Time; Whilst On The Other Hand The Men Seemed So

Completely Worn Out That I Feared Another Day Without Fresh Water Would

Be More Than They Could Bear. I Therefore Became Anxious To Make The Sea

Coast Before Nightfall,  Considering That We Could Easily Walk Along The

Shore After Dark And Fire A Gun As A Signal To The Schooner To Send A

Boat For Us. With This View Therefore I Moved On Towards The Sea,

Requesting Mr. Lushington,  When I Fired,  To Follow My Course With The

Men.

 

As I Walked Ahead I Found The Country Very Rocky,  With Lofty Bare

Pinnacles Standing Up Every Here And There In The Forest,  One Or Two Of

Which I Climbed,  But Could See Nothing Of The Vessel. I Now Fired A

Signal Shot Which,  Being Answered By Another From The Party,  I Knew That

They Were On My Traces,  And Again Moved On Towards The Sea. I Presently

Fired Again,  As I Thought That They Might Augur Favourably From The

Report,  And Continued Occasionally To Do So Until I Had Reached The

Volume 1 Chapter 4 (Hanover Bay) Pg 46

Shore.

 

The Cliffs Were So Steep That I Found Some Difficulty In Descending,  But

Directly I Had Gained The Sea Beach I Pulled Off My Clothes And Plunged

Into The Water: The Quantity Of Moisture Taken Into The System By

Absorption As I Lay In The Sea Soon Relieved My Burning Thirst,  And By

The Time That The First Of The Party (Corporal Coles) Came Up I Was Quite

Recovered. He Followed My Example And Soon Began To Revive Also. The

Remainder Of The Party Now Arrived With Mr. Lushington,  Who Had Found

Much Difficulty In Getting Them Along. Of His Exertions Under These

Trying Circumstances I Cannot Speak Too Highly. But For His Persuasion

And Example I Think Two Of The Men Were So Exhausted That They Would

Before This Have Given Up In Despair.

 

Corporal Coles Being Now Nearly Recovered I Left The Rest Of The Party

Under Mr. Lushington To Follow The Plan Of Refreshing Themselves By

Immersion In The Sea And,  As Two Men Appeared To Me To Be Very Ill,  I

Arranged With Him That He Should Keep The Whole Together And,  As Soon As

He Considered Them Sufficiently Recovered,  They Should Follow Myself And

Coles; Whilst We Preceded Them Along The Beach For The Purpose Of Sending

A Boat Back From The Lynher To Pick Them Up.

 

Further Course Obstructed.

 

I Accordingly Started With Coles And Had Not Proceeded More Than A Mile

When We Found Two Huts (One In Ruins And The Other Complete) Of Exactly

The Same Size And Form As That Which We Had Seen In The Morning: The

Recent Track Of A Native Along The Beach Close To These Was Also Visible.

In Another Half Mile Our Progress Was Arrested By An Arm Of The Sea,

About Four Or Five Hundred Yards Across,  From Which The Tide Was Running

Out With Fearful Rapidity; And On The Opposite Cliffs We Observed A

Native Watching Our Movements.

 

As Night Was Coming Rapidly On It Was Necessary For Me To Decide At Once

What I Should Do. Coles Was Unable To Swim. If Therefore I Crossed The

Stream It Must Be Alone: To Do So With Natives On The Opposite Bank,  Of

Whose Intentions Towards Us We Were Entirely Ignorant,  Was Not Without

Considerable Danger; Yet I Was Very Unwilling To Leave The Men In Such A

State Of Suffering From Thirst When I Was So Near The Schooner,  From

Whence Their Wants Could Be Supplied. Whilst I Was Debating What To Do

Coles Kept Firing His Gun In Hopes That They Might Hear The Report On

Board And Send A Boat To Our Relief; In Vain However We Strained Our

Ears,  The Report Of Coles's Gun Was Reverberated From Cliff To Cliff And

From Hill To Hill,  But No Answering Sound Came Back Across The Tranquil

Water.

 

In The Meantime I Felt More And More Anxious About The Portion Of The

Party Who Were With Mr. Lushington,  Having Left With Them Certain Orders

And Promised To Send A Boat Up To Them; On Which Promise All Their

Further Movements Would Be Regulated. The Beach Near Us Afforded No Wood

Wherewith To Make A Fire As A Signal To The Schooner; The Cliffs

Hereabouts Were Too Precipitous To Climb; And It Was Evident That But

Very Few Of The Party Could Swim So Broad A Space Of Water; Granting That

They Ever Reached So Far As The Point Where Coles And Myself Now Were.

Volume 1 Chapter 4 (Hanover Bay) Pg 47

 

Swim An Inlet Of The Sea.