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

Has Been Completed Was By No Means

Well Conceived. The Average Depth Of This Cut Is At Least One Hundred And

Twenty Feet,  Its Length Is About One Hundred And Eighty,  Whilst Its

Breadth In Many Parts Is Not More Than Four.

 

Previously To The Construction Of This Aqueduct The Town Of Santa Cruz

Was Very Badly Supplied With Water,  Indeed So Much So That The

Inhabitants Were,  At Some Periods Of The Year,  Compelled To Send Upwards

Of Three Miles For It; But No Want Of This Nature Has Ever Been

Experienced Since Its Completion. The Expenses Of Its Construction As

Also Of Keeping It In Repair Are Principally Defrayed By A Tax Upon All

Volume 1 Chapter 1 (Commencement Of The Expedition Tenerife) Pg 6

Wine And Spirits Actually Consumed In The Town.

 

The Scenery Of The Country I Walked Through Was Bold And Romantic But By

No Means Rich; Fig-Trees Grew Wild About The Mountains,  And It Seemed

Singular That,  Whenever I Approached One,  The Peasants On The Adjacent

Hills Shouted Out In Loud Tones. As Far As I Could Understand The Guide,

This Was Done To Deter Us From Eating The Fruits Now Just Ripe,  And,  Upon

My Return To The Town And Making Further Enquiries,  I Found That Such Was

Their Custom.

 

Excursion To Oratava.

 

July 20th.

 

I Started At Six O'clock With Mr. Lushington For Oratava,  Distant About

30 Miles From Santa Cruz. We Were Mounted On Small Ponies,  Admirably

Adapted To The Wretched Roads Of The Country,  And Accompanied By Two

Guides Who Carried Our Carpet Bags.

 

Camels,  Matanzas,  The Guanches.

 

The First Town We Came To Was Laguna,  Which Appeared To Be Of Some

Importance; It Is Distant About Four Miles From Santa Cruz. On This Road

We Passed Many Camels Laden With Heavy Burdens; A Circumstance Which

Rather Surprised Me For I Had Always Imagined That,  Owing To The Peculiar

Formation Of Its Foot,  The Camel Was Only Fitted For Travelling Over

Sandy Ground,  Whilst The Way From Santa Cruz To Laguna Is One Continued

Mass Of Sharp Rocks,  Utterly Unworthy Of The Name Of A Road; Yet These

Animals Appeared To Move Over It Without The Least Inconvenience.

 

After Leaving Laguna The Country For Some Miles Bore A Very Uninteresting

Appearance; For,  Although Apparently Fertile,  It Was Quite Parched Up By

The Extreme Heat Of The Sun; Our Guides,  Who Were On Foot Carrying Our

Carpet Bags,  Kept Up With Us By Running,  And,  Occasionally When Tired,

Catching Hold Of The Horses' Tails To Assist Themselves Along.

 

We Halted For Breakfast At Matanzas (Or The Place Of Slaughter) So Called

From A Dreadful Slaughter Of The Spaniards Which Was Here Made By The

Guanches,  The Aborigines Of The Island. I Examined The Spot Where This

Occurred; It Is A Narrow Defile,  Formed By A Precipice On One Hand,  And

Perpendicular Rocks On The Other,  And Lies On The Only Route By Which You

Can Pass Across The Island From East To West; It Was Therefore Well

Adapted For The Purposes Of Savage Warfare,  And The Guanches Here Made

The Spaniards Pay Dearly For The Cruelties Practised On Themselves.

 

All Traces Of This Interesting People,  Who Were Eventually Extirpated By

The Spaniards,  Have Long Since Vanished,  And,  Although I Spared No Pains,

I Could Glean But Little Information About Them,  But To This Subject I

Volume 1 Chapter 1 (Commencement Of The Expedition Tenerife) Pg 7

Will Advert Again.

 

Before Breakfast I Made A Set Of Magnetic Observations,  And Then,

Swallowing A Hasty Meal,  Prepared To Start. A Difficulty However Arose

Here,  For Neither Mr. Lushington Nor Myself Spoke A Word Of Spanish,

Although We Understood Tolerably Well What Others Said To Us; The Paying

Our Bill Became Therefore Rather A Matter Of Embarrassment. One Of The

Guides Saw Our Distress And Made Signs That He Would Arrange Matters For

Us; We Accordingly Gave Him A Dollar. With This He Paid The Bill And I

Saw Him Receive Some Change,  Which He Coolly Pocketed; I Afterwards Asked

Him For It,  But He Pretended With The Utmost Nonchalance Not To

Understand Me; So We Saw No More Of It.

 

Scenery Near Oratava.

 

In The Ride From Matanzas To Oratava The Road Is Wretched But The Scenery

Compensates For This. Upon Arriving At The Brow Of The Hill Above

Oratava,  A Beautiful Prospect Bursts Upon The Sight; Directly In Front

Rises The Lordly Peak,  Whilst In The Foreground Are Vineyards,  Cottages,

And Palm-Trees; In The Centre Stands La Villa,  The Upper Town Of Oratava,

Encircled With Gardens; On The Right Lies A Rich Slope Running Down To

The Sea Which Bounds The Prospect On That Side; And On The Left Rise

Rocky Mountains,  For The Greater Part Clothed With Wood.

 

We Now Spurred Our Horses On And,  Leaving The Guides Behind,  Soon Reached

La Villa,  Accompanied By A Countryman Who Had Joined Us Upon A Pony; But,

On Getting Into The Town,  The Melancholy Truth Rushed Upon My

Recollection That We Could Not Speak Spanish: Had We Remained With Our

Guides This Would Not Much Have Signified,  For They Had Been Told At

Santa Cruz To Take Us To A Hotel.

 

Embarrassments On Arrival There.

 

Nothing Remained Now But To Do Our Best To Open A Communication; We

Accordingly Accosted A Variety Of Individuals In English,  French,

Italian,  German--But In Vain. Spanish Alone Was Understood Or Spoken

Here; Our Friend,  The Countryman,  Stuck To Us Most Nobly,  He Understood

Us Not A Bit Better Than The Rest But Saw That We Were In Distress And

Would Not Desert Us.

 

We At Last Deliberately Halted Under A House Where We Could Get A Little

Shade,  For The Sun Was Intensely Hot And,  A Crowd Having Soon Collected,

We Harangued Them Alternately And Received Long Answers In Reply; But,

Although Able To Make Out A Great Deal Of What They Said,  We Could Not

Get Them To Understand A Single Word On Our Part. At Length Kind Fate

Sent The Guides To Our Rescue And They Led Us Off Direct To The Hotel.

Volume 1 Chapter 1 (Commencement Of The Expedition Tenerife) Pg 8

This However Brought Only Partial Relief To Our Wants; We Opened Our

Mouths,  And Pointed Down Our Throats. So Much Was Understood And A

Chicken Instantly Killed. We Laid Our Heads Upon A Table,  Feigning Sleep,

And Were Shown To A Wretched Room; But Here All Converse Terminated. Mr.

Lushington Desired To Ascend The Peak Therefore It Became Necessary That

We Should Hit Upon Some Means Of Making Them Comprehend This; But All

Efforts Were In Vain. At Length They Proposed To Send For An Interpreter,

Which Was Accordingly Done; But He Was At Dinner,  And Could Not Then

Come.

 

At Last The Interpreter Arrived,  A Spanish Don Who Had Been For Some

Years Resident In A Mercantile House In New York; He Was Very Dirty,  But

Good-Natured,  And Soon Made The Necessary Arrangements For Mr.

Lushington; Who For Eight Dollars Was To Be Provided With A Pony,  A

Sumpter Mule,  Provisions And Guides,  Taken Safely To The Top Of The Peak

And Brought Back Again; Which I Thought Reasonable Enough.

 

After These Arrangements I Managed To Scrape Some Acquaintance With This

Spanish Gentleman,  Who Told Me To My Great Edification That I Was In A

Notorious Gambling House. I Had Been Informed At Santa Cruz That The

Inhabitants Of Those Islands Were Dreadfully Addicted To That Vice,  And I

Now,  From Personal Observation,  Found This Was Too True.

 

After Dinner I Started To Walk To The Port Of Oratava,  Distant About

Three Miles; There Was Beautiful Scenery The Whole Way,  And A Tolerable

Road For The Island. I Called On Mr. Carpenter,  The British Consul,  To

Whom I Had A Letter,  And He Made Arrangements For My Being Admitted To

The Botanical Gardens At Six O'clock The Next Morning.

 

On My Return To La Villa All The Roues Of The Town Were Assembled At Our

Hotel To Eat Ices And Gamble: I Joined Them In The Former But Not In The

Latter Amusement.

 

Spanish Interpreter. Manners.

 

The Gentleman Who Had Acted As Interpreter For Us Was Also There,  But I

Could Gain Very Little Further Information From Him. He Told Me That They

Had Just Heard George The Eighth,  The King Of England,  Was Dead (William

The Fourth Had Just Died) And His Knowledge Of The Other European

Countries Was Much Upon The Same Scale. I Found That Gambling Was Here

Carried On To An Extent Which Was Really Deplorable.

 

July 21.

 

I Started At Half-Past Five For The Botanic Gardens,  Diligently Inspected

Them,  And Afterwards Made A Set Of Magnetic Observations; This Occupied A

Large Portion Of The Morning. I However Still Had Time To Geologise For

About Three Hours,  And Then Rode Back To Santa Cruz,  Where I Did Not

Volume 1 Chapter 1 (Commencement Of The Expedition Tenerife) Pg 9

Arrive Till Late At Night.

 

Statistics Of The Canary Islands. Tables.

 

July 22.

 

In The Morning I Renewed My Magnetic Observations And,  Having Dined At

The Table D'hote,  I Passed The Afternoon In Calling Upon Several Persons,

And Collecting Such Information Regarding The Group Of Islands As I Could

Pick Up. Two Statistical Tables Then Given To Me I Have Here Inserted.

 

The First Shows The Extent Of The Seven Larger Islands And The Average

Number Of Inhabitants In Each. On These Numbers I Think Dependence May Be

Placed,  As They Nearly Agree,  In The Total,  With That Given By Tarrente

In The Geografia Universal (1828) Who Makes It 196,517,  Being About

12,000 Above The Number Given By Humboldt For The Gross Population At The

End Of The Last Century.

 

The Second Table Gives The Quantity Of The Most Important Products Raised

Annually In Each Island.

 

(@@@Table Of Extent And Number Of Inhabitants Of