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

Of My Present

Excursion Was To Endeavour To Identify These Inlets With Some I Had Seen

On My First Trip To The Southward.

 

Scenery And Thunderstorm.

 

On The Northern Bank Lofty Mountains,  Crowned With Castellated Summits,

Rear Their Sterile Heads Over The Broad Waters,  And Fling Their Giant

Shadows On The Bosom Of The Basin,  Forming A Scene Of Surpassing Beauty.

 

We Had Entered The More Contracted Channel Of The River,  When There Came

On A Tremendous Squall Of Wind,  Rain,  Thunder,  And Most Vivid Lightning.

The Pealing Echoes Of The Thunder As They Bounded From Height To Height

And From Cliff To Cliff Was Awfully Magnificent; Whilst The Rugged

Mountains Which Had Just Before Looked Golden In The Bright Light Of The

Setting Sun Were Now Shrouded In Gloomy Mists,  And Capped With Dark

Clouds From Which Issued Incessant And Dazzling Flashes Of Lightning.

 

During This Grand And Terrific Elemental Convulsion Our Little Boat Was

Driven Powerless Before The Blast. The Impenetrable Forests Of Mangroves

Which Clothed The Riverbanks Obliging Us To Run Far Up The Stream Until

At Last A Convenient Opening Enabled Us To Land Upon The Southern Shore.

 

Delusive Appearance On The Rocks.

 

We Had Not Long Landed When The Rain Ceased And,  As We Found Several

Natural Caverns In The Rock And Plenty Of Dead Mangrove Trees,  We

Proceeded To Make Ourselves Comfortable For The Night; But The Men Soon

Reported That They Saw The Smoke Of A Native Fire Close To Us,  And

Captain Browse And Myself,  Under The Conviction That Such Was The Case,

Darted With Mr. Walker To Endeavour To Gain An Interview. But,  As We

Proceeded Over The Rocks,  The Smoke Appeared Gradually To Retire,  Always

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Keeping About The Same Distance From Us: And We At Last Ascertained That

What Had Appeared To Us To Be Smoke Was Nothing But The Rising Vapour

Occasioned By The Cold Rain Falling On Sandstone Rocks,  Which Had During

The Whole Day Been Exposed To The Burning Rays Of A Tropical Sun.

 

We Had Now Become So Much Accustomed To Sleeping Without Any Covering,

And Upon Hard Rocks,  That We Should Not Have Minded Our Exposure Had It

Not Been For The Rain Which Fell During The Night And Beat In Under The

Rocks,  Beneath Which We Had Crept For Shelter. The Cold Air Of The

Morning Awoke Us Long Before Daylight; And Mr. Walker And Myself,  Having

Explored The Country To The Southward And Climbed A High Hill From Which

We Had An Extensive View,  We Started On Our Return To The Schooner. In

Proceeding Down The River We Landed On An Island,  Situate At The

South-Eastern Extremity Of St. George's Basin,  Just Where The River Runs

Into It. The Presence Of Large Dead Trees On This Island,  Which Had

Evidently Been Swept Down The River In The Time Of Floods And Washed Up

Far Above The Usual Water-Mark,  Showed That Prince Regent's River Is

Subject To The Same Sudden Inundations As All Other Rivers In Australia

Which I Have Seen. During Our Passage Down The River We Saw No Extent Of

Good Land In Any One Place.

 

State Of The Stock.

 

For The Next Few Days We Had Almost Uninterrupted Bad Weather. The Party

Were All Occupied In Preparing The Saddles,  Etc. The Ponies Having Eaten

Off The Grass In The Ravine,  We Were Compelled,  About The 28th,  To Move

Them To The Higher Grounds. These At Our First Arrival On This Coast Were

Perfectly Dry And Burnt Up; But Since The Heavy Rains Had Set In They

Teemed With Running Springs,  Along The Margins Of Which Grew A Scanty

Coating Of Grass. Being Obliged To Send The Horses To A Distance To Graze

Delayed Us A Great Deal For One Portion Of Our Party Was Occupied In

Attending Upon Them. Our Sheep Also Now Began To Die Off: They Had Up To

This Time Improved Rapidly And Were Doing Very Well,  Having,  During The

Absence Of The Vessel,  Been Regularly Tended And Driven To The High Dry

Ground To Feed; But Now The Pressure Of Business Was So Great That We

Were Compelled In Some Degree To Neglect Them,  And From This They

Suffered. The Goats Had From Some Cause Never Succeeded Well.

 

From The Period Of Their Being Landed Many Of The Horses Had Declined

Very Much,  And Several Of Them Were By This Time Reduced To A Very Weakly

State. This Originated From The Heavy Rains And The Excessive Cold Which

Accompanied Them,  As Well As From Some Food They Had Eaten Which Had Not

Agreed With Them. On The 28th And 29th The Rains Increased In Violence

And Duration; But We Still Continued Our Occupations Of Completing The

Packsaddles And Arranging The Stores In Such Small Packages That They

Could Easily In Case Of Necessity Be Transported On Men's Shoulders.

 

Final Arrangements For The March.

 

Having Provided Every Requisite For The Party,  Such As Food,  Working

Utensils,  Soap,  Tobacco,  Etc.,  All Of Which Were Arranged In Their

Respective Packages,  I Issued An Order That Nothing But Certain Articles

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Of Clothing For Each Individual Were To Be Put Upon The Ponies. This Step

Was Rendered The More Necessary From Their Weakness And Their Diminutive

Size Having Greatly Abridged Our Intended Means Of Transport. Numerous

Requests Were Now Made To Me To Be Allowed To Put Various Articles Upon

The Horses,  All Of Which I Felt Myself Obliged To Meet By A Steady

Refusal; But This Refusal,  Dictated Entirely By The Necessity Of The

Case,  Raised Angry And Discontented Feelings,  Tending To Diminish

Materially The Individual Zeal And Energy Which Were So Much Required At

This Juncture To Ensure Our Success.

 

Departure For The Interior. Difficulties Of The Route.

 

On The 29th We Began In The Afternoon To Load Our Horses. Mr. Walker's

Pathway Was Completed By Means Of A Number Of Circuitous And Sharp

Turnings: It Led Directly Up The Face Of Cliffs Which Were Almost

Precipitous And 180 Feet In Height. To Commemorate The Completion Of This

Really Laborious Undertaking I Named The Valley Walker's Valley.

 

Troublesome Ascent From The Valley. Sickness And Mortality Among The

Horses And Stock.

 

The Ponies,  Though Weak,  Bore Their Burdens And Submitted To The

Packsaddles Better Than I Had Hoped. The First Horse Was Led Up By The

Stock-Keeper In Safety,  With Its Saddle And Load On It; I Followed With

The Second,  But Was Not So Fortunate. I Had Accomplished About

Three-Fourths Of The Ascent When,  Turning One Of The Sharp Corners Round

A Rock,  The Load Struck Against It And Knocked The Horse Over On Its

Side. I Thought For A Moment That The Poor Beast Would Have Fallen Down

The Precipice,  But Luckily Its Roll Was Checked In Time To Prevent This.

There It Lay However On A Flat Rock,  Four Or Five Feet Wide,  A Precipice

Of 150 Feet On One Side Of It,  And The Projecting Rock Against Which It

Had Struck On The Other,  Whilst I Sat Upon Its Head To Prevent It From

Moving. Its Long Tail Streamed In The Wind Over The Precipice; Its Wild

And Fiery Eye Gleamed From Its Shaggy Mane And Forelock; And,  Ignorant Of

Its Impending Danger,  It Kicked And Struggled Violently,  Whilst It

Appeared To Hang In Mid-Air Over The Gloomy Depth Of This Tropical

Ravine. Anxious As I Felt For The Safety Of My Pony I Could Not Be

Unconscious Of The Singular Beauty Of The Scene During The Few Minutes

That Elapsed Whilst I Was Repressing Its Struggles On A Narrow Ledge Of

Rock,  Of Which The Dark Brow Projected Threateningly Above Me,  Whilst The

Noise Of A Rushing Torrent Was Audible Far Below. I Cut The Girths Of The

Saddle,  Which Then With Its Load Rolled Over The Precipice,  And Pitched

With A Heavy Crash On A Rock Far Down. Even Then,  If The Brute Had Not

Been A Denizen Of A Wild And Mountainous Country,  It Must Have Been Lost;

But Now It No Sooner Felt Itself Freed From Its Encumbrance Than,  Looking

Sagaciously Around And Then Raising Itself Cautiously Up,  It Stood

Trembling By My Side Upon The Narrow Terrace.

 

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Warned By This Misfortune We Managed To Make Another Turn In The Path,  By

Which This Awkward Rock Was Avoided,  And The Remainder Of The Horses,

With Their Loads,  Reached The Tableland In Safety. But So Rocky Was This

Country That,  Even After Having Mastered The Ascent,  We Found Great

Difficulty In Getting The Loaded Ponies Half A Mile Further To A Point I

Had Fixed On For Our Camp. We Had This Night A Continued Succession Of

Heavy Showers,  Accompanied With Thunder And Lightning.

 

January 30.

 

This Morning It Was Reported To Me That Several Sheep Were Dead,  And That

The Horses Were Beginning To Suffer Much From Constant Exposure To The

Heavy Cold Rains,  For The Trees Were So Small,  And Their Foliage So

Slight,  That They Afforded No Shelter Whatever From Tropical Showers. On

Repairing To The Ravine I Found That The Stream Which Even Yesterday Was

Much Swollen Had Now Become An Impetuous Torrent,  So Much So That Even To

Swim Across It Was Not An Easy Matter. A Tree Was Soon Felled And A

Temporary Foot-Bridge Thus Formed; And As The Rain Cleared Off A Little

Towards The Afternoon We Managed,  In This Interval Of Fine Weather,  To

Load The Ponies And Carry Some Stores Up The Cliffs,  But The Poor Beasts

Were So Much Weakened Since Yesterday That We Were Obliged To Diminish

Their Loads Considerably. They All Appeared To Be Gradually Declining In

Health,  Strength,  And Condition,  But From What Cause Except Exposure I

Could Not Tell.

 

Impediments From Bad Weather.

 

January 31.

 

During Last Night We Had Heavy Storms,  The Torrent Was Still More Swollen

And,  Although We Laboured Hard All Day,  We Accomplished Very Little;

Several Sheep Died During The Day,  And The Ponies Appeared To Be Worse. I

Became Now Very Anxious As To The Result Of The Expedition; My Worst

Apprehensions As To The Rainy Season Setting In Before We Had Got Clear

Of The Sandstone Ranges Had Already Been Fully Realized; Every Endeavour

To Hasten Our Preparations And To Prevent This Occurrence Had Been Used,

Though Unsuccessfully; It Appeared Now The Better Course To Bear Up

Against Evils That Could Not Be Avoided Than To Lose Time In Murmuring; I

Therefore Kept All Hands Constantly Employed