Journals Of Two Expeditions Of Discovery In North West And Western Australia Volume 1 (Of 2) - George Grey (best free e book reader txt) 📗
- Author: George Grey
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That I Can Never Forget.
He Dressed My Wound And Told Me That Assistance Was At Hand To Convey Me
To The Tents. Mr. Lushington Soon Arrived With A Pony. It Was Now Growing
Very Late In The Day. I Therefore Did Not Like To Remonstrate Against
Being Moved On Horseback Although, From The Position Of My Wound, I
Feared That It Was An Injudicious Mode Of Conveyance In My State. I Was
Placed Upon The Pony And, Supported By My Comrades, Moved Onwards To The
Tent.
Reach The Camp. Consequences Of The Wound.
I Cared But Little For The Want Of Comforts I Must Now Be Subject To.
Therein I Only Shared The Lot Of Many A Worthy Soldier; But One Thing
Made The Night Very Wretched, For Then Through The Woods Came The
Piercing Shrieks Of Wailing Women And The Mournful Cries Of Native Men,
Sorrowing Over Him Who Had That Day Fallen By My Hand. These Cries Rang
On My Ears All Night, Startling Me At Every Moment From My Feverish And
Fitful Slumbers.
Early Next Morning The Natives Moved Off In A Westerly Direction Without
Having Again Attempted In Any Way Whatever To Molest Us. My Wound Was Not
Today So Painful As I Had Anticipated. Mr. Walker, At My Request,
Attempted To Heal It By Union By The First Intention, As I Hoped To Be
Thus Only Compelled To Delay The Party For A Few Days.
My Pain And Suffering Were, After The First Day, So Great, Owing To An
Abscess Having Formed In My Hip, That I Was Unable To Keep A Regular
Journal, And Will Therefore Give A Short Narrative Of The Events Which
Occurred, Recommencing My Journal On The 27th Of February, The Day On
Which I Was Sufficiently Recovered To Enable Me To Proceed With The
Party.
Cape Man Sent Back To The Vessel.
Two Or Three Days After I Had Been Wounded The Man From The Cape, Who Had
Been With Me At The Time, Came To Request That He Might Be Allowed To
Volume 1 Chapter 8 (To The Glenelg River) Pg 98Leave The Party And Return To The Vessel. He Stated Very Fairly That His
Horror And Dread Of The Natives Were So Great He Should Never Be Able To
Face Them; That He Had Never Been Before Placed In Circumstances Of
Danger; And Felt Himself Quite Unable To Cope With Them; That If His Own
Father Had Been With Him When They Attacked Us He Could Not Have Helped
Him; And That He Was Sure He Should Die Of Fright If Ever He Saw Them
Again.
I Thought It Would Be Cruel To Compel Him To Remain With The Party, And
It Was Moreover Impossible To Tell What Evil Effect His Cowardice Might
Produce Upon The Others; When Already He Had, By Running Away From The
Natives, Induced Them To Attack Us. The Only Account He Gave Of This
Transaction Was That He Saw A Native Sitting On A Rock With A Spear And,
Feeling Alarmed, Immediately Ran Away. No One After This Could Feel In
The Least Surprised At The Consequences. The Peculiar Characteristic Of
This Savage Race Appears To Be That They In All Cases Act Upon First
Impulses And Impressions. I Have Repeatedly Remarked This Trait In Their
Character; And Undoubtedly When They Found An Unknown Being In Their
Native Wilds, Who Fled From Them In Evident Fear, It Was To Be Expected
That They Would, In The First Instance, Feel Very Much Inclined To Run
After, And Throw A Spear At Him.
On The 21st Of February I Sent A Party Under Mr. Walker Back To The
Schooner For The Purpose Of Escorting This Man, As Well As To Direct The
Captain To Delay Her Departure From The Bay Until The 2nd Day Of May;
Which Delay Would Allow Time For Us To Complete The Exploration Of This
Part Of The Country, And I Could Then Decide Upon What Course I Had
Better Adopt.
Events During Period Of Halt.
Mr. Walker Returned On The 22nd, Having Executed Both These Commissions;
And His Party Brought Back For Me A Little Sugar, Arrowroot, And Wine.
All Of These Were Articles Of Which, In My Present State, I Stood Much In
Need.
My Recovery Was A Good Deal Delayed By The Circumstances In Which I Was
Placed. The Heat In The Store-Tent, A Portion Of Which I Occupied, Was
Sometimes As High As 136 Degrees Of Fahrenheit, And Until The Return Of
Mr. Walker I Had Been Able To Obtain Nothing To Eat Or Drink But Damper
And Tea Without Sugar; I Also Reclined Upon The Ground, Until Sores Broke
Out From Lying On So Hard A Surface In One Position. Corporal Auger
Latterly However Made A Sort Of Low Stretcher, Which Gave Me A Little
More Ease. Added To These Bodily Ills Were Many Mental Ones--But I Will
Not Dwell Longer On Times So Replete With Painful Recollections.
Anecdote Of Ruston.
During The Time I Was Lying In My Tent, In Great Pain And Very Low
Spirits, I Was Attended With Every Care And Kindness By Ruston, The
Sailor I Had Brought From The Cape, Who Occasionally Suggested Such Odd
Topics Of Comfort As His Philosophy Could Supply; And One Day, Either
Volume 1 Chapter 8 (To The Glenelg River) Pg 99From Some Expressions I Had Dropped, Or Other Circumstance, He Conceived
That The Death Of The Native I Had Shot Was Preying Most Upon My Mind;
Under This Impression He Came Into The Tent, Seated Himself On A
Flour-Bag Near Me, And Made His Usual Inquiries As To My Wants And
Desires; Then, Glancing At Recent Events, Proceeded To Say: "Well, Sir,
I'm Sure If I Were You, I Shouldn't Think Nothing At All Of Having Shot
That There Black Fellow; Why, Sir, They're Very Thick And Plentiful Up
The Country." I Did Not Exactly See The Consolation To Be Derived From
This Argument Of Ruston's, But I Could Not Forbear Smiling At Its
Quaintness, And Feeling Grateful For The Kindness With Which It Was
Intended.
Track Found.
During My Illness Mr. Lushington Explored A Track To The Westward Of The
One I Had Formerly Taken, And Of Which He Reported So Favourably That I
Determined To Pursue It. According To His Account, By Following It For
Seven Or Eight Miles, We Should Get Altogether Clear Of The Sandstone
Ranges, And Enter A Tract Of Country Of Great Fertility. On The 26th Mr.
Walker Reported Me To Be So Much Better That He Thought I Might With
Safety Move On The Next Day On Horseback, And Preparations Were
Accordingly Made For A Start.
A Very Serious Change Had Taken Place In Our Resources In One Respect,
For Only Fourteen Ponies Now Remained Alive Out Of Twenty-Six, And Many
Of These Were So Weak And In Such Bad Condition As To Be Almost Useless.
On Opening One Of Those Which Had Died About A Hat-Full Of Sand Was Found
In Its Inside, And It Therefore Appeared Very Probable That The Ponies,
Having Been Landed In The First Instance On Loose Sandy Soil Producing
Only A Short And Scanty Vegetation, Had Taken Up So Much Sand With Their
Food As To Interfere With The Functions Of The Stomach, And Hence Had
Arisen Their Gradual Wasting Away And Ultimate Death. I Indeed Entertain
No Doubt That The Great Loss Of Ponies We Sustained Arose From This
Cause.
Change Of Plans.
This Reduction In The Number Of Our Beasts Of Burden Prevented Me From
Entertaining Further Hope Of Being Able To Proceed For Any Great Distance
Parallel To The Coast In A Southerly Direction. I Therefore Formed A
Depot At Our Present Encampment, Burying All Such Stores As The Remaining
Ponies Were Unable To Carry On. My Intentions Being Merely To Proceed As
Far As The Supply Of Provisions We Could Carry With Us Would Last, Then
To Return To Our Position, And From Thence To The Schooner.
Description Of A New Volcanic Country.
On The Morning Of The 27th Of February I Was, In Pursuance Of This Plan
Of Operations, Lifted On My Horse, And We Moved On In A South-West
Direction, Across Sandy Plains Covered With Scrub And A Species Of
Stringy-Bark; But On Travelling For About A Mile And A Half The Character
Volume 1 Chapter 8 (To The Glenelg River) Pg 100Of The Country Became More Rocky And Difficult. After Moving Down A
Slight Descent, We Came To A Rapid Stream, The Same One On The Banks Of
Which I Had Heard The Natives' Calls On The Day I Was Wounded; The Banks
Afforded Good Food For The Horses And Trees Which Offered Some Shelter To
The Men From The Burning Heat Of The Sun. I Determined Therefore To Halt
Here For Breakfast; Indeed The Horses Were So Completely Knocked Up That
They Were Incapable Of Travelling Any Further. We Had Already Been
Compelled To Abandon One Of Them In A Dying State Since We Had Started In
The Morning.
We Halted For About An Hour And A Half And Then Recommenced Our Journey,
But Were Unfortunate Enough To Miss The Marked Trees, And Therefore
Wandered A Good Deal In Our Attempts To Find The Right Track. Whilst Thus
Roaming In The Wood We Passed Two Spots About One Hundred Yards Distant
From Each Other, Which I Imagined To Be Native Burying-Places: They
Consisted Of Piles Of Small Loose Stones So Heaped Together As To Form A
Large Mound; These Mounds Were Placed On Flat Bare Rocks, One Of Them,
The Smaller, Had Been Recently Made, The Other Was Larger And Much Older,
For It Was Partly Overgrown With Plants.
View From The Sandstone Range.
About 2 P.M. We Reached The Extremity Of The Sandstone Ridges And A
Magnificent View Burst Upon Us. From The Summit Of The Hills On Which We
Stood An Almost Precipitous Descent Led Into A Fertile Plain Below; And
From This Part, Away To The Southward, For Thirty To Forty Miles,
Stretched A Low Luxuriant Country, Broken By Conical Peaks And Rounded
Hills Which Were Richly Grassed To Their Very Summits. The Plains And
Hills Were Both Thinly Wooded, And Curving Lines Of Shady Trees Marked
Out The Courses Of Numerous Streams. Since I Have Visited This Spot I
Have Traversed Large Portions Of Australia But Have Seen No Land, No
Scenery To Equal It. We Were Upon The Confines Of A Great Volcanic
District, Clothed With Tropical Vegetation, To Which The Isle Of
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