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

France

Bears A Greater Resemblance Than Any Other Portion Of The World Which I

Am Acquainted With. The Rocks In Both Places Are Identical; Many Of The

Trees Are Also The Same; And There Are Several Other Close And Striking

Points Of Similarity.

 

Descent From The Sandstone Range Into The Low Country.

 

The Descent Into The Lowlands,  Being Very Difficult,  Occupied Us Nearly

Two Hours; We Then Gained The Bed Of A Ravine,  In Which Ran A Clear

Stream: The Ravine Gradually Widening Out As We Reached The Plains. I

Proceeded Directly Down It In The Direction Of A Lofty Peaked Hill Which

Bore To The Westward Of South; And,  Having Gained A Shoulder Of This

Hill,  We Halted For The Night.

 

Immediately Above Us A Perfectly Conical Peak Raised Its Head To The

Height Of At Least Five Hundred Feet;* This Hill Was Covered With Rich

Grass,  And There Could Be No Doubt That It Was Of Volcanic Origin,  For

The Rock Of Which It Was Composed Was A Vitrified Lava Resembling That Of

Ascension. It Is From This Lava That The Natives Form Their Most Deadly

Spears,  For Which Purpose It Answers Well,  As It Fractures Easily,  And

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The Fracture Resembles That Of The Coarse Green Glass Of England; Indeed

A Lump Of This Rock Might Readily Be Taken For A Part Of A Glass Bottle.

 

The Horses And Sheep Revelled In The Luxuriant Pasture. The Hill We Had

Encamped On Formed A Sort Of Plateau; Behind Us Stood Dark Mountains,  And

In Our Front Lay Fertile Plains,  From Which Green Hills Rose One Behind

The Other Until They Were Lost In The Distance,  Without Any Perceptible

Change In The Character Of The Country. To The Eastward The Prospect Was

Similar,  As Well As To The Westward,  Except That In This Direction The

Hills Were More Lofty,  And Behind These The Tropical Sun Was Hurrying

Down With A Rapidity Of Movement Never Witnessed By Those Who Live In The

Gloomy Climes Of The North. The Men All Looked Healthy And Full Of Hope;

The Cool Sea-Breeze Refreshed My Feverish Frame: I Painted In Fancy The

Rapid Progress That This Country Would Ere Long Make In Commerce And

Civilization,  And My Weakness And Fatigues Were All Forgotten.

 

Distant Expanse Of Water.

 

February 28.

 

At Dawn This Morning The Sheep Could Not Be Found; Tempted By The

Goodness Of The Feed They Had Broken Out From The Little Enclosure We Had

Made For Them And Had Wandered Off. The Stock-Keeper And Two Of The Men,

Having Ascended The Conical Hill Behind Us To Try If They Could See Them

From It,  Reported On Their Return That They Could Descry A Large Lake Or

Expanse Of Water,  Which Bore About South By West From Us.

 

Vexatious Delays.

 

Whilst The Search For The Sheep Was Continued I Sent Another Party Up The

Hill To Observe More Particularly This Sheet Of Water,  Who Returned With

A Report Similar To That Of The Stock-Keeper,  And I Therefore Determined,

As Soon As Everything Had Been Prepared For Starting,  To Move Off In The

Direction Pointed Out; Unfortunately The Sheep Were Not Found Till Near

Noon But,  As I Was Afraid We Should Consequently Lose A Whole Day,  I

Started Directly After They Were Brought In. We Had Not Proceeded More

Than Half A Mile Ere I Had Cause To Repent This Measure,  For Two Or Three

Of The Men Suffered Severely From Exposure To The Sun,  And One Of Them

Became So Unwell That I Was Obliged To Halt The Party.

 

The Spot I Chose Was The Bank Of A Stream,  Shaded Over By Dense Trees

And,  If Anything Could Have Atoned For The Mortification Of Being

Compelled To Halt When So Anxious To Get On,  The Cool Beauty Of This Spot

Would Have Done So.

 

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When The Sun Began To Fall We Again Moved On,  Following The Course Of The

Stream,  Which Ran Through A Fertile Valley About Two Miles Wide And

Bounded On Either Side By Gently Sloping Hills,  Extending Through A

Country Thinly Wooded. We Did Not Halt Until After Sunset.

 

March 1.

 

This Morning We Resumed Our Route Along The Banks Of The Stream,  Which

Continued Gradually To Increase In Size. The Marshy Ground Now Extended

Further From Its Banks And,  In Order To Free Ourselves From This,  I

Ascended Some Rising Ground To The Eastward,  Along Which We Pursued Our

Route Until We Fell In With Another Rapid Stream Running From The

Eastward,  And Were Again Involved In Marshy Land,  Which Delayed Us For

Some Time Ere We Found A Point Where Loaded Ponies Could Pass. At Length

However,  Having Succeeded In Getting Clear Of These Obstructions,  We

Continued Our Southerly Course Till We Came To A Deep Stream Running From

South-South-East; But,  Not Being Able To Cross It There,  We Travelled

Along Its Banks Until A Ford Was Found; And As Soon As We Had Passed Over

I Halted For Breakfast.

 

Beautiful Basaltic Country.

 

We Had Traversed A Most Beautiful Country This Morning,  Composed Of

Basaltic Rocks And Fine Alluvial Soil,  Whilst,  From The Size And Number

Of The Streams,  It Must Be As Well Watered As Any Region In The World.

Before We Had Completed Our Breakfast Violent Tropical Rains Set In;

These Were So Cold That Some Of The Men Got Into The Stream,  The Waters

Of Which Were Comparatively Warm,  And They Thus Saved Themselves From The

Painful Feeling Caused By Very Cold Water Falling On The Pores,  Which Had

Been Previously Opened By Profuse Perspiration. The Heavy Rains Continued

Without Intermission For The Remainder Of The Day And Night,  And Two Of

The Men Were,  On This Occasion,  Attacked With Dysentery,  Caused,  I

Believe,  By Cold And Exposure.

 

Discovery And Character Of The Glenelg River.

 

March 2.

 

We Started At Dawn,  Crossing A Series Of Low Ridges Which Ran Out From A

Chain Of Hills To The Eastward Of Us,  And Increased In Elevation As We

Proceeded To The South. We Passed Numerous Streams,  And The Country

Generally Continued Of A Very Rich And Fertile Character: At Last,  From

The Top Of One Of These Ridges,  There Burst Upon The Sight A Noble River,

Running Through A Beautiful Country,  And,  Where We Saw It,  At Least Three

Or Four Miles Across,  And Studded With Numerous Verdant Islands. I Have

Since Seen Many Australian Rivers,  But None To Equal This Either In

Magnitude Or Beauty.

 

I At Once Named It The Glenelg In Compliment To The Right Honourable Lord

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Glenelg,  To Whom We Were All Under Great Obligations.

 

Impediments From Marshes And Streams. Ineffectual Attempt To Reach It.

 

My Anxiety To Reach This Stream Was Too Great To Allow Me To Pass Much

Time In Looking At It,  So,  After I Had Taken A Few Bearings To The Most

Remarkable Points In The Neighbourhood,  We Wound Down The Steep Descent

In Front,  And Continued Our Advance Towards The River,  But Were Still At

Least Five Miles From It When We Became Involved In Low Marshy Ground,

Traversed By Deep Sluggish Streams,  The Banks Of Which Were Encumbered By

A Dense Vegetation. Such A Country,  Though Admirably Adapted Both For

Commerce And Agriculture,  Offered Almost Insurmountable Difficulties To

First Explorers,  At Least To Such As Were Compelled To Move Rapidly. We

At Last Became So Completely Entangled In A Marsh That Further Progress

Was Hopeless,  And We Halted To Prepare Breakfast Whilst A Party Searched

For A Path By Which We Might Be Enabled To Proceed.

 

My Wound Was Still Open And My Sufferings From It Were Great; Whenever We

Moved On I Was Lifted On The Pony,  And When We Halted I Was Lifted Off

Again And Laid On The Ground,  Where Weakness Compelled Me To Remain

During The Whole Period Of Our Halt; And On Occasions Like The Present,

When Most Anxious Myself To Search For A Route,  I Was Obliged To Lie

Still Like A Helpless Child. My Mind Was As Active And As Ready For

Exertion As Ever,  Yet The Weak Frame,  Of Which It Felt Perfectly

Independent,  Was Incapable Of Seconding My Most Moderate Wishes; And The

Annoyance I Experienced At Finding Myself In This State Long Retarded My

Recovery And Rendered Me Weaker Every Day.

 

At Length A Route Was Found,  And Until Sunset We Continued Our Journey

Over A Very Difficult But Fertile Country,  And Then Halted For The Night

On A Small Elevation,  Embosomed Amidst Conical Hills Which Rose From

Verdant Meadows,  Watered By Several Streams. The Country Was Thinly

Timbered.

 

The Spot We Had Halted At Was So Thickly Tenanted With Mosquitoes That It

Was Impossible To Sleep. I Therefore Laid Awake,  Listening To The Cries

Of The Sea-Birds And Watching The Brilliant Fire-Flies Moving About In

The Dark Foliage Of The Trees.

 

Progress Towards The Upper Part Of The Glenelg.

 

March 3.

 

Before The First Dawn I Called Some Of The Party And We Started Off To

Visit The Banks Of The River. The First Part Of Our Journey Lay Across

Rich Grassy Flats,  Thinly Wooded With Large Shady Trees,  Or Over Gently

Rising Grounds,  On Which Grew An Abundance Of Young Grass Which Appeared

To Be A Species Of Oat. These Rising Grounds Were Thinly Wooded With A

Small Sort Of Gum Tree,  Called In The Isle Of France The Bois Noir.

 

We Soon Reached Low Marshy Land Intersected With Large Dry Mud Flats And,

As It Was Impossible,  From The Nature Of The Country,  To Get The Pony

Volume 1 Chapter 8 (To The Glenelg River) Pg 104

Further,  I Tethered It,  And We Tried To Make The