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

With A Novel And

Uncouth Motion. He Fired And It Fell,  And On Going Up To It He Found That

It Was A Small Kangaroo Enveloped In The Folds Of A Large Snake,  A

Species Of Boa. The Kangaroo Was Now Quite Dead,  And Flattened From The

Pressure Of The Folds Of The Snake Which,  Being Surprised At The

Disturbance It Met With,  Was Beginning To Uncoil Itself,  When Mr.

Lushington Drew Out A Pistol And Shot It Through The Head. It Was Of A

Brownish Yellow Colour And Eight Feet Six Inches Long. The Kangaroo We

Found Very Good Eating; And Mr. Walker,  Who Ate A Portion Of The Snake,

Considered It To Be As Great A Delicacy As An Eel,  But Rather Tougher.

 

There Fortunately Was An Elevated Pinnacle Of Rocks On The Rising Ground

Upon Which We Were Encamped; And From The Top Of These I Was Able In The

Course Of The Day To Get Bearings And Angles To Many Important Objects; I

Could Also See Many Fixed Points In My Survey,  So That The Day Could Not

Be Considered As Altogether A Lost One.

 

Condition Of The Ponies.

 

March 18.

 

Throughout The Whole Of This Day The Rain Poured In Torrents So That The

Ponies,  Notwithstanding The Goodness Of The Feed,  Began Again To Suffer

From Cold And Exposure To The Weather. They Were So Wild That We Could

Not Venture To Let Them Run Loose,  And,  As It Was Impossible To Tether

All Of Them Under Trees,  The Majority Were Left Exposed To The Pitiless

Pelting Of The Storms; And They Certainly Made A Very Wretched Appearance

As They Stood With Their Sterns Presented To The Blast,  And The Water

Pouring From Their Sides In Perfect Streams. I Do Not Know Whether This

Was A Very Extraordinary Season,  But It Is Certain That If All Rainy

Periods In North-West Australia Resemble It,  To Attempt To Explore The

Country At This Time Of The Year Would Be Fruitless. Such A Good Supply

Of Rain Is A Great Advantage To An Occupied Country Through Which Regular

Lines Of Communication Exist; As It Then Raises But Slight Impediments To

Travellers; But The Case Is Very Different To First Explorers Who Have To

Find A Ford Over Every Stream And A Passage Across Every Swamp,  And Who

Constantly Run The Risk Of Involving Themselves In A Perfectly Impassable

Region.

 

Natives Near The Camp.

 

March 19.

 

This Morning Was Also Ushered In With Torrents Of Rain,  Chequered By

Occasional Intervals Of Fine Weather Of Perhaps Half An Hour's Duration.

Volume 1 Chapter 9 (To The Upper Glenelg) Pg 116

Another Sheep Died And Several Of The Ponies Were Very Unwell. The Men

Who Had Been Shifting The Tethers Of The Horses At Noon Returned With The

Intelligence That,  During The Period Of Their Absence From The

Encampment,  A Party Of Natives Must Have Been Close To Us,  Watching Our

Movements,  For That When They Went Out There Were No Traces Of Them Near

The Camp,  Which Were Now Discernible In Nearly Every Direction Around Us.

 

I Selected The Best Bushman Of My Party And Went Off To See Whether

Anything Was To Be Apprehended From These Natives,  But I Soon Found That

The Report Was In Some Degree Exaggerated. Some Natives Had Crept Up To

Within About A Hundred Yards Of Us,  Probably With The Intention Of Making

A Reconnaissance,  And Of Then Framing Their Future Plans; They Had

However Been Disturbed By The Return Of The Men From The Horses,  And Then

Made Off. It Appears That They Had Approached Us By Walking Up A Stream

Of Water So As To Conceal Their Trail,  And Then Turned Out Of The Stream

Up Its Right Bank; And Although They Had Carefully Trod In One Another's

Foot-Marks,  So As To Conceal Their Number,  We Could Make Out The Traces

Of At Least Six Or Seven Different Men,  Which We Followed To The Spot

Where,  Whilst Creeping About To Watch Us,  They Had Been Disturbed. From

This Point These Children Of The Bush Had Disappeared,  As It Were By

Magic: Not A Twig Was Broken,  Not A Stone Was Turned,  And We Could Not

Perceive That The Heavy Drops Of Rain Had Been Shaken From A Single Blade

Of Grass. We Made Wide Casts In Different Directions But,  Not Being Able

To Hit On Their Trail,  I Returned To The Tents,  More Than Ever Convinced

Of The Necessity Of Being Constantly On The Watch Against Beings Who Were

Often Near Us When We Least Dreamt Of Their Presence,  And,  In An

Unguarded Moment,  Might So Easily Surprise And Spear Some Of The Party.

 

Appearance Of The Country.

 

The Rain Continued To Fall Throughout The 20th,  Rendering Our Condition

Every Hour Worse. Towards Noon However The Weather Cleared A Little,  And

In A Fine Interval I Mounted A High Range Of Basaltic Hills Which Lay

About A Mile And A Half To The Westward. These Hills Were The Highest

Which I Had Yet Ascended; And From Them I Gained A Very Extensive View.

The Farthest Extremity Of The Sandstone Range Which Lay To The Southward

And Eastward Did Not Appear To Be More Than Ten Or Twelve Miles Distant.

Behind This Barren Range There Again Rose The Conical Tops Of Basaltic

Hills,  Clothed In The Greenest Grass; And Beyond These,  In The Far

South-East,  I Made Out With The Telescope A Range Of Very Lofty Hills,

Which,  Stretching Their Heads High Into The Clouds,  Left Me Without Means

Of Forming Any Idea Of Their Elevation: But Even The Portion Of Them

Which Met My View Must Have Had A Very Considerable Altitude. I Took A

Set Of Angles From This Point But The Mistiness Of The Day Rendered It

Very Unfit For My Purpose. Whilst I Was Thus Occupied,  We Heard The Cries

And Calls Of A Party Of Natives Between Us And The Tents. From The

Loudness And Proximity Of These I Augured Badly And Therefore Hurried My

Return; But We Neither Saw The Natives Themselves Nor Their Tracks,  And

Volume 1 Chapter 9 (To The Upper Glenelg) Pg 117

Were Quite In Ignorance As To What Had Been Their Intentions. Soon After

Sunset The Weather Cleared Up A Little,  And The Stars,  Which Came Peeping

Out,  Promised Well For The Next Day.

 

Natives Near The Camp Again.

 

March 21.

 

Although It Had Rained During The Night And The Sun This Morning Rose

Bright And Clear The Country Was Still Impassable Owing To The Late

Continued Torrents. I Therefore Went Out With A Detachment For The

Purpose Of Exploring A Route By Which We Could Proceed The Next Day,  As

Well As To Define Some More Points In The Country We Were About To Enter.

In The Course Of Our Walk We Crossed The Track Of The Natives We Had

Heard Yesterday. Their Party Must Have Been Large,  For They Approached To

Within About Three Hundred Yards Of The Tents,  Leaving A Trail As Broad

And Large As Was Made By Our Ponies And Party Together. I Did Not Much

Like Their Hanging About Us For So Many Days As I Rather Mistrusted Their

Intentions; Their Object However Appeared To Have Been To Examine The

Ponies,  For They Had Only Come As Far As The Tethering Ground And,  After

Wandering About There A Little,  Had Again Retired. We Were Unfortunate In

Our Search For A Good Line Of Country By Which To Proceed,  But I Made

Some Important Additions To My Map.

 

Marsh And Sandstone Range.

 

March 22.

 

As Fine Weather Had Apparently Set In Again We This Morning Resumed Our

Journey. The Poor Ponies Looked Very Weak And Wretched When They Were

Brought Up To Start,  And We Were All Ragged,  Dirty,  And Worn Out From The

Constant Exposure To Wind And Rain; Indeed Our Appearance Was Altogether

Very Miserable On Moving Off,  And Our Progress,  Too,  Very Slow And

Fatiguing,  Both To Ourselves And The Horses,  On Account Of The Swampy

Nature Of The Ground; But We Strenuously Persevered Until Near Noon,  When

I Halted For Breakfast At The Foot Of Some Lofty Hills,  At The Base Of

Which Ran The Stream Which Was Giving Us So Much Trouble. As Soon As We

Had Despatched Our Scanty Breakfast I Tried With A Party To Find A

Passage Across The Marsh,  But Our Search Was In Vain And,  On Examining

The Sandstone Range On The Other Side Of The Stream,  I Found It So

Precipitous That Our Weak Ponies Could Not Possibly Have Clambered Up It.

 

Native Bridge.

 

Whilst On Our Return We Found A Native Bridge,  Formed Of A Fallen Tree,

Which Rested Against Two Others And Was Secured In Its Position By Forked

Boughs.

 

Volume 1 Chapter 9 (To The Upper Glenelg) Pg 118

Precipitous Pass.

 

I Was Thus Obliged To Continue To Travel In A North-East Direction For

The Remainder Of The Afternoon,  When We Found,  At Last,  A Passage Over

The Marsh,  But Made Vain Attempts To Cross The Sandstone Range In No Less

Than Four Different Places; The Ponies Were So Weak And The Route So

Precipitous That Each Time We Were Obliged To Return. At Length We

Reached The Watershed,  From One Side Of Which The Streams Ran Down To

Prince Regent's River,  And From The Other To The Glenelg; The Rocks On

The South Side Were Ancient Sandstone Resting On Basalt,  And On The

Opposite The Basalt Crept Out,  Forming Elevated Hills. This Position Was

Remarkable Both In A Geological And Geographical Point Of View; And,  The

Sandstone Range Over Against Us Looking Rather More Accessible Than It

Had Previously Done,  I Determined To Halt Here For The Night And Examine

The Country; But My Resolution Was Scarcely Formed Ere Such Heavy Storms

Of Rain,  Accompanied By Thunder And Lightning,  Came On As Totally To

Prevent Me From Seeing To Any Distance Or Taking Any Bearings.

 

On Entering The Old Red Sandstone District Again The Parakeets Became

Once More Common,  And The Green Ants Reappeared. These Last Seem To Be

Solely Confined To The Sandstone,  For I Did Not See One Without Its

Limits.

 

Ascent Of The Sandstone Range.

 

March 23.

 

This Morning We Made A More Fortunate Effort To Ascend The Sandstone

Range Which Had Yesterday So Baffled Our Efforts; And Having Commenced

The Ascent At 6 A.M. Reached The Summit At 10,  But The Poor Little Ponies

Were Dreadfully Exhausted. Having Now Established Ourselves Upon This

Narrow Elevated Tableland The Next Thing Was To Descend On The Other

Side. The Prospect To The Southward And Eastward Was Not