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

Very Cheering,

For Before We Could Make Any Further Progress In Either Of Those

Directions We Had A Perfect Precipice To Get Down,  At The Foot Of Which

Lay A Beautiful And Verdant Valley About Three Miles Wide,  Diversified

With Wood And Water; Whilst A Large Cascade Which Could Be Seen Falling

In A Dark Forest On The Other Side Added Much To The Scenery. Beyond The

Valley Rose Again Rocky Sandstone Ranges,  But I Knew That The Width Of

These Was Inconsiderable.

 

Descent On The Opposite Side.

 

After A Very Tedious Search We Discovered A Sort Of Pass Leading

Diagonally Down The Face Of The Precipice; But Before Attempting To Take

The Ponies Over This It Was Necessary To Move Many Large Rocks And

Stones,  To Cut Down Trees,  And Otherwise Make It Practicable For Them.

All Hands However Set Cheerfully To Work,  And By 1 P.M. The Whole Party

Had Safely Reached The Bottom Of The Precipice. The Valley That We Were

In Was Very Fertile But,  From The Incessant Rain Which Had Lately Fallen,

The Centre Part Of It Had Become An Impassable Swamp,  And We Were Thus

Volume 1 Chapter 9 (To The Upper Glenelg) Pg 119

Once More Obliged To Turn To The Northward In Order To Travel Round It:

But As Rest And Food Were Necessary Both For Horses And Men We Halted At

The Foot Of The Sandstone Range For Breakfast.

 

Remarkable Frilled Lizard. Beautiful Country.

 

As We Were Pursuing Our Route In The Afternoon We Fell In With A Specimen

Of The Remarkable Frilled Lizard (Chlamydosaurus Kingii); This Animal

Measures About Twenty-Four Inches From The Tip Of The Nose To The Point

Of Its Tail,  And Lives Principally In Trees,  Although It Can Run Very

Swiftly Along The Ground: When Not Provoked Or Disturbed It Moves Quietly

About,  With Its Frill Lying Back In Plaits Upon The Body: But It Is Very

Irascible And,  Directly It Is Frightened,  Elevates The Frill Or Ruff And

Makes For A Tree; Where If Overtaken It Throws Itself Upon Its Stern,

Raising Its Head And Chest As High As It Can Upon The Forelegs,  Then

Doubling Its Tail Underneath The Body And Displaying A Very Formidable

Set Of Teeth. From The Concavity Of Its Large Frill It Boldly Faces Any

Opponent,  Biting Fiercely Whatever Is Presented To It,  And Even Venturing

So Far In Its Rage As To Fairly Make A Fierce Charge At Its Enemy. We

Repeatedly Tried The Courage Of This Lizard,  And It Certainly Fought

Bravely Whenever Attacked. From The Animal Making So Much Use Of This

Frill As A Covering And Means Of Defence For Its Body This Is Most

Probably One Of The Uses To Which Nature Intended The Appendage Should Be

Applied.

 

We At Length Reached The Watershed Connecting The Country We Had Left

With That We Were Entering Upon,  And Were Now Again Enabled To Turn To

The Eastward And Thus To Travel Round The Swamp. This Watershed Consisted

Principally Of A Range Of Elevated Hills From Which Streams Were Thrown

Off To The Glenelg And To Prince Regent's River. The Scenery Here Was

Very Fine,  But I Have So Often Before Described The Same Character Of

Landscape That It Will Be Sufficient To Say We Again Looked Down From

High Land On A Very Fertile Country,  Covered With A Tropical Vegetation

And Lying Between Two Navigable Rivers. I Can Compare This To No Other

Australian Scenery,  For I Have Met With Nothing In The Other Portions Of

The Continent Which At All Resembles It. When We Had Nearly Headed The

Valley The Night Closed In So Rapidly On Us That I Was Obliged To Halt

The Party; And By The Time The Arrangements For Security And Rest Were

Completed It Was Quite Dark.

 

Curious Nest.

 

March 24.

 

This Morning We Started As Soon As It Was Light And,  Continuing Our Route

Round The Valley,  Passed The Beautiful Cascade Seen Yesterday And,  After

Fording A Clear Running Brook Like An English Trout Stream,  We Began To

Ascend The Next Sandstone Range. On Gaining The Summit We Fell In With A

Very Remarkable Nest,  Or What Appeared To Me To Be Such,  And Which I

Shall Describe More Particularly When I Advert To The Natural History Of

Volume 1 Chapter 9 (To The Upper Glenelg) Pg 120

This Part Of The Country. We Had Previously Seen Several Of Them,  And

They Had Always Afforded Us Food For Conjecture As To The Agent And

Purpose Of Such Singular Structures.

 

Deep Valley.

 

Soon After Quitting This Nest We Found A Very Convenient Pass Through A

Deep And Fertile Valley,  Which Led Directly Up Into The Heart Of The

Sandstone Range; A Fine Stream Ran Through It In Which Were Several Large

Reservoirs Of Fresh Water; The Hills On Each Side Were Lofty,  Being At

Times Of A Rounded Character,  And At Others Broken Into Precipitous And

Fantastic Cliffs; The Country Was Thinly Wooded With Large Timber,  And

The Varied Scenery,  The Facility Which The Country Afforded For

Travelling,  And The Pleasure Incident On Finding Ourselves Clear Of The

Marshy Ground Which Had So Long Encumbered Our Movements,  Combined To

Make Me Push Along As Fast As Possible; The Only Check Was The Heat Of

The Sun; And It Should Always Be Borne In Mind That No Parallel Whatever

Can Be Instituted Between Travels In Tropical And Extra-Tropical

Australia,  For In The Former The More Exhausting Nature Of The Climate

Unfits Both Men And Horses For Making Long Journeys,  And Indeed Renders

It Almost Impossible To Travel During The Heat Of The Day,  Whilst The

Difficult Nature Of The Ground Caused By The Dense Vegetation,  The

Jungles,  The Ravines,  And Marshes,  Render It Altogether Impracticable To

Move At Night Through An Unknown Country.

 

Wild Oats.

 

We Crossed During The Day Several Recent Tracks Of Natives But Did Not

Fall In With The Natives Themselves; We Also Saw Many Kangaroos,  And

Halted For The Night On An Elevated Basaltic Ridge,  At A Point Close To

Which There Was A Large Crop Of The Grain Which We Called Wild Oats. This

Is A Remarkable Vegetable Production,  Growing To The Height Of From Five

To Six Feet; In The Stalk,  The Shape,  And Mode Of Insertion Of The Leaves

It Is Similar To The Oat Of Europe; The Manner In Which The Seeds Grow In

The Two Plants Is Also The Same,  And The Seeds Are Nearly Of The Same

Size,  But The Australian Oat Is Furnished With A Beard Like The Barley.

When Hungry I Have Repeatedly Eaten These Oats,  Which In Some Parts Grow

In Such Abundance That Several Acres Of Them Might Be Mown At Once; And I

Have Little Doubt That This Plant Would With Cultivation Turn Out To Be A

Very Great Addition To Our Tropical Grains.*

 

March 25.

 

This Morning We Resumed Our Journey,  Crossing A Succession Of Basaltic

Valleys. The Vegetation Was Luxuriant Beyond Description; And It Was

Ludicrous To See The Heavy-Tailed Kangaroos Leaping And Floundering About

In The Long Grass When They Had Quitted Their Beaten Pathways And Were

Suddenly Disturbed By Our Approach.

Volume 1 Chapter 9 (Footnote) Pg 121

(*Footnote. I Am Informed That The Seeds Of It Which I Introduced Into

The Isle Of France In 1838 Have Greatly Multiplied And That The Plants

Are In A Very Flourishing State.)

 

Volume 1 Chapter 9 (To The Upper Glenelg) Pg 122

 

Curious Birds.

 

In Crossing The Second Of These Large Valleys We Saw Two Large White And

Black Birds,  More Like Pelicans Than Any Other Kind I Am Acquainted With;

They Had Webbed Feet,  And The Colour And Form Of Their Body Resembled

That Of The Pelican,  But The Head And Beak Were Very Different; After

Flying Two Or Three Times Round Our Heads,  Well Out Of Shot,  So As To

Have A Good Peep At Us,  They Flew Away,  And For The First And Last Time I

Saw This Curious Bird.

 

We Now Ascended A Ridge Of Sandstone Tableland Which Crossed Our Route:

This Was About Three Miles In Width,  And At Its Southern Extremity Were

Two Lofty Basaltic Hills,  From Between Which A Small Valley Led Down Into

Another Very Large One That Was The General Receptacle Of The Streams

Which Came Pouring In From All Directions. This Last Might Be Considered

As A Good Type Of The Valleys In This Portion Of The Country: At Its

Northern Extremity It Was About Four Miles Wide,  Being Bounded On All

Sides By Rocky Wooded Ranges With Dark Gullies From Which Numerous

Streams And Springs Poured Forth Their Watery Contributions To The Main

One. This Last Ran Nearly Down The Centre Of The Principal Valley,  The

Width Of Which Gradually Contracted Towards The South,  Where It

Terminated Almost In A Point,  Having A Narrow Lateral Opening At The

South-West End Of Not More Than A Quarter Of A Mile Wide,  And Bounded By

Steep Cliffs On Each Side,  So As To Form A Perfect Gorge,  The Direction

Of Which Was Due West. In About A Mile And A Half This Gorge Met A Cross

Valley,  Running From The South To The North,  Down Which The Waters Were

Poured,  So As To Run Back As It Were Upon Their Former Course.

 

Basaltic Valley.

 

We Halted For The Day In The Main Valley,  Which From The Run Of The

Waters Above Described Must Necessarily Have Been Very Elevated; It Was,

Moreover,  Nearly Level,  Forming Indeed A Sort Of Enclosed Plateau,  So

That The Streams,  Which Both On Entering And Quitting It Ran Bubbling

Merrily Along,  Preserved Whilst In It A Sluggish And Scarcely Perceptible

Course. When To This I Add That It Was Composed Of Basaltic Rocks And

Received The Deposit Of Such An Extent Of Elevated Basaltic Land