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

I Need

Scarcely Add That It Was Highly Fertile. I Believe That These Valleys,

Which Are Very Common In North-Western Australia And Contain From Four To

Five Thousand Acres Each,  Are As Rich As Any Other Spots Upon The Globe,

And Moreover Possess The Great Advantage Of Being Situated Close To

Navigable Rivers.

 

March 26.

 

This Morning We Moved Down The Valley In Which We Had Been Encamped

Yesterday And,  As It Was Thinly Wooded,  We Experienced No Difficulty

Whatever Until The Main Stream Suddenly Turned Off From South To Due

West; This Was A Sufficient Proof That The Gorge Of The Valley Was On Its

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Western Side,  But I Was Not Anxious To Follow The Course Of The Water,

From The Apprehension Of Being Led Into Low And Marshy Land; I Thought

Also That A Low Ridge Which I Saw To The South Could Easily Be Crossed,

And That We Should Thus Gain Access To A Valley Similar To That We Were

In. I Therefore Resolved To Cross The Stream At The First Ford We Could

Find,  And After A Little Trouble We Discovered One Suited To Our Purpose

Through Which The Ponies Passed In Safety.

 

Impassable Sandstone Range.

 

We Then Continued Our Route In A Due Southerly Direction Until We Reached

The Low Range Which I Had Before Seen; This Range Turned Out To Be

Composed Of Sandstone,  And Where We Made It It Was So Rocky And

Precipitous As To Be Quite Impracticable. We Therefore Travelled Along It

In An Easterly Direction For About Three Miles,  But Throughout This

Distance It Presented No Single Pass Through Which I Could Hope To

Penetrate. The Sun Having Now Become Very Powerful We Halted For

Breakfast; And Whilst This Meal Was Preparing,  I Sent Out A Detached

Party To Search For A Road,  Which Soon Returned To Report That They Were

Able To Find No Path By Which We Could Proceed.

 

I Did Not However Like To Retrace Our Footsteps Without Having Made A

Careful Search; And Although My Wound Was Still Open And Very Painful I

Rapidly Swallowed A Portion Of My Allowance Of Damper And Started With

Another Detachment On Foot To Examine The Country. The Sandstone Range,

Which Ran Nearly East And West,  Was Terminated Everywhere Throughout Its

Southern Side By Perfectly Precipitous Rocks,  At The Foot Of Which Lay A

Fertile Valley,  Resembling The One In Which We Had Encamped Yesterday

Except That It Was On A Much Lower Level. The Position That We Were In

Appeared To Be The Pass By Which The Natives Communicated With The

Country To The South Of Us,  For Marks Of Them Were Visible Everywhere

About,  But They Could Easily Clamber About These Precipitous Rocks,

Though It Was Quite Impossible To Get The Ponies Down,  Even By Forming A

Path,  As We Had Often Previously Done.

 

Painted Cave. Drawing On Roof Of A Cave.

 

Finding That It Would Be Useless To Lose More Time In Searching For A

Route Through This Country I Proceeded To Rejoin The Party Once More; But

Whilst Returning To Them My Attention Was Drawn To The Numerous Remains

Of Native Fires And Encampments Which We Met With,  Till At Last,  On

Looking Over Some Bushes At The Sandstone Rocks Which Were Above Us,  I

Suddenly Saw From One Of Them A Most Extraordinary Large Figure Peering

Down Upon Me. Upon Examination This Proved To Be A Drawing At The

Entrance To A Cave,  Which On Entering I Found To Contain,  Besides,  Many

Remarkable Paintings.

 

The Cave Appeared To Be A Natural Hollow In The Sandstone Rocks; Its

Floor Was Elevated About Five Feet From The Ground,  And Numerous Flat

Broken Pieces Of The Same Rock,  Which Were Scattered About,  Looked At A

Distance Like Steps Leading Up To The Cave,  Which Was Thirty-Five Feet

Wide At The Entrance And Sixteen Feet Deep; But Beyond This Several Small

Branches Ran Further Back. Its Height In Front Was Rather More Than Eight

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Feet,  The Roof Being Formed By A Solid Slab Of Sandstone About Nine Feet

Thick And Which Rapidly Inclined Towards The Back Of The Cave,  Which Was

There Not More Than Five Feet High.

 

On This Sloping Roof The Principal Figure (Number 1) Which I Have Just

Alluded To,  Was Drawn; In Order To Produce The Greater Effect The Rock

About It Was Painted Black And The Figure Itself Coloured With The Most

Vivid Red And White. It Thus Appeared To Stand Out From The Rock; And I

Was Certainly Rather Surprised At The Moment That I First Saw This

Gigantic Head And Upper Part Of A Body Bending Over And Staring Grimly

Down At Me.

 

Description Of The Figures.

 

It Would Be Impossible To Convey In Words An Adequate Idea Of This

Uncouth And Savage Figure; I Shall Therefore Only Give Such A Succinct

Account Of This And The Other Paintings As Will Serve As A Sort Of

Description To Accompany The Annexed Plates.

 

The Dimensions Of The Figure Were:

 

Length Of Head And Face 2 Feet.

Width Of Face 17 Inches.

Length From Bottom Of Face To Navel 2 Feet 6 Inches.

 

Its Head Was Encircled By Bright Red Rays,  Something Like The Rays Which

One Sees Proceeding From The Sun When Depicted On The Sign-Board Of A

Public House; Inside Of This Came A Broad Stripe Of Very Brilliant Red,

Which Was Coped By Lines Of White,  But Both Inside And Outside Of This

Red Space Were Narrow Stripes Of A Still Deeper Red,  Intended Probably To

Mark Its Boundaries; The Face Was Painted Vividly White,  And The Eyes

Black,  Being However Surrounded By Red And Yellow Lines; The Body,  Hands,

And Arms Were Outlined In Red,  The Body Being Curiously Painted With Red

Stripes And Bars.

 

Drawing Of Four Heads.

 

Upon The Rock Which Formed The Left Hand Wall Of This Cave,  And Which

Partly Faced You On Entering,  Was A Very Singular Painting (Number 2)

Vividly Coloured,  Representing Four Heads Joined Together. From The Mild

Expression Of The Countenances I Imagined Them To Represent Females,  And

They Appeared To Be Drawn In Such A Manner And In Such A Position As To

Look Up At The Principal Figure Which I Have Before Described; Each Had A

Very Remarkable Head-Dress,  Coloured With A Deep Bright Blue,  And One Had

A Necklace On. Both Of The Lower Figures Had A Sort Of Dress Painted With

Red In The Same Manner As That Of The Principal Figure,  And One Of Them

Had A Band Round Her Waist. Each Of The Four Faces Was Marked By A

Totally Distinct Expression Of Countenance,  And,  Although None Of Them

Had Mouths,  Two,  I Thought,  Were Otherwise Rather Good Looking. The Whole

Painting Was Executed On A White Ground,  And Its Dimensions Were:

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Total Length Of Painting 3 Feet 6 3/4 Inches.

Breadth Across Two Upper Heads 2 Feet 6 Inches.

Ditto Across The Two Lower Ones 3 Feet 1 1/2 Inches.

 

The Next Most Remarkable Drawing In The Cave (Number 3) Was An Ellipse,

Three Feet In Length And One Foot Ten Inches In Breadth: The Outside Line

Of This Painting Was Of A Deep Blue Colour,  The Body Of The Ellipse Being

Of A Bright Yellow Dotted Over With Red Lines And Spots,  Whilst Across It

Ran Two Transverse Lines Of Blue. The Portion Of The Painting Above

Described Formed The Ground,  Or Main Part Of The Picture,  And Upon This

Ground Was Painted A Kangaroo In The Act Of Feeding,  Two Stone

Spearheads,  And Two Black Balls; One Of The Spearheads Was Flying To The

Kangaroo,  And One Away From It; So That The Whole Subject Probably

Constituted A Sort Of Charm By Which The Luck Of An Enquirer In Killing

Game Could Be Ascertained.

 

Two Other Drawings.

 

There Was Another Rather Humorous Sketch (Number 4) Which Represented A

Native In The Act Of Carrying A Kangaroo; The Height Of The Man Being

Three Feet. The Number Of Drawings In The Cave Could Not Altogether Have

Been Less Than From Fifty To Sixty,  But The Majority Of Them Consisted Of

Men,  Kangaroos,  Etc.; The Figures Being Carelessly And Badly Executed And

Having Evidently A Very Different Origin To Those Which I Have First

Described. Another Very Striking Piece Of Art Was Exhibited In The Little

Gloomy Cavities Situated At The Back Of The Main Cavern. In These

Instances Some Rock At The Sides Of The Cavity Had Been Selected,  And The

Stamp Of A Hand And Arm By Some Means Transferred To It; This Outline Of

The Hand And Arm Was Then Painted Black,  And The Rock About It White,  So

That On Entering That Part Of The Cave It Appeared As If A Human Hand And

Arm Were Projecting Through A Crevice Admitting Light.

 

After Having Discovered This Cave I Returned To The Party And,  Directing

Them To Prepare For Moving On,  I Ordered That As Soon As All Was Ready

They Should Proceed Past The Cave,  So That All Would Have An Opportunity

Of Examining It,  And In The Meantime I Returned In Order To Make Sketches

Of The Principal Paintings. The Party Soon Arrived And,  When My Sketches

And Notes Were Completed,  We Retraced A Portion Of Our Route Of This

Morning,  Moving Round The Sandstone Ridge Through One Portion Of Which I

Saw A Sort Of Pass Which I Thought Might Perhaps Afford Us A Means Of

Egress. I Therefore Halted The Party And Moved Up With Corporal Auger To

Examine It. After Proceeding Some Distance We Found A Cave Larger Than

The One Seen This Morning; Of Its Actual Size However I Have No Idea,  For

Being Pressed For Time I Did Not Attempt To Explore It,  Having Merely

Ascertained That It Contained No Paintings.

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