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

Volume 1 Chapter 14 (From Swan River To The Shores Of Shark Bay Plan Of Expedition) Pg 214

Had Been All Hauled Down,  The Stores Stowed Away,  And Everything Made

Ready For Launching,  And Off We Went,  Not A Little Rejoiced At The

Prospect Of Soon Having An Abundant Supply Of That Liquid On Which Our

Lives Depended. There Was Scarcely Any Wind But That Little Was Right Aft

So That Between Sailing And Pulling We Made About Five Knots An Hour. The

Boats Were However So Heavily Laden That The Men Found It Very Laborious

Work,  For They Were Exposed To The Rays Of A Burning Sun And Had Nothing

To Drink But Half A Pint Of Water,  Which Was All I Could Allow Them.

 

We However Persevered From Soon After Eleven A.M. Until Five P.M.,  When

The Men Began To Get Disheartened From Seeing No Signs Whatever Of Land,

And I Ordered My Boat's Crew To Knock Off Pulling For A Little,  And In

Mr. Walker's Boat,  Which Was About A Mile Astern,  They Did The Same. In

Twenty Minutes Time I Made My Crew Again Take To Their Oars,  But The

Other Boat Did Not In This Instance Follow Our Example,  So That We Kept

Dropping Her Rapidly Astern. This Was Very Annoying; But As I Was Anxious

At All Events To Get A Glimpse Of The Land Before Sundown We Still Pulled

Away,  Trusting That The Other Boat Would Soon Follow In Our Wake.

 

Ground On A Sandbank.

 

About Half An Hour Before Sunset We Sighted The Land: Several Low Rounded

Hills Were The First Things Seen; Then What I Conceived To Be Very Lofty

Trees Rose In Sight,  And Almost At The Same Moment The Boat Grounded On A

Sandbank.

 

Extensive Shallows.

 

I Had Observed This Shoal Several Miles Before We Came To It And It

Appeared To Extend As Far As I Could See Both North And South,  But,  As I

Had No Doubt That We Should Find Sufficient Water On It To Enable Us To

Cross,  I Had Given It No Attention. I Now However On Looking More

Carefully Could Perceive No Limit To Its Extent In Those Directions And,

As I Thought I Saw Deep Water Immediately To The Eastward Of Us,  I

Ordered The Men To Jump Out And Track The Boat Over. This They Did; But

On Coming To What Appeared To Be Deep Water We Found It Was Only A

Continuation Of The Same Sandbank,  Covered With Seaweed,  Which Gave The

Water A Darker Appearance. The Men Now Alternately Tracked Or Pulled The

Boat For About Five Miles Over A Continuation Of The Sandbank; A Work

Very Fatiguing To Those Who Were Already Exhausted By Several Days'

Continuous Exertion On A Very Short Allowance Of Water In A Tropical

Climate. It Had Now Been For Some Time Night,  And We Had Taken A Star For

Our Guide Which Just Before Sunset I Had Seen Rising Over The Main. I

Thought We Had At Last Gained The Shore,  At Least The Boat Was Close To A

Dark Line Rising Above The Water Which Appeared Like A Wooded Bank; Two

Of The Men Now Waded Onwards To Find Out The Best Place For Landing And

To Light A Fire That The Crew Of The Other Boat Might Know Where We Were.

I Saw Them To My Surprise Not Ascend A Wooded Bank But Disappear Amongst

The Trees; And Still Through The Silence Of The Night I Heard The Splash

Volume 1 Chapter 14 (From Swan River To The Shores Of Shark Bay Plan Of Expedition) Pg 215

Of Men Walking Through Water,  And In A Minute Or Two Afterwards The Cries

And Screams Of Innumerable Startled Waterfowl And Curlews,  Who Came

Flying In Flocks From Amongst The Mangrove Trees.

 

Fail In Making The Land.

 

The Men Returned And Reported That There Was No Land Or Any Sign Of Land

Hereabouts; That The Mangroves Were A Belt Of Trees Upon A Sandbank And

That The Water Deepened Inside; That The Tide Evidently Rose Very High,

From The Tufts Of Seaweeds In The Bushes; That It Was Then Rapidly Coming

In (Which Was Evident Enough,  For The Boat Was Afloat) And That The Other

Side Of The Mangrove Bushes Was An Open Sea.

 

This Was Unpleasant Intelligence. That It Was Untrue I Felt Assured; But

One Man,  Who Certainly Could Not Have Seen More Than A Hundred Yards

Ahead Of Him On So Dark A Night,  Spoke As Confidently As If He Had Seen

Fifty Miles,  And This Discouraged The Others: So By Way Of Keeping Their

Minds Occupied I Got Under Weigh Again And Stood Off A Little To The

Southward In The Hopes Of Falling In With The Other Boat. We Cheered At

Intervals Of A Few Minutes,  And Fired A Gun,  Whereupon Ensued A Great

Screaming,  Whistling,  And Flapping Of Wings Amongst The Waterfowl,  But No

Human Voices Were Heard In Reply.

 

Anchor Off Mangrove Creek For The Night.

 

When We Had Gone As Far To The Southward As I Thought Prudent I Stood Out

From The Shore For About A Mile So As To Have A Good Peep In Amongst The

Mangrove Bushes In The Morning For The Other Boat,  And Having Dropped Our

Anchor We Laid Down As We Best Could For The Night; And,  Speculating Upon

What Explanation The Native Wise Men Would Give To Their Fellows Of The

Unknown And Novel Sounds They Had This Night Heard Upon The Coast,  I Soon

Fell Asleep.

 

 

Volume 1 Chapter 15 (The Gascoyne River Reach And Enter A Mangrove Creek) Pg 216

 

March 4.

 

Early In The Morning I Had A Good Lookout Kept For The Other Boat,  Which

I Was Very Anxious To See In Order That I Might Have A Sufficiently

Numerous Party For The Purpose Of Landing And Looking For Water; As I

Always Held It To Be Better,  Upon First Appearing Amongst Natives Who Had

Never Before Seen Europeans,  To Show Such Strength As Might Impress Them

Volume 1 Chapter 15 (The Gascoyne River Reach And Enter A Mangrove Creek) Pg 217

With A Certainty That We Were Well Able To Resist Any Attack Which They

Might Naturally Feel Inclined To Make On Such Strange And

Incomprehensible Intruders As White Men Must Necessarily Appear To Them.

Soon After The Sun Rose We Descried The Other Boat About Three Miles To

The Southward Of Us; And I Despatched Two Men To Wade Along The Flats And

Communicate With Mr. Walker: They Were To Direct Him To Get Under Weigh

And To Make The Best Of His Course,  Either By Tracking,  Pulling,  Or

Sailing,  Until He Reached The Point Where I Might Land.

 

The Men Whom I Sent Quickly Made His Boat,  Which I Perceived Moving

Slowly Up The Flats; And As Soon As The Men Rejoined Me We Started. The

Wind Was Fair,  Being From The Southward,  And I Wished To Reach Some

Gently Elevated Hills Which I Saw About Eight Miles To The North By East

Of Our Present Position.

 

Search For And Complete Our Water.

 

We Soon Came To A Very Promising Opening Which Proved To Be A Creek,  With

A Mouth Of About Two Hundred Yards Wide,  Running Up In A North-East

Direction,  And Having Five Fathoms Of Water Inside,  But With A Bar

Entrance. When We Had Proceeded Up It About Two Miles It Became So Narrow

That There Was Not Sufficient Space Left For The Men To Use Their Oars;

Therefore,  Making Fast The Two Boats,  I Landed With A Party To Look For

Water.

 

I Stepped Very Gingerly And Cautiously On The Mud,  For Shore There Was

None; And I Had The Satisfaction Of Descending At Once,  Mid-Leg Deep In

The Odious Slime; But This Being Endured The Worst Was Over,  And,  At The

Head Of My Sticking And Floundering Party,  I Waded On,  Putting To Flight

Whole Armies Of Crabs Who Had Taken Up Their Abode In These Umbrageous

Groves,  For Such They Certainly Were. The Life Of A Crab In These

Undisturbed Solitudes Must Be Sweet In The Extreme; They Have Plenty Of

Water,  Mud,  And Shade; Their Abodes Are Scarcely Approachable By The Feet

Of Men,  And They Can Have But Little To Disturb Their Monotonous

Existence Save The Turmoils Of Love And Domestic War.

 

After About Two Miles Of Wading Of This Description,  Which We

Considerably Increased By Turning And Winding About To Avoid Soft Places,

We At Length Fairly Stepped On Terra Firma And Found Ourselves At The

Base Of Some Almost Imperceptibly-Sloping Ground Which Gradually Rose

Into Low,  Red,  Sandy,  Loamy Hills,  Thinly Covered With Grass,  Bushes,  And

Stunted Trees. Across These We Bent Our Steps In A South-East Direction,

No Change Whatever Taking Place In The Character Of The Country As Far As

We Went Or As Far As We Could See. But Our Travels In This Line Only

Extended For About Three Miles,  When We Suddenly Came Upon A Lagoon Of

Fresh Water Lying Between Two Of The Hills. All Bent The Knee At Once,  At

This Discovery,  To Plunge Their Faces Deep In The Pool,  And,  Presently

Raising Them Up Again,  A Black Watery Line,  Extending Round The

Volume 1 Chapter 15 (The Gascoyne River Reach And Enter A Mangrove Creek) Pg 218