Journals Of Two Expeditions Of Discovery In North West And Western Australia Volume 1 (Of 2), George Grey [robert munsch read aloud txt] 📗

Differing Widely From Anything We Had

Before Seen. The Soil Beneath Our Feet Was Sandy And Thickly Clothed With

Spinifex (A Prickly Grass) Which In Spite Of Our Thick Trousers Slightly

But Continually Wounded Our Legs. The Trees Were Lofty And Some Of Them

Of Considerable Circumference; But The Trunks Of All Were Charred And

Blackened By Constant Fires: This Circumstance,  And Their Slight And

Thin,  Yet Strikingly Graceful Foliage,  Gave Them A Most Picturesque

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Appearance.

 

Every Here And There In The Wood Rose Lofty And Isolated Pinnacles Of

Sandstone Rock,  Fantastic In Form,  And Frequently Overgrown With Graceful

Creeping And Climbing Plants Which Imparted To Them A Somewhat Of Mystery

And Elegance. In Other Parts Rose The Gigantic Ant-Hills So Much Spoken

Of By Former Visitors Of These Shores; And In The Distance We Saw

Occasionally The Forms Of The Timid Kangaroos,  Who Stole Fearfully Away

From The Unknown Disturbers Of Their Solitude.

 

Another Valley.

 

But When We Arrived At The Extremity Of The Tableland I Felt Somewhat

Disappointed At Beholding A Deep Narrow Ravine At My Feet,  Precisely

Resembling In Character The One We Had Left,  And Beyond This A Second

Sandstone Range,  Wooded As That On Which We Stood; In About Half An Hour

We Gained The Bottom Of The Ravine And Found That A Rapid Stream Ran

Through It,  Which,  Being The First We Had Discovered,  I Named The

Lushington,  After The Father Of My Associate In This Expedition,  And In

Accordance With A Determination I Had Made Before Starting.

 

Mustard (One Of The Men With Me) Being Ill,  I Determined To Halt Here For

Breakfast And,  Having Completed This Meal,  I Was Sorry To Find That He

Was Still Too Unwell To Proceed; Such However Being The Case I Was

Compelled To Halt For The Day: Leaving Coles Therefore To Take Care Of

Him,  I Strolled Off To Explore The Valley Alone. Except In Being Much

Larger It Differed In No Respect From The First In Which We Encamped,  And

I Found That Within About Half A Mile Below The Spot Where I Had Left The

Men It Terminated In A Salt-Water Inlet,  Nearly Choked Up With Mangroves.

On Returning To Them I Found Mustard Somewhat Better; To Our Annoyance

However Heavy Rain Set In,  Accompanied By Thunder And Lightning; And As

We Had No Shelter But What Some Overhanging Rocks Afforded Us We Passed A

Very Uncomfortable Night.

 

December 19.

 

Mustard Was Still Not Quite Well; We Therefore Started Late And Travelled

Slowly,  Keeping Nearly In A South-East Direction. We Thus Gradually

Ascended The Second Sandstone Range,  The Summit Of Which Was A Tableland,

At This Point About Half A Mile Wide.

 

Geological Phenomena.

 

We Here Remarked A Very Curious Circumstance. Several Acres Of Land On

This Elevated Position Were Nearly Covered With Lofty Isolated Sandstone

Pillars Of The Most Grotesque And Fantastic Shapes,  From Which The

Imagination Might Easily Have Pictured To Itself Forms Equally Singular

And Amusing. In One Place Was A Regular Unroofed Aisle,  With A Row Of

Massive Pillars On Each Side; And In Another There Stood Upon A Pedestal

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What Appeared To Be The Legs Of An Ancient Statue,  From Which The Body

Had Been Knocked Away.

 

Some Of These Time-Worn Columns Were Covered With Sweet-Smelling

Creepers,  While Their Bases Were Concealed By A Dense Vegetation,  Which

Added Much To Their Very Singular Appearance. The Height Of Two Or Three

Which I Measured Was Upwards Of Forty Feet; And,  As The Tops Of All Of

Them Were Nearly Upon The Same Level,  That Of The Surrounding Country

Must At One Period Have Been As High As Their Present Summits,  Probably

Much Higher.

 

From The Top Of One Of These Pillars I Surveyed The Surrounding Country

And Saw On Every Side Proofs Of The Same Extensive Degradation--So

Extensive,  Indeed,  That I Found It Very Difficult To Account For; But The

Gurgling Of Water,  Which I Heard Beneath Me,  Soon Put An End To The State

Of Perplexity In Which I Was Involved,  For I Ascertained That Streams

Were Running In The Earth Beneath My Feet; And,  On Descending And

Creeping Into A Fissure In The Rocks,  I Found Beneath The Surface A

Cavern Precisely Resembling The Remains That Existed Above Ground,  Only

That This Was Roofed,  Whilst Through It Ran A Small Stream Which In The

Rainy Season Must Become A Perfect Torrent. It Was Now Evident To Me That

Ere Many Years Had Elapsed The Roof Would Give Way,  And What Now Were The

Buttresses Of Dark And Gloomy Caverns Would Emerge Into Day And Become

Columns Clad In Green,  And Resplendent In The Bright Sunshine.

 

Gradual Degradation Of The Land.

 

In This State They Would Gradually Waste Away Beneath The Ever-During

Influence Of Atmospheric Causes,  And The Material Being Then Carried Down

By The Streams,  Through A Series Of Caverns Resembling Those Of Which

They Once Formed A Portion,  Would Be Swept Out Into The Ocean And

Deposited On Sandbanks,  To Be Raised Again,  At Some Remote Epoch,  A New

Continent,  Built Up With The Ruins Of An Ancient World.

 

I Subsequently,  During The Season Of The Heavy Rains,  Remarked The Usual

Character Of The Mountain Streams To Be That They Rose At The Foot Of

Some Little Elevation Which Stood Upon A Lofty Tableland Composed Of

Sandstone,  Then Flowed In A Sandy Bed For A Short Distance And Afterwards

Mysteriously Sank In The Cracks And Crevices Made In The Rocks From

Atmospheric Influences,  And Did Not Again Reappear Until They Had Reached

The Foot Of The Precipice Which Terminated The Tableland Whence They

Sprang; Here They Came Foaming Out In A Rapid Stream Which Had

Undoubtedly Worked Strange Havoc In The Porous Sandstone Rocks Among

Which It Held Its Subterraneous Course.

 

What The Amount Of Sand Annually Carried Down From The North-Western

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Portion Of Australia Into The Ocean May Be We Have No Means Whatever Of

Ascertaining; That It Is Sufficient To Form Beds Of Sand Of Very Great

Magnitude Is Attested By The Existence Of Numerous And Extensive

Sandbanks All Along The Coast. One Single Heavy Tropical Shower Of Only A

Few Hours' Duration Washed Down,  Over A Plot Of Ground Which Was Planted

With Barley,  A Bed Of Sand Nearly Five Inches Deep,  Which The Succeeding

Showers Again Swept Off,  Carrying It Further Upon Its Way Towards The

Sea.

 

The Space Of Ground Covered With These Columns Gradually Contracted Its

Dimensions As We Proceeded; The Columns Themselves Became Nearer And

Nearer To Each Other Until They At Length Formed Walls Of Cliffs On Each

Side Of Us,  And We Finally Reached A Point Where A Single Lofty Pillar,

Standing In Front Of A Dry Cascade,  Formed The Centre Of An Amphitheatre

Of Sandstone. There Was Some Water In A Little Natural Basin At The Base

Of The Cliffs. I Determined Therefore To Halt Here For Breakfast And,

Leaving The Men At The Foot Of The Cascade To Prepare Some Tea,  I

Clambered To Its Summit,  And Found Myself On Another Tableland Similar To

That Which I Had Just Left,  And Covered In The Same Manner With Natural

Columns.

 

Sandstone Caverns.

 

Some Distance From The Top Of The Cascade I Discovered A Cavern,  Or

Rather Huge Hole In The Water-Course,  Into Which,  Thinking It Might

Contain Fossil Bones,  I Descended As Far As The First Ledge,  And I Then

Perceived That The Water Pouring Through This Cavern In The Rainy Season

Was Cutting Off Another Rock Of Sandstone Similar To The Remarkable

Pillar In Front Of The Cascade. The Water In The Basin Below Must Have

Filtered Out From This Cavern. On A Further Examination I Found That A

Precisely Similar Series Of Operations Was Going On Throughout The Whole

Amphitheatre Of Cliffs Which Bounded The Tableland We Had Been Traversing

During The Morning.

 

In The Rainy Season (March 7th) I Again Passed This Spot And Found The

Watercourse Full Of Water,  Which Was Also Falling Abundantly From The

Cascade. From This Circumstance I Inferred That The Subterraneous Outlets

For The Water Were All Filled,  Consequently The Large Body Which These

Caverns Would Contain Must Have Been Then Endeavouring To Force Its Way

Through The Fissures In The Porous Sandstone Rocks.

 

Continuation Of Route. Halt In A Valley.

 

After Breakfast We Continued On Our Route Through A Sandstone Country

Precisely Resembling The One Which I Have Now Described,  And In The

Course Of The Day,  Having Completed Fifteen Miles In A Straight Line,  We

Halted For The Night In A Fertile Valley Affording Plenty Of Fresh Water,

And So Densely Wooded With The Dwarf Pandanus And Other Prickly Trees

That We Could Scarcely Make Our Way Through The Underwood. In This Valley

We Saw Several Sorts Of Cranes,  Principally Ardea Antigone,  And Ardea

Scolopacia,  And I Shot One Of The Former Kind And Laid It By,  Intending

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To Eat It In The Morning. We Could Not Find Any Holes In The Rocks Large

Enough To Protect Us From The Rain,  Which Fell Throughout The Night,

Accompanied By Thunder And Lightning.

 

December 20.

 

Just As We Turned Out This Morning A Large Kangaroo Came Close To Us To

Drink At A Waterhole; The Effect As It Stole Along Through The Thick

Bushes In The Morning Twilight Was Very Striking. I Could Not Succeed In

Getting A Shot At It; But,  As I Was Determined To Have A Meat Breakfast,

I Desired Mustard To Cook The Crane,  The Rats However Had Eaten The

Greater Part Of It; We Therefore At Once Moved On And,  After Travelling

Four Miles In A South-East