Journals Of Two Expeditions Of Discovery In North West And Western Australia Volume 1 (Of 2), George Grey [robert munsch read aloud txt] 📗
- Author: George Grey
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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
Volume 1 Chapter 9 (To The Upper Glenelg) Pg 123Western 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
Volume 1 Chapter 9 (To The Upper Glenelg) Pg 124Feet, 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:
Volume 1 Chapter 9 (To The Upper Glenelg) Pg 125
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.
Volume 1 Chapter 9 (To The Upper Glenelg) Pg 126
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