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
Book online «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
Fruit In Size, Appearance, And Flavour Resembled A Small Black Grape, But
The Stones Were Different, Being Larger, And Shaped Like A Coffee Berry.
All Three Produced Their Fruit In Bunches, Like The Vine, And, The Day
Being Very Sultry, I Do Not Know That We Could Have Fallen Upon Anything
More Acceptable Than This Fruit Was To Us.
Ford The Glenelg. Another River.
After Breakfast We Continued Our Route Through A Barren, Sandy District,
Heavily Timbered; And In The Course Of The Afternoon Met Either The
Glenelg Or A Very Considerable Branch Of That Stream In South Latitude 15
Degrees 56 Minutes, East Longitude 125 Degrees 8 Minutes: It Was 250
Yards Across And Formed A Series Of Rapids At This Point, Where It
Emerged From A Rocky Gorge. Just Above The Rapids We Found A Good Ford,
The Average Depth Of Which Was Not More Than Three Feet. After Crossing,
The Banks On The Other Side Were Clothed With A Species Of Casuarina
Which I Did Not Observe Elsewhere. The Country On That Side Of The Stream
Was Sandy And, As I Found By The Time We Had Proceeded Two Or Three Miles
That We Were Getting Embarrassed In A Sandstone Range, I Halted The Party
For The Night And Went On To Try If I Could Find A Pass Across It. My
Exertions Were Not However Very Successful: I Came Upon A Path Which I
Thought Might Be Rendered Practicable For The Ponies Over The First Part
Of The Range, But Found No Line By Which We Could Proceed Without Making
A Road.
Weakness Of The Men.
March 29.
At Dawn This Morning The Men Were At Work Forming The Road; The Poor
Fellows Were However So Much Enfeebled From Constant Fatigue And Very
Volume 1 Chapter 9 (To The Upper Glenelg) Pg 130Inefficient Nutriment, Whilst Exposed To The Great Heat Of A Tropical
Climate, That They Were Unable To Exert The Same Energy As Formerly, And
I Could Not But Be Struck With The Great Difference In Their Strength As
Evinced In Their Incapacity To Move Stones And Other Obstacles, Which A
Few Weeks Ago They Would Have Had Little Difficulty In Lifting. The Path
Was However Soon Made As Passable As Our Abilities Permitted, And We
Started Along It With The Ponies; Some Of Them Were However No Less
Reduced Than The Men And, In Endeavouring To Lead One Of Them Up A Rocky
Hill, It Fell, And From Weakness Sank Under Its Light Load Without Making
An Effort To Save Itself; The Spine Was Thus So Severely Injured As To
Render It Unable To Move The Hinder Extremities; We Therefore Killed The
Poor Creature And Moved On.
Sandstone Cave.
Throughout The Day We Continued Gradually The Ascent Of The Range Which
We Had Yesterday Commenced. The Large Valley We Were In Led Us By A
Gentle Slope Winding Higher And Higher Amongst The Rocky Hills; At First
It Had Been So Wide As To Appear Like A Plain, But By Degrees It
Contracted Its Dimensions, Until, Towards The Afternoon, It Suddenly
Assumed Almost The Character Of A Gorge. Just At This Point We Saw In The
Cliffs On Our Left Hand A Cave, Which I Entered In The Hope Of Finding
Native Paintings.
Nor Was I Disappointed For It Contained Several Of A Very Curious
Character. This Cave Was A Natural Chasm In The Sandstone Rocks, Elevated
At Its Entrance Several Feet Above The Level Of The Ground, From Which
The Ascent To It Was By A Natural Flight Of Sandstone Steps, Irregular,
Of Course, But Formed Of Successive Thin Strata, Resting One Upon
Another, And Thus Constituting An Easy Ascent; These Successive Layers
Continued Into The Body Of The Cave, Quite To The End, Where Was A
Central Slab, More Elevated Than The Others, And On Each Side Of This Two
Other Larger Ones Which Reached The Top Of The Cave And Partly Served To
Support The Immense Sandstone Slab That Formed The Roof.
Another Painted Cave.
The Cave Was Twenty Feet Deep And At The Entrance Seven Feet High And
About Forty Feet Wide. As Before Stated The Floor Gradually Approached
The Roof In The Direction Of The Bottom Of The Cavern, And Its Width Also
Contracted, So That At The Extremity It Was Not Broader Than The Slab Of
Rock, Which Formed A Natural Seat.
Figure Drawn On The Roof.
The Principal Painting In It Was The Figure Of A Man, Ten Feet Six Inches
In Length, Clothed From The Chin Downwards In A Red Garment Which Reached
Volume 1 Chapter 9 (To The Upper Glenelg) Pg 131Reached
To The Wrists And Ankles; Beyond This Red Dress The Feet And Hands
Protruded And Were Badly Executed.
The Face And Head Of The Figure Were Enveloped In A Succession Of
Circular Bandages Or Rollers, Or What Appeared To Be Painted To Represent
Such. These Were Coloured Red, Yellow, And White; And The Eyes Were The
Only Features Represented On The Face. Upon The Highest Bandage Or Roller
A Series Of Lines Were Painted In Red, But, Although So Regularly Done As
To Indicate That They Have Some Meaning, It Was Impossible To Tell
Whether They Were Intended To Depict Written Characters Or Some Ornament
For The Head. This Figure Was So Drawn On The Roof That Its Feet Were
Just In Front Of The Natural Seat, Whilst Its Head And Face Looked
Directly Down On Anyone Who Stood In The Entrance Of The Cave, But It Was
Totally Invisible From The Outside. The Painting Was More Injured By The
Damp And Atmosphere, And Had The Appearance Of Being Much More
Defaced And Ancient, Than Any Of The Others Which We Had Seen.*
Other Paintings.
There Were Two Other Paintings, One On Each Of The Rocks Which Stood On
Either Side Of The Natural Seat; They Were Carefully Executed And Yet Had
No Apparent Design In Them; Unless They Were Intended To Represent Some
Fabulous Species Of Turtle; For The Natives Of Australia Are Generally
Fond Of Narrating Tales Of Fabulous And Extraordinary Animals Such As
Gigantic Snakes, Etc.
One Of The Party Who Appeared Much Amused At These Different Paintings
Walked Straight Up The Cavern, Gradually Ascending The Steps Until He
Reached The Slab At The End, And Then, Taking His Hat Off With A Solemn
Air, Seated Himself; To His Own, And Our Surprise, His Bare Head Just
Touched The Roof Of The Cave, And On Examining This Part Of It We Found
It Fairly Polished, And Very Greasy, From All Appearance Caused By The
Constant Rubbing Against It Of The Head Of A Person Whilst Seated On The
Rock. This And Other Circumstances Led Us To Conjecture That The Cave Was
Frequented By Some Wise Man Or Native Doctor Who Was Resorted To By The
Inhabitants In Cases Of Disease Or Witchcraft. We Saw Many Footmarks
About, And Found Other Signs Of The Close Presence Of The Natives, But
They Themselves Remained Invisible.
Beautiful Scenery.
The Cave Was Situated In An Exceedingly Picturesque Position, It Occupied
Volume 1 Chapter 9 (To The Upper Glenelg) Pg 132The Corner Leading From A Wide Valley To A Narrow Ravine, Down Which Came
Bubbling Along A Clear Deep Stream, Which Passed Within A Few Yards Of
The Cave's Mouth. After Making Sketches Of The Paintings And For A Few
Minutes Admiring This Romantic Spot We Moved Up The Ravine, Which
Appeared To Lead By A Gradual Ascent To The Summit Of The Mountain Range
That Now Completely Hemmed Us In Both To The Southward And Eastward.
This Ravine, In The Luxuriance Of Its Vegetation And The Great Size Of
The Trees, As Well As In Its Rapid Stream, At Times Leaping In Cascades
Or Foaming In Rapids, Resembled Those We Had Before Seen In The Sandstone
Ranges, But It Differed From Them In The Greater Height Of The
Surrounding Hills And Cliffs Which, Being Overshadowed With Hanging Trees
And Climbing Plants, Presented As Rich A Painting As The Eye Could
Behold: And, As These Grew Golden With The Rays Of The Setting Sun Or
Were Thrown Into Deep And Massive Shadows, I Could Not But Regret That No
Claude Of The Tropics Had Arisen To Transfer To Canvas Scenes Which Words
Cannot Express.
But However Beautiful The Scenery Was The Road We Had To Travel Was So
Extremely Inconvenient That The View Scarcely Made Amends For It; We Were
Continually Compelled From Old Land-Slips To Cross From One Side Of The
Stream To The Other, And This, From The Depth Of The Ford And The
Slipperiness Of The Rocky Bottom, Was Sometimes No Easy Task; Moreover
The Ravine Continued Rapidly To Contract In Width And To Become More
Rugged And Precipitous; I Therefore Turned Off To The Right Into A Rocky
Amphitheatre Which Seemed Well Suited For Encamping, And Halted The Party
For The Night; Then, Taking One Of My Men With Me, I Ascended The Cliffs
To See If I Could Make Out Any Line By Which To Get Clear Of The
Precipices Which Embarrassed Us, But On All Sides I Could Descry Nothing
But Lofty Hills And Frowning Crags, Except In The Direction Of The Ravine
Which Appeared To Run Directly Into The Heart Of The Mountain Chain; I
Therefore Turned About To Rejoin The Party, With The Intention Of
Continuing The Same Course The Ensuing Morning As We Had Done This
Evening.
Narrow Escape.
Both Myself And The Man Who Was With Me Had However A Narrow Escape Of
Being Shot, For, As We Were Returning He Let His Rifle Fall And It
Exploded, The Ball Striking The Rocks Close To Us Before It Glanced Into
The Air.
Other Caves.
March 30.
Volume 1 Chapter 9 (To The Upper Glenelg) Pg 133
Comments (0)