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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At The Earliest Dawn We Continued Our Course Up The Valley, Which Rapidly
Became Narrower And More Inclined So That It Formed, As It Were, A Series
Of Elevated Terraces, At The Edge Of Each Of Which Was A Little Cascade.
We Found Two Caves In The Cliffs On The Right Hand, Both Of Which Were
Painted All Over But With No Regularity Of Pattern: The Only Colours Used
Were Red, Yellow, And White. The Largest Of The Caves Exceeded In Breadth
And Depth Any Others I Had Seen, But It Was Only Three Feet High; In This
One There Were Several Drawings Of Fish, One Of Which Was Four Feet In
Length; These I Copied, Although They Were Badly Executed. The Caves
Themselves Cannot Be Considered As At All Analogous To Those I Have
Before Described.
Increasing Difficulties Of Route. Impassable Sandstone Ranges.
The Difficulties Of The Road Continued To Increase Rapidly, And The
Dimensions Of The Ravine Became So Contracted That I Hesitated Whether I
Should Not Turn Up Another Which Branched Off To The Right; Previously
However To Taking This Step I Sent A Man Forward To Examine The One We
Were In; He Soon Returned And Reported That It Terminated In A High
Cascade A Few Hundred Yards Further On. This Intelligence Confirming My
Previous Opinion, I Now Moved Up The Ravine Which Came From The Westward,
But We Had Not Proceeded For More Than Half A Mile When The Rugged Nature
Of The Country Brought Us To A Complete Stand; We Found Ourselves In A
Rocky Area, Bounded On All Sides By Cliffs, The Only Outlet From Which
Was The Path By Which We Had Entered. I Therefore Halted The Party For
Breakfast Whilst I Prepared To Ascend Some Lofty Pinnacles Which Lay To
The South Of Us.
The State Of My Wound Rendered This Exertion One Of Great Pain And
Difficulty; I However Accomplished It, And Found Myself On The Top Of A
High Rocky Eminence Which Bore The Appearance Of Having Fallen Into
Ruins; The Prospect From It Was Cheerless In The Extreme; To The North
Lay The Rich Valley Country Far Below Us, And To The South And East
Nothing Could Be Seen But Barren Sandstone Rocks And Ranges Rising One
Above The Other Until They Met The Horizon At No Great Distance From The
Eye; The Only Outlet, Except The Ravine By Which We Had Approached,
Appeared To Be By The Westward, And I Descended To The Party In This
Direction To See If I Could Find A Route From Where They Were To The
Terrace Leading To That Point. I Struck On A Place Up The Cliffs Where I
Imagined It Possible To Construct A Road By Which The Ponies Could
Ascend, And Then Returned To Breakfast.
Country Inaccessible For Horses.
As Soon As Our Scanty Meal Had Been Concluded All Hands Were Employed In
Making This Road; And Sincerely Did I Pity The Feeble Men, Whom I Saw In
The Burning Heat Of A Tropical Sun, Which Was Reflected With Redoubled
Intensity From The Bare Sandstone Rocks, Toiling To Displace Large Stones
Volume 1 Chapter 9 (To The Upper Glenelg) Pg 134And Obstacles Which They Had Hardly Sufficient Strength To Move; Not A
Murmur However Escaped Them; They Saw The Necessity Of The Case And
Exerted Their Failing Energies As Readily As They Had Done When These
Were In Full Strength And Vigour. The Road Was At Last Made And We Moved
On To The Westward, Toiling For The Remainder Of The Day Amongst Steep
Precipices Of Barren Sandstone Rocks And Hills, Utterly Inaccessible To
Horses, Till, Finding Our Efforts To Proceed Useless, I At Last Turned
The Party About And Halted Them For The Night Just Above Where We Had
Breakfasted; Intending With The Earliest Dawn To Renew My Search For A
Pass By Which We Might Cross This Mountain Range.
Volume 1 Chapter 10 (Return To Hanover Bay) Pg 135
Unsuccessful Search For A Pass.
March 31.
This Day At Dawn I Sent Out A Party Under Mr. Lushington And Mr. Walker
To Try If Any Pass Through The Mountains Could Be Found, But They
Returned In Four Or Five Hours To Report That It Was Utterly Impossible
For Horses To Proceed Further In The Direction We Desired. During Their
Absence I Had Made A Careful Examination Of The Stores And Found That,
Even At Our Reduced Allowance, We Had Only Provisions Left For Twenty
Days; Our Horses Were Also Reduced In Number To Twelve, But These,
Excepting That Their Feet Were Sore, Were Rather Improved In Condition
Than Otherwise Since The Commencement Of The Journey.
Causes For Returning.
My Intention Had Always Been, When I Found Myself Reduced To Such An
Extremity As The Present, To Proceed For A Few Days By Forced Marches
Towards The Interior, Accompanied By Four Men, And Then, Returning To The
Remainder Of The Party, To Have Taken All Together Back To The Vessel;
When There I Knew I Could Have Got Four Volunteers To Accompany Me And,
Having Loaded The Horses With Ammunition And Provisions, I Had It In
Contemplation To Have Started With Them Again For Swan River. But These
Projects Became Now Impracticable From The Declining State Of My Health,
Consequent On Having Started Too Soon After Having Received My Wound, To
The Exertions I Was Obliged Daily To Make Whilst Labouring Under Its
Effects, And To The Want Of Those Comforts Which Contribute So Materially
To Restore An Invalid To Health. Our Allowance Of Food Too Had Been But
Scanty, And, Whilst I Fared As My Men, Who, Unshattered In Health, Had
Yet Grown Thin And Weak Under Privation, I, In Proportion, Had Suffered
Far More.
Preparations To Return.
Volume 1 Chapter 10 (Return To Hanover Bay) Pg 136
Mr. Walker, Who Was Aware Of My Design, Came To Me Today And Said He Felt
It His Duty To Recommend Me Without Delay To Return To The Vessel; That
As Long As He Thought The Risk I Ran Was No More Than He Considered A Man
Who Had Undertaken Such A Service Should Be Prepared To Incur, He Had
Refrained From Pressing This Advice Upon Me, But In My Present
Debilitated State Exposure Even For A Single Night Might Very Probably
Cost Me My Life. To This Opinion I Felt Constrained To Yield, And Mr.
Walker, Having At My Desire Repeated It In A Letter This Afternoon, I
Arranged My Plans Accordingly.
Light Exploring Party Sent Forward Under Lieutenant Lushington.
The March In Advance, Which, Had My Health Permitted, I Had Intended To
Make Myself, Was Now Deputed To Mr. Lushington: Four Of Those Men Who
Remained The Strongest Of Our Enfeebled Band Were Selected For An
Excursion Of Three Days Under Him; After Which We Were To Return To The
Vessel.
April 1 And 2.
At Dawn On Sunday The 1st The Party Started; And These Two Days I
Occupied Myself In Making Magnetic And Astronomical Observations. Our
Latitude I Found By Two Meridian Altitudes Of The Moon To Be 16 Degrees 0
Minutes 45 Seconds South, And Our Longitude By Chronometer 125 Degrees 11
Minutes East.
Report Of Advanced Party.
April 3.
Mr. Lushington's Party Came In At 12 O'clock This Day, Reporting As
Follows: That They Proceeded About Eighteen Miles From The Camp Upon A
Course Of 195 Degrees From The North, And The Remaining Half Upon A
Course Of 155 1/2 Degrees; That The Whole Of Their Route Lay Over A
Country Utterly Impassable For Horses Owing To The Steepness Of The
Hills; That They Crossed A Great Number Of Under-Features At Right Angles
To Their Route, Between Which Lay Small Streams Flowing Away To The
Westward, And Which Under-Features Were So Steep In Their Descent To The
Southward That, In Going Down, The Men Repeatedly Fell: Both Grass And
Water Were However Everywhere Abundant; And They Saw, In The Spots Where
The Grass Was Most Luxuriant, The Root Which I Found On The Hill At Our
First Encampment On The Good Land. The Last Point They Attained Was A
Lofty Hill Which Ran Out From A Range To The Eastward, From Which Range
Sprang Also All The Under-Features That They Had Crossed. From This Hill
They Had An Extensive View To The Northward, Eastward, And Westward. The
Land They Saw To The Northward Is Laid Down Upon My Map.
Their Description Of The Country.
To The Eastward They Saw Nothing But Ranges Of Hills, Precisely
Volume 1 Chapter 10 (Return To Hanover Bay) Pg 137Resembling Those That We Had Crossed Since Entering This Mountainous
District; And To The Westward Others Of The Same Nature, But Gradually
Falling In That Direction, Whilst On The Other Hand The Land Seemed To
Rise Gently To The Eastward, Though They Saw No Very High Hills In An
Easterly Direction. To The Southward Their View Was Impeded By A Very
High Bluff Point, Distant Six Or Seven Miles, And A Line Of Cliffs Under
Which They Conceived That A River Or An Opening Of The Sea May Run, But
If So, It Could Not Be A Stream Of Great Magnitude. Their View Of The
Base Of The Cliff Was However Impeded By The Under-Features Of The Hill
On Which They Stood. They Also Noticed, As A Very Remarkable
Circumstance, That There Were No Signs Of These Mountains Having Been
Visited By The Natives. The First Part Of Their Route Lay Over An
Extensive Plain, Four Miles In Width, Which Bore No Appearance Of The
Great Native Conflagrations Having Ever Reached It. This Was So Generally
The Case That, When They Halted, They Were Unable To Obtain A Sufficiency
Of Firewood. They Saw A Native Dog Of The Regular Australian Breed;
Kangaroos Were Abundant, But These As Well
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