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

As All Other Game Were Much

Less Wild Than Any Of The Party Had Before Observed.

 

The Foregoing Summary Of The Information Brought Back Rests Not On The

Report Of Any One Individual But Expresses The Opinions Of The Party With

Regard To Those Points On Which They Were All Agreed; And The Only One As

To Which I Have Any Distrust Is That Of The Distance They Went,  Which I

Believe To Be Overrated; Having Always Found The Estimates Of Every One

Of The Party As To The Daily Distance Travelled Very Erroneous,  And

Sometimes More Than Doubled. This Indeed Is A Mistake Well Known To Be Of

Common Occurrence,  And Very Difficult To Guard Against In A New And Wild

Country,  And When I Consider The Diminished Strength Of The Men's

Pedestrian Powers,  And The Weights They Had To Carry,  I Am Disposed To

Calculate That The Total Direct Distance They Made Did Not Exceed,  If It

Equalled,  Twelve Miles.

 

Want Of Firewood.

 

Their Report Of Want Of Firewood Is Singular As,  In All Other Parts Which

We Passed Over,  Even Upon Plains Of A Similar Character Though Not So

Highly Elevated Or So Difficult Of Access,  We Had Always Found The Ground

Thickly Covered With Trees Which Had Fallen From The Effects Of The

Native Fires.

 

The Only Remarkable Circumstances About The Spot We Were Encamped In Were

The Great Coldness Of The Nights And Mornings; And Moreover That Exactly

At Nine O'clock Every Morning A Cold Breeze,  In Character Precisely

Resembling A Sea-Breeze,  Set In From The South-East And Lasted Until

About Half-Past Three In The Afternoon.

 

Return. Commencement Of March Back.

 

April 4.

 

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We This Day Started On Our March Homewards. I Was Afraid,  From The

Appearance Of The Weather,  That We Might Soon Have Rain,  And,  As A

Continuance Of It For Even Three Or Four Days Might Have Prevented Our

Passing The Rivers For Several Weeks,  It Became Necessary That This Part

Of Our March Should Be Accomplished With The Utmost Celerity. I Therefore

Made The First River Before I Allowed A Halt For Breakfast. On Our Route

We Passed The Spot Where,  On The 29th Ultimo,  We Had Been Compelled To

Kill The Horse; The Native Dogs Had Already Made It A Perfect Skeleton

And Scattered Its Bones About.

 

Native And His Dog.

 

I Committed Unintentionally This Day What Must Have Appeared To The

Natives A Very Wanton Act Of Aggression: As We Were Passing The River,  A

Dog,  Not Of The Australian Breed,  Came From A Pass In The Rocks On The

Opposite Side,  Moving Quietly Towards Us Over Some Flat Rocks; When He

Had Advanced A Few Yards From The Pass He Stopped And Looked Back,  So

That From His Manner I Might Have Known That His Master Was Near,  But

Without Reflection I Fired And Struck The Ground Close To Him; He Became

Alarmed And Ran Back In The Same Line He Had Come; I Now Took Up My Own

Rifle And Just As He Turned A Point In The Rocks I Fired,  And,  Although A

Very Long Shot,  I Struck Him Far Forward In The Shoulder. For A Moment He

Staggered,  Then Turned Round And Limped Up A Glen In The Hills In Quite A

Different Direction. I Had Neither Time Nor Strength To Follow Him,  But

On Passing The River I Found From The Tracks That Minute Made That A

Single Native Had Been Coming Down To The River With The Dog,  And Had

(Probably From Hearing The Shots) Turned Sharp Off To The Right And Made

His Escape Into Some Bushes. This Day The Weakness Of Our Last Sheep

Obliged Us To Kill It.

 

Continuation Of Route Back. Change Of Track.

 

April 5.

 

I Continued On Our Old Track This Morning Until I Had Passed The Other

River,  And Then,  Quitting Our Former Route,  Made A Push Straight Over The

Sandstone Ridge For Our Old Enemy The Marsh,  As I Felt Sure After The

Present Long Continuance Of Fine Weather That It Would Be Now Quite

Passable. We Encamped This Night On The Sandstone Range Under A Group Of

Lofty Firs,  Or Rather Pines.

 

April 6.

 

I Found A Very Easy Route Over The Sandstone,  Quite Passable In Fine

Weather,  But After Rains,  I Think,  From The Marshy Nature Of The Ground,

That It Would Present Some Difficulty. The Marsh Itself Was Perfectly

Passable,  Could Without Any Difficulty Be Drained,  And Consisted Of Good

And Fertile Land. A Remarkable Circumstance Connected With It Was The

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Great Depth Of The Beds Of Its Streams,  The Banks In Some Places Being

Fourteen Feet Above The Existing Water Level,  Whilst I Could Observe No

Signs Of The Water Having Ever Risen To That Height. In The Afternoon I

Once More Struck Our Old Track,  Which I Quitted Again In The Evening. We

Halted A Few Hundred Yards From Two Remarkable Heaps Of Stones Of The

Same Kind As Those I Have Before Mentioned.

 

Curious Native Mounds Or Tombs Of Stones.

 

April 7.

 

This Morning I Started Off Before Dawn And Opened The Most Southern Of

The Two Mounds Of Stones Which Presented The Following Curious Facts:

 

1. They Were Both Placed Due East And West And,  As Will Be Seen By The

Annexed Plates,  With Great Regularity.

 

2. They Were Both Exactly Of The Same Length But Differed In Breadth And

Height.

 

3. They Were Not Formed Altogether Of Small Stones From The Rock On Which

They Stood,  But Many Were Portions Of Very Distant Rocks,  Which Must Have

Been Brought By Human Labour,  For Their Angles Were As Sharp As The Day

They Were Broken Off; There Were Also The Remains Of Many And Different

Kinds Of Seashells In The Heap We Opened.

 

My Own Opinion Concerning These Heaps Of Stones Had Been That They Were

Tombs; And This Opinion Remains Unaltered,  Though We Found No Bones In

The Mound,  Only A Great Deal Of Fine Mould Having A Damp Dank Smell. The

Antiquity Of The Central Part Of The One We Opened Appeared To Be Very

Great,  I Should Say Two Or Three Hundred Years; But The Stones Above Were

Much More Modern,  The Outer Ones Having Been Very Recently Placed; This

Was Also The Case With The Other Heap: Can This Be Regarded By The

Natives As A Holy Spot?

 

We Explored The Heap By Making An Opening In The Side,  Working On To The

Centre,  And Thence Downwards To The Middle,  Filling Up The Former Opening

As The Men Went On; Yet Five Men Provided With Tools Were Occupied Two

Hours In Completing This Opening And Closing It Again,  For I Left

Everything Precisely As I Had Found It. The Stones Were Of All Sizes,

From One As Weighty As A Strong Man Could Lift,  To The Smallest Pebble.

The Base Of Each Heap Was Covered With A Rank Vegetation,  But The Top Was

Clear,  From The Stones There Having Been Recently Deposited.

 

Pass In Mountain Range.

 

In The Afternoon We Proceeded On Our Route,  Travelling Nearly North.

After Marching Some Distance We Traversed At Right Angles A Variety Of

Under-Features Terminating In Sandstone Cliffs,  But The Hills On Our

Right Were Composed Of The Same Black Rock As The Chain In Which Mount

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Lyell Lies. Private Mustard Being Ill,  I Gave Him My Horse And Tried To

Walk,  But Injured Myself Materially By So Doing. We Were Obliged To

Encamp At The Head Of A Large Mangrove Inlet.

 

April 8.

 

It Being Sunday I Halted All The Morning And Only Started Late In The

Afternoon. Our Route Lay Through A Mountainous Country And Consequently

Our Progress Was Slow. Quartz Was Here Largely Developed In Rocks. We

Halted This Evening In A Valley Surrounded By Mountains.

 

Pass Mount Lyell.

 

April 9.

 

We Started At Dawn And Soon Found That The Valley We Had Encamped In Was

The True Pass Across The Range Of Mountains. It Ran In Nearly A

South-West Direction To The Foot Of Mount Lyell. Here I Halted For

Breakfast; And,  On Finding My Position By Cross Bearings,  Which I Was Now

Able To Do,  And Comparing It With My Position By Dead Reckoning,  Was Glad

To Find That The Error Only Amounted To 150 Yards. The Valley We

Travelled Up In The Morning Was Fertile,  Connected With Several Other

Large Ones Of Similar Character,  And Contained Two Small Lakes,  Or Large

Ponds Of Water,  The Least Of Which Was Elevated Considerably Above The

Low Ground In The Neighbourhood. In The Afternoon We Crossed The

Mountains By A Narrow Neck,  Which Is The Best Pass Over This Range Of

Hills For Anyone Travelling To The South And East. We Crossed Our Old

Track Twice In The Afternoon And Encamped In The Evening Under A Conical

Hill.

 

April 10.

 

Started At Dawn,  Travelling Nearly North-West,  And Crossed The Heads Of

All The Streams Which I Had Before Seen Emptying Themselves Into The

River Glenelg In The Opening Lying Between Mount Sturt And Mount Eyre.

Just Under The Point Where We Encamped For The Night Was A Large Marsh In

Which My Horse Got Bogged And I Had A Severe Fall.

 

Continuation Of Route.

 

April 11.

 

On Starting This Morning All The Party Insisted That They Saw A Hill,

Under Which Our Old Track Had Passed. I Felt Convinced That Such Could

Not Be The Case; And,  Had It Been So,  An Error Of Four Miles Must Have

Existed In My Map: Yet All Were So Positive Of Their Correctness That I

Felt It Would Appear Like Obstinacy In Me Not To Yield To The General

Opinion. I Therefore Quitted Our Direct Course To Make For The Foot Of

This Hill,  And There Convinced Myself That I Was Right; Yet,  Even When We

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