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

Volume 1 Chapter 11 (Natural History Climate Aborigines) Pg 149

Conceived At The Time That He Had Made Some Mistake,  And Paid No

Attention To Him Until I Afterwards Twice Saw The Same Traces Myself.

 

Birds.

 

To Describe The Birds Common To These Parts Requires More Time Than To

Detail The Names Of The Few Quadrupeds To Be Found; Indeed In No Other

Country That I Have Yet Visited Do Birds So Abound. Even The Virgin

Forests Of South America Cannot,  In My Belief,  Boast Of Such Numerous

Feathered Denizens; Yet I Cannot,  After All,  Assert That The Number Of

Genera And Species Is At All Proportionate To That Of Individual Birds.

The Contrary Is Probably The Real Case.

 

Beauty Of The Birds.

 

The Birds Of This Country Possess In Many Instances An Excessively

Beautiful Plumage; And He Alone Who Has Traversed These Wild And Romantic

Regions,  Who Has Beheld A Flock Of Many-Coloured Parakeets Sweeping Like

A Moving Rainbow Through The Air Whilst The Rocks And Dells Resounded

With Their Playful Cries,  Can Form Any Adequate Idea Of The Scenes That

There Burst On The Eyes Of The Wondering Naturalist.

 

The Beginning Of The Month Of February,  Or The End Of January,  Is The

Season In Which The Birds In These Parts Pair. In The Beginning Of March

I Found Many Nests With Eggs In Them; And In The End Of That Month Eggs

Nearly Hatched Were Observed In Most Of The Nests,  As Well As Young Birds

Occasionally.

 

Rapacious Birds.

 

Of Rapacious Birds I Saw But Four Kinds,  But These Are By No Means

Common:

 

The First Species Was A Very Large Bird,  Of A Dark Colour (Aquila Fucosa,

Cuvier) In Size,  Appearance,  And Flight Closely Resembling The Golden

Eagle Which I Have Often Seen,  And Have Once Shot On The North-West Coast

Of Ireland. I Have Approached These Birds Closely--So Closely Indeed That

I Have On Two Occasions Shot Them,  But Each Time They Fell Into A Thick

Mangrove Inlet And I Was Not Fortunate Enough To Procure Either Of Them;

They Appeared To Me Always To Frequent The Shores,  For I Never Saw Them

Further Inland Than A Mile From The Sea. The Large Nests Captain King

Mentions As Having Been Found Upon The Coast I Imagine Must Have Belonged

To This Species.

 

The Second Species Was A Sort Of Hawk (Haliaeetus Leucosternus,  Gould)

Rather Larger Than The Sparrow-Hawk,  Of A Light Cinnamon Colour,  With A

Perfectly White Head. They Also Frequent The Shores,  But I Never Shot

One.

 

The Third Species Was A Peregrine Falcon (Falco Melanogenys,  Gould) Which

Volume 1 Chapter 11 (Natural History Climate Aborigines) Pg 150

Is Nearly Allied To That Of Europe. I Was Not Fortunate Enough To Procure

A Specimen Of This Bird.

 

The Fourth Was The Athene Boobook. Belly Brown And White; Wings Brown,

With White Spots; Third Quill-Feather,  Longest; Legs Feathered,  Lightish

Brown Colour; Tail Brownish White,  Marked With Transverse Bars Of A

Darker Brown; Eye Prominent; Iris Blue. The Only Difference I Could

Observe Between The Male And Female Is That The Female Is Rather Larger

Than The Male,  And Her Colours Somewhat Lighter. These Birds Inhabit The

Whole Of That Part Of North-Western Australia Lying Between The Prince

Regent And Glenelg Rivers,  And Probably May Be Distributed Over The

Greater Portion Of The Continent. They Feed On Insects,  Reptiles,  And

Birds Of The Smaller Kind. I Have Always Found Them Seated In Holes In

The Rocks,  Or In Shady Dells,  And Have Never Seen Them Fly In The Daytime

Unless Compelled By Fear; They Are Very Stupid When Disturbed,  And In

Flight And Manner Closely Resemble The Common English Owl. I Cannot

However Recollect Having Ever Seen One On The Wing During The Night.

 

Upon Describing The Two Singular Birds Mentioned Above In Chapter 9 To

Mr. Gould He Informed Me That They Were Most Probably Of The Rare Species

Anas Semipalmata.

 

Remarkable Nest.

 

I Have Already Spoken In The 9th Chapter Of A Very Curious Sort Of Nest

Which Was Frequently Found By Myself And Other Individuals Of The Party,

Not Only Along The Seashore,  But In Some Instances At A Distance Of Six

Or Seven Miles From It. This Nest,  Which Is Figured In Illustration 19,  I

Once Conceived Must Have Belonged To The Kangaroo Rat I Have Above

Mentioned,  Until Mr. Gould,  Who Has Lately Returned From Australia,

Informed Me That It Is The Run Or Playing Ground Of The Bird He Has Named

Chalmydera Nuchalis.

 

These Nests Were Formed Of Dead Grass,  And Parts Of Bushes,  Sunk A Slight

Depth Into Two Parallel Furrows,  In Sandy Soil,  And Then Nicely Arched

Above. But The Most Remarkable Fact Connected With Them Was That They

Were Always Full Of Broken Shells,  Large Heaps Of Which Protruded From

Each Extremity Of The Nest. These Were Invariably Seashells. In One

Instance,  In The Nest Most Remote From The Sea That We Discovered,  One Of

The Men Of The Party Found And Brought To Me The Stone Of Some Fruit

Which Had Evidently Been Rolled In The Sea; These Stones He Found Lying

In A Heap In The Nest,  And They Are Now In My Possession.

 

Emus.

 

I Have Seen No Emus In North-Western Australia,  But On Two Occasions

Their Tracks Were Impressed In The Mud On Some Plains Lying On The Banks

Of Glenelg River; And Mr. Dring,  Of H.M.S. Beagle,  Informed Me That,

Whilst That Vessel Was Employed In The Survey Of Fitzroy River,  About

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Seventy Miles To The Southward Of The Former,  He Not Only Several Times

Saw Traces Of Them But That,  On One Occasion When He Was In The Bush,  Two

Of Them Passed Within A Few Yards Of Him. They May,  I Conceive,  Therefore

Be Considered As Inhabitants Of This Part Of The Continent.

 

Alligators.

 

No Alligators Were Seen By The Land Party In Any Of The Rivers Of

North-Western Australia,  But The Crew Of The Schooner Saw One In Hanover

Bay. I Can However Safely Assert From My Own Experience That They Are By

No Means Numerous Upon This Coast. At The Islands Of Timor And Roti

However They Abound.

 

Turtles.

 

Turtles Were Abundant On The Coast,  And A Freshwater Tortoise Was Found

Inland.

 

Plants.

 

Amongst The Vegetable Kingdom I Shall Only Observe Generally That The

Calamus,  Or Rattan,  Which In King's Voyage* Is Considered To Be Peculiar

To The Primary Granitic Formation On The East Coast,  Is Abundant In The

Interior Of The North-West Between Latitude 15 And 17 Degrees South.

 

 

 

I Found A Dwarf Cabbage-Palm Between 15 And 16 Degrees South Latitude,

Always In Moist Situations In The Neighbourhood Of Streams,  Although Not

Immediately On The Banks.

 

Of The Family Of Urticeae Many Species Of Ficus Were Observed.

 

The Banksia,  Common To Swan River,  And Bearing A Yellow Flower,  Is To Be

Found In Many Of The Valleys On The North-West Coast; Thus Appearing To

Form An Exception To Mr. Cunningham's Observation Inserted In Captain

King's Voyage,* Wherein He Says:

 

Viewing The General Distribution Of Banksia,  It Is A Singular Fact In The

Geographical Distribution Of This Genus That Its Species,  Which Have Been

Traced Through Almost Every Meridian Of The South Coast,  Upon The Islands

In Bass Strait,  In Van Diemen's Land,  And Widely Scattered Throughout The

Whole Extent Of New South Wales To The North Coast,  At Which Extreme

Banksia Dentata Has Been Observed As Far West As Longitude 136 Degrees

South,  Should Be Wholly Wanting On The Line Of The North-West Coast.

 

Volume 1 Chapter 11 (Footnote) Pg 152

(*Footnote. Appendix,  Volume 2.)

Volume 1 Chapter 11 (Footnote) Pg 153

(*Footnote. Ibid.)

Volume 1 Chapter 11 (Natural History Climate Aborigines) Pg 154

I Observed A Great Variety Of Plants Of The Order Leguminosae.

 

Of The Extraordinary Capparis Resembling The African Adansonia I Have

Already Spoken In Chapter 6.

 

A Species Of Callitris (Pine) Was Common,  As Was The Pandanus; And The

Araucaria Excelsa Was Found On The Heights,  Both Near The Sea Coast And

Further Inland.

 

Climate. Its Healthiness.

 

I Conceive The Climate Of North-Western Australia To Be One Of The Finest

In The World,  And My Reasons For Thus Thinking Are Grounded Upon The

Following Circumstances.

 

Proofs Of Its Salubrity.

 

I Was Resident There From The Beginning Of The Month Of December 1837 To

The Middle Of The Month Of April 1838; A Period Of Four Months And A

Half: And During The Whole Of This Time The Men Under My Command Were

Exposed To Great Hardships And Privations. On One Occasion Three Of Us

Slept In The Open Air Without Any Covering Or Warm Clothes For Five

Successive Nights,  During Three Of Which We Had Constant Showers Of Heavy

Rain,  And Yet Did Not In