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

Any Way Suffer From This Exposure.

 

Other Detached Parties Were On Various Occasions Subjected For A Shorter

Period To Exposure Of A Similar Nature,  And No Instance Occurred Of Any

Individual Suffering In The Least From It. One Or Two Cases Of Slight

Diarrhoea Occurred,  But They Could Be Always Traced To Some Food That Had

Been Eaten The Day Before,  And Never Were Sufficiently Violent To Delay

Us For A Single Hour.

 

Whilst This Perfect Freedom From Disease Existed Amongst The Party They

Had Not Only To Bear Exposure Of The Nature Above Stated,  But The

Provisions With Which I Was Enabled To Supply Them Were Sometimes Very

Insufficient For Their Wants. During The Whole Month Of March And Part Of

April Their Daily Full Allowance Of Food Was About 1 3/4 Pounds Of Flour,

First Made Into Dough And Then Baked In The Form Of A Flat Cake Upon A

Large Stone.

 

This Low Diet,  At The Same Time That They Were Compelled To Work Very

Hard,  Naturally Rendered Some Of Them Extremely Weak,  And Several Were,

On Our Return To The Coast,  In A Very Reduced State.

 

I Should Here State That We Were (Perhaps Fortunately) Unable To Carry

More Than One Pint Of Brandy With Us,  Hence No Spirits Were Issued To The

Men,  And The Non-Appearance Of Diseases Of An Inflammatory Nature May

Perhaps In Some Measure Be Attributed To This Circumstance.

 

Volume 1 Chapter 11 (Natural History Climate Aborigines) Pg 155

The Opinion Of Captain Wickham,  R.N. Commanding H.M. Ship Beagle,  Is

Perfectly In Accordance With My Own. He Was Upon The Coast At The Same

Time That We Were,  And In A Letter To Me Writes Thus: "Our Cruise Has

Been Altogether A Fortunate One,  As We Have Been Enabled To Examine The

Whole Coast From Cape Villaret To This Place (Port George The Fourth)

Without Any Accident,  And The Climate Is So Good That We Have Had No

Sick."

 

Thermometrical Observations. Rain And Temperature.

 

I Have Annexed A Short Statement Of The Weather And Range Of The

Thermometer During Some Parts Of The Months Of December,  January,  And

February. It Will Be Seen From This That The Heat Was On Some Occasions

Great,  Even As High As To 136 Degrees Of Fahrenheit In The Sun; Yet,  By

Not Exposing Ourselves To Its Influence In The Heat Of The Day More Than

We Could Help,  We Suffered No Inconvenience From This Circumstance:

Indeed In Other Tropical Countries Where The Heat Has Not Been So Great I

Have Suffered Much More Than I Did In North-Western Australia.

 

Number Of Days In Which Rain Fell:

 

December: 6 Days.

January: 19 Days,  Namely,  12,  To January 19th,  4 Between 19th And 28th,  3

To End Of Month.

February: 7 Days.

March: 12 Days.

To 12th April: 2 Days.

 

In January The Greatest Quantity Of Rain Fell Between The 15th And 30th,

Accompanied By Storms Of Thunder And Lightning.

 

In February The Greatest Quantity Of Rain Fell In The Commencement Of The

Month. For Several Nights In The Middle Of February We Had Thunder,

Lightning,  And Strong Gusts Of Wind,  Seldom Accompanied By Rain.

 

In March The Greatest Quantity Of Rain Fell From The 17th To The 23rd.

 

The Mean Temperature Of The Different Periods Of The Day For The Month Of

December 1838 At Hanover Bay,  Determined By Observations For Only Six

Successive Days From The 26th To The 31st Inclusive (Thermometer In The

Shade) Are As Follows:

 

6 A.M. 82.2.

9 A.M. 85.3.

12 M. 91.3.

3 P.M. 90.2.

6 P.M. 85.8.

9 P.M. 83.5.

 

The Same For The Month Of January 1838,  Determined By Observations Made

From The 1st To The 19th Inclusive,  Was:

 

6 A.M. 78.2.

Volume 1 Chapter 11 (Natural History Climate Aborigines) Pg 156

9 A.M. 84.3.

12 M. 83.1.

3 P.M. 85.7.

6 P.M. 80.7.

9 P.M. 83.4.

 

I Should Observe That The Mean Temperature For 9 P.M. For This Month Is

Deduced From Only Seven Days Observation.

 

The Same As The Above For The Month Of February,  Taken Twelve Miles To

The South Of Hanover Bay,  From The 19th To The 26th February Inclusive,

Is As Follows:

 

6 A.M. 77.0.

9 A.M. 86.0.

12 A.M. 92.7.

3 P.M. 94.0.

6 P.M. 83.3.

 

Aborigines,  Their Habits And Manners.

 

I Was Never Fortunate Enough To Succeed In Obtaining A Friendly Interview

With The Natives Of These Parts; But I Have Repeatedly Seen Them Closely,

Was Twice Forced Into Dispute With Them And,  In One Of These Instances,

Into Deadly Conflict. My Knowledge Of Them Is Chiefly Drawn From What I

Have Observed Of Their Haunts,  Their Painted Caves,  And Drawings. I Have

Moreover Become Acquainted With Several Of Their Weapons,  Some Of Their

Ordinary Implements,  And I Took Some Pains To Study Their Disposition And

Habits As Far As I Could.

 

In Their Manner Of Life,  Their Roving Habits,  Their Weapons,  And Mode Of

Hunting,  They Closely Resemble The Other Australian Tribes With Which I

Have Since Become Pretty Intimately Acquainted; Whilst In Their Form And

Appearance There Is A Striking Difference. They Are In General Very Tall

And Robust,  And Exhibit In Their Legs And Arms A Fine Full Development Of

Muscle Which Is Unknown To The Southern Races.

 

They Wear No Clothes,  And Their Bodies Are Marked By Scars And Wales.

They Seem To Have No Regular Mode Of Dressing Their Hair,  This Appearing

To Depend Entirely On Individual Taste Or Caprice.

 

They Appear To Live In Tribes Subject,  Perhaps,  To Some Individual

Authority; And Each Tribe Has A Sort Of Capital,  Or Headquarters,  Where

The Women And Children Remain Whilst The Men,  Divided Into Small Parties,

Hunt And Shoot In Different Directions. The Largest Number We Saw

Together Amounted To Nearly Two Hundred,  Women And Children Included.

 

Their Weapons And Implements.

 

Volume 1 Chapter 11 (Natural History Climate Aborigines) Pg 157

Their Arms Consist Of Stone-Headed Spears (Which They Throw With Great

Strength And Precision) Of Throwing Sticks,  Boomerangs Or Kileys,  Clubs,

And Stone Hatchets. The Dogs They Use In Hunting I Have Already Stated To

Be Of A Kind Unknown In Other Parts Of Australia,  And They Were Never

Seen Wild By Us.

 

The Natives Manufacture Their Water-Buckets And Weapons Very Neatly; And

Make From The Bark Of A Tree A Light But Strong Cord. Their Huts,  Of

Which I Only Saw Those On The Sea-Coast,  Are Constructed In An Oval Form

Of The Boughs Of Trees,  And Are Roofed With Dry Reeds. The Diameter Of

One Which I Measured Was About Fourteen Feet At The Base.

 

Language.

 

Their Language Is Soft And Melodious,  So Much So As To Lead To The

Inference That It Differs Very Materially,  If Not Radically,  From The

More Southern Australian Dialects Which I Have Since Had An Opportunity

Of Enquiring Into. Their Gesticulation Is Expressive,  And Their Bearing

Manly And Noble. They Never Speared A Horse Or Sheep Belonging To Us And,

Judging By The Degree Of Industry Shown In The Execution Of Some Of Their

Paintings,  The Absence Of Anything Offensive In The Subjects Delineated,

And The Careful Finish Of Some Articles Of Common Use,  I Should Infer

That Under Proper Treatment They Might Easily Be Raised Very Considerably

In The Scale Of Civilization.

 

Individuals Of An Alien White Race.

 

A Remarkable Circumstance Is The Presence Amongst Them Of A Race,  To

Appearance,  Totally Different,  And Almost White,  Who Seem To Exercise No

Small Influence Over The Rest. I Am Forced To Believe That The Distrust

Evinced Towards Strangers Arose From These Persons,  As In Both Instances,

When We Were Attacked,  The Hostile Party Was Led By One Of These

Light-Coloured Men.

 

Similarity Of Customs With Other Australian Tribes.

 

Captain King,  Who Had Previously Experienced The Same Feelings Of

Ill-Will In The Natives Of Vansittart Bay,  Attributed Them To The

Periodical Visits Of The Malays During The Season Of The Trepang Fishery.

He Says (Volume 1 Page 320):

 

On This Beach (Of Vansittart Bay) We Found A Broken Earthen Pot,  Which

Decidedly Proved The Fact Of The Malays Visiting This Part Of The Coast,

And Explained The Mischievous Disposition Of The Natives.

 

...

 

I Saw But Three Men Of This Fair Race Myself,  And Thought They Closely

Resembled Malays; Some Of My Men Observed A Fourth.

 

Natives At Roebuck Bay.

Volume 1 Chapter 11 (Natural History Climate Aborigines) Pg 158

Which Contains A Detail Of The Customs Of Flinders Islands And Part Of

Northern Australia,  And Displays Two Or Three Remarkable Customs

Coinciding With Those Observed By Myself And Others To Exist In Northwest

Australia:

 

At 8 Hours 40 Minutes P.M. The Colonial Brig Mary Arrived,  Bringing Along

With Her A Native Of India,  Whom She Picked Up On One Of Flinders

Islands.

 

On The 18th July The Lascar Came On Board The Success,  And From Him I

Learned The Following Particulars: That He Belonged To The Ship Fame,

Which Was Wrecked In The Straits; That He And A Few Others Escaped In A

Leaky Boat After Rowing For Forty-Eight Hours. On Landing The Natives

Stripped Them Of Their Clothes,  Etc.,  But Otherwise Behaved Very Kindly

To Them. His Companions In Misfortune Died The First Year Of His

Residence Amongst The Natives,  Which In All Amounted,  He Said,  To Six Or

Seven Years.

 

The Men In That Part Of Australia Have From Five To Ten Wives,  Of Whom

They Are Rather Jealous At Times. The Tribes Are Continually At War With

One Another,  And Have Regular Pitched Battles; But The Moment That One Is

Killed On Either Side,  The Battle Ceases,  Until They Carry Off Their

Dead,  And Mourn For Certain Days,  According To Their Custom; Bedaubing

Themselves Over With Black Earth,  And On Another Day The Fight Begins And

Ends In A Similar Way.

 

...

 

Disposal Of Their Dead.

 

This Is Singularly Analogous To What Occurred On Our Encounter With Them

On The 11th February. Dr. Duncan Continues:

 

When One Dies Or Is Killed They Bury The Body In The Earth,