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 13 (At Swan River) Pg 186

One I Could Adopt I Was Obliged To Follow Their Advice,  And We

Accordingly Moved Off In A North-East,  And Then North-East By East

Direction. After Travelling Over About Four Miles Of Country We Heard The

Distant Cries Of Natives,  And Soon After Came Up With And Found Them

Engaged In The Pleasant Occupation Of Carrying Two Wounded Men On Their

Shoulders Into Perth. These Men Had Quarrelled And Had Settled The

Dispute To Their Mutual Satisfaction,  As Well As To That Of Their

Friends,  By Spearing Each Other Through Their Respective Thighs. One Of

The Poor Fellows Was Very Ill And Told Me That His Intention Was To Sit

Down At My House In Perth Until He Was Well--And He Kept His Promise.

 

I Had Many Friends Amongst These Natives And Soon Selected Four To

Accompany Me,  Their Names Were Warrup,  Jenna,  Dwer,  And Ugat. There Were

Five Northern Natives With The Tribe Who Had Never Seen White Men; They

Seemed To View Us With Great Suspicion At First,  But The Present Of A

Little Bread Soon Placed Us On The Most Friendly Terms; And,  After About

Half An Hour's Halt,  We Separated,  They Proceeding To Perth Whilst We

Pursued A Northerly Course. After Having Made About Four Miles In This

Direction We Halted For The Day At The Head Of The Lake Moolore.

 

Lake Country.

 

December 2.

 

We Started Before Dawn,  Travelling In Nearly A Straight Line Across The

Country,  Our Compass Course Being 329 Degrees From The North. After We

Had Made About Three Miles We Reached A Swampy Lake,  Called Nirrooba,

Covered With Wild-Fowl. We Here Halted And Prepared Our Breakfast Whilst

The Natives Went Out To Hunt. I Soon Shot A Brace Of Wild Ducks,  And They

Speared Nine; I Now Gave Little Ugat My Gun,  And He Brought In Four More

Ducks,  Making A Total Of Fifteen. Part Of These We Cooked,  And Kept The

Remainder For Our Dinner. I Forgot To Mention That We Yesterday Shot

Twelve Parakeets.

 

I Wandered For Some Distance About The Eastern Side Of This Lake And Saw

Some Very Good Land,  I Should Say At Least Fifty Acres; And,  In Addition

To This Land Of The Best Quality,  There Was Plenty Of Good Feed For

Cattle All Round The Lake.

 

Delay,  And Bivouack.

 

At 2 P.M. We Started Again In A Due North Direction And,  Having Proceeded

About Four Miles,  Reached A Lake Called Nowoorgoop. We Now Changed Our

Course To North And By West,  And,  After Travelling Six Miles More,  Came

To A Lake Called,  By The Natives,  Beeulengurrinyup; The Water Was However

So Thick And Muddy That I Determined,  Although It Was Getting Late,  To

Proceed Further; We Therefore Changed Our Course To North And By East,

And After Travelling For About Four Miles More Reached Another Lake

Volume 1 Chapter 13 (At Swan River) Pg 187

Called Maubeebee. This Lake Was About Three-Quarters Of A Mile Long. Mr.

Smith's Feet Had Latterly Become So Sore That He Had Been Compelled To

Tie Pieces Of Kangaroo Skin Over Them,  And Thus Equipped To Walk Without

His Half-Boots; And,  On Coming In To Our Bivouac,  I Had The Mortification

To Hear That,  Having Been Put Carelessly On The Horses,  One Of These

Boots Had Fallen Down; I Saw Therefore That It Would Be Necessary To Let

Him And A Native Go Back The Next Day Upon The Two Horses We Had With Us

For The Purpose Of Finding It. To Europeans It Would Seem Rather A

Visionary Task To Travel Twelve Or Fourteen Miles In A Trackless Forest

In The Hope Of Recovering A Boot,  But The Natives' Eyes Are So Keen That

Their Finding It Amounted To A Matter Of Certainty.

 

Lovely Bivouack.

 

Our Bivouac This Night Had A Beauty About It Which Would Have Made Anyone

Possessed With The Least Enthusiasm Fall In Love With A Bush Life. We

Were Sitting On A Gently-Rising Ground Which Sloped Away Gradually To A

Picturesque Lake Surrounded By Wooded Hills,  Whilst The Moon Shone So

Brightly On The Lake That The Distance Was Perfectly Clear,  And We Could

Distinctly See The Large Flocks Of Wildfowl As They Passed Over Our Heads

And Then Splashed Into The Water,  Darkening And Agitating Its Silvery

Surface; In Front Of Us Blazed A Cheerful Fire,  Round Which Were The Dark

Forms Of The Natives,  Busily Engaged In Roasting Ducks For Us; The

Foreground Was Covered With Graceful Grass Trees And,  At The Moment We

Commenced Supper,  I Made The Natives Set Fire To The Dried Tops Of Two Of

These,  And By The Light Of These Splendid Chandeliers,  Which Threw A Red

Glare Over The Whole Forest In Our Vicinity,  We Ate Our Evening Meal;

Then,  Closing Round The Fire,  Rolled Ourselves Up In Our Blankets And

Laid Down To Sleep.

 

December 3.

 

At Dawn This Morning Mr. Smith And Warrup Started On The Horses In Search

Of His Boot; And I Spent The Day In Shooting Wildfowl And Various Kind Of

Game,  As Well As In Collecting Words From The Natives For My Vocabulary.

About 4 P.M. Mr. Smith Returned With His Boot And We All Retired Early To

Rest.

 

December 4.

 

We Started At Sunrise And Travelled About Six Miles In The Direction Of

17 Degrees,  And Then Halted For Breakfast At A Lake Called Boongarrup.

The Whole Of The Country We Passed Over This Morning Was Sandy And Bad,

Being Thinly Clothed With Banksia Trees; But Immediately About The Lake

There Was,  As Usual,  Good Land. We Started Immediately After Breakfast As

The Natives Told Us We Had A Long Journey To Make. Our Course Now Lay In

The Direction Of 13 Degrees. The Country We Passed Over Was Still Of The

Same Sandy Nature; And After Travelling About Ten Miles We Made Another

Lake.

Volume 1 Chapter 13 (At Swan River) Pg 188

 

Stranger Tribe. Native Toilette.

 

The Natives Here Saw The Recent Signs Of Strange Blacks And Insisted Upon

My Coming To A Halt Whilst They Painted Themselves And Made Sundry

Additions To Their Toilette. I Urged My Remonstrances Upon This Head,  But

It Was In Vain. They Said That We Should Soon See Some Very Pretty Girls;

That I Might Go On If I Liked,  But That They Would Not Move Until They

Had Completed Their Preparations For Meeting Their Fair Friends. I

Therefore Made The Best Of It And Sat Myself Down Whilst They Continued

Adorning Themselves. This Being Done To Their Satisfaction,  They Came And

Requested My Opinion As To Their Appearance; And As I Intimated My Most

Unqualified Approval They Became In High Spirits,  And Gave A Very

Animated Description Of The Conquests They Expected To Make.

 

This Weighty Affair Having Been Completed We Again Moved On,  The Natives

Keeping A Careful Lookout For The Friends They Expected To See. They At

Length Espied One Sitting In The Rushes Looking For Small Fish; But No

Sooner Did He See The Approaching Party Than He Took To His Heels As Hard

As He Could,  And Two Others Whom We Had Not Before Observed Followed His

Example.

 

Meeting With A New Tribe.

 

Our Native Comrades Now Commenced Hallooing To The Fugitives,  Stating

That I Had Come From The White People To Bring Them A Present Of Rice And

Flour. Moreover Jenna Shouted Out To His Uncle,  "Am Not I Your

Nephew--Why Then Should You Run Away?" This And Similar Speeches Had,  At

Length,  The Desired Effect. First One Of Them Advanced,  Trembling From

Head To Foot,  And When I Went Forward To Meet Him And Shook Hands With

Him It Reassured The Others,  And They Also Joined Our Party,  Yet Still

Not Without Evident Signs Of Fear. An Old Man Now Came Up Who Could Not

Be Induced To Allow Me To Approach Him,  Appearing To Regard Me With A

Sort Of Stupid Amazement; Neither Horses Or Any Other Of Those Things

Which Powerfully Excited The Curiosity Of The Others Had The Least Charm

For Him,  But His Eyes Were Always Fixed On Me With A Look Of Eagerness

And Anxiety Which I Was Unable To Account For.

 

We Explained To The Strange Natives That We Intended To Halt For The

Night In This Neighbourhood,  And Asked Them To Show Us A Good Spot With

Plenty Of Water And Grass. At The Same Time Those I Had With Me Stated To

The Others That Unless The Women And Children Came In I Would Give No

Rice Or Flour. This Declaration Was However Wholly Unauthorised By My

Sanction,  And Arose From Their Desire Of Exhibiting Their Personal

Attractions To The Ladies Of These Parts; But,  Feeling Rather Disposed To

See A Little Savage Flirtation,  I Raised No Objection To It.

 

The Oldest Of The Natives,  Who Appeared To Regard Me With So Much

Curiosity,  Went Off For The Purpose Of Collecting The Women Whilst We

Proceeded To Our Place Of Halt. After Going About Three Miles In A Due

North Direction We Made A River Coming From An East And By South

Volume 1 Chapter 13 (At Swan River) Pg 189

Direction,  And Here Called By The Natives Goonmarrarup; It Lies In Rather

A Deep Valley,  And At This Point Consisted Of Large Pools Connected By A

Running Stream About 20 Yards Wide. There Was Plenty Of Wildfowl Upon

These Pools And Ugat Soon Shot Some For Us.

 

Scenery.

 

The Scenery Here Was Very Picturesque: High Wooded Hills Were Upon Each

Side Of Us,  And The Valley Was Open And Rather Thinly Timbered; But The

Few Trees It Contained Were Of Considerable Size And Beauty. Beneath One

Of These We Prepared Our Bivouac,  The Strange Natives Doing Their Utmost

To Render Themselves Useful. They Had Never Before Seen White People,  And

The Quickness With Which They Understood Our Wants And Hastened To

Gratify Them Was Very Satisfactory.

 

Meeting With Native Women.

 

After We Had Tethered The Horses And Made Ourselves Tolerably Comfortable

We Heard Loud Voices From The Hills Above Us: The Effect Was Fine For

They Really Almost Appeared To Float In The Air; And As The Wild