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

Very

Salutary Effect,  And My Now Giving The Promised Present Of Rice And Flour

Entirely Put A Stop To All Further Differences.

 

Volume 1 Chapter 13 (At Swan River) Pg 193

The Natives I Had With Me Employed Themselves In Teaching The Others,  To

Whom Flour Was An Unknown Commodity,  The Art Of Making Dampers; Whilst

Mr. Smith And Myself,  Having Arranged To Start For Perth Early The Next

Morning,  Mixed With The Groups And Visited Their Fires; The Little

Children Now Crawled To Our Feet And,  All Fear Being Laid Aside,  Regarded

Our Movements With The Greatest Curiosity. After Various Amusing

Conversations And Recountals Of Former Deeds The Natives Gradually,  One

By One,  Dropped Off To Sleep; And We In Turn,  One Always Remaining On The

Watch,  Followed Their Example.

 

Invitation To A Native Feast.

 

December 5.

 

I Should Have Stated,  In Justice To The Natives,  That They Last Night

Brought Me The Head And Forequarters Of A Kangaroo,  Being The Only Game

They Had With Them; And Of This They Offered To Make Me A Present,  Which

However I Did Not Accept. They Were Again This Morning Very Anxious That

We Should Delay Our Journey For A Day Or Two,  Promising Upon Their Part,

If We Acceded To The Request,  To Give Us A Grand Entertainment At Which

All Their Young Men Would Dance,  And That We Should Have Abundance Of

Kangaroos If We Would Give Flour In Return. I Deemed It However Most

Prudent To Hasten My Return To Perth To See What Vessel Had Arrived;

Therefore,  After Taking A Cordial Farewell Of Our Friends,  We Moved Off

On Our Homeward Route And Reached Boongarrup About The Middle Of The Day

Following,  By A Route Rather To The Westward Of That By Which We Had Come

Out.

 

December 6.

 

This Morning We Started At Daybreak And Breakfasted At Manbeebee,  And

Immediately After Breakfast Resumed Our Route. I Left The Main Party With

Two Natives And Travelled Up A Swampy Valley Running Nearly In The Same

Line As The Chain Of Lakes We Had Followed In Going. The Natives Insisted

On It That These Lakes Were All One And The Same Water; And When,  To

Prove To The Contrary,  I Pointed To A Hill Running Across The Valley,

They Took Me To A Spot In It,  Called Yundelup,  Where There Was A

Limestone Cave,  On Entering Which I Saw,  About Ten Feet Below The Level

Of The Bottom Of The Valley,  A Stream Of Water Running Strong From South

To North In A Channel Worn Through The Limestone. There Were Several

Other Remarkable Caves About Here,  One Of Which Was Called The Doorda

Mya,  Or The Dog's House. Probably Therefore The Drainage Of This Part Of

The Country Is Affected By The Chain Of Lakes,  Which Must Afterwards Fall

Into The River I Saw To The Northward. We Slept At Nowoorgoop.

 

Return To Perth.

 

December 7.

 

We Slept At Mooloore,  And On The Morning Of The 8th We Entered Perth And

Volume 1 Chapter 13 (At Swan River) Pg 194

Found That The Native's Information Was True,  For The Britomart Had

Arrived From England.

 

I Have Already Stated That On The Arrival Of The Champion Her Condition

Did Not Enable Us To Proceed In Her,  And All Prospect Of Being Able To

Conduct Another Expedition To The North-West Coast Being,  For The

Present,  Abandoned,  I Could Only Await Further Instructions From The

Government At Home,  And In The Meantime Resolved To Employ The Interval

In Some Scheme Of Exploration From The Swan Which Did Not Present The

Same Obstacles. Having Again Consulted Sir James Stirling,  It Was First

Arranged That I Should Endeavour To Explore Overland In The Direction Of

Shark Bay; But This Was Soon Abandoned On Account Of The Difficulty Of

Procuring Horses; And,  To Enable Me To Attempt This Scheme With Any Hope

Of Success,  I Should Consequently Be Obliged To Incur A Much Greater

Expense Than I Felt Warranted In Doing.

 

The Same Objection Did Not However Exist To The Plan Of Exploring The

Coast Towards Shark Bay In Boats; And I Imagined,  If I Could Obtain Two

Good Ones Qualified For The Purpose,  That I Might At A Small Expense Have

Some Chance Of Making A Successful Trip. But There Still Existed A

Difficulty In Getting Boats Which Occasioned A Further Delay.

 

Sir James Stirling Had Now (January 1839) Quitted The Colony,  Having Been

Succeeded In The Government By John Hutt,  Esquire,  And,  As No Immediate

Prospect Was Apparent Of Accomplishing My Present Design,  I Readily

Acceded To A Request Made To Me Which Led To Another Excursion To The

Southward Of Perth,  The Principal Circumstances Of Which Are Narrated In

The Following Short Journal.

 

Excursion In Search Of Mr. Elliott. Cause Of It.

 

In Consequence Of A Conversation I Had With His Excellency The Governor

On The Morning Of The 8th Of January I Received,  In The Afternoon Of That

Day,  A Letter From The Colonial Secretary Stating That:

 

From Accounts Which Had Been Received From The Williams And Leschenault,

There Appeared Every Reason To Believe That Mr. George Elliott,  Who Left

The Former Place For The Latter On The 17th December,  Had Lost His Way,

As No Accounts Of His Arrival Have Been Received From The Leschenault,

The Williams,  Or Any Other Place.

 

Under Such Circumstances His Excellency The Governor Is Anxious That A

Party In Search Of Him Should Be Despatched From Perth,  And He Has

Instructed Me To Inform You That,  If You Could Form Such A Party From

Your Own Establishment,  You Would Be Rendering A Service To The Local

Government,  Etc. Etc.

 

...

 

As I Had At This Moment No Matter Of Importance To Occupy The Party 

Volume 1 Chapter 13 (At Swan River) Pg 195

Resolved To Follow That Course Which The Calls Of Humanity Pointed Out To

Me,  And Within An Hour From The Receipt Of This Letter Mr. Walker,

Myself,  And The Two Non-Commissioned Officers Of The Sappers And Miners

Were Ready To Proceed. It Was Found However Impossible To Procure The

Necessary Horses For Us Before The Next Day,  And Our Departure Was

Consequently Delayed Until The Morning Of The 9th.

 

Before Entering Into The Details Of This Expedition It Is Requisite To

Give A Short Outline Of The Circumstances Under Which We Started. The

Williams River,  From Which Mr. Elliott Had Proceeded,  Is Distant About

Seventy Miles From Leschenault In A Direct Line. The Williams Is In The

Interior,  And The Leschenault On The Sea-Coast,  And Between The Two

Places Lies The Darling Range,  A High Chain Of Mountains Which Had Never

Before Been Crossed At This Point. Now,  Under Ordinary Circumstances Mr.

Elliott Might Have Been Expected To Have Reached Leschenault In Three Or

Four Days. He Had Therefore Only Carried With Him A Supply Of Provisions

Calculated To Last For That Period. His Party Consisted Of Two Men

Besides Himself,  And He Had With Him A Mare And Filly.

 

His Absence Had However Now Unaccountably Extended To A Period Of Twenty

Days; And The Only Rational Conclusion That Could Be Arrived At Was That

He Had Either Been Murdered By The Natives Or Had Lost His Way.

 

The Williams Is Distant From Perth In A Direct Line About One Hundred And

Twenty Miles,  And I Had Thus A Considerable Journey To Perform Before I

Could Get Upon Mr. Elliott's Tracks; And As This Was The Bad Season Of

The Year There Was But Little Hope That We Should Be Able To Follow Them

For Any Great Distance,  If We Ever Succeeded In Finding Them.

 

Notwithstanding These Various Discouraging Circumstances I Still However

Felt Warm Hopes For His Ultimate Safety. He Was Well Acquainted With The

Bush,  Having Been Ten Years In The Colony; And The Same Articles Of Food

Which Formed The Subsistence Of The Natives Would At Least Enable Him To

Maintain Life For A Considerable Period. He Had Moreover With Him Two

Horses,  Which Past Experience Had Taught Me Not Only To Be A Nutritious,

But Even An Agreeable Article Of Food. I Imagined Therefore That No

Immediate Danger Of Starvation Need Be Apprehended; And In Order That I

Might Have The Best Possible Chance Of Finding His Traces Three

Intelligent Natives,  Miago,  Denmar,  And Ninda,  Were Engaged To Accompany

Me.

 

On The Morning Of The 9th However,  When The Party Were All Ready To

Start,  These Natives Were Not Forthcoming. The Length Of The Journey And

The Danger Of Falling In With Hostile Tribes Had Frightened Them,  And

They Therefore Kept Themselves Aloof From Us; But Kaiber,  One Of The Most

Intelligent Natives Of These Parts,  Volunteered To Supply Their Place.

Our Three Horses Were Soon Swum Across The Estuary Of The Swan; And With

No Slight Anxiety I Started On An Expedition Upon The Proper Conduct Of

Which Would Probably Depend The Lives Of Three Of My Fellow-Creatures.

 

Route To The Murray.

 

Volume 1 Chapter 13 (At Swan River) Pg 196

Our Proceedings Until We Had Reached Pinjarra On The Banks Of The Murray

Offer Little Or No Interesting Matter; I Shall Therefore Pass Them Over

In Silence. We Arrived In Pinjarra On The Morning Of The 11th,  Having

Been Somewhat Delayed By The Weakness Of A Young Horse; As There Was

However No Possibility Of Obtaining Another In Its Place I Was Obliged To

Take It On With Us. On The Afternoon Of The 11th We Made Little More Than

Four Miles In A Southerly Direction Along The Banks Of The Murray.

 

The Murray River.

 

On The 12th We Started Before Dawn And Travelled About Eight Miles In A

South By East Direction; We Then Halted For Breakfast On The Banks Of The

Same River,  Which Here Issues Out Of The Darling Range After Having Found

A Passage Through That Chain