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 203

Party Succeeded In Reaching Augusta,  Having Previously Made The Coast At

The Remarkable White-Sand Patch About Fifty Miles To The Eastward Of It.

 

Notwithstanding The Hardships And Sufferings They Had Undergone This

Party Were But Very Little Reduced In Strength And,  After Recruiting For

A Few Days At Augusta,  Returned Along The Coast To Leschenault,  Where I

Had The Pleasure Of Seeing Them All In Good Health And Spirits.

 

The Vasse District.

 

January 21.

 

Whilst The Party Reposed Themselves This Day At Leschenault I Hired A

Horse And Rode Along The Shores Of Geographe Bay For The Purpose Of

Seeing The Vasse District. The Country Between Leschenault And The Vasse

Differs From Those Other Parts Of Western Australia That I Have Yet Seen

In The Circumstance That In Several Parts,  Between The Sea And The Recent

Limestone Formation,  Basaltic Rocks Are Developed. A Long Chain Of Marshy

Lakes Lie Between The Usual Coast Sandhills And The Ordinary Sand

Formations,  About Which There Is Some Good Land And Good Feed. About The

River Capel Also There Is A Great Deal Of Good Land. The Mouths Of Two

Estuaries That Occur Between The Inlet Of Leschenault And The Bottom Of

Geographe Bay Are Both Fordable. The District Near The Bottom Of

Geographe Bay Contains Much Good Land,  Consisting Of Level Plains Thickly

Covered With Wattle Trees; There Are Also At This Season Of The Year

Extensive Plains Of Dry Sand,  Which Bear Exactly The Appearance Of A

Desert.

 

I Passed The Night At The House Of Mr. Bussel,  A Settler Who Has The Best

And Most Comfortable Establishment I Have Seen In The Colony,  And

Returned The Next Day To Leschenault With The Intention Of Starting The

Following One For Perth.

 

Return To Perth. River Absorbed In Sandy Plains.

 

January 26.

 

Mr. Elliott This Day Joined Us On Our Route To Perth,  Which Was Attended

With No Circumstance Worthy Of Notice Until Our Arrival At Pinjarra. We

Travelled Over Extensive Plains Which In The Rainy Season Of The Year

Must Be Completely Flooded,  But In Vain Looked For The Harvey River And

The Other Stream Which Flowed From The Hills To The Sea. I Could Find No

Watercourse In Which They Might Probably Flow,  Yet We Had Left Them Both

Running Strongly At Not More Than Ten Miles From The Point Where We Then

Stood. The Truth Was That They Were Absorbed In These Marshy Plains

Before They Came Within Several Miles Of The Sea; And What Threw A Still

Further Light Upon The Subject Was That,  Although These Marshes Were

Perfectly Dried Up And Had A Hard-Baked Appearance At The Surface,  Yet If

A Hole About Two Or Three Feet Deep Was Scraped In Them Water Directly

Volume 1 Chapter 13 (At Swan River) Pg 204

Came Pouring Into It.

 

On The Morning Of The 29th We Reached Pinjarra; On The 30th Mr. Elliott

And Myself Rode As Far As The Canning; And Early On The 31st We Had The

Pleasure Of Entering Perth Together.

Volume 1 Chapter 14 (From Swan River To The Shores Of Shark Bay Plan Of Expedition) Pg 205

At Length,  In The Middle Of February,  After A Mortifying Delay Of Nearly

Five Months,  An Opportunity Occurred Which Held Out Every Prospect Of

Enabling Me To Complete The Examination Of The Most Interesting Portion

Of The North Coast,  Together With The Country Lying Behind It.

 

Three Whale-Boats Having Been Procured,  An Engagement Was Made With

Captain Long Of The American Whaler Russel,  Of New Bedford,  To Convey My

Party And The Boats To Some Point To The Northward Of Shark Bay,  And

There Land Us,  Together With A Supply Of Provisions Sufficient For Five

Months. My Intention Was To Form A Provision Depot In Some Island,  And

From That Point To Commence Operations By The Examination Of The

Undiscovered Portions Of The Bay; And,  Should Circumstances Occasionally

Render It Desirable,  I Proposed To Explore More Minutely Parts Of The

Country As We Coasted Along,  Or To Make Excursions To Such A Distance

Inland As We Might Be Able To Penetrate.

 

Having Completed The Examination Of The Bay As Far As We Could With The

Provisions We Carried From The Depot,  I Intended To Return To It And,

After Recruiting Our Stock,  To Make My Way Along The Coast In The

Direction Of North-West Cape; Making Excursions Inland As Before At Such

Points As Might Seem To Merit Attention,  And Thus To Continue To Go

Northward Until Our Provisions Were So Far Exhausted As To Compel Us To

Return Again To The Depot; Whence I Finally Proposed To Continue My

Examination To The Portion Of The Coast Left Unvisited To The Southward

Of The Depot,  As Far As Gantheaume Bay.

 

Several Of The Individuals Who Were To Compose My Party Being Now Much

Experienced In The Difficulties That Attend Explorations Both On The

Coast And In The Interior Of The Country,  I Felt That Our Enterprise Was

Not So Hazardous As At First It Might Appear To Be,  Especially As Mr.

Hutt Had Arranged With Me As To A Spot,  To Which,  In The Event Of Our Not

Returning To Swan River Within A Certain Period The Colonial Schooner

Would Be Sent To Look For Us; And Moreover The Captain Of Another

American Whaler Had Promised To Visit North-West Cape At The End Of July,

As It Was His Intention To Remain In Exmouth Gulf During The Season Of

The Bay Fishing. We Had Thus Two Chances Of Being Discovered In Case Of

Any Accident Preventing Us From Effecting Our Previous Return To The Swan

River.

Volume 1 Chapter 14 (From Swan River To The Shores Of Shark Bay Plan Of Expedition) Pg 206

 

The Unfortunate Occurrence Which Frustrated My Expectations Of Completing

This Design,  And Which Threatened The Eventual Destruction Of The Whole

Party,  Will Be Narrated In Its Place.

 

From Swan River For Shark Bay.

 

I Had Taken Three Whale-Boats In Order To Have A Spare One Should Any

Accident Reduce The Number; And Everything Being Arranged I Sailed In The

Russel From Fremantle On Sunday February The 17th 1839 At 3 P.M. With The

Following Party:

 

Mr. Walker,  The Surgeon Of The Former Expedition.

 

Mr. Frederick Smith,  The Young Gentleman Who Had Accompanied Me On A

Former Tour.

 

Corporal Auger And Corporal Coles,  Sappers And Miners.

 

Thomas Ruston,  Sailor.

 

The Last Three,  Together With Mr. Walker,  Had Been With Me On The First

Expedition,  And To These Were Added:

 

H. Wood And C. Wood,  Seamen.

 

Clotworthy,  Stiles,  And Hackney,  Taken As Volunteers At Swan River.

 

And Lastly,  Kaiber,  An Intelligent Native Of The Swan.

 

Making In All Twelve Persons.

 

Our Time During The Voyage Was Occupied Principally In Getting The Three

Whale-Boats In Order And Making Other Similar Preparations. Poor Kaiber

The Native Was Dreadfully Sick From The First.

 

Sunday February 24 1839.

 

This Evening We Sighted The Centre Of Dorre Island,  And Stood In To

Within About Two Miles Of The Shore,  Which We Found Steep And Rocky With

A Heavy Surf Breaking On It; We Then Tacked And Stood Off For The Night.

 

Land At Bernier Island.

 

February 25.

 

Soon After Daybreak We Made The North-Western Part Of Bernier Island And,

Doubling The Point At Kok's Island,  Stood In To Shark Bay. Kok's Island

Is Very Remarkable: It Is Nearly A Tableland,  About A Quarter Of A Mile

In Length,  Terminating In Low Cliffs At Each Extremity; And On The Summit

Of This Tableland Are Several Large Rocks Which Look Like The Remains Of

Pillars. The Land Is Low. By Noon We Were All Disembarked On Bernier

Island. The Point I Had Selected For Landing On Was A Sandy Beach In A

Volume 1 Chapter 14 (From Swan River To The Shores Of Shark Bay Plan Of Expedition) Pg 207

Little Bay,  The Southern Extremity Of Which Was Sheltered From The

South-East By A Reef Running Off The Point. Captain Long Of The Russel

Made The Shore Rather To The Northward Of The Point I Had Chosen And,

Owing To His Boat Getting Broadside On Whilst They Were Landing The

Goods,  He Was Knocked Down Under It And Nearly Drowned.

 

He Had Scarcely Left Us (Though The Russel Was Then More Than Six Miles

Off) When We Found That Our Keg Of Tobacco Had Been Left On Board; The

Vessel Was Soon Out Of Sight,  And This Article,  So Necessary In Hardships

Where Men Are Deprived Of Every Other Luxury,  Was Lost To Us. Everything

Else Was However Found Correct. Whilst The Men Under Mr. Walker's

Direction Were Arranging The Stores Mr. Smith,  Kaiber,  And Myself Started

To Search For Water But Were Unsuccessful. Whilst On Our Return We Saw

Three Large Turtles Among Some Seaweeds In Shoal Water; And,  After A Good

Deal Of Floundering About And Some Tumbles Amongst The Breakers,  We

Succeeded In Turning Them,  And Then Brought A Party Armed With Axes,  Etc.

And Cut Them Up. One Part We Immediately Converted Into Soup,  And The

Remainder Was Immersed In A Cask Of Pickle As A Store Against Unforeseen

Misfortunes. When These Portions Of The Turtle Were Put Into The Brine

Long After The Death Of The Animals,  They