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

Quivered For Several Minutes,

As If Still Endowed With The Sense Of Feeling.

 

Description Of It.

 

Bernier Island Consists Of Recent Limestone Of A Reddish Tinge,

Containing Many Recent Fossil Shells,  And Having A Coating Of Sand And

Sandy Dunes Which Are Arranged In Right Lines,  Lying South-East And

North-West,  The Direction Of The Prevailing Winds. The Island Does Not

Afford A Tree Or A Blade Of Grass,  But Only Wretched Scrubby Bushes.

Between The Dunes Regular Beds Of Shells Are Forming Which,  When Dried

And Light,  Are Drifted Up By The Wind. The Only Animals We Saw Were

Kangaroo-Rats,  One Pigeon,  One Small Land- And Many Seabirds,  A Few

Lizards,  Mosquitoes,  Ants,  Crabs,  Oysters And Turtle.

 

Bury The Stores. Ineffectual Search For Water.

 

February 26.

 

Early This Morning We Had Finished Burying Our Stores. The Wind Had

Freshened Considerably About Daylight,  And Throughout The Day It Blew

Nearly A Gale From The South-East; It Now Looked So Foul That I Feared A

Long Period Of Bad Weather Was About To Commence. My Own Party,  As Well

As The Crews Of The Boats Which Came Off From The Whaler,  Had During The

Hurry And Confusion Incident On Landing Made Very Free With Our Supply Of

Water,  And As,  From The Appearance Of The Island,  I Felt Very Doubtful

Whether We Should Find Any More,  I Put All Hands On An Allowance Of Two

Pints And A Half A Day,  And Then Employed The Men Thus: One Party Under

The Direction Of Mr. Walker Worked At Constructing A Still,  By Means Of

Which We Might Obtain Fresh Water From Salt; Another Made Various

Attempts To Sink A Well; Whilst The Native,  Another Man,  And Myself

Volume 1 Chapter 14 (From Swan River To The Shores Of Shark Bay Plan Of Expedition) Pg 208

Traversed The Island In Search Of A Supply From The Surface.

 

At Night The Result Of Our Efforts Were Recounted,  When It Appeared That

Mr. Walker Had,  By An Ingenious Contrivance,  Managed To Have Such A Still

Constructed That We Might Hope,  By Means Of It,  If Kept Constantly

Working,  To Obtain Just Water Enough To Keep Us Alive. The Party Who Had

Tried To Sink A Well Had Invariably Been Stopped By Hard Limestone Rock

In Every Place They Had Tried,  And All Their Attempts To Penetrate It By

Means Of A Cold Chisel And Pickaxe Had Proved Abortive. The Party Which

Had Been Out With Me Searching For Water Had Not Seen The Slightest Sign

Which Indicated Its Presence On The Island: We Had Taken A Spade With Us,

But Wherever We Dug Had Come Down Upon The Solid Rock. Under These

Circumstances I Reduced The Allowance To Two Pints A Day.

 

February 27.

 

This Morning It Still Blew Nearly A Gale Of Wind From The South-East. The

Men Were Occupied In The Same Manner As Yesterday; But Towards Noon The

Wind Moderated A Little,  And As We Could Find No Water I Resolved To Make

An Effort To Creep Along Shore To The Southward.

 

Loss Of A Boat In Reembarking.

 

My Boat Was Soon Launched In Safety,  But The Paul Pry,  Mr. Walker's Boat,

Was Not So Fortunate; The Water In The Bay Deepened Rapidly From The

Steepness Of The Bank,  And The Steersman,  Who Was Keeping Her Bow On

Whilst The Crew Were Launching,  Got Frightened From The Depth Of Water

And The Violence Of The Surf,  And Let Go His Hold; When The Next Surf

Threw The Boat Broadside On To The Sea And,  There Being Nearly Half A Ton

Weight Of Stores In Her,  And The Wind At This Juncture Unfortunately

Freshening,  She Was In The Course Of Two Or Three Minutes Knocked

Completely To Pieces. By This Mischance All The Stores In The Boat Were

Lost,  And Nothing But A Few Planks And Some Articles Of Clothing Were

Recovered. I Placed My Own Boat At Anchor In A Little Cove For The Night

And,  Leaving Two Men In Her As Keepers,  The Rest Of Us Swam Ashore

Through The Surf To Render What Assistance We Could.

 

The Loss Of This Boat Was A Very Heavy Misfortune To Commence With; But

As I Had Taken The Precaution In Case Of Such An Accident To Provide A

Spare One It Was By No Means Irremediable; The Other Boat Was All Ready

For Launching Within Half An Hour,  For By Not Allowing The Men To Remain

In A State Of Inactivity,  And By Treating The Matter Lightly,  I Hoped To

Prevent Their Being Dispirited By This Unlucky Circumstance.

 

The Wind However Continued Freshening Rapidly,  And During The Evening And

Night We Had Heavy Squalls Accompanied By Rain From All Quarters,  And

Much Thunder And Lightning. During The Night We Collected A Few Quarts Of

Water In The Sails.

Volume 1 Chapter 14 (From Swan River To The Shores Of Shark Bay Plan Of Expedition) Pg 209

 

February 28.

 

About Ten A.M. The Wind Moderated So Much That We Ventured To Launch Our

Remaining Boat,  Now Become The Second,  And In A Few Minutes Both Were

Riding Alongside One Another In The Little Cove. We Then Commenced

Pulling Along The Shore Of The Island,  Making About A South By East

Course. Having The Wind Very Nearly Right Ahead,  And A Heavy Head-Sea,

And About Half A Ton Of Stores In Each Of The Boats,  It Was No Very

Enviable Position That We Were In; But Anything Appeared Preferable To

Dying Of Thirst On Bernier Island; My Dislike To Which Was Much Increased

From The Fact Of Mr. Smith And Myself,  Who Slept Side By Side,  Having

Been Nearly Tormented To Death In The Night By Myriads Of Minute Ants

Crawling Over Us,  By Mosquitoes Stinging Us,  And By An Odious Land-Crab

Every Now And Then Running Over Us And Feeling With His Nippers For A

Delicate Morsel.

 

Pull For Dorre Island.

 

It Was Nearly Three P.M. When We Reached The North-Eastern Extremity Of

Dorre Island And Found A Most Convenient Little Boat Harbour,  Sheltered

By A Reef From All Winds. We Therefore Stepped Out From The Boats Upon

The Reef And Left Them Lying Comfortably At Anchor: A Search For Water

Was Instantly Commenced; Mr. Walker's Party Brought Some In And We Were

Not A Little Glad To Get It,  Although We Heard That It Had Been Collected

By Suction From Small Holes In The Rock And Then Spitting It Into The

Keg. I Laid Up In Store This Precious Draught,  And Those Who Had Been

Otherwise Employed Now Accompanied Me,  In Order That Each Might Suck From

The Holes In The Rock His Own Supply Of Water. The Point On Which We Had

Landed Was A Flat Piece Of Land Covered With Sandy Dunes Which Appeared

To Have Been Recently Gained From The Sea,  And On All The Landward Sides

Of The Flat Rose Steep Rocky Cliffs,  Which Is The Character Of The Shores

Of This Island. After Climbing These Cliffs You Arrive At A Flat

Tableland Which Forms The General Level Of The Surface. It Was Evident

That At No Very Distant Time The Sea Had Washed The Foot Of These Cliffs.

 

Dorre Island. Its Character.

 

This Island Is Exactly Of The Same Nature As Bernier Island,  The Only

Difference Being That The Land Here Was Rather Higher Than On The Former.

From The Top Of The Cliffs The Prospect Was Not At All Inviting; To The

Westward Lay The Level And Almost Desert Land Of Dorre Island,  Which We

Were On; We Had The Same Prospect To The Southward; To The Northward We

Looked Over A Narrow Channel Which Separated Us From The Barren Isle Of

Bernier And Was Blocked Up By Fearful-Looking Reefs,  On Which Broke A

Nasty Surf; To The North-Eastward Lofty Bare Sandhills Were Indistinctly

Visible On The Main; Whilst To The Eastward We Could See Nothing But The

Waters Of The Bay,  Which Were Tossed Wildly To And Fro As If By A Coming

Storm; Yet The Wind Had Fallen Perceptibly,  And The Only Alarming Sign

Was The Peculiar Look Of The Sky. After Having Made These Observations,

And Sucked Up As Much Bitter Dirty Water As I Could Contrive To Do,  I

Volume 1 Chapter 14 (From Swan River To The Shores Of Shark Bay Plan Of Expedition) Pg 210

Returned With The Others To The Boats.

 

Want Of Water.

 

The Holes We Found The Water In Were So Small That We Could Only Dip A

Spoon Into A Few Of Them; The Men However Got Plenty To Drink And Then

Commenced Hunting A Small Species Of Kangaroo-Rat Which Is Found On These

Islands,  And Searching For Turtle's Eggs,  In Both Of Which Pursuits They

Were Very Successful. We Then Made Blazing Fires From Driftwood Which We

Found About,  And Retired Early To Rest.

 

A Hurricane.

 

About Eleven O'clock I Heard A Cry Of One In Great Distress,  "Mr. Grey,

Mr. Grey!" I Instantly Sprung Up And Answered The Call,  When Ruston,  The

Boatkeeper In My Boat,  Said,  "I Must Heave All Overboard,  Sir,  Or The

Boat Will Be Swamped." "Hold On For A Minute Or Two," Was My Answer,

Whilst I Stripped My Clothes Off. I Found That It Was Blowing A Terrific

Gale Of Wind Which Increased Every Moment In A Most Extraordinary Manner;

The Wind Was From The South-East,  And The Breakers Came Pouring Over The

Reef As If The Bay Was Going To Empty Bodily All Its Waters Into The

Little Cove In Which The Boats Were Anchored. I Now Called Mr. Walker And

Mr. Smith And Desired Them To Follow Me Off To The Boats With Two Or

Three Hands,  And Then Swam Out To My Own,  Which I Found Nearly Full Of

Water,  And It Was All That The Boat-Keeper Could Do To Keep Her Head On

To The Sea. In A Minute Or Two Mr. Walker And Mr. Smith,  Who Were Ever

Foremost In Difficulties And Dangers,  Swam Off To Assist Me,  But They

Could Not Induce Any Of The Men To Face The Sea And Storm,  Which Was Now

So Terrible That They Were All Quite Bewildered. Mr. Walker Swam To His

Own Boat; Mr. Smith Came To Mine. We Made Fast A Line To All The Stores,

Etc. And Mr. Smith Boldly Plunged In Again Amongst The Breakers And

Returned Ashore With It,  A Service Of No Ordinary Danger,  For The Shore

Was Fronted With A Sharp Coral Reef,  Against Which He Was Certain To Be

Dashed By The Waves,  And,  After Having Got On It,  The