Journals Of Two Expeditions Of Discovery In North West And Western Australia Volume 1 (Of 2), George Grey [robert munsch read aloud txt] 📗
- Author: George Grey
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Had Been All Hauled Down, The Stores Stowed Away, And Everything Made
Ready For Launching, And Off We Went, Not A Little Rejoiced At The
Prospect Of Soon Having An Abundant Supply Of That Liquid On Which Our
Lives Depended. There Was Scarcely Any Wind But That Little Was Right Aft
So That Between Sailing And Pulling We Made About Five Knots An Hour. The
Boats Were However So Heavily Laden That The Men Found It Very Laborious
Work, For They Were Exposed To The Rays Of A Burning Sun And Had Nothing
To Drink But Half A Pint Of Water, Which Was All I Could Allow Them.
We However Persevered From Soon After Eleven A.M. Until Five P.M., When
The Men Began To Get Disheartened From Seeing No Signs Whatever Of Land,
And I Ordered My Boat's Crew To Knock Off Pulling For A Little, And In
Mr. Walker's Boat, Which Was About A Mile Astern, They Did The Same. In
Twenty Minutes Time I Made My Crew Again Take To Their Oars, But The
Other Boat Did Not In This Instance Follow Our Example, So That We Kept
Dropping Her Rapidly Astern. This Was Very Annoying; But As I Was Anxious
At All Events To Get A Glimpse Of The Land Before Sundown We Still Pulled
Away, Trusting That The Other Boat Would Soon Follow In Our Wake.
Ground On A Sandbank.
About Half An Hour Before Sunset We Sighted The Land: Several Low Rounded
Hills Were The First Things Seen; Then What I Conceived To Be Very Lofty
Trees Rose In Sight, And Almost At The Same Moment The Boat Grounded On A
Sandbank.
Extensive Shallows.
I Had Observed This Shoal Several Miles Before We Came To It And It
Appeared To Extend As Far As I Could See Both North And South, But, As I
Had No Doubt That We Should Find Sufficient Water On It To Enable Us To
Cross, I Had Given It No Attention. I Now However On Looking More
Carefully Could Perceive No Limit To Its Extent In Those Directions And,
As I Thought I Saw Deep Water Immediately To The Eastward Of Us, I
Ordered The Men To Jump Out And Track The Boat Over. This They Did; But
On Coming To What Appeared To Be Deep Water We Found It Was Only A
Continuation Of The Same Sandbank, Covered With Seaweed, Which Gave The
Water A Darker Appearance. The Men Now Alternately Tracked Or Pulled The
Boat For About Five Miles Over A Continuation Of The Sandbank; A Work
Very Fatiguing To Those Who Were Already Exhausted By Several Days'
Continuous Exertion On A Very Short Allowance Of Water In A Tropical
Climate. It Had Now Been For Some Time Night, And We Had Taken A Star For
Our Guide Which Just Before Sunset I Had Seen Rising Over The Main. I
Thought We Had At Last Gained The Shore, At Least The Boat Was Close To A
Dark Line Rising Above The Water Which Appeared Like A Wooded Bank; Two
Of The Men Now Waded Onwards To Find Out The Best Place For Landing And
To Light A Fire That The Crew Of The Other Boat Might Know Where We Were.
I Saw Them To My Surprise Not Ascend A Wooded Bank But Disappear Amongst
The Trees; And Still Through The Silence Of The Night I Heard The Splash
Volume 1 Chapter 14 (From Swan River To The Shores Of Shark Bay Plan Of Expedition) Pg 215Of Men Walking Through Water, And In A Minute Or Two Afterwards The Cries
And Screams Of Innumerable Startled Waterfowl And Curlews, Who Came
Flying In Flocks From Amongst The Mangrove Trees.
Fail In Making The Land.
The Men Returned And Reported That There Was No Land Or Any Sign Of Land
Hereabouts; That The Mangroves Were A Belt Of Trees Upon A Sandbank And
That The Water Deepened Inside; That The Tide Evidently Rose Very High,
From The Tufts Of Seaweeds In The Bushes; That It Was Then Rapidly Coming
In (Which Was Evident Enough, For The Boat Was Afloat) And That The Other
Side Of The Mangrove Bushes Was An Open Sea.
This Was Unpleasant Intelligence. That It Was Untrue I Felt Assured; But
One Man, Who Certainly Could Not Have Seen More Than A Hundred Yards
Ahead Of Him On So Dark A Night, Spoke As Confidently As If He Had Seen
Fifty Miles, And This Discouraged The Others: So By Way Of Keeping Their
Minds Occupied I Got Under Weigh Again And Stood Off A Little To The
Southward In The Hopes Of Falling In With The Other Boat. We Cheered At
Intervals Of A Few Minutes, And Fired A Gun, Whereupon Ensued A Great
Screaming, Whistling, And Flapping Of Wings Amongst The Waterfowl, But No
Human Voices Were Heard In Reply.
Anchor Off Mangrove Creek For The Night.
When We Had Gone As Far To The Southward As I Thought Prudent I Stood Out
From The Shore For About A Mile So As To Have A Good Peep In Amongst The
Mangrove Bushes In The Morning For The Other Boat, And Having Dropped Our
Anchor We Laid Down As We Best Could For The Night; And, Speculating Upon
What Explanation The Native Wise Men Would Give To Their Fellows Of The
Unknown And Novel Sounds They Had This Night Heard Upon The Coast, I Soon
Fell Asleep.
Volume 1 Chapter 15 (The Gascoyne River Reach And Enter A Mangrove Creek) Pg 216
March 4.
Early In The Morning I Had A Good Lookout Kept For The Other Boat, Which
I Was Very Anxious To See In Order That I Might Have A Sufficiently
Numerous Party For The Purpose Of Landing And Looking For Water; As I
Always Held It To Be Better, Upon First Appearing Amongst Natives Who Had
Never Before Seen Europeans, To Show Such Strength As Might Impress Them
Volume 1 Chapter 15 (The Gascoyne River Reach And Enter A Mangrove Creek) Pg 217With A Certainty That We Were Well Able To Resist Any Attack Which They
Might Naturally Feel Inclined To Make On Such Strange And
Incomprehensible Intruders As White Men Must Necessarily Appear To Them.
Soon After The Sun Rose We Descried The Other Boat About Three Miles To
The Southward Of Us; And I Despatched Two Men To Wade Along The Flats And
Communicate With Mr. Walker: They Were To Direct Him To Get Under Weigh
And To Make The Best Of His Course, Either By Tracking, Pulling, Or
Sailing, Until He Reached The Point Where I Might Land.
The Men Whom I Sent Quickly Made His Boat, Which I Perceived Moving
Slowly Up The Flats; And As Soon As The Men Rejoined Me We Started. The
Wind Was Fair, Being From The Southward, And I Wished To Reach Some
Gently Elevated Hills Which I Saw About Eight Miles To The North By East
Of Our Present Position.
Search For And Complete Our Water.
We Soon Came To A Very Promising Opening Which Proved To Be A Creek, With
A Mouth Of About Two Hundred Yards Wide, Running Up In A North-East
Direction, And Having Five Fathoms Of Water Inside, But With A Bar
Entrance. When We Had Proceeded Up It About Two Miles It Became So Narrow
That There Was Not Sufficient Space Left For The Men To Use Their Oars;
Therefore, Making Fast The Two Boats, I Landed With A Party To Look For
Water.
I Stepped Very Gingerly And Cautiously On The Mud, For Shore There Was
None; And I Had The Satisfaction Of Descending At Once, Mid-Leg Deep In
The Odious Slime; But This Being Endured The Worst Was Over, And, At The
Head Of My Sticking And Floundering Party, I Waded On, Putting To Flight
Whole Armies Of Crabs Who Had Taken Up Their Abode In These Umbrageous
Groves, For Such They Certainly Were. The Life Of A Crab In These
Undisturbed Solitudes Must Be Sweet In The Extreme; They Have Plenty Of
Water, Mud, And Shade; Their Abodes Are Scarcely Approachable By The Feet
Of Men, And They Can Have But Little To Disturb Their Monotonous
Existence Save The Turmoils Of Love And Domestic War.
After About Two Miles Of Wading Of This Description, Which We
Considerably Increased By Turning And Winding About To Avoid Soft Places,
We At Length Fairly Stepped On Terra Firma And Found Ourselves At The
Base Of Some Almost Imperceptibly-Sloping Ground Which Gradually Rose
Into Low, Red, Sandy, Loamy Hills, Thinly Covered With Grass, Bushes, And
Stunted Trees. Across These We Bent Our Steps In A South-East Direction,
No Change Whatever Taking Place In The Character Of The Country As Far As
We Went Or As Far As We Could See. But Our Travels In This Line Only
Extended For About Three Miles, When We Suddenly Came Upon A Lagoon Of
Fresh Water Lying Between Two Of The Hills. All Bent The Knee At Once, At
This Discovery, To Plunge Their Faces Deep In The Pool, And, Presently
Raising Them Up Again, A Black Watery Line, Extending Round The
Volume 1 Chapter 15 (The Gascoyne River Reach And Enter A Mangrove Creek) Pg 218
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