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

I Therefore Never Separated Myself From Any Portion Of The

Party Without Great Anxiety; For I Well Knew That The Safety Of All

Depended Upon Preserving The Strictest Subordination.

 

In This Instance However I Merely Ordered The Boats To Be Instantly

Launched; For I Knew That To Lose A Fair Wind In Our Present Situation

Would Be Rashness; And We Were Soon Bounding Before The Breeze. The Wind

Now Continued Fair And At Nightfall We Landed On The Main In Such A

Position As To Look Out To The Open Sea,  Through The Passage Between

Steep Point And Dirk Hartog's Island.

 

Perilous Coasting.

 

Volume 1 Chapter 12 (From The Gascoyne To Gantheaume Bay Sail From The Gascoyne) Pg 250

March 30.

 

This Morning We Pulled Up The Opening And Found A Perfect Bubble Of A Sea

Running Into It And Breaking On The Various Reefs Which Lie In Its Mouth.

We Then Made An Attempt To Pull Round Steep Point And Succeeded In

Getting Out To Sea; But There Was A Formidable Swell Setting Dead On The

Shore And Drifting Us Rapidly In Towards It,  Whilst In The Event Of Being

Stranded Nothing Could Have Saved Our Lives For The Surf Was So

Tremendous That The Boat Must Instantly Have Gone To Pieces,  And The

Lofty Limestone Cliffs Were Perfectly Inaccessible,  Being Hollowed Out

Into Deep Caverns By The Action Of The Waves. The Attempt To Get Along

This Coast Appeared Indeed To Be So Hazardous That Even The Old Sailors

Who Were With Me Begged Me Not To Risk It,  But Rather To Allow Them To

Endeavour To Walk Overland To Perth. I Was Well Aware That Had I

Attempted To Do This At Least Half The Party Would Have Been Lost; For

But Few Men Can Support The Fatigue Of Making Long And Continuous Marches

In A Very Warm Climate In Which A Great Scarcity Of Water Prevails.

 

Shelter Under A Reef.

 

I However Humoured Them So Far As To Put Back For The Mouth Of The

Opening,  Where,  Under The Shelter Of A Reef,  We Could Lie At Anchor For A

Few Hours In The Hope That The Sea Would Lull A Little; We However Only

Just Cleared Steep Point,  And Whilst Doing So I Felt Certain For Two Or

Three Minutes That We Must Have Gone Ashore,  For Each Breaker Lifted The

Boat Bodily Towards The Cliffs; As It Was However It Pleased Providence

To Bring Us Safe To Our Anchorage.

 

We Were Now About To Enter On The Most Perilous Part Of Our Journey

Homewards. For The Next One Hundred And Twenty Miles Along The Coast I

Could Not Hope To Find A Place Whereon To Beach The Boats,  In The Event

Of Our Meeting With Those Unfavourable Winds Which We Had Hitherto Found

So Prevalent. It Would,  In The Present Weak State Of The Party,  Take Us

Many Successive Days To Make This Passage; And,  Should The Weather Be

Really Foul,  Accompanied By Strong Gales From The South-West,  Our Fate

Would Soon Have Been Decided. Nevertheless Our Hope Of Ultimate Safety

Rested Altogether Upon The Accomplishment Of The Difficult Task We Were

About To Commence.

 

Insubordination Checked.

 

I Soon Found That Remaining In A State Of Inactivity Would But Increase

Our Difficulties; For As The Men Talked Over Them To One Another,  They

Grew Wore And More Gloomy,  And When At Length I Gave A Particular Order

To A Man Of The Name Of Woods He Quietly Refused To Obey It,  Saying That

He Now Considered That His Life Was Altogether Lost,  And That He Would

Therefore Knock Off Work. I Was Rather Puzzled For A Minute Or Two As To

How I Ought To Act Under These Circumstances,  For Such An Example As He

Had Set Necessarily Exercised A Bad Influence Over The Others; Yet There

Was No Use In Threatening To Punish Where I Had Not The Means To Do So; I

Therefore Merely Turned Round To The Man Who Had The Charge Of Sharing

Out Our Scanty Allowance Of Provisions And Desired Him To Divide Woods'

Volume 1 Chapter 12 (From The Gascoyne To Gantheaume Bay Sail From The Gascoyne) Pg 251

Portion Of Water And Provisions Amongst The Rest Of Us Today,  As I

Intended For The Future That He Should Have None,  At All Events Not Until

He Did His Fair Share Of Work. This Had The Desired Effect; He Soon Came

To His Senses And Told Me That I Might As Well Throw Him Overboard At

Once As Starve Him,  To Which I Replied That Unless He Overcame His

Cowardice And Bore His Proportion Of The Toil We All Had To Go Through I

Should In No Way Whatever Interfere With His Starving,  Being Thrown

Overboard,  Or Anything Else; But That I Would Take Very Good Care That He

Had Neither A Morsel To Eat Or A Drop Of Water To Drink; Whereupon He

Again Resumed His Duty And From That Time Forward Proved To Be One Of The

Best Men I Had With Me; Indeed I Never Again Had Occasion To Find Fault

With Him.

 

Seeing However What A Pernicious Effect This Delay Was Likely To Produce

I Determined At Once To Cope With Those Difficulties,  Which We Must

Either Overcome Or Perish; And Accordingly Round Steep Point We Again

Went,  And For The Rest Of This Evening And Night Contended With The Heavy

Sea As Well As We Could,  Keeping About A Mile From The Shore,  Sometimes

Pulling And Sometimes Getting A Favourable Slant Of Wind.

 

March 31.

 

This Day We Continued Our Course,  Tracing Out The Shore. A Small Piece Of

Raw Pork Was Served Out To Each Man; And I Found This To Be A Very Nice

And Palatable Morsel; It However Increased Our Thirst,  Which,  As We Were

Upon Very Short Allowance Of Water,  Was Rather A Disadvantage; But It Was

Absolutely Necessary That We Should Take Some Nourishment.

 

Character Of The Shore.

 

The Country Hereabouts Is Very Uninviting,  Consisting Of A High Range Of

Barren Limestone Hills,  Ascending Gradually From Steep Cliffs Which Form

The Coastline. These Hills Are Of Such Equal Elevation That They Have A

Monotonous As Well As Barren Appearance,  And Are Rent In Places By Deep

Rocky Gullies Which Run Down Into The Sea. No Change Whatever Took Place

In The Character Of The Coast Throughout Our Day's Ruin,  Nor Did I See A

Spot Where A Boat Could Land. I Did Not Close My Eyes During Sunday

Night,  For We Were Still In A Most Perilous Position,  And I Felt That

Whilst We Were On So Dangerous A Coast With A Foul Wind It Was My Duty To

Keep Upon The Alert As Long As Wearied Nature Would Admit Of My So Doing.

 

As Soon As There Was Sufficient Light For Me To Distinguish The Coastline

I Found That It Was Somewhat Losing Its Monotonous Character By Breaking

Into More Detached Hills; And About Ten A.M.,  We Reached The Northern

Extremity Of Gantheaume Bay.

 

To Gantheaume Bay.

 

Volume 1 Chapter 12 (From The Gascoyne To Gantheaume Bay Sail From The Gascoyne) Pg 252

The Men Being Now Completely Worn Out By Want Of Rest,  Incessant

Exertion,  And The Mental Anxiety They Had Undergone In The Last Fifty-Six

Hours,  During The Whole Of Which Time They Had Been In Actual Danger,  I

Determined To Attempt A Landing In Gantheaume Bay,  And Therefore Pulled

Along Shore With The Intention Of Finding A Spot Where We Could Easily

Land And Yet Be Near A Place Likely To Afford Us Water; For

Notwithstanding The Economy We Had Practised None Now Was Left. I Soon

Came To An Opening In The Bay Which I Thought Would Suit Our Purpose,  But

Ruston,  On Whose Opinion In Such Matters I Placed Great Reliance,

Reported It To Be Utterly Impracticable; We Still Therefore Pulled Along

The Shore,  And Found It Lashed Throughout Its Whole Extent By A Fearful

Surf. The South End Of The Bay,  Although Protected By A Reef,  Had Just As

Heavy A Surf Breaking On It As Any Other Part Of The Shore And Was Also

Very Rocky,  We Therefore Turned Back To A Sandy Beach Which We Had Passed

In Pulling Round The Bay And,  Having Carefully Examined This,  It Appeared

In Every Way Suited To Our Purpose,  So We Committed Ourselves To The

Mercy Of The Breakers And In We Went. As I Stood At The Steer-Oar I Saw

That This Was A Heavier Surf Than We Had Ever Yet Been In. We Were Swept

Along At A Terrific Rate,  And Yet It Appeared As If Each Following Wave

Must Engulf Us,  So Lofty Were They,  And So Rapidly Did They Pour On.

 

Wreck Of One Of The Boats.

 

At Length We Reached The Point Where The Waves Broke; The Breaker That We

Were On Curled Up In The Air,  Lifting The Boat With It,  And When We Had

Gained The Summit I Looked Down From A Great Height,  Not Upon Water,  But

Upon A Bare,  Sharp,  Black Rock. For One Second The Boat Hung Upon The Top

Of The Wave; In The Next I Felt The Sensation Of Falling Rapidly,  Then A

Tremendous Shock And Crash Which Jerked Me Away Amongst Rocks And

Breakers,  And For The Few Following Seconds I Heard Nothing But The Din

Of Waves Whilst I Was Rolling About Amongst Men,  And A Torn Boat,  Oars,

And Water-Kegs,  In Such A Manner That I Could Not Collect My Senses.

 

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Publication Date: 05-29-2014

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