Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia Volume I Part 31

Some of the natives who now approached told Mr. Smith that a cannon had been heard that morning in the direction of Fremantle; we therefore knew that a vessel had arrived, and this made me anxious to return to Perth; for, in the event of our obtaining canvas for the Champion's sails, I expected that vessel would be ready to take us in a few days to the north-west coast.

RETURN TO PERTH.

My anxiety to return was also increased by other reasons. Mr. Smith had, with the exception of the first few miles, walked the whole distance from Perth in pieces of kangaroo skin, and his feet were now in a dreadful state from the joint effect of thorns and bruises; he however never complained, and so much did I admire the quietness and perseverance with which he had borne up against so serious an inconvenience, that I was the more anxious to put an end to it as soon as possible. Besides it was evident that very deadly feelings existed between Jenna and the murderer of his sister, for he (Jenna) came and requested me to call this native my friend, at the same time to give him plenty of flour and rice, "And,"

added he, "by-and-bye, ask him to sleep at your fire; then, in the night, whilst he is asleep, I can easily spear him; and I will off, and walk to Perth." I however cooled Jenna's ardour by whispering to him that, if any quarrel was brought about by his attempting to spear this native, I should instantly shoot him; as I had no idea of running a risk of losing all our lives through his imprudence. This declaration had a very salutary effect, and my now giving the promised present of rice and flour entirely put a stop to all further differences.

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 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 accomplis.h.i.+ng my present design, I readily acceded to a request made to me which led to another excursion to the southward of Perth, the princ.i.p.al circ.u.mstances 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 circ.u.mstances 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 I 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 circ.u.mstances 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 circ.u.mstances 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 circ.u.mstances 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.

Our proceedings until we had reached Pinjarra on the banks of the Murray offer little or no interesting matter; I shall therefore pa.s.s 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 pa.s.sage through that chain of mountains. Whilst breakfast was preparing I walked up into the mouth of the gorge, which was replete with most wild and beautiful scenery at this point. The river comes streaming out from a rocky mountain pa.s.s, forming in its course a series of small cataracts.

The vale in which it runs offers an interesting specimen of woodland scenery, and the high, bold, and partially bare granite mountains which rear their heads above it differ much in character from the tame mountain scenery that lies between Perth and York: this place is a favourite resort of the wild cattle, and we saw everywhere numerous recent traces of them.

WILD CATTLE.

In the afternoon we again started in a south by east direction. About a mile after leaving the Murray we came suddenly upon four head of wild cattle; two, which were distant from us, made off to the mountains, but a n.o.ble white bull and a cow followed a line lying exactly in the course we were pursuing. As we had one saddle-horse, which I was then on, I could not resist having a gallop after them. I soon brought the bull to bay, but when he had taken breath he turned and made off again and, as I had no time to spare, I gave him no further interruption; on however wis.h.i.+ng to ascertain the hour I found that my watch had fallen from my pocket during the course of the gallop.

NATIVE TRACKING.

I now waited until the party came up, when I requested Kaiber the native to walk back and find the watch. This he a.s.sured me was utterly impossible, and I really at the time agreed in this opinion; however as it was a watch I much valued I determined to make one effort. "Well, Kaiber," I said to him, "your people had told me you could see tracks well, but I find they are mistaken; you have but one eye, something is the matter with the other (this was really the case) no young woman will take you, for if you cannot follow my tracks and find a watch I have just dropped how can you kill game for her." This speech had the desired effect, and the promise of a s.h.i.+lling heightened his diligence, and I returned with him. The ground we had pa.s.sed over was badly suited for the purpose of tracking and the scrub was thick; nevertheless, to my delight and surprise, within the period of half an hour my watch was restored to my pocket. This feat of Kaiber's surpa.s.sed anything of the sort I had previously seen performed by the natives.

We completed about eight miles and then halted for the night on the banks of a running stream issuing from a gorge in the hills. There was a considerable portion of good land in its neighbourhood and the horses appeared not a little pleased with the excellence of the feed.

The 13th we spent in pa.s.sing a portion of the Darling Range. After travelling for eleven miles over a hilly country we came upon a beautiful valley between two steep and high hills. Two streams poured down into this valley and there formed a small freshwater lake. The scenery here was so green and verdant, the tranquil little lake was so covered with broad-leaved waterlilies, and the whole wore such an air of highland mountain scenery that I could readily have imagined I was once more in Scotland. About this lake there was also much good feed.

CROSS THE DARLING RANGE.

In the course of the afternoon we travelled eight miles further in an easterly direction, and were then obliged to halt without water, which we did not again succeed in finding after we left the lake.

TO THE HOTHAM RIVER.

On the morning of the 14th we had only travelled six miles in a due easterly direction when I found we had crossed the Darling Range; our course now lay along a level fertile plain, well fitted for pastoral purposes. We travelled across this a distance of about five miles when we came upon the river Bannister, which here was nothing but a series of large pools with good feed for cattle about them. We halted for breakfast and afterwards continued in an easterly direction, when, after travelling for another six miles, we reached the Hotham. The land we pa.s.sed over between the Bannister and Hotham was equal in goodness to any I have seen in Western Australia.

The circ.u.mstance of both water and feed abounding at the Hotham induced me to halt here for the night, and on the morning of the 15th we commenced our toilsome march from the Hotham to the Williams; the distance is about twenty-eight miles in a direct line; the country consisting of rocky hills, difficult to cross; and throughout the whole of this distance we could find no water: we were thus for eleven hours exposed to the sun in one of the hottest days I have ever felt, and we were not a little glad when just at sunset we found ourselves on the banks of the Williams.

CONDITION OF DISTANT SETTLERS.

We here found the establishment of an out-settler, of which it would be difficult to convey an adequate idea: the house consisted of a few upright poles, one end of each resting on the ground, whilst the other met a transverse pole, to which they were tied; cross-poles then ran along these, and to complete the building a sort of rude thatch was tied on it. It was open at both ends and exposed to the land wind, which, as the situation was high, I found a very unpleasant visitor during the night. Here we found a very large flock of sheep in fair condition, also a well-supplied stockyard, and cattle in beautiful order; upwards of twenty kangaroo dogs completed the establishment.

These settlers were, at the time I visited the Williams, four in number; consisting of one young man, two youths, and a little boy. Four soldiers were quartered about sixteen miles from them, and there was no other European within fifty miles of the spot. The distance they had to send for all stores and necessaries was one hundred and twenty miles, and this through a country untraversed by roads and where they were exposed to the hostility of the natives in the event of any ill-feeling arising on their part.

Nothing can give a more lively notion of the difficulties and privations undergone by first settlers than the fact that, when I left this hut, they had no flour, tea, sugar, meat, or any provision whatever except their livestock and the milk of the cattle, their sole dependence for any other article of food being the kangaroo dogs, and the only thing I was able to do in order to better their situation was to leave them some shot.

All other circ.u.mstances connected with their position were on the same scale. They had but one knife, an old clasp one; there was but one small bed for one person, the others sleeping on the ground every night, with little or no covering; they had no soap to wash themselves or their clothes, yet they submitted cheerfully to all these privations, considering them as necessary attendants upon their situation. Two of these out-settlers were gentlemen, not only by birth but also in thought and manner, and, to tell the truth, I believe they were far happier than many an idle young man I have seen lounging about in England, a burden to himself and his friends; for it must be borne in mind that they were realizing a future independence for themselves.

THEIR PRIVATIONS.

Many of the ills and privations which they endured were however unnecessary, and were entailed upon them by the mistaken system that has been pursued at Swan River of spreading to the utmost their limited population. I trust however that a wiser line of policy will now be pursued, and that settling will consequently become an easier, less dangerous, and far more agreeable task.