Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia Volume I Part 20

We crossed during the day several recent tracks of natives but did not fall in with the natives themselves; we also saw many kangaroos, and halted for the night on an elevated basaltic ridge, at a point close to which there was a large crop of the grain which we called wild oats. This is a remarkable vegetable production, growing to the height of from five to six feet; in the stalk, the shape, and mode of insertion of the leaves it is similar to the oat of Europe; the manner in which the seeds grow in the two plants is also the same, and the seeds are nearly of the same size, but the Australian oat is furnished with a beard like the barley.

When hungry I have repeatedly eaten these oats, which in some parts grow in such abundance that several acres of them might be mown at once; and I have little doubt that this plant would with cultivation turn out to be a very great addition to our tropical grains.*

(*Footnote. I am informed that the seeds of it which I introduced into the Isle of France in 1838 have greatly multiplied and that the plants are in a very flouris.h.i.+ng state.)

March 25.

This morning we resumed our journey, crossing a succession of basaltic valleys. The vegetation was luxuriant beyond description; and it was ludicrous to see the heavy-tailed kangaroos leaping and floundering about in the long gra.s.s when they had quitted their beaten pathways and were suddenly disturbed by our approach.

CURIOUS BIRDS.

In crossing the second of these large valleys we saw two large white and black birds, more like pelicans than any other kind I am acquainted with; they had webbed feet, and the colour and form of their body resembled that of the pelican, but the head and beak were very different; after flying two or three times round our heads, well out of shot, so as to have a good peep at us, they flew away, and for the first and last time I saw this curious bird.

We now ascended a ridge of sandstone tableland which crossed our route: this was about three miles in width, and at its southern extremity were two lofty basaltic hills, from between which a small valley led down into another very large one that was the general receptacle of the streams which came pouring in from all directions. This last might be considered as a good type of the valleys in this portion of the country: at its northern extremity it was about four miles wide, being bounded on all sides by rocky wooded ranges with dark gullies from which numerous streams and springs poured forth their watery contributions to the main one. This last ran nearly down the centre of the princ.i.p.al valley, the width of which gradually contracted towards the south, where it terminated almost in a point, having a narrow lateral opening at the south-west end of not more than a quarter of a mile wide, and bounded by steep cliffs on each side, so as to form a perfect gorge, the direction of which was due west. In about a mile and a half this gorge met a cross valley, running from the south to the north, down which the waters were poured, so as to run back as it were upon their former course.

BASALTIC VALLEY.

We halted for the day in the main valley, which from the run of the waters above described must necessarily have been very elevated; it was, moreover, nearly level, forming indeed a sort of enclosed plateau, so that the streams, which both on entering and quitting it ran bubbling merrily along, preserved whilst in it a sluggish and scarcely perceptible course. When to this I add that it was composed of basaltic rocks and received the deposit of such an extent of elevated basaltic land I need scarcely add that it was highly fertile. I believe that these valleys, which are very common in North-Western Australia and contain from four to five thousand acres each, are as rich as any other spots upon the globe, and moreover possess the great advantage of being situated close to navigable rivers.

March 26.

This morning we moved down the valley in which we had been encamped yesterday and, as it was thinly wooded, we experienced no difficulty whatever until the main stream suddenly turned off from south to due west; this was a sufficient proof that the gorge of the valley was on its western side, but I was not anxious to follow the course of the water, from the apprehension of being led into low and marshy land; I thought also that a low ridge which I saw to the south could easily be crossed, and that we should thus gain access to a valley similar to that we were in. I therefore resolved to cross the stream at the first ford we could find, and after a little trouble we discovered one suited to our purpose through which the ponies pa.s.sed in safety.

IMPa.s.sABLE SANDSTONE RANGE.

We then continued our route in a due southerly direction until we reached the low range which I had before seen; this range turned out to be composed of sandstone, and where we made it it was so rocky and precipitous as to be quite impracticable. We therefore travelled along it in an easterly direction for about three miles, but throughout this distance it presented no single pa.s.s through which I could hope to penetrate. The sun having now become very powerful we halted for breakfast; and whilst this meal was preparing, I sent out a detached party to search for a road, which soon returned to report that they were able to find no path by which we could proceed.

I did not however like to retrace our footsteps without having made a careful search; and although my wound was still open and very painful I rapidly swallowed a portion of my allowance of damper and started with another detachment on foot to examine the country. The sandstone range, which ran nearly east and west, was terminated everywhere throughout its southern side by perfectly precipitous rocks, at the foot of which lay a fertile valley, resembling the one in which we had encamped yesterday except that it was on a much lower level. The position that we were in appeared to be the pa.s.s by which the natives communicated with the country to the south of us, for marks of them were visible everywhere about, but they could easily clamber about these precipitous rocks, though it was quite impossible to get the ponies down, even by forming a path, as we had often previously done.

PAINTED CAVE. DRAWING ON ROOF OF A CAVE.

Finding that it would be useless to lose more time in searching for a route through this country I proceeded to rejoin the party once more; but whilst returning to them my attention was drawn to the numerous remains of native fires and encampments which we met with, till at last, on looking over some bushes at the sandstone rocks which were above us, I suddenly saw from one of them a most extraordinary large figure peering down upon me. Upon examination this proved to be a drawing at the entrance to a cave, which on entering I found to contain, besides, many remarkable paintings.

The cave appeared to be a natural hollow in the sandstone rocks; its floor was elevated about five feet from the ground, and numerous flat broken pieces of the same rock, which were scattered about, looked at a distance like steps leading up to the cave, which was thirty-five feet wide at the entrance and sixteen feet deep; but beyond this several small branches ran further back. Its height in front was rather more than eight feet, the roof being formed by a solid slab of sandstone about nine feet thick and which rapidly inclined towards the back of the cave, which was there not more than five feet high.

On this sloping roof the princ.i.p.al figure (Number 1) which I have just alluded to, was drawn; in order to produce the greater effect the rock about it was painted black and the figure itself coloured with the most vivid red and white. It thus appeared to stand out from the rock; and I was certainly rather surprised at the moment that I first saw this gigantic head and upper part of a body bending over and staring grimly down at me.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES.

It would be impossible to convey in words an adequate idea of this uncouth and savage figure; I shall therefore only give such a succinct account of this and the other paintings as will serve as a sort of description to accompany the annexed plates.

The dimensions of the figure were:

Length of head and face 2 feet.

Width of face 17 inches.

Length from bottom of face to navel 2 feet 6 inches.

Its head was encircled by bright red rays, something like the rays which one sees proceeding from the sun when depicted on the sign-board of a public house; inside of this came a broad stripe of very brilliant red, which was coped by lines of white, but both inside and outside of this red s.p.a.ce were narrow stripes of a still deeper red, intended probably to mark its boundaries; the face was painted vividly white, and the eyes black, being however surrounded by red and yellow lines; the body, hands, and arms were outlined in red, the body being curiously painted with red stripes and bars.

DRAWING OF FOUR HEADS.

Upon the rock which formed the left hand wall of this cave, and which partly faced you on entering, was a very singular painting (Number 2) vividly coloured, representing four heads joined together. From the mild expression of the countenances I imagined them to represent females, and they appeared to be drawn in such a manner and in such a position as to look up at the princ.i.p.al figure which I have before described; each had a very remarkable head-dress, coloured with a deep bright blue, and one had a necklace on. Both of the lower figures had a sort of dress painted with red in the same manner as that of the princ.i.p.al figure, and one of them had a band round her waist. Each of the four faces was marked by a totally distinct expression of countenance, and, although none of them had mouths, two, I thought, were otherwise rather good looking. The whole painting was executed on a white ground, and its dimensions were:

Total length of painting 3 feet 6 3/4 inches.

Breadth across two upper heads 2 feet 6 inches.

Ditto across the two lower ones 3 feet 1 1/2 inches.

The next most remarkable drawing in the cave (Number 3) was an ellipse, three feet in length and one foot ten inches in breadth: the outside line of this painting was of a deep blue colour, the body of the ellipse being of a bright yellow dotted over with red lines and spots, whilst across it ran two transverse lines of blue. The portion of the painting above described formed the ground, or main part of the picture, and upon this ground was painted a kangaroo in the act of feeding, two stone spearheads, and two black b.a.l.l.s; one of the spearheads was flying to the kangaroo, and one away from it; so that the whole subject probably const.i.tuted a sort of charm by which the luck of an enquirer in killing game could be ascertained.

TWO OTHER DRAWINGS.

There was another rather humorous sketch (Number 4) which represented a native in the act of carrying a kangaroo; the height of the man being three feet. The number of drawings in the cave could not altogether have been less than from fifty to sixty, but the majority of them consisted of men, kangaroos, etc.; the figures being carelessly and badly executed and having evidently a very different origin to those which I have first described. Another very striking piece of art was exhibited in the little gloomy cavities situated at the back of the main cavern. In these instances some rock at the sides of the cavity had been selected, and the stamp of a hand and arm by some means transferred to it; this outline of the hand and arm was then painted black, and the rock about it white, so that on entering that part of the cave it appeared as if a human hand and arm were projecting through a crevice admitting light.

After having discovered this cave I returned to the party and, directing them to prepare for moving on, I ordered that as soon as all was ready they should proceed past the cave, so that all would have an opportunity of examining it, and in the meantime I returned in order to make sketches of the princ.i.p.al paintings. The party soon arrived and, when my sketches and notes were completed, we retraced a portion of our route of this morning, moving round the sandstone ridge through one portion of which I saw a sort of pa.s.s which I thought might perhaps afford us a means of egress. I therefore halted the party and moved up with Corporal Auger to examine it. After proceeding some distance we found a cave larger than the one seen this morning; of its actual size however I have no idea, for being pressed for time I did not attempt to explore it, having merely ascertained that it contained no paintings.

INTAGLIO CUT IN A ROCK.

I was moving on when we observed the profile of a human face and head cut out in a sandstone rock which fronted the cave; this rock was so hard that to have removed such a large portion of it with no better tool than a knife and hatchet made of stone, such as the Australian natives generally possess, would have been a work of very great labour. The head was two feet in length, and sixteen inches in breadth in the broadest part; the depth of the profile increased gradually from the edges where it was nothing, to the centre where it was an inch and a half; the ear was rather badly placed, but otherwise the whole of the work was good, and far superior to what a savage race could be supposed capable of executing. The only proof of antiquity that it bore about it was that all the edges of the cutting were rounded and perfectly smooth, much more so than they could have been from any other cause than long exposure to atmospheric influences.

ROUTE CONTINUED. HIGH GRa.s.s.

After having made a sketch of this head (see the accompanying plate) I returned to the party and, as I had not been able to find a path which would lead us across the sandstone ridge, we continued our course round it, retracing our steps until we reached the stream which had been crossed this morning, and then moved westward, keeping along its southern bank until we had turned the sandstone range and reached another stream running from the south, which we traced up in the direction of its source, travelling through a series of basaltic valleys of so luxuriant a character that those of the party who were not very tall travelled, as they themselves expressed it, between two high green walls, over which they could not see; and these green walls were composed of rich gra.s.s which the ponies ate with avidity. On a subsequent occasion when we visited this valley we had to call to one another in order to ascertain our relative positions when only a few yards apart; and yet the vegetation was neither rank nor coa.r.s.e, but as fine a gra.s.s as I have ever seen.

REFLECTIONS.

We halted for the night in one of these lovely valleys; a clear stream bubbled along within about fifty yards of us and, about a mile beyond, two darkly-wooded basaltic hills raised their heads, and between these and the stream our ponies were feeding in gra.s.s higher than themselves. I sat in the fading light, looking at the beautiful scenery around me, which now for the first time gladdened the eyes of Europeans; and I wondered that so fair a land should only be the abode of savage men; and then I thought of the curious paintings we had this day seen, of the timid character of the natives, of their anomalous position in so fertile a country, and wondered how long these things were to be. With so wide a field of conjecture before me, thought naturally thronged on thought, and the night was far advanced ere I laid down to seek repose from the fatigues of the day.

DEEP STREAM.

March 27.

The ponies having been routed out of their long and excellent feed, amongst which indeed it was no easy matter to find them, we moved on. I could not but reflect how different our position and the condition of the ponies would have been had we known as much of the country at first starting as we did at present; but these reflections were now useless.

With the exception of one small rocky valley, the whole of our morning's journey was through a rich and fertile country until we reached a deep stream, thirty or forty yards wide and apparently navigable for large boats up to this point; it ran away to the westward, but with a current scarcely perceptible.

DIFFICULT APPROACH TO IT.

It was very difficult to approach this stream on account of the marshy nature of its banks, which were overgrown with bamboo and, even if we could have got the ponies to it, it was not fordable here. We therefore turned up it in an easterly direction to look for a pa.s.sage over it; and in so doing were necessarily compelled to cross many smaller streams and a great deal of swampy ground in which some of the most weakly of the ponies got bogged and were only extricated with great difficulty. However annoying this was I could not but smile at the distress of some of the men, who had contracted a friends.h.i.+p for the animals they had so long led, when one of their favourites got into a difficulty. The exclamations of Ruston the old sailor were particularly amusing, as, according to the position in which the animal got bogged, he used to roar out for someone "to come and give his pony a heave upon the starboard or larboard quarters;" and once, when violently alarmed at the danger he imagined his pet pony to be in, he shouted amain, "By G---, Sir, she'll go down by the stern." At last however we got clear of the marsh, and reached a rocky gorge where this stream issued from the hills, and here we stopped for breakfast

This spot was very picturesque. The river as it issued from the gorge in the high wooded hills first formed a series of cascades, and then at the mouth of the gorge expanded into a large pool. It was at this point, although only a secondary stream in this country, far larger than any of the rivers of South-Western Australia. At the gorges, where they issue from the hills, its banks were clothed with the panda.n.u.s, lofty gum trees, and a very luxuriant vegetation. We first sought for a ford up the river in the direction of the rapids, but our search was fruitless. On returning to breakfast I found that the men had caught three fish and one of the long-necked fresh-water turtle which are common over the whole of this continent. Mr. Lus.h.i.+ngton had also shot several black c.o.c.katoos so that we were supplied with a meal of meat, a luxury we had not enjoyed for a long time.

CROSS A LARGE RIVER.

After breakfast Corporal Auger started alone and returned in about an hour to report that he had found a ford across the river close to us. I therefore ordered the ponies to be brought up and we at once moved on.

The river where we crossed it in south lat.i.tude 15 degrees 49 minutes, east longitude 125 degrees 6 minutes, was about a hundred yards wide. It was however nowhere more than knee deep as we wound through it, following a circuitous course; but we pa.s.sed very deep parts on each side, and I could not but admire the perseverance of Auger in having discovered so very intricate a ford as this was. There were several minor channels to the stream not much wider than an English ditch; they were however very deep and went winding along through groves of the panda.n.u.s and lofty reeds, which formed leafy tunnels above them. It was some time before we got rid of the main stream, and we then found ourselves on a narrow terrace of land which was bounded on the left by rocky cliffs, and on the right by a large tributary of the stream we had just crossed. This tributary was not fordable here so we were compelled to travel up the terrace where our way was much impeded by the luxuriant vegetation and by fallen trees of great magnitude; indeed of a size which those alone who have traversed tropical virgin forests can conceive.

That we could not get off this terrace was the more provoking from seeing, immediately on the other side of the stream, one of those wide open basaltic valleys which I have so often mentioned. We at length reached the point where the stream issued from the high land and, having here forded it, entered the large valley, but in its centre we found another impa.s.sable stream and, in order to turn this, were obliged to travel round the valley; but before we could gain the head of it we had to cross two streams which ran into it on the eastern side. These however gave us but little trouble.

NATIVE HUT.

On the tongue of land between them we found a native hut which differed from any before seen, in having a sloping roof. After pa.s.sing this hut we began to wind up a rocky ascent, and just at sunset reached the watershed, which threw off streams to the north and south: the valley which lay immediately to the south of us appearing as fertile as that which we had been travelling through for the whole day.