Journals of Australian Explorations Part 3

17th September.

After digging in about twenty different places around the lake, at length found fresh water, and then went back for the knocked-up horse, and with some difficulty got him to the well, where we decided to rest the horses this and the following day, before encountering the inhospitable sandy region to the southwards.

18th September.

One of the party made a short excursion to the west of the plain, and in about three miles reached the hills, which appeared very barren and scrubby; but after crossing the first ridge, the country was timbered with York and red gum and a large species of acacia, producing abundance of gum; the soil a red loam, producing some gra.s.s and abundance of the everlasting flowers and warran, or native yam. After penetrating this good country four miles returned to the camp, having shot a kangaroo and ten c.o.c.katoos.

19th September.

Leaving the camp at 8.5 a.m., steered 160 degrees, and soon ascended the sandy downs, which were dest.i.tute of trees, except a few banksia and floribunda; at 11.45 crossed a valley trending to the west; at 1.15 p.m.

observed a range of wooded hills to the east and south; altered the course towards a remarkable gorge which bore 129 degrees; at 3.30 entered a gum forest, and at 3.50 came to a large stream-bed with many pools of water; followed it down south, and camped at 4.20.

Lat.i.tude 30 degrees 42 minutes 39 seconds; longitude 116 degrees.

REACH THE MOORE RIVER.

20th September.

Crossed the watercourse, which seemed to be a branch of the Moore River, and steered 163 degrees from 7.30 a.m. till 8.20, when the country improved, with gra.s.sy hills and brown loam, with fragments of granite and trap rock; the timber York-gum and jam-wattle. This description of country continued till 12.15 p.m., when scrub again prevailed on ironstone hills timbered with white-gum; at 2.20 entered a valley of better character, with quartz and granite rocks. After crossing several rocky ridges, at 3.20 reached the main branch of the Moore River, which we crossed, and camped. This was the first place where the poisonous gastrolobium was observed.

Lat.i.tude 31 degrees 39 seconds; longitude 116 degrees 13 minutes.

21st September.

At 7.30 a.m. followed the river upwards on a bearing of 130 degrees; at 8.0 pa.s.sed a deserted sheep-station, the river coming from the north; continued our course over broken ironstone ridges, timbered with white-gum; at 10.0 the country became more level and sandy, and at 11.45 struck the road from Toodyay to Victoria Plains; followed the road southerly till 4.5 p.m., and camped at a small spring.

Lat.i.tude 31 degrees 14 minutes 19 seconds; longitude 116 degrees 34 minutes.

CAPTAIN GREY'S REPORT OF GOOD COUNTRY CONFIRMED.

22nd September.

This morning an hour's ride brought us to Bolgart Spring, after an absence of forty-seven days, during which we had travelled 953 miles, traversing three degrees of lat.i.tude and nearly four and a half of longitude.

The discovery of coal and country available for settlement on the coast to the north of Swan River was deemed to be of such importance that the Government dispatched Lieutenant Helpman in the colonial schooner Champion to procure a sufficient quant.i.ty of the coal to admit of its being practically tested as to quality, and also to ascertain what facilities existed for its conveyance to a port for s.h.i.+pment. A volunteer party, consisting of Lieutenant Irby, Dr. Meekleham, Messrs. Gregory and Hazlewood, accompanied Lieutenant Helpman to Champion Bay, now the site of Geraldton, and thence by land to the coal-seam on the Irwin River, a distance of ninety miles, and brought down about half a ton of coal to the vessel. This coal, though of fair quality and suitable for steam purposes, proved, however, to be so remote from any suitable port for s.h.i.+pment that it has. .h.i.therto not been available for commercial purposes.

The primary object of the voyage having been attained, it was considered desirable to avail of the opportunity to examine the country to the northward and ascertain its capabilities for settlement; for though Captain, now Sir George Grey, had seen some good country on his journey along the coast from Gantheaume Bay to Swan River, in 1839, Captain Stokes, who landed from the Beagle subsequently and ascended Wizard Peak about twelve miles inland, had distinctly negatived the existence of any country capable of occupation, though, as an ill.u.s.tration of the difficulty of ascertaining the real capabilities of country by partial and hurried inspection, it may be observed that this has since become one of the most prosperous districts of Western Australia in regard to its pastoral, agricultural, and mining industries.

For the purpose of making this examination of the country, Messrs. A.C.

Gregory, H.C. Gregory, and Lieutenant Irby, taking three horses and three days' provisions, left Champion Bay on the 20th December, the following being a copy of the journal:--

20th December, 1846.

At 6.20 a.m. left the bivouac and followed the sh.o.r.e of Champion Bay about a mile northerly; then steered 87 degrees over a scrubby country; at 7.20 crossed the Chapman River; and at 8.0, being a quarter of a mile north from Mount Fairfax, altered the course to 66 degrees, the country being thinly covered with wattle scrub and some gra.s.s; at 8.45 crossed a large branch of the Chapman with several small pools of water in the bed; the country beyond was more scrubby and the soil gravelly; at 9.0 changed the course to 18 degrees, and at 9.20 again crossed the Chapman River just below a pool of apparently permanent water; at 9.50 crossed a granite ridge, beyond which the country improved, with many large patches of gra.s.s to the eastward; at 10.20 ascended a high flat-topped hill of red sandstone resting on granite, which proved to be the eastern point of Moresby's Flat-topped Range. From this hill Mount Fairfax and Wizard Hill were visible to the east; gra.s.sy hills rose gradually from the Chapman River for seven or eight miles; steering 10 degrees over gra.s.sy country, the soil was composed of detritus of granite and trap rocks; at 11.0 came on a large party of natives, some of whom accompanied us for about a mile, pointing out places where we should find water. At noon turned to the north-east and entered an extensive valley with some patches of gra.s.s, but not generally of a good character; at 12.30 p.m. crossed a small watercourse trending west; followed it about half a mile, and then steered north-west over scrubby flats till 1.0, when we struck a small stream-bed with small pools of water, and halted till 1.20, and then followed up the stream to the north till 3.0, when we bivouacked.

21st December.

At 6.35 a.m. steered north over a hilly country with scrub, gra.s.s, York-gum, and wattle--the prevailing rocks red sandstone, quartz, and granite; at 8.30 crossed a stream-bed with pools of brackish water trending east, and at 8.50 entered a good gra.s.sy country which appeared to extend ten to twelve miles to the east and north--clumps of York-gum, jam-wattle, and sandalwood were observed on some of the hills. After crossing several small watercourses, at 9.45 ascended an elevated sandy tableland covered with coa.r.s.e scrub; and at 10.35, not seeing any prospect of better country, changed the course to west, and following down a deep gully, at 11.7 came to a small pool of salt water; following the watercourse south-south-west, at 11.25 came to a small hole dug by the natives, in which the water was fresh, though the pools above and below were salt. Halting till nearly 1.0 p.m., resumed a westerly course, crossing several deep gra.s.sy valleys trending south; at 1.35 steered 211 degrees over a hilly, quartz, and granite country with very good gra.s.s; at 2.30 again came on the stream-bed, the country improved and well-gra.s.sed, with scattered jam and black wattle trees as far as the country was visible; at 3.50 the stream was joined by a branch from the east, and following it to the west-north-west till 5.0, bivouacked in the bed of the stream, water being obtained by digging in the sand.

22nd December.

At 6.35 a.m. steered 220 degrees over a fine gra.s.sy country; at 7.0 ascended a small ironstone hill, from which we observed a deep valley trending to the south-west; to the north and west the country was open and gra.s.sy for twelve miles, presenting at one view fifty or sixty thousand acres of fine sheep pasture. Continuing a south-west course over granite country with some good gra.s.s, but not equal to that seen the previous day, at 8.0 crossed a small stream-bed, which we a.s.sumed to be the Bowes River of Captain Grey; we ascended steep limestone hills on the west bank, and from the summit observed the large white sand patch on Point Moore bearing 170 degrees; turning south three-quarters of a mile, crossed the Bowes River at its mouth, which was choked up with sand; we then steered south-east with the intention of following Captain Grey's route to Champion Bay; but, after traversing sandy downs with limestone rocks for four miles, one of the horses became so footsore that we descended a deep ravine to the sea-beach, which was followed southerly, and after crossing the dry mouth of the Buller and Chapman Rivers, reached the landing place in Champion Bay at 1.10 p.m.

On the 23rd the party and horses were s.h.i.+pped on board the Champion and reached Fremantle on the 28th.

THE SETTLERS' EXPEDITION TO THE NORTHWARD FROM PERTH, UNDER MR.

a.s.sISTANT-SURVEYOR A.C. GREGORY.

1848.

As the stock belonging to the settlers on the Swan River had increased to the full extent of the pastoral capabilities of the known available country, it became of pressing importance to push forward the exploration of the Colony of West Australia, and accordingly, in 1848 the Surveyor-General, Captain Roe, conducted an expedition to the south-east of Swan River, while the settlers organised one to proceed to the north, and made application to the Government to grant the services of Mr.

a.s.sistant-Surveyor A.C. Gregory as the leader of the party.

THE SETTLERS' EXPEDITION TO THE NORTHWARD FROM PERTH, UNDER MR.

a.s.sISTANT-SURVEYOR A.C. GREGORY.

We could not do justice to the enterprise and exertions of the gentlemen who discovered the new tract of good land to the northward in any other way than by giving Mr. Augustus Gregory's Journal entire:--

INSTRUCTIONS TO LEADER OF THE EXPEDITION AND ITS OBJECTS.

Colonial Secretary's Office,

Perth, August 28, 1848.

SIR,

I am directed by the Governor to inform you that you have been appointed to direct the exploring expedition about to proceed northwards on account of the zeal, energy, and enterprising spirit that have been exhibited by you on other occasions, and called into action with credit to yourself and advantage to the public interests. The party under your direction, it is intended, should proceed northward as high as the Gascoyne River. (The Gascoyne River flows into Shark Bay, in lat.i.tude 24 degrees 52 minutes South.) It is advisable to approach that river from the eastward, about 100 miles from the coast, after proceeding in a north-easterly and northerly direction from the country abreast of Champion Bay, it being desirable that part of your route which lies farthest in the interior country should be first accomplished, in order to avail yourself of the best chance of finding water.

You will examine that river as far as it may be practicable to do, with the view of tracing its course; of ascertaining, if possible, the nature of the bar at the mouth of it, and the question of its being practicable for boats, to what distance from the bar, and the nature of the soil in the vicinity of either bank.

After having examined thus the Gascoyne River you will proceed in a southerly direction and examine the river, as yet unnamed, about forty miles farther south, that flows into Shark's Bay, the mouth of which was seen by Captain Grey, and is placed by him at Point Long.

Should you proceed along the sea-sh.o.r.e for any distance you will pay as much attention as your limited means will allow you to do to the peculiarities of the coast, and of any estuaries, creeks, or roadsteads that may present themselves.

You will bear in mind that the primary object of this expedition is the examination of a new tract of unknown country for practical purposes, by practical men--that, in fact, the discovery of new land of an available kind for pasture has become a thing to be desired, of paramount importance, and an object in the attainment of which the interests and perhaps the fate of this colony depend.

You will thus conduct your expedition with the view of promoting this princ.i.p.al object to the best of your ability. But it is hardly needful to observe to you that this chief object may be promoted and attained without neglecting to observe the geographical, geological, and mineralogical features of the country you pa.s.s through; its productions--animal and vegetable; and the character, dialects, and customs, to some extent, of the aboriginal tribes you may fall in with.

You have been so frequently employed in exploring expeditions, though of minor importance perhaps to the present, that you must be well aware it is no less impolitic than cruel to come into actual collision, wantonly, unadvisedly, and maliciously, with the natives; and, on the contrary, that it is no less humane than politic to leave no angry recollections of white people, where the footsteps of travellers, however few and far between, must be expected to follow yours.

Should your route, either in proceeding on the expedition or returning, be in the direction of that part of the Irwin River where for the discovery of coal the colony is indebted to yourself and brothers, it would be desirable that you should devote a short time to the examination of the locality where it was first found; to excavation, to some moderate extent, in the vicinity of the veins of coal of most promise; and, above all, to the ascertainment of the fact if coal crops out, or if there be in the soil any indications of it between the place where the mine was discovered by you in 1846 and the seash.o.r.e, in that intervening s.p.a.ce of about thirty-eight or forty miles, or to the northward of it in the direction of Shark's Bay, where Dr. von Somner thought the coal-seam of the Irwin might again make its appearance.

In the event of accident, occasioning loss of provisions and beasts of burden, and a necessity arising for a prompt return to the settled districts, you will bear in mind the causes of impediment on the march which proved so disastrous to Captain Grey's party on its return from Gantheaume Bay; the want of vigilance at night manifested in another expedition in the murder of Lieutenant Eyre's European companion; and the want of caution, forgetfulness of the nature of barbarians, and the facilities for ambush afforded by a wilderness of trees and jungle, that have led to injuries fatal to life, as in the case of Mr. Cunningham in Sir Thomas Mitch.e.l.l's expedition, and of two of his companions at another time; and in some instances, as in those of Captain Stokes and Captain Grey, that have led to results all but fatal to the explorers and their expeditions; injuries suddenly and unexpectedly inflicted on individuals straggling from the main body of their party, or venturing considerable distances in advance of it.

You are to bear in mind that it might be of some advantage throughout your expedition to keep a register of the depths at which water has been found by you, and of those depths to which you have penetrated in vain for it.