THE HILL RIVER.
Sunday April 14.
We travelled about fourteen miles due south over a range of high
ironstone hills which were occasionally clothed with grass-trees. The
scrub was however still thick, prickly, and very difficult to penetrate;
the heat was intense and the whole party were getting very weak. About
noon, and when we had just gained a commanding summit, I looked back at
Mount Perron, now several miles in our rear; from this point we began to
descend into an extensive valley, and at the end of fourteen miles
reached a small river which I named the Hill.
DISCOVERY AND PILLAGE OF A NATIVE PROVISION STORE.
We halted at the first pool we came to and the men, who had a little
flour left, boiled two tablespoonfuls of this in about a pint and a half
of water, thus making what they called soup. In the meantime Kaiber came
in and told me that he had found some holes in which the natives had,
according to their custom, buried a store of By-yu nuts,* and he at the
same time requested permission to steal them.
(*Footnote. The nut of the Zamia tree.)
I reflected for some time on his proposal; I was reluctant to mark the
first approach of civilized man to this country of a savage race by an
unprovoked act of pillage and robbery; yet we were now in the desert, on
the point of perishing for want of food, the pangs of hunger gnawing us
even in our very sleep, and with the means of temporary relief at hand. I
asked myself if I should be acting justly or humanely by the others,
whose lives were at stake if I allowed them to pass by the store, which
seemed providentially offered to us, without pointing it out.
In my perplexity I turned to Kaiber: his answer was, "If we take all,
this people will be angered greatly; they will say, 'What thief has
stolen here: track his footsteps, spear him through the heart; wherefore
has he stolen our hidden food?' But if we take what is buried in one hole
they will say, 'Hungry people have been here; they were very empty, and
now their bellies are full; they may be sorcerers; now they will not eat
us as we sleep.'" Good, it is good, Kaiber," I replied; "come with me and
we will rob one hole." And accordingly we went and took the contents of
one, leaving three others undisturbed. I brought back these nuts to the
men and we shared them amongst us.
We were so weary that we did not start until late in the afternoon, and
then travelled south by east down the course of the river, making about
six miles. It was joined by many small tributaries and now became a
running stream flowing through a deep grassy valley in which were many
large flats. In the course of the afternoon some of the men had a shot at
a native dog; he was a fine fat fellow; but they were unsuccessful and
never did I feel more disappointed than when I saw him cantering away
desperately frightened but perfectly uninjured. I was sufficiently
fortunate to shoot a hawk just before nightfall, and we then halted by
the side of the river, lighted our fires, and laid down to sleep.
April 15.
In the course of the night I had cooked the hawk which I shot yesterday
and before starting divided it as follows: I gave the head, entrails, and
shanks to the native; then cutting the residue in half I gave one part to
Hackney, who had so generously shared his morsel of damper with me, and
kept the remaining portion for myself. Poor Hackney's wan and wasted
countenance glowed with pleasure when this acceptable gift was placed in
his hands, and I felt no slight degree of satisfaction in having an
opportunity of showing him that I felt grateful for his act of generosity
to me.
We now followed the course of the river for about two miles further and
saw a considerable quantity of good land along its banks, clothed with
feed for stock; but I cannot tell how far back this extends.
The river now ran away nearly due west under a low range of hills; and
still adhering to my original plan I quitted its banks and continued my
course straight for Perth, travelling in a south by east direction. The
next two and a half miles led us to the top of a low range. The whole
tract of country between this point and the river was arid and barren in
the extreme, being devoid of all vegetation but a stunted prickly scrub,
and on it we saw no signs either of animal life or water. We here for the
first time since quitting Moresby's Flat-topped Range saw that the one to
the east of us became well wooded, the interval between these two points
having been completely bare of trees.
BARREN COUNTRY.
I now halted for about an hour and a half to rest the wearied men, and
then again commenced our route over this barren waste. For the next
twelve miles we travelled down a gentle descent leading to a very deep
valley, and late in the evening reached some dried up swamps where we
made an ineffectual search for water; we however saw here some parakeets,
and I was lucky enough to kill one which was about the size of a thrush;
several of the men also got shots at these little birds, but without
success. As the day had been intensely hot and we had tasted no water
since morning we suffered a great deal from want of it, but were at
length compelled by darkness to lie down to rest without finding any.
DRY BED OF THE SMITH RIVER.
April 16.
We had not travelled above two miles this morning in an east-south-east
direction when I found that we had reached the bottom of the valley into
which we had yesterday evening commenced our descent. In this valley lay
the dried up bed of a considerable stream, which I have named the Smith
after my unfortunate friend. Its direction was from north-east to south.
LONG AND UTTER DESTITUTION OF FOOD AND WATER. SUFFERINGS FROM THIRST.
As we were now suffering a good deal from thirst we made a search in both
directions along the bed, but although there were many pools (some of
them being twelve or fourteen feet deep) we could not find the slightest
indication of water having stood in them for a considerable time: in the
bottom of one of the deepest of these pools was a native well, dug to the
depth of about seven feet, but even at this distance below the surface we
could see no signs whatever of water. There was much good land in the
valley through which this watercourse wound, but all was barren and arid.
In the course of the morning we had seen a flight of cockatoos coming
from the eastward down the valley in which the bed of the river lay,
which at the time made me imagine that water would be found in that
direction in the interior, and the natives subsequently stated that such
was the case, but our circumstances would not admit such a deviation from
our course in a search which if unsuccessful would have proved fatal.
DISTRESSING SEARCH FOR WATER.
The sun had by this time become intensely hot, and the poor fellows grew
faint for want of water, whilst it aggravated their sufferings that they
stood upon the brink of a river, or wandered along its banks with eager
piercing eyes, and an air of intense scrutinizing watchfulness peculiar
to those who search for that on which their lives depend. One while they
explored a shallow stony part of the bed, which was parched up and
blackened by the fiery sun; their steps were slow and listless, and I
could plainly see how faint, weak, and weary they were; the next minute
another pool would be discerned ahead, the depth of which the eye could
not at a distance reach; now they hurried on towards it with a dreadful
look of eager anxiety, the pool was reached, the bottom seen, but, alas!
no water; then they paused and looked one at the other with an air of
utter despair. As long as they remained on the banks of this river bed a
glimmering of hope remained; but I felt convinced from the general
appearance of the country that there was not the slightest probability of
our finding water there, and resolved therefore still to continue a
direct route. When I gave this order the weak-minded quailed before it:
they would rather have perished in wandering up and down those arid and
inhospitable banks than have made a great effort and have torn themselves
away from the vain and delusive hopes this watercourse held out to them.
With great pain I witnessed and bore my part in this distressing scene,
but I at the moment felt that it would be necessary to save my energies
for other occasions; suspecting that we were in a great tract of desert
country, a large portion of which must still be passed ere we could hope
for any alleviation from our sufferings; and I therefore at once
commenced carrying into execution the order I had given, by walking on in
a south by east direction. In about two miles we had gained the summit of
the low range which bounded to the southward the valley where we had so
vainly searched for water, and for the next ten miles we travelled over
elevated sandy barren plains, thinly wooded with occasional clumps of
Banksia trees.
DRY TEA-TREE SWAMP.
On our left was a lofty and well wooded range, distant only about four
miles, and on our right lay extensive plains, the western extremity of
which, distant about sixteen miles from us, was by the sea; these plains
appeared tolerably fertile, being covered with tea-tree swamps, now
apparently dried up. I still was led on by the hope, raised by the height
of the range on our left, that we might find water issuing from it
towards the coast, and had therefore not searched the plains which lay
between us and the sea, indeed I felt fully convinced that the swamps we
saw were all perfectly dry and the native coincided in my opinion; about
an hour before sunset however we descended towards the plains, and
turning due west we reached them in about half an hour, but found all the
swamps quite destitute of water. As soon as it became dark I lit my fire
and laid down by it, advising the others to pursue the same course and to
preserve their energies for the morrow. But such advice was thrown away
upon men almost perishing with thirst, and every now and then throughout
the night I heard their weak husky voices as they wandered from swamp to
swamp in the neighbourhood, digging holes with pointed sticks in a vain
search.
NATIVE SONGS.
Poor Kaiber alone lay crouching by my fire, occasionally feeding it with
fresh fuel and chanting to himself these two songs, in his own language:
Thither, mother oh, I return again,
Thither oh, I return again.
The other had been sung by the mother of Miago, a native who had
accompanied Captain Wickham in the Beagle from the Swan River, and it had
made a great impression on the natives.
Whither does that lone ship wander,
My young son I shall never see again.
Whither does that lone ship wander.
EXTREME FEEBLENESS OF THE PARTY.
The night wore heavily on; sleepless sufferers were around me, and I
myself began to feel very anxious as to what the next day might bring.
The men had now been already one night and two days without tasting a
single drop of water or food of any kind whatever, for as the only
provisions they had left was a spoonful or two of flour each it was
impossible for them to cook this without water; indeed only two of them
had even this small supply of flour left, and the rest were wholly
destitute.
I personally suffered far less than any of the others with the exception
of the native, and this for several reasons. In the first place I had
been long accustomed to subsist on a very small quantity of water, and
secondly I had always kept my mind occupied and amused instead of giving
way to desponding or gloomy thoughts. When we halted and the others laid
wearily down, brooding over their melancholy situation, I employed myself
in writing up my journal, which was most scrupulously kept; and this duty
being concluded I had recourse to a small New Testament, my companion
throughout all my wanderings, and from this latter I drank in such deep
draughts of comfort that my spirits were always good.
DANGER OF PERISHING FOR WANT OF WATER.
April 17.
About an hour and a half before dawn we started in a south by east
direction, the native leading the way, for it was yet too dark for me to
select points to march upon. As we moved along we moistened our mouths by
sucking a few drops of dew from the shrubs and reeds, but even this
miserable resource failed us almost immediately after sunrise. The men
were so worn out from fatigue and want of food and water that I could get
them but a few hundred yards at a time, then some one of them would sit
down and beg me so earnestly to stop for a few minutes that I could not
refuse acceding to the request; when however I thus halted the native in
every instance expressed his indignation, telling me that it was
sacrificing his safety as well as those of the others who were able to
move, for that if we did not find water ere night the whole party would
die. He was indeed as weak from want of food as any of us, for we had
made such rapid and lengthy marches in the hope of speedily forwarding
assistance to those left behind that when we came at night to the
conclusion of our day's journey Kaiber was too much exhausted to think of
looking for food.
About two o'clock in the afternoon the men were so completely exhausted
that it was impossible to induce them to move, and at this period I found
that we had only made about eight miles in a south by east direction,
over plains studded with small sandy hills and the beds of dried up
tea-tree swamps.
When I halted the sun was intensely powerful; the groans and exclamations
of some of the men were painful in the extreme; but my feelings were
still more agonized when I saw the poor creatures driven, by the want of
water, to drink their own ----, the last sad and revolting resource of
thirst!
UNSUCCESSFUL SEARCH FOR WATER WITH KAIBER.
Unable to bear these distressing scenes any longer I ordered Kaiber to
accompany me, and notwithstanding the heat and my own weariness I left
the others lying down in such slight shade as the stunted banksias
afforded, and throwing aside all my ammunition, papers, etc., started
with him in search of water, carrying nothing but my double-barrelled
gun. We proceeded towards the sea. As the natives have the faculty, even
in the trackless woods which they have never before been in, of returning
direct to any spot they have left by however circuitous a course they may
have travelled after quitting it, I paid no attention to the direction we
were moving in but followed Kaiber, who roamed from spot to spot in the
vain search of water; but we found not a drop. The same arid barren
country seemed spread on every side; and when at length I began
occasionally to stumble and fall from weakness hope abandoned me, and I
determined to return direct to my comrades and get them to make one more
effort to proceed and search for it in a southerly direction.
TREACHEROUS INTENTIONS OF KAIBER, THE NATIVE.
I therefore told Kaiber that such was my intention, and directed him to
guide me to the party. With apparent alacrity he obeyed my orders; but
after leading me about some time in an extraordinary manner he told me
that he had lost his way and could not find them. His look was so very
plausible when he said this, and he seemed so grieved at the
circumstance, that for a moment I believed his tale; but I felt convinced
that we could not be at any very great distance from them and therefore
fired one barrel of my gun; the echo of this sound, never heard in these
solitudes before, rang loudly through the woods, remoter distances caught
it up, and at length it gradually died away: anxiously did I now listen
for a repetition of the report, for I knew, were they within hearing, the
men would instantly fire again to acknowledge the signal I had made; but
minute after minute passed on and no answering signal struck my ear. I
sat down and applied my ear to the ground; every sense became absorbed in
the single one of hearing, but not the remotest sound that I could
distinguish broke the frightful solitude of these vast woods. I remained
seated on the ground for a few minutes, still hearing no answer to my
shot, till the conviction gradually forced itself on my mind that the
native had been leading me astray. Only two cases could have occurred:
either he had done so purposely, for he could not, by any accidental
mistake, have taken me to such a distance as to prevent the party in
these silent woods hearing the report of my gun, or otherwise the men had
of themselves moved away from the place where I had left them. But I felt
assured that this latter supposition was not correct, for ever since I
quitted the other portion of the party I had maintained so strict a
discipline that no man ever separated from the rest without my
permission; indeed I had increased my strictness in these respects
exactly in proportion to our increasing difficulties; and I moreover felt
sure that some of the men were by far too much attached to me ever to
abandon me in such a manner.
My situation however was undoubtedly very critical, not as far as
regarded my own safety, for I was not now more than eighty miles from the
nearest settler's hut; but was it possible for me to return alone to my
countrymen and to say that I had lost all my comrades? that I had saved
myself and left the others to perish? Yet I knew that unless I sent
assistance to the first party I had left the majority of them could not
survive; and from the state I had, about an hour and a half ago, left the
others in, it appeared more than probable that they might wait and wait
anxiously, expecting my return, until too weak to move, and thus die
miserably in the woods.
These thoughts thronged rapidly through my mind. Indeed I was obliged to
do all things quickly now for I felt that my existence depended upon my
finding water within the next three or four hours. The native sat
opposite to me on the ground, his keen savage eye watching the expression
of my countenance, as each thought flitted across it. I saw that he was
trying to read my feelings; and he at length thus broke the silence:
"Mr. Grey, today we can walk and may yet not die but drink water;
tomorrow you and I will be two dead men, if we walk not now, for we shall
then be weak and unable. The others sit down too much; they are weak and
cannot walk: if we remain with them we shall all die; but we two are
still strong; let us walk. There lies the sea; to that the streams run;
it is long since we have crossed a river: go quickly, and before the next
sun gets up we shall cross another running water." He paused for a
minute, looking steadfastly at me, and then added, "You must leave the
others, for I know not where they are, and we shall die in trying to find
them."
HIS DESIGNS FRUSTRATED.
I now knew that he was playing me false and that he had purposely led me
astray. He was too great a coward to move on alone for fear of other
natives and, dreading to lose his life by thirst, he had hit upon this
expedient of inducing me to abandon the others and to proceed with him.
"Do you see the sun, Kaiber, and where it now stands?" I replied to him.
"Yes," was his answer. "Then if you have not led me to the party before
that sun falls behind the hills I will shoot you; as it begins to sink
you die." I said these words, looking at him steadily in the face, and
with the full intention of putting my threat into execution. He saw this,
and yet strove to appear unconcerned, and with a forced laugh said, "You
play. From daylight until now you and I have walked; we have wasted our
strength now in looking for water for the others. But a short time, and
we shall be dead; and you say, search for men whom I cannot find; you
tell me, look; and I know not where to look." I now lost all patience
with him and replied: "Kaiber, deceive as you will, you cannot deceive
me; follow back our tracks instantly to the point from whence we started:
if you do not find them, as the sun falls you die." "I am wearied,"
answered he; "for three days I have not either eaten or drunk, far have
we wandered since we left them, and very distant from us are they now
sitting." I could bear this no longer, and, starting up, said, "You
deceive: the sun falls! just now I spoke: Koolyum, nganga dabbut--garrum
wangaga." Again he forced a laugh and said, "Surely, you play." I
answered shortly, "Did I ever tell you a lie, Kaiber? I now speak the
truth."
RETURN TO THE PARTY WITHOUT WATER.
He seemed, when he saw that I was so determined, to feel a little
uncomfortable, and shifting his position moved rather further from me;
this motion on his part induced me to conceive that he intended to run
away; in which case I could never again have hoped to rejoin the party; I
therefore instantly cocked the remaining barrel of my gun and presented
it at him, telling him that if he ever moved from me further than a
certain tree which I pointed out I would forthwith shoot him, instead of
waiting until sunset as I had originally intended. The decided manner in
which I announced this to my friend Kaiber had the desired effect. He
made a few protestations as to the folly of my conduct; lamented most
loudly that his mother, and the Dandalup (a river of his own land) were
so far removed from him; asserted vehemently that the natives of these
parts were bandy-legged, rough-tongued beings; that they eat earth and
drank no water; and, winding-up with a fervent wish that he might catch
one of them wandering anywhere between Pinjarup and Mandurup, in which
case he would spear his heart, his kidney, and his liver, he sulkily
resumed his route and led me straight back to the party in about an hour.
DISTRESSING SYMPTOMS OF EXTREME THIRST.
The men, who had been much surprised at the length of my absence, were at
first buoyed up with the hope that I had found water; but this hope had
at last died away, and they knew not what to conjecture. They were all
reduced to the last degree of weakness and want; indeed I myself was at
this period suffering from the most distressing symptoms of thirst; not
only was my mouth parched, burning, and devoid of moisture, but the
senses of sight and hearing became much affected; I could scarcely
recognise the voices of the rest; and when uncouth unnatural tones struck
upon my ear it took me some time to collect my thoughts in order to
understand what was said, somewhat in the way in which one is obliged to
act when roused suddenly from a deep sleep. In the same manner my sight
had become feeble and indistinct; but by far the most distressing
sensation was that experienced upon rising up after having rested for a
few moments. I then felt the blood rush violently to the head, and the
feeling produced was as if it were driven by a forcing-pump through all
my veins.
LAST EFFORTS.
Previously to starting again I gave the men orders, which I believed at
the time would be, to some at least, the last. I did not attempt to hide
from them the dangers which surrounded us; but stating these I
represented that matters had now arrived at such a crisis that, in the
event of any of them being unable to proceed, it would be wrong to expect
the others to halt on their account; and I therefore called upon all to
exert their utmost energies and boldly to make a last struggle for their
lives. My intention, I told them, was to proceed slowly but steadily to
the southward, and never once to halt until I dropped or reached water;
even in the event of any being unable to keep up I warned them that I
should not wait for them but still pursue a steady and undeviating course
until water was found; but as soon as I had slaked my own thirst I would
return and bring assistance to those who might have been unable to come
on with me.
PAINFUL MARCH.
Having thus imparted my intentions I ordered them to throw away every
superfluous article; and a very valuable sextant, which had hitherto been
carried turn about by Corporals Auger and Coles, was here abandoned.
These our preparations having been made we moved slowly on in sad
procession, and never shall I forget the wild and haggard looks of those
that followed me; reason had begun to hold but a very slight influence
over some, and I feel assured that had it not been for the force of that
discipline which I rigidly maintained some of the party must now have
lost their lives. As it was, not a word of complaint was heard as to the
plan I pursued or the route I took; but they all reeled and staggered
after me, the silence being only broken by groans and exclamations. I
preserved a slow uniform pace, proceeding still in a south by east
direction, that is, in a straight line for Perth. The same sandy sterile
country was around, thinly clothed with Banksia trees.
We had marched for about an hour and a quarter and in this time had only
made two miles, when we suddenly arrived upon the edge of a dried-up bed
of a sedgy swamp, which lay in the centre of a small plain, where we saw
the foot-mark of a native imprinted on the sand, and again our hearts
beat with hope, for this sign appeared to announce that we were once more
entering the regions of animal life. We soon found that another part of
the swamp was thickly marked with the footsteps of women and children;
and as no water-baskets were scattered about no doubt could exist but
that we were in the vicinity of water. We soon discovered several native
wells dug in the bed of the swamp; but these were all dry, and I began
again to fear that I was disappointed, when Kaiber suddenly started up
from a thick bed of reeds and made me a sign which was unobserved by the
others, as was evidently his intention.
FORTUNATE DISCOVERY OF A MOIST MUD-HOLE. PROVIDENTIAL SUPPLY.
I hurried up and found him with his head buried in a small hole of moist
mud, for I can call it nothing else. I very deliberately raised Kaiber by
the hair, as all expostulations to him were useless, and then called up
the others.
Kaiber had completely swelled himself out with this thick muddy liquid,
and from the mark upon the sides of the hole had evidently consumed more
than half of the total supply. I first of all took some of this moist mud
in my mouth, but finding a difficulty in swallowing it, as it was so
thick, I strained a portion through a handkerchief. We had thirsted with
an intense and burning thirst for three days and two nights, during the
greater portion of which time we had been taking violent exercise under a
fierce sun. To conceive the delight of the men when they arrived at this
little hole of mud would be difficult. Each, as he came up and cast his
wearied limbs on the ground beside the hole, uttered these words: "Thank
God;" and then greedily swallowed a few mouthfuls of the liquid mud,
protesting that it was the most delicious water and had a peculiar
flavour which rendered it far superior to any other he had ever tasted.
DANGER OF PERISHING FROM HUNGER.
But it required some time before their faculties were sufficiently
recovered to allow them duly to estimate the magnitude of the danger they
had escaped. The small portion of muddy water in the hole was soon
finished, and then by scraping it out clean we found that water began
slowly to trickle into it again. The men now laid themselves down almost
in a state of stupefaction, and rested by their treasured pool. I felt
however that great calls upon my energies might still arise, and
therefore, retiring a little apart with the native, I first of all
returned hearty thanks to my Maker for the dangers and sufferings he had
thus brought me through, and then tottered on with my gun in search of
food. As might have been expected, game was here plentiful: numerous
pigeons and other birds came down at nightfall (which was now the hour)
for the purpose of drinking at this lone pool, and the numbers of birds
of different kinds that congregated here was a most convincing proof of
the general aridity of this part of the country. Indeed the natives
subsequently reported that the tract we had just traversed was at this
season of the year totally devoid of water. It was in vain now that I
raised the gun, for my tremulous hand shook so that I could not for a
moment cover the bird I aimed at, and after one or two ineffectual
attempts to kill something I was obliged to desist in despair.
PANGS OF HUNGER.
I now dreaded that I had only escaped the pains of death by thirst in
order to perish of hunger, and for a moment regretted that I had not died
ere I found water, for I firmly believed, from the state of weakness I
was then reduced to, that the bitterness of death had passed. But a short
period sufficed to smother these unmanly and unchristian feelings in my
breast, and, seeing a flight of black cockatoos soaring about in the air,
I determined to watch them to their roosting-place, and then favoured by
the darkness of night to steal upon them. On my return to the party I
found the men sitting by the hole of water, anxiously watching until they
again saw a little black mud in it, which they then eagerly swallowed.
I found some difficulty in inducing them to light their fire and to
choose a situation where they could repose for the night, but, having
accomplished this, I sat down by my own, hand-rubbing my limbs until it
should grow rather darker. At length I had the pleasure of seeing that
the black cockatoos, who found we were not likely to leave them in
possession of the water, had taken up their position for the night in a
large clump of trees distant not more than half a mile, and I hereupon
started with Kaiber to try and get a shot at them.
SHOOT AND COOK A COCKATOO.
After about an hour's wandering and excitement such only as the desperate
gambler can know whose life depends upon the stake for which he plays, I
succeeded in getting a shot into a whole flight of roosting and snoring
black cockatoos, and one fell. I pounced in triumph on it and received a
bite which, famishing as I was, somewhat damped my ardour; Kaiber however
hit it upon the head with a stick, and we then bore it off to our fire.
The men had cooked one spoonful of flour each in the liquid mud which the
pool afforded, and assured me that they found this thick water very
nourishing; whence I concluded that the large portion of mud it contained
in some degree gratified the cravings of the stomach. Kaiber soon plucked
the cockatoo and roasted it: I gave him the entrails, the feet, and the
first joint of the legs, eating the head and thighs myself and reserving
the other portions as a store against future emergencies. I now felt
assured that my life was saved and, rendering thanks to God for his many
mercies, I laid down by the fire to watch for the first appearance of
dawn.
April 18.
The men slept but little during the night: every now and then one of them
visited the hole of mud and water to see if a little of this fluid had
drained into it, and about an hour before daylight I roused them up to
proceed upon their journey. They were dreadfully feeble though upon the
whole stronger than they had been for the last three days. We now entered
upon a more hilly country than we had traversed yesterday; the hills were
steep, being composed of sand and recent limestone, whilst the valleys
were thickly wooded with grass-trees and stunted Banksias. The general
line of route I followed was south by east, and we had not travelled more
than nine miles when we came suddenly upon a valley with a river running
rapidly through it. The sight of this cheered us up; and when on tasting
the water we found it excellent, and saw adhering to the banks a species
of freshwater mussel (Unio) called by the natives Maraylya, our joy was
complete.
SUPERSTITIOUS FEELINGS OF KAIBER REGARDING MUSSELS.
I proceeded therefore to collect wood for my fire and ordered Kaiber to
make haste and gather some of these mussels, an order which, considering
the hungry state he was in, I imagined he would gladly have obeyed; but
to my astonishment he refused positively to touch one of them, and
evidently regarded them with a superstitious dread and abhorrence. My
arguments to induce him to move were all thrown away; he constantly
affirmed that if he touched these shellfish through their agency the
Boyl-yas* would acquire some mysterious influence over him, which would
end in his death. He could not state a recent instance of any ill effects
having happened from handling or catching the mussel; but when I taunted
him with this he very shrewdly replied that his inability to do so only
arose from the fact of nobody being "wooden-headed enough" to meddle with
them, and that he intended to have nothing whatever to do with them. This
much he assured me was certain: that a very very long time ago some
natives had eaten them, and that bad spirits had immediately killed them
for so doing.
(*Footnote. The Boyl-ya is the native sorcerer.)
Kaiber was a great deal too sensible a fellow to be allowed to remain a
prey to so ridiculous a superstition as this was; I therefore ordered him
instantly to go and bring some of these mussels to me; that I intended to
eat them, but that he could in this respect please himself. He hereupon,
after thinking for a moment or two, got up to obey me, and walked away
for this purpose; but I heard him, whilst occupied in the task, lamenting
his fate most bitterly. It was true, he said, that he had not died either
of hunger or thirst, but this was all owing to his courage and strong
sinews, yet what would these avail against the supernatural powers of the
boyl-yas. "They will eat me at night, whilst, worn out by fatigue, I must
sleep." Amidst these and sundry other similar exclamations he brought the
mussels to me: by this time my fire was prepared, and in a few minutes I
was making such a meal as the weak state of my stomach would admit of. No
inducement of mine could however prevail upon Kaiber to share with me,
and I therefore handed him the remains of the cockatoo.
As soon as my repast was concluded I walked about three miles up the
river in the hopes of getting a duck, Kaiber accompanying me. We saw
several but killed none. There were some fine reaches in the river, as
well as some good flats along its banks.
In the afternoon we travelled about three miles in a south by east
direction, and then came to the bed of a small stream, which ran from
east to west but was now merely a chain of pools. Across the bed where we
passed it was a native weir. Our route during the whole evening lay over
hills of a nature similar to those we passed yesterday. We did not halt
until it was so dark that we could not see to walk, and then just dropped
at the spot where we ceased to move.
DISTRESS FROM COLD.
The men made their fire and I lighted mine from theirs; but scarcely was
this done ere the rain fell in torrents. I had no blankets or protection
of any kind against this, and Kaiber was in the same predicament; so that
when the fire was extinguished our position became pitiable in the
extreme, for I know not if I ever before suffered so much from cold; and
to add to my annoyance I every now and then heard Kaiber chattering to
himself, under its effects, rather than singing:
Oh wherefore did he eat the mussels?
Now the boyl-yas storms and thunder make;
Oh wherefore would he eat the mussels?"
At last I so completely lost my temper that I roared out, "You
stone-headed fellow, Kaiber, if you talk of mussels again, I'll beat
you." "What spoke I this morning?" replied Kaiber; "you are stone-headed.
We shall be dead directly; wherefore ate you the mussels?" This was
beyond what my patience in my present starved state could endure, so I
got up and began to grope about for a stick or something to throw in the
direction of the chattering blockhead; but he begged me to remain quiet,
promising faithfully to make no more mention of the mussels. I therefore
squatted down, in a state of the most abject wretchedness.
CRIPPLED STATE OF THE MEN.
I nearly expired from cold and pain during this inclement night; the
rheumatism in the hip in which I had been wounded was dreadful, and I
lost the power of moving my extremities from cold. Kaiber must have
suffered even more for he had nothing but a shirt on, whereas I had also
a pair of trousers. The men were in somewhat better condition for they
had a blanket, or rather a piece of one, between each two, and lying
together they afforded one another mutual warmth. The long starvation
which we had undergone had totally unfitted us all to cope with anything
like cold.
April 19.
The rain and clouds protracted the morning dawn until late, which
somewhat lengthened our miseries. As soon however as it was light enough
to see our way we started, and moved slowly onwards in a south by east
direction. The men were all completely crippled from the cold of the
night, and it was with the greatest difficulty I could get either them or
the native to move. My own energies were however only raised from these
calls upon them, and I cheered them on as well as I could. Corporal
Coles, my faithful and tried companion in all my wanderings, could
scarcely crawl along. The flesh was completely torn away from one of his
heels, and the irritation caused by this had produced a large swelling in
the groin. Nothing but his own strong fortitude, aided by the
encouragement given him by myself and his comrades, could have made him
move under his great agony.
Still however we advanced slowly; other lives depended on our exertions;
and whenever I reminded the men of this for a minute or two they
quickened their pace. Pale, wasted, and weak, we still crawled onwards in
the straight line for Perth, which I assured them they would reach on
Saturday night or Sunday morning.
RIVER OF RUNNING WATER. PASS THE MOORE RIVER.
About two hours and a half after starting we crossed the southern branch
of the Moore River, which was running strong; but the rain, which had
only just ceased, prevented our being thirsty.
The whole of this day's route lay over hills similar to those we had
found yesterday. We moved on, occasionally halting for a few minutes,
until it was so dark we could no longer see, and then laid down, having
again this day tasted no food.
MISERY FROM RAIN AND COLD.
It rained hard all night and our miseries of the last one were repeated.
We were also less able to bear them, being weaker from longer abstinence.
This day we travelled about one-and-twenty miles.
DESPONDING FEELINGS.
April 20.
This morning we rose again, weak and stiffened from the cold and wet;
life had long ceased to have any charms for me, and I fancy that the
others must have experienced a similar feeling. A disinclination to move
pervaded the whole, and I had much the same desire to sink into the sleep
of death, that one feels to take a second slumber of a morning after
great fatigue. My life was not worth the magnitude of the effort that it
cost me to move; but other lives depended on mine, so I rose up weak and
giddy and by degrees induced the rest to start also. Poor Coles however
was in a dreadful state.
The country through which we were travelling is intersected by a long
line of lakes which run nearly parallel to the sea for a distance of
about forty-five miles. One of the party had travelled in the same
direction with me before, but we had then kept along the edge of the
lakes. He had imagined however that they were only two or three miles
distant from the sea, whereas many of them were as much as eight or ten.
The route we were pursuing was about midway between the lakes and the
sea, and this man seeing nothing of the lakes could not be convinced that
I was right in the position I said we then were; for I assured the men
they were not more than twenty-seven or twenty-eight miles to the north
of Perth; but I heard him relating his doubts, which tended to discourage
the others very much.
A PARTY OF NATIVES.
We however walked on as well as we could until near noon, at which time,
from excessive weakness, we had not made more than eight miles, or about
a mile and a quarter an hour, when we suddenly came out on the bed of a
dried-up swamp, now looking like a desert of white sand studded with
reeds. The forms of natives were seen wandering about this, one mile from
us, who were searching for frogs. There was a very numerous party, and
they did not appear at all inclined to approach us. Now it was very
evident that if we were so near Perth as I imagined these natives must be
well acquainted with Europeans; for although but very little was known of
the country to the north of Perth, and the farthest settlement in that
direction was only four miles from the town, still the natives must, from
mere curiosity, have been frequently in the settlement.
JOYFUL INTERVIEW WITH A FRIENDLY TRIBE. KAIBER'S OPINION OF THEM.
We therefore approached them but as we came near they withdrew. Kaiber
was now called into consultation; he scrutinised them long and carefully,
and then announced that they were "mondak yoongar," wild natives; and,
after a second survey of them, declared that they had the "mondak kurrang
kombar," or great bush fury, on them, or rather, were subject to wild
untutored rage. After making this announcement he squatted down under a
bush to conceal himself, and then recapitulating rapidly all the dangers
we had gone through, conjured me not to bring him into a fresh scrape by
having anything to do with such a numerous party of his countrymen in our
present weak state.
The men, who understood enough of what he was saying to know that he
thought these natives had never seen Europeans, became extremely uneasy
and begged me to allow them to fire a gun as a signal to them: "For if we
are so near Perth as you suppose, Sir," they said to me, "these natives
will come to us." Kaiber hereupon told me that the instant the gun was
fired he should run away. This was rather too ridiculous a threat when
the coward was afraid to move five yards from us; I therefore ordered a
gun to be fired, and then, telling the men to remain steady and prepared
in case of accident, I walked off towards the natives, Kaiber, in the
meanwhile, sitting on his haunches under cover, muttering to himself,
"The swan, the big head, the stone forehead;" and, as these denunciations
reached me, I could not, even in all my misery, forbear smiling at them.
DISCOVERED TO BE FRIENDS.
The natives no sooner heard the gun and saw me approaching than they came
running to me. Presently Kaiber called out to me, "Mr. Grey, Mr. Grey,
nadjoo watto, nginnee yalga nginnow," "Mr. Grey, Mr. Grey, I am going to
them; you sit here a little;" and he then, with his long thin ungainly
legs, bounded by me like a deer. "Imbat, friend," I heard him cry out, as
a young man came running up to him. I grew giddy; I knew Imbat by name,
and felt assured that at all events the lives of a great portion of my
party were safe. In a few minutes Kaiber had given an outline of our
adventures and present state. Fearing such mischances as had really
happened to me, I had, previously to my departure to the north, done my
utmost to cultivate the friendship of the northern natives; and most of
them, even to the distance of sixty or seventy miles from Perth in that
direction, had received presents from me. My name was well known amongst
them as a tried friend, although indeed my common denomination was
"Wokeley brudder," or Oakley's brother; for, from my giving them flour,
they concluded that I was a relation of the baker of that name at Perth.
HOSPITABLE RECEPTION BY THEM.
The women were soon called up, bark baskets of frogs opened for us, by-yu
nuts roasted, and as a special delicacy I obtained a small fresh-water
tortoise. "Now, friend, sleep whilst I cook," said Imbat, and lighting a
fire he made me lie down and try to slumber whilst he roasted some frogs
and the turtle for me. I was not over-well pleased at the skill he chose
to exhibit in his cookery, for he thereby delayed me for a longer time
than was agreeable, but we were all soon regaling on this native fare.
Anxious questions were put by the men as to their distance from Perth,
and the natives all told them they would see it the next morning, "whilst
the sun was still small;" and on further enquiry it turned out that a
kangaroo hunter of the name of Porley was at a hut distant only seven
miles from us, and according to the account of the natives he had a
supply of provisions with him. As soon therefore as I had a little
recruited my strength I started on with Imbat to the hut, leaving the men
to follow in company with the other natives as rapidly as their strength
would allow them. Imbat carried my gun and everything but a book or two
and my papers, which, being precious documents, I had never trusted out
of my own possession, however heavy my labours and misfortunes had been.
He moved merrily along, trying to win me from my moody thoughts by
relating all the news of the settlement both as concerned the Europeans
and natives; for like all other idle people the natives are great gossips
and really love a little scandal. Worn out from fatigue, I was rather
petulant and ill-tempered, but Imbat talked on unmindful of this, or only
laughed at me, and jeered me for it.
IMBAT'S NOTIONS.
My intentions in going on were to have everything prepared for the men on
their arrival at the hut; but when I reached it I found it deserted, the
owner having returned to Perth. I however lit a fire and laid down, Imbat
again beginning to cook, and then chattering: "What for do you who have
plenty to eat and much money walk so far away in the bush?" I felt
amazingly annoyed at this question and therefore did not answer him. "You
are thin," said he, "your shanks are long, your belly is small, you had
plenty to eat at home, why did you not stop there?" I was vexed at his
personalities, besides which it is impossible to make a native understand
our love of travel. I therefore replied, "Imbat, you comprehend nothing,
you know nothing." "I know nothing!" answered he; "I know how to keep
myself fat; the young women look at me and say, Imbat is very handsome,
he is fat. They will look at you and say, He not good, long legs, what do
you know? where is your fat? what for do you know so much if you can't
keep fat? I know how to stay at home and not to walk too far in the bush.
Where is your fat?" "You know how to talk; long tongue;" was my reply;
upon which Imbat, forgetting his anger, burst into a roar of laughter,
and saying, "and I know how to make you fat," began stuffing me with
frogs, barde, and by-yu nuts. The rest of the party arrived just before
nightfall, and, searching the hut, found a paper of tea, and an old tin
pot in which they cooked some, and then eating frogs, etc., for their
supper, we all laid down to sleep, and in the silence of the night I
rendered fervent thanks to my Maker who had again brought us so near the
haven where we would be."
OPINIONS OF THE MEN REGARDING THE FATE OF OUR OTHER PARTY.
April 21.
It had rained all night but we had been a little sheltered by the hut;
though from the state of anxiety we were in sleep did not visit our eyes.
This was the first time since I had been out that I had slept so near the
men as to be able to overhear their conversation; but the rain forced us
all to seek the shelter of the same little hut, and I thus gathered the
different stories that they narrated to one another. Their speculations
and conjectures naturally ran upon our absent comrades; some imagined
that they were within a day or two's march of us, but another party held
firmly to the opinion that we should never see them more.
SUPERSTITIONS OF MY MEN.
They could give no apparently satisfactory reason for holding this
opinion, and, as there was evidently some deep mystery connected with it,
I kept on pressing my servant Coles in order to induce him to tell me
whence it arose. At last it came out that Mr. Walker had had a dream,
when we were on the shores of Shark Bay and before we had commenced our
return home, that some dreadful misfortune had befallen us and that Mr.
Smith, Thomas Ruston, and he himself, were endeavouring to make the Isle
of France in a boat, when Mr. Smith died, and the remaining two had eaten
his body. Mr. Walker had, with the utmost imprudence, related this dream
to some of the men, and they, with that superstition which is so common
amongst sailors and Englishmen of the lower orders, had attached a great
degree of importance to it; many circumstances which had hitherto been
unexplained to me now flashed upon my mind; poor Mr. Smith had been very
ill at the time Mr. Walker had related this inauspicious dream, and at
that period an extraordinary degree of despondency had crept over him, so
much so that some of the men imagined he had become deranged. When also
we were working our way down the eastern coast of Shark Bay in the boats
others of the party had got into a very desponding state, one of whom,
Henry Woods, had even gone so far as to tell me when I remonstrated with
him on this point that he knew that the greater part of us wore doomed,
and that our lives were worth nothing.
My anxiety for those I had left behind me now increased, and about an
hour and a half before daylight I started for Perth with Imbat, leaving
the others to follow as rapidly as they could, and telling them that I
would have food ready for them at Williams's cottage, who was the settler
living farthest north from Perth. In about an hour and a half I reached
Williams's hut, which I entered, and found his wife and another woman at
breakfast.
I had often got a drink of milk at this cottage when I had before been at
Perth, and I flattered myself that Mrs. Williams would recollect me;
little calculating how strangely want and suffering had changed my
appearance. The two women only stared with the utmost surprise and said,
"Why, Magic, what's the matter with you?" (They alluded to a crazy Malay
who used to visit the outsettler's houses, and who had somehow or the
other acquired the nickname of Magic.) I was rather hurt at my reception
and said, "I am not Magic;" at this they both burst into a roar of
laughter and Mrs. Williams said, "Well, then, my good man, who are you?"
"One who is almost starved," was my reply. "Will you take this then,"
said my hostess, handing me a cup of tea she was raising to her lips.
"With all my heart and soul, and God reward you for it," was my answer,
and I swallowed the delicious draught. Imbat, who had been to search for
Williams, now came in and explained who I was; in a few minutes more I
was seated at a comfortable breakfast; water was put on to boil, and by
the time the things were prepared the rest of the party came up.
ARRIVAL AND RECEPTION AT PERTH. NOT RECOGNIZED BY MY FRIENDS.
I now washed and made myself as clean as possible. I could obtain no
conveyance to take us on to Perth and therefore started to walk in with
Imbat, leaving the others to complete their breakfast; but I soon found
myself dreadfully ill from having eaten too profusely; still I pushed on
as well as I could, and in about an hour and a half reached the house of
my friend, L. Samson, Esquire. He could not believe it was me whom he
beheld, but having convinced himself of the fact he made me swallow about
a tea-spoonful of brandy, and, recruited by this, I was sufficiently
recovered to wait upon His Excellency the Governor in order to have
immediate steps taken to send off a party in search of my missing
comrades.
The Governor could scarcely credit his sight when he beheld the miserable
object that stood before him; but in this as in all other instances in
which I have known him the goodness of his heart shone conspicuous; not
only was every kindness shown me but immediate steps were taken to
forward assistance to those who were still in the bush. Having thus far
performed my duty I retired to press a bed once more, having for nearly
three consecutive months slept in the open air, on the ground just at the
spot where my day's hardship had terminated. So changed was I that those
of my friends who had heard of my arrival and were coming to congratulate
me passed me in the street, whilst others to whom I went up and held out
my hand drew back in horror and said, "I beg your pardon, who are you?"
Ere I was in bed the remainder of the men who were journeying with me
arrived, and it had thus pleased Providence to conduct six of us through
great suffering and want to the termination of our miseries.