Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 1Grey, George
History
Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 1
Grey, George
Natural history -- Australia -- Western Australia; Western Australia -- Discovery and exploration
This afternoon Mr. Lushington and the party returned, having found the
northern bank of the river to consist of low marshy ground covered with a
luxuriant vegetation, and in some places with such forests of mangrove
trees that it was impossible to approach the stream. They however
succeeded in reaching one of the channels of the river, which was upwards
of 400 yards wide; the rise and fall of tide was here about twenty feet,
and the current, of course, extremely rapid. They reported the river as
being, to all appearance, navigable, and that the tide only set in from
the westward.
THE RIVER.
As the southern bank of the river was bordered by high rocky hills they
saw nothing of the country in that direction. Their report was on the
whole satisfactory, for it appeared that the good country still extended
along the northern bank, and that we were upon the mainland.
PORPOISES SEEN.
A good idea may be formed of the size of the river where the party made
it from the circumstance of their seeing a large shoal of porpoises.
IGUANA. DENSENESS OF VEGETATION.
March 7.
This morning we started early in a north-easterly direction and travelled
all day through a very fertile and picturesque country. On our left lay
hills covered with grass, and on our right extensive plains, through
which ran the Glenelg. The vegetation in these was so luxuriant that it
choked the fresh water up; and whole plains were sometimes thus inundated
ankle deep. The country was thinly timbered, but in general the trees
were of a very great size: one particularly took my fancy, having very
large leaves about the colour of those of the horse-chestnut, and which
cast more shade around them than any other which I have seen in
Australia.
In the afternoon, as we were passing through a densely vegetated bottom,
we saw a very large iguana run up a tree. This brute was of a beautiful
green colour and five or six feet long; it sat on the tree, making a
noise somewhat like a snake, and was the largest and ugliest of the
lizard tribe which I have ever seen on land. As we could make no use of
it I thought it would be wanton to kill it; so, after examining it as
well as we could, we moved on, leaving it undisturbed.
The black flies on this day changed their character, and became much
smaller than those I had hitherto seen.
March 8.
We made but little progress today on account of the denseness of the
vegetation, which was so luxuriant that we found great difficulty in
forcing our way through it; in several instances indeed it was wholly
impassable; and, after making an attempt to penetrate through a jungle,
we were obliged to turn about and coast round it. The numerous streams we
met with were also a serious impediment, for many of these were so muddy
and deep that we had great difficulty in finding a place where we could
cross.
SIGNS OF NATIVES.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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