The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work eBook

Ernest Favenc
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 323 pages of information about The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work.

The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work eBook

Ernest Favenc
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 323 pages of information about The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work.

Gregory was accompanied by one of his brothers, Messrs. Burges, Walcott, and Bedart, and private King of the 96th Regiment, of whose services he speaks very highly.  This expedition excited great hopes amongst the settlers, who found most of the horses and provisions.  The party left Lefroy’s station of Welbing on the 9th of September, with ten pack, and two riding-horses, but did not succeed in penetrating any distance beyond the Murchison, being turned back at all points, after repeated efforts, by the belt of impervious scrub between the Murchison and Gascoyne.  They therefore returned without seeing the latter river, after having attained a distance of 350 miles from Perth; but they succeeded in finding a considerable extent of available country, both pastoral and agricultural, and in discovering a vein of galena on the Murchison.  They re-entered Perth on the 17th of November.

The following month, Gregory, Bland, and three soldiers of the 96th accompanied Governor Fitzgerald by sea to Champion Bay to examine the new mineral discoveries.  The galena lode was found to be more important than had been at first supposed.  On their return to the schooner, an affray occurred with the natives, in which the Governor was wounded.

“As the country was covered with dense wattle thickets, the natives took advantage of the ground, and having completely surrounded the party, commenced first to threaten to throw their spears, then to throw stones, and finally one man caught hold of Mr. Bland by the arm, threatening to strike him with a dowak; another native threw a spear at myself, though without effect; but before I could fire at him, the Governor, perceiving that unless some severe example was made, the whole party would be cut off, fired at one of the most forward of our assailants and killed him; two other shots were fired by the soldiers, but the thickness of the bushes prevented our seeing with what effect.  A shower of spears, stones, kylies and dowaks followed, and although we moved to a more open spot, the natives were only kept off by firing at any that exposed themselves.  At this moment a spear struck the Governor in the leg, just above the knee, with such force as to cause it to protrude two feet on the other side, which was so far fortunate as to enable me to break off the barb and withdraw the shaft.  The Governor, notwithstanding his wound, continued to direct the party, and although the natives made many attempts to approach close enough to reach us with their spears, we were able by keeping on the most open ground and checking them by an occasional shot, to avoid their attacks when crossing the gullies.”

The natives followed them for seven miles, but finally desisted, and the whites reached the beach and boarded the Champion without further mishap.

In 1856 Gregory made his most celebrated journey in the north of central Australia.  An account of this journey might have been included in Part 2, but as the name of Gregory is so intimately connected with Western Australia, this section is perhaps the most appropriate place in which to recount its incidents. [But its lengthy place in which to recount its incidents (sic)].  But its numerous details demand another chapter.

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.