THE NEW COUNTRY TO THE NORTHWARD.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 634, 30 August 1851, Page 4

THE NEW COUNTRY TO THE NORTHWARD.

[From the Western Australian Inquirer, October 3, 184 9. j SECOND NOTICE. We left Captain Grey on the Greenough River. We will now accompany him in his disastrous journey towards ihe South, comparing, as we have hitherto done, his remarks on the nature of the country with those of Mr. Gregory. Captain Grey, on the second day from his departure from the Greenough, says, 44 The first three miles of our route lay over sandy, scrubby plains: we saw, however, a good country to the eastward," “ We reached a very thick belt of trees; at length we emerged upon some clear hills, overlooking a very extensive and fertile valley," This valley was that of the Irwin River. Mr. Gregory’s description of his route, which was to the westward of Mount Hill, is singularly eorioburauve ; —“ The country then became sandy, producing little besides scrub “entered a thick forest of York gum;” “ entered a grassy flat extending to the Irwin River." From the Irwin to the Hill River, the accounts given by Messrs. Grey and Gregory seem to be pretty nearly alike, the country, with the exception of occasional patches of grassy land, being of the most worthless description. The Hill River is described by Captain Grey as “flowing through a deep grassy valley, in which were many large flats.” Mr. Gregory, however, does not set much value upon it; he says that “ the land on its banks, with the exception of a few grassy bills on the northern side, was very scrubby and indifferent.” But Captain Grey’s position was such as to render the absence of strict accuracy more excusable. He had separated from a portion of his party, or rather .hey had separated from him, and, accompanied by four white men and a native, was forcing his way towards Perth. His food had been for some days suspended, and he depended entirely for subsistence upon the precarious supplies derived from native roots, byu-nuts, and his gun. He had during that and the previous days travelled a distance of 59 miles without water and through a barren and scrubby country. It is not therefore surprising that upon his arrival at the Hill River, where that inestimable blessing was to be procured, in his weak and exhausted state he should feel inclined to magnify the patches of verdure that met his eye into a grassy valley and large flats. In his pitiable condition, the spot that yielded food to the senses

of taste and sight must have appeared little short of a terrestrial paradise. As the country between that point and Perth is now so well known, it is unnecessary to accompany Captain Grey farther; his arrival at Perth, after enduring the most excruciating torments, is familiar to all. We have accompanied him from the Murchison to the Hill, and compared his accounts with those given by the leader of the recent expedition. The object which we had in view has been attained ; and his description of the country passed over tallies in a wonderful degree with that of the party who lately explored those regions. When we consider the difficulties he had to contend with, it is a matter of astonishment that bis accounts have been so connected and so correct. In the most trying moments he never forgot the objects of the journey in which he was engaged, and when tottering along at the rate of two miles in an hour and a quarter, which was the case towards the termination of his sufferings, and when the conveyance of the slightest load would be an intolerable burden, he never yielded possession of those charts and journals which were to be the means of eventually opening to his fellow creatures that country the knowledge of which he had attained with nearly the cost of his existence. At no period did he omit making the necessary entries in his journal and chart—and we all know how indisposed we are to write after enduring even moderate fatigue. How great then must be the praise due to this indefatigable traveller, who, at the termination of each day of toil and suffering, could collect his wandering thoughts, and record the progress of his almost perishing little band of pioneers. Thus far we have determined that Mr. Grey’s description of the country through which he passed is a correct one, that be has not exaggerated, or over-coloured, or mis-stated; and that his report has been fully borne out by more recent explorers. It will now be our office to take under review the position of the places passed over by Captain Grey, as laid down in Arrowsmith’s map, and which positions differ more or less from those resulting from later surveys. Captain Grey has been accused of (either carelessly or with premeditation) altering the position of Port Grey, or Champion Bay, which, in Arrowsmith’s chart, published either from his information or with his sanction or connivance, is laid down ten or twelve miles to the southward of its actual site —of having protected that harbour from the N.W. winds by placing, for that purpose, a convenient though imaginary promontory —of having altered the position of a reef of rocks with a similar design—and of having given false soundings, to convey an incorrect impression of the capabilities of the harbour. In considering these grave charges we shall have to compare bis published journal with Arrowsmith’s chart. Upon referring to Captain Grey’s journal, we discover that he made no stay at Champion Bay : he passed a mile or two to the eastward of that harbour, being at the time engaged in tracking up one of his party, who had strayed from the main body. His only mention of the place is in the following words:—“On arriving at the beach to the south of a bay or harbour (which has since been denominated Port Grey) which the presence of circumstances precluded me from examining, we could find nothing of Styles’ (the missing man) tracks.” We thus perceive that he disclaims any personal knowledge of that bay; therefore the position of the various reefs, ixu., llluSl liaVc bccu laid dvWu by himself from information derived from others, or by others, to suit their own peculiar views. At or near the time that Arrowsmith’s map was published, the alteration of the site of the proposed settlement of Australind from Leschenault to that of Port Grey, in consequence of the resumption of Colonel Latour’s land by the Government, was determined upon. As the formation of this company occupied, to some extent, the attention of the public, it was natural that Mr. Grey and others should feel inclined to render all the information upon the subject they possibly could, and though personally unacquainted with the harbour, he might yet, with the most praiseworthy motives, glean what intelligence he could from other sources; and whether he derived this knowledge from an American whaler, or from the report of the trip of the CAarsynoß in 1840, or through any other legitimate channel, is not of material consequence. He was aware that his journal would be in the hands of the public, and that his distinct assertion therein that he did not examine the harbour, would be a sufficient proof that the position laid down in the map of the bay, with its promontory, reef, soundings, &c., must have been procured irons sources unconnected with his own trave So This course might have been imprudent, but we conceive it sufficient to acquit him of the charge of having wilfully misstated and misrepresented, and will satisfactorily account for the appearance of these imaginary and convenient” auxiliaries. laking into consideration the unfavourable

position in which Captain Grey was placed, arisingfrom any damage that may have occurred to his instruments by the wreck of his boats at Gantheaume Bay, which would cause him to distrust their accuracy, and place more reliance upon the estimated rate of travelling performed by the party, his positions are wonderfully correct, the chief errors being the placing of Champion Bay, Wizard Hill, and the Hutt and Bowes Rivers, a few miles to the southward of their actual position. We have been informed that 44 when viewing Port Grey from position A, as shewn on the chart, it has every appearance of being protected by reefs. The bay is stretched at too great a depth—an error likely to occur from the position in which it was viewed.” We have thus seen that Captain Grey, if not perfectly correct in his latitude, has at least been guilty of no error which will not bear palliation, and in no case was bis deviation one of any great moment; we have seen that he denies having been at Champion Bay, and therefore the information given in the chart must have been gleaned from others, and that he did not do so with the purpose of giving a false impression—as to have done that effectually it must have been borne out by his journal,— and that he was the discoverer of the fertile district to the Northward. We have therefore arrived at the conviction that his claims, as a successful explorer and as a veracious narrator, will not suffer by comparison with the discoveries and reports of other travellers —that he has been subject to undeserved obloquy —and that the public acknowledgment of his services, the public repudiation of the accusations that have been showered upon him, is no more than be is entitled to. We are again compelled to postpone the consideration of the trip of 11, M.S. Beagle; next week, however, we hope to be enabled to conclude our remarks upon this subject, which is one that must interest all who delight in awarding justice towards those who have been long subjected to undeserved censure. Our convictions are strong, and it would indeed be a source of indescribable gratification to us if, by the mere production of facts, we shall be able to bring others to think as we do, and that we shall hereafter hear Captain Giey spoken of as—what he really is—one of the greatest benefactors to Western Australia.