"GOOD GOVERNOR GREY."

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15433, 20 April 1912, Page 14

"GOOD GOVERNOR GREY."

SOME CENTENARY SNAPSHOTS. By Constant Reader. 11.-OFF TO AUSTRALIA. On June 20, 1837, Queen Victoria ramo to the throne of England, "and on July 5 Lieutenants Grey and Lusliingtoii sailed for Australia. James Milne in his "Romance of a Pro-Consul "—a book now available in Nelson's, Shilling Librarysays : — It was an abounding moment at which to bo taken into partnership for tho carrying forward of the univcr.«e. Half the globe as we are intimate with it to-day was then unknown, and north-west Australia was a noman's land, saving to the aborigines. It was believed by geographers that a big river, artery to an immense area of Australia, must here drain into tho sew. A Government expedition, as head of which Sir (leorgo Grey was selected, diould determine this and familiarise the aborigines with the British name and character. The expedition was commenced under the happiest auspices. "The exploring party," writes James Collier, "was carried to the Cape of Good Hope in one of the men-of-war, the Beagle, in which Darwin had made a remarkable voyage, when it was commanded by that Captain Fitzroy, wlio was to bo Grey's predeces►nr in governing New Zealand." As a matter of fact, as Milne point* nut, " the cabin Darwin had occupied in the clumsy Beagle was tlie home of Grey from Plymouth to the Cape. Instead oi sleeping in a bunk, he swung a hammock, which he regarded as tlie better sea-going bed. Though no yacht in heels, the Beagle had her own qualities for rough weather, and she behaved loyally towards her passengers. All the water supply had to be carried in raaks, with the effect, under a blazing sun, tint it soon grew bad. The ship called at South America, where Kir George had his first revelation of Nature ae sho blooms in t.l» gorgeous tropics." Sir George Grey thus set 6 down lus own feelings on tlie voyage :— .My emotions on the Beagle were as a tlcod. Here I was, sailing to a quarter of the world which tho Creator in His goodness had provided for the supjwt and happiness of men. Yet they did not know n«4«ially what it was" liko; the inheritance was still unexplarod. And that land of Northwest Australia was to be all my own, to designate m I wished. My feelings might ba ootnparod u> that of a child waiting for a new toy. It gave rise to an ardent expectation.

Behind was the despair of thousands, without the necessaries of life, or the prospect of them; a nightmare of darkness that haunti'd me." Hut in front, as J trusted, lay lands which sliould afford manldnd another sUut. Why, the busy brains of England were already unconsciously preparing even - device and implement thai could he 'useful to the risw of the new world. Wc make ready in the dark for the light. At Simon's Hay, (ircy left the Beagle, and hiring a schooner'of 110 lons—the lij-nor,—ho. and a party of 12 men bosides the crew landed at Hanover Day, in the far north-west of Australia. His first journcv of exploration, however, had small icsults. He di.ioveml a river, which he named the tileneig, after the .Secretary of State for the Comities, awl ho received a spear wound in his thigh as the result of an encounter with the aborigine*, the effects of which were felt l;y him to his dying day. The incident is 'described at "length, and witli spirit, by Milne; Henderson's summary of the encounter reach, ns follows :— 'J'liprc were also difficulties with the natives. While making observations on lias part of the, coast, Captain King had remarked upon their uncertain disposition, whicli ho attributed to the prenonce of Malays among the. aboriginals. In his short excursions from Hanover Hay, (ircy liad Iwen obliged to elioot over their beads in order to terrify

thr.m, but a more serious oncountcr took place en their way toward the (llejiolg Kivcr. On February 10, accompanied

by two other*, he left the main party

and struck inland along a ravine, Next day they realised that about 200 natives were dogging their footstep?, and that two with lighter complexions than the rest were at their head. (Ircy sent one of tho men back to mark a tree A little later the

silence of tlie woods gave place to a clamour of yells and savage cries, and tito man was won rushing hack in bicathlcss haste with tlie natives in full pursuit. Tho situation was critical, for tlie terror of tlw fugitive had inspired the natives with confidence. Seizing his rille, Urcy fired over tJie head of ona leader; hut the other came (in. and was in tho act of fixing his throwing stick when a ball from the other barrel pierced his arm, and he fell behind a rock.

Kvcn this did not deter the natives. Led by the first they hurling their spears, which ca-ino whistling past the three men. Most unfortunately at this moment ono r>f the guns became entangled in its cover, and by the time Grey had wrenched it free, the lightcolo'unvl mac was within thirty yards of him. Meantime, the .spears were coming thick and fast: one he just evaded with ,1 sudden jerk of his hotly, another fell shivering to the ground after striking the stock uf his gun, a third struck him in the log, ami he reeled over giddy and faint, till, animated by rage and indignation, he made a dash for the rock behind which the leader was hidden. This movement was decisive and fortunate, for live coloured man turned and fled. Hut CI rev was determined he should not escape. Taking aim, he drove a ball into his back, which brought him to the ground with a dull thud and a deep gror.n. Then came another dramatic change.

The tumult ceased, the natives slipped away silently and cautiously as drey walked toward the prostrate body of the dying man. It. seemed again as though he had been suddenly transplanted to a world where life and voice and motion slept, for all was still as the grave. Ho turned to rejoin his companions, leaving the coloured man on the ground where he lay. Thereupon the natives "came from behind the rocks and trees without their spears, crowding round him with the greatest solicitude and tenderness." Then, raising him up, they Iwo him away through the forest, "their black foriite being scarcely distinguishable from the charred trunks of the trees as they receded in the distance." Grey's wound was serious enough, and it caused him much pain during the journey along the filcnelg; but he suffered most from the reflection oi a sensitive mind on the destruction of a fellow creature even in self-defence.

Tims partially disabled, Grey, on his return to his base at Hanover Hay, sailed in the Lyncr for Mauritius, whence after a. brief stay for recruiting his health, he rettirnrd to West Australia in September, 1838. I!y this time Lord Gleiicln had come to the conclusion that the expedition was a failure, since, land suitable for settlement hnd not bscn located; but Grey's recall did not come in time to save him from a second quest which threatened to terminate fatally. The story of that two months' trip from Bernior's Island to Perth, which was reached on April 21, \ 18351, is one of tho most ghastly in the annals of Australian exploration. "All suffered intensely from hunger and thirst. They toiled on with blistered and bleeding feet and enfeebled frames." When Grey presented himself to the Governor at Perth he was not recognisable. " Acquaintances who had seen him only two months liefore parsed him on the street."

This was Sir George Grey's first great failure; but it MMvcd'to show the strength and resourcefulness of the man, even though it did not redound to his credit ■•15 an explorer. And he had his reword, for tho Governor of West Australia appointed him Resident at Kind George's Sound in the south-western division of the colony. And at'once he set himself to study and solve the great native problem.