GREY, Captain George

Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery...

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Boone, London, 1841. Two volumes, octavo, with 22 plates (six handcoloured), and two large folding maps, illustrations in the text; minor wear to extremities but a very good copy in the original cloth with advertisements, volume 1 expertly rebacked, endpapers in this volume renewed. Grey began his first expedition in December 1837, after he and his party of eight arrived on the Beagle at Hanover Bay on the north-west coast. The expedition was supposed to proceed south following the coast to the Swan River settlement. However problems beset the expedition from the outset, and for five months the party meandered inland at a very slow pace. Meetings with local Aborigines proved hostile, and Grey was badly wounded by a spear. Eventually, due to diminished provisions and exhaustion, the party returned to Hanover Bay and were rescued by the Beagle. Despite falling well short of their goal, the expedition yielded significant results: Grey discovered the Glenelg River, the Macdonald Range, the Stephen Range, the Gairdner River and Mount Lyell. Grey also achieved the distinction of becoming the first white man to see a Wandjina painting when he discovered the ones reproduced here in a rock shelter on the Glenelg River in the rugged north-western Kimberley region: 'looking over some bushes, at the sandstone rocks which were above us, I suddenly saw from one of them a most extraordinary large figure peering down upon me. Upon examination, this proved to be a drawing at the entrance to cave, which, on entering, I found to contain, besides, many remarkable paintings'. Realising the significance of the discovery, he went to considerable lengths to sketch, measure and describe the figures, which are reproduced here.

Grey's second expedition left Perth in 1839 with the intention of exploring the North-West Cape. Again his goals were not realised: he was thwarted, first by the loss of one of his three whale-boats and most of his provisions, then by the wrecking of the remaining boats and supplies. A 300-mile trek back to Perth ensued, during which Grey and all but one of his men survived on whatever food they could scavenge from the land. Despite the tremendous hardships, again Grey achieved most important results: he discovered the Gascoyne River, the Murchison River, the Lyell, Victoria and Gairdner ranges.

This is an excellent copy of the first edition of this famous exploration account, which includes scientific appendices on birds by John Gould; mammals, reptiles, amphibians by John Edward Gray; and insects by Adam White.
Bagnall, 2336; Wantrup, 131.

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