Nearly six days were spent in this march, and the trials endured were only a prelude to what were to follow. Rice and tea in small quantities formed the staple of their diet. An occasional slice from a pheasant’s breast, or a bite from the remains of a crane left by the rats, gave relish to their repast. The Captain was the game purveyor to the party and Mustard its Soyer. On the first night they slept in a bark hut of their own making at the foot of a towering precipice; the second was passed under some overhanging rocks. On the other three nights they bivouacked on the slopes of the glens under the lightning’s vivid flash, exposed to the rains of violent thunderstorms. Early in the journey Mustard became ill, but he was soon sufficiently recovered to sustain the toils and privations of discovery and the discomfort of unsheltered sleep. Dripping wet, tired, weary and hungry, these brave men carried out the purposes of their mission, and, with unwavering faithfulness and zeal, penetrated wherever their chief desired. “Three of us,” writes the Captain, “slept in the open air without any covering or warm clothes for five successive nights, during three of which we had constant showers of heavy rain, and yet did not in any way suffer from this exposure.”[[311]]
Want of food at length compelled the adventurers to return. Having gained the summit of a range, the rain began to fall in torrents. To escape it they retired to a detached group of rocks. A party of fourteen savages now appeared, brandishing their spears, bounding from rock to rock, and making the wilderness ring with their war cry. This was answered by a party coming over the high rock in rear of the travellers. In this critical situation a hostile attitude was at once taken up. There was a natural opening like an embrasure between the blocks of the rock, through which they could level their pieces, and each gallant fellow took his station, with orders to fire one by one if the command were given. The Captain fired over their heads; but this one report was quite enough, for the savages fled on all sides, and the party thus left to itself, hurried home through a tempest of rain and reached the cantonment before nightfall on the 22nd December.[[312]]
1838.
Services of party in New Holland—Start for the interior—Labours of the expedition; corporal Auger—Captain Grey and corporal Coles expect an attack—Attitude of private Auger at the camp against the menace of the natives—Captain Grey and Coles attacked; their critical situation; the chief wounded; devotion of Coles—Usefulness of Auger—Renew the march; Auger finds a singular ford—Discovers a cave with a sculptured face in it—Mustard traces the spoor of a quadruped still unseen in New Holland—A sleep in the trees—Trials of the party—Primitive washing—Auger the van of the adventurers—Humane attention of the Captain to Mustard; reach Hanover Bay; arrive at the Mauritius—Detachment in Spain—Attack on Orio—Usurvil; Oyarzun—Miscellaneous employments of the party—Reinforcement to it; Casa Aquirre—Orio—Secret mission to Muñagorri—Second visit to the same chief—Notice of corporal John Down—Bidassoa—Triangulation of north of Scotland—Also of the Frith of the Clyde—Insurrection in Canada; guard of honour to Lord Durham—Company inspected by the Governor-General on the plains of Abraham—Inspection at Niagara by Sir George Arthur—Services and movements of the company in Canada; attack at Beauharnois—Submarine demolition of wrecks near Gravesend—Expedient to prevent accidents by vessels fouling the diving-bell lighter—Conduct of the sappers in the operations; exertions of sergeant-major Jones—Fatal accident to a diver—Intrepidity of sergeants Ross and Young—Blasting the bow of the brig ‘William,’ by sergeant-major Jones—Withdrawal of the sappers from the canal at Hythe.
Some weeks of the early year were spent by Captain Grey and his men in a variety of occupations preparatory to a long journey into the interior. Sheds were built for the stores, pack-saddles made by corporal Auger for the Timour horses, and short excursions through wood and wilderness undertaken. Pathways were also constructed for the horses in forest and glen, without which it would have been impracticable to pursue their course. These were formed by burning the bush, and removing, by manual strength and dexterity, huge boulders and fallen trees levelled by age and storm, that everywhere intercepted the track.
On the 3rd February the expedition was in motion. Twenty-six wild ponies were attached to the party. Each man had three or four of these giddy unbroken animals in charge, fastened together by ropes. From the ponies straying in different directions, and getting frequently entangled with rocks and trees, the difficult nature of the service was greatly increased. As beasts of burden they were of little use. In steep ravines or in rugged country, the stores were almost wholly carried by the adventurers; and this, coupled with the task of guiding the untamed horses and the hard travelling in a rocky country abounding with clefts, thick bush, and forest, made the route one of unmitigated toil and fatigue. In these duties corporal Auger particularly distinguished himself; for, “possessing the power of carrying on his back very heavy burdens, he took every occasion of exercising it in such a way as to stimulate the others and very much to accelerate the movements of the expedition.”[[313]]
With corporal Coles the captain started on the 6th February to explore the country in his front. Coming to a deep ravine with a body of water at its base, he wished to find a passage out of it. Both searched for many hours until after sunset, but without avail. The ravine was bounded by inaccessible cliffs with other ravines branching into it, which “invariably terminated in precipitous cascades.” A great portion of the exploration was spent in wading the flooded valley up to their bellies in water. On their return homewards they came upon a large party of natives, and Coles followed the captain up the northern slope of the ravine ready for an attack; but the savages moved on without molesting the weary travelers.[[314]]
Five days afterwards corporal Auger and two men were left at the camp, while the rest of the expedition were detached. About two hundred of the natives assembled across a stream at the foot of a hill near to them. They were armed. At the time of their appearance Auger was quietly seated on the ground cleaning Lieutenant Lushington’s double-barrelled gun, with its springs, screws, and cramps lying around him. Seeing his comrades nervously perturbed, he coolly refixed one of the barrels, and mounting the lock, loaded the gun with some loose powder. Meanwhile the two men turned out with their muskets, and the trio posting themselves on the brow of the hill, motioned the savages away. They answered by a shout, and retired a little; when Auger and the party now took counsel, and agreeing that it would be imprudent with their small number to hold intercourse with so large a force of natives, they resolved not to allow them to approach beyond a point which they considered safe; “and in the event of any armed portion passing the stream towards the tents in defiance of their signals, to fire on them one by one.” These cautious resolves, however, it was unnecessary to enforce, as the savages, after Auger had given them a blank discharge, hurried off in the direction of Captain Grey.[[315]]
The Captain, accompanied by Coles and a Cape man, had been out since the morning examining the country to choose a route for the next day’s march, and were working with all their energies at a road for the horses, when the savages from the camp poured into the forest. The Cape man, who was in the rear, first saw them; and instead of calling to Coles or the Captain for assistance, took to his heels, pursued by the natives. The three were now engaged for their lives, and taking up a position behind some rocks, the men were directed to fire separately. Coles was armed with the Captain’s rifle, but it was covered with a cloth case for protection against the rain. This becoming entangled with the lock, his services at a critical moment were lost. The Captain now gave Coles his gun to complete the reloading, and taking the rifle, tore off the cover and stept from behind the rocks. In an instant three spears pierced his body, but a deadly shot from the rifle slew the principal antagonist. The combat at once ceased; but, though it had only lasted a few seconds, the spears and weapons strewn in such abundance about that wild position gave proof of its severity. Neither Coles nor the Cape man was injured, but the Captain was badly wounded. Coles bound up the Captain’s hip wound as well as he could, and supporting him with his arm, assisted him homewards. Some hours were spent in the journey. The track was lost, and the Captain, leaning more and more heavily on Coles, showed signs of increasing weakness. A beaten route at last was gained and a stream in its vicinity crossed; but the Captain, in the effort, strained his wounded hip and fell on the opposite shore unable to rise. Coles, with his usual devotion, volunteered to go alone to the party and send assistance. This he did, bounding over rock and cliff, through wood and scrub, jumping gaping rifts, and fording streams with the natives on his trail. In a short hour, through his unflinching ardour and daring, the surgeon and Mr. Lushington were ministering to the wants of the wounded chief.[[316]] The only drawback to this day’s steadiness and fidelity was the loss, by Coles, of the Captain’s valuable note-book.[[317]] The nipple of the rifle injured by Coles in his eagerness to remove the case, was taken out by Auger; but lacking proper tools, several days were spent in niggling perseverance, to drill it out with a bradawl.
The expedition was now delayed for a time; and corporal Auger, whose ingenuity and skill as a carpenter had frequently been of service, made the Captain a low stretcher to lie upon, which gave him a little more ease.[[318]] To relieve him, moreover, from unnecessary discomfort and pain, Auger, with feeling solicitude, carried the chief in his arms at times when he seemed to need it, to convenient distances in the vicinity of the tent. Athletic and careful, he was not a bad substitute for a sedan.