, and nearly a month later Grey and
his party, which now numbered twelve, started from the coast with
twenty-six half-broken Timor ponies as baggage-carriers, and some sheep
and goats.

The rainy season had now set in, and many of the stock succumbed almost
at the outset, whilst their route proved a veritable tangle of steep
spurs and deep ravines. On the 11th of February they came into collision
with the natives, and Grey was severely wounded in the hip with a spear.
When he had recovered sufficiently to be lifted on to one of the ponies,
a fresh start was made, and on the 2nd of March his perseverance was
rewarded by the discovery of a river which he named the Glenelg. He
followed the course of this river upwards, and reported the country as
good, being well-grassed and watered. Sometimes his route lay along the
river's bank; at other times by keeping to the foot of a sandstone ridge
he was enabled to avoid detours around many wearisome bends.

[Illustration. Rock Painting, North-Western Australia.]

The party continued along the Glenelg for many days, until indeed they
were checked by a large tributary coming from the north. As both the
river and the tributary were here much swollen, they had to fall back on
the range. It was among the recesses of this range that Grey discovered
some curious cave paintings of the blacks, in which the aboriginal
figures were represented as clothed.

[*Footnote.] A subsequent photograph of these paintings, by Brockman, is
reproduced in Chapter 20.

Unable to find a pass through the mountains, and enfeebled by his wound,
Grey determined to retrace his steps. As a last resort he sent Lushington
some distance ahead, but there was no noticeable change to report in the
aspect of the country. Hanover Bay was reached on the 15th of April. The
Lynher was waiting there at anchor, and H.M.S. Beagle was lying in Port
George the Fourth, awaiting the return of Captain Stokes, who was away
exploring the coast. The party having embarked, the Lynher sailed for the
Isle of France, where they safely arrived. Thus ended Captain Grey's
first expedition, which is interesting chiefly as a proof of the heroic
qualities of its members; for the Glenelg River has never invited
settlement, and has yet to prove that it possesses any considerable
economic value.

During January, 1839, Grey explored the country between the Williams and
the Leschenhault, while searching for a settler who had been lost in the