Attack of Natives Near Kolaina Plains.

Rare c.19th lithographed view of George Grey’s party with their beached, damaged whale boat at Kolaina Plains,  Western Australia.

I stood at the steer oar, I saw this was a heavier surf than we had ever yet been in. We were swept along at a terrific rate, and yet it appeared as if each following wave must engulph (engulf) us, so lofty were they, and so rapidly did they pour on. At length we reached the point where the waves broke; the breaker that we were on curled up in the air, lifting the boat with it, and when we had gained the summit, I looked down from a great height, not upon water, but upon a bare, sharp, black rock. For one second the boat hung upon the top of the wave; in the next, I felt the sensation of falling rapidly, then a tremendous shock and crash, which jerked me away amongst the rocks and breakers, and for the few following seconds I heard nothing but the din of waves, whilst I was rolling about amongst men, and a torn boat, oars, and water-kegs, in such a manner that I could not collect my senses. (Grey, 1841: 411–12)

From: Grey, Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, during the years 1837, 38, and 39, Under the Authority of Her Majesty’s Government. Describing many newly discovered, important, and fertile districts, with observations on the moral and physical condition of the Aboriginal inhabitants, ……

References:
Ferguson, J. A. Bibliography of Australia Volumes 1-8, Canberra 1976 : 3228.
Wantrup, J. Australian Rare Books. Sydney, 1987 : 131.

Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID: 740610
State Library Queensland: 996964214702061
State Library South Australia: 994.1 G843
State Library Victoria: CC 919.41 G86J
State Library New South Wales: 1841 RB/E919.41/GRE
Royal Collection Trust UK: RCIN 1141869