The
Dutch Captain, Vlaming, In 1697, Had Reported Finding Gigantic Human
Footprints Upon The Banks Of The Swan River, Near
Where the city of Perth
now stands; and two of Baudin's officers, whose names were not Munchausen
and Sindbad but
Heirisson and Moreau, declared that they also had
observed the same phenomena at the same place. Peron set down these
stories to the exaggerative distortion of lovers of the marvellous, "of
whom we counted some amongst us." But when the sailors came scampering
back to the ship with the tale that they had actually seen the giants and
been pursued by them, the naturalist began to think that there was
probably some ground for the belief. At all events, he determined to go
and see for himself.
He requested Baudin to send a few armed men ashore with him, but was
rudely refused. Not to be thwarted in continuing his researches in so
favourable a place, Peron determined to make use of a couple of days
during which a furnace was to be erected for extracting salt from the sea
by evaporation - the ship's supply having been depleted - to run the risk
of an excursion on his own account; whereupon Petit, one of the artists,
and Guichenot, one of the gardeners, resolved to accompany him.
The adventurous three were soon favoured with a visit from a troop of
aboriginals, who, though by no means giants, were certainly formidable
foes. There were forty of them, all armed with spears. Peron and his
companions, to defend themselves, had only a musket and a pair of
pistols. The savages, terrible fellows, advanced with "clameurs terribles
et menacantes." Retreat for the Frenchmen was impossible. A show of
courage was the best policy; and the three, one of whom, Petit, had been
"plein de terreur" when the blacks first made their appearance, put on a
bold front and marched forward "avec assurance a leur rencontre." This
bold tactical manoeuvre met with its deserved reward. The savages were
visibly disconcerted. One of them made signs of invitation to a parley,
but Peron considered it to be hazardous for one of the three to isolate
himself from his companions. The trio continued to advance, resolved to
sell their lives dearly if die they must. Such unexpected audacity threw
the blacks into a state of uncertainty, and, after deliberating for a few
moments, they turned their backs and went away, though slowly, and
without the appearance of fear or disorder. Peron, Petit, and Guichenot,
"to give the aboriginals a higher idea of our confidence and our
courage," did not halt in their advance, but marched in the track of the
retreating forty, who climbed to the height of a steep cliff and there
continued to yell and gesticulate as though desiring to have conference
with one of the white men. "After having responded for some time with
similar cries and gestures" - Ulysses defying Polyphemus will recur to the
mind - Peron and his companions concluded this signal display of coolness
and daring by quietly walking back and proceeding on their journey
inland. They were not pursued nor further molested.
Cool vision detracted from the gigantic stature of the Sharks Bay blacks
as effectually as a cool demeanour disposed of the danger from them. The
tallest man among them Peron declared to be no more than five feet four
or five inches in height, and most of the forty were small sized,
thin-limbed, and of feeble appearance. It is easy to perceive in this
incident, where a disposition to exaggerate looking through the lens of
fear, magnified a group of slight and slender savages into terrific
giants, how many a legend has come to birth. The original sons of Anak
would probably have been severely shortened of their inches had a Peron
been available to bring illusion promptly to the test of measurement, and
perhaps a scientific Jack the Giant Killer could have done deadly
execution with a foot-rule.* (* It may be noted that Peron's researches
regarding the physical proportions and capacities of savage races aroused
much interest in France. The Moniteur of April 25 and June 23, 1808,
published two long articles on "the physical force of savage people,"
founded upon Peron's writings and his records of comparative dynamometric
data.)
The three adventurers suffered far more severely from the heat of the sun
and the fatigues of working among thick bush and sand than from the
natives of the country. They made a fine collection of specimens, and,
congratulating themselves on their success, endeavoured to make their way
back to the boat. But they soon realised that they were "bushed" - a term
familiar enough to those who are acquainted with the story of Australian
inland exploration. The country was covered with thick scrub, through
which they endeavoured to make their way. The afternoon sun poured down a
pitiless flood of heat, the white, glaring sand burnt their feet, the air
in the Bush was stifling. It was as though they were walking through
furnaces; and there were no spreading trees to relieve the ordeal by a
touch of shade. They at length regained the shore, and trudged along the
soft, hot sand; when Peron, exhausted after a walk of three hours, was
compelled to throw aside the greater part of the collection which he had
made at the expense of so much painful labour. Shortly afterwards
Guichenot fell to the ground exhausted by hunger, thirst, and fatigue,
and begged his companions to leave him there to die while they
endeavoured to save themselves. Peron remembered a passage he had read in
Cook's voyages about the reviving effect of a plunge in sea-water; and he
and Petit tried it by wading in up to their necks. They assisted
Guichenot to do the same, and revived him sufficiently to enable him to
continue the weary march. The sun set; a breeze sprang up; and soon the
three travellers saw with joy the smoke of a fire which had been lighted
as a guide to them.
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