The Devil's Gap of Albany or Yokaa-kaany Waaliny

Man on the Cliff Top at the Devil’s Gap, Albany.
(Kalgoorlie Argus 9th December, 1913 p. 18).
I was reading through old newspapers and wondering on their use of words. And I was thinking how minds tend to think similar thoughts through the ages.
And, in reference to the Gap near Albany I had written before of the siren’s song (26-04-10), of the sounds generated in the gap in the surge of wave and the hollowed rocks through which they roar. I had written previously,

This fingering fragmented froth that lingers seeks to touch you; reaches out to connect you with the sea and its mournful melody that holds to its memory of men and women lost who never understood the cost - of wandering too close to the sirens songs - to their tidal surge and singing and all their anguish bringing.

So recently, reading through papers of the past I was interested to read the following description of the “Devil’s Gap.”

The awesome Devil's Gap, the dark frowning walls of which rise up in for bidding majesty to the height of 150ft above water level, make an impressive scene...The view can be taken in only by extending oneself flat upon the earth and drawing up cautiously to the edge. The ocean's swell dashing and swilling into the bides of the Gap, churning itself into fantastic, tongues of water and sending clouds of vapour-like spray into the 'faces of those above, form a picture " the fascination of which holds the lover of Nature for hours in silent admiration. Here Nature is seen in her sternest mood; bold massive piles of granite which have defied the seas for centuries are her materials; grand and impressive have been the manner of their employment: Near-by is the Natural Bridge, which in future years should join with the Gap in attracting thousands of-tourists to view its rugged and peculiar form. A unique geological formation probably many centuries ago left an uncovered cavern near to the rocky shore walled off from the ocean by a high barrier of granite about 60ft. wide. The swirl of countless swells beating against the wall has worn an aperture at water level leaving an irregular arch, through which the waves roll in, dashing themselves against the cavern's sides, producing music such as one would imagine coming from the thundering notes of a colossal organ. (The West Australian 15th Jan, 1914 p. 8).

I like this talk of waves producing music. I like the vivid descriptions of words used, such as, “The ocean's swell dashing and swilling into the bides of the Gap, churning itself into fantastic, tongues of water.” I think the word 'bides' means, in this context, a place that withstands and waits... like, as if it has stood in its making of music from its earliest days...
So that this ancient formation of rock and pounding sea has been singing and booming to the surges of water-mountains for thousands, if not millions of years...Such that the sirens songs I’ve heard are the ancient ones and their waiting has been long.
One wonders if their songs have changed through time?
When the water was far lower due to the last ice age what songs did the sirens sing 5 to 10.000 years ago?
I also like the way the writer of 1914 had described the watery tongues of the Gap... and thus adds a human dimension to its movements and Poseidon’s view to all its description therein...and thus the god of the sea and the songs of the sirens are activated in our imaginations...
And the picture of the man, his silhouette of the brave, or fool, who stands on the lip of the abyss, reminds me, plays with my memory of what I saw as a child. There on the hip of granite sat the living image of youths and all their risk taking. Their image remains branded in my childhood memory, their dangling of legs over the edge and their tempting of fate, and to this vision of them I remember and shudder...and imagine the sirens that bided beneath their feet...
You wonder don't you, did they hear them? Was their songs that drew them near to tempt their fate?
And that man on the roof of that Gap what was he thinking?
Did he hear Poseidon and the sirens singing?
Did he return across the threshold or join the brotherhood or sisterhood biding for the many who have never returned?