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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4330-h.zip b/4330-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e07768d --- /dev/null +++ b/4330-h.zip diff --git a/4330-h/4330-h.htm b/4330-h/4330-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0dfc9df --- /dev/null +++ b/4330-h/4330-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,14122 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> + <head> + <title>Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia</title> + <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2722.900" name=GENERATOR> + <style type=text/css><!-- + body {background:lightyellow;margin:10%;text-align:justify} + h2,h3,h4,h5 {color:green;text-align:center} + hr,table {text-align:center} + ul {list-style:none} + .centre {text-align:center} + .external {color:blue} + .note {color:green} + .right {text-align:right} + .small {font:smaller}--> + </style> + </head> +<body> + +<h2>Two Expeditions into the Interior of +Southern Australia</h2> +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Two Expeditions into the Interior of +Southern Australia, Complete, by Charles Sturt + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia, Complete + +Author: Charles Sturt + +Release Date: August 31, 2004 [EBook #4330] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPEDITIONS AUSTRALIA *** + + + + +Produced by Col Choat and Colin Beck + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class=external> +<!--Note 1: The black and white sketches in the book were + 'Drawn by W. Purser from a sketch by Capt. Sturt.' + Note 2: The following are enclosed by HTML comments: + (Page numbers and headers) page number header /page + (Illustrations face page number) face number /face + (Comments) comment comments /comment +--> +<ol> +<li>Map of Australia not included. +<li>Footnotes are enclosed by square brackets [...] and placed where +referenced or at the end of paragraph.</li> +</ol></div> +<hr> +<!--page i {Vol I and II. not numbered} /page--> +<h3>TWO EXPEDITIONS</h3> + +<h4>INTO THE INTERIOR OF</h4> + +<h2>SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA</h2> + +<h5>DURING THE YEARS</h5> + +<h3>1828,1829,1830,1831</h3> + +<h4>WITH OBSERVATIONS</h4> + +<h5>ON</h5> + +<h4>THE SOIL, CLIMATE AND GENERAL RESOURCES</h4> + +<h5>OF THE COLONY OF</h5> + +<h3><i>NEW SOUTH WALES.</i></h3> + +<hr width="30%"> + +<h3>By Capt. CHARLES STURT, 39th Regt.</h3> + +<h4>F.L.S. and F.R.G.S.</h4> + +<hr width="30%"> + +<h5>“For though most men are contented only to see a river as it runs by +them, and talk of the changes in it as they happen; when it is troubled, +or when clear; when it drowns the country in a flood, or forsakes it in a +drought: yet he that would know the nature of the water, and the causes of +those accidents (so as to guess at their continuance or return), must find +out its source, and observe with what strength it rises, what length it +runs, and how many small streams fall in, and feed it to such a height, +as make it either delightful or terrible to the eye, and useful or +dangerous to the country about it.”…<i>Sir William +Temple's Netherlands.</i></h5> + +<hr width="30%"> + +<h3>IN TWO VOLUMES</h3> +<!--page ii {Vol I and II. blank} /page--> +<hr> +<!--page v {not numbered} /page--> +<h3>CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME</h3> + +<h4><a href="#v1">VOLUME I</a></h4> + +<hr width="30%"> + +<h4><a href="#prelim">PRELIMINARY CHAPTER.</a></h4> + +<p class=small>Purpose of this Chapter—Name of Australia—Impressions of its early +Visitors—Character of the Australian rivers—Author's first view of Port +Jackson—Extent of the Colony of New South Wales—its rapid advances in +prosperity—Erroneous impressions—Commercial importance of Sydney—Growth +of fine wool—Mr. M'Arthur's meritorious exertions—Whale-fishery—Other +exports—Geographical features—Causes of the large proportion of bad +soil—Connection between the geology and vegetation—Geological +features—Character of the soil connected with the geological formation—County +of Cumberland—Country westward of the Blue Mountains—Disadvantages of the +remote settlers—Character of the Eastern coast—Rich tracts in the +interior—Periodical droughts—The seasons apparently affected by the +interior marshes—Temperature—Fruits—Emigrants: Causes of their success +or failure—Moral disadvantages—System of emigration recommended—Hints +to emigrants—Progress of inland discovery—Expeditions across the Blue +Mountains—Discoveries of Mr. Evans, Mr. Oxley, and others—Conjectures +respecting the interior.</p> +<!--page vi CONTENTS. /page--> +<h3><a href="#ch1.1">EXPEDITION DOWN THE MACQUARIE RIVER, AND INTO THE WESTERN INTERIOR +IN 1828 AND 1829.</a></h3> +Chapter.<ol type=I class=small> +<li><a href="#ch1.1">State of the Colony in 1828-29</a>—Objects of the Expedition—Departure +from Sydney—Wellington Valley—Progress down the Macquarie—Arrival at +Mount Harris—Stopped by the marshes—Encamp amidst reeds—Excursions down +the river—Its termination—Appearance of the marshes—Opthalmic +affection of the men—Mr. Hume's successful journey to the +northward—Journey across the plain—Second great +marsh—Perplexities—Situation of the exploring party—Consequent resolutions. +<br><br> +<li><a href="#ch1.2">Prosecution of our course</a> into the interior—Mosquito Brush—Aspect and +productions of the country—Hunting party of natives—Courageous conduct +of one of them—Mosquitoes—A man missing—Group of hills called +New-Year's Range—Journey down New-Year's Creek—Tormenting attack of the +kangaroo fly—Dreariness and desolation of the country—Oxley's Table +Land—D'Urban's Group—Continue our journey down New-Year's +Creek—Extreme Disappointment on finding it salt—Fall in with a tribe of +natives—Our course arrested by the want of fresh water—Extraordinary +sound—Retreat towards the Macquarie. +<br><br> +<li><a href="#ch1.3">Intercourse with the natives</a>—Their appearance and condition—Remarks on +the Salt or Darling River—Appearance of the marshes on our +return—Alarm for safety of the provision party—Return to Mount +Harris—Miserable condition of the natives—Circum<!--page vii CONTENTS. /page-->stances attending the +slaughter of two Irish runaways—Bend our course towards the +Castlereagh—Wallis's Ponds—Find the famished natives feeding on +gum—Channel of the Castlereagh—Character of the country in its +vicinity—Another tribe of natives—Amicable intercourse with +them—Morrisset's chain of Ponds—Again reach the Darling River ninety +miles higher up than where we first struck upon it. +<br><br> +<li><a href="#ch1.4">Perplexity</a>—Trait of honesty in the natives—Excursion on horseback across +the Darling—Forced to return—Desolating effects of the drought—Retreat +towards the colony—Connection between the Macquarie and the +Darling—Return up the banks of the Macquarie—Starving condition +of the natives. +<br><br> +<li><a href="#ch1.5">General remarks</a>—Result of the expedition—Previous anticipations— +Mr. Oxley's remarks—Character of the Rivers flowing westerly—Mr. +Cunningham's remarks—Fall of the Macquarie—Mr. Oxley's erroneous +conclusions respecting the character of the interior, naturally inferred +from the state in which he found the country—The marsh of the Macquarie +merely a marsh of the ordinary character—Captain King's +observations—Course of the Darling—Character of the low interior +plain—The convict Barber's report of rivers traversing the +interior—Surveyor-General Mitchell's Report of his recent expedition. +<br><br> +<li><a href="#ch1.6">CONCLUDING REMARKS</a>—Obstacles that attend travelling into the interior +of Australia—Difficulty of carrying supplies—Importance of steady +intelligent subordinates—Danger from the natives—<!--page viii CONTENTS. /page-->Number of men +requisite,—and of cattle and carriages—Provisions—Other +arrangements—Treatment of the natives—Dimensions of the boat used +in the second expedition.</li> +</ol> +<h4><a href="#ap1">APPENDIX TO THE FIRST VOLUME.</a></h4> +<ol type=I class=small> +<li><a href="#ap1.1">Letter of Instructions</a> +<li><a href="#ap1.2">List of Stores supplied for the Expedition</a> +<li><a href="#ap1.3">Sheep-farming Returns</a> +<li><a href="#ap1.4">List of Geological Specimens</a> +<li><a href="#ap1.5">Official Reports to the Colonial Government</a></li> +</ol> +<!--page {not numbered} /page--> +<h4>ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE FIRST VOLUME</h4> + +<hr width="15%"> +<ol class=small> +<li><a href="#i1.1">Native Burial Place near Budda</a> +<li><a href="#i1.2" title='Map not available'>Map of Australia</a> +<li><a href="#i1.3">Cataract of the Macquarie</a> +<li><a href="#i1.4">The Rose Cockatoo</a> +<li><a href="#i1.5">The Crested Pigeon of the Marshes</a> +<li><a href="#i1.6">A Selenite + <br>Chrystallized Sulphate of Lime</a></li> +</ol> +<!--page {blank} /page--> +<hr> +<!--page iii {not numbered} /page--> +<h3>CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME</h3> + +<h4><a href="#v2">VOLUME II</a></h4> + +<hr width="30%"> + +<h3><a href="#ch2.1">EXPEDITION DOWN THE MORUMBIDGEE AND MURRAY RIVERS, IN 1829, 1830 AND 1831.</a></h3> +Chapter.<ol type=I class=small> +<li><a href="#ch2.1">INTRODUCTORY</a>—Remarks on the results of the former Expedition—The +fitting out of another determined on—Its objects—Provisions, +accoutrements, and retinue—Paper furnished by Mr. Kent—Causes that have +prevented the earlier appearance of the present work. +<br><br> +<li><a href="#ch2.2">Commencement of the expedition</a> in November, 1829—Joined by Mr. George +M'Leay—Appearance of the party—Breadalbane Plains—Hospitality of Mr. +O'Brien—Yass Plains—Hill of Pouni—Path of a hurricane—Character of the +country between Underaliga and the Morumbidgee—Appearance of that +river—Junction of the Dumot with it—Crossing and recrossing—Geological +character and general aspect of the country—Plain of Pondebadgery—Few +natives seen. +<br><br> +<li><a href="#ch2.3">Character of the Morumbidgee</a> where it issues from the hilly +country—Appearance of approach to swamps—Hamilton Plains—Intercourse +with the natives—Their appearance, customs, &c.—<!--page iv CONTENTS. /page-->Change in the character +of the river—Mirage—Dreariness of the country—Ride towards the Lachlan +river—Two boats built and launched on the Morumbidgee; and the drays, with +part of the men sent back to Goulburn Plains. +<br><br> +<li><a href="#ch2.4">Embarkation of the party</a> in the boats, and voyage down the +Morumbidgee—The skiff swamped by striking on a sunken tree—Recovery of +boat and its loading—Region of reeds—Dangers of the navigation—Contraction +of the channel—Reach the junction of a large river—Intercourse with the +natives on its banks—Character of the country below the junction of the +rivers—Descent of a dangerous rapid—Warlike demonstrations of a tribe of +natives—Unexpected deliverance from a conflict with them—Junction of +another river—Give the name of the “Murray” to the principal stream. +<br><br> +<li><a href="#ch2.5">Character of the country</a>—Damage of provisions—Adroitness of the natives +in catching fish—The skiff broken up—Stream from the North-East supposed +to be the Darling—Change of country in descending the river—Intercourse +with the natives—Prevalence of loathsome diseases among them—Apparent +populousness of the country—Junction of several small streams—The Rufus, +the Lindesay, &c.—Rainy and tempestuous weather—Curious appearance of +the banks—Troublesomeness of the natives—Inhospitable and desolate +aspect of the country—Condition of the men—Change in the geological +character of the country—The river passes through a valley among hills. +<br><br> +<li><a href="#ch2.6">Improvement in the aspect of the country</a>—Increase of the river—Strong +westerly gales—Chronometer broken—A healthier tribe of natives—Termination +of the Murray in a large lake—Its extent and environs—Passage across +it—Hostile appearance of the natives—Beautiful scenery—Channel from +the lake to the sea at <!--page v CONTENTS. /page-->Encounter Bay—Reach the beach—Large flocks of +water fowl—Curious refraction—State of provisions—Embarrassing +situation—Inspection of the channel to the ocean—Weak condition of +the men—Difficulties of the return. +<br><br> +<li><a href="#ch2.7">Valley of the Murray</a>—Its character and capabilities—Laborious progress +up the river—Accident to the boat—Perilous collision with the natives +—Turbid current of the Rufus—Passage of the Rapids—Assisted by the +natives—Dangerous intercourse with them—Re-enter the Morumbidgee—Verdant +condition of its banks—Nocturnal encounter with the natives—Interesting +manifestation of feeling in one family—Reach the spot where the party had +embarked on the river—Men begin to fail entirely—Determine to send two +men forward for relief—Their return—Excursion on horseback—Reach +Pondebadgery Plain, and meet the supplies from the colony—Cannibalism of +the natives—Return to Sydney—Concluding remarks. +<br><br> +<li><a href="#ch2.8">Environs of the lake Alexandrina</a>—Appointment of Capt. Barker to make a +further survey of the coast near Encounter Bay—Narrative of his +proceedings—Mount Lofty, Mount Barker, and beautiful country +adjacent—Australian salmon—Survey of the coast—Outlet of lake to the +sea—Circumstances that led to the slaughter of Capt. Barker by the +natives—His character—Features of this part of the country and capabilities +of its coasts—Its adaptation for colonization—Suggestions for the +furtherance of future Expeditions.</li> +</ol> +<h4><a href="#ap2">APPENDIX TO THE SECOND VOLUME.</a></h4> +<ol type=I class=small> +<li><a href="#ap2.1">Geological Specimens found to the south-west of Port Jackson</a> +<li><a href="#ap2.2">Official Report to the Colonial Government</a></li> +</ol> +<!--page vi {not numbered} /page--> +<h4>ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE SECOND VOLUME</h4> + +<hr width="15%"> +<ol start=7 class=small> +<li><a href="#i2.7">The Opossum Hunt</a> +<li><a href="#i2.8">View on the Morumbidgee River</a> +<li><a href="#i2.9">Junction of the supposed Darling with the Murray</a> +<li><a href="#i2.10">Palaeornis melanura, or Black Tailed Paroquet</a> +<li><a href="#i2.11">Pomatorhinus temporalis + <br>Pomatorhinus superciliosus</a> +<li><a href="#i2.12">Chart of Cape Jervis, and Encounter Bay</a> +<li><a href="#i2.13">Mass of Fossils of the Tertiary Formation + <br>Bulla + <br>Conus + <br>Genus Unknown</a> +<li><a href="#i2.14">Chrystallized Selenite + <br>Selenite</a> +<li><a href="#i2.15">Single Fossils of the Tertiary Formation</a></li> +</ol> +<hr> +<!--page {frontis 1} /page--> +<a name=v1></a><h3>TWO EXPEDITIONS</H3> + +<H5>INTO THE INTERIOR OF</H5> + +<H2>SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA</H2> + +<h4>VOLUME I.</h4> +<!--page {frontis 2. blank} /page--> +<hr> +<!--face i /face--> +<a name=i1.1></a><h5>Illustration 1</h5> +<div class=centre><img alt="" src=images/xpssti01.jpg></div> +<h5>NATIVE BURIAL PLACE NEAR BUDDA.</h5> + +<hr> +<!--page iii {not numbered} /page--> +<h5>TO THE RIGHT HON.,</h5> + +<h2>THE EARL OF RIPON,</h2> + +<h4>VISCOUNT GODERICH,</h4> + +<h4><i>LORD PRIVY SEAL,</i></h4> + +<h5><i>&c. &c. &c.</i></h5> + +<hr width="15%"> + +<p>MY LORD, + +<p>The completion of this Work affords me the opportunity I have long desired +of thanking your Lordship thus publicly, for the kindness with which you +acceded to my request to be permitted to dedicate it to you. + +<p>The encouragement your Lordship was pleased to give me has served to +stimulate me in the prosecution of a task, which would, I fear, have been +too great for me to have accomplished in my present condition, under any +ordinary views of ambition. Indeed, labouring as I have been for <!--page iv DEDICATION /page-->many +months past, under an almost total deprivation of sight, (the effect of +exposure and anxiety of mind in the prosecution of geographical +researches,) I owe it to the casual assistance of some of my friends, that +I am at length enabled to lay these results before your Lordship and the +public. + +<p>While I feel a painful conviction that many errors must necessarily +pervade a work produced under such unfavourable circumstances, it affords +me no small consolation to reflect that Your Lordship has been aware of my +situation, and will be disposed to grant me every reasonable indulgence. + +<p class=right>I have the honor to be, +<br>With the highest respect, +<br>My Lord, +<br>Your Lordship's +<br>Very obedient and humble servant, +<br>CHARLES STURT</p> + +<p><i>London, +<br>June</i>, 1833.</p> + +<hr> +<!--page ix {not numbered} /page--> +<a name=prelim></a><h4>PRELIMINARY CHAPTER</h4> +<blockquote class=small> +Purpose of this Chapter—Name of Australia—Impressions of its early +Visitors—Character of the Australian rivers—Author's first view of Port +Jackson—Extent of the Colony of New South Wales—its rapid advances in +prosperity—Erroneous impressions—Commercial importance of Sydney—Growth +of fine wool—Mr. M'Arthur's meritorious exertions—Whale-fishery—Other +exports—Geographical features—Causes of the large proportion of bad +soil—Connection between the geology and vegetation—Geological +features—Character of the soil connected with the geological formation—County +of Cumberland—Country westward of the Blue Mountains—Disadvantages of the +remote settlers—Character of the Eastern coast—Rich tracts in the +interior—Periodical droughts—The seasons apparently affected by the +interior marshes—Temperature—Fruits—Emigrants: Causes of their success +or failure—Moral disadvantages—System of emigration recommended—Hints +to emigrants—Progress of inland discovery—Expeditions across the Blue +Mountains—Discoveries of Mr. Evans, Mr. Oxley, and others—Conjectures +respecting the interior. +</blockquote> +<p>When I first determined on committing to the press a detailed account of +the two expeditions, which I conducted into the interior of the Australian +continent, pursuant to the orders of Lieutenant General Darling, the late +Governor of the Colony of New South Wales, it was simply <!--page x PURPOSE OF THIS PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. /page-->with a view of +laying their results before the geographical world, and of correcting the +opinions that prevailed with regard to the unexplored country to the +westward of the Blue Mountains. I did not feel myself equal either to the +task or the responsibility of venturing any remarks on the Colony of New +South Wales itself. I had had little time for inquiry, amidst the various +duties that fell to my lot in the ordinary routine of the service to which +I belonged, when unemployed by the Colonial Government in the prosecution +of inland discoveries. My observations had been in a great measure +confined to those points which curiosity, or a desire of personal +information, had prompted me to investigate. I did not, therefore, venture +to flatter myself that I had collected materials of sufficient importance +on general topics to enable me to write for the information of others. +Since my return to England, however, I have been strenuously urged to give +a short description of the colony before entering upon my personal +narrative; and I have conversed with so many individuals whose ideas of +Australia are totally at variance with its actual state, that I am +encouraged to indulge the hope that my observations, desultory <!--page xi NAME OF AUSTRALIA. /page-->as they +are, may be of some interest to the public. I am strengthened in this hope +by the consideration that some kind friends have enabled me to add much +valuable matter to that which I had myself collected. It is not my +intention, however, to enter at any length on the commercial or +agricultural interests of New South Wales. It may be necessary for me to +touch lightly on those important subjects, but it is my wish to connect +this preliminary chapter, as much as possible with the subjects treated of +in the body of the work, and chiefly to notice the physical structure, the +soil, climate, and productions of the colony, in order to convey to the +reader general information on these points, before I lead him into the +remote interior. + +<p>It may be worthy of remark that the name “Australia,” has of late years +been affixed to that extensive tract of land which Great Britain possesses +in the Southern Seas, and which, having been a discovery of the early +Dutch navigators, was previously termed “New Holland.” The change of name +was, I believe, introduced by the celebrated French geographer, Malte +Brun, who, in his division of the globe, gave the appel<!--page xii IMPRESSIONS OF ITS EARLY VISITORS. /page-->lation of +Austral Asia and Polynesia to the new discovered lands in the southern +ocean; in which division he meant to include the numerous insular groups +scattered over the Pacific. + +<p>Australia is properly speaking an island, but it is so much larger than +every other island on the face of the globe, that it is classed as a +continent in order to convey to the mind a just idea of its magnitude. +Stretching from the 115th to the 153rd degree of east longitude, and from +the 10th to the 37th of south latitude, it averages 2700 miles in length +by 1800 in breadth; and balanced, as it were, upon the tropic of that +hemisphere in which it is situated, it receives the fiery heat of the +equator at one extremity, while it enjoys the refreshing coolness of the +temperate zone at the other. On a first view we should be led to expect +that this extensive tract of land possessed more than ordinary advantages; +that its rivers would be in proportion to its size; and that it would +abound in the richest productions of the inter-tropical and temperate +regions. Such, indeed, was the impression of those who first touched upon +its southern shores, but who remained no longer than to be dazzled by the +splendour and variety of its botanical productions, and to enjoy for a +<!--page xiii CHARACTER OF AUSTRALIAN RIVERS. /page-->few days the delightful mildness of its climate. But the very spot which +had appeared to Captain Cook and Sir Joseph Banks an earthly paradise, was +abandoned by the early settlers as unfit for occupation; nor has the +country generally been fount to realize the sanguine expectations of those +distinguished individuals, so far as it has hitherto been explored. + +<p>Rivers which have the widest mouths or the most practicable entrances, +are, in Europe or America, usually of impetuous current, or else contain +such a body of water as to bear down all opposition to their free course; +whilst on the other hand, rivers whose force is expended ere they reach +the sea, have almost invariably a bar at their embouchure, or where they +mingle their waters with those of the ocean. This last feature +unfortunately appears to characterise all rivers of Australia, or such of +them at least as are sufficiently known to us. Falling rapidly from the +mountains in which they originate into a level and extremely depressed +country; having weak and inconsiderable sources, and being almost wholly +unaided by tributaries of any kind; they naturally fail before they reach +the coast, and exhaust themselves in marshes <!--page xiv FIRST VIEW OF PORT JACKSON. /page-->or lakes; or reach it so +weakened as to be unable to preserve clear or navigable months, or to +remove the sand banks that the tides throw up before them. On the other +hand the productions of this singular region seem to be peculiar to it, +and unlike those of any other part of the world; nor have any indigenous +fruits of any value as yet been found either in its forests or on its +plains. + +<p>He who has never looked on any other than the well-cultured fields of +England, can have little idea of a country that Nature has covered with an +interminable forest. Still less can he estimate the feelings with which +the adventurer approaches a shore that has never (or perhaps only lately) +been trodden by civilized man. + +<p>It was with feelings peculiar to the occasion, that I gazed for the first +time on the bold cliffs at the entrance of Port Jackson, as our vessel +neared them, and speculated on the probable character of the landscape +they hid; and I am free to confess, that I did not anticipate anything +equal to the scene which presented itself both to my sight and my +judgment, as we sailed up the noble and extensive basin we <!--page xv EXTENT OF NEW SOUTH WALES. /page-->had entered, +towards the seat of government. A single glance was sufficient to tell me +that the hills upon the southern shore of the port, the outlines of which +were broken by houses and spires, must once have been covered with the +same dense and gloomy wood which abounded every where else. The contrast +was indeed very great—the improvement singularly striking. The labour and +patience required, and the difficulties which the first settlers +encountered effecting these improvements, must have been incalculable. But +their success has been complete: it is the very triumph of human skill and +industry over Nature herself. The cornfield and the orchard have +supplanted the wild grass and the brush; a flourishing town stands over +the ruins of the forest; the lowing of herds has succeeded the wild whoop +of the savage; and the stillness of that once desert shore is now broken +by the sound of the bugle and the busy hum of commerce. + +<p>The Colony of New South Wales is situated upon the eastern coast of +Australia; and the districts within which land has been granted to +settlers, extends from the 36th parallel of latitude to the 32nd, that is +say, from the <!--page xvi DIVISIONS OF THE COLONY. /page-->Moroyo River to the south of Sydney on the one hand, and to +the Manning River on the other, including Wellington Valley within its +limits to the westward. Thus it will appear that the boundaries of the +located parts of the colony have been considerably enlarged, and some fine +districts of country included within them. In consequence of its extent +and increasing population, it has been found convenient to divide it into +counties, parishes, and townships; and indeed, every measure of the +Colonial Government of late years, has had for its object to assimilate +its internal arrangements as nearly as possible, to those of the mother +country. Whether we are to attribute the present flourishing state of the +colony to the beneficial influence of that system of government which has +been exercised over it for the last seven years it is not for me to say. +That the prosperity of a country depends, however, in a great measure, +on the wisdom of its legislature, is as undoubted, as that within the +period I have mentioned the colony of N. S. Wales has risen +unprecedentedly in importance and in wealth, and has advanced to a state +of im<!--page xvii ITS ADVANCES IN PROSPERITY. /page-->provement at which it could not have arrived had its energies been +cramped or its interests neglected. + +<p>There is a period in the history of every country, during which it will +appear to have been more prosperous than at any other. I allude not to the +period of great martial achievements, should any such adorn its pages, but +to that in which the enterprise of its merchants was roused into action, +and when all classes of its community seem to have put forth their +strength towards the attainment of wealth and power. + +<p>In this eventful period the colony of New South Wales is already far +advanced. The conduct of its merchants is marked by the boldest +speculations and the most gigantic projects. Their storehouses are built +on the most magnificent scale, and with the best and most substantial +materials. Few persons in England have even a remote idea of its present +flourishing condition, or of the improvements that are daily taking place +both in its commerce and in its agriculture. I am aware that many object +to it as a place of residence, and I can easily enter into their feelings +from the recollec<!--page xviii ERRONEOUS IMPRESSIONS. /page-->tion of what my own were before I visited it. I cannot +but remark, however, that I found my prejudices had arisen from a natural +objection to the character of a part of its population; from the +circumstance of its being a penal colony, and from my total ignorance of +its actual state, and not from any substantial or permanent cause. On the +contrary I speedily became convinced of the exaggerated nature of the +reports I had heard in England, on some of the points just adverted to; +nor did any thing fall under my observation during a residence in it of +more than six years to justify the opinion I had been previously led to +entertain of it. I embarked for New South Wales, with strong prejudices +against it: I left it with strong feelings in its favour, and with a deep +feeling of interest in its prosperity. It is a pleasing task to me, +therefore, to write of it thus, and to have it in my power to contribute +to the removal of any erroneous impressions with regard to its condition +at the present moment. + +<p>I have already remarked, that I was not prepared for the scene that met my +view when I first saw Sydney. The fact was, I had not pictured to myself; +nor conceived from any thing that I had <!--page xix COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE OF SYDNEY. /page-->ever read or heard in England, +that so extensive a town could have been reared in that remote region, in +so brief a period as that which had elapsed since its foundation. It is +not, however, a distant or cursory glance that will give the observer a +just idea of the mercantile importance of this busy capital. In order to +form an accurate estimate of it, he should take a boat and proceed from +Sydney Cove to Darling Harbour. He would then be satisfied, that it is not +upon the first alone that Australian commerce has raised its storehouse +and wharfs, but that the whole extent of the eastern shore of the last +more capacious basin, is equally crowded with warehouses, stores, +dockyards, mills, and wharfs, the appearance and solidity of which would +do credit even to Liverpool. Where, thirty years ago, the people flocked +to the beach to hail an arrival, it is not now unusual to see from thirty +to forty vessels riding at anchor at one time, collected there from every +quarter of the globe. In 1832, one hundred and fifty vessels entered the +harbour of Port Jackson, from foreign parts, the amount of their tonnage +being 31,259 tons. + +<p>The increasing importance of Sydney must <!--page xx STAPLE OF THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. /page-->in some measure be attributed to +the flourishing condition of the colony itself, to the industry of its +farmers, to the successful enterprise of its merchants, and to particular +local causes. It is foreign to my purpose, however, to enter largely into +an investigation of these important points. To do so would require more +space than I can afford for the purpose, and might justly be considered as +irrelevant in a work of this kind. Without attempting any lengthened +detail, it may be considered sufficient if I endeavour merely to point out +the principal causes of the present prosperity (and, as they may very +probably prove) of the eventual progress of our great southern colony to +power and independence. + +<p>The staple of our Australian colonies, but more particularly of New South +Wales, the climate and the soil of which are peculiarly suited to its +production,—is fine wool. There can be no doubt that the growth of this +article has mainly contributed to the prosperity of the above mentioned +colony and of Van Diemen's Land. + +<p>At the close of the last century, wool was imported into England from +Spain and Germany only, and but a few years previously from Spain <!--page xxi GROWTH OF FINE WOOL. /page-->alone. +Indeed, long after its introduction from the latter country, German wool, +obtained but little consideration in the London market; and in like +manner, it may be presumed that many years will not have elapsed +before the increased importation of wool from our own possessions in +the southern hemisphere, will render us, in respect to this commodity, +independent of every other part of the world. The great improvements +in modern navigation are such, that the expense of sending the fleece +to market from New South Wales is less than from any part of Europe. +The charges for instance on Spanish and German wool, are from +fourpence to fourpence three farthings per pound; whereas the entire +charge, after shipment from New South Wales, and Van Diemen's Land, does +not exceed threepence three farthings,—and in this the dock and landing +charges, freight, insurance, brokerage, and commission, are included. + +<p>As some particulars respecting the introduction of this source of national +wealth into Australia may prove interesting to the public, I have put +together the following details of it, upon the authenticity of which they +may rely. The person <!--page xxii MR. M'ARTHUR'S EXERTIONS /page-->who foresaw the advantage to be derived from the +growth of fine wool in New South Wales, and who commenced the culture of +it in that colony, was Mr. John M'Arthur. So far back, I believe, as the +year 1793, not long after the establishment of the first settlement at +Sydney, this gentleman commenced sheep-farming, and about two years +afterwards he obtained a ram and two ewes from Captain Kent, of the royal +navy, who had brought them, with some other stock for the supply of the +settlement, from the Cape of Good Hope, to which place a flock of these +sheep had been originally sent by the Dutch government. Sensible of the +importance of the acquisition, Mr. M'Arthur began to cross his +coarse-fleeced sheep with Merino blood; and, proceeding upon a system, he +effected a considerable improvement in the course of a few years. So +prolific was the mixed breed, that in ten years, a flock which originally +consisted of not more than seventy Bengal sheep, had increased in number +to 4,000 head, although the wethers had been killed as they became fit for +slaughter. It appears, however, that as the sheep approached to greater +purity of blood, their extreme fecundity diminished. +<!--page xxiii TO REAR MERINO FLOCKS. /page--> +<p>In 1803, Mr. M'Arthur revisited England; and there happening at the time +to be a committee of manufacturers in London from the clothing districts, +he exhibited before them samples of his wool, which were so much approved, +that the committee represented to their constituents the advantages which +would result from the growth of fine wool, in one of the southern +dependencies of the empire. In consequence of this a memorial was +transmitted to His Majesty's government, and Mr. M'Arthur's plans having +been investigated by a Privy Council, at which he was present, they were +recommended to the government as worthy of its protection. With such +encouragement Mr. M'Arthur purchased two ewes and three rams, from the +Merino flock of His Majesty King George the Third. He embarked with them +on his return to New South Wales in 1806, on board a vessel named by him +“the Argo,” in reference to the golden treasure with which she was +freighted. On reaching the colony he removed his sheep to a grant of land +which the Home Government had directed he should receive in the Cow +Pastures. To commemorate the transaction, and to transmit to a <!--page xxiv EXPORT OF WOOL TO ENGLAND. /page-->grateful +posterity the recollection of the nobleman who then presided over the +colonies, the estate, together with the district in which it is situated, +was honoured by the name of Camden. + +<p>Since that time the value of New South Wales wool has been constantly on +the increase, and the colony are indebted to Mr. M'Arthur for the +possession of an exportable commodity which has contributed very +materially to its present wealth and importance. Such general attention is +now paid to this interesting branch of rural economy, that the importation +of wool into England from our Australian colonies, amounted, in 1832, to +10,633 bales, or 2,500,000 lbs. It has been sold at as high a price as +10s. per lb.; but the average price of wool of the best flocks vary from +1s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. at the present moment. The number of sheep in New South +Wales alone was calculated in the last census at 536,891 head. The +ordinary profits on this kind of stock may be extracted from the Table +given in the Appendix to the first volume of this work. + +<p>Among the various speculations undertaken by the merchants of Sydney, +there is not one into which they have entered with so much <!--page xxv WHALE FISHERY. /page-->spirit as in +the South Sea Fishery. The local situation of Port Jackson gives them an +advantage over the English and the American merchants, since the distance +of both these from the field of their gains, must necessarily impede them +greatly; whereas the ships that leave Sydney on a whaling excursion, +arrive without loss of time upon their ground, and return either for fresh +supplies or to repair damages with equal facility. The spirit with which +the colonial youth have engaged in this adventurous and hardy service, is +highly to their credit. The profits arising from it may not be (indeed I +have every reason to think are not) so great as might be supposed, or such +as might reasonably be expected; but the extensive scale on which it is +conducted, speaks equally for the energy and perseverance of the parties +concerned, in the prosecution of their commercial enterprises. It has +enabled them to equip a creditable colonial marine, and given great +importance to their mercantile interests in the mother country. + +<p>In the year 1831, the quantity of sperm and black oil, the produce of the +fisheries exported from New South Wales, amounted to 2,307 tons, <!--page xxvi OTHER EXPORTS. /page-->and was +estimated, together with skins and whalebone, to be worth 107,971<i>l.</i> +sterling. The gross amount of all other exports during that year, did not +exceed 107,697<i>l.</i> sterling. Of these exports, the following were the +most considerable:</p> +<table summary=""><col><col align=right> +<tr><td>Timber<td> £7,410 +<tr><td>Butter and Cheese<td> 2,376 +<tr><td>Mimosa bark<td> 40 +<tr><td>Hides<td> 7,333 +<tr><td>Horses<td> 7,302 +<tr><td>Salt provisions<td> 5,184 +<tr><td>Wool<td> 66,112</tr> +</table> +<p>The above is exclusive of £61,000 value of British manufactures +re-exported to the various ports and islands in the Southern Seas. + +<p>In this scale, moreover, tobacco is not mentioned; but that plant is now +raised for the supply of every private establishment, and will assuredly +form an article of export, as soon as its manufacture shall be well +understood. Neither can it be doubted but that the vine and the olive +will, in a short time, be abundantly cultivated; and that a greater +knowledge of the climate and soil of the more northern parts of the +colony, will <!--page xxvii GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES. /page-->lead to the introduction of fresh sources of wealth. + +<p>Having taken this hasty review of the commercial interests of the colony, +we may now turn to a brief examination of its internal structure and +principal natural features. + +<p>I have already given a cursory sketch of the geographical features of the +whole continent. Of the vast area which its coasts embrace, the east part +alone has been fully explored. + +<p>A range of hills runs along the eastern coast, from north to south, which, +in different quarters, vary in their distance from the sea; at one place +approaching it pretty nearly, at another, receding from it to a distance +of forty miles. It is a singular fact, that there is no pass or break in +these mountains, by which any of the rivers of the interior can escape in +an easterly direction. Their spine is unbroken. The consequence is, that +there is a complete division of the eastern and western waters, and that +streams, the heads of which are close to each other, flow away in opposite +directions; the one to pursue a short course to the sea; the other to fall +into a level and depressed interior, the <!--page xxviii GREAT PROPORTION OF BAD SOIL. /page-->character of which will be +noticed in its proper place. + +<p>The proportion of bad soil to that which is good in New South Wales, is +certainly very great: I mean the proportion of inferior soil to such as is +fit for the higher purposes of agriculture. Mr. Dawson, the late +superintendent of the Australian Agricultural Company's possessions, has +observed, as a singular fact, that the best soil generally prevails on the +summits of the hills, more especially where they are at all level. He +accounts for so unusual a circumstance by the fact, that elevated +positions are less subject to the effects of fire or floods than their +valleys or flanks, and attributes the general want of vegetable mould over +the colony chiefly to the ravages of the former element, whereby the +growth of underwood, so favourable in other countries to the formation of +soil, is wholly prevented. Undoubtedly this is a principal cause for the +deficiency in question. There is no part of the world in which fires +create such havoc as in New South Wales and indeed in Australia +generally. The climate, on the one hand, which dries up vegetation, and +<!--page xxix CAUSE OF THIS. /page-->the wandering habits of the natives on the other, which induce them to +clear the country before them by conflagration, operate equally against +the growth of timber and underwood. + +<p>But there is another circumstance that appears to have escaped +Mr. Dawson's observation; which is the actual property of the trees +themselves, as to the quantity of vegetable matter they produce in decay. +Being a military man, I cannot be supposed to have devoted much of my time +to agricultural pursuits; but it has been obvious to me, as it must have +been to many others, that in New South Wales, the fall of leaves and the +decay of timber, so far from adding to the richness of its soil, actually +destroy minor vegetation. This fact was brought more home to me in +consequence of its having been my lot to spend some months upon Norfolk +Island, a distant penal settlement attached to the Government of Sydney. +There the abundance of vegetable decay was as remarkable as the want of it +on the Australian Continent. I have frequently sunk up to my knees in a +bed of leaves when walking through its woods; and, <!--page xxx CONNECTION BETWEEN THE /page-->often when I placed my +foot on what appeared externally to be the solid trunk of a tree, I have +found it yield to the pressure, in consequence of its decomposition into +absolute rottenness. But such is not the case in New South Wales. There, +no such accumulations of vegetable matter are to be met with; but where +the loftiest tree of the forest falls to the ground, its figure and length +are marked out by the total want of vegetation within a certain distance +of it, and a small elevation of earth, resembling more the refuse or +scoria of burnt bricks than any thing else, is all that ultimately remains +of the immense body which time or accident had prostrated. Thus it would +appear, that it is not less to the character of its woods than to the +ravages of fire that New South Wales owes its general sterility. + +<p>Whilst prosecuting my researches in the interior of the colony, I could +not but be struck with the apparent connection between its geology and +vegetation; so strong, indeed, was this connection, that I had little +difficulty, after a short experience, in judging of the rock that formed +the basis of the country over which I <!--page xxxi GEOLOGY AND VEGETATION. /page-->was travelling, from the kind of +tree or herbage that flourished in the soil above it. The eucalyptus +pulv., a species of eucalyptus having a glaucus-coloured leaf, of +dwarfish habits and growing mostly in scrub, betrayed the sandstone +formation, wherever it existed, This was the case in many parts of the +County of Cumberland, in some parts of Wombat Brush, at the two passes on +the great south road, over a great extent of country to the N.W. of Yass +Plains, and at Blackheath on the summit of the Blue Mountains. On the +other hand, those open grassy and park-like tracts, of which so much has +been said, characterise the secondary ranges of granite and porphyry. The +trees most usual on these tracts, were the box, an unnamed species of +eucalyptus, and the grass chiefly of that kind, called the oat or forest +grass, which grows in tufts at considerable distances from each other, +and which generally affords good pasturage. On the richer grounds the +angophora lanceolata, and the eucalyptus mammifera more frequently point +out the quality of the soil on which they grow. The first are abundant on +the alluvial flats of the Nepean, the <!--page xxxii CONNECTION BETWEEN THE /page-->Hawkesbury and the Hunter; the +latter on the limestone formation of Wellington Valley and in the better +portions of Argyle; whilst the cupressus calytris seems to occupy sandy +ridges with the casuarina. It was impossible that these broad features +should have escaped observation: it was naturally inferred from this, that +the trees of New South Wales are gregarious; and in fact they may, in a +great measure, be considered so. The strong line that occasionally +separates different species, and the sudden manner in which several +species are lost at one point, to re-appear at another more distant, +without any visible cause for the break that has taken place, will furnish +a number of interesting facts in the botany of New South Wales. + +<p>It was observed both on the Macquarie river and the Morumbidgee, that the +casuarinae ceased at a particular point. On the Macquarie particularly, +these trees which had often excited our admiration from Wellington Valley +downwards, ceased to occupy its banks below the cataract, nor were they +again noticed until we arrived on the banks of the Castlereagh. The +blue-gum trees, again, were never observed to <!--page xxxiii GEOLOGY AND VEGETATION. /page-->extend beyond the secondary +embankments of the rivers, occupying that ground alone which was subject +to flood and covered with reeds. These trees waved over the marshes of the +Macquarie, but were not observed to the westward of them for many miles; +yet they re-appeared upon the banks of New-Year's Creek as suddenly as +they had disappeared after we left the marshes, and grew along the line +of the Darling to unusual size. But it is remarkable, that, even in the +midst of the marshes, the blue-gum trees were strictly confined to the +immediate flooded spaces on which the reeds prevailed, or to the very beds +of the water-courses. Where the ground was elevated, or out of the reach +of flood, the box (unnamed) alone occupied it; and, though the branches of +these trees might be interwoven together, the one never left its wet and +reedy bed, the other never descended from its more elevated position. The +same singular distinction marked the acacia pendula, when it ceased to +cover the interior plains of light earth, and was succeeded by another +shrub of the same species. It continued to the banks of New-Year's Creek, +a part of which it thickly lined. <!--page xxxiv GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. /page-->To the westward of the creek, another +species of acacia was remarked for the first time. Both shrubs, like the +blue-gum and the box, mixed their branches together, but the creek formed +the line of separation between them. The acacia pendula was not afterwards +seen, but that which had taken its place, as it were, was found to cover +large tracts of country and to form extensive brushes. Many other +peculiarities in the vegetation of the interior are noticed in the body +of this work, but I have thought that these more striking ones deserved +to be particularly remarked upon. + +<p>If we strike a line to the N.W. from Sydney to Wellington Valley, we shall +find that little change takes place in the geological features of the +country. The sand-stone of which the first of the barrier ranges is +composed, terminates a little beyond Mount York, and at Cox's River is +succeeded by grey granite. The secondary ranges to the N.W. of Bathurst, +are wholly of that primitive rock; for although there are partial changes +of strata between Bathurst and <!--page xxxv GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. /page-->Moulong Plains, granite is undoubtedly the +rock upon which the whole are based: but at Moulong Plains, a military +station intermediate between Bathurst and Wellington Valley, limestone +appears in the bed of a small clear stream, and with little interruption +continues to some distance below the last-mentioned place. The accidental +discovery of some caves at Moulong Plains, led to the more critical +examination of the whole formation, and cavities of considerable size were +subsequently found in various parts of it, but more particularly in the +neighbourhood of Wellington Valley. The local interest which has of late +years been taken in the prosecution of geological investigations, led many +gentlemen to examine the contents of these caverns; and among the most +forward, Major Mitchell, the Surveyor-General, must justly be considered, +to whose indefatigable perseverance the scientific world is already so +much indebted. + +<p>The caves into which I penetrated, did not present anything particular to +my observation; they differed little from caves of a similar description +into which I had penetrated in Europe. Large masses of stalactites hung +from their roofs, and a corresponding formation encrusted their <!--page xxxvi GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. /page-->floors. +They comprised various chambers or compartments, the most remote of which +terminated at a deep chasm that was full of water. A close examination of +these caves has led to the discovery of some organic remains, bones of +various animals embedded in a light red soil; but I am not aware that the +remains of any extinct species have been found, or that any fossils have +been met with in the limestone itself. There can, however, be little doubt +but that the same causes operated in depositing these mouldering remains +in the caves of Kirkdale and those of Wellington Valley. + +<p>About twenty miles below the junction of the Bell with the Macquarie, +free-stone supersedes the limestone, but as the country falls rapidly from +that point, it soon disappears, and the traveller enters upon a flat +country of successive terraces. A schorl rock, of a blue colour and fine +grain, composed of tourmaline and quartz, forms the bed of the Macquarie +at the Cataract; and, in immediate contact with it, a mass of mica slate +of alternate rose, pink, and white, was observed, which must have been +covered by the waters of the river when Mr. Oxley descended it. +<!--page xxxvii GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. /page--> +<p>From the Cataract of the Macquarie, a flat extends to the marshes in which +that river exhausts itself. From the midst of this flat Mount Foster and +Mount Harris rise, both of which are porphyritic: but as I have been +particular in describing these heights in their proper place, any minute +notice of them here may be considered unnecessary. We will rather extend +our enquiries to those parts of the colony upon which we shall not be +called upon to remark in the succeeding pages. + +<p>Returning to the coast, we may mark the geological changes in a line to +the S.W. of Sydney; and as my object is to extend the information of my +readers, I shall notice any particular district on either side of the line +I propose to touch upon, which may be worthy of notice. It would appear +that the first decided break in the sandstone formation which penetrates +into the county of Camden, is at Mittagong Range. It is there traversed by +a dike of whinstone, of which that range is wholly composed. The change of +soil and of vegetation are equally remarkable at this place; the one being +a rich, greasy, chocolate-coloured earth, the other partaking greatly of +<!--page xxxviii GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. /page-->the intertropical character. In wandering over them, I noticed the wild +fig and the cherry-tree, growing to a much larger size than I had seen +them in any other part of the colony. Upon their branches, the satin bird, +the gangan, and various kinds of pigeons were feeding. Birds unknown to +the eastward of the Blue Mountains, were numerous in the valleys; and +there was an unusual appearance of freshness and moisture in the +vegetation. + +<p>These signs of improvement, however, vanish the moment Mittagong range is +crossed, and sand-stone again forms the basis of the country to a +considerable distance beyond Bong-bong. At a small farm called the +Ploughed Ground, it is again traversed by a dike of whinstone, and a rich +but isolated spot is thus passed over. With occasional and partial +interruption, however, the sand-stone formation continues to an abrupt +pass, from which the traveller descends to the county of Argyle. This pass +is extremely abrupt, and is covered with glaucus, the low scrub I have +noticed as common to the sand-stone formation. A small but lively stream, +called Paddy's River, runs at the bottom of this pass, <!--page xxxix GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. /page-->and immediately to +the S.W. of it, an open forest country of granite base extends for many +miles, on which the eucalyptus manifera is prevalent, and which affords +the best grazing tracts in Argyle. At Goulburn Plains, however, a vein of +limestone occurs, which is evidently connected with that forming the +ShoalHaven Gully, which is perhaps the most remarkable geological feature +in the colony of New South Wales. It is a deep chasm of about a quarter of +a mile in breadth, and 1200 feet in depth. The country on either side is +perfectly level, so much so that the traveller approaches almost to its +very brink before he is aware of his being near so singular an abyss. A +small rivulet flows through the Gully, and discharges itself into the sea +at ShoalHaven; but this river is hardly perceptible, from the summit of +the cliffs forming the sides of the Gully, which are of the boldest and +most precipitous character. The ground on the summit is full of caves of +great depth, but there has been a difficulty in examining them, in +consequence of the violent wind that rushes up them, and extinguishes +every torch. + +<p>The open and grassy forests of Argyle are ter<!--page xl GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. /page-->minated by another of those +abrupt sand-stone passes I have just described, and the traveller again +falls considerably from his former level, previously to his entering on +Yass Plains, to which this pass is the only inlet. + +<p>From Yass Plains the view to the S. and S.W. is over a lofty and broken +country: mountains with rounded summits, others with towering peaks, and +others again of lengthened form but sharp spine, characterise the various +rocks of which they are composed. The ranges decline rapidly from east to +west, and while on the one hand the country has all the appearance of +increasing height, on the other it sinks to a dead level; nor on the +distant horizon to the N. W. is there a hill or an inequality to be seen. + +<p>From Yass Plains to the very commencement of the level interior, every +range I crossed presented a new rock-formation; serpentine quartz in +huge white masses, granite, chlorite, micaceous schist, sandstone, +chalcedony, quartz, and red jasper, and conglomerate rocks. + +<p>It was however, out of my power, in so hurried a journey as that which I +performed down the <!--page xli GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. /page-->banks of the Morumbidgee River, to examine with the +accuracy I could have wished, either the immediate connection between +these rocks or their gradual change from the one to the other. I was +content to ascertain their actual succession, and to note the general +outlines of the ranges; but the defect of vision under which I labour, +prevents me from laying them before the public. + +<p>From what has been advanced, however, it will appear that the physical +structure of the southern parts of the colony is as varied, as that of the +western interior is monotonous, and we may now pursue our original +observations on the soil of the colony with greater confidence. + +<p>In endeavouring to account for the poverty of the soil in New South Wales, +and in attributing it in a great degree to the causes already mentioned, +it appears necessary to estimate more specifically the influence which the +geological formation of a country exercises on its soil, and how much the +quality of the latter partakes of the character of the rock on which it +reposes. And although I find it extremely <!--page xlii CHARACTER OF THE SOIL /page-->difficult to explain myself as +I should wish to do, in the critical discussion on which I have thus +entered, yet as it is material to the elucidation of an important subject +in the body of the work, I feel it incumbent on me to proceed to the best +of my ability. + +<p>I have said that the soil of a country depends much upon its geological +formation. This appears to be particularly the case in those parts of the +colony with which I am acquainted, or those lying between the parallels of +30° and 35° south. Sandstone, porphyry, and granite, +succeed each other from the coast to a very considerable distance into the +interior, on a N. W. line. The light ferruginous dust that is distributed +over the county of Cumberland, and which annoys the traveller by its +extreme minuteness, to the eastward of the Blue Mountains, is as different +from the coarse gravelly soil on the secondary ranges to the westward of +them, as the barren scrubs and thickly-wooded tracts of the former +district are to the grassy and open forests of the latter. + +<p>As soon as I began to descend to the westward it became necessary to pay +strict and <!--page xliii CONNECTED WITH GEOLOGICAL FORMATION. /page-->earnest attention to the features of the country through which +I passed, in order to determine more accurately the different appearances +which, as I was led to expect, the rivers would assume. In the course of +my examination I found, first, that the broken country through which I +travelled, was generally covered with a loose, coarse, and sandy soil; +and, secondly, that the ranges were wholly deficient in that peat +formation which fills the valleys, or covers the flat summits of the hills +or mountains, in the northern hemisphere. The peculiar property of this +formation is to retain water like a sponge; and to this property the +regular and constant flow of the rivers descending from such hills, may, +in a great measure, be attributed. In New South Wales on the contrary, the +rains that fall upon the mountains drain rapidly through a coarse and +superficial soil, and pour down their sides without a moment's +interruption. The consequence is that on such occasions the rivers are +subject to great and sudden rises, whereas they have scarcely water enough +to support a current in ordinary seasons. At one time the traveller will +find it impracticable to cross them: at another he may do so with ease; +and <!--page xliv CHARACTER OF THE SOIL /page-->only from the remains of debris in the branches of the trees high +above, can he judge of the furious torrent they must occasionally +contain. + +<p>This seeming deviation on the part of Nature from her usual laws will no +longer appear such, if we consider its results for a moment. The very +floods which swell the rivers to overflowing, are followed by the most +beneficent effects; and, rude and violent as the means are by which she +accomplishes her purpose, they form, no doubt, a part of that process by +which she preserves the balance of good and evil. Vast quantities of the +best soil have been thus washed down from the mountains to accumulate in +more accessible places. From frequent depositions, a great extent of +country along the banks of every river and creek has risen high above the +influence of the floods, and constitutes the richest tracts in the colony. +The alluvial flats of the Nepean, the Hawkesbury, and the Hunter, are +striking instances of the truth of these observations; to which the plains +of O'Connell and Bathurst must be added. The only good soil upon the two +latter, is in the immediate neighbourhood of the Macquarie River: but, +even close to its banks, <!--page xlv CONNECTED WITH GEOLOGICAL FORMATION. /page-->the depositions are of little depth, lying on a +coarse gravelly soil, the decomposition of the nearer ranges. The former +is found to diminish in thickness, according to the concavity of the +valley through which the Macquarie flows, and at length becomes mixed with +the coarser soil. This deposit is alone fit for agricultural purposes; +but it does not necessarily follow that the distant country is unavailable +since it is admitted, that the best grazing tracts are upon the secondary +ranges of granite and porphyry. These ranges generally have the appearance +of open forest, and are covered with several kinds of grasses, among which +the long oat-grass is the most abundant. + +<p>If we except the valley of the Nepean, the banks of the South Creek, the +Pennant Hills near Parramatta, and a few other places, the general soil of +the county of Cumberland, is of the poorest description. It is superficial +in most places, resting either upon a cold clay, or upon sandstone; and +is, as I have already remarked, a ferruginous compound of the finest dust. +Yet there are many places upon its surface, (hollows for instance,) in +which vegetable decay has ac<!--page xlvi COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND. /page-->cumulated, or valleys, into which it has been +washed, that are well adapted for the usual purposes of agriculture, and +would, if the country was more generally cleared, be found to exist to a +much greater extent than is at present imagined. I have frequently +observed the isolated patches of better land, when wandering through the +woods, both on the Parramatta River, and at a greater distance from the +coast. And I cannot but think, that it would be highly advantageous to +those who possess large properties in the County of Cumberland to let +Portions of them. The concentration of people round their capital, +promotes more than anything else the prosperity of a colony, by creating +a reciprocal demand for the produce both of the country and the town, +since the one would necessarily stimulate the energy of the farmer, as the +other would rouse the enterprise of the merchant. The consideration, +however, of such a subject is foreign to my present purpose. + +<p>It must not be supposed, that because I have given a somewhat particular +description of the County of Cumberland, I have done so with a view to +bring it forward as a specimen of the <!--page xlvii COUNTRY WEST OF BLUE MOUNTAINS. /page-->other counties, or to found upon it +a general description of the colony. It is, in fact, poorer in every +respect than any tract of land of similar extent in the interior, and is +still covered with dense forests of heavy timber, excepting when the trees +have been felled by dint of manual labour, and the ground cleared at an +expense that nothing but its proximity to the seat of government could +have justified. But experience has proved, that neither the labour nor the +the expense have been thrown away. Many valuable farms and extensive +gardens chequer the face of the country, from which the proprietors +derive a very efficient income. + +<p>To the westward of the Blue Mountains, the country differs in many +respects from that lying between those ranges and the coast; and although, +its aspect varies in different places, three principal features appear +more immediately to characterise it. These are, first, plains of +considerable extent wholly destitute of timber; secondly, open undulating +woodlands; and, thirdly, barren unprofitable tracts. The first almost +invariably occur in the immediate neighbourhood of some river, as the +Plains <!--page xlviii MEANS OF INLAND TRANSPORT. /page-->of Bathurst, which are divided by the Macquarie; Goulburn Plains, +through which the Wallandilly flows; and Yass Plains, which are watered by +a river of the same name. The open forests, through which the horseman may +gallop in perfect safety, seem to prevail over the whole secondary ranges +of granite, and are generally considered as excellent grazing tracts. Such +is the country in Argyleshire on either side of the Lachlan, where that +river crosses the great southern road near Mr. Hume's station; such also +are many parts of Goulburn and the whole extent of country lying between +Underaliga and the Morumbidgee River. The barren tracts, on the other +hand, may be said to occupy the central spaces between all the principal +streams. With regard to the proportion that these different kinds of +country bear to each other, there can be no doubt of the undue +preponderance of the last over the first two; but there are nevertheless +many extensive available tracts in every part of the colony. + +<p>The greatest disadvantage under which New South Wales labours, is the want +of means for conveying inland produce to the market, or to the <!--page xlix DISADVANTAGES OF DISTANT SETTLERS. /page-->coast. The +Blue Mountains are in this respect a serious bar to the internal +prosperity of the colony. By this time, however, a magnificent +road will have been completed across them to the westward, over parts of +which I travelled in 1831. Indeed the efforts of the colonial government +have been wisely directed, not only to the construction of this road, +which the late Governor, General Darling commenced, but also in +facilitating the communication to the southern districts, by an almost +equally fine road over the Razor Back Range, near the Cow Pastures; so +that as far as it is possible for human efforts to overcome natural +obstacles, the wisdom and foresight of the executive have ere this been +successful. + +<p>The majority of the settlers in the Bathurst country, and in the more +remote interior, are woolgrowers; and as they send their produce to the +market only once a year, receiving supplies for home consumption, on the +return of their drays or carts from thence, the inconvenience of bad +roads is not so much felt by them. But to an agriculturist a residence to +the westward of the Blue Mountains is decidedly objectionable, unless he +possess the means with which to pro<!--page l DISADVANTAGES OF DISTANT SETTLERS. /page-->cure the more immediate necessaries of +life, otherwise than by the sale of his grain or other produce, and can be +satisfied to cultivate his property for home consumption, or for the +casual wants of his neighbours. Under such circumstances, a man with a +small private income would enjoy every rational comfort. But of course, +not only in consequence of the loss of labour, but the chance of accidents +during a long journey, the more the distance is increased from Sydney, as +the only place at which the absolute necessaries of life can be purchased, +the greater becomes the objection to a residence in such a part of the +country; and on this account it is, that although some beautiful locations +both as to extent and richness, are to be found to the westward of +Bathurst, equally on the Bell, the Macquarie and the Lachlan, it is not +probable they will be taken up for many years, or will only be occupied as +distant stock stations. + +<p>Since, therefore, it appears from what has been advanced, that it is not +to the westward the views of any settlers should be directed, excepting +under particular circumstances, it remains for us to consider what other +parts of the colony <!--page li CHARACTER OF EASTERN COAST. /page-->hold out, or appear to hold out, greater advantages. +The eye naturally turns to the south on the one hand, and to +Port Macquarie northerly on the other. It is to be remarked that the +eastern shores of Australia partake of the same barren character that +marks the other three. It is generally bounded to a certain extent by a +sandy and sterile tract. There are, however, breaks in so prolonged a +line, as might have been expected, where, from particular local causes, +both the soil and vegetation are of a superior kind. At Illawarra for +instance, the contiguity of the mountains to the coast leaves no room for +the sandy belt we have noticed, but the debris from them reaches to the +very shore. Whether from reflected heat, or from some other peculiarity of +situation, the vegetation of Illawarra is of an intertropical character, +and birds that are strangers to the county of Cumberland frequent its +thickets. There is no part of Australia where the feathered race are more +beautiful, or more diversified. The most splendid pigeon, perhaps, that +the world produces, and the satin bird, with its lovely eye, feed there +upon the berries of the ficus (wild fig,) and other trees: and a <!--page lii PORT MACQUARIE AND FIVE ISLANDS. /page-->numerous +tribe of the accipitrine class soar over its dense and spacious forests. + +<p>We again see a break in the sandy line of the coast at Broken Bay, at +Newcastle, and still further north at Port Macquarie; at which places the +Hawkesbury, the Hunter, and the Hastings severally debouche. Of Port +Macquarie, as a place of settlement, I entertain a very high opinion, in +consequence of its being situated under a most favourable parallel +latitude. I am convinced it holds out many substantial advantages. One of +the most important of these is the circumstance of its having been much +improved when occupied as a penal settlement. And since the shores of the +colony are how navigated by steam-boats, the facility of water +communication would be proportionably great. + +<p>I believe the Five Islands or Illawarr district is considered peculiarly +eligible for small settlers. The great drawback to this place is the +heavy character of its timber and the closeness of its thickets, which vie +almost with the American woods in those respects. The return, however, is +adequate to the labour required in clearing the ground. Between the Five +Islands and <!--page liii RICH TRACTS IN THE INTERIOR. /page-->Sydney, a constant intercourse is kept up by numerous small +craft; and a communication with the interior, by branch roads from the +great southern line to the coast, would necessarily be thrown open, if the +more distant parts of it were sufficiently peopled. + +<p>Recent surveys have discovered to us rich and extensive tracts in the +remote interior between Jervis Bay and Bateman's Bay, and southwards upon +the western slope of the dividing range. The account given by Messrs. +Hovel and Hume is sufficient to prove that every valley they crossed was +worthy of notice, and that the several rivers they forded were flanked by +rich and extensive flats. + +<p>The distance of Moneroo Plains, and of the Doomot and Morumbidgee Rivers +from Sydney, alarms the settler, who knows not the value of those +localities; but men whose experience has taught them to set this obstacle +at nought, have long depastured their herds on the banks of the last two. +The fattest cattle that supply the Sydney market are fed upon the rich +flats, and in the grassy valleys of the Morumbidgee; and there are several +beautiful farms upon those of <!--page liv PERIODICAL DROUGHTS. /page-->the Doomot. Generally speaking, the persons +who reside in those distant parts, pay little attention to the comfort of +their dwellings, or to the raising of more grain than their establishments +may require; but there can be no doubt this part of the interior ought to +be the granary of New South Wales; its climate and greater humidity being +more favourable than that of Sydney for the production of wheat. + +<p>The most serious disadvantages under which the colony of New South Wales +labours, is in the drought to which it is periodically subject. Its +climate may be said to be too dry; in other respects it is one of the most +delightful under heaven; and experience of the certainty of the recurrence +of the trying seasons to which I allude, should teach men to provide +against their effects. Those seasons, during which no rain falls, appear, +from the observations of former writers, to occur every ten or twelve +years; and it is somewhat singular that no cause has been assigned for +such periodical visitations. Whether the state of the interior has +anything to do with them, and whether the wet or dry condition of the +marshes at all regulate the seasons, is a ques<!--page lv THE SEASONS AFFECTED BY THE MARSHES. /page-->tion upon which I will not +venture to give my decisive opinion. But most assuredly, when the interior +is dry, the seasons are dry, and <i>vice versa</i>. Indeed, not only is this the +case, but rains, from excessive duration in the first year after a +drought, decrease gradually year after year, until they wholly cease for a +time. It seems not improbable, therefore, that the state of the interior +does, in some measure, regulate the fall of rain upon the eastern ranges, +which appears to decrease in quantity yearly as the marshes become +exhausted, and cease altogether, when they no longer contain any water. A +drought will naturally follow until such time as the air becomes +surcharged with clouds or vapour from the ocean, which being no longer +able to sustain their own weight, descend upon the mountains, and being +conveyed by hundreds of streams into the western lowlands, again fill the +marshes, and cause the recurrence of regular seasons. + +<p>The thermometer ranges during the summer months, that is, from September +to March, from 36° to 106° of Fahrenheit, but the mean +of the temperature during the above period is 70°. <!--page lvi TEMPERATURE OF THE CLIMATE. /page-->The instrument +in the winter months ranges from 27° to 98°, with a mean of +66°. However great the summer heat may appear, it is certain that +the climate of New South Wales has not the relaxing and enfeebling effect +upon the constitution, which renders a residence in India or other parts +of the south so intolerable. Neither are any of the ordinary occupations +of business or of pleasure laid aside at noon, or during the hottest part +of the day. The traveller may cast himself at length under the first tree +that invites him, and repose there as safely as if he were in a palace. +Fearless of damps, and unmolested by noxious insects, his sleep is as +sound as it is refreshing, and he rises with renewed spirits to pursue his +journey. Equally so may the ploughman or the labourer seek repose beside +his team, and allow them to graze quietly around him. The delicious +coolness of the morning and the mild temperature of the evening air, in +that luxurious climate, are beyond the power of description. It appears to +have an influence on the very animals, the horses and the cattle being +particularly docile; and I cannot but think it is is some degree the same +<!--page lvii FRUITS. /page-->happy effect upon some of the hardened human beings who are sent thither +from the old world. + +<p>As I have before observed, it has not yet been discovered whether there +are any indigenous fruits of any value in Australia. In the colony of New +South Wales there certainly are none; yet the climate is peculiarly +adapted for the growth of every European and of many tropical productions. +The orange, the fig, the citron, the pomegranate, the peach, the apple, +the guava, the nectarine, the pear, and the loquette, grow side by side +together. The plantain throws its broad leaves over the water, the vine +encircles the cottages, and the market of Sydney is abundantly supplied +with every culinary vegetable. + +<p>In a climate, therefore, so soft that man scarcely requires a dwelling, +and so enchanting that few have left it but with regret, the spirits must +necessarily be acted upon,—and the heart feel lighter. Such, indeed, I +have myself found to be the case; nor have I ever been happier than when +roving through the woods or wandering along one of the silent and +beautiful bays for which the harbour of Port Jackson is so celebrated. I +went to New South Wales as I have already remarked, highly prejudiced +<!--page lviii REMARKS ON EMIGRATION. /page-->against it, both from the nature of the service, and the character of the +great body of its inhabitants. My regiment has since quitted its shores, +but I am aware there are few of them who would not gladly return. The +feeling I have in its favour arises not, therefore, from the services in +which I was employed, but from circumstances in the colony itself; and I +yet hope to form one of its community and to join a number of valuable and +warm-hearted friends whom I left in that distant part of the world. + +<p>On the subject of emigration, it is not my intention to dwell at any +length. My object in these preliminary remarks has been to give the reader +a general idea of the country, in the interior recesses of which I am +about to lead him. Still, however, it may be useful to offer a few general +observations on a topic which has, of late years, become so interesting to +the British public. + +<p>The main consideration with those who, possessing some capital, propose to +emigrate as the means of improving their condition, is, the society likely +to be found in the land fixed on for their future residence. One of the +first questions I have been asked, when conversing on <!--page lix REMARKS ON EMIGRATION. /page-->the subject of +emigration, has consequently related to this important matter. I had only +then to observe in reply, that the civil and military establishments in +New South Wales, form the elements of as good society as it is the lot of +the majority to command in Great Britain. + +<p>The houses of the settlers are not scattered over a greater surface than +the residences of country gentlemen here, and if they cannot vie with them +in size, they most assuredly do in many other more important respects; and +if a substantial cottage of brick or stone has any claim to the rank of a +tenantable mansion, there are few of them which do not posses all the +means of exercising that hospitality for which young communities are +remarkable. + +<p>But to sever the links of kindred, and to abandon the homes of our fathers +after years of happy tranquillity, is a sacrifice the magnitude of which +is unquestionable. The feelings by which men are influenced under such +circumstances have a claim to our respect. Indeed, no class of persons can +have a stronger hold upon our sympathies than those whom unmerited adverse +fortune obliges to seek a home in a distant country. +<!--page lx DESCRIPTION OF IMMIGRANTS /page--> +<p>Far, therefore, be it from me to dispute a single expression of regret to +which they may give utterance. It must, however, he remembered that the +deepest feelings of anguish are providentially alleviated in time. Our +heaviest misfortunes are frequently repaired by industry and caution. The +sky clears up, as it were: new interests engage the attention, and the +cares of a family or the improvement of a newly acquired property engross +those moments which would otherwise be spent in vain and unprofitable +regrets. + +<p>It cannot be doubted that persons such as I have described, whose conduct +has hitherto been regulated by prudence, and whose main object is to +provide for their children, are the most valuable members of every +community, whether young or old. To such men few countries hold out +greater prospects of success than New South Wales; for the more we extend +our enquiries, the more we shall find that the success of the emigrant in +that colony depends upon his prudence and foresight rather than on any +collateral circumstance of climate or soil; and to him who can be +satisfied with the gradual acquirement of competency, it is the land of +promise. Blessed with a climate of unparalleled serenity, and of <!--page lxi MOST LIKELY TO PROSPER. /page-->unusual +freedom from disease, the settler has little external cause of anxiety, +little apprehension of sickness among his family or domestics, and little +else to do than to attend to his own immediate interests. I should wish to +illustrate the observations by two or three instances of their practical +bearing and tendency. + +<p>It was on my return from my second expedition, that I visited +Lieut. ****** who resides in the southern parts of the colony. The day +after my arrival, he took me round his property, and explained the various +improvements he had made, considering the small means with which he had +commenced. At this part of our conversation, we came within view of his +house, a substantial weather-board cottage. “I trust,” said I, turning +to him, “you will excuse the question I am about to ask; for your +frankness emboldens me to propose it, and on your answer much of the +effect of what you have been saying will depend. In effecting these +various improvements, and in the building of that house, have you been +obliged to embarrass yourself, or are they free from incumbrance?”—“Your +question,” he said, “is a reasonable one, and I will answer it with the +frankness you are kind <!--page lxii CASES OF EMIGRANTS. /page-->enough to ascribe to me. I have ever made it a rule +not to exceed my income. Mrs. ****** bore our first trials with so much +cheerfulness, and contributed so much to my happiness and my prosperity, +that I felt myself bound to build her a good house with the first money +I had to spare.” I confess this answer raised my host in my estimation, +and it was a gratifying proof to me of the success that attends industry +and perseverance. + +<p>But let us look at another case. Mr. *** had a property to the N.W. of +Sydney, and having considerable funded means when he arrived in the +colony, he soon put his property into a state of progressive improvement, +and being in truth an excellent practical farmer, it assumed the +appearance of regularity and order. Had Mr. *** stopped at this moment, +he would have been in the enjoyment of affluence and of every rational +comfort. But instead of exercising prudent rules of hospitality, he gave +way to the natural generosity of his disposition, entered into expenses he +could not afford, and was ultimately obliged to part with his estate. Now +it is deeply to be regretted, that one whose energies and abilities +particularly fitted him for the life he had chosen, should have <!--page lxiii CAUSES OF SUCCESS OR FAILURE. /page-->failed +through such conduct; and it is more than probable, that if he had +commenced with smaller means, and had gradually improved his property, his +fate would have been very different. + +<p>I shall leave these cases without any further comment, convinced as I am, +that each of them furnishes matter for serious consideration, and that +they are practical illustrations of the causes of success or failure of +those who emigrate to the colony of New South Wales. And although I do not +mean to affirm, that the majority follow Mr. ***'s example, I must venture +to assert that thoughtlessness—useless expenditure in the first +instance—waste of time and other circumstances, lead to equally ruinous +consequences. + +<p>One of the greatest objections which families have to New South Wales, is +their apprehension of the moral effects that are likely to overwhelm them +by bad example, and for which no success in life could compensate. In a +colony constituted like that of New South Wales, the proportion of crime +must of course be great. Yet it falls less under the notice of private +families than one might at first sight have been led to suppose. +Drunkenness, as in the mother <!--page lxiv MORAL OBJECTIONS TO THE COLONY. /page-->country, is the besetting sin; but it is +confined chiefly to the large towns in consequence of the difficulty of +procuring spirits in the country. There are, no doubt, many incorrigible +characters sent to settle in the interior, and it is an evil to have these +men, even for a single day, to break the harmony of a previously well +regulated establishment, or to injure its future prospects by the +influence of evil example. They are men who are sent upon trial, from on +board a newly arrived ship, and they generally terminate their misconduct +either on the roads or at a penal settlement, being thus happily removed +from the mass of the prisoners. Frequently, however, men remain for years +under the same master. They become attached to their occupations, their +hearts become softened by kindness, and they atone as much as they +possibly can for previous error. + +<p>Still there can be no doubt, but that the evil complained of is +considerable. It is from this reason, and from my personal knowledge of +the southern parts of the colony, that I should rejoice to see its flats +and its valleys filled with an industrious population of a better +description of farmers. A hope might then be reasonably in<!--page lxv SYSTEM OF IMMIGRATION RECOMMENDED. /page-->dulged, that the +Home Government would not be backward in recognising, and in acting upon +a principle, the soundness of which has been felt and acknowledged in all +ages, but the chief difficulty of which rests in its judicious +application. I allude to a system of emigration. Sure I am that if it were +well organized, and care were taken to profit by the experience of the +past in similar attempts, it could not fail to be attended with ultimate +success. The evils resulting from a surplus population in an old +community, were never more seriously felt than in Great Britain at the +present moment. Assuming that the amount of surplus population is +2,000,000, the excess of labour and competition thus occasioned by +diminishing profits and wages, creates, it has been said, an indirect tax +to the enormous extent of 20,000,000<i>l.</i> per annum. It has appeared +to many experienced persons, that it is in emigration, we should best find +the means of relief from this heavy pressure; particularly if the +individuals encouraged to go out to the colonies were young persons of +both sexes, from the industrious classes of the community. Even if no +more than three couples were induced to emigrate from each parish in +England in ten years, the relief to the <!--page lxvi ENCOURAGEMENT FOR EMIGRATION. /page-->springs of industry would be very +great. Besides, the funds necessary for this purpose would revert to the +country by a thousand indirect channels. Persons unacquainted with our +Australian colonies, whether Van Dieman's Land or New South Wales, can +form little idea of the increasing demand for, and consumption in them of +every species of British manufacture. The liberal encouragement given by +government to every practicable scheme of emigration, and the sum advanced +by it towards the expenses of the voyage to the labouring classes, +sufficiently indicate the light in which the subject is viewed by the +legislature; and the fact that no private family taking out servants to +Sydney, has in any one instance been able to retain them, on account of +offers more advantageous from other quarters, shows clearly the great +demand for labour in the colony. If I might judge of the feelings of the +majority of respectable individuals there, from the assurances of the few, +they would willingly defray any parochial expenses attendant on the +voyage, provided the services of such individuals could be secured to them +for a time sufficiently long to remunerate them for such pavement. The +tide of emigration should be directed to Sydney, Van Dieman's <!--page lxvii COMMITTEE FOUND AT SYDNEY. /page-->Land, or +Western Australia, upon condition of the labourer's receiving a certain +sum in wages, and his daily subsistence from his employer, with an +understanding, however, that he must consider himself bound for two years +to such employer. Surely there are hundreds of our indigent countrymen, +who would gladly seek a land of such plenty, and cast away the natural, +but unavailing regret of leaving home to secure to themselves and their +families, the substantial comforts of life on such easy conditions. + +<p>It is not, perhaps, generally known that a committee has been formed in +Sydney, to advise settlers as to the best mode of proceeding on arrival +there. Such a plan is one of obvious utility; and if those who may find +themselves at a loss for information would apply to this committee for +advice, rather than to individuals with whom they may become casually +acquainted, they would further their own interests, and in all probability +ensure success. Still there are some broad rules upon which every man +ought to act, which I shall endeavour to point out, and it will give me no +ordinary satisfaction, if I should be the means of directing any one to +the road of prosperity and comfort. +<!--page lxviii HINTS TO EMIGRANTS. /page--> +<p>It is to be feared that those who emigrate to New South Wales, generally +anticipate too great facility in their future operations and certainty of +success in conducting them; but they should recollect that competency +cannot be obtained without labour. Every trade—every profession in this +respect, is subject to the same law—the lawyer, the physician, the +tradesman, and the mechanic. This labour is required at our hands, even in +an old community; how much more then is it called for in a new, where the +ingenuity of men is put to trial to secure those means of accomplishing +their ends which here are abundant. Now, it appears to me but consistent, +that he who is obliged to leave his native country from want of means to +hold his station there, can hardly expect to find, or rather to secure, +abundance elsewhere without some exertion. Every man who emigrates should +proceed with a conviction on his mind, that he is about to encounter years +of labour and privation. He will not then be disappointed at partial +reverses, and will be more thankful for unexpected prosperity. I feel +persuaded the tone of mind has a great deal to do with success, because it +influences the conduct of the individual. Supposing, <!--page lxix HINTS TO EMIGRANTS. /page-->however, that an +emigrant has taken this rational view of his situation, he should +determine on his pursuits, and allow nothing but absolute certainty of +better fortune to turn him aside. Men, however, landing at Sydney, in +their eagerness for information get bewildered, give up their original +plans, adopt new and uncertain speculations, trifle away both their time +and their money, and ultimately ruin themselves. An individual who goes to +New South Wales for the purpose of settling, should not remain in Sydney +a day longer than is necessary for the arrangement of his affairs. Every +shilling spent there is thrown away. The greatest facility is given by the +different departments of the Colonial Government to the settlers; and it +is entirely his own fault if he trifles away his time in search of +information elsewhere than at the fountainhead, or if he trusts to any +other opinion than his own, supposing him experienced as to the quality of +the land he may fix upon. Let him be speedy in his selection, and fix +himself upon his allotment as soon as possible. Instead of overstocking +his farm, or employing more labourers than he can afford to keep, let him +be satisfied with a gradual increase of his stock, <!--page lxx HINTS TO EMIGRANTS. /page-->and wait patiently till +he can better afford to employ labour; above all, let him avoid +embarrassing himself by the purchase of any superfluous or unnecessary +comfort. I consider that man has already failed, who runs into debt in the +first instance, or who exhausts his means in the purchase of large herds, +from the vain expectation that their increase will clear him. The time was +when those idle speculations were occasionally attended with success, but +such is not now the case. The energies of the agriculturist are directed +to their proper channel, and if the few are unable to make rapid fortunes, +the many have escaped inevitable ruin. No farm in a state of nature can be +expected to yield any return of consequence for the first year. It is +incumbent on a settler to provide for his establishment, or to retain the +means of providing for it as circumstances may require. + +<p>Farming implements are as cheap in Sydney as in England. Horses and cattle +are cheaper. It requires little, therefore, to stock a farm in a +reasonable manner. On the other hand, the climate is so mild that the want +of a house is scarcely felt, and a temporary residence easily constructed. +On the whole I am convinced, <!--page lxxi HINTS TO EMIGRANTS. /page-->that a man who regulates his conduct by +prudence, and who perseveringly follows up his occupations, who behaves +with kindness to those around him, and performs his social and moral +duties with punctuality, will ultimately secure to himself a home that +will make up for the one he has quitted in the land of his fathers, and +place him in as respectable and as happy a situation as that which he +there enjoyed.</p> + +<hr width="30%"> + +<p>Having thrown out the foregoing remarks for the information of the general +reader, and of persons who look to Australia with the more earnest views +of selecting a colonial home, I now return to the immediate object of +these volumes; but before entering on the narrative of my own expeditions, +I think it necessary to advert cursorily to the discoveries previously +accomplished. + +<p>The journeys of Mr. Oxley, far into the western interior of Australia, +gave rise to various and conflicting opinions as to the character of the +more central parts of that extensive continent, of which the colony of New +South Wales forms but a small portion. I feel, therefore, called upon +briefly to advert to the con<!--page lxxii PROGRESS OF INLAND DISCOVERY. /page-->clusions which that able and intelligent +officer drew from his personal observation of the country into which he +penetrated, as an acquaintance with his opinions will not only tend to +throw a clearer light on the following details, but will, also, convey +much necessary information to those of my readers who may not have +perused his journals. It is necessary, however, in order to divest the +subject of all obscureness, to trace, in the first instance, the progress +of inland discovery, in New South Wales, from the first foundation of the +colony to the period when Mr. Oxley's exertions attracted the public +attention. + +<p>In the year 1788, the British Government took formal possession of the +eastern coast of Australia, by the establishment of a penal colony at Port +Jackson. The first settlers, under Governor Phillips, had too many +difficulties to contend with to submit themselves to be thwarted from +pursuits essential to their immediate safety and comfort, by the prospect +of remote and uncertain advantages. It was by perseverance and toil alone +that they first established and ultimately spread themselves over that +part of the territory, which, flanked by the ocean on the one hand, and +embraced as it were by the <!--page lxxiii MR. CALEY'S ATTEMPT. /page-->Nepean River on the other, is now entitled the +County Of Cumberland. For many years, this single district supplied the +wants of the settlers. Upon it they found ample pasture for their herds, +and sufficient employment for themselves. Nor was it until a succession of +untoward seasons, and the rapid increase of their stock pointed out to +them the necessity of seeking for more extensive pasturage, that they +contemplated surmounting that dark and rugged chain of mountains, which, +like the natural ramparts of Spain and Italy, rose high over the nether +forest, and broke the line of the western horizon. + +<p>A Mr. Caley is said to have been the first who attempted to scale the Blue +Mountains: but he did not long persevere in struggling with difficulties +too great for ordinary resolution to overcome. It appears that he retraced +his steps, after having penetrated about sixteen miles into their dark and +precipitous recesses; and a heap of stones, which the traveller passes +about that distance from Erne Ford, on the road to Bathurst, marks the +extreme point reached by the first expedition to the westward of the +Nepean river. + +<p>Shortly after the failure of this expedition, the sad effects of a long +protracted drought called <!--page lxxiv LIEUT. LAWSON'S EXPEDITION. /page-->forth a more general spirit of enterprise and +exertion among the settlers; and Mr. Oxley makes honorable mention of the +perseverance and resolution with which Lieut. Lawson, of the 104th +regiment, accompanied by Messrs. Blaxland and Wentworth, conducted an +expedition into the Blue Mountains. Their efforts were successful: and +the objects of their enterprise would have been completely attained, but +for the failure of their provisions at a moment when their view of the +distant interior was such as to convince them that they had overcome the +most formidable obstacles to their advance, and that in their further +progress few impediments would have presented themselves. + +<p>The success of this undertaking induced Governor Macquarie to further the +prosecution of inland discovery, and of attempts to ascertain the nature +of the country of which Mr. Lawson only obtained a glimpse. An expedition +was accordingly dispatched under Mr. Evans, the Deputy Surveyor-General, +to follow the route taken by the former one, and to penetrate as far as +practicable into the western interior. The result was the discovery of the +Macquarie river, and of Bathurst Plains. The report of Mr. <!--page lxxv MR. EVANS' DISCOVERIES. /page-->Evans was so +favourable, that orders were immediately issued for the construction of a +line of road across the mountains. When that was completed, the Governor +went in person to fix the site of a future town on Bathurst Plains. From +thence Mr. Evans, who accompanied the Governor on the occasion, was +directed to proceed to the southward and westward, to ascertain the nature +of the country in that direction. He discovered another considerable +river, flowing, like the Macquarie, to the west, to which he gave the name +of the Lachlan. The promising appearance of these two streams, and the +expectation of all parties that they would be found to water rich and +extensive tracts of country, led to the fitting out of a more important +expedition than any which had before been contemplated. + +<p>Mr. Oxley, the Surveyor-General of the Colony, was appointed chief of this +expedition, and was directed to trace the Lachlan and Macquarie rivers, as +far as practicable, with a view to ascertain their capabilities and the +nature of the country they watered. In 1817, Mr. Oxley directed his +attention to the former river, and continued to follow its windings, until +it <!--page lxxvi MR. OXLEY'S DISCOVERIES. /page-->appeared that its waters were lost in successive marshes and it ceased +to be a river. In the following year he turned towards the Macquarie, and +traced it, in like manner, until he was checked by high reeds that covered +an extensive plain before him, amidst which the channel of the river was +lost. + +<p>From what he observed of the country, on both these occasions, he was led +to infer that beyond the limits of his advance the interior had a uniform +level, and was, for the most part, uninhabitable and under water. Its +features must have been strongly marked to have confirmed such an opinion +in the mind of the late Surveyor-General. It stands recorded on the pages +of his journal, that he travelled over a country of many miles in extent, +after clearing the mountains, which so far from presenting any rise of +ground to the eye, bore unequivocal marks of frequent and extensive +inundation. He traced two rivers of considerable size, and found that, at +a great distance from each other, they apparently terminated in marshes, +and that the country beyond them was low and unbroken. In his progress +eastward, he crossed a third stream (the Castlereagh), about forty-five +miles <!--page lxxvii MR. OXLEY'S DISCOVERIES. /page-->from the Macquarie, seemingly not inferior to it in size, +originating in the mountains for which he was making, and flowing nearly +parallel to the other rivers into a level country like that which he had +just quitted. + +<p>Mr. Evans, moreover, who accompanied Mr. Oxley on these journeys, and who +had been detached by his principal from Mount Harris, to ascertain the +nature of the country in the line which the expedition was next to pursue, +having crossed the Castlereagh considerably below the place at which the +party afterwards effected a passage, reported that the river was then +running through high reeds. The inference naturally drawn by Mr. Oxley, +was, that it terminated as the Lachlan and the Macquarie had done; and +that their united waters formed an inland sea or basin. It is evident that +Mr. Oxley had this impression on his mind, when he turned towards the +coast; but the wet state of the lowlands prevented him from ascertaining +its correctness or error. Doubt, consequently, still existed as to the +nature of the country he had left behind him; a question in which the best +interests of the colony were apparently involved. Subsequently to these +discoveries, Mr. Surveyor <!--page lxxviii DISCOVERIES OF MESSRS. MECHAN, /page-->Mechan, accompanied by Mr. Hamilton Hume, a +colonist of considerable experience, explored the country more to the +southward and westward of Sydney, and discovered most of the new country +called Argyle, and also Lake Bathurst. + +<p>Mr. Hume was afterwards associated with a Mr. Hovel, in an excursion to +the south coast, under the auspices of Sir Thomas Brisbane. After a most +persevering and laborious journey, they reached the sea; but it is +uncertain whether they made Port Philips, or Western Port. Mr. Hume, whose +practical experience will yield to that of no man, entertains a conviction +that it was to the former they descended from the neighbouring ranges; but +Mr. Hovel, I believe supports a contrary opinion. In the early stage of +their journey, they passed over York or Yass Plains; and, after crossing +the Morumbidgee, were generally entangled among mountain ranges that +increased in height to the east and south-east. They crossed three +considerable rivers, falling westerly, which they named the Goulburn, the +Hume, and the Ovens; and found a beautiful and well-watered country in the +vicinity of the coast. + +<p>In 1826, Mr. Allan Cunningham, Botanical <!--page lxxix HUME, HOVEL AND CUNNINGHAM. /page-->Collector to his late Majesty, +traversed a considerable portion of the interior to the north of Bathurst, +and, with a laudable zeal, devoted his labours to the acquisition of +general information, as well as to his more immediate professional +pursuits. In 1827, this gentleman again bent his steps towards the +northward, and succeeded in gaining the 28th parallel of latitude; and, +on a subsequent occasion, having taken his departure from Moreton Bay, he +connected his former journey with that settlement, and thus contributed +largely to our knowledge of the mountain country between it and the +capital. Mr. Cunningham, who, independently of his individual excursions, +had not only circumnavigated the Australian Continent with Capt. King, +but had formed also one of the party with Mr. Oxley, in the journeys +before noticed, had adopted this gentleman's opinion with regard to the +swampy and inhospitable character of the distant interior. Its depressed +appearance from the high ground on which Mr. Cunningham subsequently +moved, tended to confirm this opinion, which was moreover daily gaining +strength from the reports of the natives, who became more frequent in +their intercourse with the whites, and who reported <!--page lxxx CONJECTURES RESPECTING THE INTERIOR. /page-->that there were large +waters to the westward, on which the natives had canoes, and in which +there were fish of great size. + +<p>It became, therefore, a current opinion, that the western interior of New +Holland comprehended an extensive basin, of which the ocean of reeds which +had proved so formidable to Mr. Oxley, formed most probably the outskirts; +and it was generally thought that an expedition proceeding into the +interior, would encounter marshes of vast extent, which would be extremely +difficult to turn, and no less dangerous to enter. + +<p>It remained to be proved, however, whether these conjectures were founded +in fact. The chief difficulty lay in the character of the country, and in +providing the necessary means to ensure success. Those which were resorted +to will be found in the succeeding chapter. Whether they would have been +found sufficient and applicable had the interior been wholly under water, +is doubtful; and my impression on this point induced me to make more +efficient arrangements on the second expedition.</p> + +<hr> +<!--face lxxx /face--> +<a name=i1.2></a><h5>Illustration 2 (Not available)</h5> + +<h5>MAP of AUSTRALIA.</h5> + +<hr> +<!--page 1 {not numbered} /page--> +<a name=ch1.1></a><h2>EXPEDITION</h2> + +<h5>DOWN THE BANKS OF THE</h5> + +<h3>MACQUARIE RIVER</h3> + +<h4>In 1828 and 1829.</h4> + +<hr width="30%"> + +<h4>CHAPTER I.</h4> +<blockquote class=small> +State of the Colony in 1828-29—Objects of the Expedition—Departure +from Sydney—Wellington Valley—Progress down the Macquarie—Arrival at +Mount Harris—Stopped by the marshes—Encamp amidst reeds—Excursions down +the river—Its termination—Appearance of the marshes—Opthalmic +affection of the men—Mr. Hume's successful journey to the northward—Journey +across the plain—Second great marsh—Perplexities—Situation of the +exploring party—Consequent resolutions. +</blockquote> +<p>The year 1826 was remarkable for the commencement of one of those fearful +droughts to which we have reason to believe the climate of New South Wales +is periodically subject. It continued during the two following years with +unabated severity. The surface of the earth became so parched up that +minor vegetation ceased upon it. Culinary herbs were raised with +difficulty, and crops failed even in the most favourable situations. +Settlers drove their flocks and <!--page 2 OBJECTS OF THE EXPEDITION. /page-->herds to distant tracts for pasture and +water, neither remaining for them in the located districts. The interior +suffered equally with the coast, and men, at length, began to despond +under so alarming a visitation. It almost appeared as if the Australian +sky were never again to be traversed by a cloud. + +<p>But, however severe for the colony the seasons had proved, or were likely +to prove, it was borne in mind at this critical moment, that the wet and +swampy state of the interior had alone prevented Mr. Oxley from +penetrating further into it, in 1818. Each successive report from +Wellington Valley, the most distant settlement to the N. W., confirmed the +news of the unusually dry state of the lowlands, and of the exhausted +appearance of the streams falling into them. It was, consequently, hoped +that an expedition, pursuing the line of the Macquarie, would have a +greater chance of success than the late Surveyor General had; and that the +difficulties he had to contend against would be found to be greatly +diminished, if not altogether removed. The immediate fitting out of an +expedition was therefore decided upon, for the express purpose of +ascertaining the nature and extent of that basin into which the Macquarie +was supposed to fall, and whether any connection existed between it and +the streams falling westerly. As I had early taken a great interest in the +geography of New South Wales, the Governor was pleased to appoint me to +the command of this expedition. + +<p>In the month of September, 1828, I received his Ex<!--page 3 JOURNEY FROM SYDNEY TO EMU PLAINS. /page-->cellency's commands to +prepare for my journey; and by the commencement of November, had organized +my party, and completed the necessary arrangements. On the 9th of that +month, I waited on the Governor, at Parramatta, to receive his definitive +instructions. As the establishments at Sydney had been unable to supply me +with the necessary number of horses and oxen, instructions had been +forwarded to Mr. Maxwell, the superintendent of Wellington Valley, to +train a certain number for my use; and I was now directed to push for that +settlement without loss of time. I returned to Sydney in the afternoon of +the 9th, and on the 10th took leave of my brother officers, to commence a +journey of very dubious issue; and, in company with my friend, +Staff-surgeon M'Leod, who had obtained permission to accompany me to the +limits of the colony, followed my men along the great western road. We +moved leisurely over the level country, between the coast and the Nepean +River, and availed ourselves of the kind hospitality of those of our +friends whose property lay along that line of road, to secure more +comfortable places of rest than the inns would have afforded. + +<p>We reached Sheane, the residence of Dr. Harris, on the 11th, and were +received by him with the characteristic kindness with which friends or +strangers are ever welcomed by that gentleman, He had accompanied +Mr. Oxley as a volunteer in 1818, and his name was then given to the +mount which formed the extreme point to which the main body of the first +expedition down the banks of the Macquarie penetrated, in a westerly +direction. +<!--page 4 FROM EMU PLAINS TO /page--> +<p>The general appearance of the property of Dr. Harris, showed how much +perseverance and labour had effected towards its improvement. Many acres +of ground bore a promising crop, over which a gloomy forest had once +waved. The Doctor's farming establishment was as complete as his husbandry +seemed to be prosperous; but he did not appear to be satisfied with the +extent of his dwelling, to which he was making considerable additions, +although I should have thought it large enough for all ordinary purposes +of residence or hospitality. The rewards of successful industry were +everywhere visible. + +<p>On the 13th, we gained Regent's Ville, the more splendid mansion of Sir +John Jamieson, which overlooks the Nepean River, and commands the most +beautiful and extensive views of the Blue Mountains. Crossing the ford on +the 14th, we overtook the men as they were toiling up the first ascent of +those rugged bulwarks, which certainly gave no favourable earnest of the +road before us; and, as we could scarcely hope to reach the level country +to the westward without the occurrence of some accident, I determined to +keep near the drays, that I might be on hand should my presence be +required. We gained O'Connell's plains on the 20th November, and arrived +at Bathurst on the 22nd, with no other damage than the loss of one of the +props supporting the boat which snapped in two as we descended Mount York. +On examination, it was found that the boat had also received a slight +contusion, but it admitted of easy repair. +<!--page 5 WELLINGTON VALLEY. /page--> +<p>I was detained at Bathurst longer than I intended, in consequence of +indisposition, and during my stay there experienced many proofs of the +kind hospitality of the settlers of that promising district: nor was I +ever more impressed with the importance of the service upon which I was +employed, or more anxious as to the issue, than while contemplating the +rapid advance of agriculture upon its plains, and the formidable bar to +its prosperity which I had left behind me, in the dark and gloomy ranges +which I had crossed. + +<p>On the 27th, Mr. Hamilton Hume, whose experience well qualified him for +the task, and who had been associated with me in the expedition, having +joined me, we proceeded on our journey, and reached Wellington Valley +about the end of the month. + +<p>I wished to push into the interior without any delay, or at least, so soon +as we should have completed our arrangements and organized the party; but, +although Mr. Maxwell had paid every attention to the training of the +cattle, he was of opinion that they could not yet be wholly relied upon, +and strongly recommended that they should be kept at practice for another +week. As we could not have left the settlement under the most favourable +circumstances in less than four days, the further delay attendant on this +measure was considered immaterial, and it was, accordingly, determined +upon. Mr. Hume undertook to superintend the training of the animals, and +this left me at leisure to gather such information as would be of use to +us in our progress down the river. +<!--page 6 WELLINGTON VALLEY. /page--> +<p>In his description of Wellington Valley, Mr. Oxley has not done it more +than justice. It is certainly a beautiful and fertile spot, and it was now +abundant in pasturage, notwithstanding the unfavourable season that had +passed over it. + +<p>The settlement stands upon the right bank of the Bell, about two miles +above the junction of that stream with the Macquarie. Its whitewashed +buildings bore outward testimony to the cleanliness and regularity of the +inhabitants; and the respectful conduct of the prisoners under his charge, +showed that Mr. Maxwell had maintained that discipline by which alone he +could have secured respect to himself and success to his exertions, at +such a distance from the seat of government. + +<p>The weather was so exceedingly hot, during our stay, that it was +impossible to take exercise at noon; but in the evening, or at an early +hour in the morning, we were enabled to make short excursions in the +neighbourhood. + +<p>Mr. Maxwell informed me that there were three stations below the +settlement, the first of which, called Gobawlin, belonging to Mr. Wylde, +was not more than five miles from it; the other two, occupied by Mr. +Palmer, were at a greater distance, one being nineteen, the other +thirty-four miles below the junction of the Bell. He was good enough to +send for the stockman (or chief herdsman), in charge of the last, to give +me such information of the nature of the country below him, as he could +furnish from personal knowledge or from the accounts of the natives. +<!--page 7 LOW STATE OF THE MACQUARIE RIVER. /page--> +<p>Mr. Maxwell pointed out to me the spot on which Mr. Oxley's boats had been +built, close upon the bank of the Macquarie; and I could not but reflect +with some degree of apprehension on the singularly diminished state of the +river from what it must then have been to allow a boat to pass down it. +Instead of a broad stream and a rapid current, the stream was confined to +a narrow space in the centre of the channel, and it ran so feebly amidst +frequent shallows that it was often scarcely perceptible. The Bell, also, +which Mr. Oxley describes as dashing and rippling along its pebbly bed, +had ceased to flow, and consisted merely of a chain of ponds. + +<p>On the 3rd of Dec, the stockman from below arrived; but the only +information we gathered from him was the existence of a lake to the left +of the river, about three days' journey below the run of his herds, on the +banks of which he assured us, the native companions, a species of stork, +stood in rows like companies of soldiers. + +<p>He brought up a nest of small paroquets of the most beautiful plumage, as +a present to Mr. Maxwell, and affirmed that they were common about his +part of the river. The peculiarity of the seasons had also brought a +parrot into the valley which had never before visited it. This delicate +bird was noticed by Captain Cook upon the coast, and is called <i>Psittacus +Novae-Hollandiae</i>, or New Holland Parrot, by Mr. Brown. <!--comment {probably the +Cockatiel <i>Nymphicus hollandicus</i>} /comment--> It had +not, however, been subsequently seen until the summer of 1828, when it +made its appearance at Wellington Valley in considerable num<!--page 8 DEPARTURE FOR THE INTERIOR. /page-->bers, together +with a species of merops or mountain bee-eater. + +<p>On the 5th, our preparations being wholly completed, and the loads +arranged, the party was mustered, and was found to consist of myself and +Mr. Hume, two soldiers and eight prisoners of the crown, two of whom were +to return with dispatches. Our animals numbered two riding, and seven +pack, horses, two draft, and eight pack, bullocks, exclusive of two +horses of my own, and two for the men to be sent back. + +<p>The morning of the 7th December, the day upon which we were to leave the +valley, was ushered in by a cloudless sky, and that heated appearance in +the atmosphere which foretells an oppressively sultry day. I therefore put +off the moment of our departure to the evening, and determined to proceed +no further than Gobawlin. I was the more readily induced to order this +short journey because the animals had not been practised to their full +loads, and I thought they might have given some trouble at starting with +an unusual weight. They moved off however very quietly, and as if they had +been accustomed to their work by a long course of training. We took our +departure from the settlement at 3 p.m. and, crossing to the right bank of +the Macquarie, a little above its junction with the Bell, reached Mr +Wylde's station about half-past five. Thus we commenced our journey under +circumstances as favorable as could have been wished. In disengaging +ourselves on the following day from the hills by which Wellington Valley +is encompassed on the westward, with a view to approach Mr. Pal<!--page 9 BANKS OF THE MACQUARIE. /page-->mer's first +station, we kept rather wide of the river, and only occasionally touched +on its more projecting angles. The soil at a distance from the stream was +by no means so good as that in its immediate vicinity, nor was the timber +of the same description. On the rich and picturesque grounds near the +river the angophora prevailed with the flooded gum, and the scenery upon +its banks was improved by the casuarinae that overhung them. On the +latter, inferior eucalypti and cypresses were mixed together. The country +was broken and undulating, and the hills stony, notwithstanding which, +they appeared to have an abundance of pasture upon them. Mr. Hume rode +with me to the summit of a limestone elevation, from which I thought it +probable we might have obtained such a view as would have enabled us to +form some idea of the country into which we were about to descend. But in +following the river line, the eye wandered over a dark and unbroken +forest alone. The ranges from which we were fast receding formed an +irregular and beautiful landscape to the southward; and contrasted +strongly with the appearance of the country to the N. W., in which +direction it was rapidly assuming a level. + +<p>We reached Mr. Palmer's at a late hour in the afternoon, in consequence of +a delay we experienced in crossing a gully, and encamped upon a high bank +immediately opposite to the mouth of Molle's rivulet which here joins the +Macquarie from the southward. The cattle had consumed all the food, and +the ground on both sides of the river looked bare and arid. +<!--page 10 DIBILAMBLE. /page--> +<p>No doubt, however, the face of the country in ordinary seasons wears a +very different appearance. Its general elevation continued high; nor did +the Macquarie assume any change of aspect. Mountain debris and rounded +pebbles of various kinds formed its bed, which was much encumbered with +timber. + +<p>We had been unable to persuade any of the natives of Wellington Valley to +accompany us as guides, on our leaving that settlement. Even Mr. Maxwell's +influence failed; for, notwithstanding the promises of several, when they +saw that we were ready to depart, they either feigned sickness or stated +that they were afraid of the more distant natives. The fact is, that they +were too lazy to wander far from their own district, and too fond of +Maxwell's beef to leave it for a precarious bush subsistence. Fortunately +we found several natives with Mr. Palmer's stockmen, who readily undertook +to conduct us by the nearest route to the cataract, which we considered to +be midway between Wellington Valley and Mount Harris. We started under +their guidance for Dibilamble, Mr. Palmer's second station, and reached it +about half-past 4 p.m. The distance between the two is sixteen miles. The +country for some miles differs in no material point from that through +which we had already passed. The same rich tracts of soil near the river +and the same inferiority in the tracks remote from it. Near Dibilamble, +however, the limestone formation terminates, and gives place to barren +stony ridges, upon which the cypress callities is of close and stunted +growth. The ridges themselves were formed of a coarse kind of freestone +<!--page 11 SCENERY NEAR THE RIVER. /page-->in a state of rapid decomposition. The Tabragar (the Erskine of Mr. Oxley) +falls into the Macquarie at Dibilamble. It had long ceased to flow, being +a small mountain torrent whose source, if we judge from the shingly nature +of its bed, cannot be very distant. Our descent was considerable during +the day; the rapids were frequent in the river, but it underwent no change +in its general appearance. Its waters were hard and transparent, and its +banks, in many places, extremely lofty; with a red sandy loam and gravel +under the alluvial deposits. It generally happened that where the bank was +high on the one side it was low and subject to flood, to a limited extent +at least, on the other. Upon these low grounds the blue-gum trees were of +lofty growth, but on the upper levels box prevailed. + +<p>The views upon the river were really beautiful, and varied at every turn; +nor is it possible for any tree to exceed the casuarina in the graceful +manner in which it bends over the stream, or clings to some solitary rock +in its centre. + +<p>It here became necessary for us to cross to the left bank of the river, +not only to avoid its numerous windings, and thus to preserve as much as +possible the direct line to Mount Harris; but also, because the travelling +was much better on the south side. We therefore availed ourselves of a +ford opposite to the ground on which the tents had stood; and then pursued +our journey, in a south-westerly course, over a country of a description +very inferior to that of any we had previously noticed. + +<p>Iron-bark and cypresses generally prevailed along our <!--page 12 TAYLOR'S RIVULET. /page-->line of route on a +poor and sandy soil, which improved after we passed Elizabeth Burn, a +small creek mentioned by Mr. Oxley. + +<p>We approached the river again early in the day, and pitched our tent on +the summit of a sloping bank that overlooked one of its long still +reaches. We were protected from the sun by the angophora trees, which +formed a hanging wood around us, and, with its bright green foliage, gave +a cheerfulness to the scene that was altogether unusual. The opposite side +of the river was rather undulated, and the soil appeared to be of the +finest description. The grass, although growing in tufts, afforded +abundance of pasture for the cattle; and, on the whole, this struck me as +a most eligible spot for a station, and I found it occupied as such on the +return of the expedition. We had encamped about a quarter of a mile from +Taylor's Rivulet, which discharges itself into the Macquarie from the +N. E., and is the first stream, upon the right bank, below the Wellington +Valley. + +<p>Immediately after receiving it the river sweeps away to the southward, in +consequence of which it became again necessary for us to cross it. Our +guides, who were intelligent lads, led the cattle to a ford, a little +below the junction of Taylor's Rivulet, at which we effected a passage +with some difficulty; the opposite bank being very steep, and we were +obliged to force our way up a gully for some eighty or a hundred yards +before we could extricate the team. Pursuing our journey, in a N. W. +direction, we soon left the <!--page 13 SURPRISE SOME NATIVES. /page-->rich and undulating grounds bordering the +river behind us. A poor, level, and open country, succeeded them. The +soil changed to a light red, sandy loam, on which eucalypti, cypresses, +and casuarinae, were intermixed with minor shrubs; of which latter, the +cherry tree (exocarpus cupressiformis) was the most prevalent. + +<p>At about seven miles from the river we passed some barren freestone +ridges, near which Mr. Hume killed the first kangaroo we had seen. At +mid-day we passed a small creek, at which the cattle were watered; and +afterwards continued our journey through a country similar to that over +which we had already made our way. + +<p>As we neared the stream we noticed the acacia pendula for the first +time,—an indication of our approach to the marshes. The weather still +continued extremely hot. Our journey this day was unusually long, and our +cattle suffered so much, and moved so slowly, that it was late when we +struck upon the Macquarie, at a part where its banks were so high that we +had some difficulty in finding a good watering place. + +<p>Being considerably in front of the party, with one of our guides, when we +neared the river, I came suddenly upon a family of natives. They were much +terrified, and finding that they could not escape, called vehemently to +some of their companions, who were in the distance. By the time Mr. Hume +came up, they had in some measure recovered their presence of mind, but +availed themselves of the first favourable moment to leave us. I was +particular in not <!--page 14 NATIVE BURIAL PLACE. /page-->imposing any restraint on these men, in consequence of +which they afterwards mustered sufficient resolution to visit us in our +camp. We now judged that we were about ten miles from the cataract, and +that, according to the accounts of the stockman, we could not be very +distant from the lake he had mentioned. + +<p>As I was unwilling to pass any important feature of the country without +enquiry or examination, I requested Mr. Hume to interrogate the strangers +on the subject. They stated that they belonged to the lake tribe, that the +lake was a short day's journey to the eastward, and that they would guide +us to it if we wished. The matter was accordingly arranged. They left us +at dusk, but returned to the camp at the earliest dawn; when we once more +crossed the river, and, after traversing a very level country for about +nine miles, arrived at our destination. We passed over the dried beds of +lagoons, and through coppices of cypresses and acacia pendula, or open +forest, but did not observe any of the barren stony ridges so common to +the N.E. About a mile, or a mile and a half, from the lake we examined a +solitary grave that had recently been constructed. It consisted of an +oblong mound, with three semicircular seats. A walk encompassed the whole, +from which three others branched off for a few yards only, into the +forest. Several cypresses, overhanging the grave, were fancifully carved +on the inner side, and on one the shape of a heart was deeply engraved. + +<p>We were sadly disappointed in the appearance of the <!--page 15 BUDDAH LAKE. /page-->lake, which the +natives call the Buddah. It is a serpentine sheet of fresh water, of +rather more than a mile in length, and from three to four hundred yards in +breadth. Its depth was four fathoms; but it seemed as if it were now five +or six feet below the ordinary level. No stream either runs into it or +flows from it; yet it abounds in fish; from which circumstance I should +imagine that it originally owed its supply to the river during some +extensive inundation. Notwithstanding that we had crossed some rich tracts +of land in our way to it, the neighbourhood of the lake was by no means +fertile. The trees around it were in rapid decay, and the little +vegetation to be seen appeared to derive but little advantage from its +proximity to water. + +<p>We had started at early dawn; and the heat had become intolerable long ere +the sun had gained the meridian. It was rendered still more oppressive +from the want of air in the dense bushes through which we occasionally +moved. At 2 p.m. the thermometer stood at 129° of Fahrenheit, in +the shade; and at 149° in the sun; the difference being exactly +20°. It is not to be wondered at that the cattle suffered, although +the journey was so short. The sun's rays were too powerful even for the +natives, who kept as much as possible in the shade. In the evening, when +the atmosphere was somewhat cooler, we launched the boat upon the lake, +in order to get some wild fowl and fish; but although we were tolerably +successful with our guns, we did not take anything with our hooks. + +<p>The natives had, in the course of the afternoon, been <!--page 16 EXTREME HEAT OF THE WEATHER. /page-->joined by the rest +of the tribe, and they now numbered about three and twenty. They were +rather distant in their manner, and gazed with apparent astonishment at +the scene that was passing before them. + +<p>If there had been other proof wanting, of the lamentably parched and +exhausted state of the interior, we had on this occasion ample evidence of +it, and of the fearful severity of the drought under which the country was +suffering. As soon as the sun dipped under the horizon, hundreds of birds +came crowding to the border of the lake, to quench the thirst they had +been unable to allay in the forest. Some were gasping, others almost too +weak to avoid us, and all were indifferent to the reports of our guns. + +<p>On leaving the Buddah, eleven only of the natives accompanied us. We +reached the river again about noon, on a north-half-east course, where it +had a rocky bed, and continued to journey along it, until we reached the +cataract at which we halted. We travelled over soil generally inferior to +that which we had seen on the preceding day, but rich in many places. The +same kind of timber was observed, but the acacia pendula was more +prevalent than any other, although near the river the flooded gum and +Australian apple-tree were of beautiful growth.</p> +<!--face 17 /face--> +<a name=i1.3></a><h5>Illustration 3</h5> +<div class=centre><img alt="" src=images/xpssti03.jpg></div> +<h5>CATARACT OF THE MACQUARIE.</h5> + +<p>It had appeared to me that the waters of the Macquarie had been +diminishing in volume since our departure from Wellington Valley, and I +had a favourable opportunity of judging as to the correctness of this +conclusion at the cataract, where its channel, at all times much +contracted, was <!--page 17 CATARACT OF THE MACQUARIE. /page-->particularly so on the present occasion. So little force +was there in the current, that I began to entertain doubts how long it +would continue, more especially when I reflected on the level character of +the country we had entered, and the fact of the Macquarie not receiving +any tributary between this point and the marshes. I was in consequence +led to infer that result, which, though not immediately, eventually took +place. + +<p>As they were treated with kindness, the natives who accompanied us soon +threw off all reserve, and in the afternoon assembled at the pool below +the fall to take fish. They went very systematically to work, with short +spears in their hands that tapered gradually to a point, and sank at once +under water without splash or noise at a given signal from an elderly man. +In a short time, one or two rose with the fish they had transfixed; the +others remained about a minute under water, and then made their +appearance near the same rock into the crevices of which they had driven +their prey. Seven fine bream were taken, the whole of which they insisted +on giving to our men, although I am not aware that any of themselves had +broken their fast that day. They soon, however, procured a quantity of +muscles, with which they sat down very contentedly at a fire. My +barometrical admeasurement gave the cataract an elevation of 680 feet +above the level of the sea; and my observations placed it in east +longitude 148° 3´ and in latitude 31° 50´ +south. + +<p>It became an object with us to gain the right bank of <!--page 18 A TRIBE OF NATIVES. /page-->the Macquarie as +soon as possible; for it was evident that the country to the southward of +it was much more swampy than it was to the north: but for some distance +below the cataract, we found it impossible to effect our purpose. The +rocks composing the bed of the river at the cataract, which are of trapp +formation, disappeared at about eight miles below it, when the river +immediately assumed another character. Its banks became of equal height, +which had not before been the case, and averaged from fifteen to eighteen +feet. They were composed entirely of alluvial soil, and were higher than +the highest flood-marks. Its waters appeared to be turbid and deep, and +its bed was a mixture of sand and clay. The casuarina, which had so often +been admired by us, entirely disappeared and the channel in many places +became so narrow as to be completely arched over by gum-trees. + +<p>On the 16th, we fell in with a numerous tribe of natives who joined our +train after the very necessary ceremonies of an introduction had passed, +and when added to those who still accompanied us, amounted to fifty-three. +On this occasion I was riding somewhat in front of the party, when I came +upon them. They were very different in appearance from those whom we had +surprised at the river; and from the manner in which I was received, I was +led to infer that they had been informed of our arrival, and had +purposely assembled to meet us. I was saluted by an old man, who had +stationed himself in front of his tribe, and who was their chief. Behind +him the young men stood in a <!--page 19 CONDUCT OF THE NATIVES. /page-->line, and behind them the warriors were +seated on the ground. + +<p>I had a young native with me who had attached himself to our party, and +who, from his extreme good nature and superior intelligence, was +considered by us as a first-rate kind of fellow. He explained who and what +we were, and I was glad to observe that the old chief seemed perfectly +reconciled to my presence, although he cast many an anxious glance at the +long train of animals that were approaching. The warriors, I remarked, +never lifted their eyes from the ground. They were hideously painted with +red and yellow ochre, and had their weapons at their sides, while their +countenances were fixed, sullen, and determined. In order to overcome this +mood, I rode up to them, and, taking a spear from the nearest, gave him +my gun to examine; a mark of confidence that was not lost upon them, for +they immediately relaxed from their gravity, and as soon as my party +arrived, rose up and followed us. That which appeared most to excite their +surprise, was the motion of the wheels of the boat carriage. The young +native whom I have noticed above, acted as interpreter, and, by his +facetious manner, contrived to keep the whole of us in a fit of laughter +as we moved along. He had been named Botheri by some stockman. + +<p>In consequence of our wish to cross the river, we kept near it, and +experienced considerable delay from the frequent marshes that opposed +themselves to our progress. In one of these we saw a number of ibises and +spoon<!--page 20 CROSSING OF THE RIVER. /page-->bills; and the natives succeeded in killing two or three snakes. Our +view to the westward was extremely limited; but to the eastward the +country appeared in some places to expand into plains. + +<p>After travelling some miles down the banks of the river, finding that they +still retained their steep character, we turned back to a place which Mr. +Hume had observed, and at which he thought we might, with some little +trouble, cross to the opposite side. And, however objectionable the +attempt was, we found ourselves obliged to make it. We descended, +therefore, into the channel of the river, and unloaded the animals and +boat-carriage. In order to facilitate the ascent of the right bank, some +of the men were directed to cut steps up it. I was amused to see the +natives voluntarily assist them; and was surprised when they took up bags +of flour weighing 100 pounds each, and carried them across the river. We +were not long in getting the whole of the stores over. The boat was then +hoisted on the shoulders of the strongest, and deposited on the top of the +opposite bank; and ropes being afterwards attached to the carriage, it was +soon drawn up to a place of safety. The natives worked as hard as our own +people, and that, too, with a cheerfulness for which I was altogether +unprepared, and which is certainly foreign to their natural habits. We +pitched our tents as soon as we had effected the passage of the river; +after which, the men went to bathe, and blacks and whites were mingled +promiscuously in the stream. I did not observe that the former differed in +any respect from <!--page 21 BAROMETER BROKEN. /page-->the natives who frequent the located districts. They were +generally clean limbed and stout, and some of the young men had pleasing +intelligent countenances. They lacerate their bodies, inflicting deep +wounds to raise the flesh, and extract the front teeth like the Bathurst +tribes; and their weapons are precisely the same. They are certainly a +merry people, and sit up laughing and talking more than half the night. + +<p>During the removal of the stores my barometer was unfortunately broken, +and I had often, in the subsequent stages of the journey, occasion to +regret the accident. I apprehend that the corks in the instrument, placed +to steady the tube, are too distant from each other in most cases; and +indeed I fear that barometers as at present constructed, will seldom be +carried with safety in overland expeditions. + +<p>Nine only of the natives accompanied us on the morning succeeding the day +in which we crossed the river. Botheri was, however, at the head of them; +and, as we journeyed along, he informed me that he had been promised a +wife on his return from acting as our guide, by the chief of the last +tribe. The excessive heat of the weather obliged us to shorten our +journey, and we encamped about noon in some scrub after having traversed a +level country for about eleven miles. + +<p>Several considerable plains were noticed to our right, stretching east and +west, which were generally rich in point of soil; but we passed through +much brushy land during the day. It was lamentable to see the state of +vegetation upon the plains from want of moisture. Although the coun<!--page 22 DESERTED BY THE NATIVES. /page-->try +had assumed a level character, and was more open than on the higher +branches of the Macquarie, the small freestone elevations, backing the +alluvial tracts near the river, still continued upon our right, though +much diminished in height, and at a great distance from the banks. They +seemed to be covered with cypresses and beef-wood, but dwarf-box and the +acacia pendula prevailed along the plains; while flooded-gum alone +occupied the lands in the immediate neighbourhood of the stream, which was +evidently fast diminishing, both in volume and rapidity; its bed, however, +still continuing to be a mixture of sand and clay. + +<p>The cattle found such poor feed around the camp that they strayed away in +search of better during the night. On such an occasion Botheri and his +fraternity would have been of real service; but he had decamped at an +early hour, and had carried off an axe, a tomahawk, and some bacon, +although I had made him several presents. I was not at all surprised at +this piece of roguery, since cunning is the natural attribute of a savage; +but I was provoked at their running away at a moment when I so much +required their assistance. + +<p>Left to ourselves, I found Mr. Hume of the most essential service in +tracking the animals, and to his perseverance we were indebted for their +speedy recovery, They had managed to find tolerable feed near a serpentine +sheet of water, which Mr. Hume thought it would be advisable to examine. +We directed our course to it as soon as the cattle were loaded, moving +through bush, and found it to be <!--page 23 GREAT HEAT. /page-->a very considerable creek that receives a +part of the superfluous waters of the Macquarie, and distributes them, +most probably, over the level country to the north. It was much wider than +the river, being from fifty to sixty yards across, and is resorted to by +the natives, who procure muscles from its bed in great abundance. We were +obliged to traverse its eastern bank to its junction with the river, at +which it fortunately happened to be dry. We had, however, to cut roads +down both its banks before we could cross it; and, consequently, made but +a short day's journey. The soil passed over was inferior to the generality +of soil near the river, but we encamped on a tongue of land on which both +the flooded-gum and the grass were of luxuriant height. We found a +quantity of a substance like pipe-clay in the bed of the river, similar to +that mentioned by Mr. Oxley. + +<p>The heat, which had been excessive at Wellington Valley, increased upon us +as we advanced into the interior. The thermometer was seldom under +114° at noon, and rose still higher at 2 p.m. We had no dews at night, +and consequently the range of the instrument was trifling in the +twenty-four hours. The country looked bare and scorched, and the plains +over which we journeyed had large fissures traversing them, so that the +earth may literally be said to have gasped for moisture. The country, +which above the cataract had borne the character of open forest, excepting +on the immediate banks of the river, where its undulations and openness +gave it a park-like appearance, or where the barren stony ridges prevailed +below that point, generally ex<!--page 24 ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY, AND THE RIVER. /page-->hibited alternately plain and brush, the +soil on both of which was good. On the former, crested pigeons were +numerous, several of which were shot. We had likewise procured some of the +rose-coloured and grey parrots, mentioned by Mr. Oxley, and a small +paroquet of beautiful plumage; but there was less of variety in the +feathered race than I expected to find, and most of the other birds we had +seen were recognised by me as similar to specimens I had procured from +Melville Island, and were, therefore, most probably birds of passage. + +<p>As we neared Mount Harris, the Macquarie became more sluggish in its flow, +and fell off so much as scarcely to deserve the name of a river. In +breadth, it averaged from thirty-five to forty-five yards, and in the +height of its banks, from fifteen to eighteen. Mr. Hume had succeeded in +taking some fish at one of the stock stations; but if I except those +speared by the natives, we had since been altogether unsuccessful with the +hook, a circumstance which I attribute to the lowness of the river itself. + +<p>About thirty miles from the cataract the country declines to the north as +a medium point, and again changes somewhat in its general appearance. To +the S. and S.W. it appeared level and wooded, while to the N. the plains +became more frequent, but smaller, and travelling over them was extremely +dangerous, in consequence of the large fissures by which they were +traversed. The only trees to be observed were dwarf-box and the acacia +pendula, both of stunted growth, although flooded-gum still prevailed upon +the river.</p> +<!--face 24 /face--> +<a name=i1.4></a><h5>Illustration 4</h5> +<div class=centre><img alt="" src=images/xpssti04.jpg></div> +<h5>THE ROSE COCKATOO.</h5> +<!--page 25 ARRIVAL AT MOUNT HARRIS. /page--> +<p>On the 20th we travelled on a N.W. course, and in the early part of the +day passed over tolerably good soil. It was succeeded by a barren scrub, +through which we penetrated in the direction of Welcome Rock, a point we +had seen from one of the Plains and had mistaken for Mount Harris. + +<p>On a nearer approach, however, we observed our error, and corrected it by +turning more to the left; and we ultimately encamped about a mile to the +W.S.W. of the latter eminence. On issuing from the scrub we found +ourselves among reeds and coarse water-grass; and, from the appearance of +the country, we were led to conclude that we had arrived at a part of the +interior more than ordinarily subject to overflow. + +<p>As soon as the camp was fixed, Mr. Hume and I rode to Mount Harris, over +ground subject to flood and covered for the most part by the polygonum, +being too anxious to defer our examination of its neighbourhood even for a +few hours. + +<p>Nearly ten years had elapsed since Mr. Oxley pitched his tents under the +smallest of the two hills into which Mount Harris is broken. There was no +difficulty in hitting upon his position. The trenches that had been cut +round the tents were still perfect, and the marks of the fire-places +distinguishable; while the trees in the neighbourhood had been felled, +and round about them the staves of some casks and a few tent-pegs were +scattered. Mr. Oxley had selected a place at some distance from the river, +in consequence of its then swollen state. I looked upon it from <!--page 26 VESTIGES OF MR. OXLEY'S ENCAMPMENT. /page-->the same +ground, and could not discern the waters in its channel; so much had they +fallen below their ordinary level. He saw the river when it was +overflowing its banks; on the present occasion it had scarcely sufficient +water to support a current. On the summit of the greater eminence, which +we ascended, there remained the half-burnt planks of a boat, some clenched +and rusty nails, and an old trunk; but my search for the bottle Mr. Oxley +had left was unsuccessful. + +<p>A reflection naturally arose to my mind on examining these decaying +vestiges of a former expedition, whether I should be more fortunate than +the leader of it, and how far I should be enabled to penetrate beyond the +point which had conquered his perseverance. Only a week before I left +Sydney I had followed Mr. Oxley to the tomb. A man of uncommon quickness, +and of great ability, the task of following up his discoveries was not +less enviable than arduous; but, arrived at that point at which his +journey may be said to have terminated and mine only to commence, I knew +not how soon I should be obliged, like him, to retreat from the marshes +and exhalations of so depressed a country. My eye instinctively turned to +the North-West, and the view extended over an apparently endless forest. +I could trace the river line of trees by their superior height; but saw no +appearance of reeds, save the few that grew on the banks of the stream. + +<p>Mount Foster, somewhat higher than Mount Harris, on the opposite side of +the river, alone broke the line of the <!--page 27 ILLNESS OF TWO OF THE MEN. /page-->horizon to the North N.W. at a +distance of five miles. From that point all round the compass, the low +lands spread, like a dark sea, before me; except where a large plain +stretching from E. to W., and lying to the S.E. broke their monotony; +and if there was nothing discouraging, there certainly was nothing +cheering, in the prospect. + +<p>On our return to the camp, I was vexed to find two of the men, Henwood and +Williams, with increased inflammation of the eyes, of which they had +previously been complaining, and I thought it advisable to bleed the +latter. + +<p>In consequence of the indisposition of these men, we remained stationary +on the 21st, which enabled me to pay a second visit to Mount Harris. On +ascending the smaller hill, I was surprised to find similar vestiges on +its summit to those I had noticed on the larger one; in addition to which, +the rollers still continued on the side of the hill, which had been used +to get the boat up it.* <span class=note>[Mr. Oxley had two boats; one of which he dragged +to the top of each of these hills, and left them turned bottom upwards, +buryinq a bottle under the head of the larger boat, which was conveyed to +the more distant hill.]</span> + +<p>Mount Harris is of basaltic formation, but I could not observe any +columnar regularity in it, although large blocks are exposed above the +ground. The rock is extremely hard and sonorous. + +<p>We moved leisurely towards Mount Foster, on the 22nd, and arrived opposite +to it a little before sunset. The country between the two is mostly open, +or covered only with the acacia pendula and dwarf-box. The soil, although +an <!--page 28 MOUNT FOSTER AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. /page-->alluvial deposit, is not of the best; nor was vegetation either fresh +or close upon it. As soon as the party stopped, I crossed the river, and +lost no time in ascending the hill, being anxious to ascertain if any +fresh object was visible from its summit, I thought that from an eminence +so much above the level of the surrounding objects, I might obtain a view +of the marshes, or of water; but I was wholly disappointed. The view was +certainly extensive, but it was otherwise unsatisfactory. Again to the +N.W. the lowlands spread in darkness before me; there were some +considerable plains beyond the near wood; but the country at the foot of +the hill appeared open and promising. Although the river line was lost in +the distance, it was as truly pointed out by the fires of the natives, +which rose in upright columns into the sky, as if it had been marked by +the trees upon its banks. + +<p>To the eastward, Arbuthnot's range rose high above the line of the +horizon, bearing nearly due East, distant seventy miles. The following +sketch of its outlines will convey a better idea of its appearance from +Mount Foster than any written description.</p> +<div class=centre> +<img src="images/xpssti16.jpg" alt="small sketch showing the ranges"> +</div> +<p>I stayed on the mount until after sunset, but I could not make out any +space that at all resembled the formidable barrier I knew we were so +rapidly approaching. I saw nothing to check our advance, and I therefore +returned to the camp, to advise with Mr. Hume upon the subject. Not <!--page 29 MOUNT FOSTER AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. /page-->having +been with me on Mount Foster, he took the opportunity to ascend it on the +following morning; and on his return concurred with me in opinion, that +there was no apparent obstacle to our moving onwards. As the men were +considerably better, I had the less hesitation in closing with the +marshes. We left our position, intending to travel slowly, and to halt +early. + +<p>The first part of our journey was over rich flats, timbered sufficiently +to afford a shade, on which the grass was luxuriant; but we were obliged +to seek more open ground, in consequence of the frequent stumbling of the +cattle. + +<p>We issued, at length, upon a plain, the view across which was as dreary as +can be imagined; in many places without a tree, save a few old stumps +left by the natives when they fired the timber, some of which were still +smoking in different parts of it. Observing some lofty trees at the +extremity of the plain, we moved towards them, under an impression that +they indicated the river line. But on this exposed spot the sun's rays +fell with intense power upon us, and the dust was so minute and +penetrating, that I soon regretted having left the shady banks of the +river. + +<p>About 2.p.m. we neared the trees for which we had been making, over ground +evidently formed by alluvial deposition, and were astonished to find that +reeds alone were growing under the trees as far as the eye could +penetrate. It appeared that we were still some distance from the river, +and it was very doubtful how far we might be from water, for which the +men were anxiously calling. I therefore halted, <!--page 30 ENCAMP AMIDST REEDS. /page-->and sent Fraser into the +reeds towards some dead trees, on which a number of spoonbills were +sitting. He found that there was a small lake in the centre of the reeds, +the resort of numerous wild fowl; but although the men were enabled to +quench their thirst, we found it impossible to water the animals. We were +obliged, therefore, to continue our course along the edge of the reeds; +which in a short time appeared in large masses in front of us, stretching +into a vast plain upon our right; and it became evident that the whole +neighbourhood was subject to extensive inundation. + +<p>I was fearful that the reeds would have checked us; but there was a +passage between the patches, through which we managed to force our way +into a deep bight, and fortunately gained the river at the bottom of it +much sooner than we expected. We were obliged to clear away a space for +the tents; and thus, although there had been no such appearance from Mount +Foster, we found ourselves in less than seven hours after leaving it, +encamped pretty far in that marsh for which we had so anxiously looked +from its summit, and now trusting to circumstances for safety, upon +ground on which, in any ordinary state of the river, it would have been +dangerous to have ventured. Indeed, as it was, our situation was +sufficiently critical, and would not admit of hesitation on my part. + +<p>After the cattle had been turned out, Mr. Hume and I again mounted our +horses, and proceeded to the westward, with a view to examine the nature +of the country before us, and to ascertain if it was still practicable to +move along the <!--page 31 NATURE OF THE COUNTRY. /page-->river side. For, although it was evident that we had +arrived at what might strictly be called the marshes of the Macquarie, I +still thought we might be at some distance from the place where Mr. Oxley +terminated his journey. + +<p>There was no indication in the river to encourage an idea that it would +speedily terminate; nor, although we were on ground subject to extensive +inundation, could we be said to have reached the heart of the marshes, as +the reeds still continued in detached bodies only. We forced a path +through various portions of them, and passed over ground wholly subject to +flood, to a distance of about six miles. We then crossed a small rise of +ground, sufficiently high to have afforded a retreat, had necessity +obliged us to seek for one; and we shortly afterwards descended on the +river, unaltered in its appearance, and rather increased than diminished +in size. A vast plain extended to the N.W., the extremity of which we +could not discern; though a thick forest formed its northern boundary. + +<p>It was evident that this plain had been frequently under water, but it was +difficult to judge from the marks on the trees to what height the floods +had risen. The soil was an alluvial deposit, superficially sandy; and many +shells were scattered over its surface. To the south, the country appeared +close and low; nor do I think we could have approached the river from that +side, by reason of the huge belts of reeds that appeared to extend as far +as the the eye could reach. + +<p>The approach of night obliged us to return to the camp. On our arrival, +we found that the state of Henwood and <!--page 32 MEN ATTACKED WITH OPHTHALMIA. /page-->Williams would prevent our stirring +for a day or two. Not only had they a return of inflammation, but several +other of the men complained of a painful irritation of the eyes, which +were dreadfully blood-shot and weak. I was in some measure prepared for a +relapse in Henwood, as the exposure which he necessarily underwent on the +plain was sufficient to produce that effect; but I now became apprehensive +that the affection would run through the party. + +<p>Considering our situation in its different bearings, it struck me that the +men who were to return to Wellington Valley with an account our our +proceedings for the Governor's information, had been brought as far as +prudence warranted. There was no fear of their going astray, as long as +they had the river to guide them; but in the open country which we were to +all appearance approaching, or amidst fields of reeds, they might wander +from the track, and irrecoverably lose themselves. I determined, +therefore, not to risk their safety, but to prepare my dispatches for +Sydney, and I hoped most anxiously, that ere they were closed, all +symptoms of disease would have terminated. + +<p>In the course of the day, however, Spencer, who was to return with Riley +to Wellington Valley, became seriously indisposed, and I feared that he +was attacked with dysentery. Indeed, I should have attributed his illness +to our situation, but I did not notice any unusual moisture in the +atmosphere, nor did any fogs rise from the river. I therefore the rather +attributed it to exposure and change of diet, <!--page 33 DEPARTURE OF TWO MEN FOR WELLINGTON. /page-->and treated him accordingly. +To my satisfaction, when I visited the men late in the evening, I found a +general improvement in the whole of them. Spencer was considerably +relieved, and those of the party who had inflammation of the eyes no +longer felt that painful irritation of which they had before complained. +I determined, therefore, unless untoward circumstances should prevent it, +to send Riley and his companion homewards, and to move the party without +loss of time. + +<p>We had not seen any natives for many days, but a few passed the camp on +the opposite side of the river on the evening of the 25th. They would not, +however, come to us; but fled into the interior in great apparent alarm. + +<p>On the morning of the 26th, the men were sufficiently recovered to pursue +their journey. Riley and Spencer left us at an early hour; and about +7 a.m. we pursued a N.N.W. course along the great plain I have noticed, +starting numberless quails, and many wild turkeys, by the way. Leaving +that part of the river on which Mr. Hume and I had touched considerably to +the left, we made for the point of a wood, projecting from the river line +of trees into the plain. The ground under us was an alluvial deposit, and +bore all the marks of frequent inundation. + +<p>The soil was yielding, blistered, and uneven; and the claws of cray-fish, +together with numerous small shells, were every where collected in the +hollows made by the subsiding of the waters, between broad belts of reeds +and scrubs of polygonum. +<!--page 34 CONSULTATION. /page--> +<p>On gaining the point of the wood, we found an absolute check put to our +further progress. We had been moving directly on the great body of the +marsh, and from the wood it spread in boundless extent before us. It was +evidently lower than the ground on which we stood; we had therefore, a +complete view over the whole expanse; and there was a dreariness and +desolation pervading the scene that strengthened as we gazed upon it. +Under existing circumstances, it only remained for us either to skirt +the reeds to the northward, or to turn in again upon the river; and as I +considered it important to ascertain the direction of the Macquarie at so +critical and interesting a point, I thought it better to adopt the latter +measure. We, accordingly, made for the river, and pitched our tents, as at +the last station, in the midst of reeds. + +<p>There were two points at this time, upon which I was extremely anxious. +The first was as to the course of the river; the second, as to the extent +of the marshes by which we had been checked, and the practicability of the +country to the northward. + +<p>In advising with Mr. Hume, I proposed launching the boat, as the surest +means of ascertaining the former, and he, on his part, most readily +volunteered to examine the marshes, in any direction I should point out. +It was therefore, arranged, that I should take two men, and a week's +provision with me in the boat down the river; and that he should proceed +with a like number of men on an excursion to the northward. +<!--page 35 BOAT EXCURSION. /page--> +<p>After having given directions as to the regulations of camp during our +absence, we separated, on the morning of the 26th for the first time, in +furtherance of the objects each had in view. + +<p>In pulling down the river, I found that its channel was at first extremely +tortuous and irregular, but that it held a general N.W. course, and bore +much the same appearance as it had done since our descent from Mount +Foster. + +<p>We had a laborious task in lifting the boat over the trunks of trees that +had fallen into the channel of the river or that had been left by the +floods, and at length we stove her in upon a sunken log. The injury she +received was too serious not to require immediate repair; and we, +therefore, patched her up with a tin plate. This accident occasioned some +delay, and the morning was consumed without our having made any +considerable progress. At length, however, we got into a more open +channel. + +<p>The river suddenly increased in breadth to thirty-five or forty-five +yards, with a depth of from twelve to twenty feet of water. Its banks +shelved perpendicularly down, and were almost on a level with the surface +of the stream; and the flood mark was not more than two feet high on the +reeds by which they were lined. We had hitherto passed under the shade of +the flooded gum, which still continued on the immediate banks of the +river; but, the farther we advanced, the more did we find these trees in a +state of decay, until at length they ceased, or were only rarely met with. + +<p>About 2 p.m. I brought up under a solitary tree, in con<!--page 36 TERMINATION OF THE RIVER. /page-->sequence of heavy +rain: this was upon the left bank. In the afternoon, however, we again +pushed forward, and soon lost sight of every other object amidst reeds of +great height. The channel of the river continued as broad and as deep as +ever, but the flood mark did not show more than a foot above the banks, +which were now almost on a level with the water; and the current was so +sluggish as to be scarcely perceptible. These general appearances +continued for about three miles, when our course was suddenly, and most +unexpectedly, checked. The channel, which had promised so well, without +any change in its breadth or depth, ceased altogether; and whilst we were +yet lost in astonishment at so abrupt a termination of it, the boat +grounded. It only remained for us to examine the banks, which we did with +particular attention. Two creeks were then discovered, so small as +scarcely to deserve the name, and which would, under ordinary +circumstances, have been overlooked. The one branched off to the +north—the other to the west. We were obliged to get out of the boat to +push up the former, the leeches sticking in numbers to our legs. The creek +continued for about thirty yards, when it was terminated; and, in order +fully to satisfy myself of the fact, I walked round the head of it by +pushing through the reeds. Night coming on, we returned to the tree at +which we had stopped during the rain, and slept under it. The men cut away +the reeds, or we should not have had room to move. At 2 a.m. it commenced +raining, with a heavy storm of thunder and lightning; the <!--page 37 FIRST GREAT MARSH. /page-->boat was +consequently hauled ashore, and turned over to afford us a temporary +shelter. The lightning was extremely vivid, and frequently played upon +the ground, near the firelocks, for more than a quarter of a minute at a +time. + +<p>It is singular, that Mr. Oxley should, under similar circumstances, have +experienced an equally stormy night, and most probably within a few yards +of the place on which I had posted myself. Notwithstanding that the +elements were raging around me, as if to warn me of the danger of my +situation, my mind turned solely on the singular failure of the river. I +could not but encourage hopes that this second channel that remained to +be explored would lead us into an open space again; and as soon as the +morning dawned we pursued our way to it. In passing some dead trees upon +the right bank, I stopped to ascend one, that, from an elevation, I might +survey the marsh, but I found it impossible to trace the river through it. +The country to the westward was covered with reeds, apparently to the +distance of seven miles; to the N.W. to a still greater distance; and to +the north they bounded the horizon. + +<p>The whole expanse was level and unbroken, but here and there the reeds +were higher and darker than at other places, as if they grew near constant +moisture; but I could see no appearance of water in any body, or of high +lands beyond the distant forest. + +<p>As soon as we arrived at the end of the main channel, we again got out of +the boat, and in pushing up the smaller one, soon found ourselves under a +dark arch of reeds. <!--page 38 CAUSES OF THE FAILURE OF THE RIVER. /page-->It did not, however, continue more than twenty yards +when it ceased, and I walked round the head of it as I had done round that +of the other. We then examined the space between the creeks, where the +bank receives the force of the current, which I did not doubt had formed +them by the separation of its eddies. Observing water among the reeds, I +pushed through them with infinite labour to a considerable distance. The +soil proved to be a stiff clay; the reeds were closely embodied, and from +ten to twelve feet high; the waters were in some places ankle deep, and in +others scarcely covered the surface. They were flowing in different +points, with greater speed than those of the river, which at once +convinced me that they were not permanent, but must have lodged in the +night during which so much rain had fallen. They ultimately appeared to +flow to the northward, but I found it impossible to follow them, and it +was not without difficulty that, after having wandered about at every +point of the compass, I again reached the boat. + +<p>The care with which I had noted every change that took place in the +Macquarie, from Wellington Valley downwards, enabled me, in some measure, +to account for its present features. I was led to conclude that the waters +of the river being so small in body, excepting in times of flood, and +flowing for so many miles through a level country without receiving any +tributary to support their first impulse, became too sluggish, long ere +they reached the marshes, to cleave through so formidable a barrier; and +consequently spread over the surrounding country—whether again to take +<!--page 39 MR. HUME'S REPORT. /page-->up the character of a river, we had still to determine. Unless, however, +a decline of country should favour its assuming its original shape, it was +evident that the Macquarie would not be found to exist beyond this marsh, +of the nature and extent of which we were still ignorant. The loss of my +barometer was at this time severely felt by me, since I could only guess +at our probable height above the ocean; and I found that my only course +was to endeavour to force my way to the northward, to ascertain, if I +could, from the bottom of the marshes; then penetrate in a westerly +direction beyond them, in order to commence my survey of the S.W. +interior. I was aware of Mr. Hume's perseverance, and determined, +therefore, to wait the result of his report ere I again moved the camp, to +which we returned late in the afternoon of the second day of our +departure. We found it unsufferably hot and suffocating in the reeds, and +were tormented by myriads of mosquitoes, but the waters were perfectly +sweet to the taste, nor did the slightest smell, as of stagnation, proceed +from them. I may add that the birds, whose sanctuary we had invaded, as +the bittern and various tribes of the galinule, together with the frogs, +made incessant noises around us, There were, however, but few water-fowl +on the river; which was an additional proof to me that we were not near +any very extensive lake. + +<p>Mr. Hume had returned before me to the camp, and had succeeded in finding +a serpentine sheet of water, about twelve miles to the northward; which he +did not doubt to be the channel of the river. He had pushed on after this +<!--page 40 FALSE CHANNEL. /page-->success, in the hope of gaining a further knowledge of the country; but +another still more extensive marsh checked him, and obliged him to retrace +his steps. He was no less surprised at the account I gave of the +termination of the river, than I was at its so speedily re-forming, and it +was determined to lose no time in the further examination of so singular a +region. + +<p>On the morning of the 28th therefore we broke up the camp, and proceeded +to the northward, under Mr. Hume's guidance, moving over ground wholly +subject to flood, and extensively covered with reeds; the great body of +the marsh lying upon our left. After passing the angle of a wood, upon our +right, from which Mount Foster was distant about fourteen miles, we got +upon a small plain, on which there was a new species of tortuous box. This +plain was clear of reeds, and the soil upon it was very rich. Crossing in +a westerly direction we arrived at the channel found by Mr. Hume, who must +naturally have concluded that it was a continuation of the river. The boat +was immediately prepared, and I went up it in order to ascertain the +nature of its formation. For two miles it preserved a pretty general width +of from twenty to thirty yards; but at that distance began to narrow, and +at length it became quite shallow and covered with weeds. We were +ultimately obliged to abandon the boat, and to walk along a native path. +The country to the westward was more open than I had expected. About a +quarter of a mile from where we had left the boat, the channel separated +into two <!--page 41 PERPLEXITIES. /page-->branches; to which I perceived it owed its formation, coming, as +they evidently did, direct from the heart of the marsh. The wood through +which I had entered it on the first occasion bore south of me, to which +one of the branches inclined; as the other did to the S.W. An almost +imperceptible rise of ground was before me, which, by giving an impetus to +the waters of the marsh, accounted to me for the formation of the main +channel. It was too late, on my return to the camp, to prosecute any +further examination of it downwards; but in the morning, Mr. Hume +accompanied me in the boat, to ascertain to what point it led; and we +found that at about a mile it began to diminish in breadth, until at +length it was completely lost in a second expanse of reeds. We passed a +singular scaffolding erected by the natives, on the side of the channel, +to take fish; and also found a weir at the termination of it for the like +purpose so that it was evident the natives occasionally ventured into +the marshes. + +<p>There was a small wood to our left which Mr. Hume endeavoured to gain, but +he failed in the attempt. He did, however, reach a tree that was +sufficiently high to give him a full view of the marsh, which appeared to +extend in every direction, but more particularly to the north, for many +miles. We were, however, at fault, and I really felt at a loss what step +to take. I should have been led to believe from the extreme flatness of +the country, that the Macquarie would never assume its natural shape, but +from the direction of the marshes I could not but indulge a hope that it +<!--page 42 EXCURSION TO THE NORTH-WEST. /page-->would meet the Castlereagh, and that their united waters might form a +stream of some importance. Under this impression I determined on again +sending Mr. Hume to the N.E. in order to ascertain the nature of the +country in that direction. + +<p>The weather was excessively hot, and as my men were but slowly recovering, +I was anxious while those who were in health continued active, to give the +others a few days of rest. I proposed, therefore, to cross the river, and +to make an excursion into the interior, during the probable time of +Mr. Hume's absence; since if, as I imagined, the Macquarie had taken a +permanent northerly course, I should not have an opportunity of examining +the distant western country. Mr. Hume's experience rendered it unnecessary +for me to give him other than general directions. + +<p>On the last day of the year we left the camp, each accompanied by two men. +I had the evening previously ordered the horses I intended taking with me +across the channel, and at an early hour of the morning I followed them. +Getting on a plain, immediately after I had disengaged myself from the +reeds on the opposite side of the river, which was full of holes and +exceedingly treacherous for the animals, I pushed on for a part of the +wood Mr. Hume had endeavoured to gain from the boat, with the intention of +keeping near the marsh. On entering it, I found myself in a thick brush of +eucalypti, casuarinae and minor trees; the soil under them being mixed +with sand. I kept a N.N.W. course through it, and at the distance of +three miles from <!--page 43 A PLAIN ON FIRE. /page-->its commencement, ascended a tree, to ascertain if I was +near the marshes; when I found that I was fast receding from them. I +concluded, therefore, that my conjecture as to their direction was right, +and altered my course to N.W., a direction in which I had observed a dense +smoke arising, which I supposed had been made by some natives near water. +At the termination of the brush I crossed a barren sandy plain, and from +it saw the smoke ascending at a few miles' distance from me. Passing +through a wood, at the extremity of the plain, I found myself at the +outskirts of an open space of great extent, almost wholly enveloped in +flames. The fire was running with incredible rapidity through the rhagodia +shrubs with which it was covered. Passing quickly over it, I continued my +journey to the N.W. over barren plains of red sandy loam of even surface, +and bushes of cypresses skirted by acacia pendula. It was not until after +sunset that we struck upon a creek, in which the water was excellent; and +we halted on its banks for the night, calculating our distance at +twenty-nine miles from the camp. The creek was of considerable size, +leading northerly. Several huts were observed by us, and from the heaps of +muscle-shells that were scattered about, there could be no doubt of its +being much frequented by the natives. The grass being fairly burnt up, our +animals found but little to eat, but they had a tolerable journey, and did +not attempt to wander in search of better food. I shot a snipe near the +creek, much resembling the painted snipe of India; but I had not the means +with me of preserving it. +<!--page 44 A TRIBE OF NATIVES. /page--> +<p>Continuing our journey on the following morning, we at first kept on the +banks of the creek, and at about a quarter of a mile from where we had +slept, came upon a numerous tribe of natives. A young girl sitting by the +fire was the first to observe us as we were slowly approaching her. She +was so excessively alarmed, that she had not the power to run away; but +threw herself on the ground and screamed violently. We now observed a +number of huts, out of which the natives issued, little dreaming of the +spectacle they were to behold. But the moment they saw us, they started +back; their huts were in a moment in flames, and each with a fire-brand +ran to and fro with hideous yells, thrusting them into every bush they +passed. I walked my horse quietly towards an old man who stood more +forward than the rest, as if he intended to devote himself for the +preservation of his tribe. I had intended speaking to him, but on a nearer +approach I remarked that he trembled so violently that it was impossible +to expect that I could obtain any information from him, and as I had not +time for explanations, I left him to form his own conjectures as to what +we were, and continued to move towards a thick brush, into which they did +not venture to follow us. + +<p>After a ride of about eighteen miles, through a country of alternate plain +and brush, we struck upon a second creek leading like the first to the +northward. The water in it was very bitter and muddy, and it was much +inferior in appearance to that at which we had slept. After stopping for +half-an-hour upon its banks, to rest our animals, we again <!--page 45 CONTINUE OUR JOURNEY. /page-->pushed forward. +We had not as yet risen any perceptible height above the level of the +marshes, but had left the country subject to overflow for a considerable +space behind us. The brushes through which we had passed were too sandy to +retain water long, but the plains were of such an even surface, that they +could not but continue wet for a considerable period after any fall of +rain. They were covered with salsolaceous plants, without a blade of +grass; and their soil was generally a red sandy loam. There were +occasional patches that appeared moist, in which the calystemma was +abundant, and these patches must, I should imagine, form quagmires in the +wet season. + +<p>On leaving the last-mentioned creek, we found a gently rising country +before us; and about three or four miles from it we crossed some stony +ridges, covered with a new species of acacia so thickly as to prevent our +obtaining any view from them. As the sun declined, we got into open forest +ground; and travelled forwards in momentary expectation, from appearances, +of coming in sight of water; but we were obliged to pull up at sunset on +the outskirts of a larger plain without having our expectation realized. +The day had been extremely warm, and our animals were as thirsty as +ourselves. Hope never forsakes the human breast; and thence it was that, +after we had secured the horses, we began to wander round our lonely +bivouac. It was almost dark, when one of my men came to inform me that he +had found a small puddle of water, to which he had been led by a pigeon. +<!--page 46 ISOLATED HILL. /page--> +<p>It was, indeed, small enough, probably the remains of a passing shower; it +was, however, sufficient for our necessities, and I thanked Providence for +its bounty to us. We were now about sixty miles from the Macquarie, in a +N.W. by W. direction, and the country had proved so extremely +discouraging, that I intimated to my men my intention of retracing my +steps, should I not discover any change in it before noon on the morrow. +A dense brush of acacia succeeded to the plain on which we had slept, +which we entered, and shortly afterwards found ourselves in an open space, +of oblong shape, at the extremity of which there was a shallow lake. The +brush completely encircled it, and a few huts were upon its banks. About +10 p.m. we got into an open forest track of better appearance than any +over which we had recently travelled. + +<p>There was a visible change in the country, and the soil, although red, was +extremely rich and free from sand. A short time afterwards we rose to the +summit of a round hill, from which we obtained an extensive view on most +points of the compass. We had imperceptibly risen considerably above the +general level of the interior. + +<p>Beneath us, to the westward, I observed a broad and thinly wooded valley; +and W. by S., distant apparently about twenty miles, an isolated mountain, +whose sides seemed almost perpendicular, broke the otherwise even line of +the horizon; but the country in every other direction looked as if it was +darkly wooded. Anticipating that I should find a stream in the valley, I +did not for a moment hesitate in <!--page 47 VIEW FROM THE SUMMIT. /page-->striking down into it. Disappointed, +however, in this expectation, I continued onwards to the mountain, which I +reached just before the sun set. Indeed, he was barely visible when I +gained its summit; but my eyes, from exposure to his glare, became so +weak, my face was so blistered, and my lips cracked in so many places, +that I was unable to look towards the west, and was actually obliged to +sit down behind a rock until he had set. + +<p>Perhaps no time is so favourable for a view along the horizon as the +sunset hour; and here, at an elevation of from five to six hundred feet +above the plain, the visible line of it could not have been less than from +thirty-five to forty-five miles. The hill upon which I stood was broken +into two points; the one was a bold rocky elevation; the other had its +rear face also perpendicular, but gradually declined to the north, and at +a distance of from four to five miles was lost in an extensive and open +plain in that direction. In the S.E. quarter, two wooded hills were +visible, which before had appeared to be nothing more than swells in the +general level of the country. A small hill, similar to the above, bore +N.E. by compass; and again, to the west, a more considerable mountain than +that I had ascended, and evidently much higher, reflected the last beams +of the sun as he sunk behind them. I looked, however, in vain for water. +I could not trace either the windings of a stream, or the course of a +mountain torrent; and, as we had passed a swamp about a mile from the +hill, we descended to it for the night, during which we were grievously +tormented by the mosquitoes. +<!--page 48 RESULTS OF THE EXCURSION. /page--> +<p>I had no inducement to proceed further into the interior. I had been +sufficiently disappointed in the termination of this excursion, and the +track before me was still less inviting. Nothing but a dense forest, and a +level country, existed between me and the distant hill. I had learnt, by +experience, that it was impossible to form any opinion of the probable +features of so singular a region as that in which I was wandering, from +previous appearances, or to expect the same result, as in other countries, +from similar causes. In a geographical point of view, my journey had been +more successful, and had enabled me to put to rest for ever a question of +much previous doubt. Of whatever extent the marshes of the Macquarie might +be, it was evident they were not connected with those of the Lachlan. I +had gained knowledge of more than 100 miles of the western interior, and +had ascertained that no sea, indeed that little water, existed on its +surface; and that, although it is generally flat, it still has elevations +of considerable magnitude upon it. + +<p>Although I had passed over much barren ground, I had likewise noticed soil +that was far from poor, and the vegetation upon which in ordinary seasons +would, I am convinced, have borne a very different aspect. + +<p>Yet, upon the whole, the space I traversed is unlikely to become the haunt +of civilized man, or will only become so in isolated spots, as a chain of +connection to a more fertile country; if such a country exist to the +westward. + +<p>The hill which thus became the extreme of my journey, <!--page 49 RETURN TO THE CAMP. /page-->is of sandstone +formation, and is bold and precipitous. Its summit is level and lightly +timbered. As a tribute of respect to the late Surveyor-General, I called +it Oxley's Table Land, and I named the distant hills D'Urban's Group, +after Sir Benjamin D'Urban, in compliance with a previous request of my +friend Lieut. De la Condamine, that I would so name any prominent feature +of the interior that I might happen to come upon. + +<p>In returning to the camp, I made a circuit to the N.E., and reached the +Macquarie late on the evening of the 5th of January; having been absent +six days, during which we could not have ridden less than 200 miles. Yet +the horses were not so fatigued as it was natural to expect they would +have been. + +<p>My servant informed me that a party of natives had visited the camp on the +3rd, but that they retired precipitately on seeing the animals. I +regretted to find the men but little better than when I left them. Several +still complained of a painful irritation of the eyes, and of great +weakness of sight. Attributing their continued indisposition in some +measure to our situation, I was anxious to have moved from it; but as Mr. +Hume was still absent, I could not decide upon the measure. He made his +appearance, however, on the 6th, having ridden the greater part of the day +through rain, which commenced to fall in the morning. Soon after his +arrival, Dawber, my overseer of animals, who had accompanied him, was +taken suddenly ill. During the night he became much worse, with shivering +and spasms, and on the <!--page 50 MR. HUME'S EXCURSION. /page-->following morning he was extremely weak and +feverish. To add to my anxiety, Mr. Hume also complained of indisposition. +His state of health made me the more anxious to quit a position which I +fancied unwholesome, and in which, if there was no apparent, there was +certainly some secret, exciting cause; and as Mr. Hume reported having +crossed a chain of ponds about four miles to the eastward, and out of the +immediate precincts of the marshes, I ordered the tents to be struck, and +placing Dawber on my horse, we all moved quietly over to them. + +<p>The result of Mr. Hume's journey perplexed me exceedingly. He stated, that +on setting out from the Macquarie his intention was to have proceeded to +the N.E., to ascertain how far the reeds existed in that direction, and, +if at all practicable, to reach the Castlereagh; but in case of failure, +to regain the Macquarie by a westerly course. At first he travelled nearly +four miles east, to clear the marshes, when he came on the chain of ponds +to which we had removed. + +<p>He travelled over good soil for two miles after crossing this chain of +ponds, but afterwards got on a red sandy loam, and found it difficult to +proceed, by reason of the thickness of the brush, and the swampy state of +the ground in consequence of the late rain. + +<p>The timber in the brushes was of various kinds, and he saw numerous +kangaroos and emus. On issuing from this brush, he crossed a creek, +leading northerly, the banks of which were from ten to twelve feet high. +Whatever the <!--page 51 MR. HUME'S EXCURSION. /page-->body of water usually in it is, it now only afforded a few +shallow puddles. Mr. Hume travelled through brushes until he came upon a +third creek, similar to the one he had left behind him, at which he halted +for the night. The water in it was bad, and the feed for the animals +extremely poor. The brush lined the creek thickly, and consisted chiefly +of acacia pendula and box. The country preserved an uniform level, nor did +Mr. Hume, from the highest trees, observe any break on the horizon. + +<p>On the 2nd of January, Mr. Hume kept more northerly, being unable to +penetrate the brushes he encountered. At two miles he crossed a creek +leading to the N.W., between which and the place at which he had slept, he +passed a native burial ground, containing eight graves. The earth was +piled up in a conical shape, but the trees were not carved over as he had +seen them in most other places. + +<p>The country became more open after he had passed the last mentioned creek, +which he again struck upon at the distance of eight miles, and as it was +then leading to the N.N.E. he followed it down for eighteen or twenty +miles, and crossed it frequently during the day. The creek was dry in most +places, and where he stopped for the night the water was bad, and the +cattle feed indifferent. + +<p>Mr. Hume saw many huts, but none of them had been recently occupied, +although large quantities of muscle-shells were scattered about. He +computed that he had travelled about thirty miles, in a N.N.W. +direction, and the whole of the land he passed over was, generally +<!--page 52 MR. HUME'S EXCURSION. /page-->speaking, bad, nor did it appear to be subject to overflow. + +<p>On the 3rd, Mr. Hume proceeded down the creek on which he had slept, on a +northern course, under an impression that it would have joined the +Castlereagh, but it took a N.W. direction after he had ridden about four +miles, and then turned again to the eastward of north. In consequence of +this, he left it, and proceeded to the westward, being of opinion that the +river just mentioned must have taken a more northerly course than Mr. +Oxley supposed it to have done. + +<p>A short time after Mr. Hume turned towards the Macquarie, the country +assumed a more pleasing appearance. He soon cleared the brushes, and at +two miles came upon a chain of ponds, again running northerly in times of +flood. Shortly after crossing these, he found himself on an extensive +plain, apparently subject to overflow. The timber on it was chiefly of +the blue-gum kind, and the ground was covered with shells. He then thought +he was approaching the Macquarie, and proceeded due west across the flat +for about two miles. At the extremity of it there was a hollow, which he +searched in vain for water. Ascending about thirty feet, he entered a +thick brush of box and acacia pendula, which continued for fourteen miles, +when it terminated abruptly, and extensive plains of good soil commenced, +stretching from N. to S. as far as the eye could reach, on which there +were many kangaroos. Continuing to journey over them, he reached a creek +at 5 p.m. <!--page 53 MR. HUME'S EXCURSION. /page-->on which the wild fowl were numerous, running nearly north and +south, and he rested on its banks for the night. The timber consisted both +of blue and rough gum, and the soil was a light earth. + +<p>Mr. Hume expected in the course of the day to have reached the Macquarie, +but on arriving at the creek, he began to doubt whether it any longer +existed, or whether it had not taken a more westerly direction. On the +following morning, therefore, he crossed the creek, and travelled +W.S.W., for about two miles over good plains; then through light brushes +of swamp-oak, cypress, box, and acacia pendula, for about twelve miles, to +another creek leading northerly. He shortly afterwards ascended a range of +hills stretching W.N.W. to which he gave the name of New Year's Range. +From these hills, he had an extensive view, although not upon the highest +part, but the only break he could see in the horizon was caused by some +hills bearing by compass W. by S. distant about twenty-five miles. There +was, however, an appearance as of high land to the northward, although Mr. +Hume thought it might have been an atmospheric deception. From the range +he looked in vain for the Macquarie, or other waters, and, as his +provisions were nearly consumed, he was obliged to give up all further +pursuit, and to retrace his steps. He fell in with two parties of natives, +which, taken collectively, amounted to thirty-five in number, but had no +communication with them. + +<p>It was evident, from the above account, that supposing a <!--page 54 DOUBTS OF THE FURTHER EXTENSION OF THE RIVER. /page-->line to have been +drawn from the camp northerly, Mr. Hume must have travelled considerably +to the westward of it, and as I had run on a N.W. course from the marshes, +it necessarily followed that our lines of route must have intersected each +other, or that want of extension could alone have prevented them from +having done so; but that, under any circumstances, they could not have +been very far apart. This was too important a point to be left undecided, +as upon it the question of the Macquarie's termination seemed to depend. + +<p>Both Mr. Hume and myself were of opinion, that a medium course would be +the most satisfactory for us to pursue, to decide this point; and it +appeared that we could not do better than, by availing ourselves of the +creek on which we were, and skirting the reeds, to take the first +opportunity of dashing through them in a westerly direction. + +<p>I entertained great doubts as to the longer existence of the river, and as +I foresaw that, in the event of its having terminated we should strike at +once into the heart of the interior, I became anxious for the arrival of +supplies at Mount Harris; and although I could hardly expect that they had +yet reached it, I determined to proceed thither. Mr. Hume was too unwell +for me to think of imposing additional fatigue upon him; I left him, +therefore, to conduct the party, by easy stages, to the northward, until +such time as I should overtake them. Even in one day there was a visible +improvement in the men, and Dawber's attack seemed to be rather the +effects of cold than of any thing <!--page 55 PERPLEXING SITUATION. /page-->else. A death, however, under our +circumstances, would have been so truly deplorable an event, that the +least illness was sufficient to create alarm. + +<p>I can hardly say that I was disappointed on my arrival at Mount Harris, to +find its neighbourhood silent and deserted. I remained, however, under it +for the greater part of the next day, and, prior to leaving it, placed a +sheet of paper with written instructions against a tree, though almost +without a hope that it would remain untouched. + +<p>A little after sun-set we reached the first small marsh, at which we +slept; and on the following morning I crossed the plains of the Macquarie, +and joined the party at about fifteen miles from the creek at which I had +left it. I found it in a condition that was as unlooked for by Mr. Hume as +it was unexpected by me, and really in a most perplexing situation. + +<p>On the day I left him, Mr. Hume only advanced about two miles, in +consequence of some derangement in the loads. Having crossed the creek, +he, the next morning, proceeded down its right bank, until it entered the +marshes and was lost. He then continued to move on the outskirts of the +latter, and having performed a journey or about eight miles, was anxious +to have stopped, but there was no water at hand. The men, however, were so +fatigued, in consequence of previous illness, that he felt it necessary to +halt after travelling about eleven miles. + +<p>No water could be procured even here, notwithstanding that Mr. Hume, who +was quite unfit for great exertion, under<!--page 56 JOURNEY CONTINUED. /page-->went considerable bodily fatigue +in his anxiety to find some. He was, therefore, obliged to move early on +the following morning, but neither men nor animals were in a condition to +travel; and he had scarcely made three miles' progress, when he stopped +and endeavoured to obtain a supply or water by digging pits among the +reeds. From these he had drawn sufficient for the wants of the people when +I arrived. Some rain had fallen on the 6th and 7th of the month, or it is +more than probable the expedient to which he resorted would have failed of +success. Mr. Hume, I was sorry to observe, looked very unwell; but nothing +could prevent him from further endeavours to extricate the party from its +present embarrassment. + +<p>As soon as I had taken a little refreshment, therefore, I mounted a fresh +horse; and he accompanied me across a small plain, immediately in front of +the camp, which was subject to overflow and covered with polygonum, having +a considerable extent of reeds to its right. + +<p>From the plain we entered a wood of blue-gum, in which reeds, grass, and +brush formed a thick coppice. We at length passed into an open space, +surrounded on every side by weeds in dense bodies. The great marsh bore +south of us, and was clear and open, but behind us the blue-gum trees +formed a thick wood above the weeds. + +<p>About two hundred yards from the outskirts of the marsh there was a line +of saplings that had perished, and round about them a number of the tern +tribe (sea swallow) were flying, one of which Mr. Hume had followed a +consider<!--page 57 SECOND GREAT MARSH. /page-->able way into the reeds the evening before, in the hope that it +would have led him to water. The circumstance of their being in such +numbers led us to penetrate towards them, when we found a serpentine sheet +of water of some length, over which they were playing. We had scarcely +time to examine it before night closed in upon us, and it was after nine +when we returned to the tents. + +<p>From the general appearance of the country to the northward, and from the +circumstance of our having got to the bottom of the great marsh, which but +a few days before had threatened to be so formidable, I thought it +probable that the reeds would not again prove so extensive as they had +been, and I determined, if I could do so, to push through them in a +westerly direction from our position. + +<p>The pits yielded us so abundant a supply during the night, that in the +morning we found it unnecessary to take the animals to water at the +channel we had succeeded in finding the evening before; but pursuing a +westerly course we passed it, and struck deep into the reeds. At mid-day +we were hemmed in by them on every side, and had crossed over numerous +channels, by means of which the waters of the marshes are equally and +generally distributed over the space subject to their influence. Coming to +a second sheet of water, narrower, but longer, as well as we could judge, +than the first, we stopped to dine at it; and, while the men were resting +themselves, Mr. Hume rode with me in a westerly direction, to ascertain +what <!--page 58 CONCLUSIONS IN REGARD TO /page-->obstacles we still had to contend with. Forcing our way through +bodies of reeds, we at length got on a plain, stretching from S.E. to +N.W., bounded on the right by a wood of blue-gum, under which the reeds +still extended, and on the left by a wood in which they did not appear to +exist. Certain that there was no serious obstacle in our way, we returned +to the men; and as soon as they had finished their meal, led them over the +plain in a N.W. by W. direction. It was covered with shells, and was full +of holes from the effects of flood. + +<p>As we were journeying over it, I requested Mr. Hume to ride into the wood +upon our left, to ascertain if it concealed any channel. On his return he +informed me that he descended from the plain into a hollow, the bottom of +which was covered with small shells and bulrushes. He observed a new +species of eucalypti, on the trunks of which the water-mark was three feet +high. After crossing this hollow, which was about a quarter of a mile in +breadth, he gained an open forest of box, having good grass under it; and, +judging from the appearance of the country that no other channel could +exist beyond him, and that he had ascertained sufficient for the object I +had in view, he turned back to the plain. We stopped for the night under a +wood of box, where the grass, which had been burnt down, was then +springing up most beautifully green, and was relished exceedingly by the +animals. + +<p>It was in consequence of our not having crossed any channel, while +penetrating through the reeds, that could <!--page 59 THE MACQUARIE. /page-->by any possible exaggeration +have been laid down as the bed of the river, that I detached Mr. Hume; and +the account he brought me at once confirmed my opinion in regard to the +Macquarie, and I thenceforth gave up every hope of ever seeing it in its +characteristic shape again. + +<p>Independently however of all circumstantial evidence, it was clear that +the river had not re-formed at a distance of twenty-five miles to the +north of us, since Mr. Hume had gone to the westward of that point, at +about the same distance on his late journey, without having observed the +least appearance of reeds or of a river. He had, indeed, noticed a hollow, +which occasionally contained water, but he saw nothing like the bed of a +permanent stream. I became convinced, also, from observation of the +country through which we had passed, that the sources of the Macquarie +could not be of such magnitude as to give a constant flow to it as a +river, and at the same time to supply with water the vast concavity into +which it falls. In very heavy rains only could the marshes and adjacent +lands be laid wholly under water, since the evaporation alone would be +equal to the supply. + +<p>The great plains stretching for so many miles to the westward of Mount +Harris, even where they were clear of reeds, were covered with shells and +the claws of cray-fish and their soil, although an alluvial deposit, was +superficially sandy. They bore the appearance not only of frequent +inundation, but of the floods having eventually subsided upon them. This +was particularly observable at <!--page 60 SITUATION OF THE PARTY. /page-->the bottom of the marshes. We did not find +any accumulation of rubbish to indicate a rush of water to any one point; +but numerous minor channels existed to distribute the floods equally and +generally over every part of the area subject to them, and the marks of +inundation and subsidence were everywhere the same. The plain we had last +crossed, was, in like manner, covered with shells, so that we could not +yet be said to be out of the influence of the marshes; besides which we +had not crossed the hollow noticed by Mr. Hume, which it was clear we +should do, sooner or later. + +<p>To have remained in our position would have been impossible, as there was +no water either for ourselves or the animals; to have descended into the +reeds again, for the purpose of carrying on a minute survey, would, under +existing circumstances, have been imprudent. Our provisions were running +short, and if a knowledge of the distant interior was to be gained, we had +no time to lose. It was determined, therefore, to defer our further +examination of the marshes to the period of our return; and to pursue such +a course as would soonest and most effectually enable us to determine the +character of the western interior.</p> + +<hr> +<!--page 61 {not numbered} /page--> +<a name=ch1.2></a><h4>CHAPTER II.</h4> +<blockquote class=small> +Prosecution of our course into the interior—Mosquito Brush—Aspect and +productions of the country—Hunting party of natives—Courageous conduct +of one of them—Mosquitoes—A man missing—Group of hills called +New-Year's Range—Journey down New-Year's Creek—Tormenting attack of the +kangaroo fly—Dreariness and desolation of the country—Oxley's Table +Land—D'Urban's Group—Continue our journey down New-Year's +Creek—Extreme Disappointment on finding it salt—Fall in with a tribe of +natives—Our course arrested by the want of fresh water—Extraordinary +sound—Retreat towards the Macquarie. +</blockquote> +<p>We left our position at the head of the plain early on the 13th of +January, and, ere the sun dipped, had entered a very different country +from that in which we had been labouring for the last three weeks. We had, +as yet, passed over little other than an alluvial soil, but found that it +changed to a red loam in the brushes immediately backing the camp. An open +forest track succeeded this, over which the vegetation had an unusual +freshness, indicating that the waters had not long subsided from its +surface. We shortly afterwards crossed a hollow, similar to that Mr. Hume +had described, in which bulrushes had taken the place of reeds. +Flooded-gum trees, of large size, were also growing in it, but on either +side box alone prevailed, under which the forest grass grew to a +considerable height. We crossed the hollow two or three times, and as +often remarked the line of separation between those trees. The <!--page 62 CREEK LEADING NORTHERLY. /page-->last time +we crossed it the country rose a few feet, and we journeyed for the +remainder of the day, at one time over good plains, at another through +brushes, until we found water and feed, at which we stopped for the night, +after having travelling about thirteen miles on a W. by N. course. The +mosquitoes were so extremely troublesome at this place that we called it +Mosquito Brush. At this time my men were improving rapidly, and Mr. Hume +complained less, and looked better. I hoped, therefore, that our progress +would be rapid into the interior. + +<p>On the 14th we took up a westerly course, and in the first instance +traversed a plain of great extent; the soil of which was for the most part +a red sandy loam, but having patches of light earth upon it. The former +was covered with plants of the chenopedia kind; the latter had evidently +been quagmires, and bore even then the appearance of moisture. At about +seven miles from Mosquito Brush we struck upon a creek of excellent water, +upon which the wild fowl were numerous. Some natives was seen, but they +were only women, and seemed so alarmed that I purposely avoided them. As +the creek was leading northerly, we traced it down on that course for +about seven miles, and then halted upon its banks, which were composed of +a light tenacious earth. Brushes of casuarina existed near it, but a +tortuous box was the prevailing tree, which, excepting for the knees of +small vessels, could not have been applied to any use, while the +flooded-gum had entirely disappeared. Some ducks were shot in the +after<!--page 63 PRODUCTIONS OF THE COUNTRY. /page-->noon, which proved a great treat, as we had been living for some time +on salt provisions. Our animals fared worse than ourselves, as the bed of +the creek was occupied by coarse rushes, and but little vegetation was +elsewhere to be seen. I here killed a beautiful snake, of about four feet +in length, and of a bright yellow colour: I had not, however, the means of +preserving it. Fraser collected numerous botanical specimens, and among +them two kinds of caparis. Indeed a great alteration had taken place in +the minor shrubs, and few of those now prevalent had been observed to the +eastward of the marshes. + +<p>From the creek, which both I and Mr. Hume must have crossed on our +respective journeys, we held a westerly course for about fifteen miles, +through a country of alternate plain and brush, the latter predominating, +and in its general character differing but little from that we had +traversed the day previous. + +<p>The acacia pendula still continued to exist on the plains backed by dark +rows of cypresses.* <span class=note>[Cupressus callitris]</span> In the brushes, box and +casuarina,† <span class=note>[Casuarina tortuosa]</span> with several other kinds of eucalypti, +prevailed; but none of them were sufficiently large to be of use. The +plains were so extremely level that a meridian altitude could have been +taken without any material error; and I doubt much whether it would have +been possible to have traversed them had the season been wet. + +<p>As we were travelling through a forest we surprised a hunting party of +natives. Mr. Hume and I were considerably in front of our party at the +time, and he only had his <!--page 64 HUNTING PARTY OF NATIVES. /page-->gun with him. We had been moving along so +quietly that we were not for some time observed by them. Three were seated +on the ground, under a tree, and two others were busily employed on one of +the lower branches cutting out honey. As soon as they saw us, four of them +ran away; but the fifth, who wore a cap of emu feathers, stood for a +moment looking at us, and then very deliberately dropped out of the tree +to the ground. I then advanced towards him, but before I got round a bush +that intervened, he had darted away. I was fearful that he was gone to +collect his tribe, and, under this impression, rode quickly back for my +gun to support Mr. Hume. On my arrival I found the native was before me. +He stood about twenty paces from Mr. Hume, who was endeavouring to explain +what he was; but seeing me approach he immediately poised his spear at +him, as being the nearest. Mr. Hume then unslung his carbine, and +presented it; but, as it was evident my re-appearance had startled the +savage, I pulled up; and he immediately lowered his weapon. His coolness +and courage surprised me, and increased my desire to communicate with him. +He had evidently taken both man and horse for one animal, and as long as +Mr. Hume kept his seat, the native remained upon his guard; but when he +saw him dismount, after the first astonishment had subsided, he stuck his +spear into the ground, and walked fearlessly up to him. We easily made him +comprehend that we were in search of water; when he pointed to the west, +as indicating that we should supply our wants there. He gave his +information in <!--page 65 FATE OF THE MACQUARIE. /page-->a frank and manly way, without the least embarrassment, +and when the party passed, he stepped back to avoid the animals, without +the smallest confusion. I am sure he was a very brave man; and I left him +with the most favourable impressions, and not without hope that he would +follow us. + +<p>From a more open forest, we entered a dense scrub, the soil in which was +of a bright-red colour and extremely sandy, and the timber of various +kinds. A leafless species of stenochylus aphylta, which, from the +resemblance, I at first thought one of the polygonum tribe, was very +abundant in the open spaces, and the young cypresses were occasionally so +close as to turn us from the direction in which we had been moving. In the +scrub we crossed Mr. Hume's tract, and, from the appearance of the ground, +I was led to believe mine could not be very distant. + +<p>We struck upon a creek late in the afternoon, at which we stopped; New +Year's Range bearing nearly due west at about four miles' distance. Had we +struck upon my track, the question about which we were so anxious would +still have been undecided; but the circumstance of our having crossed Mr. +Hume's, which, from its direction, could not be mistaken, convinced me of +the fate of the Macquarie, and I felt assured that, whatever channels it +might have for the distribution of its waters, to the north of our line of +route, the equality of surface of the interior would never permit it +again to form a river; and that it only required an examination of the +lower parts of the marshes to confirm the theory of the ultimate +evaporation and absorption of its waters, instead <!--page 66 NEW YEAR'S RANGE. /page-->of their contributing to +the permanence of an inland sea, as Mr. Oxley had supposed. + +<p>On the 17th of January we encamped under New Year's Range, which is the +first elevation in the interior of Eastern Australia to the westward of +Mount Harris. Yet when at its base, I do not think that we had ascended +above forty feet higher than the plains in the neighbourhood of that last +mentioned eminence. There certainly is a partial rise of country, where +the change of soil takes place from the alluvial deposits of the marshes, +to the sandy loam so prevalent on the plains we had lately traversed; but +I had to regret that I was unable to decide so interesting a question by +other than bare conjecture. + +<p>Notwithstanding that Mr. Hume had already been on them, I encouraged hopes +that a second survey of the country from the highest point of New Year's +Range would enable us to form some opinion of it, by which to direct our +future movements; but I was disappointed. + +<p>The two wooded hills I had seen from Oxley's Table Land were visible from +the range, bearing south; and other eminences bore by compass S.W. +and W. by S.; but in every other direction the horizon was unbroken. To +the westward, there appeared to be a valley of considerable extent, +stretching N. and S., in which latter direction there was a long strip of +cleared ground, that looked very like the sandy bed of a broad and rapid +river. The bare possibility of the reality determined me to ascertain by +inspection, whether my conjecture was right, and Mr. Hume <!--page 67 MOSQUITOES. /page-->accompanied me +on this excursion. After we left the camp we crossed a part of the range, +and travelled for some time through open forest land that would afford +excellent grazing in most seasons. We passed some hollows, and noticed +many huts that had been occupied near them; but the hollows were now quite +dry, and the huts had been long deserted. After about ten miles' ride we +reached a plain of white sand, from which New Year's Range was distinctly +visible; and this no doubt was the spot that had attracted my attention. +Pools of water continued on it, from which circumstance it would appear +that the sand had a substratum of clay or marl. From this plain we +proceeded southerly through acacia scrub, bounding gently undulating +forest land, and at length ascended some small elevations that scarcely +deserved the name of hills. They had fragments of quartz profusely +scattered over them; and the soil, which was sandy, contained particles of +mica. + +<p>The view from them was confused, nor did any fresh object meet our +observation. We had, however, considerably neared the two wooded hills, +and the elevations that from the range were to the S.W., now bore N.W. +of us. We had wandered too far from the camp to admit of our returning to +it to sleep; we therefore commenced a search for water, and having found +some, we tethered our horses near it for the night, and should have been +tolerably comfortable, had not the mosquitoes been so extremely +troublesome. They defied the power of smoke, and annoyed me so much, that, +hot as it was, I rolled myself in my boat <!--page 68 A MAN MISSING. /page-->cloak, and perspired in +consequence to such a degree, that my clothes were wet through, and I had +to stand at the fire in the morning to dry them. Mr. Hume, who could not +bear such confinement, suffered the penalty, and was most unmercifully +bitten. + +<p>We reached the camp about noon the following day, and learnt, to our +vexation, that one of the men, Norman, had lost himself shortly after we +started, and had not since been heard of. Dawber, my overseer, was out in +search of him. I awaited his return, therefore, before I took any measures +for the man's recovery; nor was I without hopes that Dawber would have +found him, as it appeared he had taken one of the horses with him, and +Dawber, by keeping his tracks, might eventually have overtaken him. He +returned, however, about 3 p.m. unsuccessful, when Mr. Hume and I mounted +our horses, and proceeded in different directions in quest of him, but +were equally disappointed. + +<p>We met at the creek in the dark, and returned to the camp together, when I +ordered the cypresses on the range to be set on fire, and thus illuminated +the country round for many miles. In the morning, however, as Norman had +not made his appearance, we again started in search of the poor fellow, +on whose account I was now most uneasy; for his horse, it appeared, had +escaped him, and was found with the others at watering time. + +<p>I did not return to the camp until after sunset, more fatigued than I +recollect ever having been before. I was, however, rejoiced on being +informed that the object of my <!--page 69 COUNTRY AROUND NEW YEAR'S RANGE. /page-->anxiety was safe in his tent; that he had +caught sight of the hill the evening before, and that he had reached the +camp shortly after I left it. He had been absent three nights and two +days, and had not tasted water or food of any kind during that time. + +<p>To my enquiries he replied, that, being on horseback, he thought he could +have overtaken a kangaroo, which passed him whilst waiting at the creek +for the cattle, and that in the attempt, he lost himself. It would appear +that he crossed the creek in the dark, and his horse escaped from him on +the first night. He complained more of thirst than of hunger, although he +had drunk at the watering-place to such an excess, on his return, as to +make him vomit; but, though not a little exhausted, he had escaped better +than I should have expected. + +<p>New Year's Range consists of a principal group of five hills, the loftiest +of which does not measure 300 feet in height. It has lateral ridges, +extending to the N.N.W. on the one hand, and bending in to the creek on +the other. The former have a few cypresses, sterculia, and iron bark upon +them; the latter are generally covered with brush, under box; the brush +for the most part consisting of two distinct species of stenochylus, and a +new acacia. The whole range is of quartz formation, small fragments of +which are profusely scattered over the ridges, and are abundantly +incrusted with oxide of iron. The soil in the neighbourhood of New Year's +Range is a red loam, with a slight mixture of sand. An open forest country +lies between it and the creek, and it is not at all deficient in pasture. +<!--page 70 NEW YEAR'S CREEK. /page--> +<p>That a change of soil takes place to the westward of the creek, is +obvious, from the change of vegetation, the most remarkable feature of +which is the sudden check given to the further extension of the acacia +pendula, which is not to be found beyond it, it being succeeded by another +acacia of the same species and habits; neither do the plants of the +chenopedia class exist in the immediate vicinity of the range. + +<p>I place these hills, as far as my observations will allow, in east +long. 146° 32´ 15´´, and in lat. 30° 21´ +south; the variation of the compass being 6° 40´ easterly. + +<p>As New Year's Creek was leading northerly, it had been determined to trace +it down as long as it should keep that course, or one to the westward of +it. We broke up the camp, therefore, under the range, on the evening of +the 18th, and moved to the creek, about two miles north of the place at +which we had before crossed it, with the intention of prosecuting our +journey on the morrow. But both Mr. Hume and I were so fatigued that we +were glad of an opportunity to rest, even for a single day. We remained +stationary, therefore, on the 19th; nor was I without hope that the +natives whom we had surprised in the woods, would have paid us a visit, +since Mr. Hume had met them in his search for Norman, and they had +promised not only to come to us, but to do all in their power to find +the man, whose footsteps some of them had crossed. They did not, however, +venture near us; and I rather attribute their having kept aloof, to the +circumstance of Mr. Hume's having fired a shot, shortly after he left +them, as a signal <!--page 71 ANNOYED BY KANGAROO FLIES. /page-->to Norman, in the event of his being within hearing of +the report. They must have been alarmed at so unusual a sound; but I am +sure nothing was further from Mr. Hume's intention than to intimidate +them; his knowledge of their manners and customs, as well as his +partiality to the natives, being equally remarkable. The circumstance is, +however, a proof of the great caution that is necessary in communicating +with them. + +<p>I have said that we remained stationary the day after we left the range, +with a view to enjoy a little rest; it would, however, have been +infinitely better if we had moved forward. Our camp was infested by the +kangaroo fly, which settled upon us in thousands. They appeared to rise +from the ground, and as fast as they were swept off were succeeded by +fresh numbers. It was utterly impossible to avoid their persecution, +penetrating as they did into the very tents. + +<p>The men were obliged to put handkerchiefs over their faces, and stockings +upon their hands; but they bit through every thing. It was to no purpose +that I myself shifted from place to place; they still followed, or were +equally numerous everywhere. To add to our discomfort, the animals were +driven almost to madness, and galloped to and fro in so furious a manner +that I was apprehensive some of them would have been lost. I never +experienced such a day of torment; and only when the sun set, did these +little creatures cease from their attacks. + +<p>It will be supposed that we did not stay to subject our<!--page 72 SUDDENLY RELIEVED. /page-->selves to another +trial; indeed it was with some degree of horror that the men saw the first +light of morning streak the horizon. They got up immediately, and we moved +down the creek, on a northerly course, without breakfasting as usual. We +found that dense brushes of casuarina lined the creek on both sides, +beyond which, to our left, there was open rising ground, on which +eucalypti, cypresses, and the acacia longifolia, prevailed; whilst to the +east, plains seemed to predominate. + +<p>Although we had left the immediate spot at which the kangaroo flies +(cabarus) seemed to be collected, I did not expect that we should have got +rid of them so completely as we did. None of them were seen during the +day; a proof that they were entirely local. They were about half the size +of a common house fly, had flat brown bodies, and their bite, although +sharp and piercing, left no irritation after it. + +<p>About noon we stopped at the creek side to take some refreshment. The +country bore an improved appearance around us, and the cattle found +abundance of pasture. It was evident that the creek had been numerously +frequented by the natives, although no recent traces of them could be +found. It had a bed of coarse red granite, of the fragments of which the +natives had constructed a weir for the purpose of taking fish. The +appearance of this rock in so isolated a situation, is worthy of the +consideration of geologists. + +<p>The promise of improvement I have noticed, gradually <!--page 73 DESOLATION OF THE COUNTRY. /page-->disappeared as we +proceeded on our day's journey, and we at length found ourselves once more +among brushes, and on the edge of plains, over which the rhagodia +prevailed. Nothing could exceed in dreariness the appearance of the tracks +through which we journeyed, on this and the two following days. The creek +on which we depended for a supply of water, gave such alarming indications +of a total failure, that I at one time, had serious thoughts of abandoning +my pursuit of it. We passed hollow after hollow that had successively +dried up, although originally of considerable depth; and, when we at +length found water, it was doubtful how far we could make use of it. +Sometimes in boiling it left a sediment nearly equal to half its body; at +other times it was so bitter as to be quite unpalatable. That on which we +subsisted was scraped up from small puddles, heated by the sun's rays; +and so uncertain were we of finding water at the end of the day's journey, +that we were obliged to carry a supply on one of the bullocks. There was +scarcely a living creature, even of the feathered race, to be seen to +break the stillness of the forest. The native dogs alone wandered about, +though they had scarcely strength to avoid us; and their melancholy howl, +breaking in upon the ear at the dead of the night, only served to impress +more fully on the mind the absolute loneliness of the desert. + +<p>It appeared, from their traces that the natives had lingered on this +ground, on which they had perhaps been born, as long as it continued to +afford them a scanty <!--page 74 SANDY PLAINS. /page-->though precarious subsistence; but that they had at +length been forced from it. Neither fish nor muscles remained in the +creek, nor emus nor kangaroos on the plains. How then could an European +expect to find food in deserts through which the savage wandered in vain? +There is no doubt of the fate that would have overtaken any one of the +party who might have strayed away, and I was happy to find that Norman's +narrow escape had made a due impression on the minds of his comrades. + +<p>We passed some considerable plains, lying to the eastward of the creek, on +parts of which the grass, though growing in tufts, was of luxuriant +growth. They were, however, more generally covered with salsola and +rhagodia, and totally destitute of other vegetation, the soil upon them +being a red sandy loam. The paths across the plains, which varied in +breadth from three to eight miles, were numerous; but they had not been +recently trodden. The creek continued to have a thick brush of casuarina +and acacia near it, to the westward of which there was a rising open +forest track; the timber upon it being chiefly box, cypress, and the +acacia longifolia. It was most probably connected with New Year's Range, +those elevations being about thirty miles distant. It terminated in some +gentle hills which, though covered in places with acacia shrub, were +sufficiently open to afford an extensive view. From their summit Oxley's +Table Land, towards which we had been gradually working our way, was +distinctly visible, distant about twenty miles, and bearing by compass +W. by S. On <!--page 75 LEAVE THE CREEK. /page-->descending from these hills* <span class=note>[Called the Pink Hills, from the +colour of a flower upon them]</span> which were scattered over with fragments of +slaty quartz, we traversed a box flat, apparently subject to overflow, +having a barren sandy scrub to its left. I had desired the men to preserve +a W.N.W. direction, on leaving them, supposing that that course would have +kept them near the creek; but, on overtaking the party, I found that they +had wandered completely away from it. The fact was, that the creek had +taken a sudden bend to the eastward of N. and had thus thrown them out. +It was with some difficulty that we regained it before sunset; and we were +at length obliged to stop for the night at a small plain, about a quarter +of a mile short of it, but we had the satisfaction of having excellent +feed for the animals. + +<p>Fearful that New Year's Creek would take us too far to the eastward, and +being anxious to keep westward as much as possible, it struck me that we +could not, under existing circumstances, do better than make for Oxley's +Table Land. Water, I knew, we should find in a swamp at it's base, and we +might discover some more encouraging feature than I had observed on my +hasty visit to it. We left the creek, therefore on the 23rd, and once more +took up a westerly course. Passing through a generally open country, we +stopped at noon to rest the animals; and afterwards got on an excellent +grazing forest track, which continued to the brush, through another part +of which I had penetrated to the marsh more to the south. While making our +way through it, we came upon a small pond of water, and must <!--page 76 OXLEY'S TABLE LAND. /page-->have alarmed +some natives, as there was a fresh made fire close to it. Our journey had +been unusually long, and the cattle had felt the heat so much, that the +moment they saw water they rushed into it; and, as this created some +confusion, I thought it best to stop where we were for the night. + +<p>In the morning, Mr. Hume walked with me to the hill, a distance of about a +mile. It is not high enough to deserve the name of a mountain, although a +beautiful feature in the country, and showing well from any point of view. +We ascended it with an anxiety that may well be imagined, but were wholly +disappointed in our most sanguine expectations. Our chief object, in this +second visit to Oxley's Table Land, had been to examine, more at leisure, +the face of the country around it, and to discover, if possible, some +fixed point on which to move. + +<p>If the rivers of the interior had already exhausted themselves, what had +we to expect from a creek whose diminished appearance where we left it +made us apprehend its speedy termination, and whose banks we traversed +under constant apprehension? In any other country I should have followed +such a water course, in hopes of its ultimately leading to some reservoir; +but here I could encourage no such favourable anticipation. + +<p>The only new object that struck our sight was a remarkable and distant +hill of conical shape, bearing by compass S. 10 E. To the southward and +westward, in the direction of D'Urban's Group, a dense and apparently low +brush extended; but to the N. and N.W., there was a regular <!--page 77 EXCURSION TO D'URBAN'S GROUP. /page-->alternation of +wood and plain. I left Mr. Hume upon the hill, that he might the more +readily notice any smoke made by the natives; and returned myself to the +camp about one o'clock, to move the party to the swamp. Mr. Hume's +perseverance was of little avail. The region he had been overlooking was, +to all appearance, uninhabited, nor did a single fire indicate that there +was even a solitary wanderer upon its surface. + +<p>Our situation, at this time, was extremely embarrassing, and the only +circumstance on which we had to congratulate ourselves was, the improved +condition of our men; for several of the cattle and horses were in a sad +plight. The weather had been so extremely oppressive, that we had found it +impossible to keep them free from eruptions. I proposed to Mr. Hume, +therefore, to give them a few days' rest, and to make an excursion, with +such of them as were serviceable, to D'Urban's Group. We were both of us +unwilling to return to the creek, but we foresaw that a blind reliance +upon fortune, in our next movements, might involve us in inextricable +difficulty. + +<p>On the other hand, there was a very great risk in delay. It was more than +probable, from the continued drought, that our retreat would be cut off +from the want of water, or that we should only be enabled to effect our +retreat with loss of most of the animals. The hope, however, of our +intersecting some stream, or of falling upon a better country, prevailed +over other considerations; and the excursion was, consequently, determined +upon. +<!--page 78 DISTRESS FROM WANT OF WATER. /page--> +<p>We left the camp on the 25th, accompanied by Hopkinson and the tinker; +and, almost immediately after, entered an acacia scrub of the most sterile +description, and one, through which it would have been impossible to have +found a passage for the boat carriage. The soil was almost a pure sand, +and the lower branches of the trees were decayed so generally as to give +the whole an indescribable appearance of desolation. About mid-day, we +crossed a light sandy plain, on which there were some dirty puddles of +water. They were so shallow as to leave the backs of the frogs in them +exposed, and they had, in consequence, been destroyed by solar heat, and +were in a state of putrefaction. Our horses refused to drink, but it was +evident that some natives must have partaken of this sickening beverage +only a few hours before our arrival. Indeed, it was clear that a wandering +family must have slept near this spot, as we observed a fresh made gunneah +(or native hut), and their foot-prints were so fresh along the line we +were pursuing, that we momentarily expected to have overtaken them. It was +late in the evening when we got out of this brush into better and more +open ground, where, in ordinary seasons we should, no doubt, have found +abundance of water. But we now searched in vain for it, and were contented +to be enabled to give our wearied animals better food than they had tasted +for many days, the forest grass, though in tufts, being abundant.</p> +<!--face 79 /face--> +<a name=i1.5></a><h5>Illustration 5</h5> +<div class=centre><img alt="" src=images/xpssti05.jpg></div> +<h5>THE CRESTED PIGEON OF THE MARSHES.</h5> + +<p>We brought up for the night at the edge of a scrub, having travelled from +thirty-two to thirty-five miles, judging <!--page 79 BEARINGS FROM OXLEY'S TABLE LAND. /page-->the distance from the mountains +still to be about twelve. + +<p>In the morning we started at an early hour, and immediately entered the +brush, beneath which we had slept; pursuing a westerly course through it. +After a short ride, we found ourselves upon a plain, that was crowded with +flocks of cockatoos. Here we got a supply of water, such as it was—so +mixed with slime as to hang in strings between the fingers; and, after a +hasty breakfast, we proceeded on our journey, mostly through a barren +sandy scrub that was a perfect burrow from the number of wombats in it, to +within a mile of the hill group, where the country appeared like one +continuous meadow to the very base of them. I never saw anything like the +luxuriance of the grass on this tract of country, waving as it did higher +than our horses' middles as we rode through it. We ascended the S.W. face +of the mountain to an elevation of at least 800 feet above the level of +the plain, and had some difficulty in scaling the masses of rock that +opposed themselves to our progress. But on gaining the summit, we were +amply repaid for our trouble. The view extended far and wide, but we were +again disappointed in the main object that had induced us to undertake the +journey. I took the following bearings by compass. Oxley's Table Land bore +N. 40 E. distant forty-five miles; small and distant hill due E.; conical +peak seen from Oxley's Table Land S. 60 E., very distant; long ridge of +high land, S.E., distant thirty-five miles; high land, S. 30 E., distant +thirty miles; long range, S. 25 W. +<!--page 80 D'URBAN'S GROUP. /page--> +<p>To the westward, as a medium point, the horizon was unbroken, and the eye +wandered over an apparently endless succession of wood and plain. A +brighter green than usual marked the course of the mountain torrents in +several places, but there was no glittering light among the trees, no +smoke to betray a water hole, or to tell that a single inhabitant was +traversing the extensive region we were overlooking. We were obliged to +return to the plain on which we had breakfasted, and to sleep upon it. + +<p>D'Urban's Group is of compact sandstone formation. Its extreme length is +from E.S.E. to W.N.W., and cannot be more than from seven to nine miles, +whilst its breadth is from two to four. The central space forms a large +basin, in which there are stunted pines and eucalyptus scrub, amid huge +fragments of rocks. It rises like an island from the midst of the ocean, +and as I looked upon it from the plains below, I could without any great +stretch of the imagination, picture to myself that it really was such. +Bold and precipitous, it only wanted the sea to lave its base; and I +cannot but think that such must at no very remote period have been the +case, and that the immense flat we had been traversing, is of +comparatively recent formation. + +<p>We reached the camp on the 28th of the month, by nearly the same route; +and were happy to find that, after the few days' rest they had enjoyed, +there was a considerable improvement in the animals. + +<p>Our experience of the nature of the country to the south<!--page 81 DESCRIPTION OF OXLEY'S TABLE LAND. /page-->ward, and the +westward, was such as to deter us from risking anything, by taking such a +direction as was most agreeable to our views. Nothing remained to us but +to follow the creek, or to retreat; and as we could only be induced to +adopt the last measure when every other expedient should have failed, we +determined on pursuing our original plan, of tracing New Year's Creek as +far as practicable. + +<p>Oxley's Table Land is situated in lat. 29° 57´ 30´´, +and in E. long. 145° 43´ 30´´, the mean variation +being 6.32 easterly.<!--comment {probably 6° 32´} /comment--> It consists of two hills that appear to have been +rent asunder by some convulsion of nature, since the passage between them +is narrow and their inner faces are equally perpendicular. The hill which +I have named after the late Surveyor-general, is steep on all sides; but +the other gradually declines from the south, and at length loses itself in +a large plain that extends to the north. It is from four to five miles in +length, and is picturesque in appearance, and lightly wooded. A few +cypresses were growing on Oxley's Table Land; but it had, otherwise, very +little timber upon its summit. Both hills are of sandstone formation, and +there are some hollows upon the last that deserve particular notice. They +have the appearance of having been formed by eddies of water, being deeper +in the centre than at any other part, and contain fragments and slabs of +sandstone of various size and breadth, without a particle of soil or of +sand between them. It is to be observed that the edges of these slabs, +which were perfect parallelograms, were unbroken, and that they were as +clean as if they had only just been <!--page CONTINUE THE JOURNEY /page-->turned out of the hand of the mason. +We counted thirteen of these hollows in one spot about twenty-five feet in +diameter, but they are without doubt of periodical formation, since a +single hollow was observed lower than the summit of the hill upon its +south extremity, that had evidently long been exposed to the action of the +atmosphere, and had a general coating of moss over it. + +<p>We left Oxley's Table Land on the morning of the 31st of January, pursuing +a northern course through the brush and across a large plain, moving +parallel to the smaller hill, and keeping it upon our left. The soil upon +this plain differed in character from that on the plains to the eastward, +and was much freer from sand. We stopped to dine at a spot, whence Oxley's +Table Land bore by compass, S. by W., distant about twelve miles. +Continuing our journey, at 2 p.m. we cleared the plain, and entered a +tract covered with the polygonum junceum, on a soil evidently the deposit +of floods. Box-trees were thinly scattered over it, and among the +polygonum, the crested pigeons were numerous. These general appearances, +together with a dip of country to the N.N.W., made us conclude that we +were approaching the creek, and we accordingly intersected it on a N.N.E. +course, at about three miles' distance from where we had dined. It had, +however, undergone so complete a change, and had increased so much in size +and in the height of its banks, that we were at a loss to recognise it. +Still, with all these favourable symptoms, there was not a drop of water +in it. But small <!--page DOWN NEW YEAR'S CREEK. /page-->shells lay in heaps in its bed, or were abundantly +scattered over it; and we remarked that they differed from those on the +plains of the Macquarie. A circumstance that surprised us much, was the +re-appearance of the flooded-gum upon its banks, and that too of a large +size. We had not seen any to the westward of the marshes, and we were, +consequently, led to indulge in more sanguine expectation as to our +ultimate success than we had ever ventured to do before. + +<p>The party crossed to the right bank of the creek, and then moved in a +westerly direction along it in search of water. A brush extended to our +right, and some broken stony ground, rather elevated, was visible, to +which Mr. Hume rode; nor did he join me again until after I had halted the +party for the night. + +<p>My search for water had been unsuccessful, and the sun had set, when I +came upon a broad part of the creek that appeared very favourable for an +encampment, as it was encompassed by high banks, and would afford the men +a greater facility of watching the cattle, that I knew would stray away if +they could. + +<p>My anxiety for them led me to wander down the bed of the creek, when, to +my joy, I found a pond of water within a hundred yards of the tents. It is +impossible for me to describe the relief I felt at this success, or the +gladness it spread among the men. Mr. Hume joined me at dusk, and informed +me that he had made a circuit, and had struck upon the creek about three +miles below us but that, in tracing it up, he had not found a drop of +water <!--page 84 DISTRESSED FOR WATER. /page-->until he came to the pond near which we had so providentially +encamped. On the following morning, we held a westerly course over an open +country for about eight miles and a half. The prevailing timber appeared +to be a species of eucalypti, with rough bark, of small size, and +evidently languishing from the want of moisture. The soil over which we +travelled was far from bad, but there was a total absence of water upon +it. At 6 p.m. Oxley's Table Land was distant from us about fifteen miles, +bearing S. 20 E. by compass. + +<p>We had not touched upon the creek from the time we left it in the morning, +having wandered from it in a northerly direction, along a native path that +we intersected, and that seemed to have been recently trodden, since +footsteps were fresh upon it. At sunset, we crossed a broad dry creek that +puzzled us extremely, and were shortly afterwards obliged to stop for the +night upon a plain beyond it. We had, during the afternoon, bent down to +the S.W. in hopes that we should again have struck upon New Year's Creek; +and, under an impression that we could not be far from it, Mr. Hume and I +walked across the plain, to ascertain if it was sufficiently near to be of +any service to us. We came upon a creek, but could not decide whether it +was the one for which we had been searching, or another. + +<p>Its bed was so perfectly even that it was impossible to say to what point +it flowed, more especially as all remains of debris had mouldered away. It +was, however, extremely broad, and evidently, at times, held a furious +torrent. In the centre of it, at one of the angles, we discovered a pole +<!--page 85 REACH A LARGE RIVER. /page-->erected, and at first thought, from the manner in which it was propped up, +that some unfortunate European must have placed it there as a mark to tell +of his wanderings, but we afterwards concluded that it might be some +superstitious rite of the natives, in consequence of the untowardness of +the season, as it seemed almost inconceivable that an European could have +wandered to such a distance from the located districts in safety. + +<p>The creek had flooded-gum growing upon its banks, and, on places +apparently subject to flood, a number of tall straight saplings were +observed by us. We returned to the camp, after a vain search for water, +and were really at a loss what direction next to pursue. The men kept the +cattle pretty well together, and, as we were not delayed by any +preparations for breakfast, they were saddled and loaded at an early hour. +The circumstance of there having been natives in the neighbourhood, of +whom we had seen so few traces of late, assured me that water was at hand, +but in what direction it was impossible to guess. As the path we had +observed was leading northerly, we took up that course, and had not +proceeded more than a mile upon it, when we suddenly found ourselves on +the banks of a noble river. Such it might in truth be called, where water +was scarcely to be found. The party drew up upon a bank that was from +forty to forty-five feet above the level of the stream. The channel of the +river was front seventy to eighty yards broad, and enclosed an unbroken +sheet of water, evidently very deep, and literally covered with pe<!--page 86 DISAPPOINTMENT ON FINDING /page-->licans +and other wild fowl. Our surprise and delight may better be imagined than +described. Our difficulties seemed to be at an end, for here was a river +that promised to reward all our exertions, and which appeared every moment +to increase in importance to our imagination. Coming from the N.E., and +flowing to the S.W., it had a capacity of channel that proved that we were +as far from its source as from its termination. The paths of the natives +on either side of it were like well trodden roads; and the trees that +overhung it were of beautiful and gigantic growth. + +<p>Its banks were too precipitous to allow of our watering the cattle, but +the men eagerly descended to quench their thirst, which a powerful sun had +contributed to increase; nor shall I ever forget the cry of amazement that +followed their doing so, or the looks of terror and disappointment with +which they called out to inform me that the water was so salt as to be +unfit to drink! This was, indeed, too true: on tasting it, I found it +extremely nauseous, and strongly impregnated with salt, being apparently +a mixture of sea and fresh water. Whence this arose, whether from local +causes, or from a communication with some inland sea, I knew not, but the +discovery was certainly a blow for which I was not prepared. Our hopes +were annihilated at the moment of their apparent realization. The cup of +joy was dashed out of our hands before we had time to raise it to our +lips. Notwithstanding this disappointment, we proceeded down the river, +and halted at about five miles, being influenced by the goodness of the +<!--page 87 THE RIVER SALT. /page-->feed to provide for the cattle as well as circumstances would permit. They +would not drink of the river water, but stood covered in it for many +hours, having their noses alone exposed above the stream. Their condition +gave me great uneasiness. It was evident they could not long hold out +under their excessive thirst, and unless we should procure some fresh +water, it would impossible for us to continue our journey. On a closer +examination, the river appeared to me much below its ordinary level, and +its current was scarcely perceptible. We placed sticks to ascertain if +there was a rise or fall of tide, but could arrive at no satisfactory +conclusion, although there was undoubtedly a current in it. Yet, as I +stood upon its banks at sunset, when not a breath of air existed to break +the stillness of the waters below me, and saw their surface kept in +constant agitation by the leaping of fish, I doubted whether the river +could supply itself so abundantly, and the rather imagined, that it owed +such abundance, which the pelicans seemed to indicate was constant, to +some mediterranean sea or other. Where, however, were the human +inhabitants of this distant and singular region? The signs of a numerous +population were around us, but we had not seen even a solitary wanderer. +The water of the river was not, by any means, so salt as that of the +ocean, but its taste was precisely similar. Could it be that its unnatural +state had driven its inhabitants from its banks? + +<p>One would have imagined that our perplexities would have been sufficient +for one day, but ere night closed, <!--page 88 JUNCTION OF NEW YEAR'S CREEK. /page-->they increased upon us, although our +anxiety, with regard to the cattle, was happily removed. Mr. Hume with his +usual perseverance, walked out when the camp was formed; and, at a little +distance from it, ascended a ridge of pure sand, crowned with cypresses. +From this, he descended to the westward, and, at length, struck upon the +river, where a reef of rocks creased its channel, and formed a dry passage +from one side to the other; but the bend, which the river must have taken, +appeared to him so singular, that he doubted whether it was the same +beside which we had been travelling during the day. Curiosity led him to +cross it, when he found a small pond of fresh water on a tongue of land, +and, immediately afterwards, returned to acquaint me with the welcome +tidings. It was too late to move, but we had, at least, the prospect of a +comfortable breakfast in the morning. + +<p>In consequence of the doubts that hung upon Mr. Hume's mind, as to the +course of the river, we arranged that the animals should precede us to the +fresh water; and that we should keep close in upon the stream, to +ascertain that point. After traversing a deep bight, we arrived nearly as +soon as the party, at the appointed rendezvous. The rocks composing the +channel of the river at the crossing place, were of indurated clay. In the +course of an hour, the animals appearing quite refreshed, we proceeded on +our journey, and at about four miles crossed New Year's Creek, at its +junction with the salt river. We passed several parts of the main channel +that were perfectly dry, and were altogether <!--page 89 NATIVE VILLAGE. /page-->at a loss to account for the +current we undoubtedly had observed in the river when we first came upon +it. At midday D'Urban's Group bore S. 65 E. distant about 32 miles. We +made a little westing in the afternoon. The river continued to maintain +its character and appearance, its lofty banks, and its long still reaches: +while, however, the blue-gum trees upon its banks were of magnificent +size, the soil had but little vegetation upon it, although an alluvial +deposit. + +<p>We passed over vast spaces covered with the polygonum junceum, that bore +all the appearance of the flooded tracks in the neighbourhood of the +marshes, and on which the travelling was equally distressing to the +animals. Indeed, it had been sufficiently evident to us that the waters of +this river were not always confined to its channel, capacious as it was, +but that they inundated a belt of barren land, that varied in width from a +quarter of a mile to a mile, when they were checked by an outer embankment +that prevented them from spreading generally over the country, and upon +the neighbouring plains. At our halting place, the cattle drank sparingly +of the water, but it acted as a violent purgative both on them and the men +who partook of it. + +<p>On the 5th, the river led us to the southward and westward. Early in the +day, we passed a group of seventy huts, capable of holding from twelve to +fifteen men each. They appeared to be permanent habitations, and all of +them fronted the same point of the compass. In searching amongst them we +observed two beautifully made nets, of <!--page 90 TERROR OF THE NATIVES. /page-->about ninety yards in length. The +one had much larger meshes than the other, and was, most probably, +intended to take kangaroos; but the other was evidently a fishing net. + +<p>In one hut, the floor of which was swept with particular care, a number of +white balls, as of pulverised shells or lime, had been deposited—the +use of which we could not divine. A trench was formed round the hut to +prevent the rain from running under it, and the whole was arranged with +more than ordinary attention. + +<p>We had not proceeded very far when we came suddenly upon the tribe to +which this village, as it might be called, belonged. + +<p>In breaking through some brush to an open space that was bounded on one +side by the river, we observed three or four natives, seated on a bank at +a considerable distance from us; and directly in the line on which we were +moving. The nature of the ground so completely favoured our approach, that +they did not become aware of it until we were within a few yards of them, +and had ascended a little ridge, which, as we afterwards discovered, ended +in an abrupt precipice upon the river, not more than thirty yards to our +right. The crack of the drayman's whip was the first thing that aroused +their attention. They gazed upon us for a moment, and then started up and +assumed an attitude of horror and amazement; their terror apparently +increasing upon them. We stood perfectly immovable, until at length they +gave a fearful yell, and darted out of sight. +<!--page 91 THEY FIRE THE BUSH. /page--> +<p>Their cry brought about a dozen more natives from the river, whom we had +not before observed, but who now ran after their comrades with surprising +activity, and without once venturing to look behind them. As our position +was a good one, we determined to remain upon it, until we should ascertain +the number and disposition of the natives. We had not been long +stationary, when we heard a crackling noise in the distance, and it soon +became evident that the bush had been fired. It was, however, impossible +that we could receive any injury on the narrow ridge upon which we stood, +so that we waited very patiently to see the end of this affair. + +<p>In a short time the fire approached pretty near to us, and dense columns +of smoke rose into the air over our heads. One of the natives, who had +been on the bank, now came out of the bush, exactly from the spot into +which he had retreated. He advanced a few paces towards us, and bending +his body so that his hands rested on his knees, he fixed his gaze upon us +for some time; but, seeing that we remained immovable, he began to throw +himself into the most extravagant attitudes, shaking his foot from time to +time. When he found that all his violence had no effect, he turned his +rear to us in a most laughable manner, and absolutely groaned in spirit +when he found that this last insult failed of success. + +<p>He stood perplexed and not knowing what next to do, which gave Mr. Hume an +opportunity to call out to him, and with considerable address he at length +got the savage <!--page 92 REMARKS ON THE NATIVES /page-->to approach close up to him; Mr. Hume himself having +advanced a short distance from the animals in the first instance. As soon +as I thought the savage had sufficiently recovered from his alarm, I went +up to him with a tomahawk, the use of which he immediately guessed. We now +observed that the natives who had fled from the river, had been employed +in setting a net. They had placed it in a semicircle, with either end to +the shore, and rude pieces of wood were attached to it to keep the upper +part perpendicular. It was in fact a sein, only that the materials, with +the exception of the net-work, were simpler and rougher than cork or +lead—for which last, we afterwards discovered stones had been +substituted. + +<p>We had on this occasion a remarkable instance of the docility of the +natives of the interior, or of the power they have of subduing their +apprehensions; manifesting the opposite extremes of fear and confidence. +These men whom we had thus surprised, and who, no doubt, imagined that we +were about to destroy them, having apparently never seen nor heard of +white men before, must have taken us for something preternatural; yet from +the extremity of fear that had prompted them to set their woods in flames, +they in a brief space so completely subdued those fears as to approach +the very beings who had so strongly excited their alarm. The savage who +had been the principal actor in the scene, was an elderly man, rather +descending to the vale of years than what might be strictly called aged. +I know not how it was, but I regarded him with peculiar interest. +Mr. <!--page 93 DISEASE AMONG THEM. /page-->Hume's manners had in a great measure contributed to allay his evident +agitation; but, from the moment I approached him, I thought there was a +shade of anxiety upon his brow, and an expression of sorrow over his +features, the cause of which did not originate with us. I could see in a +moment, that his bosom was full even to bursting, and he seemed to claim +at once our sympathy and our protection, although we were ignorant of that +which oppressed him. We had not long been seated together, when some of +his tribe mustered sufficient courage to join him. Both Mr. Hume and I +were desirous of seeing the net drawn, but the old man raised some +objection, by pointing to the heavens and towards the sun. After a little +more solicitation, however, he gave a whistle, and, four or five natives +having obeyed the summons, he directed them to draw the net, but they were +unfortunate, and our wish to ascertain the kind of fish contained in the +river was disappointed. As his tribe gathered round him, the old chief +threw a melancholy glance upon them, and endeavoured, as much as he could, +to explain the cause of that affliction which, as I had rightly judged, +weighed heavily upon him. It appeared, then, that a violent cutaneous +disease raged throughout the tribe, that was sweeping them off in great +numbers. He called several young men to Mr. Hume and myself, who had been +attacked by this singular malady. Nothing could exceed the anxiety of his +explanations, or the mild and soothing tone in which he addressed his +people, and it really pained me that I could not assist him in his +distress. We now <!--page 94 DEPARTURE OF THE NATIVES. /page-->discovered the use to which the conical substance that +had been deposited with such unusual care in one of the huts, was applied. +There were few of the natives present who were not more or less marked +with it, and it was no doubt, indicative of mourning. + +<p>Some of the men, however, were painted with red and yellow ochre, with +which it was evident to me they had besmeared themselves since our +appearance, most likely in preparing for the combat in which they fancied +they would be engaged. We distributed such presents as we had to those +around us, and when we pursued our journey, the majority accompanied us, +nor did they wholly leave us until we had passed the place to which their +women had retired. They might have left us when they pleased, for we +intended them no harm; as it was, however, they struck into the brushes to +join their families, and we pushed on to make up for lost time. + +<p>The travelling near the river had been so bad, not only in consequence of +the nature of the soil and brush, but from the numerous gullies that had +been formed by torrents, as they poured into its channel after heavy rains +and floods, that it was thought advisable to keep at a greater distance +from it. We turned away, therefore, to the plains, and found them of much +firmer surface. They partook, however, of the same general character as +the plains we had traversed more to the eastward. Their soil was a light +sandy loam, and the same succulent plants still continued to prevail upon +them, which we have already noticed as <!--page 95 BRINE SPRINGS IN THE RIVER. /page-->existing upon the other plains. +Both emus and kangaroos were seen, though not in any considerable numbers, +but our dogs were not in a condition to run, and were all but killed by +the extreme heat of the weather. We had fallen on a small pool of water +shortly after we started in the morning, but we could do no more than +refresh ourselves and the animals at it. In the afternoon, we again turned +towards the river, and found it unaltered. Its water was still salt, and +from the increased number of wild fowl and pelicans upon it, as well as +from the general flatness of the country, I certainly thought we were +rapidly approaching some inland sea. It was, however, uncertain how long +we should be enabled to continue on the river. The animals were all of +them extremely weak, and every day increased the probable difficulty of +our return. There was not the least appearance of a break-up of the +drought, the heavens were without a cloud, and the atmosphere was so clear +that the outline of the moon could be distinctly seen, although she was +far in her wane. + +<p>On the 6th, we journeyed again through a barren scrub, although on firmer +ground, and passed numerous groups of huts. At about eight miles from our +last encampment, we came upon the river, where its banks were of +considerable height. In riding along them, Mr. Hume thought he observed a +current running, and be called to inform me of the circumstance. On a +closer examination, we discovered some springs in the very bed of the +river, from which a considerable stream was gushing, and from the +incrustation around <!--page 96 DISTRESS FOR WANT OF FRESH WATER. /page-->them, we had no difficulty in guessing at their +nature: in fact, they were brine springs, and I collected a quantity of +salt from the brink of them. + +<p>After such a discovery, we could not hope to keep our position. No doubt +the current we had observed on first reaching the river, was caused by +springs that had either escaped our notice or were under water. Here was +at length a local cause for its saltness that destroyed at once the +anticipation and hope of our being near its termination, and, +consequently, the ardour with which we should have pressed on to decide so +interesting a point. + +<p>Our retreat would have been a measure of absolute necessity ere this, had +we not found occasional supplies of fresh water, the last pond of which +was now about eighteen miles behind us. + +<p>Whether we should again find any, was a doubtful question, and I hesitated +to run the risk. The animals were already, from bad food, and from the +effects of the river water, so weak, that they could scarcely carry their +loads, and I was aware, if any of the bullocks once fell, he would never +rise again. Under such circumstances, I thought it better to halt the +party at the edge of the scrub, though the feed was poor, and the water +not drinkable. Our situation required most serious consideration. It was +necessary that we should move either backward or forward in the morning. +Yet we could not adopt either measure with satisfaction to ourselves, +under such unfavorable circumstances. I determined to relieve my own mind +by getting <!--page 97 OUR COURSE ARRESTED. /page-->the animals into a place of safety, as soon as possible; and, +as the only effectual way of doing this was to retire upon the nearest +fresh water, I resolved at once to do so. The party turned back on the +morning of the 6th; nor do I think the cattle would ever have reached +their destination had we not found a few buckets of rain water in the +cleft of a rock, to refresh them. Thus it will appear that under our most +trying circumstances, we received aid from Providence, and that the bounty +of Heaven was extended towards us, when we had least reason to expect it. + +<p>Notwithstanding we had been thus forced to a partial retreat, both +Mr. Hume and myself were unwilling to quit the pursuit of the river, in so +unsatisfactory a manner. There was no difference in the appearance of the +country to the westward of it; but a seeming interminable flat stretched +away in that direction. A journey across it was not likely, therefore, to +be attended with any favorable results, since it was improbable that any +other leading feature was within our reach. I proposed, therefore, to take +the most serviceable of the horses with me down the river, that, in the +event of our finding fresh water, we might again push forward. Mr. Hume +requesting to be permitted to accompany me, it was arranged that we should +start on the 8th, thereby giving the animals a day's rest. We had not seen +any natives since our parting with the chief horde; and as we were +stationed at some little distance from the river, I hoped that they would +not visit the camp during my absence. This was the only circum<!--page 98 EXTRAORDINARY SOUND. /page-->stance that +gave me uneasiness, but the men had generally been behaving so well that I +relied a great deal upon them. + +<p>About 3 p.m. on the 7th, Mr. Hume and I were occupied tracing the chart +upon the ground. The day had been remarkably fine, not a cloud was there +in the heavens, nor a breath of air to be felt. On a sudden we heard what +seemed to be the report of a gun fired at the distance of between five and +six miles. It was not the hollow sound of an earthly explosion, or the +sharp cracking noise of falling timber, but in every way resembled a +discharge of a heavy piece of ordnance. On this all were agreed, but no +one was certain whence the sound proceeded. Both Mr. Hume and myself had +been too attentive to our occupation to form a satisfactory opinion; but +we both thought it came from the N.W. I sent one of the men immediately up +a tree, but he could observe nothing unusual. The country around him +appeared to be equally flat on all sides, and to be thickly wooded: +whatever occasioned the report, it made a strong impression on all of us; +and to this day, the singularity of such a sound, in such a situation, +is a matter of mystery to me. + +<p>On the 8th, we commenced our journey down the river, accompanied by two +men, and a pack-horse, carrying our provisions on one side and a bucket of +water on the other. Keeping in general near the stream, but making +occasional turns into the plains, we got to the brush from which the party +had turned back, about 3 p.m. Passing through, we crossed a small plain, +of better soil and vegetation <!--page 99 FURTHER ATTEMPT TO EXPLORE THE RIVER. /page-->than usual; but it soon gave place to the +sandy loam of the interior; nor did we observe any material alteration, +either in the country or the river, as we rode along. The flooded-gum +trees on the banks of the latter, were of beautiful growth, but in the +brushes dividing the plains, box and other eucalypti, with cypresses and +many minor shrubs, prevailed. We slept on the river side, and calculated +our distance from the camp at about twenty-six or twenty-eight miles. + +<p>The horses would not drink the river water, so that we were obliged to +give them a pint each from our own supply. On the following morning we +continued our journey. The country was generally open to the eastward, and +we had fine views of D'Urban's Group, distant from twenty to twenty-five +miles. About noon, turning towards the river to rest, both ourselves and +the horses, we passed through brush land for about a mile and a half. When +we came upon its banks, we found them composed of a red loam with sandy +superficies. We had, in the course of the day, crossed several creeks, but +in none of them could we find water, although their channels were of great +depth. + +<p>The day had been extremely warm, and from shaking in the barrel our supply +of water had diminished to a little more than a pint; it consequently +became a matter of serious consideration, how far it would be prudent to +proceed farther; for, however capable we were of bearing additional +fatigue, it was evident our animals would soon fail, since they trembled +exceedingly, and had the look of total exhaustion. <!--page 100 CALLED IT THE “DARLING”. /page-->We calculated that we +were forty miles from the camp, in a S.W. direction, a fearful distance +under our circumstances, since we could not hope to obtain relief for two +days. Independently however, of the state of the animals, our spirits were +damped by the nature of the country, and the change which had taken place +on the soil, upon which it was impossible that water could rest; while the +general appearance of the interior showed how much it had suffered from +drought. On the other hand, although the waters of the river had become +worse to the taste, the river itself had increased in size, and stretched +away to the westward, with all the uniformity of a magnificent canal, and +gave every promise of increasing importance; while the pelicans were in +such numbers upon it as to be quite dazzling to the eye. Considering, +however, that perseverance would only involve us in inextricable +difficulties, and that it would also be useless to risk the horses, since +we had gained a distance to which the bullocks could not have been +brought, I intimated my intention of giving up the further pursuit of the +river, though it was with extreme reluctance that I did so. + +<p>As soon as we had bathed and finished our scanty meal, I took the bearings +of D'Urban's Group, and found them to be S. 58 E. about thirty-three miles +distant; and as we mounted our horses, I named the river the “Darling,” +as a lasting memorial of the respect I bear the governor. + +<p>I should be doing injustice to Mr. Hume and my men, <!--page 101 ABANDON THE ATTEMPT. /page-->if I did not express +my conviction that they were extremely unwilling to yield to +circumstances, and that, had I determined on continuing the journey, they +would have followed me with cheerfulness, whatever the consequences might +have been.</p> + +<hr> +<!--page 102 /page--> +<a name=ch1.3></a><h4>CHAPTER III.</h4> +<blockquote class=small> +Intercourse with the natives—Their appearance and condition—Remarks on +the Salt or Darling River—Appearance of the marshes on our return—Alarm +for safety of the provision party—Return to Mount Harris—Miserable +condition of the natives—Circumstances attending the slaughter of two +Irish runaways—Bend our course towards the Castlereagh—Wallis's +Ponds—Find the famished natives feeding on gum—Channel of the +Castlereagh—Character of the country in its vicinity—Another tribe of +natives—Amicable intercourse with them—Morrisset's chain of Ponds—Again +reach the Darling River ninety miles higher up than where we first struck +upon it. +</blockquote> +<p>We kept near the river as we journeyed homewards, and in striking across a +plain, found an isolated rock of quartz and jasper, just showing itself +partially above the surface of the ground. + +<p>We were anxious to get to the small plain I have mentioned, if possible, +for the sake of the animals, and pushed on rapidly for it. About 4 p.m. we +had reached our sleeping place of the previous evening, and being +overpowered by thirst, we stopped in hopes that by making our tea strong +we might destroy, in some measure, the nauseous taste of the water. The +horses were spancelled <!--page 103 INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES. /page-->and a fire lit. Whilst we were sitting patiently +for the boiling of the tins, Mr. Hume observed at a considerable distance +above us, a large body of natives under some gum trees. They were not near +enough for us to observe them distinctly, but it was evident that they +were watching our motions. We did not take any notice of them for some +time, but at last I thought it better to call out to them, and accordingly +requested Mr. Hume to do so. In a moment the whole of them ran forward and +dashed into the river, having been on the opposite side, with an uproar I +had never witnessed on any former occasion. + +<p>Mr. Hume thought they intended an attack, and the horses had taken fright +and galloped away. I determined, therefore, to fire at once upon them if +they pressed up the bank on which we were posted. Mr. Hume went with me +to the crest of it, and we rather angrily beckoned to the foremost of the +natives to stop. They mistook our meaning, but laid all their spears in a +heap as they came up. We then sat down on the bank and they immediately +did the same; nor did they stir until we beckoned to them after the horses +had been secured. + +<p>As they conducted themselves so inoffensively, we gave them everything we +had to spare. My gun seemed to excite their curiosity, as they had seen +Mr. Hume shoot a cockatoo with it; they must consequently have been close +to us for the greater part of the day, as the bird was killed in the +morning. It was of a species new to me, being smaller than the common +white cockatoo, and having a <!--page 104 DISTRESS FROM THIRST. /page-->large scarlet-and-yellow instead of a +pine-yellow top-knot. + +<p>Having stayed about half an hour with them, we remounted our horses, and +struck away from the river into the plains, while the natives went up its +banks to join their hordes. Those whom we saw were about twenty-seven in +number and the most of them were strangers. + +<p>It was some time after sunset before we reached the little plain on which +we had arranged to sleep, and when we dismounted we were in a truly +pitiable state. I had been unable to refrain from drinking copiously at +the river, and now became extremely sick. Mr. Hume had been scarcely more +prudent than myself, but on him the water had a contrary effect, as well +as upon Hopkinson. The tinker was the only man fit for duty, and it was +well for us that such was the case, as the horses made frequent attempts +to stray, and would have left us in a pretty plight had they succeeded. We +reached the camp on the following day a little before sunset, nor was I +more rejoiced to dismount from my wearied horse than to learn that +everything in the camp had been regular during our absence and that the +men had kept on the best terms with the natives who had paid them frequent +visits. + +<p>The bullocks had improved, but were still extremely weak, and as the +horses we had employed on the last journey required a day or two's rest, +it was arranged that we should not break up our camp until the 12th, +beyond which period we could not stop, in consequence of the low <!--page 105 REMARKS ON THE NATIVES. /page-->state of +our salt provisions, we having barely sufficient to last to Mount Harris, +at the rate of two pounds per week. + +<p>The morning after we returned from our excursion, a large party of +natives, about seventy in number, visited the camp. On this occasion, the +women and children passed behind the tents, but did not venture to stop. +Most of the men had spears, and were unusually inquisitive and forward. +Several of them carried fire-sticks under the influence of the disease I +have already noticed, whilst others were remarked to have violent +cutaneous eruptions all over the body. We were pretty well on the alert; +notwithstanding which, every minor article was seized with a quickness +that would have done credit to a most finished juggler. One of the natives +thus picked up my comb and toothbrush, but as he did not attempt to +conceal them, they were fortunately recovered. After staying with us a +short time the men followed the women. They appeared to be strangers who +had come from a distance. + +<p>The natives of the Darling are a clean-limbed, well-conditioned race, +generally speaking. They seemingly occupy permanent huts, but their tribe +did not bear any proportion to the size or number of their habitations. +It was evident their population had been thinned. The customs of these +distant tribes, as far as we could judge, were similar to those of the +mountain blacks, and they are essentially the same people, although their +language differs. They lacerate their bodies, but do not extract the front +teeth. We saw but few cloaks among them, since the <!--page 106 CUSTOMS OF THE NATIVES. /page-->opossum does not +inhabit the interior. Those that were noticed, were made of the red +kangaroo skin. In appearance, these men are stouter in the bust than at +the lower extremities; they have broad noses, sunken eyes, overhanging +eyebrows, and thick lips. The men are much better looking than the women. +Both go perfectly naked, if I except the former, who wear nets over the +loins and across the forehead, and bones through the cartilages of the +nose. Their chief food is fish, of which they have great supplies in the +river; still they have their seasons for hunting their emus and kangaroos. +The nets they use for this purpose, as well as for fishing, are of great +length, and are made upon large frames. These people do not appear to have +warlike habits nor do they take any pride in their arms, which differ +little from those used by the inland tribes, and are assimilated to them +as far as the materials will allow. One powerful man, however, had a +regular trident, for which Mr. Hume offered many things without success. +He plainly intimated to us that he had a use for it, but whether against +an enemy or to secure prey, we could not understand. I was most anxious to +have ascertained if any religious ceremonies obtained among them, but the +difficulty of making them comprehend our meaning was insurmountable; and +to the same cause may be attributed the circumstance of my being unable to +collect any satisfactory vocabulary of their language. They evinced a +strange perversity, or obstinacy rather, in repeating words, although it +was evident that they knew they were meant as <!--page 107 REMARKS ON THE DARLING RIVER. /page-->questions. The pole we +observed in the creek, on the evening previously to our making the +Darling, was not the only one that fell under our notice; our impression +therefore, that they were fixed by the natives to propitiate some deity, +was confirmed. It would appear that the white pigment was an indication of +mourning. Whether these people have an idea of a superintending Providence +I doubt, but they evidently dread evil agency. On the whole I should say +they are a people, at present, at the very bottom of the scale of +humanity. + +<p>We struck the Darling River in lat. 29° 37´ S. and in E. +long. 145° 33´, and traced it down for about sixty-six miles +in a direct line to the S.W. If I might hazard an opinion from appearance, +to whatever part of the interior it leads, its source must be far to the +N.E. or N. The capacity of its channel, and the terrific floods that must +sometimes rage in it, would argue that it is influenced by tropical rains, +which alone would cause such floods. It is likely that it seldom arrives +at so reduced a state as that in which we found it, and that, generally +speaking, it has a sufficient depth of water for the purposes of inland +navigation: in such case its future importance cannot be questioned, since +it most probably receives the chief streams falling westerly from the +coast ranges. But, with every anticipation of the benefit that may at some +time or other be derived from this remarkable and central stream, it is +incumbent on me to state that the country, through which it flows, holds +out but little prospect of advantage. Certainly the portion we <!--page 108 REMARKS ON THE COUNTRY. /page-->know of it, +is far from encouraging. The extent of alluvial soil, between the inner +and outer banks of the river, is extremely limited, and, instead of being +covered with sward, is in most places over-run by the polygonum. Beyond +this the plains of the interior stretch away, whose character and soil +must change, ere they can be available to any good purpose. But there is a +singular want of vegetable decay in the interior of New Holland, and that +powerfully argues its recent origin. + +<p>There is no life upon its surface, if I may so express myself; but the +stillness of death reigns in its brushes, and over its plains. It cannot, +however, be doubted that we visited the interior during a most unfavorable +season. Probably in ordinary ones it wears a different appearance, but its +deserts are of great extent, and its productions are of little value. + +<p>Agreeably to our arrangements, we broke up our camp at an early hour on +the morning of the 12th, and proceeded up the river to the junction of +New Year's Creek. We then struck away in an easterly direction from it, +detaching a man to trace the creek up, lest we should pass any water; and +we should certainly have been without it had we not taken this precaution. + +<p>On the following day, we again passed to the eastward, through an open +country, having picturesque views of Oxley's Table Land. We crossed our +track about noon, and struck on the creek at about five miles beyond it, +and we were fortunate enough to procure both water and grass. <!--page 109 REGAIN OUR OLD ROUTE. /page-->The timber +upon the plains, between us and the Darling, we found to be a rough gum, +but box prevailed in the neighbourhood of the creek at this part of it. + +<p>On the 14th, we changed our direction more to the southward, but made a +short journey, in consequence of being obliged to make some slight repairs +on the boat carriage. + +<p>On the 15th, we kept an E.S.E. course, and, crossing the creek at an early +hour, got upon our old track, which we kept. We had the lateral ridge of +the Pink Hills upon our right, and travelled through a good deal of brush. +Four or five natives joined us, and two followed us to the end of our +day's journey. In the course of the evening, they endeavoured to pilfer +whatever was in their reach, but were detected putting a tin into a bush, +and soon took to their heels. This was the first instance we had of open +theft among the natives of the interior. + +<p>We passed Mosquito Brush on the 18th, but found the ponds quite dry, we +were, therefore, under the necessity of pushing on, to shorten the next +day's journey, as we could not expect to get water nearer than the +marshes. At noon, on the 19th, we entered the plain, and once more saw +them spreading in dreariness before us. While the party was crossing to +the first channel, I rode to the left, in order to examine the appearance +of the country in the direction of the wood, and as far as I skirted the +reeds had my impressions confirmed as to their partial extension. I was +obliged, however, to join the men without completing the <!--page 110 ALARM FOR THE SAFETY /page-->circuit of the +marshes. They had found the first channel dry, and had passed on to the +other, in which, fortunately, a small quantity of water still remained. +It was, however, so shallow as to expose the backs of the fish in it, and +a number of crows had congregated, and were pecking at them. Wishing to +satisfy my mind as to the distance to which the river extended to the +northward, Mr. Hume rode with me on the following day, to examine the +country in that direction, leaving the men stationary. We found that the +reeds gradually decreased in body, until, at length, they ceased, or gave +place to bulrushes. There were general appearances of inundation, and of +the subsidence of waters, but none that led us to suppose that any channel +existed beyond the flooded lands. + +<p>On our return to the camp, we observed dense masses of smoke rising at the +head of the marshes, and immediately under Mount Foster. This excited our +alarm for the safety of the party we hoped to find at Mount Harris, and +obliged us to make forced marches, to relieve it if threatened by the +natives. + +<p>On the 22nd, we crossed the plains of the Macquarie, and surprised a +numerous tribe on the banks of the river; and the difficulty we found in +getting any of them to approach us, their evident timidity, and the +circumstance of one of them having on a jacket, tended to increase our +apprehensions. When two or three came to us, they intimated that white +men either had been or were under Mount Harris, but we were left in +uncertainty and passed a most anxious night. +<!--page 111 OF THE PROVISION PARTY. /page--> +<p>The body of reeds was still on fire; and the light embers were carried to +an amazing distance by the wind, falling like a black-shower around us. As +we knew that the natives never made such extensive conflagration, unless +they had some mischievous object in view, our apprehension for the safety +of Riley, with his supplies, was increased. + +<p>At the earliest dawn, we pushed for the hill. In passing that part of the +meadows under Mount Foster, we observed that the grass had also been +consumed, and we scarcely recognised the ground from its altered +appearance. As we approached Mount Harris, we saw recent traces of cattle, +but none were visible on the plains. Under the hill, however, we could +distinctly see that a hut of some kind had been erected, and it is +impossible for me to describe the relief we felt when a soldier came +forward to reconnoitre us. I could no longer doubt the safety of the +party, and this was confirmed by the rest of the men turning out to +welcome us. It appeared that our suspicions with regard to the natives had +not been without foundation, since they attempted to surprise the camp, +and it was supposed the firing of the marshes was done with a view to +collect the distant tribes, to make a second attack; so that our arrival +was most opportune. + +The party I found awaiting our arrival at Mount Harris consisted of one +soldier, Riley, who had the charge of the supplies, and a drayman. They +had found the paper I had fixed against the tree, and also the letters I +had hid, and had forwarded them to Sydney, by another soldier and a +prisoner; <!--page 112 ENCAMP AT MOUNT HARRIS. /page-->which had weakened their party a good deal. Riley informed me, +that he had been between a month and three weeks at the station, and that +knowing our provisions must have run short he had expected us much earlier +than we had made our appearance. + +<p>My dispatches stated, that additional supplies had been forwarded for my +use, together with horses and bullocks, in the event of my requiring them. +On examination, the former were found to be in excellent order; and, as it +would take some time to carry any changes I might contemplate, or find it +necessary to make, into effect, I determined to give the men who had been +with me a week's rest. + +<p>The camp was made snug; and as the weather had become much cooler I +thought it a good opportunity to slaughter one of the bullocks, in order +to guard against any bad effects of our having been living for some weeks +exclusively on salt provisions. I was also induced to this measure, from a +wish to preserve my supplies as much as possible. + +<p>These matters having been arranged, I had a temporary awning erected near +the river, and was for three or four days busily employed writing an +account of our journey for the Governor's information. + +<p>Having closed my despatches, and answered the numerous friendly letters I +had received, my attention was next turned to the changes that had taken +place at Mount Harris during our absence. The Macquarie, I found, had +wholly <!--page 113 FIRING OF THE GREAT MARSHES. /page-->ceased to flow, and now consisted of a chain of ponds. Such of the +minor vegetation as had escaped the fires of the natives, had perished +under the extreme heat of the season. The acacia pendula stood leafless +upon the plains, and the polygonum junceum appeared to be the only plant +that had withstood the effects of the drought. Yet, notwithstanding this +general depression of the vegetable kingdom, the animals that had been +brought from Wellington Valley were in the best condition, and were, +indeed, too fat for effective labour; it might, therefore, be reasonably +presumed, that herbage affording such nourishment in so unfavourable a +season, would be of the richest quality, if fresh and vigorous under the +influence of seasonable, and not excessive, rains. + +<p>The appearance of the country was, however, truly melancholy; there was +not a flower in bloom, nor a green object to be seen. Whether our arrival +had increased their alarm, is uncertain, but the natives continued to fire +the great marshes, and as the element raged amongst them, large bodies of +smoke rose over the horizon like storm clouds, and had the effect of +giving additional dreariness to the scene. I am inclined to think that +they made these conflagrations to procure food, by seizing whatsoever +might issue from the flames, as snakes, birds, or other animals; for they +had taken every fish in the river, and the low state of its waters had +enabled them to procure an abundance of muscles from its bed, which they +had consumed with their characteristic improvidence. They were, +consequently, in a starving condition, and so pitiable were their +indications of it, that I <!--page 114 SLAUGHTER OF TWO IRISH RUNAWAYS. /page-->was induced to feed such of them as visited the +camp, notwithstanding their late misconduct; being likewise anxious to +bring about a good understanding, as the best means of ensuring the safety +of the smaller party when we should separate, of which I had reason to be +doubtful. These people had killed two white men not long before my arrival +among them, and as the circumstances attending the slaughter are singular, +I shall relate them. + +<p>The parties were two Irish runaways, who thought they could make their way +to Timor. They escaped from Wellington Valley with a fortnight's provision +each, and a couple of dogs, and proceeded down the Macquarie. About the +cataract, they fell in with the Mount Harris tribe, and remained with them +for some days, when they determined on pursuing their journey. The blacks, +however, wanted to get possession of their dogs, and a resistance on the +part of the Europeans brought on a quarrel. It appears, that before the +blacks proceeded to extremities, they furnished the Irishmen, who were +unarmed, with weapons, and then told them to defend themselves, but +whether against equal or inferior numbers, I am uninformed. One of them +soon fell, which the other observing, he took his knife out, and cut the +throats of both the dogs before the blacks had time to put him to death. +He was, however, sacrificed; and both the men were eaten by the tribe +generally. I questioned several on the subject, but they preserved the +most sullen silence, neither acknowledging nor denying the fact. + +<p>Mr. Hume had been one day on Mount Harris, and while <!--page 115 ARBUTHNOT'S RANGE. /page-->there, had laid his +compass on a large rock, near to which Mr. Oxley's boat had been burnt. +To his surprise, he found the needle affected; and his bearings were all +wrong. I subsequently went up to ascertain the extent of the error +produced, and found it precisely the same as Mr. Hume noticed. When I +placed the compass on the rock, Mount Foster bore from me N. by W., the +true bearing of the one hill from the other being N.N.W. My placing my +notebook under the compass did not alter the effect, nor did the card move +until I raised the instrument a couple of feet above the stone, when it +first became violently agitated, and then settled correctly; and my +bearings of the highest parts of Arbuthnot's Range, and of its centre, +were as follows:</p> +<table summary=""><col><col> + <tr><td>Mount Exmouth to the N . . <td>N. 86 E. + <tr><td>Centre . . <td>N. 85 E. + <tr><td>Vernon's Peak . . <td>N. 89 E. + <tr><td colspan=2 align=right> Distance 70 miles.</tr> +</table> +<p>Having finished my reports and letters, it became necessary to consider +the best point on which to move, and to fix a day for our departure from +Mount Harris. It struck me that having found so important a feature as the +Darling River, the Governor would approve my endeavouring to regain it +more to the southward, in order to trace it down. I, therefore, detached +Mr. Hume to survey the country in that direction, and to ascertain if a +descent upon the Bogen district would be practicable, through which I had +been informed a considerable river forced itself. The <!--page 116 CIRCUIT OF THE GREAT MARSHES. /page-->report he made on +his return was such as to deter me from that attempt, but he stated that +the country for 30 miles from the Macquarie was well watered, and superior +to any he had passed over during the journey; beyond that distance, it +took up the character of the remote interior, and alternated with plains +and brush, the soil being too sandy to retain water on its surface. He saw +some hills from the extremity of his journey, bearing by compass W.S.W. +We consequently determined to make for the Castlereagh, agreeably to our +instructions. Preparations were made for breaking up the camp, all the +various arrangements in the change of animals were completed, the boat +carriage was exchanged for a dray, and I took Boyle in the place of +Norman, whose timidity in the bush rendered him unfit for service. + +<p>There is a small hill on the opposite side of the river, and immediately +facing Mount Harris, and to the S.E. of it there is a small lagoon, the +head of a creek, by means of which its superfluous waters are carried off. +This creek runs parallel to the river for about ten miles, and enters the +marshes at the S.E. angle. This I ascertained one day in riding to carry +on my survey of the southern extremity of the marshes, and to join my line +of route by making the circuit of that part of them. I found that the +river was turned to its northerly course by a rising ground of forest +land, which checks its further progress westerly. I proceeded round +the S.W. angle, and then, taking a northerly course, got down to the +bottom of the first great marsh, thus com<!--page 117 WALLIS'S PONDS. /page-->pleting the circuit of them. I +did not return to the camp until after 10 p.m., having crossed the river +at day-light, nor did we procure any water from the time we left the +stream to the moment of our recrossing it. + +<p>Having completed our various arrangements, and closed our letters, we +struck our tents on the morning of the 7th March; we remained, however, to +witness the departure of Riley's party for Wellington Valley, and then +left the Macquarie on an E.N.E. course for Wallis's Ponds, and made them +at about 14 miles. They undoubtedly empty themselves into the marshes, and +are a continuation of that chain of ponds on which I left the party in +Mr. Hume's charge. About a mile from Mount Harris, we passed a small dry +creek, that evidently lays the country under water in the wet seasons. +There was a blue-gum flat to the eastward of it, which we crossed, and +then entered a brush of acacia pendula and box. The soil upon the plain +was an alluvial deposit; that in the brushes was sandy. From the extremity +of the plain, Mount Harris bore, by compass, S.W. by W.; Mount Foster due +west. The scrub through which we were penetrating, at length became so +dense, that we found it impossible to travel in a direct line through it, +and frequent ridges of cypresses growing closely together, turned us +repeatedly from our course. The country at length became clearer, and we +travelled over open forest of box, casuarina, and cypresses, on a sandy +soil; the first predominating. For about two miles before we made the +creek, the country was not heavily timbered, the acacia <!--page 118 MORRISSET'S PONDS. /page-->pendula +succeeding the larger trees. The ground had a good covering of grass upon +it, and there were few of the salsolaceous plants, so abundant on the +western plains, to be found. The rough-gum abounded near the creek, with a +small tree bearing a hard round nut, and we had the luxury of plenty of +water. + +<p>We remained stationary on the 8th, in hopes that Riley would have met the +soldier who had been sent back to Wellington Valley, and that he would +have forwarded any letters to us, of which he might have been the bearer. +The day, however, passed over without realizing our expectations; and we +started once more for the interior, and cut ourselves off from all +communication with society. + +<p>We made for Morrisset's chain of ponds, and travelled over rich and +extensive plains, divided by plantations of cypress, box, and casuarina, +in the early and latter period of the day. About noon we entered a dense +forest of cypresses, which continued for three miles, when the cypresses +became mixed with casuarina, box, and mountain-gum, a tree we had not +remarked before in so low a situation. We struck upon the creek after a +journey of about 15 miles. It had a sandy bed, and was extremely tortuous +in its course, nor was it until after a considerable search, that we at +length succeeded in finding water, at which a party of natives were +encamped. The moment they saw us, they fled, and left all their utensils, +&c. behind them. Among other things, we found a number of bark troughs, +filled with the gum of the mimosa, and vast quantities of gum made <!--page 119 REACH THE CASTLEREAGH RIVER. /page-->into +cakes upon the ground. From this it would appear these unfortunate +creatures were reduced to the last extremity, and, being unable to procure +any other nourishment, had been obliged to collect this mucilaginous food. + +<p>The plains we traversed, were of uniform equality of surface. Water +evidently lodges and continues on them long after a fall of rain, and in +wet seasons they must, I should imagine, be full of quagmires, and almost +impassable. + +<p>On the 10th, we passed through a country that differed in no material +point from that already described. We stopped at 10 a.m. under some brush, +in the centre of a large plain, from which Arbuthnot's range bore S. 84 E. +distant from 50 to 55 miles, and afterwards traversed or rather crossed, +those extensive tracts described by Mr. Evans as being under water and +covered with reeds, in 1817. They now bore a very different appearance, +being firm and dry. The soil was in general good, and covered with forest +grass and a species of oxalia. We did not observe any reeds, or the signs +of inundation, but, as is invariably the case with plains in the interior, +they were of too even surface, as I have so lately remarked, to admit of +the waters running quickly off them; and no doubt, when they became +saturated, many quagmires are formed, that would very much impede the +movements of an expedition. + +<p>We reached the Castlereagh about 4 p.m., and although its channel could +not have been less than 130 yards in breadth, there was apparently not a +drop of water in it. Its bed consisted of pure sand and reeds; amid the +latter, <!--page 120 WANT OF WATER. /page-->we found a small pond of 15 yards circumference, after a long +search. There is a considerable dip in the country towards the river, at +about two miles from it; and the intervening brush was full of kangaroo, +which, I fancy, had congregated to a spot where there was abundance of +food for them. The soil covering the space was of the richest quality, +and the timber upon it consisted of box, mountain gum, and the angophora +lanceolata, a tree that is never found except on rich ground. + +<p>It appeared that our troubles were to recommence, and that in order to +continue on the Castlereagh, it would be necessary for Mr. Hume and myself +to undertake those fatiguing journeys in search of water that had so +exhausted us already: and after all, it was doubtful how soon we might be +forced back. I had certainly expected that, on our gaining the banks of +the river, we should have had a constant supply of water, but the +circumstance of the Castlereagh having not only ceased to flow, but being +absolutely dry, while it afforded the best and clearest proof of the +severity and continuance of the drought in the interior, at the same time +damped the spirits and ardour of the men. We kept the left bank of the +river as we proceeded down it, and passed two or three larger ponds about +a mile below where we had slept, but there they ceased. The bed of the +river became one of pure sand, nor did there appear to be any chance of +our finding any water in it. I stopped the party at about eight miles, and +desired the men to get their dinners, to give Mr. Hume and myself time <!--page 121 CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. /page-->to +search for a supply upon the plains. Disappointed to the left, we crossed +the channel of the Castlereagh, and struck over a small plain upon the +right bank, and at the extremity of it, came upon a swamp, from which we +immediately returned for the cattle, and got them unloaded by seven +o'clock. As there was sufficient pasture around us, I proposed to Mr. Hume +on the following day, to leave the party stationary, and to ride down the +river to see how far its present appearances continued. Like the +generality of rivers of the interior, it had, where we struck upon it, +outer banks to confine its waters during floods, and to prevent them from +spreading generally over the country; the space between the two banks +being of the richest soil, and the timber chiefly of the angophora kind. +Flooded-gum overhung the inner banks of the river, or grew upon the many +islands, with casuarina. It became evident, however, that the outer banks +declined in height as we proceeded down the river, nor was it long before +they ceased altogether. As we rode along, we found that the inner ones +were fast decreasing in height also. Riding under a hanging wood of the +angophora, which had ceased for a time, we were induced to break off to +our right, to examine some large flooded-gum trees about a couple of miles +to the N.W. of us. On arriving near them, we were astonished to find that +they concealed a serpentine lagoon that had a belt of reeds round it. +Keeping this lagoon upon our right, we at length came to the head of it, +past which the river sweeps. Crossing the channel of the river, we +continued to ride in an easterly di<!--page 122 LAGOONS AND CREEKS /page-->rection to examine the country. In +doing this, we struck on a second branch of the Castlereagh, leading +W. by N. into a plain, which it of course inundates at times, and running +up it, we found its bed at the point of separation, to be considerably +higher than that of the main channel, which still continued of pure +sand—and was stamped all over with the prints of the feet of natives, +kangaroos, emus, and wild dogs, We then turned again to the head of the +lagoon, and took the following bearings of Arbuthnot's range:</p> +<table summary=""><col><col> + <tr><td>Mount Exmouth . . <td>E. 90 S. + <tr><td>Centre Range . . <td>E. 35 E.<!--comment {probably E. 35 S.} /comment--> + <tr><td>Vernon's Peak . . <td>E. 20 S.</tr> +</table> +<p>From the head of the lagoon, the river appeared to enter a reedy hollow, +shaded by a long line of flooded gum trees, and on proceeding to it, we +found the banks ceased here altogether; and that a very considerable plain +extended both to the right and the left, which cannot fail of being +frequently laid under water. + +<p>On the following morning we moved the party to the lagoon, and, passing +its head, encamped to the north of it; after which we again rode down the +river in search of water. It continued to hold a straight and northerly +course for about five miles, having a plain on either side. The reeds that +had previously covered the channel then suddenly ceased, and the channel, +contracting in breadth, gained in depth: it became extremely serpentine, +and at length lost all the character and appearance of a river. It <!--page 123 OF THE CASTLEREAGH. /page-->had +many back channels, as large as the main one, serving to overflow the +neighbouring country. We succeeded in finding a small pond of water in one +of the former, hardly large enough to supply our necessities, but as it +enabled us to push so much further on, we turned towards the lagoon, +making a circuitous journey to the right, across a large plain, bounded to +the north by low acacia brush and box. We struck upon a creek at the +further extremity of the plain, in which there was a tolerably sized pond. +It appeared from the traces of men, that some natives had been there the +day before; but we did not see any of them. The water was extremely muddy +and unfit for use. The lagoon at which we had encamped, was of less +importance than we had imagined. + +<p>Whilst Mr. Hume led the party down the river, I rode up its northward +bank, to examine it more closely. I found it to be a serpentine sheet of +about three miles in length, gradually decreasing in depth until it +separated into two small creeks. In following one of them up, I observed +that they re-united at the distance of about two miles, and that the +lagoon was filled from the eastward, and not by the river as I had at +first supposed. The waters at the head of the lagoon were putrid, nor was +there a fish in, or a wild fowl upon it. The only bird we saw was a +beautiful eagle, of the osprey kind, with plumage like a sea gull, which +had a nest in the tree over the tents. + +<p>In turning to overtake the party I rode through a great deal of acacia +scrub, and on arriving at the place at which <!--page 124 JOURNEY DOWN /page-->I expected to have overtaken +them, I found they had pushed on. + +<p>The Castlereagh, as I rode down it, diminished in size considerably, and +became quite choked up with rushes and brambles. Rough-gum again made its +appearance, with swamp-oak and a miserable acacia scrub outside. The +country on both sides of the river seemed to be an interminable flat, and +the soil of an inferior description. + +<p>I came up with with Mr. Hume about 1 o'clock and we again pushed forward +at 3, and halted for the night without water, the want of which the cattle +did not feel. The river held a general westerly course, and the country in +its neighbourhood became extremely depressed and low. On the following day +we moved forward a distance of not more than nine miles, through a country +on which, at first, the acacia pendula alone was growing on a light +alluvial soil. The river had many back drains, by means of which, in wet +seasons, it inundates the adjacent plains. It was evident, however, that +they had not been flooded for many years; and, notwithstanding that the +country was low, the line of inundation did not appear to be very +extensive, nor were there any reeds growing beyond the immediate banks of +the river. Swamp-oak and rough-gum again prevailed near the stream at our +halting place, and the improvement that had taken place, both in the +country and in the Castlereagh, had induced us to make so short a journey; +for not only was there abundance of the grass for the animals, but large +ponds of water in the river. Some natives <!--page 125 THE RIVER. /page-->had only just preceded us down +it: we came upon their fires that were still smoking; and upon them were +the remains of some fish they had taken, near which they had left a +cumbrous spear. The circumstances cheered us with hopes that an +improvement would take place in the country, and that some new feature +would soon open upon us. In the course of the following day, however, +every favorable change, both in the river and in the country, disappeared. +The latter continued extremely depressed, and in general open, or lightly +covered with acacia pendula; the former dwindled into a mere ditch, choked +up with brambles and reeds, and having only here and there a stagnant pool +of water. We travelled on a N.W. 1/2 W. course for about ten miles, and +again stopped for the night without water. In the course of the afternoon, +we traversed several flats, on which the rough-gum alone was growing. +These flats were evidently subject to flood; and contained an alluvial +soil. + +<p>They became more frequent as we travelled down the river, and the work was +so heavy for the animals, that I was obliged to keep wide of them, in +doing which we struck upon a creek of large size, coming from the N.E. +and, having crossed, we traversed its right bank to its junction with the +Castlereagh, and stopped close to it at a pond of water, though the feed +for the animals was bad. The country to the left of the river, though +somewhat high, was the same, in essential points, as that to the right. +<!--page 126 WRETCHED APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. /page--> +<p>The Castlereagh seemed to have increased in size below the creek, but +still it had no resemblance to a river. We had not proceeded very far down +its banks, on the 18th, when we crossed a broad footpath leading to it +from the interior. I turned my horse to the left, and struck upon a long +sheet of water, from which I startled a number of pelicans. It was evident +that the natives had recently been in the neighbourhood, but we thought it +probable they might have been a hunting party, who had returned again to +the plains. The whole track we passed over during the day was miserably +poor and bare of vegetation, nor did the appearance of the country to the +N.E. indicate any improvement. We lost the traces of the natives +immediately after crossing their path or beat, and again found the bed of +the river dry, after we had passed the sheet of water to which it led. The +soil was so rotten and yielding, that the team knocked up early; indeed, +it was a matter of surprise to me that they should not have failed before. +The river made somewhat to the westward with little promise of +improvement. The wretched appearance of the country as we penetrated into +it, damped our spirits; we pressed on, however, with difficulty, over +ground that was totally destitute of vegetation. Instead of lofty timber +and a living stream, we wandered along the banks of an insignificant +watercourse, and under trees of stunted size and scanty foliage. We +stopped on the 20th at the angle of a creek, in which there was some dry +grass, in consequence of the animals being almost in a starving state, but +even here they had but little to eat. +<!--page 127 A PARTY OF NATIVES. /page--> +<p>A violent thunder-storm passed over us in the afternoon, but it made no +change in the temperature of the air. The weather, although it had been +hot and sultry, had fallen far short of the intense heat we experienced in +crossing the marshes of the Macquarie, when it was such as to melt the +sugar in the canisters, and to destroy all our dogs; and our nights were +now become agreeably cool. + +<p>We still, however, continued to travel over a dead level, nor was a height +or break visible from the loftiest trees we ascended. A little before we +stopped at the creek, we surprised a party of natives; old men, women, and +children. They were preparing dinners of fish in much larger quantities +than they could have devoured—probably for a part of the tribe that were +absent; but the moment they saw us they fled, and left every thing at our +mercy. On examining the fish, we found them totally different from any in +the Macquarie, and took two of the most perfect to preserve. In the +afternoon one of the men came to inform me that the tribe was coming down +upon us. + +<p>Mr. Hume and I, therefore, went to meet them. They were at this time about +150 yards from the tent, but seeing us advance, they stopped, and forming +two deep, they marched to and fro, to a war song I suppose, crouching with +their spears. We had not, however, any difficulty in communicating with +them, and I shall detail the manner in which this was brought about, in +hopes that it may help to guide others. When the natives saw us advance, +they stopped, and we did the same. Mr. Hume then walked to a tree, and +broke <!--page 128 LARGE CREEK. /page-->off a short branch. It is singular that this should, even with these +rude people, be a token of peace. As soon as they saw the branch, the +natives laid aside their spears, and two of them advanced about twenty +paces in front of the rest, who sat down. Mr. Hume then went forward and +sat down, when the two natives again advanced and seated themselves close +to him. + +<p>Now it is evident that a little insight into the customs of every people +is necessary to insure a kindly communication; this, joined with patience +and kindness, will seldom fail with the natives of the interior. It is not +to avoid alarming their natural timidity that a gradual approach is so +necessary. They preserve the same ceremony among themselves. These men, +who were eighteen in number, came with us to the tents, and received such +presents as we had for them. They conducted themselves very quietly, and, +after a short time, left us with every token of friendship. + +<p>On the 21st we proceeded down the river on a N.N.W. course, and at about +five miles struck upon a very large creek, apparently coming from +the E.N.E. + +<p>Although the Castlereagh had increased in size, this creek was infinitely +larger; it was, however, perfectly dry. Lofty flooded-gum trees were upon +its banks, and it appeared so much superior to the river that I was +induced to halt the party at the junction, in order to examine it more +closely. Mr. Hume, therefore, rode with me up the right bank. We had not +proceeded very far, when some natives called out to us from the opposite +scrub. Thinking that they belonged <!--page 129 NATIVE ARMOURY. /page-->to the tribe we had left behind us, we +pointed to the junction, and motioned them to go there, but one of the +party continued to follow and call to us for some time. On our return to +the men, we found that the natives had joined them, and they now gave us +to understand that we were going away from water. This had indeed been +apparent to us. The creek was perfectly dry, as far as we traced it up; +and seemed to have been totally deserted by the natives. + +<p>We were about to proceed on our journey, when from twenty to thirty +natives approached us from down the river. We sent two of those who had +been with us to them, and the whole accompanied us for some miles, talking +incessantly to the men, but keeping at a very respectful distance from the +animals. We at length got opposite to their camp, near which there was a +very fine pool of water, and they were earnest in persuading us to stop at +it. We were, however, too anxious to get forward to comply; under the +improved appearance of the river since it had received the creeks from the +eastward, little anticipating what was before us. + +<p>The natives did not follow us beyond their own encampment. Within sight of +it, we came upon their armoury, if I may so term it. Numerous spears were +reared against the trees, and heaps of boomerangs were lying on the +ground. The spears were very heavy, and half barbed; and it is singular +that three of them were marked with a broad arrow. We saw the natives +watching us, fearful, I <!--page 130 EXAMINATION OF CREEKS /page-->imagine, that we should help ourselves; but I +would not permit any of their weapons to be touched. + +<p>Pursuing our journey, we reached another creek, at about five miles, +similar to the last in appearance and size, and we crossed it repeatedly +during the afternoon. We had been induced to keep along a native path in +the hope that it would have led us to the river by a short cut; but it +eventually led us to this creek, and away from the Castlereagh; for, +notwithstanding that we subsequently changed our course to the S.W., we +failed, as we supposed, again to strike upon the latter, and were obliged +to stop for the night on the banks of what appeared to be a third large +dry creek, which we intersected nearly at right angles. + +<p>We travelled through a good deal of brush during the day, nor did the +country change from the miserable and barren character it had assumed for +the last thirty or forty miles. The Castlereagh had so frequently changed, +that both Mr. Hume and myself were puzzled as to the identity of the +creek upon which we had halted. We searched its bed in vain for water, +although it was most capacious. Under an impression that the river was +still to the south, and that we were at a point to which many watercourses +from the high lands tended, I crossed the creek early in the morning, and +held a S.W. course, over an open forest country. At about eight miles, we +came upon a large space over-run by the polygonum junceum, a certain +indication of flooded ground, and of our consequent proximity to some +stream. Accordingly, after pushing through it, we struck <!--page 131 NEAR THE CASTLEREAGH. /page-->upon a small +creek with abundance of water in it. Whether this creek was the +Castlereagh, which it resembled much more than the one we had left in the +morning, was doubtful; but it was a great source of comfort to us to have +so unexpected a supply of water as that which was now at our disposal. +Whatever channel this was, whether a river or a creek, our tracing it down +would lead us in the direction we wished to go, and probably to some +junction. + +<p>The neighbourhood of the creek was well clothed with vegetation, and the +cattle found good feed; but the only trees near it were rough-gum and +casuarinae; the flooded-gum had again disappeared. The soil of the forest +land over which we journeyed was a light sandy loam; and its timber +consisted chiefly of eucalypti, acacia pendula, and the angophora. + +<p>Some natives visited us in the afternoon, and among them, both Mr. Hume +and I recognised one of those we had seen on the Darling. He also knew us +again, but we could not make out from him how far we were from that river. +They stayed with us till sunset, and then went down the creek, leaving +their spears against a tree, for which they said they would return. + +<p>On the 23rd we took up a W.N.W. course, and when we again touched on the +creek it was dry. This was at a distance of about five miles from where we +had slept. As the animals had not recovered from their late privations, I +deemed it better to halt the party and to examine the creek for a few +miles below us, that in case it should prove des<!--page 132 EXAMINATION OF CREEKS /page-->titute of water, we might +return to that we had left. Mr. Hume accordingly rode down it for about +three miles, without success; and on his rejoining the men, we returned +with them to our last camp, or to within a short distance of it. Wishing +to examine the creek above our position, I requested Mr. Hume to take two +men with him, and to trace it down in search of water, while I should +proceed in the opposite direction. I went from the camp at an early hour, +and as I wandered along the creek, I passed a regular chain of ponds. The +country on both sides of the creek was evidently subject to flood, but +more extensively to the south than to the north. From the creek, I struck +away to my left, and after penetrating through a belt of swamp-oak and +minor shrubs, got on a small plain, which I crossed N.E. and, to my +annoyance, found it covered with rhagodia and salsolae. As I had not +started with the intention of sleeping, I turned to the S.W. a little +before sunset, and reached the tents between ten and eleven. I found +Mr. Hume awaiting me. He informed me that at about nine miles from +where we had turned back with the party, he had struck upon a junction; +and that as the junction was much larger than the channel he had been +tracing, he thought it better to follow it up for a few miles. He found +that it narrowed in width, and that its banks became steep, with a fine +avenue of flooded-gum trees overhanging them. At four miles, he came upon +another junction, and at four miles more, found himself opposite to the +ground on which we had slept on the previous Saturday. From this point he +retraced the channel, <!--page 133 NEAR THE CASTLEREAGH. /page-->but not finding any water for three miles below the +lower junction, he returned to the camp, with a view of prosecuting a +longer journey on the morrow. Mr. Hume had become impressed with an +opinion, that the junction up which we had slept was no other than the +Castlereagh itself; and that our position was on a creek, probably +Morrisset's chain of ponds, flowing into it. As the cattle wanted a few +days' rest, Mr. Hume and I determined to ride, unattended, along our track +to our camp of the 21st, and then to follow the channel upwards, until we +should arrive at the station of the natives, or until we should have +ridden to such a distance as would set our conjectures at rest. In the +morning, however, instead of running upon our old track, we followed that +of Mr. Hume to the junction, giving up our first intention, with a view to +ascertain if there existed any water which we could, by an effort, gain, +below where Mr. Hume had been. The channel was very broad, with a +considerable fall in its bed, and, in appearance, more resembled the slope +of a lawn than the bed of a river. It had two gum-trees in the centre of +its channel, in one of which the floods had left the trunk of a large +tree. We could discover where it narrowed and its banks rose, but, as we +intended to make a closer examination before we left the neighbourhood, +we continued our journey down the principal channel. The ground exhibited +an abundance of pasture in its immediate neighbourhood, but the distant +country was miserably poor and bare. At about three miles, we came upon +the fresh traces of some natives, which led us to the channel again, from +which we had wandered <!--page 134 DEPRESSION OF THE MEN. /page-->unintentionally. In it we found there had been water +very lately, and it appeared that the natives had dug holes at the bottom +to insure a longer supply. These were now exhausted, but still retained +the appearance of moisture. At a mile and a half beyond these, we were led +to some similar holes, by observing a number of birds flying about them. +The water was too muddy for us to drink, but the horses emptied them +successively. We now kept sufficiently near the channel to insure our +seeing any pool that might still remain in it, but rode for about seven +miles before we again saw water, and even here, although it was a spring, +we were obliged to dig holes, and await their filling, before we could get +sufficient for our use. Having dined, we again pursued our journey, and +almost immediately came upon a long narrow ditch, full of water, and lined +by bulrushes. The creek or river had for some time kept the centre of a +deep alluvial valley, in which there was plenty of food for the cattle, +and which, at this place, was apparently broader than anywhere else. The +situation being favourable, we returned to the camp, and reached it late. + +<p>I do not know whether I was wrong in my conjecture, but I fancied, about +this time, that the men generally were desponding. Whether it was that the +constant fatigue entailed on myself and Mr. Hume, and that our constant +absence, or the consequent exhaustion it produced, had any effect on their +minds, or that they feared the result of our perseverance, is difficult to +say; but certainly, they all had a depression of spirits, and looked, I +thought, altered in <!--page 135 CAMP OF NATIVES. /page-->appearance; nor did they evince any satisfaction at +our success—at least, not the satisfaction they would have shown at an +earlier period of our journey. + +<p>Before moving forward, it remained for us to ascertain if the channel from +the junction was the Castlereagh, or only a creek. The intersection of so +many channels in this neighbourhood, most of them so much alike, made it +essentially necessary that we should satisfy ourselves on this point. +Mr. Hume, therefore, accompanied me, as had at first been intended the +morning of our return to the place at which we had slept. We took fresh +horses, but dispensed with any other attendants, and indeed went wholly +unarmed. + +<p>After following our old track to its termination, we kept up the right +bank of the channel, and at length arrived at the camp of the natives; +thus satisfying ourselves that we had been journeying on the Castlereagh, +and that we were still following it down. By this ride we ascertained that +there was a distance of five-and-forty miles in its bed without a drop of +water. Few of the natives were in the camp. The women avoided us, but not +as if they were under any apprehension. Crossing at the head of the pool, +we again got on our old track, but seeing two or three men coming towards +us we alighted, and, tying our horses to a tree, went to meet them. One +poor fellow had two ducks in his hand, which he had just taken off the +fire; these he offered to us, and on our declining to accept of them, he +called to a boy, who soon appeared with a large trough of honey, of which +we partook. One of the men had an ulcer in the <!--page 136 DRY CHANNEL OF THE RIVER. /page-->arm, and asked me what he +should do to heal it; indeed, I believe Fraser had promised him some +ointment, but not having any with me, I signified to him that he should +wash it often, and stooping down, made as if I was taking up water in my +hand. The poor fellow mistook me, and, also stooping down, took up a +handful of dust which he threw over the sore. This gave me the trouble of +explaining matters again, and by pointing to the water, I believe I at +length made him understand me. + +<p>These good natured people asked us where we had slept the day we passed, +and when informed of the direction, shook their heads, motioning at the +same time, that we must have been without water. We informed them where +the party was, and asked them to come and see us, but I fancy the distance +was too great, or else we were in the beat of another tribe. On mentioning +these facts to the men, they said that two of the natives had followed us +for some miles, calling out loudly to us, but Mr. Hume and I both being in +front, we did not hear them, although, evidently, they wished to save us +distress. + +<p>Since the result of our excursion proved that the channel, about which I +had been so doubtful, was the Castlereagh, it necessarily followed, that +the creek at which we were encamped was one of those (most probably +Morrisset's chain of ponds,) which we had already crossed nearer its +source, and which Mr. Hume must have struck upon when endeavouring to gain +the Castlereagh from the marshes of the Macquarie. +<!--page 137 NATIVES PERISHING FROM FAMINE. /page--> +<p>A perusal of these sheets will ere this have impressed on the reader's +mind, the peculiarity of that fortune which led us from the Castlereagh to +the creek, at which alone our wants could have been supplied. Had we +wandered down the river, as we undoubtedly should have done had we +recognised it as such, the loss of many of our animals would have been the +inevitable consequence, and very probably a final issue would have been +put to our journey. It is only to those who are placed in situations that +baffle their own exertions or foresight, that the singular guidance of +Providence becomes fully apparent. + +<p>It would appear that the natives were dying fast, not from any disease, +but from the scarcity of food; and, should the drought continue, it seemed +probable they may became extinct. + +<p>The men found the body of a woman covered with leaves near the tents, and +very properly buried it. We made Friday a day of rest for ourselves, as +indeed was necessary; and on the following morning proceeded down the +river, and encamped on a high bank above it, at the base of which, our +cattle both fed and watered. + +<p>At this spot one of the largest gum-trees I had ever seen had fallen, +having died for want of moisture; indeed, the state of the vegetable +kingdom was such as to threaten its total extinction, unless a change of +seasons should take place. + +<p>It may be worthy of remark that, from our first arrival <!--page 138 JUNCTION OF THE CASTLEREAGH /page-->on the banks of +the Castlereagh, to our arrival at the present camp, we never picked up a +stone, or a pebble, in its bed. + +<p>In the hope that we should fall on some detached pond, we pursued our +journey on the 29th. The Castlereagh gave singular proofs of its violence, +as if its waters, confined in the valley, had a difficulty in escaping +from it. We had not travelled two miles, when in crossing, as we imagined, +one of its bights, we found ourselves checked by a broad river. A single +glimpse of it was sufficient to tell us it was the Darling. At a distance +of more than ninety miles nearer its source, this singular river still +preserved its character, so strikingly, that it was impossible not to have +recognised it in a moment. The same steep banks and lofty timber, the same +deep reaches, alive with fish, were here visible as when we left it. +A hope naturally arose to our minds, that if it was unchanged in other +respects, it might have lost the saltness that rendered its waters unfit +for use; but in this we were disappointed—even its waters continued the +same. As it was impossible for us to cross the Darling, I determined on +falling back upon our last encampment, which was at a most Convenient +distance, and of concerting measures there for our future movements. Prior +to doing so, however, I rode to the junction of the Castlereagh with +the Darling, accompanied by Mr. Hume, a distance of about half a mile. +Upon the point formed by the two streams, there were a number of huts, +and on the opposite <!--page 139 WITH THE DARLING. /page-->bank of the Darling, about twenty natives had +collected. We called out to them, but they would not join us. + +<p>At the junction, the Castlereagh, with whatever impetuosity it rushes from +its confinement, makes not apparently the least impression on the Darling +River. The latter seemed to loll on, totally heedless of such a tributary.</p> + +<hr> +<!--page 140 /page--> +<a name=ch1.4></a><h4>CHAPTER IV.</h4> +<blockquote class=small> +Perplexity—Trait of honesty in the natives—Excursion on horseback across +the Darling—Forced to return—Desolating effects of the drought—Retreat +towards the colony—Connection between the Macquarie and the +Darling—Return up the banks of the Macquarie—Starving condition of the +natives. +</blockquote> +<p>On our return to the party, we found them surrounded by the natives, who +were looking with an eye of wonder on the cattle and horses. We pointed +out to them the direction in which we were going, and invited them to +visit us; and nothing appeared to astonish them so much as the management +of the team by a single man. We got back to our position early, and again +fixed ourselves upon it. + +<p>It now only remained for us to consider what we should do under +circumstances of certainly more than ordinary perplexity. We had nothing +to hope for from travelling in a southerly direction, while to the E. and +N.E., the state of the country was worse than that by which we had +penetrated to the Darling. It was evident, that the large creeks joining +the Castlereagh in that direction were dry, since <!--page 141 HONESTY OF A NATIVE. /page-->the natives not only +intimated this to us, but it was unquestionable that they themselves had +deserted them, and had crowded to such places as still contained a supply +of water. Even in retreating, we could not hope to retrace our steps. +Experience had proved to us, that the dry state of the interior was as +injurious to the movements of an expedition as a too wet season would have +been. Taking everything, therefore, into consideration, I determined on +leaving the party stationary, and on crossing the Darling to the N.W., +and, if any encouraging feature presented itself, to return for the party, +and persevere in an examination of the distant interior. Such, at least, +appeared to me the most judicious plan: indeed, an attempt to have moved +in any other direction would have been fruitless. And, as the result of +this journey would be decisive, and would either fix or determine our +advance or retreat, I was anxious for Mr. Hume's attendance. + +<p>The natives followed to the camp, and in the course of the afternoon, were +joined by their women. The latter however, would not approach nearer than +the top of a little hillock on which they sat. The men did not come round +the tents, but stood in a row at a short distance. At sunset, they gained +a little courage, and wandered about a little more; at length they went +off to the Darling. + +<p>It was quite dark, when I heard a native call from the hill on which the +women had been, and I desired Hopkinson to take his firelock and ascertain +what the man wanted. He soon after returned, and brought a blanket, <!--page 142 REWARD THE MAN FOR HIS CONDUCT. /page-->which +he said the man had returned to him. The native was alone, and when he +offered the blanket, kept his spear poised in his right hand; but, seeing +that no violence was intended him, he lowered his weapon, and walked away. + +<p>I was extremely pleased at this trait of honesty, and determined to reward +it. On inquiry, I found that the men had availed themselves of the day to +wash their blankets and that one of them had been flung over a bush +hanging over the bank of the river, and it was supposed that one of the +natives must have pulled it down with him. In the morning, the tribe went +away from their encampment before day-light as we judged from the cry of +their dogs, than which nothing could be more melancholy; but about eight, +the men made their appearance on the hill occupied by the women the +evening previously, and seemed to be doubtful whether to approach nearer. +I went out to them, and, with a downward motion of my hand, beckoned for +them to come to me: they mistook the signal, but laid all their spears on +the ground, and it was not until after the sign had been reversed that +they stirred or moved towards me. I then got them in a row, and desired +Hopkinson to single out the man who had given him the blanket. It was, +however, with great difficulty that he recognised him, as the man stood +firm and motionless. At length, after walking two or three times along the +line, he stopped before one man, and put his hand on his shoulder, upon +which the manner of the native testified as to the correctness of his +guess. +<!--page 143 EFFECT OF FIRING A GUN. /page--> +<p>The blanket being produced, I explained to the savage, with Mr. Hume's +assistance, that I was highly pleased with him, and forthwith presented +him with a tomahawk and a clasp-knife. The tribe were perfectly aware of +the reason of my conduct, and all of them seemed highly delighted. + +<p>I was happy in having such an opportunity of showing the natives of the +interior that I came among them with a determination to maintain justice +in my communication with them, and to impress them, at the same time, with +a sense of our love of it in them. That they appreciated my apparent +lenity in not calling for the defaulter, I am sure, and I feel perfectly +conscious that I should have failed in my duty had I acted otherwise than +I did. + +<p>Although the natives had shown so good a disposition, as they were +numerous, I thought it as well, since I was about to leave the camp, to +show them that I had a power they little dreamt of about me. I therefore +called for my gun and fired a ball into a tree. The effect of the report +upon the natives, was truly ridiculous. Some stood and stared at me, +others fell down, and others ran away; and it was with some difficulty we +collected them again. At last, however, we did so, and, leaving them to +pick out the ball, mounted our horses and struck away for the Darling. +We crossed the river a little above where we struck it, and then proceeded +N.W. into the interior. + +<p>It is impossible for me to describe the nature of the country over which +we passed, for the first eight miles. <!--page 144 EXCURSION ACROSS THE DARLING. /page-->We rode through brushes of +polygonum, under rough-gum, without a blade of vegetation, the whole space +being subject to inundation. We then got on small plains of firmer +surface, and red soil, but these soon changed again for the former; and +at 4 p.m. we found ourselves advanced about two miles on a plain that +stretched away before us, and bounded the horizon. It was dismally brown; +a few trees only served to mark the distance. Up one of the highest I sent +Hopkinson, who reported that he could not see the end of it, and that all +around looked blank and desolate. It is a singular fact, that during the +whole day, we had not seen a drop of water or a blade of grass. + +<p>To have stopped where we were, would, therefore, have been impossible; to +have advanced, would probably have been ruin. Had there been one favorable +circumstance to have encouraged me with the hope of success, I would have +proceeded. Had we picked up a stone as indicating our approach to high +land, I would have gone on; or had there been a break in the level of the +country, or even a change in the vegetation. But we had left all traces of +the natives far behind us; and this seemed a desert they never +entered—that not even a bird inhabited. I could not encourage a hope of +success, and, therefore, gave up the point; not from want of means, but a +conviction of the inutility of any further efforts. If there is any blame +to be attached to the measure, it is I who am in fault, but none who had +not like me traversed the interior at such a season, would believe the +state of the country over which <!--page 145 DESOLATING EFFECTS OF THE DROUGHT. /page-->I had wandered. During the short interval +I had been out, I had seen rivers cease to flow before me, and sheets of +water disappear; and had it not been for a merciful Providence, should, +ere reaching the Darling, have been overwhelmed by misfortune. + +<p>I am giving no false picture of the reality. So long had the drought +continued, that the vegetable kingdom was almost annihilated, and minor +vegetation had disappeared. In the creeks, weeds had grown and withered, +and grown again; and young saplings were now rising in their beds, +nourished by the moisture that still remained; but the largest forest +trees were drooping, and many were dead. The emus, with outstretched +necks, gasping for breath, searched the channels of the rivers for water, +in vain; and the native dog, so thin that it could hardly walk, seemed to +implore some merciful hand to despatch it. How the natives subsisted it +was difficult to say, but there was no doubt of the scarcity of food +among them. + +<p>We arrived in camp at a late hour, and having nothing to detain us longer, +prepared for our retreat in the morning. The natives had remained with the +party during the greater part of the day, and had only left them a short +time prior to our arrival. + +<p>When examining the creek on which we had been encamped for some days, +Mr. Hume observed a small junction; and as we knew we were almost +due N. of the marshes of the Macquarie, both of us were anxious to +<!--page 146 WILD MELON. /page-->ascertain whence it originated. To return to Mount Harris, by retracing +our steps up the Castlereagh, would have entailed the severest distress +upon us; we the rather preferred proceeding up this creek, and taking our +chance for a supply of water. We therefore crossed Morrisset's chain of +ponds, and encamped in the angle formed by the junction of the two creeks. + +<p>Before we left this position, we were visited by a party of natives, +twelve in number, but not of the Darling tribe. They accompanied us a +short way, and then struck off to the right. At about a mile and a half, +we crossed Mr. Hume's track, leading westerly, which still remained +observable. The creek was, no doubt, the hollow he stated that he crossed +on that excursion, and its appearance certainly justified his opinion of +it. Its bed was choked up with bulrushes or the polygonum, and its banks +were level with the country on either side, or nearly so. We passed over +extremely rich soil the whole day, on a S.W. and by W. course, though the +timber upon it was dwarfish, and principally of the rough-gum kind. + +<p>On the 2nd of April, we stopped in order to make some repairs upon the +dray; the wheels of which had failed us. Clayton put in four new spokes, +and we heated the tyres over again, by which means we got it once more +serviceable. + +<p>The soil in the creek was of the richest quality, and was found to produce +a dwarf melon, having all the habits and character of the cucumber. +The fruit was not larger than a pigeon's egg, but was extremely sweet. +There were not, <!--page 147 RETURN UP THE CREEK. /page-->however, many ripe, although the runners were covered with +flowers, and had an abundance of fruit upon them. In the morning, we sent +the tinker on horseback up the creek, to ascertain how far the next water +was from us, desiring him to keep the creek upon his right, and to follow +his own track back again. He thought fit, however, considering himself +a good bushman, to wander away to his left, and the consequence was, that +he soon lost himself. It would appear that he doubled and passed through +some thick brush at the back of the camp, and at length found himself at +dark on the banks of a considerable creek. In wandering along it, he +luckily struck upon the natives we had last seen, who, good-naturedly, led +him to the track of the dray, which his horse would not afterwards desert, +and the tinker sneaked into the tent about 3 o'clock in the morning, +having failed in his errand, and made himself the butt of the whole party. + +<p>The day succeeding this adventure, we moved up the creek, which was, for +the most part, even with the plain. The country continued the same as that +we had passed over from the junction, being subject to flood, and having +patches of bulrushes and reeds upon it. No change took place in the +timber, but the line of acacia pendula, which forms the line of +inundation, approached neater to us; nor was the mark of flood so high on +the trunks of trees as below. We halted, with abominable water, but +excellent food for the animals in the plains behind us. In continuing our +journey, we found several changes take place in the appear<!--page 148 CONNECTION OF MACQUARIE AND DARLING. /page-->ance of the +creek and its neighbourhood. The former diminished in size, and at length +separated into two distinct channels, choked up, for the most part, with +dead bulrushes, but having a few green reeds in patches along it. The +flats on either side became slightly timbered, and blue gum was the +prevailing tree. Crossing one of the channels, we observed every +appearance of our near approach to the marshes, the flats being +intersected by many little water-runs, such as we had noticed at the +bottom of them. About noon we struck upon a body of reeds under the wood +of eucalypti, below the second great morass, and keeping a little to our +right to avoid them, fell shortly afterwards into our old track on the +plain, upon which we continued to move, making the best of our way to the +channel which had supplied our wants on our first return from the Darling. +It was now, however, quite dry, and we were obliged to push on further, +to shorten the journey of the morrow. + +<p>The result of our journey up the creek was particularly satisfactory, both +to myself and Mr. Hume; since it cleared up every doubt that might have +existed regarding the actual termination of the Macquarie, and enabled us +to connect the flow of waters at so interesting and particular a point. +It will be seen by a reference to the chart, that the waters of the +marshes, after trickling through the reeds, form a small creek, which +carries off the superfluous part of them into Morrisset's chain of ponds, +which latter again falls into the Castlereagh, at about eight miles to the +W.N.W. and all three join the Darling in a W. by N. direction, in lat. +30° <!--page 149 RETURN TO MOUNT HARRIS. /page-->52´ south and E. long. 147° 8´ at about +90 miles to the N.N.W. of Mount Harris, and about an equal distance to +the E.S.E. of where we struck upon the last-mentioned river. Thus it +is evident that the Darling had considerably neared the eastern ranges, +although it was still more than 150 miles from their base. It was +apparently coming from the N.E., and whether it has its sources in the +mountains behind our distant settlements, or still farther to the +northwards, is a question of curious speculation, although, as I have +already stated, I am of opinion that none but tropical rains could +supply the furious torrent that must sometimes rage in it. + +<p>It would be presumptuous to hazard any opinion as to the nature of the +interior to the westward of that remarkable river. Its course is involved +in equal mystery, and it is a matter of equal doubt whether it makes its +way to the south coast, or ultimately exhausts itself in feeding a +succession of swamps, or falls into a large reservoir in the centre of +the island. + +<p>We reached Mount Harris on the 7th of the month, and moving leisurely up +the banks of the Macquarie, gained Mr. Palmer's first station on the 14th, +and Wellington Valley on the 21st, having been absent from that settlement +four months and two weeks. The waters of the Macquarie had diminished so +much, that its bed was dry for more than half a mile at a stretch, nor did +we observe the least appearance of a current in it, until after we had +ascended the ranges. The lower tribes were actually starving, and brought +their children to us to implore something to eat. The men at<!--page 150 DEPLORABLE STATE OF THE COUNTRY. /page-->tempted to +surprise the camp, but I believe they were urged from absolute necessity +to procure subsistence for themselves, and that they intended robbery +rather than personal violence. + +<p>We left the interior in a still more deplorable state than that in which +we found it; but it is more than probable that under other circumstances, +we should have found it impossible to traverse its distant plains, as it +is certain that unless rain fell in less than three weeks, all +communication with the Darling would have been cut off:</p> + +<hr> +<!--page 151 /page--> +<a name=ch1.5></a><h4>CHAPTER V.</h4> +<blockquote class=small> +General remarks—Result of the expedition—Previous anticipations—Mr. Oxley's +remarks—Character of the Rivers flowing westerly—Mr. Cunningham's +remarks—Fall of the Macquarie—Mr. Oxley's erroneous conclusions +respecting the character of the interior, naturally inferred from the +state in which he found the country—The marsh of the Macquarie merely +a marsh of the ordinary character—Captain King's observations—Course +of the Darling—Character of the low interior plain—The convict +Barber's report of rivers traversing the interior—Surveyor-General +Mitchell's Report of his recent expedition. +</blockquote> +<p>Whether the discoveries that have been made during this expedition, will +ultimately prove of advantage to the colony of New South Wales, is a +question that time alone can answer. We have in the meanwhile to regret +that no beneficial consequences will immediately follow them. The further +knowledge that has been gained of the interior is but as a gleam of +sunshine over an extensive landscape. A stronger light has fallen upon the +nearer ground, but the distant horizon is still enveloped in clouds. The +veil has only as it were been withdrawn from the marshes of the Macquarie +to be spread over the channel of the Darling. Un<!--page 152 RESULT OF THE EXPEDITION. /page-->satisfactory, however, as +the discoveries may as yet be considered in a commercial point of view, +the objects for which the expedition had been fitted out were happily +attained. The marsh it had been directed to examine, was traversed on +every side, and the rivers it had been ordered to trace, were followed +down to their terminations to a distance far beyond where they had ceased +to exist as living streams. To many who may cast their eyes over the +accompanying chart, the extent of newly discovered country may appear +trifling; but when they are told, that there is not a mile of that +ground that was not traversed over and over again, either by Mr. Hume or +by myself, that we wandered over upwards of 600 miles more than the main +body of the expedition, on different occasions, in our constant and +anxious search for water, and that we seldom dismounted from our horses, +until long after sunset, they will acknowledge the difficulties with which +we had to contend, and will make a generous allowance for them; for, +however unsuccessful in some respects the expedition may have been, it +accomplished as much, it is to be hoped, as under such trying +circumstances could have been accomplished. It now only remains for me to +sum up the result of my own observations, and to point out to the reader, +how far the actual state of the interior, has been found to correspond +with the opinions that were entertained of it. + +<p>I have already stated, in the introduction to this work, that the general +impression on the minds of those best qualified to judge was, that the +western streams discharged themselves <!--page 153 MR. OXLEY'S REMARKS. /page-->into a central shoal sea. Mr. Oxley +thus expresses himself on the subject:— + +<p>“July 3rd. Towards morning the storm abated, and at day-light, we +proceeded on our voyage. The main bed of the river was much contracted, +but very deep; the waters spreading to the depth of a foot or eighteen +inches over the banks, but all running on the same point of bearing. We +met with considerable interruptions from fallen timber, which in places +nearly choked up the channel. After going about twenty miles, we lost the +land and trees; the channel of the river, which lay through reeds, and was +from one to three feet deep, ran northerly.—This continued for three or +four miles farther, when, although there had been no previous change in +the breadth, depth, or rapidity of the stream for several miles, and I was +sanguine in my expectations of soon entering the long-sought-for +Australian sea, it all at once eluded our farther pursuit, by spreading on +every point from N.W. to N.E. among the ocean of reeds which surrounded +us, still running with the same rapidity as before. There was no channel +whatever among those reeds, and the depth varied from three to five feet. +This astonishing change (for I cannot call it a termination of the river) +of course left me no alternative but to endeavour to return to some spot +on which we could effect a landing before dark. I estimated, that during +the day, we had gone about twenty-four miles, on nearly the same point of +bearing as yesterday. To assert, positively, that we were on the margin of +the lake, or sea, into which this great body <!--page 154 MR. CUNNINGHAM'S REMARKS. /page-->of water is discharged, might +reasonably be deemed a conclusion, which has nothing but conjecture for +its basis. But if an opinion may be permitted to be hazarded from actual +appearances, mine is decidedly in favour of our being in the immediate +vicinity of an inland sea, or lake, most probably a shoal one, and +gradually filling up by numerous depositions from the high lands, left by +the waters which flow into it. It is most singular, that the high lands on +this continent seem to be confined to the sea-coast, and not to extend to +any distance from it.” + +<p>In a work published at Sydney, containing an account of Mr. Allan +Cunningham's journey towards Moreton Bay, in 1828, the following remarks +occur, from which it is evident Mr. Cunningham entertained Mr. Oxley's +views of the character and nature of the Western interior. Towards the +conclusion of the narrative, the author thus observes:— + +<p>“Of the probable character of the distant unexplored interior, into which +it has been ascertained <i>all</i> the rivers falling westerly from the dividing +ranges flow, some inference may be drawn from the following data. + +<p>“Viewing, between the parallels of 34° and 27°, a vast area +of depressed interior, subjected in seasons of prolonged rains to partial +inundation, by a dispersion of the several waters that flow upon it from +the eastern mountains whence they originate; and bearing in mind at the +same time, that the declension of the country within the above parallels, +as most decidedly shown by the dip of its several rivers, is uniformly +<!--page 155 CHARACTER OF THE RIVERS. /page-->to the N.N.W. and N.W., it would appear very conclusive, that either a +portion of our distant interior is occupied by a lake of considerable +magnitude, or that the confluence of those large streams, the Macquarie, +Castlereagh, Gwydir, and the Dumaresq, with the many minor interfluent +waters, which doubtless takes place upon those low levels, forms one +or more noble rivers, which may flow across the continent by an almost +imperceptible declivity of country to the north of north-west coasts, on +certain parts of which, recent surveys have discovered to us extensive +openings, by which the largest accumulations of waters might escape to the +sea.” + +<p>It is the characteristic of the streams falling westerly from the eastern, +or coast ranges, to maintain a breadth of channel and a rapidity of +current more immediately near their sources, that ill accords with their +diminished size, and the sluggish flow of their waters in the more +depressed interior. In truth, neither the Macquarie nor the Castlereagh +can strictly be considered as permanent rivers. The last particularly is +nothing more than a mountain torrent. The Macquarie, although it at length +ceased to run, kept up the appearance of a river to the very marshes; but +the bed of the Castlereagh might have been crossed in many places without +being noticed, nor did its channel contain so much water as was to be +found on the neighbouring plains. + +<p>There are two circumstances upon which the magnitude, and velocity of a +river, more immediately depend. The first is the abundance of its sources, +the other the dip of its <!--page 156 MR. CUNNINGHAM'S REMARKS. /page-->bed. If a stream has constant fountains at its +head, and numerous tributaries joining it in its course, and flows withal +through a country of gradual descent, such a stream will never fail; but +if the supplies do not exceed the evaporation and absorption, to which +every river is subject, if a river dependant on its head alone, falls +rapidly into a level country, without receiving a single addition to its +waters to assist the first impulse acquired in their descent, it must +necessarily cease to flow at one point or other. Such is the case with the +Lachlan, the Macquarie, the Castlereagh, and the Darling. Whence the +latter originates, still remains to be ascertained; but most undoubtedly +its sources have been influenced by the same drought that has exhausted +the fountains of the three first mentioned streams. + +<p>In supporting his opinion of the probable discharge of the interior waters +of Australia upon its north-west coast, Mr. Cunningham thus remarks in the +publication from which I have already made an extract. + +<p>“To those remarkable parts of the north-west coast above referred to in +the parallel of 16° south, the Macquarie river, which rises in +lat. 33°, and under the meridian of 150° east, would have a +course of 2045 statute miles throughout, while the elevation of its +source, being 3500 feet above the level of the sea as shown by the +barometer, would give its waters an average descent of twenty inches to +the mile, supposing the bed of the river to be an inclined plane. + +<p>“The Gwydir originating in elevated land, lying in 31° south, and +long. 151° east, at a mean height of 3000 feet, <!--page 157 MR. OXLEY'S OPINIONS. /page-->would have to flow +2020 miles, its elevated sources giving to each a mean fall of seventeen +inches. + +<p>“Dumaresq's river falling 2970 feet from granite mountains, in +28 1/4° under the meridian of 152°, would have to pursue its course +for 2969 miles, its average fall being eighteen inches to a mile.” + +<p>As I have never been upon the banks either of the Gwydir or the Dumaresq, +I cannot speak of those two rivers; but in estimating the sources of the +Macquarie at 3500 feet above the level of the sea, Mr. Cunningham has lost +sight of, or overlooked the fact, that the fall of its bed in the first +two hundred miles, is more than 2800 feet, since the cataract, which is +midway between Wellington Valley and the marshes, was ascertained by +barometrical admeasurement, to be 680 feet only above the ocean. The +country, therefore, through which the Macquarie would have to flow during +the remainder of its course of 1700 miles, in order to gain the +N.W. coast, would not be a gradually inclined plain, but for the most part +a dead level, and the fact of its failure is a sufficient proof in itself +how short the course of a river so circumstanced must necessarily be. + +<p>Having conversed frequently with Mr. Oxley on the subject of his +expeditions, I went into the interior prepossessed in favour of his +opinions, nor do I think he could have drawn any other conclusion than +that which he did, from his experience of the terminations of the rivers +whose courses he explored. Had Mr. Oxley advanced forty, or even thirty +miles, farther than he did, to the westward of <!--page 158 CAPT. KING'S OPINIONS. /page-->Mount Harris; nay, had he +proceeded eight miles in the above direction beyond the actual spot from +which he turned back, he would have formed other and very different +opinions of the probable character of the distant interior. But I am aware +that Mr. Oxley performed all that enterprise, and perseverance, and talent +could have performed, and that it would have been impracticable in him to +have attempted to force its marshes in the state in which he found them. +It was from his want of knowledge of their nature and extent, that he +inferred the swampy and inhospitable character of the more remote country, +a state in which subsequent investigation has found it not to be. The +marsh of the Macquarie is nothing more than an ordinary marsh or swamp in +another country. However large a space it covers, it is no more than a +concavity or basin for the reception of the waters of the river itself, +nor has it any influence whatever on the country to the westward of it, +in respect to inundation; the general features of the latter being a +regular alternation of plain and brush. These facts are in themselves +sufficient to give a fresh interest to the interior of the Australian +continent, and to increase its importance. + +<p>With respect to that part of its coast at which the rivers falling from +the eastern mountains, discharge themselves, it is a question of very +great doubt. It seems that Capt. King, in consequence of some +peculiarities in the currents at its N.W. angle, supports Mr. Cunningham's +opinion as to their probable discharge in that quarter. But I fear the +internal structure of the continent is so low, as to preclude <!--page 159 COURSE OF THE DARLING. /page-->the hopes of +any river reaching from one extremity of it to the other. A variety of +local circumstances, as the contraction of a channel, a shoal sea, or +numerous islands, influence currents generally, but more especially round +so extensive a continent as that of which we are treating; nor does it +strike me that any observations made by Capt. King during his survey, can +be held to bear any connection with the eastern ranges, or their western +waters. It may, however, be said, that as the course of the Darling is +still involved in uncertainty, the question remains undecided; but it +appears to me, the discovery of that river has set aside every conjecture +(founded on previous observation) respecting the main features of the +interior lying to the westward of the Blue Mountains. Both Mr. Oxley and +Mr. Cunningham drew their conclusions from the appearances of the country +they severally explored. The ground on which those theories were built, +has been travelled over, and has not been found to realize them, but +subsequent investigation has discovered to us a river, the dip of whose +bed is to the S.W. We have every reason to believe that the sources of +this river must be far to the northward of the most distant northerly +point to which any survey has been made, as we are certain that it is far +beyond the stretch of vision from the loftiest and most westerly of the +barrier ranges; from which circumstance, it is evident that whatever +disposition the streams descending from those ranges to the westward may +show to hold a N.W. course more immediately at the base, the whole of the +interior streams, from the Macquarie <!--page 160 CHARACTER OF THE WESTERN INTERIOR. /page-->to the Dumaresq, are tributaries to +the principal channel which conveys their united waters at right angles, +if not still more opposite to the direction they were supposed to take, +as far as is yet known. + +<p>The Darling River must be considered as the boundary line to all inland +discoveries from the eastward. Any judgment or opinion of the interior to +the westward of that stream, would be extremely premature and uncertain. +There is not a single feature over it to guide or to strengthen either the +one or the other. + +<p>My impression, when travelling the country to the west and N.W. of the +marshes of the Macquarie, was, that I was traversing a country of +comparatively recent formation. The sandy nature of its soil, the great +want of vegetable decay, the salsolaceous character of its plants, the +appearance of its isolated hills and flooded tracts, and its trifling +elevations above the sea, severally contributed to strengthen these +impressions on my mind. My knowledge of the interior is, however, too +limited to justify me in any conclusion with regard to the central parts +of Australia. An ample field is open to enterprise and to ambition, and it +is to be hoped that some more decisive measures will be carried into +effect, both for the sake of the colony and of geography, to fill up the +blank upon the face of the chart of Australia, and remove from us the +reproach of indifference and inaction. + +<p>Since the above pages were written, an expedition was undertaken by +Major Mitchell, the Surveyor-General, to <!--page 161 BARBER'S STATEMENT. /page-->ascertain the truth of a report +brought in by a runaway convict of the name of Barber, or Clarke, who had +been at large for five years, at different times, among the natives to +the northward of Port Macquarie. This man stated that a large river, +originating in the high lands near Liverpool Plains, and the mountains to +the north of them, pursued a N.W. course to the sea. His story ran thus: +Having learnt from the natives the existence of this river, he determined +to follow it down, in hopes that he might ultimately be enabled to make +his escape from the colony. He accordingly started from Liverpool Plains, +and kept on a river called the Gnamoi, for some time, which took him N.W. +After a few days' journey, he left this river, traversed the country +northwards, and crossed some lofty ranges. Descending to the N.E. he came +to another large river, the Keindur, which again took him N.W. He +travelled 400 miles down it, when he observed a large stream joining it +upon its left bank, which he supposed to be the Gnamoi. The river he was +upon was broad and navigable. It flowed through a level country with a +dead current and muddy water, and spread into frequent lakes. He found +that it ultimately discharged itself into the sea, but was uncertain at +what distance from its sources. He was positive he never travelled to the +<i>southward of west</i>. He ascended a hill near the sea, and observed an island +in the distance, from which, the natives informed him, a race of +light-coloured men came in large canoes for a scented wood; but having +failed in the immediate object of his journey, he was eventually obliged +to return. +<!--page 162 MAJOR MITCHELL'S REPORT. /page--> +<p>The following official report of Major Mitchell will sufficiently point +out the incorrectness of the preceding statement. It is most probable that +Barber merely told that which he had heard from the natives, and that +having a more than ordinary share of cunning, he made up a story upon +their vague and uncertain accounts, in hopes that it would benefit him, +as in truth it did.</p> + +<hr width="30%"> + +<p class=right><i>Bullabalakit, on the River Nammoy, +<br>in lat</i>. 30° 38´ 21´´ S., +<i>long</i>. 149° 30´ 20´´ E. +<br>23<i>rd December</i>, 1831. + +<p>SIR, + +<p>I have the honour to state, for the information of His Excellency the +Governor, the progress I have made in exploring the course of the interior +waters to the northward of the Colony, with reference to the letter which +I had the honour to address to Col. Lindesay, on this subject, on the +19th ult. + +<p>On crossing Liverpool Range my object was to proceed northward, so as to +avoid the plains and head the streams which water them, and avoiding also +the mountain ranges on the east. + +<p>I arrived accordingly, by a tolerably straight and level line, at +Walamoul, on Peel's River; this place (a cattle station of Mr. Brown) +being nearly due north from the common pass across Liverpool Range, and +about a mile-<!--page 163 PEEL'S RIVER. /page-->and-a-half above the spot where Mr. Oxley crossed this +river. + +<p>I found the general course of the Peel below Walamoul to be nearly west; +and after tracing this river downwards twenty-two miles (in direct +distance), I crossed it at an excellent ford, named Wallamburra. I then +traversed the extensive plain of Mulluba; and leaving that of Coonil on +the right, extending far to the north-east, we passed through a favourable +interval of what I considered Hardwicke's Range, the general direction of +this range being two points west of north. + +<p>On passing through this gorge, which, from the name of a hill on the south +side, may be named Ydire, I crossed a very extensive tract of flat +country, on which the wood consisted of iron-bark and acacia pendula; this +tract being part of a valley evidently declining to the north-west, which +is bounded on the south by the Liverpool Range, and on the south-west by +the extremities from the same. On the west, at a distance of twenty-two +miles from Hardwicke's Range, there stands a remarkable isolated hill +named Bounalla; and towards the lowest part of the country, and in the +direction in which all the waters tend, there is a rocky peak named +Tangulda. On the north, a low range (named Wowa), branching westerly from +Hardwicke's Range, bounds on that side this extensive basin, which +includes Liverpool Plains. Peel's River is the principal stream, and +receives, in its course, all the waters of these <!--page 164 MAJOR MITCHELL'S REPORT. /page-->plains below the junction +of Connadilly,—which I take to be York's River, of Oxley. + +<p>The stream is well known to the natives by the name Nammoy; and six miles +below Tangulda, the low extremities from the surrounding ranges close on +the river, and separate this extensive vale from the unexplored country +which extends beyond to an horizon which is unbroken between W.N.W. +and N.N.W. + +<p> +The impracticable appearance of the mountains to the northward, induced me +to proceed thus far to the west; and on examining the country thirty miles +N.E. by N. from Tangulda, I ascended a lofty range extending westward from +the coast chain, and on which the perpendicular sides of masses of +trachyte (a volcanic rock) were opposed to my further progress even with +horses: it was therefore evident that the river supposed to rise about the +latitude of 28° would not be accessible, or at least available to +the Colony, in that direction, and that in the event of the discovery of a +river beyond that range flowing to the northern or north-western shores, +it would become of importance to ascertain whether it was joined by the +Nammoy, the head of this river being so accessible that I have brought my +heavily laden drays to where it is navigable for boats, my present +encampment being on its banks six miles below Tangulda. From this station +I can perceive the western termination of the Trachytic range, and I am +now about to explore the country between it and the Nammoy, and the +further course of this river; and in the event of its continuance in a +favourable <!--page 165 THE RIVER NAMMOY. /page-->direction, I shall fix my depot on its right bank, whence I now +write, and descend the stream in the portable boats. + +<p class=right>I have the honour to be, Sir, +<br>Your most obedient servant, +<br>T. L. MITCHELL, +<br><i>Surveyor-General</i> + +<p><i>The Hon. The Colonial Secretary.</i></p> + +<hr width="30%"> + +<p class=right><i>Peel's River</i>, 29<i>th February</i>, 1832. + +<p>SIR, + +<p>I have the honour to inform you, for the information of His Excellency the +Governor, that I have reached the left bank of this River with my whole +party on my return from the northern interior, having explored the course +of the river referred to in my letter of 22nd December last, and others +within the 29th parallel of latitude. + +<p>There was so much fallen timber in the Nammoy, and its waters were so low, +that the portable boats could not be used on that river with advantage, +and I proceeded by land in a north-west direction, until convinced by its +course turning more to the westward that this river joined the river +Darling. I therefore quitted its banks with the intention of exploring the +country further northward, by moving round the western extremities of the +mountains mentioned in my former letter, and which I have since +distinguished <!--page 166 MAJOR MITCHELL'S REPORT. /page-->in my map by the name of the Lindesay Range. These mountains +terminate abruptly on the west, and I entered a fine open country at their +base, from whence plains (or rather open ground of gentle undulation) +extended westward as far as could be seen. On turning these mountains I +directed my course northward, and to the eastward of north, into the +country beyond them, in search of the river <i>Kindur</i>; and I reached a river +flowing westward, the bed of which was deep, broad, and permanent, but in +which there was not then much water. + +<p>The marks of inundation on trees, and on the adjoining high ground, proved +that its floods rose to an extraordinary height; and from the latitude, +and also from the general direction of its course, I considered this to be +the river which Mr. Cunningham named the Gwydir, on crossing it sixty +miles higher, on his route to Moreton Bay. I descended this river, and +explored the country on its left bank for about eighty miles to the +westward, when I found that its general course was somewhat to the +southward of west. This river received no addition from the mountains over +that part of its left bank traversed by me; and the heat being intense, +the stream was at length so reduced that I could step across it. The banks +had become low, and the bed much contracted, being no longer gravelly, but +muddy. I therefore crossed this river and travelled northward, on a +meridian line, until, in the latitude of 29° 2´, I came upon +the largest river I had yet seen. The banks were earthy and broken, the +soil being loose, and the water of a white <!--page 167 THE RIVER KARAULA. /page-->muddy colour. Trees, washed out +by the roots from the soft soil, filled the bed of this river in many +places. There was abundance of cod-fish of a small size, as well as of the +two other kinds of fish which we had caught in the Peel, the Nammoy, and +the Gwydir. The name of this river, as well as we could make it out from +the natives, was Karaula. Having made fast one tree to top of another tall +tree, I obtained a view of the horizon, which appeared perfectly level, +and I was in hopes that we had at length found a river which would flow to +the northward and avoid the Darling. I accordingly ordered the boat to be +put together, and sent Mr. White with a party some miles down to clear +away any trees in the way. Mr. White came upon a rocky fall, and found +besides the channel so much obstructed by trees, and the course so +tortuous, that I determined to ascertain before embarking upon it, whether +the general course was in the desired direction. Leaving Mr. White with +half the party, I accordingly traced the Karaula downwards, and found that +its course changed to south, a few miles below where I had made it, and +that it was joined by the Gwydir only eight miles below where I had +crossed that river. Immediately below the junction of the Gwydir (which is +in latitude 29° 30´ 27´´, longitude 148° +13´ 20´´) the course of the river continues southward of +west, directly towards where Captain Sturt discovered the River Darling; +and I could no longer doubt that this was the same river. I therefore +returned to the party, determined to explore the country further +northward. +<!--page 168 MAJOR MITCHELL'S REPORT. /page--> +<p>The results of my progress thus far were sufficient, I considered, to +prove that the division of the waters falling towards the northern and +southern shores of Australia is not, as has been supposed, in the +direction of the Liverpool and Warrabangle range, but extends between Cape +Byron on the eastern shore, towards Dick Hartog's Island on the west; the +greater elongation of this country being between these points, and +intermediate between the lines of its northern and southern coasts. The +basin of the streams I have been upon must be bounded on the north by this +dividing ground or water-shed, and although no rise was perceptible in the +northern horizon, the river was traversed by several rocky dykes, over +which it fell southward; their direction being oblique to the course, and +nearly parallel to this division of the waters. I beg leave to state, that +I should not feel certain on this point without having seen more, were it +not evident from Mr. Cunningham's observations, made on crossing this +division on his way to Moreton Bay. Mr. Cunningham, on crossing the head +of this river, nearly in the same latitude, but much nearer its sources, +found the height of its bed above the sea to be 840 feet; at about +forty-five miles further northward the ground rose to upwards of +1700 feet, but immediately beyond, he reached a river flowing north-west, +the height of which was only 1400 feet above the sea. He had thus crossed +this dividing higher ground, between the parallels of 29° +and 28°. It appears, therefore, that all the interior rivers we +know of to the northward of the Morum<!--page 169 THE RIVER KARAULA. /page-->bidgee, belong to the basin of the +Karaula; this stream flowing southward, and hence the disappearance of the +Macquarie and other lower rivers may be understood, for all along the +banks of the Karaula, the Gwydir, and the Nammoy, the country, though not +swampy, bears marks of frequent inundation; thus the floods occasioned by +these rivers united, cover the low country, and receive the Macquarie so +that no channel marks its further course. + +<p>That a basin may be found to the northward receiving the waters of the +northern part of the coast range in a similar manner is extremely +probable, and that they form a better river, because the angle is more +acute between the high ground, which must bound it on the N.E. and the +watershed on the south. I therefore prepared to cross the Karaula, in +hopes of seeing the head at least of such a river, and to explore the +country two degrees further northward, but moving in a N.W. direction. +My tent was struck, and I had just launched my portable boat for the +purpose of crossing the river, when Mr. Surveyor Finch, whom I had +instructed to bring up a supply of flour, arrived with the distressing +intelligence, that two of his men had been killed by the natives, who had +taken the flour, and were in possession of everything he had brought—all +the cattle, including his horse, being also dispersed or lost. I therefore +determined not to extend my excursion further, as the party were already +on reduced rations, and on the 8th instant I retired from the Karaula, +returning by the marked line, which being cut through thick scrubs in +<!--page 170 MAJOR MITCHELL'S REPORT. /page-->various places, is now open, forming a tolerably direct line of +communication in a N.W. direction from Sydney, to a river, beyond which +the survey may be extended whenever His Excellency the Governor thinks +fit. + +<p>The natives had never troubled my party on our advance; indeed I only saw +them when I came upon them by surprise, and then they always ran off. +Their first visit was received at my camp on the Karaula, during my +absence down that river, when they were very friendly, but much disposed +to steal. Various tribes followed us on coming back, but never with any +show of hostility, although moving in tribes of a hundred or more parallel +to our marked line, or in our rear; it was necessary to be ever on our +guard, and to encamp in strong positions only, arranging the drays for +defence during the night: three men were always under arms, and I have +much pleasure in stating, that throughout the whole excursion, and under +circumstances of hardship and privation, the conduct of the men was very +good. I took an armed party to the scene of pillage, and buried the bodies +of the two men, who appeared to have been treacherously murdered while +asleep by the blacks during the absence of Mr. Finch: no natives were to +be found when I visited the spot, although it appeared from columns of +smoke on hills which overlooked if, that they were watching our movements. + +<p>The party has now arrived within a day's journey of Brown's station, +and I have instructed Assistant-Surveyor White (from whom I have received +great assistance during <!--page 171 MAJOR MITCHELL'S REPORT. /page-->the whole journey) to conduct it homewards, being +desirous to proceed without delay to Sydney, and to receive the +instructions of His Excellency the Governor. + +<p class=right>I have the honour to be, Sir, +<br>Your most obedient Servant, +<br>T. L. MITCHELL, +<br><i>Surveyor-General.</i> + +<p><i>The Hon. The Colonial Secretary, +<br>&c. &c. &c.</i></p> + +<hr> +<!--page 172 /page--> +<a name=ch1.6></a><h4>CHAPTER VI.</h4> + +<h5>CONCLUDING REMARKS</h5> +<blockquote class=small> +Obstacles that attend travelling into the interior of Australia—Difficulty +of carrying supplies—Importance of steady intelligent subordinates—Danger +from the natives—Number of men requisite,—and of cattle and +carriages—Provisions—Other arrangements—Treatment of the +natives—Dimensions of the boat used in the second expedition. +</blockquote> +<p>Having now had considerable experience in the fitting out and management +of expeditions in New South Wales, I cannot refrain from making some few +observations on the subject. And without presuming to lay dawn any fixed +rules, I shall only refer to those by which I have best succeeded, in +hopes that some of my remarks may prove of use to future travellers who +may venture to penetrate into the trackless deserts over so small a +portion of which I wandered. + +<p>The great difficulty of examining the interior of Australia, is that of +carrying supplies; for increasing the number of individuals composing an +expedition is of no avail, since an additional number of men must +necessarily in<!--page 173 DIFFICULTIES OF EXPLORING AUSTRALIA. /page-->crease the consumption of food. In order to meet this +difficulty it has been proposed to establish depots upon which an +expedition could fall back to recruit its supplies, and in ordinary cases +this plan might answer; but I am decidedly of opinion that no party could +long remain stationary in the distant interior without some fatal +collision with the natives, which would be attended with the most +deplorable consequences; and I do think, considering all things, that the +experiment is too dangerous to be tried; for when I reached Mount Harris, +on my first retreat from the Darling, I found the party who were awaiting +me, with a supply of provisions, under very great alarm, in consequence of +the hostile proceedings of the Mount Harris tribe. The men had been +obliged to put the camp into a state of defence. The blacks had attempted +to surprise them, and would, had I not returned, have combined in some +general attack. It appears to me that the most judicious plan would be to +send a supply of provisions, with an expedition, to a distant point, under +the charge of a minor party. These provisions could replace those already +expended, and the animals that carried them could be taken back. + +<p>The number of individuals of which the expedition down the banks of the +Macquarie was composed, was fourteen: that is to say, myself, Mr. Hume, +two soldiers, one free man, and seven prisoners of the crown. The latter +behaved, on all occasions, as steadily as it was possible for men to do. +Yet the circumstance of the two soldiers being with me increased my +confidence in the whole, for I <!--page 174 SELECTION OF SUBORDINATES. /page-->was aware that their example would +influence the rest. However well disposed the prisoners of the crown may +be, (as in this instance they certainly were,) the beneficial example of +steady discipline cannot be denied. I should not have considered myself +justified in leaving the camp as I did for a week, and in detaching Mr. +Hume at the same time when at the bottom of the marshes, or in making the +last effort to maintain our position on the banks of the Darling, if I had +not reposed every confidence in the man to whom I entrusted the safety +of the camp during my absence. + +<p>Experience, therefore, of the value of the two soldiers, whom General +Darling was good enough to permit me to take on the strength of the party, +fully bears me out in recommending that one man, at least, of general +responsibility shall be attached to all future expeditions. The success of +an expedition depends so much on the conduct of the persons of whom it is +composed, that too much attention cannot be given to the selection even of +the most subordinate. Men of active intelligent minds, of persevering +habits, and of even temper, should be preferred to mechanics who do not +possess these most requisite qualities. On the other hand, it is +impossible to do without a good carpenter, however defective he may be in +other respects. I was indebted to Mr. Maxwell, the superintendent of +Wellington Valley, for some excellent men, both on my first and on my +second journey, because he understood the nature of the service for which +they were required, and the <!--page 175 DANGER OF COLLISION WITH THE NATIVES. /page-->characters of those whom he recommended. +But however well selected the party, or the men rather, might be, I still +consider a man of general responsibility necessary for its complete +organisation. I would have him somewhat superior to the rest in his +station in life. Him I would hold answerable for the immediate discipline +of the camp, whilst I was present, and for its safety when absent. The +assistant to the leader I would put entirely out of the question. He +has other and most important duties to perform. I would rate this man +wholly independent of him. + +<p>In reference to what I have already said with regard to the natives, it +was supposed that they were so little to be apprehended, that when I went +on the first occasion into the interior, I applied for a limited number of +men only, under an impression that with a few men I could carry provisions +equal to a consumption of a greater number, and by this means be enabled +to keep the field for a greater length of time. But I do not think it +would be safe to penetrate into the distant country with fewer than +fifteen men, for although, happily, no rupture has as yet taken place with +the natives, yet, there is no security against their treachery, and it is +very certain that a slight cause might involve an expedition in +inextricable difficulty, and oblige the leader to throw himself on the +defensive, when far away from other resources than those with which he +should have provided himself, and that, perhaps, when navigating a close +and intricate river, with all the dangers and perplexities attendant on +such a situation. It is absolutely necessary to <!--page 176 PACK-OXEN, HORSES, WHEEL-CARRIAGES. /page-->establish nightly guards, +not only for the security of the camp, but of the cattle, and at the same +time to have a force strong enough to maintain an obstinate resistance +against any number of savages, where no mercy is to be expected. It will +be borne in mind, that there is a wide difference between penetrating into +a country in the midst of its population, and landing from ships for the +purpose of communication or traffic. Yet, how few voyages of discovery +have terminated without bloodshed! Boats while landing are covered by +their ships, and have succour within view; but not so parties that go into +unknown tracts. They must depend on their immediate resources and +individual courage alone. + +<p>With regard to the animals, I should recommend an equal number of horses +as of bullocks; since it has been found that the latter, though slow, +travel better over swampy ground than horses, which, on the other hand, +are preferable for expeditious journeys, to which bullocks would never be +equal. One of the colonial pack-saddles weighs fifty pounds complete, and +is preferable to those sent out from England. This, with a load of +250 lbs. is sufficient for any animal, since it enables the men to place a +part of their provisions with the general loads. The difficulty of keeping +the backs of the animals free from injury, more especially where any +blemish has before existed, is exceedingly great. They should undergo an +examination twice a-day, that is, in the morning prior to moving off, +and in the afternoon before they are turned out to feed; and measures +<!--page 177 ISSUE OF PROVISIONS. /page-->should then be taken to ease them as circumstances require. I never +suffered the saddles to be removed from the backs of the animals under my +charge for twenty minutes after the termination of the journey for the +day, in order to guard against the effects of the sun; and where the least +swelling appeared the saddle was altered and the place dressed. Yet, +notwithstanding all this care and attention, several both of the horses +and bullocks were at one time in a sad condition, during the first +journey,—so much so as almost to paralyse our efforts. It would be +advisable that such animals as are entirely free from blemish should be +chosen for the service of expeditions, for, with proper management they +might be kept in order. The anxiety of mind attendant on a bad state of +the animals is really quite embarrassing, for it not only causes a delay +in the movements, but a derangement in the loads. Other animals are +overburdened, and there is no knowing where the evil will stop. + +<p>In addition to the pack-animals, I would recommend the employment of a +dray or cart under any practicable circumstances. It serves to carry +necessary comforts, gives an expedition greater facility for securing its +collections, and is of inconceivable advantage in many other respects. + +<p>Constant and most earnest attention should be paid to the issue of +provisions, on the discreet management of which so much depends, and the +charge of them should be committed to the second in command. The most +important articles are flour, tea, sugar, and tobacco. All should be +husbanded with extreme care, and weighed from time to <!--page 178 LIVE STOCK. /page-->time. The flour is +best carried in canvass bags, containing 100 pounds each, and should at +the termination of each day's journey, be regularly piled up and covered +with a tarpaulin. Tea, sugar and tobacco lose considerably in weight, so +that it is necessary to estimate for somewhat more than the bare supply. +With regard to the salt meat, the best mode of conveying it appears to be +in small barrels of equal weight with the bags of flour. Salt pork is +better than beef. It should be deprived of all bones and be of the very +best quality. I have heard spirits recommended, but I do not approve their +use. Tea is much more relished by the men; indeed they could not do well +without it. A small quantity of spirits would, however, of course be +necessary in the event of its being required. + +<p>Mr. Cornelius O'Brien, an enterprising and long-established settler, who +has pushed his flocks and herds to the banks of the Morumbidgee, was good +enough to present me with eight wethers as I passed his station. It may be +some gratification to Mr. O'Brien to know, that they contributed very +materially to our comforts, and he will, perhaps, accept my +acknowledgements in this place, not only for so liberal a present to +myself, but for his attention and kindness to my men as long as they +remained in his neighbourhood. It was found that the sheep gave but little +additional trouble, requiring only to be penned at night, as much to +secure them from the native dogs as to prevent them from straying away. +They followed the other animals very quietly, and soon became accustomed +to daily move<!--page 179 INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES. /page-->ments. They proved a most available stock; no waste attended +their slaughter, and they admitted of a necessary and wholesome change of +fresh food from the general salt diet, on which the men would otherwise +have had to subsist. + +<p>The provisions should, if possible, be issued weekly, and their diminution +should be so regulated as to give an equal relief to the animals. + +<p>For general information I have annexed a list of the supplies I took with +me on my first expedition. It may appear long, but the articles were +packed in a small compass, and their value immaterial. + +<p>As a precautionary measure I should advise, that one of the pack animals +be kept apart for the purpose of carrying water. Two casks of equal weight +are the best for such a purpose. In long and hot marches, the men +experience great relief from having water at hand. + +<p>In reference to the natives, I hope sufficient has been said of the manner +of communicating with them to prevent the necessity of a repetition here. +The great point is not to alarm their natural timidity: to exercise +patience in your intercourse with them; to treat them kindly; and to watch +them with suspicion, especially at night. Never permit the men to steal +away from the camp, but keep them as compact as possible; and at every +station so arrange your drays and provisions that they may serve as a +defence in case of your being attacked. + +<p>The natives appeared to me to be indifferent to our pre<!--page 180 WHALE BOAT EMPLOYED /page-->sents, in most +cases. Tomahawks, knives, pieces of iron, and different coloured ribbons +for the forehead, were most esteemed by them. They will barter and +exchange their fish for articles, and readily acquire confidence. + +<p>I believe I have now touched on all the more important points: on minor +ones no observation I can make will be of use; men must, in many things, +be guided by circumstances.</p> + +<hr width="30%"> + +<p>I may here notice that, in my second expedition, as it was anticipated +that I should require adequate provision for water conveyance, at one +stage or other of my journey down the Morumbidgee, I was furnished with a +whale-boat, the dimensions of which are given below. She was built by +Mr. Egan, the master builder of the dock-yard and a native of the colony, +and did great credit to his judgment. She carried two tons and a half of +provisions, independently of a locker, which I appropriated for the +security of the arms, occupying the space between the after-seat and the +stern. She was in the first instance put together loosely, her planks +and timbers marked, and her ring bolts, &c. fitted. She was then taken to +pieces, carefully packed up, and thus conveyed in plank into the interior, +to a distance of four hundred and forty miles, without injury. She was +admirably adapted for the service, and rose as well as could have been +expected over the seas in the lake. It was evident, however, that she +would have been much safer if she had <!--page 181 ON THE SECOND EXPEDITION. /page-->had another plank, for she was +undoubtedly too low. The following were her dimensions:— +<blockquote> + Breadth across 7th timber aft, 5 ft. 1/2 an inch outside. + <br>Across 12th timber, 5 ft. 11 1/4 in. + <br>Across 17th timber forward, 5 ft. + <br>25 ft. 8 in. in length inside. + <br>Curve of the keel No. 1, from the after side of each apron, 3 ft. 3 3/4 in. + <br>No. 2, from head to head of the dead wood, 13 1/2 in. + <br>No. 3, from one end of keel to the other inner side, 3 in. + <br>No. 4, round of keel from the toe of each dead wood, 7/8 1/16th. +</blockquote> +<p>The timbers were marked, beginning from the stern to the bow on the +starboard side, and from bow to stern on the larboard.</p> + +<hr> +<!--page 182 {blank} /page--> +<!--page 183 {not numbered} /page--> +<a name=ap1></a><h3>APPENDIX</h3> + +<hr width="30%"> +<a name=ap1.1></a><h4>No. I.</h4> + +<h5>LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS.</h5> + +<hr width="15%"> +<blockquote class=small> +By His Excellency Lieutenant General Ralph Darling, Commanding +His Majesty's Forces, Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of the +Territory of New South Wales, and its dependencies, and +Vice Admiral of the same, &c. &c. &c. +</blockquote> +<p class=centre><i>To Charles Sturt, Esq. Captain in the 39th Regiment of Foot.</i> + +<p>Whereas it has been judged expedient to fit out an expedition for the +purpose of exploring the interior of New Holland, and the present dry +season affords a reasonable prospect of an opportunity of ascertaining the +nature and extent of the large marsh or marshes which stopped the progress +of the late John Oxley Esq, Surveyor General, in following the courses of +the rivers Lachlan and Macquarie in the years 1817 and 1818. And whereas I +repose full confidence in your abilities and zeal for conducting such an +expedition, I do hereby constitute and appoint you to command and take +charge of the expedition now preparing for the purpose of exploring the +interior of the country, and for ascertaining, if <!--page 184 APPENDIX—No. I. /page-->practicable, the nature +and extent of the marsh or marshes above mentioned. + +<p>In the prosecution of this service, you will be guided generally by the +following instructions. +<ol> +<li>You will be accompanied on this expedition by Mr. Hamilton Hume, whose +great experience in travelling through the remote parts of the Colony, +cannot fail to be highly useful to you. You will also be attended by two +soldiers and six convicts, of whom one is to understand the shoeing of +horses, one to be a carpenter, one a harness-maker and three stock-men, +and you will be provided with six horses and twelve bullocks. +<br><br> +<li>A small boat has been built here for the use of the expedition, and for +its conveyance, there is provided a light four-wheeled carriage to be +drawn by two bullocks. + +<p>The deputy Commissary General has received orders for supplying the +expedition with provisions of the best quality sufficient for six months' +consumption, together with tents, blankets, clothing, pack-saddles, +utensils, instruments, tools, and necessaries of all kinds of which you +are likely to stand in need. Orders are also given for providing you with +arms and ammunition, with rockets for signals, and an ample supply of +simple medicines—You are to consider it an important duty to attend to +the providing of all these supplies, and to take care that not only every +article is of the best quality that can be procured, but also that no +article be wanting with which you may desire to be provided. +<br><br> +<li>Orders are given for forwarding without delay all your provisions, +stores and supplies of every kind to Wellington Valley, at which place, +you, Mr. Hume, and all your men <!--page 185 APPENDIX—No. I. /page-->are to rendezvous as soon as possible. +Mr Maxwell, the superintendent, will furnish you with well-trained +bullocks, and afford you all the assistance you may require in arranging +every thing for your departure from that station. +<br><br> +<li>After you shall have completed all your arrangements, you are to lose +no time in finally departing from Wellington Valley in prosecution of the +immediate objects of the expedition. +<br><br> +<li>You are first to proceed to Mount Harris, where you are to form a +temporary depot, by means of which you will have an opportunity of more +readily communicating with Mr. Maxwell. +<br><br> +<li>You are then to endeavour to determine the fate of the Macquarie River, +by tracing it as far as possible beyond the point to which Mr. Oxley went, +and by pushing westward, you are to ascertain if there be any high lands +in that direction, or if the country be, as it is supposed, an unbroken +level and under water. If you should fail in these objects, you will +traverse the plains lying behind our north-west boundaries, with a view to +skirt any waters by which you may have been checked to the westward; and +if you should succeed in skirting them, you are to explore the country +westward and southward as far as possible, endeavouring to discover the +Macquarie beyond the marsh of Mr. Oxley, and following it to its mouth if +at all practicable. +<br><br> +<li>There is some reason to believe that the over-flowing of the Macquarie +when visited by Mr. Oxley, was occasioned by heavy rains falling in the +mountains to the eastward, and that as you are to visit the same spot at a +different season of the year, you may escape such embarrassment; but +although you should get beyond the point at which <!--page 186 APPENDIX—No. I. /page-->Mr. Oxley stopped, it +would not be prudent to risk your own health or that of your men, by +continuing long in a swampy country. Therefore it may be advisable for you +in the first instance to leave the greater part of your men, bullocks, and +baggage, at Mount Harris, and if you should see a probability of your +being able to cross into the interior, you will then return to Mount +Harris for such additional supplies as you may judge necessary. You can +there communicate with Mr. Maxwell respecting any ulterior arrangements +which you may be desirous of making. +<br><br> +<li>The success of the expedition is so desirable an object, that I cannot +too strongly impress upon you the importance of perseverance in +endeavouring to skirt any waters or marshes which may check your course as +long as you have provisions sufficient for your return; but you must be +cautious not to proceed a single day's journey further than where you find +that your provisions will be barely sufficient to enable you to reach the +nearest place at which you can depend upon getting supplies. +<br><br> +<li>If after every endeavour you should find it totally impracticable to get +to the westward, you are still to proceed northward, keeping as westerly a +direction as possible; and when the state of your provisions will oblige +you to retreat, you will be guided by your latitude, as to the place to +which you are to make the best of your way, but you are not to make for +any place on the coast, if Wellington valley should still be nearer. +<br><br> +<li>You must be aware that the success of the expedition will greatly +depend upon the time for which your provisions <!--page 187 APPENDIX—No. I. /page-->will hold out, and +therefore you will see the great importance of observing every possible +economy in the expenditure of provisions, and preventing waste of every +kind. +<br><br> +<li>You are to keep a detailed account of your proceedings in a journal, +in which all observations and occurrences of every kind, with all their +circumstances, however minute, are to be carefully noted down. You are to +be particular in describing the general face of all the country through +which you pass, the direction and shape of the mountains, whether detached +or in ranges, together with the bearings and estimated distances of the +several mountains, hills, or eminences from each other. You are likewise +to note the nature of the climate, as to heat, cold, moisture, winds, +rains, &c, and to keep a register of the temperature from Fahrenheit's +thermometer, as observed at two or three periods of each day. The rivers, +with their several branches, their direction, velocity, breadth, and +depth, are carefully to be noted. It is further expected that you will, +as far as may be in your power, attend to the animal, vegetable, and +mineral productions of the country, noting down every thing that may occur +to you, and preserving specimens as far as your means will admit, +especially some of all the ripe seeds which you may discover; when the +preservation of specimens is impossible, drawings or detailed accounts of +them, are very desirable. +<br><br> +<li>You will note the description of the several people whom you may meet, +the extent of the population, their means of subsistence, their genius and +disposition, the nature of their amusements, their diseases and remedies, +their objects <!--page 188 APPENDIX—No. I. /page-->of worship, religious ceremonies, and a vocabulary of their +language.</li> +</ol> +<p>Lastly. On your return from your journey, you are to cause all the +journals or other written documents belonging to, and curiosities +collected by the several individuals composing the expedition, to be +carefully sealed up with your own seal and kept in that state until you +shall have made your report to me in writing of the result of the +expedition. + +<p class=right>Given at Sydney, this eighteenth day of November, 1828. +<br>By Command of His Excellency the Governor, +<br>ALEXANDER M'LEAY.</p> + +<hr width="30%"> +<!--page 189 APPENDIX—No. II. /page--> +<a name=ap1.2></a><h4>No. II.</h4> + +<h5>LIST OF STORES SUPPLIED FOR THE EXPEDITION.</h5> + +<hr width="15%"> + +<p class=centre><i>List of Articles delivered from His Majesty's Stores, +in charge of D. A. C. Goodsir, to Captain Sturt, viz</i>.—</p> +<table summary=""><col><col> +<tr><td>1 Hack saddle. <td>9 Harness casks. +<tr><td>1 Bridle. <td>23 Canvas bags. +<tr><td>2 Tents. <td>4 Tin cases. +<tr><td>14 Pack saddles. <td>16 Padlocks. +<tr><td>14 Pair hobbles. <td>6 Tarpaulens. +<tr><td>24 Sets horse shoes. <td>10 Haversacks. +<tr><td>2000 Horse nails. <td>113 Fathom one-inch rope. +<tr><td>113 Fathoms 1 1/2 inch rope. <td>1 Boat compass. +<tr><td>1 Hammer, (Blacksmith's) <td>1 Telescope. +<tr><td>1 Paring knife. <td>1 Spare glass for ditto. +<tr><td>2 Chipping do. <td>1 Tin case (for charts.) +<tr><td>2 Rasps. <td>100 Fish-hooks, (large.) +<tr><td>1 Pair pincers. <td>12 Fishing-lines. +<tr><td>1 Cutter. <td>10 Knives. +<tr><td>2 lb. Pack thread. <td>10 Forks. +<tr><td>24 Needles. <td>10 Spoons. +<tr><td>1/4 lb. Bristles. <td>2 Frying-pans. +<tr><td>7 lbs. Leather. <td>2 Tinder-boxes. +<tr><td>1/2 lb. Thread. <td>1 Tea-kettle, (tin.) +<!--page 190 APPENDIX—No. II. /page--> +<tr><td>1 Pair of steelyards. <td>10 Tin dishes. +<tr><td>10 Tin pots. <td>8 Jackets. +<tr><td>1 Flour seive. <td>8 Duck frocks. +<tr><td>2 Felling-axes. <td>8 Shirts. +<tr><td>4 Tomahawks. <td>16 Trousers. +<tr><td>2 Hammers. <td>24 Pair shoes. +<tr><td>1 Hand-saw. <td>16 Blankets. +<tr><td>3 Bill-hooks. <td>16 Pair stockings. +<tr><td>3 Awls. <td>2 Bullock collars. +<tr><td>3 Broad hoes. <td>2 Do. back-bands and pipes. +<tr><td>4 Razors. <td>2 Leading cruppers. +<tr><td>4 Brushes. <td>1 Boat with sail and oars. +<tr><td>4 Combs. <td>1 Do. carriage. +<tr><td>3 Iron pots, (camp kettles.) <td>1 Canvass boat-cover. +<tr><td>1 Pair scissors. <td>3 Water breaker.</tr> +</table> +<p class=right><i>Commissariat Office, Sydney, Nov.</i> 10<i>th</i>, 1828.</p> +<table summary=""><col><col> +<tr><td>P.S.—<td>1 Tarpaulen. +<tr><td> <td>Large Fish-hook. +<tr><td> <td>1 Tin tea-kettle. +<tr><td> <td>1 Camp kettle. +<tr><td> <td>Pitch and oil. +<tr><td> <td>Hemp or twine.</tr> +</table><br> +<hr width="30%"> +<!--page 191 APPENDIX—No. III /page--> +<a name=ap1.3></a><h4>No. III.</h4> + +<h5>SHEEP-FARMING RETURNS, SHOWING THE INCREASE IN FOUR YEARS, +<i>from two Breeding Flocks, consisting of 670 Ewes in Lamb.</i></h5> +<p>(A.)—1st JUNE, 1828.</p> +<table summary=""><col><col span=7 align=right> +<tr><td colspan=8><hr> +<tr><td>Flocks.<td colspan=2 align=center>Breeding Ewes.<td colspan=2 align=center>Lambs.<td>Total.<td colspan=2 align=center>Remarks. +<tr><td><td>2 yrs. old<td>3 yrs. old<td>Male<td>Female +<tr><td colspan=8><hr> +<tr><td colspan=7><td>Lambs. +<tr><td>No. 1 <td> 330<td> <td> 148<td> 149<td> 627<td>Deaths 6<td>Incr.297 +<tr><td>No. 2 <td> <td> 330<td> 154<td> 154<td> 638<td> 4<td> 308 +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td><hr><td> <hr><td> <hr> +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td> <td> *<td>1265<td> 10<td> 605 +<tr><td colspan=8><hr></tr> +</table> +<p class=note>* [The increase throughout these returns is calculated at from 270 to 290 +Lambs, to 300 Ewes, which is the usual average in N.S.W.]</p> +<p>ABSTRACT.</p> +<table summary=""><col><col span=2 align=right> +<tr><td>Purchased two Flocks of Ewes, at 84s<td> <td> 670 +<tr><td>Increase of Lambs <td>605 +<tr><td>Casual Deaths <td> 10 <td> 595 +<tr><td> <td> <td><hr> +<tr><td>Total as per Return <td> <td>1265</tr> +</table> +<hr> +<p>(B.)—1st JUNE, 1829.</p> +<br><table summary=""><col><col span=9 align=right> +<tr><td colspan=10><hr> +<tr><td>Flocks<td colspan=2 align=center>Ewes<td>Wethers<td>Rams<td colspan=2 align=center>Lambs<td>Total<td colspan=2 align=center>Remarks +<tr><td><td>Breeding<td>Maiden<td><td><td>Male<td>Female +<tr><td colspan=10><hr> +<tr><td>No. <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td>Lambs. +<tr><td>1 3-yr.<td> 327<td> <td> <td> <td> 154<td> 154<td> 635<td>Deaths 3<td>Incr.308 +<tr><td>2 4-yr.<td> 326<td> <td> <td> <td> 155<td> 155<td> 636<td> 4<td> 310 +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <hr> +<tr><td>3 1-yr.<td> <td> 302<td> <td> <td> <td> <td> 302<td> 1<td> 618 +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <hr><td> <hr> +<tr><td>4 1-yr.<td> <td> <td> 302<td> 18<td> <td> <td> 320<td> 8 +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td><hr> +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td>1893 +<tr><td colspan=10><hr></tr> +</table> +<p>ABSTRACT.</p> +<table summary=""><col><col span=3 align=right> +<tr><td>Return (A) Total <td> <td> <td>1265 +<tr><td>Increase by Lambing <td>618 +<tr><td>Ditto Rams purchased<td> 18 +<tr><td> <td><hr><td>636 +<tr><td>Casual Deaths <td> <td> 8<td> 628 +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td><hr> +<tr><td>Total as per return <td> <td> <td>1893</tr> +</table> +<hr> +<!--page 192 APPENDIX—No. III. /page--> +<p>(C.)—1st JUNE, 1830.</p> +<br><table summary=""><col><col span=9 align=right> +<tr><td colspan=10><hr> +<tr><td>Flocks<td colspan=2 align=center>Ewes<td>Wethers<td>Rams<td colspan=2 align=center>Lambs<td>Total<td colspan=2 align=center>Remarks +<tr><td><td>Breeding<td>Maiden<td><td><td>Male<td>Female +<tr><td colspan=10><hr> +<tr><td>No. <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td>Lambs. +<tr><td>1 2-yr.<td> 296<td> <td> <td> <td> 133<td> 133<td> 562<td>Deaths 6<td>Incr.266 +<tr><td>2 4-yr.<td> 325<td> <td> <td> <td> 150<td> 150<td> 625<td> 2<td> 300 +<tr><td>3 5-yr.<td> 326<td> <td> <td> <td> 160<td> 160<td> 646<td> <td> 320 +<tr><td>4 2-yr.<td> <td> <td> 302<td> 27<td> <td> <td> 329<td> <td> <hr> +<tr><td>5 1-yr.<td> <td> <td> 309<td> <td> <td> <td> 309<td> <td> 886 +<tr><td>6 1-yr.<td> <td> 309<td> <td> <td> <td> <td> 309<td> <td> <hr> +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td><hr><td colspan=2>3 Rams died +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td>2780<td colspan=2>12 ditto purchased. +<tr><td colspan=10><hr></tr> +</table> +<p>ABSTRACT.</p> +<table summary=""><col><col span=3 align=right> +<tr><td>Return (B) Total <td> <td> <td>1893 +<tr><td>Increase by Lambing <td> 886 +<tr><td>Ditto Rams purchased<td> 12 +<tr><td> <td><hr><td> 898 +<tr><td>Deaths <td> <td> 11<td> 887 +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td><hr> +<tr><td>Total as per return <td> <td> <td>2780</tr> +</table> +<hr> +<br> +<p>(D.)—1st JUNE, 1831.</p> +<table summary=""><col><col span=9 align=right> +<tr><td colspan=10><hr> +<tr><td>Flocks<td colspan=2 align=center>Ewes<td>Wethers<td>Rams<td colspan=2 align=center>Lambs<td>Total<td colspan=2 align=center>Remarks +<tr><td><td>Breeding<td>Maiden<td><td><td>Male<td>Female +<tr><td colspan=10><hr> +<tr><td>No. <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td>Lambs. +<tr><td>1 2-yr.<td> 304<td> <td> <td> <td> 136<td> 136<td> 576<td>Deaths 5<td>Incr.272 +<tr><td>2 3-yr.<td> 293<td> <td> <td> <td> 135<td> 136<td> 564<td> 3<td> 271 +<tr><td>3 5-yr.<td> 324<td> <td> <td> <td> 156<td> 156<td> 636<td> 1<td> 312 +<tr><td>4 6-yr.<td> 320<td> <td> <td> <td> 156<td> 156<td> 632<td> 2<td> 312 +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td>Killed 4<td> <hr> +<tr><td>5 3-yr.<td> <td> <td> 300<td> <td> <td> <td> 300<td>Deaths 2<td> 1167 +<tr><td>6 2-yr.<td> <td> <td> 308<td> <td> <td> <td> 308<td> 1<td> +<tr><td>7 1-yr.<td> <td> <td> 443<td> <td> <td> <td> 443<td> <td> +<tr><td>8 1-yr.<td> <td> 442<td> <td> <td> <td> <td> 442<td> 1<td> +<tr><td>9 <td> <td> <td> <td> 40<td> <td> <td> 40<td> 5<td> +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td><hr><td> <hr><td> +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td>3941<td> 20<td> +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td colspan=2>Purchased 12 +<tr><td colspan=10><hr></tr> +</table> +<p>ABSTRACT.</p> +<table summary=""><col><col span=3 align=right> +<tr><td>Return (C) Total <td> <td> <td>2780 +<tr><td>Increase by Lambing <td>1167 +<tr><td>Ditto Rams purchased<td> 18 +<tr><td> <td><hr><td>1185 +<tr><td>Casual deaths 20…Killed for use 4<td> <td> 24<td>1161 +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td><hr> +<tr><td>Total as per return <td> <td> <td>3941</tr> +</table> +<hr> +<!--page 193 APPENDIX—No. III. /page--> +<br> +<p>(E.)—1st JUNE, 1832.</p> +<table summary=""><col><col span=9 align=right> +<tr><td colspan=10><hr> +<tr><td>Flocks<td colspan=2 align=center>Ewes<td>Wethers<td>Rams<td colspan=2 align=center>Lambs<td>Total<td colspan=2 align=center>Remarks +<tr><td> <td>Breeding <td>Maiden <td> <td> <td>Male <td>Female <td> <td colspan=2 align=center>(Killed) +<tr><td colspan=10><hr> +<tr><td>No. <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td>Lambs. +<tr><td>1 2-yr.<td> 344<td> <td> <td> <td> 154<td> 154<td> 652<td>Deaths 6<td>Incr.308 +<tr><td>2 3-yr.<td> 344<td> <td> <td> <td> 162<td> 161<td> 667<td> 4<td> 323 +<tr><td>4 3-yr.<td> 342<td> <td> <td> <td> 164<td> 165<td> 671<td> 3<td> 329 +<tr><td>5 6-yr.<td> 320<td> <td> <td> <td> 155<td> 155<td> 630<td> 2 (2)<td> 310 +<tr><td>6 7-yr.<td> 300<td> <td> <td> <td> 145<td> 145<td> 590<td> 2 (18)<td> 290 +<tr><td>7 4-yr.<td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <td> <hr> +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td> 300<td> <td> <td> <td> 300<td> <td> 1560 +<tr><td>8 3-yr.<td> <td> <td> 302<td> <td> <td> <td> 302<td> 2<td> +<tr><td>9 2-yr.<td> <td> <td> 440<td> <td> <td> <td> 440<td> 1 (2)<td> +<tr><td>10 1-yr<td> <td> <td> 583<td> <td> <td> <td> 583<td> <hr><td> +<tr><td>11 1-yr<td> <td> 584<td> <td> <td> <td> <td> 584<td> (22)<td> +<tr><td>12 <td> <td> <td> <td> 45<td> <td> <td> 45<td> 5<td>Purch.10 +<tr><td> <td><hr><td><hr><td><hr><td><hr><td><hr><td><hr><td><hr><td> <hr><td> +<tr><td> <td>1650<td> 584<td>1625<td> 45<td> 780<td> 780<td>5464<td colspan=2>25 Casual deaths +<tr><td colspan=10><hr></tr> +</table> +<p>ABSTRACT.</p> +<table summary=""><col><col span=3 align=right> +<tr><td>Return (D) Total <td> <td> <td>3941 +<tr><td>Increase by Lambing <td>1560 +<tr><td>Ditto Rams purchased <td> 10 +<tr><td> <td><hr><td>1570 +<tr><td>Decrease by casual death <td> 25 +<tr><td>Do. by slaughtered for use<td> 22<td> <td>1523 +<tr><td> <td><hr><td> 47<td><hr> +<tr><td>Grand Total as above <td> <td> <td>5464</tr> +</table> +<p><i>Memorandum</i>,—The deaths have been calculated at the lowest rate under the +best management. It may be safer to assume a rate of four or five per +cent. per annum.</p> +<!--page 194 APPENDIX—No. III. /page--> +<h5>Account of Expenditure and Income upon Sheep Stock in Australia, +appended to Returns A. B. C. D. and E.</h5> +<p>1st YEAR, (RETURN A.) JUNE, 1829.</p> +<table summary=""><col><col span=3 align=right> +<tr class=small><td align=center>INCOME. +<tr><td colspan=4>By 1265 fleeces, average weight 2 1/4 lbs. 2846 lbs +<tr><td>wool at 1s. 6d. per lb. <td> <td>£213 9 0 +<tr class=small><td align=center>EXPENDITURE. +<tr><td>To 2 Shepherds at £30<td> £60 0 0 +<tr><td>To 1 Watchman at 20 <td> 20 0 0<td> <td class=small>PROFIT. +<tr><td>To Hurdles, &c. <td> 10 0 0 +<tr><td> <td> <hr><td> 90 0 0 +<tr><td> <td> <td> <hr><td> £123 9 0 +<tr><td> </tr> +<tr><td colspan=4 align=center>2nd YEAR, (B.) JUNE, 1830. +<tr class=small><td align=center>INCOME. +<tr><td colspan=4>By 1893 fleeces, at 2 1/4 lbs. 4259 lbs. +<tr><td>wool at 1s. 6d. <td> <td>£319 8 6 +<tr class=small><td align=center>EXPENDITURE. +<tr><td>To 2 Shepherds at £30<td> £60 0 0 +<tr><td>To 2 Ditto 20 <td> 40 0 0 +<tr><td>To 1 Watchman <td> 20 0 0 +<tr><td>To Hurdles &c. <td> 5 0 0 +<tr><td> <td> <hr> +<tr><td> <td>£125 0 0 +<tr><td>To 18 Rams at £10* <td>180 0 0 +<tr><td> <td> <hr><td>£305 0 0 +<tr><td> <td> <td> <hr><td> 14 8 6 +<tr><td colspan=4 class=note>* [The price of rams will probably fall to £5.] +<tr><td> </tr> +<tr><td colspan=4 align=center>3rd YEAR, (C.) JUNE, 1831. +<tr class=small><td align=center>INCOME. +<tr><td colspan=4>By 2780 fleeces, at 2 1/4 lbs. 6255 lbs. +<tr><td>wool at 1s. 6d. <td> <td>£469 2 6 +<tr class=small><td align=center>EXPENDITURE. +<tr><td>To 2 Shepherds at £30<td> £60 0 0 +<tr><td>To 1 Ditto 25 <td> 25 0 0 +<tr><td>To 3 Ditto 20 <td> 60 0 0 +<tr><td>To 2 Watchman 20 <td> 40 0 0 +<tr><td>To Hurdles &c. <td> 10 0 0 +<tr><td> <td> <hr> +<tr><td> <td>195 0 0 +<tr><td>To 12 Rams at £10 <td>120 0 0 +<tr><td> <td> <hr><td>£315 0 0 +<tr><td> <td> <td> <hr><td> 154 2 6 +<tr><td> </tr> +<!--page 195 APPENDIX—No. III. /page--> +<tr><td colspan=4 align=center>4th YEAR, (D.) JUNE, 1832. +<tr class=small><td align=center>INCOME. +<tr><td colspan=4>By 3941 fleeces, at 2 1/4 lbs. 8867 lbs. +<tr><td>wool at 1s. 6d. <td> <td>£665 0 0 +<tr class=small><td align=center>EXPENDITURE. +<tr><td>To 2 Shepherds at £30<td> £60 0 0 +<tr><td>To 2 Ditto 25 <td> 50 0 0 +<tr><td>To 4 Ditto 20 <td> 80 0 0 +<tr><td>To 3 Watchmen, &c. (1 to take charge of Rams)<td> 60 0 0 +<tr><td>To Hurdles, &c. <td> 10 0 0 +<tr><td> <td> <hr> +<tr><td> <td>260 0 0 +<tr><td>To 18 Rams at £10. <td>180 0 0 +<tr><td> <td> <hr><td>£440 0 0 +<tr><td> <td> <td> <hr><td> 225 0 0 +<tr><td> </tr> +<tr><td colspan=4 align=center>5th YEAR, (E.) JUNE, 1833.* +<tr class=small><td align=center>INCOME. +<tr><td colspan=4>By 5464 fleeces at 2 1/4 lbs. 12,294 lbs. +<tr><td>wool at 1s. 6d. <td> <td>£922 0 0 +<tr class=small><td align=center>EXPENDITURE. +<tr><td>To 2 Shepherds at £30<td> £60 0 0 +<tr><td>To 3 Ditto 25 <td> 75 0 0 +<tr><td>To 5 Ditto 20 <td>100 0 0 +<tr><td>To 3 Watchman 20 <td> 60 0 0 +<tr><td>To Hurdles &c. <td> 20 0 0 +<tr><td> <td> <hr> +<tr><td> <td>315 0 0 +<tr><td>To 10 Rams at £10 <td>100 0 0 +<tr><td> <td> <hr><td>£415 0 0 +<tr><td> <td> <td> <hr><td> 507 0 0 +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td> <hr> +<tr><td colspan=3>Net profit by sales of wool in 5 years <td>£1024 0 0</tr> +</table> +<p>£1024 divided by 5, gives £204 8 0 for annual interest on the +original capital of £2814, (about 7 1/4 per cent. per annum,) +in addition to the accumulation of capital itself, shown by the +valuation of stock. +<p class=note>* [These accounts are a year in advance of the sheep returns, in order to +bring them to the time at which the wool would be sold.]</p> +<p>VALUATION OF SHEEP, JUNE, 1832—(RETURN E.)</p> +<!--page 196 APPENDIX—No. III. /page--> +<table summary=""><col align=right><col><col><col align=right> +<tr><td>1614<td> Ewes from 1 to 4 years old <td>£3 each<td>£4842 0 0 +<tr><td> 620<td> Do. 4 to 7 years old <td> 2 " <td>1240 0 0 +<tr><td> 780<td> Female Lambs <td> 2 " <td>1560 0 0 +<tr><td>2405<td> Wethers and Male Lambs <td> 15s. <td>1803 0 0 +<tr><td> 45<td> Rams (original cost, 450<i>l</i>.)<td> <td> 400 0 0 +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td> <hr> +<tr><td> <td> <td> <td>£9845 0 0</tr> +</table> +<p><i>Note</i>.—About £500 would be added to the Income on the fifth year, +by the sale of wethers of 3 and 4 years old. + +<p>The cost of rams ought, strictly speaking, to be added to capital, and not +deducted from Income; but these returns were made out in their present +form at the request of a gentleman proceeding to the Colony with a limited +capital, and who wished to know how much he might safely invest in sheep.</p> + +<hr width="30%"> +<!--page 197 APPENDIX—No. IV. /page--> +<a name=ap1.4></a><h4>No. IV.</h4> + +<h5>LIST OF GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS, COLLECTED IN THE DISTANT INTERIOR DURING +THE FIRST EXPEDITION, WITH THEIR LOCALITIES AND THEIR RELATIVE DISTANCES +FROM EACH OTHER.</h5> + +<p>It may be necessary to observe that the height of the Cataract of the +Macquarie River above the sea, was ascertained by barometrical +admeasurement to be 650 feet. The country subsequently traversed is +considerably lower. The specimens refer only to the geological formation +of the distant interior. + +<p>Schorl Rock.—Colour blueish grey, fine grained, extremely hard. Composed +of Tourmaline and Quartz. Forms the bed of the Macquarie at the Cataract, +75 miles to the N.W. of Wellington Valley. + +<p>Decomposed Mica Slate.—Colour white; yields to the knife; adheres +strongly to the tongue. + +<p>Decomposed Feldspar.—Colour pale rose-pink; very fine grained; easily +scratched with the knife; adheres strongly to the tongue. +<blockquote> +Both specimens immediately succeed the Schorl rock at the Cataract, in +large smooth-sided masses. +<!--page 198 APPENDIX—No. IV. /page--> +<p>This formation may be said to terminate the rocks connected with the +dividing ranges, since it is the last that occurs at their western base. + +<p>A little below the Cataract, the county undergoes a remarkable change, +and becomes extremely depressed.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Porphyry with Feldspar.—Colour dull red, with white spots, or grey with +red spots; very hard, compact, sonorous, magnetic. (See pp. 27 and 115.) +Composition of Mount Harris, a hill called by Mr. Oxley, elevated about +170 feet above the level of the plains. It lies 65 miles to the N.N.W. of +the Cataract, and is about 16 miles distant from the first of the marshes +of the Macquarie. + +<p>Porphyry with Feldspar.—Colour grey with red spots, similar to the last. +Was not observed to affect the needle. Formation of Mount Foster. +Mount Foster is more than 200 feet in height, and lies about 5 miles to +the N.N.W. of Mount Harris. From the summit of both, Arbuthnot's range is +visible, bearing nearly due east, distant 70 miles. (See page 28.) + +<p>Quartz Rock varieties—Slaty Quartz varieties.—Composition of the first +elevations to the Westward of the marshes of the Macquarie, called +New Year's Range, a group of five hills. The loftiest about 200 feet in +elevation; distant about 80 miles to the N.W. of Mount Harris. + +<p>Granite.—Colour red, coarse-grained. Composed of Quartz, Feldspar, +and Mica.</p> +<!--face 199 /face--> +<a name=i1.6></a><h5>Illustration 6</h5> +<div class=centre><img alt="" src=images/xpssti06.jpg></div> +<h5>A SELENITE. +<br>CHRYSTALLIZED SULPHATE OF LIME.</h5> + +<p>Granite, Porphyritic.—Colour light red. Both occurring in the bed of +New Year's Creek, traversing it obliquely, and are visible for a <!--page 199 APPENDIX—No. IV. /page-->few +hundred yards only. This granite occurs about 16 miles from the Range in +a N. by E. direction. + +<p>Old Red Sandstone.—Composition of Oxley's Table Land, 500 feet above the +level of the plains. It is broken into two hills, that appear to have been +separated by some convulsion. (See page 81.) It bears N.W. by W. from +New Year's Range, distant 50 miles. + +<p>Old Red Sandstone.—Composition of D'Urban's group. The highest elevation +ascended during the expedition, being nearly 600 feet above the level of +the plain in which it rises. It lies to the S.S.W. of Oxley's Table Land, +distant 40 miles, and the rock of which it is composed is much harder +and closer. + +<p>Breccia.—Colour pale yellow, silicious cement. Composition of some +trifling elevations to the North of New-Year's range, with which it is +doubtful whether they are connected. + +<p>Chrystallized Sulphate of Lime.—Found imbedded in the alluvial soil +forming the banks of the Darling river. Occurring in a regular vein. Soft, +yielding to the nail; not acted on by acids.—See Plate. + +<p>Breccia.—Pale ochre colour, silicious cement, extremely hard. Cellular, +and sharp edges to the fractured pebbles. Has apparently undergone fusion. +Occurs in the bed of the Darling in one place only. + +<p>Sandstone Varieties.—Colour dull red and muddy white; appears like burnt +bricks; light, easily frangible; adheres to the tongue; occurs in large +masses in the bed of the Darling; <!--page 200 APPENDIX—No. IV. /page-->probably in connection with the +rock-salt of the neighbourhood, which, from the number of brine springs +discovered feeding the river, must necessarily exist. + +<p>Variety of the same description of rock. + +<p>Jasper and Quartz.—Showing itself above the surface of a plain, from +which D'Urban's group bore S. 40 E. distant 33 miles. + +<p>It is a remarkable fact, that not a pebble or a stone was picked up during +the progress of the expedition, on any one of the plains; and that after +it again left Mount Harris for the Castlereagh, the only rock-formation +discovered was a small Freestone tract near the Darling river. There was +not a pebble of any kind either in the bed of the Castlereagh, or in the +creeks falling into it.</p> + +<hr width="30%"> +<!--page 201 APPENDIX—No. V. /page--> +<a name=ap1.5></a><h4>No. V.</h4> + +<h5>OFFICIAL REPORTS TO THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT.</h5> + +<hr width="15%"> + +<h5 class=small>GOVERNMENT ORDER</h5> + +<p class=right><i>Colonial Secretary's Office</i>, 23<i>rd January</i>, 1829. + +<p>His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to order, that the following +communication, dated the 25th of December last, from Captain Sturt, of the +39th Regiment, who is employed in an exploring expedition into the +interior of the country, be published for general information. + +<p class=right>By his Excellency's Command, +<br>ALEXANDER M'LEAY.</p> + +<hr width="15%"> + +<p class=right><i>Western Marshes</i>, 25<i>th December</i>, 1828. + +<p>SIR,—I do myself the honor to forward, for the Governor's perusal, a +copy of my journal up to the date of my <!--page 202 APPENDIX—No. V. /page-->arrival at Mount Harris. I should +not have directed the messenger to return so soon, had I not subsequently +advanced to Mount Foster, and surveyed the country from that eminence. I +could distinctly see Arbuthnot's Range to the eastward. From that point +the horizon appeared to me unbroken, but the country to the northward and +westward seemed to favour an attempt to penetrate into it. I did not +observe any sheet of water, and the course of the Macquarie was lost in +the woodlands below. + +<p>Mr. Hume ascended the hill at sun-rise, and thought he could see mountains +to the north east, but at such a distance as to make it quite a matter of +uncertainty. Agreeing, however, in the prudence of an immediate descent, +we left our encampment on the morning of the 23rd, under Mount Foster, to +which we had removed from Mount Harris, and pursued a north-north-west +course to the spot on which we rest at present. We passed some fine meadow +land near the river, and were obliged to keep wide of it in consequence of +fissures in the ground. Traversing a large and blasted plain, on which the +sun's rays fell with intense heat, and on which there was but little +vegetation, we skirted the first great morass, and made the river +immediately beyond it. It is of very considerable extent, the channel of +the river passing through it. We are encompassed on every side by high +reeds, which exist in the woods as well as in the plains. Mr. Hume and +myself rode forward yesterday through the second morass, and made the +river on slightly elevated ground, at a distance of about five miles; the +country beyond appeared to favour our object, and we, to-morrow, proceed +with the party to the north-west. The river seems to bend to the +north-east; but in <!--page 203 APPENDIX—No. V. /page-->this level country it is impossible to speak with +certainty, or to give any decided opinion of the nature of it, beyond the +flats on which we are travelling. The reeds to the north-east and +northward extend over a circumference of fifty miles; but if Mr. Hume +really saw mountains or rising ground in the former point, the apparent +course of the Macquarie is at once accounted for. The country, however, +seems to dip to the north, though generally speaking it is level, and I am +inclined to think that the state of the atmosphere caused a deception in +this appearance. + +<p>I regret to add, that the effects of the sun on the plain over which we +passed on the 23rd produced a return of inflammation in the eyes of the +men, I have named in my journals, and caused the same in the eyes of +several others of my party. I halted, therefore, to expedite their +recovery. They are doing well now, and we can proceed in the cool of the +morning without any fear of their receiving injury by it. One of the men, +who were to return to Wellington Valley, was attacked slightly with +dysentery, but the medicines I gave him carried it off in the course of a +day or two. I have taken every precaution with regard to the health of the +men, in preparing them for the country into which they are going; and I +have to request that you will inform the governor that the conduct of the +whole party merits my approbation, and that I have no fault to find. The +men from Sydney are not so sharp as those from Wellington Valley, but are +equally well disposed. The animals, both horses and bullocks, are in good +order, and I find the two soldiers of infinite service to me. The boat has +received some damage from exposure to intense heat, but is <!--page 204 APPENDIX—No. V. /page-->otherwise +uninjured. We still retain the carriage and have every prospect of +dragging it on with us. + +<p>His Excellency, having been good enough to order a fresh supply of +provisions to Wellington Valley, I have to beg they may be forwarded to +Mount Harris, and that the person in charge thereof be instructed to +remain at that station for one month. We shall, during the interval, have +examined the country to the north-west; and, in case we are forced back, +shall require a supply to enable us to proceed to the northward, in +furtherance of the views I have already had the honor to submit for the +Governor's approval. + +<p class=right>I have the honor to be, Sir, +<br>Your most obedient and humble Servant, +<br>CHARLES STURT, +<br>Captain, 39th Regt. + +<p><i>The Honorable The Colonial Secretary</i></p> + +<hr width="15%"> + +<h5 class=small>GOVERNMENT ORDER</h5> + +<p class=right><i>Colonial Secretary's Office</i>, 6<i>th April</i>, 1829. + +<p>His Excellency the Governor is pleased to direct that the following +interesting Report which has been received from Captain Sturt, +39th Regiment, who has been employed for some months past, (as will be +seen on reference to the Government Order, No. 4, published with Captain +Sturt's First Report in the Sydney Gazette, of the 24th <!--page 205 APPENDIX—No. V. /page-->of January last) +in exploring the interior, be communicated for the information of the +public. + +<p>It appears that the river Macquarie ceases to exist near the spot where +the expedition under the late Mr. Oxley terminated, which, from the state +of country at the time, being then flooded, could not be ascertained; and +that another river of no inconsiderable magnitude, fed by salt springs, +was discovered by Captain Sturt on the 2nd February last, about 100 miles +to the westward of the Macquarie, running to the southward and westward. + +<p class=right>By His Excellency's Command, +<br>ALEXANDER M'LEAY.</p> + +<hr width="15%"> + +<p class=right><i>Mount Harris</i>, 4<i>th March</i>, 1829. + +<p>SIR,—I do myself the honor to acquaint you, for the information of His +Excellency the Governor, that I returned to this eminence on Monday, +the 23rd ult. having been driven from the interior, in consequence of the +extreme drought which prevails there. + +<p>I am to state, in reference to my former communication, that agreeably to +what I then reported, I moved, on the 26th December last, lower down the +plains of the Macquarie, but encountered a barrier of reeds, formed by the +marshes of that river, through which we in vain endeavoured to force our +way. I was in consequence obliged to make the nearest part of the river to +my left, and to take such measures as the nature of my situation required. +Here, for the first time, I set the boat afloat, deeming it <!--page 206 APPENDIX—No. V. /page-->essential to +trace the river, as I could not move upon its banks, and wishing also to +ascertain where it again issued from the marshes, I requested Mr. Hume to +proceed northerly, with a view to skirt them, and to descend westerly, +wherever he saw an open space. He was fortunate enough to strike upon the +channel about twelve miles north of our position, but was obstructed in +his further progress by another marsh, in consequence of which he returned +to the camp the next day; in the mean time, I had taken the boat, and +proceeded down the Macquarie, my way being at first considerably +obstructed by fallen timber: clearing this obstacle, however, I got into +a deeper channel, with fine broad reaches, and a depth of from twelve to +fifteen feet water. I had a short time previously cleared all woods and +trees, and was now in the midst of reeds of great height. After proceeding +onwards for about eight miles from the place whence I started, my course +was suddenly and unexpectedly checked; I saw reeds before me, and expected +I was about to turn an angle of the river, but I found that I had got to +the end of the channel, and that the river itself had ceased to exist. +Confounded at such a termination to a stream, whose appearance justified +the expectation that it would have led me through the heart of the marsh +to join Mr. Hume, I commenced a most minute examination of the place, and +discovered two creeks, if they deserve the name, branching, the one to the +north-west, and the other to the north-east; after tracing the former a +short distance, I reached its termination, and in order to assure myself +that such was the case, I walked round the head of it by pushing through +the reeds; it being then too dark to continue where I was, I returned to +<!--page 207 APPENDIX—No. V. /page-->a place on the river, at which I had rested during a shower, and slept +there. In the morning I again went to the spot to examine the +north-eastern branch, when I was equally disappointed. I then examined the +space between the two creeks, opposite to the main channel of the river, +and where the bank receives the force of the current. Here I saw water in +the reeds, but it was scarcely ankle deep, and was running off to the +north-west quicker than the waters of the river, which had almost an +imperceptible motion, I was therefore at once convinced that it was not +permanent, but had lodged there in the night, during which much rain had +fallen. I next pushed my way through the reeds into the marsh, and at +length clearly perceived that the waters which were perfectly sweet, after +running several courses, flowed off to the north, towards which point +there was an apparent declination or dip. Finding it impossible to +proceed further, I regained the boat, and thence returned to the camp, +under a conviction that I had reached the very spot, at which Mr. Oxley +lost the channel of the river in 1818. + +<p>The next day I moved to the place where Mr. Hume had struck upon the +channel of the river, but was again doubtful in what direction to proceed. + +<p>The marsh, at the commencement of which we now found ourselves, being the +third from Mount Foster, but the second great one, seemed to extend beyond +us to the north for many miles, but varying in breadth. In the evening I +went in the boat up the channel, and found it at first, deep and sullen, +as that of the river above. It soon however, narrowed, and the weeds +formed over its surface, so that I abandoned the boat and walked along a +path up it. I had not gone far when the channel divided; two <!--page 208 APPENDIX—No. V. /page-->smaller +channels came, the one from the southern, and the other from the western +parts of the marsh into it. There was an evident declination where they +were, and it was at their junction the river again rallied and formed. +On my return to the camp, Mr. Hume and I went down the river, but found +that about a mile it lost itself, and spread its waters ever the extensive +marsh before it. + +<p>In this extremity, I knew not what movement to make, as Mr. Hume had been +checked in his progress north. I therefore determined to ascertain the +nature of the country to the eastward and to the westward, that I might +move accordingly; I proposed to Mr. Hume, to take a week's provisions, +with two attendants, and go to the north-east, in order again to turn the +marsh, but with the expectation that the angle formed by the junction of +the Castlereagh with the Macquarie would arrest its progress, as the last +was fast approaching the former. + +<p>I myself determined to cross the river, and to skirt the marshes on the +left, and in case they turned off to the north east, as they appeared to +do, it was my intention to pursue a N.W. course into the interior, to +learn the nature of it. With these views I left the camp on the 31st of +December, and did not return until the 5th of January. Having found early +in my journey, from the change of soil and of timber, that I was leaving +the neighbourhood of the Macquarie, I followed a N.W. course, from a more +northerly one, and struck at once across the country, under an impression +that Mr. Hume would have made the river again long before my return. +I found, after travelling between twenty and thirty miles, the country +began to rise; and at the end of my journey, I made a hill of considerable +<!--page 209 APPENDIX—No. V. /page-->elevation, from the summit of which I had a view of other high lands; one +to the S.W. being a very fine mountain. As I had not found any water +excepting in two creeks, which I had left far behind me, and as I had got +on a soil which appeared incapable of holding it, I made this the +termination of my journey, having exceeded 100 miles in distance from the +camp, on my return to which I found Mr. Hume still absent. When he joined, +he stated to me, that not making the Castlereagh as soon as he expected, +he had bent down westerly for the Macquarie, and that he ended his journey +at some gentle hills he had made; so that it appeared we must either have +crossed each other's line of route, or that they were very near, and that +want of length must alone have prevented them from crossing; but as such +all assumption led to the conclusion that the Macquarie no longer existed, +I determined to pursue a middle course round the swamps, to ascertain the +point; as in case the river had ended, a westerly course was the one which +my instructions directed me to pursue. + +<p>In the immediate neighbourhood of the marshes we were obliged to sink +wells for water, and it was thus early that we began to feel the want of a +regular supply. + +<p>Having made a creek about four miles from our position by cutting through +the reeds where there was a narrow space, we pursued a westerly course +over a plain, having every appearance of frequent inundation, and for four +or five days held nearly the same direction; in the course of which we +crossed both our tracks on the excursions we had made, which had +intersected each other in a dense oak brush; thus renewing the few doubts, +or rather the doubt <!--page 210 APPENDIX—No. V. /page-->we had as to the fate of the Macquarie, whose course +we had been sent to trace. Indeed, had I not felt convinced that that +river had ceased, I should not have moved westward without further +examination, but we had passed through a very narrow part of the marshes, +and round the greater part of them, and had not seen any hollow that could +by any possible exaggeration be construed into or mistaken for the channel +of a river. + +<p>It appears, then, that the Macquarie, flowing as it does for so many +miles, through a bed, and not a declining country, and having little water +in it, except in times of flood, loses its impetus long ere it reaches the +formidable barrier that opposes its progress northwards; the soil in which +the reeds grow being a stiff clay. Its waters consequently spread, until +a slight declivity giving them fresh impulse, they form a channel again, +but soon gaining a level, they lose their force and their motion together, +and spread not only over the second great marsh, but over a vast extent +of the surrounding country, the breadth of ground thus subject to +inundation being more than twenty miles, and its length considerably +greater; around this space there is a gentle rise which confines the +waters, while small hollows in various directions lead them out of the +marshes over the adjacent plains, on which they eventually subside. On my +return from the interior, I examined those parts round which I had not +been, with particular attention, partly in company with Mr. Hume, and this +statement was confirmed by what we saw. Thus, at a distance of about +twenty-five miles from Mount Foster to the N.N.W. the river Macquarie +ceases to exist, in any shape as a river, and at a distance of between +fifty and sixty, the marshes <!--page 211 APPENDIX—No. V. /page-->terminate, though the country subject to +inundation from the river is of a very considerable extent, as shown by +the withered bulrushes, wet reeds, and shells, that are scattered over +its surface. + +<p>Having executed the first part of the instructions with which I had been +honoured, I determined on pursuing a west, or north-west course into the +interior, to ascertain the nature of it, in fulfilment of the second, but +in doing this I was obliged to follow creeks, and even on their banks had +to carry a supply of water, so uncertain was it that we should meet with +any at the termination of our day's journey, and that what we did find +would be fit to drink. Our course led us over plains immediately bordering +the lower lands of the Macquarie, alternating with swamp oak, acacia +pendula, pine, box, eucalyptus, and many other trees of minor growth, the +soil being inclined to a red loam, while the plains were generally covered +with a black scrub, though in some places they had good grass upon them. +We crossed two creeks before we made the hills Mr. Hume had ascended, and +which he called New Year's Range. Around these hills the country appeared +better—they are gentle, picturesque elevations, and are for the most +part, covered with verdure, and have, I fancy, a whinstone base, the rock +of which they are composed being of various substances. I place New Year's +Range in lat. 30° 21´, long. 146° 3´ +30´´. Our course next lying north-west along a creek, led us to +within twenty miles of the hill that had terminated my excursion, and as I +hoped that a more leisurely survey of the country from its summit would +open something favourable to our view, I struck over for it, though +eventually obliged to return. From it Mr. Hume <!--page 212 APPENDIX—No. V. /page-->and I rode to the S.W. +mountain, a distance of about forty miles, without crossing a brook or a +creek, our way leading through dense acacia brushes, and for the most part +over a desert. We saw high lands from this mountain, which exceeds 1,300 +feet in elevation, and is of sandstone formation, and thickly covered with +stunted pine, in eight different points—the bearings of which are as +follows:—</p> +<table summary=""><col><col> + <tr><td>Oxley's Table Land . . <td>N. 40 E., distant 40 miles. + <tr><td>Kengall Hill . . <td>due E. very distant. + <tr><td>Conical Hill . . <td>S. 60 E. + <tr><td>Highland . . <td>S.E. distance 30 miles. + <tr><td>Highland . . <td>S. 30 E. distance 25 miles. + <tr><td>Long Range . . <td>S. 16 E. distance 60 miles. + <tr><td>Long Range . . <td>S. 72 W. distance 60 miles. + <tr><td>Distant Range . . <td>S. 25 W. supposed.</tr> +</table> +<p>It was in vain, however, that we looked for water. The country to the +north-west, was low and unbroken, and alternated with wood and plain. + +<p>The country from New Year's Range to the hill I had made, and which I +called Oxley's Table Land, had been very fair, with good soil in many +places, but with a total want of water, except in the creeks, wherein the +supply was both bad and uncertain; on our second day's journey from the +former, we came to the creek on which we were moving, where it had a +coarse granite bottom. The country around it improved very much in +appearance, and there was abundance of good grass on the surface of it, in +spite of the drought. On the right of this creek, a large plain stretches +parallel to it for many miles, varying in quality of soil. Near Oxley's +Table Land, we passed over open forest, the prevailing timber of which was +box. I <!--page 213 APPENDIX—No. V. /page-->have placed Oxley's Table Land in latitude 29° 57´ +30´´, longitude 145° 43´ 30´´. + +<p>Finding it impracticable to move westward from the hill I again descended +on the creek, whose general course was to the north-west, in which +direction we at length struck upon a river whose appearance raised our +most sanguine expectations. It flowed round an angle from the north-east +to the north-west, and extended in longitude five reaches as far as we +could see. At that place it was about sixty yards broad, with banks of +from thirty to forty feet high, and it had numerous wild fowl and many +pelicans on its bosom, and seemed to be full of fish, while the paths of +the natives on both sides, like well-trodden roads, showed how numerous +they were about it. On tasting its waters, however, we found them +perfectly salt, and useless to us, and as our animals had been without +water the night before, this circumstance distressed us much; our first +day's journey led us past between sixty and seventy huts in one place, and +on our second we fell in with a numerous tribe of natives, having +previously seen some between two creeks before we made New-Year's Range. +At some places the water proved less salt than at others; our animals +drank of it sparingly: we found two small fresh-water holes, which served +us as we passed. After tracing the river for a considerable distance, we +came on brine springs in the bed of it, the banks having been encrusted +with salt from the first; and as the difficulty of getting fresh water was +so great, I here foresaw an end to our wanderings. And as I was resolved +not to involve my party in greater distress, I halted it, on overtaking +the animals, and the next morning turned back to the nearest fresh-water, +at a distance of <!--page 214 APPENDIX—No. V. /page-->eighteen miles from us. Unwilling, however, to give up +our pursuit, Mr. Hume and I started with two men on horseback, to trace +the river as far as we could, and to ascertain what course it took; in the +hopes also that we should fall on some creek, or get a more certain supply +of drinkable water. We went a distance to which the bullocks could not +have been brought, and then got on a red sandy soil, which at once +destroyed our hopes; and on tasting the river water we found it salter +than ever, our supply being diminished to two pints. Our animals being +weak and purged, and having proceeded at least forty miles from the camp, +I thought it best to yield to circumstances, and to return, though I trust +I shall be believed when I add, it was with extreme reluctance I did so; +and had I followed the wishes of my party, should still have continued +onwards. Making a part of the river where we had slept, we stayed to +refresh, and in consequence of the heat of the weather were obliged to +drink the water in it, which made us sick. While here, a tribe of blacks +came to us and behaved remarkably well. At night we slept on a plain +without water, and the next day we regained the camp, which had been +visited by the natives during our absence. + +<p>We found the river held a south-west course, and appeared to be making for +the central space between a high land, which I called Dunlop's Range, at +Mr. Hume's request, and a lofty range to the westward. It still continued +its important appearance, having gained in breadth and in the height of +its banks, while there were hundreds of pelicans and wild-fowl on it. +Flowing through a level country with such a channel, it may be presumed +that this river ultimately assumes either a greater character, or that it +adds <!--page 215 APPENDIX—No. V. /page-->considerably to the importance of some other stream. It had a clay +bottom, generally speaking, in many places semi-indurated and fast forming +into sandstone, while there was chrystallized sulphate of lime running in +veins through the soil which composed the bank. + +<p>This river differs from most in the colony, in having a belt of barren +land of from a quarter of a mile to two miles in breadth in its immediate +neighbourhood, and which is subject to overflow. This belt runs to the +inland plains, where a small elevation checks the further progress of the +flood. There is magnificent blue gum on both sides the river, but the +right bank is evidently the most fertile, and I am mistaken greatly if +there is not a beautiful country north of it. + +<p>Of the country over which we have passed, it is impossible for me to have +formed a correct opinion under its present melancholy circumstances. It +has borne the appearance of barrenness, where in even moderate rain, it +might have shown very differently, though no doubt we passed over much of +both good and bad land; our animals on the whole, have thrived on the food +they have had, which would argue favourably for the herbage. Generally +speaking, I fear the timber is bad—the rough-gum may be used for knees, +and such purposes, and we may have seen wood for the wheelwright and +cabinet-maker, specimens of which I have procured, but none for general or +household purposes. + +<p>The creeks we have traced are different in character from those in the +settled districts, inasmuch as that, like the river, they have a belt of +barren land near then and but little grass—they have all of them been +numerously frequented by the natives, as appeared from the number <!--page 216 APPENDIX—No. V. /page-->of +muscle-shells on their banks, but now having scarcely any water in them, +the fish having either been taken, or are dead, and the tribes gone +elsewhere for food, while the badness of the river water has introduced a +cutaneous disease among the natives of that district, which is fast +carrying them off. Our intercourse with these people was incessant from +the time we first met them, and on all occasions they behaved remarkably +well, nor could we have seen less than than two hundred and fifty of them. + +<p>Our return is to be attributable to the want of water alone, and it is +impossible for me to describe the effects of the drought on animal as well +as vegetable nature. The natives are wandering in the desert, and it is +melancholy to reflect on the necessity which obliges them to drink the +stinking and loathsome water they do—birds sit gasping in the trees and +are quite thin—the wild dog prowls about in the day-time unable to avoid +us, and is as lean as he can be in a living state, while minor vegetation +is dead, and the very trees are drooping. I have noticed all these things +in my Journal I shall have the honour of submitting through you, for the +Governor's perusal and information, on my return. Finally, I fear our +expedition will not pave the way to any ultimate benefit; although it has +been the means by which two very doubtful questions,—the course of the +Macquarie, and the nature of the interior, have been solved; for it is +beyond doubt, that the interior for 250 miles beyond its former known +limits to the W.N.W., so far from being a shoal sea, has been ascertained +not only to have considerable elevations upon it, but is in itself a table +land to all intents and purposes, and has scarcely water on its surface to +support its inhabitants. +<!--page 217 APPENDIX—No. V. /page--> +<p>I beg you will inform His Excellency the Governor, that I have on all +occasions received the most ready and valuable assistance from Mr, Hume. +His intimate acquaintance with the manners and customs of the natives, +enabled him to enter into intercourse with them, and chiefly contributed +to the peaceable manner in which we have journeyed, while his previous +experience put it in his power to be of real use to me. I cannot but say +he has done an essential service to future travellers, and to the colony +at large, by his conduct on all occasions since he has been with me; nor +should I be doing him justice, if I did not avail myself of the first +opportunity of laying my sentiments before the Governor, through you. I am +happy to add that every individual of the party deserves my warmest +approbation, and that they have, one and all, borne their distresses, +trifling certainly, but still unusual, with cheerfulness, and that they +have at all times been attentive to their duty, and obedient to their +orders. The whole are in good health, and are eager again to start. + +<p class=right>I have the honor to be, +<br>Sir, +<br>Your most obedient and most humble servant, +<br>CHARLES STURT, +<br>Capt. 39th Regt. + +<p><i>The Honorable The Colonial Secretary.</i></p> + +<hr width="15%"> + +<p class=right><i>Mount Harris</i>, 5<i>th March</i>, 1829. + +<p>SIR,—It having appeared to me, that after discovering such a river as the +one I have described in my letter of yes<!--page 218 APPENDIX—No. V. /page-->terday, His Excellency the +Governor would approve of my endeavouring to regain it. There being a +probability that it ultimately joins the Southern Waters, I thought of +turning my steps to the southward and westward; and with a view to learn +the nature of the country, I despatched Mr. Hume in that direction on +Saturday last. He returned in three days, after having gone above forty +miles from the river, and states, that he crossed two creeks, the one +about twenty-five miles, the other about thirty-two distance, evidently +the heads of the creeks we passed westward of the marshes of the +Macquarie. He adds, that, to the second creek the land was excellent, but +that on crossing it, he got onto red soil, on which he travelled some +miles further, until he saw a range of high land, bearing from him S.W.. +by W., when, knowing from the nature of the country around him, and from +the experience of our late journey, that he could not hope to find a +regular supply of water in advance, and that in the present dry state of +the low lands, a movement such as I had contemplated would be +impracticable, he returned home. I do myself the honour, therefore, to +report to you, for His Excellency's information, that I shall proceed on +Saturday next in a N.E. direction towards the Castlereagh, intending to +trace that river down, and afterwards to penetrate as far to the northward +and westward as possible; it being my wish to get into the country north +of the more distant river, where I have expectations that there is an +extensive and valuable track of country, but that in failure of the above, +I shall examine the low country behind our N.W. boundaries, if I can find +a sufficiency of water to enable me to do so. + +<p>I am to inform you that in this neighbourhood the <!--page 219 APPENDIX—No. V. /page-->Macquarie has ceased to +flow, and that it is now a chain of shallow ponds. The water is fast +diminishing in it, and unless rain descends in a few weeks it will be +perfectly dry. + +<p>I am also to report, that the natives attempted the camp with the supplies +before my arrival at Mount Harris, but that on the soldier with the party +firing a shot, after they had thrown a stone and other of the weapons, +they fled. It was in consequence of their fires, which I saw at a distance +of forty miles, and which they never make on so extensive a scale, except +as signals when they want to collect, and are inclined to be mischievous, +that I made forced marches up, and I am led to believe my arrival was very +opportune. The natives have visited us since, and I do not think they will +now attempt to molest either party when we separate. + +<p class=right>I have the honour to be, +<br>Sir, +<br>Your most obedient and most humble servant, +<br>CHARLES STURT, +<br>Capt. 39th Regt. + +<p><i>The Hon. The Colonial Secretary.</i></p> + +<h5>End of Volume One</h5> + +<hr> +<!--page {frontis 1.} /page--> +<a name=v2></a><h3>TWO EXPEDITIONS</H3> + +<H5>INTO THE INTERIOR OF</H5> + +<H2>SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA</H2> + +<h4>VOLUME II.</h4> +<!--page {frontis 2. blank} /page--> +<hr> +<!--face i /face--> +<a name=i2.7></a><h5>Illustration 7</h5> +<div class=centre><img alt="" src=images/xpssti07.jpg></div> +<h5>THE OPOSSUM HUNT.</h5> + +<hr> +<!--page 1 {not numbered} /page--> +<a name=ch2.1></a> +<h2>EXPEDITION</h2> + +<h5>DOWN THE</h5> + +<h3>MORUMBIDGEE AND MURRAY RIVERS,</h3> + +<h4>In 1829, 1830 and 1831.</h4> + +<hr width="30%"> + +<h4>CHAPTER I.</h4> + +<h5>INTRODUCTORY.</h5> +<blockquote class=small> +Remarks on the results of the former Expedition—The fitting out of +another determined on—Its objects—Provisions, accoutrements, and +retinue—Paper furnished by Mr. Kent—Causes that have prevented the +earlier appearance of the present work. +</blockquote> +<p>The expedition of which we have just detailed the proceedings was so far +satisfactory in its results, that it not only set at rest the hypothesis +of the existence of an internal shoal sea in southern Australia, and +ascertained the actual termination of the rivers it had been directed to +trace, but also added very largely to our knowledge of the country +considerably to the westward of former discoveries. And although no land +had been traversed of a fertile description of sufficient extent to invite +the settler, the fact of a large river such as the Darling lying at the +back of our almost intertropical <!--page 2 OBJECTS OF THE EXPEDITION. /page-->settlements, gave a fresh importance to +the distant interior. It was evident that this river was the chief drain +for carrying off the waters falling westerly from the eastern coast, and +as its course indicated a decline of country diametrically opposite to +that which had been calculated upon, it became an object of great +importance to ascertain its further direction. Had not the saline quality +of its waters been accounted for, by the known existence of brine springs +in its bed, it would have been natural to have supposed that it +communicated with some mediterranean sea; but, under existing +circumstances, it remained to be proved whether this river held on a due +south course, or whether it ultimately turned westerly, and ran into the +heart of the interior. In order fully to determine this point, it would be +necessary to regain it banks, so far below the parallel to which it had +been traced as to leave no doubt of its identity; but it was difficult to +fix upon a plan for approaching that central stream without suffering from +the want of water, since it could hardly be expected that the Lachlan +would afford such means, as it was reasonable to presume that its +termination was very similar to that of the Macquarie. The attention of +the government was, consequently, fixed upon the Morumbidgee, a river +stated to be of considerable size and of impetuous current. Receiving its +supplies from the lofty ranges behind Mount Dromedary, it promised to hold +a longer course than those rivers which, depending on periodical rains +alone for existence, had been found so soon to exhaust themselves. +<!--page 3 PREPARATIONS. /page--> +<p>The fitting out of another expedition was accordingly determined upon; and +about the end of September 1829, I received the Governor's instructions to +make the necessary preparations for a second descent into the interior, +for the purpose of tracing the Morumbidgee, or such rivers as it might +prove to be connected with, as far as practicable. In the event of failure +in this object, it was hoped that an attempt to regain the banks of the +Darling on a N.W. course from the point at which the expedition might be +thwarted in its primary views, would not be unattended with success. Under +any circumstances, however, by pursuing these measures, an important part +of the colony would necessarily be traversed, of which the features were +as yet altogether unknown. + +<p>It became my interest and my object to make the expedition as complete as +possible, and, as far as in me lay, to provide for every contingency: and +as it appeared to me that, in all likelihood, we should in one stage or +other of our journey have to trust entirely to water conveyance, I +determined on taking a whale-boat, whose dimensions and strength should in +some measure be proportioned to the service required. I likewise +constructed a small still for the distillation of water, in the event of +our finding the water of the Darling salt, when we should reach its banks. +The whale-boat, after being fitted, was taken to pieces for more +convenient carriage, as has been more particularly detailed in the last +chapter of the preceding volume. + +<p>So little danger had been apprehended from the natives <!--page 4 MR. KENT'S REPORT. /page-->in the former +journey, that three firelocks had been considered sufficient for our +defence. On the present occasion, however, I thought it adviseable to +provide arms for each individual. + +<p>Mr. Hume declined accompanying me, as the harvest was at hand. Mr. George +M'Leay therefore supplied his place, rather as a companion than as an +assistant; and of those who accompanied me down the banks of the +Macquarie, I again selected Harris (my body servant), Hopkinson, and +Fraser. + +<p>The concluding chapter of this volume, relative to the promontory of +St. Vincent, or Cape Jervis, has been furnished me by the kindness of +Mr. Kent, who accompanied the lamented officer to whom the further +exploration of that part of coast unhappily proved fatal. There is a +melancholy coincidence between Captain Barker's death and that of Captain +Cook, which cannot fail to interest the public, as the information that +has been furnished will call for their serious consideration. I shall +leave for their proper place, the remarks I have to offer upon it, since +my motive in these prefatory observations has been, to carry the reader +forward to that point at which he will have to view the proceedings of the +expedition alone, in order the more satisfactorily to arrive at their +results. And, although he must expect a considerable portion of dry +reading in the following pages, I have endeavoured to make the narrative +of events, some of which are remarkably striking, as interesting as +possible. +<!--page 5 REMARKS ON THE PRESENT WORK. /page--> +<p>It only remains for me to refer the reader to the concluding chapter of +the preceding volume, for such general information as I have been enabled +to furnish upon the nature of the services on which I was employed, and on +the manner of conducting similar expeditions. Indeed, I trust that this +book (whatever be its defects) will be found to contain much valuable +information of a practical character, and I may venture to affirm, that it +will give a true description of the country, and of the various other +subjects of which it treats. + +<p>Notwithstanding that I have in my dedication alluded to the causes that +prevented the earlier appearance of this work, I feel it due both to +myself and the public here to state, that during these expeditions my +health had suffered so much, that I was unable to bear up against the +effects of exposure, bodily labour, poverty of diet, and the anxiety of +mind to which I was subjected. A residence on Norfolk Island, under +peculiarly harassing circumstances, completed that which the above causes +had commenced; and, after a succession of attacks, I became totally blind, +and am still unable either to read what I pen, or to venture abroad +without an attendant. When it is recollected, that I have been unassisted +in this work in any one particular, I hope some excuse will be found for +its imperfections. A wish to contribute to the public good led me to +undertake those journeys which have cost me so much. The same feeling +actuates me in recording their results; and I have the satisfaction to +know, that my path among a large and savage <!--page 6 DELIVERANCE FROM DANGERS. /page-->population was a bloodless +one; and that my intercourse with them was such as to lessen the danger to +future adventurers upon such hazardous enterprises, and to give them hope +where I had so often despaired. Something more powerful, than human +foresight or human prudence, appeared to avert the calamities and dangers +with which I and my companions were so frequently threatened; and had it +not been for the guidance and protection we received from the Providence +of that good and all-wise Being to whose care we committed ourselves, we +should, ere this, have ceased to rank among the number of His earthly +creatures.</p> + +<hr> +<!--page 7 /page--> +<a name=ch2.2></a><h4>CHAPTER II.</h4> +<blockquote class=small> +Commencement of the expedition in November, 1829.—Joined by Mr. George +M'Leay—Appearance of the party—Breadalbane Plains—Hospitality of Mr. +O'Brien—Yass Plains—Hill of Pouni—Path of a hurricane—Character of the +country between Underaliga and the Morumbidgee—Appearance of that +river—Junction of the Dumot with it—Crossing and recrossing—Geological +character and general aspect of the country—Plain of Pondebadgery—Few +natives seen. +</blockquote> +<p>The expedition which traversed the marshes of the Macquarie, left Sydney +on the 10th day of Nov. 1828. That destined to follow the waters of the +Morumbidgee, took its departure from the same capital on the 3rd of the +same month in the ensuing year. Rain had fallen in the interval, but not +in such quantities as to lead to the apprehension that it had either +influenced or swollen the western streams. It was rather expected that the +winter falls would facilitate the progress of the expedition, and it was +hoped that, as the field of its operations would in all probability be +considerably to the south of the parallel of Port Jackson, the extreme +heat to which the party and the animals had been exposed on the former +journey, would be less felt on the present occasion. +<!--page 8 LEAVE SYDNEY. /page--> +<p>As there was no Government establishment to the S.W. at which I could +effect any repairs, or recruit my supplies, as I had done at Wellington +Valley, the expedition, when it left Sydney, was completed in every +branch, and was so fully provided with every necessary implement and +comfort, as to render any further aid, even had such been attainable, in a +great measure unnecessary. The Governor had watched over my preparations +with a degree of anxiety that evidenced the interest he felt in the +expedition, and his arrangements to ensure, as far as practicable, our +being met on our return, in the event of our being in distress, were +equally provident and satisfactory. It was not, however, to the providing +for our wants in the interior alone that His Excellency's views were +directed, but orders were given to hold a vessel in readiness, to be +dispatched at a given time to St. Vincent's Gulf, in case we should +ultimately succeed in making the south coast in its neighbourhood. + +<p>The morning on which I left Sydney a second time, under such doubtful +circumstances, was perfectly serene and clear. I found myself at 5 a.m. of +that delightful morning leading my horses through the gates of those +barracks whose precincts I might never again enter, and whose inmates I +might never again behold assembled in military array. Yet, although the +chance of misfortune flashed across my mind, I was never lighter at heart, +or more joyous in spirit. It appeared to me that the stillness and harmony +of nature influenced my feelings on the occasion, and my mind forgot the +storms of life, as nature at that moment <!--page 9 APPEARANCE OF THE PARTY. /page-->seemed to have forgotten the +tempests that sometimes agitate her. + +<p>I proceeded direct to the house of my friend Mr. J. Deas Thomson, who had +agreed to accompany me to Brownlow Hill, a property belonging to +Mr. M'Leay, the Colonial Secretary, where his son, Mr. George M'Leay, was +to join the expedition. As soon as we had taken a hasty breakfast, I went +to the carters' barracks to superintend the first loading of the animals. +Mr. Murray, the superintendent, had arranged every article so well, and +had loaded the drays so compactly that I had no trouble, and little time +was lost in saddling the pack animals. At a quarter before 7 the party +filed through the turnpike-gate, and thus commenced its journey with the +greatest regularity. I have the scene, even at this distance of time, +vividly impressed upon my mind, and I have no doubt the kind friend who +was near me on the occasion, bears it as strongly on his recollection. +My servant Harris, who had shared my wanderings and had continued in my +service for eighteen years, led the advance, with his companion Hopkinson. +Nearly abreast of them the eccentric Fraser stalked along wholly lost in +thought. The two former had laid aside their military habits, and had +substituted the broad brimmed hat and the bushman's dress in their place, +but it was impossible to guess how Fraser intended to protect himself from +the heat or the damp, so little were his habiliments suited for the +occasion. He had his gun over his shoulder, and his double shot belt as +full as it could be of shot, although there was <!--page 10 LIVERPOOL—GOULBURN PLAINS. /page-->not a chance of his +expending a grain during the day. Some dogs Mr. Maxwell had kindly sent me +followed close at his heels, as if they knew his interest in them, and +they really seemed as if they were aware that they were about to exchange +their late confinement for the freedom of the woods. The whole of these +formed a kind of advanced guard. At some distance in the rear the drays +moved slowly along, on one of which rode the black boy mentioned in my +former volume, and behind them followed the pack animals. Robert Harris, +whom I had appointed to superintend the animals generally, kept his place +near the horses, and the heavy Clayton, my carpenter, brought up the rear. +I shall not forget the interest Thomson appeared to take in a scene that +must certainly have been new to him. Our progress was not checked by the +occurrence of a single accident, nor did I think it necessary to remain +with the men after we had gained that turn which, at about four miles from +Sydney, branches off to the left, and leads direct to Liverpool. From this +Point my companion and I pushed forward, in order to terminate a fifty +miles' ride a little sooner than we should have done at the leisurely pace +we had kept during the early part of our journey. We remained in Liverpool +for a short time, to prepare the commissariat office for the reception, +and to ensure the accommodation, of the party; and reached Brownlow Hill +a little after sunset. + +<p>As I have already described the country on this line of road as far us +Goulburn Plains, it will not be considered ne<!--page 11 WALLANDILLY—TYRANNA. /page-->cessary that I should again +notice its features with minuteness. + +<p>The party arrived at Glendarewel, the farm attached to Brownlow Hill, on +the 5th. I resumed my journey alone on the 8th. M'Leay had still some few +arrangements to make, so that I dispensed with his immediate attendance. +He overtook me, however, sooner than I expected, on the banks of the +Wallandilly. I had encamped under the bluff end of Cookbundoon, and, +having been disappointed in getting bearings when crossing the Razor Back, +I hoped that I should be enabled to connect a triangle from the summit +of Cookbundoon, or to secure bearings of some prominent hill to the south. +I found the brush, however, so thick on the top of the mountain, that I +could obtain no satisfactory view, and and M'Leay, who accompanied me, +agreed with me in considering that we were but ill repaid for the hot +scramble we had had. Crossing the western extremity of Goulburn Plains on +the 15th, we encamped on a chain of ponds behind Doctor Gibson's residence +at Tyranna, and as I had some arrangements to make with that gentleman, +I determined to give both the men and animals a day's rest. I availed +myself of Doctor Gibson's magazines to replace such of my provisions as I +had expended, as I found that I could do so without putting him to any +inconvenience; and I added two of his men to the party, intending to send +them back, in case of necessity, or, when we should have arrived at that +point from which it might appear expedient to forward an account of my +progress and ultimate views, for the governor's information. +<!--page 12 BREADALBANE PLAINS. /page--> +<p>On the 17th we struck the tents, and, crossing the chain of ponds near +which they had been pitched, entered a forest track, that gave place to +barren stony ridges of quartz formation. These continued for six or seven +miles, in the direction of Breadalbane Plains, upon which we were obliged +to stop, as we should have had some difficulty in procuring either water +or food, within any moderate distance beyond them. The water, indeed, that +we were obliged to content ourselves with was by no means good. +Breadalbane Plains are of inconsiderable extent, and are surrounded by +ridges, the appearance of which is not very promising. Large white masses +of quartz rock lie scattered over them, amongst trees of stunted growth. +Mr. Redall's farm was visible at the further extremity of the plains from +that by which we had entered them. It would appear that these plains are +connected with Goulburn Plains by a narrow valley, that was too wet for +the drays to have traversed. + +<p>Doctor Gibson had kindly accompanied us to Breadalbane Plains. On the +morning of the 18th he returned to Tyranna, and we pursued our journey, +keeping mostly on a W.S.W. course. From the barren hills over which we +passed, on leaving the plains, we descended upon an undulating country, +and found a change of rock, as well as of vegetation, upon it. Granite and +porphyry constituted its base. An open forest, on which the eucalyptus +mannifera alone prevailed, lay on either side of us, and although the soil +was coarse, and partook in a great measure of the decomposition of the +rock it covered, there was no defici<!--page 13 THE LORN. /page-->ency of grass. On the contrary, this +part of the interior is decidedly well adapted for pasturing cattle. + +<p>About 1 p.m. we passed Mr. Hume's station, with whom I remained for a +short time. He had fixed his establishment on the banks of the Lorn, a +small river, issuing from the broken country near Lake George, and now +ascertained to be one of the largest branches of the Lachlan River. We had +descended a barren pass of stringy bark scrub, on sandstone rock, a little +before we reached Mr. Hume's station, but around it the same, open forest +tract again prevailed. We crossed the Lorn, at 2 o'clock, leaving +Mr. Broughton's farm upon our left, and passed through a broken country, +which was very far from being deficient in pasture. We encamped on the +side of a water-course, about 4 o'clock, having travelled about fifteen +miles. + +<p>On the 19th, we observed no change in the soil or aspect of the country, +for the first five miles. The eucalyptus mannifera was the most prevalent +of the forest trees, and certainly its presence indicated a more +flourishing state in the minor vegetation. At about five miles, however, +from where we had slept, sandstone reappeared, and with it the barren +scrub that usually grows upon a sandy and inhospitable soil. One of the +drays was upset in its progress down a broken pass, where the road had +been altogether neglected, and it was difficult to avoid accidents. +Fortunately we suffered no further than in the delay that the necessity of +unloading the dray, and reloading it, occasioned. Mr. O'Brien, an +enterprising settler, who had <!--page 14 YASS PLAINS. /page-->pushed his flocks to the banks of the +Morumbidgee, and who was proceeding to visit his several stations, +overtook us in the midst of our troubles. We had already passed each other +frequently on the road, but he now preceded me to his establishment at +Yass; at which I proposed remaining for a day. We stopped about three +miles short of the plains for the night, at the gorge of the pass through +which we had latterly been advancing, and had gradually descended to a +more open country. From the place at which we were temporarily delayed, +and which is not inappropriately called the Devil's Pass, the road winds +about between ranges, differing in every respect from any we had as yet +noticed. The sides of the hills were steeper, and their summits sharper, +than any we had crossed. They were thickly covered with eucalypti and +brush, and, though based upon sandstone, were themselves of a schistose +formation. + +<p>Yharr or Yass Plains were discovered by Mr. Hovel, and Mr. Hume, the +companion of my journey down the Macquarie, in 1828. They take their name +from the little river that flows along their north and north-west +boundaries. They are surrounded on every side by forests, and excepting to +the W.N.W., as a central point, by hill. Undulating, but naked themselves, +they have the appearance of open downs, and are most admirably adapted for +sheep-walks, not only in point of vegetation, but also, because their +inequalities prevent their becoming swampy during the rainy season. They +are from nine to twelve miles in <!--page 15 HOSPITALITY OF MR. O'BRIEN. /page-->length, and from five to seven in breadth, +and although large masses of sandstone are scattered over them, a blue +secondary limestone composes the general bed of the river, that was darker +in colour and more compact than I had remarked the same kind of rock, +either at Wellington Valley, or in the Shoal Haven Gully. I have no doubt +that Yass Plains will ere long be wholly taken up as sheep-walks, and that +their value to the grazier will in a great measure counterbalance its +distance from the coast, or, more properly speaking, from the capital. +Sheep I should imagine would thrive uncommonly well upon these plains, +and would suffer less from distempers incidental to locality and to +climate, than in many parts of the colony over which they are now +wandering in thousands. And if the plains themselves do not afford +extensive arable tracts, there is, at least, sufficient good land near the +river to supply the wants of a numerous body of settlers. + +<p>We left Mr. O'Brien's station on the morning of the 21st, and, agreeably +to his advice, determined on gaining the Morumbidgee, by a circuit to the +N.W., rather than endanger the safety of the drays by entering the +mountain passes to the westward. Mr. O'Brien, however, would not permit us +to depart from his dwelling without taking away with us some further +proofs of his hospitality. The party had pushed forward before I, or +Mr. M'Leay, had mounted our horses; but on overtaking it, we found that +eight fine wethers had been added to our stock of animals. + +<p>To the W.N.W. of Yass Plains there is a remarkable <!--page 16 HILL OF POUNI. /page-->hill, called Pouni, +remarkable not so much on account of its height, as of its commanding +position. It had, I believe, already been ascended by one of the +Surveyor-general's assistants. The impracticability of the country to the +south of it, obliged us to pass under its opposite base, from which an +open forest country extended to the northward. We had already recrossed +the Yass River, and passed Mr. Barber's station, to that of Mr. Hume's +father, at which we stopped for a short time. Both farms are well +situated, the latter I should say, romantically so, it being immediately +under Pouni, the hill we have noticed. The country around both was open, +and both pasture and water were abundant. + +<p>Mr. O'Brien had been kind enough to send one of the natives who frequented +his station to escort us to his more advanced station upon the +Morumbidgee. Had it not been for the assistance we received from this man, +I should have had but little leisure for other duties: as it was however, +there was no fear of the party going astray. This gave M'Leay and myself +an opportunity of ascending Pouni, for the purpose of taking bearings; and +how ever warm the exertion of the ascent made us, the view from the summit +of the hill sufficiently repaid us, and the cool breeze that struck it, +although imperceptible in the forest below, soon dried the perspiration +from our brows. The scenery around us was certainly varied, yet many +parts of it put me forcibly in mind of the dark and gloomy tracks over +which my eye had wandered from similar elevations on the former journey. +This was especially the <!--page 17 ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. /page-->case in looking to the north, towards which point +the hills forming the right of the valley by which we had entered the +plains, decreased so rapidly in height that they were lost in the general +equality of the more remote country, almost ere they had reached abreast +of my position. From E.S.E. to W.S.W. the face of the country was hilly, +broken and irregular; forming deep ravines and precipitous glens, amid +which I was well aware the Morumbidgee was still struggling for freedom; +while mountains succeeded mountains in the back-ground, and were +themselves overtopped by lofty and very distant peaks. To the eastward, +however, the hills wore a more regular form, and were lightly covered with +wood. The plains occupied the space between them and Pouni; and a smaller +plain bore N.N.E. which, being embosomed in the forest, had hitherto +escaped our notice. + +<p>We overtook the party just as it cleared the open ground through which it +had previously been moving. A barren scrub succeeded it for about eight +miles. The soil in this scrub was light and sandy. + +<p>We stopped for the night at the head of a valley that seemed to have been +well trodden by cattle. The feed, therefore, was not abundant, nor was the +water good. We had, however, made a very fair journey, and I was unwilling +to press the animals. But in consequence, I fancy, of the scarcity of +food, they managed to creep away during the night, with the exception of +three or four of the bullocks, <!--page 18 COURSE OF A HURRICANE. /page-->nor should we have collected them again so +soon as we did, or without infinite trouble, had it not been for our guide +and my black boy. We unavoidably lost a day, but left our position on the +23rd, for Underaliga, a station occupied by Doctor Harris, the gentleman I +have already had occasion to mention. We reached the banks of the creek +near the stock hut, about 4 p.m., having journeyed during the greater part +of the day through a poor country, partly of scrub and partly of open +forest-land, in neither of which was the soil or vegetation fresh or +abundant. At about three miles from Underaliga, the country entirely +changed its character, and its flatness was succeeded by a broken and +undulating surface. The soil upon the hills was coarse and sandy, from the +decomposition of the granite rock that constituted their base. +Nevertheless, the grass was abundant on the hills, though the roots or +tufts were far apart; and the hills were lightly studded with trees. + +<p>In the course of the day we crossed the line of a hurricane that had just +swept with resistless force over the country, preserving a due north +course, and which we had heard from a distance, fortunately too great to +admit of its injuring us. It had opened a fearful gap in the forest +through which it had passed, of about a quarter of a mile in breadth. +Within that space, no tree had been able to withstand its fury, for it had +wrenched every bough from such as it had failed to prostrate, and they +stood naked in the midst of the surrounding wreck. I am inclined to think +that the rudeness of nature itself in these wild and uninhabited regions, +<!--page 19 COUNTRY FROM UNDERALIGA TO MORUMBIDGEE. /page-->gives birth to these terrific phenomena. They have never occurred, so far +as I know, in the located districts. Our guide deserted us in the early +part of the day without assigning any reason for doing so. He went off +without being noticed, and thus lost the reward that would have been +bestowed on him had he mentioned his wish to return to Yass. I the more +regretted his having sneaked off, because he had had the kindness to put +us on a track we could not well lose. + +<p>Underaliga, is said to be thirty miles from the Morumbidgee. The country +between the two has a sameness of character throughout. It is broken and +irregular, yet no one hill rises conspicuously over the rest. We found +ourselves at one time on their summits beside huge masses of granite, at +others crossing valleys of rich soil and green appearance. A country under +cultivation is so widely different from one the sod of which has never +been broken by the plough, that it is difficult and hazardous to form a +decided opinion on the latter. If you ask a stockman what kind of a +country lies, either to his right, or to his left, he is sure to condemn +it, unless it will afford the most abundant pasture. Accustomed to roam +about from one place to another, these men despise any but the richest +tracts, and include the rest of the neighbourhood in one sweeping clause +of condemnation. Thus I was led to expect, that we should pass over a +country of the very worst description, between Underaliga and the +Morumbidgee. Had it been similar to that midway between Yass and +Underaliga, we should, in <!--page 20 TUGGIONG. /page-->truth, have found it so; but it struck me, that +there were many rich tracts of ground among the valleys of the former, and +that the very hills had a fair covering of grass upon them. What though +the soil was coarse, if the vegetation was good and sufficient? Perhaps +the greatest drawback to this part of the interior is the want of water; +yet we crossed several creeks, and remarked some deep water holes, that +can never be exhausted, even in the driest season. Wherever the situation +favoured our obtaining a view of the country on either side of us, while +among these hills, we found that to the eastward lofty and mountainous; +whilst that to the westward, had the appearance of fast sinking into +a level. + +<p>A short time before we reached the Morumbidgee, we forded a creek, which +we crossed a second time where it falls into the river. After crossing it +the first time we opened a flat, on which the marks of sheep were +abundant. In the distance there was a small hill, and on its top a bark +hut. We were not until then aware of our being so near the river, but as +Mr. O'Brien had informed me that he had a station for sheep, at a place +called Tuggiong <!--comment {Jugiong} /comment-->, by the natives, on the immediate banks of the river, I +did not doubt that we had, at length, arrived at it. And so it proved. I +went to the hut, to ascertain where I could conveniently stop for the +night, but the residents were absent. I could not but admire the position +they had taken up. The hill upon which their hut was erected was not more +than fifty feet high, but it immediately overlooked the river, and +command<!--page 21 CROSS THE UNDERALIGA. /page-->ed not only the flat we had traversed in approaching it, but also a +second flat on the opposite side. The Morumbidgee came down to the foot of +this little hill from the south, and, of course, running to the north, +which latter direction it suddenly takes up from a previous S.W. one, on +meeting some hills that check its direct course. From the hill on which +the hut stands, it runs away westward, almost in a direct line, for three +miles, so that the position commands a view of both the reaches, which are +overhung by the casuarina and flooded-gum. Rich alluvial flats lie to the +right of the stream, backed by moderate hills, that were lightly studded +with trees, and clothed with verdure to their summits. Some moderate +elevations also backed a flat, on the left bank of the river, but the +colour of the soil upon the latter, as well as its depressed situation, +showed clearly that it was subject to flood, and had received the worst of +the depositions from the mountains. The hills behind it were also bare, +and of a light red colour, betraying, as I imagined, a distinct formation +from, and poorer character than, the hills behind us. At about three miles +the river again suddenly changes its direction from west to south, for +about a mile, when it inclines to the S.E. until it nearly encircles the +opposite hills, when it assumes its proper direction, and flows away to +the S.W. + +<p>We crossed the Underaliga creek a little below the stock hut, and encamped +about a mile beyond it, in the centre of a long plain. We were surrounded +on every side by hills, from which there was no visible outlet, as they +appeared <!--page 22 REACH THE MORUMBIDGEE. /page /page-->to follow the bend of the river, with an even and unbroken +outline. The scenery around us was wild, romantic, and beautiful; as +beautiful as a rich and glowing sunset in the most delightful climate +under the heavens could make it. I had been more anxious to gain the banks +of the Morumbidgee on this occasion, than I had been on a former one to +gain those of the Macquarie, for although I could not hope to see the +Morumbidgee all that it had been described to me, yet I felt that on its +first appearance I should in some measure ground my anticipations of +ultimate success. When I arrived on the banks of the Macquarie, it had +almost ceased to flow, and its current was so gentle as to be scarcely +perceptible. Instead, however, of a river in such a state of exhaustion, +I now looked down upon a stream, whose current it would have been +difficult to breast, and whose waters, foaming among rocks, or circling in +eddies, gave early promise of a reckless course. It must have been +somewhat below its ordinary level, and averaged a breadth of about 80 +feet. Its waters were hard and transparent, and its bed was composed of +mountain debris, and large fragments of rock. As soon as the morning +dawned, the tents were struck and we pursued our journey. We followed the +line of the river, until we found ourselves in a deep bight to the S.E. +The hills that had been gradually closing in upon the river, now +approached it so nearly, that there was no room for the passage of the +drays. We were consequently obliged to turn back, and, moving along the +base of the ranges, by which we were thus <!--page 23 ADJACENT COUNTRY.-->apparently enclosed, we at +length found a steep pass, the extreme narrowness of which had hidden it +from our observation. By this pass we were now enabled to effect our +escape. On gaining the summit of the hills, we travelled south for three +or four miles, through open forests, and on level ground. But we +ultimately descended into a valley in which we halted for the night. On a +closer examination of the neighbourhood, it appeared that our position was +at the immediate junction of two valleys, where, uniting the waters of +their respective creeks, the main branch declines rapidly towards the +river. One of these valleys extended to to the S.W., the other to the +W.N.W. It was evident to us that our route lay up the former; and I made +no doubt we should easily reach Whaby's station on the morrow. + +<p>We were now far beyond the acknowledged limits of the located parts of the +colony, and Mr. Whaby's station was the last at which we could expect even +the casual supply of milk or other trifling relief. Yet, although the +prospect of so soon leaving even the outskirts of civilization, and being +wholly thrown on our own resources, was so near, it never for a moment +weighed upon the minds of the men. The novelty of the scenery, and the +beauty of the river on which they were journeying, excited in them the +liveliest anticipations of success. The facility with which we had +hitherto pushed forward blinded them to future difficulties, nor could +there be a more cheerful spectacle than that which the camp daily +afforded. The animals browzing in the distance, and the men talking over +their pipes of the <!--page 24 WHABY'S STATION. /page-->probable adventures they might encounter. The loads +had by this time settled properly, and our provisions proved of the very +best quality, so that no possible improvement could have been made for the +better. + +<p>On the morrow we pushed up the southernmost of the valleys, at the +junction of which we had encamped, having moderate hills on either side of +us. At the head of the valley we crossed a small dividing range into +another valley, and halted for the night, on the banks of a creek from the +westward, as we found it impossible to reach Whaby's station, as we had +intended, before sunset. Nothing could exceed the luxuriance of the +vegetation in this valley, but the water of the creek was so impregnated +with iron, as to be almost useless. Being anxious to obtain a view of the +surrounding country, I ascended a hill behind the camp, just as the sun +was sinking, a time the most favourable for the object I had in view. The +country, broken into hill and dale, seemed richer than any tract I had as +yet surveyed; and the beauty of the near landscape was greatly +heightened by the mountainous scenery to the S. and S.E. Both the +laxmania, and zanthorea were growing around me; but neither appeared to be +in congenial soil. The face of the hill was very stony, and I found, on +examination, that a great change had taken place in the rock-formation, +the granite ranges having given place to chlorite schist. + +<p>We reached Whaby's about 9 a.m. of the morning of the 27th, and received +every attention and civility from him. The valley in which we had slept +opened upon an extensive plain, to the eastward of which the Morumbidgee +formed <!--page 25 THE RIVER DUMOT. /page-->the extreme boundary; and it was in a bight, and on ground rather +elevated above the plain, that he had fixed his residence. He informed +me that we should have to cross the river, as its banks were too +precipitous, and the ranges too abrupt, to admit of our keeping the right +side; and recommended me to examine and fix upon a spot at which to cross, +before I again moved forward, expressing his readiness to accompany me as +a guide. We accordingly rode down the river, to a place at which some +stockman had effected a passage,—after a week's labour in hewing out a +canoe. I by no means intended that a similar delay should occur in our +case, but I saw no objection to our crossing at the same place; since its +depth, and consequent tranquillity, rendered it eligible enough for that +purpose. + +<p>The Dumot <!--comment {probably the Tumut} /comment--> river, another mountain stream, joins the Morumbidgee opposite +to Mr. Whaby's residence. It is little inferior to the latter either in +size or in the rapidity of its current, and, if I may rely on the +information I received, waters a finer country, the principal +rock-formation upon it being of limestone and whinstone. It rises amidst +the snowy ranges to the S.E., and its banks are better peopled than those +of the stream into which it discharges itself. Of course, such a tributary +enlarges the Morumbidgee considerably: indeed, the fact is sufficiently +evident from the appearance of the latter below the junction. + +<p>During our ride with Whaby down its banks, we saw nothing but the richest +flats, almost entirely clear of timber and containing from 400 to 700 +acres, backed by ranges that were but partially wooded, and were clothed +with ver<!--page 26 CROSS AND RE-CROSS /page-->dure to their very summits. The herds that were scattered over the +first were almost lost in the height of the vegetation, and the ranges +served as natural barriers to prevent them from straying away. + +<p>On the following morning, we started for the place at which it had been +arranged that we should cross the Morumbidgee, but, though no more than +five miles in a direct line from Whaby's house, in consequence of the +irregularity of the ground, the drays did not reach it before noon. The +weight and quantity of our stores being taken into consideration, the task +we had before us was not a light one. Such, however, was the industry of +the men, that before it became dark the whole of them, including the drays +and sheep, were safely deposited on the opposite bank. We were enabled to +be thus expeditious, by means of a punt that we made with the tarpaulins +on an oblong frame. As soon as it was finished, a rope was conveyed across +the river, and secured to a tree, and a running cord being then fastened +to the punt, a temporary ferry was established, and the removal of our +stores rendered comparatively easy. M'Leay undertook to drive the horses +and cattle over a ford below us, but he did not calculate on the stubborn +disposition of the latter, and, consequently, experienced some difficulty, +and was well nigh swept away by the current. So great was his difficulty, +that he was obliged to land, to his great discomfiture, amidst a grove of +lofty nettles. Mulholland, who accompanied him, and who happened to be +naked, was severly stung by them. The labour of the day was, how<!--page 27 THE MORUMBIDGEE. /page-->ever, +satisfactorily concluded, and we lay down to rest with feelings of entire +satisfaction. + +<p>A great part of the following day was consumed in reloading, nor did we +pursue our journey until after two o'clock. We then passed over tracks on +the left of the river of the same rich description that existed on its +right; they were much intersected by creeks, but were clear of timber, +and entirely out of the reach of floods. At about seven miles from where +we started, we found ourselves checked by precipitous rocks jutting into +the stream, and were obliged once more to make preparations for crossing +it. Instead of a deep and quiet reach, however, the Morumbidgee here +expanded into a fretful rapid; but it was sufficiently shallow to admit of +our taking the drays over, without the trouble of unloading them. There +was still, however, some labour required in cutting down the banks, and +the men were fully occupied until after sunset; and so well did they work, +that an hour's exertion in the morning enabled us to make the passage with +safety. On ascending the right bank, we found that we had to force +through a dense body of reeds, covering some flooded land, at the base of +a range terminating upon the river; and we were obliged, in order to +extricate ourselves from our embarrassments, to pass to the N.W. of the +point, and to cross a low part of the range. This done, we met with no +further interruptions during the day, but travelled along rich and clear +flats to a deep bight below an angle of the river called Nangaar by the +natives; where we pitched our camp, and <!--page 28 THE MORUMBIDGEE. /page-->our animals revelled amid the most +luxuriant pasture. Only in one place did the sandy superficies upon the +plain indicate that it was there subject to flood. + +<p>The Morumbidgee from Tuggiong to our present encampment had held a general +S.S.W. course, but from the summit of a hill behind the tents it now +appeared to be gradually sweeping round to the westward; and I could trace +the line of trees upon its banks, through a rich and extensive valley in +that direction, as far as my sight could reach. The country to the S.E. +maintained its lofty character, but to the westward the hills and ranges +were evidently decreasing in height, and the distant interior seemed fast +sinking to a level. The general direction of the ranges had been from N. +to S., and as we had been travelling parallel to them, their valleys were +shut from our view. Now, however, several rich and extensive ones became +visible, opening from the southward into the valley of the Morumbidgee, +and, as a further evidence of a change of country from a confused to a +more open one, a plain of considerable size stretched from immediately +beneath the hill on which I was to the N.W. + +<p>The Morumbidgee itself, from the length and regularity of its reaches, as +well as from its increased size, seemed to intimate that it had +successfully struggled through the broken country in which it rises, and +that it would henceforward meet with fewer interruptions to its course. It +still, however, preserved all the characters of a mountain stream; having +alternate rapids and deep pools, being in many places encumbered with +fallen timber, and generally <!--page 29 GEOLOGY OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD. /page--> a shingly bed, composed of +rounded fragments of every rock of which the neighbouring ranges were +formed, and many others that had been swept by the torrents down it. The +rock formation of the hills upon its right continued of that chlorite +schist which prevailed near Mr. Whaby's, which I have already noticed, and +quartz still appeared in large masses, on the loftier ranges opposite, so +that the geology of the neighbourhood could not be said to have undergone +any material change. It might, however, be considered an extraordinary +feature in it, that a small hill of blue limestone existed upon the left +bank of the river. The last place at which we had seen limestone was at +Yass, but I had learned from Mr. Whaby, that, together with whinstone, it +was abundant near a Mr. Rose's station on the Dumot, that was not at any +great distance. The irregularity, however, of the intervening country, +made the appearance of this solitary rock more singular. + +<p>Although the fires of the natives had been frequent upon the river, none +had, as yet, ventured to approach us, in consequence of some +misunderstanding that had taken place between them and Mr. Stuckey's +stockmen. Mr. Roberts' stockmen* <span class=note>[These men had lately fixed themselves +on the river a little below Mr. Whaby's.]</span>, however, brought a man and a boy +to us at this place in the afternoon, but I could not persuade them to +accompany us on our journey—neither could I, although my native boy +understood them perfectly, gain any particular information from them. + +<p>In consequence of rain, we did not strike the tents so <!--page 30 BEAUTIFUL PROSPECT. /page-->early as usual. +At 7 a.m. a heavy thunder storm occurred from the N.W. after which the +sky cleared, and we were enabled to push forward at 11 a.m., moving on a +general W.N.W, course, over rich flats, which, having been moistened by +the morning's showers, showed the dark colour of the rich earth of which +they were composed. Some sand-hills were, however, observed near the +river, of about fifteen feet in elevation, crowned by banksias; and the +soil of the flats had a very partial mixture of sand in it. How these +sand-hills could have been formed it is difficult to say; but they +produced little minor vegetation, and were as pure as the sand of the +sea-shore. Some considerable plains were noticed to our right, in +appearance not inferior to the ground on which we were journeying. At noon +we rose gradually from the level of these plains, and travelled along the +side of a hill, until we got to a small creek, at which we stopped, though +more than a mile and a half from the river. The clouds had been gathering +again in the N.W. quarter, and we had scarcely time to secure our flour, +when a second storm burst upon us, and it continued to rain violently for +the remainder of the day. + +<p>From a small hill that lay to our left Mr. M'Leay and I enjoyed a most +beautiful view. Beneath us to the S. E. the rich and lightly timbered +valley through which the Morumbidgee flows, extended, and parts of the +river were visible through the dark masses of swamp-oak by which it was +lined, or glittering among the flooded-gum trees, that grew in its +vicinity. In the distance was an extensive <!--page 31 NATIVES—THEIR SUFFERING FROM COLD. /page-->valley that wound between +successive mountain ranges. More to the eastward, both mountain and +woodland bore a dark and gloomy shade, probably in consequence of the +light upon them at the time. Those lofty peaks that had borne nearly +south of us from Pouni, near Yass, now rose over the last-mentioned +ranges, and by their appearance seemed evidently to belong to a high and +rugged chain. To the westward, the decline of country was more observable +than ever; and the hills on both sides of the river, were lower and more +distant from it. Those upon which we found ourselves were composed of +iron-stone, were precipitous towards the river in many places, of sandy +soil, and were crowned with beef-wood as well as box. The change in the +rock-formation and in the soil, produced a corresponding change in the +vegetation. The timber was not so large as it had been, neither did the +hills any longer bear the green appearance which had distinguished those +we had passed to their very summits. The grass here grew in tufts amidst +the sand, and was of a burnt appearance as if it had suffered from +drought. + +<p>Some natives had joined us in the morning, and acted as our guides; or it +is more than probable that we should have continued our course along the +river, and got enbarrassed among impediments that were visible from our +elevated position; for it was evident that the range we had ascended +terminated in an abrupt precipice on the river, that we could not have +passed. The blacks suffered beyond what I could have imagined, from cold, +and <!--page 32 SMOKING AN OPOSSUM. /page-->seemed as incapable of enduring it as if they had experienced the +rigour of a northern snow storm. + +<p>The morning of the 2nd December was cloudy and lowering, and the wind +still hung in the N.W. There was truly every appearance of bad weather, +but our anxiety to proceed on our journey overcame our apprehensions, +and the animals were loaded and moved off at 7 a.m. The rain which had +fallen the evening previous, rendered travelling heavy; so that we got on +but slowly. At 11, the clouds burst, and continued to pour down for the +rest of the day. On leaving the creek we crossed the spine of the range, +and descending from it into a valley, that continued to the river on the +one hand, and stretched away to the N.W. on the other, we ascended some +hills opposite to us, and moved generally through open, undulating forest +ground, affording good pasturage. + +<p>One of the blacks being anxious to get an opossum out of a dead tree, +every branch of which was hollow, asked for a tomahawk, with which he cut +a hole in the trunk above where he thought the animal lay concealed. He +found however, that he had cut too low, and that it had run higher up. +This made it necessary to smoke it out; he accordingly got some dry grass, +and having kindled a fire, stuffed it into the hole he had cut. A raging +fire soon kindled in the tree, where the draft was great, and dense +columns of smoke issued from the end of each branch as thick as that from +the chimney of a steam engine. The shell of the tree was so thin that I +thought <!--page 33 ACCIDENTS. /page-->it would soon be burnt through, and that the tree would fall; but +the black had no such fears, and, ascending to the highest branch, he +watched anxiously for the poor little wretch he had thus surrounded with +dangers and devoted to destruction; and no sooner did it appear, half +singed and half roasted, than he seized upon it and threw it down to +us with an air of triumph. The effect of the scene in so lonely a forest, +was very fine. The roaring of the fire in the tree, the fearless attitude +of the savage, and the associations which his colour and appearance, +enveloped as he was in smoke, called up, were singular, and still dwell +on my recollection. We had not long left the tree, when it fell with a +tremendous crash, and was, when we next passed that way, a mere heap of +ashes. + +<p>Shortly before it commenced raining, the dogs started an emu, and took +after it, followed by M'Leay and myself. We failed in killing it, and I +was unfortunate enough to lose a most excellent watch upon the occasion, +which in regularity was superior to the chronometer I had with me. + +<p>As there was no hope of the weather clearing up, I sent M'Leay and one of +the blacks with the flour to the river, with directions to pile it up and +cover it with tarpaulins, as soon as possible, remaining myself to bring +up the drays. It was not, however, until after 4 p.m. that we gained the +river-side, or that we were enabled to get into shelter. Fraser met with a +sad accident while assisting the driver of the teams, who, accidentally, +struck him with the end of the lash of his whip in the eye, and cut the +lower <!--page 34 PONDEBADGERY. /page-->lid in two. The poor fellow fell to the ground as if he had been +shot, and really, from the report of the whip, I was at first uncertain +of the nature of the accident. + +<p>We had gradually ascended some hills; and as the sweep of the valley led +southerly, we continued along it until we got to its very head; then, +crossing the ridge we descended the opposite side, towards a beautiful +plain, on the further extremity of which the river line was marked by the +dark-leafed casuarina. In spite of the badness of the weather and the +misfortunes of the day, I could not but admire the beauty of the scene. +We were obliged to remain stationary the following day, in consequence +of one of the drays being out of repair, and requiring a new axle-tree. +I could hardly regret the necessity that kept us in so delightful a spot. +This plain, which the natives called Pondebadgery <!--comment {Wantabadgery} /comment-->, and in which a station +has since been formed, is about two miles in breadth, by about three and +a-half in length. It is surrounded apparently on every side by hills. The +river running E. and W. forms its southern boundary. The hills by which we +had entered it, terminating abruptly on the river to the north-east, form +a semi-circle round it to the N.N.W. where a valley, the end of which +cannot be seen, runs to the north-west, of about half a mile in breadth. +On the opposite side of the river moderate hills rise over each other, and +leave little space between them and its banks. The Morumbidgee itself, +with an increased breadth, averaging from seventy to eighty yards, +presents a still, deep sheet of water <!--page 35 PONDEBADGERY. /page-->to the view, over which the +casuarina bends with all the grace of the willow, or the birch, but with +more sombre foliage. To the west, a high line of flooded-gum trees +extending from the river to the base of the hills which form the west side +of the valley before noticed, hides the near elevations, and thus shuts in +the whole space. The soil of the plain is of the richest description, and +the hills backing it, together with the valley, are capable of depasturing +the most extensive flocks. + +<p>Such is the general landscape from the centre of Pondebadgery Plain. +Behind the line of gum-trees, the river suddenly sweeps away to the south, +and forms a deep bight of seven miles, when, bearing up again to the N.W. +it meets some hills about 10 miles to the W.N.W. of the plain, thus +encircling a still more extensive space, that for richness of soil, and +for abundance of pasture, can nowhere be excelled; such, though on a +smaller scale, are all the flats that adorn the banks of the Morumbidgee, +first on one side and then on the other, as the hills close in upon them, +from Juggiong to Pondebadgery. + +<p>It is deeply to be regretted that this noble river should exist at such a +distance from the capital as to be unavailable. During our stay on the +Pondebadgery Plain, the men caught a number of codfish, as they are +generally termed, but which are, in reality, a species of perch. The +largest weighed 40 lb. but the majority of the others were small, not +exceeding from six to eight. M'Leay and I walked to the N.W. extremity of +the plain, in order to ascertain how we should debouche from it, and to +get, if pos<!--page 36 TRAVELLING DOWN THE RIVER. /page-->sible, a view of the western interior. We took with us two +blacks who had attached themselves to the party, and had made themselves +generally useful. On ascending the most westerly of the hills, we found it +composed of micaceous schist, the upper coat of which was extremely soft, +and broke with a slaty fracture, or crumbled into a sparkling dust beneath +our feet. The summit of the hill was barren, and beef-wood alone grew on +it. The valley, of which it was the western boundary, ran up northerly for +two or three miles, with all the appearance of richness and verdure. To +the south extended the flat I have noticed, more heavily timbered than we +had usually found them, bounded, or backed rather, by a hilly country, +although one fast losing in its general height. To the W.N.W. there was a +moderate range of hills on the opposite side of an extensive valley, +running up northerly, from which a lateral branch swept round to the +W.N.W. with a gradual ascent into the hills, which bore the same +appearance of open forest, grazing land, as prevailed in similar tracts to +the eastward. The blacks pointed out to us our route up the valley, and +stated that we should get on the banks of the river again in a direction +W. by N. from the place on which we stood. We accordingly crossed the +principal valley on the following morning, and gradually ascended the +opposite line of hills. They terminate to the S.E. in lofty precipices, +overlooking the river flats, and having a deep chain of ponds under them. +The descent towards the river was abrupt, and we encamped upon its banks, +with a more confined view <!--page 37 TRAVELLING DOWN THE RIVER. /page-->than any we had ever had before. There was an +evident change in the river; the banks were reedy, the channel deep and +muddy, and the neighbourhood bore more the appearance of being subject to +overflow than it had done in any one place we had passed over. The hills +were much lower, and as we gained the southern brow of that under which we +encamped, we could see a level and wooded country to the westward. The +line of the horizon was unbroken by any hills in the distance, and the +nearer ones seemed gradually to lose themselves in the darkness of the +landscape. + +<p>The two natives, whom the stockmen had named Peter and Jemmie, were of +infinite service to us, from their knowledge of all the passes, and the +general features of the country. Having, however, seen us thus far on the +journey from their usual haunts, they became anxious to return, and it was +with some difficulty we persuaded them to accompany us for a few days +longer, in hopes of reward. The weather had been cool and pleasant; the +thermometer averaging 78 of Fahrenheit at noon, in consequences of which +the animals kept in good condition, the men healthy and zealous. The sheep +Mr. O'Brien had presented to us, gave no additional trouble; they followed +in the rear of the party without attempting to wander, and were secured at +night in a small pen or fold. No waste attended their slaughter, nor did +they lose in condition, from being driven from ten to fifteen miles daily, +so much as I had been led to suppose they would have done.</p> + +<hr> +<!--page 38 /page--> +<a name=ch2.3></a><h4>CHAPTER III.</h4> +<blockquote class=small> +Character of the Morumbidgee where it issues from the hilly +country—Appearance of approach to swamps—Hamilton Plains—Intercourse +with the natives—Their appearance, customs, &c.—Change in the character +of the river—Mirage—Dreariness of the country—Ride towards the Lachlan +river—Two boats built and launched on the Morumbidgee; and the drays, with +part of the men sent back to Goulburn Plains. +</blockquote> + +<p>From our camp, the Morumbidgee held a direct westerly course for about +three miles. The hills under which we had encamped, rose so close upon our +right as to leave little space between them and the river. At the distance +of three miles, however, they suddenly terminated, and the river changed +its direction to the S.W., while a chain of ponds extended to the +westward, and separated the alluvial flats from a somewhat more elevated +plain before us. We kept these ponds upon our left for some time, but, as +they ultimately followed the bend of the river, we left them. The blacks +led us on a W. by S. course to the base of a small range two or three +miles distant, near which there was a deep lagoon. It was evident they +here expected to have found some other natives. Being disappointed, +how<!--page 39 NATIVES—WILD GAME, &c. /page-->ever, they turned in towards the river again, but we stopped short of +it on the side of a serpentine sheet of water, an apparent continuation of +the chain of ponds we had left behind us, forming a kind of ditch round +the S.W. extremity of the range, parallel to which we had continued to +travel. This range, which had been gradually decreasing in height from the +lagoon, above which it rose perpendicularly, might almost be said to +terminate here. We fell in with two or three natives before we halted, but +the evident want of population in so fine a country, and on so noble a +river, surprised me extremely. We saw several red kangaroos in the course +of the day, and succeeded in killing one. It certainly is a beautiful +animal, ranging the wilds in native freedom. The female and the kid are of +a light mouse-colour. Wild turkeys abound on this part of the Morumbidgee, +but with the exception of a few terns, which are found hovering over the +lagoons, no new birds had as yet been procured; and the only plant that +enriched our collection, was an unknown metrosideros. In crossing the +extremity of the range, the wheels of the dray sunk deep into a yielding +and coarse sandy soil, of decomposed granite, on which forest-grass +prevailed in tufts, which, being far apart, made the ground uneven, and +caused the animals to trip. We rose at one time sufficiently high to +obtain an extensive view, and had our opinions confirmed as to the level +nature of the country we were so rapidly approaching. From the N. to +the W.S.W. the eye wandered over a wooded and unbroken interior, if I +except a solitary double hill that rose in the midst of <!--page 40 CHARACTER OF THE RIVER /page-->it, bearing +S. 82° W. distant 12 miles, and another singular elevation that +bore S. 32° W. called by the natives, Kengal. The appearance to the +E.S.E. was still that of a mountainous country, while from the N.E., the +hills gradually decrease in height, until lost in the darkness of +surrounding objects to the northward. We did not travel this day more than +13 miles on a W. by N. course. The Morumbidgee, where we struck it, by its +increased size, kept alive our anticipations of its ultimately leading us +to some important point. The partial rains that had fallen while we were +on its upper branch, had swollen it considerably, and it now rolled along +a vast body of water at the rate of three miles an hour, preserving a +medium width of 150 feet; its banks retaining a height far above the usual +level of the stream. A traveller who had never before descended into the +interior of New Holland, would have spurned the idea of such a river +terminating in marshes; but with the experience of the former journey, +strong as hope was within my breast, I still feared it might lose itself +in the vast flat upon which we could scarcely be said to have yet entered. +The country was indeed taking up more and more every day the features of +the N.W. interior. Cypresses were observed upon the minor ridges, and the +soil near the river, although still rich, and certainly more extensive +than above, was occasionally mixed with sand, and scattered over with the +claws of crayfish and shells, indicating its greater liability to be +flooded; nor indeed could I entertain a doubt that the river had laid a +great part of the levels around us under water <!--page 41 AND THE ADJOINING COUNTRY. /page-->long after it found that +channel in which nature intended ultimately to confine it. We killed +another fine red kangaroo in the early part of the day, in galloping after +which I got a heavy fall. + +<p>The two blacks who had been with us so long, and who had not only exerted +themselves to assist us, but had contributed in no small degree to our +amusement, though they had from M'Leay's liberality, tasted all the +dainties with which we had provided ourselves, from sugar to concentrated +cayenne, intimated that they could no longer accompany the party. They had +probably got to the extremity of their beat, and dared not venture any +further. They left us with evident regret, receiving, on their departure, +several valuable presents, in the shape of tomahawks &c. The last thing +they did was to point out the way to us, and to promise to join us on our +return, although they evidently little anticipated ever seeing us again. + +<p>In pursuing our journey, we entered a forest, consisting of box-trees, +casuarinae, and cypresses, on a light sandy soil, in which both horses and +bullocks sunk so deep that their labour was greatly increased, more +especially as the weather had become much warmer. At noon I altered my +course from N.W. by W. to W.N.W., and reached the Morumbidgee at 3 in the +afternoon. The flats bordering it were extensive and rich, and, being +partially mixed with sand, were more fitted for agricultural purposes than +the stiffer and purer soil amidst the mountains; but the interior beyond +them was far from being of corresponding quality. We <!--page 42 TRAVELLING DOWN THE RIVER. /page-->crossed several +plains on which vegetation was scanty, probably owing to the hardness of +the soil, which was a stiff loamy clay, and which must check the growth of +plants, by preventing the roots from striking freely into it. The river +where we stopped for the night appeared to have risen considerably, and +the fish were rolling about on the surface of the water with a noise like +porpoises. No elevations were visible, so that I had not an opportunity of +continuing the chain of survey with the points I had previously taken. + +<p>As we proceeded down the river on the 8th, the flats became still more +extensive than they had ever been, and might almost be denominated plains. +Vegetation was scanty upon them, although the soil was of the first +quality. About nine miles from our camp, we struck on a small isolated +hill, that could scarcely have been of 200 feet elevation; yet, depressed +as it was, the view from its summit was very extensive, and I was +surprised to find that we were still in some measure surrounded by high +lands, of which I took the following bearings, connected with the present +ones.</p> +<table summary=""><col><col> + <tr><td>A High Peak . . <td>N. 66 E. distance 40 miles. + <tr><td>Kengal . . <td>N. 110 E. distant. + <tr><td>Double Hill . . <td>S. 10 W. distant.</tr> +</table> +<p>To the north, there were several fires burning, which appeared rather the +fires of natives, than conflagrations, and as the river had made a bend to +the N.N.W., I doubted not that they were upon its banks. From this hill, +which was of compact granite, we struck away to the W.N.W., and shortly +afterwards crossed some remarkable sand-hills. <!--page 43 TRAVELLING DOWN THE RIVER. /page-->Figuratively speaking, they +appeared like islands amidst the alluvial deposits, and were as pure in +their composition as the sand on the sea-shore. They were generally +covered with forest grass, in tufts, and a coarse kind of rushes, under +banksias and cypresses. We found a small fire on the banks of the river, +and close to it the couch and hut of a solitary native, who had probably +seen us approach, and had fled. There cannot be many inhabitants +hereabouts, since there are no paths to indicate that they frequent this +part of the Morumbidgee more at one season than another. + +<p>On the 9th, the river fell off again to the westward, and we lost a good +deal of the northing we had made the day before. We journeyed pretty +nearly equidistant from the stream, and kept altogether on the alluvial +flats. As we were wandering along the banks of the river, a black started +up before us, and swam across to the opposite side, where he immediately +hid himself. We could by no means induce him to show himself; he was +probably the lonely being whom we had scared away from the fire the day +before. In the afternoon, however we surprised a family of six natives, +and persuaded them to follow us to our halting place. My boy understood +them well; but the young savage had the cunning to hide the information +they gave him, or, for aught I know, to ask questions that best suited his +own purposes, and therefore we gained little intelligence from them. + +<p>Every day now produced some change in the face of the country, by which it +became more and more assimilated to <!--page 44 TRAVELLING DOWN THE RIVER. /page-->that I had traversed during the first +expedition. Acacia pendula now made its appearance on several plains +beyond the river deposits, as well as that salsolaceous class of plants, +among which the schlerolina and rhagodia are so remarkable. The natives +left us at sunset, but returned early in the morning with an extremely +facetious and good-humoured old man, who volunteered to act as our guide +without the least hesitation. There was a cheerfulness in his manner, +that gained our confidence at once, and rendered him a general favourite. +He went in front with the dogs, and led us a little away from the river +to kill kangaroos, as he said. At about two miles we struck on an +inconsiderable elevation, which the party crossed at the S.W. extremity. +I ascended it at the opposite end, but although the view was extensive, I +could not make out the little hill of granite from which I had taken my +former bearings, and the only elevation I could recognise as connected +with them, was one about ten miles distant, bearing S. 168 W. I could +observe very distant ranges to the E.N.E. and immediately below me in that +direction, there was a large clear plain, skirted by acacia pendula, +stretching from S.S.E. to N.N.W. The crown and ridges of the hill on which +I stood, were barren, stony, and covered with beef-wood, +the rock-formation being a coarse granite. The drays had got so far ahead +of me that I did not overtake them before they had halted on the river at +a distance of ten miles. + +<p>The Morumbidgee appeared, on examination, to have increased in breadth, +and continued to rise gradually. It is <!--page 45 INFORMATION FROM A NATIVE. /page-->certainly a noble stream, very +different from those I had already traced to their termination. The old +black informed me that there was another large river flowing to the +southward of west, to which the Morumbidgee was as a creek, and that we +could gain it in four days. He stated that its waters were good, but that +its banks were not peopled. That such a feature existed where he laid it +down, I thought extremely probable, because it was only natural to expect +that other streams descended from the mountains in the S.E. of the island, +as well as that on which we were travelling. The question was, whether +either of them held on an uninterrupted course to some reservoir, or +whether they fell short of the coast and exhausted themselves in marshes. +Considering the concave direction of the mountains to the S.E., I even +at this time hoped that the rivers falling into the interior would unite +sooner or later, and contribute to the formation of an important and +navigable stream. Of the fate of the Morumbidgee, the old black could give +no account. It seemed probable, therefore, that we were far from its +termination. + +<p>I had hitherto been rather severe upon the animals, for although our +journey had not exceeded from twelve to fifteen miles a day, it had been +without intermission. I determined, therefore, to give both men and +animals a day of rest, as soon as I should find a convenient place. We +started on the 11th with this intention, but we managed to creep over +eight or ten miles of ground before we halted. The country was slightly +undulated, and much intersected by creeks, few of which had water in them. +The whole <!--page 46 NATIVES—THEIR UGLINESS. /page-->tract was, however, well adapted either for agriculture, or +for grazing, and, in spite of the drought that had evidently long hung +over it, was well covered with vegetation. We had passed all high lands, +and the interior to the westward presented an unbroken level to the eye. +The Morumbidgee appeared to hold a more northerly course than I had +anticipated. Still low ranges continued upon our right, and the cypress +ridges became more frequent and denser; but the timber on the more open +grounds generally consisted of box and flooded-gum. Of minor trees, the +acacia pendula was the most prevalent, with a shrub bearing a round nut, +enclosed in a scarlet capsule, and an interesting species of stenochylus. +I had observed as yet, few of the plants of the more northern interior. + +<p>In this neighbourhood, the dogs killed an emu and a kangaroo, which came +in very conveniently for some natives whom we fell in with on one of the +river flats. They were, without exception, the worst featured of any I had +ever seen. It is scarcely possible to conceive that human beings could +be so hideous and loathsome. The old black, who was rather good-looking, +told me they were the last we should see for some time, and I felt that if +these were samples of the natives on the lowlands, I cared very little how +few of I them we should meet.</p> +<!--face 47 /face--> +<a name=i2.8></a><h5>Illustration 8</h5> +<div class=centre><img alt="" src=images/xpssti08.jpg></div> +<h5>VIEW ON THE MORUMBIDGEE RIVER.</h5> + +<p>The country on the opposite side of the river had all the features of that +to the north of it, but a plain of such extent suddenly opened upon us to +the southward, that I halted at once in order to examine it, and by +availing myself of a <!--page 47 EXTENSIVE PLAINS. /page-->day of rest, to fix our position more truly than we +could otherwise have done. We accordingly pitched our tents under some +lofty gum-trees, opposite to the plain, and close upon the edge of the +sandy beach of the river. Before they were turned out, the animals were +carefully examined, and the pack-saddles overhauled, that they might +undergo any necessary repairs. The river fell considerably during the +night, but it poured along a vast body of water, possessing a strong +current. The only change I remarked in it was that it now had a bed of +sand, and was generally deeper on one side than on the other. It kept a +very uniform breadth of from 150 to 170 feet—and a depth of from 4 to 20. +Its channel, though occasionally much encumbered with fallen timber, was +large enough to contain twice the volume of water then in it, but it had +outer and more distant banks, the boundaries of the alluvial flats, to +confine it within certain limits, during the most violent floods, and to +prevent its inundating the country. + +<p>With a view to examine the plain opposite to us, I directed our horses to +be taken across the river early in the morning, and after breakfast, +M'Leay and I swam across after them. We found the current strong, and +could not keep a direct line over the channel, but were carried below the +place at which we plunged in. We proceeded afterwards in a direction +W.S.W. across the plain for five or six miles, before we saw trees on the +opposite extremity, at a still greater distance. We thus found ourselves +in the centre of an area of from 26 to 30 miles. It appeared to be +<!--page 48 HAMILTON'S PLAINS. /page-->perfectly level, though not really so. The soil upon it was good, +excepting in isolated spots, where it was sandy. Vegetation was scanty +upon it, but, on the whole, I should conclude that it was fitter for +agriculture than for grazing. For I think it very probable, that those +lands which lie hardening and bare in a state of nature, would produce +abundantly if broken up by the plough. I called this Hamilton's plains, +in remembrance of the surgeon of my regiment. The Morumbidgee forms its +N.E. boundary, and a creek rising on it, cuts off a third part on the +western side, and runs away from the river in a southerly direction. This +creek, even before it gets to the outskirts of the plains, assumes a +considerable size. Such a fact would argue that heavy rains fall in this +part of the interior, to cut out such a watercourse, or that the soil is +extremely loose; but I should think the former the most probable, since +the soil of this plain had a substratum of clay. I place our encampment on +the river in latitude 34° 41´ 45´´ S., and in East +longitude 146° 50´, the variation of the compass being +6° 10´ E. + +<p>On our return to the camp we found several natives with our people, and +among them one of the tallest I had ever seen. Their women were with them, +and they appeared to have lost all apprehension of any danger occurring +from us. The animals were benefited greatly by this day of rest. We left +the plain, therefore, on the 13th with renewed spirits, and passed over a +country very similar to that by which we had approached it, one well +adapted for grazing, but intersected by numerous creeks, at two of which +we <!--page 49 INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES. /page-->found natives, some of whom joined our party. Our old friend left us in +quest of some blacks, who, as he informed Hopkinson, had seen the tracks +of our horses on the Darling. I was truly puzzled at such a statement, +which was, however, further corroborated by the circumstance of one of the +natives having a tire-nail affixed to a spear, which he said was picked +up, by the man who gave it to him, on one of our encampments. I could not +think it likely that this story was true, and rather imagined they must +have picked up the nail near the located districts, and I was anxious to +have the point cleared up. When we halted we had a large assemblage of +natives with us, amounting in all to twenty-seven, but I awaited in vain +the return of the old man. The night passed away without our seeing him, +nor did he again join us. + +<p>We started in the morning with our new acquaintances, and kept on a +south-westerly course during the day, over an excellent grazing, and, in +many places, an agricultural country, still intersected by creeks, that +were too deep for the water to have dried in them. The country more +remote from the river, however, began to assume more and more the +character and appearance of the northern interior. I rode into several +plains, the soil of which was either a red sandy loam, bare of vegetation, +or a rotten and blistered earth, producing nothing but rhagodiae, +salsolae, and misembrianthemum. + +<p>We fell in with another tribe of blacks during the journey, to whom we +were literally consigned by those who had <!--page 50 SCANTINESS OF THE POPULATION. /page-->been previously with us, and who +now turned back, while our new friends took the lead of the drays. They +were two fine young men, but had very ugly wives, and were for a long time +extremely diffident. I found that I could obtain but little information +through my black boy,—whether from his not understanding me, or because +he was too cunning, is uncertain. One of these young men, however, +clearly stated that he had seen the tracks of bullocks and horses, a long +time ago, to the N.N.W. in the direction of some detached hills, that were +visible from 20 to 25 miles distant. He remembered them, he said, as a +boy, and added that the white men were without water. It was, therefore, +clear that he alluded to Mr. Oxley's excursion, northerly from the +Lachlan, and I had no doubt on my mind, that he had been on one of that +officer's encampments, and that the hills to the north of us were those +to the opposite base of which he had penetrated. I was determined, +therefore, if practicable, to reach these hills, deeming it a matter of +great importance to connect the surveys, but I deferred my journey for a +day or two, in hopes, from the continued northerly course of the river, +that we should have approached them nearer. + +<p>In the evening we fell in with some more blacks, among whom were two +brothers, of those who were acting as our guides. One had a very pretty +girl as a wife, and all the four brothers were very good-looking young +men. There cannot, I should think, be a numerous population on the banks +of the Morumbidgee, from the fact of our <!--page 51 CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. /page-->having seen not more than fifty +in an extent of more than 180 miles. They are apparently scattered along +it in families. I was rather surprised that my boy understood their +language well, since it certainly differed from that of the Macquarie +tribes, but nevertheless as these people do not wander far, our +information as to what was before us was very gradually arrived at, and +only as we fell in with the successive families. Moreover, as my boy +was very young, it may be that he was more eager in communicating to those +who had no idea of them, the wonders he had seen, than in making inquiries +on points that were indifferent to him. + +<p>We passed a very large plain in the course of the day, which was bounded +by forests of box, cypress, and the acacia pendula, of red sandy soil and +parched appearance. The Morumbidgee evidently overflows a part of the +lands we crossed, to a greater extent than heretofore, though the alluvial +deposits beyond its influence were still both rich and extensive. The +crested pigeon made its appearance on the acacias, which I took to be a +sure sign of our approach to a country more than ordinarily subject to +overflow; since on the Macquarie and the Darling, those birds were found +only to inhabit the regions of marshes, or spaces covered by the acacia +pendula, or the polygonum. We had not, however, yet seen any of the latter +plant, although we were shortly destined to be almost lost amidst fields +of it. + +<p>We were now approaching that parallel of longitude in <!--page 52 CHANGE IN THE COUNTRY. /page-->which the other +known rivers of New Holland had been found to exhaust themselves; the +least change therefore, for the worse was sufficient to raise my +apprehensions; yet, although the Morumbidgee had received no tributary +from the Dumot downwards, and was leading us into an apparently endless +level, I saw no indication of its decreasing in size, or in the rapidity +of its current. Certainly, however, I had, from the character of the +country around us, an anticipation that a change was about to take place +in it, and this anticipation was verified in the course of the following +day. The alluvial flats gradually decreased in breadth, and we journeyed +mostly over extensive and barren plains, which in many places approached +so near the river as to form a part of its bank. They were covered with +the salsolaceous class of plants, so common in the interior, in a red +sandy soil, and were as even as a bowling green. The alluvial spaces near +the river became covered with reeds, and, though subject to overflow at +every partial rise of it, were so extremely small as scarcely to afford +food for our cattle. Flooded-gum trees of lofty size grew on these reedy +spaces, and marked the line of the river, but the timber of the interior +appeared stunted and useless. + +<p>We found this part of the Morumbidgee much more populous than its upper +branches. When we halted, we had no fewer than forty-one natives with us, +of whom the young men were the least numerous. They allowed us to choose +a place for ourselves before they formed their own camp, and studiously +avoided encroaching on our ground so as <!--page 53 DESCRIPTION OF THE NATIVES. /page-->to appear troublesome. Their +manners were those of a quiet and inoffensive people, and their appearance +in some measure prepossessing. The old men had lofty foreheads, and stood +exceedingly erect. The young men were cleaner is their persons and were +better featured than any we had seen, some of them having smooth hair and +an almost Asiatic cast of countenance. On the other hand, the women and +children were disgusting objects. The latter were much subject to +diseases, and were dreadfully emaciated. It is evident that numbers of +them die in their infancy for want of care and nourishment. We remarked +none at the age of incipient puberty, but the most of them under six. In +stating that the men were more prepossessing than any we had seen, I would +not be understood to mean that they differed in any material point either +from the natives of the coast, or of the most distant interior to which I +had been, for they were decidedly the same race, and had the same leading +features and customs, as far as the latter could be observed. The sunken +eye and overhanging eyebrow, the high cheek-bone and thick lip, distended +nostrils, the nose either short or acquiline, together with a stout bust +and slender extremities, and both curled and smooth hair, marked the +natives of the Morumbidgee as well as those of the Darling. They were +evidently sprung from one common stock, the savage and scattered +inhabitants of a rude and inhospitable land. In customs they differed in +no material point from the coast natives, and still less from the tribes +on the Darling and the Castlereagh. They ex<!--page 54 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS /page-->tract the front tooth, +lacerate their bodies, to raise the flesh, cicatrices being their chief +ornament; procure food by the same means, paint in the same manner, and +use the same weapons, as far as the productions of the country will allow +them. But as the grass-tree is not found westward of the mountains, they +make a light spear of a reed, similar to that of which the natives of the +southern islands form their arrows. These they use for distant combat, and +not only carry in numbers, but throw with the boomerang to a great +distance and with unerring precision, making them to all intents and +purposes as efficient as the bow and arrow. They have a ponderous spear +for close fight, and others of different sizes for the chase. With regard +to their laws, I believe they are universally the same all over the known +parts of New South Wales. The old men have alone the privilege of eating +the emu; and so submissive are the young men to this regulation, that if, +from absolute hunger or under other pressing circumstances, one of them +breaks through it, either during a hunting excursion, or whilst absent +from his tribe, he returns under a feeling of conscious guilt, and by his +manner betrays his guilt, sitting apart from the men, and confessing his +misdemeanour to the chief at the first interrogation, upon which he is +obliged to undergo a slight punishment. This evidently is a law of policy +and necessity, for if the emus were allowed to be indiscriminately +slaughtered, they would soon become extinct. Civilized nations may learn a +wholesome lesson even from savages, as in this instance of their +forebearance. For <!--page 55 OF THE NATIVES. /page-->somewhat similar reasons, perhaps, married people alone +are here permitted to eat ducks. They hold their corrobories, +(midnight ceremonies), and sing the same melancholy ditty that breaks the +stillness of night on the shores of Jervis' Bay, or on the banks of the +Macquarie; and during the ceremony imitate the several birds and beasts +with which they are acquainted. If these inland tribes differ in anything +from those on the coast, it is in the mode of burying their dead, and, +partially, in their language. Like all savages, they consider their women +as secondary objects, oblige them to procure their own food, or throw to +them over their shoulders the bones they have already picked, with a +nonchalance that is extremely amusing; and, on the march, make them beasts +of burden to carry their very weapons. The population of the Morumbidgee, +as far as we had descended it at this time, did not exceed from ninety to +a hundred souls. I am persuaded that disease and accidents consign many of +them to a premature grave. + +<p>From this camp, one family only accompanied us. We journeyed due west over +plains of great extent. The soil upon them was soft and yielding, in some +places being a kind of light earth covered with rhagodiae, in others a +red tenacious clay, overrun by the misembrianthemum and salsolae. +Nothing could exceed the apparent barrenness of these plains, or the +cheerlessness of the landscape. We had left all high lands behind us, and +were now on an extensive plain, bounded in the distance by low trees or by +dark lines of cypresses. The lofty gum-trees on the river <!--page 56 MIRAGE. /page-->followed its +windings, and, as we opened the points, they appeared, from the peculiar +effect of a mirage, as bold promontories jutting into the ocean, having +literally the blue tint of distance. This mirage floated in a light +tremulous vapour on the ground, and not only deceived us with regard to +the extent of the plains, and the appearance of objects, but hid the +trees, in fact, from our view altogether; so that, in moving, as we +imagined, upon the very point or angle of the river, we found as we neared +it, that the trees stretched much further into the plain, and were obliged +to alter our course to round them. The heated state of the atmosphere, and +the sandy nature of the country could alone have caused a mirage so +striking in its effects, as this,—exceeding considerably similar +appearances noticed during the first expedition. The travelling was so +heavy, that I was obliged to make a short day's journey, and when we +struck the river for the purpose of halting, it had fallen off very much +in appearance, and was evidently much contracted, with low banks and a +sandy bed. It was difficult to account for this sudden change, but when +I gazed on the extent of level country before me, I began to dread that +this hitherto beautiful stream would ultimately disappoint us. + +<p>I had deferred my intended excursion to the hills under which I imagined +Mr. Oxley had encamped, until we were out of sight of them, and I now +feared that it was almost too late to undertake it, but I was still +anxious to determine a point in which I felt considerable interest. I was +the more desirous of surveying the country <!--page 57 EXCURSION TOWARDS A RIDGE OF HILLS. /page-->to the northward, because of +the apparent eagerness with which the natives had caught at the word +Colare, which I recollected having heard a black on the Macquarie make +use of in speaking of the Lachlan. They pointed to the N.N.W., and making +a sweep with the arm raised towards the sky, seemed to intimate that a +large sheet of water existed in that direction; and added that it +communicated with the Morumbidgee more to the westward. This information +confirmed still more my impressions with regard to Mr. Oxley's line of +route; and, as I found a ready volunteer in M'Leay, I gave the party in +charge to Harris until I should rejoin him, and turned back towards the +hills, with the intention of reaching them if possible. No doubt we should +have done so had it not been for the nature of the ground over which we +travelled, and the impossibility of our exceeding a walk. We rode to a +distance of 18 miles, but still found ourselves far short of the hills, +and therefore gave up the point. I considered, however, that we were about +the same distance to the south, as Mr. Oxley had been to the north of +them, and in taking bearings of the highest points, I afterwards found +that they exactly tallied with his bearings, supposing him to have taken +them from his camp. + +<p>On our way to the river, we Passed through some dense bushes of casuarinae +and cypresses, to the outskirts of the plains through which the +Morumbidgee winds. We reached the camp two or three hours after sunset, +and found it crowded with natives to the number of 60. They were extremely +quiet and inoffensive in their demeanour, <!--page 58 QUIET DEMEANOUR OF THE NATIVES. /page-->and asked us to point out where +they might sleep, before they ventured to kindle their fires. One old man, +we remarked, had a club foot, and another was blind, but, as far as we +could judge from the glare of the fires, the generality of them were fine +young men, and supported themselves in a very erect posture when standing +or walking. There were many children with the women, among whom colds +seemed to prevail. It blew heavily from the N.W. during the night, and a +little rain fell in the early part of the morning. Our route during the +day, was over as melancholy a tract as ever was travelled. The plains to +the N. and N.W. bounded the horizon; not a tree of any kind was visible +upon them. It was equally open to the S., and it appeared as if the river +was decoying us into a desert, there to leave us in difficulty and in +distress. The very mirage had the effect of boundlessness in it, by +blending objects in one general hue; or, playing on the ground, it cheated +us with an appearance of water, and on arriving at the spot, we found a +continuation of the same scorching plain, over which we were moving, +instead of the stream we had hoped for. + +<p>The cattle about this time began to suffer, and, anxious as I was to push +on, I was obliged to shorten my journeys, according to circumstances. +Amidst the desolation around us, the river kept alive our hopes. If it +traversed deserts, it might reach fertile lands, and it was to the issue +of the journey that we had to look for success. It here, however, +evidently overflowed its banks more extensively than heretofore, and +<!--page 59 DREARINESS OF THE LANDSCAPE. /page-->broad belts of reeds were visible on either side of it, on which the +animals exclusively subsisted. Most of the natives had followed us, and +their patience and abstinence surprised me exceedingly. Some of them had +been more than twenty-four hours without food, and yet seemed as little +disposed to seek it as ever. I really thought they expected me to supply +their wants, but as I could not act so liberal a scale, George M'Leay +undeceived them; after which they betook themselves to the river, and got +a supply of muscles. I rather think their going so frequently into the +water engenders a catarrh, or renders them more liable to it than they +otherwise would be. In the afternoon the wind shifted to the S.W. It blew +a hurricane; and the temperature of the air was extremely low. The natives +felt the cold beyond belief and kindled large fires. In the morning, when +we moved away, the most of them started with fire-sticks to keep +themselves warm; but they dropped off one by one, and at noon we found +ourselves totally deserted. + +<p>It is impossible for me to describe the kind of country we were now +traversing, or the dreariness of the view it presented. The plains were +still open to the horizon, but here and there a stunted gum-tree, or a +gloomy cypress, seemed placed by nature as mourners over the surrounding +desolation. Neither beast nor bird inhabited these lonely and inhospitable +regions, over which the silence of the grave seemed to reign. We had not, +for days past, seen a blade of grass, so that the animals could not have +been in <!--page 60 THE BLACK BOY DESERTS. /page-->very good condition. We pushed on, however, sixteen miles, in +consequence of the coolness of the weather. We observed little change in +the river in that distance, excepting that it had taken up a muddy bottom, +and lost all the sand that used to fill it. The soil and productions on +the plains continued unchanged in every respect. From this time to the +22nd, the country presented the same aspect. Occasional groups of cypress +showed themselves on narrow sandy ridges, or partial brushes extended from +the river, consisting chiefly of the acacia pendula, the stenochylus, +and the nut I have already noticed. The soil on which they grew was, if +possible, worse than that of the barren plain which we were traversing; +and their colour and drooping state rendered the desolate landscape still +more dreary. + +<p>On the 21st, we found the same singular substance* <span class=note>[Gypsum. See Plate.]</span> embedded in the +bank of the river that had been collected, during the former expedition, +on the banks of the Darling; and hope, which is always uppermost in the +human breast, induced me to think that we were fast approaching that +stream. My observations placed me in 34° 17´ 15´´ +S. and 145° of E. longitude. + +<p>On the 22nd, my black boy deserted me. I was not surprised at his doing +so, neither did I regret his loss, for he had been of little use under any +circumstances. He was far too cunning for our purpose. I know not that the +term ingratitude can be applied to one in his situation, and in <!--page 61 COUNTRY SUBJECT TO INUNDATION. /page-->whose +bosom nature had implanted a love of freedom. We learnt from four blacks, +with whom he had spoken, and who came to us in the afternoon, that he had +gone up the river,—as I conjectured, to the last large tribe we had left, +with whom he appeared to become very intimate. + +<p>A creek coming from the N.N.W. here fell into the Morumbidgee; a proof +that the general decline of country was really to the south, although a +person looking over it would have supposed the contrary. + +<p>We started on the 23rd, with the same boundlessness of plain on either +side of us; but in the course of the morning a change took place, both in +soil and productions; and from the red sandy loam, and salsolaceous +plants, amidst which we had been toiling, we got upon a light tenacious +and blistered soil, evidently subject to frequent overflow, and fields of +polygonum junceum, amidst which, both the crested pigeon and the black +quail were numerous. The drays and animals sank so deep in this, that we +were obliged to make for the river, and keep upon its immediate banks. +Still, with all the appearance of far-spread inundation, it continued +undiminished in size, and apparently in the strength of its current. +Its channel was deeper than near the mountains, but its breadth was about +the same. + +<p>On the 24th, we were again entangled amidst fields of polygonum, through +which we laboured until after eleven, when we gained a firmer soil. Some +cypresses appeared upon our right, in a dark line, and I indulged hopes +that a change was about to take place in the nature of the coun<!--page 62 INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES /page-->try. We +soon, however, got on a light rotten earth, and were again obliged to make +for the river, with the teams completely exhausted. We had not travelled +many miles from our last camp, yet it struck me, that the river had +fallen off in appearance. I examined it with feelings of intense anxiety, +certain, as I was, that the flooded spaces, over which we had been +travelling would, sooner or later, be succeeded by a country overgrown +with reeds. The river evidently overflowed its banks, on both sides, +for many miles, nor had I a doubt that, at some periods, the space +northward, between it and the Lachlan, presented the appearance of one +vast sea. The flats of polygonum stretched away to the N.W. to an amazing +distance, as well as in a southerly direction, and the very nature of the +soil bore testimony to its flooded origin. But the most unaccountable +circumstance to me was, that it should be entirely destitute of +vegetation, with the exception of the gloomy and leafless bramble I have +noticed. + +<p>M'Leay, who was always indefatigable in his pursuit after subjects of +natural history, shot a cockatoo, of a new species, hereabouts, having a +singularly shaped upper mandible. It was white, with scarlet down under +the neck feathers, smaller than the common cockatoo, and remarkable for +other peculiarities. + +<p>Two or three natives made their appearance at some distance from the +party, but would not approach it until after we had halted. They then +came to the tents, seven in number, and it was evident from their manner, +that their <!--page 63 THE COLARE OR LACHLAN. /page-->chief or only object was to pilfer anything they could. We +did not, therefore, treat them with much ceremony. They were an +ill-featured race, and it was only by strict watching during the night +that they were prevented from committing theft. Probably from seeing that +we were aware of their intentions, they left us early, and pointing +somewhat to the eastward of north, said they were going to the Colare, +and on being asked how far it was, they signified that they should sleep +there. I had on a former occasion recollected the term having been made +use of by a black, on the Macquarie, when speaking to me of the Lachlan, +and had questioned one of the young men who was with us at the time, and +who seemed more intelligent than his companions, respecting it. +Immediately catching at the word, he had pointed to the N.N.W., and, +making a sweep with his arms raised towards the sky had intimated, +evidently, that a large sheet of water existed in that direction, in the +same manner that another black had done on a former occasion: on being +further questioned, he stated that this communicated with the Morumbidgee +more to the westward, and on my expressing a desire to go to it, he said +we could not do so under four days. We had, it appeared, by the account of +the seven natives, approached within one day's journey of it, and, as I +thought it would be advisable to gain a little knowledge of the country to +the north, I suggested to M'Leay to ride in that direction, while the +party should be at rest, with some good feed for the cattle that fortune +had pointed out to us. +<!--page 64 EXCURSION TOWARDS THE LACHLAN. /page--> +<p>Our horses literally sank up to their knees on parts of the great plain +over which we had in the first instance to pass, and we rode from three to +four miles before we caught sight of a distant wood at its northern +extremity; the view from the river having been for the last two or three +days, as boundless as the ocean. As we approached the wood, two columns of +smoke rose from it, considerably apart, evidently the fires of natives +near water. We made for the central space between them, having a dead +acacia scrub upon our right. On entering the wood, we found that it +contained for the most part, flooded-gum, under which bulrushes and +reeds were mixed together. The whole space seemed liable to overflow, and +we crossed numerous little drains, that intersected each other in every +direction. From the resemblance of the ground to that at the bottom of the +marshes of the Macquarie, I prognosticated to my companion that we should +shortly come upon a creek, and we had not ridden a quarter of a mile +further, when we found ourselves on the banks of one of considerable size. +Crossing it, we proceeded northerly, until we got on the outskirts of a +plain of red sandy soil, covered with rhagodia alone, and without a tree +upon the visible horizon. The country appeared to be rising before us, but +was extremely depressed to the eastward. After continuing along this +plain for some time, I became convinced from appearances, that we were +receding from water, and that the fires of the natives, which were no +longer visible, must have been on the creek we had crossed, that I judged +to be leading W.S.W. from the op<!--page 65 CONNECTION OF LACHLAN WITH MORUMBIDGEE. /page-->posite quarter. We had undoubtedly struck +below to the westward of the Colare or Lachlan, and the creek was the +channel of communication between it and the Morumbidgee, at least such was +the natural conclusion at which I arrived. Having no further object in +continuing a northerly course, we turned to the S.E., and, after again +passing the creek, struck away for the camp on a S. by W. course, and +passed through a dense brush of cypress and casuarina in our way to it. + +<p>Considering our situation as connected with the marshes of the Lachlan, +I cannot but infer that the creek we struck upon during this excursion +serves as a drain to the latter, to conduct its superfluous waters into +the Morumbidgee in times of flood, as those of the Macquarie are conducted +by the creek at the termination of its marshes into Morrisset's Chain of +Ponds. It will be understood that I only surmise this. I argue from +analogy, not from proof. Whether I am correct or not, my knowledge of the +facts I have stated, tended very much to satisfy my mind as to the <i>lay</i> of +the interior; and to revive my hopes that the Morumbidgee would not fail +us, although there was no appearance of the country improving. + +<p>We started on the 26th, on a course somewhat to the N.W., and traversed +plains of the same wearisome description as those I have already +described. The wheels of the drays sank up to their axle-trees, and the +horses above their fetlocks at every step. The fields of polygonum spread +on every side of us like a dark sea, and the only green object within +range of our vision was the river line of trees. <!--page 66 COUNTRY COVERED WITH REEDS. /page-->In several instances, the +force of both teams was put to one dray, to extricate it from the bed into +which it had sunk, and the labour was considerably increased from the +nature of the weather. The wind was blowing as if through a furnace, from +the N.N.E., and the dust was flying in clouds, so as to render it almost +suffocating to remain exposed to it. This was the only occasion upon which +we felt the hot winds in the interior. We were, about noon, endeavouring +to gain a point of a wood at which I expected to come upon the river +again, but it was impossible for the teams to reach it without assistance. +I therefore sent M'Leay forward, with orders to unload the pack animals as +soon as he should make the river, and send them back to help the teams. He +had scarcely been separated from me 20 minutes, when one of the men came +galloping back to inform me that no river was to be found—that the +country beyond the wood was covered with reeds as far as the eye could +reach, and that Mr. M'Leay had sent him back for instructions. This +intelligence stunned me for a moment or two, and I am sure its effect upon +the men was very great. They had unexpectedly arrived at a part of the +interior similar to one they had held in dread, and conjured up a thousand +difficulties and privations. I desired the man to recall Mr. M'Leay; and, +after gaining the wood, moved outside of it at right angles to my former +course, and reached the river, after a day of severe toil and exposure, +at half-past five. The country, indeed, bore every resemblance to that +around the marshes of the Macquarie, but I was too weary to make any +further <!--page 67 ANXIOUS COGITATIONS. /page-->effort: indeed it was too late for me undertake anything until +the morning. + +<p>The circumstances in which we were so unexpectedly placed, occupied my +mind so fully that I could not sleep; and I awaited the return of light +with the utmost anxiety. If we were indeed on the outskirts of marshes +similar to those I had on a former occasion found so much difficulty +in examining, I foresaw that in endeavouring to move round then I should +recede from water, and place the expedition in jeopardy, probably, without +gaining any determinate point, as it would be necessary for me to advance +slowly and with caution. Our provisions, however, being calculated to last +only to a certain period, I was equally reluctant to delay our operations. +My course was, therefore, to be regulated by the appearance of the country +and of the river, which I purposed examining with the earliest dawn. +If the latter should be found to run into a region of reeds, a boat would +be necessary to enable me to ascertain its direction; but, if ultimately +it should be discovered to exhaust itself, we should have to strike into +the interior on a N.W. course, in search of the Darling. I could not think +of putting the whale-boat together in our then state of uncertainty, and +it struck me that a smaller one could sooner be prepared for the purposes +for which I should require it. These considerations, together with the +view I had taken of the measures I might at last be forced into, +determined me, on rising, to order Clayton to fell a suitable tree, and to +prepare a saw-pit. The labour <!--page 68 SURVEY OF RIVER AND ENVIRONS. /page-->was of no consideration, and even if +eventually the boat should not be wanted, no injury would arise, and it +was better to take time by the forelock. Having marked a tree preparatory +to leaving the camp, M'Leay and I started at an early hour on an excursion +of deeper interest than any we had as yet undertaken; to examine the +reeds, not only for the purpose of ascertaining their extent, if possible, +but also to guide us in our future measures. We rode for some miles along +the river side, but observed in it no signs, either of increase or of +exhaustion. Its waters, though turbid, were deep, and its current still +rapid. Its banks, too, were lofty, and showed no evidence of decreasing +in height, so as to occasion an overflow of them, as had been the case +with the Macquarie. We got among vast bodies of reeds, but the plains of +the interior were visible beyond them. We were evidently in a hollow, and +the decline of country was plainly to the southward of west. Every thing +tended to strengthen my conviction that we were still far from the +termination of the river. The character it had borne throughout, and its +appearance now so far to the westward, gave me the most lively hopes that +it would make good its way through the vast level into which it fell, and +that its termination would accord with its promise. Besides, I daily +anticipated its junction with some stream of equal, if not of greater +magnitude from the S.E. I was aware that my resolves must be instant, +decisive, and immediately acted upon, as on firmness and promptitude at +this crisis the success of the expedition depended. About noon I checked +my horse, <!--page 69 BOAT BUILDING. /page-->and rather to the surprise of my companion, intimated to +him my intention of returning to the camp, He naturally asked what I +purposed doing. I told him it appeared to me more than probable that the +Morumbidgee would hold good its course to some fixed point, now that it +had reached a meridian beyond the known rivers of the interior. It was +certain, from the denseness of the reeds, and the breadth of the belts, +that the teams could not be brought any farther, and that, taking every +thing into consideration, I had resolved on a bold and desperate measure, +that of building the whale-boat, and sending home the drays. Our +appearance in camp so suddenly, surprised the men not more than the orders +I gave. They all thought I had struck on some remarkable change of +country, and were anxious to know my ultimate views. It was not my +intention however, immediately to satisfy their curiosity. I had to study +their characters as long as I could, in order to select those best +qualified to accompany me on the desperate adventure for which I was +preparing. + +<p>The attention both of M'Leay, and myself, was turned to the hasty building +of the whale-boat. A shed was erected, and every necessary preparation +made, and although Clayton had the keel of the small boat already laid +down, and some planks prepared, she was abandoned for the present, and, +after four days more of arduous labour, the whale-boat was painted and in +the water. From her dimensions, it appeared to me impossible that she +would hold all our provisions and stores, for her after-part <!--page 70 COMPLETION OF ARRANGEMENTS /page-->had been +fitted up as an armoury, which took away considerably from her capacity of +stowage. The small boat would still, therefore, be necessary, and she was +accordingly re-laid, for half the dimensions of the large boat, and in +three days was alongside her consort in the river. Thus, in seven days we +had put together a boat, twenty-seven feet in length, had felled a tree +from the forest, with which we had built a second of half the size, had +painted both, and had them at a temporary wharf ready for loading. Such +would not have been the case had not our hearts been in the work, as the +weather was close and sultry, and we found it a task of extreme labour. +In the intervals between the hours of work, I prepared my despatches for +the Governor, and when they were closed, it only remained for me to select +six hands, the number I intended should accompany me down the river, and +to load the boats, ere we should once more proceed in the further +obedience of our instructions. + +<p>It was impossible that I could do without Clayton, whose perseverance and +industry had mainly contributed to the building of the boats; of the other +prisoners, I chose Mulholland and Macnamee; leaving the rest in charge +of Robert Harris, whose steady conduct had merited my approbation. My +servant, Harris, Hopkinson, and Fraser, of course, made up the crews. +The boats were loaded in the evening of Jan. 6th, as it had been +necessary to give the paint a little time to dry. On the 4th, I had sent +Clayton and Mulholland to the nearest cypress range for a mast <!--page 71 FOR EMBARKATION. /page-->and spar, +and on the evening of that day some blacks had visited us; but they sat on +the bank of the river, preserving a most determined silence; and, at +length, left us abruptly, and apparently in great ill humour. In the +disposition of the loads, I placed all the flour, the tea, and tobacco, +in the whaleboat. The meat-casks, still, and carpenters' tools, were put +into the small boat. + +<p>As soon as the different arrangements were completed, I collected the men, +and told off those who were to accompany me. I then gave the rest over in +charge to Harris, and, in adverting to their regular conduct hitherto, +trusted they would be equally careful while under his orders. I then +directed the last remaining sheep to be equally divided among us; and it +was determined that, for fear of accidents, Harris should remain +stationary for a week, at the expiration of which time, he would be at +liberty to proceed to Goulburn Plains, there to receive his instructions +from Sydney; while the boats were to proceed at an early hour of the +morning down the river,—whether ever to return again being a point of the +greatest uncertainty.</p> + +<hr> +<!--page 72 /page--> +<a name=ch2.4></a><h4>CHAPTER IV.</h4> +<blockquote class=small> +Embarkation of the party in the boats, and voyage down the Morumbidgee—The +skiff swamped by striking on a sunken tree—Recovery of boat and its +loading—Region of reeds—Dangers of the navigation—Contraction of the +channel—Reach the junction of a large river—Intercourse with the natives +on its banks—Character of the country below the junction of the +rivers—Descent of a dangerous rapid—Warlike demonstrations of a tribe of +natives—Unexpected deliverance from a conflict with them—Junction of +another river—Give the name of the “Murray” to the principal stream. +</blockquote> +<p>The camp was a scene of bustle and confusion long before day-light. The +men whom I had selected to accompany me were in high spirits, and so eager +to commence their labours that they had been unable to sleep, but busied +themselves from the earliest dawn in packing up their various articles of +clothing, &c. We were prevented from taking our departure so early as I +had intended, by rain that fell about six. At a little after seven, +however, the weather cleared up, the morning mists blew over our heads, +and the sun struck upon us with his usual fervour. As soon as the minor +things were stowed away, we bade adieu to Harris and his party; and +shortly after, em<!--page 73 SUPPOSED JUNCTION OF LACHLAN. /page-->barked on the bosom of that stream along the banks of +which we had journeyed for so many miles + +<p>Notwithstanding that we only used two oars, our progress down the river +was rapid. Hopkinson had arranged the loads so well, that all the party +could sit at their ease, and Fraser was posted in the bow of the boat, +with gun in hand, to fire at any new bird or beast that we might surprise +in our silent progress. The little boat, which I shall henceforward call +the skiff, was fastened by a painter to our stern. + +<p>As the reader will have collected from what has already fallen under his +notice, the country near the depot was extensively covered with reeds, +beyond which vast plains of polygonum stretched away. From the bed of the +river we could not observe the change that took place in it as we passed +along, so that we found it necessary to land, from time to time, for the +purpose of noting down its general appearance. At about fifteen miles from +the depot, we came upon a large creek-junction from the N.E., which I did +not doubt to be the one M'Leay and I had crossed on the 25th of December. +It was much larger than the creek of the Macquarie, and was capable of +holding a very great body of water, although evidently too small to +contain all that occasionally rushed from its source. I laid it down as +the supposed junction of the Lachlan, since I could not, against the +corroborating facts in my possession, doubt its originating in the marshes +of that river. Should this, eventually, prove to be the case, the similar +termination of the <!--page 74 EMUS—NATIVE TOMB. /page-->two streams traced by Mr. Oxley will be a singular +feature in the geography of the interior. + +<p>We were just about to land, to prepare our dinner, when two emus swam +across the river ahead of us. This was an additional inducement for us to +land, but we were unfortunately too slow, and the birds escaped us. We had +rushed in to the right bank, and found on ascending it, that the reeds +with which it had hitherto been lined, had partially ceased. A large +plain, similar to those over which we had wandered prior to our gaining +the flooded region, stretched away to a considerable distance behind us, +and was backed by cypresses and brush. The soil of the plain was a red +sandy loam, covered sparingly with salsolae and shrubs; thus indicating +that the country still preserved its barren character, and that it is the +same from north to south. Among the shrubs we found a tomb that appeared +to have been recently constructed. No mound had been raised over the body, +but an oval hollow shed occupied the centre of the burial place, that was +lined with reeds and bound together with strong net-work. Round this, the +usual walks were cut, and the recent traces of women's feet were visible +upon them, but we saw no natives, although, from the number and size of +the paths that led from the river, in various directions across the plain, +I was led to conclude, that, at certain seasons, it is hereabouts +numerously frequented. Fraser gathered some rushes similar to those used +by the natives of the Darling in the fabrication of their nets, and as +they had not before been observed, we judged them, of course, to be a sign +of our near approach to that river. +<!--page 75 ASPECT OF COUNTRY AND RIVER. /page--> +<p>As soon as we had taken a hasty dinner, we again embarked, and pursued our +journey. I had hoped, from the appearance of the country to the north of +us, although that to the south gave little indication of any change, that +we should soon clear the reeds; but at somewhat less than a mile they +closed in upon the river, and our frequent examination of the +neighbourhood on either side of it only tended to confirm the fact, that +we were passing through a country subject to great and extensive +inundation. We pulled up at half-past five, and could scarcely find space +enough to pitch our tents. + +<p>The Morumbidgee kept a decidedly westerly course during the day. Its +channel was not so tortuous as we expected to have found it, nor did it +offer any obstruction to the passage of the boats. Its banks kept a +general height of eight feet, five of which were of alluvial soil, and +both its depth and its current were considerable. We calculated having +proceeded from 28 to 30 miles, though, perhaps, not more than half that +distance in a direct line. No rain fell during the day, but we experienced +some heavy squalls from the E.S.E. + +<p>The second day of our journey from the depot was marked by an accident +that had well nigh obliged us to abandon the further pursuit of the river, +by depriving us of part of our means of carrying it into effect. We had +proceeded, as usual, at an early hour in the morning, and not long after +we started, fell in with the blacks who had visited us last, and who were +now in much better humour than upon <!--page 76 THE SKIFF STRIKES AND SINKS. /page-->that occasion. As they had their women +with them, we pushed in to the bank, and distributed some presents, after +which we dropped quietly down the river. Its general depth had been such +as to offer few obstructions to our progress, but about an hour after we +left the natives, the skiff struck upon a sunken log, and immediately +filling, went down in about twelve feet of water, The length of the +painter prevented any strain upon the whale-boat, but the consequence of +so serious an accident at once flashed upon our minds. That we should +suffer considerably, we could not doubt, but our object was to get the +skiff up with the least possible delay, to prevent the fresh water from +mixing with the brine, in the casks of meat. Some short time, however, +necessarily elapsed before we could effect this, and when at last the +skiff was hauled ashore, we found that we were too late to prevent the +mischief that we had anticipated. All the things had been fastened in the +boat, but either from the shock, or the force of the current, one of the +pork casks, the head of the still, and the greater part of the carpenter's +tools, had been thrown out of her. As the success of the expedition might +probably depend upon the complete state of the still, I determined to use +every effort for its recovery: but I was truly at a loss how to find it; +for the waters of the river were extremely turbid. In this dilemma, the +blacks would have been of the most essential service, but they were far +behind us, so that we had to depend on our own exertions alone. I directed +the whale-boat to be moored over the place where the accident had +happened, <!--page 77 LABOUR IN RECOVERING ARTICLES LOST. /page-->and then used the oars on either side of her, to feel along the +bottom of the river, in hopes that by these means we should strike upon +the articles we had lost. However unlikely such a measure was to prove +successful, we recovered in the course of the afternoon, every thing but +the still-head, and a cask of paint. Whenever the oar struck against the +substance that appeared, by its sound or feel to belong to us, it was +immediately pushed into the sand, and the upper end of the oar being held +by two men, another descended by it to the bottom of the river, remaining +under water as long as he could, to ascertain what was immediately within +arm's length of him. This work was, as may be imagined, most laborious, +and the men at length became much exhausted. They would not, however, give +up the search for the still head, more especially after M'Leay, in diving, +had descended upon it. Had he, by ascertaining his position, left it to us +to heave it up, our labours would soon have ended; but, in his anxiety for +its recovery, he tried to bring it up, when finding it too heavy, he let +it go, and the current again swept it away. + +<p>At sunset we were obliged to relinquish our task, the men complaining of +violent head-aches, which the nature of the day increased. Thinking our +own efforts would be unavailing, I directed two of the men to go up the +river for the blacks, at day-light in the morning, and set the reeds on +fire to attract their notice. The day had been cloudy and sultry in the +afternoon, the clouds collecting in the N.E.: we heard the distant +thunder, and expected to have <!--page 78 PILFERING OF NATIVES. /page-->been deluged with rain. None, however, +fell, although we were anxious for moisture to change the oppressive state +of the atmosphere. The fire I had kindled raged behind us, and threw dense +columns of smoke into the sky, that cast over the landscape a shade of the +most dismal gloom. We were not in a humour to admire the picturesque, but +soon betook ourselves to rest, and after such a day of labour as that we +had undergone, I dispensed with the night guard. + +<p>In the morning we resumed our search for the still head, which Hopkinson +at length fortunately struck with his oar. It had been swept considerably +below the place at which M'Leay had dived, or we should most probably have +found it sooner. With its recovery, all our fatigues were at once +forgotten, and I ordered the breakfast to be got ready preparatory to our +reloading the skiff. Fraser and Mulholland, who had left the camp at +daylight, had not yet returned. I was sitting in the tent, when Macnamee +came to inform me that one of the frying-pans was missing, which had +been in use the evening previous, for that he himself had placed it on the +stump of a tree, and he therefore supposed a native dog had run away with +it. Soon after this, another loss was reported to me, and it was at last +discovered that an extensive robbery had been committed upon us during +the night, and that, in addition to the frying-pan, three cutlasses, and +five tomahawks, with the pea of the steelyards, had been carried away. +I was extremely surprised at this instance of daring in the natives, and +determined, if possible, <!--page 79 CONTINUE OUR VOYAGE. /page-->to punish it. About ten, Fraser and Mulholland +returned with two blacks. Fraser told me he saw several natives on our +side of the river, as he was returning, to whom those who were with him +spoke, and I felt convinced from their manner and hesitation, that they +were aware of the trick that had been played upon us. However, as Fraser +had promised them a tomahawk to induce them to accompany him, I fulfilled +the promise. + +<p>Leaving this unlucky spot, we made good about sixteen miles during the +afternoon. The river maintained its breadth and depth nor were the reeds +continuous upon its banks. We passed several plains that were considerably +elevated above the alluvial deposits, and the general appearance of the +country induced me strongly to hope that we should shortly get out of the +region of reeds, or the great flooded concavity on which we had fixed our +depot; but the sameness of vegetation, and the seemingly diminutive size +of the timber in the distance, argued against any change for the better +in the soil of the interior. Having taken the precaution of shortening the +painter of the skiff, we found less difficulty in steering her clear +of obstacles, and made rapid progress down the Morumbidgee during the +first cool and refreshing hours of the morning. The channel of the river +became somewhat less contracted, but still retained sufficient depth for +larger boats than ours, and preserved a general westerly course. Although +no decline of country was visible to the eye, the current in places ran +very strong. It is impossible for me to convey to the reader's mind an +idea of the nature <!--page 80 CONTRACTION OF THE CHANNEL. /page-->of the country through which we passed. On this day the +favourable appearances, noticed yesterday, ceased almost as soon as we +embarked. On the 10th, reeds lined the banks of the river on both sides, +without any break, and waved like gloomy streamers over its turbid waters; +while the trees stood leafless and sapless in the midst of them. Wherever +we landed, the same view presented itself—a waving expanse of reeds, and +a country as flat as it is possible to imagine one. The eye could seldom +penetrate beyond three quarters of a mile, and the labour of walking +through the reeds was immense; but within our observation all was green +and cheerless. The morning had been extremely cold, with a thick haze at +E.S.E. About 2 p.m. it came on to rain heavily, so that we did not stir +after that hour. + +<p>I had remarked that the Morumbidgee was not, from the depot downwards, so +broad or so fine a river as it certainly is at the foot of the mountain +ranges, where it gains the level country. The observations of the last two +days had impressed upon my mind an idea that it was rapidly falling off, +and I began to dread that it would finally terminate in one of those fatal +marshes in which the Macquarie and the Lachlan exhaust themselves. My hope +of a more favourable issue was considerably damped by the general +appearance of the surrounding country; and from the circumstance of our +not having as yet passed a single tributary. As we proceeded down the +river, its channel gradually contracted, and immense trees that had been +swept down it by floods, rendered the navigation dangerous and intricate. +Its waters became so <!--page 81 ANOTHER ACCIDENT. /page-->turbid, that it was impossible to see objects in it, +notwithstanding the utmost diligence on the part of the men. + +<p>About noon, we fell in with a large tribe of natives, but had great +difficulty in bringing them to visit us. If they had <i>heard</i> of white men, +we were evidently the first they had ever <i>seen</i>. They approached us in the +most cautious manner, and were unable to subdue their fears as long as +they remained with us. Collectively, these people could not have amounted +to less than one hundred and twenty in number. + +<p>As we pushed off from the bank, after having stayed with them about half +an hour, the whaleboat struck with such violence on a sunken log, that she +immediately leaked on her starboard side. Fortunately she was going slowly +at the time, or she would most probably have received some more serious +injury. One of the men was employed during the remainder of the afternoon +in bailing her out, and we stopped sooner than we should otherwise have +done, in order to ascertain the extent of damage, and to repair it. The +reeds terminated on both sides of the river some time before we pulled up, +and the country round the camp was more elevated than usual, and bore the +appearance of open forest pasture land, the timber upon it being a dwarf +species of box, and the soil a light tenacious earth. + +<p>About a mile below our encampment of the 12th, we at length came upon a +considerable creek-junction from the S.E. Below it, the river increased +both in breadth and depth; banks were lofty and perpendicular, and even +the lowest levels were but partially covered with reeds. We met with fewer +<!--page 82 ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY, /page-->obstructions in consequence, and pursued our journey with restored +confidence. Towards evening a great change also took place in the aspect +of the country, which no longer bore general marks of inundation. The +level of the interior was broken by a small hill to the right of the +stream, but the view from its summit rather damped than encouraged my +hopes of any improvement. The country was covered with wood and brush, and +the line of the horizon was unbroken by the least swell. We were on an +apparently boundless flat, without any fixed point on which to direct our +movements, nor was there a single object for the eye to rest upon, beyond +the dark and gloomy wood that surrounded us on every side. + +<p>Soon after passing this hill, the whale-boat struck upon a line of sunken +rocks, but fortunately escaped without injury. Mulholland, who was +standing in the bow, was thrown out of her, head foremost, and got a good +soaking, but soon recovered himself. The composition of the rock was +iron-stone, and it is the first formation that occurs westward of the +dividing range. We noticed a few cypresses in the distance, but the +general timber was dwarf-box, or flooded-gum, and a few of the acacia +longa scattered at great distances. In verifying our position by some +lunars, we found ourselves in 142° 46´ 30´´ of east +long., and in lat. 35° 25´ 15´´ S. the mean variation +of the compass being 4° 10´´ E. it appearing that we were +decreasing the variation as we proceeded westward. + +<p>On the 13th, we passed the first running stream that joins the +Morumbidgee, in a course of more than 340 miles. <!--page 83 AND OF THE RIVER. /page-->It came from the S.E., +and made a visible impression on the river at the junction, although in +tracing it up, it appeared to be insignificant in itself. The circumstance +of these tributaries all occurring on the left, evidenced the level nature +of the country to the north. In the afternoon, we passed a dry creek also +from the S.E. which must at times throw a vast supply of water into the +river, since for many miles below, the latter preserved a breadth of +200 feet, and averaged from 12 to 20 feet in depth, with banks of from +15 to 18 feet in height. Yet, notwithstanding its general equality of +depth, several rapids occurred, down which the boats were hurried with +great velocity. The body of water in the river continued undiminished, +notwithstanding its increased breadth of channel; for which reason I +should imagine that it is fed by springs, independently of other supplies. +Some few cypresses were again observed, and the character of the distant +country resembled, in every particular, that of the interior between the +Macquarie and the Darling. The general appearance of the Morumbidgee, from +the moment of our starting on the 13th, to a late hour in the afternoon, +had been such as to encourage my hopes of ultimate success in tracing it +down; but about three o'clock we came to one of those unaccountable and +mortifying changes which had already so frequently excited my +apprehension. Its channel again suddenly contracted, and became almost +blocked up with huge trees, that must have found their way into it down +the creeks or junctions we had lately passed. The rapidity of the current +increasing at the same <!--page 84 DANGEROUS NAVIGATION /page-->time, rendered the navigation perplexing and +dangerous. We passed reach after reach, presenting the same difficulties, +and were at length obliged to pull up at 5 p.m., having a scene of +confusion and danger before us that I did not dare to encounter with the +evening's light; for I had not only observed that the men's eye-sight +failed them as the sun descended, and that they mistook shadows for +objects under water, and <i>vice versa</i>, but the channel had become so narrow +that, although the banks were not of increased height, we were involved in +comparative darkness, under a close arch of trees, and a danger was hardly +seen ere we were hurried past it, almost without the possibility of +avoiding it. The reach at the head of which we stopped, was crowded with +the trunks of trees, the branches of which crossed each other in every +direction, nor could I hope, after a minute examination of the channel, +to succeed in taking the boats safely down so intricate a passage. + +<p>We rose in the morning with feelings of apprehension, and uncertainty; +and, indeed, with great doubts on our minds whether we were not thus early +destined to witness the wreck, and the defeat of the expedition. The men +got slowly and cautiously into the boat, and placed themselves so as to +leave no part of her undefended. Hopkinson stood at the bow, ready with +poles to turn her head from anything upon which she might be drifting. +Thus prepared, we allowed her to go with the stream. By extreme care and +attention on the part of the men we passed this formidable barrier. +Hopkinson in particular exerted himself, and more <!--page 85 OF THE MORUMBIDGEE. /page-->than once leapt from the +boat upon apparently rotten logs of wood, that I should not have judged +capable of bearing his weight, the more effectually to save the boat. +It might have been imagined that where such a quantity of timber had +accumulated, a clearer channel would have been found below, but such was +not the case. In every reach we had to encounter fresh difficulties. In +some places huge trees lay athwart the stream, under whose arched branches +we were obliged to pass; but, generally speaking, they had been carried, +roots foremost, by the current, and, therefore, presented so many points +to receive us, that, at the rate at which we were going, had we struck +full upon any one of them, it would have gone through and through the +boat. About noon we stopped to repair, or rather to take down the remains +of our awning, which had been torn away; and to breathe a moment from the +state of apprehension and anxiety in which our minds had been kept during +the morning. About one, we again started. The men looked anxiously out +ahead; for the singular change in the river had impressed on them an idea, +that we were approaching its termination, or near some adventure. On a +sudden, the river took a general southern direction, but, in its tortuous +course, swept round to every point of the compass with the greatest +irregularity. We were carried at a fearful rate down its gloomy and +contracted banks, and, in such a moment of excitement, had little time to +pay attention to the country through which we were passing. It was, +however, observed, that chalybeate-springs were numerous close to the +water's <!--page 86 JUNCTION OF A LARGE RIVER. /page-->edge. At 3 p.m., Hopkinson called out that we were approaching +a junction, and in less than a minute afterwards, we were hurried into a +broad and noble river. + +<p>It is impossible for me to describe the effect of so instantaneous a +change of circumstances upon us. The boats were allowed to drift along at +pleasure, and such was the force with which we had been shot out of the +Morumbidgee, that we were carried nearly to the bank opposite its +embouchure, whilst we continued to gaze in silent astonishment on the +capacious channel we had entered; and when we looked for that by which we +had been led into it, we could hardly believe that the insignificant gap +that presented itself to us was, indeed, the termination of the beautiful +and noble stream, whose course we had thus successfully followed. I can +only compare the relief we experienced to that which the seaman feels on +weathering the rock upon which he expected his vessel would have +struck—to the calm which succeeds moments of feverish anxiety, when the +dread of danger is succeeded by the certainty of escape. + +<p>To myself personally, the discovery of this river was a circumstance of a +particularly gratifying nature, since it not only confirmed the justness +of my opinion as to the ultimate fate of the Morumbidgee, and bore me out +in the apparently rash and hasty step I had taken at the depot, but +assured me of ultimate success in the duty I had to perform. We had got on +the high road, as it were, either to the south coast, or to some +important outlet; and the appearance of the river itself was such as to +justify our most sanguine <!--page 87 CHARACTER OF THE RIVER. /page-->expectations. I could not doubt its being the +great channel of the streams from the S.E. angle of the island. Mr. Hume +had mentioned to me that he crossed three very considerable streams, when +employed with Mr. Hovell in 1823 in penetrating towards Port Phillips, to +which the names of the Goulburn, the Hume, and the Ovens, had been given; +and as I was 300 miles from the track these gentlemen had pursued, I +considered it more than probable that those rivers must already have +formed a junction above me, more especially when I reflected that the +convexity of the mountains to the S.E. would necessarily direct the waters +falling inwards from them to a common centre. + +<p>We entered the new river at right angles, and, as I have remarked, at the +point of junction the channel of the Morumbidgee had narrowed so as to +bear all the appearance of an ordinary creek. In breadth it did not exceed +fifty feet, and if, instead of having passed down it, I had been making my +way up the principal streams, I should little have dreamt that so dark and +gloomy an outlet concealed a river that would lead me to the haunts of +civilized man, and whose fountains rose amidst snow-clad mountains. Such, +however, is the characteristic of the streams falling to the westward of +the coast ranges. Descending into a low and level interior, and depending +on their immediate springs for existence, they fall off, as they increase +their distance from the base of the mountains in which they rise, and in +their lower branches give little results of the promise they had +previously made. +<!--page 88 ABSENCE OF NATIVES. /page--> +<p>The opinion I have expressed, and which is founded on my personal +experience, that the rivers crossed by Messrs. Hovell and Hume had +already united above me, was strengthened by the capacity of the stream we +had just discovered. It had a medium width of 350 feet, with a depth of +from twelve to twenty. Its reaches were from half to three-quarters of a +mile in length, and the views upon it were splendid. Of course, as the +Morumbidgee entered it from the north, its first reach must have been +E. and W., and it was so, as nearly as possible; but it took us a little +to the southward of the latter point, in a distance of about eight miles +that we pulled down it in the course of the afternoon. We then landed and +pitched our tents for the night. Its transparent waters were running over +a sandy bed at the rate of two-and-a-half knots an hour, and its banks, +although averaging eighteen feet in height, were evidently subject to +floods. + +<p>We had not seen any natives since falling in with the last tribe on the +Morumbidgee. A cessation had, therefore, taken place in our communication +with them, in re-establishing which I anticipated considerable difficulty. +It appeared singular that we should not have fallen in with any for +several successive days, more especially at the junction of the two +rivers, as in similar situations they generally have an establishment. In +examining the country back from the stream, I did not observe any large +paths, but it was evident that fires had made extensive ravages in the +neighbourhood, so that the country was, perhaps, only tem<!--page 89 WEATHER, TEMPERATURE, &c. /page-->porarily +deserted. Macnamee, who had wandered a little from the tents, declared +that he had seen about a dozen natives round a fire, from whom (if he +really did see them) he very precipitately fled, but I was inclined to +discredit his story, because in our journey on the following day, we +did not see even a casual wanderer. + +<p>The river maintained its character, and raised our hopes to the highest +pitch. Its breadth varied from 160 to 200 yards; and only in one place, +where a reef of iron-stone stretched nearly across from the left bank, +so as to contract the channel near the right and to form a considerable +rapid, was there any apparent obstruction to our navigation. I was sorry, +however, to remark that the breadth of alluvial soil between its outer and +inner banks was very inconsiderable, and that the upper levels were poor +and sandy. Blue-gum generally occupied the former, while the usual +productions of the plains still predominated upon the latter, and showed +that the distant interior had not yet undergone any favourable change. +We experienced strong breezes from the north, but the range of the +thermometer was high, and the weather rather oppressive than otherwise. +On the night of the 16th, we had a strong wind from the N.W., but it +moderated with day-light, and shifted to the E.N.E., and the day was +favourable and cool. Our progress was in every way satisfactory, and if +any change had taken place in the river, it was that the banks had +increased in height, in many places to thirty feet, the soil being a red +loam, and the surface much above the reach of <!--page 90 INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES. /page-->floods. The bank opposite to +the one that was so elevated, was proportionably low, and, in general, not +only heavily timbered, but covered with reeds, and backed by a chain of +ponds at the base of the outer embankment. + +<p>About 4 p.m., some natives were observed running by the river side behind +us, but on our turning the boat's head towards the shore, they ran away. +It was evident that they had no idea what we were, and, from their +timidity, feeling assured that it would be impossible to bring them to a +parley, we continued onwards till our usual hour of stopping, when we +pitched our tents on the left bank for the night, it being the one +opposite to that on which the natives had appeared. We conjectured that +their curiosity would lead them to follow us, which they very shortly did; +for we had scarcely made ourselves comfortable when we heard their wild +notes through the woods as they advanced towards the river; and their +breaking into view with their spears and shields, and painted and prepared +as they were for battle, was extremely fine. They stood threatening us, +and making a great noise, for a considerable time, but, finding that we +took no notice of them, they, at length, became quiet. I then walked to +some little distance from the party, and taking a branch in my hand, as a +sign of peace, beckoned them to swim to our side of the river, which, +after some time, two or three of them did. But they approached me with +great caution, hesitating at every step. They soon, however, gained +confidence, and were ultimately joined by all the males of <!--page 91 INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES. /page-->their tribe. +I gave the <i>first</i> who swam the river a tomahawk (making this a rule in +order to encourage them) with which he was highly delighted. I shortly +afterwards placed them all in a row and fired a gun before them: they were +quite unprepared for such an explosion, and after standing stupified and +motionless for a moment or two, they simultaneously took to their heels, +to our great amusement. I succeeded, however, in calling them back, and +they regained their confidence so much, that sixteen of them remained with +us all night, but the greater number retired at sunset. + +<p>On the following morning, they accompanied us down the river, where we +fell in with their tribe, who were stationed on an elevated bank a short +distance below—to the number of eighty-three men, women, and children. +Their appearance was extremely picturesque and singular. They wanted us to +land, but time was too precious for such delays. Some of the boldest of +the natives swam round and round the boat so as to impede the use of the +oars, and the women on the bank evinced their astonishment by mingled +yells and cries. They entreated us, by signs, to remain with them, but, as +I foresaw a compliance on this occasion would hereafter be attended with +inconvenience, I thought it better to proceed on our journey, and the +natives soon ceased their importunities, and, indeed, did not follow or +molest us. + +<p>The river improved upon us at every mile. Its reaches were of noble +breadth, and splendid appearance. Its cur<!--page 92 ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY, /page-->rent was stronger, and it was fed +by numerous springs. Rocks, however, were more frequent in its bed, and in +two places almost formed a barrier across the channel, leaving but a +narrow space for the boats to go down. We passed several elevations of +from 70 to 90 feet in height, at the base of which the stream swept along. +The soil of these elevations was a mixture of clay (marl) and sand, upon +coarse sandstone. Their appearance and the manner in which they had been +acted upon by water, was singular, and afforded a proof of the violence of +the rains in this part of the interior. From the highest of these, I +observed that the country to the S.E. was gently undulated, and so far +changed in character from that through which we had been travelling; +still, however, it was covered with a low scrub, and was barren and +unpromising. + +<p>About noon of the 18th, we surprised two women at the water-side, who +immediately retreated into the brush. Shortly after, four men showed +themselves, and followed us for a short distance, but hid themselves upon +our landing. The country still appeared undulated to the S.E.; the soil +was sandy, and cypresses more abundant than any other tree. We passed +several extensive sand-banks in the river, of unusual size and solidity, +an evident proof of the sandy nature of the interior generally. The vast +accumulations of sand at the junctions of every creek were particularly +remarkable. The timber on the alluvial flats was not by any means so large +as we had hitherto observed it; nor were the flats themselves so extensive +as they are on the Morum<!--page 93 AND OF THE RIVER BANKS. /page-->bidgee and the Macquarie. Notwithstanding the +aspect of the country which I have described, no <i>positive</i> change had as +yet taken place in the general feature of the interior. The river +continued to flow in a direction somewhat to the northward of west, +through a country that underwent no perceptible alteration. Its waters, +confined to their immediate bed, swept along considerably below the level +of its inner banks; and the spaces between them and the outer ones, though +generally covered with reeds, seemed not recently to have been flooded; +while on the other hand, they had, in many places, from successive +depositions, risen to a height far above the reach of inundation. Still, +however, the more remote interior maintained its sandy and sterile +character, and stretched away, in alternate plain and wood, to a distance +far beyond the limits of our examination. + +<p>About the 21st, a very evident change took place in it. The banks of the +river suddenly acquired a perpendicular and water-worn appearance. Their +summits were perfectly level, and no longer confined by a secondary +embankment, but preserved an uniform equality of surface back from the +stream. These banks, although so abrupt, were not so high as the upper +levels, or secondary embankments. They indicated a deep alluvial deposit, +and yet, being high above the reach of any ordinary flood, were covered +with grass, under an open box forest, into which a moderately dense scrub +occasionally penetrated. We had fallen into a concavity similar to those +of the marshes, but successive depositions had almost filled it, and no +longer subject to in<!--page 94 THREATENED ATTACK. /page-->undation, it had lost all the character of those +flooded tracts. The kind of country I have been describing, lay rather to +the right than to the left of the river at this place, the latter +continuing low and swampy, as if the country to the south of the river +were still subject to inundation. As the expedition proceeded, the left +bank gradually assumed the appearance of the right; both looked water-worn +and perpendicular, and though not more than from nine to ten feet in +height, their summits were perfectly level in receding, and bore +diminutive box-timber, with widely-scattered vegetation. Not a single +elevation had, as yet, broken the dark and gloomy monotony of the +interior; but as our observations were limited to a short distance from +the river, our surmises on the nature of the distant country were +necessarily involved in some uncertainty. + +<p>On the 19th, as we were about to conclude our journey for the day, we saw +a large body of natives before us. On approaching them, they showed every +disposition for combat, and ran along the bank with spears in rests, as if +only waiting for an opportunity to throw them at us. They were upon the +right, and as the river was broad enough to enable me to steer wide of +them, I did not care much for their threats; but upon another party +appearing upon the left bank, I thought it high time to disperse one or +the other of them, as the channel was not wide enough to enable me to keep +clear of danger, if assailed by both, as I might be while keeping amid the +channel. I found, however, that they did not know how to use the advantage +they <!--page 95 AMICABLE CONFERENCE. /page-->possessed, as the two divisions formed a junction; those on the left +swimming over to the stronger body upon the right bank. This, fortunately, +prevented the necessity of any hostile measure on my part, and we were +suffered to proceed unmolested, for the present. The whole then followed +us without any symptom of fear, but making a dreadful shouting, and +beating their spears and shields together, by way of intimidation. It is +but justice to my men to say that in this critical situation they evinced +the greatest coolness, though it was impossible for any one to witness +such a scene with indifference. As I did not intend to fatigue the men by +continuing to pull farther than we were in the habit of doing, we landed +at our usual time on the left bank, and while the people were pitching the +tents, I walked down the bank with M'Leay, to treat with these desperadoes +in the best way we could, across the water, a measure to which my men +showed great reluctance, declaring that if during our absence the natives +approached them, they would undoubtedly fire upon them. I assured them it +was not my intention to go out of their sight. We took our guns with us, +but determined not to use them until the last extremity, both from a +reluctance to shed blood and with a view to our future security. I held a +long pantomimical dialogue with them, across the water, and held out the +olive branch in token of amity. They at length laid aside their spears, +and a long consultation took place among them, which ended in two or three +wading into the river, contrary, as it appeared, to the earnest +remonstrances of the majority, who, <!--page 96 APPEARANCE OF THE NATIVES. /page-->finding that their entreaties had no +effect, wept aloud, and followed them with a determination, I am sure, of +sharing their fate, whatever it might have been. As soon as they landed, +M'Leay and I retired to a little distance from the bank, and sat down; +that being the usual way among the natives of the interior, to invite to +an interview. When they saw us act thus, they approached, and sat down by +us, but without looking up, from a kind of diffidence peculiar to them, +and which exists even among the nearest relatives, as I have already had +occasion to observe. As they gained confidence, however, they showed an +excessive curiosity, and stared at us in the most earnest manner. We now +led them to the camp, and I gave, as was my custom, the first who had +approached, a tomahawk; and to the others, some pieces of iron hoop. Those +who had crossed the river amounted to about thirty-five in number. +At sunset, the majority of them left us; but three old men remained at +the fire-side all night. I observed that few of them had either lost their +front teeth or lacerated their bodies, as the more westerly tribes do. The +most loathsome diseases prevailed among them. Several were disabled by +leprosy, or some similar disorder, and two or three had entirely lost +their sight. They are, undoubtedly, a brave and a confiding people, and +are by no means wanting in natural affection. In person, they resemble the +mountain tribes. They had the thick lip, the sunken eye, the extended +nostril, and long beards, and both smooth and curly hair are common among +them. Their lower extremities appear to <!--page 97 INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES. /page-->bear no proportion to their bust +in point of muscular strength; but the facility with which they ascend +trees of the largest growth, and the activity with which they move upon +all occasions, together with their singularly erect stature, argue that +such appearance is entirely deceptive. + +<p>The old men slept very soundly by the fire, and were the last to get up in +the morning. M'Leay's extreme good humour had made a most favourable +impression upon them, and I can picture him, even now, joining in their +wild song. Whether it was from his entering so readily into their mirth, +or from anything peculiar that struck them, the impression upon the whole +of us was, that they took him to have been originally a black, in +consequence of which they gave him the name of Rundi. Certain it is, they +pressed him to show his side, and asked if he had not received a wound +there—evidently as if the original Rundi had met with a violent death +from a spear-wound in that place. The whole tribe, amounting in number to +upwards of 150, assembled to see us take our departure. Four of them +accompanied us, among whom there was one remarkable for personal strength +and stature.—The 21st passed without our falling in with any new tribe, +and the night of the 22nd, saw us still wandering in that lonely desert +together. There was something unusual in our going through such an extent +of country without meeting another tribe, but our companions appeared to +be perfectly aware of the absence of inhabitants, as they never left +our side. + +<p>Although the banks of the river had been of general <!--page 98 RAPID IN THE RIVER. /page-->equality of height, +sandy elevations still occasionally formed a part of them, and their +summits were considerably higher than the alluvial flats. + +<p>It was upon the crest of one of these steep and lofty banks, that on the +morning of the 22nd, the natives who were a-head of the boat, suddenly +stopped to watch our proceedings down a foaming rapid that ran beneath. +We were not aware of the danger to which we were approaching, until we +turned an angle of the river, and found ourselves too near to retreat. +In such a moment, without knowing what was before them, the coolness of +the men was strikingly exemplified. No one even spoke after they became +aware that silence was necessary. The natives (probably anticipating +misfortune) stood leaning upon their spears upon the lofty bank above us. +Desiring the men not to move from their seats, I stood up to survey the +channel, and to steer the boat to that part of it which was least impeded +by rocks. I was obliged to decide upon a hasty survey, as we were already +at the head of the rapid. It appeared to me that there were two passages, +the one down the centre of the river, the other immediately under its +right bank. A considerable rock stood directly in own way to the latter, +so that I had no alternative but to descend the former. About forty yards +below the rock, I noticed that a line of rocks occupied the space between +the two channels, whilst a reef, projecting from the left bank, made the +central passage distinctly visible, and the rapidity of the current +proportionably great. I entertained hopes that the passage was <!--page 99 DANGEROUS DESCENT OF THE BOATS. /page-->clear, and +that we should shoot down it without interruption; but in this I was +disappointed. The boat struck with the fore-part of her keel on a sunken +rock, and, swinging round as it were on a pivot, presented her bow to the +rapid, while the skiff floated away into the strength of it. We had every +reason to anticipate the loss of our whale-boat, whose build was so light, +that had her side struck the rock, instead of her keel, she would have +been laid open from stem to stern. As it was, however, she remained fixed +in her position, and it only remained for us to get her off the best way +we could. I saw that this could only be done by sending two of the men +with a rope to the upper rock, and getting the boat, by that means, into +the still water, between that and the lower one. We should then have time +to examine the channels, and to decide as to that down which it would be +safest to proceed. My only fear was, that the loss of the weight of the +two men would lighten the boat so much, that she would be precipitated +down the rapid without my having any command over her; but it happened +otherwise. We succeeded in getting her into the still water, and +ultimately took her down the channel under the right bank, without her +sustaining any injury. A few miles below this rapid the river took a +singular bend, and we found, after pulling several miles, that we were +within a stone's throw of a part of the stream we had already +sailed down. + +<p>The four natives joined us in the camp, and assisted the men at their +various occupations. The consequence was, <!--page 100 DESERTED NATIVE VILLAGE. /page-->that they were treated with more +than ordinary kindness; and Fraser, for his part, in order to gratify +these favoured guests, made great havoc among the feathered race. He +returned after a short ramble with a variety of game, among which were a +crow, a kite, and a laughing jackass (alcedo gigantea,) a species of +king's-fisher, a singular bird, found in every part of Australia. Its cry, +which resembles a chorus of wild spirits, is apt to startle the traveller +who may be in jeopardy, as if laughing and mocking at his misfortune. +It is a harmless bird, and I seldom allowed them to be destroyed, as they +were sure to rouse us with the earliest dawn. To this list of Fraser's +spoils, a duck and a tough old cockatoo, must be added. The whole of these +our friends threw on the fire without the delay of plucking, and snatched +them from that consuming element ere they were well singed, and devoured +them with uncommon relish. + +<p>We pitched our tents upon a flat of good and tenacious soil. A brush, in +which there was a new species of melaleuca, backed it, in the thickest +part of which we found a deserted native village. The spot was evidently +chosen for shelter. The huts were large and long, all facing the same +point of the compass, and in every way resembling the huts occupied by the +natives of the Darling. Large flocks of whistling ducks, and other wild +fowl, flew over our heads to the N.W., as if making their way to some +large or favourite waters. My observations placed us in lat. 34° +8´ 15´´ south, and in east long. 141° 9´ +42´´ or nearly so; and I was <!--page 101 CONVERSING BY SIGNS. /page-->at a loss to conceive what direction +the river would ultimately take. We were considerably to the N.W. of the +point at which we had entered it, and in referring to the chart, it +appeared, that if the Darling had kept a S.W. course from where the last +expedition left its banks, we ought ere this to have struck upon it, +or have arrived at its junction with the stream on which we were +journeying. + +<p>The natives, in attempting to answer my interrogatories, only perplexed +me more and more. They evidently wished to explain something, by placing a +number of sticks across each other as a kind of diagram of the country. It +was, however, impossible to arrive at their meaning. They undoubtedly +pointed to the westward, or rather to the south of that point, as the +future course of the river; but there was something more that they were +anxious to explain, which I could not comprehend. The poor fellows seemed +quite disappointed, and endeavoured to beat it into Fraser's head with as +little success. I then desired Macnamee to get up into a tree. From the +upper branches of it he said he could see hills; but his account of their +appearance was such that I doubted his story: nevertheless it might have +been correct. He certainly called our attention to a large fire, as if the +country to the N.W. was in flames, so that it appeared we were approaching +the haunts of the natives at last. + +<p>It happened that Fraser and Harris were for guard, and they sat up +laughing and talking with the natives long after we retired to rest. +Fraser, to beguile the hours, proposed shaving his sable companions, and +performed that opera<!--page 102 LARGE CONCOURSE OF NATIVES. /page-->tion with admirable dexterity upon their chief, to his +great delight. I got up at an early hour, and found to my surprise that +the whole of them had deserted us. Harris told me they had risen from the +fire about an hour before, and had crossed the river. I was a little +angry, but supposed they were aware that we were near some tribe, and had +gone on a-head to prepare and collect them. + +<p>After breakfast, we proceeded onwards as usual. The river had increased so +much in width that, the wind being fair, I hoisted sail for the first +time, to save the strength of my men as much as possible. Our progress was +consequently rapid. We passed through a country that, from the nature of +its soil and other circumstances, appeared to be intersected by creeks and +lagoons. Vast flights of wild fowl passed over us, but always at a +considerable elevation, while, on the other hand, the paucity of ducks on +the river excited our surprise. Latterly, the trees upon the river, and in +its neighbourhood, had been a tortuous kind of box. The flooded-gum grew +in groups on the spaces subject to inundation, but not on the levels above +the influence of any ordinary rise of the stream. Still they were much +smaller than they were observed to be in the higher branches of the river. +We had proceeded about nine miles, when we were surprised by the +appearance in view, at the termination of a reach, of a long line of +magnificent trees of green and dense foliage. As we sailed down the reach, +we observed a vast concourse of natives under them, and, on a nearer +approach, we not only heard their war-song, if <!--page 103 THEIR HOSTILE DEMEANOUR. /page-->it might so be called, but +remarked that they were painted and armed, as they generally are, prior +to their engaging in deadly conflict. Notwithstanding these outward signs +of hostility, fancying that our four friends were with them, I continued +to steer directly in for the bank on which they were collected. I found, +however, when it was almost too late to turn into the succeeding reach +to our left, that an attempt to land would only be attended with loss of +life. The natives seemed determined to resist it. We approached so near +that they held their spears quivering in their grasp ready to hurl. They +were painted in various ways. Some who had marked their ribs, and thighs, +and faces with a white pigment, looked like skeletons, others were daubed +over with red and yellow ochre, and their bodies shone with the grease +with which they had besmeared themselves. A dead silence prevailed among +the front ranks, but those in the back ground, as well as the women, who +carried supplies of darts, and who appeared to have had a bucket of +whitewash capsized over their heads, were extremely clamorous. As I did +not wish a conflict with these people, I lowered my sail, and putting the +helm to starboard, we passed quietly down the stream in mid channel. +Disappointed in their anticipations, the natives ran along the bank of the +river, endeavouring to secure an aim at us; but, unable to throw with +certainty, in consequence of the onward motion of the boat, they flung +themselves into the most extravagant attitudes, and worked themselves into +a state of frenzy by loud and vehement shouting. +<!--page 104 PREPARATIONS FOR CONFLICT. /page--> +<p>It was with considerable apprehension that I observed the river to be +shoaling fast, more especially as a huge sand-bank, a little below us, and +on the same side on which the natives had gathered, projected nearly a +third-way across the channel. To this sand-bank they ran with tumultuous +uproar, and covered it over in a dense mass. Some of the chiefs advanced +to the water to be nearer their victims, and turned from time to time to +direct their followers. With every pacific disposition, and an extreme +reluctance to take away life, I foresaw that it would be impossible any +longer to avoid an engagement, yet with such fearful numbers against us, +I was doubtful of the result. The spectacle we had witnessed had been one +of the most appalling kind, and sufficient to shake the firmness of most +men; but at that trying moment my little band preserved their temper +coolness, and if any thing could be gleaned from their countenances, it +was that they had determined on an obstinate resistance. I now explained +to them that their only chance of escape depended, or would depend, on +their firmness. I desired that after the first volley had been fired, +M'Leay and three of the men, would attend to the defence of the boat with +bayonets only, while I, Hopkinson, and Harris, would keep up the fire as +being more used to it. I ordered, however, that no shot was to be fired +until after I had discharged both my barrels. I then delivered their arms +to the men, which had as yet been kept in the place appropriated for them, +and at the same time some rounds of loose cartridge. The men assured me +they would follow my instruc<!--page 105 UNEXPECTED INTERFERENCE. /page-->tions, and thus prepared, having already +lowered the sail, we drifted onwards with the current. As we neared the +sand-bank, I stood up and made signs to the natives to desist; +but without success. I took up my gun, therefore, and cocking it, +had already brought it down to a level. A few seconds more would +have closed the life of the nearest of the savages. The distance +was too trifling for me to doubt the fatal effects of the discharge; +for I was determined to take deadly aim, in hopes that the fall of +one man might save the lives of many. But at the very moment, when +my hand was on the trigger, and my eye was along the barrel, my +purpose was checked by M'Leay, who called to me that another party of +blacks had made their appearance upon the left bank of the river. Turning +round, I observed four men at the top of their speed. The foremost of +them as soon as he got a-head of the boat, threw himself from a +considerable height into the water. He struggled across the channel to the +sand-bank, and in an incredibly short space of time stood in front of the +savage, against whom my aim had been directed. Seizing him by the throat, +he pushed backwards, and forcing all who were in the water upon the bank, +he trod its margin with a vehemence and an agitation that were exceedingly +striking. At one moment pointing to the boat, at another shaking his +clenched hand in the faces of the most forward, and stamping with passion +on the sand; his voice, that was at first distinct and clear, was lost in +hoarse murmurs. Two of the four natives remained on the left bank of the +river, but <!--page 106 JUNCTION OF ANOTHER STREAM. /page-->the third followed his leader, (who proved to be the remarkable +savage I have previously noticed) to the scene of action. The reader will +imagine our feelings on this occasion: it is impossible to describe them. +We were so wholly lost in interest at the scene that was passing, that the +boat was allowed to drift at pleasure. For my own part I was overwhelmed +with astonishment, and in truth stunned and confused; so singular, so +unexpected, and so strikingly providential, had been our escape.</p> +<!--face 106 /face--> +<a name=i2.9></a><h5>Illustration 9</h5> +<div class=centre><img alt="" src=images/xpssti09.jpg></div> +<h5>JUNCTION OF THE SUPPOSED DARLING WITH THE MURRAY.</h5> + +<p>We were again roused to action by the boat suddenly striking upon a shoal, +which reached from one side of the river to the other. To jump out and +push her into deeper water was but the work of a moment with the men, and +it was just as she floated again that our attention was withdrawn to a new +and beautiful stream, coming apparently from the north. The great body of +the natives having posted themselves on the narrow tongue of land formed +by the two rivers, the bold savage who had so unhesitatingly interfered +on our account, was still in hot dispute with them, and I really feared +his generous warmth would have brought down upon him the vengeance of the +tribes. I hesitated, therefore, whether or not to go to his assistance. +It appeared, however, both to M'Leay and myself, that the tone of the +natives had moderated, and the old and young men having listened to the +remonstrances of our friend, the middle-aged warriors were alone holding +out against him. A party of about seventy blacks were upon the right bank +of the newly discovered river, and I thought that by land<!--page 107 PROVIDENTIAL DELIVERANCE FROM DANGER. /page-->ing among them, +we should make a diversion in favour of our late guest; and in this I +succeeded. If even they had still meditated violence, they would have to +swim a good broad junction, and that, probably, would cool them, or we +at least should have the advantage of position. I therefore, ran the boat +ashore, and landed with M'Leay amidst the smaller party of natives, wholly +unarmed, and having directed the men to keep at a little distance from the +bank. Fortunately, what I anticipated was brought about by the stratagem +to which I had had recourse. The blacks no sooner observed that we had +landed, than curiosity took place of anger. All wrangling ceased, and they +came swimming over to us like a parcel of seals. Thus, in less than a +quarter of an hour from the moment when it appeared that all human +intervention was at on end, and we were on the point of commencing a +bloody fray, which, independently of its own disastrous consequences, +would have blasted the success of the expedition, we were peacefully +surrounded by the hundreds who had so lately threatened us with +destruction; nor was it until after we had returned to the boat, and had +surveyed the multitude upon the sloping bank above us, that we became +fully aware of the extent of our danger, and of the almost miraculous +intervention of Providence in our favour. There could not have been less +than six hundred natives upon that blackened sward. But this was not the +only occasion upon which the merciful superintendance of that Providence +to which we had humbly committed ourselves, was strikingly manifested. +If these pages fail to convey <!--page 108 NEW RIVER, /page-->entertainment or information, sufficient may +at least be gleaned from them to furnish matter for serious reflection; +but to those who have been placed in situations of danger where human +ingenuity availed them not, and where human foresight was baffled, I feel +persuaded that these remarks are unnecessary. + +<p>It was my first care to call for our friend, and to express to him, as +well as I could, how much we stood indebted to him, at the same time that +I made him a suitable present; but to the chiefs of the tribes, +I positively refused all gifts, notwithstanding their earnest +solicitations. We next prepared to examine the new river, and turning the +boat's head towards it, endeavoured to pull up the stream. Our larboard +oars touched the right bank, and the current was too strong for us to +conquer it with a pair only; we were, therefore, obliged to put a second +upon her, a movement that excited the astonishment and admiration of the +natives. One old woman seemed in absolute ecstasy, to whom M'Leay threw an +old tin kettle, in recompense for the amusement she afforded us. + +<p>As soon as we got above the entrance of the new river, we found easier +pulling, and proceeded up it for some miles, accompanied by the once more +noisy multitude. The river preserved a breadth of one hundred yards, and a +depth of rather more than twelve feet. Its banks were sloping and grassy, +and were overhung by trees of magnificent size. Indeed, its appearance was +so different from the water-worn banks of the sister stream, that the men +ex<!--page 109 SUPPOSED TO BE THE DARLING. /page-->claimed, on entering it, that we had got into an English river. Its +appearance certainly almost justified the expression; for the greenness of +its banks was as new to us as the size of its timber. Its waters, though +sweet, were turbid, and had a taste of vegetable decay, as well as a +slight tinge of green. Our progress was watched by the natives with +evident anxiety. They kept abreast of us, and talked incessantly. +At length, however, our course was checked by a net that stretched right +across the stream. I say checked, because it would have been unfair to +have passed over it with the chance of disappointing the numbers who +apparently depended on it for subsistence that day. The moment was one of +intense interest to me. As the men rested upon their oars, awaiting my +further orders, a crowd of thoughts rushed upon me. The various +conjectures I had formed of the course and importance of the Darling +passed across my mind. Were they indeed realized? An irresistible +conviction impressed me that we were now sailing on the bosom of that very +stream from whose banks I had been twice forced to retire. I directed the +Union Jack to be hoisted, and giving way to our satisfaction, we all stood +up in the boat, and gave three distinct cheers. It was an English feeling, +an ebullition, an overflow, which I am ready to admit that our +circumstances and situation will alone excuse. The eye of every native had +been fixed upon that noble flag, at all times a beautiful object, and to +them a novel one, as it waved over us in the heart of a desert. They had, +until that moment been particularly <!--page 110 HOIST THE UNION JACK. /page-->loquacious, but the sight of that flag +and the sound of our voices hushed the tumult, and while they were still +lost in astonishment, the boat's head was speedily turned, the sail was +sheeted home, both wind and current were in our favour, and we vanished +from them with a rapidity that surprised even ourselves, and which +precluded every hope of the most adventurous among them to keep up +with us.</p> + +<hr> +<!--page 111 /page--> +<a name=ch2.5></a><h4>CHAPTER V.</h4> +<blockquote class=small> +Character of the country—Damage of provisions—Adroitness of the natives +in catching fish—The skiff broken up—Stream from the North-East supposed +to be the Darling—Change of country in descending the river—Intercourse +with the natives—Prevalence of loathsome diseases among them—Apparent +populousness of the country—Junction of several small streams—The Rufus, +the Lindesay, &c.—Rainy and tempestuous weather—Curious appearance of +the banks—Troublesomeness of the natives—Inhospitable and desolate +aspect of the country—Condition of the men—Change in the geological +character of the country—The river passes through a valley among hills. +</blockquote> +<p>Arrived once more at the junction of the two rivers, and unmolested in our +occupations, we had leisure to examine it more closely. Not having as yet +given a name to our first discovery, when we re-entered its capacious +channel on this occasion, I laid it down as the Murray River, in +compliment to the distinguished officer, Sir George Murray, who then +presided over the colonial department, not only in compliance with the +known wishes of his Excellency General Darling, but also in accordance +with my own feelings as a soldier. +<!--page 112 INUNDATED AND ALLUVIAL COUNTRY. /page--> +<p>The new river, whether the Darling or an additional discovery, meets its +more southern rival on a N. by E. course; the latter, running W.S.W. at +the confluence, the angle formed by the two rivers, is, therefore, so +small that both may be considered to preserve their proper course, and +neither can be said to be tributary to the other. At their junction, +the Murray spreads its waters over the broad and sandy shore, upon which +our boat grounded, while its more impetuous neighbour flows through the +deep but narrow channel it has worked out for itself, under the right +bank. The strength of their currents must have been nearly equal, since +there was as distinct a line between their respective waters, to a +considerable distance below the junction, as if a thin board alone +separated them. The one half the channel contained the turbid waters of +the northern stream, the other still preserved their original +transparency. + +<p>The banks of the Murray did not undergo any immediate change as we +proceeded. We noticed that the country had, at some time, been subject to +extensive inundation, and was, beyond doubt, of alluvial formation. We +passed the mouths of several large creeks that came from the north and +N.W., and the country in those directions seemed to be much intersected by +water-courses; while to the south it was extremely low. Having descended +several minor rapids, I greatly regretted that we had no barometer to +ascertain the actual dip of the interior. I computed, however, that we +were not more than from eighty to ninety feet above the level of the sea. +We found the <!--page 113 STATE OF PROVISIONS. /page-->channel of the Murray much encumbered with timber, and +noticed some banks of sand that were of unusual size, and equalled the +largest accumulations of it on the sea shore, both in extent and solidity. + +<p>We would gladly have fired into the flights of wild fowl that winged their +way over us, for we, about this time, began to feel the consequences of +the disaster that befell us in the Morumbidgee. The fresh water having got +mixed with the brine in the meat casks, the greater part of our salt +provisions had got spoiled, so that we were obliged to be extremely +economical in the expenditure of what remained, as we knew not to what +straits we might be driven. It will naturally be asked why we did not +procure fish? The answer is easy. The men had caught many in the +Morumbidgee, and on our first navigation of the Murray, but whether it was +that they had disagreed with them, or that their appetites were palled, or +that they were too fatigued after the labour of the day to set the lines, +they did not appear to care about them. The only fish we could take was +the common cod or perch; and, without sauce or butter, it is insipid +enough. We occasionally exchanged pieces of iron-hoop for two other kinds +of fish, the one a bream, the other a barbel, with the natives, and the +eagerness with which they met our advances to barter, is a strong proof of +their natural disposition towards this first step in civilization. + +<p>As they threw off all reserve when accompanying us as ambassadors, we had +frequent opportunities of observing their habits. The facility, for +instance, with which they pro<!--page 114 DEXTERITY OF NATIVES IN FISHING. /page-->cured fish was really surprising. They would +slip, feet foremost, into the water as they walked along the bank of the +river, as if they had accidentally done so, but, in reality, to avoid the +splash they would necessarily have made if they had plunged in head +foremost. As surely as they then disappeared under the surface of the +water, so surely would they re-appear with a fish writhing upon the point +of their short spears. The very otter scarcely exceeds them in power over +the finny race, and so true is the aim of these savages, even under water, +that all the fish we procured from them were pierced either close behind +the lateral fin, or in the very centre of the head, It is certain, from +their indifference to them, that the natives seldom eat fish when they can +get anything else. Indeed, they seemed more anxious to take the small +turtle, which, sunning themselves on the trunks or logs of trees over the +water, were, nevertheless, extremely on their guard. A gentle splash alone +indicated to us that any thing had dropped into the water, but the quick +eyes and ears of our guides immediately detected what had occasioned it, +and they seldom failed to take the poor little animal that had so vainly +trusted to its own watchfulness for security. It appeared that the natives +did not, from choice, frequent the Murray; it was evident, therefore, that +they had other and better means of subsistence away from it, and it struck +me, at the time, that the river we had just passed watered a better +country than any through which the Murray had been found to flow. +<!--page 115 BREAK UP THE SKIFF. /page--> +<p>We encamped rather earlier than usual upon the left bank of the river, +near a broad creek; for as the skiff had been a great drag upon us, I +determined on breaking it up, since there was no probability that we +should ever require the still, which alone remained in her. We, +consequently, burnt the former, to secure her nails and iron work, and I +set Clayton about cutting the copper of the latter into the shape of +crescents, in order to present them to the natives. Some large huts were +observed on the side of the creek, a little above the camp, the whole of +which faced the N.E. This arrangement had previously been noticed by us, +so that I was led to infer that the severest weather comes from the +opposite quarter in this part of the interior. I had not the least idea, +at the time, however, that we should, ere we reached the termination of +our journey, experience the effects of the S.W. winds. + +<p>We must have fallen considerably during the day from the level of our +morning's position, for we passed down many reaches where the decline of +country gave an increased velocity to the current of the river. + +<p>I had feared, not only in consequence of the unceremonious manner in +which we had left them, but, because I had, in some measure, rejected the +advances of their chiefs, that none of the natives would follow us, and I +regretted the circumstance on account of my men, as well as the trouble we +should necessarily have in conciliating the next tribe. We had not, +however, been long encamped, when seven blacks joined us. I think they +would have passed <!--page 116 NEW RIVER IDENTIFIED /page-->on if we had not called to them. As it was, they +remained with us but for a short time. We treated them very kindly, but +they were evidently under constraint, and were, no doubt, glad when they +found we did not object to their departing. + +<p>I have stated, that I felt satisfied in my own mind, that the beautiful +stream we had passed was no other than the river Darling of my former +journey. The bare assertion, however, is not sufficient to satisfy the +mind of the reader, upon a point of such importance, more especially when +it is considered how remarkable a change the Darling must have undergone, +if this were indeed a continuation of it. I am free to confess that it +required an effort to convince myself, but after due consideration, I see +no reason to alter the opinion I formed at a moment of peculiar +embarrassment. Yet it by no means follows that I shall convince others, +although I am myself convinced. The question is one of curious +speculation, and the consideration of it will lead us to an interesting +conjecture, as to the probable nature of the distant interior, between the +two points. It will be remembered that I was obliged to relinquish my +pursuit of the Darling, in east long. 144° 48´ 30´´ +in lat. 30° 17´ 30´´ south. I place the junction of +the Murray and the new river, in long. 140° 56´ east, and in +south lat. 34° 3´. I must remark, however, that the lunars I +took on this last occasion, were not satisfactory, and that there is, +probably, an error, though not a material one, in the calculation. Before +I measure the distance between the above points, or make any remarks <!--page 117 WITH THE DARLING. /page-->on +the results of my own observations, I would impress the following facts +upon the reader's mind. + +<p>I found and left the Darling in a complete state of exhaustion. As a river +it had ceased to flow; the only supply it received was from brine +springs, which, without imparting a current, rendered its waters saline +and useless, and lastly, the fish in it were different from those +inhabiting the other known rivers of the interior. It is true, I did not +procure a perfect specimen of one, but we satisfactorily ascertained that +they were different, inasmuch as they had large and strong scales, whereas +the fish in the western waters have smooth skins. On the other hand, the +waters of the new river were sweet, although turbid; it had a rapid +current in it; and its fish were of the ordinary kind. In the above +particulars, therefore, they differed much as they could well differ. Yet +there were some strong points of resemblance in the appearance of the +rivers themselves, which were more evident to me than I can hope to make +them to the reader. Both were shaded by trees of the same magnificent +dimensions; and the same kind of huts were erected on the banks of each, +inhabited by the same description, or race, of people, whose weapons, +whose implements, and whose nets corresponded in most respects. + +<p>We will now cast our eyes over the chart: and see if the position of the +two rivers upon it, will at all bear out our conclusion that they are one +and the same; and whether the line that would join them is the one that +the Darling would naturally take, in reference to its previous +course.—<!--page 118 NEW RIVER IDENTIFIED /page-->We shall find that the two points under discussion, bear almost +N.E. and S.W. of each other respectively, the direct line in which the +Darling had been ascertained to flow, as far as it had been found +practicable to trace it. I have already remarked that the fracture of my +barometer prevented my ascertaining the height of the bed of the Darling +above the sea, during the first expedition. A similar accident caused me +equal disappointment on the second; because one of the most important +points upon which I was engaged was to ascertain the dip of the interior. +I believe I stated, in its proper place, that I did not think the Darling +could possibly be 200 feet above the sea, and as far as my observations +bear me out, I should estimate the bed of the Murray, at its junction with +the new river, to be within 100. It would appear that there is a distance +of 300 miles between the Murray River at this place, and the Darling; +a space amply sufficient for the intervention of a hilly country. No one +could have been more attentive to the features of the interior than I was; +nor could any one have dwelt upon their peculiarities with more earnest +attention. It were hazardous to build up any new theory, however ingenious +it may appear. The conclusions into which I have been led, are founded on +actual observation of the country through which I passed, and extend not +beyond my actual range of vision; unless my assuming that the decline of +the interior to the south has been satisfactorily established, be +considered premature. If not, the features of the country certainly +justify my deductions; and it will be found that they <!--page 119 WITH THE DARLING. /page-->were still more +confirmed by subsequent observation.—That the Darling should have lost +its current in its upper branches, is not surprising, when the level +nature of the country into which it falls is taken into consideration; +neither does it surprise me that it should be stationary in one place, +and flowing in another; since, if, as in the present instance, there is a +great extent of country between the two points, which may perhaps be of +considerable elevation, the river may receive tributaries, whose waters +will of course follow the general decline of the country. I take it to be +so in the case before us; and am of opinion, that the lower branches of +the Darling are not at all dependent on its sources for a current, or for +a supply of water. I have somewhere observed that it appeared to me the +depressed interior over which I had already travelled, was of +comparatively recent formation. And, by whatever convulsion or change +so extensive a tract became exposed, I cannot but infer, that the Darling +is the main channel by which the last waters of the ocean were drained +off. The bottom of the estuary, for it cannot be called a valley, being +then left exposed, it consequently remains the natural and proper +reservoir for the streams from the eastward, or those falling easterly +from the westward, if any such remain to be discovered. + +<p>From the junction of the Morumbidgee to the junction of the new river, the +Murray had held a W.N.W. course. From the last junction it changed its +direction to the S.W., and increased considerably in size. The country to +the south was certainly lower than that to the north; for, al<!--page 120 CHANGE OF COUNTRY. /page-->though both +banks had features common to each other, the flooded spaces were much +more extensive to our left than to our right. + +<p>We started on the morning of the 24th, all the lighter from having got rid +of the skiff, and certainly freer to act in case the natives should evince +a hostile disposition towards us. As we proceeded down the river, the +appearances around us more and more plainly indicated a change of country. +Cypresses were observed in the distance, and the ground on which they +stood was higher than that near the stream; as if it had again acquired +its secondary banks. At length these heights approached the river so +nearly as to form a part of its banks, and to separate one alluvial flat +from another. Their summits were perfectly level; their soil was a red +sandy loam; and their productions, for the most part, salsolae and +misembrianthemum. From this it would appear that we had passed through a +second region, that must at some time have been under water, and that +still retained all the marks of a country partially subject to flood. + +<p>We had, as I have said, passed over this region, and were again hemmed in +by those sandy and sterile tracts upon which the beasts of the field could +obtain neither food nor water. We overtook the seven deputies some time +after we started, but soon lost sight of them again, as they cut off the +sweeps of the river, and shortened their journey as much as possible. +At 2 p.m. we found them with a tribe of their countrymen, about eighty in +number. We pulled in to the bank and remained with them for a short <!--page 121 INTRODUCED FROM TRIBE TO TRIBE. /page-->time, +and I now determined to convince the blacks who had preceded us, that I +had not been actuated by any other desire than that of showing to them +that we were not to be intimidated by numbers, when I refused to make them +any presents after their show of hostility. I now, therefore, gave them +several implements, sundry pieces of iron hoop, and an ornamental badge of +copper. When we left the tribe, we were regularly handed over to their +care. The seven men who had introduced us, went back at the same time that +we continued our journey, and two more belonging to the new tribe, went on +a-head to prepare the the neighbouring tribe to receive us; nor did we see +anything more of them during the day. + +<p>We encamped on the left bank of the river, amidst a polygonum scrub, in +which we found a number of the crested pigeon. It was late before the +tents were pitched: as Fraser seldom assisted in that operation, but +strolled out with his gun after he had kindled a fire, so on this occasion +he wandered from the camp in search of novelty, and on his return, +informed me that there was a considerable ridge to the south of a plain +upon which he had been. + +<p>I had myself walked out to the S.E., and on ascending a few feet above the +level of the camp, got into a scrub. I was walking quietly through it, +when I heard a rustling noise, and looking in the direction whence it +proceeded, I observed a small kangaroo approaching me. Having a stick in +my hand, and being aware that I was in one of their paths, I stood still +until the animal came close up to me, <!--page 122 RIDGE TO THE SOUTH-EAST. /page-->without apparently being aware of my +presence. I then gave it a blow an the side of the head, and made it reel +to one side, but the stick, being rotten, broke with the force of the +blow, and thus disappointed me of a good meal. + +<p>During my absence from the camp, a flight of cockatoos, new to us, but +similar to one that Mr. Hume shot on the Darling, passed over the tents, +and I found M'Leay, with his usual anxiety, trying to get a shot at them. +They had, he told me, descended to water, but they had chosen a spot so +difficult of approach without discovery, that he had found it impossible +to get within shot of them. + +<p>There was a considerable rapid just below our position, which I examined +before dark. Not seeing any danger, I requested M'Leay to proceed down it +in the boat as soon as he had breakfasted, and to wait for me at the +bottom of it. As I wished to ascertain the nature and height of the +elevations which Fraser had magnified into something grand, Fraser and I +proceeded to the centre of a large plain, stretching from the left bank of +the river to the southward. It was bounded to the S.E. by a low scrub; +to the S. a thickly wooded ridge appeared to break the level of the +country. It extended from east to west for four or five miles, and then +gradually declined. At its termination, the country seemed to dip, and a +dense fog, as from an extensive sheet of water, enveloped the landscape. +The plain was crowded with cockatoos, that were making their morning's +repast on the berries of the salsolae and rhagodia, with which it was +covered. +<!--page 123 DISTANT RANGES SEEN. /page--> +<p>M'Leay had got safely down the rapid, so that as soon as I joined him, +we proceeded on our journey. We fell in with the tribe we had already +seen, but increased in numbers, and we had hardly left them, when we found +another tribe most anxiously awaiting our arrival. We stayed with the last +for some time, and exhausted our vocabulary, and exerted our ingenuity to +gain some information from them. I directed Hopkinson to pile up some +clay, to enquire if we were near any hills, when two or three of the +blacks caught the meaning, and pointed to the N.W. Mulholland climbed up a +tree in consequence of this, and reported to me that he saw lofty ranges +in the direction to which the blacks pointed; that there were two +apparently, the one stretching to the N.E., the other to the N.W. He +stated their distance to be about forty miles, and added that he thought +he could observe other ranges, through the gap, which, according to the +alignment of two sticks, that I placed according to Mulholland's +directions, bore S. 130 W. + +<p>We had landed upon the right bank of the river, and there was a large +lagoon immediately behind us. The current in the river did not run so +strong as it had been. Its banks were much lower, and were generally +covered with reeds. The spaces subject to flood were broader than +heretofore, and the country for more than twenty miles was extremely +depressed. Our view from the highest ground near the camp was very +confined, since we were apparently in a hollow, and were unable to obtain +a second sight of the ranges we had noticed. +<!--page 124 PASS THREE CREEKS. /page--> +<p>Three creeks fell into the Murray hereabouts. One from the north, another +from the N.E., and the third from the south. The two first were almost +choked up with the trunks of trees, but the last had a clear channel. +Our tents stood on ground high above the reach of flood. The soil was +excellent, and the brushes behind us abounded with a new species of +melaleuca. + +<p>The heat of the weather, at this time, was extremely oppressive, and the +thermometer was seldom under 100° of Fahr. at noon. The wind, too, +we observed, seldom remained stationary for any length of time, but made +its regular changes every twenty-four hours. In the morning, it invariably +blew from the N.E., at noon it shifted to N.W., and as the sun set it flew +round to the eastward of south. A few dense clouds passed over us +occasionally, but no rain fell from them. + +<p>Our intercourse with the natives had now been constant. We had found the +interior more populous than we had any reason to expect; yet as we +advanced into it, the population appeared to increase. It was impossible +for us to judge of the disposition of the natives during the short +interviews we generally had with them, and our motions were so rapid that +we did not give them time to form any concerted plan of attack, had they +been inclined to attack us. They did not, however, show any disposition to +hostility, but, considering all things, were quiet and orderly, nor did +any instances of theft occur, or, at least, none fell under my notice. +The most loathsome of diseases prevailed through<!--page 125 DISEASES OF THE NATIVES. /page-->out the tribes, nor were +the youngest infants exempt from them. Indeed, so young were some, whose +condition was truly disgusting, that I cannot but suppose they must have +been born in a state of disease; but I am uncertain whether it is fatal or +not in its results, though, most probably it hurries many to a premature +grave. How these diseases originated it is impossible to say. Certainly +not from the colony, since the midland tribes alone were infected. +Syphilis raged amongst them with fearful violence; many had lost their +noses, and all the glandular parts were considerably affected. I +distributed some Turner's cerate to the women, but left Fraser to +superintend its application. It could do no good, of course, but it +convinced the natives we intended well towards them, and, on that account, +it was politic to give it, setting aside any humane feeling. + +<p>The country through which we passed on the 28th, was extremely low, full +of lagoons, and thickly inhabited. No change took place in the river, +or in the nature and construction of its banks. We succeeded in getting a +view of the hills we had noticed when with the last tribe, and found that +they bore from us due north, N. 22 E., and S. 130 W. They looked bare and +perpendicular, and appeared to be about twenty miles from us. I am very +uncertain as to the character of these hills, but still think that they +must have been some of the faces of the bold cliffs that we had frequently +passed under. From the size and number of the huts, and from the great +breadth of the foot-paths, we were still further led to conclude that <!--page 126 POPULOUS DISTRICT. /page-->we +were passing through a very populous district. What the actual number of +inhabitants was it is impossible to say, but we seldom communicated with +fewer than 200 daily. They sent ambassadors forward regularly from one +tribe to another, in order to prepare for our approach, a custom that not +only saved us an infinity of time, but also great personal risk. Indeed, +I doubt very much whether we should ever have pushed so far down the +river, had we not been assisted by the natives themselves. I was +particularly careful not to do anything that would alarm them, or to +permit any liberty to be taken with their women. Our reserve in this +respect seemed to excite their surprise, for they asked sundry questions, +by signs and expressions, as to whether we had any women, and where they +were. The whole tribe generally assembled to receive us, and all, without +exception, were in a complete state of nudity, and really the loathsome +condition and hideous countenances of the women would, I should imagine, +have been a complete antidote to the sexual passion. It is to be observed, +that the women are very inferior in appearance to the men. The latter are, +generally speaking, a clean-limbed and powerful race, much stouter in the +bust than below, but withal, active, and, in some respects, intelligent; +but the women are poor, weak, and emaciated. This, perhaps, is owing to +their poverty and paucity of food, and to the treatment they receive at +the hands of the men; but the latter did not show any unkindness towards +them in our presence. +<!--page 127 JUNCTION OF THE RUFUS. /page--> +<p>Although I desired to avoid exciting their alarm, I still made a point of +showing them the effects of a gunshot, by firing at a kite, or any other +bird that happened to be near. My dexterity—for I did not trust Fraser, +who would, ten to one, have missed his mark—was generally exerted, as I +have said, against a kite or a crow; both of which birds generally +accompanied the blacks from place to place to pick up the remnants of +their meals. Yet, I was often surprised at the apparent indifference with +which the natives not only saw the effect of the shot, but heard the +report. I have purposely gone into the centre of a large assemblage and +fired at a bird that has fallen upon their very heads, without causing a +start or an exclamation, without exciting either their alarm or their +curiosity. + +<p>Whence this callous feeling proceeded, whether from strength of nerve, +or because they had been informed by our forerunners that we should show +off before them, I know not, but I certainly expected a very different +effect from that which my firing generally produced, although I +occasionally succeeded in scattering them pretty well. + +<p>About 11 a.m., we arrived at the junction of a small river with the +Murray, at which a tribe, about 250 in number, had assembled to greet us. +We landed, therefore, for the double purpose of distributing presents, and +of examining the junction, which, coming from the north, of course, fell +into the Murray upon its right bank. Its waters were so extremely muddy, +and its current so rapid, that it must <!--page 128 GEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION. /page-->have been swollen by some late +rains. Perhaps, it had its sources in the hills we had seen; be that as it +may, it completely discoloured the waters of the Murray. + +<p>We made it a point never to distribute any presents among the natives +until we had made them all sit, or stand, in a row. Sometimes this was a +troublesome task, but we generally succeeded in gaining our point; with a +little exertion of patience. M'Leay was a famous hand at ordering the +ranks, and would, I am sure, have made a capital drill-sergeant, not less +on account of his temper than of his perseverance. I called the little +tributary I have noticed, the Rufus, in honour of my friend M'Leay's red +head, and I have no doubt, he will understand the feeling that induced me +to give it such a name. + +<p>Not many miles below the Rufus, we passed under a lofty cliff upon the +same side with it. It is the first elevation of any consequence that +occurs below the Darling, and not only on that account, but also on +account of the numerous substances of which it is composed, and the +singular formation that is near requires to be particularly +noticed.* <span class=note>[See Appendix.]</span> The examination was a task of considerable +danger, and both Fraser and myself had well nigh been buried under a mass +of the cliff that became suddenly detached, and, breaking into thousands +of pieces, went hissing and cracking into the river. + +<p>The weather about this time was extremely oppressive and close. Thunder +clouds darkened the sky, but no rain <!--page 129 THUNDER STORMS. /page-->fell. The thermometer was seldom +below 104 at noon, and its range was very trifling. The wind shifted +several times during the twenty-four hours; but these changes had no +effect on the thermometer. It was evident, however, as the sun set on the +evening of the 26th, that the clouds from which thunder had for the last +four or five days disturbed the silence of nature around us, would not +long support their own weight. A little before midnight, it commenced +raining, and both wind and rain continued to increase in violence until +about seven in the morning of the 27th; when the weather moderated. + +<p>Two or three blacks had accompanied us from the last tribe, and had lain +down near the fire. As the storm increased, however, they got up, and +swimming across the river, left us to ourselves. This was a very unusual +thing, nor can I satisfy myself as to their object, unless it was to get +into shelter, for these people though they wander naked over the country, +and are daily in the water, feel the cold and rain very acutely. + +<p>Observing the clouds collecting for so many days, I indulged hopes that we +were near high lands, perhaps mountains; but from the loftiest spots we +could see nothing but a level and dark horizon. Anxious to gain as correct +a knowledge of the country as possible we had, in the course of the day, +ascended a sandy ridge that was about a mile from the river. The view from +the summit of this ridge promised to be more extensive than any we had of +late been enabled to obtain; and as far as actual observation went, <!--page 130 LINDESAY RIVER. /page-->we +were not disappointed, although in every other particular, the landscape +was one of the most unpromising description. To the S. and S.E., the +country might be said to stretch away in one unbroken plain, for it was so +generally covered with wood that every inequality was hidden from our +observation. To the S.W. the river line was marked out by a succession of +red cliffs, similar to those we had already passed. To the north, the +interior was evidently depressed; it was overgrown with a low scrub, and +seemed to be barren in the extreme. The elevations upon which we stood +were similar to the sand-hills near the coast, and had not a blade of +grass upon them. Yet, notwithstanding the sterility of the soil, the +large white amarillis which grew in such profusion on the alluvial plains +of the Macquarie, was also abundant here. But it had lost its dazzling +whiteness, and had assumed a sickly yellow colour and its very appearance +indicated that it was not in a congenial soil. + +<p>We passed two very considerable junctions, the one coming from the S.E., +the other from the north. Both had currents in them, but the former was +running much stronger than the latter. It falls into the Murray, almost +opposite to the elevations I have been describing, and, if a judgment +can be hazarded from its appearance at its embouchure, it must, in its +higher branches, be a stream of considerable magnitude. Under this +impression, I have called it the Lindesay, as a tribute of respect to my +commanding officer, Colonel Patrick Lindesay of the 39th regt. I place it +in east long. 140° 29´, and in lat. 33° 58´ +south. Mr. Hume is <!--page 131 NATIVES BECOME TROUBLESOME. /page-->of opinion that this is the most southerly of the +rivers crossed by him and Mr. Hovel in 1823; but, as I have already +remarked, I apprehend that all the rivers those gentlemen crossed, had +united in one main stream above the junction of the Morumbidgee, and I +think it much more probable that this is a new river, and that it rises +to the westward of Port Phillips, rather than in the S.E. angle of the +coast. + +<p>We found the blacks who had deserted us with a tribe at the junction, but +it was weak in point of numbers; as were also two other tribes or hordes +to whom we were introduced in rapid succession. Taken collectively, they +could not have amounted to 230 men, women, and children. The last of these +hordes was exceedingly troublesome, and I really thought we should have +been obliged to quarrel with them. Whether it was that we were getting +impatient, or that our tempers were soured, I know not, but even M'Leay, +whose partiality towards the natives was excessive at the commencement of +our journey, now became weary of such constant communication as we had +kept up with them. Their sameness of appearance, the disgusting diseases +that raged among them, their abominable filth, the manner in which they +pulled us about, and the impossibility of making them understand us, or +of obtaining any information from them,—for if we could have succeeded +in this point, we should have gladly borne every inconvenience,—all +combined to estrange us from these people and to make their presence +disagreeable. Yet there was an absolute necessity to keep up the chain of +communication, to ensure our own safety, <!--page 132 TEMPESTUOUS WEATHER. /page-->setting aside every other +consideration; but as I had been fortunate in my intercourse with the +natives during the first expedition, so I hoped the present journey would +terminate without the occurrence of any fatal collision between us. The +natives, it is true, were generally quiet; but they crowded round us +frequently without any regard to our remonstrances, laying hold of the +boat to prevent our going away, and I sometimes thought that had any of +them been sufficiently bold to set the example, many of the tribes would +have attempted our capture. Indeed, in several instances, we were obliged +to resort to blows ere we could disengage ourselves from the crowds around +us, and whenever this occurred, it called forth the most sullen and +ferocious scowl—such, probably, as would be the forerunner of hostility, +and would preclude every hope of mercy at their hands. With each new tribe +we were, in some measure, obliged to submit to an examination, and to be +pulled about, and fingered all over. They generally measured our hands and +feet with their own, counted our fingers, felt our faces, and besmeared +our shirts all over with grease and dirt. This was no very agreeable +ceremony, and a repetition of it was quite revolting, more especially when +we had to meet the grins or frowns of the many with firmness and +composure. + +<p>The weather had been tempestuous and rainy, for three or four successive +days: on the 28th it cleared up a little. Under any circumstances, +however, we could not have delayed our journey. We had not proceeded very +far when <!--page 133 SINGULAR FORMATION OF THE BANKS. /page-->it again commenced to rain and to blow heavily from the N.W. +The river trended to the South. We passed down several rapids, and +observed the marks of recent flood on the trees, to the height of seven +feet. The alluvial flats did not appear to have been covered, or to be +subject to overflow. The timber upon them was not of a kind that is found +on flooded lands, but wherever reeds prevailed the flooded or blue gum +stretched its long white branches over them. The country to the westward +was low and bushy. + +<p>The left bank of the Murray was extremely lofty, and occasionally rose to +100 feet perpendicularly from the water. It is really difficult to +describe the appearance of the banks at this place; so singular were they +in character, and so varied in form. Here they had the most beautiful +columnar regularity, with capitals somewhat resembling the Corinthian +order in configuration; there they showed like falls of muddy water that +had suddenly been petrified; and in another place they resembled the +time-worn battlements of a feudal castle. It will naturally be asked, of +what could these cliffs have been composed to assume so many different +forms? and what could have operated to produce such unusual appearances? +The truth is, they were composed almost wholly of clay and sand. Wherever +the latter had accumulated, or predominated, the gradual working of +water had washed it away, and left the more compact body, in some places, +so delicately hollowed out, that it seemed rather the work of art than of +nature. This singular formation rested on a coarse grit, that showed +itself in slabs. +<!--page 134 LARGE TRIBE OF NATIVES. /page--> +<p>From the frequent occurrence of rapids I should imagine that we had fallen +considerably, but there was no visible decline of country. The river swept +along, in broad and noble reaches, at the base of the cliffs. Vast +accumulations of sand were in its bed, a satisfactory proof of the sandy +character of the distant interior, if other proof were wanting. + +<p>We did not see so many natives on the 28th as we had been in the habit of +seeing; perhaps in consequence of the boisterous weather. A small tribe of +about sixty had collected to receive us, but we passed on without taking +any notice of them, Nevertheless they deputed two of their men to follow +us, who overtook us just as we stopped for the purpose of pitching our +tents before the clouds should burst, that just then bore the most +threatening appearance. The blacks seemed to be perfectly aware what kind +of a night we should have, and busied themselves preparing a hut and +making a large fire. + +<p>The evening proved extremely dark, and towards midnight it blew and rained +fiercely. Towards morning the wind moderated, and the rain ceased. Still, +the sky was overcast, and the clouds were passing rapidly over us. The +wind had, however, changed some points, and from the N.W. had veered round +to the S.S.W.; and the day eventually turned out cool and pleasant. + +<p>We fell in with a large tribe of natives, amounting in all to 270. They +were extremely quiet, and kept away from the boat; in consequence of which +I distributed a great <!--page 135 THEIR INDIFFERENCE TO FIRE-ARMS. /page-->many presents among them. This tribe was almost the +only one that evinced any eagerness to see us. The lame had managed to +hobble along, and the blind were equally anxious to touch us. There were +two or three old men stretched upon the bank, from whom the last sigh +seemed about to depart; yet these poor creatures evinced an anxiety to see +us, and to listen to a description of our appearance, although it seemed +doubtful whether they would be alive twenty-four hours after we left them. +An old woman, a picture of whom would disgust my readers, made several +attempts to embrace me. I managed, however, to avoid her, and at length +got rid of her by handing her over to Fraser, who was no wise particular +as to the object of his attention. This tribe must have been one of the +most numerous on the banks of the Murray, since we fell in with detached +families for many miles below the place where we had parted from the main +body. + +<p>I have omitted to mention that, while among them, I fired at a kite and +killed it; yet, though close to me, the blacks did not start or evince the +least surprise. It really is difficult to account for such firmness of +nerve or self-command. It is not so much a matter of surprise that they +were indifferent to its effects, for probably they knew them not, but it +is certainly odd that they should not have been startled by the report. + +<p>The river inclined very much to the southward for some miles below our +last camp; at length it struck against some elevations that turned it more +to the westward. Before we <!--page 136 REFLECTIONS ON THE PROGRESS /page-->terminated our day's pull it again changed its +direction to the eastward of south. The right bank became lofty, and the +left proportionably depressed. + +<p>In consequence of the boisterous weather we had had, we were uncertain as +to our precise situation, even in point of latitude. But I was perfectly +aware that we were considerably to the south of the head of St. Vincent's +Gulf. I began, therefore, to contemplate with some confidence a speedy +termination to our wanderings, or, at least, that we should soon reach the +extreme point to which we could advance. The sun was at this time out of +my reach, since the sextant would not measure double the altitude. +Observations of the stars were, in like manner, uncertain, in consequence +of the boisterous weather we had had, and the unavoidable agitation of the +quicksilver. My last observation of Antares placed us in latitude +34° 4´; so that we were still 115 miles from the coast. + +<p>We had now been twenty-two days upon the river, and it was uncertain how +long we should be in compassing the distance we had still to run. +Considering all things, we had, as yet, been extremely fortunate; and I +hoped that we should terminate our journey without the occurrence of any +fatal accident. Had the country corresponded with the noble stream that +traversed it, we should have been proportionably elated, but it was +impossible to conceal from ourselves its inhospitable and unprofitable +character, as far as we had, as yet, penetrated. If we except the partial +and alluvial flats on the immediate borders, and in the neighbourhood of +its tributaries and creeks, the Murray <!--page 137 OF THE EXPEDITION. /page-->might be said to flow through a +barren and sandy interior. The appearance of the country through which we +passed on the 29th, was far from being such as to encourage us with the +hopes of any change for the better. The river was enclosed, on either +side, by the same kind of banks that have already been described; and it +almost appeared as if the plain had been rent asunder to allow of a +passage for its waters. The view of the distant interior was +unsatisfactory. It was, for the most part, covered with brush, but, at +length, cypresses again made their appearance, although at a considerable +distance from us. + +<p>The river continued to flow to the southward, a circumstance that gave me +much satisfaction, for I now began to feel some anxiety about the men. +They had borne their fatigues and trials so cheerfully, and had behaved so +well, that I could not but regret the scanty provision that remained for +them. The salt meat being spoiled, it had fallen to the share of the dogs, +so that we had little else than flour to eat. Fish no one would touch, and +of wild fowl there were none to be seen. The men complained of sore eyes, +from the perspiration constantly running into them, and it was obvious to +me that they were much reduced. It will be borne in mind, that we were now +performing the earliest part of our task, and were going down with the +stream. I was sure that on our return, (For I had no hopes of meeting any +vessel on the coast,) we should have to make every day's journey good +against the current; and, if the men were now beginning to sink, it might +well be doubted whether their strength would hold out. Both M'Leay and +<!--page 138 NATIVES BECOME UNRULY. /page-->myself, therefore, encouraged any cheerfulness that occasionally broke out +among them, and Frazer enlivened them by sundry tunes that he whistled +whilst employed in skinning birds. I am sure, no galley-slave ever took to +his oar with more reluctance than poor Frazer. He was indefatigable in +most things, but he could not endure the oar. + +<p>We did not fall in with any natives on the 30th, neither did we see those +who had preceded us from the last tribe. On the 31st, to my mortification, +the river held so much to the northward, that we undid almost all our +southing. What with its regular turns, and its extensive sweeps, the +Murray covers treble the ground, at a moderate computation, that it would +occupy in a direct course; and we had a practical instance of the truth of +this in the course of the afternoon, when we found our friends ready to +introduce us to a large assemblage of natives. On asking them how they had +passed us, they pointed directly east to the spot at which we had parted. +By crossing from one angle of the river to the other, they had performed +in little more than half a day, a journey which it had taken us two long +days to accomplish. After our usual distribution of presents, we pushed +away from the bank; though not without some difficulty, in consequence of +the obstinacy of the natives in wishing to detain us; and I was +exceedingly vexed to find, while we were yet in sight of them, that we had +proceeded down a shallow channel on one side of an island instead of the +further and deeper one; so that the boat ultimately grounded. A crowd of +the blacks rushed into the water, and surrounded us <!--page 139 CHANGE IN THE GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY. /page-->on every side. Some +came to assist us, others, under a pretence of assisting, pulled against +us, and I was at length obliged to repel them by threats. A good many of +them were very much disposed to annoy us, and, after the boat was in deep +water, some of them became quite infuriated, because we would not return. +Had we been within distance, they would assuredly have hurled their spears +at us. Thirteen of them followed us to our resting place. They kept rather +apart from us, and kindled their fire in a little hollow about fifty paces +to our right; nor did they venture to approach the tents unless we called +to them, so that by their quiet and unobtrusive conduct they made up in +some measure for the unruly proceedings of others of their tribe. + +<p>We had now arrived at a point at which I hoped to gain some information +from the natives, respecting the sea. It was to no purpose, however, that +I questioned these stupid people. They understood perfectly, by my +pointing to the sky, and by other signs, that I was inquiring about large +waters, but they could not, or would not, give any information on the +subject. + +<p>As we proceeded down the river, its current became weaker, and its channel +somewhat deeper. Our attention was called to a remarkable change in the +geology of the country, as well as to an apparent alteration in the +natural productions. The cliffs of sand and clay ceased, and were +succeeded by a fossil formation of the most singular description. At +first, it did not exceed a foot in height above the water, but it +gradually rose, like an inclined <!--page 140 BANKS OF PETRIFIED SHELLS. /page-->plane, and resembled in colour, and in +appearance, the skulls of men piled one upon the other. The constant +rippling of the water against the rock had washed out the softer parts, +and made hollows and cavities, that gave the whole formation the precise +appearance of a catacomb. On examination, we discovered it to be a compact +bed of shells, composed of a common description of marine shell from two +to three inches in length, apparently a species of turritella. + +<p>At about nine miles from the commencement of this formation, it rose to +the height of more than 150 feet; the country became undulating, and a +partial change took place in its vegetation. We stopped at an early hour, +to examine some cliffs, which rising perpendicularly from the water, were +different in character and substance from any we had as yet seen. They +approached a dirty yellow-ochre in colour, that became brighter in hue as +it rose, and, instead of being perforated, were compact and hard. +The waters of the river had, however, made horizontal lines upon their +fronts, which distinctly marked the rise and fall of the river, as the +strength or depth of the grooves distinctly indicated the levels it +generally kept. It did not appear from these lines, that the floods ever +rose more than four feet above the then level of the stream, or that they +continued for any length of time. On breaking off pieces of the rock, we +ascertained that it was composed of one solid mass of sea-shells, of +various kinds, of which the species first mentioned formed the lowest +part. +<!--page 141 FACE OF THE COUNTRY. /page--> +<p>It rained a good deal during the night, but the morning turned out +remarkably fine. The day was pleasant, for however inconvenient in some +respects the frequent showers had been, they had cooled the air, and +consequently prevented our feeling the heat so much as we should otherwise +have done, in the close and narrow glen we had now entered. + +<p>Among the natives who followed us from the last tribe, there was an old +man, who took an uncommon fancy or attachment to Hopkinson, and who +promised, when we separated, to join us again in the course of the day. + +<p>As we proceeded down the river we found that it was confined in a glen, +whose extreme breadth was not more than half-a-mile. The hills that rose +on either side of it were of pretty equal height. The alluvial flats were +extremely small, and the boldest cliffs separated them from each other. +The flats were lightly wooded, and were for the most part covered with +reeds or polygonum. They were not much elevated above the waters of the +river, and had every appearance of being frequently inundated. At noon we +pulled up to dine, upon the left bank, under some hills, which were from +200 to 250 feet in height. While the men were preparing our tea, +(for we had only that to boil,) M'Leay and I ascended the hills. The brush +was so thick upon them, that we could not obtain a view of the distant +interior. Their summits were covered with oyster-shells, in such abundance +as entirely to preclude the idea of their having been brought to such a +position by the natives. They were in every stage of petrification. +<!--page 142 REMARKABLE CLIFFS. /page--> +<p>In the course of the afternoon the old man joined us, and got into the +boat. As far as we could understand from his signs, we were at no great +distance from some remarkable change or other. The river had been making +to the N.W., from the commencement of the fossil formation, and it +appeared as if it was inclined to keep that direction. The old man pointed +to the N.W., and then placed his hand on the side of his head to indicate, +as I understood him, that we should sleep to the N.W. of where we then +were; but his second motion was not so intelligible, for he pointed due +south, as if to indicate that such would be our future course; and he +concluded his information, such as it was, by describing the roaring of +the sea, and the height of the waves. It was evident this old man had been +upon the coast, and we were therefore highly delighted at the prospect +thus held out to us of reaching it. + +<p>A little below the hills under which we had stopped, the country again +assumed a level. A line of cliffs, of from two to three hundred feet in +height, flanked the river, first on one side and then on the other, +varying in length from a quarter of a mile to a mile. They rose +perpendicularly from the water, and were of a bright yellow colour, +rendered still more vivid occasionally by the sun shining full upon them. +The summits of these cliffs were as even as if they had been built by an +architect; and from their very edge, the country back from the stream was +of an uniform level, and was partly plain, and partly clothed by brush. +The soil upon this plateau, or table land, was sandy, and it was as barren +and <!--page 143 NATIVE CHARACTER. /page-->unproductive as the worst of the country we had passed through. On the +other hand, the alluvial flats on the river increased in size, and were +less subject to flood; and the river lost much of its sandy bed, and its +current was greatly diminished in strength. + +<p>It blew so fresh, during the greater part of the day, from the westward, +that we had great difficulty in pulling against the breeze. The determined +N.W. course the river kept, made me doubt the correctness of the story of +the little old black; yet there was an openness of manner about him, and a +clearness of description, that did not appear like fabrication. He pointed +to the S.S.W. when he left us, as the direction in which he would again +join us, thus confirming, without any apparent intention, what he had +stated with regard to the southerly course the river was about to take. +Among the natives who were with him, there was another man of very +different manners and appearance. Our friend was small in stature, had +piercing grey eyes, and was as quick as lightning in his movements The +other was tall, and grey headed; anxious, yet unobtrusive; and confident, +without the least mixture of boldness. The study of the human character on +many occasions similar to this, during our intercourse with these people, +rude and uncivilized as they were, was not only pleasing, but instructive. +We found that the individuals of a tribe partook of one general character, +and that the whole of the tribe were either decidedly quiet, or as +decidedly disorderly. The whole of the blacks left us when we started, +<!--page 144 TAKE BEARINGS. /page-->but we had not gone very far, when the individual I have described brought +his family, consisting of about fifteen persons. We were going down a part +of the river in which there was a very slight fall. The natives were +posted under some blue-gum trees, upon the right bank, and there was a +broad shoal of sand immediately to our left. They walked over to this +shoal, to receive some little presents, but did not follow when we +continued our journey. + +<p>During the whole of the day the river ran to the N.W. We stopped for the +night under some cliffs, similar to those we had already passed, but +somewhat higher. From their summit, mountains were visible to the N.W., +but at a great distance from us. I doubted not that they were at the head +of the southern gulfs; or of one of them, at all events. Our observations +placed us in 34° 08´ south of lat., and in long. 139° +41´ 15´´; we were consequently nearly seventy miles from +Spencer's Gulf, in a direct line, and I should have given that as the +distance the hills appeared to be from us. They bore as follows:—</p> +<table summary=""><col><col> + <tr><td>Lofty round mountain . . <td>S. 127° W. + <tr><td>Mountain scarcely visible . . <td>S. 128° W. + <tr><td>Northern extremity of a broken range . . <td>S. 102° W. + <tr><td>Southern extremity scarcely visible . . <td>S. 58° W.</tr> +</table> +<p>The country between the river and these ranges appeared to be very low, +and darkly wooded: that to the N.E. was more open. The summit of the cliff +did not form any table-land, but it dipped almost immediately to the +westward, <!--page 145 FEAST ON A TORTOISE. /page-->and the country, although, as I have already remarked, it was +depressed, and undulated. + +<p>I walked to some distance from the river, across a valley, and started +several kangaroos; but I was quite alone, and could not, therefore, secure +one of them. Had the dogs been near, we should have had a fine feast. The +soil of the interior still continued sandy, but there was a kind of short +grass mixed with the salsolaceous plants upon it, that indicated, as I +thought, a change for the better in the vegetation; and the circumstance +of there being kangaroos in the valleys to the westward was also a +favourable sign. + +<p>Beneath the cliffs hereabouts, the river was extremely broad and deep. +My servant thought it a good place for fishing and accordingly set a +night-line, one end of which he fastened to the bough of a tree. During +the night, being on guard, he saw a small tortoise floating on the water, +so near that he struck it a violent blow with a large stick, upon which it +dived: to his surprise, however, in the morning, he found that it had +taken the bait, and was fast to the line. On examining it, the shell +proved to be cracked, so that the blow must have been a severe one. It was +the largest we had ever seen, and made an excellent dish. The flesh was +beautifully white, nor could anything, especially under our circumstances, +have been more tempting than it was when cooked; yet M'Leay would not +partake of it. + +<p>The prevailing wind was, at this time, from the S.W. It blew heavily all +day, but moderated towards the evening + +<p>I was very anxious, at starting on the 3rd, as to the <!--page 146 CHART OF THE RIVER. /page-->course the river +would take, since it would prove whether the little old man had played us +false or not. From the cliffs under which we had slept, it held a direct +N.W. course for two or three miles. It then turned suddenly to the S.E., +and gradually came round to E.N.E., so that after two hours pulling, we +found ourselves just opposite to the spot from which we had started, the +neck of land that separated the channels not being more than 200 yards +across. I have before noticed a bend similar to this, which the Murray +makes, a little above the junction of the supposed Darling with it. + +<p>It may appear strange to some of my readers, that I should have laid down +the windings of the river so minutely. It may therefore be necessary for +me to state that every bend of it was laid down by compass, and that the +bearings of the angles as they opened were regularly marked by me, so that +not a single winding or curve of the Murray is omitted in the large chart. +The length of some of the reaches may be erroneous, but their direction is +strictly correct. I always had a sheet of paper and the compass before me, +and not only marked down the river line, but also the description of +country nearest; its most minute changes, its cliffs, its flats, the kind +of country back from it, its lagoons, the places at which the tribes +assembled, its junctions, tributaries and creeks, together with our +several positions, were all regularly noted, so that on our return up the +river we had no difficulty in ascertaining upon what part of it we were, +by a reference to the chart; and it proved <!--page 147 REMARKABLE CLIFFS. /page-->of infinite service to us, +since we were enabled to judge of our distance from our several camps, as +we gained them day by day with the current against us; and we should often +have stopped short of them, weary and exhausted, had we not known that two +or three reaches more would terminate our labour for the day. + +<p>From the spot last spoken of, the river held on a due south course for the +remainder of the day; and at the same time changed its character. It lost +its sandy bed and its current together, and became deep, still, and +turbid, with a muddy bottom. It increased considerably in breadth, and +stretched away before us in magnificent reaches of from three to six miles +in length. The cliffs under which we passed towered above us, like +maritime cliffs, and the water dashed against their base like the waves of +the sea. They became brighter and brighter in colour, looking like dead +gold in the sun's rays; and formed an unbroken wall of a mile or two in +length. The natives on their summits showed as small as crows; and the +cockatoos, the eagles, and other birds, were as specks above us; the +former made the valley reverberate with their harsh and discordant notes. +The reader may form some idea of the height of these cliffs, when informed +that the king of the feathered race made them his sanctuary. They were +continuous on both sides of the river, but retired, more or less, from it, +according to the extent of the alluvial flats. The river held a serpentine +course down the valley through which it passed, striking the precipices +alternately on each <!--page 148 REJOINED BY OUR OLD NATIVE GUIDE. /page-->side. +The soil on the flats was better, and less mixed with sand than it had +been, but the flats were generally covered with reeds, though certainly +not wholly subject to flood at any time. The polygonum still prevailed +upon them in places, and the blue-gum tree alone occupied their outskirts. +From the several elevations we ascended, the country to the N.W. appeared +undulating and well wooded; that to the eastward, seemed to be brushy and +low. Certainly there was a great difference in the country, both to the +eastward and to the westward. We had frequent views of the mountains we +had seen, or, I should have said, of a continuation of them. They bore +nearly west from us at a very great distance all day. + +<p>We fell in with several tribes, but did not see our old friend, although, +from the inquiries we made, it was evident he was well known among them. +It would disgust my readers were I to describe the miserable state of +disease and infirmity to which these tribes were reduced. Leprosy of the +most loathsome description, the most violent cutaneous eruptions, and +glandular affections, absolutely raged through the whole of them; yet we +could not escape from the persecuting examination of our persons that +curiosity prompted them in some measure to insist upon. + +<p>The old man, whose information had proved strictly correct, joined us +again on the 4th, and his joy at being received into the boat was +unbounded, as well as the pleasure he expressed at again meeting +Hopkinson. He had been on a long journey, it would appear, for he had not +then reached his tribe. As we approached <!--page 149 DELAYED BY STRONG WINDS. /page-->their haunt, he landed and +preceded us to collect them. We were, of course, more than usually liberal +to so old a friend, and we were really sorry to part with him. + +<p>Soon after leaving his tribe, which occupied the left bank of the river, +and was very weak in point of numbers, we fell in with a very strong tribe +upon the right bank. They numbered 211 in all. We lay off the bank, in +order to escape their importunities; a measure that by no means satisfied +them. The women appeared to be very prolific; but, as a race, these people +are not to be compared with the natives of the mountains, or of the upper +branches of the Murray. + +<p>We passed some beautiful scenery in the course of the day. The river +preserved a direct southerly course, and could not in any place have been +less than 400 yards in breadth. The cliffs still continued, and varied +perpetually in form; at one time presenting a perpendicular wall to the +view, at others, they overhung the stream, in huge fragments. All were +composed of a mass of shells of various kinds; a fact which will call for +further observation and remark. + +<p>Many circumstances at this time tended to confirm our hopes that the sea +could not be very far from us, or that we should not be long in gaining +it. Some sea-gulls flew over our heads, at which Fraser was about to +shoot, had I not prevented him, for I hailed them as the messengers of +glad tidings, and thought they ill deserved such a fate. It blew very hard +from the S.W., during the whole of the day, and we found it extremely +laborious pulling against <!--page 150 NATIVES FEAR OUR DOGS. /page-->the heavy and short sea that came rolling up the +broad and open reaches of the Murray at this place. + +<p>Four of the blacks, from the last tribe, followed us, and slept at the +fires; but they were suspicious and timid, and appeared to be very glad +when morning dawned. Our fires were always so much larger than those made +by themselves, that, they fancied, perhaps, we were going to roast them. +Our dogs, likewise, gave them great uneasiness; for although so fond of +the native brute, they feared ours, from their size. We generally tied +them to the boat, therefore, to prevent a recurrence of theft, so that +they were not altogether useless.</p> + +<hr> +<!--page 151 /page--> +<a name=ch2.6></a><h4>CHAPTER VI.</h4> +<blockquote class=small> +Improvement in the aspect of the country—Increase of the river—Strong +westerly gales—Chronometer broken—A healthier tribe of +natives—Termination of the Murray in a large lake—Its extent and +environs—Passage across it—Hostile appearance of the natives—Beautiful +scenery—Channel from the lake to the sea at Encounter Bay—Reach the +beach—Large flocks of water fowl—Curious refraction—State of +provisions—Embarrassing situation—Inspection of the channel to the +ocean—Weak condition of the men—Difficulties of the return. +</blockquote> + +<p>It now appeared that the Murray had taken a permanent southerly course; +indeed, it might strictly be said that it ran away to the south. As we +proceeded down it, the valley expanded to the width of two miles; the +alluvial flats became proportionably larger; and a small lake generally +occupied their centre. They were extensively covered with reeds and grass, +for which reason, notwithstanding that they were little elevated above the +level of the stream, I do not think they are subject to overflow. Parts of +them may be laid under water, but certainly not the whole. The rains at +the head of the Murray, and its tributaries, must be unusually severe to +prolong their effects to this distant <!--page 152 DELIGHTFUL COUNTRY. /page-->region, and the flats bordering it +appear, by successive depositions, to have only just gained a height above +the further influence of the floods. Should this prove to be the case, the +valley may be decidedly laid down as a most desirable spot, whether we +regard the richness of its soil, its rock formation, its locality, or the +extreme facility of water communication along it. It must not, however, be +forgotten or concealed, that the summits of the cliffs by which the valley +is enclosed, have not a corresponding soil. On the contrary, many of the +productions common to the plains of the interior still existed upon them, +and they were decidedly barren; but as we measured the reaches of the +river, the cliffs ceased, and gave place to undulating hills, that were +very different in appearance from the country we had previously noted +down. It would have been impossible for the most tasteful individual to +have laid out pleasure ground to more advantage, than Nature had done in +planting and disposing the various groups of trees along the spine, and +upon the sides of the elevations that confined the river, and bounded the +low ground that intervened between it and their base. Still, however, the +soil upon these elevations was sandy, and coarse, but the large oat-grass +was abundant upon them, which yielded pasture at least as good as that in +the broken country between Underaliga and Morumbidgee. + +<p>We had now gained a distance of at least sixty miles from that angle of +the Murray at which it reaches its extreme west. The general aspect of the +country to our right was beautiful, and several valleys branched away into +the <!--page 153 ADVERSE GALES. /page-->interior upon that side which had a most promising appearance, and +seemed to abound with kangaroos, as the traces of them were numerous, and +the dogs succeeded in killing one, which, to our great mortification, we +could not find. + +<p>While, however, the country to the westward had so much to recommend it, +the hills to our left became extremely bare. It was evident that the right +was the sheltered side of the valley. The few trees on the opposite side +bent over to the N.E., as if under the influence of some prevailing wind. + +<p>We experienced at this time a succession of gales from the S.W., against +which we, on several occasions, found it useless to contend: the waves on +the river being heavy and short; and the boat, driving her prow into them, +sent the spray over us and soon wet us through. Indeed, it is difficult +for the reader to imagine the heavy swell that rolled up the river, which +had increased in breadth to the third of a mile, and in the length of its +reaches to eight or ten. I was satisfied that we were not only navigating +this river at a particularly stormy, perhaps <i>the</i> stormy, season; but also, +that the influence of the S.W. wind is felt even as far in the interior as +to the supposed Darling; in consequence of the uniform build of the huts, +and the circumstance of their not only facing the N.E., but also being +almost invariably erected under the lee of some bush. + +<p>The weather, under the influence of the wind we experienced, was cool and +pleasant, although the thermometer stood at a medium height of 86°; +but we found it very dis<!--page 154 OBLIGED TO TAKE REPOSE. /page-->tressing to pull against the heavy breezes that +swept up the valley, and bent the reeds so as almost to make them kiss the +stream. + +<p>We communicated on the 6th and 7th with several large tribes of natives, +whose manners were on the whole quiet and inoffensive. They distinctly +informed us, that we were fast approaching the sea, and, from what I could +understand, we were nearer to it than the coast line of Encounter Bay made +us. We had placed sticks to ascertain if there was any rise or fall of +tide, but the troubled state of the river prevented our experiments from +being satisfactory. By selecting a place, however, that was sheltered from +the effects of the wind, we ascertained that there was an apparent rise +of about eight inches. + +<p>It blew a heavy gale during the whole of the 7th; and we laboured in vain +at the oar. The gusts that swept the bosom of the water, and the swell +they caused, turned the boat from her course, and prevented us from making +an inch of way. The men were quite exhausted, and, as they had conducted +themselves so well, and had been so patient, I felt myself obliged to +grant them every indulgence consistent with our safety. However precarious +our situation, it would have been vain, with our exhausted strength, to +have contended against the elements. We, therefore, pulled in to the left +bank of the river, and pitched our tents on a little rising ground beyond +the reeds that lined it. + +<p>I had been suffering very much front tooth-ache for the <!--page 155 CHRONOMETER BROKEN. /page-->last three or four +days, and this day felt the most violent pain from the wind. I was not, +therefore, sorry to get under even the poor shelter our tents afforded. +M'Leay, observing that I was in considerable pain, undertook to wind up +the chronometer; but, not understanding or knowing the instrument, he +unfortunately broke the spring. I shall not forget the anxiety he +expressed, and the regret he felt on the occasion; nor do I think M'Leay +recovered the shock this unlucky accident gave him for two or three days, +or until the novelty of other scenes drove it from his recollection. + +<p>We landed close to the haunt of a small tribe of natives, who came to us +with the most perfect confidence, and assisted the men in their +occupations. They were cleaner and more healthy than any tribe we had +seen; and were extremely cheerful, although reserved in some respects. +As a mark of more than usual cleanliness, the women had mats of oval +shape, upon which they sat, made, apparently, of rushes. There was a +young girl among them of a most cheerful disposition. She was about +eighteen, was well made, and really pretty. This girl was married to an +elderly man who had broken his leg, which having united in a bent shape, +the limb was almost useless. I really believe the girl thought we could +cure her husband, from her importunate manner to us. I regretted that I +could do nothing for the man, but to show that I was not inattentive to +her entreaties, I gave him a pair of trousers, and desired Fraser to put +them upon him; but the poor fellow <!--page 156 APPEARANCE OF SOME /page-->cut so awkward an appearance in them, +that his wife became quite distressed, and Fraser was obliged speedily +to disencumber him from them again. + +<p>We could not gain any satisfactory information, as to the termination of +the river, from these people. It was evident that some change was at hand; +but what it was we could not ascertain. + +<p>On the morning of the 9th, we left our fair friend and her lame husband, +and proceeded down the river. The wind had moderated, although it still +blew fresh. We ascended every height as we went along, but could not see +any new feature in the country. Our view to the eastward was very +confined; to the westward the interior was low and dark, and was backed in +the distance by lofty ranges, parallel to which we had been running for +some days. The right bank of the valley was beautifully undulated, but the +left was bleak and bare. The valley had a breadth of from three to four +miles, and the flats were more extensive under the former than under the +latter. They were scarcely two feet above the level of the water, and were +densely covered with reeds. As there was no mark upon the reeds to +indicate the height to which the floods rose, I cannot think that these +flats are ever wholly laid under water; if they are, it cannot be to any +depth: at all events a few small drains would effectually prevent +inundation. The soil upon the hills continued to be much mixed with sand, +and the prevailing trees were cypress and box. Among the minor shrubs and +grass, many common to the <!--page 157 APPROACHING CHANGE. /page-->east coasts were noticed; and although the bold +cliffs had ceased, the basis of the country still continued of the fossil +formation. At a turn of the stream hereabouts, however, a solitary rock of +coarse red granite rose above the waters, and formed an island in its +centre; but only in this one place was it visible. The rock was composed +principally of quartz and feldspar. + +<p>A little below it, we found a large tribe anxiously awaiting our arrival. +They crowded to the margin of the river with great eagerness, and evinced +more surprise at our appearance than any tribe we had seen during the +journey; but we left them very soon, notwithstanding that they importuned +us much to stay. + +<p>After pulling a mile or two, we found a clear horizon before us to the +south. The hills still continued upon our left, but we could not see any +elevation over the expanse of reeds to our right. The river inclined to +the left, and swept the base of the hills that still continued on that +side. I consequently landed once more to survey the country. + +<p>I still retained a strong impression on my mind that some change was at +hand, and on this occasion, I was not disappointed; but the view was one +for which I was not altogether prepared. We had, at length, arrived at the +termination of the Murray. Immediately below me was a beautiful lake, +which appeared to be a fitting reservoir for the noble stream that had led +us to it; and which was now ruffled by the breeze that swept over it. +The ranges were more distinctly visible, stretching from south to north, +and were cer<!--page 158 TERMINATION OF THE MURRAY /page-->tainly distant forty miles. They had a regular unbroken +outline; declining gradually to the south, but terminating abruptly at a +lofty mountain northerly. I had no doubt on my mind of this being the +Mount Lofty of Captain Flinders; or that the range was that immediately to +the eastward of St. Vincent's Gulf—Since the accident to the chronometer, +we had not made any westing, so that we knew our position as nearly as +possible. Between us and the ranges a beautiful promontory shot into the +lake, being a continuation of the right bank of the Murray. Over this +promontory the waters stretched to the base of the ranges, and formed an +extensive bay. To the N.W. the country was exceedingly low, but distant +peaks were just visible over it. To the S.W. a bold headland showed +itself; beyond which, to the westward, there was a clear and open sea +visible, through a strait formed by this headland and a point projecting +from the opposite shore. To the E. and S.E. the country was low, excepting +the left shore of the lake, which was backed by some minor elevations, +crowned with cypresses. Even while gazing on this fine scene, I could not +but regret that the Murray had thus terminated; for I immediately foresaw +that, in all probability, we should be disappointed in finding any +practicable communication between the lake and the ocean, as it was +evident that the former was not much influenced by tides. The wind had +again increased; it still blew fresh from the S.W. and a heavy sea was +rolling direct into the mouth of the river. I hoped, notwithstanding, that +we should have been enabled to <!--page 159 IN A LARGE LAKE. /page-->make sail, for which reason we entered the +lake about 2 p.m. The natives had kindled a large fire on a distant point +between us and the further headland, and to gain this point our efforts +were now directed. The waves were, however, too strong, and we were +obliged to make for the eastern shore, until such time as the weather +should moderate. We pitched our tents on a low track of land that +stretched away seemingly for many miles directly behind us to the +eastward. It was of the richest soil, being a black vegetable deposit, +and although now high above the influence, the lake had, it was evident, +once formed a part of its bed. The appearance of the country altogether +encouraged M'Leay and myself to walk out, in order to examine it from some +hills a little to the S.E. of the camp. From them we observed that the +flat extended over about fifty miles, and was bounded by the elevations +that continued easterly from the left bank of the Murray to the north, +and by a line of rising-ground to the south. The whole was lightly wooded, +and covered with grass. The season must have been unusually dry, judging +from the general appearance of the vegetation, and from the circumstance +of the lagoons in the interior being wholly exhausted. + +<p>Thirty-three days had now passed over our heads since we left the depot +upon the Morumbidgee, twenty-six of which had been passed upon the Murray. +We had, at length, arrived at the grand reservoir of those waters whose +course and fate had previously been involved in such obscurity. It +remained for us to ascertain whether the extensive sheet of water upon +whose bosom we had embarked, had any <!--page 160 DETAINED BY THE WIND. /page-->practicable communication with the +ocean, and whether the country in the neighbourhood of the coast +corresponded with that immediately behind our camp, or kept up its sandy +and sterile character to the very verge of the sea. As I have already +said, my hopes on the first of these points were considerably damped, but +I could not help anticipating a favourable change in the latter, since its +features had so entirely changed. + +<p>The greatest difficulty against which we had at present to contend was the +wind; and I dreaded the exertion it would call for, to make head against +it; for the men were so much reduced that I felt convinced they were +inadequate to any violent or prolonged effort. It still blew fresh at +8 p.m., but at that time it began to moderate. It may be imagined that I +listened to its subdued gusts with extreme anxiety. It did not wholly +abate until after 2 a.m., when it gradually declined, and about 3 a light +breeze sprung up from the N. E. + +<p>We had again placed sticks to ascertain with more precision the rise of +tide, and found it to be the same as in the river. In the stillness of the +night too we thought we heard the roaring of the sea, but I was myself +uncertain upon the point, as the wind might have caused the sound. + +<p>From the top of the hill from which we had obtained our first view of the +lake, I observed the waves breaking upon the distant headland, and +enveloping the cliff in spray; so that, independent of the clearness of +the horizon beyond it, I was further led to conclude that there <!--page 161 GEOLOGICAL FORMATION. /page-->existed a +great expanse of water to the S.W.; and, as that had been the direction +taken by the river, I thought it probable that by steering at once to the +S.W. down the lake, I should hit the outlet. I, consequently, resolved to +gain the southern extremity of the lake, as that at which it was natural +to expect a communication with the ocean would be found. + +<p>At 4 we had a moderate breeze, and it promised to strengthen; we lost no +time therefore in embarking, and with a flowing sheet stretched over to +the W.S.W., and ran along the promontory formed by the right bank of the +Murray. We passed close under its extreme point at nine. The hills had +gradually declined, and we found the point to be a flat, elevated about +thirty feet above the lake. It was separated from the promontory by a +small channel that was choked up with reeds, so that it is more than +probable that the point is insulated at certain periods; whilst in its +stratification it resembled the first cliffs I have described that were +passed below the Darling. It is a remarkable fact in the geology of the +Murray, that such should be the case; and that the formation at each +extremity of the great bank or bed of fossils should be the same. +Thus far, the waters of the lake had continued sweet; but on filling a can +when we were abreast of this point, it was found that they were quite +unpalatable, to say the least of them. The transition from fresh to salt +water was almost immediate, and it was fortunate we made the discovery in +sufficient time to prevent our losing ground. But, as it was, we filled +our <!--page 162 PASSAGE ACROSS THE LAKE. /page-->casks, and stood on, without for a moment altering our course. + +<p>It is difficult to give a just description of our passage across the lake. +The boisterous weather we had had seemed to have blown over. A cool and +refreshing breeze was carrying us on at between four and five knots an +hour, and the heavens above us were without a cloud. It almost appeared as +if nature had resisted us in order to try our perseverance, and that she +had yielded in pity to our efforts. The men, relieved for a time from the +oar, stretched themselves at their length in the boat, and commented on +the scenery around them, or ventured their opinions as to that which was +before them. Up to this moment their conduct had been most exemplary; not +a murmur had escaped from them, and they filled the water-casks with the +utmost cheerfulness, even whilst tasting the disagreeable beverage they +would most probably have to subsist on for the next three or four days. + +<p>As soon as we had well opened the point, we had a full view of the +splendid bay that, commencing at the western most of the central points, +swept in a beautiful curve under the ranges. No land was visible to the +W.N.W. or to the S.S.W.: in both these quarters the lake was as open as +the ocean. It appeared, therefore, that the land intermediate was an +island. To the north the country was extremely low, and as we increased +our distance from it we lost sight of it altogether. At noon we were +nearly abreast of the eastern headland, or in the centre of the strait to +which I <!--page 163 ITS SHALLOWNESS. /page-->have alluded. At this time there was an open sea from W.N.W. to +N. by E. A meridian altitude gave our latitude 35° 25´. +The land to our left was bold and precipitous; that to the right was low +and wooded; and there was evidently a considerable space between the +shores of the lake and the base of the ranges. The country to the eastward +was hidden from us by the line of cliffs, beyond which from E.S.E. to +W.S.W. there was an open sea. We had kept the lead going from the first, +and I was surprised at the extreme shallowness of the lake in every part, +as we never had six feet upon the line. Its bottom was one of black mud, +and weeds of enormous length were floating on its surface, detached by the +late gales, and which, from the shallowness of the lake, got constantly +entangled with our rudder. + +<p>We tried to land on the eastern point, but found the water too shallow, +and were obliged to try the western shore. In passing close under the +head, we observed several natives upon it, who kindled a large fire as +soon as they saw they were noticed, which was answered from every point; +for, in less than ten minutes afterwards, we counted no fewer than +fourteen different fires, the greater number of which were on the side of +the ranges. + +<p>As we were standing across from one shore to the other, our attention was +drawn to a most singular object. It started suddenly up, as above the +waters to the south, and strikingly resembled an isolated castle. Behind +it, a dense column of smoke rose into the sky, and the effect was <!--page 164 SHORES OF THE LAKE. /page-->most +remarkable. On a nearer approach, the phantom disappeared and a clear and +open sea again presented itself to our view. The fact was, that the +refractive power upon the coast had elevated the sand-hillocks above their +true position, since we satisfactorily ascertained that they alone +separated the lake from the ocean, and that they alone could have produced +the semblance we noticed. It is a singular fact, that this very hillock +was the one which Capt. Barker ascended whilst carrying on the survey of +the south coast, and immediately previous to his tragical death. + +<p>It was not without difficulty that we succeeded in landing on the western +shore; but we did, at length, succeed, and prepared our dinners. The shore +was low, but above the reach of all floods; the soil was rich, and +superficially sandy. It was covered with high grasses, and abounded in +kangaroos; within the space of a few yards we found five or six, but they +were immediately lost to us and to the dogs in the luxuriance of the +vegetation amidst which they were feeding. + +<p>As soon as we had finished our meal, we once more embarked, and stood +along the shore to the S.W., but the lake was so shoal, that I was every +moment apprehensive we should ground. I ran across, therefore, to the +south, towards a low flat that had just appeared above the line of the +horizon, in hope that, in sounding, we should have found the channel, but +there either was none, or else it was so narrow that we passed over it +between the heaves of the lead. At this time, the western shore was quite +distinct, and the scenery was beautiful. +<!--page 165 WARLIKE DEMEANOUR OF THE NATIVES. /page--> +<p>The flat we were approaching was a mud-flat, and, from its appearance, the +tide was certainly at the ebb. We observed some cradles, or wicker frames, +placed far below high water-mark, that were each guarded by two natives, +who threatened us violently as we approached. In running along the land, +the stench from them plainly indicated what they were which these poor +creatures were so anxiously watching. + +<p>We steered a S.W. course, towards some low and wooded hills, passing a +rocky island, and found that we had struck the mouth of a channel running +to the W.S.W. It was about half-a-mile wide, was bounded to the right by +some open flat ground, and to the left by a line of hills of about sixty +or seventy feet in elevation, partly open and partly covered with +beefwood. + +<p>Upon the first of these hills, we observed a large body of natives, who +set up the most terrific yells as we approached. They were fully equipped +for battle and, as we neared the shore, came down to meet us with the most +violent threats. I wished much to communicate with them, and, not without +hopes of quieting them, stood right in with the intention of landing. +I observed, however, that if I did so, I should have to protect myself. +I hauled a little off, and endeavoured, by holding up a branch and a +tomahawk, to gain their confidence, but they were not to be won over by +my show of pacification. An elderly man walked close to the water's edge +unarmed, and, evidently, directed the others. He was followed by seven or +eight of <!--page 166 LOVELY EVENING. /page-->the most daring, who crept into the reeds, with their spears +shipped to throw at us. I, therefore, took up my gun to return their +salute. It then appeared that they were perfectly aware of the weapon I +carried, for the moment they saw it, they dashed out of their hiding place +and retreated to the main body; but the old man, after saying something +to them, walked steadily on, and I, on my part, laid my firelock down +again. + +<p>It was now near sunset; and one of the most lovely evenings I had ever +seen. The sun's radiance was yet upon the mountains, but all lower objects +were in shade. The banks of the channel, with the trees and the rocks, +were reflected in the tranquil waters, whose surface was unruffled save by +the thousands of wild fowl that rose before us, and made a noise as of a +multitude clapping hands, in their clumsy efforts to rise from the waters. +Not one of them allowed us to get within shot. + +<p>We proceeded about a mile below the hill on which the natives were posted; +some few still following us with violent threats. We landed, however, on a +flat, bounded all round by the continuation of the hills. It was an +admirable position, for, in the centre of it, we could not be taken by +surprise, and, on the other hand, we gave the natives an opportunity of +communicating with us if they would. The full moon rose as we were forming +the camp, and, notwithstanding our vicinity to so noisy a host, the +silence of death was around us, or the stillness of the night was only +broken by the roar of the ocean, now too near to be mistaken for <!--page 167 EXTENT OF THE LAKE. /page-->wind, +or by the silvery and melancholy note of the black swans as they passed +over us, to seek for food, no doubt, among the slimy weeds at the head of +the lake. We had been quite delighted with the beauty of the channel, +which was rather more than half-a-mile in width. Numberless mounds, that +seemed to invite civilized man to erect his dwelling upon them, presented +themselves to our view. The country round them was open, yet ornamentally +wooded, and rocks and trees hung or drooped over the waters. + +<p>We had in one day gained a position I once feared it would have cost us +infinite labour to have measured. Indeed, had we been obliged to pull +across the lake, unless during a calm, I am convinced the men would have +been wholly exhausted. We had to thank a kind Providence that such was not +the case, since it had extended its mercy to us at so critical a moment. +We had indeed need of all the little strength we had remaining, and could +ill have thrown it away on such an effort as this would have required. +I calculated that we could not have run less than forty-five miles during +the day, a distance that, together with the eight miles we had advanced +the evening previously, would give the length of the lake at fifty-three +miles. + +We had approached to within twelve miles of the ranges, but had not gained +their southern extremity. From the camp, Mount Barker bore nearly north. +The ranges appeared to run north and south to our position, and then to +bend away to the S.S.W., gradually declining to that point, <!--page 168 CHANNEL TO THE SEA. /page-->which I +doubted not terminated in Cape Jervis. The natives kept aloof during the +night, nor did the dogs by a single growl intimate that any had ventured +to approach us. The sound of the surf came gratefully to our ears, for it +told us we were near the goal for which we had so anxiously pushed, and we +all of us promised ourselves a view of the boundless ocean on the morrow. + +<p>As the morning dawned, we saw that the natives had thrown an out-post of +sixteen men across the channel, who were watching our motions; but none +showed themselves on the hills behind us, or on any part of the south +shore. We embarked as soon as we had breakfasted, A fresh breeze was +blowing from the N.E. which took us rapidly down the channel, and our +prospects appeared to be as cheering as the day, for just as we were about +to push from the shore, a seal rose close to the boat, which we all +regarded as a favourable omen. We were, however, shortly stopped by +shoals; it was in vain that we beat across the channel from one side to +the other; it was a continued shoal, and the deepest water appeared to be +under the left bank. The tide, however, had fallen, and exposed broad +flats, over which it was hopeless, under existing circumstances, to haul +the boat. We again landed on the south side of the channel, patiently to +await the high water. + +<p>M'Leay, myself, and Fraser, ascended the hills, and went to the opposite +side to ascertain the course of the channel, for immediately above us it +turned south round the hills. We there found that we were on a narrow +tongue <!--page 169 ITS SHALLOWNESS. /page-->of land. The channel was immediately below us, and continued to the +E.S.E. as far as we could trace it. The hills we were upon, were the sandy +hills that always bound a coast that is low, and were covered with +banksias, casuarina and the grass-tree. + +<p>To the south of the channel there was a flat, backed by a range of +sand-hummocks, that were covered with low shrubs; and beyond them the sea +was distinctly visible. We could not have been more than two and a half +miles from the beach where we stood. + +<p>Notwithstanding the sandy nature of the soil, the fossil formation again +showed itself, not only on these hills, but also on the rocks that were in +the channel. + +<p>A little before high water we again embarked. A seal had been observed +playing about, and we augured well from such an omen. The blacks had been +watching us from the opposite shore, and as soon as we moved, rose to keep +abreast of us. With all our efforts we could not avoid the shoals. We +walked up to our knees in mud and water, to find the least variation in +the depth of the water so as to facilitate our exertions, but it was to no +purpose. We were ultimately obliged to drag the boat over the flats; there +were some of them a quarter of a mile in breadth, knee-deep in mud; but at +length got her into deep water again. The turn of the channel was now +before us, and we had a good run for about four or five miles. We had +completed the bend, and the channel now stretched to the E.S.E. At about +nine miles from us there was a bright <!--page 170 BEACH OF ENCOUNTER BAY. /page-->sand-hill visible, near which the +channel seemed to turn again to the south; and I doubted not that it +terminated there. It was to no purpose, however, that we tried to gain it. +Shoals again closed in upon us on every side. We dragged the boat over +several, and at last got amongst quicksands. I, therefore, directed our +efforts to hauling the boat over to the south side of the channel, as that +on which we could most satisfactorily ascertain our position. After great +labour we succeeded, and, as evening had closed in, lost no time in +pitching the tents. + +<p>While the men were thus employed, I took Fraser with me, and, accompanied +by M'Leay, crossed the sand-hummocks behind us, and descended to the +sea-shore. I found that we had struck the south coast deep in the bight +of Encounter Bay. We had no time for examination, but returned immediately +to the camp, as I intended to give the men an opportunity to go to the +beach. They accordingly went and bathed, and returned not only highly +delighted at this little act of good nature on my part, but loaded with +cockles, a bed of which they had managed to find among the sand. Clayton +had tied one end of his shirt up, and brought a bag full, and amused +himself with boiling cockles all night long. + +<p>If I had previously any hopes of being enabled ultimately to push the boat +over the flats that were before us, a view of the channel at low water, +convinced me of the impracticability of any further attempt. The water was +so low that every shoal was exposed, and many stretched directly <!--page 171 CURIOUS EFFECT OF REFRACTION. /page-->from one +side of the channel to the other; and, but for the treacherous nature of +the sand-banks, it would not have been difficult to have walked over dry +footed to the opposite side of it. The channel stretched away to the +E.S.E., to a distance of seven or eight miles, when it appeared to turn +south under a small sand-hill, upon which the rays of the sun fell, as it +was sinking behind us. + +<p>There was an innumerable flock of wild-fowl arranged in rows along the +sides of the pools left by the tide, and we were again amused by the +singular effect of the refraction upon them, and the grotesque and +distorted forms they exhibited. Swans, pelicans, ducks, and geese, were +mingled together, and, according to their distance from us, presented +different appearances. Some were exceedingly tall and thin, others were +unnaturally broad. Some appeared reversed, or as if they were standing on +their heads, and the slightest motion, particularly the flapping of their +wings, produced a most ridiculous effect. No doubt, the situation and the +state of the atmosphere were favourable to the effect I have described. +The day had been fine, the evening was beautiful,—but it was the +rarefaction of the air immediately playing on the ground, and not the +haze at sunset that caused what I have noticed. It is distinct from +mirage, although it is difficult to point out the difference. The one, +however, distorts, the other conceals objects, and gives them a false +distance. The one is clear, the other is cloudy. The one raises objects +above their true position, the other does not. The one plays about, the +other <!--page 172 CRITICAL SITUATION /page-->is steady; but I cannot hope to give a proper idea either of mirage +or refraction so satisfactorily as I could wish. Many travellers have +dwelt upon their effects, particularly upon those of the former, but few +have attempted to account for them. + +<p>Our situation was one of peculiar excitement and interest. To our right +the thunder of the heavy surf, that almost shook the ground beneath us, +broke with increasing roar upon our ears; to our left the voice of the +natives echoed through the brush, and the size of their fires at the +extremity of the channel, seemed to indicate the alarm our appearance had +occasioned. + +<p>While the men were enjoying their cockles, a large kettle of which they +had boiled, M'Leay and I were anxiously employed in examining the state of +our provisions, and in ascertaining what still remained. Flour and tea +were the only articles we had left, so that the task was not a difficult +one. It appeared that we had not sufficient of either to last us to +Pondebadgery, at which place we expected to find supplies; and, taking +every thing into consideration, our circumstances were really critical. + +<p>The first view of Encounter Bay had convinced me that no vessel would ever +venture into it at a season when the S.W. winds prevailed. It was +impossible that we could remain upon the coast in expectation of the +relief that I doubted not had been hurried off for us; since +disappointment would have sealed our fate at once. In the deep bight in +which we were, I could not hope that any vessel <!--page 173 OF THE PARTY. /page-->would approach +sufficiently near to be seen by us. Our only chance of attracting notice +would have been by crossing the Ranges to the Gulf St. Vincent, but the +men had not strength to walk, and I hesitated to divide my party in the +presence of a determined and numerous enemy, who closely watched our +motions. Setting aside the generous feelings that had prompted M'Leay to +participate in every danger with me, and who I am persuaded would have +deeply felt a separation, my anxiety not only on his account, but on +account of the men I might leave in charge of the boat, made me averse to +this measure; the chance of any misfortune to them involving in it the +destruction of our boat and the loss of our provisions. My anxiety of mind +would have rendered me unfit for exertion; yet so desirous was I of +examining the ranges and the country at their base, that I should, had our +passage to the salt water been uninterrupted, have determined on coasting +it homewards, or of steering for Launceston; and most assuredly, with my +present experience, I would rather incur the hazards of so desperate a +step, than contend against all the evils that beset us on out homeward +journey. And the reader may rest assured, I was as much without hopes of +our eventual safety, as I was astonished, at the close of our labours, to +find that they had terminated so happily. + +<p>Further exertion on the part of the men being out of the question, I +determined to remain no longer on the coast than to enable me to trace the +channel to its actual junction <!--page 174 INSPECTION OF THE CHANNEL /page-->with the sea, and to ascertain the features +of the coast at that important point. I was reluctant to exhaust the +strength of the men in dragging the boat over the numberless flats that +were before us, and made up my mind to walk along the shore until I should +gain the outlet. I at length arranged that M'Leay, I, and Fraser, should +start on this excursion, at the earliest dawn, leaving Harris and +Hopkinson in charge of the camp; for as we were to go towards the position +of the natives, I thought it improbable they would attack the camp without +my being instantly aware of it. + +<p>We had, as I have said, intended starting at the earliest dawn, but the +night was so clear and refreshing, and the moon so bright that we +determined to avail ourselves of both, and accordingly left the tents at +3 a.m. I directed Harris to strike them at 8, and to have every thing in +readiness for our departure at that hour. We then commenced our +excursion, and I led my companions rapidly along the shore of Encounter +Bay, after crossing the sand-hills about a mile below the camp. After a +hasty and distressing walk of about seven miles, we found that the +sand-hills terminated, and a low beach spread before us. The day was just +breaking, and at the distance of a mile from us we saw the sand-hill I +have already had occasion to notice, and at about a quarter of a mile from +its base, we were checked by the channel; which, as I rightly conjectured, +being stopped in its easterly course by some rising ground, the tongue of +land on which the blacks were posted, sud<!--page 175 FROM THE LAKE TO THE OCEAN. /page-->denly turns south, and, striking +this sand-hill, immediately enters the sea; and we noticed, in the bight +under the rising ground, that the natives had lit a chain of small fires. +This was, most probably, a detached party watching our movements, as they +could, from where they were posted, see our camp. + +<p>At the time we arrived at the end of the channel, the tide had turned, and +was again setting in. The entrance appeared to me to be somewhat less than +a quarter of a mile in breadth. Under the sand-hill on the off side, the +water is deep and the current strong. No doubt, at high tide, a part of +the low beach we had traversed is covered. The mouth of the channel is +defended by a double line of breakers, amidst which, it would be +dangerous to venture, except in calm and summer weather; and the line of +foam is unbroken from one end of Encounter Bay to the other. Thus were our +fears of the impracticability and inutility of the channel of +communication between the lake and the ocean confirmed. + +<p>I would fain have lingered on my way, to examine, as far as circumstances +would permit, the beautiful country between the lake and the ranges; and +it was with heart-felt sorrow that I yielded to necessity. My men were +indeed very weak from poverty of diet and from great bodily fatigue. +Hopkinson, Mulholland, and Macnamee were miserably reduced. The two +former, especially, had exerted themselves beyond their strength, and +although I am confident they would have obeyed my orders to the last, +I did <!--page 176 DIFFICULTIES OF THE RETURN. /page-->not feel myself justified, considering the gigantic task we had +before us, to impose additional labour upon them. + +<p>It will be borne in mind that our difficulties were just about to +commence, when those of most other travellers have ceased; and that +instead of being assisted by the stream whose course we had followed, we +had now to contend against the united waters of the eastern ranges, +with diminished strength, and, in some measure, with disappointed +feelings. + +<p>Under the most favourable circumstances, it was improbable that the men +would be enabled to pull for many days longer in succession; since they +had not rested upon their oars for a single day, if I except our passage +across the lake, from the moment when we started from the depot; nor was +it possible for me to buoy them up with the hope even of a momentary +cessation from labour. We had calculated the time to which our supply of +provisions would last under the most favourable circumstances, and it was +only in the event of our pulling up against the current, day after day, +the same distance we had compassed with the current in our favour, that we +could hope they would last us as long as we continued in the Murray. +But in the event of floods, or any unforeseen delay, in was impossible +to calculate at what moment we might be driven to extremity. + +<p>Independent of these casualties, there were other circumstances of peril +to be taken into consideration. As I have already observed, I foresaw +great danger in again running <!--page 177 DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS OF THE RETURN. /page-->through the natives. I had every reason to +believe that many of the tribes with which we had communicated on +apparently friendly terms, regretted having allowed us to pass unmolested; +nor was I at all satisfied as to the treatment we might receive from them, +when unattended by the envoys who had once or twice controlled their fury. +Our best security, therefore, against the attacks of the natives was +celerity of movement; and the men themselves seemed to be perfectly aware +of the consequences of delay. Our provisions, moreover, being calculated +to last to a certain point only, the slightest accident, the staving-in +of the boat, or the rise of the river, would inevitably be attended with +calamity. To think of reducing our rations of only three quarters of a +pound of flour per diem, was out of the question, or to hope that the men, +with less sustenance than that, would perform the work necessary to ensure +their safety, would have been unreasonable. It was better that our +provisions should hold out to a place from which we might abandon the boat +with some prospect of reaching by an effort a stock station, or the plain +on which Robert Harris was to await our return, than that they should be +consumed before the half of our homeward journey should be accomplished. +Delay, therefore, under our circumstances, would have been imprudent +and unjustifiable. + +<p>On the other hand, it was sufficiently evident to me, that the men were +too much exhausted to perform the task that was before them without +assistance, and that it would be necessary both for M'Leay and myself, +to take our share of <!--page 178 PATIENCE OF THE MEN. /page-->labour at the oars. The cheerfulness and satisfaction +that my young friend evinced at the opportunity that was thus afforded him +of making himself useful, and of relieving those under him from some +portion of their toil, at the same time that they increased my sincere +esteem for him, were nothing more than what I expected from one who had +endeavoured by every means in his power to contribute to the success of +that enterprise upon which he had embarked. But although I have said thus +much of the exhausted condition of the men,—and ere these pages are +concluded my readers will feel satisfied as to the truth of my +statement—I would by no means be understood to say that they flagged for +a moment, or that a single murmur escaped them. No reluctance was visible, +no complaint was heard, but there was that in their aspect and appearance +which they could not hide, and which I could not mistake. My object in +dwelling so long upon this subject has been to point out our situation and +our feelings when we re-entered the Murray. The only circumstance that +appeared to be in our favour was the prevalence of the south-west wind, +by which I hoped we should be assisted in running up the first broad +reaches of that river. I could not but acknowledge the bounty of that +Providence, which had favoured us in our passage across the lake, and I +was led to hope that its merciful superintendance would protect us from +evil, and would silently direct us where human foresight and prudence +failed. We re-entered the river on the 13th under as fair prospects as +we would have desired. The gale which had blown with <!--page 179 RE-ENTER THE MURRAY. /page-->such violence in the +morning gradually abated, and a steady breeze enabled us to pass our first +encampment by availing ourselves of it as long as day light continued. +Both the valley and the river showed to advantage as we approached them, +and the scenery upon our left (the proper right bank of the Murray) +was really beautiful.</p> + +<hr> +<!--page 180 /page--> +<a name=ch2.7></a><h4>CHAPTER VII.</h4> +<blockquote class=small> +Valley of the Murray—Its character and capabilities—Laborious progress +up the river—Accident to the boat—Perilous collision with the +natives—Turbid current of the Rufus—Passage of the Rapids—Assisted by the +natives—Dangerous intercourse with them—Re-enter the Morumbidgee—Verdant +condition of its banks—Nocturnal encounter with the natives—Interesting +manifestation of feeling in one family—Reach the spot where the party had +embarked on the river—Men begin to fail entirely—Determine to send two +men forward for relief—Their return—Excursion on horseback—Reach +Pondebadgery Plain, and meet the supplies from the colony—Cannibalism of +the natives—Return to Sydney—Concluding remarks. +</blockquote> +<p>The valley of the Murray, at its entrance, cannot be less than four miles +in breadth. The river does not occupy the centre but inclines to either +side, according to its windings, and thus the flats are of greater or less +extent, according to the distance of the river from the base of the hills. +It is to be remarked, that the bottom of the valley is extremely level, +and extensively covered with reeds. From the latter circumstance, one +would be led to infer that these flats are subject to overflow, and no +doubt can exist as to the fact of their being, at least partially, if not +wholly, under water <!--page 181 VALLEY OF THE MURRAY. /page-->at times. A country in a state of nature is, however, +so different from one in a state of cultivation, that it is hazardous to +give an opinion as to its practical availableness, if I may use such a +term. I should, undoubtedly, say the marshes of the Macquarie were +frequently covered with water, and that they were wholly unfit for any one +purpose whatever. It is evident from the marks of the reeds upon the +banks, that the flood covers them occasionally to the depth of three feet, +and the reeds are so densely embodied and so close to the river side that +the natives cannot walk along it. The reeds are the broad flag-reed +(arundo phragmatis), and grow on a stiff earthy loam, without any +accompanying vegetation; indeed, they form so solid a mass that the sun +cannot penetrate to the ground to nourish vegetation. On the other hand, +the valley of the Murray, though covered with reeds in most places, is not +so in all. There is no mark upon the reeds by which to judge as to the +height of inundation, neither are they of the same kind as those which +cover the marshes of the Macquarie. They are the species of round reed of +which the South-sea islanders make their arrows, and stand sufficiently +open, not only to allow of a passage through, but for the abundant growth +of grass among them. Still, I have no doubt that parts of the valley are +subject to flood; but, as I have already remarked, I do not know whether +these parts are either deeply or frequently covered. Rain must fall +simultaneously in the S.E. angle of the island in the inter-tropical +regions, and at the heads <!--page 182 VALLEY OF THE MURRAY. /page-->of all the tributaries of the main stream, ere +its effects can be felt in the lower parts of the Murray. If the valley of +the Murray is not subject to flood, it has only recently gained a height +above the influence of the river, and still retains all the character of +flooded land. In either case, however, it contains land that is of the +very richest kind—soil that is the pure accumulation of vegetable matter, +and is as black as ebony. If its hundreds of thousands of acres were +practically available, I should not hesitate to pronounce it one of the +richest spots of equal extent on earth, and highly favoured in other +respects. How far it is available remains to be proved; and an opinion +upon either side would be hazardous, although that of its liability to +flood would, most probably, be nearest to truth. It is, however, certain +that any part of the valley would require much labour before it could be +brought under cultivation, and that even its most available spots would +require almost as much trouble to clear them as the forest tract, for +nothing is more difficult to destroy than reeds. Breaking the sod would, +naturally, raise the level of the ground, and lateral drains would, most +probably, carry off all floods, but then the latter, at least, is the +operation of an advanced stage of husbandry only. I would, however, +observe that there are many parts of the valley decidedly above the reach +of flood. I have, in the above observations, been particularly alluding to +the lowest and broadest portions of it. I trust I shall be understood as +not wishing to over-rate this discovery on the one hand, or on the other, +<!--page 183 CORDIALITY OF THE NATIVES. /page-->to include its whole extent in one sweeping clause of condemnation. + +<p>On the 14th, the wind still continued to blow fresh from the N.W. +It moderated at noon, and assisted us beyond measure. We passed our first +encampment, but did not see any natives. + +<p>On the 15th, the wind was variable at daylight, and a dense fog was on the +river. As the sun rose, it was dissipated and a light breeze sprung up +from W.S.W. We ran up the stream with a free sheet for six hours, when we +stopped for a short time to get the kettle boiled. Four natives joined us, +but with the exception of the lowest tribe upon the right bank, we had not +seen any number. We were extremely liberal to this tribe, in consequence +of the satisfaction they evinced at our return. We had alarmed them much +on our passage down the river by firing at a snake that was swimming +across it. We, at first, attempted to kill it with the boat-hook, but the +animal dived at our approach, and appeared again at a considerable +distance. Another such dive would have ensured his escape, but a shot +effectually checked him, and as the natives evinced considerable alarm, we +held him up, to show them the object of our proceedings. On our return, +they seemed to have forgotten their fright, and received us with every +demonstration of joy. The different receptions we met with from different +tribes are difficult to be accounted for. + +<p>The country appeared to rise before us, and looked more <!--page 184 REMARKABLE CLIFF. /page-->hilly to the N.W. +than I had supposed it to be. Several fine valleys branched off from the +main one to the westward, and, however barren the heights that confined +them were, I am inclined to think, that the distant interior is fertile. +The marks of kangaroos were numerous, and the absence of the natives would +indicate that they have other and better means of subsisting in the back +country than what the river affords. + +<p>In the evening, we again ran on for two hours and a half, and reached the +first of the cliffs. + +<p>On the 16th, we were again fortunate in the wind, and pressed up the river +as long as day-light continued. At the termination of our journey, we +found ourselves a day's journey in advance. This inspirited the men, and +they began to forget the labours they had gone through, as well as those +that were before them. + +<p>On the 17th, we again commenced pulling, the wind being at north, and +contrary. It did not, however, remain in that quarter long, but backed at +noon to the S.W., so that we were enabled to make a good day's journey, +and rather gained than lost ground. + +<p>Having left the undulating hills, at the mouth of the valley behind us, +we passed cliff after cliff of fossil formation: they had a uniform +appearance as to the substance of which they were composed, and varied +but little in colour. Having already examined them, we thought it +unnecessary to give them any further special attention, since it was +improbable we should find anything new. <!--page 185 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. /page-->In turning an angle of the river, +however, a broad reach stretched away before us. An alluvial flat extended +to our left, and a high line of cliffs, that differed in no visible +respect from those we had already passed, rose over the opposite side of +the river. The cliffs faced the W.N.W., and as the sun declined, his beams +struck full upon them. As we shot past, we were quite dazzled with the +burst of light that flashed upon us, and which gave to the whole face of +the cliff the appearance of a splendid mirror. The effect was of course +momentary; for as soon as we had passed the angle of refraction, there was +nothing unusual in its appearance. On a nearer approach, however, it +appeared again as if studded with stars. We had already determined on +examining it more closely, and this second peculiarity still further +excited our curiosity. On landing, we found the whole cliff to be a mass +of selenite, in which the various shells already noticed were plentifully +embedded, as in ice. The features of the cliff differed from any we had +previously remarked. Large masses, or blocks of square or oblong shape, +had fallen to its base, and its surface was hard, whereas the face of the +majority of the other cliffs was soft from the effect of the atmosphere; +and the rock was entirely free from every other substance, excepting the +shells of which it was composed. We of course collected some good +specimens, although they added very considerably to the weight of our +cargo. + +<p>The morning of the 18th was calm and cloudless. The wind, of which there +was but little, came from the north, <!--page 186 LABORIOUS ASCENT OF THE BOAT. /page-->and was as usual warm. We availed +ourselves of a favourable spot to haul our boat on shore under one of the +cliffs upon the proper left of the river, and cleaned her well both +inside and out. + +<p>The breezes that had so much assisted as from the lake upwards, had now +lost their influence, or failed to reach to the distance we had gained. +Calms succeeded them, and obliged us to labour continually at the oars. +We lost ground fast, and it was astonishing to remark how soon the men's +spirits drooped again under their first efforts. They fancied the boat +pulled heavily, and that her bottom was foul; but such was not the case. +The current was not so strong as when we passed down, since the river had +evidently fallen more than a foot, and was so shallow in several places, +that we were obliged to haul the boat over them. On these occasions we +were necessarily obliged to get out of her into the water, and had +afterwards to sit still and to allow the sun to dry our clothes upon us. +The unemployed consequently envied those at the oars, as they sat +shivering in their dripping clothes. I was aware that it was more from +imagination than reality, that the men fancied the boat was unusually +heavy, but I hesitated not in humouring them, and rather entered into +their ideas than otherwise, and endeavoured to persuade them that she +pulled the lighter for the cleaning we gave her. + +<p>A tribe of natives joined us, and we had the additional trouble of +guarding our stores. They were, however, very quiet, and as we had broken +up our casks, on leaving the <!--page 187 NATIVE BURIAL-PLACE. /page-->coast, we were enabled to be liberal in our +presents of iron hoop, which they eagerly received. We calculated that we +should reach the principal junction in about fifteen days from this place. + +<p>The natives left us to pursue our solitary journey as soon as the boat was +reloaded. Not one of them had the curiosity to follow us, nor did they +appear to think it necessary that we should be attended by envoys. We +stopped for the night upon the left bank; and close to a burial-ground +that differed from any I had ever seen. It must have been used many years, +from the number of bones that were found in the bank, but there were no +other indications of such a place either by mounds or by marks on the +trees. The fact, therefore, is a singular one. I have thought that some +battle might have been fought near the place, but I can hardly think one +of their battles could have been so destructive. + +<p>We had now only to make the best of our journey, rising at dawn, and +pulling to seven and often to nine o'clock. I allowed the men an hour from +half-past eleven to half-past twelve, to take their bread and water. This +was our only fare, if I except an occasional wild duck; but these birds +were extremely difficult to kill, and it cost us so much time, that we +seldom endeavoured to procure any. Our dogs had been of no great use, and +were now too weak to have run after anything if they had seen either +kangaroos or emus; and for the fish, the men loathed them, and were either +too indifferent or too much fatigued to set the <!--page 188 IMPEDED BY SHOALS. /page-->night-lines. Shoals +frequently impeded us as we proceeded up the river, and we passed some +rapids that called for our whole strength to stem. A light wind assisted +us on two or three of these occasions, and I never failed hoisting the +sail at every fitting opportunity. In some parts the river was extremely +shallow, and the sand-banks of amazing size; and the annoyance of dragging +the boat over these occasional bars, was very great. We passed several +tribes of blacks on the 19th and 20th; but did not stop to communicate +with them. + +<p>I believe I have already mentioned that shortly after we first entered the +Murray, flocks of a new paroquet passed over our heads, apparently +emigrating to the N.W. They always kept too high to be fired at, but on +our return, hereabouts, we succeeded in killing one. It made a good +addition to our scanty stock of subjects of natural history. It is +impossible to conceive how few of the feathered tribe frequent these +distant and lonely regions. The common white cockatoo is the most +numerous, and there are also a few pigeons; but other birds descend only +for water, and are soon again upon the wing. Our botanical specimens were +as scanty as our zoological, indeed the expedition may, as regards these +two particulars, almost be said to have been unproductive. + +<p>When we came down the river, I thought it advisable to lay its course down +as precisely as circumstances would permit: for for this purpose I had a +large compass always before me, and a sheet of foolscap paper. As soon <!--page 189 COMPILATION OF THE CHART. /page-->as +we passed an angle of the river, I took the bearings of the reach before +us, and as we proceeded down it, marked off the description of country, +and any remarkable feature. The consequence was, that I laid down every +bend of the Murray River, from the Morumbidgee downwards. Its creeks, its +tributaries, its flats, its valleys, and its cliffs, and, as far as I +possibly could do, the nature of the distant interior. This chart was, +of course, erroneous in many particulars, since I had to judge the length +of the reaches of the river, and the extent of its angles, but I corrected +it on the scale of the miles of latitude we made during the day, which +brought out an approximate truth at all events. The hurried nature of our +journey would not allow me to do more; and it will be remembered that my +observations were all siderial, by reason that the sextant would not +embrace the sun in his almost vertical position at noon. Admitting, +however, the imperfection of this chart, it was of inconceivable value and +comfort to us on our return, for, by a reference to it, we discovered our +place upon the river, and our distance from our several encampments. +And we should often have stopped short of them had not the chart shown us +that a few reaches more would bring us to the desired spots. It cheered +the men to know where they were, and gave them conversation. To myself it +was very satisfactory, as it enabled me to prepare for our meetings with +the larger tribes, and to steer clear of obstacles in the more difficult +navigation of some parts of the stream. + +<p>On the 21st, by dint of great labour we reached our <!--page 190 CURRENT OF THE MURRAY. /page-->camp of the 2nd +February, from which it will be remembered the Murray took up a southerly +course, and from which we likewise obtained a first view of the coast +ranges. The journey to the sea and back again, had consequently occupied +us twenty days. From this point we turned our boat's head homewards; we +made it, therefore, a fixed position among the stages into which we +divided our journey. Our attention was now directed to the junction of the +principal tributary, which we hoped to reach in twelve days, and +anticipated a close to our labours on the Murray in eight days more from +that stage to the Morumbidgee. + +<p>The current in the Murray from the lake, to within a short distance of +this singular turn in it, is weak, since its bed is almost on a level with +the lake. The channel, which, at the termination, is somewhat more than +the third of a mile across, gradually diminishes in breadth, as the +interior is gained, but is nowhere under 300 yards; while its depth +averages from eighteen to thirty feet, within a foot of the very bank. +The river might, therefore, be navigated by boats of considerable burden, +if the lake admitted of the same facility; but I am decidedly of opinion, +that the latter is generally shallow, and that it will, in the course of +years, be filled up by depositions. It is not, however, an estuary in any +sense of the word, since no part of it is exposed at low water, excepting +the flats in the channel, and the flat between the lake and the sea.</p> +<!--face 191 /face--> +<a name=i2.10></a><h5>Illustration 10</h5> +<div class=centre><img alt="" src=images/xpssti10.jpg></div> +<h5>PALAEORNIS MELANURA +<br>BLACK TAILED PAROQUET.</h5> + +<p>On the 23rd, we stove the boat in for the first time. I <!--page 191 ACCIDENT TO THE BOAT. /page-->had all along +anticipated such an accident, from the difficulty of avoiding obstacles, +in consequence of the turbid state of the river. Fortunately the boat +struck a rotten log. The piece remained in her side, and prevented her +filling, which she must, otherwise, inevitably have done, ere we could +have reached the shore. As it was, however, we escaped with a little +damage to the lower bags of flour only. She was hauled up on a sand bank, +and Clayton repaired her in less than two hours, when we reloaded her +and pursued our journey. It was impossible to have been more cautious than +we were, for I was satisfied as to the fate that would have overtaken the +whole of us in the event of our losing the boat, and was proportionably +vigilant. + +<p>At half-past five we came to an island, which looked so inviting, and so +quiet, that I determined to land and sleep upon it. We consequently, ran +the boat into a little recess, or bay, and pitched the tents; and I +anticipated a respite from the presence of any natives, as did the men, +who were rejoiced at my having taken up so snug a berth. It happened, +however, that a little after sunset, a flight of the new paroquets +perched in the lofty trees that grew on the island, to roost; when we +immediately commenced the work of death, and succeeded in killing eight or +ten. The reports of our guns were heard by some natives up the river, and +several came over to us. Although I was annoyed at their having discovered +our retreat, they were too few to be troublesome. During the night, +however, they were joined by fresh numbers, amounting in all to about +eighty, <!--page 192 MOLESTED BY THE NATIVES. /page-->and they were so clamorous, that it was impossible to sleep. + +<p>As the morning broke, Hopkinson came to inform me that it was in vain that +the guard endeavoured to prevent them from handling every thing, and from +closing in round our camp. I went out, and from what I saw I thought it +advisable to double the sentries. M'Leay, who was really tired, being +unable to close his eyes amid such a din, got up in ill-humour, and went +to see into the cause, and to check it if he could. This, however, was +impossible. One man was particularly forward and insolent, at whom M'Leay, +rather imprudently, threw a piece of dirt. The savage returned the +compliment with as much good will as it had been given, and appeared quite +prepared to act on the offensive. At this critical moment my servant came +to the tent in which I was washing myself, and stated his fears that we +should soon come to blows, as the natives showed every disposition to +resist us. On learning what had passed between M'Leay and the savage, +I pretended to be equally angry with both, and with some difficulty forced +the greater part of the blacks away from the tents. I then directed the +men to gather together all the minor articles in the first instance, and +then to strike the tents; and, in order to check the natives, I drew a +line round the camp, over which I intimated to them they should not pass. +Observing, I suppose, that we were on our guard, and that I, whom they +well knew to be the chief, was really angry, they crept away one by one, +until the island was almost <!--page 193 NATIVES BECOME TROUBLESOME. /page-->deserted by them. Why they did not attack us, +I know not, for they had certainly every disposition to do so, and had +their shorter weapons with them, which, in so confined a space as that on +which we were, would have been more fatal than their spears. + +<p>They left us, however; and a flight of red-crested cockatoos happening to +settle on a plain near the river, I crossed in the boat in order to shoot +one. The plain was upon the proper left bank of the Murray. The natives +had passed over to the right. As the one channel was too shallow for the +boat, when we again pursued our journey we were obliged to pull round to +the left side of the island. A little above it the river makes a bend to +the left, and the angle at this bend was occupied by a large shoal, +one point of which rested on the upper part of the island, and the other +touched the proper right bank of the river. Thus a narrow channel, +(not broader indeed than was necessary for the play of our oars,) alone +remained for us to pass up against a strong current. On turning round the +lower part of the island, we observed that the natives occupied the whole +extent of the shoal, and speckled it over like skirmishers. Many of them +had their spears, and their attention was evidently directed to us.—As we +neared the shoal, the most forward of them pressed close to the edge of +the deep water, so much so that our oars struck their legs. Still this did +not induce them to retire. I kept my eye on an elderly man who stood one +of the most forward, <!--page 194 TREACHERY OF THE NATIVES. /page-->and who motioned to us several times to stop, and at +length threw the weapon he carried at the boat. I immediately jumped up +and pointed my gun at him to his great apparent alarm. Whether the natives +hoped to intimidate us by a show of numbers, or what immediate object they +had in view, it is difficult to say; though it was most probably to seize +a fitting opportunity to attack us. Seeing, I suppose, that we were not to +be checked, they crossed from the shoal to the proper right bank of the +river, and disappeared among the reeds that lined it. + +<p>Shortly after this, eight of the women, whom we had not before noticed, +came down to the water side, and gave us the most pressing invitation to +land. Indeed they played their part uncommonly well, and tried for some +time to allure us by the most unequivocal manifestations of love. +Hopkinson however who always had his eyes about him, observed the spears +of the men among the reeds. They kept abreast of us as we pulled up the +stream, and, no doubt, were anticipating our inability to resist the +temptations they had thrown in our way. I was really provoked at their +barefaced treachery, and should most undoubtedly have attacked them, had +they not precipitately retreated on being warned by the women that I was +arming my men, which I had only now done upon seeing such strong +manifestations of danger. M'Leay set the example of coolness on this +occasion; and I had some doubts whether I was justified in allowing the +natives to escape with impunity, con<!--page 195 RE-PASS THE LINDESAY. /page-->sidering that if they had wounded any +one of us the most melancholy and fatal results would have ensued. + +<p>We did not see anything more of the blacks during the rest of the day, +but the repeated indications of hostility we perceived as we approached +the Darling, made me apprehensive as to the reception we should meet from +its numerous population; and I was sorry to observe that the men +anticipated danger in passing that promising junction. + +<p>Having left the sea breezes behind us, the weather had become oppressive; +and as the current was stronger, and rapids more numerous, our labour was +proportionably increased. We perspired to an astonishing degree, and gave +up our oars after our turn at them, with shirts and clothes as wet as if +we had been in the water. Indeed Mulholland and Hopkinson, who worked +hard, poured a considerable quantity of perspiration from their shoes +after their task. The evil of this was that we were always chilled after +rowing, and, of course, suffered more than we should otherwise have done. + +<p>On the 25th we passed the last of the cliffs composing the great fossil +bed through which the Murray flows, and entered that low country already +described as being immediately above it. On a more attentive examination +of the distant interior, my opinion as to its flooded origin was +confirmed, more especially in reference to the country to the S.E. On the +30th we passed the mouth of the Lindesay, and from the summit of the sand +hills to the north of the Murray overlooked the flat country, through +<!--page 196 RE-PASSED THE RUFUS. /page-->which I conclude it must run, from the line of fires we observed amid the +trees, and most probably upon its banks. + +<p>We did not fall in with the natives in such numbers as when we passed down +to the coast: still they were in sufficient bodies to be troublesome. +It would, however, appear that the tribes do not generally frequent the +river. They must have a better country back from it, and most probably +linger amongst the lagoons and creeks where food is more abundant. The +fact is evident from the want of huts upon the banks of the Murray, and +the narrowness of the paths along its margin. + +<p>We experienced the most oppressive heat about this time. Calms generally +prevailed, and about 3 p.m. the sun's rays fell upon us with intense +effect. The waters of the Murray continued extremely muddy, a circumstance +we discovered to be owing to the turbid current of the Rufus, which we +passed on the 1st of March. It is, really, singular whence this little +stream originates. It will be remembered that I concluded it must have +been swollen by rains when we first saw it; yet, after an absence of more +than three weeks we found it discharging its waters as muddy as ever into +the main stream; and that, too, in such quantities as to discolour its +waters to the very lake. The reader will have some idea of the force of +the current in both, when I assure him that for nearly fifty yards below +the mouth of the Rufus, the waters of the Murray preserve their +transparency, and the line between them and the <!--page 197 DIFFICULTIES AT THE RAPIDS. /page-->turbid waters of its +tributary was as distinctly marked as if drawn by a pencil. Indeed, +the higher we advanced, the more did we feel the strength of the current, +against which we had to pull. + +<p>A little below the Lindesay, a rapid occurs. It was with the utmost +difficulty that we stemmed it with the four oars upon the boat, and the +exertion of our whole strength. We remained, at one time, perfectly +stationary, the force we employed and that of the current being equal. +We at length ran up the stream obliquely; but it was evident the men were +not adequate to such exertion for any length of time. We pulled that day +for eleven successive hours, in order to avoid a tribe of natives who +followed us. Hopkinson and Fraser fell asleep at their oars, and even the +heavy Clayton appeared to labour. + +<p>We again occupied our camp under the first remarkable cliffs of the +Murray, a description of which has been given in page 128 of this work. +Their summit, as I have already remarked forms a +table land of some elevation. From it the distant interior to the S.S.E. +appears very depressed; that to the north undulates more. In neither +quarter, however, does any bright foliage meet the eye, to tell that a +better soil is under it; but a dark and gloomy vegetation occupies both +the near and distant ground, in proof that the sandy sterile tracts, +succeeding the river deposits, stretch far away without a change. + +<p>A little above our camp of the 28th of January, we fell in with a large +tribe of natives, whose anxiety to detain us <!--page 198 OBSTACLES TO THE NAVIGATION. /page-->was remarkable. The wind, +however, which, from the time we lost the sea breezes, had hung to the +S.E., had changed to the S.W., and we were eagerly availing ourselves of +it. It will not be supposed we stopped even for a moment. In truth we +pressed on with great success, and did not land to sleep until nine +o'clock. As long as the wind blew from the S.W., the days were cool, and +the sky overcast even so much so as to threaten rain. + +<p>The least circumstance, in our critical situation, naturally raised my +apprehensions, and I feared the river would be swollen in the event of +any heavy rains in the hilly country; I hoped, however, we should gain the +Morumbidgee before such a calamity should happen to us, and it became +my object to press for that river without delay. + +<p>Although we had met with frequent rapids in our progress upwards, they had +not been of a serious kind, nor such as would affect the navigation of the +river. The first direct obstacle of this kind occurs a little above a +small tributary that falls into the Murray from the north, between the +Rufus and the cliffs we have alluded to. At this place a reef of coarse +grit contracts the channel of the river. No force we could have exerted +with the oars would have taken us up this rapid; but we accomplished the +task easily by means of a rope which we hauled upon, on the same principle +that barges are dragged by horses along the canals. + +<p>As we neared the junction of the two main streams, the country, on both +sides of the river, became low, and its general appearance confirmed the +opinion I have already <!--page 199 DANGEROUS RAPIDS. /page-->given as to its flooded origin. The clouds that +obscured the sky, and had threatened to burst for some time, at length +gave way, and we experienced two or three days of heavy rain. In the midst +of it we passed the second stage of our journey, and found the spot lately +so crowded with inhabitants totally deserted. A little above it we +surprised a small tribe in a temporary shelter; but neither our offers nor +presents could prevail on any of them to expose themselves to the torrent +that was falling. They sat shivering in their bark huts in evident +astonishment at our indifference. We threw them some trifling presents and +were glad to proceed unattended by any of them. + +<p>It will be remembered that in passing down the river, the boat was placed +in some danger in descending a rapid before we reached the junction of the +Murray with the stream supposed by me to be the Darling. We were now +gradually approaching the rapid, nor did I well know how we should +surmount such an obstacle. Strength to pull up it we had not, and I feared +our ropes would not be long enough to reach to the shore over some of the +rocks, since it descended in minor declivities to a considerable distance +below the principal rapid, in the centre of which the boat had struck. +We reached the commencement of these rapids on the 6th, and ascended the +first by means of ropes, which were hauled upon by three of the men from +the bank; and, as the day was pretty far advanced, we stopped a little +above it, that we might attempt the principal rapid before we should be +exhausted by previous exertion. It was <!--page 200 PERILOUS ASCENT OF THE RAPIDS. /page-->fortunate that we took such a +precaution. The morning of the 7th proved extremely dark, and much rain +fell. We commenced our journey in the midst of it, and soon gained the +tail of the rapid. Our attempt to pull up it completely failed. The boat, +as soon as she entered the ripple, spun round like a toy, and away we went +with the stream. As I had anticipated, our ropes were too short; and it +only remained for us to get into the water, and haul the boat up by main +force. We managed pretty well at first, and drew her alongside a rock to +rest a little. We then recommenced our efforts, and had got into the +middle of the channel. We were up to our armpits in the water, and only +kept our position by means of rocks beside us. The rain was falling, as if +we were in a tropical shower, and the force of the current was such, that +if we had relaxed for an instant, we should have lost all the ground we +had gained. Just at this moment, however, without our being aware of their +approach, a large tribe of natives, with their spears, lined the bank, +and took us most completely by surprise. At no time during this anxious +journey were we ever so completely in their power, or in so defenceless a +situation. It rained so hard, that our firelocks would have been of no +use, and had they attacked us, we must necessarily have been slaughtered +without committing the least execution upon them. Nothing, therefore, +remained for us but to continue our exertions. It required only one +strong effort to get the boat into still water for a time, but that effort +was beyond our strength, and we stood in the stream, powerless and +exhausted. +<!--page 201 ASSISTED BY THE NATIVES. /page--> +<p>The natives, in the meanwhile, resting on their spears, watched us with +earnest attention. One of them, who was sitting close to the water, at +length called to us, and we immediately recognised the deep voice of him +to whose singular interference we were indebted for our escape on the +23rd of January. I desired Hopkinson to swim over to him, and to explain +that we wanted assistance. This was given without hesitation; and we at +length got under the lea of the rock, which I have already described as +being in the centre of the river. The natives launched their bark canoes, +the only frail means they possess of crossing the rivers with their +children. These canoes are of the simplest construction and rudest +materials, being formed of an oblong piece of bark, the ends of which are +stuffed with clay, so as to render them impervious to the water. With +several of these they now paddled round us with the greatest care, making +their spears, about ten feet in length,(which they use at once as poles +and paddles,) bend nearly double in the water. We had still the most +difficult part of the rapid to ascend, where the rush of water was the +strongest, and where the decline of the bed almost amounted to a fall. +Here the blacks could be of no use to us. No man could stem the current, +supposing it to have been shallow at the place, but it was on the contrary +extremely deep. Remaining myself in the boat, I directed all the men to +land, after we had crossed the stream, upon a large rock that formed the +left buttress as it were to this sluice, and, fastening the rope to the +mast instead of her head, they pulled upon it. The <!--page 202 GOOD CONDUCT OF THE MEN. /page-->unexpected rapidity +with which the boat shot up the passage astonished me, and filled the +natives with wonder, who testified their admiration of so dextrous a +manoeuvre, by a loud shout. + +<p>It will, no doubt, have struck the reader as something very remarkable, +that the same influential savage to whom we had already been indebted, +should have been present on this occasion, and at a moment when we so much +needed his assistance. Having surmounted our difficulties, we took leave +of this remarkable man, and pursued our journey up the river. + +<p>It may be imagined we did not proceed very far; the fact was, we only +pushed forward to get rid of the natives, for, however pacific, they were +always troublesome, and we were seldom fitted for a trial of temper after +the labours of the day were concluded. The men had various occupations +in which, when the natives were present, they were constantly interrupted, +and whenever the larger tribes slept near us, the utmost vigilance was +necessary on the part of the night-guard, which was regularly mounted as +soon as the tents were pitched. We had had little else than our flour to +subsist on. Hopkinson and Harris endeavoured to supply M'Leay and myself +with a wild fowl occasionally, but for themselves, and the other men, +nothing could be procured to render their meal more palatable. + +<p>I have omitted to mention one remarkable trait of the good disposition of +all the men while on the coast. Our sugar had held out to that point; but +it appeared, when we <!--page 203 MOLESTED BY NATIVES. /page-->examined the stores, that six pounds alone remained +in the cask. This the men positively refused to touch. They said that, +divided, it would benefit nobody; that they hoped M'Leay and I would use +it, that it would last us for some time, and that they were better able to +submit to privations than we were. The feeling did them infinite credit, +and the circumstance is not forgotten by me. The little supply the +kindness of our men left to us was, however, soon exhausted, and poor +M'Leay preferred pure water to the bitter draught that remained. I have +been some times unable to refrain from smiling, as I watched the distorted +countenances of my humble companions while drinking their tea and eating +their damper. + +<p>The ducks and swans, seen in such myriads on the lake, seldom appeared on +the river, in the first stages of our journey homewards. About the time of +which I am writing, however, a few swans occasionally flew over our heads +at night, and their silvery note was musically sweet. + +<p>From the 10th to the 15th, nothing of moment occurred: we pulled regularly +from day-light to dark, not less to avoid the natives than to shorten our +journey. Yet, notwithstanding that we moved at an hour when the natives +seldom stir, we were rarely without a party of them, who followed us in +spite of our efforts to tire them out. + +<p>On the 15th, we had about 150 at our camp. Many of them were extremely +noisy, and the whole of them very restless. They lay down close to the +tents, or around our fire. I entertained some suspicion of them, and when +<!--page 204 FRASER IN DANGER. /page-->they were apparently asleep, I watched them narrowly. Macnamee was walking +up and down with his firelock, and every time he turned his back, one of +the natives rose gently up and poised his spear at him, and as soon as +he thought Macnamee was about to turn, he dropped as quietly into his +place. When I say the native got up, I do not mean that he stood up, but +that he raised himself sufficiently for the purpose he had in view. His +spear would not, therefore, have gone with much force, but I determined +it should not quit his hand, for had I observed any actual attempt to +throw it, I should unquestionably have shot him dead upon the spot. +The whole of the natives were awake, and it surprised me they did not +attempt to plunder us. They rose with the earliest dawn, and crowded round +the tents without any hesitation. We, consequently, thought it prudent to +start as soon as we had breakfasted. + +<p>We had all of us got into the boat, when Fraser remembered he had left his +powder-horn on shore. In getting out to fetch it, he had to push through +the natives. On his return, when his back was towards them, several +natives lifted their spears together, and I was so apprehensive they +would have transfixed him, that I called out before I seized my gun; on +which they lowered their weapons and ran away. The disposition to commit +personal violence was evident from these repeated acts of treachery; and +we should doubtless have suffered from it on some occasion or other, had +we not been constantly on the alert. + +<p>We had been drawing nearer the Morumbidgee every <!--page 205 RE-ENTER THE MORUMBIDGEE. /page-->day. This was the last +tribe we saw on the Murray; and the following afternoon, to our great joy, +we quitted it and turned our boat into the gloomy and narrow channel of +its tributary. Our feelings were almost as strong when we re-entered it, +as they had been when we were launched from it into that river, on whose +waters we had continued for upwards of fifty-five days; during which +period, including the sweeps and bends it made, we could not have +travelled less than 1500 miles. + +<p>Our provisions were now running very short; we had, however, “broken the +neck of our journey,” as the men said, and we looked anxiously to gaining +the depot; for we were not without hopes that Robert Harris would have +pushed forward to it with his supplies. We were quite puzzled on entering +the Morumbidgee, how to navigate its diminutive bends and its encumbered +channel. I thought poles would have been more convenient than oars; we +therefore stopped at an earlier hour than usual to cut some. Calling to +mind the robbery practised on us shortly after we left the depot, my mind +became uneasy as to Robert Harris's safety, since I thought it probable, +from the sulky disposition of the natives who had visited us there, that +he might have been attacked. Thus, when my apprehensions on our own +account had partly ceased, my fears became excited with regard to him and +his party. + +<p>The country, to a considerable distance from the junction on either side +the Morumbidgee, is not subject to inunda<!--page 206 FEAST ON A SWAN. /page-->tion. Wherever we landed upon its +banks, we found the calistemma in full flower, and in the richest +profusion. There was, also, an abundance of grass, where before there had +been no signs of vegetation, and those spots which we had condemned as +barren were now clothed with a green and luxuriant carpet. So difficult is +it to judge of a country on a partial and hurried survey, and so +differently does it appear at different periods. I was rejoiced to find +that the rains had not swollen the river, for I was apprehensive that +heavy falls had taken place in the mountains, and was unprepared for so +much good fortune. + +<p>The poles we cut were of no great use to us, and we soon laid them aside, +and took to our oars. Fortune seemed to favour us exceedingly. The men +rallied, and we succeeded in killing a good fat swan, that served as a +feast for all. I imagine the absence of mud and weeds of every kind in +the Murray, prevents this bird from frequenting its waters. + +<p>On the 18th, we found ourselves entering the reedy country, through which +we had passed with such doubt and anxiety. Every object elicited some +remark from the men, and I was sorry to find they reckoned with certainty +on seeing Harris at the depot, as I knew they would be proportionally +depressed in spirits if disappointed. However, I promised Clayton a good +repast as soon as we should see him. + +<p>I had walked out with M'Leay a short distance from the river, and had +taken the dogs. They followed us to the camp on our return to it, but the +moment they saw us <!--page 207 LOSE ONE OF OUR DOGS. /page-->enter the tent, they went off to hunt by themselves. +About 10 p.m., one of them, Bob, came to the fire, and appeared very +uneasy; he remained, for a short time, and then went away. In about an +hour, he returned, and after exhibiting the same restlessness, again +withdrew. He returned the third time before morning dawned, but returned +alone. The men on the watch were very stupid not to have followed him, +for, no doubt, he went to his companion, to whom, most likely, some +accident had happened. I tried to make him show, but could not succeed, +and, after a long search, reluctantly pursued our journey, leaving poor +Sailor to his fate. This was the only misfortune that befell us, and we +each of us felt the loss of an animal which had participated in all our +dangers and privations. I more especially regretted the circumstance for +the sake of the gentleman who gave him to me, and, on account of his +superior size and activity. + +<p>With the loss of poor Sailor, our misfortunes re-commmenced. I anticipated +some trouble hereabouts, for, having succeeded in their hardihood once, +I knew the natives would again attempt to rob us, and that we should have +some difficulty in keeping them off. As soon as they found out that we +were in the river, they came to us, but left us at sunset. This was on the +21st. At nightfall, I desired the watch to keep a good look out, and +M'Leay and I went to lie down. We had chosen an elevated bank for our +position, and immediately opposite to us there was a small space covered +with reeds, under blue-gum trees. About <!--page 208 RE-ENCOUNTER WITH NATIVES. /page-->11, Hopkinson came to the tent to +say, that he was sure the blacks were approaching through the reeds. +M'Leay and I got up, and, standing on the bank, listened attentively. +All we heard was the bark of a native dog apparently, but this was, in +fact, a deception on the part of the blacks. We made no noise, in +consequence of which they gradually approached, and two or three crept +behind the trunk of a tree that had fallen. As I thought they were near +enough, George M'Leay, by my desire, fired a charge of small shot at them. +They instantly made a precipitate retreat; but, in order the more +effectually to alarm them, Hopkinson fired a ball into the reeds, which we +distinctly heard cutting its way through them. All was quiet until about +three o'clock, when a poor wretch who, most probably, had thrown himself +on the ground when the shots were fired, at length mustered courage to get +up and effect his escape. + +<p>In the morning, the tribe kept aloof, but endeavoured, by the most earnest +entreaties, and most pitiable howling, to gain our favour; but I +threatened to shoot any that approached, and they consequently kept at a +respectful distance, dogging us from tree to tree. It appeared, therefore, +that they were determined to keep us in view, no doubt, with the intention +of trying what they could do by a second attempt. As they went along, +their numbers increased, and towards evening, they amounted to a strong +tribe. Still they did not venture near us, and only now and then showed +themselves. Our situation at this <!--page 209 APPARENT OBSTRUCTION OF THE CHANNEL. /page-->moment would have been much more awkward +in the event of attack, than when we were in the open channel of the +Murray; because we were quite at the mercy of the natives if they had +closed upon us, and, being directly under the banks, should have received +every spear, while it would have been easy for them to have kept out of +sight in assailing us. + +<p>It was near sunset, the men were tired, and I was looking out for a +convenient place at which to rest, intending to punish these natives if +they provoked me, or annoyed the men. We had not seen any of them for some +time, when Hopkinson, who was standing in the bow of the boat, informed me +that they had thrown boughs across the river to prevent our passage. +I was exceedingly indignant at this, and pushed on, intending to force the +barrier. On our nearer approach, a solitary black was observed standing +close to the river, and abreast of the impediment which I imagined they +had raised to our further progress. I threatened to shoot this man, and +pointed to the branches that stretched right across the stream. The poor +fellow uttered not a word, but, putting his hand behind him, pulled out a +tomahawk from his belt, and held it towards me, by way of claiming our +acquaintance; and any anger was soon entirely appeased by discovering that +the natives had been merely setting a net across the river which these +branches supported. We, consequently, hung back, until they had drawn it, +and then passed on. + +<p>The black to whom I had spoken so roughly, cut across <!--page 210 MANOEUVRES OF THE NATIVES /page-->a bight of the +river, and walking down to the side of the water with a branch in his +hand, in mark of confidence, presented me with a fishing net. We were +highly pleased at the frank conduct of this black, and a convenient place +offering itself, we landed and pitched our tents. Our friend, who was +about forty, brought his two wives, and a young man, to us: and at length +the other blacks mustered courage to approach; but those who had followed +us from the last camp, kept on the other side of the river. On pretence of +being different families, they separated into small bodies, and formed a +regular cordon round our camp. We foresaw that this was a manoeuvre, but, +in hopes that if I forgave the past they would desist from further +attempts, M'Leay took great pains in conciliating them, and treated them +with great kindness. We gave each family some fire and same presents, and +walked together to them by turns, to show that we had equal confidence in +all. Our friend had posted himself immediately behind our tents, at twenty +yards distance, with his little family, and kept altogether aloof from the +other natives. Having made our round of visits, and examined the various +modes the women had of netting, M'Leay and I went into our tent. + +<p>It happened, fortunately, that my servant, Harris, was the first for +sentry. I told him to keep a watchful eye on the natives, and to call me +if any thing unusual occurred. We had again chosen a lofty bank for our +position; behind us there was a small plain, of about a quarter of a mile +in breadth, backed by a wood. I was almost asleep, when my <!--page 211 TO ROB THE BOAT AT NIGHT. /page-->servant came to +inform me, that the blacks had, with one accord, made a precipitate +retreat, and that not one of them was to be seen at the fires. I impressed +the necessity of attention upon him, and he again went to his post. +shortly after this, he returned: “Master,” said he, “the natives are +coming.” I jumped up, and, taking my gun, followed him, leaving my friend +George fast asleep. I would not disturb him, until necessity required, for +he had ever shown himself so devoted to duty as to deserve every +consideration. Harris led me a little way from the tents, and then +stopping, and pointing down the river, said, “There, sir, don't you see +them?” “Not I, indeed, Harris,” I replied, “where do you mean? are you +sure you see them?” “Positive, sir,” said he; “stoop and you will see +them.” I did so, and saw a black mass in an opening. Convinced that I saw +them, I desired Harris to follow me, but not to fire unless I should give +the word. The rascals would not stand our charge, however, but retreated +as we advanced towards them. We then returned to the tents, and, +commending my servant for his vigilance, I once more threw myself on my +bed. I had scarcely lain down five minutes, when Harris called out, +“The blacks are close to me, sir; shall I fire at them?” “How far are +they?” I asked. “Within ten yards, sir.” “Then fire,” said I; and +immediately he did so. M'Leay and I jumped up to his assistance. “Well, +Harris,” said I, “did you kill your man?” (he is a remarkably good shot.) +“No, sir,” said he, “I thought you <!--page 212 NATIVES DESERT THEIR WEAPONS. /page-->would repent it, so I fired between the +two.” “Where were they, man?” said I. “Close to the boat, sir; and when +they heard me, they swam into the river, and dived as soon as I fired +between them.” This account was verified by one of them puffing as he rose +below us, over whose head I fired a shot. Where the other got to I could +not tell. This watchfulness, on our part, however, prevented any further +attempts during the night. + +<p>I was much pleased at the coolness of my servant, as well as his +consideration; and relieving him from his post, desired Hopkinson to take +it. I have no doubt that the approach of the natives, in the first +instance, was made with a view to draw us off from the camp, while some +others might rob the boat. If so, it was a good manoeuvre, and might have +succeeded. + +<p>In the morning, we found the natives had left all their ponderous spears +at their fires, which were broken up and burnt. We were surprised to find +that our friend had left every thing in like manner behind him—his +spears, his nets, and his tomahawk; but as he had kept so wholly aloof +from the other blacks, I thought it highly improbable that he had joined +them, and the men were of opinion that he had retreated across the plain +into the wood. On looking in that direction we observed some smoke rising +among the trees at a little distance from the outskirts of the plain, and +under an impression that I should find the native at the fire with his +family, I took his spears and tomahawk, and walked across the plain, +unattended into <!--page 213 INGENUOUS CONDUCT OF A NATIVE. /page-->the wood. I had not entered it more than fifty yards when +I saw a group of four natives, sitting round a small fire. One of them, +as I approached, rose up and met me, and in him I recognised the man for +whom I was seeking. When near enough, I stuck the spears upright into the +ground. The poor man stood thunderstruck; he spoke not, he moved not, +neither did he raise his eyes from the ground. I had kept the tomahawk out +of his sight, but I now produced and offered it to him. He gave a short +exclamation as his eyes caught sight of it, but he remained otherwise +silent before me, and refused to grasp the tomahawk, which accordingly +fell to the ground. I had evidently excited the man's feelings, but it is +difficult to say how he was affected. His manner indicated shame and +surprise, and the sequel will prove that both these feelings must have +possessed him. While we were thus standing together, his two wives came +up, to whom, after pointing to the spears and tomahawk, he said something, +without, however, looking at me; and they both instantly burst into tears +and wept aloud. I was really embarrassed during so unexpected a scene, +and to break it, invited the native to the camp, but I motioned with my +hand, as I had not my gun with me, that I would shoot any other of the +blacks who followed me. He distinctly understood my meaning, and intimated +as distinctly to me that they should not follow us; nor did they. We were +never again molested by them. + +<p>I left him then, and, returning to the camp, told M'Leay <!--page 214 BREACH THE DEPOT. /page-->my adventure, +with which he was highly delighted. My object is this procedure was to +convince the natives, generally, that we came not among them to injure or +to molest them, as well as to impress them with an idea of our superior +intelligence; and I am led to indulge the hope that I succeeded. Certain +it is, that an act of justice or of lenity has frequently, if well timed, +more weight than the utmost stretch of severity. With savages, more +particularly, to exhibit any fear, distrust, or irresolution, will +inevitably prove injurious. + +<p>But although these adventures were happily not attended with bloodshed, +they harassed the men much; and our camp for near a week was more like an +outpost picquet than any thing else. This, however, terminated all +attempts on the part of the natives. From henceforth none of them followed +us on our route. + +<p>At noon, I stopped about a mile short of the depot to take sights. After +dinner we pulled on, the men looking earnestly out for their comrades whom +they had left there, but none appeared. My little arbour, in which I had +written my letters, was destroyed, and the bank on which out tents had +stood was wholly deserted. We landed, however, and it was a satisfaction +to me to see the homeward track of the drays. The men were sadly +disappointed, and poor Clayton, who had anticipated a plentiful meal, was +completely chop fallen. M'Leay and I comforted them daily with the hopes +of meeting the drays, which I did not think improbable. +<!--page 215 DISAPPOINTED OF SUPPLIES. /page--> +<p>Thus, it will appear, that we regained the place from which we started in +seventy-seven days, during which, we could not have pulled less than 2000 +miles. It is not for me, however, to make any comment, either on the +dangers to which we were occasionally exposed, or the toil and privations +we continually experienced in the course of this expedition. My duty is, +simply to give a plain narrative of facts, which I have done with +fidelity, and with as much accuracy as circumstances would permit. Had we +found Robert Harris at the depot, I should have considered it unnecessary +to trespass longer on the patient reader, but as our return to that post +did not relieve us from our difficulties, it remains for me to carry on +the narrative of our proceedings to the time when we reached the upper +branches of the Morumbidgee. + +<p>The hopes that had buoyed up the spirits of the men, ceased to operate as +soon as they were discovered to have been ill founded. The most gloomy +ideas took possession of their minds, and they fancied that we had been +neglected, and that Harris had remained in Sydney. It was to no purpose +that I explained to them that my instructions did not bind Harris to come +beyond Pondebadgery, and that I was confident he was then encamped upon +that plain. + +<p>We had found the intricate navigation of the Morumbidgee infinitely more +distressing than the hard pulling up the open reaches of the Murray, for +we were obliged to haul the boat up between numberless trunks of trees, +an operation that exhausted the men much more than rowing. <!--page 216 COMPLETE EXHAUSTION OF THE MEN. /page-->The river had +fallen below its former level, and rocks and logs were now exposed above +the water, over many of which the boat's keel must have grazed, as we +passed down with the current. I really shuddered frequently, at seeing +these complicated dangers, and I was at a loss to conceive how we could +have escaped them. The planks of our boat were so thin that if she had +struck forcibly against any one branch of the hundreds she must have +grazed, she would inevitably have been rent asunder from stem to stern. + +<p>The day after we passed the depot, on our return, we began to experience +the effects of the rains that had fallen in the mountains. The Morumbidgee +rose upon us six feet in one night, and poured along its turbid waters +with proportionate violence. For seventeen days we pulled against them +with determined perseverance, but human efforts, under privations such as +ours, tend to weaken themselves, and thus it was that the men began to +exhibit the effects of severe and unremitting toil. Our daily journeys +were short, and the head we made against the stream but trifling. The men +lost the proper and muscular jerk with which they once made the waters +foam and the oars bend. Their whole bodies swung with an awkward and +laboured motion. Their arms appeared to be nerveless; their faces became +haggard, their persons emaciated, their spirits wholly sunk; nature was so +completely overcome, that from mere exhaustion they frequently fell asleep +during their painful and almost ceaseless exertions. It grieved me to the +heart to see them in such a state at the close of so perilous a service, +<!--page 217 ONE LOSES HIS SENSES. /page-->and I began to reproach Robert Harris that he did not move down the river +to meet us; but, in fact, he was not to blame. I became captious, and +found fault where there was no occasion, and lost the equilibrium of my +temper in contemplating the condition of my companions. No murmur, +however, escaped them, nor did a complaint reach me, that was intended to +indicate that they had done all they could do. I frequently heard them in +their tent, when they thought I had dropped asleep, complaining of severe +pains and of great exhaustion. “I must tell the captain, to-morrow,” some +of them would say, “that I can pull no more.” To-morrow came, and they +pulled on, as if reluctant to yield to circumstances. Macnamee at length +lost his senses. We first observed this from his incoherent conversation, +but eventually from manner. He related the most extraordinary tales, and +fidgeted about eternally while in the boat. I felt it necessary, +therefore, to relieve him from the oars. + +<p>Amidst these distresses, M'Leay preserved his good humour, and endeavoured +to lighten the task, and to cheer the men as much as possible. His +presence at this time was a source of great comfort to me. The uniform +kindness with which he had treated his companions, gave him an influence +over them now, and it was exerted with the happiest effect. + +<p>On the 8th and 9th of April we had heavy rain, but there was no respite +for us. Our provisions were nearly consumed, and would have been wholly +exhausted, if we <!--page 218 DESPATCH TWO MEN TO PONDEBADGERY. /page-->had not been so fortunate as to kill several swans. On +the 11th, we gained our camp opposite to Hamilton's Plains, after a day of +severe exertion. Our tents were pitched upon the old ground, and the marks +of our cattle were around us. In the evening, the men went out with their +guns, and M'Leay and I walked to the rear of the camp, to consult +undisturbed as to the moat prudent measures to be adopted, under our +embarrassing circumstances. The men were completely sunk. We were still +between eighty and ninety miles from Pondebadgery, in a direct line, and +nearly treble that distance by water. The task was greater than we could +perform, and our provisions were insufficient. In this extremity I thought +it best to save the men the mortification of yielding, by abandoning the +boat; and on further consideration, I determined on sending Hopkinson and +Mulholland, whose devotion, intelligence, and indefatigable spirits, +I well knew, forward to the plain.</p> +<!--face 219 /face--> +<a name=i2.11></a><h5>Illustration 11</h5> +<div class=centre><img alt="" src=images/xpssti11.jpg></div> +<h5>1. POMATORHINUS TEMPORALIS +<br>2. POMATORHINUS SUPERCILIOSUS.</h5> + +<p>The joy this intimation spread was universal, Both Hopkinson and +Mulholland readily undertook the journey, and I, accordingly, prepared +orders for them to start by the earliest dawn. It was not without a +feeling of sorrow that I witnessed the departure of these two men, to +encounter a fatiguing march. I had no fears as to their gaining the plain, +if their reduced state would permit them. On the other hand, I hoped they +would fall in with our old friend the black, or that they would meet the +drays; and I could not but admire the spirit and energy they both +displayed upon the occasion. Their behaviour throughout had been <!--page 219 ABANDON AND BURN THE BOAT. /page-->such as +to awaken in my breast a feeling of the highest approbation. Their +conduct, indeed, exceeded all praise, nor did they hesitate one moment +when I called upon them to undertake this last trying duty, after such +continued exertion. I am sure the reader will forgive me for bringing +under his notice the generous efforts of these two men; by me it can never +be forgotten. + +<p>Six days had passed since their departure; we remaining encamped. M'Leay +and myself had made some short excursions, but without any result worthy +of notice. A group of sand-hills rose in the midst of the alluvial +deposits, about a quarter of a mile from the tents, that were covered with +coarse grasses and banksias. We shot several intertropical birds feeding +in the latter, and sucking the honey from their flowers. I had, in the +mean time, directed Clayton to make some plant cases of the upper planks +of the boat, and then to set fire to her, for she was wholly +unserviceable, and I felt a reluctance to leave her like a neglected log +on the water. The last ounce of flour had been served out to the men, and +the whole of it was consumed on the sixth day from that on which we had +abandoned the boat. I had calculated on seeing Hopkinson again in eight +days, but as the morrow would see us without food, I thought, as the men +had had a little rest it would be better to advance towards relief than to +await its arrival. + +<p>On the evening of the 18th, therefore, we buried our specimens and other +stores, intending to break up the camp in the morning. A singular bird, +which invariably passed it <!--page 220 MEN RETURN WITH SUPPLIES. /page-->at an hour after sunset, and which, from its +heavy flight, appeared to be of unusual size so attracted my notice, that +in the evening M'Leay and I crossed the river, in hope to get a shot at +it. We had, however, hardly landed on the other side, when a loud shout +called us back to witness the return of our comrades. + +<p>They were both of them in a state that beggars description. Their knees +and ankles were dreadfully swollen, and their limbs so painful, that as +soon as they arrived in the camp they sunk under their efforts, but they +met us with smiling countenances, and expressed their satisfaction at +having arrived so seasonably to our relief. They had, as I had foreseen, +found Robert Harris on the plain, which they reached on the evening of the +third day. They had started early the next morning on their return with +such supplies as they thought we might immediately want. Poor Macnamee +had in a great measure recovered, but for some days he was sullen and +silent: sight of the drays gave him uncommon satisfaction. Clayton gorged +himself; but M'Leay, myself and Fraser could not at first relish the meat +that was placed before us. + +<p>It was determined to give the bullocks a day of rest, and I availed myself +of the serviceable state of the horses to visit some hills about eighteen +miles to the northward. I was anxious to gain a view of the distant +country to the N.W., and to ascertain the geological character of the +hills themselves. M'Leay, Fraser, and myself left the camp early in the +morning of the 19th, on our way to them. Crossing <!--page 221 MEET WITH THE DRAYS. /page-->the sand-hills, we +likewise passed a creek, and, from the flooded or alluvial tracks, got on +an elevated sandy country, in which we found a beautiful grevillia. From +this we passed a barren ridge of quartz-formation, terminating in open box +forest. From it we descended and traversed a plain that must, at some +periods, be almost impassable. It was covered with acacia pendula, and the +soil was a red earth, bare of vegetation in many places. At its extremity +we came to some stony ridges, and, descending their northern side, gained +the base of the hills. They were more extensive than they appeared to be +from our camp; and were about six hundred feet in height, and composed of +a conglomerate rock. They were extremely barren, nor did the aspect of the +country seem to indicate a favourable change. I was enabled, however, to +connect my line of route with the more distant hills between the +Morumbidgee and the Lachlan. We returned to the camp at midnight. + +<p>On the following morning we left our station before Hamilton's Plains. +We reached Pondebadgery on the 28th, and found Robert Harris, with a +plentiful supply of provisions. He had everything extremely regular, and +had been anxiously expecting our return, of which he at length wholly +despaired. He had been at the plain two months, and intended to have moved +down the river immediately, had we not made our appearance when we did. + +<p>I had sent M'Leay forward on the 20th with letters to the Governor, whose +anxiety was great on our account. I remained for a fortnight on the plain +to restore the men, but <!--page 222 INSTANCE OF CANNIBALISM. /page-->Hopkinson had so much over-exerted himself that it +was with difficulty he crawled along. + +<p>In my despatches to the Governor, from the depot, I had suggested the +policy of distributing some blankets and other presents to the natives on +the Morumbidgee, in order to reward those who had been useful to our +party, and in the hope of proving beneficial to settlers in that distant +part of the colony. His Excellency was kind enough to accede to my +request, and I found ample means for these purposes among the stores that +Harris brought from Sydney. + +<p>We left Pondebadgery Plain early on the 5th of May, and reached Guise's +Station late in the afternoon. We gained Yass Plains on the 12th, having +struck through the mountain passes by a direct line, instead of returning +by our old route near Underaliga. As the party was crossing the plains I +rode to see Mr. O'Brien, but did not find him at home. + +<p>While waiting at his hut, one of the stockmen pointed out two blacks to me +at a little distance from us. The one was standing, the other sitting. +“That fellow, sir,” said he, “who is sitting down, killed his infant child +last night by knocking its head against a stone, after which he threw it +on the fire and then devoured it.” I was quite horror struck, and could +scarcely believe such a story. I therefore went up to the man and +questioned him as to the fact, as well as I could. He did not attempt to +deny it, but slunk away in evident consciousness. I then questioned the +other that remained, whose excuse for his friend was <!--page 223 CONCLUDING REMARKS. /page-->that the child was +sick and would never have grown up, adding he himself did not <i>patter</i> (eat) +any of it. + +<p>Many of my readers may probably doubt this horrid occurrence having taken +place, as I have not mentioned any corroborating circumstances. I am +myself, however, as firmly persuaded of the truth of what I have stated as +if I had seen the savage commit the act; for I talked to his companion who +did see him, and who described to me the manner in which he killed the +child. Be it as it may, the very mention of such a thing among these +people goes to prove that they are capable of such an enormity. + +<p>We left Yass Plains on the 14th of May, and reached Sydney by easy stages +on the 25th, after an absence of nearly six months.</p> + +<hr width="15%"> + +<H5>CONCLUDING REMARKS</H5> + +<p>To most of my readers, the foregoing narrative will appear little else +than a succession of adventures. Whilst the expedition was toiling down +the rivers, no rich country opened upon the view to reward or to cheer the +perseverance of those who composed it, and when, at length, the land of +promise lay smiling before them, their strength and their means were too +much exhausted to allow of their commencing an examination, of the result +of which there could be but little doubt. The expedition returned to +<!--page 224 CONCLUDING REMARKS. /page-->Sydney, without any splendid discovery to gild its proceedings; and the +labours and dangers it had encountered were considered as nothing more +than ordinary occurrences. If I myself had entertained hopes that my +researches would have benefited the colony, I was wholly disappointed. +There is a barren tract of country lying to the westward of the Blue +Mountains that will ever divide the eastern coast from the more central +parts of Australia, as completely as if seas actually rolled between them. + +<p>In a geographical point of view, however, nothing could have been more +satisfactory, excepting an absolute knowledge of the country to the +northward between the Murray and the Darling, than the results of the +expedition. I have in its proper place stated, as fairly as I could, my +reasons for supposing the principal junction (which I consequently left +without a name) to be the Darling of my former journey, as well as the +various arguments that bore against such a conclusion. + +<p>Of course, where there is so much room for doubt, opinions will be +various. I shall merely review the subject, in order to connect subsequent +events with my previous observations, and to give the reader a full idea +of that which struck me to be the case on a close and anxious +investigation of the country from mountain to lowland. I returned from the +Macquarie with doubts on my mind as to the ultimate direction to which the +waters of the Darling river might ultimately flow; for, with regard to +every other point, the question was, I considered, wholly decided. But, +<!--page 225 GEOGRAPHICAL REMARKS. /page-->with regard to that singular stream, I was, from the little knowledge I +had obtained, puzzled as to its actual course; and I thought it as likely +that it might turn into the heart of the interior, as that it would make +to the south. It had not, however, escaped my notice, that the northern +rivers turned more abruptly southward (after gaining a certain distance +from the base of the ranges) than the more southern streams: near the +junction of the Castlereagh with the Darling especially, the number of +large creeks joining the first river from the north, led me to conclude +that there was at that particular spot a rapid fall of country to the +south. + +<p>The first thing that strengthened in my mind this half-formed opinion, was +the fall of the Lachlan into the Morumbidgee. I had been told that +Australia was a basin; that an unbroken range of hills lined its coasts, +the internal rivers of which fell into its centre, and contributed to the +formation of an inland sea; I was not therefore prepared to find a break +in the chain—a gap as it were for the escape of these waters to the +coast. + +<p>Subsequently to our entrance into the Murray, the remarkable efforts of +that river to maintain a southerly course were observed even by the men, +and the singular runs it made to the south, when unchecked by high lands, +clearly evinced its natural tendency to flow in that direction. + +<p>Had we found ourselves at an elevation above the bed of the Darling when +we reached the junction of the principal tributary with the Murray, I +should still have had doubts on my mind as to the identity of that +tributary with the <!--page 226 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. /page-->first-mentioned river; but considering the trifling +elevation of the Darling above the sea, and that the junction was still +less elevated above it, I cannot bring myself to believe that the former +alters its course. It is not, however, on this simple geographical +principle that I have built my conclusions; other corroborative +circumstances have tended also to confirm in my mind the opinion I have +already given, not only of the comparatively recent appearance above +the ocean of the level country over which I had passed, but that the true +dip of the interior is from north to south. + +<p>In support of the first of these conclusions, it would appear that a +current of water must have swept the vast accumulation of shells, forming +the great fossil bank through which the Murray passes from the northern +extremity of the continent, to deposit them where they are; and it would +further appear from the gradual rise of this bed, on an inclined plain +from N.N.E. to S.S.W., that it must in the first instance, have swept +along the base of the ranges, but ultimately turned into the above +direction by the convexity of the mountains at the S.E. angle of the +coast. From the circumstance, moreover, of the summit of the fossil +formation being in places covered with oyster shells, the fact of the +whole mass having been under water is indisputable, and leads us naturally +to the conclusion that the depressed interior beyond it must have been +under water at the same time. + +<p>It was proved by barometrical admeasurement, that the cataract of the +Macquarie was 680 feet above the level of the sea, and, in like manner, +it was found that the depot of <!--page 227 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. /page-->Mr. Oxley, on the Lachlan, was only 500, +there being a still greater fall of country beyond these two points. +The maximum height of the fossil bank was 300 feet; and if we suppose a +line to be drawn from its top to the eastward, that line would pass over +the marshes of the two rivers, and would cut them at a point below which +they both gradually diminish. Hence I am brought to conclude that in +former times the sea washed the western base of the dividing ranges, at or +near the two points whose respective elevations I have given; and that +when the mass of land now lying waste and unproductive, became exposed, +the rivers, which until then had pursued a regular course to the ocean, +having no channel beyond their original termination, overflowed the almost +level country into which they now fall; or, filling some extensive +concavity, have contributed, by successive depositions, to the formation +of those marshes of which so much has been said. I regret extremely, that +my defective vision prevents me giving a slight sketch to elucidate +whet I fear I have, in words, perhaps, failed in making sufficiently +intelligible. + +<p>Now, as we know not by what means the changes that have taken place on the +earth's surface have been effected, and can only reason on them from +analogy, it is to be feared we shall never arrive at any clear +demonstration of the truth of our surmises with regard to geographical +changes, whether extensive or local, since the causes which produced them +will necessarily have ceased to operate. We cannot refer to the dates when +they took place, as we may do <!--page 228 GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. /page-->in regard to the eruptions of a volcano, +or the appearance or disappearance of an island. Such events are of minor +importance. Those mighty changes to which I would be understood to allude, +can hardly be laid to the account of chemical agency. We can easily +comprehend how subterranean fires will occasionally burst forth, and can +thus satisfactorily account for earthquake or volcano; but it is not to +any clashing of properties, or to any visible causes, that the changes of +which I speak can be attributed. They appear rather as the consequences of +direct agency, of an invisible power, not as the occasional and fretful +workings of nature herself. The marks of that awful catastrophe which so +nearly extinguished the human race, are every day becoming more and more +visible as geological research proceeds. Thus, in the limestone caves at +Wellington Valley, the remains of fossils and exuviae, show that their +depths were penetrated by the same searching element that poured into the +caverns of Kirkdale and other places. They are as gleams of sunshine +falling upon the pages of that sublime and splendid volume, in which the +history of the deluge is alone to be found; as if the Almighty intended +that His word should stand single and unsupported before mankind: and when +we consider that such corroborative testimonies of his wrath, as those I +have noticed, were in all probability wholly unknown to those who wrote +that sacred book, the discovery of the remains of a past world, must +strike those under whose knowledge it may fall with the truth of that +awful event, which language has vainly endeavoured to describe and +painters to represent.</p> + +<hr> +<!--face 229 /face--> +<a name=i2.12></a><h5>Illustration 12</h5> +<div class=centre><img alt="" src=images/xpssti12.jpg></div> +<h5>CHART of CAPE JERVIS</h5> + +<hr> +<!--page 229 /page--> +<a name=ch2.8></a><h4>CHAPTER VIII.</h4> +<blockquote class=small> +Environs of the lake Alexandrina—Appointment of Capt. Barker to make a +further survey of the coast near Encounter Bay—Narrative of his +proceedings—Mount Lofty, Mount Barker, and beautiful country +adjacent—Australian salmon—Survey of the coast—Outlet of lake to the +sea—Circumstances that led to the slaughter of Capt. Barker by the +natives—His character—Features of this part of the country and +capabilities of its coasts—Its adaptation for colonization—Suggestions +for the furtherance of future Expeditions. +</blockquote> + +<p>The foregoing narrative will have given the reader some idea of the state +in which the last expedition reached the bottom of that extensive and +magnificent basin which receives the waters of the Murray. The men were, +indeed, so exhausted, in strength, and their provisions so much reduced by +the time they gained the coast, that I doubted much, whether either would +hold out to such place as we might hope for relief. Yet, reduced as the +whole of us were from previous exertion, beset as our homeward path was by +difficulty and danger, and involved as our eventual safety was in +obscurity and doubt, I could not but deplore the necessity that obliged me +to re-cross the Lake Alexandrina (as I had named it in honour of the heir +apparent to the British crown), and to relinquish the examination of its +western shores. We were borne over its ruffled <!--page 230 ENVIRONS OF LAKE ALEXANDRINA. /page-->and agitated surface with +such rapidity, that I had scarcely time to view it as we passed; but, +cursory as my glance was, I could but think I was leaving behind me +the fullest reward of our toil, in a country that would ultimately render +our discoveries valuable, and benefit the colony for whose interests we +were engaged. Hurried, I would repeat, as my view of it was, my eye never +fell on a country of more promising aspect, or of more favourable +position, than that which occupies the space between the lake and the +ranges of St. Vincent's Gulf, and, continuing northerly from Mount Barker, +stretches away, without any visible boundary. + +<p>It appeared to me that, unless nature had deviated from her usual laws, +this tract of country could not but be fertile, situated as it was to +receive the mountain deposits on the one hand, and those of the lake upon +the other. + +<p>In my report to the Colonial Government, however, I did not feel myself +justified in stating, to their full extent, opinions that were founded on +probability and conjecture alone. But, although I was guarded in this +particular, I strongly recommended a further examination of the coast, +from the most eastern point of Encounter Bay, to the head St. Vincent's +Gulf, to ascertain if any other than the known channel existed among the +sand-hills of the former, or if, as I had every reason to hope from the +great extent of water to the N.W., there was a practicable communication +with the lake from the other; and I ventured to predict, that a closer +survey of the interjacent country, would be attended with the most +beneficial results; nor have I a doubt that the pro<!--page 231 FURTHER EXAMINATION OF THE COAST. /page-->montory of Cape Jervis +would ere this have been settled, had Captain Barker lived to complete his +official reports. + +<p>The governor, General Darling, whose multifarious duties might well have +excused him from paying attention to distant objects, hesitated not a +moment when he thought the interests of the colony, whose welfare he so +zealously promoted, appeared to be concerned; and he determined to avail +himself of the services of Captain Collet Barker, of the 39th regiment, +who was about to be recalled from King George's Sound, in order to satisfy +himself as to the correctness of my views. + +<p>Captain Barker had not long before been removed from Port Raffles, on the +northern coast, where he had had much intercourse with the natives, and +had frequently trusted himself wholly in their hands. It was not, however, +merely on account of his conciliating manners, and knowledge of the temper +and habits of the natives, that he was particularly fitted for the duty +upon which it was the governor's pleasure to employ him. He was, in +addition, a man of great energy of character, and of much and various +information. + +<p>Orders having reached Sydney, directing the establishment belonging to +New South Wales to be withdrawn, prior to the occupation of King George's +Sound by the government of Western Australia, the <i>Isabella</i> schooner was +sent to receive the troops and prisoners on board; and Captain Barker was +directed, as soon as he should have handed over the settlement to Captain +Stirling, to proceed to Cape <!--page 232 CAPT. BARKER'S SURVEY. /page-->Jervis, from which point it was thought he +could best carry on a survey not only of the coast but also of the +interior. + +<p>This excellent and zealous officer sailed from King George's Sound, on the +10th of April, 1831, and arrived off Cape Jervis on the 13th. He was +attended by Doctor Davies, one of the assistant surgeons of his regiment, +and by Mr. Kent, of the Commissariat. It is to the latter gentleman that +the public are indebted for the greater part of the following details; +he having attended Captain Barker closely during the whole of this short +but disastrous excursion, and made notes as copious as they are +interesting. At the time the <i>Isabella</i> arrived off Cape Jervis, the weather +was clear and favourable. Captain Barker consequently stood into +St. Vincent's Gulf, keeping, as near as practicable, to the eastern shore, +in soundings that varied from six to ten fathoms, upon sand and mud. +His immediate object was to ascertain if there was any communication with +the lake Alexandrina from the gulf. He ascended to lat. 34° +40´ where he fully satisfied himself that no channel did exist +between them. He found, however, that the ranges behind Cape Jervis +terminated abruptly at Mount Lofty, in lat. 34° 56´, and, +that a flat and wooded country succeeded to the N. and N.E. The shore of +the gulf tended more to the N.N.W., and mud flats and mangrove swamps +prevailed along it. + +<p>Mr. Kent informs me, that they landed for the first time on the 15th, but +that they returned almost immediately to the vessel. On the 17th, Captain +Barker again landed, <!--page 233 INVITING COUNTRY—MOUNT LOFTY. /page-->with the intention of remaining on shore for two or +three days. He was accompanied by Mr. Kent, his servant Mills, and two +soldiers. The boat went to the place at which they had before landed, as +they thought they had discovered a small river with a bar entrance. They +crossed the bar, and ascertained that it was a narrow inlet, of four miles +in length, that terminated at the base of the ranges. The party were quite +delighted with the aspect of the country on either side of the inlet, +and with the bold and romantic scenery behind them. The former bore the +appearance of natural meadows, lightly timbered, and covered with a +variety of grasses. The soil was observed to be a rich, fat, chocolate +coloured earth, probably the decomposition of the deep blue limestone, +that showed itself along the coast hereabouts. On the other hand, a rocky +glen made a cleft in the ranges at the head of the inlet; and they were +supplied with abundance of fresh water which remained in the deeper pools +that had been filled by the torrents during late rains. The whole +neighbourhood was so inviting that the party slept at the head of the +inlet. + +<p>In the morning, Captain Barker proceeded to ascend Mount Lofty, +accompanied by Mr. Kent and his servant, leaving the two soldiers at the +bivouac, at which he directed them to remain until his return. Mr. Kent +says they kept the ridge all the way, and rose above the sea by a gradual +ascent. The rock-formation of the lower ranges appeared to be an +argillaceous schist; the sides and summit of the ranges were covered with +verdure, and the trees <!--page 234 MOUNT LOFTY AND ITS ENVIRONS. /page-->upon them were of more than ordinary size. The view +to the eastward was shut out by other ranges, parallel to those on which +they were; below them to the westward, the same pleasing kind of country +that flanked the inlet still continued. + +<p>In the course of the day they passed round the head of a deep ravine, +whose smooth and grassy sides presented a beautiful appearance. The party +stood 600 feet above the bed of a small rivulet that occupied the bottom +of the ravine. In some places huge blocks of granite interrupted its +course, in others the waters had worn the rock smooth. The polish of these +rocks was quite beautiful, and the veins of red and white quartz which +traversed them, looked like mosaic work. They did not gain the top of +Mount Lofty, but slept a few miles beyond the ravine. In the morning +they continued their journey, and, crossing Mount Lofty, descended +northerly, to a point from which the range bent away a little to the +N.N.E., and then terminated. The view from this point was much more +extensive than that from Mount Lofty itself. They overlooked a great part +of the gulf, and could distinctly see the mountains at the head of it to +the N.N.W. To the N.W. there was a considerable indentation in the coast, +which had escaped Captain Barker's notice when examining it. A mountain, +very similar to Mount Lofty, bore due east of them, and appeared to be the +termination of its range. They were separated by a valley of about ten +miles in width, the appearance of which was not favourable. Mr. Kent +states to me, that Capt. Bar<!--page 235 MOUNT BARKER. /page-->ker observed at the time that he thought it +probable I had mistaken this hill for Mount Lofty, since it shut out the +view of the lake from him, and therefore he naturally concluded, I could +not have seen Mount Lofty. I can readily imagine such an error to have +been made by me, more especially as I remember that at the time I was +taking bearings in the lake, I thought Captain Flinders had not given +Mount Lofty, as I then conceived it to be, its proper position in +longitude. Both hills are in the same parallel of latitude. The mistake on +my part is obvious. I have corrected it in the charts, and have availed +myself of the opportunity thus afforded me of perpetuating, as far as I +can, the name of an inestimable companion in Captain Barker himself. + +<p>Immediately below the point on which they stood, Mr. Kent says, a low +undulating country extended to the northward, as far as he could see. +It was partly open, and partly wooded; and was every where covered with +verdure. It continued round to the eastward, and apparently ran down +southerly, at the opposite base of the mount Barker Range. I think there +can be but little doubt that my view from the S.E., that is, from the +lake, extended over the same or a part of the same country. Captain Barker +again slept on the summit of the range, near a large basin that looked +like the mouth of a crater, in which huge fragments of rocks made a scene +of the utmost confusion. These rocks were a coarse grey granite, of which +the higher parts and northern termination of the Mount Lofty range are +evidently formed; for Mr. Kent remarks that it superseded the schistose +formation at <!--page 236 AUSTRALIAN SALMON. /page-->the ravine we have noticed—and that, subsequently, the sides +of the hills became more broken, and valleys, or gullies, more properly +speaking, very numerous. Captain Barker estimated the height of Mount +Lofty above the sea at 2,400 feet, and the distance of its summit from the +coast at eleven miles. Mr. Kent says they were surprised at the size of +the trees on the immediate brow of it; they measured one and found it to +be 43 feet in girth. Indeed, he adds, vegetation did not appear to have +suffered either from its elevated position, or from any prevailing wind. +Eucalypti were the general timber on the ranges; one species of which, +resembling strongly the black butted-gum, was remarkable for a scent +peculiar to its bark. + +<p>The party rejoined the soldiers on the 21st, and enjoyed the supply of +fish which they had provided for them. The soldiers had amused themselves +by fishing during Captain Barker's absence, and had been abundantly +successful. Among others they had taken a kind of salmon, which, though +inferior in size, resembled in shape, in taste, and in the colour of its +flesh, the salmon of Europe. I fancied that a fish which I observed with +extremely glittering scales, in the mouth of a seal, when myself on the +coast, must have been of this kind; and I have no doubt that the lake is +periodically visited by salmon, and that these fish retain their habits of +entering fresh water at particular seasons, also in the southern +hemisphere. + +<p>Immediately behind Cape Jervis, there is a small bay, in which according +to the information of the sealers who frequent Kangaroo Island, there is +good and safe anchor<!--page 237 SURVEY OF THE COAST. /page-->age for seven months in the year, that is to say, +during the prevalence of the E. and N.E. winds. + +<p>Captain Barker landed on the 21st on this rocky point at the northern +extremity of this bay. He had, however, previously to this, examined the +indentation in the coast which he had observed from Mount Lofty, and had +ascertained that it was nothing more than an inlet; a spit of sand, +projecting from the shore at right angles with it, concealed the month of +the inlet. They took the boat to examine this point, and carried six +fathoms soundings round the head of the spit to the mouth of the inlet, +when it shoaled to two fathoms, and the landing was observed to be bad, +by reason of mangrove swamps on either side of it. Mr. Kent, I think, told +me that this inlet was from ten to twelve miles long. Can it be that a +current setting out of it at times, has thrown up the sand-bank that +protects its mouth, and that trees, or any other obstacle, have hidden its +further prolongation from Captain Barker's notice? I have little hope that +such is the case, but the remark is not an idle one. + +<p>Between this inlet and the one formerly mentioned, a small and clear +stream was discovered, to which Captain Barker kindly gave my name. On +landing, the party, which consisted of the same persons as the former one, +found themselves in a valley, which opened direct upon the bay. It was +confined to the north from the chief range by a lateral ridge, that +gradually declined towards and terminated at, the rocky point on which +they had landed. <!--page 238 BEAUTIFUL VALLEYS. /page-->The other side of the valley was formed of a continuation +of the main range, which also gradually declined to the south, and +appeared to be connected with the hills at the extremity of the cape. +The valley was from nine to ten miles in length, and from three to four in +breadth. In crossing it, they ascertained that the lagoon from which the +schooner had obtained a supply of water, was filled by a watercourse that +came down its centre. The soil in the valley was rich, but stony in some +parts. There was an abundance of pasture over the whole, from amongst +which they started numerous kangaroos. The scenery towards the ranges was +beautiful and romantic, and the general appearance of the country such as +to delight the whole party. + +<p>Preserving a due east course, Captain Barker passed over the opposite +range of hills, and descended almost immediately into a second valley that +continued to the southwards. Its soil was poor and stony, and it was +covered with low scrub. Crossing it, they ascended the opposite range, +from the summit of which they had a view of Encounter Bay. An extensive +flat stretched from beneath them to the eastward, and was backed, in the +distance, by sand hummocks, and low wooded hills. The extreme right of the +flat rested upon the coast, at a rocky point near which there were two or +three islands. From the left a beautiful valley opened upon it. A strong +and clear rivulet from this valley traversed the flat obliquely, and fell +into the sea at the rocky point, or a little to the southward of it. +The hills forming the opposite side of the valley had <!--page 239 OUTLET OF LAKE TO THE SEA. /page-->already terminated. +Captain Barker, therefore, ascended to higher ground, and, at length, +obtained a view of the Lake Alexandrina, and the channel of its +communication with the sea to the N.E. He now descended to the flat, and +frequently expressed his anxious wish to Mr. Kent that I had been one of +their number to enjoy the beauty of the scenery around them, and to +participate in their labours. Had fate so ordained it, it is possible the +melancholy tragedy that soon after occurred might have been averted. + +<p>At the termination of the flat they found themselves upon the banks of the +channel, and close to the sand hillock under which my tents had been +pitched. From this point they proceeded along the line of sand-hills to +the outlet; from which it would appear that Kangaroo Island is not +visible, but that the distant point which I mistook for it was the S.E. +angle of Cape Jervis. I have remarked, in describing that part of the +coast, that there is a sand-hill to the eastward of the inlet, under which +the tide runs strong, and the water is deep. Captain Barker judged the +breadth of the channel to be a quarter of a mile, and he expressed a +desire to swim across it to the sand-hill to take bearings, and to +ascertain the nature of the strand beyond it to the eastward. + +<p>It unfortunately happened, that he was the only one of the party who could +swim well, in consequence of which his people remonstrated with him on the +danger of making the attempt unattended. Notwithstanding, however, that +he was seriously indisposed, he stripped, and after Mr. Kent <!--page 240 CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING /page-->had fastened +his compass on his head for him, he plunged into the water, and with +difficulty gained the opposite side; to effect which took him nine minutes +and fifty-eight seconds. His anxious comrades saw him ascend the hillock, +and take several bearings; he then descended the farther side, and was +never seen by them again. + +<p>For a considerable time Mr. Kent remained stationary, in momentary +expectation of his return; but at length, taking the two soldiers with +him, he proceeded along the shore in search of wood for a fire. At about +a quarter of a mile, the soldiers stopped and expressed their wish to +return, as their minds misgave them, and they feared that Captain Barker +had met with some accident. While conversing, they heard a distant shout, +or cry, which Mr. Kent thought resembled the call of the natives, but +which the soldiers positively declared to be the voice of a white man. +On their return to their companions, they asked if any sounds had caught +their ears, to which they replied in the negative. The wind was blowing +from the E.S.E., in which direction Captain Barker had gone; and, to me, +the fact of the nearer party not having heard that which must have been +his cries for assistance, is satisfactorily accounted for, as, being +immediately under the hill, the sounds must have passed over their heads +to be heard more distinctly at the distance at which Mr. Kent and the +soldiers stood. It is more than probable, that while his men were +expressing their anxiety about him, the fearful tragedy was enacting which +it has become my painful task to detail. +<!--page 241 THE LOSS OF CAPTAIN BARKER. /page--> +<p>Evening closed in without any signs of Captain Barker's return, or any +circumstance by which Mr. Kent could confirm his fears that he had fallen +into the hands of the natives. For, whether it was that the tribe which +had shown such decided hostility to me when on the coast had not observed +the party, none made their appearance; and if I except two, who crossed +the channel when Mr. Kent was in search of wood, they had neither seen nor +heard any; and Captain Barker's enterprising disposition being well known +to his men, hopes were still entertained that he was safe. A large fire +was kindled, and the party formed a silent and anxious group around it. +Soon after night-fall, however, their attention was roused by the sounds +of the natives, and it was at length discovered, that they had lighted a +chain of small fires between the sand-hill Captain Barker had ascended and +the opposite side of the channel, around which their women were chanting +their melancholy dirge. It struck upon the ears of the listeners with an +ominous thrill, and assured them of the certainty of the irreparable loss +they had sustained. All night did those dismal sounds echo along that +lonely shore, but as morning dawned, they ceased, and Mr. Kent and his +companions were again left in anxiety and doubt. They, at length, thought +it most advisable to proceed to the schooner to advise with Doctor +Davies. They traversed the beach with hasty steps, but did not get on +board till the following day. It was then determined to procure assistance +from the sealers on Kangaroo Island, as the only means by which they could +ascertain their leader's fate, and they ac<!--page 242 ACCOUNT OF HIS MURDER. /page-->cordingly entered American +Harbour. For a certain reward, one of the men agreed to accompany Mr. Kent +to the main with a native woman, to communicate with the tribe that was +supposed to have killed him. They landed at or near the rocky point of +Encounter Bay, where they were joined by two other natives, one of whom +was blind. The woman was sent forward for intelligence, and on her return +gave the following details: + +<p>It appears that at a very considerable distance from the first sand-hill, +there is another to which Captain Barker must have walked, for the woman +stated that three natives were going to the shore from their tribe, and +that they crossed his tract. Their quick perception immediately told them +it was an unusual impression. They followed upon it, and saw Captain +Barker returning. They hesitated for a long time to approach him, being +fearful of the instrument he carried. At length, however, they closed upon +him. Capt. Barker tried to soothe them, but finding that they were +determined to attack him, he made for the water from which he could not +have been very distant. One of the blacks immediately threw his spear and +struck him in the hip. This did not, however, stop him. He got among the +breakers, when he received the second spear in the shoulder. On this, +turning round, he received a third full in the breast: with such deadly +precision do these savages cast their weapons. It would appear that the +third spear was already on its flight when Capt. Barker turned, and it is +to be hoped, that it was at once mortal. He fell on his back into the +water. The natives then <!--page 243 HIS CHARACTER. /page-->rushed in, and dragging him out by the legs, +seized their spears, and indicted innumerable wounds upon his body; +after which, they threw it into deep water, and the sea-tide carried it +away. + +<p>Such, we have every reason to believe, was the untimely fate of this +amiable and talented man. It is a melancholy satisfaction to me thus +publicly to record his worth; instrumental, as I cannot but in some +measure consider my last journey to have been in leading to this fatal +catastrophe. Captain Barker was in disposition, as he was in the close +of his life, in many respects similar to Captain Cook. Mild, affable, and +attentive, he had the esteem and regard of every companion, and the +respect of every one under him. Zealous in the discharge of his public +duties, honourable and just in private life; a lover and a follower of +science; indefatigable and dauntless in his pursuits; a steady friend, +an entertaining companion; charitable, kind-hearted, disinterested, +and sincere—the task is equally difficult to find adequate expressions of +praise or of regret. In him the king lost one of his most valuable +officers, and his regiment one of its most efficient members. Beloved as +he was, the news of his loss struck his numerous friends with sincere +grief, but by none was it more severely felt than by the humble individual +who has endeavoured thus feebly to draw his portrait. + +<p>From the same source from which the particulars of his death were +obtained, it was reported that the natives who perpetrated the deed were +influenced by no other <!--page 244 FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY, /page-->motive than curiosity to ascertain if they had +power to kill a white man. But we must be careful in giving credit to +this, for it is much more probable that the cruelties exercised by the +sealers towards the blacks along the south coast, may have instigated the +latter to take vengeance on the innocent as well as on the guilty. It will +be seen, by a reference to the chart, that Captain Barker, by crossing the +channel, threw himself into the very hands of that tribe which had evinced +such determined hostility to myself and my men. He got into the rear of +their strong hold, and was sacrificed to those feelings of suspicion, and +to that desire of revenge, which the savages never lose sight of until +they have been gratified. + +<p>It yet remains for me to state that when Mr. Kent returned to the +schooner, after this irreparable loss, he kept to the south of the place +at which he had crossed the first range with Captain Barker, and travelled +through a valley right across the promontory. He thus discovered that +there was a division in the ranges, through which there was a direct and +level road from the little bay on the northern extremity of which they had +last landed in St. Vincent's Gulf, to the rocky point of Encounter Bay. +The importance of this fact will be better estimated, when it is known +that good anchorage is secured to small vessels inside the island that +lies off the point of Encounter Bay, which is rendered still safer by a +horse shoe reef that forms, as it were, a thick wall to break the swell of +the sea. But this anchorage is not safe for more than five months in the +year. Independently of these points, however, Mr. Kent remarks, <!--page 245 AND CAPABILITIES OF THE COAST. /page-->that the +spit a little to the north of Mount Lofty would afford good shelter to +minor vessels under its lee. When the nature of the country is taken into +consideration, and the facility of entering that which lies between the +ranges and the Lake Alexandrina, from the south, and of a direct +communication with the lake itself, the want of an extensive harbour will, +in some measure, be compensated for, more especially when it is known that +within four leagues of Cape Jervis, a port little inferior to Port +Jackson, with a safe and broad entrance, exists at Kangaroo Island. The +sealers have given this spot the name of American Harbour. In it, I am +informed, vessels are completely land-locked, and secure from every wind. +Kangaroo Island is not, however, fertile by any means. It abounds in +shallow lakes filled with salt water during high tides, and which, by +evaporation, yield a vast quantity of salt. + +<p>I gathered from the sealers that neither the promontory separating +St. Vincent from Spencer's Gulf, nor the neighbourhood of Port Lincoln, +are other than barren and sandy wastes. They all agree in describing Port +Lincoln itself as a magnificent roadstead, but equally agree as to the +sterility of its shores. It appears, therefore, that the promontory of +Cape Jervis owes its superiority to its natural features; in fact, to the +mountains that occupy its centre, to the debris that has been washed from +them, and to the decomposition of the better description of its rocks. +Such is the case at Illawarra, where the mountains approach the sea; such +indeed is the case every where, at a certain distance from mountain +ranges. +<!--page 246 ADAPTION OF THIS PART OF /page--> +<p>From the above account it would appear that a spot has, at length, been +found upon the south coast of New Holland, to which the colonist might +venture with every prospect of success, and in whose valleys the exile +might hope to build for himself and for his family a peaceful and +prosperous home. All who have ever landed upon the eastern shore of +St. Vincent's Gulf, agree as to the richness of its soil, and the +abundance of its pasture. Indeed, if we cast our eyes upon the chart, and +examine the natural features of the country behind Cape Jervis, we shall +no longer wonder at its differing in soil and fertility from the low and +sandy tracks that generally prevail along the shores of Australia. Without +entering largely into the consideration of the more remote advantages that +would, in all human probability, result from the establishment of a +colony, rather than a penal settlement, at St. Vincent's Gulf, it will be +expedient to glance hastily over the preceding narrative, and, disengaging +it from all extraneous matter, to condense, as much as possible, the +information it contains respecting the country itself; for I have been +unable to introduce any passing remark, lest I should break the thread of +an interesting detail. + +<p>The country immediately behind Cape Jervis may, strictly speaking, be +termed a promontory, bounded to the west by St. Vincent's Gulf, and to the +east by the lake Alexandrina, and the sandy track separating that basin +from the sea. Supposing a line to be drawn from the parallel of 34° +40´ to the eastward, it will strike the Murray river about 25 miles +above the head of the lake, and will clear the ranges, of which Mount +Lofty and Mount Barker are the respective <!--page 247 THE COUNTRY FOR COLONISATION. /page-->terminations. This line will cut +off a space whose greatest breadth will be 55 miles, whose length from +north to south will be 75, and whose surface exceeds 7 millions of acres; +from which if we deduct 2 millions for the unavailable hills, we shall +have 5 millions of acres of land, of rich soil, upon which no scrub +exists, and whose most distant points are accessible, through a level +country on the one hand, and by water on the other. The southern extremity +of the ranges can be turned by that valley through which Mr. Kent returned +to the schooner, after Captain Barker's death. It is certain, therefore, +that this valley not only secures so grand a point, but also presents a +level line of communication from the small bay immediately to the north of +the cape, to the rocky point of Encounter Bay, at both of which places +there is safe anchorage at different periods of the year. + +<p>The only objection that can be raised to the occupation of this spot, is +the want of an available harbour. Yet it admits of great doubt whether the +contiguity of Kangaroo Island to Cape Jervis, (serving as it does to break +the force of the prevailing winds, as also of the heavy swell that would +otherwise roll direct into the bay,) and the fact of its possessing a safe +and commodious harbour, certainly at an available distance, does not in a +great measure remove the objection. Certain it is that no port, with the +exception of that on the shores of which the capital of Australia is +situated, offers half the convenience of this, although it be detached +between three and four leagues from the main. + +<p>On the other hand it would appear, that there is no place <!--page 248 HINTS FOR FUTURE EXPEDITIONS. /page-->from which at +any time the survey of the more central parts of the continent could be so +effectually carried on; for in a country like Australia, where the chief +obstacle to be apprehended in travelling is the want of water, the +facilities afforded by the Murray and its tributaries, are indisputable; +and I have little doubt that the very centre of the continent might be +gained by a judicious and enterprising expedition. Certainly it is most +desirable to ascertain whether the river I have supposed to be the Darling +be really so or not. I have stated my objection to depots, but I think +that if a party commenced its operations upon the Murray from the +junction upwards, and, after ascertaining the fact of its ultimate course, +turned away to the N.W. up one of the tributaries of the Murray, with a +supply of six months' provisions, the results would be of the most +satisfactory kind, and the features of the country be wholly developed. +I cannot, I think, conclude this work better than by expressing a hope, +that the Colonial Government will direct such measures to be adopted as +may be necessary for the extension of our geographical knowledge in +Australia. The facilities of fitting out expeditions in New South Wales, +render the expenses of little moment, when compared with the importance of +the object in view; and although I am labouring under the effects of +former attempts, yet would I willingly give such assistance as I could to +carry such an object into effect.</p> + +<hr> +<!--page 249 /page--> +<a name=ap2></a><h3>APPENDIX.</h3> +<hr width="30%"> +<a name=ap2.1></a><h4>No. I.</h4> + +<h5>GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS FOUND TO THE SOUTH-WEST OF PORT JACKSON.</h5> + +<p>Considering the nature of the country over which the first expedition +travelled, it could hardly have been expected that its geological +specimens would be numerous. It will appear, however, from the following +list of rocks collected during the second expedition, that the geological +formation of the mountains to the S.W. of Port Jackson is as various as +that to the N.W. of it is mountainous. The specimens are described not +according to their natural order, but in the succession in which they +were found, commencing from Yass Plains, and during the subsequent stages +of the journey. + +<p>Sandstone, Old Red.—Found on various parts of Yass Plains. +<!--page 250 APPENDIX.—No. I. /page--> +<p>Limestone, Transition.—Colour dark grey; composes the bed of the Yass +River, and apparently traverses the sandstone formation. Yass Plains lie +170 miles to the S.W. of Sydney. + +<p>Sandstone, Old Red.—Again succeeds the limestone, and continues to the +N.W. to a considerable distance over a poor and scrubby country, covered +for the most part with a dwarf species of Eucalyptus. + +<p>Granite.—Colour grey; feldspar, black mica, and quartz: succeeds the +sandstone, and continues to the S.W. as far as the Morumbidgee River, +over an open forest country broken into hill and dale. It is generally on +these granite rocks that the best grazing is found. + +<p>Greywacke.—Colour grey, of light hue, or dark, with black specks. +Soft.—Composition of a part of the ranges that form the valley of the +Morumbidgee. + +<p>Serpentine.—Colour green of different shades, striped sulphur yellow; +slaty fracture, soft and greasy to the touch. Forms hills of moderate +elevation, of peculiarly sharp spine, resting on quartz. Composition of +most of the ranges opposite the Doomot River on the Morumbidgee, in +lat. 35° 4´ and long. 147° 40´. + +<p>Quartz.—Colour snow-white; formation of the higher ranges on the left +bank of the Morumbidgee, in the same latitude and longitude as above; +showing in large blocks on the sides of the hills. + +<p>Slaty Quartz, with varieties.—Found with the quartz rock, in a state +of decomposition. +<!--page 251 APPENDIX.—No. I. /page--> +<p>Granite.—Succeeds the serpentine, of light colour; feldspar decomposed; +mica, glittering and silvery white. + +<p>Sandstone, Old Red.—Composition of the more distant ranges on the +Morumbidgee. Forms abrupt precipices over the river flats; of sterile +appearance, and covered with Banksias and scrub. + +<p>Mica Slate.—Colour dark brown, approaching red; mica glittering. +The hills enclosing Pondebadgery Plain at the gorge of the valley of the +Morumbidgee, are composed of this rock. They are succeeded by + +<p>Sandstone.—Which rises abruptly from the river in perpendicular cliffs, +of 145 feet in height. + +<p>Jasper and Quartz.—Colour red and white. Forms the slope of the above +sandstone, and may be considered the outermost of the rocks connected with +the Eastern or Blue Mountain Ranges. It will be remembered that jasper and +quartz were likewise found on a plain near the Darling River, precisely +similar to the above, although occurring at so great a distance from each +other. + +<p>Granite.—Light red colour; composition of a small isolated hill, to all +appearance wholly unconnected with the neighbouring ranges. This specimen +is very similar to that found in the bed of New-Year's Creek. + +<p>Breccia.—Silicious cement, composed of a variety of pebbles. Formation of +the most <i>westerly</i> of the hills between the Lachlan and Macquarie Rivers. +This conglomerate was also found to compose the minor and most westerly of +the elevations of the more northern interior. +<!--page 252 APPENDIX.—No. I. /page--> +<p>Chrystallized Sulphate of Lime.—Found embedded in the deep alluvial soil +in the banks of the Morumbidgee River, in lat. 34° 30´ S., +and long. 144° 55´ E. The same substance was found on the +banks of the Darling, in lat. 29° 49´ S., and in +long. 145° 18´ E. + +<p>A reference to the chart will show that the Morumbidgee, from the first of +the above positions, may be said to have entered the almost dead level of +the interior. No elevation occurs to the westward for several hundreds of +miles. A coarse grit occasionally traversed the beds of the rivers, and +their lofty banks of clay or marl appear to be based on sandstone and +granitic sand. The latter occurs in slabs of four inches in thickness, +divided by a line of saffron-coloured sand, and seems to have been +subjected to fusion, as if the particles or grains had been cemented +together by fusion. + +<p>The first decided break that takes place in the level of the interior +occurs upon the right bank of the Murray, a little below the junction of +the Rufus with it. A cliff of from 120 to 130 feet in perpendicular +elevation here flanks the river for about 200 yards, when it recedes from +it, and forms a spacious amphitheatre that is occupied by semicircular +hillocks, that partake of the same character as the cliff itself; the face +of which showed the various substances of which it was composed in +horizontal lines, that if prolonged would cut the same substance in the +hillocks. Based upon a soft white sandstone, a bed of clay formed the +lowest part of the cliff; upon this bed of clay, a bed of chalk reposed; +this chalk was superseded by a thick bed of saponaceous earth, whilst the +summit of the cliff was composed of a bright red sand. Semi-opal and +hydrate of silex were found in the chalk, and some beautiful specimens of +brown menelite were collected from the upper stratum of the cliff. +<!--page 253 APPENDIX.—No. I. /page--> +<p>A little below this singular place, the country again declines, when a +tertiary fossil formation shows itself, which, rising gradually as an +inclined plain, ultimately attains an elevation of 300 feet. This +formation continues to the very coast, since large masses of the rock were +observed in the channel of communication between the lake and the ocean; +and the hills to the left of the channel were based upon it. This great +bank cannot, therefore, average less than from seventy to ninety miles in +width. At its commencement, it strikingly resembled skulls piled one +on the other, as well in colour as appearance. This effect had been +produced by the constant rippling of water against the rock. The softer +parts had been washed away, and the shells (a bed of Turritella) alone +remained. + +<p>Plate I, Figures 1, 2, and 3, represent the selenite formation. + +<p>Plate II, represents a mass of the rock containing numerous kinds of +shells, of which the following are the most conspicuous:</p> +<table summary=""><col><col width=60><col> + <tr><td>Cardium <td> <td>Arca + <tr><td>Pectunculus <td> <td>Conus, and + <tr><td>Corbula <td> <td>Others unknown.</tr> +</table><br> +<hr width="15%"> + +<p>The following is a list of the fossils collected from various parts of +this formation, from which it is evident that a closer examination would +lead to the discovery of numberless species.</p> +<ul> +<li><h5 class=small>TUNICATA.</h5> + +Plate III. Fig:</li> +</ul><ol> +<li>Eschara celleporacea. +<li>------- piriformis. +<li>------- <i>unnamed.</i> +<br><br> +<!--page 254 APPENDIX.—No. I. /page--> +<li>Cellepora echinata. +<li>--------- escharoides? +<li>Retepora disticha. +<li>-------- vibicata. +<li>Glauconome rhombifera. +<br>All Tertiary in Westphalia and England. + +<h5 class=small>RADIATA.</h5> + +<li>Scutella. +<li>Spatangus Hoffmanni—Goldfuss. +<br>Tertiary, in Westphalia. +<li>Echinus. + +<h5 class=small>CONCHIFERA—BIVALVED SHELLS.</h5> + +<p>Corbula gallica—Paris basin—Tertiary. +<br>Tellina? +<br>Corbis lamellosa—Tertiary—Paris. +<br>Lucina. +<br>Venus (Cytherea) laevigata—ibid. +<br>----- ---------- obliqua—ibid. +<br>Venus +<br>Cardium?—fragments. +<li>Nucula—such is found in London clay. +<li>Pecten coarctatus?—Placentia. +<br>------ various?—recent. +<li>------ species unknown. +<br>Two other Pectens also occur. +<br>Ostrea elongata—Deshayes. +<li>Terebratula. +<li>One cast, genus unknown, perhaps a Cardium. +<!--page 255 APPENDIX.—No. I. /page--> +<h5 class=small>MOLUSCA—UNIVALVED SHELLS.</h5> + +<p>Bulla? Plate II., fig. 2. +<li>Natica—small.* +<li>------ large species.* +<br>Dentalium? +<li>Trochus.* +<li>Turritella.* +<br>---------- in gyps. +<li>Murex.* +<li>Buccinum?* +<li>Mitra.* +<li>----- very short.* +<li>Cypraea.* +<li>Conus.* +<li>----- (Plate II., fig. 3.)* +<li>Two, unknown, (Also Plate II, fig. 4.) +<br>The above all appear to belong to the newer tertiary formations. + +<p>* These genera are scarcely ever, and some of them not at +all, found in any but tertiary formations.</p></li> +</ol> +<p>A block of coarse red granite forms an island in the centre of the +river near the lake, but is nowhere else visible, although it is very +probably the basis of the surrounding country. + +<h5 class=small>ROCK FORMATION OF THE COAST RANGE OF ST. VINCENT'S GULF.</h5> + +<p>Primitive Transition Limestone.—Light grey, striped. Altered in +appearance by volcanic action; occurs on the Ranges north of Cape Jervis. + +<p>Granite.—Colour, red; found on the west side of Encounter Bay. + +<p>Brown Spar.—South point of Cape Jervis. + +<p>Sandstone, Old Red.—East coast of St, Vincent's Gulf. +<!--page 256 APPENDIX.—No. I. /page--> +<p>Limestone, Transition.—Colour, blue. East Coast of St. Vincent's Gulf. +Formation near the first inlet. Continuing to the base of the Ranges. + +<p>Clay Slate.—Composition of the lower part of the Mount Lofty Range. + +<p>Granite.—Fine grained, red; forms the higher parts of the Mount Lofty +Range. + +<p>Quartz, with Tourmaline.—Lower parts of the Mount Lofty Range. + +<p>Limestone Flustra, and their Corallines, probably tertiary.—From the +mouth of the Sturt, on the coast line, nearly abreast of Mount Lofty.</p> +<hr> +<!--face 256 /face--> +<a name=i2.13></a><h5>Illustration 13</h5> +<div class=centre><img alt="" src=images/xpssti13.jpg></div> +<h5>1. MASS of FOSSILS of the TERTIARY FORMATION. +<br>2. BULLA. Species uncertain +<br>3. CONUS. ditto +<br>4. GENUS. Unknown</h5> +<hr> +<!--face 256 /face--> +<a name=i2.14></a><h5>Illustration 14</h5> +<div class=centre><img alt="" src=images/xpssti14.jpg></div> +<h5>1 & 2 CHRYSTALLIZED SELENITE. +<br>3 SELENITE.</h5> +<hr> +<!--face 256 /face--> +<a name=i2.15></a><h5>Illustration 15</h5> +<div class=centre><img alt="" src=images/xpssti15.jpg></div> +<h5>FOSSILS of the TERTIARY FORMATION.</h5> + +<hr> +<!--page 257 APPENDIX—No II. /page--> +<a name=ap2.2></a><h4>No. II.</h4> + +<h5>OFFICIAL REPORT TO THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT.</h5> + +<hr width="15%"> + +<h5 class=small>GOVERNMENT ORDER.</h5> + +<p class=right><i>Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, +<br>May</i> 10, 1830. + +<p>His Excellency the Governor has much satisfaction in publishing the +following report of the proceedings of an expedition undertaken for the +purpose of tracing the course of the river “Morumbidgee,” and of +ascertaining whether it communicated with the coast forming the southern +boundary of the colony. + +<p>The expedition, which was placed under the direction of Captain Sturt, +of his Majesty's 39th Regiment, commenced its progress down the +“Morumbidgee” on the 7th day of January last, having been occupied +twenty-one days in performing the journey from Sydney. + +<p>On the 14th January they entered a new river running from east to west, +now called the “Murray,” into which the “Morumbidgee” flows. + +<p>After pursuing the course of the “Murray” for several days, the expedition +observed another river (supposed to be <!--page 258 APPENDIX.—No. II. /page-->that which Captain Sturt discovered +on his former expedition), uniting with the “Murray” which they examined +about five miles above the junction. + +<p>The expedition again proceeded down the “Murray,” and fell in with another +of its tributaries flowing from the south east, which Captain Sturt has +designated the “Lindesay;” and on the 8th February the “Murray” was +found to enter or form a lake, of from fifty to sixty miles in length, +and from thirty to forty in breadth, lying immediately to the eastward of +gulf St. Vincent, and extending to the southward, to the shore of +“Encounter Bay.” + +<p>Thus has Captain Sturt added largely, and in a highly important degree, +to the knowledge previously possessed of the interior. + +<p>His former expedition ascertained the fate of the rivers Macquarie and +Castlereagh, on which occasion he also discovered a river which, there is +every reason to believe, is, in ordinary seasons, of considerable +magnitude. + +<p>Should this, as Captain Sturt supposes, prove to be the same river as that +above-mentioned, as uniting with the “Murray,” the existence of an +interior water communication for several hundreds of miles, extending from +the northward of “Mount Harris,” down to the southern coast of the colony, +will have been established. + +<p>It is to be regretted, that circumstances did not permit of a more perfect +examination of the lake, (which has been called “Alexandrina”), as the +immediate vicinage of Gulf St. Vincent furnishes a just ground of hope +that a more practicable and useful communication may be discovered in +that direction, than the channel which leads into “Encounter Bay.” +<!--page 259 APPENDIX.—No. II. /page--> +<p>The opportunity of recording a second time the services rendered to the +colony by Captain Sturt, is as gratifying to the government which directed +the undertaking, as it is creditable to the individual who so successfully +conducted it to its termination.—It is an additional cause of +satisfaction to add, that every one, according to his sphere of action, +has a claim to a proportionate degree of applause. All were exposed alike +to the same privations and fatigue, and every one submitted with patience, +manifesting the most anxious desire for the success of the expedition. +The zeal of Mr. George M'Leay, the companion of Captain Sturt, when +example was so important, could not fail to have the most salutary effect; +and the obedience, steadiness, and good conduct of the men employed, merit +the highest praise. + +<p class=right>By his Excellency's command, +<br>ALEXANDER M'LEAY.</p> + +<hr width="15%"> + +<p class=right><i>Banks of the Morumbidgee, April</i> 20<i>th</i>, 1830. + +<p>SIR,—The departure of Mr. George M'Leay for Sydney, who is anxious to +proceed homewards as speedily as possible, affords me an earlier +opportunity than would otherwise have presented itself, by which to make +you acquainted with the circumstance of my return, under the divine +protection, to the located districts; and I do myself the honour of +annexing a brief account of my proceedings <!--page 260 APPENDIX.—No. II. /page-->since the last communication +for the information of His Excellency the Governor, until such time as I +shall have it in my power to give in a more detailed report. + +<p>On the 7th of January, agreeably to the arrangements which had been made, +I proceeded down the Morumbidgee in the whale boat, with a complement of +six hands, independent of myself and Mr. M'Leay, holding the skiff in tow. +The river, for several days, kept a general W.S.W. course; it altered +little in appearance, nor did any material change take place in the +country upon its banks. The alluvial flats had occasionally an increased +breadth on either side of it, but the line of reeds was nowhere so +extensive as from previous appearances I had been led to expect. About +twelve miles from the depot, we passed a large creek junction from the +N.E. which, from its locality and from the circumstance of my having been +upon it in the direction of them, I cannot but conclude originates in the +marshes of the Lachlan. + +<p>On the 11th, the Morumbidgee became much encumbered with fallen timber, +and its current was at times so rapid that I was under considerable +apprehension for the safety of the boats. The skiff had been upset on the +8th, and, although I could not anticipate such an accident to the large +boat, I feared she would receive some more serious and irremediable +injury. On the 14th, these difficulties increased upon us.—The channel +of the river became more contracted, and its current more impetuous. We +had no sooner cleared one reach, than fresh and apparently insurmountable +dangers presented themselves to us in the next. I really feared that every +precaution would have proved unavailing against such multiplied +embarrassments, <!--page 261 APPENDIX.—No. II. /page-->and that ere night we should have possessed only the +wrecks of the expedition. From this state of anxiety, however, we were +unexpectedly relieved, by our arrival at 2 p.m. at the termination of the +Morumbidgee; from which we were launched into a broad and noble river, +flowing from E. to W. at the rate of two and a half knots per hour, over +a clear and sandy bed, of a medium width of from three to four hundred +feet. + +<p>During the first stages of our journey upon this new river, which +evidently had its rise in the mountains of the S.E., we made rapid +progress to the W.N.W. through an unbroken and uninteresting country of +equal sameness of feature and of vegetation. On the 23rd, as the boats +were proceeding down it, several hundreds of natives made their appearance +upon the right bank, having assembled with premeditated purposes of +violence. I was the more surprised at this show of hostility, because we +had passed on general friendly terms, not only with those on the +Morumbidgee, but of the new river. Now, however, emboldened by numbers, +they seemed determined on making the first attack, and soon worked +themselves into a state of frenzy by loud and vehement shouting. As I +observed that the water was shoaling fast, I kept in the middle of the +stream; and, under an impression that it would be impossible for me to +avoid a conflict, prepared for an obstinate resistance. But, at the very +moment when, having arrived opposite to a large sand bank, on which +they had collected, the foremost of the blacks had already advanced +into the water, and I only awaited their nearer approach to fire +upon them, their impetuosity was restrained by the most unlooked +for and unexpected interference. They held back of a sudden, <!--page 262 APPENDIX.—No. II. /page-->and +allowed us to pass unmolested. The boat, however, almost immediately +grounded on a shoal that stretched across the river, over which she +was with some difficulty hauled into deeper water,—when we found +ourselves opposite to a large junction from the eastward, little +inferior to the river itself. Had I been aware of this circumstance, I +should have been the more anxious with regard to any rupture with the +natives, and I was now happy to find that most of them had laid aside +their weapons and had crossed the junction, it appearing that they had +previously been on a tongue of land formed by the two streams. I therefore +landed among them to satisfy their curiosity and to distribute a few +presents before I proceeded up it. We were obliged to use the four oars to +stem the current against us; but, as soon as we had passed the mouth, +got into deeper water, and found easier pulling, The parallel in which we +struck it, and the direction from which it came, combined to assure me +that this could be no other than the “Darling.” To the distance of two +miles it retained a breadth of one hundred yards and a depth of twelve +feet. Its banks were covered with verdure, and the trees overhanging them +were of finer and larger growth than those on the new river by which we +had approached it. Its waters had a shade of green, and were more turbid +than those of its neighbours, but they were perfectly sweet to the taste. + +<p>Having satisfied myself on those points on which I was most anxious, +we returned to the junction to examine it more closely. + +<p>The angle formed by the Darling with the new river is so acute, that +neither can be said to be tributary to the other; but more important +circumstances, upon which it is <!--page 263 APPENDIX.—No. II. /page-->impossible for me to dwell at the present +moment, mark them as distinct rivers, which have been formed by Nature +for the same purposes, in remote and opposite parts of the island. Not +having as yet given a name to the latter, I now availed myself of the +opportunity of complying with the known wishes of His Excellency the +Governor, and, at the same time, in accordance with my own feelings as a +soldier I distinguished it by that of the “Murray.” + +<p>It had been my object to ascertain the decline of the vast plain through +which the Murray flows, that I might judge of the probable fall of the +waters of the interior; but by the most attentive observation I could not +satisfy myself upon the point. The course of the Darling now confirmed +my previous impression that it was to the south, which direction it was +evident the Murray also, in the subsequent stages of our journey down it, +struggled to preserve; from which it was thrown by a range of minor +elevations into a more westerly one. We were carried as far as 139° +40´ of longitude, without descending below 34° in point of +latitude; in consequence of which I expected that the river would +ultimately discharge itself, either into St. Vincent's Gulf or that of +Spencer, more especially as lofty ranges were visible in the direction of +them from the summit of the hills behind our camp, on the 2nd of February, +which I laid down as the coast line bounding them. + +<p>A few days prior to the 2nd of February, we passed under some cliffs of +partial volcanic origin, and had immediately afterwards entered a +limestone country of the most singular formation. The river, although we +had passed occasional rapids of the most dangerous kind, had maintained a +sandy character from our first acquaintance with it to the lime<!--page 264 APPENDIX.—No. II. /page-->stone +division. It now forced itself through a glen of that rock of half a mile +in width, frequently striking precipices of more than two hundred feet +perpendicular elevation, in which coral and fossil remains were +plentifully embedded. On the 3rd February it made away to the eastward of +south, in reaches of from two to four miles in length. It gradually lost +its sandy bed, and became deep, still, and turbid; the glen expanded into +a valley, and the alluvial flats, which had hitherto been of +inconsiderable size, became proportionally extensive. The Murray increased +in breadth to more than four hundred yards, with a depth of twenty feet +of water close into the shore, and in fact formed itself into a safe and +navigable stream for any vessels of the minor class. On the 6th the cliffs +partially ceased, and on the 7th they gave place to undulating and +picturesque hills, beneath which thousands of acres of the richest flats +extended, covered, however, with reeds, and apparently subject to overflow +at any unusual rise of the river. + +<p>It is remarkable that the view from the hills was always confined.—We +were apparently running parallel to a continuation of the ranges we had +seen on the 2nd, but they were seldom visible. The country generally +seemed darkly wooded, and had occasional swells upon it, but it was one +of no promise; the timber, chiefly box and pine, being of a poor growth, +and its vegetation languid. On the 8th the hills upon the left wore a +bleak appearance, and the few trees upon them were cut down as if by the +prevailing winds. At noon we could not observe any land at the extremity +of a reach we had just entered; some gentle hills still continued to form +the left lank of the river, but the right was hid from us by high reeds. +I consequently land<!--page 265 APPENDIX.—No. II. /page-->ed to survey the country from the nearest eminence, and +found that we were just about to enter an extensive lake which stretched +away to the S.W., the line of water meeting the horizon in that direction. +Some tolerably lofty ranges were visible to the westward at the distance +of forty miles, beneath which that shore was lost in haze. A hill, which I +prejudged to be Mount Lofty, bearing by compass S. 141° W. More to +the northward, the country was low and unbacked by any elevations. A bold +promontory, which projected into the lake at the distance of seven +leagues, ended the view to the south along the eastern shore; between +which and the river the land also declined. The prospect altogether was +extremely gratifying, and the lake appeared to be a fitting reservoir for +the whole stream which had led us to it. + +<p>In the evening we passed the entrance; but a strong southerly wind heading +us, we did not gain more than nine miles. In the morning it shifted to the +N.E. where we stood out for the promontory on a S.S.W. course. At noon we +were abreast of it, when a line of sand hummocks was ahead, scarcely +visible in consequence of the great refraction about them; but an open sea +behind us from the N.N.W. to the N.N.E. points of the compass. A meridian +altitude observed here, placed us in 35° 25´ 15´´ +S. lat.—At 1, I changed our course a little to the westward, and at +4 p.m. entered an arm of the lake leading W.S.W. On the point, at the +entrance, some natives had assembled, but I could not communicate with +them. They were both painted and armed, and evidently intended to resist +our landing. Wishing, however, to gain some information from them, +I proceeded a short distance <!--page 266 APPENDIX.—No. II. /page-->below their haunt, and landed for the night, +in hopes that, seeing us peaceably disposed, they would have approached +the tents; but as they kept aloof, we continued our journey in the +morning. The water, which had risen ten inches during the night, had +fallen again in the same proportion, and we were stopped by shoals shortly +after starting. In hopes that the return of tide would have enabled us to +float over them, we waited for it very patiently, but were ultimately +obliged to drag the boat across a mud-flat of more than a quarter of a +mile into deeper water; but, after a run of about twenty minutes, were +again checked by sand banks. My endeavours to push beyond a certain point +were unsuccessful, and I was at length under the necessity of landing upon +the south shore for the night. Some small hummocks were behind us, on the +other side of which I had seen the ocean from our morning's position; +and whilst the men were pitching the tents, walked over them in company +with Mr. M'Leay to the sea shore, having struck the coast at Encounter +Bay, Cape Jervis, bearing by compass S. 81° W. distant between +three and four leagues, and Kangaroo Island S.E. extremity S. +60° W. distant from nine to ten. + +<p>Thirty-two days had elapsed since we had left the depot, and I regretted +in this stage of our journey, that I could not with prudence remain an +hour longer on the coast than was necessary for me to determine the exit +of the lake. From the angle of the channel on which we were, a bright +sand-hill was visible at about nine miles distance to the E.S.E.; which, +it struck me, was the eastern side of the passage communicating with the +ocean. Having failed in our attempts to proceed further in the boat, and +the ap<!--page 267 APPENDIX.—No. II. /page-->pearance of the shoals at low water having convinced me of the +impracticability of it, I determined on an excursion along the sea-shore +to the southward and eastward, in anxious hopes that it would be a short +one; for as we had had a series of winds from the S.W. which had now +changed to the opposite quarter, I feared we should have to pull across +the lake in our way homewards. I left the camp therefore at an early hour, +in company with Mr. M'Leay and Fraser, and at day-break arrived opposite +to the sand-bank I have mentioned. Between us and it the entrance into the +back water ran. The passage is at all periods of the tide rather more than +a quarter of a mile in width, and is of sufficient depth for a boat to +enter, especially on the off side; but a line of dangerous breakers in +the bay will always prevent an approach to it from the sea, except in the +calmest weather, whilst the bay itself will always be a hazardous place +for any vessels to enter under any circumstances. + +<p>Having, however, satisfactorily concluded our pursuit, we retraced our +steps to the camp, and again took the following bearings as we left the +beach, the strand trending E.S.E. 1/2 E.:—</p> +<table summary=""><col><col> + <tr><td>Kangaroo Island, S.E. angle . . <td>S. 60° W. + <tr><td>Low rocky point of Cape Jervis . . <td>S. 81° W. + <tr><td>Round Hill in centre of Range . . <td>S. 164° W. + <tr><td>Camp, distant one mile . . <td>S. 171° W. + <tr><td>Mount Lofty, distant forty miles . . <td>N. 9° E.</tr> +</table> +<p>Before setting sail, a bottle was deposited between four and five feet +deep in a mound of soft earth and shells, close to the spot on which the +tent had stood, which contained <!--page 268 APPENDIX.—No. II. /page-->a paper of the names of the party, +together with a simple detail of our arrival and departure. + +<p>It appeared that the good fortune, which had hitherto attended us was +still to continue, for the wind which had been contrary, chopped round to +the S.W., and ere sunset we were again in the mouth of the river, having +run from fifty to sixty miles under as much canvass as the boat would +bear, and with a heavy swell during the greater part of the day. + +<p>The lake which has thus terminated our journey, is from fifty to sixty +miles in length, and from thirty to forty in width. With such an expanse +of water, I am correct in stating its medium depth at four feet. There is +a large bight in it to the S.E. and a beautiful and extensive bay to the +N.W. At about seven miles from the mouth of the river, its waters are +brackish, and at twenty-one miles they are quite salt, whilst seals +frequent the lower parts. Considering this lake to be of sufficient +importance, and in anticipation that its shores will, during her reign, +if not at an earlier period, be peopled by some portion of her subjects, +I have called it, in well-meant loyalty, “The Lake Alexandrina.” + +<p>It is remarkable that the Murray has few tributaries below the Darling. +It receives one, however, of considerable importance from the S.E., to +which I have given the name of the “Lindesay,” as a mark of respect to my +commanding-officer, and in remembrance of the many acts of kindness I have +received at his hands. + +<p>Having dwelt particularly on the nature of the country through which the +expedition has passed in the pages of my journal, it may be unnecessary +for me to enter into any <!--page 269 APPENDIX.—No. II. /page-->description of it in this place, further than to +observe, that the limestone continued down to the very coast, and that +although the country in the neighbourhood of the Lake Alexandrina must, +from local circumstances, be rich in point of soil, the timber upon it is +of stunted size, and that it appears to have suffered from drought, +though not to the same extent with the eastern coast. It is evident, +however, that its vicinity to high lands does not altogether exempt it +from such periodical visitations; still I have no doubt that my +observations upon it will convince His Excellency the Governor, that it is +well worthy of a closer, and more attentive examination, than I had it in +my power to make. + +<p>In a geographical point of view, I am happy to believe that the result of +this expedition has been conclusive; and that, combined with the late one, +it has thrown much light upon the nature of the interior of the vast +Island; that the decline of waters, as far as the parallel of 139° +E., is to the south, and that the Darling is to the N.E. as the Murray +is to the S.E. angle of the coast, the main channel by which the waters of +the central ranges are thrown or discharged into one great reservoir. + +<p>Our journey homewards was only remarkable for its labour: in conclusion, +therefore, it remains for me to add that we reached the depot on the +23rd of March. + +<p>Our sugar failed us on the 18th of February, and our salt provisions, +in consequence of the accident which happened to the skiff, on the 8th of +March; so that from the above period we were living on a reduced ration of +flour; and as we took few fish, and were generally unsuccessful with our +guns, the men had seldom more than their bread to eat. +<!--page 270 APPENDIX.—No. II. /page--> +<p>I regretted to observe that they were daily falling off, and that although +unremitting in their exertions they were well nigh exhausted, ere we +reached the Morumbidgee. + +<p>We were from sunrise to five o'clock on the water, and from the day +that we left the depot to that of our return we never rested upon our +oars. We were thirty-nine days gaining the depot from the coast, against +a strong current in both rivers, being seven more than it took us to go +down. From the depot to this station we had seventeen days hard pulling, +making a total of eighty-eight, during which time we could not have +travelled over less than 2000 miles. I was under the necessity of stopping +short on the 10th instant, and of detaching two men for the drays, which +happily arrived on the 17th, on which day our stock of flour failed us. +Had I not adopted this plan, the men would have become too weak to have +pulled up to Pondebadgery, and we should no doubt have suffered some +privations. + +<p>This detail will, I am sure, speak more in favour of the men composing the +party than anything I can say. I would most respectfully recommend them +all to His Excellency's notice; and I beg to assure him that, during the +whole of this arduous journey, they were cheerful, zealous, and obedient. +They had many harassing duties to perform, and their patience and temper +were often put to severe trials by the natives, of whom we could not have +seen fewer than 4000 on the Murray alone. + +<p>I am to refer His Excellency the Governor to Mr. M'Leay for any more +immediate information he may require,—to whom I stand indebted on many +points—and not less in the anxiety he evinced for the success of the +<!--page 271 APPENDIX.—No. II. /page-->undertaking, than in the promptitude with which he assisted in the labours +attendant on our return, and his uniform kindness to the men. + +<p class=right>I have the honour to subscribe myself, +<br>Sir, +<br>Your most obedient humble Servant, +<br>CHARLES STURT, +<br>Captain of the 39th Regt. + +<p><i>The Hon. the Colonial Secretary.</i></p> + +<h5>End of Volume Two</h5> + +<hr> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Two Expeditions into the Interior of +Southern Australia, Complete, by Charles Sturt + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPEDITIONS AUSTRALIA *** + +***** This file should be named 4330-h.htm or 4330-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/3/3/4330/ + +Produced by Col Choat and Colin Beck + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia, Complete + +Author: Charles Sturt + +Release Date: August 31, 2004 [EBook #4330] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPEDITIONS AUSTRALIA *** + + + + +Produced by Col Choat and Colin Beck + + + + + +TWO EXPEDITIONS INTO THE INTERIOR OF SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA DURING THE YEARS +1828, 1829, 1830, 1831 WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE SOIL, CLIMATE AND GENERAL +RESOURCES OF THE COLONY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. + + +IN TWO VOLUMES + + +VOLUME I. + + +"For though most men are contented only to see a river as it runs by +them, and talk of the changes in it as they happen; when it is troubled, +or when clear; when it drowns the country in a flood, or forsakes it in a +drought: yet he that would know the nature of the water, and the causes of +those accidents (so as to guess at their continuance or return), must find +out its source, and observe with what strength it rises, what length it +runs, and how many small streams fall in, and feed it to such a height, +as make it either delightful or terrible to the eye, and useful or +dangerous to the country about it."...SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE'S NETHERLANDS. + + + +TO THE RIGHT HON. +THE EARL OF RIPON, +VISCOUNT GODERICH, +Lord Privy Seal +&c. &c. &c. + + + +MY LORD, + +The completion of this Work affords me the opportunity I have long desired +of thanking your Lordship thus publicly, for the kindness with which you +acceded to my request to be permitted to dedicate it to you. + +The encouragement your Lordship was pleased to give me has served to +stimulate me in the prosecution of a task, which would, I fear, have been +too great for me to have accomplished in my present condition, under any +ordinary views of ambition. Indeed, labouring as I have been for many +months past, under an almost total deprivation of sight, (the effect of +exposure and anxiety of mind in the prosecution of geographical +researches,) I owe it to the casual assistance of some of my friends, that +I am at length enabled to lay these results before your Lordship and the +public. + +While I feel a painful conviction that many errors must necessarily +pervade a work produced under such unfavourable circumstances, it affords +me no small consolation to reflect that Your Lordship has been aware of my +situation, and will be disposed to grant me every reasonable indulgence. + +I have the honor to be, +With the highest respect, +My Lord, +Your Lordship's +Very obedient and humble servant, + +CHARLES STURT +London, June, 1833. + + + + +CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME + + + +PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. + + +Purpose of this Chapter--Name of Australia--Impressions of its early +Visitors--Character of the Australian rivers--Author's first view of Port +Jackson--Extent of the Colony of New South Wales--its rapid advances in +prosperity--Erroneous impressions--Commercial importance of Sydney--Growth +of fine wool--Mr. M'Arthur's meritorious exertions--Whale-fishery--Other +exports--Geographical features--Causes of the large proportion of bad +soil--Connection between the geology and vegetation--Geological features-- +Character of the soil connected with the geological formation--County of +Cumberland--Country westward of the Blue Mountains--Disadvantages of the +remote settlers--Character of the Eastern coast--Rich tracts in the +interior--Periodical droughts--The seasons apparently affected by the +interior marshes--Temperature--Fruits--Emigrants: Causes of their success +or failure--Moral disadvantages--System of emigration recommended--Hints +to emigrants--Progress of inland discovery--Expeditions across the Blue +Mountains--Discoveries of Mr. Evans, Mr. Oxley, and others--Conjectures +respecting the interior. + + +EXPEDITION DOWN THE MACQUARIE RIVER, AND INTO THE WESTERN INTERIOR +IN 1828 AND 1829. + + +CHAPTER I. + + +State of the Colony in 1828-29--Objects of the Expedition--Departure +from Sydney--Wellington Valley--Progress down the Macquarie--Arrival at +Mount Harris--Stopped by the marshes--Encamp amidst reeds--Excursions down +the river--Its termination--Appearance of the marshes--Opthalmic +affection of the men--Mr. Hume's successful journey to the northward-- +Journey across the plain--Second great marsh--Perplexities--Situation of +the exploring party--Consequent resolutions. + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Prosecution of our course into the interior--Mosquito Brush--Aspect and +productions of the country--Hunting party of natives--Courageous conduct +of one of them--Mosquitoes--A man missing--Group of hills called +New-Year's Range--Journey down New-Year's Creek--Tormenting attack of the +kangaroo fly--Dreariness and desolation of the country--Oxley's Table +Land--D'Urban's Group--Continue our journey down New-Year's Creek-- +Extreme Disappointment on finding it salt--Fall in with a tribe of +natives--Our course arrested by the want of fresh water--Extraordinary +sound--Retreat towards the Macquarie. + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Intercourse with the natives--Their appearance and condition--Remarks on +the Salt or Darling River--Appearance of the marshes on our return-- +Alarm for safety of the provision party--Return to Mount Harris--Miserable +condition of the natives--Circumstances attending the slaughter of two +Irish runaways--Bend our course towards the Castlereagh--Wallis's Ponds-- +Find the famished natives feeding on gum--Channel of the Castlereagh-- +Character of the country in its vicinity--Another tribe of natives-- +Amicable intercourse with them--Morrisset's chain of Ponds--Again reach the +Darling River ninety miles higher up than where we first struck upon it. + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Perplexity--Trait of honesty in the natives--Excursion on horseback across +the Darling--Forced to return--Desolating effects of the drought--Retreat +towards the colony--Connection between the Macquarie and the Darling-- +Return up the banks of the Macquarie--Starving condition of the natives. + + +CHAPTER V. + + +General remarks--Result of the expedition--Previous anticipations-- +Mr. Oxley's remarks--Character of the Rivers flowing westerly-- +Mr. Cunningham's remarks--Fall of the Macquarie--Mr. Oxley's erroneous +conclusions respecting the character of the interior, naturally inferred +from the state in which he found the country--The marsh of the Macquarie +merely a marsh of the ordinary character--Captain King's observations-- +Course of the Darling--Character of the low interior plain--The convict +Barber's report of rivers traversing the interior--Surveyor-General +Mitchell's Report of his recent expedition. + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Concluding Remarks--Obstacles that attend travelling into the interior +of Australia--Difficulty of carrying supplies--Importance of steady +intelligent subordinates--Danger from the natives--Number of men +requisite,--and of cattle and carriages--Provisions--Other arrangements-- +Treatment of the natives--Dimensions of the boat used in the second +expedition. + + +APPENDIX. + +No. I. Letter of Instructions +No. II. List of Stores supplied for the Expedition +No. III. Sheep-farming Returns +No. IV. List of Geological Specimens +No. V. Official Report to the Colonial Government, (Jan. 1829.) +No. VI. Ditto (April 1829.) + + +ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE FIRST VOLUME +(Not included in this etext) + +Native Burial Place near Budda +Vice Admiral Arthur Phillip +Cataract of the Macquarie +A Selenite +Chrystallized Sulphate of Lime + + + + +PRELIMINARY CHAPTER + + + +Purpose of this Chapter--Name of Australia--Impressions of its early +Visitors--Character of the Australian rivers--Author's first view of Port +Jackson--Extent of the Colony of New South Wales--its rapid advances in +prosperity--Erroneous impressions--Commercial importance of Sydney--Growth +of fine wool--Mr. M'Arthur's meritorious exertions--Whale-fishery--Other +exports--Geographical features--Causes of the large proportion of bad +soil--Connection between the geology and vegetation--Geological features-- +Character of the soil connected with the geological formation--County of +Cumberland--Country westward of the Blue Mountains--Disadvantages of the +remote settlers--Character of the Eastern coast--Rich tracts in the +interior--Periodical droughts--The seasons apparently affected by the +interior marshes--Temperature--Fruits--Emigrants: Causes of their success +or failure--Moral disadvantages--System of emigration recommended--Hints +to emigrants--Progress of inland discovery--Expeditions across the Blue +Mountains--Discoveries of Mr. Evans, Mr. Oxley, and others--Conjectures +respecting the interior. + + +PURPOSE OF THIS PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. + + +When I first determined on committing to the press a detailed account of +the two expeditions, which I conducted into the interior of the Australian +continent, pursuant to the orders of Lieutenant General Darling, the late +Governor of the Colony of New South Wales, it was simply with a view of +laying their results before the geographical world, and of correcting the +opinions that prevailed with regard to the unexplored country to the +westward of the Blue Mountains. I did not feel myself equal either to the +task or the responsibility of venturing any remarks on the Colony of New +South Wales itself. I had had little time for inquiry, amidst the various +duties that fell to my lot in the ordinary routine of the service to which +I belonged, when unemployed by the Colonial Government in the prosecution +of inland discoveries. My observations had been in a great measure +confined to those points which curiosity, or a desire of personal +information, had prompted me to investigate. I did not, therefore, venture +to flatter myself that I had collected materials of sufficient importance +on general topics to enable me to write for the information of others. +Since my return to England, however, I have been strenuously urged to give +a short description of the colony before entering upon my personal +narrative; and I have conversed with so many individuals whose ideas of +Australia are totally at variance with its actual state, that I am +encouraged to indulge the hope that my observations, desultory as they +are, may be of some interest to the public. I am strengthened in this hope +by the consideration that some kind friends have enabled me to add much +valuable matter to that which I had myself collected. It is not my +intention, however, to enter at any length on the commercial or +agricultural interests of New South Wales. It may be necessary for me to +touch lightly on those important subjects, but it is my wish to connect +this preliminary chapter, as much as possible with the subjects treated of +in the body of the work, and chiefly to notice the physical structure, the +soil, climate, and productions of the colony, in order to convey to the +reader general information on these points, before I lead him into the +remote interior. + +NAME OF AUSTRALIA. + +It may be worthy of remark that the name "Australia," has of late years +been affixed to that extensive tract of land which Great Britain possesses +in the Southern Seas, and which, having been a discovery of the early +Dutch navigators, was previously termed "New Holland." The change of name +was, I believe, introduced by the celebrated French geographer, Malte +Brun, who, in his division of the globe, gave the appellation of +Austral Asia and Polynesia to the new discovered lands in the southern +ocean; in which division he meant to include the numerous insular groups +scattered over the Pacific. + +IMPRESSIONS OF ITS EARLY VISITORS. + +Australia is properly speaking an island, but it is so much larger than +every other island on the face of the globe, that it is classed as a +continent in order to convey to the mind a just idea of its magnitude. +Stretching from the 115th to the 153rd degree of east longitude, and from +the 10th to the 37th of south latitude, it averages 2700 miles in length +by 1800 in breadth; and balanced, as it were, upon the tropic of that +hemisphere in which it is situated, it receives the fiery heat of the +equator at one extremity, while it enjoys the refreshing coolness of the +temperate zone at the other. On a first view we should be led to expect +that this extensive tract of land possessed more than ordinary advantages; +that its rivers would be in proportion to its size; and that it would +abound in the richest productions of the inter-tropical and temperate +regions. Such, indeed, was the impression of those who first touched upon +its southern shores, but who remained no longer than to be dazzled by the +splendour and variety of its botanical productions, and to enjoy for a +few days the delightful mildness of its climate. But the very spot which +had appeared to Captain Cook and Sir Joseph Banks an earthly paradise, was +abandoned by the early settlers as unfit for occupation; nor has the +country generally been fount to realize the sanguine expectations of those +distinguished individuals, so far as it has hitherto been explored. + +CHARACTER OF AUSTRALIAN RIVERS. + +Rivers which have the widest mouths or the most practicable entrances, +are, in Europe or America, usually of impetuous current, or else contain +such a body of water as to bear down all opposition to their free course; +whilst on the other hand, rivers whose force is expended ere they reach +the sea, have almost invariably a bar at their embouchure, or where they +mingle their waters with those of the ocean. This last feature +unfortunately appears to characterise all rivers of Australia, or such of +them at least as are sufficiently known to us. Falling rapidly from the +mountains in which they originate into a level and extremely depressed +country; having weak and inconsiderable sources, and being almost wholly +unaided by tributaries of any kind; they naturally fail before they reach +the coast, and exhaust themselves in marshes or lakes or reach it so +weakened as to be unable to preserve clear or navigable months, or to +remove the sand banks that the tides throw up before them. On the other +hand the productions of this singular region seem to be peculiar to it, +and unlike those of any other part of the world; nor have any indigenous +fruits of any value as yet been found either in its forests or on its +plains. + +He who has never looked on any other than the well-cultured fields of +England, can have little idea of a country that Nature has covered with an +interminable forest. Still less can he estimate the feelings with which +the adventurer approaches a shore that has never (or perhaps only lately) +been trodden by civilized man. + +FIRST VIEW OF PORT JACKSON. + +It was with feelings peculiar to the occasion, that I gazed for the first +time on the bold cliffs at the entrance of Port Jackson, as our vessel +neared them, and speculated on the probable character of the landscape +they hid; and I am free to confess, that I did not anticipate anything +equal to the scene which presented itself both to my sight and my +judgment, as we sailed up the noble and extensive basin we had entered, +towards the seat of government. A single glance was sufficient to tell me +that the hills upon the southern shore of the port, the outlines of which +were broken by houses and spires, must once have been covered with the +same dense and gloomy wood which abounded every where else. The contrast +was indeed very great--the improvement singularly striking. The labour and +patience required, and the difficulties which the first settlers +encountered effecting these improvements, must have been incalculable. But +their success has been complete: it is the very triumph of human skill and +industry over Nature herself. The cornfield and the orchard have +supplanted the wild grass and the brush; a flourishing town stands over +the ruins of the forest; the lowing of herds has succeeded the wild whoop +of the savage; and the stillness of that once desert shore is now broken +by the sound of the bugle and the busy hum of commerce. + +EXTENT OF NEW SOUTH WALES AND DIVISIONS OF THE COLONY. + +The Colony of New South Wales is situated upon the eastern coast of +Australia; and the districts within which land has been granted to +settlers, extends from the 36th parallel of latitude to the 32nd, that is +say, from the Moroyo River to the south of Sydney on the one hand, and to +the Manning River on the other, including Wellington Valley within its +limits to the westward. Thus it will appear that the boundaries of the +located parts of the colony have been considerably enlarged, and some fine +districts of country included within them. In consequence of its extent +and increasing population, it has been found convenient to divide it into +counties, parishes, and townships; and indeed, every measure of the +Colonial Government of late years, has had for its object to assimilate +its internal arrangements as nearly as possible, to those of the mother +country. Whether we are to attribute the present flourishing state of the +colony to the beneficial influence of that system of government which has +been exercised over it for the last seven years it is not for me to say. +That the prosperity of a country depends, however, in a great measure, +on the wisdom of its legislature, is as undoubted, as that within the +period I have mentioned the colony of N. S. Wales has risen +unprecedentedly in importance and in wealth, and has advanced to a state +of improvement at which it could not have arrived had its energies been +cramped or its interests neglected. + +ITS ADVANCES IN PROSPERITY. + +There is a period in the history of every country, during which it will +appear to have been more prosperous than at any other. I allude not to the +period of great martial achievements, should any such adorn its pages, but +to that in which the enterprise of its merchants was roused into action, +and when all classes of its community seem to have put forth their +strength towards the attainment of wealth and power. + +ERRONEOUS IMPRESSIONS. + +In this eventful period the colony of New South Wales is already far +advanced. The conduct of its merchants is marked by the boldest +speculations and the most gigantic projects. Their storehouses are built +on the most magnificent scale, and with the best and most substantial +materials. Few persons in England have even a remote idea of its present +flourishing condition, or of the improvements that are daily taking place +both in its commerce and in its agriculture. I am aware that many object +to it as a place of residence, and I can easily enter into their feelings +from the recollection of what my own were before I visited it. I cannot +but remark, however, that I found my prejudices had arisen from a natural +objection to the character of a part of its population; from the +circumstance of its being a penal colony, and from my total ignorance of +its actual state, and not from any substantial or permanent cause. On the +contrary I speedily became convinced of the exaggerated nature of the +reports I had heard in England, on some of the points just adverted to; +nor did any thing fall under my observation during a residence in it of +more than six years to justify the opinion I had been previously led to +entertain of it. I embarked for New South Wales, with strong prejudices +against it: I left it with strong feelings in its favour, and with a deep +feeling of interest in its prosperity. It is a pleasing task to me, +therefore, to write of it thus, and to have it in my power to contribute +to the removal of any erroneous impressions with regard to its condition +at the present moment. + +COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE OF SYDNEY. + +I have already remarked, that I was not prepared for the scene that met my +view when I first saw Sydney. The fact was, I had not pictured to myself; +nor conceived from any thing that I had ever read or heard in England, +that so extensive a town could have been reared in that remote region, in +so brief a period as that which had elapsed since its foundation. It is +not, however, a distant or cursory glance that will give the observer a +just idea of the mercantile importance of this busy capital. In order to +form an accurate estimate of it, he should take a boat and proceed from +Sydney Cove to Darling Harbour. He would then be satisfied, that it is not +upon the first alone that Australian commerce has raised its storehouse +and wharfs, but that the whole extent of the eastern shore of the last +more capacious basin, is equally crowded with warehouses, stores, +dockyards, mills, and wharfs, the appearance and solidity of which would +do credit even to Liverpool. Where, thirty years ago, the people flocked +to the beach to hail an arrival, it is not now unusual to see from thirty +to forty vessels riding at anchor at one time, collected there from every +quarter of the globe. In 1832, one hundred and fifty vessels entered the +harbour of Port Jackson, from foreign parts, the amount of their tonnage +being 31,259 tons. + +The increasing importance of Sydney must in some measure be attributed to +the flourishing condition of the colony itself, to the industry of its +farmers, to the successful enterprise of its merchants, and to particular +local causes. It is foreign to my purpose, however, to enter largely into +an investigation of these important points. To do so would require more +space than I can afford for the purpose, and might justly be considered as +irrelevant in a work of this kind. Without attempting any lengthened +detail, it may be considered sufficient if I endeavour merely to point out +the principal causes of the present prosperity (and, as they may very +probably prove) of the eventual progress of our great southern colony to +power and independence. + +STAPLE OF THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. + +The staple of our Australian colonies, but more particularly of New South +Wales, the climate and the soil of which are peculiarly suited to its +production,--is fine wool. There can be no doubt that the growth of this +article has mainly contributed to the prosperity of the above mentioned +colony and of Van Diemen's Land. + +At the close of the last century, wool was imported into England from +Spain and Germany only, and but a few years previously from Spain alone. +Indeed, long after its introduction from the latter country, German wool, +obtained but little consideration in the London market; and in like +manner, it may be presumed that many years will not have elapsed +before the increased importation of wool from our own possessions in +the southern hemisphere, will render us, in respect to this commodity, +independent of every other part of the world. The great improvements +in modern navigation are such, that the expense of sending the fleece +to market from New South Wales is less than from any part of Europe. +The charges for instance on Spanish and German wool, are from +fourpence to fourpence three farthings per pound; whereas the entire +charge, after shipment from New South Wales, and Van Diemen's Land, does +not exceed threepence three farthings,--and in this the dock and landing +charges, freight, insurance, brokerage, and commission, are included. + +GROWTH OF FINE WOOL. MR. M'ARTHUR'S EXERTIONS. + +As some particulars respecting the introduction of this source of national +wealth into Australia may prove interesting to the public, I have put +together the following details of it, upon the authenticity of which they +may rely. The person who foresaw the advantage to be derived from the +growth of fine wool in New South Wales, and who commenced the culture of +it in that colony, was Mr. John M'Arthur. So far back, I believe, as the +year 1793, not long after the establishment of the first settlement at +Sydney, this gentleman commenced sheep-farming, and about two years +afterwards he obtained a ram and two ewes from Captain Kent, of the royal +navy, who had brought them, with some other stock for the supply of the +settlement, from the Cape of Good Hope, to which place a flock of these +sheep had been originally sent by the Dutch government. Sensible of the +importance of the acquisition, Mr. M'Arthur began to cross his +coarse-fleeced sheep with Merino blood; and, proceeding upon a system, he +effected a considerable improvement in the course of a few years. So +prolific was the mixed breed, that in ten years, a flock which originally +consisted of not more than seventy Bengal sheep, had increased in number +to 4,000 head, although the wethers had been killed as they became fit for +slaughter. It appears, however, that as the sheep approached to greater +purity of blood, their extreme fecundity diminished. + +TO REAR MERINO FLOCKS. + +In 1803, Mr. M'Arthur revisited England; and there happening at the time +to be a committee of manufacturers in London from the clothing districts, +he exhibited before them samples of his wool, which were so much approved, +that the committee represented to their constituents the advantages which +would result from the growth of fine wool, in one of the southern +dependencies of the empire. In consequence of this a memorial was +transmitted to His Majesty's government, and Mr. M'Arthur's plans having +been investigated by a Privy Council, at which he was present, they were +recommended to the government as worthy of its protection. With such +encouragement Mr. M'Arthur purchased two ewes and three rams, from the +Merino flock of His Majesty King George the Third. He embarked with them +on his return to New South Wales in 1806, on board a vessel named by him +"the Argo," in reference to the golden treasure with which she was +freighted. On reaching the colony he removed his sheep to a grant of land +which the Home Government had directed he should receive in the Cow +Pastures. To commemorate the transaction, and to transmit to a grateful +posterity the recollection of the nobleman who then presided over the +colonies, the estate, together with the district in which it is situated, +was honoured by the name of Camden. + +EXPORT OF WOOL TO ENGLAND. + +Since that time the value of New South Wales wool has been constantly on +the increase, and the colony are indebted to Mr. M'Arthur for the +possession of an exportable commodity which has contributed very +materially to its present wealth and importance. Such general attention is +now paid to this interesting branch of rural economy, that the importation +of wool into England from our Australian colonies, amounted, in 1832, to +10,633 bales, or 2,500,000 lbs. It has been sold at as high a price as +10s. per lb.; but the average price of wool of the best flocks vary from +1s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. at the present moment. The number of sheep in New South +Wales alone was calculated in the last census at 536,891 head. The +ordinary profits on this kind of stock may be extracted from the Table +given in the Appendix to the first volume of this work. + +WHALE FISHERY. + +Among the various speculations undertaken by the merchants of Sydney, +there is not one into which they have entered with so much spirit as in +the South Sea Fishery. The local situation of Port Jackson gives them an +advantage over the English and the American merchants, since the distance +of both these from the field of their gains, must necessarily impede them +greatly; whereas the ships that leave Sydney on a whaling excursion, +arrive without loss of time upon their ground, and return either for fresh +supplies or to repair damages with equal facility. The spirit with which +the colonial youth have engaged in this adventurous and hardy service, is +highly to their credit. The profits arising from it may not be (indeed I +have every reason to think are not) so great as might be supposed, or such +as might reasonably be expected; but the extensive scale on which it is +conducted, speaks equally for the energy and perseverance of the parties +concerned, in the prosecution of their commercial enterprises. It has +enabled them to equip a creditable colonial marine, and given great +importance to their mercantile interests in the mother country. + +In the year 1831, the quantity of sperm and black oil, the produce of the +fisheries exported from New South Wales, amounted to 2,307 tons, and was +estimated, together with skins and whalebone, to be worth 107,971 pounds +sterling. The gross amount of all other exports during that year, did not +exceed 107,697 pounds sterling. Of these exports, the following were the +most considerable: + + +Timber 7,410 pounds +Butter and Cheese 2,376 +Mimosa bark 40 +Hides 7,333 +Horses 7,302 +Salt provisions 5,184 +Wool 66,112 + + +The above is exclusive of 61,000 pounds value of British manufactures +re-exported to the various ports and islands in the Southern Seas. + +OTHER EXPORTS. + +In this scale, moreover, tobacco is not mentioned; but that plant is now +raised for the supply of every private establishment, and will assuredly +form an article of export, as soon as its manufacture shall be well +understood. Neither can it be doubted but that the vine and the olive +will, in a short time, be abundantly cultivated; and that a greater +knowledge of the climate and soil of the more northern parts of the +colony, will lead to the introduction of fresh sources of wealth. + +GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES. + +Having taken this hasty review of the commercial interests of the colony, +we may now turn to a brief examination of its internal structure and +principal natural features. + +I have already given a cursory sketch of the geographical features of the +whole continent. Of the vast area which its coasts embrace, the east part +alone has been fully explored. + +A range of hills runs along the eastern coast, from north to south, which, +in different quarters, vary in their distance from the sea; at one place +approaching it pretty nearly, at another, receding from it to a distance +of forty miles. It is a singular fact, that there is no pass or break in +these mountains, by which any of the rivers of the interior can escape in +an easterly direction. Their spine is unbroken. The consequence is, that +there is a complete division of the eastern and western waters, and that +streams, the heads of which are close to each other, flow away in opposite +directions; the one to pursue a short course to the sea; the other to fall +into a level and depressed interior, the character of which will be +noticed in its proper place. + +GREAT PROPORTION OF BAD SOIL. + +The proportion of bad soil to that which is good in New South Wales, is +certainly very great: I mean the proportion of inferior soil to such as is +fit for the higher purposes of agriculture. Mr. Dawson, the late +superintendent of the Australian Agricultural Company's possessions, has +observed, as a singular fact, that the best soil generally prevails on the +summits of the hills, more especially where they are at all level. He +accounts for so unusual a circumstance by the fact, that elevated +positions are less subject to the effects of fire or floods than their +valleys or flanks, and attributes the general want of vegetable mould over +the colony chiefly to the ravages of the former element, whereby the +growth of underwood, so favourable in other countries to the formation of +soil, is wholly prevented. Undoubtedly this is a principal cause for the +deficiency in question. There is no part of the world in which fires +create such havoc as in New South Wales and indeed in Australia +generally. The climate, on the one hand, which dries up vegetation, and +the wandering habits of the natives on the other, which induce them to +clear the country before them by conflagration, operate equally against +the growth of timber and underwood. + +CAUSE OF THIS. + +But there is another circumstance that appears to have escaped +Mr. Dawson's observation; which is the actual property of the trees +themselves, as to the quantity of vegetable matter they produce in decay. +Being a military man, I cannot be supposed to have devoted much of my time +to agricultural pursuits; but it has been obvious to me, as it must have +been to many others, that in New South Wales, the fall of leaves and the +decay of timber, so far from adding to the richness of its soil, actually +destroy minor vegetation. This fact was brought more home to me in +consequence of its having been my lot to spend some months upon Norfolk +Island, a distant penal settlement attached to the Government of Sydney. +There the abundance of vegetable decay was as remarkable as the want of it +on the Australian Continent. I have frequently sunk up to my knees in a +bed of leaves when walking through its woods; and, often when I placed my +foot on what appeared externally to be the solid trunk of a tree, I have +found it yield to the pressure, in consequence of its decomposition into +absolute rottenness. But such is not the case in New South Wales. There, +no such accumulations of vegetable matter are to be met with; but where +the loftiest tree of the forest falls to the ground, its figure and length +are marked out by the total want of vegetation within a certain distance +of it, and a small elevation of earth, resembling more the refuse or +scoria of burnt bricks than any thing else, is all that ultimately remains +of the immense body which time or accident had prostrated. Thus it would +appear, that it is not less to the character of its woods than to the +ravages of fire that New South Wales owes its general sterility. + +CONNECTION BETWEEN THE GEOLOGY AND VEGETATION. + +Whilst prosecuting my researches in the interior of the colony, I could +not but be struck with the apparent connection between its geology and +vegetation; so strong, indeed, was this connection, that I had little +difficulty, after a short experience, in judging of the rock that formed +the basis of the country over which I was travelling, from the kind of +tree or herbage that flourished in the soil above it. The eucalyptus +pulv., a species of eucalyptus having a glaucus-coloured leaf, of +dwarfish habits and growing mostly in scrub, betrayed the sandstone +formation, wherever it existed, This was the case in many parts of the +County of Cumberland, in some parts of Wombat Brush, at the two passes on +the great south road, over a great extent of country to the N.W. of Yass +Plains, and at Blackheath on the summit of the Blue Mountains. On the +other hand, those open grassy and park-like tracts, of which so much has +been said, characterise the secondary ranges of granite and porphyry. The +trees most usual on these tracts, were the box, an unnamed species of +eucalyptus, and the grass chiefly of that kind, called the oat or forest +grass, which grows in tufts at considerable distances from each other, +and which generally affords good pasturage. On the richer grounds the +angophora lanceolata, and the eucalyptus mammifera more frequently point +out the quality of the soil on which they grow. The first are abundant on +the alluvial flats of the Nepean, the Hawkesbury and the Hunter; the +latter on the limestone formation of Wellington Valley and in the better +portions of Argyle; whilst the cupressus calytris seems to occupy sandy +ridges with the casuarina. It was impossible that these broad features +should have escaped observation: it was naturally inferred from this, that +the trees of New South Wales are gregarious; and in fact they may, in a +great measure, be considered so. The strong line that occasionally +separates different species, and the sudden manner in which several +species are lost at one point, to re-appear at another more distant, +without any visible cause for the break that has taken place, will furnish +a number of interesting facts in the botany of New South Wales. + +It was observed both on the Macquarie river and the Morumbidgee, that the +casuarinae ceased at a particular point. On the Macquarie particularly, +these trees which had often excited our admiration from Wellington Valley +downwards, ceased to occupy its banks below the cataract, nor were they +again noticed until we arrived on the banks of the Castlereagh. The +blue-gum trees, again, were never observed to extend beyond the secondary +embankments of the rivers, occupying that ground alone which was subject +to flood and covered with reeds. These trees waved over the marshes of the +Macquarie, but were not observed to the westward of them for many miles; +yet they re-appeared upon the banks of New-Year's Creek as suddenly as +they had disappeared after we left the marshes, and grew along the line +of the Darling to unusual size. But it is remarkable, that, even in the +midst of the marshes, the blue-gum trees were strictly confined to the +immediate flooded spaces on which the reeds prevailed, or to the very beds +of the water-courses. Where the ground was elevated, or out of the reach +of flood, the box (unnamed) alone occupied it; and, though the branches of +these trees might be interwoven together, the one never left its wet and +reedy bed, the other never descended from its more elevated position. The +same singular distinction marked the acacia pendula, when it ceased to +cover the interior plains of light earth, and was succeeded by another +shrub of the same species. It continued to the banks of New-Year's Creek, +a part of which it thickly lined. To the westward of the creek, another +species of acacia was remarked for the first time. Both shrubs, like the +blue-gum and the box, mixed their branches together, but the creek formed +the line of separation between them. The acacia pendula was not afterwards +seen, but that which had taken its place, as it were, was found to cover +large tracts of country and to form extensive brushes. Many other +peculiarities in the vegetation of the interior are noticed in the body +of this work, but I have thought that these more striking ones deserved +to be particularly remarked upon. + +GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. + +If we strike a line to the N.W. from Sydney to Wellington Valley, we shall +find that little change takes place in the geological features of the +country. The sand-stone of which the first of the barrier ranges is +composed, terminates a little beyond Mount York, and at Cox's River is +succeeded by grey granite. The secondary ranges to the N.W. of Bathurst, +are wholly of that primitive rock; for although there are partial changes +of strata between Bathurst and Moulong Plains, granite is undoubtedly the +rock upon which the whole are based: but at Moulong Plains, a military +station intermediate between Bathurst and Wellington Valley, limestone +appears in the bed of a small clear stream, and with little interruption +continues to some distance below the last-mentioned place. The accidental +discovery of some caves at Moulong Plains, led to the more critical +examination of the whole formation, and cavities of considerable size were +subsequently found in various parts of it, but more particularly in the +neighbourhood of Wellington Valley. The local interest which has of late +years been taken in the prosecution of geological investigations, led many +gentlemen to examine the contents of these caverns; and among the most +forward, Major Mitchell, the Surveyor-General, must justly be considered, +to whose indefatigable perseverance the scientific world is already so +much indebted. + +The caves into which I penetrated, did not present anything particular to +my observation; they differed little from caves of a similar description +into which I had penetrated in Europe. Large masses of stalactites hung +from their roofs, and a corresponding formation encrusted their floors. +They comprised various chambers or compartments, the most remote of which +terminated at a deep chasm that was full of water. A close examination of +these caves has led to the discovery of some organic remains, bones of +various animals embedded in a light red soil; but I am not aware that the +remains of any extinct species have been found, or that any fossils have +been met with in the limestone itself. There can, however, be little doubt +but that the same causes operated in depositing these mouldering remains +in the caves of Kirkdale and those of Wellington Valley. + +About twenty miles below the junction of the Bell with the Macquarie, +free-stone supersedes the limestone, but as the country falls rapidly from +that point, it soon disappears, and the traveller enters upon a flat +country of successive terraces. A schorl rock, of a blue colour and fine +grain, composed of tourmaline and quartz, forms the bed of the Macquarie +at the Cataract; and, in immediate contact with it, a mass of mica slate +of alternate rose, pink, and white, was observed, which must have been +covered by the waters of the river when Mr. Oxley descended it. + +From the Cataract of the Macquarie, a flat extends to the marshes in which +that river exhausts itself. From the midst of this flat Mount Foster and +Mount Harris rise, both of which are porphyritic: but as I have been +particular in describing these heights in their proper place, any minute +notice of them here may be considered unnecessary. We will rather extend +our enquiries to those parts of the colony upon which we shall not be +called upon to remark in the succeeding pages. + +Returning to the coast, we may mark the geological changes in a line to +the S.W. of Sydney; and as my object is to extend the information of my +readers, I shall notice any particular district on either side of the line +I propose to touch upon, which may be worthy of notice. It would appear +that the first decided break in the sandstone formation which penetrates +into the county of Camden, is at Mittagong Range. It is there traversed by +a dike of whinstone, of which that range is wholly composed. The change of +soil and of vegetation are equally remarkable at this place; the one being +a rich, greasy, chocolate-coloured earth, the other partaking greatly of +the intertropical character. In wandering over them, I noticed the wild +fig and the cherry-tree, growing to a much larger size than I had seen +them in any other part of the colony. Upon their branches, the satin bird, +the gangan, and various kinds of pigeons were feeding. Birds unknown to +the eastward of the Blue Mountains, were numerous in the valleys; and +there was an unusual appearance of freshness and moisture in the +vegetation. + +These signs of improvement, however, vanish the moment Mittagong range is +crossed, and sand-stone again forms the basis of the country to a +considerable distance beyond Bong-bong. At a small farm called the +Ploughed Ground, it is again traversed by a dike of whinstone, and a rich +but isolated spot is thus passed over. With occasional and partial +interruption, however, the sand-stone formation continues to an abrupt +pass, from which the traveller descends to the county of Argyle. This pass +is extremely abrupt, and is covered with glaucus, the low scrub I have +noticed as common to the sand-stone formation. A small but lively stream, +called Paddy's River, runs at the bottom of this pass, and immediately to +the S.W. of it, an open forest country of granite base extends for many +miles, on which the eucalyptus manifera is prevalent, and which affords +the best grazing tracts in Argyle. At Goulburn Plains, however, a vein of +limestone occurs, which is evidently connected with that forming the +ShoalHaven Gully, which is perhaps the most remarkable geological feature +in the colony of New South Wales. It is a deep chasm of about a quarter of +a mile in breadth, and 1200 feet in depth. The country on either side is +perfectly level, so much so that the traveller approaches almost to its +very brink before he is aware of his being near so singular an abyss. A +small rivulet flows through the Gully, and discharges itself into the sea +at ShoalHaven; but this river is hardly perceptible, from the summit of +the cliffs forming the sides of the Gully, which are of the boldest and +most precipitous character. The ground on the summit is full of caves of +great depth, but there has been a difficulty in examining them, in +consequence of the violent wind that rushes up them, and extinguishes +every torch. + +The open and grassy forests of Argyle are terminated by another of those +abrupt sand-stone passes I have just described, and the traveller again +falls considerably from his former level, previously to his entering on +Yass Plains, to which this pass is the only inlet. + +From Yass Plains the view to the S. and S.W. is over a lofty and broken +country: mountains with rounded summits, others with towering peaks, and +others again of lengthened form but sharp spine, characterise the various +rocks of which they are composed. The ranges decline rapidly from east to +west, and while on the one hand the country has all the appearance of +increasing height, on the other it sinks to a dead level; nor on the +distant horizon to the N. W. is there a hill or an inequality to be seen. + +From Yass Plains to the very commencement of the level interior, every +range I crossed presented a new rock-formation; serpentine quartz in +huge white masses, granite, chlorite, micaceous schist, sandstone, +chalcedony, quartz, and red jasper, and conglomerate rocks. + +It was however, out of my power, in so hurried a journey as that which I +performed down the banks of the Morumbidgee River, to examine with the +accuracy I could have wished, either the immediate connection between +these rocks or their gradual change from the one to the other. I was +content to ascertain their actual succession, and to note the general +outlines of the ranges; but the defect of vision under which I labour, +prevents me from laying them before the public. + +CHARACTER OF THE SOIL CONNECTED WITH GEOLOGICAL FORMATION. + +From what has been advanced, however, it will appear that the physical +structure of the southern parts of the colony is as varied, as that of the +western interior is monotonous, and we may now pursue our original +observations on the soil of the colony with greater confidence. + +In endeavouring to account for the poverty of the soil in New South Wales, +and in attributing it in a great degree to the causes already mentioned, +it appears necessary to estimate more specifically the influence which the +geological formation of a country exercises on its soil, and how much the +quality of the latter partakes of the character of the rock on which it +reposes. And although I find it extremely difficult to explain myself as +I should wish to do, in the critical discussion on which I have thus +entered, yet as it is material to the elucidation of an important subject +in the body of the work, I feel it incumbent on me to proceed to the best +of my ability. + +I have said that the soil of a country depends much upon its geological +formation. This appears to be particularly the case in those parts of the +colony with which I am acquainted, or those lying between the parallels of +30 degrees and 35 degrees south. Sandstone, porphyry, and granite, +succeed each other from the coast to a very considerable distance into the +interior, on a N. W. line. The light ferruginous dust that is distributed +over the county of Cumberland, and which annoys the traveller by its +extreme minuteness, to the eastward of the Blue Mountains, is as different +from the coarse gravelly soil on the secondary ranges to the westward of +them, as the barren scrubs and thickly-wooded tracts of the former +district are to the grassy and open forests of the latter. + +As soon as I began to descend to the westward it became necessary to pay +strict and earnest attention to the features of the country through which +I passed, in order to determine more accurately the different appearances +which, as I was led to expect, the rivers would assume. In the course of +my examination I found, first, that the broken country through which I +travelled, was generally covered with a loose, coarse, and sandy soil; +and, secondly, that the ranges were wholly deficient in that peat +formation which fills the valleys, or covers the flat summits of the hills +or mountains, in the northern hemisphere. The peculiar property of this +formation is to retain water like a sponge; and to this property the +regular and constant flow of the rivers descending from such hills, may, +in a great measure, be attributed. In New South Wales on the contrary, the +rains that fall upon the mountains drain rapidly through a coarse and +superficial soil, and pour down their sides without a moment's +interruption. The consequence is that on such occasions the rivers are +subject to great and sudden rises, whereas they have scarcely water enough +to support a current in ordinary seasons. At one time the traveller will +find it impracticable to cross them: at another he may do so with ease; +and only from the remains of debris in the branches of the trees high +above, can he judge of the furious torrent they must occasionally +contain. + +This seeming deviation on the part of Nature from her usual laws will no +longer appear such, if we consider its results for a moment. The very +floods which swell the rivers to overflowing, are followed by the most +beneficent effects; and, rude and violent as the means are by which she +accomplishes her purpose, they form, no doubt, a part of that process by +which she preserves the balance of good and evil. Vast quantities of the +best soil have been thus washed down from the mountains to accumulate in +more accessible places. From frequent depositions, a great extent of +country along the banks of every river and creek has risen high above the +influence of the floods, and constitutes the richest tracts in the colony. +The alluvial flats of the Nepean, the Hawkesbury, and the Hunter, are +striking instances of the truth of these observations; to which the plains +of O'Connell and Bathurst must be added. The only good soil upon the two +latter, is in the immediate neighbourhood of the Macquarie River: but, +even close to its banks, the depositions are of little depth, lying on a +coarse gravelly soil, the decomposition of the nearer ranges. The former +is found to diminish in thickness, according to the concavity of the +valley through which the Macquarie flows, and at length becomes mixed with +the coarser soil. This deposit is alone fit for agricultural purposes; +but it does not necessarily follow that the distant country is unavailable +since it is admitted, that the best grazing tracts are upon the secondary +ranges of granite and porphyry. These ranges generally have the appearance +of open forest, and are covered with several kinds of grasses, among which +the long oat-grass is the most abundant. + +COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND. + +If we except the valley of the Nepean, the banks of the South Creek, the +Pennant Hills near Parramatta, and a few other places, the general soil of +the county of Cumberland, is of the poorest description. It is superficial +in most places, resting either upon a cold clay, or upon sandstone; and +is, as I have already remarked, a ferruginous compound of the finest dust. +Yet there are many places upon its surface, (hollows for instance,) in +which vegetable decay has accumulated, or valleys, into which it has been +washed, that are well adapted for the usual purposes of agriculture, and +would, if the country was more generally cleared, be found to exist to a +much greater extent than is at present imagined. I have frequently +observed the isolated patches of better land, when wandering through the +woods, both on the Parramatta River, and at a greater distance from the +coast. And I cannot but think, that it would be highly advantageous to +those who possess large properties in the County of Cumberland to let +Portions of them. The concentration of people round their capital, +promotes more than anything else the prosperity of a colony, by creating +a reciprocal demand for the produce both of the country and the town, +since the one would necessarily stimulate the energy of the farmer, as the +other would rouse the enterprise of the merchant. The consideration, +however, of such a subject is foreign to my present purpose. + +It must not be supposed, that because I have given a somewhat particular +description of the County of Cumberland, I have done so with a view to +bring it forward as a specimen of the other counties, or to found upon it +a general description of the colony. It is, in fact, poorer in every +respect than any tract of land of similar extent in the interior, and is +still covered with dense forests of heavy timber, excepting when the trees +have been felled by dint of manual labour, and the ground cleared at an +expense that nothing but its proximity to the seat of government could +have justified. But experience has proved, that neither the labour nor the +the expense have been thrown away. Many valuable farms and extensive +gardens chequer the face of the country, from which the proprietors +derive a very efficient income. + +COUNTRY WEST OF BLUE MOUNTAINS. + +To the westward of the Blue Mountains, the country differs in many +respects from that lying between those ranges and the coast; and although, +its aspect varies in different places, three principal features appear +more immediately to characterise it. These are, first, plains of +considerable extent wholly destitute of timber; secondly, open undulating +woodlands; and, thirdly, barren unprofitable tracts. The first almost +invariably occur in the immediate neighbourhood of some river, as the +Plains of Bathurst, which are divided by the Macquarie; Goulburn Plains, +through which the Wallandilly flows; and Yass Plains, which are watered by +a river of the same name. The open forests, through which the horseman may +gallop in perfect safety, seem to prevail over the whole secondary ranges +of granite, and are generally considered as excellent grazing tracts. Such +is the country in Argyleshire on either side of the Lachlan, where that +river crosses the great southern road near Mr. Hume's station; such also +are many parts of Goulburn and the whole extent of country lying between +Underaliga and the Morumbidgee River. The barren tracts, on the other +hand, may be said to occupy the central spaces between all the principal +streams. With regard to the proportion that these different kinds of +country bear to each other, there can be no doubt of the undue +preponderance of the last over the first two; but there are nevertheless +many extensive available tracts in every part of the colony. + +MEANS OF INLAND TRANSPORT. + +The greatest disadvantage under which New South Wales labours, is the want +of means for conveying inland produce to the market, or to the coast. The +Blue Mountains are in this respect a serious bar to the internal +prosperity of the colony. By this time, however, a magnificent +road will have been completed across them to the westward, over parts of +which I travelled in 1831. Indeed the efforts of the colonial government +have been wisely directed, not only to the construction of this road, +which the late Governor, General Darling commenced, but also in +facilitating the communication to the southern districts, by an almost +equally fine road over the Razor Back Range, near the Cow Pastures; so +that as far as it is possible for human efforts to overcome natural +obstacles, the wisdom and foresight of the executive have ere this been +successful. + +DISADVANTAGES OF DISTANT SETTLERS. + +The majority of the settlers in the Bathurst country, and in the more +remote interior, are woolgrowers; and as they send their produce to the +market only once a year, receiving supplies for home consumption, on the +return of their drays or carts from thence, the inconvenience of bad +roads is not so much felt by them. But to an agriculturist a residence to +the westward of the Blue Mountains is decidedly objectionable, unless he +possess the means with which to procure the more immediate necessaries of +life, otherwise than by the sale of his grain or other produce, and can be +satisfied to cultivate his property for home consumption, or for the +casual wants of his neighbours. Under such circumstances, a man with a +small private income would enjoy every rational comfort. But of course, +not only in consequence of the loss of labour, but the chance of accidents +during a long journey, the more the distance is increased from Sydney, as +the only place at which the absolute necessaries of life can be purchased, +the greater becomes the objection to a residence in such a part of the +country; and on this account it is, that although some beautiful locations +both as to extent and richness, are to be found to the westward of +Bathurst, equally on the Bell, the Macquarie and the Lachlan, it is not +probable they will be taken up for many years, or will only be occupied as +distant stock stations. + +CHARACTER OF EASTERN COAST. + +Since, therefore, it appears from what has been advanced, that it is not +to the westward the views of any settlers should be directed, excepting +under particular circumstances, it remains for us to consider what other +parts of the colony hold out, or appear to hold out, greater advantages. +The eye naturally turns to the south on the one hand, and to +Port Macquarie northerly on the other. It is to be remarked that the +eastern shores of Australia partake of the same barren character that +marks the other three. It is generally bounded to a certain extent by a +sandy and sterile tract. There are, however, breaks in so prolonged a +line, as might have been expected, where, from particular local causes, +both the soil and vegetation are of a superior kind. At Illawarra for +instance, the contiguity of the mountains to the coast leaves no room for +the sandy belt we have noticed, but the debris from them reaches to the +very shore. Whether from reflected heat, or from some other peculiarity of +situation, the vegetation of Illawarra is of an intertropical character, +and birds that are strangers to the county of Cumberland frequent its +thickets. There is no part of Australia where the feathered race are more +beautiful, or more diversified. The most splendid pigeon, perhaps, that +the world produces, and the satin bird, with its lovely eye, feed there +upon the berries of the ficus (wild fig,) and other trees: and a numerous +tribe of the accipitrine class soar over its dense and spacious forests. + +PORT MACQUARIE AND FIVE ISLANDS. + +We again see a break in the sandy line of the coast at Broken Bay, at +Newcastle, and still further north at Port Macquarie; at which places the +Hawkesbury, the Hunter, and the Hastings severally debouche. Of Port +Macquarie, as a place of settlement, I entertain a very high opinion, in +consequence of its being situated under a most favourable parallel +latitude. I am convinced it holds out many substantial advantages. One of +the most important of these is the circumstance of its having been much +improved when occupied as a penal settlement. And since the shores of the +colony are how navigated by steam-boats, the facility of water +communication would be proportionably great. + +I believe the Five Islands or Illawarr district is considered peculiarly +eligible for small settlers. The great drawback to this place is the +heavy character of its timber and the closeness of its thickets, which vie +almost with the American woods in those respects. The return, however, is +adequate to the labour required in clearing the ground. Between the Five +Islands and Sydney, a constant intercourse is kept up by numerous small +craft; and a communication with the interior, by branch roads from the +great southern line to the coast, would necessarily be thrown open, if the +more distant parts of it were sufficiently peopled. + +RICH TRACTS IN THE INTERIOR. + +Recent surveys have discovered to us rich and extensive tracts in the +remote interior between Jervis Bay and Bateman's Bay, and southwards upon +the western slope of the dividing range. The account given by Messrs. +Hovel and Hume is sufficient to prove that every valley they crossed was +worthy of notice, and that the several rivers they forded were flanked by +rich and extensive flats. + +The distance of Moneroo Plains, and of the Doomot and Morumbidgee Rivers +from Sydney, alarms the settler, who knows not the value of those +localities; but men whose experience has taught them to set this obstacle +at nought, have long depastured their herds on the banks of the last two. +The fattest cattle that supply the Sydney market are fed upon the rich +flats, and in the grassy valleys of the Morumbidgee; and there are several +beautiful farms upon those of the Doomot. Generally speaking, the persons +who reside in those distant parts, pay little attention to the comfort of +their dwellings, or to the raising of more grain than their establishments +may require; but there can be no doubt this part of the interior ought to +be the granary of New South Wales; its climate and greater humidity being +more favourable than that of Sydney for the production of wheat. + +PERIODICAL DROUGHTS; THE SEASONS AFFECTED BY THE MARSHES. + +The most serious disadvantages under which the colony of New South Wales +labours, is in the drought to which it is periodically subject. Its +climate may be said to be too dry; in other respects it is one of the most +delightful under heaven; and experience of the certainty of the recurrence +of the trying seasons to which I allude, should teach men to provide +against their effects. Those seasons, during which no rain falls, appear, +from the observations of former writers, to occur every ten or twelve +years; and it is somewhat singular that no cause has been assigned for +such periodical visitations. Whether the state of the interior has +anything to do with them, and whether the wet or dry condition of the +marshes at all regulate the seasons, is a question upon which I will not +venture to give my decisive opinion. But most assuredly, when the interior +is dry, the seasons are dry, and VICE VERSA. Indeed, not only is this the +case, but rains, from excessive duration in the first year after a +drought, decrease gradually year after year, until they wholly cease for a +time. It seems not improbable, therefore, that the state of the interior +does, in some measure, regulate the fall of rain upon the eastern ranges, +which appears to decrease in quantity yearly as the marshes become +exhausted, and cease altogether, when they no longer contain any water. A +drought will naturally follow until such time as the air becomes +surcharged with clouds or vapour from the ocean, which being no longer +able to sustain their own weight, descend upon the mountains, and being +conveyed by hundreds of streams into the western lowlands, again fill the +marshes, and cause the recurrence of regular seasons. + +TEMPERATURE OF THE CLIMATE. + +The thermometer ranges during the summer months, that is, from September +to March, from 36 degrees to 106 degrees of Fahrenheit, but the mean +of the temperature during the above period is 70 degrees. The instrument +in the winter months ranges from 27 degrees to 98 degrees, with a mean of +66 degrees. However great the summer heat may appear, it is certain that +the climate of New South Wales has not the relaxing and enfeebling effect +upon the constitution, which renders a residence in India or other parts +of the south so intolerable. Neither are any of the ordinary occupations +of business or of pleasure laid aside at noon, or during the hottest part +of the day. The traveller may cast himself at length under the first tree +that invites him, and repose there as safely as if he were in a palace. +Fearless of damps, and unmolested by noxious insects, his sleep is as +sound as it is refreshing, and he rises with renewed spirits to pursue his +journey. Equally so may the ploughman or the labourer seek repose beside +his team, and allow them to graze quietly around him. The delicious +coolness of the morning and the mild temperature of the evening air, in +that luxurious climate, are beyond the power of description. It appears to +have an influence on the very animals, the horses and the cattle being +particularly docile; and I cannot but think it is is some degree the same +happy effect upon some of the hardened human beings who are sent thither +from the old world. + +FRUITS. + +As I have before observed, it has not yet been discovered whether there +are any indigenous fruits of any value in Australia. In the colony of New +South Wales there certainly are none; yet the climate is peculiarly +adapted for the growth of every European and of many tropical productions. +The orange, the fig, the citron, the pomegranate, the peach, the apple, +the guava, the nectarine, the pear, and the loquette, grow side by side +together. The plantain throws its broad leaves over the water, the vine +encircles the cottages, and the market of Sydney is abundantly supplied +with every culinary vegetable. + +In a climate, therefore, so soft that man scarcely requires a dwelling, +and so enchanting that few have left it but with regret, the spirits must +necessarily be acted upon,--and the heart feel lighter. Such, indeed, I +have myself found to be the case; nor have I ever been happier than when +roving through the woods or wandering along one of the silent and +beautiful bays for which the harbour of Port Jackson is so celebrated. I +went to New South Wales as I have already remarked, highly prejudiced +against it, both from the nature of the service, and the character of the +great body of its inhabitants. My regiment has since quitted its shores, +but I am aware there are few of them who would not gladly return. The +feeling I have in its favour arises not, therefore, from the services in +which I was employed, but from circumstances in the colony itself; and I +yet hope to form one of its community and to join a number of valuable and +warm-hearted friends whom I left in that distant part of the world. + +REMARKS ON EMIGRATION. + +On the subject of emigration, it is not my intention to dwell at any +length. My object in these preliminary remarks has been to give the reader +a general idea of the country, in the interior recesses of which I am +about to lead him. Still, however, it may be useful to offer a few general +observations on a topic which has, of late years, become so interesting to +the British public. + +The main consideration with those who, possessing some capital, propose to +emigrate as the means of improving their condition, is, the society likely +to be found in the land fixed on for their future residence. One of the +first questions I have been asked, when conversing on the subject of +emigration, has consequently related to this important matter. I had only +then to observe in reply, that the civil and military establishments in +New South Wales, form the elements of as good society as it is the lot of +the majority to command in Great Britain. + +The houses of the settlers are not scattered over a greater surface than +the residences of country gentlemen here, and if they cannot vie with them +in size, they most assuredly do in many other more important respects; and +if a substantial cottage of brick or stone has any claim to the rank of a +tenantable mansion, there are few of them which do not posses all the +means of exercising that hospitality for which young communities are +remarkable. + +But to sever the links of kindred, and to abandon the homes of our fathers +after years of happy tranquillity, is a sacrifice the magnitude of which +is unquestionable. The feelings by which men are influenced under such +circumstances have a claim to our respect. Indeed, no class of persons can +have a stronger hold upon our sympathies than those whom unmerited adverse +fortune obliges to seek a home in a distant country. + +Far, therefore, be it from me to dispute a single expression of regret to +which they may give utterance. It must, however, he remembered that the +deepest feelings of anguish are providentially alleviated in time. Our +heaviest misfortunes are frequently repaired by industry and caution. The +sky clears up, as it were: new interests engage the attention, and the +cares of a family or the improvement of a newly acquired property engross +those moments which would otherwise be spent in vain and unprofitable +regrets. + +DESCRIPTION OF IMMIGRANTS; MOST LIKELY TO PROSPER. + +It cannot be doubted that persons such as I have described, whose conduct +has hitherto been regulated by prudence, and whose main object is to +provide for their children, are the most valuable members of every +community, whether young or old. To such men few countries hold out +greater prospects of success than New South Wales; for the more we extend +our enquiries, the more we shall find that the success of the emigrant in +that colony depends upon his prudence and foresight rather than on any +collateral circumstance of climate or soil; and to him who can be +satisfied with the gradual acquirement of competency, it is the land of +promise. Blessed with a climate of unparalleled serenity, and of unusual +freedom from disease, the settler has little external cause of anxiety, +little apprehension of sickness among his family or domestics, and little +else to do than to attend to his own immediate interests. I should wish to +illustrate the observations by two or three instances of their practical +bearing and tendency. + +CASES OF EMIGRANTS; CAUSES OF SUCCESS OR FAILURE. + +It was on my return from my second expedition, that I visited +Lieut. ****** who resides in the southern parts of the colony. The day +after my arrival, he took me round his property, and explained the various +improvements he had made, considering the small means with which he had +commenced. At this part of our conversation, we came within view of his +house, a substantial weather-board cottage. "I trust," said I, turning +to him, "you will excuse the question I am about to ask; for your +frankness emboldens me to propose it, and on your answer much of the +effect of what you have been saying will depend. In effecting these +various improvements, and in the building of that house, have you been +obliged to embarrass yourself, or are they free from incumbrance?"--"Your +question," he said, "is a reasonable one, and I will answer it with the +frankness you are kind enough to ascribe to me. I have ever made it a rule +not to exceed my income. Mrs. ****** bore our first trials with so much +cheerfulness, and contributed so much to my happiness and my prosperity, +that I felt myself bound to build her a good house with the first money +I had to spare." I confess this answer raised my host in my estimation, +and it was a gratifying proof to me of the success that attends industry +and perseverance. + +But let us look at another case. Mr. *** had a property to the N.W. of +Sydney, and having considerable funded means when he arrived in the +colony, he soon put his property into a state of progressive improvement, +and being in truth an excellent practical farmer, it assumed the +appearance of regularity and order. Had Mr. *** stopped at this moment, +he would have been in the enjoyment of affluence and of every rational +comfort. But instead of exercising prudent rules of hospitality, he gave +way to the natural generosity of his disposition, entered into expenses he +could not afford, and was ultimately obliged to part with his estate. Now +it is deeply to be regretted, that one whose energies and abilities +particularly fitted him for the life he had chosen, should have failed +through such conduct; and it is more than probable, that if he had +commenced with smaller means, and had gradually improved his property, his +fate would have been very different. + +I shall leave these cases without any further comment, convinced as I am, +that each of them furnishes matter for serious consideration, and that +they are practical illustrations of the causes of success or failure of +those who emigrate to the colony of New South Wales. And although I do not +mean to affirm, that the majority follow Mr. ***'s example, I must venture +to assert that thoughtlessness--useless expenditure in the first +instance--waste of time and other circumstances, lead to equally ruinous +consequences. + +MORAL OBJECTIONS TO THE COLONY. + +One of the greatest objections which families have to New South Wales, is +their apprehension of the moral effects that are likely to overwhelm them +by bad example, and for which no success in life could compensate. In a +colony constituted like that of New South Wales, the proportion of crime +must of course be great. Yet it falls less under the notice of private +families than one might at first sight have been led to suppose. +Drunkenness, as in the mother country, is the besetting sin; but it is +confined chiefly to the large towns in consequence of the difficulty of +procuring spirits in the country. There are, no doubt, many incorrigible +characters sent to settle in the interior, and it is an evil to have these +men, even for a single day, to break the harmony of a previously well +regulated establishment, or to injure its future prospects by the +influence of evil example. They are men who are sent upon trial, from on +board a newly arrived ship, and they generally terminate their misconduct +either on the roads or at a penal settlement, being thus happily removed +from the mass of the prisoners. Frequently, however, men remain for years +under the same master. They become attached to their occupations, their +hearts become softened by kindness, and they atone as much as they +possibly can for previous error. + +SYSTEM OF IMMIGRATION RECOMMENDED; ENCOURAGEMENT FOR EMIGRATION. + +Still there can be no doubt, but that the evil complained of is +considerable. It is from this reason, and from my personal knowledge of +the southern parts of the colony, that I should rejoice to see its flats +and its valleys filled with an industrious population of a better +description of farmers. A hope might then be reasonably indulged, that the +Home Government would not be backward in recognising, and in acting upon +a principle, the soundness of which has been felt and acknowledged in all +ages, but the chief difficulty of which rests in its judicious +application. I allude to a system of emigration. Sure I am that if it were +well organized, and care were taken to profit by the experience of the +past in similar attempts, it could not fail to be attended with ultimate +success. The evils resulting from a surplus population in an old +community, were never more seriously felt than in Great Britain at the +present moment. Assuming that the amount of surplus population is +2,000,000, the excess of labour and competition thus occasioned by +diminishing profits and wages, creates, it has been said, an indirect tax +to the enormous extent of 20,000,000 pounds per annum. It has appeared +to many experienced persons, that it is in emigration, we should best find +the means of relief from this heavy pressure; particularly if the +individuals encouraged to go out to the colonies were young persons of +both sexes, from the industrious classes of the community. Even if no +more than three couples were induced to emigrate from each parish in +England in ten years, the relief to the springs of industry would be very +great. Besides, the funds necessary for this purpose would revert to the +country by a thousand indirect channels. Persons unacquainted with our +Australian colonies, whether Van Dieman's Land or New South Wales, can +form little idea of the increasing demand for, and consumption in them of +every species of British manufacture. The liberal encouragement given by +government to every practicable scheme of emigration, and the sum advanced +by it towards the expenses of the voyage to the labouring classes, +sufficiently indicate the light in which the subject is viewed by the +legislature; and the fact that no private family taking out servants to +Sydney, has in any one instance been able to retain them, on account of +offers more advantageous from other quarters, shows clearly the great +demand for labour in the colony. If I might judge of the feelings of the +majority of respectable individuals there, from the assurances of the few, +they would willingly defray any parochial expenses attendant on the +voyage, provided the services of such individuals could be secured to them +for a time sufficiently long to remunerate them for such pavement. The +tide of emigration should be directed to Sydney, Van Dieman's Land, or +Western Australia, upon condition of the labourer's receiving a certain +sum in wages, and his daily subsistence from his employer, with an +understanding, however, that he must consider himself bound for two years +to such employer. Surely there are hundreds of our indigent countrymen, +who would gladly seek a land of such plenty, and cast away the natural, +but unavailing regret of leaving home to secure to themselves and their +families, the substantial comforts of life on such easy conditions. + +COMMITTEE FOUND AT SYDNEY. + +It is not, perhaps, generally known that a committee has been formed in +Sydney, to advise settlers as to the best mode of proceeding on arrival +there. Such a plan is one of obvious utility; and if those who may find +themselves at a loss for information would apply to this committee for +advice, rather than to individuals with whom they may become casually +acquainted, they would further their own interests, and in all probability +ensure success. Still there are some broad rules upon which every man +ought to act, which I shall endeavour to point out, and it will give me no +ordinary satisfaction, if I should be the means of directing any one to +the road of prosperity and comfort. + +HINTS TO EMIGRANTS. + +It is to be feared that those who emigrate to New South Wales, generally +anticipate too great facility in their future operations and certainty of +success in conducting them; but they should recollect that competency +cannot be obtained without labour. Every trade--every profession in this +respect, is subject to the same law--the lawyer, the physician, the +tradesman, and the mechanic. This labour is required at our hands, even in +an old community; how much more then is it called for in a new, where the +ingenuity of men is put to trial to secure those means of accomplishing +their ends which here are abundant. Now, it appears to me but consistent, +that he who is obliged to leave his native country from want of means to +hold his station there, can hardly expect to find, or rather to secure, +abundance elsewhere without some exertion. Every man who emigrates should +proceed with a conviction on his mind, that he is about to encounter years +of labour and privation. He will not then be disappointed at partial +reverses, and will be more thankful for unexpected prosperity. I feel +persuaded the tone of mind has a great deal to do with success, because it +influences the conduct of the individual. Supposing, however, that an +emigrant has taken this rational view of his situation, he should +determine on his pursuits, and allow nothing but absolute certainty of +better fortune to turn him aside. Men, however, landing at Sydney, in +their eagerness for information get bewildered, give up their original +plans, adopt new and uncertain speculations, trifle away both their time +and their money, and ultimately ruin themselves. An individual who goes to +New South Wales for the purpose of settling, should not remain in Sydney +a day longer than is necessary for the arrangement of his affairs. Every +shilling spent there is thrown away. The greatest facility is given by the +different departments of the Colonial Government to the settlers; and it +is entirely his own fault if he trifles away his time in search of +information elsewhere than at the fountainhead, or if he trusts to any +other opinion than his own, supposing him experienced as to the quality of +the land he may fix upon. Let him be speedy in his selection, and fix +himself upon his allotment as soon as possible. Instead of overstocking +his farm, or employing more labourers than he can afford to keep, let him +be satisfied with a gradual increase of his stock, and wait patiently till +he can better afford to employ labour; above all, let him avoid +embarrassing himself by the purchase of any superfluous or unnecessary +comfort. I consider that man has already failed, who runs into debt in the +first instance, or who exhausts his means in the purchase of large herds, +from the vain expectation that their increase will clear him. The time was +when those idle speculations were occasionally attended with success, but +such is not now the case. The energies of the agriculturist are directed +to their proper channel, and if the few are unable to make rapid fortunes, +the many have escaped inevitable ruin. No farm in a state of nature can be +expected to yield any return of consequence for the first year. It is +incumbent on a settler to provide for his establishment, or to retain the +means of providing for it as circumstances may require. + +Farming implements are as cheap in Sydney as in England. Horses and cattle +are cheaper. It requires little, therefore, to stock a farm in a +reasonable manner. On the other hand, the climate is so mild that the want +of a house is scarcely felt, and a temporary residence easily constructed. +On the whole I am convinced, that a man who regulates his conduct by +prudence, and who perseveringly follows up his occupations, who behaves +with kindness to those around him, and performs his social and moral +duties with punctuality, will ultimately secure to himself a home that +will make up for the one he has quitted in the land of his fathers, and +place him in as respectable and as happy a situation as that which he +there enjoyed. + + +***** + + +PROGRESS OF INLAND DISCOVERY. + +Having thrown out the foregoing remarks for the information of the general +reader, and of persons who look to Australia with the more earnest views +of selecting a colonial home, I now return to the immediate object of +these volumes; but before entering on the narrative of my own expeditions, +I think it necessary to advert cursorily to the discoveries previously +accomplished. + +The journeys of Mr. Oxley, far into the western interior of Australia, +gave rise to various and conflicting opinions as to the character of the +more central parts of that extensive continent, of which the colony of New +South Wales forms but a small portion. I feel, therefore, called upon +briefly to advert to the conclusions which that able and intelligent +officer drew from his personal observation of the country into which he +penetrated, as an acquaintance with his opinions will not only tend to +throw a clearer light on the following details, but will, also, convey +much necessary information to those of my readers who may not have +perused his journals. It is necessary, however, in order to divest the +subject of all obscureness, to trace, in the first instance, the progress +of inland discovery, in New South Wales, from the first foundation of the +colony to the period when Mr. Oxley's exertions attracted the public +attention. + +In the year 1788, the British Government took formal possession of the +eastern coast of Australia, by the establishment of a penal colony at Port +Jackson. The first settlers, under Governor Phillips, had too many +difficulties to contend with to submit themselves to be thwarted from +pursuits essential to their immediate safety and comfort, by the prospect +of remote and uncertain advantages. It was by perseverance and toil alone +that they first established and ultimately spread themselves over that +part of the territory, which, flanked by the ocean on the one hand, and +embraced as it were by the Nepean River on the other, is now entitled the +County Of Cumberland. For many years, this single district supplied the +wants of the settlers. Upon it they found ample pasture for their herds, +and sufficient employment for themselves. Nor was it until a succession of +untoward seasons, and the rapid increase of their stock pointed out to +them the necessity of seeking for more extensive pasturage, that they +contemplated surmounting that dark and rugged chain of mountains, which, +like the natural ramparts of Spain and Italy, rose high over the nether +forest, and broke the line of the western horizon. + +MR. CALEY'S ATTEMPT. + +A Mr. Caley is said to have been the first who attempted to scale the Blue +Mountains: but he did not long persevere in struggling with difficulties +too great for ordinary resolution to overcome. It appears that he retraced +his steps, after having penetrated about sixteen miles into their dark and +precipitous recesses; and a heap of stones, which the traveller passes +about that distance from Erne Ford, on the road to Bathurst, marks the +extreme point reached by the first expedition to the westward of the +Nepean river. + +LIEUT. LAWSON'S EXPEDITION. + +Shortly after the failure of this expedition, the sad effects of a long +protracted drought called forth a more general spirit of enterprise and +exertion among the settlers; and Mr. Oxley makes honorable mention of the +perseverance and resolution with which Lieut. Lawson, of the 104th +regiment, accompanied by Messrs. Blaxland and Wentworth, conducted an +expedition into the Blue Mountains. Their efforts were successful: and +the objects of their enterprise would have been completely attained, but +for the failure of their provisions at a moment when their view of the +distant interior was such as to convince them that they had overcome the +most formidable obstacles to their advance, and that in their further +progress few impediments would have presented themselves. + +MR. EVANS' DISCOVERIES. + +The success of this undertaking induced Governor Macquarie to further the +prosecution of inland discovery, and of attempts to ascertain the nature +of the country of which Mr. Lawson only obtained a glimpse. An expedition +was accordingly dispatched under Mr. Evans, the Deputy Surveyor-General, +to follow the route taken by the former one, and to penetrate as far as +practicable into the western interior. The result was the discovery of the +Macquarie river, and of Bathurst Plains. The report of Mr. Evans was so +favourable, that orders were immediately issued for the construction of a +line of road across the mountains. When that was completed, the Governor +went in person to fix the site of a future town on Bathurst Plains. From +thence Mr. Evans, who accompanied the Governor on the occasion, was +directed to proceed to the southward and westward, to ascertain the nature +of the country in that direction. He discovered another considerable +river, flowing, like the Macquarie, to the west, to which he gave the name +of the Lachlan. The promising appearance of these two streams, and the +expectation of all parties that they would be found to water rich and +extensive tracts of country, led to the fitting out of a more important +expedition than any which had before been contemplated. + +MR. OXLEY'S DISCOVERIES. + +Mr. Oxley, the Surveyor-General of the Colony, was appointed chief of this +expedition, and was directed to trace the Lachlan and Macquarie rivers, as +far as practicable, with a view to ascertain their capabilities and the +nature of the country they watered. In 1817, Mr. Oxley directed his +attention to the former river, and continued to follow its windings, until +it appeared that its waters were lost in successive marshes and it ceased +to be a river. In the following year he turned towards the Macquarie, and +traced it, in like manner, until he was checked by high reeds that covered +an extensive plain before him, amidst which the channel of the river was +lost. + +From what he observed of the country, on both these occasions, he was led +to infer that beyond the limits of his advance the interior had a uniform +level, and was, for the most part, uninhabitable and under water. Its +features must have been strongly marked to have confirmed such an opinion +in the mind of the late Surveyor-General. It stands recorded on the pages +of his journal, that he travelled over a country of many miles in extent, +after clearing the mountains, which so far from presenting any rise of +ground to the eye, bore unequivocal marks of frequent and extensive +inundation. He traced two rivers of considerable size, and found that, at +a great distance from each other, they apparently terminated in marshes, +and that the country beyond them was low and unbroken. In his progress +eastward, he crossed a third stream (the Castlereagh), about forty-five +miles from the Macquarie, seemingly not inferior to it in size, +originating in the mountains for which he was making, and flowing nearly +parallel to the other rivers into a level country like that which he had +just quitted. + +DISCOVERIES OF MESSRS. MECHAN, HUME, HOVEL AND CUNNINGHAM. + +Mr. Evans, moreover, who accompanied Mr. Oxley on these journeys, and who +had been detached by his principal from Mount Harris, to ascertain the +nature of the country in the line which the expedition was next to pursue, +having crossed the Castlereagh considerably below the place at which the +party afterwards effected a passage, reported that the river was then +running through high reeds. The inference naturally drawn by Mr. Oxley, +was, that it terminated as the Lachlan and the Macquarie had done; and +that their united waters formed an inland sea or basin. It is evident that +Mr. Oxley had this impression on his mind, when he turned towards the +coast; but the wet state of the lowlands prevented him from ascertaining +its correctness or error. Doubt, consequently, still existed as to the +nature of the country he had left behind him; a question in which the best +interests of the colony were apparently involved. Subsequently to these +discoveries, Mr. Surveyor Mechan, accompanied by Mr. Hamilton Hume, a +colonist of considerable experience, explored the country more to the +southward and westward of Sydney, and discovered most of the new country +called Argyle, and also Lake Bathurst. + +Mr. Hume was afterwards associated with a Mr. Hovel, in an excursion to +the south coast, under the auspices of Sir Thomas Brisbane. After a most +persevering and laborious journey, they reached the sea; but it is +uncertain whether they made Port Philips, or Western Port. Mr. Hume, whose +practical experience will yield to that of no man, entertains a conviction +that it was to the former they descended from the neighbouring ranges; but +Mr. Hovel, I believe supports a contrary opinion. In the early stage of +their journey, they passed over York or Yass Plains; and, after crossing +the Morumbidgee, were generally entangled among mountain ranges that +increased in height to the east and south-east. They crossed three +considerable rivers, falling westerly, which they named the Goulburn, the +Hume, and the Ovens; and found a beautiful and well-watered country in the +vicinity of the coast. + +In 1826, Mr. Allan Cunningham, Botanical Collector to his late Majesty, +traversed a considerable portion of the interior to the north of Bathurst, +and, with a laudable zeal, devoted his labours to the acquisition of +general information, as well as to his more immediate professional +pursuits. In 1827, this gentleman again bent his steps towards the +northward, and succeeded in gaining the 28th parallel of latitude; and, +on a subsequent occasion, having taken his departure from Moreton Bay, he +connected his former journey with that settlement, and thus contributed +largely to our knowledge of the mountain country between it and the +capital. Mr. Cunningham, who, independently of his individual excursions, +had not only circumnavigated the Australian Continent with Capt. King, +but had formed also one of the party with Mr. Oxley, in the journeys +before noticed, had adopted this gentleman's opinion with regard to the +swampy and inhospitable character of the distant interior. Its depressed +appearance from the high ground on which Mr. Cunningham subsequently +moved, tended to confirm this opinion, which was moreover daily gaining +strength from the reports of the natives, who became more frequent in +their intercourse with the whites, and who reported that there were large +waters to the westward, on which the natives had canoes, and in which +there were fish of great size. + +It became, therefore, a current opinion, that the western interior of New +Holland comprehended an extensive basin, of which the ocean of reeds which +had proved so formidable to Mr. Oxley, formed most probably the outskirts; +and it was generally thought that an expedition proceeding into the +interior, would encounter marshes of vast extent, which would be extremely +difficult to turn, and no less dangerous to enter. + +It remained to be proved, however, whether these conjectures were founded +in fact. The chief difficulty lay in the character of the country, and in +providing the necessary means to ensure success. Those which were resorted +to will be found in the succeeding chapter. Whether they would have been +found sufficient and applicable had the interior been wholly under water, +is doubtful; and my impression on this point induced me to make more +efficient arrangements on the second expedition. + + + + + +EXPEDITION DOWN THE BANKS OF THE MACQUARIE RIVER IN 1828 AND 1829. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + +State of the Colony in 1828-29--Objects of the Expedition--Departure +from Sydney--Wellington Valley--Progress down the Macquarie--Arrival at +Mount Harris--Stopped by the marshes--Encamp amidst reeds--Excursions down +the river--Its termination--Appearance of the marshes--Opthalmic +affection of the men--Mr. Hume's successful journey to the northward-- +Journey across the plain--Second great marsh--Perplexities--Situation of +the exploring party--Consequent resolutions. + + +The year 1826 was remarkable for the commencement of one of those fearful +droughts to which we have reason to believe the climate of New South Wales +is periodically subject. It continued during the two following years with +unabated severity. The surface of the earth became so parched up that +minor vegetation ceased upon it. Culinary herbs were raised with +difficulty, and crops failed even in the most favourable situations. +Settlers drove their flocks and herds to distant tracts for pasture and +water, neither remaining for them in the located districts. The interior +suffered equally with the coast, and men, at length, began to despond +under so alarming a visitation. It almost appeared as if the Australian +sky were never again to be traversed by a cloud. + +OBJECTS OF THE EXPEDITION. + +But, however severe for the colony the seasons had proved, or were likely +to prove, it was borne in mind at this critical moment, that the wet and +swampy state of the interior had alone prevented Mr. Oxley from +penetrating further into it, in 1818. Each successive report from +Wellington Valley, the most distant settlement to the N. W., confirmed the +news of the unusually dry state of the lowlands, and of the exhausted +appearance of the streams falling into them. It was, consequently, hoped +that an expedition, pursuing the line of the Macquarie, would have a +greater chance of success than the late Surveyor General had; and that the +difficulties he had to contend against would be found to be greatly +diminished, if not altogether removed. The immediate fitting out of an +expedition was therefore decided upon, for the express purpose of +ascertaining the nature and extent of that basin into which the Macquarie +was supposed to fall, and whether any connection existed between it and +the streams falling westerly. As I had early taken a great interest in the +geography of New South Wales, the Governor was pleased to appoint me to +the command of this expedition. + +JOURNEY FROM SYDNEY TO EMU PLAINS. + +In the month of September, 1828, I received his Excellency's commands to +prepare for my journey; and by the commencement of November, had organized +my party, and completed the necessary arrangements. On the 9th of that +month, I waited on the Governor, at Parramatta, to receive his definitive +instructions. As the establishments at Sydney had been unable to supply me +with the necessary number of horses and oxen, instructions had been +forwarded to Mr. Maxwell, the superintendent of Wellington Valley, to +train a certain number for my use; and I was now directed to push for that +settlement without loss of time. I returned to Sydney in the afternoon of +the 9th, and on the 10th took leave of my brother officers, to commence a +journey of very dubious issue; and, in company with my friend, +Staff-surgeon M'Leod, who had obtained permission to accompany me to the +limits of the colony, followed my men along the great western road. We +moved leisurely over the level country, between the coast and the Nepean +River, and availed ourselves of the kind hospitality of those of our +friends whose property lay along that line of road, to secure more +comfortable places of rest than the inns would have afforded. + +We reached Sheane, the residence of Dr. Harris, on the 11th, and were +received by him with the characteristic kindness with which friends or +strangers are ever welcomed by that gentleman, He had accompanied +Mr. Oxley as a volunteer in 1818, and his name was then given to the +mount which formed the extreme point to which the main body of the first +expedition down the banks of the Macquarie penetrated, in a westerly +direction. + +The general appearance of the property of Dr. Harris, showed how much +perseverance and labour had effected towards its improvement. Many acres +of ground bore a promising crop, over which a gloomy forest had once +waved. The Doctor's farming establishment was as complete as his husbandry +seemed to be prosperous; but he did not appear to be satisfied with the +extent of his dwelling, to which he was making considerable additions, +although I should have thought it large enough for all ordinary purposes +of residence or hospitality. The rewards of successful industry were +everywhere visible. + +FROM EMU PLAINS TO WELLINGTON VALLEY. + +On the 13th, we gained Regent's Ville, the more splendid mansion of Sir +John Jamieson, which overlooks the Nepean River, and commands the most +beautiful and extensive views of the Blue Mountains. Crossing the ford on +the 14th, we overtook the men as they were toiling up the first ascent of +those rugged bulwarks, which certainly gave no favourable earnest of the +road before us; and, as we could scarcely hope to reach the level country +to the westward without the occurrence of some accident, I determined to +keep near the drays, that I might be on hand should my presence be +required. We gained O'Connell's plains on the 20th November, and arrived +at Bathurst on the 22nd, with no other damage than the loss of one of the +props supporting the boat which snapped in two as we descended Mount York. +On examination, it was found that the boat had also received a slight +contusion, but it admitted of easy repair. + +I was detained at Bathurst longer than I intended, in consequence of +indisposition, and during my stay there experienced many proofs of the +kind hospitality of the settlers of that promising district: nor was I +ever more impressed with the importance of the service upon which I was +employed, or more anxious as to the issue, than while contemplating the +rapid advance of agriculture upon its plains, and the formidable bar to +its prosperity which I had left behind me, in the dark and gloomy ranges +which I had crossed. + +On the 27th, Mr. Hamilton Hume, whose experience well qualified him for +the task, and who had been associated with me in the expedition, having +joined me, we proceeded on our journey, and reached Wellington Valley +about the end of the month. + +WELLINGTON VALLEY. + +I wished to push into the interior without any delay, or at least, so soon +as we should have completed our arrangements and organized the party; but, +although Mr. Maxwell had paid every attention to the training of the +cattle, he was of opinion that they could not yet be wholly relied upon, +and strongly recommended that they should be kept at practice for another +week. As we could not have left the settlement under the most favourable +circumstances in less than four days, the further delay attendant on this +measure was considered immaterial, and it was, accordingly, determined +upon. Mr. Hume undertook to superintend the training of the animals, and +this left me at leisure to gather such information as would be of use to +us in our progress down the river. + +In his description of Wellington Valley, Mr. Oxley has not done it more +than justice. It is certainly a beautiful and fertile spot, and it was now +abundant in pasturage, notwithstanding the unfavourable season that had +passed over it. + +The settlement stands upon the right bank of the Bell, about two miles +above the junction of that stream with the Macquarie. Its whitewashed +buildings bore outward testimony to the cleanliness and regularity of the +inhabitants; and the respectful conduct of the prisoners under his charge, +showed that Mr. Maxwell had maintained that discipline by which alone he +could have secured respect to himself and success to his exertions, at +such a distance from the seat of government. + +The weather was so exceedingly hot, during our stay, that it was +impossible to take exercise at noon; but in the evening, or at an early +hour in the morning, we were enabled to make short excursions in the +neighbourhood. + +Mr. Maxwell informed me that there were three stations below the +settlement, the first of which, called Gobawlin, belonging to Mr. Wylde, +was not more than five miles from it; the other two, occupied by Mr. +Palmer, were at a greater distance, one being nineteen, the other +thirty-four miles below the junction of the Bell. He was good enough to +send for the stockman (or chief herdsman), in charge of the last, to give +me such information of the nature of the country below him, as he could +furnish from personal knowledge or from the accounts of the natives. + +LOW STATE OF THE MACQUARIE RIVER. + +Mr. Maxwell pointed out to me the spot on which Mr. Oxley's boats had been +built, close upon the bank of the Macquarie; and I could not but reflect +with some degree of apprehension on the singularly diminished state of the +river from what it must then have been to allow a boat to pass down it. +Instead of a broad stream and a rapid current, the stream was confined to +a narrow space in the centre of the channel, and it ran so feebly amidst +frequent shallows that it was often scarcely perceptible. The Bell, also, +which Mr. Oxley describes as dashing and rippling along its pebbly bed, +had ceased to flow, and consisted merely of a chain of ponds. + +On the 3rd of Dec, the stockman from below arrived; but the only +information we gathered from him was the existence of a lake to the left +of the river, about three days' journey below the run of his herds, on the +banks of which he assured us, the native companions, a species of stork, +stood in rows like companies of soldiers. + +He brought up a nest of small paroquets of the most beautiful plumage, as +a present to Mr. Maxwell, and affirmed that they were common about his +part of the river. The peculiarity of the seasons had also brought a +parrot into the valley which had never before visited it. This delicate +bird was noticed by Captain Cook upon the coast, and is called +PSITTACUS NOVAE HOLLANDIAE, or New Holland Parrot, by Mr. Brown. It had +not, however, been subsequently seen until the summer of 1828, when it +made its appearance at Wellington Valley in considerable numbers, together +with a species of merops or mountain bee-eater. + +DEPARTURE FOR THE INTERIOR. + +On the 5th, our preparations being wholly completed, and the loads +arranged, the party was mustered, and was found to consist of myself and +Mr. Hume, two soldiers and eight prisoners of the crown, two of whom were +to return with dispatches. Our animals numbered two riding, and seven +pack, horses, two draft, and eight pack, bullocks, exclusive of two +horses of my own, and two for the men to be sent back. + +BANKS OF THE MACQUARIE. + +The morning of the 7th December, the day upon which we were to leave the +valley, was ushered in by a cloudless sky, and that heated appearance in +the atmosphere which foretells an oppressively sultry day. I therefore put +off the moment of our departure to the evening, and determined to proceed +no further than Gobawlin. I was the more readily induced to order this +short journey because the animals had not been practised to their full +loads, and I thought they might have given some trouble at starting with +an unusual weight. They moved off however very quietly, and as if they had +been accustomed to their work by a long course of training. We took our +departure from the settlement at 3 p.m. and, crossing to the right bank of +the Macquarie, a little above its junction with the Bell, reached Mr +Wylde's station about half-past five. Thus we commenced our journey under +circumstances as favorable as could have been wished. In disengaging +ourselves on the following day from the hills by which Wellington Valley +is encompassed on the westward, with a view to approach Mr. Palmer's first +station, we kept rather wide of the river, and only occasionally touched +on its more projecting angles. The soil at a distance from the stream was +by no means so good as that in its immediate vicinity, nor was the timber +of the same description. On the rich and picturesque grounds near the +river the angophora prevailed with the flooded gum, and the scenery upon +its banks was improved by the casuarinae that overhung them. On the +latter, inferior eucalypti and cypresses were mixed together. The country +was broken and undulating, and the hills stony, notwithstanding which, +they appeared to have an abundance of pasture upon them. Mr. Hume rode +with me to the summit of a limestone elevation, from which I thought it +probable we might have obtained such a view as would have enabled us to +form some idea of the country into which we were about to descend. But in +following the river line, the eye wandered over a dark and unbroken +forest alone. The ranges from which we were fast receding formed an +irregular and beautiful landscape to the southward; and contrasted +strongly with the appearance of the country to the N. W., in which +direction it was rapidly assuming a level. + +We reached Mr. Palmer's at a late hour in the afternoon, in consequence of +a delay we experienced in crossing a gully, and encamped upon a high bank +immediately opposite to the mouth of Molle's rivulet which here joins the +Macquarie from the southward. The cattle had consumed all the food, and +the ground on both sides of the river looked bare and arid. + +No doubt, however, the face of the country in ordinary seasons wears a +very different appearance. Its general elevation continued high; nor did +the Macquarie assume any change of aspect. Mountain debris and rounded +pebbles of various kinds formed its bed, which was much encumbered with +timber. + +DIBILAMBLE. + +We had been unable to persuade any of the natives of Wellington Valley to +accompany us as guides, on our leaving that settlement. Even Mr. Maxwell's +influence failed; for, notwithstanding the promises of several, when they +saw that we were ready to depart, they either feigned sickness or stated +that they were afraid of the more distant natives. The fact is, that they +were too lazy to wander far from their own district, and too fond of +Maxwell's beef to leave it for a precarious bush subsistence. Fortunately +we found several natives with Mr. Palmer's stockmen, who readily undertook +to conduct us by the nearest route to the cataract, which we considered to +be midway between Wellington Valley and Mount Harris. We started under +their guidance for Dibilamble, Mr. Palmer's second station, and reached it +about half-past 4 p.m. The distance between the two is sixteen miles. The +country for some miles differs in no material point from that through +which we had already passed. The same rich tracts of soil near the river +and the same inferiority in the tracks remote from it. Near Dibilamble, +however, the limestone formation terminates, and gives place to barren +stony ridges, upon which the cypress callities is of close and stunted +growth. The ridges themselves were formed of a coarse kind of freestone +in a state of rapid decomposition. The Tabragar (the Erskine of Mr. Oxley) +falls into the Macquarie at Dibilamble. It had long ceased to flow, being +a small mountain torrent whose source, if we judge from the shingly nature +of its bed, cannot be very distant. Our descent was considerable during +the day; the rapids were frequent in the river, but it underwent no change +in its general appearance. Its waters were hard and transparent, and its +banks, in many places, extremely lofty; with a red sandy loam and gravel +under the alluvial deposits. It generally happened that where the bank was +high on the one side it was low and subject to flood, to a limited extent +at least, on the other. Upon these low grounds the blue-gum trees were of +lofty growth, but on the upper levels box prevailed. + +SCENERY NEAR THE RIVER. + +The views upon the river were really beautiful, and varied at every turn; +nor is it possible for any tree to exceed the casuarina in the graceful +manner in which it bends over the stream, or clings to some solitary rock +in its centre. + +It here became necessary for us to cross to the left bank of the river, +not only to avoid its numerous windings, and thus to preserve as much as +possible the direct line to Mount Harris; but also, because the travelling +was much better on the south side. We therefore availed ourselves of a +ford opposite to the ground on which the tents had stood; and then pursued +our journey, in a south-westerly course, over a country of a description +very inferior to that of any we had previously noticed. + +Iron-bark and cypresses generally prevailed along our line of route on a +poor and sandy soil, which improved after we passed Elizabeth Burn, a +small creek mentioned by Mr. Oxley. + +TAYLOR'S RIVULET. + +We approached the river again early in the day, and pitched our tent on +the summit of a sloping bank that overlooked one of its long still +reaches. We were protected from the sun by the angophora trees, which +formed a hanging wood around us, and, with its bright green foliage, gave +a cheerfulness to the scene that was altogether unusual. The opposite side +of the river was rather undulated, and the soil appeared to be of the +finest description. The grass, although growing in tufts, afforded +abundance of pasture for the cattle; and, on the whole, this struck me as +a most eligible spot for a station, and I found it occupied as such on the +return of the expedition. We had encamped about a quarter of a mile from +Taylor's Rivulet, which discharges itself into the Macquarie from the +N. E., and is the first stream, upon the right bank, below the Wellington +Valley. + +Immediately after receiving it the river sweeps away to the southward, in +consequence of which it became again necessary for us to cross it. Our +guides, who were intelligent lads, led the cattle to a ford, a little +below the junction of Taylor's Rivulet, at which we effected a passage +with some difficulty; the opposite bank being very steep, and we were +obliged to force our way up a gully for some eighty or a hundred yards +before we could extricate the team. Pursuing our journey, in a N. W. +direction, we soon left the rich and undulating grounds bordering the +river behind us. A poor, level, and open country, succeeded them. The +soil changed to a light red, sandy loam, on which eucalypti, cypresses, +and casuarinae, were intermixed with minor shrubs; of which latter, the +cherry tree (exocarpus cupressiformis) was the most prevalent. + +At about seven miles from the river we passed some barren freestone +ridges, near which Mr. Hume killed the first kangaroo we had seen. At +mid-day we passed a small creek, at which the cattle were watered; and +afterwards continued our journey through a country similar to that over +which we had already made our way. + +As we neared the stream we noticed the acacia pendula for the first +time,--an indication of our approach to the marshes. The weather still +continued extremely hot. Our journey this day was unusually long, and our +cattle suffered so much, and moved so slowly, that it was late when we +struck upon the Macquarie, at a part where its banks were so high that we +had some difficulty in finding a good watering place. + +SURPRISE SOME NATIVES. + +Being considerably in front of the party, with one of our guides, when we +neared the river, I came suddenly upon a family of natives. They were much +terrified, and finding that they could not escape, called vehemently to +some of their companions, who were in the distance. By the time Mr. Hume +came up, they had in some measure recovered their presence of mind, but +availed themselves of the first favourable moment to leave us. I was +particular in not imposing any restraint on these men, in consequence of +which they afterwards mustered sufficient resolution to visit us in our +camp. We now judged that we were about ten miles from the cataract, and +that, according to the accounts of the stockman, we could not be very +distant from the lake he had mentioned. + +NATIVE BURIAL PLACE. + +As I was unwilling to pass any important feature of the country without +enquiry or examination, I requested Mr. Hume to interrogate the strangers +on the subject. They stated that they belonged to the lake tribe, that the +lake was a short day's journey to the eastward, and that they would guide +us to it if we wished. The matter was accordingly arranged. They left us +at dusk, but returned to the camp at the earliest dawn; when we once more +crossed the river, and, after traversing a very level country for about +nine miles, arrived at our destination. We passed over the dried beds of +lagoons, and through coppices of cypresses and acacia pendula, or open +forest, but did not observe any of the barren stony ridges so common to +the N.E. About a mile, or a mile and a half, from the lake we examined a +solitary grave that had recently been constructed. It consisted of an +oblong mound, with three semicircular seats. A walk encompassed the whole, +from which three others branched off for a few yards only, into the +forest. Several cypresses, overhanging the grave, were fancifully carved +on the inner side, and on one the shape of a heart was deeply engraved. + +BUDDAH LAKE. + +We were sadly disappointed in the appearance of the lake, which the +natives call the Buddah. It is a serpentine sheet of fresh water, of +rather more than a mile in length, and from three to four hundred yards in +breadth. Its depth was four fathoms; but it seemed as if it were now five +or six feet below the ordinary level. No stream either runs into it or +flows from it; yet it abounds in fish; from which circumstance I should +imagine that it originally owed its supply to the river during some +extensive inundation. Notwithstanding that we had crossed some rich tracts +of land in our way to it, the neighbourhood of the lake was by no means +fertile. The trees around it were in rapid decay, and the little +vegetation to be seen appeared to derive but little advantage from its +proximity to water. + +EXTREME HEAT OF THE WEATHER. + +We had started at early dawn; and the heat had become intolerable long ere +the sun had gained the meridian. It was rendered still more oppressive +from the want of air in the dense bushes through which we occasionally +moved. At 2 p.m. the thermometer stood at 129 degrees of Fahrenheit, in +the shade; and at 149 degrees in the sun; the difference being exactly 20 +degrees. It is not to be wondered at that the cattle suffered, although +the journey was so short. The sun's rays were too powerful even for the +natives, who kept as much as possible in the shade. In the evening, when +the atmosphere was somewhat cooler, we launched the boat upon the lake, +in order to get some wild fowl and fish; but although we were tolerably +successful with our guns, we did not take anything with our hooks. + +The natives had, in the course of the afternoon, been joined by the rest +of the tribe, and they now numbered about three and twenty. They were +rather distant in their manner, and gazed with apparent astonishment at +the scene that was passing before them. + +If there had been other proof wanting, of the lamentably parched and +exhausted state of the interior, we had on this occasion ample evidence of +it, and of the fearful severity of the drought under which the country was +suffering. As soon as the sun dipped under the horizon, hundreds of birds +came crowding to the border of the lake, to quench the thirst they had +been unable to allay in the forest. Some were gasping, others almost too +weak to avoid us, and all were indifferent to the reports of our guns. + +CATARACT OF THE MACQUARIE. + +On leaving the Buddah, eleven only of the natives accompanied us. We +reached the river again about noon, on a north-half-east course, where it +had a rocky bed, and continued to journey along it, until we reached the +cataract at which we halted. We travelled over soil generally inferior to +that which we had seen on the preceding day, but rich in many places. The +same kind of timber was observed, but the acacia pendula was more +prevalent than any other, although near the river the flooded gum and +Australian apple-tree were of beautiful growth. + +It had appeared to me that the waters of the Macquarie had been +diminishing in volume since our departure from Wellington Valley, and I +had a favourable opportunity of judging as to the correctness of this +conclusion at the cataract, where its channel, at all times much +contracted, was particularly so on the present occasion. So little force +was there in the current, that I began to entertain doubts how long it +would continue, more especially when I reflected on the level character of +the country we had entered, and the fact of the Macquarie not receiving +any tributary between this point and the marshes. I was in consequence +led to infer that result, which, though not immediately, eventually took +place. + +As they were treated with kindness, the natives who accompanied us soon +threw off all reserve, and in the afternoon assembled at the pool below +the fall to take fish. They went very systematically to work, with short +spears in their hands that tapered gradually to a point, and sank at once +under water without splash or noise at a given signal from an elderly man. +In a short time, one or two rose with the fish they had transfixed; the +others remained about a minute under water, and then made their +appearance near the same rock into the crevices of which they had driven +their prey. Seven fine bream were taken, the whole of which they insisted +on giving to our men, although I am not aware that any of themselves had +broken their fast that day. They soon, however, procured a quantity of +muscles, with which they sat down very contentedly at a fire. My +barometrical admeasurement gave the cataract an elevation of 680 feet +above the level of the sea; and my observations placed it in east +longitude 148 degrees 3 minutes and in latitude 31 degrees 50 minutes +south. + +It became an object with us to gain the right bank of the Macquarie as +soon as possible; for it was evident that the country to the southward of +it was much more swampy than it was to the north: but for some distance +below the cataract, we found it impossible to effect our purpose. The +rocks composing the bed of the river at the cataract, which are of trapp +formation, disappeared at about eight miles below it, when the river +immediately assumed another character. Its banks became of equal height, +which had not before been the case, and averaged from fifteen to eighteen +feet. They were composed entirely of alluvial soil, and were higher than +the highest flood-marks. Its waters appeared to be turbid and deep, and +its bed was a mixture of sand and clay. The casuarina, which had so often +been admired by us, entirely disappeared and the channel in many places +became so narrow as to be completely arched over by gum-trees. + +A TRIBE OF NATIVES. + +On the 16th, we fell in with a numerous tribe of natives who joined our +train after the very necessary ceremonies of an introduction had passed, +and when added to those who still accompanied us, amounted to fifty-three. +On this occasion I was riding somewhat in front of the party, when I came +upon them. They were very different in appearance from those whom we had +surprised at the river; and from the manner in which I was received, I was +led to infer that they had been informed of our arrival, and had +purposely assembled to meet us. I was saluted by an old man, who had +stationed himself in front of his tribe, and who was their chief. Behind +him the young men stood in a line, and behind them the warriors were +seated on the ground. + +CONDUCT OF THE NATIVES. + +I had a young native with me who had attached himself to our party, and +who, from his extreme good nature and superior intelligence, was +considered by us as a first-rate kind of fellow. He explained who and what +we were, and I was glad to observe that the old chief seemed perfectly +reconciled to my presence, although he cast many an anxious glance at the +long train of animals that were approaching. The warriors, I remarked, +never lifted their eyes from the ground. They were hideously painted with +red and yellow ochre, and had their weapons at their sides, while their +countenances were fixed, sullen, and determined. In order to overcome this +mood, I rode up to them, and, taking a spear from the nearest, gave him +my gun to examine; a mark of confidence that was not lost upon them, for +they immediately relaxed from their gravity, and as soon as my party +arrived, rose up and followed us. That which appeared most to excite their +surprise, was the motion of the wheels of the boat carriage. The young +native whom I have noticed above, acted as interpreter, and, by his +facetious manner, contrived to keep the whole of us in a fit of laughter +as we moved along. He had been named Botheri by some stockman. + + +In consequence of our wish to cross the river, we kept near it, and +experienced considerable delay from the frequent marshes that opposed +themselves to our progress. In one of these we saw a number of ibises and +spoonbills; and the natives succeeded in killing two or three snakes. Our +view to the westward was extremely limited; but to the eastward the +country appeared in some places to expand into plains. + +CROSSING OF THE RIVER. + +After travelling some miles down the banks of the river, finding that they +still retained their steep character, we turned back to a place which Mr. +Hume had observed, and at which he thought we might, with some little +trouble, cross to the opposite side. And, however objectionable the +attempt was, we found ourselves obliged to make it. We descended, +therefore, into the channel of the river, and unloaded the animals and +boat-carriage. In order to facilitate the ascent of the right bank, some +of the men were directed to cut steps up it. I was amused to see the +natives voluntarily assist them; and was surprised when they took up bags +of flour weighing 100 pounds each, and carried them across the river. We +were not long in getting the whole of the stores over. The boat was then +hoisted on the shoulders of the strongest, and deposited on the top of the +opposite bank; and ropes being afterwards attached to the carriage, it was +soon drawn up to a place of safety. The natives worked as hard as our own +people, and that, too, with a cheerfulness for which I was altogether +unprepared, and which is certainly foreign to their natural habits. We +pitched our tents as soon as we had effected the passage of the river; +after which, the men went to bathe, and blacks and whites were mingled +promiscuously in the stream. I did not observe that the former differed in +any respect from the natives who frequent the located districts. They were +generally clean limbed and stout, and some of the young men had pleasing +intelligent countenances. They lacerate their bodies, inflicting deep +wounds to raise the flesh, and extract the front teeth like the Bathurst +tribes; and their weapons are precisely the same. They are certainly a +merry people, and sit up laughing and talking more than half the night. + +BAROMETER BROKEN. + +During the removal of the stores my barometer was unfortunately broken, +and I had often, in the subsequent stages of the journey, occasion to +regret the accident. I apprehend that the corks in the instrument, placed +to steady the tube, are too distant from each other in most cases; and +indeed I fear that barometers as at present constructed, will seldom be +carried with safety in overland expeditions. + +DESERTED BY THE NATIVES. + +Nine only of the natives accompanied us on the morning succeeding the day +in which we crossed the river. Botheri was, however, at the head of them; +and, as we journeyed along, he informed me that he had been promised a +wife on his return from acting as our guide, by the chief of the last +tribe. The excessive heat of the weather obliged us to shorten our +journey, and we encamped about noon in some scrub after having traversed a +level country for about eleven miles. + +Several considerable plains were noticed to our right, stretching east and +west, which were generally rich in point of soil; but we passed through +much brushy land during the day. It was lamentable to see the state of +vegetation upon the plains from want of moisture. Although the country +had assumed a level character, and was more open than on the higher +branches of the Macquarie, the small freestone elevations, backing the +alluvial tracts near the river, still continued upon our right, though +much diminished in height, and at a great distance from the banks. They +seemed to be covered with cypresses and beef-wood, but dwarf-box and the +acacia pendula prevailed along the plains; while flooded-gum alone +occupied the lands in the immediate neighbourhood of the stream, which was +evidently fast diminishing, both in volume and rapidity; its bed, however, +still continuing to be a mixture of sand and clay. + +The cattle found such poor feed around the camp that they strayed away in +search of better during the night. On such an occasion Botheri and his +fraternity would have been of real service; but he had decamped at an +early hour, and had carried off an axe, a tomahawk, and some bacon, +although I had made him several presents. I was not at all surprised at +this piece of roguery, since cunning is the natural attribute of a savage; +but I was provoked at their running away at a moment when I so much +required their assistance. + +Left to ourselves, I found Mr. Hume of the most essential service in +tracking the animals, and to his perseverance we were indebted for their +speedy recovery, They had managed to find tolerable feed near a serpentine +sheet of water, which Mr. Hume thought it would be advisable to examine. +We directed our course to it as soon as the cattle were loaded, moving +through bush, and found it to be a very considerable creek that receives a +part of the superfluous waters of the Macquarie, and distributes them, +most probably, over the level country to the north. It was much wider than +the river, being from fifty to sixty yards across, and is resorted to by +the natives, who procure muscles from its bed in great abundance. We were +obliged to traverse its eastern bank to its junction with the river, at +which it fortunately happened to be dry. We had, however, to cut roads +down both its banks before we could cross it; and, consequently, made but +a short day's journey. The soil passed over was inferior to the generality +of soil near the river, but we encamped on a tongue of land on which both +the flooded-gum and the grass were of luxuriant height. We found a +quantity of a substance like pipe-clay in the bed of the river, similar to +that mentioned by Mr. Oxley. + +GREAT HEAT. + +The heat, which had been excessive at Wellington Valley, increased upon us +as we advanced into the interior. The thermometer was seldom under 114 +degrees at noon, and rose still higher at 2 p.m. We had no dews at night, +and consequently the range of the instrument was trifling in the +twenty-four hours. The country looked bare and scorched, and the plains +over which we journeyed had large fissures traversing them, so that the +earth may literally be said to have gasped for moisture. The country, +which above the cataract had borne the character of open forest, excepting +on the immediate banks of the river, where its undulations and openness +gave it a park-like appearance, or where the barren stony ridges prevailed +below that point, generally exhibited alternately plain and brush, the +soil on both of which was good. On the former, crested pigeons were +numerous, several of which were shot. We had likewise procured some of the +rose-coloured and grey parrots, mentioned by Mr. Oxley, and a small +paroquet of beautiful plumage; but there was less of variety in the +feathered race than I expected to find, and most of the other birds we had +seen were recognised by me as similar to specimens I had procured from +Melville Island, and were, therefore, most probably birds of passage. + +ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY, AND THE RIVER. + +As we neared Mount Harris, the Macquarie became more sluggish in its flow, +and fell off so much as scarcely to deserve the name of a river. In +breadth, it averaged from thirty-five to forty-five yards, and in the +height of its banks, from fifteen to eighteen. Mr. Hume had succeeded in +taking some fish at one of the stock stations; but if I except those +speared by the natives, we had since been altogether unsuccessful with the +hook, a circumstance which I attribute to the lowness of the river itself. + +About thirty miles from the cataract the country declines to the north as +a medium point, and again changes somewhat in its general appearance. To +the S. and S.W. it appeared level and wooded, while to the N. the plains +became more frequent, but smaller, and travelling over them was extremely +dangerous, in consequence of the large fissures by which they were +traversed. The only trees to be observed were dwarf-box and the acacia +pendula, both of stunted growth, although flooded-gum still prevailed upon +the river. + +On the 20th we travelled on a N.W. course, and in the early part of the +day passed over tolerably good soil. It was succeeded by a barren scrub, +through which we penetrated in the direction of Welcome Rock, a point we +had seen from one of the Plains and had mistaken for Mount Harris. + +ARRIVAL AT MOUNT HARRIS. + +On a nearer approach, however, we observed our error, and corrected it by +turning more to the left; and we ultimately encamped about a mile to the +W.S.W. of the latter eminence. On issuing from the scrub we found +ourselves among reeds and coarse water-grass; and, from the appearance of +the country, we were led to conclude that we had arrived at a part of the +interior more than ordinarily subject to overflow. + +As soon as the camp was fixed, Mr. Hume and I rode to Mount Harris, over +ground subject to flood and covered for the most part by the polygonum, +being too anxious to defer our examination of its neighbourhood even for a +few hours. + +VESTIGES OF MR. OXLEY'S ENCAMPMENT. + +Nearly ten years had elapsed since Mr. Oxley pitched his tents under the +smallest of the two hills into which Mount Harris is broken. There was no +difficulty in hitting upon his position. The trenches that had been cut +round the tents were still perfect, and the marks of the fire-places +distinguishable; while the trees in the neighbourhood had been felled, +and round about them the staves of some casks and a few tent-pegs were +scattered. Mr. Oxley had selected a place at some distance from the river, +in consequence of its then swollen state. I looked upon it from the same +ground, and could not discern the waters in its channel; so much had they +fallen below their ordinary level. He saw the river when it was +overflowing its banks; on the present occasion it had scarcely sufficient +water to support a current. On the summit of the greater eminence, which +we ascended, there remained the half-burnt planks of a boat, some clenched +and rusty nails, and an old trunk; but my search for the bottle Mr. Oxley +had left was unsuccessful. + +A reflection naturally arose to my mind on examining these decaying +vestiges of a former expedition, whether I should be more fortunate than +the leader of it, and how far I should be enabled to penetrate beyond the +point which had conquered his perseverance. Only a week before I left +Sydney I had followed Mr. Oxley to the tomb. A man of uncommon quickness, +and of great ability, the task of following up his discoveries was not +less enviable than arduous; but, arrived at that point at which his +journey may be said to have terminated and mine only to commence, I knew +not how soon I should be obliged, like him, to retreat from the marshes +and exhalations of so depressed a country. My eye instinctively turned to +the North-West, and the view extended over an apparently endless forest. +I could trace the river line of trees by their superior height; but saw no +appearance of reeds, save the few that grew on the banks of the stream. + +Mount Foster, somewhat higher than Mount Harris, on the opposite side of +the river, alone broke the line of the horizon to the North N.W. at a +distance of five miles. From that point all round the compass, the low +lands spread, like a dark sea, before me; except where a large plain +stretching from E. to W., and lying to the S.E. broke their monotony; +and if there was nothing discouraging, there certainly was nothing +cheering, in the prospect. + +ILLNESS OF TWO OF THE MEN. + +On our return to the camp, I was vexed to find two of the men, Henwood and +Williams, with increased inflammation of the eyes, of which they had +previously been complaining, and I thought it advisable to bleed the +latter. + +In consequence of the indisposition of these men, we remained stationary +on the 21st, which enabled me to pay a second visit to Mount Harris. On +ascending the smaller hill, I was surprised to find similar vestiges on +its summit to those I had noticed on the larger one; in addition to which, +the rollers still continued on the side of the hill, which had been used +to get the boat up it. [Mr. Oxley had two boats; one of which he dragged +to the top of each of these hills, and left them turned bottom upwards, +buryinq a bottle under the head of the larger boat, which was conveyed to +the more distant hill.] + +Mount Harris is of basaltic formation, but I could not observe any +columnar regularity in it, although large blocks are exposed above the +ground. The rock is extremely hard and sonorous. + +MOUNT FOSTER AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. + +We moved leisurely towards Mount Foster, on the 22nd, and arrived opposite +to it a little before sunset. The country between the two is mostly open, +or covered only with the acacia pendula and dwarf-box. The soil, although +an alluvial deposit, is not of the best; nor was vegetation either fresh +or close upon it. As soon as the party stopped, I crossed the river, and +lost no time in ascending the hill, being anxious to ascertain if any +fresh object was visible from its summit, I thought that from an eminence +so much above the level of the surrounding objects, I might obtain a view +of the marshes, or of water; but I was wholly disappointed. The view was +certainly extensive, but it was otherwise unsatisfactory. Again to the +N.W. the lowlands spread in darkness before me; there were some +considerable plains beyond the near wood; but the country at the foot of +the hill appeared open and promising. Although the river line was lost in +the distance, it was as truly pointed out by the fires of the natives, +which rose in upright columns into the sky, as if it had been marked by +the trees upon its banks. + +To the eastward, Arbuthnot's range rose high above the line of the +horizon, bearing nearly due East, distant seventy miles. The following +sketch of its outlines will convey a better idea of its appearance from +Mount Foster than any written description. + +[small sketch here--not shown in etext] + +I stayed on the mount until after sunset, but I could not make out any +space that at all resembled the formidable barrier I knew we were so +rapidly approaching. I saw nothing to check our advance, and I therefore +returned to the camp, to advise with Mr. Hume upon the subject. Not having +been with me on Mount Foster, he took the opportunity to ascend it on the +following morning; and on his return concurred with me in opinion, that +there was no apparent obstacle to our moving onwards. As the men were +considerably better, I had the less hesitation in closing with the +marshes. We left our position, intending to travel slowly, and to halt +early. + +The first part of our journey was over rich flats, timbered sufficiently +to afford a shade, on which the grass was luxuriant; but we were obliged +to seek more open ground, in consequence of the frequent stumbling of the +cattle. + +We issued, at length, upon a plain, the view across which was as dreary as +can be imagined; in many places without a tree, save a few old stumps +left by the natives when they fired the timber, some of which were still +smoking in different parts of it. Observing some lofty trees at the +extremity of the plain, we moved towards them, under an impression that +they indicated the river line. But on this exposed spot the sun's rays +fell with intense power upon us, and the dust was so minute and +penetrating, that I soon regretted having left the shady banks of the +river. + +About 2.p.m. we neared the trees for which we had been making, over ground +evidently formed by alluvial deposition, and were astonished to find that +reeds alone were growing under the trees as far as the eye could +penetrate. It appeared that we were still some distance from the river, +and it was very doubtful how far we might be from water, for which the +men were anxiously calling. I therefore halted, and sent Fraser into the +reeds towards some dead trees, on which a number of spoonbills were +sitting. He found that there was a small lake in the centre of the reeds, +the resort of numerous wild fowl; but although the men were enabled to +quench their thirst, we found it impossible to water the animals. We were +obliged, therefore, to continue our course along the edge of the reeds; +which in a short time appeared in large masses in front of us, stretching +into a vast plain upon our right; and it became evident that the whole +neighbourhood was subject to extensive inundation. + +ENCAMP AMIDST REEDS. + +I was fearful that the reeds would have checked us; but there was a +passage between the patches, through which we managed to force our way +into a deep bight, and fortunately gained the river at the bottom of it +much sooner than we expected. We were obliged to clear away a space for +the tents; and thus, although there had been no such appearance from Mount +Foster, we found ourselves in less than seven hours after leaving it, +encamped pretty far in that marsh for which we had so anxiously looked +from its summit, and now trusting to circumstances for safety, upon +ground on which, in any ordinary state of the river, it would have been +dangerous to have ventured. Indeed, as it was, our situation was +sufficiently critical, and would not admit of hesitation on my part. + +NATURE OF THE COUNTRY. + +After the cattle had been turned out, Mr. Hume and I again mounted our +horses, and proceeded to the westward, with a view to examine the nature +of the country before us, and to ascertain if it was still practicable to +move along the river side. For, although it was evident that we had +arrived at what might strictly be called the marshes of the Macquarie, I +still thought we might be at some distance from the place where Mr. Oxley +terminated his journey. + +There was no indication in the river to encourage an idea that it would +speedily terminate; nor, although we were on ground subject to extensive +inundation, could we be said to have reached the heart of the marshes, as +the reeds still continued in detached bodies only. We forced a path +through various portions of them, and passed over ground wholly subject to +flood, to a distance of about six miles. We then crossed a small rise of +ground, sufficiently high to have afforded a retreat, had necessity +obliged us to seek for one; and we shortly afterwards descended on the +river, unaltered in its appearance, and rather increased than diminished +in size. A vast plain extended to the N.W., the extremity of which we +could not discern; though a thick forest formed its northern boundary. + +It was evident that this plain had been frequently under water, but it was +difficult to judge from the marks on the trees to what height the floods +had risen. The soil was an alluvial deposit, superficially sandy; and many +shells were scattered over its surface. To the south, the country appeared +close and low; nor do I think we could have approached the river from that +side, by reason of the huge belts of reeds that appeared to extend as far +as the the eye could reach. + +MEN ATTACKED WITH OPHTHALMIA. + +The approach of night obliged us to return to the camp. On our arrival, +we found that the state of Henwood and Williams would prevent our stirring +for a day or two. Not only had they a return of inflammation, but several +other of the men complained of a painful irritation of the eyes, which +were dreadfully blood-shot and weak. I was in some measure prepared for a +relapse in Henwood, as the exposure which he necessarily underwent on the +plain was sufficient to produce that effect; but I now became apprehensive +that the affection would run through the party. + +Considering our situation in its different bearings, it struck me that the +men who were to return to Wellington Valley with an account our our +proceedings for the Governor's information, had been brought as far as +prudence warranted. There was no fear of their going astray, as long as +they had the river to guide them; but in the open country which we were to +all appearance approaching, or amidst fields of reeds, they might wander +from the track, and irrecoverably lose themselves. I determined, +therefore, not to risk their safety, but to prepare my dispatches for +Sydney, and I hoped most anxiously, that ere they were closed, all +symptoms of disease would have terminated. + +In the course of the day, however, Spencer, who was to return with Riley +to Wellington Valley, became seriously indisposed, and I feared that he +was attacked with dysentery. Indeed, I should have attributed his illness +to our situation, but I did not notice any unusual moisture in the +atmosphere, nor did any fogs rise from the river. I therefore the rather +attributed it to exposure and change of diet, and treated him accordingly. +To my satisfaction, when I visited the men late in the evening, I found a +general improvement in the whole of them. Spencer was considerably +relieved, and those of the party who had inflammation of the eyes no +longer felt that painful irritation of which they had before complained. +I determined, therefore, unless untoward circumstances should prevent it, +to send Riley and his companion homewards, and to move the party without +loss of time. + +We had not seen any natives for many days, but a few passed the camp on +the opposite side of the river on the evening of the 25th. They would not, +however, come to us; but fled into the interior in great apparent alarm. + +DEPARTURE OF TWO MEN FOR WELLINGTON. + +On the morning of the 26th, the men were sufficiently recovered to pursue +their journey. Riley and Spencer left us at an early hour; and about +7 a.m. we pursued a N.N.W. course along the great plain I have noticed, +starting numberless quails, and many wild turkeys, by the way. Leaving +that part of the river on which Mr. Hume and I had touched considerably to +the left, we made for the point of a wood, projecting from the river line +of trees into the plain. The ground under us was an alluvial deposit, and +bore all the marks of frequent inundation. + +The soil was yielding, blistered, and uneven; and the claws of cray-fish, +together with numerous small shells, were every where collected in the +hollows made by the subsiding of the waters, between broad belts of reeds +and scrubs of polygonum. + +CONSULTATION. + +On gaining the point of the wood, we found an absolute check put to our +further progress. We had been moving directly on the great body of the +marsh, and from the wood it spread in boundless extent before us. It was +evidently lower than the ground on which we stood; we had therefore, a +complete view over the whole expanse; and there was a dreariness and +desolation pervading the scene that strengthened as we gazed upon it. +Under existing circumstances, it only remained for us either to skirt +the reeds to the northward, or to turn in again upon the river; and as I +considered it important to ascertain the direction of the Macquarie at so +critical and interesting a point, I thought it better to adopt the latter +measure. We, accordingly, made for the river, and pitched our tents, as at +the last station, in the midst of reeds. + +There were two points at this time, upon which I was extremely anxious. +The first was as to the course of the river; the second, as to the extent +of the marshes by which we had been checked, and the practicability of the +country to the northward. + +In advising with Mr. Hume, I proposed launching the boat, as the surest +means of ascertaining the former, and he, on his part, most readily +volunteered to examine the marshes, in any direction I should point out. +It was therefore, arranged, that I should take two men, and a week's +provision with me in the boat down the river; and that he should proceed +with a like number of men on an excursion to the northward. + +After having given directions as to the regulations of camp during our +absence, we separated, on the morning of the 26th for the first time, in +furtherance of the objects each had in view. + +BOAT EXCURSION. + +In pulling down the river, I found that its channel was at first extremely +tortuous and irregular, but that it held a general N.W. course, and bore +much the same appearance as it had done since our descent from Mount +Foster. + +We had a laborious task in lifting the boat over the trunks of trees that +had fallen into the channel of the river or that had been left by the +floods, and at length we stove her in upon a sunken log. The injury she +received was too serious not to require immediate repair; and we, +therefore, patched her up with a tin plate. This accident occasioned some +delay, and the morning was consumed without our having made any +considerable progress. At length, however, we got into a more open +channel. + +The river suddenly increased in breadth to thirty-five or forty-five +yards, with a depth of from twelve to twenty feet of water. Its banks +shelved perpendicularly down, and were almost on a level with the surface +of the stream; and the flood mark was not more than two feet high on the +reeds by which they were lined. We had hitherto passed under the shade of +the flooded gum, which still continued on the immediate banks of the +river; but, the farther we advanced, the more did we find these trees in a +state of decay, until at length they ceased, or were only rarely met with. + +TERMINATION OF THE RIVER. + +About 2 p.m. I brought up under a solitary tree, in consequence of heavy +rain: this was upon the left bank. In the afternoon, however, we again +pushed forward, and soon lost sight of every other object amidst reeds of +great height. The channel of the river continued as broad and as deep as +ever, but the flood mark did not show more than a foot above the banks, +which were now almost on a level with the water; and the current was so +sluggish as to be scarcely perceptible. These general appearances +continued for about three miles, when our course was suddenly, and most +unexpectedly, checked. The channel, which had promised so well, without +any change in its breadth or depth, ceased altogether; and whilst we were +yet lost in astonishment at so abrupt a termination of it, the boat +grounded. It only remained for us to examine the banks, which we did with +particular attention. Two creeks were then discovered, so small as +scarcely to deserve the name, and which would, under ordinary +circumstances, have been overlooked. The one branched off to the +north--the other to the west. We were obliged to get out of the boat to +push up the former, the leeches sticking in numbers to our legs. The creek +continued for about thirty yards, when it was terminated; and, in order +fully to satisfy myself of the fact, I walked round the head of it by +pushing through the reeds. Night coming on, we returned to the tree at +which we had stopped during the rain, and slept under it. The men cut away +the reeds, or we should not have had room to move. At 2 a.m. it commenced +raining, with a heavy storm of thunder and lightning; the boat was +consequently hauled ashore, and turned over to afford us a temporary +shelter. The lightning was extremely vivid, and frequently played upon +the ground, near the firelocks, for more than a quarter of a minute at a +time. + +It is singular, that Mr. Oxley should, under similar circumstances, have +experienced an equally stormy night, and most probably within a few yards +of the place on which I had posted myself. Notwithstanding that the +elements were raging around me, as if to warn me of the danger of my +situation, my mind turned solely on the singular failure of the river. I +could not but encourage hopes that this second channel that remained to +be explored would lead us into an open space again; and as soon as the +morning dawned we pursued our way to it. In passing some dead trees upon +the right bank, I stopped to ascend one, that, from an elevation, I might +survey the marsh, but I found it impossible to trace the river through it. +The country to the westward was covered with reeds, apparently to the +distance of seven miles; to the N.W. to a still greater distance; and to +the north they bounded the horizon. + +The whole expanse was level and unbroken, but here and there the reeds +were higher and darker than at other places, as if they grew near constant +moisture; but I could see no appearance of water in any body, or of high +lands beyond the distant forest. + +As soon as we arrived at the end of the main channel, we again got out of +the boat, and in pushing up the smaller one, soon found ourselves under a +dark arch of reeds. It did not, however, continue more than twenty yards +when it ceased, and I walked round the head of it as I had done round that +of the other. We then examined the space between the creeks, where the +bank receives the force of the current, which I did not doubt had formed +them by the separation of its eddies. Observing water among the reeds, I +pushed through them with infinite labour to a considerable distance. The +soil proved to be a stiff clay; the reeds were closely embodied, and from +ten to twelve feet high; the waters were in some places ankle deep, and in +others scarcely covered the surface. They were flowing in different +points, with greater speed than those of the river, which at once +convinced me that they were not permanent, but must have lodged in the +night during which so much rain had fallen. They ultimately appeared to +flow to the northward, but I found it impossible to follow them, and it +was not without difficulty that, after having wandered about at every +point of the compass, I again reached the boat. + +CAUSES OF THE FAILURE OF THE RIVER. + +The care with which I had noted every change that took place in the +Macquarie, from Wellington Valley downwards, enabled me, in some measure, +to account for its present features. I was led to conclude that the waters +of the river being so small in body, excepting in times of flood, and +flowing for so many miles through a level country without receiving any +tributary to support their first impulse, became too sluggish, long ere +they reached the marshes, to cleave through so formidable a barrier; and +consequently spread over the surrounding country--whether again to take +up the character of a river, we had still to determine. Unless, however, +a decline of country should favour its assuming its original shape, it was +evident that the Macquarie would not be found to exist beyond this marsh, +of the nature and extent of which we were still ignorant. The loss of my +barometer was at this time severely felt by me, since I could only guess +at our probable height above the ocean; and I found that my only course +was to endeavour to force my way to the northward, to ascertain, if I +could, from the bottom of the marshes; then penetrate in a westerly +direction beyond them, in order to commence my survey of the S.W. +interior. I was aware of Mr. Hume's perseverance, and determined, +therefore, to wait the result of his report ere I again moved the camp, to +which we returned late in the afternoon of the second day of our +departure. We found it unsufferably hot and suffocating in the reeds, and +were tormented by myriads of mosquitoes, but the waters were perfectly +sweet to the taste, nor did the slightest smell, as of stagnation, proceed +from them. I may add that the birds, whose sanctuary we had invaded, as +the bittern and various tribes of the galinule, together with the frogs, +made incessant noises around us, There were, however, but few water-fowl +on the river; which was an additional proof to me that we were not near +any very extensive lake. + +MR. HUME'S REPORT. + +Mr. Hume had returned before me to the camp, and had succeeded in finding +a serpentine sheet of water, about twelve miles to the northward; which he +did not doubt to be the channel of the river. He had pushed on after this +success, in the hope of gaining a further knowledge of the country; but +another still more extensive marsh checked him, and obliged him to retrace +his steps. He was no less surprised at the account I gave of the +termination of the river, than I was at its so speedily re-forming, and it +was determined to lose no time in the further examination of so singular a +region. + +FALSE CHANNEL; PERPLEXITIES. + +On the morning of the 28th therefore we broke up the camp, and proceeded +to the northward, under Mr. Hume's guidance, moving over ground wholly +subject to flood, and extensively covered with reeds; the great body of +the marsh lying upon our left. After passing the angle of a wood, upon our +right, from which Mount Foster was distant about fourteen miles, we got +upon a small plain, on which there was a new species of tortuous box. This +plain was clear of reeds, and the soil upon it was very rich. Crossing in +a westerly direction we arrived at the channel found by Mr. Hume, who must +naturally have concluded that it was a continuation of the river. The boat +was immediately prepared, and I went up it in order to ascertain the +nature of its formation. For two miles it preserved a pretty general width +of from twenty to thirty yards; but at that distance began to narrow, and +at length it became quite shallow and covered with weeds. We were +ultimately obliged to abandon the boat, and to walk along a native path. +The country to the westward was more open than I had expected. About a +quarter of a mile from where we had left the boat, the channel separated +into two branches; to which I perceived it owed its formation, coming, as +they evidently did, direct from the heart of the marsh. The wood through +which I had entered it on the first occasion bore south of me, to which +one of the branches inclined; as the other did to the S.W. An almost +imperceptible rise of ground was before me, which, by giving an impetus to +the waters of the marsh, accounted to me for the formation of the main +channel. It was too late, on my return to the camp, to prosecute any +further examination of it downwards; but in the morning, Mr. Hume +accompanied me in the boat, to ascertain to what point it led; and we +found that at about a mile it began to diminish in breadth, until at +length it was completely lost in a second expanse of reeds. We passed a +singular scaffolding erected by the natives, on the side of the channel, +to take fish; and also found a weir at the termination of it for the like +purpose so that it was evident the natives occasionally ventured into +the marshes. + +There was a small wood to our left which Mr. Hume endeavoured to gain, but +he failed in the attempt. He did, however, reach a tree that was +sufficiently high to give him a full view of the marsh, which appeared to +extend in every direction, but more particularly to the north, for many +miles. We were, however, at fault, and I really felt at a loss what step +to take. I should have been led to believe from the extreme flatness of +the country, that the Macquarie would never assume its natural shape, but +from the direction of the marshes I could not but indulge a hope that it +would meet the Castlereagh, and that their united waters might form a +stream of some importance. Under this impression I determined on again +sending Mr. Hume to the N.E. in order to ascertain the nature of the +country in that direction. + +EXCURSION TO THE NORTH-WEST. + +The weather was excessively hot, and as my men were but slowly recovering, +I was anxious while those who were in health continued active, to give the +others a few days of rest. I proposed, therefore, to cross the river, and +to make an excursion into the interior, during the probable time of +Mr. Hume's absence; since if, as I imagined, the Macquarie had taken a +permanent northerly course, I should not have an opportunity of examining +the distant western country. Mr. Hume's experience rendered it unnecessary +for me to give him other than general directions. + +A PLAIN ON FIRE. + +On the last day of the year we left the camp, each accompanied by two men. +I had the evening previously ordered the horses I intended taking with me +across the channel, and at an early hour of the morning I followed them. +Getting on a plain, immediately after I had disengaged myself from the +reeds on the opposite side of the river, which was full of holes and +exceedingly treacherous for the animals, I pushed on for a part of the +wood Mr. Hume had endeavoured to gain from the boat, with the intention of +keeping near the marsh. On entering it, I found myself in a thick brush of +eucalypti, casuarinae and minor trees; the soil under them being mixed +with sand. I kept a N.N.W. course through it, and at the distance of +three miles from its commencement, ascended a tree, to ascertain if I was +near the marshes; when I found that I was fast receding from them. I +concluded, therefore, that my conjecture as to their direction was right, +and altered my course to N.W., a direction in which I had observed a dense +smoke arising, which I supposed had been made by some natives near water. +At the termination of the brush I crossed a barren sandy plain, and from +it saw the smoke ascending at a few miles' distance from me. Passing +through a wood, at the extremity of the plain, I found myself at the +outskirts of an open space of great extent, almost wholly enveloped in +flames. The fire was running with incredible rapidity through the rhagodia +shrubs with which it was covered. Passing quickly over it, I continued my +journey to the N.W. over barren plains of red sandy loam of even surface, +and bushes of cypresses skirted by acacia pendula. It was not until after +sunset that we struck upon a creek, in which the water was excellent; and +we halted on its banks for the night, calculating our distance at +twenty-nine miles from the camp. The creek was of considerable size, +leading northerly. Several huts were observed by us, and from the heaps of +muscle-shells that were scattered about, there could be no doubt of its +being much frequented by the natives. The grass being fairly burnt up, our +animals found but little to eat, but they had a tolerable journey and did +not attempt to wander in search of better food. I shot a snipe near the +creek, much resembling the painted snipe of India; but I had not the means +with me of preserving it. + +A TRIBE OF NATIVES. + +Continuing our journey on the following morning, we at first kept on the +banks of the creek, and at about a quarter of a mile from where we had +slept, came upon a numerous tribe of natives. A young girl sitting by the +fire was the first to observe us as we were slowly approaching her. She +was so excessively alarmed, that she had not the power to run away; but +threw herself on the ground and screamed violently. We now observed a +number of huts, out of which the natives issued, little dreaming of the +spectacle they were to behold. But the moment they saw us, they started +back; their huts were in a moment in flames, and each with a fire-brand +ran to and fro with hideous yells, thrusting them into every bush they +passed. I walked my horse quietly towards an old man who stood more +forward than the rest, as if he intended to devote himself for the +preservation of his tribe. I had intended speaking to him, but on a nearer +approach I remarked that he trembled so violently that it was impossible +to expect that I could obtain any information from him, and as I had not +time for explanations, I left him to form his own conjectures as to what +we were, and continued to move towards a thick brush, into which they did +not venture to follow us. + +CONTINUE OUR JOURNEY. + +After a ride of about eighteen miles, through a country of alternate plain +and brush, we struck upon a second creek leading like the first to the +northward. The water in it was very bitter and muddy, and it was much +inferior in appearance to that at which we had slept. After stopping for +half-an-hour upon its banks, to rest our animals, we again pushed forward. +We had not as yet risen any perceptible height above the level of the +marshes, but had left the country subject to overflow for a considerable +space behind us. The brushes through which we had passed were too sandy to +retain water long, but the plains were of such an even surface, that they +could not but continue wet for a considerable period after any fall of +rain. They were covered with salsolaceous plants, without a blade of +grass; and their soil was generally a red sandy loam. There were +occasional patches that appeared moist, in which the calystemma was +abundant, and these patches must, I should imagine, form quagmires in the +wet season. + +On leaving the last-mentioned creek, we found a gently rising country +before us; and about three or four miles from it we crossed some stony +ridges, covered with a new species of acacia so thickly as to prevent our +obtaining any view from them. As the sun declined, we got into open forest +ground; and travelled forwards in momentary expectation, from appearances, +of coming in sight of water; but we were obliged to pull up at sunset on +the outskirts of a larger plain without having our expectation realized. +The day had been extremely warm, and our animals were as thirsty as +ourselves. Hope never forsakes the human breast; and thence it was that, +after we had secured the horses, we began to wander round our lonely +bivouac. It was almost dark, when one of my men came to inform me that he +had found a small puddle of water, to which he had been led by a pigeon. + +It was, indeed, small enough, probably the remains of a passing shower; it +was, however, sufficient for our necessities, and I thanked Providence for +its bounty to us. We were now about sixty miles from the Macquarie, in a +N.W. by W. direction, and the country had proved so extremely +discouraging, that I intimated to my men my intention of retracing my +steps, should I not discover any change in it before noon on the morrow. +A dense brush of acacia succeeded to the plain on which we had slept, +which we entered, and shortly afterwards found ourselves in an open space, +of oblong shape, at the extremity of which there was a shallow lake. The +brush completely encircled it, and a few huts were upon its banks. About +10 p.m. we got into an open forest track of better appearance than any +over which we had recently travelled. + +ISOLATED HILL. + +There was a visible change in the country, and the soil, although red, was +extremely rich and free from sand. A short time afterwards we rose to the +summit of a round hill, from which we obtained an extensive view on most +points of the compass. We had imperceptibly risen considerably above the +general level of the interior. + +VIEW FROM THE SUMMIT. + +Beneath us, to the westward, I observed a broad and thinly wooded valley; +and W. by S., distant apparently about twenty miles, an isolated mountain, +whose sides seemed almost perpendicular, broke the otherwise even line of +the horizon; but the country in every other direction looked as if it was +darkly wooded. Anticipating that I should find a stream in the valley, I +did not for a moment hesitate in striking down into it. Disappointed, +however, in this expectation, I continued onwards to the mountain, which I +reached just before the sun set. Indeed, he was barely visible when I +gained its summit; but my eyes, from exposure to his glare, became so +weak, my face was so blistered, and my lips cracked in so many places, +that I was unable to look towards the west, and was actually obliged to +sit down behind a rock until he had set. + +Perhaps no time is so favourable for a view along the horizon as the +sunset hour; and here, at an elevation of from five to six hundred feet +above the plain, the visible line of it could not have been less than from +thirty-five to forty-five miles. The hill upon which I stood was broken +into two points; the one was a bold rocky elevation; the other had its +rear face also perpendicular, but gradually declined to the north, and at +a distance of from four to five miles was lost in an extensive and open +plain in that direction. In the S.E. quarter, two wooded hills were +visible, which before had appeared to be nothing more than swells in the +general level of the country. A small hill, similar to the above, bore +N.E. by compass; and again, to the west, a more considerable mountain than +that I had ascended, and evidently much higher, reflected the last beams +of the sun as he sunk behind them. I looked, however, in vain for water. +I could not trace either the windings of a stream, or the course of a +mountain torrent; and, as we had passed a swamp about a mile from the +hill, we descended to it for the night, during which we were grievously +tormented by the mosquitoes. + +RESULTS OF THE EXCURSION. + +I had no inducement to proceed further into the interior. I had been +sufficiently disappointed in the termination of this excursion, and the +track before me was still less inviting. Nothing but a dense forest, and a +level country, existed between me and the distant hill. I had learnt, by +experience, that it was impossible to form any opinion of the probable +features of so singular a region as that in which I was wandering, from +previous appearances, or to expect the same result, as in other countries, +from similar causes. In a geographical point of view, my journey had been +more successful, and had enabled me to put to rest for ever a question of +much previous doubt. Of whatever extent the marshes of the Macquarie might +be, it was evident they were not connected with those of the Lachlan. I +had gained knowledge of more than 100 miles of the western interior, and +had ascertained that no sea, indeed that little water, existed on its +surface; and that, although it is generally flat, it still has elevations +of considerable magnitude upon it. + +Although I had passed over much barren ground, I had likewise noticed soil +that was far from poor, and the vegetation upon which in ordinary seasons +would, I am convinced, have borne a very different aspect. + +Yet, upon the whole, the space I traversed is unlikely to become the haunt +of civilized man, or will only become so in isolated spots, as a chain of +connection to a more fertile country; if such a country exist to the +westward. + +The hill which thus became the extreme of my journey, is of sandstone +formation, and is bold and precipitous. Its summit is level and lightly +timbered. As a tribute of respect to the late Surveyor-General, I called +it Oxley's Table Land, and I named the distant hills D'Urban's Group, +after Sir Benjamin D'Urban, in compliance with a previous request of my +friend Lieut. De la Condamine, that I would so name any prominent feature +of the interior that I might happen to come upon. + +RETURN TO THE CAMP. + +In returning to the camp, I made a circuit to the N.E., and reached the +Macquarie late on the evening of the 5th of January; having been absent +six days, during which we could not have ridden less than 200 miles. Yet +the horses were not so fatigued as it was natural to expect they would +have been. + +My servant informed me that a party of natives had visited the camp on the +3rd, but that they retired precipitately on seeing the animals. I +regretted to find the men but little better than when I left them. Several +still complained of a painful irritation of the eyes, and of great +weakness of sight. Attributing their continued indisposition in some +measure to our situation, I was anxious to have moved from it; but as Mr. +Hume was still absent, I could not decide upon the measure. He made his +appearance, however, on the 6th, having ridden the greater part of the day +through rain, which commenced to fall in the morning. Soon after his +arrival, Dawber, my overseer of animals, who had accompanied him, was +taken suddenly ill. During the night he became much worse, with shivering +and spasms, and on the following morning he was extremely weak and +feverish. To add to my anxiety, Mr. Hume also complained of indisposition. +His state of health made me the more anxious to quit a position which I +fancied unwholesome, and in which, if there was no apparent, there was +certainly some secret, exciting cause; and as Mr. Hume reported having +crossed a chain of ponds about four miles to the eastward, and out of the +immediate precincts of the marshes, I ordered the tents to be struck, and +placing Dawber on my horse, we all moved quietly over to them. + +MR. HUME'S EXCURSION. + +The result of Mr. Hume's journey perplexed me exceedingly. He stated, that +on setting out from the Macquarie his intention was to have proceeded to +the N.E., to ascertain how far the reeds existed in that direction, and, +if at all practicable, to reach the Castlereagh; but in case of failure, +to regain the Macquarie by a westerly course. At first he travelled nearly +four miles east, to clear the marshes, when he came on the chain of ponds +to which we had removed. + +He travelled over good soil for two miles after crossing this chain of +ponds, but afterwards got on a red sandy loam, and found it difficult to +proceed, by reason of the thickness of the brush, and the swampy state of +the ground in consequence of the late rain. + +The timber in the brushes was of various kinds, and he saw numerous +kangaroos and emus. On issuing from this brush, he crossed a creek, +leading northerly, the banks of which were from ten to twelve feet high. +Whatever the body of water usually in it is, it now only afforded a few +shallow puddles. Mr. Hume travelled through brushes until he came upon a +third creek, similar to the one he had left behind him, at which he halted +for the night. The water in it was bad, and the feed for the animals +extremely poor. The brush lined the creek thickly, and consisted chiefly +of acacia pendula and box. The country preserved an uniform level, nor did +Mr. Hume, from the highest trees, observe any break on the horizon. + +On the 2nd of January, Mr. Hume kept more northerly, being unable to +penetrate the brushes he encountered. At two miles he crossed a creek +leading to the N.W., between which and the place at which he had slept, he +passed a native burial ground, containing eight graves. The earth was +piled up in a conical shape, but the trees were not carved over as he had +seen them in most other places. + +The country became more open after he had passed the last mentioned creek, +which he again struck upon at the distance of eight miles, and as it was +then leading to the N.N.E. he followed it down for eighteen or twenty +miles, and crossed it frequently during the day. The creek was dry in most +places, and where he stopped for the night the water was bad, and the +cattle feed indifferent. + +Mr. Hume saw many huts, but none of them had been recently occupied, +although large quantities of muscle-shells were scattered about. He +computed that he had travelled about thirty miles, in a N.N.W. +direction, and the whole of the land he passed over was, generally +speaking, bad, nor did it appear to be subject to overflow. + +On the 3rd, Mr. Hume proceeded down the creek on which he had slept, on a +northern course, under an impression that it would have joined the +Castlereagh, but it took a N.W. direction after he had ridden about four +miles, and then turned again to the eastward of north. In consequence of +this, he left it, and proceeded to the westward, being of opinion that the +river just mentioned must have taken a more northerly course than Mr. +Oxley supposed it to have done. + +A short time after Mr. Hume turned towards the Macquarie, the country +assumed a more pleasing appearance. He soon cleared the brushes, and at +two miles came upon a chain of ponds, again running northerly in times of +flood. Shortly after crossing these, he found himself on an extensive +plain, apparently subject to overflow. The timber on it was chiefly of +the blue-gum kind, and the ground was covered with shells. He then thought +he was approaching the Macquarie, and proceeded due west across the flat +for about two miles. At the extremity of it there was a hollow, which he +searched in vain for water. Ascending about thirty feet, he entered a +thick brush of box and acacia pendula, which continued for fourteen miles, +when it terminated abruptly, and extensive plains of good soil commenced, +stretching from N. to S. as far as the eye could reach, on which there +were many kangaroos. Continuing to journey over them, he reached a creek +at 5 p.m. on which the wild fowl were numerous, running nearly north and +south, and he rested on its banks for the night. The timber consisted both +of blue and rough gum, and the soil was a light earth. + +Mr. Hume expected in the course of the day to have reached the Macquarie, +but on arriving at the creek, he began to doubt whether it any longer +existed, or whether it had not taken a more westerly direction. On the +following morning, therefore, he crossed the creek, and travelled +W.S.W., for about two miles over good plains; then through light brushes +of swamp-oak, cypress, box, and acacia pendula, for about twelve miles, to +another creek leading northerly. He shortly afterwards ascended a range of +hills stretching W.N.W. to which he gave the name of New Year's Range. +From these hills, he had an extensive view, although not upon the highest +part, but the only break he could see in the horizon was caused by some +hills bearing by compass W. by S. distant about twenty-five miles. There +was, however, an appearance as of high land to the northward, although Mr. +Hume thought it might have been an atmospheric deception. From the range +he looked in vain for the Macquarie, or other waters, and, as his +provisions were nearly consumed, he was obliged to give up all further +pursuit, and to retrace his steps. He fell in with two parties of natives, +which, taken collectively, amounted to thirty-five in number, but had no +communication with them. + +It was evident, from the above account, that supposing a line to have been +drawn from the camp northerly, Mr. Hume must have travelled considerably +to the westward of it, and as I had run on a N.W. course from the marshes, +it necessarily followed that our lines of route must have intersected each +other, or that want of extension could alone have prevented them from +having done so; but that, under any circumstances, they could not have +been very far apart. This was too important a point to be left undecided, +as upon it the question of the Macquarie's termination seemed to depend. + +Both Mr. Hume and myself were of opinion, that a medium course would be +the most satisfactory for us to pursue, to decide this point; and it +appeared that we could not do better than, by availing ourselves of the +creek on which we were, and skirting the reeds, to take the first +opportunity of dashing through them in a westerly direction. + +DOUBTS OF THE FURTHER EXTENSION OF THE RIVER. + +I entertained great doubts as to the longer existence of the river, and as +I foresaw that, in the event of its having terminated we should strike at +once into the heart of the interior, I became anxious for the arrival of +supplies at Mount Harris; and although I could hardly expect that they had +yet reached it, I determined to proceed thither. Mr. Hume was too unwell +for me to think of imposing additional fatigue upon him; I left him, +therefore, to conduct the party, by easy stages, to the northward, until +such time as I should overtake them. Even in one day there was a visible +improvement in the men, and Dawber's attack seemed to be rather the +effects of cold than of any thing else. A death, however, under our +circumstances, would have been so truly deplorable an event, that the +least illness was sufficient to create alarm. + +I can hardly say that I was disappointed on my arrival at Mount Harris, to +find its neighbourhood silent and deserted. I remained, however, under it +for the greater part of the next day, and, prior to leaving it, placed a +sheet of paper with written instructions against a tree, though almost +without a hope that it would remain untouched. + +PERPLEXING SITUATION. + +A little after sun-set we reached the first small marsh, at which we +slept; and on the following morning I crossed the plains of the Macquarie, +and joined the party at about fifteen miles from the creek at which I had +left it. I found it in a condition that was as unlooked for by Mr. Hume as +it was unexpected by me, and really in a most perplexing situation. + +On the day I left him, Mr. Hume only advanced about two miles, in +consequence of some derangement in the loads. Having crossed the creek, +he, the next morning, proceeded down its right bank, until it entered the +marshes and was lost. He then continued to move on the outskirts of the +latter, and having performed a journey or about eight miles, was anxious +to have stopped, but there was no water at hand. The men, however, were so +fatigued, in consequence of previous illness, that he felt it necessary to +halt after travelling about eleven miles. + +No water could be procured even here, notwithstanding that Mr. Hume, who +was quite unfit for great exertion, underwent considerable bodily fatigue +in his anxiety to find some. He was, therefore, obliged to move early on +the following morning, but neither men nor animals were in a condition to +travel; and he had scarcely made three miles' progress, when he stopped +and endeavoured to obtain a supply or water by digging pits among the +reeds. From these he had drawn sufficient for the wants of the people when +I arrived. Some rain had fallen on the 6th and 7th of the month, or it is +more than probable the expedient to which he resorted would have failed of +success. Mr. Hume, I was sorry to observe, looked very unwell; but nothing +could prevent him from further endeavours to extricate the party from its +present embarrassment. + +JOURNEY CONTINUED. + +As soon as I had taken a little refreshment, therefore, I mounted a fresh +horse; and he accompanied me across a small plain, immediately in front of +the camp, which was subject to overflow and covered with polygonum, having +a considerable extent of reeds to its right. + +From the plain we entered a wood of blue-gum, in which reeds, grass, and +brush formed a thick coppice. We at length passed into an open space, +surrounded on every side by weeds in dense bodies. The great marsh bore +south of us, and was clear and open, but behind us the blue-gum trees +formed a thick wood above the weeds. + +About two hundred yards from the outskirts of the marsh there was a line +of saplings that had perished, and round about them a number of the tern +tribe (sea swallow) were flying, one of which Mr. Hume had followed a +considerable way into the reeds the evening before, in the hope that it +would have led him to water. The circumstance of their being in such +numbers led us to penetrate towards them, when we found a serpentine sheet +of water of some length, over which they were playing. We had scarcely +time to examine it before night closed in upon us, and it was after nine +when we returned to the tents. + +From the general appearance of the country to the northward, and from the +circumstance of our having got to the bottom of the great marsh, which but +a few days before had threatened to be so formidable, I thought it +probable that the reeds would not again prove so extensive as they had +been, and I determined, if I could do so, to push through them in a +westerly direction from our position. + +SECOND GREAT MARSH. + +The pits yielded us so abundant a supply during the night, that in the +morning we found it unnecessary to take the animals to water at the +channel we had succeeded in finding the evening before; but pursuing a +westerly course we passed it, and struck deep into the reeds. At mid-day +we were hemmed in by them on every side, and had crossed over numerous +channels, by means of which the waters of the marshes are equally and +generally distributed over the space subject to their influence. Coming to +a second sheet of water, narrower, but longer, as well as we could judge, +than the first, we stopped to dine at it; and, while the men were resting +themselves, Mr. Hume rode with me in a westerly direction, to ascertain +what obstacles we still had to contend with. Forcing our way through +bodies of reeds, we at length got on a plain, stretching from S.E. to +N.W., bounded on the right by a wood of blue-gum, under which the reeds +still extended, and on the left by a wood in which they did not appear to +exist. Certain that there was no serious obstacle in our way, we returned +to the men; and as soon as they had finished their meal, led them over the +plain in a N.W. by W. direction. It was covered with shells, and was full +of holes from the effects of flood. + +CONCLUSIONS IN REGARD TO THE MACQUARIE. + +As we were journeying over it, I requested Mr. Hume to ride into the wood +upon our left, to ascertain if it concealed any channel. On his return he +informed me that he descended from the plain into a hollow, the bottom of +which was covered with small shells and bulrushes. He observed a new +species of eucalypti, on the trunks of which the water-mark was three feet +high. After crossing this hollow, which was about a quarter of a mile in +breadth, he gained an open forest of box, having good grass under it; and, +judging from the appearance of the country that no other channel could +exist beyond him, and that he had ascertained sufficient for the object I +had in view, he turned back to the plain. We stopped for the night under a +wood of box, where the grass, which had been burnt down, was then +springing up most beautifully green, and was relished exceedingly by the +animals. + +It was in consequence of our not having crossed any channel, while +penetrating through the reeds, that could by any possible exaggeration +have been laid down as the bed of the river, that I detached Mr. Hume; and +the account he brought me at once confirmed my opinion in regard to the +Macquarie, and I thenceforth gave up every hope of ever seeing it in its +characteristic shape again. + +Independently however of all circumstantial evidence, it was clear that +the river had not re-formed at a distance of twenty-five miles to the +north of us, since Mr. Hume had gone to the westward of that point, at +about the same distance on his late journey, without having observed the +least appearance of reeds or of a river. He had, indeed, noticed a hollow, +which occasionally contained water, but he saw nothing like the bed of a +permanent stream. I became convinced, also, from observation of the +country through which we had passed, that the sources of the Macquarie +could not be of such magnitude as to give a constant flow to it as a +river, and at the same time to supply with water the vast concavity into +which it falls. In very heavy rains only could the marshes and adjacent +lands be laid wholly under water, since the evaporation alone would be +equal to the supply. + +The great plains stretching for so many miles to the westward of Mount +Harris, even where they were clear of reeds, were covered with shells and +the claws of cray-fish and their soil, although an alluvial deposit, was +superficially sandy. They bore the appearance not only of frequent +inundation, but of the floods having eventually subsided upon them. This +was particularly observable at the bottom of the marshes. We did not find +any accumulation of rubbish to indicate a rush of water to any one point; +but numerous minor channels existed to distribute the floods equally and +generally over every part of the area subject to them, and the marks of +inundation and subsidence were everywhere the same. The plain we had last +crossed, was, in like manner, covered with shells, so that we could not +yet be said to be out of the influence of the marshes; besides which we +had not crossed the hollow noticed by Mr. Hume, which it was clear we +should do, sooner or later. + +SITUATION OF THE PARTY. + +To have remained in our position would have been impossible, as there was +no water either for ourselves or the animals; to have descended into the +reeds again, for the purpose of carrying on a minute survey, would, under +existing circumstances, have been imprudent. Our provisions were running +short, and if a knowledge of the distant interior was to be gained, we had +no time to lose. It was determined, therefore, to defer our further +examination of the marshes to the period of our return; and to pursue such +a course as would soonest and most effectually enable us to determine the +character of the western interior. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + +Prosecution of our course into the interior--Mosquito Brush--Aspect and +productions of the country--Hunting party of natives--Courageous conduct +of one of them--Mosquitoes--A man missing--Group of hills called +New-Year's Range--Journey down New-Year's Creek--Tormenting attack of the +kangaroo fly--Dreariness and desolation of the country--Oxley's Table +Land--D'Urban's Group--Continue our journey down New-Year's Creek-- +Extreme Disappointment on finding it salt--Fall in with a tribe of +natives--Our course arrested by the want of fresh water--Extraordinary +sound--Retreat towards the Macquarie. + + +We left our position at the head of the plain early on the 13th of +January, and, ere the sun dipped, had entered a very different country +from that in which we had been labouring for the last three weeks. We had, +as yet, passed over little other than an alluvial soil, but found that it +changed to a red loam in the brushes immediately backing the camp. An open +forest track succeeded this, over which the vegetation had an unusual +freshness, indicating that the waters had not long subsided from its +surface. We shortly afterwards crossed a hollow, similar to that Mr. Hume +had described, in which bulrushes had taken the place of reeds. +Flooded-gum trees, of large size, were also growing in it, but on either +side box alone prevailed, under which the forest grass grew to a +considerable height. We crossed the hollow two or three times, and as +often remarked the line of separation between those trees. The last time +we crossed it the country rose a few feet, and we journeyed for the +remainder of the day, at one time over good plains, at another through +brushes, until we found water and feed, at which we stopped for the night, +after having travelling about thirteen miles on a W. by N. course. The +mosquitoes were so extremely troublesome at this place that we called it +Mosquito Brush. At this time my men were improving rapidly, and Mr. Hume +complained less, and looked better. I hoped, therefore, that our progress +would be rapid into the interior. + +CREEK LEADING NORTHERLY; PRODUCTIONS OF THE COUNTRY. + +On the 14th we took up a westerly course, and in the first instance +traversed a plain of great extent; the soil of which was for the most part +a red sandy loam, but having patches of light earth upon it. The former +was covered with plants of the chenopedia kind; the latter had evidently +been quagmires, and bore even then the appearance of moisture. At about +seven miles from Mosquito Brush we struck upon a creek of excellent water, +upon which the wild fowl were numerous. Some natives was seen, but they +were only women, and seemed so alarmed that I purposely avoided them. As +the creek was leading northerly, we traced it down on that course for +about seven miles, and then halted upon its banks, which were composed of +a light tenacious earth. Brushes of casuarina existed near it, but a +tortuous box was the prevailing tree, which, excepting for the knees of +small vessels, could not have been applied to any use, while the +flooded-gum had entirely disappeared. Some ducks were shot in the +afternoon, which proved a great treat, as we had been living for some time +on salt provisions. Our animals fared worse than ourselves, as the bed of +the creek was occupied by coarse rushes, and but little vegetation was +elsewhere to be seen. I here killed a beautiful snake, of about four feet +in length, and of a bright yellow colour: I had not, however, the means of +preserving it. Fraser collected numerous botanical specimens, and among +them two kinds of caparis. Indeed a great alteration had taken place in +the minor shrubs, and few of those now prevalent had been observed to the +eastward of the marshes. + +From the creek, which both I and Mr. Hume must have crossed on our +respective journeys, we held a westerly course for about fifteen miles, +through a country of alternate plain and brush, the latter predominating, +and in its general character differing but little from that we had +traversed the day previous. + +The acacia pendula still continued to exist on the plains backed by dark +rows of cypresses (Cupressus callitris). In the brushes, box and +casuarina (Casuarina tortuosa), with several other kinds of eucalypti, +prevailed; but none of them were sufficiently large to be of use. The +plains were so extremely level that a meridian altitude could have been +taken without any material error; and I doubt much whether it would have +been possible to have traversed them had the season been wet. + +HUNTING PARTY OF NATIVES. + +As we were travelling through a forest we surprised a hunting party of +natives. Mr. Hume and I were considerably in front of our party at the +time, and he only had his gun with him. We had been moving along so +quietly that we were not for some time observed by them. Three were seated +on the ground, under a tree, and two others were busily employed on one of +the lower branches cutting out honey. As soon as they saw us, four of them +ran away; but the fifth, who wore a cap of emu feathers, stood for a +moment looking at us, and then very deliberately dropped out of the tree +to the ground. I then advanced towards him, but before I got round a bush +that intervened, he had darted away. I was fearful that he was gone to +collect his tribe, and, under this impression, rode quickly back for my +gun to support Mr. Hume. On my arrival I found the native was before me. +He stood about twenty paces from Mr. Hume, who was endeavouring to explain +what he was; but seeing me approach he immediately poised his spear at +him, as being the nearest. Mr. Hume then unslung his carbine, and +presented it; but, as it was evident my re-appearance had startled the +savage, I pulled up; and he immediately lowered his weapon. His coolness +and courage surprised me, and increased my desire to communicate with him. +He had evidently taken both man and horse for one animal, and as long as +Mr. Hume kept his seat, the native remained upon his guard; but when he +saw him dismount, after the first astonishment had subsided, he stuck his +spear into the ground, and walked fearlessly up to him. We easily made him +comprehend that we were in search of water; when he pointed to the west, +as indicating that we should supply our wants there. He gave his +information in a frank and manly way, without the least embarrassment, +and when the party passed, he stepped back to avoid the animals, without +the smallest confusion. I am sure he was a very brave man; and I left him +with the most favourable impressions, and not without hope that he would +follow us. + +From a more open forest, we entered a dense scrub, the soil in which was +of a bright-red colour and extremely sandy, and the timber of various +kinds. A leafless species of stenochylus aphylta, which, from the +resemblance, I at first thought one of the polygonum tribe, was very +abundant in the open spaces, and the young cypresses were occasionally so +close as to turn us from the direction in which we had been moving. In the +scrub we crossed Mr. Hume's tract, and, from the appearance of the ground, +I was led to believe mine could not be very distant. + +FATE OF THE MACQUARIE. + +We struck upon a creek late in the afternoon, at which we stopped; New +Year's Range bearing nearly due west at about four miles' distance. Had we +struck upon my track, the question about which we were so anxious would +still have been undecided; but the circumstance of our having crossed Mr. +Hume's, which, from its direction, could not be mistaken, convinced me of +the fate of the Macquarie, and I felt assured that, whatever channels it +might have for the distribution of its waters, to the north of our line of +route, the equality of surface of the interior would never permit it +again to form a river; and that it only required an examination of the +lower parts of the marshes to confirm the theory of the ultimate +evaporation and absorption of its waters, instead of their contributing to +the permanence of an inland sea, as Mr. Oxley had supposed. + +NEW YEAR'S RANGE. + +On the 17th of January we encamped under New Year's Range, which is the +first elevation in the interior of Eastern Australia to the westward of +Mount Harris. Yet when at its base, I do not think that we had ascended +above forty feet higher than the plains in the neighbourhood of that last +mentioned eminence. There certainly is a partial rise of country, where +the change of soil takes place from the alluvial deposits of the marshes, +to the sandy loam so prevalent on the plains we had lately traversed; but +I had to regret that I was unable to decide so interesting a question by +other than bare conjecture. + +Notwithstanding that Mr. Hume had already been on them, I encouraged hopes +that a second survey of the country from the highest point of New Year's +Range would enable us to form some opinion of it, by which to direct our +future movements; but I was disappointed. + +The two wooded hills I had seen from Oxley's Table Land were visible from +the range, bearing south; and other eminences bore by compass S.W. +and W. by S.; but in every other direction the horizon was unbroken. To +the westward, there appeared to be a valley of considerable extent, +stretching N. and S., in which latter direction there was a long strip of +cleared ground, that looked very like the sandy bed of a broad and rapid +river. The bare possibility of the reality determined me to ascertain by +inspection, whether my conjecture was right, and Mr. Hume accompanied me +on this excursion. After we left the camp we crossed a part of the range, +and travelled for some time through open forest land that would afford +excellent grazing in most seasons. We passed some hollows, and noticed +many huts that had been occupied near them; but the hollows were now quite +dry, and the huts had been long deserted. After about ten miles' ride we +reached a plain of white sand, from which New Year's Range was distinctly +visible; and this no doubt was the spot that had attracted my attention. +Pools of water continued on it, from which circumstance it would appear +that the sand had a substratum of clay or marl. From this plain we +proceeded southerly through acacia scrub, bounding gently undulating +forest land, and at length ascended some small elevations that scarcely +deserved the name of hills. They had fragments of quartz profusely +scattered over them; and the soil, which was sandy, contained particles of +mica. + +MOSQUITOES. + +The view from them was confused, nor did any fresh object meet our +observation. We had, however, considerably neared the two wooded hills, +and the elevations that from the range were to the S.W., now bore N.W. +of us. We had wandered too far from the camp to admit of our returning to +it to sleep; we therefore commenced a search for water, and having found +some, we tethered our horses near it for the night, and should have been +tolerably comfortable, had not the mosquitoes been so extremely +troublesome. They defied the power of smoke, and annoyed me so much, that, +hot as it was, I rolled myself in my boat cloak, and perspired in +consequence to such a degree, that my clothes were wet through, and I had +to stand at the fire in the morning to dry them. Mr. Hume, who could not +bear such confinement, suffered the penalty, and was most unmercifully +bitten. + +A MAN MISSING. + +We reached the camp about noon the following day, and learnt, to our +vexation, that one of the men, Norman, had lost himself shortly after we +started, and had not since been heard of. Dawber, my overseer, was out in +search of him. I awaited his return, therefore, before I took any measures +for the man's recovery; nor was I without hopes that Dawber would have +found him, as it appeared he had taken one of the horses with him, and +Dawber, by keeping his tracks, might eventually have overtaken him. He +returned, however, about 3 p.m. unsuccessful, when Mr. Hume and I mounted +our horses, and proceeded in different directions in quest of him, but +were equally disappointed. + +We met at the creek in the dark, and returned to the camp together, when I +ordered the cypresses on the range to be set on fire, and thus illuminated +the country round for many miles. In the morning, however, as Norman had +not made his appearance, we again started in search of the poor fellow, +on whose account I was now most uneasy; for his horse, it appeared, had +escaped him, and was found with the others at watering time. + +I did not return to the camp until after sunset, more fatigued than I +recollect ever having been before. I was, however, rejoiced on being +informed that the object of my anxiety was safe in his tent; that he had +caught sight of the hill the evening before, and that he had reached the +camp shortly after I left it. He had been absent three nights and two +days, and had not tasted water or food of any kind during that time. + +To my enquiries he replied, that, being on horseback, he thought he could +have overtaken a kangaroo, which passed him whilst waiting at the creek +for the cattle, and that in the attempt, he lost himself. It would appear +that he crossed the creek in the dark, and his horse escaped from him on +the first night. He complained more of thirst than of hunger, although he +had drunk at the watering-place to such an excess, on his return, as to +make him vomit; but, though not a little exhausted, he had escaped better +than I should have expected. + +COUNTRY AROUND NEW YEAR'S RANGE. + +New Year's Range consists of a principal group of five hills, the loftiest +of which does not measure 300 feet in height. It has lateral ridges, +extending to the N.N.W. on the one hand, and bending in to the creek on +the other. The former have a few cypresses, sterculia, and iron bark upon +them; the latter are generally covered with brush, under box; the brush +for the most part consisting of two distinct species of stenochylus, and a +new acacia. The whole range is of quartz formation, small fragments of +which are profusely scattered over the ridges, and are abundantly +incrusted with oxide of iron. The soil in the neighbourhood of New Year's +Range is a red loam, with a slight mixture of sand. An open forest country +lies between it and the creek, and it is not at all deficient in pasture. + +NEW YEAR'S CREEK. + +That a change of soil takes place to the westward of the creek, is +obvious, from the change of vegetation, the most remarkable feature of +which is the sudden check given to the further extension of the acacia +pendula, which is not to be found beyond it, it being succeeded by another +acacia of the same species and habits; neither do the plants of the +chenopedia class exist in the immediate vicinity of the range. + +I place these hills, as far as my observations will allow, in east +lon. 146 degrees 32 minutes 15 seconds, and in lat. 30 degrees 21 minutes +south; the variation of the compass being 6 degrees 40 minutes easterly. + +As New Year's Creek was leading northerly, it had been determined to trace +it down as long as it should keep that course, or one to the westward of +it. We broke up the camp, therefore, under the range, on the evening of +the 18th, and moved to the creek, about two miles north of the place at +which we had before crossed it, with the intention of prosecuting our +journey on the morrow. But both Mr. Hume and I were so fatigued that we +were glad of an opportunity to rest, even for a single day. We remained +stationary, therefore, on the 19th; nor was I without hope that the +natives whom we had surprised in the woods, would have paid us a visit, +since Mr. Hume had met them in his search for Norman, and they had +promised not only to come to us, but to do all in their power to find +the man, whose footsteps some of them had crossed. They did not, however, +venture near us; and I rather attribute their having kept aloof, to the +circumstance of Mr. Hume's having fired a shot, shortly after he left +them, as a signal to Norman, in the event of his being within hearing of +the report. They must have been alarmed at so unusual a sound; but I am +sure nothing was further from Mr. Hume's intention than to intimidate +them; his knowledge of their manners and customs, as well as his +partiality to the natives, being equally remarkable. The circumstance is, +however, a proof of the great caution that is necessary in communicating +with them. + +ANNOYED BY KANGAROO FLIES. + +I have said that we remained stationary the day after we left the range, +with a view to enjoy a little rest; it would, however, have been +infinitely better if we had moved forward. Our camp was infested by the +kangaroo fly, which settled upon us in thousands. They appeared to rise +from the ground, and as fast as they were swept off were succeeded by +fresh numbers. It was utterly impossible to avoid their persecution, +penetrating as they did into the very tents. + +The men were obliged to put handkerchiefs over their faces, and stockings +upon their hands; but they bit through every thing. It was to no purpose +that I myself shifted from place to place; they still followed, or were +equally numerous everywhere. To add to our discomfort, the animals were +driven almost to madness, and galloped to and fro in so furious a manner +that I was apprehensive some of them would have been lost. I never +experienced such a day of torment; and only when the sun set, did these +little creatures cease from their attacks. + +SUDDENLY RELIEVED. + +It will be supposed that we did not stay to subject ourselves to another +trial; indeed it was with some degree of horror that the men saw the first +light of morning streak the horizon. They got up immediately, and we moved +down the creek, on a northerly course, without breakfasting as usual. We +found that dense brushes of casuarina lined the creek on both sides, +beyond which, to our left, there was open rising ground, on which +eucalypti, cypresses, and the acacia longifolia, prevailed; whilst to the +east, plains seemed to predominate. + +Although we had left the immediate spot at which the kangaroo flies +(cabarus) seemed to be collected, I did not expect that we should have got +rid of them so completely as we did. None of them were seen during the +day; a proof that they were entirely local. They were about half the size +of a common house fly, had flat brown bodies, and their bite, although +sharp and piercing, left no irritation after it. + +About noon we stopped at the creek side to take some refreshment. The +country bore an improved appearance around us, and the cattle found +abundance of pasture. It was evident that the creek had been numerously +frequented by the natives, although no recent traces of them could be +found. It had a bed of coarse red granite, of the fragments of which the +natives had constructed a weir for the purpose of taking fish. The +appearance of this rock in so isolated a situation, is worthy of the +consideration of geologists. + +DESOLATION OF THE COUNTRY. + +The promise of improvement I have noticed, gradually disappeared as we +proceeded on our day's journey, and we at length found ourselves once more +among brushes, and on the edge of plains, over which the rhagodia +prevailed. Nothing could exceed in dreariness the appearance of the tracks +through which we journeyed, on this and the two following days. The creek +on which we depended for a supply of water, gave such alarming indications +of a total failure, that I at one time, had serious thoughts of abandoning +my pursuit of it. We passed hollow after hollow that had successively +dried up, although originally of considerable depth; and, when we at +length found water, it was doubtful how far we could make use of it. +Sometimes in boiling it left a sediment nearly equal to half its body; at +other times it was so bitter as to be quite unpalatable. That on which we +subsisted was scraped up from small puddles, heated by the sun's rays; +and so uncertain were we of finding water at the end of the day's journey, +that we were obliged to carry a supply on one of the bullocks. There was +scarcely a living creature, even of the feathered race, to be seen to +break the stillness of the forest. The native dogs alone wandered about, +though they had scarcely strength to avoid us; and their melancholy howl, +breaking in upon the ear at the dead of the night, only served to impress +more fully on the mind the absolute loneliness of the desert. + +It appeared, from their traces that the natives had lingered on this +ground, on which they had perhaps been born, as long as it continued to +afford them a scanty though precarious subsistence; but that they had at +length been forced from it. Neither fish nor muscles remained in the +creek, nor emus nor kangaroos on the plains. How then could an European +expect to find food in deserts through which the savage wandered in vain? +There is no doubt of the fate that would have overtaken any one of the +party who might have strayed away, and I was happy to find that Norman's +narrow escape had made a due impression on the minds of his comrades. + +SANDY PLAINS; LEAVE THE CREEK. + +We passed some considerable plains, lying to the eastward of the creek, on +parts of which the grass, though growing in tufts, was of luxuriant +growth. They were, however, more generally covered with salsola and +rhagodia, and totally destitute of other vegetation, the soil upon them +being a red sandy loam. The paths across the plains, which varied in +breadth from three to eight miles, were numerous; but they had not been +recently trodden. The creek continued to have a thick brush of casuarina +and acacia near it, to the westward of which there was a rising open +forest track; the timber upon it being chiefly box, cypress, and the +acacia longifolia. It was most probably connected with New Year's Range, +those elevations being about thirty miles distant. It terminated in some +gentle hills which, though covered in places with acacia shrub, were +sufficiently open to afford an extensive view. From their summit Oxley's +Table Land, towards which we had been gradually working our way, was +distinctly visible, distant about twenty miles, and bearing by compass +W. by S. On descending from these hills (called the Pink Hills, from the +colour of a flower upon them) which were scattered over with fragments of +slaty quartz, we traversed a box flat, apparently subject to overflow, +having a barren sandy scrub to its left. I had desired the men to preserve +a W.N.W. direction, on leaving them, supposing that that course would have +kept them near the creek; but, on overtaking the party, I found that they +had wandered completely away from it. The fact was, that the creek had +taken a sudden bend to the eastward of N. and had thus thrown them out. +It was with some difficulty that we regained it before sunset; and we were +at length obliged to stop for the night at a small plain, about a quarter +of a mile short of it, but we had the satisfaction of having excellent +feed for the animals. + +OXLEY'S TABLE LAND. + +Fearful that New Year's Creek would take us too far to the eastward, and +being anxious to keep westward as much as possible, it struck me that we +could not, under existing circumstances, do better than make for Oxley's +Table Land. Water, I knew, we should find in a swamp at it's base, and we +might discover some more encouraging feature than I had observed on my +hasty visit to it. We left the creek, therefore on the 23rd, and once more +took up a westerly course. Passing through a generally open country, we +stopped at noon to rest the animals; and afterwards got on an excellent +grazing forest track, which continued to the brush, through another part +of which I had penetrated to the marsh more to the south. While making our +way through it, we came upon a small pond of water, and must have alarmed +some natives, as there was a fresh made fire close to it. Our journey had +been unusually long, and the cattle had felt the heat so much, that the +moment they saw water they rushed into it; and, as this created some +confusion, I thought it best to stop where we were for the night. + +In the morning, Mr. Hume walked with me to the hill, a distance of about a +mile. It is not high enough to deserve the name of a mountain, although a +beautiful feature in the country, and showing well from any point of view. +We ascended it with an anxiety that may well be imagined, but were wholly +disappointed in our most sanguine expectations. Our chief object, in this +second visit to Oxley's Table Land, had been to examine, more at leisure, +the face of the country around it, and to discover, if possible, some +fixed point on which to move. + +If the rivers of the interior had already exhausted themselves, what had +we to expect from a creek whose diminished appearance where we left it +made us apprehend its speedy termination, and whose banks we traversed +under constant apprehension? In any other country I should have followed +such a water course, in hopes of its ultimately leading to some reservoir; +but here I could encourage no such favourable anticipation. + +The only new object that struck our sight was a remarkable and distant +hill of conical shape, bearing by compass S. 10 E. To the southward and +westward, in the direction of D'Urban's Group, a dense and apparently low +brush extended; but to the N. and N.W., there was a regular alternation of +wood and plain. I left Mr. Hume upon the hill, that he might the more +readily notice any smoke made by the natives; and returned myself to the +camp about one o'clock, to move the party to the swamp. Mr. Hume's +perseverance was of little avail. The region he had been overlooking was, +to all appearance, uninhabited, nor did a single fire indicate that there +was even a solitary wanderer upon its surface. + +EXCURSION TO D'URBAN'S GROUP. + +Our situation, at this time, was extremely embarrassing, and the only +circumstance on which we had to congratulate ourselves was, the improved +condition of our men; for several of the cattle and horses were in a sad +plight. The weather had been so extremely oppressive, that we had found it +impossible to keep them free from eruptions. I proposed to Mr. Hume, +therefore, to give them a few days' rest, and to make an excursion, with +such of them as were serviceable, to D'Urban's Group. We were both of us +unwilling to return to the creek, but we foresaw that a blind reliance +upon fortune, in our next movements, might involve us in inextricable +difficulty. + +On the other hand, there was a very great risk in delay. It was more than +probable, from the continued drought, that our retreat would be cut off +from the want of water, or that we should only be enabled to effect our +retreat with loss of most of the animals. The hope, however, of our +intersecting some stream, or of falling upon a better country, prevailed +over other considerations; and the excursion was, consequently, determined +upon. + +DISTRESS FROM WANT OF WATER. + +We left the camp on the 25th, accompanied by Hopkinson and the tinker; +and, almost immediately after, entered an acacia scrub of the most sterile +description, and one, through which it would have been impossible to have +found a passage for the boat carriage. The soil was almost a pure sand, +and the lower branches of the trees were decayed so generally as to give +the whole an indescribable appearance of desolation. About mid-day, we +crossed a light sandy plain, on which there were some dirty puddles of +water. They were so shallow as to leave the backs of the frogs in them +exposed, and they had, in consequence, been destroyed by solar heat, and +were in a state of putrefaction. Our horses refused to drink, but it was +evident that some natives must have partaken of this sickening beverage +only a few hours before our arrival. Indeed, it was clear that a wandering +family must have slept near this spot, as we observed a fresh made gunneah +(or native hut), and their foot-prints were so fresh along the line we +were pursuing, that we momentarily expected to have overtaken them. It was +late in the evening when we got out of this brush into better and more +open ground, where, in ordinary seasons we should, no doubt, have found +abundance of water. But we now searched in vain for it, and were contented +to be enabled to give our wearied animals better food than they had tasted +for many days, the forest grass, though in tufts, being abundant. + +We brought up for the night at the edge of a scrub, having travelled from +thirty-two to thirty-five miles, judging the distance from the mountains +still to be about twelve. + +BEARINGS FROM OXLEY'S TABLE LAND. + +In the morning we started at an early hour, and immediately entered the +brush, beneath which we had slept; pursuing a westerly course through it. +After a short ride, we found ourselves upon a plain, that was crowded with +flocks of cockatoos. Here we got a supply of water, such as it was--so +mixed with slime as to hang in strings between the fingers; and, after a +hasty breakfast, we proceeded on our journey, mostly through a barren +sandy scrub that was a perfect burrow from the number of wombats in it, to +within a mile of the hill group, where the country appeared like one +continuous meadow to the very base of them. I never saw anything like the +luxuriance of the grass on this tract of country, waving as it did higher +than our horses' middles as we rode through it. We ascended the S.W. face +of the mountain to an elevation of at least 800 feet above the level of +the plain, and had some difficulty in scaling the masses of rock that +opposed themselves to our progress. But on gaining the summit, we were +amply repaid for our trouble. The view extended far and wide, but we were +again disappointed in the main object that had induced us to undertake the +journey. I took the following bearings by compass. Oxley's Table Land bore +N. 40 E. distant forty-five miles; small and distant hill due E.; conical +peak seen from Oxley's Table Land S. 60 E., very distant; long ridge of +high land, S.E., distant thirty-five miles; high land, S. 30 E., distant +thirty miles; long range, S. 25 W. + +To the westward, as a medium point, the horizon was unbroken, and the eye +wandered over an apparently endless succession of wood and plain. A +brighter green than usual marked the course of the mountain torrents in +several places, but there was no glittering light among the trees, no +smoke to betray a water hole, or to tell that a single inhabitant was +traversing the extensive region we were overlooking. We were obliged to +return to the plain on which we had breakfasted, and to sleep upon it. + +D'URBAN'S GROUP. + +D'Urban's Group is of compact sandstone formation. Its extreme length is +from E.S.E. to W.N.W., and cannot be more than from seven to nine miles, +whilst its breadth is from two to four. The central space forms a large +basin, in which there are stunted pines and eucalyptus scrub, amid huge +fragments of rocks. It rises like an island from the midst of the ocean, +and as I looked upon it from the plains below, I could without any great +stretch of the imagination, picture to myself that it really was such. +Bold and precipitous, it only wanted the sea to lave its base; and I +cannot but think that such must at no very remote period have been the +case, and that the immense flat we had been traversing, is of +comparatively recent formation. + +We reached the camp on the 28th of the month, by nearly the same route; +and were happy to find that, after the few days' rest they had enjoyed, +there was a considerable improvement in the animals. + +Our experience of the nature of the country to the southward, and the +westward, was such as to deter us from risking anything, by taking such a +direction as was most agreeable to our views. Nothing remained to us but +to follow the creek, or to retreat; and as we could only be induced to +adopt the last measure when every other expedient should have failed, we +determined on pursuing our original plan, of tracing New Year's Creek as +far as practicable. + +DESCRIPTION OF OXLEY'S TABLE LAND. + +Oxley's Table Land is situated in lat. 29 degrees 57 minutes 30 seconds, +and in E. long. 145 degrees 43 minutes 30 seconds, the mean variation +being 6.32 easterly. It consists of two hills that appear to have been +rent asunder by some convulsion of nature, since the passage between them +is narrow and their inner faces are equally perpendicular. The hill which +I have named after the late Surveyor-general, is steep on all sides; but +the other gradually declines from the south, and at length loses itself in +a large plain that extends to the north. It is from four to five miles in +length, and is picturesque in appearance, and lightly wooded. A few +cypresses were growing on Oxley's Table Land; but it had, otherwise, very +little timber upon its summit. Both hills are of sandstone formation, and +there are some hollows upon the last that deserve particular notice. They +have the appearance of having been formed by eddies of water, being deeper +in the centre than at any other part, and contain fragments and slabs of +sandstone of various size and breadth, without a particle of soil or of +sand between them. It is to be observed that the edges of these slabs, +which were perfect parallelograms, were unbroken, and that they were as +clean as if they had only just been turned out of the hand of the mason. +We counted thirteen of these hollows in one spot about twenty-five feet in +diameter, but they are without doubt of periodical formation, since a +single hollow was observed lower than the summit of the hill upon its +south extremity, that had evidently long been exposed to the action of the +atmosphere, and had a general coating of moss over it. + +CONTINUE THE JOURNEY; DOWN NEW YEAR'S CREEK. + +We left Oxley's Table Land on the morning of the 31st of January, pursuing +a northern course through the brush and across a large plain, moving +parallel to the smaller hill, and keeping it upon our left. The soil upon +this plain differed in character from that on the plains to the eastward, +and was much freer from sand. We stopped to dine at a spot, whence Oxley's +Table Land bore by compass, S. by W., distant about twelve miles. +Continuing our journey, at 2 p.m. we cleared the plain, and entered a +tract covered with the polygonum junceum, on a soil evidently the deposit +of floods. Box-trees were thinly scattered over it, and among the +polygonum, the crested pigeons were numerous. These general appearances, +together with a dip of country to the N.N.W., made us conclude that we +were approaching the creek, and we accordingly intersected it on a N.N.E. +course, at about three miles' distance from where we had dined. It had, +however, undergone so complete a change, and had increased so much in size +and in the height of its banks, that we were at a loss to recognise it. +Still, with all these favourable symptoms, there was not a drop of water +in it. But small shells lay in heaps in its bed, or were abundantly +scattered over it; and we remarked that they differed from those on the +plains of the Macquarie. A circumstance that surprised us much, was the +re-appearance of the flooded-gum upon its banks, and that too of a large +size. We had not seen any to the westward of the marshes, and we were, +consequently, led to indulge in more sanguine expectation as to our +ultimate success than we had ever ventured to do before. + +The party crossed to the right bank of the creek, and then moved in a +westerly direction along it in search of water. A brush extended to our +right, and some broken stony ground, rather elevated, was visible, to +which Mr. Hume rode; nor did he join me again until after I had halted the +party for the night. + +DISTRESSED FOR WATER. + +My search for water had been unsuccessful, and the sun had set, when I +came upon a broad part of the creek that appeared very favourable for an +encampment, as it was encompassed by high banks, and would afford the men +a greater facility of watching the cattle, that I knew would stray away if +they could. + +My anxiety for them led me to wander down the bed of the creek, when, to +my joy, I found a pond of water within a hundred yards of the tents. It is +impossible for me to describe the relief I felt at this success, or the +gladness it spread among the men. Mr. Hume joined me at dusk, and informed +me that he had made a circuit, and had struck upon the creek about three +miles below us but that, in tracing it up, he had not found a drop of +water until he came to the pond near which we had so providentially +encamped. On the following morning, we held a westerly course over an open +country for about eight miles and a half. The prevailing timber appeared +to be a species of eucalypti, with rough bark, of small size, and +evidently languishing from the want of moisture. The soil over which we +travelled was far from bad, but there was a total absence of water upon +it. At 6 p.m. Oxley's Table Land was distant from us about fifteen miles, +bearing S. 20 E. by compass. + +We had not touched upon the creek from the time we left it in the morning, +having wandered from it in a northerly direction, along a native path that +we intersected, and that seemed to have been recently trodden, since +footsteps were fresh upon it. At sunset, we crossed a broad dry creek that +puzzled us extremely, and were shortly afterwards obliged to stop for the +night upon a plain beyond it. We had, during the afternoon, bent down to +the S.W. in hopes that we should again have struck upon New Year's Creek; +and, under an impression that we could not be far from it, Mr. Hume and I +walked across the plain, to ascertain if it was sufficiently near to be of +any service to us. We came upon a creek, but could not decide whether it +was the one for which we had been searching, or another. + +Its bed was so perfectly even that it was impossible to say to what point +it flowed, more especially as all remains of debris had mouldered away. It +was, however, extremely broad, and evidently, at times, held a furious +torrent. In the centre of it, at one of the angles, we discovered a pole +erected, and at first thought, from the manner in which it was propped up, +that some unfortunate European must have placed it there as a mark to tell +of his wanderings, but we afterwards concluded that it might be some +superstitious rite of the natives, in consequence of the untowardness of +the season, as it seemed almost inconceivable that an European could have +wandered to such a distance from the located districts in safety. + +REACH A LARGE RIVER. + +The creek had flooded-gum growing upon its banks, and, on places +apparently subject to flood, a number of tall straight saplings were +observed by us. We returned to the camp, after a vain search for water, +and were really at a loss what direction next to pursue. The men kept the +cattle pretty well together, and, as we were not delayed by any +preparations for breakfast, they were saddled and loaded at an early hour. +The circumstance of there having been natives in the neighbourhood, of +whom we had seen so few traces of late, assured me that water was at hand, +but in what direction it was impossible to guess. As the path we had +observed was leading northerly, we took up that course, and had not +proceeded more than a mile upon it, when we suddenly found ourselves on +the banks of a noble river. Such it might in truth be called, where water +was scarcely to be found. The party drew up upon a bank that was from +forty to forty-five feet above the level of the stream. The channel of the +river was front seventy to eighty yards broad, and enclosed an unbroken +sheet of water, evidently very deep, and literally covered with pelicans +and other wild fowl. Our surprise and delight may better be imagined than +described. Our difficulties seemed to be at an end, for here was a river +that promised to reward all our exertions, and which appeared every moment +to increase in importance to our imagination. Coming from the N.E., and +flowing to the S.W., it had a capacity of channel that proved that we were +as far from its source as from its termination. The paths of the natives +on either side of it were like well trodden roads; and the trees that +overhung it were of beautiful and gigantic growth. + +DISAPPOINTMENT ON FINDING THE RIVER SALT. + +Its banks were too precipitous to allow of our watering the cattle, but +the men eagerly descended to quench their thirst, which a powerful sun had +contributed to increase; nor shall I ever forget the cry of amazement that +followed their doing so, or the looks of terror and disappointment with +which they called out to inform me that the water was so salt as to be +unfit to drink! This was, indeed, too true: on tasting it, I found it +extremely nauseous, and strongly impregnated with salt, being apparently +a mixture of sea and fresh water. Whence this arose, whether from local +causes, or from a communication with some inland sea, I knew not, but the +discovery was certainly a blow for which I was not prepared. Our hopes +were annihilated at the moment of their apparent realization. The cup of +joy was dashed out of our hands before we had time to raise it to our +lips. Notwithstanding this disappointment, we proceeded down the river, +and halted at about five miles, being influenced by the goodness of the +feed to provide for the cattle as well as circumstances would permit. They +would not drink of the river water, but stood covered in it for many +hours, having their noses alone exposed above the stream. Their condition +gave me great uneasiness. It was evident they could not long hold out +under their excessive thirst, and unless we should procure some fresh +water, it would impossible for us to continue our journey. On a closer +examination, the river appeared to me much below its ordinary level, and +its current was scarcely perceptible. We placed sticks to ascertain if +there was a rise or fall of tide, but could arrive at no satisfactory +conclusion, although there was undoubtedly a current in it. Yet, as I +stood upon its banks at sunset, when not a breath of air existed to break +the stillness of the waters below me, and saw their surface kept in +constant agitation by the leaping of fish, I doubted whether the river +could supply itself so abundantly, and the rather imagined, that it owed +such abundance, which the pelicans seemed to indicate was constant, to +some mediterranean sea or other. Where, however, were the human +inhabitants of this distant and singular region? The signs of a numerous +population were around us, but we had not seen even a solitary wanderer. +The water of the river was not, by any means, so salt as that of the +ocean, but its taste was precisely similar. Could it be that its unnatural +state had driven its inhabitants from its banks? + +One would have imagined that our perplexities would have been sufficient +for one day, but ere night closed, they increased upon us, although our +anxiety, with regard to the cattle, was happily removed. Mr. Hume with his +usual perseverance, walked out when the camp was formed; and, at a little +distance from it, ascended a ridge of pure sand, crowned with cypresses. +From this, he descended to the westward, and, at length, struck upon the +river, where a reef of rocks creased its channel, and formed a dry passage +from one side to the other; but the bend, which the river must have taken, +appeared to him so singular, that he doubted whether it was the same +beside which we had been travelling during the day. Curiosity led him to +cross it, when he found a small pond of fresh water on a tongue of land, +and, immediately afterwards, returned to acquaint me with the welcome +tidings. It was too late to move, but we had, at least, the prospect of a +comfortable breakfast in the morning. + +JUNCTION OF NEW YEAR'S CREEK. + +In consequence of the doubts that hung upon Mr. Hume's mind, as to the +course of the river, we arranged that the animals should precede us to the +fresh water; and that we should keep close in upon the stream, to +ascertain that point. After traversing a deep bight, we arrived nearly as +soon as the party, at the appointed rendezvous. The rocks composing the +channel of the river at the crossing place, were of indurated clay. In the +course of an hour, the animals appearing quite refreshed, we proceeded on +our journey, and at about four miles crossed New Year's Creek, at its +junction with the salt river. We passed several parts of the main channel +that were perfectly dry, and were altogether at a loss to account for the +current we undoubtedly had observed in the river when we first came upon +it. At midday D'Urban's Group bore S. 65 E. distant about 32 miles. We +made a little westing in the afternoon. The river continued to maintain +its character and appearance, its lofty banks, and its long still reaches: +while, however, the blue-gum trees upon its banks were of magnificent +size, the soil had but little vegetation upon it, although an alluvial +deposit. + +We passed over vast spaces covered with the polygonum junceum, that bore +all the appearance of the flooded tracks in the neighbourhood of the +marshes, and on which the travelling was equally distressing to the +animals. Indeed, it had been sufficiently evident to us that the waters of +this river were not always confined to its channel, capacious as it was, +but that they inundated a belt of barren land, that varied in width from a +quarter of a mile to a mile, when they were checked by an outer embankment +that prevented them from spreading generally over the country, and upon +the neighbouring plains. At our halting place, the cattle drank sparingly +of the water, but it acted as a violent purgative both on them and the men +who partook of it. + +NATIVE VILLAGE. + +On the 5th, the river led us to the southward and westward. Early in the +day, we passed a group of seventy huts, capable of holding from twelve to +fifteen men each. They appeared to be permanent habitations, and all of +them fronted the same point of the compass. In searching amongst them we +observed two beautifully made nets, of about ninety yards in length. The +one had much larger meshes than the other, and was, most probably, +intended to take kangaroos; but the other was evidently a fishing net. + +In one hut, the floor of which was swept with particular care, a number of +white balls, as of pulverised shells or lime, had been deposited--the +use of which we could not divine. A trench was formed round the hut to +prevent the rain from running under it, and the whole was arranged with +more than ordinary attention. + +TERROR OF THE NATIVES. + +We had not proceeded very far when we came suddenly upon the tribe to +which this village, as it might be called, belonged. + +In breaking through some brush to an open space that was bounded on one +side by the river, we observed three or four natives, seated on a bank at +a considerable distance from us; and directly in the line on which we were +moving. The nature of the ground so completely favoured our approach, that +they did not become aware of it until we were within a few yards of them, +and had ascended a little ridge, which, as we afterwards discovered, ended +in an abrupt precipice upon the river, not more than thirty yards to our +right. The crack of the drayman's whip was the first thing that aroused +their attention. They gazed upon us for a moment, and then started up and +assumed an attitude of horror and amazement; their terror apparently +increasing upon them. We stood perfectly immovable, until at length they +gave a fearful yell, and darted out of sight. + +THEY FIRE THE BUSH. + +Their cry brought about a dozen more natives from the river, whom we had +not before observed, but who now ran after their comrades with surprising +activity, and without once venturing to look behind them. As our position +was a good one, we determined to remain upon it, until we should ascertain +the number and disposition of the natives. We had not been long +stationary, when we heard a crackling noise in the distance, and it soon +became evident that the bush had been fired. It was, however, impossible +that we could receive any injury on the narrow ridge upon which we stood, +so that we waited very patiently to see the end of this affair. + +REMARKS ON THE NATIVES; DISEASE AMONG THEM. + +In a short time the fire approached pretty near to us, and dense columns +of smoke rose into the air over our heads. One of the natives, who had +been on the bank, now came out of the bush, exactly from the spot into +which he had retreated. He advanced a few paces towards us, and bending +his body so that his hands rested on his knees, he fixed his gaze upon us +for some time; but, seeing that we remained immovable, he began to throw +himself into the most extravagant attitudes, shaking his foot from time to +time. When he found that all his violence had no effect, he turned his +rear to us in a most laughable manner, and absolutely groaned in spirit +when he found that this last insult failed of success. + +He stood perplexed and not knowing what next to do, which gave Mr. Hume an +opportunity to call out to him, and with considerable address he at length +got the savage to approach close up to him; Mr. Hume himself having +advanced a short distance from the animals in the first instance. As soon +as I thought the savage had sufficiently recovered from his alarm, I went +up to him with a tomahawk, the use of which he immediately guessed. We now +observed that the natives who had fled from the river, had been employed +in setting a net. They had placed it in a semicircle, with either end to +the shore, and rude pieces of wood were attached to it to keep the upper +part perpendicular. It was in fact a sein, only that the materials, with +the exception of the net-work, were simpler and rougher than cork or +lead--for which last, we afterwards discovered stones had been +substituted. + +We had on this occasion a remarkable instance of the docility of the +natives of the interior, or of the power they have of subduing their +apprehensions; manifesting the opposite extremes of fear and confidence. +These men whom we had thus surprised, and who, no doubt, imagined that we +were about to destroy them, having apparently never seen nor heard of +white men before, must have taken us for something preternatural; yet from +the extremity of fear that had prompted them to set their woods in flames, +they in a brief space so completely subdued those fears as to approach +the very beings who had so strongly excited their alarm. The savage who +had been the principal actor in the scene, was an elderly man, rather +descending to the vale of years than what might be strictly called aged. +I know not how it was, but I regarded him with peculiar interest. +Mr. Hume's manners had in a great measure contributed to allay his evident +agitation; but, from the moment I approached him, I thought there was a +shade of anxiety upon his brow, and an expression of sorrow over his +features, the cause of which did not originate with us. I could see in a +moment, that his bosom was full even to bursting, and he seemed to claim +at once our sympathy and our protection, although we were ignorant of that +which oppressed him. We had not long been seated together, when some of +his tribe mustered sufficient courage to join him. Both Mr. Hume and I +were desirous of seeing the net drawn, but the old man raised some +objection, by pointing to the heavens and towards the sun. After a little +more solicitation, however, he gave a whistle, and, four or five natives +having obeyed the summons, he directed them to draw the net, but they were +unfortunate, and our wish to ascertain the kind of fish contained in the +river was disappointed. As his tribe gathered round him, the old chief +threw a melancholy glance upon them, and endeavoured, as much as he could, +to explain the cause of that affliction which, as I had rightly judged, +weighed heavily upon him. It appeared, then, that a violent cutaneous +disease raged throughout the tribe, that was sweeping them off in great +numbers. He called several young men to Mr. Hume and myself, who had been +attacked by this singular malady. Nothing could exceed the anxiety of his +explanations, or the mild and soothing tone in which he addressed his +people, and it really pained me that I could not assist him in his +distress. We now discovered the use to which the conical substance that +had been deposited with such unusual care in one of the huts, was applied. +There were few of the natives present who were not more or less marked +with it, and it was no doubt, indicative of mourning. + +DEPARTURE OF THE NATIVES. + +Some of the men, however, were painted with red and yellow ochre, with +which it was evident to me they had besmeared themselves since our +appearance, most likely in preparing for the combat in which they fancied +they would be engaged. We distributed such presents as we had to those +around us, and when we pursued our journey, the majority accompanied us, +nor did they wholly leave us until we had passed the place to which their +women had retired. They might have left us when they pleased, for we +intended them no harm; as it was, however, they struck into the brushes to +join their families, and we pushed on to make up for lost time. + +The travelling near the river had been so bad, not only in consequence of +the nature of the soil and brush, but from the numerous gullies that had +been formed by torrents, as they poured into its channel after heavy rains +and floods, that it was thought advisable to keep at a greater distance +from it. We turned away, therefore, to the plains, and found them of much +firmer surface. They partook, however, of the same general character as +the plains we had traversed more to the eastward. Their soil was a light +sandy loam, and the same succulent plants still continued to prevail upon +them, which we have already noticed as existing upon the other plains. +Both emus and kangaroos were seen, though not in any considerable numbers, +but our dogs were not in a condition to run, and were all but killed by +the extreme heat of the weather. We had fallen on a small pool of water +shortly after we started in the morning, but we could do no more than +refresh ourselves and the animals at it. In the afternoon, we again turned +towards the river, and found it unaltered. Its water was still salt, and +from the increased number of wild fowl and pelicans upon it, as well as +from the general flatness of the country, I certainly thought we were +rapidly approaching some inland sea. It was, however, uncertain how long +we should be enabled to continue on the river. The animals were all of +them extremely weak, and every day increased the probable difficulty of +our return. There was not the least appearance of a break-up of the +drought, the heavens were without a cloud, and the atmosphere was so clear +that the outline of the moon could be distinctly seen, although she was +far in her wane. + +BRINE SPRINGS IN THE RIVER. + +On the 6th, we journeyed again through a barren scrub, although on firmer +ground, and passed numerous groups of huts. At about eight miles from our +last encampment, we came upon the river, where its banks were of +considerable height. In riding along them, Mr. Hume thought he observed a +current running, and be called to inform me of the circumstance. On a +closer examination, we discovered some springs in the very bed of the +river, from which a considerable stream was gushing, and from the +incrustation around them, we had no difficulty in guessing at their +nature: in fact, they were brine springs, and I collected a quantity of +salt from the brink of them. + +DISTRESS FOR WANT OF FRESH WATER. + +After such a discovery, we could not hope to keep our position. No doubt +the current we had observed on first reaching the river, was caused by +springs that had either escaped our notice or were under water. Here was +at length a local cause for its saltness that destroyed at once the +anticipation and hope of our being near its termination, and, +consequently, the ardour with which we should have pressed on to decide so +interesting a point. + +Our retreat would have been a measure of absolute necessity ere this, had +we not found occasional supplies of fresh water, the last pond of which +was now about eighteen miles behind us. + +OUR COURSE ARRESTED. + +Whether we should again find any, was a doubtful question, and I hesitated +to run the risk. The animals were already, from bad food, and from the +effects of the river water, so weak, that they could scarcely carry their +loads, and I was aware, if any of the bullocks once fell, he would never +rise again. Under such circumstances, I thought it better to halt the +party at the edge of the scrub, though the feed was poor, and the water +not drinkable. Our situation required most serious consideration. It was +necessary that we should move either backward or forward in the morning. +Yet we could not adopt either measure with satisfaction to ourselves, +under such unfavorable circumstances. I determined to relieve my own mind +by getting the animals into a place of safety, as soon as possible; and, +as the only effectual way of doing this was to retire upon the nearest +fresh water, I resolved at once to do so. The party turned back on the +morning of the 6th; nor do I think the cattle would ever have reached +their destination had we not found a few buckets of rain water in the +cleft of a rock, to refresh them. Thus it will appear that under our most +trying circumstances, we received aid from Providence, and that the bounty +of Heaven was extended towards us, when we had least reason to expect it. + +Notwithstanding we had been thus forced to a partial retreat, both +Mr. Hume and myself were unwilling to quit the pursuit of the river, in so +unsatisfactory a manner. There was no difference in the appearance of the +country to the westward of it; but a seeming interminable flat stretched +away in that direction. A journey across it was not likely, therefore, to +be attended with any favorable results, since it was improbable that any +other leading feature was within our reach. I proposed, therefore, to take +the most serviceable of the horses with me down the river, that, in the +event of our finding fresh water, we might again push forward. Mr. Hume +requesting to be permitted to accompany me, it was arranged that we should +start on the 8th, thereby giving the animals a day's rest. We had not seen +any natives since our parting with the chief horde; and as we were +stationed at some little distance from the river, I hoped that they would +not visit the camp during my absence. This was the only circumstance that +gave me uneasiness, but the men had generally been behaving so well that I +relied a great deal upon them. + +EXTRAORDINARY SOUND. + +About 3 p.m. on the 7th, Mr. Hume and I were occupied tracing the chart +upon the ground. The day had been remarkably fine, not a cloud was there +in the heavens, nor a breath of air to be felt. On a sudden we heard what +seemed to be the report of a gun fired at the distance of between five and +six miles. It was not the hollow sound of an earthly explosion, or the +sharp cracking noise of falling timber, but in every way resembled a +discharge of a heavy piece of ordnance. On this all were agreed, but no +one was certain whence the sound proceeded. Both Mr. Hume and myself had +been too attentive to our occupation to form a satisfactory opinion; but +we both thought it came from the N.W. I sent one of the men immediately up +a tree, but he could observe nothing unusual. The country around him +appeared to be equally flat on all sides, and to be thickly wooded: +whatever occasioned the report, it made a strong impression on all of us; +and to this day, the singularity of such a sound, in such a situation, +is a matter of mystery to me. + +FURTHER ATTEMPT TO EXPLORE THE RIVER. + +On the 8th, we commenced our journey down the river, accompanied by two +men, and a pack-horse, carrying our provisions on one side and a bucket of +water on the other. Keeping in general near the stream, but making +occasional turns into the plains, we got to the brush from which the party +had turned back, about 3 p.m. Passing through, we crossed a small plain, +of better soil and vegetation than usual; but it soon gave place to the +sandy loam of the interior; nor did we observe any material alteration, +either in the country or the river, as we rode along. The flooded-gum +trees on the banks of the latter, were of beautiful growth, but in the +brushes dividing the plains, box and other eucalypti, with cypresses and +many minor shrubs, prevailed. We slept on the river side, and calculated +our distance from the camp at about twenty-six or twenty-eight miles. + +The horses would not drink the river water, so that we were obliged to +give them a pint each from our own supply. On the following morning we +continued our journey. The country was generally open to the eastward, and +we had fine views of D'Urban's Group, distant from twenty to twenty-five +miles. About noon, turning towards the river to rest, both ourselves and +the horses, we passed through brush land for about a mile and a half. When +we came upon its banks, we found them composed of a red loam with sandy +superficies. We had, in the course of the day, crossed several creeks, but +in none of them could we find water, although their channels were of great +depth. + +The day had been extremely warm, and from shaking in the barrel our supply +of water had diminished to a little more than a pint; it consequently +became a matter of serious consideration, how far it would be prudent to +proceed farther; for, however capable we were of bearing additional +fatigue, it was evident our animals would soon fail, since they trembled +exceedingly, and had the look of total exhaustion. We calculated that we +were forty miles from the camp, in a S.W. direction, a fearful distance +under our circumstances, since we could not hope to obtain relief for two +days. Independently however, of the state of the animals, our spirits were +damped by the nature of the country, and the change which had taken place +on the soil, upon which it was impossible that water could rest; while the +general appearance of the interior showed how much it had suffered from +drought. On the other hand, although the waters of the river had become +worse to the taste, the river itself had increased in size, and stretched +away to the westward, with all the uniformity of a magnificent canal, and +gave every promise of increasing importance; while the pelicans were in +such numbers upon it as to be quite dazzling to the eye. Considering, +however, that perseverance would only involve us in inextricable +difficulties, and that it would also be useless to risk the horses, since +we had gained a distance to which the bullocks could not have been +brought, I intimated my intention of giving up the further pursuit of the +river, though it was with extreme reluctance that I did so. + +CALLED IT THE "DARLING". + +As soon as we had bathed and finished our scanty meal, I took the bearings +of D'Urban's Group, and found them to be S. 58 E. about thirty-three miles +distant; and as we mounted our horses, I named the river the "Darling," +as a lasting memorial of the respect I bear the governor. + +ABANDON THE ATTEMPT. + +I should be doing injustice to Mr. Hume and my men, if I did not express +my conviction that they were extremely unwilling to yield to +circumstances, and that, had I determined on continuing the journey, they +would have followed me with cheerfulness, whatever the consequences might +have been. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + +Intercourse with the natives--Their appearance and condition--Remarks on +the Salt or Darling River--Appearance of the marshes on our return-- +Alarm for safety of the provision party--Return to Mount Harris--Miserable +condition of the natives--Circumstances attending the slaughter of two +Irish runaways--Bend our course towards the Castlereagh--Wallis's Ponds-- +Find the famished natives feeding on gum--Channel of the Castlereagh-- +Character of the country in its vicinity--Another tribe of natives-- +Amicable intercourse with them--Morrisset's chain of Ponds--Again reach +the Darling River ninety miles higher up than where we first struck +upon it. + + +We kept near the river as we journeyed homewards, and in striking across a +plain, found an isolated rock of quartz and jasper, just showing itself +partially above the surface of the ground. + +We were anxious to get to the small plain I have mentioned, if possible, +for the sake of the animals, and pushed on rapidly for it. About 4 p.m. we +had reached our sleeping place of the previous evening, and being +overpowered by thirst, we stopped in hopes that by making our tea strong +we might destroy, in some measure, the nauseous taste of the water. The +horses were spancelled and a fire lit. Whilst we were sitting patiently +for the boiling of the tins, Mr. Hume observed at a considerable distance +above us, a large body of natives under some gum trees. They were not near +enough for us to observe them distinctly, but it was evident that they +were watching our motions. We did not take any notice of them for some +time, but at last I thought it better to call out to them, and accordingly +requested Mr. Hume to do so. In a moment the whole of them ran forward and +dashed into the river, having been on the opposite side, with an uproar I +had never witnessed on any former occasion. + +INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES. + +Mr. Hume thought they intended an attack, and the horses had taken fright +and galloped away. I determined, therefore, to fire at once upon them if +they pressed up the bank on which we were posted. Mr. Hume went with me +to the crest of it, and we rather angrily beckoned to the foremost of the +natives to stop. They mistook our meaning, but laid all their spears in a +heap as they came up. We then sat down on the bank and they immediately +did the same; nor did they stir until we beckoned to them after the horses +had been secured. + +As they conducted themselves so inoffensively, we gave them everything we +had to spare. My gun seemed to excite their curiosity, as they had seen +Mr. Hume shoot a cockatoo with it; they must consequently have been close +to us for the greater part of the day, as the bird was killed in the +morning. It was of a species new to me, being smaller than the common +white cockatoo, and having a large scarlet-and-yellow instead of a +pine-yellow top-knot. + +Having stayed about half an hour with them, we remounted our horses, and +struck away from the river into the plains, while the natives went up its +banks to join their hordes. Those whom we saw were about twenty-seven in +number and the most of them were strangers. + +DISTRESS FROM THIRST. + +It was some time after sunset before we reached the little plain on which +we had arranged to sleep, and when we dismounted we were in a truly +pitiable state. I had been unable to refrain from drinking copiously at +the river, and now became extremely sick. Mr. Hume had been scarcely more +prudent than myself, but on him the water had a contrary effect, as well +as upon Hopkinson. The tinker was the only man fit for duty, and it was +well for us that such was the case, as the horses made frequent attempts +to stray, and would have left us in a pretty plight had they succeeded. We +reached the camp on the following day a little before sunset, nor was I +more rejoiced to dismount from my wearied horse than to learn that +everything in the camp had been regular during our absence and that the +men had kept on the best terms with the natives who had paid them frequent +visits. + +The bullocks had improved, but were still extremely weak, and as the +horses we had employed on the last journey required a day or two's rest, +it was arranged that we should not break up our camp until the 12th, +beyond which period we could not stop, in consequence of the low state of +our salt provisions, we having barely sufficient to last to Mount Harris, +at the rate of two pounds per week. + +REMARKS ON THE NATIVES. + +The morning after we returned from our excursion, a large party of +natives, about seventy in number, visited the camp. On this occasion, the +women and children passed behind the tents, but did not venture to stop. +Most of the men had spears, and were unusually inquisitive and forward. +Several of them carried fire-sticks under the influence of the disease I +have already noticed, whilst others were remarked to have violent +cutaneous eruptions all over the body. We were pretty well on the alert; +notwithstanding which, every minor article was seized with a quickness +that would have done credit to a most finished juggler. One of the natives +thus picked up my comb and toothbrush, but as he did not attempt to +conceal them, they were fortunately recovered. After staying with us a +short time the men followed the women. They appeared to be strangers who +had come from a distance. + +CUSTOMS OF THE NATIVES. + +The natives of the Darling are a clean-limbed, well-conditioned race, +generally speaking. They seemingly occupy permanent huts, but their tribe +did not bear any proportion to the size or number of their habitations. +It was evident their population had been thinned. The customs of these +distant tribes, as far as we could judge, were similar to those of the +mountain blacks, and they are essentially the same people, although their +language differs. They lacerate their bodies, but do not extract the front +teeth. We saw but few cloaks among them, since the opossum does not +inhabit the interior. Those that were noticed, were made of the red +kangaroo skin. In appearance, these men are stouter in the bust than at +the lower extremities; they have broad noses, sunken eyes, overhanging +eyebrows, and thick lips. The men are much better looking than the women. +Both go perfectly naked, if I except the former, who wear nets over the +loins and across the forehead, and bones through the cartilages of the +nose. Their chief food is fish, of which they have great supplies in the +river; still they have their seasons for hunting their emus and kangaroos. +The nets they use for this purpose, as well as for fishing, are of great +length, and are made upon large frames. These people do not appear to have +warlike habits nor do they take any pride in their arms, which differ +little from those used by the inland tribes, and are assimilated to them +as far as the materials will allow. One powerful man, however, had a +regular trident, for which Mr. Hume offered many things without success. +He plainly intimated to us that he had a use for it, but whether against +an enemy or to secure prey, we could not understand. I was most anxious to +have ascertained if any religious ceremonies obtained among them, but the +difficulty of making them comprehend our meaning was insurmountable; and +to the same cause may be attributed the circumstance of my being unable to +collect any satisfactory vocabulary of their language. They evinced a +strange perversity, or obstinacy rather, in repeating words, although it +was evident that they knew they were meant as questions. The pole we +observed in the creek, on the evening previously to our making the +Darling, was not the only one that fell under our notice; our impression +therefore, that they were fixed by the natives to propitiate some deity, +was confirmed. It would appear that the white pigment was an indication of +mourning. Whether these people have an idea of a superintending Providence +I doubt, but they evidently dread evil agency. On the whole I should say +they are a people, at present, at the very bottom of the scale of +humanity. + +REMARKS ON THE DARLING RIVER. + +We struck the Darling River in lat. 29 degrees 37 minutes S. and in E. +long. 145 degrees 33 minutes, and traced it down for about sixty-six miles +in a direct line to the S.W. If I might hazard an opinion from appearance, +to whatever part of the interior it leads, its source must be far to the +N.E. or N. The capacity of its channel, and the terrific floods that must +sometimes rage in it, would argue that it is influenced by tropical rains, +which alone would cause such floods. It is likely that it seldom arrives +at so reduced a state as that in which we found it, and that, generally +speaking, it has a sufficient depth of water for the purposes of inland +navigation: in such case its future importance cannot be questioned, since +it most probably receives the chief streams falling westerly from the +coast ranges. But, with every anticipation of the benefit that may at some +time or other be derived from this remarkable and central stream, it is +incumbent on me to state that the country, through which it flows, holds +out but little prospect of advantage. Certainly the portion we know of it, +is far from encouraging. The extent of alluvial soil, between the inner +and outer banks of the river, is extremely limited, and, instead of being +covered with sward, is in most places over-run by the polygonum. Beyond +this the plains of the interior stretch away, whose character and soil +must change, ere they can be available to any good purpose. But there is a +singular want of vegetable decay in the interior of New Holland, and that +powerfully argues its recent origin. + +REMARKS ON THE COUNTRY. + +There is no life upon its surface, if I may so express myself; but the +stillness of death reigns in its brushes, and over its plains. It cannot, +however, be doubted that we visited the interior during a most unfavorable +season. Probably in ordinary ones it wears a different appearance, but its +deserts are of great extent, and its productions are of little value. + +Agreeably to our arrangements, we broke up our camp at an early hour on +the morning of the 12th, and proceeded up the river to the junction of +New Year's Creek. We then struck away in an easterly direction from it, +detaching a man to trace the creek up, lest we should pass any water; and +we should certainly have been without it had we not taken this precaution. + +On the following day, we again passed to the eastward, through an open +country, having picturesque views of Oxley's Table Land. We crossed our +track about noon, and struck on the creek at about five miles beyond it, +and we were fortunate enough to procure both water and grass. The timber +upon the plains, between us and the Darling, we found to be a rough gum, +but box prevailed in the neighbourhood of the creek at this part of it. + +On the 14th, we changed our direction more to the southward, but made a +short journey, in consequence of being obliged to make some slight repairs +on the boat carriage. + +REGAIN OUR OLD ROUTE. + +On the 15th, we kept an E.S.E. course, and, crossing the creek at an early +hour, got upon our old track, which we kept. We had the lateral ridge of +the Pink Hills upon our right, and travelled through a good deal of brush. +Four or five natives joined us, and two followed us to the end of our +day's journey. In the course of the evening, they endeavoured to pilfer +whatever was in their reach, but were detected putting a tin into a bush, +and soon took to their heels. This was the first instance we had of open +theft among the natives of the interior. + +We passed Mosquito Brush on the 18th, but found the ponds quite dry, we +were, therefore, under the necessity of pushing on, to shorten the next +day's journey, as we could not expect to get water nearer than the +marshes. At noon, on the 19th, we entered the plain, and once more saw +them spreading in dreariness before us. While the party was crossing to +the first channel, I rode to the left, in order to examine the appearance +of the country in the direction of the wood, and as far as I skirted the +reeds had my impressions confirmed as to their partial extension. I was +obliged, however, to join the men without completing the circuit of the +marshes. They had found the first channel dry, and had passed on to the +other, in which, fortunately, a small quantity of water still remained. +It was, however, so shallow as to expose the backs of the fish in it, and +a number of crows had congregated, and were pecking at them. Wishing to +satisfy my mind as to the distance to which the river extended to the +northward, Mr. Hume rode with me on the following day, to examine the +country in that direction, leaving the men stationary. We found that the +reeds gradually decreased in body, until, at length, they ceased, or gave +place to bulrushes. There were general appearances of inundation, and of +the subsidence of waters, but none that led us to suppose that any channel +existed beyond the flooded lands. + +ALARM FOR THE SAFETY OF THE PROVISION PARTY. + +On our return to the camp, we observed dense masses of smoke rising at the +head of the marshes, and immediately under Mount Foster. This excited our +alarm for the safety of the party we hoped to find at Mount Harris, and +obliged us to make forced marches, to relieve it if threatened by the +natives. + +On the 22nd, we crossed the plains of the Macquarie, and surprised a +numerous tribe on the banks of the river; and the difficulty we found in +getting any of them to approach us, their evident timidity, and the +circumstance of one of them having on a jacket, tended to increase our +apprehensions. When two or three came to us, they intimated that white +men either had been or were under Mount Harris, but we were left in +uncertainty and passed a most anxious night. + +The body of reeds was still on fire; and the light embers were carried to +an amazing distance by the wind, falling like a black-shower around us. As +we knew that the natives never made such extensive conflagration, unless +they had some mischievous object in view, our apprehension for the safety +of Riley, with his supplies, was increased. + +At the earliest dawn, we pushed for the hill. In passing that part of the +meadows under Mount Foster, we observed that the grass had also been +consumed, and we scarcely recognised the ground from its altered +appearance. As we approached Mount Harris, we saw recent traces of cattle, +but none were visible on the plains. Under the hill, however, we could +distinctly see that a hut of some kind had been erected, and it is +impossible for me to describe the relief we felt when a soldier came +forward to reconnoitre us. I could no longer doubt the safety of the +party, and this was confirmed by the rest of the men turning out to +welcome us. It appeared that our suspicions with regard to the natives had +not been without foundation, since they attempted to surprise the camp, +and it was supposed the firing of the marshes was done with a view to +collect the distant tribes, to make a second attack; so that our arrival +was most opportune. + +The party I found awaiting our arrival at Mount Harris consisted of one +soldier, Riley, who had the charge of the supplies, and a drayman. They +had found the paper I had fixed against the tree, and also the letters I +had hid, and had forwarded them to Sydney, by another soldier and a +prisoner; which had weakened their party a good deal. Riley informed me, +that he had been between a month and three weeks at the station, and that +knowing our provisions must have run short he had expected us much earlier +than we had made our appearance. + +My dispatches stated, that additional supplies had been forwarded for my +use, together with horses and bullocks, in the event of my requiring them. +On examination, the former were found to be in excellent order; and, as it +would take some time to carry any changes I might contemplate, or find it +necessary to make, into effect, I determined to give the men who had been +with me a week's rest. + +ENCAMP AT MOUNT HARRIS. + +The camp was made snug; and as the weather had become much cooler I +thought it a good opportunity to slaughter one of the bullocks, in order +to guard against any bad effects of our having been living for some weeks +exclusively on salt provisions. I was also induced to this measure, from a +wish to preserve my supplies as much as possible. + +These matters having been arranged, I had a temporary awning erected near +the river, and was for three or four days busily employed writing an +account of our journey for the Governor's information. + +Having closed my despatches, and answered the numerous friendly letters I +had received, my attention was next turned to the changes that had taken +place at Mount Harris during our absence. The Macquarie, I found, had +wholly ceased to flow, and now consisted of a chain of ponds. Such of the +minor vegetation as had escaped the fires of the natives, had perished +under the extreme heat of the season. The acacia pendula stood leafless +upon the plains, and the polygonum junceum appeared to be the only plant +that had withstood the effects of the drought. Yet, notwithstanding this +general depression of the vegetable kingdom, the animals that had been +brought from Wellington Valley were in the best condition, and were, +indeed, too fat for effective labour; it might, therefore, be reasonably +presumed, that herbage affording such nourishment in so unfavourable a +season, would be of the richest quality, if fresh and vigorous under the +influence of seasonable, and not excessive, rains. + +FIRING OF THE GREAT MARSHES. + +The appearance of the country was, however, truly melancholy; there was +not a flower in bloom, nor a green object to be seen. Whether our arrival +had increased their alarm, is uncertain, but the natives continued to fire +the great marshes, and as the element raged amongst them, large bodies of +smoke rose over the horizon like storm clouds, and had the effect of +giving additional dreariness to the scene. I am inclined to think that +they made these conflagrations to procure food, by seizing whatsoever +might issue from the flames, as snakes, birds, or other animals; for they +had taken every fish in the river, and the low state of its waters had +enabled them to procure an abundance of muscles from its bed, which they +had consumed with their characteristic improvidence. They were, +consequently, in a starving condition, and so pitiable were their +indications of it, that I was induced to feed such of them as visited the +camp, notwithstanding their late misconduct; being likewise anxious to +bring about a good understanding, as the best means of ensuring the safety +of the smaller party when we should separate, of which I had reason to be +doubtful. These people had killed two white men not long before my arrival +among them, and as the circumstances attending the slaughter are singular, +I shall relate them. + +SLAUGHTER OF TWO IRISH RUNAWAYS. + +The parties were two Irish runaways, who thought they could make their way +to Timor. They escaped from Wellington Valley with a fortnight's provision +each, and a couple of dogs, and proceeded down the Macquarie. About the +cataract, they fell in with the Mount Harris tribe, and remained with them +for some days, when they determined on pursuing their journey. The blacks, +however, wanted to get possession of their dogs, and a resistance on the +part of the Europeans brought on a quarrel. It appears, that before the +blacks proceeded to extremities, they furnished the Irishmen, who were +unarmed, with weapons, and then told them to defend themselves, but +whether against equal or inferior numbers, I am uninformed. One of them +soon fell, which the other observing, he took his knife out, and cut the +throats of both the dogs before the blacks had time to put him to death. +He was, however, sacrificed; and both the men were eaten by the tribe +generally. I questioned several on the subject, but they preserved the +most sullen silence, neither acknowledging nor denying the fact. + +ARBUTHNOT'S RANGE. + +Mr. Hume had been one day on Mount Harris, and while there, had laid his +compass on a large rock, near to which Mr. Oxley's boat had been burnt. +To his surprise, he found the needle affected; and his bearings were all +wrong. I subsequently went up to ascertain the extent of the error +produced, and found it precisely the same as Mr. Hume noticed. When I +placed the compass on the rock, Mount Foster bore from me N. by W., the +true bearing of the one hill from the other being N.N.W. My placing my +notebook under the compass did not alter the effect, nor did the card move +until I raised the instrument a couple of feet above the stone, when it +first became violently agitated, and then settled correctly; and my +bearings of the highest parts of Arbuthnot's Range, and of its centre, +were as follows: + +Mount Exmouth to the N ...... N. 86 E. +Centre....................... N. 85 E. +Vernon's Peak................ N. 89 E. +Distance 70 miles. + +Having finished my reports and letters, it became necessary to consider +the best point on which to move, and to fix a day for our departure from +Mount Harris. It struck me that having found so important a feature as the +Darling River, the Governor would approve my endeavouring to regain it +more to the southward, in order to trace it down. I, therefore, detached +Mr. Hume to survey the country in that direction, and to ascertain if a +descent upon the Bogen district would be practicable, through which I had +been informed a considerable river forced itself. The report he made on +his return was such as to deter me from that attempt, but he stated that +the country for 30 miles from the Macquarie was well watered, and superior +to any he had passed over during the journey; beyond that distance, it +took up the character of the remote interior, and alternated with plains +and brush, the soil being too sandy to retain water on its surface. He saw +some hills from the extremity of his journey, bearing by compass W.S.W. +We consequently determined to make for the Castlereagh, agreeably to our +instructions. Preparations were made for breaking up the camp, all the +various arrangements in the change of animals were completed, the boat +carriage was exchanged for a dray, and I took Boyle in the place of +Norman, whose timidity in the bush rendered him unfit for service. + +CIRCUIT OF THE GREAT MARSHES. + +There is a small hill on the opposite side of the river, and immediately +facing Mount Harris, and to the S.E. of it there is a small lagoon, the +head of a creek, by means of which its superfluous waters are carried off. +This creek runs parallel to the river for about ten miles, and enters the +marshes at the S.E. angle. This I ascertained one day in riding to carry +on my survey of the southern extremity of the marshes, and to join my line +of route by making the circuit of that part of them. I found that the +river was turned to its northerly course by a rising ground of forest +land, which checks its further progress westerly. I proceeded round +the S.W. angle, and then, taking a northerly course, got down to the +bottom of the first great marsh, thus completing the circuit of them. I +did not return to the camp until after 10 p.m., having crossed the river +at day-light, nor did we procure any water from the time we left the +stream to the moment of our recrossing it. + +WALLIS'S PONDS. + +Having completed our various arrangements, and closed our letters, we +struck our tents on the morning of the 7th March; we remained, however, to +witness the departure of Riley's party for Wellington Valley, and then +left the Macquarie on an E.N.E. course for Wallis's Ponds, and made them +at about 14 miles. They undoubtedly empty themselves into the marshes, and +are a continuation of that chain of ponds on which I left the party in +Mr. Hume's charge. About a mile from Mount Harris, we passed a small dry +creek, that evidently lays the country under water in the wet seasons. +There was a blue-gum flat to the eastward of it, which we crossed, and +then entered a brush of acacia pendula and box. The soil upon the plain +was an alluvial deposit; that in the brushes was sandy. From the extremity +of the plain, Mount Harris bore, by compass, S.W. by W.; Mount Foster due +west. The scrub through which we were penetrating, at length became so +dense, that we found it impossible to travel in a direct line through it, +and frequent ridges of cypresses growing closely together, turned us +repeatedly from our course. The country at length became clearer, and we +travelled over open forest of box, casuarina, and cypresses, on a sandy +soil; the first predominating. For about two miles before we made the +creek, the country was not heavily timbered, the acacia pendula +succeeding the larger trees. The ground had a good covering of grass upon +it, and there were few of the salsolaceous plants, so abundant on the +western plains, to be found. The rough-gum abounded near the creek, with a +small tree bearing a hard round nut, and we had the luxury of plenty of +water. + +We remained stationary on the 8th, in hopes that Riley would have met the +soldier who had been sent back to Wellington Valley, and that he would +have forwarded any letters to us, of which he might have been the bearer. +The day, however, passed over without realizing our expectations; and we +started once more for the interior, and cut ourselves off from all +communication with society. + +MORRISSET'S PONDS. + +We made for Morrisset's chain of ponds, and travelled over rich and +extensive plains, divided by plantations of cypress, box, and casuarina, +in the early and latter period of the day. About noon we entered a dense +forest of cypresses, which continued for three miles, when the cypresses +became mixed with casuarina, box, and mountain-gum, a tree we had not +remarked before in so low a situation. We struck upon the creek after a +journey of about 15 miles. It had a sandy bed, and was extremely tortuous +in its course, nor was it until after a considerable search, that we at +length succeeded in finding water, at which a party of natives were +encamped. The moment they saw us, they fled, and left all their utensils, +&c. behind them. Among other things, we found a number of bark troughs, +filled with the gum of the mimosa, and vast quantities of gum made into +cakes upon the ground. From this it would appear these unfortunate +creatures were reduced to the last extremity, and, being unable to procure +any other nourishment, had been obliged to collect this mucilaginous food. + +The plains we traversed, were of uniform equality of surface. Water +evidently lodges and continues on them long after a fall of rain, and in +wet seasons they must, I should imagine, be full of quagmires, and almost +impassable. + +On the 10th, we passed through a country that differed in no material +point from that already described. We stopped at 10 a.m. under some brush, +in the centre of a large plain, from which Arbuthnot's range bore S. 84 E. +distant from 50 to 55 miles, and afterwards traversed or rather crossed, +those extensive tracts described by Mr. Evans as being under water and +covered with reeds, in 1817. They now bore a very different appearance, +being firm and dry. The soil was in general good, and covered with forest +grass and a species of oxalia. We did not observe any reeds, or the signs +of inundation, but, as is invariably the case with plains in the interior, +they were of too even surface, as I have so lately remarked, to admit of +the waters running quickly off them; and no doubt, when they became +saturated, many quagmires are formed, that would very much impede the +movements of an expedition. + +REACH THE CASTLEREAGH RIVER. + +We reached the Castlereagh about 4 p.m., and although its channel could +not have been less than 130 yards in breadth, there was apparently not a +drop of water in it. Its bed consisted of pure sand and reeds; amid the +latter, we found a small pond of 15 yards circumference, after a long +search. There is a considerable dip in the country towards the river, at +about two miles from it; and the intervening brush was full of kangaroo, +which, I fancy, had congregated to a spot where there was abundance of +food for them. The soil covering the space was of the richest quality, +and the timber upon it consisted of box, mountain gum, and the angophora +lanceolata, a tree that is never found except on rich ground. + +WANT OF WATER; CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. + +It appeared that our troubles were to recommence, and that in order to +continue on the Castlereagh, it would be necessary for Mr. Hume and myself +to undertake those fatiguing journeys in search of water that had so +exhausted us already: and after all, it was doubtful how soon we might be +forced back. I had certainly expected that, on our gaining the banks of +the river, we should have had a constant supply of water, but the +circumstance of the Castlereagh having not only ceased to flow, but being +absolutely dry, while it afforded the best and clearest proof of the +severity and continuance of the drought in the interior, at the same time +damped the spirits and ardour of the men. We kept the left bank of the +river as we proceeded down it, and passed two or three larger ponds about +a mile below where we had slept, but there they ceased. The bed of the +river became one of pure sand, nor did there appear to be any chance of +our finding any water in it. I stopped the party at about eight miles, and +desired the men to get their dinners, to give Mr. Hume and myself time to +search for a supply upon the plains. Disappointed to the left, we crossed +the channel of the Castlereagh, and struck over a small plain upon the +right bank, and at the extremity of it, came upon a swamp, from which we +immediately returned for the cattle, and got them unloaded by seven +o'clock. As there was sufficient pasture around us, I proposed to Mr. Hume +on the following day, to leave the party stationary, and to ride down the +river to see how far its present appearances continued. Like the +generality of rivers of the interior, it had, where we struck upon it, +outer banks to confine its waters during floods, and to prevent them from +spreading generally over the country; the space between the two banks +being of the richest soil, and the timber chiefly of the angophora kind. +Flooded-gum overhung the inner banks of the river, or grew upon the many +islands, with casuarina. It became evident, however, that the outer banks +declined in height as we proceeded down the river, nor was it long before +they ceased altogether. As we rode along, we found that the inner ones +were fast decreasing in height also. Riding under a hanging wood of the +angophora, which had ceased for a time, we were induced to break off to +our right, to examine some large flooded-gum trees about a couple of miles +to the N.W. of us. On arriving near them, we were astonished to find that +they concealed a serpentine lagoon that had a belt of reeds round it. +Keeping this lagoon upon our right, we at length came to the head of it, +past which the river sweeps. Crossing the channel of the river, we +continued to ride in an easterly direction to examine the country. In +doing this, we struck on a second branch of the Castlereagh, leading +W. by N. into a plain, which it of course inundates at times, and running +up it, we found its bed at the point of separation, to be considerably +higher than that of the main channel, which still continued of pure +sand--and was stamped all over with the prints of the feet of natives, +kangaroos, emus, and wild dogs, We then turned again to the head of the +lagoon, and took the following bearings of Arbuthnot's range: + +Mount Exmouth .......... E. 90 S. +Centre Range ........... E. 35 E. +Vernon's Peak .......... E. 20 S. + +From the head of the lagoon, the river appeared to enter a reedy hollow, +shaded by a long line of flooded gum trees, and on proceeding to it, we +found the banks ceased here altogether; and that a very considerable plain +extended both to the right and the left, which cannot fail of being +frequently laid under water. + +LAGOONS AND CREEKS OF THE CASTLEREAGH. + +On the following morning we moved the party to the lagoon, and, passing +its head, encamped to the north of it; after which we again rode down the +river in search of water. It continued to hold a straight and northerly +course for about five miles, having a plain on either side. The reeds that +had previously covered the channel then suddenly ceased, and the channel, +contracting in breadth, gained in depth: it became extremely serpentine, +and at length lost all the character and appearance of a river. It had +many back channels, as large as the main one, serving to overflow the +neighbouring country. We succeeded in finding a small pond of water in one +of the former, hardly large enough to supply our necessities, but as it +enabled us to push so much further on, we turned towards the lagoon, +making a circuitous journey to the right, across a large plain, bounded to +the north by low acacia brush and box. We struck upon a creek at the +further extremity of the plain, in which there was a tolerably sized pond. +It appeared from the traces of men, that some natives had been there the +day before; but we did not see any of them. The water was extremely muddy +and unfit for use. The lagoon at which we had encamped, was of less +importance than we had imagined. + +JOURNEY DOWN THE RIVER. + +Whilst Mr. Hume led the party down the river, I rode up its northward +bank, to examine it more closely. I found it to be a serpentine sheet of +about three miles in length, gradually decreasing in depth until it +separated into two small creeks. In following one of them up, I observed +that they re-united at the distance of about two miles, and that the +lagoon was filled from the eastward, and not by the river as I had at +first supposed. The waters at the head of the lagoon were putrid, nor was +there a fish in, or a wild fowl upon it. The only bird we saw was a +beautiful eagle, of the osprey kind, with plumage like a sea gull, which +had a nest in the tree over the tents. + +In turning to overtake the party I rode through a great deal of acacia +scrub, and on arriving at the place at which I expected to have overtaken +them, I found they had pushed on. + +The Castlereagh, as I rode down it, diminished in size considerably, and +became quite choked up with rushes and brambles. Rough-gum again made its +appearance, with swamp-oak and a miserable acacia scrub outside. The +country on both sides of the river seemed to be an interminable flat, and +the soil of an inferior description. + +WRETCHED APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. + +I came up with with Mr. Hume about 1 o'clock and we again pushed forward +at 3, and halted for the night without water, the want of which the cattle +did not feel. The river held a general westerly course, and the country in +its neighbourhood became extremely depressed and low. On the following day +we moved forward a distance of not more than nine miles, through a country +on which, at first, the acacia pendula alone was growing on a light +alluvial soil. The river had many back drains, by means of which, in wet +seasons, it inundates the adjacent plains. It was evident, however, that +they had not been flooded for many years; and, notwithstanding that the +country was low, the line of inundation did not appear to be very +extensive, nor were there any reeds growing beyond the immediate banks of +the river. Swamp-oak and rough-gum again prevailed near the stream at our +halting place, and the improvement that had taken place, both in the +country and in the Castlereagh, had induced us to make so short a journey; +for not only was there abundance of the grass for the animals, but large +ponds of water in the river. Some natives had only just preceded us down +it: we came upon their fires that were still smoking; and upon them were +the remains of some fish they had taken, near which they had left a +cumbrous spear. The circumstances cheered us with hopes that an +improvement would take place in the country, and that some new feature +would soon open upon us. In the course of the following day, however, +every favorable change, both in the river and in the country, disappeared. +The latter continued extremely depressed, and in general open, or lightly +covered with acacia pendula; the former dwindled into a mere ditch, choked +up with brambles and reeds, and having only here and there a stagnant pool +of water. We travelled on a N.W. 1/2 W. course for about ten miles, and +again stopped for the night without water. In the course of the afternoon, +we traversed several flats, on which the rough-gum alone was growing. +These flats were evidently subject to flood; and contained an alluvial +soil. + +They became more frequent as we travelled down the river, and the work was +so heavy for the animals, that I was obliged to keep wide of them, in +doing which we struck upon a creek of large size, coming from the N.E. +and, having crossed, we traversed its right bank to its junction with the +Castlereagh, and stopped close to it at a pond of water, though the feed +for the animals was bad. The country to the left of the river, though +somewhat high, was the same, in essential points, as that to the right. + +The Castlereagh seemed to have increased in size below the creek, but +still it had no resemblance to a river. We had not proceeded very far down +its banks, on the 18th, when we crossed a broad footpath leading to it +from the interior. I turned my horse to the left, and struck upon a long +sheet of water, from which I startled a number of pelicans. It was evident +that the natives had recently been in the neighbourhood, but we thought it +probable they might have been a hunting party, who had returned again to +the plains. The whole track we passed over during the day was miserably +poor and bare of vegetation, nor did the appearance of the country to the +N.E. indicate any improvement. We lost the traces of the natives +immediately after crossing their path or beat, and again found the bed of +the river dry, after we had passed the sheet of water to which it led. The +soil was so rotten and yielding, that the team knocked up early; indeed, +it was a matter of surprise to me that they should not have failed before. +The river made somewhat to the westward with little promise of +improvement. The wretched appearance of the country as we penetrated into +it, damped our spirits; we pressed on, however, with difficulty, over +ground that was totally destitute of vegetation. Instead of lofty timber +and a living stream, we wandered along the banks of an insignificant +watercourse, and under trees of stunted size and scanty foliage. We +stopped on the 20th at the angle of a creek, in which there was some dry +grass, in consequence of the animals being almost in a starving state, but +even here they had but little to eat. + +A violent thunder-storm passed over us in the afternoon, but it made no +change in the temperature of the air. The weather, although it had been +hot and sultry, had fallen far short of the intense heat we experienced in +crossing the marshes of the Macquarie, when it was such as to melt the +sugar in the canisters, and to destroy all our dogs; and our nights were +now become agreeably cool. + +A PARTY OF NATIVES. + +We still, however, continued to travel over a dead level, nor was a height +or break visible from the loftiest trees we ascended. A little before we +stopped at the creek, we surprised a party of natives; old men, women, and +children. They were preparing dinners of fish in much larger quantities +than they could have devoured--probably for a part of the tribe that were +absent; but the moment they saw us they fled, and left every thing at our +mercy. On examining the fish, we found them totally different from any in +the Macquarie, and took two of the most perfect to preserve. In the +afternoon one of the men came to inform me that the tribe was coming down +upon us. + +Mr. Hume and I, therefore, went to meet them. They were at this time about +150 yards from the tent, but seeing us advance, they stopped, and forming +two deep, they marched to and fro, to a war song I suppose, crouching with +their spears. We had not, however, any difficulty in communicating with +them, and I shall detail the manner in which this was brought about, in +hopes that it may help to guide others. When the natives saw us advance, +they stopped, and we did the same. Mr. Hume then walked to a tree, and +broke off a short branch. It is singular that this should, even with these +rude people, be a token of peace. As soon as they saw the branch, the +natives laid aside their spears, and two of them advanced about twenty +paces in front of the rest, who sat down. Mr. Hume then went forward and +sat down, when the two natives again advanced and seated themselves close +to him. + +Now it is evident that a little insight into the customs of every people +is necessary to insure a kindly communication; this, joined with patience +and kindness, will seldom fail with the natives of the interior. It is not +to avoid alarming their natural timidity that a gradual approach is so +necessary. They preserve the same ceremony among themselves. These men, +who were eighteen in number, came with us to the tents, and received such +presents as we had for them. They conducted themselves very quietly, and, +after a short time, left us with every token of friendship. + +LARGE CREEK. + +On the 21st we proceeded down the river on a N.N.W. course, and at about +five miles struck upon a very large creek, apparently coming from +the E.N.E. + +Although the Castlereagh had increased in size, this creek was infinitely +larger; it was, however, perfectly dry. Lofty flooded-gum trees were upon +its banks, and it appeared so much superior to the river that I was +induced to halt the party at the junction, in order to examine it more +closely. Mr. Hume, therefore, rode with me up the right bank. We had not +proceeded very far, when some natives called out to us from the opposite +scrub. Thinking that they belonged to the tribe we had left behind us, we +pointed to the junction, and motioned them to go there, but one of the +party continued to follow and call to us for some time. On our return to +the men, we found that the natives had joined them, and they now gave us +to understand that we were going away from water. This had indeed been +apparent to us. The creek was perfectly dry, as far as we traced it up; +and seemed to have been totally deserted by the natives. + +We were about to proceed on our journey, when from twenty to thirty +natives approached us from down the river. We sent two of those who had +been with us to them, and the whole accompanied us for some miles, talking +incessantly to the men, but keeping at a very respectful distance from the +animals. We at length got opposite to their camp, near which there was a +very fine pool of water, and they were earnest in persuading us to stop at +it. We were, however, too anxious to get forward to comply; under the +improved appearance of the river since it had received the creeks from the +eastward, little anticipating what was before us. + +NATIVE ARMOURY. + +The natives did not follow us beyond their own encampment. Within sight of +it, we came upon their armoury, if I may so term it. Numerous spears were +reared against the trees, and heaps of boomerangs were lying on the +ground. The spears were very heavy, and half barbed; and it is singular +that three of them were marked with a broad arrow. We saw the natives +watching us, fearful, I imagine, that we should help ourselves; but I +would not permit any of their weapons to be touched. + +EXAMINATION OF CREEKS NEAR THE CASTLEREAGH. + +Pursuing our journey, we reached another creek, at about five miles, +similar to the last in appearance and size, and we crossed it repeatedly +during the afternoon. We had been induced to keep along a native path in +the hope that it would have led us to the river by a short cut; but it +eventually led us to this creek, and away from the Castlereagh; for, +notwithstanding that we subsequently changed our course to the S.W., we +failed, as we supposed, again to strike upon the latter, and were obliged +to stop for the night on the banks of what appeared to be a third large +dry creek, which we intersected nearly at right angles. + +We travelled through a good deal of brush during the day, nor did the +country change from the miserable and barren character it had assumed for +the last thirty or forty miles. The Castlereagh had so frequently changed, +that both Mr. Hume and myself were puzzled as to the identity of the +creek upon which we had halted. We searched its bed in vain for water, +although it was most capacious. Under an impression that the river was +still to the south, and that we were at a point to which many watercourses +from the high lands tended, I crossed the creek early in the morning, and +held a S.W. course, over an open forest country. At about eight miles, we +came upon a large space over-run by the polygonum junceum, a certain +indication of flooded ground, and of our consequent proximity to some +stream. Accordingly, after pushing through it, we struck upon a small +creek with abundance of water in it. Whether this creek was the +Castlereagh, which it resembled much more than the one we had left in the +morning, was doubtful; but it was a great source of comfort to us to have +so unexpected a supply of water as that which was now at our disposal. +Whatever channel this was, whether a river or a creek, our tracing it down +would lead us in the direction we wished to go, and probably to some +junction. + +The neighbourhood of the creek was well clothed with vegetation, and the +cattle found good feed; but the only trees near it were rough-gum and +casuarinae; the flooded-gum had again disappeared. The soil of the forest +land over which we journeyed was a light sandy loam; and its timber +consisted chiefly of eucalypti, acacia pendula, and the angophora. + +Some natives visited us in the afternoon, and among them, both Mr. Hume +and I recognised one of those we had seen on the Darling. He also knew us +again, but we could not make out from him how far we were from that river. +They stayed with us till sunset, and then went down the creek, leaving +their spears against a tree, for which they said they would return. + +On the 23rd we took up a W.N.W. course, and when we again touched on the +creek it was dry. This was at a distance of about five miles from where we +had slept. As the animals had not recovered from their late privations, I +deemed it better to halt the party and to examine the creek for a few +miles below us, that in case it should prove destitute of water, we might +return to that we had left. Mr. Hume accordingly rode down it for about +three miles, without success; and on his rejoining the men, we returned +with them to our last camp, or to within a short distance of it. Wishing +to examine the creek above our position, I requested Mr. Hume to take two +men with him, and to trace it down in search of water, while I should +proceed in the opposite direction. I went from the camp at an early hour, +and as I wandered along the creek, I passed a regular chain of ponds. The +country on both sides of the creek was evidently subject to flood, but +more extensively to the south than to the north. From the creek, I struck +away to my left, and after penetrating through a belt of swamp-oak and +minor shrubs, got on a small plain, which I crossed N.E. and, to my +annoyance, found it covered with rhagodia and salsolae. As I had not +started with the intention of sleeping, I turned to the S.W. a little +before sunset, and reached the tents between ten and eleven. I found +Mr. Hume awaiting me. He informed me that at about nine miles from +where we had turned back with the party, he had struck upon a junction; +and that as the junction was much larger than the channel he had been +tracing, he thought it better to follow it up for a few miles. He found +that it narrowed in width, and that its banks became steep, with a fine +avenue of flooded-gum trees overhanging them. At four miles, he came upon +another junction, and at four miles more, found himself opposite to the +ground on which we had slept on the previous Saturday. From this point he +retraced the channel, but not finding any water for three miles below the +lower junction, he returned to the camp, with a view of prosecuting a +longer journey on the morrow. Mr. Hume had become impressed with an +opinion, that the junction up which we had slept was no other than the +Castlereagh itself; and that our position was on a creek, probably +Morrisset's chain of ponds, flowing into it. As the cattle wanted a few +days' rest, Mr. Hume and I determined to ride, unattended, along our track +to our camp of the 21st, and then to follow the channel upwards, until we +should arrive at the station of the natives, or until we should have +ridden to such a distance as would set our conjectures at rest. In the +morning, however, instead of running upon our old track, we followed that +of Mr. Hume to the junction, giving up our first intention, with a view to +ascertain if there existed any water which we could, by an effort, gain, +below where Mr. Hume had been. The channel was very broad, with a +considerable fall in its bed, and, in appearance, more resembled the slope +of a lawn than the bed of a river. It had two gum-trees in the centre of +its channel, in one of which the floods had left the trunk of a large +tree. We could discover where it narrowed and its banks rose, but, as we +intended to make a closer examination before we left the neighbourhood, +we continued our journey down the principal channel. The ground exhibited +an abundance of pasture in its immediate neighbourhood, but the distant +country was miserably poor and bare. At about three miles, we came upon +the fresh traces of some natives, which led us to the channel again, from +which we had wandered unintentionally. In it we found there had been water +very lately, and it appeared that the natives had dug holes at the bottom +to insure a longer supply. These were now exhausted, but still retained +the appearance of moisture. At a mile and a half beyond these, we were led +to some similar holes, by observing a number of birds flying about them. +The water was too muddy for us to drink, but the horses emptied them +successively. We now kept sufficiently near the channel to insure our +seeing any pool that might still remain in it, but rode for about seven +miles before we again saw water, and even here, although it was a spring, +we were obliged to dig holes, and await their filling, before we could get +sufficient for our use. Having dined, we again pursued our journey, and +almost immediately came upon a long narrow ditch, full of water, and lined +by bulrushes. The creek or river had for some time kept the centre of a +deep alluvial valley, in which there was plenty of food for the cattle, +and which, at this place, was apparently broader than anywhere else. The +situation being favourable, we returned to the camp, and reached it late. + +DEPRESSION OF THE MEN. + +I do not know whether I was wrong in my conjecture, but I fancied, about +this time, that the men generally were desponding. Whether it was that the +constant fatigue entailed on myself and Mr. Hume, and that our constant +absence, or the consequent exhaustion it produced, had any effect on their +minds, or that they feared the result of our perseverance, is difficult to +say; but certainly, they all had a depression of spirits, and looked, I +thought, altered in appearance; nor did they evince any satisfaction at +our success--at least, not the satisfaction they would have shown at an +earlier period of our journey. + +Before moving forward, it remained for us to ascertain if the channel from +the junction was the Castlereagh, or only a creek. The intersection of so +many channels in this neighbourhood, most of them so much alike, made it +essentially necessary that we should satisfy ourselves on this point. +Mr. Hume, therefore, accompanied me, as had at first been intended the +morning of our return to the place at which we had slept. We took fresh +horses, but dispensed with any other attendants, and indeed went wholly +unarmed. + +CAMP OF NATIVES. + +After following our old track to its termination, we kept up the right +bank of the channel, and at length arrived at the camp of the natives; +thus satisfying ourselves that we had been journeying on the Castlereagh, +and that we were still following it down. By this ride we ascertained that +there was a distance of five-and-forty miles in its bed without a drop of +water. Few of the natives were in the camp. The women avoided us, but not +as if they were under any apprehension. Crossing at the head of the pool, +we again got on our old track, but seeing two or three men coming towards +us we alighted, and, tying our horses to a tree, went to meet them. One +poor fellow had two ducks in his hand, which he had just taken off the +fire; these he offered to us, and on our declining to accept of them, he +called to a boy, who soon appeared with a large trough of honey, of which +we partook. One of the men had an ulcer in the arm, and asked me what he +should do to heal it; indeed, I believe Fraser had promised him some +ointment, but not having any with me, I signified to him that he should +wash it often, and stooping down, made as if I was taking up water in my +hand. The poor fellow mistook me, and, also stooping down, took up a +handful of dust which he threw over the sore. This gave me the trouble of +explaining matters again, and by pointing to the water, I believe I at +length made him understand me. + +DRY CHANNEL OF THE RIVER. + +These good natured people asked us where we had slept the day we passed, +and when informed of the direction, shook their heads, motioning at the +same time, that we must have been without water. We informed them where +the party was, and asked them to come and see us, but I fancy the distance +was too great, or else we were in the beat of another tribe. On mentioning +these facts to the men, they said that two of the natives had followed us +for some miles, calling out loudly to us, but Mr. Hume and I both being in +front, we did not hear them, although, evidently, they wished to save us +distress. + +Since the result of our excursion proved that the channel, about which I +had been so doubtful, was the Castlereagh, it necessarily followed, that +the creek at which we were encamped was one of those (most probably +Morrisset's chain of ponds,) which we had already crossed nearer its +source, and which Mr. Hume must have struck upon when endeavouring to gain +the Castlereagh from the marshes of the Macquarie. + +A perusal of these sheets will ere this have impressed on the reader's +mind, the peculiarity of that fortune which led us from the Castlereagh to +the creek, at which alone our wants could have been supplied. Had we +wandered down the river, as we undoubtedly should have done had we +recognised it as such, the loss of many of our animals would have been the +inevitable consequence, and very probably a final issue would have been +put to our journey. It is only to those who are placed in situations that +baffle their own exertions or foresight, that the singular guidance of +Providence becomes fully apparent. + +NATIVES PERISHING FROM FAMINE. + +It would appear that the natives were dying fast, not from any disease, +but from the scarcity of food; and, should the drought continue, it seemed +probable they may became extinct. + +The men found the body of a woman covered with leaves near the tents, and +very properly buried it. We made Friday a day of rest for ourselves, as +indeed was necessary; and on the following morning proceeded down the +river, and encamped on a high bank above it, at the base of which, our +cattle both fed and watered. + +At this spot one of the largest gum-trees I had ever seen had fallen, +having died for want of moisture; indeed, the state of the vegetable +kingdom was such as to threaten its total extinction, unless a change of +seasons should take place. + +It may be worthy of remark that, from our first arrival on the banks of +the Castlereagh, to our arrival at the present camp, we never picked up a +stone, or a pebble, in its bed. + +JUNCTION OF THE CASTLEREAGH WITH THE DARLING. + +In the hope that we should fall on some detached pond, we pursued our +journey on the 29th. The Castlereagh gave singular proofs of its violence, +as if its waters, confined in the valley, had a difficulty in escaping +from it. We had not travelled two miles, when in crossing, as we imagined, +one of its bights, we found ourselves checked by a broad river. A single +glimpse of it was sufficient to tell us it was the Darling. At a distance +of more than ninety miles nearer its source, this singular river still +preserved its character, so strikingly, that it was impossible not to have +recognised it in a moment. The same steep banks and lofty timber, the same +deep reaches, alive with fish, were here visible as when we left it. +A hope naturally arose to our minds, that if it was unchanged in other +respects, it might have lost the saltness that rendered its waters unfit +for use; but in this we were disappointed--even its waters continued the +same. As it was impossible for us to cross the Darling, I determined on +falling back upon our last encampment, which was at a most Convenient +distance, and of concerting measures there for our future movements. Prior +to doing so, however, I rode to the junction of the Castlereagh with +the Darling, accompanied by Mr. Hume, a distance of about half a mile. +Upon the point formed by the two streams, there were a number of huts, +and on the opposite bank of the Darling, about twenty natives had +collected. We called out to them, but they would not join us. + +At the junction, the Castlereagh, with whatever impetuosity it rushes from +its confinement, makes not apparently the least impression on the Darling +River. The latter seemed to loll on, totally heedless of such a tributary. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + + +Perplexity--Trait of honesty in the natives--Excursion on horseback across +the Darling--Forced to return--Desolating effects of the drought--Retreat +towards the colony--Connection between the Macquarie and the Darling-- +Return up the banks of the Macquarie--Starving condition of the natives. + + +On our return to the party, we found them surrounded by the natives, who +were looking with an eye of wonder on the cattle and horses. We pointed +out to them the direction in which we were going, and invited them to +visit us; and nothing appeared to astonish them so much as the management +of the team by a single man. We got back to our position early, and again +fixed ourselves upon it. + +It now only remained for us to consider what we should do under +circumstances of certainly more than ordinary perplexity. We had nothing +to hope for from travelling in a southerly direction, while to the E. and +N.E., the state of the country was worse than that by which we had +penetrated to the Darling. It was evident, that the large creeks joining +the Castlereagh in that direction were dry, since the natives not only +intimated this to us, but it was unquestionable that they themselves had +deserted them, and had crowded to such places as still contained a supply +of water. Even in retreating, we could not hope to retrace our steps. +Experience had proved to us, that the dry state of the interior was as +injurious to the movements of an expedition as a too wet season would have +been. Taking everything, therefore, into consideration, I determined on +leaving the party stationary, and on crossing the Darling to the N.W., +and, if any encouraging feature presented itself, to return for the party, +and persevere in an examination of the distant interior. Such, at least, +appeared to me the most judicious plan: indeed, an attempt to have moved +in any other direction would have been fruitless. And, as the result of +this journey would be decisive, and would either fix or determine our +advance or retreat, I was anxious for Mr. Hume's attendance. + +The natives followed to the camp, and in the course of the afternoon, were +joined by their women. The latter however, would not approach nearer than +the top of a little hillock on which they sat. The men did not come round +the tents, but stood in a row at a short distance. At sunset, they gained +a little courage, and wandered about a little more; at length they went +off to the Darling. + +HONESTY OF A NATIVE. + +It was quite dark, when I heard a native call from the hill on which the +women had been, and I desired Hopkinson to take his firelock and ascertain +what the man wanted. He soon after returned, and brought a blanket, which +he said the man had returned to him. The native was alone, and when he +offered the blanket, kept his spear poised in his right hand; but, seeing +that no violence was intended him, he lowered his weapon, and walked away. + +REWARD THE MAN FOR HIS CONDUCT. + +I was extremely pleased at this trait of honesty, and determined to reward +it. On inquiry, I found that the men had availed themselves of the day to +wash their blankets and that one of them had been flung over a bush +hanging over the bank of the river, and it was supposed that one of the +natives must have pulled it down with him. In the morning, the tribe went +away from their encampment before day-light as we judged from the cry of +their dogs, than which nothing could be more melancholy; but about eight, +the men made their appearance on the hill occupied by the women the +evening previously, and seemed to be doubtful whether to approach nearer. +I went out to them, and, with a downward motion of my hand, beckoned for +them to come to me: they mistook the signal, but laid all their spears on +the ground, and it was not until after the sign had been reversed that +they stirred or moved towards me. I then got them in a row, and desired +Hopkinson to single out the man who had given him the blanket. It was, +however, with great difficulty that he recognised him, as the man stood +firm and motionless. At length, after walking two or three times along the +line, he stopped before one man, and put his hand on his shoulder, upon +which the manner of the native testified as to the correctness of his +guess. + +The blanket being produced, I explained to the savage, with Mr. Hume's +assistance, that I was highly pleased with him, and forthwith presented +him with a tomahawk and a clasp-knife. The tribe were perfectly aware of +the reason of my conduct, and all of them seemed highly delighted. + +I was happy in having such an opportunity of showing the natives of the +interior that I came among them with a determination to maintain justice +in my communication with them, and to impress them, at the same time, with +a sense of our love of it in them. That they appreciated my apparent +lenity in not calling for the defaulter, I am sure, and I feel perfectly +conscious that I should have failed in my duty had I acted otherwise than +I did. + +EFFECT OF FIRING A GUN. + +Although the natives had shown so good a disposition, as they were +numerous, I thought it as well, since I was about to leave the camp, to +show them that I had a power they little dreamt of about me. I therefore +called for my gun and fired a ball into a tree. The effect of the report +upon the natives, was truly ridiculous. Some stood and stared at me, +others fell down, and others ran away; and it was with some difficulty we +collected them again. At last, however, we did so, and, leaving them to +pick out the ball, mounted our horses and struck away for the Darling. +We crossed the river a little above where we struck it, and then proceeded +N.W. into the interior. + +EXCURSION ACROSS THE DARLING. + +It is impossible for me to describe the nature of the country over which +we passed, for the first eight miles. We rode through brushes of +polygonum, under rough-gum, without a blade of vegetation, the whole space +being subject to inundation. We then got on small plains of firmer +surface, and red soil, but these soon changed again for the former; and +at 4 p.m. we found ourselves advanced about two miles on a plain that +stretched away before us, and bounded the horizon. It was dismally brown; +a few trees only served to mark the distance. Up one of the highest I sent +Hopkinson, who reported that he could not see the end of it, and that all +around looked blank and desolate. It is a singular fact, that during the +whole day, we had not seen a drop of water or a blade of grass. + +DESOLATING EFFECTS OF THE DROUGHT. + +To have stopped where we were, would, therefore, have been impossible; to +have advanced, would probably have been ruin. Had there been one favorable +circumstance to have encouraged me with the hope of success, I would have +proceeded. Had we picked up a stone as indicating our approach to high +land, I would have gone on; or had there been a break in the level of the +country, or even a change in the vegetation. But we had left all traces of +the natives far behind us; and this seemed a desert they never +entered--that not even a bird inhabited. I could not encourage a hope of +success, and, therefore, gave up the point; not from want of means, but a +conviction of the inutility of any further efforts. If there is any blame +to be attached to the measure, it is I who am in fault, but none who had +not like me traversed the interior at such a season, would believe the +state of the country over which I had wandered. During the short interval +I had been out, I had seen rivers cease to flow before me, and sheets of +water disappear; and had it not been for a merciful Providence, should, +ere reaching the Darling, have been overwhelmed by misfortune. + +I am giving no false picture of the reality. So long had the drought +continued, that the vegetable kingdom was almost annihilated, and minor +vegetation had disappeared. In the creeks, weeds had grown and withered, +and grown again; and young saplings were now rising in their beds, +nourished by the moisture that still remained; but the largest forest +trees were drooping, and many were dead. The emus, with outstretched +necks, gasping for breath, searched the channels of the rivers for water, +in vain; and the native dog, so thin that it could hardly walk, seemed to +implore some merciful hand to despatch it. How the natives subsisted it +was difficult to say, but there was no doubt of the scarcity of food +among them. + +We arrived in camp at a late hour, and having nothing to detain us longer, +prepared for our retreat in the morning. The natives had remained with the +party during the greater part of the day, and had only left them a short +time prior to our arrival. + +When examining the creek on which we had been encamped for some days, +Mr. Hume observed a small junction; and as we knew we were almost +due N. of the marshes of the Macquarie, both of us were anxious to +ascertain whence it originated. To return to Mount Harris, by retracing +our steps up the Castlereagh, would have entailed the severest distress +upon us; we the rather preferred proceeding up this creek, and taking our +chance for a supply of water. We therefore crossed Morrisset's chain of +ponds, and encamped in the angle formed by the junction of the two creeks. + +Before we left this position, we were visited by a party of natives, +twelve in number, but not of the Darling tribe. They accompanied us a +short way, and then struck off to the right. At about a mile and a half, +we crossed Mr. Hume's track, leading westerly, which still remained +observable. The creek was, no doubt, the hollow he stated that he crossed +on that excursion, and its appearance certainly justified his opinion of +it. Its bed was choked up with bulrushes or the polygonum, and its banks +were level with the country on either side, or nearly so. We passed over +extremely rich soil the whole day, on a S.W. and by W. course, though the +timber upon it was dwarfish, and principally of the rough-gum kind. + +On the 2nd of April, we stopped in order to make some repairs upon the +dray; the wheels of which had failed us. Clayton put in four new spokes, +and we heated the tyres over again, by which means we got it once more +serviceable. + +WILD MELON. + +The soil in the creek was of the richest quality, and was found to produce +a dwarf melon, having all the habits and character of the cucumber. +The fruit was not larger than a pigeon's egg, but was extremely sweet. +There were not, however, many ripe, although the runners were covered with +flowers, and had an abundance of fruit upon them. In the morning, we sent +the tinker on horseback up the creek, to ascertain how far the next water +was from us, desiring him to keep the creek upon his right, and to follow +his own track back again. He thought fit, however, considering himself +a good bushman, to wander away to his left, and the consequence was, that +he soon lost himself. It would appear that he doubled and passed through +some thick brush at the back of the camp, and at length found himself at +dark on the banks of a considerable creek. In wandering along it, he +luckily struck upon the natives we had last seen, who, good-naturedly, led +him to the track of the dray, which his horse would not afterwards desert, +and the tinker sneaked into the tent about 3 o'clock in the morning, +having failed in his errand, and made himself the butt of the whole party. + +RETURN UP THE CREEK. + +The day succeeding this adventure, we moved up the creek, which was, for +the most part, even with the plain. The country continued the same as that +we had passed over from the junction, being subject to flood, and having +patches of bulrushes and reeds upon it. No change took place in the +timber, but the line of acacia pendula, which forms the line of +inundation, approached neater to us; nor was the mark of flood so high on +the trunks of trees as below. We halted, with abominable water, but +excellent food for the animals in the plains behind us. In continuing our +journey, we found several changes take place in the appearance of the +creek and its neighbourhood. The former diminished in size, and at length +separated into two distinct channels, choked up, for the most part, with +dead bulrushes, but having a few green reeds in patches along it. The +flats on either side became slightly timbered, and blue gum was the +prevailing tree. Crossing one of the channels, we observed every +appearance of our near approach to the marshes, the flats being +intersected by many little water-runs, such as we had noticed at the +bottom of them. About noon we struck upon a body of reeds under the wood +of eucalypti, below the second great morass, and keeping a little to our +right to avoid them, fell shortly afterwards into our old track on the +plain, upon which we continued to move, making the best of our way to the +channel which had supplied our wants on our first return from the Darling. +It was now, however, quite dry, and we were obliged to push on further, +to shorten the journey of the morrow. + +CONNECTION OF MACQUARIE AND DARLING. + +The result of our journey up the creek was particularly satisfactory, both +to myself and Mr. Hume; since it cleared up every doubt that might have +existed regarding the actual termination of the Macquarie, and enabled us +to connect the flow of waters at so interesting and particular a point. +It will be seen by a reference to the chart, that the waters of the +marshes, after trickling through the reeds, form a small creek, which +carries off the superfluous part of them into Morrisset's chain of ponds, +which latter again falls into the Castlereagh, at about eight miles to the +W.N.W. and all three join the Darling in a W. by N. direction, in lat. +30 degrees 52 minutes south and E. lon. 147 degrees 8 minutes at about +90 miles to the N.N.W. of Mount Harris, and about an equal distance to +the E.S.E. of where we struck upon the last-mentioned river. Thus it +is evident that the Darling had considerably neared the eastern ranges, +although it was still more than 150 miles from their base. It was +apparently coming from the N.E., and whether it has its sources in the +mountains behind our distant settlements, or still farther to the +northwards, is a question of curious speculation, although, as I have +already stated, I am of opinion that none but tropical rains could +supply the furious torrent that must sometimes rage in it. + +It would be presumptuous to hazard any opinion as to the nature of the +interior to the westward of that remarkable river. Its course is involved +in equal mystery, and it is a matter of equal doubt whether it makes its +way to the south coast, or ultimately exhausts itself in feeding a +succession of swamps, or falls into a large reservoir in the centre of +the island. + +RETURN TO MOUNT HARRIS. + +We reached Mount Harris on the 7th of the month, and moving leisurely up +the banks of the Macquarie, gained Mr. Palmer's first station on the 14th, +and Wellington Valley on the 21st, having been absent from that settlement +four months and two weeks. The waters of the Macquarie had diminished so +much, that its bed was dry for more than half a mile at a stretch, nor did +we observe the least appearance of a current in it, until after we had +ascended the ranges. The lower tribes were actually starving, and brought +their children to us to implore something to eat. The men attempted to +surprise the camp, but I believe they were urged from absolute necessity +to procure subsistence for themselves, and that they intended robbery +rather than personal violence. + +DEPLORABLE STATE OF THE COUNTRY. + +We left the interior in a still more deplorable state than that in which +we found it; but it is more than probable that under other circumstances, +we should have found it impossible to traverse its distant plains, as it +is certain that unless rain fell in less than three weeks, all +communication with the Darling would have been cut off: + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + + +General remarks--Result of the expedition--Previous anticipations-- +Mr. Oxley's remarks--Character of the Rivers flowing westerly-- +Mr. Cunningham's remarks--Fall of the Macquarie--Mr. Oxley's erroneous +conclusions respecting the character of the interior, naturally inferred +from the state in which he found the country--The marsh of the Macquarie +merely a marsh of the ordinary character--Captain King's observations-- +Course of the Darling--Character of the low interior plain--The convict +Barber's report of rivers traversing the interior--Surveyor-General +Mitchell's Report of his recent expedition. + +RESULT OF THE EXPEDITION. + +Whether the discoveries that have been made during this expedition, will +ultimately prove of advantage to the colony of New South Wales, is a +question that time alone can answer. We have in the meanwhile to regret +that no beneficial consequences will immediately follow them. The further +knowledge that has been gained of the interior is but as a gleam of +sunshine over an extensive landscape. A stronger light has fallen upon the +nearer ground, but the distant horizon is still enveloped in clouds. The +veil has only as it were been withdrawn from the marshes of the Macquarie +to be spread over the channel of the Darling. Unsatisfactory, however, as +the discoveries may as yet be considered in a commercial point of view, +the objects for which the expedition had been fitted out were happily +attained. The marsh it had been directed to examine, was traversed on +every side, and the rivers it had been ordered to trace, were followed +down to their terminations to a distance far beyond where they had ceased +to exist as living streams. To many who may cast their eyes over the +accompanying chart, the extent of newly discovered country may appear +trifling; but when they are told, that there is not a mile of that +ground that was not traversed over and over again, either by Mr. Hume or +by myself, that we wandered over upwards of 600 miles more than the main +body of the expedition, on different occasions, in our constant and +anxious search for water, and that we seldom dismounted from our horses, +until long after sunset, they will acknowledge the difficulties with which +we had to contend, and will make a generous allowance for them; for, +however unsuccessful in some respects the expedition may have been, it +accomplished as much, it is to be hoped, as under such trying +circumstances could have been accomplished. It now only remains for me to +sum up the result of my own observations, and to point out to the reader, +how far the actual state of the interior, has been found to correspond +with the opinions that were entertained of it. + +MR. OXLEY'S REMARKS. + +I have already stated, in the introduction to this work, that the general +impression on the minds of those best qualified to judge was, that the +western streams discharged themselves into a central shoal sea. Mr. Oxley +thus expresses himself on the subject:-- + + +"July 3rd. Towards morning the storm abated, and at day-light, we +proceeded on our voyage. The main bed of the river was much contracted, +but very deep; the waters spreading to the depth of a foot or eighteen +inches over the banks, but all running on the same point of bearing. We +met with considerable interruptions from fallen timber, which in places +nearly choked up the channel. After going about twenty miles, we lost the +land and trees; the channel of the river, which lay through reeds, and was +from one to three feet deep, ran northerly.--This continued for three or +four miles farther, when, although there had been no previous change in +the breadth, depth, or rapidity of the stream for several miles, and I was +sanguine in my expectations of soon entering the long-sought-for +Australian sea, it all at once eluded our farther pursuit, by spreading on +every point from N.W. to N.E. among the ocean of reeds which surrounded +us, still running with the same rapidity as before. There was no channel +whatever among those reeds, and the depth varied from three to five feet. +This astonishing change (for I cannot call it a termination of the river) +of course left me no alternative but to endeavour to return to some spot +on which we could effect a landing before dark. I estimated, that during +the day, we had gone about twenty-four miles, on nearly the same point of +bearing as yesterday. To assert, positively, that we were on the margin of +the lake, or sea, into which this great body of water is discharged, might +reasonably be deemed a conclusion, which has nothing but conjecture for +its basis. But if an opinion may be permitted to be hazarded from actual +appearances, mine is decidedly in favour of our being in the immediate +vicinity of an inland sea, or lake, most probably a shoal one, and +gradually filling up by numerous depositions from the high lands, left by +the waters which flow into it. It is most singular, that the high lands on +this continent seem to be confined to the sea-coast, and not to extend to +any distance from it." + +MR. CUNNINGHAM'S REMARKS. + +In a work published at Sydney, containing an account of Mr. Allan +Cunningham's journey towards Moreton Bay, in 1828, the following remarks +occur, from which it is evident Mr. Cunningham entertained Mr. Oxley's +views of the character and nature of the Western interior. Towards the +conclusion of the narrative, the author thus observes:-- + + +"Of the probable character of the distant unexplored interior, into which +it has been ascertained ALL the rivers falling westerly from the dividing +ranges flow, some inference may be drawn from the following data. + +"Viewing, between the parallels of 34 degrees and 27 degrees, a vast area +of depressed interior, subjected in seasons of prolonged rains to partial +inundation, by a dispersion of the several waters that flow upon it from +the eastern mountains whence they originate; and bearing in mind at the +same time, that the declension of the country within the above parallels, +as most decidedly shown by the dip of its several rivers, is uniformly +to the N.N.W. and N.W., it would appear very conclusive, that either a +portion of our distant interior is occupied by a lake of considerable +magnitude, or that the confluence of those large streams, the Macquarie, +Castlereagh, Gwydir, and the Dumaresq, with the many minor interfluent +waters, which doubtless takes place upon those low levels, forms one +or more noble rivers, which may flow across the continent by an almost +imperceptible declivity of country to the north of north-west coasts, on +certain parts of which, recent surveys have discovered to us extensive +openings, by which the largest accumulations of waters might escape to the +sea." + +CHARACTER OF THE RIVERS. + +It is the characteristic of the streams falling westerly from the eastern, +or coast ranges, to maintain a breadth of channel and a rapidity of +current more immediately near their sources, that ill accords with their +diminished size, and the sluggish flow of their waters in the more +depressed interior. In truth, neither the Macquarie nor the Castlereagh +can strictly be considered as permanent rivers. The last particularly is +nothing more than a mountain torrent. The Macquarie, although it at length +ceased to run, kept up the appearance of a river to the very marshes; but +the bed of the Castlereagh might have been crossed in many places without +being noticed, nor did its channel contain so much water as was to be +found on the neighbouring plains. + +There are two circumstances upon which the magnitude, and velocity of a +river, more immediately depend. The first is the abundance of its sources, +the other the dip of its bed. If a stream has constant fountains at its +head, and numerous tributaries joining it in its course, and flows withal +through a country of gradual descent, such a stream will never fail; but +if the supplies do not exceed the evaporation and absorption, to which +every river is subject, if a river dependant on its head alone, falls +rapidly into a level country, without receiving a single addition to its +waters to assist the first impulse acquired in their descent, it must +necessarily cease to flow at one point or other. Such is the case with the +Lachlan, the Macquarie, the Castlereagh, and the Darling. Whence the +latter originates, still remains to be ascertained; but most undoubtedly +its sources have been influenced by the same drought that has exhausted +the fountains of the three first mentioned streams. + +In supporting his opinion of the probable discharge of the interior waters +of Australia upon its north-west coast, Mr. Cunningham thus remarks in the +publication from which I have already made an extract. + + +"To those remarkable parts of the north-west coast above referred to in +the parallel of 16 degrees south, the Macquarie river, which rises in +lat. 33 degrees, and under the meridian of 150 degrees east, would have a +course of 2045 statute miles throughout, while the elevation of its +source, being 3500 feet above the level of the sea as shown by the +barometer, would give its waters an average descent of twenty inches to +the mile, supposing the bed of the river to be an inclined plane. + +"The Gwydir originating in elevated land, lying in 31 degrees south, and +long. 151 degrees east, at a mean height of 3000 feet, would have to flow +2020 miles, its elevated sources giving to each a mean fall of seventeen +inches. + +"Dumaresq's river falling 2970 feet from granite mountains, in 28 1/4 +degrees under the meridian of 152 degrees, would have to pursue its course +for 2969 miles, its average fall being eighteen inches to a mile." + +As I have never been upon the banks either of the Gwydir or the Dumaresq, +I cannot speak of those two rivers; but in estimating the sources of the +Macquarie at 3500 feet above the level of the sea, Mr. Cunningham has lost +sight of, or overlooked the fact, that the fall of its bed in the first +two hundred miles, is more than 2800 feet, since the cataract, which is +midway between Wellington Valley and the marshes, was ascertained by +barometrical admeasurement, to be 680 feet only above the ocean. The +country, therefore, through which the Macquarie would have to flow during +the remainder of its course of 1700 miles, in order to gain the +N.W. coast, would not be a gradually inclined plain, but for the most part +a dead level, and the fact of its failure is a sufficient proof in itself +how short the course of a river so circumstanced must necessarily be. + +MR. OXLEY'S OPINIONS. + +Having conversed frequently with Mr. Oxley on the subject of his +expeditions, I went into the interior prepossessed in favour of his +opinions, nor do I think he could have drawn any other conclusion than +that which he did, from his experience of the terminations of the rivers +whose courses he explored. Had Mr. Oxley advanced forty, or even thirty +miles, farther than he did, to the westward of Mount Harris; nay, had he +proceeded eight miles in the above direction beyond the actual spot from +which he turned back, he would have formed other and very different +opinions of the probable character of the distant interior. But I am aware +that Mr. Oxley performed all that enterprise, and perseverance, and talent +could have performed, and that it would have been impracticable in him to +have attempted to force its marshes in the state in which he found them. +It was from his want of knowledge of their nature and extent, that he +inferred the swampy and inhospitable character of the more remote country, +a state in which subsequent investigation has found it not to be. The +marsh of the Macquarie is nothing more than an ordinary marsh or swamp in +another country. However large a space it covers, it is no more than a +concavity or basin for the reception of the waters of the river itself, +nor has it any influence whatever on the country to the westward of it, +in respect to inundation; the general features of the latter being a +regular alternation of plain and brush. These facts are in themselves +sufficient to give a fresh interest to the interior of the Australian +continent, and to increase its importance. + +CAPT. KING'S OPINIONS. + +With respect to that part of its coast at which the rivers falling from +the eastern mountains, discharge themselves, it is a question of very +great doubt. It seems that Capt. King, in consequence of some +peculiarities in the currents at its N.W. angle, supports Mr. Cunningham's +opinion as to their probable discharge in that quarter. But I fear the +internal structure of the continent is so low, as to preclude the hopes of +any river reaching from one extremity of it to the other. A variety of +local circumstances, as the contraction of a channel, a shoal sea, or +numerous islands, influence currents generally, but more especially round +so extensive a continent as that of which we are treating; nor does it +strike me that any observations made by Capt. King during his survey, can +be held to bear any connection with the eastern ranges, or their western +waters. It may, however, be said, that as the course of the Darling is +still involved in uncertainty, the question remains undecided; but it +appears to me, the discovery of that river has set aside every conjecture +(founded on previous observation) respecting the main features of the +interior lying to the westward of the Blue Mountains. Both Mr. Oxley and +Mr. Cunningham drew their conclusions from the appearances of the country +they severally explored. The ground on which those theories were built, +has been travelled over, and has not been found to realise them, but +subsequent investigation has discovered to us a river, the dip of whose +bed is to the S.W. We have every reason to believe that the sources of +this river must be far to the northward of the most distant northerly +point to which any survey has been made, as we are certain that it is far +beyond the stretch of vision from the loftiest and most westerly of the +barrier ranges; from which circumstance, it is evident that whatever +disposition the streams descending from those ranges to the westward may +show to hold a N.W. course more immediately at the base, the whole of the +interior streams, from the Macquarie to the Dumaresq, are tributaries to +the principal channel which conveys their united waters at right angles, +if not still more opposite to the direction they were supposed to take, +as far as is yet known. + +COURSE OF THE DARLING. + +The Darling River must be considered as the boundary line to all inland +discoveries from the eastward. Any judgment or opinion of the interior to +the westward of that stream, would be extremely premature and uncertain. +There is not a single feature over it to guide or to strengthen either the +one or the other. + +CHARACTER OF THE WESTERN INTERIOR. + +My impression, when travelling the country to the west and N.W. of the +marshes of the Macquarie, was, that I was traversing a country of +comparatively recent formation. The sandy nature of its soil, the great +want of vegetable decay, the salsolaceous character of its plants, the +appearance of its isolated hills and flooded tracts, and its trifling +elevations above the sea, severally contributed to strengthen these +impressions on my mind. My knowledge of the interior is, however, too +limited to justify me in any conclusion with regard to the central parts +of Australia. An ample field is open to enterprise and to ambition, and it +is to be hoped that some more decisive measures will be carried into +effect, both for the sake of the colony and of geography, to fill up the +blank upon the face of the chart of Australia, and remove from us the +reproach of indifference and inaction. + +BARBER'S STATEMENT. + +Since the above pages were written, an expedition was undertaken by +Major Mitchell, the Surveyor-General, to ascertain the truth of a report +brought in by a runaway convict of the name of Barber, or Clarke, who had +been at large for five years, at different times, among the natives to +the northward of Port Macquarie. This man stated that a large river, +originating in the high lands near Liverpool Plains, and the mountains to +the north of them, pursued a N.W. course to the sea. His story ran thus: +Having learnt from the natives the existence of this river, he determined +to follow it down, in hopes that he might ultimately be enabled to make +his escape from the colony. He accordingly started from Liverpool Plains, +and kept on a river called the Gnamoi, for some time, which took him N.W. +After a few days' journey, he left this river, traversed the country +northwards, and crossed some lofty ranges. Descending to the N.E. he came +to another large river, the Keindur, which again took him N.W. He +travelled 400 miles down it, when he observed a large stream joining it +upon its left bank, which he supposed to be the Gnamoi. The river he was +upon was broad and navigable. It flowed through a level country with a +dead current and muddy water, and spread into frequent lakes. He found +that it ultimately discharged itself into the sea, but was uncertain at +what distance from its sources. He was positive he never travelled to the +SOUTHWARD OF WEST. He ascended a hill near the sea, and observed an island +in the distance, from which, the natives informed him, a race of +light-coloured men came in large canoes for a scented wood; but having +failed in the immediate object of his journey, he was eventually obliged +to return. + +MAJOR MITCHELL'S REPORT. + +The following official report of Major Mitchell will sufficiently point +out the incorrectness of the preceding statement. It is most probable that +Barber merely told that which he had heard from the natives, and that +having a more than ordinary share of cunning, he made up a story upon +their vague and uncertain accounts, in hopes that it would benefit him, +as in truth it did. + + +* * * * * + + +Bullabalakit, on the River Nammoy, +in lat. 30 degrees 38 minutes 21 seconds S., +long. 149 degrees 30 minutes 20 seconds E. +23d December, 1831. + +SIR, + +I have the honour to state, for the information of His Excellency the +Governor, the progress I have made in exploring the course of the interior +waters to the northward of the Colony, with reference to the letter which +I had the honour to address to Col. Lindesay, on this subject, on the +19th ult. + +On crossing Liverpool Range my object was to proceed northward, so as to +avoid the plains and head the streams which water them, and avoiding also +the mountain ranges on the east. + +I arrived accordingly, by a tolerably straight and level line, at +Walamoul, on Peel's River; this place (a cattle station of Mr. Brown) +being nearly due north from the common pass across Liverpool Range, and +about a mile-and-a-half above the spot where Mr. Oxley crossed this +river. + +PEEL'S RIVER. + +I found the general course of the Peel below Walamoul to be nearly west; +and after tracing this river downwards twenty-two miles (in direct +distance), I crossed it at an excellent ford, named Wallamburra. I then +traversed the extensive plain of Mulluba; and leaving that of Coonil on +the right, extending far to the north-east, we passed through a favourable +interval of what I considered Hardwicke's Range, the general direction of +this range being two points west of north. + +On passing through this gorge, which, from the name of a hill on the south +side, may be named Ydire, I crossed a very extensive tract of flat +country, on which the wood consisted of iron-bark and acacia pendula; this +tract being part of a valley evidently declining to the north-west, which +is bounded on the south by the Liverpool Range, and on the south-west by +the extremities from the same. On the west, at a distance of twenty-two +miles from Hardwicke's Range, there stands a remarkable isolated hill +named Bounalla; and towards the lowest part of the country, and in the +direction in which all the waters tend, there is a rocky peak named +Tangulda. On the north, a low range (named Wowa), branching westerly from +Hardwicke's Range, bounds on that side this extensive basin, which +includes Liverpool Plains. Peel's River is the principal stream, and +receives, in its course, all the waters of these plains below the junction +of Connadilly,--which I take to be York's River, of Oxley. + +THE RIVER NAMMOY. + +The stream is well known to the natives by the name Nammoy; and six miles +below Tangulda, the low extremities from the surrounding ranges close on +the river, and separate this extensive vale from the unexplored country +which extends beyond to an horizon which is unbroken between W.N.W. +and N.N.W. + + +The impracticable appearance of the mountains to the northward, induced me +to proceed thus far to the west; and on examining the country thirty miles +N.E. by N. from Tangulda, I ascended a lofty range extending westward from +the coast chain, and on which the perpendicular sides of masses of +trachyte (a volcanic rock) were opposed to my further progress even with +horses: it was therefore evident that the river supposed to rise about the +latitude of 28 degrees would not be accessible, or at least available to +the Colony, in that direction, and that in the event of the discovery of a +river beyond that range flowing to the northern or north-western shores, +it would become of importance to ascertain whether it was joined by the +Nammoy, the head of this river being so accessible that I have brought my +heavily laden drays to where it is navigable for boats, my present +encampment being on its banks six miles below Tangulda. From this station +I can perceive the western termination of the Trachytic range, and I am +now about to explore the country between it and the Nammoy, and the +further course of this river; and in the event of its continuance in a +favourable direction, I shall fix my depot on its right bank, whence I now +write, and descend the stream in the portable boats. + +I have the honour to be, Sir, +Your most obedient servant, +T. L. MITCHELL, +SURVEYOR-GENERAL + +The Hon. The Colonial Secretary. + + +* * * * * + + +Peel's River, 29th February, 1832. + +SIR, + +I have the honour to inform you, for the information of His Excellency the +Governor, that I have reached the left bank of this River with my whole +party on my return from the northern interior, having explored the course +of the river referred to in my letter of 22nd December last, and others +within the 29th parallel of latitude. + +There was so much fallen timber in the Nammoy, and its waters were so low, +that the portable boats could not be used on that river with advantage, +and I proceeded by land in a north-west direction, until convinced by its +course turning more to the westward that this river joined the river +Darling. I therefore quitted its banks with the intention of exploring the +country further northward, by moving round the western extremities of the +mountains mentioned in my former letter, and which I have since +distinguished in my map by the name of the Lindesay Range. These mountains +terminate abruptly on the west, and I entered a fine open country at their +base, from whence plains (or rather open ground of gentle undulation) +extended westward as far as could be seen. On turning these mountains I +directed my course northward, and to the eastward of north, into the +country beyond them, in search of the river KINDUR; and I reached a river +flowing westward, the bed of which was deep, broad, and permanent, but in +which there was not then much water. + +THE RIVER KARAULA. + +The marks of inundation on trees, and on the adjoining high ground, proved +that its floods rose to an extraordinary height; and from the latitude, +and also from the general direction of its course, I considered this to be +the river which Mr. Cunningham named the Gwydir, on crossing it sixty +miles higher, on his route to Moreton Bay. I descended this river, and +explored the country on its left bank for about eighty miles to the +westward, when I found that its general course was somewhat to the +southward of west. This river received no addition from the mountains over +that part of its left bank traversed by me; and the heat being intense, +the stream was at length so reduced that I could step across it. The banks +had become low, and the bed much contracted, being no longer gravelly, but +muddy. I therefore crossed this river and travelled northward, on a +meridian line, until, in the latitude of 29 degrees 2 minutes, I came upon +the largest river I had yet seen. The banks were earthy and broken, the +soil being loose, and the water of a white muddy colour. Trees, washed out +by the roots from the soft soil, filled the bed of this river in many +places. There was abundance of cod-fish of a small size, as well as of the +two other kinds of fish which we had caught in the Peel, the Nammoy, and +the Gwydir. The name of this river, as well as we could make it out from +the natives, was Karaula. Having made fast one tree to top of another tall +tree, I obtained a view of the horizon, which appeared perfectly level, +and I was in hopes that we had at length found a river which would flow to +the northward and avoid the Darling. I accordingly ordered the boat to be +put together, and sent Mr. White with a party some miles down to clear +away any trees in the way. Mr. White came upon a rocky fall, and found +besides the channel so much obstructed by trees, and the course so +tortuous, that I determined to ascertain before embarking upon it, whether +the general course was in the desired direction. Leaving Mr. White with +half the party, I accordingly traced the Karaula downwards, and found that +its course changed to south, a few miles below where I had made it, and +that it was joined by the Gwydir only eight miles below where I had +crossed that river. Immediately below the junction of the Gwydir (which is +in latitude 29 degrees 30 minutes 27 seconds, longitude 148 degrees +13 minutes 20 seconds) the course of the river continues southward of +west, directly towards where Captain Sturt discovered the River Darling; +and I could no longer doubt that this was the same river. I therefore +returned to the party, determined to explore the country further +northward. + +The results of my progress thus far were sufficient, I considered, to +prove that the division of the waters falling towards the northern and +southern shores of Australia is not, as has been supposed, in the +direction of the Liverpool and Warrabangle range, but extends between Cape +Byron on the eastern shore, towards Dick Hartog's Island on the west; the +greater elongation of this country being between these points, and +intermediate between the lines of its northern and southern coasts. The +basin of the streams I have been upon must be bounded on the north by this +dividing ground or water-shed, and although no rise was perceptible in the +northern horizon, the river was traversed by several rocky dykes, over +which it fell southward; their direction being oblique to the course, and +nearly parallel to this division of the waters. I beg leave to state, that +I should not feel certain on this point without having seen more, were it +not evident from Mr. Cunningham's observations, made on crossing this +division on his way to Moreton Bay. Mr. Cunningham, on crossing the head +of this river, nearly in the same latitude, but much nearer its sources, +found the height of its bed above the sea to be 840 feet; at about +forty-five miles further northward the ground rose to upwards of +1700 feet, but immediately beyond, he reached a river flowing north-west, +the height of which was only 1400 feet above the sea. He had thus crossed +this dividing higher ground, between the parallels of 29 degrees +and 28 degrees. It appears, therefore, that all the interior rivers we +know of to the northward of the Morumbidgee, belong to the basin of the +Karaula; this stream flowing southward, and hence the disappearance of the +Macquarie and other lower rivers may be understood, for all along the +banks of the Karaula, the Gwydir, and the Nammoy, the country, though not +swampy, bears marks of frequent inundation; thus the floods occasioned by +these rivers united, cover the low country, and receive the Macquarie so +that no channel marks its further course. + +That a basin may be found to the northward receiving the waters of the +northern part of the coast range in a similar manner is extremely +probable, and that they form a better river, because the angle is more +acute between the high ground, which must bound it on the N.E. and the +watershed on the south. I therefore prepared to cross the Karaula, in +hopes of seeing the head at least of such a river, and to explore the +country two degrees further northward, but moving in a N.W. direction. +My tent was struck, and I had just launched my portable boat for the +purpose of crossing the river, when Mr. Surveyor Finch, whom I had +instructed to bring up a supply of flour, arrived with the distressing +intelligence, that two of his men had been killed by the natives, who had +taken the flour, and were in possession of everything he had brought--all +the cattle, including his horse, being also dispersed or lost. I therefore +determined not to extend my excursion further, as the party were already +on reduced rations, and on the 8th instant I retired from the Karaula, +returning by the marked line, which being cut through thick scrubs in +various places, is now open, forming a tolerably direct line of +communication in a N.W. direction from Sydney, to a river, beyond which +the survey may be extended whenever His Excellency the Governor thinks +fit. + +The natives had never troubled my party on our advance; indeed I only saw +them when I came upon them by surprise, and then they always ran off. +Their first visit was received at my camp on the Karaula, during my +absence down that river, when they were very friendly, but much disposed +to steal. Various tribes followed us on coming back, but never with any +show of hostility, although moving in tribes of a hundred or more parallel +to our marked line, or in our rear; it was necessary to be ever on our +guard, and to encamp in strong positions only, arranging the drays for +defence during the night: three men were always under arms, and I have +much pleasure in stating, that throughout the whole excursion, and under +circumstances of hardship and privation, the conduct of the men was very +good. I took an armed party to the scene of pillage, and buried the bodies +of the two men, who appeared to have been treacherously murdered while +asleep by the blacks during the absence of Mr. Finch: no natives were to +be found when I visited the spot, although it appeared from columns of +smoke on hills which overlooked if, that they were watching our movements. + +The party has now arrived within a day's journey of Brown's station, +and I have instructed Assistant-Surveyor White (from whom I have received +great assistance during the whole journey) to conduct it homewards, being +desirous to proceed without delay to Sydney, and to receive the +instructions of His Excellency the Governor. + +I have the honour to be, Sir, +Your most obedient Servant, +T. L. MITCHELL, +SURVEYOR-GENERAL. + +THE HON. THE COLONIAL SECRETARY, +"&c. &c. &c." + + + + +Chapter VI. + + + +CONCLUDING REMARKS + + +Obstacles that attend travelling into the interior of Australia-- +Difficulty of carrying supplies--Importance of steady intelligent +subordinates--Danger from the natives--Number of men requisite,--and of +cattle and carriages--Provisions--Other arrangements--Treatment of the +natives--Dimensions of the boat used in the second expedition. + + +Having now had considerable experience in the fitting out and management +of expeditions in New South Wales, I cannot refrain from making some few +observations on the subject. And without presuming to lay dawn any fixed +rules, I shall only refer to those by which I have best succeeded, in +hopes that some of my remarks may prove of use to future travellers who +may venture to penetrate into the trackless deserts over so small a +portion of which I wandered. + +DIFFICULTIES OF EXPLORING AUSTRALIA. + +The great difficulty of examining the interior of Australia, is that of +carrying supplies; for increasing the number of individuals composing an +expedition is of no avail, since an additional number of men must +necessarily increase the consumption of food. In order to meet this +difficulty it has been proposed to establish depots upon which an +expedition could fall back to recruit its supplies, and in ordinary cases +this plan might answer; but I am decidedly of opinion that no party could +long remain stationary in the distant interior without some fatal +collision with the natives, which would be attended with the most +deplorable consequences; and I do think, considering all things, that the +experiment is too dangerous to be tried; for when I reached Mount Harris, +on my first retreat from the Darling, I found the party who were awaiting +me, with a supply of provisions, under very great alarm, in consequence of +the hostile proceedings of the Mount Harris tribe. The men had been +obliged to put the camp into a state of defence. The blacks had attempted +to surprise them, and would, had I not returned, have combined in some +general attack. It appears to me that the most judicious plan would be to +send a supply of provisions, with an expedition, to a distant point, under +the charge of a minor party. These provisions could replace those already +expended, and the animals that carried them could be taken back. + +SELECTION OF SUBORDINATES. + +The number of individuals of which the expedition down the banks of the +Macquarie was composed, was fourteen: that is to say, myself, Mr. Hume, +two soldiers, one free man, and seven prisoners of the crown. The latter +behaved, on all occasions, as steadily as it was possible for men to do. +Yet the circumstance of the two soldiers being with me increased my +confidence in the whole, for I was aware that their example would +influence the rest. However well disposed the prisoners of the crown may +be, (as in this instance they certainly were,) the beneficial example of +steady discipline cannot be denied. I should not have considered myself +justified in leaving the camp as I did for a week, and in detaching Mr. +Hume at the same time when at the bottom of the marshes, or in making the +last effort to maintain our position on the banks of the Darling, if I had +not reposed every confidence in the man to whom I entrusted the safety +of the camp during my absence. + +Experience, therefore, of the value of the two soldiers, whom General +Darling was good enough to permit me to take on the strength of the party, +fully bears me out in recommending that one man, at least, of general +responsibility shall be attached to all future expeditions. The success of +an expedition depends so much on the conduct of the persons of whom it is +composed, that too much attention cannot be given to the selection even of +the most subordinate. Men of active intelligent minds, of persevering +habits, and of even temper, should be preferred to mechanics who do not +possess these most requisite qualities. On the other hand, it is +impossible to do without a good carpenter, however defective he may be in +other respects. I was indebted to Mr. Maxwell, the superintendent of +Wellington Valley, for some excellent men, both on my first and on my +second journey, because he understood the nature of the service for which +they were required, and the characters of those whom he recommended. +But however well selected the party, or the men rather, might be, I still +consider a man of general responsibility necessary for its complete +organisation. I would have him somewhat superior to the rest in his +station in life. Him I would hold answerable for the immediate discipline +of the camp, whilst I was present, and for its safety when absent. The +assistant to the leader I would put entirely out of the question. He +has other and most important duties to perform. I would rate this man +wholly independent of him. + +DANGER OF COLLISION WITH THE NATIVES. + +In reference to what I have already said with regard to the natives, it +was supposed that they were so little to be apprehended, that when I went +on the first occasion into the interior, I applied for a limited number of +men only, under an impression that with a few men I could carry provisions +equal to a consumption of a greater number, and by this means be enabled +to keep the field for a greater length of time. But I do not think it +would be safe to penetrate into the distant country with fewer than +fifteen men, for although, happily, no rupture has as yet taken place with +the natives, yet, there is no security against their treachery, and it is +very certain that a slight cause might involve an expedition in +inextricable difficulty, and oblige the leader to throw himself on the +defensive, when far away from other resources than those with which he +should have provided himself, and that, perhaps, when navigating a close +and intricate river, with all the dangers and perplexities attendant on +such a situation. It is absolutely necessary to establish nightly guards, +not only for the security of the camp, but of the cattle, and at the same +time to have a force strong enough to maintain an obstinate resistance +against any number of savages, where no mercy is to be expected. It will +be borne in mind, that there is a wide difference between penetrating into +a country in the midst of its population, and landing from ships for the +purpose of communication or traffic. Yet, how few voyages of discovery +have terminated without bloodshed! Boats while landing are covered by +their ships, and have succour within view; but not so parties that go into +unknown tracts. They must depend on their immediate resources and +individual courage alone. + +PACK-OXEN, HORSES, WHEEL-CARRIAGES. + +With regard to the animals, I should recommend an equal number of horses +as of bullocks; since it has been found that the latter, though slow, +travel better over swampy ground than horses, which, on the other hand, +are preferable for expeditious journeys, to which bullocks would never be +equal. One of the colonial pack-saddles weighs fifty pounds complete, and +is preferable to those sent out from England. This, with a load of +250 lbs. is sufficient for any animal, since it enables the men to place a +part of their provisions with the general loads. The difficulty of keeping +the backs of the animals free from injury, more especially where any +blemish has before existed, is exceedingly great. They should undergo an +examination twice a-day, that is, in the morning prior to moving off, +and in the afternoon before they are turned out to feed; and measures +should then be taken to ease them as circumstances require. I never +suffered the saddles to be removed from the backs of the animals under my +charge for twenty minutes after the termination of the journey for the +day, in order to guard against the effects of the sun; and where the least +swelling appeared the saddle was altered and the place dressed. Yet, +notwithstanding all this care and attention, several both of the horses +and bullocks were at one time in a sad condition, during the first +journey,--so much so as almost to paralyse our efforts. It would be +advisable that such animals as are entirely free from blemish should be +chosen for the service of expeditions, for, with proper management they +might he kept in order. The anxiety of mind attendant on a bad state of +the animals is really quite embarrassing, for it not only causes a delay +in the movements, but a derangement in the loads. Other animals are +overburdened, and there is no knowing where the evil will stop. + +In addition to the pack-animals, I would recommend the employment of a +dray or cart under any practicable circumstances. It serves to carry +necessary comforts, gives an expedition greater facility for securing its +collections, and is of inconceivable advantage in many other respects. + +ISSUE OF PROVISIONS. + +Constant and most earnest attention should be paid to the issue of +provisions, on the discreet management of which so much depends, and the +charge of them should be committed to the second in command. The most +important articles are flour, tea, sugar, and tobacco. All should be +husbanded with extreme care, and weighed from time to time. The flour is +best carried in canvass bags, containing 100 pounds each, and should at +the termination of each day's journey, be regularly piled up and covered +with a tarpaulin. Tea, sugar and tobacco lose considerably in weight, so +that it is necessary to estimate for somewhat more than the bare supply. +With regard to the salt meat, the best mode of conveying it appears to be +in small barrels of equal weight with the bags of flour. Salt pork is +better than beef. It should be deprived of all bones and be of the very +best quality. I have heard spirits recommended, but I do not approve their +use. Tea is much more relished by the men; indeed they could not do well +without it. A small quantity of spirits would, however, of course be +necessary in the event of its being required. + +LIVE STOCK. + +Mr. Cornelius O'Brien, an enterprising and long-established settler, who +has pushed his flocks and herds to the banks of the Morumbidgee, was good +enough to present me with eight wethers as I passed his station. It may be +some gratification to Mr. O'Brien to know, that they contributed very +materially to our comforts, and he will, perhaps, accept my +acknowledgements in this place, not only for so liberal a present to +myself, but for his attention and kindness to my men as long as they +remained in his neighbourhood. It was found that the sheep gave but little +additional trouble, requiring only to be penned at night, as much to +secure them from the native dogs as to prevent them from straying away. +They followed the other animals very quietly, and soon became accustomed +to daily movements. They proved a most available stock; no waste attended +their slaughter, and they admitted of a necessary and wholesome change of +fresh food from the general salt diet, on which the men would otherwise +have had to subsist. + +The provisions should, if possible, be issued weekly, and their diminution +should be so regulated as to give an equal relief to the animals. + +For general information I have annexed a list of the supplies I took with +me on my first expedition. It may appear long, but the articles were +packed in a small compass, and their value immaterial. + +As a precautionary measure I should advise, that one of the pack animals +be kept apart for the purpose of carrying water. Two casks of equal weight +are the best for such a purpose. In long and hot marches, the men +experience great relief from having water at hand. + +INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES. + +In reference to the natives, I hope sufficient has been said of the manner +of communicating with them to prevent the necessity of a repetition here. +The great point is not to alarm their natural timidity: to exercise +patience in your intercourse with them; to treat them kindly; and to watch +them with suspicion, especially at night. Never permit the men to steal +away from the camp, but keep them as compact as possible; and at every +station so arrange your drays and provisions that they may serve as a +defence in case of your being attacked. + +The natives appeared to me to be indifferent to our presents, in most +cases. Tomahawks, knives, pieces of iron, and different coloured ribbons +for the forehead, were most esteemed by them. They will barter and +exchange their fish for articles, and readily acquire confidence. + +I believe I have now touched on all the more important points: on minor +ones no observation I can make will be of use; men must, in many things, +be guided by circumstances. + +* * * * * + +WHALE BOAT EMPLOYED ON THE SECOND EXPEDITION. + +I may here notice that, in my second expedition, as it was anticipated +that I should require adequate provision for water conveyance, at one +stage or other of my journey down the Morumbidgee, I was furnished with a +whale-boat, the dimensions of which are given below. She was built by +Mr. Egan, the master builder of the dock-yard and a native of the colony, +and did great credit to his judgment. She carried two tons and a half of +provisions, independently of a locker, which I appropriated for the +security of the arms, occupying the space between the after-seat and the +stern. She was in the first instance put together loosely, her planks +and timbers marked, and her ring bolts, &c. fitted. She was then taken to +pieces, carefully packed up, and thus conveyed in plank into the interior, +to a distance of four hundred and forty miles, without injury. She was +admirably adapted for the service, and rose as well as could have been +expected over the seas in the lake. It was evident, however, that she +would have been much safer if she had had another plank, for she was +undoubtedly too low. The following were her dimensions:-- + +Breadth across 7th timber aft, 5 ft. 1/2 an inch outside. +Across 12th timber, 5 ft. 11 1/4 in. +Across 17th timber forward, 5 ft. +25 ft. 8 in. in length inside. +Curve of the keel No. 1, from the after side of each apron, 3 ft. 3 3/4in. +No. 2, from head to head of the dead wood, 13 1/2 in. +No. 3, from one end of keel to the other inner side, 3 in. +No. 4, round of keel from the toe of each dead wood, 7/8 1/16th. +The timbers were marked, beginning from the stern to the bow on the +starboard side, and from bow to stern on the larboard. + + + + +APPENDIX No. I. + + + +LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS. + + + +By His Excellency Lieutenant General Ralph Darling, Commanding +His Majesty's Forces, Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of the +Territory of New South Wales, and its dependencies, and +Vice Admiral of the same, &c. &c. &c. + +TO CHARLES STURT, ESQ. CAPTAIN IN THE 39TH REGIMENT OF FOOT. + +Whereas it has been judged expedient to fit out an expedition for the +purpose of exploring the interior of New Holland, and the present dry +season affords a reasonable prospect of an opportunity of ascertaining the +nature and extent of the large marsh or marshes which stopped the progress +of the late John Oxley Esq, Surveyor General, in following the courses of +the rivers Lachlan and Macquarie in the years 1817 and 1818. And whereas I +repose full confidence in your abilities and zeal for conducting such an +expedition, I do hereby constitute and appoint you to command and take +charge of the expedition now preparing for the purpose of exploring the +interior of the country, and for ascertaining, if practicable, the nature +and extent of the marsh or marshes above mentioned. + +In the prosecution of this service, you will be guided generally by the +following instructions. + +1. You will be accompanied on this expedition by Mr. Hamilton Hume, whose +great experience in travelling through the remote parts of the Colony, +cannot fail to be highly useful to you. You will also be attended by two +soldiers and six convicts, of whom one is to understand the shoeing of +horses, one to be a carpenter, one a harness-maker and three stock-men, +and you will be provided with six horses and twelve bullocks. + +2. A small boat has been built here for the use of the expedition, and for +its conveyance, there is provided a light four-wheeled carriage to be +drawn by two bullocks. + +The deputy Commissary General has received orders for supplying the +expedition with provisions of the best quality sufficient for six months' +consumption, together with tents, blankets, clothing, pack-saddles, +utensils, instruments, tools, and necessaries of all kinds of which you +are likely to stand in need. Orders are also given for providing you with +arms and ammunition, with rockets for signals, and an ample supply of +simple medicines--You are to consider it an important duty to attend to +the providing of all these supplies, and to take care that not only every +article is of the best quality that can be procured, but also that no +article be wanting with which you may desire to be provided. + +3. Orders are given for forwarding without delay all your provisions, +stores and supplies of every kind to Wellington Valley, at which place, +you, Mr. Hume, and all your men are to rendezvous as soon as possible. +Mr Maxwell, the superintendent, will furnish you with well-trained +bullocks, and afford you all the assistance you may require in arranging +every thing for your departure from that station. + +4. After you shall have completed all your arrangements, you are to lose +no time in finally departing from Wellington Valley in prosecution of the +immediate objects of the expedition. + +5. You are first to proceed to Mount Harris, where you are to form a +temporary depot, by means of which you will have an opportunity of more +readily communicating with Mr. Maxwell. + +6. You are then to endeavour to determine the fate of the Macquarie River, +by tracing it as far as possible beyond the point to which Mr. Oxley went, +and by pushing westward, you are to ascertain if there be any high lands +in that direction, or if the country be, as it is supposed, an unbroken +level and under water. If you should fail in these objects, you will +traverse the plains lying behind our north-west boundaries, with a view to +skirt any waters by which you may have been checked to the westward; and +if you should succeed in skirting them, you are to explore the country +westward and southward as far as possible, endeavouring to discover the +Macquarie beyond the marsh of Mr. Oxley, and following it to its mouth if +at all practicable. + +7. There is some reason to believe that the over-flowing of the Macquarie +when visited by Mr. Oxley, was occasioned by heavy rains falling in the +mountains to the eastward, and that as you are to visit the same spot at a +different season of the year, you may escape such embarrassment; but +although you should get beyond the point at which Mr. Oxley stopped, it +would not be prudent to risk your own health or that of your men, by +continuing long in a swampy country. Therefore it may be advisable for you +in the first instance to leave the greater part of your men, bullocks, and +baggage, at Mount Harris, and if you should see a probability of your +being able to cross into the interior, you will then return to Mount +Harris for such additional supplies as you may judge necessary. You can +there communicate with Mr. Maxwell respecting any ulterior arrangements +which you may be desirous of making. + +8. The success of the expedition is so desirable an object, that I cannot +too strongly impress upon you the importance of perseverance in +endeavouring to skirt any waters or marshes which may check your course as +long as you have provisions sufficient for your return; but you must be +cautious not to proceed a single day's journey further than where you find +that your provisions will be barely sufficient to enable you to reach the +nearest place at which you can depend upon getting supplies. + +9. If after every endeavour you should find it totally impracticable to get +to the westward, you are still to proceed northward, keeping as westerly a +direction as possible; and when the state of your provisions will oblige +you to retreat, you will be guided by your latitude, as to the place to +which you are to make the best of your way, but you are not to make for +any place on the coast, if Wellington valley should still be nearer. + +10. You must be aware that the success of the expedition will greatly +depend upon the time for which your provisions will hold out, and +therefore you will see the great importance of observing every possible +economy in the expenditure of provisions, and preventing waste of every +kind. + +11. You are to keep a detailed account of your proceedings in a journal, +in which all observations and occurrences of every kind, with all their +circumstances, however minute, are to be carefully noted down. You are to +be particular in describing the general face of all the country through +which you pass, the direction and shape of the mountains, whether detached +or in ranges, together with the bearings and estimated distances of the +several mountains, hills, or eminences from each other. You are likewise +to note the nature of the climate, as to heat, cold, moisture, winds, +rains, &c, and to keep a register of the temperature from Fahrenheit's +thermometer, as observed at two or three periods of each day. The rivers, +with their several branches, their direction, velocity, breadth, and +depth, are carefully to be noted. It is further expected that you will, +as far as may be in your power, attend to the animal, vegetable, and +mineral productions of the country, noting down every thing that may occur +to you, and preserving specimens as far as your means will admit, +especially some of all the ripe seeds which you may discover; when the +preservation of specimens is impossible, drawings or detailed accounts of +them, are very desirable. + +12. You will note the description of the several people whom you may meet, +the extent of the population, their means of subsistence, their genius and +disposition, the nature of their amusements, their diseases and remedies, +their objects of worship, religious ceremonies, and a vocabulary of their +language. + +Lastly. On your return from your journey, you are to cause all the +journals or other written documents belonging to, and curiosities +collected by the several individuals composing the expedition, to be +carefully sealed up with your own seal and kept in that state until you +shall have made your report to me in writing of the result of the +expedition. + +Given at Sydney, this eighteenth day of November, 1828. +By Command of His Excellency the Governor, +ALEXANDER M'LEAY. + + + + +APPENDIX No. II. + + + +LIST OF STORES SUPPLIED FOR THE EXPEDITION. + + +List of Articles delivered from His Majesty's Stores, +in charge of D. A. C. Goodsir, to Captain Sturt, viz.-- + +1 Hack saddle. 9 Harness casks. +1 Bridle. 23 Canvas bags. +2 Tents. 4 Tin cases. +14 Pack saddles. 16 Padlocks. +14 Pair hobbles. 6 Tarpaulens. +24 Sets horse shoes. 10 Haversacks. +2000 Horse nails. 113 Fathom one-inch rope. +113 Fathoms 1 1/2 inch rope. 1 Boat compass. +1 Hammer, (Blacksmith's) 1 Telescope. +1 Paring knife. 1 Spare glass for ditto. +2 Chipping do. 1 Tin case (for charts.) +2 Rasps. 100 Fish-hooks, (large.) +1 Pair pincers. 12 Fishing-lines. +1 Cutter. 10 Knives. +2lb. Pack thread. 10 Forks. +24 Needles. 10 Spoons. +1/4lb. Bristles. 2 Frying-pans. +7lbs. Leather. 2 Tinder-boxes. +1/2lb. Thread. 1 Tea-kettle, (tin.) +1 Pair of steelyards. 10 Tin dishes. +10 Tin pots. 8 Jackets. +1 Flour seive. 8 Duck frocks. +2 Felling-axes. 8 Shirts. +4 Tomahawks. 16 Trousers. +2 Hammers. 24 Pair shoes. +1 Hand-saw. 16 Blankets. +3 Bill-hooks. 16 Pair stockings. +3 Awls. 2 Bullock collars. +3 Broad hoes. 2 Do. back-bands and pipes. +4 Razors. 2 Leading cruppers. +4 Brushes. 1 Boat with sail and oars. +4 Combs. 1 Do. carriage. +3 Iron pots, (camp kettles.) 1 Canvass boat-cover. +1 Pair scissors. 3 Water breaker. + +COMMISSARIAT OFFICE, SYDNEY, NOV. 10TH, 1828. + +P.S.--l Tarpaulin. + Large Fish-hook. + 1 Tin tea-kettle. + 1 Camp kettle. + Pitch and oil. + Hemp or twine. + + + + +APPENDIX No. III. + + + +SHEEP-FARMING RETURNS, SHOWING THE INCREASE IN FOUR YEARS, +from two Breeding Flocks, consisting of 670 Ewes in Lamb. + + +(A.)--1st JUNE, 1828. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks. Breeding Ewes. Lambs. Total. Remarks. + + 2 yrs. old. 3 yrs. old. Male.-Female. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + Lambs. +No. 1 330 148 149 627 Deaths 6. Incr.297 +No. 2 330 154 154 638 4 308 + ---- -- --- + * 1265 10 605 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +* The increase throughout these returns is calculated at from 270 to 290 +Lambs, to 300 Ewes, which is the usual average in N.S.W. + + +ABSTRACT. + +Purchased two Flocks of Ewes, at 84s.............................670 Ewes. +Increase of Lambs.......................................... 605 +Casual Deaths............................................... 10 + 595 + --- +Total as per Return............................................ 1265 + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +(B.)--1st JUNE, 1829. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks.|Breeding|Maiden|Wethers.|Rams.| Lambs. |Total.| Remarks. + | Ewes. | Ewes.| |Male. Female.| +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +No. Lambs. +1 3-yr. 327 154 154 635 Deaths 3 Incr.308 +2 4-yr. 326 155 155 636 4 310 +3 1-yr. 302 302 1 --- +4 1-yr. 302 18 320 -- 618 + ---- 8 + 1893 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +ABSTRACT. + +Return (A) Total...............................................1265 +Increase by Lambing....................................618 +Ditto Rams purchased....................................18 + --- + 636 +Casual Deaths......................................... 8 628 + ---- +Total as per return............................................1893 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +(C.)--1st JUNE, 1830. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks.|Breeding|Maiden|Wethers.|Rams.| Lambs. |Total.| Remarks. + | Ewes. | Ewes.| |Male. Female.| +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +No. Lambs. +1 2-yr. 296 133 154 562 Deaths 6 Incr.266 +2 4-yr. 325 150 155 625 2 300 +3 5-yr. 326 160 646 320 +4 2-yr. 302 27 329 --- +5 1-yr. 309 309 886 +6 1-yr. 309 309 --- + ---- 3 Rams died + 2780 12 ditto purchased +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +ABSTRACT. + +Return (B) Total............................................ 1893 +Increase by Lambing....................................886 +Ditto Rams purchased....................................12 + --- + 898 +Deaths............................................... 11 887 + ---- +Total as per return......................................... 2780 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +(D.)--1st JUNE, 1831. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks.|Breeding|Maiden|Wethers.|Rams.| Lambs. |Total.| Remarks. + | Ewes. | Ewes.| |Male. Female.| +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +No. Lambs. +1 2-yr. 304 136 136 576 Deaths 5 Incr.272 +2 3-yr. 293 135 136 564 3 271 +3 5-yr. 324 156 156 636 1 312 +4 6-yr. 320 156 156 632 2 312 + Killed 4 --- +5 3-yr. 300 300 Deaths 2 1167 +6 2-yr. 308 308 1 +7 1-yr 443 443 +8 1-yr 442 442 1 +9 40 40 5 + ---- -- + 3941 20 + Purchased 12 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +ABSTRACT. + +Return (C) Total............................................ 2780 +Increase by Lambing...................................1167 +Ditto Rams purchased....................................18 + --- + 1185 +Casual deaths 20 ...Killed for use 4 ................. 24 1161 + ---- +Total as per return.......................................... 3941 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +(E.)--1st JUNE, 1832. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks.|Breeding|Maiden|Wethers.|Rams.| Lambs. |Total.| Remarks. + | Ewes. | Ewes.| |Male. Female.| +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +No. Lambs. +1 2-yr. 344 154 154 652 Deaths 6 Incr.308 +2 3-yr. 344 162 161 667 4 323 +4 3-yr. 342 164 165 671 3 329 +5 6-yr. 320 155 155 630 2 310 +6 7-yr. 300 145 145 590 2 290 +7 4-yr. 300 300 ---- + 1560 +8 3-yr 302 302 2 +9 2-yr 440 440 1 +10 1-yr 583 583 +11 1-yr 584 584 +12 45 45 5 Purch. 10 + ---- ---- ---- --- --- --- ---- + 1650 584 1625 45 780 780 5464 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +ABSTRACT. + +Return (D) Total............................................ 3941 +Increase by Lambing...................................1560 +Ditto Rams purchased....................................10 + --- + 1570 +Decrease by casual death .............................. 25 +Decrease by slaughter for use ......................... 22 + --- + 1523 + ---- + Grand Total .............................. 5464 as above +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +MEMORANDUM,--The deaths have been calculated at the lowest rate under the +best management. It may be safer to assume a rate of four or five per +cent. per annum. + + + +Account of Expenditure and Income upon Sheep Stock in Australia, +appended to Returns A. B. C. D. and E. + 1st YEAR, (RETURN A.) JUNE, 1829. + +INCOME. +By 11265 fleeces, average weight 2 1/4 lbs. 284 lbs +wool at 1s. 6d. per lb. 213 9 0 + EXPENDITURE. +To 2 Shepherds at 30 pounds 60 0 0 +To 1 Watchman at 20 20 0 O PROFIT. +To Hurdles, &c. 10 0 0 + -------- 90 0 0 + -------- 123 9 0 + + 2nd YEAR, (B.) JUNE, 1830. + + INCOME. +By 1893 fleeces, at 2 1/4 lbs. 4259lbs. wool at +1s. 6d. 319 8 6 + EXPENDITURE. +To 2 Shepherds at 30 pounds 60 0 0 +To 2 Ditto 20 40 0 0 +To 1 Watchman 20 0 0 +To Hurdles &c. 5 0 0 + --------- + 125 0 0 +To 18 Rams at 10 pounds* 180 0 0 + --------- + 305 0 0 + --------- + 14 8 6 +*The price of rams will probably fall to 5 pounds + + 3rd YEAR, (C.) JUNE, 1831. + + INCOME. +By 2780 fleeces, at 2 1/4 lbs. 6255lbs. wool at +1s. 6d. 469 2 6 + EXPENDITURE. +To 2 Shepherds at 30 pounds 60 0 0 +To 2 Ditto 25 25 0 0 +To 3 Ditto 20 60 0 0 +To 2 Watchman 20 40 0 0 +To Hurdles &c. 10 0 0 + --------- + 195 0 0 +To 12 Rams at 10 pounds 120 0 0 + --------- + 315 0 0 + --------- + 154 2 6 + + 4th YEAR, (D.) JUNE, 1832. + + INCOME. +By 3941 fleeces, at 2 1/4 lbs. 8867lbs. wool at +1s. 6d. 665 0 0 + EXPENDITURE. +To 2 Shepherds at 30 pounds 60 0 0 +To 2 Ditto 25 50 0 0 +To 4 Ditto 20 80 0 0 +To 3 Watchman &c. 60 0 0 +(one to take charge of rams) +To Hurdles &c. 10 0 0 + --------- + 260 0 0 +To 18 Rams at 10 pounds 180 0 0 + --------- + 440 0 0 + --------- + 225 0 0 + + 5th YEAR, (E.) JUNE, 1833.* + + INCOME. +By 5864 fleeces, at 2 lbs. 12,294lbs. wool at +1s. 6d. 922 0 0 + EXPENDITURE. +To 2 Shepherds at 30 pounds 60 0 0 +To 3 Ditto 25 75 0 0 +To 5 Ditto 20 100 0 0 +To 3 Watchman 20 60 0 0 +To Hurdles &c. 20 0 0 + --------- + 315 0 0 +To 10 Rams at 10 pounds 100 0 0 + --------- + 415 0 0 + --------- + 507 0 0 + ---------- + Net profit by sales of wool in 5 years 1024 0 0 + +1024 0 0 divided by 5 gives 204 8 0 for annual interest on the +original capital of 2814 0 0, (about 7 1/4 percent per annum) +in addition to the accumulation of capital itself, shown by the +valuation of stock. + +*These accounts are a year in advance of the sheep returns, in order to +bring them to the time at which the wool would be sold. + + + VALUATION OF SHEEP, JUNE, 1832----(RETURN E.) + +1614 Ewes from 1 to 4 years old at 3 pounds each 4842 0 O + 620 Do. 4 to 7 years old 2 1240 0 0 + 780 Female Lambs 2 1560 0 0 +2405 Wethers and Male Lambs 15s. 1803 0 0 + 45 Rams (original cost, 450l.) 400 0 0 + ---------- + 9845 0 0 + +Note.--About 500 pounds would be added to the Income on the fifth year, +by the sale of wethers of 3 and 4 years old. + +The cost of rams ought, strictly speaking, to be added to capital, and not +deducted from Income; but these returns were made out in their present +form at the request of a gentleman proceeding to the Colony with a limited +capital, and who wished to know how much he might safely invest in sheep. + + + + +APPENDIX No. IV. + + + +LIST OF GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS, COLLECTED IN THE DISTANT INTERIOR DURING +THE FIRST EXPEDITION, WITH THEIR LOCALITIES AND THEIR RELATIVE DISTANCES +FROM EACH OTHER. + + +It may be necessary to observe that the height of the Cataract of the +Macquarie River above the sea, was ascertained by barometrical +admeasurement to be 650 feet. The country subsequently traversed is +considerably lower. The specimens refer only to the geological formation +of the distant interior. + +Schorl Rock.--Colour blueish grey, fine grained, extremely hard. Composed +of Tourmaline and Quartz. Forms the bed of the Macquarie at the Cataract, +75 miles to the N.W. of Wellington Valley. + +Decomposed Mica Slate.--Colour white; yields to the knife; adheres +strongly to the tongue. + +Decomposed Feldspar.--Colour pale rose-pink; very fine grained; easily +scratched with the knife; adheres strongly to the tongue. + +Both specimens immediately succeed the Schorl rock at the Cataract, in +large smooth-sided masses. + +This formation may be said to terminate the rocks connected with the +dividing ranges, since it is the last that occurs at their western base. + +A little below the Cataract, the county undergoes a remarkable change, +and becomes extremely depressed. + +Porphyry with Feldspar.--Colour dull red, with white spots, or grey with +red spots; very hard, compact, sonorous, magnetic. [See pp. 27 and 115.] +Composition of Mount Harris, a hill called by Mr. Oxley, elevated about +170 feet above the level of the plains. It lies 65 miles to the N.N.W. of +the Cataract, and is about 16 miles distant from the first of the marshes +of the Macquarie. + +Porphyry with Feldspar.--Colour grey with red spots, similar to the last. +Was not observed to affect the needle. Formation of Mount Foster. +Mount Foster is more than 200 feet in height, and lies about 5 miles to +the N.N.W. of Mount Harris. From the summit of both, Arbuthnot's range is +visible, bearing nearly due east, distant 70 miles. [See page 28.] + +Quartz Rock varieties--Slaty Quartz varieties.--Composition of the first +elevations to the Westward of the marshes of the Macquarie, called +New Year's Range, a group of five hills. The loftiest about 200 feet in +elevation; distant about 80 miles to the N.W. of Mount Harris. + +Granite.--Colour red, coarse-grained. Composed of Quartz, Feldspar, +and Mica. + + Granite, Porphyritic.--Colour light red. Both occurring in the bed of +New Year's Creek, traversing it obliquely, and are visible for a few +hundred yards only. This granite occurs about 16 miles from the Range in +a N. by E. direction. + +Old Red Sandstone.--Composition of Oxley's Table Land, 500 feet above the +level of the plains. It is broken into two hills, that appear to have been +separated by some convulsion. [See page 81.] It bears N.W. by W. from +New Year's Range, distant 50 miles. + +Old Red Sandstone.--Composition of D'Urban's group. The highest elevation +ascended during the expedition, being nearly 600 feet above the level of +the plain in which it rises. It lies to the S.S.W. of Oxley's Table Land, +distant 40 miles, and the rock of which it is composed is much harder +and closer. + +Breccia.--Colour pale yellow, silicious cement. Composition of some +trifling elevations to the North of New-Year's range, with which it is +doubtful whether they are connected. + +Crystallized Sulphate of Lime.--Found imbedded in the alluvial soil +forming the banks of the Darling river. Occurring in a regular vein. Soft, +yielding to the nail; not acted on by acids.--See Plate. + +Breccia.--Pale ochre colour, silicious cement, extremely hard. Cellular, +and sharp edges to the fractured pebbles. Has apparently undergone fusion. +Occurs in the bed of the Darling in one place only. + +Sandstone Varieties.--Colour dull red and muddy white; appears like burnt +bricks; light, easily frangible; adheres to the tongue; occurs in large +masses in the bed of the Darling; probably in connection with the +rock-salt of the neighbourhood, which, from the number of brine springs +discovered feeding the river, must necessarily exist. + +Variety of the same description of rock. + +Jasper and Quartz.--Showing itself above the surface of a plain, from +which D'Urban's group bore S. 40 E. distant 33 miles. + +It is a remarkable fact, that not a pebble or a stone was picked up during +the progress of the expedition, on any one of the plains; and that after +it again left Mount Harris for the Castlereagh, the only rock-formation +discovered was a small Freestone tract near the Darling river. There was +not a pebble of any kind either in the bed of the Castlereagh, or in the +creeks falling into it. + + + + +APPENDIX No. V. + + + +OFFICIAL REPORTS TO THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT. + + +* * * * * + + +GOVERNMENT ORDER + +COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE, 23RD JANUARY, 1829. + +His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to order, that the following +communication, dated the 25th of December last, from Captain Sturt, of the +39th Regiment, who is employed in an exploring expedition into the +interior of the country, be published for general information. + +By his Excellency's Command, +ALEXANDER M'LEAY. + + +* * * * * + + +WESTERN MARSHES, 25TH DECEMBER, 1828. + +SIR,--I do myself the honor to forward, for the Governor's perusal, a +copy of my journal up to the date of my arrival at Mount Harris. I should +not have directed the messenger to return so soon, had I not subsequently +advanced to Mount Foster, and surveyed the country from that eminence. I +could distinctly see Arbuthnot's Range to the eastward. From that point +the horizon appeared to me unbroken, but the country to the northward and +westward seemed to favour an attempt to penetrate into it. I did not +observe any sheet of water, and the course of the Macquarie was lost in +the woodlands below. + +Mr. Hume ascended the hill at sun-rise, and thought he could see mountains +to the north east, but at such a distance as to make it quite a matter of +uncertainty. Agreeing, however, in the prudence of an immediate descent, +we left our encampment on the morning of the 23rd, under Mount Foster, to +which we had removed from Mount Harris, and pursued a north-north-west +course to the spot on which we rest at present. We passed some fine meadow +land near the river, and were obliged to keep wide of it in consequence of +fissures in the ground. Traversing a large and blasted plain, on which the +sun's rays fell with intense heat, and on which there was but little +vegetation, we skirted the first great morass, and made the river +immediately beyond it. It is of very considerable extent, the channel of +the river passing through it. We are encompassed on every side by high +reeds, which exist in the woods as well as in the plains. Mr. Hume and +myself rode forward yesterday through the second morass, and made the +river on slightly elevated ground, at a distance of about five miles; the +country beyond appeared to favour our object, and we, to-morrow, proceed +with the party to the north-west. The river seems to bend to the +north-east; but in this level country it is impossible to speak with +certainty, or to give any decided opinion of the nature of it, beyond the +flats on which we are travelling. The reeds to the north-east and +northward extend over a circumference of fifty miles; but if Mr. Hume +really saw mountains or rising ground in the former point, the apparent +course of the Macquarie is at once accounted for. The country, however, +seems to dip to the north, though generally speaking it is level, and I am +inclined to think that the state of the atmosphere caused a deception in +this appearance. + +I regret to add, that the effects of the sun on the plain over which we +passed on the 23rd produced a return of inflammation in the eyes of the +men, I have named in my journals, and caused the same in the eyes of +several others of my party. I halted, therefore, to expedite their +recovery. They are doing well now, and we can proceed in the cool of the +morning without any fear of their receiving injury by it. One of the men, +who were to return to Wellington Valley, was attacked slightly with +dysentery, but the medicines I gave him carried it off in the course of a +day or two. I have taken every precaution with regard to the health of the +men, in preparing them for the country into which they are going; and I +have to request that you will inform the governor that the conduct of the +whole party merits my approbation, and that I have no fault to find. The +men from Sydney are not so sharp as those from Wellington Valley, but are +equally well disposed. The animals, both horses and bullocks, are in good +order, and I find the two soldiers of infinite service to me. The boat has +received some damage from exposure to intense heat, but is otherwise +uninjured. We still retain the carriage and have every prospect of +dragging it on with us. + +His Excellency, having been good enough to order a fresh supply of +provisions to Wellington Valley, I have to beg they may be forwarded to +Mount Harris, and that the person in charge thereof be instructed to +remain at that station for one month. We shall, during the interval, have +examined the country to the north-west; and, in case we are forced back, +shall require a supply to enable us to proceed to the northward, in +furtherance of the views I have already had the honor to submit for the +Governor's approval. + +I have the honor to be, Sir, +Your most obedient and humble Servant, +CHARLES STURT, +Captain, 39th Regt. + + +THE HONOURABLE THE COLONIAL SECRETARY + + +* * * * * + + +GOVERNMENT ORDER. + +COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE, 6TH APRIL, 1829. + +His Excellency the Governor is pleased to direct that the following +interesting Report which has been received from Captain Sturt, +39th Regiment, who has been employed for some months past, (as will be +seen on reference to the Government Order, No. 4, published with Captain +Sturt's First Report in the Sydney Gazette, of the 24th of January last) +in exploring the interior, be communicated for the information of the +public. + +It appears that the river Macquarie ceases to exist near the spot where +the expedition under the late Mr. Oxley terminated, which, from the state +of country at the time, being then flooded, could not be ascertained; and +that another river of no inconsiderable magnitude, fed by salt springs, +was discovered by Captain Sturt on the 2nd February last, about 100 miles +to the westward of the Macquarie, running to the southward and westward. + +By His Excellency's Command, +ALEXANDER M'LEAY. + + +* * * * * + + +MOUNT HARRIS, 4TH MARCH, 1829. + +SIR,--I do myself the honor to acquaint you, for the information of His +Excellency the Governor, that I returned to this eminence on Monday, +the 23rd ult. having been driven from the interior, in consequence of the +extreme drought which prevails there. + +I am to state, in reference to my former communication, that agreeably to +what I then reported, I moved, on the 26th December last, lower down the +plains of the Macquarie, but encountered a barrier of reeds, formed by the +marshes of that river, through which we in vain endeavoured to force our +way. I was in consequence obliged to make the nearest part of the river to +my left, and to take such measures as the nature of my situation required. +Here, for the first time, I set the boat afloat, deeming it essential to +trace the river, as I could not move upon its banks, and wishing also to +ascertain where it again issued from the marshes, I requested Mr. Hume to +proceed northerly, with a view to skirt them, and to descend westerly, +wherever he saw an open space. He was fortunate enough to strike upon the +channel about twelve miles north of our position, but was obstructed in +his further progress by another marsh, in consequence of which he returned +to the camp the next day; in the mean time, I had taken the boat, and +proceeded down the Macquarie, my way being at first considerably +obstructed by fallen timber: clearing this obstacle, however, I got into +a deeper channel, with fine broad reaches, and a depth of from twelve to +fifteen feet water. I had a short time previously cleared all woods and +trees, and was now in the midst of reeds of great height. After proceeding +onwards for about eight miles from the place whence I started, my course +was suddenly and unexpectedly checked; I saw reeds before me, and expected +I was about to turn an angle of the river, but I found that I had got to +the end of the channel, and that the river itself had ceased to exist. +Confounded at such a termination to a stream, whose appearance justified +the expectation that it would have led me through the heart of the marsh +to join Mr. Hume, I commenced a most minute examination of the place, and +discovered two creeks, if they deserve the name, branching, the one to the +north-west, and the other to the north-east; after tracing the former a +short distance, I reached its termination, and in order to assure myself +that such was the case, I walked round the head of it by pushing through +the reeds; it being then too dark to continue where I was, I returned to +a place on the river, at which I had rested during a shower, and slept +there. In the morning I again went to the spot to examine the +north-eastern branch, when I was equally disappointed. I then examined the +space between the two creeks, opposite to the main channel of the river, +and where the bank receives the force of the current. Here I saw water in +the reeds, but it was scarcely ankle deep, and was running off to the +north-west quicker than the waters of the river, which had almost an +imperceptible motion, I was therefore at once convinced that it was not +permanent, but had lodged there in the night, during which much rain had +fallen. I next pushed my way through the reeds into the marsh, and at +length clearly perceived that the waters which were perfectly sweet, after +running several courses, flowed off to the north, towards which point +there was an apparent declination or dip. Finding it impossible to +proceed further, I regained the boat, and thence returned to the camp, +under a conviction that I had reached the very spot, at which Mr. Oxley +lost the channel of the river in 1818. + +The next day I moved to the place where Mr. Hume had struck upon the +channel of the river, but was again doubtful in what direction to proceed. + +The marsh, at the commencement of which we now found ourselves, being the +third from Mount Foster, but the second great one, seemed to extend beyond +us to the north for many miles, but varying in breadth. In the evening I +went in the boat up the channel, and found it at first, deep and sullen, +as that of the river above. It soon however, narrowed, and the weeds +formed over its surface, so that I abandoned the boat and walked along a +path up it. I had not gone far when the channel divided; two smaller +channels came, the one from the southern, and the other from the western +parts of the marsh into it. There was an evident declination where they +were, and it was at their junction the river again rallied and formed. +On my return to the camp, Mr. Hume and I went down the river, but found +that about a mile it lost itself, and spread its waters ever the extensive +marsh before it. + +In this extremity, I knew not what movement to make, as Mr. Hume had been +checked in his progress north. I therefore determined to ascertain the +nature of the country to the eastward and to the westward, that I might +move accordingly; I proposed to Mr. Hume, to take a week's provisions, +with two attendants, and go to the north-east, in order again to turn the +marsh, but with the expectation that the angle formed by the junction of +the Castlereagh with the Macquarie would arrest its progress, as the last +was fast approaching the former. + +I myself determined to cross the river, and to skirt the marshes on the +left, and in case they turned off to the north east, as they appeared to +do, it was my intention to pursue a N.W. course into the interior, to +learn the nature of it. With these views I left the camp on the 31st of +December, and did not return until the 5th of January. Having found early +in my journey, from the change of soil and of timber, that I was leaving +the neighbourhood of the Macquarie, I followed a N.W. course, from a more +northerly one, and struck at once across the country, under an impression +that Mr. Hume would have made the river again long before my return. +I found, after travelling between twenty and thirty miles, the country +began to rise; and at the end of my journey, I made a hill of considerable +elevation, from the summit of which I had a view of other high lands; one +to the S.W. being a very fine mountain. As I had not found any water +excepting in two creeks, which I had left far behind me, and as I had got +on a soil which appeared incapable of holding it, I made this the +termination of my journey, having exceeded 100 miles in distance from the +camp, on my return to which I found Mr. Hume still absent. When he joined, +he stated to me, that not making the Castlereagh as soon as he expected, +he had bent down westerly for the Macquarie, and that he ended his journey +at some gentle hills he had made; so that it appeared we must either have +crossed each other's line of route, or that they were very near, and that +want of length must alone have prevented them from crossing; but as such +all assumption led to the conclusion that the Macquarie no longer existed, +I determined to pursue a middle course round the swamps, to ascertain the +point; as in case the river had ended, a westerly course was the one which +my instructions directed me to pursue. + +In the immediate neighbourhood of the marshes we were obliged to sink +wells for water, and it was thus early that we began to feel the want of a +regular supply. + +Having made a creek about four miles from our position by cutting through +the reeds where there was a narrow space, we pursued a westerly course +over a plain, having every appearance of frequent inundation, and for four +or five days held nearly the same direction; in the course of which we +crossed both our tracks on the excursions we had made, which had +intersected each other in a dense oak brush; thus renewing the few doubts, +or rather the doubt we had as to the fate of the Macquarie, whose course +we had been sent to trace. Indeed, had I not felt convinced that that +river had ceased, I should not have moved westward without further +examination, but we had passed through a very narrow part of the marshes, +and round the greater part of them, and had not seen any hollow that could +by any possible exaggeration be construed into or mistaken for the channel +of a river. + +It appears, then, that the Macquarie, flowing as it does for so many +miles, through a bed, and not a declining country, and having little water +in it, except in times of flood, loses its impetus long ere it reaches the +formidable barrier that opposes its progress northwards; the soil in which +the reeds grow being a stiff clay. Its waters consequently spread, until +a slight declivity giving them fresh impulse, they form a channel again, +but soon gaining a level, they lose their force and their motion together, +and spread not only over the second great marsh, but over a vast extent +of the surrounding country, the breadth of ground thus subject to +inundation being more than twenty miles, and its length considerably +greater; around this space there is a gentle rise which confines the +waters, while small hollows in various directions lead them out of the +marshes over the adjacent plains, on which they eventually subside. On my +return from the interior, I examined those parts round which I had not +been, with particular attention, partly in company with Mr. Hume, and this +statement was confirmed by what we saw. Thus, at a distance of about +twenty-five miles from Mount Foster to the N.N.W. the river Macquarie +ceases to exist, in any shape as a river, and at a distance of between +fifty and sixty, the marshes terminate, though the country subject to +inundation from the river is of a very considerable extent, as shown by +the withered bulrushes, wet reeds, and shells, that are scattered over +its surface. + +Having executed the first part of the instructions with which I had been +honoured, I determined on pursuing a west, or north-west course into the +interior, to ascertain the nature of it, in fulfilment of the second, but +in doing this I was obliged to follow creeks, and even on their banks had +to carry a supply of water, so uncertain was it that we should meet with +any at the termination of our day's journey, and that what we did find +would be fit to drink. Our course led us over plains immediately bordering +the lower lands of the Macquarie, alternating with swamp oak, acacia +pendula, pine, box, eucalyptus, and many other trees of minor growth, the +soil being inclined to a red loam, while the plains were generally covered +with a black scrub, though in some places they had good grass upon them. +We crossed two creeks before we made the hills Mr. Hume had ascended, and +which he called New Year's Range. Around these hills the country appeared +better--they are gentle, picturesque elevations, and are for the most +part, covered with verdure, and have, I fancy, a whinstone base, the rock +of which they are composed being of various substances. I place New Year's +Range in lat. 30 degrees 21 minutes, long. 146 degrees 3 minutes +30 seconds. Our course next lying north-west along a creek, led us to +within twenty miles of the hill that had terminated my excursion, and as I +hoped that a more leisurely survey of the country from its summit would +open something favourable to our view, I struck over for it, though +eventually obliged to return. From it Mr. Hume and I rode to the S.W. +mountain, a distance of about forty miles, without crossing a brook or a +creek, our way leading through dense acacia brushes, and for the most part +over a desert. We saw high lands from this mountain, which exceeds 1,300 +feet in elevation, and is of sandstone formation, and thickly covered with +stunted pine, in eight different points--the bearings of which are as +follows:-- + +Oxley's Table Land, N. 40 E., distant 40 miles. +Kengall Hill, due E. very distant. +Conical Hill, S. 60 E. +Highland, S.E. distance 30 miles. +Highland, S. 30 E. distance 25 miles. +Long Range, S. 16 E. distance 60 miles. +Long Range, S. 72 W. distance 60 miles. +Distant Range, S. 25 W. supposed. + +It was in vain, however, that we looked for water. The country to the +north-west, was low and unbroken, and alternated with wood and plain. + +The country from New Year's Range to the hill I had made, and which I +called Oxley's Table Land, had been very fair, with good soil in many +places, but with a total want of water, except in the creeks, wherein the +supply was both bad and uncertain; on our second day's journey from the +former, we came to the creek on which we were moving, where it had a +coarse granite bottom. The country around it improved very much in +appearance, and there was abundance of good grass on the surface of it, in +spite of the drought. On the right of this creek, a large plain stretches +parallel to it for many miles, varying in quality of soil. Near Oxley's +Table Land, we passed over open forest, the prevailing timber of which was +box. I have placed Oxley's Table Land in latitude 29 degrees 57 minutes +30 seconds, longitude 145 degrees 43 minutes 30 seconds. + +Finding it impracticable to move westward from the hill I again descended +on the creek, whose general course was to the north-west, in which +direction we at length struck upon a river whose appearance raised our +most sanguine expectations. It flowed round an angle from the north-east +to the north-west, and extended in longitude five reaches as far as we +could see. At that place it was about sixty yards broad, with banks of +from thirty to forty feet high, and it had numerous wild fowl and many +pelicans on its bosom, and seemed to be full of fish, while the paths of +the natives on both sides, like well-trodden roads, showed how numerous +they were about it. On tasting its waters, however, we found them +perfectly salt, and useless to us, and as our animals had been without +water the night before, this circumstance distressed us much; our first +day's journey led us past between sixty and seventy huts in one place, and +on our second we fell in with a numerous tribe of natives, having +previously seen some between two creeks before we made New-Year's Range. +At some places the water proved less salt than at others; our animals +drank of it sparingly: we found two small fresh-water holes, which served +us as we passed. After tracing the river for a considerable distance, we +came on brine springs in the bed of it, the banks having been encrusted +with salt from the first; and as the difficulty of getting fresh water was +so great, I here foresaw an end to our wanderings. And as I was resolved +not to involve my party in greater distress, I halted it, on overtaking +the animals, and the next morning turned back to the nearest fresh-water, +at a distance of eighteen miles from us. Unwilling, however, to give up +our pursuit, Mr. Hume and I started with two men on horseback, to trace +the river as far as we could, and to ascertain what course it took; in the +hopes also that we should fall on some creek, or get a more certain supply +of drinkable water. We went a distance to which the bullocks could not +have been brought, and then got on a red sandy soil, which at once +destroyed our hopes; and on tasting the river water we found it salter +than ever, our supply being diminished to two pints. Our animals being +weak and purged, and having proceeded at least forty miles from the camp, +I thought it best to yield to circumstances, and to return, though I trust +I shall be believed when I add, it was with extreme reluctance I did so; +and had I followed the wishes of my party, should still have continued +onwards. Making a part of the river where we had slept, we stayed to +refresh, and in consequence of the heat of the weather were obliged to +drink the water in it, which made us sick. While here, a tribe of blacks +came to us and behaved remarkably well. At night we slept on a plain +without water, and the next day we regained the camp, which had been +visited by the natives during our absence. + +We found the river held a south-west course, and appeared to be making for +the central space between a high land, which I called Dunlop's Range, at +Mr. Hume's request, and a lofty range to the westward. It still continued +its important appearance, having gained in breadth and in the height of +its banks, while there were hundreds of pelicans and wild-fowl on it. +Flowing through a level country with such a channel, it may be presumed +that this river ultimately assumes either a greater character, or that it +adds considerably to the importance of some other stream. It had a clay +bottom, generally speaking, in many places semi-indurated and fast forming +into sandstone, while there was crystallized sulphate of lime running in +veins through the soil which composed the bank. + +This river differs from most in the colony, in having a belt of barren +land of from a quarter of a mile to two miles in breadth in its immediate +neighbourhood, and which is subject to overflow. This belt runs to the +inland plains, where a small elevation checks the further progress of the +flood. There is magnificent blue gum on both sides the river, but the +right bank is evidently the most fertile, and I am mistaken greatly if +there is not a beautiful country north of it. + +Of the country over which we have passed, it is impossible for me to have +formed a correct opinion under its present melancholy circumstances. It +has borne the appearance of barrenness, where in even moderate rain, it +might have shown very differently, though no doubt we passed over much of +both good and bad land; our animals on the whole, have thrived on the food +they have had, which would argue favourably for the herbage. Generally +speaking, I fear the timber is bad--the rough-gum may be used for knees, +and such purposes, and we may have seen wood for the wheelwright and +cabinet-maker, specimens of which I have procured, but none for general or +household purposes. + +The creeks we have traced are different in character from those in the +settled districts, inasmuch as that, like the river, they have a belt of +barren land near then and but little grass--they have all of them been +numerously frequented by the natives, as appeared from the number of +muscle-shells on their banks, but now having scarcely any water in them, +the fish having either been taken, or are dead, and the tribes gone +elsewhere for food, while the badness of the river water has introduced a +cutaneous disease among the natives of that district, which is fast +carrying them off. Our intercourse with these people was incessant from +the time we first met them, and on all occasions they behaved remarkably +well, nor could we have seen less than than two hundred and fifty of them. + +Our return is to be attributable to the want of water alone, and it is +impossible for me to describe the effects of the drought on animal as well +as vegetable nature. The natives are wandering in the desert, and it is +melancholy to reflect on the necessity which obliges them to drink the +stinking and loathsome water they do--birds sit gasping in the trees and +are quite thin--the wild dog prowls about in the day-time unable to avoid +us, and is as lean as he can be in a living state, while minor vegetation +is dead, and the very trees are drooping. I have noticed all these things +in my Journal I shall have the honour of submitting through you, for the +Governor's perusal and information, on my return. Finally, I fear our +expedition will not pave the way to any ultimate benefit; although it has +been the means by which two very doubtful questions,--the course of the +Macquarie, and the nature of the interior, have been solved; for it is +beyond doubt, that the interior for 250 miles beyond its former known +limits to the W.N.W., so far from being a shoal sea, has been ascertained +not only to have considerable elevations upon it, but is in itself a table +land to all intents and purposes, and has scarcely water on its surface to +support its inhabitants. + +I beg you will inform His Excellency the Governor, that I have on all +occasions received the most ready and valuable assistance from Mr, Hume. +His intimate acquaintance with the manners and customs of the natives, +enabled him to enter into intercourse with them, and chiefly contributed +to the peaceable manner in which we have journeyed, while his previous +experience put it in his power to be of real use to me. I cannot but say +he has done an essential service to future travellers, and to the colony +at large, by his conduct on all occasions since he has been with me; nor +should I be doing him justice, if I did not avail myself of the first +opportunity of laying my sentiments before the Governor, through you. I am +happy to add that every individual of the party deserves my warmest +approbation, and that they have, one and all, borne their distresses, +trifling certainly, but still unusual, with cheerfulness, and that they +have at all times been attentive to their duty, and obedient to their +orders. The whole are in good health, and are eager again to start. + +I have the honor to be, +Sir +Your most obedient and most humble servant, +CHARLES STURT, +Capt. 39th Regt. + +THE HONORABLE THE COLONIAL SECRETARY. + + +* * * * * + + +MOUNT HARRIS, 5TH MARCH, 1829. + +SIR,--It having appeared to me, that after discovering such a river as the +one I have described in my letter of yesterday, His Excellency the +Governor would approve of my endeavouring to regain it. There being a +probability that it ultimately joins the Southern Waters, I thought of +turning my steps to the southward and westward; and with a view to learn +the nature of the country, I despatched Mr. Hume in that direction on +Saturday last. He returned in three days, after having gone above forty +miles from the river, and states, that he crossed two creeks, the one +about twenty-five miles, the other about thirty-two distance, evidently +the heads of the creeks we passed westward of the marshes of the +Macquarie. He adds, that, to the second creek the land was excellent, but +that on crossing it, he got onto red soil, on which he travelled some +miles further, until he saw a range of high land, bearing from him S.W.. +by W., when, knowing from the nature of the country around him, and from +the experience of our late journey, that he could not hope to find a +regular supply of water in advance, and that in the present dry state of +the low lands, a movement such as I had contemplated would be +impracticable, he returned home. I do myself the honour, therefore, to +report to you, for His Excellency's information, that I shall proceed on +Saturday next in a N.E. direction towards the Castlereagh, intending to +trace that river down, and afterwards to penetrate as far to the northward +and westward as possible; it being my wish to get into the country north +of the more distant river, where I have expectations that there is an +extensive and valuable track of country, but that in failure of the above, +I shall examine the low country behind our N.W. boundaries, if I can find +a sufficiency of water to enable me to do so. + +I am to inform you that in this neighbourhood the Macquarie has ceased to +flow, and that it is now a chain of shallow ponds. The water is fast +diminishing in it, and unless rain descends in a few weeks it will be +perfectly dry. + +I am also to report, that the natives attempted the camp with the supplies +before my arrival at Mount Harris, but that on the soldier with the party +firing a shot, after they had thrown a stone and other of the weapons, +they fled. It was in consequence of their fires, which I saw at a distance +of forty miles, and which they never make on so extensive a scale, except +as signals when they want to collect, and are inclined to be mischievous, +that I made forced marches up, and I am led to believe my arrival was very +opportune. The natives have visited us since, and I do not think they will +now attempt to molest either party when we separate. + +I have the honour to be, +Sir, +Your most obedient and most humble servant, +CHARLES STURT, +Capt. 39th Regt. + +THE HON. THE COLONIAL SECRETARY. + + + +END OF VOLUME I + + + +* * * * * * * + + + + + +VOLUME II. + + + + +CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME + +EXPEDITION DOWN THE MORUMBIDGEE AND MURRAY RIVERS, IN 1829, 1830 AND 1831. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +Introductory--Remarks on the results of the former Expedition--The +fitting out of another determined on--Its objects--Provisions, +accoutrements, and retinue--Paper furnished by Mr. Kent--Causes that have +prevented the earlier appearance of the present work. + + +CHAPTER II. + +Commencement of the expedition in November, 1829.--Joined by Mr. George +M'Leay--Appearance of the party--Breadalbane Plains--Hospitality of Mr. +O'Brien--Yass Plains--Hill of Pouni--Path of a hurricane--Character of the +country between Underaliga and the Morumbidgee--Appearance of that river-- +Junction of the Dumot with it--Crossing and recrossing--Geological +character and general aspect of the country--Plain of Pondebadgery--Few +natives seen. + + +CHAPTER III. + +Character of the Morumbidgee where it issues from the hilly country-- +Appearance of approach to swamps--Hamilton Plains--Intercourse with the +natives--Their appearance, customs, &c.--Change in the character of the +river--Mirage--Dreariness of the country--Ride towards the Lachlan river +--Two boats built and launched on the Morumbidgee; and the drays, with +part of the men sent back to Goulburn Plains. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Embarkation of the party in the boats, and voyage down the Morumbidgee-- +The skiff swamped by striking on a sunken tree--Recovery of boat and its +loading--Region of reeds--Dangers of the navigation--Contraction of the +channel--Reach the junction of a large river--Intercourse with the natives +on its banks--Character of the country below the junction of the rivers-- +Descent of a dangerous rapid--Warlike demonstrations of a tribe of +natives--Unexpected deliverance from a conflict with them--Junction of +another river--Give the name of the "Murray" to the principal stream. + + +CHAPTER V. + +Character of the country--Damage of provisions--Adroitness of the natives +in catching fish--The skiff broken up--Stream from the North-East supposed +to be the Darling--Change of country in descending the river--Intercourse +with the natives--Prevalence of loathsome diseases among them--Apparent +populousness of the country--Junction of several small streams--The Rufus, +the Lindesay, &c.--Rainy and tempestuous weather--Curious appearance of +the banks--Troublesomeness of the natives--Inhospitable and desolate +aspect of the country--Condition of the men--Change in the geological +character of the country--The river passes through a valley among hills. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Improvement in the aspect of the country--Increase of the river--Strong +westerly gales--Chronometer broken--A healthier tribe of natives-- +Termination of the Murray in a large lake--Its extent and environs-- +Passage across it--Hostile appearance of the natives--Beautiful scenery +--Channel from the lake to the sea at Encounter Bay--Reach the beach-- +Large flocks of water fowl--Curious refraction--State of provisions-- +Embarrassing situation--Inspection of the channel to the ocean--Weak +condition of the men--Difficulties of the return. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Valley of the Murray--Its character and capabilities--Laborious progress +up the river--Accident to the boat--Perilous collision with the natives +--Turbid current of the Rufus--Passage of the Rapids--Assisted by the +natives--Dangerous intercourse with them--Re-enter the Morumbidgee-- +Verdant condition of its banks--Nocturnal encounter with the natives-- +Interesting manifestation of feeling in one family--Reach the spot where +the party had embarked on the river--Men begin to fail entirely-- +Determine to send two men forward for relief--Their return--Excursion on +horseback--Reach Pondebadgery Plain, and meet the supplies from the +colony--Cannibalism of the natives--Return to Sydney--Concluding remarks. + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Environs of the lake Alexandrina--Appointment of Capt. Barker to make a +further survey of the coast near Encounter Bay--Narrative of his +proceedings--Mount Lofty, Mount Barker, and beautiful country adjacent-- +Australian salmon--Survey of the coast--Outlet of lake to the sea-- +Circumstances that led to the slaughter of Capt. Barker by the natives-- +His character--Features of this part of the country and capabilities of +its coasts--Its adaptation for colonization--Suggestions for the +furtherance of future Expeditions. + + +APPENDIX. + +No. I. Geological Specimens found to the south-west of Port Jackson +No. II. Official Report to the Colonial Government + + +ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE SECOND VOLUME +(Not included in this etext) + +View on the Morumbidgee River +Junction of the supposed Darling with the Murray +Palaeornis Melanura, or Black Tailed Paroquet +Pomatorhinus Temporalis +Pomatorhinus Superciliosus +Chart of Cape Jervis, and Encounter Bay +Mass of Fossils of the Tertiary Formation +Bulla +Conus +Genus Unknown +Chrystallized Selenite +Selenite +Single Fossils of the Tertiary Formation + + + + +EXPEDITION DOWN THE MORUMBIDGEE AND MURRAY RIVERS, IN 1829, 1830 AND 1831. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + +Introductory + + +Remarks on the results of the former Expedition--The fitting out of +another determined on--Its objects--Provisions, accoutrements, and +retinue--Paper furnished by Mr. Kent--Causes that have prevented the +earlier appearance of the present work. + +OBJECTS OF THE EXPEDITION. + +The expedition of which we have just detailed the proceedings was so far +satisfactory in its results, that it not only set at rest the hypothesis +of the existence of an internal shoal sea in southern Australia, and +ascertained the actual termination of the rivers it had been directed to +trace, but also added very largely to our knowledge of the country +considerably to the westward of former discoveries. And although no land +had been traversed of a fertile description of sufficient extent to invite +the settler, the fact of a large river such as the Darling lying at the +back of our almost intertropical settlements, gave a fresh importance to +the distant interior. It was evident that this river was the chief drain +for carrying off the waters falling westerly from the eastern coast, and +as its course indicated a decline of country diametrically opposite to +that which had been calculated upon, it became an object of great +importance to ascertain its further direction. Had not the saline quality +of its waters been accounted for, by the known existence of brine springs +in its bed, it would have been natural to have supposed that it +communicated with some mediterranean sea; but, under existing +circumstances, it remained to be proved whether this river held on a due +south course, or whether it ultimately turned westerly, and ran into the +heart of the interior. In order fully to determine this point, it would be +necessary to regain it banks, so far below the parallel to which it had +been traced as to leave no doubt of its identity; but it was difficult to +fix upon a plan for approaching that central stream without suffering from +the want of water, since it could hardly be expected that the Lachlan +would afford such means, as it was reasonable to presume that its +termination was very similar to that of the Macquarie. The attention of +the government was, consequently, fixed upon the Morumbidgee, a river +stated to be of considerable size and of impetuous current. Receiving its +supplies from the lofty ranges behind Mount Dromedary, it promised to hold +a longer course than those rivers which, depending on periodical rains +alone for existence, had been found so soon to exhaust themselves. + +PREPARATIONS. + +The fitting out of another expedition was accordingly determined upon; and +about the end of September 1829, I received the Governor's instructions to +make the necessary preparations for a second descent into the interior, +for the purpose of tracing the Morumbidgee, or such rivers as it might +prove to be connected with, as far as practicable. In the event of failure +in this object, it was hoped that an attempt to regain the banks of the +Darling on a N.W. course from the point at which the expedition might be +thwarted in its primary views, would not be unattended with success. Under +any circumstances, however, by pursuing these measures, an important part +of the colony would necessarily be traversed, of which the features were +as yet altogether unknown. + +It became my interest and my object to make the expedition as complete as +possible, and, as far as in me lay, to provide for every contingency: and +as it appeared to me that, in all likelihood, we should in one stage or +other of our journey have to trust entirely to water conveyance, I +determined on taking a whale-boat, whose dimensions and strength should in +some measure be proportioned to the service required. I likewise +constructed a small still for the distillation of water, in the event of +our finding the water of the Darling salt, when we should reach its banks. +The whale-boat, after being fitted, was taken to pieces for more +convenient carriage, as has been more particularly detailed in the last +chapter of the preceding volume. + +So little danger had been apprehended from the natives in the former +journey, that three firelocks had been considered sufficient for our +defence. On the present occasion, however, I thought it adviseable to +provide arms for each individual. + +Mr. Hume declined accompanying me, as the harvest was at hand. Mr. George +M'Leay therefore supplied his place, rather as a companion than as an +assistant; and of those who accompanied me down the banks of the +Macquarie, I again selected Harris (my body servant), Hopkinson, and +Fraser. + +MR. KENT'S REPORT. + +The concluding chapter of this volume, relative to the promontory of +St. Vincent, or Cape Jervis, has been furnished me by the kindness of +Mr. Kent, who accompanied the lamented officer to whom the further +exploration of that part of coast unhappily proved fatal. There is a +melancholy coincidence between Captain Barker's death and that of Captain +Cook, which cannot fail to interest the public, as the information that +has been furnished will call for their serious consideration. I shall +leave for their proper place, the remarks I have to offer upon it, since +my motive in these prefatory observations has been, to carry the reader +forward to that point at which he will have to view the proceedings of the +expedition alone, in order the more satisfactorily to arrive at their +results. And, although he must expect a considerable portion of dry +reading in the following pages, I have endeavoured to make the narrative +of events, some of which are remarkably striking, as interesting as +possible. + +REMARKS ON THE PRESENT WORK; DELIVERANCE FROM DANGERS. + +It only remains for me to refer the reader to the concluding chapter of +the preceding volume, for such general information as I have been enabled +to furnish upon the nature of the services on which I was employed, and on +the manner of conducting similar expeditions. Indeed, I trust that this +book (whatever be its defects) will be found to contain much valuable +information of a practical character, and I may venture to affirm, that it +will give a true description of the country, and of the various other +subjects of which it treats. + +Notwithstanding that I have in my dedication alluded to the causes that +prevented the earlier appearance of this work, I feel it due both to +myself and the public here to state, that during these expeditions my +health had suffered so much, that I was unable to bear up against the +effects of exposure, bodily labour, poverty of diet, and the anxiety of +mind to which I was subjected. A residence on Norfolk Island, under +peculiarly harassing circumstances, completed that which the above causes +had commenced; and, after a succession of attacks, I became totally blind, +and am still unable either to read what I pen, or to venture abroad +without an attendant. When it is recollected, that I have been unassisted +in this work in any one particular, I hope some excuse will be found for +its imperfections. A wish to contribute to the public good led me to +undertake those journeys which have cost me so much. The same feeling +actuates me in recording their results; and I have the satisfaction to +know, that my path among a large and savage population was a bloodless +one; and that my intercourse with them was such as to lessen the danger to +future adventurers upon such hazardous enterprises, and to give them hope +where I had so often despaired. Something more powerful, than human +foresight or human prudence, appeared to avert the calamities and dangers +with which I and my companions were so frequently threatened; and had it +not been for the guidance and protection we received from the Providence +of that good and all-wise Being to whose care we committed ourselves, we +should, ere this, have ceased to rank among the number of His earthly +creatures. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + +Commencement of the expedition in November, 1829.--Joined by Mr. George +M'Leay--Appearance of the party--Breadalbane Plains--Hospitality of Mr. +O'Brien--Yass Plains--Hill of Pouni--Path of a hurricane--Character of the +country between Underaliga and the Morumbidgee--Appearance of that river-- +Junction of the Dumot with it--Crossing and recrossing--Geological +character and general aspect of the country--Plain of Pondebadgery--Few +natives seen. + + +The expedition which traversed the marshes of the Macquarie, left Sydney +on the 10th day of Nov. 1828. That destined to follow the waters of the +Morumbidgee, took its departure from the same capital on the 3rd of the +same month in the ensuing year. Rain had fallen in the interval, but not +in such quantities as to lead to the apprehension that it had either +influenced or swollen the western streams. It was rather expected that the +winter falls would facilitate the progress of the expedition, and it was +hoped that, as the field of its operations would in all probability be +considerably to the south of the parallel of Port Jackson, the extreme +heat to which the party and the animals had been exposed on the former +journey, would be less felt on the present occasion. + +As there was no Government establishment to the S.W. at which I could +effect any repairs, or recruit my supplies, as I had done at Wellington +Valley, the expedition, when it left Sydney, was completed in every +branch, and was so fully provided with every necessary implement and +comfort, as to render any further aid, even had such been attainable, in a +great measure unnecessary. The Governor had watched over my preparations +with a degree of anxiety that evidenced the interest he felt in the +expedition, and his arrangements to ensure, as far as practicable, our +being met on our return, in the event of our being in distress, were +equally provident and satisfactory. It was not, however, to the providing +for our wants in the interior alone that His Excellency's views were +directed, but orders were given to hold a vessel in readiness, to be +dispatched at a given time to St. Vincent's Gulf, in case we should +ultimately succeed in making the south coast in its neighbourhood. + +LEAVE SYDNEY. + +The morning on which I left Sydney a second time, under such doubtful +circumstances, was perfectly serene and clear. I found myself at 5 a.m. of +that delightful morning leading my horses through the gates of those +barracks whose precincts I might never again enter, and whose inmates I +might never again behold assembled in military array. Yet, although the +chance of misfortune flashed across my mind, I was never lighter at heart, +or more joyous in spirit. It appeared to me that the stillness and harmony +of nature influenced my feelings on the occasion, and my mind forgot the +storms of life, as nature at that moment seemed to have forgotten the +tempests that sometimes agitate her. + +APPEARANCE OF THE PARTY. + +I proceeded direct to the house of my friend Mr. J. Deas Thomson, who had +agreed to accompany me to Brownlow Hill, a property belonging to +Mr. M'Leay, the Colonial Secretary, where his son, Mr. George M'Leay, was +to join the expedition. As soon as we had taken a hasty breakfast, I went +to the carters' barracks to superintend the first loading of the animals. +Mr. Murray, the superintendent, had arranged every article so well, and +had loaded the drays so compactly that I had no trouble, and little time +was lost in saddling the pack animals. At a quarter before 7 the party +filed through the turnpike-gate, and thus commenced its journey with the +greatest regularity. I have the scene, even at this distance of time, +vividly impressed upon my mind, and I have no doubt the kind friend who +was near me on the occasion, bears it as strongly on his recollection. +My servant Harris, who had shared my wanderings and had continued in my +service for eighteen years, led the advance, with his companion Hopkinson. +Nearly abreast of them the eccentric Fraser stalked along wholly lost in +thought. The two former had laid aside their military habits, and had +substituted the broad brimmed hat and the bushman's dress in their place, +but it was impossible to guess how Fraser intended to protect himself from +the heat or the damp, so little were his habiliments suited for the +occasion. He had his gun over his shoulder, and his double shot belt as +full as it could be of shot, although there was not a chance of his +expending a grain during the day. Some dogs Mr. Maxwell had kindly sent me +followed close at his heels, as if they knew his interest in them, and +they really seemed as if they were aware that they were about to exchange +their late confinement for the freedom of the woods. The whole of these +formed a kind of advanced guard. At some distance in the rear the drays +moved slowly along, on one of which rode the black boy mentioned in my +former volume, and behind them followed the pack animals. Robert Harris, +whom I had appointed to superintend the animals generally, kept his place +near the horses, and the heavy Clayton, my carpenter, brought up the rear. +I shall not forget the interest Thomson appeared to take in a scene that +must certainly have been new to him. Our progress was not checked by the +occurrence of a single accident, nor did I think it necessary to remain +with the men after we had gained that turn which, at about four miles from +Sydney, branches off to the left, and leads direct to Liverpool. From this +Point my companion and I pushed forward, in order to terminate a fifty +miles' ride a little sooner than we should have done at the leisurely pace +we had kept during the early part of our journey. We remained in Liverpool +for a short time, to prepare the commissariat office for the reception, +and to ensure the accommodation, of the party; and reached Brownlow Hill +a little after sunset. + +LIVERPOOL-GOULBURN PLAINS. + +As I have already described the country on this line of road as far us +Goulburn Plains, it will not be considered necessary that I should again +notice its features with minuteness. + +WALLANDILLY-TYRANNA. + +The party arrived at Glendarewel, the farm attached to Brownlow Hill, on +the 5th. I resumed my journey alone on the 8th. M'Leay had still some few +arrangements to make, so that I dispensed with his immediate attendance. +He overtook me, however, sooner than I expected, on the banks of the +Wallandilly. I had encamped under the bluff end of Cookbundoon, and, +having been disappointed in getting bearings when crossing the Razor Back, +I hoped that I should be enabled to connect a triangle from the summit +of Cookbundoon, or to secure bearings of some prominent hill to the south. +I found the brush, however, so thick on the top of the mountain, that I +could obtain no satisfactory view, and and M'Leay, who accompanied me, +agreed with me in considering that we were but ill repaid for the hot +scramble we had had. Crossing the western extremity of Goulburn Plains on +the 15th, we encamped on a chain of ponds behind Doctor Gibson's residence +at Tyranna, and as I had some arrangements to make with that gentleman, +I determined to give both the men and animals a day's rest. I availed +myself of Doctor Gibson's magazines to replace such of my provisions as I +had expended, as I found that I could do so without putting him to any +inconvenience; and I added two of his men to the party, intending to send +them back, in case of necessity, or, when we should have arrived at that +point from which it might appear expedient to forward an account of my +progress and ultimate views, for the governor's information. + +On the 17th we struck the tents, and, crossing the chain of ponds near +which they had been pitched, entered a forest track, that gave place to +barren stony ridges of quartz formation. These continued for six or seven +miles, in the direction of Breadalbane Plains, upon which we were obliged +to stop, as we should have had some difficulty in procuring either water +or food, within any moderate distance beyond them. The water, indeed, that +we were obliged to content ourselves with was by no means good. +Breadalbane Plains are of inconsiderable extent, and are surrounded by +ridges, the appearance of which is not very promising. Large white masses +of quartz rock lie scattered over them, amongst trees of stunted growth. +Mr. Redall's farm was visible at the further extremity of the plains from +that by which we had entered them. It would appear that these plains are +connected with Goulburn Plains by a narrow valley, that was too wet for +the drays to have traversed. + +BREADALBANE PLAINS. + +Doctor Gibson had kindly accompanied us to Breadalbane Plains. On the +morning of the 18th he returned to Tyranna, and we pursued our journey, +keeping mostly on a W.S.W. course. From the barren hills over which we +passed, on leaving the plains, we descended upon an undulating country, +and found a change of rock, as well as of vegetation, upon it. Granite and +porphyry constituted its base. An open forest, on which the eucalyptus +mannifera alone prevailed, lay on either side of us, and although the soil +was coarse, and partook in a great measure of the decomposition of the +rock it covered, there was no deficiency of grass. On the contrary, this +part of the interior is decidedly well adapted for pasturing cattle. + +THE LORN. + +About 1 p.m. we passed Mr. Hume's station, with whom I remained for a +short time. He had fixed his establishment on the banks of the Lorn, a +small river, issuing from the broken country near Lake George, and now +ascertained to be one of the largest branches of the Lachlan River. We had +descended a barren pass of stringy bark scrub, on sandstone rock, a little +before we reached Mr. Hume's station, but around it the same, open forest +tract again prevailed. We crossed the Lorn, at 2 o'clock, leaving +Mr. Broughton's farm upon our left, and passed through a broken country, +which was very far from being deficient in pasture. We encamped on the +side of a water-course, about 4 o'clock, having travelled about fifteen +miles. + +On the 19th, we observed no change in the soil or aspect of the country, +for the first five miles. The eucalyptus mannifera was the most prevalent +of the forest trees, and certainly its presence indicated a more +flourishing state in the minor vegetation. At about five miles, however, +from where we had slept, sandstone reappeared, and with it the barren +scrub that usually grows upon a sandy and inhospitable soil. One of the +drays was upset in its progress down a broken pass, where the road had +been altogether neglected, and it was difficult to avoid accidents. +Fortunately we suffered no further than in the delay that the necessity of +unloading the dray, and reloading it, occasioned. Mr. O'Brien, an +enterprising settler, who had pushed his flocks to the banks of the +Morumbidgee, and who was proceeding to visit his several stations, +overtook us in the midst of our troubles. We had already passed each other +frequently on the road, but he now preceded me to his establishment at +Yass; at which I proposed remaining for a day. We stopped about three +miles short of the plains for the night, at the gorge of the pass through +which we had latterly been advancing, and had gradually descended to a +more open country. From the place at which we were temporarily delayed, +and which is not inappropriately called the Devil's Pass, the road winds +about between ranges, differing in every respect from any we had as yet +noticed. The sides of the hills were steeper, and their summits sharper, +than any we had crossed. They were thickly covered with eucalypti and +brush, and, though based upon sandstone, were themselves of a schistose +formation. + +YASS PLAINS. + +Yharr or Yass Plains were discovered by Mr. Hovel, and Mr. Hume, the +companion of my journey down the Macquarie, in 1828. They take their name +from the little river that flows along their north and north-west +boundaries. They are surrounded on every side by forests, and excepting to +the W.N.W., as a central point, by hill. Undulating, but naked themselves, +they have the appearance of open downs, and are most admirably adapted for +sheep-walks, not only in point of vegetation, but also, because their +inequalities prevent their becoming swampy during the rainy season. They +are from nine to twelve miles in length, and from five to seven in breadth, +and although large masses of sandstone are scattered over them, a blue +secondary limestone composes the general bed of the river, that was darker +in colour and more compact than I had remarked the same kind of rock, +either at Wellington Valley, or in the Shoal Haven Gully. I have no doubt +that Yass Plains will ere long be wholly taken up as sheep-walks, and that +their value to the grazier will in a great measure counterbalance its +distance from the coast, or, more properly speaking, from the capital. +Sheep I should imagine would thrive uncommonly well upon these plains, +and would suffer less from distempers incidental to locality and to +climate, than in many parts of the colony over which they are now +wandering in thousands. And if the plains themselves do not afford +extensive arable tracts, there is, at least, sufficient good land near the +river to supply the wants of a numerous body of settlers. + +HOSPITALITY OF MR. O'BRIEN. + +We left Mr. O'Brien's station on the morning of the 21st, and, agreeably +to his advice, determined on gaining the Morumbidgee, by a circuit to the +N.W., rather than endanger the safety of the drays by entering the +mountain passes to the westward. Mr. O'Brien, however, would not permit us +to depart from his dwelling without taking away with us some further +proofs of his hospitality. The party had pushed forward before I, or +Mr. M'Leay, had mounted our horses; but on overtaking it, we found that +eight fine wethers had been added to our stock of animals. + +HILL OF POUNI; ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. + +To the W.N.W. of Yass Plains there is a remarkable hill, called Pouni, +remarkable not so much on account of its height, as of its commanding +position. It had, I believe, already been ascended by one of the +Surveyor-general's assistants. The impracticability of the country to the +south of it, obliged us to pass under its opposite base, from which an +open forest country extended to the northward. We had already recrossed +the Yass River, and passed Mr. Barber's station, to that of Mr. Hume's +father, at which we stopped for a short time. Both farms are well +situated, the latter I should say, romantically so, it being immediately +under Pouni, the hill we have noticed. The country around both was open, +and both pasture and water were abundant. + +Mr. O'Brien had been kind enough to send one of the natives who frequented +his station to escort us to his more advanced station upon the +Morumbidgee. Had it not been for the assistance we received from this man, +I should have had but little leisure for other duties: as it was however, +there was no fear of the party going astray. This gave M'Leay and myself +an opportunity of ascending Pouni, for the purpose of taking bearings; and +how ever warm the exertion of the ascent made us, the view from the summit +of the hill sufficiently repaid us, and the cool breeze that struck it, +although imperceptible in the forest below, soon dried the perspiration +from our brows. The scenery around us was certainly varied, yet many +parts of it put me forcibly in mind of the dark and gloomy tracks over +which my eye had wandered from similar elevations on the former journey. +This was especially the case in looking to the north, towards which point +the hills forming the right of the valley by which we had entered the +plains, decreased so rapidly in height that they were lost in the general +equality of the more remote country, almost ere they had reached abreast +of my position. From E.S.E. to W.S.W. the face of the country was hilly, +broken and irregular; forming deep ravines and precipitous glens, amid +which I was well aware the Morumbidgee was still struggling for freedom; +while mountains succeeded mountains in the back-ground, and were +themselves overtopped by lofty and very distant peaks. To the eastward, +however, the hills wore a more regular form, and were lightly covered with +wood. The plains occupied the space between them and Pouni; and a smaller +plain bore N.N.E. which, being embosomed in the forest, had hitherto +escaped our notice. + +We overtook the party just as it cleared the open ground through which it +had previously been moving. A barren scrub succeeded it for about eight +miles. The soil in this scrub was light and sandy. + +We stopped for the night at the head of a valley that seemed to have been +well trodden by cattle. The feed, therefore, was not abundant, nor was the +water good. We had, however, made a very fair journey, and I was unwilling +to press the animals. But in consequence, I fancy, of the scarcity of +food, they managed to creep away during the night, with the exception of +three or four of the bullocks, nor should we have collected them again so +soon as we did, or without infinite trouble, had it not been for our guide +and my black boy. We unavoidably lost a day, but left our position on the +23rd, for Underaliga, a station occupied by Doctor Harris, the gentleman I +have already had occasion to mention. We reached the banks of the creek +near the stock hut, about 4 p.m., having journeyed during the greater part +of the day through a poor country, partly of scrub and partly of open +forest-land, in neither of which was the soil or vegetation fresh or +abundant. At about three miles from Underaliga, the country entirely +changed its character, and its flatness was succeeded by a broken and +undulating surface. The soil upon the hills was coarse and sandy, from the +decomposition of the granite rock that constituted their base. +Nevertheless, the grass was abundant on the hills, though the roots or +tufts were far apart; and the hills were lightly studded with trees. + +COURSE OF A HURRICANE. + +In the course of the day we crossed the line of a hurricane that had just +swept with resistless force over the country, preserving a due north +course, and which we had heard from a distance, fortunately too great to +admit of its injuring us. It had opened a fearful gap in the forest +through which it had passed, of about a quarter of a mile in breadth. +Within that space, no tree had been able to withstand its fury, for it had +wrenched every bough from such as it had failed to prostrate, and they +stood naked in the midst of the surrounding wreck. I am inclined to think +that the rudeness of nature itself in these wild and uninhabited regions, +gives birth to these terrific phenomena. They have never occurred, so far +as I know, in the located districts. Our guide deserted us in the early +part of the day without assigning any reason for doing so. He went off +without being noticed, and thus lost the reward that would have been +bestowed on him had he mentioned his wish to return to Yass. I the more +regretted his having sneaked off, because he had had the kindness to put +us on a track we could not well lose. + +COUNTRY FROM UNDERALIGA TO MORUMBIDGEE. + +Underaliga, is said to be thirty miles from the Morumbidgee. The country +between the two has a sameness of character throughout. It is broken and +irregular, yet no one hill rises conspicuously over the rest. We found +ourselves at one time on their summits beside huge masses of granite, at +others crossing valleys of rich soil and green appearance. A country under +cultivation is so widely different from one the sod of which has never +been broken by the plough, that it is difficult and hazardous to form a +decided opinion on the latter. If you ask a stockman what kind of a +country lies, either to his right, or to his left, he is sure to condemn +it, unless it will afford the most abundant pasture. Accustomed to roam +about from one place to another, these men despise any but the richest +tracts, and include the rest of the neighbourhood in one sweeping clause +of condemnation. Thus I was led to expect, that we should pass over a +country of the very worst description, between Underaliga and the +Morumbidgee. Had it been similar to that midway between Yass and +Underaliga, we should, in truth, have found it so; but it struck me, that +there were many rich tracts of ground among the valleys of the former, and +that the very hills had a fair covering of grass upon them. What though +the soil was coarse, if the vegetation was good and sufficient? Perhaps +the greatest drawback to this part of the interior is the want of water; +yet we crossed several creeks, and remarked some deep water holes, that +can never be exhausted, even in the driest season. Wherever the situation +favoured our obtaining a view of the country on either side of us, while +among these hills, we found that to the eastward lofty and mountainous; +whilst that to the westward, had the appearance of fast sinking into +a level. + +JUGGIONG. + +A short time before we reached the Morumbidgee, we forded a creek, which +we crossed a second time where it falls into the river. After crossing it +the first time we opened a flat, on which the marks of sheep were +abundant. In the distance there was a small hill, and on its top a bark +hut. We were not until then aware of our being so near the river, but as +Mr. O'Brien had informed me that he had a station for sheep, at a place +called Juggiong, by the natives, on the immediate banks of the river, I +did not doubt that we had, at length, arrived at it. And so it proved. I +went to the hut, to ascertain where I could conveniently stop for the +night, but the residents were absent. I could not but admire the position +they had taken up. The hill upon which their hut was erected was not more +than fifty feet high, but it immediately overlooked the river, and +commanded not only the flat we had traversed in approaching it, but also a +second flat on the opposite side. The Morumbidgee came down to the foot of +this little hill from the south, and, of course, running to the north, +which latter direction it suddenly takes up from a previous S.W. one, on +meeting some hills that check its direct course. From the hill on which +the hut stands, it runs away westward, almost in a direct line, for three +miles, so that the position commands a view of both the reaches, which are +overhung by the casuarina and flooded-gum. Rich alluvial flats lie to the +right of the stream, backed by moderate hills, that were lightly studded +with trees, and clothed with verdure to their summits. Some moderate +elevations also backed a flat, on the left bank of the river, but the +colour of the soil upon the latter, as well as its depressed situation, +showed clearly that it was subject to flood, and had received the worst of +the depositions from the mountains. The hills behind it were also bare, +and of a light red colour, betraying, as I imagined, a distinct formation +from, and poorer character than, the hills behind us. At about three miles +the river again suddenly changes its direction from west to south, for +about a mile, when it inclines to the S.E. until it nearly encircles the +opposite hills, when it assumes its proper direction, and flows away to +the S.W. + +CROSS THE UNDERALIGA; REACH THE MORUMBIDGEE. + +We crossed the Underaliga creek a little below the stock hut, and encamped +about a mile beyond it, in the centre of a long plain. We were surrounded +on every side by hills, from which there was no visible outlet, as they +appeared to follow the bend of the river, with an even and unbroken +outline. The scenery around us was wild, romantic, and beautiful; as +beautiful as a rich and glowing sunset in the most delightful climate +under the heavens could make it. I had been more anxious to gain the banks +of the Morumbidgee on this occasion, than I had been on a former one to +gain those of the Macquarie, for although I could not hope to see the +Morumbidgee all that it had been described to me, yet I felt that on its +first appearance I should in some measure ground my anticipations of +ultimate success. When I arrived on the banks of the Macquarie, it had +almost ceased to flow, and its current was so gentle as to be scarcely +perceptible. Instead, however, of a river in such a state of exhaustion, +I now looked down upon a stream, whose current it would have been +difficult to breast, and whose waters, foaming among rocks, or circling in +eddies, gave early promise of a reckless course. It must have been +somewhat below its ordinary level, and averaged a breadth of about 80 +feet. Its waters were hard and transparent, and its bed was composed of +mountain debris, and large fragments of rock. As soon as the morning +dawned, the tents were struck and we pursued our journey. We followed the +line of the river, until we found ourselves in a deep bight to the S.E. +The hills that had been gradually closing in upon the river, now +approached it so nearly, that there was no room for the passage of the +drays. We were consequently obliged to turn back, and, moving along the +base of the ranges, by which we were thus apparently enclosed, we at +length found a steep pass, the extreme narrowness of which had hidden it +from our observation. By this pass we were now enabled to effect our +escape. On gaining the summit of the hills, we travelled south for three +or four miles, through open forests, and on level ground. But we +ultimately descended into a valley in which we halted for the night. On a +closer examination of the neighbourhood, it appeared that our position was +at the immediate junction of two valleys, where, uniting the waters of +their respective creeks, the main branch declines rapidly towards the +river. One of these valleys extended to to the S.W., the other to the +W.N.W. It was evident to us that our route lay up the former; and I made +no doubt we should easily reach Whaby's station on the morrow. + +ADJACENT COUNTRY. + +We were now far beyond the acknowledged limits of the located parts of the +colony, and Mr. Whaby's station was the last at which we could expect even +the casual supply of milk or other trifling relief. Yet, although the +prospect of so soon leaving even the outskirts of civilization, and being +wholly thrown on our own resources, was so near, it never for a moment +weighed upon the minds of the men. The novelty of the scenery, and the +beauty of the river on which they were journeying, excited in them the +liveliest anticipations of success. The facility with which we had +hitherto pushed forward blinded them to future difficulties, nor could +there be a more cheerful spectacle than that which the camp daily +afforded. The animals browzing in the distance, and the men talking over +their pipes of the probable adventures they might encounter. The loads +had by this time settled properly, and our provisions proved of the very +best quality, so that no possible improvement could have been made for the +better. + +WHABY'S STATION. + +On the morrow we pushed up the southernmost of the valleys, at the +junction of which we had encamped, having moderate hills on either side of +us. At the head of the valley we crossed a small dividing range into +another valley, and halted for the night, on the banks of a creek from the +westward, as we found it impossible to reach Whaby's station, as we had +intended, before sunset. Nothing could exceed the luxuriance of the +vegetation in this valley, but the water of the creek was so impregnated +with iron, as to be almost useless. Being anxious to obtain a view of the +surrounding country, I ascended a hill behind the camp, just as the sun +was sinking, a time the most favourable for the object I had in view. The +country, broken into hill and dale, seemed richer than any tract I had as +yet surveyed; and the beauty of the near landscape was greatly +heightened by the mountainous scenery to the S. and S.E. Both the +laxmania, and zanthorea were growing around me; but neither appeared to be +in congenial soil. The face of the hill was very stony, and I found, on +examination, that a great change had taken place in the rock-formation, +the granite ranges having given place to chlorite schist. + +We reached Whaby's about 9 a.m. of the morning of the 27th, and received +every attention and civility from him. The valley in which we had slept +opened upon an extensive plain, to the eastward of which the Morumbidgee +formed the extreme boundary; and it was in a bight, and on ground rather +elevated above the plain, that he had fixed his residence. He informed +me that we should have to cross the river, as its banks were too +precipitous, and the ranges too abrupt, to admit of our keeping the right +side; and recommended me to examine and fix upon a spot at which to cross, +before I again moved forward, expressing his readiness to accompany me as +a guide. We accordingly rode down the river, to a place at which some +stockman had effected a passage,--after a week's labour in hewing out a +canoe. I by no means intended that a similar delay should occur in our +case, but I saw no objection to our crossing at the same place; since its +depth, and consequent tranquillity, rendered it eligible enough for that +purpose. + +THE RIVER DUMOT. + +The Dumot river, another mountain stream, joins the Morumbidgee opposite +to Mr. Whaby's residence. It is little inferior to the latter either in +size or in the rapidity of its current, and, if I may rely on the +information I received, waters a finer country, the principal +rock-formation upon it being of limestone and whinstone. It rises amidst +the snowy ranges to the S.E., and its banks are better peopled than those +of the stream into which it discharges itself. Of course, such a tributary +enlarges the Morumbidgee considerably: indeed, the fact is sufficiently +evident from the appearance of the latter below the junction. + +During our ride with Whaby down its banks, we saw nothing but the richest +flats, almost entirely clear of timber and containing from 400 to 700 +acres, backed by ranges that were but partially wooded, and were clothed +with verdure to their very summits. The herds that were scattered over the +first were almost lost in the height of the vegetation, and the ranges +served as natural barriers to prevent them from straying away. + +CROSS AND RE-CROSS THE MORUMBIDGEE. + +On the following morning, we started for the place at which it had been +arranged that we should cross the Morumbidgee, but, though no more than +five miles in a direct line from Whaby's house, in consequence of the +irregularity of the ground, the drays did not reach it before noon. The +weight and quantity of our stores being taken into consideration, the task +we had before us was not a light one. Such, however, was the industry of +the men, that before it became dark the whole of them, including the drays +and sheep, were safely deposited on the opposite bank. We were enabled to +be thus expeditious, by means of a punt that we made with the tarpaulins +on an oblong frame. As soon as it was finished, a rope was conveyed across +the river, and secured to a tree, and a running cord being then fastened +to the punt, a temporary ferry was established, and the removal of our +stores rendered comparatively easy. M'Leay undertook to drive the horses +and cattle over a ford below us, but he did not calculate on the stubborn +disposition of the latter, and, consequently, experienced some difficulty, +and was well nigh swept away by the current. So great was his difficulty, +that he was obliged to land, to his great discomfiture, amidst a grove of +lofty nettles. Mulholland, who accompanied him, and who happened to be +naked, was severly stung by them. The labour of the day was, however, +satisfactorily concluded, and we lay down to rest with feelings of entire +satisfaction. + +A great part of the following day was consumed in reloading, nor did we +pursue our journey until after two o'clock. We then passed over tracks on +the left of the river of the same rich description that existed on its +right; they were much intersected by creeks, but were clear of timber, +and entirely out of the reach of floods. At about seven miles from where +we started, we found ourselves checked by precipitous rocks jutting into +the stream, and were obliged once more to make preparations for crossing +it. Instead of a deep and quiet reach, however, the Morumbidgee here +expanded into a fretful rapid; but it was sufficiently shallow to admit of +our taking the drays over, without the trouble of unloading them. There +was still, however, some labour required in cutting down the banks, and +the men were fully occupied until after sunset; and so well did they work, +that an hour's exertion in the morning enabled us to make the passage with +safety. On ascending the right bank, we found that we had to force +through a dense body of reeds, covering some flooded land, at the base of +a range terminating upon the river; and we were obliged, in order to +extricate ourselves from our embarrassments, to pass to the N.W. of the +point, and to cross a low part of the range. This done, we met with no +further interruptions during the day, but travelled along rich and clear +flats to a deep bight below an angle of the river called Nangaar by the +natives; where we pitched our camp, and our animals revelled amid the most +luxuriant pasture. Only in one place did the sandy superficies upon the +plain indicate that it was there subject to flood. + +The Morumbidgee from Juggiong to our present encampment had held a general +S.S.W. course, but from the summit of a hill behind the tents it now +appeared to be gradually sweeping round to the westward; and I could trace +the line of trees upon its banks, through a rich and extensive valley in +that direction, as far as my sight could reach. The country to the S.E. +maintained its lofty character, but to the westward the hills and ranges +were evidently decreasing in height, and the distant interior seemed fast +sinking to a level. The general direction of the ranges had been from N. +to S., and as we had been travelling parallel to them, their valleys were +shut from our view. Now, however, several rich and extensive ones became +visible, opening from the southward into the valley of the Morumbidgee, +and, as a further evidence of a change of country from a confused to a +more open one, a plain of considerable size stretched from immediately +beneath the hill on which I was to the N.W. + +GEOLOGY OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD. + +The Morumbidgee itself, from the length and regularity of its reaches, as +well as from its increased size, seemed to intimate that it had +successfully struggled through the broken country in which it rises, and +that it would henceforward meet with fewer interruptions to its course. It +still, however, preserved all the characters of a mountain stream; having +alternate rapids and deep pools, being in many places encumbered with +fallen timber, and generally running over a shingly bed, composed of +rounded fragments of every rock of which the neighbouring ranges were +formed, and many others that had been swept by the torrents down it. The +rock formation of the hills upon its right continued of that chlorite +schist which prevailed near Mr. Whaby's, which I have already noticed, and +quartz still appeared in large masses, on the loftier ranges opposite, so +that the geology of the neighbourhood could not be said to have undergone +any material change. It might, however, be considered an extraordinary +feature in it, that a small hill of blue limestone existed upon the left +bank of the river. The last place at which we had seen limestone was at +Yass, but I had learned from Mr. Whaby, that, together with whinstone, it +was abundant near a Mr. Rose's station on the Dumot, that was not at any +great distance. The irregularity, however, of the intervening country, +made the appearance of this solitary rock more singular. + +Although the fires of the natives had been frequent upon the river, none +had, as yet, ventured to approach us, in consequence of some +misunderstanding that had taken place between them and Mr. Stuckey's +stockmen. Mr. Roberts' stockmen [these men had lately fixed themselves +on the river a little below Mr. Whaby's], however, brought a man and a boy +to us at this place in the afternoon, but I could not persuade them to +accompany us on our journey--neither could I, although my native boy +understood them perfectly, gain any particular information from them. + +In consequence of rain, we did not strike the tents so early as usual. +At 7 a.m. a heavy thunder storm occurred from the N.W. after which the +sky cleared, and we were enabled to push forward at 11 a.m., moving on a +general W.N.W, course, over rich flats, which, having been moistened by +the morning's showers, showed the dark colour of the rich earth of which +they were composed. Some sand-hills were, however, observed near the +river, of about fifteen feet in elevation, crowned by banksias; and the +soil of the flats had a very partial mixture of sand in it. How these +sand-hills could have been formed it is difficult to say; but they +produced little minor vegetation, and were as pure as the sand of the +sea-shore. Some considerable plains were noticed to our right, in +appearance not inferior to the ground on which we were journeying. At noon +we rose gradually from the level of these plains, and travelled along the +side of a hill, until we got to a small creek, at which we stopped, though +more than a mile and a half from the river. The clouds had been gathering +again in the N.W. quarter, and we had scarcely time to secure our flour, +when a second storm burst upon us, and it continued to rain violently for +the remainder of the day. + +BEAUTIFUL PROSPECT. + +From a small hill that lay to our left Mr. M'Leay and I enjoyed a most +beautiful view. Beneath us to the S. E. the rich and lightly timbered +valley through which the Morumbidgee flows, extended, and parts of the +river were visible through the dark masses of swamp-oak by which it was +lined, or glittering among the flooded-gum trees, that grew in its +vicinity. In the distance was an extensive valley that wound between +successive mountain ranges. More to the eastward, both mountain and +woodland bore a dark and gloomy shade, probably in consequence of the +light upon them at the time. Those lofty peaks that had borne nearly +south of us from Pouni, near Yass, now rose over the last-mentioned +ranges, and by their appearance seemed evidently to belong to a high and +rugged chain. To the westward, the decline of country was more observable +than ever; and the hills on both sides of the river, were lower and more +distant from it. Those upon which we found ourselves were composed of +iron-stone, were precipitous towards the river in many places, of sandy +soil, and were crowned with beef-wood as well as box. The change in the +rock-formation and in the soil, produced a corresponding change in the +vegetation. The timber was not so large as it had been, neither did the +hills any longer bear the green appearance which had distinguished those +we had passed to their very summits. The grass here grew in tufts amidst +the sand, and was of a burnt appearance as if it had suffered from +drought. + +NATIVES--THEIR SUFFERING FROM COLD. + +Some natives had joined us in the morning, and acted as our guides; or it +is more than probable that we should have continued our course along the +river, and got enbarrassed among impediments that were visible from our +elevated position; for it was evident that the range we had ascended +terminated in an abrupt precipice on the river, that we could not have +passed. The blacks suffered beyond what I could have imagined, from cold, +and seemed as incapable of enduring it as if they had experienced the +rigour of a northern snow storm. + +The morning of the 2nd December was cloudy and lowering, and the wind +still hung in the N.W. There was truly every appearance of bad weather, +but our anxiety to proceed on our journey overcame our apprehensions, +and the animals were loaded and moved off at 7 a.m. The rain which had +fallen the evening previous, rendered travelling heavy; so that we got on +but slowly. At 11, the clouds burst, and continued to pour down for the +rest of the day. On leaving the creek we crossed the spine of the range, +and descending from it into a valley, that continued to the river on the +one hand, and stretched away to the N.W. on the other, we ascended some +hills opposite to us, and moved generally through open, undulating forest +ground, affording good pasturage. + +SMOKING AN OPOSSUM. + +One of the blacks being anxious to get an opossum out of a dead tree, +every branch of which was hollow, asked for a tomahawk, with which he cut +a hole in the trunk above where he thought the animal lay concealed. He +found however, that he had cut too low, and that it had run higher up. +This made it necessary to smoke it out; he accordingly got some dry grass, +and having kindled a fire, stuffed it into the hole he had cut. A raging +fire soon kindled in the tree, where the draft was great, and dense +columns of smoke issued from the end of each branch as thick as that from +the chimney of a steam engine. The shell of the tree was so thin that I +thought it would soon be burnt through, and that the tree would fall; but +the black had no such fears, and, ascending to the highest branch, he +watched anxiously for the poor little wretch he had thus surrounded with +dangers and devoted to destruction; and no sooner did it appear, half +singed and half roasted, than he seized upon it and threw it down to +us with an air of triumph. The effect of the scene in so lonely a forest, +was very fine. The roaring of the fire in the tree, the fearless attitude +of the savage, and the associations which his colour and appearance, +enveloped as he was in smoke, called up, were singular, and still dwell +on my recollection. We had not long left the tree, when it fell with a +tremendous crash, and was, when we next passed that way, a mere heap of +ashes. + +ACCIDENTS. + +Shortly before it commenced raining, the dogs started an emu, and took +after it, followed by M'Leay and myself. We failed in killing it, and I +was unfortunate enough to lose a most excellent watch upon the occasion, +which in regularity was superior to the chronometer I had with me. + +As there was no hope of the weather clearing up, I sent M'Leay and one of +the blacks with the flour to the river, with directions to pile it up and +cover it with tarpaulins, as soon as possible, remaining myself to bring +up the drays. It was not, however, until after 4 p.m. that we gained the +river-side, or that we were enabled to get into shelter. Fraser met with a +sad accident while assisting the driver of the teams, who, accidentally, +struck him with the end of the lash of his whip in the eye, and cut the +lower lid in two. The poor fellow fell to the ground as if he had been +shot, and really, from the report of the whip, I was at first uncertain +of the nature of the accident. + +PONDEBADGERY. + +We had gradually ascended some hills; and as the sweep of the valley led +southerly, we continued along it until we got to its very head; then, +crossing the ridge we descended the opposite side, towards a beautiful +plain, on the further extremity of which the river line was marked by the +dark-leafed casuarina. In spite of the badness of the weather and the +misfortunes of the day, I could not but admire the beauty of the scene. +We were obliged to remain stationary the following day, in consequence +of one of the drays being out of repair, and requiring a new axle-tree. +I could hardly regret the necessity that kept us in so delightful a spot. +This plain, which the natives called Pondebadgery, and in which a station +has since been formed, is about two miles in breadth, by about three and +a-half in length. It is surrounded apparently on every side by hills. The +river running E. and W. forms its southern boundary. The hills by which we +had entered it, terminating abruptly on the river to the north-east, form +a semi-circle round it to the N.N.W. where a valley, the end of which +cannot be seen, runs to the north-west, of about half a mile in breadth. +On the opposite side of the river moderate hills rise over each other, and +leave little space between them and its banks. The Morumbidgee itself, +with an increased breadth, averaging from seventy to eighty yards, +presents a still, deep sheet of water to the view, over which the +casuarina bends with all the grace of the willow, or the birch, but with +more sombre foliage. To the west, a high line of flooded-gum trees +extending from the river to the base of the hills which form the west side +of the valley before noticed, hides the near elevations, and thus shuts in +the whole space. The soil of the plain is of the richest description, and +the hills backing it, together with the valley, are capable of depasturing +the most extensive flocks. + +Such is the general landscape from the centre of Pondebadgery Plain. +Behind the line of gum-trees, the river suddenly sweeps away to the south, +and forms a deep bight of seven miles, when, bearing up again to the N.W. +it meets some hills about 10 miles to the W.N.W. of the plain, thus +encircling a still more extensive space, that for richness of soil, and +for abundance of pasture, can nowhere be excelled; such, though on a +smaller scale, are all the flats that adorn the banks of the Morumbidgee, +first on one side and then on the other, as the hills close in upon them, +from Juggiong to Pondebadgery. + +TRAVELLING DOWN THE RIVER. + +It is deeply to be regretted that this noble river should exist at such a +distance from the capital as to be unavailable. During our stay on the +Pondebadgery Plain, the men caught a number of codfish, as they are +generally termed, but which are, in reality, a species of perch. The +largest weighed 40lb. but the majority of the others were small, not +exceeding from six to eight. M'Leay and I walked to the N.W. extremity of +the plain, in order to ascertain how we should debouche from it, and to +get, if possible, a view of the western interior. We took with us two +blacks who had attached themselves to the party, and had made themselves +generally useful. On ascending the most westerly of the hills, we found it +composed of micaceous schist, the upper coat of which was extremely soft, +and broke with a slaty fracture, or crumbled into a sparkling dust beneath +our feet. The summit of the hill was barren, and beef-wood alone grew on +it. The valley, of which it was the western boundary, ran up northerly for +two or three miles, with all the appearance of richness and verdure. To +the south extended the flat I have noticed, more heavily timbered than we +had usually found them, bounded, or backed rather, by a hilly country, +although one fast losing in its general height. To the W.N.W. there was a +moderate range of hills on the opposite side of an extensive valley, +running up northerly, from which a lateral branch swept round to the +W.N.W. with a gradual ascent into the hills, which bore the same +appearance of open forest, grazing land, as prevailed in similar tracts to +the eastward. The blacks pointed out to us our route up the valley, and +stated that we should get on the banks of the river again in a direction +W. by N. from the place on which we stood. We accordingly crossed the +principal valley on the following morning, and gradually ascended the +opposite line of hills. They terminate to the S.E. in lofty precipices, +overlooking the river flats, and having a deep chain of ponds under them. +The descent towards the river was abrupt, and we encamped upon its banks, +with a more confined view than any we had ever had before. There was an +evident change in the river; the banks were reedy, the channel deep and +muddy, and the neighbourhood bore more the appearance of being subject to +overflow than it had done in any one place we had passed over. The hills +were much lower, and as we gained the southern brow of that under which we +encamped, we could see a level and wooded country to the westward. The +line of the horizon was unbroken by any hills in the distance, and the +nearer ones seemed gradually to lose themselves in the darkness of the +landscape. + +The two natives, whom the stockmen had named Peter and Jemmie, were of +infinite service to us, from their knowledge of all the passes, and the +general features of the country. Having, however, seen us thus far on the +journey from their usual haunts, they became anxious to return, and it was +with some difficulty we persuaded them to accompany us for a few days +longer, in hopes of reward. The weather had been cool and pleasant; the +thermometer averaging 78 of Fahrenheit at noon, in consequences of which +the animals kept in good condition, the men healthy and zealous. The sheep +Mr. O'Brien had presented to us, gave no additional trouble; they followed +in the rear of the party without attempting to wander, and were secured at +night in a small pen or fold. No waste attended their slaughter, nor did +they lose in condition, from being driven from ten to fifteen miles daily, +so much as I had been led to suppose they would have done. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + +Character of the Morumbidgee where it issues from the hilly country-- +Appearance of approach to swamps--Hamilton Plains--Intercourse with the +natives--Their appearance, customs, &c.--Change in the character of the +river--Mirage--Dreariness of the country--Ride towards the Lachlan river +--Two boats built and launched on the Morumbidgee; and the drays, with +part of the men sent back to Goulburn Plains. + +NATIVES--WILD GAME,&c.; CHARACTER OF THE RIVER AND THE ADJOINING COUNTRY. + +From our camp, the Morumbidgee held a direct westerly course for about +three miles. The hills under which we had encamped, rose so close upon our +right as to leave little space between them and the river. At the distance +of three miles, however, they suddenly terminated, and the river changed +its direction to the S.W., while a chain of ponds extended to the +westward, and separated the alluvial flats from a somewhat more elevated +plain before us. We kept these ponds upon our left for some time, but, as +they ultimately followed the bend of the river, we left them. The blacks +led us on a W. by S. course to the base of a small range two or three +miles distant, near which there was a deep lagoon. It was evident they +here expected to have found some other natives. Being disappointed, +however, they turned in towards the river again, but we stopped short of +it on the side of a serpentine sheet of water, an apparent continuation of +the chain of ponds we had left behind us, forming a kind of ditch round +the S.W. extremity of the range, parallel to which we had continued to +travel. This range, which had been gradually decreasing in height from the +lagoon, above which it rose perpendicularly, might almost be said to +terminate here. We fell in with two or three natives before we halted, but +the evident want of population in so fine a country, and on so noble a +river, surprised me extremely. We saw several red kangaroos in the course +of the day, and succeeded in killing one. It certainly is a beautiful +animal, ranging the wilds in native freedom. The female and the kid are of +a light mouse-colour. Wild turkeys abound on this part of the Morumbidgee, +but with the exception of a few terns, which are found hovering over the +lagoons, no new birds had as yet been procured; and the only plant that +enriched our collection, was an unknown metrosideros. In crossing the +extremity of the range, the wheels of the dray sunk deep into a yielding +and coarse sandy soil, of decomposed granite, on which forest-grass +prevailed in tufts, which, being far apart, made the ground uneven, and +caused the animals to trip. We rose at one time sufficiently high to +obtain an extensive view, and had our opinions confirmed as to the level +nature of the country we were so rapidly approaching. From the N. to +the W.S.W. the eye wandered over a wooded and unbroken interior, if I +except a solitary double hill that rose in the midst of it, bearing +S. 82 degrees W. distant 12 miles, and another singular elevation that +bore S. 32 degrees W. called by the natives, Kengal. The appearance to the +E.S.E. was still that of a mountainous country, while from the N.E., the +hills gradually decrease in height, until lost in the darkness of +surrounding objects to the northward. We did not travel this day more than +13 miles on a W. by N. course. The Morumbidgee, where we struck it, by its +increased size, kept alive our anticipations of its ultimately leading us +to some important point. The partial rains that had fallen while we were +on its upper branch, had swollen it considerably, and it now rolled along +a vast body of water at the rate of three miles an hour, preserving a +medium width of 150 feet; its banks retaining a height far above the usual +level of the stream. A traveller who had never before descended into the +interior of New Holland, would have spurned the idea of such a river +terminating in marshes; but with the experience of the former journey, +strong as hope was within my breast, I still feared it might lose itself +in the vast flat upon which we could scarcely be said to have yet entered. +The country was indeed taking up more and more every day the features of +the N.W. interior. Cypresses were observed upon the minor ridges, and the +soil near the river, although still rich, and certainly more extensive +than above, was occasionally mixed with sand, and scattered over with the +claws of crayfish and shells, indicating its greater liability to be +flooded; nor indeed could I entertain a doubt that the river had laid a +great part of the levels around us under water long after it found that +channel in which nature intended ultimately to confine it. We killed +another fine red kangaroo in the early part of the day, in galloping after +which I got a heavy fall. + +The two blacks who had been with us so long, and who had not only exerted +themselves to assist us, but had contributed in no small degree to our +amusement, though they had from M'Leay's liberality, tasted all the +dainties with which we had provided ourselves, from sugar to concentrated +cayenne, intimated that they could no longer accompany the party. They had +probably got to the extremity of their beat, and dared not venture any +further. They left us with evident regret, receiving, on their departure, +several valuable presents, in the shape of tomahawks &c. The last thing +they did was to point out the way to us, and to promise to join us on our +return, although they evidently little anticipated ever seeing us again. + +In pursuing our journey, we entered a forest, consisting of box-trees, +casuarinae, and cypresses, on a light sandy soil, in which both horses and +bullocks sunk so deep that their labour was greatly increased, more +especially as the weather had become much warmer. At noon I altered my +course from N.W. by W. to W.N.W., and reached the Morumbidgee at 3 in the +afternoon. The flats bordering it were extensive and rich, and, being +partially mixed with sand, were more fitted for agricultural purposes than +the stiffer and purer soil amidst the mountains; but the interior beyond +them was far from being of corresponding quality. We crossed several +plains on which vegetation was scanty, probably owing to the hardness of +the soil, which was a stiff loamy clay, and which must check the growth of +plants, by preventing the roots from striking freely into it. The river +where we stopped for the night appeared to have risen considerably, and +the fish were rolling about on the surface of the water with a noise like +porpoises. No elevations were visible, so that I had not an opportunity of +continuing the chain of survey with the points I had previously taken. + +TRAVELLING DOWN THE RIVER. + +As we proceeded down the river on the 8th, the flats became still more +extensive than they had ever been, and might almost be denominated plains. +Vegetation was scanty upon them, although the soil was of the first +quality. About nine miles from our camp, we struck on a small isolated +hill, that could scarcely have been of 200 feet elevation; yet, depressed +as it was, the view from its summit was very extensive, and I was +surprised to find that we were still in some measure surrounded by high +lands, of which I took the following bearings, connected with the present +ones. + +A High Peak.....N. 66 E. distance 40 miles. +Kengal ........ N. 110 E. distant. +Double Hill ... S. 10 W. distant. + +To the north, there were several fires burning, which appeared rather the +fires of natives, than conflagrations, and as the river had made a bend to +the N.N.W., I doubted not that they were upon its banks. From this hill, +which was of compact granite, we struck away to the W.N.W., and shortly +afterwards crossed some remarkable sand-hills. Figuratively speaking, they +appeared like islands amidst the alluvial deposits, and were as pure in +their composition as the sand on the sea-shore. They were generally +covered with forest grass, in tufts, and a coarse kind of rushes, under +banksias and cypresses. We found a small fire on the banks of the river, +and close to it the couch and hut of a solitary native, who had probably +seen us approach, and had fled. There cannot be many inhabitants +hereabouts, since there are no paths to indicate that they frequent this +part of the Morumbidgee more at one season than another. + +On the 9th, the river fell off again to the westward, and we lost a good +deal of the northing we had made the day before. We journeyed pretty +nearly equidistant from the stream, and kept altogether on the alluvial +flats. As we were wandering along the banks of the river, a black started +up before us, and swam across to the opposite side, where he immediately +hid himself. We could by no means induce him to show himself; he was +probably the lonely being whom we had scared away from the fire the day +before. In the afternoon, however we surprised a family of six natives, +and persuaded them to follow us to our halting place. My boy understood +them well; but the young savage had the cunning to hide the information +they gave him, or, for aught I know, to ask questions that best suited his +own purposes, and therefore we gained little intelligence from them. + +Every day now produced some change in the face of the country, by which it +became more and more assimilated to that I had traversed during the first +expedition. Acacia pendula now made its appearance on several plains +beyond the river deposits, as well as that salsolaceous class of plants, +among which the schlerolina and rhagodia are so remarkable. The natives +left us at sunset, but returned early in the morning with an extremely +facetious and good-humoured old man, who volunteered to act as our guide +without the least hesitation. There was a cheerfulness in his manner, +that gained our confidence at once, and rendered him a general favourite. +He went in front with the dogs, and led us a little away from the river +to kill kangaroos, as he said. At about two miles we struck on an +inconsiderable elevation, which the party crossed at the S.W. extremity. +I ascended it at the opposite end, but although the view was extensive, I +could not make out the little hill of granite from which I had taken my +former bearings, and the only elevation I could recognise as connected +with them, was one about ten miles distant, bearing S. 168 W. I could +observe very distant ranges to the E.N.E. and immediately below me in that +direction, there was a large clear plain, skirted by acacia pendula, +stretching from S.S.E. to N.N.W. The crown and ridges of the hill on which +I stood, were barren, stony, and covered with beef-wood, +the rock-formation being a coarse granite. The drays had got so far ahead +of me that I did not overtake them before they had halted on the river at +a distance of ten miles. + +INFORMATION FROM A NATIVE. + +The Morumbidgee appeared, on examination, to have increased in breadth, +and continued to rise gradually. It is certainly a noble stream, very +different from those I had already traced to their termination. The old +black informed me that there was another large river flowing to the +southward of west, to which the Morumbidgee was as a creek, and that we +could gain it in four days. He stated that its waters were good, but that +its banks were not peopled. That such a feature existed where he laid it +down, I thought extremely probable, because it was only natural to expect +that other streams descended from the mountains in the S.E. of the island, +as well as that on which we were travelling. The question was, whether +either of them held on an uninterrupted course to some reservoir, or +whether they fell short of the coast and exhausted themselves in marshes. +Considering the concave direction of the mountains to the S.E., I even +at this time hoped that the rivers falling into the interior would unite +sooner or later, and contribute to the formation of an important and +navigable stream. Of the fate of the Morumbidgee, the old black could give +no account. It seemed probable, therefore, that we were far from its +termination. + +I had hitherto been rather severe upon the animals, for although our +journey had not exceeded from twelve to fifteen miles a day, it had been +without intermission. I determined, therefore, to give both men and +animals a day of rest, as soon as I should find a convenient place. We +started on the 11th with this intention, but we managed to creep over +eight or ten miles of ground before we halted. The country was slightly +undulated, and much intersected by creeks, few of which had water in them. +The whole tract was, however, well adapted either for agriculture, or +for grazing, and, in spite of the drought that had evidently long hung +over it, was well covered with vegetation. We had passed all high lands, +and the interior to the westward presented an unbroken level to the eye. +The Morumbidgee appeared to hold a more northerly course than I had +anticipated. Still low ranges continued upon our right, and the cypress +ridges became more frequent and denser; but the timber on the more open +grounds generally consisted of box and flooded-gum. Of minor trees, the +acacia pendula was the most prevalent, with a shrub bearing a round nut, +enclosed in a scarlet capsule, and an interesting species of stenochylus. +I had observed as yet, few of the plants of the more northern interior. + +NATIVES--THEIR UGLINESS. + +In this neighbourhood, the dogs killed an emu and a kangaroo, which came +in very conveniently for some natives whom we fell in with on one of the +river flats. They were, without exception, the worst featured of any I had +ever seen. It is scarcely possible to conceive that human beings could +be so hideous and loathsome. The old black, who was rather good-looking, +told me they were the last we should see for some time, and I felt that if +these were samples of the natives on the lowlands, I cared very little how +few of I them we should meet. + +EXTENSIVE PLAINS. + +The country on the opposite side of the river had all the features of that +to the north of it, but a plain of such extent suddenly opened upon us to +the southward, that I halted at once in order to examine it, and by +availing myself of a day of rest, to fix our position more truly than we +could otherwise have done. We accordingly pitched our tents under some +lofty gum-trees, opposite to the plain, and close upon the edge of the +sandy beach of the river. Before they were turned out, the animals were +carefully examined, and the pack-saddles overhauled, that they might +undergo any necessary repairs. The river fell considerably during the +night, but it poured along a vast body of water, possessing a strong +current. The only change I remarked in it was that it now had a bed of +sand, and was generally deeper on one side than on the other. It kept a +very uniform breadth of from 150 to 170 feet--and a depth of from 4 to 20. +Its channel, though occasionally much encumbered with fallen timber, was +large enough to contain twice the volume of water then in it, but it had +outer and more distant banks, the boundaries of the alluvial flats, to +confine it within certain limits, during the most violent floods, and to +prevent its inundating the country. + +HAMILTON'S PLAINS. + +With a view to examine the plain opposite to us, I directed our horses to +be taken across the river early in the morning, and after breakfast, +M'Leay and I swam across after them. We found the current strong, and +could not keep a direct line over the channel, but were carried below the +place at which we plunged in. We proceeded afterwards in a direction +W.S.W. across the plain for five or six miles, before we saw trees on the +opposite extremity, at a still greater distance. We thus found ourselves +in the centre of an area of from 26 to 30 miles. It appeared to be +perfectly level, though not really so. The soil upon it was good, +excepting in isolated spots, where it was sandy. Vegetation was scanty +upon it, but, on the whole, I should conclude that it was fitter for +agriculture than for grazing. For I think it very probable, that those +lands which lie hardening and bare in a state of nature, would produce +abundantly if broken up by the plough. I called this Hamilton's plains, +in remembrance of the surgeon of my regiment. The Morumbidgee forms its +N.E. boundary, and a creek rising on it, cuts off a third part on the +western side, and runs away from the river in a southerly direction. This +creek, even before it gets to the outskirts of the plains, assumes a +considerable size. Such a fact would argue that heavy rains fall in this +part of the interior, to cut out such a watercourse, or that the soil is +extremely loose; but I should think the former the most probable, since +the soil of this plain had a substratum of clay. I place our encampment on +the river in latitude 34 degrees 41 minutes 45 seconds S., and in East +longitude 146 degrees 50 minutes, the variation of the compass being +6 degrees 10 minutes E. + +INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES; SCANTINESS OF THE POPULATION. + +On our return to the camp we found several natives with our people, and +among them one of the tallest I had ever seen. Their women were with them, +and they appeared to have lost all apprehension of any danger occurring +from us. The animals were benefited greatly by this day of rest. We left +the plain, therefore, on the 13th with renewed spirits, and passed over a +country very similar to that by which we had approached it, one well +adapted for grazing, but intersected by numerous creeks, at two of which +we found natives, some of whom joined our party. Our old friend left us in +quest of some blacks, who, as he informed Hopkinson, had seen the tracks +of our horses on the Darling. I was truly puzzled at such a statement, +which was, however, further corroborated by the circumstance of one of the +natives having a tire-nail affixed to a spear, which he said was picked +up, by the man who gave it to him, on one of our encampments. I could not +think it likely that this story was true, and rather imagined they must +have picked up the nail near the located districts, and I was anxious to +have the point cleared up. When we halted we had a large assemblage of +natives with us, amounting in all to twenty-seven, but I awaited in vain +the return of the old man. The night passed away without our seeing him, +nor did he again join us. + +We started in the morning with our new acquaintances, and kept on a +south-westerly course during the day, over an excellent grazing, and, in +many places, an agricultural country, still intersected by creeks, that +were too deep for the water to have dried in them. The country more +remote from the river, however, began to assume more and more the +character and appearance of the northern interior. I rode into several +plains, the soil of which was either a red sandy loam, bare of vegetation, +or a rotten and blistered earth, producing nothing but rhagodiae, +salsolae, and misembrianthemum. + +We fell in with another tribe of blacks during the journey, to whom we +were literally consigned by those who had been previously with us, and who +now turned back, while our new friends took the lead of the drays. They +were two fine young men, but had very ugly wives, and were for a long time +extremely diffident. I found that I could obtain but little information +through my black boy,--whether from his not understanding me, or because +he was too cunning, is uncertain. One of these young men, however, +clearly stated that he had seen the tracks of bullocks and horses, a long +time ago, to the N.N.W. in the direction of some detached hills, that were +visible from 20 to 25 miles distant. He remembered them, he said, as a +boy, and added that the white men were without water. It was, therefore, +clear that he alluded to Mr. Oxley's excursion, northerly from the +Lachlan, and I had no doubt on my mind, that he had been on one of that +officer's encampments, and that the hills to the north of us were those +to the opposite base of which he had penetrated. I was determined, +therefore, if practicable, to reach these hills, deeming it a matter of +great importance to connect the surveys, but I deferred my journey for a +day or two, in hopes, from the continued northerly course of the river, +that we should have approached them nearer. + +In the evening we fell in with some more blacks, among whom were two +brothers, of those who were acting as our guides. One had a very pretty +girl as a wife, and all the four brothers were very good-looking young +men. There cannot, I should think, be a numerous population on the banks +of the Morumbidgee, from the fact of our having seen not more than fifty +in an extent of more than 180 miles. They are apparently scattered along +it in families. I was rather surprised that my boy understood their +language well, since it certainly differed from that of the Macquarie +tribes, but nevertheless as these people do not wander far, our +information as to what was before us was very gradually arrived at, and +only as we fell in with the successive families. Moreover, as my boy +was very young, it may be that he was more eager in communicating to those +who had no idea of them, the wonders he had seen, than in making inquiries +on points that were indifferent to him. + +CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. + +We passed a very large plain in the course of the day, which was bounded +by forests of box, cypress, and the acacia pendula, of red sandy soil and +parched appearance. The Morumbidgee evidently overflows a part of the +lands we crossed, to a greater extent than heretofore, though the alluvial +deposits beyond its influence were still both rich and extensive. The +crested pigeon made its appearance on the acacias, which I took to be a +sure sign of our approach to a country more than ordinarily subject to +overflow; since on the Macquarie and the Darling, those birds were found +only to inhabit the regions of marshes, or spaces covered by the acacia +pendula, or the polygonum. We had not, however, yet seen any of the latter +plant, although we were shortly destined to be almost lost amidst fields +of it. + +CHANGE IN THE COUNTRY. + + +We were now approaching that parallel of longitude in which the other +known rivers of New Holland had been found to exhaust themselves; the +least change therefore, for the worse was sufficient to raise my +apprehensions; yet, although the Morumbidgee had received no tributary +from the Dumot downwards, and was leading us into an apparently endless +level, I saw no indication of its decreasing in size, or in the rapidity +of its current. Certainly, however, I had, from the character of the +country around us, an anticipation that a change was about to take place +in it, and this anticipation was verified in the course of the following +day. The alluvial flats gradually decreased in breadth, and we journeyed +mostly over extensive and barren plains, which in many places approached +so near the river as to form a part of its bank. They were covered with +the salsolaceous class of plants, so common in the interior, in a red +sandy soil, and were as even as a bowling green. The alluvial spaces near +the river became covered with reeds, and, though subject to overflow at +every partial rise of it, were so extremely small as scarcely to afford +food for our cattle. Flooded-gum trees of lofty size grew on these reedy +spaces, and marked the line of the river, but the timber of the interior +appeared stunted and useless. + +DESCRIPTION OF THE NATIVES; MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE NATIVES. + +We found this part of the Morumbidgee much more populous than its upper +branches. When we halted, we had no fewer than forty-one natives with us, +of whom the young men were the least numerous. They allowed us to choose +a place for ourselves before they formed their own camp, and studiously +avoided encroaching on our ground so as to appear troublesome. Their +manners were those of a quiet and inoffensive people, and their appearance +in some measure prepossessing. The old men had lofty foreheads, and stood +exceedingly erect. The young men were cleaner is their persons and were +better featured than any we had seen, some of them having smooth hair and +an almost Asiatic cast of countenance. On the other hand, the women and +children were disgusting objects. The latter were much subject to +diseases, and were dreadfully emaciated. It is evident that numbers of +them die in their infancy for want of care and nourishment. We remarked +none at the age of incipient puberty, but the most of them under six. In +stating that the men were more prepossessing than any we had seen, I would +not be understood to mean that they differed in any material point either +from the natives of the coast, or of the most distant interior to which I +had been, for they were decidedly the same race, and had the same leading +features and customs, as far as the latter could be observed. The sunken +eye and overhanging eyebrow, the high cheek-bone and thick lip, distended +nostrils, the nose either short or acquiline, together with a stout bust +and slender extremities, and both curled and smooth hair, marked the +natives of the Morumbidgee as well as those of the Darling. They were +evidently sprung from one common stock, the savage and scattered +inhabitants of a rude and inhospitable land. In customs they differed in +no material point from the coast natives, and still less from the tribes +on the Darling and the Castlereagh. They extract the front tooth, +lacerate their bodies, to raise the flesh, cicatrices being their chief +ornament; procure food by the same means, paint in the same manner, and +use the same weapons, as far as the productions of the country will allow +them. But as the grass-tree is not found westward of the mountains, they +make a light spear of a reed, similar to that of which the natives of the +southern islands form their arrows. These they use for distant combat, and +not only carry in numbers, but throw with the boomerang to a great +distance and with unerring precision, making them to all intents and +purposes as efficient as the bow and arrow. They have a ponderous spear +for close fight, and others of different sizes for the chase. With regard +to their laws, I believe they are universally the same all over the known +parts of New South Wales. The old men have alone the privilege of eating +the emu; and so submissive are the young men to this regulation, that if, +from absolute hunger or under other pressing circumstances, one of them +breaks through it, either during a hunting excursion, or whilst absent +from his tribe, he returns under a feeling of conscious guilt, and by his +manner betrays his guilt, sitting apart from the men, and confessing his +misdemeanour to the chief at the first interrogation, upon which he is +obliged to undergo a slight punishment. This evidently is a law of policy +and necessity, for if the emus were allowed to be indiscriminately +slaughtered, they would soon become extinct. Civilised nations may learn a +wholesome lesson even from savages, as in this instance of their +forebearance. For somewhat similar reasons, perhaps, married people alone +are here permitted to eat ducks. They hold their corrobories, +(midnight ceremonies), and sing the same melancholy ditty that breaks the +stillness of night on the shores of Jervis' Bay, or on the banks of the +Macquarie; and during the ceremony imitate the several birds and beasts +with which they are acquainted. If these inland tribes differ in anything +from those on the coast, it is in the mode of burying their dead, and, +partially, in their language. Like all savages, they consider their women +as secondary objects, oblige them to procure their own food, or throw to +them over their shoulders the bones they have already picked, with a +nonchalance that is extremely amusing; and, on the march, make them beasts +of burden to carry their very weapons. The population of the Morumbidgee, +as far as we had descended it at this time, did not exceed from ninety to +a hundred souls. I am persuaded that disease and accidents consign many of +them to a premature grave. + +MIRAGE. + +From this camp, one family only accompanied us. We journeyed due west over +plains of great extent. The soil upon them was soft and yielding, in some +places being a kind of light earth covered with rhagodiae, in others a +red tenacious clay, overrun by the misembrianthemum and salsolae. +Nothing could exceed the apparent barrenness of these plains, or the +cheerlessness of the landscape. We had left all high lands behind us, and +were now on an extensive plain, bounded in the distance by low trees or by +dark lines of cypresses. The lofty gum-trees on the river followed its +windings, and, as we opened the points, they appeared, from the peculiar +effect of a mirage, as bold promontories jutting into the ocean, having +literally the blue tint of distance. This mirage floated in a light +tremulous vapour on the ground, and not only deceived us with regard to +the extent of the plains, and the appearance of objects, but hid the +trees, in fact, from our view altogether; so that, in moving, as we +imagined, upon the very point or angle of the river, we found as we neared +it, that the trees stretched much further into the plain, and were obliged +to alter our course to round them. The heated state of the atmosphere, and +the sandy nature of the country could alone have caused a mirage so +striking in its effects, as this,--exceeding considerably similar +appearances noticed during the first expedition. The travelling was so +heavy, that I was obliged to make a short day's journey, and when we +struck the river for the purpose of halting, it had fallen off very much +in appearance, and was evidently much contracted, with low banks and a +sandy bed. It was difficult to account for this sudden change, but when +I gazed on the extent of level country before me, I began to dread that +this hitherto beautiful stream would ultimately disappoint us. + +EXCURSION TOWARDS A RIDGE OF HILLS. + +I had deferred my intended excursion to the hills under which I imagined +Mr. Oxley had encamped, until we were out of sight of them, and I now +feared that it was almost too late to undertake it, but I was still +anxious to determine a point in which I felt considerable interest. I was +the more desirous of surveying the country to the northward, because of +the apparent eagerness with which the natives had caught at the word +Colare, which I recollected having heard a black on the Macquarie make +use of in speaking of the Lachlan. They pointed to the N.N.W., and making +a sweep with the arm raised towards the sky, seemed to intimate that a +large sheet of water existed in that direction; and added that it +communicated with the Morumbidgee more to the westward. This information +confirmed still more my impressions with regard to Mr. Oxley's line of +route; and, as I found a ready volunteer in M'Leay, I gave the party in +charge to Harris until I should rejoin him, and turned back towards the +hills, with the intention of reaching them if possible. No doubt we should +have done so had it not been for the nature of the ground over which we +travelled, and the impossibility of our exceeding a walk. We rode to a +distance of 18 miles, but still found ourselves far short of the hills, +and therefore gave up the point. I considered, however, that we were about +the same distance to the south, as Mr. Oxley had been to the north of +them, and in taking bearings of the highest points, I afterwards found +that they exactly tallied with his bearings, supposing him to have taken +them from his camp. + +QUIET DEMEANOUR OF THE NATIVES. + +On our way to the river, we passed through some dense bushes of casuarinae +and cypresses, to the outskirts of the plains through which the +Morumbidgee winds. We reached the camp two or three hours after sunset, +and found it crowded with natives to the number of 60. They were extremely +quiet and inoffensive in their demeanour, and asked us to point out where +they might sleep, before they ventured to kindle their fires. One old man, +we remarked, had a club foot, and another was blind, but, as far as we +could judge from the glare of the fires, the generality of them were fine +young men, and supported themselves in a very erect posture when standing +or walking. There were many children with the women, among whom colds +seemed to prevail. It blew heavily from the N.W. during the night, and a +little rain fell in the early part of the morning. Our route during the +day, was over as melancholy a tract as ever was travelled. The plains to +the N. and N.W. bounded the horizon; not a tree of any kind was visible +upon them. It was equally open to the S., and it appeared as if the river +was decoying us into a desert, there to leave us in difficulty and in +distress. The very mirage had the effect of boundlessness in it, by +blending objects in one general hue; or, playing on the ground, it cheated +us with an appearance of water, and on arriving at the spot, we found a +continuation of the same scorching plain, over which we were moving, +instead of the stream we had hoped for. + +The cattle about this time began to suffer, and, anxious as I was to push +on, I was obliged to shorten my journeys, according to circumstances. +Amidst the desolation around us, the river kept alive our hopes. If it +traversed deserts, it might reach fertile lands, and it was to the issue +of the journey that we had to look for success. It here, however, +evidently overflowed its banks more extensively than heretofore, and +broad belts of reeds were visible on either side of it, on which the +animals exclusively subsisted. Most of the natives had followed us, and +their patience and abstinence surprised me exceedingly. Some of them had +been more than twenty-four hours without food, and yet seemed as little +disposed to seek it as ever. I really thought they expected me to supply +their wants, but as I could not act so liberal a scale, George M'Leay +undeceived them; after which they betook themselves to the river, and got +a supply of muscles. I rather think their going so frequently into the +water engenders a catarrh, or renders them more liable to it than they +otherwise would be. In the afternoon the wind shifted to the S.W. It blew +a hurricane; and the temperature of the air was extremely low. The natives +felt the cold beyond belief and kindled large fires. In the morning, when +we moved away, the most of them started with fire-sticks to keep +themselves warm; but they dropped off one by one, and at noon we found +ourselves totally deserted. + +DREARINESS OF THE LANDSCAPE. + +It is impossible for me to describe the kind of country we were now +traversing, or the dreariness of the view it presented. The plains were +still open to the horizon, but here and there a stunted gum-tree, or a +gloomy cypress, seemed placed by nature as mourners over the surrounding +desolation. Neither beast nor bird inhabited these lonely and inhospitable +regions, over which the silence of the grave seemed to reign. We had not, +for days past, seen a blade of grass, so that the animals could not have +been in very good condition. We pushed on, however, sixteen miles, in +consequence of the coolness of the weather. We observed little change in +the river in that distance, excepting that it had taken up a muddy bottom, +and lost all the sand that used to fill it. The soil and productions on +the plains continued unchanged in every respect. From this time to the +22nd, the country presented the same aspect. Occasional groups of cypress +showed themselves on narrow sandy ridges, or partial brushes extended from +the river, consisting chiefly of the acacia pendula, the stenochylus, +and the nut I have already noticed. The soil on which they grew was, if +possible, worse than that of the barren plain which we were traversing; +and their colour and drooping state rendered the desolate landscape still +more dreary. + +On the 21st, we found the same singular substance(gypsum) embedded in the +bank of the river that had been collected, during the former expedition, +on the banks of the Darling; and hope, which is always uppermost in the +human breast, induced me to think that we were fast approaching that +stream. My observations placed me in 34 degrees 17 minutes 15 seconds +S. and 145 degrees of E. longitude. + +BLACK BOY DESERTS. + +On the 22nd, my black boy deserted me. I was not surprised at his doing +so, neither did I regret his loss, for he had been of little use under any +circumstances. He was far too cunning for our purpose. I know not that the +term ingratitude can be applied to one in his situation, and in whose +bosom nature had implanted a love of freedom. We learnt from four blacks, +with whom he had spoken, and who came to us in the afternoon, that he had +gone up the river,--as I conjectured, to the last large tribe we had left, +with whom he appeared to become very intimate. + +A creek coming from the N.N.W. here fell into the Morumbidgee; a proof +that the general decline of country was really to the south, although a +person looking over it would have supposed the contrary. + +COUNTRY SUBJECT TO INUNDATION. + +We started on the 23rd, with the same boundlessness of plain on either +side of us; but in the course of the morning a change took place, both in +soil and productions; and from the red sandy loam, and salsolaceous +plants, amidst which we had been toiling, we got upon a light tenacious +and blistered soil, evidently subject to frequent overflow, and fields of +polygonum junceum, amidst which, both the crested pigeon and the black +quail were numerous. The drays and animals sank so deep in this, that we +were obliged to make for the river, and keep upon its immediate banks. +Still, with all the appearance of far-spread inundation, it continued +undiminished in size, and apparently in the strength of its current. +Its channel was deeper than near the mountains, but its breadth was about +the same. + +On the 24th, we were again entangled amidst fields of polygonum, through +which we laboured until after eleven, when we gained a firmer soil. Some +cypresses appeared upon our right, in a dark line, and I indulged hopes +that a change was about to take place in the nature of the country. We +soon, however, got on a light rotten earth, and were again obliged to make +for the river, with the teams completely exhausted. We had not travelled +many miles from our last camp, yet it struck me, that the river had +fallen off in appearance. I examined it with feelings of intense anxiety, +certain, as I was, that the flooded spaces, over which we had been +travelling would, sooner or later, be succeeded by a country overgrown +with reeds. The river evidently overflowed its banks, on both sides, +for many miles, nor had I a doubt that, at some periods, the space +northward, between it and the Lachlan, presented the appearance of one +vast sea. The flats of polygonum stretched away to the N.W. to an amazing +distance, as well as in a southerly direction, and the very nature of the +soil bore testimony to its flooded origin. But the most unaccountable +circumstance to me was, that it should be entirely destitute of +vegetation, with the exception of the gloomy and leafless bramble I have +noticed. + +M'Leay, who was always indefatigable in his pursuit after subjects of +natural history, shot a cockatoo, of a new species, hereabouts, having a +singularly shaped upper mandible. It was white, with scarlet down under +the neck feathers, smaller than the common cockatoo, and remarkable for +other peculiarities. + +INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES; THE COLARE OR LACHLAN. + +Two or three natives made their appearance at some distance from the +party, but would not approach it until after we had halted. They then +came to the tents, seven in number, and it was evident from their manner, +that their chief or only object was to pilfer anything they could. We +did not, therefore, treat them with much ceremony. They were an +ill-featured race, and it was only by strict watching during the night +that they were prevented from committing theft. Probably from seeing that +we were aware of their intentions, they left us early, and pointing +somewhat to the eastward of north, said they were going to the Colare, +and on being asked how far it was, they signified that they should sleep +there. I had on a former occasion recollected the term having been made +use of by a black, on the Macquarie, when speaking to me of the Lachlan, +and had questioned one of the young men who was with us at the time, and +who seemed more intelligent than his companions, respecting it. +Immediately catching at the word, he had pointed to the N.N.W., and, +making a sweep with his arms raised towards the sky had intimated, +evidently, that a large sheet of water existed in that direction, in the +same manner that another black had done on a former occasion: on being +further questioned, he stated that this communicated with the Morumbidgee +more to the westward, and on my expressing a desire to go to it, he said +we could not do so under four days. We had, it appeared, by the account of +the seven natives, approached within one day's journey of it, and, as I +thought it would be advisable to gain a little knowledge of the country to +the north, I suggested to M'Leay to ride in that direction, while the +party should be at rest, with some good feed for the cattle that fortune +had pointed out to us. + +EXCURSION TOWARDS THE LACHLAN. + +Our horses literally sank up to their knees on parts of the great plain +over which we had in the first instance to pass, and we rode from three to +four miles before we caught sight of a distant wood at its northern +extremity; the view from the river having been for the last two or three +days, as boundless as the ocean. As we approached the wood, two columns of +smoke rose from it, considerably apart, evidently the fires of natives +near water. We made for the central space between them, having a dead +acacia scrub upon our right. On entering the wood, we found that it +contained for the most part, flooded-gum, under which bulrushes and +reeds were mixed together. The whole space seemed liable to overflow, and +we crossed numerous little drains, that intersected each other in every +direction. From the resemblance of the ground to that at the bottom of the +marshes of the Macquarie, I prognosticated to my companion that we should +shortly come upon a creek, and we had not ridden a quarter of a mile +further, when we found ourselves on the banks of one of considerable size. +Crossing it, we proceeded northerly, until we got on the outskirts of a +plain of red sandy soil, covered with rhagodia alone, and without a tree +upon the visible horizon. The country appeared to be rising before us, but +was extremely depressed to the eastward. After continuing along this +plain for some time, I became convinced from appearances, that we were +receding from water, and that the fires of the natives, which were no +longer visible, must have been on the creek we had crossed, that I judged +to be leading W.S.W. from the opposite quarter. We had undoubtedly struck +below to the westward of the Colare or Lachlan, and the creek was the +channel of communication between it and the Morumbidgee, at least such was +the natural conclusion at which I arrived. Having no further object in +continuing a northerly course, we turned to the S.E., and, after again +passing the creek, struck away for the camp on a S. by W. course, and +passed through a dense brush of cypress and casuarina in our way to it. + +CONNECTION OF LACHLAN WITH MORUMBIDGEE. + +Considering our situation as connected with the marshes of the Lachlan, +I cannot but infer that the creek we struck upon during this excursion +serves as a drain to the latter, to conduct its superfluous waters into +the Morumbidgee in times of flood, as those of the Macquarie are conducted +by the creek at the termination of its marshes into Morrisset's Chain of +Ponds. It will be understood that I only surmise this. I argue from +analogy, not from proof. Whether I am correct or not, my knowledge of the +facts I have stated, tended very much to satisfy my mind as to the LAY of +the interior; and to revive my hopes that the Morumbidgee would not fail +us, although there was no appearance of the country improving. + +COUNTRY COVERED WITH REEDS. + +We started on the 26th, on a course somewhat to the N.W., and traversed +plains of the same wearisome description as those I have already +described. The wheels of the drays sank up to their axle-trees, and the +horses above their fetlocks at every step. The fields of polygonum spread +on every side of us like a dark sea, and the only green object within +range of our vision was the river line of trees. In several instances, the +force of both teams was put to one dray, to extricate it from the bed into +which it had sunk, and the labour was considerably increased from the +nature of the weather. The wind was blowing as if through a furnace, from +the N.N.E., and the dust was flying in clouds, so as to render it almost +suffocating to remain exposed to it. This was the only occasion upon which +we felt the hot winds in the interior. We were, about noon, endeavouring +to gain a point of a wood at which I expected to come upon the river +again, but it was impossible for the teams to reach it without assistance. +I therefore sent M'Leay forward, with orders to unload the pack animals as +soon as he should make the river, and send them back to help the teams. He +had scarcely been separated from me 20 minutes, when one of the men came +galloping back to inform me that no river was to be found--that the +country beyond the wood was covered with reeds as far as the eye could +reach, and that Mr. M'Leay had sent him back for instructions. This +intelligence stunned me for a moment or two, and I am sure its effect upon +the men was very great. They had unexpectedly arrived at a part of the +interior similar to one they had held in dread, and conjured up a thousand +difficulties and privations. I desired the man to recall Mr. M'Leay; and, +after gaining the wood, moved outside of it at right angles to my former +course, and reached the river, after a day of severe toil and exposure, +at half-past five. The country, indeed, bore every resemblance to that +around the marshes of the Macquarie, but I was too weary to make any +further effort: indeed it was too late for me undertake anything until +the morning. + +ANXIOUS COGITATIONS; SURVEY OF RIVER AND ENVIRONS. + +The circumstances in which we were so unexpectedly placed, occupied my +mind so fully that I could not sleep; and I awaited the return of light +with the utmost anxiety. If we were indeed on the outskirts of marshes +similar to those I had on a former occasion found so much difficulty +in examining, I foresaw that in endeavouring to move round then I should +recede from water, and place the expedition in jeopardy, probably, without +gaining any determinate point, as it would be necessary for me to advance +slowly and with caution. Our provisions, however, being calculated to last +only to a certain period, I was equally reluctant to delay our operations. +My course was, therefore, to be regulated by the appearance of the country +and of the river, which I purposed examining with the earliest dawn. +If the latter should be found to run into a region of reeds, a boat would +be necessary to enable me to ascertain its direction; but, if ultimately +it should be discovered to exhaust itself, we should have to strike into +the interior on a N.W. course, in search of the Darling. I could not think +of putting the whale-boat together in our then state of uncertainty, and +it struck me that a smaller one could sooner he prepared for the purposes +for which I should require it. These considerations, together with the +view I had taken of the measures I might at last be forced into, +determined me, on rising, to order Clayton to fell a suitable tree, and to +prepare a saw-pit. The labour was of no consideration, and even if +eventually the boat should not be wanted, no injury would arise, and it +was better to take time by the forelock. Having marked a tree preparatory +to leaving the camp, M'Leay and I started at an early hour on an excursion +of deeper interest than any we had as yet undertaken; to examine the +reeds, not only for the purpose of ascertaining their extent, if possible, +but also to guide us in our future measures. We rode for some miles along +the river side, but observed in it no signs, either of increase or of +exhaustion. Its waters, though turbid, were deep, and its current still +rapid. Its banks, too, were lofty, and showed no evidence of decreasing +in height, so as to occasion an overflow of them, as had been the case +with the Macquarie. We got among vast bodies of reeds, but the plains of +the interior were visible beyond them. We were evidently in a hollow, and +the decline of country was plainly to the southward of west. Every thing +tended to strengthen my conviction that we were still far from the +termination of the river. The character it had borne throughout, and its +appearance now so far to the westward, gave me the most lively hopes that +it would make good its way through the vast level into which it fell, and +that its termination would accord with its promise. Besides, I daily +anticipated its junction with some stream of equal, if not of greater +magnitude from the S.E. I was aware that my resolves must be instant, +decisive, and immediately acted upon, as on firmness and promptitude at +this crisis the success of the expedition depended. About noon I checked +my horse, and rather to the surprise of my companion, intimated to +him my intention of returning to the camp, He naturally asked what I +purposed doing. I told him it appeared to me more than probable that the +Morumbidgee would hold good its course to some fixed point, now that it +had reached a meridian beyond the known rivers of the interior. It was +certain, from the denseness of the reeds, and the breadth of the belts, +that the teams could not be brought any farther, and that, taking every +thing into consideration, I had resolved on a bold and desperate measure, +that of building the whale-boat, and sending home the drays. Our +appearance in camp so suddenly, surprised the men not more than the orders +I gave. They all thought I had struck on some remarkable change of +country, and were anxious to know my ultimate views. It was not my +intention however, immediately to satisfy their curiosity. I had to study +their characters as long as I could, in order to select those best +qualified to accompany me on the desperate adventure for which I was +preparing. + +BOAT BUILDING. + +The attention both of M'Leay, and myself, was turned to the hasty building +of the whale-boat. A shed was erected, and every necessary preparation +made, and although Clayton had the keel of the small boat already laid +down, and some planks prepared, she was abandoned for the present, and, +after four days more of arduous labour, the whale-boat was painted and in +the water. From her dimensions, it appeared to me impossible that she +would hold all our provisions and stores, for her after-part had been +fitted up as an armoury, which took away considerably from her capacity of +stowage. The small boat would still, therefore, be necessary, and she was +accordingly re-laid, for half the dimensions of the large boat, and in +three days was alongside her consort in the river. Thus, in seven days we +had put together a boat, twenty-seven feet in length, had felled a tree +from the forest, with which we had built a second of half the size, had +painted both, and had them at a temporary wharf ready for loading. Such +would not have been the case had not our hearts been in the work, as the +weather was close and sultry, and we found it a task of extreme labour. +In the intervals between the hours of work, I prepared my despatches for +the Governor, and when they were closed, it only remained for me to select +six hands, the number I intended should accompany me down the river, and +to load the boats, ere we should once more proceed in the further +obedience of our instructions. + +COMPLETION OF ARRANGEMENTS FOR EMBARKATION. + +It was impossible that I could do without Clayton, whose perseverance and +industry had mainly contributed to the building of the boats; of the other +prisoners, I chose Mulholland and Macnamee; leaving the rest in charge +of Robert Harris, whose steady conduct had merited my approbation. My +servant, Harris, Hopkinson, and Fraser, of course, made up the crews. +The boats were loaded in the evening of Jan. 6th, as it had been +necessary to give the paint a little time to dry. On the 4th, I had sent +Clayton and Mulholland to the nearest cypress range for a mast and spar, +and on the evening of that day some blacks had visited us; but they sat on +the bank of the river, preserving a most determined silence; and, at +length, left us abruptly, and apparently in great ill humour. In the +disposition of the loads, I placed all the flour, the tea, and tobacco, +in the whaleboat. The meat-casks, still, and carpenters' tools, were put +into the small boat. + +As soon as the different arrangements were completed, I collected the men, +and told off those who were to accompany me. I then gave the rest over in +charge to Harris, and, in adverting to their regular conduct hitherto, +trusted they would be equally careful while under his orders. I then +directed the last remaining sheep to be equally divided among us; and it +was determined that, for fear of accidents, Harris should remain +stationary for a week, at the expiration of which time, he would be at +liberty to proceed to Goulburn Plains, there to receive his instructions +from Sydney; while the boats were to proceed at an early hour of the +morning down the river,--whether ever to return again being a point of the +greatest uncertainty. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + + +Embarkation of the party in the boats, and voyage down the Morumbidgee-- +The skiff swamped by striking on a sunken tree--Recovery of boat and its +loading--Region of reeds--Dangers of the navigation--Contraction of the +channel--Reach the junction of a large river--Intercourse with the natives +on its banks--Character of the country below the junction of the rivers-- +Descent of a dangerous rapid--Warlike demonstrations of a tribe of +natives--Unexpected deliverance from a conflict with them--Junction of +another river--Give the name of the "Murray" to the principal stream. + + +The camp was a scene of bustle and confusion long before day-light. The +men whom I had selected to accompany me were in high spirits, and so eager +to commence their labours that they had been unable to sleep, but busied +themselves from the earliest dawn in packing up their various articles of +clothing, &c. We were prevented from taking our departure so early as I +had intended, by rain that fell about six. At a little after seven, +however, the weather cleared up, the morning mists blew over our heads, +and the sun struck upon us with his usual fervour. As soon as the minor +things were stowed away, we bade adieu to Harris and his party; and +shortly after, embarked on the bosom of that stream along the banks of +which we had journeyed for so many miles + +Notwithstanding that we only used two oars, our progress down the river +was rapid. Hopkinson had arranged the loads so well, that all the party +could sit at their ease, and Fraser was posted in the bow of the boat, +with gun in hand, to fire at any new bird or beast that we might surprise +in our silent progress. The little boat, which I shall henceforward call +the skiff, was fastened by a painter to our stern. + +SUPPOSED JUNCTION OF LACHLAN. + +As the reader will have collected from what has already fallen under his +notice, the country near the depot was extensively covered with reeds, +beyond which vast plains of polygonum stretched away. From the bed of the +river we could not observe the change that took place in it as we passed +along, so that we found it necessary to land, from time to time, for the +purpose of noting down its general appearance. At about fifteen miles from +the depot, we came upon a large creek-junction from the N.E., which I did +not doubt to be the one M'Leay and I had crossed on the 25th of December. +It was much larger than the creek of the Macquarie, and was capable of +holding a very great body of water, although evidently too small to +contain all that occasionally rushed from its source. I laid it down as +the supposed junction of the Lachlan, since I could not, against the +corroborating facts in my possession, doubt its originating in the marshes +of that river. Should this, eventually, prove to be the case, the similar +termination of the two streams traced by Mr. Oxley will be a singular +feature in the geography of the interior. + +EMUS--NATIVE TOMB. + +We were just about to land, to prepare our dinner, when two emus swam +across the river ahead of us. This was an additional inducement for us to +land, but we were unfortunately too slow, and the birds escaped us. We had +rushed in to the right bank, and found on ascending it, that the reeds +with which it had hitherto been lined, had partially ceased. A large +plain, similar to those over which we had wandered prior to our gaining +the flooded region, stretched away to a considerable distance behind us, +and was backed by cypresses and brush. The soil of the plain was a red +sandy loam, covered sparingly with salsolae and shrubs; thus indicating +that the country still preserved its barren character, and that it is the +same from north to south. Among the shrubs we found a tomb that appeared +to have been recently constructed. No mound had been raised over the body, +but an oval hollow shed occupied the centre of the burial place, that was +lined with reeds and bound together with strong net-work. Round this, the +usual walks were cut, and the recent traces of women's feet were visible +upon them, but we saw no natives, although, from the number and size of +the paths that led from the river, in various directions across the plain, +I was led to conclude, that, at certain seasons, it is hereabouts +numerously frequented. Fraser gathered some rushes similar to those used +by the natives of the Darling in the fabrication of their nets, and as +they had not before been observed, we judged them, of course, to be a sign +of our near approach to that river. + +ASPECT OF COUNTRY AND RIVER. + +As soon as we had taken a hasty dinner, we again embarked, and pursued our +journey. I had hoped, from the appearance of the country to the north of +us, although that to the south gave little indication of any change, that +we should soon clear the reeds; but at somewhat less than a mile they +closed in upon the river, and our frequent examination of the +neighbourhood on either side of it only tended to confirm the fact, that +we were passing through a country subject to great and extensive +inundation. We pulled up at half-past five, and could scarcely find space +enough to pitch our tents. + +The Morumbidgee kept a decidedly westerly course during the day. Its +channel was not so tortuous as we expected to have found it, nor did it +offer any obstruction to the passage of the boats. Its banks kept a +general height of eight feet, five of which were of alluvial soil, and +both its depth and its current were considerable. We calculated having +proceeded from 28 to 30 miles, though, perhaps, not more than half that +distance in a direct line. No rain fell during the day, but we experienced +some heavy squalls from the E.S.E. + +THE SKIFF STRIKES AND SINKS--LABOUR IN RECOVERING ARTICLES LOST. + +The second day of our journey from the depot was marked by an accident +that had well nigh obliged us to abandon the further pursuit of the river, +by depriving us of part of our means of carrying it into effect. We had +proceeded, as usual, at an early hour in the morning, and not long after +we started, fell in with the blacks who had visited us last, and who were +now in much better humour than upon that occasion. As they had their women +with them, we pushed in to the bank, and distributed some presents, after +which we dropped quietly down the river. Its general depth had been such +as to offer few obstructions to our progress, but about an hour after we +left the natives, the skiff struck upon a sunken log, and immediately +filling, went down in about twelve feet of water, The length of the +painter prevented any strain upon the whale-boat, but the consequence of +so serious an accident at once flashed upon our minds. That we should +suffer considerably, we could not doubt, but our object was to get the +skiff up with the least possible delay, to prevent the fresh water from +mixing with the brine, in the casks of meat. Some short time, however, +necessarily elapsed before we could effect this, and when at last the +skiff was hauled ashore, we found that we were too late to prevent the +mischief that we had anticipated. All the things had been fastened in the +boat, but either from the shock, or the force of the current, one of the +pork casks, the head of the still, and the greater part of the carpenter's +tools, had been thrown out of her. As the success of the expedition might +probably depend upon the complete state of the still, I determined to use +every effort for its recovery: but I was truly at a loss how to find it; +for the waters of the river were extremely turbid. In this dilemma, the +blacks would have been of the most essential service, but they were far +behind us, so that we had to depend on our own exertions alone. I directed +the whale-boat to be moored over the place where the accident had +happened, and then used the oars on either side of her, to feel along the +bottom of the river, in hopes that by these means we should strike upon +the articles we had lost. However unlikely such a measure was to prove +successful, we recovered in the course of the afternoon, every thing but +the still-head, and a cask of paint. Whenever the oar struck against the +substance that appeared, by its sound or feel to belong to us, it was +immediately pushed into the sand, and the upper end of the oar being held +by two men, another descended by it to the bottom of the river, remaining +under water as long as he could, to ascertain what was immediately within +arm's length of him. This work was, as may be imagined, most laborious, +and the men at length became much exhausted. They would not, however, give +up the search for the still head, more especially after M'Leay, in diving, +had descended upon it. Had he, by ascertaining his position, left it to us +to heave it up, our labours would soon have ended; but, in his anxiety for +its recovery, he tried to bring it up, when finding it too heavy, he let +it go, and the current again swept it away. + +At sunset we were obliged to relinquish our task, the men complaining of +violent head-aches, which the nature of the day increased. Thinking our +own efforts would be unavailing, I directed two of the men to go up the +river for the blacks, at day-light in the morning, and set the reeds on +fire to attract their notice. The day had been cloudy and sultry in the +afternoon, the clouds collecting in the N.E.: we heard the distant +thunder, and expected to have been deluged with rain. None, however, +fell, although we were anxious for moisture to change the oppressive state +of the atmosphere. The fire I had kindled raged behind us, and threw dense +columns of smoke into the sky, that cast over the landscape a shade of the +most dismal gloom. We were not in a humour to admire the picturesque, but +soon betook ourselves to rest, and after such a day of labour as that we +had undergone, I dispensed with the night guard. + +PILFERING OF NATIVES. + +In the morning we resumed our search for the still head, which Hopkinson +at length fortunately struck with his oar. It had been swept considerably +below the place at which M'Leay had dived, or we should most probably have +found it sooner. With its recovery, all our fatigues were at once +forgotten, and I ordered the breakfast to be got ready preparatory to our +reloading the skiff. Fraser and Mulholland, who had left the camp at +daylight, had not yet returned. I was sitting in the tent, when Macnamee +came to inform me that one of the frying-pans was missing, which had +been in use the evening previous, for that he himself had placed it on the +stump of a tree, and he therefore supposed a native dog had run away with +it. Soon after this, another loss was reported to me, and it was at last +discovered that an extensive robbery had been committed upon us during +the night, and that, in addition to the frying-pan, three cutlasses, and +five tomahawks, with the pea of the steelyards, had been carried away. +I was extremely surprised at this instance of daring in the natives, and +determined, if possible, to punish it. About ten, Fraser and Mulholland +returned with two blacks. Fraser told me he saw several natives on our +side of the river, as he was returning, to whom those who were with him +spoke, and I felt convinced from their manner and hesitation, that they +were aware of the trick that had been played upon us. However, as Fraser +had promised them a tomahawk to induce them to accompany him, I fulfilled +the promise. + +CONTINUE OUR VOYAGE. + +Leaving this unlucky spot, we made good about sixteen miles during the +afternoon. The river maintained its breadth and depth nor were the reeds +continuous upon its banks. We passed several plains that were considerably +elevated above the alluvial deposits, and the general appearance of the +country induced me strongly to hope that we should shortly get out of the +region of reeds, or the great flooded concavity on which we had fixed our +depot; but the sameness of vegetation, and the seemingly diminutive size +of the timber in the distance, argued against any change for the better +in the soil of the interior. Having taken the precaution of shortening the +painter of the skiff, we found less difficulty in steering her clear +of obstacles, and made rapid progress down the Morumbidgee during the +first cool and refreshing hours of the morning. The channel of the river +became somewhat less contracted, but still retained sufficient depth for +larger boats than ours, and preserved a general westerly course. Although +no decline of country was visible to the eye, the current in places ran +very strong. It is impossible for me to convey to the reader's mind an +idea of the nature of the country through which we passed. On this day the +favourable appearances, noticed yesterday, ceased almost as soon as we +embarked. On the 10th, reeds lined the banks of the river on both sides, +without any break, and waved like gloomy streamers over its turbid waters; +while the trees stood leafless and sapless in the midst of them. Wherever +we landed, the same view presented itself--a waving expanse of reeds, and +a country as flat as it is possible to imagine one. The eye could seldom +penetrate beyond three quarters of a mile, and the labour of walking +through the reeds was immense; but within our observation all was green +and cheerless. The morning had been extremely cold, with a thick haze at +E.S.E. About 2 p.m. it came on to rain heavily, so that we did not stir +after that hour. + +CONTRACTION OF THE CHANNEL. + +I had remarked that the Morumbidgee was not, from the depot downwards, so +broad or so fine a river as it certainly is at the foot of the mountain +ranges, where it gains the level country. The observations of the last two +days had impressed upon my mind an idea that it was rapidly falling off, +and I began to dread that it would finally terminate in one of those fatal +marshes in which the Macquarie and the Lachlan exhaust themselves. My hope +of a more favourable issue was considerably damped by the general +appearance of the surrounding country; and from the circumstance of our +not having as yet passed a single tributary. As we proceeded down the +river, its channel gradually contracted, and immense trees that had been +swept down it by floods, rendered the navigation dangerous and intricate. +Its waters became so turbid, that it was impossible to see objects in it, +notwithstanding the utmost diligence on the part of the men. + +About noon, we fell in with a large tribe of natives, but had great +difficulty in bringing them to visit us. If they had HEARD of white men, +we were evidently the first they had ever SEEN. They approached us in the +most cautious manner, and were unable to subdue their fears as long as +they remained with us. Collectively, these people could not have amounted +to less than one hundred and twenty in number. + +ANOTHER ACCIDENT. + +As we pushed off from the bank, after having stayed with them about half +an hour, the whaleboat struck with such violence on a sunken log, that she +immediately leaked on her starboard side. Fortunately she was going slowly +at the time, or she would most probably have received some more serious +injury. One of the men was employed during the remainder of the afternoon +in bailing her out, and we stopped sooner than we should otherwise have +done, in order to ascertain the extent of damage, and to repair it. The +reeds terminated on both sides of the river some time before we pulled up, +and the country round the camp was more elevated than usual, and bore the +appearance of open forest pasture land, the timber upon it being a dwarf +species of box, and the soil a light tenacious earth. + +ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY AND OF THE RIVER. + +About a mile below our encampment of the 12th, we at length came upon a +considerable creek-junction from the S.E. Below it, the river increased +both in breadth and depth; banks were lofty and perpendicular, and even +the lowest levels were but partially covered with reeds. We met with fewer +obstructions in consequence, and pursued our journey with restored +confidence. Towards evening a great change also took place in the aspect +of the country, which no longer bore general marks of inundation. The +level of the interior was broken by a small hill to the right of the +stream, but the view from its summit rather damped than encouraged my +hopes of any improvement. The country was covered with wood and brush, and +the line of the horizon was unbroken by the least swell. We were on an +apparently boundless flat, without any fixed point on which to direct our +movements, nor was there a single object for the eye to rest upon, beyond +the dark and gloomy wood that surrounded us on every side. + +Soon after passing this hill, the whale-boat struck upon a line of sunken +rocks, but fortunately escaped without injury. Mulholland, who was +standing in the bow, was thrown out of her, head foremost, and got a good +soaking, but soon recovered himself. The composition of the rock was +iron-stone, and it is the first formation that occurs westward of the +dividing range. We noticed a few cypresses in the distance, but the +general timber was dwarf-box, or flooded-gum, and a few of the acacia +longa scattered at great distances. In verifying our position by some +lunars, we found ourselves in 142 degrees 46 minutes 30 seconds of east +long., and in lat. 35 degrees 25 minutes 15 seconds S. the mean variation +of the compass being 4 degrees 10 minutes E. it appearing that we were +decreasing the variation as we proceeded westward. + +On the 13th, we passed the first running stream that joins the +Morumbidgee, in a course of more than 340 miles. It came from the S.E., +and made a visible impression on the river at the junction, although in +tracing it up, it appeared to be insignificant in itself. The circumstance +of these tributaries all occurring on the left, evidenced the level nature +of the country to the north. In the afternoon, we passed a dry creek also +from the S.E. which must at times throw a vast supply of water into the +river, since for many miles below, the latter preserved a breadth of +200 feet, and averaged from 12 to 20 feet in depth, with banks of from +15 to 18 feet in height. Yet, notwithstanding its general equality of +depth, several rapids occurred, down which the boats were hurried with +great velocity. The body of water in the river continued undiminished, +notwithstanding its increased breadth of channel; for which reason I +should imagine that it is fed by springs, independently of other supplies. +Some few cypresses were again observed, and the character of the distant +country resembled, in every particular, that of the interior between the +Macquarie and the Darling. The general appearance of the Morumbidgee, from +the moment of our starting on the 13th, to a late hour in the afternoon, +had been such as to encourage my hopes of ultimate success in tracing it +down; but about three o'clock we came to one of those unaccountable and +mortifying changes which had already so frequently excited my +apprehension. Its channel again suddenly contracted, and became almost +blocked up with huge trees, that must have found their way into it down +the creeks or junctions we had lately passed. The rapidity of the current +increasing at the same time, rendered the navigation perplexing and +dangerous. We Passed reach after reach, presenting the same difficulties, +and were at length obliged to pull up at 5 p.m., having a scene of +confusion and danger before us that I did not dare to encounter with the +evening's light; for I had not only observed that the men's eye-sight +failed them as the sun descended, and that they mistook shadows for +objects under water, and VICE-VERSA, but the channel had become so narrow +that, although the banks were not of increased height, we were involved in +comparative darkness, under a close arch of trees, and a danger was hardly +seen ere we were hurried past it, almost without the possibility of +avoiding it. The reach at the head of which we stopped, was crowded with +the trunks of trees, the branches of which crossed each other in every +direction, nor could I hope, after a minute examination of the channel, +to succeed in taking the boats safely down so intricate a passage. + +DANGEROUS NAVIGATION OF THE MORUMBIDGEE. + +We rose in the morning with feelings of apprehension, and uncertainty; +and, indeed, with great doubts on our minds whether we were not thus early +destined to witness the wreck, and the defeat of the expedition. The men +got slowly and cautiously into the boat, and placed themselves so as to +leave no part of her undefended. Hopkinson stood at the bow, ready with +poles to turn her head from anything upon which she might be drifting. +Thus prepared, we allowed her to go with the stream. By extreme care and +attention on the part of the men we passed this formidable barrier. +Hopkinson in particular exerted himself, and more than once leapt from the +boat upon apparently rotten logs of wood, that I should not have judged +capable of bearing his weight, the more effectually to save the boat. +It might have been imagined that where such a quantity of timber had +accumulated, a clearer channel would have been found below, but such was +not the case. In every reach we had to encounter fresh difficulties. In +some places huge trees lay athwart the stream, under whose arched branches +we were obliged to pass; but, generally speaking, they had been carried, +roots foremost, by the current, and, therefore, presented so many points +to receive us, that, at the rate at which we were going, had we struck +full upon any one of them, it would have gone through and through the +boat. About noon we stopped to repair, or rather to take down the remains +of our awning, which had been torn away; and to breathe a moment from the +state of apprehension and anxiety in which our minds had been kept during +the morning. About one, we again started. The men looked anxiously out +ahead; for the singular change in the river had impressed on them an idea, +that we were approaching its termination, or near some adventure. On a +sudden, the river took a general southern direction, but, in its tortuous +course, swept round to every point of the compass with the greatest +irregularity. We were carried at a fearful rate down its gloomy and +contracted banks, and, in such a moment of excitement, had little time to +pay attention to the country through which we were passing. It was, +however, observed, that chalybeate-springs were numerous close to the +water's edge. At 3 p.m., Hopkinson called out that we were approaching +a junction, and in less than a minute afterwards, we were hurried into a +broad and noble river. + +JUNCTION OF A LARGE RIVER--CHARACTER OF THE RIVER. + +It is impossible for me to describe the effect of so instantaneous a +change of circumstances upon us. The boats were allowed to drift along at +pleasure, and such was the force with which we had been shot out of the +Morumbidgee, that we were carried nearly to the bank opposite its +embouchure, whilst we continued to gaze in silent astonishment on the +capacious channel we had entered; and when we looked for that by which we +had been led into it, we could hardly believe that the insignificant gap +that presented itself to us was, indeed, the termination of the beautiful +and noble stream, whose course we had thus successfully followed. I can +only compare the relief we experienced to that which the seaman feels on +weathering the rock upon which he expected his vessel would have +struck--to the calm which succeeds moments of feverish anxiety, when the +dread of danger is succeeded by the certainty of escape. + +To myself personally, the discovery of this river was a circumstance of a +particularly gratifying nature, since it not only confirmed the justness +of my opinion as to the ultimate fate of the Morumbidgee, and bore me out +in the apparently rash and hasty step I had taken at the depot, but +assured me of ultimate success in the duty I had to perform. We had got on +the high road, as it were, either to the south coast, or to some +important outlet; and the appearance of the river itself was such as to +justify our most sanguine expectations. I could not doubt its being the +great channel of the streams from the S.E. angle of the island. Mr. Hume +had mentioned to me that he crossed three very considerable streams, when +employed with Mr. Hovell in 1823 in penetrating towards Port Phillips, to +which the names of the Goulburn, the Hume, and the Ovens, had been given; +and as I was 300 miles from the track these gentlemen had pursued, I +considered it more than probable that those rivers must already have +formed a junction above me, more especially when I reflected that the +convexity of the mountains to the S.E. would necessarily direct the waters +falling inwards from them to a common centre. + +We entered the new river at right angles, and, as I have remarked, at the +point of junction the channel of the Morumbidgee had narrowed so as to +bear all the appearance of an ordinary creek. In breadth it did not exceed +fifty feet, and if, instead of having passed down it, I had been making my +way up the principal streams, I should little have dreamt that so dark and +gloomy an outlet concealed a river that would lead me to the haunts of +civilized man, and whose fountains rose amidst snow-clad mountains. Such, +however, is the characteristic of the streams falling to the westward of +the coast ranges. Descending into a low and level interior, and depending +on their immediate springs for existence, they fall off, as they increase +their distance from the base of the mountains in which they rise, and in +their lower branches give little results of the promise they had +previously made. + +The opinion I have expressed, and which is founded on my personal +experience, that the rivers crossed by Messrs. Hovell and Hume had +already united above me, was strengthened by the capacity of the stream we +had just discovered. It had a medium width of 350 feet, with a depth of +from twelve to twenty. Its reaches were from half to three-quarters of a +mile in length, and the views upon it were splendid. Of course, as the +Morumbidgee entered it from the north, its first reach must have been +E. and W., and it was so, as nearly as possible; but it took us a little +to the southward of the latter point, in a distance of about eight miles +that we pulled down it in the course of the afternoon. We then landed and +pitched our tents for the night. Its transparent waters were running over +a sandy bed at the rate of two-and-a-half knots an hour, and its banks, +although averaging eighteen feet in height, were evidently subject to +floods. + +ABSENCE OF NATIVES. + +We had not seen any natives since falling in with the last tribe on the +Morumbidgee. A cessation had, therefore, taken place in our communication +with them, in re-establishing which I anticipated considerable difficulty. +It appeared singular that we should not have fallen in with any for +several successive days, more especially at the junction of the two +rivers, as in similar situations they generally have an establishment. In +examining the country back from the stream, I did not observe any large +paths, but it was evident that fires had made extensive ravages in the +neighbourhood, so that the country was, perhaps, only temporarily +deserted. Macnamee, who had wandered a little from the tents, declared +that he had seen about a dozen natives round a fire, from whom (if he +really did see them) he very precipitately fled, but I was inclined to +discredit his story, because in our journey on the following day, we +did not see even a casual wanderer. + +WEATHER, TEMPERATURE, &C. + +The river maintained its character, and raised our hopes to the highest +pitch. Its breadth varied from 160 to 200 yards; and only in one place, +where a reef of iron-stone stretched nearly across from the left bank, +so as to contract the channel near the right and to form a considerable +rapid, was there any apparent obstruction to our navigation. I was sorry, +however, to remark that the breadth of alluvial soil between its outer and +inner banks was very inconsiderable, and that the upper levels were poor +and sandy. Blue-gum generally occupied the former, while the usual +productions of the plains still predominated upon the latter, and showed +that the distant interior had not yet undergone any favourable change. +We experienced strong breezes from the north, but the range of the +thermometer was high, and the weather rather oppressive than otherwise. +On the night of the 16th, we had a strong wind from the N.W., but it +moderated with day-light, and shifted to the E.N.E., and the day was +favourable and cool. Our progress was in every way satisfactory, and if +any change had taken place in the river, it was that the banks had +increased in height, in many places to thirty feet, the soil being a red +loam, and the surface much above the reach of floods. The bank opposite to +the one that was so elevated, was proportionably low, and, in general, not +only heavily timbered, but covered with reeds, and backed by a chain of +ponds at the base of the outer embankment. + +INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES. + +About 4 p.m., some natives were observed running by the river side behind +us, but on our turning the boat's head towards the shore, they ran away. +It was evident that they had no idea what we were, and, from their +timidity, feeling assured that it would be impossible to bring them to a +parley, we continued onwards till our usual hour of stopping, when we +pitched our tents on the left bank for the night, it being the one +opposite to that on which the natives had appeared. We conjectured that +their curiosity would lead them to follow us, which they very shortly did; +for we had scarcely made ourselves comfortable when we heard their wild +notes through the woods as they advanced towards the river; and their +breaking into view with their spears and shields, and painted and prepared +as they were for battle, was extremely fine. They stood threatening us, +and making a great noise, for a considerable time, but, finding that we +took no notice of them, they, at length, became quiet. I then walked to +some little distance from the party, and taking a branch in my hand, as a +sign of peace, beckoned them to swim to our side of the river, which, +after some time, two or three of them did. But they approached me with +great caution, hesitating at every step. They soon, however, gained +confidence, and were ultimately joined by all the males of their tribe. +I gave the FIRST who swam the river a tomahawk (making this a rule in +order to encourage them) with which he was highly delighted. I shortly +afterwards placed them all in a row and fired a gun before them: they were +quite unprepared for such an explosion, and after standing stupified and +motionless for a moment or two, they simultaneously took to their heels, +to our great amusement. I succeeded, however, in calling them back, and +they regained their confidence so much, that sixteen of them remained with +us all night, but the greater number retired at sunset. + +On the following morning, they accompanied us down the river, where we +fell in with their tribe, who were stationed on an elevated bank a short +distance below--to the number of eighty-three men, women, and children. +Their appearance was extremely picturesque and singular. They wanted us to +land, but time was too precious for such delays. Some of the boldest of +the natives swam round and round the boat so as to impede the use of the +oars, and the women on the bank evinced their astonishment by mingled +yells and cries. They entreated us, by signs, to remain with them, but, as +I foresaw a compliance on this occasion would hereafter be attended with +inconvenience, I thought it better to proceed on our journey, and the +natives soon ceased their importunities, and, indeed, did not follow or +molest us. + +ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY AND OF THE RIVER BANKS. + +The river improved upon us at every mile. Its reaches were of noble +breadth, and splendid appearance. Its current was stronger, and it was fed +by numerous springs. Rocks, however, were more frequent in its bed, and in +two places almost formed a barrier across the channel, leaving but a +narrow space for the boats to go down. We passed several elevations of +from 70 to 90 feet in height, at the base of which the stream swept along. +The soil of these elevations was a mixture of clay (marl) and sand, upon +coarse sandstone. Their appearance and the manner in which they had been +acted upon by water, was singular, and afforded a proof of the violence of +the rains in this part of the interior. From the highest of these, I +observed that the country to the S.E. was gently undulated, and so far +changed in character from that through which we had been travelling; +still, however, it was covered with a low scrub, and was barren and +unpromising. + +About noon of the 18th, we surprised two women at the water-side, who +immediately retreated into the brush. Shortly after, four men showed +themselves, and followed us for a short distance, but hid themselves upon +our landing. The country still appeared undulated to the S.E.; the soil +was sandy, and cypresses more abundant than any other tree. We passed +several extensive sand-banks in the river, of unusual size and solidity, +an evident proof of the sandy nature of the interior generally. The vast +accumulations of sand at the junctions of every creek were particularly +remarkable. The timber on the alluvial flats was not by any means so large +as we had hitherto observed it; nor were the flats themselves so extensive +as they are on the Morumbidgee and the Macquarie. Notwithstanding the +aspect of the country which I have described, no POSITIVE change had as +yet taken place in the general feature of the interior. The river +continued to flow in a direction somewhat to the northward of west, +through a country that underwent no perceptible alteration. Its waters, +confined to their immediate bed, swept along considerably below the level +of its inner banks; and the spaces between them and the outer ones, though +generally covered with reeds, seemed not recently to have been flooded; +while on the other hand, they had, in many places, from successive +depositions, risen to a height far above the reach of inundation. Still, +however, the more remote interior maintained its sandy and sterile +character, and stretched away, in alternate plain and wood, to a distance +far beyond the limits of our examination. + +About the 21st, a very evident change took place in it. The banks of the +river suddenly acquired a perpendicular and water-worn appearance. Their +summits were perfectly level, and no longer confined by a secondary +embankment, but preserved an uniform equality of surface back from the +stream. These banks, although so abrupt, were not so high as the upper +levels, or secondary embankments. They indicated a deep alluvial deposit, +and yet, being high above the reach of any ordinary flood, were covered +with grass, under an open box forest, into which a moderately dense scrub +occasionally penetrated. We had fallen into a concavity similar to those +of the marshes, but successive depositions had almost filled it, and no +longer subject to inundation, it had lost all the character of those +flooded tracts. The kind of country I have been describing, lay rather to +the right than to the left of the river at this place, the latter +continuing low and swampy, as if the country to the south of the river +were still subject to inundation. As the expedition proceeded, the left +bank gradually assumed the appearance of the right; both looked water-worn +and perpendicular, and though not more than from nine to ten feet in +height, their summits were perfectly level in receding, and bore +diminutive box-timber, with widely-scattered vegetation. Not a single +elevation had, as yet, broken the dark and gloomy monotony of the +interior; but as our observations were limited to a short distance from +the river, our surmises on the nature of the distant country were +necessarily involved in some uncertainty. + +THREATENED ATTACK--AMICABLE CONFERENCE. + +On the 19th, as we were about to conclude our journey for the day, we saw +a large body of natives before us. On approaching them, they showed every +disposition for combat, and ran along the bank with spears in rests, as if +only waiting for an opportunity to throw them at us. They were upon the +right, and as the river was broad enough to enable me to steer wide of +them, I did not care much for their threats; but upon another party +appearing upon the left bank, I thought it high time to disperse one or +the other of them, as the channel was not wide enough to enable me to keep +clear of danger, if assailed by both, as I might be while keeping amid the +channel. I found, however, that they did not know how to use the advantage +they possessed, as the two divisions formed a junction; those on the left +swimming over to the stronger body upon the right bank. This, fortunately, +prevented the necessity of any hostile measure on my part, and we were +suffered to proceed unmolested, for the present. The whole then followed +us without any symptom of fear, but making a dreadful shouting, and +beating their spears and shields together, by way of intimidation. It is +but justice to my men to say that in this critical situation they evinced +the greatest coolness, though it was impossible for any one to witness +such a scene with indifference. As I did not intend to fatigue the men by +continuing to pull farther than we were in the habit of doing, we landed +at our usual time on the left bank, and while the people were pitching the +tents, I walked down the bank with M'Leay, to treat with these desperadoes +in the best way we could, across the water, a measure to which my men +showed great reluctance, declaring that if during our absence the natives +approached them, they would undoubtedly fire upon them. I assured them it +was not my intention to go out of their sight. We took our guns with us, +but determined not to use them until the last extremity, both from a +reluctance to shed blood and with a view to our future security. I held a +long pantomimical dialogue with them, across the water, and held out the +olive branch in token of amity. They at length laid aside their spears, +and a long consultation took place among them, which ended in two or three +wading into the river, contrary, as it appeared, to the earnest +remonstrances of the majority, who, finding that their entreaties had no +effect, wept aloud, and followed them with a determination, I am sure, of +sharing their fate, whatever it might have been. As soon as they landed, +M'Leay and I retired to a little distance from the bank, and sat down; +that being the usual way among the natives of the interior, to invite to +an interview. When they saw us act thus, they approached, and sat down by +us, but without looking up, from a kind of diffidence peculiar to them, +and which exists even among the nearest relatives, as I have already had +occasion to observe. As they gained confidence, however, they showed an +excessive curiosity, and stared at us in the most earnest manner. We now +led them to the camp, and I gave, as was my custom, the first who had +approached, a tomahawk; and to the others, some pieces of iron hoop. Those +who had crossed the river amounted to about thirty-five in number. +At sunset, the majority of them left us; but three old men remained at +the fire-side all night. I observed that few of them had either lost their +front teeth or lacerated their bodies, as the more westerly tribes do. The +most loathsome diseases prevailed among them. Several were disabled by +leprosy, or some similar disorder, and two or three had entirely lost +their sight. They are, undoubtedly, a brave and a confiding people, and +are by no means wanting in natural affection. In person, they resemble the +mountain tribes. They had the thick lip, the sunken eye, the extended +nostril, and long beards, and both smooth and curly hair are common among +them. Their lower extremities appear to bear no proportion to their bust +in point of muscular strength; but the facility with which they ascend +trees of the largest growth, and the activity with which they move upon +all occasions, together with their singularly erect stature, argue that +such appearance is entirely deceptive. + +INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES. + +The old men slept very soundly by the fire, and were the last to get up in +the morning. M'Leay's extreme good humour had made a most favourable +impression upon them, and I can picture him, even now, joining in their +wild song. Whether it was from his entering so readily into their mirth, +or from anything peculiar that struck them, the impression upon the whole +of us was, that they took him to have been originally a black, in +consequence of which they gave him the name of Rundi. Certain it is, they +pressed him to show his side, and asked if he had not received a wound +there--evidently as if the original Rundi had met with a violent death +from a spear-wound in that place. The whole tribe, amounting in number to +upwards of 150, assembled to see us take our departure. Four of them +accompanied us, among whom there was one remarkable for personal strength +and stature.--The 21st passed without our falling in with any new tribe, +and the night of the 22nd, saw us still wandering in that lonely desert +together. There was something unusual in our going through such an extent +of country without meeting another tribe, but our companions appeared to +be perfectly aware of the absence of inhabitants, as they never left +our side. + +Although the banks of the river had been of general equality of height, +sandy elevations still occasionally formed a part of them, and their +summits were considerably higher than the alluvial flats. + +RAPID IN THE RIVER--DANGEROUS DESCENT OF THE BOATS. + +It was upon the crest of one of these steep and lofty banks, that on the +morning of the 22nd, the natives who were a-head of the boat, suddenly +stopped to watch our proceedings down a foaming rapid that ran beneath. +We were not aware of the danger to which we were approaching, until we +turned an angle of the river, and found ourselves too near to retreat. +In such a moment, without knowing what was before them, the coolness of +the men was strikingly exemplified. No one even spoke after they became +aware that silence was necessary. The natives (probably anticipating +misfortune) stood leaning upon their spears upon the lofty bank above us. +Desiring the men not to move from their seats, I stood up to survey the +channel, and to steer the boat to that part of it which was least impeded +by rocks. I was obliged to decide upon a hasty survey, as we were already +at the head of the rapid. It appeared to me that there were two passages, +the one down the centre of the river, the other immediately under its +right bank. A considerable rock stood directly in own way to the latter, +so that I had no alternative but to descend the former. About forty yards +below the rock, I noticed that a line of rocks occupied the space between +the two channels, whilst a reef, projecting from the left bank, made the +central passage distinctly visible, and the rapidity of the current +proportionably great. I entertained hopes that the passage was clear, and +that we should shoot down it without interruption; but in this I was +disappointed. The boat struck with the fore-part of her keel on a sunken +rock, and, swinging round as it were on a pivot, presented her bow to the +rapid, while the skiff floated away into the strength of it. We had every +reason to anticipate the loss of our whale-boat, whose build was so light, +that had her side struck the rock, instead of her keel, she would have +been laid open from stem to stern. As it was, however, she remained fixed +in her position, and it only remained for us to get her off the best way +we could. I saw that this could only be done by sending two of the men +with a rope to the upper rock, and getting the boat, by that means, into +the still water, between that and the lower one. We should then have time +to examine the channels, and to decide as to that down which it would be +safest to proceed. My only fear was, that the loss of the weight of the +two men would lighten the boat so much, that she would be precipitated +down the rapid without my having any command over her; but it happened +otherwise. We succeeded in getting her into the still water, and +ultimately took her down the channel under the right bank, without her +sustaining any injury. A few miles below this rapid the river took a +singular bend, and we found, after pulling several miles, that we were +within a stone's throw of a part of the stream we had already +sailed down. + +The four natives joined us in the camp, and assisted the men at their +various occupations. The consequence was, that they were treated with more +than ordinary kindness; and Fraser, for his part, in order to gratify +these favoured guests, made great havoc among the feathered race. He +returned after a short ramble with a variety of game, among which were a +crow, a kite, and a laughing jackass (alcedo gigantea,) a species of +king's-fisher, a singular bird, found in every part of Australia. Its cry, +which resembles a chorus of wild spirits, is apt to startle the traveller +who may be in jeopardy, as if laughing and mocking at his misfortune. +It is a harmless bird, and I seldom allowed them to be destroyed, as they +were sure to rouse us with the earliest dawn. To this list of Fraser's +spoils, a duck and a tough old cockatoo, must be added. The whole of these +our friends threw on the fire without the delay of plucking, and snatched +them from that consuming element ere they were well singed, and devoured +them with uncommon relish. + +DESERTED NATIVE VILLAGE. + +We pitched our tents upon a flat of good and tenacious soil. A brush, in +which there was a new species of melaleuca, backed it, in the thickest +part of which we found a deserted native village. The spot was evidently +chosen for shelter. The huts were large and long, all facing the same +point of the compass, and in every way resembling the huts occupied by the +natives of the Darling. Large flocks of whistling ducks, and other wild +fowl, flew over our heads to the N.W., as if making their way to some +large or favourite waters. My observations placed us in lat. 34 degrees +8 minutes 15 seconds south, and in east long. 141 degrees 9 minutes +42 seconds or nearly so; and I was at a loss to conceive what direction +the river would ultimately take. We were considerably to the N.W. of the +point at which we had entered it, and in referring to the chart, it +appeared, that if the Darling had kept a S.W. course from where the last +expedition left its banks, we ought ere this to have struck upon it, +or have arrived at its junction with the stream on which we were +journeying. + +CONVERSING BY SIGNS. + +The natives, in attempting to answer my interrogatories, only perplexed +me more and more. They evidently wished to explain something, by placing a +number of sticks across each other as a kind of diagram of the country. It +was, however, impossible to arrive at their meaning. They undoubtedly +pointed to the westward, or rather to the south of that point, as the +future course of the river; but there was something more that they were +anxious to explain, which I could not comprehend. The poor fellows seemed +quite disappointed, and endeavoured to beat it into Fraser's head with as +little success. I then desired Macnamee to get up into a tree. From the +upper branches of it he said he could see hills; but his account of their +appearance was such that I doubted his story: nevertheless it might have +been correct. He certainly called our attention to a large fire, as if the +country to the N.W. was in flames, so that it appeared we were approaching +the haunts of the natives at last. + +It happened that Fraser and Harris were for guard, and they sat up +laughing and talking with the natives long after we retired to rest. +Fraser, to beguile the hours, proposed shaving his sable companions, and +performed that operation with admirable dexterity upon their chief, to his +great delight. I got up at an early hour, and found to my surprise that +the whole of them had deserted us. Harris told me they had risen from the +fire about an hour before, and had crossed the river. I was a little +angry, but supposed they were aware that we were near some tribe, and had +gone on a-head to prepare and collect them. + +LARGE CONCOURSE OF NATIVES--THEIR HOSTILE DEMEANOUR. + +After breakfast, we proceeded onwards as usual. The river had increased so +much in width that, the wind being fair, I hoisted sail for the first +time, to save the strength of my men as much as possible. Our progress was +consequently rapid. We passed through a country that, from the nature of +its soil and other circumstances, appeared to be intersected by creeks and +lagoons. Vast flights of wild fowl passed over us, but always at a +considerable elevation, while, on the other hand, the paucity of ducks on +the river excited our surprise. Latterly, the trees upon the river, and in +its neighbourhood, had been a tortuous kind of box. The flooded-gum grew +in groups on the spaces subject to inundation, but not on the levels above +the influence of any ordinary rise of the stream. Still they were much +smaller than they were observed to be in the higher branches of the river. +We had proceeded about nine miles, when we were surprised by the +appearance in view, at the termination of a reach, of a long line of +magnificent trees of green and dense foliage. As we sailed down the reach, +we observed a vast concourse of natives under them, and, on a nearer +approach, we not only heard their war-song, if it might so be called, but +remarked that they were painted and armed, as they generally are, prior +to their engaging in deadly conflict. Notwithstanding these outward signs +of hostility, fancying that our four friends were with them, I continued +to steer directly in for the bank on which they were collected. I found, +however, when it was almost too late to turn into the succeeding reach +to our left, that an attempt to land would only be attended with loss of +life. The natives seemed determined to resist it. We approached so near +that they held their spears quivering in their grasp ready to hurl. They +were painted in various ways. Some who had marked their ribs, and thighs, +and faces with a white pigment, looked like skeletons, others were daubed +over with red and yellow ochre, and their bodies shone with the grease +with which they had besmeared themselves. A dead silence prevailed among +the front ranks, but those in the back ground, as well as the women, who +carried supplies of darts, and who appeared to have had a bucket of +whitewash capsized over their heads, were extremely clamorous. As I did +not wish a conflict with these people, I lowered my sail, and putting the +helm to starboard, we passed quietly down the stream in mid channel. +Disappointed in their anticipations, the natives ran along the bank of the +river, endeavouring to secure an aim at us; but, unable to throw with +certainty, in consequence of the onward motion of the boat, they flung +themselves into the most extravagant attitudes, and worked themselves into +a state of frenzy by loud and vehement shouting. + +PREPARATIONS FOR CONFLICT--UNEXPECTED INTERFERENCE. + +It was with considerable apprehension that I observed the river to be +shoaling fast, more especially as a huge sand-bank, a little below us, and +on the same side on which the natives had gathered, projected nearly a +third-way across the channel. To this sand-bank they ran with tumultuous +uproar, and covered it over in a dense mass. Some of the chiefs advanced +to the water to be nearer their victims, and turned from time to time to +direct their followers. With every pacific disposition, and an extreme +reluctance to take away life, I foresaw that it would be impossible any +longer to avoid an engagement, yet with such fearful numbers against us, +I was doubtful of the result. The spectacle we had witnessed had been one +of the most appalling kind, and sufficient to shake the firmness of most +men; but at that trying moment my little band preserved their temper +coolness, and if any thing could be gleaned from their countenances, it +was that they had determined on an obstinate resistance. I now explained +to them that their only chance of escape depended, or would depend, on +their firmness. I desired that after the first volley had been fired, +M'Leay and three of the men, would attend to the defence of the boat with +bayonets only, while I, Hopkinson, and Harris, would keep up the fire as +being more used to it. I ordered, however, that no shot was to be fired +until after I had discharged both my barrels. I then delivered their arms +to the men, which had as yet been kept in the place appropriated for them, +and at the same time some rounds of loose cartridge. The men assured me +they would follow my instructions, and thus prepared, having already +lowered the sail, we drifted onwards with the current. As we neared the +sand-bank, I stood up and made signs to the natives to desist; +but without success. I took up my gun, therefore, and cocking it, +had already brought it down to a level. A few seconds more would +have closed the life of the nearest of the savages. The distance +was too trifling for me to doubt the fatal effects of the discharge; +for I was determined to take deadly aim, in hopes that the fall of +one man might save the lives of many. But at the very moment, when +my hand was on the trigger, and my eye was along the barrel, my +purpose was checked by M'Leay, who called to me that another party of +blacks had made their appearance upon the left bank of the river. Turning +round, I observed four men at the top of their speed. The foremost of +them as soon as he got a-head of the boat, threw himself from a +considerable height into the water. He struggled across the channel to the +sand-bank, and in an incredibly short space of time stood in front of the +savage, against whom my aim had been directed. Seizing him by the throat, +he pushed backwards, and forcing all who were in the water upon the bank, +he trod its margin with a vehemence and an agitation that were exceedingly +striking. At one moment pointing to the boat, at another shaking his +clenched hand in the faces of the most forward, and stamping with passion +on the sand; his voice, that was at first distinct and clear, was lost in +hoarse murmurs. Two of the four natives remained on the left bank of the +river, but the third followed his leader, (who proved to be the remarkable +savage I have previously noticed) to the scene of action. The reader will +imagine our feelings on this occasion: it is impossible to describe them. +We were so wholly lost in interest at the scene that was passing, that the +boat was allowed to drift at pleasure. For my own part I was overwhelmed +with astonishment, and in truth stunned and confused; so singular, so +unexpected, and so strikingly providential, had been our escape. + +JUNCTION OF ANOTHER STREAM--PROVIDENTIAL DELIVERANCE FROM DANGER. + +We were again roused to action by the boat suddenly striking upon a shoal, +which reached from one side of the river to the other. To jump out and +push her into deeper water was but the work of a moment with the men, and +it was just as she floated again that our attention was withdrawn to a new +and beautiful stream, coming apparently from the north. The great body of +the natives having posted themselves on the narrow tongue of land formed +by the two rivers, the bold savage who had so unhesitatingly interfered +on our account, was still in hot dispute with them, and I really feared +his generous warmth would have brought down upon him the vengeance of the +tribes. I hesitated, therefore, whether or not to go to his assistance. +It appeared, however, both to M'Leay and myself, that the tone of the +natives had moderated, and the old and young men having listened to the +remonstrances of our friend, the middle-aged warriors were alone holding +out against him. A party of about seventy blacks were upon the right bank +of the newly discovered river, and I thought that by landing among them, +we should make a diversion in favour of our late guest; and in this I +succeeded. If even they had still meditated violence, they would have to +swim a good broad junction, and that, probably, would cool them, or we +at least should have the advantage of position. I therefore, ran the boat +ashore, and landed with M'Leay amidst the smaller party of natives, wholly +unarmed, and having directed the men to keep at a little distance from the +bank. Fortunately, what I anticipated was brought about by the stratagem +to which I had had recourse. The blacks no sooner observed that we had +landed, than curiosity took place of anger. All wrangling ceased, and they +came swimming over to us like a parcel of seals. Thus, in less than a +quarter of an hour from the moment when it appeared that all human +intervention was at on end, and we were on the point of commencing a +bloody fray, which, independently of its own disastrous consequences, +would have blasted the success of the expedition, we were peacefully +surrounded by the hundreds who had so lately threatened us with +destruction; nor was it until after we had returned to the boat, and had +surveyed the multitude upon the sloping bank above us, that we became +fully aware of the extent of our danger, and of the almost miraculous +intervention of Providence in our favour. There could not have been less +than six hundred natives upon that blackened sward. But this was not the +only occasion upon which the merciful superintendance of that Providence +to which we had humbly committed ourselves, was strikingly manifested. +If these pages fail to convey entertainment or information, sufficient may +at least be gleaned from them to furnish matter for serious reflection; +but to those who have been placed in situations of danger where human +ingenuity availed them not, and where human foresight was baffled, I feel +persuaded that these remarks are unnecessary. + +NEW RIVER, SUPPOSED TO BE THE DARLING. + +It was my first care to call for our friend, and to express to him, as +well as I could, how much we stood indebted to him, at the same time that +I made him a suitable present; but to the chiefs of the tribes, +I positively refused all gifts, notwithstanding their earnest +solicitations. We next prepared to examine the new river, and turning the +boat's head towards it, endeavoured to pull up the stream. Our larboard +oars touched the right bank, and the current was too strong for us to +conquer it with a pair only; we were, therefore, obliged to put a second +upon her, a movement that excited the astonishment and admiration of the +natives. One old woman seemed in absolute ecstasy, to whom M'Leay threw an +old tin kettle, in recompense for the amusement she afforded us. + +HOIST THE UNION JACK. + +As soon as we got above the entrance of the new river, we found easier +pulling, and proceeded up it for some miles, accompanied by the once more +noisy multitude. The river preserved a breadth of one hundred yards, and a +depth of rather more than twelve feet. Its banks were sloping and grassy, +and were overhung by trees of magnificent size. Indeed, its appearance was +so different from the water-worn banks of the sister stream, that the men +exclaimed, on entering it, that we had got into an English river. Its +appearance certainly almost justified the expression; for the greenness of +its banks was as new to us as the size of its timber. Its waters, though +sweet, were turbid, and had a taste of vegetable decay, as well as a +slight tinge of green. Our progress was watched by the natives with +evident anxiety. They kept abreast of us, and talked incessantly. +At length, however, our course was checked by a net that stretched right +across the stream. I say checked, because it would have been unfair to +have passed over it with the chance of disappointing the numbers who +apparently depended on it for subsistence that day. The moment was one of +intense interest to me. As the men rested upon their oars, awaiting my +further orders, a crowd of thoughts rushed upon me. The various +conjectures I had formed of the course and importance of the Darling +passed across my mind. Were they indeed realized? An irresistible +conviction impressed me that we were now sailing on the bosom of that very +stream from whose banks I had been twice forced to retire. I directed the +Union Jack to be hoisted, and giving way to our satisfaction, we all stood +up in the boat, and gave three distinct cheers. It was an English feeling, +an ebullition, an overflow, which I am ready to admit that our +circumstances and situation will alone excuse. The eye of every native had +been fixed upon that noble flag, at all times a beautiful object, and to +them a novel one, as it waved over us in the heart of a desert. They had, +until that moment been particularly loquacious, but the sight of that flag +and the sound of our voices hushed the tumult, and while they were still +lost in astonishment, the boat's head was speedily turned, the sail was +sheeted home, both wind and current were in our favour, and we vanished +from them with a rapidity that surprised even ourselves, and which +precluded every hope of the most adventurous among them to keep up +with us. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + + +Character of the country--Damage of provisions--Adroitness of the natives +in catching fish--The skiff broken up--Stream from the North-East supposed +to be the Darling--Change of country in descending the river--Intercourse +with the natives--Prevalence of loathsome diseases among them--Apparent +populousness of the country--Junction of several small streams--The Rufus, +the Lindesay, &c.--Rainy and tempestuous weather--Curious appearance of +the banks--Troublesomeness of the natives--Inhospitable and desolate +aspect of the country--Condition of the men--Change in the geological +character of the country--The river passes through a valley among hills. + + +Arrived once more at the junction of the two rivers, and unmolested in our +occupations, we had leisure to examine it more closely. Not having as yet +given a name to our first discovery, when we re-entered its capacious +channel on this occasion, I laid it down as the Murray River, in +compliment to the distinguished officer, Sir George Murray, who then +presided over the colonial department, not only in compliance with the +known wishes of his Excellency General Darling, but also in accordance +with my own feelings as a soldier. + +The new river, whether the Darling or an additional discovery, meets its +more southern rival on a N. by E. course; the latter, running W.S.W. at +the confluence, the angle formed by the two rivers, is, therefore, so +small that both may be considered to preserve their proper course, and +neither can be said to be tributary to the other. At their junction, +the Murray spreads its waters over the broad and sandy shore, upon which +our boat grounded, while its more impetuous neighbour flows through the +deep but narrow channel it has worked out for itself, under the right +bank. The strength of their currents must have been nearly equal, since +there was as distinct a line between their respective waters, to a +considerable distance below the junction, as if a thin board alone +separated them. The one half the channel contained the turbid waters of +the northern stream, the other still preserved their original +transparency. + +INUNDATED AND ALLUVIAL COUNTRY. + +The banks of the Murray did not undergo any immediate change as we +proceeded. We noticed that the country had, at some time, been subject to +extensive inundation, and was, beyond doubt, of alluvial formation. We +passed the mouths of several large creeks that came from the north and +N.W., and the country in those directions seemed to be much intersected by +water-courses; while to the south it was extremely low. Having descended +several minor rapids, I greatly regretted that we had no barometer to +ascertain the actual dip of the interior. I computed, however, that we +were not more than from eighty to ninety feet above the level of the sea. +We found the channel of the Murray much encumbered with timber, and +noticed some banks of sand that were of unusual size, and equalled the +largest accumulations of it on the sea shore, both in extent and solidity. + +STATE OF PROVISIONS. + +We would gladly have fired into the flights of wild fowl that winged their +way over us, for we, about this time, began to feel the consequences of +the disaster that befell us in the Morumbidgee. The fresh water having got +mixed with the brine in the meat casks, the greater part of our salt +provisions had got spoiled, so that we were obliged to be extremely +economical in the expenditure of what remained, as we knew not to what +straits we might be driven. It will naturally be asked why we did not +procure fish? The answer is easy. The men had caught many in the +Morumbidgee, and on our first navigation of the Murray, but whether it was +that they had disagreed with them, or that their appetites were palled, or +that they were too fatigued after the labour of the day to set the lines, +they did not appear to care about them. The only fish we could take was +the common cod or perch; and, without sauce or butter, it is insipid +enough. We occasionally exchanged pieces of iron-hoop for two other kinds +of fish, the one a bream, the other a barbel, with the natives, and the +eagerness with which they met our advances to barter, is a strong proof of +their natural disposition towards this first step in civilization. + +DEXTERITY OF NATIVES IN FISHING. + +As they threw off all reserve when accompanying us as ambassadors, we had +frequent opportunities of observing their habits. The facility, for +instance, with which they procured fish was really surprising. They would +slip, feet foremost, into the water as they walked along the bank of the +river, as if they had accidentally done so, but, in reality, to avoid the +splash they would necessarily have made if they had plunged in head +foremost. As surely as they then disappeared under the surface of the +water, so surely would they re-appear with a fish writhing upon the point +of their short spears. The very otter scarcely exceeds them in power over +the finny race, and so true is the aim of these savages, even under water, +that all the fish we procured from them were pierced either close behind +the lateral fin, or in the very centre of the head, It is certain, from +their indifference to them, that the natives seldom eat fish when they can +get anything else. Indeed, they seemed more anxious to take the small +turtle, which, sunning themselves on the trunks or logs of trees over the +water, were, nevertheless, extremely on their guard. A gentle splash alone +indicated to us that any thing had dropped into the water, but the quick +eyes and ears of our guides immediately detected what had occasioned it, +and they seldom failed to take the poor little animal that had so vainly +trusted to its own watchfulness for security. It appeared that the natives +did not, from choice, frequent the Murray; it was evident, therefore, that +they had other and better means of subsistence away from it, and it struck +me, at the time, that the river we had just passed watered a better +country than any through which the Murray had been found to flow. + +BREAK UP THE SKIFF. + +We encamped rather earlier than usual upon the left bank of the river, +near a broad creek; for as the skiff had been a great drag upon us, I +determined on breaking it up, since there was no probability that we +should ever require the still, which alone remained in her. We, +consequently, burnt the former, to secure her nails and iron work, and I +set Clayton about cutting the copper of the latter into the shape of +crescents, in order to present them to the natives. Some large huts were +observed on the side of the creek, a little above the camp, the whole of +which faced the N.E. This arrangement had previously been noticed by us, +so that I was led to infer that the severest weather comes from the +opposite quarter in this part of the interior. I had not the least idea, +at the time, however, that we should, ere we reached the termination of +our journey, experience the effects of the S.W. winds. + +We must have fallen considerably during the day from the level of our +morning's position, for we passed down many reaches where the decline of +country gave an increased velocity to the current of the river. + +I had feared, not only in consequence of the unceremonious manner in +which we had left them, but, because I had, in some measure, rejected the +advances of their chiefs, that none of the natives would follow us, and I +regretted the circumstance on account of my men, as well as the trouble we +should necessarily have in conciliating the next tribe. We had not, +however, been long encamped, when seven blacks joined us. I think they +would have passed on if we had not called to them. As it was, they +remained with us but for a short time. We treated them very kindly, but +they were evidently under constraint, and were, no doubt, glad when they +found we did not object to their departing. + +NEW RIVER IDENTIFIED WITH THE DARLING. + +I have stated, that I felt satisfied in my own mind, that the beautiful +stream we had passed was no other than the river Darling of my former +journey. The bare assertion, however, is not sufficient to satisfy the +mind of the reader, upon a point of such importance, more especially when +it is considered how remarkable a change the Darling must have undergone, +if this were indeed a continuation of it. I am free to confess that it +required an effort to convince myself, but after due consideration, I see +no reason to alter the opinion I formed at a moment of peculiar +embarrassment. Yet it by no means follows that I shall convince others, +although I am myself convinced. The question is one of curious +speculation, and the consideration of it will lead us to an interesting +conjecture, as to the probable nature of the distant interior, between the +two points. It will be remembered that I was obliged to relinquish my +pursuit of the Darling, in east long. 144 degrees 48 minutes 30 seconds +in lat. 30 degrees 17 minutes 30 seconds south. I place the junction of +the Murray and the new river, in long. 140 degrees 56 minutes east, and in +south lat. 34 degrees 3 minutes. I must remark, however, that the lunars I +took on this last occasion, were not satisfactory, and that there is, +probably, an error, though not a material one, in the calculation. Before +I measure the distance between the above points, or make any remarks on +the results of my own observations, I would impress the following facts +upon the reader's mind. + +I found and left the Darling in a complete state of exhaustion. As a river +it had ceased to flow; the only supply it received was from brine +springs, which, without imparting a current, rendered its waters saline +and useless, and lastly, the fish in it were different from those +inhabiting the other known rivers of the interior. It is true, I did not +procure a perfect specimen of one, but we satisfactorily ascertained that +they were different, inasmuch as they had large and strong scales, whereas +the fish in the western waters have smooth skins. On the other hand, the +waters of the new river were sweet, although turbid; it had a rapid +current in it; and its fish were of the ordinary kind. In the above +particulars, therefore, they differed much as they could well differ. Yet +there were some strong points of resemblance in the appearance of the +rivers themselves, which were more evident to me than I can hope to make +them to the reader. Both were shaded by trees of the same magnificent +dimensions; and the same kind of huts were erected on the banks of each, +inhabited by the same description, or race, of people, whose weapons, +whose implements, and whose nets corresponded in most respects. + +We will now cast our eyes over the chart: and see if the position of the +two rivers upon it, will at all bear out our conclusion that they are one +and the same; and whether the line that would join them is the one that +the Darling would naturally take, in reference to its previous +course.--We shall find that the two points under discussion, bear almost +N.E. and S.W. of each other respectively, the direct line in which the +Darling had been ascertained to flow, as far as it had been found +practicable to trace it. I have already remarked that the fracture of my +barometer prevented my ascertaining the height of the bed of the Darling +above the sea, during the first expedition. A similar accident caused me +equal disappointment on the second; because one of the most important +points upon which I was engaged was to ascertain the dip of the interior. +I believe I stated, in its proper place, that I did not think the Darling +could possibly be 200 feet above the sea, and as far as my observations +bear me out, I should estimate the bed of the Murray, at its junction with +the new river, to be within 100. It would appear that there is a distance +of 300 miles between the Murray River at this place, and the Darling; +a space amply sufficient for the intervention of a hilly country. No one +could have been more attentive to the features of the interior than I was; +nor could any one have dwelt upon their peculiarities with more earnest +attention. It were hazardous to build up any new theory, however ingenious +it may appear. The conclusions into which I have been led, are founded on +actual observation of the country through which I passed, and extend not +beyond my actual range of vision; unless my assuming that the decline of +the interior to the south has been satisfactorily established, be +considered premature. If not, the features of the country certainly +justify my deductions; and it will be found that they were still more +confirmed by subsequent observation.--That the Darling should have lost +its current in its upper branches, is not surprising, when the level +nature of the country into which it falls is taken into consideration; +neither does it surprise me that it should be stationary in one place, +and flowing in another; since, if, as in the present instance, there is a +great extent of country between the two points, which may perhaps be of +considerable elevation, the river may receive tributaries, whose waters +will of course follow the general decline of the country. I take it to be +so in the case before us; and am of opinion, that the lower branches of +the Darling are not at all dependent on its sources for a current, or for +a supply of water. I have somewhere observed that it appeared to me the +depressed interior over which I had already travelled, was of +comparatively recent formation. And, by whatever convulsion or change +so extensive a tract became exposed, I cannot but infer, that the Darling +is the main channel by which the last waters of the ocean were drained +off. The bottom of the estuary, for it cannot be called a valley, being +then left exposed, it consequently remains the natural and proper +reservoir for the streams from the eastward, or those falling easterly +from the westward, if any such remain to be discovered. + +From the junction of the Morumbidgee to the junction of the new river, the +Murray had held a W.N.W. course. From the last junction it changed its +direction to the S.W., and increased considerably in size. The country to +the south was certainly lower than that to the north; for, although both +banks had features common to each other, the flooded spaces were much +more extensive to our left than to our right. + +CHANGE OF COUNTRY. + +We started on the morning of the 24th, all the lighter from having got rid +of the skiff, and certainly freer to act in case the natives should evince +a hostile disposition towards us. As we proceeded down the river, the +appearances around us more and more plainly indicated a change of country. +Cypresses were observed in the distance, and the ground on which they +stood was higher than that near the stream; as if it had again acquired +its secondary banks. At length these heights approached the river so +nearly as to form a part of its banks, and to separate one alluvial flat +from another. Their summits were perfectly level; their soil was a red +sandy loam; and their productions, for the most part, salsolae and +misembrianthemum. From this it would appear that we had passed through a +second region, that must at some time have been under water, and that +still retained all the marks of a country partially subject to flood. + +INTRODUCED FROM TRIBE TO TRIBE. + +We had, as I have said, passed over this region, and were again hemmed in +by those sandy and sterile tracts upon which the beasts of the field could +obtain neither food nor water. We overtook the seven deputies some time +after we started, but soon lost sight of them again, as they cut off the +sweeps of the river, and shortened their journey as much as possible. +At 2 p.m. we found them with a tribe of their countrymen, about eighty in +number. We pulled in to the bank and remained with them for a short time, +and I now determined to convince the blacks who had preceded us, that I +had not been actuated by any other desire than that of showing to them +that we were not to be intimidated by numbers, when I refused to make them +any presents after their show of hostility. I now, therefore, gave them +several implements, sundry pieces of iron hoop, and an ornamental badge of +copper. When we left the tribe, we were regularly handed over to their +care. The seven men who had introduced us, went back at the same time that +we continued our journey, and two more belonging to the new tribe, went on +a-head to prepare the the neighbouring tribe to receive us; nor did we see +anything more of them during the day. + +We encamped on the left bank of the river, amidst a polygonum scrub, in +which we found a number of the crested pigeon. It was late before the +tents were pitched: as Fraser seldom assisted in that operation, but +strolled out with his gun after he had kindled a fire, so on this occasion +he wandered from the camp in search of novelty, and on his return, +informed me that there was a considerable ridge to the south of a plain +upon which he had been. + +I had myself walked out to the S.E., and on ascending a few feet above the +level of the camp, got into a scrub. I was walking quietly through it, +when I heard a rustling noise, and looking in the direction whence it +proceeded, I observed a small kangaroo approaching me. Having a stick in +my hand, and being aware that I was in one of their paths, I stood still +until the animal came close up to me, without apparently being aware of my +presence. I then gave it a blow an the side of the head, and made it reel +to one side, but the stick, being rotten, broke with the force of the +blow, and thus disappointed me of a good meal. + +During my absence from the camp, a flight of cockatoos, new to us, but +similar to one that Mr. Hume shot on the Darling, passed over the tents, +and I found M'Leay, with his usual anxiety, trying to get a shot at them. +They had, he told me, descended to water, but they had chosen a spot so +difficult of approach without discovery, that he had found it impossible +to get within shot of them. + +RIDGE TO THE SOUTH-EAST. + +There was a considerable rapid just below our position, which I examined +before dark. Not seeing any danger, I requested M'Leay to proceed down it +in the boat as soon as he had breakfasted, and to wait for me at the +bottom of it. As I wished to ascertain the nature and height of the +elevations which Fraser had magnified into something grand, Fraser and I +proceeded to the centre of a large plain, stretching from the left bank of +the river to the southward. It was bounded to the S.E. by a low scrub; +to the S. a thickly wooded ridge appeared to break the level of the +country. It extended from east to west for four or five miles, and then +gradually declined. At its termination, the country seemed to dip, and a +dense fog, as from an extensive sheet of water, enveloped the landscape. +The plain was crowded with cockatoos, that were making their morning's +repast on the berries of the salsolae and rhagodia, with which it was +covered. + +DISTANT RANGES SEEN. + +M'Leay had got safely down the rapid, so that as soon as I joined him, +we proceeded on our journey. We fell in with the tribe we had already +seen, but increased in numbers, and we had hardly left them, when we found +another tribe most anxiously awaiting our arrival. We stayed with the last +for some time, and exhausted our vocabulary, and exerted our ingenuity to +gain some information from them. I directed Hopkinson to pile up some +clay, to enquire if we were near any hills, when two or three of the +blacks caught the meaning, and pointed to the N.W. Mulholland climbed up a +tree in consequence of this, and reported to me that he saw lofty ranges +in the direction to which the blacks pointed; that there were two +apparently, the one stretching to the N.E., the other to the N.W. He +stated their distance to be about forty miles, and added that he thought +he could observe other ranges, through the gap, which, according to the +alignment of two sticks, that I placed according to Mulholland's +directions, bore S. 130 W. + +We had landed upon the right bank of the river, and there was a large +lagoon immediately behind us. The current in the river did not run so +strong as it had been. Its banks were much lower, and were generally +covered with reeds. The spaces subject to flood were broader than +heretofore, and the country for more than twenty miles was extremely +depressed. Our view from the highest ground near the camp was very +confined, since we were apparently in a hollow, and were unable to obtain +a second sight of the ranges we had noticed. + +PASS THREE CREEKS. + +Three creeks fell into the Murray hereabouts. One from the north, another +from the N.E., and the third from the south. The two first were almost +choked up with the trunks of trees, but the last had a clear channel. +Our tents stood on ground high above the reach of flood. The soil was +excellent, and the brushes behind us abounded with a new species of +melaleuca. + +The heat of the weather, at this time, was extremely oppressive, and the +thermometer was seldom under 100 degrees of Fahr. at noon. The wind, too, +we observed, seldom remained stationary for any length of time, but made +its regular changes every twenty-four hours. In the morning, it invariably +blew from the N.E., at noon it shifted to N.W., and as the sun set it flew +round to the eastward of south. A few dense clouds passed over us +occasionally, but no rain fell from them. + +DISEASES OF THE NATIVES. + +Our intercourse with the natives had now been constant. We had found the +interior more populous than we had any reason to expect; yet as we +advanced into it, the population appeared to increase. It was impossible +for us to judge of the disposition of the natives during the short +interviews we generally had with them, and our motions were so rapid that +we did not give them time to form any concerted plan of attack, had they +been inclined to attack us. They did not, however, show any disposition to +hostility, but, considering all things, were quiet and orderly, nor did +any instances of theft occur, or, at least, none fell under my notice. +The most loathsome of diseases prevailed throughout the tribes, nor were +the youngest infants exempt from them. Indeed, so young were some, whose +condition was truly disgusting, that I cannot but suppose they must have +been born in a state of disease; but I am uncertain whether it is fatal or +not in its results, though, most probably it hurries many to a premature +grave. How these diseases originated it is impossible to say. Certainly +not from the colony, since the midland tribes alone were infected. +Syphilis raged amongst them with fearful violence; many had lost their +noses, and all the glandular parts were considerably affected. I +distributed some Turner's cerate to the women, but left Fraser to +superintend its application. It could do no good, of course, but it +convinced the natives we intended well towards them, and, on that account, +it was politic to give it, setting aside any humane feeling. + +POPULOUS DISTRICT. + +The country through which we passed on the 28th, was extremely low, full +of lagoons, and thickly inhabited. No change took place in the river, +or in the nature and construction of its banks. We succeeded in getting a +view of the hills we had noticed when with the last tribe, and found that +they bore from us due north, N. 22 E., and S. 130 W. They looked bare and +perpendicular, and appeared to be about twenty miles from us. I am very +uncertain as to the character of these hills, but still think that they +must have been some of the faces of the bold cliffs that we had frequently +passed under. From the size and number of the huts, and from the great +breadth of the foot-paths, we were still further led to conclude that we +were passing through a very populous district. What the actual number of +inhabitants was it is impossible to say, but we seldom communicated with +fewer than 200 daily. They sent ambassadors forward regularly from one +tribe to another, in order to prepare for our approach, a custom that not +only saved us an infinity of time, but also great personal risk. Indeed, +I doubt very much whether we should ever have pushed so far down the +river, had we not been assisted by the natives themselves. I was +particularly careful not to do anything that would alarm them, or to +permit any liberty to be taken with their women. Our reserve in this +respect seemed to excite their surprise, for they asked sundry questions, +by signs and expressions, as to whether we had any women, and where they +were. The whole tribe generally assembled to receive us, and all, without +exception, were in a complete state of nudity, and really the loathsome +condition and hideous countenances of the women would, I should imagine, +have been a complete antidote to the sexual passion. It is to be observed, +that the women are very inferior in appearance to the men. The latter are, +generally speaking, a clean-limbed and powerful race, much stouter in the +bust than below, but withal, active, and, in some respects, intelligent; +but the women are poor, weak, and emaciated. This, perhaps, is owing to +their poverty and paucity of food, and to the treatment they receive at +the hands of the men; but the latter did not show any unkindness towards +them in our presence. + +Although I desired to avoid exciting their alarm, I still made a point of +showing them the effects of a gunshot, by firing at a kite, or any other +bird that happened to be near. My dexterity--for I did not trust Fraser, +who would, ten to one, have missed his mark--was generally exerted, as I +have said, against a kite or a crow; both of which birds generally +accompanied the blacks from place to place to pick up the remnants of +their meals. Yet, I was often surprised at the apparent indifference with +which the natives not only saw the effect of the shot, but heard the +report. I have purposely gone into the centre of a large assemblage and +fired at a bird that has fallen upon their very heads, without causing a +start or an exclamation, without exciting either their alarm or their +curiosity. + +Whence this callous feeling proceeded, whether from strength of nerve, +or because they had been informed by our forerunners that we should show +off before them, I know not, but I certainly expected a very different +effect from that which my firing generally produced, although I +occasionally succeeded in scattering them pretty well. + +JUNCTION OF THE RUFUS. + +About 11 a.m., we arrived at the junction of a small river with the +Murray, at which a tribe, about 250 in number, had assembled to greet us. +We landed, therefore, for the double purpose of distributing presents, and +of examining the junction, which, coming from the north, of course, fell +into the Murray upon its right bank. Its waters were so extremely muddy, +and its current so rapid, that it must have been swollen by some late +rains. Perhaps, it had its sources in the hills we had seen; be that as it +may, it completely discoloured the waters of the Murray. + +We made it a point never to distribute any presents among the natives +until we had made them all sit, or stand, in a row. Sometimes this was a +troublesome task, but we generally succeeded in gaining our point; with a +little exertion of patience. M'Leay was a famous hand at ordering the +ranks, and would, I am sure, have made a capital drill-sergeant, not less +on account of his temper than of his perseverance. I called the little +tributary I have noticed, the Rufus, in honour of my friend M'Leay's red +head, and I have no doubt, he will understand the feeling that induced me +to give it such a name. + +GEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION. + +Not many miles below the Rufus, we passed under a lofty cliff upon the +same side with it. It is the first elevation of any consequence that +occurs below the Darling, and not only on that account, but also on +account of the numerous substances of which it is composed, and the +singular formation that is near requires to be particularly +noticed. [See Appendix.] The examination was a task of considerable +danger, and both Fraser and myself had well nigh been buried under a mass +of the cliff that became suddenly detached, and, breaking into thousands +of pieces, went hissing and cracking into the river. + +THUNDER STORMS. + +The weather about this time was extremely oppressive and close. Thunder +clouds darkened the sky, but no rain fell. The thermometer was seldom +below 104 at noon, and its range was very trifling. The wind shifted +several times during the twenty-four hours; but these changes had no +effect on the thermometer. It was evident, however, as the sun set on the +evening of the 26th, that the clouds from which thunder had for the last +four or five days disturbed the silence of nature around us, would not +long support their own weight. A little before midnight, it commenced +raining, and both wind and rain continued to increase in violence until +about seven in the morning of the 27th; when the weather moderated. + +Two or three blacks had accompanied us from the last tribe, and had lain +down near the fire. As the storm increased, however, they got up, and +swimming across the river, left us to ourselves. This was a very unusual +thing, nor can I satisfy myself as to their object, unless it was to get +into shelter, for these people though they wander naked over the country, +and are daily in the water, feel the cold and rain very acutely. + +Observing the clouds collecting for so many days, I indulged hopes that we +were near high lands, perhaps mountains; but from the loftiest spots we +could see nothing but a level and dark horizon. Anxious to gain as correct +a knowledge of the country as possible we had, in the course of the day, +ascended a sandy ridge that was about a mile from the river. The view from +the summit of this ridge promised to be more extensive than any we had of +late been enabled to obtain; and as far as actual observation went, we +were not disappointed, although in every other particular, the landscape +was one of the most unpromising description. To the S. and S.E., the +country might be said to stretch away in one unbroken plain, for it was so +generally covered with wood that every inequality was hidden from our +observation. To the S.W. the river line was marked out by a succession of +red cliffs, similar to those we had already passed. To the north, the +interior was evidently depressed; it was overgrown with a low scrub, and +seemed to be barren in the extreme. The elevations upon which we stood +were similar to the sand-hills near the coast, and had not a blade of +grass upon them. Yet, notwithstanding the sterility of the soil, the +large white amarillis which grew in such profusion on the alluvial plains +of the Macquarie, was also abundant here. But it had lost its dazzling +whiteness, and had assumed a sickly yellow colour and its very appearance +indicated that it was not in a congenial soil. + +LINDESAY RIVER. + +We passed two very considerable junctions, the one coming from the S.E., +the other from the north. Both had currents in them, but the former was +running much stronger than the latter. It falls into the Murray, almost +opposite to the elevations I have been describing, and, if a judgment +can be hazarded from its appearance at its embouchure, it must, in its +higher branches, be a stream of considerable magnitude. Under this +impression, I have called it the Lindesay, as a tribute of respect to my +commanding officer, Colonel Patrick Lindesay of the 39th regt. I place it +in east long. 140 degrees 29 minutes, and in lat. 33 degrees 58 minutes +south. Mr. Hume is of opinion that this is the most southerly of the +rivers crossed by him and Mr. Hovel in 1823; but, as I have already +remarked, I apprehend that all the rivers those gentlemen crossed, had +united in one main stream above the junction of the Morumbidgee, and I +think it much more probable that this is a new river, and that it rises +to the westward of Port Phillips, rather than in the S.E. angle of the +coast. + +NATIVES BECOME TROUBLESOME. + +We found the blacks who had deserted us with a tribe at the junction, but +it was weak in point of numbers; as were also two other tribes or hordes +to whom we were introduced in rapid succession. Taken collectively, they +could not have amounted to 230 men, women, and children. The last of these +hordes was exceedingly troublesome, and I really thought we should have +been obliged to quarrel with them. Whether it was that we were getting +impatient, or that our tempers were soured, I know not, but even M'Leay, +whose partiality towards the natives was excessive at the commencement of +our journey, now became weary of such constant communication as we had +kept up with them. Their sameness of appearance, the disgusting diseases +that raged among them, their abominable filth, the manner in which they +pulled us about, and the impossibility of making them understand us, or +of obtaining any information from them,--for if we could have succeeded +in this point, we should have gladly borne every inconvenience,--all +combined to estrange us from these people and to make their presence +disagreeable. Yet there was an absolute necessity to keep up the chain of +communication, to ensure our own safety, setting aside every other +consideration; but as I had been fortunate in my intercourse with the +natives during the first expedition, so I hoped the present journey would +terminate without the occurrence of any fatal collision between us. The +natives, it is true, were generally quiet; but they crowded round us +frequently without any regard to our remonstrances, laying hold of the +boat to prevent our going away, and I sometimes thought that had any of +them been sufficiently bold to set the example, many of the tribes would +have attempted our capture. Indeed, in several instances, we were obliged +to resort to blows ere we could disengage ourselves from the crowds around +us, and whenever this occurred, it called forth the most sullen and +ferocious scowl--such, probably, as would be the forerunner of hostility, +and would preclude every hope of mercy at their hands. With each new tribe +we were, in some measure, obliged to submit to an examination, and to be +pulled about, and fingered all over. They generally measured our hands and +feet with their own, counted our fingers, felt our faces, and besmeared +our shirts all over with grease and dirt. This was no very agreeable +ceremony, and a repetition of it was quite revolting, more especially when +we had to meet the grins or frowns of the many with firmness and +composure. + +TEMPESTUOUS WEATHER. + +The weather had been tempestuous and rainy, for three or four successive +days: on the 28th it cleared up a little. Under any circumstances, +however, we could not have delayed our journey. We had not proceeded very +far when it again commenced to rain and to blow heavily from the N.W. +The river trended to the South. We passed down several rapids, and +observed the marks of recent flood on the trees, to the height of seven +feet. The alluvial flats did not appear to have been covered, or to be +subject to overflow. The timber upon them was not of a kind that is found +on flooded lands, but wherever reeds prevailed the flooded or blue gum +stretched its long white branches over them. The country to the westward +was low and bushy. + +SINGULAR FORMATION OF THE BANKS. + +The left bank of the Murray was extremely lofty, and occasionally rose to +100 feet perpendicularly from the water. It is really difficult to +describe the appearance of the banks at this place; so singular were they +in character, and so varied in form. Here they had the most beautiful +columnar regularity, with capitals somewhat resembling the Corinthian +order in configuration; there they showed like falls of muddy water that +had suddenly been petrified; and in another place they resembled the +time-worn battlements of a feudal castle. It will naturally be asked, of +what could these cliffs have been composed to assume so many different +forms? and what could have operated to produce such unusual appearances? +The truth is, they were composed almost wholly of clay and sand. Wherever +the latter had accumulated, or predominated, the gradual working of +water had washed it away, and left the more compact body, in some places, +so delicately hollowed out, that it seemed rather the work of art than of +nature. This singular formation rested on a coarse grit, that showed +itself in slabs. + +From the frequent occurrence of rapids I should imagine that we had fallen +considerably, but there was no visible decline of country. The river swept +along, in broad and noble reaches, at the base of the cliffs. Vast +accumulations of sand were in its bed, a satisfactory proof of the sandy +character of the distant interior, if other proof were wanting. + +We did not see so many natives on the 28th as we had been in the habit of +seeing; perhaps in consequence of the boisterous weather. A small tribe of +about sixty had collected to receive us, but we passed on without taking +any notice of them, Nevertheless they deputed two of their men to follow +us, who overtook us just as we stopped for the purpose of pitching our +tents before the clouds should burst, that just then bore the most +threatening appearance. The blacks seemed to be perfectly aware what kind +of a night we should have, and busied themselves preparing a hut and +making a large fire. + +The evening proved extremely dark, and towards midnight it blew and rained +fiercely. Towards morning the wind moderated, and the rain ceased. Still, +the sky was overcast, and the clouds were passing rapidly over us. The +wind had, however, changed some points, and from the N.W. had veered round +to the S.S.W.; and the day eventually turned out cool and pleasant. + +LARGE TRIBE OF NATIVES--THEIR INDIFFERENCE TO FIRE-ARMS. + +We fell in with a large tribe of natives, amounting in all to 270. They +were extremely quiet, and kept away from the boat; in consequence of which +I distributed a great many presents among them. This tribe was almost the +only one that evinced any eagerness to see us. The lame had managed to +hobble along, and the blind were equally anxious to touch us. There were +two or three old men stretched upon the bank, from whom the last sigh +seemed about to depart; yet these poor creatures evinced an anxiety to see +us, and to listen to a description of our appearance, although it seemed +doubtful whether they would be alive twenty-four hours after we left them. +An old woman, a picture of whom would disgust my readers, made several +attempts to embrace me. I managed, however, to avoid her, and at length +got rid of her by handing her over to Fraser, who was no wise particular +as to the object of his attention. This tribe must have been one of the +most numerous on the banks of the Murray, since we fell in with detached +families for many miles below the place where we had parted from the main +body. + +I have omitted to mention that, while among them, I fired at a kite and +killed it; yet, though close to me, the blacks did not start or evince the +least surprise. It really is difficult to account for such firmness of +nerve or self-command. It is not so much a matter of surprise that they +were indifferent to its effects, for probably they knew them not, but it +is certainly odd that they should not have been startled by the report. + +The river inclined very much to the southward for some miles below our +last camp; at length it struck against some elevations that turned it more +to the westward. Before we terminated our day's pull it again changed its +direction to the eastward of south. The right bank became lofty, and the +left proportionably depressed. + +REFLECTIONS ON THE PROGRESS OF THE EXPEDITION. + +In consequence of the boisterous weather we had had, we were uncertain as +to our precise situation, even in point of latitude. But I was perfectly +aware that we were considerably to the south of the head of St. Vincent's +Gulf. I began, therefore, to contemplate with some confidence a speedy +termination to our wanderings, or, at least, that we should soon reach the +extreme point to which we could advance. The sun was at this time out of +my reach, since the sextant would not measure double the altitude. +Observations of the stars were, in like manner, uncertain, in consequence +of the boisterous weather we had had, and the unavoidable agitation of the +quicksilver. My last observation of Antares placed us in latitude +34 degrees 4 minutes; so that we were still 115 miles from the coast. + +We had now been twenty-two days upon the river, and it was uncertain how +long we should be in compassing the distance we had still to run. +Considering all things, we had, as yet, been extremely fortunate; and I +hoped that we should terminate our journey without the occurrence of any +fatal accident. Had the country corresponded with the noble stream that +traversed it, we should have been proportionably elated, but it was +impossible to conceal from ourselves its inhospitable and unprofitable +character, as far as we had, as yet, penetrated. If we except the partial +and alluvial flats on the immediate borders, and in the neighbourhood of +its tributaries and creeks, the Murray might be said to flow through a +barren and sandy interior. The appearance of the country through which we +passed on the 29th, was far from being such as to encourage us with the +hopes of any change for the better. The river was enclosed, on either +side, by the same kind of banks that have already been described; and it +almost appeared as if the plain had been rent asunder to allow of a +passage for its waters. The view of the distant interior was +unsatisfactory. It was, for the most part, covered with brush, but, at +length, cypresses again made their appearance, although at a considerable +distance from us. + +The river continued to flow to the southward, a circumstance that gave me +much satisfaction, for I now began to feel some anxiety about the men. +They had borne their fatigues and trials so cheerfully, and had behaved so +well, that I could not but regret the scanty provision that remained for +them. The salt meat being spoiled, it had fallen to the share of the dogs, +so that we had little else than flour to eat. Fish no one would touch, and +of wild fowl there were none to be seen. The men complained of sore eyes, +from the perspiration constantly running into them, and it was obvious to +me that they were much reduced. It will be borne in mind, that we were now +performing the earliest part of our task, and were going down with the +stream. I was sure that on our return, (For I had no hopes of meeting any +vessel on the coast,) we should have to make every day's journey good +against the current; and, if the men were now beginning to sink, it might +well be doubted whether their strength would hold out. Both M'Leay and +myself, therefore, encouraged any cheerfulness that occasionally broke out +among them, and Frazer enlivened them by sundry tunes that he whistled +whilst employed in skinning birds. I am sure, no galley-slave ever took to +his oar with more reluctance than poor Frazer. He was indefatigable in +most things, but he could not endure the oar. + +NATIVES BECOME UNRULY. + +We did not fall in with any natives on the 30th, neither did we see those +who had preceded us from the last tribe. On the 31st, to my mortification, +the river held so much to the northward, that we undid almost all our +southing. What with its regular turns, and its extensive sweeps, the +Murray covers treble the ground, at a moderate computation, that it would +occupy in a direct course; and we had a practical instance of the truth of +this in the course of the afternoon, when we found our friends ready to +introduce us to a large assemblage of natives. On asking them how they had +passed us, they pointed directly east to the spot at which we had parted. +By crossing from one angle of the river to the other, they had performed +in little more than half a day, a journey which it had taken us two long +days to accomplish. After our usual distribution of presents, we pushed +away from the bank; though not without some difficulty, in consequence of +the obstinacy of the natives in wishing to detain us; and I was +exceedingly vexed to find, while we were yet in sight of them, that we had +proceeded down a shallow channel on one side of an island instead of the +further and deeper one; so that the boat ultimately grounded. A crowd of +the blacks rushed into the water, and surrounded us on every side. Some +came to assist us, others, under a pretence of assisting, pulled against +us, and I was at length obliged to repel them by threats. A good many of +them were very much disposed to annoy us, and, after the boat was in deep +water, some of them became quite infuriated, because we would not return. +Had we been within distance, they would assuredly have hurled their spears +at us. Thirteen of them followed us to our resting place. They kept rather +apart from us, and kindled their fire in a little hollow about fifty paces +to our right; nor did they venture to approach the tents unless we called +to them, so that by their quiet and unobtrusive conduct they made up in +some measure for the unruly proceedings of others of their tribe. + +We had now arrived at a point at which I hoped to gain some information +from the natives, respecting the sea. It was to no purpose, however, that +I questioned these stupid people. They understood perfectly, by my +pointing to the sky, and by other signs, that I was inquiring about large +waters, but they could not, or would not, give any information on the +subject. + +CHANGE IN THE GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY. + +As we proceeded down the river, its current became weaker, and its channel +somewhat deeper. Our attention was called to a remarkable change in the +geology of the country, as well as to an apparent alteration in the +natural productions. The cliffs of sand and clay ceased, and were +succeeded by a fossil formation of the most singular description. At +first, it did not exceed a foot in height above the water, but it +gradually rose, like an inclined plane, and resembled in colour, and in +appearance, the skulls of men piled one upon the other. The constant +rippling of the water against the rock had washed out the softer parts, +and made hollows and cavities, that gave the whole formation the precise +appearance of a catacomb. On examination, we discovered it to be a compact +bed of shells, composed of a common description of marine shell from two +to three inches in length, apparently a species of turritella. + +BANKS OF PETRIFIED SHELLS. + +At about nine miles from the commencement of this formation, it rose to +the height of more than 150 feet; the country became undulating, and a +partial change took place in its vegetation. We stopped at an early hour, +to examine some cliffs, which rising perpendicularly from the water, were +different in character and substance from any we had as yet seen. They +approached a dirty yellow-ochre in colour, that became brighter in hue as +it rose, and, instead of being perforated, were compact and hard. +The waters of the river had, however, made horizontal lines upon their +fronts, which distinctly marked the rise and fall of the river, as the +strength or depth of the grooves distinctly indicated the levels it +generally kept. It did not appear from these lines, that the floods ever +rose more than four feet above the then level of the stream, or that they +continued for any length of time. On breaking off pieces of the rock, we +ascertained that it was composed of one solid mass of sea-shells, of +various kinds, of which the species first mentioned formed the lowest +part. + +It rained a good deal during the night, but the morning turned out +remarkably fine. The day was pleasant, for however inconvenient in some +respects the frequent showers had been, they had cooled the air, and +consequently prevented our feeling the heat so much as we should otherwise +have done, in the close and narrow glen we had now entered. + +Among the natives who followed us from the last tribe, there was an old +man, who took an uncommon fancy or attachment to Hopkinson, and who +promised, when we separated, to join us again in the course of the day. + +FACE OF THE COUNTRY. + +As we proceeded down the river we found that it was confined in a glen, +whose extreme breadth was not more than half-a-mile. The hills that rose +on either side of it were of pretty equal height. The alluvial flats were +extremely small, and the boldest cliffs separated them from each other. +The flats were lightly wooded, and were for the most part covered with +reeds or polygonum. They were not much elevated above the waters of the +river, and had every appearance of being frequently inundated. At noon we +pulled up to dine, upon the left bank, under some hills, which were from +200 to 250 feet in height. While the men were preparing our tea, +(for we had only that to boil,) M'Leay and I ascended the hills. The brush +was so thick upon them, that we could not obtain a view of the distant +interior. Their summits were covered with oyster-shells, in such abundance +as entirely to preclude the idea of their having been brought to such a +position by the natives. They were in every stage of petrification. + +In the course of the afternoon the old man joined us, and got into the +boat. As far as we could understand from his signs, we were at no great +distance from some remarkable change or other. The river had been making +to the N.W., from the commencement of the fossil formation, and it +appeared as if it was inclined to keep that direction. The old man pointed +to the N.W., and then placed his hand on the side of his head to indicate, +as I understood him, that we should sleep to the N.W. of where we then +were; but his second motion was not so intelligible, for he pointed due +south, as if to indicate that such would be our future course; and he +concluded his information, such as it was, by describing the roaring of +the sea, and the height of the waves. It was evident this old man had been +upon the coast, and we were therefore highly delighted at the prospect +thus held out to us of reaching it. + +REMARKABLE CLIFFS. + +A little below the hills under which we had stopped, the country again +assumed a level. A line of cliffs, of from two to three hundred feet in +height, flanked the river, first on one side and then on the other, +varying in length from a quarter of a mile to a mile. They rose +perpendicularly from the water, and were of a bright yellow colour, +rendered still more vivid occasionally by the sun shining full upon them. +The summits of these cliffs were as even as if they had been built by an +architect; and from their very edge, the country back from the stream was +of an uniform level, and was partly plain, and partly clothed by brush. +The soil upon this plateau, or table land, was sandy, and it was as barren +and unproductive as the worst of the country we had passed through. On the +other hand, the alluvial flats on the river increased in size, and were +less subject to flood; and the river lost much of its sandy bed, and its +current was greatly diminished in strength. + +NATIVE CHARACTER. + +It blew so fresh, during the greater part of the day, from the westward, +that we had great difficulty in pulling against the breeze. The determined +N.W. course the river kept, made me doubt the correctness of the story of +the little old black; yet there was an openness of manner about him, and a +clearness of description, that did not appear like fabrication. He pointed +to the S.S.W. when he left us, as the direction in which he would again +join us, thus confirming, without any apparent intention, what he had +stated with regard to the southerly course the river was about to take. +Among the natives who were with him, there was another man of very +different manners and appearance. Our friend was small in stature, had +piercing grey eyes, and was as quick as lightning in his movements The +other was tall, and grey headed; anxious, yet unobtrusive; and confident, +without the least mixture of boldness. The study of the human character on +many occasions similar to this, during our intercourse with these people, +rude and uncivilized as they were, was not only pleasing, but instructive. +We found that the individuals of a tribe partook of one general character, +and that the whole of the tribe were either decidedly quiet, or as +decidedly disorderly. The whole of the blacks left us when we started, +but we had not gone very far, when the individual I have described brought +his family, consisting of about fifteen persons. We were going down a part +of the river in which there was a very slight fall. The natives were +posted under some blue-gum trees, upon the right bank, and there was a +broad shoal of sand immediately to our left. They walked over to this +shoal, to receive some little presents, but did not follow when we +continued our journey. + +TAKE BEARINGS. + +During the whole of the day the river ran to the N.W. We stopped for the +night under some cliffs, similar to those we had already passed, but +somewhat higher. From their summit, mountains were visible to the N.W., +but at a great distance from us. I doubted not that they were at the head +of the southern gulfs; or of one of them, at all events. Our observations +placed us in 34 degrees 08 minutes south of lat., and in long. 139 degrees +41 minutes 15 seconds; we were consequently nearly seventy miles from +Spencer's Gulf, in a direct line, and I should have given that as the +distance the hills appeared to be from us. They bore as follows:-- + + Lofty round mountain, S. 127 degrees W. + Mountain scarcely visible, S. 128 degrees W. + Northern extremity of a broken range, S. 102 degrees W. + Southern extremity scarcely visible, S. 58 degrees W. + +The country between the river and these ranges appeared to be very low, +and darkly wooded: that to the N.E. was more open. The summit of the cliff +did not form any table-land, but it dipped almost immediately to the +westward, and the country, although, as I have already remarked, it was +depressed, and undulated. + +I walked to some distance from the river, across a valley, and started +several kangaroos; but I was quite alone, and could not, therefore, secure +one of them. Had the dogs been near, we should have had a fine feast. The +soil of the interior still continued sandy, but there was a kind of short +grass mixed with the salsolaceous plants upon it, that indicated, as I +thought, a change for the better in the vegetation; and the circumstance +of there being kangaroos in the valleys to the westward was also a +favourable sign. + +FEAST ON A TORTOISE. + +Beneath the cliffs hereabouts, the river was extremely broad and deep. +My servant thought it a good place for fishing and accordingly set a +night-line, one end of which he fastened to the bough of a tree. During +the night, being on guard, he saw a small tortoise floating on the water, +so near that he struck it a violent blow with a large stick, upon which it +dived: to his surprise, however, in the morning, he found that it had +taken the bait, and was fast to the line. On examining it, the shell +proved to be cracked, so that the blow must have been a severe one. It was +the largest we had ever seen, and made an excellent dish. The flesh was +beautifully white, nor could anything, especially under our circumstances, +have been more tempting than it was when cooked; yet M'Leay would not +partake of it. + +The prevailing wind was, at this time, from the S.W. It blew heavily all +day, but moderated towards the evening + +I was very anxious, at starting on the 3rd, as to the course the river +would take, since it would prove whether the little old man had played us +false or not. From the cliffs under which we had slept, it held a direct +N.W. course for two or three miles. It then turned suddenly to the S.E., +and gradually came round to E.N.E., so that after two hours pulling, we +found ourselves just opposite to the spot from which we had started, the +neck of land that separated the channels not being more than 200 yards +across. I have before noticed a bend similar to this, which the Murray +makes, a little above the junction of the supposed Darling with it. + +CHART OF THE RIVER. + +It may appear strange to some of my readers, that I should have laid down +the windings of the river so minutely. It may therefore be necessary for +me to state that every bend of it was laid down by compass, and that the +bearings of the angles as they opened were regularly marked by me, so that +not a single winding or curve of the Murray is omitted in the large chart. +The length of some of the reaches may be erroneous, but their direction is +strictly correct. I always had a sheet of paper and the compass before me, +and not only marked down the river line, but also the description of +country nearest; its most minute changes, its cliffs, its flats, the kind +of country back from it, its lagoons, the places at which the tribes +assembled, its junctions, tributaries and creeks, together with our +several positions, were all regularly noted, so that on our return up the +river we had no difficulty in ascertaining upon what part of it we were, +by a reference to the chart; and it proved of infinite service to us, +since we were enabled to judge of our distance from our several camps, as +we gained them day by day with the current against us; and we should often +have stopped short of them, weary and exhausted, had we not known that two +or three reaches more would terminate our labour for the day. + +REMARKABLE CLIFFS. + +From the spot last spoken of, the river held on a due south course for the +remainder of the day; and at the same time changed its character. It lost +its sandy bed and its current together, and became deep, still, and +turbid, with a muddy bottom. It increased considerably in breadth, and +stretched away before us in magnificent reaches of from three to six miles +in length. The cliffs under which we passed towered above us, like +maritime cliffs, and the water dashed against their base like the waves of +the sea. They became brighter and brighter in colour, looking like dead +gold in the sun's rays; and formed an unbroken wall of a mile or two in +length. The natives on their summits showed as small as crows; and the +cockatoos, the eagles, and other birds, were as specks above us; the +former made the valley reverberate with their harsh and discordant notes. +The reader may form some idea of the height of these cliffs, when informed +that the king of the feathered race made them his sanctuary. They were +continuous on both sides of the river, but retired, more or less, from it, +according to the extent of the alluvial flats. The river held a serpentine +course down the valley through which it passed, striking the precipices +alternately on each side. + +The soil on the flats was better, and less mixed with sand than it had +been, but the flats were generally covered with reeds, though certainly +not wholly subject to flood at any time. The polygonum still prevailed +upon them in places, and the blue-gum tree alone occupied their outskirts. +From the several elevations we ascended, the country to the N.W. appeared +undulating and well wooded; that to the eastward, seemed to be brushy and +low. Certainly there was a great difference in the country, both to the +eastward and to the westward. We had frequent views of the mountains we +had seen, or, I should have said, of a continuation of them. They bore +nearly west from us at a very great distance all day. + +We fell in with several tribes, but did not see our old friend, although, +from the inquiries we made, it was evident he was well known among them. +It would disgust my readers were I to describe the miserable state of +disease and infirmity to which these tribes were reduced. Leprosy of the +most loathsome description, the most violent cutaneous eruptions, and +glandular affections, absolutely raged through the whole of them; yet we +could not escape from the persecuting examination of our persons that +curiosity prompted them in some measure to insist upon. + +REJOINED BY OUR OLD NATIVE GUIDE. + +The old man, whose information had proved strictly correct, joined us +again on the 4th, and his joy at being received into the boat was +unbounded, as well as the pleasure he expressed at again meeting +Hopkinson. He had been on a long journey, it would appear, for he had not +then reached his tribe. As we approached their haunt, he landed and +preceded us to collect them. We were, of course, more than usually liberal +to so old a friend, and we were really sorry to part with him. + +Soon after leaving his tribe, which occupied the left bank of the river, +and was very weak in point of numbers, we fell in with a very strong tribe +upon the right bank. They numbered 211 in all. We lay off the bank, in +order to escape their importunities; a measure that by no means satisfied +them. The women appeared to be very prolific; but, as a race, these people +are not to be compared with the natives of the mountains, or of the upper +branches of the Murray. + +We passed some beautiful scenery in the course of the day. The river +preserved a direct southerly course, and could not in any place have been +less than 400 yards in breadth. The cliffs still continued, and varied +perpetually in form; at one time presenting a perpendicular wall to the +view, at others, they overhung the stream, in huge fragments. All were +composed of a mass of shells of various kinds; a fact which will call for +further observation and remark. + +DELAYED BY STRONG WINDS. + +Many circumstances at this time tended to confirm our hopes that the sea +could not be very far from us, or that we should not be long in gaining +it. Some sea-gulls flew over our heads, at which Fraser was about to +shoot, had I not prevented him, for I hailed them as the messengers of +glad tidings, and thought they ill deserved such a fate. It blew very hard +from the S.W., during the whole of the day, and we found it extremely +laborious pulling against the heavy and short sea that came rolling up the +broad and open reaches of the Murray at this place. + +Four of the blacks, from the last tribe, followed us, and slept at the +fires; but they were suspicious and timid, and appeared to be very glad +when morning dawned. Our fires were always so much larger than those made +by themselves, that, they fancied, perhaps, we were going to roast them. +Our dogs, likewise, gave them great uneasiness; for although so fond of +the native brute, they feared ours, from their size. We generally tied +them to the boat, therefore, to prevent a recurrence of theft, so that +they were not altogether useless. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + + +Improvement in the aspect of the country--Increase of the river--Strong +westerly gales--Chronometer broken--A healthier tribe of natives-- +Termination of the Murray in a large lake--Its extent and environs-- +Passage across it--Hostile appearance of the natives--Beautiful scenery +--Channel from the lake to the sea at Encounter Bay--Reach the beach-- +Large flocks of water fowl--Curious refraction--State of provisions-- +Embarrassing situation--Inspection of the channel to the ocean--Weak +condition of the men--Difficulties of the return. + +DELIGHTFUL COUNTRY. + +It now appeared that the Murray had taken a permanent southerly course; +indeed, it might strictly be said that it ran away to the south. As we +proceeded down it, the valley expanded to the width of two miles; the +alluvial flats became proportionably larger; and a small lake generally +occupied their centre. They were extensively covered with reeds and grass, +for which reason, notwithstanding that they were little elevated above the +level of the stream, I do not think they are subject to overflow. Parts of +them may be laid under water, but certainly not the whole. The rains at +the head of the Murray, and its tributaries, must be unusually severe to +prolong their effects to this distant region, and the flats bordering it +appear, by successive depositions, to have only just gained a height above +the further influence of the floods. Should this prove to be the case, the +valley may be decidedly laid down as a most desirable spot, whether we +regard the richness of its soil, its rock formation, its locality, or the +extreme facility of water communication along it. It must not, however, be +forgotten or concealed, that the summits of the cliffs by which the valley +is enclosed, have not a corresponding soil. On the contrary, many of the +productions common to the plains of the interior still existed upon them, +and they were decidedly barren; but as we measured the reaches of the +river, the cliffs ceased, and gave place to undulating hills, that were +very different in appearance from the country we had previously noted +down. It would have been impossible for the most tasteful individual to +have laid out pleasure ground to more advantage, than Nature had done in +planting and disposing the various groups of trees along the spine, and +upon the sides of the elevations that confined the river, and bounded the +low ground that intervened between it and their base. Still, however, the +soil upon these elevations was sandy, and coarse, but the large oat-grass +was abundant upon them, which yielded pasture at least as good as that in +the broken country between Underaliga and Morumbidgee. + +We had now gained a distance of at least sixty miles from that angle of +the Murray at which it reaches its extreme west. The general aspect of the +country to our right was beautiful, and several valleys branched away into +the interior upon that side which had a most promising appearance, and +seemed to abound with kangaroos, as the traces of them were numerous, and +the dogs succeeded in killing one, which, to our great mortification, we +could not find. + +While, however, the country to the westward had so much to recommend it, +the hills to our left became extremely bare. It was evident that the right +was the sheltered side of the valley. The few trees on the opposite side +bent over to the N.E., as if under the influence of some prevailing wind. + +ADVERSE GALES. + +We experienced at this time a succession of gales from the S.W., against +which we, on several occasions, found it useless to contend: the waves on +the river being heavy and short; and the boat, driving her prow into them, +sent the spray over us and soon wet us through. Indeed, it is difficult +for the reader to imagine the heavy swell that rolled up the river, which +had increased in breadth to the third of a mile, and in the length of its +reaches to eight or ten. I was satisfied that we were not only navigating +this river at a particularly stormy, perhaps THE stormy, season; but also, +that the influence of the S.W. wind is felt even as far in the interior as +to the supposed Darling; in consequence of the uniform build of the huts, +and the circumstance of their not only facing the N.E., but also being +almost invariably erected under the lee of some bush. + +The weather, under the influence of the wind we experienced, was cool and +pleasant, although the thermometer stood at a medium height of 86 degrees; +but we found it very distressing to pull against the heavy breezes that +swept up the valley, and bent the reeds so as almost to make them kiss the +stream. + +We communicated on the 6th and 7th with several large tribes of natives, +whose manners were on the whole quiet and inoffensive. They distinctly +informed us, that we were fast approaching the sea, and, from what I could +understand, we were nearer to it than the coast line of Encounter Bay made +us. We had placed sticks to ascertain if there was any rise or fall of +tide, but the troubled state of the river prevented our experiments from +being satisfactory. By selecting a place, however, that was sheltered from +the effects of the wind, we ascertained that there was an apparent rise +of about eight inches. + +OBLIGED TO TAKE REPOSE. + +It blew a heavy gale during the whole of the 7th; and we laboured in vain +at the oar. The gusts that swept the bosom of the water, and the swell +they caused, turned the boat from her course, and prevented us from making +an inch of way. The men were quite exhausted, and, as they had conducted +themselves so well, and had been so patient, I felt myself obliged to +grant them every indulgence consistent with our safety. However precarious +our situation, it would have been vain, with our exhausted strength, to +have contended against the elements. We, therefore, pulled in to the left +bank of the river, and pitched our tents on a little rising ground beyond +the reeds that lined it. + +CHRONOMETER BROKEN. + +I had been suffering very much front tooth-ache for the last three or four +days, and this day felt the most violent pain from the wind. I was not, +therefore, sorry to get under even the poor shelter our tents afforded. +M'Leay, observing that I was in considerable pain, undertook to wind up +the chronometer; but, not understanding or knowing the instrument, he +unfortunately broke the spring. I shall not forget the anxiety he +expressed, and the regret he felt on the occasion; nor do I think M'Leay +recovered the shock this unlucky accident gave him for two or three days, +or until the novelty of other scenes drove it from his recollection. + +We landed close to the haunt of a small tribe of natives, who came to us +with the most perfect confidence, and assisted the men in their +occupations. They were cleaner and more healthy than any tribe we had +seen; and were extremely cheerful, although reserved in some respects. +As a mark of more than usual cleanliness, the women had mats of oval +shape, upon which they sat, made, apparently, of rushes. There was a +young girl among them of a most cheerful disposition. She was about +eighteen, was well made, and really pretty. This girl was married to an +elderly man who had broken his leg, which having united in a bent shape, +the limb was almost useless. I really believe the girl thought we could +cure her husband, from her importunate manner to us. I regretted that I +could do nothing for the man, but to show that I was not inattentive to +her entreaties, I gave him a pair of trousers, and desired Fraser to put +them upon him; but the poor fellow cut so awkward an appearance in them, +that his wife became quite distressed, and Fraser was obliged speedily +to disencumber him from them again. + +We could not gain any satisfactory information, as to the termination of +the river, from these people. It was evident that some change was at hand; +but what it was we could not ascertain. + +APPEARANCE OF SOME APPROACHING CHANGE. + +On the morning of the 9th, we left our fair friend and her lame husband, +and proceeded down the river. The wind had moderated, although it still +blew fresh. We ascended every height as we went along, but could not see +any new feature in the country. Our view to the eastward was very +confined; to the westward the interior was low and dark, and was backed in +the distance by lofty ranges, parallel to which we had been running for +some days. The right bank of the valley was beautifully undulated, but the +left was bleak and bare. The valley had a breadth of from three to four +miles, and the flats were more extensive under the former than under the +latter. They were scarcely two feet above the level of the water, and were +densely covered with reeds. As there was no mark upon the reeds to +indicate the height to which the floods rose, I cannot think that these +flats are ever wholly laid under water; if they are, it cannot be to any +depth: at all events a few small drains would effectually prevent +inundation. The soil upon the hills continued to be much mixed with sand, +and the prevailing trees were cypress and box. Among the minor shrubs and +grass, many common to the east coasts were noticed; and although the bold +cliffs had ceased, the basis of the country still continued of the fossil +formation. At a turn of the stream hereabouts, however, a solitary rock of +coarse red granite rose above the waters, and formed an island in its +centre; but only in this one place was it visible. The rock was composed +principally of quartz and feldspar. + +A little below it, we found a large tribe anxiously awaiting our arrival. +They crowded to the margin of the river with great eagerness, and evinced +more surprise at our appearance than any tribe we had seen during the +journey; but we left them very soon, notwithstanding that they importuned +us much to stay. + +After pulling a mile or two, we found a clear horizon before us to the +south. The hills still continued upon our left, but we could not see any +elevation over the expanse of reeds to our right. The river inclined to +the left, and swept the base of the hills that still continued on that +side. I consequently landed once more to survey the country. + +TERMINATION OF THE MURRAY IN A LARGE LAKE. + +I still retained a strong impression on my mind that some change was at +hand, and on this occasion, I was not disappointed; but the view was one +for which I was not altogether prepared. We had, at length, arrived at the +termination of the Murray. Immediately below me was a beautiful lake, +which appeared to be a fitting reservoir for the noble stream that had led +us to it; and which was now ruffled by the breeze that swept over it. +The ranges were more distinctly visible, stretching from south to north, +and were certainly distant forty miles. They had a regular unbroken +outline; declining gradually to the south, but terminating abruptly at a +lofty mountain northerly. I had no doubt on my mind of this being the +Mount Lofty of Captain Flinders; or that the range was that immediately to +the eastward of St. Vincent's Gulf--Since the accident to the chronometer, +we had not made any westing, so that we knew our position as nearly as +possible. Between us and the ranges a beautiful promontory shot into the +lake, being a continuation of the right bank of the Murray. Over this +promontory the waters stretched to the base of the ranges, and formed an +extensive bay. To the N.W. the country was exceedingly low, but distant +peaks were just visible over it. To the S.W. a bold headland showed +itself; beyond which, to the westward, there was a clear and open sea +visible, through a strait formed by this headland and a point projecting +from the opposite shore. To the E. and S.E. the country was low, excepting +the left shore of the lake, which was backed by some minor elevations, +crowned with cypresses. Even while gazing on this fine scene, I could not +but regret that the Murray had thus terminated; for I immediately foresaw +that, in all probability, we should be disappointed in finding any +practicable communication between the lake and the ocean, as it was +evident that the former was not much influenced by tides. The wind had +again increased; it still blew fresh from the S.W. and a heavy sea was +rolling direct into the mouth of the river. I hoped, notwithstanding, that +we should have been enabled to make sail, for which reason we entered the +lake about 2 p.m. The natives had kindled a large fire on a distant point +between us and the further headland, and to gain this point our efforts +were now directed. The waves were, however, too strong, and we were +obliged to make for the eastern shore, until such time as the weather +should moderate. We pitched our tents on a low track of land that +stretched away seemingly for many miles directly behind us to the +eastward. It was of the richest soil, being a black vegetable deposit, +and although now high above the influence, the lake had, it was evident, +once formed a part of its bed. The appearance of the country altogether +encouraged M'Leay and myself to walk out, in order to examine it from some +hills a little to the S.E. of the camp. From them we observed that the +flat extended over about fifty miles, and was bounded by the elevations +that continued easterly from the left bank of the Murray to the north, +and by a line of rising-ground to the south. The whole was lightly wooded, +and covered with grass. The season must have been unusually dry, judging +from the general appearance of the vegetation, and from the circumstance +of the lagoons in the interior being wholly exhausted. + +Thirty-three days had now passed over our heads since we left the depot +upon the Morumbidgee, twenty-six of which had been passed upon the Murray. +We had, at length, arrived at the grand reservoir of those waters whose +course and fate had previously been involved in such obscurity. It +remained for us to ascertain whether the extensive sheet of water upon +whose bosom we had embarked, had any practicable communication with the +ocean, and whether the country in the neighbourhood of the coast +corresponded with that immediately behind our camp, or kept up its sandy +and sterile character to the very verge of the sea. As I have already +said, my hopes on the first of these points were considerably damped, but +I could not help anticipating a favourable change in the latter, since its +features had so entirely changed. + +DETAINED BY THE WIND. + +The greatest difficulty against which we had at present to contend was the +wind; and I dreaded the exertion it would call for, to make head against +it; for the men were so much reduced that I felt convinced they were +inadequate to any violent or prolonged effort. It still blew fresh at +8 p.m., but at that time it began to moderate. It may be imagined that I +listened to its subdued gusts with extreme anxiety. It did not wholly +abate until after 2 a.m., when it gradually declined, and about 3 a light +breeze sprung up from the N. E. + +We had again placed sticks to ascertain with more precision the rise of +tide, and found it to be the same as in the river. In the stillness of the +night too we thought we heard the roaring of the sea, but I was myself +uncertain upon the point, as the wind might have caused the sound. + +From the top of the hill from which we had obtained our first view of the +lake, I observed the waves breaking upon the distant headland, and +enveloping the cliff in spray; so that, independent of the clearness of +the horizon beyond it, I was further led to conclude that there existed a +great expanse of water to the S.W.; and, as that had been the direction +taken by the river, I thought it probable that by steering at once to the +S.W. down the lake, I should hit the outlet. I, consequently, resolved to +gain the southern extremity of the lake, as that at which it was natural +to expect a communication with the ocean would be found. + +GEOLOGICAL FORMATION. + +At 4 we had a moderate breeze, and it promised to strengthen; we lost no +time therefore in embarking, and with a flowing sheet stretched over to +the W.S.W., and ran along the promontory formed by the right bank of the +Murray. We passed close under its extreme point at nine. The hills had +gradually declined, and we found the point to be a flat, elevated about +thirty feet above the lake. It was separated from the promontory by a +small channel that was choked up with reeds, so that it is more than +probable that the point is insulated at certain periods; whilst in its +stratification it resembled the first cliffs I have described that were +passed below the Darling. It is a remarkable fact in the geology of the +Murray, that such should be the case; and that the formation at each +extremity of the great bank or bed of fossils should be the same. +Thus far, the waters of the lake had continued sweet; but on filling a can +when we were abreast of this point, it was found that they were quite +unpalatable, to say the least of them. The transition from fresh to salt +water was almost immediate, and it was fortunate we made the discovery in +sufficient time to prevent our losing ground. But, as it was, we filled +our casks, and stood on, without for a moment altering our course. + +PASSAGE ACROSS THE LAKE--ITS SHALLOWNESS. + +It is difficult to give a just description of our passage across the lake. +The boisterous weather we had had seemed to have blown over. A cool and +refreshing breeze was carrying us on at between four and five knots an +hour, and the heavens above us were without a cloud. It almost appeared as +if nature had resisted us in order to try our perseverance, and that she +had yielded in pity to our efforts. The men, relieved for a time from the +oar, stretched themselves at their length in the boat, and commented on +the scenery around them, or ventured their opinions as to that which was +before them. Up to this moment their conduct had been most exemplary; not +a murmur had escaped from them, and they filled the water-casks with the +utmost cheerfulness, even whilst tasting the disagreeable beverage they +would most probably have to subsist on for the next three or four days. + +As soon as we had well opened the point, we had a full view of the +splendid bay that, commencing at the western most of the central points, +swept in a beautiful curve under the ranges. No land was visible to the +W.N.W. or to the S.S.W.: in both these quarters the lake was as open as +the ocean. It appeared, therefore, that the land intermediate was an +island. To the north the country was extremely low, and as we increased +our distance from it we lost sight of it altogether. At noon we were +nearly abreast of the eastern headland, or in the centre of the strait to +which I have alluded. At this time there was an open sea from W.N.W. to +N. by E. A meridian altitude gave our latitude 35 degrees 25 minutes. +The land to our left was bold and precipitous; that to the right was low +and wooded; and there was evidently a considerable space between the +shores of the lake and the base of the ranges. The country to the eastward +was hidden from us by the line of cliffs, beyond which from E.S.E. to +W.S.W. there was an open sea. We had kept the lead going from the first, +and I was surprised at the extreme shallowness of the lake in every part, +as we never had six feet upon the line. Its bottom was one of black mud, +and weeds of enormous length were floating on its surface, detached by the +late gales, and which, from the shallowness of the lake, got constantly +entangled with our rudder. + +We tried to land on the eastern point, but found the water too shallow, +and were obliged to try the western shore. In passing close under the +head, we observed several natives upon it, who kindled a large fire as +soon as they saw they were noticed, which was answered from every point; +for, in less than ten minutes afterwards, we counted no fewer than +fourteen different fires, the greater number of which were on the side of +the ranges. + +SHORES OF THE LAKE. + +As we were standing across from one shore to the other, our attention was +drawn to a most singular object. It started suddenly up, as above the +waters to the south, and strikingly resembled an isolated castle. Behind +it, a dense column of smoke rose into the sky, and the effect was most +remarkable. On a nearer approach, the phantom disappeared and a clear and +open sea again presented itself to our view. The fact was, that the +refractive power upon the coast had elevated the sand-hillocks above their +true position, since we satisfactorily ascertained that they alone +separated the lake from the ocean, and that they alone could have produced +the semblance we noticed. It is a singular fact, that this very hillock +was the one which Capt. Barker ascended whilst carrying on the survey of +the south coast, and immediately previous to his tragical death. + +It was not without difficulty that we succeeded in landing on the western +shore; but we did, at length, succeed, and prepared our dinners. The shore +was low, but above the reach of all floods; the soil was rich, and +superficially sandy. It was covered with high grasses, and abounded in +kangaroos; within the space of a few yards we found five or six, but they +were immediately lost to us and to the dogs in the luxuriance of the +vegetation amidst which they were feeding. + +As soon as we had finished our meal, we once more embarked, and stood +along the shore to the S.W., but the lake was so shoal, that I was every +moment apprehensive we should ground. I ran across, therefore, to the +south, towards a low flat that had just appeared above the line of the +horizon, in hope that, in sounding, we should have found the channel, but +there either was none, or else it was so narrow that we passed over it +between the heaves of the lead. At this time, the western shore was quite +distinct, and the scenery was beautiful. + +The flat we were approaching was a mud-flat, and, from its appearance, the +tide was certainly at the ebb. We observed some cradles, or wicker frames, +placed far below high water-mark, that were each guarded by two natives, +who threatened us violently as we approached. In running along the land, +the stench from them plainly indicated what they were which these poor +creatures were so anxiously watching. + +We steered a S.W. course, towards some low and wooded hills, passing a +rocky island, and found that we had struck the mouth of a channel running +to the W.S.W. It was about half-a-mile wide, was bounded to the right by +some open flat ground, and to the left by a line of hills of about sixty +or seventy feet in elevation, partly open and partly covered with +beefwood. + +WARLIKE DEMEANOUR OF THE NATIVES. + +Upon the first of these hills, we observed a large body of natives, who +set up the most terrific yells as we approached. They were fully equipped +for battle and, as we neared the shore, came down to meet us with the most +violent threats. I wished much to communicate with them, and, not without +hopes of quieting them, stood right in with the intention of landing. +I observed, however, that if I did so, I should have to protect myself. +I hauled a little off, and endeavoured, by holding up a branch and a +tomahawk, to gain their confidence, but they were not to be won over by +my show of pacification. An elderly man walked close to the water's edge +unarmed, and, evidently, directed the others. He was followed by seven or +eight of the most daring, who crept into the reeds, with their spears +shipped to throw at us. I, therefore, took up my gun to return their +salute. It then appeared that they were perfectly aware of the weapon I +carried, for the moment they saw it, they dashed out of their hiding place +and retreated to the main body; but the old man, after saying something +to them, walked steadily on, and I, on my part, laid my firelock down +again. + +LOVELY EVENING. + +It was now near sunset; and one of the most lovely evenings I had ever +seen. The sun's radiance was yet upon the mountains, but all lower objects +were in shade. The banks of the channel, with the trees and the rocks, +were reflected in the tranquil waters, whose surface was unruffled save by +the thousands of wild fowl that rose before us, and made a noise as of a +multitude clapping hands, in their clumsy efforts to rise from the waters. +Not one of them allowed us to get within shot. + +We proceeded about a mile below the hill on which the natives were posted; +some few still following us with violent threats. We landed, however, on a +flat, bounded all round by the continuation of the hills. It was an +admirable position, for, in the centre of it, we could not be taken by +surprise, and, on the other hand, we gave the natives an opportunity of +communicating with us if they would. The full moon rose as we were forming +the camp, and, notwithstanding our vicinity to so noisy a host, the +silence of death was around us, or the stillness of the night was only +broken by the roar of the ocean, now too near to be mistaken for wind, +or by the silvery and melancholy note of the black swans as they passed +over us, to seek for food, no doubt, among the slimy weeds at the head of +the lake. We had been quite delighted with the beauty of the channel, +which was rather more than half-a-mile in width. Numberless mounds, that +seemed to invite civilised man to erect his dwelling upon them, presented +themselves to our view. The country round them was open, yet ornamentally +wooded, and rocks and trees hung or drooped over the waters. + +EXTENT OF THE LAKE. + +We had in one day gained a position I once feared it would have cost us +infinite labour to have measured. Indeed, had we been obliged to pull +across the lake, unless during a calm, I am convinced the men would have +been wholly exhausted. We had to thank a kind Providence that such was not +the case, since it had extended its mercy to us at so critical a moment. +We had indeed need of all the little strength we had remaining, and could +ill have thrown it away on such an effort as this would have required. +I calculated that we could not have run less than forty-five miles during +the day, a distance that, together with the eight miles we had advanced +the evening previously, would give the length of the lake at fifty-three +miles. + +We had approached to within twelve miles of the ranges, but had not gained +their southern extremity. From the camp, Mount Barker bore nearly north. +The ranges appeared to run north and south to our position, and then to +bend away to the S.S.W., gradually declining to that point, which I +doubted not terminated in Cape Jervis. The natives kept aloof during the +night, nor did the dogs by a single growl intimate that any had ventured +to approach us. The sound of the surf came gratefully to our ears, for it +told us we were near the goal for which we had so anxiously pushed, and we +all of us promised ourselves a view of the boundless ocean on the morrow. + +CHANNEL TO THE SEA--ITS SHALLOWNESS. + +As the morning dawned, we saw that the natives had thrown an out-post of +sixteen men across the channel, who were watching our motions; but none +showed themselves on the hills behind us, or on any part of the south +shore. We embarked as soon as we had breakfasted, A fresh breeze was +blowing from the N.E. which took us rapidly down the channel, and our +prospects appeared to be as cheering as the day, for just as we were about +to push from the shore, a seal rose close to the boat, which we all +regarded as a favourable omen. We were, however, shortly stopped by +shoals; it was in vain that we beat across the channel from one side to +the other; it was a continued shoal, and the deepest water appeared to be +under the left bank. The tide, however, had fallen, and exposed broad +flats, over which it was hopeless, under existing circumstances, to haul +the boat. We again landed on the south side of the channel, patiently to +await the high water. + +M'Leay, myself, and Fraser, ascended the hills, and went to the opposite +side to ascertain the course of the channel, for immediately above us it +turned south round the hills. We there found that we were on a narrow +tongue of land. The channel was immediately below us, and continued to the +E.S.E. as far as we could trace it. The hills we were upon, were the sandy +hills that always bound a coast that is low, and were covered with +banksias, casuarina and the grass-tree. + +To the south of the channel there was a flat, backed by a range of +sand-hummocks, that were covered with low shrubs; and beyond them the sea +was distinctly visible. We could not have been more than two and a half +miles from the beach where we stood. + +Notwithstanding the sandy nature of the soil, the fossil formation again +showed itself, not only on these hills, but also on the rocks that were in +the channel. + +A little before high water we again embarked. A seal had been observed +playing about, and we augured well from such an omen. The blacks had been +watching us from the opposite shore, and as soon as we moved, rose to keep +abreast of us. With all our efforts we could not avoid the shoals. We +walked up to our knees in mud and water, to find the least variation in +the depth of the water so as to facilitate our exertions, but it was to no +purpose. We were ultimately obliged to drag the boat over the flats; there +were some of them a quarter of a mile in breadth, knee-deep in mud; but at +length got her into deep water again. The turn of the channel was now +before us, and we had a good run for about four or five miles. We had +completed the bend, and the channel now stretched to the E.S.E. At about +nine miles from us there was a bright sand-hill visible, near which the +channel seemed to turn again to the south; and I doubted not that it +terminated there. It was to no purpose, however, that we tried to gain it. +Shoals again closed in upon us on every side. We dragged the boat over +several, and at last got amongst quicksands. I, therefore, directed our +efforts to hauling the boat over to the south side of the channel, as that +on which we could most satisfactorily ascertain our position. After great +labour we succeeded, and, as evening had closed in, lost no time in +pitching the tents. + +BEACH OF ENCOUNTER BAY. + +While the men were thus employed, I took Fraser with me, and, accompanied +by M'Leay, crossed the sand-hummocks behind us, and descended to the +sea-shore. I found that we had struck the south coast deep in the bight +of Encounter Bay. We had no time for examination, but returned immediately +to the camp, as I intended to give the men an opportunity to go to the +beach. They accordingly went and bathed, and returned not only highly +delighted at this little act of good nature on my part, but loaded with +cockles, a bed of which they had managed to find among the sand. Clayton +had tied one end of his shirt up, and brought a bag full, and amused +himself with boiling cockles all night long. + +If I had previously any hopes of being enabled ultimately to push the boat +over the flats that were before us, a view of the channel at low water, +convinced me of the impracticability of any further attempt. The water was +so low that every shoal was exposed, and many stretched directly from one +side of the channel to the other; and, but for the treacherous nature of +the sand-banks, it would not have been difficult to have walked over dry +footed to the opposite side of it. The channel stretched away to the +E.S.E., to a distance of seven or eight miles, when it appeared to turn +south under a small sand-hill, upon which the rays of the sun fell, as it +was sinking behind us. + +CURIOUS EFFECT OF REFRACTION. + +There was an innumerable flock of wild-fowl arranged in rows along the +sides of the pools left by the tide, and we were again amused by the +singular effect of the refraction upon them, and the grotesque and +distorted forms they exhibited. Swans, pelicans, ducks, and geese, were +mingled together, and, according to their distance from us, presented +different appearances. Some were exceedingly tall and thin, others were +unnaturally broad. Some appeared reversed, or as if they were standing on +their heads, and the slightest motion, particularly the flapping of their +wings, produced a most ridiculous effect. No doubt, the situation and the +state of the atmosphere were favourable to the effect I have described. +The day had been fine, the evening was beautiful,--but it was the +rarefaction of the air immediately playing on the ground, and not the +haze at sunset that caused what I have noticed. It is distinct from +mirage, although it is difficult to point out the difference. The one, +however, distorts, the other conceals objects, and gives them a false +distance. The one is clear, the other is cloudy. The one raises objects +above their true position, the other does not. The one plays about, the +other is steady; but I cannot hope to give a proper idea either of mirage +or refraction so satisfactorily as I could wish. Many travellers have +dwelt upon their effects, particularly upon those of the former, but few +have attempted to account for them. + +Our situation was one of peculiar excitement and interest. To our right +the thunder of the heavy surf, that almost shook the ground beneath us, +broke with increasing roar upon our ears; to our left the voice of the +natives echoed through the brush, and the size of their fires at the +extremity of the channel, seemed to indicate the alarm our appearance had +occasioned. + +CRITICAL SITUATION OF THE PARTY. + +While the men were enjoying their cockles, a large kettle of which they +had boiled, M'Leay and I were anxiously employed in examining the state of +our provisions, and in ascertaining what still remained. Flour and tea +were the only articles we had left, so that the task was not a difficult +one. It appeared that we had not sufficient of either to last us to +Pondebadgery, at which place we expected to find supplies; and, taking +every thing into consideration, our circumstances were really critical. + +The first view of Encounter Bay had convinced me that no vessel would ever +venture into it at a season when the S.W. winds prevailed. It was +impossible that we could remain upon the coast in expectation of the +relief that I doubted not had been hurried off for us; since +disappointment would have sealed our fate at once. In the deep bight in +which we were, I could not hope that any vessel would approach +sufficiently near to be seen by us. Our only chance of attracting notice +would have been by crossing the Ranges to the Gulf St. Vincent, but the +men had not strength to walk, and I hesitated to divide my party in the +presence of a determined and numerous enemy, who closely watched our +motions. Setting aside the generous feelings that had prompted M'Leay to +participate in every danger with me, and who I am persuaded would have +deeply felt a separation, my anxiety not only on his account, but on +account of the men I might leave in charge of the boat, made me averse to +this measure; the chance of any misfortune to them involving in it the +destruction of our boat and the loss of our provisions. My anxiety of mind +would have rendered me unfit for exertion; yet so desirous was I of +examining the ranges and the country at their base, that I should, had our +passage to the salt water been uninterrupted, have determined on coasting +it homewards, or of steering for Launceston; and most assuredly, with my +present experience, I would rather incur the hazards of so desperate a +step, than contend against all the evils that beset us on out homeward +journey. And the reader may rest assured, I was as much without hopes of +our eventual safety, as I was astonished, at the close of our labours, to +find that they had terminated so happily. + +INSPECTION OF THE CHANNEL FROM THE LAKE TO THE OCEAN. + +Further exertion on the part of the men being out of the question, I +determined to remain no longer on the coast than to enable me to trace the +channel to its actual junction with the sea, and to ascertain the features +of the coast at that important point. I was reluctant to exhaust the +strength of the men in dragging the boat over the numberless flats that +were before us, and made up my mind to walk along the shore until I should +gain the outlet. I at length arranged that M'Leay, I, and Fraser, should +start on this excursion, at the earliest dawn, leaving Harris and +Hopkinson in charge of the camp; for as we were to go towards the position +of the natives, I thought it improbable they would attack the camp without +my being instantly aware of it. + +We had, as I have said, intended starting at the earliest dawn, but the +night was so clear and refreshing, and the moon so bright that we +determined to avail ourselves of both, and accordingly left the tents at +3 a.m. I directed Harris to strike them at 8, and to have every thing in +readiness for our departure at that hour. We then commenced our +excursion, and I led my companions rapidly along the shore of Encounter +Bay, after crossing the sand-hills about a mile below the camp. After a +hasty and distressing walk of about seven miles, we found that the +sand-hills terminated, and a low beach spread before us. The day was just +breaking, and at the distance of a mile from us we saw the sand-hill I +have already had occasion to notice, and at about a quarter of a mile from +its base, we were checked by the channel; which, as I rightly conjectured, +being stopped in its easterly course by some rising ground, the tongue of +land on which the blacks were posted, suddenly turns south, and, striking +this sand-hill, immediately enters the sea; and we noticed, in the bight +under the rising ground, that the natives had lit a chain of small fires. +This was, most probably, a detached party watching our movements, as they +could, from where they were posted, see our camp. + +At the time we arrived at the end of the channel, the tide had turned, and +was again setting in. The entrance appeared to me to be somewhat less than +a quarter of a mile in breadth. Under the sand-hill on the off side, the +water is deep and the current strong. No doubt, at high tide, a part of +the low beach we had traversed is covered. The mouth of the channel is +defended by a double line of breakers, amidst which, it would be +dangerous to venture, except in calm and summer weather; and the line of +foam is unbroken from one end of Encounter Bay to the other. Thus were our +fears of the impracticability and inutility of the channel of +communication between the lake and the ocean confirmed. + +DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS OF THE RETURN. + +I would fain have lingered on my way, to examine, as far as circumstances +would permit, the beautiful country between the lake and the ranges; and +it was with heart-felt sorrow that I yielded to necessity. My men were +indeed very weak from poverty of diet and from great bodily fatigue. +Hopkinson, Mulholland, and Macnamee were miserably reduced. The two +former, especially, had exerted themselves beyond their strength, and +although I am confident they would have obeyed my orders to the last, +I did not feel myself justified, considering the gigantic task we had +before us, to impose additional labour upon them. + +It will be borne in mind that our difficulties were just about to +commence, when those of most other travellers have ceased; and that +instead of being assisted by the stream whose course we had followed, we +had now to contend against the united waters of the eastern ranges, +with diminished strength, and, in some measure, with disappointed +feelings. + +Under the most favourable circumstances, it was improbable that the men +would be enabled to pull for many days longer in succession; since they +had not rested upon their oars for a single day, if I except our passage +across the lake, from the moment when we started from the depot; nor was +it possible for me to buoy them up with the hope even of a momentary +cessation from labour. We had calculated the time to which our supply of +provisions would last under the most favourable circumstances, and it was +only in the event of our pulling up against the current, day after day, +the same distance we had compassed with the current in our favour, that we +could hope they would last us as long as we continued in the Murray. +But in the event of floods, or any unforeseen delay, in was impossible +to calculate at what moment we might be driven to extremity. + +Independent of these casualties, there were other circumstances of peril +to be taken into consideration. As I have already observed, I foresaw +great danger in again running through the natives. I had every reason to +believe that many of the tribes with which we had communicated on +apparently friendly terms, regretted having allowed us to pass unmolested; +nor was I at all satisfied as to the treatment we might receive from them, +when unattended by the envoys who had once or twice controlled their fury. +Our best security, therefore, against the attacks of the natives was +celerity of movement; and the men themselves seemed to be perfectly aware +of the consequences of delay. Our provisions, moreover, being calculated +to last to a certain point only, the slightest accident, the staving-in +of the boat, or the rise of the river, would inevitably be attended with +calamity. To think of reducing our rations of only three quarters of a +pound of flour per diem, was out of the question, or to hope that the men, +with less sustenance than that, would perform the work necessary to ensure +their safety, would have been unreasonable. It was better that our +provisions should hold out to a place from which we might abandon the boat +with some prospect of reaching by an effort a stock station, or the plain +on which Robert Harris was to await our return, than that they should be +consumed before the half of our homeward journey should be accomplished. +Delay, therefore, under our circumstances, would have been imprudent +and unjustifiable. + + +PATIENCE OF THE MEN--RE-ENTER THE MURRAY. +On the other hand, it was sufficiently evident to me, that the men were +too much exhausted to perform the task that was before them without +assistance, and that it would be necessary both for M'Leay and myself, +to take our share of labour at the oars. The cheerfulness and satisfaction +that my young friend evinced at the opportunity that was thus afforded him +of making himself useful, and of relieving those under him from some +portion of their toil, at the same time that they increased my sincere +esteem for him, were nothing more than what I expected from one who had +endeavoured by every means in his power to contribute to the success of +that enterprise upon which he had embarked. But although I have said thus +much of the exhausted condition of the men,--and ere these pages are +concluded my readers will feel satisfied as to the truth of my +statement--I would by no means be understood to say that they flagged for +a moment, or that a single murmur escaped them. No reluctance was visible, +no complaint was heard, but there was that in their aspect and appearance +which they could not hide, and which I could not mistake. My object in +dwelling so long upon this subject has been to point out our situation and +our feelings when we re-entered the Murray. The only circumstance that +appeared to be in our favour was the prevalence of the south-west wind, +by which I hoped we should be assisted in running up the first broad +reaches of that river. I could not but acknowledge the bounty of that +Providence, which had favoured us in our passage across the lake, and I +was led to hope that its merciful superintendance would protect us from +evil, and would silently direct us where human foresight and prudence +failed. We re-entered the river on the 13th under as fair prospects as +we would have desired. The gale which had blown with such violence in the +morning gradually abated, and a steady breeze enabled us to pass our first +encampment by availing ourselves of it as long as day light continued. +Both the valley and the river showed to advantage as we approached them, +and the scenery upon our left (the proper right bank of the Murray) +was really beautiful. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + + +Valley of the Murray--Its character and capabilities--Laborious progress +up the river--Accident to the boat--Perilous collision with the natives +--Turbid current of the Rufus--Passage of the Rapids--Assisted by the +natives--Dangerous intercourse with them--Re-enter the Morumbidgee-- +Verdant condition of its banks--Nocturnal encounter with the natives-- +Interesting manifestation of feeling in one family--Reach the spot where +the party had embarked on the river--Men begin to fail entirely-- +Determine to send two men forward for relief--Their return--Excursion on +horseback--Reach Pondebadgery Plain, and meet the supplies from the +colony--Cannibalism of the natives--Return to Sydney--Concluding remarks. + +VALLEY OF THE MURRAY. + +The valley of the Murray, at its entrance, cannot be less than four miles +in breadth. The river does not occupy the centre but inclines to either +side, according to its windings, and thus the flats are of greater or less +extent, according to the distance of the river from the base of the hills. +It is to be remarked, that the bottom of the valley is extremely level, +and extensively covered with reeds. From the latter circumstance, one +would be led to infer that these flats are subject to overflow, and no +doubt can exist as to the fact of their being, at least partially, if not +wholly, under water at times. A country in a state of nature is, however, +so different from one in a state of cultivation, that it is hazardous to +give an opinion as to its practical availableness, if I may use such a +term. I should, undoubtedly, say the marshes of the Macquarie were +frequently covered with water, and that they were wholly unfit for any one +purpose whatever. It is evident from the marks of the reeds upon the +banks, that the flood covers them occasionally to the depth of three feet, +and the reeds are so densely embodied and so close to the river side that +the natives cannot walk along it. The reeds are the broad flag-reed +(arundo phragmatis), and grow on a stiff earthy loam, without any +accompanying vegetation; indeed, they form so solid a mass that the sun +cannot penetrate to the ground to nourish vegetation. On the other hand, +the valley of the Murray, though covered with reeds in most places, is not +so in all. There is no mark upon the reeds by which to judge as to the +height of inundation, neither are they of the same kind as those which +cover the marshes of the Macquarie. They are the species of round reed of +which the South-sea islanders make their arrows, and stand sufficiently +open, not only to allow of a passage through, but for the abundant growth +of grass among them. Still, I have no doubt that parts of the valley are +subject to flood; but, as I have already remarked, I do not know whether +these parts are either deeply or frequently covered. Rain must fall +simultaneously in the S.E. angle of the island in the inter-tropical +regions, and at the heads of all the tributaries of the main stream, ere +its effects can be felt in the lower parts of the Murray. If the valley of +the Murray is not subject to flood, it has only recently gained a height +above the influence of the river, and still retains all the character of +flooded land. In either case, however, it contains land that is of the +very richest kind--soil that is the pure accumulation of vegetable matter, +and is as black as ebony. If its hundreds of thousands of acres were +practically available, I should not hesitate to pronounce it one of the +richest spots of equal extent on earth, and highly favoured in other +respects. How far it is available remains to be proved; and an opinion +upon either side would be hazardous, although that of its liability to +flood would, most probably, be nearest to truth. It is, however, certain +that any part of the valley would require much labour before it could be +brought under cultivation, and that even its most available spots would +require almost as much trouble to clear them as the forest tract, for +nothing is more difficult to destroy than reeds. Breaking the sod would, +naturally, raise the level of the ground, and lateral drains would, most +probably, carry off all floods, but then the latter, at least, is the +operation of an advanced stage of husbandry only. I would, however, +observe that there are many parts of the valley decidedly above the reach +of flood. I have, in the above observations, been particularly alluding to +the lowest and broadest portions of it. I trust I shall be understood as +not wishing to over-rate this discovery on the one hand, or on the other, +to include its whole extent in one sweeping clause of condemnation. + +On the 14th, the wind still continued to blow fresh from the N.W. +It moderated at noon, and assisted us beyond measure. We passed our first +encampment, but did not see any natives. + +CORDIALITY OF THE NATIVES. + +On the 15th, the wind was variable at daylight, and a dense fog was on the +river. As the sun rose, it was dissipated and a light breeze sprung up +from W.S.W. We ran up the stream with a free sheet for six hours, when we +stopped for a short time to get the kettle boiled. Four natives joined us, +but with the exception of the lowest tribe upon the right bank, we had not +seen any number. We were extremely liberal to this tribe, in consequence +of the satisfaction they evinced at our return. We had alarmed them much +on our passage down the river by firing at a snake that was swimming +across it. We, at first, attempted to kill it with the boat-hook, but the +animal dived at our approach, and appeared again at a considerable +distance. Another such dive would have ensured his escape, but a shot +effectually checked him, and as the natives evinced considerable alarm, we +held him up, to show them the object of our proceedings. On our return, +they seemed to have forgotten their fright, and received us with every +demonstration of joy. The different receptions we met with from different +tribes are difficult to be accounted for. + +The country appeared to rise before us, and looked more hilly to the N.W. +than I had supposed it to be. Several fine valleys branched off from the +main one to the westward, and, however barren the heights that confined +them were, I am inclined to think, that the distant interior is fertile. +The marks of kangaroos were numerous, and the absence of the natives would +indicate that they have other and better means of subsisting in the back +country than what the river affords. + +In the evening, we again ran on for two hours and a half, and reached the +first of the cliffs. + +On the 16th, we were again fortunate in the wind, and pressed up the river +as long as day-light continued. At the termination of our journey, we +found ourselves a day's journey in advance. This inspirited the men, and +they began to forget the labours they had gone through, as well as those +that were before them. + +On the 17th, we again commenced pulling, the wind being at north, and +contrary. It did not, however, remain in that quarter long, but backed at +noon to the S.W., so that we were enabled to make a good day's journey, +and rather gained than lost ground. + +REMARKABLE CLIFF--GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. + +Having left the undulating hills, at the mouth of the valley behind us, +we passed cliff after cliff of fossil formation: they had a uniform +appearance as to the substance of which they were composed, and varied +but little in colour. Having already examined them, we thought it +unnecessary to give them any further special attention, since it was +improbable we should find anything new. In turning an angle of the river, +however, a broad reach stretched away before us. An alluvial flat extended +to our left, and a high line of cliffs, that differed in no visible +respect from those we had already passed, rose over the opposite side of +the river. The cliffs faced the W.N.W., and as the sun declined, his beams +struck full upon them. As we shot past, we were quite dazzled with the +burst of light that flashed upon us, and which gave to the whole face of +the cliff the appearance of a splendid mirror. The effect was of course +momentary; for as soon as we had passed the angle of refraction, there was +nothing unusual in its appearance. On a nearer approach, however, it +appeared again as if studded with stars. We had already determined on +examining it more closely, and this second peculiarity still further +excited our curiosity. On landing, we found the whole cliff to be a mass +of selenite, in which the various shells already noticed were plentifully +embedded, as in ice. The features of the cliff differed from any we had +previously remarked. Large masses, or blocks of square or oblong shape, +had fallen to its base, and its surface was hard, whereas the face of the +majority of the other cliffs was soft from the effect of the atmosphere; +and the rock was entirely free from every other substance, excepting the +shells of which it was composed. We of course collected some good +specimens, although they added very considerably to the weight of our +cargo. + +The morning of the 18th was calm and cloudless. The wind, of which there +was but little, came from the north, and was as usual warm. We availed +ourselves of a favourable spot to haul our boat on shore under one of the +cliffs upon the proper left of the river, and cleaned her well both +inside and out. + +LABORIOUS ASCENT OF THE BOAT. + +The breezes that had so much assisted as from the lake upwards, had now +lost their influence, or failed to reach to the distance we had gained. +Calms succeeded them, and obliged us to labour continually at the oars. +We lost ground fast, and it was astonishing to remark how soon the men's +spirits drooped again under their first efforts. They fancied the boat +pulled heavily, and that her bottom was foul; but such was not the case. +The current was not so strong as when we passed down, since the river had +evidently fallen more than a foot, and was so shallow in several places, +that we were obliged to haul the boat over them. On these occasions we +were necessarily obliged to get out of her into the water, and had +afterwards to sit still and to allow the sun to dry our clothes upon us. +The unemployed consequently envied those at the oars, as they sat +shivering in their dripping clothes. I was aware that it was more from +imagination than reality, that the men fancied the boat was unusually +heavy, but I hesitated not in humouring them, and rather entered into +their ideas than otherwise, and endeavoured to persuade them that she +pulled the lighter for the cleaning we gave her. + +A tribe of natives joined us, and we had the additional trouble of +guarding our stores. They were, however, very quiet, and as we had broken +up our casks, on leaving the coast, we were enabled to be liberal in our +presents of iron hoop, which they eagerly received. We calculated that we +should reach the principal junction in about fifteen days from this place. + +NATIVE BURIAL-PLACE. + +The natives left us to pursue our solitary journey as soon as the boat was +reloaded. Not one of them had the curiosity to follow us, nor did they +appear to think it necessary that we should be attended by envoys. We +stopped for the night upon the left bank; and close to a burial-ground +that differed from any I had ever seen. It must have been used many years, +from the number of bones that were found in the bank, but there were no +other indications of such a place either by mounds or by marks on the +trees. The fact, therefore, is a singular one. I have thought that some +battle might have been fought near the place, but I can hardly think one +of their battles could have been so destructive. + +IMPEDED BY SHOALS. + +We had now only to make the best of our journey, rising at dawn, and +pulling to seven and often to nine o'clock. I allowed the men an hour from +half-past eleven to half-past twelve, to take their bread and water. This +was our only fare, if I except an occasional wild duck; but these birds +were extremely difficult to kill, and it cost us so much time, that we +seldom endeavoured to procure any. Our dogs had been of no great use, and +were now too weak to have run after anything if they had seen either +kangaroos or emus; and for the fish, the men loathed them, and were either +too indifferent or too much fatigued to set the night-lines. Shoals +frequently impeded us as we proceeded up the river, and we passed some +rapids that called for our whole strength to stem. A light wind assisted +us on two or three of these occasions, and I never failed hoisting the +sail at every fitting opportunity. In some parts the river was extremely +shallow, and the sand-banks of amazing size; and the annoyance of dragging +the boat over these occasional bars, was very great. We passed several +tribes of blacks on the 19th and 20th; but did not stop to communicate +with them. + +I believe I have already mentioned that shortly after we first entered the +Murray, flocks of a new paroquet passed over our heads, apparently +emigrating to the N.W. They always kept too high to be fired at, but on +our return, hereabouts, we succeeded in killing one. It made a good +addition to our scanty stock of subjects of natural history. It is +impossible to conceive how few of the feathered tribe frequent these +distant and lonely regions. The common white cockatoo is the most +numerous, and there are also a few pigeons; but other birds descend only +for water, and are soon again upon the wing. Our botanical specimens were +as scanty as our zoological, indeed the expedition may, as regards these +two particulars, almost be said to have been unproductive. + +COMPILATION OF THE CHART. + +When we came down the river, I thought it advisable to lay its course down +as precisely as circumstances would permit: for for this purpose I had a +large compass always before me, and a sheet of foolscap paper. As soon as +we passed an angle of the river, I took the bearings of the reach before +us, and as we proceeded down it, marked off the description of country, +and any remarkable feature. The consequence was, that I laid down every +bend of the Murray River, from the Morumbidgee downwards. Its creeks, its +tributaries, its flats, its valleys, and its cliffs, and, as far as I +possibly could do, the nature of the distant interior. This chart was, +of course, erroneous in many particulars, since I had to judge the length +of the reaches of the river, and the extent of its angles, but I corrected +it on the scale of the miles of latitude we made during the day, which +brought out an approximate truth at all events. The hurried nature of our +journey would not allow me to do more; and it will be remembered that my +observations were all siderial, by reason that the sextant would not +embrace the sun in his almost vertical position at noon. Admitting, +however, the imperfection of this chart, it was of inconceivable value and +comfort to us on our return, for, by a reference to it, we discovered our +place upon the river, and our distance from our several encampments. +And we should often have stopped short of them had not the chart shown us +that a few reaches more would bring us to the desired spots. It cheered +the men to know where they were, and gave them conversation. To myself it +was very satisfactory, as it enabled me to prepare for our meetings with +the larger tribes, and to steer clear of obstacles in the more difficult +navigation of some parts of the stream. + +On the 21st, by dint of great labour we reached our camp of the 2nd +February, from which it will be remembered the Murray took up a southerly +course, and from which we likewise obtained a first view of the coast +ranges. The journey to the sea and back again, had consequently occupied +us twenty days. From this point we turned our boat's head homewards; we +made it, therefore, a fixed position among the stages into which we +divided our journey. Our attention was now directed to the junction of the +principal tributary, which we hoped to reach in twelve days, and +anticipated a close to our labours on the Murray in eight days more from +that stage to the Morumbidgee. + +CURRENT OF THE MURRAY. + +The current in the Murray from the lake, to within a short distance of +this singular turn in it, is weak, since its bed is almost on a level with +the lake. The channel, which, at the termination, is somewhat more than +the third of a mile across, gradually diminishes in breadth, as the +interior is gained, but is nowhere under 300 yards; while its depth +averages from eighteen to thirty feet, within a foot of the very bank. +The river might, therefore, be navigated by boats of considerable burden, +if the lake admitted of the same facility; but I am decidedly of opinion, +that the latter is generally shallow, and that it will, in the course of +years, be filled up by depositions. It is not, however, an estuary in any +sense of the word, since no part of it is exposed at low water, excepting +the flats in the channel, and the flat between the lake and the sea. + +ACCIDENT TO THE BOAT. + +On the 23rd, we stove the boat in for the first time. I had all along +anticipated such an accident, from the difficulty of avoiding obstacles, +in consequence of the turbid state of the river. Fortunately the boat +struck a rotten log. The piece remained in her side, and prevented her +filling, which she must, otherwise, inevitably have done, ere we could +have reached the shore. As it was, however, we escaped with a little +damage to the lower bags of flour only. She was hauled up on a sand bank, +and Clayton repaired her in less than two hours, when we reloaded her +and pursued our journey. It was impossible to have been more cautious than +we were, for I was satisfied as to the fate that would have overtaken the +whole of us in the event of our losing the boat, and was proportionably +vigilant. + +MOLESTED BY THE NATIVES. + +At half-past five we came to an island, which looked so inviting, and so +quiet, that I determined to land and sleep upon it. We consequently, ran +the boat into a little recess, or bay, and pitched the tents; and I +anticipated a respite from the presence of any natives, as did the men, +who were rejoiced at my having taken up so snug a berth. It happened, +however, that a little after sunset, a flight of the new paroquets +perched in the lofty trees that grew on the island, to roost; when we +immediately commenced the work of death, and succeeded in killing eight or +ten. The reports of our guns were heard by some natives up the river, and +several came over to us. Although I was annoyed at their having discovered +our retreat, they were too few to be troublesome. During the night, +however, they were joined by fresh numbers, amounting in all to about +eighty, and they were so clamorous, that it was impossible to sleep. + +NATIVES BECOME TROUBLESOME. + +As the morning broke, Hopkinson came to inform me that it was in vain that +the guard endeavoured to prevent them from handling every thing, and from +closing in round our camp. I went out, and from what I saw I thought it +advisable to double the sentries. M'Leay, who was really tired, being +unable to close his eyes amid such a din, got up in ill-humour, and went +to see into the cause, and to check it if he could. This, however, was +impossible. One man was particularly forward and insolent, at whom M'Leay, +rather imprudently, threw a piece of dirt. The savage returned the +compliment with as much good will as it had been given, and appeared quite +prepared to act on the offensive. At this critical moment my servant came +to the tent in which I was washing myself, and stated his fears that we +should soon come to blows, as the natives showed every disposition to +resist us. On learning what had passed between M'Leay and the savage, +I pretended to be equally angry with both, and with some difficulty forced +the greater part of the blacks away from the tents. I then directed the +men to gather together all the minor articles in the first instance, and +then to strike the tents; and, in order to check the natives, I drew a +line round the camp, over which I intimated to them they should not pass. +Observing, I suppose, that we were on our guard, and that I, whom they +well knew to be the chief, was really angry, they crept away one by one, +until the island was almost deserted by them. Why they did not attack us, +I know not, for they had certainly every disposition to do so, and had +their shorter weapons with them, which, in so confined a space as that on +which we were, would have been more fatal than their spears. + +They left us, however; and a flight of red-crested cockatoos happening to +settle on a plain near the river, I crossed in the boat in order to shoot +one. The plain was upon the proper left bank of the Murray. The natives +had passed over to the right. As the one channel was too shallow for the +boat, when we again pursued our journey we were obliged to pull round to +the left side of the island. A little above it the river makes a bend to +the left, and the angle at this bend was occupied by a large shoal, +one point of which rested on the upper part of the island, and the other +touched the proper right bank of the river. Thus a narrow channel, +(not broader indeed than was necessary for the play of our oars,) alone +remained for us to pass up against a strong current. On turning round the +lower part of the island, we observed that the natives occupied the whole +extent of the shoal, and speckled it over like skirmishers. Many of them +had their spears, and their attention was evidently directed to us.--As we +neared the shoal, the most forward of them pressed close to the edge of +the deep water, so much so that our oars struck their legs. Still this did +not induce them to retire. I kept my eye on an elderly man who stood one +of the most forward, and who motioned to us several times to stop, and at +length threw the weapon he carried at the boat. I immediately jumped up +and pointed my gun at him to his great apparent alarm. Whether the natives +hoped to intimidate us by a show of numbers, or what immediate object they +had in view, it is difficult to say; though it was most probably to seize +a fitting opportunity to attack us. Seeing, I suppose, that we were not to +be checked, they crossed from the shoal to the proper right bank of the +river, and disappeared among the reeds that lined it. + +TREACHERY OF THE NATIVES. + +Shortly after this, eight of the women, whom we had not before noticed, +came down to the water side, and gave us the most pressing invitation to +land. Indeed they played their part uncommonly well, and tried for some +time to allure us by the most unequivocal manifestations of love. +Hopkinson however who always had his eyes about him, observed the spears +of the men among the reeds. They kept abreast of us as we pulled up the +stream, and, no doubt, were anticipating our inability to resist the +temptations they had thrown in our way. I was really provoked at their +barefaced treachery, and should most undoubtedly have attacked them, had +they not precipitately retreated on being warned by the women that I was +arming my men, which I had only now done upon seeing such strong +manifestations of danger. M'Leay set the example of coolness on this +occasion; and I had some doubts whether I was justified in allowing the +natives to escape with impunity, considering that if they had wounded any +one of us the most melancholy and fatal results would have ensued. + +We did not see anything more of the blacks during the rest of the day, +but the repeated indications of hostility we perceived as we approached +the Darling, made me apprehensive as to the reception we should meet from +its numerous population; and I was sorry to observe that the men +anticipated danger in passing that promising junction. + +Having left the sea breezes behind us, the weather had become oppressive; +and as the current was stronger, and rapids more numerous, our labour was +proportionably increased. We perspired to an astonishing degree, and gave +up our oars after our turn at them, with shirts and clothes as wet as if +we had been in the water. Indeed Mulholland and Hopkinson, who worked +hard, poured a considerable quantity of perspiration from their shoes +after their task. The evil of this was that we were always chilled after +rowing, and, of course, suffered more than we should otherwise have done. + +RE-PASS THE LINDESAY. + +On the 25th we passed the last of the cliffs composing the great fossil +bed through which the Murray flows, and entered that low country already +described as being immediately above it. On a more attentive examination +of the distant interior, my opinion as to its flooded origin was +confirmed, more especially in reference to the country to the S.E. On the +30th we passed the mouth of the Lindesay, and from the summit of the sand +hills to the north of the Murray overlooked the flat country, through +which I conclude it must run, from the line of fires we observed amid the +trees, and most probably upon its banks. + +We did not fall in with the natives in such numbers as when we passed down +to the coast: still they were in sufficient bodies to be troublesome. +It would, however, appear that the tribes do not generally frequent the +river. They must have a better country back from it, and most probably +linger amongst the lagoons and creeks where food is more abundant. The +fact is evident from the want of huts upon the banks of the Murray, and +the narrowness of the paths along its margin. + +RE-PASSED THE RUFUS. + +We experienced the most oppressive heat about this time. Calms generally +prevailed, and about 3 p.m. the sun's rays fell upon us with intense +effect. The waters of the Murray continued extremely muddy, a circumstance +we discovered to be owing to the turbid current of the Rufus, which we +passed on the 1st of March. It is, really, singular whence this little +stream originates. It will be remembered that I concluded it must have +been swollen by rains when we first saw it; yet, after an absence of more +than three weeks we found it discharging its waters as muddy as ever into +the main stream; and that, too, in such quantities as to discolour its +waters to the very lake. The reader will have some idea of the force of +the current in both, when I assure him that for nearly fifty yards below +the mouth of the Rufus, the waters of the Murray preserve their +transparency, and the line between them and the turbid waters of its +tributary was as distinctly marked as if drawn by a pencil. Indeed, +the higher we advanced, the more did we feel the strength of the current, +against which we had to pull. + +DIFFICULTIES AT THE RAPIDS. + +A little below the Lindesay, a rapid occurs. It was with the utmost +difficulty that we stemmed it with the four oars upon the boat, and the +exertion of our whole strength. We remained, at one time, perfectly +stationary, the force we employed and that of the current being equal. +We at length ran up the stream obliquely; but it was evident the men were +not adequate to such exertion for any length of time. We pulled that day +for eleven successive hours, in order to avoid a tribe of natives who +followed us. Hopkinson and Fraser fell asleep at their oars, and even the +heavy Clayton appeared to labour. + +We again occupied our camp under the first remarkable cliffs of the +Murray, a description of which has been given in page 128 of this work. +[GEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION.] Their summit, as I have already remarked forms a +table land of some elevation. From it the distant interior to the S.S.E. +appears very depressed; that to the north undulates more. In neither +quarter, however, does any bright foliage meet the eye, to tell that a +better soil is under it; but a dark and gloomy vegetation occupies both +the near and distant ground, in proof that the sandy sterile tracts, +succeeding the river deposits, stretch far away without a change. + +A little above our camp of the 28th of January, we fell in with a large +tribe of natives, whose anxiety to detain us was remarkable. The wind, +however, which, from the time we lost the sea breezes, had hung to the +S.E., had changed to the S.W., and we were eagerly availing ourselves of +it. It will not he supposed we stopped even for a moment. In truth we +pressed on with great success, and did not land to sleep until nine +o'clock. As long as the wind blew from the S.W., the days were cool, and +the sky overcast even so much so as to threaten rain. + +The least circumstance, in our critical situation, naturally raised my +apprehensions, and I feared the river would be swollen in the event of +any heavy rains in the hilly country; I hoped, however, we should gain the +Morumbidgee before such a calamity should happen to us, and it became +my object to press for that river without delay. + +OBSTACLES TO THE NAVIGATION--DANGEROUS RAPIDS. + +Although we had met with frequent rapids in our progress upwards, they had +not been of a serious kind, nor such as would affect the navigation of the +river. The first direct obstacle of this kind occurs a little above a +small tributary that falls into the Murray from the north, between the +Rufus and the cliffs we have alluded to. At this place a reef of coarse +grit contracts the channel of the river. No force we could have exerted +with the oars would have taken us up this rapid; but we accomplished the +task easily by means of a rope which we hauled upon, on the same principle +that barges are dragged by horses along the canals. + +As we neared the junction of the two main streams, the country, on both +sides of the river, became low, and its general appearance confirmed the +opinion I have already given as to its flooded origin. The clouds that +obscured the sky, and had threatened to burst for some time, at length +gave way, and we experienced two or three days of heavy rain. In the midst +of it we passed the second stage of our journey, and found the spot lately +so crowded with inhabitants totally deserted. A little above it we +surprised a small tribe in a temporary shelter; but neither our offers nor +presents could prevail on any of them to expose themselves to the torrent +that was falling. They sat shivering in their bark huts in evident +astonishment at our indifference. We threw them some trifling presents and +were glad to proceed unattended by any of them. + +PERILOUS ASCENT OF THE RAPIDS. + +It will be remembered that in passing down the river, the boat was placed +in some danger in descending a rapid before we reached the junction of the +Murray with the stream supposed by me to be the Darling. We were now +gradually approaching the rapid, nor did I well know how we should +surmount such an obstacle. Strength to pull up it we had not, and I feared +our ropes would not be long enough to reach to the shore over some of the +rocks, since it descended in minor declivities to a considerable distance +below the principal rapid, in the centre of which the boat had struck. +We reached the commencement of these rapids on the 6th, and ascended the +first by means of ropes, which were hauled upon by three of the men from +the bank; and, as the day was pretty far advanced, we stopped a little +above it, that we might attempt the principal rapid before we should be +exhausted by previous exertion. It was fortunate that we took such a +precaution. The morning of the 7th proved extremely dark, and much rain +fell. We commenced our journey in the midst of it, and soon gained the +tail of the rapid. Our attempt to pull up it completely failed. The boat, +as soon as she entered the ripple, spun round like a toy, and away we went +with the stream. As I had anticipated, our ropes were too short; and it +only remained for us to get into the water, and haul the boat up by main +force. We managed pretty well at first, and drew her alongside a rock to +rest a little. We then recommenced our efforts, and had got into the +middle of the channel. We were up to our armpits in the water, and only +kept our position by means of rocks beside us. The rain was falling, as if +we were in a tropical shower, and the force of the current was such, that +if we had relaxed for an instant, we should have lost all the ground we +had gained. Just at this moment, however, without our being aware of their +approach, a large tribe of natives, with their spears, lined the bank, +and took us most completely by surprise. At no time during this anxious +journey were we ever so completely in their power, or in so defenceless a +situation. It rained so hard, that our firelocks would have been of no +use, and had they attacked us, we must necessarily have been slaughtered +without committing the least execution upon them. Nothing, therefore, +remained for us but to continue our exertions. It required only one +strong effort to get the boat into still water for a time, but that effort +was beyond our strength, and we stood in the stream, powerless and +exhausted. + +ASSISTED BY THE NATIVES. + +The natives, in the meanwhile, resting on their spears, watched us with +earnest attention. One of them, who was sitting close to the water, at +length called to us, and we immediately recognised the deep voice of him +to whose singular interference we were indebted for our escape on the +23rd of January. I desired Hopkinson to swim over to him, and to explain +that we wanted assistance. This was given without hesitation; and we at +length got under the lea of the rock, which I have already described as +being in the centre of the river. The natives launched their bark canoes, +the only frail means they possess of crossing the rivers with their +children. These canoes are of the simplest construction and rudest +materials, being formed of an oblong piece of bark, the ends of which are +stuffed with clay, so as to render them impervious to the water. With +several of these they now paddled round us with the greatest care, making +their spears, about ten feet in length,(which they use at once as poles +and paddles,) bend nearly double in the water. We had still the most +difficult part of the rapid to ascend, where the rush of water was the +strongest, and where the decline of the bed almost amounted to a fall. +Here the blacks could be of no use to us. No man could stem the current, +supposing it to have been shallow at the place, but it was on the contrary +extremely deep. Remaining myself in the boat, I directed all the men to +land, after we had crossed the stream, upon a large rock that formed the +left buttress as it were to this sluice, and, fastening the rope to the +mast instead of her head, they pulled upon it. The unexpected rapidity +with which the boat shot up the passage astonished me, and filled the +natives with wonder, who testified their admiration of so dextrous a +manoeuvre, by a loud shout. + +It will, no doubt, have struck the reader as something very remarkable, +that the same influential savage to whom we had already been indebted, +should have been present on this occasion, and at a moment when we so much +needed his assistance. Having surmounted our difficulties, we took leave +of this remarkable man, and pursued our journey up the river. + +It may be imagined we did not proceed very far; the fact was, we only +pushed forward to get rid of the natives, for, however pacific, they were +always troublesome, and we were seldom fitted for a trial of temper after +the labours of the day were concluded. The men had various occupations +in which, when the natives were present, they were constantly interrupted, +and whenever the larger tribes slept near us, the utmost vigilance was +necessary on the part of the night-guard, which was regularly mounted as +soon as the tents were pitched. We had had little else than our flour to +subsist on. Hopkinson and Harris endeavoured to supply M'Leay and myself +with a wild fowl occasionally, but for themselves, and the other men, +nothing could be procured to render their meal more palatable. + +GOOD CONDUCT OF THE MEN. + +I have omitted to mention one remarkable trait of the good disposition of +all the men while on the coast. Our sugar had held out to that point; but +it appeared, when we examined the stores, that six pounds alone remained +in the cask. This the men positively refused to touch. They said that, +divided, it would benefit nobody; that they hoped M'Leay and I would use +it, that it would last us for some time, and that they were better able to +submit to privations than we were. The feeling did them infinite credit, +and the circumstance is not forgotten by me. The little supply the +kindness of our men left to us was, however, soon exhausted, and poor +M'Leay preferred pure water to the bitter draught that remained. I have +been some times unable to refrain from smiling, as I watched the distorted +countenances of my humble companions while drinking their tea and eating +their damper. + +The ducks and swans, seen in such myriads on the lake, seldom appeared on +the river, in the first stages of our journey homewards. About the time of +which I am writing, however, a few swans occasionally flew over our heads +at night, and their silvery note was musically sweet. + +From the 10th to the 15th, nothing of moment occurred: we pulled regularly +from day-light to dark, not less to avoid the natives than to shorten our +journey. Yet, notwithstanding that we moved at an hour when the natives +seldom stir, we were rarely without a party of them, who followed us in +spite of our efforts to tire them out. + +MOLESTED BY NATIVES. + +On the 15th, we had about 150 at our camp. Many of them were extremely +noisy, and the whole of them very restless. They lay down close to the +tents, or around our fire. I entertained some suspicion of them, and when +they were apparently asleep, I watched them narrowly. Macnamee was walking +up and down with his firelock, and every time he turned his back, one of +the natives rose gently up and poised his spear at him, and as soon as +he thought Macnamee was about to turn, he dropped as quietly into his +place. When I say the native got up, I do not mean that he stood up, but +that he raised himself sufficiently for the purpose he had in view. His +spear would not, therefore, have gone with much force, but I determined +it should not quit his hand, for had I observed any actual attempt to +throw it, I should unquestionably have shot him dead upon the spot. +The whole of the natives were awake, and it surprised me they did not +attempt to plunder us. They rose with the earliest dawn, and crowded round +the tents without any hesitation. We, consequently, thought it prudent to +start as soon as we had breakfasted. + +FRASER IN DANGER. + +We had all of us got into the boat, when Fraser remembered he had left his +powder-horn on shore. In getting out to fetch it, he had to push through +the natives. On his return, when his back was towards them, several +natives lifted their spears together, and I was so apprehensive they +would have transfixed him, that I called out before I seized my gun; on +which they lowered their weapons and ran away. The disposition to commit +personal violence was evident from these repeated acts of treachery; and +we should doubtless have suffered from it on some occasion or other, had +we not been constantly on the alert. + +We had been drawing nearer the Morumbidgee every day. This was the last +tribe we saw on the Murray; and the following afternoon, to our great joy, +we quitted it and turned our boat into the gloomy and narrow channel of +its tributary. Our feelings were almost as strong when we re-entered it, +as they had been when we were launched from it into that river, on whose +waters we had continued for upwards of fifty-five days; during which +period, including the sweeps and bends it made, we could not have +travelled less than 1500 miles. + +Our provisions were now running very short; we had, however, "broken the +neck of our journey," as the men said, and we looked anxiously to gaining +the depot; for we were not without hopes that Robert Harris would have +pushed forward to it with his supplies. We were quite puzzled on entering +the Morumbidgee, how to navigate its diminutive bends and its encumbered +channel. I thought poles would have been more convenient than oars; we +therefore stopped at an earlier hour than usual to cut some. Calling to +mind the robbery practised on us shortly after we left the depot, my mind +became uneasy as to Robert Harris's safety, since I thought it probable, +from the sulky disposition of the natives who had visited us there, that +he might have been attacked. Thus, when my apprehensions on our own +account had partly ceased, my fears became excited with regard to him and +his party. + +RE-ENTER THE MORUMBIDGEE. + +The country, to a considerable distance from the junction on either side +the Morumbidgee, is not subject to inundation. Wherever we landed upon its +banks, we found the calistemma in full flower, and in the richest +profusion. There was, also, an abundance of grass, where before there had +been no signs of vegetation, and those spots which we had condemned as +barren were now clothed with a green and luxuriant carpet. So difficult is +it to judge of a country on a partial and hurried survey, and so +differently does it appear at different periods. I was rejoiced to find +that the rains had not swollen the river, for I was apprehensive that +heavy falls had taken place in the mountains, and was unprepared for so +much good fortune. + +FEAST ON A SWAN. + +The poles we cut were of no great use to us, and we soon laid them aside, +and took to our oars. Fortune seemed to favour us exceedingly. The men +rallied, and we succeeded in killing a good fat swan, that served as a +feast for all. I imagine the absence of mud and weeds of every kind in +the Murray, prevents this bird from frequenting its waters. + +On the 18th, we found ourselves entering the reedy country, through which +we had passed with such doubt and anxiety. Every object elicited some +remark from the men, and I was sorry to find they reckoned with certainty +on seeing Harris at the depot, as I knew they would be proportionally +depressed in spirits if disappointed. However, I promised Clayton a good +repast as soon as we should see him. + +LOSE ONE OF OUR DOGS. + +I had walked out with M'Leay a short distance from the river, and had +taken the dogs. They followed us to the camp on our return to it, but the +moment they saw us enter the tent, they went off to hunt by themselves. +About 10 p.m., one of them, Bob, came to the fire, and appeared very +uneasy; he remained, for a short time, and then went away. In about an +hour, he returned, and after exhibiting the same restlessness, again +withdrew. He returned the third time before morning dawned, but returned +alone. The men on the watch were very stupid not to have followed him, +for, no doubt, he went to his companion, to whom, most likely, some +accident had happened. I tried to make him show, but could not succeed, +and, after a long search, reluctantly pursued our journey, leaving poor +Sailor to his fate. This was the only misfortune that befell us, and we +each of us felt the loss of an animal which had participated in all our +dangers and privations. I more especially regretted the circumstance for +the sake of the gentleman who gave him to me, and, on account of his +superior size and activity. + +ENCOUNTER WITH NATIVES. + +With the loss of poor Sailor, our misfortunes re-commmenced. I anticipated +some trouble hereabouts, for, having succeeded in their hardihood once, +I knew the natives would again attempt to rob us, and that we should have +some difficulty in keeping them off. As soon as they found out that we +were in the river, they came to us, but left us at sunset. This was on the +21st. At nightfall, I desired the watch to keep a good look out, and +M'Leay and I went to lie down. We had chosen an elevated bank for our +position, and immediately opposite to us there was a small space covered +with reeds, under blue-gum trees. About 11, Hopkinson came to the tent to +say, that he was sure the blacks were approaching through the reeds. +M'Leay and I got up, and, standing on the bank, listened attentively. +All we heard was the bark of a native dog apparently, but this was, in +fact, a deception on the part of the blacks. We made no noise, in +consequence of which they gradually approached, and two or three crept +behind the trunk of a tree that had fallen. As I thought they were near +enough, George M'Leay, by my desire, fired a charge of small shot at them. +They instantly made a precipitate retreat; but, in order the more +effectually to alarm them, Hopkinson fired a ball into the reeds, which we +distinctly heard cutting its way through them. All was quiet until about +three o'clock, when a poor wretch who, most probably, had thrown himself +on the ground when the shots were fired, at length mustered courage to get +up and effect his escape. + +In the morning, the tribe kept aloof, but endeavoured, by the most earnest +entreaties, and most pitiable howling, to gain our favour; but I +threatened to shoot any that approached, and they consequently kept at a +respectful distance, dogging us from tree to tree. It appeared, therefore, +that they were determined to keep us in view, no doubt, with the intention +of trying what they could do by a second attempt. As they went along, +their numbers increased, and towards evening, they amounted to a strong +tribe. Still they did not venture near us, and only now and then showed +themselves. Our situation at this moment would have been much more awkward +in the event of attack, than when we were in the open channel of the +Murray; because we were quite at the mercy of the natives if they had +closed upon us, and, being directly under the banks, should have received +every spear, while it would have been easy for them to have kept out of +sight in assailing us. + +APPARENT OBSTRUCTION OF THE CHANNEL. + +It was near sunset, the men were tired, and I was looking out for a +convenient place at which to rest, intending to punish these natives if +they provoked me, or annoyed the men. We had not seen any of them for some +time, when Hopkinson, who was standing in the bow of the boat, informed me +that they had thrown boughs across the river to prevent our passage. +I was exceedingly indignant at this, and pushed on, intending to force the +barrier. On our nearer approach, a solitary black was observed standing +close to the river, and abreast of the impediment which I imagined they +had raised to our further progress. I threatened to shoot this man, and +pointed to the branches that stretched right across the stream. The poor +fellow uttered not a word, but, putting his hand behind him, pulled out a +tomahawk from his belt, and held it towards me, by way of claiming our +acquaintance; and any anger was soon entirely appeased by discovering that +the natives had been merely setting a net across the river which these +branches supported. We, consequently, hung back, until they had drawn it, +and then passed on. + +MANOEUVRES OF THE NATIVES TO ROB THE BOAT AT NIGHT. + +The black to whom I had spoken so roughly, cut across a bight of the +river, and walking down to the side of the water with a branch in his +hand, in mark of confidence, presented me with a fishing net. We were +highly pleased at the frank conduct of this black, and a convenient place +offering itself, we landed and pitched our tents. Our friend, who was +about forty, brought his two wives, and a young man, to us: and at length +the other blacks mustered courage to approach; but those who had followed +us from the last camp, kept on the other side of the river. On pretence of +being different families, they separated into small bodies, and formed a +regular cordon round our camp. We foresaw that this was a manoeuvre, but, +in hopes that if I forgave the past they would desist from further +attempts, M'Leay took great pains in conciliating them, and treated them +with great kindness. We gave each family some fire and same presents, and +walked together to them by turns, to show that we had equal confidence in +all. Our friend had posted himself immediately behind our tents, at twenty +yards distance, with his little family, and kept altogether aloof from the +other natives. Having made our round of visits, and examined the various +modes the women had of netting, M'Leay and I went into our tent. + +It happened, fortunately, that my servant, Harris, was the first for +sentry. I told him to keep a watchful eye on the natives, and to call me +if any thing unusual occurred. We had again chosen a lofty bank for our +position; behind us there was a small plain, of about a quarter of a mile +in breadth, backed by a wood. I was almost asleep, when my servant came to +inform me, that the blacks had, with one accord, made a precipitate +retreat, and that not one of them was to be seen at the fires. I impressed +the necessity of attention upon him, and he again went to his post. +shortly after this, he returned: "Master," said he, "the natives are +coming." I jumped up, and, taking my gun, followed him, leaving my friend +George fast asleep. I would not disturb him, until necessity required, for +he had ever shown himself so devoted to duty as to deserve every +consideration. Harris led me a little way from the tents, and then +stopping, and pointing down the river, said, "There, sir, don't you see +them?" "Not I, indeed, Harris," I replied, "where do you mean? are you +sure you see them?" "Positive, sir," said he; "stoop and you will see +them." I did so, and saw a black mass in an opening. Convinced that I saw +them, I desired Harris to follow me, but not to fire unless I should give +the word. The rascals would not stand our charge, however, but retreated +as we advanced towards them. We then returned to the tents, and, +commending my servant for his vigilance, I once more threw myself on my +bed. I had scarcely lain down five minutes, when Harris called out, +"The blacks are close to me, sir; shall I fire at them?" "How far are +they?" I asked. "Within ten yards, sir." "Then fire," said I; and +immediately he did so. M'Leay and I jumped up to his assistance. "Well, +Harris," said I, "did you kill your man?" (he is a remarkably good shot.) +"No, sir," said he, "I thought you would repent it, so I fired between the +two." "Where were they, man?" said I. "Close to the boat, sir; and when +they heard me, they swam into the river, and dived as soon as I fired +between them." This account was verified by one of them puffing as he rose +below us, over whose head I fired a shot. Where the other got to I could +not tell. This watchfulness, on our part, however, prevented any further +attempts during the night. + +I was much pleased at the coolness of my servant, as well as his +consideration; and relieving him from his post, desired Hopkinson to take +it. I have no doubt that the approach of the natives, in the first +instance, was made with a view to draw us off from the camp, while some +others might rob the boat. If so, it was a good manoeuvre, and might have +succeeded. + +NATIVES DESERT THEIR WEAPONS--INGENUOUS CONDUCT OF A NATIVE. + +In the morning, we found the natives had left all their ponderous spears +at their fires, which were broken up and burnt. We were surprised to find +that our friend had left every thing in like manner behind him--his +spears, his nets, and his tomahawk; but as he had kept so wholly aloof +from the other blacks, I thought it highly improbable that he had joined +them, and the men were of opinion that he had retreated across the plain +into the wood. On looking in that direction we observed some smoke rising +among the trees at a little distance from the outskirts of the plain, and +under an impression that I should find the native at the fire with his +family, I took his spears and tomahawk, and walked across the plain, +unattended into the wood. I had not entered it more than fifty yards when +I saw a group of four natives, sitting round a small fire. One of them, +as I approached, rose up and met me, and in him I recognised the man for +whom I was seeking. When near enough, I stuck the spears upright into the +ground. The poor man stood thunderstruck; he spoke not, he moved not, +neither did he raise his eyes from the ground. I had kept the tomahawk out +of his sight, but I now produced and offered it to him. He gave a short +exclamation as his eyes caught sight of it, but he remained otherwise +silent before me, and refused to grasp the tomahawk, which accordingly +fell to the ground. I had evidently excited the man's feelings, but it is +difficult to say how he was affected. His manner indicated shame and +surprise, and the sequel will prove that both these feelings must have +possessed him. While we were thus standing together, his two wives came +up, to whom, after pointing to the spears and tomahawk, he said something, +without, however, looking at me; and they both instantly burst into tears +and wept aloud. I was really embarrassed during so unexpected a scene, +and to break it, invited the native to the camp, but I motioned with my +hand, as I had not my gun with me, that I would shoot any other of the +blacks who followed me. He distinctly understood my meaning, and intimated +as distinctly to me that they should not follow us; nor did they. We were +never again molested by them. + +I left him then, and, returning to the camp, told M'Leay my adventure, +with which he was highly delighted. My object is this procedure was to +convince the natives, generally, that we came not among them to injure or +to molest them, as well as to impress them with an idea of our superior +intelligence; and I am led to indulge the hope that I succeeded. Certain +it is, that an act of justice or of lenity has frequently, if well timed, +more weight than the utmost stretch of severity. With savages, more +particularly, to exhibit any fear, distrust, or irresolution, will +inevitably prove injurious. + +But although these adventures were happily not attended with bloodshed, +they harassed the men much; and our camp for near a week was more like an +outpost picquet than any thing else. This, however, terminated all +attempts on the part of the natives. From henceforth none of them followed +us on our route. + +BREACH THE DEPOT. + +At noon, I stopped about a mile short of the depot to take sights. After +dinner we pulled on, the men looking earnestly out for their comrades whom +they had left there, but none appeared. My little arbour, in which I had +written my letters, was destroyed, and the bank on which out tents had +stood was wholly deserted. We landed, however, and it was a satisfaction +to me to see the homeward track of the drays. The men were sadly +disappointed, and poor Clayton, who had anticipated a plentiful meal, was +completely chop fallen. M'Leay and I comforted them daily with the hopes +of meeting the drays, which I did not think improbable. + +Thus, it will appear, that we regained the place from which we started in +seventy-seven days, during which, we could not have pulled less than 2000 +miles. It is not for me, however, to make any comment, either on the +dangers to which we were occasionally exposed, or the toil and privations +we continually experienced in the course of this expedition. My duty is, +simply to give a plain narrative of facts, which I have done with +fidelity, and with as much accuracy as circumstances would permit. Had we +found Robert Harris at the depot, I should have considered it unnecessary +to trespass longer on the patient reader, but as our return to that post +did not relieve us from our difficulties, it remains for me to carry on +the narrative of our proceedings to the time when we reached the upper +branches of the Morumbidgee. + +DISAPPOINTED OF SUPPLIES. + +The hopes that had buoyed up the spirits of the men, ceased to operate as +soon as they were discovered to have been ill founded. The most gloomy +ideas took possession of their minds, and they fancied that we had been +neglected, and that Harris had remained in Sydney. It was to no purpose +that I explained to them that my instructions did not bind Harris to come +beyond Pondebadgery, and that I was confident he was then encamped upon +that plain. + +We had found the intricate navigation of the Morumbidgee infinitely more +distressing than the hard pulling up the open reaches of the Murray, for +we were obliged to haul the boat up between numberless trunks of trees, +an operation that exhausted the men much more than rowing. The river had +fallen below its former level, and rocks and logs were now exposed above +the water, over many of which the boat's keel must have grazed, as we +passed down with the current. I really shuddered frequently, at seeing +these complicated dangers, and I was at a loss to conceive how we could +have escaped them. The planks of our boat were so thin that if she had +struck forcibly against any one branch of the hundreds she must have +grazed, she would inevitably have been rent asunder from stem to stern. + +COMPLETE EXHAUSTION OF THE MEN--ONE LOSES HIS SENSES. + +The day after we passed the depot, on our return, we began to experience +the effects of the rains that had fallen in the mountains. The Morumbidgee +rose upon us six feet in one night, and poured along its turbid waters +with proportionate violence. For seventeen days we pulled against them +with determined perseverance, but human efforts, under privations such as +ours, tend to weaken themselves, and thus it was that the men began to +exhibit the effects of severe and unremitting toil. Our daily journeys +were short, and the head we made against the stream but trifling. The men +lost the proper and muscular jerk with which they once made the waters +foam and the oars bend. Their whole bodies swung with an awkward and +laboured motion. Their arms appeared to be nerveless; their faces became +haggard, their persons emaciated, their spirits wholly sunk; nature was so +completely overcome, that from mere exhaustion they frequently fell asleep +during their painful and almost ceaseless exertions. It grieved me to the +heart to see them in such a state at the close of so perilous a service, +and I began to reproach Robert Harris that he did not move down the river +to meet us; but, in fact, he was not to blame. I became captious, and +found fault where there was no occasion, and lost the equilibrium of my +temper in contemplating the condition of my companions. No murmur, +however, escaped them, nor did a complaint reach me, that was intended to +indicate that they had done all they could do. I frequently heard them in +their tent, when they thought I had dropped asleep, complaining of severe +pains and of great exhaustion. "I must tell the captain, to-morrow," some +of them would say, "that I can pull no more." To-morrow came, and they +pulled on, as if reluctant to yield to circumstances. Macnamee at length +lost his senses. We first observed this from his incoherent conversation, +but eventually from manner. He related the most extraordinary tales, and +fidgeted about eternally while in the boat. I felt it necessary, +therefore, to relieve him from the oars. + +Amidst these distresses, M'Leay preserved his good humour, and endeavoured +to lighten the task, and to cheer the men as much as possible. His +presence at this time was a source of great comfort to me. The uniform +kindness with which he had treated his companions, gave him an influence +over them now, and it was exerted with the happiest effect. + +DESPATCH TWO MEN TO PONDEBADGERY. + +On the 8th and 9th of April we had heavy rain, but there was no respite +for us. Our provisions were nearly consumed, and would have been wholly +exhausted, if we had not been so fortunate as to kill several swans. On +the 11th, we gained our camp opposite to Hamilton's Plains, after a day of +severe exertion. Our tents were pitched upon the old ground, and the marks +of our cattle were around us. In the evening, the men went out with their +guns, and M'Leay and I walked to the rear of the camp, to consult +undisturbed as to the moat prudent measures to be adopted, under our +embarrassing circumstances. The men were completely sunk. We were still +between eighty and ninety miles from Pondebadgery, in a direct line, and +nearly treble that distance by water. The task was greater than we could +perform, and our provisions were insufficient. In this extremity I thought +it best to save the men the mortification of yielding, by abandoning the +boat; and on further consideration, I determined on sending Hopkinson and +Mulholland, whose devotion, intelligence, and indefatigable spirits, +I well knew, forward to the plain. + +The joy this intimation spread was universal, Both Hopkinson and +Mulholland readily undertook the journey, and I, accordingly, prepared +orders for them to start by the earliest dawn. It was not without a +feeling of sorrow that I witnessed the departure of these two men, to +encounter a fatiguing march. I had no fears as to their gaining the plain, +if their reduced state would permit them. On the other hand, I hoped they +would fall in with our old friend the black, or that they would meet the +drays; and I could not but admire the spirit and energy they both +displayed upon the occasion. Their behaviour throughout had been such as +to awaken in my breast a feeling of the highest approbation. Their +conduct, indeed, exceeded all praise, nor did they hesitate one moment +when I called upon them to undertake this last trying duty, after such +continued exertion. I am sure the reader will forgive me for bringing +under his notice the generous efforts of these two men; by me it can never +be forgotten. + +ABANDON AND BURN THE BOAT. + +Six days had passed since their departure; we remaining encamped. M'Leay +and myself had made some short excursions, but without any result worthy +of notice. A group of sand-hills rose in the midst of the alluvial +deposits, about a quarter of a mile from the tents, that were covered with +coarse grasses and banksias. We shot several intertropical birds feeding +in the latter, and sucking the honey from their flowers. I had, in the +mean time, directed Clayton to make some plant cases of the upper planks +of the boat, and then to set fire to her, for she was wholly +unserviceable, and I felt a reluctance to leave her like a neglected log +on the water. The last ounce of flour had been served out to the men, and +the whole of it was consumed on the sixth day from that on which we had +abandoned the boat. I had calculated on seeing Hopkinson again in eight +days, but as the morrow would see us without food, I thought, as the men +had had a little rest it would be better to advance towards relief than to +await its arrival. + +MEN RETURN WITH SUPPLIES. + +On the evening of the 18th, therefore, we buried our specimens and other +stores, intending to break up the camp in the morning. A singular bird, +which invariably passed it at an hour after sunset, and which, from its +heavy flight, appeared to be of unusual size so attracted my notice, that +in the evening M'Leay and I crossed the river, in hope to get a shot at +it. We had, however, hardly landed on the other side, when a loud shout +called us back to witness the return of our comrades. + +They were both of them in a state that beggars description. Their knees +and ankles were dreadfully swollen, and their limbs so painful, that as +soon as they arrived in the camp they sunk under their efforts, but they +met us with smiling countenances, and expressed their satisfaction at +having arrived so seasonably to our relief. They had, as I had foreseen, +found Robert Harris on the plain, which they reached on the evening of the +third day. They had started early the next morning on their return with +such supplies as they thought we might immediately want. Poor Macnamee +had in a great measure recovered, but for some days he was sullen and +silent: sight of the drays gave him uncommon satisfaction. Clayton gorged +himself; but M'Leay, myself and Fraser could not at first relish the meat +that was placed before us. + +It was determined to give the bullocks a day of rest, and I availed myself +of the serviceable state of the horses to visit some hills about eighteen +miles to the northward. I was anxious to gain a view of the distant +country to the N.W., and to ascertain the geological character of the +hills themselves. M'Leay, Fraser, and myself left the camp early in the +morning of the 19th, on our way to them. Crossing the sand hills, we +likewise passed a creek, and, from the flooded or alluvial tracks, got on +an elevated sandy country, in which we found a beautiful grevillia. From +this we passed a barren ridge of quartz-formation, terminating in open box +forest. From it we descended and traversed a plain that must, at some +periods, be almost impassable. It was covered with acacia pendula, and the +soil was a red earth, bare of vegetation in many places. At its extremity +we came to some stony ridges, and, descending their northern side, gained +the base of the hills. They were more extensive than they appeared to be +from our camp; and were about six hundred feet in height, and composed of +a conglomerate rock. They were extremely barren, nor did the aspect of the +country seem to indicate a favourable change. I was enabled, however, to +connect my line of route with the more distant hills between the +Morumbidgee and the Lachlan. We returned to the camp at midnight. + +MEET WITH THE DRAYS. + +On the following morning we left our station before Hamilton's Plains. +We reached Pondebadgery on the 28th, and found Robert Harris, with a +plentiful supply of provisions. He had everything extremely regular, and +had been anxiously expecting our return, of which he at length wholly +despaired. He had been at the plain two months, and intended to have moved +down the river immediately, had we not made our appearance when we did. + +I had sent M'Leay forward on the 20th with letters to the Governor, whose +anxiety was great on our account. I remained for a fortnight on the plain +to restore the men, but Hopkinson had so much over-exerted himself that it +was with difficulty he crawled along. + +In my despatches to the Governor, from the depot, I had suggested the +policy of distributing some blankets and other presents to the natives on +the Morumbidgee, in order to reward those who had been useful to our +party, and in the hope of proving beneficial to settlers in that distant +part of the colony. His Excellency was kind enough to accede to my +request, and I found ample means for these purposes among the stores that +Harris brought from Sydney. + +We left Pondebadgery Plain early on the 5th of May, and reached Guise's +Station late in the afternoon. We gained Yass Plains on the 12th, having +struck through the mountain passes by a direct line, instead of returning +by our old route near Underaliga. As the party was crossing the plains I +rode to see Mr. O'Brien, but did not find him at home. + +INSTANCE OF CANNIBALISM. + +While waiting at his hut, one of the stockmen pointed out two blacks to me +at a little distance from us. The one was standing, the other sitting. +"That fellow, sir," said he, "who is sitting down, killed his infant child +last night by knocking its head against a stone, after which he threw it +on the fire and then devoured it." I was quite horror struck, and could +scarcely believe such a story. I therefore went up to the man and +questioned him as to the fact, as well as I could. He did not attempt to +deny it, but slunk away in evident consciousness. I then questioned the +other that remained, whose excuse for his friend was that the child was +sick and would never have grown up, adding he himself did not PATTER (eat) +any of it. + +Many of my readers may probably doubt this horrid occurrence having taken +place, as I have not mentioned any corroborating circumstances. I am +myself, however, as firmly persuaded of the truth of what I have stated as +if I had seen the savage commit the act; for I talked to his companion who +did see him, and who described to me the manner in which he killed the +child. Be it as it may, the very mention of such a thing among these +people goes to prove that they are capable of such an enormity. + +We left Yass Plains on the 14th of May, and reached Sydney by easy stages +on the 25th, after an absence of nearly six months. + + +* * * * * + + +CONCLUDING REMARKS. + + +To most of my readers, the foregoing narrative will appear little else +than a succession of adventures. Whilst the expedition was toiling down +the rivers, no rich country opened upon the view to reward or to cheer the +perseverance of those who composed it, and when, at length, the land of +promise lay smiling before them, their strength and their means were too +much exhausted to allow of their commencing an examination, of the result +of which there could be but little doubt. The expedition returned to +Sydney, without any splendid discovery to gild its proceedings; and the +labours and dangers it had encountered were considered as nothing more +than ordinary occurrences. If I myself had entertained hopes that my +researches would have benefited the colony, I was wholly disappointed. +There is a barren tract of country lying to the westward of the Blue +Mountains that will ever divide the eastern coast from the more central +parts of Australia, as completely as if seas actually rolled between them. + +GEOGRAPHICAL REMARKS. + +In a geographical point of view, however, nothing could have been more +satisfactory, excepting an absolute knowledge of the country to the +northward between the Murray and the Darling, than the results of the +expedition. I have in its proper place stated, as fairly as I could, my +reasons for supposing the principal junction (which I consequently left +without a name) to be the Darling of my former journey, as well as the +various arguments that bore against such a conclusion. + +Of course, where there is so much room for doubt, opinions will be +various. I shall merely review the subject, in order to connect subsequent +events with my previous observations, and to give the reader a full idea +of that which struck me to be the case on a close and anxious +investigation of the country from mountain to lowland. I returned from the +Macquarie with doubts on my mind as to the ultimate direction to which the +waters of the Darling river might ultimately flow; for, with regard to +every other point, the question was, I considered, wholly decided. But, +with regard to that singular stream, I was, from the little knowledge I +had obtained, puzzled as to its actual course; and I thought it as likely +that it might turn into the heart of the interior, as that it would make +to the south. It had not, however, escaped my notice, that the northern +rivers turned more abruptly southward (after gaining a certain distance +from the base of the ranges) than the more southern streams: near the +junction of the Castlereagh with the Darling especially, the number of +large creeks joining the first river from the north, led me to conclude +that there was at that particular spot a rapid fall of country to the +south. + +The first thing that strengthened in my mind this half-formed opinion, was +the fall of the Lachlan into the Morumbidgee. I had been told that +Australia was a basin; that an unbroken range of hills lined its coasts, +the internal rivers of which fell into its centre, and contributed to the +formation of an inland sea; I was not therefore prepared to find a break +in the chain--a gap as it were for the escape of these waters to the +coast. + +Subsequently to our entrance into the Murray, the remarkable efforts of +that river to maintain a southerly course were observed even by the men, +and the singular runs it made to the south, when unchecked by high lands, +clearly evinced its natural tendency to flow in that direction. + +Had we found ourselves at an elevation above the bed of the Darling when +we reached the junction of the principal tributary with the Murray, I +should still have had doubts on my mind as to the identity of that +tributary with the first-mentioned river; but considering the trifling +elevation of the Darling above the sea, and that the junction was still +less elevated above it, I cannot bring myself to believe that the former +alters its course. It is not, however, on this simple geographical +principle that I have built my conclusions; other corroborative +circumstances have tended also to confirm in my mind the opinion I have +already given, not only of the comparatively recent appearance above +the ocean of the level country over which I had passed, but that the true +dip of the interior is from north to south. + +In support of the first of these conclusions, it would appear that a +current of water must have swept the vast accumulation of shells, forming +the great fossil bank through which the Murray passes from the northern +extremity of the continent, to deposit them where they are; and it would +further appear from the gradual rise of this bed, on an inclined plain +from N.N.E. to S.S.W., that it must in the first instance, have swept +along the base of the ranges, but ultimately turned into the above +direction by the convexity of the mountains at the S.E. angle of the +coast. From the circumstance, moreover, of the summit of the fossil +formation being in places covered with oyster shells, the fact of the +whole mass having been under water is indisputable, and leads us naturally +to the conclusion that the depressed interior beyond it must have been +under water at the same time. + +It was proved by barometrical admeasurement, that the cataract of the +Macquarie was 680 feet above the level of the sea, and, in like manner, +it was found that the depot of Mr. Oxley, on the Lachlan, was only 500, +there being a still greater fall of country beyond these two points. +The maximum height of the fossil bank was 300 feet; and if we suppose a +line to be drawn from its top to the eastward, that line would pass over +the marshes of the two rivers, and would cut them at a point below which +they both gradually diminish. Hence I am brought to conclude that in +former times the sea washed the western base of the dividing ranges, at or +near the two points whose respective elevations I have given; and that +when the mass of land now lying waste and unproductive, became exposed, +the rivers, which until then had pursued a regular course to the ocean, +having no channel beyond their original termination, overflowed the almost +level country into which they now fall; or, filling some extensive +concavity, have contributed, by successive depositions, to the formation +of those marshes of which so much has been said. I regret extremely, that +my defective vision prevents me giving a slight sketch to elucidate +whet I fear I have, in words, perhaps, failed in making sufficiently +intelligible. + +GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. + +Now, as we know not by what means the changes that have taken place on the +earth's surface have been effected, and can only reason on them from +analogy, it is to be feared we shall never arrive at any clear +demonstration of the truth of our surmises with regard to geographical +changes, whether extensive or local, since the causes which produced them +will necessarily have ceased to operate. We cannot refer to the dates when +they took place, as we may do in regard to the eruptions of a volcano, +or the appearance or disappearance of an island. Such events are of minor +importance. Those mighty changes to which I would be understood to allude, +can hardly be laid to the account of chemical agency. We can easily +comprehend how subterranean fires will occasionally burst forth, and can +thus satisfactorily account for earthquake or volcano; but it is not to +any clashing of properties, or to any visible causes, that the changes of +which I speak can be attributed. They appear rather as the consequences of +direct agency, of an invisible power, not as the occasional and fretful +workings of nature herself. The marks of that awful catastrophe which so +nearly extinguished the human race, are every day becoming more and more +visible as geological research proceeds. Thus, in the limestone caves at +Wellington Valley, the remains of fossils and exuviae, show that their +depths were penetrated by the same searching element that poured into the +caverns of Kirkdale and other places. They are as gleams of sunshine +falling upon the pages of that sublime and splendid volume, in which the +history of the deluge is alone to be found; as if the Almighty intended +that His word should stand single and unsupported before mankind: and when +we consider that such corroborative testimonies of his wrath, as those I +have noticed, were in all probability wholly unknown to those who wrote +that sacred book, the discovery of the remains of a past world, must +strike those under whose knowledge it may fall with the truth of that +awful event, which language has vainly endeavoured to describe and +painters to represent. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + + +Environs of the lake Alexandrina--Appointment of Capt. Barker to make a +further survey of the coast near Encounter Bay--Narrative of his +proceedings--Mount Lofty, Mount Barker, and beautiful country adjacent-- +Australian salmon--Survey of the coast--Outlet of lake to the sea-- +Circumstances that led to the slaughter of Capt. Barker by the natives-- +His character--Features of this part of the country and capabilities of +its coasts--Its adaptation for colonization--Suggestions for the +furtherance of future Expeditions. + +ENVIRONS OF THE LAKE ALEXANDRINA. + +The foregoing narrative will have given the reader some idea of the state +in which the last expedition reached the bottom of that extensive and +magnificent basin which receives the waters of the Murray. The men were, +indeed, so exhausted, in strength, and their provisions so much reduced by +the time they gained the coast, that I doubted much, whether either would +hold out to such place as we might hope for relief. Yet, reduced as the +whole of us were from previous exertion, beset as our homeward path was by +difficulty and danger, and involved as our eventual safety was in +obscurity and doubt, I could not but deplore the necessity that obliged me +to re-cross the Lake Alexandrina (as I had named it in honour of the heir +apparent to the British crown), and to relinquish the examination of its +western shores. We were borne over its ruffled and agitated surface with +such rapidity, that I had scarcely time to view it as we passed; but, +cursory as my glance was, I could not but think I was leaving behind me +the fullest reward of our toil, in a country that would ultimately render +our discoveries valuable, and benefit the colony for whose interests we +were engaged. Hurried, I would repeat, as my view of it was, my eye never +fell on a country of more promising aspect, or of more favourable +position, than that which occupies the space between the lake and the +ranges of St. Vincent's Gulf, and, continuing northerly from Mount Barker, +stretches away, without any visible boundary. + +It appeared to me that, unless nature had deviated from her usual laws, +this tract of country could not but be fertile, situated as it was to +receive the mountain deposits on the one hand, and those of the lake upon +the other. + +FURTHER EXAMINATION OF THE COAST. + +In my report to the Colonial Government, however, I did not feel myself +justified in stating, to their full extent, opinions that were founded on +probability and conjecture alone. But, although I was guarded in this +particular, I strongly recommended a further examination of the coast, +from the most eastern point of Encounter Bay, to the head St. Vincent's +Gulf, to ascertain if any other than the known channel existed among the +sand-hills of the former, or if, as I had every reason to hope from the +great extent of water to the N.W., there was a practicable communication +with the lake from the other; and I ventured to predict, that a closer +survey of the interjacent country, would be attended with the most +beneficial results; nor have I a doubt that the promontory of Cape Jervis +would ere this have been settled, had Captain Barker lived to complete his +official reports. + +CAPT. BARKER'S SURVEY. + +The governor, General Darling, whose multifarious duties might well have +excused him from paying attention to distant objects, hesitated not a +moment when he thought the interests of the colony, whose welfare he so +zealously promoted, appeared to be concerned; and he determined to avail +himself of the services of Captain Collet Barker, of the 39th regiment, +who was about to be recalled from King George's Sound, in order to satisfy +himself as to the correctness of my views. + +Captain Barker had not long before been removed from Port Raffles, on the +northern coast, where he had had much intercourse with the natives, and +had frequently trusted himself wholly in their hands. It was not, however, +merely on account of his conciliating manners, and knowledge of the temper +and habits of the natives, that he was particularly fitted for the duty +upon which it was the governor's pleasure to employ him. He was, in +addition, a man of great energy of character, and of much and various +information. + +Orders having reached Sydney, directing the establishment belonging to +New South Wales to be withdrawn, prior to the occupation of King George's +Sound by the government of Western Australia, the ISABELLA schooner was +sent to receive the troops and prisoners on board; and Captain Barker was +directed, as soon as he should have handed over the settlement to Captain +Stirling, to proceed to Cape Jervis, from which point it was thought he +could best carry on a survey not only of the coast but also of the +interior. + +This excellent and zealous officer sailed from King George's Sound, on the +10th of April, 1831, and arrived off Cape Jervis on the 13th. He was +attended by Doctor Davies, one of the assistant surgeons of his regiment, +and by Mr. Kent, of the Commissariat. It is to the latter gentleman that +the public are indebted for the greater part of the following details; +he having attended Captain Barker closely during the whole of this short +but disastrous excursion, and made notes as copious as they are +interesting. At the time the ISABELLA arrived off Cape Jervis, the weather +was clear and favourable. Captain Barker consequently stood into +St. Vincent's Gulf, keeping, as near as practicable, to the eastern shore, +in soundings that varied from six to ten fathoms, upon sand and mud. +His immediate object was to ascertain if there was any communication with +the lake Alexandrina from the gulf. He ascended to lat. 34 degrees +40 minutes where he fully satisfied himself that no channel did exist +between them. He found, however, that the ranges behind Cape Jervis +terminated abruptly at Mount Lofty, in lat. 34 degrees 56 minutes, and, +that a flat and wooded country succeeded to the N. and N.E. The shore of +the gulf tended more to the N.N.W., and mud flats and mangrove swamps +prevailed along it. + +INVITING COUNTRY--MOUNT LOFTY. + +Mr. Kent informs me, that they landed for the first time on the 15th, but +that they returned almost immediately to the vessel. On the 17th, Captain +Barker again landed, with the intention of remaining on shore for two or +three days. He was accompanied by Mr. Kent, his servant Mills, and two +soldiers. The boat went to the place at which they had before landed, as +they thought they had discovered a small river with a bar entrance. They +crossed the bar, and ascertained that it was a narrow inlet, of four miles +in length, that terminated at the base of the ranges. The party were quite +delighted with the aspect of the country on either side of the inlet, +and with the bold and romantic scenery behind them. The former bore the +appearance of natural meadows, lightly timbered, and covered with a +variety of grasses. The soil was observed to be a rich, fat, chocolate +coloured earth, probably the decomposition of the deep blue limestone, +that showed itself along the coast hereabouts. On the other hand, a rocky +glen made a cleft in the ranges at the head of the inlet; and they were +supplied with abundance of fresh water which remained in the deeper pools +that had been filled by the torrents during late rains. The whole +neighbourhood was so inviting that the party slept at the head of the +inlet. + +MOUNT LOFTY AND ITS ENVIRONS. + +In the morning, Captain Barker proceeded to ascend Mount Lofty, +accompanied by Mr. Kent and his servant, leaving the two soldiers at the +bivouac, at which he directed them to remain until his return. Mr. Kent +says they kept the ridge all the way, and rose above the sea by a gradual +ascent. The rock-formation of the lower ranges appeared to be an +argillaceous schist; the sides and summit of the ranges were covered with +verdure, and the trees upon them were of more than ordinary size. The view +to the eastward was shut out by other ranges, parallel to those on which +they were; below them to the westward, the same pleasing kind of country +that flanked the inlet still continued. + +MOUNT BARKER. + +In the course of the day they passed round the head of a deep ravine, +whose smooth and grassy sides presented a beautiful appearance. The party +stood 600 feet above the bed of a small rivulet that occupied the bottom +of the ravine. In some places huge blocks of granite interrupted its +course, in others the waters had worn the rock smooth. The polish of these +rocks was quite beautiful, and the veins of red and white quartz which +traversed them, looked like mosaic work. They did not gain the top of +Mount Lofty, but slept a few miles beyond the ravine. In the morning +they continued their journey, and, crossing Mount Lofty, descended +northerly, to a point from which the range bent away a little to the +N.N.E., and then terminated. The view from this point was much more +extensive than that from Mount Lofty itself. They overlooked a great part +of the gulf, and could distinctly see the mountains at the head of it to +the N.N.W. To the N.W. there was a considerable indentation in the coast, +which had escaped Captain Barker's notice when examining it. A mountain, +very similar to Mount Lofty, bore due east of them, and appeared to be the +termination of its range. They were separated by a valley of about ten +miles in width, the appearance of which was not favourable. Mr. Kent +states to me, that Capt. Barker observed at the time that he thought it +probable I had mistaken this hill for Mount Lofty, since it shut out the +view of the lake from him, and therefore he naturally concluded, I could +not have seen Mount Lofty. I can readily imagine such an error to have +been made by me, more especially as I remember that at the time I was +taking bearings in the lake, I thought Captain Flinders had not given +Mount Lofty, as I then conceived it to be, its proper position in +longitude. Both hills are in the same parallel of latitude. The mistake on +my part is obvious. I have corrected it in the charts, and have availed +myself of the opportunity thus afforded me of perpetuating, as far as I +can, the name of an inestimable companion in Captain Barker himself. + +Immediately below the point on which they stood, Mr. Kent says, a low +undulating country extended to the northward, as far as he could see. +It was partly open, and partly wooded; and was every where covered with +verdure. It continued round to the eastward, and apparently ran down +southerly, at the opposite base of the mount Barker Range. I think there +can be but little doubt that my view from the S.E., that is, from the +lake, extended over the same or a part of the same country. Captain Barker +again slept on the summit of the range, near a large basin that looked +like the mouth of a crater, in which huge fragments of rocks made a scene +of the utmost confusion. These rocks were a coarse grey granite, of which +the higher parts and northern termination of the Mount Lofty range are +evidently formed; for Mr. Kent remarks that it superseded the schistose +formation at the ravine we have noticed--and that, subsequently, the sides +of the hills became more broken, and valleys, or gullies, more properly +speaking, very numerous. Captain Barker estimated the height of Mount +Lofty above the sea at 2,400 feet, and the distance of its summit from the +coast at eleven miles. Mr. Kent says they were surprised at the size of +the trees on the immediate brow of it; they measured one and found it to +be 43 feet in girth. Indeed, he adds, vegetation did not appear to have +suffered either from its elevated position, or from any prevailing wind. +Eucalypti were the general timber on the ranges; one species of which, +resembling strongly the black butted-gum, was remarkable for a scent +peculiar to its bark. + +AUSTRALIAN SALMON. + +The party rejoined the soldiers on the 21st, and enjoyed the supply of +fish which they had provided for them. The soldiers had amused themselves +by fishing during Captain Barker's absence, and had been abundantly +successful. Among others they had taken a kind of salmon, which, though +inferior in size, resembled in shape, in taste, and in the colour of its +flesh, the salmon of Europe. I fancied that a fish which I observed with +extremely glittering scales, in the mouth of a seal, when myself on the +coast, must have been of this kind; and I have no doubt that the lake is +periodically visited by salmon, and that these fish retain their habits of +entering fresh water at particular seasons, also in the southern +hemisphere. + +Immediately behind Cape Jervis, there is a small bay, in which according +to the information of the sealers who frequent Kangaroo Island, there is +good and safe anchorage for seven months in the year, that is to say, +during the prevalence of the E. and N.E. winds. + +SURVEY OF THE COAST. + +Captain Barker landed on the 21st on this rocky point at the northern +extremity of this bay. He had, however, previously to this, examined the +indentation in the coast which he had observed from Mount Lofty, and had +ascertained that it was nothing more than an inlet; a spit of sand, +projecting from the shore at right angles with it, concealed the month of +the inlet. They took the boat to examine this point, and carried six +fathoms soundings round the head of the spit to the mouth of the inlet, +when it shoaled to two fathoms, and the landing was observed to be bad, +by reason of mangrove swamps on either side of it. Mr. Kent, I think, told +me that this inlet was from ten to twelve miles long. Can it be that a +current setting out of it at times, has thrown up the sand-bank that +protects its mouth, and that trees, or any other obstacle, have hidden its +further prolongation from Captain Barker's notice? I have little hope that +such is the case, but the remark is not an idle one. + +BEAUTIFUL VALLEYS. + +Between this inlet and the one formerly mentioned, a small and clear +stream was discovered, to which Captain Barker kindly gave my name. On +landing, the party, which consisted of the same persons as the former one, +found themselves in a valley, which opened direct upon the bay. It was +confined to the north from the chief range by a lateral ridge, that +gradually declined towards and terminated at, the rocky point on which +they had landed. The other side of the valley was formed of a continuation +of the main range, which also gradually declined to the south, and +appeared to be connected with the hills at the extremity of the cape. +The valley was from nine to ten miles in length, and from three to four in +breadth. In crossing it, they ascertained that the lagoon from which the +schooner had obtained a supply of water, was filled by a watercourse that +came down its centre. The soil in the valley was rich, but stony in some +parts. There was an abundance of pasture over the whole, from amongst +which they started numerous kangaroos. The scenery towards the ranges was +beautiful and romantic, and the general appearance of the country such as +to delight the whole party. + +Preserving a due east course, Captain Barker passed over the opposite +range of hills, and descended almost immediately into a second valley that +continued to the southwards. Its soil was poor and stony, and it was +covered with low scrub. Crossing it, they ascended the opposite range, +from the summit of which they had a view of Encounter Bay. An extensive +flat stretched from beneath them to the eastward, and was backed, in the +distance, by sand hummocks, and low wooded hills. The extreme right of the +flat rested upon the coast, at a rocky point near which there were two or +three islands. From the left a beautiful valley opened upon it. A strong +and clear rivulet from this valley traversed the flat obliquely, and fell +into the sea at the rocky point, or a little to the southward of it. +The hills forming the opposite side of the valley had already terminated. +Captain Barker, therefore, ascended to higher ground, and, at length, +obtained a view of the Lake Alexandrina, and the channel of its +communication with the sea to the N.E. He now descended to the flat, and +frequently expressed his anxious wish to Mr. Kent that I had been one of +their number to enjoy the beauty of the scenery around them, and to +participate in their labours. Had fate so ordained it, it is possible the +melancholy tragedy that soon after occurred might have been averted. + +OUTLET OF LAKE TO THE SEA. + +At the termination of the flat they found themselves upon the banks of the +channel, and close to the sand hillock under which my tents had been +pitched. From this point they proceeded along the line of sand-hills to +the outlet; from which it would appear that Kangaroo Island is not +visible, but that the distant point which I mistook for it was the S.E. +angle of Cape Jervis. I have remarked, in describing that part of the +coast, that there is a sand-hill to the eastward of the inlet, under which +the tide runs strong, and the water is deep. Captain Barker judged the +breadth of the channel to be a quarter of a mile, and he expressed a +desire to swim across it to the sand-hill to take bearings, and to +ascertain the nature of the strand beyond it to the eastward. + +It unfortunately happened, that he was the only one of the party who could +swim well, in consequence of which his people remonstrated with him on the +danger of making the attempt unattended. Notwithstanding, however, that +he was seriously indisposed, he stripped, and after Mr. Kent had fastened +his compass on his head for him, he plunged into the water, and with +difficulty gained the opposite side; to effect which took him nine minutes +and fifty-eight seconds. His anxious comrades saw him ascend the hillock, +and take several bearings; he then descended the farther side, and was +never seen by them again. + +CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING THE LOSS OF CAPTAIN BARKER. + +For a considerable time Mr. Kent remained stationary, in momentary +expectation of his return; but at length, taking the two soldiers with +him, he proceeded along the shore in search of wood for a fire. At about +a quarter of a mile, the soldiers stopped and expressed their wish to +return, as their minds misgave them, and they feared that Captain Barker +had met with some accident. While conversing, they heard a distant shout, +or cry, which Mr. Kent thought resembled the call of the natives, but +which the soldiers positively declared to be the voice of a white man. +On their return to their companions, they asked if any sounds had caught +their ears, to which they replied in the negative. The wind was blowing +from the E.S.E., in which direction Captain Barker had gone; and, to me, +the fact of the nearer party not having heard that which must have been +his cries for assistance, is satisfactorily accounted for, as, being +immediately under the hill, the sounds must have passed over their heads +to be heard more distinctly at the distance at which Mr. Kent and the +soldiers stood. It is more than probable, that while his men were +expressing their anxiety about him, the fearful tragedy was enacting which +it has become my painful task to detail. + +Evening closed in without any signs of Captain Barker's return, or any +circumstance by which Mr. Kent could confirm his fears that he had fallen +into the hands of the natives. For, whether it was that the tribe which +had shown such decided hostility to me when on the coast had not observed +the party, none made their appearance; and if I except two, who crossed +the channel when Mr. Kent was in search of wood, they had neither seen nor +heard any; and Captain Barker's enterprising disposition being well known +to his men, hopes were still entertained that he was safe. A large fire +was kindled, and the party formed a silent and anxious group around it. +Soon after night-fall, however, their attention was roused by the sounds +of the natives, and it was at length discovered, that they had lighted a +chain of small fires between the sand-hill Captain Barker had ascended and +the opposite side of the channel, around which their women were chanting +their melancholy dirge. It struck upon the ears of the listeners with an +ominous thrill, and assured them of the certainty of the irreparable loss +they had sustained. All night did those dismal sounds echo along that +lonely shore, but as morning dawned, they ceased, and Mr. Kent and his +companions were again left in anxiety and doubt. They, at length, thought +it most advisable to proceed to the schooner to advise with Doctor +Davies. They traversed the beach with hasty steps, but did not get on +board till the following day. It was then determined to procure assistance +from the sealers on Kangaroo Island, as the only means by which they could +ascertain their leader's fate, and they accordingly entered American +Harbour. For a certain reward, one of the men agreed to accompany Mr. Kent +to the main with a native woman, to communicate with the tribe that was +supposed to have killed him. They landed at or near the rocky point of +Encounter Bay, where they were joined by two other natives, one of whom +was blind. The woman was sent forward for intelligence, and on her return +gave the following details: + +ACCOUNT OF HIS MURDER. + +It appears that at a very considerable distance from the first sand-hill, +there is another to which Captain Barker must have walked, for the woman +stated that three natives were going to the shore from their tribe, and +that they crossed his tract. Their quick perception immediately told them +it was an unusual impression. They followed upon it, and saw Captain +Barker returning. They hesitated for a long time to approach him, being +fearful of the instrument he carried. At length, however, they closed upon +him. Capt. Barker tried to soothe them, but finding that they were +determined to attack him, he made for the water from which he could not +have been very distant. One of the blacks immediately threw his spear and +struck him in the hip. This did not, however, stop him. He got among the +breakers, when he received the second spear in the shoulder. On this, +turning round, he received a third full in the breast: with such deadly +precision do these savages cast their weapons. It would appear that the +third spear was already on its flight when Capt. Barker turned, and it is +to be hoped, that it was at once mortal. He fell on his back into the +water. The natives then rushed in, and dragging him out by the legs, +seized their spears, and indicted innumerable wounds upon his body; +after which, they threw it into deep water, and the sea-tide carried it +away. + +HIS CHARACTER. + +Such, we have every reason to believe, was the untimely fate of this +amiable and talented man. It is a melancholy satisfaction to me thus +publicly to record his worth; instrumental, as I cannot but in some +measure consider my last journey to have been in leading to this fatal +catastrophe. Captain Barker was in disposition, as he was in the close +of his life, in many respects similar to Captain Cook. Mild, affable, and +attentive, he had the esteem and regard of every companion, and the +respect of every one under him. Zealous in the discharge of his public +duties, honourable and just in private life; a lover and a follower of +science; indefatigable and dauntless in his pursuits; a steady friend, +an entertaining companion; charitable, kind-hearted, disinterested, +and sincere--the task is equally difficult to find adequate expressions of +praise or of regret. In him the king lost one of his most valuable +officers, and his regiment one of its most efficient members. Beloved as +he was, the news of his loss struck his numerous friends with sincere +grief, but by none was it more severely felt than by the humble individual +who has endeavoured thus feebly to draw his portrait. + +From the same source from which the particulars of his death were +obtained, it was reported that the natives who perpetrated the deed were +influenced by no other motive than curiosity to ascertain if they had +power to kill a white man. But we must be careful in giving credit to +this, for it is much more probable that the cruelties exercised by the +sealers towards the blacks along the south coast, may have instigated the +latter to take vengeance on the innocent as well as on the guilty. It will +be seen, by a reference to the chart, that Captain Barker, by crossing the +channel, threw himself into the very hands of that tribe which had evinced +such determined hostility to myself and my men. He got into the rear of +their strong hold, and was sacrificed to those feelings of suspicion, and +to that desire of revenge, which the savages never lose sight of until +they have been gratified. + +FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY, AND CAPABILITIES OF THE COAST. + +It yet remains for me to state that when Mr. Kent returned to the +schooner, after this irreparable loss, he kept to the south of the place +at which he had crossed the first range with Captain Barker, and travelled +through a valley right across the promontory. He thus discovered that +there was a division in the ranges, through which there was a direct and +level road from the little bay on the northern extremity of which they had +last landed in St. Vincent's Gulf, to the rocky point of Encounter Bay. +The importance of this fact will be better estimated, when it is known +that good anchorage is secured to small vessels inside the island that +lies off the point of Encounter Bay, which is rendered still safer by a +horse shoe reef that forms, as it were, a thick wall to break the swell of +the sea. But this anchorage is not safe for more than five months in the +year. Independently of these points, however, Mr. Kent remarks, that the +spit a little to the north of Mount Lofty would afford good shelter to +minor vessels under its lee. When the nature of the country is taken into +consideration, and the facility of entering that which lies between the +ranges and the Lake Alexandrina, from the south, and of a direct +communication with the lake itself, the want of an extensive harbour will, +in some measure, be compensated for, more especially when it is known that +within four leagues of Cape Jervis, a port little inferior to Port +Jackson, with a safe and broad entrance, exists at Kangaroo Island. The +sealers have given this spot the name of American Harbour. In it, I am +informed, vessels are completely land-locked, and secure from every wind. +Kangaroo Island is not, however, fertile by any means. It abounds in +shallow lakes filled with salt water during high tides, and which, by +evaporation, yield a vast quantity of salt. + +I gathered from the sealers that neither the promontory separating +St. Vincent from Spencer's Gulf, nor the neighbourhood of Port Lincoln, +are other than barren and sandy wastes. They all agree in describing Port +Lincoln itself as a magnificent roadstead, but equally agree as to the +sterility of its shores. It appears, therefore, that the promontory of +Cape Jervis owes its superiority to its natural features; in fact, to the +mountains that occupy its centre, to the debris that has been washed from +them, and to the decomposition of the better description of its rocks. +Such is the case at Illawarra, where the mountains approach the sea; such +indeed is the case every where, at a certain distance from mountain +ranges. + +ADAPTION OF THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY FOR COLONISATION. + +From the above account it would appear that a spot has, at length, been +found upon the south coast of New Holland, to which the colonist might +venture with every prospect of success, and in whose valleys the exile +might hope to build for himself and for his family a peaceful and +prosperous home. All who have ever landed upon the eastern shore of +St. Vincent's Gulf, agree as to the richness of its soil, and the +abundance of its pasture. Indeed, if we cast our eyes upon the chart, and +examine the natural features of the country behind Cape Jervis, we shall +no longer wonder at its differing in soil and fertility from the low and +sandy tracks that generally prevail along the shores of Australia. Without +entering largely into the consideration of the more remote advantages that +would, in all human probability, result from the establishment of a +colony, rather than a penal settlement, at St. Vincent's Gulf, it will be +expedient to glance hastily over the preceding narrative, and, disengaging +it from all extraneous matter, to condense, as much as possible, the +information it contains respecting the country itself; for I have been +unable to introduce any passing remark, lest I should break the thread of +an interesting detail. + +The country immediately behind Cape Jervis may, strictly speaking, be +termed a promontory, bounded to the west by St. Vincent's Gulf, and to the +east by the lake Alexandrina, and the sandy track separating that basin +from the sea. Supposing a line to be drawn from the parallel of 34 degrees +40 minutes to the eastward, it will strike the Murray river about 25 miles +above the head of the lake, and will clear the ranges, of which Mount +Lofty and Mount Barker are the respective terminations. This line will cut +off a space whose greatest breadth will be 55 miles, whose length from +north to south will be 75, and whose surface exceeds 7 millions of acres; +from which if we deduct 2 millions for the unavailable hills, we shall +have 5 millions of acres of land, of rich soil, upon which no scrub +exists, and whose most distant points are accessible, through a level +country on the one hand, and by water on the other. The southern extremity +of the ranges can be turned by that valley through which Mr. Kent returned +to the schooner, after Captain Barker's death. It is certain, therefore, +that this valley not only secures so grand a point, but also presents a +level line of communication from the small bay immediately to the north of +the cape, to the rocky point of Encounter Bay, at both of which places +there is safe anchorage at different periods of the year. + +HINTS FOR FUTURE EXPEDITIONS. + +The only objection that can be raised to the occupation of this spot, is +the want of an available harbour. Yet it admits of great doubt whether the +contiguity of Kangaroo Island to Cape Jervis, (serving as it does to break +the force of the prevailing winds, as also of the heavy swell that would +otherwise roll direct into the bay,) and the fact of its possessing a safe +and commodious harbour, certainly at an available distance, does not in a +great measure remove the objection. Certain it is that no port, with the +exception of that on the shores of which the capital of Australia is +situated, offers half the convenience of this, although it be detached +between three and four leagues from the main. + +On the other hand it would appear, that there is no place from which at +any time the survey of the more central parts of the continent could be so +effectually carried on; for in a country like Australia, where the chief +obstacle to be apprehended in travelling is the want of water, the +facilities afforded by the Murray and its tributaries, are indisputable; +and I have little doubt that the very centre of the continent might be +gained by a judicious and enterprising expedition. Certainly it is most +desirable to ascertain whether the river I have supposed to be the Darling +be really so or not. I have stated my objection to depots, but I think +that if a party commenced its operations upon the Murray from the +junction upwards, and, after ascertaining the fact of its ultimate course, +turned away to the N.W. up one of the tributaries of the Murray, with a +supply of six months' provisions, the results would be of the most +satisfactory kind, and the features of the country be wholly developed. +I cannot, I think, conclude this work better than by expressing a hope, +that the Colonial Government will direct such measures to be adopted as +may be necessary for the extension of our geographical knowledge in +Australia. The facilities of fitting out expeditions in New South Wales, +render the expenses of little moment, when compared with the importance of +the object in view; and although I am labouring under the effects of +former attempts, yet would I willingly give such assistance as I could to +carry such an object into effect. + + + + + +APPENDIX. + + + + +APPENDIX No. I. + + + +GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS FOUND TO THE SOUTH-WEST OF PORT JACKSON. + + +Considering the nature of the country over which the first expedition +travelled, it could hardly have been expected that its geological +specimens would be numerous. It will appear, however, from the following +list of rocks collected during the second expedition, that the geological +formation of the mountains to the S.W. of Port Jackson is as various as +that to the N.W. of it is mountainous. The specimens are described not +according to their natural order, but in the succession in which they +were found, commencing from Yass Plains, and during the subsequent stages +of the journey. + + +Sandstone, Old Red.--Found on various parts of Yass Plains. + +Limestone, Transition.--Colour dark grey; composes the bed of the Yass +River, and apparently traverses the sandstone formation. Yass Plains lie +170 miles to the S.W. of Sydney. + +Sandstone, Old Red.--Again succeeds the limestone, and continues to the +N.W. to a considerable distance over a poor and scrubby country, covered +for the most part with a dwarf species of Eucalyptus. + +Granite.--Colour grey; feldspar, black mica, and quartz: succeeds the +sandstone, and continues to the S.W. as far as the Morumbidgee River, +over an open forest country broken into hill and dale. It is generally on +these granite rocks that the best grazing is found. + +Greywacke.--Colour grey, of light hue, or dark, with black specks. +Soft.--Composition of a part of the ranges that form the valley of the +Morumbidgee. + +Serpentine.--Colour green of different shades, striped sulphur yellow; +slaty fracture, soft and greasy to the touch. Forms hills of moderate +elevation, of peculiarly sharp spine, resting on quartz. Composition of +most of the ranges opposite the Doomot River on the Morumbidgee, in +lat. 35 degrees 4 minutes and long. 147 degrees 40 minutes. + +Quartz.--Colour snow-white; formation of the higher ranges on the left +bank of the Morumbidgee, in the same latitude and longitude as above; +showing in large blocks on the sides of the hills. + +Slaty Quartz, with varieties.--Found with the quartz rock, in a state +of decomposition. + +Granite.--Succeeds the serpentine, of light colour; feldspar decomposed; +mica, glittering and silvery white. + +Sandstone, Old Red.--Composition of the more distant ranges on the +Morumbidgee. Forms abrupt precipices over the river flats; of sterile +appearance, and covered with Banksias and scrub. + +Mica Slate.--Colour dark brown, approaching red; mica glittering. +The hills enclosing Pondebadgery Plain at the gorge of the valley of the +Morumbidgee, are composed of this rock. They are succeeded by + +Sandstone.--Which rises abruptly from the river in perpendicular cliffs, +of 145 feet in height. + +Jasper and quartz.--Colour red and white. Forms the slope of the above +sandstone, and may be considered the outermost of the rocks connected with +the Eastern or Blue Mountain Ranges. It will be remembered that jasper and +quartz were likewise found on a plain near the Darling River, precisely +similar to the above, although occurring at so great a distance from each +other. + +Granite.--Light red colour; composition of a small isolated hill, to all +appearance wholly unconnected with the neighbouring ranges. This specimen +is very similar to that found in the bed of New-Year's Creek. + +Breccia.--Silicious cement, composed of a variety of pebbles. Formation of +the most WESTERLY of the hills between the Lachlan and Macquarie Rivers. +This conglomerate was also found to compose the minor and most westerly of +the elevations of the more northern interior. + +Chrystallized Sulphate of Lime.--Found embedded in the deep alluvial soil +in the banks of the Morumbidgee River, in lat. 34 degrees 30 minutes S., +and long. 144 degrees 55 minutes E. The same substance was found on the +banks of the Darling, in lat. 29 degrees 49 minutes S., and in +long. 145 degrees 18 minutes E. + + +A reference to the chart will show that the Morumbidgee, from the first of +the above positions, may be said to have entered the almost dead level of +the interior. No elevation occurs to the westward for several hundreds of +miles. A coarse grit occasionally traversed the beds of the rivers, and +their lofty banks of clay or marl appear to be based on sandstone and +granitic sand. The latter occurs in slabs of four inches in thickness, +divided by a line of saffron-coloured sand, and seems to have been +subjected to fusion, as if the particles or grains had been cemented +together by fusion. + + +The first decided break that takes place in the level of the interior +occurs upon the right bank of the Murray, a little below the junction of +the Rufus with it. A cliff of from 120 to 130 feet in perpendicular +elevation here flanks the river for about 200 yards, when it recedes from +it, and forms a spacious amphitheatre that is occupied by semicircular +hillocks, that partake of the same character as the cliff itself; the face +of which showed the various substances of which it was composed in +horizontal lines, that if prolonged would cut the same substance in the +hillocks. Based upon a soft white sandstone, a bed of clay formed the +lowest part of the cliff; upon this bed of clay, a bed of chalk reposed; +this chalk was superseded by a thick bed of saponaceous earth, whilst the +summit of the cliff was composed of a bright red sand. Semi-opal and +hydrate of silex were found in the chalk, and some beautiful specimens of +brown menelite were collected from the upper stratum of the cliff. + +A little below this singular place, the country again declines, when a +tertiary fossil formation shows itself, which, rising gradually as an +inclined plain, ultimately attains an elevation of 300 feet. This +formation continues to the very coast, since large masses of the rock were +observed in the channel of communication between the lake and the ocean; +and the hills to the left of the channel were based upon it. This great +bank cannot, therefore, average less than from seventy to ninety miles in +width. At its commencement, it strikingly resembled skulls piled one +on the other, as well in colour as appearance. This effect had been +produced by the constant rippling of water against the rock. The softer +parts had been washed away, and the shells (a bed of Turritella) alone +remained. + +Plate 1, Figures 1, 2, and 3, represent the selenite formation. + +Plate 2, represents a mass of the rock containing numerous kinds of +shells, of which the following are the most conspicuous: + +Cardium +Pectunculus +Corbula +Arca +Conus, and +Others unknown. + + +* * * + + +The following is a list of the fossils collected from various parts of +this formation, from which it is evident that a closer examination would +lead to the discovery of numberless species. + + +TUNICATA. + + +PLATE III. + +FIG.1 Eschara celleporacea. + 2 ------- piriformis. + 3 ------- UNNAMED. + +FIG.4 Cellepora echinata. + 5 --------- escharoides? + 6 Retepora disticha. + 7 -------- vibicata. + 8 Glauconome rhombifera. + All Tertiary in Westphalia and England. + + +RADIATA + + + 9 Scutella. + 10 Spatangus Hoffmanni--Goldfuss. + Tertiary, in Westphalia. + 11 Echinus. + + +CONCHIFERA--BIVALVED SHELLS. + + + Corbula gallica--Paris basin--Tertiary. + Tellina? + Corbis lamellosa--Tertiary--Paris. + Lucina. + Venus (Cytherea) laevigata--ibid. + ----- ---------- obliqua --ibid. + Venus + Cardium?--fragments. + 12 Nucula--such is found in London clay. + 13 Pecten coarctatus?--Placentia. + ------ various?--recent. + 14 ------ species unknown. + Two other Pectens also occur. + Ostrea elongata--Deshayes. + 15 Terebratula. + 16 One cast, genus unknown, perhaps a Cardium. + + +MOLUSCA--UNIVALVED SHELLS. + + + Bulla? Plate II., fig. 2. +FIG.17 Natica--small. + 18 ------ large species. + Dentalium? + 19 Trochus. + 20 Turritella. + ---------- in gyps. + 21 Murex. + 22 Buccinum? + 23 Mitra. + 24 ----- very short. + 25 Cypraea. + 26 Conus. + 27 ----- (Plate II., fig. 3.) + 28 Two, unknown, (Also Plate II, fig. 4.) + The above all appear to belong to the newer tertiary formations. + +[Fig.17 to 27--These genera are scarcely ever, and some of them not at +all, found in any but tertiary formations.] + + A block of coarse red granite forms an island in the centre of the + river near the lake, but is nowhere else visible, although it is very + probably the basis of the surrounding country. + + +ROCK FORMATION OF THE COAST RANGE OF ST. VINCENT'S GULF. + + +Primitive Transition Limestone.--Light grey, striped. Altered in +appearance by volcanic action; occurs on the Ranges north of Cape Jervis. + +Granite.--Colour, red; found on the west side of Encounter Bay. + +Brown Spar.--South point of Cape Jervis. + +Sandstone, Old Red.--East coast of St, Vincent's Gulf. + +Limestone, Transition.--Colour, blue. East Coast of St. Vincent's Gulf. +Formation near the first inlet. Continuing to the base of the Ranges. + +Clay Slate.--Composition of the lower part of the Mount Lofty Range. + +Granite.--Fine grained, red; forms the higher parts of the Mount Lofty +Range. + +Quartz, with Tourmaline.--Lower parts of the Mount Lofty Range. + +Limestone Flustra, and their Corallines, probably tertiary.--From the +mouth of the Sturt, on the coast line, nearly abreast of Mount Lofty. + + + + +APPENDIX No. II. + + + +OFFICIAL REPORT TO THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT. + + +* * * * * + +GOVERNMENT ORDER. + +Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, +May 10, 1830. + +His Excellency the Governor has much satisfaction in publishing the +following report of the proceedings of an expedition undertaken for the +purpose of tracing the course of the river "Morumbidgee," and of +ascertaining whether it communicated with the coast forming the southern +boundary of the colony. + +The expedition, which was placed under the direction of Captain Sturt, +of his Majesty's 39th Regiment, commenced its progress down the +"Morumbidgee" on the 7th day of January last, having been occupied +twenty-one days in performing the journey from Sydney. + +On the 14th January they entered a new river running from east to west, +now called the "Murray," into which the "Morumbidgee" flows. + +After pursuing the course of the "Murray" for several days, the expedition +observed another river (supposed to be that which Captain Sturt discovered +on his former expedition), uniting with the "Murray" which they examined +about five miles above the junction. + +The expedition again proceeded down the "Murray," and fell in with another +of its tributaries flowing from the south east, which Captain Sturt has +designated the "Lindesay;" and on the 8th February the "Murray" was +found to enter or form a lake, of from fifty to sixty miles in length, +and from thirty to forty in breadth, lying immediately to the eastward of +gulf St. Vincent, and extending to the southward, to the shore of +"Encounter Bay." + +Thus has Captain Sturt added largely, and in a highly important degree, +to the knowledge previously possessed of the interior. + +His former expedition ascertained the fate of the rivers Macquarie and +Castlereagh, on which occasion he also discovered a river which, there is +every reason to believe, is, in ordinary seasons, of considerable +magnitude. + +Should this, as Captain Sturt supposes, prove to be the same river as that +above-mentioned, as uniting with the "Murray," the existence of an +interior water communication for several hundreds of miles, extending from +the northward of "Mount Harris," down to the southern coast of the colony, +will have been established. + +It is to be regretted, that circumstances did not permit of a more perfect +examination of the lake, (which has been called "Alexandrina"), as the +immediate vicinage of Gulf St. Vincent furnishes a just ground of hope +that a more practicable and useful communication may be discovered in +that direction, than the channel which leads into "Encounter Bay." + +The opportunity of recording a second time the services rendered to the +colony by Captain Sturt, is as gratifying to the government which directed +the undertaking, as it is creditable to the individual who so successfully +conducted it to its termination.--It is an additional cause of +satisfaction to add, that every one, according to his sphere of action, +has a claim to a proportionate degree of applause. All were exposed alike +to the same privations and fatigue, and every one submitted with patience, +manifesting the most anxious desire for the success of the expedition. +The zeal of Mr. George M'Leay, the companion of Captain Sturt, when +example was so important, could not fail to have the most salutary effect; +and the obedience, steadiness, and good conduct of the men employed, merit +the highest praise. + +By his Excellency's command, + +ALEXANDER M'LEAY. + + +* * * * * + + +BANKS OF THE MORUMBIDGEE, APRIL 20TH, 1830. + +SIR,--The departure of Mr. George M'Leay for Sydney, who is anxious to +proceed homewards as speedily as possible, affords me an earlier +opportunity than would otherwise have presented itself, by which to make +you acquainted with the circumstance of my return, under the divine +protection, to the located districts; and I do myself the honour of +annexing a brief account of my proceedings since the last communication +for the information of His Excellency the Governor, until such time as I +shall have it in my power to give in a more detailed report. + +On the 7th of January, agreeably to the arrangements which had been made, +I proceeded down the Morumbidgee in the whale boat, with a complement of +six hands, independent of myself and Mr. M'Leay, holding the skiff in tow. +The river, for several days, kept a general W.S.W. course; it altered +little in appearance, nor did any material change take place in the +country upon its banks. The alluvial flats had occasionally an increased +breadth on either side of it, but the line of reeds was nowhere so +extensive as from previous appearances I had been led to expect. About +twelve miles from the depot, we passed a large creek junction from the +N.E. which, from its locality and from the circumstance of my having been +upon it in the direction of them, I cannot but conclude originates in the +marshes of the Lachlan. + +On the 11th, the Morumbidgee became much encumbered with fallen timber, +and its current was at times so rapid that I was under considerable +apprehension for the safety of the boats. The skiff had been upset on the +8th, and, although I could not anticipate such an accident to the large +boat, I feared she would receive some more serious and irremediable +injury. On the 14th, these difficulties increased upon us.--The channel +of the river became more contracted, and its current more impetuous. We +had no sooner cleared one reach, than fresh and apparently insurmountable +dangers presented themselves to us in the next. I really feared that every +precaution would have proved unavailing against such multiplied +embarrassments, and that ere night we should have possessed only the +wrecks of the expedition. From this state of anxiety, however, we were +unexpectedly relieved, by our arrival at 2 p.m. at the termination of the +Morumbidgee; from which we were launched into a broad and noble river, +flowing from E. to W. at the rate of two and a half knots per hour, over +a clear and sandy bed, of a medium width of from three to four hundred +feet. + +During the first stages of our journey upon this new river, which +evidently had its rise in the mountains of the S.E., we made rapid +progress to the W.N.W. through an unbroken and uninteresting country of +equal sameness of feature and of vegetation. On the 23rd, as the boats +were proceeding down it, several hundreds of natives made their appearance +upon the right bank, having assembled with premeditated purposes of +violence. I was the more surprised at this show of hostility, because we +had passed on general friendly terms, not only with those on the +Morumbidgee, but of the new river. Now, however, emboldened by numbers, +they seemed determined on making the first attack, and soon worked +themselves into a state of frenzy by loud and vehement shouting. As I +observed that the water was shoaling fast, I kept in the middle of the +stream; and, under an impression that it would be impossible for me to +avoid a conflict, prepared for an obstinate resistance. But, at the very +moment when, having arrived opposite to a large sand bank, on which +they had collected, the foremost of the blacks had already advanced +into the water, and I only awaited their nearer approach to fire +upon them, their impetuosity was restrained by the most unlooked +for and unexpected interference. They held back of a sudden, and +allowed us to pass unmolested. The boat, however, almost immediately +grounded on a shoal that stretched across the river, over which she +was with some difficulty hauled into deeper water,--when we found +ourselves opposite to a large junction from the eastward, little +inferior to the river itself. Had I been aware of this circumstance, I +should have been the more anxious with regard to any rupture with the +natives, and I was now happy to find that most of them had laid aside +their weapons and had crossed the junction, it appearing that they had +previously been on a tongue of land formed by the two streams. I therefore +landed among them to satisfy their curiosity and to distribute a few +presents before I proceeded up it. We were obliged to use the four oars to +stem the current against us; but, as soon as we had passed the mouth, +got into deeper water, and found easier pulling, The parallel in which we +struck it, and the direction from which it came, combined to assure me +that this could be no other than the "Darling." To the distance of two +miles it retained a breadth of one hundred yards and a depth of twelve +feet. Its banks were covered with verdure, and the trees overhanging them +were of finer and larger growth than those on the new river by which we +had approached it. Its waters had a shade of green, and were more turbid +than those of its neighbours, but they were perfectly sweet to the taste. + +Having satisfied myself on those points on which I was most anxious, +we returned to the junction to examine it more closely. + +The angle formed by the Darling with the new river is so acute, that +neither can be said to be tributary to the other; but more important +circumstances, upon which it is impossible for me to dwell at the present +moment, mark them as distinct rivers, which have been formed by Nature +for the same purposes, in remote and opposite parts of the island. Not +having as yet given a name to the latter, I now availed myself of the +opportunity of complying with the known wishes of His Excellency the +Governor, and, at the same time, in accordance with my own feelings as a +soldier I distinguished it by that of the "Murray." + +It had been my object to ascertain the decline of the vast plain through +which the Murray flows, that I might judge of the probable fall of the +waters of the interior; but by the most attentive observation I could not +satisfy myself upon the point. The course of the Darling now confirmed +my previous impression that it was to the south, which direction it was +evident the Murray also, in the subsequent stages of our journey down it, +struggled to preserve; from which it was thrown by a range of minor +elevations into a more westerly one. We were carried as far as 139 degrees +40 minutes of longitude, without descending below 34 degrees in point of +latitude; in consequence of which I expected that the river would +ultimately discharge itself, either into St. Vincent's Gulf or that of +Spencer, more especially as lofty ranges were visible in the direction of +them from the summit of the hills behind our camp, on the 2nd of February, +which I laid down as the coast line bounding them. + +A few days prior to the 2nd of February, we passed under some cliffs of +partial volcanic origin, and had immediately afterwards entered a +limestone country of the most singular formation. The river, although we +had passed occasional rapids of the most dangerous kind, had maintained a +sandy character from our first acquaintance with it to the limestone +division. It now forced itself through a glen of that rock of half a mile +in width, frequently striking precipices of more than two hundred feet +perpendicular elevation, in which coral and fossil remains were +plentifully embedded. On the 3rd February it made away to the eastward of +south, in reaches of from two to four miles in length. It gradually lost +its sandy bed, and became deep, still, and turbid; the glen expanded into +a valley, and the alluvial flats, which had hitherto been of +inconsiderable size, became proportionally extensive. The Murray increased +in breadth to more than four hundred yards, with a depth of twenty feet +of water close into the shore, and in fact formed itself into a safe and +navigable stream for any vessels of the minor class. On the 6th the cliffs +partially ceased, and on the 7th they gave place to undulating and +picturesque hills, beneath which thousands of acres of the richest flats +extended, covered, however, with reeds, and apparently subject to overflow +at any unusual rise of the river. + +It is remarkable that the view from the hills was always confined.--We +were apparently running parallel to a continuation of the ranges we had +seen on the 2nd, but they were seldom visible. The country generally +seemed darkly wooded, and had occasional swells upon it, but it was one +of no promise; the timber, chiefly box and pine, being of a poor growth, +and its vegetation languid. On the 8th the hills upon the left wore a +bleak appearance, and the few trees upon them were cut down as if by the +prevailing winds. At noon we could not observe any land at the extremity +of a reach we had just entered; some gentle hills still continued to form +the left lank of the river, but the right was hid from us by high reeds. +I consequently landed to survey the country from the nearest eminence, and +found that we were just about to enter an extensive lake which stretched +away to the S.W., the line of water meeting the horizon in that direction. +Some tolerably lofty ranges were visible to the westward at the distance +of forty miles, beneath which that shore was lost in haze. A hill, which I +prejudged to be Mount Lofty, bearing by compass S. 141 degrees W. More to +the northward, the country was low and unbacked by any elevations. A bold +promontory, which projected into the lake at the distance of seven +leagues, ended the view to the south along the eastern shore; between +which and the river the land also declined. The prospect altogether was +extremely gratifying, and the lake appeared to be a fitting reservoir for +the whole stream which had led us to it. + +In the evening we passed the entrance; but a strong southerly wind heading +us, we did not gain more than nine miles. In the morning it shifted to the +N.E. where we stood out for the promontory on a S.S.W. course. At noon we +were abreast of it, when a line of sand hummocks was ahead, scarcely +visible in consequence of the great refraction about them; but an open sea +behind us from the N.N.W. to the N.N.E. points of the compass. A meridian +altitude observed here, placed us in 35 degrees 25 minutes 15 seconds +S. lat.--At 1, I changed our course a little to the westward, and at +4 p.m. entered an arm of the lake leading W.S.W. On the point, at the +entrance, some natives had assembled, but I could not communicate with +them. They were both painted and armed, and evidently intended to resist +our landing. Wishing, however, to gain some information from them, +I proceeded a short distance below their haunt, and landed for the night, +in hopes that, seeing us peaceably disposed, they would have approached +the tents; but as they kept aloof, we continued our journey in the +morning. The water, which had risen ten inches during the night, had +fallen again in the same proportion, and we were stopped by shoals shortly +after starting. In hopes that the return of tide would have enabled us to +float over them, we waited for it very patiently, but were ultimately +obliged to drag the boat across a mud-flat of more than a quarter of a +mile into deeper water; but, after a run of about twenty minutes, were +again checked by sand banks. My endeavours to push beyond a certain point +were unsuccessful, and I was at length under the necessity of landing upon +the south shore for the night. Some small hummocks were behind us, on the +other side of which I had seen the ocean from our morning's position; +and whilst the men were pitching the tents, walked over them in company +with Mr. M'Leay to the sea shore, having struck the coast at Encounter +Bay, Cape Jervis, bearing by compass S. 81 degrees W. distant between +three and four leagues, and Kangaroo Island S.E. extremity S. 60 +degrees W. distant from nine to ten. + +Thirty-two days had elapsed since we had left the depot, and I regretted +in this stage of our journey, that I could not with prudence remain an +hour longer on the coast than was necessary for me to determine the exit +of the lake. From the angle of the channel on which we were, a bright +sand-hill was visible at about nine miles distance to the E.S.E.; which, +it struck me, was the eastern side of the passage communicating with the +ocean. Having failed in our attempts to proceed further in the boat, and +the appearance of the shoals at low water having convinced me of the +impracticability of it, I determined on an excursion along the sea-shore +to the southward and eastward, in anxious hopes that it would be a short +one; for as we had had a series of winds from the S.W. which had now +changed to the opposite quarter, I feared we should have to pull across +the lake in our way homewards. I left the camp therefore at an early hour, +in company with Mr. M'Leay and Fraser, and at day-break arrived opposite +to the sand-bank I have mentioned. Between us and it the entrance into the +back water ran. The passage is at all periods of the tide rather more than +a quarter of a mile in width, and is of sufficient depth for a boat to +enter, especially on the off side; but a line of dangerous breakers in +the bay will always prevent an approach to it from the sea, except in the +calmest weather, whilst the bay itself will always be a hazardous place +for any vessels to enter under any circumstances. + +Having, however, satisfactorily concluded our pursuit, we retraced our +steps to the camp, and again took the following bearings as we left the +beach, the strand trending E.S.E. 1/2 E.:-- + + Kangaroo Island, S.E. angle S. 60 degrees W.. + Low rocky point of Cape Jervis S. 81 degrees W. + Round Hill in centre of Range S. 164 degrees W. + Camp, distant one mile S. 171 degrees W. + Mount Lofty, distant forty miles N. 9 degrees E. + +Before setting sail, a bottle was deposited between four and five feet +deep in a mound of soft earth and shells, close to the spot on which the +tent had stood, which contained a paper of the names of the party, +together with a simple detail of our arrival and departure. + +It appeared that the good fortune, which had hitherto attended us was +still to continue, for the wind which had been contrary, chopped round to +the S.W., and ere sunset we were again in the mouth of the river, having +run from fifty to sixty miles under as much canvass as the boat would +bear, and with a heavy swell during the greater part of the day. + +The lake which has thus terminated our journey, is from fifty to sixty +miles in length, and from thirty to forty in width. With such an expanse +of water, I am correct in stating its medium depth at four feet. There is +a large bight in it to the S.E. and a beautiful and extensive bay to the +N.W. At about seven miles from the mouth of the river, its waters are +brackish, and at twenty-one miles they are quite salt, whilst seals +frequent the lower parts. Considering this lake to be of sufficient +importance, and in anticipation that its shores will, during her reign, +if not at an earlier period, be peopled by some portion of her subjects, +I have called it, in well-meant loyalty, "The Lake Alexandrina." + +It is remarkable that the Murray has few tributaries below the Darling. +It receives one, however, of considerable importance from the S.E., to +which I have given the name of the "Lindesay," as a mark of respect to my +commanding-officer, and in remembrance of the many acts of kindness I have +received at his hands. + +Having dwelt particularly on the nature of the country through which the +expedition has passed in the pages of my journal, it may be unnecessary +for me to enter into any description of it in this place, further than to +observe, that the limestone continued down to the very coast, and that +although the country in the neighbourhood of the Lake Alexandrina must, +from local circumstances, be rich in point of soil, the timber upon it is +of stunted size, and that it appears to have suffered from drought, +though not to the same extent with the eastern coast. It is evident, +however, that its vicinity to high lands does not altogether exempt it +from such periodical visitations; still I have no doubt that my +observations upon it will convince His Excellency the Governor, that it is +well worthy of a closer, and more attentive examination, than I had it in +my power to make. + +In a geographical point of view, I am happy to believe that the result of +this expedition has been conclusive; and that, combined with the late one, +it has thrown much light upon the nature of the interior of the vast +Island; that the decline of waters, as far as the parallel of 139 degrees +E., is to the south, and that the Darling is to the N.E. as the Murray +is to the S.E. angle of the coast, the main channel by which the waters of +the central ranges are thrown or discharged into one great reservoir. + +Our journey homewards was only remarkable for its labour: in conclusion, +therefore, it remains for me to add that we reached the depot on the +23rd of March. + +Our sugar failed us on the 18th of February, and our salt provisions, +in consequence of the accident which happened to the skiff, on the 8th of +March; so that from the above period we were living on a reduced ration of +flour; and as we took few fish, and were generally unsuccessful with our +guns, the men had seldom more than their bread to eat. + +I regretted to observe that they were daily falling off, and that although +unremitting in their exertions they were well nigh exhausted, ere we +reached the Morumbidgee. + +We were from sunrise to five o'clock on the water, and from the day +that we left the depot to that of our return we never rested upon our +oars. We were thirty-nine days gaining the depot from the coast, against +a strong current in both rivers, being seven more than it took us to go +down. From the depot to this station we had seventeen days hard pulling, +making a total of eighty-eight, during which time we could not have +travelled over less than 2000 miles. I was under the necessity of stopping +short on the 10th instant, and of detaching two men for the drays, which +happily arrived on the 17th, on which day our stock of flour failed us. +Had I not adopted this plan, the men would have become too weak to have +pulled up to Pondebadgery, and we should no doubt have suffered some +privations. + +This detail will, I am sure, speak more in favour of the men composing the +party than anything I can say. I would most respectfully recommend them +all to His Excellency's notice; and I beg to assure him that, during the +whole of this arduous journey, they were cheerful, zealous, and obedient. +They had many harassing duties to perform, and their patience and temper +were often put to severe trials by the natives, of whom we could not have +seen fewer than 4000 on the Murray alone. + +I am to refer His Excellency the Governor to Mr. M'Leay for any more +immediate information he may require,--to whom I stand indebted on many +points--and not less in the anxiety he evinced for the success of the +undertaking, than in the promptitude with which he assisted in the labours +attendant on our return, and his uniform kindness to the men. + +I have the honour to subscribe myself, +Sir, +Your most obedient humble Servant, +CHARLES STURT, +Captain of the 39th Regt. + +The Hon. the Colonial Secretary. + + + +END OF VOLUME II + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Two Expeditions into the Interior of +Southern Australia, Complete, by Charles Sturt + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPEDITIONS AUSTRALIA *** + +***** This file should be named 4330.txt or 4330.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/3/3/4330/ + +Produced by Col Choat and Colin Beck + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.10/04/01*END* + + + + + + +This etext was produced by Col Choat colc@gutenberg.net.au. + + + + +TWO EXPEDITIONS INTO THE INTERIOR OF SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA DURING THE YEARS +1828,1829,1830,1831 WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE SOIL, CLIMATE AND GENERAL +RESOURCES OF THE COLONY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. + +IN TWO VOLUMES + +VOLUME I. + + +"For though most men are contented only to see a river as it runs by +them, and talk of the changes in it as they happen; when it is troubled, +or when clear; when it drowns the country in a flood, or forsakes it in a +drought: yet he that would know the nature of the water, and the causes of +those accidents (so as to guess at their continuance or return), must find +out its source, and observe with what strength it rises, what length it +runs, and how many small streams fall in, and feed it to such a height, +as make it either delightful or terrible to the eye, and useful or +dangerous to the country about it."...SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE'S NETHERLANDS. + + + +TO THE RIGHT HON. +THE EARL OF RIPON, +VISCOUNT GODERICH, +Lord Privy Seal +&c. &c. &c. + + + +MY LORD, + +The completion of this Work affords me the opportunity I have long desired +of thanking your Lordship thus publicly, for the kindness with which you +acceded to my request to be permitted to dedicate it to you. + +The encouragement your Lordship was pleased to give me has served to +stimulate me in the prosecution of a task, which would, I fear, have been +too great for me to have accomplished in my present condition, under any +ordinary views of ambition. Indeed, labouring as I have been for many +months past, under an almost total deprivation of sight, (the effect of +exposure and anxiety of mind in the prosecution of geographical +researches,) I owe it to the casual assistance of some of my friends, that +I am at length enabled to lay these results before your Lordship and the +public. + +While I feel a painful conviction that many errors must necessarily +pervade a work produced under such unfavourable circumstances, it affords +me no small consolation to reflect that Your Lordship has been aware of my +situation, and will be disposed to grant me every reasonable indulgence. + +I have the honor to be, +With the highest respect, +My Lord, +Your Lordship's +Very obedient and humble servant, + +CHARLES STURT +London June, 1833. + + + + +CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME + + + +PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. + + +Purpose of this Chapter--Name of Australia--Impressions of its early +Visitors--Character of the Australian rivers--Author's first view of Port +Jackson--Extent of the Colony of New South Wales--its rapid advances in +prosperity--Erroneous impressions--Commercial importance of Sydney--Growth +of fine wool--Mr. M'Arthur's meritorious exertions--Whale-fishery--Other +exports--Geographical features--Causes of the large proportion of bad +soil--Connection between the geology and vegetation--Geological features-- +Character of the soil connected with the geological formation--County of +Cumberland--Country westward of the Blue Mountains--Disadvantages of the +remote settlers--Character of the Eastern coast--Rich tracts in the +interior--Periodical droughts--The seasons apparently affected by the +interior marshes--Temperature--Fruits--Emigrants: Causes of their success +or failure--Moral disadvantages--System of emigration recommended--Hints +to emigrants--Progress of inland discovery--Expeditions across the Blue +Mountains--Discoveries of Mr. Evans, Mr. Oxley, and others--Conjectures +respecting the interior. + + +EXPEDITION DOWN THE MACQUARIE RIVER, AND INTO THE WESTERN INTERIOR +IN 1828 AND 1829. + + +CHAPTER I. + + +State of the Colony in 1828-29--Objects of the Expedition--Departure +from Sydney--Wellington Valley--Progress down the Macquarie--Arrival at +Mount Harris--Stopped by the marshes--Encamp amidst reeds--Excursions down +the river--Its termination-- Appearance of the marshes--Opthalmic +affection of the men--Mr. Hume's successful journey to the northward-- +Journey across the plain--Second great marsh--Perplexities--Situation of +the exploring party--Consequent resolutions. + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Prosecution of our course into the interior--Mosquito Brush--Aspect and +productions of the country--Hunting party of natives--Courageous conduct +of one of them--Mosquitoes--A man missing--Group of hills called +New-Year's Range--Journey down New-Year's Creek--Tormenting attack of the +kangaroo fly--Dreariness and desolation of the country--Oxley's Table +Land--D'Urban's Group--Continue our journey down New-Year's Creek-- +Extreme Disappointment on finding it salt--Fall in with a tribe of +natives--Our course arrested by the want of fresh water--Extraordinary +sound--Retreat towards the Macquarie. + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Intercourse with the natives--Their appearance and condition--Remarks on +the Salt or Darling River--Appearance of the marshes on our return-- +Alarm for safety of the provision party--Return to Mount Harris--Miserable +condition of the natives--Circumstances attending the slaughter of two +Irish runaways--Bend our course towards the Castlereagh--Wallis's Ponds-- +Find the famished natives feeding on gum--Channel of the Castlereagh-- +Character of the country in its vicinity--Another tribe of natives-- +Amicable intercourse with them--Morrisset's chain of Ponds--Again reach the +Darling River ninety miles higher up than where we first struck upon it. + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Perplexity--Trait of honesty in the natives--Excursion on horseback across +the Darling--Forced to return--Desolating effects of the drought--Retreat +towards the colony--Connection between the Macquarie and the Darling-- +Return up the banks of the Macquarie--Starving condition of the natives. + + +CHAPTER V. + + +General remarks--Result of the expedition--Previous anticipations-- +Mr. Oxley's remarks--Character of the Rivers flowing westerly-- +Mr. Cunningham's remarks--Fall of the Macquarie--Mr. Oxley's erroneous +conclusions respecting the character of the interior, naturally inferred +from the state in which he found the country--The marsh of the Macquarie +merely a marsh of the ordinary character--Captain King's observations-- +Course of the Darling--Character of the low interior plain--The convict +Barber's report of rivers traversing the interior--Surveyor-General +Mitchell's Report of his recent expedition. + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Concluding Remarks--Obstacles that attend travelling into the interior +of Australia--Difficulty of carrying supplies--Importance of steady +intelligent subordinates--Danger from the natives--Number of men +requisite,--and of cattle and carriages--Provisions--Other arrangements-- +Treatment of the natives--Dimensions of the boat used in the second +expedition. + + +APPENDIX. + +No. I. Letter of Instructions +No. II. List of Stores supplied for the Expedition +No. III. Sheep-farming Returns +No. IV. List of Geological Specimens +No. V. Official Report to the Colonial Government, (Jan. 1829.) +No. VI. Ditto (April 1829.) + + +ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE FIRST VOLUME +(Not included in this etext) + +Native Burial Place near Budda +Vice Admiral Arthur Phillip +Cataract of the Macquarie +A Selenite +Chrystallized Sulphate of Lime + + + + +PRELIMINARY CHAPTER + + + +Purpose of this Chapter--Name of Australia--Impressions of its early +Visitors--Character of the Australian rivers--Author's first view of Port +Jackson--Extent of the Colony of New South Wales--its rapid advances in +prosperity--Erroneous impressions--Commercial importance of Sydney--Growth +of fine wool--Mr. M'Arthur's meritorious exertions--Whale-fishery--Other +exports--Geographical features--Causes of the large proportion of bad +soil--Connection between the geology and vegetation--Geological features-- +Character of the soil connected with the geological formation--County of +Cumberland--Country westward of the Blue Mountains--Disadvantages of the +remote settlers--Character of the Eastern coast--Rich tracts in the +interior--Periodical droughts--The seasons apparently affected by the +interior marshes--Temperature--Fruits--Emigrants: Causes of their success +or failure--Moral disadvantages--System of emigration recommended--Hints +to emigrants--Progress of inland discovery--Expeditions across the Blue +Mountains--Discoveries of Mr. Evans, Mr. Oxley, and others--Conjectures +respecting the interior. + + +PURPOSE OF THIS PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. + + +When I first determined on committing to the press a detailed account of +the two expeditions, which I conducted into the interior of the Australian +continent, pursuant to the orders of Lieutenant General Darling, the late +Governor of the Colony of New South Wales, it was simply with a view of +laying their results before the geographical world, and of correcting the +opinions that prevailed with regard to the unexplored country to the +westward of the Blue Mountains. I did not feel myself equal either to the +task or the responsibility of venturing any remarks on the Colony of New +South Wales itself. I had had little time for inquiry, amidst the various +duties that fell to my lot in the ordinary routine of the service to which +I belonged, when unemployed by the Colonial Government in the prosecution +of inland discoveries. My observations had been in a great measure +confined to those points which curiosity, or a desire of personal +information, had prompted me to investigate. I did not, therefore, venture +to flatter myself that I had collected materials of sufficient importance +on general topics to enable me to write for the information of others. +Since my return to England, however, I have been strenuously urged to give +a short description of the colony before entering upon my personal +narrative; and I have conversed with so many individuals whose ideas of +Australia are totally at variance with its actual state, that I am +encouraged to indulge the hope that my observations, desultory as they +are, may be of some interest to the public. I am strengthened in this hope +by the consideration that some kind friends have enabled me to add much +valuable matter to that which I had myself collected. It is not my +intention, however, to enter at any length on the commercial or +agricultural interests of New South Wales. It may be necessary for me to +touch lightly on those important subjects, but it is my wish to connect +this preliminary chapter, as much as possible with the subjects treated of +in the body of the work, and chiefly to notice the physical structure, the +soil, climate, and productions of the colony, in order to convey to the +reader general information on these points, before I lead him into the +remote interior. + +NAME OF AUSTRALIA. + +It may be worthy of remark that the name "Australia," has of late years +been affixed to that extensive tract of land which Great Britain possesses +in the Southern Seas, and which, having been a discovery of the early +Dutch navigators, was previously termed "New Holland." The change of name +was, I believe, introduced by the celebrated French geographer, Malte +Brun, who, in his division of the globe, gave the appellation of +Austral Asia and Polynesia to the new discovered lands in the southern +ocean; in which division he meant to include the numerous insular groups +scattered over the Pacific. + +IMPRESSIONS OF ITS EARLY VISITORS. + +Australia is properly speaking an island, but it is so much larger than +every other island on the face of the globe, that it is classed as a +continent in order to convey to the mind a just idea of its magnitude. +Stretching from the 115th to the 153rd degree of east longitude, and from +the 10th to the 37th of south latitude, it averages 2700 miles in length +by 1800 in breadth; and balanced, as it were, upon the tropic of that +hemisphere in which it is situated, it receives the fiery heat of the +equator at one extremity, while it enjoys the refreshing coolness of the +temperate zone at the other. On a first view we should be led to expect +that this extensive tract of land possessed more than ordinary advantages; +that its rivers would be in proportion to its size; and that it would +abound in the richest productions of the inter-tropical and temperate +regions. Such, indeed, was the impression of those who first touched upon +its southern shores, but who remained no longer than to be dazzled by the +splendour and variety of its botanical productions, and to enjoy for a +few days the delightful mildness of its climate. But the very spot which +had appeared to Captain Cook and Sir Joseph Banks an earthly paradise, was +abandoned by the early settlers as unfit for occupation; nor has the +country generally been fount to realize the sanguine expectations of those +distinguished individuals, so far as it has hitherto been explored. + +CHARACTER OF AUSTRALIAN RIVERS. + +Rivers which have the widest mouths or the most practicable entrances, +are, in Europe or America, usually of impetuous current, or else contain +such a body of water as to bear down all opposition to their free course; +whilst on the other hand, rivers whose force is expended ere they reach +the sea, have almost invariably a bar at their embouchure, or where they +mingle their waters with those of the ocean. This last feature +unfortunately appears to characterize all rivers of Australia, or such of +them at least as are sufficiently known to us. Falling rapidly from the +mountains in which they originate into a level and extremely depressed +country; having weak and inconsiderable sources, and being almost wholly +unaided by tributaries of any kind; they naturally fail before they reach +the coast, and exhaust themselves in marshes or lakes or reach it so +weakened as to be unable to preserve clear or navigable months, or to +remove the sand banks that the tides throw up before them. On the other +hand the productions of this singular region seem to be peculiar to it, +and unlike those of any other part of the world; nor have any indigenous +fruits of any value as yet been found either in its forests or on its +plains. + +He who has never looked on any other than the well-cultured fields of +England, can have little idea of a country that Nature has covered with an +interminable forest. Still less can he estimate the feelings with which +the adventurer approaches a shore that has never (or perhaps only lately) +been trodden by civilized man. + +FIRST VIEW OF PORT JACKSON. + +It was with feelings peculiar to the occasion, that I gazed for the first +time on the bold cliffs at the entrance of Port Jackson, as our vessel +neared them, and speculated on the probable character of the landscape +they hid; and I am free to confess, that I did not anticipate anything +equal to the scene which presented itself both to my sight and my +judgment, as we sailed up the noble and extensive basin we had entered, +towards the seat of government. A single glance was sufficient to tell me +that the hills upon the southern shore of the port, the outlines of which +were broken by houses and spires, must once have been covered with the +same dense and gloomy wood which abounded every where else. The contrast +was indeed very great--the improvement singularly striking. The labour and +patience required, and the difficulties which the first settlers +encountered effecting these improvements, must have been incalculable. But +their success has been complete: it is the very triumph of human skill and +industry over Nature herself. The cornfield and the orchard have +supplanted the wild grass and the brush; a flourishing town stands over +the ruins of the forest; the lowing of herds has succeeded the wild whoop +of the savage; and the stillness of that once desert shore is now broken +by the sound of the bugle and the busy hum of commerce. + +EXTENT OF NEW SOUTH WALES AND DIVISIONS OF THE COLONY. + +The Colony of New South Wales is situated upon the eastern coast of +Australia; and the districts within which land has been granted to +settlers, extends from the 36th parallel of latitude to the 32nd, that is +say, from the Moroyo River to the south of Sydney on the one hand, and to +the Manning River on the other, including Wellington Valley within its +limits to the westward. Thus it will appear that the boundaries of the +located parts of the colony have been considerably enlarged, and some fine +districts of country included within them. In consequence of its extent +and increasing population, it has been found convenient to divide it into +counties, parishes, and townships; and indeed, every measure of the +Colonial Government of late years, has had for its object to assimilate +its internal arrangements as nearly as possible, to those of the mother +country. Whether we are to attribute the present flourishing state of the +colony to the beneficial influence of that system of government which has +been exercised over it for the last seven years it is not for me to say. +That the prosperity of a country depends, however, in a great measure, +on the wisdom of its legislature, is as undoubted, as that within the +period I have mentioned the colony of N. S. Wales has risen +unprecedentedly in importance and in wealth, and has advanced to a state +of improvement at which it could not have arrived had its energies been +cramped or its interests neglected. + +ITS ADVANCES IN PROSPERITY. + +There is a period in the history of every country, during which it will +appear to have been more prosperous than at any other. I allude not to the +period of great martial achievements, should any such adorn its pages, but +to that in which the enterprise of its merchants was roused into action, +and when all classes of its community seem to have put forth their +strength towards the attainment of wealth and power. + +ERRONEOUS IMPRESSIONS. + +In this eventful period the colony of New South Wales is already far +advanced. The conduct of its merchants is marked by the boldest +speculations and the most gigantic projects. Their storehouses are built +on the most magnificent scale, and with the best and most substantial +materials. Few persons in England have even a remote idea of its present +flourishing condition, or of the improvements that are daily taking place +both in its commerce and in its agriculture. I am aware that many object +to it as a place of residence, and I can easily enter into their feelings +from the recollection of what my own were before I visited it. I cannot +but remark, however, that I found my prejudices had arisen from a natural +objection to the character of a part of its population; from the +circumstance of its being a penal colony, and from my total ignorance of +its actual state, and not from any substantial or permanent cause. On the +contrary I speedily became convinced of the exaggerated nature of the +reports I had heard in England, on some of the points just adverted to; +nor did any thing fall under my observation during a residence in it of +more than six years to justify the opinion I had been previously led to +entertain of it. I embarked for New South Wales, with strong prejudices +against it: I left it with strong feelings in its favour, and with a deep +feeling of interest in its prosperity. It is a pleasing task to me, +therefore, to write of it thus, and to have it in my power to contribute +to the removal of any erroneous impressions with regard to its condition +at the present moment. + +COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE OF SYDNEY. + +I have already remarked, that I was not prepared for the scene that met my +view when I first saw Sydney. The fact was, I had not pictured to myself; +nor conceived from any thing that I had ever read or heard in England, +that so extensive a town could have been reared in that remote region, in +so brief a period as that which had elapsed since its foundation. It is +not, however, a distant or cursory glance that will give the observer a +just idea of the mercanthe importance of this busy capital. In order to +form an accurate estimate of it, he should take a boat and proceed from +Sydney Cove to Darling Harbour. He would then be satisfied, that it is not +upon the first alone that Australian commerce has raised its storehouse +and wharfs, but that the whole extent of the eastern shore of the last +more capacious basin, is equally crowded with warehouses, stores, +dockyards, mills, and wharfs, the appearance and solidity of which would +do credit even to Liverpool. Where, thirty years ago, the people flocked +to the beach to hail an arrival, it is not now unusual to see from thirty +to forty vessels riding at anchor at one time, collected there from every +quarter of the globe. In 1832, one hundred and fifty vessels entered the +harbour of Port Jackson, from foreign parts, the amount of their tonnage +being 31,259 tons. + +The increasing importance of Sydney must in some measure be attributed to +the flourishing condition of the colony itself, to the industry of its +farmers, to the successful enterprise of its merchants, and to particular +local causes. It is foreign to my purpose, however, to enter largely into +an investigation of these important points. To do so would require more +space than I can afford for the purpose, and might justly be considered as +irrelevant in a work of this kind. Without attempting any lengthened +detail, it may be considered sufficient if I endeavour merely to point out +the principal causes of the present prosperity (and, as they may very +probably prove) of the eventual progress of our great southern colony to +power and independence. + +STAPLE OF THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. + +The staple of our Australian colonies, but more particularly of New South +Wales, the climate and the soil of which are peculiarly suited to its +production,--is fine wool. There can be no doubt that the growth of this +article has mainly contributed to the prosperity of the above mentioned +colony and of Van Diemen's Land. + +At the close of the last century, wool was imported into England from +Spain and Germany only, and but a few years previously from Spain alone. +Indeed, long after its introduction from the latter country, German wool, +obtained but little consideration in the London market; and in like +manner, it may be presumed that many years will not have elapsed +before the increased importation of wool from our own possessions in +the southern hemisphere, will render us, in respect to this commodity, +independent of every other part of the world. The great improvements +in modern navigation are such, that the expense of sending the fleece +to market from New South Wales is less than from any part of Europe. +The charges for instance on Spanish and German wool, are from +fourpence to fourpence three farthings per pound; whereas the entire +charge, after shipment from New South Wales, and Van Diemen's Land, does +not exceed threepence three farthings,--and in this the dock and landing +charges, freight, insurance, brokerage, and commission, are included. + +GROWTH OF FINE WOOL. MR. M'ARTHUR'S EXERTIONS. + +As some particulars respecting the introduction of this source of national +wealth into Australia may prove interesting to the public, I have put +together the following details of it, upon the authenticity of which they +may rely. The person who foresaw the advantage to be derived from the +growth of fine wool in New South Wales, and who commenced the culture of +it in that colony, was Mr. John M'Arthur. So far back, I believe, as the +year 1793, not long after the establishment of the first settlement at +Sydney, this gentleman commenced sheep-farming, and about two years +afterwards he obtained a ram and two ewes from Captain Kent, of the royal +navy, who had brought them, with some other stock for the supply of the +settlement, from the Cape of Good Hope, to which place a flock of these +sheep had been originally sent by the Dutch government. Sensible of the +importance of the acquisition, Mr. M'Arthur began to cross his +coarse-fleeced sheep with Merino blood; and, proceeding upon a system, he +effected a considerable improvement in the course of a few years. So +prolific was the mixed breed, that in ten years, a flock which originally +consisted of not more than seventy Bengal sheep, had increased in number +to 4,000 head, although the wethers had been killed as they became fit for +slaughter. It appears, however, that as the sheep approached to greater +purity of blood, their extreme fecundity diminished. + +TO REAR MERINO FLOCKS. + +In 1803, Mr. M'Arthur revisited England; and there happening at the time +to be a committee of manufacturers in London from the clothing districts, +he exhibited before them samples of his wool, which were so much approved, +that the committee represented to their constituents the advantages which +would result from the growth of fine wool, in one of the southern +dependencies of the empire. In consequence of this a memorial was +transmitted to His Majesty's government, and Mr. M'Arthur's plans having +been investigated by a Privy Council, at which he was present, they were +recommended to the government as worthy of its protection. With such +encouragement Mr. M'Arthur purchased two ewes and three rams, from the +Merino flock of His Majesty King George the Third. He embarked with them +on his return to New South Wales in 1806, on board a vessel named by him +"the Argo," in reference to the golden treasure with which she was +freighted. On reaching the colony he removed his sheep to a grant of land +which the Home Government had directed he should receive in the Cow +Pastures. To commemorate the transaction, and to transmit to a grateful +posterity the recollection of the nobleman who then presided over the +colonies, the estate, together with the district in which it is situated, +was honoured by the name of Camden. + +EXPORT OF WOOL TO ENGLAND. + +Since that time the value of New South Wales wool has been constantly on +the increase, and the colony are indebted to Mr. M'Arthur for the +possession of an exportable commodity which has contributed very +materially to its present wealth and importance. Such general attention is +now paid to this interesting branch of rural economy, that the importation +of wool into England from our Australian colonies, amounted, in 1832, to +10,633 bales, or 2,500,000 lbs. It has been sold at as high a price as +10s. per lb.; but the average price of wool of the best flocks vary from +1s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. at the present moment. The number of sheep in New South +Wales alone was calculated in the last census at 536,891 head. The +ordinary profits on this kind of stock may be extracted from the Table +given in the Appendix to the first volume of this work. + +WHALE FISHERY. + +Among the various speculations undertaken by the merchants of Sydney, +there is not one into which they have entered with so much spirit as in +the South Sea Fishery. The local situation of Port Jackson gives them an +advantage over the English and the American merchants, since the distance +of both these from the field of their gains, must necessarily impede them +greatly; whereas the ships that leave Sydney on a whaling excursion, +arrive without loss of time upon their ground, and return either for fresh +supplies or to repair damages with equal facility. The spirit with which +the colonial youth have engaged in this adventurous and hardy service, is +highly to their credit. The profits arising from it may not be (indeed I +have every reason to think are not) so great as might be supposed, or such +as might reasonably be expected; but the extensive scale on which it is +conducted, speaks equally for the energy and perseverance of the parties +concerned, in the prosecution of their commercial enterprises. It has +enabled them to equip a creditable colonial marine, and given great +importance to their mercanthe interests in the mother country. + +In the year 1831, the quantity of sperm and black oil, the produce of the +fisheries exported from New South Wales, amounted to 2,307 tons, and was +estimated, together with skins and whalebone, to be worth 107,971 pounds +sterling. The gross amount of all other exports during that year, did not +exceed 107,697 pounds sterling. Of these exports, the following were the +most considerable: + + +Timber 7,410 pounds sterling +Butter and Cheese 2,376 +Mimosa bark 40 +Hides 7,333 +Horses 7,302 +Salt provisions 5,184 +Wool 66,112 + + +The above is exclusive of 61,000 pounds value of British manufactures +re-exported to the various ports and islands in the Southern Seas. + +OTHER EXPORTS. + +In this scale, moreover, tobacco is not mentioned; but that plant is now +raised for the supply of every private establishment, and will assuredly +form an article of export, as soon as its manufacture shall be well +understood. Neither can it be doubted but that the vine and the olive +will, in a short time, be abundantly cultivated; and that a greater +knowledge of the climate and soil of the more northern parts of the +colony, will lead to the introduction of fresh sources of wealth. + +GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES. + +Having taken this hasty review of the commercial interests of the colony, +we may now turn to a brief examination of its internal structure and +principal natural features. + +I have already given a cursory sketch of the geographical features of the +whole continent. Of the vast area which its coasts embrace, the east part +alone has been fully explored. + +A range of hills runs along the eastern coast, from north to south, which, +in different quarters, vary in their distance from the sea; at one place +approaching it pretty nearly, at another, receding from it to a distance +of forty miles. It is a singular fact, that there is no pass or break in +these mountains, by which any of the rivers of the interior can escape in +an easterly direction. Their spine is unbroken. The consequence is, that +there is a complete division of the eastern and western waters, and that +streams, the heads of which are close to each other, flow away in opposite +directions; the one to pursue a short course to the sea; the other to fall +into a level and depressed interior, the character of which will be +noticed in its proper place. + +GREAT PROPORTION OF BAD SOIL. + +The proportion of bad soil to that which is good in New South Wales, is +certainly very great: I mean the proportion of inferior soil to such as is +fit for the higher purposes of agriculture. Mr. Dawson, the late +superintendent of the Australian Agricultural Company's possessions, has +observed, as a singular fact, that the best soil generally prevails on the +summits of the hills, more especially where they are at all level. He +accounts for so unusual a circumstance by the fact, that elevated +positions are less subject to the effects of fire or floods than their +valleys or flanks, and attributes the general want of vegetable mould over +the colony chiefly to the ravages of the former element, whereby the +growth of underwood, so favourable in other countries to the formation of +soil, is wholly prevented. Undoubtedly this is a principal cause for the +deficiency in question. There is no part of the world in which fires +create such havoc as in News South Wales and indeed in Australia +generally. The climate, on the one hand, which dries up vegetation, and +the wandering habits of the natives on the other, which induce them to +clear the country before them by conflagration, operate equally against +the growth of timber and underwood. + +CAUSE OF THIS. + +But there is another circumstance that appears to have escaped +Mr. Dawson's observation; which is the actual property of the trees +themselves, as to the quantity of vegetable matter they produce in decay. +Being a military man, I cannot be supposed to have devoted much of my time +to agricultural pursuits; but it has been obvious to me, as it must have +been to many others, that in New South Wales, the fall of leaves and the +decay of timber, so far from adding to the richness of its soil, actually +destroy minor vegetation. This fact was brought more home to me in +consequence of its having been my lot to spend some months upon Norfolk +Island, a distant penal settlement attached to the Government of Sydney. +There the abundance of vegetable decay was as remarkable as the want of it +on the Australian Continent. I have frequently sunk up to my knees in a +bed of leaves when walking through its woods; and, often when I placed my +foot on what appeared externally to be the solid trunk of a tree, I have +found it yield to the pressure, in consequence of its decomposition into +absolute rottenness. But such is not the case in New South Wales. There, +no such accumulations of vegetable matter are to be met with; but where +the loftiest tree of the forest falls to the ground, its figure and length +are marked out by the total want of vegetation within a certain distance +of it, and a small elevation of earth, resembling more the refuse or +scoria of burnt bricks than any thing else, is all that ultimately remains +of the immense body which time or accident had prostrated. Thus it would +appear, that it is not less to the character of its woods than to the +ravages of fire that New South Wales owes its general sterility. + +CONNECTION BETWEEN THE GEOLOGY AND VEGETATION. + +Whilst prosecuting my researches in the interior of the colony, I could +not but be struck with the apparent connection between its geology and +vegetation; so strong, indeed, was this connection, that I had little +difficulty, after a short experience, in judging of the rock that formed +the basis of the country over which I was travelling, from the kind of +tree or herbage that flourished in the soil above it. The eucalyptus +pulv., a species of eucalyptus having a glaucus-coloured leaf, of +dwarfish habits and growing mostly in scrub, betrayed the sandstone +formation, wherever it existed, This was the case in many parts of the +County of Cumberland, in some parts of Wombat Brush, at the two passes on +the great south road, over a great extent of country to the N.W. of Yass +Plains, and at Blackheath on the summit of the Blue Mountains. On the +other hand, those open grassy and park-like tracts, of which so much has +been said, characterise the secondary ranges of granite and porphyry. The +trees most usual on these tracts, were the box, an unnamed species of +eucalyptus, and the grass chiefly of that kind, called the oat or forest +grass, which grows in tufts at considerable distances from each other, +and which generally affords good pasturage. On the richer grounds the +angophora lanceolata, and the eucalyptus mammifera more frequently point +out the quality of the soil on which they grow. The first are abundant on +the alluvial flats of the Nepean, the Hawkesbury and the Hunter; the +latter on the limestone formation of Wellington Valley and in the better +portions of Argyle; whilst the cupressus calytris seems to occupy sandy +ridges with the casuarina. It was impossible that these broad features +should have escaped observation: it was naturally inferred from this, that +the trees of New South Wales are gregarious; and in fact they may, in a +great measure, be considered so. The strong line that occasionally +separates different species, and the sudden manner in which several +species are lost at one point, to re-appear at another more distant, +without any visible cause for the break that has taken place, will furnish +a number of interesting facts in the botany of New South Wales. + +It was observed both on the Macquarie river and the Morumbidgee, that the +casuarinae ceased at a particular point. On the Macquarie particularly, +these trees which had often excited our admiration from Wellington Valley +downwards, ceased to occupy its banks below the cataract, nor were they +again noticed until we arrived on the banks of the Castlereagh. The +blue-gum trees, again, were never observed to extend beyond the secondary +embankments of the rivers, occupying that ground alone which was subject +to flood and covered with reeds. These trees waved over the marshes of the +Macquarie, but were not observed to the westward of them for many miles; +yet they re-appeared upon the banks of New-Year's Creek as suddenly as +they had disappeared after we left the marshes, and grew along the line +of the Darling to unusual size. But it is remarkable, that, even in the +midst of the marshes, the blue-gum trees were strictly confined to the +immediate flooded spaces on which the reeds prevailed, or to the very beds +of the water-courses. Where the ground was elevated, or out of the reach +of flood, the box (unnamed) alone occupied it; and, though the branches of +these trees might be interwoven together, the one never left its wet and +reedy bed, the other never descended from its more elevated position. The +same singular distinction marked the acacia pendula, when it ceased to +cover the interior plains of light earth, and was succeeded by another +shrub of the same species. It continued to the banks of New-Year's Creek, +a part of which it thickly lined. To the westward of the creek, another +species of acacia was remarked for the first time. Both shrubs, like the +blue-gum and the box, mixed their branches together, but the creek formed +the line of separation between them. The acacia pendula was not afterwards +seen, but that which had taken its place, as it were, was found to cover +large tracts of country and to form extensive brushes. Many other +peculiarities in the vegetation of the interior are noticed in the body +of this work, but I have thought that these more striking ones deserved +to be particularly remarked upon. + +GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. + +If we strike a line to the N.W. from Sydney to Wellington Valley, we shall +find that little change takes place in the geological features of the +country. The sand-stone of which the first of the barrier ranges is +composed, terminates a little beyond Mount York, and at Cox's River is +succeeded by grey granite. The secondary ranges to the N.W. of Bathurst, +are wholly of that primitive rock; for although there are partial changes +of strata between Bathurst and Moulong Plains, granite is undoubtedly the +rock upon which the whole are based: but at Moulong Plains, a military +station intermediate between Bathurst and Wellington Valley, limestone +appears in the bed of a small clear stream, and with little interruption +continues to some distance below the last-mentioned place. The accidental +discovery of some caves at Moulong Plains, led to the more critical +examination of the whole formation, and cavities of considerable size were +subsequently found in various parts of it, but more particularly in the +neighbourhood of Wellington Valley. The local interest which has of late +years been taken in the prosecution of geological investigations, led many +gentlemen to examine the contents of these caverns; and among the most +forward, Major Mitchell, the Surveyor-General, must justly be considered, +to whose indefatigable perseverance the scientific world is already so +much indebted. + +The caves into which I penetrated, did not present anything particular to +my observation; they differed little from caves of a similar description +into which I had penetrated in Europe. Large masses of stalactites hung +from their roofs, and a corresponding formation encrusted their floors. +They comprised various chambers or compartments, the most remote of which +terminated at a deep chasm that was full of water. A close examination of +these caves has led to the discovery of some organic remains, bones of +various animals embedded in a light red soil; but I am not aware that the +remains of any extinct species have been found, or that any fossils have +been met with in the limestone itself. There can, however, be little doubt +but that the same causes operated in depositing these mouldering remains +in the caves of Kirkdale and those of Wellington Valley. + +About twenty miles below the junction of the Bell with the Macquarie, +free-stone supersedes the limestone, but as the country falls rapidly from +that point, it soon disappears, and the traveller enters upon a flat +country of successive terraces. A schorl rock, of a blue colour and fine +grain, composed of tourmaline and quartz, forms the bed of the Macquarie +at the Cataract; and, in immediate contact with it, a mass of mica slate +of alternate rose, pink, and white, was observed, which must have been +covered by the waters of the river when Mr. Oxley descended it. + +From the Cataract of the Macquarie, a flat extends to the marshes in which +that river exhausts itself. From the midst of this flat Mount Foster and +Mount Harris rise, both of which are porphyritic: but as I have been +particular in describing these heights in their proper place, any minute +notice of them here may be considered unnecessary. We will rather extend +our enquiries to those parts of the colony upon which we shall not be +called upon to remark in the succeeding pages. + +Returning to the coast, we may mark the geological changes in a line to +the S.W. of Sydney; and as my object is to extend the information of my +readers, I shall notice any particular district on either side of the line +I propose to touch upon, which may be worthy of notice. It would appear +that the first decided break in the sandstone formation which penetrates +into the county of Camden, is at Mittagong Range. It is there traversed by +a dike of whinstone, of which that range is wholly composed. The change of +soil and of vegetation are equally remarkable at this place; the one being +a rich, greasy, chocolate-coloured earth, the other partaking greatly of +the intertropical character. In wandering over them, I noticed the wild +fig and the cherry-tree, growing to a much larger size than I had seen +them in any other part of the colony. Upon their branches, the satin bird, +the gangan, and various kinds of pigeons were feeding. Birds unknown to +the eastward of the Blue Mountains, were numerous in the valleys; and +there was an unusual appearance of freshness and moisture in the +vegetation. + +These signs of improvement, however, vanish the moment Mittagong range is +crossed, and sand-stone again forms the basis of the country to a +considerable distance beyond Bong-bong. At a small farm called the +Ploughed Ground, it is again traversed by a dike of whinstone, and a rich +but isolated spot is thus passed over. With occasional and partial +interruption, however, the sand-stone formation continues to an abrupt +pass, from which the traveller descends to the county of Argyle. This pass +is extremely abrupt, and is covered with glaucus, the low scrub I have +noticed as common to the sand-stone formation. A small but lively stream, +called Paddy's River, runs at the bottom of this pass, and immediately to +the S.W. of it, an open forest country of granite base extends for many +miles, on which the eucalyptus manifera is prevalent, and which affords +the best grazing tracts in Argyle. At Goulburn Plains, however, a vein of +limestone occurs, which is evidently connected with that forming the +ShoalHaven Gully, which is perhaps the most remarkable geological feature +in the colony of New South Wales. It is a deep chasm of about a quarter of +a mile in breadth, and 1200 feet in depth. The country on either side is +perfectly level, so much so that the traveller approaches almost to its +very brink before he is aware of his being near so singular an abyss. A +small rivulet flows through the Gully, and discharges itself into the sea +at ShoalHaven; but this river is hardly perceptible, from the summit of +the cliffs forming the sides of the Gully, which are of the boldest and +most precipitous character. The ground on the summit is full of caves of +great depth, but there has been a difficulty in examining them, in +consequence of the violent wind that rushes up them, and extinguishes +every torch. + +The open and grassy forests of Argyle are terminated by another of those +abrupt sand-stone passes I have just described, and the traveller again +falls considerably from his former level, previously to his entering on +Yass Plains, to which this pass is the only inlet. + +From Yass Plains the view to the S. and S.W. is over a lofty and broken +country: mountains with rounded summits, others with towering peaks, and +others again of lengthened form but sharp spine, characterise the various +rocks of which they are composed. The ranges decline rapidly from east to +west, and while on the one hand the country has all the appearance of +increasing height, on the other it sinks to a dead level; nor on the +distant horizon to the N. W. is there a hill or an inequality to be seen. + +From Yass Plains to the very commencement of the level interior, every +range I crossed presented a new rock-formation; serpentine quartz in +huge white masses, granite, chlorite, micaceous schist, sandstone, +chalcedony, quartz, and red jasper, and conglomerate rocks. + +It was however, out of my power, in so hurried a journey as that which I +performed down the banks of the Morumbidgee River, to examine with the +accuracy I could have wished, either the immediate connection between +these rocks or their gradual change from the one to the other. I was +content to ascertain their actual succession, and to note the general +outlines of the ranges; but the defect of vision under which I labour, +prevents me from laying them before the public. + +CHARACTER OF THE SOIL CONNECTED WITH GEOLOGICAL FORMATION. + +From what has been advanced, however, it will appear that the physical +structure of the southern parts of the colony is as varied, as that of the +western interior is monotonous, and we may now pursue our original +observations on the soil of the colony with greater confidence. + +In endeavouring to account for the poverty of the soil in New South Wales, +and in attributing it in a great degree to the causes already mentioned, +it appears necessary to estimate more specifically the influence which the +geological formation of a country exercises on its soil, and how much the +quality of the latter partakes of the character of the rock on which it +reposes. And although I find it extremely difficult to explain myself as +I should wish to do, in the critical discussion on which I have thus +entered, yet as it is material to the elucidation of an important subject +in the body of the work, I feel it incumbent on me to proceed to the best +of my ability. + +I have said that the soil of a country depends much upon its geological +formation. This appears to be particularly the case in those parts of the +colony with which I nm acquainted, or those lying between the parallels of +30 degrees and 35 degrees south. Sandstone, porphyry, and granite, +succeed each other from the coast to a very considerable distance into the +interior, on a N. W. line. The light ferruginous dust that is distributed +over the county of Cumberland, and which annoys the traveller by its +extreme minuteness, to the eastward of the Blue Mountains, is as different +from the coarse gravelly soil on the secondary ranges to the westward of +them, as the barren scrubs and thickly-wooded tracts of the former +district are to the grassy and open forests of the latter. + +As soon as I began to descend to the westward it became necessary to pay +strict and earnest attention to the features of the country through which +I passed, in order to determine more accurately the different appearances +which, as I was led to expect, the rivers would assume. In the course of +my examination I found, first, that the broken country through which I +travelled, was generally covered with a loose, coarse, and sandy soil; +and, secondly, that the ranges were wholly deficient in that peat +formation which fills the valleys, or covers the flat summits of the hills +or mountains, in the northern hemisphere. The peculiar property of this +formation is to retain water like a sponge; and to this property the +regular and constant flow of the rivers descending from such hills, may, +in a great measure, be attributed. In New South Wales on the contrary, the +rains that fall upon the mountains drain rapidly through a coarse and +superficial soil, and pour down their sides without a moment's +interruption. The consequence is that on such occasions the rivers are +subject to great and sudden rises, whereas they have scarcely water enough +to support a current in ordinary seasons. At one time the traveller will +find it impracticable to cross them: at another he may do so with ease; +and only from the remains of debris in the branches of the trees high +above, can he judge of the furious torrent they must occasionally +contain. + +This seeming deviation on the part of Nature from her usual laws will no +longer appear such, if we consider its results for a moment. The very +floods which swell the rivers to overflowing, are followed by the most +beneficent effects; and, rude and violent as the means are by which she +accomplishes her purpose, they form, no doubt, a part of that process by +which she preserves the balance of good and evil. Vast quantities of the +best soil have been thus washed down from the mountains to accumulate in +more accessible places. From frequent depositions, a great extent of +country along the banks of every river and creek has risen high above the +influence of the floods, and constitutes the richest tracts in the colony. +The alluvial flats of the Nepean, the Hawkesbury, and the Hunter, are +striking instances of the truth of these observations; to which the plains +of O'Connell and Bathurst must be added. The only good soil upon the two +latter, is in the immediate neighbourhood of the Macquarie River: but, +even close to its banks, the depositions are of little depth, lying on a +coarse gravelly soil, the decomposition of the nearer ranges. The former +is found to diminish in thickness, according to the concavity of the +valley through which the Macquarie flows, and at length becomes mixed with +the coarser soil. This deposit is alone fit for agricultural purposes; +but it does not necessarily follow that the distant country is unavailable +since it is admitted, that the best grazing tracts are upon the secondary +ranges of granite and porphyry. These ranges generally have the appearance +of open forest, and are covered with several kinds of grasses, among which +the long oat-grass is the most abundant. + +COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND. + +If we except the valley of the Nepean, the banks of the South Creek, the +Pennant Hills near Parramatta, and a few other places, the general soil of +the county of Cumberland, is of the poorest description. It is superficial +in most places, resting either upon a cold clay, or upon sandstone; and +is, as I have already remarked, a ferruginous compound of the finest dust. +Yet there are many places upon its surface, (hollows for instance,) in +which vegetable decay has accumulated, or valleys, into which it has been +washed, that are well adapted for the usual purposes of agriculture, and +would, if the country was more generally cleared, be found to exist to a +much greater extent than is at present imagined. I have frequently +observed the isolated patches of better land, when wandering through the +woods, both on the Parramatta River, and at a greater distance from the +coast. And I cannot but think, that it would be highly advantageous to +those who possess large properties in the County of Cumberland to let +Portions of them. The concentration of people round their capital, +promotes more than anything else the prosperity of a colony, by creating +a reciprocal demand for the produce both of the country and the town, +since the one would necessarily stimulate the energy of the farmer, as the +other would rouse the enterprise of the merchant. The consideration, +however, of such a subject is foreign to my present purpose. + +It must not be supposed, that because I have given a somewhat particular +description of the County of Cumberland, I have done so with a view to +bring it forward as a specimen of the other counties, or to found upon it +a general description of the colony. It is, in fact, poorer in every +respect than any tract of land of similar extent in the interior, and is +still covered with dense forests of heavy timber, excepting when the trees +have been felled by dint of manual labour, and the ground cleared at an +expense that nothing but its proximity to the seat of government could +have justified. But experience has proved, that neither the labour nor the +the expense have been thrown away. Many valuable farms and extensive +gardens chequer the face of the country, from which the proprietors +derive a very efficient income. + +COUNTRY WEST OF BLUE MOUNTAINS. + +To the westward of the Blue Mountains, the country differs in many +respects from that lying between those ranges and the coast; and although, +its aspect varies in different places, three principal features appear +more immediately to characterise it. These are, first, plains of +considerable extent wholly destitute of timber; secondly, open undulating +woodlands; and, thirdly, barren unprofitable tracts. The first almost +invariably occur in the immediate neighbourhood of some river, as the +Plains of Bathurst, which are divided by the Macquarie; Goulburn Plains, +through which the Wallandilly flows; and Yass Plains, which are watered by +a river of the same name. The open forests, through which the horseman may +gallop in perfect safety, seem to prevail over the whole secondary ranges +of granite, and are generally considered as excellent grazing tracts. Such +is the country in Argyleshire on either side of the Lachlan, where that +river crosses the great southern road near Mr. Hume's station; such also +are many parts of Goulburn and the whole extent of country lying between +Underaliga and the Morumbidgee River. The barren tracts, on the other +hand, may be said to occupy the central spaces between all the principal +streams. With regard to the proportion that these different kinds of +country bear to each other, there can be no doubt of the undue +preponderance of the last over the first two; but there are nevertheless +many extensive available tracts in every part of the colony. + +MEANS OF INLAND TRANSPORT. + +The greatest disadvantage under which New South Wales labours, is the want +of means for conveying inland produce to the market, or to the coast. The +Blue Mountains are in this respect a serious bar to the internal +prosperity of the colony. By this time, however, a magnificent +road will have been completed across them to the westward, over parts of +which I travelled in 1831. Indeed the efforts of the colonial government +have been wisely directed, not only to the construction of this road, +which the late Governor, General Darling commenced, but also in +facilitating the communication to the southern districts, by an almost +equally fine road over the Razor Back Range, near the Cow Pastures; so +that as far as it is possible for human efforts to overcome natural +obstacles, the wisdom and foresight of the executive have ere this been +successful. + +DISADVANTAGES OF DISTANT SETTLERS. + +The majority of the settlers in the Bathurst country, and in the more +remote interior, are woolgrowers; and as they send their produce to the +market only once a year, receiving supplies for home consumption, on the +return of their drays or carts from thence, the inconvenience of bad +roads is not so much felt by them. But to an agriculturist a residence to +the westward of the Blue Mountains is decidedly objectionable, unless he +possess the means with which to procure the more immediate necessaries of +life, otherwise than by the sale of his grain or other produce, and can be +satisfied to cultivate his property for home consumption, or for the +casual wants of his neighbours. Under such circumstances, a man with a +small private income would enjoy every rational comfort. But of course, +not only in consequence of the loss of labour, but the chance of accidents +during a long journey, the more the distance is increased from Sydney, as +the only place at which the absolute necessaries of life can be purchased, +the greater becomes the objection to a residence in such a part of the +country; and on this account it is, that although some beautiful locations +both as to extent and richness, are to be found to the westward of +Bathurst, equally on the Bell, the Macquarie and the Lachlan, it is not +probable they will be taken up for many years, or will only be occupied as +distant stock stations. + +CHARACTER OF EASTERN COAST. + +Since, therefore, it appears from what has been advanced, that it is not +to the westward the views of any settlers should he directed, excepting +under particular circumstances, it remains for us to consider what other +parts of the colony hold out, or appear to hold out, greater advantages. +The eye naturally turns to the south on the one hand, and to +Port Macquarie northerly on the other. It is to be remarked that the +eastern shores of Australia partake of the same barren character that +marks the other three. it is generally bounded to a certain extent by a +sandy and sterile tract. There are, however, breaks in so prolonged a +line, as might have been expected, where, from particular local causes, +both the soil and vegetation are of a superior kind. At Illawarra for +instance, the contiguity of the mountains to the coast leaves no room for +the sandy belt we have noticed, but the debris from them reaches to the +very shore. Whether from reflected heat, or from some other peculiarity of +situation, the vegetation of Illawarra is of an intertropical character, +and birds that are strangers to the county of Cumberland frequent its +thickets. There is no part of Australia where the feathered race are more +beautiful, or more diversified. The most splendid pigeon, perhaps, that +the world produces, and the satin bird, with its lovely eye, feed there +upon the berries of the ficus (wild fig,) and other trees: and a numerous +tribe of the accipitrine class soar over its dense and spacious forests. + +PORT MACQUARIE AND FIVE ISLANDS. + +We again see a break in the sandy line of the coast at Broken Bay, at +Newcastle, and still further north at Port Macquarie; at which places the +Hawkesbury, the Hunter, and the Hastings severally debouche. Of Port +Macquarie, as a place of settlement, I entertain a very high opinion, in +consequence of its being situated under a most favourable parallel +latitude. I am convinced it holds out many substantial advantages. One of +the most important of these is the circumstance of its having been much +improved when occupied as a penal settlement. And since the shores of the +colony are how navigated by steam-boats, the facility of water +communication would be proportionably great. + +I believe the Five Islands or Illawarr district is considered peculiarly +eligible for small settlers. The great drawback to this place is the +heavy character of its timber and the closeness of its thickets, which vie +almost with the American woods in those respects. Thee return, however, is +adequate to the labour required in clearing the ground. Between the Five +Islands and Sydney, a constant intercourse is kept up by numerous small +craft; and a communication with the interior, by branch roads from the +great southern line to the coast, would necessarily be thrown open, if the +more distant parts of it were sufficiently peopled. + +RICH TRACTS IN THE INTERIOR. + +Recent surveys have discovered to us rich and extensive tracts in the +remote interior between Jervis Bay and Bateman's Bay, and southwards upon +the western slope of the dividing range. The account given by Messrs. +Hovel and Hume is sufficient to prove that every valley they crossed was +worthy of notice, and that the several rivers they forded were flanked by +rich and extensive flats. + +The distance of Moneroo Plains, and of the Doomot and Morumbidgee Rivers +from Sydney, alarms the settler, who knows not the value of those +localities; but men whose experience has taught them to set this obstacle +at nought, have long depastured their herds on the banks of the last two. +The fattest cattle that supply the Sydney market are fed upon the rich +flats, and in the grassy valleys of the Morumbidgee; and there are several +beautiful farms upon those of the Doomot. Generally speaking, the persons +who reside in those distant parts, pay little attention to the comfort of +their dwellings, or to the raising of more grain than their establishments +may require; but there can be no doubt this part of the interior ought to +be the granary of New South Wales; its climate and greater humidity being +more favourable than that of Sydney for the production of wheat. + +PERIODICAL DROUGHTS; THE SEASONS AFFECTED BY THE MARSHES. + +The most serious disadvantages under which the colony of New South Wales +labours, is in the drought to which it is periodically subject. Its +climate may be said to be too dry; in other respects it is one of the most +delightful under heaven; and experience of the certainty of the recurrence +of the trying seasons to which I allude, should teach men to provide +against their effects. Those seasons, during which no rain falls, appear, +from the observations of former writers, to occur every ten or twelve +years; and it is somewhat singular that no cause has been assigned for +such periodical visitations. Whether the state of the interior has +anything to do with them, and whether the wet or dry condition of the +marshes at all regulate the seasons, is a question upon which I will not +venture to give my decisive opinion. But most assuredly, when the interior +is dry, the seasons are dry, and VICE VERSA. Indeed, not only is this the +case, but rains, from excessive duration in the first year after a +drought, decrease gradually year after year, until they wholly cease for a +time. It seems not improbable, therefore, that the state of the interior +does, in some measure, regulate the fall of rain upon the eastern ranges, +which appears to decrease in quantity yearly as the marshes become +exhausted, and cease altogether, when they no longer contain any water. A +drought will naturally follow until such time as the air becomes +surcharged with clouds or vapour from the ocean, which being no longer +able to sustain their own weight, descend upon the mountains, and being +conveyed by hundreds of streams into the western lowlands, again fill the +marshes, and cause the recurrence of regular seasons. + +TEMPERATURE OF THE CLIMATE. + +The thermometer ranges during the summer months, that is, from September +to March, from 36 degrees to 106 degrees of Fahrenheit, but the mean +of the temperature during the above period is 70 degrees. The instrument +in the winter months ranges from 27 degrees to 98 degrees, with a mean of +66 degrees. However great the summer heat may appear, it is certain that +the climate of New South Wales has not the relaxing and enfeebling effect +upon the constitution, which renders a residence in India or other parts +of the south so intolerable. Neither are any of the ordinary occupations +of business or of pleasure laid aside at noon, or during the hottest part +of the day. The traveller may cast himself at length under the first tree +that invites him, and repose there as safely as if he were in a palace. +Fearless of damps, and unmolested by noxious insects, his sleep is as +sound as it is refreshing, and he rises with renewed spirits to pursue his +journey. Equally so may the ploughman or the labourer seek repose beside +his team, and allow them to graze quietly around him. The delicious +coolness of the morning and the mild temperature of the evening air, in +that luxurious climate, are beyond the power of description. It appears to +have an influence on the very animals, the horses and the cattle being +particularly docile; and I cannot but think it is is some degree the same +happy effect upon some of the hardened human beings who are sent thither +from the old world. + +FRUITS. + +As I have before observed, it has not yet been discovered whether there +are any indigenous fruits of any value in Australia. In the colony of New +South Wales there certainly are none; yet the climate is peculiarly +adapted for the growth of every European and of many tropical productions. +The orange, the fig, the citron, the pomegranate, the peach, the apple, +the guava, the nectarine, the pear, and the loquette, grow side by side +together. The plantain throws its broad leaves over the water, the vine +encircles the cottages, and the market of Sydney is abundantly supplied +with every culinary vegetable. + +In a climate, therefore, so soft that man scarcely requires a dwelling, +and so enchanting that few have left it but with regret, the spirits must +necessarily be acted upon,--and the heart feel lighter. Such, indeed, I +have myself found to be the case; nor have I ever been happier than when +roving through the woods or wandering along one of the silent and +beautiful bays for which the harbour of Port Jackson is so celebrated. I +went to New South Wales as I have already remarked, highly prejudiced +against it, both from the nature of the service, and the character of the +great body of its inhabitants. My regiment has since quitted its shores, +but I am aware there are few of them who would not gladly return. The +feeling I have in its favour arises not, therefore, from the services in +which I was employed, but from circumstances in the colony itself; and I +yet hope to form one of its community and to join a number of valuable and +warm-hearted friends whom I left in that distant part of the world. + +REMARKS ON EMIGRATION. + +On the subject of emigration, it is not my intention to dwell at any +length. My object in these preliminary remarks has been to give the reader +a general idea of the country, in the interior recesses of which I am +about to lead him. Still, however, it may be useful to offer a few general +observations on a topic which has, of late years, become so interesting to +the British public. + +The main consideration with those who, possessing some capital, propose to +emigrate as the means of improving their condition, is, the society likely +to he found in the land fixed on for their future residence. One of the +first questions I have been asked, when conversing on the subject of +emigration, has consequently related to this important matter. I had only +then to observe in reply, that the civil and military establishments in +New South Wales, form the elements of as good society as it is the lot of +the majority to command in Great Britain. + +The houses of the settlers are not scattered over a greater surface than +the residences of country gentlemen here, and if they cannot vie with them +in size, they most assuredly do in many other more important respects; and +if a substantial cottage of brick or stone has any claim to the rank of a +tenantable mansion, there are few of them which do not posses all the +means of exercising that hospitality for which young communities are +remarkable. + +But to sever the links of kindred, and to abandon the homes of our fathers +after years of happy tranquillity, is a sacrifice the magnitude of which +is unquestionable. The feelings by which men are influenced under such +circumstances have a claim to our respect. Indeed, no class of persons can +have a stronger hold upon our sympathies than those whom unmerited adverse +fortune obliges to seek a home in a distant country. + +Far, therefore, be it from me to dispute a single expression of regret to +which they may give utterance. It must, however, he remembered that the +deepest feelings of anguish are providentially alleviated in time. Our +heaviest misfortunes are frequently repaired by industry and caution. The +sky clears up, as it were: new interests engage the attention, and the +cares of a family or the improvement of a newly acquired property engross +those moments which would otherwise be spent in vain and unprofitable +regrets. + +DESCRIPTION OF IMMIGRANTS; MOST LIKELY TO PROSPER. + +It cannot be doubted that persons such as I have described, whose conduct +has hitherto been regulated by prudence, and whose main object is to +provide for their children, are the most valuable members of every +community, whether young or old. To such men few countries hold out +greater prospects of success than New South Wales; for the more we extend +our enquiries, the more we shall find that the success of the emigrant in +that colony depends upon his prudence and foresight rather than on any +collateral circumstance of climate or soil; and to him who can be +satisfied with the gradual acquirement of competency, it is the land of +promise. Blessed with a climate of unparalleled serenity, and of unusual +freedom from disease, the settler has little external cause of anxiety, +little apprehension of sickness among his family or domestics, and little +else to do than to attend to his own immediate interests. I should wish to +illustrate the observations by two or three instances of their practical +bearing and tendency. + +CASES OF EMIGRANTS; CAUSES OF SUCCESS OR FAILURE. + +It was on my return from my second expedition, that I visited +Lieut. ****** who resides in the southern parts of the colony. The day +after my arrival, he took me round his property, and explained the various +improvements he had made, considering the small means with which he had +commenced. At this part of our conversation, we came within view of his +house, a substantial weather-board cottage. "I trust," said I, turning +to him, "you will excuse the question I am about to ask; for your +frankness emboldens me to propose it, and on your answer much of the +effect of what you have been saying will depend. In effecting these +various improvements, and in the building of that house, have you been +obliged to embarrass yourself, or are they free from incumbrance?"--"Your +question," he said, "is a reasonable one, and I will answer it with the +frankness you are kind enough to ascribe to me. I have ever made it a rule +not to exceed my income. Mrs. ****** bore our first trials with so much +cheerfulness, and contributed so much to my happiness and my prosperity, +that I felt myself bound to build her a good house with the first money +I had to spare." I confess this answer raised my host in my estimation, +and it was a gratifying proof to me of the success that attends industry +and perseverance. + +But let us look at another case. Mr. *** had a property to the N.W. of +Sydney, and having considerable funded means when he arrived in the +colony, he soon put his property into a state of progressive improvement, +and being in truth an excellent practical farmer, it assumed the +appearance of regularity and order. Had Mr. *** stopped at this moment, +he would have been in the enjoyment of affluence and of every rational +comfort. But instead of exercising prudent rules of hospitality, he gave +way to the natural generosity of his disposition, entered into expenses he +could not afford, and was ultimately obliged to part with his estate. Now +it is deeply to be regretted, that one whose energies and abilities +particularly fitted him for the life he had chosen, should have failed +through such conduct; and it is more than probable, that if he had +commenced with smaller means, and had gradually improved his property, his +fate would have been very different. + +I shall leave these cases without any further comment, convinced as I am, +that each of them furnishes matter for serious consideration, and that +they are practical illustrations of the causes of success or failure of +those who emigrate to the colony of New South Wales. And although I do not +mean to affirm, that the majority follow Mr. ***'s example, I must venture +to assert that thoughtlessness--useless expenditure in the first +instance--waste of time and other circumstances, lead to equally ruinous +consequences. + +MORAL OBJECTIONS TO THE COLONY. + +One of the greatest objections which families have to New South Wales, is +their apprehension of the moral effects that are likely to overwhelm them +by bad example, and for which no success in life could compensate. In a +colony constituted like that of New South Wales, the proportion of crime +must of course be great. Yet it falls less under the notice of private +families than one might at first sight have been led to suppose. +Drunkenness, as in the mother country, is the besetting sin; but it is +confined chiefly to the large towns in consequence of the difficulty of +procuring spirits in the country. There are, no doubt, many incorrigible +characters sent to settle in the interior, and it is an evil to have these +men, even for a single day, to break the harmony of a previously well +regulated establishment, or to injure its future prospects by the +influence of evil example. They are men who are sent upon trial, from on +board a newly arrived ship, and they generally terminate their misconduct +either on the roads or at a penal settlement, being thus happily removed +from the mass of the prisoners. Frequently, however, men remain for years +under the same master. They become attached to their occupations, their +hearts become softened by kindness, and they atone as much as they +possibly can for previous error. + +SYSTEM OF IMMIGRATION RECOMMENDED; ENCOURAGEMENT FOR EMIGRATION. + +Still there can be no doubt, but that the evil complained of is +considerable. It is from this reason, and from my personal knowledge of +the southern parts of the colony, that I should rejoice to see its flats +and its valleys filled with an industrious population of a better +description of farmers. A hope might then be reasonably indulged, that the +Home Government would not be backward in recognising, and in acting upon +a principle, the soundness of which has been felt and acknowledged in all +ages, but the chief difficulty of which rests in its judicious +application. I allude to a system of emigration. Sure I am that if it were +well organized, and care were taken to profit by the experience of the +past in similar attempts, it could not fail to be attended with ultimate +success. The evils resulting from a surplus population in an old +community, were never more seriously felt than in Great Britain at the +present moment. Assuming that the amount of surplus population is +2,000,000, the excess of labour and competition thus occasioned by +diminishing profits and wages, creates, it has been said, an indirect tax +to the enormous extent of 20,000,000 pounds per annum. It has appeared +to many experienced persons, that it is in emigration, we should best find +the means of relief from this heavy pressure; particularly if the +individuals encouraged to go out to the colonies were young persons of +both sexes, from the industrious classes of the community. Even if no +more than three couples were induced to emigrate from each parish in +England in ten years, the relief to the springs of industry would be very +great. Besides, the funds necessary for this purpose would revert to the +country by a thousand indirect channels. Persons unacquainted with our +Australian colonies, whether Van Dieman's Land or New South Wales, can +form little idea of the increasing demand for, and consumption in them of +every species of British manufacture. The liberal encouragement given by +government to every practicable scheme of emigration, and the sum advanced +by it towards the expenses of the voyage to the labouring classes, +sufficiently indicate the light in which the subject is viewed by the +legislature; and the fact that no private family taking out servants to +Sydney, has in any one instance been able to retain them, on account of +offers more advantageous from other quarters, shows clearly the great +demand for labour in the colony. If I might judge of the feelings of the +majority of respectable individuals there, from the assurances of the few, +they would willingly defray any parochial expenses attendant on the +voyage, provided the services of such individuals could be secured to them +for a time sufficiently long to remunerate them for such pavement. The +tide of emigration should be directed to Sydney, Van Dieman's Land, or +Western Australia, upon condition of the labourer's receiving a certain +sum in wages, and his daily subsistence from his employer, with an +understanding, however, that he must consider himself bound for two years +to such employer. Surely there are hundreds of our indigent countrymen, +who would gladly seek a land of such plenty, and cast away the natural, +but unavailing regret of leaving home to secure to themselves and their +families, the substantial comforts of life on such easy conditions. + +COMMITTEE FOUND AT SYDNEY. + +It is not, perhaps, generally known that a committee has been formed in +Sydney, to advise settlers as to the best mode of proceeding on arrival +there. Such a plan is one of obvious utility; and if those who may find +themselves at a loss for information would apply to this committee for +advice, rather than to individuals with whom they may become casually +acquainted, they would further their own interests, and in all probability +ensure success. Still there are some broad rules upon which every man +ought to act, which I shall endeavour to point out, and it will give me no +ordinary satisfaction, if I should be the means of directing any one to +the road of prosperity and comfort. + +HINTS TO EMIGRANTS. + +It is to be feared that those who emigrate to New South Wales, generally +anticipate too great facility in their future operations and certainty of +success in conducting them; but they should recollect that competency +cannot be obtained without labour. Every trade--every profession in this +respect, is subject to the same law--the lawyer, the physician, the +tradesman, and the mechanic. This labour is required at our hands, even in +an old community; how much more then is it called for in a new, where the +ingenuity of men is put to trial to secure those means of accomplishing +their ends which here are abundant. Now, it appears to me but consistent, +that he who is obliged to leave his native country from want of means to +hold his station there, can hardly expect to find, or rather to secure, +abundance elsewhere without some exertion. Every man who emigrates should +proceed with a conviction on his mind, that he is about to encounter years +of labour and privation. He will not then be disappointed at partial +reverses, and will be more thankful for unexpected prosperity. I feel +persuaded the tone of mind has a great deal to do with success, because it +influences the conduct of the individual. Supposing, however, that an +emigrant has taken this rational view of his situation, he should +determine on his pursuits, and allow nothing but absolute certainty of +better fortune to turn him aside. Men, however, landing at Sydney, in +their eagerness for information get bewildered, give up their original +plans, adopt new and uncertain speculations, trifle away both their time +and their money, and ultimately ruin themselves. An individual who goes to +New South Wales for the purpose of settling, should not remain in Sydney +a day longer than is necessary for the arrangement of his affairs. Every +shilling spent there is thrown away. The greatest facility is given by the +different departments of the Colonial Government to the settlers; and it +is entirely his own fault if he trifles away his time in search of +information elsewhere than at the fountainhead, or if he trusts to any +other opinion than his own, supposing him experienced as to the quality of +the land he may fix upon. Let him be speedy in his selection, and fix +himself upon his allotment as soon as possible. Instead of overstocking +his farm, or employing more labourers than he can afford to keep, let him +be satisfied with a gradual increase of his stock, and wait patiently till +he can better afford to employ labour; above all, let him avoid +embarrassing himself by the purchase of any superfluous or unnecessary +comfort. I consider that man has already failed, who runs into debt in the +first instance, or who exhausts his means in the purchase of large herds, +from the vain expectation that their increase will clear him. The time was +when those idle speculations were occasionally attended with success, but +such is not now the case. The energies of the agriculturist are directed +to their proper channel, and if the few are unable to make rapid fortunes, +the many have escaped inevitable ruin. No farm in a state of nature can be +expected to yield any return of consequence for the first year. It is +incumbent on a settler to provide for his establishment, or to retain the +means of providing for it as circumstances may require. + +Farming implements are as cheap in Sydney as in England. Horses and cattle +are cheaper. It requires little, therefore, to stock a farm in a +reasonable manner. On the other hand, the climate is so mild that the want +of a house is scarcely felt, and a temporary residence easily constructed. +On the whole I am convinced, that a man who regulates his conduct by +prudence, and who perseveringly follows up his occupations, who behaves +with kindness to those around him, and performs his social and moral +duties with punctuality, will ultimately secure to himself a home that +will make up for the one he has quitted in the land of his fathers, and +place him in as respectable and as happy a situation as that which he +there enjoyed. + + +***** + + +PROGRESS OF INLAND DISCOVERY. + +Having thrown out the foregoing remarks for the information of the general +reader, and of persons who look to Australia with the more earnest views +of selecting a colonial home, I now return to the immediate object of +these volumes; but before entering on the narrative of my own expeditions, +I think it necessary to advert cursorily to the discoveries previously +accomplished. + +The journeys of Mr. Oxley, far into the western interior of Australia, +gave rise to various and conflicting opinions as to the character of the +more central parts of that extensive continent, of which the colony of New +South Wales forms but a small portion. I feel, therefore, called upon +briefly to advert to the conclusions which that able and intelligent +officer drew from his personal observation of the country into which he +penetrated, as an acquaintance with his opinions will not only tend to +throw a clearer light on the following details, but will, also, convey +much necessary information to those of my readers who may not have +perused his journals. It is necessary, however, in order to divest the +subject of all obscureness, to trace, in the first instance, the progress +of inland discovery, in New South Wales, from the first foundation of the +colony to the period when Mr. Oxley's exertions attracted the public +attention. + +In the year 1788, the British Government took formal possession of the +eastern coast of Australia, by the establishment of a penal colony at Port +Jackson. The first settlers, under Governor Phillips, had too many +difficulties to contend with to submit themselves to be thwarted from +pursuits essential to their immediate safety and comfort, by the prospect +of remote and uncertain advantages. It was by perseverance and toil alone +that they first established and ultimately spread themselves over that +part of the territory, which, flanked by the ocean on the one hand, and +embraced as it were by the Nepean River on the other, is now entitled the +County Of Cumberland. For many years, this single district supplied the +wants of the settlers. Upon it they found ample pasture for their herds, +and sufficient employment for themselves. Nor was it until a succession of +untoward seasons, and the rapid increase of their stock pointed out to +them the necessity of seeking for more extensive pasturage, that they +contemplated surmounting that dark and rugged chain of mountains, which, +like the natural ramparts of Spain and Italy, rose high over the nether +forest, and broke the line of the western horizon. + +MR. CALEY'S ATTEMPT. + +A Mr. Caley is said to have been the first who attempted to scale the Blue +Mountains: but he did not long persevere in struggling with difficulties +too great for ordinary resolution to overcome. It appears that he retraced +his steps, after having penetrated about sixteen miles into their dark and +precipitous recesses; and a heap of stones, which the traveller passes +about that distance from Erne Ford, on the road to Bathurst, marks the +extreme point reached by the first expedition to the westward of the +Nepean river. + +LIEUT. LAWSON'S EXPEDITION. + +Shortly after the failure of this expedition, the sad effects of a long +protracted drought called forth a more general spirit of enterprise and +exertion among the settlers; and Mr. Oxley makes honorable mention of the +perseverance and resolution with which Lieut. Lawson, of the 104th +regiment, accompanied by Messrs. Blaxland and Wentworth, conducted an +expedition into the Blue Mountains. Their efforts were successful: and +the objects of their enterprise would have been completely attained, but +for the failure of their provisions at a moment when their view of the +distant interior was such as to convince them that they had overcome the +most formidable obstacles to their advance, and that in their further +progress few impediments would have presented themselves. + +MR. EVANS' DISCOVERIES. + +The success of this undertaking induced Governor Macquarie to further the +prosecution of inland discovery, and of attempts to ascertain the nature +of the country of which Mr. Lawson only obtained a glimpse. An expedition +was accordingly dispatched under Mr. Evans, the Deputy Surveyor-General, +to follow the route taken by the former one, and to penetrate as far as +practicable into the western interior. The result was the discovery of the +Macquarie river, and of Bathurst Plains. The report of Mr. Evans was so +favourable, that orders were immediately issued for the construction of a +line of road across the mountains. When that was completed, the Governor +went in person to fix the site of a future town on Bathurst Plains. From +thence Mr. Evans, who accompanied the Governor on the occasion, was +directed to proceed to the southward and westward, to ascertain the nature +of the country in that direction. He discovered another considerable +river, flowing, like the Macquarie, to the west, to which he gave the name +of the Lachlan. The promising appearance of these two streams, and the +expectation of all parties that they would be found to water rich and +extensive tracts of country, led to the fitting out of a more important +expedition than any which had before been contemplated. + +MR. OXLEY'S DISCOVERIES. + +Mr. Oxley, the Surveyor-General of the Colony, was appointed chief of this +expedition, and was directed to trace the Lachlan and Macquarie rivers, as +far as practicable, with a view to ascertain their capabilities and the +nature of the country they watered. In 1817, Mr. Oxley directed his +attention to the former river, and continued to follow its windings, until +it appeared that its waters were lost in successive marshes and it ceased +to be a river. In the following year he turned towards the Macquarie, and +traced it, in like manner, until he was checked by high reeds that covered +an extensive plain before him, amidst which the channel of the river was +lost. + +From what he observed of the country, on both these occasions, he was led +to infer that beyond the limits of his advance the interior had a uniform +level, and was, for the most part, uninhabitable and under water. Its +features must have been strongly marked to have confirmed such an opinion +in the mind of the late Surveyor-General. It stands recorded on the pages +of his journal, that he travelled over a country of many miles in extent, +after clearing the mountains, which so far from presenting any rise of +ground to the eye, bore unequivocal marks of frequent and extensive +inundation. He traced two rivers of considerable size, and found that, at +a great distance from each other, they apparently terminated in marshes, +and that the country beyond them was low and unbroken. In his progress +eastward, he crossed a third stream (the Castlereagh), about forty-five +miles from the Macquarie, seemingly not inferior to it in size, +originating in the mountains for which he was making, and flowing nearly +parallel to the other rivers into a level country like that which he had +just quitted. + +DISCOVERIES OF MESSRS. MECHAN, HUME, HOVEL AND CUNNINGHAM. + +Mr. Evans, moreover, who accompanied Mr. Oxley on these journeys, and who +had been detached by his principal from Mount Harris, to ascertain the +nature of the country in the line which the expedition was next to pursue, +having crossed the Castlereagh considerably below the place at which the +party afterwards effected a passage, reported that the river was then +running through high reeds. The inference naturally drawn by Mr. Oxley, +was, that it terminated as the Lachlan and the Macquarie had done; and +that their united waters formed an inland sea or basin. It is evident that +Mr. Oxley had this impression on his mind, when he turned towards the +coast; but the wet state of the lowlands prevented him from ascertaining +its correctness or error. Doubt, consequently, still existed as to the +nature of the country he had left behind him; a question in which the best +interests of the colony were apparently involved. Subsequently to these +discoveries, Mr. Surveyor Mechan, accompanied by Mr. Hamilton Hume, a +colonist of considerable experience, explored the country more to the +southward and westward of Sydney, and discovered most of the new country +called Argyle, and also Lake Bathurst. + +Mr. Hume was afterwards associated with a Mr. Hovel, in an excursion to +the south coast, under the auspices of Sir Thomas Brisbane. After a most +persevering and laborious journey, they reached the sea; but it is +uncertain whether they made Port Philips, or Western Port. Mr. Hume, whose +practical experience will yield to that of no man, entertains a conviction +that it was to the former they descended from the neighbouring ranges; but +Mr. Hovel, I believe supports a contrary opinion. In the early stage of +their journey, they passed over York or Yass Plains; and, after crossing +the Morumbidgee, were generally entangled among mountain ranges that +increased in height to the east and south-east. They crossed three +considerable rivers, falling westerly, which they named the Goulburn, the +Hume, and the Ovens; and found a beautiful and well-watered country in the +vicinity of the coast. + +In 1826, Mr. Allan Cunningham, Botanical Collector to his late Majesty, +traversed a considerable portion of the interior to the north of Bathurst, +and, with a laudable zeal, devoted his labours to the acquisition of +general information, as well as to his more immediate professional +pursuits. In 1827, this gentleman again bent his steps towards the +northward, and succeeded in gaining the 28th parallel of latitude; and, +on a subsequent occasion, having taken his departure from Moreton Bay, he +connected his former journey with that settlement, and thus contributed +largely to our knowledge of the mountain country between it and the +capital. Mr. Cunningham, who, independently of his individual excursions, +had not only circumnavigated the Australian Continent with Capt. King, +but had formed also one of the party with Mr. Oxley, in the journeys +before noticed, had adopted this gentleman's opinion with regard to the +swampy and inhospitable character of the distant interior. Its depressed +appearance from the high ground on which Mr. Cunningham subsequently +moved, tended to confirm this opinion, which was moreover daily gaining +strength from the reports of the natives, who became more frequent in +their intercourse with the whites, and who reported that there were large +waters to the westward, on which the natives had canoes, and in which +there were fish of great size. + +It became, therefore, a current opinion, that the western interior of New +Holland comprehended an extensive basin, of which the ocean of reeds which +had proved so formidable to Mr. Oxley, formed most probably the outskirts; +and it was generally thought that an expedition proceeding into the +interior, would encounter marshes of vast extent, which would be extremely +difficult to turn, and no less dangerous to enter. + +It remained to be proved, however, whether these conjectures were founded +in fact. The chief difficulty lay in the character of the country, and in +providing the necessary means to ensure success. Those which were resorted +to will be found in the succeeding chapter. Whether they would have been +found sufficient and applicable had the interior been wholly under water, +is doubtful; and my impression on this point induced me to make more +efficient arrangements on the second expedition. + + + + + +EXPEDITION DOWN THE BANKS OF THE MACQUARIE RIVER IN 1828 AND 1829. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + +State of the Colony in 1828-29--Objects of the Expedition--Departure +from Sydney--Wellington Valley--Progress down the Macquarie--Arrival at +Mount Harris--Stopped by the marshes--Encamp amidst reeds--Excursions down +the river--Its termination-- Appearance of the marshes--Opthalmic +affection of the men--Mr. Hume's successful journey to the northward-- +Journey across the plain--Second great marsh--Perplexities--Situation of +the exploring party--Consequent resolutions. + + +The year 1826 was remarkable for the commencement of one of those fearful +droughts to which we have reason to believe the climate of New South Wales +is periodically subject. It continued during the two following years with +unabated severity. The surface of the earth became so parched up that +minor vegetation ceased upon it. Culinary herbs were raised with +difficulty, and crops failed even in the most favourable situations. +Settlers drove their flocks and herds to distant tracts for pasture and +water, neither remaining for them in the located districts. The interior +suffered equally with the coast, and men, at length, began to despond +under so alarming a visitation. It almost appeared as if the Australian +sky were never again to be traversed by a cloud. + +OBJECTS OF THE EXPEDITION. + +But, however severe for the colony the seasons had proved, or were likely +to prove, it was borne in mind at this critical moment, that the wet and +swampy state of the interior had alone prevented Mr. Oxley from +penetrating further into it, in 1818. Each successive report from +Wellington Valley, the most distant settlement to the N. W., confirmed the +news of the unusually dry state of the lowlands, and of the exhausted +appearance of the streams falling into them. It was, consequently, hoped +that an expedition, pursuing the line of the Macquarie, would have a +greater chance of success than the late Surveyor General had; and that the +difficulties he had to contend against would be found to be greatly +diminished, if not altogether removed. The immediate fitting out of an +expedition was therefore decided upon, for the express purpose of +ascertaining the nature and extent of that basin into which the Macquarie +was supposed to fall, and whether any connection existed between it and +the streams falling westerly. As I had early taken a great interest in the +geography of New South Wales, the Governor was pleased to appoint me to +the command of this expedition. + +JOURNEY FROM SYDNEY TO EMU PLAINS. + +In the month of September, 1828, I received his Excellency's commands to +prepare for my journey; and by the commencement of November, had organised +my party, and completed the necessary arrangements. On the 9th of that +month, I waited on the Governor, at Parramatta, to receive his definitive +instructions. As the establishments at Sydney had been unable to supply me +with the necessary number of horses and oxen, instructions had been +forwarded to Mr. Maxwell, the superintendent of Wellington Valley, to +train a certain number for my use; and I was now directed to push for that +settlement without loss of time. I returned to Sydney in the afternoon of +the 9th, and on the 10th took leave of my brother officers, to commence a +journey of very dubious issue; and, in company with my friend, +Staff-surgeon M'Leod, who had obtained permission to accompany me to the +limits of the colony, followed my men along the great western road. We +moved leisurely over the level country, between the coast and the Nepean +River, and availed ourselves of the kind hospitality of those of our +friends whose property lay along that line of road, to secure more +comfortable places of rest than the inns would have afforded. + +We reached Sheane, the residence of Dr. Harris, on the 11th, and were +received by him with the characteristic kindness with which friends or +strangers are ever welcomed by that gentleman, He had accompanied +Mr. Oxley as a volunteer in 1818, and his name was then given to the +mount which formed the extreme point to which the main body of the first +expedition down the banks of the Macquarie penetrated, in a westerly +direction. + +The general appearance of the property of Dr. Harris, showed how much +perseverance and labour had effected towards its improvement. Many acres +of ground bore a promising crop, over which a gloomy forest had once +waved. The Doctor's farming establishment was as complete as his husbandry +seemed to be prosperous; but he did not appear to be satisfied with the +extent of his dwelling, to which he was making considerable additions, +although I should have thought it large enough for all ordinary purposes +of residence or hospitality. The rewards of successful industry were +everywhere visible. + +FROM EMU PLAINS TO WELLINGTON VALLEY. + +On the 13th, we gained Regent's Ville, the more splendid mansion of Sir +John Jamieson, which overlooks the Nepean River, and commands the most +beautiful and extensive views of the Blue Mountains. Crossing the ford on +the 14th, we overtook the men as they were toiling up the first ascent of +those rugged bulwarks, which certainly gave no favourable earnest of the +road before us; and, as we could scarcely hope to reach the level country +to the westward without the occurrence of some accident, I determined to +keep near the drays, that I might be on hand should my presence be +required. We gained O'Connell's plains on the 20th November, and arrived +at Bathurst on the 22nd, with no other damage than the loss of one of the +props supporting the boat which snapped in two as we descended Mount York. +On examination, it was found that the boat had also received a slight +contusion, but it admitted of easy repair. + +I was detained at Bathurst longer than I intended, in consequence of +indisposition, and during my stay there experienced many proofs of the +kind hospitality of the settlers of that promising district: nor was I +ever more impressed with the importance of the service upon which I was +employed, or more anxious as to the issue, than while contemplating the +rapid advance of agriculture upon its plains, and the formidable bar to +its prosperity which I had left behind me, in the dark and gloomy ranges +which I had crossed. + +On the 27th, Mr. Hamilton Hume, whose experience well qualified him for +the task, and who had been associated with me in the expedition, having +joined me, we proceeded on our journey, and reached Wellington Valley +about the end of the month. + +WELLINGTON VALLEY. + +I wished to push into the interior without any delay, or at least, so soon +as we should have completed our arrangements and organized the party; but, +although Mr. Maxwell had paid every attention to the training of the +cattle, he was of opinion that they could not yet be wholly relied upon, +and strongly recommended that they should be kept at practice for another +week. As we could not have left the settlement under the most favourable +circumstances in less than four days, the further delay attendant on this +measure was considered immaterial, and it was, accordingly, determined +upon. Mr. Hume undertook to superintend the training of the animals, and +this left me at leisure to gather such information as would be of use to +us in our progress down the river. + +In his description of Wellington Valley, Mr. Oxley has not done it more +than justice. It is certainly a beautiful and ferthe spot, and it was now +abundant in pasturage, notwithstanding the unfavourable season that had +passed over it. + +The settlement stands upon the right bank of the Bell, about two miles +above the junction of that stream with the Macquarie. Its whitewashed +buildings bore outward testimony to the cleanliness and regularity of the +inhabitants; and the respectful conduct of the prisoners under his charge, +showed that Mr. Maxwell had maintained that discipline by which alone he +could have secured respect to himself and success to his exertions, at +such a distance from the seat of government. + +The weather was so exceedingly hot, during our stay, that it was +impossible to take exercise at noon; but in the evening, or at an early +hour in the morning, we were enabled to make short excursions in the +neighbourhood. + +Mr. Maxwell informed me that there were three stations below the +settlement, the first of which, called Gobawlin, belonging to Mr. Wylde, +was not more than five miles from it; the other two, occupied by Mr. +Palmer, were at a greater distance, one being nineteen, the other +thirty-four miles below the junction of the Bell. He was good enough to +send for the stockman (or chief herdsman), in charge of the last, to give +me such information of the nature of the country below him, as he could +furnish from personal knowledge or from the accounts of the natives. + +LOW STATE OF THE MACQUARIE RIVER. + +Mr. Maxwell pointed out to me the spot on which Mr. Oxley's boats had been +built, close upon the bank of the Macquarie; and I could not but reflect +with some degree of apprehension on the singularly diminished state of the +river from what it must then have been to allow a boat to pass down it. +Instead of a broad stream and a rapid current, the stream was confined to +a narrow space in the centre of the channel, and it ran so feebly amidst +frequent shallows that it was often scarcely perceptible. The Bell, also, +which Mr. Oxley describes as dashing and rippling along its pebbly bed, +had ceased to flow, and consisted merely of a chain of ponds. + +On the 3rd of Dec, the stockman from below arrived; but the only +information we gathered from him was the existence of a lake to the left +of the river, about three days' journey below the run of his herds, on the +banks of which he assured us, the native companions, a species of stork, +stood in rows like companies of soldiers. + +He brought up a nest of small paroquets of the most beautiful plumage, as +a present to Mr. Maxwell, and affirmed that they were common about his +part of the river. The peculiarity of the seasons had also brought a +parrot into the valley which had never before visited it. This delicate +bird was noticed by Captain Cook upon the coast, and is called +PSITTACUS NOVAE HOLLANDIAE, or New Holland Parrot, by Mr. Brown. It had +not, however, been subsequently seen until the summer of 1828, when it +made its appearance at Wellington Valley in considerable numbers, together +with a species of merops or mountain bee-eater. + +DEPARTURE FOR THE INTERIOR. + +On the 5th, our preparations being wholly completed, and the loads +arranged, the party was mustered, end was found to consist of myself and +Mr. Hume, two soldiers and eight prisoners of the crown, two of whom were +to return with dispatches. Our animals numbered two riding, and seven +pack, horses, two draft, and eight pack, bullocks, exclusive of two +horses of my own, and two for the men to be sent back. + +BANKS OF THE MACQUARIE. + +The morning of the 7th December, the day upon which we were to leave the +valley, was ushered in by a cloudless sky, and that heated appearance in +the atmosphere which foretells an oppressively sultry day. I therefore put +off the moment of our departure to the evening, and determined to proceed +no further than Gobawlin. I was the more readily induced to order this +short journey because the animals had not been practised to their full +loads, and I thought they might have given some trouble at starting with +an unusual weight. They moved off however very quietly, and as if they had +been accustomed to their work by a long course of training. We took our +departure from the settlement at 3 p.m. and, crossing to the right bank of +the Macquarie, a little above its junction with the Bell, reached Mr +Wylde's station about half-past five. Thus we commenced our journey under +circumstances as favorable as could have been wished. In disengaging +ourselves on the following day from the hills by which Wellington Valley +is encompassed on the westward, with a view to approach Mr. Palmer's first +station, we kept rather wide of the river, and only occasionally touched +on its more projecting angles. The soil at a distance from the stream was +by no means so good as that in its immediate vicinity, nor was the timber +of the same description. On the rich and picturesque grounds near the +river the angophora prevailed with the flooded gum, and the scenery upon +its banks was improved by the casuarinae that overhung them. On the +latter, inferior eucalypti and cypresses were mixed together. The country +was broken and undulating, and the hills stony, notwithstanding which, +they appeared to have an abundance of pasture upon them. Mr. Hume rode +with me to the summit of a limestone elevation, from which I thought it +probable we might have obtained such a view as would have enabled us to +form some idea of the country into which we were about to descend. But in +following the river line, the eye wandered over a dark and unbroken +forest alone. The ranges from which we were fast receding formed an +irregular and beautiful landscape to the southward; and contrasted +strongly with the appearance of the country to the N. W., in which +direction it was rapidly assuming a level. + +We reached Mr. Palmer's at a late hour in the afternoon, in consequence of +a delay we experienced in crossing a gully, and encamped upon a high bank +immediately opposite to the mouth of Molle's rivulet which here joins the +Macquarie from the southward. The cattle had consumed all the food, and +the ground on both sides of the river looked bare and arid. + +No doubt, however, the face of the country in ordinary seasons wears a +very different appearance. Its general elevation continued high; nor did +the Macquarie assume any change of aspect. Mountain debris and rounded +pebbles of various kinds formed its bed, which was much encumbered with +timber. + +DIBILAMBLE. + +We had been unable to persuade any of the natives of Wellington Valley to +accompany us as guides, on our leaving that settlement. Even Mr. Maxwell's +influence failed; for, notwithstanding the promises of several, when they +saw that we were ready to depart, they either feigned sickness or stated +that they were afraid of the more distant natives. The fact is, that they +were too lazy to wander far from their own district, and too fond of +Maxwell's beef to leave it for a precarious bush subsistence. Fortunately +we found several natives with Mr. Palmer's stockmen, who readily undertook +to conduct us by the nearest route to the cataract, which we considered to +be midway between Wellington Valley and Mount Harris. We started under +their guidance for Dibilamble, Mr. Palmer's second station, and reached it +about half-past 4 p.m. The distance between the two is sixteen miles. The +country for some miles differs in no material point from that through +which we had already passed. The same rich tracts of soil near the river +and the same inferiority in the tracks remote from it. Near Dibilamble, +however, the limestone formation terminates, and gives place to barren +stony ridges, upon which the cypress callities is of close and stunted +growth. The ridges themselves were formed of a coarse kind of freestone +in a state of rapid decomposition. The Tabragar (the Erskine of Mr. Oxley) +falls into the Macquarie at Dibilamble. It had long ceased to flow, being +a small mountain torrent whose source, if we judge from the shingly nature +of its bed, cannot be very distant. Our descent was considerable during +the day; the rapids were frequent in the river, but it underwent no change +in its general appearance. Its waters were hard and transparent, and its +banks, in many places, extremely lofty; with a red sandy loam and gravel +under the alluvial deposits. It generally happened that where the bank was +high on the one side it was low and subject to flood, to a limited extent +at least, on the other. Upon these low grounds the blue-gum trees were of +lofty growth, but on the upper levels box prevailed. + +SCENERY NEAR THE RIVER. + +The views upon the river were really beautiful, and varied at every turn; +nor is it possible for any tree to exceed the casuarina in the graceful +manner in which it bends over the stream, or clings to some solitary rock +in its centre. + +It here became necessary for us to cross to the left bank of the river, +not only to avoid its numerous windings, and thus to preserve as much as +possible the direct line to Mount Harris; but also, because the travelling +was much better on the south side. We therefore availed ourselves of a +ford opposite to the ground on which the tents had stood; and then pursued +our journey, in a south-westerly course, over a country of a description +very inferior to that of any we had previously noticed. + +Iron-bark and cypresses generally prevailed along our line of route on a +poor and sandy soil, which improved after we passed Elizabeth Burn, a +small creek mentioned by Mr. Oxley. + +TAYLOR'S RIVULET. + +We approached the river again early in the day, and pitched our tent on +the summit of a sloping bank that overlooked one of its long still +reaches. We were protected from the sun by the angophora trees, which +formed a hanging wood around us, and, with its bright green foliage, gave +a cheerfulness to the scene that was altogether unusual. The opposite side +of the river was rather undulated, and the soil appeared to be of the +finest description. The grass, although growing in tufts, afforded +abundance of pasture for the cattle; and, on the whole, this struck me as +a most eligible spot for a station, and I found it occupied as such on the +return of the expedition. We had encamped about a quarter of a mile from +Taylor's Rivulet, which discharges itself into the Macquarie from the +N. E., and is the first stream, upon the right bank, below the Wellington +Valley. + +Immediately after receiving it the river sweeps away to the southward, in +consequence of which it became again necessary for us to cross it. Our +guides, who were intelligent lads, led the cattle to a ford, a little +below the junction of Taylor's Rivulet, at which we effected a passage +with some difficulty; the opposite bank being very steep, and we were +obliged to force our way up a gully for some eighty or a hundred yards +before we could extricate the team. Pursuing our journey, in a N. W. +direction, we soon left the rich and undulating grounds bordering the +river behind us. A poor, level, and open country, succeeded them. The +soil changed to a light red, sandy loam, on which eucalypti, cypresses, +and casuarinae, were intermixed with minor shrubs; of which latter, the +cherry tree (exocarpus cupressiformis) was the most prevalent. + +At about seven miles from the river we passed some barren freestone +ridges, near which Mr. Hume killed the first kangaroo we had seen. At +mid-day we passed a small creek, at which the cattle were watered; and +afterwards continued our journey through a country similar to that over +which we had already made our way. + +As we neared the stream we noticed the acacia pendula for the first +time,--an indication of our approach to the marshes. The weather still +continued extremely hot. Our journey this day was unusually long, and our +cattle suffered so much, and moved so slowly, that it was late when we +struck upon the Macquarie, at a part where its banks were so high that we +had some difficulty in finding a good watering place. + +SURPRISE SOME NATIVES. + +Being considerably in front of the party, with one of our guides, when we +neared the river, I came suddenly upon a family of natives. They were much +terrified, and finding that they could not escape, called vehemently to +some of their companions, who were in the distance. By the time Mr. Hume +came up, they had in some measure recovered their presence of mind, but +availed themselves of the first favourable moment to leave us. I was +particular in not imposing any restraint on these men, in consequence of +which they afterwards mustered sufficient resolution to visit us in our +camp. We now judged that we were about ten miles from the cataract, and +that, according to the accounts of the stockman, we could not be very +distant from the lake he had mentioned. + +NATIVE BURIAL PLACE. + +As I was unwilling to pass any important feature of the country without +enquiry or examination, I requested Mr. Hume to interrogate the strangers +on the subject. They stated that they belonged to the lake tribe, that the +lake was a short day's journey to the eastward, and that they would guide +us to it if we wished. The matter was accordingly arranged. They left us +at dusk, but returned to the camp at the earliest dawn; when we once more +crossed the river, and, after traversing a very level country for about +nine miles, arrived at our destination. We passed over the dried beds of +lagoons, and through coppices of cypresses and acacia pendula, or open +forest, but did not observe any of the barren stony ridges so common to +the N.E. About a mile, or a mile and a half, from the lake we examined a +solitary grave that had recently been constructed. It consisted of an +oblong mound, with three semicircular seats. A walk encompassed the whole, +from which three others branched off for a few yards only, into the +forest. Several cypresses, overhanging the grave, were fancifully carved +on the inner side, and on one the shape of a heart was deeply engraved. + +BUDDAH LAKE. + +We were sadly disappointed in the appearance of the lake, which the +natives call the Buddah. It is a serpentine sheet of fresh water, of +rather more than a mile in length, and from three to four hundred yards in +breadth. Its depth was four fathoms; but it seemed as if it were now five +or six feet below the ordinary level. No stream either runs into it or +flows from it; yet it abounds in fish; from which circumstance I should +imagine that it originally owed its supply to the river during some +extensive inundation. Notwithstanding that we had crossed some rich tracts +of land in our way to it, the neighbourhood of the lake was by no means +ferthe. The trees around it were in rapid decay, and the little +vegetation to be seen appeared to derive but little advantage from its +proximity to water. + +EXTREME HEAT OF THE WEATHER. + +We had started at early dawn; and the heat had become intolerable long ere +the sun had gained the meridian. It was rendered still more oppressive +from the want of air in the dense bushes through which we occasionally +moved. At 2 p.m. the thermometer stood at 129 degrees of Fahrenheit, in +the shade; and at 149 degrees in the sun; the difference being exactly 20 +degrees. It is not to be wondered at that the cattle suffered, although +the journey was so short. The sun's rays were too powerful even for the +natives, who kept as much as possible in the shade. In the evening, when +the atmosphere was somewhat cooler, we launched the boat upon the lake, +in order to get some wild fowl and fish; but although we were tolerably +successful with our guns, we did not take anything with our hooks. + +The natives had, in the course of the afternoon, been joined by the rest +of the tribe, and they now numbered about three and twenty. They were +rather distant in their manner, and gazed with apparent astonishment at +the scene that was passing before them. + +If there had been other proof wanting, of the lamentably parched and +exhausted state of the interior, we had on this occasion ample evidence of +it, and of the fearful severity of the drought under which the country was +suffering. As soon as the sun dipped under the horizon, hundreds of birds +came crowding to the border of the lake, to quench the thirst they had +been unable to allay in the forest. Some were gasping, others almost too +weak to avoid us, and all were indifferent to the reports of our guns. + +CATARACT OF THE MACQUARIE. + +On leaving the Buddah, eleven only of the natives accompanied us. We +reached the river again about noon, on a north-half-east course, where it +had a rocky bed, and continued to journey along it, until we reached the +cataract at which we halted. We travelled over soil generally inferior to +that which we had seen on the preceding day, but rich in many places. The +same kind of timber was observed, but the acacia pendula was more +prevalent than any other, although near the river the flooded gum and +Australian apple-tree were of beautiful growth. + +It had appeared to me that the waters of the Macquarie had been +diminishing in volume since our departure from Wellington Valley, and I +had a favourable opportunity of judging as to the correctness of this +conclusion at the cataract, where its channel, at all times much +contracted, was particularly so on the present occasion. So little force +was there in the current, that I began to entertain doubts how long it +would continue, more especially when I reflected on the level character of +the country we had entered, and the fact of the Macquarie not receiving +any tributary between this point and the marshes. I was in consequence +led to infer that result, which, though not immediately, eventually took +place. + +As they were treated with kindness, the natives who accompanied us soon +threw off all reserve, and in the afternoon assembled at the pool below +the fall to take fish. They went very systematically to work, with short +spears in their hands that tapered gradually to a point, and sank at once +under water without splash or noise at a given signal from an elderly man. +In a short time, one or two rose with the fish they had transfixed; the +others remained about a minute under water, and then made their +appearance near the same rock into the crevices of which they had driven +their prey. Seven fine bream were taken, the whole of which they insisted +on giving to our men, although I am not aware that any of themselves had +broken their fast that day. They soon, however, procured a quantity of +muscles, with which they sat down very contentedly at a fire. My +barometrical admeasurement gave the cataract an elevation of 680 feet +above the level of the sea; and my observations placed it in east +longitude 148 degrees 3 minutes and in latitude 31 degrees 50 minutes +south. + +It became an object with us to gain the right bank of the Macquarie as +soon as possible; for it was evident that the country to the southward of +it was much more swampy than it was to the north: but for some distance +below the cataract, we found it impossible to effect our purpose. The +rocks composing the bed of the river at the cataract, which are of trapp +formation, disappeared at about eight miles below it, when the river +immediately assumed another character. Its banks became of equal height, +which had not before been the case, and averaged from fifteen to eighteen +feet. They were composed entirely of alluvial soil, and were higher than +the highest flood-marks. Its waters appeared to be turbid and deep, and +its bed was a mixture of sand and clay. The casuarina, which had so often +been admired by us, entirely disappeared and the channel in many places +became so narrow as to be completely arched over by gum-trees. + +A TRIBE OF NATIVES. + +On the 16th, we fell in with a numerous tribe of natives who joined our +train after the very necessary ceremonies of an introduction had passed, +and when added to those who still accompanied us, amounted to fifty-three. +On this occasion I was riding somewhat in front of the party, when I came +upon them. They were very different in appearance from those whom we had +surprised at the river; and from the manner in which I was received, I was +led to infer that they had been informed of our arrival, and had +purposely assembled to meet us. I was saluted by an old man, who had +stationed himself in front of his tribe, and who was their chief. Behind +him the young men stood in a line, and behind them the warriors were +seated on the ground. + +CONDUCT OF THE NATIVES. + +I had a young native with me who had attached himself to our party, and +who, from his extreme good nature and superior intelligence, was +considered by us as a first-rate kind of fellow. He explained who and what +we were, and I was glad to observe that the old chief seemed perfectly +reconciled to my presence, although he cast many an anxious glance at the +long train of animals that were approaching. The warriors, I remarked, +never lifted their eyes from the ground. They were hideously painted with +red and yellow ochre, and had their weapons at their sides, while their +countenances were fixed, sullen, and determined. In order to overcome this +mood, I rode up to them, and, taking a spear from the nearest, gave him +my gun to examine; a mark of confidence that was not lost upon them, for +they immediately relaxed from their gravity, and as soon as my party +arrived, rose up and followed us. That which appeared most to excite their +surprise, was the motion of the wheels of the boat carriage. The young +native whom I have noticed above, acted as interpreter, and, by his +facetious manner, contrived to keep the whole of us in a fit of laughter +as we moved along. He had been named Botheri by some stockman. + + +In consequence of our wish to cross the river, we kept near it, and +experienced considerable delay from the frequent marshes that opposed +themselves to our progress. In one of these we saw a number of ibises and +spoonbills; and the natives succeeded in killing two or three snakes. Our +view to the westward was extremely limited; but to the eastward the +country appeared in some places to expand into plains. + +CROSSING OF THE RIVER. + +After travelling some miles down the banks of the river, finding that they +still retained their steep character, we turned back to a place which Mr. +Hume had observed, and at which he thought we might, with some little +trouble, cross to the opposite side. And, however objectionable the +attempt was, we found ourselves obliged to make it. We descended, +therefore, into the channel of the river, and unloaded the animals and +boat-carriage. In order to facilitate the ascent of the right bank, some +of the men were directed to cut steps up it. I was amused to see the +natives voluntarily assist them; and was surprised when they took up bags +of flour weighing 100 pounds each, and carried them across the river. We +were not long in getting the whole of the stores over. The boat was then +hoisted on the shoulders of the strongest, and deposited on the top of the +opposite bank; and ropes being afterwards attached to the carriage, it was +soon drawn up to a place of safety. The natives worked as hard as our own +people, and that, too, with a cheerfulness for which I was altogether +unprepared, and which is certainly foreign to their natural habits. We +pitched our tents as soon as we had effected the passage of the river; +after which, the men went to bathe, and blacks and whites were mingled +promiscuously in the stream. I did not observe that the former differed in +any respect from the natives who frequent the located districts. They were +generally clean limbed and stout, and some of the young men had pleasing +intelligent countenances. They lacerate their bodies, inflicting deep +wounds to raise the flesh, and extract the front teeth like the Bathurst +tribes; and their weapons are precisely the same. They are certainly a +merry people, and sit up laughing and talking more than half the night. + +BAROMETER BROKEN. + +During the removal of the stores my barometer was unfortunately broken, +and I had often, in the subsequent stages of the journey, occasion to +regret the accident. I apprehend that the corks in the instrument, placed +to steady the tube, are too distant from each other in most cases; and +indeed I fear that barometers as at present constructed, will seldom be +carried with safety in overland expeditions. + +DESERTED BY THE NATIVES. + +Nine only of the natives accompanied us on the morning succeeding the day +in which we crossed the river. Botheri was, however, at the head of them; +and, as we journeyed along, he informed me that he had been promised a +wife on his return from acting as our guide, by the chief of the last +tribe. The excessive heat of the weather obliged us to shorten our +journey, and we encamped about noon in some scrub after having traversed a +level country for about eleven miles. + +Several considerable plains were noticed to our right, stretching east and +west, which were generally rich in point of soil; but we passed through +much brushy land during the day. It was lamentable to see the state of +vegetation upon the plains from want of moisture. Although the country +had assumed a level character, and was more open than on the higher +branches of the Macquarie, the small freestone elevations, backing the +alluvial tracts near the river, still continued upon our right, though +much diminished in height, and at a great distance from the banks. They +seemed to be covered with cypresses and beef-wood, but dwarf-box and the +acacia pendula prevailed along the plains; while flooded-gum alone +occupied the lands in the immediate neighbourhood of the stream, which was +evidently fast diminishing, both in volume and rapidity; its bed, however, +still continuing to be a mixture of sand and clay. + +The cattle found such poor feed around the camp that they strayed away in +search of better during the night. On such an occasion Botheri and his +fraternity would have been of real service; but he had decamped at an +early hour, and had carried off an axe, a tomahawk, and some bacon, +although I had made him several presents. I was not at all surprised at +this piece of roguery, since cunning is the natural attribute of a savage; +but I was provoked at their running away at a moment when I so much +required their assistance. + +Left to ourselves, I found Mr. Hume of the most essential service in +tracking the animals, and to his perseverance we were indebted for their +speedy recovery, They had managed to find tolerable feed near a serpentine +sheet of water, which Mr. Hume thought it would be advisable to examine. +We directed our course to it as soon as the cattle were loaded, moving +through bush, and found it to be a very considerable creek that receives a +part of the superfluous waters of the Macquarie, and distributes them, +most probably, over the level country to the north. It was much wider than +the river, being from fifty to sixty yards across, and is resorted to by +the natives, who procure muscles from its bed in great abundance. We were +obliged to traverse its eastern bank to its junction with the river, at +which it fortunately happened to be dry. We had, however, to cut roads +down both its banks before we could cross it; and, consequently, made but +a short day's journey. The soil passed over was inferior to the generality +of soil near the river, but we encamped on a tongue of land on which both +the flooded-gum and the grass were of luxuriant height. We found a +quantity of a substance like pipe-clay in the bed of the river, similar to +that mentioned by Mr. Oxley. + +GREAT HEAT. + +The heat, which had been excessive at Wellington Valley, increased upon us +as we advanced into the interior. The thermometer was seldom under 114 +degrees at noon, and rose still higher at 2 p.m. We had no dews at night, +and consequently the range of the instrument was trifling in the +twenty-four hours. The country looked bare and scorched, and the plains +over which we journeyed had large fissures traversing them, so that the +earth may literally be said to have gasped for moisture. The country, +which above the cataract had borne the character of open forest, excepting +on the immediate banks of the river, where its undulations and openness +gave it a park-like appearance, or where the barren stony ridges prevailed +below that point, generally exhibited alternately plain and brush, the +soil on both of which was good. On the former, crested pigeons were +numerous, several of which were shot. We had likewise procured some of the +rose-coloured and grey parrots, mentioned by Mr. Oxley, and a small +paroquet of beautiful plumage; but there was less of variety in the +feathered race than I expected to find, and most of the other birds we had +seen were recognised by me as similar to specimens I had procured from +Melville Island, and were, therefore, most probably birds of passage. + +ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY, AND THE RIVER. + +As we neared Mount Harris, the Macquarie became more sluggish in its flow, +and fell off so much as scarcely to deserve the name of a river. In +breadth, it averaged from thirty-five to forty-five yards, and in the +height of its banks, from fifteen to eighteen. Mr. Hume had succeeded in +taking some fish at one of the stock stations; but if I except those +speared by the natives, we had since been altogether unsuccessful with the +hook, a circumstance which I attribute to the lowness of the river itself. + +About thirty miles from the cataract the country declines to the north as +a medium point, and again changes somewhat in its general appearance. To +the S. and S.W. it appeared level and wooded, while to the N. the plains +became more frequent, but smaller, and travelling over them was extremely +dangerous, in consequence of the large fissures by which they were +traversed. The only trees to be observed were dwarf-box and the acacia +pendula, both of stunted growth, although flooded-gum still prevailed upon +the river. + +On the 20th we travelled on a N.W. course, and in the early part of the +day passed over tolerably good soil. It was succeeded by a barren scrub, +through which we penetrated in the direction of Welcome Rock, a point we +had seen from one of the Plains and had mistaken for Mount Harris. + +ARRIVAL AT MOUNT HARRIS. + +On a nearer approach, however, we observed our error, and corrected it by +turning more to the left; and we ultimately encamped about a mile to the +W.S.W. of the latter eminence. On issuing from the scrub we found +ourselves among reeds and coarse water-grass; and, from the appearance of +the country, we were led to conclude that we had arrived at a part of the +interior more than ordinarily subject to overflow. + +As soon as the camp was fixed, Mr. Hume and I rode to Mount Harris, over +ground subject to flood and covered for the most part by the polygonum, +being too anxious to defer our examination of its neighbourhood even for a +few hours. + +VESTIGES OF MR. OXLEY'S ENCAMPMENT. + +Nearly ten years had elapsed since Mr. Oxley pitched his tents under the +smallest of the two hills into which Mount Harris is broken. There was no +difficulty in hitting upon his position. The trenches that had been cut +round the tents were still perfect, and the marks of the fire-places +distinguishable; while the trees in the neighbourhood had been felled, +and round about them the staves of some casks and a few tent-pegs were +scattered. Mr. Oxley had selected a place at some distance from the river, +in consequence of its then swollen state. I looked upon it from the same +ground, and could not discern the waters in its channel; so much had they +fallen below their ordinary level. He saw the river when it was +overflowing its banks; on the present occasion it had scarcely sufficient +water to support a current. On the summit of the greater eminence, which +we ascended, there remained the half-burnt planks of a boat, some clenched +and rusty nails, and an old trunk; but my search for the bottle Mr. Oxley +had left was unsuccessful. + +A reflection naturally arose to my mind on examining these decaying +vestiges of a former expedition, whether I should be more fortunate than +the leader of it, and how far I should be enabled to penetrate beyond the +point which had conquered his perseverance. Only a week before I left +Sydney I had followed Mr. Oxley to the tomb. A man of uncommon quickness, +and of great ability, the task of following up his discoveries was not +less enviable than arduous; but, arrived at that point at which his +journey may be said to have terminated and mine only to commence, I knew +not how soon I should be obliged, like him, to retreat from the marshes +and exhalations of so depressed a country. My eye instinctively turned to +the North-West, and the view extended over an apparently endless forest. +I could trace the river line of trees by their superior height; but saw no +appearance of reeds, save the few that grew on the banks of the stream. + +Mount Foster, somewhat higher than Mount Harris, on the opposite side of +the river, alone broke the line of the horizon to the North N.W. at a +distance of five miles. From that point all round the compass, the low +lands spread, like a dark sea, before me; except where a large plain +stretching from E. to W., and lying to the S.E. broke their monotony; +and if there was nothing discouraging, there certainly was nothing +cheering, in the prospect. + +ILLNESS OF TWO OF THE MEN. + +On our return to the camp, I was vexed to find two of the men, Henwood and +Williams, with increased inflammation of the eyes, of which they had +previously been complaining, and I thought it advisable to bleed the +latter. + +In consequence of the indisposition of these men, we remained stationary +on the 21st, which enabled me to pay a second visit to Mount Harris. On +ascending the smaller hill, I was surprised to find similar vestiges on +its summit to those I had noticed on the larger one; in addition to which, +the rollers still continued on the side of the hill, which had been used +to get the boat up it. [Mr. Oxley had two boats; one of which he dragged +to the top of each of these hills, and left them turned bottom upwards, +buryinq a bottle under the head of the larger boat, which was conveyed to +the more distant hill.] + +Mount Harris is of basaltic formation, but I could not observe any +columnar regularity in it, although large blocks are exposed above the +ground. The rock is extremely hard and sonorous. + +MOUNT FOSTER AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. + +We moved leisurely towards Mount Foster, on the 22nd, and arrived opposite +to it a little before sunset. The country between the two is mostly open, +or covered only with the acacia pendula and dwarf-box. The soil, although +an alluvial deposit, is not of the best; nor was vegetation either fresh +or close upon it. As soon as the party stopped, I crossed the river, and +lost no time in ascending the hill, being anxious to ascertain if any +fresh object was visible from its summit, I thought that from an eminence +so much above the level of the surrounding objects, I might obtain a view +of the marshes, or of water; but I was wholly disappointed. The view was +certainly extensive, but it was otherwise unsatisfactory. Again to the +N.W. the lowlands spread in darkness before me; there were some +considerable plains beyond the near wood; but the country at the foot of +the hill appeared open and promising. Although the river line was lost in +the distance, it was as truly pointed out by the fires of the natives, +which rose in upright columns into the sky, as if it had been marked by +the trees upon its banks. + +To the eastward, Arbuthnot's range rose high above the line of the +horizon, bearing nearly due East, distant seventy miles. The following +sketch of its outlines will convey a better idea of its appearance from +Mount Foster than any written description. + +[small sketch here--not shown in etext] + +I stayed on the mount until after sunset, but I could not make out any +space that at all resembled the formidable barrier I knew we were so +rapidly approaching. I saw nothing to check our advance, and I therefore +returned to the camp, to advise with Mr. Hume upon the subject. Not having +been with me on Mount Foster, he took the opportunity to ascend it on the +following morning; and on his return concurred with me in opinion, that +there was no apparent obstacle to our moving onwards. As the men were +considerably better, I had the less hesitation in closing with the +marshes. We left our position, intending to travel slowly, and to halt +early. + +The first part of our journey was over rich flats, timbered sufficiently +to afford a shade, on which the grass was luxuriant; but we were obliged +to seek more open ground, in consequence of the frequent stumbling of the +cattle. + +We issued, at length, upon a plain, the view across which was as dreary as +can be imagined; in many places without a tree, save a few old stumps +left by the natives when they fired the timber, some of which were still +smoking in different parts of it. Observing some lofty trees at the +extremity of the plain, we moved towards them, under an impression that +they indicated the river line. But on this exposed spot the sun's rays +fell with intense power upon us, and the dust was so minute and +penetrating, that I soon regretted having left the shady banks of the +river. + +About 2.p.m. we neared the trees for which we had been making, over ground +evidently formed by alluvial deposition, and were astonished to find that +reeds alone were growing under the trees as far as the eye could +penetrate. It appeared that we were still some distance from the river, +and it was very doubtful how far we might be from water, for which the +men were anxiously calling. I therefore halted, and sent Fraser into the +reeds towards some dead trees, on which a number of spoonbills were +sitting. He found that there was a small lake in the centre of the reeds, +the resort of numerous wild fowl; but although the men were enabled to +quench their thirst, we found it impossible to water the animals. We were +obliged, therefore, to continue our course along the edge of the reeds; +which in a short time appeared in large masses in front of us, stretching +into a vast plain upon our right; and it became evident that the whole +neighbourhood was subject to extensive inundation. + +ENCAMP AMIDST REEDS. + +I was fearful that the reeds would have checked us; but there was a +passage between the patches, through which we managed to force our way +into a deep bight, and fortunately gained the river at the bottom of it +much sooner than we expected. We were obliged to clear away a space for +the tents; and thus, although there had been no such appearance from Mount +Foster, we found ourselves in less than seven hours after leaving it, +encamped pretty far in that marsh for which we had so anxiously looked +from its summit, and now trusting to circumstances for safety, upon +ground on which, in any ordinary state of the river, it would have been +dangerous to have ventured. Indeed, as it was, our situation was +sufficiently critical, and would not admit of hesitation on my part. + +NATURE OF THE COUNTRY. + +After the cattle had been turned out, Mr. Hume and I again mounted our +horses, and proceeded to the westward, with a view to examine the nature +of the country before us, and to ascertain if it was still practicable to +move along the river side. For, although it was evident that we had +arrived at what might strictly be called the marshes of the Macquarie, I +still thought we might be at some distance from the place where Mr. Oxley +terminated his journey. + +There was no indication in the river to encourage an idea that it would +speedily terminate; nor, although we were on ground subject to extensive +inundation, could we be said to have reached the heart of the marshes, as +the reeds still continued in detached bodies only. We forced a path +through various portions of them, and passed over ground wholly subject to +flood, to a distance of about six miles. We then crossed a small rise of +ground, sufficiently high to have afforded a retreat, had necessity +obliged us to seek for one; and we shortly afterwards descended on the +river, unaltered in its appearance, and rather increased than diminished +in size. A vast plain extended to the N.W., the extremity of which we +could not discern; though a thick forest formed its northern boundary. + +It was evident that this plain had been frequently under water, but it was +difficult to judge from the marks on the trees to what height the floods +had risen. The soil was an alluvial deposit, superficially sandy; and many +shells were scattered over its surface. To the south, the country appeared +close and low; nor do I think we could have approached the river from that +side, by reason of the huge belts of reeds that appeared to extend as far +as the the eye could reach. + +MEN ATTACKED WITH OPHTHALMIA. + +The approach of night obliged us to return to the camp. On our arrival, +we found that the state of Henwood and Williams would prevent our stirring +for a day or two. Not only had they a return of inflammation, but several +other of the men complained of a painful irritation of the eyes, which +were dreadfully blood-shot and weak. I was in some measure prepared for a +relapse in Henwood, as the exposure which he necessarily underwent on the +plain was sufficient to produce that effect; but I now became apprehensive +that the affection would run through the party. + +Considering our situation in its different bearings, it struck me that the +men who were to return to Wellington Valley with an account our our +proceedings for the Governor's information, had been brought as far as +prudence warranted. There was no fear of their going astray, as long as +they had the river to guide them; but in the open country which we were to +all appearance approaching, or amidst fields of reeds, they might wander +from the track, and irrecoverably lose themselves. I determined, +therefore, not to risk their safety, but to prepare my dispatches for +Sydney, and I hoped most anxiously, that ere they were closed, all +symptoms of disease would have terminated. + +In the course of the day, however, Spencer, who was to return with Riley +to Wellington Valley, became seriously indisposed, and I feared that he +was attacked with dysentery. Indeed, I should have attributed his illness +to our situation, but I did not notice any unusual moisture in the +atmosphere, nor did any fogs rise from the river. I therefore the rather +attributed it to exposure and change of diet, and treated him accordingly. +To my satisfaction, when I visited the men late in the evening, I found a +general improvement in the whole of them. Spencer was considerably +relieved, and those of the party who had inflammation of the eyes no +longer felt that painful irritation of which they had before complained. +I determined, therefore, unless untoward circumstances should prevent it, +to send Riley and his companion homewards, and to move the party without +loss of time. + +We had not seen any natives for many days, but a few passed the camp on +the opposite side of the river on the evening of the 25th. They would not, +however, come to us; but fled into the interior in great apparent alarm. + +DEPARTURE OF TWO MEN FOR WELLINGTON. + +On the morning of the 26th, the men were sufficiently recovered to pursue +their journey. Riley and Spencer left us at an early hour; and about +7 a.m. we pursued a N.N.W. course along the great plain I have noticed, +starting numberless quails, and many wild turkeys, by the way. Leaving +that part of the river on which Mr. Hume and I had touched considerably to +the left, we made for the point of a wood, projecting from the river line +of trees into the plain. The ground under us was an alluvial deposit, and +bore all the marks of frequent inundation. + +The soil was yielding, blistered, and uneven; and the claws of cray-fish, +together with numerous small shells, were every where collected in the +hollows made by the subsiding of the waters, between broad belts of reeds +and scrubs of polygonum. + +CONSULTATION. + +On gaining the point of the wood, we found an absolute check put to our +further progress. We had been moving directly on the great body of the +marsh, and from the wood it spread in boundless extent before us. It was +evidently lower than the ground on which we stood; we had therefore, a +complete view over the whole expense; and there was a dreariness and +desolation pervading the scene that strengthened as we gazed upon it. +Under existing circumstances, it only remained for us either to skirt +the reeds to the northward, or to turn in again upon the river; and as I +considered it important to ascertain the direction of the Macquarie at so +critical and interesting a point, I thought it better to adopt the latter +measure. We, accordingly, made for the river, and pitched our tents, as at +the last station, in the midst of reeds. + +There were two points at this time, upon which I was extremely anxious. +The first was as to the course of the river; the second, as to the extent +of the marshes by which we had been checked, and the practicability of the +country to the northward. + +In advising with Mr. Hume, I proposed launching the boat, as the surest +means of ascertaining the former, and he, on his part, most readily +volunteered to examine the marshes, in any direction I should point out. +It was therefore, arranged, that I should take two men, and a week's +provision with me in the boat down the river; and that he should proceed +with a like number of men on an excursion to the northward. + +After having given directions as to the regulations of camp during our +absence, we separated, on the morning of the 26th for the first time, in +furtherance of the objects each had in view. + +BOAT EXCURSION. + +In pulling down the river, I found that its channel was at first extremely +tortuous and irregular, but that it held a general N.W. course, and bore +much the same appearance as it had done since our descent from Mount +Foster. + +We had a laborious task in lifting the boat over the trunks of trees that +had fallen into the channel of the river or that had been left by the +floods, and at length we stove her in upon a sunken log. The injury she +received was too serious not to require immediate repair; and we, +therefore, patched her up with a tin plate. This accident occasioned some +delay, and the morning was consumed without our having made any +considerable progress. At length, however, we got into a more open +channel. + +The river suddenly increased in breadth to thirty-five or forty-five +yards, with a depth of from twelve to twenty feet of water. Its banks +shelved perpendicularly down, and were almost on a level with the surface +of the stream; and the flood mark was not more than two feet high on the +reeds by which they were lined. We had hitherto passed under the shade of +the flooded gum, which still continued on the immediate banks of the +river; but, the farther we advanced, the more did we find these trees in a +state of decay, until at length they ceased, or were only rarely met with. + +TERMINATION OF THE RIVER. + +About 2 p.m. I brought up under a solitary tree, in consequence of heavy +rain: this was upon the left bank. In the afternoon, however, we again +pushed forward, and soon lost sight of every other object amidst reeds of +great height. The channel of the river continued as broad and as deep as +ever, but the flood mark did not show more than a foot above the banks, +which were now almost on a level with the water; and the current was so +sluggish as to be scarcely perceptible. These general appearances +continued for about three miles, when our course was suddenly, and most +unexpectedly, checked. The channel, which had promised so well, without +any change in its breadth or depth, ceased altogether; and whilst we were +yet lost in astonishment at so abrupt a termination of it, the boat +grounded. It only remained for us to examine the banks, which we did with +particular attention. Two creeks were then discovered, so small as +scarcely to deserve the name, and which would, under ordinary +circumstances, have been overlooked. The one branched off to the +north--the other to the west. We were obliged to get out of the boat to +push up the former, the leeches sticking in numbers to our legs. The creek +continued for about thirty yards, when it was terminated; and, in order +fully to satisfy myself of the fact, I walked round the head of it by +pushing through the reeds. Night coming on, we returned to the tree at +which we had stopped during the rain, and slept under it. The men cut away +the reeds, or we should not have had room to move. At 2 a.m. it commenced +raining, with a heavy storm of thunder and lightning; the boat was +consequently hauled ashore, and turned over to afford us a temporary +shelter. The lightning was extremely vivid, and frequently played upon +the ground, near the firelocks, for more than a quarter of a minute at a +time. + +It is singular, that Mr. Oxley should, under similar circumstances, have +experienced an equally stormy night, and most probably within a few yards +of the place on which I had posted myself. Notwithstanding that the +elements were raging around me, as if to warn me of the danger of my +situation, my mind turned solely on the singular failure of the river. I +could not but encourage hopes that this second channel that remained to +be explored would lead us into an open space again; and as soon as the +morning dawned we pursued our way to it. In passing some dead trees upon +the right bank, I stopped to ascend one, that, from an elevation, I might +survey the marsh, but I found it impossible to trace the river through it. +The country to the westward was covered with reeds, apparently to the +distance of seven miles; to the N.W. to a still greater distance; and to +the north they bounded the horizon. + +The whole expanse was level and unbroken, but here and there the reeds +were higher and darker than at other places, as if they grew near constant +moisture; but I could see no appearance of water in any body, or of high +lands beyond the distant forest. + +As soon as we arrived at the end of the main channel, we again got out of +the boat, and in pushing up the smaller one, soon found ourselves under a +dark arch of reeds. It did not, however, continue more than twenty yards +when it ceased, and I walked round the head of it as I had done round that +of the other. We then examined the space between the creeks, where the +bank receives the force of the current, which I did not doubt had formed +them by the separation of its eddies. Observing water among the reeds, I +pushed through them with infinite labour to a considerable distance. The +soil proved to be a stiff clay; the reeds were closely embodied, and from +ten to twelve feet high; the waters were in some places ankle deep, and in +others scarcely covered the surface. They were flowing in different +points, with greater speed than those of the river, which at once +convinced me that they were not permanent, but must have lodged in the +night during which so much rain had fallen. They ultimately appeared to +flow to the northward, but I found it impossible to follow them, and it +was not without difficulty that, after having wandered about at every +point of the compass, I again reached the boat. + +CAUSES OF THE FAILURE OF THE RIVER. + +The care with which I had noted every change that took place in the +Macquarie, from Wellington Valley downwards, enabled me, in some measure, +to account for its present features. I was led to conclude that the waters +of the river being so small in body, excepting in times of flood, and +flowing for so many miles through a level country without receiving any +tributary to support their first impulse, became too sluggish, long ere +they reached the marshes, to cleave through so formidable a barrier; and +consequently spread over the surrounding country--whether again to take +up the character of a river, we had still to determine. Unless, however, +a decline of country should favour its assuming its original shape, it was +evident that the Macquarie would not be found to exist beyond this marsh, +of the nature and extent of which we were still ignorant. The loss of my +barometer was at this time severely felt by me, since I could only guess +at our probable height above the ocean; and I found that my only course +was to endeavour to force my way to the northward, to ascertain, if I +could, from the bottom of the marshes; then penetrate in a westerly +direction beyond them, in order to commence my survey of the S.W. +interior. I was aware of Mr. Hume's perseverance, and determined, +therefore, to wait the result of his report ere I again moved the camp, to +which we returned late in the afternoon of the second day of our +departure. We found it unsufferably hot and suffocating in the reeds, and +were tormented by myriads of mosquitoes, but the waters were perfectly +sweet to the taste, nor did the slightest smell, as of stagnation, proceed +from them. I may add that the birds, whose sanctuary we had invaded, as +the bittern and various tribes of the galinule, together with the frogs, +made incessant noises around us, There were, however, but few water-fowl +on the river; which was an additional proof to me that we were not near +any very extensive lake. + +MR. HUME'S REPORT. + +Mr. Hume had returned before me to the camp, and had succeeded in finding +a serpentine sheet of water, about twelve miles to the northward; which he +did not doubt to be the channel of the river. He had pushed on after this +success, in the hope of gaining a further knowledge of the country; but +another still more extensive marsh checked him, and obliged him to retrace +his steps. He was no less surprised at the account I gave of the +termination of the river, than I was at its so speedily re-forming, and it +was determined to lose no time in the further examination of so singular a +region. + +FALSE CHANNEL; PERPLEXITIES. + +On the morning of the 28th therefore we broke up the camp, and proceeded +to the northward, under Mr. Hume's guidance, moving over ground wholly +subject to flood, and extensively covered with reeds; the great body of +the marsh lying upon our left. After passing the angle of a wood, upon our +right, from which Mount Foster was distant about fourteen miles, we got +upon a small plain, on which there was a new species of tortuous box. This +plain was clear of reeds, and the soil upon it was very rich. Crossing in +a westerly direction we arrived at the channel found by Mr. Hume, who must +naturally have concluded that it was a continuation of the river. The boat +was immediately prepared, and I went up it in order to ascertain the +nature of its formation. For two miles it preserved a pretty general width +of from twenty to thirty yards; but at that distance began to narrow, and +at length it became quite shallow and covered with weeds. We were +ultimately obliged to abandon the boat, and to walk along a native path. +The country to the westward was more open than I had expected. About a +quarter of a mile from where we had left the boat, the channel separated +into two branches; to which I perceived it owed its formation, coming, as +they evidently did, direct from the heart of the marsh. The wood through +which I had entered it on the first occasion bore south of me, to which +one of the branches inclined; as the other did to the S.W. An almost +imperceptible rise of ground was before me, which, by giving an impetus to +the waters of the marsh, accounted to me for the formation of the main +channel. It was too late, on my return to the camp, to prosecute any +further examination of it downwards; but in the morning, Mr. Hume +accompanied me in the boat, to ascertain to what point it led; and we +found that at about a mile it began to diminish in breadth, until at +length it was completely lost in a second expanse of reeds. We passed a +singular scaffolding erected by the natives, on the side of the channel, +to take fish; and also found a weir at the termination of it for the like +purpose so that it was evident the natives occasionally ventured into +the marshes. + +There was a small wood to our left which Mr. Hume endeavoured to gain, but +he failed in the attempt. He did, however, reach a tree that was +sufficiently high to give him a full view of the marsh, which appeared to +extend in every direction, but more particularly to the north, for many +miles. We were, however, at fault, and I really felt at a loss what step +to take. I should have been led to believe from the extreme flatness of +the country, that the Macquarie would never assume its natural shape, but +from the direction of the marshes I could not but indulge a hope that it +would meet the Castlereagh, and that their united waters might form a +stream of some importance. Under this impression I determined on again +sending Mr. Hume to the N.E. in order to ascertain the nature of the +country in that direction. + +EXCURSION TO THE NORTH-WEST. + +The weather was excessively hot, and as my men were but slowly recovering, +I was anxious while those who were in health continued active, to give the +others a few days of rest. I proposed, therefore, to cross the river, and +to make an excursion into the interior, during the probable time of +Mr. Hume's absence; since if, as I imagined, the Macquarie had taken a +permanent northerly course, I should not have an opportunity of examining +the distant western country. Mr. Hume's experience rendered it unnecessary +for me to give him other than general directions. + +A PLAIN ON FIRE. + +On the last day of the year we left the camp, each accompanied by two men. +I had the evening previously ordered the horses I intended taking with me +across the channel, and at an early hour of the morning I followed them. +Getting on a plain, immediately after I had disengaged myself from the +reeds on the opposite side of the river, which was full of holes and +exceedingly treacherous for the animals, I pushed on for a part of the +wood Mr. Hume had endeavoured to gain from the boat, with the intention of +keeping near the marsh. On entering it, I found myself in a thick brush of +eucalypti, casuarinae and minor trees; the soil under them being mixed +with sand. I kept a N.N.W. course through it, and at the distance of +three miles from its commencement, ascended a tree, to ascertain if I was +near the marshes; when I found that I was fast receding from them. I +concluded, therefore, that my conjecture as to their direction was right, +and altered my course to N.W., a direction in which I had observed a dense +smoke arising, which I supposed had been made by some natives near water. +At the termination of the brush I crossed a barren sandy plain, and from +it saw the smoke ascending at a few miles' distance from me. Passing +through a wood, at the extremity of the plain, I found myself at the +outskirts of an open space of great extent, almost wholly enveloped in +flames. The fire was running with incredible rapidity through the rhagodia +shrubs with which it was covered. Passing quickly over it, I continued my +journey to the N.W. over barren plains of red sandy loam of even surface, +and bushes of cypresses skirted by acacia pendula. It was not until after +sunset that we struck upon a creek, in which the water was excellent; and +we halted on its banks for the night, calculating our distance at +twenty-nine miles from the camp. The creek was of considerable size, +leading northerly. Several huts were observed by us, and from the heaps of +muscle-shells that were scattered about, there could be no doubt of its +being much frequented by the natives. The grass being fairly burnt up, our +animals found but little to eat, but they had a tolerable journey. and did +not attempt to wander in search of better food. I shot a snipe near the +creek, much resembling the painted snipe of India; but I had not the means +with me of preserving it. + +A TRIBE OF NATIVES. + +Continuing our journey on the following morning, we at first kept on the +banks of the creek, and at about a quarter of a mile from where we had +slept, came upon a numerous tribe of natives. A young girl sitting by the +fire was the first to observe us as we were slowly approaching her. She +was so excessively alarmed, that she had not the power to run away; but +threw herself on the ground and screamed violently. We now observed a +number of huts, out of which the natives issued, little dreaming of the +spectacle they were to behold. But the moment they saw us, they started +back; their huts were in a moment in flames, and each with a fire-brand +ran to and fro with hideous yells, thrusting them into every bush they +passed. I walked my horse quietly towards an old man who stood more +forward than the rest, as if he intended to devote himself for the +preservation of his tribe. I had intended speaking to him, but on a nearer +approach I remarked that he trembled so violently that it was impossible +to expect that I could obtain any information from him, and as I had not +time for explanations, I left him to form his own conjectures as to what +we were, and continued to move towards a thick brush, into which they did +not venture to follow us. + +CONTINUE OUR JOURNEY. + +After a ride of about eighteen miles, through a country of alternate plain +and brush, we struck upon a second creek leading like the first to the +northward. The water in it was very bitter and muddy, and it was much +inferior in appearance to that at which we had slept. After stopping for +half-an-hour upon its banks, to rest our animals, we again pushed forward. +We had not as yet risen any perceptible height above the level of the +marshes, but had left the country subject to overflow for a considerable +space behind us. The brushes through which we had passed were too sandy to +retain water long, but the plains were of such an even surface, that they +could not but continue wet for a considerable period after any fall of +rain. They were covered with salsolaceous plants, without a blade of +grass; and their soil was generally a red sandy loam. There were +occasional patches that appeared moist, in which the calystemma was +abundant, and these patches must, I should imagine, form quagmires in the +wet season. + +On leaving the last-mentioned creek, we found a gently rising country +before us; and about three or four miles from it we crossed some stony +ridges, covered with a new species of acacia so thickly as to prevent our +obtaining any view from them. As the sun declined, we got into open forest +ground; and travelled forwards in momentary expectation, from appearances, +of coming in sight of water; but we were obliged to pull up at sunset on +the outskirts of a larger plain without having our expectation realized. +The day had been extremely warm, and our animals were as thirsty as +ourselves. Hope never forsakes the human breast; and thence it was that, +after we had secured the horses, we began to wander round our lonely +bivouac. It was almost dark, when one of my men came to inform me that he +had found a small puddle of water, to which be had been led by a pigeon. + +It was, indeed, small enough, probably the remains of a passing shower; it +was, however, sufficient for our necessities, and I thanked Providence for +its bounty to us. We were now about sixty miles from the Macquarie, in a +N.W. by W. direction, and the country had proved so extremely +discouraging, that I intimated to my men my intention of retracing my +steps, should I not discover any change in it before noon on the morrow. +A dense brush of acacia succeeded to the plain on which we had slept, +which we entered, and shortly afterwards found ourselves in an open space, +of oblong shape, at the extremity of which there was a shallow lake. The +brush completely encircled it, and a few huts were upon its banks. About +10 p.m. we got into an open forest track of better appearance than any +over which we had recently travelled. + +ISOLATED HILL. + +There was a visible change in the country, and the soil, although red, was +extremely rich and free from sand. A short time afterwards we rose to the +summit of a round hill, from which we obtained an extensive view on most +points of the compass. We had imperceptibly risen considerably above the +general level of the interior. + +VIEW FROM THE SUMMIT. + +Beneath us, to the westward, I observed a broad and thinly wooded valley; +and W. by S., distant apparently about twenty miles, an isolated mountain, +whose sides seemed almost perpendicular, broke the otherwise even line of +the horizon; but the country in every other direction looked as if it was +darkly wooded. Anticipating that I should find a stream in the valley, I +did not for a moment hesitate in striking down into it. Disappointed, +however, in this expectation, I continued onwards to the mountain, which I +reached just before the sun set. Indeed, he was barely visible when I +gained its summit; but my eyes, from exposure to his glare, became so +weak, my face was so blistered, and my lips cracked in so many places, +that I was unable to look towards the west, and was actually obliged to +sit down behind a rock until he had set. + +Perhaps no time is so favourable for a view along the horizon as the +sunset hour; and here, at an elevation of from five to six hundred feet +above the plain, the visible line of it could not have been less than from +thirty-five to forty-five miles. The hill upon which I stood was broken +into two points; the one was a bold rocky elevation; the other had its +rear face also perpendicular, but gradually declined to the north, and at +a distance of from four to five miles was lost in an extensive and open +plain in that direction. In the S.E. quarter, two wooded hills were +visible, which before had appeared to be nothing more than swells in the +general level of the country. A small hill, similar to the above, bore +N.E. by compass; and again, to the west, a more considerable mountain than +that I had ascended, and evidently much higher, reflected the last beams +of the sun as he sunk behind them. I looked, however, in vain for water. +I could not trace either the windings of a stream, or the course of a +mountain torrent; and, as we had passed a swamp about a mile from the +hill, we descended to it for the night, during which we were grievously +tormented by the mosquitoes. + +RESULTS OF THE EXCURSION. + +I had no inducement to proceed further into the interior. I had been +sufficiently disappointed in the termination of this excursion, and the +track before me was still less inviting. Nothing but a dense forest, and a +level country, existed between me and the distant hill. I had learnt, by +experience, that it was impossible to form any opinion of the probable +features of so singular a region as that in which I was wandering, from +previous appearances, or to expect the same result, as in other countries, +from similar causes. In a geographical point of view, my journey had been +more successful, and had enabled me to put to rest for ever a question of +much previous doubt. Of whatever extent the marshes of the Macquarie might +be, it was evident they were not connected with those of the Lachlan. I +had gained knowledge of more than 100 miles of the western interior, and +had ascertained that no sea, indeed that little water, existed on its +surface; and that, although it is generally flat, it still has elevations +of considerable magnitude upon it. + +Although I had passed over much barren ground, I had likewise noticed soil +that was far from poor, and the vegetation upon which in ordinary seasons +would, I am convinced, have borne a very different aspect. + +Yet, upon the whole, the space I traversed is unlikely to become the haunt +of civilized man, or will only become so in isolated spots, as a chain of +connection to a more ferthe country; if such a country exist to the +westward. + +The hill which thus became the extreme of my journey, is of sandstone +formation, and is bold and precipitous. Its summit is level and lightly +timbered. As a tribute of respect to the late Surveyor-General, I called +it Oxley's Table Land, and I named the distant hills D'Urban's Group, +after Sir Benjamin D'Urban, in compliance with a previous request of my +friend Lieut. De la Condamine, that I would so name any prominent feature +of the interior that I might happen to come upon. + +RETURN TO THE CAMP. + +In returning to the camp, I made a circuit to the N.E., and reached the +Macquarie late on the evening of the 5th of January; having been absent +six days, during which we could not have ridden less than 200 miles. Yet +the horses were not so fatigued as it was natural to expect they would +have been. + +My servant informed me that a party of natives had visited the camp on the +3rd, but that they retired precipitately on seeing the animals. I +regretted to find the men but little better than when I left them. Several +still complained of a painful irritation of the eyes, and of great +weakness of sight. Attributing their continued indisposition in some +measure to our situation, I was anxious to have moved from it; but as Mr. +Hume was still absent, I could not decide upon the measure. He made his +appearance, however, on the 6th, having ridden the greater part of the day +through rain, which commenced to fall in the morning. Soon after his +arrival, Dawber, my overseer of animals, who had accompanied him, was +taken suddenly ill. During the night he became much worse, with shivering +and spasms, and on the following morning he was extremely weak and +feverish. To add to my anxiety, Mr. Hume also complained of indisposition. +His state of health made me the more anxious to quit a position which I +fancied unwholesome, and in which, if there was no apparent, there was +certainly some secret, exciting cause; and as Mr. Hume reported having +crossed a chain of ponds about four miles to the eastward, and out of the +immediate precincts of the marshes, I ordered the tents to be struck, and +placing Dawber on my horse, we all moved quietly over to them. + +MR. HUME'S EXCURSION. + +The result of Mr. Hume's journey perplexed me exceedingly. He stated, that +on setting out from the Macquarie his intention was to have proceeded to +the N.E., to ascertain how far the reeds existed in that direction, and, +if at all practicable, to reach the Castlereagh; but in case of failure, +to regain the Macquarie by a westerly course. At first he travelled nearly +four miles east, to clear the marshes, when he came on the chain of ponds +to which we had removed. + +He travelled over good soil for two miles after crossing this chain of +ponds, but afterwards got on a red sandy loam, and found it difficult to +proceed, by reason of the thickness of the brush, and the swampy state of +the ground in consequence of the late rain. + +The timber in the brushes was of various kinds, and he saw numerous +kangaroos and emus. On issuing from this brush, he crossed a creek, +leading northerly, the banks of which were from ten to twelve feet high. +Whatever the body of water usually in it is, it now only afforded a few +shallow puddles. Mr. Hume travelled through brushes until he came upon a +third creek, similar to the one he had left behind him, at which he halted +for the night. The water in it was bad, and the feed for the animals +extremely poor. The brush lined the creek thickly, and consisted chiefly +of acacia pendula and box. The country preserved an uniform level, nor did +Mr. Hume, from the highest trees, observe any break on the horizon. + +On the 2nd of January, Mr. Hume kept more northerly, being unable to +penetrate the brushes he encountered. At two miles he crossed a creek +leading to the N.W., between which and the place at which he had slept, he +passed a native burial ground, containing eight graves. The earth was +piled up in a conical shape, but the trees were not carved over as he had +seen them in most other places. + +The country became more open after he had passed the last mentioned creek, +which he again struck upon at the distance of eight miles, and as it was +then leading to the N.N.E. he followed it down for eighteen or twenty +miles, and crossed it frequently during the day. The creek was dry in most +places, and where he stopped for the night the water was bad, and the +cattle feed indifferent. + +Mr. Hume saw many huts, but none of them had been recently occupied, +although large quantities of muscle-shells were scattered about. He +computed that he had travelled about thirty miles, in a N.N.W. +direction, and the whole of the land he passed over was, generally +speaking, bad, nor did it appear to be subject to overflow. + +On the 3rd, Mr. Hume proceeded down the creek on which he had slept, on a +northern course, under an impression that it would have joined the +Castlereagh, but it took a N.W. direction after he had ridden about four +miles, and then turned again to the eastward of north. In consequence of +this, he left it, and proceeded to the westward, being of opinion that the +river just mentioned must have taken a more northerly course than Mr. +Oxley supposed it to have done. + +A short time after Mr. Hume turned towards the Macquarie, the country +assumed a more pleasing appearance. He soon cleared the brushes, and at +two miles came upon a chain of ponds, again running northerly in times of +flood. Shortly after crossing these, he found himself on an extensive +plain, apparently subject to overflow. The timber on it was chiefly of +the blue-gum kind, and the ground was covered with shells. He then thought +he was approaching the Macquarie, and proceeded due west across the flat +for about two miles. At the extremity of it there was a hollow, which he +searched in vain for water. Ascending about thirty feet, he entered a +thick brush of box and acacia pendula, which continued for fourteen miles, +when it terminated abruptly, and extensive plains of good soil commenced, +stretching from N. to S. as far as the eye could reach, on which there +were many kangaroos. Continuing to journey over them, he reached a creek +at 5 p.m. on which the wild fowl were numerous, running nearly north and +south, and he rested on its banks for the night. The timber consisted both +of blue and rough gum, and the soil was a light earth. + +Mr. Hume expected in the course of the day to have reached the Macquarie, +but on arriving at the creek, he began to doubt whether it any longer +existed, or whether it had not taken a more westerly direction. On the +following morning, therefore, he crossed the creek, and travelled +W.S.W., for about two miles over good plains; then through light brushes +of swamp-oak, cypress, box, and acacia pendula, for about twelve miles, to +another creek leading northerly. He shortly afterwards ascended a range of +hills stretching W.N.W. to which he gave the name of New Year's Range. +From these hills, he had an extensive view, although not upon the highest +part, but the only break he could see in the horizon was caused by some +hills bearing by compass W. by S. distant about twenty-five miles. There +was, however, an appearance as of high land to the northward, although Mr. +Hume thought it might have been an atmospheric deception. From the range +he looked in vain for the Macquarie, or other waters, and, as his +provisions were nearly consumed, he was obliged to give up all further +pursuit, and to retrace his steps. He fell in with two parties of natives, +which, taken collectively, amounted to thirty-five in number, but had no +communication with them. + +It was evident, from the above account, that supposing a line to have been +drawn from the camp northerly, Mr. Hume must have travelled considerably +to the westward of it, and as I had run on a N.W. course from the marshes, +it necessarily followed that our lines of route must have intersected each +other, or that want of extension could alone have prevented them from +having done so; but that, under any circumstances, they could not have +been very far apart. This was too important a point to be left undecided, +as upon it the question of the Macquarie's termination seemed to depend. + +Both Mr. Hume and myself were of opinion, that a medium course would be +the most satisfactory for us to pursue, to decide this point; and it +appeared that we could not do better than, by availing ourselves of the +creek on which we were, and skirting the reeds, to take the first +opportunity of dashing through them in a westerly direction. + +DOUBTS OF THE FURTHER EXTENSION OF THE RIVER. + +I entertained great doubts as to the longer existence of the river, and as +I foresaw that, in the event of its having terminated we should strike at +once into the heart of the interior, I became anxious for the arrival of +supplies at Mount Harris; and although I could hardly expect that they had +yet reached it, I determined to proceed thither. Mr. Hume was too unwell +for me to think of imposing additional fatigue upon him; I left him, +therefore, to conduct the party, by easy stages, to the northward, until +such time as I should overtake them. Even in one day there was a visible +improvement in the men, and Dawber's attack seemed to be rather the +effects of cold than of any thing else. A death, however, under our +circumstances, would have been so truly deplorable an event, that the +least illness was sufficient to create alarm. + +I can hardly say that I was disappointed on my arrival at Mount Harris, to +find its neighbourhood silent and deserted. I remained, however, under it +for the greater part of the next day, and, prior to leaving it, placed a +sheet of paper with written instructions against a tree, though almost +without a hope that it would remain untouched. + +PERPLEXING SITUATION. + +A little after sun-set we reached the first small marsh, at which we +slept; and on the following morning I crossed the plains of the Macquarie, +and joined the party at about fifteen miles from the creek at which I had +left it. I found it in a condition that was as unlooked for by Mr. Hume as +it was unexpected by me, and really in a most perplexing situation. + +On the day I left him, Mr. Hume only advanced about two miles, in +consequence of some derangement in the loads. Having crossed the creek, +he, the next morning, proceeded down its right bank, until it entered the +marshes and was lost. He then continued to move on the outskirts of the +latter, and having performed a journey or about eight miles, was anxious +to have stopped, but there was no water at hand. The men, however, were so +fatigued, in consequence of previous illness, that he felt it necessary to +halt after travelling about eleven miles. + +No water could be procured even here, notwithstanding that Mr. Hume, who +was quite unfit for great exertion, underwent considerable bodily fatigue +in his anxiety to find some. He was, therefore, obliged to move early on +the following morning, but neither men nor animals were in a condition to +travel; and he had scarcely made three miles' progress, when he stopped +and endeavoured to obtain a supply or water by digging pits among the +reeds. From these he had drawn sufficient for the wants of the people when +I arrived. Some rain had fallen on the 6th and 7th of the month, or it is +more than probable the expedient to which he resorted would have failed of +success. Mr. Hume, I was sorry to observe, looked very unwell; but nothing +could prevent him from further endeavours to extricate the party from its +present embarrassment. + +JOURNEY CONTINUED. + +As soon as I had taken a little refreshment, therefore, I mounted a fresh +horse; and he accompanied me across a small plain, immediately in front of +the camp, which was subject to overflow and covered with polygonum, having +a considerable extent of reeds to its right. + +From the plain we entered a wood of blue-gum, in which reeds, grass, and +brush formed a thick coppice. We at length passed into an open space, +surrounded on every side by weeds in dense bodies. The great marsh bore +south of us, and was clear and open, but behind us the blue-gum trees +formed a thick wood above the weeds. + +About two hundred yards from the outskirts of the marsh there was a line +of saplings that had perished, and round about them a number of the tern +tribe (sea swallow) were flying, one of which Mr. Hume had followed a +considerable way into the reeds the evening before, in the hope that it +would have led him to water. The circumstance of their being in such +numbers led us to penetrate towards them, when we found a serpentine sheet +of water of some length, over which they were playing. We had scarcely +time to examine it before night closed in upon us, and it was after nine +when we returned to the tents. + +From the general appearance of the country to the northward, and from the +circumstance of our having got to the bottom of the great marsh, which but +a few days before had threatened to be so formidable, I thought it +probable that the reeds would not again prove so extensive as they had +been, and I determined, if I could do so, to push through them in a +westerly direction from our position. + +SECOND GREAT MARSH. + +The pits yielded us so abundant a supply during the night, that in the +morning we found it unnecessary to take the animals to water at the +channel we had succeeded in finding the evening before; but pursuing a +westerly course we passed it, and struck deep into the reeds. At mid-day +we were hemmed in by them on every side, and had crossed over numerous +channels, by means of which the waters of the marshes are equally and +generally distributed over the space subject to their influence. Coming to +a second sheet of water, narrower, but longer, as well as we could judge, +than the first, we stopped to dine at it; and, while the men were resting +themselves, Mr. Hume rode with me in a westerly direction, to ascertain +what obstacles we still had to contend with. Forcing our way through +bodies of reeds, we at length got on a plain, stretching from S.E. to +N.W., bounded on the right by a wood of blue-gum, under which the reeds +still extended, and on the left by a wood in which they did not appear to +exist. Certain that there was no serious obstacle in our way, we returned +to the men; and as soon as they had finished their meal, led them over the +plain in a N.W. by W. direction. It was covered with shells, and was full +of holes from the effects of flood. + +CONCLUSIONS IN REGARD TO THE MACQUARIE. + +As we were journeying over it, I requested Mr. Hume to ride into the wood +upon our left, to ascertain if it concealed any channel. On his return he +informed me that he descended from the plain into a hollow, the bottom of +which was covered with small shells and bulrushes. He observed a new +species of eucalypti, on the trunks of which the water-mark was three feet +high. After crossing this hollow, which was about a quarter of a mile in +breadth, he gained an open forest of box, having good grass under it; and, +judging from the appearance of the country that no other channel could +exist beyond him, and that he had ascertained sufficient for the object I +had in view, he turned back to the plain. We stopped for the night under a +wood of box, where the grass, which had been burnt down, was then +springing up most beautifully green, and was relished exceedingly by the +animals. + +It was in consequence of our not having crossed any channel, while +penetrating through the reeds, that could by any possible exaggeration +have been laid down as the bed of the river, that I detached Mr. Hume; and +the account he brought me at once confirmed my opinion in regard to the +Macquarie, and I thenceforth gave up every hope of ever seeing it in its +characteristic shape again. + +Independently however of all circumstantial evidence, it was clear that +the river had not re-formed at a distance of twenty-five miles to the +north of us, since Mr. Hume had gone to the westward of that point, at +about the same distance on his late journey, without having observed the +least appearance of reeds or of a river. He had, indeed, noticed a hollow, +which occasionally contained water, but he saw nothing like the bed of a +permanent stream. I became convinced, also, from observation of the +country through which we had passed, that the sources of the Macquarie +could not be of such magnitude as to give a constant flow to it as a +river, and at the same time to supply with water the vast concavity into +which it falls. In very heavy rains only could the marshes and adjacent +lands be laid wholly under water, since the evaporation alone would be +equal to the supply. + +The great plains stretching for so many miles to the westward of Mount +Harris, even where they were clear of reeds, were covered with shells and +the claws of cray-fish and their soil, although an alluvial deposit, was +superficially sandy. They bore the appearance not only of frequent +inundation, but of the floods having eventually subsided upon them. This +was particularly observable at the bottom of the marshes. We did not find +any accumulation of rubbish to indicate a rush of water to any one point; +but numerous minor channels existed to distribute the floods equally and +generally over every part of the area subject to them, and the marks of +inundation and subsidence were everywhere the same. The plain we had last +crossed, was, in like manner, covered with shells, so that we could not +yet be said to be out of the influence of the marshes; besides which we +had not crossed the hollow noticed by Mr. Hume, which it was clear we +should do, sooner or later. + +SITUATION OF THE PARTY. + +To have remained in our position would have been impossible, as there was +no water either for ourselves or the animals; to have descended into the +reeds again, for the purpose of carrying on a minute survey, would, under +existing circumstances, have been imprudent. Our provisions were running +short, and if a knowledge of the distant interior was to be gained, we had +no time to lose. It was determined, therefore, to defer our further +examination of the marshes to the period of our return; and to pursue such +a course as would soonest and most effectually enable us to determine the +character of the western interior. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + +Prosecution of our course into the interior--Mosquito Brush--Aspect and +productions of the country--Hunting party of natives--Courageous conduct +of one of them--Mosquitoes--A man missing--Group of hills called +New-Year's Range--Journey down New-Year's Creek--Tormenting attack of the +kangaroo fly--Dreariness and desolation of the country--Oxley's Table +Land--D'Urban's Group--Continue our journey down New-Year's Creek-- +Extreme Disappointment on finding it salt--Fall in with a tribe of +natives--Our course arrested by the want of fresh water--Extraordinary +sound--Retreat towards the Macquarie. + + +We left our position at the head of the plain early on the 13th of +January, and, ere the sun dipped, had entered a very different country +from that in which we had been labouring for the last three weeks. We had, +as yet, passed over little other than an alluvial soil, but found that it +changed to a red loam in the brushes immediately backing the camp. An open +forest track succeeded this, over which the vegetation had an unusual +freshness, indicating that the waters had not long subsided from its +surface. We shortly afterwards crossed a hollow, similar to that Mr. Hume +had described, in which bulrushes had taken the place of reeds. +Flooded-gum trees, of large size, were also growing in it, but on either +side box alone prevailed, under which the forest grass grew to a +considerable height. We crossed the hollow two or three times, and as +often remarked the line of separation between those trees. The last time +we crossed it the country rose a few feet, and we journeyed for the +remainder of the day, at one time over good plains, at another through +brushes, until we found water and feed, at which we stopped for the night, +after having travelling about thirteen miles on a W. by N. course. The +mosquitoes were so extremely troublesome at this place that we called it +Mosquito Brush. At this time my men were improving rapidly, and Mr. Hume +complained less, and looked better. I hoped, therefore, that our progress +would be rapid into the interior. + +CREEK LEADING NORTHERLY; PRODUCTIONS OF THE COUNTRY. + +On the 14th we took up a westerly course, and in the first instance +traversed a plain of great extent; the soil of which was for the most part +a red sandy loam, but having patches of light earth upon it. The former +was covered with plants of the chenopedia kind; the latter had evidently +been quagmires, and bore even then the appearance of moisture. At about +seven miles from Mosquito Brush we struck upon a creek of excellent water, +upon which the wild fowl were numerous. Some natives was seen, but they +were only women, and seemed so alarmed that I purposely avoided them. As +the creek was leading northerly, we traced it down on that course for +about seven miles, and then halted upon its banks, which were composed of +a light tenacious earth. Brushes of casuarina existed near it, but a +tortuous box was the prevailing tree, which, excepting for the knees of +small vessels, could not have been applied to any use, while the +flooded-gum had entirely disappeared. Some ducks were shot in the +afternoon, which proved a great treat, as we had been living for some time +on salt provisions. Our animals fared worse than ourselves, as the bed of +the creek was occupied by coarse rushes, and but little vegetation was +elsewhere to be seen. I here killed a beautiful snake, of about four feet +in length, and of a bright yellow colour: I had not, however, the means of +preserving it. Fraser collected numerous botanical specimens, and among +them two kinds of caparis. Indeed a great alteration had taken place in +the minor shrubs, and few of those now prevalent had been observed to the +eastward of the marshes. + +From the creek, which both I and Mr. Hume must have crossed on our +respective journeys, we held a westerly course for about fifteen miles, +through a country of alternate plain and brush, the latter predominating, +and in its general character differing but little from that we had +traversed the day previous. + +The acacia pendula still continued to exist on the plains backed by dark +rows of cypresses (Cupressus callitris). In the brushes, box and +casuarina (Casuarina tortuosa), with several other kinds of eucalypti, +prevailed; but none of them were sufficiently large to be of use. The +plains were so extremely level that a meridian altitude could have been +taken without any material error; and I doubt much whether it would have +been possible to have traversed them had the season been wet. + +HUNTING PARTY OF NATIVES. + +As we were travelling through a forest we surprised a hunting party of +natives. Mr. Hume and I were considerably in front of our party at the +time, and he only had his gun with him. We had been moving along so +quietly that we were not for some time observed by them. Three were seated +on the ground, under a tree, and two others were busily employed on one of +the lower branches cutting out honey. As soon as they saw us, four of them +ran away; but the fifth, who wore a cap of emu feathers, stood for a +moment looking at us, and then very deliberately dropped out of the tree +to the ground. I then advanced towards him, but before I got round a bush +that intervened, he had darted away. I was fearful that he was gone to +collect his tribe, and, under this impression, rode quickly hack for my +gun to support Mr. Hume. On my arrival I found the native was before me. +He stood about twenty paces from Mr. Hume, who was endeavouring to explain +what he was; but seeing me approach he immediately poised his spear at +him, as being the nearest. Mr. Hume then unslung his carbine, and +presented it; but, as it was evident my re-appearance had startled the +savage, I pulled up; and he immediately lowered his weapon. His coolness +and courage surprised me, and increased my desire to communicate with him. +He had evidently taken both man and horse for one animal, and as long as +Mr. Hume kept his seat, the native remained upon his guard; but when he +saw him dismount, after the first astonishment had subsided, he stuck his +spear into the ground, and walked fearlessly up to him. We easily made him +comprehend that we were in search of water; when he pointed to the west, +as indicating that we should supply our wants there. He gave his +information in a frank and manly way, without the least embarrassment, +and when the party passed, he stepped back to avoid the animals, without +the smallest confusion. I am sure he was a very brave man; and I left him +with the most favourable impressions, and not without hope that he would +follow us. + +From a more open forest, we entered a dense scrub, the soil in which was +of a bright-red colour and extremely sandy, and the timber of various +kinds. A leafless species of stenochylus aphylta, which, from the +resemblance, I at first thought one of the polygonum tribe, was very +abundant in the open spaces, and the young cypresses were occasionally so +close as to turn us from the direction in which we had been moving. In the +scrub we crossed Mr. Hume's tract, and, from the appearance of the ground, +I was led to believe mine could not be very distant. + +FATE OF THE MACQUARIE. + +We struck upon a creek late in the afternoon, at which we stopped; New +Year's Range bearing nearly due west at about four miles' distance. Had we +struck upon my track, the question about which we were so anxious would +still have been undecided; but the circumstance of our having crossed Mr. +Hume's, which, from its direction, could not be mistaken, convinced me of +the fate of the Macquarie, and I felt assured that, whatever channels it +might have for the distribution of its waters, to the north of our line of +route, the equality of surface of the interior would never permit it +again to form a river; and that it only required an examination of the +lower parts of the marshes to confirm the theory of the ultimate +evaporation and absorption of its waters, instead of their contributing to +the permanence of an inland sea, as Mr. Oxley had supposed. + +NEW YEAR'S RANGE. + +On the 17th of January we encamped under New Year's Range, which is the +first elevation in the interior of Eastern Australia to the westward of +Mount Harris. Yet when at its base, I do not think that we had ascended +above forty feet higher than the plains in the neighbourhood of that last +mentioned eminence. There certainly is a partial rise of country, where +the change of soil takes place from the alluvial deposits of the marshes, +to the sandy loam so prevalent on the plains we had lately traversed; but +I had to regret that I was unable to decide so interesting a question by +other than bare conjecture. + +Notwithstanding that Mr. Hume had already been on them, I encouraged hopes +that a second survey of the country from the highest point of New Year's +Range would enable us to form some opinion of it, by which to direct our +future movements; but I was disappointed. + +The two wooded hills I had seen from Oxley's Table Land were visible from +the range, bearing south; and other eminences bore by compass S.W. +and W. by S.; but in every other direction the horizon was unbroken. To +the westward, there appeared to be a valley of considerable extent, +stretching N. and S., in which latter direction there was a long strip of +cleared ground, that looked very like the sandy bed of a broad and rapid +river. The bare possibility of the reality determined me to ascertain by +inspection, whether my conjecture was right, and Mr. Hume accompanied me +on this excursion. After we left the camp we crossed a part of the range, +and travelled for some time through open forest land that would afford +excellent grazing in most seasons. We passed some hollows, and noticed +many huts that had been occupied near them; but the hollows were now quite +dry, and the huts had been long deserted. After about ten miles' ride we +reached a plain of white sand, from which New Year's Range was distinctly +visible; and this no doubt was the spot that had attracted my attention. +Pools of water continued on it, from which circumstance it would appear +that the sand had a substratum of clay or marl. From this plain we +proceeded southerly through acacia scrub, bounding gently undulating +forest land, and at length ascended some small elevations that scarcely +deserved the name of hills. They had fragments of quartz profusely +scattered over them; and the soil, which was sandy, contained particles of +mica. + +MOSQUITOES. + +The view from them was confused, nor did any fresh object meet our +observation. We had, however, considerably neared the two wooded hills, +and the elevations that from the range were to the S.W., now bore N.W. +of us. We had wandered too far from the camp to admit of our returning to +it to sleep; we therefore commenced a search for water, and having found +some, we tethered our horses near it for the night, and should have been +tolerably comfortable, had not the mosquitoes been so extremely +troublesome. They defied the power of smoke, and annoyed me so much, that, +hot as it was, I rolled myself in my boat cloak, and perspired in +consequence to such a degree, that my clothes were wet through, and I had +to stand at the fire in the morning to dry them. Mr. Hume, who could not +bear such confinement, suffered the penalty, and was most unmercifully +bitten. + +A MAN MISSING. + +We reached the camp about noon the following day, and learnt, to our +vexation, that one of the men, Norman, had lost himself shortly after we +started, and had not since been heard of. Dawber, my overseer, was out in +search of him. I awaited his return, therefore, before I took any measures +for the man's recovery; nor was I without hopes that Dawber would have +found him, as it appeared he had taken one of the horses with him, and +Dawber, by keeping his tracks, might eventually have overtaken him. He +returned, however, about 3 p.m. unsuccessful, when Mr. Hume and I mounted +our horses, and proceeded in different directions in quest of him, but +were equally disappointed. + +We met at the creek in the dark, and returned to the camp together, when I +ordered the cypresses on the range to be set on fire, and thus illuminated +the country round for many miles. In the morning, however, as Norman had +not made his appearance, we again started in search of the poor fellow, +on whose account I was now most uneasy; for his horse, it appeared, had +escaped him, and was found with the others at watering time. + +I did not return to the camp until after sunset, more fatigued than I +recollect ever having been before. I was, however, rejoiced on being +informed that the object of my anxiety was safe in his tent; that he had +caught sight of the hill the evening before, and that he had reached the +camp shortly after I left it. He had been absent three nights and two +days, and had not tasted water or food of any kind during that time. + +To my enquiries he replied, that, being on horseback, he thought he could +have overtaken a kangaroo, which passed him whilst waiting at the creek +for the cattle, and that in the attempt, he lost himself. It would appear +that he crossed the creek in the dark, and his horse escaped from him on +the first night. He complained more of thirst than of hunger, although he +had drunk at the watering-place to such an excess, on his return, as to +make him vomit; but, though not a little exhausted, he had escaped better +than I should have expected. + +COUNTRY AROUND NEW YEAR'S RANGE. + +New Year's Range consists of a principal group of five hills, the loftiest +of which does not measure 300 feet in height. It has lateral ridges, +extending to the N.N.W. on the one hand, and bending in to the creek on +the other. The former have a few cypresses, sterculia, and iron bark upon +them; the latter are generally covered with brush, under box; the brush +for the most part consisting of two distinct species of stenochylus, and a +new acacia. The whole range is of quartz formation, small fragments of +which are profusely scattered over the ridges, and are abundantly +incrusted with oxide of iron. The soil in the neighbourhood of New Year's +Range is a red loam, with a slight mixture of sand. An open forest country +lies between it and the creek, and it is not at all deficient in pasture. + +NEW YEAR'S CREEK. + +That a change of soil takes place to the westward of the creek, is +obvious, from the change of vegetation, the most remarkable feature of +which is the sudden check given to the further extension of the acacia +pendula, which is not to be found beyond it, it being succeeded by another +acacia of the same species and habits; neither do the plants of the +chenopedia class exist in the immediate vicinity of the range. + +I place these hills, as far as my observations will allow, in east +lon. 146 degrees 32 minutes 15 seconds, and in lat. 30 degrees 21 minutes +south; the variation of the compass being 6 degrees 40 minutes easterly. + +As New Year's Creek was leading northerly, it had been determined to trace +it down as long as it should keep that course, or one to the westward of +it. We broke up the camp, therefore, under the range, on the evening of +the 18th, and moved to the creek, about two miles north of the place at +which we had before crossed it, with the intention of prosecuting our +journey on the morrow. But both Mr. Hume and I were so fatigued that we +were glad of an opportunity to rest, even for a single day. We remained +stationary, therefore, on the 19th; nor was I without hope that the +natives whom we had surprised in the woods, would have paid us a visit, +since Mr. Hume had met them in his search for Norman, and they had +promised not only to come to us, but to do all in their power to find +the man, whose footsteps some of them had crossed. They did not, however, +venture near us; and I rather attribute their having kept aloof, to the +circumstance of Mr. Hume's having fired a shot, shortly after he left +them, as a signal to Norman, in the event of his being within hearing of +the report. They must have been alarmed at so unusual a sound; but I am +sure nothing was further from Mr. Hume's intention than to intimidate +them; his knowledge of their manners and customs, as well as his +partiality to the natives, being equally remarkable. The circumstance is, +however, a proof of the great caution that is necessary in communicating +with them. + +ANNOYED BY KANGAROO FLIES. + +I have said that we remained stationary the day after we left the range, +with a view to enjoy a little rest; it would, however, have been +infinitely better if we had moved forward. Our camp was infested by the +kangaroo fly, which settled upon us in thousands. They appeared to rise +from the ground, and as fast as they were swept off were succeeded by +fresh numbers. It was utterly impossible to avoid their persecution, +penetrating as they did into the very tents. + +The men were obliged to put handkerchiefs over their faces, and stockings +upon their hands; but they bit through every thing. It was to no purpose +that I myself shifted from place to place; they still followed, or were +equally numerous everywhere. To add to our discomfort, the animals were +driven almost to madness, and galloped to and fro in so furious a manner +that I was apprehensive some of them would have been lost. I never +experienced such a day of torment; and only when the sun set, did these +little creatures cease from their attacks. + +SUDDENLY RELIEVED. + +It will be supposed that we did not stay to subject ourselves to another +trial; indeed it was with some degree of horror that the men saw the first +light of morning streak the horizon. They got up immediately, and we moved +down the creek, on a northerly course, without breakfasting as usual. We +found that dense brushes of casuarina lined the creek on both sides, +beyond which, to our left, there was open rising ground, on which +eucalypti, cypresses, and the acacia longifolia, prevailed; whilst to the +east, plains seemed to predominate. + +Although we had left the immediate spot at which the kangaroo flies +(cabarus) seemed to be collected, I did not expect that we should have got +rid of them so completely as we did. None of them were seen during the +day; a proof that they were entirely local. They were about half the size +of a common house fly, had flat brown bodies, and their bite, although +sharp and piercing, left no irritation after it. + +About noon we stopped at the creek side to take some refreshment. The +country bore an improved appearance around us, and the cattle found +abundance of pasture. It was evident that the creek had been numerously +frequented by the natives, although no recent traces of them could be +found. It had a bed of coarse red granite, of the fragments of which the +natives had constructed a weir for the purpose of taking fish. The +appearance of this rock in so isolated a situation, is worthy of the +consideration of geologists. + +DESOLATION OF THE COUNTRY. + +The promise of improvement I have noticed, gradually disappeared as we +proceeded on our day's journey, and we at length found ourselves once more +among brushes, and on the edge of plains, over which the rhagodia +prevailed. Nothing could exceed in dreariness the appearance of the tracks +through which we journeyed, on this and the two following days. The creek +on which we depended for a supply of water, gave such alarming indications +of a total failure, that I at one time, had serious thoughts of abandoning +my pursuit of it. We passed hollow after hollow that had successively +dried up, although originally of considerable depth; and, when we at +length found water, it was doubtful how far we could make use of it. +Sometimes in boiling it left a sediment nearly equal to half its body; at +other times it was so bitter as to be quite unpalatable. That on which we +subsisted was scraped up from small puddles, heated by the sun's rays; +and so uncertain were we of finding water at the end of the day's journey, +that we were obliged to carry a supply on one of the bullocks. There was +scarcely a living creature, even of the feathered race, to be seen to +break the stillness of the forest. The native dogs alone wandered about, +though they had scarcely strength to avoid us; and their melancholy howl, +breaking in upon the ear at the dead of the night, only served to impress +more fully on the mind the absolute loneliness of the desert. + +It appeared, from their traces that the natives had lingered on this +ground, on which they had perhaps been born, as long as it continued to +afford them a scanty though precarious subsistence; but that they had at +length been forced from it. Neither fish nor muscles remained in the +creek, nor emus nor kangaroos on the plains. How then could an European +expect to find food in deserts through which the savage wandered in vain? +There is no doubt of the fate that would have overtaken any one of the +party who might have strayed away, and I was happy to find that Norman's +narrow escape had made a due impression on the minds of his comrades. + +SANDY PLAINS; LEAVE THE CREEK. + +We passed some considerable plains, lying to the eastward of the creek, on +parts of which the grass, though growing in tufts, was of luxuriant +growth. They were, however, more generally covered with salsola and +rhagodia, and totally destitute of other vegetation, the soil upon them +being a red sandy loam. The paths across the plains, which varied in +breadth from three to eight miles, were numerous; but they had not been +recently trodden. The creek continued to have a thick brush of casuarina +and acacia near it, to the westward of which there was a rising open +forest track; the timber upon it being chiefly box, cypress, and the +acacia longifolia. It was most probably connected with New Year's Range, +those elevations being about thirty miles distant. It terminated in some +gentle hills which, though covered in places with acacia shrub, were +sufficiently open to afford an extensive view. From their summit Oxley's +Table Land, towards which we had been gradually working our way, was +distinctly visible, distant about twenty miles, and bearing by compass +W. by S. On descending from these hills (called the Pink Hills, from the +colour of a flower upon them) which were scattered over with fragments of +slaty quartz, we traversed a box flat, apparently subject to overflow, +having a barren sandy scrub to its left. I had desired the men to preserve +a W.N.W. direction, on leaving them, supposing that that course would have +kept them near the creek; but, on overtaking the party, I found that they +had wandered completely away from it. The fact was, that the creek had +taken a sudden bend to the eastward of N. and had thus thrown them out. +It was with some difficulty that we regained it before sunset; and we were +at length obliged to stop for the night at a small plain, about a quarter +of a mile short of it, but we had the satisfaction of having excellent +feed for the animals. + +OXLEY'S TABLE LAND. + +Fearful that New Year's Creek would take us too far to the eastward, and +being anxious to keep westward as much as possible, it struck me that we +could not, under existing circumstances, do better than make for Oxley's +Table Land. Water, I knew, we should find in a swamp at it's base, and we +might discover some more encouraging feature than I had observed on my +hasty visit to it. We left the creek, therefore on the 23rd, and once more +took up a westerly course. Passing through a generally open country, we +stopped at noon to rest the animals; and afterwards got on an excellent +grazing forest track, which continued to the brush, through another part +of which I had penetrated to the marsh more to the south. While making our +way through it, we came upon a small pond of water, and must have alarmed +some natives, as there was a fresh made fire close to it. Our journey had +been unusually long, and the cattle had felt the heat so much, that the +moment they saw water they rushed into it; and, as this created some +confusion, I thought it best to stop where we were for the night. + +In the morning, Mr. Hume walked with me to the hill, a distance of about a +mile. It is not high enough to deserve the name of a mountain, although a +beautiful feature in the country, and showing well from any point of view. +We ascended it with an anxiety that may well be imagined, but were wholly +disappointed in our most sanguine expectations. Our chief object, in this +second visit to Oxley's Table Land, had been to examine, more at leisure, +the face of the country around it, and to discover, if possible, some +fixed point on which to move. + +If the rivers of the interior had already exhausted themselves, what had +we to expect from a creek whose diminished appearance where we left it +made us apprehend its speedy termination, and whose banks we traversed +under constant apprehension? In any other country I should have followed +such a water course, in hopes of its ultimately leading to some reservoir; +but here I could encourage no such favourable anticipation. + +The only new object that struck our sight was a remarkable and distant +hill of conical shape, bearing by compass S. 10 E. To the southward and +westward, in the direction of D'Urban's Group, a dense and apparently low +brush extended; but to the N. and N.W., there was a regular alternation of +wood and plain. I left Mr. Hume upon the hill, that he might the more +readily notice any smoke made by the natives; and returned myself to the +camp about one o'clock, to move the party to the swamp. Mr. Hume's +perseverance was of little avail. The region he had been overlooking was, +to all appearance, uninhabited, nor did a single fire indicate that there +was even a solitary wanderer upon its surface. + +EXCURSION TO D'URBAN'S GROUP. + +Our situation, at this time, was extremely embarrassing, and the only +circumstance on which we had to congratulate ourselves was, the improved +condition of our men; for several of the cattle and horses were in a sad +plight. The weather had been so extremely oppressive, that we had found it +impossible to keep them free from eruptions. I proposed to Mr. Hume, +therefore, to give them a few days' rest, and to make an excursion, with +such of them as were serviceable, to D'Urban's Group. We were both of us +unwilling to return to the creek, but we foresaw that a blind reliance +upon fortune, in our next movements, might involve us in inextricable +difficulty. + +On the other hand, there was a very great risk in delay. It was more than +probable, from the continued drought, that our retreat would be cut off +from the want of water, or that we should only be enabled to effect our +retreat with loss of most of the animals. The hope, however, of our +intersecting some stream, or of falling upon a better country, prevailed +over other considerations; and the excursion was, consequently, determined +upon. + +DISTRESS FROM WANT OF WATER. + +We left the camp on the 25th, accompanied by Hopkinson and the tinker; +and, almost immediately after, entered an acacia scrub of the most sterile +description, and one, through which it would have been impossible to have +found a passage for the boat carriage. The soil was almost a pure sand, +and the lower branches of the trees were decayed so generally as to give +the whole an indescribable appearance of desolation. About mid-day, we +crossed a light sandy plain, on which there were some dirty puddles of +water. They were so shallow as to leave the backs of the frogs in them +exposed, and they had, in consequence, been destroyed by solar heat, and +were in a state of putrefaction. Our horses refused to drink, but it was +evident that some natives must have partaken of this sickening beverage +only a few hours before our arrival. Indeed, it was clear that a wandering +family must have slept near this spot, as we observed a fresh made gunneah +(or native hut), and their foot-prints were so fresh along the line we +were pursuing, that we momentarily expected to have overtaken them. It was +late in the evening when we got out of this brush into better and more +open ground, where, in ordinary seasons we should, no doubt, have found +abundance of water. But we now searched in vain for it, and were contented +to be enabled to give our wearied animals better food than they had tasted +for many days, the forest grass, though in tufts, being abundant. + +We brought up for the night at the edge of a scrub, having travelled from +thirty-two to thirty-five miles, judging the distance from the mountains +still to be about twelve. + +BEARINGS FROM OXLEY'S TABLE LAND. + +In the morning we started at an early hour, and immediately entered the +brush, beneath which we had slept; pursuing a westerly course through it. +After a short ride, we found ourselves upon a plain, that was crowded with +flocks of cockatoos. Here we got a supply of water, such as it was--so +mixed with slime as to hang in strings between the fingers; and, after a +hasty breakfast, we proceeded on our journey, mostly through a barren +sandy scrub that was a perfect burrow from the number of wombats in it, to +within a mile of the hill group, where the country appeared like one +continuous meadow to the very base of them. I never saw anything like the +luxuriance of the grass on this tract of country, waving as it did higher +than our horses' middles as we rode through it. We ascended the S.W. face +of the mountain to an elevation of at least 800 feet above the level of +the plain, and had some difficulty in scaling the masses of rock that +opposed themselves to our progress. But on gaining the summit, we were +amply repaid for our trouble. The view extended far and wide, but we were +again disappointed in the main object that had induced us to undertake the +journey. I took the following bearings by compass. Oxley's Table Land bore +N. 40 E. distant forty-five miles; small and distant hill due E.; conical +peak seen from Oxley's Table Land S. 60 E., very distant; long ridge of +high land, S.E., distant thirty-five miles; high land, S. 30 E., distant +thirty miles; long range, S. 25 W. + +To the westward, as a medium point. the horizon was unbroken, and the eye +wandered over an apparently endless succession of wood and plain. A +brighter green than usual marked the course of the mountain torrents in +several places, but there was no glittering light among the trees, no +smoke to betray a water hole, or to tell that a single inhabitant was +traversing the extensive region we were overlooking. We were obliged to +return to the plain on which we had breakfasted, and to sleep upon it. + +D'URBAN'S GROUP. + +D'Urban's Group is of compact sandstone formation. Its extreme length is +from E.S.E. to W.N.W., and cannot be more than from seven to nine miles, +whilst its breadth is from two to four. The central space forms a large +basin, in which there are stunted pines and eucalyptus scrub, amid huge +fragments of rocks. It rises like an island from the midst of the ocean, +and as I looked upon it from the plains below, I could without any great +stretch of the imagination, picture to myself that it really was such. +Bold and precipitous, it only wanted the sea to lave its base; and I +cannot but think that such must at no very remote period have been the +case, and that the immense flat we had been traversing, is of +comparatively recent formation. + +We reached the camp on the 28th of the month, by nearly the same route; +and were happy to find that, after the few days' rest they had enjoyed, +there was a considerable improvement in the animals. + +Our experience of the nature of the country to the southward, and the +westward, was such as to deter us from risking anything, by taking such a +direction as was most agreeable to our views. Nothing remained to us but +to follow the creek, or to retreat; and as we could only be induced to +adopt the last measure when every other expedient should have failed, we +determined on pursuing our original plan, of tracing New Year's Creek as +far as practicable. + +DESCRIPTION OF OXLEY'S TABLE LAND. + +Oxley's Table Land is situated in lat. 29 degrees 57 minutes 30 seconds, +and in E. long. 145 degrees 43 minutes 30 seconds, the mean variation +being 6.32 easterly. It consists of two hills that appear to have been +rent asunder by some convulsion of nature, since the passage between them +is narrow and their inner faces are equally perpendicular. The hill which +I have named after the late Surveyor-general, is steep on all sides; but +the other gradually declines from the south, and at length loses itself in +a large plain that extends to the north. It is from four to five miles in +length, and is picturesque in appearance, and lightly wooded. A few +cypresses were growing on Oxley's Table Land; but it had, otherwise, very +little timber upon its summit. Both hills are of sandstone formation, and +there are some hollows upon the last that deserve particular notice. They +have the appearance of having been formed by eddies of water, being deeper +in the centre than at any other part, and contain fragments and slabs of +sandstone of various size and breadth, without a particle of soil or of +sand between them. It is to be observed that the edges of these slabs, +which were perfect parallelograms, were unbroken, and that they were as +clean as if they had only just been turned out of the hand of the mason. +We counted thirteen of these hollows in one spot about twenty-five feet in +diameter, but they are without doubt of periodical formation, since a +single hollow was observed lower than the summit of the hill upon its +south extremity, that had evidently long been exposed to the action of the +atmosphere, and had a general coating of moss over it. + +CONTINUE THE JOURNEY; DOWN NEW YEAR'S CREEK. + +We left Oxley's Table Land on the morning of the 31st of January, pursuing +a northern course through the brush and across a large plain, moving +parallel to the smaller hill, and keeping it upon our left. The soil upon +this plain differed in character from that on the plains to the eastward, +and was much freer from sand. We stopped to dine at a spot, whence Oxley's +Table Land bore by compass, S. by W., distant about twelve miles. +Continuing our journey, at 2 p.m. we cleared the plain, and entered a +tract covered with the polygonum junceum, on a soil evidently the deposit +of floods. Box-trees were thinly scattered over it, and among the +polygonum, the crested pigeons were numerous. These general appearances, +together with a dip of country to the N.N.W., made us conclude that we +were approaching the creek, and we accordingly intersected it on a N.N.E. +course, at about three miles' distance from where we had dined. It had, +however, undergone so complete a change, and had increased so much in size +and in the height of its banks, that we were at a loss to recognize it. +Still, with all these favourable symptoms, there was not a drop of water +in it. But small shells lay in heaps in its bed, or were abundantly +scattered over it; and we remarked that they differed from those on the +plains of the Macquarie. A circumstance that surprised us much, was the +re-appearance of the flooded-gum upon its banks, and that too of a large +size. We had not seen any to the westward of the marshes, and we were, +consequently, led to indulge in more sanguine expectation as to our +ultimate success than we had ever ventured to do before. + +The party crossed to the right bank of the creek, and then moved in a +westerly direction along it in search of water. A brush extended to our +right, and some broken stony ground, rather elevated, was visible, to +which Mr. Hume rode; nor did he join me again until after I had halted the +party for the night. + +DISTRESSED FOR WATER. + +My search for water had been unsuccessful, and the sun had set, when I +came upon a broad part of the creek that appeared very favourable for an +encampment, as it was encompassed by high banks, and would afford the men +a greater facility of watching the cattle, that I knew would stray away if +they could. + +My anxiety for them led me to wander down the bed of the creek, when, to +my joy, I found a pond of water within a hundred yards of the tents. It is +impossible for me to describe the relief I felt at this success, or the +gladness it spread among the men. Mr. Hume joined me at dusk, and informed +me that he had made a circuit, and had struck upon the creek about three +miles below us but that, in tracing it up, he had not found a drop of +water until he came to the pond near which we had so providentially +encamped. On the following morning, we held a westerly course over an open +country for about eight miles and a half. The prevailing timber appeared +to he a species of eucalypti, with rough bark, of small size, and +evidently languishing from the want of moisture. The soil over which we +travelled was far from bad, but there was a total absence of water upon +it. At 6 p.m. Oxley's Table Land was distant from us about fifteen miles, +bearing S. 20 E. by compass. + +We had not touched upon the creek from the time we left it in the morning, +having wandered from it in a northerly direction, along a native path that +we intersected, and that seemed to have been recently trodden, since +footsteps were fresh upon it. At sunset, we crossed a broad dry creek that +puzzled us extremely, and were shortly afterwards obliged to stop for the +night upon a plain beyond it. We had, during the afternoon, bent down to +the S.W. in hopes that we should again have struck upon New Year's Creek; +and, under an impression that we could not be far from it, Mr. Hume and I +walked across the plain, to ascertain if it was sufficiently near to be of +any service to us. We came upon a creek, but could not decide whether it +was the one for which we had been searching, or another. + +Its bed was so perfectly even that it was impossible to say to what point +it flowed, more especially as all remains of debris had mouldered away. It +was, however, extremely broad, and evidently, at times, held a furious +torrent. In the centre of it, at one of the angles, we discovered a pole +erected, and at first thought, from the manner in which it was propped up, +that some unfortunate European must have placed it there as a mark to tell +of his wanderings, but we afterwards concluded that it might be some +superstitious rite of the natives, in consequence of the untowardness of +the season, as it seemed almost inconceivable that an European could have +wandered to such a distance from the located districts in safety. + +REACH A LARGE RIVER. + +The creek had flooded-gum growing upon its banks, and, on places +apparently subject to flood, a number of tall straight saplings were +observed by us. We returned to the camp, after a vain search for water, +and were really at a loss what direction next to pursue. The men kept the +cattle pretty well together, and, as we were not delayed by any +preparations for breakfast, they were saddled and loaded at an early hour. +The circumstance of there having been natives in the neighbourhood, of +whom we had seen so few traces of late, assured me that water was at hand, +but in what direction it was impossible to guess. As the path we had +observed was leading northerly, we took up that course, and had not +proceeded more than a mile upon it, when we suddenly found ourselves on +the banks of a noble river. Such it might in truth be called, where water +was scarcely to be found. The party drew up upon a bank that was from +forty to forty-five feet above the level of the stream. The channel of the +river was front seventy to eighty yards broad, and enclosed an unbroken +sheet of water, evidently very deep, and literally covered with pelicans +and other wild fowl. Our surprise and delight may better be imagined than +described. Our difficulties seemed to be at an end, for here was a river +that promised to reward all our exertions, and which appeared every moment +to increase in importance to our imagination. Coming from the N.E.,and +flowing to the S.W., it had a capacity of channel that proved that we were +as far from its source as from its termination. The paths of the natives +on either side of it were like well trodden roads; and the trees that +overhung it were of beautiful and gigantic growth. + +DISAPPOINTMENT ON FINDING THE RIVER SALT. + +Its banks were too precipitous to allow of our watering the cattle, but +the men eagerly descended to quench their thirst, which a powerful sun had +contributed to increase; nor shall I ever forget the cry of amazement that +followed their doing so, or the looks of terror and disappointment with +which they called out to inform me that the water was so salt as to be +unfit to drink! This was, indeed, too true: on tasting it, I found it +extremely nauseous, and strongly impregnated with salt, being apparently +a mixture of sea and fresh water. Whence this arose, whether from local +causes, or from a communication with some inland sea, I knew not, but the +discovery was certainly a blow for which I was not prepared. Our hopes +were annihilated at the moment of their apparent realization. The cup of +joy was dashed out of our hands before we had time to raise it to our +lips. Notwithstanding this disappointment, we proceeded down the river, +and halted at about five miles, being influenced by the goodness of the +feed to provide for the cattle as well as circumstances would permit. They +would not drink of the river water, but stood covered in it for many +hours, having their noses alone exposed above the stream. Their condition +gave me great uneasiness. It was evident they could not long hold out +under their excessive thirst, and unless we should procure some fresh +water, it would impossible for us to continue our journey. On a closer +examination, the river appeared to me much below its ordinary level, and +its current was scarcely perceptible. We placed sticks to ascertain if +there was a rise or fall of tide, but could arrive at no satisfactory +conclusion, although there was undoubtedly a current in it. Yet, as I +stood upon its banks at sunset, when not a breath of air existed to break +the stillness of the waters below me, and saw their surface kept in +constant agitation by the leaping of fish, I doubted whether the river +could supply itself so abundantly, and the rather imagined, that it owed +such abundance, which the pelicans seemed to indicate was constant, to +some mediterranean sea or other. Where, however, were the human +inhabitants of this distant and singular region? The signs of a numerous +population were around us, but we had not seen even a solitary wanderer. +The water of the river was not, by any means, so salt as that of the +ocean, but its taste was precisely similar. Could it be that its unnatural +state had driven its inhabitants from its banks? + +One would have imagined that our perplexities would have been sufficient +for one day, but ere night closed, they increased upon us, although our +anxiety, with regard to the cattle, was happily removed. Mr. Hume with his +usual perseverance, walked out when the camp was formed; and, at a little +distance from it, ascended a ridge of pure sand, crowned with cypresses. +From this, he descended to the westward, and, at length, struck upon the +river, where a reef of rocks creased its channel, and formed a dry passage +from one side to the other; but the bend, which the river must have taken, +appeared to him so singular, that he doubted whether it was the same +beside which we had been travelling during the day. Curiosity led him to +cross it, when he found a small pond of fresh water on a tongue of land, +and, immediately afterwards, returned to acquaint me with the welcome +tidings. It was too late to move, but we had, at least, the prospect of a +comfortable breakfast in the morning. + +JUNCTION OF NEW YEAR'S CREEK. + +In consequence of the doubts that hung upon Mr. Hume's mind, as to the +course of the river, we arranged that the animals should precede us to the +fresh water; and that we should keep close in upon the stream, to +ascertain that point. After traversing a deep bight, we arrived nearly as +soon as the party, at the appointed rendezvous. The rocks composing the +channel of the river at the crossing place, were of indurated clay. In the +course of an hour, the animals appearing quite refreshed, we proceeded on +our journey, and at about four miles crossed New Year's Creek, at its +junction with the salt river. We passed several parts of the main channel +that were perfectly dry, and were altogether at a loss to account for the +current we undoubtedly had observed in the river when we first came upon +it. At midday D'Urban's Group bore S. 65 E. distant about 32 miles. We +made a little westing in the afternoon. The river continued to maintain +its character and appearance, its lofty banks, and its long still reaches: +while, however, the blue-gum trees upon its banks were of magnificent +size, the soil had but little vegetation upon it, although an alluvial +deposit. + +We passed over vast spaces covered with the polygonum junceum, that bore +all the appearance of the flooded tracks in the neighbourhood of the +marshes, and on which the travelling was equally distressing to the +animals. Indeed, it had been sufficiently evident to us that the waters of +this river were not always confined to its channel, capacious as it was, +but that they inundated a belt of barren land, that varied in width from a +quarter of a mile to a mile, when they were checked by an outer embankment +that prevented them from spreading generally over the country, and upon +the neighbouring plains. At our halting place, the cattle drank sparingly +of the water, but it acted as a violent purgative both on them and the men +who partook of it. + +NATIVE VILLAGE. + +On the 5th, the river led us to the southward and westward. Early in the +day, we passed a group of seventy huts, capable of holding from twelve to +fifteen men each. They appeared to be permanent habitations, and all of +them fronted the same point of the compass. In searching amongst them we +observed two beautifully made nets, of about ninety yards in length. The +one had much larger meshes than the other, and was, most probably, +intended to take kangaroos; but the other was evidently a fishing net. + +In one hut, the floor of which was swept with particular care, a number of +white balls, as of pulverised shells or lime, had been deposited--the +use of which we could not divine. A trench was formed round the hut to +prevent the rain from running under it, and the whole was arranged with +more than ordinary attention. + +TERROR OF THE NATIVES. + +We had not proceeded very far when we came suddenly upon the tribe to +which this village, as it might be called, belonged. + +In breaking through some brush to an open space that was bounded on one +side by the river, we observed three or four natives, seated on a bank at +a considerable distance from us; and directly in the line on which we were +moving. The nature of the ground so completely favoured our approach, that +they did not become aware of it until we were within a few yards of them, +and had ascended a little ridge, which, as we afterwards discovered, ended +in an abrupt precipice upon the river, not more than thirty yards to our +right. The crack of the drayman's whip was the first thing that aroused +their attention. They gazed upon us for a moment, and then started up and +assumed an attitude of horror and amazement; their terror apparently +increasing upon them. We stood perfectly immovable, until at length they +gave a fearful yell, and darted out of sight. + +THEY FIRE THE BUSH. + +Their cry brought about a dozen more natives from the river, whom we had +not before observed, but who now ran after their comrades with surprising +activity, and without once venturing to look behind them. As our position +was a good one, we determined to remain upon it, until we should ascertain +the number and disposition of the natives. We had not been long +stationary, when we heard a crackling noise in the distance, and it soon +became evident that the bush had been fired. It was, however, impossible +that we could receive any injury on the narrow ridge upon which we stood, +so that we waited very patiently to see the end of this affair. + +REMARKS ON THE NATIVES; DISEASE AMONG THEM. + +In a short time the fire approached pretty near to us, and dense columns +of smoke rose into the air over our heads. One of the natives, who had +been on the bank, now came out of the bush, exactly from the spot into +which he had retreated. He advanced a few paces towards us, and bending +his body so that his hands rested on his knees, he fixed his gaze upon us +for some time; but, seeing that we remained immovable, he began to throw +himself into the most extravagant attitudes, shaking his foot from time to +time. When he found that all his violence had no effect, he turned his +rear to us in a most laughable manner, and absolutely groaned in spirit +when he found that this last insult failed of success. + +He stood perplexed and not knowing what next to do, which gave Mr. Hume an +opportunity to call out to him, and with considerable address he at length +got the savage to approach close up to him; Mr. Hume himself having +advanced a short distance from the animals in the first instance. As soon +as I thought the savage had sufficiently recovered from his alarm, I went +up to him with a tomahawk, the use of which he immediately guessed. We now +observed that the natives who had fled from the river, had been employed +in setting a net. They had placed it in a semicircle, with either end to +the shore, and rude pieces of wood were attached to it to keep the upper +part perpendicular. It was in fact a sein, only that the materials, with +the exception of the net-work, were simpler and rougher than cork or +lead--for which last, we afterwards discovered stones had been +substituted. + +We had on this occasion a remarkable instance of the docility of the +natives of the interior, or of the power they have of subduing their +apprehensions; manifesting the opposite extremes of fear and confidence. +These men whom we had thus surprised, and who, no doubt, imagined that we +were about to destroy them, having apparently never seen nor heard of +white men before, must have taken us for something preternatural; yet from +the extremity of fear that had prompted them to set their woods in flames, +they in a brief space so completely subdued those fears as to approach +the very beings who had so strongly excited their alarm. The savage who +had been the principal actor in the scene, was an elderly man, rather +descending to the vale of years than what might be strictly called aged. +I know not how it was, but I regarded him with peculiar interest. +Mr. Hume's manners had in a great measure contributed to allay his evident +agitation; but, from the moment I approached him, I thought there was a +shade of anxiety upon his brow, and an expression of sorrow over his +features, the cause of which did not originate with us. I could see in a +moment, that his bosom was full even to bursting, and he seemed to claim +at once our sympathy and our protection, although we were ignorant of that +which oppressed him. We had not long been seated together, when some of +his tribe mustered sufficient courage to join him. Both Mr. Hume and I +were desirous of seeing the net drawn, but the old man raised some +objection, by pointing to the heavens and towards the sun. After a little +more solicitation, however, he gave a whistle, and, four or five natives +having obeyed the summons, he directed them to draw the net, but they were +unfortunate, and our wish to ascertain the kind of fish contained in the +river was disappointed. As his tribe gathered round him, the old chief +threw a melancholy glance upon them, and endeavoured, as much as he could, +to explain the cause of that affliction which, as I had rightly judged, +weighed heavily upon him. It appeared, then, that a violent cutaneous +disease raged throughout the tribe, that was sweeping them off in great +numbers. He called several young men to Mr. Hume and myself, who had been +attacked by this singular malady. Nothing could exceed the anxiety of his +explanations, or the mild and soothing tone in which he addressed his +people, and it really pained me that I could not assist him in his +distress. We now discovered the use to which the conical substance that +had been deposited with such unusual care in one of the huts, was applied. +There were few of the natives present who were not more or less marked +with it, and it was no doubt, indicative of mourning. + +DEPARTURE OF THE NATIVES. + +Some of the men, however, were painted with red and yellow ochre, with +which it was evident to me they had besmeared themselves since our +appearance, most likely in preparing for the combat in which they fancied +they would be engaged. We distributed such presents as we had to those +around us, and when we pursued our journey, the majority accompanied us, +nor did they wholly leave us until we had passed the place to which their +women had retired. They might have left us when they pleased, for we +intended them no harm; as it was, however, they struck into the brushes to +join their families, and we pushed on to make up for lost time. + +The travelling near the river had been so bad, not only in consequence of +the nature of the soil and brush, but from the numerous gullies that had +been formed by torrents, as they poured into its channel after heavy rains +and floods, that it was thought advisable to keep at a greater distance +from it. We turned away, therefore, to the plains, and found them of much +firmer surface. They partook, however, of the same general character as +the plains we had traversed more to the eastward. Their soil was a light +sandy loam, and the same succulent plants still continued to prevail upon +them, which we have already noticed as existing upon the other plains. +Both emus and kangaroos were seen, though not in any considerable numbers, +but our dogs were not in a condition to run, and were all but killed by +the extreme heat of the weather. We had fallen on a small pool of water +shortly after we started in the morning, but we could do no more than +refresh ourselves and the animals at it. In the afternoon, we again turned +towards the river, and found it unaltered. Its water was still salt, and +from the increased number of wild fowl and pelicans upon it, as well as +from the general flatness of the country, I certainly thought we were +rapidly approaching some inland sea. It was, however, uncertain how long +we should be enabled to continue on the river. The animals were all of +them extremely weak, and every day increased the probable difficulty of +our return. There was not the least appearance of a break-up of the +drought, the heavens were without a cloud, and the atmosphere was so clear +that the outline of the moon could be distinctly seen, although she was +far in her wane. + +BRINE SPRINGS IN THE RIVER. + +On the 6th, we journeyed again through a barren scrub, although on firmer +ground, and passed numerous groups of huts. At about eight miles from our +last encampment, we came upon the river, where its banks were of +considerable height. In riding along them, Mr. Hume thought he observed a +current running, and be called to inform me of the circumstance. On a +closer examination, we discovered some springs in the very bed of the +river, from which a considerable stream was gushing, and from the +incrustation around them, we had no difficulty in guessing at their +nature: in fact, they were brine springs, and I collected a quantity of +salt from the brink of them. + +DISTRESS FOR WANT OF FRESH WATER. + +After such a discovery, we could not hope to keep our position. No doubt +the current we had observed on first reaching the river, was caused by +springs that had either escaped our notice or were under water. Here was +at length a local cause for its saltness that destroyed at once the +anticipation and hope of our being near its termination, and, +consequently, the ardour with which we should have pressed on to decide so +interesting a point. + +Our retreat would have been a measure of absolute necessity ere this, had +we not found occasional supplies of fresh water, the last pond of which +was now about eighteen miles behind us. + +OUR COURSE ARRESTED. + +Whether we should again find any, was a doubtful question, and I hesitated +to run the risk. The animals were already, from bad food, and from the +effects of the river water, so weak, that they could scarcely carry their +loads, and I was aware, if any of the bullocks once fell, he would never +rise again. Under such circumstances, I thought it better to halt the +party at the edge of the scrub, though the feed was poor, and the water +not drinkable. Our situation required most serious consideration. It was +necessary that we should move either backward or forward in the morning. +Yet we could not adopt either measure with satisfaction to ourselves, +under such unfavorable circumstances. I determined to relieve my own mind +by getting the animals into a place of safety, as soon as possible; and, +as the only effectual way of doing this was to retire upon the nearest +fresh water, I resolved at once to do so. The party turned back on the +morning of the 6th; nor do I think the cattle would ever have reached +their destination had we not found a few buckets of rain water in the +cleft of a rock, to refresh them. Thus it will appear that under our most +trying circumstances, we received aid from Providence, and that the bounty +of Heaven was extended towards us, when we had least reason to expect it. + +Notwithstanding we had been thus forced to a partial retreat, both +Mr. Hume and myself were unwilling to quit the pursuit of the river, in so +unsatisfactory a manner. There was no difference in the appearance of the +country to the westward of it; but a seeming interminable flat stretched +away in that direction. A journey across it was not likely, therefore, to +be attended with any favorable results, since it was improbable that any +other leading feature was within our reach. I proposed, therefore, to take +the most serviceable of the horses with me down the river, that, in the +event of our finding fresh water, we might again push forward. Mr. Hume +requesting to be permitted to accompany me, it was arranged that we should +start on the 8th, thereby giving the animals a day's rest. We had not seen +any natives since our parting with the chief horde; and as we were +stationed at some little distance from the river, I hoped that they would +not visit the camp during my absence. This was the only circumstance that +gave me uneasiness, but the men had generally been behaving so well that I +relied a great deal upon them. + +EXTRAORDINARY SOUND. + +About 3 p.m. on the 7th, Mr. Hume and I were occupied tracing the chart +upon the ground. The day had been remarkably fine, not a cloud was there +in the heavens, nor a breath of air to be felt. On a sudden we heard what +seemed to be the report of a gun fired at the distance of between five and +six miles. It was not the hollow sound of an earthly explosion, or the +sharp cracking noise of falling timber, but in every way resembled a +discharge of a heavy piece of ordnance. On this all were agreed, but no +one was certain whence the sound proceeded. Both Mr. Hume and myself had +been too attentive to our occupation to form a satisfactory opinion; but +we both thought it came from the N.W. I sent one of the men immediately up +a tree, but he could observe nothing unusual. The country around him +appeared to be equally flat on all sides, and to be thickly wooded: +whatever occasioned the report, it made a strong impression on all of us; +and to this day, the singularity of such a sound, in such a situation, +is a matter of mystery to me. + +FURTHER ATTEMPT TO EXPLORE THE RIVER. + +On the 8th, we commenced our journey down the river, accompanied by two +men, and a pack-horse, carrying our provisions on one side and a bucket of +water on the other. Keeping in general near the stream, but making +occasional turns into the plains, we got to the brush from which the party +had turned back, about 3 p.m. Passing through, we crossed a small plain, +of better soil and vegetation than usual; but it soon gave place to the +sandy loam of the interior; nor did we observe any material alteration, +either in the country or the river, as we rode along. The flooded-gum +trees on the banks of the latter, were of beautiful growth, but in the +brushes dividing the plains, box and other eucalypti, with cypresses and +many minor shrubs, prevailed. We slept on the river side, and calculated +our distance from the camp at about twenty-six or twenty-eight miles. + +The horses would not drink the river water, so that we were obliged to +give them a pint each from our own supply. On the following morning we +continued our journey. The country was generally open to the eastward, and +we had fine views of D'Urban's Group, distant from twenty to twenty-five +miles. About noon, turning towards the river to rest, both ourselves and +the horses, we passed through brush land for about a mile and a half. When +we came upon its banks, we found them composed of a red loam with sandy +superficies. We had, in the course of the day, crossed several creeks, but +in none of them could we find water, although their channels were of great +depth. + +The day had been extremely warm, and from shaking in the barrel our supply +of water had diminished to a little more than a pint; it consequently +became a matter of serious consideration, how far it would he prudent to +proceed farther; for, however capable we were of bearing additional +fatigue, it was evident our animals would soon fail, since they trembled +exceedingly, and had the look of total exhaustion. We calculated that we +were forty miles from the camp, in a S.W. direction, a fearful distance +under our circumstances, since we could not hope to obtain relief for two +days. Independently however, of the state of the animals, our spirits were +damped by the nature of the country, and the change which had taken place +on the soil, upon which it was impossible that water could rest; while the +general appearance of the interior showed how much it had suffered from +drought. On the other hand, although the waters of the river had become +worse to the taste, the river itself had increased in size, and stretched +away to the westward, with all the uniformity of a magnificent canal, and +gave every promise of increasing importance; while the pelicans were in +such numbers upon it as to be quite dazzling to the eye. Considering, +however, that perseverance would only involve us in inextricable +difficulties, and that it would also be useless to risk the horses, since +we had gained a distance to which the bullocks could not have been +brought, I intimated my intention of giving up the further pursuit of the +river, though it was with extreme reluctance that I did so. + +CALLED IT THE "DARLING". + +As soon as we had bathed and finished our scanty meal, I took the bearings +of D'Urban's Group, and found them to be S. 58 E. about thirty-three miles +distant; and as we mounted our horses, I named the river the "Darling," +as a lasting memorial of the respect I bear the governor. + +ABANDON THE ATTEMPT. + +I should be doing injustice to Mr. Hume and my men, if I did not express +my conviction that they were extremely unwilling to yield to +circumstances, and that, had I determined on continuing the journey, they +would have followed me with cheerfulness, whatever the consequences might +have been. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + +Intercourse with the natives--Their appearance and condition--Remarks on +the Salt or Darling River--Appearance of the marshes on our return-- +Alarm for safety of the provision party--Return to Mount Harris--Miserable +condition of the natives--Circumstances attending the slaughter of two +Irish runaways--Bend our course towards the Castlereagh--Wallis's Ponds-- +Find the famished natives feeding on gum--Channel of the Castlereagh-- +Character of the country in its vicinity--Another tribe of natives-- +Amicable intercourse with them--Morrisset's chain of Ponds--Again reach +the Darling River ninety miles higher up than where we first struck +upon it. + + +We kept near the river as we journeyed homewards, and in striking across a +plain, found an isolated rock of quartz and jasper, just showing itself +partially above the surface of the ground. + +We were anxious to get to the small plain I have mentioned, if possible, +for the sake of the animals, and pushed on rapidly for it. About 4 p.m. we +had reached our sleeping place of the previous evening, and being +overpowered by thirst, we stopped in hopes that by making our tea strong +we might destroy, in some measure, the nauseous taste of the water. The +horses were spancelled and a fire lit. Whilst we were sitting patiently +for the boiling of the tins, Mr. Hume observed at a considerable distance +above us, a large body of natives under some gum trees. They were not near +enough for us to observe them distinctly, but it was evident that they +were watching our motions. We did not take any notice of them for some +time, but at last I thought it better to call out to them, and accordingly +requested Mr. Hume to do so. In a moment the whole of them ran forward and +dashed into the river, having been on the opposite side, with an uproar I +had never witnessed on any former occasion. + +INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES. + +Mr. Hume thought they intended an attack, and the horses had taken fright +and galloped away. I determined, therefore, to fire at once upon them if +they pressed up the bank on which we were posted. Mr. Hume went with me +to the crest of it, and we rather angrily beckoned to the foremost of the +natives to stop. They mistook our meaning, but laid all their spears in a +heap as they came up. We then sat down on the bank and they immediately +did the same; nor did they stir until we beckoned to them after the horses +had been secured. + +As they conducted themselves so inoffensively, we gave them everything we +had to spare. My gun seemed to excite their curiosity, as they had seen +Mr. Hume shoot a cockatoo with it; they must consequently have been close +to us for the greater part of the day, as the bird was killed in the +morning. It was of a species new to me, being smaller than the common +white cockatoo, and having a large scarlet-and-yellow instead of a +pine-yellow top-knot. + +Having stayed about half an hour with them, we remounted our horses, and +struck away from the river into the plains, while the natives went up its +banks to join their hordes. Those whom we saw were about twenty-seven in +number and the most of them were strangers. + +DISTRESS FROM THIRST. + +It was some time after sunset before we reached the little plain on which +we had arranged to sleep, and when we dismounted we were in a truly +pitiable state. I bad been unable to refrain from drinking copiously at +the river, and now became extremely sick. Mr. Hume had been scarcely more +prudent than myself, but on him the water had a contrary effect, as well +as upon Hopkinson. The tinker was the only man fit for duty, and it was +well for us that such was the case, as the horses made frequent attempts +to stray, and would have left us in a pretty plight had they succeeded. We +reached the camp on the following day a little before sunset, nor was I +more rejoiced to dismount from my wearied horse than to learn that +everything in the camp had been regular during our absence and that the +men had kept on the best terms with the natives who had paid them frequent +visits. + +The bullocks had improved, but were still extremely weak, and as the +horses we had employed on the last journey required a day or two's rest, +it was arranged that we should not break up our camp until the 12th, +beyond which period we could not stop, in consequence of the low state of +our salt provisions, we having barely sufficient to last to Mount Harris, +at the rate of two pounds per week. + +REMARKS ON THE NATIVES. + +The morning after we returned from our excursion, a large party of +natives, about seventy in number, visited the camp. On this occasion, the +women and children passed behind the tents, but did not venture to stop. +Most of the men had spears, and were unusually inquisitive and forward. +Several of them carried fire-sticks under the influence of the disease I +have already noticed, whilst others were remarked to have violent +cutaneous eruptions all over the body. We were pretty well on the alert; +notwithstanding which, every minor article was seized with a quickness +that would have done credit to a most finished juggler. One of the natives +thus picked up my comb and toothbrush, but as he did not attempt to +conceal them, they were fortunately recovered. After staying with us a +short time the men followed the women. They appeared to be strangers who +had come from a distance. + +CUSTOMS OF THE NATIVES. + +The natives of the Darling are a clean-limbed, well-conditioned race, +generally speaking. They seemingly occupy permanent huts, but their tribe +did net bear any proportion to the size or number of their habitations. +It was evident their population had been thinned. The customs of these +distant tribes, as far as we could judge, were similar to those of the +mountain blacks, and they are essentially the same people, although their +language differs. They lacerate their bodies, but do not extract the front +teeth. We saw but few cloaks among them, since the opossum does not +inhabit the interior. Those that were noticed, were made of the red +kangaroo skin. In appearance, these men are stouter in the bust than at +the lower extremities; they have broad noses, sunken eyes, overhanging +eyebrows, and thick lips. The men are much better looking than the women. +Both go perfectly naked, if I except the former, who wear nets over the +loins and across the forehead, and bones through the cartilages of the +nose. Their chief food is fish, of which they have great supplies in the +river; still they have their seasons for hunting their emus and kangaroos. +The nets they use for this purpose, as well as for fishing, are of great +length, and are made upon large frames. These people do not appear to have +warlike habits nor do they take any pride in their arms, which differ +little from those used by the inland tribes, and are assimilated to them +as far as the materials will allow. One powerful man, however, had a +regular trident, for which Mr. Hume offered many things without success. +He plainly intimated to us that he had a use for it, but whether against +an enemy or to secure prey, we could not understand. I was most anxious to +have ascertained if any religious ceremonies obtained among them, but the +difficulty of making them comprehend our meaning was insurmountable; and +to the same cause may be attributed the circumstance of my being unable to +collect any satisfactory vocabulary of their language. They evinced a +strange perversity, or obstinacy rather, in repeating words, although it +was evident that they knew they were meant as questions. The pole we +observed in the creek, on the evening previously to our making the +Darling, was not the only one that fell under our notice; our impression +therefore, that they were fixed by the natives to propitiate some deity, +was confirmed. It would appear that the white pigment was an indication of +mourning. Whether these people have an idea of a superintending Providence +I doubt, but they evidently dread evil agency. On the whole I should say +they are a people, at present, at the very bottom of the scale of +humanity. + +REMARKS ON THE DARLING RIVER. + +We struck the Darling River in lat. 29 degrees 37 minutes S. and in E. +long. 145 degrees 33 minutes, and traced it down for about sixty-six miles +in a direct line to the S.W. If I might hazard an opinion from appearance, +to whatever part of the interior it leads, its source must be far to the +N.E. or N. The capacity of its channel, and the terrific floods that must +sometimes rage in it, would argue that it is influenced by tropical rains, +which alone would cause such floods. It is likely that it seldom arrives +at so reduced a state as that in which we found it, and that, generally +speaking, it has a sufficient depth of water for the purposes of inland +navigation: in such case its future importance cannot be questioned, since +it most probably receives the chief streams falling westerly from the +coast ranges. But, with every anticipation of the benefit that may at some +time or other be derived from this remarkable and central stream, it is +incumbent on me to state that the country, through which it flows, holds +out but little prospect of advantage. Certainly the portion we know of it, +is far from encouraging. The extent of alluvial soil, between the inner +and outer banks of the river, is extremely limited, and, instead of being +covered with sward, is in most places over-run by the polygonum. Beyond +this the plains of the interior stretch away, whose character and soil +must change, ere they can be available to any good purpose. But there is a +singular want of vegetable decay in the interior of New Holland, and that +powerfully argues its recent origin. + +REMARKS ON THE COUNTRY. + +There is no life upon its surface, if I may so express myself; but the +stillness of death reigns in its brushes, and over its plains. It cannot, +however, be doubted that we visited the interior during a most unfavorable +season. Probably in ordinary ones it wears a different appearance, but its +deserts are of great extent, and its productions are of little value. + +Agreeably to our arrangements, we broke up our camp at an early hour on +the morning of the 12th, and proceeded up the river to the junction of +New Year's Creek. We then struck away in an easterly direction from it, +detaching a man to trace the creek up, lest we should pass any water; and +we should certainly have been without it had we not taken this precaution. + +On the following day, we again passed to the eastward, through an open +country, having picturesque views of Oxley's Table Land. We crossed our +track about noon, and struck on the creek at about five miles beyond it, +and we were fortunate enough to procure both water and grass. The timber +upon the plains, between us and the Darling, we found to be a rough gum, +but box prevailed in the neighbourhood of the creek at this part of it. + +On the 14th, we changed our direction more to the southward, but made a +short journey, in consequence of being obliged to make some slight repairs +on the boat carnage. + +REGAIN OUR OLD ROUTE. + +On the 15th, we kept an E.S.E. course, and, crossing the creek at an early +hour, got upon our old track, which we kept. We had the lateral ridge of +the Pink Hills upon our right, and travelled through a good deal of brush. +Four or five natives joined us, and two followed us to the end of our +day's journey. In the course of the evening, they endeavoured to pilfer +whatever was in their reach, but were detected putting a tin into a bush, +and soon took to their heels. This was the first instance we had of open +theft among the natives of the interior. + +We passed Mosquito Brush on the 18th, but found the ponds quite dry, we +were, therefore, under the necessity of pushing on, to shorten the next +day's journey, as we could not expect to get water nearer than the +marshes. At noon, on the 19th, we entered the plain, and once more saw +them spreading in dreariness before us. While the party was crossing to +the first channel, I rode to the left, in order to examine the appearance +of the country in the direction of the wood, and as far as I skirted the +reeds had my impressions confirmed as to their partial extension. I was +obliged, however, to join the men without completing the circuit of the +marshes. They had found the first channel dry, and had passed on to the +other, in which, fortunately, a small quantity of water still remained. +It was, however, so shallow as to expose the backs of the fish in it, and +a number of crows had congregated, and were pecking at them. Wishing to +satisfy my mind as to the distance to which the river extended to the +northward, Mr. Hume rode with me on the following day, to examine the +country in that direction, leaving the men stationary. We found that the +reeds gradually decreased in body, until, at length, they ceased, or gave +place to bulrushes. There were general appearances of inundation, and of +the subsidence of waters, but none that led us to suppose that any channel +existed beyond the flooded lands. + +ALARM FOR THE SAFETY OF THE PROVISION PARTY. + +On our return to the camp, we observed dense masses of smoke rising at the +head of the marshes, and immediately under Mount Foster. This excited our +alarm for the safety of the party we hoped to find at Mount Harris, and +obliged us to make forced marches, to relieve it if threatened by the +natives. + +On the 22nd, we crossed the plains of the Macquarie, and surprised a +numerous tribe on the banks of the river; and the difficulty we found in +getting any of them to approach us, their evident timidity, and the +circumstance of one of them having on a jacket, tended to increase our +apprehensions. When two or three came to us, they intimated that white +men either had been or were under Mount Harris, but we were left in +uncertainty and passed a most anxious night. + +The body of reeds was still on fire; and the light embers were carried to +an amazing distance by the wind, falling like a black-shower around us. As +we knew that the natives never made such extensive conflagration, unless +they had some mischievous object in view, our apprehension for the safety +of Riley, with his supplies, was increased. + +At the earliest dawn, we pushed for the hill. In passing that part of the +meadows under Mount Foster, we observed that the grass had also been +consumed, and we scarcely recognized the ground from its altered +appearance. As we approached Mount Harris, we saw recent traces of cattle, +but none were visible on the plains. Under the hill, however, we could +distinctly see that a hut of some kind had been erected, and it is +impossible for me to describe the relief we felt when a soldier came +forward to reconnoitre us. I could no longer doubt the safety of the +party, and this was confirmed by the rest of the men turning out to +welcome us. It appeared that our suspicions with regard to the natives had +not been without foundation, since they attempted to surprise the camp, +and it was supposed the firing of the marshes was done with a view to +collect the distant tribes, to make a second attack; so that our arrival +was most opportune. + +The party I found awaiting our arrival at Mount Harris consisted of one +soldier, Riley, who had the charge of the supplies, and a drayman. They +had found the paper I had fixed against the tree, and also the letters I +had hid, and had forwarded them to Sydney, by another soldier and a +prisoner; which had weakened their party a goad deal. Riley informed me, +that he had been between a month and three weeks at the station, and that +knowing our provisions must have run short he had expected us much earlier +than we had made our appearance. + +My dispatches stated, that additional supplies had been forwarded for my +use, together with horses and bullocks, in the event of my requiring them. +On examination, the former were found to be in excellent order; and, as it +would take some time to carry any changes I might contemplate, or find it +necessary to make, into effect, I determined to give the men who had been +with me a week's rest. + +ENCAMP AT MOUNT HARRIS. + +The camp was made snug; and as the weather had become much cooler I +thought it a good opportunity to slaughter one of the bullocks, in order +to guard against any bad effects of our having been living for some weeks +exclusively on salt provisions. I was also induced to this measure, from a +wish to preserve my supplies as much as possible. + +These matters having been arranged, I had a temporary awning erected near +the river, and was for three or four days busily employed writing an +account of our journey for the Governor's information. + +Having closed my despatches, and answered the numerous friendly letters I +had received, my attention was next turned to the changes that had taken +place at Mount Harris during our absence. The Macquarie, I found, had +wholly ceased to flow, and now consisted of a chain of ponds. Such of the +minor vegetation as had escaped the fires of the natives, had perished +under the extreme heat of the season. The acacia pendula stood leafless +upon the plains, and the polygonum junceum appeared to be the only plant +that had withstood the effects of the drought. Yet, notwithstanding this +general depression of the vegetable kingdom, the animals that had been +brought from Wellington Valley were in the best condition, and were, +indeed, too fat for effective labour; it might, therefore, be reasonably +presumed, that herbage affording such nourishment in so unfavourable a +season, would be of the richest quality, if fresh and vigorous under the +influence of seasonable, and not excessive, rains. + +FIRING OF THE GREAT MARSHES. + +The appearance of the country was, however, truly melancholy; there was +not a flower in bloom, nor a green object to be seen. Whether our arrival +had increased their alarm, is uncertain, but the natives continued to fire +the great marshes, and as the element raged amongst them, large bodies of +smoke rose over the horizon like storm clouds, and had the effect of +giving additional dreariness to the scene. I am inclined to think that +they made these conflagrations to procure food, by seizing whatsoever +might issue from the flames, as snakes, birds, or other animals; for they +had taken every fish in the river, and the low state of its waters had +enabled them to procure an abundance of muscles from its bed, which they +had consumed with their characteristic improvidence. They were, +consequently, in a starving condition, and so pitiable were their +indications of it, that I was induced to feed such of them as visited the +camp, notwithstanding their late misconduct; being likewise anxious to +bring about a good understanding, as the best means of ensuring the safety +of the smaller party when we should separate, of which I had reason to be +doubtful. These people had killed two white men not long before my arrival +among them, and as the circumstances attending the slaughter are singular, +I shall relate them. + +SLAUGHTER OF TWO IRISH RUNAWAYS. + +The parties were two Irish runaways, who thought they could make their way +to Timor. They escaped from Wellington Valley with a fortnight's provision +each, and a couple of dogs, and proceeded down the Macquarie. About the +cataract, they fell in with the Mount Harris tribe, and remained with them +for some days, when they determined on pursuing their journey. The blacks, +however, wanted to get possession of their dogs, and a resistance on the +part of the Europeans brought on a quarrel. It appears, that before the +blacks proceeded to extremities, they furnished the Irishmen, who were +unarmed, with weapons, and then told them to defend themselves, but +whether against equal or inferior numbers, I am uninformed. One of them +soon fell, which the other observing, he took his knife out, and cut the +throats of both the dogs before the blacks had time to put him to death. +He was, however, sacrificed; and both the men were eaten by the tribe +generally. I questioned several on the subject, but they preserved the +most sullen silence, neither acknowledging nor denying the fact. + +ARBUTHNOT'S RANGE. + +Mr. Hume had been one day on Mount Harris, and while there, had laid his +compass on a large rock, near to which Mr. Oxley's boat had been burnt. +To his surprise, he found the needle affected; and his bearings were all +wrong. I subsequently went up to ascertain the extent of the error +produced, and found it precisely the same as Mr. Hume noticed. When I +placed the compass on the rock, Mount Foster bore from me N. by W., the +true bearing of the one hill from the other being N.N.W. My placing my +notebook under the compass did not alter the effect, nor did the card move +until I raised the instrument a couple of feet above the stone, when it +first became violently agitated, and then settled correctly; and my +bearings of the highest parts of Arbuthnot's Range, and of its centre, +were as follows: + +Mount Exmouth to the N ...... N. 86 E. +Centre....................... N. 85 E. +Vernon's Peak................ N. 89 E. +Distance 70 miles. + +Having finished my reports and letters, it became necessary to consider +the best point on which to move, and to fix a day for our departure from +Mount Harris. It struck me that having found so important a feature as the +Darling River, the Governor would approve my endeavouring to regain it +more to the southward, in order to trace it down. I, therefore, detached +Mr. Hume to survey the country in that direction, and to ascertain if a +descent upon the Bogen district would be practicable, through which I had +been informed a considerable river forced itself. The report he made on +his return was such as to deter me from that attempt, but he stated that +the country for 30 miles from the Macquarie was well watered, and superior +to any he had passed over during the journey; beyond that distance, it +took up the character of the remote interior, and alternated with plains +and brush, the soil being too sandy to retain water on its surface. He saw +some hills from the extremity of his journey, bearing by compass W.S.W. +We consequently determined to make for the Castlereagh, agreeably to our +instructions. Preparations were made for breaking up the camp, all the +various arrangements in the change of animals were completed, the boat +carriage was exchanged for a dray, and I took Boyle in the place of +Norman, whose timidity in the bush rendered him unfit for service. + +CIRCUIT OF THE GREAT MARSHES. + +There is a small hill on the opposite side of the river, and immediately +facing Mount Harris, and to the S.E. of it there is a small lagoon, the +head of a creek, by means of which its superfluous waters are carried off. +This creek runs parallel to the river for about ten miles, and enters the +marshes at the S.E. angle. This I ascertained one day in riding to carry +on my survey of the southern extremity of the marshes, and to join my line +of route by making the circuit of that part of them. I found that the +river was turned to its northerly course by a rising ground of forest +land, which checks its further progress westerly. I proceeded round +the S.W. angle, and then, taking a northerly course, got down to the +bottom of the first great marsh, thus completing the circuit of them. I +did not return to the camp until after 10 p.m., having crossed the river +at day-light, nor did we procure any water from the time we left the +stream to the moment of our recrossing it. + +WALLIS'S PONDS. + +Having completed our various arrangements, and closed our letters, we +struck our tents on the morning of the 7th March; we remained, however, to +witness the departure of Riley's party for Wellington Valley, and then +left the Macquarie on an E.N.E. course for Wallis's Ponds, and made them +at about 14 miles. They undoubtedly empty themselves into the marshes, and +are a continuation of that chain of ponds on which I left the party in +Mr. Hume's charge. About a mile from Mount Harris, we passed a small dry +creek, that evidently lays the country under water in the wet seasons. +There was a blue-gum flat to the eastward of it, which we crossed, and +then entered a brush of acacia pendula and box. The soil upon the plain +was an alluvial deposit; that in the brushes was sandy. From the extremity +of the plain, Mount Harris bore, by compass, S.W. by W.; Mount Foster due +west. The scrub through which we were penetrating, at length became so +dense, that we found it impossible to travel in a direct line through it, +and frequent ridges of cypresses growing closely together, turned us +repeatedly from our course. The country at length became clearer, and we +travelled over open forest of box, casuarina, and cypresses, on a sandy +soil; the first predominating. For about two miles before we made the +creek, the country was not heavily timbered, the acacia pendula +succeeding the larger trees. The ground had a good covering of grass upon +it, and there were few of the salsolaceous plants, so abundant on the +western plains, to be found. The rough-gum abounded near the creek, with a +small tree bearing a hard round nut, and we had the luxury of plenty of +water. + +We remained stationary on the 8th, in hopes that Riley would have met the +soldier who had been sent back to Wellington Valley, and that he would +have forwarded any letters to us, of which he might have been the bearer. +The day, however, passed over without realizing our expectations; and we +started once more for the interior, and cut ourselves off from all +communication with society. + +MORRISSET'S PONDS. + +We made for Morrisset's chain of ponds, and travelled over rich and +extensive plains, divided by plantations of cypress, box, and casuarina, +in the early and latter period of the day. About noon we entered a dense +forest of cypresses, which continued for three miles, when the cypresses +became mixed with casuarina, box, and mountain-gum, a tree we had not +remarked before in so low a situation. We struck upon the creek after a +journey of about 15 miles. It had a sandy bed, and was extremely tortuous +in its course, nor was it until after a considerable search, that we at +length succeeded in finding water, at which a party of natives were +encamped. The moment they saw us, they fled, and left all their utensils, +&c. behind them. Among other things, we found a number of bark troughs, +filled with the gum of the mimosa, and vast quantities of gum made into +cakes upon the ground. From this it would appear these unfortunate +creatures were reduced to the last extremity, and, being unable to procure +any other nourishment, had been obliged to collect this mucilaginous food. + +The plains we traversed, were of uniform equality of surface. Water +evidently lodges and continues on them long after a fall of rain, and in +wet seasons they must, I should imagine, be full of quagmires, and almost +impassable. + +On the 10th, we passed through a country that differed in no material +point from that already described. We stopped at 10 a.m. under some brush, +in the centre of a large plain, from which Arbuthnot's range bore S. 84 E. +distant from 50 to 55 miles, and afterwards traversed or rather crossed, +those extensive tracts described by Mr. Evans as being under water and +covered with reeds, in 1817. They now bore a very different appearance, +being firm and dry. The soil was in general good, and covered with forest +grass and a species of oxalia. We did not observe any reeds, or the signs +of inundation, but, as is invariably the case with plains in the interior, +they were of too even surface, as I have so lately remarked, to admit of +the waters running quickly off them; and no doubt, when they became +saturated, many quagmires are formed, that would very much impede the +movements of an expedition. + +REACH THE CASTLEREAGH RIVER. + +We reached the Castlereagh about 4 p.m., and although its channel could +not have been less than 130 yards in breadth, there was apparently not a +drop of water in it. Its bed consisted of pure sand and reeds; amid the +latter, we found a small pond of 15 yards circumference, after a long +search. There is a considerable dip in the country towards the river, at +about two miles from it; and the intervening brush was full of kangaroo, +which, I fancy, had congregated to a spot where there was abundance of +food for them. The soil covering the space was of the richest quality, +and the timber upon it consisted of box, mountain gum, and the angophora +lanceolata, a tree that is never found except on rich ground. + +WANT OF WATER; CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. + +It appeared that our troubles were to recommence, and that in order to +continue on the Castlereagh, it would be necessary for Mr. Hume and myself +to undertake those fatiguing journeys in search of water that had so +exhausted us already: and after all, it was doubtful how soon we might be +forced back. I had certainly expected that, on our gaining the banks of +the river, we should have had a constant supply of water, but the +circumstance of the Castlereagh having not only ceased to flow, but being +absolutely dry, while it afforded the best and clearest proof of the +severity and continuance of the drought in the interior, at the same time +damped the spirits and ardour of the men. We kept the left bank of the +river as we proceeded down it, and passed two or three larger ponds about +a mile below where we had slept, but there they ceased. The bed of the +river became one of pure sand, nor did there appear to be any chance of +our finding any water in it. I stopped the party at about eight miles, and +desired the men to get their dinners, to give Mr. Hume and myself time to +search for a supply upon the plains. Disappointed to the left, we crossed +the channel of the Castlereagh, and struck over a small plain upon the +right bank, and at the extremity of it, came upon a swamp, from which we +immediately returned for the cattle, and got them unloaded by seven +o'clock. As there was sufficient pasture around us, I proposed to Mr. Hume +on the following day, to leave the party stationary, and to ride down the +river to see how far its present appearances continued. Like the +generality of rivers of the interior, it had, where we struck upon it, +outer banks to confine its waters during floods, and to prevent them from +spreading generally over the country; the space between the two banks +being of the richest soil, and the timber chiefly of the angophora kind. +Flooded-gum overhung the inner banks of the river, or grew upon the many +islands, with casuarina. It became evident, however, that the outer banks +declined in height as we proceeded down the river, nor was it long before +they ceased altogether. As we rode along, we found that the inner ones +were fast decreasing in height also. Riding under a hanging wood of the +angophora, which had ceased for a time, we were induced to break off to +our right, to examine some large flooded-gum trees about a couple of miles +to the N.W. of us. On arriving near them, we were astonished to find that +they concealed a serpentine lagoon that had a belt of reeds round it. +Keeping this lagoon upon our right, we at length came to the head of it, +past which the river sweeps. Crossing the channel of the river, we +continued to ride in an easterly direction to examine the country. In +doing this, we struck on a second branch of the Castlereagh, leading +W. by N. into a plain, which it of course inundates at times, and running +up it, we found its bed at the point of separation, to be considerably +higher than that of the main channel, which still continued of pure +sand--and was stamped all over with the prints of the feet of natives, +kangaroos, emus, and wild dogs, We then turned again to the head of the +lagoon, and took the following bearings of Arbuthnot's range: + +Mount Exmouth .......... E. 90 S. +Centre Range ........... E. 35 E. +Vernon's Peak .......... E. 20 S. + +From the head of the lagoon, the river appeared to enter a reedy hollow, +shaded by a long line of flooded gum trees, and on proceeding to it, we +found the banks ceased here altogether; and that a very considerable plain +extended both to the right and the left, which cannot fail of being +frequently laid under water. + +LAGOONS AND CREEKS OF THE CASTLEREAGH. + +On the following morning we moved the party to the lagoon, and, passing +its head, encamped to the north of it; after which we again rode down the +river in search of water. It continued to hold a straight and northerly +course for about five miles, having a plain on either side. The reeds that +had previously covered the channel then suddenly ceased, and the channel, +contracting in breadth, gained in depth: it became extremely serpentine, +and at length lost all the character and appearance of a river. It had +many back channels, as large as the main one, serving to overflow the +neighbouring country. We succeeded in finding a small pond of water in one +of the former, hardly large enough to supply our necessities, but as it +enabled us to push so much further on, we turned towards the lagoon, +making a circuitous journey to the right, across a large plain, bounded to +the north by low acacia brush and box. We struck upon a creek at the +further extremity of the plain, in which there was a tolerably sized pond. +It appeared from the traces of men, that some natives had been there the +day before; but we did not see any of them. The water was extremely muddy +and unfit for use. The lagoon at which we had encamped, was of less +importance than we had imagined. + +JOURNEY DOWN THE RIVER. + +Whilst Mr. Hume led the party down the river, I rode up its northward +bank, to examine it more closely. I found it to be a serpentine sheet of +about three miles in length, gradually decreasing in depth until it +separated into two small creeks. In following one of them up, I observed +that they re-united at the distance of about two miles, and that the +lagoon was filled from the eastward, and not by the river as I had at +first supposed. The waters at the head of the lagoon were putrid, nor was +there a fish in, or a wild fowl upon it. The only bird we saw was a +beautiful eagle, of the osprey kind, with plumage like a sea gull, which +had a nest in the tree over the tents. + +In turning to overtake the party I rode through a great deal of acacia +scrub, and on arriving at the place at which I expected to have overtaken +them, I found they had pushed on. + +The Castlereagh, as I rode down it, diminished in size considerably, and +became quite choked up with rushes and brambles. Rough-gum again made its +appearance, with swamp-oak and a miserable acacia scrub outside. The +country on both sides of the river seemed to be an interminable flat, and +the soil of an inferior description. + +WRETCHED APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. + +I came up with with Mr. Hume about 1 o'clock and we again pushed forward +at 3, and halted for the night without water, the want of which the cattle +did not feel. The river held a general westerly course, and the country in +its neighbourhood became extremely depressed and low. On the following day +we moved forward a distance of not more than nine miles, through a country +on which, at first, the acacia pendula alone was growing on a light +alluvial soil. The river had many back drains, by means of which, in wet +seasons, it inundates the adjacent plains. It was evident, however, that +they had not been flooded for many years; and, notwithstanding that the +country was low, the line of inundation did not appear to be very +extensive, nor were there any reeds growing beyond the immediate banks of +the river. Swamp-oak and rough-gum again prevailed near the stream at our +halting place, and the improvement that had taken place, both in the +country and in the Castlereagh, had induced us to make so short a journey; +for not only was there abundance of the grass for the animals, but large +ponds of water in the river. Some natives had only just preceded us down +it: we came upon their fires that were still smoking; and upon them were +the remains of some fish they had taken, near which they had left a +cumbrous spear. The circumstances cheered us with hopes that an +improvement would take place in the country, and that some new feature +would soon open upon us. In the course of the following day, however, +every favorable change, both in the river and in the country, disappeared. +The latter continued extremely depressed, and in general open, or lightly +covered with acacia pendula; the former dwindled into a mere ditch, choked +up with brambles and reeds, and having only here and there a stagnant pool +of water. We travelled on a N.W. 1/2 W. course for about ten miles, and +again stopped for the night without water. In the course of the afternoon, +we traversed several flats, on which the rough-gum alone was growing. +These flats were evidently subject to flood; and contained an alluvial +soil. + +They became more frequent as we travelled down the river, and the work was +so heavy for the animals, that I was obliged to keep wide of them, in +doing which we struck upon a creek of large size, coming from the N.E. +and, having crossed, we traversed its right bank to its junction with the +Castlereagh, and stopped close to it at a pond of water, though the feed +for the animals was bad. The country to the left of the river, though +somewhat high, was the same, in essential points, as that to the right. + +The Castlereagh seemed to have increased in size below the creek, but +still it had no resemblance to a river. We had not proceeded very far down +its banks, on the 18th, when we crossed a broad footpath leading to it +from the interior. I turned my horse to the left, and struck upon a long +sheet of water, from which I startled a number of pelicans. It was evident +that the natives had recently been in the neighbourhood, but we thought it +probable they might have been a hunting party, who had returned again to +the plains. The whole track we passed over during the day was miserably +poor and bare of vegetation, nor did the appearance of the country to the +N.E. indicate any improvement. We lost the traces of the natives +immediately after crossing their path or beat, and again found the bed of +the river dry, after we had passed the sheet of water to which it led. The +soil was so rotten and yielding, that the team knocked up early; indeed, +it was a matter of surprise to me that they should not have failed before. +The river made somewhat to the westward with little promise of +improvement. The wretched appearance of the country as we penetrated into +it, damped our spirits; we pressed on, however, with difficulty, over +ground that was totally destitute of vegetation. Instead of lofty timber +and a living stream, we wandered along the banks of an insignificant +watercourse, and under trees of stunted size and scanty foliage. We +stopped on the 20th at the angle of a creek, in which there was some dry +grass, in consequence of the animals being almost in a starving state, but +even here they had but little to eat. + +A violent thunder-storm passed over us in the afternoon, but it made no +change in the temperature of the air. The weather, although it had been +hot and sultry, had fallen far short of the intense heat we experienced in +crossing the marshes of the Macquarie, when it was such as to melt the +sugar in the canisters, and to destroy all our dogs; and our nights were +now become agreeably cool. + +A PARTY OF NATIVES. + +We still, however, continued to travel over a dead level, nor was a height +or break visible from the loftiest trees we ascended. A little before we +stopped at the creek, we surprised a party of natives; old men, women, and +children. They were preparing dinners of fish in much larger quantities +than they could have devoured--probably for a part of the tribe that were +absent; but the moment they saw us they fled, and left every thing at our +mercy. On examining the fish, we found them totally different from any in +the Macquarie, and took two of the most perfect to preserve. In the +afternoon one of the men came to inform me that the tribe was coming down +upon us. + +Mr. Hume and I, therefore, went to meet them. They were at this time about +150 yards from the tent, but seeing us advance, they stopped, and forming +two deep, they marched to and fro, to a war song I suppose, crouching with +their spears. We had not, however, any difficulty in communicating with +them, and I shall detail the manner in which this was brought about, in +hopes that it may help to guide others. When the natives saw us advance, +they stopped, and we did the same. Mr. Hume then walked to a tree, and +broke off a short branch. It is singular that this should, even with these +rude people, be a token of peace. As soon as they saw the branch, the +natives laid aside their spears, and two of them advanced about twenty +paces in front of the rest, who sat down. Mr. Hume then went forward and +sat down, when the two natives again advanced and seated themselves close +to him. + +Now it is evident that a little insight into the customs of every people +is necessary to insure a kindly communication; this, joined with patience +and kindness, will seldom fail with the natives of the interior. It is not +to avoid alarming their natural timidity that a gradual approach is so +necessary. They preserve the same ceremony among themselves. These men, +who were eighteen in number, came with us to the tents, and received such +presents as we had for them. They conducted themselves very quietly, and, +after a short time, left us with every token of friendship. + +LARGE CREEK. + +On the 21st we proceeded down the river on a N.N.W. course, and at about +five miles struck upon a very large creek, apparently coming from +the E.N.E. + +Although the Castlereagh had increased in size, this creek was infinitely +larger; it was, however, perfectly dry. Lofty flooded-gum trees were upon +its banks, and it appeared so much superior to the river that I was +induced to halt the party at the junction, in order to examine it more +closely. Mr. Hume, therefore, rode with me up the right bank. We had not +proceeded very far, when some natives called out to us from the opposite +scrub. Thinking that they belonged to the tribe we had left behind us, we +pointed to the junction, and motioned them to go there, but one of the +party continued to follow and call to us for some time. On our return to +the men, we found that the natives had joined them, and they now gave us +to understand that we were going away from water. This had indeed been +apparent to us. The creek was perfectly dry, as far as we traced it up; +and seemed to have been totally deserted by the natives. + +We were about to proceed on our journey, when from twenty to thirty +natives approached us from down the river. We sent two of those who had +been with us to them, and the whole accompanied us for some miles, talking +incessantly to the men, but keeping at a very respectful distance from the +animals. We at length got opposite to their camp, near which there was a +very fine pool of water, and they were earnest in persuading us to stop at +it. We were, however, too anxious to get forward to comply; under the +improved appearance of the river since it had received the creeks from the +eastward, little anticipating what was before us. + +NATIVE ARMOURY. + +The natives did not follow us beyond their own encampment. Within sight of +it, we came upon their armoury, if I may so term it. Numerous spears were +reared against the trees, and heaps of boomerangs were lying on the +ground. The spears were very heavy, and half barbed; and it is singular +that three of them were marked with a broad arrow. We saw the natives +watching us, fearful, I imagine, that we should help ourselves; but I +would not permit any of their weapons to be touched. + +EXAMINATION OF CREEKS NEAR THE CASTLEREAGH. + +Pursuing our journey, we reached another creek, at about five miles, +similar to the last in appearance and size, and we crossed it repeatedly +during the afternoon. We had been induced to keep along a native path in +the hope that it would have led us to the river by a short cut; but it +eventually led us to this creek, and away from the Castlereagh; for, +notwithstanding that we subsequently changed our course to the S.W., we +failed, as we supposed, again to strike upon the latter, and were obliged +to stop for the night on the banks of what appeared to be a third large +dry creek, which we intersected nearly at right angles. + +We travelled through a good deal of brush during the day, nor did the +country change from the miserable and barren character it had assumed for +the last thirty or forty miles. The Castlereagh had so frequently changed, +that both Mr. Hume and myself were puzzled as to the identity of the +creek upon which we had halted. We searched its bed in vain for water, +although it was most capacious. Under an impression that the river was +still to the south, and that we were at a point to which many watercourses +from the high lands tended, I crossed the creek early in the morning, and +held a S.W. course, over an open forest country. At about eight miles, we +came upon a large space over-run by the polygonum junceum, a certain +indication of flooded ground, and of our consequent proximity to some +stream. Accordingly, after pushing through it, we struck upon a small +creek with abundance of water in it. Whether this creek was the +Castlereagh, which it resembled much more than the one we had left in the +morning, was doubtful; but it was a great source of comfort to us to have +so unexpected a supply of water as that which was now at our disposal. +Whatever channel this was, whether a river or a creek, our tracing it down +would lead us in the direction we wished to go, and probably to some +junction. + +The neighbourhood of the creek was well clothed with vegetation, and the +cattle found good feed; but the only trees near it were rough-gum and +casuarinae; the flooded-gum had again disappeared. The soil of the forest +land over which we journeyed was a light sandy loam; and its timber +consisted chiefly of eucalypti, acacia pendula, and the angophora. + +Some natives visited us in the afternoon, and among them, both Mr. Hume +and I recognized one of those we had seen on the Darling. He also knew us +again, but we could not make out from him how far we were from that river. +They stayed with us till sunset, and then went down the creek, leaving +their spears against a tree, for which they said they would return. + +On the 23rd we took up a W.N.W. course, and when we again touched on the +creek it was dry. This was at a distance of about five miles from where we +had slept. As the animals had not recovered from their late privations, I +deemed it better to halt the party and to examine the creek for a few +miles below us, that in case it should prove destitute of water, we might +return to that we had left. Mr. Hume accordingly rode down it for about +three miles, without success; and on his rejoining the men, we returned +with them to our last camp, or to within a short distance of it. Wishing +to examine the creek above our position, I requested Mr. Hume to take two +men with him, and to trace it down in search of water, while I should +proceed in the opposite direction. I went from the camp at an early hour, +and as I wandered along the creek, I passed a regular chain of ponds. The +country on both sides of the creek was evidently subject to flood, but +more extensively to the south than to the north. From the creek, I struck +away to my left, and after penetrating through a belt of swamp-oak and +minor shrubs, got on a small plain, which I crossed N.E. and, to my +annoyance, found it covered with rhagodia and salsolae. As I had not +started with the intention of sleeping, I turned to the S.W. a little +before sunset, and reached the tents between ten and eleven. I found +Mr. Hume awaiting me. He informed me that at about nine miles from +where we had turned back with the party, he had struck upon a junction; +and that as the junction was much larger than the channel he had been +tracing, he thought it better to follow it up for a few miles. He found +that it narrowed in width, and that its banks became steep, with a fine +avenue of flooded-gum trees overhanging them. At four miles, he came upon +another junction, and at four miles more, found himself opposite to the +ground on which we had slept on the previous Saturday. From this point he +retraced the channel, but not finding any water for three miles below the +lower junction, he returned to the camp, with a view of prosecuting a +longer journey on the morrow. Mr. Hume had become impressed with an +opinion, that the junction up which we had slept was no other than the +Castlereagh itself; and that our position was on a creek, probably +Morrisset's chain of ponds, flowing into it. As the cattle wanted a few +days' rest, Mr. Hume and I determined to ride, unattended, along our track +to our camp of the 21st, and then to follow the channel upwards, until we +should arrive at the station of the natives, or until we should have +ridden to such a distance as would set our conjectures at rest. In the +morning, however, instead of running upon our old track, we followed that +of Mr. Hume to the junction, giving up our first intention, with a view to +ascertain if there existed any water which we could, by an effort, gain, +below where Mr. Hume had been. The channel was very broad, with a +considerable fall in its bed, and, in appearance, more resembled the slope +of a lawn than the bed of a river. It had two gum-trees in the centre of +its channel, in one of which the floods had left the trunk of a large +tree. We could discover where it narrowed and its banks rose, but, as we +intended to make a closer examination before we left the neighbourhood, +we continued our journey down the principal channel. The ground exhibited +an abundance of pasture in its immediate neighbourhood, but the distant +country was miserably poor and bare. At about three miles, we came upon +the fresh traces of some natives, which led us to the channel again, from +which we bad wandered unintentionally. In it we found there had been water +very lately, and it appeared that the natives had dug holes at the bottom +to insure a longer supply. These were now exhausted, but still retained +the appearance of moisture. At a mile and a half beyond these, we were led +to some similar holes, by observing a number of birds flying about them. +The water was too muddy for us to drink, but the horses emptied them +successively. We now kept sufficiently near the channel to insure our +seeing any pool that might still remain in it, but rode for about seven +miles before we again saw water, and even here, although it was a spring, +we were obliged to dig holes, and await their filling, before we could get +sufficient for our use. Having dined, we again pursued our journey, and +almost immediately came upon a long narrow ditch, full of water, and lined +by bulrushes. The creek or river had for some time kept the centre of a +deep alluvial valley, in which there was plenty of food for the cattle, +and which, at this place, was apparently broader than anywhere else. The +situation being favourable, we returned to the camp, and reached it late. + +DEPRESSION OF THE MEN. + +I do not know whether I was wrong in my conjecture, but I fancied, about +this time, that the men generally were desponding. Whether it was that the +constant fatigue entailed on myself and Mr. Hume, and that our constant +absence, or the consequent exhaustion it produced, had any effect on their +minds, or that they feared the result of our perseverance, is difficult to +say; but certainly, they all had a depression of spirits, and looked, I +thought, altered in appearance; nor did they evince any satisfaction at +our success--at least, not the satisfaction they would have shown at an +earlier period of our journey. + +Before moving forward, it remained for us to ascertain if the channel from +the junction was the Castlereagh, or only a creek. The intersection of so +many channels in this neighbourhood, most of them so much alike, made it +essentially necessary that we should satisfy ourselves on this point. +Mr. Hume, therefore, accompanied me, as had at first been intended the +morning of our return to the place at which we had slept. We took fresh +horses, but dispensed with any other attendants, and indeed went wholly +unarmed. + +CAMP OF NATIVES. + +After following our old track to its termination, we kept up the right +bank of the channel, and at length arrived at the camp of the natives; +thus satisfying ourselves that we had been journeying on the Castlereagh, +and that we were still following it down. By this ride we ascertained that +there was a distance of five-and-forty miles in its bed without a drop of +water. Few of the natives were in the camp. The women avoided us, but not +as if they were under any apprehension. Crossing at the head of the pool, +we again got on our old track, but seeing two or three men coming towards +us we alighted, and, tying our horses to a tree, went to meet them. One +poor fellow had two ducks in his hand, which he had just taken off the +fire; these he offered to us, and on our declining to accept of them, he +called to a boy, who soon appeared with a large trough of honey, of which +we partook. One of the men had an ulcer in the arm, and asked me what he +should do to heal it; indeed, I believe Fraser had promised him some +ointment, but not having any with me, I signified to him that be should +wash it often, and stooping down, made as if I was taking up water in my +hand. The poor fellow mistook me, and, also stooping down, took up a +handful of dust which he threw over the sore. This gave me the trouble of +explaining matters again, and by pointing to the water, I believe I at +length made him understand me. + +DRY CHANNEL OF THE RIVER. + +These good natured people asked us where we had slept the day we passed, +and when informed of the direction, shook their heads, motioning at the +same time, that we must have been without water. We informed them where +the party was, and asked them to come and see us, but I fancy the distance +was too great, or else we were in the beat of another tribe. On mentioning +these facts to the men, they said that two of the natives had followed us +for some miles, calling out loudly to us, but Mr. Hume and I both being in +front, we did not hear them, although, evidently, they wished to save us +distress. + +Since the result of our excursion proved that the channel, about which I +had been so doubtful, was the Castlereagh, it necessarily followed, that +the creek at which we were encamped was one of those (most probably +Morrisset's chain of ponds,) which we had already crossed nearer its +source, and which Mr. Hume must have struck upon when endeavouring to gain +the Castlereagh from the marshes of the Macquarie. + +A perusal of these sheets will ere this have impressed on the reader's +mind, the peculiarity of that fortune which led us from the Castlereagh to +the creek, at which alone our wants could have been supplied. Had we +wandered down the river, as we undoubtedly should have done had we +recognised it as such, the loss of many of our animals would have been the +inevitable consequence, and very probably a final issue would have been +put to our journey. It is only to those who are placed in situations that +baffle their own exertions or foresight, that the singular guidance of +Providence becomes fully apparent. + +NATIVES PERISHING FROM FAMINE. + +It would appear that the natives were dying fast, not from any disease, +but from the scarcity of food; and, should the drought continue, it seemed +probable they may became extinct. + +The men found the body of a woman covered with leaves near the tents, and +very properly buried it. We made Friday a day of rest for ourselves, as +indeed was necessary; and on the following morning proceeded down the +river, and encamped on a high bank above it, at the base of which, our +cattle both fed and watered. + +At this spot one of the largest gum-trees I had ever seen had fallen, +having died for want of moisture; indeed, the state of the vegetable +kingdom was such as to threaten its total extinction, unless a change of +seasons should take place. + +It may be worthy of remark that, from our first arrival on the banks of +the Castlereagh, to our arrival at the present camp, we never picked up a +stone, or a pebble, in its bed. + +JUNCTION OF THE CASTLEREAGH WITH THE DARLING. + +In the hope that we should fall on some detached pond, we pursued our +journey on the 29th. The Castlereagh gave singular proofs of its violence, +as if its waters, confined in the valley, had a difficulty in escaping +from it. We had not travelled two miles, when in crossing, as we imagined, +one of its bights, we found ourselves checked by a broad river. A single +glimpse of it was sufficient to tell us it was the Darling. At a distance +of more than ninety miles nearer its source, this singular river still +preserved its character, so strikingly, that it was impossible not to have +recognised it in a moment. The same steep banks and lofty timber, the same +deep reaches, alive with fish, were here visible as when we left it. +A hope naturally arose to our minds, that if it was unchanged in other +respects, it might have lost the saltness that rendered its waters unfit +for use; but in this we were disappointed--even its waters continued the +same. As it was impossible for us to cross the Darling, I determined on +falling back upon our last encampment, which was at a most Convenient +distance, and of concerting measures there for our future movements. Prior +to doing so, however, I rode to the junction of the Castlereagh with +the Darling, accompanied by Mr. Hume, a distance of about half a mile. +Upon the point formed by the two streams, there were a number of huts, +and on the opposite bank of the Darling, about twenty natives had +collected. We called out to them, but they would not join us. + +At the junction, the Castlereagh, with whatever impetuosity it rushes from +its confinement, makes not apparently the least impression on the Darling +River. The latter seemed to loll on, totally heedless of such a tributary. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + + +Perplexity--Trait of honesty in the natives--Excursion on horseback across +the Darling--Forced to return--Desolating effects of the drought--Retreat +towards the colony--Connection between the Macquarie and the Darling-- +Return up the banks of the Macquarie--Starving condition of the natives. + + +On our return to the party, we found them surrounded by the natives, who +were looking with an eye of wonder on the cattle and horses. We pointed +out to them the direction in which we were going, and invited them to +visit us; and nothing appeared to astonish them so much as the management +of the team by a single man. We got back to our position early, and again +fixed ourselves upon it. + +It now only remained for us to consider what we should do under +circumstances of certainly more than ordinary perplexity. We had nothing +to hope for from travelling in a southerly direction, while to the E. and +N.E., the state of the country was worse than that by which we had +penetrated to the Darling. It was evident, that the large creeks joining +the Castlereagh in that direction were dry, since the natives not only +intimated this to us, but it was unquestionable that they themselves had +deserted them, and had crowded to such places as still contained a supply +of water. Even in retreating, we could not hope to retrace our steps. +Experience had proved to us, that the dry state of the interior was as +injurious to the movements of an expedition as a too wet season would have +been. Taking everything, therefore, into consideration, I determined on +leaving the party stationary, and on crossing the Darling to the N.W., +and, if any encouraging feature presented itself, to return for the party, +and persevere in an examination of the distant interior. Such, at least, +appeared to me the most judicious plan: indeed, an attempt to have moved +in any other direction would have been fruitless. And, as the result of +this journey would be decisive, and would either fix or determine our +advance or retreat, I was anxious for Mr. Hume's attendance. + +The natives followed to the camp, and in the course of the afternoon, were +joined by their women. The latter however, would not approach nearer than +the top of a little hillock on which they sat. The men did not come round +the tents, but stood in a row at a short distance. At sunset, they gained +a little courage, and wandered about a little more; at length they went +off to the Darling. + +HONESTY OF A NATIVE. + +It was quite dark, when I heard a native call from the hill on which the +women had been, and I desired Hopkinson to take his firelock and ascertain +what the man wanted. He soon after returned, and brought a blanket, which +he said the man had returned to him. The native was alone, and when he +offered the blanket, kept his spear poised in his right hand; but, seeing +that no violence was intended him, he lowered his weapon, and walked away. + +REWARD THE MAN FOR HIS CONDUCT. + +I was extremely pleased at this trait of honesty, and determined to reward +it. On inquiry, I found that the men had availed themselves of the day to +wash their blankets and that one of them had been flung over a bush +hanging over the bank of the river, and it was supposed that one of the +natives must have pulled it down with him. In the morning, the tribe went +away from their encampment before day-light as we judged from the cry of +their dogs, than which nothing could be more melancholy; but about eight, +the men made their appearance on the hill occupied by the women the +evening previously, and seemed to be doubtful whether to approach nearer. +I went out to them, and, with a downward motion of my hand, beckoned for +them to come to me: they mistook the signal, but laid all their spears on +the ground, and it was not until after the sign had been reversed that +they stirred or moved towards me. I than got them in a row, and desired +Hopkinson to single out the man who had given him the blanket. It was, +however, with great difficulty that he recognised him, as the man stood +firm and motionless. At length, after walking two or three times along the +line, he stopped before one man, and put his hand on his shoulder, upon +which the manner of the native testified as to the correctness of his +guess. + +The blanket being produced, I explained to the savage, with Mr. Hume's +assistance, that I was highly pleased with him, and forthwith presented +him with a tomahawk and a clasp-knife. The tribe were perfectly aware of +the reason of my conduct, and all of them seemed highly delighted. + +I was happy in having such an opportunity of showing the natives of the +interior that I came among them with a determination to maintain justice +in my communication with them, and to impress them, at the same time, with +a sense of our love of it in them. That they appreciated my apparent +lenity in not calling for the defaulter, I am sure, and I feel perfectly +conscious that I should have failed in my duty had I acted otherwise than +I did. + +EFFECT OF FIRING A GUN. + +Although the natives had shown so good a disposition, as they were +numerous, I thought it as well, since I was about to leave the camp, to +show them that I had a power they little dreamt of about me. I therefore +called for my gun and fired a ball into a tree. The effect of the report +upon the natives, was truly ridiculous. Some stood and stared at me, +others fell down, and others ran away; and it was with some difficulty we +collected them again. At last, however, we did so, and, leaving them to +pick out the ball, mounted our horses and struck away for the Darling. +We crossed the river a little above where we struck it, and then proceeded +N.W. into the interior. + +EXCURSION ACROSS THE DARLING. + +It is impossible for me to describe the nature of the country over which +we passed, for the first eight miles. We rode through brushes of +polygonum, under rough-gum, without a blade of vegetation, the whole space +being subject to inundation. We then got on small plains of firmer +surface, and red soil, but these soon changed again for the former; and +at 4 p.m. we found ourselves advanced about two miles on a plain that +stretched away before us, and bounded the horizon. It was dismally brown; +a few trees only served to mark the distance. Up one of the highest I sent +Hopkinson, who reported that he could not see the end of it, and that all +around looked blank and desolate. It is a singular fact, that during the +whole day, we had not seen a drop of water or a blade of grass. + +DESOLATING EFFECTS OF THE DROUGHT. + +To have stopped where we were, would, therefore, have been impossible; to +have advanced, would probably have been ruin. Had there been one favorable +circumstance to have encouraged me with the hope of success, I would have +proceeded. Had we picked up a stone as indicating our approach to high +land, I would have gone on; or had there been a break in the level of the +country, or even a change in the vegetation. But we had left all traces of +the natives far behind us; and this seemed a desert they never +entered--that not even a bird inhabited. I could not encourage a hope of +success, and, therefore, gave up the point; not from want of means, but a +conviction of the inutility of any further efforts. If there is any blame +to be attached to the measure, it is I who am in fault, but none who had +not like me traversed the interior at such a season, would believe the +state of the country over which I had wandered. During the short interval +I had been out, I had seen rivers cease to flow before me, and sheets of +water disappear; and had it not been for a merciful Providence, should, +ere reaching the Darling, have been overwhelmed by misfortune. + +I am giving no false picture of the reality. So long had the drought +continued, that the vegetable kingdom was almost annihilated, and minor +vegetation had disappeared. In the creeks, weeds had grown and withered, +and grown again; and young saplings were now rising in their beds, +nourished by the moisture that still remained; but the largest forest +trees were drooping, and many were dead. The emus, with outstretched +necks, gasping for breath, searched the channels of the rivers for water, +in vain; and the native dog, so thin that it could hardly walk, seemed to +implore some merciful hand to despatch it. How the natives subsisted it +was difficult to say, but there was no doubt of the scarcity of food +among them. + +We arrived in camp at a late hour, and having nothing to detain us longer, +prepared for our retreat in the morning. The natives had remained with the +party during the greater part of the day, and had only left them a short +time prior to our arrival, + +When examining the creek on which we had been encamped for some days, +Mr. Hume observed a small junction; and as we knew we were almost +due N. of the marshes of the Macquarie, both of us were anxious to +ascertain whence it originated. To return to Mount Harris, by retracing +our steps up the Castlereagh, would have entailed the severest distress +upon us; we the rather preferred proceeding up this creek, and taking our +chance for a supply of water. We therefore crossed Morrisset's chain of +ponds, and encamped in the angle formed by the junction of the two creeks. + +Before we left this position, we were visited by a party of natives, +twelve in number, but not of the Darling tribe. They accompanied us a +short way, and then struck off to the right. At about a mile and a half, +we crossed Mr. Hume's track, leading westerly, which still remained +observable. The creek was, no doubt, the hollow he stated that he crossed +on that excursion, and its appearance certainly justified his opinion of +it. Its bed was choked up with bulrushes or the polygonum, and its banks +were level with the country on either side, or nearly so. We passed over +extremely rich soil the whole day, on a S.W. and by W. course, though the +timber upon it was dwarfish, and principally of the rough-gum kind. + +On the 2nd of April, we stopped in order to make some repairs upon the +dray; the wheels of which had failed us. Clayton put in four new spokes, +and we heated the tyres over again, by which means we got it once more +serviceable. + +WILD MELON. + +The soil in the creek was of the richest quality, and was found to produce +a dwarf melon, having all the habits and character of the cucumber. +The fruit was not larger than a pigeon's egg, but was extremely sweet. +There were not, however, many ripe, although the runners were covered with +flowers, and had an abundance of fruit upon them. In the morning, we sent +the tinker on horseback up the creek, to ascertain how far the next water +was from us, desiring him to keep the creek upon his right, and to follow +his own track back again. He thought fit, however, considering himself +a good bushman, to wander away to his left, and the consequence was, that +he soon lost himself. It would appear that be doubled and passed through +some thick brush at the back of the camp, and at length found himself at +dark on the banks of a considerable creek. In wandering along it, he +luckily struck upon the natives we had last seen, who, good-naturedly, led +him to the track of the dray, which his horse would not afterwards desert, +and the tinker sneaked into the tent about 3 o'clock in the morning, +having failed in his errand, and made himself the butt of the whole party. + +RETURN UP THE CREEK. + +The day succeeding this adventure, we moved up the creek, which was, for +the most part, even with the plain. The country continued the same as that +we had passed over from the junction, being subject to flood, and having +patches of bulrushes and reeds upon it. No change took place in the +timber, but the line of acacia pendula, which forms the line of +inundation, approached neater to us; nor was the mark of flood so high on +the trunks of trees as below. We halted, with abominable water, but +excellent food for the animals in the plains behind us. In continuing our +journey, we found several changes take place in the appearance of the +creek and its neighbourhood. The former diminished in size, and at length +separated into two distinct channels, choked up, for the most part, with +dead bulrushes, but having a few green reeds in patches along it. The +flats on either side became slightly timbered, and blue gum was the +prevailing tree. Crossing one of the channels, we observed every +appearance of our near approach to the marshes, the flats being +intersected by many little water-runs, such as we had noticed at the +bottom of them. About noon we struck upon a body of reeds under the wood +of eucalypti, below the second great morass, and keeping a little to our +right to avoid them, fell shortly afterwards into our old track on the +plain, upon which we continued to move, making the best of our way to the +channel which had supplied our wants on our first return from the Darling. +It was now, however, quite dry, and we were obliged to push on further, +to shorten the journey of the morrow. + +CONNECTION OF MACQUARIE AND DARLING. + +The result of our journey up the creek was particularly satisfactory, both +to myself and Mr. Hume; since it cleared up every doubt that might have +existed regarding the actual termination of the Macquarie, and enabled us +to connect the flow of waters at so interesting and particular a point. +It will be seen by a reference to the chart, that the waters of the +marshes, after trickling through the reeds, form a small creek, which +carries off the superfluous part of them into Morrisset's chain of ponds, +which latter again falls into the Castlereagh, at about eight miles to the +W.N.W. and all three join the Darling in a W. by N. direction, in lat. +30 degrees 52 minutes south and E. lon. 147 degrees 8 minutes at about +90 miles to the N.N.W. of Mount Harris, and about an equal distance to +the E.S.E. of where we struck upon the last-mentioned river. Thus it +is evident that the Darling had considerably neared the eastern ranges, +although it was still more than 150 miles from their base. It was +apparently coming from the N.E., and whether it has its sources in the +mountains behind our distant settlements, or still farther to the +northwards, is a question of curious speculation, although, as I have +already stated, I am of opinion that none but tropical rains could +supply the furious torrent that must sometimes rage in it. + +It would be presumptuous to hazard any opinion as to the nature of the +interior to the westward of that remarkable river. Its course is involved +in equal mystery, and it is a matter of equal doubt whether it makes its +way to the south coast, or ultimately exhausts itself in feeding a +succession of swamps, or falls into a large reservoir in the centre of +the island. + +RETURN TO MOUNT HARRIS. + +We reached Mount Harris on the 7th of the month, and moving leisurely up +the banks of the Macquarie, gained Mr. Palmer's first station on the 14th, +and Wellington Valley on the 21st, having been absent from that settlement +four months and two weeks. The waters of the Macquarie had diminished so +much, that its bed was dry for more than half a mile at a stretch, nor did +we observe the least appearance of a current in it, until after we had +ascended the ranges. The lower tribes were actually starving, and brought +their children to us to implore something to eat. The men attempted to +surprise the camp, but I believe they were urged from absolute necessity +to procure subsistence for themselves, and that they intended robbery +rather than personal violence. + +DEPLORABLE STATE OF THE COUNTRY. + +We left the interior in a still more deplorable state than that in which +we found it; but it is more than probable that under other circumstances, +we should have found it impossible to traverse its distant plains, as it +is certain that unless rain fell in less than three weeks, all +communication with the Darling would have been cut off: + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + + +General remarks--Result of the expedition--Previous anticipations-- +Mr. Oxley's remarks--Character of the Rivers flowing westerly-- +Mr. Cunningham's remarks--Fall of the Macquarie--Mr. Oxley's erroneous +conclusions respecting the character of the interior, naturally inferred +from the state in which he found the country--The marsh of the Macquarie +merely a marsh of the ordinary character--Captain King's observations-- +Course of the Darling--Character of the low interior plain--The convict +Barber's report of rivers traversing the interior--Surveyor-General +Mitchell's Report of his recent expedition. + +RESULT OF THE EXPEDITION. + +Whether the discoveries that have been made during this expedition, will +ultimately prove of advantage to the colony of New South Wales, is a +question that time alone can answer. We have in the meanwhile to regret +that no beneficial consequences will immediately follow them. The further +knowledge that has been gained of the interior is but as a gleam of +sunshine over an extensive landscape. A stronger light has fallen upon the +nearer ground, but the distant horizon is still enveloped in clouds. The +veil has only as it were been withdrawn from the marshes of the Macquarie +to be spread over the channel of the Darling. Unsatisfactory, however, as +the discoveries may as yet be considered in a commercial point of view, +the objects for which the expedition had been fitted out were happily +attained. The marsh it had been directed to examine, was traversed on +every side, and the rivers it had been ordered to trace, were followed +down to their terminations to a distance far beyond where they had ceased +to exist as living streams. To many who may cast their eyes over the +accompanying chart, the extent of newly discovered country may appear +trifling; but when they are told, that there is not a mile of that +ground that was not traversed over and over again, either by Mr. Hume or +by myself, that we wandered over upwards of 600 miles more than the main +body of the expedition, on different occasions, in our constant and +anxious search for water, and that we seldom dismounted from our horses, +until long after sunset, they will acknowledge the difficulties with which +we had to contend, and will make a generous allowance for them; for, +however unsuccessful in some respects the expedition may have been, it +accomplished as much, it is to be hoped, as under such trying +circumstances could have been accomplished. It now only remains for me to +sum up the result of my own observations, and to point out to the reader, +how far the actual state of the interior, has been found to correspond +with the opinions that were entertained of it. + +MR. OXLEY'S REMARKS. + +I have already stated, in the introduction to this work, that the general +impression on the minds of those best qualified to judge was, that the +western streams discharged themselves into a central shoal sea. Mr. Oxley +thus expresses himself on the subject:-- + + +"July 3rd. Towards morning the storm abated, and at day-light, we +proceeded on our voyage. The main bed of the river was much contracted, +but very deep; the waters spreading to the depth of a foot or eighteen +inches over the banks, but all running on the same point of bearing. We +met with considerable interruptions from fallen timber, which in places +nearly choked up the channel. After going about twenty miles, we lost the +land and trees; the channel of the river, which lay through reeds, and was +from one to three feet deep, ran northerly.--This continued for three or +four miles farther, when, although there had been no previous change in +the breadth, depth, or rapidity of the stream for several miles, and I was +sanguine in my expectations of soon entering the long-sought-for +Australian sea, it all at once eluded our farther pursuit, by spreading on +every point from N.W. to N.E. among the ocean of reeds which surrounded +us, still running with the same rapidity as before. There was no channel +whatever among those reeds, and the depth varied from three to five feet. +This astonishing change (for I cannot call it a termination of the river) +of course left me no alternative but to endeavour to return to some spot +on which we could effect a landing before dark. I estimated, that during +the day, we had gone about twenty-four miles, on nearly the same point of +bearing as yesterday. To assert, positively, that we were on the margin of +the lake, or sea, into which this great body of water is discharged, might +reasonably be deemed a conclusion, which has nothing but conjecture for +its basis. But if an opinion may be permitted to be hazarded from actual +appearances, mine is decidedly in favour of our being in the immediate +vicinity of an inland sea, or lake, most probably a shoal one, and +gradually filling up by numerous depositions from the high lands, left by +the waters which flow into it. It is most singular, that the high lands on +this continent seem to be confined to the sea-coast, and not to extend to +any distance from it." + +MR. CUNNINGHAM'S REMARKS. + +In a work published at Sydney, containing an account of Mr. Allan +Cunningham's journey towards Moreton Bay, in 1828, the following remarks +occur, from which it is evident Mr. Cunningham entertained Mr. Oxley's +views of the character and nature of the Western interior. Towards the +conclusion of the narrative, the author thus observes:-- + + +"Of the probable character of the distant unexplored interior, into which +it has been ascertained ALL the rivers falling westerly from the dividing +ranges flow, some inference may be drawn from the following data. + +"Viewing, between the parallels of 34 degrees and 27 degrees, a vast area +of depressed interior, subjected in seasons of prolonged rains to partial +inundation, by a dispersion of the several waters that flow upon it from +the eastern mountains whence they originate; and bearing in mind at the +same time, that the declension of the country within the above parallels, +as most decidedly shown by the dip of its several rivers, is uniformly +to the N.N.W. and N.W., it would appear very conclusive, that either a +portion of our distant interior is occupied by a lake of considerable +magnitude, or that the confluence of those large streams, the Macquarie, +Castlereagh, Gwydir, and the Dumaresq, with the many minor interfluent +waters, which doubtless takes place upon those low levels, forms one +or more noble rivers, which may flow across the continent by an almost +imperceptible declivity of country to the north of north-west coasts, on +certain parts of which, recent surveys have discovered to us extensive +openings, by which the largest accumulations of waters might escape to the +sea." + +CHARACTER OF THE RIVERS. + +It is the characteristic of the streams falling westerly from the eastern, +or coast ranges, to maintain a breadth of channel and a rapidity of +current more immediately near their sources, that ill accords with their +diminished size, and the sluggish flow of their waters in the more +depressed interior. In truth, neither the Macquarie nor the Castlereagh +can strictly be considered as permanent rivers. The last particularly is +nothing more than a mountain torrent. The Macquarie, although it at length +ceased to run, kept up the appearance of a river to the very marshes; but +the bed of the Castlereagh might have been crossed in many places without +being noticed, nor did its channel contain so much water as was to be +found on the neighbouring plains. + +There are two circumstances upon which the magnitude, and velocity of a +river, more immediately depend. The first is the abundance of its sources, +the other the dip of its bed. If a stream has constant fountains at its +head, and numerous tributaries joining it in its course, and flows withal +through a country of gradual descent, such a stream will never fail; but +if the supplies do not exceed the evaporation and absorption, to which +every river is subject, if a river dependant on its head alone, falls +rapidly into a level country, without receiving a single addition to its +waters to assist the first impulse acquired in their descent, it must +necessarily cease to flow at one point or other. Such is the case with the +Lachlan, the Macquarie, the Castlereagh, and the Darling. Whence the +latter originates, still remains to be ascertained; but most undoubtedly +its sources have been influenced by the same drought that has exhausted +the fountains of the three first mentioned streams. + +In supporting his opinion of the probable discharge of the interior waters +of Australia upon its north-west coast, Mr. Cunningham thus remarks in the +publication from which I have already made an extract. + + +"To those remarkable parts of the north-west coast above referred to in +the parallel of 16 degrees south, the Macquarie river, which rises in +lat. 33 degrees, and under the meridian of 150 degrees east, would have a +course of 2045 statute miles throughout, while the elevation of its +source, being 3500 feet above the level of the sea as shown by the +barometer, would give its waters an average descent of twenty inches to +the mile, supposing the bed of the river to be an inclined plane. + +"The Gwydir originating in elevated land, lying in 31 degrees south, and +long. 151 degrees east, at a mean height of 3000 feet, would have to flow +2020 miles, its elevated sources giving to each a mean fall of seventeen +inches. + +"Dumaresq's river falling 2970 feet from granite mountains, in 28 1/4 +degrees under the meridian of 152 degrees, would have to pursue its course +for 2969 miles, its average fall being eighteen inches to a mile." + +As I have never been upon the banks either of the Gwydir or the Dumaresq, +I cannot speak of those two rivers; but in estimating the sources of the +Macquarie at 3500 feet above the level of the sea, Mr. Cunningham has lost +sight of, or overlooked the fact, that the fall of its bed in the first +two hundred miles, is more than 2800 feet, since the cataract, which is +midway between Wellington Valley and the marshes, was ascertained by +barometrical admeasurement, to be 680 feet only above the ocean. The +country, therefore, through which the Macquarie would have to flow during +the remainder of its course of 1700 miles, in order to gain the +N.W. coast, would not be a gradually inclined plain, but for the most part +a dead level, and the fact of its failure is a sufficient proof in itself +how short the course of a river so circumstanced must necessarily be. + +MR. OXLEY'S OPINIONS. + +Having conversed frequently with Mr. Oxley on the subject of his +expeditions, I went into the interior prepossessed in favour of his +opinions, nor do I think he could have drawn any other conclusion than +that which he did, from his experience of the terminations of the rivers +whose courses he explored. Had Mr. Oxley advanced forty, or even thirty +miles, farther than he did, to the westward of Mount Harris; nay, had he +proceeded eight miles in the above direction beyond the actual spot from +which he turned back, he would have formed other and very different +opinions of the probable character of the distant interior. But I am aware +that Mr. Oxley performed all that enterprise, and perseverance, and talent +could have performed, and that it would have been impracticable in him to +have attempted to force its marshes in the state in which he found them. +It was from his want of knowledge of their nature and extent, that he +inferred the swampy and inhospitable character of the more remote country, +a state in which subsequent investigation has found it not to be. The +marsh of the Macquarie is nothing more than an ordinary marsh or swamp in +another country. However large a space it covers, it is no more than a +concavity or basin for the reception of the waters of the river itself, +nor has it any influence whatever on the country to the westward of it, +in respect to inundation; the general features of the latter being a +regular alternation of plain and brush. These facts are in themselves +sufficient to give a fresh interest to the interior of the Australian +continent, and to increase its importance. + +CAPT. KING'S OPINIONS. + +With respect to that part of its coast at which the rivers falling from +the eastern mountains, discharge themselves, it is a question of very +great doubt. It seems that Capt. King, in consequence of some +peculiarities in the currents at its N.W. angle, supports Mr. Cunningham's +opinion as to their probable discharge in that quarter. But I fear the +internal structure of the continent is so low, as to preclude the hopes of +any river reaching from one extremity of it to the other. A variety of +local circumstances, as the contraction of a channel, a shoal sea, or +numerous islands, influence currents generally, but more especially round +so extensive a continent as that of which we are treating; nor does it +strike me that any observations made by Capt. King during his survey, can +be held to bear any connection with the eastern ranges, or their western +waters. It may, however, be said, that as the course of the Darling is +still involved in uncertainty, the question remains undecided; but it +appears to me, the discovery of that river has set aside every conjecture +(founded on previous observation) respecting the main features of the +interior lying to the westward of the Blue Mountains. Both Mr. Oxley and +Mr. Cunningham drew their conclusions from the appearances of the country +they severally explored. The ground on which those theories were built, +has been travelled over, and has not been found to realise them, but +subsequent investigation has discovered to us a river, the dip of whose +bed is to the S.W. We have every reason to believe that the sources of +this river must be far to the northward of the most distant northerly +point to which any survey has been made, as we are certain that it is far +beyond the stretch of vision from the loftiest and most westerly of the +barrier ranges; from which circumstance, it is evident that whatever +disposition the streams descending from those ranges to the westward may +show to hold a N.W. course more immediately at the base, the whole of the +interior streams, from the Macquarie to the Dumaresq, are tributaries to +the principal channel which conveys their united waters at right angles, +if not still more opposite to the direction they were supposed to take, +as far as is yet known. + +COURSE OF THE DARLING. + +The Darling River must be considered as the boundary line to all inland +discoveries from the eastward. Any judgment or opinion of the interior to +the westward of that stream, would be extremely premature and uncertain. +There is not a single feature over it to guide or to strengthen either the +one or the other. + +CHARACTER OF THE WESTERN INTERIOR. + +My impression, when travelling the country to the west and N.W. of the +marshes of the Macquarie, was, that I was traversing a country of +comparatively recent formation. The sandy nature of its soil, the great +want of vegetable decay, the salsolaceous character of its plants, the +appearance of its isolated hills and flooded tracts, and its trifling +elevations above the sea, severally contributed to strengthen these +impressions on my mind. My knowledge of the interior is, however, too +limited to justify me in any conclusion with regard to the central parts +of Australia. An ample field is open to enterprise and to ambition, and it +is to be hoped that some more decisive measures will be carried into +effect, both for the sake of the colony and of geography, to fill up the +blank upon the face of the chart of Australia, and remove from us the +reproach of indifference and inaction. + +BARBER'S STATEMENT. + +Since the above pages were written, an expedition was undertaken by +Major Mitchell, the Surveyor-General, to ascertain the truth of a report +brought in by a runaway convict of the name of Barber, or Clarke, who had +been at large for five years, at different times, among the natives to +the northward of Port Macquarie. This man stated that a large river, +originating in the high lands near Liverpool Plains, and the mountains to +the north of them, pursued a N.W. course to the sea. His story ran thus: +Having learnt from the natives the existence of this river, he determined +to follow it down, in hopes that he might ultimately be enabled to make +his escape from the colony. He accordingly started from Liverpool Plains, +and kept on a river called the Gnamoi, for some time, which took him N.W. +After a few days' journey, he left this river, traversed the country +northwards, and crossed some lofty ranges. Descending to the N.E. he came +to another large river, the Keindur, which again took him N.W. He +travelled 400 miles down it, when he observed a large stream joining it +upon its left bank, which he supposed to be the Gnamoi. The river he was +upon was broad and navigable. It flowed through a level country with a +dead current and muddy water, and spread into frequent lakes. He found +that it ultimately discharged itself into the sea, but was uncertain at +what distance from its sources. He was positive he never travelled to the +SOUTHWARD OF WEST. He ascended a hill near the sea, and observed an island +in the distance, from which, the natives informed him, a race of +light-coloured men came in large canoes for a scented wood; but having +failed in the immediate object of his journey, he was eventually obliged +to return. + +MAJOR MITCHELL'S REPORT. + +The following official report of Major Mitchell will sufficiently point +out the incorrectness of the preceding statement. It is most probable that +Barber merely told that which he had heard from the natives, and that +having a more than ordinary share of cunning, he made up a story upon +their vague and uncertain accounts, in hopes that it would benefit him, +as in truth it did. + + +* * * * * + + +Bullabalakit, on the River Nammoy, +in lat. 30 degrees 38 minutes 21 seconds S., +long. 149 degrees 30 minutes 20 seconds E. +23d December, 1831. + +SIR, + +I have the honour to state, for the information of His Excellency the +Governor, the progress I have made in exploring the course of the interior +waters to the northward of the Colony, with reference to the letter which +I had the honour to address to Col. Lindesay, on this subject, on the +19th ult. + +On crossing Liverpool Range my object was to proceed northward, so as to +avoid the plains and head the streams which water them, and avoiding also +the mountain ranges on the east. + +I arrived accordingly, by a tolerably straight and level line, at +Walamoul, on Peel's River; this place (a cattle station of Mr. Brown) +being nearly due north from the common pass across Liverpool Range, and +about a mile-and-a-half above the spot where Mr. Oxley crossed this +river. + +PEEL'S RIVER. + +I found the general course of the Peel below Walamoul to be nearly west; +and after tracing this river downwards twenty-two miles (in direct +distance), I crossed it at an excellent ford, named Wallamburra. I then +traversed the extensive plain of Mulluba; and leaving that of Coonil on +the right, extending far to the north-east, we passed through a favourable +interval of what I considered Hardwicke's Range, the general direction of +this range being two points west of north. + +On passing through this gorge, which, from the name of a hill on the south +side, may be named Ydire, I crossed a very extensive tract of flat +country, on which the wood consisted of iron-bark and acacia pendula; this +tract being part of a valley evidently declining to the north-west, which +is bounded on the south by the Liverpool Range, and on the south-west by +the extremities from the same. On the west, at a distance of twenty-two +miles from Hardwicke's Range, there stands a remarkable isolated hill +named Bounalla; and towards the lowest part of the country, and in the +direction in which all the waters tend, there is a rocky peak named +Tangulda. On the north, a low range (named Wowa), branching westerly from +Hardwicke's Range, bounds on that side this extensive basin, which +includes Liverpool Plains. Peel's River is the principal stream, and +receives, in its course, all the waters of these plains below the junction +of Connadilly,--which I take to be York's River, of Oxley. + +THE RIVER NAMMOY. + +The stream is well known to the natives by the name Nammoy; and six miles +below Tangulda, the low extremities from the surrounding ranges close on +the river, and separate this extensive vale from the unexplored country +which extends beyond to an horizon which is unbroken between W.N.W. +and N.N.W. + + +The impracticable appearance of the mountains to the northward, induced me +to proceed thus far to the west; and on examining the country thirty miles +N.E. by N. from Tangulda, I ascended a lofty range extending westward from +the coast chain, and on which the perpendicular sides of masses of +trachyte (a volcanic rock) were opposed to my further progress even with +horses: it was therefore evident that the river supposed to rise about the +latitude of 28 degrees would not be accessible, or at least available to +the Colony, in that direction, and that in the event of the discovery of a +river beyond that range flowing to the northern or north-western shores, +it would become of importance to ascertain whether it was joined by the +Nammoy, the head of this river being so accessible that I have brought my +heavily laden drays to where it is navigable for boats, my present +encampment being on its banks six miles below Tangulda. From this station +I can perceive the western termination of the Trachytic range, and I am +now about to explore the country between it and the Nammoy, and the +further course of this river; and in the event of its continuance in a +favourable direction, I shall fix my depot on its right bank, whence I now +write, and descend the stream in the portable boats. + +I have the honour to be, Sir, +Your most obedient servant, +T. L. MITCHELL, +SURVEYOR-GENERAL + +The Hon. The Colonial Secretary. + + +* * * * * + + +Peel's River, 29th February, 1832. + +SIR, + +I have the honour to inform you, for the information of His Excellency the +Governor, that I have reached the left bank of this River with my whole +party on my return from the northern interior, having explored the course +of the river referred to in my letter of 22nd December last, and others +within the 29th parallel of latitude. + +There was so much fallen timber in the Nammoy, and its waters were so low, +that the portable boats could not be used on that river with advantage, +and I proceeded by land in a north-west direction, until convinced by its +course turning more to the westward that this river joined the river +Darling. I therefore quitted its banks with the intention of exploring the +country further northward, by moving round the western extremities of the +mountains mentioned in my former letter, and which I have since +distinguished in my map by the name of the Lindesay Range. These mountains +terminate abruptly on the west, and I entered a fine open country at their +base, from whence plains (or rather open ground of gentle undulation) +extended westward as far as could be seen. On turning these mountains I +directed my course northward, and to the eastward of north, into the +country beyond them, in search of the river KINDUR; and I reached a river +flowing westward, the bed of which was deep, broad, and permanent, but in +which there was not then much water. + +THE RIVER KARAULA. + +The marks of inundation on trees, and on the adjoining high ground, proved +that its floods rose to an extraordinary height; and from the latitude, +and also from the general direction of its course, I considered this to be +the river which Mr. Cunningham named the Gwydir, on crossing it sixty +miles higher, on his route to Moreton Bay. I descended this river, and +explored the country on its left bank for about eighty miles to the +westward, when I found that its general course was somewhat to the +southward of west. This river received no addition from the mountains over +that part of its left bank traversed by me; and the heat being intense, +the stream was at length so reduced that I could step across it. The banks +had become low, and the bed much contracted, being no longer gravelly, but +muddy. I therefore crossed this river and travelled northward, on a +meridian line, until, in the latitude of 29 degrees 2 minutes, I came upon +the largest river I had yet seen. The banks were earthy and broken, the +soil being loose, and the water of a white muddy colour. Trees, washed out +by the roots from the soft soil, filled the bed of this river in many +places. There was abundance of cod-fish of a small size, as well as of the +two other kinds of fish which we had caught in the Peel, the Nammoy, and +the Gwydir. The name of this river, as well as we could make it out from +the natives, was Karaula. Having made fast one tree to top of another tall +tree, I obtained a view of the horizon, which appeared perfectly level, +and I was in hopes that we had at length found a river which would flow to +the northward and avoid the Darling. I accordingly ordered the boat to be +put together, and sent Mr. White with a party some miles down to clear +away any trees in the way. Mr. White came upon a rocky fall, and found +besides the channel so much obstructed by trees, and the course so +tortuous, that I determined to ascertain before embarking upon it, whether +the general course was in the desired direction. Leaving Mr. White with +half the party, I accordingly traced the Karaula downwards, and found that +its course changed to south, a few miles below where I had made it, and +that it was joined by the Gwydir only eight miles below where I had +crossed that river. Immediately below the junction of the Gwydir (which is +in latitude 29 degrees 30 minutes 27 seconds, longitude 148 degrees +13 minutes 20 seconds) the course of the river continues southward of +west, directly towards where Captain Sturt discovered the River Darling; +and I could no longer doubt that this was the same river. I therefore +returned to the party, determined to explore the country further +northward. + +The results of my progress thus far were sufficient, I considered, to +prove that the division of the waters falling towards the northern and +southern shores of Australia is not, as has been supposed, in the +direction of the Liverpool and Warrabangle range, but extends between Cape +Byron on the eastern shore, towards Dick Hartog's Island on the west; the +greater elongation of this country being between these points, and +intermediate between the lines of its northern and southern coasts. The +basin of the streams I have been upon must be bounded on the north by this +dividing ground or water-shed, and although no rise was perceptible in the +northern horizon, the river was traversed by several rocky dykes, over +which it fell southward; their direction being oblique to the course, and +nearly parallel to this division of the waters. I beg leave to state, that +I should not feel certain on this point without having seen more, were it +not evident from Mr. Cunningham's observations, made on crossing this +division on his way to Moreton Bay. Mr. Cunningham, on crossing the head +of this river, nearly in the same latitude, but much nearer its sources, +found the height of its bed above the sea to be 840 feet; at about +forty-five miles further northward the ground rose to upwards of +1700 feet, but immediately beyond, he reached a river flowing north-west, +the height of which was only 1400 feet above the sea. He had thus crossed +this dividing higher ground, between the parallels of 29 degrees +and 28 degrees. It appears, therefore, that all the interior rivers we +know of to the northward of the Morumbidgee, belong to the basin of the +Karaula; this stream flowing southward, and hence the disappearance of the +Macquarie and other lower rivers may be understood, for all along the +banks of the Karaula, the Gwydir, and the Nammoy, the country, though not +swampy, bears marks of frequent inundation; thus the floods occasioned by +these rivers united, cover the low country, and receive the Macquarie so +that no channel marks its further course. + +That a basin may be found to the northward receiving the waters of the +northern part of the coast range in a similar manner is extremely +probable, and that they form a better river, because the angle is more +acute between the high ground, which must bound it on the N.E. and the +watershed on the south. I therefore prepared to cross the Karaula, in +hopes of seeing the head at least of such a river, and to explore the +country two degrees further northward, but moving in a N.W. direction. +My tent was struck, and I had just launched my portable boat for the +purpose of crossing the river, when Mr. Surveyor Finch, whom I had +instructed to bring up a supply of flour, arrived with the distressing +intelligence, that two of his men had been killed by the natives, who had +taken the flour, and were in possession of everything he had brought--all +the cattle, including his horse, being also dispersed or lost. I therefore +determined not to extend my excursion further, as the party were already +on reduced rations, and on the 8th instant I retired from the Karaula, +returning by the marked line, which being cut through thick scrubs in +various places is now open, forming a tolerably direct line of +communication in a N.W. direction from Sydney, to a river, beyond which +the survey may be extended whenever His Excellency the Governor thinks +fit. + +The natives had never troubled my party on our advance; indeed I only saw +them when I came upon them by surprise, and then they always ran off. +Their first visit was received at my camp on the Karaula, during my +absence down that river, when they were very friendly, but much disposed +to steal. Various tribes followed us on coming back, but never with any +show of hostility, although moving in tribes of a hundred or more parallel +to our marked line, or in our rear; it was necessary to be ever on our +guard, and to encamp in strong positions only, arranging the drays for +defence during the night: three men were always under arms, and I have +much pleasure in stating, that throughout the whole excursion, and under +circumstances of hardship and privation, the conduct of the men was very +good. I took an armed party to the scene of pillage, and buried the bodies +of the two men, who appeared to have been treacherously murdered while +asleep by the blacks during the absence of Mr. Finch: no natives were to +be found when I visited the spot, although it appeared from columns of +smoke on hills which overlooked if, that they were watching our movements. + +The party has now arrived within a day's journey of Brown's station, +and I have instructed Assistant-Surveyor White (from whom I have received +great assistance during the whole journey) to conduct it homewards, being +desirous to proceed without delay to Sydney, and to receive the +instructions of His Excellency the Governor. + +I have the honour to be, Sir, +Your most obedient Servant, +T. L. MITCHELL, +SURVEYOR-GENERAL. + +THE HON. THE COLONIAL SECRETARY, +"&c. &c. &c." + + + + +Chapter VI. + + + +CONCLUDING REMARKS + + +Obstacles that attend travelling into the interior of Australia-- +Difficulty of carrying supplies--Importance of steady intelligent +subordinates--Danger from the natives--Number of men requisite,--and of +cattle and carriages--Provisions--Other arrangements--Treatment of the +natives--Dimensions of the boat used in the second expedition. + + +Having now had considerable experience in the fitting out and management +of expeditions in New South Wales, I cannot refrain from making some few +observations on the subject. And without presuming to lay dawn any fixed +rules, I shall only refer to those by which I have best succeeded, in +hopes that some of my remarks may prove of use to future travellers who +may venture to penetrate into the trackless deserts over so small a +portion of which I wandered. + +DIFFICULTIES OF EXPLORING AUSTRALIA. + +The great difficulty of examining the interior of Australia, is that of +carrying supplies; for increasing the number of individuals composing an +expedition is of no avail, since an additional number of men must +necessarily increase the consumption of food. In order to meet this +difficulty it has been proposed to establish depots upon which an +expedition could fall back to recruit its supplies, and in ordinary cases +this plan might answer; but I am decidedly of opinion that no party could +long remain stationary in the distant interior without some fatal +collision with the natives, which would be attended with the most +deplorable consequences; and I do think, considering all things, that the +experiment is too dangerous to be tried; for when I reached Mount Harris, +on my first retreat from the Darling, I found the party who were awaiting +me, with a supply of provisions, under very great alarm, in consequence of +the hostile proceedings of the Mount Harris tribe. The men had been +obliged to put the camp into a state of defence. The blacks had attempted +to surprise them, and would, had I not returned, have combined in some +general attack. It appears to me that the most judicious plan would be to +send a supply of provisions, with an expedition, to a distant point, under +the charge of a minor party. These provisions could replace those already +expended, and the animals that carried them could be taken back. + +SELECTION OF SUBORDINATES. + +The number of individuals of which the expedition down the banks of the +Macquarie was composed, was fourteen: that is to say, myself, Mr. Hume, +two soldiers, one free man, and seven prisoners of the crown. The latter +behaved, on all occasions, as steadily as it was possible for men to do. +Yet the circumstance of the two soldiers being with me increased my +confidence in the whole, for I was aware that their example would +influence the rest. However well disposed the prisoners of the crown may +be, (as in this instance they certainly were,) the beneficial example of +steady discipline cannot be denied. I should not have considered myself +justified in leaving the camp as I did for a week, and in detaching Mr. +Hume at the same time when at the bottom of the marshes, or in making the +last effort to maintain our position on the banks of the Darling, if I had +not reposed every confidence in the man to whom I entrusted the safety +of the camp during my absence. + +Experience, therefore, of the value of the two soldiers, whom General +Darling was good enough to permit me to take on the strength of the party, +fully bears me out in recommending that one man, at least, of general +responsibility shall be attached to all future expeditions. The success of +an expedition depends so much on the conduct of the persons of whom it is +composed, that too much attention cannot be given to the selection even of +the most subordinate. Men of active intelligent minds, of persevering +habits, and of even temper, should be preferred to mechanics who do not +possess these most requisite qualities. On the other hand, it is +impossible to do without a good carpenter, however defective he may be in +other respects. I was indebted to Mr. Maxwell, the superintendent of +Wellington Valley, for some excellent men, both on my first and on my +second journey, because he understood the nature of the service for which +they were required, and the characters of those whom he recommended. +But however well selected the party, or the men rather, might be, I still +consider a man of general responsibility necessary for its complete +organisation. I would have him somewhat superior to the rest in his +station in life. Him I would hold answerable for the immediate discipline +of the camp, whilst I was present, and for its safety when absent. The +assistant to the leader I would put entirely out of the question. He +has other and most important duties to perform. I would rate this man +wholly independent of him. + +DANGER OF COLLISION WITH THE NATIVES. + +In reference to what I have already said with regard to the natives, it +was supposed that they were so little to be apprehended, that when I went +on the first occasion into the interior, I applied for a limited number of +men only, under an impression that with a few men I could carry provisions +equal to a consumption of a greater number, and by this means be enabled +to keep the field for a greater length of time. But I do not think it +would be safe to penetrate into the distant country with fewer than +fifteen men, for although, happily, no rupture has as yet taken place with +the natives, yet, there is no security against their treachery, and it is +very certain that a slight cause might involve an expedition in +inextricable difficulty, and oblige the leader to throw himself on the +defensive, when far away from other resources than those with which he +should have provided himself, and that, perhaps, when navigating a close +and intricate river, with all the dangers and perplexities attendant on +such a situation. It is absolutely necessary to establish nightly guards, +not only for the security of the camp, but of the cattle, and at the same +time to have a force strong enough to maintain an obstinate resistance +against any number of savages, where no mercy is to be expected. It will +be borne in mind, that there is a wide difference between penetrating into +a country in the midst of its population, and landing from ships for the +purpose of communication or traffic. Yet, how few voyages of discovery +have terminated without bloodshed! Boats while landing are covered by +their ships, and have succour within view; but not so parties that go into +unknown tracts. They must depend on their immediate resources and +individual courage alone. + +PACK-OXEN, HORSES, WHEEL-CARRIAGES. + +With regard to the animals, I should recommend an equal number of horses +as of bullocks; since it has been found that the latter, though slow, +travel better over swampy ground than horses, which, on the other hand, +are preferable for expeditious journeys, to which bullocks would never be +equal. One of the colonial pack-saddles weighs fifty pounds complete, and +is preferable to those sent out from England. This, with a load of +250 1bs. is sufficient for any animal, since it enables the men to place a +part of their provisions with the general loads. The difficulty of keeping +the backs of the animals free from injury, more especially where any +blemish has before existed, is exceedingly great. They should undergo an +examination twice a-day, that is, in the morning prior to moving off, +and in the afternoon before they are turned out to feed; and measures +should then be taken to ease them as circumstances require. I never +suffered the saddles to be removed from the backs of the animals under my +charge for twenty minutes after the termination of the journey for the +day, in order to guard against the effects of the sun; and where the least +swelling appeared the saddle was altered and the place dressed. Yet, +notwithstanding all this care and attention, several both of the horses +and bullocks were at one time in a sad condition, during the first +journey,--so much so as almost to paralyse our efforts. It would be +advisable that such animals as are entirely free from blemish should be +chosen for the service of expeditions, for, with proper management they +might he kept in order. The anxiety of mind attendant on a bad state of +the animals is really quite embarrassing, for it not only causes a delay +in the movements, but a derangement in the loads. Other animals are +overburdened, and there is no knowing where the evil will stop. + +In addition to the pack-animals, I would recommend the employment of a +dray or cart under any practicable circumstances. It serves to carry +necessary comforts, gives an expedition greater facility for securing its +collections, and is of inconceivable advantage in many other respects. + +ISSUE OF PROVISIONS. + +Constant and most earnest attention should be paid to the issue of +provisions, on the discreet management of which so much depends, and the +charge of them should be committed to the second in command. The most +important articles are flour, tea, sugar, and tobacco. All should be +husbanded with extreme care, and weighed from time to time. The flour is +best carried in canvass bags, containing 100 pounds each, and should at +the termination of each day's journey, be regularly piled up and covered +with a tarpaulin. Tea, sugar and tobacco lose considerably in weight, so +that it is necessary to estimate for somewhat more than the bare supply. +With regard to the salt meat, the best mode of conveying it appears to be +in small barrels of equal weight with the bags of flour. Salt pork is +better than beef. It should be deprived of all bones and be of the very +best quality. I have heard spirits recommended, but I do not approve their +use. Tea is much more relished by the men; indeed they could not do well +without it. A small quantity of spirits would, however, of course be +necessary in the event of its being required. + +LIVE STOCK. + +Mr. Cornelius O'Brien, an enterprising and long-established settler, who +has pushed his flocks and herds to the banks of the Morumbidgee, was good +enough to present me with eight wethers as I passed his station. It may be +some gratification to Mr. O'Brien to know, that they contributed very +materially to our comforts, and he will, perhaps, accept my +acknowledgements in this place, not only for so liberal a present to +myself, but for his attention and kindness to my men as long as they +remained in his neighbourhood. It was found that the sheep gave but little +additional trouble, requiring only to be penned at night, as much to +secure them from the native dogs as to prevent them from straying away. +They followed the other animals very quietly, and soon became accustomed +to daily movements. They proved a most available stock; no waste attended +their slaughter, and they admitted of a necessary and wholesome change of +fresh food from the general salt diet, on which the men would otherwise +have had to subsist. + +The provisions should, if possible, be issued weekly, and their diminution +should be so regulated as to give an equal relief to the animals. + +For general information i have annexed a list of the supplies I took with +me on my first expedition. It may appear long, but the articles were +packed in a small compass, and their value immaterial. + +As a precautionary measure I should advise, that one of the pack animals +be kept apart for the purpose of carrying water. Two casks of equal weight +are the best for such a purpose. In long and hot marches, the men +experience great relief from having water at hand. + +INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES. + +In reference to the natives, I hope sufficient has been said of the manner +of communicating with them to prevent the necessity of a repetition here. +The great point is not to alarm their natural timidity: to exercise +patience in your intercourse with them; to treat them kindly; and to watch +them with suspicion, especially at night. Never permit the men to steal +away from the camp, but keep them as compact as possible; and at every +station so arrange your drays and provisions that they may serve as a +defence in case of your being attacked. + +The natives appeared to me to be indifferent to our presents, in most +cases. Tomahawks, knives, pieces of iron, and different coloured ribbons +for the forehead, were most esteemed by them. They will barter and +exchange their fish for articles, and readily acquire confidence. + +I believe I have now touched on all the more important points: on minor +ones no observation I can make will be of use; men must, in many things, +be guided by circumstances. + +* * * * * + +WHALE BOAT EMPLOYED ON THE SECOND EXPEDITION. + +I may here notice that, in my second expedition, as it was anticipated +that I should require adequate provision for water conveyance, at one +stage or other of my journey down the Morumbidgee, I was furnished with a +whale-boat, the dimensions of which are given below. She was built by +Mr. Egan, the master builder of the dock-yard and a native of the colony, +and did great credit to his judgment. She carried two tons and a half of +provisions, independently of a locker, which I appropriated for the +security of the arms, occupying the space between the after-seat and the +stern. She was in the first instance put together loosely, her planks +and timbers marked, and her ring bolts, &c. fitted. She was then taken to +pieces, carefully packed up, and thus conveyed in plank into the interior, +to a distance of four hundred and forty miles, without injury. She was +admirably adapted for the service, and rose as well as could have been +expected over the seas in the lake. It was evident, however, that she +would have been much safer if she had had another plank, for she was +undoubtedly too low. The following were her dimensions:-- + +Breadth across 7th timber aft, 5 ft. 1/2 an inch outside. +Across 12th timber, 5 ft. 11 1/4 in. +Across 17th timber forward, 5 ft. +25 ft. 8 in. in length inside. +Curve of the keel No. 1, from the after side of each apron, 3 ft. 3 3/4in. +No. 2, from head to head of the dead wood, 13 1/2 in. +No. 3, from one end of keel to the other inner side, 3 in. +No. 4, round of keel from the toe of each dead wood, 7/8 1/16th. +The timbers were marked, beginning from the stern to the bow on the +starboard side, and from bow to stern on the larboard. + + + + +APPENDIX No. I. + + + +LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS. + + + +By His Excellency Lieutenant General Ralph Darling, Commanding +His Majesty's Forces, Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of the +Territory of New South Wales, and its dependencies, and +Vice Admiral of the same, &c. &c. &c. + +TO CHARLES STURT, ESQ. CAPTAIN IN THE 39TH REGIMENT OF FOOT. + +Whereas it has been judged expedient to fit out an expedition for the +purpose of exploring the interior of New Holland, and the present dry +season affords a reasonable prospect of an opportunity of ascertaining the +nature and extent of the large marsh or marshes which stopped the progress +of the late John Oxley Esq, Surveyor General, in following the courses of +the rivers Lachlan and Macquarie in the years 1817 and 1818. And whereas I +repose full confidence in your abilities and zeal for conducting such an +expedition, I do hereby constitute and appoint you to command and take +charge of the expedition now preparing for the purpose of exploring the +interior of the country, and for ascertaining, if practicable, the nature +and extent of the marsh or marshes above mentioned. + +In the prosecution of this service, you will be guided generally by the +following instructions. + +1. You will be accompanied on this expedition by Mr. Hamilton Hume, whose +great experience in travelling through the remote parts of the Colony, +cannot fail to be highly useful to you. You will also be attended by two +soldiers and six convicts, of whom one is to understand the shoeing of +horses, one to be a carpenter, one a harness-maker and three stock-men, +and you will be provided with six horses and twelve bullocks. + +2. A small boat has been built here for the use of the expedition, and for +its conveyance, there is provided a light four-wheeled carriage to be +drawn by two bullocks. + +The deputy Commissary General has received orders for supplying the +expedition with provisions of the best quality sufficient for six months' +consumption, together with tents, blankets, clothing, pack-saddles, +utensils, instruments, tools, and necessaries of all kinds of which you +are likely to stand in need. Orders are also given for providing you with +arms and ammunition, with rockets for signals, and an ample supply of +simple medicines--You are to consider it an important duty to attend to +the providing of all these supplies, and to take care that not only every +article is of the best quality that can be procured, but also that no +article be wanting with which you may desire to be provided. + +3. Orders are given for forwarding without delay all your provisions, +stores and supplies of every kind to Wellington Valley, at which place, +you, Mr. Hume, and all your men are to rendezvous as soon as possible. +Mr Maxwell, the superintendent, will furnish you with well-trained +bullocks, and afford you all the assistance you may require in arranging +every thing for your departure from that station. + +4. After you shall have completed all your arrangements, you are to lose +no time in finally departing from Wellington Valley in prosecution of the +immediate objects of the expedition. + +5. You are first to proceed to Mount Harris, where you are to form a +temporary depot, by means of which you will have an opportunity of more +readily communicating with Mr. Maxwell. + +6. You are then to endeavour to determine the fate of the Macquarie River, +by tracing it as far as possible beyond the point to which Mr. Oxley went, +and by pushing westward, you are to ascertain if there be any high lands +in that direction, or if the country be, as it is supposed, an unbroken +level and under water. If you should fail in these objects, you will +traverse the plains lying behind our north-west boundaries, with a view to +skirt any waters by which you may have been checked to the westward; and +if you should succeed in skirting them, you are to explore the country +westward and southward as far as possible, endeavouring to discover the +Macquarie beyond the marsh of Mr. Oxley, and following it to its mouth if +at all practicable. + +7. There is some reason to believe that the over-flowing of the Macquarie +when visited by Mr. Oxley, was occasioned by heavy rains falling in the +mountains to the eastward, and that as you are to visit the same spot at a +different season of the year, you may escape such embarrassment; but +although you should get beyond the point at which Mr. Oxley stopped, it +would not be prudent to risk your own health or that of your men, by +continuing long in a swampy country. Therefore it may be advisable for you +in the first instance to leave the greater part of your men, bullocks, and +baggage, at Mount Harris, and if you should see a probability of your +being able to cross into the interior, you will then return to Mount +Harris for such additional supplies as you may judge necessary. You can +there communicate with Mr. Maxwell respecting any ulterior arrangements +which you may be desirous of making. + +8. The success of the expedition is so desirable an object, that I cannot +too strongly impress upon you the importance of perseverance in +endeavouring to skirt any waters or marshes which may check your course as +long as you have provisions sufficient for your return; but you must be +cautious not to proceed a single day's journey further than where you find +that your provisions will be barely sufficient to enable you to reach the +nearest place at which you can depend upon getting supplies. + +9. If after every endeavour you should find it totally impracticable to get +to the westward, you are still to proceed northward, keeping as westerly a +direction as possible; and when the state of your provisions will oblige +you to retreat, you will be guided by your latitude, as to the place to +which you are to make the best of your way, but you are not to make for +any place on the coast, if Wellington valley should still be nearer. + +10. You must be aware that the success of the expedition will greatly +depend upon the time for which your provisions will hold out, and +therefore you will see the great importance of observing every possible +economy in the expenditure of provisions, and preventing waste of every +kind. + +11. You are to keep a detailed account of your proceedings in a journal, +in which all observations and occurrences of every kind, with all their +circumstances, however minute, are to be carefully noted down. You are to +be particular in describing the general face of all the country through +which you pass, the direction and shape of the mountains, whether detached +or in ranges, together with the bearings and estimated distances of the +several mountains, hills, or eminences from each other. You are likewise +to note the nature of the climate, as to heat, cold, moisture, winds, +rains, &c, and to keep a register of the temperature from Fahrenheit's +thermometer, as observed at two or three periods of each day. The rivers, +with their several branches, their direction, velocity, breadth, and +depth, are carefully to be noted. It is further expected that you will, +as far as may he in your power, attend to the animal, vegetable, and +mineral productions of the country, noting down every thing that may occur +to you, and preserving specimens as far as your means will admit, +especially some of all the ripe seeds which you may discover; when the +preservation of specimens is impossible, drawings or detailed accounts of +them, are very desirable. + +12. You will note the description of the several people whom you may meet, +the extent of the population, their means of subsistence, their genius and +disposition, the nature of their amusements, their diseases and remedies, +their objects of worship, religious ceremonies, and a vocabulary of their +language. + +Lastly. On your return from your journey, you are to cause all the +journals or other written documents belonging to, and curiosities +collected by the several individuals composing the expedition, to be +carefully sealed up with your own seal and kept in that state until you +shall have made your report to me in writing of the result of the +expedition. + +Given at Sydney, this eighteenth day of November, 1828. +By Command of His Excellency the Governor, +ALEXANDER M'LEAY. + + + + +APPENDIX No. II. + + + +LIST OF STORES SUPPLIED FOR THE EXPEDITION. + + +List of Articles delivered from His Majesty's Stores, +in charge of D. A. C. Goodsir, to Captain Sturt, viz.-- + +1 Hack saddle. 9 Harness casks. +1 Bridle. 23 Canvas bags. +2 Tents. 4 Tin cases. +14 Pack saddles. 16 Padlocks. +14 Pair hobbles. 6 Tarpaulens. +24 Sets horse shoes. 10 Haversacks. +2000 Horse nails. 113 Fathom one-inch rope. +113 Fathoms 1 1/2 inch rope. 1 Boat compass. +1 Hammer, (Blacksmith's) 1 Telescope. +1 Paring knife. 1 Spare glass for ditto. +2 Chipping do. 1 Tin case (for charts.) +2 Rasps. 100 Fish-hooks, (large.) +1 Pair pincers. 12 Fishing-lines. +1 Cutter. 10 Knives. +21b. Pack thread. 10 Forks. +24 Needles. 10 Spoons. +1/4lb. Bristles. 2 Frying-pans. +71bs. Leather. 2 Tinder-boxes. +1/2lb. Thread. 1 Tea-kettle, (tin.) +1 Pair of steelyards. 10 Tin dishes. +10 Tin pots. 8 Jackets. +1 Flour seive. 8 Duck frocks. +2 Felling-axes. 8 Shirts. +4 Tomahawks. 16 Trousers. +2 Hammers. 24 Pair shoes. +1 Hand-saw. 16 Blankets. +3 Bill-hooks. 16 Pair stockings. +3 Awls. 2 Bullock collars. +3 Broad hoes. 2 Do. back-bands and pipes. +4 Razors. 2 Leading cruppers. +4 Brushes. 1 Boat with sail and oars. +4 Combs. 1 Do. carriage. +3 Iron pots, (camp kettles.) 1 Canvass boat-cover. +1 Pair scissors. 3 Water breaker. + +COMMISSARIAT OFFICE, SYDNEY, NOV. 10TH, 1828. + +P.S.--l Tarpaulin. + Large Fish-hook. + 1 Tin tea-kettle. + 1 Camp kettle. + Pitch and oil. + Hemp or twine. + + + + +APPENDIX No. III. + + + +SHEEP-FARMING RETURNS, SHOWING THE INCREASE IN FOUR YEARS, +from two Breeding Flocks, consisting of 670 Ewes in Lamb. + + +(A.)--1st JUNE, 1828. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks. Breeding Ewes. Lambs. Total. Remarks. + + 2 yrs. old. 3 yrs. old. Male.-Female. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + Lambs. +No. 1 330 148 149 627 Deaths 6. Incr.297 +No. 2 330 154 154 638 4 308 + ---- -- --- + * 1265 10 605 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +* The increase throughout these returns is calculated at from 270 to 290 +Lambs, to 300 Ewes, which is the usual average in N.S.W. + + +ABSTRACT. + +Purchased two Flocks of Ewes, at 84s.............................670 Ewes. +Increase of Lambs.......................................... 605 +Casual Deaths............................................... 10 + 595 + --- +Total as per Return............................................ 1265 + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +(B.)--1st JUNE, 1829. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks.|Breeding|Maiden|Wethers.|Rams.| Lambs. |Total.| Remarks. + | Ewes. | Ewes.| |Male. Female.| +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +No. Lambs. +1 3-yr. 327 154 154 635 Deaths 3 Incr.308 +2 4-yr. 326 155 155 636 4 310 +3 1-yr. 302 302 1 --- +4 1-yr. 302 18 320 -- 618 + ---- 8 + 1893 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +ABSTRACT. + +Return (A) Total...............................................1265 +Increase by Lambing....................................618 +Ditto Rams purchased....................................18 + --- + 636 +Casual Deaths......................................... 8 628 + ---- +Total as per return............................................1893 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +(C.)--1st JUNE, 1830. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks.|Breeding|Maiden|Wethers.|Rams.| Lambs. |Total.| Remarks. + | Ewes. | Ewes.| |Male. Female.| +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +No. Lambs. +1 2-yr. 296 133 154 562 Deaths 6 Incr.266 +2 4-yr. 325 150 155 625 2 300 +3 5-yr. 326 160 646 320 +4 2-yr. 302 27 329 --- +5 1-yr. 309 309 886 +6 1-yr. 309 309 --- + ---- 3 Rams died + 2780 12 ditto purchased +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +ABSTRACT. + +Return (B) Total............................................ 1893 +Increase by Lambing....................................886 +Ditto Rams purchased....................................12 + --- + 898 +Deaths............................................... 11 887 + ---- +Total as per return......................................... 2780 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +(D.)--1st JUNE, 1831. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks.|Breeding|Maiden|Wethers.|Rams.| Lambs. |Total.| Remarks. + | Ewes. | Ewes.| |Male. Female.| +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +No. Lambs. +1 2-yr. 304 136 136 576 Deaths 5 Incr.272 +2 3-yr. 293 135 136 564 3 271 +3 5-yr. 324 156 156 636 1 312 +4 6-yr. 320 156 156 632 2 312 + Killed 4 --- +5 3-yr. 300 300 Deaths 2 1167 +6 2-yr. 308 308 1 +7 1-yr 443 443 +8 1-yr 442 442 1 +9 40 40 5 + ---- -- + 3941 20 + Purchased 12 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +ABSTRACT. + +Return (C) Total............................................ 2780 +Increase by Lambing...................................1167 +Ditto Rams purchased....................................18 + --- + 1185 +Casual deaths 20 ...Killed for use 4 ................. 24 1161 + ---- +Total as per return.......................................... 3941 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +(E.)--1st JUNE, 1832. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks.|Breeding|Maiden|Wethers.|Rams.| Lambs. |Total.| Remarks. + | Ewes. | Ewes.| |Male. Female.| +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +No. Lambs. +1 2-yr. 344 154 154 652 Deaths 6 Incr.308 +2 3-yr. 344 162 161 667 4 323 +4 3-yr. 342 164 165 671 3 329 +5 6-yr. 320 155 155 630 2 310 +6 7-yr. 300 145 145 590 2 290 +7 4-yr. 300 300 ---- + 1560 +8 3-yr 302 302 2 +9 2-yr 440 440 1 +10 1-yr 583 583 +11 1-yr 584 584 +12 45 45 5 Purch. 10 + ---- ---- ---- --- --- --- ---- + 1650 584 1625 45 780 780 5464 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +ABSTRACT. + +Return (D) Total............................................ 3941 +Increase by Lambing...................................1560 +Ditto Rams purchased....................................10 + --- + 1570 +Decrease by casual death .............................. 25 +Decrease by slaughter for use ......................... 22 + --- + 1523 + ---- + Grand Total .............................. 5464 as above +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +MEMORANDUM,--The deaths have been calculated at the lowest rate under the +best management. It may be safer to assume a rate of four or five per +cent. per annum. + + + +Account of Expenditure and Income upon Sheep Stock in Australia, +appended to Returns A. B. C. D. and E. + 1st YEAR, (RETURN A.) JUNE, 1829. + +INCOME. +By 11265 fleeces, average weight 2 1/4 lbs. 284 lbs +wool at 1s. 6d. per lb. 213 9 0 + EXPENDITURE. +To 2 Shepherds at 30 pounds 60 0 0 +To 1 Watchman at 20 20 0 O PROFIT. +To Hurdles, &c. 10 0 0 + -------- 90 0 0 + -------- 123 9 0 + + 2nd YEAR, (B.) JUNE, 1830. + + INCOME. +By 1893 fleeces, at 2 1/4 lbs. 42591bs. wool at +1s. 6d. 319 8 6 + EXPENDITURE. +To 2 Shepherds at 30 pounds 60 0 0 +To 2 Ditto 20 40 0 0 +To 1 Watchman 20 0 0 +To Hurdles &c. 5 0 0 + --------- + 125 0 0 +To 18 Rams at 10 pounds* 180 0 0 + --------- + 305 0 0 + --------- + 14 8 6 +*The price of rams will probably fall to 5 pounds + + 3rd YEAR, (C.) JUNE, 1831. + + INCOME. +By 2780 fleeces, at 2 1/4 lbs. 62551bs. wool at +1s. 6d. 469 2 6 + EXPENDITURE. +To 2 Shepherds at 30 pounds 60 0 0 +To 2 Ditto 25 25 0 0 +To 3 Ditto 20 60 0 0 +To 2 Watchman 20 40 0 0 +To Hurdles &c. 10 0 0 + --------- + 195 0 0 +To 12 Rams at 10 pounds 120 0 0 + --------- + 315 0 0 + --------- + 154 2 6 + + + + 4th YEAR, (D.) JUNE, 1832. + + INCOME. +By 3941 fleeces, at 2 1/4 lbs. 88671bs. wool at +1s. 6d. 665 0 0 + EXPENDITURE. +To 2 Shepherds at 30 pounds 60 0 0 +To 3 Ditto 25 75 0 0 +To 5 Ditto 20 100 0 0 +To 3 Watchman 20 60 0 0 +To Hurdles &c. 20 0 0 + --------- + 315 0 0 +To 10 Rams at 10 pounds 100 0 0 + --------- + 415 0 0 + --------- + 507 0 0 + ---------- + Net profit by sales of wool in 5 years 1024 0 0 + +1024 0 0 divided by 5 gives 204 8 0 for annual interest on the +original capital of 2814 0 0, (about 7 1/4 percent per annum) +in addition to the accumulation of capital itself, shown by the +valuation of stock. + +These accounts are a year in advance of the sheep returns, in order to +bring them to the time at which the wool would be sold. + + + VALUATION OF SHEEP, JUNE, 1832----(RETURN E.) + +1614 Ewes from 1 to 4 years old at 3 pounds each 4842 0 O + 620 Do. 4 to 7 years old 2 1240 0 0 + 780 Female Lambs 2 1560 0 0 +2405 Wethers and Male Lambs 15s. 1803 0 0 + 45 Rams (original cost, 450l.) 400 0 0 + ---------- + 9845 0 0 + +Note.--About 500 pounds would be added to the Income on the fifth year, +by the sale of wethers of 3 and 4 years old. + +The cost of rams ought, strictly speaking, to be added to capital, and not +deducted from Income; but these returns were made out in their present +form at the request of a gentleman proceeding to the Colony with a limited +capital, and who wished to know how much he might safely invest in sheep. + + + + +APPENDIX No. IV. + + + +LIST OF GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS, COLLECTED IN THE DISTANT INTERIOR DURING +THE FIRST EXPEDITION, WITH THEIR LOCALITIES AND THEIR RELATIVE DISTANCES +FROM EACH OTHER. + + +It may be necessary to observe that the height of the Cataract of the +Macquarie River above the sea, was ascertained by barometrical +admeasurement to be 650 feet. The country subsequently traversed is +considerably lower. The specimens refer only to the geological formation +of the distant interior. + +Schorl Rock.--Colour blueish grey, fine grained, extremely hard. Composed +of Tourmaline and Quartz. Forms the bed of the Macquarie at the Cataract, +75 miles to the N.W. of Wellington Valley. + +Decomposed Mica Slate.--Colour white; yields to the knife; adheres +strongly to the tongue. + +Decomposed Feldspar.--Colour pale rose-pink; very fine grained; easily +scratched with the knife; adheres strongly to the tongue. + +Both specimens immediately succeed the Schorl rock at the Cataract, in +large smooth-sided masses. + +This formation may be said to terminate the rocks connected with the +dividing ranges, since it is the last that occurs at their western base. + +A little below the Cataract, the county undergoes a remarkable change, +and becomes extremely depressed. + +Porphyry with Feldspar.--Colour dull red, with white spots, or grey with +red spots; very hard, compact, sonorous, magnetic. [See pp. 27 and 115.] +Composition of Mount Harris, a hill called by Mr. Oxley, elevated about +170 feet above the level of the plains. It lies 65 miles to the N.N.W. of +the Cataract, and is about 16 miles distant from the first of the marshes +of the Macquarie. + +Porphyry with Feldspar.--Colour grey with red spots, similar to the last. +Was not observed to affect the needle. Formation of Mount Foster. +Mount Foster is more than 200 feet in height, and lies about 5 miles to +the N.N.W. of Mount Harris. From the summit of both, Arbuthnot's range is +visible, bearing nearly due east, distant 70 miles. [See page 28.] + +Quartz Rook varieties--Slaty Quartz varieties.--Composition of the first +elevations to the Westward of the marshes of the Macquarie, called +New Year's Range, a group of five hills. The loftiest about 200 feet in +elevation; distant about 80 miles to the N.W. of Mount Harris. + +Granite.--Colour red, coarse-grained. Composed of Quartz, Feldspar, +and Mica. + + Granite, Porphyritic.--Colour light red. Both occurring in the bed of +New Year's Creek, traversing it obliquely, and are visible for a few +hundred yards only. This granite occurs about 16 miles from the Range in +a N. by E. direction. + +Old Red Sandstone.--Composition of Oxley's Table Land, 500 feet above the +level of the plains. It is broken into two hills, that appear to have been +separated by some convulsion. [See page 81.] It bears N.W. by W. from +New Year's Range, distant 50 miles. + +Old Red Sandstone.--Composition of D'Urban's group. The highest elevation +ascended during the expedition, being nearly 600 feet above the level of +the plain in which it rises. It lies to the S.S.W. of Oxley's Table Land, +distant 40 miles, and the rock of which it is composed is much harder +and closer. + +Breccia.--Colour pale yellow, silicious cement. Composition of some +trifling elevations to the North of New-Year's range, with which it is +doubtful whether they are connected. + +Crystallized Sulphate of Lime.--Found imbedded in the alluvial soil +forming the banks of the Darling river. Occurring in a regular vein. Soft, +yielding to the nail; not acted on by acids.--See Plate. + +Breccia.--Pale ochre colour, silicious cement, extremely hard. Cellular, +and sharp edges to the fractured pebbles. Has apparently undergone fusion. +Occurs in the bed of the Darling in one place only. + +Sandstone Varieties.--Colour dull red and muddy white; appears like burnt +bricks; light, easily frangible; adheres to the tongue; occurs in large +masses in the bed of the Darling; probably in connection with the +rock-salt of the neighbourhood, which, from the number of brine springs +discovered feeding the river, must necessarily exist. + +Variety of the same description of rock. + +Jasper and Quartz.--Showing itself above the surface of a plain, from +which D'Urban's group bore S. 40 E. distant 33 miles. + +It is a remarkable fact, that not a pebble or a stone was picked up during +the progress of the expedition, on any one of the plains; and that after +it again left Mount Harris for the Castlereagh, the only rock-formation +discovered was a small Freestone tract near the Darling river. There was +not a pebble of any kind either in the bed of the Castlereagh, or in the +creeks falling into it. + + + + +APPENDIX No. V. + + + +OFFICIAL REPORTS TO THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT. + + +* * * * * + + +GOVERNMENT ORDER + +COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE, 23RD JANUARY, 1829. + +His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to order, that the following +communication, dated the 25th of December last, from Captain Sturt, of the +39th Regiment, who is employed in an exploring expedition into the +interior of the country, be published for general information. + +By his Excellency's Command, +ALEXANDER M'LEAY. + + +* * * * * + + +WESTERN MARSHES, 25TH DECEMBER, 1828. + +SIR,--I do myself the honor to forward, for the Governor's perusal, a +copy of my journal up to the date of my arrival at Mount Harris. I should +not have directed the messenger to return so soon, had I not subsequently +advanced to Mount Foster, and surveyed the country from that eminence. I +could distinctly see Arbuthnot's Range to the eastward. From that point +the horizon appeared to me unbroken, but the country to the northward and +westward seemed to favour an attempt to penetrate into it. I did not +observe any sheet of water, and the course of the Macquarie was lost in +the woodlands below. + +Mr. Hume ascended the hill at sun-rise, and thought he could see mountains +to the north east, but at such a distance as to make it quite a matter of +uncertainty. Agreeing, however, in the prudence of an immediate descent, +we left our encampment on the morning of the 23rd, under Mount Foster, to +which we had removed from Mount Harris, and pursued a north-north-west +course to the spot on which we rest at present. We passed some fine meadow +land near the river, and were obliged to keep wide of it in consequence of +fissures in the ground. Traversing a large and blasted plain, on which the +sun's rays fell with intense heat, and on which there was but little +vegetation, we skirted the first great morass, and made the river +immediately beyond it. It is of very considerable extent, the channel of +the river passing through it. We are encompassed on every side by high +reeds, which exist in the woods as well as in the plains. Mr. Hume and +myself rode forward yesterday through the second morass, and made the +river on slightly elevated ground, at a distance of about five miles; the +country beyond appeared to favour our object, and we, to-morrow, proceed +with the party to the north-west. The river seems to bend to the +north-east; but in this level country it is impossible to speak with +certainty, or to give any decided opinion of the nature of it, beyond the +flats on which we are travelling. The reeds to the north-east and +northward extend over a circumference of fifty miles; but if Mr. Hume +really saw mountains or rising ground in the former point, the apparent +course of the Macquarie is at once accounted for. The country, however, +seems to dip to the north, though generally speaking it is level, and I am +inclined to think that the state of the atmosphere caused a deception in +this appearance. + +I regret to add, that the effects of the sun on the plain over which we +passed on the 23rd produced a return of inflammation in the eyes of the +men, I have named in my journals, and caused the same in the eyes of +several others of my party. I halted, therefore, to expedite their +recovery. They are doing well now, and we can proceed in the cool of the +morning without any fear of their receiving injury by it. One of the men, +who were to return to Wellington Valley, was attacked slightly with +dysentery, but the medicines I gave him carried it off in the course of a +day or two. I have taken every precaution with regard to the health of the +men, in preparing them for the country into which they are going; and I +have to request that you will inform the governor that the conduct of the +whole party merits my approbation, and that I have no fault to find. The +men from Sydney are not so sharp as those from Wellington Valley, but are +equally well disposed. The animals, both horses and bullocks, are in good +order, and I find the two soldiers of infinite service to me. The boat has +received some damage from exposure to intense heat, but is otherwise +uninjured. We still retain the carriage and have every prospect of +dragging it on with us. + +His Excellency, having been good enough to order a fresh supply of +provisions to Wellington Valley, I have to beg they may be forwarded to +Mount Harris, and that the person in charge thereof be instructed to +remain at that station for one month. We shall, during the interval, have +examined the country to the north-west; and, in case we are forced back, +shall require a supply to enable us to proceed to the northward, in +furtherance of the views I have already had the honor to submit for the +Governor's approval. + +I have the honor to be, Sir, +Your most obedient and humble Servant, +CHARLES STURT, +Captain, 39th Regt. + + +THE HONOURABLE THE COLONIAL SECRETARY + + +* * * * * + + +GOVERNMENT ORDER. + +COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE, 6TH APRIL, 1829. + +His Excellency the Governor is pleased to direct that the following +interesting Report which has been received from Captain Sturt, +39th Regiment, who has been employed for some months past, (as will be +seen on reference to the Government Order, No. 4, published with Captain +Sturt's First Report in the Sydney Gazette, of the 24th of January last) +in exploring the interior, be communicated for the information of the +public. + +It appears that the river Macquarie ceases to exist near the spot where +the expedition under the late Mr. Oxley terminated, which, from the state +of country at the time, being then flooded, could not be ascertained; and +that another river of no inconsiderable magnitude, fed by salt springs, +was discovered by Captain Sturt on the 2nd February last, about 100 miles +to the westward of the Macquarie, running to the southward and westward. + +By His Excellency's Command, +ALEXANDER M'LEAY. + + +* * * * * + + +MOUNT HARRIS, 4TH MARCH, 1829. + +SIR,--I do myself the honor to acquaint you, for the information of His +Excellency the Governor, that I returned to this eminence on Monday, +the 23rd ult. having been driven from the interior, in consequence of the +extreme drought which prevails there. + +I am to state, in reference to my former communication, that agreeably to +what I then reported, I moved, on the 26th December last, lower down the +plains of the Macquarie, but encountered a barrier of reeds, formed by the +marshes of that river, through which we in vain endeavoured to force our +way. I was in consequence obliged to make the nearest part of the river to +my left, and to take such measures as the nature of my situation required. +Here, for the first time, I set the boat afloat, deeming it essential to +trace the river, as I could not move upon its banks, and wishing also to +ascertain where it again issued from the marshes, I requested Mr. Hume to +proceed northerly, with a view to skirt them, and to descend westerly, +wherever he saw an open space. He was fortunate enough to strike upon the +channel about twelve miles north of our position, but was obstructed in +his further progress by another marsh, in consequence of which he returned +to the camp the next day; in the mean time, I had taken the boat, and +proceeded down the Macquarie, my way being at first considerably +obstructed by fallen timber: clearing this obstacle, however, I got into +a deeper channel, with fine broad reaches, and a depth of from twelve to +fifteen feet water. I had a short time previously cleared ail woods and +trees, and was now in the midst of reeds of great height. After proceeding +onwards for about eight miles from the place whence I started, my course +was suddenly and unexpectedly checked; I saw reeds before me, and expected +I was about to turn an angle of the river, but I found that I had got to +the end of the channel, and that the fiver itself had ceased to exist. +Confounded at such a termination to a stream, whose appearance justified +the expectation that it would have led me through the heart of the marsh +to join Mr. Hume, I commenced a most minute examination of the place, and +discovered two creeks, if they deserve the name, branching, the one to the +north-west, and the other to the north-east; after tracing the former a +short distance, I reached its termination, and in order to assure myself +that such was the case, I walked round the head of it by pushing through +the reeds; it being then too dark to continue where I was, I returned to +a place on the river, at which I had rested during a shower, and slept +there. In the morning I again went to the spot to examine the +north-eastern branch, when I was equally disappointed. I then examined the +space between the two creeks, opposite to the main channel of the river, +and where the bank receives the force of the current. Here I saw water in +the reeds, but it was scarcely ankle deep, and was running off to the +north-west quicker than the waters of the river, which had almost an +imperceptible motion, I was therefore at once convinced that it was not +permanent, but had lodged there in the night, during which much rain had +fallen. I next pushed my way through the reeds into the marsh, and at +length clearly perceived that the waters which were perfectly sweet, after +running several courses, flowed off to the north, towards which point +there was an apparent declination or dip. Finding it impossible to +proceed further, I regained the boat, and thence returned to the camp, +under a conviction that I had reached the very spot, at which Mr. Oxley +lost the channel of the river in 1818. + +The next day I moved to the place where Mr. Hume had struck upon the +channel of the river, but was again doubtful in what direction to proceed. + +The marsh, at the commencement of which we now found ourselves, being the +third from Mount Foster, but the second great one, seemed to extend beyond +us to the north for many miles, but varying in breadth. In the evening I +went in the boat up the channel, and found it at first, deep and sullen, +as that of the river above. It soon however, narrowed, and the weeds +formed over its surface, so that I abandoned the boat and walked along a +path up it. I had not gone far when the channel divided; two smaller +channels came, the one from the southern, and the other from the western +parts of the marsh into it. There was an evident declination where they +were, and it was at their junction the river again rallied and formed. +On my return to the camp, Mr. Hume and I went down the river, but found +that about a mile it lost itself, and spread its waters ever the extensive +marsh before it. + +In this extremity, I knew not what movement to make, as Mr. Hume had been +checked in his progress north. I therefore determined to ascertain the +nature of the country to the eastward and to the westward, that I might +move accordingly; I proposed to Mr. Hume, to take a week's provisions, +with two attendants, and go to the north-east, in order again to turn the +marsh, but with the expectation that the angle formed by the junction of +the Castlereagh with the Macquarie would arrest its progress, as the last +was fast approaching the former. + +I myself determined to cross the river, and to skirt the marshes on the +left, and in case they turned off to the north east, as they appeared to +do, it was my intention to pursue a N.W. course into the interior, to +learn the nature of it. With these views I left the camp on the 31st of +December, and did not return until the 5th of January. Having found early +in my journey, from the change of soil and of timber, that I was leaving +the neighbourhood of the Macquarie, I followed a N.W. course, from a more +northerly one, and struck at once across the country, under an impression +that Mr. Hume would have made the river again long before my return. +I found, after travelling between twenty and thirty miles, the country +began to rise; and at the end of my journey, I made a hill of considerable +elevation, from the summit of which I had a view of other high lands; one +to the S.W. being a very fine mountain. As I had not found any water +excepting in two creeks, which I had left far behind me, and as I had got +on a soil which appeared incapable of holding it, I made this the +termination of my journey, having exceeded 100 miles in distance from the +camp, on my return to which I found Mr. Hume still absent. When he joined, +he stated to me, that not making the Castlereagh as soon as he expected, +he had bent down westerly for the Macquarie, and that he ended his journey +at some gentle hills he had made; so that it appeared we must either have +crossed each other's line of route, or that they were very near, and that +want of length must alone have prevented them from crossing; but as such +all assumption led to the conclusion that the Macquarie no longer existed, +I determined to pursue a middle course round the swamps, to ascertain the +point; as in case the river had ended, a westerly course was the one which +my instructions directed me to pursue. + +In the immediate neighbourhood of the marshes we were obliged to sink +wells for water, and it was thus early that we began to feel the want of a +regular supply. + +Having made a creek about four miles from our position by cutting through +the reeds where there was a narrow space, we pursued a westerly course +over a plain, having every appearance of frequent inundation, and for four +or five days held nearly the same direction; in the course of which we +crossed both our tracks on the excursions we had made, which had +intersected each other in a dense oak brush; thus renewing the few doubts, +or rather the doubt we had as to the fate of the Macquarie, whose course +we had been sent to trace. Indeed, had I not felt convinced that that +river had ceased, I should not have moved westward without further +examination, but we had passed through a very narrow part of the marshes, +and round the greater part of them, and had not seen any hollow that could +by any possible exaggeration be construed into or mistaken for the channel +of a river. + +It appears, then, that the Macquarie, flowing as it does for so many +miles, through a bed, and not a declining country, and having little water +in it, except in times of flood, loses its impetus long ere it reaches the +formidable barrier that opposes its progress northwards; the soil in which +the reeds grow being a stiff clay. Its waters consequently spread, until +a slight declivity giving them fresh impulse, they form a channel again, +but soon gaining a level, they lose their force and their motion together, +and spread not only over the second great marsh, but over a vast extent +of the surrounding country, the breadth of ground thus subject to +inundation being more than twenty miles, and its length considerably +greater; around this space there is a gentle rise which confines the +waters, while small hollows in various directions lead them out of the +marshes over the adjacent plains, on which they eventually subside. On my +return from the interior, I examined those parts round which I had not +been, with particular attention, partly in company with Mr. Hume, and this +statement was confirmed by what we saw. Thus, at a distance of about +twenty-five miles from Mount Foster to the N.N.W. the river Macquarie +ceases to exist, in any shape as a river, and at a distance of between +fifty and sixty, the marshes terminate, though the country subject to +inundation from the river is of a very considerable extent, as shown by +the withered bulrushes, wet reeds, and shells, that are scattered over +its surface. + +Having executed the first part of the instructions with which I had been +honoured, I determined on pursuing a west, or north-west coarse into the +interior, to ascertain the nature of it, in fulfilment of the second, but +in doing this I was obliged to follow creeks, and even on their banks had +to carry a supply of water, so uncertain was it that we should meet with +any at the termination of our day's journey, and that what we did find +would be fit to drink. Our course led us over plains immediately bordering +the lower lands of the Macquarie, alternating with swamp oak, acacia +pendula, pine, box, eucalyptus, and many other trees of minor growth, the +soil being inclined to a red loam, while the plains were generally covered +with a black scrub, though in some places they had good grass upon them. +We crossed two creeks before we made the hills Mr. Hume had ascended, and +which he called New Year's Range. Around these hills the country appeared +better--they are gentle, picturesque elevations, and are for the most +part, covered with verdure, and have, I fancy, a whinstone base, the rock +of which they are composed being of various substances. I place New Year's +Range in lat. 30 degrees 21 minutes, long. 146 degrees 3 minutes +30 seconds. Our course next lying north-west along a creek, led us to +within twenty miles of the hill that had terminated my excursion, and as I +hoped that a more leisurely survey of the country from its summit would +open something favourable to our view, I struck over for it, though +eventually obliged to return. From it Mr. Hume and I rode to the S.W. +mountain, a distance of about forty miles, without crossing a brook or a +creek, our way leading through dense acacia brushes, and for the most part +over a desert. We saw high lands from this mountain, which exceeds 1,300 +feet in elevation, and is of sandstone formation, and thickly covered with +stunted pine, in eight different points--the bearings of which are as +follows:-- + +Oxley'a Table Land, N. 4O E., distant 40 miles. +Kengall Hill, due E. very distant. +Conical Hill, S. 6O E. +Highland, S.E. distance 30 miles. +Highland, S. 30 E. distance 25 miles. +Long Range, S. 16 E. distance 60 miles. +Long Range, S. 72 W. distance 60 miles. +Distant Range, S. 25 W. supposed. + +It was in vain, however, that we looked for water. The country to the +north-west, was low and unbroken, and alternated with wood and plain. + +The country from New Year's Range to the hill I had made, and which I +called Oxley's Table Land, had been very fair, with good soil in many +places, but with a total want of water, except in the creeks, wherein the +supply was both bad and uncertain; on our second day's journey from the +former, we came to the creek on which we were moving, where it had a +coarse granite bottom. The country around it improved very much in +appearance, and there was abundance of good grass on the surface of it, in +spite of the drought. On the right of this creek, a large plain stretches +parallel to it for many miles, varying in quality of soil. Near Oxley's +Table Land, we passed over open forest, the prevailing timber of which was +box. I have placed Oxley's Table Land in latitude 29 degrees 57 minutes +30 seconds, longitude 45 degrees 43 minutes 30 seconds. + +Finding it impracticable to move westward from the hill I again descended +on the creek, whose general course was to the north-west, in which +direction we at length struck upon a river whose appearance raised our +most sanguine expectations. It flowed round an angle from the north-east +to the north-west, and extended in longitude five reaches as far as we +could see. At that place it was about sixty yards broad, with banks of +from thirty to forty feet high, and it had numerous wild fowl and many +pelicans on its bosom, and seemed to be full of fish, while the paths of +the natives on both sides, like well-trodden roads, showed how numerous +they were about it. On tasting its waters, however, we found them +perfectly salt, and useless to us, and as our animals had been without +water the night before, this circumstance distressed us much; our first +day's journey led us past between sixty and seventy huts in one place, and +on our second we fell in with a numerous tribe of natives, having +previously seen some between two creeks before we made New-Year's Range. +At some places the water proved less salt than at others; our animals +drank of it sparingly: we found two small fresh-water holes, which served +us as we passed. After tracing the river for a considerable distance, we +came on brine springs in the bed of it, the banks having been encrusted +with salt from the first; and as the difficulty of getting fresh water was +so great, I here foresaw an end to our wanderings. And as I was resolved +not to involve my party in greater distress, I halted it, on overtaking +the animals, and the next morning turned back to the nearest fresh-water, +at a distance of eighteen miles from us. Unwilling, however, to give up +our pursuit, Mr. Hume and I started with two men on horseback, to trace +the river as far as we could, and to ascertain what course it took; in the +hopes also that we should fall on some creek, or get a more certain supply +of drinkable water. We went a distance to which the bullocks could not +have been brought, and then got on a red sandy soil, which at once +destroyed our hopes; and on tasting the river water we found it salter +than ever, our supply being diminished to two pints. Our animals being +weak and purged, and having proceeded at least forty miles from the camp, +I thought it best to yield to circumstances, and to return, though I trust +I shall be believed when I add, it was with extreme reluctance I did so; +and had I followed the wishes of my party, should still have continued +onwards. Making a part of the river where we had slept, we stayed to +refresh, and in consequence of the heat of the weather were obliged to +drink the water in it, which made us sick. While here, a tribe of blacks +came to us and behaved remarkably well. At night we slept on a plain +without water, and the next day we regained the camp, which had been +visited by the natives during our absence. + +We found the river held a south-west course, and appeared to be making for +the central space between a high land, which I called Dunlop's Range, at +Mr. Hume's request, and a lofty range to the westward. It still continued +its important appearance, having gained in breadth and in the height of +its banks, while there were hundreds of pelicans and wild-fowl on it. +Flowing through a level country with such a channel, it may be presumed +that this river ultimately assumes either a greater character, or that it +adds considerably to the importance of some other stream. It had a clay +bottom, generally speaking, in many places semi-indurated and fast forming +into sandstone, while there was crystallized sulphate of lime running in +veins through the soil which composed the bank. + +This river differs from most in the colony, in having a belt of barren +land of from a quarter of a mile to two miles in breadth in its immediate +neighbourhood, and which is subject to overflow. This belt runs to the +inland plains, where a small elevation checks the further progress of the +flood. There is magnificent blue gum on both sides the river, but the +right bank is evidently the most fertile, and I am mistaken greatly if +there is not a beautiful country north of it. + +Of the country over which we have passed, it is impossible for me to have +formed a correct opinion under its present melancholy circumstances. It +has borne the appearance of barrenness, where in even moderate rain, it +might have shown very differently, though no doubt we passed over much of +both good and bad land; our animals on the whole, have thrived on the food +they have had, which would argue favourably for the herbage. Generally +speaking, I fear the timber is bad--the rough-gum may be used for knees, +and such purposes, and we may have seen wood for the wheelwright and +cabinet-maker, specimens of which I have procured, but none for general or +household purposes. + +The creeks we have traced are different in character from those in the +settled districts, inasmuch as that, like the river, they have a belt of +barren land near then and but little grass--they have all of them been +numerously frequented by the natives, as appeared from the number of +muscle-shells on their banks, but now having scarcely any water in them, +the fish having either been taken, or are dead, and the tribes gone +elsewhere for food, while the badness of the river water has introduced a +cutaneous disease among the natives of that district, which is fast +carrying them off. Our intercourse with these people was incessant from +the time we first met them, and on all occasions they behaved remarkably +well, nor could we have seen less than than two hundred and fifty of them. + +Our return is to be attributable to the want of water alone, and it is +impossible for me to describe the effects of the drought on animal as well +as vegetable nature. The natives are wandering in the desert, and it is +melancholy to reflect on the necessity which obliges them to drink the +stinking and loathsome water they do--birds sit gasping in the trees and +are quite thin--the wild dog prowls about in the day-time unable to avoid +us, and is as lean as he can be in a living state, while minor vegetation +is dead, and the very trees are drooping. I have noticed all these things +in my Journal I shall have the honour of submitting through you, for the +Governor's perusal and information, on my return. Finally, I fear our +expedition will not pave the way to any ultimate benefit; although it has +been the means by which two very doubtful questions,--the course of the +Macquarie, and the nature of the interior, have been solved; for it is +beyond doubt, that the interior for 250 miles beyond its former known +limits to the W.N.W., so far from being a shoal sea, has been ascertained +not only to have considerable elevations upon it, but is in itself a table +land to all intents and purposes, and has scarcely water on its surface to +support its inhabitants. + +I beg you will inform His Excellency the Governor, that I have on all +occasions received the most ready and valuable assistance from Mr, Hume. +His intimate acquaintance with the manners and customs of the natives, +enabled him to enter into intercourse with them, and chiefly contributed +to the peaceable manner in which we have journeyed, while his previous +experience put it in his power to be of real use to me. I cannot but say +he has done an essential service to future travellers, and to the colony +at large, by his conduct on all occasions since he has been with me; nor +should I be doing him justice, if I did not avail myself of the first +opportunity of laying my sentiments before the Governor, through you. I am +happy to add that every individual of the party deserves my warmest +approbation, and that they have, one and all, borne their distresses, +trifling certainly, but still unusual, with cheerfulness, and that they +have at all times been attentive to their duty, and obedient to their +orders. The whole are in good health, and are eager again to start. + +I have the honor to be, +Sir +Your most obedient and most humble servant, +CHARLES STURT, +Capt. 39th Regt. + +THE HONORABLE THE COLONIAL SECRETARY. + + +* * * * * + + +MOUNT HARRIS, 5TH MARCH, 1829. + +SIR,--It having appeared to me, that after discovering such a river as the +one I have described in my letter of yesterday, His Excellency the +Governor would approve of my endeavouring to regain it. There being a +probability that it ultimately joins the Southern Waters, I thought of +turning my steps to the southward and westward; and with a view to learn +the nature of the country, I despatched Mr. Hume in that direction on +Saturday last. He returned in three days, after having gone above forty +miles from the river, and states, that he crossed two creeks, the one +about twenty-five miles, the other about thirty-two distance, evidently +the heads of the creeks we passed westward of the marshes of the +Macquarie. He adds, that, to the second creek the land was excellent, but +that on crossing it, he got onto red soil, on which he travelled some +miles further, until he saw a range of high land, bearing from him S.W.. +by W., when, knowing from the nature of the country around him, and from +the experience of our late journey, that he could not hope to find a +regular supply of water in advance, and that in the present dry state of +the low lands, a movement such as I had contemplated would be +impracticable, he returned home. I do myself the honour, therefore, to +report to you, for His Excellency's information, that I shall proceed on +Saturday next in a N.E. direction towards the Castlereagh, intending to +trace that river down, and afterwards to penetrate as far to the northward +and westward as possible; it being my wish to get into the country north +of the more distant river, where I have expectations that there is an +extensive and valuable track of country, but that in failure of the above, +I shall examine the low country behind our N.W. boundaries, if I can find +a sufficiency of water to enable me to do so. + +I am to inform you that in this neighbourhood the Macquarie has ceased to +flow, and that it is now a chain of shallow ponds. The water is fast +diminishing in it, and unless rain descends in a few weeks it will be +perfectly dry. + +I am also to report, that the natives attempted the camp with the supplies +before my arrival at Mount Harris, but that on the soldier with the party +firing a shot, after they had thrown a stone and other of the weapons, +they fled. It was in consequence of their fires, which I saw at a distance +of forty miles, and which they never make on so extensive a scale, except +as signals when they want to collect, and are inclined to be mischievous, +that I made forced marches up, and I am led to believe my arrival was very +opportune. The natives have visited us since, and I do not think they will +now attempt to molest either party when we separate. + +I have the honour to be, +Sir, +Your most obedient and most humble servant, +CHARLES STURT, +Capt. 39th Regt. + +THE HON. THE COLONIAL SECRETARY. + + + +END OF VOLUME I + + + +* * * * * * * + + + + + +VOLUME II. + + + + +CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME + +EXPEDITION DOWN THE MORUMBIDGEE AND MURRAY RIVERS, IN 1829, 1830 AND 1831. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +Introductory--Remarks on the results of the former Expedition--The +fitting out of another determined on--Its objects--Provisions, +accoutrements, and retinue--Paper furnished by Mr. Kent--Causes that have +prevented the earlier appearance of the present work. + + +CHAPTER II. + +Commencement of the expedition in November, 1829.--Joined by Mr. George +M'Leay--Appearance of the party--Breadalbane Plains--Hospitality of Mr. +O'Brien--Yass Plains--Hill of Pouni--Path of a hurricane--Character of the +country between Underaliga and the Morumbidgee--Appearance of that river-- +Junction of the Dumot with it--Crossing and recrossing--Geological +character and general aspect of the country--Plain of Pondebadgery--Few +natives seen. + + +CHAPTER III. + +Character of the Morumbidgee where it issues from the hilly country-- +Appearance of approach to swamps--Hamilton Plains--Intercourse with the +natives--Their appearance, customs, &c.--Change in the character of the +river--Mirage-- Dreariness of the country--Ride towards the Lachlan river +--Two boats built and launched on the Morumbidgee; and the drays, with +part of the men sent back to Goulburn Plains. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Embarkation of the party in the boats, and voyage down the Morumbidgee-- +The skiff swamped by striking on a sunken tree--Recovery of boat and its +loading--Region of reeds--Dangers of the navigation--Contraction of the +channel--Reach the junction of a large river--Intercourse with the natives +on its banks--Character of the country below the junction of the rivers-- +Descent of a dangerous rapid--Warlike demonstrations of a tribe of +natives--Unexpected deliverance from a conflict with them--Junction of +another river--Give the name of the "Murray" to the principal stream. + + +CHAPTER V. + +Character of the country--Damage of provisions--Adroitness of the natives +in catching fish--The skiff broken up--Stream from the North-East supposed +to be the Darling--Change of country in descending the river--Intercourse +with the natives--Prevalence of loathsome diseases among them--Apparent +populousness of the country--Junction of several small streams--The Rufus, +the Lindesay, &c.--Rainy and tempestuous weather--Curious appearance of +the banks--Troublesomeness of the natives--Inhospitable and desolate +aspect of the country--Condition of the men--Change in the geological +character of the country--The river passes through a valley among hills. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Improvement in the aspect of the country--Increase of the river--Strong +westerly gales--Chronometer broken--A healthier tribe of natives-- +Termination of the Murray in a large lake--Its extent and environs-- +Passage across it--Hostile appearance of the natives-- Beautiful scenery +--Channel from the lake to the sea at Encounter Bay--Reach the beach-- +Large flocks of water fowl--Curious refraction--State of provisions-- +Embarrassing situation--Inspection of the channel to the ocean--Weak +condition of the men--Difficulties of the return. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Valley of the Murray--Its character and capabilities--Laborious progress +up the river--Accident to the boat--Perilous collision with the natives +--Turbid current of the Rufus--Passage of the Rapids--Assisted by the +natives--Dangerous intercourse with them--Re-enter the Morumbidgee-- +Verdant condition of its banks--Nocturnal encounter with the natives-- +Interesting manifestation of feeling in one family--Reach the spot where +the party had embarked on the river--Men begin to fail entirely-- +Determine to send two men forward for relief--Their return--Excursion on +horseback--Reach Pondebadgery Plain, and meet the supplies from the +colony--Cannibalism of the natives--Return to Sydney--Concluding remarks. + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Environs of the lake Alexandrina--Appointment of Capt. Barker to make a +further survey of the coast near Encounter Bay--Narrative of his +proceedings--Mount Lofty, Mount Barker, and beautiful country adjacent-- +Australian salmon--Survey of the coast--Outlet of lake to the sea-- +Circumstances that led to the slaughter of Capt. Barker by the natives-- +His character--Features of this part of the country and capabilities of +its coasts--Its adaptation for colonization--Suggestions for the +furtherance of future Expeditions. + + +APPENDIX. + +No. I. Geological Specimens found to the south-west of Port Jackson +No. II. Official Report to the Colonial Government + + +ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE SECOND VOLUME +(Not included in this etext) + +View on the Morumbidgee River +Junction of the supposed Darling with the Murray +Palaeornis Melanura, or Black Tailed Paroquet +Pomatorhinus Temporalis +Pomatorhinus Superciliosus +Chart of Cape Jervis, and Encounter Bay +Mass of Fossils of the Tertiary Formation +Bulla +Conus +Genus Unknown +Chrystallized Selenite +Selenite +Single Fossils of the Tertiary Formation + + + + +EXPEDITION DOWN THE MORUMBIDGEE AND MURRAY RIVERS, IN 1829, 1830 AND 1831. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + +Introductory + + +Remarks on the results of the former Expedition--The fitting out of +another determined on--Its objects--Provisions, accoutrements, and +retinue--Paper furnished by Mr. Kent--Causes that have prevented the +earlier appearance of the present work. + +OBJECTS OF THE EXPEDITION. + +The expedition of which we have just detailed the proceedings was so far +satisfactory in its results, that it not only set at rest the hypothesis +of the existence of an internal shoal sea in southern Australia, and +ascertained the actual termination of the rivers it had been directed to +trace, but also added very largely to our knowledge of the country +considerably to the westward of former discoveries. And although no land +had been traversed of a fertile description of sufficient extent to invite +the settler, the fact of a large river such as the Darling lying at the +back of our almost intertropical settlements, gave a fresh importance to +the distant interior. It was evident that this river was the chief drain +for carrying off the waters falling westerly from the eastern coast, and +as its course indicated a decline of country diametrically opposite to +that which had been calculated upon, it became an object of great +importance to ascertain its further direction. Had not the saline quality +of its waters been accounted for, by the known existence of brine springs +in its bed, it would have been natural to have supposed that it +communicated with some mediterranean sea; but, under existing +circumstances, it remained to be proved whether this river held on a due +south course, or whether it ultimately turned westerly, and ran into the +heart of the interior. In order fully to determine this point, it would be +necessary to regain it banks, so far below the parallel to which it had +been traced as to leave no doubt of its identity; but it was difficult to +fix upon a plan for approaching that central stream without suffering from +the want of water, since it could hardly be expected that the Lachlan +would afford such means, as it was reasonable to presume that its +termination was very similar to that of the Macquarie. The attention of +the government was, consequently, fixed upon the Morumbidgee, a river +stated to be of considerable size and of impetuous current. Receiving its +supplies from the lofty ranges behind Mount Dromedary, it promised to hold +a longer course than those rivers which, depending on periodical rains +alone for existence, had been found so soon to exhaust themselves. + +PREPARATIONS. + +The fitting out of another expedition was accordingly determined upon; and +about the end of September 1829, I received the Governor's instructions to +make the necessary preparations for a second descent into the interior, +for the purpose of tracing the Morumbidgee, or such rivers as it might +prove to be connected with, as far as practicable. In the event of failure +in this object, it was hoped that an attempt to regain the banks of the +Darling on a N.W. course from the point at which the expedition might be +thwarted in its primary views, would not be unattended with success. Under +any circumstances, however, by pursuing these measures, an important part +of the colony would necessarily be traversed, of which the features were +as yet altogether unknown. + +It became my interest and my object to make the expedition as complete as +possible, and, as far as in me lay, to provide for every contingency: and +as it appeared to me that, in all likelihood, we should in one stage or +other of our journey have to trust entirely to water conveyance, I +determined on taking a whale-boat, whose dimensions and strength should in +some measure be proportioned to the service required. I likewise +constructed a small still for the distillation of water, in the event of +our finding the water of the Darling salt, when we should reach its banks. +The whale-boat, after being fitted, was taken to pieces for more +convenient carriage, as has been more particularly detailed in the last +chapter of the preceding volume. + +So little danger had been apprehended from the natives in the former +journey, that three firelocks had been considered sufficient for our +defence. On the present occasion, however, I thought it adviseable to +provide arms for each individual. + +Mr. Hume declined accompanying me, as the harvest was at hand. Mr. George +M'Leay therefore supplied his place, rather as a companion than as an +assistant; and of those who accompanied me down the banks of the +Macquarie, I again selected Harris (my body servant), Hopkinson, and +Fraser. + +MR. KENT'S REPORT. + +The concluding chapter of this volume, relative to the promontory of +St. Vincent, or Cape Jarvis, has been furnished me by the kindness of +Mr. Kent, who accompanied the lamented officer to whom the further +exploration of that part of coast unhappily proved fatal. There is a +melancholy coincidence between Captain Barker's death and that of Captain +Cook, which cannot fail to interest the public, as the information that +has been furnished will call for their serious consideration. I shall +leave for their proper place, the remarks I have to offer upon it, since +my motive in these prefatory observations has been, to carry the reader +forward to that point at which he will have to view the proceedings of the +expedition alone, in order the more satisfactorily to arrive at their +results. And, although he must expect a considerable portion of dry +reading in the following pages, I have endeavoured to make the narrative +of events, some of which are remarkably striking, as interesting as +possible. + +REMARKS ON THE PRESENT WORK; DELIVERANCE FROM DANGERS. + +It only remains for me to refer the reader to the concluding chapter of +the preceding volume, for such general information as I have been enabled +to furnish upon the nature of the services on which I was employed, and on +the manner of conducting similar expeditions. Indeed, I trust that this +book (whatever be its defects) will be found to contain much valuable +information of a practical character, and I may venture to affirm, that it +will give a true description of the country, and of the various other +subjects of which it treats. + +Notwithstanding that I have in my dedication alluded to the causes that +prevented the earlier appearance of this work, I feel it due both to +myself and the public here to state, that during these expeditions my +health had suffered so much, that I was unable to bear up against the +effects of exposure, bodily labour, poverty of diet, and the anxiety of +mind to which I was subjected. A residence on Norfolk Island, under +peculiarly harassing circumstances, completed that which the above causes +had commenced; and, after a succession of attacks, I became totally blind, +and am still unable either to read what I pen, or to venture abroad +without an attendant. When it is recollected, that I have been unassisted +in this work in any one particular, I hope some excuse will be found for +its imperfections. A wish to contribute to the public good led me to +undertake those journeys which have cost me so much. The same feeling +actuates me in recording their results; and I have the satisfaction to +know, that my path among a large and savage population was a bloodless +one; and that my intercourse with them was such as to lessen the danger to +future adventurers upon such hazardous enterprises, and to give them hope +where I had so often despaired. Something more powerful, than human +foresight or human prudence, appeared to avert the calamities and dangers +with which I and my companions were so frequently threatened; and had it +not been for the guidance and protection we received from the Providence +of that good and all-wise Being to whose care we committed ourselves, we +should, ere this, have ceased to rank among the number of His earthly +creatures. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + +Commencement of the expedition in November, 1829.--Joined by Mr. George +M'Leay--Appearance of the party--Breadalbane Plains--Hospitality of Mr. +O'Brien--Yass Plains--Hill of Pouni--Path of a hurricane--Character of the +country between Underaliga and the Morumbidgee--Appearance of that river-- +Junction of the Dumot with it--Crossing and recrossing--Geological +character and general aspect of the country--Plain of Pondebadgery--Few +natives seen. + + +The expedition which traversed the marshes of the Macquarie, left Sydney +on the 10th day of Nov. 1828. That destined to follow the waters of the +Morumbidgee, took its departure from the same capital on the 3rd of the +same month in the ensuing year. Rain had fallen in the interval, but not +in such quantities as to lead to the apprehension that it had either +influenced or swollen the western streams. It was rather expected that the +winter falls would facilitate the progress of the expedition, and it was +hoped that, as the field of its operations would in all probability be +considerably to the south of the parallel of Port Jackson, the extreme +heat to which the party and the animals had been exposed on the former +journey, would be lees felt on the present occasion. + +As there was no Government establishment to the S.W. at which I could +effect any repairs, or recruit my supplies, as I had done at Wellington +Valley, the expedition, when it left Sydney, was completed in every +branch, and was so fully provided with every necessary implement and +comfort, as to render any further aid, even had such been attainable, in a +great measure unnecessary. The Governor had watched over my preparations +with a degree of anxiety that evidenced the interest he felt in the +expedition, and his arrangements to ensure, as far as practicable, our +being met on our return, in the event of our being in distress, were +equally provident and satisfactory. It was not, however, to the providing +for our wants in the interior alone that His Excellency's views were +directed, but orders were given to hold a vessel in readiness, to be +dispatched at a given time to St. Vincent's Gulf, in case we should +ultimately succeed in making the south coast in its neighbourhood. + +LEAVE SYDNEY. + +The morning on which I left Sydney a second time, under such doubtful +circumstances, was perfectly serene and clear. I found myself at 5 a.m. of +that delightful morning leading my horses through the gates of those +barracks whose precincts I might never again enter, and whose inmates I +might never again behold assembled in military array. Yet, although the +chance of misfortune flashed across my mind, I was never lighter at heart, +or more joyous in spirit. It appeared to me that the stillness and harmony +of nature influenced my feelings on the occasion, and my mind forgot the +storms of life, as nature at that moment seemed to have forgotten the +tempests that sometimes agitate her. + +APPEARANCE OF THE PARTY. + +I proceeded direct to the house of my friend Mr. J. Deas Thomson, who had +agreed to accompany me to Brownlow Hill, a property belonging to +Mr. M'Leay, the Colonial Secretary, where his son, Mr. George M'Leay, was +to join the expedition. As soon as we had taken a hasty breakfast, I went +to the carters' barracks to superintend the first loading of the animals. +Mr. Murray, the superintendent, had arranged every article so well, and +had loaded the drays so compactly that I had no trouble, and little time +was lost in saddling the pack animals. At a quarter before 7 the party +filed through the turnpike-gate, and thus commenced its journey with the +greatest regularity. I have the scene, even at this distance of time, +vividly impressed upon my mind, and I have no doubt the kind friend who +was near me on the occasion, bears it as strongly on his recollection. +My servant Harris, who had shared my wanderings and had continued in my +service for eighteen years, led the advance, with his companion Hopkinson. +Nearly abreast of them the eccentric Fraser stalked along wholly lost in +thought. The two former had laid aside their military habits, and had +substituted the broad brimmed hat and the bushman's dress in their place, +but it was impossible to guess how Fraser intended to protect himself from +the heat or the damp, so little were his habiliments suited for the +occasion. He had his gun over his shoulder, and his double shot belt as +full as it could be of shot, although there was not a chance of his +expending a grain during the day. Some dogs Mr. Maxwell had kindly sent me +followed close at his heels, as if they knew his interest in them, and +they really seemed as if they were aware that they were about to exchange +their late confinement for the freedom of the woods. The whole of these +formed a kind of advanced guard. At some distance in the rear the drays +moved slowly along, on one of which rode the black boy mentioned in my +former volume, and behind them followed the pack animals. Robert Harris, +whom I had appointed to superintend the animals generally, kept his place +near the horses, and the heavy Clayton, my carpenter, brought up the rear. +I shall not forget the interest Thomson appeared to take in a scene that +must certainly have been new to him. Our progress was not checked by the +occurrence of a single accident, nor did I think it necessary to remain +with the men after we had gained that turn which, at about four miles from +Sydney, branches off to the left, and leads direct to Liverpool. From this +Point my companion and I pushed forward, in order to terminate a fifty +miles' ride a little sooner than we should have done at the leisurely pace +we had kept during the early part of our journey. We remained in Liverpool +for a short time, to prepare the commissariat office for the reception, +and to ensure the accommodation, of the party; and reached Brownlow Hill +a little after sunset. + +LIVERPOOL-GOULBURN PLAINS. + +As I have already described the country on this line of road as far us +Goulburn Plains, it will not be considered necessary that I should again +notice its features with minuteness. + +WALLANDILLY-TYRANNA. + +The party arrived at Glendarewel, the farm attached to Brownlow Hill, on +the 5th. I resumed my journey alone on the 8th. M'Leay had still some few +arrangements to make, so that I dispensed with his immediate attendance. +He overtook me, however, sooner than I expected, on the banks of the +Wallandilly. I had encamped under the bluff end of Cookbundoon, and, +having been disappointed in getting bearings when crossing the Razor Back, +I hoped that I should be enabled to connect a triangle from the summit +of Cookbundoon, or to secure bearings of some prominent hill to the south. +I found the brush, however, so thick on the top of the mountain, that I +could obtain no satisfactory view, and and M'Leay, who accompanied me, +agreed with me in considering that we were but ill repaid for the hot +scramble we had had. Crossing the western extremity of Goulburn Plains on +the 15th, we encamped on a chain of ponds behind Doctor Gibson's residence +at Tyranna, and as I had some arrangements to make with that gentleman, +I determined to give both the men and animals a day's rest. I availed +myself of Doctor Gibson's magazines to replace such of my provisions as I +had expended, as I found that I could do so without putting him to any +inconvenience; and I added two of his men to the party, intending to send +them back, in case of necessity, or, when we should have arrived at that +point from which it might appear expedient to forward an account of my +progress and ultimate views, for the governor's information. + +On the 17th we struck the tents, and, crossing the chain of ponds near +which they had been pitched, entered a forest track, that gave place to +barren stony ridges of quartz formation. These continued for six or seven +miles, in the direction of Breadalbane Plains, upon which we were obliged +to stop, as we should have had some difficulty in procuring either water +or food, within any moderate distance beyond them. The water, indeed, that +we were obliged to content ourselves with was by no means good. +Breadalbane Plains are of inconsiderable extent, and are surrounded by +ridges, the appearance of which is not very promising. Large white masses +of quartz rock lie scattered over them, amongst trees of stunted growth. +Mr. Redall's farm was visible at the further extremity of the plains from +that by which we had entered them. It would appear that these plains are +connected with Goulburn Plains by a narrow valley, that was too wet for +the drays to have traversed. + +BREADALBANE PLAINS. + +Doctor Gibson had kindly accompanied us to Breadalbane Plains. On the +morning of the 18th he returned to Tyranna, and we pursued our journey, +keeping mostly on a W.S.W. course. From the barren hills over which we +passed, on leaving the plains, we descended upon an undulating country, +and found a change of rock, as well as of vegetation, upon it. Granite and +porphyry constituted its base. An open forest, on which the eucalyptus +mannifera alone prevailed, lay on either side of us, and although the soil +was coarse, and partook in a great measure of the decomposition of the +rock it covered, there was no deficiency of grass. On the contrary, this +part of the interior is decidedly well adapted for pasturing cattle. + +THE LORN. + +About 1 p.m. we passed Mr. Hume's station, with whom I remained for a +short time. He had fixed his establishment on the banks of the Lorn, a +small river, issuing from the broken country near Lake George, and now +ascertained to be one of the largest branches of the Lachlan River. We had +descended a barren pass of stringy bark scrub, on sandstone rock, a little +before we reached Mr. Hume's station, but around it the same, open forest +tract again prevailed. We crossed the Lorn, at 2 o'clock, leaving +Mr. Broughton's farm upon our left, and passed through a broken country, +which was very far from being deficient in pasture. We encamped on the +side of a water-course, about 4 o'clock, having travelled about fifteen +miles. + +On the 19th, we observed no change in the soil or aspect of the country, +for the first five miles. The eucalyptus mannifera was the most prevalent +of the forest trees, and certainly its presence indicated a more +flourishing state in the minor vegetation. At about five miles, however, +from where we had slept, sandstone reappeared, and with it the barren +scrub that usually grows upon a sandy and inhospitable soil. One of the +drays was upset in its progress down a broken pass, where the road had +been altogether neglected, and it was difficult to avoid accidents. +Fortunately we suffered no further than in the delay that the necessity of +unloading the dray, and reloading it, occasioned. Mr. O'Brien, an +enterprising settler, who had pushed his flocks to the banks of the +Morumbidgee, and who was proceeding to visit his several stations, +overtook us in the midst of our troubles. We had already passed each other +frequently on the road, but he now preceded me to his establishment at +Yass; at which I proposed remaining for a day. We stopped about three +miles short of the plains for the night, at the gorge of the pass through +which we had latterly been advancing, and had gradually descended to a +more open country. From the place at which we were temporarily delayed, +and which is not inappropriately called the Devil's Pass, the road winds +about between ranges, differing in every respect from any we had as yet +noticed. The sides of the hills were steeper, and their summits sharper, +than any we had crossed. They were thickly covered with eucalypti and +brush, and, though based upon sandstone, were themselves of a schistose +formation. + +YASS PLAINS. + +Yharr or Yass Plains were discovered by Mr. Hovel, and Mr. Hume, the +companion of my journey down the Macquarie, in 1828. They take their name +from the little river that flows along their north and north-west +boundaries. They are surrounded on every side by forests, and excepting to +the W.N.W., as a central point, by hill. Undulating, but naked themselves, +they have the appearance of open downs, and are most admirably adapted for +sheep-walks, not only in point of vegetation, but also, because their +inequalities prevent their becoming swampy during the rainy season. They +are from nine to twelve miles in length and from five to seven in breadth, +and although large masses of sandstone are scattered over them, a blue +secondary limestone composes the general bed of the river, that was darker +in colour and more compact than I had remarked the same kind of rock, +either at Wellington Valley, or in the Shoal Haven Gully. I have no doubt +that Yass Plains will ere long be wholly taken up as sheep-walks, and that +their value to the grazier will in a great measure counterbalance its +distance from the coast, or, more properly speaking, from the capital. +Sheep I should imagine would thrive uncommonly well upon these plains, +and would suffer less from distempers incidental to locality and to +climate, than in many parts of the colony over which they are now +wandering in thousands. And if the plains themselves do not afford +extensive arable tracts, there is, at least, sufficient good land near the +river to supply the wants of a numerous body of settlers. + +HOSPITALITY OF MR. O'BRIEN. + +We left Mr. O'Brien's station on the morning of the 21st, and, agreeably +to his advice, determined on gaining the Morumbidgee, by a circuit to the +N.W., rather than endanger the safety of the drays by entering the +mountain passes to the westward. Mr. O'Brien, however, would not permit us +to depart from his dwelling without taking away with us some further +proofs of his hospitality. The party had pushed forward before I, or +Mr. M'Leay, had mounted our horses; but on overtaking it, we found that +eight fine wethers had been added to our stock of animals. + +HILL OF POUNI; ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. + +To the W.N.W. of Yass Plains there is a remarkable hill, called Pouni, +remarkable not so much on account of its height, as of its commanding +position. It had, I believe, already been ascended by one of the +Surveyor-general's assistants. The impracticability of the country to the +south of it, obliged us to pass under its opposite base, from which an +open forest country extended to the northward. We had already recrossed +the Yass River, and passed Mr. Barber's station, to that of Mr. Hume's +father, at which we stopped for a short time. Both farms are well +situated, the latter I should say, romantically so, it being immediately +under Pouni, the hill we have noticed. The country around both was open, +and both pasture and water were abundant. + +Mr. O'Brien had been kind enough to send one of the natives who frequented +his station to escort us to his more advanced station upon the +Morumbidgee. Had it not been for the assistance we received from this man, +I should have had but little leisure for other duties: as it was however, +there was no fear of the party going astray. This gave M'Leay and myself +an opportunity of ascending Pouni, for the purpose of taking bearings; and +how ever warm the exertion of the ascent made us, the view from the summit +of the hill sufficiently repaid us, and the cool breeze that struck it, +although imperceptible in the forest below, soon dried the perspiration +from our brows. The scenery around us was certainly varied, yet many +parts of it put me forcibly in mind of the dark and gloomy tracks over +which my eye had wandered from similar elevations on the former journey. +This was especially the case in looking to the north, towards which point +the hills forming the right of the valley by which we had entered the +plains, decreased so rapidly in height that they were lost in the general +equality of the more remote country, almost ere they had reached abreast +of my position. From E.S.E. to W.S.W. the face of the country was hilly, +broken and irregular; forming deep ravines and precipitous glens, amid +which I was well aware the Morumbidgee was still struggling for freedom; +while mountains succeeded mountains in the back-ground, and were +themselves overtopped by lofty and very distant peaks. To the eastward, +however, the hills wore a more regular form, and were lightly covered with +wood. The plains occupied the space between them and Pouni; and a smaller +plain bore N.N.E. which, being embosomed in the forest, had hitherto +escaped our notice. + +We overtook the party just as it cleared the open ground through which it +had previously been moving. A barren scrub succeeded it for about eight +miles. The soil in this scrub was light and sandy. + +We stopped for the night at the head of a valley that seemed to have been +well trodden by cattle. The feed, therefore, was not abundant, nor was the +water good. We had, however, made a very fair journey, and I was unwilling +to press the animals. But in consequence, I fancy, of the scarcity of +food, they managed to creep away during the night, with the exception of +three or four of the bullocks, nor should we have collected them again so +soon as we did, or without infinite trouble, had it not been for our guide +and my black boy. We unavoidably lost a day, but left our position on the +23rd, for Underaliga, a station occupied by Doctor Harris, the gentleman I +have already had occasion to mention. We reached the banks of the creek +near the stock hut, about 4 p.m., having journeyed during the greater part +of the day through a poor country, partly of scrub and partly of open +forest-land, in neither of which was the soil or vegetation fresh or +abundant. At about three miles from Underaliga, the country entirely +changed its character, and its flatness was succeeded by a broken and +undulating surface. The soil upon the hills was coarse and sandy, from the +decomposition of the granite rock that constituted their base. +Nevertheless, the grass was abundant on the hills, though the roots or +tufts were far apart; and the hills were lightly studded with trees. + +COURSE OF A HURRICANE. + +In the course of the day we crossed the line of a hurricane that had just +swept with resistless force over the country, preserving a due north +course, and which we had heard from a distance, fortunately too great to +admit of its injuring us. It had opened a fearful gap in the forest +through which it had passed, of about a quarter of a mile in breadth. +Within that space, no tree had been able to withstand its fury, for it had +wrenched every bough from such as it had failed to prostrate, and they +stood naked in the midst of the surrounding wreck. I am inclined to think +that the rudeness of nature itself in these wild and uninhabited regions, +gives birth to these terrific phenomena. They have never occurred, so far +as I know, in the located districts. Our guide deserted us in the early +part of the day without assigning any reason for doing so. He went off +without being noticed, and thus lost the reward that would have been +bestowed on him had he mentioned his wish to return to Yass. I the more +regretted his having sneaked off, because he had had the kindness to put +us on a track we could not well lose. + +COUNTRY FROM UNDERALIGA TO MORUMBIDGEE. + +Underaliga, is said to be thirty miles from the Morumbidgee. The country +between the two has a sameness of character throughout. It is broken and +irregular, yet no one hill rises conspicuously over the rest. We found +ourselves at one time on their summits beside huge masses of granite, at +others crossing valleys of rich soil and green appearance. A country under +cultivation is so widely different from one the sod of which has never +been broken by the plough, that it is difficult and hazardous to form a +decided opinion on the latter. If you ask a stockman what kind of a +country lies, either to his right, or to his left, he is sure to condemn +it, unless it will afford the most abundant pasture. Accustomed to roam +about from one place to another, these men despise any but the richest +tracts, and include the rest of the neighbourhood in one sweeping clause +of condemnation. Thus I was led to expect, that we should pass over a +country of the very worst description, between Underaliga and the +Morumbidgee. Had it been similar to that midway between Yass and +Uuderaliga, we should, in truth, have found it so; but it struck me, that +there were many rich tracts of ground among the valleys of the former, and +that the very hills had a fair covering of grass upon them. What though +the soil was coarse, if the vegetation was good and sufficient? Perhaps +the greatest drawback to this part of the interior is the want of water; +yet we crossed several creeks, and remarked some deep water holes, that +can never be exhausted, even in the driest season. Wherever the situation +favoured our obtaining a view of the country on either side of us, while +among these hills, we found that to the eastward lofty and mountainous; +whilst that to the westward, had the appearance of fast sinking into +a level. + +TUGGIONG. + +A short time before we reached the Morumbidgee, we forded a creek, which +we crossed a second time where it falls into the river. After crossing it +the first time we opened a flat, on which the marks of sheep were +abundant. In the distance there was a small hill, and on its top a bark +hut. We were not until then aware of our being so near the river, but as +Mr. O'Brien had informed me that he had a station for sheep, at a place +called Tuggiong, by the natives, on the immediate banks of the river, I +did not doubt that we had, at length, arrived at it. And so it proved. I +went to the hut, to ascertain where I could conveniently stop for the +night, but the residents were absent. I could not but admire the position +they had taken up. The hill upon which their hut was erected was not more +than fifty feet high, but it immediately overlooked the river, and +commanded not only the flat we had traversed in approaching it, but also a +second flat on the opposite side. The Morumbidgee came down to the foot of +this little hill from the south, and, of course, running to the north, +which latter direction it suddenly takes up from a previous S.W. one, on +meeting some hills that check its direct course. From the hill on which +the hut stands, it runs away westward, almost in a direct line, for three +miles, so that the position commands a view of both the reaches, which are +overhung by the casuarina and flooded-gum. Rich alluvial flats lie to the +right of the stream, backed by moderate hills, that were lightly studded +with trees, and clothed with verdure to their summits. Some moderate +elevations also backed a flat, on the left bank of the river, but the +colour of the soil upon the latter, as well as its depressed situation, +showed clearly that it was subject to flood, and had received the worst of +the depositions from the mountains. The hills behind it were also bare, +and of a light red colour, betraying, as I imagined, a distinct formation +from, and poorer character than, the hills behind us. At about three miles +the river again suddenly changes its direction from west to south, for +about a mile, when it inclines to the S.E. until it nearly encircles the +opposite hills, when it assumes its proper direction, and flows away to +the S.W. + +CROSS THE UNDERALIGA; REACH THE MORUMBIDGEE. + +We crossed the Underaliga creek a little below the stock hut, and encamped +about a mile beyond it, in the centre of a long plain. We were surrounded +on every side by hills, from which there was no visible outlet, as they +appeared to follow the bend of the river, with an even and unbroken +outline. The scenery around us was wild, romantic, and beautiful; as +beautiful as a rich and glowing sunset in the most delightful climate +under the heavens could make it. I had been more anxious to gain the banks +of the Morumbidgee on this occasion, than I had been on a former one to +gain those of the Macquarie, for although I could not hope to see the +Morumbidgee all that it had been described to me, yet I felt that on its +first appearance I should in some measure ground my anticipations of +ultimate success. When I arrived on the banks of the Macquarie, it had +almost ceased to flow, and its current was so gentle as to be scarcely +perceptible. Instead, however, of a river in such a state of exhaustion, +I now looked down upon a stream, whose current it would have been +difficult to breast, and whose waters, foaming among rocks, or circling in +eddies, gave early promise of a reckless course. It must have been +somewhat below its ordinary level, and averaged a breadth of about 80 +feet. Its waters were hard and transparent, and its bed was composed of +mountain debris, and large fragments of rock. As soon as the morning +dawned, the tents were struck and we pursued our journey. We followed the +line of the river, until we found ourselves in a deep bight to the S.E. +The hills that had been gradually closing in upon the river, now +approached it so nearly, that there was no room for the passage of the +drays. We were consequently obliged to turn back, and, moving along the +base of the ranges, by which we were thus apparently enclosed, we at +length found a steep pass, the extreme narrowness of which had hidden it +from our observation. By this pass we were now enabled to effect our +escape. On gaining the summit of the hills, we travelled south for three +or four miles, through open forests, and on level ground. But we +ultimately descended into a valley in which we halted for the night. On a +closer examination of the neighbourhood, it appeared that our position was +at the immediate junction of two valleys, where, uniting the waters of +their respective creeks, the main branch declines rapidly towards the +river. One of these valleys extended to to the S.W., the other to the +W.N.W. It was evident to us that our route lay up the former; and I made +no doubt we should easily reach Whaby's station on the morrow. + +ADJACENT COUNTRY. + +We were now far beyond the acknowledged limits of the located parts of the +colony, and Mr. Whaby's station was the last at which we could expect even +the casual supply of milk or other trifling relief. Yet, although the +prospect of so soon leaving even the outskirts of civilization, and being +wholly thrown on our own resources, was so near, it never for a moment +weighed upon the minds of the men. The novelty of the scenery, and the +beauty of the river on which they were journeying, excited in them the +liveliest anticipations of success. The facility with which we had +hitherto pushed forward blinded them to future difficulties, nor could +there be a more cheerful spectacle than that which the camp daily +afforded. The animals browzing in the distance, and the men talking over +their pipes of the probable adventures they might encounter. The loads +had by this time settled properly, and our provisions proved of the very +best quality, so that no possible improvement could have been made for the +better. + +WHABY'S STATION. + +On the morrow we pushed up the southernmost of the valleys, at the +junction of which we had encamped, having moderate hills on either side of +us. At the head of the valley we crossed a small dividing range into +another valley, and halted for the night, on the banks of a creek from the +westward, as we found it impossible to reach Whaby's station, as we had +intended, before sunset. Nothing could exceed the luxuriance of the +vegetation in this valley, but the water of the creek was so impregnated +with iron, as to be almost useless. Being anxious to obtain a view of the +surrounding country, I ascended a hill behind the camp, just as the sun +was sinking, a time the most favourable for the object I had in view. The +country, broken into hill and dale, seemed richer than any tract I had as +yet surveyed; and the beauty of the near landscape was greatly +heightened by the mountainous scenery to the S. and S.E. Both the +laxmania, and zanthorea were growing around me; but neither appeared to be +in congenial soil. The face of the hill was very stony, and I found, on +examination, that a great change had taken place in the rock-formation, +the granite ranges having given place to chlorite schist. + +We reached Whaby's about 9 a.m. of the morning of the 27th, and received +every attention and civility from him. The valley in which we had slept +opened upon an extensive plain, to the eastward of which the Morumbidgee +formed the extreme boundary; and it was in a bight, and on ground rather +elevated above the plain, that he had fixed his residence. He informed +me that we should have to cross the river, as its banks were too +precipitous, and the ranges too abrupt, to admit of our keeping the right +side; and recommended me to examine and fix upon a spot at which to cross, +before I again moved forward, expressing his readiness to accompany me as +a guide. We accordingly rode down the river, to a place at which some +stockman had effected a passage,--after a week's labour in hewing out a +canoe. I by no means intended that a similar delay should occur in our +case, but I saw no objection to our crossing at the same place; since its +depth, and consequent tranquillity, rendered it eligible enough for that +purpose. + +THE RIVER DUMOT. + +The Dumot river, another mountain stream, joins the Morumbidgee opposite +to Mr. Whaby's residence. It is little inferior to the latter either in +size or in the rapidity of its current, and, if I may rely on the +information I received, waters a finer country, the principal +rock-formation upon it being of limestone and whinstone. It rises amidst +the snowy ranges to the S.E., and its banks are better peopled than those +of the stream into which it discharges itself. Of course, such a tributary +enlarges the Morumbidgee considerably: indeed, the fact is sufficiently +evident from the appearance of the latter below the junction. + +During our ride with Whaby down its banks, we saw nothing but the richest +flats, almost entirely clear of timber and containing from 400 to 700 +acres, backed by ranges that were but partially wooded, and were clothed +with verdure to their very summits. The herds that were scattered over the +first were almost lost in the height of the vegetation, and the ranges +served as natural barriers to prevent them from straying away. + +CROSS AND RE-CROSS THE MORUMBIDGEE. + +On the following morning, we started for the place at which it had been +arranged that we should cross the Morumbidgee, but, though no more than +five miles in a direct line from Whaby's house, in consequence of the +irregularity of the ground, the drays did not reach it before noon. The +weight and quantity of our stores being taken into consideration, the task +we had before us was not a light one. Such, however, was the industry of +the men, that before it became dark the whole of them, including the drays +and sheep, were safely deposited on the opposite bank. We were enabled to +be thus expeditious, by means of a punt that we made with the tarpaulins +on an oblong frame. As soon as it was finished, a rope was conveyed across +the river, and secured to a tree, and a running cord being then fastened +to the punt, a temporary ferry was established, and the removal of our +stores rendered comparatively easy. M'Leay undertook to drive the horses +and cattle over a ford below us, but he did not calculate on the stubborn +disposition of the latter, and, consequently, experienced some difficulty, +and was well nigh swept away by the current. So great was his difficulty, +that he was obliged to land, to his great discomfiture, amidst a grove of +lofty nettles. Mulholland, who accompanied him, and who happened to be +naked, was severly stung by them. The labour of the day was, however, +satisfactorily concluded, and we lay down to rest with feelings of entire +satisfaction. + +A great part of the following day was consumed in reloading, nor did we +pursue our journey until after two o'clock. We then passed over tracks on +the left of the river of the same rich description that existed on its +right; they were much intersected by creeks, but were clear of timber, +and entirely out of the reach of floods. At about seven miles from where +we started, we found ourselves checked by precipitous rocks jutting into +the stream, and were obliged once more to make preparations for crossing +it. Instead of a deep and quiet reach, however, the Morumbidgee here +expanded into a fretful rapid; but it was sufficiently shallow to admit of +our taking the drays over, without the trouble of unloading them. There +was still, however, some labour required in cutting down the banks, and +the men were fully occupied until after sunset; and so well did they work, +that an hour's exertion in the morning enabled us to make the passage with +safety. On ascending the right bank, we found that we had to force +through a dense body of reeds, covering some flooded land, at the base of +a range terminating upon the river; and we were obliged, in order to +extricate ourselves from our embarrassments, to pass to the N.W. of the +point, and to cross a low part of the range. This done, we met with no +further interruptions during the day, but travelled along rich and clear +flats to a deep bight below an angle of the river called Nangaar by the +natives; where we pitched our camp, and our animals revelled amid the most +luxuriant pasture. Only in one place did the sandy superficies upon the +plain indicate that it was there subject to flood. + +The Morumbidgee from Tuggiong to our present encampment had held a general +S.S.W. course, but from the summit of a hill behind the tents it now +appeared to be gradually sweeping round to the westward; and I could trace +the line of trees upon its banks, through a rich and extensive valley in +that direction, as far as my sight could reach. The country to the S.E. +maintained its lofty character, but to the westward the hills and ranges +were evidently decreasing in height, and the distant interior seemed fast +sinking to a level. The general direction of the ranges had been from N. +to S., and as we had been travelling parallel to them, their valleys were +shut from our view. Now, however, several rich and extensive ones became +visible, opening from the southward into the valley of the Morumbidgee, +and, as a further evidence of a change of country from a confused to a +more open one, a plain of considerable size stretched from immediately +beneath the hill on which I was to the N.W. + +GEOLOGY OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD. + +The Morumbidgee itself, from the length and regularity of its reaches, as +well as from its increased size, seemed to intimate that it had +successfully struggled through the broken country in which it rises, and +that it would henceforward meet with fewer interruptions to its course. It +still, however, preserved all the characters of a mountain stream; having +alternate rapids and deep pools, being in many places encumbered with +fallen timber, and generally running over a shingly bed, composed of +rounded fragments of every rock of which the neighbouring ranges were +formed, and many others that had been swept by the torrents down it. The +rock formation of the hills upon its right continued of that chlorite +schist which prevailed near Mr. Whaby's, which I have already noticed, and +quartz still appeared in large masses, on the loftier ranges opposite, so +that the geology of the neighbourhood could not be said to have undergone +any material change. It might, however, be considered an extraordinary +feature in it, that a small hill of blue limestone existed upon the left +bank of the river. The last place at which we had seen limestone was at +Yass, but I had learned from Mr. Whaby, that, together with whinstone, it +was abundant near a Mr. Rose's station on the Dumot, that was not at any +great distance. The irregularity, however, of the intervening country, +made the appearance of this solitary rock more singular. + +Although the fires of the natives had been frequent upon the river, none +had, as yet, ventured to approach us, in consequence of some +misunderstanding that had taken place between them and Mr. Stuckey's +stockmen. Mr. Roberts' stockmen [these men had lately fixed themselves +on the river a little below Mr. Whaby's], however, brought a man and a boy +to us at this place in the afternoon, but I could not persuade them to +accompany us on our journey--neither could I, although my native boy +understood them perfectly, gain any particular information from them. + +In consequence of rain, we did not strike the tents so early as usual. +At 7 a.m. a heavy thunder storm occurred from the N.W. after which the +sky cleared, and we were enabled to push forward at 11 a.m., moving on a +general W.N.W, course, over rich flats, which, having been moistened by +the morning's showers, showed the dark colour of the rich earth of which +they were composed. Some sand-hills were, however, observed near the +river, of about fifteen feet in elevation, crowned by banksias; and the +soil of the flats had a very partial mixture of sand in it. How these +sand-hills could have been formed it is difficult to say; but they +produced little minor vegetation, and were as pure as the sand of the +sea-shore. Some considerable plains were noticed to our right, in +appearance not inferior to the ground on which we were journeying. At noon +we rose gradually from the level of these plains, and travelled along the +side of a hill, until we got to a small creek, at which we stopped, though +more than a mile and a half from the river. The clouds had been gathering +again in the N.W. quarter, and we had scarcely time to secure our flour, +when a second storm burst upon us, and it continued to rain violently for +the remainder of the day. + +BEAUTIFUL PROSPECT. + +From a small hill that lay to our left Mr. M'Leay and I enjoyed a most +beautiful view. Beneath us to the S. E. the rich and lightly timbered +valley through which the Morumbidgee flows, extended, and parts of the +river were visible through the dark masses of swamp-oak by which it was +lined, or glittering among the flooded-gum trees, that grew in its +vicinity. In the distance was an extensive valley that wound between +successive mountain ranges. More to the eastward, both mountain and +woodland bore a dark and gloomy shade, probably in consequence of the +light upon them at the time. Those lofty peaks that had borne nearly +south of us from Pouni, near Yass, now rose over the last-mentioned +ranges, and by their appearance seemed evidently to belong to a high and +rugged chain. To the westward, the decline of country was more observable +than ever; and the hills on both sides of the river, were lower and more +distant from it. Those upon which we found ourselves were composed of +iron-stone, were precipitous towards the river in many places, of sandy +soil, and were crowned with beef-wood as well as box. The change in the +rock-formation and in the soil, produced a corresponding change in the +vegetation. The timber was not so large as it had been, neither did the +hills any longer bear the green appearance which had distinguished those +we had passed to their very summits. The grass here grew in tufts amidst +the sand, and was of a burnt appearance as if it had suffered from +drought. + +NATIVES--THEIR SUFFERING FROM COLD. + +Some natives had joined us in the morning, and acted as our guides; or it +is more than probable that we should have continued our course along the +river, and got enbarrassed among impediments that were visible from our +elevated position; for it was evident that the range we had ascended +terminated in an abrupt precipice on the river, that we could not have +passed. The blacks suffered beyond what I could have imagined, from cold, +and seemed as incapable of enduring it as if they had experienced the +rigour of a northern snow storm. + +The morning of the 2nd December was cloudy and lowering, and the wind +still hung in the N.W. There was truly every appearance of bad weather, +but our anxiety to proceed on our journey overcame our apprehensions, +and the animals were loaded and moved off at 7 a.m. The rain which had +fallen the evening previous, rendered travelling heavy; so that we got on +but slowly. At 11, the clouds burst, and continued to pour down for the +rest of the day. On leaving the creek we crossed the spine of the range, +and descending from it into a valley, that continued to the river on the +one hand, and stretched away to the N.W. on the other, we ascended some +hills opposite to us, and moved generally through open, undulating forest +ground, affording good pasturage. + +SMOKING AN OPOSSUM. + +One of the blacks being anxious to get an opossum out of a dead tree, +every branch of which was hollow, asked for a tomahawk, with which be cut +a hole in the trunk above where he thought the animal lay concealed. He +found however, that he had cut too low, and that it had run higher up. +This made it necessary to smoke it out; he accordingly got some dry grass, +and having kindled a fire, stuffed it into the hole he had cut. A raging +fire soon kindled in the tree, where the draft was great, and dense +columns of smoke issued from the end of each branch as thick as that from +the chimney of a steam engine. The shell of the tree was so thin that I +thought it would soon be burnt through, and that the tree would fall; but +the black had no such fears, and, ascending to the highest branch, he +watched anxiously for the poor little wretch he had thus surrounded with +dangers and devoted to destruction; and no sooner did it appear, half +singed and half roasted, than he seized upon it and threw it down to +us with an air of triumph. The effect of the scene in so lonely a forest, +was very fine. The roaring of the fire in the tree, the fearless attitude +of the savage, and the associations which his colour and appearance, +enveloped as he was in smoke, called up, were singular, and still dwell +on my recollection. We had not long left the tree, when it fell with a +tremendous crash, and was, when we next passed that way, a mere heap of +ashes. + +ACCIDENTS. + +Shortly before it commenced raining, the dogs started an emu, and took +after it, followed by M'Leay and myself. We failed in killing it, and I +was unfortunate enough to lose a most excellent watch upon the occasion, +which in regularity was superior to the chronometer I had with me. + +As there was no hope of the weather clearing up, I sent M'Leay and one of +the blacks with the flour to the river, with directions to pile it up and +cover it with tarpaulins, as soon as possible, remaining myself to bring +up the drays. It was not, however, until after 4 p.m. that we gained the +river-side, or that we were enabled to get into shelter. Fraser met with a +sad accident while assisting the driver of the teams, who, accidentally, +struck him with the end of the lash of his whip in the eye, and cut the +lower lid in two. The poor fellow fell to the ground as if he had been +shot, and really, from the report of the whip, I was at first uncertain +of the nature of the accident. + +PONDEBADGERY. + +We had gradually ascended some hills; and as the sweep of the valley led +southerly, we continued along it until we got to its very head; then, +crossing the ridge we descended the opposite side, towards a beautiful +plain, on the further extremity of which the river line was marked by the +dark-leafed casuarina. In spite of the badness of the weather and the +misfortunes of the day, I could not but admire the beauty of the scene. +We were obliged to remain stationary the following day, in consequence +of one of the drays being out of repair, and requiring a new axle-tree. +I could hardly regret the necessity that kept us in so delightful a spot. +This plain, which the natives called Pondebadgery, and in which a station +has since been formed, is about two miles in breadth, by about three and +a-half in length. It is surrounded apparently on every side by hills. The +river running E. and W. forms its southern boundary. The hills by which we +had entered it, terminating abruptly on the river to the north-east, form +a semi-circle round it to the N.N.W. where a valley, the end of which +cannot be seen, runs to the north-west, of about half a mile in breadth. +On the opposite side of the river moderate hills rise over each other, and +leave little space between them and its banks. The Morumbidgee itself, +with an increased breadth, averaging from seventy to eighty yards, +presents a still, deep sheet of water to the view, over which the +casuarina bends with all the grace of the willow, or the birch, but with +more sombre foliage. To the west, a high line of flooded-gum trees +extending from the river to the base of the hills which form the west side +of the valley before noticed, hides the near elevations, and thus shuts in +the whole space. The soil of the plain is of the richest description, and +the hills backing it, together with the valley, are capable of depasturing +the most extensive flocks. + +Such is the general landscape from the centre of Pondebadgery Plain. +Behind the line of gum-trees, the river suddenly sweeps away to the south, +and forms a deep bight of seven miles, when, bearing up again to the N.W. +it meets some hills about 10 miles to the W.N.W. of the plain, thus +encircling a still more extensive space, that for richness of soil, and +for abundance of pasture, can nowhere be excelled; such, though on a +smaller scale, are all the flats that adorn the banks of the Morumbidgee, +first on one side and then on the other, as the hills close in upon them, +from Juggiong to Pondebadgery. + +TRAVELLING DOWN THE RIVER. + +It is deeply to be regretted that this noble river should exist at such a +distance from the capital as to be unavailable. During our stay on the +Pondebadgery Plain, the men caught a number of codfish, as they are +generally termed, but which are, in reality, a species of perch. The +largest weighed 401b. but the majority of the others were small, not +exceeding from six to eight. M'Leay and I walked to the N.W. extremity of +the plain, in order to ascertain how we should debouche from it, and to +get, if possible, a view of the western interior. We took with us two +blacks who had attached themselves to the party, and had made themselves +generally useful. On ascending the most westerly of the hills, we found it +composed of micaceous schist, the upper coat of which was extremely soft, +and broke with a slaty fracture, or crumbled into a sparkling dust beneath +our feet. The summit of the hill was barren, and beef-wood alone grew on +it. The valley, of which it was the western boundary, ran up northerly for +two or three miles, with all the appearance of richness and verdure. To +the south extended the flat I have noticed, more heavily timbered than we +had usually found them, bounded, or backed rather, by a hilly country, +although one fast losing in its general height. To the W.N.W. there was a +moderate range of hills on the opposite side of an extensive valley, +running up northerly, from which a lateral branch swept round to the +W.N.W. with a gradual ascent into the hills, which bore the same +appearance of open forest, grazing land, as prevailed in similar tracts to +the eastward. The blacks pointed out to us our route up the valley, and +stated that we should get on the banks of the river again in a direction +W. by N. from the place on which we stood. We accordingly crossed the +principal valley on the following morning, and gradually ascended the +opposite line of hills. They terminate to the S.E. in lofty precipices, +overlooking the river flats, and having a deep chain of ponds under them. +The descent towards the river was abrupt, and we encamped upon its banks, +with a more confined view than any we had ever had before. There was an +evident change in the river; the banks were reedy, the channel deep and +muddy, and the neighbourhood bore more the appearance of being subject to +overflow than it had done in any one place we had passed over. The hills +were much lower, and as we gained the southern brow of that under which we +encamped, we could see a level and wooded country to the westward. The +line of the horizon was unbroken by any hills in the distance, and the +nearer ones seemed gradually to lose themselves in the darkness of the +landscape. + +The two natives, whom the stockmen had named Peter and Jemmie, were of +infinite service to us, from their knowledge of all the passes, and the +general features of the country. Having, however, seen us thus far on the +journey from their usual haunts, they became anxious to return, and it was +with some difficulty we persuaded them to accompany us for a few days +longer, in hopes of reward. The weather had been cool and pleasant; the +thermometer averaging 78 of Fahrenheit at noon, in consequences of which +the animals kept in good condition, the men healthy and zealous. The sheep +Mr. O'Brien had presented to us, gave no additional trouble; they followed +in the rear of the party without attempting to wander, and were secured at +night in a small pen or fold. No waste attended their slaughter, nor did +they lose in condition, from being driven from ten to fifteen miles daily, +so much as I had been led to suppose they would have done. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + +Character of the Morumbidgee where it issues from the hilly country-- +Appearance of approach to swamps--Hamilton Plains--Intercourse with the +natives--Their appearance, customs, &c.--Change in the character of the +river--Mirage--Dreariness of the country--Ride towards the Lachlan river +--Two boats built and launched on the Morumbidgee; and the drays, with +part of the men sent back to Goulburn Plains. + +NATIVES--WILD GAME,&c.; CHARACTER OF THE RIVER AND THE ADJOINING COUNTRY. + +From our camp, the Morumbidgee held a direct westerly course for about +three miles. The hills under which we had encamped, rose so close upon our +right as to leave little space between them and the river. At the distance +of three miles, however, they suddenly terminated, and the river changed +its direction to the S.W., while a chain of ponds extended to the +westward, and separated the alluvial flats from a somewhat more elevated +plain before us. We kept these ponds upon our left for some time, but, as +they ultimately followed the bend of the river, we left them. The blacks +led us on a W. by S. course to the base of a small range two or three +miles distant, near which there was a deep lagoon. It was evident they +here expected to have found some other natives. Being disappointed, +however, they turned in towards the river again, but we stopped short of +it on the side of a serpentine sheet of water, an apparent continuation of +the chain of ponds we had left behind us, forming a kind of ditch round +the S.W. extremity of the range, parallel to which we had continued to +travel. This range, which had been gradually decreasing in height from the +lagoon, above which it rose perpendicularly, might almost be said to +terminate here. We fell in with two or three natives before we halted, but +the evident want of population in so fine a country, and on so noble a +river, surprised me extremely. We saw several red kangaroos in the course +of the day, and succeeded in killing one. It certainly is a beautiful +animal, ranging the wilds in native freedom. The female and the kid are of +a light mouse-colour. Wild turkeys abound on this part of the Morumbidgee, +but with the exception of a few terns, which are found hovering over the +lagoons, no new birds had as yet been procured; and the only plant that +enriched our collection, was an unknown metrosideros. In crossing the +extremity of the range, the wheels of the dray sunk deep into a yielding +and coarse sandy soil, of decomposed granite, on which forest-grass +prevailed in tufts, which, being far apart, made the ground uneven, and +caused the animals to trip. We rose at one time sufficiently high to +obtain an extensive view, and had our opinions confirmed as to the level +nature of the country we were so rapidly approaching. From the N. to +the W.S.W. the eye wandered over a wooded and unbroken interior, if I +except a solitary double hill that rose in the midst of it, bearing +S. 82 degrees W. distant 12 miles, and another singular elevation that +bore S. 32 degrees W. called by the natives, Kengal. The appearance to the +E.S.E. was still that of a mountainous country, while from the N.E., the +hills gradually decrease in height, until lost in the darkness of +surrounding objects to the northward. We did not travel this day more than +13 miles on a W. by N. course. The Morumbidgee, where we struck it, by its +increased size, kept alive our anticipations of its ultimately leading us +to some important point. The partial rains that had fallen while we were +on its upper branch, had swollen it considerably, and it now rolled along +a vast body of water at the rate of three miles an hour, preserving a +medium width of 150 feet; its banks retaining a height far above the usual +level of the stream. A traveller who had never before descended into the +interior of New Holland, would have spurned the idea of such a river +terminating in marshes; but with the experience of the former journey, +strong as hope was within my breast, I still feared it might lose itself +in the vast flat upon which we could scarcely be said to have yet entered. +The country was indeed taking up more and more every day the features of +the N.W. interior. Cypresses were observed upon the minor ridges, and the +soil near the river, although still rich, and certainly more extensive +than above, was occasionally mixed with sand, and scattered over with the +claws of crayfish and shells, indicating its greater liability to be +flooded; nor indeed could I entertain a doubt that the river had laid a +great part of the levels around us under water long after it found that +channel in which nature intended ultimately to confine it. We killed +another fine red kangaroo in the early part of the day, in galloping after +which I got a heavy fall. + +The two blacks who had been with us so long, and who had not only exerted +themselves to assist us, but had contributed in no small degree to our +amusement, though they had from M'Leay's liberality, tasted all the +dainties with which we had provided ourselves, from sugar to concentrated +cayenne, intimated that they could no longer accompany the party. They had +probably got to the extremity of their beat, and dared not venture any +further. They left us with evident regret, receiving, on their departure, +several valuable presents, in the shape of tomahawks &c. The last thing +they did was to point out the way to us, and to promise to join us on our +return, although they evidently little anticipated ever seeing us again. + +In pursuing our journey, we entered a forest, consisting of box-trees, +casuarinae, and cypresses, on a light sandy soil, in which both horses and +bullocks sunk so deep that their labour was greatly increased, more +especially as the weather had become much warmer. At noon I altered my +course from N.W. by W. to W.N.W., and reached the Morumbidgee at 3 in the +afternoon. The flats bordering it were extensive and rich, and, being +partially mixed with sand, were more fitted for agricultural purposes than +the stiffer and purer soil amidst the mountains; but the interior beyond +them was far from being of corresponding quality. We crossed several +plains on which vegetation was scanty, probably owing to the hardness of +the soil, which was a stiff loamy clay, and which must check the growth of +plants, by preventing the roots from striking freely into it. The river +where we stopped for the night appeared to have risen considerably, and +the fish were rolling about on the surface of the water with a noise like +porpoises. No elevations were visible, so that I had not an opportunity of +continuing the chain of survey with the points I had previously taken. + +TRAVELLING DOWN THE RIVER. + +As we proceeded down the river on the 8th, the flats became still more +extensive than they had ever been, and might almost be denominated plains. +Vegetation was scanty upon them, although the soil was of the first +quality. About nine miles from our camp, we struck on a small isolated +hill, that could scarcely have been of 200 feet elevation; yet, depressed +as it was, the view from its summit was very extensive, and I was +surprised to find that we were still in some measure surrounded by high +lands, of which I took the following bearings, connected with the present +ones. + +A High Peak.....N. 66 E. distance 40 miles. +Kengal ........ N. 110 E. distant. +Double Hill ... S. 10 W. distant. + +To the north, there were several fires burning, which appeared rather the +fires of natives, than conflagrations, and as the river had made a bend to +the N.N.W., I doubted not that they were upon its banks. From this hill, +which was of compact granite, we struck away to the W.N.W., and shortly +afterwards crossed some remarkable sand-hills. Figuratively speaking, they +appeared like islands amidst the alluvial deposits, and were as pure in +their composition as the sand on the sea-shore. They were generally +covered with forest grass, in tufts, and a coarse kind of rushes, under +banksias and cypresses. We found a small fire on the banks of the river, +and close to it the couch and hut of a solitary native, who had probably +seen us approach, and had fled. There cannot be many inhabitants +hereabouts, since there are no paths to indicate that they frequent this +part of the Morumbidgee more at one season than another. + +On the 9th, the river fell off again to the westward, and we lost a good +deal of the northing we had made the day before. We journeyed pretty +nearly equidistant from the stream, and kept altogether on the alluvial +flats. As we were wandering along the banks of the river, a black started +up before us, and swam across to the opposite side, where he immediately +hid himself. We could by no means induce him to show himself; he was +probably the lonely being whom we had scared away from the fire the day +before. In the afternoon, however we surprised a family of six natives, +and persuaded them to follow us to our halting place. My boy understood +them well; but the young savage had the cunning to hide the information +they gave him, or, for aught I know, to ask questions that best suited his +own purposes, and therefore we gained little intelligence from them. + +Every day now produced some change in the face of the country, by which it +became more and more assimilated to that I had traversed during the first +expedition. Acacia pendula now made its appearance on several plains +beyond the river deposits, as well as that salsolaceous class of plants, +among which the schlerolina and rhagodia are so remarkable. The natives +left us at sunset, but returned early in the morning with an extremely +facetious and good-humoured old man, who volunteered to act as our guide +without the least hesitation. There was a cheerfulness in his manner, +that gained our confidence at once, and rendered him a general favourite. +He went in front with the dogs, and led us a little away from the river +to kill kangaroos, as he said. At about two miles we struck on an +inconsiderable elevation, which the party crossed at the S.W. extremity. +I ascended it at the opposite end, but although the view was extensive, I +could not make out the little hill of granite from which I had taken my +former bearings, and the only elevation I could recognise as connected +with them, was one about ten miles distant, bearing S. 168 W. I could +observe very distant ranges to the E.N.E. and immediately below me in that +direction, there was a large clear plain, skirted by acacia pendula, +stretching from S.S.E. to N.N.W. The crown and ridges of the hill on which +I stood, were barren, stony, and covered with beef-wood, +the rock-formation being a coarse granite. The drays had got so far ahead +of me that I did not overtake them before they had halted on the river at +a distance of ten miles. + +INFORMATION FROM A NATIVE. + +The Morumbidgee appeared, on examination, to have increased in breadth, +and continued to rise gradually. It is certainly a noble stream, very +different from those I had already traced to their termination. The old +black informed me that there was another large river flowing to the +southward of west, to which the Morumbidgee was as a creek, and that we +could gain it in four days. He stated that its waters were good, but that +its banks were not peopled. That such a feature existed where he laid it +down, I thought extremely probable, because it was only natural to expect +that other streams descended from the mountains in the S.E. of the island, +as well as that on which we were travelling. The question was, whether +either of them held on an uninterrupted course to some reservoir, or +whether they fell short of the coast and exhausted themselves in marshes. +Considering the concave direction of the mountains to the S.E., I even +at this time hoped that the rivers falling into the interior would unite +sooner or later, and contribute to the formation of an important and +navigable stream. Of the fate of the Morumbidgee, the old black could give +no account. It seemed probable, therefore, that we were far from its +termination. + +I had hitherto been rather severe upon the animals, for although our +journey had not exceeded from twelve to fifteen miles a day, it had been +without intermission. I determined, therefore, to give both men and +animals a day of rest, as soon as I should find a convenient place. We +started on the 11th with this intention, but we managed to creep over +eight or ten miles of ground before we halted. The country was slightly +undulated, and much intersected by creeks, few of which had water in them. +The whole tract was, however, well adapted either for agriculture, or +for grazing, and, in spite of the drought that had evidently long hung +over it, was well covered with vegetation. We had passed all high lands, +and the interior to the westward presented an unbroken level to the eye. +The Morumbidgee appeared to hold a more northerly course than I had +anticipated. Still low ranges continued upon our right, and the cypress +ridges became more frequent and denser; but the timber on the more open +grounds generally consisted of box and flooded-gum. Of minor trees, the +acacia pendula was the most prevalent, with a shrub bearing a round nut, +enclosed in a scarlet capsule, and an interesting species of stenochylus. +I had observed as yet, few of the plants of the more northern interior. + +NATIVES--THEIR UGLINESS. + +In this neighbourhood, the dogs killed an emu and a kangaroo, which came +in very conveniently for some natives whom we fell in with on one of the +river flats. They were, without exception, the worst featured of any I had +ever seen. It is scarcely possible to conceive that human beings could +be so hideous and loathsome. The old black, who was rather good-looking, +told me they were the last we should see for some time, and I felt that if +these were samples of the natives on the lowlands, I cared very little how +few of I them we should meet. + +EXTENSIVE PLAINS. + +The country on the opposite side of the river had all the features of that +to the north of it, but a plain of such extent suddenly opened upon us to +the southward, that I halted at once in order to examine it, and by +availing myself of a day of rest, to fix our position more truly than we +could otherwise have done. We accordingly pitched our tents under some +lofty gum-trees, opposite to the plain, and close upon the edge of the +sandy beach of the river. Before they were turned out, the animals were +carefully examined, and the pack-saddles overhauled, that they might +undergo any necessary repairs. The river fell considerably during the +night, but it poured along a vast body of water, possessing a strong +current. The only change I remarked in it was that it now had a bed of +sand, and was generally deeper on one side than on the other. It kept a +very uniform breadth of from 150 to 170 feet--and a depth of from 4 to 20. +Its channel, though occasionally much encumbered with fallen timber, was +large enough to contain twice the volume of water then in it, but it had +outer and more distant banks, the boundaries of the alluvial flats, to +confine it within certain limits, during the most violent floods, and to +prevent its inundating the country. + +HAMILTON'S PLAINS. + +With a view to examine the plain opposite to us, I directed our horses to +be taken across the river early in the morning, and after breakfast, +M'Leay and I swam across after them. We found the current strong, and +could not keep a direct line over the channel, but were carried below the +place at which we plunged in. We proceeded afterwards in a direction +W.S.W. across the plain for five or six miles, before we saw trees on the +opposite extremity, at a still greater distance. We thus found ourselves +in the centre of an area of from 26 to 30 miles. It appeared to be +perfectly level, though not really so. The soil upon it was good, +excepting in isolated spots, where it was sandy. Vegetation was scanty +upon it, but, on the whole, I should conclude that it was fitter for +agriculture than for grazing. For I think it very probable, that those +lands which lie hardening and bare in a state of nature, would produce +abundantly if broken up by the plough. I called this Hamilton's plains, +in remembrance of the surgeon of my regiment. The Morumbidgee forms its +N.E. boundary, and a creek rising on it, cuts off a third part on the +western side, and runs away from the river in a southerly direction. This +creek, even before it gets to the outskirts of the plains, assumes a +considerable size. Such a fact would argue that heavy rains fall in this +part of the interior, to cut out such a watercourse, or that the soil is +extremely loose; but I should think the former the most probable, since +the soil of this plain had a substratum of clay. I place our encampment on +the river in latitude 34 degrees 41 minutes 45 seconds S., and in East +longitude 146 degrees 50 minutes, the variation of the compass being +60 degrees 10 minutes E. + +INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES; SCANTINESS OF THE POPULATION. + +On our return to the camp we found several natives with our people, and +among them one of the tallest I had ever seen. Their women were with them, +and they appeared to have lost all apprehension of any danger occurring +from us. The animals were benefited greatly by this day of rest. We left +the plain, therefore, on the 13th with renewed spirits, and passed over a +country very similar to that by which we had approached it, one well +adapted for grazing, but intersected by numerous creeks, at two of which +we found natives, some of whom joined our party. Our old friend left us in +quest of some blacks, who, as he informed Hopkinson, had seen the tracks +of our horses on the Darling. I was truly puzzled at such a statement, +which was, however, further corroborated by the circumstance of one of the +natives having a tire-nail affixed to a spear, which he said was picked +up, by the man who gave it to him, on one of our encampments. I could not +think it likely that this story was true, and rather imagined they must +have picked up the nail near the located districts, and I was anxious to +have the point cleared up. When we halted we had a large assemblage of +natives with us, amounting in all to twenty-seven, but I awaited in vain +the return of the old man. The night passed away without our seeing him, +nor did he again join us. + +We started in the morning with our new acquaintances, and kept on a +south-westerly course during the day, over an excellent grazing, and, in +many places, an agricultural country, still intersected by creeks, that +were too deep for the water to have dried in them. The country more +remote from the river, however, began to assume more and more the +character and appearance of the northern interior. I rode into several +plains, the soil of which was either a red sandy loam, bare of vegetation, +or a rotten and blistered earth, producing nothing but rhagodiae, +salsolae, and misembrianthemum. + +We fell in with another tribe of blacks during the journey, to whom we +were literally consigned by those who had been previously with us, and who +now turned back, while our new friends took the lead of the drays. They +were two fine young men, but had very ugly wives, and were for a long time +extremely diffident. I found that I could obtain but little information +through my black boy,--whether from his not understanding me, or because +he was too cunning, is uncertain. One of these young men, however, +clearly stated that he had seen the tracks of bullocks and horses, a long +time ago, to the N.N.W. in the direction of some detached hills, that were +visible from 20 to 25 miles distant. He remembered them, he said, as a +boy, and added that the white men were without water. It was, therefore, +clear that he alluded to Mr. Oxley's excursion, northerly from the +Lachlan, and I had no doubt on my mind, that he had been on one of that +officer's encampments, and that the hills to the north of us were those +to the opposite base of which he had penetrated. I was determined, +therefore, if practicable, to reach these hills, deeming it a matter of +great importance to connect the surveys, but I deferred my journey for a +day or two, in hopes, from the continued northerly course of the river, +that we should have approached them nearer. + +In the evening we fell in with some more blacks, among whom were two +brothers, of those who were acting as our guides. One had a very pretty +girl as a wife, and all the four brothers were very good-looking young +men. There cannot, I should think, be a numerous population on the banks +of the Morumbidgee, from the fact of our having seen not more than fifty +in an extent of more than 180 miles. They are apparently scattered along +it in families. I was rather surprised that my boy understood their +language well, since it certainly differed from that of the Macquarie +tribes, but nevertheless as these people do not wander far, our +information as to what was before us was very gradually arrived at, and +only as we fell in with the successive families. Moreover, as my boy +was very young, it may be that he was more eager in communicating to those +who had no idea of them, the wonders he had seen, than in making inquiries +on points that were indifferent to him. + +CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. + +We passed a very large plain in the course of the day, which was bounded +by forests of box, cypress, and the acacia pendula, of red sandy soil and +parched appearance. The Morumbidgee evidently overflows a part of the +lands we crossed, to a greater extent than heretofore, though the alluvial +deposits beyond its influence were still both rich and extensive. The +crested pigeon made its appearance on the acacias, which I took to be a +sure sign of our approach to a country more than ordinarily subject to +overflow; since on the Macquarie and the Darling, those birds were found +only to inhabit the regions of marshes, or spaces covered by the acacia +pendula, or the polygonum. We had not, however, yet seen any of the latter +plant, although we were shortly destined to be almost lost amidst fields +of it. + +CHANGE IN THE COUNTRY. + + +We were now approaching that parallel of longitude in which the other +known rivers of New Holland had been found to exhaust themselves; the +least change therefore, for the worse was sufficient to raise my +apprehensions; yet, although the Morumbidgee had received no tributary +from the Dumot downwards, and was leading us into an apparently endless +level, I saw no indication of its decreasing in size, or in the rapidity +of its current. Certainly, however, I had, from the character of the +country around us, an anticipation that a change was about to take place +in it, and this anticipation was verified in the course of the following +day. The alluvial flats gradually decreased in breadth, and we journeyed +mostly over extensive and barren plains, which in many places approached +so near the river as to form a part of its bank. They were covered with +the salsolaceous class of plants, so common in the interior, in a red +sandy soil, and were as even as a bowling green. The alluvial spaces near +the river became covered with reeds, and, though subject to overflow at +every partial rise of it, were so extremely small as scarcely to afford +food for our cattle. Flooded-gum trees of lofty size grew on these reedy +spaces, and marked the line of the river, but the timber of the interior +appeared stunted and useless. + +DESCRIPTION OF THE NATIVES; MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE NATIVES. + +We found this part of the Morumbidgee much more populous than its upper +branches. When we halted, we had no fewer than forty-one natives with us, +of whom the young men were the least numerous. They allowed us to choose +a place for ourselves before they formed their own camp, and studiously +avoided encroaching on our ground so as to appear troublesome. Their +manners were those of a quiet and inoffensive people, and their appearance +in some measure prepossessing. The old men had lofty foreheads, and stood +exceedingly erect. The young men were cleaner is their persons and were +better featured than any we had seen, some of them having smooth hair and +an almost Asiatic cast of countenance. On the other hand, the women and +children were disgusting objects. The latter were much subject to +diseases, and were dreadfully emaciated. It is evident that numbers of +them die in their infancy for want of care and nourishment. We remarked +none at the age of incipient puberty, but the most of them under six. In +stating that the men were more prepossessing than any we had seen, I would +not be understood to mean that they differed in any material point either +from the natives of the coast, or of the most distant interior to which I +had been, for they were decidedly the same race, and had the same leading +features and customs, as far as the latter could be observed. The sunken +eye and overhanging eyebrow, the high cheek-bone and thick lip, distended +nostrils, the nose either short or acquiline, together with a stout bust +and slender extremities, and both curled and smooth hair, marked the +natives of the Morumbidgee as well as those of the Darling. They were +evidently sprung from one common stock, the savage and scattered +inhabitants of a rude and inhospitable land. In customs they differed in +no material point from the coast natives, and still less from the tribes +on the Darling and the Castlereagh. They extract the front tooth, +lacerate their bodies, to raise the flesh, cicatrices being their chief +ornament; procure food by the same means, paint in the same manner, and +use the same weapons, as far as the productions of the country will allow +them. But as the grass-tree is not found westward of the mountains, they +make a light spear of a reed, similar to that of which the natives of the +southern islands form their arrows. These they use for distant combat, and +not only carry in numbers, but throw with the boomerang to a great +distance and with unerring precision, making them to all intents and +purposes as efficient as the bow and arrow. They have a ponderous spear +for close fight, and others of different sizes for the chase. With regard +to their laws, I believe they are universally the same all over the known +parts of New South Wales. The old men have alone the privilege of eating +the emu; and so submissive are the young men to this regulation, that if, +from absolute hunger or under other pressing circumstances, one of them +breaks through it, either during a hunting excursion, or whilst absent +from his tribe, he returns under a feeling of conscious guilt, and by his +manner betrays his guilt, sitting apart from the men, and confessing his +misdemeanour to the chief at the first interrogation, upon which he is +obliged to undergo a slight punishment. This evidently is a law of policy +and necessity, for if the emus were allowed to be indiscriminately +slaughtered, they would soon become extinct. Civilised nations may learn a +wholesome lesson even from savages, as in this instance of their +forebearance. For somewhat similar reasons, perhaps, married people alone +are here permitted to eat ducks. They hold their corrobories, +(midnight ceremonies), and sing the same melancholy ditty that breaks the +stillness of night on the shores of Jervis' Bay, or on the banks of the +Macquarie; and during the ceremony imitate the several birds and beasts +with which they are acquainted. If these inland tribes differ in anything +from those on the coast, it is in the mode of burying their dead, and, +partially, in their language. Like all savages, they consider their women +as secondary objects, oblige them to procure their own food, or throw to +them over their shoulders the bones they have already picked, with a +nonchalance that is extremely amusing; and, on the march, make them beasts +of burden to carry their very weapons. The population of the Morumbidgee, +as far as we had descended it at this time, did not exceed from ninety to +a hundred souls. I am persuaded that disease and accidents consign many of +them to a premature grave. + +MIRAGE. + +From this camp, one family only accompanied us. We journeyed due west over +plains of great extent. The soil upon them was soft and yielding, in some +places being a kind of light earth covered with rhagodiae, in others a +red tenacious clay, overrun by the misembrianthemum and salsolae. +Nothing could exceed the apparent barrenness of these plains, or the +cheerlessness of the landscape. We had left all high lands behind us, and +were now on an extensive plain, bounded in the distance by low trees or by +dark lines of cypresses. The lofty gum-trees on the river followed its +windings, and, as we opened the points, they appeared, from the peculiar +effect of a mirage, as bold promontories jutting into the ocean, having +literally the blue tint of distance. This mirage floated in a light +tremulous vapour on the ground, and not only deceived us with regard to +the extent of the plains, and the appearance of objects, but hid the +trees, in fact, from our view altogether; so that, in moving, as we +imagined, upon the very point or angle of the river, we found as we neared +it, that the trees stretched much further into the plain, and were obliged +to alter our course to round them. The heated state of the atmosphere, and +the sandy nature of the country could alone have caused a mirage so +striking in its effects, as this,--exceeding considerably similar +appearances noticed during the first expedition. The travelling was so +heavy, that I was obliged to make a short day's journey, and when we +struck the river for the purpose of halting, it had fallen off very much +in appearance, and was evidently much contracted, with low banks and a +sandy bed. It was difficult to account for this sudden change, but when +I gazed on the extent of level country before me, I began to dread that +this hitherto beautiful stream would ultimately disappoint us. + +EXCURSION TOWARDS A RIDGE OF HILLS. + +I had deferred my intended excursion to the hills under which I imagined +Mr. Oxley had encamped, until we were out of sight of them, and I now +feared that it was almost too late to undertake it, but I was still +anxious to determine a point in which I felt considerable interest. I was +the more desirous of surveying the country to the northward, because of +the apparent eagerness with which the natives had caught at the word +Colare, which I recollected having heard a black on the Macquarie make +use of in speaking of the Lachlan. They pointed to the N.N.W., and making +a sweep with the arm raised towards the sky, seemed to intimate that a +large sheet of water existed in that direction; and added that it +communicated with the Morumbidgee more to the westward. This information +confirmed still more my impressions with regard to Mr. Oxley's line of +route; and, as I found a ready volunteer in M'Leay, I gave the party in +charge to Harris until I should rejoin him, and turned back towards the +hills, with the intention of reaching them if possible. No doubt we should +have done so had it not been for the nature of the ground over which we +travelled, and the impossibility of our exceeding a walk. We rode to a +distance of 18 miles, but still found ourselves far short of the hills, +and therefore gave up the point. I considered, however, that we were about +the same distance to the south, as Mr. Oxley had been to the north of +them, and in taking bearings of the highest points, I afterwards found +that they exactly tallied with his bearings, supposing him to have taken +them from his camp. + +QUIET DEMEANOUR OF THE NATIVES. + +On our way to the river, we Passed through some dense bushes of casuarinae +and cypresses, to the outskirts of the plains through which the +Morumbidgee winds. We reached the camp two or three hours after sunset, +and found it crowded with natives to the number of 60. They were extremely +quiet and inoffensive in their demeanour, and asked us to point out where +they might sleep, before they ventured to kindle their fires. One old man, +we remarked, had a club foot, and another was blind, but, as far as we +could judge from the glare of the fires, the generality of them were fine +young men, and supported themselves in a very erect posture when standing +or walking. There were many children with the women, among whom colds +seemed to prevail. It blew heavily from the N.W. during the night, and a +little rain fell in the early part of the morning. Our route during the +day, was over as melancholy a tract as ever was travelled. The plains to +the N. and N.W. bounded the horizon; not a tree of any kind was visible +upon them. It was equally open to the S., and it appeared as if the river +was decoying us into a desert, there to leave us in difficulty and in +distress. The very mirage had the effect of boundlessness in it, by +blending objects in one general hue; or, playing on the ground, it cheated +us with an appearance of water, and on arriving at the spot, we found a +continuation of the same scorching plain, over which we were moving, +instead of the stream we had hoped for. + +The cattle about this time began to suffer, and, anxious as I was to push +on, I was obliged to shorten my journeys, according to circumstances. +Amidst the desolation around us, the river kept alive our hopes. If it +traversed deserts, it might reach fertile lands, and it was to the issue +of the journey that we had to look for success. It here, however, +evidently overflowed its banks more extensively than heretofore, and +broad belts of reeds were visible on either side of it, on which the +animals exclusively subsisted. Most of the natives had followed us, and +their patience and abstinence surprised me exceedingly. Some of them had +been more than twenty-four hours without food, and yet seemed as little +disposed to seek it as ever. I really thought they expected me to supply +their wants, but as I could not act so liberal a scale, George M'Leay +undeceived them; after which they betook themselves to the river, and got +a supply of muscles. I rather think their going so frequently into the +water engenders a catarrh, or renders them more liable to it than they +otherwise would be. In the afternoon the wind shifted to the S.W. It blew +a hurricane; and the temperature of the air was extremely low. The natives +felt the cold beyond belief and kindled large fires. In the morning, when +we moved away, the most of them started with fire-sticks to keep +themselves warm; but they dropped off one by one, and at noon we found +ourselves totally deserted. + +DREARINESS OF THE LANDSCAPE. + +It is impossible for me to describe the kind of country we were now +traversing, or the dreariness of the view it presented. The plains were +still open to the horizon, but here and there a stunted gum-tree, or a +gloomy cypress, seemed placed by nature as mourners over the surrounding +desolation. Neither beast nor bird inhabited these lonely and inhospitable +regions, over which the silence of the grave seemed to reign. We had not, +for days past, seen a blade of grass, so that the animals could not have +been in very good condition. We pushed on, however, sixteen miles, in +consequence of the coolness of the weather. We observed little change in +the river in that distance, excepting that it had taken up a muddy bottom, +and lost all the sand that used to fill it. The soil and productions on +the plains continued unchanged in every respect. From this time to the +22nd, the country presented the same aspect. Occasional groups of cypress +showed themselves on narrow sandy ridges, or partial brushes extended from +the river, consisting chiefly of the acacia pendula, the stenochylus, +and the nut I have already noticed. The soil on which they grew was, if +possible, worse than that of the barren plain which we were traversing; +and their colour and drooping state rendered the desolate landscape still +more dreary. + +On the 21st, we found the same singular substance(gypsum) embedded in the +bank of the river that had been collected, during the former expedition, +on the banks of the Darling; and hope, which is always uppermost in the +human breast, induced me to think that we were fast approaching that +stream. My observations placed me in 34 degrees 17 minutes 15 seconds +S. and 145 degrees of E. longitude. + +BLACK BOY DESERTS. + +On the 22nd, my black boy deserted me. I was not surprised at his doing +so, neither did I regret his loss, for he had been of little use under any +circumstances. He was far too cunning for our purpose. I know not that the +term ingratitude can be applied to one in his situation, and in whose +bosom nature had implanted a love of freedom. We learnt from four blacks, +with whom he had spoken, and who came to us in the afternoon, that he had +gone up the river,--as I conjectured, to the last large tribe we had left, +with whom he appeared to become very intimate. + +A creek coming from the N.N.W. here fell into the Morumbidgee; a proof +that the general decline of country was really to the south, although a +person looking over it would have supposed the contrary. + +COUNTRY SUBJECT TO INUNDATION. + +We started on the 23rd, with the same boundlessness of plain on either +side of us; but in the course of the morning a change took place, both in +soil and productions; and from the red sandy loam, and salsolaceous +plants, amidst which we had been toiling, we got upon a light tenacious +and blistered soil, evidently subject to frequent overflow, and fields of +polygonum junceum, amidst which, both the crested pigeon and the black +quail were numerous. The drays and animals sank so deep in this, that we +were obliged to make for the river, and keep upon its immediate banks. +Still, with all the appearance of far-spread inundation, it continued +undiminished in size, and apparently in the strength of its current. +Its channel was deeper than near the mountains, but its breadth was about +the same. + +On the 24th, we were again entangled amidst fields of polygonum, through +which we laboured until after eleven, when we gained a firmer soil. Some +cypresses appeared upon our right, in a dark line, and I indulged hopes +that a change was about to take place in the nature of the country. We +soon, however, got on a light rotten earth, and were again obliged to make +for the river, with the teams completely exhausted. We had not travelled +many miles from our last camp, yet it struck me, that the river had +fallen off in appearance. I examined it with feelings of intense anxiety, +certain, as I was, that the flooded spaces, over which we had been +travelling would, sooner or later, be succeeded by a country overgrown +with reeds. The river evidently overflowed its banks, on both sides, +for many miles, nor had I a doubt that, at some periods, the space +northward, between it and the Lachlan, presented the appearance of one +vast sea. The flats of polygonum stretched away to the N.W. to an amazing +distance, as well as in a southerly direction, and the very nature of the +soil bore testimony to its flooded origin. But the most unaccountable +circumstance to me was, that it should be entirely destitute of +vegetation, with the exception of the gloomy and leafless bramble I have +noticed. + +M'Leay, who was always indefatigable in his pursuit after subjects of +natural history, shot a cockatoo, of a new species, hereabouts, having a +singularly shaped upper mandible. It was white, with scarlet down under +the neck feathers, smaller than the common cockatoo, and remarkable for +other peculiarities. + +INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES; THE COLARE OR LACHLAN. + +Two or three natives made their appearance at some distance from the +party, but would not approach it until after we had halted. They then +came to the tents, seven in number, and it was evident from their manner, +that their chief or only object was to pilfer anything they could. We +did not, therefore, treat them with much ceremony. They were an +ill-featured race, and it was only by strict watching during the night +that they were prevented from committing theft. Probably from seeing that +we were aware of their intentions, they left us early, and pointing +somewhat to the eastward of north, said they were going to the Colare, +and on being asked how far it was, they signified that they should sleep +there. I had on a former occasion recollected the term having been made +use of by a black, on the Macquarie, when speaking to me of the Lachlan, +and had questioned one of the young men who was with us at the time, and +who seemed more intelligent than his companions, respecting it. +Immediately catching at the word, he had pointed to the N.N.W., and, +making a sweep with his arms raised towards the sky had intimated, +evidently, that a large sheet of water existed in that direction, in the +same manner that another black had done on a former occasion: on being +further questioned, he stated that this communicated with the Morumbidgee +more to the westward, and on my expressing a desire to go to it, he said +we could not do so under four days. We had, it appeared, by the account of +the seven natives, approached within one day's journey of it, and, as I +thought it would he advisable to gain a little knowledge of the country to +the north, I suggested to M'Leay to ride in that direction, while the +party should be at rest, with some goad feed for the cattle that fortune +had pointed out to us. + +EXCURSION TOWARDS THE LACHLAN. + +Our horses literally sank up to their knees on parts of the great plain +over which we had in the first instance to pass, and we rode from three to +four miles before we caught sight of a distant wood at its northern +extremity; the view from the river having been for the last two or three +days, as boundless as the ocean. As we approached the wood, two columns of +smoke rose from it, considerably apart, evidently the fires of natives +near water. We made for the central space between them, having a dead +acacia scrub upon our right. On entering the wood, we found that it +contained for the most part, flooded-gum, under which bulrushes and +reeds were mixed together. The whole space seemed liable to overflow, and +we crossed numerous little drains, that intersected each other in every +direction. From the resemblance of the ground to that at the bottom of the +marshes of the Macquarie, I prognosticated to my companion that we should +shortly come upon a creek, and we had not ridden a quarter of a mile +further, when we found ourselves on the banks of one of considerable size. +Crossing it, we proceeded northerly, until we got on the outskirts of a +plain of red sandy soil, covered with rhagodia alone, and without a tree +upon the visible horizon. The country appeared to be rising before us, but +was extremely depressed to the eastward. After continuing along this +plain for some time, I became convinced from appearances, that we were +receding from water, and that the fires of the natives, which were no +longer visible, must have been on the creek we had crossed, that I judged +to be leading W.S.W. from the opposite quarter. We had undoubtedly struck +below to the westward of the Colare or Lachlan, and the creek was the +channel of communication between it and the Morumbidgee, at least such was +the natural conclusion at which I arrived. Having no further object in +continuing a northerly course, we turned to the S.E., and, after again +passing the creek, struck away for the camp on a S. by W. course, and +passed through a dense brush of cypress and casuarina in our way to it. + +CONNECTION OF LACHLAN WITH MORUMBIDGEE. + +Considering our situation as connected with the marshes of the Lachlan, +I cannot but infer that the creek we struck upon during this excursion +serves as a drain to the latter, to conduct its superfluous waters into +the Morumbidgee in times of flood, as those of the Macquarie are conducted +by the creek at the termination of its marshes into Morrisset's Chain of +Ponds. It will be understood that I only surmise this. I argue from +analogy, not from proof. Whether I am correct or not, my knowledge of the +facts I have stated, tended very much to satisfy my mind as to the LAY of +the interior; and to revive my hopes that the Morumbidgee would not fail +us, although there was no appearance of the country improving. + +COUNTRY COVERED WITH REEDS. + +We started on the 26th, on a course somewhat to the N.W., and traversed +plains of the same wearisome description as those I have already +described. The wheels of the drays sank up to their axle-trees, and the +horses above their fetlocks at every step. The fields of polygonum spread +on every side of us like a dark sea, and the only green object within +range of our vision was the river line of trees. In several instances, the +force of both teams was put to one dray, to extricate it from the bed into +which it had sunk, and the labour was considerably increased from the +nature of the weather. The wind was blowing as if through a furnace, from +the N.N.E., and the dust was flying in clouds, so as to render it almost +suffocating to remain exposed to it. This was the only occasion upon which +we felt the hot winds in the interior. We were, about noon, endeavouring +to gain a point of a wood at which I expected to come upon the river +again, but it was impossible for the teams to reach it without assistance. +I therefore sent M'Leay forward, with orders to unload the pack animals as +soon as he should make the river, and send them back to help the teams. He +had scarcely been separated from me 20 minutes, when one of the men came +galloping back to inform me that no river was to be found--that the +country beyond the wood was covered with reeds as far as the eye could +reach, and that Mr. M'Leay had sent him back for instructions. This +intelligence stunned me for a moment or two, and I am sure its effect upon +the men was very great. They had unexpectedly arrived at a part of the +interior similar to one they had held in dread, and conjured up a thousand +difficulties and privations. I desired the man to recall Mr. M'Leay; and, +after gaining the wood, moved outside of it at right angles to my former +course, and reached the river, after a day of severe toil and exposure, +at half-past five. The country, indeed, bore every resemblance to that +around the marshes of the Macquarie, but I was too weary to make any +further effort: indeed it was too late for me undertake anything until +the morning. + +ANXIOUS COGITATIONS; SURVEY OF RIVER AND ENVIRONS. + +The circumstances in which we were so unexpectedly placed, occupied my +mind so fully that I could not sleep; and I awaited the return of light +with the utmost anxiety. If we were indeed on the outskirts of marshes +similar to those I had on a former occasion found so much difficulty +in examining, I foresaw that in endeavouring to move round then I should +recede from water, and place the expedition in jeopardy, probably, without +gaining any determinate point, as it would be necessary for me to advance +slowly and with caution. Our provisions, however, being calculated to last +only to a certain period, I was equally reluctant to delay our operations. +My course was, therefore, to be regulated by the appearance of the country +and of the river, which I purposed examining with the earliest dawn. +If the latter should be found to run into a region of reeds, a boat would +be necessary to enable me to ascertain its direction; but, if ultimately +it should be discovered to exhaust itself, we should have to strike into +the interior on a N.W. course, in search of the Darling. I could not think +of putting the whale-boat together in our then state of uncertainty, and +it struck me that a smaller one could sooner he prepared for the purposes +for which I should require it. These considerations, together with the +view I had taken of the measures I might at last be forced into, +determined me, on rising, to order Clayton to fell a suitable tree, and to +prepare a saw-pit. The labour was of no consideration, and even if +eventually the boat should not be wanted, no injury would arise, and it +was better to take time by the forelock. Having marked a tree preparatory +to leaving the camp, M'Leay and I started at an early hour on an excursion +of deeper interest than any we had as yet undertaken; to examine the +reeds, not only for the purpose of ascertaining their extent, if possible, +but also to guide us in our future measures. We rode for some miles along +the river side, but observed in it no signs, either of increase or of +exhaustion. Its waters, though turbid, were deep, and its current still +rapid. Its banks, too, were lofty, and showed no evidence of decreasing +in height, so as to occasion an overflow of them, as had been the case +with the Macquarie. We got among vast bodies of reeds, but the plains of +the interior were visible beyond them. We were evidently in a hollow, and +the decline of country was plainly to the southward of west. Every thing +tended to strengthen my conviction that we were still far from the +termination of the river. The character it had borne throughout, and its +appearance now so far to the westward, gave me the most lively hopes that +it would make good its way through the vast level into which it fell, and +that its termination would accord with its promise. Besides, I daily +anticipated its junction with some stream of equal, if not of greater +magnitude from the S.E. I was aware that my resolves must be instant, +decisive, and immediately acted upon, as on firmness and promptitude at +this crisis the success of the expedition depended. About noon I checked +my horse, and rather to the surprise of my companion, intimated to +him my intention of returning to the camp, He naturally asked what I +purposed doing. I told him it appeared to me more than probable that the +Morumbidgee would hold good its course to some fixed point, now that it +had reached a meridian beyond the known rivers of the interior. It was +certain, from the denseness of the reeds, and the breadth of the belts, +that the teams could not be brought any farther, and that, taking every +thing into consideration, I had resolved on a bold and desperate measure, +that of building the whale-boat, and sending home the drays. Our +appearance in camp so suddenly, surprised the men not more than the orders +I gave. They all thought I had struck on some remarkable change of +country, and were anxious to know my ultimate views. It was not my +intention however, immediately to satisfy their curiosity. I had to study +their characters as long as I could, in order to select those best +qualified to accompany me on the desperate adventure for which I was +preparing. + +BOAT BUILDING. + +The attention both of M'Leay, and myself, was turned to the hasty building +of the whale-boat. A shed was erected, and every necessary preparation +made, and although Clayton had the keel of the small boat already laid +down, and some planks prepared, she was abandoned for the present, and, +after four days more of arduous labour, the whale-boat was painted and in +the water. From her dimensions, it appeared to me impossible that she +would hold all our provisions and stores, for her after-part had been +fitted up as an armoury, which took away considerably from her capacity of +stowage. The small boat would still, therefore, be necessary, and she was +accordingly re-laid, for half the dimensions of the large boat, and in +three days was alongside her consort in the river. Thus, in seven days we +had put together a boat, twenty-seven feet in length, had felled a tree +from the forest, with which we had built a second of half the size, had +painted both, and had them at a temporary wharf ready for loading. Such +would not have been the case had not our hearts been in the work, as the +weather was close and sultry, and we found it a task of extreme labour. +In the intervals between the hours of work, I prepared my despatches for +the Governor, and when they were closed, it only remained for me to select +six hands, the number I intended should accompany me down the river, and +to load the boats, ere we should once more proceed in the further +obedience of our instructions. + +COMPLETION OF ARRANGEMENTS FOR EMBARKATION. + +It was impossible that I could do without Clayton, whose perseverance and +industry had mainly contributed to the building of the boats; of the other +prisoners, I chose Mulholland and Macnamee; leaving the rest in charge +of Robert Harris, whose steady conduct had merited my approbation. My +servant, Harris, Hopkinson, and Fraser, of course, made up the crews. +The boats were loaded in the evening of Jan. 6th, as it had been +necessary to give the paint a little time to dry. On the 4th, I had sent +Clayton and Mulholland to the nearest cypress range for a mast and spar, +and on the evening of that day some blacks had visited us; but they sat on +the bank of the river, preserving a most determined silence; and, at +length, left us abruptly, and apparently in great ill humour. In the +disposition of the loads, I placed all the flour, the tea, and tobacco, +in the whaleboat. The meat-casks, still, and carpenters' tools, were put +into the small boat. + +As soon as the different arrangements were completed, I collected the men, +and told off those who were to accompany me. I then gave the rest over in +charge to Harris, and, in adverting to their regular conduct hitherto, +trusted they would be equally careful while under his orders. I then +directed the last remaining sheep to be equally divided among us; and it +was determined that, for fear of accidents, Harris should remain +stationary for a week, at the expiration of which time, he would be at +liberty to proceed to Goulburn Plains, there to receive his instructions +from Sydney; while the boats were to proceed at an early hour of the +morning down the river,--whether ever to return again being a point of the +greatest uncertainty. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + + +Embarkation of the party in the boats, and voyage down the Morumbidgee-- +The skiff swamped by striking on a sunken tree--Recovery of boat and its +loading--Region of reeds--Dangers of the navigation--Contraction of the +channel--Reach the junction of a large river--Intercourse with the natives +on its banks--Character of the country below the junction of the rivers-- +Descent of a dangerous rapid--Warlike demonstrations of a tribe of +natives--Unexpected deliverance from a conflict with them--Junction of +another river--Give the name of the "Murray" to the principal stream. + + +The camp was a scene of bustle and confusion long before day-light. The +men whom I had selected to accompany me were in high spirits, and so eager +to commence their labours that they had been unable to sleep, but busied +themselves from the earliest dawn in packing up their various articles of +clothing, &c. We were prevented from taking our departure so early as I +had intended, by rain that fell about six. At a little after seven, +however, the weather cleared up, the morning mists blew over our heads, +and the sun struck upon us with his usual fervour. As soon as the minor +things were stowed away, we bade adieu to Harris and his party; and +shortly after, embarked on the bosom of that stream along the banks of +which we had journeyed for so many miles + +Notwithstanding that we only used two oars, our progress down the river +was rapid. Hopkinson had arranged the loads so well, that all the party +could sit at their ease, and Fraser was posted in the bow of the boat, +with gun in hand, to fire at any new bird or beast that we might surprise +in our silent progress. The little boat, which I shall henceforward call +the skiff, was fastened by a painter to our stern. + +SUPPOSED JUNCTION OF LACHLAN. + +As the reader will have collected from what has already fallen under his +notice, the country near the depot was extensively covered with reeds, +beyond which vast plains of polygonum stretched away. From the bed of the +river we could not observe the change that took place in it as we passed +along, so that we found it necessary to land, from time to time, for the +purpose of noting down its general appearance. At about fifteen miles from +the depot, we came upon a large creek-junction from the N.E., which I did +not doubt to be the one M'Leay and I had crossed on the 25th of December. +It was much larger than the creek of the Macquarie, and was capable of +holding a very great body of water, although evidently too small to +contain all that occasionally rushed from its source. I laid it down as +the supposed junction of the Lachlan, since I could not, against the +corroborating facts in my possession, doubt its originating in the marshes +of that river. Should this, eventually, prove to be the case, the similar +termination of the two streams traced by Mr. Oxley will be a singular +feature in the geography of the interior. + +EMUS--NATIVE TOMB. + +We were just about to land, to prepare our dinner, when two emus swam +across the river ahead of us. This was an additional inducement for us to +land, but we were unfortunately too slow, and the birds escaped us. We had +rushed in to the right bank, and found on ascending it, that the reeds +with which it had hitherto been lined, had partially ceased. A large +plain, similar to those over which we had wandered prior to our gaining +the flooded region, stretched away to a considerable distance behind us, +and was backed by cypresses and brush. The soil of the plain was a red +sandy loam, covered sparingly with salsolae and shrubs; thus indicating +that the country still preserved its barren character, and that it is the +same from north to south. Among the shrubs we found a tomb that appeared +to have been recently constructed. No mound had been raised over the body, +but an oval hollow shed occupied the centre of the burial place, that was +lined with reeds and bound together with strong net-work. Round this, the +usual walks were cut, and the recent traces of women's feet were visible +upon them, but we saw no natives, although, from the number and size of +the paths that led from the river, in various directions across the plain, +I was led to conclude, that, at certain seasons, it is hereabouts +numerously frequented. Fraser gathered some rushes similar to those used +by the natives of the Darling in the fabrication of their nets, and as +they had not before been observed, we judged them, of course, to be a sign +of our near approach to that river. + +ASPECT OF COUNTRY AND RIVER. + +As soon as we had taken a hasty dinner, we again embarked, and pursued our +journey. I had hoped, from the appearance of the country to the north of +us, although that to the south gave little indication of any change, that +we should soon clear the reeds; but at somewhat less than a mile they +closed in upon the river, and our frequent examination of the +neighbourhood on either side of it only tended to confirm the fact, that +we were passing through a country subject to great and extensive +inundation. We pulled up at half-past five, and could scarcely find space +enough to pitch our tents. + +The Morumbidgee kept a decidedly westerly course during the day. Its +channel was not so tortuous as we expected to have found it, nor did it +offer any obstruction to the passage of the boats. Its banks kept a +general height of eight feet, five of which were of alluvial soil, and +both its depth and its current were considerable. We calculated having +proceeded from 28 to 30 miles, though, perhaps, not more than half that +distance in a direct line. No rain fell during the day, but we experienced +some heavy squalls from the E.S.E. + +THE SKIFF STRIKES AND SINKS--LABOUR IN RECOVERING ARTICLES LOST. + +The second day of our journey from the depot was marked by an accident +that had well nigh obliged us to abandon the further pursuit of the river, +by depriving us of part of our means of carrying it into effect. We had +proceeded, as usual, at an early hour in the morning, and not long after +we started, fell in with the blacks who had visited us last, and who were +now in much better humour than upon that occasion. As they had their women +with them, we pushed in to the bank, and distributed some presents, after +which we dropped quietly down the river. Its general depth had been such +as to offer few obstructions to our progress, but about an hour after we +left the natives, the skiff struck upon a sunken log, and immediately +filling, went down in about twelve feet of water, The length of the +painter prevented any strain upon the whale-boat, but the consequence of +so serious an accident at once flashed upon our minds. That me should +suffer considerably, we could not doubt, but our object was to get the +skiff up with the least possible delay, to prevent the fresh water from +mixing with the brine, in the casks of meat. Some short time, however, +necessarily elapsed before we could effect this, and when at last the +skiff was hauled ashore, we found that we were too late to prevent the +mischief that we had anticipated. All the things had been fastened in the +boat, but either from the shock, or the force of the current, one of the +pork casks, the head of the still, and the greater part of the carpenter's +tools, had been thrown out of her. As the success of the expedition might +probably depend upon the complete state of the still, I determined to use +every effort for its recovery: but I was truly at a loss how to find it; +for the waters of the river were extremely turbid. In this dilemma, the +blacks would have been of the most essential service, but they were far +behind us, so that we had to depend on our own exertions alone. I directed +the whale-boat to be moored over the place where the accident had +happened, and then used the oars on either side of her, to feel along the +bottom of the river, in hopes that by these means we should strike upon +the articles we had lost. However unlikely such a measure was to prove +successful, we recovered in the course of the afternoon, every thing but +the still-head, and a cask of paint. Whenever the oar struck against the +substance that appeared, by its sound or feel to belong to us, it was +immediately pushed into the sand, and the upper end of the oar being held +by two men, another descended by it to the bottom of the river, remaining +under water as long as he could, to ascertain what was immediately within +arm's length of him. This work was, as may be imagined, most laborious, +and the men at length became much exhausted. They would not, however, give +up the search for the still head, more especially after M'Leay, in diving, +had descended upon it. Had he, by ascertaining his position, left it to us +to heave it up, our labours would soon have ended; but, in his anxiety for +its recovery, he tried to bring it up, when finding it too heavy, he let +it go, and the current again swept it away. + +At sunset. we were obliged to relinquish our task, the men complaining of +violent head-aches, which the nature of the day increased. Thinking our +own efforts would be unavailing, I directed two of the men to go up the +river for the blacks, at day-light in the morning, and set the reeds on +fire to attract their notice. The day had been cloudy and sultry in the +afternoon, the clouds collecting in the N.E.: we heard the distant +thunder, and expected to have been deluged with rain. None, however, +fell, although we were anxious for moisture to change the oppressive state +of the atmosphere. The fire I had kindled raged behind us, and threw dense +columns of smoke into the sky, that cast over the landscape a shade of the +most dismal gloom. We were not in a humour to admire the picturesque, but +soon betook ourselves to rest, and after such a day of labour as that we +had undergone, I dispensed with the night guard. + +PILFERING OF NATIVES. + +In the morning we resumed our search far the still head, which Hopkinson +at length fortunately struck with his oar. It had been swept considerably +below the place at which M'Leay had dived, or we should most probably have +found it sooner. With its recovery, all our fatigues were at once +forgotten, and I ordered the breakfast to be got ready preparatory to our +reloading the skiff. Fraser and Mulholland, who had left the camp at +daylight, had not yet returned. I was sitting in the tent, when Macnamee +came to inform me that one of the frying-pans was missing, which had +been in use the evening previous, for that he himself had placed it on the +stump of a tree, and he therefore supposed a native dog had run away with +it. Soon after this, another loss was reported to me, and it was at last +discovered that an extensive robbery had been committed upon us during +the night, and that, in addition to the frying-pan, three cutlasses, and +five tomahawks, with the pea of the steelyards, had been carried away. +I was extremely surprised at this instance of daring in the natives, and +determined, if possible, to punish it. About ten, Fraser and Mulholland +returned with two blacks. Fraser told me he saw several natives on our +side of the river, as he was returning, to whom those who were with him +spoke, and I felt convinced from their manner and hesitation, that they +were aware of the trick that had been played upon us. However, as Fraser +had promised them a tomahawk to induce them to accompany him, I fulfilled +the promise. + +CONTINUE OUR VOYAGE. + +Leaving this unlucky spot, we made good about sixteen miles during the +afternoon. The river maintained its breadth and depth nor were the reeds +continuous upon its banks. We passed several plains that were considerably +elevated above the alluvial deposits, and the general appearance of the +country induced me strongly to hope that we should shortly get out of the +region of reeds, or the great flooded concavity on which we had fixed our +depot; but the sameness of vegetation, and the seemingly diminutive size +of the timber in the distance, argued against any change for the better +in the soil of the interior. Having taken the precaution of shortening the +painter of the skiff, we found less difficulty in steering her clear +of obstacles, and made rapid progress down the Morumbidgee during the +first cool and refreshing hours of the morning. The channel of the river +became somewhat less contracted, but still retained sufficient depth for +larger boats than ours, and preserved a general westerly course. Although +no decline of country was visible to the eye, the current in places ran +very strong. It is impossible for me to convey to the reader's mind an +idea of the nature of the country through which we passed. On this day the +favourable appearances, noticed yesterday, ceased almost as soon as we +embarked. On the 10th, reeds lined the banks of the river on both sides, +without any break, and waved like gloomy streamers over its turbid waters; +while the trees stood leafless and sapless in the midst of them. Wherever +we landed, the same view presented itself--a waving expanse of reeds, and +a country as flat as it is possible to imagine one. The eye could seldom +penetrate beyond three quarters of a mile, and the labour of walking +through the reeds was immense; but within our observation all was green +and cheerless. The morning had been extremely cold, with a thick haze at +E.S.E. About 2 p.m. it came on to rain heavily, so that we did not stir +after that hour. + +CONTRACTION OF THE CHANNEL. + +I had remarked that the Morumbidgee was not, from the depot downwards, so +broad or so fine a river as it certainly is at the foot of the mountain +ranges, where it gains the level country. The observations of the last two +days had impressed upon my mind an idea that it was rapidly falling off, +and I began to dread that it would finally terminate in one of those fatal +marshes in which the Macquarie and the Lachlan exhaust themselves. My hope +of a more favourable issue was considerably damped by the general +appearance of the surrounding country; and from the circumstance of our +not having as yet passed a single tributary. As we proceeded down the +river, its channel gradually contracted, and immense trees that had been +swept down it by floods, rendered the navigation dangerous and intricate. +Its waters became so turbid, that it was impossible to see objects in it, +notwithstanding the utmost diligence on the part of the men. + +About noon, we fell in with a large tribe of natives, but had great +difficulty in bringing them to visit us. If they had HEARD of white men, +we were evidently the first they had ever SEEN. They approached us in the +most cautious manner, and were unable to subdue their fears as long as +they remained with us. Collectively, these people could not have amounted +to less than one hundred and twenty in number. + +ANOTHER ACCIDENT. + +As we pushed off from the bank, after having stayed with them about half +an hour, the whaleboat struck with such violence on a sunken log, that she +immediately leaked on her starboard side. Fortunately she was going slowly +at the time, or she would most probably have received some more serious +injury. One of the men was employed during the remainder of the afternoon +in bailing her out, and we stopped sooner than we should otherwise have +done, in order to ascertain the extent of damage, and to repair it. The +reeds terminated on both sides of the river some time before we pulled up, +and the country round the camp was more elevated than usual, and bore the +appearance of open forest pasture land, the timber upon it being a dwarf +species of box, and the soil a light tenacious earth. + +ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY AND OF THE RIVER. + +About a mile below our encampment of the 12th, we at length came upon a +considerable creek-junction from the S.E. Below it, the river increased +both in breadth and depth; banks were lofty and perpendicular, and even +the lowest levels were but partially covered with reeds. We met with fewer +obstructions in consequence, and pursued our journey with restored +confidence. Towards evening a great change also took place in the aspect +of the country, which no longer bore general marks of inundation. The +level of the interior was broken by a small hill to the right of the +stream, but the view from its summit rather damped than encouraged my +hopes of any improvement. The country was covered with wood and brush, and +the line of the horizon was unbroken by the least swell. We were on an +apparently boundless flat, without any fixed point on which to direct our +movements, nor was there a single object for the eye to rest upon, beyond +the dark and gloomy wood that surrounded us on every side. + +Soon after passing this hill, the whale-boat struck upon a line of sunken +rocks, but fortunately escaped without injury. Mulholland, who was +standing in the bow, was thrown out of her, head foremost, and got a good +soaking, but soon recovered himself. The composition of the rock was +iron-stone, and it is the first formation that occurs westward of the +dividing range. We noticed a few cypresses in the distance, but the +general timber was dwarf-box, or flooded-gum, and a few of the acacia +longa scattered at great distances. In verifying our position by some +lunars, we found ourselves in 142 degrees 46 minutes 30 seconds of east +long., and in lat. 35 degrees 25 minutes 15 seconds S. the mean variation +of the compass being 4 degrees 10 minutes E. it appearing that we were +decreasing the variation as we proceeded westward. + +On the 13th, we passed the first running stream that joins the +Morumbidgee, in a course of more than 340 miles. It came from the S.E., +and made a visible impression on the river at the junction, although in +tracing it up, it appeared to be insignificant in itself. The circumstance +of these tributaries all occurring on the left, evidenced the level nature +of the country to the north. In the afternoon, we passed a dry creek also +from the S.E. which must at times throw a vast supply of water into the +river, since for many miles below, the latter preserved a breadth of +200 feet, and averaged from 12 to 20 feet in depth, with banks of from +15 to 18 feet in height. Yet, notwithstanding its general equality of +depth, several rapids occurred, down which the boats were hurried with +great velocity. The body of water in the river continued undiminished, +notwithstanding its increased breadth of channel; for which reason I +should imagine that it is fed by springs, independently of other supplies. +Some few cypresses were again observed, and the character of the distant +country resembled, in every particular, that of the interior between the +Macquarie and the Darling. The general appearance of the Morumbidgee, from +the moment of our starting on the 13th, to a late hour in the afternoon, +had been such as to encourage my hopes of ultimate success in tracing it +down; but about three o'clock we came to one of those unaccountable and +mortifying changes which had already so frequently excited my +apprehension. Its channel again suddenly contracted, and became almost +blocked up with huge trees, that must have found their way into it down +the creeks or junctions we had lately passed. The rapidity of the current +increasing at the same time, rendered the navigation perplexing and +dangerous. We Passed reach after reach, presenting the same difficulties, +and were at length obliged to pull up at 5 p.m., having a scene of +confusion and danger before us that I did not dare to encounter with the +evening's light; for I had not only observed that the men's eye-sight +failed them as the sun descended, and that they mistook shadows for +objects under water, and VICE-VERSA, but the channel had become so narrow +that, although the banks were not of increased height, we were involved in +comparative darkness, under a close arch of trees, and a danger was hardly +seen ere we were hurried past it, almost without the possibility of +avoiding it. The reach at the head of which we stopped, was crowded with +the trunks of trees, the branches of which crossed each other in every +direction, nor could I hope, after a minute examination of the channel, +to succeed in taking the boats safely down so intricate a passage. + +DANGEROUS NAVIGATION OF THE MORUMBIDGEE. + +We rose in the morning with feelings of apprehension, and uncertainty; +and, indeed, with great doubts on our minds whether we were not thus early +destined to witness the wreck, and the defeat of the expedition. The men +got slowly and cautiously into the boat, and placed themselves so as to +leave no part of her undefended. Hopkinson stood at the bow, ready with +poles to turn her head from anything upon which she might be drifting. +Thus prepared, we allowed her to go with the stream. By extreme care and +attention on the part of the men we passed this formidable barrier. +Hopkinson in particular exerted himself, and more than once leapt from the +boat upon apparently rotten logs of wood, that I should not have judged +capable of bearing his weight, the more effectually to save the boat. +It might have been imagined that where such a quantity of timber had +accumulated, a clearer channel would have been found below, but such was +not the case. In every reach we had to encounter fresh difficulties. In +some places huge trees lay athwart the stream, under whose arched branches +we were obliged to pass; but, generally speaking, they had been carried, +roots foremost, by the current, and, therefore, presented so many points +to receive us, that, at the rate at which we were going, had we struck +full upon any one of them, it would have gone through and through the +boat. About noon we stopped to repair, or rather to take down the remains +of our awning, which had been torn away; and to breathe a moment from the +state of apprehension and anxiety in which our minds had been kept during +the morning. About one, we again started. The men looked anxiously out +ahead; for the singular change in the river had impressed on them an idea, +that we were approaching its termination, or near some adventure. On a +sudden, the river took a general southern direction, but, in its tortuous +course, swept round to every point of the compass with the greatest +irregularity. We were carried at a fearful rate down its gloomy and +contracted banks, and, in such a moment of excitement, had little time to +pay attention to the country through which we were passing. It was, +however, observed, that chalybeate-springs were numerous close to the +water's edge. At 3 p.m., Hopkinson called out that we were approaching +a junction, and in less than a minute afterwards, we were hurried into a +broad and noble river. + +JUNCTION OF A LARGE RIVER--CHARACTER OF THE RIVER. + +It is impossible for me to describe the effect of so instantaneous a +change of circumstances upon us. The boats were allowed to drift along at +pleasure, and such was the force with which we had been shot out of the +Morumbidgee, that we were carried nearly to the bank opposite its +embouchure, whilst we continued to gaze in silent astonishment on the +capacious channel we had entered; and when we looked for that by which we +had been led into it, we could hardly believe that the insignificant gap +that presented itself to us was, indeed, the termination of the beautiful +and noble stream, whose course we had thus successfully followed. I can +only compare the relief we experienced to that which the seaman feels on +weathering the rock upon which be expected his vessel would have +struck--to the calm which succeeds moments of feverish anxiety, when the +dread of danger is succeeded by the certainty of escape. + +To myself personally, the discovery of this rivet was a circumstance of a +particularly gratifying nature, since it not only confirmed the justness +of my opinion as to the ultimate fate of the Morumbidgee, and bore me out +in the apparently rash and hasty step I had taken at the depot, but +assured me of ultimate success in the duty I had to perform. We had got on +the high road, as it were, either to the south coast, or to some +important outlet; and the appearance of the river itself was such as to +justify our most sanguine expectations. I could not doubt its being the +great channel of the streams from the S.E. angle of the island. Mr. Hume +had mentioned to me that he crossed three very considerable streams, when +employed with Mr. Hovell in 1823 in penetrating towards Port Phillips, to +which the names of the Goulburn, the Hume, and the Ovens, had been given; +and as I was 300 miles from the track these gentlemen had pursued, I +considered it more than probable that those rivers must already have +formed a junction above me, more especially when I reflected that the +convexity of the mountains to the S.E. would necessarily direct the waters +falling inwards from them to a common centre. + +We entered the new river at right angles, and, as I have remarked, at the +point of junction the channel of the Morumbidgee had narrowed so as to +bear all the appearance of an ordinary creek. In breadth it did not exceed +fifty feet, and if, instead of having passed down it, I had been making my +way up the principal streams, I should little have dreamt that so dark and +gloomy an outlet concealed a river that would lead me to the haunts of +civilized man, and whose fountains rose amidst snow-clad mountains. Such, +however, is the characteristic of the streams falling to the westward of +the coast ranges. Descending into a low and level interior, and depending +on their immediate springs for existence, they fall off, as they increase +their distance from the base of the mountains in which they rise, and in +their lower branches give little results of the promise they had +previously made. + +The opinion I have expressed, and which is founded on my personal +experience, that the rivers crossed by Messrs. Hovell and Hume had +already united above me, was strengthened by the capacity of the stream we +had just discovered. It had a medium width of 350 feet, with a depth of +from twelve to twenty. Its reaches were from half to three-quarters of a +mile in length, and the views upon it were splendid. Of course, as the +Morumbidgee entered it from the north, its first reach must have been +E. and W., and it was so, as nearly as possible; but it took us a little +to the southward of the latter point, in a distance of about eight miles +that we pulled down it in the course of the afternoon. We then landed and +pitched our tents for the night. Its transparent waters were running over +a sandy bed at the rate of two-and-a-half knots an hour, and its banks, +although averaging eighteen feet in height, were evidently subject to +floods. + +ABSENCE OF NATIVES. + +We had not seen any natives since falling in with the last tribe on the +Morumbidgee. A cessation had, therefore, taken place in our communication +with them, in re-establishing which I anticipated considerable difficulty. +It appeared singular that we should not have fallen in with any for +several successive days, more especially at the junction of the two +rivers, as in similar situations they generally have an establishment. In +examining the country back from the stream, I did not observe any large +paths, but it was evident that fires had made extensive ravages in the +neighbourhood, so that the country was, perhaps, only temporarily +deserted. Macnamee, who had wandered a little from the tents, declared +that he had seen about a dozen natives round a fire, from whom (if he +really did see them) he very precipitately fled, but I was inclined to +discredit his story, because in our journey on the following day, we +did not see even a casual wanderer. + +WEATHER, TEMPERATURE, &C. + +The river maintained its character, and raised our hopes to the highest +pitch. Its breadth varied from 160 to 200 yards; and only in one place, +where a reef of iron-stone stretched nearly across from the left bank, +so as to contract the channel near the right and to form a considerable +rapid, was there any apparent obstruction to our navigation. I was sorry, +however, to remark that the breadth of alluvial soil between its outer and +inner banks was very inconsiderable, and that the upper levels were poor +and sandy. Blue-gum generally occupied the former, while the usual +productions of the plains still predominated upon the latter, and showed +that the distant interior had not yet undergone any favourable change. +We experienced strong breezes from the north, but the range of the +thermometer was high, and the weather rather oppressive than otherwise. +On the night of the 16th, we had a strong wind from the N.W., but it +moderated with day-light, and shifted to the E.N.E., and the day was +favourable and cool. Our progress was in every way satisfactory, and if +any change had taken place in the river, it was that the banks had +increased in height, in many places to thirty feet, the soil being a red +loam, and the surface much above the reach of floods. The bank opposite to +the one that was so elevated, was proportionably low, and, in general, not +only heavily timbered, but covered with reeds, and backed by a chain of +ponds at the base of the outer embankment. + +INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES. + +About 4 p.m., some natives were observed running by the river side behind +us, but on our turning the boat's head towards the shore, they ran away. +It was evident that they had no idea what we were, and, from their +timidity, feeling assured that it would be impossible to bring them to a +parley, we continued onwards till our usual hour of stopping, when we +pitched our tents on the left bank for the night, it being the one +opposite to that on which the natives had appeared. We conjectured that +their curiosity would lead them to follow us, which they very shortly did; +for we had scarcely made ourselves comfortable when we heard their wild +notes through the woods as they advanced towards the river; and their +breaking into view with their spears and shields, and painted and prepared +as they were for battle, was extremely fine. They stood threatening us, +and making a great noise, for a considerable time, but, finding that we +took no notice of them, they, at length, became quiet. I then walked to +some little distance from the party, and taking a branch in my hand, as a +sign of peace, beckoned them to swim to our side of the river, which, +after some time, two or three of them did. But they approached me with +great caution, hesitating at every step. They soon, however, gained +confidence, and were ultimately joined by all the males of their tribe. +I gave the FIRST who swam the river a tomahawk (making this a rule in +order to encourage them) with which he was highly delighted. I shortly +afterwards placed them all in a row and fired a gun before them: they were +quite unprepared for such an explosion, and after standing stupified and +motionless for a moment or two, they simultaneously took to their heels, +to our great amusement. I succeeded, however, in calling them back, and +they regained their confidence so much, that sixteen of them remained with +us all night, but the greater number retired at sunset. + +On the following morning, they accompanied us down the river, where we +fell in with their tribe, who were stationed on an elevated bank a short +distance below--to the number of eighty-three men, women, and children. +Their appearance was extremely picturesque and singular. They wanted us to +land, but time was too precious for such delays. Some of the boldest of +the natives swam round and round the boat so as to impede the use of the +oars, and the women on the bank evinced their astonishment by mingled +yells and cries. They entreated us, by signs, to remain with them, but, as +I foresaw a compliance on this occasion would hereafter be attended with +inconvenience, I thought it better to proceed on our journey, and the +natives soon ceased their importunities, and, indeed, did not follow or +molest us. + +ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY AND OF THE RIVER BANKS. + +The river improved upon us at every mile. Its reaches were of noble +breadth, and splendid appearance. Its current was stronger, and it was fed +by numerous springs. Rocks, however, were more frequent in its bed, and in +two places almost formed a barrier across the channel, leaving but a +narrow space for the boats to go down. We passed several elevations of +from 70 to 90 feet in height, at the base of which the stream swept along. +The soil of these elevations was a mixture of clay (marl) and sand, upon +coarse sandstone. Their appearance and the manner in which they had been +acted upon by water, was singular, and afforded a proof of the violence of +the rains in this part of the interior. From the highest of these, I +observed that the country to the S.E. was gently undulated, and so far +changed in character from that through which we had been travelling; +still, however, it was covered with a low scrub, and was barren and +unpromising. + +About noon of the 18th, we surprised two women at the water-side, who +immediately retreated into the brush. Shortly after, four men showed +themselves, and followed us for a short distance, but hid themselves upon +our landing. The country still appeared undulated to the S.E.; the soil +was sandy, and cypresses more abundant than any other tree. We passed +several extensive sand-banks in the river, of unusual size and solidity, +an evident proof of the sandy nature of the interior generally. The vast +accumulations of sand at the junctions of every creek were particularly +remarkable. The timber on the alluvial flats was not by any means so large +as we had hitherto observed it; nor were the flats themselves so extensive +as they are on the Morumbidgee and the Macquarie. Notwithstanding the +aspect of the country which I have described, no POSITIVE change had as +yet taken place in the general feature of the interior. The river +continued to flow in a direction somewhat to the northward of west, +through a country that underwent no perceptible alteration. Its waters, +confined to their immediate bed, swept along considerably below the level +of its inner banks; and the spaces between them and the outer ones, though +generally covered with reeds, seemed not recently to have been flooded; +while on the other hand, they had, in many places, from successive +depositions, risen to a height far above the reach of inundation. Still, +however, the more remote interior maintained its sandy and sterile +character, and stretched away, in alternate plain and wood, to a distance +far beyond the limits of our examination. + +About the 21st, a very evident change took place in it. The banks of the +river suddenly acquired a perpendicular and water-worn appearance. Their +summits were perfectly level, and no longer confined by a secondary +embankment, but preserved an uniform equality of surface back from the +stream. These banks, although so abrupt, were not so high as the upper +levels, or secondary embankments. They indicated a deep alluvial deposit, +and yet, being high above the reach of any ordinary flood, were covered +with grass, under an open box forest, into which a moderately dense scrub +occasionally penetrated. We had fallen into a concavity similar to those +of the marshes, but successive depositions had almost filled it, and no +longer subject to inundation, it had lost all the character of those +flooded tracts. The kind of country I have been describing, lay rather to +the right than to the left of the river at this place, the latter +continuing low and swampy, as if the country to the south of the river +were still subject to inundation. As the expedition proceeded, the left +bank gradually assumed the appearance of the right; both looked water-worn +and perpendicular, and though not more than from nine to ten feet in +height, their summits were perfectly level in receding, and bore +diminutive box-timber, with widely-scattered vegetation. Not a single +elevation had, as yet, broken the dark and gloomy monotony of the +interior; but as our observations were limited to a short distance from +the river, our surmises on the nature of the distant country were +necessarily involved in some uncertainty. + +THREATENED ATTACK--AMICABLE CONFERENCE. + +On the 19th, as we were about to conclude our journey for the day, we saw +a large body of natives before us. On approaching them, they showed every +disposition for combat, and ran along the bank with spears in rests, as if +only waiting for an opportunity to throw them at us. They were upon the +right, and as the river was broad enough to enable me to steer wide of +them, I did not care much for their threats; but upon another party +appearing upon the left bank, I thought it high time to disperse one or +the other of them, as the channel was not wide enough to enable me to keep +clear of danger, if assailed by both, as I might be while keeping amid the +channel. I found, however, that they did not know how to use the advantage +they possessed, as the two divisions formed a junction; those on the left +swimming over to the stronger body upon the right bank. This, fortunately, +prevented the necessity of any hostile measure on my part, and we were +suffered to proceed unmolested, for the present. The whole then followed +us without any symptom of fear, but making a dreadful shouting, and +beating their spears and shields together, by way of intimidation. It is +but justice to my men to say that in this critical situation they evinced +the greatest coolness, though it was impossible for any one to witness +such a scene with indifference. As I did not intend to fatigue the men by +continuing to pull farther than we were in the habit of doing, we landed +at our usual time on the left bank, and while the people were pitching the +tents, I walked down the bank with M'Leay, to treat with these desperadoes +in the best way we could, across the water, a measure to which my men +showed great reluctance, declaring that if during our absence the natives +approached them, they would undoubtedly fire upon them. I assured them it +was not my intention to go out of their sight. We took our guns with us, +but determined not to use them until the last extremity, both from a +reluctance to shed blood and with a view to our future security. I held a +long pantomimical dialogue with them, across the water, and held out the +olive branch in token of amity. They at length laid aside their spears, +and a long consultation took place among them, which ended in two or three +wading into the river, contrary, as it appeared, to the earnest +remonstrances of the majority, who, finding that their entreaties had no +effect, wept aloud, and followed them with a determination, I am sure, of +sharing their fate, whatever it might have been. As soon as they landed, +M'Leay and I retired to a little distance from the bank, and sat down; +that being the usual way among the natives of the interior, to invite to +an interview. When they saw us act thus, they approached, and sat down by +us, but without looking up, from a kind of diffidence peculiar to them, +and which exists even among the nearest relatives, as I have already had +occasion to observe. As they gained confidence, however, they showed an +excessive curiosity, and stared at us in the most earnest manner. We now +led them to the camp, and I gave, as was my custom, the first who had +approached, a tomahawk; and to the others, some pieces of iron hoop. Those +who had crossed the river amounted to about thirty-five in number. +At sunset, the majority of them left us; but three old men remained at +the fire-side all night. I observed that few of them had either lost their +front teeth or lacerated their bodies, as the more westerly tribes do. The +most loathsome diseases prevailed among them. Several were disabled by +leprosy, or some similar disorder, and two or three had entirely lost +their sight. They are, undoubtedly, a brave and a confiding people, and +are by no means wanting in natural affection. In person, they resemble the +mountain tribes. They had the thick lip, the sunken eye, the extended +nostril, and long beards, and both smooth and curly hair are common among +them. Their lower extremities appear to bear no proportion to their bust +in point of muscular strength; but the facility with which they ascend +trees of the largest growth, and the activity with which they move upon +all occasions, together with their singularly erect stature, argue that +such appearance is entirely deceptive. + +INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES. + +The old men slept very soundly by the fire, and were the last to get up in +the morning. M'Leay's extreme good humour had made a most favourable +impression upon them, and I can picture him, even now, joining in their +wild song. Whether it was from his entering so readily into their mirth, +or from anything peculiar that struck them, the impression upon the whole +of us was, that they took him to have been originally a black, in +consequence of which they gave him the name of Rundi. Certain it is, they +pressed him to show his side, and asked if he had not received a wound +there--evidently as if the original Rundi had met with a violent death +from a spear-wound in that place. The whole tribe, amounting in number to +upwards of 150, assembled to see us take our departure. Four of them +accompanied us, among whom there was one remarkable for personal strength +and stature.--The 21st passed without our falling in with any new tribe, +and the night of the 22nd, saw us still wandering in that lonely desert +together. There was something unusual in our going through such an extent +of country without meeting another tribe, but our companions appeared to +be perfectly aware of the absence of inhabitants, as they never left +our side. + +Although the banks of the river had been of general equality of height, +sandy elevations still occasionally formed a part of them, and their +summits were considerably higher than the alluvial flats. + +RAPID IN THE RIVER--DANGEROUS DESCENT OF THE BOATS. + +It was upon the crest of one of these steep and lofty banks, that on the +morning of the 22nd, the natives who were a-head of the boat, suddenly +stopped to watch our proceedings down a foaming rapid that ran beneath. +We were not aware of the danger to which we were approaching, until we +turned an angle of the river, and found ourselves too near to retreat. +In such a moment, without knowing what was before them, the coolness of +the men was strikingly exemplified. No one even spoke after they became +aware that silence was necessary. The natives (probably anticipating +misfortune) stood leaning upon their spears upon the lofty bank above us. +Desiring the men not to move from their seats, I stood up to survey the +channel, and to steer the boat to that part of it which was least impeded +by rocks. I was obliged to decide upon a hasty survey, as we were already +at the head of the rapid. It appeared to me that there were two passages, +the one down the centre of the river, the other immediately under its +right bank. A considerable rock stood directly in own way to the latter, +so that I had no alternative but to descend the former. About forty yards +below the rock, I noticed that a line of rocks occupied the space between +the two channels, whilst a reef, projecting from the left bank, made the +central passage distinctly visible, and the rapidity of the current +proportionably great. I entertained hopes that the passage was clear, and +that we should shoot down it without interruption; but in this I was +disappointed. The boat struck with the fore-part of her keel on a sunken +rock, and, swinging round as it were on a pivot, presented her bow to the +rapid, while the skiff floated away into the strength of it. We had every +reason to anticipate the loss of our whale-boat, whose build was so light, +that had her side struck the rock, instead of her keel, she would have +been laid open from stem to stern. As it was, however, she remained fixed +in her position, and it only remained for us to get her off the best way +we could. I saw that this could only be done by sending two of the men +with a rope to the upper rock, and getting the boat, by that means, into +the still water, between that and the lower one. We should then have time +to examine the channels, and to decide as to that down which it would be +safest to proceed. My only fear was, that the loss of the weight of the +two men would lighten the boat so much, that she would be precipitated +down the rapid without my having any command over her; but it happened +otherwise. We succeeded in getting her into the still water, and +ultimately took her down the channel under the right bank, without her +sustaining any injury. A few miles below this rapid the river took a +singular bend, and we found, after pulling several miles, that we were +within a stone's throw of a part of the stream we had already +sailed down. + +The four natives joined us in the camp, and assisted the men at their +various occupations. The consequence was, that they were treated with more +than ordinary kindness; and Fraser, for his part, in order to gratify +these favoured guests, made great havoc among the feathered race. He +returned after a short ramble with a variety of game, among which were a +crow, a kite, and a laughing jackass (alcedo gigantea,) a species of +king's-fisher, a singular bird, found in every part of Australia. Its cry, +which resembles a chorus of wild spirits, is apt to startle the traveller +who may be in jeopardy, as if laughing and mocking at his misfortune. +It is a harmless bird, and I seldom allowed them to be destroyed, as they +were sure to rouse us with the earliest dawn. To this list of Fraser's +spoils, a duck and a tough old cockatoo, must be added. The whole of these +our friends threw on the fire without the delay of plucking, and snatched +them from that consuming element ere they were well singed, and devoured +them with uncommon relish. + +DESERTED NATIVE VILLAGE. + +We pitched our tents upon a flat of good and tenacious soil. A brush, in +which there was a new species of melaleuca, backed it, in the thickest +part of which we found a deserted native village. The spot was evidently +chosen for shelter. The huts were large and long, all facing the same +point of the compass, and in every way resembling the huts occupied by the +natives of the Darling. Large flocks of whistling ducks, and other wild +fowl, flew over our heads to the N.W., as if making their way to some +large or favourite waters. My observations placed us in lat. 34 degrees +8 minutes 15 seconds south, and in east long. 141 degrees 9 minutes +42 seconds or nearly so; and I was at a loss to conceive what direction +the river would ultimately take. We were considerably to the N.W. of the +point at which we had entered it, and in referring to the chart, it +appeared, that if the Darling had kept a S.W. course from where the last +expedition left its banks, we ought ere this to have struck upon it, +or have arrived at its junction with the stream on which we were +journeying. + +CONVERSING BY SIGNS. + +The natives, in attempting to answer my interrogatories, only perplexed +me more and more. They evidently wished to explain something, by placing a +number of sticks across each other as a kind of diagram of the country. It +was, however, impossible to arrive at their meaning. They undoubtedly +pointed to the westward, or rather to the south of that point, as the +future course of the river; but there was something more that they were +anxious to explain, which I could not comprehend. The poor fellows seemed +quite disappointed, and endeavoured to beat it into Fraser's head with as +little success. I then desired Macnamee to get up into a tree. From the +upper branches of it he said he could see hills; but his account of their +appearance was such that I doubted his story: nevertheless it might have +been correct. He certainly called our attention to a large fire, as if the +country to the N.W. was in flames, so that it appeared we were approaching +the haunts of the natives at last. + +It happened that Fraser and Harris were for guard, and they sat up +laughing and talking with the natives long after we retired to rest. +Fraser, to beguile the hours, proposed shaving his sable companions, and +performed that operation with admirable dexterity upon their chief, to his +great delight. I got up at an early hour, and found to my surprise that +the whole of them had deserted us. Harris told me they had risen from the +fire about an hour before, and had crossed the river. I was a little +angry, but supposed they were aware that we were near some tribe, and had +gone on a-head to prepare and collect them. + +LARGE CONCOURSE OF NATIVES--THEIR HOSTILE DEMEANOUR. + +After breakfast, we proceeded onwards as usual. The river had increased so +much in width that, the wind being fair, I hoisted sail for the first +time, to save the strength of my men as much as possible. Our progress was +consequently rapid. We passed through a country that, from the nature of +its soil and other circumstances, appeared to be intersected by creeks and +lagoons. Vast flights of wild fowl passed over us, but always at a +considerable elevation, while, on the other hand, the paucity of ducks on +the river excited our surprise. Latterly, the trees upon the river, and in +its neighbourhood, had been a tortuous kind of box. The flooded-gum grew +in groups on the spaces subject to inundation, but not on the levels above +the influence of any ordinary rise of the stream. Still they were much +smaller than they were observed to be in the higher branches of the river. +We had proceeded about nine miles, when we were surprised by the +appearance in view, at the termination of a reach, of a long line of +magnificent trees of green and dense foliage. As we sailed down the reach, +we observed a vast concourse of natives under them, and, on a nearer +approach, we not only heard their war-song, if it might so be called, but +remarked that they were painted and armed, as they generally are, prior +to their engaging in deadly conflict. Notwithstanding these outward signs +of hostility, fancying that our four friends were with them, I continued +to steer directly in for the bank on which they were collected. I found, +however, when it was almost too late to turn into the succeeding reach +to our left, that an attempt to land would only be attended with loss of +life. The natives seemed determined to resist it. We approached so near +that they held their spears quivering in their grasp ready to hurl. They +were painted in various ways. Some who had marked their ribs, and thighs, +and faces with a white pigment, looked like skeletons, others were daubed +over with red and yellow ochre, and their bodies shone with the grease +with which they had besmeared themselves. A dead silence prevailed among +the front ranks, but those in the back ground, as well as the women, who +carried supplies of darts, and who appeared to have had a bucket of +whitewash capsized over their heads, were extremely clamorous. As I did +not wish a conflict with these people, I lowered my sail, and putting the +helm to starboard, we passed quietly down the stream in mid channel. +Disappointed in their anticipations, the natives ran along the bank of the +river, endeavouring to secure an aim at us; but, unable to throw with +certainty, in consequence of the onward motion of the boat, they flung +themselves into the most extravagant attitudes, and worked themselves into +a state of frenzy by loud and vehement shouting. + +PREPARATIONS FOR CONFLICT--UNEXPECTED INTERFERENCE. + +It was with considerable apprehension that I observed the river to be +shoaling fast, more especially as a huge sand-bank, a little below us, and +on the same side on which the natives had gathered, projected nearly a +third-way across the channel. To this sand-bank they ran with tumultuous +uproar, and covered it over in a dense mass. Some of the chiefs advanced +to the water to be nearer their victims, and turned from time to time to +direct their followers. With every pacific disposition, and an extreme +reluctance to take away life, I foresaw that it would be impossible any +longer to avoid an engagement, yet with such fearful numbers against us, +I was doubtful of the result. The spectacle we had witnessed had been one +of the most appalling kind, and sufficient to shake the firmness of most +men; but at that trying moment my little band preserved their temper +coolness, and if any thing could be gleaned from their countenances, it +was that they had determined on an obstinate resistance. I now explained +to them that their only chance of escape depended, or would depend, on +their firmness. I desired that after the first volley had been fired, +M'Leay and three of the men, would attend to the defence of the boat with +bayonets only, while I, Hopkinson, and Harris, would keep up the fire as +being more used to it. I ordered, however, that no shot was to be fired +until after I had discharged both my barrels. I then delivered their arms +to the men, which had as yet been kept in the place appropriated for them, +and at the same time some rounds of loose cartridge. The men assured me +they would follow my instructions, and thus prepared, having already +lowered the sail, we drifted onwards with the current. As we neared the +sand-bank, I stood up and made signs to the natives to desist; +but without success. I took up my gun, therefore, and cocking it, +had already brought it down to a level. A few seconds more would +have closed the life of the nearest of the savages. The distance +was too trifling for me to doubt the fatal effects of the discharge; +for I was determined to take deadly aim, in hopes that the fall of +one man might save the lives of many. But at the very moment, when +my hand was on the trigger, and my eye was along the barrel, my +purpose was checked by M'Leay, who called to me that another party of +blacks had made their appearance upon the left bank of the river. Turning +round, I observed four men at the top of their speed. The foremost of +them as soon as he got a-head of the boat, threw himself from a +considerable height into the water. He struggled across the channel to the +sand-bank, and in an incredibly short space of time stood in front of the +savage, against whom my aim had been directed. Seizing him by the throat, +he pushed backwards, and forcing all who were in the water upon the bank, +he trod its margin with a vehemence and an agitation that were exceedingly +striking. At one moment pointing to the boat, at another shaking his +clenched hand in the faces of the most forward, and stamping with passion +on the sand; his voice, that was at first distinct and clear, was lost in +hoarse murmurs. Two of the four natives remained on the left bank of the +river, but the third followed his leader, (who proved to be the remarkable +savage I have previously noticed) to the scene of action. The reader will +imagine our feelings on this occasion: it is impossible to describe them. +We were so wholly lost in interest at the scene that was passing, that the +boat was allowed to drift at pleasure. For my own part I was overwhelmed +with astonishment, and in truth stunned and confused; so singular, so +unexpected, and so strikingly providential, had been our escape. + +JUNCTION OF ANOTHER STREAM--PROVIDENTIAL DELIVERANCE FROM DANGER. + +We were again roused to action by the boat suddenly striking upon a shoal, +which reached from one side of the river to the other. To jump out and +push her into deeper water was but the work of a moment with the men, and +it was just as she floated again that our attention was withdrawn to a new +and beautiful stream, coming apparently from the north. The great body of +the natives having posted themselves on the narrow tongue of land formed +by the two rivers, the bold savage who had so unhesitatingly interfered +on our account, was still in hot dispute with them, and I really feared +his generous warmth would have brought down upon him the vengeance of the +tribes. I hesitated, therefore, whether or not to go to his assistance. +It appeared, however, both to M'Leay and myself, that the tone of the +natives had moderated, and the old and young men having listened to the +remonstrances of our friend, the middle-aged warriors were alone holding +out against him. A party of about seventy blacks were upon the right bank +of the newly discovered river, and I thought that by landing among them, +we should make a diversion in favour of our late guest; and in this I +succeeded. If even they had still meditated violence, they would have to +swim a good broad junction, and that, probably, would cool them, or we +at least should have the advantage of position. I therefore, ran the boat +ashore, and landed with M'Leay amidst the smaller party of natives, wholly +unarmed, and having directed the men to keep at a little distance from the +bank. Fortunately, what I anticipated was brought about by the stratagem +to which I had had recourse. The blacks no sooner observed that we had +landed, than curiosity took place of anger. All wrangling ceased, and they +came swimming over to us like a parcel of seals. Thus, in less than a +quarter of an hour from the moment when it appeared that all human +intervention was at on end, and we were on the point of commencing a +bloody fray, which, independently of its own disastrous consequences, +would have blasted the success of the expedition, we were peacefully +surrounded by the hundreds who had so lately threatened us with +destruction; nor was it until after we had returned to the boat, and had +surveyed the multitude upon the sloping bank above us, that we became +fully aware of the extent of our danger, and of the almost miraculous +intervention of Providence in our favour. There could not have been less +than six hundred natives upon that blackened sward. But this was not the +only occasion upon which the merciful superintendance of that Providence +to which we had humbly committed ourselves, was strikingly manifested. +If these pages fail to convey entertainment or information, sufficient may +at least be gleaned from them to furnish matter for serious reflection; +but to those who have been placed in situations of danger where human +ingenuity availed them not, and where human foresight was baffled, I feel +persuaded that these remarks are unnecessary. + +NEW RIVER, SUPPOSED TO BE THE DARLING. + +It was my first care to call for our friend, and to express to him, as +well as I could, how much we stood indebted to him, at the same time that +I made him a suitable present; but to the chiefs of the tribes, +I positively refused all gifts, notwithstanding their earnest +solicitations. We next prepared to examine the new river, and turning the +boat's head towards it, endeavoured to pull up the stream. Our larboard +oars touched the right bank, and the current was too strong for us to +conquer it with a pair only; we were, therefore, obliged to put a second +upon her, a movement that excited the astonishment and admiration of the +natives. One old woman seemed in absolute ecstasy, to whom M'Leay threw an +old tin kettle, in recompense for the amusement she afforded us. + +HOIST THE UNION JACK. + +As soon as we got above the entrance of the new river, we found easier +pulling, and proceeded up it for some miles, accompanied by the once more +noisy multitude. The river preserved a breadth of one hundred yards, and a +depth of rather more than twelve feet. Its banks were sloping and grassy, +and were overhung by trees of magnificent size. Indeed, its appearance was +so different from the water-worn banks of the sister stream, that the men +exclaimed, on entering it, that we had got into an English river. Its +appearance certainly almost justified the expression; for the greenness of +its banks was as new to us as the size of its timber. Its waters, though +sweet, were turbid, and had a taste of vegetable decay, as well as a +slight tinge of green. Our progress was watched by the natives with +evident anxiety. They kept abreast of us, and talked incessantly. +At length, however, our course was checked by a net that stretched right +across the stream. I say checked, because it would have been unfair to +have passed over it with the chance of disappointing the numbers who +apparently depended on it for subsistence that day. The moment was one of +intense interest to me. As the men rested upon their oars, awaiting my +further orders, a crowd of thoughts rushed upon me. The various +conjectures I had formed of the course and importance of the Darling +passed across my mind. Were they indeed realized? An irresistible +conviction impressed me that we were now sailing on the bosom of that very +stream from whose banks I had been twice forced to retire. I directed the +Union Jack to be hoisted, and giving way to our satisfaction, we all stood +up in the boat, and gave three distinct cheers. It was an English feeling, +an ebullition, an overflow, which I am ready to admit that our +circumstances and situation will alone excuse. The eye of every native had +been fixed upon that noble flag, at all times a beautiful object, and to +them a novel one, as it waved over us in the heart of a desert. They had, +until that moment been particularly loquacious, but the sight of that flag +and the sound of our voices hushed the tumult, and while they were still +lost in astonishment, the boat's head was speedily turned, the sail was +sheeted home, both wind and current were in our favour, and we vanished +from them with a rapidity that surprised even ourselves, and which +precluded every hope of the most adventurous among them to keep up +with us. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + + +Character of the country--Damage of provisions--Adroitness of the natives +in catching fish--The skiff broken up--Stream from the North-East supposed +to be the Darling--Change of country in descending the river--Intercourse +with the natives--Prevalence of loathsome diseases among them--Apparent +populousness of the country--Junction of several small streams--The Rufus, +the Lindesay, &c.--Rainy and tempestuous weather--Curious appearance of +the banks--Troublesomeness of the natives--Inhospitable and desolate +aspect of the country--Condition of the men--Change in the geological +character of the country--The river passes through a valley among hills. + + +Arrived once more at the junction of the two rivers, and unmolested in our +occupations, we had leisure to examine it more closely. Not having as yet +given a name to our first discovery, when we re-entered its capacious +channel on this occasion, I laid it down as the Murray River, in +compliment to the distinguished officer, Sir George Murray, who then +presided over the colonial department, not only in compliance with the +known wishes of his Excellency General Darling, but also in accordance +with my own feelings as a soldier. + +The new river, whether the Darling or an additional discovery, meets its +more southern rival on a N. by E. course; the latter, running W.S.W. at +the confluence, the angle formed by the two rivers, is, therefore, so +small that both may he considered to preserve their proper course, and +neither can be said to be tributary to the other. At their junction, +the Murray spreads its waters over the broad and sandy shore, upon which +our boat grounded, while its more impetuous neighbour flows through the +deep but narrow channel it has worked out for itself, under the right +bank. The strength of their currents must have been nearly equal, since +there was as distinct a line between their respective waters, to a +considerable distance below the junction, as if a thin board alone +separated them. The one half the channel contained the turbid waters of +the northern stream, the other still preserved their original +transparency. + +INUNDATED AND ALLUVIAL COUNTRY. + +The banks of the Murray did not undergo any immediate change as we +proceeded. We noticed that the country had, at some time, been subject to +extensive inundation, and was, beyond doubt, of alluvial formation. We +passed the mouths of several large creeks that came from the north and +N.W., and the country in those directions seemed to be much intersected by +water-courses; while to the south it was extremely low. Having descended +several minor rapids, I greatly regretted that we had no barometer to +ascertain the actual dip of the interior. I computed, however, that we +were not more than from eighty to ninety feet above the level of the sea. +We found the channel of the Murray much encumbered with timber, and +noticed some banks of sand that were of unusual size, and equalled the +largest accumulations of it on the sea shore, both in extent and solidity. + +STATE OF PROVISIONS. + +We would gladly have fired into the flights of wild fowl that winged their +way over us, for we, about this time, began to feel the consequences of +the disaster that befell us in the Morumbidgee. The fresh water having got +mixed with the brine in the meat casks, the greater part of our salt +provisions had got spoiled, so that we were obliged to be extremely +economical in the expenditure of what remained, as we knew not to what +straits we might be driven. It will naturally be asked why we did not +procure fish? The answer is easy. The men had caught many in the +Morumbidgee, and on our first navigation of the Murray, but whether it was +that they had disagreed with them, or that their appetites were palled, or +that they were too fatigued after the labour of the day to set the lines, +they did not appear to care about them. The only fish we could take was +the common cod or perch; and, without sauce or butter, it is insipid +enough. We occasionally exchanged pieces of iron-hoop for two other kinds +of fish, the one a bream, the other a barbel, with the natives, and the +eagerness with which they met our advances to barter, is a strong proof of +their natural disposition towards this first step in civilization. + +DEXTERITY OF NATIVES IN FISHING. + +As they threw off all reserve when accompanying us as ambassadors, we had +frequent opportunities of observing their habits. The facility, for +instance, with which they procured fish was really surprising. They would +slip, feet foremost, into the water as they walked along the bank of the +river, as if they had accidentally done so, but, in reality, to avoid the +splash they would necessarily have made if they had plunged in head +foremost. As surely as they then disappeared under the surface of the +water, so surely would they re-appear with a fish writhing upon the point +of their short spears. The very otter scarcely exceeds them in power over +the finny race, and so true is the aim of these savages, even under water, +that all the fish we procured from them were pierced either close behind +the lateral fin, or in the very centre of the head, It is certain, from +their indifference to them, that the natives seldom eat fish when they can +get anything else. Indeed, they seemed more anxious to take the small +turtle, which, sunning themselves on the trunks or logs of trees over the +water, were, nevertheless, extremely on their guard. A gentle splash alone +indicated to us that any thing had dropped into the water, but the quick +eyes and ears of our guides immediately detected what had occasioned it, +and they seldom failed to take the poor little animal that had so vainly +trusted to its own watchfulness for security. It appeared that the natives +did not, from choice, frequent the Murray; it was evident, therefore, that +they had other and better means of subsistence away from it, and it struck +me, at the time, that the river we had just passed watered a better +country than any through which the Murray had been found to flow. + +BREAK UP THE SKIFF. + +We encamped rather earlier than usual upon the left bank of the river, +near a broad creek; for as the skiff had been a great drag upon us, I +determined on breaking it up, since there was no probability that we +should ever require the still, which alone remained in her. We, +consequently, burnt the former, to secure her nails and iron work, and I +set Clayton about cutting the copper of the latter into the shape of +crescents, in order to present them to the natives. Some large huts were +observed on the side of the creek, a little above the camp, the whole of +which faced the N.E. This arrangement had previously been noticed by us, +so that I was led to infer that the severest weather comes from the +opposite quarter in this part of the interior. I had not the least idea, +at the time, however, that we should, ere we reached the termination of +our journey, experience the effects of the S.W. winds. + +We must have fallen considerably during the day from the level of our +morning's position, for we passed down many reaches where the decline of +country gave an increased velocity to the current of the river. + +I had feared, not only in consequence of the unceremonious manner in +which we had left them, but, because I had, in some measure, rejected the +advances of their chiefs, that none of the natives would follow us, and I +regretted the circumstance on account of my men, as well as the trouble we +should necessarily have in conciliating the next tribe. We had not, +however, been long encamped, when seven blacks joined us. I think they +would have passed on if we had not called to them. As it was, they +remained with us but for a short time. We treated them very kindly, but +they were evidently under constraint, and were, no doubt, glad when they +found we did not object to their departing. + +NEW RIVER IDENTIFIED WITH THE DARLING. + +I have stated, that I felt satisfied in my own mind, that the beautiful +stream we had passed was no other than the river Darling of my former +journey. The bare assertion, however, is not sufficient to satisfy the +mind of the reader, upon a point of such importance, more especially when +it is considered how remarkable a change the Darling must have undergone, +if this were indeed a continuation of it. I am free to confess that it +required an effort to convince myself, but after due consideration, I see +no reason to alter the opinion I formed at a moment of peculiar +embarrassment. Yet it by no means follows that I shall convince others, +although I am myself convinced. The question is one of curious +speculation, and the consideration of it will lead us to an interesting +conjecture, as to the probable nature of the distant interior, between the +two points. It will be remembered that I was obliged to relinquish my +pursuit of the Darling, in east long. 144 degrees 48 minutes 30 seconds +in lat. 30 degrees 17 minutes 30 seconds south. I place the junction of +the Murray and the new river, in long. 140 degrees 56 minutes east, and in +south lat. 34 degrees 3 minutes. I must remark, however, that the lunars I +took on this last occasion, were not satisfactory, and that there is, +probably, an error, though not a material one, in the calculation. Before +I measure the distance between the above points, or make any remarks on +the results of my own observations, I would impress the following facts +upon the reader's mind. + +I found and left the Darling in a complete state of exhaustion. As a river +it had ceased to flow; the only supply it received was from brine +springs, which, without imparting a current, rendered its waters saline +and useless, and lastly, the fish in it were different from those +inhabiting the other known rivers of the interior. It is true, I did not +procure a perfect specimen of one, but we satisfactorily ascertained that +they were different, inasmuch as they had large and strong scales, whereas +the fish in the western waters have smooth skins. On the other hand, the +waters of the new river were sweet, although turbid; it had a rapid +current in it; and its fish were of the ordinary kind. In the above +particulars, therefore, they differed much as they could well differ. Yet +there were some strong points of resemblance in the appearance of the +rivers themselves, which were more evident to me than I can hope to make +them to the reader. Both were shaded by trees of the same magnificent +dimensions; and the same kind of huts were erected on the banks of each, +inhabited by the same description, or race, of people, whose weapons, +whose implements, and whose nets corresponded in most respects. + +We will now cast our eyes over the chart: and see if the position of the +two rivers upon it, will at all bear out our conclusion that they are one +and the same; and whether the line that would join them is the one that +the Darling would naturally take, in reference to its previous +course.--We shall find that the two points under discussion, bear almost +N.E. and S.W. of each other respectively, the direct line in which the +Darling had been ascertained to flow, as far as it had been found +practicable to trace it. I have already remarked that the fracture of my +barometer prevented my ascertaining the height of the bed of the Darling +above the sea, during the first expedition. A similar accident caused me +equal disappointment on the second; because one of the most important +points upon which I was engaged was to ascertain the dip of the interior. +I believe I stated, in its proper place, that I did not think the Darling +could possibly be 200 feet above the sea, and as far as my observations +bear me out, I should estimate the bed of the Murray, at its junction with +the new river, to be within 100. It would appear that there is a distance +of 300 miles between the Murray River at this place, and the Darling; +a space amply sufficient for the intervention of a hilly country. No one +could have been more attentive to the features of the interior than I was; +nor could any one have dwelt upon their peculiarities with more earnest +attention. It were hazardous to build up any new theory, however ingenious +it may appear. The conclusions into which I have been led, are founded on +actual observation of the country through which I passed, and extend not +beyond my actual range of vision; unless my assuming that the decline of +the interior to the south has been satisfactorily established, be +considered premature. If not, the features of the country certainly +justify my deductions; and it will be found that they were still more +confirmed by subsequent observation.--That the Darling should have lost +its current in its upper branches, is not surprising, when the level +nature of the country into which it falls is taken into consideration; +neither does it surprise me that it should be stationary in one place, +and flowing in another; since, if, as in the present instance, there is a +great extent of country between the two points, which may perhaps be of +considerable elevation, the river may receive tributaries, whose waters +will of course follow the general decline of the country. I take it to be +so in the case before us; and am of opinion, that the lower branches of +the Darling are not at all dependent on its sources for a current, or for +a supply of water. I have somewhere observed that it appeared to me the +depressed interior over which I had already travelled, was of +comparatively recent formation. And, by whatever convulsion or change +so extensive a tract became exposed, I cannot but infer, that the Darling +is the main channel by which the last waters of the ocean were drained +off. The bottom of the estuary, for it cannot be called a valley, being +then left exposed, it consequently remains the natural and proper +reservoir for the streams from the eastward, or those falling easterly +from the westward, if any such remain to be discovered. + +From the junction of the Morumbidgee to the junction of the new river, the +Murray had held a W.N.W. course. From the last junction it changed its +direction to the S.W., and increased considerably in size. The country to +the south was certainly lower than that to the north; for, although both +banks had features common to each other, the flooded spaces were much +more extensive to our left than to our right. + +CHANGE OF COUNTRY. + +We started on the morning of the 24th, all the lighter from having got rid +of the skiff, and certainly freer to act in case the natives should evince +a hostile disposition towards us. As we proceeded down the river, the +appearances around us more and more plainly indicated a change of country. +Cypresses were observed in the distance, and the ground on which they +stood was higher than that near the stream; as if it had again acquired +its secondary banks. At length these heights approached the river so +nearly as to form a part of its banks, and to separate one alluvial flat +from another. Their summits were perfectly level; their soil was a red +sandy loam; and their productions, for the most part, salsolae and +misembrianthemum. From this it would appear that we had passed through a +second region, that must at some time have been under water, and that +still retained all the marks of a country partially subject to flood. + +INTRODUCED FROM TRIBE TO TRIBE. + +We had, as I have said, passed over this region, and were again hemmed in +by those sandy and sterile tracts upon which the beasts of the field could +obtain neither food nor water. We overtook the seven deputies some time +after we started, but soon lost sight of them again, as they cut off the +sweeps of the river, and shortened their journey as much as possible. +At 2 p.m. we found them with a tribe of their countrymen, about eighty in +number. We pulled in to the bank and remained with them for a short time, +and I now determined to convince the blacks who had preceded us, that I +had not been actuated by any other desire than that of showing to them +that we were not to be intimidated by numbers, when I refused to make them +any presents after their show of hostility. I now, therefore, gave them +several implements, sundry pieces of iron hoop, and an ornamental badge of +copper. When we left the tribe, we were regularly handed over to their +care. The seven men who had introduced us, went back at the same time that +we continued our journey, and two more belonging to the new tribe, went on +a-head to prepare the the neighbouring tribe to receive us; nor did we see +anything more of them during the day. + +We encamped on the left bank of the river, amidst a polygonum scrub, in +which we found a number of the crested pigeon. It was late before the +tents were pitched: as Fraser seldom assisted in that operation, but +strolled out with his gun after he had kindled a fire, so on this occasion +he wandered from the camp in search of novelty, and on his return, +informed me that there was a considerable ridge to the south of a plain +upon which he had been. + +I had myself walked out to the S.E., and on ascending a few feet above the +level of the camp, got into a scrub. I was walking quietly through it, +when I heard a rustling noise, and looking in the direction whence it +proceeded, I observed a small kangaroo approaching me. Having a stick in +my hand, and being aware that I was in one of their paths, I stood still +until the animal came close up to me, without apparently being aware of my +presence. I then gave it a blow an the side of the head, and made it reel +to one side, but the stick, being rotten, broke with the force of the +blow, and thus disappointed me of a good meal. + +During my absence from the camp, a flight of cockatoos, new to us, but +similar to one that Mr. Hume shot on the Darling, passed over the tents, +and I found M'Leay, with his usual anxiety, trying to get a shot at them. +They had, he told me, descended to water, but they had chosen a spot so +difficult of approach without discovery, that he had found it impossible +to get within shot of them. + +RIDGE TO THE SOUTH-EAST. + +There was a considerable rapid just below our position, which I examined +before dark. Not seeing any danger, I requested M'Leay to proceed down it +in the boat as soon as he had breakfasted, and to wait for me at the +bottom of it. As I wished to ascertain the nature and height of the +elevations which Fraser had magnified into something grand, Fraser and I +proceeded to the centre of a large plain, stretching from the left bank of +the river to the southward. It was bounded to the S.E. by a low scrub; +to the S. a thickly wooded ridge appeared to break the level of the +country. It extended from east to west for four or five miles, and then +gradually declined. At its termination, the country seemed to dip, and a +dense fog, as from an extensive sheet of water, enveloped the landscape. +The plain was crowded with cockatoos, that were making their morning's +repast on the berries of the salsolae and rhagodia, with which it was +covered. + +DISTANT RANGES SEEN. + +M'Leay had got safely down the rapid, so that as soon as I joined him, +we proceeded on our journey. We fell in with the tribe we had already +seen, but increased in numbers, and we had hardly left them, when we found +another tribe most anxiously awaiting our arrival. We stayed with the last +for some time, and exhausted our vocabulary, and exerted our ingenuity to +gain some information from them. I directed Hopkinson to pile up some +clay, to enquire if we were near any hills, when two or three of the +blacks caught the meaning, and pointed to the N.W. Mulholland climbed up a +tree in consequence of this, and reported to me that he saw lofty ranges +in the direction to which the blacks pointed; that there were two +apparently, the one stretching to the N.E., the other to the N.W. He +stated their distance to be about forty miles, and added that he thought +he could observe other ranges, through the gap, which, according to the +alignment of two sticks, that I placed according to Mulholland's +directions, bore S. 130 W. + +We had landed upon the right bank of the river, and there was a large +lagoon immediately behind us. The current in the river did not run so +strong as it had been. Its banks were much lower, and were generally +covered with reeds. The spaces subject to flood were broader than +heretofore, and the country for more than twenty miles was extremely +depressed. Our view from the highest ground near the camp was very +confined, since we were apparently in a hollow, and were unable to obtain +a second sight of the ranges we had noticed. + +PASS THREE CREEKS. + +Three creeks fell into the Murray hereabouts. One from the north, another +from the N.E., and the third from the south. The two first were almost +choked up with the trunks of trees, but the last had a clear channel. +Our tents stood on ground high above the reach of flood. The soil was +excellent, and the brushes behind us abounded with a new species of +melaleuca. + +The heat of the weather, at this time, was extremely oppressive, and the +thermometer was seldom under 100 degrees of Fahr. at noon. The wind, too, +we observed, seldom remained stationary for any length of time, but made +its regular changes every twenty-four hours. In the morning, it invariably +blew from the N.E., at noon it shifted to N.W., and as the sun set it flew +round to the eastward of south. A few dense clouds passed over us +occasionally, but no rain fell from them. + +DISEASES OF THE NATIVES. + +Our intercourse with the natives had now been constant. We had found the +interior more populous than we had any reason to expect; yet as we +advanced into it, the population appeared to increase. It was impossible +for us to judge of the disposition of the natives during the short +interviews we generally had with them, and our motions were so rapid that +we did not give them time to form any concerted plan of attack, had they +been inclined to attack us. They did not, however, show any disposition to +hostility, but, considering all things, were quiet and orderly, nor did +any instances of theft occur, or, at least, none fell under my notice. +The most loathsome of diseases prevailed throughout the tribes, nor were +the youngest infants exempt from them. Indeed, so young were some, whose +condition was truly disgusting, that I cannot but suppose they must have +been born in a state of disease; but I am uncertain whether it is fatal or +not in its results, though, most probably it hurries many to a premature +grave. How these diseases originated it is impossible to say. Certainly +not from the colony, since the midland tribes alone were infected. +Syphilis raged amongst them with fearful violence; many had lost their +noses, and all the glandular parts were considerably affected. I +distributed some Turner's cerate to the women, but left Fraser to +superintend its application. It could do no good, of course, but it +convinced the natives we intended well towards them, and, on that account, +it was politic to give it, setting aside any humane feeling. + +POPULOUS DISTRICT. + +The country through which we passed on the 28th, was extremely low, full +of lagoons, and thickly inhabited. No change took place in the river, +or in the nature and construction of its banks. We succeeded in getting a +view of the hills we had noticed when with the last tribe, and found that +they bore from us due north, N. 22 E., and S. 130 W. They looked bare and +perpendicular, and appeared to be about twenty miles from us. I am very +uncertain as to the character of these hills, but still think that they +must have been some of the faces of the bold cliffs that we had frequently +passed under. From the size and number of the huts, and from the great +breadth of the foot-paths, we were still further led to conclude that we +were passing through a very populous district. What the actual number of +inhabitants was it is impossible to say, but we seldom communicated with +fewer than 200 daily. They sent ambassadors forward regularly from one +tribe to another, in order to prepare for our approach, a custom that not +only saved us an infinity of time, but also great personal risk. Indeed, +I doubt very much whether we should ever have pushed so far down the +river, had we not been assisted by the natives themselves. I was +particularly careful not to do anything that would alarm them, or to +permit any liberty to be taken with their women. Our reserve in this +respect seemed to excite their surprise, for they asked sundry questions, +by signs and expressions, as to whether we had any women, and where they +were. The whole tribe generally assembled to receive us, and all, without +exception, were in a complete state of nudity, and really the loathsome +condition and hideous countenances of the women would, I should imagine, +have been a complete antidote to the sexual passion. It is to be observed, +that the women are very inferior in appearance to the men. The latter are, +generally speaking, a clean-limbed and powerful race, much stouter in the +bust than below, but withal, active, and, in some respects, intelligent; +but the women are poor, weak, and emaciated. This, perhaps, is owing to +their poverty and paucity of food, and to the treatment they receive at +the hands of the men; but the latter did not show any unkindness towards +them in our presence. + +Although I desired to avoid exciting their alarm, I still made a point of +showing them the effects of a gunshot, by firing at a kite, or any other +bird that happened to be near. My dexterity--for I did not trust Fraser, +who would, ten to one, have missed his mark--was generally exerted, as I +have said, against a kite or a crow; both of which birds generally +accompanied the blacks from place to place to pick up the remnants of +their meals. Yet, I was often surprised at the apparent indifference with +which the natives not only saw the effect of the shot, but heard the +report. I have purposely gone into the centre of a large assemblage and +fired at a bird that has fallen upon their very heads, without causing a +start or an exclamation, without exciting either their alarm or their +curiosity. + +Whence this callous feeling proceeded, whether from strength of nerve, +or because they had been informed by our forerunners that we should show +off before them, I know not, but I certainly expected a very different +effect from that which my firing generally produced, although I +occasionally succeeded in scattering them pretty well. + +JUNCTION OF THE RUFUS. + +About 11 a.m., we arrived at the junction of a small river with the +Murray, at which a tribe, about 250 in number, had assembled to greet us. +We landed, therefore, for the double purpose of distributing presents, and +of examining the junction, which, coming from the north, of course, fell +into the Murray upon its right bank. Its waters were so extremely muddy, +and its current so rapid, that it must have been swollen by some late +rains. Perhaps, it had its sources in the hills we had seen; be that as it +may, it completely discoloured the waters of the Murray. + +We made it a point never to distribute any presents among the natives +until we had made them all sit, or stand, in a row. Sometimes this was a +troublesome task, but we generally succeeded in gaining our point; with a +little exertion of patience. M'Leay was a famous hand at ordering the +ranks, and would, I am sure, have made a capital drill-sergeant, not less +on account of his temper than of his perseverance. I called the little +tributary I have noticed, the Rufus, in honour of my friend M'Leay's red +head, and I have no doubt, he will understand the feeling that induced me +to give it such a name. + +GEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION. + +Not many miles below the Rufus, we passed under a lofty cliff upon the +same side with it. It is the first elevation of any consequence that +occurs below the Darling, and not only on that account, but also on +account of the numerous substances of which it is composed, and the +singular formation that is near requires to be particularly +noticed. [See Appendix.] The examination was a task of considerable +danger, and both Fraser and myself had well nigh been buried under a mass +of the cliff that became suddenly detached, and, breaking into thousands +of pieces, went hissing and cracking into the river. + +THUNDER STORMS. + +The weather about this time was extremely oppressive and close. Thunder +clouds darkened the sky, but no rain fell. The thermometer was seldom +below 104 at noon, and its range was very trifling. The wind shifted +several times during the twenty-four hours; but these changes had no +effect on the thermometer. It was evident, however, as the sun set on the +evening of the 26th, that the clouds from which thunder had for the last +four or five days disturbed the silence of nature around us, would not +long support their own weight. A little before midnight, it commenced +raining, and both wind and rain continued to increase in violence until +about seven in the morning of the 27th; when the weather moderated. + +Two or three blacks had accompanied us from the last tribe, and had lain +down near the fire. As the storm increased, however, they got up, and +swimming across the river, left us to ourselves. This was a very unusual +thing, nor can I satisfy myself as to their object, unless it was to get +into shelter, for these people though they wander naked over the country, +and are daily in the water, feel the cold and rain very acutely. + +Observing the clouds collecting for so many days, I indulged hopes that we +were near high lands, perhaps mountains; but from the loftiest spots we +could see nothing but a level and dark horizon. Anxious to gain as correct +a knowledge of the country as possible we had, in the course of the day, +ascended a sandy ridge that was about a mile from the river. The view from +the summit of this ridge promised to be more extensive than any we had of +late been enabled to obtain; and as far as actual observation went, we +were not disappointed, although in every other particular, the landscape +was one of the most unpromising description. To the S. and S.E., the +country might be said to stretch away in one unbroken plain, for it was so +generally covered with wood that every inequality was hidden from our +observation. To the S.W. the river line was marked out by a succession of +red cliffs, similar to those we had already passed. To the north, the +interior was evidently depressed; it was overgrown with a low scrub, and +seemed to be barren in the extreme. The elevations upon which we stood +were similar to the sand-hills near the coast, and had not a blade of +grass upon them. Yet, notwithstanding the sterility of the soil, the +large white amarillis which grew in such profusion on the alluvial plains +of the Macquarie, was also abundant here. But it had lost its dazzling +whiteness, and had assumed a sickly yellow colour and its very appearance +indicated that it was not in a congenial soil. + +LINDESAY RIVER. + +We passed two very considerable junctions, the one coming from the S.E., +the other from the north. Both had currents in them, but the former was +running much stronger than the latter. It falls into the Murray, almost +opposite to the elevations I have been describing, and, if a judgment +can be hazarded from its appearance at its embouchure, it must, in its +higher branches, be a stream of considerable magnitude. Under this +impression, I have called it the Lindesay, as a tribute of respect to my +commanding officer, Colonel Patrick Lindesay of the 39th regt. I place it +in east long. 140 degrees 29 minutes, and in lat. 33 degrees 58 minutes +south. Mr. Hume is of opinion that this is the most southerly of the +rivers crossed by him and Mr. Hovel in 1823; but, as I have already +remarked, I apprehend that all the rivers those gentlemen crossed, had +united in one main stream above the junction of the Morumbidgee, and I +think it much more probable that this is a new river, and that it rises +to the westward of Port Phillips, rather than in the S.E. angle of the +coast. + +NATIVES BECOME TROUBLESOME. + +We found the blacks who had deserted us with a tribe at the junction, but +it was weak in point of numbers; as were also two other tribes or hordes +to whom we were introduced in rapid succession. Taken collectively, they +could not have amounted to 230 men, women, and children. The last of these +hordes was exceedingly troublesome, and I really thought we should have +been obliged to quarrel with them. Whether it was that we were getting +impatient, or that our tempers were soured, I know not, but even M'Leay, +whose partiality towards the natives was excessive at the commencement of +our journey, now became weary of such constant communication as we had +kept up with them. Their sameness of appearance, the disgusting diseases +that raged among them, their abominable filth, the manner in which they +pulled us about, and the impossibility of making them understand us, or +of obtaining any information from them,--for if we could have succeeded +in this point, we should have gladly borne every inconvenience,--all +combined to estrange us from these people and to make their presence +disagreeable. Yet there was an absolute necessity to keep up the chain of +communication, to ensure our own safety, setting aside every other +consideration; but as I had been fortunate in my intercourse with the +natives during the first expedition, so I hoped the present journey would +terminate without the occurrence of any fatal collision between us. The +natives, it is true, were generally quiet; but they crowded round us +frequently without any regard to our remonstrances, laying hold of the +boat to prevent our going away, and I sometimes thought that had any of +them been sufficiently bold to set the example, many of the tribes would +have attempted our capture. Indeed, in several instances, we were obliged +to resort to blows ere we could disengage ourselves from the crowds around +us, and whenever this occurred, it called forth the most sullen and +ferocious scowl--such, probably, as would be the forerunner of hostility, +and would preclude every hope of mercy at their hands. With each new tribe +we were, in some measure, obliged to submit to an examination, and to be +pulled about, and fingered all over. They generally measured our hands and +feet with their own, counted our fingers, felt our faces, and besmeared +our shirts all over with grease and dirt. This was no very agreeable +ceremony, and a repetition of it was quite revolting, more especially when +we had to meet the grins or frowns of the many with firmness and +composure. + +TEMPESTUOUS WEATHER. + +The weather had been tempestuous and rainy, for three or four successive +days: on the 28th it cleared up a little. Under any circumstances, +however, we could not have delayed our journey. We had not proceeded very +far when it again commenced to rain and to blow heavily from the N.W. +The river trended to the South. We passed down several rapids, and +observed the marks of recent flood on the trees, to the height of seven +feet. The alluvial flats did not appear to have been covered, or to be +subject to overflow. The timber upon them was not of a kind that is found +on flooded lands, but wherever reeds prevailed the flooded or blue gum +stretched its long white branches over them. The country to the westward +was low and bushy. + +SINGULAR FORMATION OF THE BANKS. + +The left bank of the Murray was extremely lofty, and occasionally rose to +100 feet perpendicularly from the water. It is really difficult to +describe the appearance of the banks at this place; so singular were they +in character, and so varied in form. Here they had the most beautiful +columnar regularity, with capitals somewhat resembling the Corinthian +order in configuration; there they showed like falls of muddy water that +had suddenly been petrified; and in another place they resembled the +time-worn battlements of a feudal castle. It will naturally be asked, of +what could these cliffs have been composed to assume so many different +forms? and what could have operated to produce such unusual appearances? +The truth is, they were composed almost wholly of clay and sand. Wherever +the latter had accumulated, or predominated, the gradual working of +water had washed it away, and left the more compact body, in some places, +so delicately hollowed out, that it seemed rather the work of art than of +nature. This singular formation rested on a coarse grit, that showed +itself in slabs. + +From the frequent occurrence of rapids I should imagine that we had fallen +considerably, but there was no visible decline of country. The river swept +along, in broad and noble reaches, at the base of the cliffs. Vast +accumulations of sand were in its bed, a satisfactory proof of the sandy +character of the distant interior, if other proof were wanting. + +We did not see so many natives on the 28th as we had been in the habit of +seeing; perhaps in consequence of the boisterous weather. A small tribe of +about sixty had collected to receive us, but we passed on without taking +any notice of them, Nevertheless they deputed two of their men to follow +us, who overtook us just as we stopped for the purpose of pitching our +tents before the clouds should burst, that just then bore the most +threatening appearance. The blacks seemed to be perfectly aware what kind +of a night we should have, and busied themselves preparing a hut and +making a large fire. + +The evening proved extremely dark, and towards midnight it blew and rained +fiercely. Towards morning the wind moderated, and the rain ceased. Still, +the sky was overcast, and the clouds were passing rapidly over us. The +wind had, however, changed some points, and from the N.W. had veered round +to the S.S.W.; and the day eventually turned out cool and pleasant. + +LARGE TRIBE OF NATIVES--THEIR INDIFFERENCE TO FIRE-ARMS. + +We fell in with a large tribe of natives, amounting in all to 270. They +were extremely quiet, and kept away from the boat; in consequence of which +I distributed a great many presents among them. This tribe was almost the +only ons that evinced any eagerness to see us. The lame had managed to +hobble along, and the blind were equally anxious to touch us. There were +two or three old men stretched upon the bank, from whom the last sigh +seemed about to depart; yet these poor creatures evinced an anxiety to see +us, and to listen to a description of our appearance, although it seemed +doubtful whether they would be alive twenty-four hours after we left them. +An old woman, a picture of whom would disgust my readers, made several +attempts to embrace me. I managed, however, to avoid her, and at length +got rid of her by handing her over to Fraser, who was no wise particular +as to the object of his attention. This tribe must have been one of the +most numerous on the banks of the Murray, since we fell in with detached +families for many miles below the place where we had parted from the main +body. + +I have omitted to mention that, while among them, I fired at a kite and +killed it; yet, though close to me, the blacks did not start or evince the +least surprise. It really is difficult to account for such firmness of +nerve or self-command. It is not so much a matter of surprise that they +were indifferent to its effects, for probably they knew them not, but it +is certainly odd that they should not have been startled by the report. + +The river inclined very much to the southward for some miles below our +last camp; at length it struck against some elevations that turned it more +to the westward. Before we terminated our day's pull it again changed its +direction to the eastward of south. The right bank became lofty, and the +left proportionably depressed. + +REFLECTIONS ON THE PROGRESS OF THE EXPEDITION. + +In consequence of the boisterous weather we had had, we were uncertain as +to our precise situation, even in point of latitude. But I was perfectly +aware that we were considerably to the south of the head of St. Vincent's +Gulf. I began, therefore, to contemplate with some confidence a speedy +termination to our wanderings, or, at least, that we should soon reach the +extreme point to which we could advance. The sun was at this time out of +my reach, since the sextant would not measure double the altitude. +Observations of the stars were, in like manner, uncertain, in consequence +of the boisterous weather we had had, and the unavoidable agitation of the +quicksilver. My last observation of Antares placed us in latitude +34 degrees 4 minutes; so that we were still 115 miles from the coast. + +We had now been twenty-two days upon the river, and it was uncertain how +long we should be in compassing the distance we had still to run. +Considering all things, we had, as yet, been extremely fortunate; and I +hoped that we should terminate our journey without the occurrence of any +fatal accident. Had the country corresponded with the noble stream that +traversed it, we should have been proportionably elated, but it was +impossible to conceal from ourselves its inhospitable and unprofitable +character, as far as we had, as yet, penetrated. If we except the partial +and alluvial flats on the immediate borders, and in the neighbourhood of +its tributaries and creeks, the Murray might be said to flow through a +barren and sandy interior. The appearance of the country through which we +passed on the 29th, was far from being such as to encourage us with the +hopes of any change for the better. The river was enclosed, on either +side, by the same kind of banks that have already been described; and it +almost appeared as if the plain had been rent asunder to allow of a +passage for its waters. The view of the distant interior was +unsatisfactory. It was, for the most part, covered with brush, but, at +length, cypresses again made their appearance, although at a considerable +distance from us. + +The river continued to flow to the southward, a circumstance that gave me +much satisfaction, for I now began to feel some anxiety about the men. +They had borne their fatigues and trials so cheerfully, and had behaved so +well, that I could not but regret the scanty provision that remained for +them. The salt meat being spoiled, it had fallen to the share of the dogs, +so that we had little else than flour to eat. Fish no one would touch, and +of wild fowl there were none to be seen. The men complained of sore eyes, +from the perspiration constantly running into them, and it was obvious to +me that they were much reduced. It will be borne in mind, that we were now +performing the earliest part of our task, and were going down with the +stream. I was sure that on our return, (For I had no hopes of meeting any +vessel on the coast,) we should have to make every day's journey good +against the current; and, if the men were now beginning to sink, it might +well be doubted whether their strength would hold out. Both M'Leay and +myself, therefore, encouraged any cheerfulness that occasionally broke out +among them, and Frazer enlivened them by sundry tunes that he whistled +whilst employed in skinning birds. I am sure, no galley-slave ever took to +his oar with more reluctance than poor Frazer. He was indefatigable in +most things, but he could not endure the oar. + +NATIVES BECOME UNRULY. + +We did not fall in with any natives on the 30th, neither did we see those +who had preceded us from the last tribe. On the 31st, to my mortification, +the river held so much to the northward, that we undid almost all our +southing. What with its regular turns, and its extensive sweeps, the +Murray covers treble the ground, at a moderate computation, that it would +occupy in a direct course; and we had a practical instance of the truth of +this in the course of the afternoon, when we found our friends ready to +introduce us to a large assemblage of natives. On asking them how they had +passed us, they pointed directly east to the spot at which we had parted. +By crossing from one angle of the river to the other, they had performed +in little more than half a day, a journey which it had taken us two long +days to accomplish. After our usual distribution of presents, we pushed +away from the bank; though not without same difficulty, in consequence of +the obstinacy of the natives in wishing to detain us; and I was +exceedingly vexed to find, while we were yet in sight of them, that we had +proceeded down a shallow channel on one side of an island instead of the +further and deeper one; so that the boat ultimately grounded. A crowd of +the blacks rushed into the water, and surrounded us on every side. Some +came to assist us, others, under a pretence of assisting, pulled against +us, and I was at length obliged to repel them by threats. A good many of +them were very much disposed to annoy us, and, after the boat was in deep +water, some of them became quite infuriated, because we would not return. +Had we been within distance, they would assuredly have hurled their spears +at us. Thirteen of them followed us to our resting place. They kept rather +apart from us, and kindled their fire in a little hollow about fifty paces +to our right; nor did they venture to approach the tents unless we called +to them, so that by their quiet and unobtrusive conduct they made up in +some measure for the unruly proceedings of others of their tribe. + +We had now arrived at a point at which I hoped to gain some information +from the natives, respecting the sea. It was to no purpose, however, that +I questioned these stupid people. They understood perfectly, by my +pointing to the sky, and by other signs, that I was inquiring about large +waters, but they could not, or would not, give any information on the +subject. + +CHANGE IN THE GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY. + +As we proceeded down the river, its current became weaker, and its channel +somewhat deeper. Our attention was called to a remarkable change in the +geology of the country, as well as to an apparent alteration in the +natural productions. The cliffs of sand and clay ceased, and were +succeeded by a fossil formation of the most singular description. At +first, it did not exceed a foot in height above the water, but it +gradually rose, like an inclined plane, and resembled in colour, and in +appearance, the skulls of men piled one upon the other. The constant +rippling of the water against the rock had washed out the softer parts, +and made hollows and cavities, that gave the whole formation the precise +appearance of a catacomb. On examination, we discovered it to be a compact +bed of shells, composed of a common description of marine shell from two +to three inches in length, apparently a species of turritella. + +BANKS OF PETRIFIED SHELLS. + +At about nine miles from the commencement of this formation, it rose to +the height of more than 150 feet; the country became undulating, and a +partial change took place in its vegetation. We stopped at an early hour, +to examine some cliffs, which rising perpendicularly from the water, were +different in character and substance from any we had as yet seen. They +approached a dirty yellow-ochre in colour, that became brighter in hue as +it rose, and, instead of being perforated, were compact and hard. +The waters of the river had, however, made horizontal lines upon their +fronts, which distinctly marked the rise and fall of the river, as the +strength or depth of the grooves distinctly indicated the levels it +generally kept. It did not appear from these lines, that the floods ever +rose more than four feet above the then level of the stream, or that they +continued for any length of time. On breaking off pieces of the rock, we +ascertained that it was composed of one solid mass of sea-shells, of +various kinds, of which the species first mentioned formed the lowest +part. + +It rained a good deal during the night, but the morning turned out +remarkably fine. The day was pleasant, for however inconvenient in some +respects the frequent showers had been, they had cooled the air, and +consequently prevented our feeling the heat so much as we should otherwise +have done, in the close and narrow glen we had now entered. + +Among the natives who followed us from the last tribe, there was an old +man, who took an uncommon fancy or attachment to Hopkinson, and who +promised, when we separated, to join us again in the course of the day. + +FACE OF THE COUNTRY. + +As we proceeded down the river we found that it was confined in a glen, +whose extreme breadth was not more than half-a-mile. The hills that rose +on either side of it were of pretty equal height. The alluvial flats were +extremely small, and the boldest cliffs separated them from each other. +The flats were lightly wooded, and were for the most part covered with +reeds or polygonum. They were not much elevated above the waters of the +river, and had every appearance of being frequently inundated. At noon we +pulled up to dine, upon the left bank, under some hills, which were from +200 to 250 feet in height. While the men were preparing our tea, +(for we had only that to boil,) M'Leay and I ascended the hills. The brush +was so thick upon them, that we could not obtain a view of the distant +interior. Their summits were covered with oyster-shells, in such abundance +as entirely to preclude the idea of their having been brought to such a +position by the natives. They were in every stage of petrification. + +In the course of the afternoon the old man joined us, and got into the +boat. As far as we could understand from his signs, we were at no great +distance from some remarkable change or other. The river had been making +to the N.W., from the commencement of the fossil formation, and it +appeared as if it was inclined to keep that direction. The old man pointed +to the N.W., and then placed his hand on the side of his head to indicate, +as I understood him, that we should sleep to the N.W. of where we then +were; but his second motion was not so intelligible, for he pointed due +south, as if to indicate that such would be our future course; and he +concluded his information, such as it was, by describing the roaring of +the sea, and the height of the waves. It was evident this old man had been +upon the coast, and we were therefore highly delighted at the prospect +thus held out to us of reaching it. + +REMARKABLE CLIFFS. + +A little below the hills under which we had stopped, the country again +assumed a level. A line of cliffs, of from two to three hundred feet in +height, flanked the river, first on one side and then on the other, +varying in length from a quarter of a mile to a mile. They rose +perpendicularly from the water, and were of a bright yellow colour, +rendered still more vivid occasionally by the sun shining full upon them. +The summits of these cliffs were as even as if they had been built by an +architect; and from their very edge, the country back from the stream was +of an uniform level, and was partly plain, and partly clothed by brush. +The soil upon this plateau, or table land, was sandy, and it was as barren +and unproductive as the worst of the country we had passed through. On the +other hand, the alluvial flats on the river increased in size, and were +less subject to flood; and the river lost much of its sandy bed, and its +current was greatly diminished in strength. + +NATIVE CHARACTER. + +It blew so fresh, during the greater part of the day, from the westward, +that we had great difficulty in pulling against the breeze. The determined +N.W. course the river kept, made me doubt the correctness of the story of +the little old black; yet there was an openness of manner about him, and a +clearness of description, that did not appear like fabrication. He pointed +to the S.S.W. when he left us, as the direction in which he would again +join us, thus confirming, without any apparent intention, what he had +stated with regard to the southerly course the river was about to take. +Among the natives who were with him, there was another man of very +different manners and appearance. Our friend was small in stature, had +piercing grey eyes, and was as quick as lightning in his movements The +other was tall, and grey headed; anxious, yet unobtrusive; and confident, +without the least mixture of boldness. The study of the human character on +many occasions similar to this, during our intercourse with these people, +rude and uncivilized as they were, was not only pleasing, but instructive. +We found that the individuals of a tribe partook of one general character, +and that the whole of the tribe were either decidedly quiet, or as +decidedly disorderly. The whole of the blacks left us when we started, +but we had not gone very far, when the individual I have described brought +his family, consisting of about fifteen persons. We were going down a part +of the river in which there was a very slight fall. The natives were +posted under some blue-gum trees, upon the right bank, and there was a +broad shoal of sand immediately to our left. They walked over to this +shoal, to receive some little presents, but did not follow when we +continued our journey. + +TAKE BEARINGS. + +During the whole of the day the river ran to the N.W. We stopped for the +night under some cliffs, similar to those we had already passed, but +somewhat higher. From their summit, mountains were visible to the N.W., +but at a great distance from us. I doubted not that they were at the head +of the southern gulfs; or of one of them, at all events. Our observations +placed us in 34 degrees 08 minutes south of lat., and in long. 139 degrees +41 minutes 15 seconds; we were consequently nearly seventy miles from +Spencer's Gulf, in a direct line, and I should have given that as the +distance the hills appeared to be from us. They bore as follows:-- + + Lofty round mountain, S. 127 degrees W. + Mountain scarcely visible, S. 128 degrees W. + Northern extremity of a broken range, S. 102 degrees W. + Southern extremity scarcely visible, S. 58 degrees W. + +The country between the river and these ranges appeared to be very low, +and darkly wooded: that to the N.E. was more open. The summit of the cliff +did not form any table-land, but it dipped almost immediately to the +westward, and the country, although, as I have already remarked, it was +depressed, and undulated. + +I walked to some distance from the river, across a valley, and started +several kangaroos; but I was quite alone, and could not, therefore, secure +one of them. Had the dogs been near, we should have had a fine feast. The +soil of the interior still continued sandy, but there was a kind of short +grass mixed with the salsolaceous plants upon it, that indicated, as I +thought, a change for the better in the vegetation; and the circumstance +of there being kangaroos in the valleys to the westward was also a +favourable sign. + +FEAST ON A TORTOISE. + +Beneath the cliffs hereabouts, the river was extremely broad and deep. +My servant thought it a good place for fishing and accordingly set a +night-line, one end of which he fastened to the bough of a tree. During +the night, being on guard, he saw a small tortoise floating on the water, +so near that he struck it a violent blow with a large stick, upon which it +dived: to his surprise, however, in the morning, he found that it had +taken the bait, and was fast to the line. On examining it, the shell +proved to be cracked, so that the blow must have been a severe one. It was +the largest we had ever seen, and made an excellent dish. The flesh was +beautifully white, nor could anything, especially under our circumstances, +have been more tempting than it was when cooked; yet M'Leay would not +partake of it. + +The prevailing wind was, at this time, from the S.W. It blew heavily all +day, but moderated towards the evening + +I was very anxious, at starting on the 3rd, as to the course the river +would take, since it would prove whether the little old man had played us +false or not. From the cliffs under which we had slept, it held a direct +N.W. course for two or three miles. It then turned suddenly to the S.E., +and gradually came round to E.N.E., so that after two hours pulling, we +found ourselves just opposite to the spot from which we had started, the +neck of land that separated the channels not being more than 200 yards +across. I have before noticed a bend similar to this, which the Murray +makes, a little above the junction of the supposed Darling with it. + +CHART OF THE RIVER. + +It may appear strange to some of my readers, that I should have laid down +the windings of the river so minutely. It may therefore be necessary for +me to state that every bend of it was laid down by compass, and that the +bearings of the angles as they opened were regularly marked by me, so that +not a single winding or curve of the Murray is omitted in the large chart. +The length of some of the reaches may be erroneous, but their direction is +strictly correct. I always had a sheet of paper and the compass before me, +and not only marked down the river line, but also the description of +country nearest; its most minute changes, its cliffs, its flats, the kind +of country back from it, its lagoons, the places at which the tribes +assembled, its junctions, tributaries and creeks, together with our +several positions, were all regularly noted, so that on our return up the +river we had no difficulty in ascertaining upon what part of it we were, +by a reference to the chart; and it proved of infinite service to us, +since we were enabled to judge of our distance from our several camps, as +we gained them day by day with the current against us; and we should often +have stopped short of them, weary and exhausted, had we not known that two +or three reaches mere would terminate our labour for the day. + +REMARKABLE CLIFFS. + +From the spot last spoken of, the river held on a due south course for the +remainder of the day; and at the same time changed its character. It lost +its sandy bed and its current together, and became deep, still, and +turbid, with a muddy bottom. It increased considerably in breadth, and +stretched away before us in magnificent reaches of from three to six miles +in length. The cliffs under which we passed towered above us, like +maritime cliffs, and the water dashed against their base like the waves of +the sea. They became brighter and brighter in colour, looking like dead +gold in the sun's rays; and formed an unbroken wall of a mile or two in +length. The natives on their summits showed as small as crows; and the +cockatoos, the eagles, and other birds, were as specks above us; the +former made the valley reverberate with their harsh and discordant notes. +The reader may form some idea of the height of these cliffs, when informed +that the king of the feathered race made them his sanctuary. They were +continuous on both sides of the river, but retired, more or less, from it, +according to the extent of the alluvial flats. The river held a serpentine +course down the valley through which it passed, striking the precipices +alternately on each side. + +The soil on the flats was better, and less mixed with sand than it had +been, but the flats were generally covered with reeds, though certainly +not wholly subject to flood at any time. The polygonum still prevailed +upon them in places, and the blue-gum tree alone occupied their outskirts. +From the several elevations we ascended, the country to the N.W. appeared +undulating and well wooded; that to the eastward, seemed to be brushy and +low. Certainly there was a great difference in the country, both to the +eastward and to the westward. We had frequent views of the mountains we +had seen, or, I should have said, of a continuation of them. They bore +nearly west from us at a very great distance all day. + +We fell in with several tribes, but did not see our old friend, although, +from the inquiries we made, it was evident he was well known among them. +It would disgust my readers were I to describe the miserable state of +disease and infirmity to which these tribes were reduced. Leprosy of the +most loathsome description, the most violent cutaneous eruptions, and +glandular affections, absolutely raged through the whole of them; yet we +could not escape from the persecuting examination of our persons that +curiosity prompted them in some measure to insist upon. + +REJOINED BY OUR OLD NATIVE GUIDE. + +The old man, whose information had proved strictly correct, joined us +again on the 4th, and his joy at being received into the boat was +unbounded, as well as the pleasure he expressed at again meeting +Hopkinson. He had been on a long journey, it would appear, for he had not +then reached his tribe. As we approached their haunt, he landed and +preceded us to collect them. We were, of course, more than usually liberal +to so old a friend, and we were really sorry to part with him. + +Soon after leaving his tribe, which occupied the left bank of the river, +and was very weak in point of numbers, we fell in with a very strong tribe +upon the right bank. They numbered 211 in all. We lay off the bank, in +order to escape their importunities; a measure that by no means satisfied +them. The women appeared to be very prolific; but, as a race, these people +are not to be compared with the natives of the mountains, or of the upper +branches of the Murray. + +We passed some beautiful scenery in the course of the day. The river +preserved a direct southerly course, and could not in any place have been +less than 400 yards in breadth. The cliffs still continued, and varied +perpetually in form; at one time presenting a perpendicular wall to the +view, at others, they overhung the stream, in huge fragments. All were +composed of a mass of shells of various kinds; a fact which will call for +further observation and remark. + +DELAYED BY STRONG WINDS. + +Many circumstances at this time tended to confirm our hopes that the sea +could not be very far from us, or that we should not be long in gaining +it. Some sea-gulls flew over our heads, at which Fraser was about to +shoot, had I not prevented him, for I hailed them as the messengers of +glad tidings, and thought they ill deserved such a fate. It blew very hard +from the S.W., during the whole of the day, and we found it extremely +laborious pulling against the heavy and short sea that came rolling up the +broad and open reaches of the Murray at this place. + +Four of the blacks, from the last tribe, followed us, and slept at the +fires; but they were suspicious and timid, and appeared to be very glad +when morning dawned. Our fires were always so much larger than those made +by themselves, that, they fancied, perhaps, we were going to roast them. +Our dogs, likewise, gave them great uneasiness; for although so fond of +the native brute, they feared ours, from their size. We generally tied +them to the boat, therefore, to prevent a recurrence of theft, so that +they were not altogether useless. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + + +Improvement in the aspect of the country--Increase of the river--Strong +westerly gales--Chronometer broken--A healthier tribe of natives-- +Termination of the Murray in a large lake--Its extent and environs-- +Passage across it--Hostile appearance of the natives--Beautiful scenery +--Channel from the lake to the sea at Encounter Bay--Reach the beach-- +Large flocks of water fowl--Curious refraction--State of provisions-- +Embarrassing situation--Inspection of the channel to the ocean--Weak +condition of the men--Difficulties of the return. + +DELIGHTFUL COUNTRY. + +It now appeared that the Murray had taken a permanent southerly course; +indeed, it might strictly be said that it ran away to the south. As we +proceeded down it, the valley expanded to the width of two miles; the +alluvial flats became proportionably larger; and a small lake generally +occupied their centre. They were extensively covered with reeds and grass, +for which reason, notwithstanding that they were little elevated above the +level of the stream, I do not think they are subject to overflow. Parts of +them may be laid under water, but certainly not the whole. The rains at +the head of the Murray, and its tributaries, must be unusually severe to +prolong their effects to this distant region, and the flats bordering it +appear, by successive depositions, to have only just gained a height above +the further influence of the floods. Should this prove to be the case, the +valley may be decidedly laid down as a most desirable spot, whether we +regard the richness of its soil, its rock formation, its locality, or the +extreme facility of water communication along it. It must not, however, be +forgotten or concealed, that the summits of the cliffs by which the valley +is enclosed, have not a corresponding soil. On the contrary, many of the +productions common to the plains of the interior still existed upon them, +and they were decidedly barren; but as we measured the reaches of the +river, the cliffs ceased, and gave place to undulating hills, that were +very different in appearance from the country we had previously noted +down. It would have been impossible for the most tasteful individual to +have laid out pleasure ground to more advantage, than Nature had done in +planting and disposing the various groups of trees along the spine, and +upon the sides of the elevations that confined the river, and bounded the +low ground that intervened between it and their base. Still, however, the +soil upon these elevations was sandy, and coarse, but the large oat-grass +was abundant upon them, which yielded pasture at least as good as that in +the broken country between Underaliga and Morumbidgee. + +We had now gained a distance of at least sixty miles from that angle of +the Murray at which it reaches its extreme west. The general aspect of the +country to our right was beautiful, and several valleys branched away into +the interior upon that side which had a most promising appearance, and +seemed to abound with kangaroos, as the traces of them were numerous, and +the dogs succeeded in killing one, which, to our great mortification, we +could not find. + +While, however, the country to the westward had so much to recommend it, +the hills to our left became extremely bare. It was evident that the right +was the sheltered side of the valley. The few trees on the opposite side +bent over to the N.E., as if under the influence of some prevailing wind. + +ADVERSE GALES. + +We experienced at this time a succession of gales from the S.W., against +which we, on several occasions, found it useless to contend: the waves on +the river being heavy and short; and the boat, driving her prow into them, +sent the spray over us and soon wet us through. Indeed, it is difficult +for the reader to imagine the heavy swell that rolled up the river, which +had increased in breadth to the third of a mile, and in the length of its +reaches to eight or ten. I was satisfied that we were not only navigating +this river at a particularly stormy, perhaps THE stormy, season; but also, +that the influence of the S.W. wind is felt even as far in the interior as +to the supposed Darling; in consequence of the uniform build of the huts, +and the circumstance of their not only facing the N.E., but also being +almost invariably erected under the lee of some bush. + +The weather, under the influence of the wind we experienced, was cool and +pleasant, although the thermometer stood at a medium height of 86 degrees; +but we found it very distressing to pull against the heavy breezes that +swept up the valley, and bent the reeds so as almost to make them kiss the +stream. + +We communicated on the 6th and 7th with several large tribes of natives, +whose manners were on the whole quiet and inoffensive. They distinctly +informed us, that we were fast approaching the sea, and, from what I could +understand, we were nearer to it than the coast line of Encounter Bay made +us. We had placed sticks to ascertain if there was any rise or fall of +tide, but the troubled state of the river prevented our experiments from +being satisfactory. By selecting a place, however, that was sheltered from +the effects of the wind, we ascertained that there was an apparent rise +of about eight inches. + +OBLIGED TO TAKE REPOSE. + +It blew a heavy gale during the whole of the 7th; and we laboured in vain +at the oar. The gusts that swept the bosom of the water, and the swell +they caused, turned the boat from her course, and prevented us from making +an inch of way. The men were quite exhausted, and, as they had conducted +themselves so well, and had been so patient, I felt myself obliged to +grant them every indulgence consistent with our safety. However precarious +our situation, it would have been vain, with our exhausted strength, to +have contended against the elements. We, therefore, pulled in to the left +bank of the river, and pitched our tents on a little rising ground beyond +the reeds that lined it. + +CHRONOMETER BROKEN. + +I had been suffering very much front tooth-ache for the last three or four +days, and this day felt the most violent pain from the wind. I was not, +therefore, sorry to get under even the poor shelter our tents afforded. +M'Leay, observing that I was in considerable pain, undertook to wind up +the chronometer; but, not understanding or knowing the instrument, he +unfortunately broke the spring. I shall not forget the anxiety he +expressed, and the regret he felt on the occasion; nor do I think M'Leay +recovered the shock this unlucky accident gave him for two or three days, +or until the novelty of other scenes drove it from his recollection. + +We landed close to the haunt of a small tribe of natives, who came to us +with the most perfect confidence, and assisted the men in their +occupations. They were cleaner and more healthy than any tribe we had +seen; and were extremely cheerful, although reserved in some respects. +As a mark of more than usual cleanliness, the women had mats of oval +shape, upon which they sat, made, apparently, of rushes. There was a +young girl among them of a most cheerful disposition. She was about +eighteen, was well made, and really pretty. This girl was married to an +elderly man who had broken his leg, which having united in a bent shape, +the limb was almost useless. I really believe the girl thought we could +cure her husband, from her importunate manner to us. I regretted that I +could do nothing for the man, but to show that I was not inattentive to +her entreaties, I gave him a pair of trousers, and desired Fraser to put +them upon him; but the poor fellow cut so awkward an appearance in them, +that his wife became quite distressed, and Fraser was obliged speedily +to disencumber him from them again. + +We could not gain any satisfactory information, as to the termination of +the river, from these people. It was evident that some change was at hand; +but what it was we could not ascertain. + +APPEARANCE OF SOME APPROACHING CHANGE. + +On the morning of the 9th, we left our fair friend and her lame husband, +and proceeded down the river. The wind had moderated, although it still +blew fresh. We ascended every height as we went along, but could not see +any new feature in the country. Our view to the eastward was very +confined; to the westward the interior was low and dark, and was backed in +the distance by lofty ranges, parallel to which we had been running for +some days. The right bank of the valley was beautifully undulated, but the +left was bleak and bare. The valley had a breadth of from three to four +miles, and the flats were more extensive under the former than under the +latter. They were scarcely two feet above the level of the water, and were +densely covered with reeds. As there was no mark upon the reeds to +indicate the height to which the floods rose, I cannot think that these +flats are ever wholly laid under water; if they are, it cannot be to any +depth: at all events a few small drains would effectually prevent +inundation. The soil upon the hills continued to be much mixed with sand, +and the prevailing trees were cypress and box. Among the minor shrubs and +grass, many common to the east coasts were noticed; and although the bold +cliffs had ceased, the basis of the country still continued of the fossil +formation. At a turn of the stream hereabouts, however, a solitary rock of +coarse red granite rose above the waters, and formed an island in its +centre; but only in this one place was it visible. The rock was composed +principally of quartz and feldspar. + +A little below it, we found a large tribe anxiously awaiting our arrival. +They crowded to the margin of the river with great eagerness, and evinced +more surprise at our appearance than any tribe we had seen during the +journey; but we left them very soon, notwithstanding that they importuned +us much to stay. + +After pulling a mile or two, we found a clear horizon before us to the +south. The hills still continued upon our left, but we could not see any +elevation over the expanse of reeds to our right. The river inclined to +the left, and swept the base of the hills that still continued on that +side. I consequently landed once more to survey the country. + +TERMINATION OF THE MURRAY IN A LARGE LAKE. + +I still retained a strong impression on my mind that some change was at +hand, and on this occasion, I was not disappointed; but the view was one +for which I was not altogether prepared. We had, at length, arrived at the +termination of the Murray. Immediately below me was a beautiful lake, +which appeared to be a fitting reservoir for the noble stream that had led +us to it; and which was now ruffled by the breeze that swept over it. +The ranges were more distinctly visible, stretching from south to north, +and were certainly distant forty miles. They had a regular unbroken +outline; declining gradually to the south, but terminating abruptly at a +lofty mountain northerly. I had no doubt on my mind of this being the +Mount Lofty of Captain Flinders; or that the range was that immediately to +the eastward of St. Vincent's Gulf--Since the accident to the chronometer, +we had not made any westing, so that we knew our position as nearly as +possible. Between us and the ranges a beautiful promontory shot into the +lake, being a continuation of the right bank of the Murray. Over this +promontory the waters stretched to the base of the ranges, and formed an +extensive bay. To the N.W. the country was exceedingly low, but distant +peaks were just visible over it. To the S.W. a bold headland showed +itself; beyond which, to the westward, there was a clear and open sea +visible, through a strait formed by this headland and a point projecting +from the opposite shore. To the E. and S.E. the country was low, excepting +the left shore of the lake, which was backed by some minor elevations, +crowned with cypresses. Even while gazing on this fine scene, I could not +but regret that the Murray had thus terminated; for I immediately foresaw +that, in all probability, we should be disappointed in finding any +practicable communication between the lake and the ocean, as it was +evident that the former was not much influenced by tides. The wind had +again increased; it still blew fresh from the S.W. and a heavy sea was +rolling direct into the mouth of the river. I hoped, notwithstanding, that +we should have been enabled to make sail, for which reason we entered the +lake about 2 p.m. The natives had kindled a large fire on a distant point +between us and the further headland, and to gain this point our efforts +were now directed. The waves were, however, too strong, and we were +obliged to make for the eastern shore, until such time as the weather +should moderate. We pitched our tents on a low track of land that +stretched away seemingly for many miles directly behind us to the +eastward. It was of the richest soil, being a black vegetable deposit, +and although now high above the influence, the lake had, it was evident, +once formed a part of its bed. The appearance of the country altogether +encouraged M'Leay and myself to walk out, in order to examine it from some +hills a little to the S.E. of the camp. From them we observed that the +flat extended over about fifty miles, and was bounded by the elevations +that continued easterly from the left bank of the Murray to the north, +and by a line of rising-ground to the south. The whole was lightly wooded, +and covered with grass. The season must have been unusually dry, judging +from the general appearance of the vegetation, and from the circumstance +of the lagoons in the interior being wholly exhausted. + +Thirty-three days had now passed over our heads since we left the depot +upon the Morumbidgee, twenty-six of which had been passed upon the Murray. +We had, at length, arrived at the grand reservoir of those waters whose +course and fate had previously been involved in such obscurity. It +remained for us to ascertain whether the extensive sheet of water upon +whose bosom we had embarked, had any practicable communication with the +ocean, and whether the country in the neighbourhood of the coast +corresponded with that immediately behind our camp, or kept up its sandy +and sterile character to the very verge of the sea. As I have already +said, my hopes on the first of these points were considerably damped, but +I could not help anticipating a favourable change in the latter, since its +features had so entirely changed. + +DETAINED BY THE WIND. + +The greatest difficulty against which we had at present to contend was the +wind; and I dreaded the exertion it would call for, to make head against +it; for the men were so much reduced that I felt convinced they were +inadequate to any violent or prolonged effort. It still blew fresh at +8 p.m., but at that time it began to moderate. It may be imagined that I +listened to its subdued gusts with extreme anxiety. It did not wholly +abate until after 2 a.m., when it gradually declined, and about 3 a light +breeze sprung up from the N. E. + +We had again placed sticks to ascertain with more precision the rise of +tide, and found it to be the same as in the river. In the stillness of the +night too we thought we heard the roaring of the sea, but I was myself +uncertain upon the point, as the wind might have caused the sound. + +From the top of the hill from which we had obtained our first view of the +lake, I observed the waves breaking upon the distant headland, and +enveloping the cliff in spray; so that, independent of the clearness of +the horizon beyond it, I was further led to conclude that there existed a +great expanse of water to the S.W.; and, as that had been the direction +taken by the river, I thought it probable that by steering at once to the +S.W. down the lake, I should hit the outlet. I, consequently, resolved to +gain the southern extremity of the lake, as that at which it was natural +to expect a communication with the ocean would be found. + +GEOLOGICAL FORMATION. + +At 4 we had a moderate breeze, and it promised to strengthen; we lost no +time therefore in embarking, and with a flowing sheet stretched over to +the W.S.W., and ran along the promontory formed by the right bank of the +Murray. We passed close under its extreme point at nine. The hills had +gradually declined, and we found the point to be a flat, elevated about +thirty feet above the lake. It was separated from the promontory by a +small channel that was choked up with reeds, so that it is more than +probable that the point is insulated at certain periods; whilst in its +stratification it resembled the first cliffs I have described that were +passed below the Darling. It is a remarkable fact in the geology of the +Murray, that such should be the case; and that the formation at each +extremity of the great bank or bed of fossils should be the same. +Thus far, the waters of the lake had continued sweet; but on filling a can +when we were abreast of this point, it was found that they were quite +unpalatable, to say the least of them. The transition from fresh to salt +water was almost immediate, and it was fortunate we made the discovery in +sufficient time to prevent our losing ground. But, as it was, we filled +our casks, and stood on, without for a moment altering our course. + +PASSAGE ACROSS THE LAKE--ITS SHALLOWNESS. + +It is difficult to give a just description of our passage across the lake. +The boisterous weather we had had seemed to have blown over. A cool and +refreshing breeze was carrying us on at between four and five knots an +hour, and the heavens above us were without a cloud. It almost appeared as +if nature had resisted us in order to try our perseverance, and that she +had yielded in pity to our efforts. The men, relieved for a time from the +oar, stretched themselves at their length in the boat, and commented on +the scenery around them, or ventured their opinions as to that which was +before them. Up to this moment their conduct had been most exemplary; not +a murmur had escaped from them, and they filled the water-casks with the +utmost cheerfulness, even whilst tasting the disagreeable beverage they +would most probably have to subsist on for the next three or four days. + +As soon as we had well opened the point, we had a full view of the +splendid bay that, commencing at the western most of the central points, +swept in a beautiful curve under the ranges. No land was visible to the +W.N.W. or to the S.S.W.: in both these quarters the lake was as open as +the ocean. It appeared, therefore, that the land intermediate was an +island. To the north the country was extremely low, and as we increased +our distance from it we lost sight of it altogether. At noon we were +nearly abreast of the eastern headland, or in the centre of the strait to +which I have alluded. At this time there was an open sea from W.N.W. to +N. by E. A meridian altitude gave our latitude 35 degrees 25 minutes. +The land to our left was bold and precipitous; that to the right was low +and wooded; and there was evidently a considerable space between the +shores of the lake and the base of the ranges. The country to the eastward +was hidden from us by the line of cliffs, beyond which from E.S.E. to +W.S.W. there was an open sea. We had kept the lead going from the first, +and I was surprised at the extreme shallowness of the lake in every part, +as we never had six feet upon the line. Its bottom was one of black mud, +and weeds of enormous length were floating on its surface, detached by the +late gales, and which, from the shallowness of the lake, got constantly +entangled with our rudder. + +We tried to land on the eastern point, but found the water too shallow, +and were obliged to try the western shore. In passing close under the +head, we observed several natives upon it, who kindled a large fire as +soon as they saw they were noticed, which was answered from every point; +for, in less than ten minutes afterwards, we counted no fewer than +fourteen different fires, the greater number of which were on the side of +the ranges. + +SHORES OF THE LAKE. + +As we were standing across from one shore to the other, our attention was +drawn to a most singular object. It started suddenly up, as above the +waters to the south, and strikingly resembled an isolated castle. Behind +it, a dense column of smoke rose into the sky, and the effect was most +remarkable. On a nearer approach, the phantom disappeared and a clear and +open sea again presented itself to our view. The fact was, that the +refractive power upon the coast had elevated the sand-hillocks above their +true position, since we satisfactorily ascertained that they alone +separated the lake from the ocean, and that they alone could have produced +the semblance we noticed. It is a singular fact, that this very hillock +was the one which Capt. Barker ascended whilst carrying on the survey of +the south coast, and immediately previous to his tragical death. + +It was not without difficulty that we succeeded in landing on the western +shore; but we did, at length, succeed, and prepared our dinners. The shore +was low, but above the reach of all floods; the soil was rich, and +superficially sandy. It was covered with high grasses, and abounded in +kangaroos; within the space of a few yards we found five or six, but they +were immediately lost to us and to the dogs in the luxuriance of the +vegetation amidst which they were feeding. + +As soon as we had finished our meal, we once more embarked, and stood +along the shore to the S.W., but the lake was so shoal, that I was every +moment apprehensive we should ground. I ran across, therefore, to the +south, towards a low flat that had just appeared above the line of the +horizon, in hope that, in sounding, we should have found the channel, but +there either was none, or else it was so narrow that we passed over it +between the heaves of the lead. At this time, the western shore was quite +distinct, and the scenery was beautiful. + +The flat we were approaching was a mud-flat, and, from its appearance, the +tide was certainly at the ebb. We observed some cradles, or wicker frames, +placed far below high water-mark, that were each guarded by two natives, +who threatened us violently as we approached. In running along the land, +the stench from them plainly indicated what they were which these poor +creatures were so anxiously watching. + +We steered a S.W. course, towards some low and wooded hills, passing a +rocky island, and found that we had struck the mouth of a channel running +to the W.S.W. It was about half-a-mile wide, was bounded to the right by +some open flat ground, and to the left by a line of hills of about sixty +or seventy feet in elevation, partly open and partly covered with +beefwood. + +WARLIKE DEMEANOUR OF THE NATIVES. + +Upon the first of these hills, we observed a large body of natives, who +set up the most terrific yells as we approached. They were fully equipped +for battle and, as we neared the shore, came down to meet us with the most +violent threats. I wished much to communicate with them, and, not without +hopes of quieting them, stood right in with the intention of landing. +I observed, however, that if I did so, I should have to protect myself. +I hauled a little off, and endeavoured, by holding up a branch and a +tomahawk, to gain their confidence, but they were not to be won over by +my show of pacification. An elderly man walked close to the water's edge +unarmed, and, evidently, directed the others. He was followed by seven or +eight of the most daring, who crept into the reeds, with their spears +shipped to throw at us. I, therefore, took up my gun to return their +salute. It then appeared that they were perfectly aware of the weapon I +carried, for the moment they saw it, they dashed out of their hiding place +and retreated to the main body; but the old man, after saying something +to them, walked steadily on, and I, on my part, laid my firelock down +again. + +LOVELY EVENING. + +It was now near sunset; and one of the most lovely evenings I had ever +seen. The sun's radiance was yet upon the mountains, but all lower objects +were in shade. The banks of the channel, with the trees and the rocks, +were reflected in the tranquil waters, whose surface was unruffled save by +the thousands of wild fowl that rose before us, and made a noise as of a +multitude clapping hands, in their clumsy efforts to rise from the waters. +Not one of them allowed us to get within shot. + +We proceeded about a mile below the hill on which the natives were posted; +some few still following us with violent threats. We landed, however, on a +flat, bounded all round by the continuation of the hills. It was an +admirable position, for, in the centre of it, we could not be taken by +surprise, and, on the other hand, we gave the natives an opportunity of +communicating with us if they would. The full moon rose as we were forming +the camp, and, notwithstanding our vicinity to so noisy a host, the +silence of death was around us, or the stillness of the night was only +broken by the roar of the ocean, now too near to be mistaken for wind, +or by the silvery and melancholy note of the black swans as they passed +over us, to seek for food, no doubt, among the slimy weeds at the head of +the lake. We had been quite delighted with the beauty of the channel, +which was rather more than half-a-mile in width. Numberless mounds, that +seemed to invite civilised man to erect his dwelling upon them, presented +themselves to our view. The country round them was open, yet ornamentally +wooded, and rocks and trees hung or drooped over the waters. + +EXTENT OF THE LAKE. + +We had in one day gained a position I once feared it would have cost us +infinite labour to have measured. Indeed, had we been obliged to pull +across the lake, unless during a calm, I am convinced the men would have +been wholly exhausted. We had to thank a kind Providence that such was not +the case, since it had extended its mercy to us at so critical a moment. +We had indeed need of all the little strength we had remaining, and could +ill have thrown it away on such an effort as this would have required. +I calculated that we could not have run less than forty-five miles during +the day, a distance that, together with the eight miles we had advanced +the evening previously, would give the length of the lake at fifty-three +miles. + +We had approached to within twelve miles of the ranges, but had not gained +their southern extremity. From the camp, Mount Barker bore nearly north. +The ranges appeared to run north and south to our position, and then to +bend away to the S.S.W., gradually declining to that point, which I +doubted not terminated in Cape Jervis. The natives kept aloof during the +night, nor did the dogs by a single growl intimate that any had ventured +to approach us. The sound of the surf came gratefully to our ears, for it +told us we were near the goal for which we had so anxiously pushed, and we +all of us promised ourselves a view of the boundless ocean on the morrow. + +CHANNEL TO THE SEA--ITS SHALLOWNESS. + +As the morning dawned, we saw that the natives had thrown an out-post of +sixteen men across the channel, who were watching our motions; but none +showed themselves on the hills behind us, or on any part of the south +shore. We embarked as soon as we had breakfasted, A fresh breeze was +blowing from the N.E. which took us rapidly down the channel, and our +prospects appeared to be as cheering as the day, for just as we were about +to push from the shore, a seal rose close to the boat, which we all +regarded as a favourable omen. We were, however, shortly stopped by +shoals; it was in vain that we beat across the channel from one side to +the other; it was a continued shoal, and the deepest water appeared to be +under the left bank. The tide, however, had fallen, and exposed broad +flats, over which it was hopeless, under existing circumstances, to haul +the boat. We again landed on the south side of the channel, patiently to +await the high water. + +M'Leay, myself, and Fraser, ascended the hills, and went to the opposite +side to ascertain the course of the channel, for immediately above us it +turned south round the hills. We there found that we were on a narrow +tongue of land. The channel was immediately below us, and continued to the +E.S.E. as far as we could trace it. The hills we were upon, were the sandy +hills that always bound a coast that is low, and were covered with +banksias, casuarina and the grass-tree. + +To the south of the channel there was a flat, backed by a range of +sand-hummocks, that were covered with low shrubs; and beyond them the sea +was distinctly visible. We could not have been more than two and a half +miles from the beach where we stood. + +Notwithstanding the sandy nature of the soil, the fossil formation again +showed itself, not only on these hills, but also on the rocks that were in +the channel. + +A little before high water we again embarked. A seal had been observed +playing about, and we augured well from such an omen. The blacks had been +watching us from the opposite shore, and as soon as we moved, rose to keep +abreast of us. With all our efforts we could not avoid the shoals. We +walked up to our knees in mud and water, to find the least variation in +the depth of the water so as to facilitate our exertions, but it was to no +purpose. We were ultimately obliged to drag the boat over the flats; there +were some of them a quarter of a mile in breadth, knee-deep in mud; but at +length got her into deep water again. The turn of the channel was now +before us, and we had a good run for about four or five miles. We had +completed the bend, and the channel now stretched to the E.S.E. At about +nine miles from us there was a bright sand-hill visible, near which the +channel seemed to turn again to the south; and I doubted not that it +terminated there. It was to no purpose, however, that we tried to gain it. +Shoals again closed in upon us on every side. We dragged the boat over +several, and at last got amongst quicksands. I, therefore, directed our +efforts to hauling the boat over to the south side of the channel, as that +on which we could most satisfactorily ascertain our position. After great +labour we succeeded, and, as evening had closed in, lost no time in +pitching the tents. + +BEACH OF ENCOUNTER BAY. + +While the men were thus employed, I took Fraser with me, and, accompanied +by M'Leay, crossed the sand-hummocks behind us, and descended to the +sea-shore. I found that we had struck the south coast deep in the bight +of Encounter Bay. We had no time for examination, but returned immediately +to the camp, as I intended to give the men an opportunity to go to the +beach. They accordingly went and bathed, and returned not only highly +delighted at this little act of good nature on my part, but loaded with +cockles, a bed of which they had managed to find among the sand. Clayton +had tied one end of his shirt up, and brought a bag full, and amused +himself with boiling cockles all night long. + +If I had previously any hopes of being enabled ultimately to push the boat +over the flats that were before us, a view of the channel at low water, +convinced me of the impracticability of any further attempt. The water was +so low that every shoal was exposed, and many stretched directly from one +side of the channel to the other; and, but for the treacherous nature of +the sand-banks, it would not have been difficult to have walked over dry +footed to the opposite side of it. The channel stretched away to the +E.S.E., to a distance of seven or eight miles, when it appeared to turn +south under a small sand-hill, upon which the rays of the sun fell, as it +was sinking behind us. + +CURIOUS EFFECT OF REFRACTION. + +There was an innumerable flock of wild-fowl arranged in rows along the +sides of the pools left by the tide, and we were again amused by the +singular effect of the refraction upon them, and the grotesque and +distorted forms they exhibited. Swans, pelicans, ducks, and geese, were +mingled together, and, according to their distance from us, presented +different appearances. Some were exceedingly tall and thin, others were +unnaturally broad. Some appeared reversed, or as if they were standing on +their heads, and the slightest motion, particularly the flapping of their +wings, produced a most ridiculous effect. No doubt, the situation and the +state of the atmosphere were favourable to the effect I have described. +The day had been fine, the evening was beautiful,--but it was the +rarefaction of the air immediately playing on the ground, and not the +haze at sunset that caused what I have noticed. It is distinct from +mirage, although it is difficult to point out the difference. The one, +however, distorts, the other conceals objects, and gives them a false +distance. The one is clear, the other is cloudy. The one raises objects +above their true position, the other does not. The one plays about, the +other is steady; but I cannot hope to give a proper idea either of mirage +or refraction so satisfactorily as I could wish. Many travellers have +dwelt upon their effects, particularly upon those of the former, but few +have attempted to account for them. + +Our situation was one of peculiar excitement and interest. To our right +the thunder of the heavy surf, that almost shook the ground beneath us, +broke with increasing roar upon our ears; to our left the voice of the +natives echoed through the brush, and the size of their fires at the +extremity of the channel, seemed to indicate the alarm our appearance had +occasioned. + +CRITICAL SITUATION OF THE PARTY. + +While the men were enjoying their cockles, a large kettle of which they +had boiled, M'Leay and I were anxiously employed in examining the state of +our provisions, and in ascertaining what still remained. Flour and tea +were the only articles we had left, so that the task was not a difficult +one. It appeared that we had not sufficient of either to last us to +Pondebadgery, at which place we expected to find supplies; and, taking +every thing into consideration, our circumstances were really critical. + +The first view of Encounter Bay had convinced me that no vessel would ever +venture into it at a season when the S.W. winds prevailed. It was +impossible that we could remain upon the coast in expectation of the +relief that I doubted not had been hurried off for us; since +disappointment would have sealed our fate at once. In the deep bight in +which we were, I could not hope that any vessel would approach +sufficiently near to be seen by us. Our only chance of attracting notice +would have been by crossing the Ranges to the Gulf St. Vincent, but the +men had not strength to walk, and I hesitated to divide my party in the +presence of a determined and numerous enemy, who closely watched our +motions. Setting aside the generous feelings that had prompted M'Leay to +participate in every danger with me, and who I am persuaded would have +deeply felt a separation, my anxiety not only on his account, but on +account of the men I might leave in charge of the boat, made me averse to +this measure; the chance of any misfortune to them involving in it the +destruction of our boat and the loss of our provisions. My anxiety of mind +would have rendered me unfit for exertion; yet so desirous was I of +examining the ranges and the country at their base, that I should, had our +passage to the salt water been uninterrupted, have determined on coasting +it homewards, or of steering for Launceston; and most assuredly, with my +present experience, I would rather incur the hazards of so desperate a +step, than contend against all the evils that beset us on out homeward +journey. And the reader may rest assured, I was as much without hopes of +our eventual safety, as I was astonished, at the close of our labours, to +find that they had terminated so happily. + +INSPECTION OF THE CHANNEL FROM THE LAKE TO THE OCEAN. + +Further exertion on the part of the men being out of the question, I +determined to remain no longer on the coast than to enable me to trace the +channel to its actual junction with the sea, and to ascertain the features +of the coast at that important point. I was reluctant to exhaust the +strength of the men in dragging the boat over the numberless flats that +were before us, and made up my mind to walk along the shore until I should +gain the outlet. I at length arranged that M'Leay, I, and Fraser, should +start on this excursion, at the earliest dawn, leaving Harris and +Hopkinson in charge of the camp; for as we were to go towards the position +of the natives, I thought it improbable they would attack the camp without +my being instantly aware of it. + +We had, as I have said, intended starting at the earliest dawn, but the +night was so clear and refreshing, and the moon so bright that we +determined to avail ourselves of both, and accordingly left the tents at +3 a.m. I directed Harris to strike them at 8, and to have every thing in +readiness for our departure at that hour. We then commenced our +excursion, and I led my companions rapidly along the shore of Encounter +Bay, after crossing the sand-hills about a mile below the camp. After a +hasty and distressing walk of about seven miles, we found that the +sand-hills terminated, and a low beach spread before us. The day was just +breaking, and at the distance of a mile from us we saw the sand-hill I +have already had occasion to notice, and at about a quarter of a mile from +its base, we were checked by the channel; which, as I rightly conjectured, +being stopped in its easterly course by some rising ground, the tongue of +land on which the blacks were posted, suddenly turns south, and, striking +this sand-hill, immediately enters the sea; and we noticed, in the bight +under the rising ground, that the natives had lit a chain of small fires. +This was, most probably, a detached party watching our movements, as they +could, from where they were posted, see our camp. + +At the time we arrived at the end of the channel, the tide had turned, and +was again setting in. The entrance appeared to me to be somewhat less than +a quarter of a mile in breadth. Under the sand-hill on the off side, the +water is deep and the current strong. No doubt, at high tide, a part of +the low beach we had traversed is covered. The mouth of the channel is +defended by a double line of breakers, amidst which, it would be +dangerous to venture, except in calm and summer weather; and the line of +foam is unbroken from one end of Encounter Bay to the other. Thus were our +fears of the impracticability and inutility of the channel of +communication between the lake and the ocean confirmed. + +DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS OF THE RETURN. + +I would fain have lingered on my way, to examine, as far as circumstances +would permit, the beautiful country between the lake and the ranges; and +it was with heart-felt sorrow that I yielded to necessity. My men were +indeed very weak from poverty of diet and from great bodily fatigue. +Hopkinson, Mulholland, and Macnamee were miserably reduced. The two +former, especially, had exerted themselves beyond their strength, and +although I am confident they would have obeyed my orders to the last, +I did not feel myself justified, considering the gigantic task we had +before us, to impose additional labour upon them. + +It will be borne in mind that our difficulties were just about to +commence, when those of most other travellers have ceased; and that +instead of being assisted by the stream whose course we had followed, we +had now to contend against the united waters of the eastern ranges, +with diminished strength, and, in some measure, with disappointed +feelings. + +Under the most favourable circumstances, it was improbable that the men +would be enabled to pull for many days longer in succession; since they +had not rested upon their oars for a single day, if I except our passage +across the lake, from the moment when we started from the depot; nor was +it possible for me to buoy them up with the hope even of a momentary +cessation from labour. We had calculated the time to which our supply of +provisions would last under the most favourable circumstances, and it was +only in the event of our pulling up against the current, day after day, +the same distance we had compassed with the current in our favour, that we +could hope they would last us as long as we continued in the Murray. +But in the event of floods, or any unforeseen delay, in was impossible +to calculate at what moment we might be driven to extremity. + +Independent of these casualties, there were other circumstances of peril +to be taken into consideration. As I have already observed, I foresaw +great danger in again running through the natives. I had every reason to +believe that many of the tribes with which we had communicated on +apparently friendly terms, regretted having allowed us to pass unmolested; +nor was I at all satisfied as to the treatment we might receive from them, +when unattended by the envoys who had once or twice controlled their fury. +Our best security, therefore, against the attacks of the natives was +celerity of movement; and the men themselves seemed to be perfectly aware +of the consequences of delay. Our provisions, moreover, being calculated +to last to a certain point only, the slightest accident, the staving-in +of the boat, or the rise of the river, would inevitably be attended with +calamity. To think of reducing our rations of only three quarters of a +pound of flour per diem, was out of the question, or to hope that the men, +with less sustenance than that, would perform the work necessary to ensure +their safety, would have been unreasonable. It was better that our +provisions should hold out to a place from which we might abandon the boat +with some prospect of reaching by an effort a stock station, or the plain +on which Robert Harris was to await our return, than that they should be +consumed before the half of our homeward journey should be accomplished. +Delay, therefore, under our circumstances, would have been imprudent +and unjustifiable. + + +PATIENCE OF THE MEN--RE-ENTER THE MURRAY. +On the other hand, it was sufficiently evident to me, that the men were +too much exhausted to perform the task that was before them without +assistance, and that it would be necessary both for M'Leay and myself, +to take our share of labour at the oars. The cheerfulness and satisfaction +that my young friend evinced at the opportunity that was thus afforded him +of making himself useful, and of relieving those under him from some +portion of their toil, at the same time that they increased my sincere +esteem for him, were nothing more than what I expected from one who had +endeavoured by every means in his power to contribute to the success of +that enterprise upon which he had embarked. But although I have said thus +much of the exhausted condition of the men,--and ere these pages are +concluded my readers will feel satisfied as to the truth of my +statement--I would by no means be understood to say that they flagged for +a moment, or that a single murmur escaped them. No reluctance was visible, +no complaint was heard, but there was that in their aspect and appearance +which they could not hide, and which I could not mistake. My object in +dwelling so long upon this subject has been to point out our situation and +our feelings when we re-entered the Murray. The only circumstance that +appeared to be in our favour was the prevalence of the south-west wind, +by which I hoped we should be assisted in running up the first broad +reaches of that river. I could not but acknowledge the bounty of that +Providence, which had favoured us in our passage across the lake, and I +was led to hope that its merciful superintendance would protect us from +evil, and would silently direct us where human foresight and prudence +failed. We re-entered the river on the 13th under as fair prospects as +we would have desired. The gale which had blown with such violence in the +morning gradually abated, and a steady breeze enabled us to pass our first +encampment by availing ourselves of it as long as day light continued. +Both the valley and the river showed to advantage as we approached them, +and the scenery upon our left (the proper right bank of the Murray) +was really beautiful. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + + +Valley of the Murray--Its character and capabilities--Laborious progress +up the river--Accident to the boat--Perilous collision with the natives +--Turbid current of the Rufus--Passage of the Rapids--Assisted by the +natives--Dangerous intercourse with them--Re-enter the Morumbidgee-- +Verdant condition of its banks--Nocturnal encounter with the natives-- +Interesting manifestation of feeling in one family--Reach the spot where +the party had embarked on the river--Men begin to fail entirely-- +Determine to send two men forward for relief--Their return--Excursion on +horseback--Reach Pondebadgery Plain, and meet the supplies from the +colony--Cannibalism of the natives--Return to Sydney--Concluding remarks. + +VALLEY OF THE MURRAY. + +The valley of the Murray, at its entrance, cannot be less than four miles +in breadth. The river does not occupy the centre but inclines to either +side, according to its windings, and thus the flats are of greater or less +extent, according to the distance of the river from the base of the hills. +It is to be remarked, that the bottom of the valley is extremely level, +and extensively covered with reeds. From the latter circumstance, one +would be led to infer that these flats are subject to overflow, and no +doubt can exist as to the fact of their being, at least partially, if not +wholly, under water at times. A country in a state of nature is, however, +so different from one in a state of cultivation, that it is hazardous to +give an opinion as to its practical availableness, if I may use such a +term. I should, undoubtedly, say the marshes of the Macquarie were +frequently covered with water, and that they were wholly unfit for any one +purpose whatever. It is evident from the marks of the reeds upon the +banks, that the flood covers them occasionally to the depth of three feet, +and the reeds are so densely embodied and so close to the river side that +the natives cannot walk along it. The reeds are the broad flag-reed +(arundo phragmatis), and grow on a stiff earthy loam, without any +accompanying vegetation; indeed, they form so solid a mass that the sun +cannot penetrate to the ground to nourish vegetation. On the other hand, +the valley of the Murray, though covered with reeds in most places, is not +so in all. There is no mark upon the reeds by which to judge as to the +height of inundation, neither are they of the same kind as those which +cover the marshes of the Macquarie. They are the species of round reed of +which the South-sea islanders make their arrows, and stand sufficiently +open, not only to allow of a passage through, but for the abundant growth +of grass among them. Still, I have no doubt that parts of the valley are +subject to flood; but, as I have already remarked, I do not know whether +these parts are either deeply or frequently covered. Rain must fall +simultaneously in the S.E. angle of the island in the inter-tropical +regions, and at the heads of all the tributaries of the main stream, ere +its effects can be felt in the lower parts of the Murray. If the valley of +the Murray is not subject to flood, it has only recently gained a height +above the influence of the river, and still retains all the character of +flooded land. In either case, however, it contains land that is of the +very richest kind--soil that is the pure accumulation of vegetable matter, +and is as black as ebony. If its hundreds of thousands of acres were +practically available, I should not hesitate to pronounce it one of the +richest spots of equal extent on earth, and highly favoured in other +respects. How far it is available remains to be proved; and an opinion +upon either side would be hazardous, although that of its liability to +flood would, most probably, be nearest to truth. It is, however, certain +that any part of the valley would require much labour before it could be +brought under cultivation, and that even its most available spots would +require almost as much trouble to clear them as the forest tract, for +nothing is more difficult to destroy than reeds. Breaking the sod would, +naturally, raise the level of the ground, and lateral drains would, most +probably, carry off all floods, but then the latter, at least, is the +operation of an advanced stage of husbandry only. I would, however, +observe that there are many parts of the valley decidedly above the reach +of flood. I have, in the above observations, been particularly alluding to +the lowest and broadest portions of it. I trust I shall be understood as +not wishing to over-rate this discovery on the one hand, or on the other, +to include its whole extent in one sweeping clause of condemnation. + +On the 14th, the wind still continued to blow fresh from the N.W. +It moderated at noon, and assisted us beyond measure. We passed our first +encampment, but did not see any natives. + +CORDIALITY OF THE NATIVES. + +On the 15th, the wind was variable at daylight, and a dense fog was on the +river. As the sun rose, it was dissipated and a light breeze sprung up +from W.S.W. We ran up the stream with a free sheet for six hours, when we +stopped for a short time to get the kettle boiled. Four natives joined us, +but with the exception of the lowest tribe upon the right bank, we had not +seen any number. We were extremely liberal to this tribe, in consequence +of the satisfaction they evinced at our return. We had alarmed them much +on our passage down the river by firing at a snake that was swimming +across it. We, at first, attempted to kill it with the boat-hook, but the +animal dived at our approach, and appeared again at a considerable +distance. Another such dive would have ensured his escape, but a shot +effectually checked him, and as the natives evinced considerable alarm, we +held him up, to show them the object of our proceedings. On our return, +they seemed to have forgotten their fright, and received us with every +demonstration of joy. The different receptions we met with from different +tribes are difficult to be accounted for. + +The country appeared to rise before us, and looked more hilly to the N.W. +than I had supposed it to be. Several fine valleys branched off from the +main one to the westward, and, however barren the heights that confined +them were, I am inclined to think, that the distant interior is fertile. +The marks of kangaroos were numerous, and the absence of the natives would +indicate that they have other and better means of subsisting in the back +country than what the river affords. + +In the evening, we again ran on for two hours and a half, and reached the +first of the cliffs. + +On the 16th, we were again fortunate in the wind, and pressed up the river +as long as day-light continued. At the termination of our journey, we +found ourselves a day's journey in advance. This inspirited the men, and +they began to forget the labours they had gone through, as well as those +that were before them. + +On the 17th, we again commenced pulling, the wind being at north, and +contrary. It did not, however, remain in that quarter long, but backed at +noon to the S.W., so that we were enabled to make a good day's journey, +and rather gained than lost ground. + +REMARKABLE CLIFF--GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. + +Having left the undulating hills, at the mouth of the valley behind us, +we passed cliff after cliff of fossil formation: they had a uniform +appearance as to the substance of which they were composed, and varied +but little in colour. Having already examined them, we thought it +unnecessary to give them any further special attention, since it was +improbable we should find anything new. In turning an angle of the river, +however, a broad reach stretched away before us. An alluvial flat extended +to our left, and a high line of cliffs, that differed in no visible +respect from those we had already passed, rose over the opposite side of +the river. The cliffs faced the W.N.W., and as the sun declined, his beams +struck full upon them. As we shot past, we were quite dazzled with the +burst of light that flashed upon us, and which gave to the whole face of +the cliff the appearance of a splendid mirror. The effect was of course +momentary; for as soon as we had passed the angle of refraction, there was +nothing unusual in its appearance. On a nearer approach, however, it +appeared again as if studded with stars. We had already determined on +examining it more closely, and this second peculiarity still further +excited our curiosity. On landing, we found the whole cliff to be a mass +of selenite, in which the various shells already noticed were plentifully +embedded, as in ice. The features of the cliff differed from any we had +previously remarked. Large masses, or blocks of square or oblong shape, +had fallen to its base, and its surface was hard, whereas the face of the +majority of the other cliffs was soft from the effect of the atmosphere; +and the rock was entirely free from every other substance, excepting the +shells of which it was composed. We of course collected some good +specimens, although they added very considerably to the weight of our +cargo. + +The morning of the 18th was calm and cloudless. The wind, of which there +was but little, came from the north, and was as usual warm. We availed +ourselves of a favourable spot to haul our boat on shore under one of the +cliffs upon the proper left of the river, and cleaned her well both +inside and out. + +LABORIOUS ASCENT OF THE BOAT. + +The breezes that had so much assisted as from the lake upwards, had now +lost their influence, or failed to reach to the distance we had gained. +Calms succeeded them, and obliged us to labour continually at the oars. +We lost ground fast, and it wee astonishing to remark how soon the men's +spirits drooped again under their first efforts. They fancied the boat +pulled heavily, and that her bottom was foul; but such was not the case. +The current was not so strong as when we passed down, since the river had +evidently fallen more than a foot, and was so shallow in several places, +that we were obliged to haul the boat over them. On these occasions we +were necessarily obliged to get out of her into the water, and had +afterwards to sit still and to allow the sun to dry our clothes upon us. +The unemployed consequently envied those at the oars, as they sat +shivering in their dripping clothes. I was aware that it was more from +imagination than reality, that the men fancied the boat was unusually +heavy, but I hesitated not in humouring them, and rather entered into +their ideas than otherwise, and endeavoured to persuade them that she +pulled the lighter for the cleaning we gave her. + +A tribe of natives joined us, and we had the additional trouble of +guarding our stores. They were, however, very quiet, and as we had broken +up our casks, on leaving the coast, we were enabled to be liberal in our +presents of iron hoop, which they eagerly received. We calculated that we +should reach the principal junction in about fifteen days from this place. + +NATIVE BURIAL-PLACE. + +The natives left us to pursue our solitary journey as soon as the boat was +reloaded. Not one of them had the curiosity to follow us, nor did they +appear to think it necessary that we should he attended by envoys. We +stopped for the night upon the left bank; and close to a burial-ground +that differed from any I had ever seen. It must have been used many years, +from the number of bones that were found in the bank, but there were no +other indications of such a place either by mounds or by marks on the +trees. The fact, therefore, is a singular one. I have thought that some +battle might have been fought near the place, but I can hardly think one +of their battles could have been so destructive. + +IMPEDED BY SHOALS. + +We had now only to make the best of our journey, rising at dawn, and +pulling to seven and often to nine o'clock. I allowed the men an hour from +half-past eleven to half-past twelve, to take their bread and water. This +was our only fare, if I except an occasional wild duck; but these birds +were extremely difficult to kill, and it cost us so much time, that we +seldom endeavoured to procure any. Our dogs had been of no great use, and +were now too weak to have run after anything if they had seen either +kangaroos or emus; and for the fish, the men loathed them, and were either +too indifferent or too much fatigued to set the night-lines. Shoals +frequently impeded us as we proceeded up the river, and we passed some +rapids that called for our whole strength to stem. A light wind assisted +us on two or three of these occasions, and I never failed hoisting the +sail at every fitting opportunity. In some parts the river was extremely +shallow, and the sand-banks of amazing size; and the annoyance of dragging +the boat over these occasional bars, was very great. We passed several +tribes of blacks on the 19th and 20th; but did not stop to communicate +with them. + +I believe I have already mentioned that shortly after we first entered the +Murray, flocks of a new paroquet passed over our heads, apparently +emigrating to the N.W. They always kept too high to be fired at, but on +our return, hereabouts, we succeeded in killing one. It made a good +addition to our scanty stock of subjects of natural history. It is +impossible to conceive how few of the feathered tribe frequent these +distant and lonely regions. The common white cockatoo is the most +numerous, and there are also a few pigeons; but other birds descend only +for water, and are soon again upon the wing. Our botanical specimens were +as scanty as our zoological, indeed the expedition may, as regards these +two particulars, almost be said to have been unproductive. + +COMPILATION OF THE CHART. + +When we came down the river, I thought it advisable to lay its course down +as precisely as circumstances would permit: for for this purpose I had a +large compass always before me, and a sheet of foolscap paper. As soon as +we passed an angle of the river, I took the bearings of the reach before +us, and as we proceeded down it, marked off the description of country, +and any remarkable feature. The consequence was, that I laid down every +bend of the Murray River, from the Morumbidgee downwards. Its creeks, its +tributaries, its flats, its valleys, and its cliffs, and, as far as I +possibly could do, the nature of the distant interior. This chart was, +of course, erroneous in many particulars, since I had to judge the length +of the reaches of the river, and the extent of its angles, but I corrected +it on the scale of the miles of latitude we made during the day, which +brought out an approximate truth at all events. The hurried nature of our +journey would not allow me to do more; and it will be remembered that my +observations were all siderial, by reason that the sextant would not +embrace the sun in his almost vertical position at noon. Admitting, +however, the imperfection of this chart, it was of inconceivable value and +comfort to us on our return, for, by a reference to it, we discovered our +place upon the river, and our distance from our several encampments. +And we should often have stopped short of them had not the chart shown us +that a few reaches more would bring us to the desired spots. It cheered +the men to know where they were, and gave them conversation. To myself it +was very satisfactory, as it enabled me to prepare for our meetings with +the larger tribes, and to steer clear of obstacles in the more difficult +navigation of some parts of the stream. + +On the 21st, by dint of great labour we reached our camp of the 2nd +February, from which it will be remembered the Murray took up a southerly +course, and from which we likewise obtained a first view of the coast +ranges. The journey to the sea and back again, had consequently occupied +us twenty days. From this point we turned our boat's head homewards; we +made it, therefore, a fixed position among the stages into which we +divided our journey. Our attention was now directed to the junction of the +principal tributary, which we hoped to reach in twelve days, and +anticipated a close to our labours on the Murray in eight days more from +that stage to the Morumbidgee. + +CURRENT OF THE MURRAY. + +The current in the Murray from the lake, to within a short distance of +this singular turn in it, is weak, since its bed is almost on a level with +the lake. The channel, which, at the termination, is somewhat more than +the third of a mile across, gradually diminishes in breadth, as the +interior is gained, but is nowhere under 300 yards; while its depth +averages from eighteen to thirty feet, within a foot of the very bank. +The river might, therefore, be navigated by boats of considerable burden, +if the lake admitted of the same facility; but I am decidedly of opinion, +that the latter is generally shallow, and that it will, in the course of +years, be filled up by depositions. It is not, however, an estuary in any +sense of the word, since no part of it is exposed at low water, excepting +the flats in the channel, and the flat between the lake and the sea. + +ACCIDENT TO THE BOAT. + +On the 23rd, we stove the boat in for the first time. I had all along +anticipated such an accident, from the difficulty of avoiding obstacles, +in consequence of the turbid state of the river. Fortunately the boat +struck a rotten log. The piece remained in her side, and prevented her +filling, which she must, otherwise, inevitably have done, ere we could +have reached the shore. As it was, however, we escaped with a little +damage to the lower bags of flour only. She was hauled up on a sand bank, +and Clayton repaired her in less than two hours, when we reloaded her +and pursued our journey. It was impossible to have been more cautious than +we were, for I was satisfied as to the fate that would have overtaken the +whole of us in the event of our losing the boat, and was proportionably +vigilant. + +MOLESTED BY THE NATIVES. + +At half-past five we came to an island, which looked so inviting, and so +quiet, that I determined to land and sleep upon it. We consequently, ran +the boat into a little recess, or bay, and pitched the tents; and I +anticipated a respite from the presence of any natives, as did the men, +who were rejoiced at my having taken up so snug a berth. It happened, +however, that a little after sunset, a flight of the new paroquets +perched in the lofty trees that grew on the island, to roost; when we +immediately commenced the work of death, and succeeded in killing eight or +ten. The reports of our guns were heard by some natives up the river, and +several came over to us. Although I was annoyed at their having discovered +our retreat, they were too few to be troublesome. During the night, +however, they were joined by fresh numbers, amounting in all to about +eighty, and they were so clamorous, that it was impossible to sleep. + +NATIVES BECOME TROUBLESOME. + +As the morning broke, Hopkinson came to inform me that it was in vain that +the guard endeavoured to prevent them from handling every thing, and from +closing in round our camp. I went out, and from what I saw I thought it +advisable to double the sentries. M'Leay, who was really tired, being +unable to close his eyes amid such a din, got up in ill-humour, and went +to see into the cause, and to check it if he could. This, however, was +impossible. One man was particularly forward and insolent, at whom M'Leay, +rather imprudently, threw a piece of dirt. The savage returned the +compliment with as much good will as it had been given, and appeared quite +prepared to act on the offensive. At this critical moment my servant came +to the tent in which I was washing myself, and stated his fears that we +should soon come to blows, as the natives showed every disposition to +resist us. On learning what had passed between M'Leay and the savage, +I pretended to be equally angry with both, and with some difficulty forced +the greater part of the blacks away from the tents. I then directed the +men to gather together all the minor articles in the first instance, and +then to strike the tents; and, in order to check the natives, I drew a +line round the camp, over which I intimated to them they should not pass. +Observing, I suppose, that we were on our guard, and that I, whom they +well knew to be the chief, was really angry, they crept away one by one, +until the island was almost deserted by them. Why they did not attack us, +I know not, for they had certainly every disposition to do so, and had +their shorter weapons with them, which, in so confined a space as that on +which we were, would have been more fatal than their spears + +They left us, however; and a flight of red-crested cockatoos happening to +settle on a plain near the river, I crossed in the boat in order to shoot +one. The plain was upon the proper left bank of the Murray. The natives +had passed over to the right. As the one channel was too shallow for the +boat, when we again pursued our journey we were obliged to pull round to +the left side of the island. A little above it the river makes a bend to +the left, and the angle at this bend was occupied by a large shoal, +one point of which rested on the upper part of the island, and the other +touched the proper right bank of the river. Thus a narrow channel, +(not broader indeed than was necessary for the play of our oars,) alone +remained for us to pass up against a strong current. On turning round the +lower part of the island, we observed that the natives occupied the whole +extent of the shoal, and speckled it over like skirmishers. Many of them +had their spears, and their attention was evidently directed to us.--As we +neared the shoal, the most forward of them pressed close to the edge of +the deep water, so much so that our oars struck their legs. Still this did +not induce them to retire. I kept my eye on an elderly man who stood one +of the most forward, and who motioned to us several times to stop, and at +length threw the weapon he carried at the boat. I immediately jumped up +and pointed my gun at him to his great apparent alarm. Whether the natives +hoped to intimidate us by a show of numbers, or what immediate object they +had in view, it is difficult to say; though it was most probably to seize +a fitting opportunity to attack us. Seeing, I suppose, that we were not to +be checked, they crossed from the shoal to the proper right bank of the +river, and disappeared among the reeds that lined it. + +TREACHERY OF THE NATIVES. + +Shortly after this, eight of the women, whom we had not before noticed, +came down to the water side, and gave us the most pressing invitation to +land. Indeed they played their part uncommonly well, and tried for some +time to allure us by the most unequivocal manifestations of love. +Hopkinson however who always had his eyes about him, observed the spears +of the men among the reeds. They kept abreast of us as we pulled up the +stream, and, no doubt, were anticipating our inability to resist the +temptations they had thrown in our way. I was really provoked at their +barefaced treachery, and should most undoubtedly have attacked them, had +they not precipitately retreated on being warned by the women that I was +arming my men, which I had only now done upon seeing such strong +manifestations of danger. M'Leay set the example of coolness on this +occasion; and I had some doubts whether I was justified in allowing the +natives to escape with impunity, considering that if they had wounded any +one of us the most melancholy and fatal results would have ensued. + +We did not see anything more of the blacks during the rest of the day, +but the repeated indications of hostility we perceived as we approached +the Darling, made me apprehensive as to the reception we should meet from +its numerous population; and I was sorry to observe that the men +anticipated danger in passing that promising junction. + +Having left the sea breezes behind us, the weather had become oppressive; +and as the current was stronger, and rapids more numerous, our labour was +proportionably increased. We perspired to an astonishing degree, and gave +up our oars after our turn at them, with shirts and clothes as wet as if +we had been in the water. Indeed Mulholland and Hopkinson, who worked +hard, poured a considerable quantity of perspiration from their shoes +after their task. The evil of this was that we were always chilled after +rowing, and, of course, suffered more than we should otherwise have done. + +RE-PASS THE LINDESAY. + +On the 25th we passed the last of the cliffs composing the great fossil +bed through which the Murray flows, and entered that low country already +described as being immediately above it. On a more attentive examination +of the distant interior, my opinion as to its flooded origin was +confirmed, more especially in reference to the country to the S.E. On the +30th we passed the mouth of the Lindesay, and from the summit of the sand +hills to the north of the Murray overlooked the flat country, through +which I conclude it must run, from the line of fires we observed amid the +trees, and most probably upon its banks. + +We did not fall in with the natives in such numbers as when we passed down +to the coast: still they were in sufficient bodies to be troublesome. +It would, however, appear that the tribes do not generally frequent the +river. They must have a better country back from it, and most probably +linger amongst the lagoons and creeks where food is more abundant. The +fact is evident from the want of huts upon the banks of the Murray, and +the narrowness of the paths along its margin. + +RE-PASSED THE RUFUS. + +We experienced the most oppressive heat about this time. Calms generally +prevailed, and about 3 p.m. the sun's rays fell upon us with intense +effect. The waters of the Murray continued extremely muddy, a circumstance +we discovered to be owing to the turbid current of the Rufus, which we +passed on the 1st of March. It is, really, singular whence this little +stream originates. It will be remembered that I concluded it must have +been swollen by rains when we first saw it; yet, after an absence of more +than three weeks we found it discharging its waters as muddy as ever into +the main stream; and that, too, in such quantities as to discolour its +waters to the very lake. The reader will have some idea of the force of +the current in both, when I assure him that for nearly fifty yards below +the mouth of the Rufus, the waters of the Murray preserve their +transparency, and the line between them and the turbid waters of its +tributary was as distinctly marked as if drawn by a pencil. Indeed, +the higher we advanced, the more did we feel the strength of the current, +against which we had to pull. + +DIFFICULTIES AT THE RAPIDS. + +A little below the Lindesay, a rapid occurs. It was with the utmost +difficulty that we stemmed it with the four oars upon the boat, and the +exertion of our whole strength. We remained, at one time, perfectly +stationary, the force we employed and that of the current being equal. +We at length ran up the stream obliquely; but it was evident the men were +not adequate to such exertion for any length of time. We pulled that day +for eleven successive hours, in order to avoid a tribe of natives who +followed us. Hopkinson and Fraser fell asleep at their oars, and even the +heavy Clayton appeared to labour. + +We again occupied our camp under the first remarkable cliffs of the +Murray, a description of which has been given in page 128 of this work. +[GEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION.] Their summit, as I have already remarked forms a +table land of some elevation. From it the distant interior to the S.S.E. +appears very depressed; that to the north undulates more. In neither +quarter, however, does any bright foliage meet the eye, to tell that a +better soil is under it; but a dark and gloomy vegetation occupies both +the near and distant ground, in proof that the sandy sterile tracts, +succeeding the river deposits, stretch far away without a change. + +A little above our camp of the 28th of January, we fell in with a large +tribe of natives, whose anxiety to detain us was remarkable. The wind, +however, which, from the time we lost the sea breezes, had hung to the +S.E., had changed to the S.W., and we were eagerly availing ourselves of +it. It will not he supposed we stopped even for a moment. In truth we +pressed on with great success, and did not land to sleep until nine +o'clock. As long as the wind blew from the S.W., the days were cool, and +the sky overcast even so much so as to threaten rain. + +The least circumstance, in our critical situation, naturally raised my +apprehensions, and I feared the river would be swollen in the event of +any heavy rains in the hilly country; I hoped, however, we should gain the +Morumbidgee before such a calamity should happen to us, and it became +my object to press for that river without delay. + +OBSTACLES TO THE NAVIGATION--DANGEROUS RAPIDS. + +Although we had met with frequent rapids in our progress upwards, they had +not been of a serious kind, nor such as would affect the navigation of the +river. The first direct obstacle of this kind occurs a little above a +small tributary that falls into the Murray from the north, between the +Rufus and the cliffs we have alluded to. At this place a reef of coarse +grit contracts the channel of the river. No force we could have exerted +with the oars would have taken us up this rapid; but we accomplished the +task easily by means of a rope which we hauled upon, on the same principle +that barges are dragged by horses along the canals. + +As we neared the junction of the two main streams, the country, on both +sides of the river, became low, and its general appearance confirmed the +opinion I have already given as to its flooded origin. The clouds that +obscured the sky, and had threatened to burst for some time, at length +gave way, and we experienced two or three days of heavy rain. In the midst +of it we passed the second stage of our journey, and found the spot lately +so crowded with inhabitants totally deserted. A little above it we +surprised a small tribe in a temporary shelter; but neither our offers nor +presents could prevail on any of them to expose themselves to the torrent +that was falling. They sat shivering in their bark huts in evident +astonishment at our indifference. We threw them some trifling presents and +were glad to proceed unattended by any of them. + +PERILOUS ASCENT OF THE RAPIDS. + +It will he remembered that in passing down the river, the boat was placed +in some danger in descending a rapid before we reached the junction of the +Murray with the stream supposed by me to be the Darling. We were now +gradually approaching the rapid, nor did I well know how we should +surmount such an obstacle. Strength to pull up it we had not, and I feared +our ropes would not be long enough to reach to the shore over some of the +rocks, since it descended in minor declivities to a considerable distance +below the principal rapid, in the centre of which the boat had struck. +We reached the commencement of these rapids on the 6th, and ascended the +first by means of ropes, which were hauled upon by three of the men from +the bank; and, as the day was pretty far advanced, we stopped a little +above it, that we might attempt the principal rapid before we should be +exhausted by previous exertion. It was fortunate that we took such a +precaution. The morning of the 7th proved extremely dark, and much rain +fell. We commenced our journey in the midst of it, and soon gained the +tail of the rapid. Our attempt to pull up it completely failed. The boat, +as soon as she entered the ripple, spun round like a toy, and away we went +with the stream. As I had anticipated, our ropes were too short; and it +only remained for us to get into the water, and haul the boat up by main +force. We managed pretty well at first, and drew her alongside a rock to +rest a little. We then recommenced our efforts, and had got into the +middle of the channel. We were up to our armpits in the water, and only +kept our position by means of rocks beside us. The rain was falling, as if +we were in a tropical shower, and the force of the current was such, that +if we had relaxed for an instant, we should have lost all the ground we +had gained. Just at this moment, however, without our being aware of their +approach, a large tribe of natives, with their spears, lined the bank, +and took us most completely by surprise. At no time during this anxious +journey were we ever so completely in their power, or in so defenceless a +situation. It rained so hard, that our firelocks would have been of no +use, and had they attacked us, we must necessarily have been slaughtered +without committing the least execution upon them. Nothing, therefore, +remained for us but to continue our exertions. It required only one +strong effort to get the boat into still water for a time, but that effort +was beyond our strength, and we stood in the stream, powerless and +exhausted. + +ASSISTED BY THE NATIVES. + +The natives, in the meanwhile, resting on their spears, watched us with +earnest attention. One of them, who was sitting close to the water, at +length called to us, and we immediately recognised the deep voice of him +to whose singular interference we were indebted for our escape on the +23rd of January. I desired Hopkinson to swim over to him, and to explain +that we wanted assistance. This was given without hesitation; and we at +length got under the lea of the rock, which I have already described as +being in the centre of the river. The natives launched their bark canoes, +the only frail means they possess of crossing the rivers with their +children. These canoes are of the simplest construction and rudest +materials, being formed of an oblong piece of bark, the ends of which are +stuffed with clay, so as to render them impervious to the water. With +several of these they now paddled round us with the greatest care, making +their spears, about ten feet in length,(which they use at once as poles +and paddles,) bend nearly double in the water. We had still the most +difficult part of the rapid to ascend, where the rush of water was the +strongest, and where the decline of the bed almost amounted to a fall. +Here the blacks could be of no use to us. No man could stem the current, +supposing it to have been shallow at the place, but it was on the contrary +extremely deep. Remaining myself in the boat, I directed all the men to +land, after we had crossed the stream, upon a large rock that formed the +left buttress as it were to this sluice, and, fastening the rope to the +mast instead of her head, they pulled upon it. The unexpected rapidity +with which the boat shot up the passage astonished me, and filled the +natives with wonder, who testified their admiration of so dextrous a +manoeuvre, by a loud shout. + +It will, no doubt, have struck the reader as something very remarkable, +that the same influential savage to whom we had already been indebted, +should have been present on this occasion, and at a moment when we so much +needed his assistance. Having surmounted our difficulties, we took leave +of this remarkable man, and pursued our journey up the river. + +It may be imagined we did not proceed very far; the fact was, we only +pushed forward to get rid of the natives, for, however pacific, they were +always troublesome, and we were seldom fitted for a trial of temper after +the labours of the day were concluded. The men had various occupations +in which, when the natives were present, they were constantly interrupted, +and whenever the larger tribes slept near us, the utmost vigilance was +necessary on the part of the night-guard, which was regularly mounted as +soon as the tents were pitched. We had had little else than our flour to +subsist on. Hopkinson and Harris endeavoured to supply M'Leay and myself +with a wild fowl occasionally, but for themselves, and the other men, +nothing could be procured to render their meal more palatable. + +GOOD CONDUCT OF THE MEN. + +I have omitted to mention one remarkable trait of the good disposition of +all the men while on the coast. Our sugar had held out to that point; but +it appeared, when we examined the stores, that six pounds alone remained +in the cask. This the men positively refused to touch. They said that, +divided, it would benefit nobody; that they hoped M'Leay and I would use +it, that it would last us for some time, and that they were better able to +submit to privations than we were. The feeling did them infinite credit, +and the circumstance is not forgotten by me. The little supply the +kindness of our men left to us was, however, soon exhausted, and poor +M'Leay preferred pure water to the bitter draught that remained. I have +been some times unable to refrain from smiling, as I watched the distorted +countenances of my humble companions while drinking their tea and eating +their damper. + +The ducks and swans, seen in such myriads on the lake, seldom appeared on +the river, in the first stages of our journey homewards. About the time of +which I am writing, however, a few swans occasionally flew over our heads +at night, and their silvery note was musically sweet. + +From the 10th to the 15th, nothing of moment occurred: we pulled regularly +from day-light to dark, not less to avoid the natives than to shorten our +journey. Yet, notwithstanding that we moved at an hour when the natives +seldom stir, we were rarely without a party of them, who followed us in +spite of our efforts to tire them out. + +MOLESTED BY NATIVES. + +On the 15th, we had about 150 at our camp. Many of them were extremely +noisy, and the whole of them very restless. They lay down close to the +tents, or around our fire. I entertained some suspicion of them, and when +they were apparently asleep, I watched them narrowly. Macnamee was walking +up and down with his firelock, and every time he turned his back, one of +the natives rose gently up and poised his spear at him, and as soon as +he thought Macnamee was about to trim, he dropped as quietly into his +place. When I say the native got up, I do not mean that he stood up, but +that he raised himself sufficiently for the purpose he had in view. His +spear would not, therefore, have gone with much force, but I determined +it should not quit his hand, for had I observed any actual attempt to +throw it, I should unquestionably have shot him dead upon the spot. +The whole of the natives were awake, and it surprised me they did not +attempt to plunder us. They rose with the earliest dawn, and crowded round +the tents without any hesitation. We, consequently, thought it prudent to +start as soon as we had breakfasted. + +FRASER IN DANGER. + +We had all of us got into the boat, when Fraser remembered he had left his +powder-horn on shore. In getting out to fetch it, he had to push through +the natives. On his return, when his back was towards them, several +natives lifted their spears together, and I was so apprehensive they +would have transfixed him, that I called out before I seized my gun; on +which they lowered their weapons and ran away. The disposition to commit +personal violence was evident from these repeated acts of treachery; and +we should doubtless have suffered from it on some occasion or other, had +we not been constantly on the alert. + +We had been drawing nearer the Morumbidgee every day. This was the last +tribe we saw on the Murray; and the following afternoon, to our great joy, +we quitted it and turned our boat into the gloomy and narrow channel of +its tributary. Our feelings were almost as strong when we re-entered it, +as they had been when we were launched from it into that river, on whose +waters we had continued for upwards of fifty-five days; during which +period, including the sweeps and bends it made, we could not have +travelled less than 1500 miles. + +Our provisions were now running very short; we had, however, "broken the +neck of our journey," as the men said, and we looked anxiously to gaining +the depot; for we were not without hopes that Robert Harris would have +pushed forward to it with his supplies. We were quite puzzled on entering +the Morumbidgee, how to navigate its diminutive bends and its encumbered +channel. I thought poles would have been more convenient than oars; we +therefore stopped at an earlier hour than usual to cut some. Calling to +mind the robbery practised on us shortly after we left the depot, my mind +became uneasy as to Robert Harris's safety, since I thought it probable, +from the sulky disposition of the natives who had visited us there, that +he might have been attacked. Thus, when my apprehensions on our own +account had partly ceased, my fears became excited with regard to him and +his party. + +RE-ENTER THE MORUMBIDGEE. + +The country, to a considerable distance from the junction on either side +the Morumbidgee, is not subject to inundation. Wherever we landed upon its +banks, we found the calistemma in full flower, and in the richest +profusion. There was, also, an abundance of grass, where before there had +been no signs of vegetation, and those spots which we had condemned as +barren were now clothed with a green and luxuriant carpet. So difficult is +it to judge of a country on a partial and hurried survey, and so +differently does it appear at different periods. I was rejoiced to find +that the rains had not swollen the river, for I was apprehensive that +heavy falls had taken place in the mountains, and was unprepared for so +much good fortune. + +FEAST ON A SWAN. + +The poles we cut were of no great use to us, and we soon laid them aside, +and took to our oars. Fortune seemed to favour us exceedingly. The men +rallied, and we succeeded in killing a good fat swan, that served as a +feast for all. I imagine the absence of mud and weeds of every kind in +the Murray, prevents this bird from frequenting its waters. + +On the 18th, we found ourselves entering the reedy country, through which +we had passed with such doubt and anxiety. Every object elicited some +remark from the men, and I was sorry to find they reckoned with certainty +on seeing Harris at the depot, as I knew they would be proportionally +depressed in spirits if disappointed. However, I promised Clayton a good +repast as soon as we should see him. + +LOSE ONE OF OUR DOGS. + +I had walked out with M'Leay a short distance from the river, and had +taken the dogs. They followed us to the camp on our return to it, but the +moment they saw us enter the tent, they went off to hunt by themselves. +About 10 p.m., one of them, Bob, came to the fire, and appeared very +uneasy; he remained, for a short time, and then went away. In about an +hour, he returned, and after exhibiting the same restlessness, again +withdrew. He returned the third time before morning dawned, but returned +alone. The men on the watch were very stupid not to have followed him, +for, no doubt, he went to his companion, to whom, most likely, some +accident had happened. I tried to make him show, but could not succeed, +and, after a long search, reluctantly pursued our journey, leaving poor +Sailor to his fate. This was the only misfortune that befell us, and we +each of us felt the loss of an animal which had participated in all our +dangers and privations. I more especially regretted the circumstance for +the sake of the gentleman who gave him to me, and, on account of his +superior size and activity. + +ENCOUNTER WITH NATIVES. + +With the loss of poor Sailor, our misfortunes re-commmenced. I anticipated +some trouble hereabouts, for, having succeeded in their hardihood once, +I knew the natives would again attempt to rob us, and that we should have +some difficulty in keeping them off. As soon as they found out that we +were in the river, they came to us, but left us at sunset. This was on the +21st. At nightfall, I desired the watch to keep a good look out, and +M'Leay and I went to lie down. We had chosen an elevated bank for our +position, and immediately opposite to us there was a small space covered +with reeds, under blue-gum trees. About 11, Hopkinson came to the tent to +say, that he was sure the blacks were approaching through the reeds. +M'Leay and `I got up, and, standing on the bank, listened attentively. +All we heard was the bark of a native dog apparently, but this was, in +fact, a deception on the part of the blacks. We made no noise, in +consequence of which they gradually approached, and two or three crept +behind the trunk of a tree that had fallen. As I thought they were near +enough, George M'Leay, by my desire, fired a charge of small shot at them. +They instantly made a precipitate retreat; but, in order the more +effectually to alarm them, Hopkinson fired a ball into the reeds, which we +distinctly heard cutting its way through them. All was quiet until about +three o'clock, when a poor wretch who, most probably, had thrown himself +on the ground when the shots were fired, at length mustered courage to get +up and effect his escape. + +In the morning, the tribe kept aloof, but endeavoured, by the most earnest +entreaties, and most pitiable howling, to gain our favour; but I +threatened to shoot any that approached, and they consequently kept at a +respectful distance, dogging us from tree to tree. It appeared, therefore, +that they were determined to keep us in view, no doubt, with the intention +of trying what they could do by a second attempt. As they went along, +their numbers increased, and towards evening, they amounted to a strong +tribe. Still they did not venture near us, and only now and then showed +themselves. Our situation at this moment would have been much more awkward +in the event of attack, than when we were in the open channel of the +Murray; because we were quite at the mercy of the natives if they had +closed upon us, and, being directly under the banks, should have received +every spear, while it would have been easy for them to have kept out of +sight in assailing us. + +APPARENT OBSTRUCTION OF THE CHANNEL. + +It was near sunset, the men were tired, and I was looking out for a +convenient place at which to rest, intending to punish these natives if +they provoked me, or annoyed the men. We had not seen any of them for some +time, when Hopkinson, who was standing in the bow of the boat, informed me +that they had thrown boughs across the river to prevent our passage. +I was exceedingly indignant at this, and pushed on, intending to force the +barrier. On our nearer approach, a solitary black was observed standing +close to the river, and abreast of the impediment which I imagined they +had raised to our further progress. I threatened to shoot this man, and +pointed to the branches that stretched right across the stream. The poor +fellow uttered not a word, but, putting his hand behind him, pulled out a +tomahawk from his belt, and held it towards me, by way of claiming our +acquaintance; and any anger was soon entirely appeased by discovering that +the natives had been merely setting a net across the river which these +branches supported. We, consequently, hung back, until they had drawn it, +and then passed on. + +MANOEUVRES OF THE NATIVES TO ROB THE BOAT AT NIGHT. + +The black to whom I had spoken so roughly, cut across a bight of the +river, and walking down to the side of the water with a branch in his +hand, in mark of confidence, presented me with a fishing net. We were +highly pleased at the frank conduct of this black, add a convenient place +offering itself, we landed and pitched our tents. Our friend, who was +about forty, brought his two wives, and a young man, to us: and at length +the other blacks mustered courage to approach; but those who had followed +us from the last camp, kept on the other side of the river. On pretence of +being different families, they separated into small bodies, and formed a +regular cordon round our camp. We foresaw that this was a manoeuvre, but, +in hopes that if I forgave the past they would desist from further +attempts, M'Leay took great pains in conciliating them, and treated them +with great kindness. We gave each family some fire and same presents, and +walked together to them by turns, to show that we had equal confidence in +all. Our friend had posted himself immediately behind our tents, at twenty +yards distance, with his little family, and kept altogether aloof from the +other natives. Having made our round of visits, and examined the various +modes the women had of netting, M'Leay and I went into our tent. + +It happened, fortunately, that my servant, Harris, was the first for +sentry. I told him to keep a watchful eye on the natives, and to call me +if any thing unusual occurred. We had again chosen a lofty bank for our +position; behind us there was a small plain, of about a quarter of a mile +in breadth, backed by a wood. I was almost asleep, when my servant came to +inform me, that the blacks had, with one accord, made a precipitate +retreat, and that not one of them was to be seen at the fires. I impressed +the necessity of attention upon him, and he again went to his post. +shortly after this, he returned: "Master," said he, "the natives are +coming." I jumped up, and, taking my gun, followed him, leaving my friend +George fast asleep. I would not disturb him, until necessity required, for +he had ever shown himself so devoted to duty as to deserve every +consideration. Harris led me a little way from the tents, and then +stopping, and pointing down the river, said, "There, sir, don't you see +them?" "Not I, indeed, Harris," I replied, "where do you mean? are you +sure you see them?" "Positive, sir," said he; "stoop and you will see +them." I did so, and saw a black mass in an opening. Convinced that I saw +them, I desired Harris to follow me, but not to fire unless I should give +the word. The rascals would not stand our charge, however, but retreated +as we advanced towards them. We then returned to the tents, and, +commending my servant for his vigilance, I once more threw myself on my +bed. I had scarcely lain down five minutes, when Harris called out, +"The blacks are close to me, sir; shall I fire at them?" "How fat are +they ?" I asked. "Within ten yards, sir." "Then fire," said I; and +immediately he did so. M'Leay and I jumped up to his assistance. "Well, +Harris," said I, "did you kill your man?" (he is a remarkably good shot.) +"No, sir," said he, "I thought you would repent it, so I fired between the +two." "Where were they, man?" said I. "Close to the boat, sir; and when +they heard me, they swam into the river, and dived as soon as I fired +between them." This account was verified by one of them puffing as he rose +below us, over whose head I fired a shot. Where the other got to I could +not tell. This watchfulness, on our part, however, prevented any further +attempts during the night. + +I was much pleased at the coolness of my servant, as well as his +consideration; and relieving him from his post, desired Hopkinson to take +it. I have no doubt that the approach of the natives, in the first +instance, was made with a view to draw us off from the camp, while some +others might rob the boat. If so, it was a good manoeuvre, and might have +succeeded. + +NATIVES DESERT THEIR WEAPONS--INGENUOUS CONDUCT OF A NATIVE. + +In the morning, we found the natives had left all their ponderous spears +at their fires, which were broken up and burnt. We were surprised to find +that our friend had left every thing in like manner behind him--his +spears, his nets, and his tomahawk; but as he had kept so wholly aloof +from the other blacks, I thought it highly improbable that he had joined +them, and the men were of opinion that he had retreated across the plain +into the wood. On looking in that direction we observed some smoke rising +among the trees at a little distance from the outskirts of the plain, and +under an impression that I should find the native at the fire with his +family, I took his spears and tomahawk, and walked across the plain, +unattended into the wood. I had not entered it more than fifty yards when +I saw a group of four natives, sitting round a small fire. One of them, +as I approached, rose up and met me, and in him I recognised the man for +whom I was seeking. When near enough, I stuck the spears upright into the +ground. The poor man stood thunderstruck; he spoke not, he moved not, +neither did he raise his eyes from the ground. I had kept the tomahawk out +of his sight, but I now produced and offered it to him. He gave a short +exclamation as his eyes caught sight of it, but he remained otherwise +silent before me, and refused to grasp the tomahawk, which accordingly +fell to the ground. I had evidently excited the man's feelings, but it is +difficult to say how he was affected. His manner indicated shame and +surprise, and the sequel will prove that both these feelings must have +possessed him. While we were thus standing together, his two wives came +up, to whom, after pointing to the spears and tomahawk, he said something, +without, however, looking at me; and they both instantly burst into tears +and wept aloud. I was really embarrassed during so unexpected a scene, +and to break it, invited the native to the camp, but I motioned with my +hand, as I had not my gun with me, that I would shoot any other of the +blacks who followed me. He distinctly understood my meaning, and intimated +as distinctly to me that they should not follow us; nor did they. We were +never again molested by them. + +I left him then, and, returning to the camp, told M'Leay my adventure, +with which he was highly delighted. My object is this procedure was to +convince the natives, generally, that we came not among them to injure or +to molest them, as well as to impress them with an idea of our superior +intelligence; and I am led to indulge the hope that I succeeded. Certain +it is, that an act of justice or of lenity has frequently, if well timed, +more weight than the utmost stretch of severity. With savages, more +particularly, to exhibit any fear, distrust, or irresolution, will +inevitably prove injurious. + +But although these adventures were happily not attended with bloodshed, +they harassed the men much; and our camp for near a week was more like an +outpost picquet than any thing else. This, however, terminated all +attempts on the part of the natives. From henceforth none of them followed +us on our route. + +BREACH THE DEPOT. + +At noon, I stopped about a mile short of the depot to take sights. After +dinner we pulled on, the men looking earnestly out for their comrades whom +they had left there, but none appeared. My little arbour, in which I had +written my letters, was destroyed, and the bank on which out tents had +stood was wholly deserted. We landed, however, and it was a satisfaction +to me to see the homeward track of the drays. The men were sadly +disappointed, and poor Clayton, who had anticipated a plentiful meal, was +completely chop fallen. M'Leay and I comforted them daily with the hopes +of meeting the drays, which I did not think improbable. + +Thus, it will appear, that we regained the place from which we started in +seventy-seven days, during which, we could not have pulled less than 2000 +miles. It is not for me, however, to make any comment, either on the +dangers to which we were occasionally exposed, or the toil and privations +we continually experienced in the course of this expedition. My duty is, +simply to give a plain narrative of facts, which I have done with +fidelity, and with as much accuracy as circumstances would permit. Had we +found Robert Harris at the depot, I should have considered it unnecessary +to trespass longer on the patient reader, but as our return to that post +did not relieve us from our difficulties, it remains for me to carry on +the narrative of our proceedings to the time when we reached the upper +branches of the Morumbidgee. + +DISAPPOINTED OF SUPPLIES. + +The hopes that had buoyed up the spirits of the men, ceased to operate as +soon as they were discovered to have been ill founded. The most gloomy +ideas took possession of their minds, and they fancied that we had been +neglected, and that Harris had remained in Sydney. It was to no purpose +that I explained to them that my instructions did not bind Harris to come +beyond Pondebadgery, and that I was confident he was then encamped upon +that plain. + +We had found the intricate navigation of the Morumbidgee infinitely more +distressing than the hard pulling up the open reaches of the Murray, for +we were obliged to haul the boat up between numberless trunks of trees, +an operation that exhausted the men much more than rowing. The river had +fallen below its former level, and rocks and logs were now exposed above +the water, over many of which the boat's keel must have grazed, as we +passed down with the current. I really shuddered frequently, at seeing +these complicated dangers, and I was at a loss to conceive how we could +have escaped them. The planks of our boat were so thin that if she had +struck forcibly against any one branch of the hundreds she must have +grazed, she would inevitably have been rent asunder from stem to stern. + +COMPLETE EXHAUSTION OF THE MEN--ONE LOSES HIS SENSES. + +The day after we passed the depot, on our return, we began to experience +the effects of the rains that had fallen in the mountains. The Morumbidgee +rose upon us six feet in one night, and poured along its turbid waters +with proportionate violence. For seventeen days we pulled against them +with determined perseverance, but human efforts, under privations such as +ours, tend to weaken themselves, and thus it was that the men began to +exhibit the effects of severe and unremitting toil. Our daily journeys +were short, and the head we made against the stream but trifling. The men +lost the proper and muscular jerk with which they once made the waters +foam and the oars bend. Their whole bodies swung with an awkward and +laboured motion. Their arms appeared to be nerveless; their faces became +haggard, their persons emaciated, their spirits wholly sunk; nature was so +completely overcome, that from mere exhaustion they frequently fell asleep +during their painful and almost ceaseless exertions. It grieved me to the +heart to see them in such a state at the close of so perilous a service, +and I began to reproach Robert Harris that he did not move down the river +to meet us; but, in fact, he was not to blame. I became captious, and +found fault where there was no occasion, and lost the equilibrium of my +temper in contemplating the condition of my companions. No murmur, +however, escaped them, nor did a complaint reach me, that was intended to +indicate that they had done all they could do. I frequently heard them in +their tent, when they thought I had dropped asleep, complaining of severe +pains and of great exhaustion. "I must tell the captain, tomorrow," some +of them would say, "that I can pull no more." To-marrow came, and they +pulled on, as if reluctant to yield to circumstances. Macnamee at length +lost his senses. We first observed this from his incoherent conversation, +but eventually from manner. He related the most extraordinary tales, and +fidgeted about eternally while in the boat. I felt it necessary, +therefore, to relieve him from the oars. + +Amidst these distresses, M'Leay preserved his good humour, and endeavoured +to lighten the task, and to cheer the men as much as possible. His +presence at this time was a source of great comfort to me. The uniform +kindness with which he had treated his companions, gave him an influence +over them now, and it was exerted with the happiest effect. + +DESPATCH TWO MEN TO PONDEBADGERY. + +On the 8th and 9th of April we had heavy rain, but there was no respite +for us. Our provisions were nearly consumed, and would have been wholly +exhausted, if we had not been so fortunate as to kill several swans. On +the 11th, we gained our camp opposite to Hamilton's Plains, after a day of +severe exertion. Our tents were pitched upon the old ground, and the marks +of our cattle were around us. In the evening, the men went out with their +guns, and M'Leay and I walked to the rear of the camp, to consult +undisturbed as to the moat prudent measures to be adopted, under our +embarrassing circumstances. The men were completely sunk. We were still +between eighty and ninety miles from Pondebadgery, in a direct line, and +nearly treble that distance by water. The task was greater than we could +perform, and our provisions were insufficient. In this extremity I thought +it best to save the men the mortification of yielding, by abandoning the +boat; and on further consideration, I determined on sending Hopkinson and +Mulholland, whose devotion, intelligence, and indefatigable spirits, +I well knew, forward to the plain. + +The joy this intimation spread was universal, Both Hopkinson and +Mulholland readily undertook the journey, and I, accordingly, prepared +orders for them to start by the earliest dawn. It was not without a +feeling of sorrow that I witnessed the departure of these two men, to +encounter a fatiguing march. I had no fears as to their gaining the plain, +if their reduced state would permit them. On the other hand, I hoped they +would fall in with our old friend the black, or that they would meet the +drays; and I could not but admire the spirit and energy they both +displayed upon the occasion. Their behaviour throughout had been such as +to awaken in my breast a feeling of the highest approbation. Their +conduct, indeed, exceeded all praise, nor did they hesitate one moment +when I called upon them to undertake this last trying duty, after such +continued exertion. I am sure the reader will forgive me for bringing +under his notice the generous efforts of these two men; by me it can never +be forgotten. + +ABANDON AND BURN THE BOAT. + +Six days had passed since their departure; we remaining encamped. M'Leay +and myself had made some short excursions, but without any result worthy +of notice. A group of sand-hills rose in the midst of the alluvial +deposits, about a quarter of a mile from the tents, that were covered with +coarse grasses and banksias. We shot several intertropical birds feeding +in the latter, and sucking the honey from their flowers. I had, in the +mean time, directed Clayton to make some plant cases of the upper planks +of the boat, and then to set fire to her, for she was wholly +unserviceable, and I felt a reluctance to leave her like a neglected log +on the water. The last ounce of flour had been served out to the men, and +the whole of it was consumed on the sixth day from that on which we had +abandoned the boat. I had calculated on seeing Hopkinson again in eight +days, but as the morrow would see us without food, I thought, as the men +had had a little rest it would be better to advance towards relief than to +await its arrival. + +MEN RETURN WITH SUPPLIES. + +On the evening of the 18th, therefore, we buried our specimens and other +stores, intending to break up the camp in the morning. A singular bird, +which invariably passed it at an hour after sunset, and which, from its +heavy flight, appeared to be of unusual size so attracted my notice, that +in the evening M'Leay and I crossed the river, in hope to get a shot at +it. We had, however, hardly landed on the other side, when a loud shout +called us back to witness the return of our comrades. + +They were both of them in a state that beggars description. Their knees +and ankles were dreadfully swollen, and their limbs so painful, that as +soon as they arrived in the camp they sunk under their efforts, but they +met us with smiling countenances, and expressed their satisfaction at +having arrived so seasonably to our relief. They had, as I had foreseen, +found Robert Harris on the plain, which they reached on the evening of the +third day. They had started early the next morning on their return with +such supplies as they thought we might immediately want. Poor Macnamee +had in a great measure recovered, but for same days he was sullen and +silent: sight of the drays gave him uncommon satisfaction. Clayton gorged +himself; but M'Leay, myself and Fraser could not at first relish the meat +that was placed before us. + +It was determined to give the bullocks a day of rest, and I availed myself +of the serviceable state of the horses to visit some hills about eighteen +miles to the northward. I was anxious to gain a view of the distant +country to the N.W., and to ascertain the geological character of the +hills themselves. M'Leay, Fraser, and myself left the camp early in the +morning of the 19th, on our way to them. Crossing the sand hills, we +likewise passed a creek, and, from the flooded or alluvial tracks, got on +an elevated sandy country, in which we found a beautiful grevillia. From +this we passed a barren ridge of quartz-formation, terminating in open box +forest. From it we descended and traversed a plain that must, at some +periods, be almost impassable. It was covered with acacia pendula, and the +soil was a red earth, bare of vegetation in many places. At its extremity +we came to some stony ridges, and, descending their northern side, gained +the base of the hills. They were more extensive than they appeared to be +from our camp; and were about six hundred feet in height, and composed of +a conglomerate rock. They were extremely barren, nor did the aspect of the +country seem to indicate a favourable change. I was enabled, however, to +connect my line of route with the more distant hills between the +Morumbidgee and the Lachlan. We returned to the camp at midnight. + +MEET WITH THE DRAYS. + +On the following morning we left our station before Hamilton's Plains. +We reached Pondebadgery on the 28th, and found Robert Harris, with a +plentiful supply of provisions. He had everything extremely regular, and +had been anxiously expecting our return, of which he at length wholly +despaired. He had been at the plain two months, and intended to have moved +down the river immediately, had we not made our appearance when we did. + +I had sent M'Leay forward on the 20th with letters to the Governor, whose +anxiety was great on our account. I remained for a fortnight on the plain +to restore the men, but Hopkinson had so much over-exerted himself that it +was with difficulty he crawled along. + +In my despatches to the Governor, from the depot, I had suggested the +policy of distributing some blankets and other presents to the natives on +the Morumbidgee, in order to reward those who had been useful to our +party, and in the hope of proving beneficial to settlers in that distant +part of the colony. His Excellency was kind enough to accede to my +request, and I found ample means for these purposes among the stores that +Harris brought from Sydney. + +We left Pondebadgery Plain early on the 5th of May, and reached Guise's +Station late in the afternoon. We gained Yass Plains on the 12th, having +struck through the mountain passes by a direct line, instead of returning +by our old route near Underaliga. As the party was crossing the plains I +rode to see Mr. O'Brien, but did not find him at home. + +INSTANCE OF CANNIBALISM. + +While waiting at his hut, one of the stockmen pointed out two blacks to me +at a little distance from us. The one was standing, the other sitting. +"That fellow, sir," said he, "who is sitting down, killed his infant child +last night by knocking its head against a stone, after which he threw it +on the fire and then devoured it." I was quite horror struck, and could +scarcely believe such a story. I therefore went up to the man and +questioned him as to the fact, as well as I could. He did not attempt to +deny it, but slunk away in evident consciousness. I then questioned the +other that remained, whose excuse for his friend was that the child was +sick and would never have grown up, adding he himself did not PELTER (eat) +any of it. + +Many of my readers may probably doubt this horrid occurrence having taken +place, as I have not mentioned any corroborating circumstances. I am +myself, however, as firmly persuaded of the truth of what I have stated as +if I had seen the savage commit the act; for I talked to his companion who +did see him, and who described to me the manner in which he killed the +child. Be it as it may, the very mention of such a thing among these +people goes to prove that they are capable of such an enormity. + +We left Yass Plains on the 14th of May, and reached Sydney by easy stages +on the 25th, after an absence of nearly six months. + + +* * * * * + + +CONCLUDING REMARKS. + + +To most of my readers, the foregoing narrative will appear little else +than a succession of adventures. Whilst the expedition was toiling down +the rivers, no rich country opened upon the view to reward or to cheer the +perseverance of those who composed it, and when, at length, the land of +promise lay smiling before them, their strength and their means were too +much exhausted to allow of their commencing an examination, of the result +of which there could be but little doubt. The expedition returned to +Sydney, without any splendid discovery to gild its proceedings; and the +labours and dangers it had encountered were considered as nothing more +than ordinary occurrences. If I myself had entertained hopes that my +researches would have benefited the colony, I was wholly disappointed. +There is a barren tract of country lying to the westward of the Blue +Mountains that will ever divide the eastern coast from the more central +parts of Australia, as completely as if seas actually rolled between them. + +GEOGRAPHICAL REMARKS. + +In a geographical point of view, however, nothing could have been more +satisfactory, excepting an absolute knowledge of the country to the +northward between the Murray and the Darling, than the results of the +expedition. I have in its proper place stated, as fairly as I could, my +reasons for supposing the principal junction (which I consequently left +without a name) to be the Darling of my former journey, as well as the +various arguments that bore against such a conclusion. + +Of course, where there is so much room for doubt, opinions will be +various. I shall merely review the subject, in order to connect subsequent +events with my previous observations, and to give the reader a full idea +of that which struck me to be the case on a close and anxious +investigation of the country from mountain to lowland. I returned from the +Macquarie with doubts on my mind as to the ultimate direction to which the +waters of the Darling river might ultimately flow; for, with regard to +every other point, the question was, I considered, wholly decided. But, +with regard to that singular stream, I was, from the little knowledge I +had obtained, puzzled as to its actual course; and I thought it as likely +that it might turn into the heart of the interior, as that it would make +to the south. It had not, however, escaped my notice, that the northern +rivers turned more abruptly southward (after gaining a certain distance +from the base of the ranges) than the more southern streams: near the +junction of the Castlereagh with the Darling especially, the number of +large creeks joining the first river from the north, led me to conclude +that there was at that particular spot a rapid fall of country to the +south. + +The first thing that strengthened in my mind this half-formed opinion, was +the fall of the Lachlan into the Morumbidgee. I had been told that +Australia was a basin; that an unbroken range of hills lined its coasts, +the internal rivers of which fell into its centre, and contributed to the +formation of an inland sea; I was not therefore prepared to find a break +in the chain--a gap as it were for the escape of these waters to the +coast. + +Subsequently to our entrance into the Murray, the remarkable efforts of +that river to maintain a southerly course were observed even by the men, +and the singular runs it made to the south, when unchecked by high lands, +clearly evinced its natural tendency to flow in that direction. + +Had we found ourselves at an elevation above the bed of the Darling when +we reached the junction of the principal tributary with the Murray, I +should still have had doubts on my mind as to the identity of that +tributary with the first-mentioned river; but considering the trifling +elevation of the Darling above the sea, and that the junction was still +less elevated above it, I cannot bring myself to believe that the former +alters its course. It is not, however, on this simple geographical +principle that I have built my conclusions; other corroborative +circumstances have tended also to confirm in my mind the opinion I have +already given, not only of the comparatively recent appearance above +the ocean of the level country over which I had passed, but that the true +dip of the interior is from north to south. + +In support of the first of these conclusions, it would appear that a +current of water must have swept the vast accumulation of shells, forming +the great fossil bank through which the Murray passes from the northern +extremity of the continent, to deposit them where they are; and it would +further appear from the gradual rise of this bed, on an inclined plain +from N.N.E. to S.S.W., that it must in the first instance, have swept +along the base of the ranges, but ultimately turned into the above +direction by the convexity of the mountains at the S.E. angle of the +coast. From the circumstance, moreover, of the summit of the fossil +formation being in places covered with oyster shells, the fact of the +whole mass having been under water is indisputable, and leads us naturally +to the conclusion that the depressed interior beyond it must have been +under water at the same time. + +It was proved by barometrical admeasurement, that the cataract of the +Macquarie was 680 feet above the level of the sea, and, in like manner, +it was found that the depot of Mr. Oxley, on the Lachlan, was only 500, +there being a still greater fall of country beyond these two points. +The maximum height of the fossil bank was 300 feet; and if we suppose a +line to be drawn from its top to the eastward, that line would pass over +the marshes of the two rivers, and would cut them at a point below which +they both gradually diminish. Hence I am brought to conclude that in +former times the sea washed the western base of the dividing ranges, at or +near the two points whose respective elevations I have given; and that +when the mass of land now lying waste and unproductive, became exposed, +the rivers, which until then had pursued a regular course to the ocean, +having no channel beyond their original termination, overflowed the almost +level country into which they now fall; or, filling some extensive +concavity, have contributed, by successive depositions, to the formation +of those marshes of which so much has been said. I regret extremely, that +my defective vision prevents me giving a slight sketch to elucidate +whet I fear I have, in words, perhaps, failed in making sufficiently +intelligible. + +GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. + +Now, as we know not by what means the changes that have taken place on the +earth's surface have been effected, and can only reason on them from +analogy, it is to be feared we shall never arrive at any clear +demonstration of the truth of our surmises with regard to geographical +changes, whether extensive or local, since the causes which produced them +will necessarily have ceased to operate. We cannot refer to the dates when +they took place, as we may do in regard to the eruptions of a volcano, +or the appearance or disappearance of an island. Such events are of minor +importance. Those mighty changes to which I would be understood to allude, +can hardly be laid to the account of chemical agency. We can easily +comprehend how subterranean fires will occasionally burst forth, and can +thus satisfactorily account for earthquake or volcano; but it is not to +any clashing of properties, or to any visible causes, that the changes of +which I speak can be attributed. They appear rather as the consequences of +direct agency, of an invisible power, not as the occasional and fretful +workings of nature herself. The marks of that awful catastrophe which so +nearly extinguished the human race, are every day becoming more and more +visible as geological research proceeds. Thus, in the limestone caves at +Wellington Valley, the remains of fossils and exuviae, show that their +depths were penetrated by the same searching element that poured into the +caverns of Kirkdale and other places. They are as gleams of sunshine +falling upon the pages of that sublime and splendid volume, in which the +history of the deluge is alone to be found; as if the Almighty intended +that His word should stand single and unsupported before mankind: and when +we consider that such corroborative testimonies of his wrath, as those I +have noticed, were in all probability wholly unknown to those who wrote +that sacred book, the discovery of the remains of a past world, must +strike those under whose knowledge it may fall with the truth of that +awful event, which language has vainly endeavoured to describe and +painters to represent. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + + +Environs of the lake Alexandrina--Appointment of Capt. Barker to make a +further survey of the coast near Encounter Bay--Narrative of his +proceedings--Mount Lofty, Mount Barker, and beautiful country adjacent-- +Australian salmon--Survey of the coast--Outlet of lake to the sea-- +Circumstances that led to the slaughter of Capt. Barker by the natives-- +His character--Features of this part of the country and capabilities of +its coasts--Its adaptation for colonization--Suggestions for the +furtherance of future Expeditions. + +ENVIRONS OF THE LAKE ALEXANDRINA. + +The foregoing narrative will have given the reader some idea of the state +in which the last expedition reached the bottom of that extensive and +magnificent basin which receives the waters of the Murray. The men were, +indeed, so exhausted, in strength, and their provisions so much reduced by +the time they gained the coast, that I doubted much, whether either would +hold out to such place as we might hope for relief. Yet, reduced as the +whole of us were from previous exertion, beset as our homeward path was by +difficulty and danger, and involved as our eventual safety was in +obscurity and doubt, I could not but deplore the necessity that obliged me +to re-cross the Lake Alexandrina (as I had named it in honour of the heir +apparent to the British crown), and to relinquish the examination of its +western shores. We were borne over its ruffled and agitated surface with +such rapidity, that I had scarcely time to view it as we passed; but, +cursory as my glance was, I could but but think I was leaving behind me +the fullest reward of our toil, in a country that would ultimately render +our discoveries valuable, and benefit the colony for whose interests we +were engaged. Hurried, I would repeat, as my view of it was, my eye never +fell on a country of more promising aspect, or of more favourable +position, than that which occupies the space between the lake and the +ranges of St. Vincent's Gulf, and, continuing northerly from Mount Barker, +stretches away, without any visible boundary. + +It appeared to me that, unless nature had deviated from her usual laws, +this tract of country could not but be fertile, situated as it was to +receive the mountain deposits on the one hand, and those of the lake upon +the other. + +FURTHER EXAMINATION OF THE COAST. + +In my report to the Colonial Government, however, I did not feel myself +justified in stating, to their full extent, opinions that were founded on +probability and conjecture alone. But, although I was guarded in this +particular, I strongly recommended a further examination of the coast, +from the most eastern point of Encounter Bay, to the head St. Vincent's +Gulf, to ascertain if any other than the known channel existed among the +sand-hills of the former, or if, as I had every reason to hope from the +great extent of water to the N.W., there was a practicable communication +with the lake from the other; and I ventured to predict, that a closer +survey of the interjacent country, would be attended with the most +beneficial results; nor have I a doubt that the promontory of Cape Jervis +would ere this have been settled, had Captain Barker lived to complete his +official reports. + +CAPT. BARKER'S SURVEY. + +The governor, General Darling, whose multifarious duties might well have +excused him from paying attention to distant objects, hesitated not a +moment when he thought the interests of the colony, whose welfare he so +zealously promoted, appeared to be concerned; and he determined to avail +himself of the services of Captain Collet Barker, of the 39th regiment, +who was about to be recalled from King George's Sound, in order to satisfy +himself as to the correctness of my views. + +Captain Barker had not long before been removed from Port Raffles, on the +northern coast, where he had had much intercourse with the natives, and +had frequently trusted himself wholly in their hands. It was not, however, +merely on account of his conciliating manners, and knowledge of the temper +and habits of the natives, that he was particularly fitted for the duty +upon which it was the governor's pleasure to employ him. He was, in +addition, a man of great energy of character, and of much and various +information. + +Orders having reached Sydney, directing the establishment belonging to +New South Wales to be withdrawn, prior to the occupation of King George's +Sound by the government of Western Australia, the ISABELLA schooner was +sent to receive the troops and prisoners on board; and Captain Barker was +directed, as soon as he should have handed over the settlement to Captain +Stirling, to proceed to Cape Jervis from which point it was thought he +could best carry on a survey not only of the coast but also of the +interior. + +This excellent and zealous officer sailed from King George's Sound, on the +10th of April, 1831, and arrived off Cape Jervis on the 13th. He was +attended by Doctor Davies, one of the assistant surgeons of his regiment, +and by Mr. Kent, of the Commissariat. It is to the latter gentleman that +the public are indebted for the greater part of the following details; +he having attended Captain Barker closely during the whole of this short +but disastrous excursion, and made notes as copious as they are +interesting. At the time the ISABELLA arrived off Cape Jervis, the weather +was clear and favourable. Captain Barker consequently stood into +St. Vincent's Gulf, keeping, as near as practicable, to the eastern shore, +in soundings that varied from six to ten fathoms, upon sand and mud. +His immediate object was to ascertain if there was any communication with +the lake Alexandrina from the gulf. He ascended to lat. 34 degrees +40 minutes where he fully satisfied himself that no channel did exist +between them. He found, however, that the ranges behind Cape Jervis +terminated abruptly at Mount Lofty, in lat. 34 degrees 56 minutes, and, +that a flat and wooded country succeeded to the N. and N.E. The shore of +the gulf tended more to the N.N.W., and mud flats and mangrove swamps +prevailed along it. + +INVITING COUNTRY--MOUNT LOFTY. + +Mr. Kent informs me, that they landed for the first time on the 15th, but +that they returned almost immediately to the vessel. On the 17th, Captain +Barker again landed, with the intention of remaining on shore for two or +three days. He was accompanied by Mr. Kent, his servant Mills, and two +soldiers. The boat went to the place at which they had before landed, as +they thought they had discovered a small river with a bar entrance. They +crossed the bar, and ascertained that it was a narrow inlet, of four miles +in length, that terminated at the base of the ranges. The party were quite +delighted with the aspect of the country on either side of the inlet, +and with the bold and romantic scenery behind them. The former bore the +appearance of natural meadows, lightly timbered, and covered with a +variety of grasses. The soil was observed to be a rich, fat, chocolate +coloured earth, probably the decomposition of the deep blue limestone, +that showed itself along the coast hereabouts. On the other hand, a rocky +glen made a cleft in the ranges at the head of the inlet; and they were +supplied with abundance of fresh water which remained in the deeper pools +that had been filled by the torrents during late rains. The whole +neighbourhood was so inviting that the party slept at the head of the +inlet. + +MOUNT LOFTY AND ITS ENVIRONS. + +In the morning, Captain Barker proceeded to ascend Mount Lofty, +accompanied by Mr. Kent and his servant, leaving the two soldiers at the +bivouac, at which he directed them to remain until his return. Mr. Kent +says they kept the ridge all the way, and rose above the sea by a gradual +ascent. The rock-formation of the lower ranges appeared to be an +argillaceous schist; the sides and summit of the ranges were covered with +verdure, and the trees upon them were of more than ordinary size. The view +to the eastward was shut out by other ranges, parallel to those on which +they were; below them to the westward, the same pleasing kind of country +that flanked the inlet still continued. + +MOUNT BARKER. + +In the course of the day they passed round the head of a deep ravine, +whose smooth and grassy sides presented a beautiful appearance. The party +stood 600 feet above the bed of a small rivulet that occupied the bottom +of the ravine. In some places huge blocks of granite interrupted its +course, in others the waters had worn the rock smooth. The polish of these +rocks was quite beautiful, and the veins of red and white quartz which +traversed them, looked like mosaic work. They did not gain the top of +Mount Lofty, but slept a few miles beyond the ravine. In the morning +they continued their journey, and, crossing Mount Lofty, descended +northerly, to a point from which the range bent away a little to the +N.N.E., and then terminated. The view from this point was much more +extensive than that from Mount Lofty itself. They overlooked a great part +of the gulf, and could distinctly see the mountains at the head of it to +the N.N.W. To the N.W. there was a considerable indentation in the coast, +which had escaped Captain Barker's notice when examining it. A mountain, +very similar to Mount Lofty, bore due east of them, and appeared to be the +termination of its range. They were separated by a valley of about ten +miles in width, the appearance of which was not favourable. Mr. Kent +states to me, that Capt. Barker observed at the time that he thought it +probable I had mistaken this hill for Mount Lofty, since it shut out the +view of the lake from him, and therefore he naturally concluded, I could +not have seen Mount Lofty. I can readily imagine such an error to have +been made by me, more especially as I remember that at the time I was +taking bearings in the lake, I thought Captain Flinders had not given +Mount Lofty, as I then conceived it to be, its proper position in +longitude. Both hills are in the same parallel of latitude. The mistake on +my part is obvious. I have corrected it in the charts, and have availed +myself of the opportunity thus afforded me of perpetuating, as far as I +can, the name of an inestimable companion in Captain Barker himself + +Immediately below the point on which they stood, Mr. Kent says, a low +undulating country extended to the northward, as far as he could see. +It was partly open, and partly wooded; and was every where covered with +verdure. It continued round to the eastward, and apparently ran down +southerly, at the opposite base of the mount Barker Range. I think there +can be but little doubt that my view from the S.E., that is, from the +lake, extended over the same or a part of the same country. Captain Barker +again slept on the summit of the range, near a large basin that looked +like the mouth of a crater, in which huge fragments of rocks made a scene +of the utmost confusion. These rocks were a coarse grey granite, of which +the higher parts and northern termination of the Mount Lofty range are +evidently formed; for Mr. Kent remarks that it superseded the schistose +formation at the ravine we have noticed--and that, subsequently, the sides +of the hills became more broken, and valleys, or gullies, more properly +speaking, very numerous. Captain Barker estimated the height of Mount +Lofty above the sea at 2,400 feet, and the distance of its summit from the +coast at eleven miles. Mr. Kent says they were surprised at the size of +the trees on the immediate brow of it; they measured one and found it to +be 43 feet in girth. Indeed, he adds, vegetation did not appear to have +suffered either from its elevated position, or from any prevailing wind. +Eucalypti were the general timber on the ranges; one species of which, +resembling strongly the black butted-gum, was remarkable for a scent +peculiar to its bark. + +AUSTRALIAN SALMON. + +The party rejoined the soldiers on the 21st, and enjoyed the supply of +fish which they had provided for them. The soldiers had amused themselves +by fishing during Captain Barker's absence, and had been abundantly +successful. Among others they had taken a kind of salmon, which, though +inferior in size, resembled in shape, in taste, and in the colour of its +flesh, the salmon of Europe. I fancied that a fish which I observed with +extremely glittering scales, in the mouth of a seal, when myself on the +coast, must have been of this kind; and I have no doubt that the lake is +periodically visited by salmon, and that these fish retain their habits of +entering fresh water at particular seasons, also in the southern +hemisphere. + +Immediately behind Cape Jervis, there is a small bay, in which according +to the information of the sealers who frequent Kangaroo Island, there is +good and safe anchorage for seven months in the year, that is to say, +during the prevalence of the E. and N.E. winds. + +SURVEY OF THE COAST. + +Captain Barker landed on the 21st on this rocky point at the northern +extremity of this bay. He had, however, previously to this, examined the +indentation in the coast which he had observed from Mount Lofty, and had +ascertained that it was nothing more than an inlet; a spit of sand, +projecting from the shore at right angles with it, concealed the month of +the inlet. They took the boat to examine this point, and carried six +fathoms soundings round the head of the spit to the mouth of the inlet, +when it shoaled to two fathoms, and the landing was observed to be bad, +by reason of mangrove swamps on either side of it. Mr. Kent, I think, told +me that this inlet was from ten to twelve miles long. Can it be that a +current setting out of it at times, has thrown up the sand-bank that +protects its mouth, and that trees, or any other obstacle, have hidden its +further prolongation from Captain Barker's notice? I have little hope that +such is the case, but the remark is not an idle one. + +BEAUTIFUL VALLEYS. + +Between this inlet and the one formerly mentioned, a small and clear +stream was discovered, to which Captain Barker kindly gave my name. On +landing, the party, which consisted of the same persons as the former one, +found themselves in a valley, which opened direct upon the bay. It was +confined to the north from the chief range by a lateral ridge, that +gradually declined towards and terminated at, the rocky point on which +they had landed. The other side of the valley was formed of a continuation +of the main range, which also gradually declined to the south, and +appeared to be connected with the hills at the extremity of the cape. +The valley was from nine to ten miles in length, and from three to four in +breadth. In crossing it, they ascertained that the lagoon from which the +schooner had obtained a supply of water, was filled by a watercourse that +came down its centre. The soil in the valley was rich, but stony in some +parts. There was an abundance of pasture over the whole, from amongst +which they started numerous kangaroos. The scenery towards the ranges was +beautiful and romantic, and the general appearance of the country such as +to delight the whole party. + +Preserving a due east course, Captain Barker passed over the opposite +range of hills, and descended almost immediately into a second valley that +continued to the southwards. Its soil was poor and stony, and it was +covered with low scrub. Crossing it, they ascended the opposite range, +from the summit of which they had a view of Encounter Bay. An extensive +flat stretched from beneath them to the eastward, and was backed, in the +distance, by sand hummocks, and low wooded hills. The extreme right of the +flat rested upon the coast, at a rocky point near which there were two or +three islands. From the left a beautiful valley opened upon it. A strong +and clear rivulet from this valley traversed the flat obliquely, and fell +into the sea at the rocky point, or a little to the southward of it. +The hills forming the opposite side of the valley had already terminated. +Captain Barker, therefore, ascended to higher ground, and, at length, +obtained a view of the Lake Alexandrina, and the channel of its +communication with the sea to the N.E. He now descended to the flat, and +frequently expressed his anxious wish to Mr. Kent that I had been one of +their number to enjoy the beauty of the scenery around them, and to +participate in their labours. Had fate so ordained it, it is possible the +melancholy tragedy that soon after occurred might have been averted. + +OUTLET OF LAKE TO THE SEA. + +At the termination of the flat they found themselves upon the banks of the +channel, and close to the sand hillock under which my tents had been +pitched. From this point they proceeded along the line of sand-hills to +the outlet; from which it would appear that Kangaroo Island is not +visible, but that the distant point which I mistook for it was the S.E. +angle of Cape Jervis. I have remarked, in describing that part of the +coast, that there is a sand-hill to the eastward of the inlet, under which +the tide runs strong, and the water is deep. Captain Barker judged the +breadth of the channel to be a quarter of a mile, and he expressed a +desire to swim across it to the sand-hill to take bearings, and to +ascertain the nature of the strand beyond it to the eastward. + +It unfortunately happened, that he was the only one of the party who could +swim well, in consequence of which his people remonstrated with him on the +danger of making the attempt unattended. Notwithstanding, however, that +he was seriously indisposed, he stripped, and after Mr. Kent had fastened +his compass on his head for him, he plunged into the water, and with +difficulty gained the opposite side; to effect which took him nine minutes +and fifty-eight seconds. His anxious comrades saw him ascend the hillock, +and take several bearings; he then descended the farther side, and was +never seen by them again. + +CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING THE LOSS OF CAPTAIN BARKER. + +For a considerable time Mr. Kent remained stationary, in momentary +expectation of his return; but at length, taking the two soldiers with +him, he proceeded along the shore in search of wood for a fire. At about +a quarter of a mile, the soldiers stopped and expressed their wish to +return, as their minds misgave them, and they feared that Captain Barker +had met with some accident. While conversing, they heard a distant shout, +or cry, which Mr. Kent thought resembled the call of the natives, but +which the soldiers positively declared to be the voice of a white man. +On their return to their companions, they asked if any sounds had caught +their ears, to which they replied in the negative. The wind was blowing +from the E.S.E., in which direction Captain Barker had gone; and, to me, +the fact of the nearer party not having heard that which must have been +his cries for assistance, is satisfactorily accounted for, as, being +immediately under the hill, the sounds must have passed over their heads +to be heard more distinctly at the distance at which Mr. Kent and the +soldiers stood. It is more than probable, that while his men were +expressing their anxiety about him, the fearful tragedy was enacting which +it has become my painful task to detail. + +Evening closed in without any signs of Captain Barker's return, or any +circumstance by which Mr. Kent could confirm his fears that he had fallen +into the hands of the natives. For, whether it was that the tribe which +had shown such decided hostility to me when on the coast had not observed +the party, none made their appearance; and if I except two, who crossed +the channel when Mr. Kent was in search of wood, they had neither seen nor +heard any; and Captain Barker's enterprising disposition being well known +to his men, hopes were still entertained that he was safe. A large fire +was kindled, and the party formed a silent and anxious group around it. +Soon after night-fall, however, their attention was roused by the sounds +of the natives, and it was at length discovered, that they had lighted a +chain of small fires between the sand-hill Captain Barker had ascended and +the opposite side of the channel, around which their women were chanting +their melancholy dirge. It struck upon the ears of the listeners with an +ominous thrill, and assured them of the certainty of the irreparable loss +they had sustained. All night did those dismal sounds echo along that +lonely shore, but as morning dawned, they ceased, and Mr. Kent and his +companions were again left in anxiety and doubt. They, at length, thought +it most advisable to proceed to the schooner to advise with Doctor +Davies. They traversed the beach with hasty steps, but did not get on +board till the following day. It was then determined to procure assistance +from the sealers on Kangaroo Island, as the only means by which they could +ascertain their leader's fate, and they accordingly entered American +Harbour. For a certain reward, one of the men agreed to accompany Mr. Kent +to the main with a native woman, to communicate with the tribe that was +supposed to have killed him. They landed at or near the rocky point of +Encounter Bay, where they were joined by two other natives, one of whom +was blind. The woman was sent forward for intelligence, and on her return +gave the following details: + +ACCOUNT OF HIS MURDER. + +It appears that at a very considerable distance from the first sand-hill, +there is another to which Captain Barker must have walked, for the woman +stated that three natives were going to the shore from their tribe, and +that they crossed his tract. Their quick perception immediately told them +it was an unusual impression. They followed upon it, and saw Captain +Barker returning. They hesitated for a long time to approach him, being +fearful of the instrument he carried. At length, however, they closed upon +him. Capt. Barker tried to soothe them, but finding that they were +determined to attack him, he made for the water from which he could not +have been very distant. One of the blacks immediately threw his spear and +struck him in the hip. This did not, however, stop him. He got among the +breakers, when he received the second spear in the shoulder. On this, +turning round, he received a third full in the breast: with such deadly +precision do these savages cast their weapons. It would appear that the +third spear was already on its flight when Capt. Barker turned, and it is +to be hoped, that it was at once mortal. He fell on his back into the +water. The natives then rushed in, and dragging him out by the legs, +seized their spears, and indicted innumerable wounds upon his body; +after which, they threw it into deep water, and the sea-tide carried it +away. + +HIS CHARACTER. + +Such, we have every reason to believe, was the untimely fate of this +amiable and talented man. It is a melancholy satisfaction to me thus +publicly to record his worth; instrumental, as I cannot but in some +measure consider my last journey to have been in leading to this fatal +catastrophe. Captain Barker was in disposition, as he was in the close +of his life, in many respects similar to Captain Cook. Mild, affable, and +attentive, he had the esteem and regard of every companion, and the +respect of every one under him. Zealous in the discharge of his public +duties, honourable and just in private life; a lover and a follower of +science; indefatigable and dauntless in his pursuits; a steady friend, +an entertaining companion; charitable, kind-hearted, disinterested, +and sincere--the task is equally difficult to find adequate expressions of +praise or of regret. In him the king lost one of his most valuable +officers, and his regiment one of its most efficient members. Beloved as +he was, the news of his loss struck his numerous friends with sincere +grief, but by none was it more severely felt than by the humble individual +who has endeavoured thus feebly to draw his portrait. + +From the same source from which the particulars of his death were +obtained, it was reported that the natives who perpetrated the deed were +influenced by no other motive than curiosity to ascertain if they had +power to kill a white man. But we must be careful in giving credit to +this, for it is much more probable that the cruelties exercised by the +sealers towards the blacks along the south coast, may have instigated the +latter to take vengeance on the innocent as well as on the guilty. It will +be seen, by a reference to the chart, that Captain Barker, by crossing the +channel, threw himself into the very hands of that tribe which had evinced +such determined hostility to myself and my men. He got into the rear of +their strong hold, and was sacrificed to those feelings of suspicion, and +to that desire of revenge, which the savages never lose sight of until +they have been gratified. + +FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY, AND CAPABILITIES OF THE COAST. + +It yet remains for me to state that when Mr. Kent returned to the +schooner, after this irreparable loss, he kept to the south of the place +at which he had crossed the first range with Captain Barker, and travelled +through a valley right across the promontory. He thus discovered that +there was a division in the ranges, through which there was a direct and +level road from the little bay on the northern extremity of which they had +last landed in St. Vincent's Gulf, to the rocky point of Encounter Bay. +The importance of this fact will be better estimated, when it is known +that good anchorage is secured to small vessels inside the island that +lies off the point of Encounter Bay, which is rendered still safer by a +horse shoe reef that forms, as it were, a thick wall to break the swell of +the sea. But this anchorage is not safe for more than five months in the +year. Independently of these points, however, Mr. Kent remarks, that the +spit a little to the north of Mount Lofty would afford good shelter to +minor vessels under its lee. When the nature of the country is taken into +consideration, and the facility of entering that which lies between the +ranges and the Lake Alexandrina, from the south, and of a direct +communication with the lake itself, the want of an extensive harbour will, +in some measure, be compensated for, more especially when it is known that +within four leagues of Cape Jervis, a port little inferior to Port +Jackson, with a safe and broad entrance, exists at Kangaroo Island. The +sealers have given this spot the name of American Harbour. In it, I am +informed, vessels are completely land-locked, and secure from every wind. +Kangaroo Island is not, however, fertile by any means. It abounds in +shallow lakes filled with salt water during high tides, and which, by +evaporation, yield a vast quantity of salt. + +I gathered from the sealers that neither the promontory separating +St. Vincent from Spencer's Gulf, nor the neighbourhood of Port Lincoln, +are other than barren and sandy wastes. They all agree in describing Port +Lincoln itself as a magnificent roadstead, but equally agree as to the +sterility of its shores. It appears, therefore, that the promontory of +Cape Jervis owes its superiority to its natural features; in fact, to the +mountains that occupy its centre, to the debris that has been washed from +them, and to the decomposition of the better description of its rocks. +Such is the case at Illawarra, where the mountains approach the sea; such +indeed is the case every where, at a certain distance from mountain +ranges. + +ADAPTION OF THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY FOR COLONISATION. + +From the above account it would appear that a spot has, at length, been +found upon the south coast of New Holland, to which the colonist might +venture with every prospect of success, and in whose valleys the exile +might hope to build for himself and for his family a peaceful and +prosperous home. All who have ever landed upon the eastern shore of +St. Vincent's Gulf, agree as to the richness of its soil, and the +abundance of its pasture. Indeed, if we cast our eyes upon the chart, and +examine the natural features of the country behind Cape Jervis, we shall +no longer wonder at its differing in soil and fertility from the low and +sandy tracks that generally prevail along the shores of Australia. Without +entering largely into the consideration of the more remote advantages that +would, in all human probability, result from the establishment of a +colony, rather than a penal settlement, at St. Vincent's Gulf, it will be +expedient to glance hastily over the preceding narrative, and, disengaging +it from all extraneous matter, to condense, as much as possible, the +information it contains respecting the country itself; for I have been +unable to introduce any passing remark, lest I should break the thread of +an interesting detail. + +The country immediately behind Cape Jervis may, strictly speaking, be +termed a promontory, bounded to the west by St. Vincent's Gulf, and to the +east by the lake Alexandrina, and the sandy track separating that basin +from the sea. Supposing a line to be drawn from the parallel of 34 degrees +40 minutes to the eastward, it will strike the Murray river about 25 miles +above the head of the lake, and will clear the ranges, of which Mount +Lofty and Mount Barker are the respective terminations. The line will cut +off a space whose greatest breadth will be 55 miles, whose length from +north to south will be 75, and whose surface exceeds 7 millions of acres; +from which if we deduct 2 millions for the unavailable hills, we shall +have 5 millions of acres of land, of rich soil, upon which no scrub +exists, and whose most distant points are accessible, through a level +country on the one hand, and by water on the other. The southern extremity +of the ranges can be turned by that valley through which Mr. Kent returned +to the schooner, after Captain Barker's death. It is certain, therefore, +that this valley not only secures so grand a point, but also presents a +level line of communication from the small bay immediately to the north of +the cape, to the rocky point of Encounter Bay, at both of which places +there is safe anchorage at different periods of the year. + +HINTS FOR FUTURE EXPEDITIONS. + +The only objection that can be raised to the occupation of this spot, is +the want of an available harbour. Yet it admits of great doubt whether the +contiguity of Kangaroo Island to Cape Jervis, (serving as it does to break +the force of the prevailing winds, as also of the heavy swell that would +otherwise roll direct into the bay,) and the fact of its possessing a safe +and commodious harbour, certainly at an available distance, does not in a +great measure remove the objection. Certain it is that no port, with the +exception of that on the shores of which the capital of Australia is +situated, offers half the convenience of this, although it be detached +between three and four leagues from the main. + +On the other hand it would appear, that there is no place from which at +any time the survey of the more central parts of the continent could be so +effectually carried on; for in a country like Australia, where the chief +obstacle to be apprehended in travelling is the want of water, the +facilities afforded by the Murray and its tributaries, are indisputable; +and I have little doubt that the very centre of the continent might be +gained by a judicious and enterprising expedition. Certainly it is most +desirable to ascertain whether the river I have supposed to be the Darling +be really so or not. I have stated my objection to depots, but I think +that if a party commenced its operations upon the Murray from the +junction upwards, and, after ascertaining the fact of its ultimate course, +turned away to the N.W. up one of the tributaries of the Murray, with a +supply of six months' provisions, the results would be of the most +satisfactory kind, and the features of the country be wholly developed. +I cannot, I think, conclude this work better than by expressing a hope, +that the Colonial Government will direct such measures to be adopted as +may be necessary for the extension of our geographical knowledge in +Australia. The facilities of fitting out expeditions in New South Wales, +render the expenses of little moment, when compared with the importance of +the object in view; and although I am labouring under the effects of +former attempts, yet would I willingly give such assistance as I could to +carry such an object into effect. + + + + + +APPENDIX. + + + + +APPENDIX No. I. + + + +GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS FOUND TO THE SOUTH-WEST OF PORT JACKSON. + + +Considering the nature of the country over which the first expedition +travelled, it could hardly have been expected that its geological +specimens would be numerous. It will appear, however, from the following +list of rocks collected during the second expedition, that the geological +formation of the mountains to the S.W. of Port Jackson is as various as +that to the N.W. of it is mountainous. The specimens are described not +according to their natural order, but in the succession in which they +were found, commencing from Yass Plains, and during the subsequent stages +of the journey. + + +Sandstone, Old Red.--Found on various parts of Yass Plains, in contact +with + +Limestone, Transition.--Colour dark grey; composes the bed of the Yass +River, and apparently traverses the sandstone formation. Yass Plains lie +170 miles to the S.W. of Sydney. + +Sandstone, Old Red.-Again succeeds the limestone, and continues to the +N.W. to a considerable distance over a poor and scrubby country, covered +for the most part with a dwarf species of Eucalyptus. + +Granite.--Colour grey; feldspar, black mica, and quartz: succeeds the +sandstone, and continues to the S.W. as far as the Morumbidgee River, +over an open forest country broken into hill and dale. It is generally on +these granite rocks that the best grazing is found. + +Greywacke.--Colour grey, of light hue, or dark, with black specks. +Soft.--Composition of a part of the ranges that form the valley of the +Morumbidgee. + +Serpentine.--Colour green of different shades, striped sulphur yellow; +slaty fracture, soft and greasy to the touch. Forms hills of moderate +elevation, of peculiarly sharp spine, resting on quartz. Composition of +most of the ranges opposite the Doomot River on the Morumbidgee, in +lat. 35 degrees 4 minutes and long. 147 degrees 40 minutes. + +Quartz.--Colour snow-white; formation of the higher ranges on the left +bank of the Morumbidgee, in the same latitude and longitude as above; +showing in large blocks on the sides of the hills. + +Slaty Quartz, with varieties.--Found with the quartz rock, in a state +of decomposition. + +Granite.--Succeeds the serpentine, of light colour; feldspar decomposed; +mica, glittering and silvery white. + +Sandstone, Old Red.--Composition of the more distant ranges on the +Morumbidgee. Forms abrupt precipices over the river flats; of sterile +appearance, and covered with Banksias and scrub. + +Mica Slate.--Colour dark brown, approaching red; mica glittering. +The hills enclosing Pondebadgery Plain at the gorge of the valley of the +Morumbidgee, are composed of this rock. They are succeeded by + +Sandstone.---Which rises abruptly from the river in perpendicular cliffs, +of 145 feet in height. + +Jasper and quartz.--Colour red and white. Forms the slope of the above +sandstone, and may be considered the outermost of the rocks connected with +the Eastern or Blue Mountain Ranges. It will be remembered that jasper and +quartz were likewise found on a plain near the Darling River, precisely +similar to the above, although occurring at so great a distance from each +other. + +Granite.--Light red colour; composition of a small isolated hill, to all +appearance wholly unconnected with the neighbouring ranges. This specimen +is very similar to that found in the bed of New-Year's Creek. + +Brecaia.--Silicious cement, composed of a variety of pebbles. Formation of +the most WESTERLY of the hills between the Lachlan and Macquarie Rivers. +This conglomerate was also found to compose the minor and most westerly of +the elevations of the more northern interior. + +Chrystallised Sulphate of Lime.--Found embedded in the deep alluvial soil +in the banks of the Morumbidgee River, in lat. 34 degrees 30 minutes S., +and long. 144 degrees 55 minutes E. The same substance was found on the +banks of the Darling, in lat. 29 degrees 49 minutes S., and in +long. 145 degrees 18 minutes E. + + +A reference to the chart will show that the Morumbidgee, from the first of +the above positions, may be said to have entered the almost dead level of +the interior. No elevation occurs to the westward for several hundreds of +miles. A coarse grit occasionally traversed the beds of the rivers, and +their lofty banks of clay or marl appear to be based on sandstone and +granitic sand. The latter occurs in slabs of four inches in thickness, +divided by a line of saffron-coloured sand, and seems to have been +subjected to fusion, as if the particles or grains had been cemented +together by fusion. + + +The first decided break that takes place in the level of the interior +occurs upon the right bank of the Murray, a little below the junction of +the Rufus with it. A cliff of from 120 to 130 feet in perpendicular +elevation here flanks the river for about 200 yards, when it recedes from +it, and forms a spacious amphitheatre that is occupied by semicircular +hillocks, that partake of the same character as the cliff itself; the face +of which showed the various substances of which it was composed in +horizontal lines, that if prolonged would cut the same substance in the +hillocks. Based upon a soft white sandstone, a bed of clay formed the +lowest part of the cliff; upon this bed of clay, a bed of chalk reposed; +this chalk was superseded by a thick bed of saponaceous earth, whilst the +summit of the cliff was composed of a bright red sand. Semi-opal and +hydrate of silex were found in the chalk, and some beautiful specimens of +brown menelite were collected from the upper stratum of the cliff. + +A little below this singular place, the country again declines, when a +tertiary fossil formation shows itself, which, rising gradually as an +inclined plain, ultimately attains an elevation of 300 feet. This +formation continues to the very coast, since large masses of the rock were +observed in the channel of communication between the lake and the ocean; +and the hills to the left of the channel were based upon it. This great +bank cannot, therefore, average less than from seventy to ninety miles in +width. At its commencement, it strikingly resembled skulls piled one +on the other, as well in colour as appearance. This effect had been +produced by the constant rippling of water against the rock. The softer +parts had been washed away, and the shells (a bed of Turritella) alone +remained. + +Plate 1, Figures 1, 2, and 3, represent the selenite formation. + +Plate 2, represents a mass of the rock containing numerous kinds of +shells, of which the following are the most conspicuous: + +Cardium +Pectunculus +Corbula +Arca +Conus, and +Others unknown. + + +* * * + + +The following is a list of the fossils collected from various parts of +this formation, from which it is evident that a closer examination would +lead to the discovery of numberless species. + + +TUNICATA. + + +PLATE III. + +FIG.1 Eschara celleporacea. + 2 ------- piriformis. + 3 ------- UNNAMED. + +FIG.4 Cellepora echinata. + 5 --------- escharoides? + 6 Retcpora disticha. + 7 -------- vibicata. + 8 Glauconome rhombifera. + All Tertiary in Westphalia and England. + + +RADIATA + + + 9 Scutella. + 10 Spatangus Hoffmanni--Goldfuss. + Tertiary, in Westphalia. + 11 Echinus. + + +CONCHIFERA--BIVALVED SHELLS. + + + Corbula gallica--Paris basin--Tertiary. + Tellina? + Corbis lamellosa--Tertiary--Paris. + Lucina. + Venus (Cytherea) laevigata--ibid. + ----- ---------- obliqua --ihid. + Venus + Cardium?--fragments. + 12 Nucula--such is found in London clay. + 13 Pecten coarctatus?--Placentia. + ------ varius?--recent. + 14 ------ species unknown. + Two other Pectens also occur. + Ostrea elongata--Deshayes. + 15 Terebratula. + 16 One cast, genus unknown, perhaps a Cardium. + + +MOLUSCA--UNIVALVED SHELLS. + + + Bulla? Plate II., fig. 2. +FIG.17 Natica--small. + 18 ------ large species. + Dentalium? + 19 Trochus. + 20 Turritella. + ---------- in gyps. + 21 Murex. + 22 Buccinum? + 23 Mitra. + 24 ----- very short. + 25 Cypraea. + 26 Conus. + 27 ----- (Plate II., fig. 3.) + 28 Two, unknown, (Also Plate II, fig. 4.) + The above all appear to belong to the newer tertiary formations. + +[Fig.17 to 27--These genera are scarcely ever, and some of them not at +all, found in any but tertiary formations.] + + A block of coarse red granite forms an island in the centre of the + river near the lake, but is nowhere else visible, although it is very + probably the basis of the surrounding country. + + +ROCK FORMATION OF THE COAST RANGE OF ST. VINCENT'S GULF. + + +Primitive Transition Limestone.--Light grey, striped. Altered in +appearance by volcanic action; occurs on the Ranges north of Cape Jervis. + +Granite.--Colour, red; found on the west side of Encounter Bay. + +Brown Spar.--South point of Cape Jervis. + +Sandstone, Old Red.--East coast of St, Vincent's Gulf. + +Limestone, Transition.--Colour, blue. East Coast of St. Vincent's Gulf. +Formation near the first inlet. Continuing to the base of the Ranges. + +Clay Slate.--Composition of the lower part of the Mount Lofty Range. + +Granite.--Fine grained, red; forms the higher parts of the Mount Lofty +Range. + +Quartz, with Tourmaline.--Lower parts of the Mount Lofty Range. + +Limestone Flustra, and their Corallines, probably tertiary.--From the +mouth of the Sturt, on the coast line, nearly abreast of Mount Lofty. + + + + +APPENDIX No. II. + + + +OFFICIAL REPORT TO THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT. + + +* * * * * + +GOVERNMENT ORDER. + +Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, +May 10, 1830. + +His Excellency the Governor has much satisfaction in publishing the +following report of the proceedings of an expedition undertaken for the +purpose of tracing the course of the river "Morumbidgee," and of +ascertaining whether it communicated with the coast forming the southern +boundary of the colony. + +The expedition, which was placed under the direction of Captain Sturt, +of his Majesty's 39th Regiment, commenced its progress down the +"Morumbidgee" on the 7th day of January last, having been occupied +twenty-one days in performing the journey from Sydney. + +On the 14th January they entered a new river running from east to west, +now called the "Murray," into which the "Morumbidgee" flows. + +After pursuing the course of the "Murray" for several days, the expedition +observed another river (supposed to be that which Captain Sturt discovered +on his former expedition), uniting with the "Murray" which they examined +about five miles above the junction. + +The expedition again proceeded down the "Murray," and fell in with another +of its tributaries flowing from the south east, which Captain Sturt has +designated the "Lindesay;" and on the 8th February the "Murray" was +found to enter or form a lake, of from fifty to sixty miles in length, +and from thirty to forty in breadth, lying immediately to the eastward of +gulf St. Vincent, and extending to the southward, to the shore of +"Encounter Bay." + +Thus has Captain Sturt added largely, and in a highly important degree, +to the knowledge previously possessed of the interior. + +His former expedition ascertained the fate of the rivers Macquarie and +Castlereagh, on which occasion he also discovered a river which, there is +every reason to believe, is, in ordinary seasons, of considerable +magnitude. + +Should this, as Captain Sturt supposes, prove to be the same river as that +above-mentioned, as uniting with the "Murray," the existence of an +interior water communication for several hundreds of miles, extending from +the northward of "Mount Harris," down to the southern coast of the colony, +will have been established. + +It is to be regretted, that circumstances did not permit of a more perfect +examination of the lake, (which has been called "Alexandrina"), as the +immediate vicinage of Gulf St. Vincent furnishes a just ground of hope +that a more practicable and useful communication may be discovered in +that direction, than the channel which leads into "Encounter Bay." + +The opportunity of recording a second time the services rendered to the +colony by Captain Sturt, is as gratifying to the government which directed +the undertaking, as it is creditable to the individual who so successfully +conducted it to its termination.--It is an additional cause of +satisfaction to add, that every one, according to his sphere of action, +has a claim to a proportionate degree of applause. All were exposed alike +to the same privations and fatigue, and every one submitted with patience, +manifesting the most anxious desire for the success of the expedition. +The zeal of Mr. George M'Leay, the companion of Captain Sturt, when +example was so important, could not fail to have the most salutary effect; +and the obedience, steadiness, and good conduct of the men employed, merit +the highest praise. + +By his Excellency's command, + +ALEXANDER M'LEAY. + + +* * * * * + + +BANKS OF THE MORUMBIDGEE, APRIL 20TH, 1830. + +SIR,--The departure of Mr. George M'Leay for Sydney, who is anxious to +proceed homewards as speedily as possible, affords me an earlier +opportunity than would otherwise have presented itself, by which to make +you acquainted with the circumstance of my return, under the divine +protection, to the located districts; and I do myself the honour of +annexing a brief account of my proceedings since the last communication +for the information of His Excellency the Governor, until such time as I +shall have it in my power to give in a more detailed report. + +On the 7th of January, agreeably to the arrangements which had been made, +I proceeded down the Morumbidgee in the whale boat, with a complement of +six hands, independent of myself and Mr. M'Leay, holding the skiff in tow. +The river, for several days, kept a general W.S.W. course; it altered +little in appearance, nor did any material change take place in the +country upon its banks. The alluvial flats had occasionally an increased +breadth on either side of it, but the line of reeds was nowhere so +extensive as from previous appearances I had been led to expect. About +twelve miles from the depot, we passed a large creek junction from the +N.E. which, from its locality and from the circumstance of my having been +upon it in the direction of them, I cannot but conclude originates in the +marshes of the Lachlan. + +On the 11th, the Morumbidgee became much encumbered with fallen timber, +and its current was at times so rapid that I was under considerable +apprehension for the safety of the boats. The skiff had been upset on the +8th, and, although I could not anticipate such an accident to the large +boat, I feared she would receive some more serious and irremediable +injury. On the 14th, these difficulties increased upon us.---The channel +of the river became more contracted, and its current more impetuous. We +had no sooner cleared one reach, than fresh and apparently insurmountable +dangers presented themselves to us in the next. I really feared that every +precaution would have proved unavailing against such multiplied +embarrassments, and that ere night we should have possessed only the +wrecks of the expedition. From this state of anxiety, however, we were +unexpectedly relieved, by our arrival at 2 p.m. at the termination of the +Morumbidgee; from which we were launched into a broad and noble river, +flowing from E. to W. at the rate of two and a half knots per hour, over +a clear and sandy bed, of a medium width of from three to four hundred +feet. + +During the first stages of our journey upon this new river, which +evidently had its rise in the mountains of the S.E., we made rapid +progress to the W.N.W. through an unbroken and uninteresting country of +equal sameness of feature and of vegetation. On the 23rd, as the boats +were proceeding down it, several hundreds of natives made their appearance +upon the right bank, having assembled with premeditated purposes of +violence. I was the more surprised at this show of hostility, because we +had passed on general friendly terms, not only with those on the +Morumbidgee, but of the new river. Now, however, emboldened by numbers, +they seemed determined on making the first attack, and soon worked +themselves into a state of frenzy by loud and vehement shouting. As I +observed that the water was shoaling fast, I kept in the middle of the +stream; and, under an impression that it would he impossible for me to +avoid a conflict, prepared for an obstinate resistance. But, at the very +moment when, having arrived opposite to a large sand bank, on which +they had collected, the foremost of the blacks had already advanced +into the water, and I only awaited their nearer approach to fire +upon them, their impetuosity was restrained by the most unlooked +for and unexpected interference. They held back of a sudden, and +allowed us to pass unmolested. The boat, however, almost immediately +grounded on a shoal that stretched across the river, over which she +was with some difficulty hauled into deeper water,--when we found +ourselves opposite to a large junction from the eastward, little +inferior to the river itself. Had I been aware of this circumstance, I +should have been the more anxious with regard to any rupture with the +natives, and I was now happy to find that most of them had laid aside +their weapons and had crossed the junction, it appearing that they had +previously been on a tongue of land formed by the two streams. I therefore +landed among them to satisfy their curiosity and to distribute a few +presents before I proceeded up it. We were obliged to use the four oars to +stem the current against us; but, as soon as we had passed the mouth, +got into deeper water, and found easier pulling, The parallel in which we +struck it, and the direction from which it came, combined to assure me +that this could be no other than the "Darling." To the distance of two +miles it retained a breadth of one hundred yards and a depth of twelve +feet. Its banks were covered with verdure, and the trees overhanging them +were of finer and larger growth than those on the new river by which we +had approached it. Its waters had a shade of green, and were more turbid +than those of its neighbours, but they were perfectly sweet to the taste. + +Having satisfied myself on those points on which I was most anxious, +we returned to the junction to examine it more closely. + +The angle formed by the Darling with the new river is so acute, that +neither can be said to be tributary to the other; but more important +circumstances, upon which it is impossible for me to dwell at the present +moment, mark them as distinct rivers, which have been formed by Nature +for the same purposes, in remote and opposite parts of the island. Not +having as yet given a name to the latter, I now availed myself of the +opportunity of complying with the known wishes of His Excellency the +Governor, and, at the same time, in accordance with my own feelings as a +soldier I distinguished it by that of the "Murray." + +It had been my object to ascertain the decline of the vast plain through +which the Murray flows, that I might judge of the probable fall of the +waters of the interior; but by the most attentive observation I could not +satisfy myself upon the point. The course of the Darling now confirmed +my previous impression that it was to the south, which direction it was +evident the Murray also, in the subsequent stages of our journey down it, +struggled to preserve; from which it was thrown by a range of minor +elevations into a more westerly one. We were carried as far as 139 degrees +40 minutes of longitude, without descending below 34 degrees in point of +latitude; in consequence of which I expected that the river would +ultimately discharge itself, either into St. Vincent's Gulf or that of +Spencer, more especially as lofty ranges were visible in the direction of +them from the summit of the hills behind our camp, on the 2nd of February, +which I laid down as the coast line bounding them. + +A few days prior to the 2nd of February, we passed under some cliffs of +partial volcanic origin, and had immediately afterwards entered a +limestone country of the most singular formation. The river, although we +had passed occasional rapids of the most dangerous kind, had maintained a +sandy character from our first acquaintance with it to the limestone +division. It now forced itself through a glen of that rock of half a mile +in width, frequently striking precipices of more than two hundred feet +perpendicular elevation, in which coral and fossil remains were +plentifully embedded. On the 3rd February it made away to the eastward of +south, in reaches of from two to four miles in length. It gradually lost +its sandy bed, and became deep, still, and turbid; the glen expanded into +a valley, and the alluvial flats, which had hitherto been of +inconsiderable size, became proportionally extensive. The Murray increased +in breadth to more than four hundred yards, with a depth of twenty feet +of water close into the shore, and in fact formed itself into a safe and +navigable stream for any vessels of the minor class. On the 6th the cliffs +partially ceased, and on the 7th they gave place to undulating and +picturesque hills, beneath which thousands of acres of the richest flats +extended, covered, however, with reeds, and apparently subject to overflow +at any unusual rise of the river. + +It is remarkable that the view from the hills was always confined.--We +were apparently running parallel to a continuation of the ranges we had +seen on the 2nd, but they were seldom visible. The country generally +seemed darkly wooded, and had occasional swells upon it, but it was one +of no promise; the timber, chiefly box and pine, being of a poor growth, +and its vegetation languid. On the 8th the hills upon the left wore a +bleak appearance, and the few trees upon them were cut down as if by the +prevailing winds. At noon we could not observe any land at the extremity +of a reach we had just entered; some gentle hills still continued to form +the left lank of the river, but the right was hid from us by high reeds. +I consequently landed to survey the country from the nearest eminence, and +found that we were just about to enter an extensive lake which stretched +away to the S.W., the line of water meeting the horizon in that direction. +Some tolerably lofty ranges were visible to the westward at the distance +of forty miles, beneath which that shore was lost in haze. A hill, which I +prejudged to be Mount Lofty, bearing by compass S. 141 degrees W. More to +the northward, the country was low and unbacked by any elevations. A bold +promontory, which projected into the lake at the distance of seven +leagues, ended the view to the south along the eastern shore; between +which and the river the land also declined. The prospect altogether was +extremely gratifying, and the lake appeared to be a fitting reservoir for +the whole stream which had led us to it. + +In the evening we passed the entrance; but a strong southerly wind heading +us, we did not gain more than nine miles. In the morning it shifted to the +N.E. where we stood out for the promontory on a S.S.W. course. At noon we +were abreast of it, when a line of sand hummocks was ahead, scarcely +visible in consequence of the great refraction about them; but an open sea +behind us from the N.N.W. to the N.N.E. points of the compass. A meridian +altitude observed here, placed us in 35 degrees 25 minutes 15 seconds +S. lat.--At 1, I changed our course a little to the westward, and at +4 p.m. entered an arm of the lake leading W.S.W. On the point, at the +entrance, some natives had assembled, but I could not communicate with +them. They were both painted and armed, and evidently intended to resist +our landing. Wishing, however, to gain some information from them, +I proceeded a short distance below their haunt, and landed for the night, +in hopes that, seeing us peaceably disposed, they would have approached +the tents; but as they kept aloof, we continued our journey in the +morning. The water, which had risen ten inches during the night, had +fallen again in the same proportion, and we were stopped by shoals shortly +after starting. In hopes that the return of tide would have enabled us to +float over them, we waited for it very patiently, but were ultimately +obliged to drag the boat across a mud-flat of more than a quarter of a +mile into deeper water; but, after a run of about twenty minutes, were +again checked by sand banks. My endeavours to push beyond a certain point +were unsuccessful, and I was at length under the necessity of landing upon +the south shore for the night. Some small hummocks were behind us, on the +other side of which I had seen the ocean from our morning's position; +and whilst the men were pitching the tents, walked over them in company +with Mr. M'Leay to the sea shore, having struck the coast at Encounter +Bay, Cape Jervis, bearing by compass S. 81 degrees W. distant between +three and four leagues, and Kangaroo Island S.E. extremity S. 60 +degrees W. distant from nine to ten. + +Thirty-two days had elapsed since we had left the depot, and I regretted +in this stage of our journey, that I could not with prudence remain an +hour longer on the coast than was necessary for me to determine the exit +of the lake. From the angle of the channel on which we were, a bright +sand-hill was visible at about nine miles distance to the E.S.E.; which, +it struck me, was the eastern side of the passage communicating with the +ocean. Having failed in our attempts to proceed further in the boat, and +the appearance of the shoals at low water having convinced me of the +impracticability of it, I determined on an excursion along the sea-shore +to the southward and eastward, in anxious hopes that it would be a short +one; for as we had had a series of winds from the S.W. which had now +changed to the opposite quarter, I feared we should have to pull across +the lake in our way homewards. I left the camp therefore at an early hour, +in company with Mr. M'Leay and Fraser, and at day-break arrived opposite +to the sand-bank I have mentioned. Between us and it the entrance into the +back water ran. The passage is at all periods of the tide rather more than +a quarter of a mile in width, and is of sufficient depth for a boat to +enter, especially on the off side; but a line of dangerous breakers in +the bay will always prevent an approach to it from the sea, except in the +calmest weather, whilst the bay itself will always he a hazardous place +for any vessels to enter under any circumstances. + +Having, however, satisfactorily concluded our pursuit, we retraced our +steps to the camp, and again took the following bearings as we left the +beach, the strand trending E.S.E. 1/2 E.:-- + + Kangaroo Island, S.E. angle S. 60 degrees W.. + Low rocky point of Cape Jervis S. 81 degrees W. + Round Hill in centre of Range S. 164 degrees W. + Camp, distant one mile S. 171 degrees W. + Mount Lofty, distant forty miles N. 9 degrees E. + +Before setting sail, a bottle was deposited between four and five feet +deep in a mound of soft earth and shells, close to the spot on which the +tent had stood, which contained a paper of the names of the party, +together with a simple detail of our arrival and departure. + +It appeared that the good fortune, which had hitherto attended us was +still to continue, for the wind which had been contrary, chopped round to +the S.W., and ere sunset we were again in the mouth of the river, having +run from fifty to sixty miles under as much canvass as the boat would +bear, and with a heavy swell during the greater part of the day. + +The lake which has thus terminated our journey, is from fifty to sixty +miles in length, and from thirty to forty in width. With such an expanse +of water, I am correct in stating its medium depth at four feet. There is +a large bight in it to the S.E. and a beautiful and extensive bay to the +N.W. At about seven miles from the mouth of the river, its waters are +brackish, and at twenty-one miles they are quite salt, whilst seals +frequent the lower parts. Considering this lake to be of sufficient +importance, and in anticipation that its shores will, during her reign, +if not at an earlier period, be peopled by some portion of her subjects, +I have called it, in well-meant loyalty, "The Lake Alexandrina." + +It is remarkable that the Murray has few tributaries below the Darling. +It receives one, however, of considerable importance from the S.E., to +which I have given the name of the "Lindesay," as a mark of respect to my +commanding-officer, and in remembrance of the many acts of kindness I have +received at his hands. + +Having dwelt particularly on the nature of the country through which the +expedition has passed in the pages of my journal, it may be unnecessary +for me to enter into any description of it in this place, further than to +observe, that the limestone continued down to the very coast, and that +although the country in the neighbourhood of the Lake Alexandrina must, +from local circumstances, be rich in point of soil, the timber upon it is +of stunted size, and that it appears to have suffered from drought, +though not to the same extent with the eastern coast. It is evident, +however, that its vicinity to high lands does not altogether exempt it +from such periodical visitations; still I have no doubt that my +observations upon it will convince His Excellency the Governor, that it is +well worthy of a closer, and more attentive examination, than I had it in +my power to make. + +In a geographical point of view, I am happy to believe that the result of +this expedition has been conclusive; and that, combined with the late one, +it has thrown much light upon the nature of the interior of the vast +Island; that the decline of waters, as far as the parallel of 139 degrees +E., is to the south, and that the Darling is to the N.E. as the Murray +is to the S.E. angle of the coast, the main channel by which the waters of +the central ranges are thrown or discharged into one great reservoir. + +Our journey homewards was only remarkable for its labour: in conclusion, +therefore, it remains for me to add that we reached the depot on the +23rd of March. + +Our sugar failed us on the 18th of February, and our salt provisions, +in consequence of the accident which happened to the skiff, on the 8th of +March; so that from the above period we were living on a reduced ration of +flour; and as we took few fish, and were generally unsuccessful with our +guns, the men had seldom more than their bread to eat. + +I regretted to observe that they were daily falling off, and that although +unremitting in their exertions they were well nigh exhausted, ere we +reached the Morumbidgee. + +We were from sunrise to five o'clock on the water, and from the day +that we left the depot to that of our return we never rested upon our +oars. We were thirty-nine days gaining the depot from the coast, against +a strong current in both rivers, being seven more than it took us to go +down. From the depot to this station we had seventeen days hard pulling, +making a total of eighty-eight, during which time we could not have +travelled over less than 2000 miles. I was under the necessity of stopping +short on the 10th instant, and of detaching two men for the drays, which +happily arrived on the 17th, on which day our stock of flour failed us. +Had I not adopted this plan, the men would have become too weak to have +pulled up to Pondebadgery, and we should no doubt have suffered some +privations. + +This detail will, I am sure, speak more in favour of the men composing the +party than anything I can say. I would most respectfully recommend them +all to His Excellency's notice; and I beg to assure him that, during the +whole of this arduous journey, they were cheerful, zealous, and obedient. +They had many harassing duties to perform, and their patience and temper +were often put to severe trials by the natives, of whom we could not have +seen fewer than 4000 on the Murray alone. + +I am to refer His Excellency the Governor to Mr. M'Leay for any more +immediate information he may require,--to whom I stand indebted on many +points--and not less in the anxiety he evinced for the success of the +undertaking, than in the promptitude with which he assisted in the labours +attendant on our return, and his uniform kindness to the men. + +I have the honour to subscribe myself, +Sir, +Your most obedient humble Servant, +CHARLES STURT, +Captain of the 39th Regt. + +The Hon. the Colonial Secretary. + + + +END OF VOLUME II + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg Etext of Two Expeditions into the Interior of +Southern Australia Complete by Charles Sturt + diff --git a/old/xpssc10.zip b/old/xpssc10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a3b29f0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/xpssc10.zip diff --git a/old/xpssc11.txt b/old/xpssc11.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6f3fc37 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/xpssc11.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14840 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Two Expeditions into the Interior of +Southern Australia Complete by Charles Sturt +#3 in our series by Charles Sturt + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.10/04/01*END* + + + + + + +This etext was produced by Col Choat colc@gutenberg.net.au. + + + + +TWO EXPEDITIONS INTO THE INTERIOR OF SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA DURING THE YEARS +1828,1829,1830,1831 WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE SOIL, CLIMATE AND GENERAL +RESOURCES OF THE COLONY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. + +IN TWO VOLUMES + +VOLUME I. + + +"For though most men are contented only to see a river as it runs by +them, and talk of the changes in it as they happen; when it is troubled, +or when clear; when it drowns the country in a flood, or forsakes it in a +drought: yet he that would know the nature of the water, and the causes of +those accidents (so as to guess at their continuance or return), must find +out its source, and observe with what strength it rises, what length it +runs, and how many small streams fall in, and feed it to such a height, +as make it either delightful or terrible to the eye, and useful or +dangerous to the country about it."...SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE'S NETHERLANDS. + + + +TO THE RIGHT HON. +THE EARL OF RIPON, +VISCOUNT GODERICH, +Lord Privy Seal +&c. &c. &c. + + + +MY LORD, + +The completion of this Work affords me the opportunity I have long desired +of thanking your Lordship thus publicly, for the kindness with which you +acceded to my request to be permitted to dedicate it to you. + +The encouragement your Lordship was pleased to give me has served to +stimulate me in the prosecution of a task, which would, I fear, have been +too great for me to have accomplished in my present condition, under any +ordinary views of ambition. Indeed, labouring as I have been for many +months past, under an almost total deprivation of sight, (the effect of +exposure and anxiety of mind in the prosecution of geographical +researches,) I owe it to the casual assistance of some of my friends, that +I am at length enabled to lay these results before your Lordship and the +public. + +While I feel a painful conviction that many errors must necessarily +pervade a work produced under such unfavourable circumstances, it affords +me no small consolation to reflect that Your Lordship has been aware of my +situation, and will be disposed to grant me every reasonable indulgence. + +I have the honor to be, +With the highest respect, +My Lord, +Your Lordship's +Very obedient and humble servant, + +CHARLES STURT +London June, 1833. + + + + +CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME + + + +PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. + + +Purpose of this Chapter--Name of Australia--Impressions of its early +Visitors--Character of the Australian rivers--Author's first view of Port +Jackson--Extent of the Colony of New South Wales--its rapid advances in +prosperity--Erroneous impressions--Commercial importance of Sydney--Growth +of fine wool--Mr. M'Arthur's meritorious exertions--Whale-fishery--Other +exports--Geographical features--Causes of the large proportion of bad +soil--Connection between the geology and vegetation--Geological features-- +Character of the soil connected with the geological formation--County of +Cumberland--Country westward of the Blue Mountains--Disadvantages of the +remote settlers--Character of the Eastern coast--Rich tracts in the +interior--Periodical droughts--The seasons apparently affected by the +interior marshes--Temperature--Fruits--Emigrants: Causes of their success +or failure--Moral disadvantages--System of emigration recommended--Hints +to emigrants--Progress of inland discovery--Expeditions across the Blue +Mountains--Discoveries of Mr. Evans, Mr. Oxley, and others--Conjectures +respecting the interior. + + +EXPEDITION DOWN THE MACQUARIE RIVER, AND INTO THE WESTERN INTERIOR +IN 1828 AND 1829. + + +CHAPTER I. + + +State of the Colony in 1828-29--Objects of the Expedition--Departure +from Sydney--Wellington Valley--Progress down the Macquarie--Arrival at +Mount Harris--Stopped by the marshes--Encamp amidst reeds--Excursions down +the river--Its termination-- Appearance of the marshes--Opthalmic +affection of the men--Mr. Hume's successful journey to the northward-- +Journey across the plain--Second great marsh--Perplexities--Situation of +the exploring party--Consequent resolutions. + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Prosecution of our course into the interior--Mosquito Brush--Aspect and +productions of the country--Hunting party of natives--Courageous conduct +of one of them--Mosquitoes--A man missing--Group of hills called +New-Year's Range--Journey down New-Year's Creek--Tormenting attack of the +kangaroo fly--Dreariness and desolation of the country--Oxley's Table +Land--D'Urban's Group--Continue our journey down New-Year's Creek-- +Extreme Disappointment on finding it salt--Fall in with a tribe of +natives--Our course arrested by the want of fresh water--Extraordinary +sound--Retreat towards the Macquarie. + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Intercourse with the natives--Their appearance and condition--Remarks on +the Salt or Darling River--Appearance of the marshes on our return-- +Alarm for safety of the provision party--Return to Mount Harris--Miserable +condition of the natives--Circumstances attending the slaughter of two +Irish runaways--Bend our course towards the Castlereagh--Wallis's Ponds-- +Find the famished natives feeding on gum--Channel of the Castlereagh-- +Character of the country in its vicinity--Another tribe of natives-- +Amicable intercourse with them--Morrisset's chain of Ponds--Again reach the +Darling River ninety miles higher up than where we first struck upon it. + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Perplexity--Trait of honesty in the natives--Excursion on horseback across +the Darling--Forced to return--Desolating effects of the drought--Retreat +towards the colony--Connection between the Macquarie and the Darling-- +Return up the banks of the Macquarie--Starving condition of the natives. + + +CHAPTER V. + + +General remarks--Result of the expedition--Previous anticipations-- +Mr. Oxley's remarks--Character of the Rivers flowing westerly-- +Mr. Cunningham's remarks--Fall of the Macquarie--Mr. Oxley's erroneous +conclusions respecting the character of the interior, naturally inferred +from the state in which he found the country--The marsh of the Macquarie +merely a marsh of the ordinary character--Captain King's observations-- +Course of the Darling--Character of the low interior plain--The convict +Barber's report of rivers traversing the interior--Surveyor-General +Mitchell's Report of his recent expedition. + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Concluding Remarks--Obstacles that attend travelling into the interior +of Australia--Difficulty of carrying supplies--Importance of steady +intelligent subordinates--Danger from the natives--Number of men +requisite,--and of cattle and carriages--Provisions--Other arrangements-- +Treatment of the natives--Dimensions of the boat used in the second +expedition. + + +APPENDIX. + +No. I. Letter of Instructions +No. II. List of Stores supplied for the Expedition +No. III. Sheep-farming Returns +No. IV. List of Geological Specimens +No. V. Official Report to the Colonial Government, (Jan. 1829.) +No. VI. Ditto (April 1829.) + + +ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE FIRST VOLUME +(Not included in this etext) + +Native Burial Place near Budda +Vice Admiral Arthur Phillip +Cataract of the Macquarie +A Selenite +Chrystallized Sulphate of Lime + + + + +PRELIMINARY CHAPTER + + + +Purpose of this Chapter--Name of Australia--Impressions of its early +Visitors--Character of the Australian rivers--Author's first view of Port +Jackson--Extent of the Colony of New South Wales--its rapid advances in +prosperity--Erroneous impressions--Commercial importance of Sydney--Growth +of fine wool--Mr. M'Arthur's meritorious exertions--Whale-fishery--Other +exports--Geographical features--Causes of the large proportion of bad +soil--Connection between the geology and vegetation--Geological features-- +Character of the soil connected with the geological formation--County of +Cumberland--Country westward of the Blue Mountains--Disadvantages of the +remote settlers--Character of the Eastern coast--Rich tracts in the +interior--Periodical droughts--The seasons apparently affected by the +interior marshes--Temperature--Fruits--Emigrants: Causes of their success +or failure--Moral disadvantages--System of emigration recommended--Hints +to emigrants--Progress of inland discovery--Expeditions across the Blue +Mountains--Discoveries of Mr. Evans, Mr. Oxley, and others--Conjectures +respecting the interior. + + +PURPOSE OF THIS PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. + + +When I first determined on committing to the press a detailed account of +the two expeditions, which I conducted into the interior of the Australian +continent, pursuant to the orders of Lieutenant General Darling, the late +Governor of the Colony of New South Wales, it was simply with a view of +laying their results before the geographical world, and of correcting the +opinions that prevailed with regard to the unexplored country to the +westward of the Blue Mountains. I did not feel myself equal either to the +task or the responsibility of venturing any remarks on the Colony of New +South Wales itself. I had had little time for inquiry, amidst the various +duties that fell to my lot in the ordinary routine of the service to which +I belonged, when unemployed by the Colonial Government in the prosecution +of inland discoveries. My observations had been in a great measure +confined to those points which curiosity, or a desire of personal +information, had prompted me to investigate. I did not, therefore, venture +to flatter myself that I had collected materials of sufficient importance +on general topics to enable me to write for the information of others. +Since my return to England, however, I have been strenuously urged to give +a short description of the colony before entering upon my personal +narrative; and I have conversed with so many individuals whose ideas of +Australia are totally at variance with its actual state, that I am +encouraged to indulge the hope that my observations, desultory as they +are, may be of some interest to the public. I am strengthened in this hope +by the consideration that some kind friends have enabled me to add much +valuable matter to that which I had myself collected. It is not my +intention, however, to enter at any length on the commercial or +agricultural interests of New South Wales. It may be necessary for me to +touch lightly on those important subjects, but it is my wish to connect +this preliminary chapter, as much as possible with the subjects treated of +in the body of the work, and chiefly to notice the physical structure, the +soil, climate, and productions of the colony, in order to convey to the +reader general information on these points, before I lead him into the +remote interior. + +NAME OF AUSTRALIA. + +It may be worthy of remark that the name "Australia," has of late years +been affixed to that extensive tract of land which Great Britain possesses +in the Southern Seas, and which, having been a discovery of the early +Dutch navigators, was previously termed "New Holland." The change of name +was, I believe, introduced by the celebrated French geographer, Malte +Brun, who, in his division of the globe, gave the appellation of +Austral Asia and Polynesia to the new discovered lands in the southern +ocean; in which division he meant to include the numerous insular groups +scattered over the Pacific. + +IMPRESSIONS OF ITS EARLY VISITORS. + +Australia is properly speaking an island, but it is so much larger than +every other island on the face of the globe, that it is classed as a +continent in order to convey to the mind a just idea of its magnitude. +Stretching from the 115th to the 153rd degree of east longitude, and from +the 10th to the 37th of south latitude, it averages 2700 miles in length +by 1800 in breadth; and balanced, as it were, upon the tropic of that +hemisphere in which it is situated, it receives the fiery heat of the +equator at one extremity, while it enjoys the refreshing coolness of the +temperate zone at the other. On a first view we should be led to expect +that this extensive tract of land possessed more than ordinary advantages; +that its rivers would be in proportion to its size; and that it would +abound in the richest productions of the inter-tropical and temperate +regions. Such, indeed, was the impression of those who first touched upon +its southern shores, but who remained no longer than to be dazzled by the +splendour and variety of its botanical productions, and to enjoy for a +few days the delightful mildness of its climate. But the very spot which +had appeared to Captain Cook and Sir Joseph Banks an earthly paradise, was +abandoned by the early settlers as unfit for occupation; nor has the +country generally been fount to realize the sanguine expectations of those +distinguished individuals, so far as it has hitherto been explored. + +CHARACTER OF AUSTRALIAN RIVERS. + +Rivers which have the widest mouths or the most practicable entrances, +are, in Europe or America, usually of impetuous current, or else contain +such a body of water as to bear down all opposition to their free course; +whilst on the other hand, rivers whose force is expended ere they reach +the sea, have almost invariably a bar at their embouchure, or where they +mingle their waters with those of the ocean. This last feature +unfortunately appears to characterize all rivers of Australia, or such of +them at least as are sufficiently known to us. Falling rapidly from the +mountains in which they originate into a level and extremely depressed +country; having weak and inconsiderable sources, and being almost wholly +unaided by tributaries of any kind; they naturally fail before they reach +the coast, and exhaust themselves in marshes or lakes or reach it so +weakened as to be unable to preserve clear or navigable months, or to +remove the sand banks that the tides throw up before them. On the other +hand the productions of this singular region seem to be peculiar to it, +and unlike those of any other part of the world; nor have any indigenous +fruits of any value as yet been found either in its forests or on its +plains. + +He who has never looked on any other than the well-cultured fields of +England, can have little idea of a country that Nature has covered with an +interminable forest. Still less can he estimate the feelings with which +the adventurer approaches a shore that has never (or perhaps only lately) +been trodden by civilized man. + +FIRST VIEW OF PORT JACKSON. + +It was with feelings peculiar to the occasion, that I gazed for the first +time on the bold cliffs at the entrance of Port Jackson, as our vessel +neared them, and speculated on the probable character of the landscape +they hid; and I am free to confess, that I did not anticipate anything +equal to the scene which presented itself both to my sight and my +judgment, as we sailed up the noble and extensive basin we had entered, +towards the seat of government. A single glance was sufficient to tell me +that the hills upon the southern shore of the port, the outlines of which +were broken by houses and spires, must once have been covered with the +same dense and gloomy wood which abounded every where else. The contrast +was indeed very great--the improvement singularly striking. The labour and +patience required, and the difficulties which the first settlers +encountered effecting these improvements, must have been incalculable. But +their success has been complete: it is the very triumph of human skill and +industry over Nature herself. The cornfield and the orchard have +supplanted the wild grass and the brush; a flourishing town stands over +the ruins of the forest; the lowing of herds has succeeded the wild whoop +of the savage; and the stillness of that once desert shore is now broken +by the sound of the bugle and the busy hum of commerce. + +EXTENT OF NEW SOUTH WALES AND DIVISIONS OF THE COLONY. + +The Colony of New South Wales is situated upon the eastern coast of +Australia; and the districts within which land has been granted to +settlers, extends from the 36th parallel of latitude to the 32nd, that is +say, from the Moroyo River to the south of Sydney on the one hand, and to +the Manning River on the other, including Wellington Valley within its +limits to the westward. Thus it will appear that the boundaries of the +located parts of the colony have been considerably enlarged, and some fine +districts of country included within them. In consequence of its extent +and increasing population, it has been found convenient to divide it into +counties, parishes, and townships; and indeed, every measure of the +Colonial Government of late years, has had for its object to assimilate +its internal arrangements as nearly as possible, to those of the mother +country. Whether we are to attribute the present flourishing state of the +colony to the beneficial influence of that system of government which has +been exercised over it for the last seven years it is not for me to say. +That the prosperity of a country depends, however, in a great measure, +on the wisdom of its legislature, is as undoubted, as that within the +period I have mentioned the colony of N. S. Wales has risen +unprecedentedly in importance and in wealth, and has advanced to a state +of improvement at which it could not have arrived had its energies been +cramped or its interests neglected. + +ITS ADVANCES IN PROSPERITY. + +There is a period in the history of every country, during which it will +appear to have been more prosperous than at any other. I allude not to the +period of great martial achievements, should any such adorn its pages, but +to that in which the enterprise of its merchants was roused into action, +and when all classes of its community seem to have put forth their +strength towards the attainment of wealth and power. + +ERRONEOUS IMPRESSIONS. + +In this eventful period the colony of New South Wales is already far +advanced. The conduct of its merchants is marked by the boldest +speculations and the most gigantic projects. Their storehouses are built +on the most magnificent scale, and with the best and most substantial +materials. Few persons in England have even a remote idea of its present +flourishing condition, or of the improvements that are daily taking place +both in its commerce and in its agriculture. I am aware that many object +to it as a place of residence, and I can easily enter into their feelings +from the recollection of what my own were before I visited it. I cannot +but remark, however, that I found my prejudices had arisen from a natural +objection to the character of a part of its population; from the +circumstance of its being a penal colony, and from my total ignorance of +its actual state, and not from any substantial or permanent cause. On the +contrary I speedily became convinced of the exaggerated nature of the +reports I had heard in England, on some of the points just adverted to; +nor did any thing fall under my observation during a residence in it of +more than six years to justify the opinion I had been previously led to +entertain of it. I embarked for New South Wales, with strong prejudices +against it: I left it with strong feelings in its favour, and with a deep +feeling of interest in its prosperity. It is a pleasing task to me, +therefore, to write of it thus, and to have it in my power to contribute +to the removal of any erroneous impressions with regard to its condition +at the present moment. + +COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE OF SYDNEY. + +I have already remarked, that I was not prepared for the scene that met my +view when I first saw Sydney. The fact was, I had not pictured to myself; +nor conceived from any thing that I had ever read or heard in England, +that so extensive a town could have been reared in that remote region, in +so brief a period as that which had elapsed since its foundation. It is +not, however, a distant or cursory glance that will give the observer a +just idea of the mercantile importance of this busy capital. In order to +form an accurate estimate of it, he should take a boat and proceed from +Sydney Cove to Darling Harbour. He would then be satisfied, that it is not +upon the first alone that Australian commerce has raised its storehouse +and wharfs, but that the whole extent of the eastern shore of the last +more capacious basin, is equally crowded with warehouses, stores, +dockyards, mills, and wharfs, the appearance and solidity of which would +do credit even to Liverpool. Where, thirty years ago, the people flocked +to the beach to hail an arrival, it is not now unusual to see from thirty +to forty vessels riding at anchor at one time, collected there from every +quarter of the globe. In 1832, one hundred and fifty vessels entered the +harbour of Port Jackson, from foreign parts, the amount of their tonnage +being 31,259 tons. + +The increasing importance of Sydney must in some measure be attributed to +the flourishing condition of the colony itself, to the industry of its +farmers, to the successful enterprise of its merchants, and to particular +local causes. It is foreign to my purpose, however, to enter largely into +an investigation of these important points. To do so would require more +space than I can afford for the purpose, and might justly be considered as +irrelevant in a work of this kind. Without attempting any lengthened +detail, it may be considered sufficient if I endeavour merely to point out +the principal causes of the present prosperity (and, as they may very +probably prove) of the eventual progress of our great southern colony to +power and independence. + +STAPLE OF THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. + +The staple of our Australian colonies, but more particularly of New South +Wales, the climate and the soil of which are peculiarly suited to its +production,--is fine wool. There can be no doubt that the growth of this +article has mainly contributed to the prosperity of the above mentioned +colony and of Van Diemen's Land. + +At the close of the last century, wool was imported into England from +Spain and Germany only, and but a few years previously from Spain alone. +Indeed, long after its introduction from the latter country, German wool, +obtained but little consideration in the London market; and in like +manner, it may be presumed that many years will not have elapsed +before the increased importation of wool from our own possessions in +the southern hemisphere, will render us, in respect to this commodity, +independent of every other part of the world. The great improvements +in modern navigation are such, that the expense of sending the fleece +to market from New South Wales is less than from any part of Europe. +The charges for instance on Spanish and German wool, are from +fourpence to fourpence three farthings per pound; whereas the entire +charge, after shipment from New South Wales, and Van Diemen's Land, does +not exceed threepence three farthings,--and in this the dock and landing +charges, freight, insurance, brokerage, and commission, are included. + +GROWTH OF FINE WOOL. MR. M'ARTHUR'S EXERTIONS. + +As some particulars respecting the introduction of this source of national +wealth into Australia may prove interesting to the public, I have put +together the following details of it, upon the authenticity of which they +may rely. The person who foresaw the advantage to be derived from the +growth of fine wool in New South Wales, and who commenced the culture of +it in that colony, was Mr. John M'Arthur. So far back, I believe, as the +year 1793, not long after the establishment of the first settlement at +Sydney, this gentleman commenced sheep-farming, and about two years +afterwards he obtained a ram and two ewes from Captain Kent, of the royal +navy, who had brought them, with some other stock for the supply of the +settlement, from the Cape of Good Hope, to which place a flock of these +sheep had been originally sent by the Dutch government. Sensible of the +importance of the acquisition, Mr. M'Arthur began to cross his +coarse-fleeced sheep with Merino blood; and, proceeding upon a system, he +effected a considerable improvement in the course of a few years. So +prolific was the mixed breed, that in ten years, a flock which originally +consisted of not more than seventy Bengal sheep, had increased in number +to 4,000 head, although the wethers had been killed as they became fit for +slaughter. It appears, however, that as the sheep approached to greater +purity of blood, their extreme fecundity diminished. + +TO REAR MERINO FLOCKS. + +In 1803, Mr. M'Arthur revisited England; and there happening at the time +to be a committee of manufacturers in London from the clothing districts, +he exhibited before them samples of his wool, which were so much approved, +that the committee represented to their constituents the advantages which +would result from the growth of fine wool, in one of the southern +dependencies of the empire. In consequence of this a memorial was +transmitted to His Majesty's government, and Mr. M'Arthur's plans having +been investigated by a Privy Council, at which he was present, they were +recommended to the government as worthy of its protection. With such +encouragement Mr. M'Arthur purchased two ewes and three rams, from the +Merino flock of His Majesty King George the Third. He embarked with them +on his return to New South Wales in 1806, on board a vessel named by him +"the Argo," in reference to the golden treasure with which she was +freighted. On reaching the colony he removed his sheep to a grant of land +which the Home Government had directed he should receive in the Cow +Pastures. To commemorate the transaction, and to transmit to a grateful +posterity the recollection of the nobleman who then presided over the +colonies, the estate, together with the district in which it is situated, +was honoured by the name of Camden. + +EXPORT OF WOOL TO ENGLAND. + +Since that time the value of New South Wales wool has been constantly on +the increase, and the colony are indebted to Mr. M'Arthur for the +possession of an exportable commodity which has contributed very +materially to its present wealth and importance. Such general attention is +now paid to this interesting branch of rural economy, that the importation +of wool into England from our Australian colonies, amounted, in 1832, to +10,633 bales, or 2,500,000 lbs. It has been sold at as high a price as +10s. per lb.; but the average price of wool of the best flocks vary from +1s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. at the present moment. The number of sheep in New South +Wales alone was calculated in the last census at 536,891 head. The +ordinary profits on this kind of stock may be extracted from the Table +given in the Appendix to the first volume of this work. + +WHALE FISHERY. + +Among the various speculations undertaken by the merchants of Sydney, +there is not one into which they have entered with so much spirit as in +the South Sea Fishery. The local situation of Port Jackson gives them an +advantage over the English and the American merchants, since the distance +of both these from the field of their gains, must necessarily impede them +greatly; whereas the ships that leave Sydney on a whaling excursion, +arrive without loss of time upon their ground, and return either for fresh +supplies or to repair damages with equal facility. The spirit with which +the colonial youth have engaged in this adventurous and hardy service, is +highly to their credit. The profits arising from it may not be (indeed I +have every reason to think are not) so great as might be supposed, or such +as might reasonably be expected; but the extensive scale on which it is +conducted, speaks equally for the energy and perseverance of the parties +concerned, in the prosecution of their commercial enterprises. It has +enabled them to equip a creditable colonial marine, and given great +importance to their mercantile interests in the mother country. + +In the year 1831, the quantity of sperm and black oil, the produce of the +fisheries exported from New South Wales, amounted to 2,307 tons, and was +estimated, together with skins and whalebone, to be worth 107,971 pounds +sterling. The gross amount of all other exports during that year, did not +exceed 107,697 pounds sterling. Of these exports, the following were the +most considerable: + + +Timber 7,410 pounds sterling +Butter and Cheese 2,376 +Mimosa bark 40 +Hides 7,333 +Horses 7,302 +Salt provisions 5,184 +Wool 66,112 + + +The above is exclusive of 61,000 pounds value of British manufactures +re-exported to the various ports and islands in the Southern Seas. + +OTHER EXPORTS. + +In this scale, moreover, tobacco is not mentioned; but that plant is now +raised for the supply of every private establishment, and will assuredly +form an article of export, as soon as its manufacture shall be well +understood. Neither can it be doubted but that the vine and the olive +will, in a short time, be abundantly cultivated; and that a greater +knowledge of the climate and soil of the more northern parts of the +colony, will lead to the introduction of fresh sources of wealth. + +GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES. + +Having taken this hasty review of the commercial interests of the colony, +we may now turn to a brief examination of its internal structure and +principal natural features. + +I have already given a cursory sketch of the geographical features of the +whole continent. Of the vast area which its coasts embrace, the east part +alone has been fully explored. + +A range of hills runs along the eastern coast, from north to south, which, +in different quarters, vary in their distance from the sea; at one place +approaching it pretty nearly, at another, receding from it to a distance +of forty miles. It is a singular fact, that there is no pass or break in +these mountains, by which any of the rivers of the interior can escape in +an easterly direction. Their spine is unbroken. The consequence is, that +there is a complete division of the eastern and western waters, and that +streams, the heads of which are close to each other, flow away in opposite +directions; the one to pursue a short course to the sea; the other to fall +into a level and depressed interior, the character of which will be +noticed in its proper place. + +GREAT PROPORTION OF BAD SOIL. + +The proportion of bad soil to that which is good in New South Wales, is +certainly very great: I mean the proportion of inferior soil to such as is +fit for the higher purposes of agriculture. Mr. Dawson, the late +superintendent of the Australian Agricultural Company's possessions, has +observed, as a singular fact, that the best soil generally prevails on the +summits of the hills, more especially where they are at all level. He +accounts for so unusual a circumstance by the fact, that elevated +positions are less subject to the effects of fire or floods than their +valleys or flanks, and attributes the general want of vegetable mould over +the colony chiefly to the ravages of the former element, whereby the +growth of underwood, so favourable in other countries to the formation of +soil, is wholly prevented. Undoubtedly this is a principal cause for the +deficiency in question. There is no part of the world in which fires +create such havoc as in New South Wales and indeed in Australia +generally. The climate, on the one hand, which dries up vegetation, and +the wandering habits of the natives on the other, which induce them to +clear the country before them by conflagration, operate equally against +the growth of timber and underwood. + +CAUSE OF THIS. + +But there is another circumstance that appears to have escaped +Mr. Dawson's observation; which is the actual property of the trees +themselves, as to the quantity of vegetable matter they produce in decay. +Being a military man, I cannot be supposed to have devoted much of my time +to agricultural pursuits; but it has been obvious to me, as it must have +been to many others, that in New South Wales, the fall of leaves and the +decay of timber, so far from adding to the richness of its soil, actually +destroy minor vegetation. This fact was brought more home to me in +consequence of its having been my lot to spend some months upon Norfolk +Island, a distant penal settlement attached to the Government of Sydney. +There the abundance of vegetable decay was as remarkable as the want of it +on the Australian Continent. I have frequently sunk up to my knees in a +bed of leaves when walking through its woods; and, often when I placed my +foot on what appeared externally to be the solid trunk of a tree, I have +found it yield to the pressure, in consequence of its decomposition into +absolute rottenness. But such is not the case in New South Wales. There, +no such accumulations of vegetable matter are to be met with; but where +the loftiest tree of the forest falls to the ground, its figure and length +are marked out by the total want of vegetation within a certain distance +of it, and a small elevation of earth, resembling more the refuse or +scoria of burnt bricks than any thing else, is all that ultimately remains +of the immense body which time or accident had prostrated. Thus it would +appear, that it is not less to the character of its woods than to the +ravages of fire that New South Wales owes its general sterility. + +CONNECTION BETWEEN THE GEOLOGY AND VEGETATION. + +Whilst prosecuting my researches in the interior of the colony, I could +not but be struck with the apparent connection between its geology and +vegetation; so strong, indeed, was this connection, that I had little +difficulty, after a short experience, in judging of the rock that formed +the basis of the country over which I was travelling, from the kind of +tree or herbage that flourished in the soil above it. The eucalyptus +pulv., a species of eucalyptus having a glaucus-coloured leaf, of +dwarfish habits and growing mostly in scrub, betrayed the sandstone +formation, wherever it existed, This was the case in many parts of the +County of Cumberland, in some parts of Wombat Brush, at the two passes on +the great south road, over a great extent of country to the N.W. of Yass +Plains, and at Blackheath on the summit of the Blue Mountains. On the +other hand, those open grassy and park-like tracts, of which so much has +been said, characterise the secondary ranges of granite and porphyry. The +trees most usual on these tracts, were the box, an unnamed species of +eucalyptus, and the grass chiefly of that kind, called the oat or forest +grass, which grows in tufts at considerable distances from each other, +and which generally affords good pasturage. On the richer grounds the +angophora lanceolata, and the eucalyptus mammifera more frequently point +out the quality of the soil on which they grow. The first are abundant on +the alluvial flats of the Nepean, the Hawkesbury and the Hunter; the +latter on the limestone formation of Wellington Valley and in the better +portions of Argyle; whilst the cupressus calytris seems to occupy sandy +ridges with the casuarina. It was impossible that these broad features +should have escaped observation: it was naturally inferred from this, that +the trees of New South Wales are gregarious; and in fact they may, in a +great measure, be considered so. The strong line that occasionally +separates different species, and the sudden manner in which several +species are lost at one point, to re-appear at another more distant, +without any visible cause for the break that has taken place, will furnish +a number of interesting facts in the botany of New South Wales. + +It was observed both on the Macquarie river and the Morumbidgee, that the +casuarinae ceased at a particular point. On the Macquarie particularly, +these trees which had often excited our admiration from Wellington Valley +downwards, ceased to occupy its banks below the cataract, nor were they +again noticed until we arrived on the banks of the Castlereagh. The +blue-gum trees, again, were never observed to extend beyond the secondary +embankments of the rivers, occupying that ground alone which was subject +to flood and covered with reeds. These trees waved over the marshes of the +Macquarie, but were not observed to the westward of them for many miles; +yet they re-appeared upon the banks of New-Year's Creek as suddenly as +they had disappeared after we left the marshes, and grew along the line +of the Darling to unusual size. But it is remarkable, that, even in the +midst of the marshes, the blue-gum trees were strictly confined to the +immediate flooded spaces on which the reeds prevailed, or to the very beds +of the water-courses. Where the ground was elevated, or out of the reach +of flood, the box (unnamed) alone occupied it; and, though the branches of +these trees might be interwoven together, the one never left its wet and +reedy bed, the other never descended from its more elevated position. The +same singular distinction marked the acacia pendula, when it ceased to +cover the interior plains of light earth, and was succeeded by another +shrub of the same species. It continued to the banks of New-Year's Creek, +a part of which it thickly lined. To the westward of the creek, another +species of acacia was remarked for the first time. Both shrubs, like the +blue-gum and the box, mixed their branches together, but the creek formed +the line of separation between them. The acacia pendula was not afterwards +seen, but that which had taken its place, as it were, was found to cover +large tracts of country and to form extensive brushes. Many other +peculiarities in the vegetation of the interior are noticed in the body +of this work, but I have thought that these more striking ones deserved +to be particularly remarked upon. + +GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. + +If we strike a line to the N.W. from Sydney to Wellington Valley, we shall +find that little change takes place in the geological features of the +country. The sand-stone of which the first of the barrier ranges is +composed, terminates a little beyond Mount York, and at Cox's River is +succeeded by grey granite. The secondary ranges to the N.W. of Bathurst, +are wholly of that primitive rock; for although there are partial changes +of strata between Bathurst and Moulong Plains, granite is undoubtedly the +rock upon which the whole are based: but at Moulong Plains, a military +station intermediate between Bathurst and Wellington Valley, limestone +appears in the bed of a small clear stream, and with little interruption +continues to some distance below the last-mentioned place. The accidental +discovery of some caves at Moulong Plains, led to the more critical +examination of the whole formation, and cavities of considerable size were +subsequently found in various parts of it, but more particularly in the +neighbourhood of Wellington Valley. The local interest which has of late +years been taken in the prosecution of geological investigations, led many +gentlemen to examine the contents of these caverns; and among the most +forward, Major Mitchell, the Surveyor-General, must justly be considered, +to whose indefatigable perseverance the scientific world is already so +much indebted. + +The caves into which I penetrated, did not present anything particular to +my observation; they differed little from caves of a similar description +into which I had penetrated in Europe. Large masses of stalactites hung +from their roofs, and a corresponding formation encrusted their floors. +They comprised various chambers or compartments, the most remote of which +terminated at a deep chasm that was full of water. A close examination of +these caves has led to the discovery of some organic remains, bones of +various animals embedded in a light red soil; but I am not aware that the +remains of any extinct species have been found, or that any fossils have +been met with in the limestone itself. There can, however, be little doubt +but that the same causes operated in depositing these mouldering remains +in the caves of Kirkdale and those of Wellington Valley. + +About twenty miles below the junction of the Bell with the Macquarie, +free-stone supersedes the limestone, but as the country falls rapidly from +that point, it soon disappears, and the traveller enters upon a flat +country of successive terraces. A schorl rock, of a blue colour and fine +grain, composed of tourmaline and quartz, forms the bed of the Macquarie +at the Cataract; and, in immediate contact with it, a mass of mica slate +of alternate rose, pink, and white, was observed, which must have been +covered by the waters of the river when Mr. Oxley descended it. + +From the Cataract of the Macquarie, a flat extends to the marshes in which +that river exhausts itself. From the midst of this flat Mount Foster and +Mount Harris rise, both of which are porphyritic: but as I have been +particular in describing these heights in their proper place, any minute +notice of them here may be considered unnecessary. We will rather extend +our enquiries to those parts of the colony upon which we shall not be +called upon to remark in the succeeding pages. + +Returning to the coast, we may mark the geological changes in a line to +the S.W. of Sydney; and as my object is to extend the information of my +readers, I shall notice any particular district on either side of the line +I propose to touch upon, which may be worthy of notice. It would appear +that the first decided break in the sandstone formation which penetrates +into the county of Camden, is at Mittagong Range. It is there traversed by +a dike of whinstone, of which that range is wholly composed. The change of +soil and of vegetation are equally remarkable at this place; the one being +a rich, greasy, chocolate-coloured earth, the other partaking greatly of +the intertropical character. In wandering over them, I noticed the wild +fig and the cherry-tree, growing to a much larger size than I had seen +them in any other part of the colony. Upon their branches, the satin bird, +the gangan, and various kinds of pigeons were feeding. Birds unknown to +the eastward of the Blue Mountains, were numerous in the valleys; and +there was an unusual appearance of freshness and moisture in the +vegetation. + +These signs of improvement, however, vanish the moment Mittagong range is +crossed, and sand-stone again forms the basis of the country to a +considerable distance beyond Bong-bong. At a small farm called the +Ploughed Ground, it is again traversed by a dike of whinstone, and a rich +but isolated spot is thus passed over. With occasional and partial +interruption, however, the sand-stone formation continues to an abrupt +pass, from which the traveller descends to the county of Argyle. This pass +is extremely abrupt, and is covered with glaucus, the low scrub I have +noticed as common to the sand-stone formation. A small but lively stream, +called Paddy's River, runs at the bottom of this pass, and immediately to +the S.W. of it, an open forest country of granite base extends for many +miles, on which the eucalyptus manifera is prevalent, and which affords +the best grazing tracts in Argyle. At Goulburn Plains, however, a vein of +limestone occurs, which is evidently connected with that forming the +ShoalHaven Gully, which is perhaps the most remarkable geological feature +in the colony of New South Wales. It is a deep chasm of about a quarter of +a mile in breadth, and 1200 feet in depth. The country on either side is +perfectly level, so much so that the traveller approaches almost to its +very brink before he is aware of his being near so singular an abyss. A +small rivulet flows through the Gully, and discharges itself into the sea +at ShoalHaven; but this river is hardly perceptible, from the summit of +the cliffs forming the sides of the Gully, which are of the boldest and +most precipitous character. The ground on the summit is full of caves of +great depth, but there has been a difficulty in examining them, in +consequence of the violent wind that rushes up them, and extinguishes +every torch. + +The open and grassy forests of Argyle are terminated by another of those +abrupt sand-stone passes I have just described, and the traveller again +falls considerably from his former level, previously to his entering on +Yass Plains, to which this pass is the only inlet. + +From Yass Plains the view to the S. and S.W. is over a lofty and broken +country: mountains with rounded summits, others with towering peaks, and +others again of lengthened form but sharp spine, characterise the various +rocks of which they are composed. The ranges decline rapidly from east to +west, and while on the one hand the country has all the appearance of +increasing height, on the other it sinks to a dead level; nor on the +distant horizon to the N. W. is there a hill or an inequality to be seen. + +From Yass Plains to the very commencement of the level interior, every +range I crossed presented a new rock-formation; serpentine quartz in +huge white masses, granite, chlorite, micaceous schist, sandstone, +chalcedony, quartz, and red jasper, and conglomerate rocks. + +It was however, out of my power, in so hurried a journey as that which I +performed down the banks of the Morumbidgee River, to examine with the +accuracy I could have wished, either the immediate connection between +these rocks or their gradual change from the one to the other. I was +content to ascertain their actual succession, and to note the general +outlines of the ranges; but the defect of vision under which I labour, +prevents me from laying them before the public. + +CHARACTER OF THE SOIL CONNECTED WITH GEOLOGICAL FORMATION. + +From what has been advanced, however, it will appear that the physical +structure of the southern parts of the colony is as varied, as that of the +western interior is monotonous, and we may now pursue our original +observations on the soil of the colony with greater confidence. + +In endeavouring to account for the poverty of the soil in New South Wales, +and in attributing it in a great degree to the causes already mentioned, +it appears necessary to estimate more specifically the influence which the +geological formation of a country exercises on its soil, and how much the +quality of the latter partakes of the character of the rock on which it +reposes. And although I find it extremely difficult to explain myself as +I should wish to do, in the critical discussion on which I have thus +entered, yet as it is material to the elucidation of an important subject +in the body of the work, I feel it incumbent on me to proceed to the best +of my ability. + +I have said that the soil of a country depends much upon its geological +formation. This appears to be particularly the case in those parts of the +colony with which I am acquainted, or those lying between the parallels of +30 degrees and 35 degrees south. Sandstone, porphyry, and granite, +succeed each other from the coast to a very considerable distance into the +interior, on a N. W. line. The light ferruginous dust that is distributed +over the county of Cumberland, and which annoys the traveller by its +extreme minuteness, to the eastward of the Blue Mountains, is as different +from the coarse gravelly soil on the secondary ranges to the westward of +them, as the barren scrubs and thickly-wooded tracts of the former +district are to the grassy and open forests of the latter. + +As soon as I began to descend to the westward it became necessary to pay +strict and earnest attention to the features of the country through which +I passed, in order to determine more accurately the different appearances +which, as I was led to expect, the rivers would assume. In the course of +my examination I found, first, that the broken country through which I +travelled, was generally covered with a loose, coarse, and sandy soil; +and, secondly, that the ranges were wholly deficient in that peat +formation which fills the valleys, or covers the flat summits of the hills +or mountains, in the northern hemisphere. The peculiar property of this +formation is to retain water like a sponge; and to this property the +regular and constant flow of the rivers descending from such hills, may, +in a great measure, be attributed. In New South Wales on the contrary, the +rains that fall upon the mountains drain rapidly through a coarse and +superficial soil, and pour down their sides without a moment's +interruption. The consequence is that on such occasions the rivers are +subject to great and sudden rises, whereas they have scarcely water enough +to support a current in ordinary seasons. At one time the traveller will +find it impracticable to cross them: at another he may do so with ease; +and only from the remains of debris in the branches of the trees high +above, can he judge of the furious torrent they must occasionally +contain. + +This seeming deviation on the part of Nature from her usual laws will no +longer appear such, if we consider its results for a moment. The very +floods which swell the rivers to overflowing, are followed by the most +beneficent effects; and, rude and violent as the means are by which she +accomplishes her purpose, they form, no doubt, a part of that process by +which she preserves the balance of good and evil. Vast quantities of the +best soil have been thus washed down from the mountains to accumulate in +more accessible places. From frequent depositions, a great extent of +country along the banks of every river and creek has risen high above the +influence of the floods, and constitutes the richest tracts in the colony. +The alluvial flats of the Nepean, the Hawkesbury, and the Hunter, are +striking instances of the truth of these observations; to which the plains +of O'Connell and Bathurst must be added. The only good soil upon the two +latter, is in the immediate neighbourhood of the Macquarie River: but, +even close to its banks, the depositions are of little depth, lying on a +coarse gravelly soil, the decomposition of the nearer ranges. The former +is found to diminish in thickness, according to the concavity of the +valley through which the Macquarie flows, and at length becomes mixed with +the coarser soil. This deposit is alone fit for agricultural purposes; +but it does not necessarily follow that the distant country is unavailable +since it is admitted, that the best grazing tracts are upon the secondary +ranges of granite and porphyry. These ranges generally have the appearance +of open forest, and are covered with several kinds of grasses, among which +the long oat-grass is the most abundant. + +COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND. + +If we except the valley of the Nepean, the banks of the South Creek, the +Pennant Hills near Parramatta, and a few other places, the general soil of +the county of Cumberland, is of the poorest description. It is superficial +in most places, resting either upon a cold clay, or upon sandstone; and +is, as I have already remarked, a ferruginous compound of the finest dust. +Yet there are many places upon its surface, (hollows for instance,) in +which vegetable decay has accumulated, or valleys, into which it has been +washed, that are well adapted for the usual purposes of agriculture, and +would, if the country was more generally cleared, be found to exist to a +much greater extent than is at present imagined. I have frequently +observed the isolated patches of better land, when wandering through the +woods, both on the Parramatta River, and at a greater distance from the +coast. And I cannot but think, that it would be highly advantageous to +those who possess large properties in the County of Cumberland to let +Portions of them. The concentration of people round their capital, +promotes more than anything else the prosperity of a colony, by creating +a reciprocal demand for the produce both of the country and the town, +since the one would necessarily stimulate the energy of the farmer, as the +other would rouse the enterprise of the merchant. The consideration, +however, of such a subject is foreign to my present purpose. + +It must not be supposed, that because I have given a somewhat particular +description of the County of Cumberland, I have done so with a view to +bring it forward as a specimen of the other counties, or to found upon it +a general description of the colony. It is, in fact, poorer in every +respect than any tract of land of similar extent in the interior, and is +still covered with dense forests of heavy timber, excepting when the trees +have been felled by dint of manual labour, and the ground cleared at an +expense that nothing but its proximity to the seat of government could +have justified. But experience has proved, that neither the labour nor the +the expense have been thrown away. Many valuable farms and extensive +gardens chequer the face of the country, from which the proprietors +derive a very efficient income. + +COUNTRY WEST OF BLUE MOUNTAINS. + +To the westward of the Blue Mountains, the country differs in many +respects from that lying between those ranges and the coast; and although, +its aspect varies in different places, three principal features appear +more immediately to characterise it. These are, first, plains of +considerable extent wholly destitute of timber; secondly, open undulating +woodlands; and, thirdly, barren unprofitable tracts. The first almost +invariably occur in the immediate neighbourhood of some river, as the +Plains of Bathurst, which are divided by the Macquarie; Goulburn Plains, +through which the Wallandilly flows; and Yass Plains, which are watered by +a river of the same name. The open forests, through which the horseman may +gallop in perfect safety, seem to prevail over the whole secondary ranges +of granite, and are generally considered as excellent grazing tracts. Such +is the country in Argyleshire on either side of the Lachlan, where that +river crosses the great southern road near Mr. Hume's station; such also +are many parts of Goulburn and the whole extent of country lying between +Underaliga and the Morumbidgee River. The barren tracts, on the other +hand, may be said to occupy the central spaces between all the principal +streams. With regard to the proportion that these different kinds of +country bear to each other, there can be no doubt of the undue +preponderance of the last over the first two; but there are nevertheless +many extensive available tracts in every part of the colony. + +MEANS OF INLAND TRANSPORT. + +The greatest disadvantage under which New South Wales labours, is the want +of means for conveying inland produce to the market, or to the coast. The +Blue Mountains are in this respect a serious bar to the internal +prosperity of the colony. By this time, however, a magnificent +road will have been completed across them to the westward, over parts of +which I travelled in 1831. Indeed the efforts of the colonial government +have been wisely directed, not only to the construction of this road, +which the late Governor, General Darling commenced, but also in +facilitating the communication to the southern districts, by an almost +equally fine road over the Razor Back Range, near the Cow Pastures; so +that as far as it is possible for human efforts to overcome natural +obstacles, the wisdom and foresight of the executive have ere this been +successful. + +DISADVANTAGES OF DISTANT SETTLERS. + +The majority of the settlers in the Bathurst country, and in the more +remote interior, are woolgrowers; and as they send their produce to the +market only once a year, receiving supplies for home consumption, on the +return of their drays or carts from thence, the inconvenience of bad +roads is not so much felt by them. But to an agriculturist a residence to +the westward of the Blue Mountains is decidedly objectionable, unless he +possess the means with which to procure the more immediate necessaries of +life, otherwise than by the sale of his grain or other produce, and can be +satisfied to cultivate his property for home consumption, or for the +casual wants of his neighbours. Under such circumstances, a man with a +small private income would enjoy every rational comfort. But of course, +not only in consequence of the loss of labour, but the chance of accidents +during a long journey, the more the distance is increased from Sydney, as +the only place at which the absolute necessaries of life can be purchased, +the greater becomes the objection to a residence in such a part of the +country; and on this account it is, that although some beautiful locations +both as to extent and richness, are to be found to the westward of +Bathurst, equally on the Bell, the Macquarie and the Lachlan, it is not +probable they will be taken up for many years, or will only be occupied as +distant stock stations. + +CHARACTER OF EASTERN COAST. + +Since, therefore, it appears from what has been advanced, that it is not +to the westward the views of any settlers should he directed, excepting +under particular circumstances, it remains for us to consider what other +parts of the colony hold out, or appear to hold out, greater advantages. +The eye naturally turns to the south on the one hand, and to +Port Macquarie northerly on the other. It is to be remarked that the +eastern shores of Australia partake of the same barren character that +marks the other three. it is generally bounded to a certain extent by a +sandy and sterile tract. There are, however, breaks in so prolonged a +line, as might have been expected, where, from particular local causes, +both the soil and vegetation are of a superior kind. At Illawarra for +instance, the contiguity of the mountains to the coast leaves no room for +the sandy belt we have noticed, but the debris from them reaches to the +very shore. Whether from reflected heat, or from some other peculiarity of +situation, the vegetation of Illawarra is of an intertropical character, +and birds that are strangers to the county of Cumberland frequent its +thickets. There is no part of Australia where the feathered race are more +beautiful, or more diversified. The most splendid pigeon, perhaps, that +the world produces, and the satin bird, with its lovely eye, feed there +upon the berries of the ficus (wild fig,) and other trees: and a numerous +tribe of the accipitrine class soar over its dense and spacious forests. + +PORT MACQUARIE AND FIVE ISLANDS. + +We again see a break in the sandy line of the coast at Broken Bay, at +Newcastle, and still further north at Port Macquarie; at which places the +Hawkesbury, the Hunter, and the Hastings severally debouche. Of Port +Macquarie, as a place of settlement, I entertain a very high opinion, in +consequence of its being situated under a most favourable parallel +latitude. I am convinced it holds out many substantial advantages. One of +the most important of these is the circumstance of its having been much +improved when occupied as a penal settlement. And since the shores of the +colony are how navigated by steam-boats, the facility of water +communication would be proportionably great. + +I believe the Five Islands or Illawarr district is considered peculiarly +eligible for small settlers. The great drawback to this place is the +heavy character of its timber and the closeness of its thickets, which vie +almost with the American woods in those respects. The return, however, is +adequate to the labour required in clearing the ground. Between the Five +Islands and Sydney, a constant intercourse is kept up by numerous small +craft; and a communication with the interior, by branch roads from the +great southern line to the coast, would necessarily be thrown open, if the +more distant parts of it were sufficiently peopled. + +RICH TRACTS IN THE INTERIOR. + +Recent surveys have discovered to us rich and extensive tracts in the +remote interior between Jervis Bay and Bateman's Bay, and southwards upon +the western slope of the dividing range. The account given by Messrs. +Hovel and Hume is sufficient to prove that every valley they crossed was +worthy of notice, and that the several rivers they forded were flanked by +rich and extensive flats. + +The distance of Moneroo Plains, and of the Doomot and Morumbidgee Rivers +from Sydney, alarms the settler, who knows not the value of those +localities; but men whose experience has taught them to set this obstacle +at nought, have long depastured their herds on the banks of the last two. +The fattest cattle that supply the Sydney market are fed upon the rich +flats, and in the grassy valleys of the Morumbidgee; and there are several +beautiful farms upon those of the Doomot. Generally speaking, the persons +who reside in those distant parts, pay little attention to the comfort of +their dwellings, or to the raising of more grain than their establishments +may require; but there can be no doubt this part of the interior ought to +be the granary of New South Wales; its climate and greater humidity being +more favourable than that of Sydney for the production of wheat. + +PERIODICAL DROUGHTS; THE SEASONS AFFECTED BY THE MARSHES. + +The most serious disadvantages under which the colony of New South Wales +labours, is in the drought to which it is periodically subject. Its +climate may be said to be too dry; in other respects it is one of the most +delightful under heaven; and experience of the certainty of the recurrence +of the trying seasons to which I allude, should teach men to provide +against their effects. Those seasons, during which no rain falls, appear, +from the observations of former writers, to occur every ten or twelve +years; and it is somewhat singular that no cause has been assigned for +such periodical visitations. Whether the state of the interior has +anything to do with them, and whether the wet or dry condition of the +marshes at all regulate the seasons, is a question upon which I will not +venture to give my decisive opinion. But most assuredly, when the interior +is dry, the seasons are dry, and VICE VERSA. Indeed, not only is this the +case, but rains, from excessive duration in the first year after a +drought, decrease gradually year after year, until they wholly cease for a +time. It seems not improbable, therefore, that the state of the interior +does, in some measure, regulate the fall of rain upon the eastern ranges, +which appears to decrease in quantity yearly as the marshes become +exhausted, and cease altogether, when they no longer contain any water. A +drought will naturally follow until such time as the air becomes +surcharged with clouds or vapour from the ocean, which being no longer +able to sustain their own weight, descend upon the mountains, and being +conveyed by hundreds of streams into the western lowlands, again fill the +marshes, and cause the recurrence of regular seasons. + +TEMPERATURE OF THE CLIMATE. + +The thermometer ranges during the summer months, that is, from September +to March, from 36 degrees to 106 degrees of Fahrenheit, but the mean +of the temperature during the above period is 70 degrees. The instrument +in the winter months ranges from 27 degrees to 98 degrees, with a mean of +66 degrees. However great the summer heat may appear, it is certain that +the climate of New South Wales has not the relaxing and enfeebling effect +upon the constitution, which renders a residence in India or other parts +of the south so intolerable. Neither are any of the ordinary occupations +of business or of pleasure laid aside at noon, or during the hottest part +of the day. The traveller may cast himself at length under the first tree +that invites him, and repose there as safely as if he were in a palace. +Fearless of damps, and unmolested by noxious insects, his sleep is as +sound as it is refreshing, and he rises with renewed spirits to pursue his +journey. Equally so may the ploughman or the labourer seek repose beside +his team, and allow them to graze quietly around him. The delicious +coolness of the morning and the mild temperature of the evening air, in +that luxurious climate, are beyond the power of description. It appears to +have an influence on the very animals, the horses and the cattle being +particularly docile; and I cannot but think it is is some degree the same +happy effect upon some of the hardened human beings who are sent thither +from the old world. + +FRUITS. + +As I have before observed, it has not yet been discovered whether there +are any indigenous fruits of any value in Australia. In the colony of New +South Wales there certainly are none; yet the climate is peculiarly +adapted for the growth of every European and of many tropical productions. +The orange, the fig, the citron, the pomegranate, the peach, the apple, +the guava, the nectarine, the pear, and the loquette, grow side by side +together. The plantain throws its broad leaves over the water, the vine +encircles the cottages, and the market of Sydney is abundantly supplied +with every culinary vegetable. + +In a climate, therefore, so soft that man scarcely requires a dwelling, +and so enchanting that few have left it but with regret, the spirits must +necessarily be acted upon,--and the heart feel lighter. Such, indeed, I +have myself found to be the case; nor have I ever been happier than when +roving through the woods or wandering along one of the silent and +beautiful bays for which the harbour of Port Jackson is so celebrated. I +went to New South Wales as I have already remarked, highly prejudiced +against it, both from the nature of the service, and the character of the +great body of its inhabitants. My regiment has since quitted its shores, +but I am aware there are few of them who would not gladly return. The +feeling I have in its favour arises not, therefore, from the services in +which I was employed, but from circumstances in the colony itself; and I +yet hope to form one of its community and to join a number of valuable and +warm-hearted friends whom I left in that distant part of the world. + +REMARKS ON EMIGRATION. + +On the subject of emigration, it is not my intention to dwell at any +length. My object in these preliminary remarks has been to give the reader +a general idea of the country, in the interior recesses of which I am +about to lead him. Still, however, it may be useful to offer a few general +observations on a topic which has, of late years, become so interesting to +the British public. + +The main consideration with those who, possessing some capital, propose to +emigrate as the means of improving their condition, is, the society likely +to he found in the land fixed on for their future residence. One of the +first questions I have been asked, when conversing on the subject of +emigration, has consequently related to this important matter. I had only +then to observe in reply, that the civil and military establishments in +New South Wales, form the elements of as good society as it is the lot of +the majority to command in Great Britain. + +The houses of the settlers are not scattered over a greater surface than +the residences of country gentlemen here, and if they cannot vie with them +in size, they most assuredly do in many other more important respects; and +if a substantial cottage of brick or stone has any claim to the rank of a +tenantable mansion, there are few of them which do not posses all the +means of exercising that hospitality for which young communities are +remarkable. + +But to sever the links of kindred, and to abandon the homes of our fathers +after years of happy tranquillity, is a sacrifice the magnitude of which +is unquestionable. The feelings by which men are influenced under such +circumstances have a claim to our respect. Indeed, no class of persons can +have a stronger hold upon our sympathies than those whom unmerited adverse +fortune obliges to seek a home in a distant country. + +Far, therefore, be it from me to dispute a single expression of regret to +which they may give utterance. It must, however, he remembered that the +deepest feelings of anguish are providentially alleviated in time. Our +heaviest misfortunes are frequently repaired by industry and caution. The +sky clears up, as it were: new interests engage the attention, and the +cares of a family or the improvement of a newly acquired property engross +those moments which would otherwise be spent in vain and unprofitable +regrets. + +DESCRIPTION OF IMMIGRANTS; MOST LIKELY TO PROSPER. + +It cannot be doubted that persons such as I have described, whose conduct +has hitherto been regulated by prudence, and whose main object is to +provide for their children, are the most valuable members of every +community, whether young or old. To such men few countries hold out +greater prospects of success than New South Wales; for the more we extend +our enquiries, the more we shall find that the success of the emigrant in +that colony depends upon his prudence and foresight rather than on any +collateral circumstance of climate or soil; and to him who can be +satisfied with the gradual acquirement of competency, it is the land of +promise. Blessed with a climate of unparalleled serenity, and of unusual +freedom from disease, the settler has little external cause of anxiety, +little apprehension of sickness among his family or domestics, and little +else to do than to attend to his own immediate interests. I should wish to +illustrate the observations by two or three instances of their practical +bearing and tendency. + +CASES OF EMIGRANTS; CAUSES OF SUCCESS OR FAILURE. + +It was on my return from my second expedition, that I visited +Lieut. ****** who resides in the southern parts of the colony. The day +after my arrival, he took me round his property, and explained the various +improvements he had made, considering the small means with which he had +commenced. At this part of our conversation, we came within view of his +house, a substantial weather-board cottage. "I trust," said I, turning +to him, "you will excuse the question I am about to ask; for your +frankness emboldens me to propose it, and on your answer much of the +effect of what you have been saying will depend. In effecting these +various improvements, and in the building of that house, have you been +obliged to embarrass yourself, or are they free from incumbrance?"--"Your +question," he said, "is a reasonable one, and I will answer it with the +frankness you are kind enough to ascribe to me. I have ever made it a rule +not to exceed my income. Mrs. ****** bore our first trials with so much +cheerfulness, and contributed so much to my happiness and my prosperity, +that I felt myself bound to build her a good house with the first money +I had to spare." I confess this answer raised my host in my estimation, +and it was a gratifying proof to me of the success that attends industry +and perseverance. + +But let us look at another case. Mr. *** had a property to the N.W. of +Sydney, and having considerable funded means when he arrived in the +colony, he soon put his property into a state of progressive improvement, +and being in truth an excellent practical farmer, it assumed the +appearance of regularity and order. Had Mr. *** stopped at this moment, +he would have been in the enjoyment of affluence and of every rational +comfort. But instead of exercising prudent rules of hospitality, he gave +way to the natural generosity of his disposition, entered into expenses he +could not afford, and was ultimately obliged to part with his estate. Now +it is deeply to be regretted, that one whose energies and abilities +particularly fitted him for the life he had chosen, should have failed +through such conduct; and it is more than probable, that if he had +commenced with smaller means, and had gradually improved his property, his +fate would have been very different. + +I shall leave these cases without any further comment, convinced as I am, +that each of them furnishes matter for serious consideration, and that +they are practical illustrations of the causes of success or failure of +those who emigrate to the colony of New South Wales. And although I do not +mean to affirm, that the majority follow Mr. ***'s example, I must venture +to assert that thoughtlessness--useless expenditure in the first +instance--waste of time and other circumstances, lead to equally ruinous +consequences. + +MORAL OBJECTIONS TO THE COLONY. + +One of the greatest objections which families have to New South Wales, is +their apprehension of the moral effects that are likely to overwhelm them +by bad example, and for which no success in life could compensate. In a +colony constituted like that of New South Wales, the proportion of crime +must of course be great. Yet it falls less under the notice of private +families than one might at first sight have been led to suppose. +Drunkenness, as in the mother country, is the besetting sin; but it is +confined chiefly to the large towns in consequence of the difficulty of +procuring spirits in the country. There are, no doubt, many incorrigible +characters sent to settle in the interior, and it is an evil to have these +men, even for a single day, to break the harmony of a previously well +regulated establishment, or to injure its future prospects by the +influence of evil example. They are men who are sent upon trial, from on +board a newly arrived ship, and they generally terminate their misconduct +either on the roads or at a penal settlement, being thus happily removed +from the mass of the prisoners. Frequently, however, men remain for years +under the same master. They become attached to their occupations, their +hearts become softened by kindness, and they atone as much as they +possibly can for previous error. + +SYSTEM OF IMMIGRATION RECOMMENDED; ENCOURAGEMENT FOR EMIGRATION. + +Still there can be no doubt, but that the evil complained of is +considerable. It is from this reason, and from my personal knowledge of +the southern parts of the colony, that I should rejoice to see its flats +and its valleys filled with an industrious population of a better +description of farmers. A hope might then be reasonably indulged, that the +Home Government would not be backward in recognising, and in acting upon +a principle, the soundness of which has been felt and acknowledged in all +ages, but the chief difficulty of which rests in its judicious +application. I allude to a system of emigration. Sure I am that if it were +well organized, and care were taken to profit by the experience of the +past in similar attempts, it could not fail to be attended with ultimate +success. The evils resulting from a surplus population in an old +community, were never more seriously felt than in Great Britain at the +present moment. Assuming that the amount of surplus population is +2,000,000, the excess of labour and competition thus occasioned by +diminishing profits and wages, creates, it has been said, an indirect tax +to the enormous extent of 20,000,000 pounds per annum. It has appeared +to many experienced persons, that it is in emigration, we should best find +the means of relief from this heavy pressure; particularly if the +individuals encouraged to go out to the colonies were young persons of +both sexes, from the industrious classes of the community. Even if no +more than three couples were induced to emigrate from each parish in +England in ten years, the relief to the springs of industry would be very +great. Besides, the funds necessary for this purpose would revert to the +country by a thousand indirect channels. Persons unacquainted with our +Australian colonies, whether Van Dieman's Land or New South Wales, can +form little idea of the increasing demand for, and consumption in them of +every species of British manufacture. The liberal encouragement given by +government to every practicable scheme of emigration, and the sum advanced +by it towards the expenses of the voyage to the labouring classes, +sufficiently indicate the light in which the subject is viewed by the +legislature; and the fact that no private family taking out servants to +Sydney, has in any one instance been able to retain them, on account of +offers more advantageous from other quarters, shows clearly the great +demand for labour in the colony. If I might judge of the feelings of the +majority of respectable individuals there, from the assurances of the few, +they would willingly defray any parochial expenses attendant on the +voyage, provided the services of such individuals could be secured to them +for a time sufficiently long to remunerate them for such pavement. The +tide of emigration should be directed to Sydney, Van Dieman's Land, or +Western Australia, upon condition of the labourer's receiving a certain +sum in wages, and his daily subsistence from his employer, with an +understanding, however, that he must consider himself bound for two years +to such employer. Surely there are hundreds of our indigent countrymen, +who would gladly seek a land of such plenty, and cast away the natural, +but unavailing regret of leaving home to secure to themselves and their +families, the substantial comforts of life on such easy conditions. + +COMMITTEE FOUND AT SYDNEY. + +It is not, perhaps, generally known that a committee has been formed in +Sydney, to advise settlers as to the best mode of proceeding on arrival +there. Such a plan is one of obvious utility; and if those who may find +themselves at a loss for information would apply to this committee for +advice, rather than to individuals with whom they may become casually +acquainted, they would further their own interests, and in all probability +ensure success. Still there are some broad rules upon which every man +ought to act, which I shall endeavour to point out, and it will give me no +ordinary satisfaction, if I should be the means of directing any one to +the road of prosperity and comfort. + +HINTS TO EMIGRANTS. + +It is to be feared that those who emigrate to New South Wales, generally +anticipate too great facility in their future operations and certainty of +success in conducting them; but they should recollect that competency +cannot be obtained without labour. Every trade--every profession in this +respect, is subject to the same law--the lawyer, the physician, the +tradesman, and the mechanic. This labour is required at our hands, even in +an old community; how much more then is it called for in a new, where the +ingenuity of men is put to trial to secure those means of accomplishing +their ends which here are abundant. Now, it appears to me but consistent, +that he who is obliged to leave his native country from want of means to +hold his station there, can hardly expect to find, or rather to secure, +abundance elsewhere without some exertion. Every man who emigrates should +proceed with a conviction on his mind, that he is about to encounter years +of labour and privation. He will not then be disappointed at partial +reverses, and will be more thankful for unexpected prosperity. I feel +persuaded the tone of mind has a great deal to do with success, because it +influences the conduct of the individual. Supposing, however, that an +emigrant has taken this rational view of his situation, he should +determine on his pursuits, and allow nothing but absolute certainty of +better fortune to turn him aside. Men, however, landing at Sydney, in +their eagerness for information get bewildered, give up their original +plans, adopt new and uncertain speculations, trifle away both their time +and their money, and ultimately ruin themselves. An individual who goes to +New South Wales for the purpose of settling, should not remain in Sydney +a day longer than is necessary for the arrangement of his affairs. Every +shilling spent there is thrown away. The greatest facility is given by the +different departments of the Colonial Government to the settlers; and it +is entirely his own fault if he trifles away his time in search of +information elsewhere than at the fountainhead, or if he trusts to any +other opinion than his own, supposing him experienced as to the quality of +the land he may fix upon. Let him be speedy in his selection, and fix +himself upon his allotment as soon as possible. Instead of overstocking +his farm, or employing more labourers than he can afford to keep, let him +be satisfied with a gradual increase of his stock, and wait patiently till +he can better afford to employ labour; above all, let him avoid +embarrassing himself by the purchase of any superfluous or unnecessary +comfort. I consider that man has already failed, who runs into debt in the +first instance, or who exhausts his means in the purchase of large herds, +from the vain expectation that their increase will clear him. The time was +when those idle speculations were occasionally attended with success, but +such is not now the case. The energies of the agriculturist are directed +to their proper channel, and if the few are unable to make rapid fortunes, +the many have escaped inevitable ruin. No farm in a state of nature can be +expected to yield any return of consequence for the first year. It is +incumbent on a settler to provide for his establishment, or to retain the +means of providing for it as circumstances may require. + +Farming implements are as cheap in Sydney as in England. Horses and cattle +are cheaper. It requires little, therefore, to stock a farm in a +reasonable manner. On the other hand, the climate is so mild that the want +of a house is scarcely felt, and a temporary residence easily constructed. +On the whole I am convinced, that a man who regulates his conduct by +prudence, and who perseveringly follows up his occupations, who behaves +with kindness to those around him, and performs his social and moral +duties with punctuality, will ultimately secure to himself a home that +will make up for the one he has quitted in the land of his fathers, and +place him in as respectable and as happy a situation as that which he +there enjoyed. + + +***** + + +PROGRESS OF INLAND DISCOVERY. + +Having thrown out the foregoing remarks for the information of the general +reader, and of persons who look to Australia with the more earnest views +of selecting a colonial home, I now return to the immediate object of +these volumes; but before entering on the narrative of my own expeditions, +I think it necessary to advert cursorily to the discoveries previously +accomplished. + +The journeys of Mr. Oxley, far into the western interior of Australia, +gave rise to various and conflicting opinions as to the character of the +more central parts of that extensive continent, of which the colony of New +South Wales forms but a small portion. I feel, therefore, called upon +briefly to advert to the conclusions which that able and intelligent +officer drew from his personal observation of the country into which he +penetrated, as an acquaintance with his opinions will not only tend to +throw a clearer light on the following details, but will, also, convey +much necessary information to those of my readers who may not have +perused his journals. It is necessary, however, in order to divest the +subject of all obscureness, to trace, in the first instance, the progress +of inland discovery, in New South Wales, from the first foundation of the +colony to the period when Mr. Oxley's exertions attracted the public +attention. + +In the year 1788, the British Government took formal possession of the +eastern coast of Australia, by the establishment of a penal colony at Port +Jackson. The first settlers, under Governor Phillips, had too many +difficulties to contend with to submit themselves to be thwarted from +pursuits essential to their immediate safety and comfort, by the prospect +of remote and uncertain advantages. It was by perseverance and toil alone +that they first established and ultimately spread themselves over that +part of the territory, which, flanked by the ocean on the one hand, and +embraced as it were by the Nepean River on the other, is now entitled the +County Of Cumberland. For many years, this single district supplied the +wants of the settlers. Upon it they found ample pasture for their herds, +and sufficient employment for themselves. Nor was it until a succession of +untoward seasons, and the rapid increase of their stock pointed out to +them the necessity of seeking for more extensive pasturage, that they +contemplated surmounting that dark and rugged chain of mountains, which, +like the natural ramparts of Spain and Italy, rose high over the nether +forest, and broke the line of the western horizon. + +MR. CALEY'S ATTEMPT. + +A Mr. Caley is said to have been the first who attempted to scale the Blue +Mountains: but he did not long persevere in struggling with difficulties +too great for ordinary resolution to overcome. It appears that he retraced +his steps, after having penetrated about sixteen miles into their dark and +precipitous recesses; and a heap of stones, which the traveller passes +about that distance from Erne Ford, on the road to Bathurst, marks the +extreme point reached by the first expedition to the westward of the +Nepean river. + +LIEUT. LAWSON'S EXPEDITION. + +Shortly after the failure of this expedition, the sad effects of a long +protracted drought called forth a more general spirit of enterprise and +exertion among the settlers; and Mr. Oxley makes honorable mention of the +perseverance and resolution with which Lieut. Lawson, of the 104th +regiment, accompanied by Messrs. Blaxland and Wentworth, conducted an +expedition into the Blue Mountains. Their efforts were successful: and +the objects of their enterprise would have been completely attained, but +for the failure of their provisions at a moment when their view of the +distant interior was such as to convince them that they had overcome the +most formidable obstacles to their advance, and that in their further +progress few impediments would have presented themselves. + +MR. EVANS' DISCOVERIES. + +The success of this undertaking induced Governor Macquarie to further the +prosecution of inland discovery, and of attempts to ascertain the nature +of the country of which Mr. Lawson only obtained a glimpse. An expedition +was accordingly dispatched under Mr. Evans, the Deputy Surveyor-General, +to follow the route taken by the former one, and to penetrate as far as +practicable into the western interior. The result was the discovery of the +Macquarie river, and of Bathurst Plains. The report of Mr. Evans was so +favourable, that orders were immediately issued for the construction of a +line of road across the mountains. When that was completed, the Governor +went in person to fix the site of a future town on Bathurst Plains. From +thence Mr. Evans, who accompanied the Governor on the occasion, was +directed to proceed to the southward and westward, to ascertain the nature +of the country in that direction. He discovered another considerable +river, flowing, like the Macquarie, to the west, to which he gave the name +of the Lachlan. The promising appearance of these two streams, and the +expectation of all parties that they would be found to water rich and +extensive tracts of country, led to the fitting out of a more important +expedition than any which had before been contemplated. + +MR. OXLEY'S DISCOVERIES. + +Mr. Oxley, the Surveyor-General of the Colony, was appointed chief of this +expedition, and was directed to trace the Lachlan and Macquarie rivers, as +far as practicable, with a view to ascertain their capabilities and the +nature of the country they watered. In 1817, Mr. Oxley directed his +attention to the former river, and continued to follow its windings, until +it appeared that its waters were lost in successive marshes and it ceased +to be a river. In the following year he turned towards the Macquarie, and +traced it, in like manner, until he was checked by high reeds that covered +an extensive plain before him, amidst which the channel of the river was +lost. + +From what he observed of the country, on both these occasions, he was led +to infer that beyond the limits of his advance the interior had a uniform +level, and was, for the most part, uninhabitable and under water. Its +features must have been strongly marked to have confirmed such an opinion +in the mind of the late Surveyor-General. It stands recorded on the pages +of his journal, that he travelled over a country of many miles in extent, +after clearing the mountains, which so far from presenting any rise of +ground to the eye, bore unequivocal marks of frequent and extensive +inundation. He traced two rivers of considerable size, and found that, at +a great distance from each other, they apparently terminated in marshes, +and that the country beyond them was low and unbroken. In his progress +eastward, he crossed a third stream (the Castlereagh), about forty-five +miles from the Macquarie, seemingly not inferior to it in size, +originating in the mountains for which he was making, and flowing nearly +parallel to the other rivers into a level country like that which he had +just quitted. + +DISCOVERIES OF MESSRS. MECHAN, HUME, HOVEL AND CUNNINGHAM. + +Mr. Evans, moreover, who accompanied Mr. Oxley on these journeys, and who +had been detached by his principal from Mount Harris, to ascertain the +nature of the country in the line which the expedition was next to pursue, +having crossed the Castlereagh considerably below the place at which the +party afterwards effected a passage, reported that the river was then +running through high reeds. The inference naturally drawn by Mr. Oxley, +was, that it terminated as the Lachlan and the Macquarie had done; and +that their united waters formed an inland sea or basin. It is evident that +Mr. Oxley had this impression on his mind, when he turned towards the +coast; but the wet state of the lowlands prevented him from ascertaining +its correctness or error. Doubt, consequently, still existed as to the +nature of the country he had left behind him; a question in which the best +interests of the colony were apparently involved. Subsequently to these +discoveries, Mr. Surveyor Mechan, accompanied by Mr. Hamilton Hume, a +colonist of considerable experience, explored the country more to the +southward and westward of Sydney, and discovered most of the new country +called Argyle, and also Lake Bathurst. + +Mr. Hume was afterwards associated with a Mr. Hovel, in an excursion to +the south coast, under the auspices of Sir Thomas Brisbane. After a most +persevering and laborious journey, they reached the sea; but it is +uncertain whether they made Port Philips, or Western Port. Mr. Hume, whose +practical experience will yield to that of no man, entertains a conviction +that it was to the former they descended from the neighbouring ranges; but +Mr. Hovel, I believe supports a contrary opinion. In the early stage of +their journey, they passed over York or Yass Plains; and, after crossing +the Morumbidgee, were generally entangled among mountain ranges that +increased in height to the east and south-east. They crossed three +considerable rivers, falling westerly, which they named the Goulburn, the +Hume, and the Ovens; and found a beautiful and well-watered country in the +vicinity of the coast. + +In 1826, Mr. Allan Cunningham, Botanical Collector to his late Majesty, +traversed a considerable portion of the interior to the north of Bathurst, +and, with a laudable zeal, devoted his labours to the acquisition of +general information, as well as to his more immediate professional +pursuits. In 1827, this gentleman again bent his steps towards the +northward, and succeeded in gaining the 28th parallel of latitude; and, +on a subsequent occasion, having taken his departure from Moreton Bay, he +connected his former journey with that settlement, and thus contributed +largely to our knowledge of the mountain country between it and the +capital. Mr. Cunningham, who, independently of his individual excursions, +had not only circumnavigated the Australian Continent with Capt. King, +but had formed also one of the party with Mr. Oxley, in the journeys +before noticed, had adopted this gentleman's opinion with regard to the +swampy and inhospitable character of the distant interior. Its depressed +appearance from the high ground on which Mr. Cunningham subsequently +moved, tended to confirm this opinion, which was moreover daily gaining +strength from the reports of the natives, who became more frequent in +their intercourse with the whites, and who reported that there were large +waters to the westward, on which the natives had canoes, and in which +there were fish of great size. + +It became, therefore, a current opinion, that the western interior of New +Holland comprehended an extensive basin, of which the ocean of reeds which +had proved so formidable to Mr. Oxley, formed most probably the outskirts; +and it was generally thought that an expedition proceeding into the +interior, would encounter marshes of vast extent, which would be extremely +difficult to turn, and no less dangerous to enter. + +It remained to be proved, however, whether these conjectures were founded +in fact. The chief difficulty lay in the character of the country, and in +providing the necessary means to ensure success. Those which were resorted +to will be found in the succeeding chapter. Whether they would have been +found sufficient and applicable had the interior been wholly under water, +is doubtful; and my impression on this point induced me to make more +efficient arrangements on the second expedition. + + + + + +EXPEDITION DOWN THE BANKS OF THE MACQUARIE RIVER IN 1828 AND 1829. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + +State of the Colony in 1828-29--Objects of the Expedition--Departure +from Sydney--Wellington Valley--Progress down the Macquarie--Arrival at +Mount Harris--Stopped by the marshes--Encamp amidst reeds--Excursions down +the river--Its termination-- Appearance of the marshes--Opthalmic +affection of the men--Mr. Hume's successful journey to the northward-- +Journey across the plain--Second great marsh--Perplexities--Situation of +the exploring party--Consequent resolutions. + + +The year 1826 was remarkable for the commencement of one of those fearful +droughts to which we have reason to believe the climate of New South Wales +is periodically subject. It continued during the two following years with +unabated severity. The surface of the earth became so parched up that +minor vegetation ceased upon it. Culinary herbs were raised with +difficulty, and crops failed even in the most favourable situations. +Settlers drove their flocks and herds to distant tracts for pasture and +water, neither remaining for them in the located districts. The interior +suffered equally with the coast, and men, at length, began to despond +under so alarming a visitation. It almost appeared as if the Australian +sky were never again to be traversed by a cloud. + +OBJECTS OF THE EXPEDITION. + +But, however severe for the colony the seasons had proved, or were likely +to prove, it was borne in mind at this critical moment, that the wet and +swampy state of the interior had alone prevented Mr. Oxley from +penetrating further into it, in 1818. Each successive report from +Wellington Valley, the most distant settlement to the N. W., confirmed the +news of the unusually dry state of the lowlands, and of the exhausted +appearance of the streams falling into them. It was, consequently, hoped +that an expedition, pursuing the line of the Macquarie, would have a +greater chance of success than the late Surveyor General had; and that the +difficulties he had to contend against would be found to be greatly +diminished, if not altogether removed. The immediate fitting out of an +expedition was therefore decided upon, for the express purpose of +ascertaining the nature and extent of that basin into which the Macquarie +was supposed to fall, and whether any connection existed between it and +the streams falling westerly. As I had early taken a great interest in the +geography of New South Wales, the Governor was pleased to appoint me to +the command of this expedition. + +JOURNEY FROM SYDNEY TO EMU PLAINS. + +In the month of September, 1828, I received his Excellency's commands to +prepare for my journey; and by the commencement of November, had organised +my party, and completed the necessary arrangements. On the 9th of that +month, I waited on the Governor, at Parramatta, to receive his definitive +instructions. As the establishments at Sydney had been unable to supply me +with the necessary number of horses and oxen, instructions had been +forwarded to Mr. Maxwell, the superintendent of Wellington Valley, to +train a certain number for my use; and I was now directed to push for that +settlement without loss of time. I returned to Sydney in the afternoon of +the 9th, and on the 10th took leave of my brother officers, to commence a +journey of very dubious issue; and, in company with my friend, +Staff-surgeon M'Leod, who had obtained permission to accompany me to the +limits of the colony, followed my men along the great western road. We +moved leisurely over the level country, between the coast and the Nepean +River, and availed ourselves of the kind hospitality of those of our +friends whose property lay along that line of road, to secure more +comfortable places of rest than the inns would have afforded. + +We reached Sheane, the residence of Dr. Harris, on the 11th, and were +received by him with the characteristic kindness with which friends or +strangers are ever welcomed by that gentleman, He had accompanied +Mr. Oxley as a volunteer in 1818, and his name was then given to the +mount which formed the extreme point to which the main body of the first +expedition down the banks of the Macquarie penetrated, in a westerly +direction. + +The general appearance of the property of Dr. Harris, showed how much +perseverance and labour had effected towards its improvement. Many acres +of ground bore a promising crop, over which a gloomy forest had once +waved. The Doctor's farming establishment was as complete as his husbandry +seemed to be prosperous; but he did not appear to be satisfied with the +extent of his dwelling, to which he was making considerable additions, +although I should have thought it large enough for all ordinary purposes +of residence or hospitality. The rewards of successful industry were +everywhere visible. + +FROM EMU PLAINS TO WELLINGTON VALLEY. + +On the 13th, we gained Regent's Ville, the more splendid mansion of Sir +John Jamieson, which overlooks the Nepean River, and commands the most +beautiful and extensive views of the Blue Mountains. Crossing the ford on +the 14th, we overtook the men as they were toiling up the first ascent of +those rugged bulwarks, which certainly gave no favourable earnest of the +road before us; and, as we could scarcely hope to reach the level country +to the westward without the occurrence of some accident, I determined to +keep near the drays, that I might be on hand should my presence be +required. We gained O'Connell's plains on the 20th November, and arrived +at Bathurst on the 22nd, with no other damage than the loss of one of the +props supporting the boat which snapped in two as we descended Mount York. +On examination, it was found that the boat had also received a slight +contusion, but it admitted of easy repair. + +I was detained at Bathurst longer than I intended, in consequence of +indisposition, and during my stay there experienced many proofs of the +kind hospitality of the settlers of that promising district: nor was I +ever more impressed with the importance of the service upon which I was +employed, or more anxious as to the issue, than while contemplating the +rapid advance of agriculture upon its plains, and the formidable bar to +its prosperity which I had left behind me, in the dark and gloomy ranges +which I had crossed. + +On the 27th, Mr. Hamilton Hume, whose experience well qualified him for +the task, and who had been associated with me in the expedition, having +joined me, we proceeded on our journey, and reached Wellington Valley +about the end of the month. + +WELLINGTON VALLEY. + +I wished to push into the interior without any delay, or at least, so soon +as we should have completed our arrangements and organized the party; but, +although Mr. Maxwell had paid every attention to the training of the +cattle, he was of opinion that they could not yet be wholly relied upon, +and strongly recommended that they should be kept at practice for another +week. As we could not have left the settlement under the most favourable +circumstances in less than four days, the further delay attendant on this +measure was considered immaterial, and it was, accordingly, determined +upon. Mr. Hume undertook to superintend the training of the animals, and +this left me at leisure to gather such information as would be of use to +us in our progress down the river. + +In his description of Wellington Valley, Mr. Oxley has not done it more +than justice. It is certainly a beautiful and fertile spot, and it was now +abundant in pasturage, notwithstanding the unfavourable season that had +passed over it. + +The settlement stands upon the right bank of the Bell, about two miles +above the junction of that stream with the Macquarie. Its whitewashed +buildings bore outward testimony to the cleanliness and regularity of the +inhabitants; and the respectful conduct of the prisoners under his charge, +showed that Mr. Maxwell had maintained that discipline by which alone he +could have secured respect to himself and success to his exertions, at +such a distance from the seat of government. + +The weather was so exceedingly hot, during our stay, that it was +impossible to take exercise at noon; but in the evening, or at an early +hour in the morning, we were enabled to make short excursions in the +neighbourhood. + +Mr. Maxwell informed me that there were three stations below the +settlement, the first of which, called Gobawlin, belonging to Mr. Wylde, +was not more than five miles from it; the other two, occupied by Mr. +Palmer, were at a greater distance, one being nineteen, the other +thirty-four miles below the junction of the Bell. He was good enough to +send for the stockman (or chief herdsman), in charge of the last, to give +me such information of the nature of the country below him, as he could +furnish from personal knowledge or from the accounts of the natives. + +LOW STATE OF THE MACQUARIE RIVER. + +Mr. Maxwell pointed out to me the spot on which Mr. Oxley's boats had been +built, close upon the bank of the Macquarie; and I could not but reflect +with some degree of apprehension on the singularly diminished state of the +river from what it must then have been to allow a boat to pass down it. +Instead of a broad stream and a rapid current, the stream was confined to +a narrow space in the centre of the channel, and it ran so feebly amidst +frequent shallows that it was often scarcely perceptible. The Bell, also, +which Mr. Oxley describes as dashing and rippling along its pebbly bed, +had ceased to flow, and consisted merely of a chain of ponds. + +On the 3rd of Dec, the stockman from below arrived; but the only +information we gathered from him was the existence of a lake to the left +of the river, about three days' journey below the run of his herds, on the +banks of which he assured us, the native companions, a species of stork, +stood in rows like companies of soldiers. + +He brought up a nest of small paroquets of the most beautiful plumage, as +a present to Mr. Maxwell, and affirmed that they were common about his +part of the river. The peculiarity of the seasons had also brought a +parrot into the valley which had never before visited it. This delicate +bird was noticed by Captain Cook upon the coast, and is called +PSITTACUS NOVAE HOLLANDIAE, or New Holland Parrot, by Mr. Brown. It had +not, however, been subsequently seen until the summer of 1828, when it +made its appearance at Wellington Valley in considerable numbers, together +with a species of merops or mountain bee-eater. + +DEPARTURE FOR THE INTERIOR. + +On the 5th, our preparations being wholly completed, and the loads +arranged, the party was mustered, and was found to consist of myself and +Mr. Hume, two soldiers and eight prisoners of the crown, two of whom were +to return with dispatches. Our animals numbered two riding, and seven +pack, horses, two draft, and eight pack, bullocks, exclusive of two +horses of my own, and two for the men to be sent back. + +BANKS OF THE MACQUARIE. + +The morning of the 7th December, the day upon which we were to leave the +valley, was ushered in by a cloudless sky, and that heated appearance in +the atmosphere which foretells an oppressively sultry day. I therefore put +off the moment of our departure to the evening, and determined to proceed +no further than Gobawlin. I was the more readily induced to order this +short journey because the animals had not been practised to their full +loads, and I thought they might have given some trouble at starting with +an unusual weight. They moved off however very quietly, and as if they had +been accustomed to their work by a long course of training. We took our +departure from the settlement at 3 p.m. and, crossing to the right bank of +the Macquarie, a little above its junction with the Bell, reached Mr +Wylde's station about half-past five. Thus we commenced our journey under +circumstances as favorable as could have been wished. In disengaging +ourselves on the following day from the hills by which Wellington Valley +is encompassed on the westward, with a view to approach Mr. Palmer's first +station, we kept rather wide of the river, and only occasionally touched +on its more projecting angles. The soil at a distance from the stream was +by no means so good as that in its immediate vicinity, nor was the timber +of the same description. On the rich and picturesque grounds near the +river the angophora prevailed with the flooded gum, and the scenery upon +its banks was improved by the casuarinae that overhung them. On the +latter, inferior eucalypti and cypresses were mixed together. The country +was broken and undulating, and the hills stony, notwithstanding which, +they appeared to have an abundance of pasture upon them. Mr. Hume rode +with me to the summit of a limestone elevation, from which I thought it +probable we might have obtained such a view as would have enabled us to +form some idea of the country into which we were about to descend. But in +following the river line, the eye wandered over a dark and unbroken +forest alone. The ranges from which we were fast receding formed an +irregular and beautiful landscape to the southward; and contrasted +strongly with the appearance of the country to the N. W., in which +direction it was rapidly assuming a level. + +We reached Mr. Palmer's at a late hour in the afternoon, in consequence of +a delay we experienced in crossing a gully, and encamped upon a high bank +immediately opposite to the mouth of Molle's rivulet which here joins the +Macquarie from the southward. The cattle had consumed all the food, and +the ground on both sides of the river looked bare and arid. + +No doubt, however, the face of the country in ordinary seasons wears a +very different appearance. Its general elevation continued high; nor did +the Macquarie assume any change of aspect. Mountain debris and rounded +pebbles of various kinds formed its bed, which was much encumbered with +timber. + +DIBILAMBLE. + +We had been unable to persuade any of the natives of Wellington Valley to +accompany us as guides, on our leaving that settlement. Even Mr. Maxwell's +influence failed; for, notwithstanding the promises of several, when they +saw that we were ready to depart, they either feigned sickness or stated +that they were afraid of the more distant natives. The fact is, that they +were too lazy to wander far from their own district, and too fond of +Maxwell's beef to leave it for a precarious bush subsistence. Fortunately +we found several natives with Mr. Palmer's stockmen, who readily undertook +to conduct us by the nearest route to the cataract, which we considered to +be midway between Wellington Valley and Mount Harris. We started under +their guidance for Dibilamble, Mr. Palmer's second station, and reached it +about half-past 4 p.m. The distance between the two is sixteen miles. The +country for some miles differs in no material point from that through +which we had already passed. The same rich tracts of soil near the river +and the same inferiority in the tracks remote from it. Near Dibilamble, +however, the limestone formation terminates, and gives place to barren +stony ridges, upon which the cypress callities is of close and stunted +growth. The ridges themselves were formed of a coarse kind of freestone +in a state of rapid decomposition. The Tabragar (the Erskine of Mr. Oxley) +falls into the Macquarie at Dibilamble. It had long ceased to flow, being +a small mountain torrent whose source, if we judge from the shingly nature +of its bed, cannot be very distant. Our descent was considerable during +the day; the rapids were frequent in the river, but it underwent no change +in its general appearance. Its waters were hard and transparent, and its +banks, in many places, extremely lofty; with a red sandy loam and gravel +under the alluvial deposits. It generally happened that where the bank was +high on the one side it was low and subject to flood, to a limited extent +at least, on the other. Upon these low grounds the blue-gum trees were of +lofty growth, but on the upper levels box prevailed. + +SCENERY NEAR THE RIVER. + +The views upon the river were really beautiful, and varied at every turn; +nor is it possible for any tree to exceed the casuarina in the graceful +manner in which it bends over the stream, or clings to some solitary rock +in its centre. + +It here became necessary for us to cross to the left bank of the river, +not only to avoid its numerous windings, and thus to preserve as much as +possible the direct line to Mount Harris; but also, because the travelling +was much better on the south side. We therefore availed ourselves of a +ford opposite to the ground on which the tents had stood; and then pursued +our journey, in a south-westerly course, over a country of a description +very inferior to that of any we had previously noticed. + +Iron-bark and cypresses generally prevailed along our line of route on a +poor and sandy soil, which improved after we passed Elizabeth Burn, a +small creek mentioned by Mr. Oxley. + +TAYLOR'S RIVULET. + +We approached the river again early in the day, and pitched our tent on +the summit of a sloping bank that overlooked one of its long still +reaches. We were protected from the sun by the angophora trees, which +formed a hanging wood around us, and, with its bright green foliage, gave +a cheerfulness to the scene that was altogether unusual. The opposite side +of the river was rather undulated, and the soil appeared to be of the +finest description. The grass, although growing in tufts, afforded +abundance of pasture for the cattle; and, on the whole, this struck me as +a most eligible spot for a station, and I found it occupied as such on the +return of the expedition. We had encamped about a quarter of a mile from +Taylor's Rivulet, which discharges itself into the Macquarie from the +N. E., and is the first stream, upon the right bank, below the Wellington +Valley. + +Immediately after receiving it the river sweeps away to the southward, in +consequence of which it became again necessary for us to cross it. Our +guides, who were intelligent lads, led the cattle to a ford, a little +below the junction of Taylor's Rivulet, at which we effected a passage +with some difficulty; the opposite bank being very steep, and we were +obliged to force our way up a gully for some eighty or a hundred yards +before we could extricate the team. Pursuing our journey, in a N. W. +direction, we soon left the rich and undulating grounds bordering the +river behind us. A poor, level, and open country, succeeded them. The +soil changed to a light red, sandy loam, on which eucalypti, cypresses, +and casuarinae, were intermixed with minor shrubs; of which latter, the +cherry tree (exocarpus cupressiformis) was the most prevalent. + +At about seven miles from the river we passed some barren freestone +ridges, near which Mr. Hume killed the first kangaroo we had seen. At +mid-day we passed a small creek, at which the cattle were watered; and +afterwards continued our journey through a country similar to that over +which we had already made our way. + +As we neared the stream we noticed the acacia pendula for the first +time,--an indication of our approach to the marshes. The weather still +continued extremely hot. Our journey this day was unusually long, and our +cattle suffered so much, and moved so slowly, that it was late when we +struck upon the Macquarie, at a part where its banks were so high that we +had some difficulty in finding a good watering place. + +SURPRISE SOME NATIVES. + +Being considerably in front of the party, with one of our guides, when we +neared the river, I came suddenly upon a family of natives. They were much +terrified, and finding that they could not escape, called vehemently to +some of their companions, who were in the distance. By the time Mr. Hume +came up, they had in some measure recovered their presence of mind, but +availed themselves of the first favourable moment to leave us. I was +particular in not imposing any restraint on these men, in consequence of +which they afterwards mustered sufficient resolution to visit us in our +camp. We now judged that we were about ten miles from the cataract, and +that, according to the accounts of the stockman, we could not be very +distant from the lake he had mentioned. + +NATIVE BURIAL PLACE. + +As I was unwilling to pass any important feature of the country without +enquiry or examination, I requested Mr. Hume to interrogate the strangers +on the subject. They stated that they belonged to the lake tribe, that the +lake was a short day's journey to the eastward, and that they would guide +us to it if we wished. The matter was accordingly arranged. They left us +at dusk, but returned to the camp at the earliest dawn; when we once more +crossed the river, and, after traversing a very level country for about +nine miles, arrived at our destination. We passed over the dried beds of +lagoons, and through coppices of cypresses and acacia pendula, or open +forest, but did not observe any of the barren stony ridges so common to +the N.E. About a mile, or a mile and a half, from the lake we examined a +solitary grave that had recently been constructed. It consisted of an +oblong mound, with three semicircular seats. A walk encompassed the whole, +from which three others branched off for a few yards only, into the +forest. Several cypresses, overhanging the grave, were fancifully carved +on the inner side, and on one the shape of a heart was deeply engraved. + +BUDDAH LAKE. + +We were sadly disappointed in the appearance of the lake, which the +natives call the Buddah. It is a serpentine sheet of fresh water, of +rather more than a mile in length, and from three to four hundred yards in +breadth. Its depth was four fathoms; but it seemed as if it were now five +or six feet below the ordinary level. No stream either runs into it or +flows from it; yet it abounds in fish; from which circumstance I should +imagine that it originally owed its supply to the river during some +extensive inundation. Notwithstanding that we had crossed some rich tracts +of land in our way to it, the neighbourhood of the lake was by no means +fertile. The trees around it were in rapid decay, and the little +vegetation to be seen appeared to derive but little advantage from its +proximity to water. + +EXTREME HEAT OF THE WEATHER. + +We had started at early dawn; and the heat had become intolerable long ere +the sun had gained the meridian. It was rendered still more oppressive +from the want of air in the dense bushes through which we occasionally +moved. At 2 p.m. the thermometer stood at 129 degrees of Fahrenheit, in +the shade; and at 149 degrees in the sun; the difference being exactly 20 +degrees. It is not to be wondered at that the cattle suffered, although +the journey was so short. The sun's rays were too powerful even for the +natives, who kept as much as possible in the shade. In the evening, when +the atmosphere was somewhat cooler, we launched the boat upon the lake, +in order to get some wild fowl and fish; but although we were tolerably +successful with our guns, we did not take anything with our hooks. + +The natives had, in the course of the afternoon, been joined by the rest +of the tribe, and they now numbered about three and twenty. They were +rather distant in their manner, and gazed with apparent astonishment at +the scene that was passing before them. + +If there had been other proof wanting, of the lamentably parched and +exhausted state of the interior, we had on this occasion ample evidence of +it, and of the fearful severity of the drought under which the country was +suffering. As soon as the sun dipped under the horizon, hundreds of birds +came crowding to the border of the lake, to quench the thirst they had +been unable to allay in the forest. Some were gasping, others almost too +weak to avoid us, and all were indifferent to the reports of our guns. + +CATARACT OF THE MACQUARIE. + +On leaving the Buddah, eleven only of the natives accompanied us. We +reached the river again about noon, on a north-half-east course, where it +had a rocky bed, and continued to journey along it, until we reached the +cataract at which we halted. We travelled over soil generally inferior to +that which we had seen on the preceding day, but rich in many places. The +same kind of timber was observed, but the acacia pendula was more +prevalent than any other, although near the river the flooded gum and +Australian apple-tree were of beautiful growth. + +It had appeared to me that the waters of the Macquarie had been +diminishing in volume since our departure from Wellington Valley, and I +had a favourable opportunity of judging as to the correctness of this +conclusion at the cataract, where its channel, at all times much +contracted, was particularly so on the present occasion. So little force +was there in the current, that I began to entertain doubts how long it +would continue, more especially when I reflected on the level character of +the country we had entered, and the fact of the Macquarie not receiving +any tributary between this point and the marshes. I was in consequence +led to infer that result, which, though not immediately, eventually took +place. + +As they were treated with kindness, the natives who accompanied us soon +threw off all reserve, and in the afternoon assembled at the pool below +the fall to take fish. They went very systematically to work, with short +spears in their hands that tapered gradually to a point, and sank at once +under water without splash or noise at a given signal from an elderly man. +In a short time, one or two rose with the fish they had transfixed; the +others remained about a minute under water, and then made their +appearance near the same rock into the crevices of which they had driven +their prey. Seven fine bream were taken, the whole of which they insisted +on giving to our men, although I am not aware that any of themselves had +broken their fast that day. They soon, however, procured a quantity of +muscles, with which they sat down very contentedly at a fire. My +barometrical admeasurement gave the cataract an elevation of 680 feet +above the level of the sea; and my observations placed it in east +longitude 148 degrees 3 minutes and in latitude 31 degrees 50 minutes +south. + +It became an object with us to gain the right bank of the Macquarie as +soon as possible; for it was evident that the country to the southward of +it was much more swampy than it was to the north: but for some distance +below the cataract, we found it impossible to effect our purpose. The +rocks composing the bed of the river at the cataract, which are of trapp +formation, disappeared at about eight miles below it, when the river +immediately assumed another character. Its banks became of equal height, +which had not before been the case, and averaged from fifteen to eighteen +feet. They were composed entirely of alluvial soil, and were higher than +the highest flood-marks. Its waters appeared to be turbid and deep, and +its bed was a mixture of sand and clay. The casuarina, which had so often +been admired by us, entirely disappeared and the channel in many places +became so narrow as to be completely arched over by gum-trees. + +A TRIBE OF NATIVES. + +On the 16th, we fell in with a numerous tribe of natives who joined our +train after the very necessary ceremonies of an introduction had passed, +and when added to those who still accompanied us, amounted to fifty-three. +On this occasion I was riding somewhat in front of the party, when I came +upon them. They were very different in appearance from those whom we had +surprised at the river; and from the manner in which I was received, I was +led to infer that they had been informed of our arrival, and had +purposely assembled to meet us. I was saluted by an old man, who had +stationed himself in front of his tribe, and who was their chief. Behind +him the young men stood in a line, and behind them the warriors were +seated on the ground. + +CONDUCT OF THE NATIVES. + +I had a young native with me who had attached himself to our party, and +who, from his extreme good nature and superior intelligence, was +considered by us as a first-rate kind of fellow. He explained who and what +we were, and I was glad to observe that the old chief seemed perfectly +reconciled to my presence, although he cast many an anxious glance at the +long train of animals that were approaching. The warriors, I remarked, +never lifted their eyes from the ground. They were hideously painted with +red and yellow ochre, and had their weapons at their sides, while their +countenances were fixed, sullen, and determined. In order to overcome this +mood, I rode up to them, and, taking a spear from the nearest, gave him +my gun to examine; a mark of confidence that was not lost upon them, for +they immediately relaxed from their gravity, and as soon as my party +arrived, rose up and followed us. That which appeared most to excite their +surprise, was the motion of the wheels of the boat carriage. The young +native whom I have noticed above, acted as interpreter, and, by his +facetious manner, contrived to keep the whole of us in a fit of laughter +as we moved along. He had been named Botheri by some stockman. + + +In consequence of our wish to cross the river, we kept near it, and +experienced considerable delay from the frequent marshes that opposed +themselves to our progress. In one of these we saw a number of ibises and +spoonbills; and the natives succeeded in killing two or three snakes. Our +view to the westward was extremely limited; but to the eastward the +country appeared in some places to expand into plains. + +CROSSING OF THE RIVER. + +After travelling some miles down the banks of the river, finding that they +still retained their steep character, we turned back to a place which Mr. +Hume had observed, and at which he thought we might, with some little +trouble, cross to the opposite side. And, however objectionable the +attempt was, we found ourselves obliged to make it. We descended, +therefore, into the channel of the river, and unloaded the animals and +boat-carriage. In order to facilitate the ascent of the right bank, some +of the men were directed to cut steps up it. I was amused to see the +natives voluntarily assist them; and was surprised when they took up bags +of flour weighing 100 pounds each, and carried them across the river. We +were not long in getting the whole of the stores over. The boat was then +hoisted on the shoulders of the strongest, and deposited on the top of the +opposite bank; and ropes being afterwards attached to the carriage, it was +soon drawn up to a place of safety. The natives worked as hard as our own +people, and that, too, with a cheerfulness for which I was altogether +unprepared, and which is certainly foreign to their natural habits. We +pitched our tents as soon as we had effected the passage of the river; +after which, the men went to bathe, and blacks and whites were mingled +promiscuously in the stream. I did not observe that the former differed in +any respect from the natives who frequent the located districts. They were +generally clean limbed and stout, and some of the young men had pleasing +intelligent countenances. They lacerate their bodies, inflicting deep +wounds to raise the flesh, and extract the front teeth like the Bathurst +tribes; and their weapons are precisely the same. They are certainly a +merry people, and sit up laughing and talking more than half the night. + +BAROMETER BROKEN. + +During the removal of the stores my barometer was unfortunately broken, +and I had often, in the subsequent stages of the journey, occasion to +regret the accident. I apprehend that the corks in the instrument, placed +to steady the tube, are too distant from each other in most cases; and +indeed I fear that barometers as at present constructed, will seldom be +carried with safety in overland expeditions. + +DESERTED BY THE NATIVES. + +Nine only of the natives accompanied us on the morning succeeding the day +in which we crossed the river. Botheri was, however, at the head of them; +and, as we journeyed along, he informed me that he had been promised a +wife on his return from acting as our guide, by the chief of the last +tribe. The excessive heat of the weather obliged us to shorten our +journey, and we encamped about noon in some scrub after having traversed a +level country for about eleven miles. + +Several considerable plains were noticed to our right, stretching east and +west, which were generally rich in point of soil; but we passed through +much brushy land during the day. It was lamentable to see the state of +vegetation upon the plains from want of moisture. Although the country +had assumed a level character, and was more open than on the higher +branches of the Macquarie, the small freestone elevations, backing the +alluvial tracts near the river, still continued upon our right, though +much diminished in height, and at a great distance from the banks. They +seemed to be covered with cypresses and beef-wood, but dwarf-box and the +acacia pendula prevailed along the plains; while flooded-gum alone +occupied the lands in the immediate neighbourhood of the stream, which was +evidently fast diminishing, both in volume and rapidity; its bed, however, +still continuing to be a mixture of sand and clay. + +The cattle found such poor feed around the camp that they strayed away in +search of better during the night. On such an occasion Botheri and his +fraternity would have been of real service; but he had decamped at an +early hour, and had carried off an axe, a tomahawk, and some bacon, +although I had made him several presents. I was not at all surprised at +this piece of roguery, since cunning is the natural attribute of a savage; +but I was provoked at their running away at a moment when I so much +required their assistance. + +Left to ourselves, I found Mr. Hume of the most essential service in +tracking the animals, and to his perseverance we were indebted for their +speedy recovery, They had managed to find tolerable feed near a serpentine +sheet of water, which Mr. Hume thought it would be advisable to examine. +We directed our course to it as soon as the cattle were loaded, moving +through bush, and found it to be a very considerable creek that receives a +part of the superfluous waters of the Macquarie, and distributes them, +most probably, over the level country to the north. It was much wider than +the river, being from fifty to sixty yards across, and is resorted to by +the natives, who procure muscles from its bed in great abundance. We were +obliged to traverse its eastern bank to its junction with the river, at +which it fortunately happened to be dry. We had, however, to cut roads +down both its banks before we could cross it; and, consequently, made but +a short day's journey. The soil passed over was inferior to the generality +of soil near the river, but we encamped on a tongue of land on which both +the flooded-gum and the grass were of luxuriant height. We found a +quantity of a substance like pipe-clay in the bed of the river, similar to +that mentioned by Mr. Oxley. + +GREAT HEAT. + +The heat, which had been excessive at Wellington Valley, increased upon us +as we advanced into the interior. The thermometer was seldom under 114 +degrees at noon, and rose still higher at 2 p.m. We had no dews at night, +and consequently the range of the instrument was trifling in the +twenty-four hours. The country looked bare and scorched, and the plains +over which we journeyed had large fissures traversing them, so that the +earth may literally be said to have gasped for moisture. The country, +which above the cataract had borne the character of open forest, excepting +on the immediate banks of the river, where its undulations and openness +gave it a park-like appearance, or where the barren stony ridges prevailed +below that point, generally exhibited alternately plain and brush, the +soil on both of which was good. On the former, crested pigeons were +numerous, several of which were shot. We had likewise procured some of the +rose-coloured and grey parrots, mentioned by Mr. Oxley, and a small +paroquet of beautiful plumage; but there was less of variety in the +feathered race than I expected to find, and most of the other birds we had +seen were recognised by me as similar to specimens I had procured from +Melville Island, and were, therefore, most probably birds of passage. + +ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY, AND THE RIVER. + +As we neared Mount Harris, the Macquarie became more sluggish in its flow, +and fell off so much as scarcely to deserve the name of a river. In +breadth, it averaged from thirty-five to forty-five yards, and in the +height of its banks, from fifteen to eighteen. Mr. Hume had succeeded in +taking some fish at one of the stock stations; but if I except those +speared by the natives, we had since been altogether unsuccessful with the +hook, a circumstance which I attribute to the lowness of the river itself. + +About thirty miles from the cataract the country declines to the north as +a medium point, and again changes somewhat in its general appearance. To +the S. and S.W. it appeared level and wooded, while to the N. the plains +became more frequent, but smaller, and travelling over them was extremely +dangerous, in consequence of the large fissures by which they were +traversed. The only trees to be observed were dwarf-box and the acacia +pendula, both of stunted growth, although flooded-gum still prevailed upon +the river. + +On the 20th we travelled on a N.W. course, and in the early part of the +day passed over tolerably good soil. It was succeeded by a barren scrub, +through which we penetrated in the direction of Welcome Rock, a point we +had seen from one of the Plains and had mistaken for Mount Harris. + +ARRIVAL AT MOUNT HARRIS. + +On a nearer approach, however, we observed our error, and corrected it by +turning more to the left; and we ultimately encamped about a mile to the +W.S.W. of the latter eminence. On issuing from the scrub we found +ourselves among reeds and coarse water-grass; and, from the appearance of +the country, we were led to conclude that we had arrived at a part of the +interior more than ordinarily subject to overflow. + +As soon as the camp was fixed, Mr. Hume and I rode to Mount Harris, over +ground subject to flood and covered for the most part by the polygonum, +being too anxious to defer our examination of its neighbourhood even for a +few hours. + +VESTIGES OF MR. OXLEY'S ENCAMPMENT. + +Nearly ten years had elapsed since Mr. Oxley pitched his tents under the +smallest of the two hills into which Mount Harris is broken. There was no +difficulty in hitting upon his position. The trenches that had been cut +round the tents were still perfect, and the marks of the fire-places +distinguishable; while the trees in the neighbourhood had been felled, +and round about them the staves of some casks and a few tent-pegs were +scattered. Mr. Oxley had selected a place at some distance from the river, +in consequence of its then swollen state. I looked upon it from the same +ground, and could not discern the waters in its channel; so much had they +fallen below their ordinary level. He saw the river when it was +overflowing its banks; on the present occasion it had scarcely sufficient +water to support a current. On the summit of the greater eminence, which +we ascended, there remained the half-burnt planks of a boat, some clenched +and rusty nails, and an old trunk; but my search for the bottle Mr. Oxley +had left was unsuccessful. + +A reflection naturally arose to my mind on examining these decaying +vestiges of a former expedition, whether I should be more fortunate than +the leader of it, and how far I should be enabled to penetrate beyond the +point which had conquered his perseverance. Only a week before I left +Sydney I had followed Mr. Oxley to the tomb. A man of uncommon quickness, +and of great ability, the task of following up his discoveries was not +less enviable than arduous; but, arrived at that point at which his +journey may be said to have terminated and mine only to commence, I knew +not how soon I should be obliged, like him, to retreat from the marshes +and exhalations of so depressed a country. My eye instinctively turned to +the North-West, and the view extended over an apparently endless forest. +I could trace the river line of trees by their superior height; but saw no +appearance of reeds, save the few that grew on the banks of the stream. + +Mount Foster, somewhat higher than Mount Harris, on the opposite side of +the river, alone broke the line of the horizon to the North N.W. at a +distance of five miles. From that point all round the compass, the low +lands spread, like a dark sea, before me; except where a large plain +stretching from E. to W., and lying to the S.E. broke their monotony; +and if there was nothing discouraging, there certainly was nothing +cheering, in the prospect. + +ILLNESS OF TWO OF THE MEN. + +On our return to the camp, I was vexed to find two of the men, Henwood and +Williams, with increased inflammation of the eyes, of which they had +previously been complaining, and I thought it advisable to bleed the +latter. + +In consequence of the indisposition of these men, we remained stationary +on the 21st, which enabled me to pay a second visit to Mount Harris. On +ascending the smaller hill, I was surprised to find similar vestiges on +its summit to those I had noticed on the larger one; in addition to which, +the rollers still continued on the side of the hill, which had been used +to get the boat up it. [Mr. Oxley had two boats; one of which he dragged +to the top of each of these hills, and left them turned bottom upwards, +buryinq a bottle under the head of the larger boat, which was conveyed to +the more distant hill.] + +Mount Harris is of basaltic formation, but I could not observe any +columnar regularity in it, although large blocks are exposed above the +ground. The rock is extremely hard and sonorous. + +MOUNT FOSTER AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. + +We moved leisurely towards Mount Foster, on the 22nd, and arrived opposite +to it a little before sunset. The country between the two is mostly open, +or covered only with the acacia pendula and dwarf-box. The soil, although +an alluvial deposit, is not of the best; nor was vegetation either fresh +or close upon it. As soon as the party stopped, I crossed the river, and +lost no time in ascending the hill, being anxious to ascertain if any +fresh object was visible from its summit, I thought that from an eminence +so much above the level of the surrounding objects, I might obtain a view +of the marshes, or of water; but I was wholly disappointed. The view was +certainly extensive, but it was otherwise unsatisfactory. Again to the +N.W. the lowlands spread in darkness before me; there were some +considerable plains beyond the near wood; but the country at the foot of +the hill appeared open and promising. Although the river line was lost in +the distance, it was as truly pointed out by the fires of the natives, +which rose in upright columns into the sky, as if it had been marked by +the trees upon its banks. + +To the eastward, Arbuthnot's range rose high above the line of the +horizon, bearing nearly due East, distant seventy miles. The following +sketch of its outlines will convey a better idea of its appearance from +Mount Foster than any written description. + +[small sketch here--not shown in etext] + +I stayed on the mount until after sunset, but I could not make out any +space that at all resembled the formidable barrier I knew we were so +rapidly approaching. I saw nothing to check our advance, and I therefore +returned to the camp, to advise with Mr. Hume upon the subject. Not having +been with me on Mount Foster, he took the opportunity to ascend it on the +following morning; and on his return concurred with me in opinion, that +there was no apparent obstacle to our moving onwards. As the men were +considerably better, I had the less hesitation in closing with the +marshes. We left our position, intending to travel slowly, and to halt +early. + +The first part of our journey was over rich flats, timbered sufficiently +to afford a shade, on which the grass was luxuriant; but we were obliged +to seek more open ground, in consequence of the frequent stumbling of the +cattle. + +We issued, at length, upon a plain, the view across which was as dreary as +can be imagined; in many places without a tree, save a few old stumps +left by the natives when they fired the timber, some of which were still +smoking in different parts of it. Observing some lofty trees at the +extremity of the plain, we moved towards them, under an impression that +they indicated the river line. But on this exposed spot the sun's rays +fell with intense power upon us, and the dust was so minute and +penetrating, that I soon regretted having left the shady banks of the +river. + +About 2.p.m. we neared the trees for which we had been making, over ground +evidently formed by alluvial deposition, and were astonished to find that +reeds alone were growing under the trees as far as the eye could +penetrate. It appeared that we were still some distance from the river, +and it was very doubtful how far we might be from water, for which the +men were anxiously calling. I therefore halted, and sent Fraser into the +reeds towards some dead trees, on which a number of spoonbills were +sitting. He found that there was a small lake in the centre of the reeds, +the resort of numerous wild fowl; but although the men were enabled to +quench their thirst, we found it impossible to water the animals. We were +obliged, therefore, to continue our course along the edge of the reeds; +which in a short time appeared in large masses in front of us, stretching +into a vast plain upon our right; and it became evident that the whole +neighbourhood was subject to extensive inundation. + +ENCAMP AMIDST REEDS. + +I was fearful that the reeds would have checked us; but there was a +passage between the patches, through which we managed to force our way +into a deep bight, and fortunately gained the river at the bottom of it +much sooner than we expected. We were obliged to clear away a space for +the tents; and thus, although there had been no such appearance from Mount +Foster, we found ourselves in less than seven hours after leaving it, +encamped pretty far in that marsh for which we had so anxiously looked +from its summit, and now trusting to circumstances for safety, upon +ground on which, in any ordinary state of the river, it would have been +dangerous to have ventured. Indeed, as it was, our situation was +sufficiently critical, and would not admit of hesitation on my part. + +NATURE OF THE COUNTRY. + +After the cattle had been turned out, Mr. Hume and I again mounted our +horses, and proceeded to the westward, with a view to examine the nature +of the country before us, and to ascertain if it was still practicable to +move along the river side. For, although it was evident that we had +arrived at what might strictly be called the marshes of the Macquarie, I +still thought we might be at some distance from the place where Mr. Oxley +terminated his journey. + +There was no indication in the river to encourage an idea that it would +speedily terminate; nor, although we were on ground subject to extensive +inundation, could we be said to have reached the heart of the marshes, as +the reeds still continued in detached bodies only. We forced a path +through various portions of them, and passed over ground wholly subject to +flood, to a distance of about six miles. We then crossed a small rise of +ground, sufficiently high to have afforded a retreat, had necessity +obliged us to seek for one; and we shortly afterwards descended on the +river, unaltered in its appearance, and rather increased than diminished +in size. A vast plain extended to the N.W., the extremity of which we +could not discern; though a thick forest formed its northern boundary. + +It was evident that this plain had been frequently under water, but it was +difficult to judge from the marks on the trees to what height the floods +had risen. The soil was an alluvial deposit, superficially sandy; and many +shells were scattered over its surface. To the south, the country appeared +close and low; nor do I think we could have approached the river from that +side, by reason of the huge belts of reeds that appeared to extend as far +as the the eye could reach. + +MEN ATTACKED WITH OPHTHALMIA. + +The approach of night obliged us to return to the camp. On our arrival, +we found that the state of Henwood and Williams would prevent our stirring +for a day or two. Not only had they a return of inflammation, but several +other of the men complained of a painful irritation of the eyes, which +were dreadfully blood-shot and weak. I was in some measure prepared for a +relapse in Henwood, as the exposure which he necessarily underwent on the +plain was sufficient to produce that effect; but I now became apprehensive +that the affection would run through the party. + +Considering our situation in its different bearings, it struck me that the +men who were to return to Wellington Valley with an account our our +proceedings for the Governor's information, had been brought as far as +prudence warranted. There was no fear of their going astray, as long as +they had the river to guide them; but in the open country which we were to +all appearance approaching, or amidst fields of reeds, they might wander +from the track, and irrecoverably lose themselves. I determined, +therefore, not to risk their safety, but to prepare my dispatches for +Sydney, and I hoped most anxiously, that ere they were closed, all +symptoms of disease would have terminated. + +In the course of the day, however, Spencer, who was to return with Riley +to Wellington Valley, became seriously indisposed, and I feared that he +was attacked with dysentery. Indeed, I should have attributed his illness +to our situation, but I did not notice any unusual moisture in the +atmosphere, nor did any fogs rise from the river. I therefore the rather +attributed it to exposure and change of diet, and treated him accordingly. +To my satisfaction, when I visited the men late in the evening, I found a +general improvement in the whole of them. Spencer was considerably +relieved, and those of the party who had inflammation of the eyes no +longer felt that painful irritation of which they had before complained. +I determined, therefore, unless untoward circumstances should prevent it, +to send Riley and his companion homewards, and to move the party without +loss of time. + +We had not seen any natives for many days, but a few passed the camp on +the opposite side of the river on the evening of the 25th. They would not, +however, come to us; but fled into the interior in great apparent alarm. + +DEPARTURE OF TWO MEN FOR WELLINGTON. + +On the morning of the 26th, the men were sufficiently recovered to pursue +their journey. Riley and Spencer left us at an early hour; and about +7 a.m. we pursued a N.N.W. course along the great plain I have noticed, +starting numberless quails, and many wild turkeys, by the way. Leaving +that part of the river on which Mr. Hume and I had touched considerably to +the left, we made for the point of a wood, projecting from the river line +of trees into the plain. The ground under us was an alluvial deposit, and +bore all the marks of frequent inundation. + +The soil was yielding, blistered, and uneven; and the claws of cray-fish, +together with numerous small shells, were every where collected in the +hollows made by the subsiding of the waters, between broad belts of reeds +and scrubs of polygonum. + +CONSULTATION. + +On gaining the point of the wood, we found an absolute check put to our +further progress. We had been moving directly on the great body of the +marsh, and from the wood it spread in boundless extent before us. It was +evidently lower than the ground on which we stood; we had therefore, a +complete view over the whole expanse; and there was a dreariness and +desolation pervading the scene that strengthened as we gazed upon it. +Under existing circumstances, it only remained for us either to skirt +the reeds to the northward, or to turn in again upon the river; and as I +considered it important to ascertain the direction of the Macquarie at so +critical and interesting a point, I thought it better to adopt the latter +measure. We, accordingly, made for the river, and pitched our tents, as at +the last station, in the midst of reeds. + +There were two points at this time, upon which I was extremely anxious. +The first was as to the course of the river; the second, as to the extent +of the marshes by which we had been checked, and the practicability of the +country to the northward. + +In advising with Mr. Hume, I proposed launching the boat, as the surest +means of ascertaining the former, and he, on his part, most readily +volunteered to examine the marshes, in any direction I should point out. +It was therefore, arranged, that I should take two men, and a week's +provision with me in the boat down the river; and that he should proceed +with a like number of men on an excursion to the northward. + +After having given directions as to the regulations of camp during our +absence, we separated, on the morning of the 26th for the first time, in +furtherance of the objects each had in view. + +BOAT EXCURSION. + +In pulling down the river, I found that its channel was at first extremely +tortuous and irregular, but that it held a general N.W. course, and bore +much the same appearance as it had done since our descent from Mount +Foster. + +We had a laborious task in lifting the boat over the trunks of trees that +had fallen into the channel of the river or that had been left by the +floods, and at length we stove her in upon a sunken log. The injury she +received was too serious not to require immediate repair; and we, +therefore, patched her up with a tin plate. This accident occasioned some +delay, and the morning was consumed without our having made any +considerable progress. At length, however, we got into a more open +channel. + +The river suddenly increased in breadth to thirty-five or forty-five +yards, with a depth of from twelve to twenty feet of water. Its banks +shelved perpendicularly down, and were almost on a level with the surface +of the stream; and the flood mark was not more than two feet high on the +reeds by which they were lined. We had hitherto passed under the shade of +the flooded gum, which still continued on the immediate banks of the +river; but, the farther we advanced, the more did we find these trees in a +state of decay, until at length they ceased, or were only rarely met with. + +TERMINATION OF THE RIVER. + +About 2 p.m. I brought up under a solitary tree, in consequence of heavy +rain: this was upon the left bank. In the afternoon, however, we again +pushed forward, and soon lost sight of every other object amidst reeds of +great height. The channel of the river continued as broad and as deep as +ever, but the flood mark did not show more than a foot above the banks, +which were now almost on a level with the water; and the current was so +sluggish as to be scarcely perceptible. These general appearances +continued for about three miles, when our course was suddenly, and most +unexpectedly, checked. The channel, which had promised so well, without +any change in its breadth or depth, ceased altogether; and whilst we were +yet lost in astonishment at so abrupt a termination of it, the boat +grounded. It only remained for us to examine the banks, which we did with +particular attention. Two creeks were then discovered, so small as +scarcely to deserve the name, and which would, under ordinary +circumstances, have been overlooked. The one branched off to the +north--the other to the west. We were obliged to get out of the boat to +push up the former, the leeches sticking in numbers to our legs. The creek +continued for about thirty yards, when it was terminated; and, in order +fully to satisfy myself of the fact, I walked round the head of it by +pushing through the reeds. Night coming on, we returned to the tree at +which we had stopped during the rain, and slept under it. The men cut away +the reeds, or we should not have had room to move. At 2 a.m. it commenced +raining, with a heavy storm of thunder and lightning; the boat was +consequently hauled ashore, and turned over to afford us a temporary +shelter. The lightning was extremely vivid, and frequently played upon +the ground, near the firelocks, for more than a quarter of a minute at a +time. + +It is singular, that Mr. Oxley should, under similar circumstances, have +experienced an equally stormy night, and most probably within a few yards +of the place on which I had posted myself. Notwithstanding that the +elements were raging around me, as if to warn me of the danger of my +situation, my mind turned solely on the singular failure of the river. I +could not but encourage hopes that this second channel that remained to +be explored would lead us into an open space again; and as soon as the +morning dawned we pursued our way to it. In passing some dead trees upon +the right bank, I stopped to ascend one, that, from an elevation, I might +survey the marsh, but I found it impossible to trace the river through it. +The country to the westward was covered with reeds, apparently to the +distance of seven miles; to the N.W. to a still greater distance; and to +the north they bounded the horizon. + +The whole expanse was level and unbroken, but here and there the reeds +were higher and darker than at other places, as if they grew near constant +moisture; but I could see no appearance of water in any body, or of high +lands beyond the distant forest. + +As soon as we arrived at the end of the main channel, we again got out of +the boat, and in pushing up the smaller one, soon found ourselves under a +dark arch of reeds. It did not, however, continue more than twenty yards +when it ceased, and I walked round the head of it as I had done round that +of the other. We then examined the space between the creeks, where the +bank receives the force of the current, which I did not doubt had formed +them by the separation of its eddies. Observing water among the reeds, I +pushed through them with infinite labour to a considerable distance. The +soil proved to be a stiff clay; the reeds were closely embodied, and from +ten to twelve feet high; the waters were in some places ankle deep, and in +others scarcely covered the surface. They were flowing in different +points, with greater speed than those of the river, which at once +convinced me that they were not permanent, but must have lodged in the +night during which so much rain had fallen. They ultimately appeared to +flow to the northward, but I found it impossible to follow them, and it +was not without difficulty that, after having wandered about at every +point of the compass, I again reached the boat. + +CAUSES OF THE FAILURE OF THE RIVER. + +The care with which I had noted every change that took place in the +Macquarie, from Wellington Valley downwards, enabled me, in some measure, +to account for its present features. I was led to conclude that the waters +of the river being so small in body, excepting in times of flood, and +flowing for so many miles through a level country without receiving any +tributary to support their first impulse, became too sluggish, long ere +they reached the marshes, to cleave through so formidable a barrier; and +consequently spread over the surrounding country--whether again to take +up the character of a river, we had still to determine. Unless, however, +a decline of country should favour its assuming its original shape, it was +evident that the Macquarie would not be found to exist beyond this marsh, +of the nature and extent of which we were still ignorant. The loss of my +barometer was at this time severely felt by me, since I could only guess +at our probable height above the ocean; and I found that my only course +was to endeavour to force my way to the northward, to ascertain, if I +could, from the bottom of the marshes; then penetrate in a westerly +direction beyond them, in order to commence my survey of the S.W. +interior. I was aware of Mr. Hume's perseverance, and determined, +therefore, to wait the result of his report ere I again moved the camp, to +which we returned late in the afternoon of the second day of our +departure. We found it unsufferably hot and suffocating in the reeds, and +were tormented by myriads of mosquitoes, but the waters were perfectly +sweet to the taste, nor did the slightest smell, as of stagnation, proceed +from them. I may add that the birds, whose sanctuary we had invaded, as +the bittern and various tribes of the galinule, together with the frogs, +made incessant noises around us, There were, however, but few water-fowl +on the river; which was an additional proof to me that we were not near +any very extensive lake. + +MR. HUME'S REPORT. + +Mr. Hume had returned before me to the camp, and had succeeded in finding +a serpentine sheet of water, about twelve miles to the northward; which he +did not doubt to be the channel of the river. He had pushed on after this +success, in the hope of gaining a further knowledge of the country; but +another still more extensive marsh checked him, and obliged him to retrace +his steps. He was no less surprised at the account I gave of the +termination of the river, than I was at its so speedily re-forming, and it +was determined to lose no time in the further examination of so singular a +region. + +FALSE CHANNEL; PERPLEXITIES. + +On the morning of the 28th therefore we broke up the camp, and proceeded +to the northward, under Mr. Hume's guidance, moving over ground wholly +subject to flood, and extensively covered with reeds; the great body of +the marsh lying upon our left. After passing the angle of a wood, upon our +right, from which Mount Foster was distant about fourteen miles, we got +upon a small plain, on which there was a new species of tortuous box. This +plain was clear of reeds, and the soil upon it was very rich. Crossing in +a westerly direction we arrived at the channel found by Mr. Hume, who must +naturally have concluded that it was a continuation of the river. The boat +was immediately prepared, and I went up it in order to ascertain the +nature of its formation. For two miles it preserved a pretty general width +of from twenty to thirty yards; but at that distance began to narrow, and +at length it became quite shallow and covered with weeds. We were +ultimately obliged to abandon the boat, and to walk along a native path. +The country to the westward was more open than I had expected. About a +quarter of a mile from where we had left the boat, the channel separated +into two branches; to which I perceived it owed its formation, coming, as +they evidently did, direct from the heart of the marsh. The wood through +which I had entered it on the first occasion bore south of me, to which +one of the branches inclined; as the other did to the S.W. An almost +imperceptible rise of ground was before me, which, by giving an impetus to +the waters of the marsh, accounted to me for the formation of the main +channel. It was too late, on my return to the camp, to prosecute any +further examination of it downwards; but in the morning, Mr. Hume +accompanied me in the boat, to ascertain to what point it led; and we +found that at about a mile it began to diminish in breadth, until at +length it was completely lost in a second expanse of reeds. We passed a +singular scaffolding erected by the natives, on the side of the channel, +to take fish; and also found a weir at the termination of it for the like +purpose so that it was evident the natives occasionally ventured into +the marshes. + +There was a small wood to our left which Mr. Hume endeavoured to gain, but +he failed in the attempt. He did, however, reach a tree that was +sufficiently high to give him a full view of the marsh, which appeared to +extend in every direction, but more particularly to the north, for many +miles. We were, however, at fault, and I really felt at a loss what step +to take. I should have been led to believe from the extreme flatness of +the country, that the Macquarie would never assume its natural shape, but +from the direction of the marshes I could not but indulge a hope that it +would meet the Castlereagh, and that their united waters might form a +stream of some importance. Under this impression I determined on again +sending Mr. Hume to the N.E. in order to ascertain the nature of the +country in that direction. + +EXCURSION TO THE NORTH-WEST. + +The weather was excessively hot, and as my men were but slowly recovering, +I was anxious while those who were in health continued active, to give the +others a few days of rest. I proposed, therefore, to cross the river, and +to make an excursion into the interior, during the probable time of +Mr. Hume's absence; since if, as I imagined, the Macquarie had taken a +permanent northerly course, I should not have an opportunity of examining +the distant western country. Mr. Hume's experience rendered it unnecessary +for me to give him other than general directions. + +A PLAIN ON FIRE. + +On the last day of the year we left the camp, each accompanied by two men. +I had the evening previously ordered the horses I intended taking with me +across the channel, and at an early hour of the morning I followed them. +Getting on a plain, immediately after I had disengaged myself from the +reeds on the opposite side of the river, which was full of holes and +exceedingly treacherous for the animals, I pushed on for a part of the +wood Mr. Hume had endeavoured to gain from the boat, with the intention of +keeping near the marsh. On entering it, I found myself in a thick brush of +eucalypti, casuarinae and minor trees; the soil under them being mixed +with sand. I kept a N.N.W. course through it, and at the distance of +three miles from its commencement, ascended a tree, to ascertain if I was +near the marshes; when I found that I was fast receding from them. I +concluded, therefore, that my conjecture as to their direction was right, +and altered my course to N.W., a direction in which I had observed a dense +smoke arising, which I supposed had been made by some natives near water. +At the termination of the brush I crossed a barren sandy plain, and from +it saw the smoke ascending at a few miles' distance from me. Passing +through a wood, at the extremity of the plain, I found myself at the +outskirts of an open space of great extent, almost wholly enveloped in +flames. The fire was running with incredible rapidity through the rhagodia +shrubs with which it was covered. Passing quickly over it, I continued my +journey to the N.W. over barren plains of red sandy loam of even surface, +and bushes of cypresses skirted by acacia pendula. It was not until after +sunset that we struck upon a creek, in which the water was excellent; and +we halted on its banks for the night, calculating our distance at +twenty-nine miles from the camp. The creek was of considerable size, +leading northerly. Several huts were observed by us, and from the heaps of +muscle-shells that were scattered about, there could be no doubt of its +being much frequented by the natives. The grass being fairly burnt up, our +animals found but little to eat, but they had a tolerable journey. and did +not attempt to wander in search of better food. I shot a snipe near the +creek, much resembling the painted snipe of India; but I had not the means +with me of preserving it. + +A TRIBE OF NATIVES. + +Continuing our journey on the following morning, we at first kept on the +banks of the creek, and at about a quarter of a mile from where we had +slept, came upon a numerous tribe of natives. A young girl sitting by the +fire was the first to observe us as we were slowly approaching her. She +was so excessively alarmed, that she had not the power to run away; but +threw herself on the ground and screamed violently. We now observed a +number of huts, out of which the natives issued, little dreaming of the +spectacle they were to behold. But the moment they saw us, they started +back; their huts were in a moment in flames, and each with a fire-brand +ran to and fro with hideous yells, thrusting them into every bush they +passed. I walked my horse quietly towards an old man who stood more +forward than the rest, as if he intended to devote himself for the +preservation of his tribe. I had intended speaking to him, but on a nearer +approach I remarked that he trembled so violently that it was impossible +to expect that I could obtain any information from him, and as I had not +time for explanations, I left him to form his own conjectures as to what +we were, and continued to move towards a thick brush, into which they did +not venture to follow us. + +CONTINUE OUR JOURNEY. + +After a ride of about eighteen miles, through a country of alternate plain +and brush, we struck upon a second creek leading like the first to the +northward. The water in it was very bitter and muddy, and it was much +inferior in appearance to that at which we had slept. After stopping for +half-an-hour upon its banks, to rest our animals, we again pushed forward. +We had not as yet risen any perceptible height above the level of the +marshes, but had left the country subject to overflow for a considerable +space behind us. The brushes through which we had passed were too sandy to +retain water long, but the plains were of such an even surface, that they +could not but continue wet for a considerable period after any fall of +rain. They were covered with salsolaceous plants, without a blade of +grass; and their soil was generally a red sandy loam. There were +occasional patches that appeared moist, in which the calystemma was +abundant, and these patches must, I should imagine, form quagmires in the +wet season. + +On leaving the last-mentioned creek, we found a gently rising country +before us; and about three or four miles from it we crossed some stony +ridges, covered with a new species of acacia so thickly as to prevent our +obtaining any view from them. As the sun declined, we got into open forest +ground; and travelled forwards in momentary expectation, from appearances, +of coming in sight of water; but we were obliged to pull up at sunset on +the outskirts of a larger plain without having our expectation realized. +The day had been extremely warm, and our animals were as thirsty as +ourselves. Hope never forsakes the human breast; and thence it was that, +after we had secured the horses, we began to wander round our lonely +bivouac. It was almost dark, when one of my men came to inform me that he +had found a small puddle of water, to which be had been led by a pigeon. + +It was, indeed, small enough, probably the remains of a passing shower; it +was, however, sufficient for our necessities, and I thanked Providence for +its bounty to us. We were now about sixty miles from the Macquarie, in a +N.W. by W. direction, and the country had proved so extremely +discouraging, that I intimated to my men my intention of retracing my +steps, should I not discover any change in it before noon on the morrow. +A dense brush of acacia succeeded to the plain on which we had slept, +which we entered, and shortly afterwards found ourselves in an open space, +of oblong shape, at the extremity of which there was a shallow lake. The +brush completely encircled it, and a few huts were upon its banks. About +10 p.m. we got into an open forest track of better appearance than any +over which we had recently travelled. + +ISOLATED HILL. + +There was a visible change in the country, and the soil, although red, was +extremely rich and free from sand. A short time afterwards we rose to the +summit of a round hill, from which we obtained an extensive view on most +points of the compass. We had imperceptibly risen considerably above the +general level of the interior. + +VIEW FROM THE SUMMIT. + +Beneath us, to the westward, I observed a broad and thinly wooded valley; +and W. by S., distant apparently about twenty miles, an isolated mountain, +whose sides seemed almost perpendicular, broke the otherwise even line of +the horizon; but the country in every other direction looked as if it was +darkly wooded. Anticipating that I should find a stream in the valley, I +did not for a moment hesitate in striking down into it. Disappointed, +however, in this expectation, I continued onwards to the mountain, which I +reached just before the sun set. Indeed, he was barely visible when I +gained its summit; but my eyes, from exposure to his glare, became so +weak, my face was so blistered, and my lips cracked in so many places, +that I was unable to look towards the west, and was actually obliged to +sit down behind a rock until he had set. + +Perhaps no time is so favourable for a view along the horizon as the +sunset hour; and here, at an elevation of from five to six hundred feet +above the plain, the visible line of it could not have been less than from +thirty-five to forty-five miles. The hill upon which I stood was broken +into two points; the one was a bold rocky elevation; the other had its +rear face also perpendicular, but gradually declined to the north, and at +a distance of from four to five miles was lost in an extensive and open +plain in that direction. In the S.E. quarter, two wooded hills were +visible, which before had appeared to be nothing more than swells in the +general level of the country. A small hill, similar to the above, bore +N.E. by compass; and again, to the west, a more considerable mountain than +that I had ascended, and evidently much higher, reflected the last beams +of the sun as he sunk behind them. I looked, however, in vain for water. +I could not trace either the windings of a stream, or the course of a +mountain torrent; and, as we had passed a swamp about a mile from the +hill, we descended to it for the night, during which we were grievously +tormented by the mosquitoes. + +RESULTS OF THE EXCURSION. + +I had no inducement to proceed further into the interior. I had been +sufficiently disappointed in the termination of this excursion, and the +track before me was still less inviting. Nothing but a dense forest, and a +level country, existed between me and the distant hill. I had learnt, by +experience, that it was impossible to form any opinion of the probable +features of so singular a region as that in which I was wandering, from +previous appearances, or to expect the same result, as in other countries, +from similar causes. In a geographical point of view, my journey had been +more successful, and had enabled me to put to rest for ever a question of +much previous doubt. Of whatever extent the marshes of the Macquarie might +be, it was evident they were not connected with those of the Lachlan. I +had gained knowledge of more than 100 miles of the western interior, and +had ascertained that no sea, indeed that little water, existed on its +surface; and that, although it is generally flat, it still has elevations +of considerable magnitude upon it. + +Although I had passed over much barren ground, I had likewise noticed soil +that was far from poor, and the vegetation upon which in ordinary seasons +would, I am convinced, have borne a very different aspect. + +Yet, upon the whole, the space I traversed is unlikely to become the haunt +of civilized man, or will only become so in isolated spots, as a chain of +connection to a more fertile country; if such a country exist to the +westward. + +The hill which thus became the extreme of my journey, is of sandstone +formation, and is bold and precipitous. Its summit is level and lightly +timbered. As a tribute of respect to the late Surveyor-General, I called +it Oxley's Table Land, and I named the distant hills D'Urban's Group, +after Sir Benjamin D'Urban, in compliance with a previous request of my +friend Lieut. De la Condamine, that I would so name any prominent feature +of the interior that I might happen to come upon. + +RETURN TO THE CAMP. + +In returning to the camp, I made a circuit to the N.E., and reached the +Macquarie late on the evening of the 5th of January; having been absent +six days, during which we could not have ridden less than 200 miles. Yet +the horses were not so fatigued as it was natural to expect they would +have been. + +My servant informed me that a party of natives had visited the camp on the +3rd, but that they retired precipitately on seeing the animals. I +regretted to find the men but little better than when I left them. Several +still complained of a painful irritation of the eyes, and of great +weakness of sight. Attributing their continued indisposition in some +measure to our situation, I was anxious to have moved from it; but as Mr. +Hume was still absent, I could not decide upon the measure. He made his +appearance, however, on the 6th, having ridden the greater part of the day +through rain, which commenced to fall in the morning. Soon after his +arrival, Dawber, my overseer of animals, who had accompanied him, was +taken suddenly ill. During the night he became much worse, with shivering +and spasms, and on the following morning he was extremely weak and +feverish. To add to my anxiety, Mr. Hume also complained of indisposition. +His state of health made me the more anxious to quit a position which I +fancied unwholesome, and in which, if there was no apparent, there was +certainly some secret, exciting cause; and as Mr. Hume reported having +crossed a chain of ponds about four miles to the eastward, and out of the +immediate precincts of the marshes, I ordered the tents to be struck, and +placing Dawber on my horse, we all moved quietly over to them. + +MR. HUME'S EXCURSION. + +The result of Mr. Hume's journey perplexed me exceedingly. He stated, that +on setting out from the Macquarie his intention was to have proceeded to +the N.E., to ascertain how far the reeds existed in that direction, and, +if at all practicable, to reach the Castlereagh; but in case of failure, +to regain the Macquarie by a westerly course. At first he travelled nearly +four miles east, to clear the marshes, when he came on the chain of ponds +to which we had removed. + +He travelled over good soil for two miles after crossing this chain of +ponds, but afterwards got on a red sandy loam, and found it difficult to +proceed, by reason of the thickness of the brush, and the swampy state of +the ground in consequence of the late rain. + +The timber in the brushes was of various kinds, and he saw numerous +kangaroos and emus. On issuing from this brush, he crossed a creek, +leading northerly, the banks of which were from ten to twelve feet high. +Whatever the body of water usually in it is, it now only afforded a few +shallow puddles. Mr. Hume travelled through brushes until he came upon a +third creek, similar to the one he had left behind him, at which he halted +for the night. The water in it was bad, and the feed for the animals +extremely poor. The brush lined the creek thickly, and consisted chiefly +of acacia pendula and box. The country preserved an uniform level, nor did +Mr. Hume, from the highest trees, observe any break on the horizon. + +On the 2nd of January, Mr. Hume kept more northerly, being unable to +penetrate the brushes he encountered. At two miles he crossed a creek +leading to the N.W., between which and the place at which he had slept, he +passed a native burial ground, containing eight graves. The earth was +piled up in a conical shape, but the trees were not carved over as he had +seen them in most other places. + +The country became more open after he had passed the last mentioned creek, +which he again struck upon at the distance of eight miles, and as it was +then leading to the N.N.E. he followed it down for eighteen or twenty +miles, and crossed it frequently during the day. The creek was dry in most +places, and where he stopped for the night the water was bad, and the +cattle feed indifferent. + +Mr. Hume saw many huts, but none of them had been recently occupied, +although large quantities of muscle-shells were scattered about. He +computed that he had travelled about thirty miles, in a N.N.W. +direction, and the whole of the land he passed over was, generally +speaking, bad, nor did it appear to be subject to overflow. + +On the 3rd, Mr. Hume proceeded down the creek on which he had slept, on a +northern course, under an impression that it would have joined the +Castlereagh, but it took a N.W. direction after he had ridden about four +miles, and then turned again to the eastward of north. In consequence of +this, he left it, and proceeded to the westward, being of opinion that the +river just mentioned must have taken a more northerly course than Mr. +Oxley supposed it to have done. + +A short time after Mr. Hume turned towards the Macquarie, the country +assumed a more pleasing appearance. He soon cleared the brushes, and at +two miles came upon a chain of ponds, again running northerly in times of +flood. Shortly after crossing these, he found himself on an extensive +plain, apparently subject to overflow. The timber on it was chiefly of +the blue-gum kind, and the ground was covered with shells. He then thought +he was approaching the Macquarie, and proceeded due west across the flat +for about two miles. At the extremity of it there was a hollow, which he +searched in vain for water. Ascending about thirty feet, he entered a +thick brush of box and acacia pendula, which continued for fourteen miles, +when it terminated abruptly, and extensive plains of good soil commenced, +stretching from N. to S. as far as the eye could reach, on which there +were many kangaroos. Continuing to journey over them, he reached a creek +at 5 p.m. on which the wild fowl were numerous, running nearly north and +south, and he rested on its banks for the night. The timber consisted both +of blue and rough gum, and the soil was a light earth. + +Mr. Hume expected in the course of the day to have reached the Macquarie, +but on arriving at the creek, he began to doubt whether it any longer +existed, or whether it had not taken a more westerly direction. On the +following morning, therefore, he crossed the creek, and travelled +W.S.W., for about two miles over good plains; then through light brushes +of swamp-oak, cypress, box, and acacia pendula, for about twelve miles, to +another creek leading northerly. He shortly afterwards ascended a range of +hills stretching W.N.W. to which he gave the name of New Year's Range. +From these hills, he had an extensive view, although not upon the highest +part, but the only break he could see in the horizon was caused by some +hills bearing by compass W. by S. distant about twenty-five miles. There +was, however, an appearance as of high land to the northward, although Mr. +Hume thought it might have been an atmospheric deception. From the range +he looked in vain for the Macquarie, or other waters, and, as his +provisions were nearly consumed, he was obliged to give up all further +pursuit, and to retrace his steps. He fell in with two parties of natives, +which, taken collectively, amounted to thirty-five in number, but had no +communication with them. + +It was evident, from the above account, that supposing a line to have been +drawn from the camp northerly, Mr. Hume must have travelled considerably +to the westward of it, and as I had run on a N.W. course from the marshes, +it necessarily followed that our lines of route must have intersected each +other, or that want of extension could alone have prevented them from +having done so; but that, under any circumstances, they could not have +been very far apart. This was too important a point to be left undecided, +as upon it the question of the Macquarie's termination seemed to depend. + +Both Mr. Hume and myself were of opinion, that a medium course would be +the most satisfactory for us to pursue, to decide this point; and it +appeared that we could not do better than, by availing ourselves of the +creek on which we were, and skirting the reeds, to take the first +opportunity of dashing through them in a westerly direction. + +DOUBTS OF THE FURTHER EXTENSION OF THE RIVER. + +I entertained great doubts as to the longer existence of the river, and as +I foresaw that, in the event of its having terminated we should strike at +once into the heart of the interior, I became anxious for the arrival of +supplies at Mount Harris; and although I could hardly expect that they had +yet reached it, I determined to proceed thither. Mr. Hume was too unwell +for me to think of imposing additional fatigue upon him; I left him, +therefore, to conduct the party, by easy stages, to the northward, until +such time as I should overtake them. Even in one day there was a visible +improvement in the men, and Dawber's attack seemed to be rather the +effects of cold than of any thing else. A death, however, under our +circumstances, would have been so truly deplorable an event, that the +least illness was sufficient to create alarm. + +I can hardly say that I was disappointed on my arrival at Mount Harris, to +find its neighbourhood silent and deserted. I remained, however, under it +for the greater part of the next day, and, prior to leaving it, placed a +sheet of paper with written instructions against a tree, though almost +without a hope that it would remain untouched. + +PERPLEXING SITUATION. + +A little after sun-set we reached the first small marsh, at which we +slept; and on the following morning I crossed the plains of the Macquarie, +and joined the party at about fifteen miles from the creek at which I had +left it. I found it in a condition that was as unlooked for by Mr. Hume as +it was unexpected by me, and really in a most perplexing situation. + +On the day I left him, Mr. Hume only advanced about two miles, in +consequence of some derangement in the loads. Having crossed the creek, +he, the next morning, proceeded down its right bank, until it entered the +marshes and was lost. He then continued to move on the outskirts of the +latter, and having performed a journey or about eight miles, was anxious +to have stopped, but there was no water at hand. The men, however, were so +fatigued, in consequence of previous illness, that he felt it necessary to +halt after travelling about eleven miles. + +No water could be procured even here, notwithstanding that Mr. Hume, who +was quite unfit for great exertion, underwent considerable bodily fatigue +in his anxiety to find some. He was, therefore, obliged to move early on +the following morning, but neither men nor animals were in a condition to +travel; and he had scarcely made three miles' progress, when he stopped +and endeavoured to obtain a supply or water by digging pits among the +reeds. From these he had drawn sufficient for the wants of the people when +I arrived. Some rain had fallen on the 6th and 7th of the month, or it is +more than probable the expedient to which he resorted would have failed of +success. Mr. Hume, I was sorry to observe, looked very unwell; but nothing +could prevent him from further endeavours to extricate the party from its +present embarrassment. + +JOURNEY CONTINUED. + +As soon as I had taken a little refreshment, therefore, I mounted a fresh +horse; and he accompanied me across a small plain, immediately in front of +the camp, which was subject to overflow and covered with polygonum, having +a considerable extent of reeds to its right. + +From the plain we entered a wood of blue-gum, in which reeds, grass, and +brush formed a thick coppice. We at length passed into an open space, +surrounded on every side by weeds in dense bodies. The great marsh bore +south of us, and was clear and open, but behind us the blue-gum trees +formed a thick wood above the weeds. + +About two hundred yards from the outskirts of the marsh there was a line +of saplings that had perished, and round about them a number of the tern +tribe (sea swallow) were flying, one of which Mr. Hume had followed a +considerable way into the reeds the evening before, in the hope that it +would have led him to water. The circumstance of their being in such +numbers led us to penetrate towards them, when we found a serpentine sheet +of water of some length, over which they were playing. We had scarcely +time to examine it before night closed in upon us, and it was after nine +when we returned to the tents. + +From the general appearance of the country to the northward, and from the +circumstance of our having got to the bottom of the great marsh, which but +a few days before had threatened to be so formidable, I thought it +probable that the reeds would not again prove so extensive as they had +been, and I determined, if I could do so, to push through them in a +westerly direction from our position. + +SECOND GREAT MARSH. + +The pits yielded us so abundant a supply during the night, that in the +morning we found it unnecessary to take the animals to water at the +channel we had succeeded in finding the evening before; but pursuing a +westerly course we passed it, and struck deep into the reeds. At mid-day +we were hemmed in by them on every side, and had crossed over numerous +channels, by means of which the waters of the marshes are equally and +generally distributed over the space subject to their influence. Coming to +a second sheet of water, narrower, but longer, as well as we could judge, +than the first, we stopped to dine at it; and, while the men were resting +themselves, Mr. Hume rode with me in a westerly direction, to ascertain +what obstacles we still had to contend with. Forcing our way through +bodies of reeds, we at length got on a plain, stretching from S.E. to +N.W., bounded on the right by a wood of blue-gum, under which the reeds +still extended, and on the left by a wood in which they did not appear to +exist. Certain that there was no serious obstacle in our way, we returned +to the men; and as soon as they had finished their meal, led them over the +plain in a N.W. by W. direction. It was covered with shells, and was full +of holes from the effects of flood. + +CONCLUSIONS IN REGARD TO THE MACQUARIE. + +As we were journeying over it, I requested Mr. Hume to ride into the wood +upon our left, to ascertain if it concealed any channel. On his return he +informed me that he descended from the plain into a hollow, the bottom of +which was covered with small shells and bulrushes. He observed a new +species of eucalypti, on the trunks of which the water-mark was three feet +high. After crossing this hollow, which was about a quarter of a mile in +breadth, he gained an open forest of box, having good grass under it; and, +judging from the appearance of the country that no other channel could +exist beyond him, and that he had ascertained sufficient for the object I +had in view, he turned back to the plain. We stopped for the night under a +wood of box, where the grass, which had been burnt down, was then +springing up most beautifully green, and was relished exceedingly by the +animals. + +It was in consequence of our not having crossed any channel, while +penetrating through the reeds, that could by any possible exaggeration +have been laid down as the bed of the river, that I detached Mr. Hume; and +the account he brought me at once confirmed my opinion in regard to the +Macquarie, and I thenceforth gave up every hope of ever seeing it in its +characteristic shape again. + +Independently however of all circumstantial evidence, it was clear that +the river had not re-formed at a distance of twenty-five miles to the +north of us, since Mr. Hume had gone to the westward of that point, at +about the same distance on his late journey, without having observed the +least appearance of reeds or of a river. He had, indeed, noticed a hollow, +which occasionally contained water, but he saw nothing like the bed of a +permanent stream. I became convinced, also, from observation of the +country through which we had passed, that the sources of the Macquarie +could not be of such magnitude as to give a constant flow to it as a +river, and at the same time to supply with water the vast concavity into +which it falls. In very heavy rains only could the marshes and adjacent +lands be laid wholly under water, since the evaporation alone would be +equal to the supply. + +The great plains stretching for so many miles to the westward of Mount +Harris, even where they were clear of reeds, were covered with shells and +the claws of cray-fish and their soil, although an alluvial deposit, was +superficially sandy. They bore the appearance not only of frequent +inundation, but of the floods having eventually subsided upon them. This +was particularly observable at the bottom of the marshes. We did not find +any accumulation of rubbish to indicate a rush of water to any one point; +but numerous minor channels existed to distribute the floods equally and +generally over every part of the area subject to them, and the marks of +inundation and subsidence were everywhere the same. The plain we had last +crossed, was, in like manner, covered with shells, so that we could not +yet be said to be out of the influence of the marshes; besides which we +had not crossed the hollow noticed by Mr. Hume, which it was clear we +should do, sooner or later. + +SITUATION OF THE PARTY. + +To have remained in our position would have been impossible, as there was +no water either for ourselves or the animals; to have descended into the +reeds again, for the purpose of carrying on a minute survey, would, under +existing circumstances, have been imprudent. Our provisions were running +short, and if a knowledge of the distant interior was to be gained, we had +no time to lose. It was determined, therefore, to defer our further +examination of the marshes to the period of our return; and to pursue such +a course as would soonest and most effectually enable us to determine the +character of the western interior. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + +Prosecution of our course into the interior--Mosquito Brush--Aspect and +productions of the country--Hunting party of natives--Courageous conduct +of one of them--Mosquitoes--A man missing--Group of hills called +New-Year's Range--Journey down New-Year's Creek--Tormenting attack of the +kangaroo fly--Dreariness and desolation of the country--Oxley's Table +Land--D'Urban's Group--Continue our journey down New-Year's Creek-- +Extreme Disappointment on finding it salt--Fall in with a tribe of +natives--Our course arrested by the want of fresh water--Extraordinary +sound--Retreat towards the Macquarie. + + +We left our position at the head of the plain early on the 13th of +January, and, ere the sun dipped, had entered a very different country +from that in which we had been labouring for the last three weeks. We had, +as yet, passed over little other than an alluvial soil, but found that it +changed to a red loam in the brushes immediately backing the camp. An open +forest track succeeded this, over which the vegetation had an unusual +freshness, indicating that the waters had not long subsided from its +surface. We shortly afterwards crossed a hollow, similar to that Mr. Hume +had described, in which bulrushes had taken the place of reeds. +Flooded-gum trees, of large size, were also growing in it, but on either +side box alone prevailed, under which the forest grass grew to a +considerable height. We crossed the hollow two or three times, and as +often remarked the line of separation between those trees. The last time +we crossed it the country rose a few feet, and we journeyed for the +remainder of the day, at one time over good plains, at another through +brushes, until we found water and feed, at which we stopped for the night, +after having travelling about thirteen miles on a W. by N. course. The +mosquitoes were so extremely troublesome at this place that we called it +Mosquito Brush. At this time my men were improving rapidly, and Mr. Hume +complained less, and looked better. I hoped, therefore, that our progress +would be rapid into the interior. + +CREEK LEADING NORTHERLY; PRODUCTIONS OF THE COUNTRY. + +On the 14th we took up a westerly course, and in the first instance +traversed a plain of great extent; the soil of which was for the most part +a red sandy loam, but having patches of light earth upon it. The former +was covered with plants of the chenopedia kind; the latter had evidently +been quagmires, and bore even then the appearance of moisture. At about +seven miles from Mosquito Brush we struck upon a creek of excellent water, +upon which the wild fowl were numerous. Some natives was seen, but they +were only women, and seemed so alarmed that I purposely avoided them. As +the creek was leading northerly, we traced it down on that course for +about seven miles, and then halted upon its banks, which were composed of +a light tenacious earth. Brushes of casuarina existed near it, but a +tortuous box was the prevailing tree, which, excepting for the knees of +small vessels, could not have been applied to any use, while the +flooded-gum had entirely disappeared. Some ducks were shot in the +afternoon, which proved a great treat, as we had been living for some time +on salt provisions. Our animals fared worse than ourselves, as the bed of +the creek was occupied by coarse rushes, and but little vegetation was +elsewhere to be seen. I here killed a beautiful snake, of about four feet +in length, and of a bright yellow colour: I had not, however, the means of +preserving it. Fraser collected numerous botanical specimens, and among +them two kinds of caparis. Indeed a great alteration had taken place in +the minor shrubs, and few of those now prevalent had been observed to the +eastward of the marshes. + +From the creek, which both I and Mr. Hume must have crossed on our +respective journeys, we held a westerly course for about fifteen miles, +through a country of alternate plain and brush, the latter predominating, +and in its general character differing but little from that we had +traversed the day previous. + +The acacia pendula still continued to exist on the plains backed by dark +rows of cypresses (Cupressus callitris). In the brushes, box and +casuarina (Casuarina tortuosa), with several other kinds of eucalypti, +prevailed; but none of them were sufficiently large to be of use. The +plains were so extremely level that a meridian altitude could have been +taken without any material error; and I doubt much whether it would have +been possible to have traversed them had the season been wet. + +HUNTING PARTY OF NATIVES. + +As we were travelling through a forest we surprised a hunting party of +natives. Mr. Hume and I were considerably in front of our party at the +time, and he only had his gun with him. We had been moving along so +quietly that we were not for some time observed by them. Three were seated +on the ground, under a tree, and two others were busily employed on one of +the lower branches cutting out honey. As soon as they saw us, four of them +ran away; but the fifth, who wore a cap of emu feathers, stood for a +moment looking at us, and then very deliberately dropped out of the tree +to the ground. I then advanced towards him, but before I got round a bush +that intervened, he had darted away. I was fearful that he was gone to +collect his tribe, and, under this impression, rode quickly back for my +gun to support Mr. Hume. On my arrival I found the native was before me. +He stood about twenty paces from Mr. Hume, who was endeavouring to explain +what he was; but seeing me approach he immediately poised his spear at +him, as being the nearest. Mr. Hume then unslung his carbine, and +presented it; but, as it was evident my re-appearance had startled the +savage, I pulled up; and he immediately lowered his weapon. His coolness +and courage surprised me, and increased my desire to communicate with him. +He had evidently taken both man and horse for one animal, and as long as +Mr. Hume kept his seat, the native remained upon his guard; but when he +saw him dismount, after the first astonishment had subsided, he stuck his +spear into the ground, and walked fearlessly up to him. We easily made him +comprehend that we were in search of water; when he pointed to the west, +as indicating that we should supply our wants there. He gave his +information in a frank and manly way, without the least embarrassment, +and when the party passed, he stepped back to avoid the animals, without +the smallest confusion. I am sure he was a very brave man; and I left him +with the most favourable impressions, and not without hope that he would +follow us. + +From a more open forest, we entered a dense scrub, the soil in which was +of a bright-red colour and extremely sandy, and the timber of various +kinds. A leafless species of stenochylus aphylta, which, from the +resemblance, I at first thought one of the polygonum tribe, was very +abundant in the open spaces, and the young cypresses were occasionally so +close as to turn us from the direction in which we had been moving. In the +scrub we crossed Mr. Hume's tract, and, from the appearance of the ground, +I was led to believe mine could not be very distant. + +FATE OF THE MACQUARIE. + +We struck upon a creek late in the afternoon, at which we stopped; New +Year's Range bearing nearly due west at about four miles' distance. Had we +struck upon my track, the question about which we were so anxious would +still have been undecided; but the circumstance of our having crossed Mr. +Hume's, which, from its direction, could not be mistaken, convinced me of +the fate of the Macquarie, and I felt assured that, whatever channels it +might have for the distribution of its waters, to the north of our line of +route, the equality of surface of the interior would never permit it +again to form a river; and that it only required an examination of the +lower parts of the marshes to confirm the theory of the ultimate +evaporation and absorption of its waters, instead of their contributing to +the permanence of an inland sea, as Mr. Oxley had supposed. + +NEW YEAR'S RANGE. + +On the 17th of January we encamped under New Year's Range, which is the +first elevation in the interior of Eastern Australia to the westward of +Mount Harris. Yet when at its base, I do not think that we had ascended +above forty feet higher than the plains in the neighbourhood of that last +mentioned eminence. There certainly is a partial rise of country, where +the change of soil takes place from the alluvial deposits of the marshes, +to the sandy loam so prevalent on the plains we had lately traversed; but +I had to regret that I was unable to decide so interesting a question by +other than bare conjecture. + +Notwithstanding that Mr. Hume had already been on them, I encouraged hopes +that a second survey of the country from the highest point of New Year's +Range would enable us to form some opinion of it, by which to direct our +future movements; but I was disappointed. + +The two wooded hills I had seen from Oxley's Table Land were visible from +the range, bearing south; and other eminences bore by compass S.W. +and W. by S.; but in every other direction the horizon was unbroken. To +the westward, there appeared to be a valley of considerable extent, +stretching N. and S., in which latter direction there was a long strip of +cleared ground, that looked very like the sandy bed of a broad and rapid +river. The bare possibility of the reality determined me to ascertain by +inspection, whether my conjecture was right, and Mr. Hume accompanied me +on this excursion. After we left the camp we crossed a part of the range, +and travelled for some time through open forest land that would afford +excellent grazing in most seasons. We passed some hollows, and noticed +many huts that had been occupied near them; but the hollows were now quite +dry, and the huts had been long deserted. After about ten miles' ride we +reached a plain of white sand, from which New Year's Range was distinctly +visible; and this no doubt was the spot that had attracted my attention. +Pools of water continued on it, from which circumstance it would appear +that the sand had a substratum of clay or marl. From this plain we +proceeded southerly through acacia scrub, bounding gently undulating +forest land, and at length ascended some small elevations that scarcely +deserved the name of hills. They had fragments of quartz profusely +scattered over them; and the soil, which was sandy, contained particles of +mica. + +MOSQUITOES. + +The view from them was confused, nor did any fresh object meet our +observation. We had, however, considerably neared the two wooded hills, +and the elevations that from the range were to the S.W., now bore N.W. +of us. We had wandered too far from the camp to admit of our returning to +it to sleep; we therefore commenced a search for water, and having found +some, we tethered our horses near it for the night, and should have been +tolerably comfortable, had not the mosquitoes been so extremely +troublesome. They defied the power of smoke, and annoyed me so much, that, +hot as it was, I rolled myself in my boat cloak, and perspired in +consequence to such a degree, that my clothes were wet through, and I had +to stand at the fire in the morning to dry them. Mr. Hume, who could not +bear such confinement, suffered the penalty, and was most unmercifully +bitten. + +A MAN MISSING. + +We reached the camp about noon the following day, and learnt, to our +vexation, that one of the men, Norman, had lost himself shortly after we +started, and had not since been heard of. Dawber, my overseer, was out in +search of him. I awaited his return, therefore, before I took any measures +for the man's recovery; nor was I without hopes that Dawber would have +found him, as it appeared he had taken one of the horses with him, and +Dawber, by keeping his tracks, might eventually have overtaken him. He +returned, however, about 3 p.m. unsuccessful, when Mr. Hume and I mounted +our horses, and proceeded in different directions in quest of him, but +were equally disappointed. + +We met at the creek in the dark, and returned to the camp together, when I +ordered the cypresses on the range to be set on fire, and thus illuminated +the country round for many miles. In the morning, however, as Norman had +not made his appearance, we again started in search of the poor fellow, +on whose account I was now most uneasy; for his horse, it appeared, had +escaped him, and was found with the others at watering time. + +I did not return to the camp until after sunset, more fatigued than I +recollect ever having been before. I was, however, rejoiced on being +informed that the object of my anxiety was safe in his tent; that he had +caught sight of the hill the evening before, and that he had reached the +camp shortly after I left it. He had been absent three nights and two +days, and had not tasted water or food of any kind during that time. + +To my enquiries he replied, that, being on horseback, he thought he could +have overtaken a kangaroo, which passed him whilst waiting at the creek +for the cattle, and that in the attempt, he lost himself. It would appear +that he crossed the creek in the dark, and his horse escaped from him on +the first night. He complained more of thirst than of hunger, although he +had drunk at the watering-place to such an excess, on his return, as to +make him vomit; but, though not a little exhausted, he had escaped better +than I should have expected. + +COUNTRY AROUND NEW YEAR'S RANGE. + +New Year's Range consists of a principal group of five hills, the loftiest +of which does not measure 300 feet in height. It has lateral ridges, +extending to the N.N.W. on the one hand, and bending in to the creek on +the other. The former have a few cypresses, sterculia, and iron bark upon +them; the latter are generally covered with brush, under box; the brush +for the most part consisting of two distinct species of stenochylus, and a +new acacia. The whole range is of quartz formation, small fragments of +which are profusely scattered over the ridges, and are abundantly +incrusted with oxide of iron. The soil in the neighbourhood of New Year's +Range is a red loam, with a slight mixture of sand. An open forest country +lies between it and the creek, and it is not at all deficient in pasture. + +NEW YEAR'S CREEK. + +That a change of soil takes place to the westward of the creek, is +obvious, from the change of vegetation, the most remarkable feature of +which is the sudden check given to the further extension of the acacia +pendula, which is not to be found beyond it, it being succeeded by another +acacia of the same species and habits; neither do the plants of the +chenopedia class exist in the immediate vicinity of the range. + +I place these hills, as far as my observations will allow, in east +lon. 146 degrees 32 minutes 15 seconds, and in lat. 30 degrees 21 minutes +south; the variation of the compass being 6 degrees 40 minutes easterly. + +As New Year's Creek was leading northerly, it had been determined to trace +it down as long as it should keep that course, or one to the westward of +it. We broke up the camp, therefore, under the range, on the evening of +the 18th, and moved to the creek, about two miles north of the place at +which we had before crossed it, with the intention of prosecuting our +journey on the morrow. But both Mr. Hume and I were so fatigued that we +were glad of an opportunity to rest, even for a single day. We remained +stationary, therefore, on the 19th; nor was I without hope that the +natives whom we had surprised in the woods, would have paid us a visit, +since Mr. Hume had met them in his search for Norman, and they had +promised not only to come to us, but to do all in their power to find +the man, whose footsteps some of them had crossed. They did not, however, +venture near us; and I rather attribute their having kept aloof, to the +circumstance of Mr. Hume's having fired a shot, shortly after he left +them, as a signal to Norman, in the event of his being within hearing of +the report. They must have been alarmed at so unusual a sound; but I am +sure nothing was further from Mr. Hume's intention than to intimidate +them; his knowledge of their manners and customs, as well as his +partiality to the natives, being equally remarkable. The circumstance is, +however, a proof of the great caution that is necessary in communicating +with them. + +ANNOYED BY KANGAROO FLIES. + +I have said that we remained stationary the day after we left the range, +with a view to enjoy a little rest; it would, however, have been +infinitely better if we had moved forward. Our camp was infested by the +kangaroo fly, which settled upon us in thousands. They appeared to rise +from the ground, and as fast as they were swept off were succeeded by +fresh numbers. It was utterly impossible to avoid their persecution, +penetrating as they did into the very tents. + +The men were obliged to put handkerchiefs over their faces, and stockings +upon their hands; but they bit through every thing. It was to no purpose +that I myself shifted from place to place; they still followed, or were +equally numerous everywhere. To add to our discomfort, the animals were +driven almost to madness, and galloped to and fro in so furious a manner +that I was apprehensive some of them would have been lost. I never +experienced such a day of torment; and only when the sun set, did these +little creatures cease from their attacks. + +SUDDENLY RELIEVED. + +It will be supposed that we did not stay to subject ourselves to another +trial; indeed it was with some degree of horror that the men saw the first +light of morning streak the horizon. They got up immediately, and we moved +down the creek, on a northerly course, without breakfasting as usual. We +found that dense brushes of casuarina lined the creek on both sides, +beyond which, to our left, there was open rising ground, on which +eucalypti, cypresses, and the acacia longifolia, prevailed; whilst to the +east, plains seemed to predominate. + +Although we had left the immediate spot at which the kangaroo flies +(cabarus) seemed to be collected, I did not expect that we should have got +rid of them so completely as we did. None of them were seen during the +day; a proof that they were entirely local. They were about half the size +of a common house fly, had flat brown bodies, and their bite, although +sharp and piercing, left no irritation after it. + +About noon we stopped at the creek side to take some refreshment. The +country bore an improved appearance around us, and the cattle found +abundance of pasture. It was evident that the creek had been numerously +frequented by the natives, although no recent traces of them could be +found. It had a bed of coarse red granite, of the fragments of which the +natives had constructed a weir for the purpose of taking fish. The +appearance of this rock in so isolated a situation, is worthy of the +consideration of geologists. + +DESOLATION OF THE COUNTRY. + +The promise of improvement I have noticed, gradually disappeared as we +proceeded on our day's journey, and we at length found ourselves once more +among brushes, and on the edge of plains, over which the rhagodia +prevailed. Nothing could exceed in dreariness the appearance of the tracks +through which we journeyed, on this and the two following days. The creek +on which we depended for a supply of water, gave such alarming indications +of a total failure, that I at one time, had serious thoughts of abandoning +my pursuit of it. We passed hollow after hollow that had successively +dried up, although originally of considerable depth; and, when we at +length found water, it was doubtful how far we could make use of it. +Sometimes in boiling it left a sediment nearly equal to half its body; at +other times it was so bitter as to be quite unpalatable. That on which we +subsisted was scraped up from small puddles, heated by the sun's rays; +and so uncertain were we of finding water at the end of the day's journey, +that we were obliged to carry a supply on one of the bullocks. There was +scarcely a living creature, even of the feathered race, to be seen to +break the stillness of the forest. The native dogs alone wandered about, +though they had scarcely strength to avoid us; and their melancholy howl, +breaking in upon the ear at the dead of the night, only served to impress +more fully on the mind the absolute loneliness of the desert. + +It appeared, from their traces that the natives had lingered on this +ground, on which they had perhaps been born, as long as it continued to +afford them a scanty though precarious subsistence; but that they had at +length been forced from it. Neither fish nor muscles remained in the +creek, nor emus nor kangaroos on the plains. How then could an European +expect to find food in deserts through which the savage wandered in vain? +There is no doubt of the fate that would have overtaken any one of the +party who might have strayed away, and I was happy to find that Norman's +narrow escape had made a due impression on the minds of his comrades. + +SANDY PLAINS; LEAVE THE CREEK. + +We passed some considerable plains, lying to the eastward of the creek, on +parts of which the grass, though growing in tufts, was of luxuriant +growth. They were, however, more generally covered with salsola and +rhagodia, and totally destitute of other vegetation, the soil upon them +being a red sandy loam. The paths across the plains, which varied in +breadth from three to eight miles, were numerous; but they had not been +recently trodden. The creek continued to have a thick brush of casuarina +and acacia near it, to the westward of which there was a rising open +forest track; the timber upon it being chiefly box, cypress, and the +acacia longifolia. It was most probably connected with New Year's Range, +those elevations being about thirty miles distant. It terminated in some +gentle hills which, though covered in places with acacia shrub, were +sufficiently open to afford an extensive view. From their summit Oxley's +Table Land, towards which we had been gradually working our way, was +distinctly visible, distant about twenty miles, and bearing by compass +W. by S. On descending from these hills (called the Pink Hills, from the +colour of a flower upon them) which were scattered over with fragments of +slaty quartz, we traversed a box flat, apparently subject to overflow, +having a barren sandy scrub to its left. I had desired the men to preserve +a W.N.W. direction, on leaving them, supposing that that course would have +kept them near the creek; but, on overtaking the party, I found that they +had wandered completely away from it. The fact was, that the creek had +taken a sudden bend to the eastward of N. and had thus thrown them out. +It was with some difficulty that we regained it before sunset; and we were +at length obliged to stop for the night at a small plain, about a quarter +of a mile short of it, but we had the satisfaction of having excellent +feed for the animals. + +OXLEY'S TABLE LAND. + +Fearful that New Year's Creek would take us too far to the eastward, and +being anxious to keep westward as much as possible, it struck me that we +could not, under existing circumstances, do better than make for Oxley's +Table Land. Water, I knew, we should find in a swamp at it's base, and we +might discover some more encouraging feature than I had observed on my +hasty visit to it. We left the creek, therefore on the 23rd, and once more +took up a westerly course. Passing through a generally open country, we +stopped at noon to rest the animals; and afterwards got on an excellent +grazing forest track, which continued to the brush, through another part +of which I had penetrated to the marsh more to the south. While making our +way through it, we came upon a small pond of water, and must have alarmed +some natives, as there was a fresh made fire close to it. Our journey had +been unusually long, and the cattle had felt the heat so much, that the +moment they saw water they rushed into it; and, as this created some +confusion, I thought it best to stop where we were for the night. + +In the morning, Mr. Hume walked with me to the hill, a distance of about a +mile. It is not high enough to deserve the name of a mountain, although a +beautiful feature in the country, and showing well from any point of view. +We ascended it with an anxiety that may well be imagined, but were wholly +disappointed in our most sanguine expectations. Our chief object, in this +second visit to Oxley's Table Land, had been to examine, more at leisure, +the face of the country around it, and to discover, if possible, some +fixed point on which to move. + +If the rivers of the interior had already exhausted themselves, what had +we to expect from a creek whose diminished appearance where we left it +made us apprehend its speedy termination, and whose banks we traversed +under constant apprehension? In any other country I should have followed +such a water course, in hopes of its ultimately leading to some reservoir; +but here I could encourage no such favourable anticipation. + +The only new object that struck our sight was a remarkable and distant +hill of conical shape, bearing by compass S. 10 E. To the southward and +westward, in the direction of D'Urban's Group, a dense and apparently low +brush extended; but to the N. and N.W., there was a regular alternation of +wood and plain. I left Mr. Hume upon the hill, that he might the more +readily notice any smoke made by the natives; and returned myself to the +camp about one o'clock, to move the party to the swamp. Mr. Hume's +perseverance was of little avail. The region he had been overlooking was, +to all appearance, uninhabited, nor did a single fire indicate that there +was even a solitary wanderer upon its surface. + +EXCURSION TO D'URBAN'S GROUP. + +Our situation, at this time, was extremely embarrassing, and the only +circumstance on which we had to congratulate ourselves was, the improved +condition of our men; for several of the cattle and horses were in a sad +plight. The weather had been so extremely oppressive, that we had found it +impossible to keep them free from eruptions. I proposed to Mr. Hume, +therefore, to give them a few days' rest, and to make an excursion, with +such of them as were serviceable, to D'Urban's Group. We were both of us +unwilling to return to the creek, but we foresaw that a blind reliance +upon fortune, in our next movements, might involve us in inextricable +difficulty. + +On the other hand, there was a very great risk in delay. It was more than +probable, from the continued drought, that our retreat would be cut off +from the want of water, or that we should only be enabled to effect our +retreat with loss of most of the animals. The hope, however, of our +intersecting some stream, or of falling upon a better country, prevailed +over other considerations; and the excursion was, consequently, determined +upon. + +DISTRESS FROM WANT OF WATER. + +We left the camp on the 25th, accompanied by Hopkinson and the tinker; +and, almost immediately after, entered an acacia scrub of the most sterile +description, and one, through which it would have been impossible to have +found a passage for the boat carriage. The soil was almost a pure sand, +and the lower branches of the trees were decayed so generally as to give +the whole an indescribable appearance of desolation. About mid-day, we +crossed a light sandy plain, on which there were some dirty puddles of +water. They were so shallow as to leave the backs of the frogs in them +exposed, and they had, in consequence, been destroyed by solar heat, and +were in a state of putrefaction. Our horses refused to drink, but it was +evident that some natives must have partaken of this sickening beverage +only a few hours before our arrival. Indeed, it was clear that a wandering +family must have slept near this spot, as we observed a fresh made gunneah +(or native hut), and their foot-prints were so fresh along the line we +were pursuing, that we momentarily expected to have overtaken them. It was +late in the evening when we got out of this brush into better and more +open ground, where, in ordinary seasons we should, no doubt, have found +abundance of water. But we now searched in vain for it, and were contented +to be enabled to give our wearied animals better food than they had tasted +for many days, the forest grass, though in tufts, being abundant. + +We brought up for the night at the edge of a scrub, having travelled from +thirty-two to thirty-five miles, judging the distance from the mountains +still to be about twelve. + +BEARINGS FROM OXLEY'S TABLE LAND. + +In the morning we started at an early hour, and immediately entered the +brush, beneath which we had slept; pursuing a westerly course through it. +After a short ride, we found ourselves upon a plain, that was crowded with +flocks of cockatoos. Here we got a supply of water, such as it was--so +mixed with slime as to hang in strings between the fingers; and, after a +hasty breakfast, we proceeded on our journey, mostly through a barren +sandy scrub that was a perfect burrow from the number of wombats in it, to +within a mile of the hill group, where the country appeared like one +continuous meadow to the very base of them. I never saw anything like the +luxuriance of the grass on this tract of country, waving as it did higher +than our horses' middles as we rode through it. We ascended the S.W. face +of the mountain to an elevation of at least 800 feet above the level of +the plain, and had some difficulty in scaling the masses of rock that +opposed themselves to our progress. But on gaining the summit, we were +amply repaid for our trouble. The view extended far and wide, but we were +again disappointed in the main object that had induced us to undertake the +journey. I took the following bearings by compass. Oxley's Table Land bore +N. 40 E. distant forty-five miles; small and distant hill due E.; conical +peak seen from Oxley's Table Land S. 60 E., very distant; long ridge of +high land, S.E., distant thirty-five miles; high land, S. 30 E., distant +thirty miles; long range, S. 25 W. + +To the westward, as a medium point. the horizon was unbroken, and the eye +wandered over an apparently endless succession of wood and plain. A +brighter green than usual marked the course of the mountain torrents in +several places, but there was no glittering light among the trees, no +smoke to betray a water hole, or to tell that a single inhabitant was +traversing the extensive region we were overlooking. We were obliged to +return to the plain on which we had breakfasted, and to sleep upon it. + +D'URBAN'S GROUP. + +D'Urban's Group is of compact sandstone formation. Its extreme length is +from E.S.E. to W.N.W., and cannot be more than from seven to nine miles, +whilst its breadth is from two to four. The central space forms a large +basin, in which there are stunted pines and eucalyptus scrub, amid huge +fragments of rocks. It rises like an island from the midst of the ocean, +and as I looked upon it from the plains below, I could without any great +stretch of the imagination, picture to myself that it really was such. +Bold and precipitous, it only wanted the sea to lave its base; and I +cannot but think that such must at no very remote period have been the +case, and that the immense flat we had been traversing, is of +comparatively recent formation. + +We reached the camp on the 28th of the month, by nearly the same route; +and were happy to find that, after the few days' rest they had enjoyed, +there was a considerable improvement in the animals. + +Our experience of the nature of the country to the southward, and the +westward, was such as to deter us from risking anything, by taking such a +direction as was most agreeable to our views. Nothing remained to us but +to follow the creek, or to retreat; and as we could only be induced to +adopt the last measure when every other expedient should have failed, we +determined on pursuing our original plan, of tracing New Year's Creek as +far as practicable. + +DESCRIPTION OF OXLEY'S TABLE LAND. + +Oxley's Table Land is situated in lat. 29 degrees 57 minutes 30 seconds, +and in E. long. 145 degrees 43 minutes 30 seconds, the mean variation +being 6.32 easterly. It consists of two hills that appear to have been +rent asunder by some convulsion of nature, since the passage between them +is narrow and their inner faces are equally perpendicular. The hill which +I have named after the late Surveyor-general, is steep on all sides; but +the other gradually declines from the south, and at length loses itself in +a large plain that extends to the north. It is from four to five miles in +length, and is picturesque in appearance, and lightly wooded. A few +cypresses were growing on Oxley's Table Land; but it had, otherwise, very +little timber upon its summit. Both hills are of sandstone formation, and +there are some hollows upon the last that deserve particular notice. They +have the appearance of having been formed by eddies of water, being deeper +in the centre than at any other part, and contain fragments and slabs of +sandstone of various size and breadth, without a particle of soil or of +sand between them. It is to be observed that the edges of these slabs, +which were perfect parallelograms, were unbroken, and that they were as +clean as if they had only just been turned out of the hand of the mason. +We counted thirteen of these hollows in one spot about twenty-five feet in +diameter, but they are without doubt of periodical formation, since a +single hollow was observed lower than the summit of the hill upon its +south extremity, that had evidently long been exposed to the action of the +atmosphere, and had a general coating of moss over it. + +CONTINUE THE JOURNEY; DOWN NEW YEAR'S CREEK. + +We left Oxley's Table Land on the morning of the 31st of January, pursuing +a northern course through the brush and across a large plain, moving +parallel to the smaller hill, and keeping it upon our left. The soil upon +this plain differed in character from that on the plains to the eastward, +and was much freer from sand. We stopped to dine at a spot, whence Oxley's +Table Land bore by compass, S. by W., distant about twelve miles. +Continuing our journey, at 2 p.m. we cleared the plain, and entered a +tract covered with the polygonum junceum, on a soil evidently the deposit +of floods. Box-trees were thinly scattered over it, and among the +polygonum, the crested pigeons were numerous. These general appearances, +together with a dip of country to the N.N.W., made us conclude that we +were approaching the creek, and we accordingly intersected it on a N.N.E. +course, at about three miles' distance from where we had dined. It had, +however, undergone so complete a change, and had increased so much in size +and in the height of its banks, that we were at a loss to recognize it. +Still, with all these favourable symptoms, there was not a drop of water +in it. But small shells lay in heaps in its bed, or were abundantly +scattered over it; and we remarked that they differed from those on the +plains of the Macquarie. A circumstance that surprised us much, was the +re-appearance of the flooded-gum upon its banks, and that too of a large +size. We had not seen any to the westward of the marshes, and we were, +consequently, led to indulge in more sanguine expectation as to our +ultimate success than we had ever ventured to do before. + +The party crossed to the right bank of the creek, and then moved in a +westerly direction along it in search of water. A brush extended to our +right, and some broken stony ground, rather elevated, was visible, to +which Mr. Hume rode; nor did he join me again until after I had halted the +party for the night. + +DISTRESSED FOR WATER. + +My search for water had been unsuccessful, and the sun had set, when I +came upon a broad part of the creek that appeared very favourable for an +encampment, as it was encompassed by high banks, and would afford the men +a greater facility of watching the cattle, that I knew would stray away if +they could. + +My anxiety for them led me to wander down the bed of the creek, when, to +my joy, I found a pond of water within a hundred yards of the tents. It is +impossible for me to describe the relief I felt at this success, or the +gladness it spread among the men. Mr. Hume joined me at dusk, and informed +me that he had made a circuit, and had struck upon the creek about three +miles below us but that, in tracing it up, he had not found a drop of +water until he came to the pond near which we had so providentially +encamped. On the following morning, we held a westerly course over an open +country for about eight miles and a half. The prevailing timber appeared +to he a species of eucalypti, with rough bark, of small size, and +evidently languishing from the want of moisture. The soil over which we +travelled was far from bad, but there was a total absence of water upon +it. At 6 p.m. Oxley's Table Land was distant from us about fifteen miles, +bearing S. 20 E. by compass. + +We had not touched upon the creek from the time we left it in the morning, +having wandered from it in a northerly direction, along a native path that +we intersected, and that seemed to have been recently trodden, since +footsteps were fresh upon it. At sunset, we crossed a broad dry creek that +puzzled us extremely, and were shortly afterwards obliged to stop for the +night upon a plain beyond it. We had, during the afternoon, bent down to +the S.W. in hopes that we should again have struck upon New Year's Creek; +and, under an impression that we could not be far from it, Mr. Hume and I +walked across the plain, to ascertain if it was sufficiently near to be of +any service to us. We came upon a creek, but could not decide whether it +was the one for which we had been searching, or another. + +Its bed was so perfectly even that it was impossible to say to what point +it flowed, more especially as all remains of debris had mouldered away. It +was, however, extremely broad, and evidently, at times, held a furious +torrent. In the centre of it, at one of the angles, we discovered a pole +erected, and at first thought, from the manner in which it was propped up, +that some unfortunate European must have placed it there as a mark to tell +of his wanderings, but we afterwards concluded that it might be some +superstitious rite of the natives, in consequence of the untowardness of +the season, as it seemed almost inconceivable that an European could have +wandered to such a distance from the located districts in safety. + +REACH A LARGE RIVER. + +The creek had flooded-gum growing upon its banks, and, on places +apparently subject to flood, a number of tall straight saplings were +observed by us. We returned to the camp, after a vain search for water, +and were really at a loss what direction next to pursue. The men kept the +cattle pretty well together, and, as we were not delayed by any +preparations for breakfast, they were saddled and loaded at an early hour. +The circumstance of there having been natives in the neighbourhood, of +whom we had seen so few traces of late, assured me that water was at hand, +but in what direction it was impossible to guess. As the path we had +observed was leading northerly, we took up that course, and had not +proceeded more than a mile upon it, when we suddenly found ourselves on +the banks of a noble river. Such it might in truth be called, where water +was scarcely to be found. The party drew up upon a bank that was from +forty to forty-five feet above the level of the stream. The channel of the +river was front seventy to eighty yards broad, and enclosed an unbroken +sheet of water, evidently very deep, and literally covered with pelicans +and other wild fowl. Our surprise and delight may better be imagined than +described. Our difficulties seemed to be at an end, for here was a river +that promised to reward all our exertions, and which appeared every moment +to increase in importance to our imagination. Coming from the N.E.,and +flowing to the S.W., it had a capacity of channel that proved that we were +as far from its source as from its termination. The paths of the natives +on either side of it were like well trodden roads; and the trees that +overhung it were of beautiful and gigantic growth. + +DISAPPOINTMENT ON FINDING THE RIVER SALT. + +Its banks were too precipitous to allow of our watering the cattle, but +the men eagerly descended to quench their thirst, which a powerful sun had +contributed to increase; nor shall I ever forget the cry of amazement that +followed their doing so, or the looks of terror and disappointment with +which they called out to inform me that the water was so salt as to be +unfit to drink! This was, indeed, too true: on tasting it, I found it +extremely nauseous, and strongly impregnated with salt, being apparently +a mixture of sea and fresh water. Whence this arose, whether from local +causes, or from a communication with some inland sea, I knew not, but the +discovery was certainly a blow for which I was not prepared. Our hopes +were annihilated at the moment of their apparent realization. The cup of +joy was dashed out of our hands before we had time to raise it to our +lips. Notwithstanding this disappointment, we proceeded down the river, +and halted at about five miles, being influenced by the goodness of the +feed to provide for the cattle as well as circumstances would permit. They +would not drink of the river water, but stood covered in it for many +hours, having their noses alone exposed above the stream. Their condition +gave me great uneasiness. It was evident they could not long hold out +under their excessive thirst, and unless we should procure some fresh +water, it would impossible for us to continue our journey. On a closer +examination, the river appeared to me much below its ordinary level, and +its current was scarcely perceptible. We placed sticks to ascertain if +there was a rise or fall of tide, but could arrive at no satisfactory +conclusion, although there was undoubtedly a current in it. Yet, as I +stood upon its banks at sunset, when not a breath of air existed to break +the stillness of the waters below me, and saw their surface kept in +constant agitation by the leaping of fish, I doubted whether the river +could supply itself so abundantly, and the rather imagined, that it owed +such abundance, which the pelicans seemed to indicate was constant, to +some mediterranean sea or other. Where, however, were the human +inhabitants of this distant and singular region? The signs of a numerous +population were around us, but we had not seen even a solitary wanderer. +The water of the river was not, by any means, so salt as that of the +ocean, but its taste was precisely similar. Could it be that its unnatural +state had driven its inhabitants from its banks? + +One would have imagined that our perplexities would have been sufficient +for one day, but ere night closed, they increased upon us, although our +anxiety, with regard to the cattle, was happily removed. Mr. Hume with his +usual perseverance, walked out when the camp was formed; and, at a little +distance from it, ascended a ridge of pure sand, crowned with cypresses. +From this, he descended to the westward, and, at length, struck upon the +river, where a reef of rocks creased its channel, and formed a dry passage +from one side to the other; but the bend, which the river must have taken, +appeared to him so singular, that he doubted whether it was the same +beside which we had been travelling during the day. Curiosity led him to +cross it, when he found a small pond of fresh water on a tongue of land, +and, immediately afterwards, returned to acquaint me with the welcome +tidings. It was too late to move, but we had, at least, the prospect of a +comfortable breakfast in the morning. + +JUNCTION OF NEW YEAR'S CREEK. + +In consequence of the doubts that hung upon Mr. Hume's mind, as to the +course of the river, we arranged that the animals should precede us to the +fresh water; and that we should keep close in upon the stream, to +ascertain that point. After traversing a deep bight, we arrived nearly as +soon as the party, at the appointed rendezvous. The rocks composing the +channel of the river at the crossing place, were of indurated clay. In the +course of an hour, the animals appearing quite refreshed, we proceeded on +our journey, and at about four miles crossed New Year's Creek, at its +junction with the salt river. We passed several parts of the main channel +that were perfectly dry, and were altogether at a loss to account for the +current we undoubtedly had observed in the river when we first came upon +it. At midday D'Urban's Group bore S. 65 E. distant about 32 miles. We +made a little westing in the afternoon. The river continued to maintain +its character and appearance, its lofty banks, and its long still reaches: +while, however, the blue-gum trees upon its banks were of magnificent +size, the soil had but little vegetation upon it, although an alluvial +deposit. + +We passed over vast spaces covered with the polygonum junceum, that bore +all the appearance of the flooded tracks in the neighbourhood of the +marshes, and on which the travelling was equally distressing to the +animals. Indeed, it had been sufficiently evident to us that the waters of +this river were not always confined to its channel, capacious as it was, +but that they inundated a belt of barren land, that varied in width from a +quarter of a mile to a mile, when they were checked by an outer embankment +that prevented them from spreading generally over the country, and upon +the neighbouring plains. At our halting place, the cattle drank sparingly +of the water, but it acted as a violent purgative both on them and the men +who partook of it. + +NATIVE VILLAGE. + +On the 5th, the river led us to the southward and westward. Early in the +day, we passed a group of seventy huts, capable of holding from twelve to +fifteen men each. They appeared to be permanent habitations, and all of +them fronted the same point of the compass. In searching amongst them we +observed two beautifully made nets, of about ninety yards in length. The +one had much larger meshes than the other, and was, most probably, +intended to take kangaroos; but the other was evidently a fishing net. + +In one hut, the floor of which was swept with particular care, a number of +white balls, as of pulverised shells or lime, had been deposited--the +use of which we could not divine. A trench was formed round the hut to +prevent the rain from running under it, and the whole was arranged with +more than ordinary attention. + +TERROR OF THE NATIVES. + +We had not proceeded very far when we came suddenly upon the tribe to +which this village, as it might be called, belonged. + +In breaking through some brush to an open space that was bounded on one +side by the river, we observed three or four natives, seated on a bank at +a considerable distance from us; and directly in the line on which we were +moving. The nature of the ground so completely favoured our approach, that +they did not become aware of it until we were within a few yards of them, +and had ascended a little ridge, which, as we afterwards discovered, ended +in an abrupt precipice upon the river, not more than thirty yards to our +right. The crack of the drayman's whip was the first thing that aroused +their attention. They gazed upon us for a moment, and then started up and +assumed an attitude of horror and amazement; their terror apparently +increasing upon them. We stood perfectly immovable, until at length they +gave a fearful yell, and darted out of sight. + +THEY FIRE THE BUSH. + +Their cry brought about a dozen more natives from the river, whom we had +not before observed, but who now ran after their comrades with surprising +activity, and without once venturing to look behind them. As our position +was a good one, we determined to remain upon it, until we should ascertain +the number and disposition of the natives. We had not been long +stationary, when we heard a crackling noise in the distance, and it soon +became evident that the bush had been fired. It was, however, impossible +that we could receive any injury on the narrow ridge upon which we stood, +so that we waited very patiently to see the end of this affair. + +REMARKS ON THE NATIVES; DISEASE AMONG THEM. + +In a short time the fire approached pretty near to us, and dense columns +of smoke rose into the air over our heads. One of the natives, who had +been on the bank, now came out of the bush, exactly from the spot into +which he had retreated. He advanced a few paces towards us, and bending +his body so that his hands rested on his knees, he fixed his gaze upon us +for some time; but, seeing that we remained immovable, he began to throw +himself into the most extravagant attitudes, shaking his foot from time to +time. When he found that all his violence had no effect, he turned his +rear to us in a most laughable manner, and absolutely groaned in spirit +when he found that this last insult failed of success. + +He stood perplexed and not knowing what next to do, which gave Mr. Hume an +opportunity to call out to him, and with considerable address he at length +got the savage to approach close up to him; Mr. Hume himself having +advanced a short distance from the animals in the first instance. As soon +as I thought the savage had sufficiently recovered from his alarm, I went +up to him with a tomahawk, the use of which he immediately guessed. We now +observed that the natives who had fled from the river, had been employed +in setting a net. They had placed it in a semicircle, with either end to +the shore, and rude pieces of wood were attached to it to keep the upper +part perpendicular. It was in fact a sein, only that the materials, with +the exception of the net-work, were simpler and rougher than cork or +lead--for which last, we afterwards discovered stones had been +substituted. + +We had on this occasion a remarkable instance of the docility of the +natives of the interior, or of the power they have of subduing their +apprehensions; manifesting the opposite extremes of fear and confidence. +These men whom we had thus surprised, and who, no doubt, imagined that we +were about to destroy them, having apparently never seen nor heard of +white men before, must have taken us for something preternatural; yet from +the extremity of fear that had prompted them to set their woods in flames, +they in a brief space so completely subdued those fears as to approach +the very beings who had so strongly excited their alarm. The savage who +had been the principal actor in the scene, was an elderly man, rather +descending to the vale of years than what might be strictly called aged. +I know not how it was, but I regarded him with peculiar interest. +Mr. Hume's manners had in a great measure contributed to allay his evident +agitation; but, from the moment I approached him, I thought there was a +shade of anxiety upon his brow, and an expression of sorrow over his +features, the cause of which did not originate with us. I could see in a +moment, that his bosom was full even to bursting, and he seemed to claim +at once our sympathy and our protection, although we were ignorant of that +which oppressed him. We had not long been seated together, when some of +his tribe mustered sufficient courage to join him. Both Mr. Hume and I +were desirous of seeing the net drawn, but the old man raised some +objection, by pointing to the heavens and towards the sun. After a little +more solicitation, however, he gave a whistle, and, four or five natives +having obeyed the summons, he directed them to draw the net, but they were +unfortunate, and our wish to ascertain the kind of fish contained in the +river was disappointed. As his tribe gathered round him, the old chief +threw a melancholy glance upon them, and endeavoured, as much as he could, +to explain the cause of that affliction which, as I had rightly judged, +weighed heavily upon him. It appeared, then, that a violent cutaneous +disease raged throughout the tribe, that was sweeping them off in great +numbers. He called several young men to Mr. Hume and myself, who had been +attacked by this singular malady. Nothing could exceed the anxiety of his +explanations, or the mild and soothing tone in which he addressed his +people, and it really pained me that I could not assist him in his +distress. We now discovered the use to which the conical substance that +had been deposited with such unusual care in one of the huts, was applied. +There were few of the natives present who were not more or less marked +with it, and it was no doubt, indicative of mourning. + +DEPARTURE OF THE NATIVES. + +Some of the men, however, were painted with red and yellow ochre, with +which it was evident to me they had besmeared themselves since our +appearance, most likely in preparing for the combat in which they fancied +they would be engaged. We distributed such presents as we had to those +around us, and when we pursued our journey, the majority accompanied us, +nor did they wholly leave us until we had passed the place to which their +women had retired. They might have left us when they pleased, for we +intended them no harm; as it was, however, they struck into the brushes to +join their families, and we pushed on to make up for lost time. + +The travelling near the river had been so bad, not only in consequence of +the nature of the soil and brush, but from the numerous gullies that had +been formed by torrents, as they poured into its channel after heavy rains +and floods, that it was thought advisable to keep at a greater distance +from it. We turned away, therefore, to the plains, and found them of much +firmer surface. They partook, however, of the same general character as +the plains we had traversed more to the eastward. Their soil was a light +sandy loam, and the same succulent plants still continued to prevail upon +them, which we have already noticed as existing upon the other plains. +Both emus and kangaroos were seen, though not in any considerable numbers, +but our dogs were not in a condition to run, and were all but killed by +the extreme heat of the weather. We had fallen on a small pool of water +shortly after we started in the morning, but we could do no more than +refresh ourselves and the animals at it. In the afternoon, we again turned +towards the river, and found it unaltered. Its water was still salt, and +from the increased number of wild fowl and pelicans upon it, as well as +from the general flatness of the country, I certainly thought we were +rapidly approaching some inland sea. It was, however, uncertain how long +we should be enabled to continue on the river. The animals were all of +them extremely weak, and every day increased the probable difficulty of +our return. There was not the least appearance of a break-up of the +drought, the heavens were without a cloud, and the atmosphere was so clear +that the outline of the moon could be distinctly seen, although she was +far in her wane. + +BRINE SPRINGS IN THE RIVER. + +On the 6th, we journeyed again through a barren scrub, although on firmer +ground, and passed numerous groups of huts. At about eight miles from our +last encampment, we came upon the river, where its banks were of +considerable height. In riding along them, Mr. Hume thought he observed a +current running, and be called to inform me of the circumstance. On a +closer examination, we discovered some springs in the very bed of the +river, from which a considerable stream was gushing, and from the +incrustation around them, we had no difficulty in guessing at their +nature: in fact, they were brine springs, and I collected a quantity of +salt from the brink of them. + +DISTRESS FOR WANT OF FRESH WATER. + +After such a discovery, we could not hope to keep our position. No doubt +the current we had observed on first reaching the river, was caused by +springs that had either escaped our notice or were under water. Here was +at length a local cause for its saltness that destroyed at once the +anticipation and hope of our being near its termination, and, +consequently, the ardour with which we should have pressed on to decide so +interesting a point. + +Our retreat would have been a measure of absolute necessity ere this, had +we not found occasional supplies of fresh water, the last pond of which +was now about eighteen miles behind us. + +OUR COURSE ARRESTED. + +Whether we should again find any, was a doubtful question, and I hesitated +to run the risk. The animals were already, from bad food, and from the +effects of the river water, so weak, that they could scarcely carry their +loads, and I was aware, if any of the bullocks once fell, he would never +rise again. Under such circumstances, I thought it better to halt the +party at the edge of the scrub, though the feed was poor, and the water +not drinkable. Our situation required most serious consideration. It was +necessary that we should move either backward or forward in the morning. +Yet we could not adopt either measure with satisfaction to ourselves, +under such unfavorable circumstances. I determined to relieve my own mind +by getting the animals into a place of safety, as soon as possible; and, +as the only effectual way of doing this was to retire upon the nearest +fresh water, I resolved at once to do so. The party turned back on the +morning of the 6th; nor do I think the cattle would ever have reached +their destination had we not found a few buckets of rain water in the +cleft of a rock, to refresh them. Thus it will appear that under our most +trying circumstances, we received aid from Providence, and that the bounty +of Heaven was extended towards us, when we had least reason to expect it. + +Notwithstanding we had been thus forced to a partial retreat, both +Mr. Hume and myself were unwilling to quit the pursuit of the river, in so +unsatisfactory a manner. There was no difference in the appearance of the +country to the westward of it; but a seeming interminable flat stretched +away in that direction. A journey across it was not likely, therefore, to +be attended with any favorable results, since it was improbable that any +other leading feature was within our reach. I proposed, therefore, to take +the most serviceable of the horses with me down the river, that, in the +event of our finding fresh water, we might again push forward. Mr. Hume +requesting to be permitted to accompany me, it was arranged that we should +start on the 8th, thereby giving the animals a day's rest. We had not seen +any natives since our parting with the chief horde; and as we were +stationed at some little distance from the river, I hoped that they would +not visit the camp during my absence. This was the only circumstance that +gave me uneasiness, but the men had generally been behaving so well that I +relied a great deal upon them. + +EXTRAORDINARY SOUND. + +About 3 p.m. on the 7th, Mr. Hume and I were occupied tracing the chart +upon the ground. The day had been remarkably fine, not a cloud was there +in the heavens, nor a breath of air to be felt. On a sudden we heard what +seemed to be the report of a gun fired at the distance of between five and +six miles. It was not the hollow sound of an earthly explosion, or the +sharp cracking noise of falling timber, but in every way resembled a +discharge of a heavy piece of ordnance. On this all were agreed, but no +one was certain whence the sound proceeded. Both Mr. Hume and myself had +been too attentive to our occupation to form a satisfactory opinion; but +we both thought it came from the N.W. I sent one of the men immediately up +a tree, but he could observe nothing unusual. The country around him +appeared to be equally flat on all sides, and to be thickly wooded: +whatever occasioned the report, it made a strong impression on all of us; +and to this day, the singularity of such a sound, in such a situation, +is a matter of mystery to me. + +FURTHER ATTEMPT TO EXPLORE THE RIVER. + +On the 8th, we commenced our journey down the river, accompanied by two +men, and a pack-horse, carrying our provisions on one side and a bucket of +water on the other. Keeping in general near the stream, but making +occasional turns into the plains, we got to the brush from which the party +had turned back, about 3 p.m. Passing through, we crossed a small plain, +of better soil and vegetation than usual; but it soon gave place to the +sandy loam of the interior; nor did we observe any material alteration, +either in the country or the river, as we rode along. The flooded-gum +trees on the banks of the latter, were of beautiful growth, but in the +brushes dividing the plains, box and other eucalypti, with cypresses and +many minor shrubs, prevailed. We slept on the river side, and calculated +our distance from the camp at about twenty-six or twenty-eight miles. + +The horses would not drink the river water, so that we were obliged to +give them a pint each from our own supply. On the following morning we +continued our journey. The country was generally open to the eastward, and +we had fine views of D'Urban's Group, distant from twenty to twenty-five +miles. About noon, turning towards the river to rest, both ourselves and +the horses, we passed through brush land for about a mile and a half. When +we came upon its banks, we found them composed of a red loam with sandy +superficies. We had, in the course of the day, crossed several creeks, but +in none of them could we find water, although their channels were of great +depth. + +The day had been extremely warm, and from shaking in the barrel our supply +of water had diminished to a little more than a pint; it consequently +became a matter of serious consideration, how far it would he prudent to +proceed farther; for, however capable we were of bearing additional +fatigue, it was evident our animals would soon fail, since they trembled +exceedingly, and had the look of total exhaustion. We calculated that we +were forty miles from the camp, in a S.W. direction, a fearful distance +under our circumstances, since we could not hope to obtain relief for two +days. Independently however, of the state of the animals, our spirits were +damped by the nature of the country, and the change which had taken place +on the soil, upon which it was impossible that water could rest; while the +general appearance of the interior showed how much it had suffered from +drought. On the other hand, although the waters of the river had become +worse to the taste, the river itself had increased in size, and stretched +away to the westward, with all the uniformity of a magnificent canal, and +gave every promise of increasing importance; while the pelicans were in +such numbers upon it as to be quite dazzling to the eye. Considering, +however, that perseverance would only involve us in inextricable +difficulties, and that it would also be useless to risk the horses, since +we had gained a distance to which the bullocks could not have been +brought, I intimated my intention of giving up the further pursuit of the +river, though it was with extreme reluctance that I did so. + +CALLED IT THE "DARLING". + +As soon as we had bathed and finished our scanty meal, I took the bearings +of D'Urban's Group, and found them to be S. 58 E. about thirty-three miles +distant; and as we mounted our horses, I named the river the "Darling," +as a lasting memorial of the respect I bear the governor. + +ABANDON THE ATTEMPT. + +I should be doing injustice to Mr. Hume and my men, if I did not express +my conviction that they were extremely unwilling to yield to +circumstances, and that, had I determined on continuing the journey, they +would have followed me with cheerfulness, whatever the consequences might +have been. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + +Intercourse with the natives--Their appearance and condition--Remarks on +the Salt or Darling River--Appearance of the marshes on our return-- +Alarm for safety of the provision party--Return to Mount Harris--Miserable +condition of the natives--Circumstances attending the slaughter of two +Irish runaways--Bend our course towards the Castlereagh--Wallis's Ponds-- +Find the famished natives feeding on gum--Channel of the Castlereagh-- +Character of the country in its vicinity--Another tribe of natives-- +Amicable intercourse with them--Morrisset's chain of Ponds--Again reach +the Darling River ninety miles higher up than where we first struck +upon it. + + +We kept near the river as we journeyed homewards, and in striking across a +plain, found an isolated rock of quartz and jasper, just showing itself +partially above the surface of the ground. + +We were anxious to get to the small plain I have mentioned, if possible, +for the sake of the animals, and pushed on rapidly for it. About 4 p.m. we +had reached our sleeping place of the previous evening, and being +overpowered by thirst, we stopped in hopes that by making our tea strong +we might destroy, in some measure, the nauseous taste of the water. The +horses were spancelled and a fire lit. Whilst we were sitting patiently +for the boiling of the tins, Mr. Hume observed at a considerable distance +above us, a large body of natives under some gum trees. They were not near +enough for us to observe them distinctly, but it was evident that they +were watching our motions. We did not take any notice of them for some +time, but at last I thought it better to call out to them, and accordingly +requested Mr. Hume to do so. In a moment the whole of them ran forward and +dashed into the river, having been on the opposite side, with an uproar I +had never witnessed on any former occasion. + +INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES. + +Mr. Hume thought they intended an attack, and the horses had taken fright +and galloped away. I determined, therefore, to fire at once upon them if +they pressed up the bank on which we were posted. Mr. Hume went with me +to the crest of it, and we rather angrily beckoned to the foremost of the +natives to stop. They mistook our meaning, but laid all their spears in a +heap as they came up. We then sat down on the bank and they immediately +did the same; nor did they stir until we beckoned to them after the horses +had been secured. + +As they conducted themselves so inoffensively, we gave them everything we +had to spare. My gun seemed to excite their curiosity, as they had seen +Mr. Hume shoot a cockatoo with it; they must consequently have been close +to us for the greater part of the day, as the bird was killed in the +morning. It was of a species new to me, being smaller than the common +white cockatoo, and having a large scarlet-and-yellow instead of a +pine-yellow top-knot. + +Having stayed about half an hour with them, we remounted our horses, and +struck away from the river into the plains, while the natives went up its +banks to join their hordes. Those whom we saw were about twenty-seven in +number and the most of them were strangers. + +DISTRESS FROM THIRST. + +It was some time after sunset before we reached the little plain on which +we had arranged to sleep, and when we dismounted we were in a truly +pitiable state. I had been unable to refrain from drinking copiously at +the river, and now became extremely sick. Mr. Hume had been scarcely more +prudent than myself, but on him the water had a contrary effect, as well +as upon Hopkinson. The tinker was the only man fit for duty, and it was +well for us that such was the case, as the horses made frequent attempts +to stray, and would have left us in a pretty plight had they succeeded. We +reached the camp on the following day a little before sunset, nor was I +more rejoiced to dismount from my wearied horse than to learn that +everything in the camp had been regular during our absence and that the +men had kept on the best terms with the natives who had paid them frequent +visits. + +The bullocks had improved, but were still extremely weak, and as the +horses we had employed on the last journey required a day or two's rest, +it was arranged that we should not break up our camp until the 12th, +beyond which period we could not stop, in consequence of the low state of +our salt provisions, we having barely sufficient to last to Mount Harris, +at the rate of two pounds per week. + +REMARKS ON THE NATIVES. + +The morning after we returned from our excursion, a large party of +natives, about seventy in number, visited the camp. On this occasion, the +women and children passed behind the tents, but did not venture to stop. +Most of the men had spears, and were unusually inquisitive and forward. +Several of them carried fire-sticks under the influence of the disease I +have already noticed, whilst others were remarked to have violent +cutaneous eruptions all over the body. We were pretty well on the alert; +notwithstanding which, every minor article was seized with a quickness +that would have done credit to a most finished juggler. One of the natives +thus picked up my comb and toothbrush, but as he did not attempt to +conceal them, they were fortunately recovered. After staying with us a +short time the men followed the women. They appeared to be strangers who +had come from a distance. + +CUSTOMS OF THE NATIVES. + +The natives of the Darling are a clean-limbed, well-conditioned race, +generally speaking. They seemingly occupy permanent huts, but their tribe +did not bear any proportion to the size or number of their habitations. +It was evident their population had been thinned. The customs of these +distant tribes, as far as we could judge, were similar to those of the +mountain blacks, and they are essentially the same people, although their +language differs. They lacerate their bodies, but do not extract the front +teeth. We saw but few cloaks among them, since the opossum does not +inhabit the interior. Those that were noticed, were made of the red +kangaroo skin. In appearance, these men are stouter in the bust than at +the lower extremities; they have broad noses, sunken eyes, overhanging +eyebrows, and thick lips. The men are much better looking than the women. +Both go perfectly naked, if I except the former, who wear nets over the +loins and across the forehead, and bones through the cartilages of the +nose. Their chief food is fish, of which they have great supplies in the +river; still they have their seasons for hunting their emus and kangaroos. +The nets they use for this purpose, as well as for fishing, are of great +length, and are made upon large frames. These people do not appear to have +warlike habits nor do they take any pride in their arms, which differ +little from those used by the inland tribes, and are assimilated to them +as far as the materials will allow. One powerful man, however, had a +regular trident, for which Mr. Hume offered many things without success. +He plainly intimated to us that he had a use for it, but whether against +an enemy or to secure prey, we could not understand. I was most anxious to +have ascertained if any religious ceremonies obtained among them, but the +difficulty of making them comprehend our meaning was insurmountable; and +to the same cause may be attributed the circumstance of my being unable to +collect any satisfactory vocabulary of their language. They evinced a +strange perversity, or obstinacy rather, in repeating words, although it +was evident that they knew they were meant as questions. The pole we +observed in the creek, on the evening previously to our making the +Darling, was not the only one that fell under our notice; our impression +therefore, that they were fixed by the natives to propitiate some deity, +was confirmed. It would appear that the white pigment was an indication of +mourning. Whether these people have an idea of a superintending Providence +I doubt, but they evidently dread evil agency. On the whole I should say +they are a people, at present, at the very bottom of the scale of +humanity. + +REMARKS ON THE DARLING RIVER. + +We struck the Darling River in lat. 29 degrees 37 minutes S. and in E. +long. 145 degrees 33 minutes, and traced it down for about sixty-six miles +in a direct line to the S.W. If I might hazard an opinion from appearance, +to whatever part of the interior it leads, its source must be far to the +N.E. or N. The capacity of its channel, and the terrific floods that must +sometimes rage in it, would argue that it is influenced by tropical rains, +which alone would cause such floods. It is likely that it seldom arrives +at so reduced a state as that in which we found it, and that, generally +speaking, it has a sufficient depth of water for the purposes of inland +navigation: in such case its future importance cannot be questioned, since +it most probably receives the chief streams falling westerly from the +coast ranges. But, with every anticipation of the benefit that may at some +time or other be derived from this remarkable and central stream, it is +incumbent on me to state that the country, through which it flows, holds +out but little prospect of advantage. Certainly the portion we know of it, +is far from encouraging. The extent of alluvial soil, between the inner +and outer banks of the river, is extremely limited, and, instead of being +covered with sward, is in most places over-run by the polygonum. Beyond +this the plains of the interior stretch away, whose character and soil +must change, ere they can be available to any good purpose. But there is a +singular want of vegetable decay in the interior of New Holland, and that +powerfully argues its recent origin. + +REMARKS ON THE COUNTRY. + +There is no life upon its surface, if I may so express myself; but the +stillness of death reigns in its brushes, and over its plains. It cannot, +however, be doubted that we visited the interior during a most unfavorable +season. Probably in ordinary ones it wears a different appearance, but its +deserts are of great extent, and its productions are of little value. + +Agreeably to our arrangements, we broke up our camp at an early hour on +the morning of the 12th, and proceeded up the river to the junction of +New Year's Creek. We then struck away in an easterly direction from it, +detaching a man to trace the creek up, lest we should pass any water; and +we should certainly have been without it had we not taken this precaution. + +On the following day, we again passed to the eastward, through an open +country, having picturesque views of Oxley's Table Land. We crossed our +track about noon, and struck on the creek at about five miles beyond it, +and we were fortunate enough to procure both water and grass. The timber +upon the plains, between us and the Darling, we found to be a rough gum, +but box prevailed in the neighbourhood of the creek at this part of it. + +On the 14th, we changed our direction more to the southward, but made a +short journey, in consequence of being obliged to make some slight repairs +on the boat carriage. + +REGAIN OUR OLD ROUTE. + +On the 15th, we kept an E.S.E. course, and, crossing the creek at an early +hour, got upon our old track, which we kept. We had the lateral ridge of +the Pink Hills upon our right, and travelled through a good deal of brush. +Four or five natives joined us, and two followed us to the end of our +day's journey. In the course of the evening, they endeavoured to pilfer +whatever was in their reach, but were detected putting a tin into a bush, +and soon took to their heels. This was the first instance we had of open +theft among the natives of the interior. + +We passed Mosquito Brush on the 18th, but found the ponds quite dry, we +were, therefore, under the necessity of pushing on, to shorten the next +day's journey, as we could not expect to get water nearer than the +marshes. At noon, on the 19th, we entered the plain, and once more saw +them spreading in dreariness before us. While the party was crossing to +the first channel, I rode to the left, in order to examine the appearance +of the country in the direction of the wood, and as far as I skirted the +reeds had my impressions confirmed as to their partial extension. I was +obliged, however, to join the men without completing the circuit of the +marshes. They had found the first channel dry, and had passed on to the +other, in which, fortunately, a small quantity of water still remained. +It was, however, so shallow as to expose the backs of the fish in it, and +a number of crows had congregated, and were pecking at them. Wishing to +satisfy my mind as to the distance to which the river extended to the +northward, Mr. Hume rode with me on the following day, to examine the +country in that direction, leaving the men stationary. We found that the +reeds gradually decreased in body, until, at length, they ceased, or gave +place to bulrushes. There were general appearances of inundation, and of +the subsidence of waters, but none that led us to suppose that any channel +existed beyond the flooded lands. + +ALARM FOR THE SAFETY OF THE PROVISION PARTY. + +On our return to the camp, we observed dense masses of smoke rising at the +head of the marshes, and immediately under Mount Foster. This excited our +alarm for the safety of the party we hoped to find at Mount Harris, and +obliged us to make forced marches, to relieve it if threatened by the +natives. + +On the 22nd, we crossed the plains of the Macquarie, and surprised a +numerous tribe on the banks of the river; and the difficulty we found in +getting any of them to approach us, their evident timidity, and the +circumstance of one of them having on a jacket, tended to increase our +apprehensions. When two or three came to us, they intimated that white +men either had been or were under Mount Harris, but we were left in +uncertainty and passed a most anxious night. + +The body of reeds was still on fire; and the light embers were carried to +an amazing distance by the wind, falling like a black-shower around us. As +we knew that the natives never made such extensive conflagration, unless +they had some mischievous object in view, our apprehension for the safety +of Riley, with his supplies, was increased. + +At the earliest dawn, we pushed for the hill. In passing that part of the +meadows under Mount Foster, we observed that the grass had also been +consumed, and we scarcely recognized the ground from its altered +appearance. As we approached Mount Harris, we saw recent traces of cattle, +but none were visible on the plains. Under the hill, however, we could +distinctly see that a hut of some kind had been erected, and it is +impossible for me to describe the relief we felt when a soldier came +forward to reconnoitre us. I could no longer doubt the safety of the +party, and this was confirmed by the rest of the men turning out to +welcome us. It appeared that our suspicions with regard to the natives had +not been without foundation, since they attempted to surprise the camp, +and it was supposed the firing of the marshes was done with a view to +collect the distant tribes, to make a second attack; so that our arrival +was most opportune. + +The party I found awaiting our arrival at Mount Harris consisted of one +soldier, Riley, who had the charge of the supplies, and a drayman. They +had found the paper I had fixed against the tree, and also the letters I +had hid, and had forwarded them to Sydney, by another soldier and a +prisoner; which had weakened their party a good deal. Riley informed me, +that he had been between a month and three weeks at the station, and that +knowing our provisions must have run short he had expected us much earlier +than we had made our appearance. + +My dispatches stated, that additional supplies had been forwarded for my +use, together with horses and bullocks, in the event of my requiring them. +On examination, the former were found to be in excellent order; and, as it +would take some time to carry any changes I might contemplate, or find it +necessary to make, into effect, I determined to give the men who had been +with me a week's rest. + +ENCAMP AT MOUNT HARRIS. + +The camp was made snug; and as the weather had become much cooler I +thought it a good opportunity to slaughter one of the bullocks, in order +to guard against any bad effects of our having been living for some weeks +exclusively on salt provisions. I was also induced to this measure, from a +wish to preserve my supplies as much as possible. + +These matters having been arranged, I had a temporary awning erected near +the river, and was for three or four days busily employed writing an +account of our journey for the Governor's information. + +Having closed my despatches, and answered the numerous friendly letters I +had received, my attention was next turned to the changes that had taken +place at Mount Harris during our absence. The Macquarie, I found, had +wholly ceased to flow, and now consisted of a chain of ponds. Such of the +minor vegetation as had escaped the fires of the natives, had perished +under the extreme heat of the season. The acacia pendula stood leafless +upon the plains, and the polygonum junceum appeared to be the only plant +that had withstood the effects of the drought. Yet, notwithstanding this +general depression of the vegetable kingdom, the animals that had been +brought from Wellington Valley were in the best condition, and were, +indeed, too fat for effective labour; it might, therefore, be reasonably +presumed, that herbage affording such nourishment in so unfavourable a +season, would be of the richest quality, if fresh and vigorous under the +influence of seasonable, and not excessive, rains. + +FIRING OF THE GREAT MARSHES. + +The appearance of the country was, however, truly melancholy; there was +not a flower in bloom, nor a green object to be seen. Whether our arrival +had increased their alarm, is uncertain, but the natives continued to fire +the great marshes, and as the element raged amongst them, large bodies of +smoke rose over the horizon like storm clouds, and had the effect of +giving additional dreariness to the scene. I am inclined to think that +they made these conflagrations to procure food, by seizing whatsoever +might issue from the flames, as snakes, birds, or other animals; for they +had taken every fish in the river, and the low state of its waters had +enabled them to procure an abundance of muscles from its bed, which they +had consumed with their characteristic improvidence. They were, +consequently, in a starving condition, and so pitiable were their +indications of it, that I was induced to feed such of them as visited the +camp, notwithstanding their late misconduct; being likewise anxious to +bring about a good understanding, as the best means of ensuring the safety +of the smaller party when we should separate, of which I had reason to be +doubtful. These people had killed two white men not long before my arrival +among them, and as the circumstances attending the slaughter are singular, +I shall relate them. + +SLAUGHTER OF TWO IRISH RUNAWAYS. + +The parties were two Irish runaways, who thought they could make their way +to Timor. They escaped from Wellington Valley with a fortnight's provision +each, and a couple of dogs, and proceeded down the Macquarie. About the +cataract, they fell in with the Mount Harris tribe, and remained with them +for some days, when they determined on pursuing their journey. The blacks, +however, wanted to get possession of their dogs, and a resistance on the +part of the Europeans brought on a quarrel. It appears, that before the +blacks proceeded to extremities, they furnished the Irishmen, who were +unarmed, with weapons, and then told them to defend themselves, but +whether against equal or inferior numbers, I am uninformed. One of them +soon fell, which the other observing, he took his knife out, and cut the +throats of both the dogs before the blacks had time to put him to death. +He was, however, sacrificed; and both the men were eaten by the tribe +generally. I questioned several on the subject, but they preserved the +most sullen silence, neither acknowledging nor denying the fact. + +ARBUTHNOT'S RANGE. + +Mr. Hume had been one day on Mount Harris, and while there, had laid his +compass on a large rock, near to which Mr. Oxley's boat had been burnt. +To his surprise, he found the needle affected; and his bearings were all +wrong. I subsequently went up to ascertain the extent of the error +produced, and found it precisely the same as Mr. Hume noticed. When I +placed the compass on the rock, Mount Foster bore from me N. by W., the +true bearing of the one hill from the other being N.N.W. My placing my +notebook under the compass did not alter the effect, nor did the card move +until I raised the instrument a couple of feet above the stone, when it +first became violently agitated, and then settled correctly; and my +bearings of the highest parts of Arbuthnot's Range, and of its centre, +were as follows: + +Mount Exmouth to the N ...... N. 86 E. +Centre....................... N. 85 E. +Vernon's Peak................ N. 89 E. +Distance 70 miles. + +Having finished my reports and letters, it became necessary to consider +the best point on which to move, and to fix a day for our departure from +Mount Harris. It struck me that having found so important a feature as the +Darling River, the Governor would approve my endeavouring to regain it +more to the southward, in order to trace it down. I, therefore, detached +Mr. Hume to survey the country in that direction, and to ascertain if a +descent upon the Bogen district would be practicable, through which I had +been informed a considerable river forced itself. The report he made on +his return was such as to deter me from that attempt, but he stated that +the country for 30 miles from the Macquarie was well watered, and superior +to any he had passed over during the journey; beyond that distance, it +took up the character of the remote interior, and alternated with plains +and brush, the soil being too sandy to retain water on its surface. He saw +some hills from the extremity of his journey, bearing by compass W.S.W. +We consequently determined to make for the Castlereagh, agreeably to our +instructions. Preparations were made for breaking up the camp, all the +various arrangements in the change of animals were completed, the boat +carriage was exchanged for a dray, and I took Boyle in the place of +Norman, whose timidity in the bush rendered him unfit for service. + +CIRCUIT OF THE GREAT MARSHES. + +There is a small hill on the opposite side of the river, and immediately +facing Mount Harris, and to the S.E. of it there is a small lagoon, the +head of a creek, by means of which its superfluous waters are carried off. +This creek runs parallel to the river for about ten miles, and enters the +marshes at the S.E. angle. This I ascertained one day in riding to carry +on my survey of the southern extremity of the marshes, and to join my line +of route by making the circuit of that part of them. I found that the +river was turned to its northerly course by a rising ground of forest +land, which checks its further progress westerly. I proceeded round +the S.W. angle, and then, taking a northerly course, got down to the +bottom of the first great marsh, thus completing the circuit of them. I +did not return to the camp until after 10 p.m., having crossed the river +at day-light, nor did we procure any water from the time we left the +stream to the moment of our recrossing it. + +WALLIS'S PONDS. + +Having completed our various arrangements, and closed our letters, we +struck our tents on the morning of the 7th March; we remained, however, to +witness the departure of Riley's party for Wellington Valley, and then +left the Macquarie on an E.N.E. course for Wallis's Ponds, and made them +at about 14 miles. They undoubtedly empty themselves into the marshes, and +are a continuation of that chain of ponds on which I left the party in +Mr. Hume's charge. About a mile from Mount Harris, we passed a small dry +creek, that evidently lays the country under water in the wet seasons. +There was a blue-gum flat to the eastward of it, which we crossed, and +then entered a brush of acacia pendula and box. The soil upon the plain +was an alluvial deposit; that in the brushes was sandy. From the extremity +of the plain, Mount Harris bore, by compass, S.W. by W.; Mount Foster due +west. The scrub through which we were penetrating, at length became so +dense, that we found it impossible to travel in a direct line through it, +and frequent ridges of cypresses growing closely together, turned us +repeatedly from our course. The country at length became clearer, and we +travelled over open forest of box, casuarina, and cypresses, on a sandy +soil; the first predominating. For about two miles before we made the +creek, the country was not heavily timbered, the acacia pendula +succeeding the larger trees. The ground had a good covering of grass upon +it, and there were few of the salsolaceous plants, so abundant on the +western plains, to be found. The rough-gum abounded near the creek, with a +small tree bearing a hard round nut, and we had the luxury of plenty of +water. + +We remained stationary on the 8th, in hopes that Riley would have met the +soldier who had been sent back to Wellington Valley, and that he would +have forwarded any letters to us, of which he might have been the bearer. +The day, however, passed over without realizing our expectations; and we +started once more for the interior, and cut ourselves off from all +communication with society. + +MORRISSET'S PONDS. + +We made for Morrisset's chain of ponds, and travelled over rich and +extensive plains, divided by plantations of cypress, box, and casuarina, +in the early and latter period of the day. About noon we entered a dense +forest of cypresses, which continued for three miles, when the cypresses +became mixed with casuarina, box, and mountain-gum, a tree we had not +remarked before in so low a situation. We struck upon the creek after a +journey of about 15 miles. It had a sandy bed, and was extremely tortuous +in its course, nor was it until after a considerable search, that we at +length succeeded in finding water, at which a party of natives were +encamped. The moment they saw us, they fled, and left all their utensils, +&c. behind them. Among other things, we found a number of bark troughs, +filled with the gum of the mimosa, and vast quantities of gum made into +cakes upon the ground. From this it would appear these unfortunate +creatures were reduced to the last extremity, and, being unable to procure +any other nourishment, had been obliged to collect this mucilaginous food. + +The plains we traversed, were of uniform equality of surface. Water +evidently lodges and continues on them long after a fall of rain, and in +wet seasons they must, I should imagine, be full of quagmires, and almost +impassable. + +On the 10th, we passed through a country that differed in no material +point from that already described. We stopped at 10 a.m. under some brush, +in the centre of a large plain, from which Arbuthnot's range bore S. 84 E. +distant from 50 to 55 miles, and afterwards traversed or rather crossed, +those extensive tracts described by Mr. Evans as being under water and +covered with reeds, in 1817. They now bore a very different appearance, +being firm and dry. The soil was in general good, and covered with forest +grass and a species of oxalia. We did not observe any reeds, or the signs +of inundation, but, as is invariably the case with plains in the interior, +they were of too even surface, as I have so lately remarked, to admit of +the waters running quickly off them; and no doubt, when they became +saturated, many quagmires are formed, that would very much impede the +movements of an expedition. + +REACH THE CASTLEREAGH RIVER. + +We reached the Castlereagh about 4 p.m., and although its channel could +not have been less than 130 yards in breadth, there was apparently not a +drop of water in it. Its bed consisted of pure sand and reeds; amid the +latter, we found a small pond of 15 yards circumference, after a long +search. There is a considerable dip in the country towards the river, at +about two miles from it; and the intervening brush was full of kangaroo, +which, I fancy, had congregated to a spot where there was abundance of +food for them. The soil covering the space was of the richest quality, +and the timber upon it consisted of box, mountain gum, and the angophora +lanceolata, a tree that is never found except on rich ground. + +WANT OF WATER; CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. + +It appeared that our troubles were to recommence, and that in order to +continue on the Castlereagh, it would be necessary for Mr. Hume and myself +to undertake those fatiguing journeys in search of water that had so +exhausted us already: and after all, it was doubtful how soon we might be +forced back. I had certainly expected that, on our gaining the banks of +the river, we should have had a constant supply of water, but the +circumstance of the Castlereagh having not only ceased to flow, but being +absolutely dry, while it afforded the best and clearest proof of the +severity and continuance of the drought in the interior, at the same time +damped the spirits and ardour of the men. We kept the left bank of the +river as we proceeded down it, and passed two or three larger ponds about +a mile below where we had slept, but there they ceased. The bed of the +river became one of pure sand, nor did there appear to be any chance of +our finding any water in it. I stopped the party at about eight miles, and +desired the men to get their dinners, to give Mr. Hume and myself time to +search for a supply upon the plains. Disappointed to the left, we crossed +the channel of the Castlereagh, and struck over a small plain upon the +right bank, and at the extremity of it, came upon a swamp, from which we +immediately returned for the cattle, and got them unloaded by seven +o'clock. As there was sufficient pasture around us, I proposed to Mr. Hume +on the following day, to leave the party stationary, and to ride down the +river to see how far its present appearances continued. Like the +generality of rivers of the interior, it had, where we struck upon it, +outer banks to confine its waters during floods, and to prevent them from +spreading generally over the country; the space between the two banks +being of the richest soil, and the timber chiefly of the angophora kind. +Flooded-gum overhung the inner banks of the river, or grew upon the many +islands, with casuarina. It became evident, however, that the outer banks +declined in height as we proceeded down the river, nor was it long before +they ceased altogether. As we rode along, we found that the inner ones +were fast decreasing in height also. Riding under a hanging wood of the +angophora, which had ceased for a time, we were induced to break off to +our right, to examine some large flooded-gum trees about a couple of miles +to the N.W. of us. On arriving near them, we were astonished to find that +they concealed a serpentine lagoon that had a belt of reeds round it. +Keeping this lagoon upon our right, we at length came to the head of it, +past which the river sweeps. Crossing the channel of the river, we +continued to ride in an easterly direction to examine the country. In +doing this, we struck on a second branch of the Castlereagh, leading +W. by N. into a plain, which it of course inundates at times, and running +up it, we found its bed at the point of separation, to be considerably +higher than that of the main channel, which still continued of pure +sand--and was stamped all over with the prints of the feet of natives, +kangaroos, emus, and wild dogs, We then turned again to the head of the +lagoon, and took the following bearings of Arbuthnot's range: + +Mount Exmouth .......... E. 90 S. +Centre Range ........... E. 35 E. +Vernon's Peak .......... E. 20 S. + +From the head of the lagoon, the river appeared to enter a reedy hollow, +shaded by a long line of flooded gum trees, and on proceeding to it, we +found the banks ceased here altogether; and that a very considerable plain +extended both to the right and the left, which cannot fail of being +frequently laid under water. + +LAGOONS AND CREEKS OF THE CASTLEREAGH. + +On the following morning we moved the party to the lagoon, and, passing +its head, encamped to the north of it; after which we again rode down the +river in search of water. It continued to hold a straight and northerly +course for about five miles, having a plain on either side. The reeds that +had previously covered the channel then suddenly ceased, and the channel, +contracting in breadth, gained in depth: it became extremely serpentine, +and at length lost all the character and appearance of a river. It had +many back channels, as large as the main one, serving to overflow the +neighbouring country. We succeeded in finding a small pond of water in one +of the former, hardly large enough to supply our necessities, but as it +enabled us to push so much further on, we turned towards the lagoon, +making a circuitous journey to the right, across a large plain, bounded to +the north by low acacia brush and box. We struck upon a creek at the +further extremity of the plain, in which there was a tolerably sized pond. +It appeared from the traces of men, that some natives had been there the +day before; but we did not see any of them. The water was extremely muddy +and unfit for use. The lagoon at which we had encamped, was of less +importance than we had imagined. + +JOURNEY DOWN THE RIVER. + +Whilst Mr. Hume led the party down the river, I rode up its northward +bank, to examine it more closely. I found it to be a serpentine sheet of +about three miles in length, gradually decreasing in depth until it +separated into two small creeks. In following one of them up, I observed +that they re-united at the distance of about two miles, and that the +lagoon was filled from the eastward, and not by the river as I had at +first supposed. The waters at the head of the lagoon were putrid, nor was +there a fish in, or a wild fowl upon it. The only bird we saw was a +beautiful eagle, of the osprey kind, with plumage like a sea gull, which +had a nest in the tree over the tents. + +In turning to overtake the party I rode through a great deal of acacia +scrub, and on arriving at the place at which I expected to have overtaken +them, I found they had pushed on. + +The Castlereagh, as I rode down it, diminished in size considerably, and +became quite choked up with rushes and brambles. Rough-gum again made its +appearance, with swamp-oak and a miserable acacia scrub outside. The +country on both sides of the river seemed to be an interminable flat, and +the soil of an inferior description. + +WRETCHED APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. + +I came up with with Mr. Hume about 1 o'clock and we again pushed forward +at 3, and halted for the night without water, the want of which the cattle +did not feel. The river held a general westerly course, and the country in +its neighbourhood became extremely depressed and low. On the following day +we moved forward a distance of not more than nine miles, through a country +on which, at first, the acacia pendula alone was growing on a light +alluvial soil. The river had many back drains, by means of which, in wet +seasons, it inundates the adjacent plains. It was evident, however, that +they had not been flooded for many years; and, notwithstanding that the +country was low, the line of inundation did not appear to be very +extensive, nor were there any reeds growing beyond the immediate banks of +the river. Swamp-oak and rough-gum again prevailed near the stream at our +halting place, and the improvement that had taken place, both in the +country and in the Castlereagh, had induced us to make so short a journey; +for not only was there abundance of the grass for the animals, but large +ponds of water in the river. Some natives had only just preceded us down +it: we came upon their fires that were still smoking; and upon them were +the remains of some fish they had taken, near which they had left a +cumbrous spear. The circumstances cheered us with hopes that an +improvement would take place in the country, and that some new feature +would soon open upon us. In the course of the following day, however, +every favorable change, both in the river and in the country, disappeared. +The latter continued extremely depressed, and in general open, or lightly +covered with acacia pendula; the former dwindled into a mere ditch, choked +up with brambles and reeds, and having only here and there a stagnant pool +of water. We travelled on a N.W. 1/2 W. course for about ten miles, and +again stopped for the night without water. In the course of the afternoon, +we traversed several flats, on which the rough-gum alone was growing. +These flats were evidently subject to flood; and contained an alluvial +soil. + +They became more frequent as we travelled down the river, and the work was +so heavy for the animals, that I was obliged to keep wide of them, in +doing which we struck upon a creek of large size, coming from the N.E. +and, having crossed, we traversed its right bank to its junction with the +Castlereagh, and stopped close to it at a pond of water, though the feed +for the animals was bad. The country to the left of the river, though +somewhat high, was the same, in essential points, as that to the right. + +The Castlereagh seemed to have increased in size below the creek, but +still it had no resemblance to a river. We had not proceeded very far down +its banks, on the 18th, when we crossed a broad footpath leading to it +from the interior. I turned my horse to the left, and struck upon a long +sheet of water, from which I startled a number of pelicans. It was evident +that the natives had recently been in the neighbourhood, but we thought it +probable they might have been a hunting party, who had returned again to +the plains. The whole track we passed over during the day was miserably +poor and bare of vegetation, nor did the appearance of the country to the +N.E. indicate any improvement. We lost the traces of the natives +immediately after crossing their path or beat, and again found the bed of +the river dry, after we had passed the sheet of water to which it led. The +soil was so rotten and yielding, that the team knocked up early; indeed, +it was a matter of surprise to me that they should not have failed before. +The river made somewhat to the westward with little promise of +improvement. The wretched appearance of the country as we penetrated into +it, damped our spirits; we pressed on, however, with difficulty, over +ground that was totally destitute of vegetation. Instead of lofty timber +and a living stream, we wandered along the banks of an insignificant +watercourse, and under trees of stunted size and scanty foliage. We +stopped on the 20th at the angle of a creek, in which there was some dry +grass, in consequence of the animals being almost in a starving state, but +even here they had but little to eat. + +A violent thunder-storm passed over us in the afternoon, but it made no +change in the temperature of the air. The weather, although it had been +hot and sultry, had fallen far short of the intense heat we experienced in +crossing the marshes of the Macquarie, when it was such as to melt the +sugar in the canisters, and to destroy all our dogs; and our nights were +now become agreeably cool. + +A PARTY OF NATIVES. + +We still, however, continued to travel over a dead level, nor was a height +or break visible from the loftiest trees we ascended. A little before we +stopped at the creek, we surprised a party of natives; old men, women, and +children. They were preparing dinners of fish in much larger quantities +than they could have devoured--probably for a part of the tribe that were +absent; but the moment they saw us they fled, and left every thing at our +mercy. On examining the fish, we found them totally different from any in +the Macquarie, and took two of the most perfect to preserve. In the +afternoon one of the men came to inform me that the tribe was coming down +upon us. + +Mr. Hume and I, therefore, went to meet them. They were at this time about +150 yards from the tent, but seeing us advance, they stopped, and forming +two deep, they marched to and fro, to a war song I suppose, crouching with +their spears. We had not, however, any difficulty in communicating with +them, and I shall detail the manner in which this was brought about, in +hopes that it may help to guide others. When the natives saw us advance, +they stopped, and we did the same. Mr. Hume then walked to a tree, and +broke off a short branch. It is singular that this should, even with these +rude people, be a token of peace. As soon as they saw the branch, the +natives laid aside their spears, and two of them advanced about twenty +paces in front of the rest, who sat down. Mr. Hume then went forward and +sat down, when the two natives again advanced and seated themselves close +to him. + +Now it is evident that a little insight into the customs of every people +is necessary to insure a kindly communication; this, joined with patience +and kindness, will seldom fail with the natives of the interior. It is not +to avoid alarming their natural timidity that a gradual approach is so +necessary. They preserve the same ceremony among themselves. These men, +who were eighteen in number, came with us to the tents, and received such +presents as we had for them. They conducted themselves very quietly, and, +after a short time, left us with every token of friendship. + +LARGE CREEK. + +On the 21st we proceeded down the river on a N.N.W. course, and at about +five miles struck upon a very large creek, apparently coming from +the E.N.E. + +Although the Castlereagh had increased in size, this creek was infinitely +larger; it was, however, perfectly dry. Lofty flooded-gum trees were upon +its banks, and it appeared so much superior to the river that I was +induced to halt the party at the junction, in order to examine it more +closely. Mr. Hume, therefore, rode with me up the right bank. We had not +proceeded very far, when some natives called out to us from the opposite +scrub. Thinking that they belonged to the tribe we had left behind us, we +pointed to the junction, and motioned them to go there, but one of the +party continued to follow and call to us for some time. On our return to +the men, we found that the natives had joined them, and they now gave us +to understand that we were going away from water. This had indeed been +apparent to us. The creek was perfectly dry, as far as we traced it up; +and seemed to have been totally deserted by the natives. + +We were about to proceed on our journey, when from twenty to thirty +natives approached us from down the river. We sent two of those who had +been with us to them, and the whole accompanied us for some miles, talking +incessantly to the men, but keeping at a very respectful distance from the +animals. We at length got opposite to their camp, near which there was a +very fine pool of water, and they were earnest in persuading us to stop at +it. We were, however, too anxious to get forward to comply; under the +improved appearance of the river since it had received the creeks from the +eastward, little anticipating what was before us. + +NATIVE ARMOURY. + +The natives did not follow us beyond their own encampment. Within sight of +it, we came upon their armoury, if I may so term it. Numerous spears were +reared against the trees, and heaps of boomerangs were lying on the +ground. The spears were very heavy, and half barbed; and it is singular +that three of them were marked with a broad arrow. We saw the natives +watching us, fearful, I imagine, that we should help ourselves; but I +would not permit any of their weapons to be touched. + +EXAMINATION OF CREEKS NEAR THE CASTLEREAGH. + +Pursuing our journey, we reached another creek, at about five miles, +similar to the last in appearance and size, and we crossed it repeatedly +during the afternoon. We had been induced to keep along a native path in +the hope that it would have led us to the river by a short cut; but it +eventually led us to this creek, and away from the Castlereagh; for, +notwithstanding that we subsequently changed our course to the S.W., we +failed, as we supposed, again to strike upon the latter, and were obliged +to stop for the night on the banks of what appeared to be a third large +dry creek, which we intersected nearly at right angles. + +We travelled through a good deal of brush during the day, nor did the +country change from the miserable and barren character it had assumed for +the last thirty or forty miles. The Castlereagh had so frequently changed, +that both Mr. Hume and myself were puzzled as to the identity of the +creek upon which we had halted. We searched its bed in vain for water, +although it was most capacious. Under an impression that the river was +still to the south, and that we were at a point to which many watercourses +from the high lands tended, I crossed the creek early in the morning, and +held a S.W. course, over an open forest country. At about eight miles, we +came upon a large space over-run by the polygonum junceum, a certain +indication of flooded ground, and of our consequent proximity to some +stream. Accordingly, after pushing through it, we struck upon a small +creek with abundance of water in it. Whether this creek was the +Castlereagh, which it resembled much more than the one we had left in the +morning, was doubtful; but it was a great source of comfort to us to have +so unexpected a supply of water as that which was now at our disposal. +Whatever channel this was, whether a river or a creek, our tracing it down +would lead us in the direction we wished to go, and probably to some +junction. + +The neighbourhood of the creek was well clothed with vegetation, and the +cattle found good feed; but the only trees near it were rough-gum and +casuarinae; the flooded-gum had again disappeared. The soil of the forest +land over which we journeyed was a light sandy loam; and its timber +consisted chiefly of eucalypti, acacia pendula, and the angophora. + +Some natives visited us in the afternoon, and among them, both Mr. Hume +and I recognized one of those we had seen on the Darling. He also knew us +again, but we could not make out from him how far we were from that river. +They stayed with us till sunset, and then went down the creek, leaving +their spears against a tree, for which they said they would return. + +On the 23rd we took up a W.N.W. course, and when we again touched on the +creek it was dry. This was at a distance of about five miles from where we +had slept. As the animals had not recovered from their late privations, I +deemed it better to halt the party and to examine the creek for a few +miles below us, that in case it should prove destitute of water, we might +return to that we had left. Mr. Hume accordingly rode down it for about +three miles, without success; and on his rejoining the men, we returned +with them to our last camp, or to within a short distance of it. Wishing +to examine the creek above our position, I requested Mr. Hume to take two +men with him, and to trace it down in search of water, while I should +proceed in the opposite direction. I went from the camp at an early hour, +and as I wandered along the creek, I passed a regular chain of ponds. The +country on both sides of the creek was evidently subject to flood, but +more extensively to the south than to the north. From the creek, I struck +away to my left, and after penetrating through a belt of swamp-oak and +minor shrubs, got on a small plain, which I crossed N.E. and, to my +annoyance, found it covered with rhagodia and salsolae. As I had not +started with the intention of sleeping, I turned to the S.W. a little +before sunset, and reached the tents between ten and eleven. I found +Mr. Hume awaiting me. He informed me that at about nine miles from +where we had turned back with the party, he had struck upon a junction; +and that as the junction was much larger than the channel he had been +tracing, he thought it better to follow it up for a few miles. He found +that it narrowed in width, and that its banks became steep, with a fine +avenue of flooded-gum trees overhanging them. At four miles, he came upon +another junction, and at four miles more, found himself opposite to the +ground on which we had slept on the previous Saturday. From this point he +retraced the channel, but not finding any water for three miles below the +lower junction, he returned to the camp, with a view of prosecuting a +longer journey on the morrow. Mr. Hume had become impressed with an +opinion, that the junction up which we had slept was no other than the +Castlereagh itself; and that our position was on a creek, probably +Morrisset's chain of ponds, flowing into it. As the cattle wanted a few +days' rest, Mr. Hume and I determined to ride, unattended, along our track +to our camp of the 21st, and then to follow the channel upwards, until we +should arrive at the station of the natives, or until we should have +ridden to such a distance as would set our conjectures at rest. In the +morning, however, instead of running upon our old track, we followed that +of Mr. Hume to the junction, giving up our first intention, with a view to +ascertain if there existed any water which we could, by an effort, gain, +below where Mr. Hume had been. The channel was very broad, with a +considerable fall in its bed, and, in appearance, more resembled the slope +of a lawn than the bed of a river. It had two gum-trees in the centre of +its channel, in one of which the floods had left the trunk of a large +tree. We could discover where it narrowed and its banks rose, but, as we +intended to make a closer examination before we left the neighbourhood, +we continued our journey down the principal channel. The ground exhibited +an abundance of pasture in its immediate neighbourhood, but the distant +country was miserably poor and bare. At about three miles, we came upon +the fresh traces of some natives, which led us to the channel again, from +which we had wandered unintentionally. In it we found there had been water +very lately, and it appeared that the natives had dug holes at the bottom +to insure a longer supply. These were now exhausted, but still retained +the appearance of moisture. At a mile and a half beyond these, we were led +to some similar holes, by observing a number of birds flying about them. +The water was too muddy for us to drink, but the horses emptied them +successively. We now kept sufficiently near the channel to insure our +seeing any pool that might still remain in it, but rode for about seven +miles before we again saw water, and even here, although it was a spring, +we were obliged to dig holes, and await their filling, before we could get +sufficient for our use. Having dined, we again pursued our journey, and +almost immediately came upon a long narrow ditch, full of water, and lined +by bulrushes. The creek or river had for some time kept the centre of a +deep alluvial valley, in which there was plenty of food for the cattle, +and which, at this place, was apparently broader than anywhere else. The +situation being favourable, we returned to the camp, and reached it late. + +DEPRESSION OF THE MEN. + +I do not know whether I was wrong in my conjecture, but I fancied, about +this time, that the men generally were desponding. Whether it was that the +constant fatigue entailed on myself and Mr. Hume, and that our constant +absence, or the consequent exhaustion it produced, had any effect on their +minds, or that they feared the result of our perseverance, is difficult to +say; but certainly, they all had a depression of spirits, and looked, I +thought, altered in appearance; nor did they evince any satisfaction at +our success--at least, not the satisfaction they would have shown at an +earlier period of our journey. + +Before moving forward, it remained for us to ascertain if the channel from +the junction was the Castlereagh, or only a creek. The intersection of so +many channels in this neighbourhood, most of them so much alike, made it +essentially necessary that we should satisfy ourselves on this point. +Mr. Hume, therefore, accompanied me, as had at first been intended the +morning of our return to the place at which we had slept. We took fresh +horses, but dispensed with any other attendants, and indeed went wholly +unarmed. + +CAMP OF NATIVES. + +After following our old track to its termination, we kept up the right +bank of the channel, and at length arrived at the camp of the natives; +thus satisfying ourselves that we had been journeying on the Castlereagh, +and that we were still following it down. By this ride we ascertained that +there was a distance of five-and-forty miles in its bed without a drop of +water. Few of the natives were in the camp. The women avoided us, but not +as if they were under any apprehension. Crossing at the head of the pool, +we again got on our old track, but seeing two or three men coming towards +us we alighted, and, tying our horses to a tree, went to meet them. One +poor fellow had two ducks in his hand, which he had just taken off the +fire; these he offered to us, and on our declining to accept of them, he +called to a boy, who soon appeared with a large trough of honey, of which +we partook. One of the men had an ulcer in the arm, and asked me what he +should do to heal it; indeed, I believe Fraser had promised him some +ointment, but not having any with me, I signified to him that be should +wash it often, and stooping down, made as if I was taking up water in my +hand. The poor fellow mistook me, and, also stooping down, took up a +handful of dust which he threw over the sore. This gave me the trouble of +explaining matters again, and by pointing to the water, I believe I at +length made him understand me. + +DRY CHANNEL OF THE RIVER. + +These good natured people asked us where we had slept the day we passed, +and when informed of the direction, shook their heads, motioning at the +same time, that we must have been without water. We informed them where +the party was, and asked them to come and see us, but I fancy the distance +was too great, or else we were in the beat of another tribe. On mentioning +these facts to the men, they said that two of the natives had followed us +for some miles, calling out loudly to us, but Mr. Hume and I both being in +front, we did not hear them, although, evidently, they wished to save us +distress. + +Since the result of our excursion proved that the channel, about which I +had been so doubtful, was the Castlereagh, it necessarily followed, that +the creek at which we were encamped was one of those (most probably +Morrisset's chain of ponds,) which we had already crossed nearer its +source, and which Mr. Hume must have struck upon when endeavouring to gain +the Castlereagh from the marshes of the Macquarie. + +A perusal of these sheets will ere this have impressed on the reader's +mind, the peculiarity of that fortune which led us from the Castlereagh to +the creek, at which alone our wants could have been supplied. Had we +wandered down the river, as we undoubtedly should have done had we +recognised it as such, the loss of many of our animals would have been the +inevitable consequence, and very probably a final issue would have been +put to our journey. It is only to those who are placed in situations that +baffle their own exertions or foresight, that the singular guidance of +Providence becomes fully apparent. + +NATIVES PERISHING FROM FAMINE. + +It would appear that the natives were dying fast, not from any disease, +but from the scarcity of food; and, should the drought continue, it seemed +probable they may became extinct. + +The men found the body of a woman covered with leaves near the tents, and +very properly buried it. We made Friday a day of rest for ourselves, as +indeed was necessary; and on the following morning proceeded down the +river, and encamped on a high bank above it, at the base of which, our +cattle both fed and watered. + +At this spot one of the largest gum-trees I had ever seen had fallen, +having died for want of moisture; indeed, the state of the vegetable +kingdom was such as to threaten its total extinction, unless a change of +seasons should take place. + +It may be worthy of remark that, from our first arrival on the banks of +the Castlereagh, to our arrival at the present camp, we never picked up a +stone, or a pebble, in its bed. + +JUNCTION OF THE CASTLEREAGH WITH THE DARLING. + +In the hope that we should fall on some detached pond, we pursued our +journey on the 29th. The Castlereagh gave singular proofs of its violence, +as if its waters, confined in the valley, had a difficulty in escaping +from it. We had not travelled two miles, when in crossing, as we imagined, +one of its bights, we found ourselves checked by a broad river. A single +glimpse of it was sufficient to tell us it was the Darling. At a distance +of more than ninety miles nearer its source, this singular river still +preserved its character, so strikingly, that it was impossible not to have +recognised it in a moment. The same steep banks and lofty timber, the same +deep reaches, alive with fish, were here visible as when we left it. +A hope naturally arose to our minds, that if it was unchanged in other +respects, it might have lost the saltness that rendered its waters unfit +for use; but in this we were disappointed--even its waters continued the +same. As it was impossible for us to cross the Darling, I determined on +falling back upon our last encampment, which was at a most Convenient +distance, and of concerting measures there for our future movements. Prior +to doing so, however, I rode to the junction of the Castlereagh with +the Darling, accompanied by Mr. Hume, a distance of about half a mile. +Upon the point formed by the two streams, there were a number of huts, +and on the opposite bank of the Darling, about twenty natives had +collected. We called out to them, but they would not join us. + +At the junction, the Castlereagh, with whatever impetuosity it rushes from +its confinement, makes not apparently the least impression on the Darling +River. The latter seemed to loll on, totally heedless of such a tributary. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + + +Perplexity--Trait of honesty in the natives--Excursion on horseback across +the Darling--Forced to return--Desolating effects of the drought--Retreat +towards the colony--Connection between the Macquarie and the Darling-- +Return up the banks of the Macquarie--Starving condition of the natives. + + +On our return to the party, we found them surrounded by the natives, who +were looking with an eye of wonder on the cattle and horses. We pointed +out to them the direction in which we were going, and invited them to +visit us; and nothing appeared to astonish them so much as the management +of the team by a single man. We got back to our position early, and again +fixed ourselves upon it. + +It now only remained for us to consider what we should do under +circumstances of certainly more than ordinary perplexity. We had nothing +to hope for from travelling in a southerly direction, while to the E. and +N.E., the state of the country was worse than that by which we had +penetrated to the Darling. It was evident, that the large creeks joining +the Castlereagh in that direction were dry, since the natives not only +intimated this to us, but it was unquestionable that they themselves had +deserted them, and had crowded to such places as still contained a supply +of water. Even in retreating, we could not hope to retrace our steps. +Experience had proved to us, that the dry state of the interior was as +injurious to the movements of an expedition as a too wet season would have +been. Taking everything, therefore, into consideration, I determined on +leaving the party stationary, and on crossing the Darling to the N.W., +and, if any encouraging feature presented itself, to return for the party, +and persevere in an examination of the distant interior. Such, at least, +appeared to me the most judicious plan: indeed, an attempt to have moved +in any other direction would have been fruitless. And, as the result of +this journey would be decisive, and would either fix or determine our +advance or retreat, I was anxious for Mr. Hume's attendance. + +The natives followed to the camp, and in the course of the afternoon, were +joined by their women. The latter however, would not approach nearer than +the top of a little hillock on which they sat. The men did not come round +the tents, but stood in a row at a short distance. At sunset, they gained +a little courage, and wandered about a little more; at length they went +off to the Darling. + +HONESTY OF A NATIVE. + +It was quite dark, when I heard a native call from the hill on which the +women had been, and I desired Hopkinson to take his firelock and ascertain +what the man wanted. He soon after returned, and brought a blanket, which +he said the man had returned to him. The native was alone, and when he +offered the blanket, kept his spear poised in his right hand; but, seeing +that no violence was intended him, he lowered his weapon, and walked away. + +REWARD THE MAN FOR HIS CONDUCT. + +I was extremely pleased at this trait of honesty, and determined to reward +it. On inquiry, I found that the men had availed themselves of the day to +wash their blankets and that one of them had been flung over a bush +hanging over the bank of the river, and it was supposed that one of the +natives must have pulled it down with him. In the morning, the tribe went +away from their encampment before day-light as we judged from the cry of +their dogs, than which nothing could be more melancholy; but about eight, +the men made their appearance on the hill occupied by the women the +evening previously, and seemed to be doubtful whether to approach nearer. +I went out to them, and, with a downward motion of my hand, beckoned for +them to come to me: they mistook the signal, but laid all their spears on +the ground, and it was not until after the sign had been reversed that +they stirred or moved towards me. I then got them in a row, and desired +Hopkinson to single out the man who had given him the blanket. It was, +however, with great difficulty that he recognised him, as the man stood +firm and motionless. At length, after walking two or three times along the +line, he stopped before one man, and put his hand on his shoulder, upon +which the manner of the native testified as to the correctness of his +guess. + +The blanket being produced, I explained to the savage, with Mr. Hume's +assistance, that I was highly pleased with him, and forthwith presented +him with a tomahawk and a clasp-knife. The tribe were perfectly aware of +the reason of my conduct, and all of them seemed highly delighted. + +I was happy in having such an opportunity of showing the natives of the +interior that I came among them with a determination to maintain justice +in my communication with them, and to impress them, at the same time, with +a sense of our love of it in them. That they appreciated my apparent +lenity in not calling for the defaulter, I am sure, and I feel perfectly +conscious that I should have failed in my duty had I acted otherwise than +I did. + +EFFECT OF FIRING A GUN. + +Although the natives had shown so good a disposition, as they were +numerous, I thought it as well, since I was about to leave the camp, to +show them that I had a power they little dreamt of about me. I therefore +called for my gun and fired a ball into a tree. The effect of the report +upon the natives, was truly ridiculous. Some stood and stared at me, +others fell down, and others ran away; and it was with some difficulty we +collected them again. At last, however, we did so, and, leaving them to +pick out the ball, mounted our horses and struck away for the Darling. +We crossed the river a little above where we struck it, and then proceeded +N.W. into the interior. + +EXCURSION ACROSS THE DARLING. + +It is impossible for me to describe the nature of the country over which +we passed, for the first eight miles. We rode through brushes of +polygonum, under rough-gum, without a blade of vegetation, the whole space +being subject to inundation. We then got on small plains of firmer +surface, and red soil, but these soon changed again for the former; and +at 4 p.m. we found ourselves advanced about two miles on a plain that +stretched away before us, and bounded the horizon. It was dismally brown; +a few trees only served to mark the distance. Up one of the highest I sent +Hopkinson, who reported that he could not see the end of it, and that all +around looked blank and desolate. It is a singular fact, that during the +whole day, we had not seen a drop of water or a blade of grass. + +DESOLATING EFFECTS OF THE DROUGHT. + +To have stopped where we were, would, therefore, have been impossible; to +have advanced, would probably have been ruin. Had there been one favorable +circumstance to have encouraged me with the hope of success, I would have +proceeded. Had we picked up a stone as indicating our approach to high +land, I would have gone on; or had there been a break in the level of the +country, or even a change in the vegetation. But we had left all traces of +the natives far behind us; and this seemed a desert they never +entered--that not even a bird inhabited. I could not encourage a hope of +success, and, therefore, gave up the point; not from want of means, but a +conviction of the inutility of any further efforts. If there is any blame +to be attached to the measure, it is I who am in fault, but none who had +not like me traversed the interior at such a season, would believe the +state of the country over which I had wandered. During the short interval +I had been out, I had seen rivers cease to flow before me, and sheets of +water disappear; and had it not been for a merciful Providence, should, +ere reaching the Darling, have been overwhelmed by misfortune. + +I am giving no false picture of the reality. So long had the drought +continued, that the vegetable kingdom was almost annihilated, and minor +vegetation had disappeared. In the creeks, weeds had grown and withered, +and grown again; and young saplings were now rising in their beds, +nourished by the moisture that still remained; but the largest forest +trees were drooping, and many were dead. The emus, with outstretched +necks, gasping for breath, searched the channels of the rivers for water, +in vain; and the native dog, so thin that it could hardly walk, seemed to +implore some merciful hand to despatch it. How the natives subsisted it +was difficult to say, but there was no doubt of the scarcity of food +among them. + +We arrived in camp at a late hour, and having nothing to detain us longer, +prepared for our retreat in the morning. The natives had remained with the +party during the greater part of the day, and had only left them a short +time prior to our arrival, + +When examining the creek on which we had been encamped for some days, +Mr. Hume observed a small junction; and as we knew we were almost +due N. of the marshes of the Macquarie, both of us were anxious to +ascertain whence it originated. To return to Mount Harris, by retracing +our steps up the Castlereagh, would have entailed the severest distress +upon us; we the rather preferred proceeding up this creek, and taking our +chance for a supply of water. We therefore crossed Morrisset's chain of +ponds, and encamped in the angle formed by the junction of the two creeks. + +Before we left this position, we were visited by a party of natives, +twelve in number, but not of the Darling tribe. They accompanied us a +short way, and then struck off to the right. At about a mile and a half, +we crossed Mr. Hume's track, leading westerly, which still remained +observable. The creek was, no doubt, the hollow he stated that he crossed +on that excursion, and its appearance certainly justified his opinion of +it. Its bed was choked up with bulrushes or the polygonum, and its banks +were level with the country on either side, or nearly so. We passed over +extremely rich soil the whole day, on a S.W. and by W. course, though the +timber upon it was dwarfish, and principally of the rough-gum kind. + +On the 2nd of April, we stopped in order to make some repairs upon the +dray; the wheels of which had failed us. Clayton put in four new spokes, +and we heated the tyres over again, by which means we got it once more +serviceable. + +WILD MELON. + +The soil in the creek was of the richest quality, and was found to produce +a dwarf melon, having all the habits and character of the cucumber. +The fruit was not larger than a pigeon's egg, but was extremely sweet. +There were not, however, many ripe, although the runners were covered with +flowers, and had an abundance of fruit upon them. In the morning, we sent +the tinker on horseback up the creek, to ascertain how far the next water +was from us, desiring him to keep the creek upon his right, and to follow +his own track back again. He thought fit, however, considering himself +a good bushman, to wander away to his left, and the consequence was, that +he soon lost himself. It would appear that he doubled and passed through +some thick brush at the back of the camp, and at length found himself at +dark on the banks of a considerable creek. In wandering along it, he +luckily struck upon the natives we had last seen, who, good-naturedly, led +him to the track of the dray, which his horse would not afterwards desert, +and the tinker sneaked into the tent about 3 o'clock in the morning, +having failed in his errand, and made himself the butt of the whole party. + +RETURN UP THE CREEK. + +The day succeeding this adventure, we moved up the creek, which was, for +the most part, even with the plain. The country continued the same as that +we had passed over from the junction, being subject to flood, and having +patches of bulrushes and reeds upon it. No change took place in the +timber, but the line of acacia pendula, which forms the line of +inundation, approached neater to us; nor was the mark of flood so high on +the trunks of trees as below. We halted, with abominable water, but +excellent food for the animals in the plains behind us. In continuing our +journey, we found several changes take place in the appearance of the +creek and its neighbourhood. The former diminished in size, and at length +separated into two distinct channels, choked up, for the most part, with +dead bulrushes, but having a few green reeds in patches along it. The +flats on either side became slightly timbered, and blue gum was the +prevailing tree. Crossing one of the channels, we observed every +appearance of our near approach to the marshes, the flats being +intersected by many little water-runs, such as we had noticed at the +bottom of them. About noon we struck upon a body of reeds under the wood +of eucalypti, below the second great morass, and keeping a little to our +right to avoid them, fell shortly afterwards into our old track on the +plain, upon which we continued to move, making the best of our way to the +channel which had supplied our wants on our first return from the Darling. +It was now, however, quite dry, and we were obliged to push on further, +to shorten the journey of the morrow. + +CONNECTION OF MACQUARIE AND DARLING. + +The result of our journey up the creek was particularly satisfactory, both +to myself and Mr. Hume; since it cleared up every doubt that might have +existed regarding the actual termination of the Macquarie, and enabled us +to connect the flow of waters at so interesting and particular a point. +It will be seen by a reference to the chart, that the waters of the +marshes, after trickling through the reeds, form a small creek, which +carries off the superfluous part of them into Morrisset's chain of ponds, +which latter again falls into the Castlereagh, at about eight miles to the +W.N.W. and all three join the Darling in a W. by N. direction, in lat. +30 degrees 52 minutes south and E. lon. 147 degrees 8 minutes at about +90 miles to the N.N.W. of Mount Harris, and about an equal distance to +the E.S.E. of where we struck upon the last-mentioned river. Thus it +is evident that the Darling had considerably neared the eastern ranges, +although it was still more than 150 miles from their base. It was +apparently coming from the N.E., and whether it has its sources in the +mountains behind our distant settlements, or still farther to the +northwards, is a question of curious speculation, although, as I have +already stated, I am of opinion that none but tropical rains could +supply the furious torrent that must sometimes rage in it. + +It would be presumptuous to hazard any opinion as to the nature of the +interior to the westward of that remarkable river. Its course is involved +in equal mystery, and it is a matter of equal doubt whether it makes its +way to the south coast, or ultimately exhausts itself in feeding a +succession of swamps, or falls into a large reservoir in the centre of +the island. + +RETURN TO MOUNT HARRIS. + +We reached Mount Harris on the 7th of the month, and moving leisurely up +the banks of the Macquarie, gained Mr. Palmer's first station on the 14th, +and Wellington Valley on the 21st, having been absent from that settlement +four months and two weeks. The waters of the Macquarie had diminished so +much, that its bed was dry for more than half a mile at a stretch, nor did +we observe the least appearance of a current in it, until after we had +ascended the ranges. The lower tribes were actually starving, and brought +their children to us to implore something to eat. The men attempted to +surprise the camp, but I believe they were urged from absolute necessity +to procure subsistence for themselves, and that they intended robbery +rather than personal violence. + +DEPLORABLE STATE OF THE COUNTRY. + +We left the interior in a still more deplorable state than that in which +we found it; but it is more than probable that under other circumstances, +we should have found it impossible to traverse its distant plains, as it +is certain that unless rain fell in less than three weeks, all +communication with the Darling would have been cut off: + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + + +General remarks--Result of the expedition--Previous anticipations-- +Mr. Oxley's remarks--Character of the Rivers flowing westerly-- +Mr. Cunningham's remarks--Fall of the Macquarie--Mr. Oxley's erroneous +conclusions respecting the character of the interior, naturally inferred +from the state in which he found the country--The marsh of the Macquarie +merely a marsh of the ordinary character--Captain King's observations-- +Course of the Darling--Character of the low interior plain--The convict +Barber's report of rivers traversing the interior--Surveyor-General +Mitchell's Report of his recent expedition. + +RESULT OF THE EXPEDITION. + +Whether the discoveries that have been made during this expedition, will +ultimately prove of advantage to the colony of New South Wales, is a +question that time alone can answer. We have in the meanwhile to regret +that no beneficial consequences will immediately follow them. The further +knowledge that has been gained of the interior is but as a gleam of +sunshine over an extensive landscape. A stronger light has fallen upon the +nearer ground, but the distant horizon is still enveloped in clouds. The +veil has only as it were been withdrawn from the marshes of the Macquarie +to be spread over the channel of the Darling. Unsatisfactory, however, as +the discoveries may as yet be considered in a commercial point of view, +the objects for which the expedition had been fitted out were happily +attained. The marsh it had been directed to examine, was traversed on +every side, and the rivers it had been ordered to trace, were followed +down to their terminations to a distance far beyond where they had ceased +to exist as living streams. To many who may cast their eyes over the +accompanying chart, the extent of newly discovered country may appear +trifling; but when they are told, that there is not a mile of that +ground that was not traversed over and over again, either by Mr. Hume or +by myself, that we wandered over upwards of 600 miles more than the main +body of the expedition, on different occasions, in our constant and +anxious search for water, and that we seldom dismounted from our horses, +until long after sunset, they will acknowledge the difficulties with which +we had to contend, and will make a generous allowance for them; for, +however unsuccessful in some respects the expedition may have been, it +accomplished as much, it is to be hoped, as under such trying +circumstances could have been accomplished. It now only remains for me to +sum up the result of my own observations, and to point out to the reader, +how far the actual state of the interior, has been found to correspond +with the opinions that were entertained of it. + +MR. OXLEY'S REMARKS. + +I have already stated, in the introduction to this work, that the general +impression on the minds of those best qualified to judge was, that the +western streams discharged themselves into a central shoal sea. Mr. Oxley +thus expresses himself on the subject:-- + + +"July 3rd. Towards morning the storm abated, and at day-light, we +proceeded on our voyage. The main bed of the river was much contracted, +but very deep; the waters spreading to the depth of a foot or eighteen +inches over the banks, but all running on the same point of bearing. We +met with considerable interruptions from fallen timber, which in places +nearly choked up the channel. After going about twenty miles, we lost the +land and trees; the channel of the river, which lay through reeds, and was +from one to three feet deep, ran northerly.--This continued for three or +four miles farther, when, although there had been no previous change in +the breadth, depth, or rapidity of the stream for several miles, and I was +sanguine in my expectations of soon entering the long-sought-for +Australian sea, it all at once eluded our farther pursuit, by spreading on +every point from N.W. to N.E. among the ocean of reeds which surrounded +us, still running with the same rapidity as before. There was no channel +whatever among those reeds, and the depth varied from three to five feet. +This astonishing change (for I cannot call it a termination of the river) +of course left me no alternative but to endeavour to return to some spot +on which we could effect a landing before dark. I estimated, that during +the day, we had gone about twenty-four miles, on nearly the same point of +bearing as yesterday. To assert, positively, that we were on the margin of +the lake, or sea, into which this great body of water is discharged, might +reasonably be deemed a conclusion, which has nothing but conjecture for +its basis. But if an opinion may be permitted to be hazarded from actual +appearances, mine is decidedly in favour of our being in the immediate +vicinity of an inland sea, or lake, most probably a shoal one, and +gradually filling up by numerous depositions from the high lands, left by +the waters which flow into it. It is most singular, that the high lands on +this continent seem to be confined to the sea-coast, and not to extend to +any distance from it." + +MR. CUNNINGHAM'S REMARKS. + +In a work published at Sydney, containing an account of Mr. Allan +Cunningham's journey towards Moreton Bay, in 1828, the following remarks +occur, from which it is evident Mr. Cunningham entertained Mr. Oxley's +views of the character and nature of the Western interior. Towards the +conclusion of the narrative, the author thus observes:-- + + +"Of the probable character of the distant unexplored interior, into which +it has been ascertained ALL the rivers falling westerly from the dividing +ranges flow, some inference may be drawn from the following data. + +"Viewing, between the parallels of 34 degrees and 27 degrees, a vast area +of depressed interior, subjected in seasons of prolonged rains to partial +inundation, by a dispersion of the several waters that flow upon it from +the eastern mountains whence they originate; and bearing in mind at the +same time, that the declension of the country within the above parallels, +as most decidedly shown by the dip of its several rivers, is uniformly +to the N.N.W. and N.W., it would appear very conclusive, that either a +portion of our distant interior is occupied by a lake of considerable +magnitude, or that the confluence of those large streams, the Macquarie, +Castlereagh, Gwydir, and the Dumaresq, with the many minor interfluent +waters, which doubtless takes place upon those low levels, forms one +or more noble rivers, which may flow across the continent by an almost +imperceptible declivity of country to the north of north-west coasts, on +certain parts of which, recent surveys have discovered to us extensive +openings, by which the largest accumulations of waters might escape to the +sea." + +CHARACTER OF THE RIVERS. + +It is the characteristic of the streams falling westerly from the eastern, +or coast ranges, to maintain a breadth of channel and a rapidity of +current more immediately near their sources, that ill accords with their +diminished size, and the sluggish flow of their waters in the more +depressed interior. In truth, neither the Macquarie nor the Castlereagh +can strictly be considered as permanent rivers. The last particularly is +nothing more than a mountain torrent. The Macquarie, although it at length +ceased to run, kept up the appearance of a river to the very marshes; but +the bed of the Castlereagh might have been crossed in many places without +being noticed, nor did its channel contain so much water as was to be +found on the neighbouring plains. + +There are two circumstances upon which the magnitude, and velocity of a +river, more immediately depend. The first is the abundance of its sources, +the other the dip of its bed. If a stream has constant fountains at its +head, and numerous tributaries joining it in its course, and flows withal +through a country of gradual descent, such a stream will never fail; but +if the supplies do not exceed the evaporation and absorption, to which +every river is subject, if a river dependant on its head alone, falls +rapidly into a level country, without receiving a single addition to its +waters to assist the first impulse acquired in their descent, it must +necessarily cease to flow at one point or other. Such is the case with the +Lachlan, the Macquarie, the Castlereagh, and the Darling. Whence the +latter originates, still remains to be ascertained; but most undoubtedly +its sources have been influenced by the same drought that has exhausted +the fountains of the three first mentioned streams. + +In supporting his opinion of the probable discharge of the interior waters +of Australia upon its north-west coast, Mr. Cunningham thus remarks in the +publication from which I have already made an extract. + + +"To those remarkable parts of the north-west coast above referred to in +the parallel of 16 degrees south, the Macquarie river, which rises in +lat. 33 degrees, and under the meridian of 150 degrees east, would have a +course of 2045 statute miles throughout, while the elevation of its +source, being 3500 feet above the level of the sea as shown by the +barometer, would give its waters an average descent of twenty inches to +the mile, supposing the bed of the river to be an inclined plane. + +"The Gwydir originating in elevated land, lying in 31 degrees south, and +long. 151 degrees east, at a mean height of 3000 feet, would have to flow +2020 miles, its elevated sources giving to each a mean fall of seventeen +inches. + +"Dumaresq's river falling 2970 feet from granite mountains, in 28 1/4 +degrees under the meridian of 152 degrees, would have to pursue its course +for 2969 miles, its average fall being eighteen inches to a mile." + +As I have never been upon the banks either of the Gwydir or the Dumaresq, +I cannot speak of those two rivers; but in estimating the sources of the +Macquarie at 3500 feet above the level of the sea, Mr. Cunningham has lost +sight of, or overlooked the fact, that the fall of its bed in the first +two hundred miles, is more than 2800 feet, since the cataract, which is +midway between Wellington Valley and the marshes, was ascertained by +barometrical admeasurement, to be 680 feet only above the ocean. The +country, therefore, through which the Macquarie would have to flow during +the remainder of its course of 1700 miles, in order to gain the +N.W. coast, would not be a gradually inclined plain, but for the most part +a dead level, and the fact of its failure is a sufficient proof in itself +how short the course of a river so circumstanced must necessarily be. + +MR. OXLEY'S OPINIONS. + +Having conversed frequently with Mr. Oxley on the subject of his +expeditions, I went into the interior prepossessed in favour of his +opinions, nor do I think he could have drawn any other conclusion than +that which he did, from his experience of the terminations of the rivers +whose courses he explored. Had Mr. Oxley advanced forty, or even thirty +miles, farther than he did, to the westward of Mount Harris; nay, had he +proceeded eight miles in the above direction beyond the actual spot from +which he turned back, he would have formed other and very different +opinions of the probable character of the distant interior. But I am aware +that Mr. Oxley performed all that enterprise, and perseverance, and talent +could have performed, and that it would have been impracticable in him to +have attempted to force its marshes in the state in which he found them. +It was from his want of knowledge of their nature and extent, that he +inferred the swampy and inhospitable character of the more remote country, +a state in which subsequent investigation has found it not to be. The +marsh of the Macquarie is nothing more than an ordinary marsh or swamp in +another country. However large a space it covers, it is no more than a +concavity or basin for the reception of the waters of the river itself, +nor has it any influence whatever on the country to the westward of it, +in respect to inundation; the general features of the latter being a +regular alternation of plain and brush. These facts are in themselves +sufficient to give a fresh interest to the interior of the Australian +continent, and to increase its importance. + +CAPT. KING'S OPINIONS. + +With respect to that part of its coast at which the rivers falling from +the eastern mountains, discharge themselves, it is a question of very +great doubt. It seems that Capt. King, in consequence of some +peculiarities in the currents at its N.W. angle, supports Mr. Cunningham's +opinion as to their probable discharge in that quarter. But I fear the +internal structure of the continent is so low, as to preclude the hopes of +any river reaching from one extremity of it to the other. A variety of +local circumstances, as the contraction of a channel, a shoal sea, or +numerous islands, influence currents generally, but more especially round +so extensive a continent as that of which we are treating; nor does it +strike me that any observations made by Capt. King during his survey, can +be held to bear any connection with the eastern ranges, or their western +waters. It may, however, be said, that as the course of the Darling is +still involved in uncertainty, the question remains undecided; but it +appears to me, the discovery of that river has set aside every conjecture +(founded on previous observation) respecting the main features of the +interior lying to the westward of the Blue Mountains. Both Mr. Oxley and +Mr. Cunningham drew their conclusions from the appearances of the country +they severally explored. The ground on which those theories were built, +has been travelled over, and has not been found to realise them, but +subsequent investigation has discovered to us a river, the dip of whose +bed is to the S.W. We have every reason to believe that the sources of +this river must be far to the northward of the most distant northerly +point to which any survey has been made, as we are certain that it is far +beyond the stretch of vision from the loftiest and most westerly of the +barrier ranges; from which circumstance, it is evident that whatever +disposition the streams descending from those ranges to the westward may +show to hold a N.W. course more immediately at the base, the whole of the +interior streams, from the Macquarie to the Dumaresq, are tributaries to +the principal channel which conveys their united waters at right angles, +if not still more opposite to the direction they were supposed to take, +as far as is yet known. + +COURSE OF THE DARLING. + +The Darling River must be considered as the boundary line to all inland +discoveries from the eastward. Any judgment or opinion of the interior to +the westward of that stream, would be extremely premature and uncertain. +There is not a single feature over it to guide or to strengthen either the +one or the other. + +CHARACTER OF THE WESTERN INTERIOR. + +My impression, when travelling the country to the west and N.W. of the +marshes of the Macquarie, was, that I was traversing a country of +comparatively recent formation. The sandy nature of its soil, the great +want of vegetable decay, the salsolaceous character of its plants, the +appearance of its isolated hills and flooded tracts, and its trifling +elevations above the sea, severally contributed to strengthen these +impressions on my mind. My knowledge of the interior is, however, too +limited to justify me in any conclusion with regard to the central parts +of Australia. An ample field is open to enterprise and to ambition, and it +is to be hoped that some more decisive measures will be carried into +effect, both for the sake of the colony and of geography, to fill up the +blank upon the face of the chart of Australia, and remove from us the +reproach of indifference and inaction. + +BARBER'S STATEMENT. + +Since the above pages were written, an expedition was undertaken by +Major Mitchell, the Surveyor-General, to ascertain the truth of a report +brought in by a runaway convict of the name of Barber, or Clarke, who had +been at large for five years, at different times, among the natives to +the northward of Port Macquarie. This man stated that a large river, +originating in the high lands near Liverpool Plains, and the mountains to +the north of them, pursued a N.W. course to the sea. His story ran thus: +Having learnt from the natives the existence of this river, he determined +to follow it down, in hopes that he might ultimately be enabled to make +his escape from the colony. He accordingly started from Liverpool Plains, +and kept on a river called the Gnamoi, for some time, which took him N.W. +After a few days' journey, he left this river, traversed the country +northwards, and crossed some lofty ranges. Descending to the N.E. he came +to another large river, the Keindur, which again took him N.W. He +travelled 400 miles down it, when he observed a large stream joining it +upon its left bank, which he supposed to be the Gnamoi. The river he was +upon was broad and navigable. It flowed through a level country with a +dead current and muddy water, and spread into frequent lakes. He found +that it ultimately discharged itself into the sea, but was uncertain at +what distance from its sources. He was positive he never travelled to the +SOUTHWARD OF WEST. He ascended a hill near the sea, and observed an island +in the distance, from which, the natives informed him, a race of +light-coloured men came in large canoes for a scented wood; but having +failed in the immediate object of his journey, he was eventually obliged +to return. + +MAJOR MITCHELL'S REPORT. + +The following official report of Major Mitchell will sufficiently point +out the incorrectness of the preceding statement. It is most probable that +Barber merely told that which he had heard from the natives, and that +having a more than ordinary share of cunning, he made up a story upon +their vague and uncertain accounts, in hopes that it would benefit him, +as in truth it did. + + +* * * * * + + +Bullabalakit, on the River Nammoy, +in lat. 30 degrees 38 minutes 21 seconds S., +long. 149 degrees 30 minutes 20 seconds E. +23d December, 1831. + +SIR, + +I have the honour to state, for the information of His Excellency the +Governor, the progress I have made in exploring the course of the interior +waters to the northward of the Colony, with reference to the letter which +I had the honour to address to Col. Lindesay, on this subject, on the +19th ult. + +On crossing Liverpool Range my object was to proceed northward, so as to +avoid the plains and head the streams which water them, and avoiding also +the mountain ranges on the east. + +I arrived accordingly, by a tolerably straight and level line, at +Walamoul, on Peel's River; this place (a cattle station of Mr. Brown) +being nearly due north from the common pass across Liverpool Range, and +about a mile-and-a-half above the spot where Mr. Oxley crossed this +river. + +PEEL'S RIVER. + +I found the general course of the Peel below Walamoul to be nearly west; +and after tracing this river downwards twenty-two miles (in direct +distance), I crossed it at an excellent ford, named Wallamburra. I then +traversed the extensive plain of Mulluba; and leaving that of Coonil on +the right, extending far to the north-east, we passed through a favourable +interval of what I considered Hardwicke's Range, the general direction of +this range being two points west of north. + +On passing through this gorge, which, from the name of a hill on the south +side, may be named Ydire, I crossed a very extensive tract of flat +country, on which the wood consisted of iron-bark and acacia pendula; this +tract being part of a valley evidently declining to the north-west, which +is bounded on the south by the Liverpool Range, and on the south-west by +the extremities from the same. On the west, at a distance of twenty-two +miles from Hardwicke's Range, there stands a remarkable isolated hill +named Bounalla; and towards the lowest part of the country, and in the +direction in which all the waters tend, there is a rocky peak named +Tangulda. On the north, a low range (named Wowa), branching westerly from +Hardwicke's Range, bounds on that side this extensive basin, which +includes Liverpool Plains. Peel's River is the principal stream, and +receives, in its course, all the waters of these plains below the junction +of Connadilly,--which I take to be York's River, of Oxley. + +THE RIVER NAMMOY. + +The stream is well known to the natives by the name Nammoy; and six miles +below Tangulda, the low extremities from the surrounding ranges close on +the river, and separate this extensive vale from the unexplored country +which extends beyond to an horizon which is unbroken between W.N.W. +and N.N.W. + + +The impracticable appearance of the mountains to the northward, induced me +to proceed thus far to the west; and on examining the country thirty miles +N.E. by N. from Tangulda, I ascended a lofty range extending westward from +the coast chain, and on which the perpendicular sides of masses of +trachyte (a volcanic rock) were opposed to my further progress even with +horses: it was therefore evident that the river supposed to rise about the +latitude of 28 degrees would not be accessible, or at least available to +the Colony, in that direction, and that in the event of the discovery of a +river beyond that range flowing to the northern or north-western shores, +it would become of importance to ascertain whether it was joined by the +Nammoy, the head of this river being so accessible that I have brought my +heavily laden drays to where it is navigable for boats, my present +encampment being on its banks six miles below Tangulda. From this station +I can perceive the western termination of the Trachytic range, and I am +now about to explore the country between it and the Nammoy, and the +further course of this river; and in the event of its continuance in a +favourable direction, I shall fix my depot on its right bank, whence I now +write, and descend the stream in the portable boats. + +I have the honour to be, Sir, +Your most obedient servant, +T. L. MITCHELL, +SURVEYOR-GENERAL + +The Hon. The Colonial Secretary. + + +* * * * * + + +Peel's River, 29th February, 1832. + +SIR, + +I have the honour to inform you, for the information of His Excellency the +Governor, that I have reached the left bank of this River with my whole +party on my return from the northern interior, having explored the course +of the river referred to in my letter of 22nd December last, and others +within the 29th parallel of latitude. + +There was so much fallen timber in the Nammoy, and its waters were so low, +that the portable boats could not be used on that river with advantage, +and I proceeded by land in a north-west direction, until convinced by its +course turning more to the westward that this river joined the river +Darling. I therefore quitted its banks with the intention of exploring the +country further northward, by moving round the western extremities of the +mountains mentioned in my former letter, and which I have since +distinguished in my map by the name of the Lindesay Range. These mountains +terminate abruptly on the west, and I entered a fine open country at their +base, from whence plains (or rather open ground of gentle undulation) +extended westward as far as could be seen. On turning these mountains I +directed my course northward, and to the eastward of north, into the +country beyond them, in search of the river KINDUR; and I reached a river +flowing westward, the bed of which was deep, broad, and permanent, but in +which there was not then much water. + +THE RIVER KARAULA. + +The marks of inundation on trees, and on the adjoining high ground, proved +that its floods rose to an extraordinary height; and from the latitude, +and also from the general direction of its course, I considered this to be +the river which Mr. Cunningham named the Gwydir, on crossing it sixty +miles higher, on his route to Moreton Bay. I descended this river, and +explored the country on its left bank for about eighty miles to the +westward, when I found that its general course was somewhat to the +southward of west. This river received no addition from the mountains over +that part of its left bank traversed by me; and the heat being intense, +the stream was at length so reduced that I could step across it. The banks +had become low, and the bed much contracted, being no longer gravelly, but +muddy. I therefore crossed this river and travelled northward, on a +meridian line, until, in the latitude of 29 degrees 2 minutes, I came upon +the largest river I had yet seen. The banks were earthy and broken, the +soil being loose, and the water of a white muddy colour. Trees, washed out +by the roots from the soft soil, filled the bed of this river in many +places. There was abundance of cod-fish of a small size, as well as of the +two other kinds of fish which we had caught in the Peel, the Nammoy, and +the Gwydir. The name of this river, as well as we could make it out from +the natives, was Karaula. Having made fast one tree to top of another tall +tree, I obtained a view of the horizon, which appeared perfectly level, +and I was in hopes that we had at length found a river which would flow to +the northward and avoid the Darling. I accordingly ordered the boat to be +put together, and sent Mr. White with a party some miles down to clear +away any trees in the way. Mr. White came upon a rocky fall, and found +besides the channel so much obstructed by trees, and the course so +tortuous, that I determined to ascertain before embarking upon it, whether +the general course was in the desired direction. Leaving Mr. White with +half the party, I accordingly traced the Karaula downwards, and found that +its course changed to south, a few miles below where I had made it, and +that it was joined by the Gwydir only eight miles below where I had +crossed that river. Immediately below the junction of the Gwydir (which is +in latitude 29 degrees 30 minutes 27 seconds, longitude 148 degrees +13 minutes 20 seconds) the course of the river continues southward of +west, directly towards where Captain Sturt discovered the River Darling; +and I could no longer doubt that this was the same river. I therefore +returned to the party, determined to explore the country further +northward. + +The results of my progress thus far were sufficient, I considered, to +prove that the division of the waters falling towards the northern and +southern shores of Australia is not, as has been supposed, in the +direction of the Liverpool and Warrabangle range, but extends between Cape +Byron on the eastern shore, towards Dick Hartog's Island on the west; the +greater elongation of this country being between these points, and +intermediate between the lines of its northern and southern coasts. The +basin of the streams I have been upon must be bounded on the north by this +dividing ground or water-shed, and although no rise was perceptible in the +northern horizon, the river was traversed by several rocky dykes, over +which it fell southward; their direction being oblique to the course, and +nearly parallel to this division of the waters. I beg leave to state, that +I should not feel certain on this point without having seen more, were it +not evident from Mr. Cunningham's observations, made on crossing this +division on his way to Moreton Bay. Mr. Cunningham, on crossing the head +of this river, nearly in the same latitude, but much nearer its sources, +found the height of its bed above the sea to be 840 feet; at about +forty-five miles further northward the ground rose to upwards of +1700 feet, but immediately beyond, he reached a river flowing north-west, +the height of which was only 1400 feet above the sea. He had thus crossed +this dividing higher ground, between the parallels of 29 degrees +and 28 degrees. It appears, therefore, that all the interior rivers we +know of to the northward of the Morumbidgee, belong to the basin of the +Karaula; this stream flowing southward, and hence the disappearance of the +Macquarie and other lower rivers may be understood, for all along the +banks of the Karaula, the Gwydir, and the Nammoy, the country, though not +swampy, bears marks of frequent inundation; thus the floods occasioned by +these rivers united, cover the low country, and receive the Macquarie so +that no channel marks its further course. + +That a basin may be found to the northward receiving the waters of the +northern part of the coast range in a similar manner is extremely +probable, and that they form a better river, because the angle is more +acute between the high ground, which must bound it on the N.E. and the +watershed on the south. I therefore prepared to cross the Karaula, in +hopes of seeing the head at least of such a river, and to explore the +country two degrees further northward, but moving in a N.W. direction. +My tent was struck, and I had just launched my portable boat for the +purpose of crossing the river, when Mr. Surveyor Finch, whom I had +instructed to bring up a supply of flour, arrived with the distressing +intelligence, that two of his men had been killed by the natives, who had +taken the flour, and were in possession of everything he had brought--all +the cattle, including his horse, being also dispersed or lost. I therefore +determined not to extend my excursion further, as the party were already +on reduced rations, and on the 8th instant I retired from the Karaula, +returning by the marked line, which being cut through thick scrubs in +various places is now open, forming a tolerably direct line of +communication in a N.W. direction from Sydney, to a river, beyond which +the survey may be extended whenever His Excellency the Governor thinks +fit. + +The natives had never troubled my party on our advance; indeed I only saw +them when I came upon them by surprise, and then they always ran off. +Their first visit was received at my camp on the Karaula, during my +absence down that river, when they were very friendly, but much disposed +to steal. Various tribes followed us on coming back, but never with any +show of hostility, although moving in tribes of a hundred or more parallel +to our marked line, or in our rear; it was necessary to be ever on our +guard, and to encamp in strong positions only, arranging the drays for +defence during the night: three men were always under arms, and I have +much pleasure in stating, that throughout the whole excursion, and under +circumstances of hardship and privation, the conduct of the men was very +good. I took an armed party to the scene of pillage, and buried the bodies +of the two men, who appeared to have been treacherously murdered while +asleep by the blacks during the absence of Mr. Finch: no natives were to +be found when I visited the spot, although it appeared from columns of +smoke on hills which overlooked if, that they were watching our movements. + +The party has now arrived within a day's journey of Brown's station, +and I have instructed Assistant-Surveyor White (from whom I have received +great assistance during the whole journey) to conduct it homewards, being +desirous to proceed without delay to Sydney, and to receive the +instructions of His Excellency the Governor. + +I have the honour to be, Sir, +Your most obedient Servant, +T. L. MITCHELL, +SURVEYOR-GENERAL. + +THE HON. THE COLONIAL SECRETARY, +"&c. &c. &c." + + + + +Chapter VI. + + + +CONCLUDING REMARKS + + +Obstacles that attend travelling into the interior of Australia-- +Difficulty of carrying supplies--Importance of steady intelligent +subordinates--Danger from the natives--Number of men requisite,--and of +cattle and carriages--Provisions--Other arrangements--Treatment of the +natives--Dimensions of the boat used in the second expedition. + + +Having now had considerable experience in the fitting out and management +of expeditions in New South Wales, I cannot refrain from making some few +observations on the subject. And without presuming to lay dawn any fixed +rules, I shall only refer to those by which I have best succeeded, in +hopes that some of my remarks may prove of use to future travellers who +may venture to penetrate into the trackless deserts over so small a +portion of which I wandered. + +DIFFICULTIES OF EXPLORING AUSTRALIA. + +The great difficulty of examining the interior of Australia, is that of +carrying supplies; for increasing the number of individuals composing an +expedition is of no avail, since an additional number of men must +necessarily increase the consumption of food. In order to meet this +difficulty it has been proposed to establish depots upon which an +expedition could fall back to recruit its supplies, and in ordinary cases +this plan might answer; but I am decidedly of opinion that no party could +long remain stationary in the distant interior without some fatal +collision with the natives, which would be attended with the most +deplorable consequences; and I do think, considering all things, that the +experiment is too dangerous to be tried; for when I reached Mount Harris, +on my first retreat from the Darling, I found the party who were awaiting +me, with a supply of provisions, under very great alarm, in consequence of +the hostile proceedings of the Mount Harris tribe. The men had been +obliged to put the camp into a state of defence. The blacks had attempted +to surprise them, and would, had I not returned, have combined in some +general attack. It appears to me that the most judicious plan would be to +send a supply of provisions, with an expedition, to a distant point, under +the charge of a minor party. These provisions could replace those already +expended, and the animals that carried them could be taken back. + +SELECTION OF SUBORDINATES. + +The number of individuals of which the expedition down the banks of the +Macquarie was composed, was fourteen: that is to say, myself, Mr. Hume, +two soldiers, one free man, and seven prisoners of the crown. The latter +behaved, on all occasions, as steadily as it was possible for men to do. +Yet the circumstance of the two soldiers being with me increased my +confidence in the whole, for I was aware that their example would +influence the rest. However well disposed the prisoners of the crown may +be, (as in this instance they certainly were,) the beneficial example of +steady discipline cannot be denied. I should not have considered myself +justified in leaving the camp as I did for a week, and in detaching Mr. +Hume at the same time when at the bottom of the marshes, or in making the +last effort to maintain our position on the banks of the Darling, if I had +not reposed every confidence in the man to whom I entrusted the safety +of the camp during my absence. + +Experience, therefore, of the value of the two soldiers, whom General +Darling was good enough to permit me to take on the strength of the party, +fully bears me out in recommending that one man, at least, of general +responsibility shall be attached to all future expeditions. The success of +an expedition depends so much on the conduct of the persons of whom it is +composed, that too much attention cannot be given to the selection even of +the most subordinate. Men of active intelligent minds, of persevering +habits, and of even temper, should be preferred to mechanics who do not +possess these most requisite qualities. On the other hand, it is +impossible to do without a good carpenter, however defective he may be in +other respects. I was indebted to Mr. Maxwell, the superintendent of +Wellington Valley, for some excellent men, both on my first and on my +second journey, because he understood the nature of the service for which +they were required, and the characters of those whom he recommended. +But however well selected the party, or the men rather, might be, I still +consider a man of general responsibility necessary for its complete +organisation. I would have him somewhat superior to the rest in his +station in life. Him I would hold answerable for the immediate discipline +of the camp, whilst I was present, and for its safety when absent. The +assistant to the leader I would put entirely out of the question. He +has other and most important duties to perform. I would rate this man +wholly independent of him. + +DANGER OF COLLISION WITH THE NATIVES. + +In reference to what I have already said with regard to the natives, it +was supposed that they were so little to be apprehended, that when I went +on the first occasion into the interior, I applied for a limited number of +men only, under an impression that with a few men I could carry provisions +equal to a consumption of a greater number, and by this means be enabled +to keep the field for a greater length of time. But I do not think it +would be safe to penetrate into the distant country with fewer than +fifteen men, for although, happily, no rupture has as yet taken place with +the natives, yet, there is no security against their treachery, and it is +very certain that a slight cause might involve an expedition in +inextricable difficulty, and oblige the leader to throw himself on the +defensive, when far away from other resources than those with which he +should have provided himself, and that, perhaps, when navigating a close +and intricate river, with all the dangers and perplexities attendant on +such a situation. It is absolutely necessary to establish nightly guards, +not only for the security of the camp, but of the cattle, and at the same +time to have a force strong enough to maintain an obstinate resistance +against any number of savages, where no mercy is to be expected. It will +be borne in mind, that there is a wide difference between penetrating into +a country in the midst of its population, and landing from ships for the +purpose of communication or traffic. Yet, how few voyages of discovery +have terminated without bloodshed! Boats while landing are covered by +their ships, and have succour within view; but not so parties that go into +unknown tracts. They must depend on their immediate resources and +individual courage alone. + +PACK-OXEN, HORSES, WHEEL-CARRIAGES. + +With regard to the animals, I should recommend an equal number of horses +as of bullocks; since it has been found that the latter, though slow, +travel better over swampy ground than horses, which, on the other hand, +are preferable for expeditious journeys, to which bullocks would never be +equal. One of the colonial pack-saddles weighs fifty pounds complete, and +is preferable to those sent out from England. This, with a load of +250 lbs. is sufficient for any animal, since it enables the men to place a +part of their provisions with the general loads. The difficulty of keeping +the backs of the animals free from injury, more especially where any +blemish has before existed, is exceedingly great. They should undergo an +examination twice a-day, that is, in the morning prior to moving off, +and in the afternoon before they are turned out to feed; and measures +should then be taken to ease them as circumstances require. I never +suffered the saddles to be removed from the backs of the animals under my +charge for twenty minutes after the termination of the journey for the +day, in order to guard against the effects of the sun; and where the least +swelling appeared the saddle was altered and the place dressed. Yet, +notwithstanding all this care and attention, several both of the horses +and bullocks were at one time in a sad condition, during the first +journey,--so much so as almost to paralyse our efforts. It would be +advisable that such animals as are entirely free from blemish should be +chosen for the service of expeditions, for, with proper management they +might he kept in order. The anxiety of mind attendant on a bad state of +the animals is really quite embarrassing, for it not only causes a delay +in the movements, but a derangement in the loads. Other animals are +overburdened, and there is no knowing where the evil will stop. + +In addition to the pack-animals, I would recommend the employment of a +dray or cart under any practicable circumstances. It serves to carry +necessary comforts, gives an expedition greater facility for securing its +collections, and is of inconceivable advantage in many other respects. + +ISSUE OF PROVISIONS. + +Constant and most earnest attention should be paid to the issue of +provisions, on the discreet management of which so much depends, and the +charge of them should be committed to the second in command. The most +important articles are flour, tea, sugar, and tobacco. All should be +husbanded with extreme care, and weighed from time to time. The flour is +best carried in canvass bags, containing 100 pounds each, and should at +the termination of each day's journey, be regularly piled up and covered +with a tarpaulin. Tea, sugar and tobacco lose considerably in weight, so +that it is necessary to estimate for somewhat more than the bare supply. +With regard to the salt meat, the best mode of conveying it appears to be +in small barrels of equal weight with the bags of flour. Salt pork is +better than beef. It should be deprived of all bones and be of the very +best quality. I have heard spirits recommended, but I do not approve their +use. Tea is much more relished by the men; indeed they could not do well +without it. A small quantity of spirits would, however, of course be +necessary in the event of its being required. + +LIVE STOCK. + +Mr. Cornelius O'Brien, an enterprising and long-established settler, who +has pushed his flocks and herds to the banks of the Morumbidgee, was good +enough to present me with eight wethers as I passed his station. It may be +some gratification to Mr. O'Brien to know, that they contributed very +materially to our comforts, and he will, perhaps, accept my +acknowledgements in this place, not only for so liberal a present to +myself, but for his attention and kindness to my men as long as they +remained in his neighbourhood. It was found that the sheep gave but little +additional trouble, requiring only to be penned at night, as much to +secure them from the native dogs as to prevent them from straying away. +They followed the other animals very quietly, and soon became accustomed +to daily movements. They proved a most available stock; no waste attended +their slaughter, and they admitted of a necessary and wholesome change of +fresh food from the general salt diet, on which the men would otherwise +have had to subsist. + +The provisions should, if possible, be issued weekly, and their diminution +should be so regulated as to give an equal relief to the animals. + +For general information i have annexed a list of the supplies I took with +me on my first expedition. It may appear long, but the articles were +packed in a small compass, and their value immaterial. + +As a precautionary measure I should advise, that one of the pack animals +be kept apart for the purpose of carrying water. Two casks of equal weight +are the best for such a purpose. In long and hot marches, the men +experience great relief from having water at hand. + +INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES. + +In reference to the natives, I hope sufficient has been said of the manner +of communicating with them to prevent the necessity of a repetition here. +The great point is not to alarm their natural timidity: to exercise +patience in your intercourse with them; to treat them kindly; and to watch +them with suspicion, especially at night. Never permit the men to steal +away from the camp, but keep them as compact as possible; and at every +station so arrange your drays and provisions that they may serve as a +defence in case of your being attacked. + +The natives appeared to me to be indifferent to our presents, in most +cases. Tomahawks, knives, pieces of iron, and different coloured ribbons +for the forehead, were most esteemed by them. They will barter and +exchange their fish for articles, and readily acquire confidence. + +I believe I have now touched on all the more important points: on minor +ones no observation I can make will be of use; men must, in many things, +be guided by circumstances. + +* * * * * + +WHALE BOAT EMPLOYED ON THE SECOND EXPEDITION. + +I may here notice that, in my second expedition, as it was anticipated +that I should require adequate provision for water conveyance, at one +stage or other of my journey down the Morumbidgee, I was furnished with a +whale-boat, the dimensions of which are given below. She was built by +Mr. Egan, the master builder of the dock-yard and a native of the colony, +and did great credit to his judgment. She carried two tons and a half of +provisions, independently of a locker, which I appropriated for the +security of the arms, occupying the space between the after-seat and the +stern. She was in the first instance put together loosely, her planks +and timbers marked, and her ring bolts, &c. fitted. She was then taken to +pieces, carefully packed up, and thus conveyed in plank into the interior, +to a distance of four hundred and forty miles, without injury. She was +admirably adapted for the service, and rose as well as could have been +expected over the seas in the lake. It was evident, however, that she +would have been much safer if she had had another plank, for she was +undoubtedly too low. The following were her dimensions:-- + +Breadth across 7th timber aft, 5 ft. 1/2 an inch outside. +Across 12th timber, 5 ft. 11 1/4 in. +Across 17th timber forward, 5 ft. +25 ft. 8 in. in length inside. +Curve of the keel No. 1, from the after side of each apron, 3 ft. 3 3/4in. +No. 2, from head to head of the dead wood, 13 1/2 in. +No. 3, from one end of keel to the other inner side, 3 in. +No. 4, round of keel from the toe of each dead wood, 7/8 1/16th. +The timbers were marked, beginning from the stern to the bow on the +starboard side, and from bow to stern on the larboard. + + + + +APPENDIX No. I. + + + +LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS. + + + +By His Excellency Lieutenant General Ralph Darling, Commanding +His Majesty's Forces, Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of the +Territory of New South Wales, and its dependencies, and +Vice Admiral of the same, &c. &c. &c. + +TO CHARLES STURT, ESQ. CAPTAIN IN THE 39TH REGIMENT OF FOOT. + +Whereas it has been judged expedient to fit out an expedition for the +purpose of exploring the interior of New Holland, and the present dry +season affords a reasonable prospect of an opportunity of ascertaining the +nature and extent of the large marsh or marshes which stopped the progress +of the late John Oxley Esq, Surveyor General, in following the courses of +the rivers Lachlan and Macquarie in the years 1817 and 1818. And whereas I +repose full confidence in your abilities and zeal for conducting such an +expedition, I do hereby constitute and appoint you to command and take +charge of the expedition now preparing for the purpose of exploring the +interior of the country, and for ascertaining, if practicable, the nature +and extent of the marsh or marshes above mentioned. + +In the prosecution of this service, you will be guided generally by the +following instructions. + +1. You will be accompanied on this expedition by Mr. Hamilton Hume, whose +great experience in travelling through the remote parts of the Colony, +cannot fail to be highly useful to you. You will also be attended by two +soldiers and six convicts, of whom one is to understand the shoeing of +horses, one to be a carpenter, one a harness-maker and three stock-men, +and you will be provided with six horses and twelve bullocks. + +2. A small boat has been built here for the use of the expedition, and for +its conveyance, there is provided a light four-wheeled carriage to be +drawn by two bullocks. + +The deputy Commissary General has received orders for supplying the +expedition with provisions of the best quality sufficient for six months' +consumption, together with tents, blankets, clothing, pack-saddles, +utensils, instruments, tools, and necessaries of all kinds of which you +are likely to stand in need. Orders are also given for providing you with +arms and ammunition, with rockets for signals, and an ample supply of +simple medicines--You are to consider it an important duty to attend to +the providing of all these supplies, and to take care that not only every +article is of the best quality that can be procured, but also that no +article be wanting with which you may desire to be provided. + +3. Orders are given for forwarding without delay all your provisions, +stores and supplies of every kind to Wellington Valley, at which place, +you, Mr. Hume, and all your men are to rendezvous as soon as possible. +Mr Maxwell, the superintendent, will furnish you with well-trained +bullocks, and afford you all the assistance you may require in arranging +every thing for your departure from that station. + +4. After you shall have completed all your arrangements, you are to lose +no time in finally departing from Wellington Valley in prosecution of the +immediate objects of the expedition. + +5. You are first to proceed to Mount Harris, where you are to form a +temporary depot, by means of which you will have an opportunity of more +readily communicating with Mr. Maxwell. + +6. You are then to endeavour to determine the fate of the Macquarie River, +by tracing it as far as possible beyond the point to which Mr. Oxley went, +and by pushing westward, you are to ascertain if there be any high lands +in that direction, or if the country be, as it is supposed, an unbroken +level and under water. If you should fail in these objects, you will +traverse the plains lying behind our north-west boundaries, with a view to +skirt any waters by which you may have been checked to the westward; and +if you should succeed in skirting them, you are to explore the country +westward and southward as far as possible, endeavouring to discover the +Macquarie beyond the marsh of Mr. Oxley, and following it to its mouth if +at all practicable. + +7. There is some reason to believe that the over-flowing of the Macquarie +when visited by Mr. Oxley, was occasioned by heavy rains falling in the +mountains to the eastward, and that as you are to visit the same spot at a +different season of the year, you may escape such embarrassment; but +although you should get beyond the point at which Mr. Oxley stopped, it +would not be prudent to risk your own health or that of your men, by +continuing long in a swampy country. Therefore it may be advisable for you +in the first instance to leave the greater part of your men, bullocks, and +baggage, at Mount Harris, and if you should see a probability of your +being able to cross into the interior, you will then return to Mount +Harris for such additional supplies as you may judge necessary. You can +there communicate with Mr. Maxwell respecting any ulterior arrangements +which you may be desirous of making. + +8. The success of the expedition is so desirable an object, that I cannot +too strongly impress upon you the importance of perseverance in +endeavouring to skirt any waters or marshes which may check your course as +long as you have provisions sufficient for your return; but you must be +cautious not to proceed a single day's journey further than where you find +that your provisions will be barely sufficient to enable you to reach the +nearest place at which you can depend upon getting supplies. + +9. If after every endeavour you should find it totally impracticable to get +to the westward, you are still to proceed northward, keeping as westerly a +direction as possible; and when the state of your provisions will oblige +you to retreat, you will be guided by your latitude, as to the place to +which you are to make the best of your way, but you are not to make for +any place on the coast, if Wellington valley should still be nearer. + +10. You must be aware that the success of the expedition will greatly +depend upon the time for which your provisions will hold out, and +therefore you will see the great importance of observing every possible +economy in the expenditure of provisions, and preventing waste of every +kind. + +11. You are to keep a detailed account of your proceedings in a journal, +in which all observations and occurrences of every kind, with all their +circumstances, however minute, are to be carefully noted down. You are to +be particular in describing the general face of all the country through +which you pass, the direction and shape of the mountains, whether detached +or in ranges, together with the bearings and estimated distances of the +several mountains, hills, or eminences from each other. You are likewise +to note the nature of the climate, as to heat, cold, moisture, winds, +rains, &c, and to keep a register of the temperature from Fahrenheit's +thermometer, as observed at two or three periods of each day. The rivers, +with their several branches, their direction, velocity, breadth, and +depth, are carefully to be noted. It is further expected that you will, +as far as may he in your power, attend to the animal, vegetable, and +mineral productions of the country, noting down every thing that may occur +to you, and preserving specimens as far as your means will admit, +especially some of all the ripe seeds which you may discover; when the +preservation of specimens is impossible, drawings or detailed accounts of +them, are very desirable. + +12. You will note the description of the several people whom you may meet, +the extent of the population, their means of subsistence, their genius and +disposition, the nature of their amusements, their diseases and remedies, +their objects of worship, religious ceremonies, and a vocabulary of their +language. + +Lastly. On your return from your journey, you are to cause all the +journals or other written documents belonging to, and curiosities +collected by the several individuals composing the expedition, to be +carefully sealed up with your own seal and kept in that state until you +shall have made your report to me in writing of the result of the +expedition. + +Given at Sydney, this eighteenth day of November, 1828. +By Command of His Excellency the Governor, +ALEXANDER M'LEAY. + + + + +APPENDIX No. II. + + + +LIST OF STORES SUPPLIED FOR THE EXPEDITION. + + +List of Articles delivered from His Majesty's Stores, +in charge of D. A. C. Goodsir, to Captain Sturt, viz.-- + +1 Hack saddle. 9 Harness casks. +1 Bridle. 23 Canvas bags. +2 Tents. 4 Tin cases. +14 Pack saddles. 16 Padlocks. +14 Pair hobbles. 6 Tarpaulens. +24 Sets horse shoes. 10 Haversacks. +2000 Horse nails. 113 Fathom one-inch rope. +113 Fathoms 1 1/2 inch rope. 1 Boat compass. +1 Hammer, (Blacksmith's) 1 Telescope. +1 Paring knife. 1 Spare glass for ditto. +2 Chipping do. 1 Tin case (for charts.) +2 Rasps. 100 Fish-hooks, (large.) +1 Pair pincers. 12 Fishing-lines. +1 Cutter. 10 Knives. +2lb. Pack thread. 10 Forks. +24 Needles. 10 Spoons. +1/4lb. Bristles. 2 Frying-pans. +7lbs. Leather. 2 Tinder-boxes. +1/2lb. Thread. 1 Tea-kettle, (tin.) +1 Pair of steelyards. 10 Tin dishes. +10 Tin pots. 8 Jackets. +1 Flour seive. 8 Duck frocks. +2 Felling-axes. 8 Shirts. +4 Tomahawks. 16 Trousers. +2 Hammers. 24 Pair shoes. +1 Hand-saw. 16 Blankets. +3 Bill-hooks. 16 Pair stockings. +3 Awls. 2 Bullock collars. +3 Broad hoes. 2 Do. back-bands and pipes. +4 Razors. 2 Leading cruppers. +4 Brushes. 1 Boat with sail and oars. +4 Combs. 1 Do. carriage. +3 Iron pots, (camp kettles.) 1 Canvass boat-cover. +1 Pair scissors. 3 Water breaker. + +COMMISSARIAT OFFICE, SYDNEY, NOV. 10TH, 1828. + +P.S.--l Tarpaulin. + Large Fish-hook. + 1 Tin tea-kettle. + 1 Camp kettle. + Pitch and oil. + Hemp or twine. + + + + +APPENDIX No. III. + + + +SHEEP-FARMING RETURNS, SHOWING THE INCREASE IN FOUR YEARS, +from two Breeding Flocks, consisting of 670 Ewes in Lamb. + + +(A.)--1st JUNE, 1828. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks. Breeding Ewes. Lambs. Total. Remarks. + + 2 yrs. old. 3 yrs. old. Male.-Female. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + Lambs. +No. 1 330 148 149 627 Deaths 6. Incr.297 +No. 2 330 154 154 638 4 308 + ---- -- --- + * 1265 10 605 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +* The increase throughout these returns is calculated at from 270 to 290 +Lambs, to 300 Ewes, which is the usual average in N.S.W. + + +ABSTRACT. + +Purchased two Flocks of Ewes, at 84s.............................670 Ewes. +Increase of Lambs.......................................... 605 +Casual Deaths............................................... 10 + 595 + --- +Total as per Return............................................ 1265 + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +(B.)--1st JUNE, 1829. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks.|Breeding|Maiden|Wethers.|Rams.| Lambs. |Total.| Remarks. + | Ewes. | Ewes.| |Male. Female.| +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +No. Lambs. +1 3-yr. 327 154 154 635 Deaths 3 Incr.308 +2 4-yr. 326 155 155 636 4 310 +3 1-yr. 302 302 1 --- +4 1-yr. 302 18 320 -- 618 + ---- 8 + 1893 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +ABSTRACT. + +Return (A) Total...............................................1265 +Increase by Lambing....................................618 +Ditto Rams purchased....................................18 + --- + 636 +Casual Deaths......................................... 8 628 + ---- +Total as per return............................................1893 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +(C.)--1st JUNE, 1830. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks.|Breeding|Maiden|Wethers.|Rams.| Lambs. |Total.| Remarks. + | Ewes. | Ewes.| |Male. Female.| +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +No. Lambs. +1 2-yr. 296 133 154 562 Deaths 6 Incr.266 +2 4-yr. 325 150 155 625 2 300 +3 5-yr. 326 160 646 320 +4 2-yr. 302 27 329 --- +5 1-yr. 309 309 886 +6 1-yr. 309 309 --- + ---- 3 Rams died + 2780 12 ditto purchased +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +ABSTRACT. + +Return (B) Total............................................ 1893 +Increase by Lambing....................................886 +Ditto Rams purchased....................................12 + --- + 898 +Deaths............................................... 11 887 + ---- +Total as per return......................................... 2780 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +(D.)--1st JUNE, 1831. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks.|Breeding|Maiden|Wethers.|Rams.| Lambs. |Total.| Remarks. + | Ewes. | Ewes.| |Male. Female.| +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +No. Lambs. +1 2-yr. 304 136 136 576 Deaths 5 Incr.272 +2 3-yr. 293 135 136 564 3 271 +3 5-yr. 324 156 156 636 1 312 +4 6-yr. 320 156 156 632 2 312 + Killed 4 --- +5 3-yr. 300 300 Deaths 2 1167 +6 2-yr. 308 308 1 +7 1-yr 443 443 +8 1-yr 442 442 1 +9 40 40 5 + ---- -- + 3941 20 + Purchased 12 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +ABSTRACT. + +Return (C) Total............................................ 2780 +Increase by Lambing...................................1167 +Ditto Rams purchased....................................18 + --- + 1185 +Casual deaths 20 ...Killed for use 4 ................. 24 1161 + ---- +Total as per return.......................................... 3941 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +(E.)--1st JUNE, 1832. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks.|Breeding|Maiden|Wethers.|Rams.| Lambs. |Total.| Remarks. + | Ewes. | Ewes.| |Male. Female.| +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +No. Lambs. +1 2-yr. 344 154 154 652 Deaths 6 Incr.308 +2 3-yr. 344 162 161 667 4 323 +4 3-yr. 342 164 165 671 3 329 +5 6-yr. 320 155 155 630 2 310 +6 7-yr. 300 145 145 590 2 290 +7 4-yr. 300 300 ---- + 1560 +8 3-yr 302 302 2 +9 2-yr 440 440 1 +10 1-yr 583 583 +11 1-yr 584 584 +12 45 45 5 Purch. 10 + ---- ---- ---- --- --- --- ---- + 1650 584 1625 45 780 780 5464 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +ABSTRACT. + +Return (D) Total............................................ 3941 +Increase by Lambing...................................1560 +Ditto Rams purchased....................................10 + --- + 1570 +Decrease by casual death .............................. 25 +Decrease by slaughter for use ......................... 22 + --- + 1523 + ---- + Grand Total .............................. 5464 as above +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +MEMORANDUM,--The deaths have been calculated at the lowest rate under the +best management. It may be safer to assume a rate of four or five per +cent. per annum. + + + +Account of Expenditure and Income upon Sheep Stock in Australia, +appended to Returns A. B. C. D. and E. + 1st YEAR, (RETURN A.) JUNE, 1829. + +INCOME. +By 11265 fleeces, average weight 2 1/4 lbs. 284 lbs +wool at 1s. 6d. per lb. 213 9 0 + EXPENDITURE. +To 2 Shepherds at 30 pounds 60 0 0 +To 1 Watchman at 20 20 0 O PROFIT. +To Hurdles, &c. 10 0 0 + -------- 90 0 0 + -------- 123 9 0 + + 2nd YEAR, (B.) JUNE, 1830. + + INCOME. +By 1893 fleeces, at 2 1/4 lbs. 4259lbs. wool at +1s. 6d. 319 8 6 + EXPENDITURE. +To 2 Shepherds at 30 pounds 60 0 0 +To 2 Ditto 20 40 0 0 +To 1 Watchman 20 0 0 +To Hurdles &c. 5 0 0 + --------- + 125 0 0 +To 18 Rams at 10 pounds* 180 0 0 + --------- + 305 0 0 + --------- + 14 8 6 +*The price of rams will probably fall to 5 pounds + + 3rd YEAR, (C.) JUNE, 1831. + + INCOME. +By 2780 fleeces, at 2 1/4 lbs. 6255lbs. wool at +1s. 6d. 469 2 6 + EXPENDITURE. +To 2 Shepherds at 30 pounds 60 0 0 +To 2 Ditto 25 25 0 0 +To 3 Ditto 20 60 0 0 +To 2 Watchman 20 40 0 0 +To Hurdles &c. 10 0 0 + --------- + 195 0 0 +To 12 Rams at 10 pounds 120 0 0 + --------- + 315 0 0 + --------- + 154 2 6 + + + + 4th YEAR, (D.) JUNE, 1832. + + INCOME. +By 3941 fleeces, at 2 1/4 lbs. 8867lbs. wool at +1s. 6d. 665 0 0 + EXPENDITURE. +To 2 Shepherds at 30 pounds 60 0 0 +To 3 Ditto 25 75 0 0 +To 5 Ditto 20 100 0 0 +To 3 Watchman 20 60 0 0 +To Hurdles &c. 20 0 0 + --------- + 315 0 0 +To 10 Rams at 10 pounds 100 0 0 + --------- + 415 0 0 + --------- + 507 0 0 + ---------- + Net profit by sales of wool in 5 years 1024 0 0 + +1024 0 0 divided by 5 gives 204 8 0 for annual interest on the +original capital of 2814 0 0, (about 7 1/4 percent per annum) +in addition to the accumulation of capital itself, shown by the +valuation of stock. + +These accounts are a year in advance of the sheep returns, in order to +bring them to the time at which the wool would be sold. + + + VALUATION OF SHEEP, JUNE, 1832----(RETURN E.) + +1614 Ewes from 1 to 4 years old at 3 pounds each 4842 0 O + 620 Do. 4 to 7 years old 2 1240 0 0 + 780 Female Lambs 2 1560 0 0 +2405 Wethers and Male Lambs 15s. 1803 0 0 + 45 Rams (original cost, 450l.) 400 0 0 + ---------- + 9845 0 0 + +Note.--About 500 pounds would be added to the Income on the fifth year, +by the sale of wethers of 3 and 4 years old. + +The cost of rams ought, strictly speaking, to be added to capital, and not +deducted from Income; but these returns were made out in their present +form at the request of a gentleman proceeding to the Colony with a limited +capital, and who wished to know how much he might safely invest in sheep. + + + + +APPENDIX No. IV. + + + +LIST OF GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS, COLLECTED IN THE DISTANT INTERIOR DURING +THE FIRST EXPEDITION, WITH THEIR LOCALITIES AND THEIR RELATIVE DISTANCES +FROM EACH OTHER. + + +It may be necessary to observe that the height of the Cataract of the +Macquarie River above the sea, was ascertained by barometrical +admeasurement to be 650 feet. The country subsequently traversed is +considerably lower. The specimens refer only to the geological formation +of the distant interior. + +Schorl Rock.--Colour blueish grey, fine grained, extremely hard. Composed +of Tourmaline and Quartz. Forms the bed of the Macquarie at the Cataract, +75 miles to the N.W. of Wellington Valley. + +Decomposed Mica Slate.--Colour white; yields to the knife; adheres +strongly to the tongue. + +Decomposed Feldspar.--Colour pale rose-pink; very fine grained; easily +scratched with the knife; adheres strongly to the tongue. + +Both specimens immediately succeed the Schorl rock at the Cataract, in +large smooth-sided masses. + +This formation may be said to terminate the rocks connected with the +dividing ranges, since it is the last that occurs at their western base. + +A little below the Cataract, the county undergoes a remarkable change, +and becomes extremely depressed. + +Porphyry with Feldspar.--Colour dull red, with white spots, or grey with +red spots; very hard, compact, sonorous, magnetic. [See pp. 27 and 115.] +Composition of Mount Harris, a hill called by Mr. Oxley, elevated about +170 feet above the level of the plains. It lies 65 miles to the N.N.W. of +the Cataract, and is about 16 miles distant from the first of the marshes +of the Macquarie. + +Porphyry with Feldspar.--Colour grey with red spots, similar to the last. +Was not observed to affect the needle. Formation of Mount Foster. +Mount Foster is more than 200 feet in height, and lies about 5 miles to +the N.N.W. of Mount Harris. From the summit of both, Arbuthnot's range is +visible, bearing nearly due east, distant 70 miles. [See page 28.] + +Quartz Rook varieties--Slaty Quartz varieties.--Composition of the first +elevations to the Westward of the marshes of the Macquarie, called +New Year's Range, a group of five hills. The loftiest about 200 feet in +elevation; distant about 80 miles to the N.W. of Mount Harris. + +Granite.--Colour red, coarse-grained. Composed of Quartz, Feldspar, +and Mica. + + Granite, Porphyritic.--Colour light red. Both occurring in the bed of +New Year's Creek, traversing it obliquely, and are visible for a few +hundred yards only. This granite occurs about 16 miles from the Range in +a N. by E. direction. + +Old Red Sandstone.--Composition of Oxley's Table Land, 500 feet above the +level of the plains. It is broken into two hills, that appear to have been +separated by some convulsion. [See page 81.] It bears N.W. by W. from +New Year's Range, distant 50 miles. + +Old Red Sandstone.--Composition of D'Urban's group. The highest elevation +ascended during the expedition, being nearly 600 feet above the level of +the plain in which it rises. It lies to the S.S.W. of Oxley's Table Land, +distant 40 miles, and the rock of which it is composed is much harder +and closer. + +Breccia.--Colour pale yellow, silicious cement. Composition of some +trifling elevations to the North of New-Year's range, with which it is +doubtful whether they are connected. + +Crystallized Sulphate of Lime.--Found imbedded in the alluvial soil +forming the banks of the Darling river. Occurring in a regular vein. Soft, +yielding to the nail; not acted on by acids.--See Plate. + +Breccia.--Pale ochre colour, silicious cement, extremely hard. Cellular, +and sharp edges to the fractured pebbles. Has apparently undergone fusion. +Occurs in the bed of the Darling in one place only. + +Sandstone Varieties.--Colour dull red and muddy white; appears like burnt +bricks; light, easily frangible; adheres to the tongue; occurs in large +masses in the bed of the Darling; probably in connection with the +rock-salt of the neighbourhood, which, from the number of brine springs +discovered feeding the river, must necessarily exist. + +Variety of the same description of rock. + +Jasper and Quartz.--Showing itself above the surface of a plain, from +which D'Urban's group bore S. 40 E. distant 33 miles. + +It is a remarkable fact, that not a pebble or a stone was picked up during +the progress of the expedition, on any one of the plains; and that after +it again left Mount Harris for the Castlereagh, the only rock-formation +discovered was a small Freestone tract near the Darling river. There was +not a pebble of any kind either in the bed of the Castlereagh, or in the +creeks falling into it. + + + + +APPENDIX No. V. + + + +OFFICIAL REPORTS TO THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT. + + +* * * * * + + +GOVERNMENT ORDER + +COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE, 23RD JANUARY, 1829. + +His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to order, that the following +communication, dated the 25th of December last, from Captain Sturt, of the +39th Regiment, who is employed in an exploring expedition into the +interior of the country, be published for general information. + +By his Excellency's Command, +ALEXANDER M'LEAY. + + +* * * * * + + +WESTERN MARSHES, 25TH DECEMBER, 1828. + +SIR,--I do myself the honor to forward, for the Governor's perusal, a +copy of my journal up to the date of my arrival at Mount Harris. I should +not have directed the messenger to return so soon, had I not subsequently +advanced to Mount Foster, and surveyed the country from that eminence. I +could distinctly see Arbuthnot's Range to the eastward. From that point +the horizon appeared to me unbroken, but the country to the northward and +westward seemed to favour an attempt to penetrate into it. I did not +observe any sheet of water, and the course of the Macquarie was lost in +the woodlands below. + +Mr. Hume ascended the hill at sun-rise, and thought he could see mountains +to the north east, but at such a distance as to make it quite a matter of +uncertainty. Agreeing, however, in the prudence of an immediate descent, +we left our encampment on the morning of the 23rd, under Mount Foster, to +which we had removed from Mount Harris, and pursued a north-north-west +course to the spot on which we rest at present. We passed some fine meadow +land near the river, and were obliged to keep wide of it in consequence of +fissures in the ground. Traversing a large and blasted plain, on which the +sun's rays fell with intense heat, and on which there was but little +vegetation, we skirted the first great morass, and made the river +immediately beyond it. It is of very considerable extent, the channel of +the river passing through it. We are encompassed on every side by high +reeds, which exist in the woods as well as in the plains. Mr. Hume and +myself rode forward yesterday through the second morass, and made the +river on slightly elevated ground, at a distance of about five miles; the +country beyond appeared to favour our object, and we, to-morrow, proceed +with the party to the north-west. The river seems to bend to the +north-east; but in this level country it is impossible to speak with +certainty, or to give any decided opinion of the nature of it, beyond the +flats on which we are travelling. The reeds to the north-east and +northward extend over a circumference of fifty miles; but if Mr. Hume +really saw mountains or rising ground in the former point, the apparent +course of the Macquarie is at once accounted for. The country, however, +seems to dip to the north, though generally speaking it is level, and I am +inclined to think that the state of the atmosphere caused a deception in +this appearance. + +I regret to add, that the effects of the sun on the plain over which we +passed on the 23rd produced a return of inflammation in the eyes of the +men, I have named in my journals, and caused the same in the eyes of +several others of my party. I halted, therefore, to expedite their +recovery. They are doing well now, and we can proceed in the cool of the +morning without any fear of their receiving injury by it. One of the men, +who were to return to Wellington Valley, was attacked slightly with +dysentery, but the medicines I gave him carried it off in the course of a +day or two. I have taken every precaution with regard to the health of the +men, in preparing them for the country into which they are going; and I +have to request that you will inform the governor that the conduct of the +whole party merits my approbation, and that I have no fault to find. The +men from Sydney are not so sharp as those from Wellington Valley, but are +equally well disposed. The animals, both horses and bullocks, are in good +order, and I find the two soldiers of infinite service to me. The boat has +received some damage from exposure to intense heat, but is otherwise +uninjured. We still retain the carriage and have every prospect of +dragging it on with us. + +His Excellency, having been good enough to order a fresh supply of +provisions to Wellington Valley, I have to beg they may be forwarded to +Mount Harris, and that the person in charge thereof be instructed to +remain at that station for one month. We shall, during the interval, have +examined the country to the north-west; and, in case we are forced back, +shall require a supply to enable us to proceed to the northward, in +furtherance of the views I have already had the honor to submit for the +Governor's approval. + +I have the honor to be, Sir, +Your most obedient and humble Servant, +CHARLES STURT, +Captain, 39th Regt. + + +THE HONOURABLE THE COLONIAL SECRETARY + + +* * * * * + + +GOVERNMENT ORDER. + +COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE, 6TH APRIL, 1829. + +His Excellency the Governor is pleased to direct that the following +interesting Report which has been received from Captain Sturt, +39th Regiment, who has been employed for some months past, (as will be +seen on reference to the Government Order, No. 4, published with Captain +Sturt's First Report in the Sydney Gazette, of the 24th of January last) +in exploring the interior, be communicated for the information of the +public. + +It appears that the river Macquarie ceases to exist near the spot where +the expedition under the late Mr. Oxley terminated, which, from the state +of country at the time, being then flooded, could not be ascertained; and +that another river of no inconsiderable magnitude, fed by salt springs, +was discovered by Captain Sturt on the 2nd February last, about 100 miles +to the westward of the Macquarie, running to the southward and westward. + +By His Excellency's Command, +ALEXANDER M'LEAY. + + +* * * * * + + +MOUNT HARRIS, 4TH MARCH, 1829. + +SIR,--I do myself the honor to acquaint you, for the information of His +Excellency the Governor, that I returned to this eminence on Monday, +the 23rd ult. having been driven from the interior, in consequence of the +extreme drought which prevails there. + +I am to state, in reference to my former communication, that agreeably to +what I then reported, I moved, on the 26th December last, lower down the +plains of the Macquarie, but encountered a barrier of reeds, formed by the +marshes of that river, through which we in vain endeavoured to force our +way. I was in consequence obliged to make the nearest part of the river to +my left, and to take such measures as the nature of my situation required. +Here, for the first time, I set the boat afloat, deeming it essential to +trace the river, as I could not move upon its banks, and wishing also to +ascertain where it again issued from the marshes, I requested Mr. Hume to +proceed northerly, with a view to skirt them, and to descend westerly, +wherever he saw an open space. He was fortunate enough to strike upon the +channel about twelve miles north of our position, but was obstructed in +his further progress by another marsh, in consequence of which he returned +to the camp the next day; in the mean time, I had taken the boat, and +proceeded down the Macquarie, my way being at first considerably +obstructed by fallen timber: clearing this obstacle, however, I got into +a deeper channel, with fine broad reaches, and a depth of from twelve to +fifteen feet water. I had a short time previously cleared all woods and +trees, and was now in the midst of reeds of great height. After proceeding +onwards for about eight miles from the place whence I started, my course +was suddenly and unexpectedly checked; I saw reeds before me, and expected +I was about to turn an angle of the river, but I found that I had got to +the end of the channel, and that the river itself had ceased to exist. +Confounded at such a termination to a stream, whose appearance justified +the expectation that it would have led me through the heart of the marsh +to join Mr. Hume, I commenced a most minute examination of the place, and +discovered two creeks, if they deserve the name, branching, the one to the +north-west, and the other to the north-east; after tracing the former a +short distance, I reached its termination, and in order to assure myself +that such was the case, I walked round the head of it by pushing through +the reeds; it being then too dark to continue where I was, I returned to +a place on the river, at which I had rested during a shower, and slept +there. In the morning I again went to the spot to examine the +north-eastern branch, when I was equally disappointed. I then examined the +space between the two creeks, opposite to the main channel of the river, +and where the bank receives the force of the current. Here I saw water in +the reeds, but it was scarcely ankle deep, and was running off to the +north-west quicker than the waters of the river, which had almost an +imperceptible motion, I was therefore at once convinced that it was not +permanent, but had lodged there in the night, during which much rain had +fallen. I next pushed my way through the reeds into the marsh, and at +length clearly perceived that the waters which were perfectly sweet, after +running several courses, flowed off to the north, towards which point +there was an apparent declination or dip. Finding it impossible to +proceed further, I regained the boat, and thence returned to the camp, +under a conviction that I had reached the very spot, at which Mr. Oxley +lost the channel of the river in 1818. + +The next day I moved to the place where Mr. Hume had struck upon the +channel of the river, but was again doubtful in what direction to proceed. + +The marsh, at the commencement of which we now found ourselves, being the +third from Mount Foster, but the second great one, seemed to extend beyond +us to the north for many miles, but varying in breadth. In the evening I +went in the boat up the channel, and found it at first, deep and sullen, +as that of the river above. It soon however, narrowed, and the weeds +formed over its surface, so that I abandoned the boat and walked along a +path up it. I had not gone far when the channel divided; two smaller +channels came, the one from the southern, and the other from the western +parts of the marsh into it. There was an evident declination where they +were, and it was at their junction the river again rallied and formed. +On my return to the camp, Mr. Hume and I went down the river, but found +that about a mile it lost itself, and spread its waters ever the extensive +marsh before it. + +In this extremity, I knew not what movement to make, as Mr. Hume had been +checked in his progress north. I therefore determined to ascertain the +nature of the country to the eastward and to the westward, that I might +move accordingly; I proposed to Mr. Hume, to take a week's provisions, +with two attendants, and go to the north-east, in order again to turn the +marsh, but with the expectation that the angle formed by the junction of +the Castlereagh with the Macquarie would arrest its progress, as the last +was fast approaching the former. + +I myself determined to cross the river, and to skirt the marshes on the +left, and in case they turned off to the north east, as they appeared to +do, it was my intention to pursue a N.W. course into the interior, to +learn the nature of it. With these views I left the camp on the 31st of +December, and did not return until the 5th of January. Having found early +in my journey, from the change of soil and of timber, that I was leaving +the neighbourhood of the Macquarie, I followed a N.W. course, from a more +northerly one, and struck at once across the country, under an impression +that Mr. Hume would have made the river again long before my return. +I found, after travelling between twenty and thirty miles, the country +began to rise; and at the end of my journey, I made a hill of considerable +elevation, from the summit of which I had a view of other high lands; one +to the S.W. being a very fine mountain. As I had not found any water +excepting in two creeks, which I had left far behind me, and as I had got +on a soil which appeared incapable of holding it, I made this the +termination of my journey, having exceeded 100 miles in distance from the +camp, on my return to which I found Mr. Hume still absent. When he joined, +he stated to me, that not making the Castlereagh as soon as he expected, +he had bent down westerly for the Macquarie, and that he ended his journey +at some gentle hills he had made; so that it appeared we must either have +crossed each other's line of route, or that they were very near, and that +want of length must alone have prevented them from crossing; but as such +all assumption led to the conclusion that the Macquarie no longer existed, +I determined to pursue a middle course round the swamps, to ascertain the +point; as in case the river had ended, a westerly course was the one which +my instructions directed me to pursue. + +In the immediate neighbourhood of the marshes we were obliged to sink +wells for water, and it was thus early that we began to feel the want of a +regular supply. + +Having made a creek about four miles from our position by cutting through +the reeds where there was a narrow space, we pursued a westerly course +over a plain, having every appearance of frequent inundation, and for four +or five days held nearly the same direction; in the course of which we +crossed both our tracks on the excursions we had made, which had +intersected each other in a dense oak brush; thus renewing the few doubts, +or rather the doubt we had as to the fate of the Macquarie, whose course +we had been sent to trace. Indeed, had I not felt convinced that that +river had ceased, I should not have moved westward without further +examination, but we had passed through a very narrow part of the marshes, +and round the greater part of them, and had not seen any hollow that could +by any possible exaggeration be construed into or mistaken for the channel +of a river. + +It appears, then, that the Macquarie, flowing as it does for so many +miles, through a bed, and not a declining country, and having little water +in it, except in times of flood, loses its impetus long ere it reaches the +formidable barrier that opposes its progress northwards; the soil in which +the reeds grow being a stiff clay. Its waters consequently spread, until +a slight declivity giving them fresh impulse, they form a channel again, +but soon gaining a level, they lose their force and their motion together, +and spread not only over the second great marsh, but over a vast extent +of the surrounding country, the breadth of ground thus subject to +inundation being more than twenty miles, and its length considerably +greater; around this space there is a gentle rise which confines the +waters, while small hollows in various directions lead them out of the +marshes over the adjacent plains, on which they eventually subside. On my +return from the interior, I examined those parts round which I had not +been, with particular attention, partly in company with Mr. Hume, and this +statement was confirmed by what we saw. Thus, at a distance of about +twenty-five miles from Mount Foster to the N.N.W. the river Macquarie +ceases to exist, in any shape as a river, and at a distance of between +fifty and sixty, the marshes terminate, though the country subject to +inundation from the river is of a very considerable extent, as shown by +the withered bulrushes, wet reeds, and shells, that are scattered over +its surface. + +Having executed the first part of the instructions with which I had been +honoured, I determined on pursuing a west, or north-west coarse into the +interior, to ascertain the nature of it, in fulfilment of the second, but +in doing this I was obliged to follow creeks, and even on their banks had +to carry a supply of water, so uncertain was it that we should meet with +any at the termination of our day's journey, and that what we did find +would be fit to drink. Our course led us over plains immediately bordering +the lower lands of the Macquarie, alternating with swamp oak, acacia +pendula, pine, box, eucalyptus, and many other trees of minor growth, the +soil being inclined to a red loam, while the plains were generally covered +with a black scrub, though in some places they had good grass upon them. +We crossed two creeks before we made the hills Mr. Hume had ascended, and +which he called New Year's Range. Around these hills the country appeared +better--they are gentle, picturesque elevations, and are for the most +part, covered with verdure, and have, I fancy, a whinstone base, the rock +of which they are composed being of various substances. I place New Year's +Range in lat. 30 degrees 21 minutes, long. 146 degrees 3 minutes +30 seconds. Our course next lying north-west along a creek, led us to +within twenty miles of the hill that had terminated my excursion, and as I +hoped that a more leisurely survey of the country from its summit would +open something favourable to our view, I struck over for it, though +eventually obliged to return. From it Mr. Hume and I rode to the S.W. +mountain, a distance of about forty miles, without crossing a brook or a +creek, our way leading through dense acacia brushes, and for the most part +over a desert. We saw high lands from this mountain, which exceeds 1,300 +feet in elevation, and is of sandstone formation, and thickly covered with +stunted pine, in eight different points--the bearings of which are as +follows:-- + +Oxley'a Table Land, N. 4O E., distant 40 miles. +Kengall Hill, due E. very distant. +Conical Hill, S. 6O E. +Highland, S.E. distance 30 miles. +Highland, S. 30 E. distance 25 miles. +Long Range, S. 16 E. distance 60 miles. +Long Range, S. 72 W. distance 60 miles. +Distant Range, S. 25 W. supposed. + +It was in vain, however, that we looked for water. The country to the +north-west, was low and unbroken, and alternated with wood and plain. + +The country from New Year's Range to the hill I had made, and which I +called Oxley's Table Land, had been very fair, with good soil in many +places, but with a total want of water, except in the creeks, wherein the +supply was both bad and uncertain; on our second day's journey from the +former, we came to the creek on which we were moving, where it had a +coarse granite bottom. The country around it improved very much in +appearance, and there was abundance of good grass on the surface of it, in +spite of the drought. On the right of this creek, a large plain stretches +parallel to it for many miles, varying in quality of soil. Near Oxley's +Table Land, we passed over open forest, the prevailing timber of which was +box. I have placed Oxley's Table Land in latitude 29 degrees 57 minutes +30 seconds, longitude 145 degrees 43 minutes 30 seconds. + +Finding it impracticable to move westward from the hill I again descended +on the creek, whose general course was to the north-west, in which +direction we at length struck upon a river whose appearance raised our +most sanguine expectations. It flowed round an angle from the north-east +to the north-west, and extended in longitude five reaches as far as we +could see. At that place it was about sixty yards broad, with banks of +from thirty to forty feet high, and it had numerous wild fowl and many +pelicans on its bosom, and seemed to be full of fish, while the paths of +the natives on both sides, like well-trodden roads, showed how numerous +they were about it. On tasting its waters, however, we found them +perfectly salt, and useless to us, and as our animals had been without +water the night before, this circumstance distressed us much; our first +day's journey led us past between sixty and seventy huts in one place, and +on our second we fell in with a numerous tribe of natives, having +previously seen some between two creeks before we made New-Year's Range. +At some places the water proved less salt than at others; our animals +drank of it sparingly: we found two small fresh-water holes, which served +us as we passed. After tracing the river for a considerable distance, we +came on brine springs in the bed of it, the banks having been encrusted +with salt from the first; and as the difficulty of getting fresh water was +so great, I here foresaw an end to our wanderings. And as I was resolved +not to involve my party in greater distress, I halted it, on overtaking +the animals, and the next morning turned back to the nearest fresh-water, +at a distance of eighteen miles from us. Unwilling, however, to give up +our pursuit, Mr. Hume and I started with two men on horseback, to trace +the river as far as we could, and to ascertain what course it took; in the +hopes also that we should fall on some creek, or get a more certain supply +of drinkable water. We went a distance to which the bullocks could not +have been brought, and then got on a red sandy soil, which at once +destroyed our hopes; and on tasting the river water we found it salter +than ever, our supply being diminished to two pints. Our animals being +weak and purged, and having proceeded at least forty miles from the camp, +I thought it best to yield to circumstances, and to return, though I trust +I shall be believed when I add, it was with extreme reluctance I did so; +and had I followed the wishes of my party, should still have continued +onwards. Making a part of the river where we had slept, we stayed to +refresh, and in consequence of the heat of the weather were obliged to +drink the water in it, which made us sick. While here, a tribe of blacks +came to us and behaved remarkably well. At night we slept on a plain +without water, and the next day we regained the camp, which had been +visited by the natives during our absence. + +We found the river held a south-west course, and appeared to be making for +the central space between a high land, which I called Dunlop's Range, at +Mr. Hume's request, and a lofty range to the westward. It still continued +its important appearance, having gained in breadth and in the height of +its banks, while there were hundreds of pelicans and wild-fowl on it. +Flowing through a level country with such a channel, it may be presumed +that this river ultimately assumes either a greater character, or that it +adds considerably to the importance of some other stream. It had a clay +bottom, generally speaking, in many places semi-indurated and fast forming +into sandstone, while there was crystallized sulphate of lime running in +veins through the soil which composed the bank. + +This river differs from most in the colony, in having a belt of barren +land of from a quarter of a mile to two miles in breadth in its immediate +neighbourhood, and which is subject to overflow. This belt runs to the +inland plains, where a small elevation checks the further progress of the +flood. There is magnificent blue gum on both sides the river, but the +right bank is evidently the most fertile, and I am mistaken greatly if +there is not a beautiful country north of it. + +Of the country over which we have passed, it is impossible for me to have +formed a correct opinion under its present melancholy circumstances. It +has borne the appearance of barrenness, where in even moderate rain, it +might have shown very differently, though no doubt we passed over much of +both good and bad land; our animals on the whole, have thrived on the food +they have had, which would argue favourably for the herbage. Generally +speaking, I fear the timber is bad--the rough-gum may be used for knees, +and such purposes, and we may have seen wood for the wheelwright and +cabinet-maker, specimens of which I have procured, but none for general or +household purposes. + +The creeks we have traced are different in character from those in the +settled districts, inasmuch as that, like the river, they have a belt of +barren land near then and but little grass--they have all of them been +numerously frequented by the natives, as appeared from the number of +muscle-shells on their banks, but now having scarcely any water in them, +the fish having either been taken, or are dead, and the tribes gone +elsewhere for food, while the badness of the river water has introduced a +cutaneous disease among the natives of that district, which is fast +carrying them off. Our intercourse with these people was incessant from +the time we first met them, and on all occasions they behaved remarkably +well, nor could we have seen less than than two hundred and fifty of them. + +Our return is to be attributable to the want of water alone, and it is +impossible for me to describe the effects of the drought on animal as well +as vegetable nature. The natives are wandering in the desert, and it is +melancholy to reflect on the necessity which obliges them to drink the +stinking and loathsome water they do--birds sit gasping in the trees and +are quite thin--the wild dog prowls about in the day-time unable to avoid +us, and is as lean as he can be in a living state, while minor vegetation +is dead, and the very trees are drooping. I have noticed all these things +in my Journal I shall have the honour of submitting through you, for the +Governor's perusal and information, on my return. Finally, I fear our +expedition will not pave the way to any ultimate benefit; although it has +been the means by which two very doubtful questions,--the course of the +Macquarie, and the nature of the interior, have been solved; for it is +beyond doubt, that the interior for 250 miles beyond its former known +limits to the W.N.W., so far from being a shoal sea, has been ascertained +not only to have considerable elevations upon it, but is in itself a table +land to all intents and purposes, and has scarcely water on its surface to +support its inhabitants. + +I beg you will inform His Excellency the Governor, that I have on all +occasions received the most ready and valuable assistance from Mr, Hume. +His intimate acquaintance with the manners and customs of the natives, +enabled him to enter into intercourse with them, and chiefly contributed +to the peaceable manner in which we have journeyed, while his previous +experience put it in his power to be of real use to me. I cannot but say +he has done an essential service to future travellers, and to the colony +at large, by his conduct on all occasions since he has been with me; nor +should I be doing him justice, if I did not avail myself of the first +opportunity of laying my sentiments before the Governor, through you. I am +happy to add that every individual of the party deserves my warmest +approbation, and that they have, one and all, borne their distresses, +trifling certainly, but still unusual, with cheerfulness, and that they +have at all times been attentive to their duty, and obedient to their +orders. The whole are in good health, and are eager again to start. + +I have the honor to be, +Sir +Your most obedient and most humble servant, +CHARLES STURT, +Capt. 39th Regt. + +THE HONORABLE THE COLONIAL SECRETARY. + + +* * * * * + + +MOUNT HARRIS, 5TH MARCH, 1829. + +SIR,--It having appeared to me, that after discovering such a river as the +one I have described in my letter of yesterday, His Excellency the +Governor would approve of my endeavouring to regain it. There being a +probability that it ultimately joins the Southern Waters, I thought of +turning my steps to the southward and westward; and with a view to learn +the nature of the country, I despatched Mr. Hume in that direction on +Saturday last. He returned in three days, after having gone above forty +miles from the river, and states, that he crossed two creeks, the one +about twenty-five miles, the other about thirty-two distance, evidently +the heads of the creeks we passed westward of the marshes of the +Macquarie. He adds, that, to the second creek the land was excellent, but +that on crossing it, he got onto red soil, on which he travelled some +miles further, until he saw a range of high land, bearing from him S.W.. +by W., when, knowing from the nature of the country around him, and from +the experience of our late journey, that he could not hope to find a +regular supply of water in advance, and that in the present dry state of +the low lands, a movement such as I had contemplated would be +impracticable, he returned home. I do myself the honour, therefore, to +report to you, for His Excellency's information, that I shall proceed on +Saturday next in a N.E. direction towards the Castlereagh, intending to +trace that river down, and afterwards to penetrate as far to the northward +and westward as possible; it being my wish to get into the country north +of the more distant river, where I have expectations that there is an +extensive and valuable track of country, but that in failure of the above, +I shall examine the low country behind our N.W. boundaries, if I can find +a sufficiency of water to enable me to do so. + +I am to inform you that in this neighbourhood the Macquarie has ceased to +flow, and that it is now a chain of shallow ponds. The water is fast +diminishing in it, and unless rain descends in a few weeks it will be +perfectly dry. + +I am also to report, that the natives attempted the camp with the supplies +before my arrival at Mount Harris, but that on the soldier with the party +firing a shot, after they had thrown a stone and other of the weapons, +they fled. It was in consequence of their fires, which I saw at a distance +of forty miles, and which they never make on so extensive a scale, except +as signals when they want to collect, and are inclined to be mischievous, +that I made forced marches up, and I am led to believe my arrival was very +opportune. The natives have visited us since, and I do not think they will +now attempt to molest either party when we separate. + +I have the honour to be, +Sir, +Your most obedient and most humble servant, +CHARLES STURT, +Capt. 39th Regt. + +THE HON. THE COLONIAL SECRETARY. + + + +END OF VOLUME I + + + +* * * * * * * + + + + + +VOLUME II. + + + + +CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME + +EXPEDITION DOWN THE MORUMBIDGEE AND MURRAY RIVERS, IN 1829, 1830 AND 1831. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +Introductory--Remarks on the results of the former Expedition--The +fitting out of another determined on--Its objects--Provisions, +accoutrements, and retinue--Paper furnished by Mr. Kent--Causes that have +prevented the earlier appearance of the present work. + + +CHAPTER II. + +Commencement of the expedition in November, 1829.--Joined by Mr. George +M'Leay--Appearance of the party--Breadalbane Plains--Hospitality of Mr. +O'Brien--Yass Plains--Hill of Pouni--Path of a hurricane--Character of the +country between Underaliga and the Morumbidgee--Appearance of that river-- +Junction of the Dumot with it--Crossing and recrossing--Geological +character and general aspect of the country--Plain of Pondebadgery--Few +natives seen. + + +CHAPTER III. + +Character of the Morumbidgee where it issues from the hilly country-- +Appearance of approach to swamps--Hamilton Plains--Intercourse with the +natives--Their appearance, customs, &c.--Change in the character of the +river--Mirage-- Dreariness of the country--Ride towards the Lachlan river +--Two boats built and launched on the Morumbidgee; and the drays, with +part of the men sent back to Goulburn Plains. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Embarkation of the party in the boats, and voyage down the Morumbidgee-- +The skiff swamped by striking on a sunken tree--Recovery of boat and its +loading--Region of reeds--Dangers of the navigation--Contraction of the +channel--Reach the junction of a large river--Intercourse with the natives +on its banks--Character of the country below the junction of the rivers-- +Descent of a dangerous rapid--Warlike demonstrations of a tribe of +natives--Unexpected deliverance from a conflict with them--Junction of +another river--Give the name of the "Murray" to the principal stream. + + +CHAPTER V. + +Character of the country--Damage of provisions--Adroitness of the natives +in catching fish--The skiff broken up--Stream from the North-East supposed +to be the Darling--Change of country in descending the river--Intercourse +with the natives--Prevalence of loathsome diseases among them--Apparent +populousness of the country--Junction of several small streams--The Rufus, +the Lindesay, &c.--Rainy and tempestuous weather--Curious appearance of +the banks--Troublesomeness of the natives--Inhospitable and desolate +aspect of the country--Condition of the men--Change in the geological +character of the country--The river passes through a valley among hills. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Improvement in the aspect of the country--Increase of the river--Strong +westerly gales--Chronometer broken--A healthier tribe of natives-- +Termination of the Murray in a large lake--Its extent and environs-- +Passage across it--Hostile appearance of the natives-- Beautiful scenery +--Channel from the lake to the sea at Encounter Bay--Reach the beach-- +Large flocks of water fowl--Curious refraction--State of provisions-- +Embarrassing situation--Inspection of the channel to the ocean--Weak +condition of the men--Difficulties of the return. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Valley of the Murray--Its character and capabilities--Laborious progress +up the river--Accident to the boat--Perilous collision with the natives +--Turbid current of the Rufus--Passage of the Rapids--Assisted by the +natives--Dangerous intercourse with them--Re-enter the Morumbidgee-- +Verdant condition of its banks--Nocturnal encounter with the natives-- +Interesting manifestation of feeling in one family--Reach the spot where +the party had embarked on the river--Men begin to fail entirely-- +Determine to send two men forward for relief--Their return--Excursion on +horseback--Reach Pondebadgery Plain, and meet the supplies from the +colony--Cannibalism of the natives--Return to Sydney--Concluding remarks. + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Environs of the lake Alexandrina--Appointment of Capt. Barker to make a +further survey of the coast near Encounter Bay--Narrative of his +proceedings--Mount Lofty, Mount Barker, and beautiful country adjacent-- +Australian salmon--Survey of the coast--Outlet of lake to the sea-- +Circumstances that led to the slaughter of Capt. Barker by the natives-- +His character--Features of this part of the country and capabilities of +its coasts--Its adaptation for colonization--Suggestions for the +furtherance of future Expeditions. + + +APPENDIX. + +No. I. Geological Specimens found to the south-west of Port Jackson +No. II. Official Report to the Colonial Government + + +ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE SECOND VOLUME +(Not included in this etext) + +View on the Morumbidgee River +Junction of the supposed Darling with the Murray +Palaeornis Melanura, or Black Tailed Paroquet +Pomatorhinus Temporalis +Pomatorhinus Superciliosus +Chart of Cape Jervis, and Encounter Bay +Mass of Fossils of the Tertiary Formation +Bulla +Conus +Genus Unknown +Chrystallized Selenite +Selenite +Single Fossils of the Tertiary Formation + + + + +EXPEDITION DOWN THE MORUMBIDGEE AND MURRAY RIVERS, IN 1829, 1830 AND 1831. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + +Introductory + + +Remarks on the results of the former Expedition--The fitting out of +another determined on--Its objects--Provisions, accoutrements, and +retinue--Paper furnished by Mr. Kent--Causes that have prevented the +earlier appearance of the present work. + +OBJECTS OF THE EXPEDITION. + +The expedition of which we have just detailed the proceedings was so far +satisfactory in its results, that it not only set at rest the hypothesis +of the existence of an internal shoal sea in southern Australia, and +ascertained the actual termination of the rivers it had been directed to +trace, but also added very largely to our knowledge of the country +considerably to the westward of former discoveries. And although no land +had been traversed of a fertile description of sufficient extent to invite +the settler, the fact of a large river such as the Darling lying at the +back of our almost intertropical settlements, gave a fresh importance to +the distant interior. It was evident that this river was the chief drain +for carrying off the waters falling westerly from the eastern coast, and +as its course indicated a decline of country diametrically opposite to +that which had been calculated upon, it became an object of great +importance to ascertain its further direction. Had not the saline quality +of its waters been accounted for, by the known existence of brine springs +in its bed, it would have been natural to have supposed that it +communicated with some mediterranean sea; but, under existing +circumstances, it remained to be proved whether this river held on a due +south course, or whether it ultimately turned westerly, and ran into the +heart of the interior. In order fully to determine this point, it would be +necessary to regain it banks, so far below the parallel to which it had +been traced as to leave no doubt of its identity; but it was difficult to +fix upon a plan for approaching that central stream without suffering from +the want of water, since it could hardly be expected that the Lachlan +would afford such means, as it was reasonable to presume that its +termination was very similar to that of the Macquarie. The attention of +the government was, consequently, fixed upon the Morumbidgee, a river +stated to be of considerable size and of impetuous current. Receiving its +supplies from the lofty ranges behind Mount Dromedary, it promised to hold +a longer course than those rivers which, depending on periodical rains +alone for existence, had been found so soon to exhaust themselves. + +PREPARATIONS. + +The fitting out of another expedition was accordingly determined upon; and +about the end of September 1829, I received the Governor's instructions to +make the necessary preparations for a second descent into the interior, +for the purpose of tracing the Morumbidgee, or such rivers as it might +prove to be connected with, as far as practicable. In the event of failure +in this object, it was hoped that an attempt to regain the banks of the +Darling on a N.W. course from the point at which the expedition might be +thwarted in its primary views, would not be unattended with success. Under +any circumstances, however, by pursuing these measures, an important part +of the colony would necessarily be traversed, of which the features were +as yet altogether unknown. + +It became my interest and my object to make the expedition as complete as +possible, and, as far as in me lay, to provide for every contingency: and +as it appeared to me that, in all likelihood, we should in one stage or +other of our journey have to trust entirely to water conveyance, I +determined on taking a whale-boat, whose dimensions and strength should in +some measure be proportioned to the service required. I likewise +constructed a small still for the distillation of water, in the event of +our finding the water of the Darling salt, when we should reach its banks. +The whale-boat, after being fitted, was taken to pieces for more +convenient carriage, as has been more particularly detailed in the last +chapter of the preceding volume. + +So little danger had been apprehended from the natives in the former +journey, that three firelocks had been considered sufficient for our +defence. On the present occasion, however, I thought it adviseable to +provide arms for each individual. + +Mr. Hume declined accompanying me, as the harvest was at hand. Mr. George +M'Leay therefore supplied his place, rather as a companion than as an +assistant; and of those who accompanied me down the banks of the +Macquarie, I again selected Harris (my body servant), Hopkinson, and +Fraser. + +MR. KENT'S REPORT. + +The concluding chapter of this volume, relative to the promontory of +St. Vincent, or Cape Jarvis, has been furnished me by the kindness of +Mr. Kent, who accompanied the lamented officer to whom the further +exploration of that part of coast unhappily proved fatal. There is a +melancholy coincidence between Captain Barker's death and that of Captain +Cook, which cannot fail to interest the public, as the information that +has been furnished will call for their serious consideration. I shall +leave for their proper place, the remarks I have to offer upon it, since +my motive in these prefatory observations has been, to carry the reader +forward to that point at which he will have to view the proceedings of the +expedition alone, in order the more satisfactorily to arrive at their +results. And, although he must expect a considerable portion of dry +reading in the following pages, I have endeavoured to make the narrative +of events, some of which are remarkably striking, as interesting as +possible. + +REMARKS ON THE PRESENT WORK; DELIVERANCE FROM DANGERS. + +It only remains for me to refer the reader to the concluding chapter of +the preceding volume, for such general information as I have been enabled +to furnish upon the nature of the services on which I was employed, and on +the manner of conducting similar expeditions. Indeed, I trust that this +book (whatever be its defects) will be found to contain much valuable +information of a practical character, and I may venture to affirm, that it +will give a true description of the country, and of the various other +subjects of which it treats. + +Notwithstanding that I have in my dedication alluded to the causes that +prevented the earlier appearance of this work, I feel it due both to +myself and the public here to state, that during these expeditions my +health had suffered so much, that I was unable to bear up against the +effects of exposure, bodily labour, poverty of diet, and the anxiety of +mind to which I was subjected. A residence on Norfolk Island, under +peculiarly harassing circumstances, completed that which the above causes +had commenced; and, after a succession of attacks, I became totally blind, +and am still unable either to read what I pen, or to venture abroad +without an attendant. When it is recollected, that I have been unassisted +in this work in any one particular, I hope some excuse will be found for +its imperfections. A wish to contribute to the public good led me to +undertake those journeys which have cost me so much. The same feeling +actuates me in recording their results; and I have the satisfaction to +know, that my path among a large and savage population was a bloodless +one; and that my intercourse with them was such as to lessen the danger to +future adventurers upon such hazardous enterprises, and to give them hope +where I had so often despaired. Something more powerful, than human +foresight or human prudence, appeared to avert the calamities and dangers +with which I and my companions were so frequently threatened; and had it +not been for the guidance and protection we received from the Providence +of that good and all-wise Being to whose care we committed ourselves, we +should, ere this, have ceased to rank among the number of His earthly +creatures. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + +Commencement of the expedition in November, 1829.--Joined by Mr. George +M'Leay--Appearance of the party--Breadalbane Plains--Hospitality of Mr. +O'Brien--Yass Plains--Hill of Pouni--Path of a hurricane--Character of the +country between Underaliga and the Morumbidgee--Appearance of that river-- +Junction of the Dumot with it--Crossing and recrossing--Geological +character and general aspect of the country--Plain of Pondebadgery--Few +natives seen. + + +The expedition which traversed the marshes of the Macquarie, left Sydney +on the 10th day of Nov. 1828. That destined to follow the waters of the +Morumbidgee, took its departure from the same capital on the 3rd of the +same month in the ensuing year. Rain had fallen in the interval, but not +in such quantities as to lead to the apprehension that it had either +influenced or swollen the western streams. It was rather expected that the +winter falls would facilitate the progress of the expedition, and it was +hoped that, as the field of its operations would in all probability be +considerably to the south of the parallel of Port Jackson, the extreme +heat to which the party and the animals had been exposed on the former +journey, would be less felt on the present occasion. + +As there was no Government establishment to the S.W. at which I could +effect any repairs, or recruit my supplies, as I had done at Wellington +Valley, the expedition, when it left Sydney, was completed in every +branch, and was so fully provided with every necessary implement and +comfort, as to render any further aid, even had such been attainable, in a +great measure unnecessary. The Governor had watched over my preparations +with a degree of anxiety that evidenced the interest he felt in the +expedition, and his arrangements to ensure, as far as practicable, our +being met on our return, in the event of our being in distress, were +equally provident and satisfactory. It was not, however, to the providing +for our wants in the interior alone that His Excellency's views were +directed, but orders were given to hold a vessel in readiness, to be +dispatched at a given time to St. Vincent's Gulf, in case we should +ultimately succeed in making the south coast in its neighbourhood. + +LEAVE SYDNEY. + +The morning on which I left Sydney a second time, under such doubtful +circumstances, was perfectly serene and clear. I found myself at 5 a.m. of +that delightful morning leading my horses through the gates of those +barracks whose precincts I might never again enter, and whose inmates I +might never again behold assembled in military array. Yet, although the +chance of misfortune flashed across my mind, I was never lighter at heart, +or more joyous in spirit. It appeared to me that the stillness and harmony +of nature influenced my feelings on the occasion, and my mind forgot the +storms of life, as nature at that moment seemed to have forgotten the +tempests that sometimes agitate her. + +APPEARANCE OF THE PARTY. + +I proceeded direct to the house of my friend Mr. J. Deas Thomson, who had +agreed to accompany me to Brownlow Hill, a property belonging to +Mr. M'Leay, the Colonial Secretary, where his son, Mr. George M'Leay, was +to join the expedition. As soon as we had taken a hasty breakfast, I went +to the carters' barracks to superintend the first loading of the animals. +Mr. Murray, the superintendent, had arranged every article so well, and +had loaded the drays so compactly that I had no trouble, and little time +was lost in saddling the pack animals. At a quarter before 7 the party +filed through the turnpike-gate, and thus commenced its journey with the +greatest regularity. I have the scene, even at this distance of time, +vividly impressed upon my mind, and I have no doubt the kind friend who +was near me on the occasion, bears it as strongly on his recollection. +My servant Harris, who had shared my wanderings and had continued in my +service for eighteen years, led the advance, with his companion Hopkinson. +Nearly abreast of them the eccentric Fraser stalked along wholly lost in +thought. The two former had laid aside their military habits, and had +substituted the broad brimmed hat and the bushman's dress in their place, +but it was impossible to guess how Fraser intended to protect himself from +the heat or the damp, so little were his habiliments suited for the +occasion. He had his gun over his shoulder, and his double shot belt as +full as it could be of shot, although there was not a chance of his +expending a grain during the day. Some dogs Mr. Maxwell had kindly sent me +followed close at his heels, as if they knew his interest in them, and +they really seemed as if they were aware that they were about to exchange +their late confinement for the freedom of the woods. The whole of these +formed a kind of advanced guard. At some distance in the rear the drays +moved slowly along, on one of which rode the black boy mentioned in my +former volume, and behind them followed the pack animals. Robert Harris, +whom I had appointed to superintend the animals generally, kept his place +near the horses, and the heavy Clayton, my carpenter, brought up the rear. +I shall not forget the interest Thomson appeared to take in a scene that +must certainly have been new to him. Our progress was not checked by the +occurrence of a single accident, nor did I think it necessary to remain +with the men after we had gained that turn which, at about four miles from +Sydney, branches off to the left, and leads direct to Liverpool. From this +Point my companion and I pushed forward, in order to terminate a fifty +miles' ride a little sooner than we should have done at the leisurely pace +we had kept during the early part of our journey. We remained in Liverpool +for a short time, to prepare the commissariat office for the reception, +and to ensure the accommodation, of the party; and reached Brownlow Hill +a little after sunset. + +LIVERPOOL-GOULBURN PLAINS. + +As I have already described the country on this line of road as far us +Goulburn Plains, it will not be considered necessary that I should again +notice its features with minuteness. + +WALLANDILLY-TYRANNA. + +The party arrived at Glendarewel, the farm attached to Brownlow Hill, on +the 5th. I resumed my journey alone on the 8th. M'Leay had still some few +arrangements to make, so that I dispensed with his immediate attendance. +He overtook me, however, sooner than I expected, on the banks of the +Wallandilly. I had encamped under the bluff end of Cookbundoon, and, +having been disappointed in getting bearings when crossing the Razor Back, +I hoped that I should be enabled to connect a triangle from the summit +of Cookbundoon, or to secure bearings of some prominent hill to the south. +I found the brush, however, so thick on the top of the mountain, that I +could obtain no satisfactory view, and and M'Leay, who accompanied me, +agreed with me in considering that we were but ill repaid for the hot +scramble we had had. Crossing the western extremity of Goulburn Plains on +the 15th, we encamped on a chain of ponds behind Doctor Gibson's residence +at Tyranna, and as I had some arrangements to make with that gentleman, +I determined to give both the men and animals a day's rest. I availed +myself of Doctor Gibson's magazines to replace such of my provisions as I +had expended, as I found that I could do so without putting him to any +inconvenience; and I added two of his men to the party, intending to send +them back, in case of necessity, or, when we should have arrived at that +point from which it might appear expedient to forward an account of my +progress and ultimate views, for the governor's information. + +On the 17th we struck the tents, and, crossing the chain of ponds near +which they had been pitched, entered a forest track, that gave place to +barren stony ridges of quartz formation. These continued for six or seven +miles, in the direction of Breadalbane Plains, upon which we were obliged +to stop, as we should have had some difficulty in procuring either water +or food, within any moderate distance beyond them. The water, indeed, that +we were obliged to content ourselves with was by no means good. +Breadalbane Plains are of inconsiderable extent, and are surrounded by +ridges, the appearance of which is not very promising. Large white masses +of quartz rock lie scattered over them, amongst trees of stunted growth. +Mr. Redall's farm was visible at the further extremity of the plains from +that by which we had entered them. It would appear that these plains are +connected with Goulburn Plains by a narrow valley, that was too wet for +the drays to have traversed. + +BREADALBANE PLAINS. + +Doctor Gibson had kindly accompanied us to Breadalbane Plains. On the +morning of the 18th he returned to Tyranna, and we pursued our journey, +keeping mostly on a W.S.W. course. From the barren hills over which we +passed, on leaving the plains, we descended upon an undulating country, +and found a change of rock, as well as of vegetation, upon it. Granite and +porphyry constituted its base. An open forest, on which the eucalyptus +mannifera alone prevailed, lay on either side of us, and although the soil +was coarse, and partook in a great measure of the decomposition of the +rock it covered, there was no deficiency of grass. On the contrary, this +part of the interior is decidedly well adapted for pasturing cattle. + +THE LORN. + +About 1 p.m. we passed Mr. Hume's station, with whom I remained for a +short time. He had fixed his establishment on the banks of the Lorn, a +small river, issuing from the broken country near Lake George, and now +ascertained to be one of the largest branches of the Lachlan River. We had +descended a barren pass of stringy bark scrub, on sandstone rock, a little +before we reached Mr. Hume's station, but around it the same, open forest +tract again prevailed. We crossed the Lorn, at 2 o'clock, leaving +Mr. Broughton's farm upon our left, and passed through a broken country, +which was very far from being deficient in pasture. We encamped on the +side of a water-course, about 4 o'clock, having travelled about fifteen +miles. + +On the 19th, we observed no change in the soil or aspect of the country, +for the first five miles. The eucalyptus mannifera was the most prevalent +of the forest trees, and certainly its presence indicated a more +flourishing state in the minor vegetation. At about five miles, however, +from where we had slept, sandstone reappeared, and with it the barren +scrub that usually grows upon a sandy and inhospitable soil. One of the +drays was upset in its progress down a broken pass, where the road had +been altogether neglected, and it was difficult to avoid accidents. +Fortunately we suffered no further than in the delay that the necessity of +unloading the dray, and reloading it, occasioned. Mr. O'Brien, an +enterprising settler, who had pushed his flocks to the banks of the +Morumbidgee, and who was proceeding to visit his several stations, +overtook us in the midst of our troubles. We had already passed each other +frequently on the road, but he now preceded me to his establishment at +Yass; at which I proposed remaining for a day. We stopped about three +miles short of the plains for the night, at the gorge of the pass through +which we had latterly been advancing, and had gradually descended to a +more open country. From the place at which we were temporarily delayed, +and which is not inappropriately called the Devil's Pass, the road winds +about between ranges, differing in every respect from any we had as yet +noticed. The sides of the hills were steeper, and their summits sharper, +than any we had crossed. They were thickly covered with eucalypti and +brush, and, though based upon sandstone, were themselves of a schistose +formation. + +YASS PLAINS. + +Yharr or Yass Plains were discovered by Mr. Hovel, and Mr. Hume, the +companion of my journey down the Macquarie, in 1828. They take their name +from the little river that flows along their north and north-west +boundaries. They are surrounded on every side by forests, and excepting to +the W.N.W., as a central point, by hill. Undulating, but naked themselves, +they have the appearance of open downs, and are most admirably adapted for +sheep-walks, not only in point of vegetation, but also, because their +inequalities prevent their becoming swampy during the rainy season. They +are from nine to twelve miles in length and from five to seven in breadth, +and although large masses of sandstone are scattered over them, a blue +secondary limestone composes the general bed of the river, that was darker +in colour and more compact than I had remarked the same kind of rock, +either at Wellington Valley, or in the Shoal Haven Gully. I have no doubt +that Yass Plains will ere long be wholly taken up as sheep-walks, and that +their value to the grazier will in a great measure counterbalance its +distance from the coast, or, more properly speaking, from the capital. +Sheep I should imagine would thrive uncommonly well upon these plains, +and would suffer less from distempers incidental to locality and to +climate, than in many parts of the colony over which they are now +wandering in thousands. And if the plains themselves do not afford +extensive arable tracts, there is, at least, sufficient good land near the +river to supply the wants of a numerous body of settlers. + +HOSPITALITY OF MR. O'BRIEN. + +We left Mr. O'Brien's station on the morning of the 21st, and, agreeably +to his advice, determined on gaining the Morumbidgee, by a circuit to the +N.W., rather than endanger the safety of the drays by entering the +mountain passes to the westward. Mr. O'Brien, however, would not permit us +to depart from his dwelling without taking away with us some further +proofs of his hospitality. The party had pushed forward before I, or +Mr. M'Leay, had mounted our horses; but on overtaking it, we found that +eight fine wethers had been added to our stock of animals. + +HILL OF POUNI; ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. + +To the W.N.W. of Yass Plains there is a remarkable hill, called Pouni, +remarkable not so much on account of its height, as of its commanding +position. It had, I believe, already been ascended by one of the +Surveyor-general's assistants. The impracticability of the country to the +south of it, obliged us to pass under its opposite base, from which an +open forest country extended to the northward. We had already recrossed +the Yass River, and passed Mr. Barber's station, to that of Mr. Hume's +father, at which we stopped for a short time. Both farms are well +situated, the latter I should say, romantically so, it being immediately +under Pouni, the hill we have noticed. The country around both was open, +and both pasture and water were abundant. + +Mr. O'Brien had been kind enough to send one of the natives who frequented +his station to escort us to his more advanced station upon the +Morumbidgee. Had it not been for the assistance we received from this man, +I should have had but little leisure for other duties: as it was however, +there was no fear of the party going astray. This gave M'Leay and myself +an opportunity of ascending Pouni, for the purpose of taking bearings; and +how ever warm the exertion of the ascent made us, the view from the summit +of the hill sufficiently repaid us, and the cool breeze that struck it, +although imperceptible in the forest below, soon dried the perspiration +from our brows. The scenery around us was certainly varied, yet many +parts of it put me forcibly in mind of the dark and gloomy tracks over +which my eye had wandered from similar elevations on the former journey. +This was especially the case in looking to the north, towards which point +the hills forming the right of the valley by which we had entered the +plains, decreased so rapidly in height that they were lost in the general +equality of the more remote country, almost ere they had reached abreast +of my position. From E.S.E. to W.S.W. the face of the country was hilly, +broken and irregular; forming deep ravines and precipitous glens, amid +which I was well aware the Morumbidgee was still struggling for freedom; +while mountains succeeded mountains in the back-ground, and were +themselves overtopped by lofty and very distant peaks. To the eastward, +however, the hills wore a more regular form, and were lightly covered with +wood. The plains occupied the space between them and Pouni; and a smaller +plain bore N.N.E. which, being embosomed in the forest, had hitherto +escaped our notice. + +We overtook the party just as it cleared the open ground through which it +had previously been moving. A barren scrub succeeded it for about eight +miles. The soil in this scrub was light and sandy. + +We stopped for the night at the head of a valley that seemed to have been +well trodden by cattle. The feed, therefore, was not abundant, nor was the +water good. We had, however, made a very fair journey, and I was unwilling +to press the animals. But in consequence, I fancy, of the scarcity of +food, they managed to creep away during the night, with the exception of +three or four of the bullocks, nor should we have collected them again so +soon as we did, or without infinite trouble, had it not been for our guide +and my black boy. We unavoidably lost a day, but left our position on the +23rd, for Underaliga, a station occupied by Doctor Harris, the gentleman I +have already had occasion to mention. We reached the banks of the creek +near the stock hut, about 4 p.m., having journeyed during the greater part +of the day through a poor country, partly of scrub and partly of open +forest-land, in neither of which was the soil or vegetation fresh or +abundant. At about three miles from Underaliga, the country entirely +changed its character, and its flatness was succeeded by a broken and +undulating surface. The soil upon the hills was coarse and sandy, from the +decomposition of the granite rock that constituted their base. +Nevertheless, the grass was abundant on the hills, though the roots or +tufts were far apart; and the hills were lightly studded with trees. + +COURSE OF A HURRICANE. + +In the course of the day we crossed the line of a hurricane that had just +swept with resistless force over the country, preserving a due north +course, and which we had heard from a distance, fortunately too great to +admit of its injuring us. It had opened a fearful gap in the forest +through which it had passed, of about a quarter of a mile in breadth. +Within that space, no tree had been able to withstand its fury, for it had +wrenched every bough from such as it had failed to prostrate, and they +stood naked in the midst of the surrounding wreck. I am inclined to think +that the rudeness of nature itself in these wild and uninhabited regions, +gives birth to these terrific phenomena. They have never occurred, so far +as I know, in the located districts. Our guide deserted us in the early +part of the day without assigning any reason for doing so. He went off +without being noticed, and thus lost the reward that would have been +bestowed on him had he mentioned his wish to return to Yass. I the more +regretted his having sneaked off, because he had had the kindness to put +us on a track we could not well lose. + +COUNTRY FROM UNDERALIGA TO MORUMBIDGEE. + +Underaliga, is said to be thirty miles from the Morumbidgee. The country +between the two has a sameness of character throughout. It is broken and +irregular, yet no one hill rises conspicuously over the rest. We found +ourselves at one time on their summits beside huge masses of granite, at +others crossing valleys of rich soil and green appearance. A country under +cultivation is so widely different from one the sod of which has never +been broken by the plough, that it is difficult and hazardous to form a +decided opinion on the latter. If you ask a stockman what kind of a +country lies, either to his right, or to his left, he is sure to condemn +it, unless it will afford the most abundant pasture. Accustomed to roam +about from one place to another, these men despise any but the richest +tracts, and include the rest of the neighbourhood in one sweeping clause +of condemnation. Thus I was led to expect, that we should pass over a +country of the very worst description, between Underaliga and the +Morumbidgee. Had it been similar to that midway between Yass and +Uuderaliga, we should, in truth, have found it so; but it struck me, that +there were many rich tracts of ground among the valleys of the former, and +that the very hills had a fair covering of grass upon them. What though +the soil was coarse, if the vegetation was good and sufficient? Perhaps +the greatest drawback to this part of the interior is the want of water; +yet we crossed several creeks, and remarked some deep water holes, that +can never be exhausted, even in the driest season. Wherever the situation +favoured our obtaining a view of the country on either side of us, while +among these hills, we found that to the eastward lofty and mountainous; +whilst that to the westward, had the appearance of fast sinking into +a level. + +JUGGIONG. + +A short time before we reached the Morumbidgee, we forded a creek, which +we crossed a second time where it falls into the river. After crossing it +the first time we opened a flat, on which the marks of sheep were +abundant. In the distance there was a small hill, and on its top a bark +hut. We were not until then aware of our being so near the river, but as +Mr. O'Brien had informed me that he had a station for sheep, at a place +called Juggiong, by the natives, on the immediate banks of the river, I +did not doubt that we had, at length, arrived at it. And so it proved. I +went to the hut, to ascertain where I could conveniently stop for the +night, but the residents were absent. I could not but admire the position +they had taken up. The hill upon which their hut was erected was not more +than fifty feet high, but it immediately overlooked the river, and +commanded not only the flat we had traversed in approaching it, but also a +second flat on the opposite side. The Morumbidgee came down to the foot of +this little hill from the south, and, of course, running to the north, +which latter direction it suddenly takes up from a previous S.W. one, on +meeting some hills that check its direct course. From the hill on which +the hut stands, it runs away westward, almost in a direct line, for three +miles, so that the position commands a view of both the reaches, which are +overhung by the casuarina and flooded-gum. Rich alluvial flats lie to the +right of the stream, backed by moderate hills, that were lightly studded +with trees, and clothed with verdure to their summits. Some moderate +elevations also backed a flat, on the left bank of the river, but the +colour of the soil upon the latter, as well as its depressed situation, +showed clearly that it was subject to flood, and had received the worst of +the depositions from the mountains. The hills behind it were also bare, +and of a light red colour, betraying, as I imagined, a distinct formation +from, and poorer character than, the hills behind us. At about three miles +the river again suddenly changes its direction from west to south, for +about a mile, when it inclines to the S.E. until it nearly encircles the +opposite hills, when it assumes its proper direction, and flows away to +the S.W. + +CROSS THE UNDERALIGA; REACH THE MORUMBIDGEE. + +We crossed the Underaliga creek a little below the stock hut, and encamped +about a mile beyond it, in the centre of a long plain. We were surrounded +on every side by hills, from which there was no visible outlet, as they +appeared to follow the bend of the river, with an even and unbroken +outline. The scenery around us was wild, romantic, and beautiful; as +beautiful as a rich and glowing sunset in the most delightful climate +under the heavens could make it. I had been more anxious to gain the banks +of the Morumbidgee on this occasion, than I had been on a former one to +gain those of the Macquarie, for although I could not hope to see the +Morumbidgee all that it had been described to me, yet I felt that on its +first appearance I should in some measure ground my anticipations of +ultimate success. When I arrived on the banks of the Macquarie, it had +almost ceased to flow, and its current was so gentle as to be scarcely +perceptible. Instead, however, of a river in such a state of exhaustion, +I now looked down upon a stream, whose current it would have been +difficult to breast, and whose waters, foaming among rocks, or circling in +eddies, gave early promise of a reckless course. It must have been +somewhat below its ordinary level, and averaged a breadth of about 80 +feet. Its waters were hard and transparent, and its bed was composed of +mountain debris, and large fragments of rock. As soon as the morning +dawned, the tents were struck and we pursued our journey. We followed the +line of the river, until we found ourselves in a deep bight to the S.E. +The hills that had been gradually closing in upon the river, now +approached it so nearly, that there was no room for the passage of the +drays. We were consequently obliged to turn back, and, moving along the +base of the ranges, by which we were thus apparently enclosed, we at +length found a steep pass, the extreme narrowness of which had hidden it +from our observation. By this pass we were now enabled to effect our +escape. On gaining the summit of the hills, we travelled south for three +or four miles, through open forests, and on level ground. But we +ultimately descended into a valley in which we halted for the night. On a +closer examination of the neighbourhood, it appeared that our position was +at the immediate junction of two valleys, where, uniting the waters of +their respective creeks, the main branch declines rapidly towards the +river. One of these valleys extended to to the S.W., the other to the +W.N.W. It was evident to us that our route lay up the former; and I made +no doubt we should easily reach Whaby's station on the morrow. + +ADJACENT COUNTRY. + +We were now far beyond the acknowledged limits of the located parts of the +colony, and Mr. Whaby's station was the last at which we could expect even +the casual supply of milk or other trifling relief. Yet, although the +prospect of so soon leaving even the outskirts of civilization, and being +wholly thrown on our own resources, was so near, it never for a moment +weighed upon the minds of the men. The novelty of the scenery, and the +beauty of the river on which they were journeying, excited in them the +liveliest anticipations of success. The facility with which we had +hitherto pushed forward blinded them to future difficulties, nor could +there be a more cheerful spectacle than that which the camp daily +afforded. The animals browzing in the distance, and the men talking over +their pipes of the probable adventures they might encounter. The loads +had by this time settled properly, and our provisions proved of the very +best quality, so that no possible improvement could have been made for the +better. + +WHABY'S STATION. + +On the morrow we pushed up the southernmost of the valleys, at the +junction of which we had encamped, having moderate hills on either side of +us. At the head of the valley we crossed a small dividing range into +another valley, and halted for the night, on the banks of a creek from the +westward, as we found it impossible to reach Whaby's station, as we had +intended, before sunset. Nothing could exceed the luxuriance of the +vegetation in this valley, but the water of the creek was so impregnated +with iron, as to be almost useless. Being anxious to obtain a view of the +surrounding country, I ascended a hill behind the camp, just as the sun +was sinking, a time the most favourable for the object I had in view. The +country, broken into hill and dale, seemed richer than any tract I had as +yet surveyed; and the beauty of the near landscape was greatly +heightened by the mountainous scenery to the S. and S.E. Both the +laxmania, and zanthorea were growing around me; but neither appeared to be +in congenial soil. The face of the hill was very stony, and I found, on +examination, that a great change had taken place in the rock-formation, +the granite ranges having given place to chlorite schist. + +We reached Whaby's about 9 a.m. of the morning of the 27th, and received +every attention and civility from him. The valley in which we had slept +opened upon an extensive plain, to the eastward of which the Morumbidgee +formed the extreme boundary; and it was in a bight, and on ground rather +elevated above the plain, that he had fixed his residence. He informed +me that we should have to cross the river, as its banks were too +precipitous, and the ranges too abrupt, to admit of our keeping the right +side; and recommended me to examine and fix upon a spot at which to cross, +before I again moved forward, expressing his readiness to accompany me as +a guide. We accordingly rode down the river, to a place at which some +stockman had effected a passage,--after a week's labour in hewing out a +canoe. I by no means intended that a similar delay should occur in our +case, but I saw no objection to our crossing at the same place; since its +depth, and consequent tranquillity, rendered it eligible enough for that +purpose. + +THE RIVER DUMOT. + +The Dumot river, another mountain stream, joins the Morumbidgee opposite +to Mr. Whaby's residence. It is little inferior to the latter either in +size or in the rapidity of its current, and, if I may rely on the +information I received, waters a finer country, the principal +rock-formation upon it being of limestone and whinstone. It rises amidst +the snowy ranges to the S.E., and its banks are better peopled than those +of the stream into which it discharges itself. Of course, such a tributary +enlarges the Morumbidgee considerably: indeed, the fact is sufficiently +evident from the appearance of the latter below the junction. + +During our ride with Whaby down its banks, we saw nothing but the richest +flats, almost entirely clear of timber and containing from 400 to 700 +acres, backed by ranges that were but partially wooded, and were clothed +with verdure to their very summits. The herds that were scattered over the +first were almost lost in the height of the vegetation, and the ranges +served as natural barriers to prevent them from straying away. + +CROSS AND RE-CROSS THE MORUMBIDGEE. + +On the following morning, we started for the place at which it had been +arranged that we should cross the Morumbidgee, but, though no more than +five miles in a direct line from Whaby's house, in consequence of the +irregularity of the ground, the drays did not reach it before noon. The +weight and quantity of our stores being taken into consideration, the task +we had before us was not a light one. Such, however, was the industry of +the men, that before it became dark the whole of them, including the drays +and sheep, were safely deposited on the opposite bank. We were enabled to +be thus expeditious, by means of a punt that we made with the tarpaulins +on an oblong frame. As soon as it was finished, a rope was conveyed across +the river, and secured to a tree, and a running cord being then fastened +to the punt, a temporary ferry was established, and the removal of our +stores rendered comparatively easy. M'Leay undertook to drive the horses +and cattle over a ford below us, but he did not calculate on the stubborn +disposition of the latter, and, consequently, experienced some difficulty, +and was well nigh swept away by the current. So great was his difficulty, +that he was obliged to land, to his great discomfiture, amidst a grove of +lofty nettles. Mulholland, who accompanied him, and who happened to be +naked, was severly stung by them. The labour of the day was, however, +satisfactorily concluded, and we lay down to rest with feelings of entire +satisfaction. + +A great part of the following day was consumed in reloading, nor did we +pursue our journey until after two o'clock. We then passed over tracks on +the left of the river of the same rich description that existed on its +right; they were much intersected by creeks, but were clear of timber, +and entirely out of the reach of floods. At about seven miles from where +we started, we found ourselves checked by precipitous rocks jutting into +the stream, and were obliged once more to make preparations for crossing +it. Instead of a deep and quiet reach, however, the Morumbidgee here +expanded into a fretful rapid; but it was sufficiently shallow to admit of +our taking the drays over, without the trouble of unloading them. There +was still, however, some labour required in cutting down the banks, and +the men were fully occupied until after sunset; and so well did they work, +that an hour's exertion in the morning enabled us to make the passage with +safety. On ascending the right bank, we found that we had to force +through a dense body of reeds, covering some flooded land, at the base of +a range terminating upon the river; and we were obliged, in order to +extricate ourselves from our embarrassments, to pass to the N.W. of the +point, and to cross a low part of the range. This done, we met with no +further interruptions during the day, but travelled along rich and clear +flats to a deep bight below an angle of the river called Nangaar by the +natives; where we pitched our camp, and our animals revelled amid the most +luxuriant pasture. Only in one place did the sandy superficies upon the +plain indicate that it was there subject to flood. + +The Morumbidgee from Juggiong to our present encampment had held a general +S.S.W. course, but from the summit of a hill behind the tents it now +appeared to be gradually sweeping round to the westward; and I could trace +the line of trees upon its banks, through a rich and extensive valley in +that direction, as far as my sight could reach. The country to the S.E. +maintained its lofty character, but to the westward the hills and ranges +were evidently decreasing in height, and the distant interior seemed fast +sinking to a level. The general direction of the ranges had been from N. +to S., and as we had been travelling parallel to them, their valleys were +shut from our view. Now, however, several rich and extensive ones became +visible, opening from the southward into the valley of the Morumbidgee, +and, as a further evidence of a change of country from a confused to a +more open one, a plain of considerable size stretched from immediately +beneath the hill on which I was to the N.W. + +GEOLOGY OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD. + +The Morumbidgee itself, from the length and regularity of its reaches, as +well as from its increased size, seemed to intimate that it had +successfully struggled through the broken country in which it rises, and +that it would henceforward meet with fewer interruptions to its course. It +still, however, preserved all the characters of a mountain stream; having +alternate rapids and deep pools, being in many places encumbered with +fallen timber, and generally running over a shingly bed, composed of +rounded fragments of every rock of which the neighbouring ranges were +formed, and many others that had been swept by the torrents down it. The +rock formation of the hills upon its right continued of that chlorite +schist which prevailed near Mr. Whaby's, which I have already noticed, and +quartz still appeared in large masses, on the loftier ranges opposite, so +that the geology of the neighbourhood could not be said to have undergone +any material change. It might, however, be considered an extraordinary +feature in it, that a small hill of blue limestone existed upon the left +bank of the river. The last place at which we had seen limestone was at +Yass, but I had learned from Mr. Whaby, that, together with whinstone, it +was abundant near a Mr. Rose's station on the Dumot, that was not at any +great distance. The irregularity, however, of the intervening country, +made the appearance of this solitary rock more singular. + +Although the fires of the natives had been frequent upon the river, none +had, as yet, ventured to approach us, in consequence of some +misunderstanding that had taken place between them and Mr. Stuckey's +stockmen. Mr. Roberts' stockmen [these men had lately fixed themselves +on the river a little below Mr. Whaby's], however, brought a man and a boy +to us at this place in the afternoon, but I could not persuade them to +accompany us on our journey--neither could I, although my native boy +understood them perfectly, gain any particular information from them. + +In consequence of rain, we did not strike the tents so early as usual. +At 7 a.m. a heavy thunder storm occurred from the N.W. after which the +sky cleared, and we were enabled to push forward at 11 a.m., moving on a +general W.N.W, course, over rich flats, which, having been moistened by +the morning's showers, showed the dark colour of the rich earth of which +they were composed. Some sand-hills were, however, observed near the +river, of about fifteen feet in elevation, crowned by banksias; and the +soil of the flats had a very partial mixture of sand in it. How these +sand-hills could have been formed it is difficult to say; but they +produced little minor vegetation, and were as pure as the sand of the +sea-shore. Some considerable plains were noticed to our right, in +appearance not inferior to the ground on which we were journeying. At noon +we rose gradually from the level of these plains, and travelled along the +side of a hill, until we got to a small creek, at which we stopped, though +more than a mile and a half from the river. The clouds had been gathering +again in the N.W. quarter, and we had scarcely time to secure our flour, +when a second storm burst upon us, and it continued to rain violently for +the remainder of the day. + +BEAUTIFUL PROSPECT. + +From a small hill that lay to our left Mr. M'Leay and I enjoyed a most +beautiful view. Beneath us to the S. E. the rich and lightly timbered +valley through which the Morumbidgee flows, extended, and parts of the +river were visible through the dark masses of swamp-oak by which it was +lined, or glittering among the flooded-gum trees, that grew in its +vicinity. In the distance was an extensive valley that wound between +successive mountain ranges. More to the eastward, both mountain and +woodland bore a dark and gloomy shade, probably in consequence of the +light upon them at the time. Those lofty peaks that had borne nearly +south of us from Pouni, near Yass, now rose over the last-mentioned +ranges, and by their appearance seemed evidently to belong to a high and +rugged chain. To the westward, the decline of country was more observable +than ever; and the hills on both sides of the river, were lower and more +distant from it. Those upon which we found ourselves were composed of +iron-stone, were precipitous towards the river in many places, of sandy +soil, and were crowned with beef-wood as well as box. The change in the +rock-formation and in the soil, produced a corresponding change in the +vegetation. The timber was not so large as it had been, neither did the +hills any longer bear the green appearance which had distinguished those +we had passed to their very summits. The grass here grew in tufts amidst +the sand, and was of a burnt appearance as if it had suffered from +drought. + +NATIVES--THEIR SUFFERING FROM COLD. + +Some natives had joined us in the morning, and acted as our guides; or it +is more than probable that we should have continued our course along the +river, and got enbarrassed among impediments that were visible from our +elevated position; for it was evident that the range we had ascended +terminated in an abrupt precipice on the river, that we could not have +passed. The blacks suffered beyond what I could have imagined, from cold, +and seemed as incapable of enduring it as if they had experienced the +rigour of a northern snow storm. + +The morning of the 2nd December was cloudy and lowering, and the wind +still hung in the N.W. There was truly every appearance of bad weather, +but our anxiety to proceed on our journey overcame our apprehensions, +and the animals were loaded and moved off at 7 a.m. The rain which had +fallen the evening previous, rendered travelling heavy; so that we got on +but slowly. At 11, the clouds burst, and continued to pour down for the +rest of the day. On leaving the creek we crossed the spine of the range, +and descending from it into a valley, that continued to the river on the +one hand, and stretched away to the N.W. on the other, we ascended some +hills opposite to us, and moved generally through open, undulating forest +ground, affording good pasturage. + +SMOKING AN OPOSSUM. + +One of the blacks being anxious to get an opossum out of a dead tree, +every branch of which was hollow, asked for a tomahawk, with which be cut +a hole in the trunk above where he thought the animal lay concealed. He +found however, that he had cut too low, and that it had run higher up. +This made it necessary to smoke it out; he accordingly got some dry grass, +and having kindled a fire, stuffed it into the hole he had cut. A raging +fire soon kindled in the tree, where the draft was great, and dense +columns of smoke issued from the end of each branch as thick as that from +the chimney of a steam engine. The shell of the tree was so thin that I +thought it would soon be burnt through, and that the tree would fall; but +the black had no such fears, and, ascending to the highest branch, he +watched anxiously for the poor little wretch he had thus surrounded with +dangers and devoted to destruction; and no sooner did it appear, half +singed and half roasted, than he seized upon it and threw it down to +us with an air of triumph. The effect of the scene in so lonely a forest, +was very fine. The roaring of the fire in the tree, the fearless attitude +of the savage, and the associations which his colour and appearance, +enveloped as he was in smoke, called up, were singular, and still dwell +on my recollection. We had not long left the tree, when it fell with a +tremendous crash, and was, when we next passed that way, a mere heap of +ashes. + +ACCIDENTS. + +Shortly before it commenced raining, the dogs started an emu, and took +after it, followed by M'Leay and myself. We failed in killing it, and I +was unfortunate enough to lose a most excellent watch upon the occasion, +which in regularity was superior to the chronometer I had with me. + +As there was no hope of the weather clearing up, I sent M'Leay and one of +the blacks with the flour to the river, with directions to pile it up and +cover it with tarpaulins, as soon as possible, remaining myself to bring +up the drays. It was not, however, until after 4 p.m. that we gained the +river-side, or that we were enabled to get into shelter. Fraser met with a +sad accident while assisting the driver of the teams, who, accidentally, +struck him with the end of the lash of his whip in the eye, and cut the +lower lid in two. The poor fellow fell to the ground as if he had been +shot, and really, from the report of the whip, I was at first uncertain +of the nature of the accident. + +PONDEBADGERY. + +We had gradually ascended some hills; and as the sweep of the valley led +southerly, we continued along it until we got to its very head; then, +crossing the ridge we descended the opposite side, towards a beautiful +plain, on the further extremity of which the river line was marked by the +dark-leafed casuarina. In spite of the badness of the weather and the +misfortunes of the day, I could not but admire the beauty of the scene. +We were obliged to remain stationary the following day, in consequence +of one of the drays being out of repair, and requiring a new axle-tree. +I could hardly regret the necessity that kept us in so delightful a spot. +This plain, which the natives called Pondebadgery, and in which a station +has since been formed, is about two miles in breadth, by about three and +a-half in length. It is surrounded apparently on every side by hills. The +river running E. and W. forms its southern boundary. The hills by which we +had entered it, terminating abruptly on the river to the north-east, form +a semi-circle round it to the N.N.W. where a valley, the end of which +cannot be seen, runs to the north-west, of about half a mile in breadth. +On the opposite side of the river moderate hills rise over each other, and +leave little space between them and its banks. The Morumbidgee itself, +with an increased breadth, averaging from seventy to eighty yards, +presents a still, deep sheet of water to the view, over which the +casuarina bends with all the grace of the willow, or the birch, but with +more sombre foliage. To the west, a high line of flooded-gum trees +extending from the river to the base of the hills which form the west side +of the valley before noticed, hides the near elevations, and thus shuts in +the whole space. The soil of the plain is of the richest description, and +the hills backing it, together with the valley, are capable of depasturing +the most extensive flocks. + +Such is the general landscape from the centre of Pondebadgery Plain. +Behind the line of gum-trees, the river suddenly sweeps away to the south, +and forms a deep bight of seven miles, when, bearing up again to the N.W. +it meets some hills about 10 miles to the W.N.W. of the plain, thus +encircling a still more extensive space, that for richness of soil, and +for abundance of pasture, can nowhere be excelled; such, though on a +smaller scale, are all the flats that adorn the banks of the Morumbidgee, +first on one side and then on the other, as the hills close in upon them, +from Juggiong to Pondebadgery. + +TRAVELLING DOWN THE RIVER. + +It is deeply to be regretted that this noble river should exist at such a +distance from the capital as to be unavailable. During our stay on the +Pondebadgery Plain, the men caught a number of codfish, as they are +generally termed, but which are, in reality, a species of perch. The +largest weighed 40lb. but the majority of the others were small, not +exceeding from six to eight. M'Leay and I walked to the N.W. extremity of +the plain, in order to ascertain how we should debouche from it, and to +get, if possible, a view of the western interior. We took with us two +blacks who had attached themselves to the party, and had made themselves +generally useful. On ascending the most westerly of the hills, we found it +composed of micaceous schist, the upper coat of which was extremely soft, +and broke with a slaty fracture, or crumbled into a sparkling dust beneath +our feet. The summit of the hill was barren, and beef-wood alone grew on +it. The valley, of which it was the western boundary, ran up northerly for +two or three miles, with all the appearance of richness and verdure. To +the south extended the flat I have noticed, more heavily timbered than we +had usually found them, bounded, or backed rather, by a hilly country, +although one fast losing in its general height. To the W.N.W. there was a +moderate range of hills on the opposite side of an extensive valley, +running up northerly, from which a lateral branch swept round to the +W.N.W. with a gradual ascent into the hills, which bore the same +appearance of open forest, grazing land, as prevailed in similar tracts to +the eastward. The blacks pointed out to us our route up the valley, and +stated that we should get on the banks of the river again in a direction +W. by N. from the place on which we stood. We accordingly crossed the +principal valley on the following morning, and gradually ascended the +opposite line of hills. They terminate to the S.E. in lofty precipices, +overlooking the river flats, and having a deep chain of ponds under them. +The descent towards the river was abrupt, and we encamped upon its banks, +with a more confined view than any we had ever had before. There was an +evident change in the river; the banks were reedy, the channel deep and +muddy, and the neighbourhood bore more the appearance of being subject to +overflow than it had done in any one place we had passed over. The hills +were much lower, and as we gained the southern brow of that under which we +encamped, we could see a level and wooded country to the westward. The +line of the horizon was unbroken by any hills in the distance, and the +nearer ones seemed gradually to lose themselves in the darkness of the +landscape. + +The two natives, whom the stockmen had named Peter and Jemmie, were of +infinite service to us, from their knowledge of all the passes, and the +general features of the country. Having, however, seen us thus far on the +journey from their usual haunts, they became anxious to return, and it was +with some difficulty we persuaded them to accompany us for a few days +longer, in hopes of reward. The weather had been cool and pleasant; the +thermometer averaging 78 of Fahrenheit at noon, in consequences of which +the animals kept in good condition, the men healthy and zealous. The sheep +Mr. O'Brien had presented to us, gave no additional trouble; they followed +in the rear of the party without attempting to wander, and were secured at +night in a small pen or fold. No waste attended their slaughter, nor did +they lose in condition, from being driven from ten to fifteen miles daily, +so much as I had been led to suppose they would have done. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + +Character of the Morumbidgee where it issues from the hilly country-- +Appearance of approach to swamps--Hamilton Plains--Intercourse with the +natives--Their appearance, customs, &c.--Change in the character of the +river--Mirage--Dreariness of the country--Ride towards the Lachlan river +--Two boats built and launched on the Morumbidgee; and the drays, with +part of the men sent back to Goulburn Plains. + +NATIVES--WILD GAME,&c.; CHARACTER OF THE RIVER AND THE ADJOINING COUNTRY. + +From our camp, the Morumbidgee held a direct westerly course for about +three miles. The hills under which we had encamped, rose so close upon our +right as to leave little space between them and the river. At the distance +of three miles, however, they suddenly terminated, and the river changed +its direction to the S.W., while a chain of ponds extended to the +westward, and separated the alluvial flats from a somewhat more elevated +plain before us. We kept these ponds upon our left for some time, but, as +they ultimately followed the bend of the river, we left them. The blacks +led us on a W. by S. course to the base of a small range two or three +miles distant, near which there was a deep lagoon. It was evident they +here expected to have found some other natives. Being disappointed, +however, they turned in towards the river again, but we stopped short of +it on the side of a serpentine sheet of water, an apparent continuation of +the chain of ponds we had left behind us, forming a kind of ditch round +the S.W. extremity of the range, parallel to which we had continued to +travel. This range, which had been gradually decreasing in height from the +lagoon, above which it rose perpendicularly, might almost be said to +terminate here. We fell in with two or three natives before we halted, but +the evident want of population in so fine a country, and on so noble a +river, surprised me extremely. We saw several red kangaroos in the course +of the day, and succeeded in killing one. It certainly is a beautiful +animal, ranging the wilds in native freedom. The female and the kid are of +a light mouse-colour. Wild turkeys abound on this part of the Morumbidgee, +but with the exception of a few terns, which are found hovering over the +lagoons, no new birds had as yet been procured; and the only plant that +enriched our collection, was an unknown metrosideros. In crossing the +extremity of the range, the wheels of the dray sunk deep into a yielding +and coarse sandy soil, of decomposed granite, on which forest-grass +prevailed in tufts, which, being far apart, made the ground uneven, and +caused the animals to trip. We rose at one time sufficiently high to +obtain an extensive view, and had our opinions confirmed as to the level +nature of the country we were so rapidly approaching. From the N. to +the W.S.W. the eye wandered over a wooded and unbroken interior, if I +except a solitary double hill that rose in the midst of it, bearing +S. 82 degrees W. distant 12 miles, and another singular elevation that +bore S. 32 degrees W. called by the natives, Kengal. The appearance to the +E.S.E. was still that of a mountainous country, while from the N.E., the +hills gradually decrease in height, until lost in the darkness of +surrounding objects to the northward. We did not travel this day more than +13 miles on a W. by N. course. The Morumbidgee, where we struck it, by its +increased size, kept alive our anticipations of its ultimately leading us +to some important point. The partial rains that had fallen while we were +on its upper branch, had swollen it considerably, and it now rolled along +a vast body of water at the rate of three miles an hour, preserving a +medium width of 150 feet; its banks retaining a height far above the usual +level of the stream. A traveller who had never before descended into the +interior of New Holland, would have spurned the idea of such a river +terminating in marshes; but with the experience of the former journey, +strong as hope was within my breast, I still feared it might lose itself +in the vast flat upon which we could scarcely be said to have yet entered. +The country was indeed taking up more and more every day the features of +the N.W. interior. Cypresses were observed upon the minor ridges, and the +soil near the river, although still rich, and certainly more extensive +than above, was occasionally mixed with sand, and scattered over with the +claws of crayfish and shells, indicating its greater liability to be +flooded; nor indeed could I entertain a doubt that the river had laid a +great part of the levels around us under water long after it found that +channel in which nature intended ultimately to confine it. We killed +another fine red kangaroo in the early part of the day, in galloping after +which I got a heavy fall. + +The two blacks who had been with us so long, and who had not only exerted +themselves to assist us, but had contributed in no small degree to our +amusement, though they had from M'Leay's liberality, tasted all the +dainties with which we had provided ourselves, from sugar to concentrated +cayenne, intimated that they could no longer accompany the party. They had +probably got to the extremity of their beat, and dared not venture any +further. They left us with evident regret, receiving, on their departure, +several valuable presents, in the shape of tomahawks &c. The last thing +they did was to point out the way to us, and to promise to join us on our +return, although they evidently little anticipated ever seeing us again. + +In pursuing our journey, we entered a forest, consisting of box-trees, +casuarinae, and cypresses, on a light sandy soil, in which both horses and +bullocks sunk so deep that their labour was greatly increased, more +especially as the weather had become much warmer. At noon I altered my +course from N.W. by W. to W.N.W., and reached the Morumbidgee at 3 in the +afternoon. The flats bordering it were extensive and rich, and, being +partially mixed with sand, were more fitted for agricultural purposes than +the stiffer and purer soil amidst the mountains; but the interior beyond +them was far from being of corresponding quality. We crossed several +plains on which vegetation was scanty, probably owing to the hardness of +the soil, which was a stiff loamy clay, and which must check the growth of +plants, by preventing the roots from striking freely into it. The river +where we stopped for the night appeared to have risen considerably, and +the fish were rolling about on the surface of the water with a noise like +porpoises. No elevations were visible, so that I had not an opportunity of +continuing the chain of survey with the points I had previously taken. + +TRAVELLING DOWN THE RIVER. + +As we proceeded down the river on the 8th, the flats became still more +extensive than they had ever been, and might almost be denominated plains. +Vegetation was scanty upon them, although the soil was of the first +quality. About nine miles from our camp, we struck on a small isolated +hill, that could scarcely have been of 200 feet elevation; yet, depressed +as it was, the view from its summit was very extensive, and I was +surprised to find that we were still in some measure surrounded by high +lands, of which I took the following bearings, connected with the present +ones. + +A High Peak.....N. 66 E. distance 40 miles. +Kengal ........ N. 110 E. distant. +Double Hill ... S. 10 W. distant. + +To the north, there were several fires burning, which appeared rather the +fires of natives, than conflagrations, and as the river had made a bend to +the N.N.W., I doubted not that they were upon its banks. From this hill, +which was of compact granite, we struck away to the W.N.W., and shortly +afterwards crossed some remarkable sand-hills. Figuratively speaking, they +appeared like islands amidst the alluvial deposits, and were as pure in +their composition as the sand on the sea-shore. They were generally +covered with forest grass, in tufts, and a coarse kind of rushes, under +banksias and cypresses. We found a small fire on the banks of the river, +and close to it the couch and hut of a solitary native, who had probably +seen us approach, and had fled. There cannot be many inhabitants +hereabouts, since there are no paths to indicate that they frequent this +part of the Morumbidgee more at one season than another. + +On the 9th, the river fell off again to the westward, and we lost a good +deal of the northing we had made the day before. We journeyed pretty +nearly equidistant from the stream, and kept altogether on the alluvial +flats. As we were wandering along the banks of the river, a black started +up before us, and swam across to the opposite side, where he immediately +hid himself. We could by no means induce him to show himself; he was +probably the lonely being whom we had scared away from the fire the day +before. In the afternoon, however we surprised a family of six natives, +and persuaded them to follow us to our halting place. My boy understood +them well; but the young savage had the cunning to hide the information +they gave him, or, for aught I know, to ask questions that best suited his +own purposes, and therefore we gained little intelligence from them. + +Every day now produced some change in the face of the country, by which it +became more and more assimilated to that I had traversed during the first +expedition. Acacia pendula now made its appearance on several plains +beyond the river deposits, as well as that salsolaceous class of plants, +among which the schlerolina and rhagodia are so remarkable. The natives +left us at sunset, but returned early in the morning with an extremely +facetious and good-humoured old man, who volunteered to act as our guide +without the least hesitation. There was a cheerfulness in his manner, +that gained our confidence at once, and rendered him a general favourite. +He went in front with the dogs, and led us a little away from the river +to kill kangaroos, as he said. At about two miles we struck on an +inconsiderable elevation, which the party crossed at the S.W. extremity. +I ascended it at the opposite end, but although the view was extensive, I +could not make out the little hill of granite from which I had taken my +former bearings, and the only elevation I could recognise as connected +with them, was one about ten miles distant, bearing S. 168 W. I could +observe very distant ranges to the E.N.E. and immediately below me in that +direction, there was a large clear plain, skirted by acacia pendula, +stretching from S.S.E. to N.N.W. The crown and ridges of the hill on which +I stood, were barren, stony, and covered with beef-wood, +the rock-formation being a coarse granite. The drays had got so far ahead +of me that I did not overtake them before they had halted on the river at +a distance of ten miles. + +INFORMATION FROM A NATIVE. + +The Morumbidgee appeared, on examination, to have increased in breadth, +and continued to rise gradually. It is certainly a noble stream, very +different from those I had already traced to their termination. The old +black informed me that there was another large river flowing to the +southward of west, to which the Morumbidgee was as a creek, and that we +could gain it in four days. He stated that its waters were good, but that +its banks were not peopled. That such a feature existed where he laid it +down, I thought extremely probable, because it was only natural to expect +that other streams descended from the mountains in the S.E. of the island, +as well as that on which we were travelling. The question was, whether +either of them held on an uninterrupted course to some reservoir, or +whether they fell short of the coast and exhausted themselves in marshes. +Considering the concave direction of the mountains to the S.E., I even +at this time hoped that the rivers falling into the interior would unite +sooner or later, and contribute to the formation of an important and +navigable stream. Of the fate of the Morumbidgee, the old black could give +no account. It seemed probable, therefore, that we were far from its +termination. + +I had hitherto been rather severe upon the animals, for although our +journey had not exceeded from twelve to fifteen miles a day, it had been +without intermission. I determined, therefore, to give both men and +animals a day of rest, as soon as I should find a convenient place. We +started on the 11th with this intention, but we managed to creep over +eight or ten miles of ground before we halted. The country was slightly +undulated, and much intersected by creeks, few of which had water in them. +The whole tract was, however, well adapted either for agriculture, or +for grazing, and, in spite of the drought that had evidently long hung +over it, was well covered with vegetation. We had passed all high lands, +and the interior to the westward presented an unbroken level to the eye. +The Morumbidgee appeared to hold a more northerly course than I had +anticipated. Still low ranges continued upon our right, and the cypress +ridges became more frequent and denser; but the timber on the more open +grounds generally consisted of box and flooded-gum. Of minor trees, the +acacia pendula was the most prevalent, with a shrub bearing a round nut, +enclosed in a scarlet capsule, and an interesting species of stenochylus. +I had observed as yet, few of the plants of the more northern interior. + +NATIVES--THEIR UGLINESS. + +In this neighbourhood, the dogs killed an emu and a kangaroo, which came +in very conveniently for some natives whom we fell in with on one of the +river flats. They were, without exception, the worst featured of any I had +ever seen. It is scarcely possible to conceive that human beings could +be so hideous and loathsome. The old black, who was rather good-looking, +told me they were the last we should see for some time, and I felt that if +these were samples of the natives on the lowlands, I cared very little how +few of I them we should meet. + +EXTENSIVE PLAINS. + +The country on the opposite side of the river had all the features of that +to the north of it, but a plain of such extent suddenly opened upon us to +the southward, that I halted at once in order to examine it, and by +availing myself of a day of rest, to fix our position more truly than we +could otherwise have done. We accordingly pitched our tents under some +lofty gum-trees, opposite to the plain, and close upon the edge of the +sandy beach of the river. Before they were turned out, the animals were +carefully examined, and the pack-saddles overhauled, that they might +undergo any necessary repairs. The river fell considerably during the +night, but it poured along a vast body of water, possessing a strong +current. The only change I remarked in it was that it now had a bed of +sand, and was generally deeper on one side than on the other. It kept a +very uniform breadth of from 150 to 170 feet--and a depth of from 4 to 20. +Its channel, though occasionally much encumbered with fallen timber, was +large enough to contain twice the volume of water then in it, but it had +outer and more distant banks, the boundaries of the alluvial flats, to +confine it within certain limits, during the most violent floods, and to +prevent its inundating the country. + +HAMILTON'S PLAINS. + +With a view to examine the plain opposite to us, I directed our horses to +be taken across the river early in the morning, and after breakfast, +M'Leay and I swam across after them. We found the current strong, and +could not keep a direct line over the channel, but were carried below the +place at which we plunged in. We proceeded afterwards in a direction +W.S.W. across the plain for five or six miles, before we saw trees on the +opposite extremity, at a still greater distance. We thus found ourselves +in the centre of an area of from 26 to 30 miles. It appeared to be +perfectly level, though not really so. The soil upon it was good, +excepting in isolated spots, where it was sandy. Vegetation was scanty +upon it, but, on the whole, I should conclude that it was fitter for +agriculture than for grazing. For I think it very probable, that those +lands which lie hardening and bare in a state of nature, would produce +abundantly if broken up by the plough. I called this Hamilton's plains, +in remembrance of the surgeon of my regiment. The Morumbidgee forms its +N.E. boundary, and a creek rising on it, cuts off a third part on the +western side, and runs away from the river in a southerly direction. This +creek, even before it gets to the outskirts of the plains, assumes a +considerable size. Such a fact would argue that heavy rains fall in this +part of the interior, to cut out such a watercourse, or that the soil is +extremely loose; but I should think the former the most probable, since +the soil of this plain had a substratum of clay. I place our encampment on +the river in latitude 34 degrees 41 minutes 45 seconds S., and in East +longitude 146 degrees 50 minutes, the variation of the compass being +6 degrees 10 minutes E. + +INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES; SCANTINESS OF THE POPULATION. + +On our return to the camp we found several natives with our people, and +among them one of the tallest I had ever seen. Their women were with them, +and they appeared to have lost all apprehension of any danger occurring +from us. The animals were benefited greatly by this day of rest. We left +the plain, therefore, on the 13th with renewed spirits, and passed over a +country very similar to that by which we had approached it, one well +adapted for grazing, but intersected by numerous creeks, at two of which +we found natives, some of whom joined our party. Our old friend left us in +quest of some blacks, who, as he informed Hopkinson, had seen the tracks +of our horses on the Darling. I was truly puzzled at such a statement, +which was, however, further corroborated by the circumstance of one of the +natives having a tire-nail affixed to a spear, which he said was picked +up, by the man who gave it to him, on one of our encampments. I could not +think it likely that this story was true, and rather imagined they must +have picked up the nail near the located districts, and I was anxious to +have the point cleared up. When we halted we had a large assemblage of +natives with us, amounting in all to twenty-seven, but I awaited in vain +the return of the old man. The night passed away without our seeing him, +nor did he again join us. + +We started in the morning with our new acquaintances, and kept on a +south-westerly course during the day, over an excellent grazing, and, in +many places, an agricultural country, still intersected by creeks, that +were too deep for the water to have dried in them. The country more +remote from the river, however, began to assume more and more the +character and appearance of the northern interior. I rode into several +plains, the soil of which was either a red sandy loam, bare of vegetation, +or a rotten and blistered earth, producing nothing but rhagodiae, +salsolae, and misembrianthemum. + +We fell in with another tribe of blacks during the journey, to whom we +were literally consigned by those who had been previously with us, and who +now turned back, while our new friends took the lead of the drays. They +were two fine young men, but had very ugly wives, and were for a long time +extremely diffident. I found that I could obtain but little information +through my black boy,--whether from his not understanding me, or because +he was too cunning, is uncertain. One of these young men, however, +clearly stated that he had seen the tracks of bullocks and horses, a long +time ago, to the N.N.W. in the direction of some detached hills, that were +visible from 20 to 25 miles distant. He remembered them, he said, as a +boy, and added that the white men were without water. It was, therefore, +clear that he alluded to Mr. Oxley's excursion, northerly from the +Lachlan, and I had no doubt on my mind, that he had been on one of that +officer's encampments, and that the hills to the north of us were those +to the opposite base of which he had penetrated. I was determined, +therefore, if practicable, to reach these hills, deeming it a matter of +great importance to connect the surveys, but I deferred my journey for a +day or two, in hopes, from the continued northerly course of the river, +that we should have approached them nearer. + +In the evening we fell in with some more blacks, among whom were two +brothers, of those who were acting as our guides. One had a very pretty +girl as a wife, and all the four brothers were very good-looking young +men. There cannot, I should think, be a numerous population on the banks +of the Morumbidgee, from the fact of our having seen not more than fifty +in an extent of more than 180 miles. They are apparently scattered along +it in families. I was rather surprised that my boy understood their +language well, since it certainly differed from that of the Macquarie +tribes, but nevertheless as these people do not wander far, our +information as to what was before us was very gradually arrived at, and +only as we fell in with the successive families. Moreover, as my boy +was very young, it may be that he was more eager in communicating to those +who had no idea of them, the wonders he had seen, than in making inquiries +on points that were indifferent to him. + +CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. + +We passed a very large plain in the course of the day, which was bounded +by forests of box, cypress, and the acacia pendula, of red sandy soil and +parched appearance. The Morumbidgee evidently overflows a part of the +lands we crossed, to a greater extent than heretofore, though the alluvial +deposits beyond its influence were still both rich and extensive. The +crested pigeon made its appearance on the acacias, which I took to be a +sure sign of our approach to a country more than ordinarily subject to +overflow; since on the Macquarie and the Darling, those birds were found +only to inhabit the regions of marshes, or spaces covered by the acacia +pendula, or the polygonum. We had not, however, yet seen any of the latter +plant, although we were shortly destined to be almost lost amidst fields +of it. + +CHANGE IN THE COUNTRY. + + +We were now approaching that parallel of longitude in which the other +known rivers of New Holland had been found to exhaust themselves; the +least change therefore, for the worse was sufficient to raise my +apprehensions; yet, although the Morumbidgee had received no tributary +from the Dumot downwards, and was leading us into an apparently endless +level, I saw no indication of its decreasing in size, or in the rapidity +of its current. Certainly, however, I had, from the character of the +country around us, an anticipation that a change was about to take place +in it, and this anticipation was verified in the course of the following +day. The alluvial flats gradually decreased in breadth, and we journeyed +mostly over extensive and barren plains, which in many places approached +so near the river as to form a part of its bank. They were covered with +the salsolaceous class of plants, so common in the interior, in a red +sandy soil, and were as even as a bowling green. The alluvial spaces near +the river became covered with reeds, and, though subject to overflow at +every partial rise of it, were so extremely small as scarcely to afford +food for our cattle. Flooded-gum trees of lofty size grew on these reedy +spaces, and marked the line of the river, but the timber of the interior +appeared stunted and useless. + +DESCRIPTION OF THE NATIVES; MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE NATIVES. + +We found this part of the Morumbidgee much more populous than its upper +branches. When we halted, we had no fewer than forty-one natives with us, +of whom the young men were the least numerous. They allowed us to choose +a place for ourselves before they formed their own camp, and studiously +avoided encroaching on our ground so as to appear troublesome. Their +manners were those of a quiet and inoffensive people, and their appearance +in some measure prepossessing. The old men had lofty foreheads, and stood +exceedingly erect. The young men were cleaner is their persons and were +better featured than any we had seen, some of them having smooth hair and +an almost Asiatic cast of countenance. On the other hand, the women and +children were disgusting objects. The latter were much subject to +diseases, and were dreadfully emaciated. It is evident that numbers of +them die in their infancy for want of care and nourishment. We remarked +none at the age of incipient puberty, but the most of them under six. In +stating that the men were more prepossessing than any we had seen, I would +not be understood to mean that they differed in any material point either +from the natives of the coast, or of the most distant interior to which I +had been, for they were decidedly the same race, and had the same leading +features and customs, as far as the latter could be observed. The sunken +eye and overhanging eyebrow, the high cheek-bone and thick lip, distended +nostrils, the nose either short or acquiline, together with a stout bust +and slender extremities, and both curled and smooth hair, marked the +natives of the Morumbidgee as well as those of the Darling. They were +evidently sprung from one common stock, the savage and scattered +inhabitants of a rude and inhospitable land. In customs they differed in +no material point from the coast natives, and still less from the tribes +on the Darling and the Castlereagh. They extract the front tooth, +lacerate their bodies, to raise the flesh, cicatrices being their chief +ornament; procure food by the same means, paint in the same manner, and +use the same weapons, as far as the productions of the country will allow +them. But as the grass-tree is not found westward of the mountains, they +make a light spear of a reed, similar to that of which the natives of the +southern islands form their arrows. These they use for distant combat, and +not only carry in numbers, but throw with the boomerang to a great +distance and with unerring precision, making them to all intents and +purposes as efficient as the bow and arrow. They have a ponderous spear +for close fight, and others of different sizes for the chase. With regard +to their laws, I believe they are universally the same all over the known +parts of New South Wales. The old men have alone the privilege of eating +the emu; and so submissive are the young men to this regulation, that if, +from absolute hunger or under other pressing circumstances, one of them +breaks through it, either during a hunting excursion, or whilst absent +from his tribe, he returns under a feeling of conscious guilt, and by his +manner betrays his guilt, sitting apart from the men, and confessing his +misdemeanour to the chief at the first interrogation, upon which he is +obliged to undergo a slight punishment. This evidently is a law of policy +and necessity, for if the emus were allowed to be indiscriminately +slaughtered, they would soon become extinct. Civilised nations may learn a +wholesome lesson even from savages, as in this instance of their +forebearance. For somewhat similar reasons, perhaps, married people alone +are here permitted to eat ducks. They hold their corrobories, +(midnight ceremonies), and sing the same melancholy ditty that breaks the +stillness of night on the shores of Jervis' Bay, or on the banks of the +Macquarie; and during the ceremony imitate the several birds and beasts +with which they are acquainted. If these inland tribes differ in anything +from those on the coast, it is in the mode of burying their dead, and, +partially, in their language. Like all savages, they consider their women +as secondary objects, oblige them to procure their own food, or throw to +them over their shoulders the bones they have already picked, with a +nonchalance that is extremely amusing; and, on the march, make them beasts +of burden to carry their very weapons. The population of the Morumbidgee, +as far as we had descended it at this time, did not exceed from ninety to +a hundred souls. I am persuaded that disease and accidents consign many of +them to a premature grave. + +MIRAGE. + +From this camp, one family only accompanied us. We journeyed due west over +plains of great extent. The soil upon them was soft and yielding, in some +places being a kind of light earth covered with rhagodiae, in others a +red tenacious clay, overrun by the misembrianthemum and salsolae. +Nothing could exceed the apparent barrenness of these plains, or the +cheerlessness of the landscape. We had left all high lands behind us, and +were now on an extensive plain, bounded in the distance by low trees or by +dark lines of cypresses. The lofty gum-trees on the river followed its +windings, and, as we opened the points, they appeared, from the peculiar +effect of a mirage, as bold promontories jutting into the ocean, having +literally the blue tint of distance. This mirage floated in a light +tremulous vapour on the ground, and not only deceived us with regard to +the extent of the plains, and the appearance of objects, but hid the +trees, in fact, from our view altogether; so that, in moving, as we +imagined, upon the very point or angle of the river, we found as we neared +it, that the trees stretched much further into the plain, and were obliged +to alter our course to round them. The heated state of the atmosphere, and +the sandy nature of the country could alone have caused a mirage so +striking in its effects, as this,--exceeding considerably similar +appearances noticed during the first expedition. The travelling was so +heavy, that I was obliged to make a short day's journey, and when we +struck the river for the purpose of halting, it had fallen off very much +in appearance, and was evidently much contracted, with low banks and a +sandy bed. It was difficult to account for this sudden change, but when +I gazed on the extent of level country before me, I began to dread that +this hitherto beautiful stream would ultimately disappoint us. + +EXCURSION TOWARDS A RIDGE OF HILLS. + +I had deferred my intended excursion to the hills under which I imagined +Mr. Oxley had encamped, until we were out of sight of them, and I now +feared that it was almost too late to undertake it, but I was still +anxious to determine a point in which I felt considerable interest. I was +the more desirous of surveying the country to the northward, because of +the apparent eagerness with which the natives had caught at the word +Colare, which I recollected having heard a black on the Macquarie make +use of in speaking of the Lachlan. They pointed to the N.N.W., and making +a sweep with the arm raised towards the sky, seemed to intimate that a +large sheet of water existed in that direction; and added that it +communicated with the Morumbidgee more to the westward. This information +confirmed still more my impressions with regard to Mr. Oxley's line of +route; and, as I found a ready volunteer in M'Leay, I gave the party in +charge to Harris until I should rejoin him, and turned back towards the +hills, with the intention of reaching them if possible. No doubt we should +have done so had it not been for the nature of the ground over which we +travelled, and the impossibility of our exceeding a walk. We rode to a +distance of 18 miles, but still found ourselves far short of the hills, +and therefore gave up the point. I considered, however, that we were about +the same distance to the south, as Mr. Oxley had been to the north of +them, and in taking bearings of the highest points, I afterwards found +that they exactly tallied with his bearings, supposing him to have taken +them from his camp. + +QUIET DEMEANOUR OF THE NATIVES. + +On our way to the river, we Passed through some dense bushes of casuarinae +and cypresses, to the outskirts of the plains through which the +Morumbidgee winds. We reached the camp two or three hours after sunset, +and found it crowded with natives to the number of 60. They were extremely +quiet and inoffensive in their demeanour, and asked us to point out where +they might sleep, before they ventured to kindle their fires. One old man, +we remarked, had a club foot, and another was blind, but, as far as we +could judge from the glare of the fires, the generality of them were fine +young men, and supported themselves in a very erect posture when standing +or walking. There were many children with the women, among whom colds +seemed to prevail. It blew heavily from the N.W. during the night, and a +little rain fell in the early part of the morning. Our route during the +day, was over as melancholy a tract as ever was travelled. The plains to +the N. and N.W. bounded the horizon; not a tree of any kind was visible +upon them. It was equally open to the S., and it appeared as if the river +was decoying us into a desert, there to leave us in difficulty and in +distress. The very mirage had the effect of boundlessness in it, by +blending objects in one general hue; or, playing on the ground, it cheated +us with an appearance of water, and on arriving at the spot, we found a +continuation of the same scorching plain, over which we were moving, +instead of the stream we had hoped for. + +The cattle about this time began to suffer, and, anxious as I was to push +on, I was obliged to shorten my journeys, according to circumstances. +Amidst the desolation around us, the river kept alive our hopes. If it +traversed deserts, it might reach fertile lands, and it was to the issue +of the journey that we had to look for success. It here, however, +evidently overflowed its banks more extensively than heretofore, and +broad belts of reeds were visible on either side of it, on which the +animals exclusively subsisted. Most of the natives had followed us, and +their patience and abstinence surprised me exceedingly. Some of them had +been more than twenty-four hours without food, and yet seemed as little +disposed to seek it as ever. I really thought they expected me to supply +their wants, but as I could not act so liberal a scale, George M'Leay +undeceived them; after which they betook themselves to the river, and got +a supply of muscles. I rather think their going so frequently into the +water engenders a catarrh, or renders them more liable to it than they +otherwise would be. In the afternoon the wind shifted to the S.W. It blew +a hurricane; and the temperature of the air was extremely low. The natives +felt the cold beyond belief and kindled large fires. In the morning, when +we moved away, the most of them started with fire-sticks to keep +themselves warm; but they dropped off one by one, and at noon we found +ourselves totally deserted. + +DREARINESS OF THE LANDSCAPE. + +It is impossible for me to describe the kind of country we were now +traversing, or the dreariness of the view it presented. The plains were +still open to the horizon, but here and there a stunted gum-tree, or a +gloomy cypress, seemed placed by nature as mourners over the surrounding +desolation. Neither beast nor bird inhabited these lonely and inhospitable +regions, over which the silence of the grave seemed to reign. We had not, +for days past, seen a blade of grass, so that the animals could not have +been in very good condition. We pushed on, however, sixteen miles, in +consequence of the coolness of the weather. We observed little change in +the river in that distance, excepting that it had taken up a muddy bottom, +and lost all the sand that used to fill it. The soil and productions on +the plains continued unchanged in every respect. From this time to the +22nd, the country presented the same aspect. Occasional groups of cypress +showed themselves on narrow sandy ridges, or partial brushes extended from +the river, consisting chiefly of the acacia pendula, the stenochylus, +and the nut I have already noticed. The soil on which they grew was, if +possible, worse than that of the barren plain which we were traversing; +and their colour and drooping state rendered the desolate landscape still +more dreary. + +On the 21st, we found the same singular substance(gypsum) embedded in the +bank of the river that had been collected, during the former expedition, +on the banks of the Darling; and hope, which is always uppermost in the +human breast, induced me to think that we were fast approaching that +stream. My observations placed me in 34 degrees 17 minutes 15 seconds +S. and 145 degrees of E. longitude. + +BLACK BOY DESERTS. + +On the 22nd, my black boy deserted me. I was not surprised at his doing +so, neither did I regret his loss, for he had been of little use under any +circumstances. He was far too cunning for our purpose. I know not that the +term ingratitude can be applied to one in his situation, and in whose +bosom nature had implanted a love of freedom. We learnt from four blacks, +with whom he had spoken, and who came to us in the afternoon, that he had +gone up the river,--as I conjectured, to the last large tribe we had left, +with whom he appeared to become very intimate. + +A creek coming from the N.N.W. here fell into the Morumbidgee; a proof +that the general decline of country was really to the south, although a +person looking over it would have supposed the contrary. + +COUNTRY SUBJECT TO INUNDATION. + +We started on the 23rd, with the same boundlessness of plain on either +side of us; but in the course of the morning a change took place, both in +soil and productions; and from the red sandy loam, and salsolaceous +plants, amidst which we had been toiling, we got upon a light tenacious +and blistered soil, evidently subject to frequent overflow, and fields of +polygonum junceum, amidst which, both the crested pigeon and the black +quail were numerous. The drays and animals sank so deep in this, that we +were obliged to make for the river, and keep upon its immediate banks. +Still, with all the appearance of far-spread inundation, it continued +undiminished in size, and apparently in the strength of its current. +Its channel was deeper than near the mountains, but its breadth was about +the same. + +On the 24th, we were again entangled amidst fields of polygonum, through +which we laboured until after eleven, when we gained a firmer soil. Some +cypresses appeared upon our right, in a dark line, and I indulged hopes +that a change was about to take place in the nature of the country. We +soon, however, got on a light rotten earth, and were again obliged to make +for the river, with the teams completely exhausted. We had not travelled +many miles from our last camp, yet it struck me, that the river had +fallen off in appearance. I examined it with feelings of intense anxiety, +certain, as I was, that the flooded spaces, over which we had been +travelling would, sooner or later, be succeeded by a country overgrown +with reeds. The river evidently overflowed its banks, on both sides, +for many miles, nor had I a doubt that, at some periods, the space +northward, between it and the Lachlan, presented the appearance of one +vast sea. The flats of polygonum stretched away to the N.W. to an amazing +distance, as well as in a southerly direction, and the very nature of the +soil bore testimony to its flooded origin. But the most unaccountable +circumstance to me was, that it should be entirely destitute of +vegetation, with the exception of the gloomy and leafless bramble I have +noticed. + +M'Leay, who was always indefatigable in his pursuit after subjects of +natural history, shot a cockatoo, of a new species, hereabouts, having a +singularly shaped upper mandible. It was white, with scarlet down under +the neck feathers, smaller than the common cockatoo, and remarkable for +other peculiarities. + +INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES; THE COLARE OR LACHLAN. + +Two or three natives made their appearance at some distance from the +party, but would not approach it until after we had halted. They then +came to the tents, seven in number, and it was evident from their manner, +that their chief or only object was to pilfer anything they could. We +did not, therefore, treat them with much ceremony. They were an +ill-featured race, and it was only by strict watching during the night +that they were prevented from committing theft. Probably from seeing that +we were aware of their intentions, they left us early, and pointing +somewhat to the eastward of north, said they were going to the Colare, +and on being asked how far it was, they signified that they should sleep +there. I had on a former occasion recollected the term having been made +use of by a black, on the Macquarie, when speaking to me of the Lachlan, +and had questioned one of the young men who was with us at the time, and +who seemed more intelligent than his companions, respecting it. +Immediately catching at the word, he had pointed to the N.N.W., and, +making a sweep with his arms raised towards the sky had intimated, +evidently, that a large sheet of water existed in that direction, in the +same manner that another black had done on a former occasion: on being +further questioned, he stated that this communicated with the Morumbidgee +more to the westward, and on my expressing a desire to go to it, he said +we could not do so under four days. We had, it appeared, by the account of +the seven natives, approached within one day's journey of it, and, as I +thought it would he advisable to gain a little knowledge of the country to +the north, I suggested to M'Leay to ride in that direction, while the +party should be at rest, with some good feed for the cattle that fortune +had pointed out to us. + +EXCURSION TOWARDS THE LACHLAN. + +Our horses literally sank up to their knees on parts of the great plain +over which we had in the first instance to pass, and we rode from three to +four miles before we caught sight of a distant wood at its northern +extremity; the view from the river having been for the last two or three +days, as boundless as the ocean. As we approached the wood, two columns of +smoke rose from it, considerably apart, evidently the fires of natives +near water. We made for the central space between them, having a dead +acacia scrub upon our right. On entering the wood, we found that it +contained for the most part, flooded-gum, under which bulrushes and +reeds were mixed together. The whole space seemed liable to overflow, and +we crossed numerous little drains, that intersected each other in every +direction. From the resemblance of the ground to that at the bottom of the +marshes of the Macquarie, I prognosticated to my companion that we should +shortly come upon a creek, and we had not ridden a quarter of a mile +further, when we found ourselves on the banks of one of considerable size. +Crossing it, we proceeded northerly, until we got on the outskirts of a +plain of red sandy soil, covered with rhagodia alone, and without a tree +upon the visible horizon. The country appeared to be rising before us, but +was extremely depressed to the eastward. After continuing along this +plain for some time, I became convinced from appearances, that we were +receding from water, and that the fires of the natives, which were no +longer visible, must have been on the creek we had crossed, that I judged +to be leading W.S.W. from the opposite quarter. We had undoubtedly struck +below to the westward of the Colare or Lachlan, and the creek was the +channel of communication between it and the Morumbidgee, at least such was +the natural conclusion at which I arrived. Having no further object in +continuing a northerly course, we turned to the S.E., and, after again +passing the creek, struck away for the camp on a S. by W. course, and +passed through a dense brush of cypress and casuarina in our way to it. + +CONNECTION OF LACHLAN WITH MORUMBIDGEE. + +Considering our situation as connected with the marshes of the Lachlan, +I cannot but infer that the creek we struck upon during this excursion +serves as a drain to the latter, to conduct its superfluous waters into +the Morumbidgee in times of flood, as those of the Macquarie are conducted +by the creek at the termination of its marshes into Morrisset's Chain of +Ponds. It will be understood that I only surmise this. I argue from +analogy, not from proof. Whether I am correct or not, my knowledge of the +facts I have stated, tended very much to satisfy my mind as to the LAY of +the interior; and to revive my hopes that the Morumbidgee would not fail +us, although there was no appearance of the country improving. + +COUNTRY COVERED WITH REEDS. + +We started on the 26th, on a course somewhat to the N.W., and traversed +plains of the same wearisome description as those I have already +described. The wheels of the drays sank up to their axle-trees, and the +horses above their fetlocks at every step. The fields of polygonum spread +on every side of us like a dark sea, and the only green object within +range of our vision was the river line of trees. In several instances, the +force of both teams was put to one dray, to extricate it from the bed into +which it had sunk, and the labour was considerably increased from the +nature of the weather. The wind was blowing as if through a furnace, from +the N.N.E., and the dust was flying in clouds, so as to render it almost +suffocating to remain exposed to it. This was the only occasion upon which +we felt the hot winds in the interior. We were, about noon, endeavouring +to gain a point of a wood at which I expected to come upon the river +again, but it was impossible for the teams to reach it without assistance. +I therefore sent M'Leay forward, with orders to unload the pack animals as +soon as he should make the river, and send them back to help the teams. He +had scarcely been separated from me 20 minutes, when one of the men came +galloping back to inform me that no river was to be found--that the +country beyond the wood was covered with reeds as far as the eye could +reach, and that Mr. M'Leay had sent him back for instructions. This +intelligence stunned me for a moment or two, and I am sure its effect upon +the men was very great. They had unexpectedly arrived at a part of the +interior similar to one they had held in dread, and conjured up a thousand +difficulties and privations. I desired the man to recall Mr. M'Leay; and, +after gaining the wood, moved outside of it at right angles to my former +course, and reached the river, after a day of severe toil and exposure, +at half-past five. The country, indeed, bore every resemblance to that +around the marshes of the Macquarie, but I was too weary to make any +further effort: indeed it was too late for me undertake anything until +the morning. + +ANXIOUS COGITATIONS; SURVEY OF RIVER AND ENVIRONS. + +The circumstances in which we were so unexpectedly placed, occupied my +mind so fully that I could not sleep; and I awaited the return of light +with the utmost anxiety. If we were indeed on the outskirts of marshes +similar to those I had on a former occasion found so much difficulty +in examining, I foresaw that in endeavouring to move round then I should +recede from water, and place the expedition in jeopardy, probably, without +gaining any determinate point, as it would be necessary for me to advance +slowly and with caution. Our provisions, however, being calculated to last +only to a certain period, I was equally reluctant to delay our operations. +My course was, therefore, to be regulated by the appearance of the country +and of the river, which I purposed examining with the earliest dawn. +If the latter should be found to run into a region of reeds, a boat would +be necessary to enable me to ascertain its direction; but, if ultimately +it should be discovered to exhaust itself, we should have to strike into +the interior on a N.W. course, in search of the Darling. I could not think +of putting the whale-boat together in our then state of uncertainty, and +it struck me that a smaller one could sooner he prepared for the purposes +for which I should require it. These considerations, together with the +view I had taken of the measures I might at last be forced into, +determined me, on rising, to order Clayton to fell a suitable tree, and to +prepare a saw-pit. The labour was of no consideration, and even if +eventually the boat should not be wanted, no injury would arise, and it +was better to take time by the forelock. Having marked a tree preparatory +to leaving the camp, M'Leay and I started at an early hour on an excursion +of deeper interest than any we had as yet undertaken; to examine the +reeds, not only for the purpose of ascertaining their extent, if possible, +but also to guide us in our future measures. We rode for some miles along +the river side, but observed in it no signs, either of increase or of +exhaustion. Its waters, though turbid, were deep, and its current still +rapid. Its banks, too, were lofty, and showed no evidence of decreasing +in height, so as to occasion an overflow of them, as had been the case +with the Macquarie. We got among vast bodies of reeds, but the plains of +the interior were visible beyond them. We were evidently in a hollow, and +the decline of country was plainly to the southward of west. Every thing +tended to strengthen my conviction that we were still far from the +termination of the river. The character it had borne throughout, and its +appearance now so far to the westward, gave me the most lively hopes that +it would make good its way through the vast level into which it fell, and +that its termination would accord with its promise. Besides, I daily +anticipated its junction with some stream of equal, if not of greater +magnitude from the S.E. I was aware that my resolves must be instant, +decisive, and immediately acted upon, as on firmness and promptitude at +this crisis the success of the expedition depended. About noon I checked +my horse, and rather to the surprise of my companion, intimated to +him my intention of returning to the camp, He naturally asked what I +purposed doing. I told him it appeared to me more than probable that the +Morumbidgee would hold good its course to some fixed point, now that it +had reached a meridian beyond the known rivers of the interior. It was +certain, from the denseness of the reeds, and the breadth of the belts, +that the teams could not be brought any farther, and that, taking every +thing into consideration, I had resolved on a bold and desperate measure, +that of building the whale-boat, and sending home the drays. Our +appearance in camp so suddenly, surprised the men not more than the orders +I gave. They all thought I had struck on some remarkable change of +country, and were anxious to know my ultimate views. It was not my +intention however, immediately to satisfy their curiosity. I had to study +their characters as long as I could, in order to select those best +qualified to accompany me on the desperate adventure for which I was +preparing. + +BOAT BUILDING. + +The attention both of M'Leay, and myself, was turned to the hasty building +of the whale-boat. A shed was erected, and every necessary preparation +made, and although Clayton had the keel of the small boat already laid +down, and some planks prepared, she was abandoned for the present, and, +after four days more of arduous labour, the whale-boat was painted and in +the water. From her dimensions, it appeared to me impossible that she +would hold all our provisions and stores, for her after-part had been +fitted up as an armoury, which took away considerably from her capacity of +stowage. The small boat would still, therefore, be necessary, and she was +accordingly re-laid, for half the dimensions of the large boat, and in +three days was alongside her consort in the river. Thus, in seven days we +had put together a boat, twenty-seven feet in length, had felled a tree +from the forest, with which we had built a second of half the size, had +painted both, and had them at a temporary wharf ready for loading. Such +would not have been the case had not our hearts been in the work, as the +weather was close and sultry, and we found it a task of extreme labour. +In the intervals between the hours of work, I prepared my despatches for +the Governor, and when they were closed, it only remained for me to select +six hands, the number I intended should accompany me down the river, and +to load the boats, ere we should once more proceed in the further +obedience of our instructions. + +COMPLETION OF ARRANGEMENTS FOR EMBARKATION. + +It was impossible that I could do without Clayton, whose perseverance and +industry had mainly contributed to the building of the boats; of the other +prisoners, I chose Mulholland and Macnamee; leaving the rest in charge +of Robert Harris, whose steady conduct had merited my approbation. My +servant, Harris, Hopkinson, and Fraser, of course, made up the crews. +The boats were loaded in the evening of Jan. 6th, as it had been +necessary to give the paint a little time to dry. On the 4th, I had sent +Clayton and Mulholland to the nearest cypress range for a mast and spar, +and on the evening of that day some blacks had visited us; but they sat on +the bank of the river, preserving a most determined silence; and, at +length, left us abruptly, and apparently in great ill humour. In the +disposition of the loads, I placed all the flour, the tea, and tobacco, +in the whaleboat. The meat-casks, still, and carpenters' tools, were put +into the small boat. + +As soon as the different arrangements were completed, I collected the men, +and told off those who were to accompany me. I then gave the rest over in +charge to Harris, and, in adverting to their regular conduct hitherto, +trusted they would be equally careful while under his orders. I then +directed the last remaining sheep to be equally divided among us; and it +was determined that, for fear of accidents, Harris should remain +stationary for a week, at the expiration of which time, he would be at +liberty to proceed to Goulburn Plains, there to receive his instructions +from Sydney; while the boats were to proceed at an early hour of the +morning down the river,--whether ever to return again being a point of the +greatest uncertainty. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + + +Embarkation of the party in the boats, and voyage down the Morumbidgee-- +The skiff swamped by striking on a sunken tree--Recovery of boat and its +loading--Region of reeds--Dangers of the navigation--Contraction of the +channel--Reach the junction of a large river--Intercourse with the natives +on its banks--Character of the country below the junction of the rivers-- +Descent of a dangerous rapid--Warlike demonstrations of a tribe of +natives--Unexpected deliverance from a conflict with them--Junction of +another river--Give the name of the "Murray" to the principal stream. + + +The camp was a scene of bustle and confusion long before day-light. The +men whom I had selected to accompany me were in high spirits, and so eager +to commence their labours that they had been unable to sleep, but busied +themselves from the earliest dawn in packing up their various articles of +clothing, &c. We were prevented from taking our departure so early as I +had intended, by rain that fell about six. At a little after seven, +however, the weather cleared up, the morning mists blew over our heads, +and the sun struck upon us with his usual fervour. As soon as the minor +things were stowed away, we bade adieu to Harris and his party; and +shortly after, embarked on the bosom of that stream along the banks of +which we had journeyed for so many miles + +Notwithstanding that we only used two oars, our progress down the river +was rapid. Hopkinson had arranged the loads so well, that all the party +could sit at their ease, and Fraser was posted in the bow of the boat, +with gun in hand, to fire at any new bird or beast that we might surprise +in our silent progress. The little boat, which I shall henceforward call +the skiff, was fastened by a painter to our stern. + +SUPPOSED JUNCTION OF LACHLAN. + +As the reader will have collected from what has already fallen under his +notice, the country near the depot was extensively covered with reeds, +beyond which vast plains of polygonum stretched away. From the bed of the +river we could not observe the change that took place in it as we passed +along, so that we found it necessary to land, from time to time, for the +purpose of noting down its general appearance. At about fifteen miles from +the depot, we came upon a large creek-junction from the N.E., which I did +not doubt to be the one M'Leay and I had crossed on the 25th of December. +It was much larger than the creek of the Macquarie, and was capable of +holding a very great body of water, although evidently too small to +contain all that occasionally rushed from its source. I laid it down as +the supposed junction of the Lachlan, since I could not, against the +corroborating facts in my possession, doubt its originating in the marshes +of that river. Should this, eventually, prove to be the case, the similar +termination of the two streams traced by Mr. Oxley will be a singular +feature in the geography of the interior. + +EMUS--NATIVE TOMB. + +We were just about to land, to prepare our dinner, when two emus swam +across the river ahead of us. This was an additional inducement for us to +land, but we were unfortunately too slow, and the birds escaped us. We had +rushed in to the right bank, and found on ascending it, that the reeds +with which it had hitherto been lined, had partially ceased. A large +plain, similar to those over which we had wandered prior to our gaining +the flooded region, stretched away to a considerable distance behind us, +and was backed by cypresses and brush. The soil of the plain was a red +sandy loam, covered sparingly with salsolae and shrubs; thus indicating +that the country still preserved its barren character, and that it is the +same from north to south. Among the shrubs we found a tomb that appeared +to have been recently constructed. No mound had been raised over the body, +but an oval hollow shed occupied the centre of the burial place, that was +lined with reeds and bound together with strong net-work. Round this, the +usual walks were cut, and the recent traces of women's feet were visible +upon them, but we saw no natives, although, from the number and size of +the paths that led from the river, in various directions across the plain, +I was led to conclude, that, at certain seasons, it is hereabouts +numerously frequented. Fraser gathered some rushes similar to those used +by the natives of the Darling in the fabrication of their nets, and as +they had not before been observed, we judged them, of course, to be a sign +of our near approach to that river. + +ASPECT OF COUNTRY AND RIVER. + +As soon as we had taken a hasty dinner, we again embarked, and pursued our +journey. I had hoped, from the appearance of the country to the north of +us, although that to the south gave little indication of any change, that +we should soon clear the reeds; but at somewhat less than a mile they +closed in upon the river, and our frequent examination of the +neighbourhood on either side of it only tended to confirm the fact, that +we were passing through a country subject to great and extensive +inundation. We pulled up at half-past five, and could scarcely find space +enough to pitch our tents. + +The Morumbidgee kept a decidedly westerly course during the day. Its +channel was not so tortuous as we expected to have found it, nor did it +offer any obstruction to the passage of the boats. Its banks kept a +general height of eight feet, five of which were of alluvial soil, and +both its depth and its current were considerable. We calculated having +proceeded from 28 to 30 miles, though, perhaps, not more than half that +distance in a direct line. No rain fell during the day, but we experienced +some heavy squalls from the E.S.E. + +THE SKIFF STRIKES AND SINKS--LABOUR IN RECOVERING ARTICLES LOST. + +The second day of our journey from the depot was marked by an accident +that had well nigh obliged us to abandon the further pursuit of the river, +by depriving us of part of our means of carrying it into effect. We had +proceeded, as usual, at an early hour in the morning, and not long after +we started, fell in with the blacks who had visited us last, and who were +now in much better humour than upon that occasion. As they had their women +with them, we pushed in to the bank, and distributed some presents, after +which we dropped quietly down the river. Its general depth had been such +as to offer few obstructions to our progress, but about an hour after we +left the natives, the skiff struck upon a sunken log, and immediately +filling, went down in about twelve feet of water, The length of the +painter prevented any strain upon the whale-boat, but the consequence of +so serious an accident at once flashed upon our minds. That we should +suffer considerably, we could not doubt, but our object was to get the +skiff up with the least possible delay, to prevent the fresh water from +mixing with the brine, in the casks of meat. Some short time, however, +necessarily elapsed before we could effect this, and when at last the +skiff was hauled ashore, we found that we were too late to prevent the +mischief that we had anticipated. All the things had been fastened in the +boat, but either from the shock, or the force of the current, one of the +pork casks, the head of the still, and the greater part of the carpenter's +tools, had been thrown out of her. As the success of the expedition might +probably depend upon the complete state of the still, I determined to use +every effort for its recovery: but I was truly at a loss how to find it; +for the waters of the river were extremely turbid. In this dilemma, the +blacks would have been of the most essential service, but they were far +behind us, so that we had to depend on our own exertions alone. I directed +the whale-boat to be moored over the place where the accident had +happened, and then used the oars on either side of her, to feel along the +bottom of the river, in hopes that by these means we should strike upon +the articles we had lost. However unlikely such a measure was to prove +successful, we recovered in the course of the afternoon, every thing but +the still-head, and a cask of paint. Whenever the oar struck against the +substance that appeared, by its sound or feel to belong to us, it was +immediately pushed into the sand, and the upper end of the oar being held +by two men, another descended by it to the bottom of the river, remaining +under water as long as he could, to ascertain what was immediately within +arm's length of him. This work was, as may be imagined, most laborious, +and the men at length became much exhausted. They would not, however, give +up the search for the still head, more especially after M'Leay, in diving, +had descended upon it. Had he, by ascertaining his position, left it to us +to heave it up, our labours would soon have ended; but, in his anxiety for +its recovery, he tried to bring it up, when finding it too heavy, he let +it go, and the current again swept it away. + +At sunset. we were obliged to relinquish our task, the men complaining of +violent head-aches, which the nature of the day increased. Thinking our +own efforts would be unavailing, I directed two of the men to go up the +river for the blacks, at day-light in the morning, and set the reeds on +fire to attract their notice. The day had been cloudy and sultry in the +afternoon, the clouds collecting in the N.E.: we heard the distant +thunder, and expected to have been deluged with rain. None, however, +fell, although we were anxious for moisture to change the oppressive state +of the atmosphere. The fire I had kindled raged behind us, and threw dense +columns of smoke into the sky, that cast over the landscape a shade of the +most dismal gloom. We were not in a humour to admire the picturesque, but +soon betook ourselves to rest, and after such a day of labour as that we +had undergone, I dispensed with the night guard. + +PILFERING OF NATIVES. + +In the morning we resumed our search for the still head, which Hopkinson +at length fortunately struck with his oar. It had been swept considerably +below the place at which M'Leay had dived, or we should most probably have +found it sooner. With its recovery, all our fatigues were at once +forgotten, and I ordered the breakfast to be got ready preparatory to our +reloading the skiff. Fraser and Mulholland, who had left the camp at +daylight, had not yet returned. I was sitting in the tent, when Macnamee +came to inform me that one of the frying-pans was missing, which had +been in use the evening previous, for that he himself had placed it on the +stump of a tree, and he therefore supposed a native dog had run away with +it. Soon after this, another loss was reported to me, and it was at last +discovered that an extensive robbery had been committed upon us during +the night, and that, in addition to the frying-pan, three cutlasses, and +five tomahawks, with the pea of the steelyards, had been carried away. +I was extremely surprised at this instance of daring in the natives, and +determined, if possible, to punish it. About ten, Fraser and Mulholland +returned with two blacks. Fraser told me he saw several natives on our +side of the river, as he was returning, to whom those who were with him +spoke, and I felt convinced from their manner and hesitation, that they +were aware of the trick that had been played upon us. However, as Fraser +had promised them a tomahawk to induce them to accompany him, I fulfilled +the promise. + +CONTINUE OUR VOYAGE. + +Leaving this unlucky spot, we made good about sixteen miles during the +afternoon. The river maintained its breadth and depth nor were the reeds +continuous upon its banks. We passed several plains that were considerably +elevated above the alluvial deposits, and the general appearance of the +country induced me strongly to hope that we should shortly get out of the +region of reeds, or the great flooded concavity on which we had fixed our +depot; but the sameness of vegetation, and the seemingly diminutive size +of the timber in the distance, argued against any change for the better +in the soil of the interior. Having taken the precaution of shortening the +painter of the skiff, we found less difficulty in steering her clear +of obstacles, and made rapid progress down the Morumbidgee during the +first cool and refreshing hours of the morning. The channel of the river +became somewhat less contracted, but still retained sufficient depth for +larger boats than ours, and preserved a general westerly course. Although +no decline of country was visible to the eye, the current in places ran +very strong. It is impossible for me to convey to the reader's mind an +idea of the nature of the country through which we passed. On this day the +favourable appearances, noticed yesterday, ceased almost as soon as we +embarked. On the 10th, reeds lined the banks of the river on both sides, +without any break, and waved like gloomy streamers over its turbid waters; +while the trees stood leafless and sapless in the midst of them. Wherever +we landed, the same view presented itself--a waving expanse of reeds, and +a country as flat as it is possible to imagine one. The eye could seldom +penetrate beyond three quarters of a mile, and the labour of walking +through the reeds was immense; but within our observation all was green +and cheerless. The morning had been extremely cold, with a thick haze at +E.S.E. About 2 p.m. it came on to rain heavily, so that we did not stir +after that hour. + +CONTRACTION OF THE CHANNEL. + +I had remarked that the Morumbidgee was not, from the depot downwards, so +broad or so fine a river as it certainly is at the foot of the mountain +ranges, where it gains the level country. The observations of the last two +days had impressed upon my mind an idea that it was rapidly falling off, +and I began to dread that it would finally terminate in one of those fatal +marshes in which the Macquarie and the Lachlan exhaust themselves. My hope +of a more favourable issue was considerably damped by the general +appearance of the surrounding country; and from the circumstance of our +not having as yet passed a single tributary. As we proceeded down the +river, its channel gradually contracted, and immense trees that had been +swept down it by floods, rendered the navigation dangerous and intricate. +Its waters became so turbid, that it was impossible to see objects in it, +notwithstanding the utmost diligence on the part of the men. + +About noon, we fell in with a large tribe of natives, but had great +difficulty in bringing them to visit us. If they had HEARD of white men, +we were evidently the first they had ever SEEN. They approached us in the +most cautious manner, and were unable to subdue their fears as long as +they remained with us. Collectively, these people could not have amounted +to less than one hundred and twenty in number. + +ANOTHER ACCIDENT. + +As we pushed off from the bank, after having stayed with them about half +an hour, the whaleboat struck with such violence on a sunken log, that she +immediately leaked on her starboard side. Fortunately she was going slowly +at the time, or she would most probably have received some more serious +injury. One of the men was employed during the remainder of the afternoon +in bailing her out, and we stopped sooner than we should otherwise have +done, in order to ascertain the extent of damage, and to repair it. The +reeds terminated on both sides of the river some time before we pulled up, +and the country round the camp was more elevated than usual, and bore the +appearance of open forest pasture land, the timber upon it being a dwarf +species of box, and the soil a light tenacious earth. + +ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY AND OF THE RIVER. + +About a mile below our encampment of the 12th, we at length came upon a +considerable creek-junction from the S.E. Below it, the river increased +both in breadth and depth; banks were lofty and perpendicular, and even +the lowest levels were but partially covered with reeds. We met with fewer +obstructions in consequence, and pursued our journey with restored +confidence. Towards evening a great change also took place in the aspect +of the country, which no longer bore general marks of inundation. The +level of the interior was broken by a small hill to the right of the +stream, but the view from its summit rather damped than encouraged my +hopes of any improvement. The country was covered with wood and brush, and +the line of the horizon was unbroken by the least swell. We were on an +apparently boundless flat, without any fixed point on which to direct our +movements, nor was there a single object for the eye to rest upon, beyond +the dark and gloomy wood that surrounded us on every side. + +Soon after passing this hill, the whale-boat struck upon a line of sunken +rocks, but fortunately escaped without injury. Mulholland, who was +standing in the bow, was thrown out of her, head foremost, and got a good +soaking, but soon recovered himself. The composition of the rock was +iron-stone, and it is the first formation that occurs westward of the +dividing range. We noticed a few cypresses in the distance, but the +general timber was dwarf-box, or flooded-gum, and a few of the acacia +longa scattered at great distances. In verifying our position by some +lunars, we found ourselves in 142 degrees 46 minutes 30 seconds of east +long., and in lat. 35 degrees 25 minutes 15 seconds S. the mean variation +of the compass being 4 degrees 10 minutes E. it appearing that we were +decreasing the variation as we proceeded westward. + +On the 13th, we passed the first running stream that joins the +Morumbidgee, in a course of more than 340 miles. It came from the S.E., +and made a visible impression on the river at the junction, although in +tracing it up, it appeared to be insignificant in itself. The circumstance +of these tributaries all occurring on the left, evidenced the level nature +of the country to the north. In the afternoon, we passed a dry creek also +from the S.E. which must at times throw a vast supply of water into the +river, since for many miles below, the latter preserved a breadth of +200 feet, and averaged from 12 to 20 feet in depth, with banks of from +15 to 18 feet in height. Yet, notwithstanding its general equality of +depth, several rapids occurred, down which the boats were hurried with +great velocity. The body of water in the river continued undiminished, +notwithstanding its increased breadth of channel; for which reason I +should imagine that it is fed by springs, independently of other supplies. +Some few cypresses were again observed, and the character of the distant +country resembled, in every particular, that of the interior between the +Macquarie and the Darling. The general appearance of the Morumbidgee, from +the moment of our starting on the 13th, to a late hour in the afternoon, +had been such as to encourage my hopes of ultimate success in tracing it +down; but about three o'clock we came to one of those unaccountable and +mortifying changes which had already so frequently excited my +apprehension. Its channel again suddenly contracted, and became almost +blocked up with huge trees, that must have found their way into it down +the creeks or junctions we had lately passed. The rapidity of the current +increasing at the same time, rendered the navigation perplexing and +dangerous. We Passed reach after reach, presenting the same difficulties, +and were at length obliged to pull up at 5 p.m., having a scene of +confusion and danger before us that I did not dare to encounter with the +evening's light; for I had not only observed that the men's eye-sight +failed them as the sun descended, and that they mistook shadows for +objects under water, and VICE-VERSA, but the channel had become so narrow +that, although the banks were not of increased height, we were involved in +comparative darkness, under a close arch of trees, and a danger was hardly +seen ere we were hurried past it, almost without the possibility of +avoiding it. The reach at the head of which we stopped, was crowded with +the trunks of trees, the branches of which crossed each other in every +direction, nor could I hope, after a minute examination of the channel, +to succeed in taking the boats safely down so intricate a passage. + +DANGEROUS NAVIGATION OF THE MORUMBIDGEE. + +We rose in the morning with feelings of apprehension, and uncertainty; +and, indeed, with great doubts on our minds whether we were not thus early +destined to witness the wreck, and the defeat of the expedition. The men +got slowly and cautiously into the boat, and placed themselves so as to +leave no part of her undefended. Hopkinson stood at the bow, ready with +poles to turn her head from anything upon which she might be drifting. +Thus prepared, we allowed her to go with the stream. By extreme care and +attention on the part of the men we passed this formidable barrier. +Hopkinson in particular exerted himself, and more than once leapt from the +boat upon apparently rotten logs of wood, that I should not have judged +capable of bearing his weight, the more effectually to save the boat. +It might have been imagined that where such a quantity of timber had +accumulated, a clearer channel would have been found below, but such was +not the case. In every reach we had to encounter fresh difficulties. In +some places huge trees lay athwart the stream, under whose arched branches +we were obliged to pass; but, generally speaking, they had been carried, +roots foremost, by the current, and, therefore, presented so many points +to receive us, that, at the rate at which we were going, had we struck +full upon any one of them, it would have gone through and through the +boat. About noon we stopped to repair, or rather to take down the remains +of our awning, which had been torn away; and to breathe a moment from the +state of apprehension and anxiety in which our minds had been kept during +the morning. About one, we again started. The men looked anxiously out +ahead; for the singular change in the river had impressed on them an idea, +that we were approaching its termination, or near some adventure. On a +sudden, the river took a general southern direction, but, in its tortuous +course, swept round to every point of the compass with the greatest +irregularity. We were carried at a fearful rate down its gloomy and +contracted banks, and, in such a moment of excitement, had little time to +pay attention to the country through which we were passing. It was, +however, observed, that chalybeate-springs were numerous close to the +water's edge. At 3 p.m., Hopkinson called out that we were approaching +a junction, and in less than a minute afterwards, we were hurried into a +broad and noble river. + +JUNCTION OF A LARGE RIVER--CHARACTER OF THE RIVER. + +It is impossible for me to describe the effect of so instantaneous a +change of circumstances upon us. The boats were allowed to drift along at +pleasure, and such was the force with which we had been shot out of the +Morumbidgee, that we were carried nearly to the bank opposite its +embouchure, whilst we continued to gaze in silent astonishment on the +capacious channel we had entered; and when we looked for that by which we +had been led into it, we could hardly believe that the insignificant gap +that presented itself to us was, indeed, the termination of the beautiful +and noble stream, whose course we had thus successfully followed. I can +only compare the relief we experienced to that which the seaman feels on +weathering the rock upon which be expected his vessel would have +struck--to the calm which succeeds moments of feverish anxiety, when the +dread of danger is succeeded by the certainty of escape. + +To myself personally, the discovery of this river was a circumstance of a +particularly gratifying nature, since it not only confirmed the justness +of my opinion as to the ultimate fate of the Morumbidgee, and bore me out +in the apparently rash and hasty step I had taken at the depot, but +assured me of ultimate success in the duty I had to perform. We had got on +the high road, as it were, either to the south coast, or to some +important outlet; and the appearance of the river itself was such as to +justify our most sanguine expectations. I could not doubt its being the +great channel of the streams from the S.E. angle of the island. Mr. Hume +had mentioned to me that he crossed three very considerable streams, when +employed with Mr. Hovell in 1823 in penetrating towards Port Phillips, to +which the names of the Goulburn, the Hume, and the Ovens, had been given; +and as I was 300 miles from the track these gentlemen had pursued, I +considered it more than probable that those rivers must already have +formed a junction above me, more especially when I reflected that the +convexity of the mountains to the S.E. would necessarily direct the waters +falling inwards from them to a common centre. + +We entered the new river at right angles, and, as I have remarked, at the +point of junction the channel of the Morumbidgee had narrowed so as to +bear all the appearance of an ordinary creek. In breadth it did not exceed +fifty feet, and if, instead of having passed down it, I had been making my +way up the principal streams, I should little have dreamt that so dark and +gloomy an outlet concealed a river that would lead me to the haunts of +civilized man, and whose fountains rose amidst snow-clad mountains. Such, +however, is the characteristic of the streams falling to the westward of +the coast ranges. Descending into a low and level interior, and depending +on their immediate springs for existence, they fall off, as they increase +their distance from the base of the mountains in which they rise, and in +their lower branches give little results of the promise they had +previously made. + +The opinion I have expressed, and which is founded on my personal +experience, that the rivers crossed by Messrs. Hovell and Hume had +already united above me, was strengthened by the capacity of the stream we +had just discovered. It had a medium width of 350 feet, with a depth of +from twelve to twenty. Its reaches were from half to three-quarters of a +mile in length, and the views upon it were splendid. Of course, as the +Morumbidgee entered it from the north, its first reach must have been +E. and W., and it was so, as nearly as possible; but it took us a little +to the southward of the latter point, in a distance of about eight miles +that we pulled down it in the course of the afternoon. We then landed and +pitched our tents for the night. Its transparent waters were running over +a sandy bed at the rate of two-and-a-half knots an hour, and its banks, +although averaging eighteen feet in height, were evidently subject to +floods. + +ABSENCE OF NATIVES. + +We had not seen any natives since falling in with the last tribe on the +Morumbidgee. A cessation had, therefore, taken place in our communication +with them, in re-establishing which I anticipated considerable difficulty. +It appeared singular that we should not have fallen in with any for +several successive days, more especially at the junction of the two +rivers, as in similar situations they generally have an establishment. In +examining the country back from the stream, I did not observe any large +paths, but it was evident that fires had made extensive ravages in the +neighbourhood, so that the country was, perhaps, only temporarily +deserted. Macnamee, who had wandered a little from the tents, declared +that he had seen about a dozen natives round a fire, from whom (if he +really did see them) he very precipitately fled, but I was inclined to +discredit his story, because in our journey on the following day, we +did not see even a casual wanderer. + +WEATHER, TEMPERATURE, &C. + +The river maintained its character, and raised our hopes to the highest +pitch. Its breadth varied from 160 to 200 yards; and only in one place, +where a reef of iron-stone stretched nearly across from the left bank, +so as to contract the channel near the right and to form a considerable +rapid, was there any apparent obstruction to our navigation. I was sorry, +however, to remark that the breadth of alluvial soil between its outer and +inner banks was very inconsiderable, and that the upper levels were poor +and sandy. Blue-gum generally occupied the former, while the usual +productions of the plains still predominated upon the latter, and showed +that the distant interior had not yet undergone any favourable change. +We experienced strong breezes from the north, but the range of the +thermometer was high, and the weather rather oppressive than otherwise. +On the night of the 16th, we had a strong wind from the N.W., but it +moderated with day-light, and shifted to the E.N.E., and the day was +favourable and cool. Our progress was in every way satisfactory, and if +any change had taken place in the river, it was that the banks had +increased in height, in many places to thirty feet, the soil being a red +loam, and the surface much above the reach of floods. The bank opposite to +the one that was so elevated, was proportionably low, and, in general, not +only heavily timbered, but covered with reeds, and backed by a chain of +ponds at the base of the outer embankment. + +INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES. + +About 4 p.m., some natives were observed running by the river side behind +us, but on our turning the boat's head towards the shore, they ran away. +It was evident that they had no idea what we were, and, from their +timidity, feeling assured that it would be impossible to bring them to a +parley, we continued onwards till our usual hour of stopping, when we +pitched our tents on the left bank for the night, it being the one +opposite to that on which the natives had appeared. We conjectured that +their curiosity would lead them to follow us, which they very shortly did; +for we had scarcely made ourselves comfortable when we heard their wild +notes through the woods as they advanced towards the river; and their +breaking into view with their spears and shields, and painted and prepared +as they were for battle, was extremely fine. They stood threatening us, +and making a great noise, for a considerable time, but, finding that we +took no notice of them, they, at length, became quiet. I then walked to +some little distance from the party, and taking a branch in my hand, as a +sign of peace, beckoned them to swim to our side of the river, which, +after some time, two or three of them did. But they approached me with +great caution, hesitating at every step. They soon, however, gained +confidence, and were ultimately joined by all the males of their tribe. +I gave the FIRST who swam the river a tomahawk (making this a rule in +order to encourage them) with which he was highly delighted. I shortly +afterwards placed them all in a row and fired a gun before them: they were +quite unprepared for such an explosion, and after standing stupified and +motionless for a moment or two, they simultaneously took to their heels, +to our great amusement. I succeeded, however, in calling them back, and +they regained their confidence so much, that sixteen of them remained with +us all night, but the greater number retired at sunset. + +On the following morning, they accompanied us down the river, where we +fell in with their tribe, who were stationed on an elevated bank a short +distance below--to the number of eighty-three men, women, and children. +Their appearance was extremely picturesque and singular. They wanted us to +land, but time was too precious for such delays. Some of the boldest of +the natives swam round and round the boat so as to impede the use of the +oars, and the women on the bank evinced their astonishment by mingled +yells and cries. They entreated us, by signs, to remain with them, but, as +I foresaw a compliance on this occasion would hereafter be attended with +inconvenience, I thought it better to proceed on our journey, and the +natives soon ceased their importunities, and, indeed, did not follow or +molest us. + +ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY AND OF THE RIVER BANKS. + +The river improved upon us at every mile. Its reaches were of noble +breadth, and splendid appearance. Its current was stronger, and it was fed +by numerous springs. Rocks, however, were more frequent in its bed, and in +two places almost formed a barrier across the channel, leaving but a +narrow space for the boats to go down. We passed several elevations of +from 70 to 90 feet in height, at the base of which the stream swept along. +The soil of these elevations was a mixture of clay (marl) and sand, upon +coarse sandstone. Their appearance and the manner in which they had been +acted upon by water, was singular, and afforded a proof of the violence of +the rains in this part of the interior. From the highest of these, I +observed that the country to the S.E. was gently undulated, and so far +changed in character from that through which we had been travelling; +still, however, it was covered with a low scrub, and was barren and +unpromising. + +About noon of the 18th, we surprised two women at the water-side, who +immediately retreated into the brush. Shortly after, four men showed +themselves, and followed us for a short distance, but hid themselves upon +our landing. The country still appeared undulated to the S.E.; the soil +was sandy, and cypresses more abundant than any other tree. We passed +several extensive sand-banks in the river, of unusual size and solidity, +an evident proof of the sandy nature of the interior generally. The vast +accumulations of sand at the junctions of every creek were particularly +remarkable. The timber on the alluvial flats was not by any means so large +as we had hitherto observed it; nor were the flats themselves so extensive +as they are on the Morumbidgee and the Macquarie. Notwithstanding the +aspect of the country which I have described, no POSITIVE change had as +yet taken place in the general feature of the interior. The river +continued to flow in a direction somewhat to the northward of west, +through a country that underwent no perceptible alteration. Its waters, +confined to their immediate bed, swept along considerably below the level +of its inner banks; and the spaces between them and the outer ones, though +generally covered with reeds, seemed not recently to have been flooded; +while on the other hand, they had, in many places, from successive +depositions, risen to a height far above the reach of inundation. Still, +however, the more remote interior maintained its sandy and sterile +character, and stretched away, in alternate plain and wood, to a distance +far beyond the limits of our examination. + +About the 21st, a very evident change took place in it. The banks of the +river suddenly acquired a perpendicular and water-worn appearance. Their +summits were perfectly level, and no longer confined by a secondary +embankment, but preserved an uniform equality of surface back from the +stream. These banks, although so abrupt, were not so high as the upper +levels, or secondary embankments. They indicated a deep alluvial deposit, +and yet, being high above the reach of any ordinary flood, were covered +with grass, under an open box forest, into which a moderately dense scrub +occasionally penetrated. We had fallen into a concavity similar to those +of the marshes, but successive depositions had almost filled it, and no +longer subject to inundation, it had lost all the character of those +flooded tracts. The kind of country I have been describing, lay rather to +the right than to the left of the river at this place, the latter +continuing low and swampy, as if the country to the south of the river +were still subject to inundation. As the expedition proceeded, the left +bank gradually assumed the appearance of the right; both looked water-worn +and perpendicular, and though not more than from nine to ten feet in +height, their summits were perfectly level in receding, and bore +diminutive box-timber, with widely-scattered vegetation. Not a single +elevation had, as yet, broken the dark and gloomy monotony of the +interior; but as our observations were limited to a short distance from +the river, our surmises on the nature of the distant country were +necessarily involved in some uncertainty. + +THREATENED ATTACK--AMICABLE CONFERENCE. + +On the 19th, as we were about to conclude our journey for the day, we saw +a large body of natives before us. On approaching them, they showed every +disposition for combat, and ran along the bank with spears in rests, as if +only waiting for an opportunity to throw them at us. They were upon the +right, and as the river was broad enough to enable me to steer wide of +them, I did not care much for their threats; but upon another party +appearing upon the left bank, I thought it high time to disperse one or +the other of them, as the channel was not wide enough to enable me to keep +clear of danger, if assailed by both, as I might be while keeping amid the +channel. I found, however, that they did not know how to use the advantage +they possessed, as the two divisions formed a junction; those on the left +swimming over to the stronger body upon the right bank. This, fortunately, +prevented the necessity of any hostile measure on my part, and we were +suffered to proceed unmolested, for the present. The whole then followed +us without any symptom of fear, but making a dreadful shouting, and +beating their spears and shields together, by way of intimidation. It is +but justice to my men to say that in this critical situation they evinced +the greatest coolness, though it was impossible for any one to witness +such a scene with indifference. As I did not intend to fatigue the men by +continuing to pull farther than we were in the habit of doing, we landed +at our usual time on the left bank, and while the people were pitching the +tents, I walked down the bank with M'Leay, to treat with these desperadoes +in the best way we could, across the water, a measure to which my men +showed great reluctance, declaring that if during our absence the natives +approached them, they would undoubtedly fire upon them. I assured them it +was not my intention to go out of their sight. We took our guns with us, +but determined not to use them until the last extremity, both from a +reluctance to shed blood and with a view to our future security. I held a +long pantomimical dialogue with them, across the water, and held out the +olive branch in token of amity. They at length laid aside their spears, +and a long consultation took place among them, which ended in two or three +wading into the river, contrary, as it appeared, to the earnest +remonstrances of the majority, who, finding that their entreaties had no +effect, wept aloud, and followed them with a determination, I am sure, of +sharing their fate, whatever it might have been. As soon as they landed, +M'Leay and I retired to a little distance from the bank, and sat down; +that being the usual way among the natives of the interior, to invite to +an interview. When they saw us act thus, they approached, and sat down by +us, but without looking up, from a kind of diffidence peculiar to them, +and which exists even among the nearest relatives, as I have already had +occasion to observe. As they gained confidence, however, they showed an +excessive curiosity, and stared at us in the most earnest manner. We now +led them to the camp, and I gave, as was my custom, the first who had +approached, a tomahawk; and to the others, some pieces of iron hoop. Those +who had crossed the river amounted to about thirty-five in number. +At sunset, the majority of them left us; but three old men remained at +the fire-side all night. I observed that few of them had either lost their +front teeth or lacerated their bodies, as the more westerly tribes do. The +most loathsome diseases prevailed among them. Several were disabled by +leprosy, or some similar disorder, and two or three had entirely lost +their sight. They are, undoubtedly, a brave and a confiding people, and +are by no means wanting in natural affection. In person, they resemble the +mountain tribes. They had the thick lip, the sunken eye, the extended +nostril, and long beards, and both smooth and curly hair are common among +them. Their lower extremities appear to bear no proportion to their bust +in point of muscular strength; but the facility with which they ascend +trees of the largest growth, and the activity with which they move upon +all occasions, together with their singularly erect stature, argue that +such appearance is entirely deceptive. + +INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES. + +The old men slept very soundly by the fire, and were the last to get up in +the morning. M'Leay's extreme good humour had made a most favourable +impression upon them, and I can picture him, even now, joining in their +wild song. Whether it was from his entering so readily into their mirth, +or from anything peculiar that struck them, the impression upon the whole +of us was, that they took him to have been originally a black, in +consequence of which they gave him the name of Rundi. Certain it is, they +pressed him to show his side, and asked if he had not received a wound +there--evidently as if the original Rundi had met with a violent death +from a spear-wound in that place. The whole tribe, amounting in number to +upwards of 150, assembled to see us take our departure. Four of them +accompanied us, among whom there was one remarkable for personal strength +and stature.--The 21st passed without our falling in with any new tribe, +and the night of the 22nd, saw us still wandering in that lonely desert +together. There was something unusual in our going through such an extent +of country without meeting another tribe, but our companions appeared to +be perfectly aware of the absence of inhabitants, as they never left +our side. + +Although the banks of the river had been of general equality of height, +sandy elevations still occasionally formed a part of them, and their +summits were considerably higher than the alluvial flats. + +RAPID IN THE RIVER--DANGEROUS DESCENT OF THE BOATS. + +It was upon the crest of one of these steep and lofty banks, that on the +morning of the 22nd, the natives who were a-head of the boat, suddenly +stopped to watch our proceedings down a foaming rapid that ran beneath. +We were not aware of the danger to which we were approaching, until we +turned an angle of the river, and found ourselves too near to retreat. +In such a moment, without knowing what was before them, the coolness of +the men was strikingly exemplified. No one even spoke after they became +aware that silence was necessary. The natives (probably anticipating +misfortune) stood leaning upon their spears upon the lofty bank above us. +Desiring the men not to move from their seats, I stood up to survey the +channel, and to steer the boat to that part of it which was least impeded +by rocks. I was obliged to decide upon a hasty survey, as we were already +at the head of the rapid. It appeared to me that there were two passages, +the one down the centre of the river, the other immediately under its +right bank. A considerable rock stood directly in own way to the latter, +so that I had no alternative but to descend the former. About forty yards +below the rock, I noticed that a line of rocks occupied the space between +the two channels, whilst a reef, projecting from the left bank, made the +central passage distinctly visible, and the rapidity of the current +proportionably great. I entertained hopes that the passage was clear, and +that we should shoot down it without interruption; but in this I was +disappointed. The boat struck with the fore-part of her keel on a sunken +rock, and, swinging round as it were on a pivot, presented her bow to the +rapid, while the skiff floated away into the strength of it. We had every +reason to anticipate the loss of our whale-boat, whose build was so light, +that had her side struck the rock, instead of her keel, she would have +been laid open from stem to stern. As it was, however, she remained fixed +in her position, and it only remained for us to get her off the best way +we could. I saw that this could only be done by sending two of the men +with a rope to the upper rock, and getting the boat, by that means, into +the still water, between that and the lower one. We should then have time +to examine the channels, and to decide as to that down which it would be +safest to proceed. My only fear was, that the loss of the weight of the +two men would lighten the boat so much, that she would be precipitated +down the rapid without my having any command over her; but it happened +otherwise. We succeeded in getting her into the still water, and +ultimately took her down the channel under the right bank, without her +sustaining any injury. A few miles below this rapid the river took a +singular bend, and we found, after pulling several miles, that we were +within a stone's throw of a part of the stream we had already +sailed down. + +The four natives joined us in the camp, and assisted the men at their +various occupations. The consequence was, that they were treated with more +than ordinary kindness; and Fraser, for his part, in order to gratify +these favoured guests, made great havoc among the feathered race. He +returned after a short ramble with a variety of game, among which were a +crow, a kite, and a laughing jackass (alcedo gigantea,) a species of +king's-fisher, a singular bird, found in every part of Australia. Its cry, +which resembles a chorus of wild spirits, is apt to startle the traveller +who may be in jeopardy, as if laughing and mocking at his misfortune. +It is a harmless bird, and I seldom allowed them to be destroyed, as they +were sure to rouse us with the earliest dawn. To this list of Fraser's +spoils, a duck and a tough old cockatoo, must be added. The whole of these +our friends threw on the fire without the delay of plucking, and snatched +them from that consuming element ere they were well singed, and devoured +them with uncommon relish. + +DESERTED NATIVE VILLAGE. + +We pitched our tents upon a flat of good and tenacious soil. A brush, in +which there was a new species of melaleuca, backed it, in the thickest +part of which we found a deserted native village. The spot was evidently +chosen for shelter. The huts were large and long, all facing the same +point of the compass, and in every way resembling the huts occupied by the +natives of the Darling. Large flocks of whistling ducks, and other wild +fowl, flew over our heads to the N.W., as if making their way to some +large or favourite waters. My observations placed us in lat. 34 degrees +8 minutes 15 seconds south, and in east long. 141 degrees 9 minutes +42 seconds or nearly so; and I was at a loss to conceive what direction +the river would ultimately take. We were considerably to the N.W. of the +point at which we had entered it, and in referring to the chart, it +appeared, that if the Darling had kept a S.W. course from where the last +expedition left its banks, we ought ere this to have struck upon it, +or have arrived at its junction with the stream on which we were +journeying. + +CONVERSING BY SIGNS. + +The natives, in attempting to answer my interrogatories, only perplexed +me more and more. They evidently wished to explain something, by placing a +number of sticks across each other as a kind of diagram of the country. It +was, however, impossible to arrive at their meaning. They undoubtedly +pointed to the westward, or rather to the south of that point, as the +future course of the river; but there was something more that they were +anxious to explain, which I could not comprehend. The poor fellows seemed +quite disappointed, and endeavoured to beat it into Fraser's head with as +little success. I then desired Macnamee to get up into a tree. From the +upper branches of it he said he could see hills; but his account of their +appearance was such that I doubted his story: nevertheless it might have +been correct. He certainly called our attention to a large fire, as if the +country to the N.W. was in flames, so that it appeared we were approaching +the haunts of the natives at last. + +It happened that Fraser and Harris were for guard, and they sat up +laughing and talking with the natives long after we retired to rest. +Fraser, to beguile the hours, proposed shaving his sable companions, and +performed that operation with admirable dexterity upon their chief, to his +great delight. I got up at an early hour, and found to my surprise that +the whole of them had deserted us. Harris told me they had risen from the +fire about an hour before, and had crossed the river. I was a little +angry, but supposed they were aware that we were near some tribe, and had +gone on a-head to prepare and collect them. + +LARGE CONCOURSE OF NATIVES--THEIR HOSTILE DEMEANOUR. + +After breakfast, we proceeded onwards as usual. The river had increased so +much in width that, the wind being fair, I hoisted sail for the first +time, to save the strength of my men as much as possible. Our progress was +consequently rapid. We passed through a country that, from the nature of +its soil and other circumstances, appeared to be intersected by creeks and +lagoons. Vast flights of wild fowl passed over us, but always at a +considerable elevation, while, on the other hand, the paucity of ducks on +the river excited our surprise. Latterly, the trees upon the river, and in +its neighbourhood, had been a tortuous kind of box. The flooded-gum grew +in groups on the spaces subject to inundation, but not on the levels above +the influence of any ordinary rise of the stream. Still they were much +smaller than they were observed to be in the higher branches of the river. +We had proceeded about nine miles, when we were surprised by the +appearance in view, at the termination of a reach, of a long line of +magnificent trees of green and dense foliage. As we sailed down the reach, +we observed a vast concourse of natives under them, and, on a nearer +approach, we not only heard their war-song, if it might so be called, but +remarked that they were painted and armed, as they generally are, prior +to their engaging in deadly conflict. Notwithstanding these outward signs +of hostility, fancying that our four friends were with them, I continued +to steer directly in for the bank on which they were collected. I found, +however, when it was almost too late to turn into the succeeding reach +to our left, that an attempt to land would only be attended with loss of +life. The natives seemed determined to resist it. We approached so near +that they held their spears quivering in their grasp ready to hurl. They +were painted in various ways. Some who had marked their ribs, and thighs, +and faces with a white pigment, looked like skeletons, others were daubed +over with red and yellow ochre, and their bodies shone with the grease +with which they had besmeared themselves. A dead silence prevailed among +the front ranks, but those in the back ground, as well as the women, who +carried supplies of darts, and who appeared to have had a bucket of +whitewash capsized over their heads, were extremely clamorous. As I did +not wish a conflict with these people, I lowered my sail, and putting the +helm to starboard, we passed quietly down the stream in mid channel. +Disappointed in their anticipations, the natives ran along the bank of the +river, endeavouring to secure an aim at us; but, unable to throw with +certainty, in consequence of the onward motion of the boat, they flung +themselves into the most extravagant attitudes, and worked themselves into +a state of frenzy by loud and vehement shouting. + +PREPARATIONS FOR CONFLICT--UNEXPECTED INTERFERENCE. + +It was with considerable apprehension that I observed the river to be +shoaling fast, more especially as a huge sand-bank, a little below us, and +on the same side on which the natives had gathered, projected nearly a +third-way across the channel. To this sand-bank they ran with tumultuous +uproar, and covered it over in a dense mass. Some of the chiefs advanced +to the water to be nearer their victims, and turned from time to time to +direct their followers. With every pacific disposition, and an extreme +reluctance to take away life, I foresaw that it would be impossible any +longer to avoid an engagement, yet with such fearful numbers against us, +I was doubtful of the result. The spectacle we had witnessed had been one +of the most appalling kind, and sufficient to shake the firmness of most +men; but at that trying moment my little band preserved their temper +coolness, and if any thing could be gleaned from their countenances, it +was that they had determined on an obstinate resistance. I now explained +to them that their only chance of escape depended, or would depend, on +their firmness. I desired that after the first volley had been fired, +M'Leay and three of the men, would attend to the defence of the boat with +bayonets only, while I, Hopkinson, and Harris, would keep up the fire as +being more used to it. I ordered, however, that no shot was to be fired +until after I had discharged both my barrels. I then delivered their arms +to the men, which had as yet been kept in the place appropriated for them, +and at the same time some rounds of loose cartridge. The men assured me +they would follow my instructions, and thus prepared, having already +lowered the sail, we drifted onwards with the current. As we neared the +sand-bank, I stood up and made signs to the natives to desist; +but without success. I took up my gun, therefore, and cocking it, +had already brought it down to a level. A few seconds more would +have closed the life of the nearest of the savages. The distance +was too trifling for me to doubt the fatal effects of the discharge; +for I was determined to take deadly aim, in hopes that the fall of +one man might save the lives of many. But at the very moment, when +my hand was on the trigger, and my eye was along the barrel, my +purpose was checked by M'Leay, who called to me that another party of +blacks had made their appearance upon the left bank of the river. Turning +round, I observed four men at the top of their speed. The foremost of +them as soon as he got a-head of the boat, threw himself from a +considerable height into the water. He struggled across the channel to the +sand-bank, and in an incredibly short space of time stood in front of the +savage, against whom my aim had been directed. Seizing him by the throat, +he pushed backwards, and forcing all who were in the water upon the bank, +he trod its margin with a vehemence and an agitation that were exceedingly +striking. At one moment pointing to the boat, at another shaking his +clenched hand in the faces of the most forward, and stamping with passion +on the sand; his voice, that was at first distinct and clear, was lost in +hoarse murmurs. Two of the four natives remained on the left bank of the +river, but the third followed his leader, (who proved to be the remarkable +savage I have previously noticed) to the scene of action. The reader will +imagine our feelings on this occasion: it is impossible to describe them. +We were so wholly lost in interest at the scene that was passing, that the +boat was allowed to drift at pleasure. For my own part I was overwhelmed +with astonishment, and in truth stunned and confused; so singular, so +unexpected, and so strikingly providential, had been our escape. + +JUNCTION OF ANOTHER STREAM--PROVIDENTIAL DELIVERANCE FROM DANGER. + +We were again roused to action by the boat suddenly striking upon a shoal, +which reached from one side of the river to the other. To jump out and +push her into deeper water was but the work of a moment with the men, and +it was just as she floated again that our attention was withdrawn to a new +and beautiful stream, coming apparently from the north. The great body of +the natives having posted themselves on the narrow tongue of land formed +by the two rivers, the bold savage who had so unhesitatingly interfered +on our account, was still in hot dispute with them, and I really feared +his generous warmth would have brought down upon him the vengeance of the +tribes. I hesitated, therefore, whether or not to go to his assistance. +It appeared, however, both to M'Leay and myself, that the tone of the +natives had moderated, and the old and young men having listened to the +remonstrances of our friend, the middle-aged warriors were alone holding +out against him. A party of about seventy blacks were upon the right bank +of the newly discovered river, and I thought that by landing among them, +we should make a diversion in favour of our late guest; and in this I +succeeded. If even they had still meditated violence, they would have to +swim a good broad junction, and that, probably, would cool them, or we +at least should have the advantage of position. I therefore, ran the boat +ashore, and landed with M'Leay amidst the smaller party of natives, wholly +unarmed, and having directed the men to keep at a little distance from the +bank. Fortunately, what I anticipated was brought about by the stratagem +to which I had had recourse. The blacks no sooner observed that we had +landed, than curiosity took place of anger. All wrangling ceased, and they +came swimming over to us like a parcel of seals. Thus, in less than a +quarter of an hour from the moment when it appeared that all human +intervention was at on end, and we were on the point of commencing a +bloody fray, which, independently of its own disastrous consequences, +would have blasted the success of the expedition, we were peacefully +surrounded by the hundreds who had so lately threatened us with +destruction; nor was it until after we had returned to the boat, and had +surveyed the multitude upon the sloping bank above us, that we became +fully aware of the extent of our danger, and of the almost miraculous +intervention of Providence in our favour. There could not have been less +than six hundred natives upon that blackened sward. But this was not the +only occasion upon which the merciful superintendance of that Providence +to which we had humbly committed ourselves, was strikingly manifested. +If these pages fail to convey entertainment or information, sufficient may +at least be gleaned from them to furnish matter for serious reflection; +but to those who have been placed in situations of danger where human +ingenuity availed them not, and where human foresight was baffled, I feel +persuaded that these remarks are unnecessary. + +NEW RIVER, SUPPOSED TO BE THE DARLING. + +It was my first care to call for our friend, and to express to him, as +well as I could, how much we stood indebted to him, at the same time that +I made him a suitable present; but to the chiefs of the tribes, +I positively refused all gifts, notwithstanding their earnest +solicitations. We next prepared to examine the new river, and turning the +boat's head towards it, endeavoured to pull up the stream. Our larboard +oars touched the right bank, and the current was too strong for us to +conquer it with a pair only; we were, therefore, obliged to put a second +upon her, a movement that excited the astonishment and admiration of the +natives. One old woman seemed in absolute ecstasy, to whom M'Leay threw an +old tin kettle, in recompense for the amusement she afforded us. + +HOIST THE UNION JACK. + +As soon as we got above the entrance of the new river, we found easier +pulling, and proceeded up it for some miles, accompanied by the once more +noisy multitude. The river preserved a breadth of one hundred yards, and a +depth of rather more than twelve feet. Its banks were sloping and grassy, +and were overhung by trees of magnificent size. Indeed, its appearance was +so different from the water-worn banks of the sister stream, that the men +exclaimed, on entering it, that we had got into an English river. Its +appearance certainly almost justified the expression; for the greenness of +its banks was as new to us as the size of its timber. Its waters, though +sweet, were turbid, and had a taste of vegetable decay, as well as a +slight tinge of green. Our progress was watched by the natives with +evident anxiety. They kept abreast of us, and talked incessantly. +At length, however, our course was checked by a net that stretched right +across the stream. I say checked, because it would have been unfair to +have passed over it with the chance of disappointing the numbers who +apparently depended on it for subsistence that day. The moment was one of +intense interest to me. As the men rested upon their oars, awaiting my +further orders, a crowd of thoughts rushed upon me. The various +conjectures I had formed of the course and importance of the Darling +passed across my mind. Were they indeed realized? An irresistible +conviction impressed me that we were now sailing on the bosom of that very +stream from whose banks I had been twice forced to retire. I directed the +Union Jack to be hoisted, and giving way to our satisfaction, we all stood +up in the boat, and gave three distinct cheers. It was an English feeling, +an ebullition, an overflow, which I am ready to admit that our +circumstances and situation will alone excuse. The eye of every native had +been fixed upon that noble flag, at all times a beautiful object, and to +them a novel one, as it waved over us in the heart of a desert. They had, +until that moment been particularly loquacious, but the sight of that flag +and the sound of our voices hushed the tumult, and while they were still +lost in astonishment, the boat's head was speedily turned, the sail was +sheeted home, both wind and current were in our favour, and we vanished +from them with a rapidity that surprised even ourselves, and which +precluded every hope of the most adventurous among them to keep up +with us. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + + +Character of the country--Damage of provisions--Adroitness of the natives +in catching fish--The skiff broken up--Stream from the North-East supposed +to be the Darling--Change of country in descending the river--Intercourse +with the natives--Prevalence of loathsome diseases among them--Apparent +populousness of the country--Junction of several small streams--The Rufus, +the Lindesay, &c.--Rainy and tempestuous weather--Curious appearance of +the banks--Troublesomeness of the natives--Inhospitable and desolate +aspect of the country--Condition of the men--Change in the geological +character of the country--The river passes through a valley among hills. + + +Arrived once more at the junction of the two rivers, and unmolested in our +occupations, we had leisure to examine it more closely. Not having as yet +given a name to our first discovery, when we re-entered its capacious +channel on this occasion, I laid it down as the Murray River, in +compliment to the distinguished officer, Sir George Murray, who then +presided over the colonial department, not only in compliance with the +known wishes of his Excellency General Darling, but also in accordance +with my own feelings as a soldier. + +The new river, whether the Darling or an additional discovery, meets its +more southern rival on a N. by E. course; the latter, running W.S.W. at +the confluence, the angle formed by the two rivers, is, therefore, so +small that both may he considered to preserve their proper course, and +neither can be said to be tributary to the other. At their junction, +the Murray spreads its waters over the broad and sandy shore, upon which +our boat grounded, while its more impetuous neighbour flows through the +deep but narrow channel it has worked out for itself, under the right +bank. The strength of their currents must have been nearly equal, since +there was as distinct a line between their respective waters, to a +considerable distance below the junction, as if a thin board alone +separated them. The one half the channel contained the turbid waters of +the northern stream, the other still preserved their original +transparency. + +INUNDATED AND ALLUVIAL COUNTRY. + +The banks of the Murray did not undergo any immediate change as we +proceeded. We noticed that the country had, at some time, been subject to +extensive inundation, and was, beyond doubt, of alluvial formation. We +passed the mouths of several large creeks that came from the north and +N.W., and the country in those directions seemed to be much intersected by +water-courses; while to the south it was extremely low. Having descended +several minor rapids, I greatly regretted that we had no barometer to +ascertain the actual dip of the interior. I computed, however, that we +were not more than from eighty to ninety feet above the level of the sea. +We found the channel of the Murray much encumbered with timber, and +noticed some banks of sand that were of unusual size, and equalled the +largest accumulations of it on the sea shore, both in extent and solidity. + +STATE OF PROVISIONS. + +We would gladly have fired into the flights of wild fowl that winged their +way over us, for we, about this time, began to feel the consequences of +the disaster that befell us in the Morumbidgee. The fresh water having got +mixed with the brine in the meat casks, the greater part of our salt +provisions had got spoiled, so that we were obliged to be extremely +economical in the expenditure of what remained, as we knew not to what +straits we might be driven. It will naturally be asked why we did not +procure fish? The answer is easy. The men had caught many in the +Morumbidgee, and on our first navigation of the Murray, but whether it was +that they had disagreed with them, or that their appetites were palled, or +that they were too fatigued after the labour of the day to set the lines, +they did not appear to care about them. The only fish we could take was +the common cod or perch; and, without sauce or butter, it is insipid +enough. We occasionally exchanged pieces of iron-hoop for two other kinds +of fish, the one a bream, the other a barbel, with the natives, and the +eagerness with which they met our advances to barter, is a strong proof of +their natural disposition towards this first step in civilization. + +DEXTERITY OF NATIVES IN FISHING. + +As they threw off all reserve when accompanying us as ambassadors, we had +frequent opportunities of observing their habits. The facility, for +instance, with which they procured fish was really surprising. They would +slip, feet foremost, into the water as they walked along the bank of the +river, as if they had accidentally done so, but, in reality, to avoid the +splash they would necessarily have made if they had plunged in head +foremost. As surely as they then disappeared under the surface of the +water, so surely would they re-appear with a fish writhing upon the point +of their short spears. The very otter scarcely exceeds them in power over +the finny race, and so true is the aim of these savages, even under water, +that all the fish we procured from them were pierced either close behind +the lateral fin, or in the very centre of the head, It is certain, from +their indifference to them, that the natives seldom eat fish when they can +get anything else. Indeed, they seemed more anxious to take the small +turtle, which, sunning themselves on the trunks or logs of trees over the +water, were, nevertheless, extremely on their guard. A gentle splash alone +indicated to us that any thing had dropped into the water, but the quick +eyes and ears of our guides immediately detected what had occasioned it, +and they seldom failed to take the poor little animal that had so vainly +trusted to its own watchfulness for security. It appeared that the natives +did not, from choice, frequent the Murray; it was evident, therefore, that +they had other and better means of subsistence away from it, and it struck +me, at the time, that the river we had just passed watered a better +country than any through which the Murray had been found to flow. + +BREAK UP THE SKIFF. + +We encamped rather earlier than usual upon the left bank of the river, +near a broad creek; for as the skiff had been a great drag upon us, I +determined on breaking it up, since there was no probability that we +should ever require the still, which alone remained in her. We, +consequently, burnt the former, to secure her nails and iron work, and I +set Clayton about cutting the copper of the latter into the shape of +crescents, in order to present them to the natives. Some large huts were +observed on the side of the creek, a little above the camp, the whole of +which faced the N.E. This arrangement had previously been noticed by us, +so that I was led to infer that the severest weather comes from the +opposite quarter in this part of the interior. I had not the least idea, +at the time, however, that we should, ere we reached the termination of +our journey, experience the effects of the S.W. winds. + +We must have fallen considerably during the day from the level of our +morning's position, for we passed down many reaches where the decline of +country gave an increased velocity to the current of the river. + +I had feared, not only in consequence of the unceremonious manner in +which we had left them, but, because I had, in some measure, rejected the +advances of their chiefs, that none of the natives would follow us, and I +regretted the circumstance on account of my men, as well as the trouble we +should necessarily have in conciliating the next tribe. We had not, +however, been long encamped, when seven blacks joined us. I think they +would have passed on if we had not called to them. As it was, they +remained with us but for a short time. We treated them very kindly, but +they were evidently under constraint, and were, no doubt, glad when they +found we did not object to their departing. + +NEW RIVER IDENTIFIED WITH THE DARLING. + +I have stated, that I felt satisfied in my own mind, that the beautiful +stream we had passed was no other than the river Darling of my former +journey. The bare assertion, however, is not sufficient to satisfy the +mind of the reader, upon a point of such importance, more especially when +it is considered how remarkable a change the Darling must have undergone, +if this were indeed a continuation of it. I am free to confess that it +required an effort to convince myself, but after due consideration, I see +no reason to alter the opinion I formed at a moment of peculiar +embarrassment. Yet it by no means follows that I shall convince others, +although I am myself convinced. The question is one of curious +speculation, and the consideration of it will lead us to an interesting +conjecture, as to the probable nature of the distant interior, between the +two points. It will be remembered that I was obliged to relinquish my +pursuit of the Darling, in east long. 144 degrees 48 minutes 30 seconds +in lat. 30 degrees 17 minutes 30 seconds south. I place the junction of +the Murray and the new river, in long. 140 degrees 56 minutes east, and in +south lat. 34 degrees 3 minutes. I must remark, however, that the lunars I +took on this last occasion, were not satisfactory, and that there is, +probably, an error, though not a material one, in the calculation. Before +I measure the distance between the above points, or make any remarks on +the results of my own observations, I would impress the following facts +upon the reader's mind. + +I found and left the Darling in a complete state of exhaustion. As a river +it had ceased to flow; the only supply it received was from brine +springs, which, without imparting a current, rendered its waters saline +and useless, and lastly, the fish in it were different from those +inhabiting the other known rivers of the interior. It is true, I did not +procure a perfect specimen of one, but we satisfactorily ascertained that +they were different, inasmuch as they had large and strong scales, whereas +the fish in the western waters have smooth skins. On the other hand, the +waters of the new river were sweet, although turbid; it had a rapid +current in it; and its fish were of the ordinary kind. In the above +particulars, therefore, they differed much as they could well differ. Yet +there were some strong points of resemblance in the appearance of the +rivers themselves, which were more evident to me than I can hope to make +them to the reader. Both were shaded by trees of the same magnificent +dimensions; and the same kind of huts were erected on the banks of each, +inhabited by the same description, or race, of people, whose weapons, +whose implements, and whose nets corresponded in most respects. + +We will now cast our eyes over the chart: and see if the position of the +two rivers upon it, will at all bear out our conclusion that they are one +and the same; and whether the line that would join them is the one that +the Darling would naturally take, in reference to its previous +course.--We shall find that the two points under discussion, bear almost +N.E. and S.W. of each other respectively, the direct line in which the +Darling had been ascertained to flow, as far as it had been found +practicable to trace it. I have already remarked that the fracture of my +barometer prevented my ascertaining the height of the bed of the Darling +above the sea, during the first expedition. A similar accident caused me +equal disappointment on the second; because one of the most important +points upon which I was engaged was to ascertain the dip of the interior. +I believe I stated, in its proper place, that I did not think the Darling +could possibly be 200 feet above the sea, and as far as my observations +bear me out, I should estimate the bed of the Murray, at its junction with +the new river, to be within 100. It would appear that there is a distance +of 300 miles between the Murray River at this place, and the Darling; +a space amply sufficient for the intervention of a hilly country. No one +could have been more attentive to the features of the interior than I was; +nor could any one have dwelt upon their peculiarities with more earnest +attention. It were hazardous to build up any new theory, however ingenious +it may appear. The conclusions into which I have been led, are founded on +actual observation of the country through which I passed, and extend not +beyond my actual range of vision; unless my assuming that the decline of +the interior to the south has been satisfactorily established, be +considered premature. If not, the features of the country certainly +justify my deductions; and it will be found that they were still more +confirmed by subsequent observation.--That the Darling should have lost +its current in its upper branches, is not surprising, when the level +nature of the country into which it falls is taken into consideration; +neither does it surprise me that it should be stationary in one place, +and flowing in another; since, if, as in the present instance, there is a +great extent of country between the two points, which may perhaps be of +considerable elevation, the river may receive tributaries, whose waters +will of course follow the general decline of the country. I take it to be +so in the case before us; and am of opinion, that the lower branches of +the Darling are not at all dependent on its sources for a current, or for +a supply of water. I have somewhere observed that it appeared to me the +depressed interior over which I had already travelled, was of +comparatively recent formation. And, by whatever convulsion or change +so extensive a tract became exposed, I cannot but infer, that the Darling +is the main channel by which the last waters of the ocean were drained +off. The bottom of the estuary, for it cannot be called a valley, being +then left exposed, it consequently remains the natural and proper +reservoir for the streams from the eastward, or those falling easterly +from the westward, if any such remain to be discovered. + +From the junction of the Morumbidgee to the junction of the new river, the +Murray had held a W.N.W. course. From the last junction it changed its +direction to the S.W., and increased considerably in size. The country to +the south was certainly lower than that to the north; for, although both +banks had features common to each other, the flooded spaces were much +more extensive to our left than to our right. + +CHANGE OF COUNTRY. + +We started on the morning of the 24th, all the lighter from having got rid +of the skiff, and certainly freer to act in case the natives should evince +a hostile disposition towards us. As we proceeded down the river, the +appearances around us more and more plainly indicated a change of country. +Cypresses were observed in the distance, and the ground on which they +stood was higher than that near the stream; as if it had again acquired +its secondary banks. At length these heights approached the river so +nearly as to form a part of its banks, and to separate one alluvial flat +from another. Their summits were perfectly level; their soil was a red +sandy loam; and their productions, for the most part, salsolae and +misembrianthemum. From this it would appear that we had passed through a +second region, that must at some time have been under water, and that +still retained all the marks of a country partially subject to flood. + +INTRODUCED FROM TRIBE TO TRIBE. + +We had, as I have said, passed over this region, and were again hemmed in +by those sandy and sterile tracts upon which the beasts of the field could +obtain neither food nor water. We overtook the seven deputies some time +after we started, but soon lost sight of them again, as they cut off the +sweeps of the river, and shortened their journey as much as possible. +At 2 p.m. we found them with a tribe of their countrymen, about eighty in +number. We pulled in to the bank and remained with them for a short time, +and I now determined to convince the blacks who had preceded us, that I +had not been actuated by any other desire than that of showing to them +that we were not to be intimidated by numbers, when I refused to make them +any presents after their show of hostility. I now, therefore, gave them +several implements, sundry pieces of iron hoop, and an ornamental badge of +copper. When we left the tribe, we were regularly handed over to their +care. The seven men who had introduced us, went back at the same time that +we continued our journey, and two more belonging to the new tribe, went on +a-head to prepare the the neighbouring tribe to receive us; nor did we see +anything more of them during the day. + +We encamped on the left bank of the river, amidst a polygonum scrub, in +which we found a number of the crested pigeon. It was late before the +tents were pitched: as Fraser seldom assisted in that operation, but +strolled out with his gun after he had kindled a fire, so on this occasion +he wandered from the camp in search of novelty, and on his return, +informed me that there was a considerable ridge to the south of a plain +upon which he had been. + +I had myself walked out to the S.E., and on ascending a few feet above the +level of the camp, got into a scrub. I was walking quietly through it, +when I heard a rustling noise, and looking in the direction whence it +proceeded, I observed a small kangaroo approaching me. Having a stick in +my hand, and being aware that I was in one of their paths, I stood still +until the animal came close up to me, without apparently being aware of my +presence. I then gave it a blow an the side of the head, and made it reel +to one side, but the stick, being rotten, broke with the force of the +blow, and thus disappointed me of a good meal. + +During my absence from the camp, a flight of cockatoos, new to us, but +similar to one that Mr. Hume shot on the Darling, passed over the tents, +and I found M'Leay, with his usual anxiety, trying to get a shot at them. +They had, he told me, descended to water, but they had chosen a spot so +difficult of approach without discovery, that he had found it impossible +to get within shot of them. + +RIDGE TO THE SOUTH-EAST. + +There was a considerable rapid just below our position, which I examined +before dark. Not seeing any danger, I requested M'Leay to proceed down it +in the boat as soon as he had breakfasted, and to wait for me at the +bottom of it. As I wished to ascertain the nature and height of the +elevations which Fraser had magnified into something grand, Fraser and I +proceeded to the centre of a large plain, stretching from the left bank of +the river to the southward. It was bounded to the S.E. by a low scrub; +to the S. a thickly wooded ridge appeared to break the level of the +country. It extended from east to west for four or five miles, and then +gradually declined. At its termination, the country seemed to dip, and a +dense fog, as from an extensive sheet of water, enveloped the landscape. +The plain was crowded with cockatoos, that were making their morning's +repast on the berries of the salsolae and rhagodia, with which it was +covered. + +DISTANT RANGES SEEN. + +M'Leay had got safely down the rapid, so that as soon as I joined him, +we proceeded on our journey. We fell in with the tribe we had already +seen, but increased in numbers, and we had hardly left them, when we found +another tribe most anxiously awaiting our arrival. We stayed with the last +for some time, and exhausted our vocabulary, and exerted our ingenuity to +gain some information from them. I directed Hopkinson to pile up some +clay, to enquire if we were near any hills, when two or three of the +blacks caught the meaning, and pointed to the N.W. Mulholland climbed up a +tree in consequence of this, and reported to me that he saw lofty ranges +in the direction to which the blacks pointed; that there were two +apparently, the one stretching to the N.E., the other to the N.W. He +stated their distance to be about forty miles, and added that he thought +he could observe other ranges, through the gap, which, according to the +alignment of two sticks, that I placed according to Mulholland's +directions, bore S. 130 W. + +We had landed upon the right bank of the river, and there was a large +lagoon immediately behind us. The current in the river did not run so +strong as it had been. Its banks were much lower, and were generally +covered with reeds. The spaces subject to flood were broader than +heretofore, and the country for more than twenty miles was extremely +depressed. Our view from the highest ground near the camp was very +confined, since we were apparently in a hollow, and were unable to obtain +a second sight of the ranges we had noticed. + +PASS THREE CREEKS. + +Three creeks fell into the Murray hereabouts. One from the north, another +from the N.E., and the third from the south. The two first were almost +choked up with the trunks of trees, but the last had a clear channel. +Our tents stood on ground high above the reach of flood. The soil was +excellent, and the brushes behind us abounded with a new species of +melaleuca. + +The heat of the weather, at this time, was extremely oppressive, and the +thermometer was seldom under 100 degrees of Fahr. at noon. The wind, too, +we observed, seldom remained stationary for any length of time, but made +its regular changes every twenty-four hours. In the morning, it invariably +blew from the N.E., at noon it shifted to N.W., and as the sun set it flew +round to the eastward of south. A few dense clouds passed over us +occasionally, but no rain fell from them. + +DISEASES OF THE NATIVES. + +Our intercourse with the natives had now been constant. We had found the +interior more populous than we had any reason to expect; yet as we +advanced into it, the population appeared to increase. It was impossible +for us to judge of the disposition of the natives during the short +interviews we generally had with them, and our motions were so rapid that +we did not give them time to form any concerted plan of attack, had they +been inclined to attack us. They did not, however, show any disposition to +hostility, but, considering all things, were quiet and orderly, nor did +any instances of theft occur, or, at least, none fell under my notice. +The most loathsome of diseases prevailed throughout the tribes, nor were +the youngest infants exempt from them. Indeed, so young were some, whose +condition was truly disgusting, that I cannot but suppose they must have +been born in a state of disease; but I am uncertain whether it is fatal or +not in its results, though, most probably it hurries many to a premature +grave. How these diseases originated it is impossible to say. Certainly +not from the colony, since the midland tribes alone were infected. +Syphilis raged amongst them with fearful violence; many had lost their +noses, and all the glandular parts were considerably affected. I +distributed some Turner's cerate to the women, but left Fraser to +superintend its application. It could do no good, of course, but it +convinced the natives we intended well towards them, and, on that account, +it was politic to give it, setting aside any humane feeling. + +POPULOUS DISTRICT. + +The country through which we passed on the 28th, was extremely low, full +of lagoons, and thickly inhabited. No change took place in the river, +or in the nature and construction of its banks. We succeeded in getting a +view of the hills we had noticed when with the last tribe, and found that +they bore from us due north, N. 22 E., and S. 130 W. They looked bare and +perpendicular, and appeared to be about twenty miles from us. I am very +uncertain as to the character of these hills, but still think that they +must have been some of the faces of the bold cliffs that we had frequently +passed under. From the size and number of the huts, and from the great +breadth of the foot-paths, we were still further led to conclude that we +were passing through a very populous district. What the actual number of +inhabitants was it is impossible to say, but we seldom communicated with +fewer than 200 daily. They sent ambassadors forward regularly from one +tribe to another, in order to prepare for our approach, a custom that not +only saved us an infinity of time, but also great personal risk. Indeed, +I doubt very much whether we should ever have pushed so far down the +river, had we not been assisted by the natives themselves. I was +particularly careful not to do anything that would alarm them, or to +permit any liberty to be taken with their women. Our reserve in this +respect seemed to excite their surprise, for they asked sundry questions, +by signs and expressions, as to whether we had any women, and where they +were. The whole tribe generally assembled to receive us, and all, without +exception, were in a complete state of nudity, and really the loathsome +condition and hideous countenances of the women would, I should imagine, +have been a complete antidote to the sexual passion. It is to be observed, +that the women are very inferior in appearance to the men. The latter are, +generally speaking, a clean-limbed and powerful race, much stouter in the +bust than below, but withal, active, and, in some respects, intelligent; +but the women are poor, weak, and emaciated. This, perhaps, is owing to +their poverty and paucity of food, and to the treatment they receive at +the hands of the men; but the latter did not show any unkindness towards +them in our presence. + +Although I desired to avoid exciting their alarm, I still made a point of +showing them the effects of a gunshot, by firing at a kite, or any other +bird that happened to be near. My dexterity--for I did not trust Fraser, +who would, ten to one, have missed his mark--was generally exerted, as I +have said, against a kite or a crow; both of which birds generally +accompanied the blacks from place to place to pick up the remnants of +their meals. Yet, I was often surprised at the apparent indifference with +which the natives not only saw the effect of the shot, but heard the +report. I have purposely gone into the centre of a large assemblage and +fired at a bird that has fallen upon their very heads, without causing a +start or an exclamation, without exciting either their alarm or their +curiosity. + +Whence this callous feeling proceeded, whether from strength of nerve, +or because they had been informed by our forerunners that we should show +off before them, I know not, but I certainly expected a very different +effect from that which my firing generally produced, although I +occasionally succeeded in scattering them pretty well. + +JUNCTION OF THE RUFUS. + +About 11 a.m., we arrived at the junction of a small river with the +Murray, at which a tribe, about 250 in number, had assembled to greet us. +We landed, therefore, for the double purpose of distributing presents, and +of examining the junction, which, coming from the north, of course, fell +into the Murray upon its right bank. Its waters were so extremely muddy, +and its current so rapid, that it must have been swollen by some late +rains. Perhaps, it had its sources in the hills we had seen; be that as it +may, it completely discoloured the waters of the Murray. + +We made it a point never to distribute any presents among the natives +until we had made them all sit, or stand, in a row. Sometimes this was a +troublesome task, but we generally succeeded in gaining our point; with a +little exertion of patience. M'Leay was a famous hand at ordering the +ranks, and would, I am sure, have made a capital drill-sergeant, not less +on account of his temper than of his perseverance. I called the little +tributary I have noticed, the Rufus, in honour of my friend M'Leay's red +head, and I have no doubt, he will understand the feeling that induced me +to give it such a name. + +GEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION. + +Not many miles below the Rufus, we passed under a lofty cliff upon the +same side with it. It is the first elevation of any consequence that +occurs below the Darling, and not only on that account, but also on +account of the numerous substances of which it is composed, and the +singular formation that is near requires to be particularly +noticed. [See Appendix.] The examination was a task of considerable +danger, and both Fraser and myself had well nigh been buried under a mass +of the cliff that became suddenly detached, and, breaking into thousands +of pieces, went hissing and cracking into the river. + +THUNDER STORMS. + +The weather about this time was extremely oppressive and close. Thunder +clouds darkened the sky, but no rain fell. The thermometer was seldom +below 104 at noon, and its range was very trifling. The wind shifted +several times during the twenty-four hours; but these changes had no +effect on the thermometer. It was evident, however, as the sun set on the +evening of the 26th, that the clouds from which thunder had for the last +four or five days disturbed the silence of nature around us, would not +long support their own weight. A little before midnight, it commenced +raining, and both wind and rain continued to increase in violence until +about seven in the morning of the 27th; when the weather moderated. + +Two or three blacks had accompanied us from the last tribe, and had lain +down near the fire. As the storm increased, however, they got up, and +swimming across the river, left us to ourselves. This was a very unusual +thing, nor can I satisfy myself as to their object, unless it was to get +into shelter, for these people though they wander naked over the country, +and are daily in the water, feel the cold and rain very acutely. + +Observing the clouds collecting for so many days, I indulged hopes that we +were near high lands, perhaps mountains; but from the loftiest spots we +could see nothing but a level and dark horizon. Anxious to gain as correct +a knowledge of the country as possible we had, in the course of the day, +ascended a sandy ridge that was about a mile from the river. The view from +the summit of this ridge promised to be more extensive than any we had of +late been enabled to obtain; and as far as actual observation went, we +were not disappointed, although in every other particular, the landscape +was one of the most unpromising description. To the S. and S.E., the +country might be said to stretch away in one unbroken plain, for it was so +generally covered with wood that every inequality was hidden from our +observation. To the S.W. the river line was marked out by a succession of +red cliffs, similar to those we had already passed. To the north, the +interior was evidently depressed; it was overgrown with a low scrub, and +seemed to be barren in the extreme. The elevations upon which we stood +were similar to the sand-hills near the coast, and had not a blade of +grass upon them. Yet, notwithstanding the sterility of the soil, the +large white amarillis which grew in such profusion on the alluvial plains +of the Macquarie, was also abundant here. But it had lost its dazzling +whiteness, and had assumed a sickly yellow colour and its very appearance +indicated that it was not in a congenial soil. + +LINDESAY RIVER. + +We passed two very considerable junctions, the one coming from the S.E., +the other from the north. Both had currents in them, but the former was +running much stronger than the latter. It falls into the Murray, almost +opposite to the elevations I have been describing, and, if a judgment +can be hazarded from its appearance at its embouchure, it must, in its +higher branches, be a stream of considerable magnitude. Under this +impression, I have called it the Lindesay, as a tribute of respect to my +commanding officer, Colonel Patrick Lindesay of the 39th regt. I place it +in east long. 140 degrees 29 minutes, and in lat. 33 degrees 58 minutes +south. Mr. Hume is of opinion that this is the most southerly of the +rivers crossed by him and Mr. Hovel in 1823; but, as I have already +remarked, I apprehend that all the rivers those gentlemen crossed, had +united in one main stream above the junction of the Morumbidgee, and I +think it much more probable that this is a new river, and that it rises +to the westward of Port Phillips, rather than in the S.E. angle of the +coast. + +NATIVES BECOME TROUBLESOME. + +We found the blacks who had deserted us with a tribe at the junction, but +it was weak in point of numbers; as were also two other tribes or hordes +to whom we were introduced in rapid succession. Taken collectively, they +could not have amounted to 230 men, women, and children. The last of these +hordes was exceedingly troublesome, and I really thought we should have +been obliged to quarrel with them. Whether it was that we were getting +impatient, or that our tempers were soured, I know not, but even M'Leay, +whose partiality towards the natives was excessive at the commencement of +our journey, now became weary of such constant communication as we had +kept up with them. Their sameness of appearance, the disgusting diseases +that raged among them, their abominable filth, the manner in which they +pulled us about, and the impossibility of making them understand us, or +of obtaining any information from them,--for if we could have succeeded +in this point, we should have gladly borne every inconvenience,--all +combined to estrange us from these people and to make their presence +disagreeable. Yet there was an absolute necessity to keep up the chain of +communication, to ensure our own safety, setting aside every other +consideration; but as I had been fortunate in my intercourse with the +natives during the first expedition, so I hoped the present journey would +terminate without the occurrence of any fatal collision between us. The +natives, it is true, were generally quiet; but they crowded round us +frequently without any regard to our remonstrances, laying hold of the +boat to prevent our going away, and I sometimes thought that had any of +them been sufficiently bold to set the example, many of the tribes would +have attempted our capture. Indeed, in several instances, we were obliged +to resort to blows ere we could disengage ourselves from the crowds around +us, and whenever this occurred, it called forth the most sullen and +ferocious scowl--such, probably, as would be the forerunner of hostility, +and would preclude every hope of mercy at their hands. With each new tribe +we were, in some measure, obliged to submit to an examination, and to be +pulled about, and fingered all over. They generally measured our hands and +feet with their own, counted our fingers, felt our faces, and besmeared +our shirts all over with grease and dirt. This was no very agreeable +ceremony, and a repetition of it was quite revolting, more especially when +we had to meet the grins or frowns of the many with firmness and +composure. + +TEMPESTUOUS WEATHER. + +The weather had been tempestuous and rainy, for three or four successive +days: on the 28th it cleared up a little. Under any circumstances, +however, we could not have delayed our journey. We had not proceeded very +far when it again commenced to rain and to blow heavily from the N.W. +The river trended to the South. We passed down several rapids, and +observed the marks of recent flood on the trees, to the height of seven +feet. The alluvial flats did not appear to have been covered, or to be +subject to overflow. The timber upon them was not of a kind that is found +on flooded lands, but wherever reeds prevailed the flooded or blue gum +stretched its long white branches over them. The country to the westward +was low and bushy. + +SINGULAR FORMATION OF THE BANKS. + +The left bank of the Murray was extremely lofty, and occasionally rose to +100 feet perpendicularly from the water. It is really difficult to +describe the appearance of the banks at this place; so singular were they +in character, and so varied in form. Here they had the most beautiful +columnar regularity, with capitals somewhat resembling the Corinthian +order in configuration; there they showed like falls of muddy water that +had suddenly been petrified; and in another place they resembled the +time-worn battlements of a feudal castle. It will naturally be asked, of +what could these cliffs have been composed to assume so many different +forms? and what could have operated to produce such unusual appearances? +The truth is, they were composed almost wholly of clay and sand. Wherever +the latter had accumulated, or predominated, the gradual working of +water had washed it away, and left the more compact body, in some places, +so delicately hollowed out, that it seemed rather the work of art than of +nature. This singular formation rested on a coarse grit, that showed +itself in slabs. + +From the frequent occurrence of rapids I should imagine that we had fallen +considerably, but there was no visible decline of country. The river swept +along, in broad and noble reaches, at the base of the cliffs. Vast +accumulations of sand were in its bed, a satisfactory proof of the sandy +character of the distant interior, if other proof were wanting. + +We did not see so many natives on the 28th as we had been in the habit of +seeing; perhaps in consequence of the boisterous weather. A small tribe of +about sixty had collected to receive us, but we passed on without taking +any notice of them, Nevertheless they deputed two of their men to follow +us, who overtook us just as we stopped for the purpose of pitching our +tents before the clouds should burst, that just then bore the most +threatening appearance. The blacks seemed to be perfectly aware what kind +of a night we should have, and busied themselves preparing a hut and +making a large fire. + +The evening proved extremely dark, and towards midnight it blew and rained +fiercely. Towards morning the wind moderated, and the rain ceased. Still, +the sky was overcast, and the clouds were passing rapidly over us. The +wind had, however, changed some points, and from the N.W. had veered round +to the S.S.W.; and the day eventually turned out cool and pleasant. + +LARGE TRIBE OF NATIVES--THEIR INDIFFERENCE TO FIRE-ARMS. + +We fell in with a large tribe of natives, amounting in all to 270. They +were extremely quiet, and kept away from the boat; in consequence of which +I distributed a great many presents among them. This tribe was almost the +only one that evinced any eagerness to see us. The lame had managed to +hobble along, and the blind were equally anxious to touch us. There were +two or three old men stretched upon the bank, from whom the last sigh +seemed about to depart; yet these poor creatures evinced an anxiety to see +us, and to listen to a description of our appearance, although it seemed +doubtful whether they would be alive twenty-four hours after we left them. +An old woman, a picture of whom would disgust my readers, made several +attempts to embrace me. I managed, however, to avoid her, and at length +got rid of her by handing her over to Fraser, who was no wise particular +as to the object of his attention. This tribe must have been one of the +most numerous on the banks of the Murray, since we fell in with detached +families for many miles below the place where we had parted from the main +body. + +I have omitted to mention that, while among them, I fired at a kite and +killed it; yet, though close to me, the blacks did not start or evince the +least surprise. It really is difficult to account for such firmness of +nerve or self-command. It is not so much a matter of surprise that they +were indifferent to its effects, for probably they knew them not, but it +is certainly odd that they should not have been startled by the report. + +The river inclined very much to the southward for some miles below our +last camp; at length it struck against some elevations that turned it more +to the westward. Before we terminated our day's pull it again changed its +direction to the eastward of south. The right bank became lofty, and the +left proportionably depressed. + +REFLECTIONS ON THE PROGRESS OF THE EXPEDITION. + +In consequence of the boisterous weather we had had, we were uncertain as +to our precise situation, even in point of latitude. But I was perfectly +aware that we were considerably to the south of the head of St. Vincent's +Gulf. I began, therefore, to contemplate with some confidence a speedy +termination to our wanderings, or, at least, that we should soon reach the +extreme point to which we could advance. The sun was at this time out of +my reach, since the sextant would not measure double the altitude. +Observations of the stars were, in like manner, uncertain, in consequence +of the boisterous weather we had had, and the unavoidable agitation of the +quicksilver. My last observation of Antares placed us in latitude +34 degrees 4 minutes; so that we were still 115 miles from the coast. + +We had now been twenty-two days upon the river, and it was uncertain how +long we should be in compassing the distance we had still to run. +Considering all things, we had, as yet, been extremely fortunate; and I +hoped that we should terminate our journey without the occurrence of any +fatal accident. Had the country corresponded with the noble stream that +traversed it, we should have been proportionably elated, but it was +impossible to conceal from ourselves its inhospitable and unprofitable +character, as far as we had, as yet, penetrated. If we except the partial +and alluvial flats on the immediate borders, and in the neighbourhood of +its tributaries and creeks, the Murray might be said to flow through a +barren and sandy interior. The appearance of the country through which we +passed on the 29th, was far from being such as to encourage us with the +hopes of any change for the better. The river was enclosed, on either +side, by the same kind of banks that have already been described; and it +almost appeared as if the plain had been rent asunder to allow of a +passage for its waters. The view of the distant interior was +unsatisfactory. It was, for the most part, covered with brush, but, at +length, cypresses again made their appearance, although at a considerable +distance from us. + +The river continued to flow to the southward, a circumstance that gave me +much satisfaction, for I now began to feel some anxiety about the men. +They had borne their fatigues and trials so cheerfully, and had behaved so +well, that I could not but regret the scanty provision that remained for +them. The salt meat being spoiled, it had fallen to the share of the dogs, +so that we had little else than flour to eat. Fish no one would touch, and +of wild fowl there were none to be seen. The men complained of sore eyes, +from the perspiration constantly running into them, and it was obvious to +me that they were much reduced. It will be borne in mind, that we were now +performing the earliest part of our task, and were going down with the +stream. I was sure that on our return, (For I had no hopes of meeting any +vessel on the coast,) we should have to make every day's journey good +against the current; and, if the men were now beginning to sink, it might +well be doubted whether their strength would hold out. Both M'Leay and +myself, therefore, encouraged any cheerfulness that occasionally broke out +among them, and Frazer enlivened them by sundry tunes that he whistled +whilst employed in skinning birds. I am sure, no galley-slave ever took to +his oar with more reluctance than poor Frazer. He was indefatigable in +most things, but he could not endure the oar. + +NATIVES BECOME UNRULY. + +We did not fall in with any natives on the 30th, neither did we see those +who had preceded us from the last tribe. On the 31st, to my mortification, +the river held so much to the northward, that we undid almost all our +southing. What with its regular turns, and its extensive sweeps, the +Murray covers treble the ground, at a moderate computation, that it would +occupy in a direct course; and we had a practical instance of the truth of +this in the course of the afternoon, when we found our friends ready to +introduce us to a large assemblage of natives. On asking them how they had +passed us, they pointed directly east to the spot at which we had parted. +By crossing from one angle of the river to the other, they had performed +in little more than half a day, a journey which it had taken us two long +days to accomplish. After our usual distribution of presents, we pushed +away from the bank; though not without some difficulty, in consequence of +the obstinacy of the natives in wishing to detain us; and I was +exceedingly vexed to find, while we were yet in sight of them, that we had +proceeded down a shallow channel on one side of an island instead of the +further and deeper one; so that the boat ultimately grounded. A crowd of +the blacks rushed into the water, and surrounded us on every side. Some +came to assist us, others, under a pretence of assisting, pulled against +us, and I was at length obliged to repel them by threats. A good many of +them were very much disposed to annoy us, and, after the boat was in deep +water, some of them became quite infuriated, because we would not return. +Had we been within distance, they would assuredly have hurled their spears +at us. Thirteen of them followed us to our resting place. They kept rather +apart from us, and kindled their fire in a little hollow about fifty paces +to our right; nor did they venture to approach the tents unless we called +to them, so that by their quiet and unobtrusive conduct they made up in +some measure for the unruly proceedings of others of their tribe. + +We had now arrived at a point at which I hoped to gain some information +from the natives, respecting the sea. It was to no purpose, however, that +I questioned these stupid people. They understood perfectly, by my +pointing to the sky, and by other signs, that I was inquiring about large +waters, but they could not, or would not, give any information on the +subject. + +CHANGE IN THE GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY. + +As we proceeded down the river, its current became weaker, and its channel +somewhat deeper. Our attention was called to a remarkable change in the +geology of the country, as well as to an apparent alteration in the +natural productions. The cliffs of sand and clay ceased, and were +succeeded by a fossil formation of the most singular description. At +first, it did not exceed a foot in height above the water, but it +gradually rose, like an inclined plane, and resembled in colour, and in +appearance, the skulls of men piled one upon the other. The constant +rippling of the water against the rock had washed out the softer parts, +and made hollows and cavities, that gave the whole formation the precise +appearance of a catacomb. On examination, we discovered it to be a compact +bed of shells, composed of a common description of marine shell from two +to three inches in length, apparently a species of turritella. + +BANKS OF PETRIFIED SHELLS. + +At about nine miles from the commencement of this formation, it rose to +the height of more than 150 feet; the country became undulating, and a +partial change took place in its vegetation. We stopped at an early hour, +to examine some cliffs, which rising perpendicularly from the water, were +different in character and substance from any we had as yet seen. They +approached a dirty yellow-ochre in colour, that became brighter in hue as +it rose, and, instead of being perforated, were compact and hard. +The waters of the river had, however, made horizontal lines upon their +fronts, which distinctly marked the rise and fall of the river, as the +strength or depth of the grooves distinctly indicated the levels it +generally kept. It did not appear from these lines, that the floods ever +rose more than four feet above the then level of the stream, or that they +continued for any length of time. On breaking off pieces of the rock, we +ascertained that it was composed of one solid mass of sea-shells, of +various kinds, of which the species first mentioned formed the lowest +part. + +It rained a good deal during the night, but the morning turned out +remarkably fine. The day was pleasant, for however inconvenient in some +respects the frequent showers had been, they had cooled the air, and +consequently prevented our feeling the heat so much as we should otherwise +have done, in the close and narrow glen we had now entered. + +Among the natives who followed us from the last tribe, there was an old +man, who took an uncommon fancy or attachment to Hopkinson, and who +promised, when we separated, to join us again in the course of the day. + +FACE OF THE COUNTRY. + +As we proceeded down the river we found that it was confined in a glen, +whose extreme breadth was not more than half-a-mile. The hills that rose +on either side of it were of pretty equal height. The alluvial flats were +extremely small, and the boldest cliffs separated them from each other. +The flats were lightly wooded, and were for the most part covered with +reeds or polygonum. They were not much elevated above the waters of the +river, and had every appearance of being frequently inundated. At noon we +pulled up to dine, upon the left bank, under some hills, which were from +200 to 250 feet in height. While the men were preparing our tea, +(for we had only that to boil,) M'Leay and I ascended the hills. The brush +was so thick upon them, that we could not obtain a view of the distant +interior. Their summits were covered with oyster-shells, in such abundance +as entirely to preclude the idea of their having been brought to such a +position by the natives. They were in every stage of petrification. + +In the course of the afternoon the old man joined us, and got into the +boat. As far as we could understand from his signs, we were at no great +distance from some remarkable change or other. The river had been making +to the N.W., from the commencement of the fossil formation, and it +appeared as if it was inclined to keep that direction. The old man pointed +to the N.W., and then placed his hand on the side of his head to indicate, +as I understood him, that we should sleep to the N.W. of where we then +were; but his second motion was not so intelligible, for he pointed due +south, as if to indicate that such would be our future course; and he +concluded his information, such as it was, by describing the roaring of +the sea, and the height of the waves. It was evident this old man had been +upon the coast, and we were therefore highly delighted at the prospect +thus held out to us of reaching it. + +REMARKABLE CLIFFS. + +A little below the hills under which we had stopped, the country again +assumed a level. A line of cliffs, of from two to three hundred feet in +height, flanked the river, first on one side and then on the other, +varying in length from a quarter of a mile to a mile. They rose +perpendicularly from the water, and were of a bright yellow colour, +rendered still more vivid occasionally by the sun shining full upon them. +The summits of these cliffs were as even as if they had been built by an +architect; and from their very edge, the country back from the stream was +of an uniform level, and was partly plain, and partly clothed by brush. +The soil upon this plateau, or table land, was sandy, and it was as barren +and unproductive as the worst of the country we had passed through. On the +other hand, the alluvial flats on the river increased in size, and were +less subject to flood; and the river lost much of its sandy bed, and its +current was greatly diminished in strength. + +NATIVE CHARACTER. + +It blew so fresh, during the greater part of the day, from the westward, +that we had great difficulty in pulling against the breeze. The determined +N.W. course the river kept, made me doubt the correctness of the story of +the little old black; yet there was an openness of manner about him, and a +clearness of description, that did not appear like fabrication. He pointed +to the S.S.W. when he left us, as the direction in which he would again +join us, thus confirming, without any apparent intention, what he had +stated with regard to the southerly course the river was about to take. +Among the natives who were with him, there was another man of very +different manners and appearance. Our friend was small in stature, had +piercing grey eyes, and was as quick as lightning in his movements The +other was tall, and grey headed; anxious, yet unobtrusive; and confident, +without the least mixture of boldness. The study of the human character on +many occasions similar to this, during our intercourse with these people, +rude and uncivilized as they were, was not only pleasing, but instructive. +We found that the individuals of a tribe partook of one general character, +and that the whole of the tribe were either decidedly quiet, or as +decidedly disorderly. The whole of the blacks left us when we started, +but we had not gone very far, when the individual I have described brought +his family, consisting of about fifteen persons. We were going down a part +of the river in which there was a very slight fall. The natives were +posted under some blue-gum trees, upon the right bank, and there was a +broad shoal of sand immediately to our left. They walked over to this +shoal, to receive some little presents, but did not follow when we +continued our journey. + +TAKE BEARINGS. + +During the whole of the day the river ran to the N.W. We stopped for the +night under some cliffs, similar to those we had already passed, but +somewhat higher. From their summit, mountains were visible to the N.W., +but at a great distance from us. I doubted not that they were at the head +of the southern gulfs; or of one of them, at all events. Our observations +placed us in 34 degrees 08 minutes south of lat., and in long. 139 degrees +41 minutes 15 seconds; we were consequently nearly seventy miles from +Spencer's Gulf, in a direct line, and I should have given that as the +distance the hills appeared to be from us. They bore as follows:-- + + Lofty round mountain, S. 127 degrees W. + Mountain scarcely visible, S. 128 degrees W. + Northern extremity of a broken range, S. 102 degrees W. + Southern extremity scarcely visible, S. 58 degrees W. + +The country between the river and these ranges appeared to be very low, +and darkly wooded: that to the N.E. was more open. The summit of the cliff +did not form any table-land, but it dipped almost immediately to the +westward, and the country, although, as I have already remarked, it was +depressed, and undulated. + +I walked to some distance from the river, across a valley, and started +several kangaroos; but I was quite alone, and could not, therefore, secure +one of them. Had the dogs been near, we should have had a fine feast. The +soil of the interior still continued sandy, but there was a kind of short +grass mixed with the salsolaceous plants upon it, that indicated, as I +thought, a change for the better in the vegetation; and the circumstance +of there being kangaroos in the valleys to the westward was also a +favourable sign. + +FEAST ON A TORTOISE. + +Beneath the cliffs hereabouts, the river was extremely broad and deep. +My servant thought it a good place for fishing and accordingly set a +night-line, one end of which he fastened to the bough of a tree. During +the night, being on guard, he saw a small tortoise floating on the water, +so near that he struck it a violent blow with a large stick, upon which it +dived: to his surprise, however, in the morning, he found that it had +taken the bait, and was fast to the line. On examining it, the shell +proved to be cracked, so that the blow must have been a severe one. It was +the largest we had ever seen, and made an excellent dish. The flesh was +beautifully white, nor could anything, especially under our circumstances, +have been more tempting than it was when cooked; yet M'Leay would not +partake of it. + +The prevailing wind was, at this time, from the S.W. It blew heavily all +day, but moderated towards the evening + +I was very anxious, at starting on the 3rd, as to the course the river +would take, since it would prove whether the little old man had played us +false or not. From the cliffs under which we had slept, it held a direct +N.W. course for two or three miles. It then turned suddenly to the S.E., +and gradually came round to E.N.E., so that after two hours pulling, we +found ourselves just opposite to the spot from which we had started, the +neck of land that separated the channels not being more than 200 yards +across. I have before noticed a bend similar to this, which the Murray +makes, a little above the junction of the supposed Darling with it. + +CHART OF THE RIVER. + +It may appear strange to some of my readers, that I should have laid down +the windings of the river so minutely. It may therefore be necessary for +me to state that every bend of it was laid down by compass, and that the +bearings of the angles as they opened were regularly marked by me, so that +not a single winding or curve of the Murray is omitted in the large chart. +The length of some of the reaches may be erroneous, but their direction is +strictly correct. I always had a sheet of paper and the compass before me, +and not only marked down the river line, but also the description of +country nearest; its most minute changes, its cliffs, its flats, the kind +of country back from it, its lagoons, the places at which the tribes +assembled, its junctions, tributaries and creeks, together with our +several positions, were all regularly noted, so that on our return up the +river we had no difficulty in ascertaining upon what part of it we were, +by a reference to the chart; and it proved of infinite service to us, +since we were enabled to judge of our distance from our several camps, as +we gained them day by day with the current against us; and we should often +have stopped short of them, weary and exhausted, had we not known that two +or three reaches more would terminate our labour for the day. + +REMARKABLE CLIFFS. + +From the spot last spoken of, the river held on a due south course for the +remainder of the day; and at the same time changed its character. It lost +its sandy bed and its current together, and became deep, still, and +turbid, with a muddy bottom. It increased considerably in breadth, and +stretched away before us in magnificent reaches of from three to six miles +in length. The cliffs under which we passed towered above us, like +maritime cliffs, and the water dashed against their base like the waves of +the sea. They became brighter and brighter in colour, looking like dead +gold in the sun's rays; and formed an unbroken wall of a mile or two in +length. The natives on their summits showed as small as crows; and the +cockatoos, the eagles, and other birds, were as specks above us; the +former made the valley reverberate with their harsh and discordant notes. +The reader may form some idea of the height of these cliffs, when informed +that the king of the feathered race made them his sanctuary. They were +continuous on both sides of the river, but retired, more or less, from it, +according to the extent of the alluvial flats. The river held a serpentine +course down the valley through which it passed, striking the precipices +alternately on each side. + +The soil on the flats was better, and less mixed with sand than it had +been, but the flats were generally covered with reeds, though certainly +not wholly subject to flood at any time. The polygonum still prevailed +upon them in places, and the blue-gum tree alone occupied their outskirts. +From the several elevations we ascended, the country to the N.W. appeared +undulating and well wooded; that to the eastward, seemed to be brushy and +low. Certainly there was a great difference in the country, both to the +eastward and to the westward. We had frequent views of the mountains we +had seen, or, I should have said, of a continuation of them. They bore +nearly west from us at a very great distance all day. + +We fell in with several tribes, but did not see our old friend, although, +from the inquiries we made, it was evident he was well known among them. +It would disgust my readers were I to describe the miserable state of +disease and infirmity to which these tribes were reduced. Leprosy of the +most loathsome description, the most violent cutaneous eruptions, and +glandular affections, absolutely raged through the whole of them; yet we +could not escape from the persecuting examination of our persons that +curiosity prompted them in some measure to insist upon. + +REJOINED BY OUR OLD NATIVE GUIDE. + +The old man, whose information had proved strictly correct, joined us +again on the 4th, and his joy at being received into the boat was +unbounded, as well as the pleasure he expressed at again meeting +Hopkinson. He had been on a long journey, it would appear, for he had not +then reached his tribe. As we approached their haunt, he landed and +preceded us to collect them. We were, of course, more than usually liberal +to so old a friend, and we were really sorry to part with him. + +Soon after leaving his tribe, which occupied the left bank of the river, +and was very weak in point of numbers, we fell in with a very strong tribe +upon the right bank. They numbered 211 in all. We lay off the bank, in +order to escape their importunities; a measure that by no means satisfied +them. The women appeared to be very prolific; but, as a race, these people +are not to be compared with the natives of the mountains, or of the upper +branches of the Murray. + +We passed some beautiful scenery in the course of the day. The river +preserved a direct southerly course, and could not in any place have been +less than 400 yards in breadth. The cliffs still continued, and varied +perpetually in form; at one time presenting a perpendicular wall to the +view, at others, they overhung the stream, in huge fragments. All were +composed of a mass of shells of various kinds; a fact which will call for +further observation and remark. + +DELAYED BY STRONG WINDS. + +Many circumstances at this time tended to confirm our hopes that the sea +could not be very far from us, or that we should not be long in gaining +it. Some sea-gulls flew over our heads, at which Fraser was about to +shoot, had I not prevented him, for I hailed them as the messengers of +glad tidings, and thought they ill deserved such a fate. It blew very hard +from the S.W., during the whole of the day, and we found it extremely +laborious pulling against the heavy and short sea that came rolling up the +broad and open reaches of the Murray at this place. + +Four of the blacks, from the last tribe, followed us, and slept at the +fires; but they were suspicious and timid, and appeared to be very glad +when morning dawned. Our fires were always so much larger than those made +by themselves, that, they fancied, perhaps, we were going to roast them. +Our dogs, likewise, gave them great uneasiness; for although so fond of +the native brute, they feared ours, from their size. We generally tied +them to the boat, therefore, to prevent a recurrence of theft, so that +they were not altogether useless. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + + +Improvement in the aspect of the country--Increase of the river--Strong +westerly gales--Chronometer broken--A healthier tribe of natives-- +Termination of the Murray in a large lake--Its extent and environs-- +Passage across it--Hostile appearance of the natives--Beautiful scenery +--Channel from the lake to the sea at Encounter Bay--Reach the beach-- +Large flocks of water fowl--Curious refraction--State of provisions-- +Embarrassing situation--Inspection of the channel to the ocean--Weak +condition of the men--Difficulties of the return. + +DELIGHTFUL COUNTRY. + +It now appeared that the Murray had taken a permanent southerly course; +indeed, it might strictly be said that it ran away to the south. As we +proceeded down it, the valley expanded to the width of two miles; the +alluvial flats became proportionably larger; and a small lake generally +occupied their centre. They were extensively covered with reeds and grass, +for which reason, notwithstanding that they were little elevated above the +level of the stream, I do not think they are subject to overflow. Parts of +them may be laid under water, but certainly not the whole. The rains at +the head of the Murray, and its tributaries, must be unusually severe to +prolong their effects to this distant region, and the flats bordering it +appear, by successive depositions, to have only just gained a height above +the further influence of the floods. Should this prove to be the case, the +valley may be decidedly laid down as a most desirable spot, whether we +regard the richness of its soil, its rock formation, its locality, or the +extreme facility of water communication along it. It must not, however, be +forgotten or concealed, that the summits of the cliffs by which the valley +is enclosed, have not a corresponding soil. On the contrary, many of the +productions common to the plains of the interior still existed upon them, +and they were decidedly barren; but as we measured the reaches of the +river, the cliffs ceased, and gave place to undulating hills, that were +very different in appearance from the country we had previously noted +down. It would have been impossible for the most tasteful individual to +have laid out pleasure ground to more advantage, than Nature had done in +planting and disposing the various groups of trees along the spine, and +upon the sides of the elevations that confined the river, and bounded the +low ground that intervened between it and their base. Still, however, the +soil upon these elevations was sandy, and coarse, but the large oat-grass +was abundant upon them, which yielded pasture at least as good as that in +the broken country between Underaliga and Morumbidgee. + +We had now gained a distance of at least sixty miles from that angle of +the Murray at which it reaches its extreme west. The general aspect of the +country to our right was beautiful, and several valleys branched away into +the interior upon that side which had a most promising appearance, and +seemed to abound with kangaroos, as the traces of them were numerous, and +the dogs succeeded in killing one, which, to our great mortification, we +could not find. + +While, however, the country to the westward had so much to recommend it, +the hills to our left became extremely bare. It was evident that the right +was the sheltered side of the valley. The few trees on the opposite side +bent over to the N.E., as if under the influence of some prevailing wind. + +ADVERSE GALES. + +We experienced at this time a succession of gales from the S.W., against +which we, on several occasions, found it useless to contend: the waves on +the river being heavy and short; and the boat, driving her prow into them, +sent the spray over us and soon wet us through. Indeed, it is difficult +for the reader to imagine the heavy swell that rolled up the river, which +had increased in breadth to the third of a mile, and in the length of its +reaches to eight or ten. I was satisfied that we were not only navigating +this river at a particularly stormy, perhaps THE stormy, season; but also, +that the influence of the S.W. wind is felt even as far in the interior as +to the supposed Darling; in consequence of the uniform build of the huts, +and the circumstance of their not only facing the N.E., but also being +almost invariably erected under the lee of some bush. + +The weather, under the influence of the wind we experienced, was cool and +pleasant, although the thermometer stood at a medium height of 86 degrees; +but we found it very distressing to pull against the heavy breezes that +swept up the valley, and bent the reeds so as almost to make them kiss the +stream. + +We communicated on the 6th and 7th with several large tribes of natives, +whose manners were on the whole quiet and inoffensive. They distinctly +informed us, that we were fast approaching the sea, and, from what I could +understand, we were nearer to it than the coast line of Encounter Bay made +us. We had placed sticks to ascertain if there was any rise or fall of +tide, but the troubled state of the river prevented our experiments from +being satisfactory. By selecting a place, however, that was sheltered from +the effects of the wind, we ascertained that there was an apparent rise +of about eight inches. + +OBLIGED TO TAKE REPOSE. + +It blew a heavy gale during the whole of the 7th; and we laboured in vain +at the oar. The gusts that swept the bosom of the water, and the swell +they caused, turned the boat from her course, and prevented us from making +an inch of way. The men were quite exhausted, and, as they had conducted +themselves so well, and had been so patient, I felt myself obliged to +grant them every indulgence consistent with our safety. However precarious +our situation, it would have been vain, with our exhausted strength, to +have contended against the elements. We, therefore, pulled in to the left +bank of the river, and pitched our tents on a little rising ground beyond +the reeds that lined it. + +CHRONOMETER BROKEN. + +I had been suffering very much front tooth-ache for the last three or four +days, and this day felt the most violent pain from the wind. I was not, +therefore, sorry to get under even the poor shelter our tents afforded. +M'Leay, observing that I was in considerable pain, undertook to wind up +the chronometer; but, not understanding or knowing the instrument, he +unfortunately broke the spring. I shall not forget the anxiety he +expressed, and the regret he felt on the occasion; nor do I think M'Leay +recovered the shock this unlucky accident gave him for two or three days, +or until the novelty of other scenes drove it from his recollection. + +We landed close to the haunt of a small tribe of natives, who came to us +with the most perfect confidence, and assisted the men in their +occupations. They were cleaner and more healthy than any tribe we had +seen; and were extremely cheerful, although reserved in some respects. +As a mark of more than usual cleanliness, the women had mats of oval +shape, upon which they sat, made, apparently, of rushes. There was a +young girl among them of a most cheerful disposition. She was about +eighteen, was well made, and really pretty. This girl was married to an +elderly man who had broken his leg, which having united in a bent shape, +the limb was almost useless. I really believe the girl thought we could +cure her husband, from her importunate manner to us. I regretted that I +could do nothing for the man, but to show that I was not inattentive to +her entreaties, I gave him a pair of trousers, and desired Fraser to put +them upon him; but the poor fellow cut so awkward an appearance in them, +that his wife became quite distressed, and Fraser was obliged speedily +to disencumber him from them again. + +We could not gain any satisfactory information, as to the termination of +the river, from these people. It was evident that some change was at hand; +but what it was we could not ascertain. + +APPEARANCE OF SOME APPROACHING CHANGE. + +On the morning of the 9th, we left our fair friend and her lame husband, +and proceeded down the river. The wind had moderated, although it still +blew fresh. We ascended every height as we went along, but could not see +any new feature in the country. Our view to the eastward was very +confined; to the westward the interior was low and dark, and was backed in +the distance by lofty ranges, parallel to which we had been running for +some days. The right bank of the valley was beautifully undulated, but the +left was bleak and bare. The valley had a breadth of from three to four +miles, and the flats were more extensive under the former than under the +latter. They were scarcely two feet above the level of the water, and were +densely covered with reeds. As there was no mark upon the reeds to +indicate the height to which the floods rose, I cannot think that these +flats are ever wholly laid under water; if they are, it cannot be to any +depth: at all events a few small drains would effectually prevent +inundation. The soil upon the hills continued to be much mixed with sand, +and the prevailing trees were cypress and box. Among the minor shrubs and +grass, many common to the east coasts were noticed; and although the bold +cliffs had ceased, the basis of the country still continued of the fossil +formation. At a turn of the stream hereabouts, however, a solitary rock of +coarse red granite rose above the waters, and formed an island in its +centre; but only in this one place was it visible. The rock was composed +principally of quartz and feldspar. + +A little below it, we found a large tribe anxiously awaiting our arrival. +They crowded to the margin of the river with great eagerness, and evinced +more surprise at our appearance than any tribe we had seen during the +journey; but we left them very soon, notwithstanding that they importuned +us much to stay. + +After pulling a mile or two, we found a clear horizon before us to the +south. The hills still continued upon our left, but we could not see any +elevation over the expanse of reeds to our right. The river inclined to +the left, and swept the base of the hills that still continued on that +side. I consequently landed once more to survey the country. + +TERMINATION OF THE MURRAY IN A LARGE LAKE. + +I still retained a strong impression on my mind that some change was at +hand, and on this occasion, I was not disappointed; but the view was one +for which I was not altogether prepared. We had, at length, arrived at the +termination of the Murray. Immediately below me was a beautiful lake, +which appeared to be a fitting reservoir for the noble stream that had led +us to it; and which was now ruffled by the breeze that swept over it. +The ranges were more distinctly visible, stretching from south to north, +and were certainly distant forty miles. They had a regular unbroken +outline; declining gradually to the south, but terminating abruptly at a +lofty mountain northerly. I had no doubt on my mind of this being the +Mount Lofty of Captain Flinders; or that the range was that immediately to +the eastward of St. Vincent's Gulf--Since the accident to the chronometer, +we had not made any westing, so that we knew our position as nearly as +possible. Between us and the ranges a beautiful promontory shot into the +lake, being a continuation of the right bank of the Murray. Over this +promontory the waters stretched to the base of the ranges, and formed an +extensive bay. To the N.W. the country was exceedingly low, but distant +peaks were just visible over it. To the S.W. a bold headland showed +itself; beyond which, to the westward, there was a clear and open sea +visible, through a strait formed by this headland and a point projecting +from the opposite shore. To the E. and S.E. the country was low, excepting +the left shore of the lake, which was backed by some minor elevations, +crowned with cypresses. Even while gazing on this fine scene, I could not +but regret that the Murray had thus terminated; for I immediately foresaw +that, in all probability, we should be disappointed in finding any +practicable communication between the lake and the ocean, as it was +evident that the former was not much influenced by tides. The wind had +again increased; it still blew fresh from the S.W. and a heavy sea was +rolling direct into the mouth of the river. I hoped, notwithstanding, that +we should have been enabled to make sail, for which reason we entered the +lake about 2 p.m. The natives had kindled a large fire on a distant point +between us and the further headland, and to gain this point our efforts +were now directed. The waves were, however, too strong, and we were +obliged to make for the eastern shore, until such time as the weather +should moderate. We pitched our tents on a low track of land that +stretched away seemingly for many miles directly behind us to the +eastward. It was of the richest soil, being a black vegetable deposit, +and although now high above the influence, the lake had, it was evident, +once formed a part of its bed. The appearance of the country altogether +encouraged M'Leay and myself to walk out, in order to examine it from some +hills a little to the S.E. of the camp. From them we observed that the +flat extended over about fifty miles, and was bounded by the elevations +that continued easterly from the left bank of the Murray to the north, +and by a line of rising-ground to the south. The whole was lightly wooded, +and covered with grass. The season must have been unusually dry, judging +from the general appearance of the vegetation, and from the circumstance +of the lagoons in the interior being wholly exhausted. + +Thirty-three days had now passed over our heads since we left the depot +upon the Morumbidgee, twenty-six of which had been passed upon the Murray. +We had, at length, arrived at the grand reservoir of those waters whose +course and fate had previously been involved in such obscurity. It +remained for us to ascertain whether the extensive sheet of water upon +whose bosom we had embarked, had any practicable communication with the +ocean, and whether the country in the neighbourhood of the coast +corresponded with that immediately behind our camp, or kept up its sandy +and sterile character to the very verge of the sea. As I have already +said, my hopes on the first of these points were considerably damped, but +I could not help anticipating a favourable change in the latter, since its +features had so entirely changed. + +DETAINED BY THE WIND. + +The greatest difficulty against which we had at present to contend was the +wind; and I dreaded the exertion it would call for, to make head against +it; for the men were so much reduced that I felt convinced they were +inadequate to any violent or prolonged effort. It still blew fresh at +8 p.m., but at that time it began to moderate. It may be imagined that I +listened to its subdued gusts with extreme anxiety. It did not wholly +abate until after 2 a.m., when it gradually declined, and about 3 a light +breeze sprung up from the N. E. + +We had again placed sticks to ascertain with more precision the rise of +tide, and found it to be the same as in the river. In the stillness of the +night too we thought we heard the roaring of the sea, but I was myself +uncertain upon the point, as the wind might have caused the sound. + +From the top of the hill from which we had obtained our first view of the +lake, I observed the waves breaking upon the distant headland, and +enveloping the cliff in spray; so that, independent of the clearness of +the horizon beyond it, I was further led to conclude that there existed a +great expanse of water to the S.W.; and, as that had been the direction +taken by the river, I thought it probable that by steering at once to the +S.W. down the lake, I should hit the outlet. I, consequently, resolved to +gain the southern extremity of the lake, as that at which it was natural +to expect a communication with the ocean would be found. + +GEOLOGICAL FORMATION. + +At 4 we had a moderate breeze, and it promised to strengthen; we lost no +time therefore in embarking, and with a flowing sheet stretched over to +the W.S.W., and ran along the promontory formed by the right bank of the +Murray. We passed close under its extreme point at nine. The hills had +gradually declined, and we found the point to be a flat, elevated about +thirty feet above the lake. It was separated from the promontory by a +small channel that was choked up with reeds, so that it is more than +probable that the point is insulated at certain periods; whilst in its +stratification it resembled the first cliffs I have described that were +passed below the Darling. It is a remarkable fact in the geology of the +Murray, that such should be the case; and that the formation at each +extremity of the great bank or bed of fossils should be the same. +Thus far, the waters of the lake had continued sweet; but on filling a can +when we were abreast of this point, it was found that they were quite +unpalatable, to say the least of them. The transition from fresh to salt +water was almost immediate, and it was fortunate we made the discovery in +sufficient time to prevent our losing ground. But, as it was, we filled +our casks, and stood on, without for a moment altering our course. + +PASSAGE ACROSS THE LAKE--ITS SHALLOWNESS. + +It is difficult to give a just description of our passage across the lake. +The boisterous weather we had had seemed to have blown over. A cool and +refreshing breeze was carrying us on at between four and five knots an +hour, and the heavens above us were without a cloud. It almost appeared as +if nature had resisted us in order to try our perseverance, and that she +had yielded in pity to our efforts. The men, relieved for a time from the +oar, stretched themselves at their length in the boat, and commented on +the scenery around them, or ventured their opinions as to that which was +before them. Up to this moment their conduct had been most exemplary; not +a murmur had escaped from them, and they filled the water-casks with the +utmost cheerfulness, even whilst tasting the disagreeable beverage they +would most probably have to subsist on for the next three or four days. + +As soon as we had well opened the point, we had a full view of the +splendid bay that, commencing at the western most of the central points, +swept in a beautiful curve under the ranges. No land was visible to the +W.N.W. or to the S.S.W.: in both these quarters the lake was as open as +the ocean. It appeared, therefore, that the land intermediate was an +island. To the north the country was extremely low, and as we increased +our distance from it we lost sight of it altogether. At noon we were +nearly abreast of the eastern headland, or in the centre of the strait to +which I have alluded. At this time there was an open sea from W.N.W. to +N. by E. A meridian altitude gave our latitude 35 degrees 25 minutes. +The land to our left was bold and precipitous; that to the right was low +and wooded; and there was evidently a considerable space between the +shores of the lake and the base of the ranges. The country to the eastward +was hidden from us by the line of cliffs, beyond which from E.S.E. to +W.S.W. there was an open sea. We had kept the lead going from the first, +and I was surprised at the extreme shallowness of the lake in every part, +as we never had six feet upon the line. Its bottom was one of black mud, +and weeds of enormous length were floating on its surface, detached by the +late gales, and which, from the shallowness of the lake, got constantly +entangled with our rudder. + +We tried to land on the eastern point, but found the water too shallow, +and were obliged to try the western shore. In passing close under the +head, we observed several natives upon it, who kindled a large fire as +soon as they saw they were noticed, which was answered from every point; +for, in less than ten minutes afterwards, we counted no fewer than +fourteen different fires, the greater number of which were on the side of +the ranges. + +SHORES OF THE LAKE. + +As we were standing across from one shore to the other, our attention was +drawn to a most singular object. It started suddenly up, as above the +waters to the south, and strikingly resembled an isolated castle. Behind +it, a dense column of smoke rose into the sky, and the effect was most +remarkable. On a nearer approach, the phantom disappeared and a clear and +open sea again presented itself to our view. The fact was, that the +refractive power upon the coast had elevated the sand-hillocks above their +true position, since we satisfactorily ascertained that they alone +separated the lake from the ocean, and that they alone could have produced +the semblance we noticed. It is a singular fact, that this very hillock +was the one which Capt. Barker ascended whilst carrying on the survey of +the south coast, and immediately previous to his tragical death. + +It was not without difficulty that we succeeded in landing on the western +shore; but we did, at length, succeed, and prepared our dinners. The shore +was low, but above the reach of all floods; the soil was rich, and +superficially sandy. It was covered with high grasses, and abounded in +kangaroos; within the space of a few yards we found five or six, but they +were immediately lost to us and to the dogs in the luxuriance of the +vegetation amidst which they were feeding. + +As soon as we had finished our meal, we once more embarked, and stood +along the shore to the S.W., but the lake was so shoal, that I was every +moment apprehensive we should ground. I ran across, therefore, to the +south, towards a low flat that had just appeared above the line of the +horizon, in hope that, in sounding, we should have found the channel, but +there either was none, or else it was so narrow that we passed over it +between the heaves of the lead. At this time, the western shore was quite +distinct, and the scenery was beautiful. + +The flat we were approaching was a mud-flat, and, from its appearance, the +tide was certainly at the ebb. We observed some cradles, or wicker frames, +placed far below high water-mark, that were each guarded by two natives, +who threatened us violently as we approached. In running along the land, +the stench from them plainly indicated what they were which these poor +creatures were so anxiously watching. + +We steered a S.W. course, towards some low and wooded hills, passing a +rocky island, and found that we had struck the mouth of a channel running +to the W.S.W. It was about half-a-mile wide, was bounded to the right by +some open flat ground, and to the left by a line of hills of about sixty +or seventy feet in elevation, partly open and partly covered with +beefwood. + +WARLIKE DEMEANOUR OF THE NATIVES. + +Upon the first of these hills, we observed a large body of natives, who +set up the most terrific yells as we approached. They were fully equipped +for battle and, as we neared the shore, came down to meet us with the most +violent threats. I wished much to communicate with them, and, not without +hopes of quieting them, stood right in with the intention of landing. +I observed, however, that if I did so, I should have to protect myself. +I hauled a little off, and endeavoured, by holding up a branch and a +tomahawk, to gain their confidence, but they were not to be won over by +my show of pacification. An elderly man walked close to the water's edge +unarmed, and, evidently, directed the others. He was followed by seven or +eight of the most daring, who crept into the reeds, with their spears +shipped to throw at us. I, therefore, took up my gun to return their +salute. It then appeared that they were perfectly aware of the weapon I +carried, for the moment they saw it, they dashed out of their hiding place +and retreated to the main body; but the old man, after saying something +to them, walked steadily on, and I, on my part, laid my firelock down +again. + +LOVELY EVENING. + +It was now near sunset; and one of the most lovely evenings I had ever +seen. The sun's radiance was yet upon the mountains, but all lower objects +were in shade. The banks of the channel, with the trees and the rocks, +were reflected in the tranquil waters, whose surface was unruffled save by +the thousands of wild fowl that rose before us, and made a noise as of a +multitude clapping hands, in their clumsy efforts to rise from the waters. +Not one of them allowed us to get within shot. + +We proceeded about a mile below the hill on which the natives were posted; +some few still following us with violent threats. We landed, however, on a +flat, bounded all round by the continuation of the hills. It was an +admirable position, for, in the centre of it, we could not be taken by +surprise, and, on the other hand, we gave the natives an opportunity of +communicating with us if they would. The full moon rose as we were forming +the camp, and, notwithstanding our vicinity to so noisy a host, the +silence of death was around us, or the stillness of the night was only +broken by the roar of the ocean, now too near to be mistaken for wind, +or by the silvery and melancholy note of the black swans as they passed +over us, to seek for food, no doubt, among the slimy weeds at the head of +the lake. We had been quite delighted with the beauty of the channel, +which was rather more than half-a-mile in width. Numberless mounds, that +seemed to invite civilised man to erect his dwelling upon them, presented +themselves to our view. The country round them was open, yet ornamentally +wooded, and rocks and trees hung or drooped over the waters. + +EXTENT OF THE LAKE. + +We had in one day gained a position I once feared it would have cost us +infinite labour to have measured. Indeed, had we been obliged to pull +across the lake, unless during a calm, I am convinced the men would have +been wholly exhausted. We had to thank a kind Providence that such was not +the case, since it had extended its mercy to us at so critical a moment. +We had indeed need of all the little strength we had remaining, and could +ill have thrown it away on such an effort as this would have required. +I calculated that we could not have run less than forty-five miles during +the day, a distance that, together with the eight miles we had advanced +the evening previously, would give the length of the lake at fifty-three +miles. + +We had approached to within twelve miles of the ranges, but had not gained +their southern extremity. From the camp, Mount Barker bore nearly north. +The ranges appeared to run north and south to our position, and then to +bend away to the S.S.W., gradually declining to that point, which I +doubted not terminated in Cape Jervis. The natives kept aloof during the +night, nor did the dogs by a single growl intimate that any had ventured +to approach us. The sound of the surf came gratefully to our ears, for it +told us we were near the goal for which we had so anxiously pushed, and we +all of us promised ourselves a view of the boundless ocean on the morrow. + +CHANNEL TO THE SEA--ITS SHALLOWNESS. + +As the morning dawned, we saw that the natives had thrown an out-post of +sixteen men across the channel, who were watching our motions; but none +showed themselves on the hills behind us, or on any part of the south +shore. We embarked as soon as we had breakfasted, A fresh breeze was +blowing from the N.E. which took us rapidly down the channel, and our +prospects appeared to be as cheering as the day, for just as we were about +to push from the shore, a seal rose close to the boat, which we all +regarded as a favourable omen. We were, however, shortly stopped by +shoals; it was in vain that we beat across the channel from one side to +the other; it was a continued shoal, and the deepest water appeared to be +under the left bank. The tide, however, had fallen, and exposed broad +flats, over which it was hopeless, under existing circumstances, to haul +the boat. We again landed on the south side of the channel, patiently to +await the high water. + +M'Leay, myself, and Fraser, ascended the hills, and went to the opposite +side to ascertain the course of the channel, for immediately above us it +turned south round the hills. We there found that we were on a narrow +tongue of land. The channel was immediately below us, and continued to the +E.S.E. as far as we could trace it. The hills we were upon, were the sandy +hills that always bound a coast that is low, and were covered with +banksias, casuarina and the grass-tree. + +To the south of the channel there was a flat, backed by a range of +sand-hummocks, that were covered with low shrubs; and beyond them the sea +was distinctly visible. We could not have been more than two and a half +miles from the beach where we stood. + +Notwithstanding the sandy nature of the soil, the fossil formation again +showed itself, not only on these hills, but also on the rocks that were in +the channel. + +A little before high water we again embarked. A seal had been observed +playing about, and we augured well from such an omen. The blacks had been +watching us from the opposite shore, and as soon as we moved, rose to keep +abreast of us. With all our efforts we could not avoid the shoals. We +walked up to our knees in mud and water, to find the least variation in +the depth of the water so as to facilitate our exertions, but it was to no +purpose. We were ultimately obliged to drag the boat over the flats; there +were some of them a quarter of a mile in breadth, knee-deep in mud; but at +length got her into deep water again. The turn of the channel was now +before us, and we had a good run for about four or five miles. We had +completed the bend, and the channel now stretched to the E.S.E. At about +nine miles from us there was a bright sand-hill visible, near which the +channel seemed to turn again to the south; and I doubted not that it +terminated there. It was to no purpose, however, that we tried to gain it. +Shoals again closed in upon us on every side. We dragged the boat over +several, and at last got amongst quicksands. I, therefore, directed our +efforts to hauling the boat over to the south side of the channel, as that +on which we could most satisfactorily ascertain our position. After great +labour we succeeded, and, as evening had closed in, lost no time in +pitching the tents. + +BEACH OF ENCOUNTER BAY. + +While the men were thus employed, I took Fraser with me, and, accompanied +by M'Leay, crossed the sand-hummocks behind us, and descended to the +sea-shore. I found that we had struck the south coast deep in the bight +of Encounter Bay. We had no time for examination, but returned immediately +to the camp, as I intended to give the men an opportunity to go to the +beach. They accordingly went and bathed, and returned not only highly +delighted at this little act of good nature on my part, but loaded with +cockles, a bed of which they had managed to find among the sand. Clayton +had tied one end of his shirt up, and brought a bag full, and amused +himself with boiling cockles all night long. + +If I had previously any hopes of being enabled ultimately to push the boat +over the flats that were before us, a view of the channel at low water, +convinced me of the impracticability of any further attempt. The water was +so low that every shoal was exposed, and many stretched directly from one +side of the channel to the other; and, but for the treacherous nature of +the sand-banks, it would not have been difficult to have walked over dry +footed to the opposite side of it. The channel stretched away to the +E.S.E., to a distance of seven or eight miles, when it appeared to turn +south under a small sand-hill, upon which the rays of the sun fell, as it +was sinking behind us. + +CURIOUS EFFECT OF REFRACTION. + +There was an innumerable flock of wild-fowl arranged in rows along the +sides of the pools left by the tide, and we were again amused by the +singular effect of the refraction upon them, and the grotesque and +distorted forms they exhibited. Swans, pelicans, ducks, and geese, were +mingled together, and, according to their distance from us, presented +different appearances. Some were exceedingly tall and thin, others were +unnaturally broad. Some appeared reversed, or as if they were standing on +their heads, and the slightest motion, particularly the flapping of their +wings, produced a most ridiculous effect. No doubt, the situation and the +state of the atmosphere were favourable to the effect I have described. +The day had been fine, the evening was beautiful,--but it was the +rarefaction of the air immediately playing on the ground, and not the +haze at sunset that caused what I have noticed. It is distinct from +mirage, although it is difficult to point out the difference. The one, +however, distorts, the other conceals objects, and gives them a false +distance. The one is clear, the other is cloudy. The one raises objects +above their true position, the other does not. The one plays about, the +other is steady; but I cannot hope to give a proper idea either of mirage +or refraction so satisfactorily as I could wish. Many travellers have +dwelt upon their effects, particularly upon those of the former, but few +have attempted to account for them. + +Our situation was one of peculiar excitement and interest. To our right +the thunder of the heavy surf, that almost shook the ground beneath us, +broke with increasing roar upon our ears; to our left the voice of the +natives echoed through the brush, and the size of their fires at the +extremity of the channel, seemed to indicate the alarm our appearance had +occasioned. + +CRITICAL SITUATION OF THE PARTY. + +While the men were enjoying their cockles, a large kettle of which they +had boiled, M'Leay and I were anxiously employed in examining the state of +our provisions, and in ascertaining what still remained. Flour and tea +were the only articles we had left, so that the task was not a difficult +one. It appeared that we had not sufficient of either to last us to +Pondebadgery, at which place we expected to find supplies; and, taking +every thing into consideration, our circumstances were really critical. + +The first view of Encounter Bay had convinced me that no vessel would ever +venture into it at a season when the S.W. winds prevailed. It was +impossible that we could remain upon the coast in expectation of the +relief that I doubted not had been hurried off for us; since +disappointment would have sealed our fate at once. In the deep bight in +which we were, I could not hope that any vessel would approach +sufficiently near to be seen by us. Our only chance of attracting notice +would have been by crossing the Ranges to the Gulf St. Vincent, but the +men had not strength to walk, and I hesitated to divide my party in the +presence of a determined and numerous enemy, who closely watched our +motions. Setting aside the generous feelings that had prompted M'Leay to +participate in every danger with me, and who I am persuaded would have +deeply felt a separation, my anxiety not only on his account, but on +account of the men I might leave in charge of the boat, made me averse to +this measure; the chance of any misfortune to them involving in it the +destruction of our boat and the loss of our provisions. My anxiety of mind +would have rendered me unfit for exertion; yet so desirous was I of +examining the ranges and the country at their base, that I should, had our +passage to the salt water been uninterrupted, have determined on coasting +it homewards, or of steering for Launceston; and most assuredly, with my +present experience, I would rather incur the hazards of so desperate a +step, than contend against all the evils that beset us on out homeward +journey. And the reader may rest assured, I was as much without hopes of +our eventual safety, as I was astonished, at the close of our labours, to +find that they had terminated so happily. + +INSPECTION OF THE CHANNEL FROM THE LAKE TO THE OCEAN. + +Further exertion on the part of the men being out of the question, I +determined to remain no longer on the coast than to enable me to trace the +channel to its actual junction with the sea, and to ascertain the features +of the coast at that important point. I was reluctant to exhaust the +strength of the men in dragging the boat over the numberless flats that +were before us, and made up my mind to walk along the shore until I should +gain the outlet. I at length arranged that M'Leay, I, and Fraser, should +start on this excursion, at the earliest dawn, leaving Harris and +Hopkinson in charge of the camp; for as we were to go towards the position +of the natives, I thought it improbable they would attack the camp without +my being instantly aware of it. + +We had, as I have said, intended starting at the earliest dawn, but the +night was so clear and refreshing, and the moon so bright that we +determined to avail ourselves of both, and accordingly left the tents at +3 a.m. I directed Harris to strike them at 8, and to have every thing in +readiness for our departure at that hour. We then commenced our +excursion, and I led my companions rapidly along the shore of Encounter +Bay, after crossing the sand-hills about a mile below the camp. After a +hasty and distressing walk of about seven miles, we found that the +sand-hills terminated, and a low beach spread before us. The day was just +breaking, and at the distance of a mile from us we saw the sand-hill I +have already had occasion to notice, and at about a quarter of a mile from +its base, we were checked by the channel; which, as I rightly conjectured, +being stopped in its easterly course by some rising ground, the tongue of +land on which the blacks were posted, suddenly turns south, and, striking +this sand-hill, immediately enters the sea; and we noticed, in the bight +under the rising ground, that the natives had lit a chain of small fires. +This was, most probably, a detached party watching our movements, as they +could, from where they were posted, see our camp. + +At the time we arrived at the end of the channel, the tide had turned, and +was again setting in. The entrance appeared to me to be somewhat less than +a quarter of a mile in breadth. Under the sand-hill on the off side, the +water is deep and the current strong. No doubt, at high tide, a part of +the low beach we had traversed is covered. The mouth of the channel is +defended by a double line of breakers, amidst which, it would be +dangerous to venture, except in calm and summer weather; and the line of +foam is unbroken from one end of Encounter Bay to the other. Thus were our +fears of the impracticability and inutility of the channel of +communication between the lake and the ocean confirmed. + +DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS OF THE RETURN. + +I would fain have lingered on my way, to examine, as far as circumstances +would permit, the beautiful country between the lake and the ranges; and +it was with heart-felt sorrow that I yielded to necessity. My men were +indeed very weak from poverty of diet and from great bodily fatigue. +Hopkinson, Mulholland, and Macnamee were miserably reduced. The two +former, especially, had exerted themselves beyond their strength, and +although I am confident they would have obeyed my orders to the last, +I did not feel myself justified, considering the gigantic task we had +before us, to impose additional labour upon them. + +It will be borne in mind that our difficulties were just about to +commence, when those of most other travellers have ceased; and that +instead of being assisted by the stream whose course we had followed, we +had now to contend against the united waters of the eastern ranges, +with diminished strength, and, in some measure, with disappointed +feelings. + +Under the most favourable circumstances, it was improbable that the men +would be enabled to pull for many days longer in succession; since they +had not rested upon their oars for a single day, if I except our passage +across the lake, from the moment when we started from the depot; nor was +it possible for me to buoy them up with the hope even of a momentary +cessation from labour. We had calculated the time to which our supply of +provisions would last under the most favourable circumstances, and it was +only in the event of our pulling up against the current, day after day, +the same distance we had compassed with the current in our favour, that we +could hope they would last us as long as we continued in the Murray. +But in the event of floods, or any unforeseen delay, in was impossible +to calculate at what moment we might be driven to extremity. + +Independent of these casualties, there were other circumstances of peril +to be taken into consideration. As I have already observed, I foresaw +great danger in again running through the natives. I had every reason to +believe that many of the tribes with which we had communicated on +apparently friendly terms, regretted having allowed us to pass unmolested; +nor was I at all satisfied as to the treatment we might receive from them, +when unattended by the envoys who had once or twice controlled their fury. +Our best security, therefore, against the attacks of the natives was +celerity of movement; and the men themselves seemed to be perfectly aware +of the consequences of delay. Our provisions, moreover, being calculated +to last to a certain point only, the slightest accident, the staving-in +of the boat, or the rise of the river, would inevitably be attended with +calamity. To think of reducing our rations of only three quarters of a +pound of flour per diem, was out of the question, or to hope that the men, +with less sustenance than that, would perform the work necessary to ensure +their safety, would have been unreasonable. It was better that our +provisions should hold out to a place from which we might abandon the boat +with some prospect of reaching by an effort a stock station, or the plain +on which Robert Harris was to await our return, than that they should be +consumed before the half of our homeward journey should be accomplished. +Delay, therefore, under our circumstances, would have been imprudent +and unjustifiable. + + +PATIENCE OF THE MEN--RE-ENTER THE MURRAY. +On the other hand, it was sufficiently evident to me, that the men were +too much exhausted to perform the task that was before them without +assistance, and that it would be necessary both for M'Leay and myself, +to take our share of labour at the oars. The cheerfulness and satisfaction +that my young friend evinced at the opportunity that was thus afforded him +of making himself useful, and of relieving those under him from some +portion of their toil, at the same time that they increased my sincere +esteem for him, were nothing more than what I expected from one who had +endeavoured by every means in his power to contribute to the success of +that enterprise upon which he had embarked. But although I have said thus +much of the exhausted condition of the men,--and ere these pages are +concluded my readers will feel satisfied as to the truth of my +statement--I would by no means be understood to say that they flagged for +a moment, or that a single murmur escaped them. No reluctance was visible, +no complaint was heard, but there was that in their aspect and appearance +which they could not hide, and which I could not mistake. My object in +dwelling so long upon this subject has been to point out our situation and +our feelings when we re-entered the Murray. The only circumstance that +appeared to be in our favour was the prevalence of the south-west wind, +by which I hoped we should be assisted in running up the first broad +reaches of that river. I could not but acknowledge the bounty of that +Providence, which had favoured us in our passage across the lake, and I +was led to hope that its merciful superintendance would protect us from +evil, and would silently direct us where human foresight and prudence +failed. We re-entered the river on the 13th under as fair prospects as +we would have desired. The gale which had blown with such violence in the +morning gradually abated, and a steady breeze enabled us to pass our first +encampment by availing ourselves of it as long as day light continued. +Both the valley and the river showed to advantage as we approached them, +and the scenery upon our left (the proper right bank of the Murray) +was really beautiful. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + + +Valley of the Murray--Its character and capabilities--Laborious progress +up the river--Accident to the boat--Perilous collision with the natives +--Turbid current of the Rufus--Passage of the Rapids--Assisted by the +natives--Dangerous intercourse with them--Re-enter the Morumbidgee-- +Verdant condition of its banks--Nocturnal encounter with the natives-- +Interesting manifestation of feeling in one family--Reach the spot where +the party had embarked on the river--Men begin to fail entirely-- +Determine to send two men forward for relief--Their return--Excursion on +horseback--Reach Pondebadgery Plain, and meet the supplies from the +colony--Cannibalism of the natives--Return to Sydney--Concluding remarks. + +VALLEY OF THE MURRAY. + +The valley of the Murray, at its entrance, cannot be less than four miles +in breadth. The river does not occupy the centre but inclines to either +side, according to its windings, and thus the flats are of greater or less +extent, according to the distance of the river from the base of the hills. +It is to be remarked, that the bottom of the valley is extremely level, +and extensively covered with reeds. From the latter circumstance, one +would be led to infer that these flats are subject to overflow, and no +doubt can exist as to the fact of their being, at least partially, if not +wholly, under water at times. A country in a state of nature is, however, +so different from one in a state of cultivation, that it is hazardous to +give an opinion as to its practical availableness, if I may use such a +term. I should, undoubtedly, say the marshes of the Macquarie were +frequently covered with water, and that they were wholly unfit for any one +purpose whatever. It is evident from the marks of the reeds upon the +banks, that the flood covers them occasionally to the depth of three feet, +and the reeds are so densely embodied and so close to the river side that +the natives cannot walk along it. The reeds are the broad flag-reed +(arundo phragmatis), and grow on a stiff earthy loam, without any +accompanying vegetation; indeed, they form so solid a mass that the sun +cannot penetrate to the ground to nourish vegetation. On the other hand, +the valley of the Murray, though covered with reeds in most places, is not +so in all. There is no mark upon the reeds by which to judge as to the +height of inundation, neither are they of the same kind as those which +cover the marshes of the Macquarie. They are the species of round reed of +which the South-sea islanders make their arrows, and stand sufficiently +open, not only to allow of a passage through, but for the abundant growth +of grass among them. Still, I have no doubt that parts of the valley are +subject to flood; but, as I have already remarked, I do not know whether +these parts are either deeply or frequently covered. Rain must fall +simultaneously in the S.E. angle of the island in the inter-tropical +regions, and at the heads of all the tributaries of the main stream, ere +its effects can be felt in the lower parts of the Murray. If the valley of +the Murray is not subject to flood, it has only recently gained a height +above the influence of the river, and still retains all the character of +flooded land. In either case, however, it contains land that is of the +very richest kind--soil that is the pure accumulation of vegetable matter, +and is as black as ebony. If its hundreds of thousands of acres were +practically available, I should not hesitate to pronounce it one of the +richest spots of equal extent on earth, and highly favoured in other +respects. How far it is available remains to be proved; and an opinion +upon either side would be hazardous, although that of its liability to +flood would, most probably, be nearest to truth. It is, however, certain +that any part of the valley would require much labour before it could be +brought under cultivation, and that even its most available spots would +require almost as much trouble to clear them as the forest tract, for +nothing is more difficult to destroy than reeds. Breaking the sod would, +naturally, raise the level of the ground, and lateral drains would, most +probably, carry off all floods, but then the latter, at least, is the +operation of an advanced stage of husbandry only. I would, however, +observe that there are many parts of the valley decidedly above the reach +of flood. I have, in the above observations, been particularly alluding to +the lowest and broadest portions of it. I trust I shall be understood as +not wishing to over-rate this discovery on the one hand, or on the other, +to include its whole extent in one sweeping clause of condemnation. + +On the 14th, the wind still continued to blow fresh from the N.W. +It moderated at noon, and assisted us beyond measure. We passed our first +encampment, but did not see any natives. + +CORDIALITY OF THE NATIVES. + +On the 15th, the wind was variable at daylight, and a dense fog was on the +river. As the sun rose, it was dissipated and a light breeze sprung up +from W.S.W. We ran up the stream with a free sheet for six hours, when we +stopped for a short time to get the kettle boiled. Four natives joined us, +but with the exception of the lowest tribe upon the right bank, we had not +seen any number. We were extremely liberal to this tribe, in consequence +of the satisfaction they evinced at our return. We had alarmed them much +on our passage down the river by firing at a snake that was swimming +across it. We, at first, attempted to kill it with the boat-hook, but the +animal dived at our approach, and appeared again at a considerable +distance. Another such dive would have ensured his escape, but a shot +effectually checked him, and as the natives evinced considerable alarm, we +held him up, to show them the object of our proceedings. On our return, +they seemed to have forgotten their fright, and received us with every +demonstration of joy. The different receptions we met with from different +tribes are difficult to be accounted for. + +The country appeared to rise before us, and looked more hilly to the N.W. +than I had supposed it to be. Several fine valleys branched off from the +main one to the westward, and, however barren the heights that confined +them were, I am inclined to think, that the distant interior is fertile. +The marks of kangaroos were numerous, and the absence of the natives would +indicate that they have other and better means of subsisting in the back +country than what the river affords. + +In the evening, we again ran on for two hours and a half, and reached the +first of the cliffs. + +On the 16th, we were again fortunate in the wind, and pressed up the river +as long as day-light continued. At the termination of our journey, we +found ourselves a day's journey in advance. This inspirited the men, and +they began to forget the labours they had gone through, as well as those +that were before them. + +On the 17th, we again commenced pulling, the wind being at north, and +contrary. It did not, however, remain in that quarter long, but backed at +noon to the S.W., so that we were enabled to make a good day's journey, +and rather gained than lost ground. + +REMARKABLE CLIFF--GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. + +Having left the undulating hills, at the mouth of the valley behind us, +we passed cliff after cliff of fossil formation: they had a uniform +appearance as to the substance of which they were composed, and varied +but little in colour. Having already examined them, we thought it +unnecessary to give them any further special attention, since it was +improbable we should find anything new. In turning an angle of the river, +however, a broad reach stretched away before us. An alluvial flat extended +to our left, and a high line of cliffs, that differed in no visible +respect from those we had already passed, rose over the opposite side of +the river. The cliffs faced the W.N.W., and as the sun declined, his beams +struck full upon them. As we shot past, we were quite dazzled with the +burst of light that flashed upon us, and which gave to the whole face of +the cliff the appearance of a splendid mirror. The effect was of course +momentary; for as soon as we had passed the angle of refraction, there was +nothing unusual in its appearance. On a nearer approach, however, it +appeared again as if studded with stars. We had already determined on +examining it more closely, and this second peculiarity still further +excited our curiosity. On landing, we found the whole cliff to be a mass +of selenite, in which the various shells already noticed were plentifully +embedded, as in ice. The features of the cliff differed from any we had +previously remarked. Large masses, or blocks of square or oblong shape, +had fallen to its base, and its surface was hard, whereas the face of the +majority of the other cliffs was soft from the effect of the atmosphere; +and the rock was entirely free from every other substance, excepting the +shells of which it was composed. We of course collected some good +specimens, although they added very considerably to the weight of our +cargo. + +The morning of the 18th was calm and cloudless. The wind, of which there +was but little, came from the north, and was as usual warm. We availed +ourselves of a favourable spot to haul our boat on shore under one of the +cliffs upon the proper left of the river, and cleaned her well both +inside and out. + +LABORIOUS ASCENT OF THE BOAT. + +The breezes that had so much assisted as from the lake upwards, had now +lost their influence, or failed to reach to the distance we had gained. +Calms succeeded them, and obliged us to labour continually at the oars. +We lost ground fast, and it was astonishing to remark how soon the men's +spirits drooped again under their first efforts. They fancied the boat +pulled heavily, and that her bottom was foul; but such was not the case. +The current was not so strong as when we passed down, since the river had +evidently fallen more than a foot, and was so shallow in several places, +that we were obliged to haul the boat over them. On these occasions we +were necessarily obliged to get out of her into the water, and had +afterwards to sit still and to allow the sun to dry our clothes upon us. +The unemployed consequently envied those at the oars, as they sat +shivering in their dripping clothes. I was aware that it was more from +imagination than reality, that the men fancied the boat was unusually +heavy, but I hesitated not in humouring them, and rather entered into +their ideas than otherwise, and endeavoured to persuade them that she +pulled the lighter for the cleaning we gave her. + +A tribe of natives joined us, and we had the additional trouble of +guarding our stores. They were, however, very quiet, and as we had broken +up our casks, on leaving the coast, we were enabled to be liberal in our +presents of iron hoop, which they eagerly received. We calculated that we +should reach the principal junction in about fifteen days from this place. + +NATIVE BURIAL-PLACE. + +The natives left us to pursue our solitary journey as soon as the boat was +reloaded. Not one of them had the curiosity to follow us, nor did they +appear to think it necessary that we should be attended by envoys. We +stopped for the night upon the left bank; and close to a burial-ground +that differed from any I had ever seen. It must have been used many years, +from the number of bones that were found in the bank, but there were no +other indications of such a place either by mounds or by marks on the +trees. The fact, therefore, is a singular one. I have thought that some +battle might have been fought near the place, but I can hardly think one +of their battles could have been so destructive. + +IMPEDED BY SHOALS. + +We had now only to make the best of our journey, rising at dawn, and +pulling to seven and often to nine o'clock. I allowed the men an hour from +half-past eleven to half-past twelve, to take their bread and water. This +was our only fare, if I except an occasional wild duck; but these birds +were extremely difficult to kill, and it cost us so much time, that we +seldom endeavoured to procure any. Our dogs had been of no great use, and +were now too weak to have run after anything if they had seen either +kangaroos or emus; and for the fish, the men loathed them, and were either +too indifferent or too much fatigued to set the night-lines. Shoals +frequently impeded us as we proceeded up the river, and we passed some +rapids that called for our whole strength to stem. A light wind assisted +us on two or three of these occasions, and I never failed hoisting the +sail at every fitting opportunity. In some parts the river was extremely +shallow, and the sand-banks of amazing size; and the annoyance of dragging +the boat over these occasional bars, was very great. We passed several +tribes of blacks on the 19th and 20th; but did not stop to communicate +with them. + +I believe I have already mentioned that shortly after we first entered the +Murray, flocks of a new paroquet passed over our heads, apparently +emigrating to the N.W. They always kept too high to be fired at, but on +our return, hereabouts, we succeeded in killing one. It made a good +addition to our scanty stock of subjects of natural history. It is +impossible to conceive how few of the feathered tribe frequent these +distant and lonely regions. The common white cockatoo is the most +numerous, and there are also a few pigeons; but other birds descend only +for water, and are soon again upon the wing. Our botanical specimens were +as scanty as our zoological, indeed the expedition may, as regards these +two particulars, almost be said to have been unproductive. + +COMPILATION OF THE CHART. + +When we came down the river, I thought it advisable to lay its course down +as precisely as circumstances would permit: for for this purpose I had a +large compass always before me, and a sheet of foolscap paper. As soon as +we passed an angle of the river, I took the bearings of the reach before +us, and as we proceeded down it, marked off the description of country, +and any remarkable feature. The consequence was, that I laid down every +bend of the Murray River, from the Morumbidgee downwards. Its creeks, its +tributaries, its flats, its valleys, and its cliffs, and, as far as I +possibly could do, the nature of the distant interior. This chart was, +of course, erroneous in many particulars, since I had to judge the length +of the reaches of the river, and the extent of its angles, but I corrected +it on the scale of the miles of latitude we made during the day, which +brought out an approximate truth at all events. The hurried nature of our +journey would not allow me to do more; and it will be remembered that my +observations were all siderial, by reason that the sextant would not +embrace the sun in his almost vertical position at noon. Admitting, +however, the imperfection of this chart, it was of inconceivable value and +comfort to us on our return, for, by a reference to it, we discovered our +place upon the river, and our distance from our several encampments. +And we should often have stopped short of them had not the chart shown us +that a few reaches more would bring us to the desired spots. It cheered +the men to know where they were, and gave them conversation. To myself it +was very satisfactory, as it enabled me to prepare for our meetings with +the larger tribes, and to steer clear of obstacles in the more difficult +navigation of some parts of the stream. + +On the 21st, by dint of great labour we reached our camp of the 2nd +February, from which it will be remembered the Murray took up a southerly +course, and from which we likewise obtained a first view of the coast +ranges. The journey to the sea and back again, had consequently occupied +us twenty days. From this point we turned our boat's head homewards; we +made it, therefore, a fixed position among the stages into which we +divided our journey. Our attention was now directed to the junction of the +principal tributary, which we hoped to reach in twelve days, and +anticipated a close to our labours on the Murray in eight days more from +that stage to the Morumbidgee. + +CURRENT OF THE MURRAY. + +The current in the Murray from the lake, to within a short distance of +this singular turn in it, is weak, since its bed is almost on a level with +the lake. The channel, which, at the termination, is somewhat more than +the third of a mile across, gradually diminishes in breadth, as the +interior is gained, but is nowhere under 300 yards; while its depth +averages from eighteen to thirty feet, within a foot of the very bank. +The river might, therefore, be navigated by boats of considerable burden, +if the lake admitted of the same facility; but I am decidedly of opinion, +that the latter is generally shallow, and that it will, in the course of +years, be filled up by depositions. It is not, however, an estuary in any +sense of the word, since no part of it is exposed at low water, excepting +the flats in the channel, and the flat between the lake and the sea. + +ACCIDENT TO THE BOAT. + +On the 23rd, we stove the boat in for the first time. I had all along +anticipated such an accident, from the difficulty of avoiding obstacles, +in consequence of the turbid state of the river. Fortunately the boat +struck a rotten log. The piece remained in her side, and prevented her +filling, which she must, otherwise, inevitably have done, ere we could +have reached the shore. As it was, however, we escaped with a little +damage to the lower bags of flour only. She was hauled up on a sand bank, +and Clayton repaired her in less than two hours, when we reloaded her +and pursued our journey. It was impossible to have been more cautious than +we were, for I was satisfied as to the fate that would have overtaken the +whole of us in the event of our losing the boat, and was proportionably +vigilant. + +MOLESTED BY THE NATIVES. + +At half-past five we came to an island, which looked so inviting, and so +quiet, that I determined to land and sleep upon it. We consequently, ran +the boat into a little recess, or bay, and pitched the tents; and I +anticipated a respite from the presence of any natives, as did the men, +who were rejoiced at my having taken up so snug a berth. It happened, +however, that a little after sunset, a flight of the new paroquets +perched in the lofty trees that grew on the island, to roost; when we +immediately commenced the work of death, and succeeded in killing eight or +ten. The reports of our guns were heard by some natives up the river, and +several came over to us. Although I was annoyed at their having discovered +our retreat, they were too few to be troublesome. During the night, +however, they were joined by fresh numbers, amounting in all to about +eighty, and they were so clamorous, that it was impossible to sleep. + +NATIVES BECOME TROUBLESOME. + +As the morning broke, Hopkinson came to inform me that it was in vain that +the guard endeavoured to prevent them from handling every thing, and from +closing in round our camp. I went out, and from what I saw I thought it +advisable to double the sentries. M'Leay, who was really tired, being +unable to close his eyes amid such a din, got up in ill-humour, and went +to see into the cause, and to check it if he could. This, however, was +impossible. One man was particularly forward and insolent, at whom M'Leay, +rather imprudently, threw a piece of dirt. The savage returned the +compliment with as much good will as it had been given, and appeared quite +prepared to act on the offensive. At this critical moment my servant came +to the tent in which I was washing myself, and stated his fears that we +should soon come to blows, as the natives showed every disposition to +resist us. On learning what had passed between M'Leay and the savage, +I pretended to be equally angry with both, and with some difficulty forced +the greater part of the blacks away from the tents. I then directed the +men to gather together all the minor articles in the first instance, and +then to strike the tents; and, in order to check the natives, I drew a +line round the camp, over which I intimated to them they should not pass. +Observing, I suppose, that we were on our guard, and that I, whom they +well knew to be the chief, was really angry, they crept away one by one, +until the island was almost deserted by them. Why they did not attack us, +I know not, for they had certainly every disposition to do so, and had +their shorter weapons with them, which, in so confined a space as that on +which we were, would have been more fatal than their spears + +They left us, however; and a flight of red-crested cockatoos happening to +settle on a plain near the river, I crossed in the boat in order to shoot +one. The plain was upon the proper left bank of the Murray. The natives +had passed over to the right. As the one channel was too shallow for the +boat, when we again pursued our journey we were obliged to pull round to +the left side of the island. A little above it the river makes a bend to +the left, and the angle at this bend was occupied by a large shoal, +one point of which rested on the upper part of the island, and the other +touched the proper right bank of the river. Thus a narrow channel, +(not broader indeed than was necessary for the play of our oars,) alone +remained for us to pass up against a strong current. On turning round the +lower part of the island, we observed that the natives occupied the whole +extent of the shoal, and speckled it over like skirmishers. Many of them +had their spears, and their attention was evidently directed to us.--As we +neared the shoal, the most forward of them pressed close to the edge of +the deep water, so much so that our oars struck their legs. Still this did +not induce them to retire. I kept my eye on an elderly man who stood one +of the most forward, and who motioned to us several times to stop, and at +length threw the weapon he carried at the boat. I immediately jumped up +and pointed my gun at him to his great apparent alarm. Whether the natives +hoped to intimidate us by a show of numbers, or what immediate object they +had in view, it is difficult to say; though it was most probably to seize +a fitting opportunity to attack us. Seeing, I suppose, that we were not to +be checked, they crossed from the shoal to the proper right bank of the +river, and disappeared among the reeds that lined it. + +TREACHERY OF THE NATIVES. + +Shortly after this, eight of the women, whom we had not before noticed, +came down to the water side, and gave us the most pressing invitation to +land. Indeed they played their part uncommonly well, and tried for some +time to allure us by the most unequivocal manifestations of love. +Hopkinson however who always had his eyes about him, observed the spears +of the men among the reeds. They kept abreast of us as we pulled up the +stream, and, no doubt, were anticipating our inability to resist the +temptations they had thrown in our way. I was really provoked at their +barefaced treachery, and should most undoubtedly have attacked them, had +they not precipitately retreated on being warned by the women that I was +arming my men, which I had only now done upon seeing such strong +manifestations of danger. M'Leay set the example of coolness on this +occasion; and I had some doubts whether I was justified in allowing the +natives to escape with impunity, considering that if they had wounded any +one of us the most melancholy and fatal results would have ensued. + +We did not see anything more of the blacks during the rest of the day, +but the repeated indications of hostility we perceived as we approached +the Darling, made me apprehensive as to the reception we should meet from +its numerous population; and I was sorry to observe that the men +anticipated danger in passing that promising junction. + +Having left the sea breezes behind us, the weather had become oppressive; +and as the current was stronger, and rapids more numerous, our labour was +proportionably increased. We perspired to an astonishing degree, and gave +up our oars after our turn at them, with shirts and clothes as wet as if +we had been in the water. Indeed Mulholland and Hopkinson, who worked +hard, poured a considerable quantity of perspiration from their shoes +after their task. The evil of this was that we were always chilled after +rowing, and, of course, suffered more than we should otherwise have done. + +RE-PASS THE LINDESAY. + +On the 25th we passed the last of the cliffs composing the great fossil +bed through which the Murray flows, and entered that low country already +described as being immediately above it. On a more attentive examination +of the distant interior, my opinion as to its flooded origin was +confirmed, more especially in reference to the country to the S.E. On the +30th we passed the mouth of the Lindesay, and from the summit of the sand +hills to the north of the Murray overlooked the flat country, through +which I conclude it must run, from the line of fires we observed amid the +trees, and most probably upon its banks. + +We did not fall in with the natives in such numbers as when we passed down +to the coast: still they were in sufficient bodies to be troublesome. +It would, however, appear that the tribes do not generally frequent the +river. They must have a better country back from it, and most probably +linger amongst the lagoons and creeks where food is more abundant. The +fact is evident from the want of huts upon the banks of the Murray, and +the narrowness of the paths along its margin. + +RE-PASSED THE RUFUS. + +We experienced the most oppressive heat about this time. Calms generally +prevailed, and about 3 p.m. the sun's rays fell upon us with intense +effect. The waters of the Murray continued extremely muddy, a circumstance +we discovered to be owing to the turbid current of the Rufus, which we +passed on the 1st of March. It is, really, singular whence this little +stream originates. It will be remembered that I concluded it must have +been swollen by rains when we first saw it; yet, after an absence of more +than three weeks we found it discharging its waters as muddy as ever into +the main stream; and that, too, in such quantities as to discolour its +waters to the very lake. The reader will have some idea of the force of +the current in both, when I assure him that for nearly fifty yards below +the mouth of the Rufus, the waters of the Murray preserve their +transparency, and the line between them and the turbid waters of its +tributary was as distinctly marked as if drawn by a pencil. Indeed, +the higher we advanced, the more did we feel the strength of the current, +against which we had to pull. + +DIFFICULTIES AT THE RAPIDS. + +A little below the Lindesay, a rapid occurs. It was with the utmost +difficulty that we stemmed it with the four oars upon the boat, and the +exertion of our whole strength. We remained, at one time, perfectly +stationary, the force we employed and that of the current being equal. +We at length ran up the stream obliquely; but it was evident the men were +not adequate to such exertion for any length of time. We pulled that day +for eleven successive hours, in order to avoid a tribe of natives who +followed us. Hopkinson and Fraser fell asleep at their oars, and even the +heavy Clayton appeared to labour. + +We again occupied our camp under the first remarkable cliffs of the +Murray, a description of which has been given in page 128 of this work. +[GEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION.] Their summit, as I have already remarked forms a +table land of some elevation. From it the distant interior to the S.S.E. +appears very depressed; that to the north undulates more. In neither +quarter, however, does any bright foliage meet the eye, to tell that a +better soil is under it; but a dark and gloomy vegetation occupies both +the near and distant ground, in proof that the sandy sterile tracts, +succeeding the river deposits, stretch far away without a change. + +A little above our camp of the 28th of January, we fell in with a large +tribe of natives, whose anxiety to detain us was remarkable. The wind, +however, which, from the time we lost the sea breezes, had hung to the +S.E., had changed to the S.W., and we were eagerly availing ourselves of +it. It will not he supposed we stopped even for a moment. In truth we +pressed on with great success, and did not land to sleep until nine +o'clock. As long as the wind blew from the S.W., the days were cool, and +the sky overcast even so much so as to threaten rain. + +The least circumstance, in our critical situation, naturally raised my +apprehensions, and I feared the river would be swollen in the event of +any heavy rains in the hilly country; I hoped, however, we should gain the +Morumbidgee before such a calamity should happen to us, and it became +my object to press for that river without delay. + +OBSTACLES TO THE NAVIGATION--DANGEROUS RAPIDS. + +Although we had met with frequent rapids in our progress upwards, they had +not been of a serious kind, nor such as would affect the navigation of the +river. The first direct obstacle of this kind occurs a little above a +small tributary that falls into the Murray from the north, between the +Rufus and the cliffs we have alluded to. At this place a reef of coarse +grit contracts the channel of the river. No force we could have exerted +with the oars would have taken us up this rapid; but we accomplished the +task easily by means of a rope which we hauled upon, on the same principle +that barges are dragged by horses along the canals. + +As we neared the junction of the two main streams, the country, on both +sides of the river, became low, and its general appearance confirmed the +opinion I have already given as to its flooded origin. The clouds that +obscured the sky, and had threatened to burst for some time, at length +gave way, and we experienced two or three days of heavy rain. In the midst +of it we passed the second stage of our journey, and found the spot lately +so crowded with inhabitants totally deserted. A little above it we +surprised a small tribe in a temporary shelter; but neither our offers nor +presents could prevail on any of them to expose themselves to the torrent +that was falling. They sat shivering in their bark huts in evident +astonishment at our indifference. We threw them some trifling presents and +were glad to proceed unattended by any of them. + +PERILOUS ASCENT OF THE RAPIDS. + +It will he remembered that in passing down the river, the boat was placed +in some danger in descending a rapid before we reached the junction of the +Murray with the stream supposed by me to be the Darling. We were now +gradually approaching the rapid, nor did I well know how we should +surmount such an obstacle. Strength to pull up it we had not, and I feared +our ropes would not be long enough to reach to the shore over some of the +rocks, since it descended in minor declivities to a considerable distance +below the principal rapid, in the centre of which the boat had struck. +We reached the commencement of these rapids on the 6th, and ascended the +first by means of ropes, which were hauled upon by three of the men from +the bank; and, as the day was pretty far advanced, we stopped a little +above it, that we might attempt the principal rapid before we should be +exhausted by previous exertion. It was fortunate that we took such a +precaution. The morning of the 7th proved extremely dark, and much rain +fell. We commenced our journey in the midst of it, and soon gained the +tail of the rapid. Our attempt to pull up it completely failed. The boat, +as soon as she entered the ripple, spun round like a toy, and away we went +with the stream. As I had anticipated, our ropes were too short; and it +only remained for us to get into the water, and haul the boat up by main +force. We managed pretty well at first, and drew her alongside a rock to +rest a little. We then recommenced our efforts, and had got into the +middle of the channel. We were up to our armpits in the water, and only +kept our position by means of rocks beside us. The rain was falling, as if +we were in a tropical shower, and the force of the current was such, that +if we had relaxed for an instant, we should have lost all the ground we +had gained. Just at this moment, however, without our being aware of their +approach, a large tribe of natives, with their spears, lined the bank, +and took us most completely by surprise. At no time during this anxious +journey were we ever so completely in their power, or in so defenceless a +situation. It rained so hard, that our firelocks would have been of no +use, and had they attacked us, we must necessarily have been slaughtered +without committing the least execution upon them. Nothing, therefore, +remained for us but to continue our exertions. It required only one +strong effort to get the boat into still water for a time, but that effort +was beyond our strength, and we stood in the stream, powerless and +exhausted. + +ASSISTED BY THE NATIVES. + +The natives, in the meanwhile, resting on their spears, watched us with +earnest attention. One of them, who was sitting close to the water, at +length called to us, and we immediately recognised the deep voice of him +to whose singular interference we were indebted for our escape on the +23rd of January. I desired Hopkinson to swim over to him, and to explain +that we wanted assistance. This was given without hesitation; and we at +length got under the lea of the rock, which I have already described as +being in the centre of the river. The natives launched their bark canoes, +the only frail means they possess of crossing the rivers with their +children. These canoes are of the simplest construction and rudest +materials, being formed of an oblong piece of bark, the ends of which are +stuffed with clay, so as to render them impervious to the water. With +several of these they now paddled round us with the greatest care, making +their spears, about ten feet in length,(which they use at once as poles +and paddles,) bend nearly double in the water. We had still the most +difficult part of the rapid to ascend, where the rush of water was the +strongest, and where the decline of the bed almost amounted to a fall. +Here the blacks could be of no use to us. No man could stem the current, +supposing it to have been shallow at the place, but it was on the contrary +extremely deep. Remaining myself in the boat, I directed all the men to +land, after we had crossed the stream, upon a large rock that formed the +left buttress as it were to this sluice, and, fastening the rope to the +mast instead of her head, they pulled upon it. The unexpected rapidity +with which the boat shot up the passage astonished me, and filled the +natives with wonder, who testified their admiration of so dextrous a +manoeuvre, by a loud shout. + +It will, no doubt, have struck the reader as something very remarkable, +that the same influential savage to whom we had already been indebted, +should have been present on this occasion, and at a moment when we so much +needed his assistance. Having surmounted our difficulties, we took leave +of this remarkable man, and pursued our journey up the river. + +It may be imagined we did not proceed very far; the fact was, we only +pushed forward to get rid of the natives, for, however pacific, they were +always troublesome, and we were seldom fitted for a trial of temper after +the labours of the day were concluded. The men had various occupations +in which, when the natives were present, they were constantly interrupted, +and whenever the larger tribes slept near us, the utmost vigilance was +necessary on the part of the night-guard, which was regularly mounted as +soon as the tents were pitched. We had had little else than our flour to +subsist on. Hopkinson and Harris endeavoured to supply M'Leay and myself +with a wild fowl occasionally, but for themselves, and the other men, +nothing could be procured to render their meal more palatable. + +GOOD CONDUCT OF THE MEN. + +I have omitted to mention one remarkable trait of the good disposition of +all the men while on the coast. Our sugar had held out to that point; but +it appeared, when we examined the stores, that six pounds alone remained +in the cask. This the men positively refused to touch. They said that, +divided, it would benefit nobody; that they hoped M'Leay and I would use +it, that it would last us for some time, and that they were better able to +submit to privations than we were. The feeling did them infinite credit, +and the circumstance is not forgotten by me. The little supply the +kindness of our men left to us was, however, soon exhausted, and poor +M'Leay preferred pure water to the bitter draught that remained. I have +been some times unable to refrain from smiling, as I watched the distorted +countenances of my humble companions while drinking their tea and eating +their damper. + +The ducks and swans, seen in such myriads on the lake, seldom appeared on +the river, in the first stages of our journey homewards. About the time of +which I am writing, however, a few swans occasionally flew over our heads +at night, and their silvery note was musically sweet. + +From the 10th to the 15th, nothing of moment occurred: we pulled regularly +from day-light to dark, not less to avoid the natives than to shorten our +journey. Yet, notwithstanding that we moved at an hour when the natives +seldom stir, we were rarely without a party of them, who followed us in +spite of our efforts to tire them out. + +MOLESTED BY NATIVES. + +On the 15th, we had about 150 at our camp. Many of them were extremely +noisy, and the whole of them very restless. They lay down close to the +tents, or around our fire. I entertained some suspicion of them, and when +they were apparently asleep, I watched them narrowly. Macnamee was walking +up and down with his firelock, and every time he turned his back, one of +the natives rose gently up and poised his spear at him, and as soon as +he thought Macnamee was about to trim, he dropped as quietly into his +place. When I say the native got up, I do not mean that he stood up, but +that he raised himself sufficiently for the purpose he had in view. His +spear would not, therefore, have gone with much force, but I determined +it should not quit his hand, for had I observed any actual attempt to +throw it, I should unquestionably have shot him dead upon the spot. +The whole of the natives were awake, and it surprised me they did not +attempt to plunder us. They rose with the earliest dawn, and crowded round +the tents without any hesitation. We, consequently, thought it prudent to +start as soon as we had breakfasted. + +FRASER IN DANGER. + +We had all of us got into the boat, when Fraser remembered he had left his +powder-horn on shore. In getting out to fetch it, he had to push through +the natives. On his return, when his back was towards them, several +natives lifted their spears together, and I was so apprehensive they +would have transfixed him, that I called out before I seized my gun; on +which they lowered their weapons and ran away. The disposition to commit +personal violence was evident from these repeated acts of treachery; and +we should doubtless have suffered from it on some occasion or other, had +we not been constantly on the alert. + +We had been drawing nearer the Morumbidgee every day. This was the last +tribe we saw on the Murray; and the following afternoon, to our great joy, +we quitted it and turned our boat into the gloomy and narrow channel of +its tributary. Our feelings were almost as strong when we re-entered it, +as they had been when we were launched from it into that river, on whose +waters we had continued for upwards of fifty-five days; during which +period, including the sweeps and bends it made, we could not have +travelled less than 1500 miles. + +Our provisions were now running very short; we had, however, "broken the +neck of our journey," as the men said, and we looked anxiously to gaining +the depot; for we were not without hopes that Robert Harris would have +pushed forward to it with his supplies. We were quite puzzled on entering +the Morumbidgee, how to navigate its diminutive bends and its encumbered +channel. I thought poles would have been more convenient than oars; we +therefore stopped at an earlier hour than usual to cut some. Calling to +mind the robbery practised on us shortly after we left the depot, my mind +became uneasy as to Robert Harris's safety, since I thought it probable, +from the sulky disposition of the natives who had visited us there, that +he might have been attacked. Thus, when my apprehensions on our own +account had partly ceased, my fears became excited with regard to him and +his party. + +RE-ENTER THE MORUMBIDGEE. + +The country, to a considerable distance from the junction on either side +the Morumbidgee, is not subject to inundation. Wherever we landed upon its +banks, we found the calistemma in full flower, and in the richest +profusion. There was, also, an abundance of grass, where before there had +been no signs of vegetation, and those spots which we had condemned as +barren were now clothed with a green and luxuriant carpet. So difficult is +it to judge of a country on a partial and hurried survey, and so +differently does it appear at different periods. I was rejoiced to find +that the rains had not swollen the river, for I was apprehensive that +heavy falls had taken place in the mountains, and was unprepared for so +much good fortune. + +FEAST ON A SWAN. + +The poles we cut were of no great use to us, and we soon laid them aside, +and took to our oars. Fortune seemed to favour us exceedingly. The men +rallied, and we succeeded in killing a good fat swan, that served as a +feast for all. I imagine the absence of mud and weeds of every kind in +the Murray, prevents this bird from frequenting its waters. + +On the 18th, we found ourselves entering the reedy country, through which +we had passed with such doubt and anxiety. Every object elicited some +remark from the men, and I was sorry to find they reckoned with certainty +on seeing Harris at the depot, as I knew they would be proportionally +depressed in spirits if disappointed. However, I promised Clayton a good +repast as soon as we should see him. + +LOSE ONE OF OUR DOGS. + +I had walked out with M'Leay a short distance from the river, and had +taken the dogs. They followed us to the camp on our return to it, but the +moment they saw us enter the tent, they went off to hunt by themselves. +About 10 p.m., one of them, Bob, came to the fire, and appeared very +uneasy; he remained, for a short time, and then went away. In about an +hour, he returned, and after exhibiting the same restlessness, again +withdrew. He returned the third time before morning dawned, but returned +alone. The men on the watch were very stupid not to have followed him, +for, no doubt, he went to his companion, to whom, most likely, some +accident had happened. I tried to make him show, but could not succeed, +and, after a long search, reluctantly pursued our journey, leaving poor +Sailor to his fate. This was the only misfortune that befell us, and we +each of us felt the loss of an animal which had participated in all our +dangers and privations. I more especially regretted the circumstance for +the sake of the gentleman who gave him to me, and, on account of his +superior size and activity. + +ENCOUNTER WITH NATIVES. + +With the loss of poor Sailor, our misfortunes re-commmenced. I anticipated +some trouble hereabouts, for, having succeeded in their hardihood once, +I knew the natives would again attempt to rob us, and that we should have +some difficulty in keeping them off. As soon as they found out that we +were in the river, they came to us, but left us at sunset. This was on the +21st. At nightfall, I desired the watch to keep a good look out, and +M'Leay and I went to lie down. We had chosen an elevated bank for our +position, and immediately opposite to us there was a small space covered +with reeds, under blue-gum trees. About 11, Hopkinson came to the tent to +say, that he was sure the blacks were approaching through the reeds. +M'Leay and I got up, and, standing on the bank, listened attentively. +All we heard was the bark of a native dog apparently, but this was, in +fact, a deception on the part of the blacks. We made no noise, in +consequence of which they gradually approached, and two or three crept +behind the trunk of a tree that had fallen. As I thought they were near +enough, George M'Leay, by my desire, fired a charge of small shot at them. +They instantly made a precipitate retreat; but, in order the more +effectually to alarm them, Hopkinson fired a ball into the reeds, which we +distinctly heard cutting its way through them. All was quiet until about +three o'clock, when a poor wretch who, most probably, had thrown himself +on the ground when the shots were fired, at length mustered courage to get +up and effect his escape. + +In the morning, the tribe kept aloof, but endeavoured, by the most earnest +entreaties, and most pitiable howling, to gain our favour; but I +threatened to shoot any that approached, and they consequently kept at a +respectful distance, dogging us from tree to tree. It appeared, therefore, +that they were determined to keep us in view, no doubt, with the intention +of trying what they could do by a second attempt. As they went along, +their numbers increased, and towards evening, they amounted to a strong +tribe. Still they did not venture near us, and only now and then showed +themselves. Our situation at this moment would have been much more awkward +in the event of attack, than when we were in the open channel of the +Murray; because we were quite at the mercy of the natives if they had +closed upon us, and, being directly under the banks, should have received +every spear, while it would have been easy for them to have kept out of +sight in assailing us. + +APPARENT OBSTRUCTION OF THE CHANNEL. + +It was near sunset, the men were tired, and I was looking out for a +convenient place at which to rest, intending to punish these natives if +they provoked me, or annoyed the men. We had not seen any of them for some +time, when Hopkinson, who was standing in the bow of the boat, informed me +that they had thrown boughs across the river to prevent our passage. +I was exceedingly indignant at this, and pushed on, intending to force the +barrier. On our nearer approach, a solitary black was observed standing +close to the river, and abreast of the impediment which I imagined they +had raised to our further progress. I threatened to shoot this man, and +pointed to the branches that stretched right across the stream. The poor +fellow uttered not a word, but, putting his hand behind him, pulled out a +tomahawk from his belt, and held it towards me, by way of claiming our +acquaintance; and any anger was soon entirely appeased by discovering that +the natives had been merely setting a net across the river which these +branches supported. We, consequently, hung back, until they had drawn it, +and then passed on. + +MANOEUVRES OF THE NATIVES TO ROB THE BOAT AT NIGHT. + +The black to whom I had spoken so roughly, cut across a bight of the +river, and walking down to the side of the water with a branch in his +hand, in mark of confidence, presented me with a fishing net. We were +highly pleased at the frank conduct of this black, and a convenient place +offering itself, we landed and pitched our tents. Our friend, who was +about forty, brought his two wives, and a young man, to us: and at length +the other blacks mustered courage to approach; but those who had followed +us from the last camp, kept on the other side of the river. On pretence of +being different families, they separated into small bodies, and formed a +regular cordon round our camp. We foresaw that this was a manoeuvre, but, +in hopes that if I forgave the past they would desist from further +attempts, M'Leay took great pains in conciliating them, and treated them +with great kindness. We gave each family some fire and same presents, and +walked together to them by turns, to show that we had equal confidence in +all. Our friend had posted himself immediately behind our tents, at twenty +yards distance, with his little family, and kept altogether aloof from the +other natives. Having made our round of visits, and examined the various +modes the women had of netting, M'Leay and I went into our tent. + +It happened, fortunately, that my servant, Harris, was the first for +sentry. I told him to keep a watchful eye on the natives, and to call me +if any thing unusual occurred. We had again chosen a lofty bank for our +position; behind us there was a small plain, of about a quarter of a mile +in breadth, backed by a wood. I was almost asleep, when my servant came to +inform me, that the blacks had, with one accord, made a precipitate +retreat, and that not one of them was to be seen at the fires. I impressed +the necessity of attention upon him, and he again went to his post. +shortly after this, he returned: "Master," said he, "the natives are +coming." I jumped up, and, taking my gun, followed him, leaving my friend +George fast asleep. I would not disturb him, until necessity required, for +he had ever shown himself so devoted to duty as to deserve every +consideration. Harris led me a little way from the tents, and then +stopping, and pointing down the river, said, "There, sir, don't you see +them?" "Not I, indeed, Harris," I replied, "where do you mean? are you +sure you see them?" "Positive, sir," said he; "stoop and you will see +them." I did so, and saw a black mass in an opening. Convinced that I saw +them, I desired Harris to follow me, but not to fire unless I should give +the word. The rascals would not stand our charge, however, but retreated +as we advanced towards them. We then returned to the tents, and, +commending my servant for his vigilance, I once more threw myself on my +bed. I had scarcely lain down five minutes, when Harris called out, +"The blacks are close to me, sir; shall I fire at them?" "How far are +they?" I asked. "Within ten yards, sir." "Then fire," said I; and +immediately he did so. M'Leay and I jumped up to his assistance. "Well, +Harris," said I, "did you kill your man?" (he is a remarkably good shot.) +"No, sir," said he, "I thought you would repent it, so I fired between the +two." "Where were they, man?" said I. "Close to the boat, sir; and when +they heard me, they swam into the river, and dived as soon as I fired +between them." This account was verified by one of them puffing as he rose +below us, over whose head I fired a shot. Where the other got to I could +not tell. This watchfulness, on our part, however, prevented any further +attempts during the night. + +I was much pleased at the coolness of my servant, as well as his +consideration; and relieving him from his post, desired Hopkinson to take +it. I have no doubt that the approach of the natives, in the first +instance, was made with a view to draw us off from the camp, while some +others might rob the boat. If so, it was a good manoeuvre, and might have +succeeded. + +NATIVES DESERT THEIR WEAPONS--INGENUOUS CONDUCT OF A NATIVE. + +In the morning, we found the natives had left all their ponderous spears +at their fires, which were broken up and burnt. We were surprised to find +that our friend had left every thing in like manner behind him--his +spears, his nets, and his tomahawk; but as he had kept so wholly aloof +from the other blacks, I thought it highly improbable that he had joined +them, and the men were of opinion that he had retreated across the plain +into the wood. On looking in that direction we observed some smoke rising +among the trees at a little distance from the outskirts of the plain, and +under an impression that I should find the native at the fire with his +family, I took his spears and tomahawk, and walked across the plain, +unattended into the wood. I had not entered it more than fifty yards when +I saw a group of four natives, sitting round a small fire. One of them, +as I approached, rose up and met me, and in him I recognised the man for +whom I was seeking. When near enough, I stuck the spears upright into the +ground. The poor man stood thunderstruck; he spoke not, he moved not, +neither did he raise his eyes from the ground. I had kept the tomahawk out +of his sight, but I now produced and offered it to him. He gave a short +exclamation as his eyes caught sight of it, but he remained otherwise +silent before me, and refused to grasp the tomahawk, which accordingly +fell to the ground. I had evidently excited the man's feelings, but it is +difficult to say how he was affected. His manner indicated shame and +surprise, and the sequel will prove that both these feelings must have +possessed him. While we were thus standing together, his two wives came +up, to whom, after pointing to the spears and tomahawk, he said something, +without, however, looking at me; and they both instantly burst into tears +and wept aloud. I was really embarrassed during so unexpected a scene, +and to break it, invited the native to the camp, but I motioned with my +hand, as I had not my gun with me, that I would shoot any other of the +blacks who followed me. He distinctly understood my meaning, and intimated +as distinctly to me that they should not follow us; nor did they. We were +never again molested by them. + +I left him then, and, returning to the camp, told M'Leay my adventure, +with which he was highly delighted. My object is this procedure was to +convince the natives, generally, that we came not among them to injure or +to molest them, as well as to impress them with an idea of our superior +intelligence; and I am led to indulge the hope that I succeeded. Certain +it is, that an act of justice or of lenity has frequently, if well timed, +more weight than the utmost stretch of severity. With savages, more +particularly, to exhibit any fear, distrust, or irresolution, will +inevitably prove injurious. + +But although these adventures were happily not attended with bloodshed, +they harassed the men much; and our camp for near a week was more like an +outpost picquet than any thing else. This, however, terminated all +attempts on the part of the natives. From henceforth none of them followed +us on our route. + +BREACH THE DEPOT. + +At noon, I stopped about a mile short of the depot to take sights. After +dinner we pulled on, the men looking earnestly out for their comrades whom +they had left there, but none appeared. My little arbour, in which I had +written my letters, was destroyed, and the bank on which out tents had +stood was wholly deserted. We landed, however, and it was a satisfaction +to me to see the homeward track of the drays. The men were sadly +disappointed, and poor Clayton, who had anticipated a plentiful meal, was +completely chop fallen. M'Leay and I comforted them daily with the hopes +of meeting the drays, which I did not think improbable. + +Thus, it will appear, that we regained the place from which we started in +seventy-seven days, during which, we could not have pulled less than 2000 +miles. It is not for me, however, to make any comment, either on the +dangers to which we were occasionally exposed, or the toil and privations +we continually experienced in the course of this expedition. My duty is, +simply to give a plain narrative of facts, which I have done with +fidelity, and with as much accuracy as circumstances would permit. Had we +found Robert Harris at the depot, I should have considered it unnecessary +to trespass longer on the patient reader, but as our return to that post +did not relieve us from our difficulties, it remains for me to carry on +the narrative of our proceedings to the time when we reached the upper +branches of the Morumbidgee. + +DISAPPOINTED OF SUPPLIES. + +The hopes that had buoyed up the spirits of the men, ceased to operate as +soon as they were discovered to have been ill founded. The most gloomy +ideas took possession of their minds, and they fancied that we had been +neglected, and that Harris had remained in Sydney. It was to no purpose +that I explained to them that my instructions did not bind Harris to come +beyond Pondebadgery, and that I was confident he was then encamped upon +that plain. + +We had found the intricate navigation of the Morumbidgee infinitely more +distressing than the hard pulling up the open reaches of the Murray, for +we were obliged to haul the boat up between numberless trunks of trees, +an operation that exhausted the men much more than rowing. The river had +fallen below its former level, and rocks and logs were now exposed above +the water, over many of which the boat's keel must have grazed, as we +passed down with the current. I really shuddered frequently, at seeing +these complicated dangers, and I was at a loss to conceive how we could +have escaped them. The planks of our boat were so thin that if she had +struck forcibly against any one branch of the hundreds she must have +grazed, she would inevitably have been rent asunder from stem to stern. + +COMPLETE EXHAUSTION OF THE MEN--ONE LOSES HIS SENSES. + +The day after we passed the depot, on our return, we began to experience +the effects of the rains that had fallen in the mountains. The Morumbidgee +rose upon us six feet in one night, and poured along its turbid waters +with proportionate violence. For seventeen days we pulled against them +with determined perseverance, but human efforts, under privations such as +ours, tend to weaken themselves, and thus it was that the men began to +exhibit the effects of severe and unremitting toil. Our daily journeys +were short, and the head we made against the stream but trifling. The men +lost the proper and muscular jerk with which they once made the waters +foam and the oars bend. Their whole bodies swung with an awkward and +laboured motion. Their arms appeared to be nerveless; their faces became +haggard, their persons emaciated, their spirits wholly sunk; nature was so +completely overcome, that from mere exhaustion they frequently fell asleep +during their painful and almost ceaseless exertions. It grieved me to the +heart to see them in such a state at the close of so perilous a service, +and I began to reproach Robert Harris that he did not move down the river +to meet us; but, in fact, he was not to blame. I became captious, and +found fault where there was no occasion, and lost the equilibrium of my +temper in contemplating the condition of my companions. No murmur, +however, escaped them, nor did a complaint reach me, that was intended to +indicate that they had done all they could do. I frequently heard them in +their tent, when they thought I had dropped asleep, complaining of severe +pains and of great exhaustion. "I must tell the captain, tomorrow," some +of them would say, "that I can pull no more." To-marrow came, and they +pulled on, as if reluctant to yield to circumstances. Macnamee at length +lost his senses. We first observed this from his incoherent conversation, +but eventually from manner. He related the most extraordinary tales, and +fidgeted about eternally while in the boat. I felt it necessary, +therefore, to relieve him from the oars. + +Amidst these distresses, M'Leay preserved his good humour, and endeavoured +to lighten the task, and to cheer the men as much as possible. His +presence at this time was a source of great comfort to me. The uniform +kindness with which he had treated his companions, gave him an influence +over them now, and it was exerted with the happiest effect. + +DESPATCH TWO MEN TO PONDEBADGERY. + +On the 8th and 9th of April we had heavy rain, but there was no respite +for us. Our provisions were nearly consumed, and would have been wholly +exhausted, if we had not been so fortunate as to kill several swans. On +the 11th, we gained our camp opposite to Hamilton's Plains, after a day of +severe exertion. Our tents were pitched upon the old ground, and the marks +of our cattle were around us. In the evening, the men went out with their +guns, and M'Leay and I walked to the rear of the camp, to consult +undisturbed as to the moat prudent measures to be adopted, under our +embarrassing circumstances. The men were completely sunk. We were still +between eighty and ninety miles from Pondebadgery, in a direct line, and +nearly treble that distance by water. The task was greater than we could +perform, and our provisions were insufficient. In this extremity I thought +it best to save the men the mortification of yielding, by abandoning the +boat; and on further consideration, I determined on sending Hopkinson and +Mulholland, whose devotion, intelligence, and indefatigable spirits, +I well knew, forward to the plain. + +The joy this intimation spread was universal, Both Hopkinson and +Mulholland readily undertook the journey, and I, accordingly, prepared +orders for them to start by the earliest dawn. It was not without a +feeling of sorrow that I witnessed the departure of these two men, to +encounter a fatiguing march. I had no fears as to their gaining the plain, +if their reduced state would permit them. On the other hand, I hoped they +would fall in with our old friend the black, or that they would meet the +drays; and I could not but admire the spirit and energy they both +displayed upon the occasion. Their behaviour throughout had been such as +to awaken in my breast a feeling of the highest approbation. Their +conduct, indeed, exceeded all praise, nor did they hesitate one moment +when I called upon them to undertake this last trying duty, after such +continued exertion. I am sure the reader will forgive me for bringing +under his notice the generous efforts of these two men; by me it can never +be forgotten. + +ABANDON AND BURN THE BOAT. + +Six days had passed since their departure; we remaining encamped. M'Leay +and myself had made some short excursions, but without any result worthy +of notice. A group of sand-hills rose in the midst of the alluvial +deposits, about a quarter of a mile from the tents, that were covered with +coarse grasses and banksias. We shot several intertropical birds feeding +in the latter, and sucking the honey from their flowers. I had, in the +mean time, directed Clayton to make some plant cases of the upper planks +of the boat, and then to set fire to her, for she was wholly +unserviceable, and I felt a reluctance to leave her like a neglected log +on the water. The last ounce of flour had been served out to the men, and +the whole of it was consumed on the sixth day from that on which we had +abandoned the boat. I had calculated on seeing Hopkinson again in eight +days, but as the morrow would see us without food, I thought, as the men +had had a little rest it would be better to advance towards relief than to +await its arrival. + +MEN RETURN WITH SUPPLIES. + +On the evening of the 18th, therefore, we buried our specimens and other +stores, intending to break up the camp in the morning. A singular bird, +which invariably passed it at an hour after sunset, and which, from its +heavy flight, appeared to be of unusual size so attracted my notice, that +in the evening M'Leay and I crossed the river, in hope to get a shot at +it. We had, however, hardly landed on the other side, when a loud shout +called us back to witness the return of our comrades. + +They were both of them in a state that beggars description. Their knees +and ankles were dreadfully swollen, and their limbs so painful, that as +soon as they arrived in the camp they sunk under their efforts, but they +met us with smiling countenances, and expressed their satisfaction at +having arrived so seasonably to our relief. They had, as I had foreseen, +found Robert Harris on the plain, which they reached on the evening of the +third day. They had started early the next morning on their return with +such supplies as they thought we might immediately want. Poor Macnamee +had in a great measure recovered, but for same days he was sullen and +silent: sight of the drays gave him uncommon satisfaction. Clayton gorged +himself; but M'Leay, myself and Fraser could not at first relish the meat +that was placed before us. + +It was determined to give the bullocks a day of rest, and I availed myself +of the serviceable state of the horses to visit some hills about eighteen +miles to the northward. I was anxious to gain a view of the distant +country to the N.W., and to ascertain the geological character of the +hills themselves. M'Leay, Fraser, and myself left the camp early in the +morning of the 19th, on our way to them. Crossing the sand hills, we +likewise passed a creek, and, from the flooded or alluvial tracks, got on +an elevated sandy country, in which we found a beautiful grevillia. From +this we passed a barren ridge of quartz-formation, terminating in open box +forest. From it we descended and traversed a plain that must, at some +periods, be almost impassable. It was covered with acacia pendula, and the +soil was a red earth, bare of vegetation in many places. At its extremity +we came to some stony ridges, and, descending their northern side, gained +the base of the hills. They were more extensive than they appeared to be +from our camp; and were about six hundred feet in height, and composed of +a conglomerate rock. They were extremely barren, nor did the aspect of the +country seem to indicate a favourable change. I was enabled, however, to +connect my line of route with the more distant hills between the +Morumbidgee and the Lachlan. We returned to the camp at midnight. + +MEET WITH THE DRAYS. + +On the following morning we left our station before Hamilton's Plains. +We reached Pondebadgery on the 28th, and found Robert Harris, with a +plentiful supply of provisions. He had everything extremely regular, and +had been anxiously expecting our return, of which he at length wholly +despaired. He had been at the plain two months, and intended to have moved +down the river immediately, had we not made our appearance when we did. + +I had sent M'Leay forward on the 20th with letters to the Governor, whose +anxiety was great on our account. I remained for a fortnight on the plain +to restore the men, but Hopkinson had so much over-exerted himself that it +was with difficulty he crawled along. + +In my despatches to the Governor, from the depot, I had suggested the +policy of distributing some blankets and other presents to the natives on +the Morumbidgee, in order to reward those who had been useful to our +party, and in the hope of proving beneficial to settlers in that distant +part of the colony. His Excellency was kind enough to accede to my +request, and I found ample means for these purposes among the stores that +Harris brought from Sydney. + +We left Pondebadgery Plain early on the 5th of May, and reached Guise's +Station late in the afternoon. We gained Yass Plains on the 12th, having +struck through the mountain passes by a direct line, instead of returning +by our old route near Underaliga. As the party was crossing the plains I +rode to see Mr. O'Brien, but did not find him at home. + +INSTANCE OF CANNIBALISM. + +While waiting at his hut, one of the stockmen pointed out two blacks to me +at a little distance from us. The one was standing, the other sitting. +"That fellow, sir," said he, "who is sitting down, killed his infant child +last night by knocking its head against a stone, after which he threw it +on the fire and then devoured it." I was quite horror struck, and could +scarcely believe such a story. I therefore went up to the man and +questioned him as to the fact, as well as I could. He did not attempt to +deny it, but slunk away in evident consciousness. I then questioned the +other that remained, whose excuse for his friend was that the child was +sick and would never have grown up, adding he himself did not PELTER (eat) +any of it. + +Many of my readers may probably doubt this horrid occurrence having taken +place, as I have not mentioned any corroborating circumstances. I am +myself, however, as firmly persuaded of the truth of what I have stated as +if I had seen the savage commit the act; for I talked to his companion who +did see him, and who described to me the manner in which he killed the +child. Be it as it may, the very mention of such a thing among these +people goes to prove that they are capable of such an enormity. + +We left Yass Plains on the 14th of May, and reached Sydney by easy stages +on the 25th, after an absence of nearly six months. + + +* * * * * + + +CONCLUDING REMARKS. + + +To most of my readers, the foregoing narrative will appear little else +than a succession of adventures. Whilst the expedition was toiling down +the rivers, no rich country opened upon the view to reward or to cheer the +perseverance of those who composed it, and when, at length, the land of +promise lay smiling before them, their strength and their means were too +much exhausted to allow of their commencing an examination, of the result +of which there could be but little doubt. The expedition returned to +Sydney, without any splendid discovery to gild its proceedings; and the +labours and dangers it had encountered were considered as nothing more +than ordinary occurrences. If I myself had entertained hopes that my +researches would have benefited the colony, I was wholly disappointed. +There is a barren tract of country lying to the westward of the Blue +Mountains that will ever divide the eastern coast from the more central +parts of Australia, as completely as if seas actually rolled between them. + +GEOGRAPHICAL REMARKS. + +In a geographical point of view, however, nothing could have been more +satisfactory, excepting an absolute knowledge of the country to the +northward between the Murray and the Darling, than the results of the +expedition. I have in its proper place stated, as fairly as I could, my +reasons for supposing the principal junction (which I consequently left +without a name) to be the Darling of my former journey, as well as the +various arguments that bore against such a conclusion. + +Of course, where there is so much room for doubt, opinions will be +various. I shall merely review the subject, in order to connect subsequent +events with my previous observations, and to give the reader a full idea +of that which struck me to be the case on a close and anxious +investigation of the country from mountain to lowland. I returned from the +Macquarie with doubts on my mind as to the ultimate direction to which the +waters of the Darling river might ultimately flow; for, with regard to +every other point, the question was, I considered, wholly decided. But, +with regard to that singular stream, I was, from the little knowledge I +had obtained, puzzled as to its actual course; and I thought it as likely +that it might turn into the heart of the interior, as that it would make +to the south. It had not, however, escaped my notice, that the northern +rivers turned more abruptly southward (after gaining a certain distance +from the base of the ranges) than the more southern streams: near the +junction of the Castlereagh with the Darling especially, the number of +large creeks joining the first river from the north, led me to conclude +that there was at that particular spot a rapid fall of country to the +south. + +The first thing that strengthened in my mind this half-formed opinion, was +the fall of the Lachlan into the Morumbidgee. I had been told that +Australia was a basin; that an unbroken range of hills lined its coasts, +the internal rivers of which fell into its centre, and contributed to the +formation of an inland sea; I was not therefore prepared to find a break +in the chain--a gap as it were for the escape of these waters to the +coast. + +Subsequently to our entrance into the Murray, the remarkable efforts of +that river to maintain a southerly course were observed even by the men, +and the singular runs it made to the south, when unchecked by high lands, +clearly evinced its natural tendency to flow in that direction. + +Had we found ourselves at an elevation above the bed of the Darling when +we reached the junction of the principal tributary with the Murray, I +should still have had doubts on my mind as to the identity of that +tributary with the first-mentioned river; but considering the trifling +elevation of the Darling above the sea, and that the junction was still +less elevated above it, I cannot bring myself to believe that the former +alters its course. It is not, however, on this simple geographical +principle that I have built my conclusions; other corroborative +circumstances have tended also to confirm in my mind the opinion I have +already given, not only of the comparatively recent appearance above +the ocean of the level country over which I had passed, but that the true +dip of the interior is from north to south. + +In support of the first of these conclusions, it would appear that a +current of water must have swept the vast accumulation of shells, forming +the great fossil bank through which the Murray passes from the northern +extremity of the continent, to deposit them where they are; and it would +further appear from the gradual rise of this bed, on an inclined plain +from N.N.E. to S.S.W., that it must in the first instance, have swept +along the base of the ranges, but ultimately turned into the above +direction by the convexity of the mountains at the S.E. angle of the +coast. From the circumstance, moreover, of the summit of the fossil +formation being in places covered with oyster shells, the fact of the +whole mass having been under water is indisputable, and leads us naturally +to the conclusion that the depressed interior beyond it must have been +under water at the same time. + +It was proved by barometrical admeasurement, that the cataract of the +Macquarie was 680 feet above the level of the sea, and, in like manner, +it was found that the depot of Mr. Oxley, on the Lachlan, was only 500, +there being a still greater fall of country beyond these two points. +The maximum height of the fossil bank was 300 feet; and if we suppose a +line to be drawn from its top to the eastward, that line would pass over +the marshes of the two rivers, and would cut them at a point below which +they both gradually diminish. Hence I am brought to conclude that in +former times the sea washed the western base of the dividing ranges, at or +near the two points whose respective elevations I have given; and that +when the mass of land now lying waste and unproductive, became exposed, +the rivers, which until then had pursued a regular course to the ocean, +having no channel beyond their original termination, overflowed the almost +level country into which they now fall; or, filling some extensive +concavity, have contributed, by successive depositions, to the formation +of those marshes of which so much has been said. I regret extremely, that +my defective vision prevents me giving a slight sketch to elucidate +whet I fear I have, in words, perhaps, failed in making sufficiently +intelligible. + +GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. + +Now, as we know not by what means the changes that have taken place on the +earth's surface have been effected, and can only reason on them from +analogy, it is to be feared we shall never arrive at any clear +demonstration of the truth of our surmises with regard to geographical +changes, whether extensive or local, since the causes which produced them +will necessarily have ceased to operate. We cannot refer to the dates when +they took place, as we may do in regard to the eruptions of a volcano, +or the appearance or disappearance of an island. Such events are of minor +importance. Those mighty changes to which I would be understood to allude, +can hardly be laid to the account of chemical agency. We can easily +comprehend how subterranean fires will occasionally burst forth, and can +thus satisfactorily account for earthquake or volcano; but it is not to +any clashing of properties, or to any visible causes, that the changes of +which I speak can be attributed. They appear rather as the consequences of +direct agency, of an invisible power, not as the occasional and fretful +workings of nature herself. The marks of that awful catastrophe which so +nearly extinguished the human race, are every day becoming more and more +visible as geological research proceeds. Thus, in the limestone caves at +Wellington Valley, the remains of fossils and exuviae, show that their +depths were penetrated by the same searching element that poured into the +caverns of Kirkdale and other places. They are as gleams of sunshine +falling upon the pages of that sublime and splendid volume, in which the +history of the deluge is alone to be found; as if the Almighty intended +that His word should stand single and unsupported before mankind: and when +we consider that such corroborative testimonies of his wrath, as those I +have noticed, were in all probability wholly unknown to those who wrote +that sacred book, the discovery of the remains of a past world, must +strike those under whose knowledge it may fall with the truth of that +awful event, which language has vainly endeavoured to describe and +painters to represent. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + + +Environs of the lake Alexandrina--Appointment of Capt. Barker to make a +further survey of the coast near Encounter Bay--Narrative of his +proceedings--Mount Lofty, Mount Barker, and beautiful country adjacent-- +Australian salmon--Survey of the coast--Outlet of lake to the sea-- +Circumstances that led to the slaughter of Capt. Barker by the natives-- +His character--Features of this part of the country and capabilities of +its coasts--Its adaptation for colonization--Suggestions for the +furtherance of future Expeditions. + +ENVIRONS OF THE LAKE ALEXANDRINA. + +The foregoing narrative will have given the reader some idea of the state +in which the last expedition reached the bottom of that extensive and +magnificent basin which receives the waters of the Murray. The men were, +indeed, so exhausted, in strength, and their provisions so much reduced by +the time they gained the coast, that I doubted much, whether either would +hold out to such place as we might hope for relief. Yet, reduced as the +whole of us were from previous exertion, beset as our homeward path was by +difficulty and danger, and involved as our eventual safety was in +obscurity and doubt, I could not but deplore the necessity that obliged me +to re-cross the Lake Alexandrina (as I had named it in honour of the heir +apparent to the British crown), and to relinquish the examination of its +western shores. We were borne over its ruffled and agitated surface with +such rapidity, that I had scarcely time to view it as we passed; but, +cursory as my glance was, I could not but think I was leaving behind me +the fullest reward of our toil, in a country that would ultimately render +our discoveries valuable, and benefit the colony for whose interests we +were engaged. Hurried, I would repeat, as my view of it was, my eye never +fell on a country of more promising aspect, or of more favourable +position, than that which occupies the space between the lake and the +ranges of St. Vincent's Gulf, and, continuing northerly from Mount Barker, +stretches away, without any visible boundary. + +It appeared to me that, unless nature had deviated from her usual laws, +this tract of country could not but be fertile, situated as it was to +receive the mountain deposits on the one hand, and those of the lake upon +the other. + +FURTHER EXAMINATION OF THE COAST. + +In my report to the Colonial Government, however, I did not feel myself +justified in stating, to their full extent, opinions that were founded on +probability and conjecture alone. But, although I was guarded in this +particular, I strongly recommended a further examination of the coast, +from the most eastern point of Encounter Bay, to the head St. Vincent's +Gulf, to ascertain if any other than the known channel existed among the +sand-hills of the former, or if, as I had every reason to hope from the +great extent of water to the N.W., there was a practicable communication +with the lake from the other; and I ventured to predict, that a closer +survey of the interjacent country, would be attended with the most +beneficial results; nor have I a doubt that the promontory of Cape Jervis +would ere this have been settled, had Captain Barker lived to complete his +official reports. + +CAPT. BARKER'S SURVEY. + +The governor, General Darling, whose multifarious duties might well have +excused him from paying attention to distant objects, hesitated not a +moment when he thought the interests of the colony, whose welfare he so +zealously promoted, appeared to be concerned; and he determined to avail +himself of the services of Captain Collet Barker, of the 39th regiment, +who was about to be recalled from King George's Sound, in order to satisfy +himself as to the correctness of my views. + +Captain Barker had not long before been removed from Port Raffles, on the +northern coast, where he had had much intercourse with the natives, and +had frequently trusted himself wholly in their hands. It was not, however, +merely on account of his conciliating manners, and knowledge of the temper +and habits of the natives, that he was particularly fitted for the duty +upon which it was the governor's pleasure to employ him. He was, in +addition, a man of great energy of character, and of much and various +information. + +Orders having reached Sydney, directing the establishment belonging to +New South Wales to be withdrawn, prior to the occupation of King George's +Sound by the government of Western Australia, the ISABELLA schooner was +sent to receive the troops and prisoners on board; and Captain Barker was +directed, as soon as he should have handed over the settlement to Captain +Stirling, to proceed to Cape Jervis from which point it was thought he +could best carry on a survey not only of the coast but also of the +interior. + +This excellent and zealous officer sailed from King George's Sound, on the +10th of April, 1831, and arrived off Cape Jervis on the 13th. He was +attended by Doctor Davies, one of the assistant surgeons of his regiment, +and by Mr. Kent, of the Commissariat. It is to the latter gentleman that +the public are indebted for the greater part of the following details; +he having attended Captain Barker closely during the whole of this short +but disastrous excursion, and made notes as copious as they are +interesting. At the time the ISABELLA arrived off Cape Jervis, the weather +was clear and favourable. Captain Barker consequently stood into +St. Vincent's Gulf, keeping, as near as practicable, to the eastern shore, +in soundings that varied from six to ten fathoms, upon sand and mud. +His immediate object was to ascertain if there was any communication with +the lake Alexandrina from the gulf. He ascended to lat. 34 degrees +40 minutes where he fully satisfied himself that no channel did exist +between them. He found, however, that the ranges behind Cape Jervis +terminated abruptly at Mount Lofty, in lat. 34 degrees 56 minutes, and, +that a flat and wooded country succeeded to the N. and N.E. The shore of +the gulf tended more to the N.N.W., and mud flats and mangrove swamps +prevailed along it. + +INVITING COUNTRY--MOUNT LOFTY. + +Mr. Kent informs me, that they landed for the first time on the 15th, but +that they returned almost immediately to the vessel. On the 17th, Captain +Barker again landed, with the intention of remaining on shore for two or +three days. He was accompanied by Mr. Kent, his servant Mills, and two +soldiers. The boat went to the place at which they had before landed, as +they thought they had discovered a small river with a bar entrance. They +crossed the bar, and ascertained that it was a narrow inlet, of four miles +in length, that terminated at the base of the ranges. The party were quite +delighted with the aspect of the country on either side of the inlet, +and with the bold and romantic scenery behind them. The former bore the +appearance of natural meadows, lightly timbered, and covered with a +variety of grasses. The soil was observed to be a rich, fat, chocolate +coloured earth, probably the decomposition of the deep blue limestone, +that showed itself along the coast hereabouts. On the other hand, a rocky +glen made a cleft in the ranges at the head of the inlet; and they were +supplied with abundance of fresh water which remained in the deeper pools +that had been filled by the torrents during late rains. The whole +neighbourhood was so inviting that the party slept at the head of the +inlet. + +MOUNT LOFTY AND ITS ENVIRONS. + +In the morning, Captain Barker proceeded to ascend Mount Lofty, +accompanied by Mr. Kent and his servant, leaving the two soldiers at the +bivouac, at which he directed them to remain until his return. Mr. Kent +says they kept the ridge all the way, and rose above the sea by a gradual +ascent. The rock-formation of the lower ranges appeared to be an +argillaceous schist; the sides and summit of the ranges were covered with +verdure, and the trees upon them were of more than ordinary size. The view +to the eastward was shut out by other ranges, parallel to those on which +they were; below them to the westward, the same pleasing kind of country +that flanked the inlet still continued. + +MOUNT BARKER. + +In the course of the day they passed round the head of a deep ravine, +whose smooth and grassy sides presented a beautiful appearance. The party +stood 600 feet above the bed of a small rivulet that occupied the bottom +of the ravine. In some places huge blocks of granite interrupted its +course, in others the waters had worn the rock smooth. The polish of these +rocks was quite beautiful, and the veins of red and white quartz which +traversed them, looked like mosaic work. They did not gain the top of +Mount Lofty, but slept a few miles beyond the ravine. In the morning +they continued their journey, and, crossing Mount Lofty, descended +northerly, to a point from which the range bent away a little to the +N.N.E., and then terminated. The view from this point was much more +extensive than that from Mount Lofty itself. They overlooked a great part +of the gulf, and could distinctly see the mountains at the head of it to +the N.N.W. To the N.W. there was a considerable indentation in the coast, +which had escaped Captain Barker's notice when examining it. A mountain, +very similar to Mount Lofty, bore due east of them, and appeared to be the +termination of its range. They were separated by a valley of about ten +miles in width, the appearance of which was not favourable. Mr. Kent +states to me, that Capt. Barker observed at the time that he thought it +probable I had mistaken this hill for Mount Lofty, since it shut out the +view of the lake from him, and therefore he naturally concluded, I could +not have seen Mount Lofty. I can readily imagine such an error to have +been made by me, more especially as I remember that at the time I was +taking bearings in the lake, I thought Captain Flinders had not given +Mount Lofty, as I then conceived it to be, its proper position in +longitude. Both hills are in the same parallel of latitude. The mistake on +my part is obvious. I have corrected it in the charts, and have availed +myself of the opportunity thus afforded me of perpetuating, as far as I +can, the name of an inestimable companion in Captain Barker himself + +Immediately below the point on which they stood, Mr. Kent says, a low +undulating country extended to the northward, as far as he could see. +It was partly open, and partly wooded; and was every where covered with +verdure. It continued round to the eastward, and apparently ran down +southerly, at the opposite base of the mount Barker Range. I think there +can be but little doubt that my view from the S.E., that is, from the +lake, extended over the same or a part of the same country. Captain Barker +again slept on the summit of the range, near a large basin that looked +like the mouth of a crater, in which huge fragments of rocks made a scene +of the utmost confusion. These rocks were a coarse grey granite, of which +the higher parts and northern termination of the Mount Lofty range are +evidently formed; for Mr. Kent remarks that it superseded the schistose +formation at the ravine we have noticed--and that, subsequently, the sides +of the hills became more broken, and valleys, or gullies, more properly +speaking, very numerous. Captain Barker estimated the height of Mount +Lofty above the sea at 2,400 feet, and the distance of its summit from the +coast at eleven miles. Mr. Kent says they were surprised at the size of +the trees on the immediate brow of it; they measured one and found it to +be 43 feet in girth. Indeed, he adds, vegetation did not appear to have +suffered either from its elevated position, or from any prevailing wind. +Eucalypti were the general timber on the ranges; one species of which, +resembling strongly the black butted-gum, was remarkable for a scent +peculiar to its bark. + +AUSTRALIAN SALMON. + +The party rejoined the soldiers on the 21st, and enjoyed the supply of +fish which they had provided for them. The soldiers had amused themselves +by fishing during Captain Barker's absence, and had been abundantly +successful. Among others they had taken a kind of salmon, which, though +inferior in size, resembled in shape, in taste, and in the colour of its +flesh, the salmon of Europe. I fancied that a fish which I observed with +extremely glittering scales, in the mouth of a seal, when myself on the +coast, must have been of this kind; and I have no doubt that the lake is +periodically visited by salmon, and that these fish retain their habits of +entering fresh water at particular seasons, also in the southern +hemisphere. + +Immediately behind Cape Jervis, there is a small bay, in which according +to the information of the sealers who frequent Kangaroo Island, there is +good and safe anchorage for seven months in the year, that is to say, +during the prevalence of the E. and N.E. winds. + +SURVEY OF THE COAST. + +Captain Barker landed on the 21st on this rocky point at the northern +extremity of this bay. He had, however, previously to this, examined the +indentation in the coast which he had observed from Mount Lofty, and had +ascertained that it was nothing more than an inlet; a spit of sand, +projecting from the shore at right angles with it, concealed the month of +the inlet. They took the boat to examine this point, and carried six +fathoms soundings round the head of the spit to the mouth of the inlet, +when it shoaled to two fathoms, and the landing was observed to be bad, +by reason of mangrove swamps on either side of it. Mr. Kent, I think, told +me that this inlet was from ten to twelve miles long. Can it be that a +current setting out of it at times, has thrown up the sand-bank that +protects its mouth, and that trees, or any other obstacle, have hidden its +further prolongation from Captain Barker's notice? I have little hope that +such is the case, but the remark is not an idle one. + +BEAUTIFUL VALLEYS. + +Between this inlet and the one formerly mentioned, a small and clear +stream was discovered, to which Captain Barker kindly gave my name. On +landing, the party, which consisted of the same persons as the former one, +found themselves in a valley, which opened direct upon the bay. It was +confined to the north from the chief range by a lateral ridge, that +gradually declined towards and terminated at, the rocky point on which +they had landed. The other side of the valley was formed of a continuation +of the main range, which also gradually declined to the south, and +appeared to be connected with the hills at the extremity of the cape. +The valley was from nine to ten miles in length, and from three to four in +breadth. In crossing it, they ascertained that the lagoon from which the +schooner had obtained a supply of water, was filled by a watercourse that +came down its centre. The soil in the valley was rich, but stony in some +parts. There was an abundance of pasture over the whole, from amongst +which they started numerous kangaroos. The scenery towards the ranges was +beautiful and romantic, and the general appearance of the country such as +to delight the whole party. + +Preserving a due east course, Captain Barker passed over the opposite +range of hills, and descended almost immediately into a second valley that +continued to the southwards. Its soil was poor and stony, and it was +covered with low scrub. Crossing it, they ascended the opposite range, +from the summit of which they had a view of Encounter Bay. An extensive +flat stretched from beneath them to the eastward, and was backed, in the +distance, by sand hummocks, and low wooded hills. The extreme right of the +flat rested upon the coast, at a rocky point near which there were two or +three islands. From the left a beautiful valley opened upon it. A strong +and clear rivulet from this valley traversed the flat obliquely, and fell +into the sea at the rocky point, or a little to the southward of it. +The hills forming the opposite side of the valley had already terminated. +Captain Barker, therefore, ascended to higher ground, and, at length, +obtained a view of the Lake Alexandrina, and the channel of its +communication with the sea to the N.E. He now descended to the flat, and +frequently expressed his anxious wish to Mr. Kent that I had been one of +their number to enjoy the beauty of the scenery around them, and to +participate in their labours. Had fate so ordained it, it is possible the +melancholy tragedy that soon after occurred might have been averted. + +OUTLET OF LAKE TO THE SEA. + +At the termination of the flat they found themselves upon the banks of the +channel, and close to the sand hillock under which my tents had been +pitched. From this point they proceeded along the line of sand-hills to +the outlet; from which it would appear that Kangaroo Island is not +visible, but that the distant point which I mistook for it was the S.E. +angle of Cape Jervis. I have remarked, in describing that part of the +coast, that there is a sand-hill to the eastward of the inlet, under which +the tide runs strong, and the water is deep. Captain Barker judged the +breadth of the channel to be a quarter of a mile, and he expressed a +desire to swim across it to the sand-hill to take bearings, and to +ascertain the nature of the strand beyond it to the eastward. + +It unfortunately happened, that he was the only one of the party who could +swim well, in consequence of which his people remonstrated with him on the +danger of making the attempt unattended. Notwithstanding, however, that +he was seriously indisposed, he stripped, and after Mr. Kent had fastened +his compass on his head for him, he plunged into the water, and with +difficulty gained the opposite side; to effect which took him nine minutes +and fifty-eight seconds. His anxious comrades saw him ascend the hillock, +and take several bearings; he then descended the farther side, and was +never seen by them again. + +CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING THE LOSS OF CAPTAIN BARKER. + +For a considerable time Mr. Kent remained stationary, in momentary +expectation of his return; but at length, taking the two soldiers with +him, he proceeded along the shore in search of wood for a fire. At about +a quarter of a mile, the soldiers stopped and expressed their wish to +return, as their minds misgave them, and they feared that Captain Barker +had met with some accident. While conversing, they heard a distant shout, +or cry, which Mr. Kent thought resembled the call of the natives, but +which the soldiers positively declared to be the voice of a white man. +On their return to their companions, they asked if any sounds had caught +their ears, to which they replied in the negative. The wind was blowing +from the E.S.E., in which direction Captain Barker had gone; and, to me, +the fact of the nearer party not having heard that which must have been +his cries for assistance, is satisfactorily accounted for, as, being +immediately under the hill, the sounds must have passed over their heads +to be heard more distinctly at the distance at which Mr. Kent and the +soldiers stood. It is more than probable, that while his men were +expressing their anxiety about him, the fearful tragedy was enacting which +it has become my painful task to detail. + +Evening closed in without any signs of Captain Barker's return, or any +circumstance by which Mr. Kent could confirm his fears that he had fallen +into the hands of the natives. For, whether it was that the tribe which +had shown such decided hostility to me when on the coast had not observed +the party, none made their appearance; and if I except two, who crossed +the channel when Mr. Kent was in search of wood, they had neither seen nor +heard any; and Captain Barker's enterprising disposition being well known +to his men, hopes were still entertained that he was safe. A large fire +was kindled, and the party formed a silent and anxious group around it. +Soon after night-fall, however, their attention was roused by the sounds +of the natives, and it was at length discovered, that they had lighted a +chain of small fires between the sand-hill Captain Barker had ascended and +the opposite side of the channel, around which their women were chanting +their melancholy dirge. It struck upon the ears of the listeners with an +ominous thrill, and assured them of the certainty of the irreparable loss +they had sustained. All night did those dismal sounds echo along that +lonely shore, but as morning dawned, they ceased, and Mr. Kent and his +companions were again left in anxiety and doubt. They, at length, thought +it most advisable to proceed to the schooner to advise with Doctor +Davies. They traversed the beach with hasty steps, but did not get on +board till the following day. It was then determined to procure assistance +from the sealers on Kangaroo Island, as the only means by which they could +ascertain their leader's fate, and they accordingly entered American +Harbour. For a certain reward, one of the men agreed to accompany Mr. Kent +to the main with a native woman, to communicate with the tribe that was +supposed to have killed him. They landed at or near the rocky point of +Encounter Bay, where they were joined by two other natives, one of whom +was blind. The woman was sent forward for intelligence, and on her return +gave the following details: + +ACCOUNT OF HIS MURDER. + +It appears that at a very considerable distance from the first sand-hill, +there is another to which Captain Barker must have walked, for the woman +stated that three natives were going to the shore from their tribe, and +that they crossed his tract. Their quick perception immediately told them +it was an unusual impression. They followed upon it, and saw Captain +Barker returning. They hesitated for a long time to approach him, being +fearful of the instrument he carried. At length, however, they closed upon +him. Capt. Barker tried to soothe them, but finding that they were +determined to attack him, he made for the water from which he could not +have been very distant. One of the blacks immediately threw his spear and +struck him in the hip. This did not, however, stop him. He got among the +breakers, when he received the second spear in the shoulder. On this, +turning round, he received a third full in the breast: with such deadly +precision do these savages cast their weapons. It would appear that the +third spear was already on its flight when Capt. Barker turned, and it is +to be hoped, that it was at once mortal. He fell on his back into the +water. The natives then rushed in, and dragging him out by the legs, +seized their spears, and indicted innumerable wounds upon his body; +after which, they threw it into deep water, and the sea-tide carried it +away. + +HIS CHARACTER. + +Such, we have every reason to believe, was the untimely fate of this +amiable and talented man. It is a melancholy satisfaction to me thus +publicly to record his worth; instrumental, as I cannot but in some +measure consider my last journey to have been in leading to this fatal +catastrophe. Captain Barker was in disposition, as he was in the close +of his life, in many respects similar to Captain Cook. Mild, affable, and +attentive, he had the esteem and regard of every companion, and the +respect of every one under him. Zealous in the discharge of his public +duties, honourable and just in private life; a lover and a follower of +science; indefatigable and dauntless in his pursuits; a steady friend, +an entertaining companion; charitable, kind-hearted, disinterested, +and sincere--the task is equally difficult to find adequate expressions of +praise or of regret. In him the king lost one of his most valuable +officers, and his regiment one of its most efficient members. Beloved as +he was, the news of his loss struck his numerous friends with sincere +grief, but by none was it more severely felt than by the humble individual +who has endeavoured thus feebly to draw his portrait. + +From the same source from which the particulars of his death were +obtained, it was reported that the natives who perpetrated the deed were +influenced by no other motive than curiosity to ascertain if they had +power to kill a white man. But we must be careful in giving credit to +this, for it is much more probable that the cruelties exercised by the +sealers towards the blacks along the south coast, may have instigated the +latter to take vengeance on the innocent as well as on the guilty. It will +be seen, by a reference to the chart, that Captain Barker, by crossing the +channel, threw himself into the very hands of that tribe which had evinced +such determined hostility to myself and my men. He got into the rear of +their strong hold, and was sacrificed to those feelings of suspicion, and +to that desire of revenge, which the savages never lose sight of until +they have been gratified. + +FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY, AND CAPABILITIES OF THE COAST. + +It yet remains for me to state that when Mr. Kent returned to the +schooner, after this irreparable loss, he kept to the south of the place +at which he had crossed the first range with Captain Barker, and travelled +through a valley right across the promontory. He thus discovered that +there was a division in the ranges, through which there was a direct and +level road from the little bay on the northern extremity of which they had +last landed in St. Vincent's Gulf, to the rocky point of Encounter Bay. +The importance of this fact will be better estimated, when it is known +that good anchorage is secured to small vessels inside the island that +lies off the point of Encounter Bay, which is rendered still safer by a +horse shoe reef that forms, as it were, a thick wall to break the swell of +the sea. But this anchorage is not safe for more than five months in the +year. Independently of these points, however, Mr. Kent remarks, that the +spit a little to the north of Mount Lofty would afford good shelter to +minor vessels under its lee. When the nature of the country is taken into +consideration, and the facility of entering that which lies between the +ranges and the Lake Alexandrina, from the south, and of a direct +communication with the lake itself, the want of an extensive harbour will, +in some measure, be compensated for, more especially when it is known that +within four leagues of Cape Jervis, a port little inferior to Port +Jackson, with a safe and broad entrance, exists at Kangaroo Island. The +sealers have given this spot the name of American Harbour. In it, I am +informed, vessels are completely land-locked, and secure from every wind. +Kangaroo Island is not, however, fertile by any means. It abounds in +shallow lakes filled with salt water during high tides, and which, by +evaporation, yield a vast quantity of salt. + +I gathered from the sealers that neither the promontory separating +St. Vincent from Spencer's Gulf, nor the neighbourhood of Port Lincoln, +are other than barren and sandy wastes. They all agree in describing Port +Lincoln itself as a magnificent roadstead, but equally agree as to the +sterility of its shores. It appears, therefore, that the promontory of +Cape Jervis owes its superiority to its natural features; in fact, to the +mountains that occupy its centre, to the debris that has been washed from +them, and to the decomposition of the better description of its rocks. +Such is the case at Illawarra, where the mountains approach the sea; such +indeed is the case every where, at a certain distance from mountain +ranges. + +ADAPTION OF THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY FOR COLONISATION. + +From the above account it would appear that a spot has, at length, been +found upon the south coast of New Holland, to which the colonist might +venture with every prospect of success, and in whose valleys the exile +might hope to build for himself and for his family a peaceful and +prosperous home. All who have ever landed upon the eastern shore of +St. Vincent's Gulf, agree as to the richness of its soil, and the +abundance of its pasture. Indeed, if we cast our eyes upon the chart, and +examine the natural features of the country behind Cape Jervis, we shall +no longer wonder at its differing in soil and fertility from the low and +sandy tracks that generally prevail along the shores of Australia. Without +entering largely into the consideration of the more remote advantages that +would, in all human probability, result from the establishment of a +colony, rather than a penal settlement, at St. Vincent's Gulf, it will be +expedient to glance hastily over the preceding narrative, and, disengaging +it from all extraneous matter, to condense, as much as possible, the +information it contains respecting the country itself; for I have been +unable to introduce any passing remark, lest I should break the thread of +an interesting detail. + +The country immediately behind Cape Jervis may, strictly speaking, be +termed a promontory, bounded to the west by St. Vincent's Gulf, and to the +east by the lake Alexandrina, and the sandy track separating that basin +from the sea. Supposing a line to be drawn from the parallel of 34 degrees +40 minutes to the eastward, it will strike the Murray river about 25 miles +above the head of the lake, and will clear the ranges, of which Mount +Lofty and Mount Barker are the respective terminations. The line will cut +off a space whose greatest breadth will be 55 miles, whose length from +north to south will be 75, and whose surface exceeds 7 millions of acres; +from which if we deduct 2 millions for the unavailable hills, we shall +have 5 millions of acres of land, of rich soil, upon which no scrub +exists, and whose most distant points are accessible, through a level +country on the one hand, and by water on the other. The southern extremity +of the ranges can be turned by that valley through which Mr. Kent returned +to the schooner, after Captain Barker's death. It is certain, therefore, +that this valley not only secures so grand a point, but also presents a +level line of communication from the small bay immediately to the north of +the cape, to the rocky point of Encounter Bay, at both of which places +there is safe anchorage at different periods of the year. + +HINTS FOR FUTURE EXPEDITIONS. + +The only objection that can be raised to the occupation of this spot, is +the want of an available harbour. Yet it admits of great doubt whether the +contiguity of Kangaroo Island to Cape Jervis, (serving as it does to break +the force of the prevailing winds, as also of the heavy swell that would +otherwise roll direct into the bay,) and the fact of its possessing a safe +and commodious harbour, certainly at an available distance, does not in a +great measure remove the objection. Certain it is that no port, with the +exception of that on the shores of which the capital of Australia is +situated, offers half the convenience of this, although it be detached +between three and four leagues from the main. + +On the other hand it would appear, that there is no place from which at +any time the survey of the more central parts of the continent could be so +effectually carried on; for in a country like Australia, where the chief +obstacle to be apprehended in travelling is the want of water, the +facilities afforded by the Murray and its tributaries, are indisputable; +and I have little doubt that the very centre of the continent might be +gained by a judicious and enterprising expedition. Certainly it is most +desirable to ascertain whether the river I have supposed to be the Darling +be really so or not. I have stated my objection to depots, but I think +that if a party commenced its operations upon the Murray from the +junction upwards, and, after ascertaining the fact of its ultimate course, +turned away to the N.W. up one of the tributaries of the Murray, with a +supply of six months' provisions, the results would be of the most +satisfactory kind, and the features of the country be wholly developed. +I cannot, I think, conclude this work better than by expressing a hope, +that the Colonial Government will direct such measures to be adopted as +may be necessary for the extension of our geographical knowledge in +Australia. The facilities of fitting out expeditions in New South Wales, +render the expenses of little moment, when compared with the importance of +the object in view; and although I am labouring under the effects of +former attempts, yet would I willingly give such assistance as I could to +carry such an object into effect. + + + + + +APPENDIX. + + + + +APPENDIX No. I. + + + +GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS FOUND TO THE SOUTH-WEST OF PORT JACKSON. + + +Considering the nature of the country over which the first expedition +travelled, it could hardly have been expected that its geological +specimens would be numerous. It will appear, however, from the following +list of rocks collected during the second expedition, that the geological +formation of the mountains to the S.W. of Port Jackson is as various as +that to the N.W. of it is mountainous. The specimens are described not +according to their natural order, but in the succession in which they +were found, commencing from Yass Plains, and during the subsequent stages +of the journey. + + +Sandstone, Old Red.--Found on various parts of Yass Plains, in contact +with + +Limestone, Transition.--Colour dark grey; composes the bed of the Yass +River, and apparently traverses the sandstone formation. Yass Plains lie +170 miles to the S.W. of Sydney. + +Sandstone, Old Red.--Again succeeds the limestone, and continues to the +N.W. to a considerable distance over a poor and scrubby country, covered +for the most part with a dwarf species of Eucalyptus. + +Granite.--Colour grey; feldspar, black mica, and quartz: succeeds the +sandstone, and continues to the S.W. as far as the Morumbidgee River, +over an open forest country broken into hill and dale. It is generally on +these granite rocks that the best grazing is found. + +Greywacke.--Colour grey, of light hue, or dark, with black specks. +Soft.--Composition of a part of the ranges that form the valley of the +Morumbidgee. + +Serpentine.--Colour green of different shades, striped sulphur yellow; +slaty fracture, soft and greasy to the touch. Forms hills of moderate +elevation, of peculiarly sharp spine, resting on quartz. Composition of +most of the ranges opposite the Doomot River on the Morumbidgee, in +lat. 35 degrees 4 minutes and long. 147 degrees 40 minutes. + +Quartz.--Colour snow-white; formation of the higher ranges on the left +bank of the Morumbidgee, in the same latitude and longitude as above; +showing in large blocks on the sides of the hills. + +Slaty Quartz, with varieties.--Found with the quartz rock, in a state +of decomposition. + +Granite.--Succeeds the serpentine, of light colour; feldspar decomposed; +mica, glittering and silvery white. + +Sandstone, Old Red.--Composition of the more distant ranges on the +Morumbidgee. Forms abrupt precipices over the river flats; of sterile +appearance, and covered with Banksias and scrub. + +Mica Slate.--Colour dark brown, approaching red; mica glittering. +The hills enclosing Pondebadgery Plain at the gorge of the valley of the +Morumbidgee, are composed of this rock. They are succeeded by + +Sandstone.--Which rises abruptly from the river in perpendicular cliffs, +of 145 feet in height. + +Jasper and quartz.--Colour red and white. Forms the slope of the above +sandstone, and may be considered the outermost of the rocks connected with +the Eastern or Blue Mountain Ranges. It will be remembered that jasper and +quartz were likewise found on a plain near the Darling River, precisely +similar to the above, although occurring at so great a distance from each +other. + +Granite.--Light red colour; composition of a small isolated hill, to all +appearance wholly unconnected with the neighbouring ranges. This specimen +is very similar to that found in the bed of New-Year's Creek. + +Brecaia.--Silicious cement, composed of a variety of pebbles. Formation of +the most WESTERLY of the hills between the Lachlan and Macquarie Rivers. +This conglomerate was also found to compose the minor and most westerly of +the elevations of the more northern interior. + +Chrystallised Sulphate of Lime.--Found embedded in the deep alluvial soil +in the banks of the Morumbidgee River, in lat. 34 degrees 30 minutes S., +and long. 144 degrees 55 minutes E. The same substance was found on the +banks of the Darling, in lat. 29 degrees 49 minutes S., and in +long. 145 degrees 18 minutes E. + + +A reference to the chart will show that the Morumbidgee, from the first of +the above positions, may be said to have entered the almost dead level of +the interior. No elevation occurs to the westward for several hundreds of +miles. A coarse grit occasionally traversed the beds of the rivers, and +their lofty banks of clay or marl appear to be based on sandstone and +granitic sand. The latter occurs in slabs of four inches in thickness, +divided by a line of saffron-coloured sand, and seems to have been +subjected to fusion, as if the particles or grains had been cemented +together by fusion. + + +The first decided break that takes place in the level of the interior +occurs upon the right bank of the Murray, a little below the junction of +the Rufus with it. A cliff of from 120 to 130 feet in perpendicular +elevation here flanks the river for about 200 yards, when it recedes from +it, and forms a spacious amphitheatre that is occupied by semicircular +hillocks, that partake of the same character as the cliff itself; the face +of which showed the various substances of which it was composed in +horizontal lines, that if prolonged would cut the same substance in the +hillocks. Based upon a soft white sandstone, a bed of clay formed the +lowest part of the cliff; upon this bed of clay, a bed of chalk reposed; +this chalk was superseded by a thick bed of saponaceous earth, whilst the +summit of the cliff was composed of a bright red sand. Semi-opal and +hydrate of silex were found in the chalk, and some beautiful specimens of +brown menelite were collected from the upper stratum of the cliff. + +A little below this singular place, the country again declines, when a +tertiary fossil formation shows itself, which, rising gradually as an +inclined plain, ultimately attains an elevation of 300 feet. This +formation continues to the very coast, since large masses of the rock were +observed in the channel of communication between the lake and the ocean; +and the hills to the left of the channel were based upon it. This great +bank cannot, therefore, average less than from seventy to ninety miles in +width. At its commencement, it strikingly resembled skulls piled one +on the other, as well in colour as appearance. This effect had been +produced by the constant rippling of water against the rock. The softer +parts had been washed away, and the shells (a bed of Turritella) alone +remained. + +Plate 1, Figures 1, 2, and 3, represent the selenite formation. + +Plate 2, represents a mass of the rock containing numerous kinds of +shells, of which the following are the most conspicuous: + +Cardium +Pectunculus +Corbula +Arca +Conus, and +Others unknown. + + +* * * + + +The following is a list of the fossils collected from various parts of +this formation, from which it is evident that a closer examination would +lead to the discovery of numberless species. + + +TUNICATA. + + +PLATE III. + +FIG.1 Eschara celleporacea. + 2 ------- piriformis. + 3 ------- UNNAMED. + +FIG.4 Cellepora echinata. + 5 --------- escharoides? + 6 Retcpora disticha. + 7 -------- vibicata. + 8 Glauconome rhombifera. + All Tertiary in Westphalia and England. + + +RADIATA + + + 9 Scutella. + 10 Spatangus Hoffmanni--Goldfuss. + Tertiary, in Westphalia. + 11 Echinus. + + +CONCHIFERA--BIVALVED SHELLS. + + + Corbula gallica--Paris basin--Tertiary. + Tellina? + Corbis lamellosa--Tertiary--Paris. + Lucina. + Venus (Cytherea) laevigata--ibid. + ----- ---------- obliqua --ibid. + Venus + Cardium?--fragments. + 12 Nucula--such is found in London clay. + 13 Pecten coarctatus?--Placentia. + ------ varius?--recent. + 14 ------ species unknown. + Two other Pectens also occur. + Ostrea elongata--Deshayes. + 15 Terebratula. + 16 One cast, genus unknown, perhaps a Cardium. + + +MOLUSCA--UNIVALVED SHELLS. + + + Bulla? Plate II., fig. 2. +FIG.17 Natica--small. + 18 ------ large species. + Dentalium? + 19 Trochus. + 20 Turritella. + ---------- in gyps. + 21 Murex. + 22 Buccinum? + 23 Mitra. + 24 ----- very short. + 25 Cypraea. + 26 Conus. + 27 ----- (Plate II., fig. 3.) + 28 Two, unknown, (Also Plate II, fig. 4.) + The above all appear to belong to the newer tertiary formations. + +[Fig.17 to 27--These genera are scarcely ever, and some of them not at +all, found in any but tertiary formations.] + + A block of coarse red granite forms an island in the centre of the + river near the lake, but is nowhere else visible, although it is very + probably the basis of the surrounding country. + + +ROCK FORMATION OF THE COAST RANGE OF ST. VINCENT'S GULF. + + +Primitive Transition Limestone.--Light grey, striped. Altered in +appearance by volcanic action; occurs on the Ranges north of Cape Jervis. + +Granite.--Colour, red; found on the west side of Encounter Bay. + +Brown Spar.--South point of Cape Jervis. + +Sandstone, Old Red.--East coast of St, Vincent's Gulf. + +Limestone, Transition.--Colour, blue. East Coast of St. Vincent's Gulf. +Formation near the first inlet. Continuing to the base of the Ranges. + +Clay Slate.--Composition of the lower part of the Mount Lofty Range. + +Granite.--Fine grained, red; forms the higher parts of the Mount Lofty +Range. + +Quartz, with Tourmaline.--Lower parts of the Mount Lofty Range. + +Limestone Flustra, and their Corallines, probably tertiary.--From the +mouth of the Sturt, on the coast line, nearly abreast of Mount Lofty. + + + + +APPENDIX No. II. + + + +OFFICIAL REPORT TO THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT. + + +* * * * * + +GOVERNMENT ORDER. + +Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, +May 10, 1830. + +His Excellency the Governor has much satisfaction in publishing the +following report of the proceedings of an expedition undertaken for the +purpose of tracing the course of the river "Morumbidgee," and of +ascertaining whether it communicated with the coast forming the southern +boundary of the colony. + +The expedition, which was placed under the direction of Captain Sturt, +of his Majesty's 39th Regiment, commenced its progress down the +"Morumbidgee" on the 7th day of January last, having been occupied +twenty-one days in performing the journey from Sydney. + +On the 14th January they entered a new river running from east to west, +now called the "Murray," into which the "Morumbidgee" flows. + +After pursuing the course of the "Murray" for several days, the expedition +observed another river (supposed to be that which Captain Sturt discovered +on his former expedition), uniting with the "Murray" which they examined +about five miles above the junction. + +The expedition again proceeded down the "Murray," and fell in with another +of its tributaries flowing from the south east, which Captain Sturt has +designated the "Lindesay;" and on the 8th February the "Murray" was +found to enter or form a lake, of from fifty to sixty miles in length, +and from thirty to forty in breadth, lying immediately to the eastward of +gulf St. Vincent, and extending to the southward, to the shore of +"Encounter Bay." + +Thus has Captain Sturt added largely, and in a highly important degree, +to the knowledge previously possessed of the interior. + +His former expedition ascertained the fate of the rivers Macquarie and +Castlereagh, on which occasion he also discovered a river which, there is +every reason to believe, is, in ordinary seasons, of considerable +magnitude. + +Should this, as Captain Sturt supposes, prove to be the same river as that +above-mentioned, as uniting with the "Murray," the existence of an +interior water communication for several hundreds of miles, extending from +the northward of "Mount Harris," down to the southern coast of the colony, +will have been established. + +It is to be regretted, that circumstances did not permit of a more perfect +examination of the lake, (which has been called "Alexandrina"), as the +immediate vicinage of Gulf St. Vincent furnishes a just ground of hope +that a more practicable and useful communication may be discovered in +that direction, than the channel which leads into "Encounter Bay." + +The opportunity of recording a second time the services rendered to the +colony by Captain Sturt, is as gratifying to the government which directed +the undertaking, as it is creditable to the individual who so successfully +conducted it to its termination.--It is an additional cause of +satisfaction to add, that every one, according to his sphere of action, +has a claim to a proportionate degree of applause. All were exposed alike +to the same privations and fatigue, and every one submitted with patience, +manifesting the most anxious desire for the success of the expedition. +The zeal of Mr. George M'Leay, the companion of Captain Sturt, when +example was so important, could not fail to have the most salutary effect; +and the obedience, steadiness, and good conduct of the men employed, merit +the highest praise. + +By his Excellency's command, + +ALEXANDER M'LEAY. + + +* * * * * + + +BANKS OF THE MORUMBIDGEE, APRIL 20TH, 1830. + +SIR,--The departure of Mr. George M'Leay for Sydney, who is anxious to +proceed homewards as speedily as possible, affords me an earlier +opportunity than would otherwise have presented itself, by which to make +you acquainted with the circumstance of my return, under the divine +protection, to the located districts; and I do myself the honour of +annexing a brief account of my proceedings since the last communication +for the information of His Excellency the Governor, until such time as I +shall have it in my power to give in a more detailed report. + +On the 7th of January, agreeably to the arrangements which had been made, +I proceeded down the Morumbidgee in the whale boat, with a complement of +six hands, independent of myself and Mr. M'Leay, holding the skiff in tow. +The river, for several days, kept a general W.S.W. course; it altered +little in appearance, nor did any material change take place in the +country upon its banks. The alluvial flats had occasionally an increased +breadth on either side of it, but the line of reeds was nowhere so +extensive as from previous appearances I had been led to expect. About +twelve miles from the depot, we passed a large creek junction from the +N.E. which, from its locality and from the circumstance of my having been +upon it in the direction of them, I cannot but conclude originates in the +marshes of the Lachlan. + +On the 11th, the Morumbidgee became much encumbered with fallen timber, +and its current was at times so rapid that I was under considerable +apprehension for the safety of the boats. The skiff had been upset on the +8th, and, although I could not anticipate such an accident to the large +boat, I feared she would receive some more serious and irremediable +injury. On the 14th, these difficulties increased upon us.--The channel +of the river became more contracted, and its current more impetuous. We +had no sooner cleared one reach, than fresh and apparently insurmountable +dangers presented themselves to us in the next. I really feared that every +precaution would have proved unavailing against such multiplied +embarrassments, and that ere night we should have possessed only the +wrecks of the expedition. From this state of anxiety, however, we were +unexpectedly relieved, by our arrival at 2 p.m. at the termination of the +Morumbidgee; from which we were launched into a broad and noble river, +flowing from E. to W. at the rate of two and a half knots per hour, over +a clear and sandy bed, of a medium width of from three to four hundred +feet. + +During the first stages of our journey upon this new river, which +evidently had its rise in the mountains of the S.E., we made rapid +progress to the W.N.W. through an unbroken and uninteresting country of +equal sameness of feature and of vegetation. On the 23rd, as the boats +were proceeding down it, several hundreds of natives made their appearance +upon the right bank, having assembled with premeditated purposes of +violence. I was the more surprised at this show of hostility, because we +had passed on general friendly terms, not only with those on the +Morumbidgee, but of the new river. Now, however, emboldened by numbers, +they seemed determined on making the first attack, and soon worked +themselves into a state of frenzy by loud and vehement shouting. As I +observed that the water was shoaling fast, I kept in the middle of the +stream; and, under an impression that it would be impossible for me to +avoid a conflict, prepared for an obstinate resistance. But, at the very +moment when, having arrived opposite to a large sand bank, on which +they had collected, the foremost of the blacks had already advanced +into the water, and I only awaited their nearer approach to fire +upon them, their impetuosity was restrained by the most unlooked +for and unexpected interference. They held back of a sudden, and +allowed us to pass unmolested. The boat, however, almost immediately +grounded on a shoal that stretched across the river, over which she +was with some difficulty hauled into deeper water,--when we found +ourselves opposite to a large junction from the eastward, little +inferior to the river itself. Had I been aware of this circumstance, I +should have been the more anxious with regard to any rupture with the +natives, and I was now happy to find that most of them had laid aside +their weapons and had crossed the junction, it appearing that they had +previously been on a tongue of land formed by the two streams. I therefore +landed among them to satisfy their curiosity and to distribute a few +presents before I proceeded up it. We were obliged to use the four oars to +stem the current against us; but, as soon as we had passed the mouth, +got into deeper water, and found easier pulling, The parallel in which we +struck it, and the direction from which it came, combined to assure me +that this could be no other than the "Darling." To the distance of two +miles it retained a breadth of one hundred yards and a depth of twelve +feet. Its banks were covered with verdure, and the trees overhanging them +were of finer and larger growth than those on the new river by which we +had approached it. Its waters had a shade of green, and were more turbid +than those of its neighbours, but they were perfectly sweet to the taste. + +Having satisfied myself on those points on which I was most anxious, +we returned to the junction to examine it more closely. + +The angle formed by the Darling with the new river is so acute, that +neither can be said to be tributary to the other; but more important +circumstances, upon which it is impossible for me to dwell at the present +moment, mark them as distinct rivers, which have been formed by Nature +for the same purposes, in remote and opposite parts of the island. Not +having as yet given a name to the latter, I now availed myself of the +opportunity of complying with the known wishes of His Excellency the +Governor, and, at the same time, in accordance with my own feelings as a +soldier I distinguished it by that of the "Murray." + +It had been my object to ascertain the decline of the vast plain through +which the Murray flows, that I might judge of the probable fall of the +waters of the interior; but by the most attentive observation I could not +satisfy myself upon the point. The course of the Darling now confirmed +my previous impression that it was to the south, which direction it was +evident the Murray also, in the subsequent stages of our journey down it, +struggled to preserve; from which it was thrown by a range of minor +elevations into a more westerly one. We were carried as far as 139 degrees +40 minutes of longitude, without descending below 34 degrees in point of +latitude; in consequence of which I expected that the river would +ultimately discharge itself, either into St. Vincent's Gulf or that of +Spencer, more especially as lofty ranges were visible in the direction of +them from the summit of the hills behind our camp, on the 2nd of February, +which I laid down as the coast line bounding them. + +A few days prior to the 2nd of February, we passed under some cliffs of +partial volcanic origin, and had immediately afterwards entered a +limestone country of the most singular formation. The river, although we +had passed occasional rapids of the most dangerous kind, had maintained a +sandy character from our first acquaintance with it to the limestone +division. It now forced itself through a glen of that rock of half a mile +in width, frequently striking precipices of more than two hundred feet +perpendicular elevation, in which coral and fossil remains were +plentifully embedded. On the 3rd February it made away to the eastward of +south, in reaches of from two to four miles in length. It gradually lost +its sandy bed, and became deep, still, and turbid; the glen expanded into +a valley, and the alluvial flats, which had hitherto been of +inconsiderable size, became proportionally extensive. The Murray increased +in breadth to more than four hundred yards, with a depth of twenty feet +of water close into the shore, and in fact formed itself into a safe and +navigable stream for any vessels of the minor class. On the 6th the cliffs +partially ceased, and on the 7th they gave place to undulating and +picturesque hills, beneath which thousands of acres of the richest flats +extended, covered, however, with reeds, and apparently subject to overflow +at any unusual rise of the river. + +It is remarkable that the view from the hills was always confined.--We +were apparently running parallel to a continuation of the ranges we had +seen on the 2nd, but they were seldom visible. The country generally +seemed darkly wooded, and had occasional swells upon it, but it was one +of no promise; the timber, chiefly box and pine, being of a poor growth, +and its vegetation languid. On the 8th the hills upon the left wore a +bleak appearance, and the few trees upon them were cut down as if by the +prevailing winds. At noon we could not observe any land at the extremity +of a reach we had just entered; some gentle hills still continued to form +the left lank of the river, but the right was hid from us by high reeds. +I consequently landed to survey the country from the nearest eminence, and +found that we were just about to enter an extensive lake which stretched +away to the S.W., the line of water meeting the horizon in that direction. +Some tolerably lofty ranges were visible to the westward at the distance +of forty miles, beneath which that shore was lost in haze. A hill, which I +prejudged to be Mount Lofty, bearing by compass S. 141 degrees W. More to +the northward, the country was low and unbacked by any elevations. A bold +promontory, which projected into the lake at the distance of seven +leagues, ended the view to the south along the eastern shore; between +which and the river the land also declined. The prospect altogether was +extremely gratifying, and the lake appeared to be a fitting reservoir for +the whole stream which had led us to it. + +In the evening we passed the entrance; but a strong southerly wind heading +us, we did not gain more than nine miles. In the morning it shifted to the +N.E. where we stood out for the promontory on a S.S.W. course. At noon we +were abreast of it, when a line of sand hummocks was ahead, scarcely +visible in consequence of the great refraction about them; but an open sea +behind us from the N.N.W. to the N.N.E. points of the compass. A meridian +altitude observed here, placed us in 35 degrees 25 minutes 15 seconds +S. lat.--At 1, I changed our course a little to the westward, and at +4 p.m. entered an arm of the lake leading W.S.W. On the point, at the +entrance, some natives had assembled, but I could not communicate with +them. They were both painted and armed, and evidently intended to resist +our landing. Wishing, however, to gain some information from them, +I proceeded a short distance below their haunt, and landed for the night, +in hopes that, seeing us peaceably disposed, they would have approached +the tents; but as they kept aloof, we continued our journey in the +morning. The water, which had risen ten inches during the night, had +fallen again in the same proportion, and we were stopped by shoals shortly +after starting. In hopes that the return of tide would have enabled us to +float over them, we waited for it very patiently, but were ultimately +obliged to drag the boat across a mud-flat of more than a quarter of a +mile into deeper water; but, after a run of about twenty minutes, were +again checked by sand banks. My endeavours to push beyond a certain point +were unsuccessful, and I was at length under the necessity of landing upon +the south shore for the night. Some small hummocks were behind us, on the +other side of which I had seen the ocean from our morning's position; +and whilst the men were pitching the tents, walked over them in company +with Mr. M'Leay to the sea shore, having struck the coast at Encounter +Bay, Cape Jervis, bearing by compass S. 81 degrees W. distant between +three and four leagues, and Kangaroo Island S.E. extremity S. 60 +degrees W. distant from nine to ten. + +Thirty-two days had elapsed since we had left the depot, and I regretted +in this stage of our journey, that I could not with prudence remain an +hour longer on the coast than was necessary for me to determine the exit +of the lake. From the angle of the channel on which we were, a bright +sand-hill was visible at about nine miles distance to the E.S.E.; which, +it struck me, was the eastern side of the passage communicating with the +ocean. Having failed in our attempts to proceed further in the boat, and +the appearance of the shoals at low water having convinced me of the +impracticability of it, I determined on an excursion along the sea-shore +to the southward and eastward, in anxious hopes that it would be a short +one; for as we had had a series of winds from the S.W. which had now +changed to the opposite quarter, I feared we should have to pull across +the lake in our way homewards. I left the camp therefore at an early hour, +in company with Mr. M'Leay and Fraser, and at day-break arrived opposite +to the sand-bank I have mentioned. Between us and it the entrance into the +back water ran. The passage is at all periods of the tide rather more than +a quarter of a mile in width, and is of sufficient depth for a boat to +enter, especially on the off side; but a line of dangerous breakers in +the bay will always prevent an approach to it from the sea, except in the +calmest weather, whilst the bay itself will always he a hazardous place +for any vessels to enter under any circumstances. + +Having, however, satisfactorily concluded our pursuit, we retraced our +steps to the camp, and again took the following bearings as we left the +beach, the strand trending E.S.E. 1/2 E.:-- + + Kangaroo Island, S.E. angle S. 60 degrees W.. + Low rocky point of Cape Jervis S. 81 degrees W. + Round Hill in centre of Range S. 164 degrees W. + Camp, distant one mile S. 171 degrees W. + Mount Lofty, distant forty miles N. 9 degrees E. + +Before setting sail, a bottle was deposited between four and five feet +deep in a mound of soft earth and shells, close to the spot on which the +tent had stood, which contained a paper of the names of the party, +together with a simple detail of our arrival and departure. + +It appeared that the good fortune, which had hitherto attended us was +still to continue, for the wind which had been contrary, chopped round to +the S.W., and ere sunset we were again in the mouth of the river, having +run from fifty to sixty miles under as much canvass as the boat would +bear, and with a heavy swell during the greater part of the day. + +The lake which has thus terminated our journey, is from fifty to sixty +miles in length, and from thirty to forty in width. With such an expanse +of water, I am correct in stating its medium depth at four feet. There is +a large bight in it to the S.E. and a beautiful and extensive bay to the +N.W. At about seven miles from the mouth of the river, its waters are +brackish, and at twenty-one miles they are quite salt, whilst seals +frequent the lower parts. Considering this lake to be of sufficient +importance, and in anticipation that its shores will, during her reign, +if not at an earlier period, be peopled by some portion of her subjects, +I have called it, in well-meant loyalty, "The Lake Alexandrina." + +It is remarkable that the Murray has few tributaries below the Darling. +It receives one, however, of considerable importance from the S.E., to +which I have given the name of the "Lindesay," as a mark of respect to my +commanding-officer, and in remembrance of the many acts of kindness I have +received at his hands. + +Having dwelt particularly on the nature of the country through which the +expedition has passed in the pages of my journal, it may be unnecessary +for me to enter into any description of it in this place, further than to +observe, that the limestone continued down to the very coast, and that +although the country in the neighbourhood of the Lake Alexandrina must, +from local circumstances, be rich in point of soil, the timber upon it is +of stunted size, and that it appears to have suffered from drought, +though not to the same extent with the eastern coast. It is evident, +however, that its vicinity to high lands does not altogether exempt it +from such periodical visitations; still I have no doubt that my +observations upon it will convince His Excellency the Governor, that it is +well worthy of a closer, and more attentive examination, than I had it in +my power to make. + +In a geographical point of view, I am happy to believe that the result of +this expedition has been conclusive; and that, combined with the late one, +it has thrown much light upon the nature of the interior of the vast +Island; that the decline of waters, as far as the parallel of 139 degrees +E., is to the south, and that the Darling is to the N.E. as the Murray +is to the S.E. angle of the coast, the main channel by which the waters of +the central ranges are thrown or discharged into one great reservoir. + +Our journey homewards was only remarkable for its labour: in conclusion, +therefore, it remains for me to add that we reached the depot on the +23rd of March. + +Our sugar failed us on the 18th of February, and our salt provisions, +in consequence of the accident which happened to the skiff, on the 8th of +March; so that from the above period we were living on a reduced ration of +flour; and as we took few fish, and were generally unsuccessful with our +guns, the men had seldom more than their bread to eat. + +I regretted to observe that they were daily falling off, and that although +unremitting in their exertions they were well nigh exhausted, ere we +reached the Morumbidgee. + +We were from sunrise to five o'clock on the water, and from the day +that we left the depot to that of our return we never rested upon our +oars. We were thirty-nine days gaining the depot from the coast, against +a strong current in both rivers, being seven more than it took us to go +down. From the depot to this station we had seventeen days hard pulling, +making a total of eighty-eight, during which time we could not have +travelled over less than 2000 miles. I was under the necessity of stopping +short on the 10th instant, and of detaching two men for the drays, which +happily arrived on the 17th, on which day our stock of flour failed us. +Had I not adopted this plan, the men would have become too weak to have +pulled up to Pondebadgery, and we should no doubt have suffered some +privations. + +This detail will, I am sure, speak more in favour of the men composing the +party than anything I can say. I would most respectfully recommend them +all to His Excellency's notice; and I beg to assure him that, during the +whole of this arduous journey, they were cheerful, zealous, and obedient. +They had many harassing duties to perform, and their patience and temper +were often put to severe trials by the natives, of whom we could not have +seen fewer than 4000 on the Murray alone. + +I am to refer His Excellency the Governor to Mr. M'Leay for any more +immediate information he may require,--to whom I stand indebted on many +points--and not less in the anxiety he evinced for the success of the +undertaking, than in the promptitude with which he assisted in the labours +attendant on our return, and his uniform kindness to the men. + +I have the honour to subscribe myself, +Sir, +Your most obedient humble Servant, +CHARLES STURT, +Captain of the 39th Regt. + +The Hon. the Colonial Secretary. + + + +END OF VOLUME II + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg Etext of Two Expeditions into the Interior of +Southern Australia Complete by Charles Sturt + diff --git a/old/xpssc11.zip b/old/xpssc11.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0289b27 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/xpssc11.zip diff --git a/old/xpssc12.txt b/old/xpssc12.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b81e346 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/xpssc12.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14858 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Two Expeditions into the Interior of +Southern Australia Complete by Charles Sturt +#3 in our series by Charles Sturt + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.10/04/01*END* + + + + + + +This etext was produced by Col Choat colc@gutenberg.net.au. + + + + +TWO EXPEDITIONS INTO THE INTERIOR OF SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA DURING THE YEARS +1828,1829,1830,1831 WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE SOIL, CLIMATE AND GENERAL +RESOURCES OF THE COLONY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. + +IN TWO VOLUMES + +VOLUME I. + + +"For though most men are contented only to see a river as it runs by +them, and talk of the changes in it as they happen; when it is troubled, +or when clear; when it drowns the country in a flood, or forsakes it in a +drought: yet he that would know the nature of the water, and the causes of +those accidents (so as to guess at their continuance or return), must find +out its source, and observe with what strength it rises, what length it +runs, and how many small streams fall in, and feed it to such a height, +as make it either delightful or terrible to the eye, and useful or +dangerous to the country about it."...SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE'S NETHERLANDS. + + + +TO THE RIGHT HON. +THE EARL OF RIPON, +VISCOUNT GODERICH, +Lord Privy Seal +&c. &c. &c. + + + +MY LORD, + +The completion of this Work affords me the opportunity I have long desired +of thanking your Lordship thus publicly, for the kindness with which you +acceded to my request to be permitted to dedicate it to you. + +The encouragement your Lordship was pleased to give me has served to +stimulate me in the prosecution of a task, which would, I fear, have been +too great for me to have accomplished in my present condition, under any +ordinary views of ambition. Indeed, labouring as I have been for many +months past, under an almost total deprivation of sight, (the effect of +exposure and anxiety of mind in the prosecution of geographical +researches,) I owe it to the casual assistance of some of my friends, that +I am at length enabled to lay these results before your Lordship and the +public. + +While I feel a painful conviction that many errors must necessarily +pervade a work produced under such unfavourable circumstances, it affords +me no small consolation to reflect that Your Lordship has been aware of my +situation, and will be disposed to grant me every reasonable indulgence. + +I have the honor to be, +With the highest respect, +My Lord, +Your Lordship's +Very obedient and humble servant, + +CHARLES STURT +London, June, 1833. + + + + +CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME + + + +PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. + + +Purpose of this Chapter--Name of Australia--Impressions of its early +Visitors--Character of the Australian rivers--Author's first view of Port +Jackson--Extent of the Colony of New South Wales--its rapid advances in +prosperity--Erroneous impressions--Commercial importance of Sydney--Growth +of fine wool--Mr. M'Arthur's meritorious exertions--Whale-fishery--Other +exports--Geographical features--Causes of the large proportion of bad +soil--Connection between the geology and vegetation--Geological features-- +Character of the soil connected with the geological formation--County of +Cumberland--Country westward of the Blue Mountains--Disadvantages of the +remote settlers--Character of the Eastern coast--Rich tracts in the +interior--Periodical droughts--The seasons apparently affected by the +interior marshes--Temperature--Fruits--Emigrants: Causes of their success +or failure--Moral disadvantages--System of emigration recommended--Hints +to emigrants--Progress of inland discovery--Expeditions across the Blue +Mountains--Discoveries of Mr. Evans, Mr. Oxley, and others--Conjectures +respecting the interior. + + +EXPEDITION DOWN THE MACQUARIE RIVER, AND INTO THE WESTERN INTERIOR +IN 1828 AND 1829. + + +CHAPTER I. + + +State of the Colony in 1828-29--Objects of the Expedition--Departure +from Sydney--Wellington Valley--Progress down the Macquarie--Arrival at +Mount Harris--Stopped by the marshes--Encamp amidst reeds--Excursions down +the river--Its termination-- Appearance of the marshes--Opthalmic +affection of the men--Mr. Hume's successful journey to the northward-- +Journey across the plain--Second great marsh--Perplexities--Situation of +the exploring party--Consequent resolutions. + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Prosecution of our course into the interior--Mosquito Brush--Aspect and +productions of the country--Hunting party of natives--Courageous conduct +of one of them--Mosquitoes--A man missing--Group of hills called +New-Year's Range--Journey down New-Year's Creek--Tormenting attack of the +kangaroo fly--Dreariness and desolation of the country--Oxley's Table +Land--D'Urban's Group--Continue our journey down New-Year's Creek-- +Extreme Disappointment on finding it salt--Fall in with a tribe of +natives--Our course arrested by the want of fresh water--Extraordinary +sound--Retreat towards the Macquarie. + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Intercourse with the natives--Their appearance and condition--Remarks on +the Salt or Darling River--Appearance of the marshes on our return-- +Alarm for safety of the provision party--Return to Mount Harris--Miserable +condition of the natives--Circumstances attending the slaughter of two +Irish runaways--Bend our course towards the Castlereagh--Wallis's Ponds-- +Find the famished natives feeding on gum--Channel of the Castlereagh-- +Character of the country in its vicinity--Another tribe of natives-- +Amicable intercourse with them--Morrisset's chain of Ponds--Again reach the +Darling River ninety miles higher up than where we first struck upon it. + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Perplexity--Trait of honesty in the natives--Excursion on horseback across +the Darling--Forced to return--Desolating effects of the drought--Retreat +towards the colony--Connection between the Macquarie and the Darling-- +Return up the banks of the Macquarie--Starving condition of the natives. + + +CHAPTER V. + + +General remarks--Result of the expedition--Previous anticipations-- +Mr. Oxley's remarks--Character of the Rivers flowing westerly-- +Mr. Cunningham's remarks--Fall of the Macquarie--Mr. Oxley's erroneous +conclusions respecting the character of the interior, naturally inferred +from the state in which he found the country--The marsh of the Macquarie +merely a marsh of the ordinary character--Captain King's observations-- +Course of the Darling--Character of the low interior plain--The convict +Barber's report of rivers traversing the interior--Surveyor-General +Mitchell's Report of his recent expedition. + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Concluding Remarks--Obstacles that attend travelling into the interior +of Australia--Difficulty of carrying supplies--Importance of steady +intelligent subordinates--Danger from the natives--Number of men +requisite,--and of cattle and carriages--Provisions--Other arrangements-- +Treatment of the natives--Dimensions of the boat used in the second +expedition. + + +APPENDIX. + +No. I. Letter of Instructions +No. II. List of Stores supplied for the Expedition +No. III. Sheep-farming Returns +No. IV. List of Geological Specimens +No. V. Official Report to the Colonial Government, (Jan. 1829.) +No. VI. Ditto (April 1829.) + + +ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE FIRST VOLUME +(Not included in this etext) + +Native Burial Place near Budda +Vice Admiral Arthur Phillip +Cataract of the Macquarie +A Selenite +Chrystallized Sulphate of Lime + + + + +PRELIMINARY CHAPTER + + + +Purpose of this Chapter--Name of Australia--Impressions of its early +Visitors--Character of the Australian rivers--Author's first view of Port +Jackson--Extent of the Colony of New South Wales--its rapid advances in +prosperity--Erroneous impressions--Commercial importance of Sydney--Growth +of fine wool--Mr. M'Arthur's meritorious exertions--Whale-fishery--Other +exports--Geographical features--Causes of the large proportion of bad +soil--Connection between the geology and vegetation--Geological features-- +Character of the soil connected with the geological formation--County of +Cumberland--Country westward of the Blue Mountains--Disadvantages of the +remote settlers--Character of the Eastern coast--Rich tracts in the +interior--Periodical droughts--The seasons apparently affected by the +interior marshes--Temperature--Fruits--Emigrants: Causes of their success +or failure--Moral disadvantages--System of emigration recommended--Hints +to emigrants--Progress of inland discovery--Expeditions across the Blue +Mountains--Discoveries of Mr. Evans, Mr. Oxley, and others--Conjectures +respecting the interior. + + +PURPOSE OF THIS PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. + + +When I first determined on committing to the press a detailed account of +the two expeditions, which I conducted into the interior of the Australian +continent, pursuant to the orders of Lieutenant General Darling, the late +Governor of the Colony of New South Wales, it was simply with a view of +laying their results before the geographical world, and of correcting the +opinions that prevailed with regard to the unexplored country to the +westward of the Blue Mountains. I did not feel myself equal either to the +task or the responsibility of venturing any remarks on the Colony of New +South Wales itself. I had had little time for inquiry, amidst the various +duties that fell to my lot in the ordinary routine of the service to which +I belonged, when unemployed by the Colonial Government in the prosecution +of inland discoveries. My observations had been in a great measure +confined to those points which curiosity, or a desire of personal +information, had prompted me to investigate. I did not, therefore, venture +to flatter myself that I had collected materials of sufficient importance +on general topics to enable me to write for the information of others. +Since my return to England, however, I have been strenuously urged to give +a short description of the colony before entering upon my personal +narrative; and I have conversed with so many individuals whose ideas of +Australia are totally at variance with its actual state, that I am +encouraged to indulge the hope that my observations, desultory as they +are, may be of some interest to the public. I am strengthened in this hope +by the consideration that some kind friends have enabled me to add much +valuable matter to that which I had myself collected. It is not my +intention, however, to enter at any length on the commercial or +agricultural interests of New South Wales. It may be necessary for me to +touch lightly on those important subjects, but it is my wish to connect +this preliminary chapter, as much as possible with the subjects treated of +in the body of the work, and chiefly to notice the physical structure, the +soil, climate, and productions of the colony, in order to convey to the +reader general information on these points, before I lead him into the +remote interior. + +NAME OF AUSTRALIA. + +It may be worthy of remark that the name "Australia," has of late years +been affixed to that extensive tract of land which Great Britain possesses +in the Southern Seas, and which, having been a discovery of the early +Dutch navigators, was previously termed "New Holland." The change of name +was, I believe, introduced by the celebrated French geographer, Malte +Brun, who, in his division of the globe, gave the appellation of +Austral Asia and Polynesia to the new discovered lands in the southern +ocean; in which division he meant to include the numerous insular groups +scattered over the Pacific. + +IMPRESSIONS OF ITS EARLY VISITORS. + +Australia is properly speaking an island, but it is so much larger than +every other island on the face of the globe, that it is classed as a +continent in order to convey to the mind a just idea of its magnitude. +Stretching from the 115th to the 153rd degree of east longitude, and from +the 10th to the 37th of south latitude, it averages 2700 miles in length +by 1800 in breadth; and balanced, as it were, upon the tropic of that +hemisphere in which it is situated, it receives the fiery heat of the +equator at one extremity, while it enjoys the refreshing coolness of the +temperate zone at the other. On a first view we should be led to expect +that this extensive tract of land possessed more than ordinary advantages; +that its rivers would be in proportion to its size; and that it would +abound in the richest productions of the inter-tropical and temperate +regions. Such, indeed, was the impression of those who first touched upon +its southern shores, but who remained no longer than to be dazzled by the +splendour and variety of its botanical productions, and to enjoy for a +few days the delightful mildness of its climate. But the very spot which +had appeared to Captain Cook and Sir Joseph Banks an earthly paradise, was +abandoned by the early settlers as unfit for occupation; nor has the +country generally been fount to realize the sanguine expectations of those +distinguished individuals, so far as it has hitherto been explored. + +CHARACTER OF AUSTRALIAN RIVERS. + +Rivers which have the widest mouths or the most practicable entrances, +are, in Europe or America, usually of impetuous current, or else contain +such a body of water as to bear down all opposition to their free course; +whilst on the other hand, rivers whose force is expended ere they reach +the sea, have almost invariably a bar at their embouchure, or where they +mingle their waters with those of the ocean. This last feature +unfortunately appears to characterise all rivers of Australia, or such of +them at least as are sufficiently known to us. Falling rapidly from the +mountains in which they originate into a level and extremely depressed +country; having weak and inconsiderable sources, and being almost wholly +unaided by tributaries of any kind; they naturally fail before they reach +the coast, and exhaust themselves in marshes or lakes or reach it so +weakened as to be unable to preserve clear or navigable months, or to +remove the sand banks that the tides throw up before them. On the other +hand the productions of this singular region seem to be peculiar to it, +and unlike those of any other part of the world; nor have any indigenous +fruits of any value as yet been found either in its forests or on its +plains. + +He who has never looked on any other than the well-cultured fields of +England, can have little idea of a country that Nature has covered with an +interminable forest. Still less can he estimate the feelings with which +the adventurer approaches a shore that has never (or perhaps only lately) +been trodden by civilized man. + +FIRST VIEW OF PORT JACKSON. + +It was with feelings peculiar to the occasion, that I gazed for the first +time on the bold cliffs at the entrance of Port Jackson, as our vessel +neared them, and speculated on the probable character of the landscape +they hid; and I am free to confess, that I did not anticipate anything +equal to the scene which presented itself both to my sight and my +judgment, as we sailed up the noble and extensive basin we had entered, +towards the seat of government. A single glance was sufficient to tell me +that the hills upon the southern shore of the port, the outlines of which +were broken by houses and spires, must once have been covered with the +same dense and gloomy wood which abounded every where else. The contrast +was indeed very great--the improvement singularly striking. The labour and +patience required, and the difficulties which the first settlers +encountered effecting these improvements, must have been incalculable. But +their success has been complete: it is the very triumph of human skill and +industry over Nature herself. The cornfield and the orchard have +supplanted the wild grass and the brush; a flourishing town stands over +the ruins of the forest; the lowing of herds has succeeded the wild whoop +of the savage; and the stillness of that once desert shore is now broken +by the sound of the bugle and the busy hum of commerce. + +EXTENT OF NEW SOUTH WALES AND DIVISIONS OF THE COLONY. + +The Colony of New South Wales is situated upon the eastern coast of +Australia; and the districts within which land has been granted to +settlers, extends from the 36th parallel of latitude to the 32nd, that is +say, from the Moroyo River to the south of Sydney on the one hand, and to +the Manning River on the other, including Wellington Valley within its +limits to the westward. Thus it will appear that the boundaries of the +located parts of the colony have been considerably enlarged, and some fine +districts of country included within them. In consequence of its extent +and increasing population, it has been found convenient to divide it into +counties, parishes, and townships; and indeed, every measure of the +Colonial Government of late years, has had for its object to assimilate +its internal arrangements as nearly as possible, to those of the mother +country. Whether we are to attribute the present flourishing state of the +colony to the beneficial influence of that system of government which has +been exercised over it for the last seven years it is not for me to say. +That the prosperity of a country depends, however, in a great measure, +on the wisdom of its legislature, is as undoubted, as that within the +period I have mentioned the colony of N. S. Wales has risen +unprecedentedly in importance and in wealth, and has advanced to a state +of improvement at which it could not have arrived had its energies been +cramped or its interests neglected. + +ITS ADVANCES IN PROSPERITY. + +There is a period in the history of every country, during which it will +appear to have been more prosperous than at any other. I allude not to the +period of great martial achievements, should any such adorn its pages, but +to that in which the enterprise of its merchants was roused into action, +and when all classes of its community seem to have put forth their +strength towards the attainment of wealth and power. + +ERRONEOUS IMPRESSIONS. + +In this eventful period the colony of New South Wales is already far +advanced. The conduct of its merchants is marked by the boldest +speculations and the most gigantic projects. Their storehouses are built +on the most magnificent scale, and with the best and most substantial +materials. Few persons in England have even a remote idea of its present +flourishing condition, or of the improvements that are daily taking place +both in its commerce and in its agriculture. I am aware that many object +to it as a place of residence, and I can easily enter into their feelings +from the recollection of what my own were before I visited it. I cannot +but remark, however, that I found my prejudices had arisen from a natural +objection to the character of a part of its population; from the +circumstance of its being a penal colony, and from my total ignorance of +its actual state, and not from any substantial or permanent cause. On the +contrary I speedily became convinced of the exaggerated nature of the +reports I had heard in England, on some of the points just adverted to; +nor did any thing fall under my observation during a residence in it of +more than six years to justify the opinion I had been previously led to +entertain of it. I embarked for New South Wales, with strong prejudices +against it: I left it with strong feelings in its favour, and with a deep +feeling of interest in its prosperity. It is a pleasing task to me, +therefore, to write of it thus, and to have it in my power to contribute +to the removal of any erroneous impressions with regard to its condition +at the present moment. + +COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE OF SYDNEY. + +I have already remarked, that I was not prepared for the scene that met my +view when I first saw Sydney. The fact was, I had not pictured to myself; +nor conceived from any thing that I had ever read or heard in England, +that so extensive a town could have been reared in that remote region, in +so brief a period as that which had elapsed since its foundation. It is +not, however, a distant or cursory glance that will give the observer a +just idea of the mercantile importance of this busy capital. In order to +form an accurate estimate of it, he should take a boat and proceed from +Sydney Cove to Darling Harbour. He would then be satisfied, that it is not +upon the first alone that Australian commerce has raised its storehouse +and wharfs, but that the whole extent of the eastern shore of the last +more capacious basin, is equally crowded with warehouses, stores, +dockyards, mills, and wharfs, the appearance and solidity of which would +do credit even to Liverpool. Where, thirty years ago, the people flocked +to the beach to hail an arrival, it is not now unusual to see from thirty +to forty vessels riding at anchor at one time, collected there from every +quarter of the globe. In 1832, one hundred and fifty vessels entered the +harbour of Port Jackson, from foreign parts, the amount of their tonnage +being 31,259 tons. + +The increasing importance of Sydney must in some measure be attributed to +the flourishing condition of the colony itself, to the industry of its +farmers, to the successful enterprise of its merchants, and to particular +local causes. It is foreign to my purpose, however, to enter largely into +an investigation of these important points. To do so would require more +space than I can afford for the purpose, and might justly be considered as +irrelevant in a work of this kind. Without attempting any lengthened +detail, it may be considered sufficient if I endeavour merely to point out +the principal causes of the present prosperity (and, as they may very +probably prove) of the eventual progress of our great southern colony to +power and independence. + +STAPLE OF THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. + +The staple of our Australian colonies, but more particularly of New South +Wales, the climate and the soil of which are peculiarly suited to its +production,--is fine wool. There can be no doubt that the growth of this +article has mainly contributed to the prosperity of the above mentioned +colony and of Van Diemen's Land. + +At the close of the last century, wool was imported into England from +Spain and Germany only, and but a few years previously from Spain alone. +Indeed, long after its introduction from the latter country, German wool, +obtained but little consideration in the London market; and in like +manner, it may be presumed that many years will not have elapsed +before the increased importation of wool from our own possessions in +the southern hemisphere, will render us, in respect to this commodity, +independent of every other part of the world. The great improvements +in modern navigation are such, that the expense of sending the fleece +to market from New South Wales is less than from any part of Europe. +The charges for instance on Spanish and German wool, are from +fourpence to fourpence three farthings per pound; whereas the entire +charge, after shipment from New South Wales, and Van Diemen's Land, does +not exceed threepence three farthings,--and in this the dock and landing +charges, freight, insurance, brokerage, and commission, are included. + +GROWTH OF FINE WOOL. MR. M'ARTHUR'S EXERTIONS. + +As some particulars respecting the introduction of this source of national +wealth into Australia may prove interesting to the public, I have put +together the following details of it, upon the authenticity of which they +may rely. The person who foresaw the advantage to be derived from the +growth of fine wool in New South Wales, and who commenced the culture of +it in that colony, was Mr. John M'Arthur. So far back, I believe, as the +year 1793, not long after the establishment of the first settlement at +Sydney, this gentleman commenced sheep-farming, and about two years +afterwards he obtained a ram and two ewes from Captain Kent, of the royal +navy, who had brought them, with some other stock for the supply of the +settlement, from the Cape of Good Hope, to which place a flock of these +sheep had been originally sent by the Dutch government. Sensible of the +importance of the acquisition, Mr. M'Arthur began to cross his +coarse-fleeced sheep with Merino blood; and, proceeding upon a system, he +effected a considerable improvement in the course of a few years. So +prolific was the mixed breed, that in ten years, a flock which originally +consisted of not more than seventy Bengal sheep, had increased in number +to 4,000 head, although the wethers had been killed as they became fit for +slaughter. It appears, however, that as the sheep approached to greater +purity of blood, their extreme fecundity diminished. + +TO REAR MERINO FLOCKS. + +In 1803, Mr. M'Arthur revisited England; and there happening at the time +to be a committee of manufacturers in London from the clothing districts, +he exhibited before them samples of his wool, which were so much approved, +that the committee represented to their constituents the advantages which +would result from the growth of fine wool, in one of the southern +dependencies of the empire. In consequence of this a memorial was +transmitted to His Majesty's government, and Mr. M'Arthur's plans having +been investigated by a Privy Council, at which he was present, they were +recommended to the government as worthy of its protection. With such +encouragement Mr. M'Arthur purchased two ewes and three rams, from the +Merino flock of His Majesty King George the Third. He embarked with them +on his return to New South Wales in 1806, on board a vessel named by him +"the Argo," in reference to the golden treasure with which she was +freighted. On reaching the colony he removed his sheep to a grant of land +which the Home Government had directed he should receive in the Cow +Pastures. To commemorate the transaction, and to transmit to a grateful +posterity the recollection of the nobleman who then presided over the +colonies, the estate, together with the district in which it is situated, +was honoured by the name of Camden. + +EXPORT OF WOOL TO ENGLAND. + +Since that time the value of New South Wales wool has been constantly on +the increase, and the colony are indebted to Mr. M'Arthur for the +possession of an exportable commodity which has contributed very +materially to its present wealth and importance. Such general attention is +now paid to this interesting branch of rural economy, that the importation +of wool into England from our Australian colonies, amounted, in 1832, to +10,633 bales, or 2,500,000 lbs. It has been sold at as high a price as +10s. per lb.; but the average price of wool of the best flocks vary from +1s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. at the present moment. The number of sheep in New South +Wales alone was calculated in the last census at 536,891 head. The +ordinary profits on this kind of stock may be extracted from the Table +given in the Appendix to the first volume of this work. + +WHALE FISHERY. + +Among the various speculations undertaken by the merchants of Sydney, +there is not one into which they have entered with so much spirit as in +the South Sea Fishery. The local situation of Port Jackson gives them an +advantage over the English and the American merchants, since the distance +of both these from the field of their gains, must necessarily impede them +greatly; whereas the ships that leave Sydney on a whaling excursion, +arrive without loss of time upon their ground, and return either for fresh +supplies or to repair damages with equal facility. The spirit with which +the colonial youth have engaged in this adventurous and hardy service, is +highly to their credit. The profits arising from it may not be (indeed I +have every reason to think are not) so great as might be supposed, or such +as might reasonably be expected; but the extensive scale on which it is +conducted, speaks equally for the energy and perseverance of the parties +concerned, in the prosecution of their commercial enterprises. It has +enabled them to equip a creditable colonial marine, and given great +importance to their mercantile interests in the mother country. + +In the year 1831, the quantity of sperm and black oil, the produce of the +fisheries exported from New South Wales, amounted to 2,307 tons, and was +estimated, together with skins and whalebone, to be worth 107,971 pounds +sterling. The gross amount of all other exports during that year, did not +exceed 107,697 pounds sterling. Of these exports, the following were the +most considerable: + + +Timber 7,410 pounds +Butter and Cheese 2,376 +Mimosa bark 40 +Hides 7,333 +Horses 7,302 +Salt provisions 5,184 +Wool 66,112 + + +The above is exclusive of 61,000 pounds value of British manufactures +re-exported to the various ports and islands in the Southern Seas. + +OTHER EXPORTS. + +In this scale, moreover, tobacco is not mentioned; but that plant is now +raised for the supply of every private establishment, and will assuredly +form an article of export, as soon as its manufacture shall be well +understood. Neither can it be doubted but that the vine and the olive +will, in a short time, be abundantly cultivated; and that a greater +knowledge of the climate and soil of the more northern parts of the +colony, will lead to the introduction of fresh sources of wealth. + +GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES. + +Having taken this hasty review of the commercial interests of the colony, +we may now turn to a brief examination of its internal structure and +principal natural features. + +I have already given a cursory sketch of the geographical features of the +whole continent. Of the vast area which its coasts embrace, the east part +alone has been fully explored. + +A range of hills runs along the eastern coast, from north to south, which, +in different quarters, vary in their distance from the sea; at one place +approaching it pretty nearly, at another, receding from it to a distance +of forty miles. It is a singular fact, that there is no pass or break in +these mountains, by which any of the rivers of the interior can escape in +an easterly direction. Their spine is unbroken. The consequence is, that +there is a complete division of the eastern and western waters, and that +streams, the heads of which are close to each other, flow away in opposite +directions; the one to pursue a short course to the sea; the other to fall +into a level and depressed interior, the character of which will be +noticed in its proper place. + +GREAT PROPORTION OF BAD SOIL. + +The proportion of bad soil to that which is good in New South Wales, is +certainly very great: I mean the proportion of inferior soil to such as is +fit for the higher purposes of agriculture. Mr. Dawson, the late +superintendent of the Australian Agricultural Company's possessions, has +observed, as a singular fact, that the best soil generally prevails on the +summits of the hills, more especially where they are at all level. He +accounts for so unusual a circumstance by the fact, that elevated +positions are less subject to the effects of fire or floods than their +valleys or flanks, and attributes the general want of vegetable mould over +the colony chiefly to the ravages of the former element, whereby the +growth of underwood, so favourable in other countries to the formation of +soil, is wholly prevented. Undoubtedly this is a principal cause for the +deficiency in question. There is no part of the world in which fires +create such havoc as in New South Wales and indeed in Australia +generally. The climate, on the one hand, which dries up vegetation, and +the wandering habits of the natives on the other, which induce them to +clear the country before them by conflagration, operate equally against +the growth of timber and underwood. + +CAUSE OF THIS. + +But there is another circumstance that appears to have escaped +Mr. Dawson's observation; which is the actual property of the trees +themselves, as to the quantity of vegetable matter they produce in decay. +Being a military man, I cannot be supposed to have devoted much of my time +to agricultural pursuits; but it has been obvious to me, as it must have +been to many others, that in New South Wales, the fall of leaves and the +decay of timber, so far from adding to the richness of its soil, actually +destroy minor vegetation. This fact was brought more home to me in +consequence of its having been my lot to spend some months upon Norfolk +Island, a distant penal settlement attached to the Government of Sydney. +There the abundance of vegetable decay was as remarkable as the want of it +on the Australian Continent. I have frequently sunk up to my knees in a +bed of leaves when walking through its woods; and, often when I placed my +foot on what appeared externally to be the solid trunk of a tree, I have +found it yield to the pressure, in consequence of its decomposition into +absolute rottenness. But such is not the case in New South Wales. There, +no such accumulations of vegetable matter are to be met with; but where +the loftiest tree of the forest falls to the ground, its figure and length +are marked out by the total want of vegetation within a certain distance +of it, and a small elevation of earth, resembling more the refuse or +scoria of burnt bricks than any thing else, is all that ultimately remains +of the immense body which time or accident had prostrated. Thus it would +appear, that it is not less to the character of its woods than to the +ravages of fire that New South Wales owes its general sterility. + +CONNECTION BETWEEN THE GEOLOGY AND VEGETATION. + +Whilst prosecuting my researches in the interior of the colony, I could +not but be struck with the apparent connection between its geology and +vegetation; so strong, indeed, was this connection, that I had little +difficulty, after a short experience, in judging of the rock that formed +the basis of the country over which I was travelling, from the kind of +tree or herbage that flourished in the soil above it. The eucalyptus +pulv., a species of eucalyptus having a glaucus-coloured leaf, of +dwarfish habits and growing mostly in scrub, betrayed the sandstone +formation, wherever it existed, This was the case in many parts of the +County of Cumberland, in some parts of Wombat Brush, at the two passes on +the great south road, over a great extent of country to the N.W. of Yass +Plains, and at Blackheath on the summit of the Blue Mountains. On the +other hand, those open grassy and park-like tracts, of which so much has +been said, characterise the secondary ranges of granite and porphyry. The +trees most usual on these tracts, were the box, an unnamed species of +eucalyptus, and the grass chiefly of that kind, called the oat or forest +grass, which grows in tufts at considerable distances from each other, +and which generally affords good pasturage. On the richer grounds the +angophora lanceolata, and the eucalyptus mammifera more frequently point +out the quality of the soil on which they grow. The first are abundant on +the alluvial flats of the Nepean, the Hawkesbury and the Hunter; the +latter on the limestone formation of Wellington Valley and in the better +portions of Argyle; whilst the cupressus calytris seems to occupy sandy +ridges with the casuarina. It was impossible that these broad features +should have escaped observation: it was naturally inferred from this, that +the trees of New South Wales are gregarious; and in fact they may, in a +great measure, be considered so. The strong line that occasionally +separates different species, and the sudden manner in which several +species are lost at one point, to re-appear at another more distant, +without any visible cause for the break that has taken place, will furnish +a number of interesting facts in the botany of New South Wales. + +It was observed both on the Macquarie river and the Morumbidgee, that the +casuarinae ceased at a particular point. On the Macquarie particularly, +these trees which had often excited our admiration from Wellington Valley +downwards, ceased to occupy its banks below the cataract, nor were they +again noticed until we arrived on the banks of the Castlereagh. The +blue-gum trees, again, were never observed to extend beyond the secondary +embankments of the rivers, occupying that ground alone which was subject +to flood and covered with reeds. These trees waved over the marshes of the +Macquarie, but were not observed to the westward of them for many miles; +yet they re-appeared upon the banks of New-Year's Creek as suddenly as +they had disappeared after we left the marshes, and grew along the line +of the Darling to unusual size. But it is remarkable, that, even in the +midst of the marshes, the blue-gum trees were strictly confined to the +immediate flooded spaces on which the reeds prevailed, or to the very beds +of the water-courses. Where the ground was elevated, or out of the reach +of flood, the box (unnamed) alone occupied it; and, though the branches of +these trees might be interwoven together, the one never left its wet and +reedy bed, the other never descended from its more elevated position. The +same singular distinction marked the acacia pendula, when it ceased to +cover the interior plains of light earth, and was succeeded by another +shrub of the same species. It continued to the banks of New-Year's Creek, +a part of which it thickly lined. To the westward of the creek, another +species of acacia was remarked for the first time. Both shrubs, like the +blue-gum and the box, mixed their branches together, but the creek formed +the line of separation between them. The acacia pendula was not afterwards +seen, but that which had taken its place, as it were, was found to cover +large tracts of country and to form extensive brushes. Many other +peculiarities in the vegetation of the interior are noticed in the body +of this work, but I have thought that these more striking ones deserved +to be particularly remarked upon. + +GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. + +If we strike a line to the N.W. from Sydney to Wellington Valley, we shall +find that little change takes place in the geological features of the +country. The sand-stone of which the first of the barrier ranges is +composed, terminates a little beyond Mount York, and at Cox's River is +succeeded by grey granite. The secondary ranges to the N.W. of Bathurst, +are wholly of that primitive rock; for although there are partial changes +of strata between Bathurst and Moulong Plains, granite is undoubtedly the +rock upon which the whole are based: but at Moulong Plains, a military +station intermediate between Bathurst and Wellington Valley, limestone +appears in the bed of a small clear stream, and with little interruption +continues to some distance below the last-mentioned place. The accidental +discovery of some caves at Moulong Plains, led to the more critical +examination of the whole formation, and cavities of considerable size were +subsequently found in various parts of it, but more particularly in the +neighbourhood of Wellington Valley. The local interest which has of late +years been taken in the prosecution of geological investigations, led many +gentlemen to examine the contents of these caverns; and among the most +forward, Major Mitchell, the Surveyor-General, must justly be considered, +to whose indefatigable perseverance the scientific world is already so +much indebted. + +The caves into which I penetrated, did not present anything particular to +my observation; they differed little from caves of a similar description +into which I had penetrated in Europe. Large masses of stalactites hung +from their roofs, and a corresponding formation encrusted their floors. +They comprised various chambers or compartments, the most remote of which +terminated at a deep chasm that was full of water. A close examination of +these caves has led to the discovery of some organic remains, bones of +various animals embedded in a light red soil; but I am not aware that the +remains of any extinct species have been found, or that any fossils have +been met with in the limestone itself. There can, however, be little doubt +but that the same causes operated in depositing these mouldering remains +in the caves of Kirkdale and those of Wellington Valley. + +About twenty miles below the junction of the Bell with the Macquarie, +free-stone supersedes the limestone, but as the country falls rapidly from +that point, it soon disappears, and the traveller enters upon a flat +country of successive terraces. A schorl rock, of a blue colour and fine +grain, composed of tourmaline and quartz, forms the bed of the Macquarie +at the Cataract; and, in immediate contact with it, a mass of mica slate +of alternate rose, pink, and white, was observed, which must have been +covered by the waters of the river when Mr. Oxley descended it. + +From the Cataract of the Macquarie, a flat extends to the marshes in which +that river exhausts itself. From the midst of this flat Mount Foster and +Mount Harris rise, both of which are porphyritic: but as I have been +particular in describing these heights in their proper place, any minute +notice of them here may be considered unnecessary. We will rather extend +our enquiries to those parts of the colony upon which we shall not be +called upon to remark in the succeeding pages. + +Returning to the coast, we may mark the geological changes in a line to +the S.W. of Sydney; and as my object is to extend the information of my +readers, I shall notice any particular district on either side of the line +I propose to touch upon, which may be worthy of notice. It would appear +that the first decided break in the sandstone formation which penetrates +into the county of Camden, is at Mittagong Range. It is there traversed by +a dike of whinstone, of which that range is wholly composed. The change of +soil and of vegetation are equally remarkable at this place; the one being +a rich, greasy, chocolate-coloured earth, the other partaking greatly of +the intertropical character. In wandering over them, I noticed the wild +fig and the cherry-tree, growing to a much larger size than I had seen +them in any other part of the colony. Upon their branches, the satin bird, +the gangan, and various kinds of pigeons were feeding. Birds unknown to +the eastward of the Blue Mountains, were numerous in the valleys; and +there was an unusual appearance of freshness and moisture in the +vegetation. + +These signs of improvement, however, vanish the moment Mittagong range is +crossed, and sand-stone again forms the basis of the country to a +considerable distance beyond Bong-bong. At a small farm called the +Ploughed Ground, it is again traversed by a dike of whinstone, and a rich +but isolated spot is thus passed over. With occasional and partial +interruption, however, the sand-stone formation continues to an abrupt +pass, from which the traveller descends to the county of Argyle. This pass +is extremely abrupt, and is covered with glaucus, the low scrub I have +noticed as common to the sand-stone formation. A small but lively stream, +called Paddy's River, runs at the bottom of this pass, and immediately to +the S.W. of it, an open forest country of granite base extends for many +miles, on which the eucalyptus manifera is prevalent, and which affords +the best grazing tracts in Argyle. At Goulburn Plains, however, a vein of +limestone occurs, which is evidently connected with that forming the +ShoalHaven Gully, which is perhaps the most remarkable geological feature +in the colony of New South Wales. It is a deep chasm of about a quarter of +a mile in breadth, and 1200 feet in depth. The country on either side is +perfectly level, so much so that the traveller approaches almost to its +very brink before he is aware of his being near so singular an abyss. A +small rivulet flows through the Gully, and discharges itself into the sea +at ShoalHaven; but this river is hardly perceptible, from the summit of +the cliffs forming the sides of the Gully, which are of the boldest and +most precipitous character. The ground on the summit is full of caves of +great depth, but there has been a difficulty in examining them, in +consequence of the violent wind that rushes up them, and extinguishes +every torch. + +The open and grassy forests of Argyle are terminated by another of those +abrupt sand-stone passes I have just described, and the traveller again +falls considerably from his former level, previously to his entering on +Yass Plains, to which this pass is the only inlet. + +From Yass Plains the view to the S. and S.W. is over a lofty and broken +country: mountains with rounded summits, others with towering peaks, and +others again of lengthened form but sharp spine, characterise the various +rocks of which they are composed. The ranges decline rapidly from east to +west, and while on the one hand the country has all the appearance of +increasing height, on the other it sinks to a dead level; nor on the +distant horizon to the N. W. is there a hill or an inequality to be seen. + +From Yass Plains to the very commencement of the level interior, every +range I crossed presented a new rock-formation; serpentine quartz in +huge white masses, granite, chlorite, micaceous schist, sandstone, +chalcedony, quartz, and red jasper, and conglomerate rocks. + +It was however, out of my power, in so hurried a journey as that which I +performed down the banks of the Morumbidgee River, to examine with the +accuracy I could have wished, either the immediate connection between +these rocks or their gradual change from the one to the other. I was +content to ascertain their actual succession, and to note the general +outlines of the ranges; but the defect of vision under which I labour, +prevents me from laying them before the public. + +CHARACTER OF THE SOIL CONNECTED WITH GEOLOGICAL FORMATION. + +From what has been advanced, however, it will appear that the physical +structure of the southern parts of the colony is as varied, as that of the +western interior is monotonous, and we may now pursue our original +observations on the soil of the colony with greater confidence. + +In endeavouring to account for the poverty of the soil in New South Wales, +and in attributing it in a great degree to the causes already mentioned, +it appears necessary to estimate more specifically the influence which the +geological formation of a country exercises on its soil, and how much the +quality of the latter partakes of the character of the rock on which it +reposes. And although I find it extremely difficult to explain myself as +I should wish to do, in the critical discussion on which I have thus +entered, yet as it is material to the elucidation of an important subject +in the body of the work, I feel it incumbent on me to proceed to the best +of my ability. + +I have said that the soil of a country depends much upon its geological +formation. This appears to be particularly the case in those parts of the +colony with which I am acquainted, or those lying between the parallels of +30 degrees and 35 degrees south. Sandstone, porphyry, and granite, +succeed each other from the coast to a very considerable distance into the +interior, on a N. W. line. The light ferruginous dust that is distributed +over the county of Cumberland, and which annoys the traveller by its +extreme minuteness, to the eastward of the Blue Mountains, is as different +from the coarse gravelly soil on the secondary ranges to the westward of +them, as the barren scrubs and thickly-wooded tracts of the former +district are to the grassy and open forests of the latter. + +As soon as I began to descend to the westward it became necessary to pay +strict and earnest attention to the features of the country through which +I passed, in order to determine more accurately the different appearances +which, as I was led to expect, the rivers would assume. In the course of +my examination I found, first, that the broken country through which I +travelled, was generally covered with a loose, coarse, and sandy soil; +and, secondly, that the ranges were wholly deficient in that peat +formation which fills the valleys, or covers the flat summits of the hills +or mountains, in the northern hemisphere. The peculiar property of this +formation is to retain water like a sponge; and to this property the +regular and constant flow of the rivers descending from such hills, may, +in a great measure, be attributed. In New South Wales on the contrary, the +rains that fall upon the mountains drain rapidly through a coarse and +superficial soil, and pour down their sides without a moment's +interruption. The consequence is that on such occasions the rivers are +subject to great and sudden rises, whereas they have scarcely water enough +to support a current in ordinary seasons. At one time the traveller will +find it impracticable to cross them: at another he may do so with ease; +and only from the remains of debris in the branches of the trees high +above, can he judge of the furious torrent they must occasionally +contain. + +This seeming deviation on the part of Nature from her usual laws will no +longer appear such, if we consider its results for a moment. The very +floods which swell the rivers to overflowing, are followed by the most +beneficent effects; and, rude and violent as the means are by which she +accomplishes her purpose, they form, no doubt, a part of that process by +which she preserves the balance of good and evil. Vast quantities of the +best soil have been thus washed down from the mountains to accumulate in +more accessible places. From frequent depositions, a great extent of +country along the banks of every river and creek has risen high above the +influence of the floods, and constitutes the richest tracts in the colony. +The alluvial flats of the Nepean, the Hawkesbury, and the Hunter, are +striking instances of the truth of these observations; to which the plains +of O'Connell and Bathurst must be added. The only good soil upon the two +latter, is in the immediate neighbourhood of the Macquarie River: but, +even close to its banks, the depositions are of little depth, lying on a +coarse gravelly soil, the decomposition of the nearer ranges. The former +is found to diminish in thickness, according to the concavity of the +valley through which the Macquarie flows, and at length becomes mixed with +the coarser soil. This deposit is alone fit for agricultural purposes; +but it does not necessarily follow that the distant country is unavailable +since it is admitted, that the best grazing tracts are upon the secondary +ranges of granite and porphyry. These ranges generally have the appearance +of open forest, and are covered with several kinds of grasses, among which +the long oat-grass is the most abundant. + +COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND. + +If we except the valley of the Nepean, the banks of the South Creek, the +Pennant Hills near Parramatta, and a few other places, the general soil of +the county of Cumberland, is of the poorest description. It is superficial +in most places, resting either upon a cold clay, or upon sandstone; and +is, as I have already remarked, a ferruginous compound of the finest dust. +Yet there are many places upon its surface, (hollows for instance,) in +which vegetable decay has accumulated, or valleys, into which it has been +washed, that are well adapted for the usual purposes of agriculture, and +would, if the country was more generally cleared, be found to exist to a +much greater extent than is at present imagined. I have frequently +observed the isolated patches of better land, when wandering through the +woods, both on the Parramatta River, and at a greater distance from the +coast. And I cannot but think, that it would be highly advantageous to +those who possess large properties in the County of Cumberland to let +Portions of them. The concentration of people round their capital, +promotes more than anything else the prosperity of a colony, by creating +a reciprocal demand for the produce both of the country and the town, +since the one would necessarily stimulate the energy of the farmer, as the +other would rouse the enterprise of the merchant. The consideration, +however, of such a subject is foreign to my present purpose. + +It must not be supposed, that because I have given a somewhat particular +description of the County of Cumberland, I have done so with a view to +bring it forward as a specimen of the other counties, or to found upon it +a general description of the colony. It is, in fact, poorer in every +respect than any tract of land of similar extent in the interior, and is +still covered with dense forests of heavy timber, excepting when the trees +have been felled by dint of manual labour, and the ground cleared at an +expense that nothing but its proximity to the seat of government could +have justified. But experience has proved, that neither the labour nor the +the expense have been thrown away. Many valuable farms and extensive +gardens chequer the face of the country, from which the proprietors +derive a very efficient income. + +COUNTRY WEST OF BLUE MOUNTAINS. + +To the westward of the Blue Mountains, the country differs in many +respects from that lying between those ranges and the coast; and although, +its aspect varies in different places, three principal features appear +more immediately to characterise it. These are, first, plains of +considerable extent wholly destitute of timber; secondly, open undulating +woodlands; and, thirdly, barren unprofitable tracts. The first almost +invariably occur in the immediate neighbourhood of some river, as the +Plains of Bathurst, which are divided by the Macquarie; Goulburn Plains, +through which the Wallandilly flows; and Yass Plains, which are watered by +a river of the same name. The open forests, through which the horseman may +gallop in perfect safety, seem to prevail over the whole secondary ranges +of granite, and are generally considered as excellent grazing tracts. Such +is the country in Argyleshire on either side of the Lachlan, where that +river crosses the great southern road near Mr. Hume's station; such also +are many parts of Goulburn and the whole extent of country lying between +Underaliga and the Morumbidgee River. The barren tracts, on the other +hand, may be said to occupy the central spaces between all the principal +streams. With regard to the proportion that these different kinds of +country bear to each other, there can be no doubt of the undue +preponderance of the last over the first two; but there are nevertheless +many extensive available tracts in every part of the colony. + +MEANS OF INLAND TRANSPORT. + +The greatest disadvantage under which New South Wales labours, is the want +of means for conveying inland produce to the market, or to the coast. The +Blue Mountains are in this respect a serious bar to the internal +prosperity of the colony. By this time, however, a magnificent +road will have been completed across them to the westward, over parts of +which I travelled in 1831. Indeed the efforts of the colonial government +have been wisely directed, not only to the construction of this road, +which the late Governor, General Darling commenced, but also in +facilitating the communication to the southern districts, by an almost +equally fine road over the Razor Back Range, near the Cow Pastures; so +that as far as it is possible for human efforts to overcome natural +obstacles, the wisdom and foresight of the executive have ere this been +successful. + +DISADVANTAGES OF DISTANT SETTLERS. + +The majority of the settlers in the Bathurst country, and in the more +remote interior, are woolgrowers; and as they send their produce to the +market only once a year, receiving supplies for home consumption, on the +return of their drays or carts from thence, the inconvenience of bad +roads is not so much felt by them. But to an agriculturist a residence to +the westward of the Blue Mountains is decidedly objectionable, unless he +possess the means with which to procure the more immediate necessaries of +life, otherwise than by the sale of his grain or other produce, and can be +satisfied to cultivate his property for home consumption, or for the +casual wants of his neighbours. Under such circumstances, a man with a +small private income would enjoy every rational comfort. But of course, +not only in consequence of the loss of labour, but the chance of accidents +during a long journey, the more the distance is increased from Sydney, as +the only place at which the absolute necessaries of life can be purchased, +the greater becomes the objection to a residence in such a part of the +country; and on this account it is, that although some beautiful locations +both as to extent and richness, are to be found to the westward of +Bathurst, equally on the Bell, the Macquarie and the Lachlan, it is not +probable they will be taken up for many years, or will only be occupied as +distant stock stations. + +CHARACTER OF EASTERN COAST. + +Since, therefore, it appears from what has been advanced, that it is not +to the westward the views of any settlers should he directed, excepting +under particular circumstances, it remains for us to consider what other +parts of the colony hold out, or appear to hold out, greater advantages. +The eye naturally turns to the south on the one hand, and to +Port Macquarie northerly on the other. It is to be remarked that the +eastern shores of Australia partake of the same barren character that +marks the other three. it is generally bounded to a certain extent by a +sandy and sterile tract. There are, however, breaks in so prolonged a +line, as might have been expected, where, from particular local causes, +both the soil and vegetation are of a superior kind. At Illawarra for +instance, the contiguity of the mountains to the coast leaves no room for +the sandy belt we have noticed, but the debris from them reaches to the +very shore. Whether from reflected heat, or from some other peculiarity of +situation, the vegetation of Illawarra is of an intertropical character, +and birds that are strangers to the county of Cumberland frequent its +thickets. There is no part of Australia where the feathered race are more +beautiful, or more diversified. The most splendid pigeon, perhaps, that +the world produces, and the satin bird, with its lovely eye, feed there +upon the berries of the ficus (wild fig,) and other trees: and a numerous +tribe of the accipitrine class soar over its dense and spacious forests. + +PORT MACQUARIE AND FIVE ISLANDS. + +We again see a break in the sandy line of the coast at Broken Bay, at +Newcastle, and still further north at Port Macquarie; at which places the +Hawkesbury, the Hunter, and the Hastings severally debouche. Of Port +Macquarie, as a place of settlement, I entertain a very high opinion, in +consequence of its being situated under a most favourable parallel +latitude. I am convinced it holds out many substantial advantages. One of +the most important of these is the circumstance of its having been much +improved when occupied as a penal settlement. And since the shores of the +colony are how navigated by steam-boats, the facility of water +communication would be proportionably great. + +I believe the Five Islands or Illawarr district is considered peculiarly +eligible for small settlers. The great drawback to this place is the +heavy character of its timber and the closeness of its thickets, which vie +almost with the American woods in those respects. The return, however, is +adequate to the labour required in clearing the ground. Between the Five +Islands and Sydney, a constant intercourse is kept up by numerous small +craft; and a communication with the interior, by branch roads from the +great southern line to the coast, would necessarily be thrown open, if the +more distant parts of it were sufficiently peopled. + +RICH TRACTS IN THE INTERIOR. + +Recent surveys have discovered to us rich and extensive tracts in the +remote interior between Jervis Bay and Bateman's Bay, and southwards upon +the western slope of the dividing range. The account given by Messrs. +Hovel and Hume is sufficient to prove that every valley they crossed was +worthy of notice, and that the several rivers they forded were flanked by +rich and extensive flats. + +The distance of Moneroo Plains, and of the Doomot and Morumbidgee Rivers +from Sydney, alarms the settler, who knows not the value of those +localities; but men whose experience has taught them to set this obstacle +at nought, have long depastured their herds on the banks of the last two. +The fattest cattle that supply the Sydney market are fed upon the rich +flats, and in the grassy valleys of the Morumbidgee; and there are several +beautiful farms upon those of the Doomot. Generally speaking, the persons +who reside in those distant parts, pay little attention to the comfort of +their dwellings, or to the raising of more grain than their establishments +may require; but there can be no doubt this part of the interior ought to +be the granary of New South Wales; its climate and greater humidity being +more favourable than that of Sydney for the production of wheat. + +PERIODICAL DROUGHTS; THE SEASONS AFFECTED BY THE MARSHES. + +The most serious disadvantages under which the colony of New South Wales +labours, is in the drought to which it is periodically subject. Its +climate may be said to be too dry; in other respects it is one of the most +delightful under heaven; and experience of the certainty of the recurrence +of the trying seasons to which I allude, should teach men to provide +against their effects. Those seasons, during which no rain falls, appear, +from the observations of former writers, to occur every ten or twelve +years; and it is somewhat singular that no cause has been assigned for +such periodical visitations. Whether the state of the interior has +anything to do with them, and whether the wet or dry condition of the +marshes at all regulate the seasons, is a question upon which I will not +venture to give my decisive opinion. But most assuredly, when the interior +is dry, the seasons are dry, and VICE VERSA. Indeed, not only is this the +case, but rains, from excessive duration in the first year after a +drought, decrease gradually year after year, until they wholly cease for a +time. It seems not improbable, therefore, that the state of the interior +does, in some measure, regulate the fall of rain upon the eastern ranges, +which appears to decrease in quantity yearly as the marshes become +exhausted, and cease altogether, when they no longer contain any water. A +drought will naturally follow until such time as the air becomes +surcharged with clouds or vapour from the ocean, which being no longer +able to sustain their own weight, descend upon the mountains, and being +conveyed by hundreds of streams into the western lowlands, again fill the +marshes, and cause the recurrence of regular seasons. + +TEMPERATURE OF THE CLIMATE. + +The thermometer ranges during the summer months, that is, from September +to March, from 36 degrees to 106 degrees of Fahrenheit, but the mean +of the temperature during the above period is 70 degrees. The instrument +in the winter months ranges from 27 degrees to 98 degrees, with a mean of +66 degrees. However great the summer heat may appear, it is certain that +the climate of New South Wales has not the relaxing and enfeebling effect +upon the constitution, which renders a residence in India or other parts +of the south so intolerable. Neither are any of the ordinary occupations +of business or of pleasure laid aside at noon, or during the hottest part +of the day. The traveller may cast himself at length under the first tree +that invites him, and repose there as safely as if he were in a palace. +Fearless of damps, and unmolested by noxious insects, his sleep is as +sound as it is refreshing, and he rises with renewed spirits to pursue his +journey. Equally so may the ploughman or the labourer seek repose beside +his team, and allow them to graze quietly around him. The delicious +coolness of the morning and the mild temperature of the evening air, in +that luxurious climate, are beyond the power of description. It appears to +have an influence on the very animals, the horses and the cattle being +particularly docile; and I cannot but think it is is some degree the same +happy effect upon some of the hardened human beings who are sent thither +from the old world. + +FRUITS. + +As I have before observed, it has not yet been discovered whether there +are any indigenous fruits of any value in Australia. In the colony of New +South Wales there certainly are none; yet the climate is peculiarly +adapted for the growth of every European and of many tropical productions. +The orange, the fig, the citron, the pomegranate, the peach, the apple, +the guava, the nectarine, the pear, and the loquette, grow side by side +together. The plantain throws its broad leaves over the water, the vine +encircles the cottages, and the market of Sydney is abundantly supplied +with every culinary vegetable. + +In a climate, therefore, so soft that man scarcely requires a dwelling, +and so enchanting that few have left it but with regret, the spirits must +necessarily be acted upon,--and the heart feel lighter. Such, indeed, I +have myself found to be the case; nor have I ever been happier than when +roving through the woods or wandering along one of the silent and +beautiful bays for which the harbour of Port Jackson is so celebrated. I +went to New South Wales as I have already remarked, highly prejudiced +against it, both from the nature of the service, and the character of the +great body of its inhabitants. My regiment has since quitted its shores, +but I am aware there are few of them who would not gladly return. The +feeling I have in its favour arises not, therefore, from the services in +which I was employed, but from circumstances in the colony itself; and I +yet hope to form one of its community and to join a number of valuable and +warm-hearted friends whom I left in that distant part of the world. + +REMARKS ON EMIGRATION. + +On the subject of emigration, it is not my intention to dwell at any +length. My object in these preliminary remarks has been to give the reader +a general idea of the country, in the interior recesses of which I am +about to lead him. Still, however, it may be useful to offer a few general +observations on a topic which has, of late years, become so interesting to +the British public. + +The main consideration with those who, possessing some capital, propose to +emigrate as the means of improving their condition, is, the society likely +to he found in the land fixed on for their future residence. One of the +first questions I have been asked, when conversing on the subject of +emigration, has consequently related to this important matter. I had only +then to observe in reply, that the civil and military establishments in +New South Wales, form the elements of as good society as it is the lot of +the majority to command in Great Britain. + +The houses of the settlers are not scattered over a greater surface than +the residences of country gentlemen here, and if they cannot vie with them +in size, they most assuredly do in many other more important respects; and +if a substantial cottage of brick or stone has any claim to the rank of a +tenantable mansion, there are few of them which do not posses all the +means of exercising that hospitality for which young communities are +remarkable. + +But to sever the links of kindred, and to abandon the homes of our fathers +after years of happy tranquillity, is a sacrifice the magnitude of which +is unquestionable. The feelings by which men are influenced under such +circumstances have a claim to our respect. Indeed, no class of persons can +have a stronger hold upon our sympathies than those whom unmerited adverse +fortune obliges to seek a home in a distant country. + +Far, therefore, be it from me to dispute a single expression of regret to +which they may give utterance. It must, however, he remembered that the +deepest feelings of anguish are providentially alleviated in time. Our +heaviest misfortunes are frequently repaired by industry and caution. The +sky clears up, as it were: new interests engage the attention, and the +cares of a family or the improvement of a newly acquired property engross +those moments which would otherwise be spent in vain and unprofitable +regrets. + +DESCRIPTION OF IMMIGRANTS; MOST LIKELY TO PROSPER. + +It cannot be doubted that persons such as I have described, whose conduct +has hitherto been regulated by prudence, and whose main object is to +provide for their children, are the most valuable members of every +community, whether young or old. To such men few countries hold out +greater prospects of success than New South Wales; for the more we extend +our enquiries, the more we shall find that the success of the emigrant in +that colony depends upon his prudence and foresight rather than on any +collateral circumstance of climate or soil; and to him who can be +satisfied with the gradual acquirement of competency, it is the land of +promise. Blessed with a climate of unparalleled serenity, and of unusual +freedom from disease, the settler has little external cause of anxiety, +little apprehension of sickness among his family or domestics, and little +else to do than to attend to his own immediate interests. I should wish to +illustrate the observations by two or three instances of their practical +bearing and tendency. + +CASES OF EMIGRANTS; CAUSES OF SUCCESS OR FAILURE. + +It was on my return from my second expedition, that I visited +Lieut. ****** who resides in the southern parts of the colony. The day +after my arrival, he took me round his property, and explained the various +improvements he had made, considering the small means with which he had +commenced. At this part of our conversation, we came within view of his +house, a substantial weather-board cottage. "I trust," said I, turning +to him, "you will excuse the question I am about to ask; for your +frankness emboldens me to propose it, and on your answer much of the +effect of what you have been saying will depend. In effecting these +various improvements, and in the building of that house, have you been +obliged to embarrass yourself, or are they free from incumbrance?"--"Your +question," he said, "is a reasonable one, and I will answer it with the +frankness you are kind enough to ascribe to me. I have ever made it a rule +not to exceed my income. Mrs. ****** bore our first trials with so much +cheerfulness, and contributed so much to my happiness and my prosperity, +that I felt myself bound to build her a good house with the first money +I had to spare." I confess this answer raised my host in my estimation, +and it was a gratifying proof to me of the success that attends industry +and perseverance. + +But let us look at another case. Mr. *** had a property to the N.W. of +Sydney, and having considerable funded means when he arrived in the +colony, he soon put his property into a state of progressive improvement, +and being in truth an excellent practical farmer, it assumed the +appearance of regularity and order. Had Mr. *** stopped at this moment, +he would have been in the enjoyment of affluence and of every rational +comfort. But instead of exercising prudent rules of hospitality, he gave +way to the natural generosity of his disposition, entered into expenses he +could not afford, and was ultimately obliged to part with his estate. Now +it is deeply to be regretted, that one whose energies and abilities +particularly fitted him for the life he had chosen, should have failed +through such conduct; and it is more than probable, that if he had +commenced with smaller means, and had gradually improved his property, his +fate would have been very different. + +I shall leave these cases without any further comment, convinced as I am, +that each of them furnishes matter for serious consideration, and that +they are practical illustrations of the causes of success or failure of +those who emigrate to the colony of New South Wales. And although I do not +mean to affirm, that the majority follow Mr. ***'s example, I must venture +to assert that thoughtlessness--useless expenditure in the first +instance--waste of time and other circumstances, lead to equally ruinous +consequences. + +MORAL OBJECTIONS TO THE COLONY. + +One of the greatest objections which families have to New South Wales, is +their apprehension of the moral effects that are likely to overwhelm them +by bad example, and for which no success in life could compensate. In a +colony constituted like that of New South Wales, the proportion of crime +must of course be great. Yet it falls less under the notice of private +families than one might at first sight have been led to suppose. +Drunkenness, as in the mother country, is the besetting sin; but it is +confined chiefly to the large towns in consequence of the difficulty of +procuring spirits in the country. There are, no doubt, many incorrigible +characters sent to settle in the interior, and it is an evil to have these +men, even for a single day, to break the harmony of a previously well +regulated establishment, or to injure its future prospects by the +influence of evil example. They are men who are sent upon trial, from on +board a newly arrived ship, and they generally terminate their misconduct +either on the roads or at a penal settlement, being thus happily removed +from the mass of the prisoners. Frequently, however, men remain for years +under the same master. They become attached to their occupations, their +hearts become softened by kindness, and they atone as much as they +possibly can for previous error. + +SYSTEM OF IMMIGRATION RECOMMENDED; ENCOURAGEMENT FOR EMIGRATION. + +Still there can be no doubt, but that the evil complained of is +considerable. It is from this reason, and from my personal knowledge of +the southern parts of the colony, that I should rejoice to see its flats +and its valleys filled with an industrious population of a better +description of farmers. A hope might then be reasonably indulged, that the +Home Government would not be backward in recognising, and in acting upon +a principle, the soundness of which has been felt and acknowledged in all +ages, but the chief difficulty of which rests in its judicious +application. I allude to a system of emigration. Sure I am that if it were +well organized, and care were taken to profit by the experience of the +past in similar attempts, it could not fail to be attended with ultimate +success. The evils resulting from a surplus population in an old +community, were never more seriously felt than in Great Britain at the +present moment. Assuming that the amount of surplus population is +2,000,000, the excess of labour and competition thus occasioned by +diminishing profits and wages, creates, it has been said, an indirect tax +to the enormous extent of 20,000,000 pounds per annum. It has appeared +to many experienced persons, that it is in emigration, we should best find +the means of relief from this heavy pressure; particularly if the +individuals encouraged to go out to the colonies were young persons of +both sexes, from the industrious classes of the community. Even if no +more than three couples were induced to emigrate from each parish in +England in ten years, the relief to the springs of industry would be very +great. Besides, the funds necessary for this purpose would revert to the +country by a thousand indirect channels. Persons unacquainted with our +Australian colonies, whether Van Dieman's Land or New South Wales, can +form little idea of the increasing demand for, and consumption in them of +every species of British manufacture. The liberal encouragement given by +government to every practicable scheme of emigration, and the sum advanced +by it towards the expenses of the voyage to the labouring classes, +sufficiently indicate the light in which the subject is viewed by the +legislature; and the fact that no private family taking out servants to +Sydney, has in any one instance been able to retain them, on account of +offers more advantageous from other quarters, shows clearly the great +demand for labour in the colony. If I might judge of the feelings of the +majority of respectable individuals there, from the assurances of the few, +they would willingly defray any parochial expenses attendant on the +voyage, provided the services of such individuals could be secured to them +for a time sufficiently long to remunerate them for such pavement. The +tide of emigration should be directed to Sydney, Van Dieman's Land, or +Western Australia, upon condition of the labourer's receiving a certain +sum in wages, and his daily subsistence from his employer, with an +understanding, however, that he must consider himself bound for two years +to such employer. Surely there are hundreds of our indigent countrymen, +who would gladly seek a land of such plenty, and cast away the natural, +but unavailing regret of leaving home to secure to themselves and their +families, the substantial comforts of life on such easy conditions. + +COMMITTEE FOUND AT SYDNEY. + +It is not, perhaps, generally known that a committee has been formed in +Sydney, to advise settlers as to the best mode of proceeding on arrival +there. Such a plan is one of obvious utility; and if those who may find +themselves at a loss for information would apply to this committee for +advice, rather than to individuals with whom they may become casually +acquainted, they would further their own interests, and in all probability +ensure success. Still there are some broad rules upon which every man +ought to act, which I shall endeavour to point out, and it will give me no +ordinary satisfaction, if I should be the means of directing any one to +the road of prosperity and comfort. + +HINTS TO EMIGRANTS. + +It is to be feared that those who emigrate to New South Wales, generally +anticipate too great facility in their future operations and certainty of +success in conducting them; but they should recollect that competency +cannot be obtained without labour. Every trade--every profession in this +respect, is subject to the same law--the lawyer, the physician, the +tradesman, and the mechanic. This labour is required at our hands, even in +an old community; how much more then is it called for in a new, where the +ingenuity of men is put to trial to secure those means of accomplishing +their ends which here are abundant. Now, it appears to me but consistent, +that he who is obliged to leave his native country from want of means to +hold his station there, can hardly expect to find, or rather to secure, +abundance elsewhere without some exertion. Every man who emigrates should +proceed with a conviction on his mind, that he is about to encounter years +of labour and privation. He will not then be disappointed at partial +reverses, and will be more thankful for unexpected prosperity. I feel +persuaded the tone of mind has a great deal to do with success, because it +influences the conduct of the individual. Supposing, however, that an +emigrant has taken this rational view of his situation, he should +determine on his pursuits, and allow nothing but absolute certainty of +better fortune to turn him aside. Men, however, landing at Sydney, in +their eagerness for information get bewildered, give up their original +plans, adopt new and uncertain speculations, trifle away both their time +and their money, and ultimately ruin themselves. An individual who goes to +New South Wales for the purpose of settling, should not remain in Sydney +a day longer than is necessary for the arrangement of his affairs. Every +shilling spent there is thrown away. The greatest facility is given by the +different departments of the Colonial Government to the settlers; and it +is entirely his own fault if he trifles away his time in search of +information elsewhere than at the fountainhead, or if he trusts to any +other opinion than his own, supposing him experienced as to the quality of +the land he may fix upon. Let him be speedy in his selection, and fix +himself upon his allotment as soon as possible. Instead of overstocking +his farm, or employing more labourers than he can afford to keep, let him +be satisfied with a gradual increase of his stock, and wait patiently till +he can better afford to employ labour; above all, let him avoid +embarrassing himself by the purchase of any superfluous or unnecessary +comfort. I consider that man has already failed, who runs into debt in the +first instance, or who exhausts his means in the purchase of large herds, +from the vain expectation that their increase will clear him. The time was +when those idle speculations were occasionally attended with success, but +such is not now the case. The energies of the agriculturist are directed +to their proper channel, and if the few are unable to make rapid fortunes, +the many have escaped inevitable ruin. No farm in a state of nature can be +expected to yield any return of consequence for the first year. It is +incumbent on a settler to provide for his establishment, or to retain the +means of providing for it as circumstances may require. + +Farming implements are as cheap in Sydney as in England. Horses and cattle +are cheaper. It requires little, therefore, to stock a farm in a +reasonable manner. On the other hand, the climate is so mild that the want +of a house is scarcely felt, and a temporary residence easily constructed. +On the whole I am convinced, that a man who regulates his conduct by +prudence, and who perseveringly follows up his occupations, who behaves +with kindness to those around him, and performs his social and moral +duties with punctuality, will ultimately secure to himself a home that +will make up for the one he has quitted in the land of his fathers, and +place him in as respectable and as happy a situation as that which he +there enjoyed. + + +***** + + +PROGRESS OF INLAND DISCOVERY. + +Having thrown out the foregoing remarks for the information of the general +reader, and of persons who look to Australia with the more earnest views +of selecting a colonial home, I now return to the immediate object of +these volumes; but before entering on the narrative of my own expeditions, +I think it necessary to advert cursorily to the discoveries previously +accomplished. + +The journeys of Mr. Oxley, far into the western interior of Australia, +gave rise to various and conflicting opinions as to the character of the +more central parts of that extensive continent, of which the colony of New +South Wales forms but a small portion. I feel, therefore, called upon +briefly to advert to the conclusions which that able and intelligent +officer drew from his personal observation of the country into which he +penetrated, as an acquaintance with his opinions will not only tend to +throw a clearer light on the following details, but will, also, convey +much necessary information to those of my readers who may not have +perused his journals. It is necessary, however, in order to divest the +subject of all obscureness, to trace, in the first instance, the progress +of inland discovery, in New South Wales, from the first foundation of the +colony to the period when Mr. Oxley's exertions attracted the public +attention. + +In the year 1788, the British Government took formal possession of the +eastern coast of Australia, by the establishment of a penal colony at Port +Jackson. The first settlers, under Governor Phillips, had too many +difficulties to contend with to submit themselves to be thwarted from +pursuits essential to their immediate safety and comfort, by the prospect +of remote and uncertain advantages. It was by perseverance and toil alone +that they first established and ultimately spread themselves over that +part of the territory, which, flanked by the ocean on the one hand, and +embraced as it were by the Nepean River on the other, is now entitled the +County Of Cumberland. For many years, this single district supplied the +wants of the settlers. Upon it they found ample pasture for their herds, +and sufficient employment for themselves. Nor was it until a succession of +untoward seasons, and the rapid increase of their stock pointed out to +them the necessity of seeking for more extensive pasturage, that they +contemplated surmounting that dark and rugged chain of mountains, which, +like the natural ramparts of Spain and Italy, rose high over the nether +forest, and broke the line of the western horizon. + +MR. CALEY'S ATTEMPT. + +A Mr. Caley is said to have been the first who attempted to scale the Blue +Mountains: but he did not long persevere in struggling with difficulties +too great for ordinary resolution to overcome. It appears that he retraced +his steps, after having penetrated about sixteen miles into their dark and +precipitous recesses; and a heap of stones, which the traveller passes +about that distance from Erne Ford, on the road to Bathurst, marks the +extreme point reached by the first expedition to the westward of the +Nepean river. + +LIEUT. LAWSON'S EXPEDITION. + +Shortly after the failure of this expedition, the sad effects of a long +protracted drought called forth a more general spirit of enterprise and +exertion among the settlers; and Mr. Oxley makes honorable mention of the +perseverance and resolution with which Lieut. Lawson, of the 104th +regiment, accompanied by Messrs. Blaxland and Wentworth, conducted an +expedition into the Blue Mountains. Their efforts were successful: and +the objects of their enterprise would have been completely attained, but +for the failure of their provisions at a moment when their view of the +distant interior was such as to convince them that they had overcome the +most formidable obstacles to their advance, and that in their further +progress few impediments would have presented themselves. + +MR. EVANS' DISCOVERIES. + +The success of this undertaking induced Governor Macquarie to further the +prosecution of inland discovery, and of attempts to ascertain the nature +of the country of which Mr. Lawson only obtained a glimpse. An expedition +was accordingly dispatched under Mr. Evans, the Deputy Surveyor-General, +to follow the route taken by the former one, and to penetrate as far as +practicable into the western interior. The result was the discovery of the +Macquarie river, and of Bathurst Plains. The report of Mr. Evans was so +favourable, that orders were immediately issued for the construction of a +line of road across the mountains. When that was completed, the Governor +went in person to fix the site of a future town on Bathurst Plains. From +thence Mr. Evans, who accompanied the Governor on the occasion, was +directed to proceed to the southward and westward, to ascertain the nature +of the country in that direction. He discovered another considerable +river, flowing, like the Macquarie, to the west, to which he gave the name +of the Lachlan. The promising appearance of these two streams, and the +expectation of all parties that they would be found to water rich and +extensive tracts of country, led to the fitting out of a more important +expedition than any which had before been contemplated. + +MR. OXLEY'S DISCOVERIES. + +Mr. Oxley, the Surveyor-General of the Colony, was appointed chief of this +expedition, and was directed to trace the Lachlan and Macquarie rivers, as +far as practicable, with a view to ascertain their capabilities and the +nature of the country they watered. In 1817, Mr. Oxley directed his +attention to the former river, and continued to follow its windings, until +it appeared that its waters were lost in successive marshes and it ceased +to be a river. In the following year he turned towards the Macquarie, and +traced it, in like manner, until he was checked by high reeds that covered +an extensive plain before him, amidst which the channel of the river was +lost. + +From what he observed of the country, on both these occasions, he was led +to infer that beyond the limits of his advance the interior had a uniform +level, and was, for the most part, uninhabitable and under water. Its +features must have been strongly marked to have confirmed such an opinion +in the mind of the late Surveyor-General. It stands recorded on the pages +of his journal, that he travelled over a country of many miles in extent, +after clearing the mountains, which so far from presenting any rise of +ground to the eye, bore unequivocal marks of frequent and extensive +inundation. He traced two rivers of considerable size, and found that, at +a great distance from each other, they apparently terminated in marshes, +and that the country beyond them was low and unbroken. In his progress +eastward, he crossed a third stream (the Castlereagh), about forty-five +miles from the Macquarie, seemingly not inferior to it in size, +originating in the mountains for which he was making, and flowing nearly +parallel to the other rivers into a level country like that which he had +just quitted. + +DISCOVERIES OF MESSRS. MECHAN, HUME, HOVEL AND CUNNINGHAM. + +Mr. Evans, moreover, who accompanied Mr. Oxley on these journeys, and who +had been detached by his principal from Mount Harris, to ascertain the +nature of the country in the line which the expedition was next to pursue, +having crossed the Castlereagh considerably below the place at which the +party afterwards effected a passage, reported that the river was then +running through high reeds. The inference naturally drawn by Mr. Oxley, +was, that it terminated as the Lachlan and the Macquarie had done; and +that their united waters formed an inland sea or basin. It is evident that +Mr. Oxley had this impression on his mind, when he turned towards the +coast; but the wet state of the lowlands prevented him from ascertaining +its correctness or error. Doubt, consequently, still existed as to the +nature of the country he had left behind him; a question in which the best +interests of the colony were apparently involved. Subsequently to these +discoveries, Mr. Surveyor Mechan, accompanied by Mr. Hamilton Hume, a +colonist of considerable experience, explored the country more to the +southward and westward of Sydney, and discovered most of the new country +called Argyle, and also Lake Bathurst. + +Mr. Hume was afterwards associated with a Mr. Hovel, in an excursion to +the south coast, under the auspices of Sir Thomas Brisbane. After a most +persevering and laborious journey, they reached the sea; but it is +uncertain whether they made Port Philips, or Western Port. Mr. Hume, whose +practical experience will yield to that of no man, entertains a conviction +that it was to the former they descended from the neighbouring ranges; but +Mr. Hovel, I believe supports a contrary opinion. In the early stage of +their journey, they passed over York or Yass Plains; and, after crossing +the Morumbidgee, were generally entangled among mountain ranges that +increased in height to the east and south-east. They crossed three +considerable rivers, falling westerly, which they named the Goulburn, the +Hume, and the Ovens; and found a beautiful and well-watered country in the +vicinity of the coast. + +In 1826, Mr. Allan Cunningham, Botanical Collector to his late Majesty, +traversed a considerable portion of the interior to the north of Bathurst, +and, with a laudable zeal, devoted his labours to the acquisition of +general information, as well as to his more immediate professional +pursuits. In 1827, this gentleman again bent his steps towards the +northward, and succeeded in gaining the 28th parallel of latitude; and, +on a subsequent occasion, having taken his departure from Moreton Bay, he +connected his former journey with that settlement, and thus contributed +largely to our knowledge of the mountain country between it and the +capital. Mr. Cunningham, who, independently of his individual excursions, +had not only circumnavigated the Australian Continent with Capt. King, +but had formed also one of the party with Mr. Oxley, in the journeys +before noticed, had adopted this gentleman's opinion with regard to the +swampy and inhospitable character of the distant interior. Its depressed +appearance from the high ground on which Mr. Cunningham subsequently +moved, tended to confirm this opinion, which was moreover daily gaining +strength from the reports of the natives, who became more frequent in +their intercourse with the whites, and who reported that there were large +waters to the westward, on which the natives had canoes, and in which +there were fish of great size. + +It became, therefore, a current opinion, that the western interior of New +Holland comprehended an extensive basin, of which the ocean of reeds which +had proved so formidable to Mr. Oxley, formed most probably the outskirts; +and it was generally thought that an expedition proceeding into the +interior, would encounter marshes of vast extent, which would be extremely +difficult to turn, and no less dangerous to enter. + +It remained to be proved, however, whether these conjectures were founded +in fact. The chief difficulty lay in the character of the country, and in +providing the necessary means to ensure success. Those which were resorted +to will be found in the succeeding chapter. Whether they would have been +found sufficient and applicable had the interior been wholly under water, +is doubtful; and my impression on this point induced me to make more +efficient arrangements on the second expedition. + + + + + +EXPEDITION DOWN THE BANKS OF THE MACQUARIE RIVER IN 1828 AND 1829. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + +State of the Colony in 1828-29--Objects of the Expedition--Departure +from Sydney--Wellington Valley--Progress down the Macquarie--Arrival at +Mount Harris--Stopped by the marshes--Encamp amidst reeds--Excursions down +the river--Its termination-- Appearance of the marshes--Opthalmic +affection of the men--Mr. Hume's successful journey to the northward-- +Journey across the plain--Second great marsh--Perplexities--Situation of +the exploring party--Consequent resolutions. + + +The year 1826 was remarkable for the commencement of one of those fearful +droughts to which we have reason to believe the climate of New South Wales +is periodically subject. It continued during the two following years with +unabated severity. The surface of the earth became so parched up that +minor vegetation ceased upon it. Culinary herbs were raised with +difficulty, and crops failed even in the most favourable situations. +Settlers drove their flocks and herds to distant tracts for pasture and +water, neither remaining for them in the located districts. The interior +suffered equally with the coast, and men, at length, began to despond +under so alarming a visitation. It almost appeared as if the Australian +sky were never again to be traversed by a cloud. + +OBJECTS OF THE EXPEDITION. + +But, however severe for the colony the seasons had proved, or were likely +to prove, it was borne in mind at this critical moment, that the wet and +swampy state of the interior had alone prevented Mr. Oxley from +penetrating further into it, in 1818. Each successive report from +Wellington Valley, the most distant settlement to the N. W., confirmed the +news of the unusually dry state of the lowlands, and of the exhausted +appearance of the streams falling into them. It was, consequently, hoped +that an expedition, pursuing the line of the Macquarie, would have a +greater chance of success than the late Surveyor General had; and that the +difficulties he had to contend against would be found to be greatly +diminished, if not altogether removed. The immediate fitting out of an +expedition was therefore decided upon, for the express purpose of +ascertaining the nature and extent of that basin into which the Macquarie +was supposed to fall, and whether any connection existed between it and +the streams falling westerly. As I had early taken a great interest in the +geography of New South Wales, the Governor was pleased to appoint me to +the command of this expedition. + +JOURNEY FROM SYDNEY TO EMU PLAINS. + +In the month of September, 1828, I received his Excellency's commands to +prepare for my journey; and by the commencement of November, had organized +my party, and completed the necessary arrangements. On the 9th of that +month, I waited on the Governor, at Parramatta, to receive his definitive +instructions. As the establishments at Sydney had been unable to supply me +with the necessary number of horses and oxen, instructions had been +forwarded to Mr. Maxwell, the superintendent of Wellington Valley, to +train a certain number for my use; and I was now directed to push for that +settlement without loss of time. I returned to Sydney in the afternoon of +the 9th, and on the 10th took leave of my brother officers, to commence a +journey of very dubious issue; and, in company with my friend, +Staff-surgeon M'Leod, who had obtained permission to accompany me to the +limits of the colony, followed my men along the great western road. We +moved leisurely over the level country, between the coast and the Nepean +River, and availed ourselves of the kind hospitality of those of our +friends whose property lay along that line of road, to secure more +comfortable places of rest than the inns would have afforded. + +We reached Sheane, the residence of Dr. Harris, on the 11th, and were +received by him with the characteristic kindness with which friends or +strangers are ever welcomed by that gentleman, He had accompanied +Mr. Oxley as a volunteer in 1818, and his name was then given to the +mount which formed the extreme point to which the main body of the first +expedition down the banks of the Macquarie penetrated, in a westerly +direction. + +The general appearance of the property of Dr. Harris, showed how much +perseverance and labour had effected towards its improvement. Many acres +of ground bore a promising crop, over which a gloomy forest had once +waved. The Doctor's farming establishment was as complete as his husbandry +seemed to be prosperous; but he did not appear to be satisfied with the +extent of his dwelling, to which he was making considerable additions, +although I should have thought it large enough for all ordinary purposes +of residence or hospitality. The rewards of successful industry were +everywhere visible. + +FROM EMU PLAINS TO WELLINGTON VALLEY. + +On the 13th, we gained Regent's Ville, the more splendid mansion of Sir +John Jamieson, which overlooks the Nepean River, and commands the most +beautiful and extensive views of the Blue Mountains. Crossing the ford on +the 14th, we overtook the men as they were toiling up the first ascent of +those rugged bulwarks, which certainly gave no favourable earnest of the +road before us; and, as we could scarcely hope to reach the level country +to the westward without the occurrence of some accident, I determined to +keep near the drays, that I might be on hand should my presence be +required. We gained O'Connell's plains on the 20th November, and arrived +at Bathurst on the 22nd, with no other damage than the loss of one of the +props supporting the boat which snapped in two as we descended Mount York. +On examination, it was found that the boat had also received a slight +contusion, but it admitted of easy repair. + +I was detained at Bathurst longer than I intended, in consequence of +indisposition, and during my stay there experienced many proofs of the +kind hospitality of the settlers of that promising district: nor was I +ever more impressed with the importance of the service upon which I was +employed, or more anxious as to the issue, than while contemplating the +rapid advance of agriculture upon its plains, and the formidable bar to +its prosperity which I had left behind me, in the dark and gloomy ranges +which I had crossed. + +On the 27th, Mr. Hamilton Hume, whose experience well qualified him for +the task, and who had been associated with me in the expedition, having +joined me, we proceeded on our journey, and reached Wellington Valley +about the end of the month. + +WELLINGTON VALLEY. + +I wished to push into the interior without any delay, or at least, so soon +as we should have completed our arrangements and organized the party; but, +although Mr. Maxwell had paid every attention to the training of the +cattle, he was of opinion that they could not yet be wholly relied upon, +and strongly recommended that they should be kept at practice for another +week. As we could not have left the settlement under the most favourable +circumstances in less than four days, the further delay attendant on this +measure was considered immaterial, and it was, accordingly, determined +upon. Mr. Hume undertook to superintend the training of the animals, and +this left me at leisure to gather such information as would be of use to +us in our progress down the river. + +In his description of Wellington Valley, Mr. Oxley has not done it more +than justice. It is certainly a beautiful and fertile spot, and it was now +abundant in pasturage, notwithstanding the unfavourable season that had +passed over it. + +The settlement stands upon the right bank of the Bell, about two miles +above the junction of that stream with the Macquarie. Its whitewashed +buildings bore outward testimony to the cleanliness and regularity of the +inhabitants; and the respectful conduct of the prisoners under his charge, +showed that Mr. Maxwell had maintained that discipline by which alone he +could have secured respect to himself and success to his exertions, at +such a distance from the seat of government. + +The weather was so exceedingly hot, during our stay, that it was +impossible to take exercise at noon; but in the evening, or at an early +hour in the morning, we were enabled to make short excursions in the +neighbourhood. + +Mr. Maxwell informed me that there were three stations below the +settlement, the first of which, called Gobawlin, belonging to Mr. Wylde, +was not more than five miles from it; the other two, occupied by Mr. +Palmer, were at a greater distance, one being nineteen, the other +thirty-four miles below the junction of the Bell. He was good enough to +send for the stockman (or chief herdsman), in charge of the last, to give +me such information of the nature of the country below him, as he could +furnish from personal knowledge or from the accounts of the natives. + +LOW STATE OF THE MACQUARIE RIVER. + +Mr. Maxwell pointed out to me the spot on which Mr. Oxley's boats had been +built, close upon the bank of the Macquarie; and I could not but reflect +with some degree of apprehension on the singularly diminished state of the +river from what it must then have been to allow a boat to pass down it. +Instead of a broad stream and a rapid current, the stream was confined to +a narrow space in the centre of the channel, and it ran so feebly amidst +frequent shallows that it was often scarcely perceptible. The Bell, also, +which Mr. Oxley describes as dashing and rippling along its pebbly bed, +had ceased to flow, and consisted merely of a chain of ponds. + +On the 3rd of Dec, the stockman from below arrived; but the only +information we gathered from him was the existence of a lake to the left +of the river, about three days' journey below the run of his herds, on the +banks of which he assured us, the native companions, a species of stork, +stood in rows like companies of soldiers. + +He brought up a nest of small paroquets of the most beautiful plumage, as +a present to Mr. Maxwell, and affirmed that they were common about his +part of the river. The peculiarity of the seasons had also brought a +parrot into the valley which had never before visited it. This delicate +bird was noticed by Captain Cook upon the coast, and is called +PSITTACUS NOVAE HOLLANDIAE, or New Holland Parrot, by Mr. Brown. It had +not, however, been subsequently seen until the summer of 1828, when it +made its appearance at Wellington Valley in considerable numbers, together +with a species of merops or mountain bee-eater. + +DEPARTURE FOR THE INTERIOR. + +On the 5th, our preparations being wholly completed, and the loads +arranged, the party was mustered, and was found to consist of myself and +Mr. Hume, two soldiers and eight prisoners of the crown, two of whom were +to return with dispatches. Our animals numbered two riding, and seven +pack, horses, two draft, and eight pack, bullocks, exclusive of two +horses of my own, and two for the men to be sent back. + +BANKS OF THE MACQUARIE. + +The morning of the 7th December, the day upon which we were to leave the +valley, was ushered in by a cloudless sky, and that heated appearance in +the atmosphere which foretells an oppressively sultry day. I therefore put +off the moment of our departure to the evening, and determined to proceed +no further than Gobawlin. I was the more readily induced to order this +short journey because the animals had not been practised to their full +loads, and I thought they might have given some trouble at starting with +an unusual weight. They moved off however very quietly, and as if they had +been accustomed to their work by a long course of training. We took our +departure from the settlement at 3 p.m. and, crossing to the right bank of +the Macquarie, a little above its junction with the Bell, reached Mr +Wylde's station about half-past five. Thus we commenced our journey under +circumstances as favorable as could have been wished. In disengaging +ourselves on the following day from the hills by which Wellington Valley +is encompassed on the westward, with a view to approach Mr. Palmer's first +station, we kept rather wide of the river, and only occasionally touched +on its more projecting angles. The soil at a distance from the stream was +by no means so good as that in its immediate vicinity, nor was the timber +of the same description. On the rich and picturesque grounds near the +river the angophora prevailed with the flooded gum, and the scenery upon +its banks was improved by the casuarinae that overhung them. On the +latter, inferior eucalypti and cypresses were mixed together. The country +was broken and undulating, and the hills stony, notwithstanding which, +they appeared to have an abundance of pasture upon them. Mr. Hume rode +with me to the summit of a limestone elevation, from which I thought it +probable we might have obtained such a view as would have enabled us to +form some idea of the country into which we were about to descend. But in +following the river line, the eye wandered over a dark and unbroken +forest alone. The ranges from which we were fast receding formed an +irregular and beautiful landscape to the southward; and contrasted +strongly with the appearance of the country to the N. W., in which +direction it was rapidly assuming a level. + +We reached Mr. Palmer's at a late hour in the afternoon, in consequence of +a delay we experienced in crossing a gully, and encamped upon a high bank +immediately opposite to the mouth of Molle's rivulet which here joins the +Macquarie from the southward. The cattle had consumed all the food, and +the ground on both sides of the river looked bare and arid. + +No doubt, however, the face of the country in ordinary seasons wears a +very different appearance. Its general elevation continued high; nor did +the Macquarie assume any change of aspect. Mountain debris and rounded +pebbles of various kinds formed its bed, which was much encumbered with +timber. + +DIBILAMBLE. + +We had been unable to persuade any of the natives of Wellington Valley to +accompany us as guides, on our leaving that settlement. Even Mr. Maxwell's +influence failed; for, notwithstanding the promises of several, when they +saw that we were ready to depart, they either feigned sickness or stated +that they were afraid of the more distant natives. The fact is, that they +were too lazy to wander far from their own district, and too fond of +Maxwell's beef to leave it for a precarious bush subsistence. Fortunately +we found several natives with Mr. Palmer's stockmen, who readily undertook +to conduct us by the nearest route to the cataract, which we considered to +be midway between Wellington Valley and Mount Harris. We started under +their guidance for Dibilamble, Mr. Palmer's second station, and reached it +about half-past 4 p.m. The distance between the two is sixteen miles. The +country for some miles differs in no material point from that through +which we had already passed. The same rich tracts of soil near the river +and the same inferiority in the tracks remote from it. Near Dibilamble, +however, the limestone formation terminates, and gives place to barren +stony ridges, upon which the cypress callities is of close and stunted +growth. The ridges themselves were formed of a coarse kind of freestone +in a state of rapid decomposition. The Tabragar (the Erskine of Mr. Oxley) +falls into the Macquarie at Dibilamble. It had long ceased to flow, being +a small mountain torrent whose source, if we judge from the shingly nature +of its bed, cannot be very distant. Our descent was considerable during +the day; the rapids were frequent in the river, but it underwent no change +in its general appearance. Its waters were hard and transparent, and its +banks, in many places, extremely lofty; with a red sandy loam and gravel +under the alluvial deposits. It generally happened that where the bank was +high on the one side it was low and subject to flood, to a limited extent +at least, on the other. Upon these low grounds the blue-gum trees were of +lofty growth, but on the upper levels box prevailed. + +SCENERY NEAR THE RIVER. + +The views upon the river were really beautiful, and varied at every turn; +nor is it possible for any tree to exceed the casuarina in the graceful +manner in which it bends over the stream, or clings to some solitary rock +in its centre. + +It here became necessary for us to cross to the left bank of the river, +not only to avoid its numerous windings, and thus to preserve as much as +possible the direct line to Mount Harris; but also, because the travelling +was much better on the south side. We therefore availed ourselves of a +ford opposite to the ground on which the tents had stood; and then pursued +our journey, in a south-westerly course, over a country of a description +very inferior to that of any we had previously noticed. + +Iron-bark and cypresses generally prevailed along our line of route on a +poor and sandy soil, which improved after we passed Elizabeth Burn, a +small creek mentioned by Mr. Oxley. + +TAYLOR'S RIVULET. + +We approached the river again early in the day, and pitched our tent on +the summit of a sloping bank that overlooked one of its long still +reaches. We were protected from the sun by the angophora trees, which +formed a hanging wood around us, and, with its bright green foliage, gave +a cheerfulness to the scene that was altogether unusual. The opposite side +of the river was rather undulated, and the soil appeared to be of the +finest description. The grass, although growing in tufts, afforded +abundance of pasture for the cattle; and, on the whole, this struck me as +a most eligible spot for a station, and I found it occupied as such on the +return of the expedition. We had encamped about a quarter of a mile from +Taylor's Rivulet, which discharges itself into the Macquarie from the +N. E., and is the first stream, upon the right bank, below the Wellington +Valley. + +Immediately after receiving it the river sweeps away to the southward, in +consequence of which it became again necessary for us to cross it. Our +guides, who were intelligent lads, led the cattle to a ford, a little +below the junction of Taylor's Rivulet, at which we effected a passage +with some difficulty; the opposite bank being very steep, and we were +obliged to force our way up a gully for some eighty or a hundred yards +before we could extricate the team. Pursuing our journey, in a N. W. +direction, we soon left the rich and undulating grounds bordering the +river behind us. A poor, level, and open country, succeeded them. The +soil changed to a light red, sandy loam, on which eucalypti, cypresses, +and casuarinae, were intermixed with minor shrubs; of which latter, the +cherry tree (exocarpus cupressiformis) was the most prevalent. + +At about seven miles from the river we passed some barren freestone +ridges, near which Mr. Hume killed the first kangaroo we had seen. At +mid-day we passed a small creek, at which the cattle were watered; and +afterwards continued our journey through a country similar to that over +which we had already made our way. + +As we neared the stream we noticed the acacia pendula for the first +time,--an indication of our approach to the marshes. The weather still +continued extremely hot. Our journey this day was unusually long, and our +cattle suffered so much, and moved so slowly, that it was late when we +struck upon the Macquarie, at a part where its banks were so high that we +had some difficulty in finding a good watering place. + +SURPRISE SOME NATIVES. + +Being considerably in front of the party, with one of our guides, when we +neared the river, I came suddenly upon a family of natives. They were much +terrified, and finding that they could not escape, called vehemently to +some of their companions, who were in the distance. By the time Mr. Hume +came up, they had in some measure recovered their presence of mind, but +availed themselves of the first favourable moment to leave us. I was +particular in not imposing any restraint on these men, in consequence of +which they afterwards mustered sufficient resolution to visit us in our +camp. We now judged that we were about ten miles from the cataract, and +that, according to the accounts of the stockman, we could not be very +distant from the lake he had mentioned. + +NATIVE BURIAL PLACE. + +As I was unwilling to pass any important feature of the country without +enquiry or examination, I requested Mr. Hume to interrogate the strangers +on the subject. They stated that they belonged to the lake tribe, that the +lake was a short day's journey to the eastward, and that they would guide +us to it if we wished. The matter was accordingly arranged. They left us +at dusk, but returned to the camp at the earliest dawn; when we once more +crossed the river, and, after traversing a very level country for about +nine miles, arrived at our destination. We passed over the dried beds of +lagoons, and through coppices of cypresses and acacia pendula, or open +forest, but did not observe any of the barren stony ridges so common to +the N.E. About a mile, or a mile and a half, from the lake we examined a +solitary grave that had recently been constructed. It consisted of an +oblong mound, with three semicircular seats. A walk encompassed the whole, +from which three others branched off for a few yards only, into the +forest. Several cypresses, overhanging the grave, were fancifully carved +on the inner side, and on one the shape of a heart was deeply engraved. + +BUDDAH LAKE. + +We were sadly disappointed in the appearance of the lake, which the +natives call the Buddah. It is a serpentine sheet of fresh water, of +rather more than a mile in length, and from three to four hundred yards in +breadth. Its depth was four fathoms; but it seemed as if it were now five +or six feet below the ordinary level. No stream either runs into it or +flows from it; yet it abounds in fish; from which circumstance I should +imagine that it originally owed its supply to the river during some +extensive inundation. Notwithstanding that we had crossed some rich tracts +of land in our way to it, the neighbourhood of the lake was by no means +fertile. The trees around it were in rapid decay, and the little +vegetation to be seen appeared to derive but little advantage from its +proximity to water. + +EXTREME HEAT OF THE WEATHER. + +We had started at early dawn; and the heat had become intolerable long ere +the sun had gained the meridian. It was rendered still more oppressive +from the want of air in the dense bushes through which we occasionally +moved. At 2 p.m. the thermometer stood at 129 degrees of Fahrenheit, in +the shade; and at 149 degrees in the sun; the difference being exactly 20 +degrees. It is not to be wondered at that the cattle suffered, although +the journey was so short. The sun's rays were too powerful even for the +natives, who kept as much as possible in the shade. In the evening, when +the atmosphere was somewhat cooler, we launched the boat upon the lake, +in order to get some wild fowl and fish; but although we were tolerably +successful with our guns, we did not take anything with our hooks. + +The natives had, in the course of the afternoon, been joined by the rest +of the tribe, and they now numbered about three and twenty. They were +rather distant in their manner, and gazed with apparent astonishment at +the scene that was passing before them. + +If there had been other proof wanting, of the lamentably parched and +exhausted state of the interior, we had on this occasion ample evidence of +it, and of the fearful severity of the drought under which the country was +suffering. As soon as the sun dipped under the horizon, hundreds of birds +came crowding to the border of the lake, to quench the thirst they had +been unable to allay in the forest. Some were gasping, others almost too +weak to avoid us, and all were indifferent to the reports of our guns. + +CATARACT OF THE MACQUARIE. + +On leaving the Buddah, eleven only of the natives accompanied us. We +reached the river again about noon, on a north-half-east course, where it +had a rocky bed, and continued to journey along it, until we reached the +cataract at which we halted. We travelled over soil generally inferior to +that which we had seen on the preceding day, but rich in many places. The +same kind of timber was observed, but the acacia pendula was more +prevalent than any other, although near the river the flooded gum and +Australian apple-tree were of beautiful growth. + +It had appeared to me that the waters of the Macquarie had been +diminishing in volume since our departure from Wellington Valley, and I +had a favourable opportunity of judging as to the correctness of this +conclusion at the cataract, where its channel, at all times much +contracted, was particularly so on the present occasion. So little force +was there in the current, that I began to entertain doubts how long it +would continue, more especially when I reflected on the level character of +the country we had entered, and the fact of the Macquarie not receiving +any tributary between this point and the marshes. I was in consequence +led to infer that result, which, though not immediately, eventually took +place. + +As they were treated with kindness, the natives who accompanied us soon +threw off all reserve, and in the afternoon assembled at the pool below +the fall to take fish. They went very systematically to work, with short +spears in their hands that tapered gradually to a point, and sank at once +under water without splash or noise at a given signal from an elderly man. +In a short time, one or two rose with the fish they had transfixed; the +others remained about a minute under water, and then made their +appearance near the same rock into the crevices of which they had driven +their prey. Seven fine bream were taken, the whole of which they insisted +on giving to our men, although I am not aware that any of themselves had +broken their fast that day. They soon, however, procured a quantity of +muscles, with which they sat down very contentedly at a fire. My +barometrical admeasurement gave the cataract an elevation of 680 feet +above the level of the sea; and my observations placed it in east +longitude 148 degrees 3 minutes and in latitude 31 degrees 50 minutes +south. + +It became an object with us to gain the right bank of the Macquarie as +soon as possible; for it was evident that the country to the southward of +it was much more swampy than it was to the north: but for some distance +below the cataract, we found it impossible to effect our purpose. The +rocks composing the bed of the river at the cataract, which are of trapp +formation, disappeared at about eight miles below it, when the river +immediately assumed another character. Its banks became of equal height, +which had not before been the case, and averaged from fifteen to eighteen +feet. They were composed entirely of alluvial soil, and were higher than +the highest flood-marks. Its waters appeared to be turbid and deep, and +its bed was a mixture of sand and clay. The casuarina, which had so often +been admired by us, entirely disappeared and the channel in many places +became so narrow as to be completely arched over by gum-trees. + +A TRIBE OF NATIVES. + +On the 16th, we fell in with a numerous tribe of natives who joined our +train after the very necessary ceremonies of an introduction had passed, +and when added to those who still accompanied us, amounted to fifty-three. +On this occasion I was riding somewhat in front of the party, when I came +upon them. They were very different in appearance from those whom we had +surprised at the river; and from the manner in which I was received, I was +led to infer that they had been informed of our arrival, and had +purposely assembled to meet us. I was saluted by an old man, who had +stationed himself in front of his tribe, and who was their chief. Behind +him the young men stood in a line, and behind them the warriors were +seated on the ground. + +CONDUCT OF THE NATIVES. + +I had a young native with me who had attached himself to our party, and +who, from his extreme good nature and superior intelligence, was +considered by us as a first-rate kind of fellow. He explained who and what +we were, and I was glad to observe that the old chief seemed perfectly +reconciled to my presence, although he cast many an anxious glance at the +long train of animals that were approaching. The warriors, I remarked, +never lifted their eyes from the ground. They were hideously painted with +red and yellow ochre, and had their weapons at their sides, while their +countenances were fixed, sullen, and determined. In order to overcome this +mood, I rode up to them, and, taking a spear from the nearest, gave him +my gun to examine; a mark of confidence that was not lost upon them, for +they immediately relaxed from their gravity, and as soon as my party +arrived, rose up and followed us. That which appeared most to excite their +surprise, was the motion of the wheels of the boat carriage. The young +native whom I have noticed above, acted as interpreter, and, by his +facetious manner, contrived to keep the whole of us in a fit of laughter +as we moved along. He had been named Botheri by some stockman. + + +In consequence of our wish to cross the river, we kept near it, and +experienced considerable delay from the frequent marshes that opposed +themselves to our progress. In one of these we saw a number of ibises and +spoonbills; and the natives succeeded in killing two or three snakes. Our +view to the westward was extremely limited; but to the eastward the +country appeared in some places to expand into plains. + +CROSSING OF THE RIVER. + +After travelling some miles down the banks of the river, finding that they +still retained their steep character, we turned back to a place which Mr. +Hume had observed, and at which he thought we might, with some little +trouble, cross to the opposite side. And, however objectionable the +attempt was, we found ourselves obliged to make it. We descended, +therefore, into the channel of the river, and unloaded the animals and +boat-carriage. In order to facilitate the ascent of the right bank, some +of the men were directed to cut steps up it. I was amused to see the +natives voluntarily assist them; and was surprised when they took up bags +of flour weighing 100 pounds each, and carried them across the river. We +were not long in getting the whole of the stores over. The boat was then +hoisted on the shoulders of the strongest, and deposited on the top of the +opposite bank; and ropes being afterwards attached to the carriage, it was +soon drawn up to a place of safety. The natives worked as hard as our own +people, and that, too, with a cheerfulness for which I was altogether +unprepared, and which is certainly foreign to their natural habits. We +pitched our tents as soon as we had effected the passage of the river; +after which, the men went to bathe, and blacks and whites were mingled +promiscuously in the stream. I did not observe that the former differed in +any respect from the natives who frequent the located districts. They were +generally clean limbed and stout, and some of the young men had pleasing +intelligent countenances. They lacerate their bodies, inflicting deep +wounds to raise the flesh, and extract the front teeth like the Bathurst +tribes; and their weapons are precisely the same. They are certainly a +merry people, and sit up laughing and talking more than half the night. + +BAROMETER BROKEN. + +During the removal of the stores my barometer was unfortunately broken, +and I had often, in the subsequent stages of the journey, occasion to +regret the accident. I apprehend that the corks in the instrument, placed +to steady the tube, are too distant from each other in most cases; and +indeed I fear that barometers as at present constructed, will seldom be +carried with safety in overland expeditions. + +DESERTED BY THE NATIVES. + +Nine only of the natives accompanied us on the morning succeeding the day +in which we crossed the river. Botheri was, however, at the head of them; +and, as we journeyed along, he informed me that he had been promised a +wife on his return from acting as our guide, by the chief of the last +tribe. The excessive heat of the weather obliged us to shorten our +journey, and we encamped about noon in some scrub after having traversed a +level country for about eleven miles. + +Several considerable plains were noticed to our right, stretching east and +west, which were generally rich in point of soil; but we passed through +much brushy land during the day. It was lamentable to see the state of +vegetation upon the plains from want of moisture. Although the country +had assumed a level character, and was more open than on the higher +branches of the Macquarie, the small freestone elevations, backing the +alluvial tracts near the river, still continued upon our right, though +much diminished in height, and at a great distance from the banks. They +seemed to be covered with cypresses and beef-wood, but dwarf-box and the +acacia pendula prevailed along the plains; while flooded-gum alone +occupied the lands in the immediate neighbourhood of the stream, which was +evidently fast diminishing, both in volume and rapidity; its bed, however, +still continuing to be a mixture of sand and clay. + +The cattle found such poor feed around the camp that they strayed away in +search of better during the night. On such an occasion Botheri and his +fraternity would have been of real service; but he had decamped at an +early hour, and had carried off an axe, a tomahawk, and some bacon, +although I had made him several presents. I was not at all surprised at +this piece of roguery, since cunning is the natural attribute of a savage; +but I was provoked at their running away at a moment when I so much +required their assistance. + +Left to ourselves, I found Mr. Hume of the most essential service in +tracking the animals, and to his perseverance we were indebted for their +speedy recovery, They had managed to find tolerable feed near a serpentine +sheet of water, which Mr. Hume thought it would be advisable to examine. +We directed our course to it as soon as the cattle were loaded, moving +through bush, and found it to be a very considerable creek that receives a +part of the superfluous waters of the Macquarie, and distributes them, +most probably, over the level country to the north. It was much wider than +the river, being from fifty to sixty yards across, and is resorted to by +the natives, who procure muscles from its bed in great abundance. We were +obliged to traverse its eastern bank to its junction with the river, at +which it fortunately happened to be dry. We had, however, to cut roads +down both its banks before we could cross it; and, consequently, made but +a short day's journey. The soil passed over was inferior to the generality +of soil near the river, but we encamped on a tongue of land on which both +the flooded-gum and the grass were of luxuriant height. We found a +quantity of a substance like pipe-clay in the bed of the river, similar to +that mentioned by Mr. Oxley. + +GREAT HEAT. + +The heat, which had been excessive at Wellington Valley, increased upon us +as we advanced into the interior. The thermometer was seldom under 114 +degrees at noon, and rose still higher at 2 p.m. We had no dews at night, +and consequently the range of the instrument was trifling in the +twenty-four hours. The country looked bare and scorched, and the plains +over which we journeyed had large fissures traversing them, so that the +earth may literally be said to have gasped for moisture. The country, +which above the cataract had borne the character of open forest, excepting +on the immediate banks of the river, where its undulations and openness +gave it a park-like appearance, or where the barren stony ridges prevailed +below that point, generally exhibited alternately plain and brush, the +soil on both of which was good. On the former, crested pigeons were +numerous, several of which were shot. We had likewise procured some of the +rose-coloured and grey parrots, mentioned by Mr. Oxley, and a small +paroquet of beautiful plumage; but there was less of variety in the +feathered race than I expected to find, and most of the other birds we had +seen were recognised by me as similar to specimens I had procured from +Melville Island, and were, therefore, most probably birds of passage. + +ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY, AND THE RIVER. + +As we neared Mount Harris, the Macquarie became more sluggish in its flow, +and fell off so much as scarcely to deserve the name of a river. In +breadth, it averaged from thirty-five to forty-five yards, and in the +height of its banks, from fifteen to eighteen. Mr. Hume had succeeded in +taking some fish at one of the stock stations; but if I except those +speared by the natives, we had since been altogether unsuccessful with the +hook, a circumstance which I attribute to the lowness of the river itself. + +About thirty miles from the cataract the country declines to the north as +a medium point, and again changes somewhat in its general appearance. To +the S. and S.W. it appeared level and wooded, while to the N. the plains +became more frequent, but smaller, and travelling over them was extremely +dangerous, in consequence of the large fissures by which they were +traversed. The only trees to be observed were dwarf-box and the acacia +pendula, both of stunted growth, although flooded-gum still prevailed upon +the river. + +On the 20th we travelled on a N.W. course, and in the early part of the +day passed over tolerably good soil. It was succeeded by a barren scrub, +through which we penetrated in the direction of Welcome Rock, a point we +had seen from one of the Plains and had mistaken for Mount Harris. + +ARRIVAL AT MOUNT HARRIS. + +On a nearer approach, however, we observed our error, and corrected it by +turning more to the left; and we ultimately encamped about a mile to the +W.S.W. of the latter eminence. On issuing from the scrub we found +ourselves among reeds and coarse water-grass; and, from the appearance of +the country, we were led to conclude that we had arrived at a part of the +interior more than ordinarily subject to overflow. + +As soon as the camp was fixed, Mr. Hume and I rode to Mount Harris, over +ground subject to flood and covered for the most part by the polygonum, +being too anxious to defer our examination of its neighbourhood even for a +few hours. + +VESTIGES OF MR. OXLEY'S ENCAMPMENT. + +Nearly ten years had elapsed since Mr. Oxley pitched his tents under the +smallest of the two hills into which Mount Harris is broken. There was no +difficulty in hitting upon his position. The trenches that had been cut +round the tents were still perfect, and the marks of the fire-places +distinguishable; while the trees in the neighbourhood had been felled, +and round about them the staves of some casks and a few tent-pegs were +scattered. Mr. Oxley had selected a place at some distance from the river, +in consequence of its then swollen state. I looked upon it from the same +ground, and could not discern the waters in its channel; so much had they +fallen below their ordinary level. He saw the river when it was +overflowing its banks; on the present occasion it had scarcely sufficient +water to support a current. On the summit of the greater eminence, which +we ascended, there remained the half-burnt planks of a boat, some clenched +and rusty nails, and an old trunk; but my search for the bottle Mr. Oxley +had left was unsuccessful. + +A reflection naturally arose to my mind on examining these decaying +vestiges of a former expedition, whether I should be more fortunate than +the leader of it, and how far I should be enabled to penetrate beyond the +point which had conquered his perseverance. Only a week before I left +Sydney I had followed Mr. Oxley to the tomb. A man of uncommon quickness, +and of great ability, the task of following up his discoveries was not +less enviable than arduous; but, arrived at that point at which his +journey may be said to have terminated and mine only to commence, I knew +not how soon I should be obliged, like him, to retreat from the marshes +and exhalations of so depressed a country. My eye instinctively turned to +the North-West, and the view extended over an apparently endless forest. +I could trace the river line of trees by their superior height; but saw no +appearance of reeds, save the few that grew on the banks of the stream. + +Mount Foster, somewhat higher than Mount Harris, on the opposite side of +the river, alone broke the line of the horizon to the North N.W. at a +distance of five miles. From that point all round the compass, the low +lands spread, like a dark sea, before me; except where a large plain +stretching from E. to W., and lying to the S.E. broke their monotony; +and if there was nothing discouraging, there certainly was nothing +cheering, in the prospect. + +ILLNESS OF TWO OF THE MEN. + +On our return to the camp, I was vexed to find two of the men, Henwood and +Williams, with increased inflammation of the eyes, of which they had +previously been complaining, and I thought it advisable to bleed the +latter. + +In consequence of the indisposition of these men, we remained stationary +on the 21st, which enabled me to pay a second visit to Mount Harris. On +ascending the smaller hill, I was surprised to find similar vestiges on +its summit to those I had noticed on the larger one; in addition to which, +the rollers still continued on the side of the hill, which had been used +to get the boat up it. [Mr. Oxley had two boats; one of which he dragged +to the top of each of these hills, and left them turned bottom upwards, +buryinq a bottle under the head of the larger boat, which was conveyed to +the more distant hill.] + +Mount Harris is of basaltic formation, but I could not observe any +columnar regularity in it, although large blocks are exposed above the +ground. The rock is extremely hard and sonorous. + +MOUNT FOSTER AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. + +We moved leisurely towards Mount Foster, on the 22nd, and arrived opposite +to it a little before sunset. The country between the two is mostly open, +or covered only with the acacia pendula and dwarf-box. The soil, although +an alluvial deposit, is not of the best; nor was vegetation either fresh +or close upon it. As soon as the party stopped, I crossed the river, and +lost no time in ascending the hill, being anxious to ascertain if any +fresh object was visible from its summit, I thought that from an eminence +so much above the level of the surrounding objects, I might obtain a view +of the marshes, or of water; but I was wholly disappointed. The view was +certainly extensive, but it was otherwise unsatisfactory. Again to the +N.W. the lowlands spread in darkness before me; there were some +considerable plains beyond the near wood; but the country at the foot of +the hill appeared open and promising. Although the river line was lost in +the distance, it was as truly pointed out by the fires of the natives, +which rose in upright columns into the sky, as if it had been marked by +the trees upon its banks. + +To the eastward, Arbuthnot's range rose high above the line of the +horizon, bearing nearly due East, distant seventy miles. The following +sketch of its outlines will convey a better idea of its appearance from +Mount Foster than any written description. + +[small sketch here--not shown in etext] + +I stayed on the mount until after sunset, but I could not make out any +space that at all resembled the formidable barrier I knew we were so +rapidly approaching. I saw nothing to check our advance, and I therefore +returned to the camp, to advise with Mr. Hume upon the subject. Not having +been with me on Mount Foster, he took the opportunity to ascend it on the +following morning; and on his return concurred with me in opinion, that +there was no apparent obstacle to our moving onwards. As the men were +considerably better, I had the less hesitation in closing with the +marshes. We left our position, intending to travel slowly, and to halt +early. + +The first part of our journey was over rich flats, timbered sufficiently +to afford a shade, on which the grass was luxuriant; but we were obliged +to seek more open ground, in consequence of the frequent stumbling of the +cattle. + +We issued, at length, upon a plain, the view across which was as dreary as +can be imagined; in many places without a tree, save a few old stumps +left by the natives when they fired the timber, some of which were still +smoking in different parts of it. Observing some lofty trees at the +extremity of the plain, we moved towards them, under an impression that +they indicated the river line. But on this exposed spot the sun's rays +fell with intense power upon us, and the dust was so minute and +penetrating, that I soon regretted having left the shady banks of the +river. + +About 2.p.m. we neared the trees for which we had been making, over ground +evidently formed by alluvial deposition, and were astonished to find that +reeds alone were growing under the trees as far as the eye could +penetrate. It appeared that we were still some distance from the river, +and it was very doubtful how far we might be from water, for which the +men were anxiously calling. I therefore halted, and sent Fraser into the +reeds towards some dead trees, on which a number of spoonbills were +sitting. He found that there was a small lake in the centre of the reeds, +the resort of numerous wild fowl; but although the men were enabled to +quench their thirst, we found it impossible to water the animals. We were +obliged, therefore, to continue our course along the edge of the reeds; +which in a short time appeared in large masses in front of us, stretching +into a vast plain upon our right; and it became evident that the whole +neighbourhood was subject to extensive inundation. + +ENCAMP AMIDST REEDS. + +I was fearful that the reeds would have checked us; but there was a +passage between the patches, through which we managed to force our way +into a deep bight, and fortunately gained the river at the bottom of it +much sooner than we expected. We were obliged to clear away a space for +the tents; and thus, although there had been no such appearance from Mount +Foster, we found ourselves in less than seven hours after leaving it, +encamped pretty far in that marsh for which we had so anxiously looked +from its summit, and now trusting to circumstances for safety, upon +ground on which, in any ordinary state of the river, it would have been +dangerous to have ventured. Indeed, as it was, our situation was +sufficiently critical, and would not admit of hesitation on my part. + +NATURE OF THE COUNTRY. + +After the cattle had been turned out, Mr. Hume and I again mounted our +horses, and proceeded to the westward, with a view to examine the nature +of the country before us, and to ascertain if it was still practicable to +move along the river side. For, although it was evident that we had +arrived at what might strictly be called the marshes of the Macquarie, I +still thought we might be at some distance from the place where Mr. Oxley +terminated his journey. + +There was no indication in the river to encourage an idea that it would +speedily terminate; nor, although we were on ground subject to extensive +inundation, could we be said to have reached the heart of the marshes, as +the reeds still continued in detached bodies only. We forced a path +through various portions of them, and passed over ground wholly subject to +flood, to a distance of about six miles. We then crossed a small rise of +ground, sufficiently high to have afforded a retreat, had necessity +obliged us to seek for one; and we shortly afterwards descended on the +river, unaltered in its appearance, and rather increased than diminished +in size. A vast plain extended to the N.W., the extremity of which we +could not discern; though a thick forest formed its northern boundary. + +It was evident that this plain had been frequently under water, but it was +difficult to judge from the marks on the trees to what height the floods +had risen. The soil was an alluvial deposit, superficially sandy; and many +shells were scattered over its surface. To the south, the country appeared +close and low; nor do I think we could have approached the river from that +side, by reason of the huge belts of reeds that appeared to extend as far +as the the eye could reach. + +MEN ATTACKED WITH OPHTHALMIA. + +The approach of night obliged us to return to the camp. On our arrival, +we found that the state of Henwood and Williams would prevent our stirring +for a day or two. Not only had they a return of inflammation, but several +other of the men complained of a painful irritation of the eyes, which +were dreadfully blood-shot and weak. I was in some measure prepared for a +relapse in Henwood, as the exposure which he necessarily underwent on the +plain was sufficient to produce that effect; but I now became apprehensive +that the affection would run through the party. + +Considering our situation in its different bearings, it struck me that the +men who were to return to Wellington Valley with an account our our +proceedings for the Governor's information, had been brought as far as +prudence warranted. There was no fear of their going astray, as long as +they had the river to guide them; but in the open country which we were to +all appearance approaching, or amidst fields of reeds, they might wander +from the track, and irrecoverably lose themselves. I determined, +therefore, not to risk their safety, but to prepare my dispatches for +Sydney, and I hoped most anxiously, that ere they were closed, all +symptoms of disease would have terminated. + +In the course of the day, however, Spencer, who was to return with Riley +to Wellington Valley, became seriously indisposed, and I feared that he +was attacked with dysentery. Indeed, I should have attributed his illness +to our situation, but I did not notice any unusual moisture in the +atmosphere, nor did any fogs rise from the river. I therefore the rather +attributed it to exposure and change of diet, and treated him accordingly. +To my satisfaction, when I visited the men late in the evening, I found a +general improvement in the whole of them. Spencer was considerably +relieved, and those of the party who had inflammation of the eyes no +longer felt that painful irritation of which they had before complained. +I determined, therefore, unless untoward circumstances should prevent it, +to send Riley and his companion homewards, and to move the party without +loss of time. + +We had not seen any natives for many days, but a few passed the camp on +the opposite side of the river on the evening of the 25th. They would not, +however, come to us; but fled into the interior in great apparent alarm. + +DEPARTURE OF TWO MEN FOR WELLINGTON. + +On the morning of the 26th, the men were sufficiently recovered to pursue +their journey. Riley and Spencer left us at an early hour; and about +7 a.m. we pursued a N.N.W. course along the great plain I have noticed, +starting numberless quails, and many wild turkeys, by the way. Leaving +that part of the river on which Mr. Hume and I had touched considerably to +the left, we made for the point of a wood, projecting from the river line +of trees into the plain. The ground under us was an alluvial deposit, and +bore all the marks of frequent inundation. + +The soil was yielding, blistered, and uneven; and the claws of cray-fish, +together with numerous small shells, were every where collected in the +hollows made by the subsiding of the waters, between broad belts of reeds +and scrubs of polygonum. + +CONSULTATION. + +On gaining the point of the wood, we found an absolute check put to our +further progress. We had been moving directly on the great body of the +marsh, and from the wood it spread in boundless extent before us. It was +evidently lower than the ground on which we stood; we had therefore, a +complete view over the whole expanse; and there was a dreariness and +desolation pervading the scene that strengthened as we gazed upon it. +Under existing circumstances, it only remained for us either to skirt +the reeds to the northward, or to turn in again upon the river; and as I +considered it important to ascertain the direction of the Macquarie at so +critical and interesting a point, I thought it better to adopt the latter +measure. We, accordingly, made for the river, and pitched our tents, as at +the last station, in the midst of reeds. + +There were two points at this time, upon which I was extremely anxious. +The first was as to the course of the river; the second, as to the extent +of the marshes by which we had been checked, and the practicability of the +country to the northward. + +In advising with Mr. Hume, I proposed launching the boat, as the surest +means of ascertaining the former, and he, on his part, most readily +volunteered to examine the marshes, in any direction I should point out. +It was therefore, arranged, that I should take two men, and a week's +provision with me in the boat down the river; and that he should proceed +with a like number of men on an excursion to the northward. + +After having given directions as to the regulations of camp during our +absence, we separated, on the morning of the 26th for the first time, in +furtherance of the objects each had in view. + +BOAT EXCURSION. + +In pulling down the river, I found that its channel was at first extremely +tortuous and irregular, but that it held a general N.W. course, and bore +much the same appearance as it had done since our descent from Mount +Foster. + +We had a laborious task in lifting the boat over the trunks of trees that +had fallen into the channel of the river or that had been left by the +floods, and at length we stove her in upon a sunken log. The injury she +received was too serious not to require immediate repair; and we, +therefore, patched her up with a tin plate. This accident occasioned some +delay, and the morning was consumed without our having made any +considerable progress. At length, however, we got into a more open +channel. + +The river suddenly increased in breadth to thirty-five or forty-five +yards, with a depth of from twelve to twenty feet of water. Its banks +shelved perpendicularly down, and were almost on a level with the surface +of the stream; and the flood mark was not more than two feet high on the +reeds by which they were lined. We had hitherto passed under the shade of +the flooded gum, which still continued on the immediate banks of the +river; but, the farther we advanced, the more did we find these trees in a +state of decay, until at length they ceased, or were only rarely met with. + +TERMINATION OF THE RIVER. + +About 2 p.m. I brought up under a solitary tree, in consequence of heavy +rain: this was upon the left bank. In the afternoon, however, we again +pushed forward, and soon lost sight of every other object amidst reeds of +great height. The channel of the river continued as broad and as deep as +ever, but the flood mark did not show more than a foot above the banks, +which were now almost on a level with the water; and the current was so +sluggish as to be scarcely perceptible. These general appearances +continued for about three miles, when our course was suddenly, and most +unexpectedly, checked. The channel, which had promised so well, without +any change in its breadth or depth, ceased altogether; and whilst we were +yet lost in astonishment at so abrupt a termination of it, the boat +grounded. It only remained for us to examine the banks, which we did with +particular attention. Two creeks were then discovered, so small as +scarcely to deserve the name, and which would, under ordinary +circumstances, have been overlooked. The one branched off to the +north--the other to the west. We were obliged to get out of the boat to +push up the former, the leeches sticking in numbers to our legs. The creek +continued for about thirty yards, when it was terminated; and, in order +fully to satisfy myself of the fact, I walked round the head of it by +pushing through the reeds. Night coming on, we returned to the tree at +which we had stopped during the rain, and slept under it. The men cut away +the reeds, or we should not have had room to move. At 2 a.m. it commenced +raining, with a heavy storm of thunder and lightning; the boat was +consequently hauled ashore, and turned over to afford us a temporary +shelter. The lightning was extremely vivid, and frequently played upon +the ground, near the firelocks, for more than a quarter of a minute at a +time. + +It is singular, that Mr. Oxley should, under similar circumstances, have +experienced an equally stormy night, and most probably within a few yards +of the place on which I had posted myself. Notwithstanding that the +elements were raging around me, as if to warn me of the danger of my +situation, my mind turned solely on the singular failure of the river. I +could not but encourage hopes that this second channel that remained to +be explored would lead us into an open space again; and as soon as the +morning dawned we pursued our way to it. In passing some dead trees upon +the right bank, I stopped to ascend one, that, from an elevation, I might +survey the marsh, but I found it impossible to trace the river through it. +The country to the westward was covered with reeds, apparently to the +distance of seven miles; to the N.W. to a still greater distance; and to +the north they bounded the horizon. + +The whole expanse was level and unbroken, but here and there the reeds +were higher and darker than at other places, as if they grew near constant +moisture; but I could see no appearance of water in any body, or of high +lands beyond the distant forest. + +As soon as we arrived at the end of the main channel, we again got out of +the boat, and in pushing up the smaller one, soon found ourselves under a +dark arch of reeds. It did not, however, continue more than twenty yards +when it ceased, and I walked round the head of it as I had done round that +of the other. We then examined the space between the creeks, where the +bank receives the force of the current, which I did not doubt had formed +them by the separation of its eddies. Observing water among the reeds, I +pushed through them with infinite labour to a considerable distance. The +soil proved to be a stiff clay; the reeds were closely embodied, and from +ten to twelve feet high; the waters were in some places ankle deep, and in +others scarcely covered the surface. They were flowing in different +points, with greater speed than those of the river, which at once +convinced me that they were not permanent, but must have lodged in the +night during which so much rain had fallen. They ultimately appeared to +flow to the northward, but I found it impossible to follow them, and it +was not without difficulty that, after having wandered about at every +point of the compass, I again reached the boat. + +CAUSES OF THE FAILURE OF THE RIVER. + +The care with which I had noted every change that took place in the +Macquarie, from Wellington Valley downwards, enabled me, in some measure, +to account for its present features. I was led to conclude that the waters +of the river being so small in body, excepting in times of flood, and +flowing for so many miles through a level country without receiving any +tributary to support their first impulse, became too sluggish, long ere +they reached the marshes, to cleave through so formidable a barrier; and +consequently spread over the surrounding country--whether again to take +up the character of a river, we had still to determine. Unless, however, +a decline of country should favour its assuming its original shape, it was +evident that the Macquarie would not be found to exist beyond this marsh, +of the nature and extent of which we were still ignorant. The loss of my +barometer was at this time severely felt by me, since I could only guess +at our probable height above the ocean; and I found that my only course +was to endeavour to force my way to the northward, to ascertain, if I +could, from the bottom of the marshes; then penetrate in a westerly +direction beyond them, in order to commence my survey of the S.W. +interior. I was aware of Mr. Hume's perseverance, and determined, +therefore, to wait the result of his report ere I again moved the camp, to +which we returned late in the afternoon of the second day of our +departure. We found it unsufferably hot and suffocating in the reeds, and +were tormented by myriads of mosquitoes, but the waters were perfectly +sweet to the taste, nor did the slightest smell, as of stagnation, proceed +from them. I may add that the birds, whose sanctuary we had invaded, as +the bittern and various tribes of the galinule, together with the frogs, +made incessant noises around us, There were, however, but few water-fowl +on the river; which was an additional proof to me that we were not near +any very extensive lake. + +MR. HUME'S REPORT. + +Mr. Hume had returned before me to the camp, and had succeeded in finding +a serpentine sheet of water, about twelve miles to the northward; which he +did not doubt to be the channel of the river. He had pushed on after this +success, in the hope of gaining a further knowledge of the country; but +another still more extensive marsh checked him, and obliged him to retrace +his steps. He was no less surprised at the account I gave of the +termination of the river, than I was at its so speedily re-forming, and it +was determined to lose no time in the further examination of so singular a +region. + +FALSE CHANNEL; PERPLEXITIES. + +On the morning of the 28th therefore we broke up the camp, and proceeded +to the northward, under Mr. Hume's guidance, moving over ground wholly +subject to flood, and extensively covered with reeds; the great body of +the marsh lying upon our left. After passing the angle of a wood, upon our +right, from which Mount Foster was distant about fourteen miles, we got +upon a small plain, on which there was a new species of tortuous box. This +plain was clear of reeds, and the soil upon it was very rich. Crossing in +a westerly direction we arrived at the channel found by Mr. Hume, who must +naturally have concluded that it was a continuation of the river. The boat +was immediately prepared, and I went up it in order to ascertain the +nature of its formation. For two miles it preserved a pretty general width +of from twenty to thirty yards; but at that distance began to narrow, and +at length it became quite shallow and covered with weeds. We were +ultimately obliged to abandon the boat, and to walk along a native path. +The country to the westward was more open than I had expected. About a +quarter of a mile from where we had left the boat, the channel separated +into two branches; to which I perceived it owed its formation, coming, as +they evidently did, direct from the heart of the marsh. The wood through +which I had entered it on the first occasion bore south of me, to which +one of the branches inclined; as the other did to the S.W. An almost +imperceptible rise of ground was before me, which, by giving an impetus to +the waters of the marsh, accounted to me for the formation of the main +channel. It was too late, on my return to the camp, to prosecute any +further examination of it downwards; but in the morning, Mr. Hume +accompanied me in the boat, to ascertain to what point it led; and we +found that at about a mile it began to diminish in breadth, until at +length it was completely lost in a second expanse of reeds. We passed a +singular scaffolding erected by the natives, on the side of the channel, +to take fish; and also found a weir at the termination of it for the like +purpose so that it was evident the natives occasionally ventured into +the marshes. + +There was a small wood to our left which Mr. Hume endeavoured to gain, but +he failed in the attempt. He did, however, reach a tree that was +sufficiently high to give him a full view of the marsh, which appeared to +extend in every direction, but more particularly to the north, for many +miles. We were, however, at fault, and I really felt at a loss what step +to take. I should have been led to believe from the extreme flatness of +the country, that the Macquarie would never assume its natural shape, but +from the direction of the marshes I could not but indulge a hope that it +would meet the Castlereagh, and that their united waters might form a +stream of some importance. Under this impression I determined on again +sending Mr. Hume to the N.E. in order to ascertain the nature of the +country in that direction. + +EXCURSION TO THE NORTH-WEST. + +The weather was excessively hot, and as my men were but slowly recovering, +I was anxious while those who were in health continued active, to give the +others a few days of rest. I proposed, therefore, to cross the river, and +to make an excursion into the interior, during the probable time of +Mr. Hume's absence; since if, as I imagined, the Macquarie had taken a +permanent northerly course, I should not have an opportunity of examining +the distant western country. Mr. Hume's experience rendered it unnecessary +for me to give him other than general directions. + +A PLAIN ON FIRE. + +On the last day of the year we left the camp, each accompanied by two men. +I had the evening previously ordered the horses I intended taking with me +across the channel, and at an early hour of the morning I followed them. +Getting on a plain, immediately after I had disengaged myself from the +reeds on the opposite side of the river, which was full of holes and +exceedingly treacherous for the animals, I pushed on for a part of the +wood Mr. Hume had endeavoured to gain from the boat, with the intention of +keeping near the marsh. On entering it, I found myself in a thick brush of +eucalypti, casuarinae and minor trees; the soil under them being mixed +with sand. I kept a N.N.W. course through it, and at the distance of +three miles from its commencement, ascended a tree, to ascertain if I was +near the marshes; when I found that I was fast receding from them. I +concluded, therefore, that my conjecture as to their direction was right, +and altered my course to N.W., a direction in which I had observed a dense +smoke arising, which I supposed had been made by some natives near water. +At the termination of the brush I crossed a barren sandy plain, and from +it saw the smoke ascending at a few miles' distance from me. Passing +through a wood, at the extremity of the plain, I found myself at the +outskirts of an open space of great extent, almost wholly enveloped in +flames. The fire was running with incredible rapidity through the rhagodia +shrubs with which it was covered. Passing quickly over it, I continued my +journey to the N.W. over barren plains of red sandy loam of even surface, +and bushes of cypresses skirted by acacia pendula. It was not until after +sunset that we struck upon a creek, in which the water was excellent; and +we halted on its banks for the night, calculating our distance at +twenty-nine miles from the camp. The creek was of considerable size, +leading northerly. Several huts were observed by us, and from the heaps of +muscle-shells that were scattered about, there could be no doubt of its +being much frequented by the natives. The grass being fairly burnt up, our +animals found but little to eat, but they had a tolerable journey. and did +not attempt to wander in search of better food. I shot a snipe near the +creek, much resembling the painted snipe of India; but I had not the means +with me of preserving it. + +A TRIBE OF NATIVES. + +Continuing our journey on the following morning, we at first kept on the +banks of the creek, and at about a quarter of a mile from where we had +slept, came upon a numerous tribe of natives. A young girl sitting by the +fire was the first to observe us as we were slowly approaching her. She +was so excessively alarmed, that she had not the power to run away; but +threw herself on the ground and screamed violently. We now observed a +number of huts, out of which the natives issued, little dreaming of the +spectacle they were to behold. But the moment they saw us, they started +back; their huts were in a moment in flames, and each with a fire-brand +ran to and fro with hideous yells, thrusting them into every bush they +passed. I walked my horse quietly towards an old man who stood more +forward than the rest, as if he intended to devote himself for the +preservation of his tribe. I had intended speaking to him, but on a nearer +approach I remarked that he trembled so violently that it was impossible +to expect that I could obtain any information from him, and as I had not +time for explanations, I left him to form his own conjectures as to what +we were, and continued to move towards a thick brush, into which they did +not venture to follow us. + +CONTINUE OUR JOURNEY. + +After a ride of about eighteen miles, through a country of alternate plain +and brush, we struck upon a second creek leading like the first to the +northward. The water in it was very bitter and muddy, and it was much +inferior in appearance to that at which we had slept. After stopping for +half-an-hour upon its banks, to rest our animals, we again pushed forward. +We had not as yet risen any perceptible height above the level of the +marshes, but had left the country subject to overflow for a considerable +space behind us. The brushes through which we had passed were too sandy to +retain water long, but the plains were of such an even surface, that they +could not but continue wet for a considerable period after any fall of +rain. They were covered with salsolaceous plants, without a blade of +grass; and their soil was generally a red sandy loam. There were +occasional patches that appeared moist, in which the calystemma was +abundant, and these patches must, I should imagine, form quagmires in the +wet season. + +On leaving the last-mentioned creek, we found a gently rising country +before us; and about three or four miles from it we crossed some stony +ridges, covered with a new species of acacia so thickly as to prevent our +obtaining any view from them. As the sun declined, we got into open forest +ground; and travelled forwards in momentary expectation, from appearances, +of coming in sight of water; but we were obliged to pull up at sunset on +the outskirts of a larger plain without having our expectation realized. +The day had been extremely warm, and our animals were as thirsty as +ourselves. Hope never forsakes the human breast; and thence it was that, +after we had secured the horses, we began to wander round our lonely +bivouac. It was almost dark, when one of my men came to inform me that he +had found a small puddle of water, to which be had been led by a pigeon. + +It was, indeed, small enough, probably the remains of a passing shower; it +was, however, sufficient for our necessities, and I thanked Providence for +its bounty to us. We were now about sixty miles from the Macquarie, in a +N.W. by W. direction, and the country had proved so extremely +discouraging, that I intimated to my men my intention of retracing my +steps, should I not discover any change in it before noon on the morrow. +A dense brush of acacia succeeded to the plain on which we had slept, +which we entered, and shortly afterwards found ourselves in an open space, +of oblong shape, at the extremity of which there was a shallow lake. The +brush completely encircled it, and a few huts were upon its banks. About +10 p.m. we got into an open forest track of better appearance than any +over which we had recently travelled. + +ISOLATED HILL. + +There was a visible change in the country, and the soil, although red, was +extremely rich and free from sand. A short time afterwards we rose to the +summit of a round hill, from which we obtained an extensive view on most +points of the compass. We had imperceptibly risen considerably above the +general level of the interior. + +VIEW FROM THE SUMMIT. + +Beneath us, to the westward, I observed a broad and thinly wooded valley; +and W. by S., distant apparently about twenty miles, an isolated mountain, +whose sides seemed almost perpendicular, broke the otherwise even line of +the horizon; but the country in every other direction looked as if it was +darkly wooded. Anticipating that I should find a stream in the valley, I +did not for a moment hesitate in striking down into it. Disappointed, +however, in this expectation, I continued onwards to the mountain, which I +reached just before the sun set. Indeed, he was barely visible when I +gained its summit; but my eyes, from exposure to his glare, became so +weak, my face was so blistered, and my lips cracked in so many places, +that I was unable to look towards the west, and was actually obliged to +sit down behind a rock until he had set. + +Perhaps no time is so favourable for a view along the horizon as the +sunset hour; and here, at an elevation of from five to six hundred feet +above the plain, the visible line of it could not have been less than from +thirty-five to forty-five miles. The hill upon which I stood was broken +into two points; the one was a bold rocky elevation; the other had its +rear face also perpendicular, but gradually declined to the north, and at +a distance of from four to five miles was lost in an extensive and open +plain in that direction. In the S.E. quarter, two wooded hills were +visible, which before had appeared to be nothing more than swells in the +general level of the country. A small hill, similar to the above, bore +N.E. by compass; and again, to the west, a more considerable mountain than +that I had ascended, and evidently much higher, reflected the last beams +of the sun as he sunk behind them. I looked, however, in vain for water. +I could not trace either the windings of a stream, or the course of a +mountain torrent; and, as we had passed a swamp about a mile from the +hill, we descended to it for the night, during which we were grievously +tormented by the mosquitoes. + +RESULTS OF THE EXCURSION. + +I had no inducement to proceed further into the interior. I had been +sufficiently disappointed in the termination of this excursion, and the +track before me was still less inviting. Nothing but a dense forest, and a +level country, existed between me and the distant hill. I had learnt, by +experience, that it was impossible to form any opinion of the probable +features of so singular a region as that in which I was wandering, from +previous appearances, or to expect the same result, as in other countries, +from similar causes. In a geographical point of view, my journey had been +more successful, and had enabled me to put to rest for ever a question of +much previous doubt. Of whatever extent the marshes of the Macquarie might +be, it was evident they were not connected with those of the Lachlan. I +had gained knowledge of more than 100 miles of the western interior, and +had ascertained that no sea, indeed that little water, existed on its +surface; and that, although it is generally flat, it still has elevations +of considerable magnitude upon it. + +Although I had passed over much barren ground, I had likewise noticed soil +that was far from poor, and the vegetation upon which in ordinary seasons +would, I am convinced, have borne a very different aspect. + +Yet, upon the whole, the space I traversed is unlikely to become the haunt +of civilized man, or will only become so in isolated spots, as a chain of +connection to a more fertile country; if such a country exist to the +westward. + +The hill which thus became the extreme of my journey, is of sandstone +formation, and is bold and precipitous. Its summit is level and lightly +timbered. As a tribute of respect to the late Surveyor-General, I called +it Oxley's Table Land, and I named the distant hills D'Urban's Group, +after Sir Benjamin D'Urban, in compliance with a previous request of my +friend Lieut. De la Condamine, that I would so name any prominent feature +of the interior that I might happen to come upon. + +RETURN TO THE CAMP. + +In returning to the camp, I made a circuit to the N.E., and reached the +Macquarie late on the evening of the 5th of January; having been absent +six days, during which we could not have ridden less than 200 miles. Yet +the horses were not so fatigued as it was natural to expect they would +have been. + +My servant informed me that a party of natives had visited the camp on the +3rd, but that they retired precipitately on seeing the animals. I +regretted to find the men but little better than when I left them. Several +still complained of a painful irritation of the eyes, and of great +weakness of sight. Attributing their continued indisposition in some +measure to our situation, I was anxious to have moved from it; but as Mr. +Hume was still absent, I could not decide upon the measure. He made his +appearance, however, on the 6th, having ridden the greater part of the day +through rain, which commenced to fall in the morning. Soon after his +arrival, Dawber, my overseer of animals, who had accompanied him, was +taken suddenly ill. During the night he became much worse, with shivering +and spasms, and on the following morning he was extremely weak and +feverish. To add to my anxiety, Mr. Hume also complained of indisposition. +His state of health made me the more anxious to quit a position which I +fancied unwholesome, and in which, if there was no apparent, there was +certainly some secret, exciting cause; and as Mr. Hume reported having +crossed a chain of ponds about four miles to the eastward, and out of the +immediate precincts of the marshes, I ordered the tents to be struck, and +placing Dawber on my horse, we all moved quietly over to them. + +MR. HUME'S EXCURSION. + +The result of Mr. Hume's journey perplexed me exceedingly. He stated, that +on setting out from the Macquarie his intention was to have proceeded to +the N.E., to ascertain how far the reeds existed in that direction, and, +if at all practicable, to reach the Castlereagh; but in case of failure, +to regain the Macquarie by a westerly course. At first he travelled nearly +four miles east, to clear the marshes, when he came on the chain of ponds +to which we had removed. + +He travelled over good soil for two miles after crossing this chain of +ponds, but afterwards got on a red sandy loam, and found it difficult to +proceed, by reason of the thickness of the brush, and the swampy state of +the ground in consequence of the late rain. + +The timber in the brushes was of various kinds, and he saw numerous +kangaroos and emus. On issuing from this brush, he crossed a creek, +leading northerly, the banks of which were from ten to twelve feet high. +Whatever the body of water usually in it is, it now only afforded a few +shallow puddles. Mr. Hume travelled through brushes until he came upon a +third creek, similar to the one he had left behind him, at which he halted +for the night. The water in it was bad, and the feed for the animals +extremely poor. The brush lined the creek thickly, and consisted chiefly +of acacia pendula and box. The country preserved an uniform level, nor did +Mr. Hume, from the highest trees, observe any break on the horizon. + +On the 2nd of January, Mr. Hume kept more northerly, being unable to +penetrate the brushes he encountered. At two miles he crossed a creek +leading to the N.W., between which and the place at which he had slept, he +passed a native burial ground, containing eight graves. The earth was +piled up in a conical shape, but the trees were not carved over as he had +seen them in most other places. + +The country became more open after he had passed the last mentioned creek, +which he again struck upon at the distance of eight miles, and as it was +then leading to the N.N.E. he followed it down for eighteen or twenty +miles, and crossed it frequently during the day. The creek was dry in most +places, and where he stopped for the night the water was bad, and the +cattle feed indifferent. + +Mr. Hume saw many huts, but none of them had been recently occupied, +although large quantities of muscle-shells were scattered about. He +computed that he had travelled about thirty miles, in a N.N.W. +direction, and the whole of the land he passed over was, generally +speaking, bad, nor did it appear to be subject to overflow. + +On the 3rd, Mr. Hume proceeded down the creek on which he had slept, on a +northern course, under an impression that it would have joined the +Castlereagh, but it took a N.W. direction after he had ridden about four +miles, and then turned again to the eastward of north. In consequence of +this, he left it, and proceeded to the westward, being of opinion that the +river just mentioned must have taken a more northerly course than Mr. +Oxley supposed it to have done. + +A short time after Mr. Hume turned towards the Macquarie, the country +assumed a more pleasing appearance. He soon cleared the brushes, and at +two miles came upon a chain of ponds, again running northerly in times of +flood. Shortly after crossing these, he found himself on an extensive +plain, apparently subject to overflow. The timber on it was chiefly of +the blue-gum kind, and the ground was covered with shells. He then thought +he was approaching the Macquarie, and proceeded due west across the flat +for about two miles. At the extremity of it there was a hollow, which he +searched in vain for water. Ascending about thirty feet, he entered a +thick brush of box and acacia pendula, which continued for fourteen miles, +when it terminated abruptly, and extensive plains of good soil commenced, +stretching from N. to S. as far as the eye could reach, on which there +were many kangaroos. Continuing to journey over them, he reached a creek +at 5 p.m. on which the wild fowl were numerous, running nearly north and +south, and he rested on its banks for the night. The timber consisted both +of blue and rough gum, and the soil was a light earth. + +Mr. Hume expected in the course of the day to have reached the Macquarie, +but on arriving at the creek, he began to doubt whether it any longer +existed, or whether it had not taken a more westerly direction. On the +following morning, therefore, he crossed the creek, and travelled +W.S.W., for about two miles over good plains; then through light brushes +of swamp-oak, cypress, box, and acacia pendula, for about twelve miles, to +another creek leading northerly. He shortly afterwards ascended a range of +hills stretching W.N.W. to which he gave the name of New Year's Range. +From these hills, he had an extensive view, although not upon the highest +part, but the only break he could see in the horizon was caused by some +hills bearing by compass W. by S. distant about twenty-five miles. There +was, however, an appearance as of high land to the northward, although Mr. +Hume thought it might have been an atmospheric deception. From the range +he looked in vain for the Macquarie, or other waters, and, as his +provisions were nearly consumed, he was obliged to give up all further +pursuit, and to retrace his steps. He fell in with two parties of natives, +which, taken collectively, amounted to thirty-five in number, but had no +communication with them. + +It was evident, from the above account, that supposing a line to have been +drawn from the camp northerly, Mr. Hume must have travelled considerably +to the westward of it, and as I had run on a N.W. course from the marshes, +it necessarily followed that our lines of route must have intersected each +other, or that want of extension could alone have prevented them from +having done so; but that, under any circumstances, they could not have +been very far apart. This was too important a point to be left undecided, +as upon it the question of the Macquarie's termination seemed to depend. + +Both Mr. Hume and myself were of opinion, that a medium course would be +the most satisfactory for us to pursue, to decide this point; and it +appeared that we could not do better than, by availing ourselves of the +creek on which we were, and skirting the reeds, to take the first +opportunity of dashing through them in a westerly direction. + +DOUBTS OF THE FURTHER EXTENSION OF THE RIVER. + +I entertained great doubts as to the longer existence of the river, and as +I foresaw that, in the event of its having terminated we should strike at +once into the heart of the interior, I became anxious for the arrival of +supplies at Mount Harris; and although I could hardly expect that they had +yet reached it, I determined to proceed thither. Mr. Hume was too unwell +for me to think of imposing additional fatigue upon him; I left him, +therefore, to conduct the party, by easy stages, to the northward, until +such time as I should overtake them. Even in one day there was a visible +improvement in the men, and Dawber's attack seemed to be rather the +effects of cold than of any thing else. A death, however, under our +circumstances, would have been so truly deplorable an event, that the +least illness was sufficient to create alarm. + +I can hardly say that I was disappointed on my arrival at Mount Harris, to +find its neighbourhood silent and deserted. I remained, however, under it +for the greater part of the next day, and, prior to leaving it, placed a +sheet of paper with written instructions against a tree, though almost +without a hope that it would remain untouched. + +PERPLEXING SITUATION. + +A little after sun-set we reached the first small marsh, at which we +slept; and on the following morning I crossed the plains of the Macquarie, +and joined the party at about fifteen miles from the creek at which I had +left it. I found it in a condition that was as unlooked for by Mr. Hume as +it was unexpected by me, and really in a most perplexing situation. + +On the day I left him, Mr. Hume only advanced about two miles, in +consequence of some derangement in the loads. Having crossed the creek, +he, the next morning, proceeded down its right bank, until it entered the +marshes and was lost. He then continued to move on the outskirts of the +latter, and having performed a journey or about eight miles, was anxious +to have stopped, but there was no water at hand. The men, however, were so +fatigued, in consequence of previous illness, that he felt it necessary to +halt after travelling about eleven miles. + +No water could be procured even here, notwithstanding that Mr. Hume, who +was quite unfit for great exertion, underwent considerable bodily fatigue +in his anxiety to find some. He was, therefore, obliged to move early on +the following morning, but neither men nor animals were in a condition to +travel; and he had scarcely made three miles' progress, when he stopped +and endeavoured to obtain a supply or water by digging pits among the +reeds. From these he had drawn sufficient for the wants of the people when +I arrived. Some rain had fallen on the 6th and 7th of the month, or it is +more than probable the expedient to which he resorted would have failed of +success. Mr. Hume, I was sorry to observe, looked very unwell; but nothing +could prevent him from further endeavours to extricate the party from its +present embarrassment. + +JOURNEY CONTINUED. + +As soon as I had taken a little refreshment, therefore, I mounted a fresh +horse; and he accompanied me across a small plain, immediately in front of +the camp, which was subject to overflow and covered with polygonum, having +a considerable extent of reeds to its right. + +From the plain we entered a wood of blue-gum, in which reeds, grass, and +brush formed a thick coppice. We at length passed into an open space, +surrounded on every side by weeds in dense bodies. The great marsh bore +south of us, and was clear and open, but behind us the blue-gum trees +formed a thick wood above the weeds. + +About two hundred yards from the outskirts of the marsh there was a line +of saplings that had perished, and round about them a number of the tern +tribe (sea swallow) were flying, one of which Mr. Hume had followed a +considerable way into the reeds the evening before, in the hope that it +would have led him to water. The circumstance of their being in such +numbers led us to penetrate towards them, when we found a serpentine sheet +of water of some length, over which they were playing. We had scarcely +time to examine it before night closed in upon us, and it was after nine +when we returned to the tents. + +From the general appearance of the country to the northward, and from the +circumstance of our having got to the bottom of the great marsh, which but +a few days before had threatened to be so formidable, I thought it +probable that the reeds would not again prove so extensive as they had +been, and I determined, if I could do so, to push through them in a +westerly direction from our position. + +SECOND GREAT MARSH. + +The pits yielded us so abundant a supply during the night, that in the +morning we found it unnecessary to take the animals to water at the +channel we had succeeded in finding the evening before; but pursuing a +westerly course we passed it, and struck deep into the reeds. At mid-day +we were hemmed in by them on every side, and had crossed over numerous +channels, by means of which the waters of the marshes are equally and +generally distributed over the space subject to their influence. Coming to +a second sheet of water, narrower, but longer, as well as we could judge, +than the first, we stopped to dine at it; and, while the men were resting +themselves, Mr. Hume rode with me in a westerly direction, to ascertain +what obstacles we still had to contend with. Forcing our way through +bodies of reeds, we at length got on a plain, stretching from S.E. to +N.W., bounded on the right by a wood of blue-gum, under which the reeds +still extended, and on the left by a wood in which they did not appear to +exist. Certain that there was no serious obstacle in our way, we returned +to the men; and as soon as they had finished their meal, led them over the +plain in a N.W. by W. direction. It was covered with shells, and was full +of holes from the effects of flood. + +CONCLUSIONS IN REGARD TO THE MACQUARIE. + +As we were journeying over it, I requested Mr. Hume to ride into the wood +upon our left, to ascertain if it concealed any channel. On his return he +informed me that he descended from the plain into a hollow, the bottom of +which was covered with small shells and bulrushes. He observed a new +species of eucalypti, on the trunks of which the water-mark was three feet +high. After crossing this hollow, which was about a quarter of a mile in +breadth, he gained an open forest of box, having good grass under it; and, +judging from the appearance of the country that no other channel could +exist beyond him, and that he had ascertained sufficient for the object I +had in view, he turned back to the plain. We stopped for the night under a +wood of box, where the grass, which had been burnt down, was then +springing up most beautifully green, and was relished exceedingly by the +animals. + +It was in consequence of our not having crossed any channel, while +penetrating through the reeds, that could by any possible exaggeration +have been laid down as the bed of the river, that I detached Mr. Hume; and +the account he brought me at once confirmed my opinion in regard to the +Macquarie, and I thenceforth gave up every hope of ever seeing it in its +characteristic shape again. + +Independently however of all circumstantial evidence, it was clear that +the river had not re-formed at a distance of twenty-five miles to the +north of us, since Mr. Hume had gone to the westward of that point, at +about the same distance on his late journey, without having observed the +least appearance of reeds or of a river. He had, indeed, noticed a hollow, +which occasionally contained water, but he saw nothing like the bed of a +permanent stream. I became convinced, also, from observation of the +country through which we had passed, that the sources of the Macquarie +could not be of such magnitude as to give a constant flow to it as a +river, and at the same time to supply with water the vast concavity into +which it falls. In very heavy rains only could the marshes and adjacent +lands be laid wholly under water, since the evaporation alone would be +equal to the supply. + +The great plains stretching for so many miles to the westward of Mount +Harris, even where they were clear of reeds, were covered with shells and +the claws of cray-fish and their soil, although an alluvial deposit, was +superficially sandy. They bore the appearance not only of frequent +inundation, but of the floods having eventually subsided upon them. This +was particularly observable at the bottom of the marshes. We did not find +any accumulation of rubbish to indicate a rush of water to any one point; +but numerous minor channels existed to distribute the floods equally and +generally over every part of the area subject to them, and the marks of +inundation and subsidence were everywhere the same. The plain we had last +crossed, was, in like manner, covered with shells, so that we could not +yet be said to be out of the influence of the marshes; besides which we +had not crossed the hollow noticed by Mr. Hume, which it was clear we +should do, sooner or later. + +SITUATION OF THE PARTY. + +To have remained in our position would have been impossible, as there was +no water either for ourselves or the animals; to have descended into the +reeds again, for the purpose of carrying on a minute survey, would, under +existing circumstances, have been imprudent. Our provisions were running +short, and if a knowledge of the distant interior was to be gained, we had +no time to lose. It was determined, therefore, to defer our further +examination of the marshes to the period of our return; and to pursue such +a course as would soonest and most effectually enable us to determine the +character of the western interior. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + +Prosecution of our course into the interior--Mosquito Brush--Aspect and +productions of the country--Hunting party of natives--Courageous conduct +of one of them--Mosquitoes--A man missing--Group of hills called +New-Year's Range--Journey down New-Year's Creek--Tormenting attack of the +kangaroo fly--Dreariness and desolation of the country--Oxley's Table +Land--D'Urban's Group--Continue our journey down New-Year's Creek-- +Extreme Disappointment on finding it salt--Fall in with a tribe of +natives--Our course arrested by the want of fresh water--Extraordinary +sound--Retreat towards the Macquarie. + + +We left our position at the head of the plain early on the 13th of +January, and, ere the sun dipped, had entered a very different country +from that in which we had been labouring for the last three weeks. We had, +as yet, passed over little other than an alluvial soil, but found that it +changed to a red loam in the brushes immediately backing the camp. An open +forest track succeeded this, over which the vegetation had an unusual +freshness, indicating that the waters had not long subsided from its +surface. We shortly afterwards crossed a hollow, similar to that Mr. Hume +had described, in which bulrushes had taken the place of reeds. +Flooded-gum trees, of large size, were also growing in it, but on either +side box alone prevailed, under which the forest grass grew to a +considerable height. We crossed the hollow two or three times, and as +often remarked the line of separation between those trees. The last time +we crossed it the country rose a few feet, and we journeyed for the +remainder of the day, at one time over good plains, at another through +brushes, until we found water and feed, at which we stopped for the night, +after having travelling about thirteen miles on a W. by N. course. The +mosquitoes were so extremely troublesome at this place that we called it +Mosquito Brush. At this time my men were improving rapidly, and Mr. Hume +complained less, and looked better. I hoped, therefore, that our progress +would be rapid into the interior. + +CREEK LEADING NORTHERLY; PRODUCTIONS OF THE COUNTRY. + +On the 14th we took up a westerly course, and in the first instance +traversed a plain of great extent; the soil of which was for the most part +a red sandy loam, but having patches of light earth upon it. The former +was covered with plants of the chenopedia kind; the latter had evidently +been quagmires, and bore even then the appearance of moisture. At about +seven miles from Mosquito Brush we struck upon a creek of excellent water, +upon which the wild fowl were numerous. Some natives was seen, but they +were only women, and seemed so alarmed that I purposely avoided them. As +the creek was leading northerly, we traced it down on that course for +about seven miles, and then halted upon its banks, which were composed of +a light tenacious earth. Brushes of casuarina existed near it, but a +tortuous box was the prevailing tree, which, excepting for the knees of +small vessels, could not have been applied to any use, while the +flooded-gum had entirely disappeared. Some ducks were shot in the +afternoon, which proved a great treat, as we had been living for some time +on salt provisions. Our animals fared worse than ourselves, as the bed of +the creek was occupied by coarse rushes, and but little vegetation was +elsewhere to be seen. I here killed a beautiful snake, of about four feet +in length, and of a bright yellow colour: I had not, however, the means of +preserving it. Fraser collected numerous botanical specimens, and among +them two kinds of caparis. Indeed a great alteration had taken place in +the minor shrubs, and few of those now prevalent had been observed to the +eastward of the marshes. + +From the creek, which both I and Mr. Hume must have crossed on our +respective journeys, we held a westerly course for about fifteen miles, +through a country of alternate plain and brush, the latter predominating, +and in its general character differing but little from that we had +traversed the day previous. + +The acacia pendula still continued to exist on the plains backed by dark +rows of cypresses (Cupressus callitris). In the brushes, box and +casuarina (Casuarina tortuosa), with several other kinds of eucalypti, +prevailed; but none of them were sufficiently large to be of use. The +plains were so extremely level that a meridian altitude could have been +taken without any material error; and I doubt much whether it would have +been possible to have traversed them had the season been wet. + +HUNTING PARTY OF NATIVES. + +As we were travelling through a forest we surprised a hunting party of +natives. Mr. Hume and I were considerably in front of our party at the +time, and he only had his gun with him. We had been moving along so +quietly that we were not for some time observed by them. Three were seated +on the ground, under a tree, and two others were busily employed on one of +the lower branches cutting out honey. As soon as they saw us, four of them +ran away; but the fifth, who wore a cap of emu feathers, stood for a +moment looking at us, and then very deliberately dropped out of the tree +to the ground. I then advanced towards him, but before I got round a bush +that intervened, he had darted away. I was fearful that he was gone to +collect his tribe, and, under this impression, rode quickly back for my +gun to support Mr. Hume. On my arrival I found the native was before me. +He stood about twenty paces from Mr. Hume, who was endeavouring to explain +what he was; but seeing me approach he immediately poised his spear at +him, as being the nearest. Mr. Hume then unslung his carbine, and +presented it; but, as it was evident my re-appearance had startled the +savage, I pulled up; and he immediately lowered his weapon. His coolness +and courage surprised me, and increased my desire to communicate with him. +He had evidently taken both man and horse for one animal, and as long as +Mr. Hume kept his seat, the native remained upon his guard; but when he +saw him dismount, after the first astonishment had subsided, he stuck his +spear into the ground, and walked fearlessly up to him. We easily made him +comprehend that we were in search of water; when he pointed to the west, +as indicating that we should supply our wants there. He gave his +information in a frank and manly way, without the least embarrassment, +and when the party passed, he stepped back to avoid the animals, without +the smallest confusion. I am sure he was a very brave man; and I left him +with the most favourable impressions, and not without hope that he would +follow us. + +From a more open forest, we entered a dense scrub, the soil in which was +of a bright-red colour and extremely sandy, and the timber of various +kinds. A leafless species of stenochylus aphylta, which, from the +resemblance, I at first thought one of the polygonum tribe, was very +abundant in the open spaces, and the young cypresses were occasionally so +close as to turn us from the direction in which we had been moving. In the +scrub we crossed Mr. Hume's tract, and, from the appearance of the ground, +I was led to believe mine could not be very distant. + +FATE OF THE MACQUARIE. + +We struck upon a creek late in the afternoon, at which we stopped; New +Year's Range bearing nearly due west at about four miles' distance. Had we +struck upon my track, the question about which we were so anxious would +still have been undecided; but the circumstance of our having crossed Mr. +Hume's, which, from its direction, could not be mistaken, convinced me of +the fate of the Macquarie, and I felt assured that, whatever channels it +might have for the distribution of its waters, to the north of our line of +route, the equality of surface of the interior would never permit it +again to form a river; and that it only required an examination of the +lower parts of the marshes to confirm the theory of the ultimate +evaporation and absorption of its waters, instead of their contributing to +the permanence of an inland sea, as Mr. Oxley had supposed. + +NEW YEAR'S RANGE. + +On the 17th of January we encamped under New Year's Range, which is the +first elevation in the interior of Eastern Australia to the westward of +Mount Harris. Yet when at its base, I do not think that we had ascended +above forty feet higher than the plains in the neighbourhood of that last +mentioned eminence. There certainly is a partial rise of country, where +the change of soil takes place from the alluvial deposits of the marshes, +to the sandy loam so prevalent on the plains we had lately traversed; but +I had to regret that I was unable to decide so interesting a question by +other than bare conjecture. + +Notwithstanding that Mr. Hume had already been on them, I encouraged hopes +that a second survey of the country from the highest point of New Year's +Range would enable us to form some opinion of it, by which to direct our +future movements; but I was disappointed. + +The two wooded hills I had seen from Oxley's Table Land were visible from +the range, bearing south; and other eminences bore by compass S.W. +and W. by S.; but in every other direction the horizon was unbroken. To +the westward, there appeared to be a valley of considerable extent, +stretching N. and S., in which latter direction there was a long strip of +cleared ground, that looked very like the sandy bed of a broad and rapid +river. The bare possibility of the reality determined me to ascertain by +inspection, whether my conjecture was right, and Mr. Hume accompanied me +on this excursion. After we left the camp we crossed a part of the range, +and travelled for some time through open forest land that would afford +excellent grazing in most seasons. We passed some hollows, and noticed +many huts that had been occupied near them; but the hollows were now quite +dry, and the huts had been long deserted. After about ten miles' ride we +reached a plain of white sand, from which New Year's Range was distinctly +visible; and this no doubt was the spot that had attracted my attention. +Pools of water continued on it, from which circumstance it would appear +that the sand had a substratum of clay or marl. From this plain we +proceeded southerly through acacia scrub, bounding gently undulating +forest land, and at length ascended some small elevations that scarcely +deserved the name of hills. They had fragments of quartz profusely +scattered over them; and the soil, which was sandy, contained particles of +mica. + +MOSQUITOES. + +The view from them was confused, nor did any fresh object meet our +observation. We had, however, considerably neared the two wooded hills, +and the elevations that from the range were to the S.W., now bore N.W. +of us. We had wandered too far from the camp to admit of our returning to +it to sleep; we therefore commenced a search for water, and having found +some, we tethered our horses near it for the night, and should have been +tolerably comfortable, had not the mosquitoes been so extremely +troublesome. They defied the power of smoke, and annoyed me so much, that, +hot as it was, I rolled myself in my boat cloak, and perspired in +consequence to such a degree, that my clothes were wet through, and I had +to stand at the fire in the morning to dry them. Mr. Hume, who could not +bear such confinement, suffered the penalty, and was most unmercifully +bitten. + +A MAN MISSING. + +We reached the camp about noon the following day, and learnt, to our +vexation, that one of the men, Norman, had lost himself shortly after we +started, and had not since been heard of. Dawber, my overseer, was out in +search of him. I awaited his return, therefore, before I took any measures +for the man's recovery; nor was I without hopes that Dawber would have +found him, as it appeared he had taken one of the horses with him, and +Dawber, by keeping his tracks, might eventually have overtaken him. He +returned, however, about 3 p.m. unsuccessful, when Mr. Hume and I mounted +our horses, and proceeded in different directions in quest of him, but +were equally disappointed. + +We met at the creek in the dark, and returned to the camp together, when I +ordered the cypresses on the range to be set on fire, and thus illuminated +the country round for many miles. In the morning, however, as Norman had +not made his appearance, we again started in search of the poor fellow, +on whose account I was now most uneasy; for his horse, it appeared, had +escaped him, and was found with the others at watering time. + +I did not return to the camp until after sunset, more fatigued than I +recollect ever having been before. I was, however, rejoiced on being +informed that the object of my anxiety was safe in his tent; that he had +caught sight of the hill the evening before, and that he had reached the +camp shortly after I left it. He had been absent three nights and two +days, and had not tasted water or food of any kind during that time. + +To my enquiries he replied, that, being on horseback, he thought he could +have overtaken a kangaroo, which passed him whilst waiting at the creek +for the cattle, and that in the attempt, he lost himself. It would appear +that he crossed the creek in the dark, and his horse escaped from him on +the first night. He complained more of thirst than of hunger, although he +had drunk at the watering-place to such an excess, on his return, as to +make him vomit; but, though not a little exhausted, he had escaped better +than I should have expected. + +COUNTRY AROUND NEW YEAR'S RANGE. + +New Year's Range consists of a principal group of five hills, the loftiest +of which does not measure 300 feet in height. It has lateral ridges, +extending to the N.N.W. on the one hand, and bending in to the creek on +the other. The former have a few cypresses, sterculia, and iron bark upon +them; the latter are generally covered with brush, under box; the brush +for the most part consisting of two distinct species of stenochylus, and a +new acacia. The whole range is of quartz formation, small fragments of +which are profusely scattered over the ridges, and are abundantly +incrusted with oxide of iron. The soil in the neighbourhood of New Year's +Range is a red loam, with a slight mixture of sand. An open forest country +lies between it and the creek, and it is not at all deficient in pasture. + +NEW YEAR'S CREEK. + +That a change of soil takes place to the westward of the creek, is +obvious, from the change of vegetation, the most remarkable feature of +which is the sudden check given to the further extension of the acacia +pendula, which is not to be found beyond it, it being succeeded by another +acacia of the same species and habits; neither do the plants of the +chenopedia class exist in the immediate vicinity of the range. + +I place these hills, as far as my observations will allow, in east +lon. 146 degrees 32 minutes 15 seconds, and in lat. 30 degrees 21 minutes +south; the variation of the compass being 6 degrees 40 minutes easterly. + +As New Year's Creek was leading northerly, it had been determined to trace +it down as long as it should keep that course, or one to the westward of +it. We broke up the camp, therefore, under the range, on the evening of +the 18th, and moved to the creek, about two miles north of the place at +which we had before crossed it, with the intention of prosecuting our +journey on the morrow. But both Mr. Hume and I were so fatigued that we +were glad of an opportunity to rest, even for a single day. We remained +stationary, therefore, on the 19th; nor was I without hope that the +natives whom we had surprised in the woods, would have paid us a visit, +since Mr. Hume had met them in his search for Norman, and they had +promised not only to come to us, but to do all in their power to find +the man, whose footsteps some of them had crossed. They did not, however, +venture near us; and I rather attribute their having kept aloof, to the +circumstance of Mr. Hume's having fired a shot, shortly after he left +them, as a signal to Norman, in the event of his being within hearing of +the report. They must have been alarmed at so unusual a sound; but I am +sure nothing was further from Mr. Hume's intention than to intimidate +them; his knowledge of their manners and customs, as well as his +partiality to the natives, being equally remarkable. The circumstance is, +however, a proof of the great caution that is necessary in communicating +with them. + +ANNOYED BY KANGAROO FLIES. + +I have said that we remained stationary the day after we left the range, +with a view to enjoy a little rest; it would, however, have been +infinitely better if we had moved forward. Our camp was infested by the +kangaroo fly, which settled upon us in thousands. They appeared to rise +from the ground, and as fast as they were swept off were succeeded by +fresh numbers. It was utterly impossible to avoid their persecution, +penetrating as they did into the very tents. + +The men were obliged to put handkerchiefs over their faces, and stockings +upon their hands; but they bit through every thing. It was to no purpose +that I myself shifted from place to place; they still followed, or were +equally numerous everywhere. To add to our discomfort, the animals were +driven almost to madness, and galloped to and fro in so furious a manner +that I was apprehensive some of them would have been lost. I never +experienced such a day of torment; and only when the sun set, did these +little creatures cease from their attacks. + +SUDDENLY RELIEVED. + +It will be supposed that we did not stay to subject ourselves to another +trial; indeed it was with some degree of horror that the men saw the first +light of morning streak the horizon. They got up immediately, and we moved +down the creek, on a northerly course, without breakfasting as usual. We +found that dense brushes of casuarina lined the creek on both sides, +beyond which, to our left, there was open rising ground, on which +eucalypti, cypresses, and the acacia longifolia, prevailed; whilst to the +east, plains seemed to predominate. + +Although we had left the immediate spot at which the kangaroo flies +(cabarus) seemed to be collected, I did not expect that we should have got +rid of them so completely as we did. None of them were seen during the +day; a proof that they were entirely local. They were about half the size +of a common house fly, had flat brown bodies, and their bite, although +sharp and piercing, left no irritation after it. + +About noon we stopped at the creek side to take some refreshment. The +country bore an improved appearance around us, and the cattle found +abundance of pasture. It was evident that the creek had been numerously +frequented by the natives, although no recent traces of them could be +found. It had a bed of coarse red granite, of the fragments of which the +natives had constructed a weir for the purpose of taking fish. The +appearance of this rock in so isolated a situation, is worthy of the +consideration of geologists. + +DESOLATION OF THE COUNTRY. + +The promise of improvement I have noticed, gradually disappeared as we +proceeded on our day's journey, and we at length found ourselves once more +among brushes, and on the edge of plains, over which the rhagodia +prevailed. Nothing could exceed in dreariness the appearance of the tracks +through which we journeyed, on this and the two following days. The creek +on which we depended for a supply of water, gave such alarming indications +of a total failure, that I at one time, had serious thoughts of abandoning +my pursuit of it. We passed hollow after hollow that had successively +dried up, although originally of considerable depth; and, when we at +length found water, it was doubtful how far we could make use of it. +Sometimes in boiling it left a sediment nearly equal to half its body; at +other times it was so bitter as to be quite unpalatable. That on which we +subsisted was scraped up from small puddles, heated by the sun's rays; +and so uncertain were we of finding water at the end of the day's journey, +that we were obliged to carry a supply on one of the bullocks. There was +scarcely a living creature, even of the feathered race, to be seen to +break the stillness of the forest. The native dogs alone wandered about, +though they had scarcely strength to avoid us; and their melancholy howl, +breaking in upon the ear at the dead of the night, only served to impress +more fully on the mind the absolute loneliness of the desert. + +It appeared, from their traces that the natives had lingered on this +ground, on which they had perhaps been born, as long as it continued to +afford them a scanty though precarious subsistence; but that they had at +length been forced from it. Neither fish nor muscles remained in the +creek, nor emus nor kangaroos on the plains. How then could an European +expect to find food in deserts through which the savage wandered in vain? +There is no doubt of the fate that would have overtaken any one of the +party who might have strayed away, and I was happy to find that Norman's +narrow escape had made a due impression on the minds of his comrades. + +SANDY PLAINS; LEAVE THE CREEK. + +We passed some considerable plains, lying to the eastward of the creek, on +parts of which the grass, though growing in tufts, was of luxuriant +growth. They were, however, more generally covered with salsola and +rhagodia, and totally destitute of other vegetation, the soil upon them +being a red sandy loam. The paths across the plains, which varied in +breadth from three to eight miles, were numerous; but they had not been +recently trodden. The creek continued to have a thick brush of casuarina +and acacia near it, to the westward of which there was a rising open +forest track; the timber upon it being chiefly box, cypress, and the +acacia longifolia. It was most probably connected with New Year's Range, +those elevations being about thirty miles distant. It terminated in some +gentle hills which, though covered in places with acacia shrub, were +sufficiently open to afford an extensive view. From their summit Oxley's +Table Land, towards which we had been gradually working our way, was +distinctly visible, distant about twenty miles, and bearing by compass +W. by S. On descending from these hills (called the Pink Hills, from the +colour of a flower upon them) which were scattered over with fragments of +slaty quartz, we traversed a box flat, apparently subject to overflow, +having a barren sandy scrub to its left. I had desired the men to preserve +a W.N.W. direction, on leaving them, supposing that that course would have +kept them near the creek; but, on overtaking the party, I found that they +had wandered completely away from it. The fact was, that the creek had +taken a sudden bend to the eastward of N. and had thus thrown them out. +It was with some difficulty that we regained it before sunset; and we were +at length obliged to stop for the night at a small plain, about a quarter +of a mile short of it, but we had the satisfaction of having excellent +feed for the animals. + +OXLEY'S TABLE LAND. + +Fearful that New Year's Creek would take us too far to the eastward, and +being anxious to keep westward as much as possible, it struck me that we +could not, under existing circumstances, do better than make for Oxley's +Table Land. Water, I knew, we should find in a swamp at it's base, and we +might discover some more encouraging feature than I had observed on my +hasty visit to it. We left the creek, therefore on the 23rd, and once more +took up a westerly course. Passing through a generally open country, we +stopped at noon to rest the animals; and afterwards got on an excellent +grazing forest track, which continued to the brush, through another part +of which I had penetrated to the marsh more to the south. While making our +way through it, we came upon a small pond of water, and must have alarmed +some natives, as there was a fresh made fire close to it. Our journey had +been unusually long, and the cattle had felt the heat so much, that the +moment they saw water they rushed into it; and, as this created some +confusion, I thought it best to stop where we were for the night. + +In the morning, Mr. Hume walked with me to the hill, a distance of about a +mile. It is not high enough to deserve the name of a mountain, although a +beautiful feature in the country, and showing well from any point of view. +We ascended it with an anxiety that may well be imagined, but were wholly +disappointed in our most sanguine expectations. Our chief object, in this +second visit to Oxley's Table Land, had been to examine, more at leisure, +the face of the country around it, and to discover, if possible, some +fixed point on which to move. + +If the rivers of the interior had already exhausted themselves, what had +we to expect from a creek whose diminished appearance where we left it +made us apprehend its speedy termination, and whose banks we traversed +under constant apprehension? In any other country I should have followed +such a water course, in hopes of its ultimately leading to some reservoir; +but here I could encourage no such favourable anticipation. + +The only new object that struck our sight was a remarkable and distant +hill of conical shape, bearing by compass S. 10 E. To the southward and +westward, in the direction of D'Urban's Group, a dense and apparently low +brush extended; but to the N. and N.W., there was a regular alternation of +wood and plain. I left Mr. Hume upon the hill, that he might the more +readily notice any smoke made by the natives; and returned myself to the +camp about one o'clock, to move the party to the swamp. Mr. Hume's +perseverance was of little avail. The region he had been overlooking was, +to all appearance, uninhabited, nor did a single fire indicate that there +was even a solitary wanderer upon its surface. + +EXCURSION TO D'URBAN'S GROUP. + +Our situation, at this time, was extremely embarrassing, and the only +circumstance on which we had to congratulate ourselves was, the improved +condition of our men; for several of the cattle and horses were in a sad +plight. The weather had been so extremely oppressive, that we had found it +impossible to keep them free from eruptions. I proposed to Mr. Hume, +therefore, to give them a few days' rest, and to make an excursion, with +such of them as were serviceable, to D'Urban's Group. We were both of us +unwilling to return to the creek, but we foresaw that a blind reliance +upon fortune, in our next movements, might involve us in inextricable +difficulty. + +On the other hand, there was a very great risk in delay. It was more than +probable, from the continued drought, that our retreat would be cut off +from the want of water, or that we should only be enabled to effect our +retreat with loss of most of the animals. The hope, however, of our +intersecting some stream, or of falling upon a better country, prevailed +over other considerations; and the excursion was, consequently, determined +upon. + +DISTRESS FROM WANT OF WATER. + +We left the camp on the 25th, accompanied by Hopkinson and the tinker; +and, almost immediately after, entered an acacia scrub of the most sterile +description, and one, through which it would have been impossible to have +found a passage for the boat carriage. The soil was almost a pure sand, +and the lower branches of the trees were decayed so generally as to give +the whole an indescribable appearance of desolation. About mid-day, we +crossed a light sandy plain, on which there were some dirty puddles of +water. They were so shallow as to leave the backs of the frogs in them +exposed, and they had, in consequence, been destroyed by solar heat, and +were in a state of putrefaction. Our horses refused to drink, but it was +evident that some natives must have partaken of this sickening beverage +only a few hours before our arrival. Indeed, it was clear that a wandering +family must have slept near this spot, as we observed a fresh made gunneah +(or native hut), and their foot-prints were so fresh along the line we +were pursuing, that we momentarily expected to have overtaken them. It was +late in the evening when we got out of this brush into better and more +open ground, where, in ordinary seasons we should, no doubt, have found +abundance of water. But we now searched in vain for it, and were contented +to be enabled to give our wearied animals better food than they had tasted +for many days, the forest grass, though in tufts, being abundant. + +We brought up for the night at the edge of a scrub, having travelled from +thirty-two to thirty-five miles, judging the distance from the mountains +still to be about twelve. + +BEARINGS FROM OXLEY'S TABLE LAND. + +In the morning we started at an early hour, and immediately entered the +brush, beneath which we had slept; pursuing a westerly course through it. +After a short ride, we found ourselves upon a plain, that was crowded with +flocks of cockatoos. Here we got a supply of water, such as it was--so +mixed with slime as to hang in strings between the fingers; and, after a +hasty breakfast, we proceeded on our journey, mostly through a barren +sandy scrub that was a perfect burrow from the number of wombats in it, to +within a mile of the hill group, where the country appeared like one +continuous meadow to the very base of them. I never saw anything like the +luxuriance of the grass on this tract of country, waving as it did higher +than our horses' middles as we rode through it. We ascended the S.W. face +of the mountain to an elevation of at least 800 feet above the level of +the plain, and had some difficulty in scaling the masses of rock that +opposed themselves to our progress. But on gaining the summit, we were +amply repaid for our trouble. The view extended far and wide, but we were +again disappointed in the main object that had induced us to undertake the +journey. I took the following bearings by compass. Oxley's Table Land bore +N. 40 E. distant forty-five miles; small and distant hill due E.; conical +peak seen from Oxley's Table Land S. 60 E., very distant; long ridge of +high land, S.E., distant thirty-five miles; high land, S. 30 E., distant +thirty miles; long range, S. 25 W. + +To the westward, as a medium point. the horizon was unbroken, and the eye +wandered over an apparently endless succession of wood and plain. A +brighter green than usual marked the course of the mountain torrents in +several places, but there was no glittering light among the trees, no +smoke to betray a water hole, or to tell that a single inhabitant was +traversing the extensive region we were overlooking. We were obliged to +return to the plain on which we had breakfasted, and to sleep upon it. + +D'URBAN'S GROUP. + +D'Urban's Group is of compact sandstone formation. Its extreme length is +from E.S.E. to W.N.W., and cannot be more than from seven to nine miles, +whilst its breadth is from two to four. The central space forms a large +basin, in which there are stunted pines and eucalyptus scrub, amid huge +fragments of rocks. It rises like an island from the midst of the ocean, +and as I looked upon it from the plains below, I could without any great +stretch of the imagination, picture to myself that it really was such. +Bold and precipitous, it only wanted the sea to lave its base; and I +cannot but think that such must at no very remote period have been the +case, and that the immense flat we had been traversing, is of +comparatively recent formation. + +We reached the camp on the 28th of the month, by nearly the same route; +and were happy to find that, after the few days' rest they had enjoyed, +there was a considerable improvement in the animals. + +Our experience of the nature of the country to the southward, and the +westward, was such as to deter us from risking anything, by taking such a +direction as was most agreeable to our views. Nothing remained to us but +to follow the creek, or to retreat; and as we could only be induced to +adopt the last measure when every other expedient should have failed, we +determined on pursuing our original plan, of tracing New Year's Creek as +far as practicable. + +DESCRIPTION OF OXLEY'S TABLE LAND. + +Oxley's Table Land is situated in lat. 29 degrees 57 minutes 30 seconds, +and in E. long. 145 degrees 43 minutes 30 seconds, the mean variation +being 6.32 easterly. It consists of two hills that appear to have been +rent asunder by some convulsion of nature, since the passage between them +is narrow and their inner faces are equally perpendicular. The hill which +I have named after the late Surveyor-general, is steep on all sides; but +the other gradually declines from the south, and at length loses itself in +a large plain that extends to the north. It is from four to five miles in +length, and is picturesque in appearance, and lightly wooded. A few +cypresses were growing on Oxley's Table Land; but it had, otherwise, very +little timber upon its summit. Both hills are of sandstone formation, and +there are some hollows upon the last that deserve particular notice. They +have the appearance of having been formed by eddies of water, being deeper +in the centre than at any other part, and contain fragments and slabs of +sandstone of various size and breadth, without a particle of soil or of +sand between them. It is to be observed that the edges of these slabs, +which were perfect parallelograms, were unbroken, and that they were as +clean as if they had only just been turned out of the hand of the mason. +We counted thirteen of these hollows in one spot about twenty-five feet in +diameter, but they are without doubt of periodical formation, since a +single hollow was observed lower than the summit of the hill upon its +south extremity, that had evidently long been exposed to the action of the +atmosphere, and had a general coating of moss over it. + +CONTINUE THE JOURNEY; DOWN NEW YEAR'S CREEK. + +We left Oxley's Table Land on the morning of the 31st of January, pursuing +a northern course through the brush and across a large plain, moving +parallel to the smaller hill, and keeping it upon our left. The soil upon +this plain differed in character from that on the plains to the eastward, +and was much freer from sand. We stopped to dine at a spot, whence Oxley's +Table Land bore by compass, S. by W., distant about twelve miles. +Continuing our journey, at 2 p.m. we cleared the plain, and entered a +tract covered with the polygonum junceum, on a soil evidently the deposit +of floods. Box-trees were thinly scattered over it, and among the +polygonum, the crested pigeons were numerous. These general appearances, +together with a dip of country to the N.N.W., made us conclude that we +were approaching the creek, and we accordingly intersected it on a N.N.E. +course, at about three miles' distance from where we had dined. It had, +however, undergone so complete a change, and had increased so much in size +and in the height of its banks, that we were at a loss to recognise it. +Still, with all these favourable symptoms, there was not a drop of water +in it. But small shells lay in heaps in its bed, or were abundantly +scattered over it; and we remarked that they differed from those on the +plains of the Macquarie. A circumstance that surprised us much, was the +re-appearance of the flooded-gum upon its banks, and that too of a large +size. We had not seen any to the westward of the marshes, and we were, +consequently, led to indulge in more sanguine expectation as to our +ultimate success than we had ever ventured to do before. + +The party crossed to the right bank of the creek, and then moved in a +westerly direction along it in search of water. A brush extended to our +right, and some broken stony ground, rather elevated, was visible, to +which Mr. Hume rode; nor did he join me again until after I had halted the +party for the night. + +DISTRESSED FOR WATER. + +My search for water had been unsuccessful, and the sun had set, when I +came upon a broad part of the creek that appeared very favourable for an +encampment, as it was encompassed by high banks, and would afford the men +a greater facility of watching the cattle, that I knew would stray away if +they could. + +My anxiety for them led me to wander down the bed of the creek, when, to +my joy, I found a pond of water within a hundred yards of the tents. It is +impossible for me to describe the relief I felt at this success, or the +gladness it spread among the men. Mr. Hume joined me at dusk, and informed +me that he had made a circuit, and had struck upon the creek about three +miles below us but that, in tracing it up, he had not found a drop of +water until he came to the pond near which we had so providentially +encamped. On the following morning, we held a westerly course over an open +country for about eight miles and a half. The prevailing timber appeared +to he a species of eucalypti, with rough bark, of small size, and +evidently languishing from the want of moisture. The soil over which we +travelled was far from bad, but there was a total absence of water upon +it. At 6 p.m. Oxley's Table Land was distant from us about fifteen miles, +bearing S. 20 E. by compass. + +We had not touched upon the creek from the time we left it in the morning, +having wandered from it in a northerly direction, along a native path that +we intersected, and that seemed to have been recently trodden, since +footsteps were fresh upon it. At sunset, we crossed a broad dry creek that +puzzled us extremely, and were shortly afterwards obliged to stop for the +night upon a plain beyond it. We had, during the afternoon, bent down to +the S.W. in hopes that we should again have struck upon New Year's Creek; +and, under an impression that we could not be far from it, Mr. Hume and I +walked across the plain, to ascertain if it was sufficiently near to be of +any service to us. We came upon a creek, but could not decide whether it +was the one for which we had been searching, or another. + +Its bed was so perfectly even that it was impossible to say to what point +it flowed, more especially as all remains of debris had mouldered away. It +was, however, extremely broad, and evidently, at times, held a furious +torrent. In the centre of it, at one of the angles, we discovered a pole +erected, and at first thought, from the manner in which it was propped up, +that some unfortunate European must have placed it there as a mark to tell +of his wanderings, but we afterwards concluded that it might be some +superstitious rite of the natives, in consequence of the untowardness of +the season, as it seemed almost inconceivable that an European could have +wandered to such a distance from the located districts in safety. + +REACH A LARGE RIVER. + +The creek had flooded-gum growing upon its banks, and, on places +apparently subject to flood, a number of tall straight saplings were +observed by us. We returned to the camp, after a vain search for water, +and were really at a loss what direction next to pursue. The men kept the +cattle pretty well together, and, as we were not delayed by any +preparations for breakfast, they were saddled and loaded at an early hour. +The circumstance of there having been natives in the neighbourhood, of +whom we had seen so few traces of late, assured me that water was at hand, +but in what direction it was impossible to guess. As the path we had +observed was leading northerly, we took up that course, and had not +proceeded more than a mile upon it, when we suddenly found ourselves on +the banks of a noble river. Such it might in truth be called, where water +was scarcely to be found. The party drew up upon a bank that was from +forty to forty-five feet above the level of the stream. The channel of the +river was front seventy to eighty yards broad, and enclosed an unbroken +sheet of water, evidently very deep, and literally covered with pelicans +and other wild fowl. Our surprise and delight may better be imagined than +described. Our difficulties seemed to be at an end, for here was a river +that promised to reward all our exertions, and which appeared every moment +to increase in importance to our imagination. Coming from the N.E.,and +flowing to the S.W., it had a capacity of channel that proved that we were +as far from its source as from its termination. The paths of the natives +on either side of it were like well trodden roads; and the trees that +overhung it were of beautiful and gigantic growth. + +DISAPPOINTMENT ON FINDING THE RIVER SALT. + +Its banks were too precipitous to allow of our watering the cattle, but +the men eagerly descended to quench their thirst, which a powerful sun had +contributed to increase; nor shall I ever forget the cry of amazement that +followed their doing so, or the looks of terror and disappointment with +which they called out to inform me that the water was so salt as to be +unfit to drink! This was, indeed, too true: on tasting it, I found it +extremely nauseous, and strongly impregnated with salt, being apparently +a mixture of sea and fresh water. Whence this arose, whether from local +causes, or from a communication with some inland sea, I knew not, but the +discovery was certainly a blow for which I was not prepared. Our hopes +were annihilated at the moment of their apparent realization. The cup of +joy was dashed out of our hands before we had time to raise it to our +lips. Notwithstanding this disappointment, we proceeded down the river, +and halted at about five miles, being influenced by the goodness of the +feed to provide for the cattle as well as circumstances would permit. They +would not drink of the river water, but stood covered in it for many +hours, having their noses alone exposed above the stream. Their condition +gave me great uneasiness. It was evident they could not long hold out +under their excessive thirst, and unless we should procure some fresh +water, it would impossible for us to continue our journey. On a closer +examination, the river appeared to me much below its ordinary level, and +its current was scarcely perceptible. We placed sticks to ascertain if +there was a rise or fall of tide, but could arrive at no satisfactory +conclusion, although there was undoubtedly a current in it. Yet, as I +stood upon its banks at sunset, when not a breath of air existed to break +the stillness of the waters below me, and saw their surface kept in +constant agitation by the leaping of fish, I doubted whether the river +could supply itself so abundantly, and the rather imagined, that it owed +such abundance, which the pelicans seemed to indicate was constant, to +some mediterranean sea or other. Where, however, were the human +inhabitants of this distant and singular region? The signs of a numerous +population were around us, but we had not seen even a solitary wanderer. +The water of the river was not, by any means, so salt as that of the +ocean, but its taste was precisely similar. Could it be that its unnatural +state had driven its inhabitants from its banks? + +One would have imagined that our perplexities would have been sufficient +for one day, but ere night closed, they increased upon us, although our +anxiety, with regard to the cattle, was happily removed. Mr. Hume with his +usual perseverance, walked out when the camp was formed; and, at a little +distance from it, ascended a ridge of pure sand, crowned with cypresses. +From this, he descended to the westward, and, at length, struck upon the +river, where a reef of rocks creased its channel, and formed a dry passage +from one side to the other; but the bend, which the river must have taken, +appeared to him so singular, that he doubted whether it was the same +beside which we had been travelling during the day. Curiosity led him to +cross it, when he found a small pond of fresh water on a tongue of land, +and, immediately afterwards, returned to acquaint me with the welcome +tidings. It was too late to move, but we had, at least, the prospect of a +comfortable breakfast in the morning. + +JUNCTION OF NEW YEAR'S CREEK. + +In consequence of the doubts that hung upon Mr. Hume's mind, as to the +course of the river, we arranged that the animals should precede us to the +fresh water; and that we should keep close in upon the stream, to +ascertain that point. After traversing a deep bight, we arrived nearly as +soon as the party, at the appointed rendezvous. The rocks composing the +channel of the river at the crossing place, were of indurated clay. In the +course of an hour, the animals appearing quite refreshed, we proceeded on +our journey, and at about four miles crossed New Year's Creek, at its +junction with the salt river. We passed several parts of the main channel +that were perfectly dry, and were altogether at a loss to account for the +current we undoubtedly had observed in the river when we first came upon +it. At midday D'Urban's Group bore S. 65 E. distant about 32 miles. We +made a little westing in the afternoon. The river continued to maintain +its character and appearance, its lofty banks, and its long still reaches: +while, however, the blue-gum trees upon its banks were of magnificent +size, the soil had but little vegetation upon it, although an alluvial +deposit. + +We passed over vast spaces covered with the polygonum junceum, that bore +all the appearance of the flooded tracks in the neighbourhood of the +marshes, and on which the travelling was equally distressing to the +animals. Indeed, it had been sufficiently evident to us that the waters of +this river were not always confined to its channel, capacious as it was, +but that they inundated a belt of barren land, that varied in width from a +quarter of a mile to a mile, when they were checked by an outer embankment +that prevented them from spreading generally over the country, and upon +the neighbouring plains. At our halting place, the cattle drank sparingly +of the water, but it acted as a violent purgative both on them and the men +who partook of it. + +NATIVE VILLAGE. + +On the 5th, the river led us to the southward and westward. Early in the +day, we passed a group of seventy huts, capable of holding from twelve to +fifteen men each. They appeared to be permanent habitations, and all of +them fronted the same point of the compass. In searching amongst them we +observed two beautifully made nets, of about ninety yards in length. The +one had much larger meshes than the other, and was, most probably, +intended to take kangaroos; but the other was evidently a fishing net. + +In one hut, the floor of which was swept with particular care, a number of +white balls, as of pulverised shells or lime, had been deposited--the +use of which we could not divine. A trench was formed round the hut to +prevent the rain from running under it, and the whole was arranged with +more than ordinary attention. + +TERROR OF THE NATIVES. + +We had not proceeded very far when we came suddenly upon the tribe to +which this village, as it might be called, belonged. + +In breaking through some brush to an open space that was bounded on one +side by the river, we observed three or four natives, seated on a bank at +a considerable distance from us; and directly in the line on which we were +moving. The nature of the ground so completely favoured our approach, that +they did not become aware of it until we were within a few yards of them, +and had ascended a little ridge, which, as we afterwards discovered, ended +in an abrupt precipice upon the river, not more than thirty yards to our +right. The crack of the drayman's whip was the first thing that aroused +their attention. They gazed upon us for a moment, and then started up and +assumed an attitude of horror and amazement; their terror apparently +increasing upon them. We stood perfectly immovable, until at length they +gave a fearful yell, and darted out of sight. + +THEY FIRE THE BUSH. + +Their cry brought about a dozen more natives from the river, whom we had +not before observed, but who now ran after their comrades with surprising +activity, and without once venturing to look behind them. As our position +was a good one, we determined to remain upon it, until we should ascertain +the number and disposition of the natives. We had not been long +stationary, when we heard a crackling noise in the distance, and it soon +became evident that the bush had been fired. It was, however, impossible +that we could receive any injury on the narrow ridge upon which we stood, +so that we waited very patiently to see the end of this affair. + +REMARKS ON THE NATIVES; DISEASE AMONG THEM. + +In a short time the fire approached pretty near to us, and dense columns +of smoke rose into the air over our heads. One of the natives, who had +been on the bank, now came out of the bush, exactly from the spot into +which he had retreated. He advanced a few paces towards us, and bending +his body so that his hands rested on his knees, he fixed his gaze upon us +for some time; but, seeing that we remained immovable, he began to throw +himself into the most extravagant attitudes, shaking his foot from time to +time. When he found that all his violence had no effect, he turned his +rear to us in a most laughable manner, and absolutely groaned in spirit +when he found that this last insult failed of success. + +He stood perplexed and not knowing what next to do, which gave Mr. Hume an +opportunity to call out to him, and with considerable address he at length +got the savage to approach close up to him; Mr. Hume himself having +advanced a short distance from the animals in the first instance. As soon +as I thought the savage had sufficiently recovered from his alarm, I went +up to him with a tomahawk, the use of which he immediately guessed. We now +observed that the natives who had fled from the river, had been employed +in setting a net. They had placed it in a semicircle, with either end to +the shore, and rude pieces of wood were attached to it to keep the upper +part perpendicular. It was in fact a sein, only that the materials, with +the exception of the net-work, were simpler and rougher than cork or +lead--for which last, we afterwards discovered stones had been +substituted. + +We had on this occasion a remarkable instance of the docility of the +natives of the interior, or of the power they have of subduing their +apprehensions; manifesting the opposite extremes of fear and confidence. +These men whom we had thus surprised, and who, no doubt, imagined that we +were about to destroy them, having apparently never seen nor heard of +white men before, must have taken us for something preternatural; yet from +the extremity of fear that had prompted them to set their woods in flames, +they in a brief space so completely subdued those fears as to approach +the very beings who had so strongly excited their alarm. The savage who +had been the principal actor in the scene, was an elderly man, rather +descending to the vale of years than what might be strictly called aged. +I know not how it was, but I regarded him with peculiar interest. +Mr. Hume's manners had in a great measure contributed to allay his evident +agitation; but, from the moment I approached him, I thought there was a +shade of anxiety upon his brow, and an expression of sorrow over his +features, the cause of which did not originate with us. I could see in a +moment, that his bosom was full even to bursting, and he seemed to claim +at once our sympathy and our protection, although we were ignorant of that +which oppressed him. We had not long been seated together, when some of +his tribe mustered sufficient courage to join him. Both Mr. Hume and I +were desirous of seeing the net drawn, but the old man raised some +objection, by pointing to the heavens and towards the sun. After a little +more solicitation, however, he gave a whistle, and, four or five natives +having obeyed the summons, he directed them to draw the net, but they were +unfortunate, and our wish to ascertain the kind of fish contained in the +river was disappointed. As his tribe gathered round him, the old chief +threw a melancholy glance upon them, and endeavoured, as much as he could, +to explain the cause of that affliction which, as I had rightly judged, +weighed heavily upon him. It appeared, then, that a violent cutaneous +disease raged throughout the tribe, that was sweeping them off in great +numbers. He called several young men to Mr. Hume and myself, who had been +attacked by this singular malady. Nothing could exceed the anxiety of his +explanations, or the mild and soothing tone in which he addressed his +people, and it really pained me that I could not assist him in his +distress. We now discovered the use to which the conical substance that +had been deposited with such unusual care in one of the huts, was applied. +There were few of the natives present who were not more or less marked +with it, and it was no doubt, indicative of mourning. + +DEPARTURE OF THE NATIVES. + +Some of the men, however, were painted with red and yellow ochre, with +which it was evident to me they had besmeared themselves since our +appearance, most likely in preparing for the combat in which they fancied +they would be engaged. We distributed such presents as we had to those +around us, and when we pursued our journey, the majority accompanied us, +nor did they wholly leave us until we had passed the place to which their +women had retired. They might have left us when they pleased, for we +intended them no harm; as it was, however, they struck into the brushes to +join their families, and we pushed on to make up for lost time. + +The travelling near the river had been so bad, not only in consequence of +the nature of the soil and brush, but from the numerous gullies that had +been formed by torrents, as they poured into its channel after heavy rains +and floods, that it was thought advisable to keep at a greater distance +from it. We turned away, therefore, to the plains, and found them of much +firmer surface. They partook, however, of the same general character as +the plains we had traversed more to the eastward. Their soil was a light +sandy loam, and the same succulent plants still continued to prevail upon +them, which we have already noticed as existing upon the other plains. +Both emus and kangaroos were seen, though not in any considerable numbers, +but our dogs were not in a condition to run, and were all but killed by +the extreme heat of the weather. We had fallen on a small pool of water +shortly after we started in the morning, but we could do no more than +refresh ourselves and the animals at it. In the afternoon, we again turned +towards the river, and found it unaltered. Its water was still salt, and +from the increased number of wild fowl and pelicans upon it, as well as +from the general flatness of the country, I certainly thought we were +rapidly approaching some inland sea. It was, however, uncertain how long +we should be enabled to continue on the river. The animals were all of +them extremely weak, and every day increased the probable difficulty of +our return. There was not the least appearance of a break-up of the +drought, the heavens were without a cloud, and the atmosphere was so clear +that the outline of the moon could be distinctly seen, although she was +far in her wane. + +BRINE SPRINGS IN THE RIVER. + +On the 6th, we journeyed again through a barren scrub, although on firmer +ground, and passed numerous groups of huts. At about eight miles from our +last encampment, we came upon the river, where its banks were of +considerable height. In riding along them, Mr. Hume thought he observed a +current running, and be called to inform me of the circumstance. On a +closer examination, we discovered some springs in the very bed of the +river, from which a considerable stream was gushing, and from the +incrustation around them, we had no difficulty in guessing at their +nature: in fact, they were brine springs, and I collected a quantity of +salt from the brink of them. + +DISTRESS FOR WANT OF FRESH WATER. + +After such a discovery, we could not hope to keep our position. No doubt +the current we had observed on first reaching the river, was caused by +springs that had either escaped our notice or were under water. Here was +at length a local cause for its saltness that destroyed at once the +anticipation and hope of our being near its termination, and, +consequently, the ardour with which we should have pressed on to decide so +interesting a point. + +Our retreat would have been a measure of absolute necessity ere this, had +we not found occasional supplies of fresh water, the last pond of which +was now about eighteen miles behind us. + +OUR COURSE ARRESTED. + +Whether we should again find any, was a doubtful question, and I hesitated +to run the risk. The animals were already, from bad food, and from the +effects of the river water, so weak, that they could scarcely carry their +loads, and I was aware, if any of the bullocks once fell, he would never +rise again. Under such circumstances, I thought it better to halt the +party at the edge of the scrub, though the feed was poor, and the water +not drinkable. Our situation required most serious consideration. It was +necessary that we should move either backward or forward in the morning. +Yet we could not adopt either measure with satisfaction to ourselves, +under such unfavorable circumstances. I determined to relieve my own mind +by getting the animals into a place of safety, as soon as possible; and, +as the only effectual way of doing this was to retire upon the nearest +fresh water, I resolved at once to do so. The party turned back on the +morning of the 6th; nor do I think the cattle would ever have reached +their destination had we not found a few buckets of rain water in the +cleft of a rock, to refresh them. Thus it will appear that under our most +trying circumstances, we received aid from Providence, and that the bounty +of Heaven was extended towards us, when we had least reason to expect it. + +Notwithstanding we had been thus forced to a partial retreat, both +Mr. Hume and myself were unwilling to quit the pursuit of the river, in so +unsatisfactory a manner. There was no difference in the appearance of the +country to the westward of it; but a seeming interminable flat stretched +away in that direction. A journey across it was not likely, therefore, to +be attended with any favorable results, since it was improbable that any +other leading feature was within our reach. I proposed, therefore, to take +the most serviceable of the horses with me down the river, that, in the +event of our finding fresh water, we might again push forward. Mr. Hume +requesting to be permitted to accompany me, it was arranged that we should +start on the 8th, thereby giving the animals a day's rest. We had not seen +any natives since our parting with the chief horde; and as we were +stationed at some little distance from the river, I hoped that they would +not visit the camp during my absence. This was the only circumstance that +gave me uneasiness, but the men had generally been behaving so well that I +relied a great deal upon them. + +EXTRAORDINARY SOUND. + +About 3 p.m. on the 7th, Mr. Hume and I were occupied tracing the chart +upon the ground. The day had been remarkably fine, not a cloud was there +in the heavens, nor a breath of air to be felt. On a sudden we heard what +seemed to be the report of a gun fired at the distance of between five and +six miles. It was not the hollow sound of an earthly explosion, or the +sharp cracking noise of falling timber, but in every way resembled a +discharge of a heavy piece of ordnance. On this all were agreed, but no +one was certain whence the sound proceeded. Both Mr. Hume and myself had +been too attentive to our occupation to form a satisfactory opinion; but +we both thought it came from the N.W. I sent one of the men immediately up +a tree, but he could observe nothing unusual. The country around him +appeared to be equally flat on all sides, and to be thickly wooded: +whatever occasioned the report, it made a strong impression on all of us; +and to this day, the singularity of such a sound, in such a situation, +is a matter of mystery to me. + +FURTHER ATTEMPT TO EXPLORE THE RIVER. + +On the 8th, we commenced our journey down the river, accompanied by two +men, and a pack-horse, carrying our provisions on one side and a bucket of +water on the other. Keeping in general near the stream, but making +occasional turns into the plains, we got to the brush from which the party +had turned back, about 3 p.m. Passing through, we crossed a small plain, +of better soil and vegetation than usual; but it soon gave place to the +sandy loam of the interior; nor did we observe any material alteration, +either in the country or the river, as we rode along. The flooded-gum +trees on the banks of the latter, were of beautiful growth, but in the +brushes dividing the plains, box and other eucalypti, with cypresses and +many minor shrubs, prevailed. We slept on the river side, and calculated +our distance from the camp at about twenty-six or twenty-eight miles. + +The horses would not drink the river water, so that we were obliged to +give them a pint each from our own supply. On the following morning we +continued our journey. The country was generally open to the eastward, and +we had fine views of D'Urban's Group, distant from twenty to twenty-five +miles. About noon, turning towards the river to rest, both ourselves and +the horses, we passed through brush land for about a mile and a half. When +we came upon its banks, we found them composed of a red loam with sandy +superficies. We had, in the course of the day, crossed several creeks, but +in none of them could we find water, although their channels were of great +depth. + +The day had been extremely warm, and from shaking in the barrel our supply +of water had diminished to a little more than a pint; it consequently +became a matter of serious consideration, how far it would he prudent to +proceed farther; for, however capable we were of bearing additional +fatigue, it was evident our animals would soon fail, since they trembled +exceedingly, and had the look of total exhaustion. We calculated that we +were forty miles from the camp, in a S.W. direction, a fearful distance +under our circumstances, since we could not hope to obtain relief for two +days. Independently however, of the state of the animals, our spirits were +damped by the nature of the country, and the change which had taken place +on the soil, upon which it was impossible that water could rest; while the +general appearance of the interior showed how much it had suffered from +drought. On the other hand, although the waters of the river had become +worse to the taste, the river itself had increased in size, and stretched +away to the westward, with all the uniformity of a magnificent canal, and +gave every promise of increasing importance; while the pelicans were in +such numbers upon it as to be quite dazzling to the eye. Considering, +however, that perseverance would only involve us in inextricable +difficulties, and that it would also be useless to risk the horses, since +we had gained a distance to which the bullocks could not have been +brought, I intimated my intention of giving up the further pursuit of the +river, though it was with extreme reluctance that I did so. + +CALLED IT THE "DARLING". + +As soon as we had bathed and finished our scanty meal, I took the bearings +of D'Urban's Group, and found them to be S. 58 E. about thirty-three miles +distant; and as we mounted our horses, I named the river the "Darling," +as a lasting memorial of the respect I bear the governor. + +ABANDON THE ATTEMPT. + +I should be doing injustice to Mr. Hume and my men, if I did not express +my conviction that they were extremely unwilling to yield to +circumstances, and that, had I determined on continuing the journey, they +would have followed me with cheerfulness, whatever the consequences might +have been. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + +Intercourse with the natives--Their appearance and condition--Remarks on +the Salt or Darling River--Appearance of the marshes on our return-- +Alarm for safety of the provision party--Return to Mount Harris--Miserable +condition of the natives--Circumstances attending the slaughter of two +Irish runaways--Bend our course towards the Castlereagh--Wallis's Ponds-- +Find the famished natives feeding on gum--Channel of the Castlereagh-- +Character of the country in its vicinity--Another tribe of natives-- +Amicable intercourse with them--Morrisset's chain of Ponds--Again reach +the Darling River ninety miles higher up than where we first struck +upon it. + + +We kept near the river as we journeyed homewards, and in striking across a +plain, found an isolated rock of quartz and jasper, just showing itself +partially above the surface of the ground. + +We were anxious to get to the small plain I have mentioned, if possible, +for the sake of the animals, and pushed on rapidly for it. About 4 p.m. we +had reached our sleeping place of the previous evening, and being +overpowered by thirst, we stopped in hopes that by making our tea strong +we might destroy, in some measure, the nauseous taste of the water. The +horses were spancelled and a fire lit. Whilst we were sitting patiently +for the boiling of the tins, Mr. Hume observed at a considerable distance +above us, a large body of natives under some gum trees. They were not near +enough for us to observe them distinctly, but it was evident that they +were watching our motions. We did not take any notice of them for some +time, but at last I thought it better to call out to them, and accordingly +requested Mr. Hume to do so. In a moment the whole of them ran forward and +dashed into the river, having been on the opposite side, with an uproar I +had never witnessed on any former occasion. + +INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES. + +Mr. Hume thought they intended an attack, and the horses had taken fright +and galloped away. I determined, therefore, to fire at once upon them if +they pressed up the bank on which we were posted. Mr. Hume went with me +to the crest of it, and we rather angrily beckoned to the foremost of the +natives to stop. They mistook our meaning, but laid all their spears in a +heap as they came up. We then sat down on the bank and they immediately +did the same; nor did they stir until we beckoned to them after the horses +had been secured. + +As they conducted themselves so inoffensively, we gave them everything we +had to spare. My gun seemed to excite their curiosity, as they had seen +Mr. Hume shoot a cockatoo with it; they must consequently have been close +to us for the greater part of the day, as the bird was killed in the +morning. It was of a species new to me, being smaller than the common +white cockatoo, and having a large scarlet-and-yellow instead of a +pine-yellow top-knot. + +Having stayed about half an hour with them, we remounted our horses, and +struck away from the river into the plains, while the natives went up its +banks to join their hordes. Those whom we saw were about twenty-seven in +number and the most of them were strangers. + +DISTRESS FROM THIRST. + +It was some time after sunset before we reached the little plain on which +we had arranged to sleep, and when we dismounted we were in a truly +pitiable state. I had been unable to refrain from drinking copiously at +the river, and now became extremely sick. Mr. Hume had been scarcely more +prudent than myself, but on him the water had a contrary effect, as well +as upon Hopkinson. The tinker was the only man fit for duty, and it was +well for us that such was the case, as the horses made frequent attempts +to stray, and would have left us in a pretty plight had they succeeded. We +reached the camp on the following day a little before sunset, nor was I +more rejoiced to dismount from my wearied horse than to learn that +everything in the camp had been regular during our absence and that the +men had kept on the best terms with the natives who had paid them frequent +visits. + +The bullocks had improved, but were still extremely weak, and as the +horses we had employed on the last journey required a day or two's rest, +it was arranged that we should not break up our camp until the 12th, +beyond which period we could not stop, in consequence of the low state of +our salt provisions, we having barely sufficient to last to Mount Harris, +at the rate of two pounds per week. + +REMARKS ON THE NATIVES. + +The morning after we returned from our excursion, a large party of +natives, about seventy in number, visited the camp. On this occasion, the +women and children passed behind the tents, but did not venture to stop. +Most of the men had spears, and were unusually inquisitive and forward. +Several of them carried fire-sticks under the influence of the disease I +have already noticed, whilst others were remarked to have violent +cutaneous eruptions all over the body. We were pretty well on the alert; +notwithstanding which, every minor article was seized with a quickness +that would have done credit to a most finished juggler. One of the natives +thus picked up my comb and toothbrush, but as he did not attempt to +conceal them, they were fortunately recovered. After staying with us a +short time the men followed the women. They appeared to be strangers who +had come from a distance. + +CUSTOMS OF THE NATIVES. + +The natives of the Darling are a clean-limbed, well-conditioned race, +generally speaking. They seemingly occupy permanent huts, but their tribe +did not bear any proportion to the size or number of their habitations. +It was evident their population had been thinned. The customs of these +distant tribes, as far as we could judge, were similar to those of the +mountain blacks, and they are essentially the same people, although their +language differs. They lacerate their bodies, but do not extract the front +teeth. We saw but few cloaks among them, since the opossum does not +inhabit the interior. Those that were noticed, were made of the red +kangaroo skin. In appearance, these men are stouter in the bust than at +the lower extremities; they have broad noses, sunken eyes, overhanging +eyebrows, and thick lips. The men are much better looking than the women. +Both go perfectly naked, if I except the former, who wear nets over the +loins and across the forehead, and bones through the cartilages of the +nose. Their chief food is fish, of which they have great supplies in the +river; still they have their seasons for hunting their emus and kangaroos. +The nets they use for this purpose, as well as for fishing, are of great +length, and are made upon large frames. These people do not appear to have +warlike habits nor do they take any pride in their arms, which differ +little from those used by the inland tribes, and are assimilated to them +as far as the materials will allow. One powerful man, however, had a +regular trident, for which Mr. Hume offered many things without success. +He plainly intimated to us that he had a use for it, but whether against +an enemy or to secure prey, we could not understand. I was most anxious to +have ascertained if any religious ceremonies obtained among them, but the +difficulty of making them comprehend our meaning was insurmountable; and +to the same cause may be attributed the circumstance of my being unable to +collect any satisfactory vocabulary of their language. They evinced a +strange perversity, or obstinacy rather, in repeating words, although it +was evident that they knew they were meant as questions. The pole we +observed in the creek, on the evening previously to our making the +Darling, was not the only one that fell under our notice; our impression +therefore, that they were fixed by the natives to propitiate some deity, +was confirmed. It would appear that the white pigment was an indication of +mourning. Whether these people have an idea of a superintending Providence +I doubt, but they evidently dread evil agency. On the whole I should say +they are a people, at present, at the very bottom of the scale of +humanity. + +REMARKS ON THE DARLING RIVER. + +We struck the Darling River in lat. 29 degrees 37 minutes S. and in E. +long. 145 degrees 33 minutes, and traced it down for about sixty-six miles +in a direct line to the S.W. If I might hazard an opinion from appearance, +to whatever part of the interior it leads, its source must be far to the +N.E. or N. The capacity of its channel, and the terrific floods that must +sometimes rage in it, would argue that it is influenced by tropical rains, +which alone would cause such floods. It is likely that it seldom arrives +at so reduced a state as that in which we found it, and that, generally +speaking, it has a sufficient depth of water for the purposes of inland +navigation: in such case its future importance cannot be questioned, since +it most probably receives the chief streams falling westerly from the +coast ranges. But, with every anticipation of the benefit that may at some +time or other be derived from this remarkable and central stream, it is +incumbent on me to state that the country, through which it flows, holds +out but little prospect of advantage. Certainly the portion we know of it, +is far from encouraging. The extent of alluvial soil, between the inner +and outer banks of the river, is extremely limited, and, instead of being +covered with sward, is in most places over-run by the polygonum. Beyond +this the plains of the interior stretch away, whose character and soil +must change, ere they can be available to any good purpose. But there is a +singular want of vegetable decay in the interior of New Holland, and that +powerfully argues its recent origin. + +REMARKS ON THE COUNTRY. + +There is no life upon its surface, if I may so express myself; but the +stillness of death reigns in its brushes, and over its plains. It cannot, +however, be doubted that we visited the interior during a most unfavorable +season. Probably in ordinary ones it wears a different appearance, but its +deserts are of great extent, and its productions are of little value. + +Agreeably to our arrangements, we broke up our camp at an early hour on +the morning of the 12th, and proceeded up the river to the junction of +New Year's Creek. We then struck away in an easterly direction from it, +detaching a man to trace the creek up, lest we should pass any water; and +we should certainly have been without it had we not taken this precaution. + +On the following day, we again passed to the eastward, through an open +country, having picturesque views of Oxley's Table Land. We crossed our +track about noon, and struck on the creek at about five miles beyond it, +and we were fortunate enough to procure both water and grass. The timber +upon the plains, between us and the Darling, we found to be a rough gum, +but box prevailed in the neighbourhood of the creek at this part of it. + +On the 14th, we changed our direction more to the southward, but made a +short journey, in consequence of being obliged to make some slight repairs +on the boat carriage. + +REGAIN OUR OLD ROUTE. + +On the 15th, we kept an E.S.E. course, and, crossing the creek at an early +hour, got upon our old track, which we kept. We had the lateral ridge of +the Pink Hills upon our right, and travelled through a good deal of brush. +Four or five natives joined us, and two followed us to the end of our +day's journey. In the course of the evening, they endeavoured to pilfer +whatever was in their reach, but were detected putting a tin into a bush, +and soon took to their heels. This was the first instance we had of open +theft among the natives of the interior. + +We passed Mosquito Brush on the 18th, but found the ponds quite dry, we +were, therefore, under the necessity of pushing on, to shorten the next +day's journey, as we could not expect to get water nearer than the +marshes. At noon, on the 19th, we entered the plain, and once more saw +them spreading in dreariness before us. While the party was crossing to +the first channel, I rode to the left, in order to examine the appearance +of the country in the direction of the wood, and as far as I skirted the +reeds had my impressions confirmed as to their partial extension. I was +obliged, however, to join the men without completing the circuit of the +marshes. They had found the first channel dry, and had passed on to the +other, in which, fortunately, a small quantity of water still remained. +It was, however, so shallow as to expose the backs of the fish in it, and +a number of crows had congregated, and were pecking at them. Wishing to +satisfy my mind as to the distance to which the river extended to the +northward, Mr. Hume rode with me on the following day, to examine the +country in that direction, leaving the men stationary. We found that the +reeds gradually decreased in body, until, at length, they ceased, or gave +place to bulrushes. There were general appearances of inundation, and of +the subsidence of waters, but none that led us to suppose that any channel +existed beyond the flooded lands. + +ALARM FOR THE SAFETY OF THE PROVISION PARTY. + +On our return to the camp, we observed dense masses of smoke rising at the +head of the marshes, and immediately under Mount Foster. This excited our +alarm for the safety of the party we hoped to find at Mount Harris, and +obliged us to make forced marches, to relieve it if threatened by the +natives. + +On the 22nd, we crossed the plains of the Macquarie, and surprised a +numerous tribe on the banks of the river; and the difficulty we found in +getting any of them to approach us, their evident timidity, and the +circumstance of one of them having on a jacket, tended to increase our +apprehensions. When two or three came to us, they intimated that white +men either had been or were under Mount Harris, but we were left in +uncertainty and passed a most anxious night. + +The body of reeds was still on fire; and the light embers were carried to +an amazing distance by the wind, falling like a black-shower around us. As +we knew that the natives never made such extensive conflagration, unless +they had some mischievous object in view, our apprehension for the safety +of Riley, with his supplies, was increased. + +At the earliest dawn, we pushed for the hill. In passing that part of the +meadows under Mount Foster, we observed that the grass had also been +consumed, and we scarcely recognised the ground from its altered +appearance. As we approached Mount Harris, we saw recent traces of cattle, +but none were visible on the plains. Under the hill, however, we could +distinctly see that a hut of some kind had been erected, and it is +impossible for me to describe the relief we felt when a soldier came +forward to reconnoitre us. I could no longer doubt the safety of the +party, and this was confirmed by the rest of the men turning out to +welcome us. It appeared that our suspicions with regard to the natives had +not been without foundation, since they attempted to surprise the camp, +and it was supposed the firing of the marshes was done with a view to +collect the distant tribes, to make a second attack; so that our arrival +was most opportune. + +The party I found awaiting our arrival at Mount Harris consisted of one +soldier, Riley, who had the charge of the supplies, and a drayman. They +had found the paper I had fixed against the tree, and also the letters I +had hid, and had forwarded them to Sydney, by another soldier and a +prisoner; which had weakened their party a good deal. Riley informed me, +that he had been between a month and three weeks at the station, and that +knowing our provisions must have run short he had expected us much earlier +than we had made our appearance. + +My dispatches stated, that additional supplies had been forwarded for my +use, together with horses and bullocks, in the event of my requiring them. +On examination, the former were found to be in excellent order; and, as it +would take some time to carry any changes I might contemplate, or find it +necessary to make, into effect, I determined to give the men who had been +with me a week's rest. + +ENCAMP AT MOUNT HARRIS. + +The camp was made snug; and as the weather had become much cooler I +thought it a good opportunity to slaughter one of the bullocks, in order +to guard against any bad effects of our having been living for some weeks +exclusively on salt provisions. I was also induced to this measure, from a +wish to preserve my supplies as much as possible. + +These matters having been arranged, I had a temporary awning erected near +the river, and was for three or four days busily employed writing an +account of our journey for the Governor's information. + +Having closed my despatches, and answered the numerous friendly letters I +had received, my attention was next turned to the changes that had taken +place at Mount Harris during our absence. The Macquarie, I found, had +wholly ceased to flow, and now consisted of a chain of ponds. Such of the +minor vegetation as had escaped the fires of the natives, had perished +under the extreme heat of the season. The acacia pendula stood leafless +upon the plains, and the polygonum junceum appeared to be the only plant +that had withstood the effects of the drought. Yet, notwithstanding this +general depression of the vegetable kingdom, the animals that had been +brought from Wellington Valley were in the best condition, and were, +indeed, too fat for effective labour; it might, therefore, be reasonably +presumed, that herbage affording such nourishment in so unfavourable a +season, would be of the richest quality, if fresh and vigorous under the +influence of seasonable, and not excessive, rains. + +FIRING OF THE GREAT MARSHES. + +The appearance of the country was, however, truly melancholy; there was +not a flower in bloom, nor a green object to be seen. Whether our arrival +had increased their alarm, is uncertain, but the natives continued to fire +the great marshes, and as the element raged amongst them, large bodies of +smoke rose over the horizon like storm clouds, and had the effect of +giving additional dreariness to the scene. I am inclined to think that +they made these conflagrations to procure food, by seizing whatsoever +might issue from the flames, as snakes, birds, or other animals; for they +had taken every fish in the river, and the low state of its waters had +enabled them to procure an abundance of muscles from its bed, which they +had consumed with their characteristic improvidence. They were, +consequently, in a starving condition, and so pitiable were their +indications of it, that I was induced to feed such of them as visited the +camp, notwithstanding their late misconduct; being likewise anxious to +bring about a good understanding, as the best means of ensuring the safety +of the smaller party when we should separate, of which I had reason to be +doubtful. These people had killed two white men not long before my arrival +among them, and as the circumstances attending the slaughter are singular, +I shall relate them. + +SLAUGHTER OF TWO IRISH RUNAWAYS. + +The parties were two Irish runaways, who thought they could make their way +to Timor. They escaped from Wellington Valley with a fortnight's provision +each, and a couple of dogs, and proceeded down the Macquarie. About the +cataract, they fell in with the Mount Harris tribe, and remained with them +for some days, when they determined on pursuing their journey. The blacks, +however, wanted to get possession of their dogs, and a resistance on the +part of the Europeans brought on a quarrel. It appears, that before the +blacks proceeded to extremities, they furnished the Irishmen, who were +unarmed, with weapons, and then told them to defend themselves, but +whether against equal or inferior numbers, I am uninformed. One of them +soon fell, which the other observing, he took his knife out, and cut the +throats of both the dogs before the blacks had time to put him to death. +He was, however, sacrificed; and both the men were eaten by the tribe +generally. I questioned several on the subject, but they preserved the +most sullen silence, neither acknowledging nor denying the fact. + +ARBUTHNOT'S RANGE. + +Mr. Hume had been one day on Mount Harris, and while there, had laid his +compass on a large rock, near to which Mr. Oxley's boat had been burnt. +To his surprise, he found the needle affected; and his bearings were all +wrong. I subsequently went up to ascertain the extent of the error +produced, and found it precisely the same as Mr. Hume noticed. When I +placed the compass on the rock, Mount Foster bore from me N. by W., the +true bearing of the one hill from the other being N.N.W. My placing my +notebook under the compass did not alter the effect, nor did the card move +until I raised the instrument a couple of feet above the stone, when it +first became violently agitated, and then settled correctly; and my +bearings of the highest parts of Arbuthnot's Range, and of its centre, +were as follows: + +Mount Exmouth to the N ...... N. 86 E. +Centre....................... N. 85 E. +Vernon's Peak................ N. 89 E. +Distance 70 miles. + +Having finished my reports and letters, it became necessary to consider +the best point on which to move, and to fix a day for our departure from +Mount Harris. It struck me that having found so important a feature as the +Darling River, the Governor would approve my endeavouring to regain it +more to the southward, in order to trace it down. I, therefore, detached +Mr. Hume to survey the country in that direction, and to ascertain if a +descent upon the Bogen district would be practicable, through which I had +been informed a considerable river forced itself. The report he made on +his return was such as to deter me from that attempt, but he stated that +the country for 30 miles from the Macquarie was well watered, and superior +to any he had passed over during the journey; beyond that distance, it +took up the character of the remote interior, and alternated with plains +and brush, the soil being too sandy to retain water on its surface. He saw +some hills from the extremity of his journey, bearing by compass W.S.W. +We consequently determined to make for the Castlereagh, agreeably to our +instructions. Preparations were made for breaking up the camp, all the +various arrangements in the change of animals were completed, the boat +carriage was exchanged for a dray, and I took Boyle in the place of +Norman, whose timidity in the bush rendered him unfit for service. + +CIRCUIT OF THE GREAT MARSHES. + +There is a small hill on the opposite side of the river, and immediately +facing Mount Harris, and to the S.E. of it there is a small lagoon, the +head of a creek, by means of which its superfluous waters are carried off. +This creek runs parallel to the river for about ten miles, and enters the +marshes at the S.E. angle. This I ascertained one day in riding to carry +on my survey of the southern extremity of the marshes, and to join my line +of route by making the circuit of that part of them. I found that the +river was turned to its northerly course by a rising ground of forest +land, which checks its further progress westerly. I proceeded round +the S.W. angle, and then, taking a northerly course, got down to the +bottom of the first great marsh, thus completing the circuit of them. I +did not return to the camp until after 10 p.m., having crossed the river +at day-light, nor did we procure any water from the time we left the +stream to the moment of our recrossing it. + +WALLIS'S PONDS. + +Having completed our various arrangements, and closed our letters, we +struck our tents on the morning of the 7th March; we remained, however, to +witness the departure of Riley's party for Wellington Valley, and then +left the Macquarie on an E.N.E. course for Wallis's Ponds, and made them +at about 14 miles. They undoubtedly empty themselves into the marshes, and +are a continuation of that chain of ponds on which I left the party in +Mr. Hume's charge. About a mile from Mount Harris, we passed a small dry +creek, that evidently lays the country under water in the wet seasons. +There was a blue-gum flat to the eastward of it, which we crossed, and +then entered a brush of acacia pendula and box. The soil upon the plain +was an alluvial deposit; that in the brushes was sandy. From the extremity +of the plain, Mount Harris bore, by compass, S.W. by W.; Mount Foster due +west. The scrub through which we were penetrating, at length became so +dense, that we found it impossible to travel in a direct line through it, +and frequent ridges of cypresses growing closely together, turned us +repeatedly from our course. The country at length became clearer, and we +travelled over open forest of box, casuarina, and cypresses, on a sandy +soil; the first predominating. For about two miles before we made the +creek, the country was not heavily timbered, the acacia pendula +succeeding the larger trees. The ground had a good covering of grass upon +it, and there were few of the salsolaceous plants, so abundant on the +western plains, to be found. The rough-gum abounded near the creek, with a +small tree bearing a hard round nut, and we had the luxury of plenty of +water. + +We remained stationary on the 8th, in hopes that Riley would have met the +soldier who had been sent back to Wellington Valley, and that he would +have forwarded any letters to us, of which he might have been the bearer. +The day, however, passed over without realizing our expectations; and we +started once more for the interior, and cut ourselves off from all +communication with society. + +MORRISSET'S PONDS. + +We made for Morrisset's chain of ponds, and travelled over rich and +extensive plains, divided by plantations of cypress, box, and casuarina, +in the early and latter period of the day. About noon we entered a dense +forest of cypresses, which continued for three miles, when the cypresses +became mixed with casuarina, box, and mountain-gum, a tree we had not +remarked before in so low a situation. We struck upon the creek after a +journey of about 15 miles. It had a sandy bed, and was extremely tortuous +in its course, nor was it until after a considerable search, that we at +length succeeded in finding water, at which a party of natives were +encamped. The moment they saw us, they fled, and left all their utensils, +&c. behind them. Among other things, we found a number of bark troughs, +filled with the gum of the mimosa, and vast quantities of gum made into +cakes upon the ground. From this it would appear these unfortunate +creatures were reduced to the last extremity, and, being unable to procure +any other nourishment, had been obliged to collect this mucilaginous food. + +The plains we traversed, were of uniform equality of surface. Water +evidently lodges and continues on them long after a fall of rain, and in +wet seasons they must, I should imagine, be full of quagmires, and almost +impassable. + +On the 10th, we passed through a country that differed in no material +point from that already described. We stopped at 10 a.m. under some brush, +in the centre of a large plain, from which Arbuthnot's range bore S. 84 E. +distant from 50 to 55 miles, and afterwards traversed or rather crossed, +those extensive tracts described by Mr. Evans as being under water and +covered with reeds, in 1817. They now bore a very different appearance, +being firm and dry. The soil was in general good, and covered with forest +grass and a species of oxalia. We did not observe any reeds, or the signs +of inundation, but, as is invariably the case with plains in the interior, +they were of too even surface, as I have so lately remarked, to admit of +the waters running quickly off them; and no doubt, when they became +saturated, many quagmires are formed, that would very much impede the +movements of an expedition. + +REACH THE CASTLEREAGH RIVER. + +We reached the Castlereagh about 4 p.m., and although its channel could +not have been less than 130 yards in breadth, there was apparently not a +drop of water in it. Its bed consisted of pure sand and reeds; amid the +latter, we found a small pond of 15 yards circumference, after a long +search. There is a considerable dip in the country towards the river, at +about two miles from it; and the intervening brush was full of kangaroo, +which, I fancy, had congregated to a spot where there was abundance of +food for them. The soil covering the space was of the richest quality, +and the timber upon it consisted of box, mountain gum, and the angophora +lanceolata, a tree that is never found except on rich ground. + +WANT OF WATER; CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. + +It appeared that our troubles were to recommence, and that in order to +continue on the Castlereagh, it would be necessary for Mr. Hume and myself +to undertake those fatiguing journeys in search of water that had so +exhausted us already: and after all, it was doubtful how soon we might be +forced back. I had certainly expected that, on our gaining the banks of +the river, we should have had a constant supply of water, but the +circumstance of the Castlereagh having not only ceased to flow, but being +absolutely dry, while it afforded the best and clearest proof of the +severity and continuance of the drought in the interior, at the same time +damped the spirits and ardour of the men. We kept the left bank of the +river as we proceeded down it, and passed two or three larger ponds about +a mile below where we had slept, but there they ceased. The bed of the +river became one of pure sand, nor did there appear to be any chance of +our finding any water in it. I stopped the party at about eight miles, and +desired the men to get their dinners, to give Mr. Hume and myself time to +search for a supply upon the plains. Disappointed to the left, we crossed +the channel of the Castlereagh, and struck over a small plain upon the +right bank, and at the extremity of it, came upon a swamp, from which we +immediately returned for the cattle, and got them unloaded by seven +o'clock. As there was sufficient pasture around us, I proposed to Mr. Hume +on the following day, to leave the party stationary, and to ride down the +river to see how far its present appearances continued. Like the +generality of rivers of the interior, it had, where we struck upon it, +outer banks to confine its waters during floods, and to prevent them from +spreading generally over the country; the space between the two banks +being of the richest soil, and the timber chiefly of the angophora kind. +Flooded-gum overhung the inner banks of the river, or grew upon the many +islands, with casuarina. It became evident, however, that the outer banks +declined in height as we proceeded down the river, nor was it long before +they ceased altogether. As we rode along, we found that the inner ones +were fast decreasing in height also. Riding under a hanging wood of the +angophora, which had ceased for a time, we were induced to break off to +our right, to examine some large flooded-gum trees about a couple of miles +to the N.W. of us. On arriving near them, we were astonished to find that +they concealed a serpentine lagoon that had a belt of reeds round it. +Keeping this lagoon upon our right, we at length came to the head of it, +past which the river sweeps. Crossing the channel of the river, we +continued to ride in an easterly direction to examine the country. In +doing this, we struck on a second branch of the Castlereagh, leading +W. by N. into a plain, which it of course inundates at times, and running +up it, we found its bed at the point of separation, to be considerably +higher than that of the main channel, which still continued of pure +sand--and was stamped all over with the prints of the feet of natives, +kangaroos, emus, and wild dogs, We then turned again to the head of the +lagoon, and took the following bearings of Arbuthnot's range: + +Mount Exmouth .......... E. 90 S. +Centre Range ........... E. 35 E. +Vernon's Peak .......... E. 20 S. + +From the head of the lagoon, the river appeared to enter a reedy hollow, +shaded by a long line of flooded gum trees, and on proceeding to it, we +found the banks ceased here altogether; and that a very considerable plain +extended both to the right and the left, which cannot fail of being +frequently laid under water. + +LAGOONS AND CREEKS OF THE CASTLEREAGH. + +On the following morning we moved the party to the lagoon, and, passing +its head, encamped to the north of it; after which we again rode down the +river in search of water. It continued to hold a straight and northerly +course for about five miles, having a plain on either side. The reeds that +had previously covered the channel then suddenly ceased, and the channel, +contracting in breadth, gained in depth: it became extremely serpentine, +and at length lost all the character and appearance of a river. It had +many back channels, as large as the main one, serving to overflow the +neighbouring country. We succeeded in finding a small pond of water in one +of the former, hardly large enough to supply our necessities, but as it +enabled us to push so much further on, we turned towards the lagoon, +making a circuitous journey to the right, across a large plain, bounded to +the north by low acacia brush and box. We struck upon a creek at the +further extremity of the plain, in which there was a tolerably sized pond. +It appeared from the traces of men, that some natives had been there the +day before; but we did not see any of them. The water was extremely muddy +and unfit for use. The lagoon at which we had encamped, was of less +importance than we had imagined. + +JOURNEY DOWN THE RIVER. + +Whilst Mr. Hume led the party down the river, I rode up its northward +bank, to examine it more closely. I found it to be a serpentine sheet of +about three miles in length, gradually decreasing in depth until it +separated into two small creeks. In following one of them up, I observed +that they re-united at the distance of about two miles, and that the +lagoon was filled from the eastward, and not by the river as I had at +first supposed. The waters at the head of the lagoon were putrid, nor was +there a fish in, or a wild fowl upon it. The only bird we saw was a +beautiful eagle, of the osprey kind, with plumage like a sea gull, which +had a nest in the tree over the tents. + +In turning to overtake the party I rode through a great deal of acacia +scrub, and on arriving at the place at which I expected to have overtaken +them, I found they had pushed on. + +The Castlereagh, as I rode down it, diminished in size considerably, and +became quite choked up with rushes and brambles. Rough-gum again made its +appearance, with swamp-oak and a miserable acacia scrub outside. The +country on both sides of the river seemed to be an interminable flat, and +the soil of an inferior description. + +WRETCHED APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. + +I came up with with Mr. Hume about 1 o'clock and we again pushed forward +at 3, and halted for the night without water, the want of which the cattle +did not feel. The river held a general westerly course, and the country in +its neighbourhood became extremely depressed and low. On the following day +we moved forward a distance of not more than nine miles, through a country +on which, at first, the acacia pendula alone was growing on a light +alluvial soil. The river had many back drains, by means of which, in wet +seasons, it inundates the adjacent plains. It was evident, however, that +they had not been flooded for many years; and, notwithstanding that the +country was low, the line of inundation did not appear to be very +extensive, nor were there any reeds growing beyond the immediate banks of +the river. Swamp-oak and rough-gum again prevailed near the stream at our +halting place, and the improvement that had taken place, both in the +country and in the Castlereagh, had induced us to make so short a journey; +for not only was there abundance of the grass for the animals, but large +ponds of water in the river. Some natives had only just preceded us down +it: we came upon their fires that were still smoking; and upon them were +the remains of some fish they had taken, near which they had left a +cumbrous spear. The circumstances cheered us with hopes that an +improvement would take place in the country, and that some new feature +would soon open upon us. In the course of the following day, however, +every favorable change, both in the river and in the country, disappeared. +The latter continued extremely depressed, and in general open, or lightly +covered with acacia pendula; the former dwindled into a mere ditch, choked +up with brambles and reeds, and having only here and there a stagnant pool +of water. We travelled on a N.W. 1/2 W. course for about ten miles, and +again stopped for the night without water. In the course of the afternoon, +we traversed several flats, on which the rough-gum alone was growing. +These flats were evidently subject to flood; and contained an alluvial +soil. + +They became more frequent as we travelled down the river, and the work was +so heavy for the animals, that I was obliged to keep wide of them, in +doing which we struck upon a creek of large size, coming from the N.E. +and, having crossed, we traversed its right bank to its junction with the +Castlereagh, and stopped close to it at a pond of water, though the feed +for the animals was bad. The country to the left of the river, though +somewhat high, was the same, in essential points, as that to the right. + +The Castlereagh seemed to have increased in size below the creek, but +still it had no resemblance to a river. We had not proceeded very far down +its banks, on the 18th, when we crossed a broad footpath leading to it +from the interior. I turned my horse to the left, and struck upon a long +sheet of water, from which I startled a number of pelicans. It was evident +that the natives had recently been in the neighbourhood, but we thought it +probable they might have been a hunting party, who had returned again to +the plains. The whole track we passed over during the day was miserably +poor and bare of vegetation, nor did the appearance of the country to the +N.E. indicate any improvement. We lost the traces of the natives +immediately after crossing their path or beat, and again found the bed of +the river dry, after we had passed the sheet of water to which it led. The +soil was so rotten and yielding, that the team knocked up early; indeed, +it was a matter of surprise to me that they should not have failed before. +The river made somewhat to the westward with little promise of +improvement. The wretched appearance of the country as we penetrated into +it, damped our spirits; we pressed on, however, with difficulty, over +ground that was totally destitute of vegetation. Instead of lofty timber +and a living stream, we wandered along the banks of an insignificant +watercourse, and under trees of stunted size and scanty foliage. We +stopped on the 20th at the angle of a creek, in which there was some dry +grass, in consequence of the animals being almost in a starving state, but +even here they had but little to eat. + +A violent thunder-storm passed over us in the afternoon, but it made no +change in the temperature of the air. The weather, although it had been +hot and sultry, had fallen far short of the intense heat we experienced in +crossing the marshes of the Macquarie, when it was such as to melt the +sugar in the canisters, and to destroy all our dogs; and our nights were +now become agreeably cool. + +A PARTY OF NATIVES. + +We still, however, continued to travel over a dead level, nor was a height +or break visible from the loftiest trees we ascended. A little before we +stopped at the creek, we surprised a party of natives; old men, women, and +children. They were preparing dinners of fish in much larger quantities +than they could have devoured--probably for a part of the tribe that were +absent; but the moment they saw us they fled, and left every thing at our +mercy. On examining the fish, we found them totally different from any in +the Macquarie, and took two of the most perfect to preserve. In the +afternoon one of the men came to inform me that the tribe was coming down +upon us. + +Mr. Hume and I, therefore, went to meet them. They were at this time about +150 yards from the tent, but seeing us advance, they stopped, and forming +two deep, they marched to and fro, to a war song I suppose, crouching with +their spears. We had not, however, any difficulty in communicating with +them, and I shall detail the manner in which this was brought about, in +hopes that it may help to guide others. When the natives saw us advance, +they stopped, and we did the same. Mr. Hume then walked to a tree, and +broke off a short branch. It is singular that this should, even with these +rude people, be a token of peace. As soon as they saw the branch, the +natives laid aside their spears, and two of them advanced about twenty +paces in front of the rest, who sat down. Mr. Hume then went forward and +sat down, when the two natives again advanced and seated themselves close +to him. + +Now it is evident that a little insight into the customs of every people +is necessary to insure a kindly communication; this, joined with patience +and kindness, will seldom fail with the natives of the interior. It is not +to avoid alarming their natural timidity that a gradual approach is so +necessary. They preserve the same ceremony among themselves. These men, +who were eighteen in number, came with us to the tents, and received such +presents as we had for them. They conducted themselves very quietly, and, +after a short time, left us with every token of friendship. + +LARGE CREEK. + +On the 21st we proceeded down the river on a N.N.W. course, and at about +five miles struck upon a very large creek, apparently coming from +the E.N.E. + +Although the Castlereagh had increased in size, this creek was infinitely +larger; it was, however, perfectly dry. Lofty flooded-gum trees were upon +its banks, and it appeared so much superior to the river that I was +induced to halt the party at the junction, in order to examine it more +closely. Mr. Hume, therefore, rode with me up the right bank. We had not +proceeded very far, when some natives called out to us from the opposite +scrub. Thinking that they belonged to the tribe we had left behind us, we +pointed to the junction, and motioned them to go there, but one of the +party continued to follow and call to us for some time. On our return to +the men, we found that the natives had joined them, and they now gave us +to understand that we were going away from water. This had indeed been +apparent to us. The creek was perfectly dry, as far as we traced it up; +and seemed to have been totally deserted by the natives. + +We were about to proceed on our journey, when from twenty to thirty +natives approached us from down the river. We sent two of those who had +been with us to them, and the whole accompanied us for some miles, talking +incessantly to the men, but keeping at a very respectful distance from the +animals. We at length got opposite to their camp, near which there was a +very fine pool of water, and they were earnest in persuading us to stop at +it. We were, however, too anxious to get forward to comply; under the +improved appearance of the river since it had received the creeks from the +eastward, little anticipating what was before us. + +NATIVE ARMOURY. + +The natives did not follow us beyond their own encampment. Within sight of +it, we came upon their armoury, if I may so term it. Numerous spears were +reared against the trees, and heaps of boomerangs were lying on the +ground. The spears were very heavy, and half barbed; and it is singular +that three of them were marked with a broad arrow. We saw the natives +watching us, fearful, I imagine, that we should help ourselves; but I +would not permit any of their weapons to be touched. + +EXAMINATION OF CREEKS NEAR THE CASTLEREAGH. + +Pursuing our journey, we reached another creek, at about five miles, +similar to the last in appearance and size, and we crossed it repeatedly +during the afternoon. We had been induced to keep along a native path in +the hope that it would have led us to the river by a short cut; but it +eventually led us to this creek, and away from the Castlereagh; for, +notwithstanding that we subsequently changed our course to the S.W., we +failed, as we supposed, again to strike upon the latter, and were obliged +to stop for the night on the banks of what appeared to be a third large +dry creek, which we intersected nearly at right angles. + +We travelled through a good deal of brush during the day, nor did the +country change from the miserable and barren character it had assumed for +the last thirty or forty miles. The Castlereagh had so frequently changed, +that both Mr. Hume and myself were puzzled as to the identity of the +creek upon which we had halted. We searched its bed in vain for water, +although it was most capacious. Under an impression that the river was +still to the south, and that we were at a point to which many watercourses +from the high lands tended, I crossed the creek early in the morning, and +held a S.W. course, over an open forest country. At about eight miles, we +came upon a large space over-run by the polygonum junceum, a certain +indication of flooded ground, and of our consequent proximity to some +stream. Accordingly, after pushing through it, we struck upon a small +creek with abundance of water in it. Whether this creek was the +Castlereagh, which it resembled much more than the one we had left in the +morning, was doubtful; but it was a great source of comfort to us to have +so unexpected a supply of water as that which was now at our disposal. +Whatever channel this was, whether a river or a creek, our tracing it down +would lead us in the direction we wished to go, and probably to some +junction. + +The neighbourhood of the creek was well clothed with vegetation, and the +cattle found good feed; but the only trees near it were rough-gum and +casuarinae; the flooded-gum had again disappeared. The soil of the forest +land over which we journeyed was a light sandy loam; and its timber +consisted chiefly of eucalypti, acacia pendula, and the angophora. + +Some natives visited us in the afternoon, and among them, both Mr. Hume +and I recognised one of those we had seen on the Darling. He also knew us +again, but we could not make out from him how far we were from that river. +They stayed with us till sunset, and then went down the creek, leaving +their spears against a tree, for which they said they would return. + +On the 23rd we took up a W.N.W. course, and when we again touched on the +creek it was dry. This was at a distance of about five miles from where we +had slept. As the animals had not recovered from their late privations, I +deemed it better to halt the party and to examine the creek for a few +miles below us, that in case it should prove destitute of water, we might +return to that we had left. Mr. Hume accordingly rode down it for about +three miles, without success; and on his rejoining the men, we returned +with them to our last camp, or to within a short distance of it. Wishing +to examine the creek above our position, I requested Mr. Hume to take two +men with him, and to trace it down in search of water, while I should +proceed in the opposite direction. I went from the camp at an early hour, +and as I wandered along the creek, I passed a regular chain of ponds. The +country on both sides of the creek was evidently subject to flood, but +more extensively to the south than to the north. From the creek, I struck +away to my left, and after penetrating through a belt of swamp-oak and +minor shrubs, got on a small plain, which I crossed N.E. and, to my +annoyance, found it covered with rhagodia and salsolae. As I had not +started with the intention of sleeping, I turned to the S.W. a little +before sunset, and reached the tents between ten and eleven. I found +Mr. Hume awaiting me. He informed me that at about nine miles from +where we had turned back with the party, he had struck upon a junction; +and that as the junction was much larger than the channel he had been +tracing, he thought it better to follow it up for a few miles. He found +that it narrowed in width, and that its banks became steep, with a fine +avenue of flooded-gum trees overhanging them. At four miles, he came upon +another junction, and at four miles more, found himself opposite to the +ground on which we had slept on the previous Saturday. From this point he +retraced the channel, but not finding any water for three miles below the +lower junction, he returned to the camp, with a view of prosecuting a +longer journey on the morrow. Mr. Hume had become impressed with an +opinion, that the junction up which we had slept was no other than the +Castlereagh itself; and that our position was on a creek, probably +Morrisset's chain of ponds, flowing into it. As the cattle wanted a few +days' rest, Mr. Hume and I determined to ride, unattended, along our track +to our camp of the 21st, and then to follow the channel upwards, until we +should arrive at the station of the natives, or until we should have +ridden to such a distance as would set our conjectures at rest. In the +morning, however, instead of running upon our old track, we followed that +of Mr. Hume to the junction, giving up our first intention, with a view to +ascertain if there existed any water which we could, by an effort, gain, +below where Mr. Hume had been. The channel was very broad, with a +considerable fall in its bed, and, in appearance, more resembled the slope +of a lawn than the bed of a river. It had two gum-trees in the centre of +its channel, in one of which the floods had left the trunk of a large +tree. We could discover where it narrowed and its banks rose, but, as we +intended to make a closer examination before we left the neighbourhood, +we continued our journey down the principal channel. The ground exhibited +an abundance of pasture in its immediate neighbourhood, but the distant +country was miserably poor and bare. At about three miles, we came upon +the fresh traces of some natives, which led us to the channel again, from +which we had wandered unintentionally. In it we found there had been water +very lately, and it appeared that the natives had dug holes at the bottom +to insure a longer supply. These were now exhausted, but still retained +the appearance of moisture. At a mile and a half beyond these, we were led +to some similar holes, by observing a number of birds flying about them. +The water was too muddy for us to drink, but the horses emptied them +successively. We now kept sufficiently near the channel to insure our +seeing any pool that might still remain in it, but rode for about seven +miles before we again saw water, and even here, although it was a spring, +we were obliged to dig holes, and await their filling, before we could get +sufficient for our use. Having dined, we again pursued our journey, and +almost immediately came upon a long narrow ditch, full of water, and lined +by bulrushes. The creek or river had for some time kept the centre of a +deep alluvial valley, in which there was plenty of food for the cattle, +and which, at this place, was apparently broader than anywhere else. The +situation being favourable, we returned to the camp, and reached it late. + +DEPRESSION OF THE MEN. + +I do not know whether I was wrong in my conjecture, but I fancied, about +this time, that the men generally were desponding. Whether it was that the +constant fatigue entailed on myself and Mr. Hume, and that our constant +absence, or the consequent exhaustion it produced, had any effect on their +minds, or that they feared the result of our perseverance, is difficult to +say; but certainly, they all had a depression of spirits, and looked, I +thought, altered in appearance; nor did they evince any satisfaction at +our success--at least, not the satisfaction they would have shown at an +earlier period of our journey. + +Before moving forward, it remained for us to ascertain if the channel from +the junction was the Castlereagh, or only a creek. The intersection of so +many channels in this neighbourhood, most of them so much alike, made it +essentially necessary that we should satisfy ourselves on this point. +Mr. Hume, therefore, accompanied me, as had at first been intended the +morning of our return to the place at which we had slept. We took fresh +horses, but dispensed with any other attendants, and indeed went wholly +unarmed. + +CAMP OF NATIVES. + +After following our old track to its termination, we kept up the right +bank of the channel, and at length arrived at the camp of the natives; +thus satisfying ourselves that we had been journeying on the Castlereagh, +and that we were still following it down. By this ride we ascertained that +there was a distance of five-and-forty miles in its bed without a drop of +water. Few of the natives were in the camp. The women avoided us, but not +as if they were under any apprehension. Crossing at the head of the pool, +we again got on our old track, but seeing two or three men coming towards +us we alighted, and, tying our horses to a tree, went to meet them. One +poor fellow had two ducks in his hand, which he had just taken off the +fire; these he offered to us, and on our declining to accept of them, he +called to a boy, who soon appeared with a large trough of honey, of which +we partook. One of the men had an ulcer in the arm, and asked me what he +should do to heal it; indeed, I believe Fraser had promised him some +ointment, but not having any with me, I signified to him that be should +wash it often, and stooping down, made as if I was taking up water in my +hand. The poor fellow mistook me, and, also stooping down, took up a +handful of dust which he threw over the sore. This gave me the trouble of +explaining matters again, and by pointing to the water, I believe I at +length made him understand me. + +DRY CHANNEL OF THE RIVER. + +These good natured people asked us where we had slept the day we passed, +and when informed of the direction, shook their heads, motioning at the +same time, that we must have been without water. We informed them where +the party was, and asked them to come and see us, but I fancy the distance +was too great, or else we were in the beat of another tribe. On mentioning +these facts to the men, they said that two of the natives had followed us +for some miles, calling out loudly to us, but Mr. Hume and I both being in +front, we did not hear them, although, evidently, they wished to save us +distress. + +Since the result of our excursion proved that the channel, about which I +had been so doubtful, was the Castlereagh, it necessarily followed, that +the creek at which we were encamped was one of those (most probably +Morrisset's chain of ponds,) which we had already crossed nearer its +source, and which Mr. Hume must have struck upon when endeavouring to gain +the Castlereagh from the marshes of the Macquarie. + +A perusal of these sheets will ere this have impressed on the reader's +mind, the peculiarity of that fortune which led us from the Castlereagh to +the creek, at which alone our wants could have been supplied. Had we +wandered down the river, as we undoubtedly should have done had we +recognised it as such, the loss of many of our animals would have been the +inevitable consequence, and very probably a final issue would have been +put to our journey. It is only to those who are placed in situations that +baffle their own exertions or foresight, that the singular guidance of +Providence becomes fully apparent. + +NATIVES PERISHING FROM FAMINE. + +It would appear that the natives were dying fast, not from any disease, +but from the scarcity of food; and, should the drought continue, it seemed +probable they may became extinct. + +The men found the body of a woman covered with leaves near the tents, and +very properly buried it. We made Friday a day of rest for ourselves, as +indeed was necessary; and on the following morning proceeded down the +river, and encamped on a high bank above it, at the base of which, our +cattle both fed and watered. + +At this spot one of the largest gum-trees I had ever seen had fallen, +having died for want of moisture; indeed, the state of the vegetable +kingdom was such as to threaten its total extinction, unless a change of +seasons should take place. + +It may be worthy of remark that, from our first arrival on the banks of +the Castlereagh, to our arrival at the present camp, we never picked up a +stone, or a pebble, in its bed. + +JUNCTION OF THE CASTLEREAGH WITH THE DARLING. + +In the hope that we should fall on some detached pond, we pursued our +journey on the 29th. The Castlereagh gave singular proofs of its violence, +as if its waters, confined in the valley, had a difficulty in escaping +from it. We had not travelled two miles, when in crossing, as we imagined, +one of its bights, we found ourselves checked by a broad river. A single +glimpse of it was sufficient to tell us it was the Darling. At a distance +of more than ninety miles nearer its source, this singular river still +preserved its character, so strikingly, that it was impossible not to have +recognised it in a moment. The same steep banks and lofty timber, the same +deep reaches, alive with fish, were here visible as when we left it. +A hope naturally arose to our minds, that if it was unchanged in other +respects, it might have lost the saltness that rendered its waters unfit +for use; but in this we were disappointed--even its waters continued the +same. As it was impossible for us to cross the Darling, I determined on +falling back upon our last encampment, which was at a most Convenient +distance, and of concerting measures there for our future movements. Prior +to doing so, however, I rode to the junction of the Castlereagh with +the Darling, accompanied by Mr. Hume, a distance of about half a mile. +Upon the point formed by the two streams, there were a number of huts, +and on the opposite bank of the Darling, about twenty natives had +collected. We called out to them, but they would not join us. + +At the junction, the Castlereagh, with whatever impetuosity it rushes from +its confinement, makes not apparently the least impression on the Darling +River. The latter seemed to loll on, totally heedless of such a tributary. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + + +Perplexity--Trait of honesty in the natives--Excursion on horseback across +the Darling--Forced to return--Desolating effects of the drought--Retreat +towards the colony--Connection between the Macquarie and the Darling-- +Return up the banks of the Macquarie--Starving condition of the natives. + + +On our return to the party, we found them surrounded by the natives, who +were looking with an eye of wonder on the cattle and horses. We pointed +out to them the direction in which we were going, and invited them to +visit us; and nothing appeared to astonish them so much as the management +of the team by a single man. We got back to our position early, and again +fixed ourselves upon it. + +It now only remained for us to consider what we should do under +circumstances of certainly more than ordinary perplexity. We had nothing +to hope for from travelling in a southerly direction, while to the E. and +N.E., the state of the country was worse than that by which we had +penetrated to the Darling. It was evident, that the large creeks joining +the Castlereagh in that direction were dry, since the natives not only +intimated this to us, but it was unquestionable that they themselves had +deserted them, and had crowded to such places as still contained a supply +of water. Even in retreating, we could not hope to retrace our steps. +Experience had proved to us, that the dry state of the interior was as +injurious to the movements of an expedition as a too wet season would have +been. Taking everything, therefore, into consideration, I determined on +leaving the party stationary, and on crossing the Darling to the N.W., +and, if any encouraging feature presented itself, to return for the party, +and persevere in an examination of the distant interior. Such, at least, +appeared to me the most judicious plan: indeed, an attempt to have moved +in any other direction would have been fruitless. And, as the result of +this journey would be decisive, and would either fix or determine our +advance or retreat, I was anxious for Mr. Hume's attendance. + +The natives followed to the camp, and in the course of the afternoon, were +joined by their women. The latter however, would not approach nearer than +the top of a little hillock on which they sat. The men did not come round +the tents, but stood in a row at a short distance. At sunset, they gained +a little courage, and wandered about a little more; at length they went +off to the Darling. + +HONESTY OF A NATIVE. + +It was quite dark, when I heard a native call from the hill on which the +women had been, and I desired Hopkinson to take his firelock and ascertain +what the man wanted. He soon after returned, and brought a blanket, which +he said the man had returned to him. The native was alone, and when he +offered the blanket, kept his spear poised in his right hand; but, seeing +that no violence was intended him, he lowered his weapon, and walked away. + +REWARD THE MAN FOR HIS CONDUCT. + +I was extremely pleased at this trait of honesty, and determined to reward +it. On inquiry, I found that the men had availed themselves of the day to +wash their blankets and that one of them had been flung over a bush +hanging over the bank of the river, and it was supposed that one of the +natives must have pulled it down with him. In the morning, the tribe went +away from their encampment before day-light as we judged from the cry of +their dogs, than which nothing could be more melancholy; but about eight, +the men made their appearance on the hill occupied by the women the +evening previously, and seemed to be doubtful whether to approach nearer. +I went out to them, and, with a downward motion of my hand, beckoned for +them to come to me: they mistook the signal, but laid all their spears on +the ground, and it was not until after the sign had been reversed that +they stirred or moved towards me. I then got them in a row, and desired +Hopkinson to single out the man who had given him the blanket. It was, +however, with great difficulty that he recognised him, as the man stood +firm and motionless. At length, after walking two or three times along the +line, he stopped before one man, and put his hand on his shoulder, upon +which the manner of the native testified as to the correctness of his +guess. + +The blanket being produced, I explained to the savage, with Mr. Hume's +assistance, that I was highly pleased with him, and forthwith presented +him with a tomahawk and a clasp-knife. The tribe were perfectly aware of +the reason of my conduct, and all of them seemed highly delighted. + +I was happy in having such an opportunity of showing the natives of the +interior that I came among them with a determination to maintain justice +in my communication with them, and to impress them, at the same time, with +a sense of our love of it in them. That they appreciated my apparent +lenity in not calling for the defaulter, I am sure, and I feel perfectly +conscious that I should have failed in my duty had I acted otherwise than +I did. + +EFFECT OF FIRING A GUN. + +Although the natives had shown so good a disposition, as they were +numerous, I thought it as well, since I was about to leave the camp, to +show them that I had a power they little dreamt of about me. I therefore +called for my gun and fired a ball into a tree. The effect of the report +upon the natives, was truly ridiculous. Some stood and stared at me, +others fell down, and others ran away; and it was with some difficulty we +collected them again. At last, however, we did so, and, leaving them to +pick out the ball, mounted our horses and struck away for the Darling. +We crossed the river a little above where we struck it, and then proceeded +N.W. into the interior. + +EXCURSION ACROSS THE DARLING. + +It is impossible for me to describe the nature of the country over which +we passed, for the first eight miles. We rode through brushes of +polygonum, under rough-gum, without a blade of vegetation, the whole space +being subject to inundation. We then got on small plains of firmer +surface, and red soil, but these soon changed again for the former; and +at 4 p.m. we found ourselves advanced about two miles on a plain that +stretched away before us, and bounded the horizon. It was dismally brown; +a few trees only served to mark the distance. Up one of the highest I sent +Hopkinson, who reported that he could not see the end of it, and that all +around looked blank and desolate. It is a singular fact, that during the +whole day, we had not seen a drop of water or a blade of grass. + +DESOLATING EFFECTS OF THE DROUGHT. + +To have stopped where we were, would, therefore, have been impossible; to +have advanced, would probably have been ruin. Had there been one favorable +circumstance to have encouraged me with the hope of success, I would have +proceeded. Had we picked up a stone as indicating our approach to high +land, I would have gone on; or had there been a break in the level of the +country, or even a change in the vegetation. But we had left all traces of +the natives far behind us; and this seemed a desert they never +entered--that not even a bird inhabited. I could not encourage a hope of +success, and, therefore, gave up the point; not from want of means, but a +conviction of the inutility of any further efforts. If there is any blame +to be attached to the measure, it is I who am in fault, but none who had +not like me traversed the interior at such a season, would believe the +state of the country over which I had wandered. During the short interval +I had been out, I had seen rivers cease to flow before me, and sheets of +water disappear; and had it not been for a merciful Providence, should, +ere reaching the Darling, have been overwhelmed by misfortune. + +I am giving no false picture of the reality. So long had the drought +continued, that the vegetable kingdom was almost annihilated, and minor +vegetation had disappeared. In the creeks, weeds had grown and withered, +and grown again; and young saplings were now rising in their beds, +nourished by the moisture that still remained; but the largest forest +trees were drooping, and many were dead. The emus, with outstretched +necks, gasping for breath, searched the channels of the rivers for water, +in vain; and the native dog, so thin that it could hardly walk, seemed to +implore some merciful hand to despatch it. How the natives subsisted it +was difficult to say, but there was no doubt of the scarcity of food +among them. + +We arrived in camp at a late hour, and having nothing to detain us longer, +prepared for our retreat in the morning. The natives had remained with the +party during the greater part of the day, and had only left them a short +time prior to our arrival, + +When examining the creek on which we had been encamped for some days, +Mr. Hume observed a small junction; and as we knew we were almost +due N. of the marshes of the Macquarie, both of us were anxious to +ascertain whence it originated. To return to Mount Harris, by retracing +our steps up the Castlereagh, would have entailed the severest distress +upon us; we the rather preferred proceeding up this creek, and taking our +chance for a supply of water. We therefore crossed Morrisset's chain of +ponds, and encamped in the angle formed by the junction of the two creeks. + +Before we left this position, we were visited by a party of natives, +twelve in number, but not of the Darling tribe. They accompanied us a +short way, and then struck off to the right. At about a mile and a half, +we crossed Mr. Hume's track, leading westerly, which still remained +observable. The creek was, no doubt, the hollow he stated that he crossed +on that excursion, and its appearance certainly justified his opinion of +it. Its bed was choked up with bulrushes or the polygonum, and its banks +were level with the country on either side, or nearly so. We passed over +extremely rich soil the whole day, on a S.W. and by W. course, though the +timber upon it was dwarfish, and principally of the rough-gum kind. + +On the 2nd of April, we stopped in order to make some repairs upon the +dray; the wheels of which had failed us. Clayton put in four new spokes, +and we heated the tyres over again, by which means we got it once more +serviceable. + +WILD MELON. + +The soil in the creek was of the richest quality, and was found to produce +a dwarf melon, having all the habits and character of the cucumber. +The fruit was not larger than a pigeon's egg, but was extremely sweet. +There were not, however, many ripe, although the runners were covered with +flowers, and had an abundance of fruit upon them. In the morning, we sent +the tinker on horseback up the creek, to ascertain how far the next water +was from us, desiring him to keep the creek upon his right, and to follow +his own track back again. He thought fit, however, considering himself +a good bushman, to wander away to his left, and the consequence was, that +he soon lost himself. It would appear that he doubled and passed through +some thick brush at the back of the camp, and at length found himself at +dark on the banks of a considerable creek. In wandering along it, he +luckily struck upon the natives we had last seen, who, good-naturedly, led +him to the track of the dray, which his horse would not afterwards desert, +and the tinker sneaked into the tent about 3 o'clock in the morning, +having failed in his errand, and made himself the butt of the whole party. + +RETURN UP THE CREEK. + +The day succeeding this adventure, we moved up the creek, which was, for +the most part, even with the plain. The country continued the same as that +we had passed over from the junction, being subject to flood, and having +patches of bulrushes and reeds upon it. No change took place in the +timber, but the line of acacia pendula, which forms the line of +inundation, approached neater to us; nor was the mark of flood so high on +the trunks of trees as below. We halted, with abominable water, but +excellent food for the animals in the plains behind us. In continuing our +journey, we found several changes take place in the appearance of the +creek and its neighbourhood. The former diminished in size, and at length +separated into two distinct channels, choked up, for the most part, with +dead bulrushes, but having a few green reeds in patches along it. The +flats on either side became slightly timbered, and blue gum was the +prevailing tree. Crossing one of the channels, we observed every +appearance of our near approach to the marshes, the flats being +intersected by many little water-runs, such as we had noticed at the +bottom of them. About noon we struck upon a body of reeds under the wood +of eucalypti, below the second great morass, and keeping a little to our +right to avoid them, fell shortly afterwards into our old track on the +plain, upon which we continued to move, making the best of our way to the +channel which had supplied our wants on our first return from the Darling. +It was now, however, quite dry, and we were obliged to push on further, +to shorten the journey of the morrow. + +CONNECTION OF MACQUARIE AND DARLING. + +The result of our journey up the creek was particularly satisfactory, both +to myself and Mr. Hume; since it cleared up every doubt that might have +existed regarding the actual termination of the Macquarie, and enabled us +to connect the flow of waters at so interesting and particular a point. +It will be seen by a reference to the chart, that the waters of the +marshes, after trickling through the reeds, form a small creek, which +carries off the superfluous part of them into Morrisset's chain of ponds, +which latter again falls into the Castlereagh, at about eight miles to the +W.N.W. and all three join the Darling in a W. by N. direction, in lat. +30 degrees 52 minutes south and E. lon. 147 degrees 8 minutes at about +90 miles to the N.N.W. of Mount Harris, and about an equal distance to +the E.S.E. of where we struck upon the last-mentioned river. Thus it +is evident that the Darling had considerably neared the eastern ranges, +although it was still more than 150 miles from their base. It was +apparently coming from the N.E., and whether it has its sources in the +mountains behind our distant settlements, or still farther to the +northwards, is a question of curious speculation, although, as I have +already stated, I am of opinion that none but tropical rains could +supply the furious torrent that must sometimes rage in it. + +It would be presumptuous to hazard any opinion as to the nature of the +interior to the westward of that remarkable river. Its course is involved +in equal mystery, and it is a matter of equal doubt whether it makes its +way to the south coast, or ultimately exhausts itself in feeding a +succession of swamps, or falls into a large reservoir in the centre of +the island. + +RETURN TO MOUNT HARRIS. + +We reached Mount Harris on the 7th of the month, and moving leisurely up +the banks of the Macquarie, gained Mr. Palmer's first station on the 14th, +and Wellington Valley on the 21st, having been absent from that settlement +four months and two weeks. The waters of the Macquarie had diminished so +much, that its bed was dry for more than half a mile at a stretch, nor did +we observe the least appearance of a current in it, until after we had +ascended the ranges. The lower tribes were actually starving, and brought +their children to us to implore something to eat. The men attempted to +surprise the camp, but I believe they were urged from absolute necessity +to procure subsistence for themselves, and that they intended robbery +rather than personal violence. + +DEPLORABLE STATE OF THE COUNTRY. + +We left the interior in a still more deplorable state than that in which +we found it; but it is more than probable that under other circumstances, +we should have found it impossible to traverse its distant plains, as it +is certain that unless rain fell in less than three weeks, all +communication with the Darling would have been cut off: + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + + +General remarks--Result of the expedition--Previous anticipations-- +Mr. Oxley's remarks--Character of the Rivers flowing westerly-- +Mr. Cunningham's remarks--Fall of the Macquarie--Mr. Oxley's erroneous +conclusions respecting the character of the interior, naturally inferred +from the state in which he found the country--The marsh of the Macquarie +merely a marsh of the ordinary character--Captain King's observations-- +Course of the Darling--Character of the low interior plain--The convict +Barber's report of rivers traversing the interior--Surveyor-General +Mitchell's Report of his recent expedition. + +RESULT OF THE EXPEDITION. + +Whether the discoveries that have been made during this expedition, will +ultimately prove of advantage to the colony of New South Wales, is a +question that time alone can answer. We have in the meanwhile to regret +that no beneficial consequences will immediately follow them. The further +knowledge that has been gained of the interior is but as a gleam of +sunshine over an extensive landscape. A stronger light has fallen upon the +nearer ground, but the distant horizon is still enveloped in clouds. The +veil has only as it were been withdrawn from the marshes of the Macquarie +to be spread over the channel of the Darling. Unsatisfactory, however, as +the discoveries may as yet be considered in a commercial point of view, +the objects for which the expedition had been fitted out were happily +attained. The marsh it had been directed to examine, was traversed on +every side, and the rivers it had been ordered to trace, were followed +down to their terminations to a distance far beyond where they had ceased +to exist as living streams. To many who may cast their eyes over the +accompanying chart, the extent of newly discovered country may appear +trifling; but when they are told, that there is not a mile of that +ground that was not traversed over and over again, either by Mr. Hume or +by myself, that we wandered over upwards of 600 miles more than the main +body of the expedition, on different occasions, in our constant and +anxious search for water, and that we seldom dismounted from our horses, +until long after sunset, they will acknowledge the difficulties with which +we had to contend, and will make a generous allowance for them; for, +however unsuccessful in some respects the expedition may have been, it +accomplished as much, it is to be hoped, as under such trying +circumstances could have been accomplished. It now only remains for me to +sum up the result of my own observations, and to point out to the reader, +how far the actual state of the interior, has been found to correspond +with the opinions that were entertained of it. + +MR. OXLEY'S REMARKS. + +I have already stated, in the introduction to this work, that the general +impression on the minds of those best qualified to judge was, that the +western streams discharged themselves into a central shoal sea. Mr. Oxley +thus expresses himself on the subject:-- + + +"July 3rd. Towards morning the storm abated, and at day-light, we +proceeded on our voyage. The main bed of the river was much contracted, +but very deep; the waters spreading to the depth of a foot or eighteen +inches over the banks, but all running on the same point of bearing. We +met with considerable interruptions from fallen timber, which in places +nearly choked up the channel. After going about twenty miles, we lost the +land and trees; the channel of the river, which lay through reeds, and was +from one to three feet deep, ran northerly.--This continued for three or +four miles farther, when, although there had been no previous change in +the breadth, depth, or rapidity of the stream for several miles, and I was +sanguine in my expectations of soon entering the long-sought-for +Australian sea, it all at once eluded our farther pursuit, by spreading on +every point from N.W. to N.E. among the ocean of reeds which surrounded +us, still running with the same rapidity as before. There was no channel +whatever among those reeds, and the depth varied from three to five feet. +This astonishing change (for I cannot call it a termination of the river) +of course left me no alternative but to endeavour to return to some spot +on which we could effect a landing before dark. I estimated, that during +the day, we had gone about twenty-four miles, on nearly the same point of +bearing as yesterday. To assert, positively, that we were on the margin of +the lake, or sea, into which this great body of water is discharged, might +reasonably be deemed a conclusion, which has nothing but conjecture for +its basis. But if an opinion may be permitted to be hazarded from actual +appearances, mine is decidedly in favour of our being in the immediate +vicinity of an inland sea, or lake, most probably a shoal one, and +gradually filling up by numerous depositions from the high lands, left by +the waters which flow into it. It is most singular, that the high lands on +this continent seem to be confined to the sea-coast, and not to extend to +any distance from it." + +MR. CUNNINGHAM'S REMARKS. + +In a work published at Sydney, containing an account of Mr. Allan +Cunningham's journey towards Moreton Bay, in 1828, the following remarks +occur, from which it is evident Mr. Cunningham entertained Mr. Oxley's +views of the character and nature of the Western interior. Towards the +conclusion of the narrative, the author thus observes:-- + + +"Of the probable character of the distant unexplored interior, into which +it has been ascertained ALL the rivers falling westerly from the dividing +ranges flow, some inference may be drawn from the following data. + +"Viewing, between the parallels of 34 degrees and 27 degrees, a vast area +of depressed interior, subjected in seasons of prolonged rains to partial +inundation, by a dispersion of the several waters that flow upon it from +the eastern mountains whence they originate; and bearing in mind at the +same time, that the declension of the country within the above parallels, +as most decidedly shown by the dip of its several rivers, is uniformly +to the N.N.W. and N.W., it would appear very conclusive, that either a +portion of our distant interior is occupied by a lake of considerable +magnitude, or that the confluence of those large streams, the Macquarie, +Castlereagh, Gwydir, and the Dumaresq, with the many minor interfluent +waters, which doubtless takes place upon those low levels, forms one +or more noble rivers, which may flow across the continent by an almost +imperceptible declivity of country to the north of north-west coasts, on +certain parts of which, recent surveys have discovered to us extensive +openings, by which the largest accumulations of waters might escape to the +sea." + +CHARACTER OF THE RIVERS. + +It is the characteristic of the streams falling westerly from the eastern, +or coast ranges, to maintain a breadth of channel and a rapidity of +current more immediately near their sources, that ill accords with their +diminished size, and the sluggish flow of their waters in the more +depressed interior. In truth, neither the Macquarie nor the Castlereagh +can strictly be considered as permanent rivers. The last particularly is +nothing more than a mountain torrent. The Macquarie, although it at length +ceased to run, kept up the appearance of a river to the very marshes; but +the bed of the Castlereagh might have been crossed in many places without +being noticed, nor did its channel contain so much water as was to be +found on the neighbouring plains. + +There are two circumstances upon which the magnitude, and velocity of a +river, more immediately depend. The first is the abundance of its sources, +the other the dip of its bed. If a stream has constant fountains at its +head, and numerous tributaries joining it in its course, and flows withal +through a country of gradual descent, such a stream will never fail; but +if the supplies do not exceed the evaporation and absorption, to which +every river is subject, if a river dependant on its head alone, falls +rapidly into a level country, without receiving a single addition to its +waters to assist the first impulse acquired in their descent, it must +necessarily cease to flow at one point or other. Such is the case with the +Lachlan, the Macquarie, the Castlereagh, and the Darling. Whence the +latter originates, still remains to be ascertained; but most undoubtedly +its sources have been influenced by the same drought that has exhausted +the fountains of the three first mentioned streams. + +In supporting his opinion of the probable discharge of the interior waters +of Australia upon its north-west coast, Mr. Cunningham thus remarks in the +publication from which I have already made an extract. + + +"To those remarkable parts of the north-west coast above referred to in +the parallel of 16 degrees south, the Macquarie river, which rises in +lat. 33 degrees, and under the meridian of 150 degrees east, would have a +course of 2045 statute miles throughout, while the elevation of its +source, being 3500 feet above the level of the sea as shown by the +barometer, would give its waters an average descent of twenty inches to +the mile, supposing the bed of the river to be an inclined plane. + +"The Gwydir originating in elevated land, lying in 31 degrees south, and +long. 151 degrees east, at a mean height of 3000 feet, would have to flow +2020 miles, its elevated sources giving to each a mean fall of seventeen +inches. + +"Dumaresq's river falling 2970 feet from granite mountains, in 28 1/4 +degrees under the meridian of 152 degrees, would have to pursue its course +for 2969 miles, its average fall being eighteen inches to a mile." + +As I have never been upon the banks either of the Gwydir or the Dumaresq, +I cannot speak of those two rivers; but in estimating the sources of the +Macquarie at 3500 feet above the level of the sea, Mr. Cunningham has lost +sight of, or overlooked the fact, that the fall of its bed in the first +two hundred miles, is more than 2800 feet, since the cataract, which is +midway between Wellington Valley and the marshes, was ascertained by +barometrical admeasurement, to be 680 feet only above the ocean. The +country, therefore, through which the Macquarie would have to flow during +the remainder of its course of 1700 miles, in order to gain the +N.W. coast, would not be a gradually inclined plain, but for the most part +a dead level, and the fact of its failure is a sufficient proof in itself +how short the course of a river so circumstanced must necessarily be. + +MR. OXLEY'S OPINIONS. + +Having conversed frequently with Mr. Oxley on the subject of his +expeditions, I went into the interior prepossessed in favour of his +opinions, nor do I think he could have drawn any other conclusion than +that which he did, from his experience of the terminations of the rivers +whose courses he explored. Had Mr. Oxley advanced forty, or even thirty +miles, farther than he did, to the westward of Mount Harris; nay, had he +proceeded eight miles in the above direction beyond the actual spot from +which he turned back, he would have formed other and very different +opinions of the probable character of the distant interior. But I am aware +that Mr. Oxley performed all that enterprise, and perseverance, and talent +could have performed, and that it would have been impracticable in him to +have attempted to force its marshes in the state in which he found them. +It was from his want of knowledge of their nature and extent, that he +inferred the swampy and inhospitable character of the more remote country, +a state in which subsequent investigation has found it not to be. The +marsh of the Macquarie is nothing more than an ordinary marsh or swamp in +another country. However large a space it covers, it is no more than a +concavity or basin for the reception of the waters of the river itself, +nor has it any influence whatever on the country to the westward of it, +in respect to inundation; the general features of the latter being a +regular alternation of plain and brush. These facts are in themselves +sufficient to give a fresh interest to the interior of the Australian +continent, and to increase its importance. + +CAPT. KING'S OPINIONS. + +With respect to that part of its coast at which the rivers falling from +the eastern mountains, discharge themselves, it is a question of very +great doubt. It seems that Capt. King, in consequence of some +peculiarities in the currents at its N.W. angle, supports Mr. Cunningham's +opinion as to their probable discharge in that quarter. But I fear the +internal structure of the continent is so low, as to preclude the hopes of +any river reaching from one extremity of it to the other. A variety of +local circumstances, as the contraction of a channel, a shoal sea, or +numerous islands, influence currents generally, but more especially round +so extensive a continent as that of which we are treating; nor does it +strike me that any observations made by Capt. King during his survey, can +be held to bear any connection with the eastern ranges, or their western +waters. It may, however, be said, that as the course of the Darling is +still involved in uncertainty, the question remains undecided; but it +appears to me, the discovery of that river has set aside every conjecture +(founded on previous observation) respecting the main features of the +interior lying to the westward of the Blue Mountains. Both Mr. Oxley and +Mr. Cunningham drew their conclusions from the appearances of the country +they severally explored. The ground on which those theories were built, +has been travelled over, and has not been found to realise them, but +subsequent investigation has discovered to us a river, the dip of whose +bed is to the S.W. We have every reason to believe that the sources of +this river must be far to the northward of the most distant northerly +point to which any survey has been made, as we are certain that it is far +beyond the stretch of vision from the loftiest and most westerly of the +barrier ranges; from which circumstance, it is evident that whatever +disposition the streams descending from those ranges to the westward may +show to hold a N.W. course more immediately at the base, the whole of the +interior streams, from the Macquarie to the Dumaresq, are tributaries to +the principal channel which conveys their united waters at right angles, +if not still more opposite to the direction they were supposed to take, +as far as is yet known. + +COURSE OF THE DARLING. + +The Darling River must be considered as the boundary line to all inland +discoveries from the eastward. Any judgment or opinion of the interior to +the westward of that stream, would be extremely premature and uncertain. +There is not a single feature over it to guide or to strengthen either the +one or the other. + +CHARACTER OF THE WESTERN INTERIOR. + +My impression, when travelling the country to the west and N.W. of the +marshes of the Macquarie, was, that I was traversing a country of +comparatively recent formation. The sandy nature of its soil, the great +want of vegetable decay, the salsolaceous character of its plants, the +appearance of its isolated hills and flooded tracts, and its trifling +elevations above the sea, severally contributed to strengthen these +impressions on my mind. My knowledge of the interior is, however, too +limited to justify me in any conclusion with regard to the central parts +of Australia. An ample field is open to enterprise and to ambition, and it +is to be hoped that some more decisive measures will be carried into +effect, both for the sake of the colony and of geography, to fill up the +blank upon the face of the chart of Australia, and remove from us the +reproach of indifference and inaction. + +BARBER'S STATEMENT. + +Since the above pages were written, an expedition was undertaken by +Major Mitchell, the Surveyor-General, to ascertain the truth of a report +brought in by a runaway convict of the name of Barber, or Clarke, who had +been at large for five years, at different times, among the natives to +the northward of Port Macquarie. This man stated that a large river, +originating in the high lands near Liverpool Plains, and the mountains to +the north of them, pursued a N.W. course to the sea. His story ran thus: +Having learnt from the natives the existence of this river, he determined +to follow it down, in hopes that he might ultimately be enabled to make +his escape from the colony. He accordingly started from Liverpool Plains, +and kept on a river called the Gnamoi, for some time, which took him N.W. +After a few days' journey, he left this river, traversed the country +northwards, and crossed some lofty ranges. Descending to the N.E. he came +to another large river, the Keindur, which again took him N.W. He +travelled 400 miles down it, when he observed a large stream joining it +upon its left bank, which he supposed to be the Gnamoi. The river he was +upon was broad and navigable. It flowed through a level country with a +dead current and muddy water, and spread into frequent lakes. He found +that it ultimately discharged itself into the sea, but was uncertain at +what distance from its sources. He was positive he never travelled to the +SOUTHWARD OF WEST. He ascended a hill near the sea, and observed an island +in the distance, from which, the natives informed him, a race of +light-coloured men came in large canoes for a scented wood; but having +failed in the immediate object of his journey, he was eventually obliged +to return. + +MAJOR MITCHELL'S REPORT. + +The following official report of Major Mitchell will sufficiently point +out the incorrectness of the preceding statement. It is most probable that +Barber merely told that which he had heard from the natives, and that +having a more than ordinary share of cunning, he made up a story upon +their vague and uncertain accounts, in hopes that it would benefit him, +as in truth it did. + + +* * * * * + + +Bullabalakit, on the River Nammoy, +in lat. 30 degrees 38 minutes 21 seconds S., +long. 149 degrees 30 minutes 20 seconds E. +23d December, 1831. + +SIR, + +I have the honour to state, for the information of His Excellency the +Governor, the progress I have made in exploring the course of the interior +waters to the northward of the Colony, with reference to the letter which +I had the honour to address to Col. Lindesay, on this subject, on the +19th ult. + +On crossing Liverpool Range my object was to proceed northward, so as to +avoid the plains and head the streams which water them, and avoiding also +the mountain ranges on the east. + +I arrived accordingly, by a tolerably straight and level line, at +Walamoul, on Peel's River; this place (a cattle station of Mr. Brown) +being nearly due north from the common pass across Liverpool Range, and +about a mile-and-a-half above the spot where Mr. Oxley crossed this +river. + +PEEL'S RIVER. + +I found the general course of the Peel below Walamoul to be nearly west; +and after tracing this river downwards twenty-two miles (in direct +distance), I crossed it at an excellent ford, named Wallamburra. I then +traversed the extensive plain of Mulluba; and leaving that of Coonil on +the right, extending far to the north-east, we passed through a favourable +interval of what I considered Hardwicke's Range, the general direction of +this range being two points west of north. + +On passing through this gorge, which, from the name of a hill on the south +side, may be named Ydire, I crossed a very extensive tract of flat +country, on which the wood consisted of iron-bark and acacia pendula; this +tract being part of a valley evidently declining to the north-west, which +is bounded on the south by the Liverpool Range, and on the south-west by +the extremities from the same. On the west, at a distance of twenty-two +miles from Hardwicke's Range, there stands a remarkable isolated hill +named Bounalla; and towards the lowest part of the country, and in the +direction in which all the waters tend, there is a rocky peak named +Tangulda. On the north, a low range (named Wowa), branching westerly from +Hardwicke's Range, bounds on that side this extensive basin, which +includes Liverpool Plains. Peel's River is the principal stream, and +receives, in its course, all the waters of these plains below the junction +of Connadilly,--which I take to be York's River, of Oxley. + +THE RIVER NAMMOY. + +The stream is well known to the natives by the name Nammoy; and six miles +below Tangulda, the low extremities from the surrounding ranges close on +the river, and separate this extensive vale from the unexplored country +which extends beyond to an horizon which is unbroken between W.N.W. +and N.N.W. + + +The impracticable appearance of the mountains to the northward, induced me +to proceed thus far to the west; and on examining the country thirty miles +N.E. by N. from Tangulda, I ascended a lofty range extending westward from +the coast chain, and on which the perpendicular sides of masses of +trachyte (a volcanic rock) were opposed to my further progress even with +horses: it was therefore evident that the river supposed to rise about the +latitude of 28 degrees would not be accessible, or at least available to +the Colony, in that direction, and that in the event of the discovery of a +river beyond that range flowing to the northern or north-western shores, +it would become of importance to ascertain whether it was joined by the +Nammoy, the head of this river being so accessible that I have brought my +heavily laden drays to where it is navigable for boats, my present +encampment being on its banks six miles below Tangulda. From this station +I can perceive the western termination of the Trachytic range, and I am +now about to explore the country between it and the Nammoy, and the +further course of this river; and in the event of its continuance in a +favourable direction, I shall fix my depot on its right bank, whence I now +write, and descend the stream in the portable boats. + +I have the honour to be, Sir, +Your most obedient servant, +T. L. MITCHELL, +SURVEYOR-GENERAL + +The Hon. The Colonial Secretary. + + +* * * * * + + +Peel's River, 29th February, 1832. + +SIR, + +I have the honour to inform you, for the information of His Excellency the +Governor, that I have reached the left bank of this River with my whole +party on my return from the northern interior, having explored the course +of the river referred to in my letter of 22nd December last, and others +within the 29th parallel of latitude. + +There was so much fallen timber in the Nammoy, and its waters were so low, +that the portable boats could not be used on that river with advantage, +and I proceeded by land in a north-west direction, until convinced by its +course turning more to the westward that this river joined the river +Darling. I therefore quitted its banks with the intention of exploring the +country further northward, by moving round the western extremities of the +mountains mentioned in my former letter, and which I have since +distinguished in my map by the name of the Lindesay Range. These mountains +terminate abruptly on the west, and I entered a fine open country at their +base, from whence plains (or rather open ground of gentle undulation) +extended westward as far as could be seen. On turning these mountains I +directed my course northward, and to the eastward of north, into the +country beyond them, in search of the river KINDUR; and I reached a river +flowing westward, the bed of which was deep, broad, and permanent, but in +which there was not then much water. + +THE RIVER KARAULA. + +The marks of inundation on trees, and on the adjoining high ground, proved +that its floods rose to an extraordinary height; and from the latitude, +and also from the general direction of its course, I considered this to be +the river which Mr. Cunningham named the Gwydir, on crossing it sixty +miles higher, on his route to Moreton Bay. I descended this river, and +explored the country on its left bank for about eighty miles to the +westward, when I found that its general course was somewhat to the +southward of west. This river received no addition from the mountains over +that part of its left bank traversed by me; and the heat being intense, +the stream was at length so reduced that I could step across it. The banks +had become low, and the bed much contracted, being no longer gravelly, but +muddy. I therefore crossed this river and travelled northward, on a +meridian line, until, in the latitude of 29 degrees 2 minutes, I came upon +the largest river I had yet seen. The banks were earthy and broken, the +soil being loose, and the water of a white muddy colour. Trees, washed out +by the roots from the soft soil, filled the bed of this river in many +places. There was abundance of cod-fish of a small size, as well as of the +two other kinds of fish which we had caught in the Peel, the Nammoy, and +the Gwydir. The name of this river, as well as we could make it out from +the natives, was Karaula. Having made fast one tree to top of another tall +tree, I obtained a view of the horizon, which appeared perfectly level, +and I was in hopes that we had at length found a river which would flow to +the northward and avoid the Darling. I accordingly ordered the boat to be +put together, and sent Mr. White with a party some miles down to clear +away any trees in the way. Mr. White came upon a rocky fall, and found +besides the channel so much obstructed by trees, and the course so +tortuous, that I determined to ascertain before embarking upon it, whether +the general course was in the desired direction. Leaving Mr. White with +half the party, I accordingly traced the Karaula downwards, and found that +its course changed to south, a few miles below where I had made it, and +that it was joined by the Gwydir only eight miles below where I had +crossed that river. Immediately below the junction of the Gwydir (which is +in latitude 29 degrees 30 minutes 27 seconds, longitude 148 degrees +13 minutes 20 seconds) the course of the river continues southward of +west, directly towards where Captain Sturt discovered the River Darling; +and I could no longer doubt that this was the same river. I therefore +returned to the party, determined to explore the country further +northward. + +The results of my progress thus far were sufficient, I considered, to +prove that the division of the waters falling towards the northern and +southern shores of Australia is not, as has been supposed, in the +direction of the Liverpool and Warrabangle range, but extends between Cape +Byron on the eastern shore, towards Dick Hartog's Island on the west; the +greater elongation of this country being between these points, and +intermediate between the lines of its northern and southern coasts. The +basin of the streams I have been upon must be bounded on the north by this +dividing ground or water-shed, and although no rise was perceptible in the +northern horizon, the river was traversed by several rocky dykes, over +which it fell southward; their direction being oblique to the course, and +nearly parallel to this division of the waters. I beg leave to state, that +I should not feel certain on this point without having seen more, were it +not evident from Mr. Cunningham's observations, made on crossing this +division on his way to Moreton Bay. Mr. Cunningham, on crossing the head +of this river, nearly in the same latitude, but much nearer its sources, +found the height of its bed above the sea to be 840 feet; at about +forty-five miles further northward the ground rose to upwards of +1700 feet, but immediately beyond, he reached a river flowing north-west, +the height of which was only 1400 feet above the sea. He had thus crossed +this dividing higher ground, between the parallels of 29 degrees +and 28 degrees. It appears, therefore, that all the interior rivers we +know of to the northward of the Morumbidgee, belong to the basin of the +Karaula; this stream flowing southward, and hence the disappearance of the +Macquarie and other lower rivers may be understood, for all along the +banks of the Karaula, the Gwydir, and the Nammoy, the country, though not +swampy, bears marks of frequent inundation; thus the floods occasioned by +these rivers united, cover the low country, and receive the Macquarie so +that no channel marks its further course. + +That a basin may be found to the northward receiving the waters of the +northern part of the coast range in a similar manner is extremely +probable, and that they form a better river, because the angle is more +acute between the high ground, which must bound it on the N.E. and the +watershed on the south. I therefore prepared to cross the Karaula, in +hopes of seeing the head at least of such a river, and to explore the +country two degrees further northward, but moving in a N.W. direction. +My tent was struck, and I had just launched my portable boat for the +purpose of crossing the river, when Mr. Surveyor Finch, whom I had +instructed to bring up a supply of flour, arrived with the distressing +intelligence, that two of his men had been killed by the natives, who had +taken the flour, and were in possession of everything he had brought--all +the cattle, including his horse, being also dispersed or lost. I therefore +determined not to extend my excursion further, as the party were already +on reduced rations, and on the 8th instant I retired from the Karaula, +returning by the marked line, which being cut through thick scrubs in +various places, is now open, forming a tolerably direct line of +communication in a N.W. direction from Sydney, to a river, beyond which +the survey may be extended whenever His Excellency the Governor thinks +fit. + +The natives had never troubled my party on our advance; indeed I only saw +them when I came upon them by surprise, and then they always ran off. +Their first visit was received at my camp on the Karaula, during my +absence down that river, when they were very friendly, but much disposed +to steal. Various tribes followed us on coming back, but never with any +show of hostility, although moving in tribes of a hundred or more parallel +to our marked line, or in our rear; it was necessary to be ever on our +guard, and to encamp in strong positions only, arranging the drays for +defence during the night: three men were always under arms, and I have +much pleasure in stating, that throughout the whole excursion, and under +circumstances of hardship and privation, the conduct of the men was very +good. I took an armed party to the scene of pillage, and buried the bodies +of the two men, who appeared to have been treacherously murdered while +asleep by the blacks during the absence of Mr. Finch: no natives were to +be found when I visited the spot, although it appeared from columns of +smoke on hills which overlooked if, that they were watching our movements. + +The party has now arrived within a day's journey of Brown's station, +and I have instructed Assistant-Surveyor White (from whom I have received +great assistance during the whole journey) to conduct it homewards, being +desirous to proceed without delay to Sydney, and to receive the +instructions of His Excellency the Governor. + +I have the honour to be, Sir, +Your most obedient Servant, +T. L. MITCHELL, +SURVEYOR-GENERAL. + +THE HON. THE COLONIAL SECRETARY, +"&c. &c. &c." + + + + +Chapter VI. + + + +CONCLUDING REMARKS + + +Obstacles that attend travelling into the interior of Australia-- +Difficulty of carrying supplies--Importance of steady intelligent +subordinates--Danger from the natives--Number of men requisite,--and of +cattle and carriages--Provisions--Other arrangements--Treatment of the +natives--Dimensions of the boat used in the second expedition. + + +Having now had considerable experience in the fitting out and management +of expeditions in New South Wales, I cannot refrain from making some few +observations on the subject. And without presuming to lay dawn any fixed +rules, I shall only refer to those by which I have best succeeded, in +hopes that some of my remarks may prove of use to future travellers who +may venture to penetrate into the trackless deserts over so small a +portion of which I wandered. + +DIFFICULTIES OF EXPLORING AUSTRALIA. + +The great difficulty of examining the interior of Australia, is that of +carrying supplies; for increasing the number of individuals composing an +expedition is of no avail, since an additional number of men must +necessarily increase the consumption of food. In order to meet this +difficulty it has been proposed to establish depots upon which an +expedition could fall back to recruit its supplies, and in ordinary cases +this plan might answer; but I am decidedly of opinion that no party could +long remain stationary in the distant interior without some fatal +collision with the natives, which would be attended with the most +deplorable consequences; and I do think, considering all things, that the +experiment is too dangerous to be tried; for when I reached Mount Harris, +on my first retreat from the Darling, I found the party who were awaiting +me, with a supply of provisions, under very great alarm, in consequence of +the hostile proceedings of the Mount Harris tribe. The men had been +obliged to put the camp into a state of defence. The blacks had attempted +to surprise them, and would, had I not returned, have combined in some +general attack. It appears to me that the most judicious plan would be to +send a supply of provisions, with an expedition, to a distant point, under +the charge of a minor party. These provisions could replace those already +expended, and the animals that carried them could be taken back. + +SELECTION OF SUBORDINATES. + +The number of individuals of which the expedition down the banks of the +Macquarie was composed, was fourteen: that is to say, myself, Mr. Hume, +two soldiers, one free man, and seven prisoners of the crown. The latter +behaved, on all occasions, as steadily as it was possible for men to do. +Yet the circumstance of the two soldiers being with me increased my +confidence in the whole, for I was aware that their example would +influence the rest. However well disposed the prisoners of the crown may +be, (as in this instance they certainly were,) the beneficial example of +steady discipline cannot be denied. I should not have considered myself +justified in leaving the camp as I did for a week, and in detaching Mr. +Hume at the same time when at the bottom of the marshes, or in making the +last effort to maintain our position on the banks of the Darling, if I had +not reposed every confidence in the man to whom I entrusted the safety +of the camp during my absence. + +Experience, therefore, of the value of the two soldiers, whom General +Darling was good enough to permit me to take on the strength of the party, +fully bears me out in recommending that one man, at least, of general +responsibility shall be attached to all future expeditions. The success of +an expedition depends so much on the conduct of the persons of whom it is +composed, that too much attention cannot be given to the selection even of +the most subordinate. Men of active intelligent minds, of persevering +habits, and of even temper, should be preferred to mechanics who do not +possess these most requisite qualities. On the other hand, it is +impossible to do without a good carpenter, however defective he may be in +other respects. I was indebted to Mr. Maxwell, the superintendent of +Wellington Valley, for some excellent men, both on my first and on my +second journey, because he understood the nature of the service for which +they were required, and the characters of those whom he recommended. +But however well selected the party, or the men rather, might be, I still +consider a man of general responsibility necessary for its complete +organisation. I would have him somewhat superior to the rest in his +station in life. Him I would hold answerable for the immediate discipline +of the camp, whilst I was present, and for its safety when absent. The +assistant to the leader I would put entirely out of the question. He +has other and most important duties to perform. I would rate this man +wholly independent of him. + +DANGER OF COLLISION WITH THE NATIVES. + +In reference to what I have already said with regard to the natives, it +was supposed that they were so little to be apprehended, that when I went +on the first occasion into the interior, I applied for a limited number of +men only, under an impression that with a few men I could carry provisions +equal to a consumption of a greater number, and by this means be enabled +to keep the field for a greater length of time. But I do not think it +would be safe to penetrate into the distant country with fewer than +fifteen men, for although, happily, no rupture has as yet taken place with +the natives, yet, there is no security against their treachery, and it is +very certain that a slight cause might involve an expedition in +inextricable difficulty, and oblige the leader to throw himself on the +defensive, when far away from other resources than those with which he +should have provided himself, and that, perhaps, when navigating a close +and intricate river, with all the dangers and perplexities attendant on +such a situation. It is absolutely necessary to establish nightly guards, +not only for the security of the camp, but of the cattle, and at the same +time to have a force strong enough to maintain an obstinate resistance +against any number of savages, where no mercy is to be expected. It will +be borne in mind, that there is a wide difference between penetrating into +a country in the midst of its population, and landing from ships for the +purpose of communication or traffic. Yet, how few voyages of discovery +have terminated without bloodshed! Boats while landing are covered by +their ships, and have succour within view; but not so parties that go into +unknown tracts. They must depend on their immediate resources and +individual courage alone. + +PACK-OXEN, HORSES, WHEEL-CARRIAGES. + +With regard to the animals, I should recommend an equal number of horses +as of bullocks; since it has been found that the latter, though slow, +travel better over swampy ground than horses, which, on the other hand, +are preferable for expeditious journeys, to which bullocks would never be +equal. One of the colonial pack-saddles weighs fifty pounds complete, and +is preferable to those sent out from England. This, with a load of +250 lbs. is sufficient for any animal, since it enables the men to place a +part of their provisions with the general loads. The difficulty of keeping +the backs of the animals free from injury, more especially where any +blemish has before existed, is exceedingly great. They should undergo an +examination twice a-day, that is, in the morning prior to moving off, +and in the afternoon before they are turned out to feed; and measures +should then be taken to ease them as circumstances require. I never +suffered the saddles to be removed from the backs of the animals under my +charge for twenty minutes after the termination of the journey for the +day, in order to guard against the effects of the sun; and where the least +swelling appeared the saddle was altered and the place dressed. Yet, +notwithstanding all this care and attention, several both of the horses +and bullocks were at one time in a sad condition, during the first +journey,--so much so as almost to paralyse our efforts. It would be +advisable that such animals as are entirely free from blemish should be +chosen for the service of expeditions, for, with proper management they +might he kept in order. The anxiety of mind attendant on a bad state of +the animals is really quite embarrassing, for it not only causes a delay +in the movements, but a derangement in the loads. Other animals are +overburdened, and there is no knowing where the evil will stop. + +In addition to the pack-animals, I would recommend the employment of a +dray or cart under any practicable circumstances. It serves to carry +necessary comforts, gives an expedition greater facility for securing its +collections, and is of inconceivable advantage in many other respects. + +ISSUE OF PROVISIONS. + +Constant and most earnest attention should be paid to the issue of +provisions, on the discreet management of which so much depends, and the +charge of them should be committed to the second in command. The most +important articles are flour, tea, sugar, and tobacco. All should be +husbanded with extreme care, and weighed from time to time. The flour is +best carried in canvass bags, containing 100 pounds each, and should at +the termination of each day's journey, be regularly piled up and covered +with a tarpaulin. Tea, sugar and tobacco lose considerably in weight, so +that it is necessary to estimate for somewhat more than the bare supply. +With regard to the salt meat, the best mode of conveying it appears to be +in small barrels of equal weight with the bags of flour. Salt pork is +better than beef. It should be deprived of all bones and be of the very +best quality. I have heard spirits recommended, but I do not approve their +use. Tea is much more relished by the men; indeed they could not do well +without it. A small quantity of spirits would, however, of course be +necessary in the event of its being required. + +LIVE STOCK. + +Mr. Cornelius O'Brien, an enterprising and long-established settler, who +has pushed his flocks and herds to the banks of the Morumbidgee, was good +enough to present me with eight wethers as I passed his station. It may be +some gratification to Mr. O'Brien to know, that they contributed very +materially to our comforts, and he will, perhaps, accept my +acknowledgements in this place, not only for so liberal a present to +myself, but for his attention and kindness to my men as long as they +remained in his neighbourhood. It was found that the sheep gave but little +additional trouble, requiring only to be penned at night, as much to +secure them from the native dogs as to prevent them from straying away. +They followed the other animals very quietly, and soon became accustomed +to daily movements. They proved a most available stock; no waste attended +their slaughter, and they admitted of a necessary and wholesome change of +fresh food from the general salt diet, on which the men would otherwise +have had to subsist. + +The provisions should, if possible, be issued weekly, and their diminution +should be so regulated as to give an equal relief to the animals. + +For general information i have annexed a list of the supplies I took with +me on my first expedition. It may appear long, but the articles were +packed in a small compass, and their value immaterial. + +As a precautionary measure I should advise, that one of the pack animals +be kept apart for the purpose of carrying water. Two casks of equal weight +are the best for such a purpose. In long and hot marches, the men +experience great relief from having water at hand. + +INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES. + +In reference to the natives, I hope sufficient has been said of the manner +of communicating with them to prevent the necessity of a repetition here. +The great point is not to alarm their natural timidity: to exercise +patience in your intercourse with them; to treat them kindly; and to watch +them with suspicion, especially at night. Never permit the men to steal +away from the camp, but keep them as compact as possible; and at every +station so arrange your drays and provisions that they may serve as a +defence in case of your being attacked. + +The natives appeared to me to be indifferent to our presents, in most +cases. Tomahawks, knives, pieces of iron, and different coloured ribbons +for the forehead, were most esteemed by them. They will barter and +exchange their fish for articles, and readily acquire confidence. + +I believe I have now touched on all the more important points: on minor +ones no observation I can make will be of use; men must, in many things, +be guided by circumstances. + +* * * * * + +WHALE BOAT EMPLOYED ON THE SECOND EXPEDITION. + +I may here notice that, in my second expedition, as it was anticipated +that I should require adequate provision for water conveyance, at one +stage or other of my journey down the Morumbidgee, I was furnished with a +whale-boat, the dimensions of which are given below. She was built by +Mr. Egan, the master builder of the dock-yard and a native of the colony, +and did great credit to his judgment. She carried two tons and a half of +provisions, independently of a locker, which I appropriated for the +security of the arms, occupying the space between the after-seat and the +stern. She was in the first instance put together loosely, her planks +and timbers marked, and her ring bolts, &c. fitted. She was then taken to +pieces, carefully packed up, and thus conveyed in plank into the interior, +to a distance of four hundred and forty miles, without injury. She was +admirably adapted for the service, and rose as well as could have been +expected over the seas in the lake. It was evident, however, that she +would have been much safer if she had had another plank, for she was +undoubtedly too low. The following were her dimensions:-- + +Breadth across 7th timber aft, 5 ft. 1/2 an inch outside. +Across 12th timber, 5 ft. 11 1/4 in. +Across 17th timber forward, 5 ft. +25 ft. 8 in. in length inside. +Curve of the keel No. 1, from the after side of each apron, 3 ft. 3 3/4in. +No. 2, from head to head of the dead wood, 13 1/2 in. +No. 3, from one end of keel to the other inner side, 3 in. +No. 4, round of keel from the toe of each dead wood, 7/8 1/16th. +The timbers were marked, beginning from the stern to the bow on the +starboard side, and from bow to stern on the larboard. + + + + +APPENDIX No. I. + + + +LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS. + + + +By His Excellency Lieutenant General Ralph Darling, Commanding +His Majesty's Forces, Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of the +Territory of New South Wales, and its dependencies, and +Vice Admiral of the same, &c. &c. &c. + +TO CHARLES STURT, ESQ. CAPTAIN IN THE 39TH REGIMENT OF FOOT. + +Whereas it has been judged expedient to fit out an expedition for the +purpose of exploring the interior of New Holland, and the present dry +season affords a reasonable prospect of an opportunity of ascertaining the +nature and extent of the large marsh or marshes which stopped the progress +of the late John Oxley Esq, Surveyor General, in following the courses of +the rivers Lachlan and Macquarie in the years 1817 and 1818. And whereas I +repose full confidence in your abilities and zeal for conducting such an +expedition, I do hereby constitute and appoint you to command and take +charge of the expedition now preparing for the purpose of exploring the +interior of the country, and for ascertaining, if practicable, the nature +and extent of the marsh or marshes above mentioned. + +In the prosecution of this service, you will be guided generally by the +following instructions. + +1. You will be accompanied on this expedition by Mr. Hamilton Hume, whose +great experience in travelling through the remote parts of the Colony, +cannot fail to be highly useful to you. You will also be attended by two +soldiers and six convicts, of whom one is to understand the shoeing of +horses, one to be a carpenter, one a harness-maker and three stock-men, +and you will be provided with six horses and twelve bullocks. + +2. A small boat has been built here for the use of the expedition, and for +its conveyance, there is provided a light four-wheeled carriage to be +drawn by two bullocks. + +The deputy Commissary General has received orders for supplying the +expedition with provisions of the best quality sufficient for six months' +consumption, together with tents, blankets, clothing, pack-saddles, +utensils, instruments, tools, and necessaries of all kinds of which you +are likely to stand in need. Orders are also given for providing you with +arms and ammunition, with rockets for signals, and an ample supply of +simple medicines--You are to consider it an important duty to attend to +the providing of all these supplies, and to take care that not only every +article is of the best quality that can be procured, but also that no +article be wanting with which you may desire to be provided. + +3. Orders are given for forwarding without delay all your provisions, +stores and supplies of every kind to Wellington Valley, at which place, +you, Mr. Hume, and all your men are to rendezvous as soon as possible. +Mr Maxwell, the superintendent, will furnish you with well-trained +bullocks, and afford you all the assistance you may require in arranging +every thing for your departure from that station. + +4. After you shall have completed all your arrangements, you are to lose +no time in finally departing from Wellington Valley in prosecution of the +immediate objects of the expedition. + +5. You are first to proceed to Mount Harris, where you are to form a +temporary depot, by means of which you will have an opportunity of more +readily communicating with Mr. Maxwell. + +6. You are then to endeavour to determine the fate of the Macquarie River, +by tracing it as far as possible beyond the point to which Mr. Oxley went, +and by pushing westward, you are to ascertain if there be any high lands +in that direction, or if the country be, as it is supposed, an unbroken +level and under water. If you should fail in these objects, you will +traverse the plains lying behind our north-west boundaries, with a view to +skirt any waters by which you may have been checked to the westward; and +if you should succeed in skirting them, you are to explore the country +westward and southward as far as possible, endeavouring to discover the +Macquarie beyond the marsh of Mr. Oxley, and following it to its mouth if +at all practicable. + +7. There is some reason to believe that the over-flowing of the Macquarie +when visited by Mr. Oxley, was occasioned by heavy rains falling in the +mountains to the eastward, and that as you are to visit the same spot at a +different season of the year, you may escape such embarrassment; but +although you should get beyond the point at which Mr. Oxley stopped, it +would not be prudent to risk your own health or that of your men, by +continuing long in a swampy country. Therefore it may be advisable for you +in the first instance to leave the greater part of your men, bullocks, and +baggage, at Mount Harris, and if you should see a probability of your +being able to cross into the interior, you will then return to Mount +Harris for such additional supplies as you may judge necessary. You can +there communicate with Mr. Maxwell respecting any ulterior arrangements +which you may be desirous of making. + +8. The success of the expedition is so desirable an object, that I cannot +too strongly impress upon you the importance of perseverance in +endeavouring to skirt any waters or marshes which may check your course as +long as you have provisions sufficient for your return; but you must be +cautious not to proceed a single day's journey further than where you find +that your provisions will be barely sufficient to enable you to reach the +nearest place at which you can depend upon getting supplies. + +9. If after every endeavour you should find it totally impracticable to get +to the westward, you are still to proceed northward, keeping as westerly a +direction as possible; and when the state of your provisions will oblige +you to retreat, you will be guided by your latitude, as to the place to +which you are to make the best of your way, but you are not to make for +any place on the coast, if Wellington valley should still be nearer. + +10. You must be aware that the success of the expedition will greatly +depend upon the time for which your provisions will hold out, and +therefore you will see the great importance of observing every possible +economy in the expenditure of provisions, and preventing waste of every +kind. + +11. You are to keep a detailed account of your proceedings in a journal, +in which all observations and occurrences of every kind, with all their +circumstances, however minute, are to be carefully noted down. You are to +be particular in describing the general face of all the country through +which you pass, the direction and shape of the mountains, whether detached +or in ranges, together with the bearings and estimated distances of the +several mountains, hills, or eminences from each other. You are likewise +to note the nature of the climate, as to heat, cold, moisture, winds, +rains, &c, and to keep a register of the temperature from Fahrenheit's +thermometer, as observed at two or three periods of each day. The rivers, +with their several branches, their direction, velocity, breadth, and +depth, are carefully to be noted. It is further expected that you will, +as far as may he in your power, attend to the animal, vegetable, and +mineral productions of the country, noting down every thing that may occur +to you, and preserving specimens as far as your means will admit, +especially some of all the ripe seeds which you may discover; when the +preservation of specimens is impossible, drawings or detailed accounts of +them, are very desirable. + +12. You will note the description of the several people whom you may meet, +the extent of the population, their means of subsistence, their genius and +disposition, the nature of their amusements, their diseases and remedies, +their objects of worship, religious ceremonies, and a vocabulary of their +language. + +Lastly. On your return from your journey, you are to cause all the +journals or other written documents belonging to, and curiosities +collected by the several individuals composing the expedition, to be +carefully sealed up with your own seal and kept in that state until you +shall have made your report to me in writing of the result of the +expedition. + +Given at Sydney, this eighteenth day of November, 1828. +By Command of His Excellency the Governor, +ALEXANDER M'LEAY. + + + + +APPENDIX No. II. + + + +LIST OF STORES SUPPLIED FOR THE EXPEDITION. + + +List of Articles delivered from His Majesty's Stores, +in charge of D. A. C. Goodsir, to Captain Sturt, viz.-- + +1 Hack saddle. 9 Harness casks. +1 Bridle. 23 Canvas bags. +2 Tents. 4 Tin cases. +14 Pack saddles. 16 Padlocks. +14 Pair hobbles. 6 Tarpaulens. +24 Sets horse shoes. 10 Haversacks. +2000 Horse nails. 113 Fathom one-inch rope. +113 Fathoms 1 1/2 inch rope. 1 Boat compass. +1 Hammer, (Blacksmith's) 1 Telescope. +1 Paring knife. 1 Spare glass for ditto. +2 Chipping do. 1 Tin case (for charts.) +2 Rasps. 100 Fish-hooks, (large.) +1 Pair pincers. 12 Fishing-lines. +1 Cutter. 10 Knives. +2lb. Pack thread. 10 Forks. +24 Needles. 10 Spoons. +1/4lb. Bristles. 2 Frying-pans. +7lbs. Leather. 2 Tinder-boxes. +1/2lb. Thread. 1 Tea-kettle, (tin.) +1 Pair of steelyards. 10 Tin dishes. +10 Tin pots. 8 Jackets. +1 Flour seive. 8 Duck frocks. +2 Felling-axes. 8 Shirts. +4 Tomahawks. 16 Trousers. +2 Hammers. 24 Pair shoes. +1 Hand-saw. 16 Blankets. +3 Bill-hooks. 16 Pair stockings. +3 Awls. 2 Bullock collars. +3 Broad hoes. 2 Do. back-bands and pipes. +4 Razors. 2 Leading cruppers. +4 Brushes. 1 Boat with sail and oars. +4 Combs. 1 Do. carriage. +3 Iron pots, (camp kettles.) 1 Canvass boat-cover. +1 Pair scissors. 3 Water breaker. + +COMMISSARIAT OFFICE, SYDNEY, NOV. 10TH, 1828. + +P.S.--l Tarpaulin. + Large Fish-hook. + 1 Tin tea-kettle. + 1 Camp kettle. + Pitch and oil. + Hemp or twine. + + + + +APPENDIX No. III. + + + +SHEEP-FARMING RETURNS, SHOWING THE INCREASE IN FOUR YEARS, +from two Breeding Flocks, consisting of 670 Ewes in Lamb. + + +(A.)--1st JUNE, 1828. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks. Breeding Ewes. Lambs. Total. Remarks. + + 2 yrs. old. 3 yrs. old. Male.-Female. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + Lambs. +No. 1 330 148 149 627 Deaths 6. Incr.297 +No. 2 330 154 154 638 4 308 + ---- -- --- + * 1265 10 605 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +* The increase throughout these returns is calculated at from 270 to 290 +Lambs, to 300 Ewes, which is the usual average in N.S.W. + + +ABSTRACT. + +Purchased two Flocks of Ewes, at 84s.............................670 Ewes. +Increase of Lambs.......................................... 605 +Casual Deaths............................................... 10 + 595 + --- +Total as per Return............................................ 1265 + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +(B.)--1st JUNE, 1829. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks.|Breeding|Maiden|Wethers.|Rams.| Lambs. |Total.| Remarks. + | Ewes. | Ewes.| |Male. Female.| +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +No. Lambs. +1 3-yr. 327 154 154 635 Deaths 3 Incr.308 +2 4-yr. 326 155 155 636 4 310 +3 1-yr. 302 302 1 --- +4 1-yr. 302 18 320 -- 618 + ---- 8 + 1893 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +ABSTRACT. + +Return (A) Total...............................................1265 +Increase by Lambing....................................618 +Ditto Rams purchased....................................18 + --- + 636 +Casual Deaths......................................... 8 628 + ---- +Total as per return............................................1893 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +(C.)--1st JUNE, 1830. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks.|Breeding|Maiden|Wethers.|Rams.| Lambs. |Total.| Remarks. + | Ewes. | Ewes.| |Male. Female.| +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +No. Lambs. +1 2-yr. 296 133 154 562 Deaths 6 Incr.266 +2 4-yr. 325 150 155 625 2 300 +3 5-yr. 326 160 646 320 +4 2-yr. 302 27 329 --- +5 1-yr. 309 309 886 +6 1-yr. 309 309 --- + ---- 3 Rams died + 2780 12 ditto purchased +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +ABSTRACT. + +Return (B) Total............................................ 1893 +Increase by Lambing....................................886 +Ditto Rams purchased....................................12 + --- + 898 +Deaths............................................... 11 887 + ---- +Total as per return......................................... 2780 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +(D.)--1st JUNE, 1831. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks.|Breeding|Maiden|Wethers.|Rams.| Lambs. |Total.| Remarks. + | Ewes. | Ewes.| |Male. Female.| +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +No. Lambs. +1 2-yr. 304 136 136 576 Deaths 5 Incr.272 +2 3-yr. 293 135 136 564 3 271 +3 5-yr. 324 156 156 636 1 312 +4 6-yr. 320 156 156 632 2 312 + Killed 4 --- +5 3-yr. 300 300 Deaths 2 1167 +6 2-yr. 308 308 1 +7 1-yr 443 443 +8 1-yr 442 442 1 +9 40 40 5 + ---- -- + 3941 20 + Purchased 12 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +ABSTRACT. + +Return (C) Total............................................ 2780 +Increase by Lambing...................................1167 +Ditto Rams purchased....................................18 + --- + 1185 +Casual deaths 20 ...Killed for use 4 ................. 24 1161 + ---- +Total as per return.......................................... 3941 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +(E.)--1st JUNE, 1832. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +Flocks.|Breeding|Maiden|Wethers.|Rams.| Lambs. |Total.| Remarks. + | Ewes. | Ewes.| |Male. Female.| +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +No. Lambs. +1 2-yr. 344 154 154 652 Deaths 6 Incr.308 +2 3-yr. 344 162 161 667 4 323 +4 3-yr. 342 164 165 671 3 329 +5 6-yr. 320 155 155 630 2 310 +6 7-yr. 300 145 145 590 2 290 +7 4-yr. 300 300 ---- + 1560 +8 3-yr 302 302 2 +9 2-yr 440 440 1 +10 1-yr 583 583 +11 1-yr 584 584 +12 45 45 5 Purch. 10 + ---- ---- ---- --- --- --- ---- + 1650 584 1625 45 780 780 5464 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +ABSTRACT. + +Return (D) Total............................................ 3941 +Increase by Lambing...................................1560 +Ditto Rams purchased....................................10 + --- + 1570 +Decrease by casual death .............................. 25 +Decrease by slaughter for use ......................... 22 + --- + 1523 + ---- + Grand Total .............................. 5464 as above +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + +MEMORANDUM,--The deaths have been calculated at the lowest rate under the +best management. It may be safer to assume a rate of four or five per +cent. per annum. + + + +Account of Expenditure and Income upon Sheep Stock in Australia, +appended to Returns A. B. C. D. and E. + 1st YEAR, (RETURN A.) JUNE, 1829. + +INCOME. +By 11265 fleeces, average weight 2 1/4 lbs. 284 lbs +wool at 1s. 6d. per lb. 213 9 0 + EXPENDITURE. +To 2 Shepherds at 30 pounds 60 0 0 +To 1 Watchman at 20 20 0 O PROFIT. +To Hurdles, &c. 10 0 0 + -------- 90 0 0 + -------- 123 9 0 + + 2nd YEAR, (B.) JUNE, 1830. + + INCOME. +By 1893 fleeces, at 2 1/4 lbs. 4259lbs. wool at +1s. 6d. 319 8 6 + EXPENDITURE. +To 2 Shepherds at 30 pounds 60 0 0 +To 2 Ditto 20 40 0 0 +To 1 Watchman 20 0 0 +To Hurdles &c. 5 0 0 + --------- + 125 0 0 +To 18 Rams at 10 pounds* 180 0 0 + --------- + 305 0 0 + --------- + 14 8 6 +*The price of rams will probably fall to 5 pounds + + 3rd YEAR, (C.) JUNE, 1831. + + INCOME. +By 2780 fleeces, at 2 1/4 lbs. 6255lbs. wool at +1s. 6d. 469 2 6 + EXPENDITURE. +To 2 Shepherds at 30 pounds 60 0 0 +To 2 Ditto 25 25 0 0 +To 3 Ditto 20 60 0 0 +To 2 Watchman 20 40 0 0 +To Hurdles &c. 10 0 0 + --------- + 195 0 0 +To 12 Rams at 10 pounds 120 0 0 + --------- + 315 0 0 + --------- + 154 2 6 + + 4th YEAR, (D.) JUNE, 1832. + + INCOME. +By 3941 fleeces, at 2 1/4 lbs. 8867lbs. wool at +1s. 6d. 665 0 0 + EXPENDITURE. +To 2 Shepherds at 30 pounds 60 0 0 +To 2 Ditto 25 50 0 0 +To 4 Ditto 20 80 0 0 +To 3 Watchman &c. 60 0 0 +(one to take charge of rams) +To Hurdles &c. 10 0 0 + --------- + 260 0 0 +To 18 Rams at 10 pounds 180 0 0 + --------- + 440 0 0 + --------- + 225 0 0 + + 5th YEAR, (E.) JUNE, 1833.* + + INCOME. +By 5864 fleeces, at 2 lbs. 12,294lbs. wool at +1s. 6d. 922 0 0 + EXPENDITURE. +To 2 Shepherds at 30 pounds 60 0 0 +To 3 Ditto 25 75 0 0 +To 5 Ditto 20 100 0 0 +To 3 Watchman 20 60 0 0 +To Hurdles &c. 20 0 0 + --------- + 315 0 0 +To 10 Rams at 10 pounds 100 0 0 + --------- + 415 0 0 + --------- + 507 0 0 + ---------- + Net profit by sales of wool in 5 years 1024 0 0 + +1024 0 0 divided by 5 gives 204 8 0 for annual interest on the +original capital of 2814 0 0, (about 7 1/4 percent per annum) +in addition to the accumulation of capital itself, shown by the +valuation of stock. + +*These accounts are a year in advance of the sheep returns, in order to +bring them to the time at which the wool would be sold. + + + VALUATION OF SHEEP, JUNE, 1832----(RETURN E.) + +1614 Ewes from 1 to 4 years old at 3 pounds each 4842 0 O + 620 Do. 4 to 7 years old 2 1240 0 0 + 780 Female Lambs 2 1560 0 0 +2405 Wethers and Male Lambs 15s. 1803 0 0 + 45 Rams (original cost, 450l.) 400 0 0 + ---------- + 9845 0 0 + +Note.--About 500 pounds would be added to the Income on the fifth year, +by the sale of wethers of 3 and 4 years old. + +The cost of rams ought, strictly speaking, to be added to capital, and not +deducted from Income; but these returns were made out in their present +form at the request of a gentleman proceeding to the Colony with a limited +capital, and who wished to know how much he might safely invest in sheep. + + + + +APPENDIX No. IV. + + + +LIST OF GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS, COLLECTED IN THE DISTANT INTERIOR DURING +THE FIRST EXPEDITION, WITH THEIR LOCALITIES AND THEIR RELATIVE DISTANCES +FROM EACH OTHER. + + +It may be necessary to observe that the height of the Cataract of the +Macquarie River above the sea, was ascertained by barometrical +admeasurement to be 650 feet. The country subsequently traversed is +considerably lower. The specimens refer only to the geological formation +of the distant interior. + +Schorl Rock.--Colour blueish grey, fine grained, extremely hard. Composed +of Tourmaline and Quartz. Forms the bed of the Macquarie at the Cataract, +75 miles to the N.W. of Wellington Valley. + +Decomposed Mica Slate.--Colour white; yields to the knife; adheres +strongly to the tongue. + +Decomposed Feldspar.--Colour pale rose-pink; very fine grained; easily +scratched with the knife; adheres strongly to the tongue. + +Both specimens immediately succeed the Schorl rock at the Cataract, in +large smooth-sided masses. + +This formation may be said to terminate the rocks connected with the +dividing ranges, since it is the last that occurs at their western base. + +A little below the Cataract, the county undergoes a remarkable change, +and becomes extremely depressed. + +Porphyry with Feldspar.--Colour dull red, with white spots, or grey with +red spots; very hard, compact, sonorous, magnetic. [See pp. 27 and 115.] +Composition of Mount Harris, a hill called by Mr. Oxley, elevated about +170 feet above the level of the plains. It lies 65 miles to the N.N.W. of +the Cataract, and is about 16 miles distant from the first of the marshes +of the Macquarie. + +Porphyry with Feldspar.--Colour grey with red spots, similar to the last. +Was not observed to affect the needle. Formation of Mount Foster. +Mount Foster is more than 200 feet in height, and lies about 5 miles to +the N.N.W. of Mount Harris. From the summit of both, Arbuthnot's range is +visible, bearing nearly due east, distant 70 miles. [See page 28.] + +Quartz Rock varieties--Slaty Quartz varieties.--Composition of the first +elevations to the Westward of the marshes of the Macquarie, called +New Year's Range, a group of five hills. The loftiest about 200 feet in +elevation; distant about 80 miles to the N.W. of Mount Harris. + +Granite.--Colour red, coarse-grained. Composed of Quartz, Feldspar, +and Mica. + + Granite, Porphyritic.--Colour light red. Both occurring in the bed of +New Year's Creek, traversing it obliquely, and are visible for a few +hundred yards only. This granite occurs about 16 miles from the Range in +a N. by E. direction. + +Old Red Sandstone.--Composition of Oxley's Table Land, 500 feet above the +level of the plains. It is broken into two hills, that appear to have been +separated by some convulsion. [See page 81.] It bears N.W. by W. from +New Year's Range, distant 50 miles. + +Old Red Sandstone.--Composition of D'Urban's group. The highest elevation +ascended during the expedition, being nearly 600 feet above the level of +the plain in which it rises. It lies to the S.S.W. of Oxley's Table Land, +distant 40 miles, and the rock of which it is composed is much harder +and closer. + +Breccia.--Colour pale yellow, silicious cement. Composition of some +trifling elevations to the North of New-Year's range, with which it is +doubtful whether they are connected. + +Crystallized Sulphate of Lime.--Found imbedded in the alluvial soil +forming the banks of the Darling river. Occurring in a regular vein. Soft, +yielding to the nail; not acted on by acids.--See Plate. + +Breccia.--Pale ochre colour, silicious cement, extremely hard. Cellular, +and sharp edges to the fractured pebbles. Has apparently undergone fusion. +Occurs in the bed of the Darling in one place only. + +Sandstone Varieties.--Colour dull red and muddy white; appears like burnt +bricks; light, easily frangible; adheres to the tongue; occurs in large +masses in the bed of the Darling; probably in connection with the +rock-salt of the neighbourhood, which, from the number of brine springs +discovered feeding the river, must necessarily exist. + +Variety of the same description of rock. + +Jasper and Quartz.--Showing itself above the surface of a plain, from +which D'Urban's group bore S. 40 E. distant 33 miles. + +It is a remarkable fact, that not a pebble or a stone was picked up during +the progress of the expedition, on any one of the plains; and that after +it again left Mount Harris for the Castlereagh, the only rock-formation +discovered was a small Freestone tract near the Darling river. There was +not a pebble of any kind either in the bed of the Castlereagh, or in the +creeks falling into it. + + + + +APPENDIX No. V. + + + +OFFICIAL REPORTS TO THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT. + + +* * * * * + + +GOVERNMENT ORDER + +COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE, 23RD JANUARY, 1829. + +His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to order, that the following +communication, dated the 25th of December last, from Captain Sturt, of the +39th Regiment, who is employed in an exploring expedition into the +interior of the country, be published for general information. + +By his Excellency's Command, +ALEXANDER M'LEAY. + + +* * * * * + + +WESTERN MARSHES, 25TH DECEMBER, 1828. + +SIR,--I do myself the honor to forward, for the Governor's perusal, a +copy of my journal up to the date of my arrival at Mount Harris. I should +not have directed the messenger to return so soon, had I not subsequently +advanced to Mount Foster, and surveyed the country from that eminence. I +could distinctly see Arbuthnot's Range to the eastward. From that point +the horizon appeared to me unbroken, but the country to the northward and +westward seemed to favour an attempt to penetrate into it. I did not +observe any sheet of water, and the course of the Macquarie was lost in +the woodlands below. + +Mr. Hume ascended the hill at sun-rise, and thought he could see mountains +to the north east, but at such a distance as to make it quite a matter of +uncertainty. Agreeing, however, in the prudence of an immediate descent, +we left our encampment on the morning of the 23rd, under Mount Foster, to +which we had removed from Mount Harris, and pursued a north-north-west +course to the spot on which we rest at present. We passed some fine meadow +land near the river, and were obliged to keep wide of it in consequence of +fissures in the ground. Traversing a large and blasted plain, on which the +sun's rays fell with intense heat, and on which there was but little +vegetation, we skirted the first great morass, and made the river +immediately beyond it. It is of very considerable extent, the channel of +the river passing through it. We are encompassed on every side by high +reeds, which exist in the woods as well as in the plains. Mr. Hume and +myself rode forward yesterday through the second morass, and made the +river on slightly elevated ground, at a distance of about five miles; the +country beyond appeared to favour our object, and we, to-morrow, proceed +with the party to the north-west. The river seems to bend to the +north-east; but in this level country it is impossible to speak with +certainty, or to give any decided opinion of the nature of it, beyond the +flats on which we are travelling. The reeds to the north-east and +northward extend over a circumference of fifty miles; but if Mr. Hume +really saw mountains or rising ground in the former point, the apparent +course of the Macquarie is at once accounted for. The country, however, +seems to dip to the north, though generally speaking it is level, and I am +inclined to think that the state of the atmosphere caused a deception in +this appearance. + +I regret to add, that the effects of the sun on the plain over which we +passed on the 23rd produced a return of inflammation in the eyes of the +men, I have named in my journals, and caused the same in the eyes of +several others of my party. I halted, therefore, to expedite their +recovery. They are doing well now, and we can proceed in the cool of the +morning without any fear of their receiving injury by it. One of the men, +who were to return to Wellington Valley, was attacked slightly with +dysentery, but the medicines I gave him carried it off in the course of a +day or two. I have taken every precaution with regard to the health of the +men, in preparing them for the country into which they are going; and I +have to request that you will inform the governor that the conduct of the +whole party merits my approbation, and that I have no fault to find. The +men from Sydney are not so sharp as those from Wellington Valley, but are +equally well disposed. The animals, both horses and bullocks, are in good +order, and I find the two soldiers of infinite service to me. The boat has +received some damage from exposure to intense heat, but is otherwise +uninjured. We still retain the carriage and have every prospect of +dragging it on with us. + +His Excellency, having been good enough to order a fresh supply of +provisions to Wellington Valley, I have to beg they may be forwarded to +Mount Harris, and that the person in charge thereof be instructed to +remain at that station for one month. We shall, during the interval, have +examined the country to the north-west; and, in case we are forced back, +shall require a supply to enable us to proceed to the northward, in +furtherance of the views I have already had the honor to submit for the +Governor's approval. + +I have the honor to be, Sir, +Your most obedient and humble Servant, +CHARLES STURT, +Captain, 39th Regt. + + +THE HONOURABLE THE COLONIAL SECRETARY + + +* * * * * + + +GOVERNMENT ORDER. + +COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE, 6TH APRIL, 1829. + +His Excellency the Governor is pleased to direct that the following +interesting Report which has been received from Captain Sturt, +39th Regiment, who has been employed for some months past, (as will be +seen on reference to the Government Order, No. 4, published with Captain +Sturt's First Report in the Sydney Gazette, of the 24th of January last) +in exploring the interior, be communicated for the information of the +public. + +It appears that the river Macquarie ceases to exist near the spot where +the expedition under the late Mr. Oxley terminated, which, from the state +of country at the time, being then flooded, could not be ascertained; and +that another river of no inconsiderable magnitude, fed by salt springs, +was discovered by Captain Sturt on the 2nd February last, about 100 miles +to the westward of the Macquarie, running to the southward and westward. + +By His Excellency's Command, +ALEXANDER M'LEAY. + + +* * * * * + + +MOUNT HARRIS, 4TH MARCH, 1829. + +SIR,--I do myself the honor to acquaint you, for the information of His +Excellency the Governor, that I returned to this eminence on Monday, +the 23rd ult. having been driven from the interior, in consequence of the +extreme drought which prevails there. + +I am to state, in reference to my former communication, that agreeably to +what I then reported, I moved, on the 26th December last, lower down the +plains of the Macquarie, but encountered a barrier of reeds, formed by the +marshes of that river, through which we in vain endeavoured to force our +way. I was in consequence obliged to make the nearest part of the river to +my left, and to take such measures as the nature of my situation required. +Here, for the first time, I set the boat afloat, deeming it essential to +trace the river, as I could not move upon its banks, and wishing also to +ascertain where it again issued from the marshes, I requested Mr. Hume to +proceed northerly, with a view to skirt them, and to descend westerly, +wherever he saw an open space. He was fortunate enough to strike upon the +channel about twelve miles north of our position, but was obstructed in +his further progress by another marsh, in consequence of which he returned +to the camp the next day; in the mean time, I had taken the boat, and +proceeded down the Macquarie, my way being at first considerably +obstructed by fallen timber: clearing this obstacle, however, I got into +a deeper channel, with fine broad reaches, and a depth of from twelve to +fifteen feet water. I had a short time previously cleared all woods and +trees, and was now in the midst of reeds of great height. After proceeding +onwards for about eight miles from the place whence I started, my course +was suddenly and unexpectedly checked; I saw reeds before me, and expected +I was about to turn an angle of the river, but I found that I had got to +the end of the channel, and that the river itself had ceased to exist. +Confounded at such a termination to a stream, whose appearance justified +the expectation that it would have led me through the heart of the marsh +to join Mr. Hume, I commenced a most minute examination of the place, and +discovered two creeks, if they deserve the name, branching, the one to the +north-west, and the other to the north-east; after tracing the former a +short distance, I reached its termination, and in order to assure myself +that such was the case, I walked round the head of it by pushing through +the reeds; it being then too dark to continue where I was, I returned to +a place on the river, at which I had rested during a shower, and slept +there. In the morning I again went to the spot to examine the +north-eastern branch, when I was equally disappointed. I then examined the +space between the two creeks, opposite to the main channel of the river, +and where the bank receives the force of the current. Here I saw water in +the reeds, but it was scarcely ankle deep, and was running off to the +north-west quicker than the waters of the river, which had almost an +imperceptible motion, I was therefore at once convinced that it was not +permanent, but had lodged there in the night, during which much rain had +fallen. I next pushed my way through the reeds into the marsh, and at +length clearly perceived that the waters which were perfectly sweet, after +running several courses, flowed off to the north, towards which point +there was an apparent declination or dip. Finding it impossible to +proceed further, I regained the boat, and thence returned to the camp, +under a conviction that I had reached the very spot, at which Mr. Oxley +lost the channel of the river in 1818. + +The next day I moved to the place where Mr. Hume had struck upon the +channel of the river, but was again doubtful in what direction to proceed. + +The marsh, at the commencement of which we now found ourselves, being the +third from Mount Foster, but the second great one, seemed to extend beyond +us to the north for many miles, but varying in breadth. In the evening I +went in the boat up the channel, and found it at first, deep and sullen, +as that of the river above. It soon however, narrowed, and the weeds +formed over its surface, so that I abandoned the boat and walked along a +path up it. I had not gone far when the channel divided; two smaller +channels came, the one from the southern, and the other from the western +parts of the marsh into it. There was an evident declination where they +were, and it was at their junction the river again rallied and formed. +On my return to the camp, Mr. Hume and I went down the river, but found +that about a mile it lost itself, and spread its waters ever the extensive +marsh before it. + +In this extremity, I knew not what movement to make, as Mr. Hume had been +checked in his progress north. I therefore determined to ascertain the +nature of the country to the eastward and to the westward, that I might +move accordingly; I proposed to Mr. Hume, to take a week's provisions, +with two attendants, and go to the north-east, in order again to turn the +marsh, but with the expectation that the angle formed by the junction of +the Castlereagh with the Macquarie would arrest its progress, as the last +was fast approaching the former. + +I myself determined to cross the river, and to skirt the marshes on the +left, and in case they turned off to the north east, as they appeared to +do, it was my intention to pursue a N.W. course into the interior, to +learn the nature of it. With these views I left the camp on the 31st of +December, and did not return until the 5th of January. Having found early +in my journey, from the change of soil and of timber, that I was leaving +the neighbourhood of the Macquarie, I followed a N.W. course, from a more +northerly one, and struck at once across the country, under an impression +that Mr. Hume would have made the river again long before my return. +I found, after travelling between twenty and thirty miles, the country +began to rise; and at the end of my journey, I made a hill of considerable +elevation, from the summit of which I had a view of other high lands; one +to the S.W. being a very fine mountain. As I had not found any water +excepting in two creeks, which I had left far behind me, and as I had got +on a soil which appeared incapable of holding it, I made this the +termination of my journey, having exceeded 100 miles in distance from the +camp, on my return to which I found Mr. Hume still absent. When he joined, +he stated to me, that not making the Castlereagh as soon as he expected, +he had bent down westerly for the Macquarie, and that he ended his journey +at some gentle hills he had made; so that it appeared we must either have +crossed each other's line of route, or that they were very near, and that +want of length must alone have prevented them from crossing; but as such +all assumption led to the conclusion that the Macquarie no longer existed, +I determined to pursue a middle course round the swamps, to ascertain the +point; as in case the river had ended, a westerly course was the one which +my instructions directed me to pursue. + +In the immediate neighbourhood of the marshes we were obliged to sink +wells for water, and it was thus early that we began to feel the want of a +regular supply. + +Having made a creek about four miles from our position by cutting through +the reeds where there was a narrow space, we pursued a westerly course +over a plain, having every appearance of frequent inundation, and for four +or five days held nearly the same direction; in the course of which we +crossed both our tracks on the excursions we had made, which had +intersected each other in a dense oak brush; thus renewing the few doubts, +or rather the doubt we had as to the fate of the Macquarie, whose course +we had been sent to trace. Indeed, had I not felt convinced that that +river had ceased, I should not have moved westward without further +examination, but we had passed through a very narrow part of the marshes, +and round the greater part of them, and had not seen any hollow that could +by any possible exaggeration be construed into or mistaken for the channel +of a river. + +It appears, then, that the Macquarie, flowing as it does for so many +miles, through a bed, and not a declining country, and having little water +in it, except in times of flood, loses its impetus long ere it reaches the +formidable barrier that opposes its progress northwards; the soil in which +the reeds grow being a stiff clay. Its waters consequently spread, until +a slight declivity giving them fresh impulse, they form a channel again, +but soon gaining a level, they lose their force and their motion together, +and spread not only over the second great marsh, but over a vast extent +of the surrounding country, the breadth of ground thus subject to +inundation being more than twenty miles, and its length considerably +greater; around this space there is a gentle rise which confines the +waters, while small hollows in various directions lead them out of the +marshes over the adjacent plains, on which they eventually subside. On my +return from the interior, I examined those parts round which I had not +been, with particular attention, partly in company with Mr. Hume, and this +statement was confirmed by what we saw. Thus, at a distance of about +twenty-five miles from Mount Foster to the N.N.W. the river Macquarie +ceases to exist, in any shape as a river, and at a distance of between +fifty and sixty, the marshes terminate, though the country subject to +inundation from the river is of a very considerable extent, as shown by +the withered bulrushes, wet reeds, and shells, that are scattered over +its surface. + +Having executed the first part of the instructions with which I had been +honoured, I determined on pursuing a west, or north-west course into the +interior, to ascertain the nature of it, in fulfilment of the second, but +in doing this I was obliged to follow creeks, and even on their banks had +to carry a supply of water, so uncertain was it that we should meet with +any at the termination of our day's journey, and that what we did find +would be fit to drink. Our course led us over plains immediately bordering +the lower lands of the Macquarie, alternating with swamp oak, acacia +pendula, pine, box, eucalyptus, and many other trees of minor growth, the +soil being inclined to a red loam, while the plains were generally covered +with a black scrub, though in some places they had good grass upon them. +We crossed two creeks before we made the hills Mr. Hume had ascended, and +which he called New Year's Range. Around these hills the country appeared +better--they are gentle, picturesque elevations, and are for the most +part, covered with verdure, and have, I fancy, a whinstone base, the rock +of which they are composed being of various substances. I place New Year's +Range in lat. 30 degrees 21 minutes, long. 146 degrees 3 minutes +30 seconds. Our course next lying north-west along a creek, led us to +within twenty miles of the hill that had terminated my excursion, and as I +hoped that a more leisurely survey of the country from its summit would +open something favourable to our view, I struck over for it, though +eventually obliged to return. From it Mr. Hume and I rode to the S.W. +mountain, a distance of about forty miles, without crossing a brook or a +creek, our way leading through dense acacia brushes, and for the most part +over a desert. We saw high lands from this mountain, which exceeds 1,300 +feet in elevation, and is of sandstone formation, and thickly covered with +stunted pine, in eight different points--the bearings of which are as +follows:-- + +Oxley's Table Land, N. 4O E., distant 40 miles. +Kengall Hill, due E. very distant. +Conical Hill, S. 6O E. +Highland, S.E. distance 30 miles. +Highland, S. 30 E. distance 25 miles. +Long Range, S. 16 E. distance 60 miles. +Long Range, S. 72 W. distance 60 miles. +Distant Range, S. 25 W. supposed. + +It was in vain, however, that we looked for water. The country to the +north-west, was low and unbroken, and alternated with wood and plain. + +The country from New Year's Range to the hill I had made, and which I +called Oxley's Table Land, had been very fair, with good soil in many +places, but with a total want of water, except in the creeks, wherein the +supply was both bad and uncertain; on our second day's journey from the +former, we came to the creek on which we were moving, where it had a +coarse granite bottom. The country around it improved very much in +appearance, and there was abundance of good grass on the surface of it, in +spite of the drought. On the right of this creek, a large plain stretches +parallel to it for many miles, varying in quality of soil. Near Oxley's +Table Land, we passed over open forest, the prevailing timber of which was +box. I have placed Oxley's Table Land in latitude 29 degrees 57 minutes +30 seconds, longitude 145 degrees 43 minutes 30 seconds. + +Finding it impracticable to move westward from the hill I again descended +on the creek, whose general course was to the north-west, in which +direction we at length struck upon a river whose appearance raised our +most sanguine expectations. It flowed round an angle from the north-east +to the north-west, and extended in longitude five reaches as far as we +could see. At that place it was about sixty yards broad, with banks of +from thirty to forty feet high, and it had numerous wild fowl and many +pelicans on its bosom, and seemed to be full of fish, while the paths of +the natives on both sides, like well-trodden roads, showed how numerous +they were about it. On tasting its waters, however, we found them +perfectly salt, and useless to us, and as our animals had been without +water the night before, this circumstance distressed us much; our first +day's journey led us past between sixty and seventy huts in one place, and +on our second we fell in with a numerous tribe of natives, having +previously seen some between two creeks before we made New-Year's Range. +At some places the water proved less salt than at others; our animals +drank of it sparingly: we found two small fresh-water holes, which served +us as we passed. After tracing the river for a considerable distance, we +came on brine springs in the bed of it, the banks having been encrusted +with salt from the first; and as the difficulty of getting fresh water was +so great, I here foresaw an end to our wanderings. And as I was resolved +not to involve my party in greater distress, I halted it, on overtaking +the animals, and the next morning turned back to the nearest fresh-water, +at a distance of eighteen miles from us. Unwilling, however, to give up +our pursuit, Mr. Hume and I started with two men on horseback, to trace +the river as far as we could, and to ascertain what course it took; in the +hopes also that we should fall on some creek, or get a more certain supply +of drinkable water. We went a distance to which the bullocks could not +have been brought, and then got on a red sandy soil, which at once +destroyed our hopes; and on tasting the river water we found it salter +than ever, our supply being diminished to two pints. Our animals being +weak and purged, and having proceeded at least forty miles from the camp, +I thought it best to yield to circumstances, and to return, though I trust +I shall be believed when I add, it was with extreme reluctance I did so; +and had I followed the wishes of my party, should still have continued +onwards. Making a part of the river where we had slept, we stayed to +refresh, and in consequence of the heat of the weather were obliged to +drink the water in it, which made us sick. While here, a tribe of blacks +came to us and behaved remarkably well. At night we slept on a plain +without water, and the next day we regained the camp, which had been +visited by the natives during our absence. + +We found the river held a south-west course, and appeared to be making for +the central space between a high land, which I called Dunlop's Range, at +Mr. Hume's request, and a lofty range to the westward. It still continued +its important appearance, having gained in breadth and in the height of +its banks, while there were hundreds of pelicans and wild-fowl on it. +Flowing through a level country with such a channel, it may be presumed +that this river ultimately assumes either a greater character, or that it +adds considerably to the importance of some other stream. It had a clay +bottom, generally speaking, in many places semi-indurated and fast forming +into sandstone, while there was crystallized sulphate of lime running in +veins through the soil which composed the bank. + +This river differs from most in the colony, in having a belt of barren +land of from a quarter of a mile to two miles in breadth in its immediate +neighbourhood, and which is subject to overflow. This belt runs to the +inland plains, where a small elevation checks the further progress of the +flood. There is magnificent blue gum on both sides the river, but the +right bank is evidently the most fertile, and I am mistaken greatly if +there is not a beautiful country north of it. + +Of the country over which we have passed, it is impossible for me to have +formed a correct opinion under its present melancholy circumstances. It +has borne the appearance of barrenness, where in even moderate rain, it +might have shown very differently, though no doubt we passed over much of +both good and bad land; our animals on the whole, have thrived on the food +they have had, which would argue favourably for the herbage. Generally +speaking, I fear the timber is bad--the rough-gum may be used for knees, +and such purposes, and we may have seen wood for the wheelwright and +cabinet-maker, specimens of which I have procured, but none for general or +household purposes. + +The creeks we have traced are different in character from those in the +settled districts, inasmuch as that, like the river, they have a belt of +barren land near then and but little grass--they have all of them been +numerously frequented by the natives, as appeared from the number of +muscle-shells on their banks, but now having scarcely any water in them, +the fish having either been taken, or are dead, and the tribes gone +elsewhere for food, while the badness of the river water has introduced a +cutaneous disease among the natives of that district, which is fast +carrying them off. Our intercourse with these people was incessant from +the time we first met them, and on all occasions they behaved remarkably +well, nor could we have seen less than than two hundred and fifty of them. + +Our return is to be attributable to the want of water alone, and it is +impossible for me to describe the effects of the drought on animal as well +as vegetable nature. The natives are wandering in the desert, and it is +melancholy to reflect on the necessity which obliges them to drink the +stinking and loathsome water they do--birds sit gasping in the trees and +are quite thin--the wild dog prowls about in the day-time unable to avoid +us, and is as lean as he can be in a living state, while minor vegetation +is dead, and the very trees are drooping. I have noticed all these things +in my Journal I shall have the honour of submitting through you, for the +Governor's perusal and information, on my return. Finally, I fear our +expedition will not pave the way to any ultimate benefit; although it has +been the means by which two very doubtful questions,--the course of the +Macquarie, and the nature of the interior, have been solved; for it is +beyond doubt, that the interior for 250 miles beyond its former known +limits to the W.N.W., so far from being a shoal sea, has been ascertained +not only to have considerable elevations upon it, but is in itself a table +land to all intents and purposes, and has scarcely water on its surface to +support its inhabitants. + +I beg you will inform His Excellency the Governor, that I have on all +occasions received the most ready and valuable assistance from Mr, Hume. +His intimate acquaintance with the manners and customs of the natives, +enabled him to enter into intercourse with them, and chiefly contributed +to the peaceable manner in which we have journeyed, while his previous +experience put it in his power to be of real use to me. I cannot but say +he has done an essential service to future travellers, and to the colony +at large, by his conduct on all occasions since he has been with me; nor +should I be doing him justice, if I did not avail myself of the first +opportunity of laying my sentiments before the Governor, through you. I am +happy to add that every individual of the party deserves my warmest +approbation, and that they have, one and all, borne their distresses, +trifling certainly, but still unusual, with cheerfulness, and that they +have at all times been attentive to their duty, and obedient to their +orders. The whole are in good health, and are eager again to start. + +I have the honor to be, +Sir +Your most obedient and most humble servant, +CHARLES STURT, +Capt. 39th Regt. + +THE HONORABLE THE COLONIAL SECRETARY. + + +* * * * * + + +MOUNT HARRIS, 5TH MARCH, 1829. + +SIR,--It having appeared to me, that after discovering such a river as the +one I have described in my letter of yesterday, His Excellency the +Governor would approve of my endeavouring to regain it. There being a +probability that it ultimately joins the Southern Waters, I thought of +turning my steps to the southward and westward; and with a view to learn +the nature of the country, I despatched Mr. Hume in that direction on +Saturday last. He returned in three days, after having gone above forty +miles from the river, and states, that he crossed two creeks, the one +about twenty-five miles, the other about thirty-two distance, evidently +the heads of the creeks we passed westward of the marshes of the +Macquarie. He adds, that, to the second creek the land was excellent, but +that on crossing it, he got onto red soil, on which he travelled some +miles further, until he saw a range of high land, bearing from him S.W.. +by W., when, knowing from the nature of the country around him, and from +the experience of our late journey, that he could not hope to find a +regular supply of water in advance, and that in the present dry state of +the low lands, a movement such as I had contemplated would be +impracticable, he returned home. I do myself the honour, therefore, to +report to you, for His Excellency's information, that I shall proceed on +Saturday next in a N.E. direction towards the Castlereagh, intending to +trace that river down, and afterwards to penetrate as far to the northward +and westward as possible; it being my wish to get into the country north +of the more distant river, where I have expectations that there is an +extensive and valuable track of country, but that in failure of the above, +I shall examine the low country behind our N.W. boundaries, if I can find +a sufficiency of water to enable me to do so. + +I am to inform you that in this neighbourhood the Macquarie has ceased to +flow, and that it is now a chain of shallow ponds. The water is fast +diminishing in it, and unless rain descends in a few weeks it will be +perfectly dry. + +I am also to report, that the natives attempted the camp with the supplies +before my arrival at Mount Harris, but that on the soldier with the party +firing a shot, after they had thrown a stone and other of the weapons, +they fled. It was in consequence of their fires, which I saw at a distance +of forty miles, and which they never make on so extensive a scale, except +as signals when they want to collect, and are inclined to be mischievous, +that I made forced marches up, and I am led to believe my arrival was very +opportune. The natives have visited us since, and I do not think they will +now attempt to molest either party when we separate. + +I have the honour to be, +Sir, +Your most obedient and most humble servant, +CHARLES STURT, +Capt. 39th Regt. + +THE HON. THE COLONIAL SECRETARY. + + + +END OF VOLUME I + + + +* * * * * * * + + + + + +VOLUME II. + + + + +CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME + +EXPEDITION DOWN THE MORUMBIDGEE AND MURRAY RIVERS, IN 1829, 1830 AND 1831. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +Introductory--Remarks on the results of the former Expedition--The +fitting out of another determined on--Its objects--Provisions, +accoutrements, and retinue--Paper furnished by Mr. Kent--Causes that have +prevented the earlier appearance of the present work. + + +CHAPTER II. + +Commencement of the expedition in November, 1829.--Joined by Mr. George +M'Leay--Appearance of the party--Breadalbane Plains--Hospitality of Mr. +O'Brien--Yass Plains--Hill of Pouni--Path of a hurricane--Character of the +country between Underaliga and the Morumbidgee--Appearance of that river-- +Junction of the Dumot with it--Crossing and recrossing--Geological +character and general aspect of the country--Plain of Pondebadgery--Few +natives seen. + + +CHAPTER III. + +Character of the Morumbidgee where it issues from the hilly country-- +Appearance of approach to swamps--Hamilton Plains--Intercourse with the +natives--Their appearance, customs, &c.--Change in the character of the +river--Mirage-- Dreariness of the country--Ride towards the Lachlan river +--Two boats built and launched on the Morumbidgee; and the drays, with +part of the men sent back to Goulburn Plains. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Embarkation of the party in the boats, and voyage down the Morumbidgee-- +The skiff swamped by striking on a sunken tree--Recovery of boat and its +loading--Region of reeds--Dangers of the navigation--Contraction of the +channel--Reach the junction of a large river--Intercourse with the natives +on its banks--Character of the country below the junction of the rivers-- +Descent of a dangerous rapid--Warlike demonstrations of a tribe of +natives--Unexpected deliverance from a conflict with them--Junction of +another river--Give the name of the "Murray" to the principal stream. + + +CHAPTER V. + +Character of the country--Damage of provisions--Adroitness of the natives +in catching fish--The skiff broken up--Stream from the North-East supposed +to be the Darling--Change of country in descending the river--Intercourse +with the natives--Prevalence of loathsome diseases among them--Apparent +populousness of the country--Junction of several small streams--The Rufus, +the Lindesay, &c.--Rainy and tempestuous weather--Curious appearance of +the banks--Troublesomeness of the natives--Inhospitable and desolate +aspect of the country--Condition of the men--Change in the geological +character of the country--The river passes through a valley among hills. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Improvement in the aspect of the country--Increase of the river--Strong +westerly gales--Chronometer broken--A healthier tribe of natives-- +Termination of the Murray in a large lake--Its extent and environs-- +Passage across it--Hostile appearance of the natives-- Beautiful scenery +--Channel from the lake to the sea at Encounter Bay--Reach the beach-- +Large flocks of water fowl--Curious refraction--State of provisions-- +Embarrassing situation--Inspection of the channel to the ocean--Weak +condition of the men--Difficulties of the return. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +Valley of the Murray--Its character and capabilities--Laborious progress +up the river--Accident to the boat--Perilous collision with the natives +--Turbid current of the Rufus--Passage of the Rapids--Assisted by the +natives--Dangerous intercourse with them--Re-enter the Morumbidgee-- +Verdant condition of its banks--Nocturnal encounter with the natives-- +Interesting manifestation of feeling in one family--Reach the spot where +the party had embarked on the river--Men begin to fail entirely-- +Determine to send two men forward for relief--Their return--Excursion on +horseback--Reach Pondebadgery Plain, and meet the supplies from the +colony--Cannibalism of the natives--Return to Sydney--Concluding remarks. + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +Environs of the lake Alexandrina--Appointment of Capt. Barker to make a +further survey of the coast near Encounter Bay--Narrative of his +proceedings--Mount Lofty, Mount Barker, and beautiful country adjacent-- +Australian salmon--Survey of the coast--Outlet of lake to the sea-- +Circumstances that led to the slaughter of Capt. Barker by the natives-- +His character--Features of this part of the country and capabilities of +its coasts--Its adaptation for colonization--Suggestions for the +furtherance of future Expeditions. + + +APPENDIX. + +No. I. Geological Specimens found to the south-west of Port Jackson +No. II. Official Report to the Colonial Government + + +ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE SECOND VOLUME +(Not included in this etext) + +View on the Morumbidgee River +Junction of the supposed Darling with the Murray +Palaeornis Melanura, or Black Tailed Paroquet +Pomatorhinus Temporalis +Pomatorhinus Superciliosus +Chart of Cape Jervis, and Encounter Bay +Mass of Fossils of the Tertiary Formation +Bulla +Conus +Genus Unknown +Chrystallized Selenite +Selenite +Single Fossils of the Tertiary Formation + + + + +EXPEDITION DOWN THE MORUMBIDGEE AND MURRAY RIVERS, IN 1829, 1830 AND 1831. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + +Introductory + + +Remarks on the results of the former Expedition--The fitting out of +another determined on--Its objects--Provisions, accoutrements, and +retinue--Paper furnished by Mr. Kent--Causes that have prevented the +earlier appearance of the present work. + +OBJECTS OF THE EXPEDITION. + +The expedition of which we have just detailed the proceedings was so far +satisfactory in its results, that it not only set at rest the hypothesis +of the existence of an internal shoal sea in southern Australia, and +ascertained the actual termination of the rivers it had been directed to +trace, but also added very largely to our knowledge of the country +considerably to the westward of former discoveries. And although no land +had been traversed of a fertile description of sufficient extent to invite +the settler, the fact of a large river such as the Darling lying at the +back of our almost intertropical settlements, gave a fresh importance to +the distant interior. It was evident that this river was the chief drain +for carrying off the waters falling westerly from the eastern coast, and +as its course indicated a decline of country diametrically opposite to +that which had been calculated upon, it became an object of great +importance to ascertain its further direction. Had not the saline quality +of its waters been accounted for, by the known existence of brine springs +in its bed, it would have been natural to have supposed that it +communicated with some mediterranean sea; but, under existing +circumstances, it remained to be proved whether this river held on a due +south course, or whether it ultimately turned westerly, and ran into the +heart of the interior. In order fully to determine this point, it would be +necessary to regain it banks, so far below the parallel to which it had +been traced as to leave no doubt of its identity; but it was difficult to +fix upon a plan for approaching that central stream without suffering from +the want of water, since it could hardly be expected that the Lachlan +would afford such means, as it was reasonable to presume that its +termination was very similar to that of the Macquarie. The attention of +the government was, consequently, fixed upon the Morumbidgee, a river +stated to be of considerable size and of impetuous current. Receiving its +supplies from the lofty ranges behind Mount Dromedary, it promised to hold +a longer course than those rivers which, depending on periodical rains +alone for existence, had been found so soon to exhaust themselves. + +PREPARATIONS. + +The fitting out of another expedition was accordingly determined upon; and +about the end of September 1829, I received the Governor's instructions to +make the necessary preparations for a second descent into the interior, +for the purpose of tracing the Morumbidgee, or such rivers as it might +prove to be connected with, as far as practicable. In the event of failure +in this object, it was hoped that an attempt to regain the banks of the +Darling on a N.W. course from the point at which the expedition might be +thwarted in its primary views, would not be unattended with success. Under +any circumstances, however, by pursuing these measures, an important part +of the colony would necessarily be traversed, of which the features were +as yet altogether unknown. + +It became my interest and my object to make the expedition as complete as +possible, and, as far as in me lay, to provide for every contingency: and +as it appeared to me that, in all likelihood, we should in one stage or +other of our journey have to trust entirely to water conveyance, I +determined on taking a whale-boat, whose dimensions and strength should in +some measure be proportioned to the service required. I likewise +constructed a small still for the distillation of water, in the event of +our finding the water of the Darling salt, when we should reach its banks. +The whale-boat, after being fitted, was taken to pieces for more +convenient carriage, as has been more particularly detailed in the last +chapter of the preceding volume. + +So little danger had been apprehended from the natives in the former +journey, that three firelocks had been considered sufficient for our +defence. On the present occasion, however, I thought it adviseable to +provide arms for each individual. + +Mr. Hume declined accompanying me, as the harvest was at hand. Mr. George +M'Leay therefore supplied his place, rather as a companion than as an +assistant; and of those who accompanied me down the banks of the +Macquarie, I again selected Harris (my body servant), Hopkinson, and +Fraser. + +MR. KENT'S REPORT. + +The concluding chapter of this volume, relative to the promontory of +St. Vincent, or Cape Jervis, has been furnished me by the kindness of +Mr. Kent, who accompanied the lamented officer to whom the further +exploration of that part of coast unhappily proved fatal. There is a +melancholy coincidence between Captain Barker's death and that of Captain +Cook, which cannot fail to interest the public, as the information that +has been furnished will call for their serious consideration. I shall +leave for their proper place, the remarks I have to offer upon it, since +my motive in these prefatory observations has been, to carry the reader +forward to that point at which he will have to view the proceedings of the +expedition alone, in order the more satisfactorily to arrive at their +results. And, although he must expect a considerable portion of dry +reading in the following pages, I have endeavoured to make the narrative +of events, some of which are remarkably striking, as interesting as +possible. + +REMARKS ON THE PRESENT WORK; DELIVERANCE FROM DANGERS. + +It only remains for me to refer the reader to the concluding chapter of +the preceding volume, for such general information as I have been enabled +to furnish upon the nature of the services on which I was employed, and on +the manner of conducting similar expeditions. Indeed, I trust that this +book (whatever be its defects) will be found to contain much valuable +information of a practical character, and I may venture to affirm, that it +will give a true description of the country, and of the various other +subjects of which it treats. + +Notwithstanding that I have in my dedication alluded to the causes that +prevented the earlier appearance of this work, I feel it due both to +myself and the public here to state, that during these expeditions my +health had suffered so much, that I was unable to bear up against the +effects of exposure, bodily labour, poverty of diet, and the anxiety of +mind to which I was subjected. A residence on Norfolk Island, under +peculiarly harassing circumstances, completed that which the above causes +had commenced; and, after a succession of attacks, I became totally blind, +and am still unable either to read what I pen, or to venture abroad +without an attendant. When it is recollected, that I have been unassisted +in this work in any one particular, I hope some excuse will be found for +its imperfections. A wish to contribute to the public good led me to +undertake those journeys which have cost me so much. The same feeling +actuates me in recording their results; and I have the satisfaction to +know, that my path among a large and savage population was a bloodless +one; and that my intercourse with them was such as to lessen the danger to +future adventurers upon such hazardous enterprises, and to give them hope +where I had so often despaired. Something more powerful, than human +foresight or human prudence, appeared to avert the calamities and dangers +with which I and my companions were so frequently threatened; and had it +not been for the guidance and protection we received from the Providence +of that good and all-wise Being to whose care we committed ourselves, we +should, ere this, have ceased to rank among the number of His earthly +creatures. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + +Commencement of the expedition in November, 1829.--Joined by Mr. George +M'Leay--Appearance of the party--Breadalbane Plains--Hospitality of Mr. +O'Brien--Yass Plains--Hill of Pouni--Path of a hurricane--Character of the +country between Underaliga and the Morumbidgee--Appearance of that river-- +Junction of the Dumot with it--Crossing and recrossing--Geological +character and general aspect of the country--Plain of Pondebadgery--Few +natives seen. + + +The expedition which traversed the marshes of the Macquarie, left Sydney +on the 10th day of Nov. 1828. That destined to follow the waters of the +Morumbidgee, took its departure from the same capital on the 3rd of the +same month in the ensuing year. Rain had fallen in the interval, but not +in such quantities as to lead to the apprehension that it had either +influenced or swollen the western streams. It was rather expected that the +winter falls would facilitate the progress of the expedition, and it was +hoped that, as the field of its operations would in all probability be +considerably to the south of the parallel of Port Jackson, the extreme +heat to which the party and the animals had been exposed on the former +journey, would be less felt on the present occasion. + +As there was no Government establishment to the S.W. at which I could +effect any repairs, or recruit my supplies, as I had done at Wellington +Valley, the expedition, when it left Sydney, was completed in every +branch, and was so fully provided with every necessary implement and +comfort, as to render any further aid, even had such been attainable, in a +great measure unnecessary. The Governor had watched over my preparations +with a degree of anxiety that evidenced the interest he felt in the +expedition, and his arrangements to ensure, as far as practicable, our +being met on our return, in the event of our being in distress, were +equally provident and satisfactory. It was not, however, to the providing +for our wants in the interior alone that His Excellency's views were +directed, but orders were given to hold a vessel in readiness, to be +dispatched at a given time to St. Vincent's Gulf, in case we should +ultimately succeed in making the south coast in its neighbourhood. + +LEAVE SYDNEY. + +The morning on which I left Sydney a second time, under such doubtful +circumstances, was perfectly serene and clear. I found myself at 5 a.m. of +that delightful morning leading my horses through the gates of those +barracks whose precincts I might never again enter, and whose inmates I +might never again behold assembled in military array. Yet, although the +chance of misfortune flashed across my mind, I was never lighter at heart, +or more joyous in spirit. It appeared to me that the stillness and harmony +of nature influenced my feelings on the occasion, and my mind forgot the +storms of life, as nature at that moment seemed to have forgotten the +tempests that sometimes agitate her. + +APPEARANCE OF THE PARTY. + +I proceeded direct to the house of my friend Mr. J. Deas Thomson, who had +agreed to accompany me to Brownlow Hill, a property belonging to +Mr. M'Leay, the Colonial Secretary, where his son, Mr. George M'Leay, was +to join the expedition. As soon as we had taken a hasty breakfast, I went +to the carters' barracks to superintend the first loading of the animals. +Mr. Murray, the superintendent, had arranged every article so well, and +had loaded the drays so compactly that I had no trouble, and little time +was lost in saddling the pack animals. At a quarter before 7 the party +filed through the turnpike-gate, and thus commenced its journey with the +greatest regularity. I have the scene, even at this distance of time, +vividly impressed upon my mind, and I have no doubt the kind friend who +was near me on the occasion, bears it as strongly on his recollection. +My servant Harris, who had shared my wanderings and had continued in my +service for eighteen years, led the advance, with his companion Hopkinson. +Nearly abreast of them the eccentric Fraser stalked along wholly lost in +thought. The two former had laid aside their military habits, and had +substituted the broad brimmed hat and the bushman's dress in their place, +but it was impossible to guess how Fraser intended to protect himself from +the heat or the damp, so little were his habiliments suited for the +occasion. He had his gun over his shoulder, and his double shot belt as +full as it could be of shot, although there was not a chance of his +expending a grain during the day. Some dogs Mr. Maxwell had kindly sent me +followed close at his heels, as if they knew his interest in them, and +they really seemed as if they were aware that they were about to exchange +their late confinement for the freedom of the woods. The whole of these +formed a kind of advanced guard. At some distance in the rear the drays +moved slowly along, on one of which rode the black boy mentioned in my +former volume, and behind them followed the pack animals. Robert Harris, +whom I had appointed to superintend the animals generally, kept his place +near the horses, and the heavy Clayton, my carpenter, brought up the rear. +I shall not forget the interest Thomson appeared to take in a scene that +must certainly have been new to him. Our progress was not checked by the +occurrence of a single accident, nor did I think it necessary to remain +with the men after we had gained that turn which, at about four miles from +Sydney, branches off to the left, and leads direct to Liverpool. From this +Point my companion and I pushed forward, in order to terminate a fifty +miles' ride a little sooner than we should have done at the leisurely pace +we had kept during the early part of our journey. We remained in Liverpool +for a short time, to prepare the commissariat office for the reception, +and to ensure the accommodation, of the party; and reached Brownlow Hill +a little after sunset. + +LIVERPOOL-GOULBURN PLAINS. + +As I have already described the country on this line of road as far us +Goulburn Plains, it will not be considered necessary that I should again +notice its features with minuteness. + +WALLANDILLY-TYRANNA. + +The party arrived at Glendarewel, the farm attached to Brownlow Hill, on +the 5th. I resumed my journey alone on the 8th. M'Leay had still some few +arrangements to make, so that I dispensed with his immediate attendance. +He overtook me, however, sooner than I expected, on the banks of the +Wallandilly. I had encamped under the bluff end of Cookbundoon, and, +having been disappointed in getting bearings when crossing the Razor Back, +I hoped that I should be enabled to connect a triangle from the summit +of Cookbundoon, or to secure bearings of some prominent hill to the south. +I found the brush, however, so thick on the top of the mountain, that I +could obtain no satisfactory view, and and M'Leay, who accompanied me, +agreed with me in considering that we were but ill repaid for the hot +scramble we had had. Crossing the western extremity of Goulburn Plains on +the 15th, we encamped on a chain of ponds behind Doctor Gibson's residence +at Tyranna, and as I had some arrangements to make with that gentleman, +I determined to give both the men and animals a day's rest. I availed +myself of Doctor Gibson's magazines to replace such of my provisions as I +had expended, as I found that I could do so without putting him to any +inconvenience; and I added two of his men to the party, intending to send +them back, in case of necessity, or, when we should have arrived at that +point from which it might appear expedient to forward an account of my +progress and ultimate views, for the governor's information. + +On the 17th we struck the tents, and, crossing the chain of ponds near +which they had been pitched, entered a forest track, that gave place to +barren stony ridges of quartz formation. These continued for six or seven +miles, in the direction of Breadalbane Plains, upon which we were obliged +to stop, as we should have had some difficulty in procuring either water +or food, within any moderate distance beyond them. The water, indeed, that +we were obliged to content ourselves with was by no means good. +Breadalbane Plains are of inconsiderable extent, and are surrounded by +ridges, the appearance of which is not very promising. Large white masses +of quartz rock lie scattered over them, amongst trees of stunted growth. +Mr. Redall's farm was visible at the further extremity of the plains from +that by which we had entered them. It would appear that these plains are +connected with Goulburn Plains by a narrow valley, that was too wet for +the drays to have traversed. + +BREADALBANE PLAINS. + +Doctor Gibson had kindly accompanied us to Breadalbane Plains. On the +morning of the 18th he returned to Tyranna, and we pursued our journey, +keeping mostly on a W.S.W. course. From the barren hills over which we +passed, on leaving the plains, we descended upon an undulating country, +and found a change of rock, as well as of vegetation, upon it. Granite and +porphyry constituted its base. An open forest, on which the eucalyptus +mannifera alone prevailed, lay on either side of us, and although the soil +was coarse, and partook in a great measure of the decomposition of the +rock it covered, there was no deficiency of grass. On the contrary, this +part of the interior is decidedly well adapted for pasturing cattle. + +THE LORN. + +About 1 p.m. we passed Mr. Hume's station, with whom I remained for a +short time. He had fixed his establishment on the banks of the Lorn, a +small river, issuing from the broken country near Lake George, and now +ascertained to be one of the largest branches of the Lachlan River. We had +descended a barren pass of stringy bark scrub, on sandstone rock, a little +before we reached Mr. Hume's station, but around it the same, open forest +tract again prevailed. We crossed the Lorn, at 2 o'clock, leaving +Mr. Broughton's farm upon our left, and passed through a broken country, +which was very far from being deficient in pasture. We encamped on the +side of a water-course, about 4 o'clock, having travelled about fifteen +miles. + +On the 19th, we observed no change in the soil or aspect of the country, +for the first five miles. The eucalyptus mannifera was the most prevalent +of the forest trees, and certainly its presence indicated a more +flourishing state in the minor vegetation. At about five miles, however, +from where we had slept, sandstone reappeared, and with it the barren +scrub that usually grows upon a sandy and inhospitable soil. One of the +drays was upset in its progress down a broken pass, where the road had +been altogether neglected, and it was difficult to avoid accidents. +Fortunately we suffered no further than in the delay that the necessity of +unloading the dray, and reloading it, occasioned. Mr. O'Brien, an +enterprising settler, who had pushed his flocks to the banks of the +Morumbidgee, and who was proceeding to visit his several stations, +overtook us in the midst of our troubles. We had already passed each other +frequently on the road, but he now preceded me to his establishment at +Yass; at which I proposed remaining for a day. We stopped about three +miles short of the plains for the night, at the gorge of the pass through +which we had latterly been advancing, and had gradually descended to a +more open country. From the place at which we were temporarily delayed, +and which is not inappropriately called the Devil's Pass, the road winds +about between ranges, differing in every respect from any we had as yet +noticed. The sides of the hills were steeper, and their summits sharper, +than any we had crossed. They were thickly covered with eucalypti and +brush, and, though based upon sandstone, were themselves of a schistose +formation. + +YASS PLAINS. + +Yharr or Yass Plains were discovered by Mr. Hovel, and Mr. Hume, the +companion of my journey down the Macquarie, in 1828. They take their name +from the little river that flows along their north and north-west +boundaries. They are surrounded on every side by forests, and excepting to +the W.N.W., as a central point, by hill. Undulating, but naked themselves, +they have the appearance of open downs, and are most admirably adapted for +sheep-walks, not only in point of vegetation, but also, because their +inequalities prevent their becoming swampy during the rainy season. They +are from nine to twelve miles in length, and from five to seven in breadth, +and although large masses of sandstone are scattered over them, a blue +secondary limestone composes the general bed of the river, that was darker +in colour and more compact than I had remarked the same kind of rock, +either at Wellington Valley, or in the Shoal Haven Gully. I have no doubt +that Yass Plains will ere long be wholly taken up as sheep-walks, and that +their value to the grazier will in a great measure counterbalance its +distance from the coast, or, more properly speaking, from the capital. +Sheep I should imagine would thrive uncommonly well upon these plains, +and would suffer less from distempers incidental to locality and to +climate, than in many parts of the colony over which they are now +wandering in thousands. And if the plains themselves do not afford +extensive arable tracts, there is, at least, sufficient good land near the +river to supply the wants of a numerous body of settlers. + +HOSPITALITY OF MR. O'BRIEN. + +We left Mr. O'Brien's station on the morning of the 21st, and, agreeably +to his advice, determined on gaining the Morumbidgee, by a circuit to the +N.W., rather than endanger the safety of the drays by entering the +mountain passes to the westward. Mr. O'Brien, however, would not permit us +to depart from his dwelling without taking away with us some further +proofs of his hospitality. The party had pushed forward before I, or +Mr. M'Leay, had mounted our horses; but on overtaking it, we found that +eight fine wethers had been added to our stock of animals. + +HILL OF POUNI; ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. + +To the W.N.W. of Yass Plains there is a remarkable hill, called Pouni, +remarkable not so much on account of its height, as of its commanding +position. It had, I believe, already been ascended by one of the +Surveyor-general's assistants. The impracticability of the country to the +south of it, obliged us to pass under its opposite base, from which an +open forest country extended to the northward. We had already recrossed +the Yass River, and passed Mr. Barber's station, to that of Mr. Hume's +father, at which we stopped for a short time. Both farms are well +situated, the latter I should say, romantically so, it being immediately +under Pouni, the hill we have noticed. The country around both was open, +and both pasture and water were abundant. + +Mr. O'Brien had been kind enough to send one of the natives who frequented +his station to escort us to his more advanced station upon the +Morumbidgee. Had it not been for the assistance we received from this man, +I should have had but little leisure for other duties: as it was however, +there was no fear of the party going astray. This gave M'Leay and myself +an opportunity of ascending Pouni, for the purpose of taking bearings; and +how ever warm the exertion of the ascent made us, the view from the summit +of the hill sufficiently repaid us, and the cool breeze that struck it, +although imperceptible in the forest below, soon dried the perspiration +from our brows. The scenery around us was certainly varied, yet many +parts of it put me forcibly in mind of the dark and gloomy tracks over +which my eye had wandered from similar elevations on the former journey. +This was especially the case in looking to the north, towards which point +the hills forming the right of the valley by which we had entered the +plains, decreased so rapidly in height that they were lost in the general +equality of the more remote country, almost ere they had reached abreast +of my position. From E.S.E. to W.S.W. the face of the country was hilly, +broken and irregular; forming deep ravines and precipitous glens, amid +which I was well aware the Morumbidgee was still struggling for freedom; +while mountains succeeded mountains in the back-ground, and were +themselves overtopped by lofty and very distant peaks. To the eastward, +however, the hills wore a more regular form, and were lightly covered with +wood. The plains occupied the space between them and Pouni; and a smaller +plain bore N.N.E. which, being embosomed in the forest, had hitherto +escaped our notice. + +We overtook the party just as it cleared the open ground through which it +had previously been moving. A barren scrub succeeded it for about eight +miles. The soil in this scrub was light and sandy. + +We stopped for the night at the head of a valley that seemed to have been +well trodden by cattle. The feed, therefore, was not abundant, nor was the +water good. We had, however, made a very fair journey, and I was unwilling +to press the animals. But in consequence, I fancy, of the scarcity of +food, they managed to creep away during the night, with the exception of +three or four of the bullocks, nor should we have collected them again so +soon as we did, or without infinite trouble, had it not been for our guide +and my black boy. We unavoidably lost a day, but left our position on the +23rd, for Underaliga, a station occupied by Doctor Harris, the gentleman I +have already had occasion to mention. We reached the banks of the creek +near the stock hut, about 4 p.m., having journeyed during the greater part +of the day through a poor country, partly of scrub and partly of open +forest-land, in neither of which was the soil or vegetation fresh or +abundant. At about three miles from Underaliga, the country entirely +changed its character, and its flatness was succeeded by a broken and +undulating surface. The soil upon the hills was coarse and sandy, from the +decomposition of the granite rock that constituted their base. +Nevertheless, the grass was abundant on the hills, though the roots or +tufts were far apart; and the hills were lightly studded with trees. + +COURSE OF A HURRICANE. + +In the course of the day we crossed the line of a hurricane that had just +swept with resistless force over the country, preserving a due north +course, and which we had heard from a distance, fortunately too great to +admit of its injuring us. It had opened a fearful gap in the forest +through which it had passed, of about a quarter of a mile in breadth. +Within that space, no tree had been able to withstand its fury, for it had +wrenched every bough from such as it had failed to prostrate, and they +stood naked in the midst of the surrounding wreck. I am inclined to think +that the rudeness of nature itself in these wild and uninhabited regions, +gives birth to these terrific phenomena. They have never occurred, so far +as I know, in the located districts. Our guide deserted us in the early +part of the day without assigning any reason for doing so. He went off +without being noticed, and thus lost the reward that would have been +bestowed on him had he mentioned his wish to return to Yass. I the more +regretted his having sneaked off, because he had had the kindness to put +us on a track we could not well lose. + +COUNTRY FROM UNDERALIGA TO MORUMBIDGEE. + +Underaliga, is said to be thirty miles from the Morumbidgee. The country +between the two has a sameness of character throughout. It is broken and +irregular, yet no one hill rises conspicuously over the rest. We found +ourselves at one time on their summits beside huge masses of granite, at +others crossing valleys of rich soil and green appearance. A country under +cultivation is so widely different from one the sod of which has never +been broken by the plough, that it is difficult and hazardous to form a +decided opinion on the latter. If you ask a stockman what kind of a +country lies, either to his right, or to his left, he is sure to condemn +it, unless it will afford the most abundant pasture. Accustomed to roam +about from one place to another, these men despise any but the richest +tracts, and include the rest of the neighbourhood in one sweeping clause +of condemnation. Thus I was led to expect, that we should pass over a +country of the very worst description, between Underaliga and the +Morumbidgee. Had it been similar to that midway between Yass and +Underaliga, we should, in truth, have found it so; but it struck me, that +there were many rich tracts of ground among the valleys of the former, and +that the very hills had a fair covering of grass upon them. What though +the soil was coarse, if the vegetation was good and sufficient? Perhaps +the greatest drawback to this part of the interior is the want of water; +yet we crossed several creeks, and remarked some deep water holes, that +can never be exhausted, even in the driest season. Wherever the situation +favoured our obtaining a view of the country on either side of us, while +among these hills, we found that to the eastward lofty and mountainous; +whilst that to the westward, had the appearance of fast sinking into +a level. + +JUGGIONG. + +A short time before we reached the Morumbidgee, we forded a creek, which +we crossed a second time where it falls into the river. After crossing it +the first time we opened a flat, on which the marks of sheep were +abundant. In the distance there was a small hill, and on its top a bark +hut. We were not until then aware of our being so near the river, but as +Mr. O'Brien had informed me that he had a station for sheep, at a place +called Juggiong, by the natives, on the immediate banks of the river, I +did not doubt that we had, at length, arrived at it. And so it proved. I +went to the hut, to ascertain where I could conveniently stop for the +night, but the residents were absent. I could not but admire the position +they had taken up. The hill upon which their hut was erected was not more +than fifty feet high, but it immediately overlooked the river, and +commanded not only the flat we had traversed in approaching it, but also a +second flat on the opposite side. The Morumbidgee came down to the foot of +this little hill from the south, and, of course, running to the north, +which latter direction it suddenly takes up from a previous S.W. one, on +meeting some hills that check its direct course. From the hill on which +the hut stands, it runs away westward, almost in a direct line, for three +miles, so that the position commands a view of both the reaches, which are +overhung by the casuarina and flooded-gum. Rich alluvial flats lie to the +right of the stream, backed by moderate hills, that were lightly studded +with trees, and clothed with verdure to their summits. Some moderate +elevations also backed a flat, on the left bank of the river, but the +colour of the soil upon the latter, as well as its depressed situation, +showed clearly that it was subject to flood, and had received the worst of +the depositions from the mountains. The hills behind it were also bare, +and of a light red colour, betraying, as I imagined, a distinct formation +from, and poorer character than, the hills behind us. At about three miles +the river again suddenly changes its direction from west to south, for +about a mile, when it inclines to the S.E. until it nearly encircles the +opposite hills, when it assumes its proper direction, and flows away to +the S.W. + +CROSS THE UNDERALIGA; REACH THE MORUMBIDGEE. + +We crossed the Underaliga creek a little below the stock hut, and encamped +about a mile beyond it, in the centre of a long plain. We were surrounded +on every side by hills, from which there was no visible outlet, as they +appeared to follow the bend of the river, with an even and unbroken +outline. The scenery around us was wild, romantic, and beautiful; as +beautiful as a rich and glowing sunset in the most delightful climate +under the heavens could make it. I had been more anxious to gain the banks +of the Morumbidgee on this occasion, than I had been on a former one to +gain those of the Macquarie, for although I could not hope to see the +Morumbidgee all that it had been described to me, yet I felt that on its +first appearance I should in some measure ground my anticipations of +ultimate success. When I arrived on the banks of the Macquarie, it had +almost ceased to flow, and its current was so gentle as to be scarcely +perceptible. Instead, however, of a river in such a state of exhaustion, +I now looked down upon a stream, whose current it would have been +difficult to breast, and whose waters, foaming among rocks, or circling in +eddies, gave early promise of a reckless course. It must have been +somewhat below its ordinary level, and averaged a breadth of about 80 +feet. Its waters were hard and transparent, and its bed was composed of +mountain debris, and large fragments of rock. As soon as the morning +dawned, the tents were struck and we pursued our journey. We followed the +line of the river, until we found ourselves in a deep bight to the S.E. +The hills that had been gradually closing in upon the river, now +approached it so nearly, that there was no room for the passage of the +drays. We were consequently obliged to turn back, and, moving along the +base of the ranges, by which we were thus apparently enclosed, we at +length found a steep pass, the extreme narrowness of which had hidden it +from our observation. By this pass we were now enabled to effect our +escape. On gaining the summit of the hills, we travelled south for three +or four miles, through open forests, and on level ground. But we +ultimately descended into a valley in which we halted for the night. On a +closer examination of the neighbourhood, it appeared that our position was +at the immediate junction of two valleys, where, uniting the waters of +their respective creeks, the main branch declines rapidly towards the +river. One of these valleys extended to to the S.W., the other to the +W.N.W. It was evident to us that our route lay up the former; and I made +no doubt we should easily reach Whaby's station on the morrow. + +ADJACENT COUNTRY. + +We were now far beyond the acknowledged limits of the located parts of the +colony, and Mr. Whaby's station was the last at which we could expect even +the casual supply of milk or other trifling relief. Yet, although the +prospect of so soon leaving even the outskirts of civilization, and being +wholly thrown on our own resources, was so near, it never for a moment +weighed upon the minds of the men. The novelty of the scenery, and the +beauty of the river on which they were journeying, excited in them the +liveliest anticipations of success. The facility with which we had +hitherto pushed forward blinded them to future difficulties, nor could +there be a more cheerful spectacle than that which the camp daily +afforded. The animals browzing in the distance, and the men talking over +their pipes of the probable adventures they might encounter. The loads +had by this time settled properly, and our provisions proved of the very +best quality, so that no possible improvement could have been made for the +better. + +WHABY'S STATION. + +On the morrow we pushed up the southernmost of the valleys, at the +junction of which we had encamped, having moderate hills on either side of +us. At the head of the valley we crossed a small dividing range into +another valley, and halted for the night, on the banks of a creek from the +westward, as we found it impossible to reach Whaby's station, as we had +intended, before sunset. Nothing could exceed the luxuriance of the +vegetation in this valley, but the water of the creek was so impregnated +with iron, as to be almost useless. Being anxious to obtain a view of the +surrounding country, I ascended a hill behind the camp, just as the sun +was sinking, a time the most favourable for the object I had in view. The +country, broken into hill and dale, seemed richer than any tract I had as +yet surveyed; and the beauty of the near landscape was greatly +heightened by the mountainous scenery to the S. and S.E. Both the +laxmania, and zanthorea were growing around me; but neither appeared to be +in congenial soil. The face of the hill was very stony, and I found, on +examination, that a great change had taken place in the rock-formation, +the granite ranges having given place to chlorite schist. + +We reached Whaby's about 9 a.m. of the morning of the 27th, and received +every attention and civility from him. The valley in which we had slept +opened upon an extensive plain, to the eastward of which the Morumbidgee +formed the extreme boundary; and it was in a bight, and on ground rather +elevated above the plain, that he had fixed his residence. He informed +me that we should have to cross the river, as its banks were too +precipitous, and the ranges too abrupt, to admit of our keeping the right +side; and recommended me to examine and fix upon a spot at which to cross, +before I again moved forward, expressing his readiness to accompany me as +a guide. We accordingly rode down the river, to a place at which some +stockman had effected a passage,--after a week's labour in hewing out a +canoe. I by no means intended that a similar delay should occur in our +case, but I saw no objection to our crossing at the same place; since its +depth, and consequent tranquillity, rendered it eligible enough for that +purpose. + +THE RIVER DUMOT. + +The Dumot river, another mountain stream, joins the Morumbidgee opposite +to Mr. Whaby's residence. It is little inferior to the latter either in +size or in the rapidity of its current, and, if I may rely on the +information I received, waters a finer country, the principal +rock-formation upon it being of limestone and whinstone. It rises amidst +the snowy ranges to the S.E., and its banks are better peopled than those +of the stream into which it discharges itself. Of course, such a tributary +enlarges the Morumbidgee considerably: indeed, the fact is sufficiently +evident from the appearance of the latter below the junction. + +During our ride with Whaby down its banks, we saw nothing but the richest +flats, almost entirely clear of timber and containing from 400 to 700 +acres, backed by ranges that were but partially wooded, and were clothed +with verdure to their very summits. The herds that were scattered over the +first were almost lost in the height of the vegetation, and the ranges +served as natural barriers to prevent them from straying away. + +CROSS AND RE-CROSS THE MORUMBIDGEE. + +On the following morning, we started for the place at which it had been +arranged that we should cross the Morumbidgee, but, though no more than +five miles in a direct line from Whaby's house, in consequence of the +irregularity of the ground, the drays did not reach it before noon. The +weight and quantity of our stores being taken into consideration, the task +we had before us was not a light one. Such, however, was the industry of +the men, that before it became dark the whole of them, including the drays +and sheep, were safely deposited on the opposite bank. We were enabled to +be thus expeditious, by means of a punt that we made with the tarpaulins +on an oblong frame. As soon as it was finished, a rope was conveyed across +the river, and secured to a tree, and a running cord being then fastened +to the punt, a temporary ferry was established, and the removal of our +stores rendered comparatively easy. M'Leay undertook to drive the horses +and cattle over a ford below us, but he did not calculate on the stubborn +disposition of the latter, and, consequently, experienced some difficulty, +and was well nigh swept away by the current. So great was his difficulty, +that he was obliged to land, to his great discomfiture, amidst a grove of +lofty nettles. Mulholland, who accompanied him, and who happened to be +naked, was severly stung by them. The labour of the day was, however, +satisfactorily concluded, and we lay down to rest with feelings of entire +satisfaction. + +A great part of the following day was consumed in reloading, nor did we +pursue our journey until after two o'clock. We then passed over tracks on +the left of the river of the same rich description that existed on its +right; they were much intersected by creeks, but were clear of timber, +and entirely out of the reach of floods. At about seven miles from where +we started, we found ourselves checked by precipitous rocks jutting into +the stream, and were obliged once more to make preparations for crossing +it. Instead of a deep and quiet reach, however, the Morumbidgee here +expanded into a fretful rapid; but it was sufficiently shallow to admit of +our taking the drays over, without the trouble of unloading them. There +was still, however, some labour required in cutting down the banks, and +the men were fully occupied until after sunset; and so well did they work, +that an hour's exertion in the morning enabled us to make the passage with +safety. On ascending the right bank, we found that we had to force +through a dense body of reeds, covering some flooded land, at the base of +a range terminating upon the river; and we were obliged, in order to +extricate ourselves from our embarrassments, to pass to the N.W. of the +point, and to cross a low part of the range. This done, we met with no +further interruptions during the day, but travelled along rich and clear +flats to a deep bight below an angle of the river called Nangaar by the +natives; where we pitched our camp, and our animals revelled amid the most +luxuriant pasture. Only in one place did the sandy superficies upon the +plain indicate that it was there subject to flood. + +The Morumbidgee from Juggiong to our present encampment had held a general +S.S.W. course, but from the summit of a hill behind the tents it now +appeared to be gradually sweeping round to the westward; and I could trace +the line of trees upon its banks, through a rich and extensive valley in +that direction, as far as my sight could reach. The country to the S.E. +maintained its lofty character, but to the westward the hills and ranges +were evidently decreasing in height, and the distant interior seemed fast +sinking to a level. The general direction of the ranges had been from N. +to S., and as we had been travelling parallel to them, their valleys were +shut from our view. Now, however, several rich and extensive ones became +visible, opening from the southward into the valley of the Morumbidgee, +and, as a further evidence of a change of country from a confused to a +more open one, a plain of considerable size stretched from immediately +beneath the hill on which I was to the N.W. + +GEOLOGY OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD. + +The Morumbidgee itself, from the length and regularity of its reaches, as +well as from its increased size, seemed to intimate that it had +successfully struggled through the broken country in which it rises, and +that it would henceforward meet with fewer interruptions to its course. It +still, however, preserved all the characters of a mountain stream; having +alternate rapids and deep pools, being in many places encumbered with +fallen timber, and generally running over a shingly bed, composed of +rounded fragments of every rock of which the neighbouring ranges were +formed, and many others that had been swept by the torrents down it. The +rock formation of the hills upon its right continued of that chlorite +schist which prevailed near Mr. Whaby's, which I have already noticed, and +quartz still appeared in large masses, on the loftier ranges opposite, so +that the geology of the neighbourhood could not be said to have undergone +any material change. It might, however, be considered an extraordinary +feature in it, that a small hill of blue limestone existed upon the left +bank of the river. The last place at which we had seen limestone was at +Yass, but I had learned from Mr. Whaby, that, together with whinstone, it +was abundant near a Mr. Rose's station on the Dumot, that was not at any +great distance. The irregularity, however, of the intervening country, +made the appearance of this solitary rock more singular. + +Although the fires of the natives had been frequent upon the river, none +had, as yet, ventured to approach us, in consequence of some +misunderstanding that had taken place between them and Mr. Stuckey's +stockmen. Mr. Roberts' stockmen [these men had lately fixed themselves +on the river a little below Mr. Whaby's], however, brought a man and a boy +to us at this place in the afternoon, but I could not persuade them to +accompany us on our journey--neither could I, although my native boy +understood them perfectly, gain any particular information from them. + +In consequence of rain, we did not strike the tents so early as usual. +At 7 a.m. a heavy thunder storm occurred from the N.W. after which the +sky cleared, and we were enabled to push forward at 11 a.m., moving on a +general W.N.W, course, over rich flats, which, having been moistened by +the morning's showers, showed the dark colour of the rich earth of which +they were composed. Some sand-hills were, however, observed near the +river, of about fifteen feet in elevation, crowned by banksias; and the +soil of the flats had a very partial mixture of sand in it. How these +sand-hills could have been formed it is difficult to say; but they +produced little minor vegetation, and were as pure as the sand of the +sea-shore. Some considerable plains were noticed to our right, in +appearance not inferior to the ground on which we were journeying. At noon +we rose gradually from the level of these plains, and travelled along the +side of a hill, until we got to a small creek, at which we stopped, though +more than a mile and a half from the river. The clouds had been gathering +again in the N.W. quarter, and we had scarcely time to secure our flour, +when a second storm burst upon us, and it continued to rain violently for +the remainder of the day. + +BEAUTIFUL PROSPECT. + +From a small hill that lay to our left Mr. M'Leay and I enjoyed a most +beautiful view. Beneath us to the S. E. the rich and lightly timbered +valley through which the Morumbidgee flows, extended, and parts of the +river were visible through the dark masses of swamp-oak by which it was +lined, or glittering among the flooded-gum trees, that grew in its +vicinity. In the distance was an extensive valley that wound between +successive mountain ranges. More to the eastward, both mountain and +woodland bore a dark and gloomy shade, probably in consequence of the +light upon them at the time. Those lofty peaks that had borne nearly +south of us from Pouni, near Yass, now rose over the last-mentioned +ranges, and by their appearance seemed evidently to belong to a high and +rugged chain. To the westward, the decline of country was more observable +than ever; and the hills on both sides of the river, were lower and more +distant from it. Those upon which we found ourselves were composed of +iron-stone, were precipitous towards the river in many places, of sandy +soil, and were crowned with beef-wood as well as box. The change in the +rock-formation and in the soil, produced a corresponding change in the +vegetation. The timber was not so large as it had been, neither did the +hills any longer bear the green appearance which had distinguished those +we had passed to their very summits. The grass here grew in tufts amidst +the sand, and was of a burnt appearance as if it had suffered from +drought. + +NATIVES--THEIR SUFFERING FROM COLD. + +Some natives had joined us in the morning, and acted as our guides; or it +is more than probable that we should have continued our course along the +river, and got enbarrassed among impediments that were visible from our +elevated position; for it was evident that the range we had ascended +terminated in an abrupt precipice on the river, that we could not have +passed. The blacks suffered beyond what I could have imagined, from cold, +and seemed as incapable of enduring it as if they had experienced the +rigour of a northern snow storm. + +The morning of the 2nd December was cloudy and lowering, and the wind +still hung in the N.W. There was truly every appearance of bad weather, +but our anxiety to proceed on our journey overcame our apprehensions, +and the animals were loaded and moved off at 7 a.m. The rain which had +fallen the evening previous, rendered travelling heavy; so that we got on +but slowly. At 11, the clouds burst, and continued to pour down for the +rest of the day. On leaving the creek we crossed the spine of the range, +and descending from it into a valley, that continued to the river on the +one hand, and stretched away to the N.W. on the other, we ascended some +hills opposite to us, and moved generally through open, undulating forest +ground, affording good pasturage. + +SMOKING AN OPOSSUM. + +One of the blacks being anxious to get an opossum out of a dead tree, +every branch of which was hollow, asked for a tomahawk, with which be cut +a hole in the trunk above where he thought the animal lay concealed. He +found however, that he had cut too low, and that it had run higher up. +This made it necessary to smoke it out; he accordingly got some dry grass, +and having kindled a fire, stuffed it into the hole he had cut. A raging +fire soon kindled in the tree, where the draft was great, and dense +columns of smoke issued from the end of each branch as thick as that from +the chimney of a steam engine. The shell of the tree was so thin that I +thought it would soon be burnt through, and that the tree would fall; but +the black had no such fears, and, ascending to the highest branch, he +watched anxiously for the poor little wretch he had thus surrounded with +dangers and devoted to destruction; and no sooner did it appear, half +singed and half roasted, than he seized upon it and threw it down to +us with an air of triumph. The effect of the scene in so lonely a forest, +was very fine. The roaring of the fire in the tree, the fearless attitude +of the savage, and the associations which his colour and appearance, +enveloped as he was in smoke, called up, were singular, and still dwell +on my recollection. We had not long left the tree, when it fell with a +tremendous crash, and was, when we next passed that way, a mere heap of +ashes. + +ACCIDENTS. + +Shortly before it commenced raining, the dogs started an emu, and took +after it, followed by M'Leay and myself. We failed in killing it, and I +was unfortunate enough to lose a most excellent watch upon the occasion, +which in regularity was superior to the chronometer I had with me. + +As there was no hope of the weather clearing up, I sent M'Leay and one of +the blacks with the flour to the river, with directions to pile it up and +cover it with tarpaulins, as soon as possible, remaining myself to bring +up the drays. It was not, however, until after 4 p.m. that we gained the +river-side, or that we were enabled to get into shelter. Fraser met with a +sad accident while assisting the driver of the teams, who, accidentally, +struck him with the end of the lash of his whip in the eye, and cut the +lower lid in two. The poor fellow fell to the ground as if he had been +shot, and really, from the report of the whip, I was at first uncertain +of the nature of the accident. + +PONDEBADGERY. + +We had gradually ascended some hills; and as the sweep of the valley led +southerly, we continued along it until we got to its very head; then, +crossing the ridge we descended the opposite side, towards a beautiful +plain, on the further extremity of which the river line was marked by the +dark-leafed casuarina. In spite of the badness of the weather and the +misfortunes of the day, I could not but admire the beauty of the scene. +We were obliged to remain stationary the following day, in consequence +of one of the drays being out of repair, and requiring a new axle-tree. +I could hardly regret the necessity that kept us in so delightful a spot. +This plain, which the natives called Pondebadgery, and in which a station +has since been formed, is about two miles in breadth, by about three and +a-half in length. It is surrounded apparently on every side by hills. The +river running E. and W. forms its southern boundary. The hills by which we +had entered it, terminating abruptly on the river to the north-east, form +a semi-circle round it to the N.N.W. where a valley, the end of which +cannot be seen, runs to the north-west, of about half a mile in breadth. +On the opposite side of the river moderate hills rise over each other, and +leave little space between them and its banks. The Morumbidgee itself, +with an increased breadth, averaging from seventy to eighty yards, +presents a still, deep sheet of water to the view, over which the +casuarina bends with all the grace of the willow, or the birch, but with +more sombre foliage. To the west, a high line of flooded-gum trees +extending from the river to the base of the hills which form the west side +of the valley before noticed, hides the near elevations, and thus shuts in +the whole space. The soil of the plain is of the richest description, and +the hills backing it, together with the valley, are capable of depasturing +the most extensive flocks. + +Such is the general landscape from the centre of Pondebadgery Plain. +Behind the line of gum-trees, the river suddenly sweeps away to the south, +and forms a deep bight of seven miles, when, bearing up again to the N.W. +it meets some hills about 10 miles to the W.N.W. of the plain, thus +encircling a still more extensive space, that for richness of soil, and +for abundance of pasture, can nowhere be excelled; such, though on a +smaller scale, are all the flats that adorn the banks of the Morumbidgee, +first on one side and then on the other, as the hills close in upon them, +from Juggiong to Pondebadgery. + +TRAVELLING DOWN THE RIVER. + +It is deeply to be regretted that this noble river should exist at such a +distance from the capital as to be unavailable. During our stay on the +Pondebadgery Plain, the men caught a number of codfish, as they are +generally termed, but which are, in reality, a species of perch. The +largest weighed 40lb. but the majority of the others were small, not +exceeding from six to eight. M'Leay and I walked to the N.W. extremity of +the plain, in order to ascertain how we should debouche from it, and to +get, if possible, a view of the western interior. We took with us two +blacks who had attached themselves to the party, and had made themselves +generally useful. On ascending the most westerly of the hills, we found it +composed of micaceous schist, the upper coat of which was extremely soft, +and broke with a slaty fracture, or crumbled into a sparkling dust beneath +our feet. The summit of the hill was barren, and beef-wood alone grew on +it. The valley, of which it was the western boundary, ran up northerly for +two or three miles, with all the appearance of richness and verdure. To +the south extended the flat I have noticed, more heavily timbered than we +had usually found them, bounded, or backed rather, by a hilly country, +although one fast losing in its general height. To the W.N.W. there was a +moderate range of hills on the opposite side of an extensive valley, +running up northerly, from which a lateral branch swept round to the +W.N.W. with a gradual ascent into the hills, which bore the same +appearance of open forest, grazing land, as prevailed in similar tracts to +the eastward. The blacks pointed out to us our route up the valley, and +stated that we should get on the banks of the river again in a direction +W. by N. from the place on which we stood. We accordingly crossed the +principal valley on the following morning, and gradually ascended the +opposite line of hills. They terminate to the S.E. in lofty precipices, +overlooking the river flats, and having a deep chain of ponds under them. +The descent towards the river was abrupt, and we encamped upon its banks, +with a more confined view than any we had ever had before. There was an +evident change in the river; the banks were reedy, the channel deep and +muddy, and the neighbourhood bore more the appearance of being subject to +overflow than it had done in any one place we had passed over. The hills +were much lower, and as we gained the southern brow of that under which we +encamped, we could see a level and wooded country to the westward. The +line of the horizon was unbroken by any hills in the distance, and the +nearer ones seemed gradually to lose themselves in the darkness of the +landscape. + +The two natives, whom the stockmen had named Peter and Jemmie, were of +infinite service to us, from their knowledge of all the passes, and the +general features of the country. Having, however, seen us thus far on the +journey from their usual haunts, they became anxious to return, and it was +with some difficulty we persuaded them to accompany us for a few days +longer, in hopes of reward. The weather had been cool and pleasant; the +thermometer averaging 78 of Fahrenheit at noon, in consequences of which +the animals kept in good condition, the men healthy and zealous. The sheep +Mr. O'Brien had presented to us, gave no additional trouble; they followed +in the rear of the party without attempting to wander, and were secured at +night in a small pen or fold. No waste attended their slaughter, nor did +they lose in condition, from being driven from ten to fifteen miles daily, +so much as I had been led to suppose they would have done. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + +Character of the Morumbidgee where it issues from the hilly country-- +Appearance of approach to swamps--Hamilton Plains--Intercourse with the +natives--Their appearance, customs, &c.--Change in the character of the +river--Mirage--Dreariness of the country--Ride towards the Lachlan river +--Two boats built and launched on the Morumbidgee; and the drays, with +part of the men sent back to Goulburn Plains. + +NATIVES--WILD GAME,&c.; CHARACTER OF THE RIVER AND THE ADJOINING COUNTRY. + +From our camp, the Morumbidgee held a direct westerly course for about +three miles. The hills under which we had encamped, rose so close upon our +right as to leave little space between them and the river. At the distance +of three miles, however, they suddenly terminated, and the river changed +its direction to the S.W., while a chain of ponds extended to the +westward, and separated the alluvial flats from a somewhat more elevated +plain before us. We kept these ponds upon our left for some time, but, as +they ultimately followed the bend of the river, we left them. The blacks +led us on a W. by S. course to the base of a small range two or three +miles distant, near which there was a deep lagoon. It was evident they +here expected to have found some other natives. Being disappointed, +however, they turned in towards the river again, but we stopped short of +it on the side of a serpentine sheet of water, an apparent continuation of +the chain of ponds we had left behind us, forming a kind of ditch round +the S.W. extremity of the range, parallel to which we had continued to +travel. This range, which had been gradually decreasing in height from the +lagoon, above which it rose perpendicularly, might almost be said to +terminate here. We fell in with two or three natives before we halted, but +the evident want of population in so fine a country, and on so noble a +river, surprised me extremely. We saw several red kangaroos in the course +of the day, and succeeded in killing one. It certainly is a beautiful +animal, ranging the wilds in native freedom. The female and the kid are of +a light mouse-colour. Wild turkeys abound on this part of the Morumbidgee, +but with the exception of a few terns, which are found hovering over the +lagoons, no new birds had as yet been procured; and the only plant that +enriched our collection, was an unknown metrosideros. In crossing the +extremity of the range, the wheels of the dray sunk deep into a yielding +and coarse sandy soil, of decomposed granite, on which forest-grass +prevailed in tufts, which, being far apart, made the ground uneven, and +caused the animals to trip. We rose at one time sufficiently high to +obtain an extensive view, and had our opinions confirmed as to the level +nature of the country we were so rapidly approaching. From the N. to +the W.S.W. the eye wandered over a wooded and unbroken interior, if I +except a solitary double hill that rose in the midst of it, bearing +S. 82 degrees W. distant 12 miles, and another singular elevation that +bore S. 32 degrees W. called by the natives, Kengal. The appearance to the +E.S.E. was still that of a mountainous country, while from the N.E., the +hills gradually decrease in height, until lost in the darkness of +surrounding objects to the northward. We did not travel this day more than +13 miles on a W. by N. course. The Morumbidgee, where we struck it, by its +increased size, kept alive our anticipations of its ultimately leading us +to some important point. The partial rains that had fallen while we were +on its upper branch, had swollen it considerably, and it now rolled along +a vast body of water at the rate of three miles an hour, preserving a +medium width of 150 feet; its banks retaining a height far above the usual +level of the stream. A traveller who had never before descended into the +interior of New Holland, would have spurned the idea of such a river +terminating in marshes; but with the experience of the former journey, +strong as hope was within my breast, I still feared it might lose itself +in the vast flat upon which we could scarcely be said to have yet entered. +The country was indeed taking up more and more every day the features of +the N.W. interior. Cypresses were observed upon the minor ridges, and the +soil near the river, although still rich, and certainly more extensive +than above, was occasionally mixed with sand, and scattered over with the +claws of crayfish and shells, indicating its greater liability to be +flooded; nor indeed could I entertain a doubt that the river had laid a +great part of the levels around us under water long after it found that +channel in which nature intended ultimately to confine it. We killed +another fine red kangaroo in the early part of the day, in galloping after +which I got a heavy fall. + +The two blacks who had been with us so long, and who had not only exerted +themselves to assist us, but had contributed in no small degree to our +amusement, though they had from M'Leay's liberality, tasted all the +dainties with which we had provided ourselves, from sugar to concentrated +cayenne, intimated that they could no longer accompany the party. They had +probably got to the extremity of their beat, and dared not venture any +further. They left us with evident regret, receiving, on their departure, +several valuable presents, in the shape of tomahawks &c. The last thing +they did was to point out the way to us, and to promise to join us on our +return, although they evidently little anticipated ever seeing us again. + +In pursuing our journey, we entered a forest, consisting of box-trees, +casuarinae, and cypresses, on a light sandy soil, in which both horses and +bullocks sunk so deep that their labour was greatly increased, more +especially as the weather had become much warmer. At noon I altered my +course from N.W. by W. to W.N.W., and reached the Morumbidgee at 3 in the +afternoon. The flats bordering it were extensive and rich, and, being +partially mixed with sand, were more fitted for agricultural purposes than +the stiffer and purer soil amidst the mountains; but the interior beyond +them was far from being of corresponding quality. We crossed several +plains on which vegetation was scanty, probably owing to the hardness of +the soil, which was a stiff loamy clay, and which must check the growth of +plants, by preventing the roots from striking freely into it. The river +where we stopped for the night appeared to have risen considerably, and +the fish were rolling about on the surface of the water with a noise like +porpoises. No elevations were visible, so that I had not an opportunity of +continuing the chain of survey with the points I had previously taken. + +TRAVELLING DOWN THE RIVER. + +As we proceeded down the river on the 8th, the flats became still more +extensive than they had ever been, and might almost be denominated plains. +Vegetation was scanty upon them, although the soil was of the first +quality. About nine miles from our camp, we struck on a small isolated +hill, that could scarcely have been of 200 feet elevation; yet, depressed +as it was, the view from its summit was very extensive, and I was +surprised to find that we were still in some measure surrounded by high +lands, of which I took the following bearings, connected with the present +ones. + +A High Peak.....N. 66 E. distance 40 miles. +Kengal ........ N. 110 E. distant. +Double Hill ... S. 10 W. distant. + +To the north, there were several fires burning, which appeared rather the +fires of natives, than conflagrations, and as the river had made a bend to +the N.N.W., I doubted not that they were upon its banks. From this hill, +which was of compact granite, we struck away to the W.N.W., and shortly +afterwards crossed some remarkable sand-hills. Figuratively speaking, they +appeared like islands amidst the alluvial deposits, and were as pure in +their composition as the sand on the sea-shore. They were generally +covered with forest grass, in tufts, and a coarse kind of rushes, under +banksias and cypresses. We found a small fire on the banks of the river, +and close to it the couch and hut of a solitary native, who had probably +seen us approach, and had fled. There cannot be many inhabitants +hereabouts, since there are no paths to indicate that they frequent this +part of the Morumbidgee more at one season than another. + +On the 9th, the river fell off again to the westward, and we lost a good +deal of the northing we had made the day before. We journeyed pretty +nearly equidistant from the stream, and kept altogether on the alluvial +flats. As we were wandering along the banks of the river, a black started +up before us, and swam across to the opposite side, where he immediately +hid himself. We could by no means induce him to show himself; he was +probably the lonely being whom we had scared away from the fire the day +before. In the afternoon, however we surprised a family of six natives, +and persuaded them to follow us to our halting place. My boy understood +them well; but the young savage had the cunning to hide the information +they gave him, or, for aught I know, to ask questions that best suited his +own purposes, and therefore we gained little intelligence from them. + +Every day now produced some change in the face of the country, by which it +became more and more assimilated to that I had traversed during the first +expedition. Acacia pendula now made its appearance on several plains +beyond the river deposits, as well as that salsolaceous class of plants, +among which the schlerolina and rhagodia are so remarkable. The natives +left us at sunset, but returned early in the morning with an extremely +facetious and good-humoured old man, who volunteered to act as our guide +without the least hesitation. There was a cheerfulness in his manner, +that gained our confidence at once, and rendered him a general favourite. +He went in front with the dogs, and led us a little away from the river +to kill kangaroos, as he said. At about two miles we struck on an +inconsiderable elevation, which the party crossed at the S.W. extremity. +I ascended it at the opposite end, but although the view was extensive, I +could not make out the little hill of granite from which I had taken my +former bearings, and the only elevation I could recognise as connected +with them, was one about ten miles distant, bearing S. 168 W. I could +observe very distant ranges to the E.N.E. and immediately below me in that +direction, there was a large clear plain, skirted by acacia pendula, +stretching from S.S.E. to N.N.W. The crown and ridges of the hill on which +I stood, were barren, stony, and covered with beef-wood, +the rock-formation being a coarse granite. The drays had got so far ahead +of me that I did not overtake them before they had halted on the river at +a distance of ten miles. + +INFORMATION FROM A NATIVE. + +The Morumbidgee appeared, on examination, to have increased in breadth, +and continued to rise gradually. It is certainly a noble stream, very +different from those I had already traced to their termination. The old +black informed me that there was another large river flowing to the +southward of west, to which the Morumbidgee was as a creek, and that we +could gain it in four days. He stated that its waters were good, but that +its banks were not peopled. That such a feature existed where he laid it +down, I thought extremely probable, because it was only natural to expect +that other streams descended from the mountains in the S.E. of the island, +as well as that on which we were travelling. The question was, whether +either of them held on an uninterrupted course to some reservoir, or +whether they fell short of the coast and exhausted themselves in marshes. +Considering the concave direction of the mountains to the S.E., I even +at this time hoped that the rivers falling into the interior would unite +sooner or later, and contribute to the formation of an important and +navigable stream. Of the fate of the Morumbidgee, the old black could give +no account. It seemed probable, therefore, that we were far from its +termination. + +I had hitherto been rather severe upon the animals, for although our +journey had not exceeded from twelve to fifteen miles a day, it had been +without intermission. I determined, therefore, to give both men and +animals a day of rest, as soon as I should find a convenient place. We +started on the 11th with this intention, but we managed to creep over +eight or ten miles of ground before we halted. The country was slightly +undulated, and much intersected by creeks, few of which had water in them. +The whole tract was, however, well adapted either for agriculture, or +for grazing, and, in spite of the drought that had evidently long hung +over it, was well covered with vegetation. We had passed all high lands, +and the interior to the westward presented an unbroken level to the eye. +The Morumbidgee appeared to hold a more northerly course than I had +anticipated. Still low ranges continued upon our right, and the cypress +ridges became more frequent and denser; but the timber on the more open +grounds generally consisted of box and flooded-gum. Of minor trees, the +acacia pendula was the most prevalent, with a shrub bearing a round nut, +enclosed in a scarlet capsule, and an interesting species of stenochylus. +I had observed as yet, few of the plants of the more northern interior. + +NATIVES--THEIR UGLINESS. + +In this neighbourhood, the dogs killed an emu and a kangaroo, which came +in very conveniently for some natives whom we fell in with on one of the +river flats. They were, without exception, the worst featured of any I had +ever seen. It is scarcely possible to conceive that human beings could +be so hideous and loathsome. The old black, who was rather good-looking, +told me they were the last we should see for some time, and I felt that if +these were samples of the natives on the lowlands, I cared very little how +few of I them we should meet. + +EXTENSIVE PLAINS. + +The country on the opposite side of the river had all the features of that +to the north of it, but a plain of such extent suddenly opened upon us to +the southward, that I halted at once in order to examine it, and by +availing myself of a day of rest, to fix our position more truly than we +could otherwise have done. We accordingly pitched our tents under some +lofty gum-trees, opposite to the plain, and close upon the edge of the +sandy beach of the river. Before they were turned out, the animals were +carefully examined, and the pack-saddles overhauled, that they might +undergo any necessary repairs. The river fell considerably during the +night, but it poured along a vast body of water, possessing a strong +current. The only change I remarked in it was that it now had a bed of +sand, and was generally deeper on one side than on the other. It kept a +very uniform breadth of from 150 to 170 feet--and a depth of from 4 to 20. +Its channel, though occasionally much encumbered with fallen timber, was +large enough to contain twice the volume of water then in it, but it had +outer and more distant banks, the boundaries of the alluvial flats, to +confine it within certain limits, during the most violent floods, and to +prevent its inundating the country. + +HAMILTON'S PLAINS. + +With a view to examine the plain opposite to us, I directed our horses to +be taken across the river early in the morning, and after breakfast, +M'Leay and I swam across after them. We found the current strong, and +could not keep a direct line over the channel, but were carried below the +place at which we plunged in. We proceeded afterwards in a direction +W.S.W. across the plain for five or six miles, before we saw trees on the +opposite extremity, at a still greater distance. We thus found ourselves +in the centre of an area of from 26 to 30 miles. It appeared to be +perfectly level, though not really so. The soil upon it was good, +excepting in isolated spots, where it was sandy. Vegetation was scanty +upon it, but, on the whole, I should conclude that it was fitter for +agriculture than for grazing. For I think it very probable, that those +lands which lie hardening and bare in a state of nature, would produce +abundantly if broken up by the plough. I called this Hamilton's plains, +in remembrance of the surgeon of my regiment. The Morumbidgee forms its +N.E. boundary, and a creek rising on it, cuts off a third part on the +western side, and runs away from the river in a southerly direction. This +creek, even before it gets to the outskirts of the plains, assumes a +considerable size. Such a fact would argue that heavy rains fall in this +part of the interior, to cut out such a watercourse, or that the soil is +extremely loose; but I should think the former the most probable, since +the soil of this plain had a substratum of clay. I place our encampment on +the river in latitude 34 degrees 41 minutes 45 seconds S., and in East +longitude 146 degrees 50 minutes, the variation of the compass being +6 degrees 10 minutes E. + +INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES; SCANTINESS OF THE POPULATION. + +On our return to the camp we found several natives with our people, and +among them one of the tallest I had ever seen. Their women were with them, +and they appeared to have lost all apprehension of any danger occurring +from us. The animals were benefited greatly by this day of rest. We left +the plain, therefore, on the 13th with renewed spirits, and passed over a +country very similar to that by which we had approached it, one well +adapted for grazing, but intersected by numerous creeks, at two of which +we found natives, some of whom joined our party. Our old friend left us in +quest of some blacks, who, as he informed Hopkinson, had seen the tracks +of our horses on the Darling. I was truly puzzled at such a statement, +which was, however, further corroborated by the circumstance of one of the +natives having a tire-nail affixed to a spear, which he said was picked +up, by the man who gave it to him, on one of our encampments. I could not +think it likely that this story was true, and rather imagined they must +have picked up the nail near the located districts, and I was anxious to +have the point cleared up. When we halted we had a large assemblage of +natives with us, amounting in all to twenty-seven, but I awaited in vain +the return of the old man. The night passed away without our seeing him, +nor did he again join us. + +We started in the morning with our new acquaintances, and kept on a +south-westerly course during the day, over an excellent grazing, and, in +many places, an agricultural country, still intersected by creeks, that +were too deep for the water to have dried in them. The country more +remote from the river, however, began to assume more and more the +character and appearance of the northern interior. I rode into several +plains, the soil of which was either a red sandy loam, bare of vegetation, +or a rotten and blistered earth, producing nothing but rhagodiae, +salsolae, and misembrianthemum. + +We fell in with another tribe of blacks during the journey, to whom we +were literally consigned by those who had been previously with us, and who +now turned back, while our new friends took the lead of the drays. They +were two fine young men, but had very ugly wives, and were for a long time +extremely diffident. I found that I could obtain but little information +through my black boy,--whether from his not understanding me, or because +he was too cunning, is uncertain. One of these young men, however, +clearly stated that he had seen the tracks of bullocks and horses, a long +time ago, to the N.N.W. in the direction of some detached hills, that were +visible from 20 to 25 miles distant. He remembered them, he said, as a +boy, and added that the white men were without water. It was, therefore, +clear that he alluded to Mr. Oxley's excursion, northerly from the +Lachlan, and I had no doubt on my mind, that he had been on one of that +officer's encampments, and that the hills to the north of us were those +to the opposite base of which he had penetrated. I was determined, +therefore, if practicable, to reach these hills, deeming it a matter of +great importance to connect the surveys, but I deferred my journey for a +day or two, in hopes, from the continued northerly course of the river, +that we should have approached them nearer. + +In the evening we fell in with some more blacks, among whom were two +brothers, of those who were acting as our guides. One had a very pretty +girl as a wife, and all the four brothers were very good-looking young +men. There cannot, I should think, be a numerous population on the banks +of the Morumbidgee, from the fact of our having seen not more than fifty +in an extent of more than 180 miles. They are apparently scattered along +it in families. I was rather surprised that my boy understood their +language well, since it certainly differed from that of the Macquarie +tribes, but nevertheless as these people do not wander far, our +information as to what was before us was very gradually arrived at, and +only as we fell in with the successive families. Moreover, as my boy +was very young, it may be that he was more eager in communicating to those +who had no idea of them, the wonders he had seen, than in making inquiries +on points that were indifferent to him. + +CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. + +We passed a very large plain in the course of the day, which was bounded +by forests of box, cypress, and the acacia pendula, of red sandy soil and +parched appearance. The Morumbidgee evidently overflows a part of the +lands we crossed, to a greater extent than heretofore, though the alluvial +deposits beyond its influence were still both rich and extensive. The +crested pigeon made its appearance on the acacias, which I took to be a +sure sign of our approach to a country more than ordinarily subject to +overflow; since on the Macquarie and the Darling, those birds were found +only to inhabit the regions of marshes, or spaces covered by the acacia +pendula, or the polygonum. We had not, however, yet seen any of the latter +plant, although we were shortly destined to be almost lost amidst fields +of it. + +CHANGE IN THE COUNTRY. + + +We were now approaching that parallel of longitude in which the other +known rivers of New Holland had been found to exhaust themselves; the +least change therefore, for the worse was sufficient to raise my +apprehensions; yet, although the Morumbidgee had received no tributary +from the Dumot downwards, and was leading us into an apparently endless +level, I saw no indication of its decreasing in size, or in the rapidity +of its current. Certainly, however, I had, from the character of the +country around us, an anticipation that a change was about to take place +in it, and this anticipation was verified in the course of the following +day. The alluvial flats gradually decreased in breadth, and we journeyed +mostly over extensive and barren plains, which in many places approached +so near the river as to form a part of its bank. They were covered with +the salsolaceous class of plants, so common in the interior, in a red +sandy soil, and were as even as a bowling green. The alluvial spaces near +the river became covered with reeds, and, though subject to overflow at +every partial rise of it, were so extremely small as scarcely to afford +food for our cattle. Flooded-gum trees of lofty size grew on these reedy +spaces, and marked the line of the river, but the timber of the interior +appeared stunted and useless. + +DESCRIPTION OF THE NATIVES; MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE NATIVES. + +We found this part of the Morumbidgee much more populous than its upper +branches. When we halted, we had no fewer than forty-one natives with us, +of whom the young men were the least numerous. They allowed us to choose +a place for ourselves before they formed their own camp, and studiously +avoided encroaching on our ground so as to appear troublesome. Their +manners were those of a quiet and inoffensive people, and their appearance +in some measure prepossessing. The old men had lofty foreheads, and stood +exceedingly erect. The young men were cleaner is their persons and were +better featured than any we had seen, some of them having smooth hair and +an almost Asiatic cast of countenance. On the other hand, the women and +children were disgusting objects. The latter were much subject to +diseases, and were dreadfully emaciated. It is evident that numbers of +them die in their infancy for want of care and nourishment. We remarked +none at the age of incipient puberty, but the most of them under six. In +stating that the men were more prepossessing than any we had seen, I would +not be understood to mean that they differed in any material point either +from the natives of the coast, or of the most distant interior to which I +had been, for they were decidedly the same race, and had the same leading +features and customs, as far as the latter could be observed. The sunken +eye and overhanging eyebrow, the high cheek-bone and thick lip, distended +nostrils, the nose either short or acquiline, together with a stout bust +and slender extremities, and both curled and smooth hair, marked the +natives of the Morumbidgee as well as those of the Darling. They were +evidently sprung from one common stock, the savage and scattered +inhabitants of a rude and inhospitable land. In customs they differed in +no material point from the coast natives, and still less from the tribes +on the Darling and the Castlereagh. They extract the front tooth, +lacerate their bodies, to raise the flesh, cicatrices being their chief +ornament; procure food by the same means, paint in the same manner, and +use the same weapons, as far as the productions of the country will allow +them. But as the grass-tree is not found westward of the mountains, they +make a light spear of a reed, similar to that of which the natives of the +southern islands form their arrows. These they use for distant combat, and +not only carry in numbers, but throw with the boomerang to a great +distance and with unerring precision, making them to all intents and +purposes as efficient as the bow and arrow. They have a ponderous spear +for close fight, and others of different sizes for the chase. With regard +to their laws, I believe they are universally the same all over the known +parts of New South Wales. The old men have alone the privilege of eating +the emu; and so submissive are the young men to this regulation, that if, +from absolute hunger or under other pressing circumstances, one of them +breaks through it, either during a hunting excursion, or whilst absent +from his tribe, he returns under a feeling of conscious guilt, and by his +manner betrays his guilt, sitting apart from the men, and confessing his +misdemeanour to the chief at the first interrogation, upon which he is +obliged to undergo a slight punishment. This evidently is a law of policy +and necessity, for if the emus were allowed to be indiscriminately +slaughtered, they would soon become extinct. Civilised nations may learn a +wholesome lesson even from savages, as in this instance of their +forebearance. For somewhat similar reasons, perhaps, married people alone +are here permitted to eat ducks. They hold their corrobories, +(midnight ceremonies), and sing the same melancholy ditty that breaks the +stillness of night on the shores of Jervis' Bay, or on the banks of the +Macquarie; and during the ceremony imitate the several birds and beasts +with which they are acquainted. If these inland tribes differ in anything +from those on the coast, it is in the mode of burying their dead, and, +partially, in their language. Like all savages, they consider their women +as secondary objects, oblige them to procure their own food, or throw to +them over their shoulders the bones they have already picked, with a +nonchalance that is extremely amusing; and, on the march, make them beasts +of burden to carry their very weapons. The population of the Morumbidgee, +as far as we had descended it at this time, did not exceed from ninety to +a hundred souls. I am persuaded that disease and accidents consign many of +them to a premature grave. + +MIRAGE. + +From this camp, one family only accompanied us. We journeyed due west over +plains of great extent. The soil upon them was soft and yielding, in some +places being a kind of light earth covered with rhagodiae, in others a +red tenacious clay, overrun by the misembrianthemum and salsolae. +Nothing could exceed the apparent barrenness of these plains, or the +cheerlessness of the landscape. We had left all high lands behind us, and +were now on an extensive plain, bounded in the distance by low trees or by +dark lines of cypresses. The lofty gum-trees on the river followed its +windings, and, as we opened the points, they appeared, from the peculiar +effect of a mirage, as bold promontories jutting into the ocean, having +literally the blue tint of distance. This mirage floated in a light +tremulous vapour on the ground, and not only deceived us with regard to +the extent of the plains, and the appearance of objects, but hid the +trees, in fact, from our view altogether; so that, in moving, as we +imagined, upon the very point or angle of the river, we found as we neared +it, that the trees stretched much further into the plain, and were obliged +to alter our course to round them. The heated state of the atmosphere, and +the sandy nature of the country could alone have caused a mirage so +striking in its effects, as this,--exceeding considerably similar +appearances noticed during the first expedition. The travelling was so +heavy, that I was obliged to make a short day's journey, and when we +struck the river for the purpose of halting, it had fallen off very much +in appearance, and was evidently much contracted, with low banks and a +sandy bed. It was difficult to account for this sudden change, but when +I gazed on the extent of level country before me, I began to dread that +this hitherto beautiful stream would ultimately disappoint us. + +EXCURSION TOWARDS A RIDGE OF HILLS. + +I had deferred my intended excursion to the hills under which I imagined +Mr. Oxley had encamped, until we were out of sight of them, and I now +feared that it was almost too late to undertake it, but I was still +anxious to determine a point in which I felt considerable interest. I was +the more desirous of surveying the country to the northward, because of +the apparent eagerness with which the natives had caught at the word +Colare, which I recollected having heard a black on the Macquarie make +use of in speaking of the Lachlan. They pointed to the N.N.W., and making +a sweep with the arm raised towards the sky, seemed to intimate that a +large sheet of water existed in that direction; and added that it +communicated with the Morumbidgee more to the westward. This information +confirmed still more my impressions with regard to Mr. Oxley's line of +route; and, as I found a ready volunteer in M'Leay, I gave the party in +charge to Harris until I should rejoin him, and turned back towards the +hills, with the intention of reaching them if possible. No doubt we should +have done so had it not been for the nature of the ground over which we +travelled, and the impossibility of our exceeding a walk. We rode to a +distance of 18 miles, but still found ourselves far short of the hills, +and therefore gave up the point. I considered, however, that we were about +the same distance to the south, as Mr. Oxley had been to the north of +them, and in taking bearings of the highest points, I afterwards found +that they exactly tallied with his bearings, supposing him to have taken +them from his camp. + +QUIET DEMEANOUR OF THE NATIVES. + +On our way to the river, we passed through some dense bushes of casuarinae +and cypresses, to the outskirts of the plains through which the +Morumbidgee winds. We reached the camp two or three hours after sunset, +and found it crowded with natives to the number of 60. They were extremely +quiet and inoffensive in their demeanour, and asked us to point out where +they might sleep, before they ventured to kindle their fires. One old man, +we remarked, had a club foot, and another was blind, but, as far as we +could judge from the glare of the fires, the generality of them were fine +young men, and supported themselves in a very erect posture when standing +or walking. There were many children with the women, among whom colds +seemed to prevail. It blew heavily from the N.W. during the night, and a +little rain fell in the early part of the morning. Our route during the +day, was over as melancholy a tract as ever was travelled. The plains to +the N. and N.W. bounded the horizon; not a tree of any kind was visible +upon them. It was equally open to the S., and it appeared as if the river +was decoying us into a desert, there to leave us in difficulty and in +distress. The very mirage had the effect of boundlessness in it, by +blending objects in one general hue; or, playing on the ground, it cheated +us with an appearance of water, and on arriving at the spot, we found a +continuation of the same scorching plain, over which we were moving, +instead of the stream we had hoped for. + +The cattle about this time began to suffer, and, anxious as I was to push +on, I was obliged to shorten my journeys, according to circumstances. +Amidst the desolation around us, the river kept alive our hopes. If it +traversed deserts, it might reach fertile lands, and it was to the issue +of the journey that we had to look for success. It here, however, +evidently overflowed its banks more extensively than heretofore, and +broad belts of reeds were visible on either side of it, on which the +animals exclusively subsisted. Most of the natives had followed us, and +their patience and abstinence surprised me exceedingly. Some of them had +been more than twenty-four hours without food, and yet seemed as little +disposed to seek it as ever. I really thought they expected me to supply +their wants, but as I could not act so liberal a scale, George M'Leay +undeceived them; after which they betook themselves to the river, and got +a supply of muscles. I rather think their going so frequently into the +water engenders a catarrh, or renders them more liable to it than they +otherwise would be. In the afternoon the wind shifted to the S.W. It blew +a hurricane; and the temperature of the air was extremely low. The natives +felt the cold beyond belief and kindled large fires. In the morning, when +we moved away, the most of them started with fire-sticks to keep +themselves warm; but they dropped off one by one, and at noon we found +ourselves totally deserted. + +DREARINESS OF THE LANDSCAPE. + +It is impossible for me to describe the kind of country we were now +traversing, or the dreariness of the view it presented. The plains were +still open to the horizon, but here and there a stunted gum-tree, or a +gloomy cypress, seemed placed by nature as mourners over the surrounding +desolation. Neither beast nor bird inhabited these lonely and inhospitable +regions, over which the silence of the grave seemed to reign. We had not, +for days past, seen a blade of grass, so that the animals could not have +been in very good condition. We pushed on, however, sixteen miles, in +consequence of the coolness of the weather. We observed little change in +the river in that distance, excepting that it had taken up a muddy bottom, +and lost all the sand that used to fill it. The soil and productions on +the plains continued unchanged in every respect. From this time to the +22nd, the country presented the same aspect. Occasional groups of cypress +showed themselves on narrow sandy ridges, or partial brushes extended from +the river, consisting chiefly of the acacia pendula, the stenochylus, +and the nut I have already noticed. The soil on which they grew was, if +possible, worse than that of the barren plain which we were traversing; +and their colour and drooping state rendered the desolate landscape still +more dreary. + +On the 21st, we found the same singular substance(gypsum) embedded in the +bank of the river that had been collected, during the former expedition, +on the banks of the Darling; and hope, which is always uppermost in the +human breast, induced me to think that we were fast approaching that +stream. My observations placed me in 34 degrees 17 minutes 15 seconds +S. and 145 degrees of E. longitude. + +BLACK BOY DESERTS. + +On the 22nd, my black boy deserted me. I was not surprised at his doing +so, neither did I regret his loss, for he had been of little use under any +circumstances. He was far too cunning for our purpose. I know not that the +term ingratitude can be applied to one in his situation, and in whose +bosom nature had implanted a love of freedom. We learnt from four blacks, +with whom he had spoken, and who came to us in the afternoon, that he had +gone up the river,--as I conjectured, to the last large tribe we had left, +with whom he appeared to become very intimate. + +A creek coming from the N.N.W. here fell into the Morumbidgee; a proof +that the general decline of country was really to the south, although a +person looking over it would have supposed the contrary. + +COUNTRY SUBJECT TO INUNDATION. + +We started on the 23rd, with the same boundlessness of plain on either +side of us; but in the course of the morning a change took place, both in +soil and productions; and from the red sandy loam, and salsolaceous +plants, amidst which we had been toiling, we got upon a light tenacious +and blistered soil, evidently subject to frequent overflow, and fields of +polygonum junceum, amidst which, both the crested pigeon and the black +quail were numerous. The drays and animals sank so deep in this, that we +were obliged to make for the river, and keep upon its immediate banks. +Still, with all the appearance of far-spread inundation, it continued +undiminished in size, and apparently in the strength of its current. +Its channel was deeper than near the mountains, but its breadth was about +the same. + +On the 24th, we were again entangled amidst fields of polygonum, through +which we laboured until after eleven, when we gained a firmer soil. Some +cypresses appeared upon our right, in a dark line, and I indulged hopes +that a change was about to take place in the nature of the country. We +soon, however, got on a light rotten earth, and were again obliged to make +for the river, with the teams completely exhausted. We had not travelled +many miles from our last camp, yet it struck me, that the river had +fallen off in appearance. I examined it with feelings of intense anxiety, +certain, as I was, that the flooded spaces, over which we had been +travelling would, sooner or later, be succeeded by a country overgrown +with reeds. The river evidently overflowed its banks, on both sides, +for many miles, nor had I a doubt that, at some periods, the space +northward, between it and the Lachlan, presented the appearance of one +vast sea. The flats of polygonum stretched away to the N.W. to an amazing +distance, as well as in a southerly direction, and the very nature of the +soil bore testimony to its flooded origin. But the most unaccountable +circumstance to me was, that it should be entirely destitute of +vegetation, with the exception of the gloomy and leafless bramble I have +noticed. + +M'Leay, who was always indefatigable in his pursuit after subjects of +natural history, shot a cockatoo, of a new species, hereabouts, having a +singularly shaped upper mandible. It was white, with scarlet down under +the neck feathers, smaller than the common cockatoo, and remarkable for +other peculiarities. + +INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES; THE COLARE OR LACHLAN. + +Two or three natives made their appearance at some distance from the +party, but would not approach it until after we had halted. They then +came to the tents, seven in number, and it was evident from their manner, +that their chief or only object was to pilfer anything they could. We +did not, therefore, treat them with much ceremony. They were an +ill-featured race, and it was only by strict watching during the night +that they were prevented from committing theft. Probably from seeing that +we were aware of their intentions, they left us early, and pointing +somewhat to the eastward of north, said they were going to the Colare, +and on being asked how far it was, they signified that they should sleep +there. I had on a former occasion recollected the term having been made +use of by a black, on the Macquarie, when speaking to me of the Lachlan, +and had questioned one of the young men who was with us at the time, and +who seemed more intelligent than his companions, respecting it. +Immediately catching at the word, he had pointed to the N.N.W., and, +making a sweep with his arms raised towards the sky had intimated, +evidently, that a large sheet of water existed in that direction, in the +same manner that another black had done on a former occasion: on being +further questioned, he stated that this communicated with the Morumbidgee +more to the westward, and on my expressing a desire to go to it, he said +we could not do so under four days. We had, it appeared, by the account of +the seven natives, approached within one day's journey of it, and, as I +thought it would he advisable to gain a little knowledge of the country to +the north, I suggested to M'Leay to ride in that direction, while the +party should be at rest, with some good feed for the cattle that fortune +had pointed out to us. + +EXCURSION TOWARDS THE LACHLAN. + +Our horses literally sank up to their knees on parts of the great plain +over which we had in the first instance to pass, and we rode from three to +four miles before we caught sight of a distant wood at its northern +extremity; the view from the river having been for the last two or three +days, as boundless as the ocean. As we approached the wood, two columns of +smoke rose from it, considerably apart, evidently the fires of natives +near water. We made for the central space between them, having a dead +acacia scrub upon our right. On entering the wood, we found that it +contained for the most part, flooded-gum, under which bulrushes and +reeds were mixed together. The whole space seemed liable to overflow, and +we crossed numerous little drains, that intersected each other in every +direction. From the resemblance of the ground to that at the bottom of the +marshes of the Macquarie, I prognosticated to my companion that we should +shortly come upon a creek, and we had not ridden a quarter of a mile +further, when we found ourselves on the banks of one of considerable size. +Crossing it, we proceeded northerly, until we got on the outskirts of a +plain of red sandy soil, covered with rhagodia alone, and without a tree +upon the visible horizon. The country appeared to be rising before us, but +was extremely depressed to the eastward. After continuing along this +plain for some time, I became convinced from appearances, that we were +receding from water, and that the fires of the natives, which were no +longer visible, must have been on the creek we had crossed, that I judged +to be leading W.S.W. from the opposite quarter. We had undoubtedly struck +below to the westward of the Colare or Lachlan, and the creek was the +channel of communication between it and the Morumbidgee, at least such was +the natural conclusion at which I arrived. Having no further object in +continuing a northerly course, we turned to the S.E., and, after again +passing the creek, struck away for the camp on a S. by W. course, and +passed through a dense brush of cypress and casuarina in our way to it. + +CONNECTION OF LACHLAN WITH MORUMBIDGEE. + +Considering our situation as connected with the marshes of the Lachlan, +I cannot but infer that the creek we struck upon during this excursion +serves as a drain to the latter, to conduct its superfluous waters into +the Morumbidgee in times of flood, as those of the Macquarie are conducted +by the creek at the termination of its marshes into Morrisset's Chain of +Ponds. It will be understood that I only surmise this. I argue from +analogy, not from proof. Whether I am correct or not, my knowledge of the +facts I have stated, tended very much to satisfy my mind as to the LAY of +the interior; and to revive my hopes that the Morumbidgee would not fail +us, although there was no appearance of the country improving. + +COUNTRY COVERED WITH REEDS. + +We started on the 26th, on a course somewhat to the N.W., and traversed +plains of the same wearisome description as those I have already +described. The wheels of the drays sank up to their axle-trees, and the +horses above their fetlocks at every step. The fields of polygonum spread +on every side of us like a dark sea, and the only green object within +range of our vision was the river line of trees. In several instances, the +force of both teams was put to one dray, to extricate it from the bed into +which it had sunk, and the labour was considerably increased from the +nature of the weather. The wind was blowing as if through a furnace, from +the N.N.E., and the dust was flying in clouds, so as to render it almost +suffocating to remain exposed to it. This was the only occasion upon which +we felt the hot winds in the interior. We were, about noon, endeavouring +to gain a point of a wood at which I expected to come upon the river +again, but it was impossible for the teams to reach it without assistance. +I therefore sent M'Leay forward, with orders to unload the pack animals as +soon as he should make the river, and send them back to help the teams. He +had scarcely been separated from me 20 minutes, when one of the men came +galloping back to inform me that no river was to be found--that the +country beyond the wood was covered with reeds as far as the eye could +reach, and that Mr. M'Leay had sent him back for instructions. This +intelligence stunned me for a moment or two, and I am sure its effect upon +the men was very great. They had unexpectedly arrived at a part of the +interior similar to one they had held in dread, and conjured up a thousand +difficulties and privations. I desired the man to recall Mr. M'Leay; and, +after gaining the wood, moved outside of it at right angles to my former +course, and reached the river, after a day of severe toil and exposure, +at half-past five. The country, indeed, bore every resemblance to that +around the marshes of the Macquarie, but I was too weary to make any +further effort: indeed it was too late for me undertake anything until +the morning. + +ANXIOUS COGITATIONS; SURVEY OF RIVER AND ENVIRONS. + +The circumstances in which we were so unexpectedly placed, occupied my +mind so fully that I could not sleep; and I awaited the return of light +with the utmost anxiety. If we were indeed on the outskirts of marshes +similar to those I had on a former occasion found so much difficulty +in examining, I foresaw that in endeavouring to move round then I should +recede from water, and place the expedition in jeopardy, probably, without +gaining any determinate point, as it would be necessary for me to advance +slowly and with caution. Our provisions, however, being calculated to last +only to a certain period, I was equally reluctant to delay our operations. +My course was, therefore, to be regulated by the appearance of the country +and of the river, which I purposed examining with the earliest dawn. +If the latter should be found to run into a region of reeds, a boat would +be necessary to enable me to ascertain its direction; but, if ultimately +it should be discovered to exhaust itself, we should have to strike into +the interior on a N.W. course, in search of the Darling. I could not think +of putting the whale-boat together in our then state of uncertainty, and +it struck me that a smaller one could sooner he prepared for the purposes +for which I should require it. These considerations, together with the +view I had taken of the measures I might at last be forced into, +determined me, on rising, to order Clayton to fell a suitable tree, and to +prepare a saw-pit. The labour was of no consideration, and even if +eventually the boat should not be wanted, no injury would arise, and it +was better to take time by the forelock. Having marked a tree preparatory +to leaving the camp, M'Leay and I started at an early hour on an excursion +of deeper interest than any we had as yet undertaken; to examine the +reeds, not only for the purpose of ascertaining their extent, if possible, +but also to guide us in our future measures. We rode for some miles along +the river side, but observed in it no signs, either of increase or of +exhaustion. Its waters, though turbid, were deep, and its current still +rapid. Its banks, too, were lofty, and showed no evidence of decreasing +in height, so as to occasion an overflow of them, as had been the case +with the Macquarie. We got among vast bodies of reeds, but the plains of +the interior were visible beyond them. We were evidently in a hollow, and +the decline of country was plainly to the southward of west. Every thing +tended to strengthen my conviction that we were still far from the +termination of the river. The character it had borne throughout, and its +appearance now so far to the westward, gave me the most lively hopes that +it would make good its way through the vast level into which it fell, and +that its termination would accord with its promise. Besides, I daily +anticipated its junction with some stream of equal, if not of greater +magnitude from the S.E. I was aware that my resolves must be instant, +decisive, and immediately acted upon, as on firmness and promptitude at +this crisis the success of the expedition depended. About noon I checked +my horse, and rather to the surprise of my companion, intimated to +him my intention of returning to the camp, He naturally asked what I +purposed doing. I told him it appeared to me more than probable that the +Morumbidgee would hold good its course to some fixed point, now that it +had reached a meridian beyond the known rivers of the interior. It was +certain, from the denseness of the reeds, and the breadth of the belts, +that the teams could not be brought any farther, and that, taking every +thing into consideration, I had resolved on a bold and desperate measure, +that of building the whale-boat, and sending home the drays. Our +appearance in camp so suddenly, surprised the men not more than the orders +I gave. They all thought I had struck on some remarkable change of +country, and were anxious to know my ultimate views. It was not my +intention however, immediately to satisfy their curiosity. I had to study +their characters as long as I could, in order to select those best +qualified to accompany me on the desperate adventure for which I was +preparing. + +BOAT BUILDING. + +The attention both of M'Leay, and myself, was turned to the hasty building +of the whale-boat. A shed was erected, and every necessary preparation +made, and although Clayton had the keel of the small boat already laid +down, and some planks prepared, she was abandoned for the present, and, +after four days more of arduous labour, the whale-boat was painted and in +the water. From her dimensions, it appeared to me impossible that she +would hold all our provisions and stores, for her after-part had been +fitted up as an armoury, which took away considerably from her capacity of +stowage. The small boat would still, therefore, be necessary, and she was +accordingly re-laid, for half the dimensions of the large boat, and in +three days was alongside her consort in the river. Thus, in seven days we +had put together a boat, twenty-seven feet in length, had felled a tree +from the forest, with which we had built a second of half the size, had +painted both, and had them at a temporary wharf ready for loading. Such +would not have been the case had not our hearts been in the work, as the +weather was close and sultry, and we found it a task of extreme labour. +In the intervals between the hours of work, I prepared my despatches for +the Governor, and when they were closed, it only remained for me to select +six hands, the number I intended should accompany me down the river, and +to load the boats, ere we should once more proceed in the further +obedience of our instructions. + +COMPLETION OF ARRANGEMENTS FOR EMBARKATION. + +It was impossible that I could do without Clayton, whose perseverance and +industry had mainly contributed to the building of the boats; of the other +prisoners, I chose Mulholland and Macnamee; leaving the rest in charge +of Robert Harris, whose steady conduct had merited my approbation. My +servant, Harris, Hopkinson, and Fraser, of course, made up the crews. +The boats were loaded in the evening of Jan. 6th, as it had been +necessary to give the paint a little time to dry. On the 4th, I had sent +Clayton and Mulholland to the nearest cypress range for a mast and spar, +and on the evening of that day some blacks had visited us; but they sat on +the bank of the river, preserving a most determined silence; and, at +length, left us abruptly, and apparently in great ill humour. In the +disposition of the loads, I placed all the flour, the tea, and tobacco, +in the whaleboat. The meat-casks, still, and carpenters' tools, were put +into the small boat. + +As soon as the different arrangements were completed, I collected the men, +and told off those who were to accompany me. I then gave the rest over in +charge to Harris, and, in adverting to their regular conduct hitherto, +trusted they would be equally careful while under his orders. I then +directed the last remaining sheep to be equally divided among us; and it +was determined that, for fear of accidents, Harris should remain +stationary for a week, at the expiration of which time, he would be at +liberty to proceed to Goulburn Plains, there to receive his instructions +from Sydney; while the boats were to proceed at an early hour of the +morning down the river,--whether ever to return again being a point of the +greatest uncertainty. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + + +Embarkation of the party in the boats, and voyage down the Morumbidgee-- +The skiff swamped by striking on a sunken tree--Recovery of boat and its +loading--Region of reeds--Dangers of the navigation--Contraction of the +channel--Reach the junction of a large river--Intercourse with the natives +on its banks--Character of the country below the junction of the rivers-- +Descent of a dangerous rapid--Warlike demonstrations of a tribe of +natives--Unexpected deliverance from a conflict with them--Junction of +another river--Give the name of the "Murray" to the principal stream. + + +The camp was a scene of bustle and confusion long before day-light. The +men whom I had selected to accompany me were in high spirits, and so eager +to commence their labours that they had been unable to sleep, but busied +themselves from the earliest dawn in packing up their various articles of +clothing, &c. We were prevented from taking our departure so early as I +had intended, by rain that fell about six. At a little after seven, +however, the weather cleared up, the morning mists blew over our heads, +and the sun struck upon us with his usual fervour. As soon as the minor +things were stowed away, we bade adieu to Harris and his party; and +shortly after, embarked on the bosom of that stream along the banks of +which we had journeyed for so many miles + +Notwithstanding that we only used two oars, our progress down the river +was rapid. Hopkinson had arranged the loads so well, that all the party +could sit at their ease, and Fraser was posted in the bow of the boat, +with gun in hand, to fire at any new bird or beast that we might surprise +in our silent progress. The little boat, which I shall henceforward call +the skiff, was fastened by a painter to our stern. + +SUPPOSED JUNCTION OF LACHLAN. + +As the reader will have collected from what has already fallen under his +notice, the country near the depot was extensively covered with reeds, +beyond which vast plains of polygonum stretched away. From the bed of the +river we could not observe the change that took place in it as we passed +along, so that we found it necessary to land, from time to time, for the +purpose of noting down its general appearance. At about fifteen miles from +the depot, we came upon a large creek-junction from the N.E., which I did +not doubt to be the one M'Leay and I had crossed on the 25th of December. +It was much larger than the creek of the Macquarie, and was capable of +holding a very great body of water, although evidently too small to +contain all that occasionally rushed from its source. I laid it down as +the supposed junction of the Lachlan, since I could not, against the +corroborating facts in my possession, doubt its originating in the marshes +of that river. Should this, eventually, prove to be the case, the similar +termination of the two streams traced by Mr. Oxley will be a singular +feature in the geography of the interior. + +EMUS--NATIVE TOMB. + +We were just about to land, to prepare our dinner, when two emus swam +across the river ahead of us. This was an additional inducement for us to +land, but we were unfortunately too slow, and the birds escaped us. We had +rushed in to the right bank, and found on ascending it, that the reeds +with which it had hitherto been lined, had partially ceased. A large +plain, similar to those over which we had wandered prior to our gaining +the flooded region, stretched away to a considerable distance behind us, +and was backed by cypresses and brush. The soil of the plain was a red +sandy loam, covered sparingly with salsolae and shrubs; thus indicating +that the country still preserved its barren character, and that it is the +same from north to south. Among the shrubs we found a tomb that appeared +to have been recently constructed. No mound had been raised over the body, +but an oval hollow shed occupied the centre of the burial place, that was +lined with reeds and bound together with strong net-work. Round this, the +usual walks were cut, and the recent traces of women's feet were visible +upon them, but we saw no natives, although, from the number and size of +the paths that led from the river, in various directions across the plain, +I was led to conclude, that, at certain seasons, it is hereabouts +numerously frequented. Fraser gathered some rushes similar to those used +by the natives of the Darling in the fabrication of their nets, and as +they had not before been observed, we judged them, of course, to be a sign +of our near approach to that river. + +ASPECT OF COUNTRY AND RIVER. + +As soon as we had taken a hasty dinner, we again embarked, and pursued our +journey. I had hoped, from the appearance of the country to the north of +us, although that to the south gave little indication of any change, that +we should soon clear the reeds; but at somewhat less than a mile they +closed in upon the river, and our frequent examination of the +neighbourhood on either side of it only tended to confirm the fact, that +we were passing through a country subject to great and extensive +inundation. We pulled up at half-past five, and could scarcely find space +enough to pitch our tents. + +The Morumbidgee kept a decidedly westerly course during the day. Its +channel was not so tortuous as we expected to have found it, nor did it +offer any obstruction to the passage of the boats. Its banks kept a +general height of eight feet, five of which were of alluvial soil, and +both its depth and its current were considerable. We calculated having +proceeded from 28 to 30 miles, though, perhaps, not more than half that +distance in a direct line. No rain fell during the day, but we experienced +some heavy squalls from the E.S.E. + +THE SKIFF STRIKES AND SINKS--LABOUR IN RECOVERING ARTICLES LOST. + +The second day of our journey from the depot was marked by an accident +that had well nigh obliged us to abandon the further pursuit of the river, +by depriving us of part of our means of carrying it into effect. We had +proceeded, as usual, at an early hour in the morning, and not long after +we started, fell in with the blacks who had visited us last, and who were +now in much better humour than upon that occasion. As they had their women +with them, we pushed in to the bank, and distributed some presents, after +which we dropped quietly down the river. Its general depth had been such +as to offer few obstructions to our progress, but about an hour after we +left the natives, the skiff struck upon a sunken log, and immediately +filling, went down in about twelve feet of water, The length of the +painter prevented any strain upon the whale-boat, but the consequence of +so serious an accident at once flashed upon our minds. That we should +suffer considerably, we could not doubt, but our object was to get the +skiff up with the least possible delay, to prevent the fresh water from +mixing with the brine, in the casks of meat. Some short time, however, +necessarily elapsed before we could effect this, and when at last the +skiff was hauled ashore, we found that we were too late to prevent the +mischief that we had anticipated. All the things had been fastened in the +boat, but either from the shock, or the force of the current, one of the +pork casks, the head of the still, and the greater part of the carpenter's +tools, had been thrown out of her. As the success of the expedition might +probably depend upon the complete state of the still, I determined to use +every effort for its recovery: but I was truly at a loss how to find it; +for the waters of the river were extremely turbid. In this dilemma, the +blacks would have been of the most essential service, but they were far +behind us, so that we had to depend on our own exertions alone. I directed +the whale-boat to be moored over the place where the accident had +happened, and then used the oars on either side of her, to feel along the +bottom of the river, in hopes that by these means we should strike upon +the articles we had lost. However unlikely such a measure was to prove +successful, we recovered in the course of the afternoon, every thing but +the still-head, and a cask of paint. Whenever the oar struck against the +substance that appeared, by its sound or feel to belong to us, it was +immediately pushed into the sand, and the upper end of the oar being held +by two men, another descended by it to the bottom of the river, remaining +under water as long as he could, to ascertain what was immediately within +arm's length of him. This work was, as may be imagined, most laborious, +and the men at length became much exhausted. They would not, however, give +up the search for the still head, more especially after M'Leay, in diving, +had descended upon it. Had he, by ascertaining his position, left it to us +to heave it up, our labours would soon have ended; but, in his anxiety for +its recovery, he tried to bring it up, when finding it too heavy, he let +it go, and the current again swept it away. + +At sunset. we were obliged to relinquish our task, the men complaining of +violent head-aches, which the nature of the day increased. Thinking our +own efforts would be unavailing, I directed two of the men to go up the +river for the blacks, at day-light in the morning, and set the reeds on +fire to attract their notice. The day had been cloudy and sultry in the +afternoon, the clouds collecting in the N.E.: we heard the distant +thunder, and expected to have been deluged with rain. None, however, +fell, although we were anxious for moisture to change the oppressive state +of the atmosphere. The fire I had kindled raged behind us, and threw dense +columns of smoke into the sky, that cast over the landscape a shade of the +most dismal gloom. We were not in a humour to admire the picturesque, but +soon betook ourselves to rest, and after such a day of labour as that we +had undergone, I dispensed with the night guard. + +PILFERING OF NATIVES. + +In the morning we resumed our search for the still head, which Hopkinson +at length fortunately struck with his oar. It had been swept considerably +below the place at which M'Leay had dived, or we should most probably have +found it sooner. With its recovery, all our fatigues were at once +forgotten, and I ordered the breakfast to be got ready preparatory to our +reloading the skiff. Fraser and Mulholland, who had left the camp at +daylight, had not yet returned. I was sitting in the tent, when Macnamee +came to inform me that one of the frying-pans was missing, which had +been in use the evening previous, for that he himself had placed it on the +stump of a tree, and he therefore supposed a native dog had run away with +it. Soon after this, another loss was reported to me, and it was at last +discovered that an extensive robbery had been committed upon us during +the night, and that, in addition to the frying-pan, three cutlasses, and +five tomahawks, with the pea of the steelyards, had been carried away. +I was extremely surprised at this instance of daring in the natives, and +determined, if possible, to punish it. About ten, Fraser and Mulholland +returned with two blacks. Fraser told me he saw several natives on our +side of the river, as he was returning, to whom those who were with him +spoke, and I felt convinced from their manner and hesitation, that they +were aware of the trick that had been played upon us. However, as Fraser +had promised them a tomahawk to induce them to accompany him, I fulfilled +the promise. + +CONTINUE OUR VOYAGE. + +Leaving this unlucky spot, we made good about sixteen miles during the +afternoon. The river maintained its breadth and depth nor were the reeds +continuous upon its banks. We passed several plains that were considerably +elevated above the alluvial deposits, and the general appearance of the +country induced me strongly to hope that we should shortly get out of the +region of reeds, or the great flooded concavity on which we had fixed our +depot; but the sameness of vegetation, and the seemingly diminutive size +of the timber in the distance, argued against any change for the better +in the soil of the interior. Having taken the precaution of shortening the +painter of the skiff, we found less difficulty in steering her clear +of obstacles, and made rapid progress down the Morumbidgee during the +first cool and refreshing hours of the morning. The channel of the river +became somewhat less contracted, but still retained sufficient depth for +larger boats than ours, and preserved a general westerly course. Although +no decline of country was visible to the eye, the current in places ran +very strong. It is impossible for me to convey to the reader's mind an +idea of the nature of the country through which we passed. On this day the +favourable appearances, noticed yesterday, ceased almost as soon as we +embarked. On the 10th, reeds lined the banks of the river on both sides, +without any break, and waved like gloomy streamers over its turbid waters; +while the trees stood leafless and sapless in the midst of them. Wherever +we landed, the same view presented itself--a waving expanse of reeds, and +a country as flat as it is possible to imagine one. The eye could seldom +penetrate beyond three quarters of a mile, and the labour of walking +through the reeds was immense; but within our observation all was green +and cheerless. The morning had been extremely cold, with a thick haze at +E.S.E. About 2 p.m. it came on to rain heavily, so that we did not stir +after that hour. + +CONTRACTION OF THE CHANNEL. + +I had remarked that the Morumbidgee was not, from the depot downwards, so +broad or so fine a river as it certainly is at the foot of the mountain +ranges, where it gains the level country. The observations of the last two +days had impressed upon my mind an idea that it was rapidly falling off, +and I began to dread that it would finally terminate in one of those fatal +marshes in which the Macquarie and the Lachlan exhaust themselves. My hope +of a more favourable issue was considerably damped by the general +appearance of the surrounding country; and from the circumstance of our +not having as yet passed a single tributary. As we proceeded down the +river, its channel gradually contracted, and immense trees that had been +swept down it by floods, rendered the navigation dangerous and intricate. +Its waters became so turbid, that it was impossible to see objects in it, +notwithstanding the utmost diligence on the part of the men. + +About noon, we fell in with a large tribe of natives, but had great +difficulty in bringing them to visit us. If they had HEARD of white men, +we were evidently the first they had ever SEEN. They approached us in the +most cautious manner, and were unable to subdue their fears as long as +they remained with us. Collectively, these people could not have amounted +to less than one hundred and twenty in number. + +ANOTHER ACCIDENT. + +As we pushed off from the bank, after having stayed with them about half +an hour, the whaleboat struck with such violence on a sunken log, that she +immediately leaked on her starboard side. Fortunately she was going slowly +at the time, or she would most probably have received some more serious +injury. One of the men was employed during the remainder of the afternoon +in bailing her out, and we stopped sooner than we should otherwise have +done, in order to ascertain the extent of damage, and to repair it. The +reeds terminated on both sides of the river some time before we pulled up, +and the country round the camp was more elevated than usual, and bore the +appearance of open forest pasture land, the timber upon it being a dwarf +species of box, and the soil a light tenacious earth. + +ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY AND OF THE RIVER. + +About a mile below our encampment of the 12th, we at length came upon a +considerable creek-junction from the S.E. Below it, the river increased +both in breadth and depth; banks were lofty and perpendicular, and even +the lowest levels were but partially covered with reeds. We met with fewer +obstructions in consequence, and pursued our journey with restored +confidence. Towards evening a great change also took place in the aspect +of the country, which no longer bore general marks of inundation. The +level of the interior was broken by a small hill to the right of the +stream, but the view from its summit rather damped than encouraged my +hopes of any improvement. The country was covered with wood and brush, and +the line of the horizon was unbroken by the least swell. We were on an +apparently boundless flat, without any fixed point on which to direct our +movements, nor was there a single object for the eye to rest upon, beyond +the dark and gloomy wood that surrounded us on every side. + +Soon after passing this hill, the whale-boat struck upon a line of sunken +rocks, but fortunately escaped without injury. Mulholland, who was +standing in the bow, was thrown out of her, head foremost, and got a good +soaking, but soon recovered himself. The composition of the rock was +iron-stone, and it is the first formation that occurs westward of the +dividing range. We noticed a few cypresses in the distance, but the +general timber was dwarf-box, or flooded-gum, and a few of the acacia +longa scattered at great distances. In verifying our position by some +lunars, we found ourselves in 142 degrees 46 minutes 30 seconds of east +long., and in lat. 35 degrees 25 minutes 15 seconds S. the mean variation +of the compass being 4 degrees 10 minutes E. it appearing that we were +decreasing the variation as we proceeded westward. + +On the 13th, we passed the first running stream that joins the +Morumbidgee, in a course of more than 340 miles. It came from the S.E., +and made a visible impression on the river at the junction, although in +tracing it up, it appeared to be insignificant in itself. The circumstance +of these tributaries all occurring on the left, evidenced the level nature +of the country to the north. In the afternoon, we passed a dry creek also +from the S.E. which must at times throw a vast supply of water into the +river, since for many miles below, the latter preserved a breadth of +200 feet, and averaged from 12 to 20 feet in depth, with banks of from +15 to 18 feet in height. Yet, notwithstanding its general equality of +depth, several rapids occurred, down which the boats were hurried with +great velocity. The body of water in the river continued undiminished, +notwithstanding its increased breadth of channel; for which reason I +should imagine that it is fed by springs, independently of other supplies. +Some few cypresses were again observed, and the character of the distant +country resembled, in every particular, that of the interior between the +Macquarie and the Darling. The general appearance of the Morumbidgee, from +the moment of our starting on the 13th, to a late hour in the afternoon, +had been such as to encourage my hopes of ultimate success in tracing it +down; but about three o'clock we came to one of those unaccountable and +mortifying changes which had already so frequently excited my +apprehension. Its channel again suddenly contracted, and became almost +blocked up with huge trees, that must have found their way into it down +the creeks or junctions we had lately passed. The rapidity of the current +increasing at the same time, rendered the navigation perplexing and +dangerous. We Passed reach after reach, presenting the same difficulties, +and were at length obliged to pull up at 5 p.m., having a scene of +confusion and danger before us that I did not dare to encounter with the +evening's light; for I had not only observed that the men's eye-sight +failed them as the sun descended, and that they mistook shadows for +objects under water, and VICE-VERSA, but the channel had become so narrow +that, although the banks were not of increased height, we were involved in +comparative darkness, under a close arch of trees, and a danger was hardly +seen ere we were hurried past it, almost without the possibility of +avoiding it. The reach at the head of which we stopped, was crowded with +the trunks of trees, the branches of which crossed each other in every +direction, nor could I hope, after a minute examination of the channel, +to succeed in taking the boats safely down so intricate a passage. + +DANGEROUS NAVIGATION OF THE MORUMBIDGEE. + +We rose in the morning with feelings of apprehension, and uncertainty; +and, indeed, with great doubts on our minds whether we were not thus early +destined to witness the wreck, and the defeat of the expedition. The men +got slowly and cautiously into the boat, and placed themselves so as to +leave no part of her undefended. Hopkinson stood at the bow, ready with +poles to turn her head from anything upon which she might be drifting. +Thus prepared, we allowed her to go with the stream. By extreme care and +attention on the part of the men we passed this formidable barrier. +Hopkinson in particular exerted himself, and more than once leapt from the +boat upon apparently rotten logs of wood, that I should not have judged +capable of bearing his weight, the more effectually to save the boat. +It might have been imagined that where such a quantity of timber had +accumulated, a clearer channel would have been found below, but such was +not the case. In every reach we had to encounter fresh difficulties. In +some places huge trees lay athwart the stream, under whose arched branches +we were obliged to pass; but, generally speaking, they had been carried, +roots foremost, by the current, and, therefore, presented so many points +to receive us, that, at the rate at which we were going, had we struck +full upon any one of them, it would have gone through and through the +boat. About noon we stopped to repair, or rather to take down the remains +of our awning, which had been torn away; and to breathe a moment from the +state of apprehension and anxiety in which our minds had been kept during +the morning. About one, we again started. The men looked anxiously out +ahead; for the singular change in the river had impressed on them an idea, +that we were approaching its termination, or near some adventure. On a +sudden, the river took a general southern direction, but, in its tortuous +course, swept round to every point of the compass with the greatest +irregularity. We were carried at a fearful rate down its gloomy and +contracted banks, and, in such a moment of excitement, had little time to +pay attention to the country through which we were passing. It was, +however, observed, that chalybeate-springs were numerous close to the +water's edge. At 3 p.m., Hopkinson called out that we were approaching +a junction, and in less than a minute afterwards, we were hurried into a +broad and noble river. + +JUNCTION OF A LARGE RIVER--CHARACTER OF THE RIVER. + +It is impossible for me to describe the effect of so instantaneous a +change of circumstances upon us. The boats were allowed to drift along at +pleasure, and such was the force with which we had been shot out of the +Morumbidgee, that we were carried nearly to the bank opposite its +embouchure, whilst we continued to gaze in silent astonishment on the +capacious channel we had entered; and when we looked for that by which we +had been led into it, we could hardly believe that the insignificant gap +that presented itself to us was, indeed, the termination of the beautiful +and noble stream, whose course we had thus successfully followed. I can +only compare the relief we experienced to that which the seaman feels on +weathering the rock upon which be expected his vessel would have +struck--to the calm which succeeds moments of feverish anxiety, when the +dread of danger is succeeded by the certainty of escape. + +To myself personally, the discovery of this river was a circumstance of a +particularly gratifying nature, since it not only confirmed the justness +of my opinion as to the ultimate fate of the Morumbidgee, and bore me out +in the apparently rash and hasty step I had taken at the depot, but +assured me of ultimate success in the duty I had to perform. We had got on +the high road, as it were, either to the south coast, or to some +important outlet; and the appearance of the river itself was such as to +justify our most sanguine expectations. I could not doubt its being the +great channel of the streams from the S.E. angle of the island. Mr. Hume +had mentioned to me that he crossed three very considerable streams, when +employed with Mr. Hovell in 1823 in penetrating towards Port Phillips, to +which the names of the Goulburn, the Hume, and the Ovens, had been given; +and as I was 300 miles from the track these gentlemen had pursued, I +considered it more than probable that those rivers must already have +formed a junction above me, more especially when I reflected that the +convexity of the mountains to the S.E. would necessarily direct the waters +falling inwards from them to a common centre. + +We entered the new river at right angles, and, as I have remarked, at the +point of junction the channel of the Morumbidgee had narrowed so as to +bear all the appearance of an ordinary creek. In breadth it did not exceed +fifty feet, and if, instead of having passed down it, I had been making my +way up the principal streams, I should little have dreamt that so dark and +gloomy an outlet concealed a river that would lead me to the haunts of +civilized man, and whose fountains rose amidst snow-clad mountains. Such, +however, is the characteristic of the streams falling to the westward of +the coast ranges. Descending into a low and level interior, and depending +on their immediate springs for existence, they fall off, as they increase +their distance from the base of the mountains in which they rise, and in +their lower branches give little results of the promise they had +previously made. + +The opinion I have expressed, and which is founded on my personal +experience, that the rivers crossed by Messrs. Hovell and Hume had +already united above me, was strengthened by the capacity of the stream we +had just discovered. It had a medium width of 350 feet, with a depth of +from twelve to twenty. Its reaches were from half to three-quarters of a +mile in length, and the views upon it were splendid. Of course, as the +Morumbidgee entered it from the north, its first reach must have been +E. and W., and it was so, as nearly as possible; but it took us a little +to the southward of the latter point, in a distance of about eight miles +that we pulled down it in the course of the afternoon. We then landed and +pitched our tents for the night. Its transparent waters were running over +a sandy bed at the rate of two-and-a-half knots an hour, and its banks, +although averaging eighteen feet in height, were evidently subject to +floods. + +ABSENCE OF NATIVES. + +We had not seen any natives since falling in with the last tribe on the +Morumbidgee. A cessation had, therefore, taken place in our communication +with them, in re-establishing which I anticipated considerable difficulty. +It appeared singular that we should not have fallen in with any for +several successive days, more especially at the junction of the two +rivers, as in similar situations they generally have an establishment. In +examining the country back from the stream, I did not observe any large +paths, but it was evident that fires had made extensive ravages in the +neighbourhood, so that the country was, perhaps, only temporarily +deserted. Macnamee, who had wandered a little from the tents, declared +that he had seen about a dozen natives round a fire, from whom (if he +really did see them) he very precipitately fled, but I was inclined to +discredit his story, because in our journey on the following day, we +did not see even a casual wanderer. + +WEATHER, TEMPERATURE, &C. + +The river maintained its character, and raised our hopes to the highest +pitch. Its breadth varied from 160 to 200 yards; and only in one place, +where a reef of iron-stone stretched nearly across from the left bank, +so as to contract the channel near the right and to form a considerable +rapid, was there any apparent obstruction to our navigation. I was sorry, +however, to remark that the breadth of alluvial soil between its outer and +inner banks was very inconsiderable, and that the upper levels were poor +and sandy. Blue-gum generally occupied the former, while the usual +productions of the plains still predominated upon the latter, and showed +that the distant interior had not yet undergone any favourable change. +We experienced strong breezes from the north, but the range of the +thermometer was high, and the weather rather oppressive than otherwise. +On the night of the 16th, we had a strong wind from the N.W., but it +moderated with day-light, and shifted to the E.N.E., and the day was +favourable and cool. Our progress was in every way satisfactory, and if +any change had taken place in the river, it was that the banks had +increased in height, in many places to thirty feet, the soil being a red +loam, and the surface much above the reach of floods. The bank opposite to +the one that was so elevated, was proportionably low, and, in general, not +only heavily timbered, but covered with reeds, and backed by a chain of +ponds at the base of the outer embankment. + +INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES. + +About 4 p.m., some natives were observed running by the river side behind +us, but on our turning the boat's head towards the shore, they ran away. +It was evident that they had no idea what we were, and, from their +timidity, feeling assured that it would be impossible to bring them to a +parley, we continued onwards till our usual hour of stopping, when we +pitched our tents on the left bank for the night, it being the one +opposite to that on which the natives had appeared. We conjectured that +their curiosity would lead them to follow us, which they very shortly did; +for we had scarcely made ourselves comfortable when we heard their wild +notes through the woods as they advanced towards the river; and their +breaking into view with their spears and shields, and painted and prepared +as they were for battle, was extremely fine. They stood threatening us, +and making a great noise, for a considerable time, but, finding that we +took no notice of them, they, at length, became quiet. I then walked to +some little distance from the party, and taking a branch in my hand, as a +sign of peace, beckoned them to swim to our side of the river, which, +after some time, two or three of them did. But they approached me with +great caution, hesitating at every step. They soon, however, gained +confidence, and were ultimately joined by all the males of their tribe. +I gave the FIRST who swam the river a tomahawk (making this a rule in +order to encourage them) with which he was highly delighted. I shortly +afterwards placed them all in a row and fired a gun before them: they were +quite unprepared for such an explosion, and after standing stupified and +motionless for a moment or two, they simultaneously took to their heels, +to our great amusement. I succeeded, however, in calling them back, and +they regained their confidence so much, that sixteen of them remained with +us all night, but the greater number retired at sunset. + +On the following morning, they accompanied us down the river, where we +fell in with their tribe, who were stationed on an elevated bank a short +distance below--to the number of eighty-three men, women, and children. +Their appearance was extremely picturesque and singular. They wanted us to +land, but time was too precious for such delays. Some of the boldest of +the natives swam round and round the boat so as to impede the use of the +oars, and the women on the bank evinced their astonishment by mingled +yells and cries. They entreated us, by signs, to remain with them, but, as +I foresaw a compliance on this occasion would hereafter be attended with +inconvenience, I thought it better to proceed on our journey, and the +natives soon ceased their importunities, and, indeed, did not follow or +molest us. + +ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY AND OF THE RIVER BANKS. + +The river improved upon us at every mile. Its reaches were of noble +breadth, and splendid appearance. Its current was stronger, and it was fed +by numerous springs. Rocks, however, were more frequent in its bed, and in +two places almost formed a barrier across the channel, leaving but a +narrow space for the boats to go down. We passed several elevations of +from 70 to 90 feet in height, at the base of which the stream swept along. +The soil of these elevations was a mixture of clay (marl) and sand, upon +coarse sandstone. Their appearance and the manner in which they had been +acted upon by water, was singular, and afforded a proof of the violence of +the rains in this part of the interior. From the highest of these, I +observed that the country to the S.E. was gently undulated, and so far +changed in character from that through which we had been travelling; +still, however, it was covered with a low scrub, and was barren and +unpromising. + +About noon of the 18th, we surprised two women at the water-side, who +immediately retreated into the brush. Shortly after, four men showed +themselves, and followed us for a short distance, but hid themselves upon +our landing. The country still appeared undulated to the S.E.; the soil +was sandy, and cypresses more abundant than any other tree. We passed +several extensive sand-banks in the river, of unusual size and solidity, +an evident proof of the sandy nature of the interior generally. The vast +accumulations of sand at the junctions of every creek were particularly +remarkable. The timber on the alluvial flats was not by any means so large +as we had hitherto observed it; nor were the flats themselves so extensive +as they are on the Morumbidgee and the Macquarie. Notwithstanding the +aspect of the country which I have described, no POSITIVE change had as +yet taken place in the general feature of the interior. The river +continued to flow in a direction somewhat to the northward of west, +through a country that underwent no perceptible alteration. Its waters, +confined to their immediate bed, swept along considerably below the level +of its inner banks; and the spaces between them and the outer ones, though +generally covered with reeds, seemed not recently to have been flooded; +while on the other hand, they had, in many places, from successive +depositions, risen to a height far above the reach of inundation. Still, +however, the more remote interior maintained its sandy and sterile +character, and stretched away, in alternate plain and wood, to a distance +far beyond the limits of our examination. + +About the 21st, a very evident change took place in it. The banks of the +river suddenly acquired a perpendicular and water-worn appearance. Their +summits were perfectly level, and no longer confined by a secondary +embankment, but preserved an uniform equality of surface back from the +stream. These banks, although so abrupt, were not so high as the upper +levels, or secondary embankments. They indicated a deep alluvial deposit, +and yet, being high above the reach of any ordinary flood, were covered +with grass, under an open box forest, into which a moderately dense scrub +occasionally penetrated. We had fallen into a concavity similar to those +of the marshes, but successive depositions had almost filled it, and no +longer subject to inundation, it had lost all the character of those +flooded tracts. The kind of country I have been describing, lay rather to +the right than to the left of the river at this place, the latter +continuing low and swampy, as if the country to the south of the river +were still subject to inundation. As the expedition proceeded, the left +bank gradually assumed the appearance of the right; both looked water-worn +and perpendicular, and though not more than from nine to ten feet in +height, their summits were perfectly level in receding, and bore +diminutive box-timber, with widely-scattered vegetation. Not a single +elevation had, as yet, broken the dark and gloomy monotony of the +interior; but as our observations were limited to a short distance from +the river, our surmises on the nature of the distant country were +necessarily involved in some uncertainty. + +THREATENED ATTACK--AMICABLE CONFERENCE. + +On the 19th, as we were about to conclude our journey for the day, we saw +a large body of natives before us. On approaching them, they showed every +disposition for combat, and ran along the bank with spears in rests, as if +only waiting for an opportunity to throw them at us. They were upon the +right, and as the river was broad enough to enable me to steer wide of +them, I did not care much for their threats; but upon another party +appearing upon the left bank, I thought it high time to disperse one or +the other of them, as the channel was not wide enough to enable me to keep +clear of danger, if assailed by both, as I might be while keeping amid the +channel. I found, however, that they did not know how to use the advantage +they possessed, as the two divisions formed a junction; those on the left +swimming over to the stronger body upon the right bank. This, fortunately, +prevented the necessity of any hostile measure on my part, and we were +suffered to proceed unmolested, for the present. The whole then followed +us without any symptom of fear, but making a dreadful shouting, and +beating their spears and shields together, by way of intimidation. It is +but justice to my men to say that in this critical situation they evinced +the greatest coolness, though it was impossible for any one to witness +such a scene with indifference. As I did not intend to fatigue the men by +continuing to pull farther than we were in the habit of doing, we landed +at our usual time on the left bank, and while the people were pitching the +tents, I walked down the bank with M'Leay, to treat with these desperadoes +in the best way we could, across the water, a measure to which my men +showed great reluctance, declaring that if during our absence the natives +approached them, they would undoubtedly fire upon them. I assured them it +was not my intention to go out of their sight. We took our guns with us, +but determined not to use them until the last extremity, both from a +reluctance to shed blood and with a view to our future security. I held a +long pantomimical dialogue with them, across the water, and held out the +olive branch in token of amity. They at length laid aside their spears, +and a long consultation took place among them, which ended in two or three +wading into the river, contrary, as it appeared, to the earnest +remonstrances of the majority, who, finding that their entreaties had no +effect, wept aloud, and followed them with a determination, I am sure, of +sharing their fate, whatever it might have been. As soon as they landed, +M'Leay and I retired to a little distance from the bank, and sat down; +that being the usual way among the natives of the interior, to invite to +an interview. When they saw us act thus, they approached, and sat down by +us, but without looking up, from a kind of diffidence peculiar to them, +and which exists even among the nearest relatives, as I have already had +occasion to observe. As they gained confidence, however, they showed an +excessive curiosity, and stared at us in the most earnest manner. We now +led them to the camp, and I gave, as was my custom, the first who had +approached, a tomahawk; and to the others, some pieces of iron hoop. Those +who had crossed the river amounted to about thirty-five in number. +At sunset, the majority of them left us; but three old men remained at +the fire-side all night. I observed that few of them had either lost their +front teeth or lacerated their bodies, as the more westerly tribes do. The +most loathsome diseases prevailed among them. Several were disabled by +leprosy, or some similar disorder, and two or three had entirely lost +their sight. They are, undoubtedly, a brave and a confiding people, and +are by no means wanting in natural affection. In person, they resemble the +mountain tribes. They had the thick lip, the sunken eye, the extended +nostril, and long beards, and both smooth and curly hair are common among +them. Their lower extremities appear to bear no proportion to their bust +in point of muscular strength; but the facility with which they ascend +trees of the largest growth, and the activity with which they move upon +all occasions, together with their singularly erect stature, argue that +such appearance is entirely deceptive. + +INTERCOURSE WITH NATIVES. + +The old men slept very soundly by the fire, and were the last to get up in +the morning. M'Leay's extreme good humour had made a most favourable +impression upon them, and I can picture him, even now, joining in their +wild song. Whether it was from his entering so readily into their mirth, +or from anything peculiar that struck them, the impression upon the whole +of us was, that they took him to have been originally a black, in +consequence of which they gave him the name of Rundi. Certain it is, they +pressed him to show his side, and asked if he had not received a wound +there--evidently as if the original Rundi had met with a violent death +from a spear-wound in that place. The whole tribe, amounting in number to +upwards of 150, assembled to see us take our departure. Four of them +accompanied us, among whom there was one remarkable for personal strength +and stature.--The 21st passed without our falling in with any new tribe, +and the night of the 22nd, saw us still wandering in that lonely desert +together. There was something unusual in our going through such an extent +of country without meeting another tribe, but our companions appeared to +be perfectly aware of the absence of inhabitants, as they never left +our side. + +Although the banks of the river had been of general equality of height, +sandy elevations still occasionally formed a part of them, and their +summits were considerably higher than the alluvial flats. + +RAPID IN THE RIVER--DANGEROUS DESCENT OF THE BOATS. + +It was upon the crest of one of these steep and lofty banks, that on the +morning of the 22nd, the natives who were a-head of the boat, suddenly +stopped to watch our proceedings down a foaming rapid that ran beneath. +We were not aware of the danger to which we were approaching, until we +turned an angle of the river, and found ourselves too near to retreat. +In such a moment, without knowing what was before them, the coolness of +the men was strikingly exemplified. No one even spoke after they became +aware that silence was necessary. The natives (probably anticipating +misfortune) stood leaning upon their spears upon the lofty bank above us. +Desiring the men not to move from their seats, I stood up to survey the +channel, and to steer the boat to that part of it which was least impeded +by rocks. I was obliged to decide upon a hasty survey, as we were already +at the head of the rapid. It appeared to me that there were two passages, +the one down the centre of the river, the other immediately under its +right bank. A considerable rock stood directly in own way to the latter, +so that I had no alternative but to descend the former. About forty yards +below the rock, I noticed that a line of rocks occupied the space between +the two channels, whilst a reef, projecting from the left bank, made the +central passage distinctly visible, and the rapidity of the current +proportionably great. I entertained hopes that the passage was clear, and +that we should shoot down it without interruption; but in this I was +disappointed. The boat struck with the fore-part of her keel on a sunken +rock, and, swinging round as it were on a pivot, presented her bow to the +rapid, while the skiff floated away into the strength of it. We had every +reason to anticipate the loss of our whale-boat, whose build was so light, +that had her side struck the rock, instead of her keel, she would have +been laid open from stem to stern. As it was, however, she remained fixed +in her position, and it only remained for us to get her off the best way +we could. I saw that this could only be done by sending two of the men +with a rope to the upper rock, and getting the boat, by that means, into +the still water, between that and the lower one. We should then have time +to examine the channels, and to decide as to that down which it would be +safest to proceed. My only fear was, that the loss of the weight of the +two men would lighten the boat so much, that she would be precipitated +down the rapid without my having any command over her; but it happened +otherwise. We succeeded in getting her into the still water, and +ultimately took her down the channel under the right bank, without her +sustaining any injury. A few miles below this rapid the river took a +singular bend, and we found, after pulling several miles, that we were +within a stone's throw of a part of the stream we had already +sailed down. + +The four natives joined us in the camp, and assisted the men at their +various occupations. The consequence was, that they were treated with more +than ordinary kindness; and Fraser, for his part, in order to gratify +these favoured guests, made great havoc among the feathered race. He +returned after a short ramble with a variety of game, among which were a +crow, a kite, and a laughing jackass (alcedo gigantea,) a species of +king's-fisher, a singular bird, found in every part of Australia. Its cry, +which resembles a chorus of wild spirits, is apt to startle the traveller +who may be in jeopardy, as if laughing and mocking at his misfortune. +It is a harmless bird, and I seldom allowed them to be destroyed, as they +were sure to rouse us with the earliest dawn. To this list of Fraser's +spoils, a duck and a tough old cockatoo, must be added. The whole of these +our friends threw on the fire without the delay of plucking, and snatched +them from that consuming element ere they were well singed, and devoured +them with uncommon relish. + +DESERTED NATIVE VILLAGE. + +We pitched our tents upon a flat of good and tenacious soil. A brush, in +which there was a new species of melaleuca, backed it, in the thickest +part of which we found a deserted native village. The spot was evidently +chosen for shelter. The huts were large and long, all facing the same +point of the compass, and in every way resembling the huts occupied by the +natives of the Darling. Large flocks of whistling ducks, and other wild +fowl, flew over our heads to the N.W., as if making their way to some +large or favourite waters. My observations placed us in lat. 34 degrees +8 minutes 15 seconds south, and in east long. 141 degrees 9 minutes +42 seconds or nearly so; and I was at a loss to conceive what direction +the river would ultimately take. We were considerably to the N.W. of the +point at which we had entered it, and in referring to the chart, it +appeared, that if the Darling had kept a S.W. course from where the last +expedition left its banks, we ought ere this to have struck upon it, +or have arrived at its junction with the stream on which we were +journeying. + +CONVERSING BY SIGNS. + +The natives, in attempting to answer my interrogatories, only perplexed +me more and more. They evidently wished to explain something, by placing a +number of sticks across each other as a kind of diagram of the country. It +was, however, impossible to arrive at their meaning. They undoubtedly +pointed to the westward, or rather to the south of that point, as the +future course of the river; but there was something more that they were +anxious to explain, which I could not comprehend. The poor fellows seemed +quite disappointed, and endeavoured to beat it into Fraser's head with as +little success. I then desired Macnamee to get up into a tree. From the +upper branches of it he said he could see hills; but his account of their +appearance was such that I doubted his story: nevertheless it might have +been correct. He certainly called our attention to a large fire, as if the +country to the N.W. was in flames, so that it appeared we were approaching +the haunts of the natives at last. + +It happened that Fraser and Harris were for guard, and they sat up +laughing and talking with the natives long after we retired to rest. +Fraser, to beguile the hours, proposed shaving his sable companions, and +performed that operation with admirable dexterity upon their chief, to his +great delight. I got up at an early hour, and found to my surprise that +the whole of them had deserted us. Harris told me they had risen from the +fire about an hour before, and had crossed the river. I was a little +angry, but supposed they were aware that we were near some tribe, and had +gone on a-head to prepare and collect them. + +LARGE CONCOURSE OF NATIVES--THEIR HOSTILE DEMEANOUR. + +After breakfast, we proceeded onwards as usual. The river had increased so +much in width that, the wind being fair, I hoisted sail for the first +time, to save the strength of my men as much as possible. Our progress was +consequently rapid. We passed through a country that, from the nature of +its soil and other circumstances, appeared to be intersected by creeks and +lagoons. Vast flights of wild fowl passed over us, but always at a +considerable elevation, while, on the other hand, the paucity of ducks on +the river excited our surprise. Latterly, the trees upon the river, and in +its neighbourhood, had been a tortuous kind of box. The flooded-gum grew +in groups on the spaces subject to inundation, but not on the levels above +the influence of any ordinary rise of the stream. Still they were much +smaller than they were observed to be in the higher branches of the river. +We had proceeded about nine miles, when we were surprised by the +appearance in view, at the termination of a reach, of a long line of +magnificent trees of green and dense foliage. As we sailed down the reach, +we observed a vast concourse of natives under them, and, on a nearer +approach, we not only heard their war-song, if it might so be called, but +remarked that they were painted and armed, as they generally are, prior +to their engaging in deadly conflict. Notwithstanding these outward signs +of hostility, fancying that our four friends were with them, I continued +to steer directly in for the bank on which they were collected. I found, +however, when it was almost too late to turn into the succeeding reach +to our left, that an attempt to land would only be attended with loss of +life. The natives seemed determined to resist it. We approached so near +that they held their spears quivering in their grasp ready to hurl. They +were painted in various ways. Some who had marked their ribs, and thighs, +and faces with a white pigment, looked like skeletons, others were daubed +over with red and yellow ochre, and their bodies shone with the grease +with which they had besmeared themselves. A dead silence prevailed among +the front ranks, but those in the back ground, as well as the women, who +carried supplies of darts, and who appeared to have had a bucket of +whitewash capsized over their heads, were extremely clamorous. As I did +not wish a conflict with these people, I lowered my sail, and putting the +helm to starboard, we passed quietly down the stream in mid channel. +Disappointed in their anticipations, the natives ran along the bank of the +river, endeavouring to secure an aim at us; but, unable to throw with +certainty, in consequence of the onward motion of the boat, they flung +themselves into the most extravagant attitudes, and worked themselves into +a state of frenzy by loud and vehement shouting. + +PREPARATIONS FOR CONFLICT--UNEXPECTED INTERFERENCE. + +It was with considerable apprehension that I observed the river to be +shoaling fast, more especially as a huge sand-bank, a little below us, and +on the same side on which the natives had gathered, projected nearly a +third-way across the channel. To this sand-bank they ran with tumultuous +uproar, and covered it over in a dense mass. Some of the chiefs advanced +to the water to be nearer their victims, and turned from time to time to +direct their followers. With every pacific disposition, and an extreme +reluctance to take away life, I foresaw that it would be impossible any +longer to avoid an engagement, yet with such fearful numbers against us, +I was doubtful of the result. The spectacle we had witnessed had been one +of the most appalling kind, and sufficient to shake the firmness of most +men; but at that trying moment my little band preserved their temper +coolness, and if any thing could be gleaned from their countenances, it +was that they had determined on an obstinate resistance. I now explained +to them that their only chance of escape depended, or would depend, on +their firmness. I desired that after the first volley had been fired, +M'Leay and three of the men, would attend to the defence of the boat with +bayonets only, while I, Hopkinson, and Harris, would keep up the fire as +being more used to it. I ordered, however, that no shot was to be fired +until after I had discharged both my barrels. I then delivered their arms +to the men, which had as yet been kept in the place appropriated for them, +and at the same time some rounds of loose cartridge. The men assured me +they would follow my instructions, and thus prepared, having already +lowered the sail, we drifted onwards with the current. As we neared the +sand-bank, I stood up and made signs to the natives to desist; +but without success. I took up my gun, therefore, and cocking it, +had already brought it down to a level. A few seconds more would +have closed the life of the nearest of the savages. The distance +was too trifling for me to doubt the fatal effects of the discharge; +for I was determined to take deadly aim, in hopes that the fall of +one man might save the lives of many. But at the very moment, when +my hand was on the trigger, and my eye was along the barrel, my +purpose was checked by M'Leay, who called to me that another party of +blacks had made their appearance upon the left bank of the river. Turning +round, I observed four men at the top of their speed. The foremost of +them as soon as he got a-head of the boat, threw himself from a +considerable height into the water. He struggled across the channel to the +sand-bank, and in an incredibly short space of time stood in front of the +savage, against whom my aim had been directed. Seizing him by the throat, +he pushed backwards, and forcing all who were in the water upon the bank, +he trod its margin with a vehemence and an agitation that were exceedingly +striking. At one moment pointing to the boat, at another shaking his +clenched hand in the faces of the most forward, and stamping with passion +on the sand; his voice, that was at first distinct and clear, was lost in +hoarse murmurs. Two of the four natives remained on the left bank of the +river, but the third followed his leader, (who proved to be the remarkable +savage I have previously noticed) to the scene of action. The reader will +imagine our feelings on this occasion: it is impossible to describe them. +We were so wholly lost in interest at the scene that was passing, that the +boat was allowed to drift at pleasure. For my own part I was overwhelmed +with astonishment, and in truth stunned and confused; so singular, so +unexpected, and so strikingly providential, had been our escape. + +JUNCTION OF ANOTHER STREAM--PROVIDENTIAL DELIVERANCE FROM DANGER. + +We were again roused to action by the boat suddenly striking upon a shoal, +which reached from one side of the river to the other. To jump out and +push her into deeper water was but the work of a moment with the men, and +it was just as she floated again that our attention was withdrawn to a new +and beautiful stream, coming apparently from the north. The great body of +the natives having posted themselves on the narrow tongue of land formed +by the two rivers, the bold savage who had so unhesitatingly interfered +on our account, was still in hot dispute with them, and I really feared +his generous warmth would have brought down upon him the vengeance of the +tribes. I hesitated, therefore, whether or not to go to his assistance. +It appeared, however, both to M'Leay and myself, that the tone of the +natives had moderated, and the old and young men having listened to the +remonstrances of our friend, the middle-aged warriors were alone holding +out against him. A party of about seventy blacks were upon the right bank +of the newly discovered river, and I thought that by landing among them, +we should make a diversion in favour of our late guest; and in this I +succeeded. If even they had still meditated violence, they would have to +swim a good broad junction, and that, probably, would cool them, or we +at least should have the advantage of position. I therefore, ran the boat +ashore, and landed with M'Leay amidst the smaller party of natives, wholly +unarmed, and having directed the men to keep at a little distance from the +bank. Fortunately, what I anticipated was brought about by the stratagem +to which I had had recourse. The blacks no sooner observed that we had +landed, than curiosity took place of anger. All wrangling ceased, and they +came swimming over to us like a parcel of seals. Thus, in less than a +quarter of an hour from the moment when it appeared that all human +intervention was at on end, and we were on the point of commencing a +bloody fray, which, independently of its own disastrous consequences, +would have blasted the success of the expedition, we were peacefully +surrounded by the hundreds who had so lately threatened us with +destruction; nor was it until after we had returned to the boat, and had +surveyed the multitude upon the sloping bank above us, that we became +fully aware of the extent of our danger, and of the almost miraculous +intervention of Providence in our favour. There could not have been less +than six hundred natives upon that blackened sward. But this was not the +only occasion upon which the merciful superintendance of that Providence +to which we had humbly committed ourselves, was strikingly manifested. +If these pages fail to convey entertainment or information, sufficient may +at least be gleaned from them to furnish matter for serious reflection; +but to those who have been placed in situations of danger where human +ingenuity availed them not, and where human foresight was baffled, I feel +persuaded that these remarks are unnecessary. + +NEW RIVER, SUPPOSED TO BE THE DARLING. + +It was my first care to call for our friend, and to express to him, as +well as I could, how much we stood indebted to him, at the same time that +I made him a suitable present; but to the chiefs of the tribes, +I positively refused all gifts, notwithstanding their earnest +solicitations. We next prepared to examine the new river, and turning the +boat's head towards it, endeavoured to pull up the stream. Our larboard +oars touched the right bank, and the current was too strong for us to +conquer it with a pair only; we were, therefore, obliged to put a second +upon her, a movement that excited the astonishment and admiration of the +natives. One old woman seemed in absolute ecstasy, to whom M'Leay threw an +old tin kettle, in recompense for the amusement she afforded us. + +HOIST THE UNION JACK. + +As soon as we got above the entrance of the new river, we found easier +pulling, and proceeded up it for some miles, accompanied by the once more +noisy multitude. The river preserved a breadth of one hundred yards, and a +depth of rather more than twelve feet. Its banks were sloping and grassy, +and were overhung by trees of magnificent size. Indeed, its appearance was +so different from the water-worn banks of the sister stream, that the men +exclaimed, on entering it, that we had got into an English river. Its +appearance certainly almost justified the expression; for the greenness of +its banks was as new to us as the size of its timber. Its waters, though +sweet, were turbid, and had a taste of vegetable decay, as well as a +slight tinge of green. Our progress was watched by the natives with +evident anxiety. They kept abreast of us, and talked incessantly. +At length, however, our course was checked by a net that stretched right +across the stream. I say checked, because it would have been unfair to +have passed over it with the chance of disappointing the numbers who +apparently depended on it for subsistence that day. The moment was one of +intense interest to me. As the men rested upon their oars, awaiting my +further orders, a crowd of thoughts rushed upon me. The various +conjectures I had formed of the course and importance of the Darling +passed across my mind. Were they indeed realized? An irresistible +conviction impressed me that we were now sailing on the bosom of that very +stream from whose banks I had been twice forced to retire. I directed the +Union Jack to be hoisted, and giving way to our satisfaction, we all stood +up in the boat, and gave three distinct cheers. It was an English feeling, +an ebullition, an overflow, which I am ready to admit that our +circumstances and situation will alone excuse. The eye of every native had +been fixed upon that noble flag, at all times a beautiful object, and to +them a novel one, as it waved over us in the heart of a desert. They had, +until that moment been particularly loquacious, but the sight of that flag +and the sound of our voices hushed the tumult, and while they were still +lost in astonishment, the boat's head was speedily turned, the sail was +sheeted home, both wind and current were in our favour, and we vanished +from them with a rapidity that surprised even ourselves, and which +precluded every hope of the most adventurous among them to keep up +with us. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + + +Character of the country--Damage of provisions--Adroitness of the natives +in catching fish--The skiff broken up--Stream from the North-East supposed +to be the Darling--Change of country in descending the river--Intercourse +with the natives--Prevalence of loathsome diseases among them--Apparent +populousness of the country--Junction of several small streams--The Rufus, +the Lindesay, &c.--Rainy and tempestuous weather--Curious appearance of +the banks--Troublesomeness of the natives--Inhospitable and desolate +aspect of the country--Condition of the men--Change in the geological +character of the country--The river passes through a valley among hills. + + +Arrived once more at the junction of the two rivers, and unmolested in our +occupations, we had leisure to examine it more closely. Not having as yet +given a name to our first discovery, when we re-entered its capacious +channel on this occasion, I laid it down as the Murray River, in +compliment to the distinguished officer, Sir George Murray, who then +presided over the colonial department, not only in compliance with the +known wishes of his Excellency General Darling, but also in accordance +with my own feelings as a soldier. + +The new river, whether the Darling or an additional discovery, meets its +more southern rival on a N. by E. course; the latter, running W.S.W. at +the confluence, the angle formed by the two rivers, is, therefore, so +small that both may he considered to preserve their proper course, and +neither can be said to be tributary to the other. At their junction, +the Murray spreads its waters over the broad and sandy shore, upon which +our boat grounded, while its more impetuous neighbour flows through the +deep but narrow channel it has worked out for itself, under the right +bank. The strength of their currents must have been nearly equal, since +there was as distinct a line between their respective waters, to a +considerable distance below the junction, as if a thin board alone +separated them. The one half the channel contained the turbid waters of +the northern stream, the other still preserved their original +transparency. + +INUNDATED AND ALLUVIAL COUNTRY. + +The banks of the Murray did not undergo any immediate change as we +proceeded. We noticed that the country had, at some time, been subject to +extensive inundation, and was, beyond doubt, of alluvial formation. We +passed the mouths of several large creeks that came from the north and +N.W., and the country in those directions seemed to be much intersected by +water-courses; while to the south it was extremely low. Having descended +several minor rapids, I greatly regretted that we had no barometer to +ascertain the actual dip of the interior. I computed, however, that we +were not more than from eighty to ninety feet above the level of the sea. +We found the channel of the Murray much encumbered with timber, and +noticed some banks of sand that were of unusual size, and equalled the +largest accumulations of it on the sea shore, both in extent and solidity. + +STATE OF PROVISIONS. + +We would gladly have fired into the flights of wild fowl that winged their +way over us, for we, about this time, began to feel the consequences of +the disaster that befell us in the Morumbidgee. The fresh water having got +mixed with the brine in the meat casks, the greater part of our salt +provisions had got spoiled, so that we were obliged to be extremely +economical in the expenditure of what remained, as we knew not to what +straits we might be driven. It will naturally be asked why we did not +procure fish? The answer is easy. The men had caught many in the +Morumbidgee, and on our first navigation of the Murray, but whether it was +that they had disagreed with them, or that their appetites were palled, or +that they were too fatigued after the labour of the day to set the lines, +they did not appear to care about them. The only fish we could take was +the common cod or perch; and, without sauce or butter, it is insipid +enough. We occasionally exchanged pieces of iron-hoop for two other kinds +of fish, the one a bream, the other a barbel, with the natives, and the +eagerness with which they met our advances to barter, is a strong proof of +their natural disposition towards this first step in civilization. + +DEXTERITY OF NATIVES IN FISHING. + +As they threw off all reserve when accompanying us as ambassadors, we had +frequent opportunities of observing their habits. The facility, for +instance, with which they procured fish was really surprising. They would +slip, feet foremost, into the water as they walked along the bank of the +river, as if they had accidentally done so, but, in reality, to avoid the +splash they would necessarily have made if they had plunged in head +foremost. As surely as they then disappeared under the surface of the +water, so surely would they re-appear with a fish writhing upon the point +of their short spears. The very otter scarcely exceeds them in power over +the finny race, and so true is the aim of these savages, even under water, +that all the fish we procured from them were pierced either close behind +the lateral fin, or in the very centre of the head, It is certain, from +their indifference to them, that the natives seldom eat fish when they can +get anything else. Indeed, they seemed more anxious to take the small +turtle, which, sunning themselves on the trunks or logs of trees over the +water, were, nevertheless, extremely on their guard. A gentle splash alone +indicated to us that any thing had dropped into the water, but the quick +eyes and ears of our guides immediately detected what had occasioned it, +and they seldom failed to take the poor little animal that had so vainly +trusted to its own watchfulness for security. It appeared that the natives +did not, from choice, frequent the Murray; it was evident, therefore, that +they had other and better means of subsistence away from it, and it struck +me, at the time, that the river we had just passed watered a better +country than any through which the Murray had been found to flow. + +BREAK UP THE SKIFF. + +We encamped rather earlier than usual upon the left bank of the river, +near a broad creek; for as the skiff had been a great drag upon us, I +determined on breaking it up, since there was no probability that we +should ever require the still, which alone remained in her. We, +consequently, burnt the former, to secure her nails and iron work, and I +set Clayton about cutting the copper of the latter into the shape of +crescents, in order to present them to the natives. Some large huts were +observed on the side of the creek, a little above the camp, the whole of +which faced the N.E. This arrangement had previously been noticed by us, +so that I was led to infer that the severest weather comes from the +opposite quarter in this part of the interior. I had not the least idea, +at the time, however, that we should, ere we reached the termination of +our journey, experience the effects of the S.W. winds. + +We must have fallen considerably during the day from the level of our +morning's position, for we passed down many reaches where the decline of +country gave an increased velocity to the current of the river. + +I had feared, not only in consequence of the unceremonious manner in +which we had left them, but, because I had, in some measure, rejected the +advances of their chiefs, that none of the natives would follow us, and I +regretted the circumstance on account of my men, as well as the trouble we +should necessarily have in conciliating the next tribe. We had not, +however, been long encamped, when seven blacks joined us. I think they +would have passed on if we had not called to them. As it was, they +remained with us but for a short time. We treated them very kindly, but +they were evidently under constraint, and were, no doubt, glad when they +found we did not object to their departing. + +NEW RIVER IDENTIFIED WITH THE DARLING. + +I have stated, that I felt satisfied in my own mind, that the beautiful +stream we had passed was no other than the river Darling of my former +journey. The bare assertion, however, is not sufficient to satisfy the +mind of the reader, upon a point of such importance, more especially when +it is considered how remarkable a change the Darling must have undergone, +if this were indeed a continuation of it. I am free to confess that it +required an effort to convince myself, but after due consideration, I see +no reason to alter the opinion I formed at a moment of peculiar +embarrassment. Yet it by no means follows that I shall convince others, +although I am myself convinced. The question is one of curious +speculation, and the consideration of it will lead us to an interesting +conjecture, as to the probable nature of the distant interior, between the +two points. It will be remembered that I was obliged to relinquish my +pursuit of the Darling, in east long. 144 degrees 48 minutes 30 seconds +in lat. 30 degrees 17 minutes 30 seconds south. I place the junction of +the Murray and the new river, in long. 140 degrees 56 minutes east, and in +south lat. 34 degrees 3 minutes. I must remark, however, that the lunars I +took on this last occasion, were not satisfactory, and that there is, +probably, an error, though not a material one, in the calculation. Before +I measure the distance between the above points, or make any remarks on +the results of my own observations, I would impress the following facts +upon the reader's mind. + +I found and left the Darling in a complete state of exhaustion. As a river +it had ceased to flow; the only supply it received was from brine +springs, which, without imparting a current, rendered its waters saline +and useless, and lastly, the fish in it were different from those +inhabiting the other known rivers of the interior. It is true, I did not +procure a perfect specimen of one, but we satisfactorily ascertained that +they were different, inasmuch as they had large and strong scales, whereas +the fish in the western waters have smooth skins. On the other hand, the +waters of the new river were sweet, although turbid; it had a rapid +current in it; and its fish were of the ordinary kind. In the above +particulars, therefore, they differed much as they could well differ. Yet +there were some strong points of resemblance in the appearance of the +rivers themselves, which were more evident to me than I can hope to make +them to the reader. Both were shaded by trees of the same magnificent +dimensions; and the same kind of huts were erected on the banks of each, +inhabited by the same description, or race, of people, whose weapons, +whose implements, and whose nets corresponded in most respects. + +We will now cast our eyes over the chart: and see if the position of the +two rivers upon it, will at all bear out our conclusion that they are one +and the same; and whether the line that would join them is the one that +the Darling would naturally take, in reference to its previous +course.--We shall find that the two points under discussion, bear almost +N.E. and S.W. of each other respectively, the direct line in which the +Darling had been ascertained to flow, as far as it had been found +practicable to trace it. I have already remarked that the fracture of my +barometer prevented my ascertaining the height of the bed of the Darling +above the sea, during the first expedition. A similar accident caused me +equal disappointment on the second; because one of the most important +points upon which I was engaged was to ascertain the dip of the interior. +I believe I stated, in its proper place, that I did not think the Darling +could possibly be 200 feet above the sea, and as far as my observations +bear me out, I should estimate the bed of the Murray, at its junction with +the new river, to be within 100. It would appear that there is a distance +of 300 miles between the Murray River at this place, and the Darling; +a space amply sufficient for the intervention of a hilly country. No one +could have been more attentive to the features of the interior than I was; +nor could any one have dwelt upon their peculiarities with more earnest +attention. It were hazardous to build up any new theory, however ingenious +it may appear. The conclusions into which I have been led, are founded on +actual observation of the country through which I passed, and extend not +beyond my actual range of vision; unless my assuming that the decline of +the interior to the south has been satisfactorily established, be +considered premature. If not, the features of the country certainly +justify my deductions; and it will be found that they were still more +confirmed by subsequent observation.--That the Darling should have lost +its current in its upper branches, is not surprising, when the level +nature of the country into which it falls is taken into consideration; +neither does it surprise me that it should be stationary in one place, +and flowing in another; since, if, as in the present instance, there is a +great extent of country between the two points, which may perhaps be of +considerable elevation, the river may receive tributaries, whose waters +will of course follow the general decline of the country. I take it to be +so in the case before us; and am of opinion, that the lower branches of +the Darling are not at all dependent on its sources for a current, or for +a supply of water. I have somewhere observed that it appeared to me the +depressed interior over which I had already travelled, was of +comparatively recent formation. And, by whatever convulsion or change +so extensive a tract became exposed, I cannot but infer, that the Darling +is the main channel by which the last waters of the ocean were drained +off. The bottom of the estuary, for it cannot be called a valley, being +then left exposed, it consequently remains the natural and proper +reservoir for the streams from the eastward, or those falling easterly +from the westward, if any such remain to be discovered. + +From the junction of the Morumbidgee to the junction of the new river, the +Murray had held a W.N.W. course. From the last junction it changed its +direction to the S.W., and increased considerably in size. The country to +the south was certainly lower than that to the north; for, although both +banks had features common to each other, the flooded spaces were much +more extensive to our left than to our right. + +CHANGE OF COUNTRY. + +We started on the morning of the 24th, all the lighter from having got rid +of the skiff, and certainly freer to act in case the natives should evince +a hostile disposition towards us. As we proceeded down the river, the +appearances around us more and more plainly indicated a change of country. +Cypresses were observed in the distance, and the ground on which they +stood was higher than that near the stream; as if it had again acquired +its secondary banks. At length these heights approached the river so +nearly as to form a part of its banks, and to separate one alluvial flat +from another. Their summits were perfectly level; their soil was a red +sandy loam; and their productions, for the most part, salsolae and +misembrianthemum. From this it would appear that we had passed through a +second region, that must at some time have been under water, and that +still retained all the marks of a country partially subject to flood. + +INTRODUCED FROM TRIBE TO TRIBE. + +We had, as I have said, passed over this region, and were again hemmed in +by those sandy and sterile tracts upon which the beasts of the field could +obtain neither food nor water. We overtook the seven deputies some time +after we started, but soon lost sight of them again, as they cut off the +sweeps of the river, and shortened their journey as much as possible. +At 2 p.m. we found them with a tribe of their countrymen, about eighty in +number. We pulled in to the bank and remained with them for a short time, +and I now determined to convince the blacks who had preceded us, that I +had not been actuated by any other desire than that of showing to them +that we were not to be intimidated by numbers, when I refused to make them +any presents after their show of hostility. I now, therefore, gave them +several implements, sundry pieces of iron hoop, and an ornamental badge of +copper. When we left the tribe, we were regularly handed over to their +care. The seven men who had introduced us, went back at the same time that +we continued our journey, and two more belonging to the new tribe, went on +a-head to prepare the the neighbouring tribe to receive us; nor did we see +anything more of them during the day. + +We encamped on the left bank of the river, amidst a polygonum scrub, in +which we found a number of the crested pigeon. It was late before the +tents were pitched: as Fraser seldom assisted in that operation, but +strolled out with his gun after he had kindled a fire, so on this occasion +he wandered from the camp in search of novelty, and on his return, +informed me that there was a considerable ridge to the south of a plain +upon which he had been. + +I had myself walked out to the S.E., and on ascending a few feet above the +level of the camp, got into a scrub. I was walking quietly through it, +when I heard a rustling noise, and looking in the direction whence it +proceeded, I observed a small kangaroo approaching me. Having a stick in +my hand, and being aware that I was in one of their paths, I stood still +until the animal came close up to me, without apparently being aware of my +presence. I then gave it a blow an the side of the head, and made it reel +to one side, but the stick, being rotten, broke with the force of the +blow, and thus disappointed me of a good meal. + +During my absence from the camp, a flight of cockatoos, new to us, but +similar to one that Mr. Hume shot on the Darling, passed over the tents, +and I found M'Leay, with his usual anxiety, trying to get a shot at them. +They had, he told me, descended to water, but they had chosen a spot so +difficult of approach without discovery, that he had found it impossible +to get within shot of them. + +RIDGE TO THE SOUTH-EAST. + +There was a considerable rapid just below our position, which I examined +before dark. Not seeing any danger, I requested M'Leay to proceed down it +in the boat as soon as he had breakfasted, and to wait for me at the +bottom of it. As I wished to ascertain the nature and height of the +elevations which Fraser had magnified into something grand, Fraser and I +proceeded to the centre of a large plain, stretching from the left bank of +the river to the southward. It was bounded to the S.E. by a low scrub; +to the S. a thickly wooded ridge appeared to break the level of the +country. It extended from east to west for four or five miles, and then +gradually declined. At its termination, the country seemed to dip, and a +dense fog, as from an extensive sheet of water, enveloped the landscape. +The plain was crowded with cockatoos, that were making their morning's +repast on the berries of the salsolae and rhagodia, with which it was +covered. + +DISTANT RANGES SEEN. + +M'Leay had got safely down the rapid, so that as soon as I joined him, +we proceeded on our journey. We fell in with the tribe we had already +seen, but increased in numbers, and we had hardly left them, when we found +another tribe most anxiously awaiting our arrival. We stayed with the last +for some time, and exhausted our vocabulary, and exerted our ingenuity to +gain some information from them. I directed Hopkinson to pile up some +clay, to enquire if we were near any hills, when two or three of the +blacks caught the meaning, and pointed to the N.W. Mulholland climbed up a +tree in consequence of this, and reported to me that he saw lofty ranges +in the direction to which the blacks pointed; that there were two +apparently, the one stretching to the N.E., the other to the N.W. He +stated their distance to be about forty miles, and added that he thought +he could observe other ranges, through the gap, which, according to the +alignment of two sticks, that I placed according to Mulholland's +directions, bore S. 130 W. + +We had landed upon the right bank of the river, and there was a large +lagoon immediately behind us. The current in the river did not run so +strong as it had been. Its banks were much lower, and were generally +covered with reeds. The spaces subject to flood were broader than +heretofore, and the country for more than twenty miles was extremely +depressed. Our view from the highest ground near the camp was very +confined, since we were apparently in a hollow, and were unable to obtain +a second sight of the ranges we had noticed. + +PASS THREE CREEKS. + +Three creeks fell into the Murray hereabouts. One from the north, another +from the N.E., and the third from the south. The two first were almost +choked up with the trunks of trees, but the last had a clear channel. +Our tents stood on ground high above the reach of flood. The soil was +excellent, and the brushes behind us abounded with a new species of +melaleuca. + +The heat of the weather, at this time, was extremely oppressive, and the +thermometer was seldom under 100 degrees of Fahr. at noon. The wind, too, +we observed, seldom remained stationary for any length of time, but made +its regular changes every twenty-four hours. In the morning, it invariably +blew from the N.E., at noon it shifted to N.W., and as the sun set it flew +round to the eastward of south. A few dense clouds passed over us +occasionally, but no rain fell from them. + +DISEASES OF THE NATIVES. + +Our intercourse with the natives had now been constant. We had found the +interior more populous than we had any reason to expect; yet as we +advanced into it, the population appeared to increase. It was impossible +for us to judge of the disposition of the natives during the short +interviews we generally had with them, and our motions were so rapid that +we did not give them time to form any concerted plan of attack, had they +been inclined to attack us. They did not, however, show any disposition to +hostility, but, considering all things, were quiet and orderly, nor did +any instances of theft occur, or, at least, none fell under my notice. +The most loathsome of diseases prevailed throughout the tribes, nor were +the youngest infants exempt from them. Indeed, so young were some, whose +condition was truly disgusting, that I cannot but suppose they must have +been born in a state of disease; but I am uncertain whether it is fatal or +not in its results, though, most probably it hurries many to a premature +grave. How these diseases originated it is impossible to say. Certainly +not from the colony, since the midland tribes alone were infected. +Syphilis raged amongst them with fearful violence; many had lost their +noses, and all the glandular parts were considerably affected. I +distributed some Turner's cerate to the women, but left Fraser to +superintend its application. It could do no good, of course, but it +convinced the natives we intended well towards them, and, on that account, +it was politic to give it, setting aside any humane feeling. + +POPULOUS DISTRICT. + +The country through which we passed on the 28th, was extremely low, full +of lagoons, and thickly inhabited. No change took place in the river, +or in the nature and construction of its banks. We succeeded in getting a +view of the hills we had noticed when with the last tribe, and found that +they bore from us due north, N. 22 E., and S. 130 W. They looked bare and +perpendicular, and appeared to be about twenty miles from us. I am very +uncertain as to the character of these hills, but still think that they +must have been some of the faces of the bold cliffs that we had frequently +passed under. From the size and number of the huts, and from the great +breadth of the foot-paths, we were still further led to conclude that we +were passing through a very populous district. What the actual number of +inhabitants was it is impossible to say, but we seldom communicated with +fewer than 200 daily. They sent ambassadors forward regularly from one +tribe to another, in order to prepare for our approach, a custom that not +only saved us an infinity of time, but also great personal risk. Indeed, +I doubt very much whether we should ever have pushed so far down the +river, had we not been assisted by the natives themselves. I was +particularly careful not to do anything that would alarm them, or to +permit any liberty to be taken with their women. Our reserve in this +respect seemed to excite their surprise, for they asked sundry questions, +by signs and expressions, as to whether we had any women, and where they +were. The whole tribe generally assembled to receive us, and all, without +exception, were in a complete state of nudity, and really the loathsome +condition and hideous countenances of the women would, I should imagine, +have been a complete antidote to the sexual passion. It is to be observed, +that the women are very inferior in appearance to the men. The latter are, +generally speaking, a clean-limbed and powerful race, much stouter in the +bust than below, but withal, active, and, in some respects, intelligent; +but the women are poor, weak, and emaciated. This, perhaps, is owing to +their poverty and paucity of food, and to the treatment they receive at +the hands of the men; but the latter did not show any unkindness towards +them in our presence. + +Although I desired to avoid exciting their alarm, I still made a point of +showing them the effects of a gunshot, by firing at a kite, or any other +bird that happened to be near. My dexterity--for I did not trust Fraser, +who would, ten to one, have missed his mark--was generally exerted, as I +have said, against a kite or a crow; both of which birds generally +accompanied the blacks from place to place to pick up the remnants of +their meals. Yet, I was often surprised at the apparent indifference with +which the natives not only saw the effect of the shot, but heard the +report. I have purposely gone into the centre of a large assemblage and +fired at a bird that has fallen upon their very heads, without causing a +start or an exclamation, without exciting either their alarm or their +curiosity. + +Whence this callous feeling proceeded, whether from strength of nerve, +or because they had been informed by our forerunners that we should show +off before them, I know not, but I certainly expected a very different +effect from that which my firing generally produced, although I +occasionally succeeded in scattering them pretty well. + +JUNCTION OF THE RUFUS. + +About 11 a.m., we arrived at the junction of a small river with the +Murray, at which a tribe, about 250 in number, had assembled to greet us. +We landed, therefore, for the double purpose of distributing presents, and +of examining the junction, which, coming from the north, of course, fell +into the Murray upon its right bank. Its waters were so extremely muddy, +and its current so rapid, that it must have been swollen by some late +rains. Perhaps, it had its sources in the hills we had seen; be that as it +may, it completely discoloured the waters of the Murray. + +We made it a point never to distribute any presents among the natives +until we had made them all sit, or stand, in a row. Sometimes this was a +troublesome task, but we generally succeeded in gaining our point; with a +little exertion of patience. M'Leay was a famous hand at ordering the +ranks, and would, I am sure, have made a capital drill-sergeant, not less +on account of his temper than of his perseverance. I called the little +tributary I have noticed, the Rufus, in honour of my friend M'Leay's red +head, and I have no doubt, he will understand the feeling that induced me +to give it such a name. + +GEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION. + +Not many miles below the Rufus, we passed under a lofty cliff upon the +same side with it. It is the first elevation of any consequence that +occurs below the Darling, and not only on that account, but also on +account of the numerous substances of which it is composed, and the +singular formation that is near requires to be particularly +noticed. [See Appendix.] The examination was a task of considerable +danger, and both Fraser and myself had well nigh been buried under a mass +of the cliff that became suddenly detached, and, breaking into thousands +of pieces, went hissing and cracking into the river. + +THUNDER STORMS. + +The weather about this time was extremely oppressive and close. Thunder +clouds darkened the sky, but no rain fell. The thermometer was seldom +below 104 at noon, and its range was very trifling. The wind shifted +several times during the twenty-four hours; but these changes had no +effect on the thermometer. It was evident, however, as the sun set on the +evening of the 26th, that the clouds from which thunder had for the last +four or five days disturbed the silence of nature around us, would not +long support their own weight. A little before midnight, it commenced +raining, and both wind and rain continued to increase in violence until +about seven in the morning of the 27th; when the weather moderated. + +Two or three blacks had accompanied us from the last tribe, and had lain +down near the fire. As the storm increased, however, they got up, and +swimming across the river, left us to ourselves. This was a very unusual +thing, nor can I satisfy myself as to their object, unless it was to get +into shelter, for these people though they wander naked over the country, +and are daily in the water, feel the cold and rain very acutely. + +Observing the clouds collecting for so many days, I indulged hopes that we +were near high lands, perhaps mountains; but from the loftiest spots we +could see nothing but a level and dark horizon. Anxious to gain as correct +a knowledge of the country as possible we had, in the course of the day, +ascended a sandy ridge that was about a mile from the river. The view from +the summit of this ridge promised to be more extensive than any we had of +late been enabled to obtain; and as far as actual observation went, we +were not disappointed, although in every other particular, the landscape +was one of the most unpromising description. To the S. and S.E., the +country might be said to stretch away in one unbroken plain, for it was so +generally covered with wood that every inequality was hidden from our +observation. To the S.W. the river line was marked out by a succession of +red cliffs, similar to those we had already passed. To the north, the +interior was evidently depressed; it was overgrown with a low scrub, and +seemed to be barren in the extreme. The elevations upon which we stood +were similar to the sand-hills near the coast, and had not a blade of +grass upon them. Yet, notwithstanding the sterility of the soil, the +large white amarillis which grew in such profusion on the alluvial plains +of the Macquarie, was also abundant here. But it had lost its dazzling +whiteness, and had assumed a sickly yellow colour and its very appearance +indicated that it was not in a congenial soil. + +LINDESAY RIVER. + +We passed two very considerable junctions, the one coming from the S.E., +the other from the north. Both had currents in them, but the former was +running much stronger than the latter. It falls into the Murray, almost +opposite to the elevations I have been describing, and, if a judgment +can be hazarded from its appearance at its embouchure, it must, in its +higher branches, be a stream of considerable magnitude. Under this +impression, I have called it the Lindesay, as a tribute of respect to my +commanding officer, Colonel Patrick Lindesay of the 39th regt. I place it +in east long. 140 degrees 29 minutes, and in lat. 33 degrees 58 minutes +south. Mr. Hume is of opinion that this is the most southerly of the +rivers crossed by him and Mr. Hovel in 1823; but, as I have already +remarked, I apprehend that all the rivers those gentlemen crossed, had +united in one main stream above the junction of the Morumbidgee, and I +think it much more probable that this is a new river, and that it rises +to the westward of Port Phillips, rather than in the S.E. angle of the +coast. + +NATIVES BECOME TROUBLESOME. + +We found the blacks who had deserted us with a tribe at the junction, but +it was weak in point of numbers; as were also two other tribes or hordes +to whom we were introduced in rapid succession. Taken collectively, they +could not have amounted to 230 men, women, and children. The last of these +hordes was exceedingly troublesome, and I really thought we should have +been obliged to quarrel with them. Whether it was that we were getting +impatient, or that our tempers were soured, I know not, but even M'Leay, +whose partiality towards the natives was excessive at the commencement of +our journey, now became weary of such constant communication as we had +kept up with them. Their sameness of appearance, the disgusting diseases +that raged among them, their abominable filth, the manner in which they +pulled us about, and the impossibility of making them understand us, or +of obtaining any information from them,--for if we could have succeeded +in this point, we should have gladly borne every inconvenience,--all +combined to estrange us from these people and to make their presence +disagreeable. Yet there was an absolute necessity to keep up the chain of +communication, to ensure our own safety, setting aside every other +consideration; but as I had been fortunate in my intercourse with the +natives during the first expedition, so I hoped the present journey would +terminate without the occurrence of any fatal collision between us. The +natives, it is true, were generally quiet; but they crowded round us +frequently without any regard to our remonstrances, laying hold of the +boat to prevent our going away, and I sometimes thought that had any of +them been sufficiently bold to set the example, many of the tribes would +have attempted our capture. Indeed, in several instances, we were obliged +to resort to blows ere we could disengage ourselves from the crowds around +us, and whenever this occurred, it called forth the most sullen and +ferocious scowl--such, probably, as would be the forerunner of hostility, +and would preclude every hope of mercy at their hands. With each new tribe +we were, in some measure, obliged to submit to an examination, and to be +pulled about, and fingered all over. They generally measured our hands and +feet with their own, counted our fingers, felt our faces, and besmeared +our shirts all over with grease and dirt. This was no very agreeable +ceremony, and a repetition of it was quite revolting, more especially when +we had to meet the grins or frowns of the many with firmness and +composure. + +TEMPESTUOUS WEATHER. + +The weather had been tempestuous and rainy, for three or four successive +days: on the 28th it cleared up a little. Under any circumstances, +however, we could not have delayed our journey. We had not proceeded very +far when it again commenced to rain and to blow heavily from the N.W. +The river trended to the South. We passed down several rapids, and +observed the marks of recent flood on the trees, to the height of seven +feet. The alluvial flats did not appear to have been covered, or to be +subject to overflow. The timber upon them was not of a kind that is found +on flooded lands, but wherever reeds prevailed the flooded or blue gum +stretched its long white branches over them. The country to the westward +was low and bushy. + +SINGULAR FORMATION OF THE BANKS. + +The left bank of the Murray was extremely lofty, and occasionally rose to +100 feet perpendicularly from the water. It is really difficult to +describe the appearance of the banks at this place; so singular were they +in character, and so varied in form. Here they had the most beautiful +columnar regularity, with capitals somewhat resembling the Corinthian +order in configuration; there they showed like falls of muddy water that +had suddenly been petrified; and in another place they resembled the +time-worn battlements of a feudal castle. It will naturally be asked, of +what could these cliffs have been composed to assume so many different +forms? and what could have operated to produce such unusual appearances? +The truth is, they were composed almost wholly of clay and sand. Wherever +the latter had accumulated, or predominated, the gradual working of +water had washed it away, and left the more compact body, in some places, +so delicately hollowed out, that it seemed rather the work of art than of +nature. This singular formation rested on a coarse grit, that showed +itself in slabs. + +From the frequent occurrence of rapids I should imagine that we had fallen +considerably, but there was no visible decline of country. The river swept +along, in broad and noble reaches, at the base of the cliffs. Vast +accumulations of sand were in its bed, a satisfactory proof of the sandy +character of the distant interior, if other proof were wanting. + +We did not see so many natives on the 28th as we had been in the habit of +seeing; perhaps in consequence of the boisterous weather. A small tribe of +about sixty had collected to receive us, but we passed on without taking +any notice of them, Nevertheless they deputed two of their men to follow +us, who overtook us just as we stopped for the purpose of pitching our +tents before the clouds should burst, that just then bore the most +threatening appearance. The blacks seemed to be perfectly aware what kind +of a night we should have, and busied themselves preparing a hut and +making a large fire. + +The evening proved extremely dark, and towards midnight it blew and rained +fiercely. Towards morning the wind moderated, and the rain ceased. Still, +the sky was overcast, and the clouds were passing rapidly over us. The +wind had, however, changed some points, and from the N.W. had veered round +to the S.S.W.; and the day eventually turned out cool and pleasant. + +LARGE TRIBE OF NATIVES--THEIR INDIFFERENCE TO FIRE-ARMS. + +We fell in with a large tribe of natives, amounting in all to 270. They +were extremely quiet, and kept away from the boat; in consequence of which +I distributed a great many presents among them. This tribe was almost the +only one that evinced any eagerness to see us. The lame had managed to +hobble along, and the blind were equally anxious to touch us. There were +two or three old men stretched upon the bank, from whom the last sigh +seemed about to depart; yet these poor creatures evinced an anxiety to see +us, and to listen to a description of our appearance, although it seemed +doubtful whether they would be alive twenty-four hours after we left them. +An old woman, a picture of whom would disgust my readers, made several +attempts to embrace me. I managed, however, to avoid her, and at length +got rid of her by handing her over to Fraser, who was no wise particular +as to the object of his attention. This tribe must have been one of the +most numerous on the banks of the Murray, since we fell in with detached +families for many miles below the place where we had parted from the main +body. + +I have omitted to mention that, while among them, I fired at a kite and +killed it; yet, though close to me, the blacks did not start or evince the +least surprise. It really is difficult to account for such firmness of +nerve or self-command. It is not so much a matter of surprise that they +were indifferent to its effects, for probably they knew them not, but it +is certainly odd that they should not have been startled by the report. + +The river inclined very much to the southward for some miles below our +last camp; at length it struck against some elevations that turned it more +to the westward. Before we terminated our day's pull it again changed its +direction to the eastward of south. The right bank became lofty, and the +left proportionably depressed. + +REFLECTIONS ON THE PROGRESS OF THE EXPEDITION. + +In consequence of the boisterous weather we had had, we were uncertain as +to our precise situation, even in point of latitude. But I was perfectly +aware that we were considerably to the south of the head of St. Vincent's +Gulf. I began, therefore, to contemplate with some confidence a speedy +termination to our wanderings, or, at least, that we should soon reach the +extreme point to which we could advance. The sun was at this time out of +my reach, since the sextant would not measure double the altitude. +Observations of the stars were, in like manner, uncertain, in consequence +of the boisterous weather we had had, and the unavoidable agitation of the +quicksilver. My last observation of Antares placed us in latitude +34 degrees 4 minutes; so that we were still 115 miles from the coast. + +We had now been twenty-two days upon the river, and it was uncertain how +long we should be in compassing the distance we had still to run. +Considering all things, we had, as yet, been extremely fortunate; and I +hoped that we should terminate our journey without the occurrence of any +fatal accident. Had the country corresponded with the noble stream that +traversed it, we should have been proportionably elated, but it was +impossible to conceal from ourselves its inhospitable and unprofitable +character, as far as we had, as yet, penetrated. If we except the partial +and alluvial flats on the immediate borders, and in the neighbourhood of +its tributaries and creeks, the Murray might be said to flow through a +barren and sandy interior. The appearance of the country through which we +passed on the 29th, was far from being such as to encourage us with the +hopes of any change for the better. The river was enclosed, on either +side, by the same kind of banks that have already been described; and it +almost appeared as if the plain had been rent asunder to allow of a +passage for its waters. The view of the distant interior was +unsatisfactory. It was, for the most part, covered with brush, but, at +length, cypresses again made their appearance, although at a considerable +distance from us. + +The river continued to flow to the southward, a circumstance that gave me +much satisfaction, for I now began to feel some anxiety about the men. +They had borne their fatigues and trials so cheerfully, and had behaved so +well, that I could not but regret the scanty provision that remained for +them. The salt meat being spoiled, it had fallen to the share of the dogs, +so that we had little else than flour to eat. Fish no one would touch, and +of wild fowl there were none to be seen. The men complained of sore eyes, +from the perspiration constantly running into them, and it was obvious to +me that they were much reduced. It will be borne in mind, that we were now +performing the earliest part of our task, and were going down with the +stream. I was sure that on our return, (For I had no hopes of meeting any +vessel on the coast,) we should have to make every day's journey good +against the current; and, if the men were now beginning to sink, it might +well be doubted whether their strength would hold out. Both M'Leay and +myself, therefore, encouraged any cheerfulness that occasionally broke out +among them, and Frazer enlivened them by sundry tunes that he whistled +whilst employed in skinning birds. I am sure, no galley-slave ever took to +his oar with more reluctance than poor Frazer. He was indefatigable in +most things, but he could not endure the oar. + +NATIVES BECOME UNRULY. + +We did not fall in with any natives on the 30th, neither did we see those +who had preceded us from the last tribe. On the 31st, to my mortification, +the river held so much to the northward, that we undid almost all our +southing. What with its regular turns, and its extensive sweeps, the +Murray covers treble the ground, at a moderate computation, that it would +occupy in a direct course; and we had a practical instance of the truth of +this in the course of the afternoon, when we found our friends ready to +introduce us to a large assemblage of natives. On asking them how they had +passed us, they pointed directly east to the spot at which we had parted. +By crossing from one angle of the river to the other, they had performed +in little more than half a day, a journey which it had taken us two long +days to accomplish. After our usual distribution of presents, we pushed +away from the bank; though not without some difficulty, in consequence of +the obstinacy of the natives in wishing to detain us; and I was +exceedingly vexed to find, while we were yet in sight of them, that we had +proceeded down a shallow channel on one side of an island instead of the +further and deeper one; so that the boat ultimately grounded. A crowd of +the blacks rushed into the water, and surrounded us on every side. Some +came to assist us, others, under a pretence of assisting, pulled against +us, and I was at length obliged to repel them by threats. A good many of +them were very much disposed to annoy us, and, after the boat was in deep +water, some of them became quite infuriated, because we would not return. +Had we been within distance, they would assuredly have hurled their spears +at us. Thirteen of them followed us to our resting place. They kept rather +apart from us, and kindled their fire in a little hollow about fifty paces +to our right; nor did they venture to approach the tents unless we called +to them, so that by their quiet and unobtrusive conduct they made up in +some measure for the unruly proceedings of others of their tribe. + +We had now arrived at a point at which I hoped to gain some information +from the natives, respecting the sea. It was to no purpose, however, that +I questioned these stupid people. They understood perfectly, by my +pointing to the sky, and by other signs, that I was inquiring about large +waters, but they could not, or would not, give any information on the +subject. + +CHANGE IN THE GEOLOGY OF THE COUNTRY. + +As we proceeded down the river, its current became weaker, and its channel +somewhat deeper. Our attention was called to a remarkable change in the +geology of the country, as well as to an apparent alteration in the +natural productions. The cliffs of sand and clay ceased, and were +succeeded by a fossil formation of the most singular description. At +first, it did not exceed a foot in height above the water, but it +gradually rose, like an inclined plane, and resembled in colour, and in +appearance, the skulls of men piled one upon the other. The constant +rippling of the water against the rock had washed out the softer parts, +and made hollows and cavities, that gave the whole formation the precise +appearance of a catacomb. On examination, we discovered it to be a compact +bed of shells, composed of a common description of marine shell from two +to three inches in length, apparently a species of turritella. + +BANKS OF PETRIFIED SHELLS. + +At about nine miles from the commencement of this formation, it rose to +the height of more than 150 feet; the country became undulating, and a +partial change took place in its vegetation. We stopped at an early hour, +to examine some cliffs, which rising perpendicularly from the water, were +different in character and substance from any we had as yet seen. They +approached a dirty yellow-ochre in colour, that became brighter in hue as +it rose, and, instead of being perforated, were compact and hard. +The waters of the river had, however, made horizontal lines upon their +fronts, which distinctly marked the rise and fall of the river, as the +strength or depth of the grooves distinctly indicated the levels it +generally kept. It did not appear from these lines, that the floods ever +rose more than four feet above the then level of the stream, or that they +continued for any length of time. On breaking off pieces of the rock, we +ascertained that it was composed of one solid mass of sea-shells, of +various kinds, of which the species first mentioned formed the lowest +part. + +It rained a good deal during the night, but the morning turned out +remarkably fine. The day was pleasant, for however inconvenient in some +respects the frequent showers had been, they had cooled the air, and +consequently prevented our feeling the heat so much as we should otherwise +have done, in the close and narrow glen we had now entered. + +Among the natives who followed us from the last tribe, there was an old +man, who took an uncommon fancy or attachment to Hopkinson, and who +promised, when we separated, to join us again in the course of the day. + +FACE OF THE COUNTRY. + +As we proceeded down the river we found that it was confined in a glen, +whose extreme breadth was not more than half-a-mile. The hills that rose +on either side of it were of pretty equal height. The alluvial flats were +extremely small, and the boldest cliffs separated them from each other. +The flats were lightly wooded, and were for the most part covered with +reeds or polygonum. They were not much elevated above the waters of the +river, and had every appearance of being frequently inundated. At noon we +pulled up to dine, upon the left bank, under some hills, which were from +200 to 250 feet in height. While the men were preparing our tea, +(for we had only that to boil,) M'Leay and I ascended the hills. The brush +was so thick upon them, that we could not obtain a view of the distant +interior. Their summits were covered with oyster-shells, in such abundance +as entirely to preclude the idea of their having been brought to such a +position by the natives. They were in every stage of petrification. + +In the course of the afternoon the old man joined us, and got into the +boat. As far as we could understand from his signs, we were at no great +distance from some remarkable change or other. The river had been making +to the N.W., from the commencement of the fossil formation, and it +appeared as if it was inclined to keep that direction. The old man pointed +to the N.W., and then placed his hand on the side of his head to indicate, +as I understood him, that we should sleep to the N.W. of where we then +were; but his second motion was not so intelligible, for he pointed due +south, as if to indicate that such would be our future course; and he +concluded his information, such as it was, by describing the roaring of +the sea, and the height of the waves. It was evident this old man had been +upon the coast, and we were therefore highly delighted at the prospect +thus held out to us of reaching it. + +REMARKABLE CLIFFS. + +A little below the hills under which we had stopped, the country again +assumed a level. A line of cliffs, of from two to three hundred feet in +height, flanked the river, first on one side and then on the other, +varying in length from a quarter of a mile to a mile. They rose +perpendicularly from the water, and were of a bright yellow colour, +rendered still more vivid occasionally by the sun shining full upon them. +The summits of these cliffs were as even as if they had been built by an +architect; and from their very edge, the country back from the stream was +of an uniform level, and was partly plain, and partly clothed by brush. +The soil upon this plateau, or table land, was sandy, and it was as barren +and unproductive as the worst of the country we had passed through. On the +other hand, the alluvial flats on the river increased in size, and were +less subject to flood; and the river lost much of its sandy bed, and its +current was greatly diminished in strength. + +NATIVE CHARACTER. + +It blew so fresh, during the greater part of the day, from the westward, +that we had great difficulty in pulling against the breeze. The determined +N.W. course the river kept, made me doubt the correctness of the story of +the little old black; yet there was an openness of manner about him, and a +clearness of description, that did not appear like fabrication. He pointed +to the S.S.W. when he left us, as the direction in which he would again +join us, thus confirming, without any apparent intention, what he had +stated with regard to the southerly course the river was about to take. +Among the natives who were with him, there was another man of very +different manners and appearance. Our friend was small in stature, had +piercing grey eyes, and was as quick as lightning in his movements The +other was tall, and grey headed; anxious, yet unobtrusive; and confident, +without the least mixture of boldness. The study of the human character on +many occasions similar to this, during our intercourse with these people, +rude and uncivilized as they were, was not only pleasing, but instructive. +We found that the individuals of a tribe partook of one general character, +and that the whole of the tribe were either decidedly quiet, or as +decidedly disorderly. The whole of the blacks left us when we started, +but we had not gone very far, when the individual I have described brought +his family, consisting of about fifteen persons. We were going down a part +of the river in which there was a very slight fall. The natives were +posted under some blue-gum trees, upon the right bank, and there was a +broad shoal of sand immediately to our left. They walked over to this +shoal, to receive some little presents, but did not follow when we +continued our journey. + +TAKE BEARINGS. + +During the whole of the day the river ran to the N.W. We stopped for the +night under some cliffs, similar to those we had already passed, but +somewhat higher. From their summit, mountains were visible to the N.W., +but at a great distance from us. I doubted not that they were at the head +of the southern gulfs; or of one of them, at all events. Our observations +placed us in 34 degrees 08 minutes south of lat., and in long. 139 degrees +41 minutes 15 seconds; we were consequently nearly seventy miles from +Spencer's Gulf, in a direct line, and I should have given that as the +distance the hills appeared to be from us. They bore as follows:-- + + Lofty round mountain, S. 127 degrees W. + Mountain scarcely visible, S. 128 degrees W. + Northern extremity of a broken range, S. 102 degrees W. + Southern extremity scarcely visible, S. 58 degrees W. + +The country between the river and these ranges appeared to be very low, +and darkly wooded: that to the N.E. was more open. The summit of the cliff +did not form any table-land, but it dipped almost immediately to the +westward, and the country, although, as I have already remarked, it was +depressed, and undulated. + +I walked to some distance from the river, across a valley, and started +several kangaroos; but I was quite alone, and could not, therefore, secure +one of them. Had the dogs been near, we should have had a fine feast. The +soil of the interior still continued sandy, but there was a kind of short +grass mixed with the salsolaceous plants upon it, that indicated, as I +thought, a change for the better in the vegetation; and the circumstance +of there being kangaroos in the valleys to the westward was also a +favourable sign. + +FEAST ON A TORTOISE. + +Beneath the cliffs hereabouts, the river was extremely broad and deep. +My servant thought it a good place for fishing and accordingly set a +night-line, one end of which he fastened to the bough of a tree. During +the night, being on guard, he saw a small tortoise floating on the water, +so near that he struck it a violent blow with a large stick, upon which it +dived: to his surprise, however, in the morning, he found that it had +taken the bait, and was fast to the line. On examining it, the shell +proved to be cracked, so that the blow must have been a severe one. It was +the largest we had ever seen, and made an excellent dish. The flesh was +beautifully white, nor could anything, especially under our circumstances, +have been more tempting than it was when cooked; yet M'Leay would not +partake of it. + +The prevailing wind was, at this time, from the S.W. It blew heavily all +day, but moderated towards the evening + +I was very anxious, at starting on the 3rd, as to the course the river +would take, since it would prove whether the little old man had played us +false or not. From the cliffs under which we had slept, it held a direct +N.W. course for two or three miles. It then turned suddenly to the S.E., +and gradually came round to E.N.E., so that after two hours pulling, we +found ourselves just opposite to the spot from which we had started, the +neck of land that separated the channels not being more than 200 yards +across. I have before noticed a bend similar to this, which the Murray +makes, a little above the junction of the supposed Darling with it. + +CHART OF THE RIVER. + +It may appear strange to some of my readers, that I should have laid down +the windings of the river so minutely. It may therefore be necessary for +me to state that every bend of it was laid down by compass, and that the +bearings of the angles as they opened were regularly marked by me, so that +not a single winding or curve of the Murray is omitted in the large chart. +The length of some of the reaches may be erroneous, but their direction is +strictly correct. I always had a sheet of paper and the compass before me, +and not only marked down the river line, but also the description of +country nearest; its most minute changes, its cliffs, its flats, the kind +of country back from it, its lagoons, the places at which the tribes +assembled, its junctions, tributaries and creeks, together with our +several positions, were all regularly noted, so that on our return up the +river we had no difficulty in ascertaining upon what part of it we were, +by a reference to the chart; and it proved of infinite service to us, +since we were enabled to judge of our distance from our several camps, as +we gained them day by day with the current against us; and we should often +have stopped short of them, weary and exhausted, had we not known that two +or three reaches more would terminate our labour for the day. + +REMARKABLE CLIFFS. + +From the spot last spoken of, the river held on a due south course for the +remainder of the day; and at the same time changed its character. It lost +its sandy bed and its current together, and became deep, still, and +turbid, with a muddy bottom. It increased considerably in breadth, and +stretched away before us in magnificent reaches of from three to six miles +in length. The cliffs under which we passed towered above us, like +maritime cliffs, and the water dashed against their base like the waves of +the sea. They became brighter and brighter in colour, looking like dead +gold in the sun's rays; and formed an unbroken wall of a mile or two in +length. The natives on their summits showed as small as crows; and the +cockatoos, the eagles, and other birds, were as specks above us; the +former made the valley reverberate with their harsh and discordant notes. +The reader may form some idea of the height of these cliffs, when informed +that the king of the feathered race made them his sanctuary. They were +continuous on both sides of the river, but retired, more or less, from it, +according to the extent of the alluvial flats. The river held a serpentine +course down the valley through which it passed, striking the precipices +alternately on each side. + +The soil on the flats was better, and less mixed with sand than it had +been, but the flats were generally covered with reeds, though certainly +not wholly subject to flood at any time. The polygonum still prevailed +upon them in places, and the blue-gum tree alone occupied their outskirts. +From the several elevations we ascended, the country to the N.W. appeared +undulating and well wooded; that to the eastward, seemed to be brushy and +low. Certainly there was a great difference in the country, both to the +eastward and to the westward. We had frequent views of the mountains we +had seen, or, I should have said, of a continuation of them. They bore +nearly west from us at a very great distance all day. + +We fell in with several tribes, but did not see our old friend, although, +from the inquiries we made, it was evident he was well known among them. +It would disgust my readers were I to describe the miserable state of +disease and infirmity to which these tribes were reduced. Leprosy of the +most loathsome description, the most violent cutaneous eruptions, and +glandular affections, absolutely raged through the whole of them; yet we +could not escape from the persecuting examination of our persons that +curiosity prompted them in some measure to insist upon. + +REJOINED BY OUR OLD NATIVE GUIDE. + +The old man, whose information had proved strictly correct, joined us +again on the 4th, and his joy at being received into the boat was +unbounded, as well as the pleasure he expressed at again meeting +Hopkinson. He had been on a long journey, it would appear, for he had not +then reached his tribe. As we approached their haunt, he landed and +preceded us to collect them. We were, of course, more than usually liberal +to so old a friend, and we were really sorry to part with him. + +Soon after leaving his tribe, which occupied the left bank of the river, +and was very weak in point of numbers, we fell in with a very strong tribe +upon the right bank. They numbered 211 in all. We lay off the bank, in +order to escape their importunities; a measure that by no means satisfied +them. The women appeared to be very prolific; but, as a race, these people +are not to be compared with the natives of the mountains, or of the upper +branches of the Murray. + +We passed some beautiful scenery in the course of the day. The river +preserved a direct southerly course, and could not in any place have been +less than 400 yards in breadth. The cliffs still continued, and varied +perpetually in form; at one time presenting a perpendicular wall to the +view, at others, they overhung the stream, in huge fragments. All were +composed of a mass of shells of various kinds; a fact which will call for +further observation and remark. + +DELAYED BY STRONG WINDS. + +Many circumstances at this time tended to confirm our hopes that the sea +could not be very far from us, or that we should not be long in gaining +it. Some sea-gulls flew over our heads, at which Fraser was about to +shoot, had I not prevented him, for I hailed them as the messengers of +glad tidings, and thought they ill deserved such a fate. It blew very hard +from the S.W., during the whole of the day, and we found it extremely +laborious pulling against the heavy and short sea that came rolling up the +broad and open reaches of the Murray at this place. + +Four of the blacks, from the last tribe, followed us, and slept at the +fires; but they were suspicious and timid, and appeared to be very glad +when morning dawned. Our fires were always so much larger than those made +by themselves, that, they fancied, perhaps, we were going to roast them. +Our dogs, likewise, gave them great uneasiness; for although so fond of +the native brute, they feared ours, from their size. We generally tied +them to the boat, therefore, to prevent a recurrence of theft, so that +they were not altogether useless. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + + +Improvement in the aspect of the country--Increase of the river--Strong +westerly gales--Chronometer broken--A healthier tribe of natives-- +Termination of the Murray in a large lake--Its extent and environs-- +Passage across it--Hostile appearance of the natives--Beautiful scenery +--Channel from the lake to the sea at Encounter Bay--Reach the beach-- +Large flocks of water fowl--Curious refraction--State of provisions-- +Embarrassing situation--Inspection of the channel to the ocean--Weak +condition of the men--Difficulties of the return. + +DELIGHTFUL COUNTRY. + +It now appeared that the Murray had taken a permanent southerly course; +indeed, it might strictly be said that it ran away to the south. As we +proceeded down it, the valley expanded to the width of two miles; the +alluvial flats became proportionably larger; and a small lake generally +occupied their centre. They were extensively covered with reeds and grass, +for which reason, notwithstanding that they were little elevated above the +level of the stream, I do not think they are subject to overflow. Parts of +them may be laid under water, but certainly not the whole. The rains at +the head of the Murray, and its tributaries, must be unusually severe to +prolong their effects to this distant region, and the flats bordering it +appear, by successive depositions, to have only just gained a height above +the further influence of the floods. Should this prove to be the case, the +valley may be decidedly laid down as a most desirable spot, whether we +regard the richness of its soil, its rock formation, its locality, or the +extreme facility of water communication along it. It must not, however, be +forgotten or concealed, that the summits of the cliffs by which the valley +is enclosed, have not a corresponding soil. On the contrary, many of the +productions common to the plains of the interior still existed upon them, +and they were decidedly barren; but as we measured the reaches of the +river, the cliffs ceased, and gave place to undulating hills, that were +very different in appearance from the country we had previously noted +down. It would have been impossible for the most tasteful individual to +have laid out pleasure ground to more advantage, than Nature had done in +planting and disposing the various groups of trees along the spine, and +upon the sides of the elevations that confined the river, and bounded the +low ground that intervened between it and their base. Still, however, the +soil upon these elevations was sandy, and coarse, but the large oat-grass +was abundant upon them, which yielded pasture at least as good as that in +the broken country between Underaliga and Morumbidgee. + +We had now gained a distance of at least sixty miles from that angle of +the Murray at which it reaches its extreme west. The general aspect of the +country to our right was beautiful, and several valleys branched away into +the interior upon that side which had a most promising appearance, and +seemed to abound with kangaroos, as the traces of them were numerous, and +the dogs succeeded in killing one, which, to our great mortification, we +could not find. + +While, however, the country to the westward had so much to recommend it, +the hills to our left became extremely bare. It was evident that the right +was the sheltered side of the valley. The few trees on the opposite side +bent over to the N.E., as if under the influence of some prevailing wind. + +ADVERSE GALES. + +We experienced at this time a succession of gales from the S.W., against +which we, on several occasions, found it useless to contend: the waves on +the river being heavy and short; and the boat, driving her prow into them, +sent the spray over us and soon wet us through. Indeed, it is difficult +for the reader to imagine the heavy swell that rolled up the river, which +had increased in breadth to the third of a mile, and in the length of its +reaches to eight or ten. I was satisfied that we were not only navigating +this river at a particularly stormy, perhaps THE stormy, season; but also, +that the influence of the S.W. wind is felt even as far in the interior as +to the supposed Darling; in consequence of the uniform build of the huts, +and the circumstance of their not only facing the N.E., but also being +almost invariably erected under the lee of some bush. + +The weather, under the influence of the wind we experienced, was cool and +pleasant, although the thermometer stood at a medium height of 86 degrees; +but we found it very distressing to pull against the heavy breezes that +swept up the valley, and bent the reeds so as almost to make them kiss the +stream. + +We communicated on the 6th and 7th with several large tribes of natives, +whose manners were on the whole quiet and inoffensive. They distinctly +informed us, that we were fast approaching the sea, and, from what I could +understand, we were nearer to it than the coast line of Encounter Bay made +us. We had placed sticks to ascertain if there was any rise or fall of +tide, but the troubled state of the river prevented our experiments from +being satisfactory. By selecting a place, however, that was sheltered from +the effects of the wind, we ascertained that there was an apparent rise +of about eight inches. + +OBLIGED TO TAKE REPOSE. + +It blew a heavy gale during the whole of the 7th; and we laboured in vain +at the oar. The gusts that swept the bosom of the water, and the swell +they caused, turned the boat from her course, and prevented us from making +an inch of way. The men were quite exhausted, and, as they had conducted +themselves so well, and had been so patient, I felt myself obliged to +grant them every indulgence consistent with our safety. However precarious +our situation, it would have been vain, with our exhausted strength, to +have contended against the elements. We, therefore, pulled in to the left +bank of the river, and pitched our tents on a little rising ground beyond +the reeds that lined it. + +CHRONOMETER BROKEN. + +I had been suffering very much front tooth-ache for the last three or four +days, and this day felt the most violent pain from the wind. I was not, +therefore, sorry to get under even the poor shelter our tents afforded. +M'Leay, observing that I was in considerable pain, undertook to wind up +the chronometer; but, not understanding or knowing the instrument, he +unfortunately broke the spring. I shall not forget the anxiety he +expressed, and the regret he felt on the occasion; nor do I think M'Leay +recovered the shock this unlucky accident gave him for two or three days, +or until the novelty of other scenes drove it from his recollection. + +We landed close to the haunt of a small tribe of natives, who came to us +with the most perfect confidence, and assisted the men in their +occupations. They were cleaner and more healthy than any tribe we had +seen; and were extremely cheerful, although reserved in some respects. +As a mark of more than usual cleanliness, the women had mats of oval +shape, upon which they sat, made, apparently, of rushes. There was a +young girl among them of a most cheerful disposition. She was about +eighteen, was well made, and really pretty. This girl was married to an +elderly man who had broken his leg, which having united in a bent shape, +the limb was almost useless. I really believe the girl thought we could +cure her husband, from her importunate manner to us. I regretted that I +could do nothing for the man, but to show that I was not inattentive to +her entreaties, I gave him a pair of trousers, and desired Fraser to put +them upon him; but the poor fellow cut so awkward an appearance in them, +that his wife became quite distressed, and Fraser was obliged speedily +to disencumber him from them again. + +We could not gain any satisfactory information, as to the termination of +the river, from these people. It was evident that some change was at hand; +but what it was we could not ascertain. + +APPEARANCE OF SOME APPROACHING CHANGE. + +On the morning of the 9th, we left our fair friend and her lame husband, +and proceeded down the river. The wind had moderated, although it still +blew fresh. We ascended every height as we went along, but could not see +any new feature in the country. Our view to the eastward was very +confined; to the westward the interior was low and dark, and was backed in +the distance by lofty ranges, parallel to which we had been running for +some days. The right bank of the valley was beautifully undulated, but the +left was bleak and bare. The valley had a breadth of from three to four +miles, and the flats were more extensive under the former than under the +latter. They were scarcely two feet above the level of the water, and were +densely covered with reeds. As there was no mark upon the reeds to +indicate the height to which the floods rose, I cannot think that these +flats are ever wholly laid under water; if they are, it cannot be to any +depth: at all events a few small drains would effectually prevent +inundation. The soil upon the hills continued to be much mixed with sand, +and the prevailing trees were cypress and box. Among the minor shrubs and +grass, many common to the east coasts were noticed; and although the bold +cliffs had ceased, the basis of the country still continued of the fossil +formation. At a turn of the stream hereabouts, however, a solitary rock of +coarse red granite rose above the waters, and formed an island in its +centre; but only in this one place was it visible. The rock was composed +principally of quartz and feldspar. + +A little below it, we found a large tribe anxiously awaiting our arrival. +They crowded to the margin of the river with great eagerness, and evinced +more surprise at our appearance than any tribe we had seen during the +journey; but we left them very soon, notwithstanding that they importuned +us much to stay. + +After pulling a mile or two, we found a clear horizon before us to the +south. The hills still continued upon our left, but we could not see any +elevation over the expanse of reeds to our right. The river inclined to +the left, and swept the base of the hills that still continued on that +side. I consequently landed once more to survey the country. + +TERMINATION OF THE MURRAY IN A LARGE LAKE. + +I still retained a strong impression on my mind that some change was at +hand, and on this occasion, I was not disappointed; but the view was one +for which I was not altogether prepared. We had, at length, arrived at the +termination of the Murray. Immediately below me was a beautiful lake, +which appeared to be a fitting reservoir for the noble stream that had led +us to it; and which was now ruffled by the breeze that swept over it. +The ranges were more distinctly visible, stretching from south to north, +and were certainly distant forty miles. They had a regular unbroken +outline; declining gradually to the south, but terminating abruptly at a +lofty mountain northerly. I had no doubt on my mind of this being the +Mount Lofty of Captain Flinders; or that the range was that immediately to +the eastward of St. Vincent's Gulf--Since the accident to the chronometer, +we had not made any westing, so that we knew our position as nearly as +possible. Between us and the ranges a beautiful promontory shot into the +lake, being a continuation of the right bank of the Murray. Over this +promontory the waters stretched to the base of the ranges, and formed an +extensive bay. To the N.W. the country was exceedingly low, but distant +peaks were just visible over it. To the S.W. a bold headland showed +itself; beyond which, to the westward, there was a clear and open sea +visible, through a strait formed by this headland and a point projecting +from the opposite shore. To the E. and S.E. the country was low, excepting +the left shore of the lake, which was backed by some minor elevations, +crowned with cypresses. Even while gazing on this fine scene, I could not +but regret that the Murray had thus terminated; for I immediately foresaw +that, in all probability, we should be disappointed in finding any +practicable communication between the lake and the ocean, as it was +evident that the former was not much influenced by tides. The wind had +again increased; it still blew fresh from the S.W. and a heavy sea was +rolling direct into the mouth of the river. I hoped, notwithstanding, that +we should have been enabled to make sail, for which reason we entered the +lake about 2 p.m. The natives had kindled a large fire on a distant point +between us and the further headland, and to gain this point our efforts +were now directed. The waves were, however, too strong, and we were +obliged to make for the eastern shore, until such time as the weather +should moderate. We pitched our tents on a low track of land that +stretched away seemingly for many miles directly behind us to the +eastward. It was of the richest soil, being a black vegetable deposit, +and although now high above the influence, the lake had, it was evident, +once formed a part of its bed. The appearance of the country altogether +encouraged M'Leay and myself to walk out, in order to examine it from some +hills a little to the S.E. of the camp. From them we observed that the +flat extended over about fifty miles, and was bounded by the elevations +that continued easterly from the left bank of the Murray to the north, +and by a line of rising-ground to the south. The whole was lightly wooded, +and covered with grass. The season must have been unusually dry, judging +from the general appearance of the vegetation, and from the circumstance +of the lagoons in the interior being wholly exhausted. + +Thirty-three days had now passed over our heads since we left the depot +upon the Morumbidgee, twenty-six of which had been passed upon the Murray. +We had, at length, arrived at the grand reservoir of those waters whose +course and fate had previously been involved in such obscurity. It +remained for us to ascertain whether the extensive sheet of water upon +whose bosom we had embarked, had any practicable communication with the +ocean, and whether the country in the neighbourhood of the coast +corresponded with that immediately behind our camp, or kept up its sandy +and sterile character to the very verge of the sea. As I have already +said, my hopes on the first of these points were considerably damped, but +I could not help anticipating a favourable change in the latter, since its +features had so entirely changed. + +DETAINED BY THE WIND. + +The greatest difficulty against which we had at present to contend was the +wind; and I dreaded the exertion it would call for, to make head against +it; for the men were so much reduced that I felt convinced they were +inadequate to any violent or prolonged effort. It still blew fresh at +8 p.m., but at that time it began to moderate. It may be imagined that I +listened to its subdued gusts with extreme anxiety. It did not wholly +abate until after 2 a.m., when it gradually declined, and about 3 a light +breeze sprung up from the N. E. + +We had again placed sticks to ascertain with more precision the rise of +tide, and found it to be the same as in the river. In the stillness of the +night too we thought we heard the roaring of the sea, but I was myself +uncertain upon the point, as the wind might have caused the sound. + +From the top of the hill from which we had obtained our first view of the +lake, I observed the waves breaking upon the distant headland, and +enveloping the cliff in spray; so that, independent of the clearness of +the horizon beyond it, I was further led to conclude that there existed a +great expanse of water to the S.W.; and, as that had been the direction +taken by the river, I thought it probable that by steering at once to the +S.W. down the lake, I should hit the outlet. I, consequently, resolved to +gain the southern extremity of the lake, as that at which it was natural +to expect a communication with the ocean would be found. + +GEOLOGICAL FORMATION. + +At 4 we had a moderate breeze, and it promised to strengthen; we lost no +time therefore in embarking, and with a flowing sheet stretched over to +the W.S.W., and ran along the promontory formed by the right bank of the +Murray. We passed close under its extreme point at nine. The hills had +gradually declined, and we found the point to be a flat, elevated about +thirty feet above the lake. It was separated from the promontory by a +small channel that was choked up with reeds, so that it is more than +probable that the point is insulated at certain periods; whilst in its +stratification it resembled the first cliffs I have described that were +passed below the Darling. It is a remarkable fact in the geology of the +Murray, that such should be the case; and that the formation at each +extremity of the great bank or bed of fossils should be the same. +Thus far, the waters of the lake had continued sweet; but on filling a can +when we were abreast of this point, it was found that they were quite +unpalatable, to say the least of them. The transition from fresh to salt +water was almost immediate, and it was fortunate we made the discovery in +sufficient time to prevent our losing ground. But, as it was, we filled +our casks, and stood on, without for a moment altering our course. + +PASSAGE ACROSS THE LAKE--ITS SHALLOWNESS. + +It is difficult to give a just description of our passage across the lake. +The boisterous weather we had had seemed to have blown over. A cool and +refreshing breeze was carrying us on at between four and five knots an +hour, and the heavens above us were without a cloud. It almost appeared as +if nature had resisted us in order to try our perseverance, and that she +had yielded in pity to our efforts. The men, relieved for a time from the +oar, stretched themselves at their length in the boat, and commented on +the scenery around them, or ventured their opinions as to that which was +before them. Up to this moment their conduct had been most exemplary; not +a murmur had escaped from them, and they filled the water-casks with the +utmost cheerfulness, even whilst tasting the disagreeable beverage they +would most probably have to subsist on for the next three or four days. + +As soon as we had well opened the point, we had a full view of the +splendid bay that, commencing at the western most of the central points, +swept in a beautiful curve under the ranges. No land was visible to the +W.N.W. or to the S.S.W.: in both these quarters the lake was as open as +the ocean. It appeared, therefore, that the land intermediate was an +island. To the north the country was extremely low, and as we increased +our distance from it we lost sight of it altogether. At noon we were +nearly abreast of the eastern headland, or in the centre of the strait to +which I have alluded. At this time there was an open sea from W.N.W. to +N. by E. A meridian altitude gave our latitude 35 degrees 25 minutes. +The land to our left was bold and precipitous; that to the right was low +and wooded; and there was evidently a considerable space between the +shores of the lake and the base of the ranges. The country to the eastward +was hidden from us by the line of cliffs, beyond which from E.S.E. to +W.S.W. there was an open sea. We had kept the lead going from the first, +and I was surprised at the extreme shallowness of the lake in every part, +as we never had six feet upon the line. Its bottom was one of black mud, +and weeds of enormous length were floating on its surface, detached by the +late gales, and which, from the shallowness of the lake, got constantly +entangled with our rudder. + +We tried to land on the eastern point, but found the water too shallow, +and were obliged to try the western shore. In passing close under the +head, we observed several natives upon it, who kindled a large fire as +soon as they saw they were noticed, which was answered from every point; +for, in less than ten minutes afterwards, we counted no fewer than +fourteen different fires, the greater number of which were on the side of +the ranges. + +SHORES OF THE LAKE. + +As we were standing across from one shore to the other, our attention was +drawn to a most singular object. It started suddenly up, as above the +waters to the south, and strikingly resembled an isolated castle. Behind +it, a dense column of smoke rose into the sky, and the effect was most +remarkable. On a nearer approach, the phantom disappeared and a clear and +open sea again presented itself to our view. The fact was, that the +refractive power upon the coast had elevated the sand-hillocks above their +true position, since we satisfactorily ascertained that they alone +separated the lake from the ocean, and that they alone could have produced +the semblance we noticed. It is a singular fact, that this very hillock +was the one which Capt. Barker ascended whilst carrying on the survey of +the south coast, and immediately previous to his tragical death. + +It was not without difficulty that we succeeded in landing on the western +shore; but we did, at length, succeed, and prepared our dinners. The shore +was low, but above the reach of all floods; the soil was rich, and +superficially sandy. It was covered with high grasses, and abounded in +kangaroos; within the space of a few yards we found five or six, but they +were immediately lost to us and to the dogs in the luxuriance of the +vegetation amidst which they were feeding. + +As soon as we had finished our meal, we once more embarked, and stood +along the shore to the S.W., but the lake was so shoal, that I was every +moment apprehensive we should ground. I ran across, therefore, to the +south, towards a low flat that had just appeared above the line of the +horizon, in hope that, in sounding, we should have found the channel, but +there either was none, or else it was so narrow that we passed over it +between the heaves of the lead. At this time, the western shore was quite +distinct, and the scenery was beautiful. + +The flat we were approaching was a mud-flat, and, from its appearance, the +tide was certainly at the ebb. We observed some cradles, or wicker frames, +placed far below high water-mark, that were each guarded by two natives, +who threatened us violently as we approached. In running along the land, +the stench from them plainly indicated what they were which these poor +creatures were so anxiously watching. + +We steered a S.W. course, towards some low and wooded hills, passing a +rocky island, and found that we had struck the mouth of a channel running +to the W.S.W. It was about half-a-mile wide, was bounded to the right by +some open flat ground, and to the left by a line of hills of about sixty +or seventy feet in elevation, partly open and partly covered with +beefwood. + +WARLIKE DEMEANOUR OF THE NATIVES. + +Upon the first of these hills, we observed a large body of natives, who +set up the most terrific yells as we approached. They were fully equipped +for battle and, as we neared the shore, came down to meet us with the most +violent threats. I wished much to communicate with them, and, not without +hopes of quieting them, stood right in with the intention of landing. +I observed, however, that if I did so, I should have to protect myself. +I hauled a little off, and endeavoured, by holding up a branch and a +tomahawk, to gain their confidence, but they were not to be won over by +my show of pacification. An elderly man walked close to the water's edge +unarmed, and, evidently, directed the others. He was followed by seven or +eight of the most daring, who crept into the reeds, with their spears +shipped to throw at us. I, therefore, took up my gun to return their +salute. It then appeared that they were perfectly aware of the weapon I +carried, for the moment they saw it, they dashed out of their hiding place +and retreated to the main body; but the old man, after saying something +to them, walked steadily on, and I, on my part, laid my firelock down +again. + +LOVELY EVENING. + +It was now near sunset; and one of the most lovely evenings I had ever +seen. The sun's radiance was yet upon the mountains, but all lower objects +were in shade. The banks of the channel, with the trees and the rocks, +were reflected in the tranquil waters, whose surface was unruffled save by +the thousands of wild fowl that rose before us, and made a noise as of a +multitude clapping hands, in their clumsy efforts to rise from the waters. +Not one of them allowed us to get within shot. + +We proceeded about a mile below the hill on which the natives were posted; +some few still following us with violent threats. We landed, however, on a +flat, bounded all round by the continuation of the hills. It was an +admirable position, for, in the centre of it, we could not be taken by +surprise, and, on the other hand, we gave the natives an opportunity of +communicating with us if they would. The full moon rose as we were forming +the camp, and, notwithstanding our vicinity to so noisy a host, the +silence of death was around us, or the stillness of the night was only +broken by the roar of the ocean, now too near to be mistaken for wind, +or by the silvery and melancholy note of the black swans as they passed +over us, to seek for food, no doubt, among the slimy weeds at the head of +the lake. We had been quite delighted with the beauty of the channel, +which was rather more than half-a-mile in width. Numberless mounds, that +seemed to invite civilised man to erect his dwelling upon them, presented +themselves to our view. The country round them was open, yet ornamentally +wooded, and rocks and trees hung or drooped over the waters. + +EXTENT OF THE LAKE. + +We had in one day gained a position I once feared it would have cost us +infinite labour to have measured. Indeed, had we been obliged to pull +across the lake, unless during a calm, I am convinced the men would have +been wholly exhausted. We had to thank a kind Providence that such was not +the case, since it had extended its mercy to us at so critical a moment. +We had indeed need of all the little strength we had remaining, and could +ill have thrown it away on such an effort as this would have required. +I calculated that we could not have run less than forty-five miles during +the day, a distance that, together with the eight miles we had advanced +the evening previously, would give the length of the lake at fifty-three +miles. + +We had approached to within twelve miles of the ranges, but had not gained +their southern extremity. From the camp, Mount Barker bore nearly north. +The ranges appeared to run north and south to our position, and then to +bend away to the S.S.W., gradually declining to that point, which I +doubted not terminated in Cape Jervis. The natives kept aloof during the +night, nor did the dogs by a single growl intimate that any had ventured +to approach us. The sound of the surf came gratefully to our ears, for it +told us we were near the goal for which we had so anxiously pushed, and we +all of us promised ourselves a view of the boundless ocean on the morrow. + +CHANNEL TO THE SEA--ITS SHALLOWNESS. + +As the morning dawned, we saw that the natives had thrown an out-post of +sixteen men across the channel, who were watching our motions; but none +showed themselves on the hills behind us, or on any part of the south +shore. We embarked as soon as we had breakfasted, A fresh breeze was +blowing from the N.E. which took us rapidly down the channel, and our +prospects appeared to be as cheering as the day, for just as we were about +to push from the shore, a seal rose close to the boat, which we all +regarded as a favourable omen. We were, however, shortly stopped by +shoals; it was in vain that we beat across the channel from one side to +the other; it was a continued shoal, and the deepest water appeared to be +under the left bank. The tide, however, had fallen, and exposed broad +flats, over which it was hopeless, under existing circumstances, to haul +the boat. We again landed on the south side of the channel, patiently to +await the high water. + +M'Leay, myself, and Fraser, ascended the hills, and went to the opposite +side to ascertain the course of the channel, for immediately above us it +turned south round the hills. We there found that we were on a narrow +tongue of land. The channel was immediately below us, and continued to the +E.S.E. as far as we could trace it. The hills we were upon, were the sandy +hills that always bound a coast that is low, and were covered with +banksias, casuarina and the grass-tree. + +To the south of the channel there was a flat, backed by a range of +sand-hummocks, that were covered with low shrubs; and beyond them the sea +was distinctly visible. We could not have been more than two and a half +miles from the beach where we stood. + +Notwithstanding the sandy nature of the soil, the fossil formation again +showed itself, not only on these hills, but also on the rocks that were in +the channel. + +A little before high water we again embarked. A seal had been observed +playing about, and we augured well from such an omen. The blacks had been +watching us from the opposite shore, and as soon as we moved, rose to keep +abreast of us. With all our efforts we could not avoid the shoals. We +walked up to our knees in mud and water, to find the least variation in +the depth of the water so as to facilitate our exertions, but it was to no +purpose. We were ultimately obliged to drag the boat over the flats; there +were some of them a quarter of a mile in breadth, knee-deep in mud; but at +length got her into deep water again. The turn of the channel was now +before us, and we had a good run for about four or five miles. We had +completed the bend, and the channel now stretched to the E.S.E. At about +nine miles from us there was a bright sand-hill visible, near which the +channel seemed to turn again to the south; and I doubted not that it +terminated there. It was to no purpose, however, that we tried to gain it. +Shoals again closed in upon us on every side. We dragged the boat over +several, and at last got amongst quicksands. I, therefore, directed our +efforts to hauling the boat over to the south side of the channel, as that +on which we could most satisfactorily ascertain our position. After great +labour we succeeded, and, as evening had closed in, lost no time in +pitching the tents. + +BEACH OF ENCOUNTER BAY. + +While the men were thus employed, I took Fraser with me, and, accompanied +by M'Leay, crossed the sand-hummocks behind us, and descended to the +sea-shore. I found that we had struck the south coast deep in the bight +of Encounter Bay. We had no time for examination, but returned immediately +to the camp, as I intended to give the men an opportunity to go to the +beach. They accordingly went and bathed, and returned not only highly +delighted at this little act of good nature on my part, but loaded with +cockles, a bed of which they had managed to find among the sand. Clayton +had tied one end of his shirt up, and brought a bag full, and amused +himself with boiling cockles all night long. + +If I had previously any hopes of being enabled ultimately to push the boat +over the flats that were before us, a view of the channel at low water, +convinced me of the impracticability of any further attempt. The water was +so low that every shoal was exposed, and many stretched directly from one +side of the channel to the other; and, but for the treacherous nature of +the sand-banks, it would not have been difficult to have walked over dry +footed to the opposite side of it. The channel stretched away to the +E.S.E., to a distance of seven or eight miles, when it appeared to turn +south under a small sand-hill, upon which the rays of the sun fell, as it +was sinking behind us. + +CURIOUS EFFECT OF REFRACTION. + +There was an innumerable flock of wild-fowl arranged in rows along the +sides of the pools left by the tide, and we were again amused by the +singular effect of the refraction upon them, and the grotesque and +distorted forms they exhibited. Swans, pelicans, ducks, and geese, were +mingled together, and, according to their distance from us, presented +different appearances. Some were exceedingly tall and thin, others were +unnaturally broad. Some appeared reversed, or as if they were standing on +their heads, and the slightest motion, particularly the flapping of their +wings, produced a most ridiculous effect. No doubt, the situation and the +state of the atmosphere were favourable to the effect I have described. +The day had been fine, the evening was beautiful,--but it was the +rarefaction of the air immediately playing on the ground, and not the +haze at sunset that caused what I have noticed. It is distinct from +mirage, although it is difficult to point out the difference. The one, +however, distorts, the other conceals objects, and gives them a false +distance. The one is clear, the other is cloudy. The one raises objects +above their true position, the other does not. The one plays about, the +other is steady; but I cannot hope to give a proper idea either of mirage +or refraction so satisfactorily as I could wish. Many travellers have +dwelt upon their effects, particularly upon those of the former, but few +have attempted to account for them. + +Our situation was one of peculiar excitement and interest. To our right +the thunder of the heavy surf, that almost shook the ground beneath us, +broke with increasing roar upon our ears; to our left the voice of the +natives echoed through the brush, and the size of their fires at the +extremity of the channel, seemed to indicate the alarm our appearance had +occasioned. + +CRITICAL SITUATION OF THE PARTY. + +While the men were enjoying their cockles, a large kettle of which they +had boiled, M'Leay and I were anxiously employed in examining the state of +our provisions, and in ascertaining what still remained. Flour and tea +were the only articles we had left, so that the task was not a difficult +one. It appeared that we had not sufficient of either to last us to +Pondebadgery, at which place we expected to find supplies; and, taking +every thing into consideration, our circumstances were really critical. + +The first view of Encounter Bay had convinced me that no vessel would ever +venture into it at a season when the S.W. winds prevailed. It was +impossible that we could remain upon the coast in expectation of the +relief that I doubted not had been hurried off for us; since +disappointment would have sealed our fate at once. In the deep bight in +which we were, I could not hope that any vessel would approach +sufficiently near to be seen by us. Our only chance of attracting notice +would have been by crossing the Ranges to the Gulf St. Vincent, but the +men had not strength to walk, and I hesitated to divide my party in the +presence of a determined and numerous enemy, who closely watched our +motions. Setting aside the generous feelings that had prompted M'Leay to +participate in every danger with me, and who I am persuaded would have +deeply felt a separation, my anxiety not only on his account, but on +account of the men I might leave in charge of the boat, made me averse to +this measure; the chance of any misfortune to them involving in it the +destruction of our boat and the loss of our provisions. My anxiety of mind +would have rendered me unfit for exertion; yet so desirous was I of +examining the ranges and the country at their base, that I should, had our +passage to the salt water been uninterrupted, have determined on coasting +it homewards, or of steering for Launceston; and most assuredly, with my +present experience, I would rather incur the hazards of so desperate a +step, than contend against all the evils that beset us on out homeward +journey. And the reader may rest assured, I was as much without hopes of +our eventual safety, as I was astonished, at the close of our labours, to +find that they had terminated so happily. + +INSPECTION OF THE CHANNEL FROM THE LAKE TO THE OCEAN. + +Further exertion on the part of the men being out of the question, I +determined to remain no longer on the coast than to enable me to trace the +channel to its actual junction with the sea, and to ascertain the features +of the coast at that important point. I was reluctant to exhaust the +strength of the men in dragging the boat over the numberless flats that +were before us, and made up my mind to walk along the shore until I should +gain the outlet. I at length arranged that M'Leay, I, and Fraser, should +start on this excursion, at the earliest dawn, leaving Harris and +Hopkinson in charge of the camp; for as we were to go towards the position +of the natives, I thought it improbable they would attack the camp without +my being instantly aware of it. + +We had, as I have said, intended starting at the earliest dawn, but the +night was so clear and refreshing, and the moon so bright that we +determined to avail ourselves of both, and accordingly left the tents at +3 a.m. I directed Harris to strike them at 8, and to have every thing in +readiness for our departure at that hour. We then commenced our +excursion, and I led my companions rapidly along the shore of Encounter +Bay, after crossing the sand-hills about a mile below the camp. After a +hasty and distressing walk of about seven miles, we found that the +sand-hills terminated, and a low beach spread before us. The day was just +breaking, and at the distance of a mile from us we saw the sand-hill I +have already had occasion to notice, and at about a quarter of a mile from +its base, we were checked by the channel; which, as I rightly conjectured, +being stopped in its easterly course by some rising ground, the tongue of +land on which the blacks were posted, suddenly turns south, and, striking +this sand-hill, immediately enters the sea; and we noticed, in the bight +under the rising ground, that the natives had lit a chain of small fires. +This was, most probably, a detached party watching our movements, as they +could, from where they were posted, see our camp. + +At the time we arrived at the end of the channel, the tide had turned, and +was again setting in. The entrance appeared to me to be somewhat less than +a quarter of a mile in breadth. Under the sand-hill on the off side, the +water is deep and the current strong. No doubt, at high tide, a part of +the low beach we had traversed is covered. The mouth of the channel is +defended by a double line of breakers, amidst which, it would be +dangerous to venture, except in calm and summer weather; and the line of +foam is unbroken from one end of Encounter Bay to the other. Thus were our +fears of the impracticability and inutility of the channel of +communication between the lake and the ocean confirmed. + +DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS OF THE RETURN. + +I would fain have lingered on my way, to examine, as far as circumstances +would permit, the beautiful country between the lake and the ranges; and +it was with heart-felt sorrow that I yielded to necessity. My men were +indeed very weak from poverty of diet and from great bodily fatigue. +Hopkinson, Mulholland, and Macnamee were miserably reduced. The two +former, especially, had exerted themselves beyond their strength, and +although I am confident they would have obeyed my orders to the last, +I did not feel myself justified, considering the gigantic task we had +before us, to impose additional labour upon them. + +It will be borne in mind that our difficulties were just about to +commence, when those of most other travellers have ceased; and that +instead of being assisted by the stream whose course we had followed, we +had now to contend against the united waters of the eastern ranges, +with diminished strength, and, in some measure, with disappointed +feelings. + +Under the most favourable circumstances, it was improbable that the men +would be enabled to pull for many days longer in succession; since they +had not rested upon their oars for a single day, if I except our passage +across the lake, from the moment when we started from the depot; nor was +it possible for me to buoy them up with the hope even of a momentary +cessation from labour. We had calculated the time to which our supply of +provisions would last under the most favourable circumstances, and it was +only in the event of our pulling up against the current, day after day, +the same distance we had compassed with the current in our favour, that we +could hope they would last us as long as we continued in the Murray. +But in the event of floods, or any unforeseen delay, in was impossible +to calculate at what moment we might be driven to extremity. + +Independent of these casualties, there were other circumstances of peril +to be taken into consideration. As I have already observed, I foresaw +great danger in again running through the natives. I had every reason to +believe that many of the tribes with which we had communicated on +apparently friendly terms, regretted having allowed us to pass unmolested; +nor was I at all satisfied as to the treatment we might receive from them, +when unattended by the envoys who had once or twice controlled their fury. +Our best security, therefore, against the attacks of the natives was +celerity of movement; and the men themselves seemed to be perfectly aware +of the consequences of delay. Our provisions, moreover, being calculated +to last to a certain point only, the slightest accident, the staving-in +of the boat, or the rise of the river, would inevitably be attended with +calamity. To think of reducing our rations of only three quarters of a +pound of flour per diem, was out of the question, or to hope that the men, +with less sustenance than that, would perform the work necessary to ensure +their safety, would have been unreasonable. It was better that our +provisions should hold out to a place from which we might abandon the boat +with some prospect of reaching by an effort a stock station, or the plain +on which Robert Harris was to await our return, than that they should be +consumed before the half of our homeward journey should be accomplished. +Delay, therefore, under our circumstances, would have been imprudent +and unjustifiable. + + +PATIENCE OF THE MEN--RE-ENTER THE MURRAY. +On the other hand, it was sufficiently evident to me, that the men were +too much exhausted to perform the task that was before them without +assistance, and that it would be necessary both for M'Leay and myself, +to take our share of labour at the oars. The cheerfulness and satisfaction +that my young friend evinced at the opportunity that was thus afforded him +of making himself useful, and of relieving those under him from some +portion of their toil, at the same time that they increased my sincere +esteem for him, were nothing more than what I expected from one who had +endeavoured by every means in his power to contribute to the success of +that enterprise upon which he had embarked. But although I have said thus +much of the exhausted condition of the men,--and ere these pages are +concluded my readers will feel satisfied as to the truth of my +statement--I would by no means be understood to say that they flagged for +a moment, or that a single murmur escaped them. No reluctance was visible, +no complaint was heard, but there was that in their aspect and appearance +which they could not hide, and which I could not mistake. My object in +dwelling so long upon this subject has been to point out our situation and +our feelings when we re-entered the Murray. The only circumstance that +appeared to be in our favour was the prevalence of the south-west wind, +by which I hoped we should be assisted in running up the first broad +reaches of that river. I could not but acknowledge the bounty of that +Providence, which had favoured us in our passage across the lake, and I +was led to hope that its merciful superintendance would protect us from +evil, and would silently direct us where human foresight and prudence +failed. We re-entered the river on the 13th under as fair prospects as +we would have desired. The gale which had blown with such violence in the +morning gradually abated, and a steady breeze enabled us to pass our first +encampment by availing ourselves of it as long as day light continued. +Both the valley and the river showed to advantage as we approached them, +and the scenery upon our left (the proper right bank of the Murray) +was really beautiful. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + + +Valley of the Murray--Its character and capabilities--Laborious progress +up the river--Accident to the boat--Perilous collision with the natives +--Turbid current of the Rufus--Passage of the Rapids--Assisted by the +natives--Dangerous intercourse with them--Re-enter the Morumbidgee-- +Verdant condition of its banks--Nocturnal encounter with the natives-- +Interesting manifestation of feeling in one family--Reach the spot where +the party had embarked on the river--Men begin to fail entirely-- +Determine to send two men forward for relief--Their return--Excursion on +horseback--Reach Pondebadgery Plain, and meet the supplies from the +colony--Cannibalism of the natives--Return to Sydney--Concluding remarks. + +VALLEY OF THE MURRAY. + +The valley of the Murray, at its entrance, cannot be less than four miles +in breadth. The river does not occupy the centre but inclines to either +side, according to its windings, and thus the flats are of greater or less +extent, according to the distance of the river from the base of the hills. +It is to be remarked, that the bottom of the valley is extremely level, +and extensively covered with reeds. From the latter circumstance, one +would be led to infer that these flats are subject to overflow, and no +doubt can exist as to the fact of their being, at least partially, if not +wholly, under water at times. A country in a state of nature is, however, +so different from one in a state of cultivation, that it is hazardous to +give an opinion as to its practical availableness, if I may use such a +term. I should, undoubtedly, say the marshes of the Macquarie were +frequently covered with water, and that they were wholly unfit for any one +purpose whatever. It is evident from the marks of the reeds upon the +banks, that the flood covers them occasionally to the depth of three feet, +and the reeds are so densely embodied and so close to the river side that +the natives cannot walk along it. The reeds are the broad flag-reed +(arundo phragmatis), and grow on a stiff earthy loam, without any +accompanying vegetation; indeed, they form so solid a mass that the sun +cannot penetrate to the ground to nourish vegetation. On the other hand, +the valley of the Murray, though covered with reeds in most places, is not +so in all. There is no mark upon the reeds by which to judge as to the +height of inundation, neither are they of the same kind as those which +cover the marshes of the Macquarie. They are the species of round reed of +which the South-sea islanders make their arrows, and stand sufficiently +open, not only to allow of a passage through, but for the abundant growth +of grass among them. Still, I have no doubt that parts of the valley are +subject to flood; but, as I have already remarked, I do not know whether +these parts are either deeply or frequently covered. Rain must fall +simultaneously in the S.E. angle of the island in the inter-tropical +regions, and at the heads of all the tributaries of the main stream, ere +its effects can be felt in the lower parts of the Murray. If the valley of +the Murray is not subject to flood, it has only recently gained a height +above the influence of the river, and still retains all the character of +flooded land. In either case, however, it contains land that is of the +very richest kind--soil that is the pure accumulation of vegetable matter, +and is as black as ebony. If its hundreds of thousands of acres were +practically available, I should not hesitate to pronounce it one of the +richest spots of equal extent on earth, and highly favoured in other +respects. How far it is available remains to be proved; and an opinion +upon either side would be hazardous, although that of its liability to +flood would, most probably, be nearest to truth. It is, however, certain +that any part of the valley would require much labour before it could be +brought under cultivation, and that even its most available spots would +require almost as much trouble to clear them as the forest tract, for +nothing is more difficult to destroy than reeds. Breaking the sod would, +naturally, raise the level of the ground, and lateral drains would, most +probably, carry off all floods, but then the latter, at least, is the +operation of an advanced stage of husbandry only. I would, however, +observe that there are many parts of the valley decidedly above the reach +of flood. I have, in the above observations, been particularly alluding to +the lowest and broadest portions of it. I trust I shall be understood as +not wishing to over-rate this discovery on the one hand, or on the other, +to include its whole extent in one sweeping clause of condemnation. + +On the 14th, the wind still continued to blow fresh from the N.W. +It moderated at noon, and assisted us beyond measure. We passed our first +encampment, but did not see any natives. + +CORDIALITY OF THE NATIVES. + +On the 15th, the wind was variable at daylight, and a dense fog was on the +river. As the sun rose, it was dissipated and a light breeze sprung up +from W.S.W. We ran up the stream with a free sheet for six hours, when we +stopped for a short time to get the kettle boiled. Four natives joined us, +but with the exception of the lowest tribe upon the right bank, we had not +seen any number. We were extremely liberal to this tribe, in consequence +of the satisfaction they evinced at our return. We had alarmed them much +on our passage down the river by firing at a snake that was swimming +across it. We, at first, attempted to kill it with the boat-hook, but the +animal dived at our approach, and appeared again at a considerable +distance. Another such dive would have ensured his escape, but a shot +effectually checked him, and as the natives evinced considerable alarm, we +held him up, to show them the object of our proceedings. On our return, +they seemed to have forgotten their fright, and received us with every +demonstration of joy. The different receptions we met with from different +tribes are difficult to be accounted for. + +The country appeared to rise before us, and looked more hilly to the N.W. +than I had supposed it to be. Several fine valleys branched off from the +main one to the westward, and, however barren the heights that confined +them were, I am inclined to think, that the distant interior is fertile. +The marks of kangaroos were numerous, and the absence of the natives would +indicate that they have other and better means of subsisting in the back +country than what the river affords. + +In the evening, we again ran on for two hours and a half, and reached the +first of the cliffs. + +On the 16th, we were again fortunate in the wind, and pressed up the river +as long as day-light continued. At the termination of our journey, we +found ourselves a day's journey in advance. This inspirited the men, and +they began to forget the labours they had gone through, as well as those +that were before them. + +On the 17th, we again commenced pulling, the wind being at north, and +contrary. It did not, however, remain in that quarter long, but backed at +noon to the S.W., so that we were enabled to make a good day's journey, +and rather gained than lost ground. + +REMARKABLE CLIFF--GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. + +Having left the undulating hills, at the mouth of the valley behind us, +we passed cliff after cliff of fossil formation: they had a uniform +appearance as to the substance of which they were composed, and varied +but little in colour. Having already examined them, we thought it +unnecessary to give them any further special attention, since it was +improbable we should find anything new. In turning an angle of the river, +however, a broad reach stretched away before us. An alluvial flat extended +to our left, and a high line of cliffs, that differed in no visible +respect from those we had already passed, rose over the opposite side of +the river. The cliffs faced the W.N.W., and as the sun declined, his beams +struck full upon them. As we shot past, we were quite dazzled with the +burst of light that flashed upon us, and which gave to the whole face of +the cliff the appearance of a splendid mirror. The effect was of course +momentary; for as soon as we had passed the angle of refraction, there was +nothing unusual in its appearance. On a nearer approach, however, it +appeared again as if studded with stars. We had already determined on +examining it more closely, and this second peculiarity still further +excited our curiosity. On landing, we found the whole cliff to be a mass +of selenite, in which the various shells already noticed were plentifully +embedded, as in ice. The features of the cliff differed from any we had +previously remarked. Large masses, or blocks of square or oblong shape, +had fallen to its base, and its surface was hard, whereas the face of the +majority of the other cliffs was soft from the effect of the atmosphere; +and the rock was entirely free from every other substance, excepting the +shells of which it was composed. We of course collected some good +specimens, although they added very considerably to the weight of our +cargo. + +The morning of the 18th was calm and cloudless. The wind, of which there +was but little, came from the north, and was as usual warm. We availed +ourselves of a favourable spot to haul our boat on shore under one of the +cliffs upon the proper left of the river, and cleaned her well both +inside and out. + +LABORIOUS ASCENT OF THE BOAT. + +The breezes that had so much assisted as from the lake upwards, had now +lost their influence, or failed to reach to the distance we had gained. +Calms succeeded them, and obliged us to labour continually at the oars. +We lost ground fast, and it was astonishing to remark how soon the men's +spirits drooped again under their first efforts. They fancied the boat +pulled heavily, and that her bottom was foul; but such was not the case. +The current was not so strong as when we passed down, since the river had +evidently fallen more than a foot, and was so shallow in several places, +that we were obliged to haul the boat over them. On these occasions we +were necessarily obliged to get out of her into the water, and had +afterwards to sit still and to allow the sun to dry our clothes upon us. +The unemployed consequently envied those at the oars, as they sat +shivering in their dripping clothes. I was aware that it was more from +imagination than reality, that the men fancied the boat was unusually +heavy, but I hesitated not in humouring them, and rather entered into +their ideas than otherwise, and endeavoured to persuade them that she +pulled the lighter for the cleaning we gave her. + +A tribe of natives joined us, and we had the additional trouble of +guarding our stores. They were, however, very quiet, and as we had broken +up our casks, on leaving the coast, we were enabled to be liberal in our +presents of iron hoop, which they eagerly received. We calculated that we +should reach the principal junction in about fifteen days from this place. + +NATIVE BURIAL-PLACE. + +The natives left us to pursue our solitary journey as soon as the boat was +reloaded. Not one of them had the curiosity to follow us, nor did they +appear to think it necessary that we should be attended by envoys. We +stopped for the night upon the left bank; and close to a burial-ground +that differed from any I had ever seen. It must have been used many years, +from the number of bones that were found in the bank, but there were no +other indications of such a place either by mounds or by marks on the +trees. The fact, therefore, is a singular one. I have thought that some +battle might have been fought near the place, but I can hardly think one +of their battles could have been so destructive. + +IMPEDED BY SHOALS. + +We had now only to make the best of our journey, rising at dawn, and +pulling to seven and often to nine o'clock. I allowed the men an hour from +half-past eleven to half-past twelve, to take their bread and water. This +was our only fare, if I except an occasional wild duck; but these birds +were extremely difficult to kill, and it cost us so much time, that we +seldom endeavoured to procure any. Our dogs had been of no great use, and +were now too weak to have run after anything if they had seen either +kangaroos or emus; and for the fish, the men loathed them, and were either +too indifferent or too much fatigued to set the night-lines. Shoals +frequently impeded us as we proceeded up the river, and we passed some +rapids that called for our whole strength to stem. A light wind assisted +us on two or three of these occasions, and I never failed hoisting the +sail at every fitting opportunity. In some parts the river was extremely +shallow, and the sand-banks of amazing size; and the annoyance of dragging +the boat over these occasional bars, was very great. We passed several +tribes of blacks on the 19th and 20th; but did not stop to communicate +with them. + +I believe I have already mentioned that shortly after we first entered the +Murray, flocks of a new paroquet passed over our heads, apparently +emigrating to the N.W. They always kept too high to be fired at, but on +our return, hereabouts, we succeeded in killing one. It made a good +addition to our scanty stock of subjects of natural history. It is +impossible to conceive how few of the feathered tribe frequent these +distant and lonely regions. The common white cockatoo is the most +numerous, and there are also a few pigeons; but other birds descend only +for water, and are soon again upon the wing. Our botanical specimens were +as scanty as our zoological, indeed the expedition may, as regards these +two particulars, almost be said to have been unproductive. + +COMPILATION OF THE CHART. + +When we came down the river, I thought it advisable to lay its course down +as precisely as circumstances would permit: for for this purpose I had a +large compass always before me, and a sheet of foolscap paper. As soon as +we passed an angle of the river, I took the bearings of the reach before +us, and as we proceeded down it, marked off the description of country, +and any remarkable feature. The consequence was, that I laid down every +bend of the Murray River, from the Morumbidgee downwards. Its creeks, its +tributaries, its flats, its valleys, and its cliffs, and, as far as I +possibly could do, the nature of the distant interior. This chart was, +of course, erroneous in many particulars, since I had to judge the length +of the reaches of the river, and the extent of its angles, but I corrected +it on the scale of the miles of latitude we made during the day, which +brought out an approximate truth at all events. The hurried nature of our +journey would not allow me to do more; and it will be remembered that my +observations were all siderial, by reason that the sextant would not +embrace the sun in his almost vertical position at noon. Admitting, +however, the imperfection of this chart, it was of inconceivable value and +comfort to us on our return, for, by a reference to it, we discovered our +place upon the river, and our distance from our several encampments. +And we should often have stopped short of them had not the chart shown us +that a few reaches more would bring us to the desired spots. It cheered +the men to know where they were, and gave them conversation. To myself it +was very satisfactory, as it enabled me to prepare for our meetings with +the larger tribes, and to steer clear of obstacles in the more difficult +navigation of some parts of the stream. + +On the 21st, by dint of great labour we reached our camp of the 2nd +February, from which it will be remembered the Murray took up a southerly +course, and from which we likewise obtained a first view of the coast +ranges. The journey to the sea and back again, had consequently occupied +us twenty days. From this point we turned our boat's head homewards; we +made it, therefore, a fixed position among the stages into which we +divided our journey. Our attention was now directed to the junction of the +principal tributary, which we hoped to reach in twelve days, and +anticipated a close to our labours on the Murray in eight days more from +that stage to the Morumbidgee. + +CURRENT OF THE MURRAY. + +The current in the Murray from the lake, to within a short distance of +this singular turn in it, is weak, since its bed is almost on a level with +the lake. The channel, which, at the termination, is somewhat more than +the third of a mile across, gradually diminishes in breadth, as the +interior is gained, but is nowhere under 300 yards; while its depth +averages from eighteen to thirty feet, within a foot of the very bank. +The river might, therefore, be navigated by boats of considerable burden, +if the lake admitted of the same facility; but I am decidedly of opinion, +that the latter is generally shallow, and that it will, in the course of +years, be filled up by depositions. It is not, however, an estuary in any +sense of the word, since no part of it is exposed at low water, excepting +the flats in the channel, and the flat between the lake and the sea. + +ACCIDENT TO THE BOAT. + +On the 23rd, we stove the boat in for the first time. I had all along +anticipated such an accident, from the difficulty of avoiding obstacles, +in consequence of the turbid state of the river. Fortunately the boat +struck a rotten log. The piece remained in her side, and prevented her +filling, which she must, otherwise, inevitably have done, ere we could +have reached the shore. As it was, however, we escaped with a little +damage to the lower bags of flour only. She was hauled up on a sand bank, +and Clayton repaired her in less than two hours, when we reloaded her +and pursued our journey. It was impossible to have been more cautious than +we were, for I was satisfied as to the fate that would have overtaken the +whole of us in the event of our losing the boat, and was proportionably +vigilant. + +MOLESTED BY THE NATIVES. + +At half-past five we came to an island, which looked so inviting, and so +quiet, that I determined to land and sleep upon it. We consequently, ran +the boat into a little recess, or bay, and pitched the tents; and I +anticipated a respite from the presence of any natives, as did the men, +who were rejoiced at my having taken up so snug a berth. It happened, +however, that a little after sunset, a flight of the new paroquets +perched in the lofty trees that grew on the island, to roost; when we +immediately commenced the work of death, and succeeded in killing eight or +ten. The reports of our guns were heard by some natives up the river, and +several came over to us. Although I was annoyed at their having discovered +our retreat, they were too few to be troublesome. During the night, +however, they were joined by fresh numbers, amounting in all to about +eighty, and they were so clamorous, that it was impossible to sleep. + +NATIVES BECOME TROUBLESOME. + +As the morning broke, Hopkinson came to inform me that it was in vain that +the guard endeavoured to prevent them from handling every thing, and from +closing in round our camp. I went out, and from what I saw I thought it +advisable to double the sentries. M'Leay, who was really tired, being +unable to close his eyes amid such a din, got up in ill-humour, and went +to see into the cause, and to check it if he could. This, however, was +impossible. One man was particularly forward and insolent, at whom M'Leay, +rather imprudently, threw a piece of dirt. The savage returned the +compliment with as much good will as it had been given, and appeared quite +prepared to act on the offensive. At this critical moment my servant came +to the tent in which I was washing myself, and stated his fears that we +should soon come to blows, as the natives showed every disposition to +resist us. On learning what had passed between M'Leay and the savage, +I pretended to be equally angry with both, and with some difficulty forced +the greater part of the blacks away from the tents. I then directed the +men to gather together all the minor articles in the first instance, and +then to strike the tents; and, in order to check the natives, I drew a +line round the camp, over which I intimated to them they should not pass. +Observing, I suppose, that we were on our guard, and that I, whom they +well knew to be the chief, was really angry, they crept away one by one, +until the island was almost deserted by them. Why they did not attack us, +I know not, for they had certainly every disposition to do so, and had +their shorter weapons with them, which, in so confined a space as that on +which we were, would have been more fatal than their spears + +They left us, however; and a flight of red-crested cockatoos happening to +settle on a plain near the river, I crossed in the boat in order to shoot +one. The plain was upon the proper left bank of the Murray. The natives +had passed over to the right. As the one channel was too shallow for the +boat, when we again pursued our journey we were obliged to pull round to +the left side of the island. A little above it the river makes a bend to +the left, and the angle at this bend was occupied by a large shoal, +one point of which rested on the upper part of the island, and the other +touched the proper right bank of the river. Thus a narrow channel, +(not broader indeed than was necessary for the play of our oars,) alone +remained for us to pass up against a strong current. On turning round the +lower part of the island, we observed that the natives occupied the whole +extent of the shoal, and speckled it over like skirmishers. Many of them +had their spears, and their attention was evidently directed to us.--As we +neared the shoal, the most forward of them pressed close to the edge of +the deep water, so much so that our oars struck their legs. Still this did +not induce them to retire. I kept my eye on an elderly man who stood one +of the most forward, and who motioned to us several times to stop, and at +length threw the weapon he carried at the boat. I immediately jumped up +and pointed my gun at him to his great apparent alarm. Whether the natives +hoped to intimidate us by a show of numbers, or what immediate object they +had in view, it is difficult to say; though it was most probably to seize +a fitting opportunity to attack us. Seeing, I suppose, that we were not to +be checked, they crossed from the shoal to the proper right bank of the +river, and disappeared among the reeds that lined it. + +TREACHERY OF THE NATIVES. + +Shortly after this, eight of the women, whom we had not before noticed, +came down to the water side, and gave us the most pressing invitation to +land. Indeed they played their part uncommonly well, and tried for some +time to allure us by the most unequivocal manifestations of love. +Hopkinson however who always had his eyes about him, observed the spears +of the men among the reeds. They kept abreast of us as we pulled up the +stream, and, no doubt, were anticipating our inability to resist the +temptations they had thrown in our way. I was really provoked at their +barefaced treachery, and should most undoubtedly have attacked them, had +they not precipitately retreated on being warned by the women that I was +arming my men, which I had only now done upon seeing such strong +manifestations of danger. M'Leay set the example of coolness on this +occasion; and I had some doubts whether I was justified in allowing the +natives to escape with impunity, considering that if they had wounded any +one of us the most melancholy and fatal results would have ensued. + +We did not see anything more of the blacks during the rest of the day, +but the repeated indications of hostility we perceived as we approached +the Darling, made me apprehensive as to the reception we should meet from +its numerous population; and I was sorry to observe that the men +anticipated danger in passing that promising junction. + +Having left the sea breezes behind us, the weather had become oppressive; +and as the current was stronger, and rapids more numerous, our labour was +proportionably increased. We perspired to an astonishing degree, and gave +up our oars after our turn at them, with shirts and clothes as wet as if +we had been in the water. Indeed Mulholland and Hopkinson, who worked +hard, poured a considerable quantity of perspiration from their shoes +after their task. The evil of this was that we were always chilled after +rowing, and, of course, suffered more than we should otherwise have done. + +RE-PASS THE LINDESAY. + +On the 25th we passed the last of the cliffs composing the great fossil +bed through which the Murray flows, and entered that low country already +described as being immediately above it. On a more attentive examination +of the distant interior, my opinion as to its flooded origin was +confirmed, more especially in reference to the country to the S.E. On the +30th we passed the mouth of the Lindesay, and from the summit of the sand +hills to the north of the Murray overlooked the flat country, through +which I conclude it must run, from the line of fires we observed amid the +trees, and most probably upon its banks. + +We did not fall in with the natives in such numbers as when we passed down +to the coast: still they were in sufficient bodies to be troublesome. +It would, however, appear that the tribes do not generally frequent the +river. They must have a better country back from it, and most probably +linger amongst the lagoons and creeks where food is more abundant. The +fact is evident from the want of huts upon the banks of the Murray, and +the narrowness of the paths along its margin. + +RE-PASSED THE RUFUS. + +We experienced the most oppressive heat about this time. Calms generally +prevailed, and about 3 p.m. the sun's rays fell upon us with intense +effect. The waters of the Murray continued extremely muddy, a circumstance +we discovered to be owing to the turbid current of the Rufus, which we +passed on the 1st of March. It is, really, singular whence this little +stream originates. It will be remembered that I concluded it must have +been swollen by rains when we first saw it; yet, after an absence of more +than three weeks we found it discharging its waters as muddy as ever into +the main stream; and that, too, in such quantities as to discolour its +waters to the very lake. The reader will have some idea of the force of +the current in both, when I assure him that for nearly fifty yards below +the mouth of the Rufus, the waters of the Murray preserve their +transparency, and the line between them and the turbid waters of its +tributary was as distinctly marked as if drawn by a pencil. Indeed, +the higher we advanced, the more did we feel the strength of the current, +against which we had to pull. + +DIFFICULTIES AT THE RAPIDS. + +A little below the Lindesay, a rapid occurs. It was with the utmost +difficulty that we stemmed it with the four oars upon the boat, and the +exertion of our whole strength. We remained, at one time, perfectly +stationary, the force we employed and that of the current being equal. +We at length ran up the stream obliquely; but it was evident the men were +not adequate to such exertion for any length of time. We pulled that day +for eleven successive hours, in order to avoid a tribe of natives who +followed us. Hopkinson and Fraser fell asleep at their oars, and even the +heavy Clayton appeared to labour. + +We again occupied our camp under the first remarkable cliffs of the +Murray, a description of which has been given in page 128 of this work. +[GEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION.] Their summit, as I have already remarked forms a +table land of some elevation. From it the distant interior to the S.S.E. +appears very depressed; that to the north undulates more. In neither +quarter, however, does any bright foliage meet the eye, to tell that a +better soil is under it; but a dark and gloomy vegetation occupies both +the near and distant ground, in proof that the sandy sterile tracts, +succeeding the river deposits, stretch far away without a change. + +A little above our camp of the 28th of January, we fell in with a large +tribe of natives, whose anxiety to detain us was remarkable. The wind, +however, which, from the time we lost the sea breezes, had hung to the +S.E., had changed to the S.W., and we were eagerly availing ourselves of +it. It will not he supposed we stopped even for a moment. In truth we +pressed on with great success, and did not land to sleep until nine +o'clock. As long as the wind blew from the S.W., the days were cool, and +the sky overcast even so much so as to threaten rain. + +The least circumstance, in our critical situation, naturally raised my +apprehensions, and I feared the river would be swollen in the event of +any heavy rains in the hilly country; I hoped, however, we should gain the +Morumbidgee before such a calamity should happen to us, and it became +my object to press for that river without delay. + +OBSTACLES TO THE NAVIGATION--DANGEROUS RAPIDS. + +Although we had met with frequent rapids in our progress upwards, they had +not been of a serious kind, nor such as would affect the navigation of the +river. The first direct obstacle of this kind occurs a little above a +small tributary that falls into the Murray from the north, between the +Rufus and the cliffs we have alluded to. At this place a reef of coarse +grit contracts the channel of the river. No force we could have exerted +with the oars would have taken us up this rapid; but we accomplished the +task easily by means of a rope which we hauled upon, on the same principle +that barges are dragged by horses along the canals. + +As we neared the junction of the two main streams, the country, on both +sides of the river, became low, and its general appearance confirmed the +opinion I have already given as to its flooded origin. The clouds that +obscured the sky, and had threatened to burst for some time, at length +gave way, and we experienced two or three days of heavy rain. In the midst +of it we passed the second stage of our journey, and found the spot lately +so crowded with inhabitants totally deserted. A little above it we +surprised a small tribe in a temporary shelter; but neither our offers nor +presents could prevail on any of them to expose themselves to the torrent +that was falling. They sat shivering in their bark huts in evident +astonishment at our indifference. We threw them some trifling presents and +were glad to proceed unattended by any of them. + +PERILOUS ASCENT OF THE RAPIDS. + +It will he remembered that in passing down the river, the boat was placed +in some danger in descending a rapid before we reached the junction of the +Murray with the stream supposed by me to be the Darling. We were now +gradually approaching the rapid, nor did I well know how we should +surmount such an obstacle. Strength to pull up it we had not, and I feared +our ropes would not be long enough to reach to the shore over some of the +rocks, since it descended in minor declivities to a considerable distance +below the principal rapid, in the centre of which the boat had struck. +We reached the commencement of these rapids on the 6th, and ascended the +first by means of ropes, which were hauled upon by three of the men from +the bank; and, as the day was pretty far advanced, we stopped a little +above it, that we might attempt the principal rapid before we should be +exhausted by previous exertion. It was fortunate that we took such a +precaution. The morning of the 7th proved extremely dark, and much rain +fell. We commenced our journey in the midst of it, and soon gained the +tail of the rapid. Our attempt to pull up it completely failed. The boat, +as soon as she entered the ripple, spun round like a toy, and away we went +with the stream. As I had anticipated, our ropes were too short; and it +only remained for us to get into the water, and haul the boat up by main +force. We managed pretty well at first, and drew her alongside a rock to +rest a little. We then recommenced our efforts, and had got into the +middle of the channel. We were up to our armpits in the water, and only +kept our position by means of rocks beside us. The rain was falling, as if +we were in a tropical shower, and the force of the current was such, that +if we had relaxed for an instant, we should have lost all the ground we +had gained. Just at this moment, however, without our being aware of their +approach, a large tribe of natives, with their spears, lined the bank, +and took us most completely by surprise. At no time during this anxious +journey were we ever so completely in their power, or in so defenceless a +situation. It rained so hard, that our firelocks would have been of no +use, and had they attacked us, we must necessarily have been slaughtered +without committing the least execution upon them. Nothing, therefore, +remained for us but to continue our exertions. It required only one +strong effort to get the boat into still water for a time, but that effort +was beyond our strength, and we stood in the stream, powerless and +exhausted. + +ASSISTED BY THE NATIVES. + +The natives, in the meanwhile, resting on their spears, watched us with +earnest attention. One of them, who was sitting close to the water, at +length called to us, and we immediately recognised the deep voice of him +to whose singular interference we were indebted for our escape on the +23rd of January. I desired Hopkinson to swim over to him, and to explain +that we wanted assistance. This was given without hesitation; and we at +length got under the lea of the rock, which I have already described as +being in the centre of the river. The natives launched their bark canoes, +the only frail means they possess of crossing the rivers with their +children. These canoes are of the simplest construction and rudest +materials, being formed of an oblong piece of bark, the ends of which are +stuffed with clay, so as to render them impervious to the water. With +several of these they now paddled round us with the greatest care, making +their spears, about ten feet in length,(which they use at once as poles +and paddles,) bend nearly double in the water. We had still the most +difficult part of the rapid to ascend, where the rush of water was the +strongest, and where the decline of the bed almost amounted to a fall. +Here the blacks could be of no use to us. No man could stem the current, +supposing it to have been shallow at the place, but it was on the contrary +extremely deep. Remaining myself in the boat, I directed all the men to +land, after we had crossed the stream, upon a large rock that formed the +left buttress as it were to this sluice, and, fastening the rope to the +mast instead of her head, they pulled upon it. The unexpected rapidity +with which the boat shot up the passage astonished me, and filled the +natives with wonder, who testified their admiration of so dextrous a +manoeuvre, by a loud shout. + +It will, no doubt, have struck the reader as something very remarkable, +that the same influential savage to whom we had already been indebted, +should have been present on this occasion, and at a moment when we so much +needed his assistance. Having surmounted our difficulties, we took leave +of this remarkable man, and pursued our journey up the river. + +It may be imagined we did not proceed very far; the fact was, we only +pushed forward to get rid of the natives, for, however pacific, they were +always troublesome, and we were seldom fitted for a trial of temper after +the labours of the day were concluded. The men had various occupations +in which, when the natives were present, they were constantly interrupted, +and whenever the larger tribes slept near us, the utmost vigilance was +necessary on the part of the night-guard, which was regularly mounted as +soon as the tents were pitched. We had had little else than our flour to +subsist on. Hopkinson and Harris endeavoured to supply M'Leay and myself +with a wild fowl occasionally, but for themselves, and the other men, +nothing could be procured to render their meal more palatable. + +GOOD CONDUCT OF THE MEN. + +I have omitted to mention one remarkable trait of the good disposition of +all the men while on the coast. Our sugar had held out to that point; but +it appeared, when we examined the stores, that six pounds alone remained +in the cask. This the men positively refused to touch. They said that, +divided, it would benefit nobody; that they hoped M'Leay and I would use +it, that it would last us for some time, and that they were better able to +submit to privations than we were. The feeling did them infinite credit, +and the circumstance is not forgotten by me. The little supply the +kindness of our men left to us was, however, soon exhausted, and poor +M'Leay preferred pure water to the bitter draught that remained. I have +been some times unable to refrain from smiling, as I watched the distorted +countenances of my humble companions while drinking their tea and eating +their damper. + +The ducks and swans, seen in such myriads on the lake, seldom appeared on +the river, in the first stages of our journey homewards. About the time of +which I am writing, however, a few swans occasionally flew over our heads +at night, and their silvery note was musically sweet. + +From the 10th to the 15th, nothing of moment occurred: we pulled regularly +from day-light to dark, not less to avoid the natives than to shorten our +journey. Yet, notwithstanding that we moved at an hour when the natives +seldom stir, we were rarely without a party of them, who followed us in +spite of our efforts to tire them out. + +MOLESTED BY NATIVES. + +On the 15th, we had about 150 at our camp. Many of them were extremely +noisy, and the whole of them very restless. They lay down close to the +tents, or around our fire. I entertained some suspicion of them, and when +they were apparently asleep, I watched them narrowly. Macnamee was walking +up and down with his firelock, and every time he turned his back, one of +the natives rose gently up and poised his spear at him, and as soon as +he thought Macnamee was about to turn, he dropped as quietly into his +place. When I say the native got up, I do not mean that he stood up, but +that he raised himself sufficiently for the purpose he had in view. His +spear would not, therefore, have gone with much force, but I determined +it should not quit his hand, for had I observed any actual attempt to +throw it, I should unquestionably have shot him dead upon the spot. +The whole of the natives were awake, and it surprised me they did not +attempt to plunder us. They rose with the earliest dawn, and crowded round +the tents without any hesitation. We, consequently, thought it prudent to +start as soon as we had breakfasted. + +FRASER IN DANGER. + +We had all of us got into the boat, when Fraser remembered he had left his +powder-horn on shore. In getting out to fetch it, he had to push through +the natives. On his return, when his back was towards them, several +natives lifted their spears together, and I was so apprehensive they +would have transfixed him, that I called out before I seized my gun; on +which they lowered their weapons and ran away. The disposition to commit +personal violence was evident from these repeated acts of treachery; and +we should doubtless have suffered from it on some occasion or other, had +we not been constantly on the alert. + +We had been drawing nearer the Morumbidgee every day. This was the last +tribe we saw on the Murray; and the following afternoon, to our great joy, +we quitted it and turned our boat into the gloomy and narrow channel of +its tributary. Our feelings were almost as strong when we re-entered it, +as they had been when we were launched from it into that river, on whose +waters we had continued for upwards of fifty-five days; during which +period, including the sweeps and bends it made, we could not have +travelled less than 1500 miles. + +Our provisions were now running very short; we had, however, "broken the +neck of our journey," as the men said, and we looked anxiously to gaining +the depot; for we were not without hopes that Robert Harris would have +pushed forward to it with his supplies. We were quite puzzled on entering +the Morumbidgee, how to navigate its diminutive bends and its encumbered +channel. I thought poles would have been more convenient than oars; we +therefore stopped at an earlier hour than usual to cut some. Calling to +mind the robbery practised on us shortly after we left the depot, my mind +became uneasy as to Robert Harris's safety, since I thought it probable, +from the sulky disposition of the natives who had visited us there, that +he might have been attacked. Thus, when my apprehensions on our own +account had partly ceased, my fears became excited with regard to him and +his party. + +RE-ENTER THE MORUMBIDGEE. + +The country, to a considerable distance from the junction on either side +the Morumbidgee, is not subject to inundation. Wherever we landed upon its +banks, we found the calistemma in full flower, and in the richest +profusion. There was, also, an abundance of grass, where before there had +been no signs of vegetation, and those spots which we had condemned as +barren were now clothed with a green and luxuriant carpet. So difficult is +it to judge of a country on a partial and hurried survey, and so +differently does it appear at different periods. I was rejoiced to find +that the rains had not swollen the river, for I was apprehensive that +heavy falls had taken place in the mountains, and was unprepared for so +much good fortune. + +FEAST ON A SWAN. + +The poles we cut were of no great use to us, and we soon laid them aside, +and took to our oars. Fortune seemed to favour us exceedingly. The men +rallied, and we succeeded in killing a good fat swan, that served as a +feast for all. I imagine the absence of mud and weeds of every kind in +the Murray, prevents this bird from frequenting its waters. + +On the 18th, we found ourselves entering the reedy country, through which +we had passed with such doubt and anxiety. Every object elicited some +remark from the men, and I was sorry to find they reckoned with certainty +on seeing Harris at the depot, as I knew they would be proportionally +depressed in spirits if disappointed. However, I promised Clayton a good +repast as soon as we should see him. + +LOSE ONE OF OUR DOGS. + +I had walked out with M'Leay a short distance from the river, and had +taken the dogs. They followed us to the camp on our return to it, but the +moment they saw us enter the tent, they went off to hunt by themselves. +About 10 p.m., one of them, Bob, came to the fire, and appeared very +uneasy; he remained, for a short time, and then went away. In about an +hour, he returned, and after exhibiting the same restlessness, again +withdrew. He returned the third time before morning dawned, but returned +alone. The men on the watch were very stupid not to have followed him, +for, no doubt, he went to his companion, to whom, most likely, some +accident had happened. I tried to make him show, but could not succeed, +and, after a long search, reluctantly pursued our journey, leaving poor +Sailor to his fate. This was the only misfortune that befell us, and we +each of us felt the loss of an animal which had participated in all our +dangers and privations. I more especially regretted the circumstance for +the sake of the gentleman who gave him to me, and, on account of his +superior size and activity. + +ENCOUNTER WITH NATIVES. + +With the loss of poor Sailor, our misfortunes re-commmenced. I anticipated +some trouble hereabouts, for, having succeeded in their hardihood once, +I knew the natives would again attempt to rob us, and that we should have +some difficulty in keeping them off. As soon as they found out that we +were in the river, they came to us, but left us at sunset. This was on the +21st. At nightfall, I desired the watch to keep a good look out, and +M'Leay and I went to lie down. We had chosen an elevated bank for our +position, and immediately opposite to us there was a small space covered +with reeds, under blue-gum trees. About 11, Hopkinson came to the tent to +say, that he was sure the blacks were approaching through the reeds. +M'Leay and I got up, and, standing on the bank, listened attentively. +All we heard was the bark of a native dog apparently, but this was, in +fact, a deception on the part of the blacks. We made no noise, in +consequence of which they gradually approached, and two or three crept +behind the trunk of a tree that had fallen. As I thought they were near +enough, George M'Leay, by my desire, fired a charge of small shot at them. +They instantly made a precipitate retreat; but, in order the more +effectually to alarm them, Hopkinson fired a ball into the reeds, which we +distinctly heard cutting its way through them. All was quiet until about +three o'clock, when a poor wretch who, most probably, had thrown himself +on the ground when the shots were fired, at length mustered courage to get +up and effect his escape. + +In the morning, the tribe kept aloof, but endeavoured, by the most earnest +entreaties, and most pitiable howling, to gain our favour; but I +threatened to shoot any that approached, and they consequently kept at a +respectful distance, dogging us from tree to tree. It appeared, therefore, +that they were determined to keep us in view, no doubt, with the intention +of trying what they could do by a second attempt. As they went along, +their numbers increased, and towards evening, they amounted to a strong +tribe. Still they did not venture near us, and only now and then showed +themselves. Our situation at this moment would have been much more awkward +in the event of attack, than when we were in the open channel of the +Murray; because we were quite at the mercy of the natives if they had +closed upon us, and, being directly under the banks, should have received +every spear, while it would have been easy for them to have kept out of +sight in assailing us. + +APPARENT OBSTRUCTION OF THE CHANNEL. + +It was near sunset, the men were tired, and I was looking out for a +convenient place at which to rest, intending to punish these natives if +they provoked me, or annoyed the men. We had not seen any of them for some +time, when Hopkinson, who was standing in the bow of the boat, informed me +that they had thrown boughs across the river to prevent our passage. +I was exceedingly indignant at this, and pushed on, intending to force the +barrier. On our nearer approach, a solitary black was observed standing +close to the river, and abreast of the impediment which I imagined they +had raised to our further progress. I threatened to shoot this man, and +pointed to the branches that stretched right across the stream. The poor +fellow uttered not a word, but, putting his hand behind him, pulled out a +tomahawk from his belt, and held it towards me, by way of claiming our +acquaintance; and any anger was soon entirely appeased by discovering that +the natives had been merely setting a net across the river which these +branches supported. We, consequently, hung back, until they had drawn it, +and then passed on. + +MANOEUVRES OF THE NATIVES TO ROB THE BOAT AT NIGHT. + +The black to whom I had spoken so roughly, cut across a bight of the +river, and walking down to the side of the water with a branch in his +hand, in mark of confidence, presented me with a fishing net. We were +highly pleased at the frank conduct of this black, and a convenient place +offering itself, we landed and pitched our tents. Our friend, who was +about forty, brought his two wives, and a young man, to us: and at length +the other blacks mustered courage to approach; but those who had followed +us from the last camp, kept on the other side of the river. On pretence of +being different families, they separated into small bodies, and formed a +regular cordon round our camp. We foresaw that this was a manoeuvre, but, +in hopes that if I forgave the past they would desist from further +attempts, M'Leay took great pains in conciliating them, and treated them +with great kindness. We gave each family some fire and same presents, and +walked together to them by turns, to show that we had equal confidence in +all. Our friend had posted himself immediately behind our tents, at twenty +yards distance, with his little family, and kept altogether aloof from the +other natives. Having made our round of visits, and examined the various +modes the women had of netting, M'Leay and I went into our tent. + +It happened, fortunately, that my servant, Harris, was the first for +sentry. I told him to keep a watchful eye on the natives, and to call me +if any thing unusual occurred. We had again chosen a lofty bank for our +position; behind us there was a small plain, of about a quarter of a mile +in breadth, backed by a wood. I was almost asleep, when my servant came to +inform me, that the blacks had, with one accord, made a precipitate +retreat, and that not one of them was to be seen at the fires. I impressed +the necessity of attention upon him, and he again went to his post. +shortly after this, he returned: "Master," said he, "the natives are +coming." I jumped up, and, taking my gun, followed him, leaving my friend +George fast asleep. I would not disturb him, until necessity required, for +he had ever shown himself so devoted to duty as to deserve every +consideration. Harris led me a little way from the tents, and then +stopping, and pointing down the river, said, "There, sir, don't you see +them?" "Not I, indeed, Harris," I replied, "where do you mean? are you +sure you see them?" "Positive, sir," said he; "stoop and you will see +them." I did so, and saw a black mass in an opening. Convinced that I saw +them, I desired Harris to follow me, but not to fire unless I should give +the word. The rascals would not stand our charge, however, but retreated +as we advanced towards them. We then returned to the tents, and, +commending my servant for his vigilance, I once more threw myself on my +bed. I had scarcely lain down five minutes, when Harris called out, +"The blacks are close to me, sir; shall I fire at them?" "How far are +they?" I asked. "Within ten yards, sir." "Then fire," said I; and +immediately he did so. M'Leay and I jumped up to his assistance. "Well, +Harris," said I, "did you kill your man?" (he is a remarkably good shot.) +"No, sir," said he, "I thought you would repent it, so I fired between the +two." "Where were they, man?" said I. "Close to the boat, sir; and when +they heard me, they swam into the river, and dived as soon as I fired +between them." This account was verified by one of them puffing as he rose +below us, over whose head I fired a shot. Where the other got to I could +not tell. This watchfulness, on our part, however, prevented any further +attempts during the night. + +I was much pleased at the coolness of my servant, as well as his +consideration; and relieving him from his post, desired Hopkinson to take +it. I have no doubt that the approach of the natives, in the first +instance, was made with a view to draw us off from the camp, while some +others might rob the boat. If so, it was a good manoeuvre, and might have +succeeded. + +NATIVES DESERT THEIR WEAPONS--INGENUOUS CONDUCT OF A NATIVE. + +In the morning, we found the natives had left all their ponderous spears +at their fires, which were broken up and burnt. We were surprised to find +that our friend had left every thing in like manner behind him--his +spears, his nets, and his tomahawk; but as he had kept so wholly aloof +from the other blacks, I thought it highly improbable that he had joined +them, and the men were of opinion that he had retreated across the plain +into the wood. On looking in that direction we observed some smoke rising +among the trees at a little distance from the outskirts of the plain, and +under an impression that I should find the native at the fire with his +family, I took his spears and tomahawk, and walked across the plain, +unattended into the wood. I had not entered it more than fifty yards when +I saw a group of four natives, sitting round a small fire. One of them, +as I approached, rose up and met me, and in him I recognised the man for +whom I was seeking. When near enough, I stuck the spears upright into the +ground. The poor man stood thunderstruck; he spoke not, he moved not, +neither did he raise his eyes from the ground. I had kept the tomahawk out +of his sight, but I now produced and offered it to him. He gave a short +exclamation as his eyes caught sight of it, but he remained otherwise +silent before me, and refused to grasp the tomahawk, which accordingly +fell to the ground. I had evidently excited the man's feelings, but it is +difficult to say how he was affected. His manner indicated shame and +surprise, and the sequel will prove that both these feelings must have +possessed him. While we were thus standing together, his two wives came +up, to whom, after pointing to the spears and tomahawk, he said something, +without, however, looking at me; and they both instantly burst into tears +and wept aloud. I was really embarrassed during so unexpected a scene, +and to break it, invited the native to the camp, but I motioned with my +hand, as I had not my gun with me, that I would shoot any other of the +blacks who followed me. He distinctly understood my meaning, and intimated +as distinctly to me that they should not follow us; nor did they. We were +never again molested by them. + +I left him then, and, returning to the camp, told M'Leay my adventure, +with which he was highly delighted. My object is this procedure was to +convince the natives, generally, that we came not among them to injure or +to molest them, as well as to impress them with an idea of our superior +intelligence; and I am led to indulge the hope that I succeeded. Certain +it is, that an act of justice or of lenity has frequently, if well timed, +more weight than the utmost stretch of severity. With savages, more +particularly, to exhibit any fear, distrust, or irresolution, will +inevitably prove injurious. + +But although these adventures were happily not attended with bloodshed, +they harassed the men much; and our camp for near a week was more like an +outpost picquet than any thing else. This, however, terminated all +attempts on the part of the natives. From henceforth none of them followed +us on our route. + +BREACH THE DEPOT. + +At noon, I stopped about a mile short of the depot to take sights. After +dinner we pulled on, the men looking earnestly out for their comrades whom +they had left there, but none appeared. My little arbour, in which I had +written my letters, was destroyed, and the bank on which out tents had +stood was wholly deserted. We landed, however, and it was a satisfaction +to me to see the homeward track of the drays. The men were sadly +disappointed, and poor Clayton, who had anticipated a plentiful meal, was +completely chop fallen. M'Leay and I comforted them daily with the hopes +of meeting the drays, which I did not think improbable. + +Thus, it will appear, that we regained the place from which we started in +seventy-seven days, during which, we could not have pulled less than 2000 +miles. It is not for me, however, to make any comment, either on the +dangers to which we were occasionally exposed, or the toil and privations +we continually experienced in the course of this expedition. My duty is, +simply to give a plain narrative of facts, which I have done with +fidelity, and with as much accuracy as circumstances would permit. Had we +found Robert Harris at the depot, I should have considered it unnecessary +to trespass longer on the patient reader, but as our return to that post +did not relieve us from our difficulties, it remains for me to carry on +the narrative of our proceedings to the time when we reached the upper +branches of the Morumbidgee. + +DISAPPOINTED OF SUPPLIES. + +The hopes that had buoyed up the spirits of the men, ceased to operate as +soon as they were discovered to have been ill founded. The most gloomy +ideas took possession of their minds, and they fancied that we had been +neglected, and that Harris had remained in Sydney. It was to no purpose +that I explained to them that my instructions did not bind Harris to come +beyond Pondebadgery, and that I was confident he was then encamped upon +that plain. + +We had found the intricate navigation of the Morumbidgee infinitely more +distressing than the hard pulling up the open reaches of the Murray, for +we were obliged to haul the boat up between numberless trunks of trees, +an operation that exhausted the men much more than rowing. The river had +fallen below its former level, and rocks and logs were now exposed above +the water, over many of which the boat's keel must have grazed, as we +passed down with the current. I really shuddered frequently, at seeing +these complicated dangers, and I was at a loss to conceive how we could +have escaped them. The planks of our boat were so thin that if she had +struck forcibly against any one branch of the hundreds she must have +grazed, she would inevitably have been rent asunder from stem to stern. + +COMPLETE EXHAUSTION OF THE MEN--ONE LOSES HIS SENSES. + +The day after we passed the depot, on our return, we began to experience +the effects of the rains that had fallen in the mountains. The Morumbidgee +rose upon us six feet in one night, and poured along its turbid waters +with proportionate violence. For seventeen days we pulled against them +with determined perseverance, but human efforts, under privations such as +ours, tend to weaken themselves, and thus it was that the men began to +exhibit the effects of severe and unremitting toil. Our daily journeys +were short, and the head we made against the stream but trifling. The men +lost the proper and muscular jerk with which they once made the waters +foam and the oars bend. Their whole bodies swung with an awkward and +laboured motion. Their arms appeared to be nerveless; their faces became +haggard, their persons emaciated, their spirits wholly sunk; nature was so +completely overcome, that from mere exhaustion they frequently fell asleep +during their painful and almost ceaseless exertions. It grieved me to the +heart to see them in such a state at the close of so perilous a service, +and I began to reproach Robert Harris that he did not move down the river +to meet us; but, in fact, he was not to blame. I became captious, and +found fault where there was no occasion, and lost the equilibrium of my +temper in contemplating the condition of my companions. No murmur, +however, escaped them, nor did a complaint reach me, that was intended to +indicate that they had done all they could do. I frequently heard them in +their tent, when they thought I had dropped asleep, complaining of severe +pains and of great exhaustion. "I must tell the captain, to-morrow," some +of them would say, "that I can pull no more." To-morrow came, and they +pulled on, as if reluctant to yield to circumstances. Macnamee at length +lost his senses. We first observed this from his incoherent conversation, +but eventually from manner. He related the most extraordinary tales, and +fidgeted about eternally while in the boat. I felt it necessary, +therefore, to relieve him from the oars. + +Amidst these distresses, M'Leay preserved his good humour, and endeavoured +to lighten the task, and to cheer the men as much as possible. His +presence at this time was a source of great comfort to me. The uniform +kindness with which he had treated his companions, gave him an influence +over them now, and it was exerted with the happiest effect. + +DESPATCH TWO MEN TO PONDEBADGERY. + +On the 8th and 9th of April we had heavy rain, but there was no respite +for us. Our provisions were nearly consumed, and would have been wholly +exhausted, if we had not been so fortunate as to kill several swans. On +the 11th, we gained our camp opposite to Hamilton's Plains, after a day of +severe exertion. Our tents were pitched upon the old ground, and the marks +of our cattle were around us. In the evening, the men went out with their +guns, and M'Leay and I walked to the rear of the camp, to consult +undisturbed as to the moat prudent measures to be adopted, under our +embarrassing circumstances. The men were completely sunk. We were still +between eighty and ninety miles from Pondebadgery, in a direct line, and +nearly treble that distance by water. The task was greater than we could +perform, and our provisions were insufficient. In this extremity I thought +it best to save the men the mortification of yielding, by abandoning the +boat; and on further consideration, I determined on sending Hopkinson and +Mulholland, whose devotion, intelligence, and indefatigable spirits, +I well knew, forward to the plain. + +The joy this intimation spread was universal, Both Hopkinson and +Mulholland readily undertook the journey, and I, accordingly, prepared +orders for them to start by the earliest dawn. It was not without a +feeling of sorrow that I witnessed the departure of these two men, to +encounter a fatiguing march. I had no fears as to their gaining the plain, +if their reduced state would permit them. On the other hand, I hoped they +would fall in with our old friend the black, or that they would meet the +drays; and I could not but admire the spirit and energy they both +displayed upon the occasion. Their behaviour throughout had been such as +to awaken in my breast a feeling of the highest approbation. Their +conduct, indeed, exceeded all praise, nor did they hesitate one moment +when I called upon them to undertake this last trying duty, after such +continued exertion. I am sure the reader will forgive me for bringing +under his notice the generous efforts of these two men; by me it can never +be forgotten. + +ABANDON AND BURN THE BOAT. + +Six days had passed since their departure; we remaining encamped. M'Leay +and myself had made some short excursions, but without any result worthy +of notice. A group of sand-hills rose in the midst of the alluvial +deposits, about a quarter of a mile from the tents, that were covered with +coarse grasses and banksias. We shot several intertropical birds feeding +in the latter, and sucking the honey from their flowers. I had, in the +mean time, directed Clayton to make some plant cases of the upper planks +of the boat, and then to set fire to her, for she was wholly +unserviceable, and I felt a reluctance to leave her like a neglected log +on the water. The last ounce of flour had been served out to the men, and +the whole of it was consumed on the sixth day from that on which we had +abandoned the boat. I had calculated on seeing Hopkinson again in eight +days, but as the morrow would see us without food, I thought, as the men +had had a little rest it would be better to advance towards relief than to +await its arrival. + +MEN RETURN WITH SUPPLIES. + +On the evening of the 18th, therefore, we buried our specimens and other +stores, intending to break up the camp in the morning. A singular bird, +which invariably passed it at an hour after sunset, and which, from its +heavy flight, appeared to be of unusual size so attracted my notice, that +in the evening M'Leay and I crossed the river, in hope to get a shot at +it. We had, however, hardly landed on the other side, when a loud shout +called us back to witness the return of our comrades. + +They were both of them in a state that beggars description. Their knees +and ankles were dreadfully swollen, and their limbs so painful, that as +soon as they arrived in the camp they sunk under their efforts, but they +met us with smiling countenances, and expressed their satisfaction at +having arrived so seasonably to our relief. They had, as I had foreseen, +found Robert Harris on the plain, which they reached on the evening of the +third day. They had started early the next morning on their return with +such supplies as they thought we might immediately want. Poor Macnamee +had in a great measure recovered, but for some days he was sullen and +silent: sight of the drays gave him uncommon satisfaction. Clayton gorged +himself; but M'Leay, myself and Fraser could not at first relish the meat +that was placed before us. + +It was determined to give the bullocks a day of rest, and I availed myself +of the serviceable state of the horses to visit some hills about eighteen +miles to the northward. I was anxious to gain a view of the distant +country to the N.W., and to ascertain the geological character of the +hills themselves. M'Leay, Fraser, and myself left the camp early in the +morning of the 19th, on our way to them. Crossing the sand hills, we +likewise passed a creek, and, from the flooded or alluvial tracks, got on +an elevated sandy country, in which we found a beautiful grevillia. From +this we passed a barren ridge of quartz-formation, terminating in open box +forest. From it we descended and traversed a plain that must, at some +periods, be almost impassable. It was covered with acacia pendula, and the +soil was a red earth, bare of vegetation in many places. At its extremity +we came to some stony ridges, and, descending their northern side, gained +the base of the hills. They were more extensive than they appeared to be +from our camp; and were about six hundred feet in height, and composed of +a conglomerate rock. They were extremely barren, nor did the aspect of the +country seem to indicate a favourable change. I was enabled, however, to +connect my line of route with the more distant hills between the +Morumbidgee and the Lachlan. We returned to the camp at midnight. + +MEET WITH THE DRAYS. + +On the following morning we left our station before Hamilton's Plains. +We reached Pondebadgery on the 28th, and found Robert Harris, with a +plentiful supply of provisions. He had everything extremely regular, and +had been anxiously expecting our return, of which he at length wholly +despaired. He had been at the plain two months, and intended to have moved +down the river immediately, had we not made our appearance when we did. + +I had sent M'Leay forward on the 20th with letters to the Governor, whose +anxiety was great on our account. I remained for a fortnight on the plain +to restore the men, but Hopkinson had so much over-exerted himself that it +was with difficulty he crawled along. + +In my despatches to the Governor, from the depot, I had suggested the +policy of distributing some blankets and other presents to the natives on +the Morumbidgee, in order to reward those who had been useful to our +party, and in the hope of proving beneficial to settlers in that distant +part of the colony. His Excellency was kind enough to accede to my +request, and I found ample means for these purposes among the stores that +Harris brought from Sydney. + +We left Pondebadgery Plain early on the 5th of May, and reached Guise's +Station late in the afternoon. We gained Yass Plains on the 12th, having +struck through the mountain passes by a direct line, instead of returning +by our old route near Underaliga. As the party was crossing the plains I +rode to see Mr. O'Brien, but did not find him at home. + +INSTANCE OF CANNIBALISM. + +While waiting at his hut, one of the stockmen pointed out two blacks to me +at a little distance from us. The one was standing, the other sitting. +"That fellow, sir," said he, "who is sitting down, killed his infant child +last night by knocking its head against a stone, after which he threw it +on the fire and then devoured it." I was quite horror struck, and could +scarcely believe such a story. I therefore went up to the man and +questioned him as to the fact, as well as I could. He did not attempt to +deny it, but slunk away in evident consciousness. I then questioned the +other that remained, whose excuse for his friend was that the child was +sick and would never have grown up, adding he himself did not PATTER (eat) +any of it. + +Many of my readers may probably doubt this horrid occurrence having taken +place, as I have not mentioned any corroborating circumstances. I am +myself, however, as firmly persuaded of the truth of what I have stated as +if I had seen the savage commit the act; for I talked to his companion who +did see him, and who described to me the manner in which he killed the +child. Be it as it may, the very mention of such a thing among these +people goes to prove that they are capable of such an enormity. + +We left Yass Plains on the 14th of May, and reached Sydney by easy stages +on the 25th, after an absence of nearly six months. + + +* * * * * + + +CONCLUDING REMARKS. + + +To most of my readers, the foregoing narrative will appear little else +than a succession of adventures. Whilst the expedition was toiling down +the rivers, no rich country opened upon the view to reward or to cheer the +perseverance of those who composed it, and when, at length, the land of +promise lay smiling before them, their strength and their means were too +much exhausted to allow of their commencing an examination, of the result +of which there could be but little doubt. The expedition returned to +Sydney, without any splendid discovery to gild its proceedings; and the +labours and dangers it had encountered were considered as nothing more +than ordinary occurrences. If I myself had entertained hopes that my +researches would have benefited the colony, I was wholly disappointed. +There is a barren tract of country lying to the westward of the Blue +Mountains that will ever divide the eastern coast from the more central +parts of Australia, as completely as if seas actually rolled between them. + +GEOGRAPHICAL REMARKS. + +In a geographical point of view, however, nothing could have been more +satisfactory, excepting an absolute knowledge of the country to the +northward between the Murray and the Darling, than the results of the +expedition. I have in its proper place stated, as fairly as I could, my +reasons for supposing the principal junction (which I consequently left +without a name) to be the Darling of my former journey, as well as the +various arguments that bore against such a conclusion. + +Of course, where there is so much room for doubt, opinions will be +various. I shall merely review the subject, in order to connect subsequent +events with my previous observations, and to give the reader a full idea +of that which struck me to be the case on a close and anxious +investigation of the country from mountain to lowland. I returned from the +Macquarie with doubts on my mind as to the ultimate direction to which the +waters of the Darling river might ultimately flow; for, with regard to +every other point, the question was, I considered, wholly decided. But, +with regard to that singular stream, I was, from the little knowledge I +had obtained, puzzled as to its actual course; and I thought it as likely +that it might turn into the heart of the interior, as that it would make +to the south. It had not, however, escaped my notice, that the northern +rivers turned more abruptly southward (after gaining a certain distance +from the base of the ranges) than the more southern streams: near the +junction of the Castlereagh with the Darling especially, the number of +large creeks joining the first river from the north, led me to conclude +that there was at that particular spot a rapid fall of country to the +south. + +The first thing that strengthened in my mind this half-formed opinion, was +the fall of the Lachlan into the Morumbidgee. I had been told that +Australia was a basin; that an unbroken range of hills lined its coasts, +the internal rivers of which fell into its centre, and contributed to the +formation of an inland sea; I was not therefore prepared to find a break +in the chain--a gap as it were for the escape of these waters to the +coast. + +Subsequently to our entrance into the Murray, the remarkable efforts of +that river to maintain a southerly course were observed even by the men, +and the singular runs it made to the south, when unchecked by high lands, +clearly evinced its natural tendency to flow in that direction. + +Had we found ourselves at an elevation above the bed of the Darling when +we reached the junction of the principal tributary with the Murray, I +should still have had doubts on my mind as to the identity of that +tributary with the first-mentioned river; but considering the trifling +elevation of the Darling above the sea, and that the junction was still +less elevated above it, I cannot bring myself to believe that the former +alters its course. It is not, however, on this simple geographical +principle that I have built my conclusions; other corroborative +circumstances have tended also to confirm in my mind the opinion I have +already given, not only of the comparatively recent appearance above +the ocean of the level country over which I had passed, but that the true +dip of the interior is from north to south. + +In support of the first of these conclusions, it would appear that a +current of water must have swept the vast accumulation of shells, forming +the great fossil bank through which the Murray passes from the northern +extremity of the continent, to deposit them where they are; and it would +further appear from the gradual rise of this bed, on an inclined plain +from N.N.E. to S.S.W., that it must in the first instance, have swept +along the base of the ranges, but ultimately turned into the above +direction by the convexity of the mountains at the S.E. angle of the +coast. From the circumstance, moreover, of the summit of the fossil +formation being in places covered with oyster shells, the fact of the +whole mass having been under water is indisputable, and leads us naturally +to the conclusion that the depressed interior beyond it must have been +under water at the same time. + +It was proved by barometrical admeasurement, that the cataract of the +Macquarie was 680 feet above the level of the sea, and, in like manner, +it was found that the depot of Mr. Oxley, on the Lachlan, was only 500, +there being a still greater fall of country beyond these two points. +The maximum height of the fossil bank was 300 feet; and if we suppose a +line to be drawn from its top to the eastward, that line would pass over +the marshes of the two rivers, and would cut them at a point below which +they both gradually diminish. Hence I am brought to conclude that in +former times the sea washed the western base of the dividing ranges, at or +near the two points whose respective elevations I have given; and that +when the mass of land now lying waste and unproductive, became exposed, +the rivers, which until then had pursued a regular course to the ocean, +having no channel beyond their original termination, overflowed the almost +level country into which they now fall; or, filling some extensive +concavity, have contributed, by successive depositions, to the formation +of those marshes of which so much has been said. I regret extremely, that +my defective vision prevents me giving a slight sketch to elucidate +whet I fear I have, in words, perhaps, failed in making sufficiently +intelligible. + +GEOLOGICAL REMARKS. + +Now, as we know not by what means the changes that have taken place on the +earth's surface have been effected, and can only reason on them from +analogy, it is to be feared we shall never arrive at any clear +demonstration of the truth of our surmises with regard to geographical +changes, whether extensive or local, since the causes which produced them +will necessarily have ceased to operate. We cannot refer to the dates when +they took place, as we may do in regard to the eruptions of a volcano, +or the appearance or disappearance of an island. Such events are of minor +importance. Those mighty changes to which I would be understood to allude, +can hardly be laid to the account of chemical agency. We can easily +comprehend how subterranean fires will occasionally burst forth, and can +thus satisfactorily account for earthquake or volcano; but it is not to +any clashing of properties, or to any visible causes, that the changes of +which I speak can be attributed. They appear rather as the consequences of +direct agency, of an invisible power, not as the occasional and fretful +workings of nature herself. The marks of that awful catastrophe which so +nearly extinguished the human race, are every day becoming more and more +visible as geological research proceeds. Thus, in the limestone caves at +Wellington Valley, the remains of fossils and exuviae, show that their +depths were penetrated by the same searching element that poured into the +caverns of Kirkdale and other places. They are as gleams of sunshine +falling upon the pages of that sublime and splendid volume, in which the +history of the deluge is alone to be found; as if the Almighty intended +that His word should stand single and unsupported before mankind: and when +we consider that such corroborative testimonies of his wrath, as those I +have noticed, were in all probability wholly unknown to those who wrote +that sacred book, the discovery of the remains of a past world, must +strike those under whose knowledge it may fall with the truth of that +awful event, which language has vainly endeavoured to describe and +painters to represent. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + + +Environs of the lake Alexandrina--Appointment of Capt. Barker to make a +further survey of the coast near Encounter Bay--Narrative of his +proceedings--Mount Lofty, Mount Barker, and beautiful country adjacent-- +Australian salmon--Survey of the coast--Outlet of lake to the sea-- +Circumstances that led to the slaughter of Capt. Barker by the natives-- +His character--Features of this part of the country and capabilities of +its coasts--Its adaptation for colonization--Suggestions for the +furtherance of future Expeditions. + +ENVIRONS OF THE LAKE ALEXANDRINA. + +The foregoing narrative will have given the reader some idea of the state +in which the last expedition reached the bottom of that extensive and +magnificent basin which receives the waters of the Murray. The men were, +indeed, so exhausted, in strength, and their provisions so much reduced by +the time they gained the coast, that I doubted much, whether either would +hold out to such place as we might hope for relief. Yet, reduced as the +whole of us were from previous exertion, beset as our homeward path was by +difficulty and danger, and involved as our eventual safety was in +obscurity and doubt, I could not but deplore the necessity that obliged me +to re-cross the Lake Alexandrina (as I had named it in honour of the heir +apparent to the British crown), and to relinquish the examination of its +western shores. We were borne over its ruffled and agitated surface with +such rapidity, that I had scarcely time to view it as we passed; but, +cursory as my glance was, I could not but think I was leaving behind me +the fullest reward of our toil, in a country that would ultimately render +our discoveries valuable, and benefit the colony for whose interests we +were engaged. Hurried, I would repeat, as my view of it was, my eye never +fell on a country of more promising aspect, or of more favourable +position, than that which occupies the space between the lake and the +ranges of St. Vincent's Gulf, and, continuing northerly from Mount Barker, +stretches away, without any visible boundary. + +It appeared to me that, unless nature had deviated from her usual laws, +this tract of country could not but be fertile, situated as it was to +receive the mountain deposits on the one hand, and those of the lake upon +the other. + +FURTHER EXAMINATION OF THE COAST. + +In my report to the Colonial Government, however, I did not feel myself +justified in stating, to their full extent, opinions that were founded on +probability and conjecture alone. But, although I was guarded in this +particular, I strongly recommended a further examination of the coast, +from the most eastern point of Encounter Bay, to the head St. Vincent's +Gulf, to ascertain if any other than the known channel existed among the +sand-hills of the former, or if, as I had every reason to hope from the +great extent of water to the N.W., there was a practicable communication +with the lake from the other; and I ventured to predict, that a closer +survey of the interjacent country, would be attended with the most +beneficial results; nor have I a doubt that the promontory of Cape Jervis +would ere this have been settled, had Captain Barker lived to complete his +official reports. + +CAPT. BARKER'S SURVEY. + +The governor, General Darling, whose multifarious duties might well have +excused him from paying attention to distant objects, hesitated not a +moment when he thought the interests of the colony, whose welfare he so +zealously promoted, appeared to be concerned; and he determined to avail +himself of the services of Captain Collet Barker, of the 39th regiment, +who was about to be recalled from King George's Sound, in order to satisfy +himself as to the correctness of my views. + +Captain Barker had not long before been removed from Port Raffles, on the +northern coast, where he had had much intercourse with the natives, and +had frequently trusted himself wholly in their hands. It was not, however, +merely on account of his conciliating manners, and knowledge of the temper +and habits of the natives, that he was particularly fitted for the duty +upon which it was the governor's pleasure to employ him. He was, in +addition, a man of great energy of character, and of much and various +information. + +Orders having reached Sydney, directing the establishment belonging to +New South Wales to be withdrawn, prior to the occupation of King George's +Sound by the government of Western Australia, the ISABELLA schooner was +sent to receive the troops and prisoners on board; and Captain Barker was +directed, as soon as he should have handed over the settlement to Captain +Stirling, to proceed to Cape Jervis, from which point it was thought he +could best carry on a survey not only of the coast but also of the +interior. + +This excellent and zealous officer sailed from King George's Sound, on the +10th of April, 1831, and arrived off Cape Jervis on the 13th. He was +attended by Doctor Davies, one of the assistant surgeons of his regiment, +and by Mr. Kent, of the Commissariat. It is to the latter gentleman that +the public are indebted for the greater part of the following details; +he having attended Captain Barker closely during the whole of this short +but disastrous excursion, and made notes as copious as they are +interesting. At the time the ISABELLA arrived off Cape Jervis, the weather +was clear and favourable. Captain Barker consequently stood into +St. Vincent's Gulf, keeping, as near as practicable, to the eastern shore, +in soundings that varied from six to ten fathoms, upon sand and mud. +His immediate object was to ascertain if there was any communication with +the lake Alexandrina from the gulf. He ascended to lat. 34 degrees +40 minutes where he fully satisfied himself that no channel did exist +between them. He found, however, that the ranges behind Cape Jervis +terminated abruptly at Mount Lofty, in lat. 34 degrees 56 minutes, and, +that a flat and wooded country succeeded to the N. and N.E. The shore of +the gulf tended more to the N.N.W., and mud flats and mangrove swamps +prevailed along it. + +INVITING COUNTRY--MOUNT LOFTY. + +Mr. Kent informs me, that they landed for the first time on the 15th, but +that they returned almost immediately to the vessel. On the 17th, Captain +Barker again landed, with the intention of remaining on shore for two or +three days. He was accompanied by Mr. Kent, his servant Mills, and two +soldiers. The boat went to the place at which they had before landed, as +they thought they had discovered a small river with a bar entrance. They +crossed the bar, and ascertained that it was a narrow inlet, of four miles +in length, that terminated at the base of the ranges. The party were quite +delighted with the aspect of the country on either side of the inlet, +and with the bold and romantic scenery behind them. The former bore the +appearance of natural meadows, lightly timbered, and covered with a +variety of grasses. The soil was observed to be a rich, fat, chocolate +coloured earth, probably the decomposition of the deep blue limestone, +that showed itself along the coast hereabouts. On the other hand, a rocky +glen made a cleft in the ranges at the head of the inlet; and they were +supplied with abundance of fresh water which remained in the deeper pools +that had been filled by the torrents during late rains. The whole +neighbourhood was so inviting that the party slept at the head of the +inlet. + +MOUNT LOFTY AND ITS ENVIRONS. + +In the morning, Captain Barker proceeded to ascend Mount Lofty, +accompanied by Mr. Kent and his servant, leaving the two soldiers at the +bivouac, at which he directed them to remain until his return. Mr. Kent +says they kept the ridge all the way, and rose above the sea by a gradual +ascent. The rock-formation of the lower ranges appeared to be an +argillaceous schist; the sides and summit of the ranges were covered with +verdure, and the trees upon them were of more than ordinary size. The view +to the eastward was shut out by other ranges, parallel to those on which +they were; below them to the westward, the same pleasing kind of country +that flanked the inlet still continued. + +MOUNT BARKER. + +In the course of the day they passed round the head of a deep ravine, +whose smooth and grassy sides presented a beautiful appearance. The party +stood 600 feet above the bed of a small rivulet that occupied the bottom +of the ravine. In some places huge blocks of granite interrupted its +course, in others the waters had worn the rock smooth. The polish of these +rocks was quite beautiful, and the veins of red and white quartz which +traversed them, looked like mosaic work. They did not gain the top of +Mount Lofty, but slept a few miles beyond the ravine. In the morning +they continued their journey, and, crossing Mount Lofty, descended +northerly, to a point from which the range bent away a little to the +N.N.E., and then terminated. The view from this point was much more +extensive than that from Mount Lofty itself. They overlooked a great part +of the gulf, and could distinctly see the mountains at the head of it to +the N.N.W. To the N.W. there was a considerable indentation in the coast, +which had escaped Captain Barker's notice when examining it. A mountain, +very similar to Mount Lofty, bore due east of them, and appeared to be the +termination of its range. They were separated by a valley of about ten +miles in width, the appearance of which was not favourable. Mr. Kent +states to me, that Capt. Barker observed at the time that he thought it +probable I had mistaken this hill for Mount Lofty, since it shut out the +view of the lake from him, and therefore he naturally concluded, I could +not have seen Mount Lofty. I can readily imagine such an error to have +been made by me, more especially as I remember that at the time I was +taking bearings in the lake, I thought Captain Flinders had not given +Mount Lofty, as I then conceived it to be, its proper position in +longitude. Both hills are in the same parallel of latitude. The mistake on +my part is obvious. I have corrected it in the charts, and have availed +myself of the opportunity thus afforded me of perpetuating, as far as I +can, the name of an inestimable companion in Captain Barker himself + +Immediately below the point on which they stood, Mr. Kent says, a low +undulating country extended to the northward, as far as he could see. +It was partly open, and partly wooded; and was every where covered with +verdure. It continued round to the eastward, and apparently ran down +southerly, at the opposite base of the mount Barker Range. I think there +can be but little doubt that my view from the S.E., that is, from the +lake, extended over the same or a part of the same country. Captain Barker +again slept on the summit of the range, near a large basin that looked +like the mouth of a crater, in which huge fragments of rocks made a scene +of the utmost confusion. These rocks were a coarse grey granite, of which +the higher parts and northern termination of the Mount Lofty range are +evidently formed; for Mr. Kent remarks that it superseded the schistose +formation at the ravine we have noticed--and that, subsequently, the sides +of the hills became more broken, and valleys, or gullies, more properly +speaking, very numerous. Captain Barker estimated the height of Mount +Lofty above the sea at 2,400 feet, and the distance of its summit from the +coast at eleven miles. Mr. Kent says they were surprised at the size of +the trees on the immediate brow of it; they measured one and found it to +be 43 feet in girth. Indeed, he adds, vegetation did not appear to have +suffered either from its elevated position, or from any prevailing wind. +Eucalypti were the general timber on the ranges; one species of which, +resembling strongly the black butted-gum, was remarkable for a scent +peculiar to its bark. + +AUSTRALIAN SALMON. + +The party rejoined the soldiers on the 21st, and enjoyed the supply of +fish which they had provided for them. The soldiers had amused themselves +by fishing during Captain Barker's absence, and had been abundantly +successful. Among others they had taken a kind of salmon, which, though +inferior in size, resembled in shape, in taste, and in the colour of its +flesh, the salmon of Europe. I fancied that a fish which I observed with +extremely glittering scales, in the mouth of a seal, when myself on the +coast, must have been of this kind; and I have no doubt that the lake is +periodically visited by salmon, and that these fish retain their habits of +entering fresh water at particular seasons, also in the southern +hemisphere. + +Immediately behind Cape Jervis, there is a small bay, in which according +to the information of the sealers who frequent Kangaroo Island, there is +good and safe anchorage for seven months in the year, that is to say, +during the prevalence of the E. and N.E. winds. + +SURVEY OF THE COAST. + +Captain Barker landed on the 21st on this rocky point at the northern +extremity of this bay. He had, however, previously to this, examined the +indentation in the coast which he had observed from Mount Lofty, and had +ascertained that it was nothing more than an inlet; a spit of sand, +projecting from the shore at right angles with it, concealed the month of +the inlet. They took the boat to examine this point, and carried six +fathoms soundings round the head of the spit to the mouth of the inlet, +when it shoaled to two fathoms, and the landing was observed to be bad, +by reason of mangrove swamps on either side of it. Mr. Kent, I think, told +me that this inlet was from ten to twelve miles long. Can it be that a +current setting out of it at times, has thrown up the sand-bank that +protects its mouth, and that trees, or any other obstacle, have hidden its +further prolongation from Captain Barker's notice? I have little hope that +such is the case, but the remark is not an idle one. + +BEAUTIFUL VALLEYS. + +Between this inlet and the one formerly mentioned, a small and clear +stream was discovered, to which Captain Barker kindly gave my name. On +landing, the party, which consisted of the same persons as the former one, +found themselves in a valley, which opened direct upon the bay. It was +confined to the north from the chief range by a lateral ridge, that +gradually declined towards and terminated at, the rocky point on which +they had landed. The other side of the valley was formed of a continuation +of the main range, which also gradually declined to the south, and +appeared to be connected with the hills at the extremity of the cape. +The valley was from nine to ten miles in length, and from three to four in +breadth. In crossing it, they ascertained that the lagoon from which the +schooner had obtained a supply of water, was filled by a watercourse that +came down its centre. The soil in the valley was rich, but stony in some +parts. There was an abundance of pasture over the whole, from amongst +which they started numerous kangaroos. The scenery towards the ranges was +beautiful and romantic, and the general appearance of the country such as +to delight the whole party. + +Preserving a due east course, Captain Barker passed over the opposite +range of hills, and descended almost immediately into a second valley that +continued to the southwards. Its soil was poor and stony, and it was +covered with low scrub. Crossing it, they ascended the opposite range, +from the summit of which they had a view of Encounter Bay. An extensive +flat stretched from beneath them to the eastward, and was backed, in the +distance, by sand hummocks, and low wooded hills. The extreme right of the +flat rested upon the coast, at a rocky point near which there were two or +three islands. From the left a beautiful valley opened upon it. A strong +and clear rivulet from this valley traversed the flat obliquely, and fell +into the sea at the rocky point, or a little to the southward of it. +The hills forming the opposite side of the valley had already terminated. +Captain Barker, therefore, ascended to higher ground, and, at length, +obtained a view of the Lake Alexandrina, and the channel of its +communication with the sea to the N.E. He now descended to the flat, and +frequently expressed his anxious wish to Mr. Kent that I had been one of +their number to enjoy the beauty of the scenery around them, and to +participate in their labours. Had fate so ordained it, it is possible the +melancholy tragedy that soon after occurred might have been averted. + +OUTLET OF LAKE TO THE SEA. + +At the termination of the flat they found themselves upon the banks of the +channel, and close to the sand hillock under which my tents had been +pitched. From this point they proceeded along the line of sand-hills to +the outlet; from which it would appear that Kangaroo Island is not +visible, but that the distant point which I mistook for it was the S.E. +angle of Cape Jervis. I have remarked, in describing that part of the +coast, that there is a sand-hill to the eastward of the inlet, under which +the tide runs strong, and the water is deep. Captain Barker judged the +breadth of the channel to be a quarter of a mile, and he expressed a +desire to swim across it to the sand-hill to take bearings, and to +ascertain the nature of the strand beyond it to the eastward. + +It unfortunately happened, that he was the only one of the party who could +swim well, in consequence of which his people remonstrated with him on the +danger of making the attempt unattended. Notwithstanding, however, that +he was seriously indisposed, he stripped, and after Mr. Kent had fastened +his compass on his head for him, he plunged into the water, and with +difficulty gained the opposite side; to effect which took him nine minutes +and fifty-eight seconds. His anxious comrades saw him ascend the hillock, +and take several bearings; he then descended the farther side, and was +never seen by them again. + +CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING THE LOSS OF CAPTAIN BARKER. + +For a considerable time Mr. Kent remained stationary, in momentary +expectation of his return; but at length, taking the two soldiers with +him, he proceeded along the shore in search of wood for a fire. At about +a quarter of a mile, the soldiers stopped and expressed their wish to +return, as their minds misgave them, and they feared that Captain Barker +had met with some accident. While conversing, they heard a distant shout, +or cry, which Mr. Kent thought resembled the call of the natives, but +which the soldiers positively declared to be the voice of a white man. +On their return to their companions, they asked if any sounds had caught +their ears, to which they replied in the negative. The wind was blowing +from the E.S.E., in which direction Captain Barker had gone; and, to me, +the fact of the nearer party not having heard that which must have been +his cries for assistance, is satisfactorily accounted for, as, being +immediately under the hill, the sounds must have passed over their heads +to be heard more distinctly at the distance at which Mr. Kent and the +soldiers stood. It is more than probable, that while his men were +expressing their anxiety about him, the fearful tragedy was enacting which +it has become my painful task to detail. + +Evening closed in without any signs of Captain Barker's return, or any +circumstance by which Mr. Kent could confirm his fears that he had fallen +into the hands of the natives. For, whether it was that the tribe which +had shown such decided hostility to me when on the coast had not observed +the party, none made their appearance; and if I except two, who crossed +the channel when Mr. Kent was in search of wood, they had neither seen nor +heard any; and Captain Barker's enterprising disposition being well known +to his men, hopes were still entertained that he was safe. A large fire +was kindled, and the party formed a silent and anxious group around it. +Soon after night-fall, however, their attention was roused by the sounds +of the natives, and it was at length discovered, that they had lighted a +chain of small fires between the sand-hill Captain Barker had ascended and +the opposite side of the channel, around which their women were chanting +their melancholy dirge. It struck upon the ears of the listeners with an +ominous thrill, and assured them of the certainty of the irreparable loss +they had sustained. All night did those dismal sounds echo along that +lonely shore, but as morning dawned, they ceased, and Mr. Kent and his +companions were again left in anxiety and doubt. They, at length, thought +it most advisable to proceed to the schooner to advise with Doctor +Davies. They traversed the beach with hasty steps, but did not get on +board till the following day. It was then determined to procure assistance +from the sealers on Kangaroo Island, as the only means by which they could +ascertain their leader's fate, and they accordingly entered American +Harbour. For a certain reward, one of the men agreed to accompany Mr. Kent +to the main with a native woman, to communicate with the tribe that was +supposed to have killed him. They landed at or near the rocky point of +Encounter Bay, where they were joined by two other natives, one of whom +was blind. The woman was sent forward for intelligence, and on her return +gave the following details: + +ACCOUNT OF HIS MURDER. + +It appears that at a very considerable distance from the first sand-hill, +there is another to which Captain Barker must have walked, for the woman +stated that three natives were going to the shore from their tribe, and +that they crossed his tract. Their quick perception immediately told them +it was an unusual impression. They followed upon it, and saw Captain +Barker returning. They hesitated for a long time to approach him, being +fearful of the instrument he carried. At length, however, they closed upon +him. Capt. Barker tried to soothe them, but finding that they were +determined to attack him, he made for the water from which he could not +have been very distant. One of the blacks immediately threw his spear and +struck him in the hip. This did not, however, stop him. He got among the +breakers, when he received the second spear in the shoulder. On this, +turning round, he received a third full in the breast: with such deadly +precision do these savages cast their weapons. It would appear that the +third spear was already on its flight when Capt. Barker turned, and it is +to be hoped, that it was at once mortal. He fell on his back into the +water. The natives then rushed in, and dragging him out by the legs, +seized their spears, and indicted innumerable wounds upon his body; +after which, they threw it into deep water, and the sea-tide carried it +away. + +HIS CHARACTER. + +Such, we have every reason to believe, was the untimely fate of this +amiable and talented man. It is a melancholy satisfaction to me thus +publicly to record his worth; instrumental, as I cannot but in some +measure consider my last journey to have been in leading to this fatal +catastrophe. Captain Barker was in disposition, as he was in the close +of his life, in many respects similar to Captain Cook. Mild, affable, and +attentive, he had the esteem and regard of every companion, and the +respect of every one under him. Zealous in the discharge of his public +duties, honourable and just in private life; a lover and a follower of +science; indefatigable and dauntless in his pursuits; a steady friend, +an entertaining companion; charitable, kind-hearted, disinterested, +and sincere--the task is equally difficult to find adequate expressions of +praise or of regret. In him the king lost one of his most valuable +officers, and his regiment one of its most efficient members. Beloved as +he was, the news of his loss struck his numerous friends with sincere +grief, but by none was it more severely felt than by the humble individual +who has endeavoured thus feebly to draw his portrait. + +From the same source from which the particulars of his death were +obtained, it was reported that the natives who perpetrated the deed were +influenced by no other motive than curiosity to ascertain if they had +power to kill a white man. But we must be careful in giving credit to +this, for it is much more probable that the cruelties exercised by the +sealers towards the blacks along the south coast, may have instigated the +latter to take vengeance on the innocent as well as on the guilty. It will +be seen, by a reference to the chart, that Captain Barker, by crossing the +channel, threw himself into the very hands of that tribe which had evinced +such determined hostility to myself and my men. He got into the rear of +their strong hold, and was sacrificed to those feelings of suspicion, and +to that desire of revenge, which the savages never lose sight of until +they have been gratified. + +FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY, AND CAPABILITIES OF THE COAST. + +It yet remains for me to state that when Mr. Kent returned to the +schooner, after this irreparable loss, he kept to the south of the place +at which he had crossed the first range with Captain Barker, and travelled +through a valley right across the promontory. He thus discovered that +there was a division in the ranges, through which there was a direct and +level road from the little bay on the northern extremity of which they had +last landed in St. Vincent's Gulf, to the rocky point of Encounter Bay. +The importance of this fact will be better estimated, when it is known +that good anchorage is secured to small vessels inside the island that +lies off the point of Encounter Bay, which is rendered still safer by a +horse shoe reef that forms, as it were, a thick wall to break the swell of +the sea. But this anchorage is not safe for more than five months in the +year. Independently of these points, however, Mr. Kent remarks, that the +spit a little to the north of Mount Lofty would afford good shelter to +minor vessels under its lee. When the nature of the country is taken into +consideration, and the facility of entering that which lies between the +ranges and the Lake Alexandrina, from the south, and of a direct +communication with the lake itself, the want of an extensive harbour will, +in some measure, be compensated for, more especially when it is known that +within four leagues of Cape Jervis, a port little inferior to Port +Jackson, with a safe and broad entrance, exists at Kangaroo Island. The +sealers have given this spot the name of American Harbour. In it, I am +informed, vessels are completely land-locked, and secure from every wind. +Kangaroo Island is not, however, fertile by any means. It abounds in +shallow lakes filled with salt water during high tides, and which, by +evaporation, yield a vast quantity of salt. + +I gathered from the sealers that neither the promontory separating +St. Vincent from Spencer's Gulf, nor the neighbourhood of Port Lincoln, +are other than barren and sandy wastes. They all agree in describing Port +Lincoln itself as a magnificent roadstead, but equally agree as to the +sterility of its shores. It appears, therefore, that the promontory of +Cape Jervis owes its superiority to its natural features; in fact, to the +mountains that occupy its centre, to the debris that has been washed from +them, and to the decomposition of the better description of its rocks. +Such is the case at Illawarra, where the mountains approach the sea; such +indeed is the case every where, at a certain distance from mountain +ranges. + +ADAPTION OF THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY FOR COLONISATION. + +From the above account it would appear that a spot has, at length, been +found upon the south coast of New Holland, to which the colonist might +venture with every prospect of success, and in whose valleys the exile +might hope to build for himself and for his family a peaceful and +prosperous home. All who have ever landed upon the eastern shore of +St. Vincent's Gulf, agree as to the richness of its soil, and the +abundance of its pasture. Indeed, if we cast our eyes upon the chart, and +examine the natural features of the country behind Cape Jervis, we shall +no longer wonder at its differing in soil and fertility from the low and +sandy tracks that generally prevail along the shores of Australia. Without +entering largely into the consideration of the more remote advantages that +would, in all human probability, result from the establishment of a +colony, rather than a penal settlement, at St. Vincent's Gulf, it will be +expedient to glance hastily over the preceding narrative, and, disengaging +it from all extraneous matter, to condense, as much as possible, the +information it contains respecting the country itself; for I have been +unable to introduce any passing remark, lest I should break the thread of +an interesting detail. + +The country immediately behind Cape Jervis may, strictly speaking, be +termed a promontory, bounded to the west by St. Vincent's Gulf, and to the +east by the lake Alexandrina, and the sandy track separating that basin +from the sea. Supposing a line to be drawn from the parallel of 34 degrees +40 minutes to the eastward, it will strike the Murray river about 25 miles +above the head of the lake, and will clear the ranges, of which Mount +Lofty and Mount Barker are the respective terminations. This line will cut +off a space whose greatest breadth will be 55 miles, whose length from +north to south will be 75, and whose surface exceeds 7 millions of acres; +from which if we deduct 2 millions for the unavailable hills, we shall +have 5 millions of acres of land, of rich soil, upon which no scrub +exists, and whose most distant points are accessible, through a level +country on the one hand, and by water on the other. The southern extremity +of the ranges can be turned by that valley through which Mr. Kent returned +to the schooner, after Captain Barker's death. It is certain, therefore, +that this valley not only secures so grand a point, but also presents a +level line of communication from the small bay immediately to the north of +the cape, to the rocky point of Encounter Bay, at both of which places +there is safe anchorage at different periods of the year. + +HINTS FOR FUTURE EXPEDITIONS. + +The only objection that can be raised to the occupation of this spot, is +the want of an available harbour. Yet it admits of great doubt whether the +contiguity of Kangaroo Island to Cape Jervis, (serving as it does to break +the force of the prevailing winds, as also of the heavy swell that would +otherwise roll direct into the bay,) and the fact of its possessing a safe +and commodious harbour, certainly at an available distance, does not in a +great measure remove the objection. Certain it is that no port, with the +exception of that on the shores of which the capital of Australia is +situated, offers half the convenience of this, although it be detached +between three and four leagues from the main. + +On the other hand it would appear, that there is no place from which at +any time the survey of the more central parts of the continent could be so +effectually carried on; for in a country like Australia, where the chief +obstacle to be apprehended in travelling is the want of water, the +facilities afforded by the Murray and its tributaries, are indisputable; +and I have little doubt that the very centre of the continent might be +gained by a judicious and enterprising expedition. Certainly it is most +desirable to ascertain whether the river I have supposed to be the Darling +be really so or not. I have stated my objection to depots, but I think +that if a party commenced its operations upon the Murray from the +junction upwards, and, after ascertaining the fact of its ultimate course, +turned away to the N.W. up one of the tributaries of the Murray, with a +supply of six months' provisions, the results would be of the most +satisfactory kind, and the features of the country be wholly developed. +I cannot, I think, conclude this work better than by expressing a hope, +that the Colonial Government will direct such measures to be adopted as +may be necessary for the extension of our geographical knowledge in +Australia. The facilities of fitting out expeditions in New South Wales, +render the expenses of little moment, when compared with the importance of +the object in view; and although I am labouring under the effects of +former attempts, yet would I willingly give such assistance as I could to +carry such an object into effect. + + + + + +APPENDIX. + + + + +APPENDIX No. I. + + + +GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS FOUND TO THE SOUTH-WEST OF PORT JACKSON. + + +Considering the nature of the country over which the first expedition +travelled, it could hardly have been expected that its geological +specimens would be numerous. It will appear, however, from the following +list of rocks collected during the second expedition, that the geological +formation of the mountains to the S.W. of Port Jackson is as various as +that to the N.W. of it is mountainous. The specimens are described not +according to their natural order, but in the succession in which they +were found, commencing from Yass Plains, and during the subsequent stages +of the journey. + + +Sandstone, Old Red.--Found on various parts of Yass Plains, in contact +with + +Limestone, Transition.--Colour dark grey; composes the bed of the Yass +River, and apparently traverses the sandstone formation. Yass Plains lie +170 miles to the S.W. of Sydney. + +Sandstone, Old Red.--Again succeeds the limestone, and continues to the +N.W. to a considerable distance over a poor and scrubby country, covered +for the most part with a dwarf species of Eucalyptus. + +Granite.--Colour grey; feldspar, black mica, and quartz: succeeds the +sandstone, and continues to the S.W. as far as the Morumbidgee River, +over an open forest country broken into hill and dale. It is generally on +these granite rocks that the best grazing is found. + +Greywacke.--Colour grey, of light hue, or dark, with black specks. +Soft.--Composition of a part of the ranges that form the valley of the +Morumbidgee. + +Serpentine.--Colour green of different shades, striped sulphur yellow; +slaty fracture, soft and greasy to the touch. Forms hills of moderate +elevation, of peculiarly sharp spine, resting on quartz. Composition of +most of the ranges opposite the Doomot River on the Morumbidgee, in +lat. 35 degrees 4 minutes and long. 147 degrees 40 minutes. + +Quartz.--Colour snow-white; formation of the higher ranges on the left +bank of the Morumbidgee, in the same latitude and longitude as above; +showing in large blocks on the sides of the hills. + +Slaty Quartz, with varieties.--Found with the quartz rock, in a state +of decomposition. + +Granite.--Succeeds the serpentine, of light colour; feldspar decomposed; +mica, glittering and silvery white. + +Sandstone, Old Red.--Composition of the more distant ranges on the +Morumbidgee. Forms abrupt precipices over the river flats; of sterile +appearance, and covered with Banksias and scrub. + +Mica Slate.--Colour dark brown, approaching red; mica glittering. +The hills enclosing Pondebadgery Plain at the gorge of the valley of the +Morumbidgee, are composed of this rock. They are succeeded by + +Sandstone.--Which rises abruptly from the river in perpendicular cliffs, +of 145 feet in height. + +Jasper and quartz.--Colour red and white. Forms the slope of the above +sandstone, and may be considered the outermost of the rocks connected with +the Eastern or Blue Mountain Ranges. It will be remembered that jasper and +quartz were likewise found on a plain near the Darling River, precisely +similar to the above, although occurring at so great a distance from each +other. + +Granite.--Light red colour; composition of a small isolated hill, to all +appearance wholly unconnected with the neighbouring ranges. This specimen +is very similar to that found in the bed of New-Year's Creek. + +Breccia.--Silicious cement, composed of a variety of pebbles. Formation of +the most WESTERLY of the hills between the Lachlan and Macquarie Rivers. +This conglomerate was also found to compose the minor and most westerly of +the elevations of the more northern interior. + +Chrystallized Sulphate of Lime.--Found embedded in the deep alluvial soil +in the banks of the Morumbidgee River, in lat. 34 degrees 30 minutes S., +and long. 144 degrees 55 minutes E. The same substance was found on the +banks of the Darling, in lat. 29 degrees 49 minutes S., and in +long. 145 degrees 18 minutes E. + + +A reference to the chart will show that the Morumbidgee, from the first of +the above positions, may be said to have entered the almost dead level of +the interior. No elevation occurs to the westward for several hundreds of +miles. A coarse grit occasionally traversed the beds of the rivers, and +their lofty banks of clay or marl appear to be based on sandstone and +granitic sand. The latter occurs in slabs of four inches in thickness, +divided by a line of saffron-coloured sand, and seems to have been +subjected to fusion, as if the particles or grains had been cemented +together by fusion. + + +The first decided break that takes place in the level of the interior +occurs upon the right bank of the Murray, a little below the junction of +the Rufus with it. A cliff of from 120 to 130 feet in perpendicular +elevation here flanks the river for about 200 yards, when it recedes from +it, and forms a spacious amphitheatre that is occupied by semicircular +hillocks, that partake of the same character as the cliff itself; the face +of which showed the various substances of which it was composed in +horizontal lines, that if prolonged would cut the same substance in the +hillocks. Based upon a soft white sandstone, a bed of clay formed the +lowest part of the cliff; upon this bed of clay, a bed of chalk reposed; +this chalk was superseded by a thick bed of saponaceous earth, whilst the +summit of the cliff was composed of a bright red sand. Semi-opal and +hydrate of silex were found in the chalk, and some beautiful specimens of +brown menelite were collected from the upper stratum of the cliff. + +A little below this singular place, the country again declines, when a +tertiary fossil formation shows itself, which, rising gradually as an +inclined plain, ultimately attains an elevation of 300 feet. This +formation continues to the very coast, since large masses of the rock were +observed in the channel of communication between the lake and the ocean; +and the hills to the left of the channel were based upon it. This great +bank cannot, therefore, average less than from seventy to ninety miles in +width. At its commencement, it strikingly resembled skulls piled one +on the other, as well in colour as appearance. This effect had been +produced by the constant rippling of water against the rock. The softer +parts had been washed away, and the shells (a bed of Turritella) alone +remained. + +Plate 1, Figures 1, 2, and 3, represent the selenite formation. + +Plate 2, represents a mass of the rock containing numerous kinds of +shells, of which the following are the most conspicuous: + +Cardium +Pectunculus +Corbula +Arca +Conus, and +Others unknown. + + +* * * + + +The following is a list of the fossils collected from various parts of +this formation, from which it is evident that a closer examination would +lead to the discovery of numberless species. + + +TUNICATA. + + +PLATE III. + +FIG.1 Eschara celleporacea. + 2 ------- piriformis. + 3 ------- UNNAMED. + +FIG.4 Cellepora echinata. + 5 --------- escharoides? + 6 Retepora disticha. + 7 -------- vibicata. + 8 Glauconome rhombifera. + All Tertiary in Westphalia and England. + + +RADIATA + + + 9 Scutella. + 10 Spatangus Hoffmanni--Goldfuss. + Tertiary, in Westphalia. + 11 Echinus. + + +CONCHIFERA--BIVALVED SHELLS. + + + Corbula gallica--Paris basin--Tertiary. + Tellina? + Corbis lamellosa--Tertiary--Paris. + Lucina. + Venus (Cytherea) laevigata--ibid. + ----- ---------- obliqua --ibid. + Venus + Cardium?--fragments. + 12 Nucula--such is found in London clay. + 13 Pecten coarctatus?--Placentia. + ------ various?--recent. + 14 ------ species unknown. + Two other Pectens also occur. + Ostrea elongata--Deshayes. + 15 Terebratula. + 16 One cast, genus unknown, perhaps a Cardium. + + +MOLUSCA--UNIVALVED SHELLS. + + + Bulla? Plate II., fig. 2. +FIG.17 Natica--small. + 18 ------ large species. + Dentalium? + 19 Trochus. + 20 Turritella. + ---------- in gyps. + 21 Murex. + 22 Buccinum? + 23 Mitra. + 24 ----- very short. + 25 Cypraea. + 26 Conus. + 27 ----- (Plate II., fig. 3.) + 28 Two, unknown, (Also Plate II, fig. 4.) + The above all appear to belong to the newer tertiary formations. + +[Fig.17 to 27--These genera are scarcely ever, and some of them not at +all, found in any but tertiary formations.] + + A block of coarse red granite forms an island in the centre of the + river near the lake, but is nowhere else visible, although it is very + probably the basis of the surrounding country. + + +ROCK FORMATION OF THE COAST RANGE OF ST. VINCENT'S GULF. + + +Primitive Transition Limestone.--Light grey, striped. Altered in +appearance by volcanic action; occurs on the Ranges north of Cape Jervis. + +Granite.--Colour, red; found on the west side of Encounter Bay. + +Brown Spar.--South point of Cape Jervis. + +Sandstone, Old Red.--East coast of St, Vincent's Gulf. + +Limestone, Transition.--Colour, blue. East Coast of St. Vincent's Gulf. +Formation near the first inlet. Continuing to the base of the Ranges. + +Clay Slate.--Composition of the lower part of the Mount Lofty Range. + +Granite.--Fine grained, red; forms the higher parts of the Mount Lofty +Range. + +Quartz, with Tourmaline.--Lower parts of the Mount Lofty Range. + +Limestone Flustra, and their Corallines, probably tertiary.--From the +mouth of the Sturt, on the coast line, nearly abreast of Mount Lofty. + + + + +APPENDIX No. II. + + + +OFFICIAL REPORT TO THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT. + + +* * * * * + +GOVERNMENT ORDER. + +Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, +May 10, 1830. + +His Excellency the Governor has much satisfaction in publishing the +following report of the proceedings of an expedition undertaken for the +purpose of tracing the course of the river "Morumbidgee," and of +ascertaining whether it communicated with the coast forming the southern +boundary of the colony. + +The expedition, which was placed under the direction of Captain Sturt, +of his Majesty's 39th Regiment, commenced its progress down the +"Morumbidgee" on the 7th day of January last, having been occupied +twenty-one days in performing the journey from Sydney. + +On the 14th January they entered a new river running from east to west, +now called the "Murray," into which the "Morumbidgee" flows. + +After pursuing the course of the "Murray" for several days, the expedition +observed another river (supposed to be that which Captain Sturt discovered +on his former expedition), uniting with the "Murray" which they examined +about five miles above the junction. + +The expedition again proceeded down the "Murray," and fell in with another +of its tributaries flowing from the south east, which Captain Sturt has +designated the "Lindesay;" and on the 8th February the "Murray" was +found to enter or form a lake, of from fifty to sixty miles in length, +and from thirty to forty in breadth, lying immediately to the eastward of +gulf St. Vincent, and extending to the southward, to the shore of +"Encounter Bay." + +Thus has Captain Sturt added largely, and in a highly important degree, +to the knowledge previously possessed of the interior. + +His former expedition ascertained the fate of the rivers Macquarie and +Castlereagh, on which occasion he also discovered a river which, there is +every reason to believe, is, in ordinary seasons, of considerable +magnitude. + +Should this, as Captain Sturt supposes, prove to be the same river as that +above-mentioned, as uniting with the "Murray," the existence of an +interior water communication for several hundreds of miles, extending from +the northward of "Mount Harris," down to the southern coast of the colony, +will have been established. + +It is to be regretted, that circumstances did not permit of a more perfect +examination of the lake, (which has been called "Alexandrina"), as the +immediate vicinage of Gulf St. Vincent furnishes a just ground of hope +that a more practicable and useful communication may be discovered in +that direction, than the channel which leads into "Encounter Bay." + +The opportunity of recording a second time the services rendered to the +colony by Captain Sturt, is as gratifying to the government which directed +the undertaking, as it is creditable to the individual who so successfully +conducted it to its termination.--It is an additional cause of +satisfaction to add, that every one, according to his sphere of action, +has a claim to a proportionate degree of applause. All were exposed alike +to the same privations and fatigue, and every one submitted with patience, +manifesting the most anxious desire for the success of the expedition. +The zeal of Mr. George M'Leay, the companion of Captain Sturt, when +example was so important, could not fail to have the most salutary effect; +and the obedience, steadiness, and good conduct of the men employed, merit +the highest praise. + +By his Excellency's command, + +ALEXANDER M'LEAY. + + +* * * * * + + +BANKS OF THE MORUMBIDGEE, APRIL 20TH, 1830. + +SIR,--The departure of Mr. George M'Leay for Sydney, who is anxious to +proceed homewards as speedily as possible, affords me an earlier +opportunity than would otherwise have presented itself, by which to make +you acquainted with the circumstance of my return, under the divine +protection, to the located districts; and I do myself the honour of +annexing a brief account of my proceedings since the last communication +for the information of His Excellency the Governor, until such time as I +shall have it in my power to give in a more detailed report. + +On the 7th of January, agreeably to the arrangements which had been made, +I proceeded down the Morumbidgee in the whale boat, with a complement of +six hands, independent of myself and Mr. M'Leay, holding the skiff in tow. +The river, for several days, kept a general W.S.W. course; it altered +little in appearance, nor did any material change take place in the +country upon its banks. The alluvial flats had occasionally an increased +breadth on either side of it, but the line of reeds was nowhere so +extensive as from previous appearances I had been led to expect. About +twelve miles from the depot, we passed a large creek junction from the +N.E. which, from its locality and from the circumstance of my having been +upon it in the direction of them, I cannot but conclude originates in the +marshes of the Lachlan. + +On the 11th, the Morumbidgee became much encumbered with fallen timber, +and its current was at times so rapid that I was under considerable +apprehension for the safety of the boats. The skiff had been upset on the +8th, and, although I could not anticipate such an accident to the large +boat, I feared she would receive some more serious and irremediable +injury. On the 14th, these difficulties increased upon us.--The channel +of the river became more contracted, and its current more impetuous. We +had no sooner cleared one reach, than fresh and apparently insurmountable +dangers presented themselves to us in the next. I really feared that every +precaution would have proved unavailing against such multiplied +embarrassments, and that ere night we should have possessed only the +wrecks of the expedition. From this state of anxiety, however, we were +unexpectedly relieved, by our arrival at 2 p.m. at the termination of the +Morumbidgee; from which we were launched into a broad and noble river, +flowing from E. to W. at the rate of two and a half knots per hour, over +a clear and sandy bed, of a medium width of from three to four hundred +feet. + +During the first stages of our journey upon this new river, which +evidently had its rise in the mountains of the S.E., we made rapid +progress to the W.N.W. through an unbroken and uninteresting country of +equal sameness of feature and of vegetation. On the 23rd, as the boats +were proceeding down it, several hundreds of natives made their appearance +upon the right bank, having assembled with premeditated purposes of +violence. I was the more surprised at this show of hostility, because we +had passed on general friendly terms, not only with those on the +Morumbidgee, but of the new river. Now, however, emboldened by numbers, +they seemed determined on making the first attack, and soon worked +themselves into a state of frenzy by loud and vehement shouting. As I +observed that the water was shoaling fast, I kept in the middle of the +stream; and, under an impression that it would be impossible for me to +avoid a conflict, prepared for an obstinate resistance. But, at the very +moment when, having arrived opposite to a large sand bank, on which +they had collected, the foremost of the blacks had already advanced +into the water, and I only awaited their nearer approach to fire +upon them, their impetuosity was restrained by the most unlooked +for and unexpected interference. They held back of a sudden, and +allowed us to pass unmolested. The boat, however, almost immediately +grounded on a shoal that stretched across the river, over which she +was with some difficulty hauled into deeper water,--when we found +ourselves opposite to a large junction from the eastward, little +inferior to the river itself. Had I been aware of this circumstance, I +should have been the more anxious with regard to any rupture with the +natives, and I was now happy to find that most of them had laid aside +their weapons and had crossed the junction, it appearing that they had +previously been on a tongue of land formed by the two streams. I therefore +landed among them to satisfy their curiosity and to distribute a few +presents before I proceeded up it. We were obliged to use the four oars to +stem the current against us; but, as soon as we had passed the mouth, +got into deeper water, and found easier pulling, The parallel in which we +struck it, and the direction from which it came, combined to assure me +that this could be no other than the "Darling." To the distance of two +miles it retained a breadth of one hundred yards and a depth of twelve +feet. Its banks were covered with verdure, and the trees overhanging them +were of finer and larger growth than those on the new river by which we +had approached it. Its waters had a shade of green, and were more turbid +than those of its neighbours, but they were perfectly sweet to the taste. + +Having satisfied myself on those points on which I was most anxious, +we returned to the junction to examine it more closely. + +The angle formed by the Darling with the new river is so acute, that +neither can be said to be tributary to the other; but more important +circumstances, upon which it is impossible for me to dwell at the present +moment, mark them as distinct rivers, which have been formed by Nature +for the same purposes, in remote and opposite parts of the island. Not +having as yet given a name to the latter, I now availed myself of the +opportunity of complying with the known wishes of His Excellency the +Governor, and, at the same time, in accordance with my own feelings as a +soldier I distinguished it by that of the "Murray." + +It had been my object to ascertain the decline of the vast plain through +which the Murray flows, that I might judge of the probable fall of the +waters of the interior; but by the most attentive observation I could not +satisfy myself upon the point. The course of the Darling now confirmed +my previous impression that it was to the south, which direction it was +evident the Murray also, in the subsequent stages of our journey down it, +struggled to preserve; from which it was thrown by a range of minor +elevations into a more westerly one. We were carried as far as 139 degrees +40 minutes of longitude, without descending below 34 degrees in point of +latitude; in consequence of which I expected that the river would +ultimately discharge itself, either into St. Vincent's Gulf or that of +Spencer, more especially as lofty ranges were visible in the direction of +them from the summit of the hills behind our camp, on the 2nd of February, +which I laid down as the coast line bounding them. + +A few days prior to the 2nd of February, we passed under some cliffs of +partial volcanic origin, and had immediately afterwards entered a +limestone country of the most singular formation. The river, although we +had passed occasional rapids of the most dangerous kind, had maintained a +sandy character from our first acquaintance with it to the limestone +division. It now forced itself through a glen of that rock of half a mile +in width, frequently striking precipices of more than two hundred feet +perpendicular elevation, in which coral and fossil remains were +plentifully embedded. On the 3rd February it made away to the eastward of +south, in reaches of from two to four miles in length. It gradually lost +its sandy bed, and became deep, still, and turbid; the glen expanded into +a valley, and the alluvial flats, which had hitherto been of +inconsiderable size, became proportionally extensive. The Murray increased +in breadth to more than four hundred yards, with a depth of twenty feet +of water close into the shore, and in fact formed itself into a safe and +navigable stream for any vessels of the minor class. On the 6th the cliffs +partially ceased, and on the 7th they gave place to undulating and +picturesque hills, beneath which thousands of acres of the richest flats +extended, covered, however, with reeds, and apparently subject to overflow +at any unusual rise of the river. + +It is remarkable that the view from the hills was always confined.--We +were apparently running parallel to a continuation of the ranges we had +seen on the 2nd, but they were seldom visible. The country generally +seemed darkly wooded, and had occasional swells upon it, but it was one +of no promise; the timber, chiefly box and pine, being of a poor growth, +and its vegetation languid. On the 8th the hills upon the left wore a +bleak appearance, and the few trees upon them were cut down as if by the +prevailing winds. At noon we could not observe any land at the extremity +of a reach we had just entered; some gentle hills still continued to form +the left lank of the river, but the right was hid from us by high reeds. +I consequently landed to survey the country from the nearest eminence, and +found that we were just about to enter an extensive lake which stretched +away to the S.W., the line of water meeting the horizon in that direction. +Some tolerably lofty ranges were visible to the westward at the distance +of forty miles, beneath which that shore was lost in haze. A hill, which I +prejudged to be Mount Lofty, bearing by compass S. 141 degrees W. More to +the northward, the country was low and unbacked by any elevations. A bold +promontory, which projected into the lake at the distance of seven +leagues, ended the view to the south along the eastern shore; between +which and the river the land also declined. The prospect altogether was +extremely gratifying, and the lake appeared to be a fitting reservoir for +the whole stream which had led us to it. + +In the evening we passed the entrance; but a strong southerly wind heading +us, we did not gain more than nine miles. In the morning it shifted to the +N.E. where we stood out for the promontory on a S.S.W. course. At noon we +were abreast of it, when a line of sand hummocks was ahead, scarcely +visible in consequence of the great refraction about them; but an open sea +behind us from the N.N.W. to the N.N.E. points of the compass. A meridian +altitude observed here, placed us in 35 degrees 25 minutes 15 seconds +S. lat.--At 1, I changed our course a little to the westward, and at +4 p.m. entered an arm of the lake leading W.S.W. On the point, at the +entrance, some natives had assembled, but I could not communicate with +them. They were both painted and armed, and evidently intended to resist +our landing. Wishing, however, to gain some information from them, +I proceeded a short distance below their haunt, and landed for the night, +in hopes that, seeing us peaceably disposed, they would have approached +the tents; but as they kept aloof, we continued our journey in the +morning. The water, which had risen ten inches during the night, had +fallen again in the same proportion, and we were stopped by shoals shortly +after starting. In hopes that the return of tide would have enabled us to +float over them, we waited for it very patiently, but were ultimately +obliged to drag the boat across a mud-flat of more than a quarter of a +mile into deeper water; but, after a run of about twenty minutes, were +again checked by sand banks. My endeavours to push beyond a certain point +were unsuccessful, and I was at length under the necessity of landing upon +the south shore for the night. Some small hummocks were behind us, on the +other side of which I had seen the ocean from our morning's position; +and whilst the men were pitching the tents, walked over them in company +with Mr. M'Leay to the sea shore, having struck the coast at Encounter +Bay, Cape Jervis, bearing by compass S. 81 degrees W. distant between +three and four leagues, and Kangaroo Island S.E. extremity S. 60 +degrees W. distant from nine to ten. + +Thirty-two days had elapsed since we had left the depot, and I regretted +in this stage of our journey, that I could not with prudence remain an +hour longer on the coast than was necessary for me to determine the exit +of the lake. From the angle of the channel on which we were, a bright +sand-hill was visible at about nine miles distance to the E.S.E.; which, +it struck me, was the eastern side of the passage communicating with the +ocean. Having failed in our attempts to proceed further in the boat, and +the appearance of the shoals at low water having convinced me of the +impracticability of it, I determined on an excursion along the sea-shore +to the southward and eastward, in anxious hopes that it would be a short +one; for as we had had a series of winds from the S.W. which had now +changed to the opposite quarter, I feared we should have to pull across +the lake in our way homewards. I left the camp therefore at an early hour, +in company with Mr. M'Leay and Fraser, and at day-break arrived opposite +to the sand-bank I have mentioned. Between us and it the entrance into the +back water ran. The passage is at all periods of the tide rather more than +a quarter of a mile in width, and is of sufficient depth for a boat to +enter, especially on the off side; but a line of dangerous breakers in +the bay will always prevent an approach to it from the sea, except in the +calmest weather, whilst the bay itself will always he a hazardous place +for any vessels to enter under any circumstances. + +Having, however, satisfactorily concluded our pursuit, we retraced our +steps to the camp, and again took the following bearings as we left the +beach, the strand trending E.S.E. 1/2 E.:-- + + Kangaroo Island, S.E. angle S. 60 degrees W.. + Low rocky point of Cape Jervis S. 81 degrees W. + Round Hill in centre of Range S. 164 degrees W. + Camp, distant one mile S. 171 degrees W. + Mount Lofty, distant forty miles N. 9 degrees E. + +Before setting sail, a bottle was deposited between four and five feet +deep in a mound of soft earth and shells, close to the spot on which the +tent had stood, which contained a paper of the names of the party, +together with a simple detail of our arrival and departure. + +It appeared that the good fortune, which had hitherto attended us was +still to continue, for the wind which had been contrary, chopped round to +the S.W., and ere sunset we were again in the mouth of the river, having +run from fifty to sixty miles under as much canvass as the boat would +bear, and with a heavy swell during the greater part of the day. + +The lake which has thus terminated our journey, is from fifty to sixty +miles in length, and from thirty to forty in width. With such an expanse +of water, I am correct in stating its medium depth at four feet. There is +a large bight in it to the S.E. and a beautiful and extensive bay to the +N.W. At about seven miles from the mouth of the river, its waters are +brackish, and at twenty-one miles they are quite salt, whilst seals +frequent the lower parts. Considering this lake to be of sufficient +importance, and in anticipation that its shores will, during her reign, +if not at an earlier period, be peopled by some portion of her subjects, +I have called it, in well-meant loyalty, "The Lake Alexandrina." + +It is remarkable that the Murray has few tributaries below the Darling. +It receives one, however, of considerable importance from the S.E., to +which I have given the name of the "Lindesay," as a mark of respect to my +commanding-officer, and in remembrance of the many acts of kindness I have +received at his hands. + +Having dwelt particularly on the nature of the country through which the +expedition has passed in the pages of my journal, it may be unnecessary +for me to enter into any description of it in this place, further than to +observe, that the limestone continued down to the very coast, and that +although the country in the neighbourhood of the Lake Alexandrina must, +from local circumstances, be rich in point of soil, the timber upon it is +of stunted size, and that it appears to have suffered from drought, +though not to the same extent with the eastern coast. It is evident, +however, that its vicinity to high lands does not altogether exempt it +from such periodical visitations; still I have no doubt that my +observations upon it will convince His Excellency the Governor, that it is +well worthy of a closer, and more attentive examination, than I had it in +my power to make. + +In a geographical point of view, I am happy to believe that the result of +this expedition has been conclusive; and that, combined with the late one, +it has thrown much light upon the nature of the interior of the vast +Island; that the decline of waters, as far as the parallel of 139 degrees +E., is to the south, and that the Darling is to the N.E. as the Murray +is to the S.E. angle of the coast, the main channel by which the waters of +the central ranges are thrown or discharged into one great reservoir. + +Our journey homewards was only remarkable for its labour: in conclusion, +therefore, it remains for me to add that we reached the depot on the +23rd of March. + +Our sugar failed us on the 18th of February, and our salt provisions, +in consequence of the accident which happened to the skiff, on the 8th of +March; so that from the above period we were living on a reduced ration of +flour; and as we took few fish, and were generally unsuccessful with our +guns, the men had seldom more than their bread to eat. + +I regretted to observe that they were daily falling off, and that although +unremitting in their exertions they were well nigh exhausted, ere we +reached the Morumbidgee. + +We were from sunrise to five o'clock on the water, and from the day +that we left the depot to that of our return we never rested upon our +oars. We were thirty-nine days gaining the depot from the coast, against +a strong current in both rivers, being seven more than it took us to go +down. From the depot to this station we had seventeen days hard pulling, +making a total of eighty-eight, during which time we could not have +travelled over less than 2000 miles. I was under the necessity of stopping +short on the 10th instant, and of detaching two men for the drays, which +happily arrived on the 17th, on which day our stock of flour failed us. +Had I not adopted this plan, the men would have become too weak to have +pulled up to Pondebadgery, and we should no doubt have suffered some +privations. + +This detail will, I am sure, speak more in favour of the men composing the +party than anything I can say. I would most respectfully recommend them +all to His Excellency's notice; and I beg to assure him that, during the +whole of this arduous journey, they were cheerful, zealous, and obedient. +They had many harassing duties to perform, and their patience and temper +were often put to severe trials by the natives, of whom we could not have +seen fewer than 4000 on the Murray alone. + +I am to refer His Excellency the Governor to Mr. M'Leay for any more +immediate information he may require,--to whom I stand indebted on many +points--and not less in the anxiety he evinced for the success of the +undertaking, than in the promptitude with which he assisted in the labours +attendant on our return, and his uniform kindness to the men. + +I have the honour to subscribe myself, +Sir, +Your most obedient humble Servant, +CHARLES STURT, +Captain of the 39th Regt. + +The Hon. the Colonial Secretary. + + + +END OF VOLUME II + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg Etext of Two Expeditions into the Interior of +Southern Australia Complete by Charles Sturt + diff --git a/old/xpssc12.zip b/old/xpssc12.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..885309e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/xpssc12.zip diff --git a/old/xpssc12h.zip b/old/xpssc12h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c0969a9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/xpssc12h.zip |
