Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia Part 31

At night I observed native fires about a mile from us, in a direction towards the sea; but the natives did not come near us, nor was I myself anxious to come into communication with them whilst my party was so small.

The evening had set in with steady rain, which continuing with little intermission during the night, wet us considerably.

June 16.--This morning, I found I had caught cold, and was very unwell.

Upon leaving the encampment, we steered N. 30 degrees W. to clear a rocky hill, pa.s.sing which, on our left at six miles, we changed the course to W. 10 degrees N. Three miles from the hill, we crossed a small stream of brackish water running very strongly towards the sea, and then halted for the day upon it, after a short stage. The country we had traversed in our route, still consisted of the same sandy plains and undulations, covered with low shrubs, heathy plants, gra.s.s and cabbage-trees, with here and there elevations of granite, and fresh water swamps: in and around which, the soil was black and very rich; very little wood was to be met with anywhere, and nothing that deserved the appellation of trees.

The country, inland, appeared to rise gradually, but did not seem to differ in character and features from that we were traversing.

June 17.--A little before daylight it commenced raining, and continued showery all day, and though we got wet several times, we experienced great comfort from the warm clothing we had obtained from Captain Rossiter. Upon ascending the hills, above our camp, which confined the waters of the little stream we were upon, we could trace its course south-west by south, to a small lake lying in the same direction, and which it appeared to empty into. A second small lake was observable to the north-west of the first. Two and a half miles from our camp, we pa.s.sed a granite elevation, near which, were many fresh swamps, permanently, I think, abounding in water and having much rich and gra.s.sy land around, of which the soil was a deep black, and but little mixed with sand. For the next three miles and a half, our route lay over a rich swampy gra.s.sy land, and we were literally walking all the way in water left by the rains; besides crossing in that distance two fresh water streams, running strongly towards the sea, and both emptying into small lakes seen under the coast ridges. The largest of these two was one yard and a half wide and a foot deep, and appeared of a permanent character.

We now ascended an undulating and rather more elevated tract of country of an oolitic limestone formation, most luxuriantly clothed with the richest gra.s.s, and having several lakes interspersed among the hollows between the ridges. Near this we halted for the night under some of the coast sand-hills, after a day's stage of twelve miles. We had splendid feed for our horses, but were without any water for ourselves, being unable to carry any with us, as the canteens were full of treacle. From our camp, a peak, near Cape le Grand, bore E. 33 degrees S.

June 18.--During the night heavy showers had fallen, and in the oilskins we caught as much water as sufficed for our tea. After breakfast we proceeded onwards, and at a little more than three miles came to the borders of a large salt lake, lying southwest and north-east, and being one of two noted by Captain Flinders as having been copied into his map from a French chart. Following the borders of the lake for a mile we found abundance of fresh water under the banks by which it was inclosed, and which, judging from the rushes and gra.s.ses about it, and the many traces of native encampments, I imagine to be permanent. The lake itself was in a hollow sunk in the fossil formation, which was now very clearly recognisable in the high banks surrounding the lake, and which varied from sixty to a hundred and fifty feet in elevation, and were generally pretty steep towards the sh.o.r.e. The day being fine I halted at this place to re-arrange the loads of the horses and take bearings.

A year had now elapsed since I first entered upon the Northern Expedition. This day twelve months ago I had left Adelaide to commence the undertaking, cheered by the presence and good wishes of many friends, and proudly commanding a small but gallant party--alas, where were they now? Painful and bitter were the thoughts that occupied my mind as I contrasted the circ.u.mstances of my departure then with my position now, and when I reflected that of all whose spirit and enterprise had led them to engage in the undertaking, two lone wanderers only remained to attempt its conclusion.

June 19.--The dew was very heavy this morning, and we did not start until rather late, travelling through a very gra.s.sy country, abounding in fresh swamps of a soft peaty soil, and often with the broad flag-reed growing in them. All these places were boggy and impa.s.sable for horses. In attempting to cross one a horse sunk up to his haunches, and we had much difficulty in extricating him. At five miles from our camp we ascended some high ridges of an oolitic limestone formation, which were partially covered by drift-sand, and in the distance looked like the ridge of a sea sh.o.r.e. From their summit Cape le Grand bore E. 27 degrees S., the peak called by the French the "Chapeau," E. 23 degrees S., and the head of the salt-water lake E. 10 degrees S. We had now a succession of barren, sandy and stony ridges for more than three miles, and as there was but little prospect of our finding permanent water in such a miserable region, I took the opportunity of halting at a little rain water deposited in a hole of the rocks; here we procured enough for ourselves, but could not obtain any for the horses. Our camp not being far from the coast, I walked after dinner to the sand-hills to take bearings. Several islands were visible, of which the centres were set at S. 10 degrees W., S. 26 degrees W., E. 41 degrees S., E. 44 degrees S. and S. 33 degrees E.

respectively; the west point of a bay bore S. 51 degrees W. the eastern point E. 36 degrees S. Upon digging for water under the sand-hills it was found to be salt.

June 20.--Rain fell lightly but steadily until one P.M., making it very disagreeable travelling through the rugged and stony ridges we had to encounter, and which were a good deal covered with scrub and brush. About four miles from our camp of last night we crossed high stony ridges, and immediately beyond came to some steep sand-drifts, among the hollows of which I dug for water, but at five feet was stopped by rock. The scrubby, hilly, and rugged nature of the back country, generally about three hundred feet above the level of the sea, now compelled me to keep the beach for five miles, from which I was then again driven by the hills terminating abruptly towards the sea, and forcing me to scale a steep stony range, which for four miles and a half kept us incessantly toiling up one rugged ascent after another. We then came to an extensive hollow, being a partial break in the fossil formation, and having two large lakes and many smaller ones interspersed over its surface. Around the margins of the lakes we again found timber--the tea-tree and the b.a.s.t.a.r.d gum. The water in the lakes was salt, but some slight elevations of granite afforded us in their hollows an abundance of water for ourselves and horses. The traces of natives were numerous and recent, but yet we saw none. Swans, ducks, and wild fowl of various kinds were in great numbers, and kept up an unceasing noise at night whilst pa.s.sing from one lake to the other. Our stage had been twelve miles and a half, but the hilly and rugged nature of the road had made it severe upon the horses, whilst the wet overhead and the wet gra.s.s under our feet made it equally hara.s.sing to ourselves. From our encampment some white drifts in the coast line bore S. 35 degrees E., and probably were the "white streak in the sand-hills" of Flinders.

June 21.--We did not get away until late, but the dew had been so heavy during the night that even then the shrubs and bushes wet us completely through, and made our journey cold and miserable. After travelling a short distance we lost all symptoms of gra.s.s, and the country was again sandy and barren, and covered with shrubs and heathy plants. In this region we pa.s.sed two native women and a boy, within gun-shot of us; but as they were so intent upon their occupation of digging roots, and did not notice us, I was unwilling to alarm them, and we pa.s.sed silently by.

At six miles we came to a fine deep hole of excellent water about thirty yards in circ.u.mference. It was situated in a narrow, short, but steep and rocky gorge, and is, I think, permanent. Four miles beyond this we crossed a chain of salt ponds, trending seawards, towards an apparent gap in the coast-line; and six miles further another. Upon the latter we halted for the night, as there was good gra.s.s for the horses, and brackish water was procurable a little way up the stream, where it divided into branches. The constant travelling in the wet for the last few days began now to affect our limbs considerably, and upon halting at nights we found our feet always much swollen, and our legs generally stiff and cramped.

June 22.--A very heavy dew fell in the night, and we were again condemned to wade for three hours up to our middle among the wet brush; after which the day became fine, and we got our clothes dried. Travelling for two and a half miles, we crossed another small brackish chain of ponds, and then ascending rather higher ground, obtained a view of a large lake under the sand-hills, into which the channel we encamped upon last night emptied itself. The lake appeared as if it were deep, and its dark blue colour led me to imagine there might be a junction with the sea towards the south-west, where the low appearance of the coast ridge indicated a gap or opening of some kind. At four miles from our last night's encampment we were stopped by a large salt-water river, fully a hundred yards wide, and increasing to three or four times that size as it trended to its junction with the large lake, and which was visible from the hills above the river. This river was deep where we first struck upon it, but appeared to be much more so towards the lake, where the water was of a dark blue colour, as was that also of the lake itself. This confirmed me in my opinion that there must be a junction with the sea; but unfortunately I was obliged to trace its course upwards, for the purpose of crossing, and the circ.u.mstances under which I was travelling precluded me from delaying, or going so far back out of my way to examine its mouth. I dared not leave Wylie in charge of the camp for the time necessary for me to have gone alone; and to take the horses such a distance, and through a rough or heavy country, on the uncertainty of procuring for them either gra.s.s or water, would have been a risk which, in their condition, I did not think myself justified in incurring.

After tracing the river northerly for two miles and a half, I found it divided into two branches, and though these were still of considerable size, yet a ledge of rocks extending across the channels enabled us to effect a pa.s.sage to the other side. At the place where we crossed, the stream running over the rocks was only slightly brackish, and we watered our horses there; had we traced it a little further it might possibly have been quite fresh, but we had no time for this, for Wylie having taken charge of the horses but for a few moments, whilst I had been examining the river for a crossing place, contrived to frighten them all in some way or other, and set them off at a gallop; the result was, that our baggage was greatly disturbed, and many things knocked off and damaged, whilst it took us some time again to get our horses and re-arrange the loads.

The valley through which the river took its course, was rocky, with sheets of granite extending in many places to the water's edge. There was abundance of good gra.s.s, however, and in its upper branches, probably, there might have been some considerable extent of pasturage. The trees growing upon the margin, were the paper-barked tea-tree, and the b.a.s.t.a.r.d gum.

Leaving the river, and proceeding over an undulating sandy country, without timber, but covered with shrubs, we pa.s.sed at six miles between two small lakes, and in three more descended to a deep valley among granite rocks; here we encamped after a stage of sixteen miles, with plenty of fresh water in pools, and very fair gra.s.s for the horses, about a mile and a half before we halted, we had obtained a view to seawards, and I set the "Rocky Islets" at a bearing of S. 25 degrees W.

The character of the country generally, through which we travelled to-day, was very similar to that we had so long been traversing. Its general elevation above the level of the sea, was about three hundred feet, and to a distant observer, it seemed to be a perfect table land, unbroken to the horizon, and dest.i.tute of all timber or trees, except occasionally a few cabbage-trees, gra.s.s-trees, or minor shrubs; it was also without gra.s.s. Upon crossing this region deep gorges or valleys are met with, through which flow brackish or salt-water streams, and shading these are found the tea-tree and the b.a.s.t.a.r.d gum. The steep banks which inclose the valleys, through which the streams take their course, and which until lately we had found of an oolitic limestone, now exhibited granite, quartz, sandstone or iron-stone.

June 23.--Our horses having rambled some distance back upon our yesterday's tracks, it was late when they were recovered, and we did not get away until eleven. After travelling a mile and a half, we crossed a stream of most excellent water running over a bed of granite, in which were some large deep pools with reeds growing around their margins. A branch of this watercourse was crossed a little further on, but was quite dry where we pa.s.sed it.

Nine miles from our last night's camp a view of the "Rocky Islets" was obtained from a hill, and set at due south. Immediately on descending from the hill we crossed a salt chain of ponds in a bed of sandstone and ironstone, and nine miles beyond this we came to another, also of salt water; here we halted for the night as there was tolerable gra.s.s for the horses, and we were fortunate enough to discover fresh water in a granite rock.

In the course of the afternoon I obtained a view of a very distant hill bearing from us W.8 degrees S. This I took to be the east Mount Barren of Flinders; but it was still very far away, and the intervening country looked barren and unpromising. During the day our route had still been over the same character of country as before, with this exception, that it was more stony and barren, with breccia or iron-stone grit covering the surface. The streams were less frequently met with, and were of a greatly inferior character, consisting now princ.i.p.ally of only chains of small stagnant ponds of salt water, dest.i.tute of gra.s.s, and without any good soil in the hollows through which they took their course. Many of these, and especially those we crossed in the latter part of the day, were quite dry, and appeared to be nothing more than deep gutters washed by heavy rains between the undulations of the country.

The rock formation, where it was developed, was exclusively sandstone or ironstone, with inferior granite; and even the higher levels, which had heretofore been of a sandy nature, were now rugged and stony, and more sterile than before; the gra.s.strees, which generally accommodate themselves to any soil, were stunted and diminutive, and by no means so abundant as before. The general elevation of the country still appeared to be the same. I estimated it at about three hundred feet.

One circ.u.mstance, which struck me as rather singular, with regard to the last forty miles of country we had traversed, was, that it did not appear to have experienced the same weather as there had been to the eastward.

The little water we found deposited in the rocks, plainly indicated that the late rains had either not fallen here at all, or in a much less degree than they had, in the direction we had come from; whilst the dry and withered state of any little gra.s.s that we found, convinced me that the earlier rains had still been more partial, so great was the contrast between the rich luxuriance of the long green gra.s.s we had met with before, and the few dry withered bunches of last year's growth, which we fell in with now.

Chapter V.

LARGE WATERCOURSE--LAKE OF FRESH WATER--HEAVY RAINS--REACH MOUNT BARREN--SALT LAKES AND STREAMS--BARREN SCRUBBY COUNTRY--RANGES BEHIND KING GEORGE'S SOUND ARE SEEN--BRACKISH PONDS--Pa.s.s CAPE RICHE--A LARGE SALT RIVER--CHAINS OF PONDS--GOOD LAND--HEAVILY TIMBERED COUNTRY--COLD WEATHER--FRESH LAKE--THE CANDIUP RIVER--KING'S RIVER--EXCESSIVE RAINS--ARRIVAL AT KING GEORGE'S SOUND AND TERMINATION OF THE EXPEDITION--RECEPTION OF WYLIE BY THE NATIVES.

June 24.--UPON moving on early this morning, we crossed the bed of a considerable watercourse, containing large deep pools of brackish water, but unconnected at present by any stream. The late hour at which we halted last night had prevented us from noticing this larger chain of ponds, and of which, that we were encamped upon formed only a branch. The country we now pa.s.sed through, varied but little in character, except that the shrubs became higher, with a good deal of the Eucalyptus dumosa intermingled with them, and were entangled together by matted creepers or vines, which made it extremely difficult and fatiguing to force a way through. The whole was very sterile, and without gra.s.s.

After travelling nine miles, we pa.s.sed on our right a small lake of fresh water; and two miles beyond this another, about a mile in circ.u.mference, but deep, and evidently of a permanent character. Close to this fresh water lake was another, divided from it by only a narrow neck of land, and yet the latter was as salt as the sea. We had only made a short stage as yet; but as there was a little food for the horses near the lake, I thought it more prudent to halt there than run the risk of being left without in the wretched looking country before us,

The Mount Barren ranges were observed again, but the weather was cloudy, so that I could make nothing out distinctly. In the afternoon, Wylie shot three teal, of which there were numbers on the lake. At night, our baggage and clothes had nearly all been destroyed by fire, a spark having been carried by the wind to the tarpaulin which covered them, and which, as it had been but newly tarred, was soon in a blaze. I was fortunate enough, however, to observe the accident in time to save our other effects.

June 25.--We commenced our journey early, but had not gone far before the rain began to fall, and continued until ten o'clock. Occasionally the showers came down in perfect torrents, rendering us very cold and miserable, and giving the whole country the appearance of a large puddle.

We were literally walking in water; and by stooping down, almost any where as we went along, could have dipped a pint pot half full. It was dreadful work to travel thus in the water, and with the wet from the long brush soaking our clothes for so many hours; but there was no help for it, as we could not find a blade of gra.s.s for our horses, to enable us to halt sooner. The surface of the whole country was stony and barren in the extreme. A mile from our camp, we pa.s.sed a small salt lake on our left; and at fifteen miles more, came to a valley with some wiry gra.s.s in it.

At this I halted, as there was no prospect of getting better gra.s.s, and the water left by the rains was abundant. The latter, though it had only fallen an hour or two, was in many places quite salt, and the best of it brackish, so thoroughly saline was the nature of the soil upon which it had been deposited.

As the afternoon proved fine, I traced down the valley we were upon to its junction with a stream flowing over a granite bed, about a mile from our camp. In this the pools of water were large, deep, and brackish, but there was plenty of fresh water left by the rains in holes of the rocks upon its banks. As, however, there did not appear to be better gra.s.s upon the larger channel, than in the valley where we were, I did not think it worth while to remove our camp.

June 26.--I determined to remain in camp today to rest the horses, and to enable me to arrange their loads, so that Wylie and I might again ride occasionally. We had both walked for the last eleven days, during which we had made good a distance of 134 miles from Rossiter Bay, and as I calculated we ought under ordinary circ.u.mstances to reach the Sound in ten days more, I thought that we might occasionally indulge in riding, and relieve ourselves from the great fatigue we had hitherto been subject to, especially as the horses were daily improving in strength and condition.

Whilst I was engaged in making the necessary preparations, and throwing away some things which I thought we could dispense with, such as our bucket, some harness, ammunition, cooking utensils, and sundry other things, Wylie took the rifle, and went down to the watercourse to shoot.

On his return in the afternoon he produced four teal and a black swan, as the produce of his day's sport; he had, however, shot away every charge of shot from the belt, which had been filled on board the Mississippi, and held three pounds and a half, besides three ball cartridges; how often he fired at the swan before he got it I could never discover, but I heard shot after shot as fast as he could load and fire for some time, and he himself acknowledged to firing at it seven times, but I suspect it to have been nearer twice seven.

To-day we were obliged to fetch up what water we required for our own use, from the holes in the granite rocks near the river, that lying on the ground near our camp being too salt for use.

June 27.--Upon moving on this morning we pa.s.sed towards the Mount Barren ranges for ten miles through the same sterile country, and then observing a watercourse coming from the hills, I became apprehensive I should experience some difficulty in crossing it near the ranges, from their rocky and precipitous character, and at once turned more southerly to keep between the sea and a salt lake, into which the stream emptied itself. After getting nearly half round the lake, our progress was impeded by a dense and most difficult scrub of the Eucalyptus dumosa.

Upon entering it we found the scrub large and strong, and growing very close together, whilst the fallen trees, dead wood, and sticks lying about in every direction, to the height of a man's breast, rendered our pa.s.sage difficult and dangerous to the horses in the extreme. Indeed, when we were in the midst of it, the poor animals suffered so much, and progressed so little, that I feared we should hardly get them either through it or back again. By dint of great labour and perseverance we pa.s.sed through a mile of it, and then emerging upon the beach followed it for a short distance, until steep rocky hills coming nearly bluff into the sea, obliged us to turn up under them, and encamp for the night not far from the lake. Here our horses procured tolerable gra.s.s, whilst we obtained a little fresh water for ourselves among the hollows of the rocks.

Our stage had been about thirteen miles, and our position was S. 30 degrees E. from East Mount Barren, the hills under which we were encamped being connected with that range. Most properly had it been called Mount Barren, for a more wretched aridlooking country never existed than that around it. The Mount Barren ranges are of quartz or reddish micaceous slate, the rocks project in sharp rugged ma.s.ses, and the strata are all perpendicular.

June 28.--Upon getting up this morning we saw the smoke of native fires along the margin of the lake, at less than a mile from us. They had already noticed our fire, and called out repeatedly to us, but as I did not wish to come into communication with them at all, I did not reply.

Soon afterwards we saw them in the midst of the lake carrying boughs, and apparently fis.h.i.+ng. Three miles from the lake we crossed a small salt stream, and a mile further another. Four miles beyond the latter we came to a very deep narrow salt lake, swarming with swans, pelicans, and ducks. As the pa.s.sage between the lake and the sea appeared to be scrubby, and very similar to that we had found so much difficulty in pa.s.sing yesterday, I turned to the north-west to head it inland; but had not proceeded far before I found our progress stopped by a large salt-water stream, which joined the lake, and whose course was through steep precipitous ravines. By following the river upwards I came to a place where we could descend into its basin, and as the water there, though brackish, was still drinkable, I halted for the night after a stage of fourteen miles. The horses were a good deal tired with the rough hilly road they had pa.s.sed over, and having been without water last night, stood greatly in need of rest.

In the afternoon Wylie took the rifle to shoot some of the swans and ducks around us, but was not successful. I remained at the camp, breaking down and clearing a pa.s.sage amongst the shrubs and trees which grew in the rocky bed of the watercourse, to enable us to get our horses readily across to-morrow. Our position bore S. W. from East Mount Barren, E. from a bluff range three miles from us, and N. 55 degrees E. from some high hills in the direction of Middle Mount Barren. The course of the stream we were encamped upon being nearly north and south.

June 29.--Having found so much difficulty in keeping between the hills and the sea, I determined now to keep more inland, and steering W. 20 degrees N., headed all ranges in four miles. From this point East Mount Barren bore E. 20 degrees N., and as I was now clear of hills in front, I changed my course to W. 20 degrees S., pa.s.sing through a barren worthless country for eleven miles, and encamping upon a deep ravine, in which we procured brackish water. Our horses were greatly f.a.gged. From our camp West Mount Barren bore S. 41 degrees W.

June 30.--For the first ten miles to-day we had a very bad road, over steep stony ridges and valleys, covered for the most part with dense gum scrub. The surface was strewed over with rough pebbles or ironstone grit, and was broken a good deal into steep-faced ridges and deep hollows, as if formed so by the action of water. The formation of these precipitous banks appeared to be an ochre of various colours--red and yellow, and of a soft friable description. At ten miles we crossed a watercourse with many pools of brackish water in it, trending to a lake visible under the coast ridge. There was good gra.s.s near this, and many kangaroos were seen, but as no fresh water could be obtained, we pa.s.sed on, and at three miles further came to a hole of rain-water in a rocky gorge, but here there was not a blade of gra.s.s. Hoping to meet with more success further on, we still advanced for twelve miles, until night compelled us at last to encamp without either gra.s.s or water, both ourselves and our horses being greatly fatigued.

In the evening we obtained a view of some high rugged and distant ranges, which I at once recognised as being the mountains immediately behind King George's Sound. At last we could almost say we were in sight of the termination of our long, hara.s.sing, and disastrous journey. Early in the morning I had told Wylie that I thought we should see the King George's Sound hills before night, but he at the time appeared rather sceptical; when, however, they did break upon our view, in picturesque though distant outline, his joy knew no bounds. For the first time on our journey he believed we should really reach the Sound at last. The cheering and not-to-be-mistaken view before him had dissipated all his doubts. Once more he gazed upon objects that were familiar to him; the home of his childhood was before him, and already almost in fancy he was there, and amongst his friends; he could think, or talk of nothing else, and actually complimented me upon the successful way in which I had conducted him to the end of his journey. From our camp the distant ranges bore W. 5 degrees S., and West Mount Barren E. 5 degrees S.

July 1.--After travelling three miles we came to a chain of large ponds of brackish water, but with excellent gra.s.s around them, and as the horses had nothing to eat or drink last night we halted for three hours.

The water was bad, but they drank it, and we were obliged to do so too, after an ineffectual search for better. At noon we again moved on, and after proceeding about five miles, came to a large watercourse where the water was excellent, and the feed abundant. Here we halted for the night, to make our horses amends for the bad fare and hard work of yesterday.

From the hill above our camp West Mount Barren bore E. 8 degrees N., Middle Mount Barren E. 21 degrees N., and Rugged Mountains behind the Sound, W. 4 degrees S. The watercourse we were upon, like all those we had lately crossed, had perpendicular cliffs ab.u.t.ting upon it, either on one side or the other, and the channel through which it wound looked almost like a cut made through the level country above it. A few casuarinae were observed in parts of the valley, being the first met with since those seen near Cape Arid.

July 2.--Our route to-day lay through a country much covered with gum-scrub, banksias, and other shrubs, besides occasionally a few patches of stunted gum-trees growing in clumps in small hollows, where water appeared to lodge after rains. At two miles we crossed a small watercourse, and at fifteen further, came to a deep valley with fine fresh-water pools in it, and tolerable feed around; here we halted for the night. The valley we were upon (and one or two others near) led to a much larger one below, through which appeared to take its course the channel of a considerable watercourse trending towards a bight in the coast at S. 17 degrees W.

Some high land, seen to the southward and westward of us, I took to be Cape Riche, a point I should like greatly to have visited, but did not think it prudent to go so far out of my direct course, in the circ.u.mstances I was travelling under.

July 3.--Upon commencing our journey to-day I found our route was much intersected by deep ravines and gorges, all trending to the larger valley below, and where I had no doubt a large chain of ponds, and probably much good land, would have been found. After proceeding four miles and a half, we were stopped by a large salt-water river, which seemed to be very deep below where we struck it, and trended towards a bight of the coast where it appeared to form a junction with the sea.