Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia Volume II Part 26

While Mr. Stapylton rode northward in search of the Wimmera I proceeded to examine and survey some of these remarkable lakes.

SALT LAKES.

On the margin of one of them, bearing 55 1/2 degrees West of North from our camp, a green hill of rather singular shape rose to a considerable height above the surrounding country. I found the water in the lake beside it shallow and quite salt. The basin was nearly circular though partially filled with firm level earth which was water-worn at the brink, its surface being about three feet higher than the water. This was surrounded by a narrow beach of soft white mud or clay in which we found no change on digging to the depth of several feet.

GREEN HILL LAKE.

The green hill was the highest of several semicircular ridges whose forms may perhaps be better understood by the accompanying plan.* There was a remarkable a.n.a.logy in the form and position of all these hills; the form being usually that of a curve, concentric with the lake, and the position invariably on the eastern or north-eastern sh.o.r.es, a peculiarity I had previously observed not only in the lakes near the banks of the Murray but also in others on the Murrumbidgee and Lachlan where the ridge consisted of red sand. The country on the western sh.o.r.e of these lakes is, on the contrary, low and wooded like the surrounding country. In such hills concretions of indurated marl frequently occur, but the earth they consist of is sometimes light-coloured, in other cases very dark, like the soil from trap-rock, and the ridges beside the lakes on the Murrumbidgee, consisted of red sand.

(*Footnote. Having modelled this feature I have the satisfaction of presenting to the reader the first specimen of a plan of ground worked from a model by the anaglyptograph, an important invention recently perfected in this country by Mr. Bates and likely to be of very considerable value in the representation of the earth's surface under the skilful management of Mr. Freebairn.)

MITRE LAKE.

The water of Mitre Lake was also salt,* but there were numbers of ducks and black swans upon it. The western sh.o.r.e was low, and the soil where it had been thrown up in the roots of fallen trees was nearly as white as chalk. A gray rather fine quartzose sand occurred in some places; and along the water's edge a very minute sh.e.l.l had been cast up in considerable quant.i.ties by the waves.** The hills to the eastward of this lake were arranged in a crescent around the basin, but this being composed of a number of hills almost separate from each other had a less regular or uncommon appearance, although they were apparently the remains of a curve equally as symmetrical as the others. The basin of this lake was very extensive but partly filled on the side next the low hills by a level tract of dry land covered with a brown bush (Salicornia arbuscula of Brown); and the concentric curves in which it grew, as if closing on the lake, seemed to record its progressive diminution. The breadth of this heathy-looking flat between the water and the crescent of low hills was nearly half a mile. A small rill of fresh water oozed into the lake from the sides of Mount Arapiles. The bed of this watercourse was soft and boggy near the lake, so that I could cross only by going up its channel much nearer to the hill and at a point where some rocks protruded and prevented our horses from sinking.

(*Footnote. For Professor Faraday's a.n.a.lysis of these waters see below.)

(**Footnote. This was a truncatella, a salt.w.a.ter sh.e.l.l of which there are several species on the English and French coasts. The one found here has been named by Mr. J. De Carl Sowerby T. filosa.)

Mr. Stapylton, in his search for the Wimmera, rode about six miles to the northward without reaching the river, although he saw the valley through which he thought it flowed; and where the river seemed likely to resume a course to the southward of west. Upon the whole I think that the estuary of the Wimmera will most probably be found either between Cape Bernouilli and Cape Jaffa, or at some of the sandy inlets laid down by Captain Flinders to the northward of the first of these capes. The country which Mr. Stapylton crossed a.s.sumed the barren character of the lower parts of the Murray. He actually pa.s.sed through a low scrub of the Eucalyptus dumosa; but I have no doubt that the country on the immediate banks of the Wimmera continues good, whatever its course may be, even to the sea-coast.

RELINQUISH THE PURSUIT OF THE WIMMERA.

At all events I here abandoned the pursuit of that river and determined to turn towards the south-west that we might ascertain what streams fell in that direction from the Grampians; and also the nature of the country between these mountains and the sh.o.r.es of the Southern Ocean.

THE PARTY TRAVELS TO THE SOUTH-WEST.

July 25.

Proceeding accordingly about south-west, we crossed at less than a mile from our camp the dry bed of a circular lake. The ground on the eastern sh.o.r.e was full of wombat holes which had been made in a stratum of compact tuff about a foot in thickness. The tuff was irregularly cavernous and it was loose, calcareous, or friable in the lower part where the wombats had made their burrows. On the opposite margin of this dry lake the surface was covered with concretions of indurated marl; and the burrows of the wombat were even more numerous there than in the other bank; the stratum of compact tuff occurring also and being three feet in thickness.

RED LAKE.

At 2 1/4 miles we came upon the sh.o.r.es of Red lake which I so named from the colour of a weed growing upon its margin. The lake was nearly a mile in length and half a mile broad; the water was so slightly brackish that reeds grew upon the borders which were frequented by many swans and ducks. A very symmetrical bank overlooked the eastern sh.o.r.e, the ground on the westward being low and wooded with the ordinary trees of the country. We next crossed a flat of dry white sand on which banksia grew thickly; and then we reached some low white sandhills on which were stunted ironbark trees (eucalypti). In the higher part of those hills we crossed a small dry hollow or lake which had also its bank on the eastern side.

SMALL LAKES OF FRESH WATER.

At the end of 5 1/2 miles we pa.s.sed two small lakes of fresh water about half a mile to the right and, soon after, another about the same distance to the left. On completing seven miles we crossed a low ridge of white sand on which grew stunted trees of stringybark and black-b.u.t.ted gumtrees (both belonging to the genus eucalyptus). Beyond this we crossed a country in which wet, reedy swamps of fresh water, white sandhills, and fine flats of good forest land occurred alternately. Towards the end of our day's journey, the barren sandhills seemed to prevail, but at length we descended from them rather suddenly to a smooth firm plain, clothed with the finest gra.s.s and on the edge of this we pitched our tents for the night.

July 26.

We proceeded through a thick fog and found the plain studded with clumps of casuarinae. About a mile from the camp we came upon an extensive swamp or lake, full of gra.s.s and rushes. Turning this by the left we crossed some more good country, and then reached the banks of an extensive lagoon, also full of green rushes and water. The western bank was high and consisted of rich gra.s.sy land, very open; a small stream of water fell into the lake on the north-west side, and another on the south-east.

It was surrounded by lofty gum trees and had a wood on the south and east. We met with sandhills and stunted timber beyond. They enclosed a long gra.s.sy flat covered with water, stretching away to the south-east.

We next entered on a fine flat of forest land bounded by a low ridge with Callitris pyramidalis, or pine trees.

WHITE LAKE.

From this I perceived a circular lake a little to our right and on riding to it I found the water salt and of a very white colour. No trees grew on the margin and the surrounding scene was so dreary that it resembled a mountain-tarn. Two solitary ducks were upon it, apparently of a species new to us, but this I could not ascertain, having had only my rifle with me and, the cap missing fire, I lost even that chance of killing them.

The bed of the lake also consisted of a very white marl. A high semicircular bank swept round the eastern sh.o.r.e; that opposite, or towards the west being low and swampy. On that side I saw two natives at a distance making the best of their way to the southward. We had this day noticed some of their huts which were of a very different construction from those of the aborigines in general, being large, circular, and made of straight rods meeting at an upright pole in the centre; the outside had been first covered with bark and gra.s.s and then entirely coated over with clay. The fire appeared to have been made nearly in the centre; and a hole at the top had been left as a chimney. The place seemed to have been in use for years as a casual habitation.

BASKETWORK OF THE NATIVES.

In this hut the natives had left various articles such as jagged spears, some of them set with flints; and an article of their manufacture which we had not before seen, namely, bags of the gins, very neatly wrought, apparently made of a tough small rush. Two of these also resembled reticules and contained b.a.l.l.s of resin, flints for the spearheads etc.

The iron bolt of a boat was likewise found in one of these huts. The natives invariably fled at our approach, a circ.u.mstance to be regretted perhaps on account of the nomenclature of my map; but otherwise their flight was preferable to the noisy familiarity of the natives of the Darling, perplexing us between their brands of defiance and treacherous invitations to dance. Indeed the two regions were as different in character as the manners of their respective inhabitants. Instead of salsolaceous deserts and mesenbryanthemum we now found a variety of everything most interesting in a newly discovered country. Every day we pa.s.sed over land which for natural fertility and beauty could scarcely be surpa.s.sed; over streams of unfailing abundance and plains covered with the richest pasturage. Stately trees and majestic mountains adorned the ever-varying scenery of this region, the most southern of all Australia and the best. Beyond the White lake, which may be the distinguis.h.i.+ng name of the last mentioned, we pa.s.sed over several tracts of open forest land separated by dry sandhills, and at length encamped on a rich flat.

MUDDY STATE OF THE SURFACE.

The cattle were very much fatigued from the heaviness of the draught owing to the extreme softness of the surface, especially on the more open forest lands; and one bullock-driver remained behind with a cart until we could send back a team by moonlight to his a.s.sistance.

NATIVES AND THE BULLOCK-DRIVER.

July 27.

The cart which had fallen behind came in about three o'clock in the morning. The natives had soon been heard about the solitary driver, and four of them came up to him and demanded tomahawks; but being an old bushranger, he, on their approach, laid out all his cartridges one by one before him on a tarpaulin with his pistol and carabine, ready for action; but fortunately his visitors did not proceed to extremities. The morning was very foggy and, as this weather did not admit of my choosing a good line of route, and as the surface of the country was so soft that it was imperatively necessary to look well before us, I halted. I could thus at least bring up my maps and journals and rest the jaded cattle after so much long-continued toil in travelling through the mud.

MR. STAPYLTON'S RIDE SOUTHWARD.

I directed Mr. Stapylton to ride in the direction of 30 degrees West of South (my intended route) and ascertain whether we were approaching any river. The country we were in, being still lacustrine, I hoped to find the surface more favourable for travelling upon where it was drained by rivers; for on that amongst the salt lakes, although the land was very good in point of fertility, there was evidently a deficiency of slope and consequently much more water retained in the soil. Still the ground presented undulations, being rarely quite level like the plains except indeed in the beds of swamps. Recent experience had taught us to avoid the very level parts and to seek any kind of rising ground. The hills we occasionally fell in with consisted of white sand, and at first looked like connected ridges where we might find streams; but we ascertained that they always parted without enclosing any channels and left us in the mud. The sand itself still consisted of the same rock (decomposed) which appeared to be so generally spread over the country then between us and the eastern sh.o.r.es of New Holland. Mr. Stapylton did not return this evening, a circ.u.mstance which very much alarmed me as he had taken only one man with him and was to have come back before sunset.

July 28.

Supposing that Mr. Stapylton had gone past our camp in returning, the afternoon having been very rainy, I this morning sent out two parties, the one to proceed east, the other west, in search of his track which, if found by either, was to be followed until he was overtaken. Mr. Stapylton returned however before midday, having ridden twenty miles in the direction pointed out without having seen any river. He had pa.s.sed a number of circular lakes similar to those already described; the seventh and most remote having appeared the largest. Just then as he turned his horse he perceived that the land beyond became higher, indicating a change of country. The party which had gone eastward heard our signal shot on Mr. Stapylton's arrival and returned, having also seen four similar lakes; but the party sent westward did not reach the camp until some hours after the other.

DISASTROUS ENCOUNTER OF ONE MAN WITH A NATIVE.

They had unfortunately come upon some huts of the natives, where one of them remained and who, refusing to listen to Piper's explanations, was about to hurl his spear at Pickering, when this man, at Piper's desire, immediately fired his carabine and wounded the native in the arm. I regretted this unlucky collision exceedingly and blamed Pickering for having been so precipitate; but his defence was that Piper told him unless he fired he would be instantly speared.

July 29.

We endeavoured to proceed today in a direction more to the eastward than the route of Mr. Stapylton, in the hope of finding firmer ground than he had seen, by following that which was highest and sandy. But even in this way we could not accomplish five miles and a half, although the last of the carts did not arrive at the spot where we were at length compelled to re-encamp until long after it became dark. The wheels sank up to the axles, and the cattle from wallowing in the mud had become so weak as to be scarcely able to go forward when unyoked, much less to draw the laden carts. I had with difficulty found a spot of firm ground where we could encamp, but during that evening I had reconnoitred a more favourable-looking line which I meant to try in the morning.

A TRIBE MAKES ITS APPEARANCE.

Soon after we commenced this day's journey, while I was watching in some anxiety the pa.s.sage of a soft hollow by the carts, a man was sent back by the chaining party to inform me that a number of natives had come before them pointing their spears. On going forward I found they had retired, having probably with their usual quickness of perception observed the messenger sent back and guessed his errand.

JUST REMONSTRANCE OF A TRIBE.

But their conduct as I then explained it to the men was quite reasonable on this occasion. One (I was told) had spoke very loud and fast, pointing west towards where the man had been fired at the day before and then, touching his shoulder in allusion to the wound, he finally poised his spear at Blanchard as if in just resentment.

PLANT OF A NEW GENUS.

While awaiting the slow progress of the carts through the mud I found a most curious new genus allied to Correa, with the habit of C. speciosa, and with long tubular four-petaled green flowers. It had been previously observed by Mr. Cunningham, who called it Sida correoides; it was however not a Sida, nor even a Malvaceous plant, but a new form of Australasian Rutaceae, differing from Correa in having the petals each rolled round a pair of stamens in its quadripart.i.te conical calyx, and in there being constantly two seeds in each cell of the fruit.*

(*Footnote. Didimeria aemula, Lindley ma.n.u.scripts; undique pilis stellatis lutescentibus furfuracea. Rami stricti. Folia subrotunda cordata obtusa opposita brevi petiolata, pellucido-punctata. Pedunculi axillares, filiformes, uniflori, supra medium bracteolis 2 subulatis acuti. Calyx conicus, membranaceus, 4-part.i.tus: laciniis ac.u.minatis.

Petala 4, longissima, distincta, linearia, convoluta circa staminum paria, extus tomentosa intus glabra. Stamina 8, hypogyna; filamentis liberis, lineari-lanceolatis, membranaceis, alternis brevioribus; antheris sagittatis inappendiculatis. Stylus filiformis glaber. Discus 0.

Capsula 4-cocca, villosissima, coccis dispermis, endocarpio solubili; seminibus uno supra alterum positis.)

MORE LAKES OF BRACKISH WATER.