Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia Part 23

Along the plain, small cl.u.s.ters of brush protruded into it from the forest, or covered low mounts of sea sh.e.l.ls, mixed with a black soil.

Amongst these copses, the tracks of buffaloes were very numerous.

We travelled about ten miles north-west by north, and encamped at a small pool of water in a creek, in which the clayey ironstone cropped out. Its water was so impregnated with the astringent properties of the gum-trees, that Mr. Phillips boiled and drank it like tea. Before arriving at this creek, we had a thunder-storm, with heavy rain, from the northward. After pitching our tents, our guides went out, and returned with a small Iguana (Vergar), and with pods of the rose-coloured Sterculia, which they roasted on the coals. I succeeded in saving a great part of our meat by smoking it.

Our horses were greatly distressed by large horse-flies, and every now and then the poor brutes would come and stand in the smoke of our fires to rid themselves of their persevering tormentors. This want of rest during the night contributed very much to their increasing weakness; though most of them were severely galled besides, which was prevented only in two by the most careful attention, and daily washing of their backs. On this stage we again pa.s.sed one of those oven-like huts of the natives, thatched with gra.s.s, which I have mentioned several times, and which Nyuall's tribe called "Corambal." At the place where we encamped, the ruins of a very large hut were still visible, which indicated that the natives had profited by their long intercourse with the Malays and Europeans, in the construction of their habitations.

Dec. 14.--When we started, intending to follow the foot-path, our native guides remained behind; and, when I had proceeded two or three miles, my companions came up to me and stated, that the natives had left us, but that they had given them to understand that the foot-path would conduct us safely to Balanda. They had attempted to keep the large tomahawk, but had given it up when Brown asked them for it. I was very sorry at their having left us, as the cloudy sky had prevented me for several days from taking any lat.i.tude, and determining my position. We crossed a great number of small creeks, coming from the eastward, and draining the ridges of the neck of the Peninsula. Scattered Panda.n.u.s and drooping tea-trees grew on their banks as far as the fresh water extended; when they were succeeded by the salt-water tea-tree and the mangrove, covering and fringing their beds, which enlarged into stiff plains, without vegetation, or into mangrove swamps. The latter were composed of Aegiceras, Bruguiera, and Pemphis. The tracks of the buffaloes increased in number as we advanced, and formed broad paths, leading in various directions, and made me frequently mistake them for the foot-path of the natives, which I eventually lost. A course north 30 degrees west, brought us to easterly creeks, one of which I followed down, when Brown called out that he saw the sea. We, therefore, went to the sea-side, and found ourselves at the head of a large bay, with an island to the north-east, and with headlands stretching far into the ocean, which was open and boundless to the northward. It was Mount Morris Bay, with Valentia and Crocker's islands; the latter, however, appeared to us to be a continuation of the main land. We now went to the north-west and westward, until we came again on westerly waters. The country in the centre of the neck of the Peninsula, was very hilly, and some of the ridges rose, perhaps, from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet above the level of the sea; one or two hills were still higher. They were all composed of a clayey ironstone, and clothed with patches of scrub, formed princ.i.p.ally of Calythrix, and with a more open forest of Cypress pine, white-gum, tea-trees, bloodwood, Livistona palms, Panda.n.u.s, with shrubby Terminalias and Coniogetons. The gra.s.s was dry, but high and dense; and buffalo tracks spread in every direction, particularly down the creeks, both to the eastward and westward.

We followed a westerly creek in all its windings, in order to detect water in one of its rocky water-holes. The rock was shaly, of a greyish colour, like the clay shale of Newcastle above the layers of the coal, but more indurated. Patches of vine brush grew along the banks, and their verdure led me frequently to expect the presence of water. We met, however, only with salt-water, where the mangroves commenced, and had consequently to continue our journey. Here we again came on the foot-path of the natives, which skirted the mangrove swamps, and I followed it for about three miles farther, crossed several dry watercourses, and at last found some pools of rain water, in a small creek. I was fortunate enough to make my lat.i.tude by an observation of Regulus, 11 degrees 32 minutes 11 seconds.

Dec. 15.--I followed the foot-path of the natives, with the intention of continuing on it, until I came in sight of Mounts Bedwell and Roe. If I had done so, much trouble would have been saved. But, after we had travelled more than three hours, the country became very hilly and ridgy, and I supposed that we were close to those mountains, but were prevented, by the ridges, from seeing them. We went consequently to the northward, and after an hour's riding over a hilly, but openly timbered country, came to an easterly creek, which we followed down, until we found an abundance of water. The upper part of this creek was very scrubby, and with but little gra.s.s. I imagined that we had arrived at the west side of Port Essington, and that the creek on which we encamped was probably the Warvi. To ascertain this, I rode down the creek with Charley: it became more open; limited flats of sandy alluvium were clothed with the refreshing verdure of young gra.s.s, and with groves of Banksias; its hollows were fringed with large drooping tea-trees. The creek itself was a succession of shady water-holes, out of which, at our approach dashed buffaloes, three and four at a time, shaking their muddy heads, as they scrambled up the steep banks, and galloped to the neighbouring thickets.

The stiff sedges of the salt-water, and the salt-water tea-trees, made their appearance about three miles from our camp; and it is probable that the sea was scarcely half a mile farther. High hills rose to the northward, openly timbered, but at their base with patches of scrub, and very stony. Here we heard the distant cooees of natives, which we answered, going in their direction, until we came to a camp, in which we found an old lame man, "Baki Baki," and a short st.u.r.dy fellow, "Rambo Rambo;" both of whom knew a great number of English words, and were quite familiar with the settlement, and knew the Commandant, Mr. Macarthur.

They promised the guide us the next morning to Balanda, after having made many inquiries about our stock of provisions and of tobacco. I made my lat.i.tude 11 degrees 26 minutes 18 seconds, by an observation of Regulus; which, allowing a possible error of a few miles, confirmed me in my belief, that we were at the head of the harbour; particularly as Baki Baki had told me that he had come this very morning from the settlement.

Dec. 16.--When we arrived with our whole train at the camp of the natives, their behaviour was quite altered, and they now showed as little inclination to guide us to the settlement, as they had been eager last night to do so. I persuaded Baki Baki, however, to go, at least part of the way; and, when we saw that he became tired, we mounted him on one of the horses, and led it by the bridle. He pointed to the W.N.W. as the direction in which the settlement lay. We travelled about five miles over stony ironstone ridges, with extensive groves of Livistona palm covering their slopes. Here Baki Baki desired to dismount; and, telling us that it was a very good road to Balanda, took his leave and returned. Soon after we came to a large creek full of water, running to the eastward, which we followed up for a long distance, before we were able to cross. Our pack-horse became bogged, and as it was so weak that it would not even make an effort to extricate itself, and as I supposed that we were near the settlement, we took off its pack-saddle and load, and left it behind.

We crossed two or three more watercourses; and continued the course pointed out by the native, until it became very late, and I found myself compelled to look for water; particularly as our bullock showed evident symptoms of becoming knocked up. I therefore followed the fall of the country to the north-east; and, in a short time, came to the sea-side. We compared our little map of the harbour of Port Essington with the configuration of the bay before us, but nothing would agree exactly, although it bore a general resemblance to Raffles Bay.

A narrow belt of brush covered the approaches to the water; but the scarlet Eugenia grew on the sandy flats towards the hilly forest; where we also found a new tree, a species of Anacardium, which the natives called "Lugula;" it bore a red succulent fruit, formed by the enlargement of the stalk, with a greyish one-seeded nut outside, like Exocarpus. The fruit was extremely refreshing; the envelope, however, contained such an acrid juice that it ate into and discoloured my skin, and raised blisters wherever it touched it: these blisters were not only followed by a simple excoriation, but by a deep and painful ulceration. In the forest, we met with some few small Seaforthia palms, the young shoots of which we obtained with great difficulty, not then knowing how easily the natives strip them of the surrounding leaves and leafstalks. I followed a a well beaten foot-path of the natives to the northward, crossed a creek, in the mangrove swamp of which another horse was bogged, which we extricated after great exertion; and, after two or three miles, came to a large fresh-water swamp (Marair) on which we encamped. The sun had long set, and our cattle, as well as ourselves, were miserably tired. We were here visited by a tribe of natives, who were well acquainted with the settlement; they were all friendly, and willing to a.s.sist us; and many of them spoke very tolerable English. One of them, apparently the chief of the tribe, though a hunchback, named "Bill White," promised to guide us to the settlement. He gave us to understand that we had come too far to the northward, and that we had to go to the south-west, in order to head Port Essington, and to follow its west coast, in order to arrive at Victoria. We were, in fact, at Raffles Bay. The natives knew every body in Victoria, and did not cease to give us all the news; to which we most willingly listened. They fetched water for us from a great distance, and gave us some Murnatt, which was extremely welcome. Perceiving the state of exhaustion and depression in which we were, they tried to cheer us with their corrobori songs, which they accompanied on the Eboro, a long tube of bamboo, by means of which they variously modulated their voices.

I may mention that we experienced a heavy thunder-storm during the afternoon.

Dec. 17.--We started, with a willing guide, for the goal of our journey, and travelled to the south-west over a hilly country, covered with groves of the Livistona palm, which, as we proceeded became mixed with Seaforthia (the real cabbage-palm). A fine large creek, containing a chain of large water-holes went to the north-east, and disembogued probably into Bremer's Bay. We followed it for three or four miles towards its head; and, when crossing it, we had a very heavy thunder-storm; at the earliest hour we had ever witnessed one. The Seaforthia palm because very abundant, and at last the forest was formed entirely of it, with trees of every size. Our guide showed us how we could easily obtain the young shoots, by splitting the leaves and leafstalks; and we enjoyed a fine meal of the cabbage. Our bullock refused to go any farther, and, as I then knew that the settlement was not very distant, I unloaded him, and covered his packsaddle and load with tarpaulings, and left him to recruit for a few days; when I intended to send for him. As we approached the harbour, the cabbage palm became rarer, and entirely disappeared at the head of it. We crossed several creeks running into the harbour, until we arrived at the Matunna, a dry creek, at which the foot-path from Pitchenelumbo (Van Diomen's Gulf) touched the harbour, and on which we should have come last night. We followed it now, crossed the Warvi, the Wainunmema, and the Vollir--all which enlarged into shallow lagoons or swamps, before they were lost between the mangrove thickets. At the banks of the Vollir, some constant springs exist, which induced Sir Gordon Bremer to choose that place for a settlement, and on which Victoria at present stands. All these creeks were separated from each other by a hilly forest land; but small fertile flats of sandy alluvium, clothed with young gra.s.s, and bordered by Banksias, extended along their banks. The forest was princ.i.p.ally composed of stringy-bark, the leguminous Ironbark, Melaleuca-gum, with underwood of Acacias, Coniogeton, Pachynemas, Pultenaeas? and Careya? A tree very much resembling the real Ironbark (Eucalyptus resinifera) was observed at the Warvi; but I expect it will be found entirely different. The stringy-bark and the drooping tea-tree were the only useful timber near the settlement. The Cypress-pine (Callitris) could, however, be obtained without any great difficulty from Mount Morris Bay, or Van Diemen's Gulf.

On the Vollir, we came on a cart road which wound round the foot of a high hill; and, having pa.s.sed the garden, with its fine Cocoa-nut palms, the white houses, and a row of snug thatched cottages burst suddenly upon us; the house of the Commandant being to the right and separate from the rest. We were most kindly received by Captain Macarthur, the Commandant of Port Essington, and by the other officers, who, with the greatest kindness and attention, supplied us with every thing we wanted. I was deeply affected in finding myself again in civilized society, and could scarcely speak, the words growing big with tears and emotion; and, even now, when considering with what small means the Almighty had enabled me to perform such a long journey, my heart thrills in grateful acknowledgement of his infinite kindness.

After a month's stay at Port Essington, the schooner Heroine, Captain Mackenzie, arrived from Bally, on her voyage to Sydney, via Torres Strait and the Inner Barrier, a route only once before attempted with success.

We embarked in this vessel, and arrived safely in Sydney, on the 29th of March. To the generous attentions of Captain Mackenzie our party owe much; and, at his hospitable table, we soon forgot the privations of our late journey. At Sydney, a reception awaited us, the warmth and kindness of which, it is out of my power to describe. All cla.s.ses pressed forward to testify their joy at our reappearance, which, we found, had been long despaired of, and to offer their aid in supplying our wants. A public subscription was set on foot, which, in a very few weeks, by the liberal contributions which flowed in from all parts of the Colony, amounted to upwards of Fifteen Hundred pounds; and in the Legislative Council, a motion was brought forward, which, by the unanimous vote of that House, and the ready concurrence of His Excellency, Sir George Gipps, the Governor, devoted a Thousand Pounds out of the Public Revenue to our use.

In the Appendix to this volume, will be found the very handsome letter, in which the Hon. Mr. E. Deas Thomson, the Colonial Secretary, conveyed to me this resolution of the Government; and an account of the proceedings taken at the School of Arts, on the 21st September, when His Honor, The Speaker, Dr. C. Nicholson, presented me with that portion of the public subscription, which the Committee of the Subscribers had awarded. In laying these doc.u.ments before the Public, I will leave it to be supposed how vain would be any attempt of mine to express my grat.i.tude to that generous people to whom I have inscribed this humble narrative.

APPENDIX.

LETTER FROM THE COLONIAL SECRETARY TO DR. LEICHHARDT.

Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 25th June, 1846.

Sir,--I do myself the honour to inform you that the Auditor General has been requested to prepare a warrant for the payment, out of the Crown Revenue, of a gratuity of 1000 pounds to yourself and party which accompanied you in your recent expedition to Port Essington; in consideration of the successful issue of that very perilous enterprise; the fort.i.tude and perseverance displayed by the persons engaged in it; and the advantages derived from it to the Colony; and I beg to add, that it is with much gratification that I make this communication to you.

The money is to be divided in the manner stated below, which the Governor has considered reasonable, after weighing all the circ.u.mstances of the case, and advising with the gentleman who waited on His Excellency on Friday the 11th instant, and who formed a deputation from the Committee, who have superintended the collection and distribution of the money (1400 pounds.) raised in Sydney by voluntary subscription, in testimony of the services rendered to the Colony by you and your companions, viz.

Dr. Leichhardt 600 pounds Mr. Calvert 125 Mr. Roper 125 John Murphy 70 W. Phillips, who has already received from the Government a pardon 30 The two aboriginal natives, Charles Fisher and Harry Brown 50 ---- 1000

The 50 pounds for the two Blacks will be lodged in the Savings' Bank, and will not be drawn out without the approval of the Vice President of that Inst.i.tution. I have the honour to be, Sir,

Your most obedient Servant, (Signed) E. DEAS THOMSON, COLONIAL SECRETARY.

THE LEICHHARDT TESTIMONIAL.

[Extract from the Sydney Herald, Sept. 22, 1846.]

Yesterday afternoon, a meeting of the subscribers to the Leichhardt Testimonial was held in the School of Arts.

At half-past three o'clock the Honourable the Speaker of the Legislative Council entered the room with Dr. Leichhardt, who was received with loud applause.

As soon as silence was restored, the Speaker rose and addressed Dr.

Leichhardt. He said, The duty has been a.s.signed to me of presenting to you, on behalf of a numerous body of colonists, an acknowledgment of the grateful sense they entertain of the services rendered by you to the cause of science and to the interests of this colony. Whilst I fully partic.i.p.ate in the admiration with which your merits are universally acknowledged, I confess that I shrink from the task now imposed upon me, from a sense of my inability to do justice to it in language commensurate with the occasion. For indeed it would be difficult to employ any terms that might be considered as exaggerated, in acknowledging the enthusiasm, the perseverance, and the talent which prompted you to undertake, and enabled you successfully to prosecute, your late perilous journey through a portion of the hitherto untrodden wilds of Australia. An enthusiasm undaunted by every discouragement, a perseverance unextinguished by trials and hardships which ordinary minds would have despaired of surmounting, a talent which guided and led you on to the full and final achievement of your first and original design.

It is needless for me to recall to the recollection of those around me, the circ.u.mstances under which the project of undertaking an overland journey to Port Essington was formed. The smallness of your party, and the scantiness of its equipment, the length and unknown character of the country proposed to be traversed, induced many to regard the scheme as one characterised by rashness, and the means employed as wholly inadequate towards carrying out the object in view. Many withheld their support from a dread lest they might be held as chargeable with that result which their sinister forebodings told them was all but inevitable with a small but adventurous band. You nevertheless plunged into the unknown regions that lay before you. After the lapse of a few months without any tidings of your progress or fate, the notion became generally entertained that your party had fallen victims to some one of the many dangers it had been your lot to encounter; that you had perished by the hands of the hostile natives of the interior; that want of water or exposure to tropical climate were even but a few of the many evils to which you had rendered yourself liable, and to the influence of some one or more of which it was but too probable you had fallen a prey. Two parties successively went out with the hope of overtaking you, or at least of ascertaining some particulars of your fate. The result of these efforts was, however, fruitless, and but few were so sanguine as to believe in the possibility of you or your comrades being still in existence. I need not recall to the recollection of those here present, the surprise, the enthusiasm, and the delight, with which your sudden appearance in Sydney was hailed, about six months ago. The surprise was about equal to what might be felt at seeing one who had risen from the tomb; a surprise, however, that was equalled by the warm and cordial welcome with which you were embraced by every colonist; and when we listened to the narrative of your long and dreary journey--the hardships you had endured, the dangers you had braved, the difficulties you had surmounted--the feeling with which your return amongst us was greeted, became one of universal enthusiasm. For it would indeed be difficult to point out, in the career of any traveller, the accomplishment of an equally arduous undertaking, or one pregnant with more important results, whether we contemplate them in a scientific, an economical, or a political point of view. The traversing, for the first time by civilised man, of so large a portion of the surface of this island, could not fail to be attended with many discoveries deeply interesting to the scientific inquirer, in botany, geology, and zoology. Your contributions to each of these departments of knowledge have consequently been equally novel and valuable. In a social and economical point of view, it is difficult, if not impossible, to over-estimate the importance of the discovery recently made of an all but boundless extent of fertile country, extending to the north, soon to be covered with countless flocks and herds, and calculated to become the abode of civilized man. In its political aspect, the possession of an immense territory, now for the first time discovered to be replete with all those gifts of nature which are necessary for the establishment and growth of a civilized community, cannot be regarded as a fact of small importance; nor the possession of a continuous tract of fine and fertile land, that connects us with the sh.o.r.es of the Indian ocean, and which would appear to render the Australian continent a mere extension of the Anglo-Indian empire as a matter of indifference. It would be almost impossible to exaggerate the importance of these considerations; I shall, however, abstain from occupying your time by dwelling upon what must be so obvious to all. The Colonists of New South Wales, Dr. Leichhardt, have been anxious to evince their grat.i.tude to you for all that you have done in behalf of this their adopted country. As soon as your return was announced, subscriptions were entered into for the purpose of presenting to you a suitable testimonial. To the fund raised for this purpose persons of all cla.s.ses, and from every quarter of the colony, have contributed. The sum that has been raised amounts to 1518 pounds 18 shillings 6 pence. The Executive, with a laudable emulation, have presented you a sum of 1000 pounds from the Crown revenue. Gratifying as this demonstration must doubtlessly prove to your feelings, it is unquestionably beneath your deserts; and the substantial reward due to your past exertions will be found in the undying glory of having your name enrolled amongst those of the great men whose genius and enterprise have impelled them to seek for fame in the prosecution of geographical science--with those of Niebuhr, Burckhardt, Park, Clapperton, Lander, and, in Australian geography, with those of Oxley, Cunningham, Sturt, Eyre, and Mitch.e.l.l. In these days of universal knowledge, when there are so many compet.i.tors for distinction in every department of science, few attain the desired goal of scientific eminence. Perhaps no one has so fair a chance of giving immortality to his name as he who has first planted his foot where civilized man had never before trodden. The first chapter in the history of Australia, some thousand years hence, will present a narration of those adventurous spirits--of the exploits of those who may fairly be considered its first conquerors, and by whose peaceful triumphs an empire had been added to the parent state. I cannot close this brief address without indulging in an aspiration for the safety and success of one now engaged in an enterprise similar to that from which you hate earned so much honour. I allude to Sir T. Mitch.e.l.l. To enter upon any eulogium of the character or abilities of that distinguished officer on the present occasion, is uncalled for; the enterprise in which he is engaged must command the sympathy of every person here present, and I am sure of no one more than of yourself. In enterprises such as those in which both he and yourself are engaged, it may fairly be said the harvest is plentiful, the labourers are few--a kindred taste and zeal in the pursuit of a common object can be attended with no other than a worthy and generous emulation. It only remains for me to add one word to what I have already said--you have disclosed your intention of starting within a few weeks from the present time on another exploratory expedition. From your past career we may all safely indulge in sanguine antic.i.p.ations as to your future success. That Providence may guide you in your wanderings and crown your future labours with new laurels is the ardent wish of all on whose behalf I now address you. Let me, however, beg that you will guard, against any unnecessary exposure to risk, that life in the preservation of which we all feel so deep a concern. With the a.s.surance of the grat.i.tude, esteem, and admiration of my brother colonists, permit me now to present you with 854 pounds, being the proportion of the public subscription awarded to you.

Dr. LEICHHARDT (who was evidently deeply affected) said: Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, I thank you for the munificent gift with which you have honoured me--I thank you for the congratulations for the past--for your kind wishes for my approaching expedition. [Note. 1] I feel the more the weight of your generous liberality, as I am conscious how much your kindness has overvalued my deserts; but I shall try to render myself worthy of it; and I hope that the Almighty, who has so mercifully taken care of me on my former expedition, will grant me skill and strength to continue my explorations, and will render them equally successful and beneficial to this colony. May his blessings attend the generous people who have shown, by the honours they have done me, how great an interest they take in the advancement of discovery.

Mr. C. COWPER then moved a vote of thanks to the Committee and their Secretary, which was acknowledged by Mr. R. GRAHAM, when the business of the meeting closed.

Those who appreciate the value of Dr. Leichhardt's scientific exploration of the country from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, and who feel any interest in his record of the difficulties of his enterprise, will be glad to learn that the Royal Geographical Society of London has recently awarded him the Queen's Gold Medal, in acknowledgment of his services; and that the Royal Geographical Society of Paris has likewise adjudged him its Gold Medal of this year.

[Note 1. The object of the new Expedition here alluded to, Is to explore the Interior of Australia, to discover the extent of Sturt's Desert and the character of the Western and North-Western Coast, and to observe the gradual change in vegetation and animal life from one side of the Continent to the other.

Dr. Leichhardt does not expect to be able to accomplish this overland journey to Swan River, in less than two years and a half. According to a letter written by him on the eve of his departure (Dec. 6, 1846); his party consisted of six whites, and two blacks; he had purchased thirteen mules, twelve horses, and two hundred and seventy goats; and bad received forty oxen, three mules, and two horses, as presents. He then purposed to travel over his old route, as far as Peak Range, and then to shape his course westwards; but thought it not impossible, as his course depends on water, that be should be obliged to reach the Gulf of Carpentaria, and then to follow up some river to its source.--Ed.]

The End