Journals of Australian Explorations Part 5

26th September.

Left the bivouac at 7.15 a.m.; course north; the country more open; 9.25 came on a large native well of good water in a slight hollow trending westward; having watered the horses and filled the kegs, continued our journey over sandy plains, covered with short coa.r.s.e scrub; many hummocks of loose sand, covered partially with scrub, lay on each side of our track. At noon pa.s.sed the last sandy ridge; before us lay an immense plain, covered with thickets, and not a hill or valley could be observed--the country seemed to settle into one vast level of dense and almost impenetrable scrub or thicket. At 1 p.m. entered it, and continued our route through it; although the bush-fires, which had burnt some large patches, greatly a.s.sisted us; 4.15 not finding any gra.s.s, we steered west, but at 5.15 were compelled to halt for the night in a dense thicket, without a single blade of gra.s.s or even scrub of any kind which could afford food for the horses; water it was hopeless to look for; and after a supper of raw bacon, damper, and a pint of water each, we retired to rest.

WATERLESS COUNTRY AND DENSE SCRUB NORTH OF MURCHISON RIVER.

27th September.

At 7.0 a.m. set out on a north course; at 8.5, finding the thicket almost impa.s.sable, I ascended a cypress-tree, where a most cheerless view met my sight to the north, east, and west; not a break was visible--nothing but thicket in all directions, with scarcely an undulation of any kind; the view to the north-west was most extensive--nearly twenty miles of thicket could be seen, with a surface as level as the sea. Not considering it prudent to proceed onwards, the thicket being too dense to advance without the greatest difficulty, the saddle-bags being almost torn to pieces, and the horses quite worn out with continual exertions in dragging their packs through the thickets, we were compelled to return to the well pa.s.sed yesterday morning. The country seen to the northwards was of too flat and sandy a character to give any hope of finding water or gra.s.s--and without these requisites, it would be incurring great risk of losing the horses, and of course defeating the object of the expedition; therefore, taking advantage of the partially cleared tracts of yesterday, we reached the watering place at 4.30 p.m.

28th September.

This day we employed ourselves in repairing our pack-saddles, which it was found necessary to restuff, as they had been padded with coa.r.s.e rushes; the saddle-bags had been torn to pieces, and the repairs of these required more time than could be afforded in an evening's bivouac.

29th September.

Started at 8.35 a.m.; pursued a general course of 310 degrees, gradually ascending the sandy downs on the north side of the valley for three miles; it then turned to the north of west, and we again descended, and found the bottom occupied by a narrow samphire flat, 50 to 100 yards wide, over which the water runs during heavy rains, but it was now dry, and in some parts covered with a thin crust of salt; 11.26 pa.s.sed a native well of slightly brackish water, amongst loose blocks of red sandstone; a small well was pa.s.sed at 11.50; the samphire flat then changed to a small sandy channel, among large blocks of sandstone belonging to the coal-formation: in one place the slate also cropped out.

Abundance of brackish water lay in small pools along the course of the stream-bed, which at 1.0 p.m. changed its direction nearly west; we followed it through a scrubby valley, with high hills on both sides, till 4.45, when we bivouacked just below the junction of a small gully from the northwards, with a very remarkable sandstone hill about three-quarters of a mile south; below this spot the valley trended to the south-west, and was bounded on the north-west by flat-tapped sandstone hills.

30th September.

Not being more than ten to fifteen miles from the sea, I steered north 330 degrees east magnetic. Starting at 8.5, and having ascended the high land, pa.s.sed through a thick line of wattles and dwarf gum, growing on the eastern face of the limestone range, which forms the high barren range along this part of the coast. The country was covered with thick scrub, and some patches of gum and wattle thicket; about noon it was more open, and ascending an elevated sandy ridge, saw apparently a high range of hills extending north-north-west as far as Shark Bay, and terminated by a very abrupt and detached hill; but the excessive refraction caused by the heated and nearly level plain which intervened more than doubled their real height. We descended gradually over a succession of sandy hills or ridges till 2.0 p.m., when the lowest part of the plain was reached; we found it occupied by a small patch of spear-wood; the soil was hard dry clay, but on proceeding a little farther we found a patch of moist ground, encircled by a ridge of sand; at one foot deep we found water, but in such small quant.i.ty that we could only obtain sufficient for ourselves, and should have had to wait at least two hours to have given each horse only one gallon. Proceeding onwards, in hope of finding a more plentiful supply, we found the country became drier and full of circular hollows, filled with fine clumps of green wattle and a little gra.s.s; in one of these we bivouacked at 5.0, and dug six feet for water in red sand, but without any appearance of obtaining it even at double that depth.

REPULSED FOR WANT OF WATER.

1st October.

This morning started at 7.55 a.m., and steering north-west, in hope of finding water, at 8.40 came on dense thickets of wattle, which extended at least seven or eight miles farther north; we therefore turned west to avoid them; at 9.30 changed the course to 300 degrees magnetic, and with great difficulty forced our way for two miles to a narrow strip of open ground; 12.40 p.m. arrived at the foot of the range of hills seen yesterday; found them to consist of limestone and sand, covered with thick scrub; between the hills were many nearly circular hollows filled with thickets of wattles; although the bottoms of the hollows were at least fifty feet below the lowest part of the ridges around them, they were quite dry, and afforded no hope of water even by digging; the country northward appeared even less likely to afford a supply, so much required, as it seemed to consist wholly of limestone and loose sand, without swamps or watercourses; the nearest spot at which we could hope to find it in this direction was the south part of Freycinet Harbour, distant, according to the charts, about thirty miles, and great doubt existed of the accuracy of it in this position (error having been found in some other parts of the coast-line); nor was it certain that we could find water on the coast, in which case the loss of our horses would be almost a necessary consequence, several of them showing extreme fatigue.

The circ.u.mstances of the case required a prompt decision; I therefore ordered an immediate return towards the last spot where we had seen water. The whole party felt convinced of the necessity of returning, though with the greatest reluctance to do so, as it seemed to put an end to almost every hope of reaching the Gascoyne River. We followed our route back, and halted at 5.30 in a wattle thicket.

A HORSE FINDS WATER.

2nd October.

Left our uncomfortable bivouac at 7.30 a.m.; steered south-east. Finding the horses scarcely able to travel from want of water, I took the strongest and rode over to the spot where we had obtained a little on the 30th September, to dig wells and have a supply ready, if it could be obtained in sufficient quant.i.ty; at 11.0 arrived, and found the wells we had dug nearly dry; by opening several trenches down to the rocks which lay about one and a half feet below the surface, the water oozed in, and when the party came up, at 12.0, there was about a gallon for each horse; taking off the packs, we commenced watering: four horses had received their small allowance, when it came to my horse Bob's turn; after drinking his share he marched off at a smart pace, which somewhat surprised us, as he started in the direction of what we had supposed to be nothing but a tea-tree scrub; on following him, we found the horse drinking at a small shallow pool of water in a hollow in the clay. This was a very fortunate discovery, as the trenches filled with water so slowly that a full supply could not have been obtained that night, and the horses had been sixty-five hours without water.

SAND PLAINS AND SCRUB. RETURN TO THE MURCHISON RIVER.

3rd October.

This morning Mr. Burges and myself started at 7.30 a.m. in a north-easterly course, to ascertain the practicability of proceeding in that direction, taking two of the strongest horses. After riding four hours over an open, scrubby sand-plain, with circular valleys, we again fell in with thickets of wattles so dense that, although burnt by the native fires about four years previous, they would have been impa.s.sable for the pack-horses; but, favoured by this circ.u.mstance, we penetrated the thicket in a north-north-west direction for about twelve miles. From one small sandy ridge we had an extensive view, but of a most discouraging nature; the whole country was one vast plain, covered with dense thickets and scrub as far as the eye could reach, except to the west-north-west, where rose a high and barren ridge, which would not have been visible but for excessive refraction, as it must have been more than twenty-five miles distant. The plain was still dotted over with the remarkable circular hollows or valleys which, by their extreme dryness, indicated a great depth of sandy soil, incapable of retaining water on the surface even for a short time, or any probability of our obtaining it by digging. We turned in disappointment towards the encampment, scarcely extricating ourselves from the thickets before it became dark. Having gained the sand-plain, we continued our return for several hours, steering by the stars, hoping by a night march to avoid the scorching effects of the sun, which at this season renders travelling over an extensive sandy plain very fatiguing. Having been more than eleven hours in the saddle, we halted for the night.

4th October.

Started with the dawn, and pushing our tired and hungry horses over the plain as fast as circ.u.mstances would admit, arrived at the encampment before the heat of the day became excessive. During our absence two more waterholes had been excavated, and sufficient water obtained for the horses; but, from the great evaporation, it did not seem likely to last longer than three or four days: the hardness of the sandstone precluded our sinking the wells more than one and a half feet. The extreme aridity of the country--the absence of water in consequence of the sandy nature of the soil, which renders it impossible that watercourses should exist--the dense and almost impa.s.sable nature of the thickets of acacia and melaleuca of small growth, and the heat of the climate--all tend to prove the fallacy of attempting to explore this part of the colony, excepting during the wettest of the winter months. Under the existing circ.u.mstances, I considered it my duty not to lead the party into a position from which it would most probably be impracticable to extricate ourselves without at least losing some of our horses; and even difficulties of a more serious nature might arise, which would prevent the more complete examination of the imperfectly known country to the southward of our present position, more especially as a successful advance to the northward seemed impossible.

5th October.

Left the encampment at 8.10 a.m.; steered north 135 degrees east magnetic over sandy country, covered with coa.r.s.e scrub; at noon pa.s.sed a narrow strip of wooded gra.s.sy land, the soil being limestone and red loam. The country again became scrubby, and, descending an open valley, came on a small watercourse at 1.5 p.m., trending south; followed it south-south-west. At 2.15 pa.s.sed our bivouac of the 29th September, and turning south-west along the stream-bed, at 4.0 came on the right bank of the Murchison River, running through wide gra.s.sy flats, the stream forming large pools, some of them more than a mile in length; but, with the exception of the flats on each side of the bank, the country is poor and scrubby, dest.i.tute of trees, and the hills high and rocky, consisting of red sandstone, those to the west capped with limestone.

6th October.

The horses being much fatigued and nearly starved, having subsisted chiefly on scrub for the last two days, we determined to rest them for a few days, while we examined the river towards its mouth. I started with Mr. Bedart, and tracing the stream downwards to the south-west, reached the sea after a ride of six hours. Excepting the flats and a narrow strip of land on each side, the country was very indifferent, the hills being composed of sandstone and sand, covered with coa.r.s.e scrub and a gigantic species of gra.s.s, the leaves of which, instead of affording food for stock, were a source of great annoyance to our horses, being armed with sharp th.o.r.n.y points, and was somewhat appropriately called bayonet gra.s.s by the party. The tide flows about five miles up the river, when it is obstructed by some slight rapids; although it seems shallow, and full of rocks and islands, I think it is navigable for small boats. Above the rapids the river is a succession of long reaches of water about 100 yards wide, and wide flats covered with reeds, the roots of which seem to form an important article of food with the natives. Many springs were seen on the left bank, but few on the right, the water of which was of excellent quality. After making observations of the bar, which appeared to be practicable for whaleboats in moderate weather if the wind be south of west, we returned along the south sh.o.r.e of the estuary, which is about one and a half mile long and half a mile wide; it does not appear to be of any great depth. My horse being quite knocked up, it was dark before we could reach a spot where we could obtain water and gra.s.s; having come to a convenient place, we bivouacked under a large overhanging rock, as it promised to be a wet night.

7th October.

At 6.0 a.m. we were in our saddles, but owing to the rocky nature of the country did not arrive at the encampment till 12.30 p.m. During our absence the party had been successful in fishing and shooting; a savoury mess of c.o.c.katoos, swans, and ducks, with fried fish, proved a welcome change to us, after living so many weeks on salt meat and damper.

8th October (Sunday).

9th October.

The valley of the river being rocky and impa.s.sable above the camp, we crossed to the left bank and ascended the sandy tableland; steered about south-east from 7.45 a.m. to 11.0, when we came on the stream in a deep valley formed by almost perpendicular red sandstone cliffs from 50 to 200 feet in height, broken at short intervals by enormous fissures (their general direction west-north-west and nearly at right angles with the river), which time, with the action of water, had worn into impa.s.sable ravines, frequently extending more than half a mile back from the river, and rendered travelling very tedious and unsafe, as it was requisite to avoid the thick scrubs covering the higher land. The course of the river now changed to nearly south, and preserved the same rocky and unapproachable character till 5.0 p.m., when a break in the cliffs enabled us to descend into the valley, although with some difficulty and danger to the horses, which had to slide down the steep rocks at the risk of breaking their necks, which would have been the almost certain result of a single false step; but the descent being accomplished, they were rewarded by an abundant supply of gra.s.s and water, the latter from a large spring at the foot of the cliffs.

10th October.

While breakfast was preparing, Mr. Burges and myself examined the right bank of the river, and after a short search, found a practicable ascent to the top of the cliffs, and having cleared a way through the thicket of melaleuca on the bank of the river, returned to breakfast. At 7.50 a.m.

commenced ascending, and at 8.30 reached the summit of the rocky hills, and steering about south-east through a succession of thickets, rocks, yawning chasms, sand-hills, and scrub, we attained to a fine gra.s.sy flat at 12.30 p.m. The bed of the river here quite changed its character, the sandstones giving place to granite gneiss, with dark trap d.y.k.es intersecting it in a northerly and southerly direction, the dip of the strata being to the west at a very high angle, at times almost perpendicular.

A DEPOT CAMP. EXPLORE THE UPPER MURCHISON.

11th October.

As this appeared to be a good spot for the formation of a depot, while we examined the upper portion of the Murchison, I proceeded up the river in company with Mr. Burges, leaving the rest of the party to guard the camp and attend to the horses. After one hour's ride we came on our track where we crossed the river on the 25th September, the general course of the stream-bed being east-north-east, its channel averaging 100 yards in width, full of rocks, small trees, and sandbanks, with many shallow brackish pools of water, with the exception of one, which was both wide and deep, where we halted for two hours to rest the horses; few of the pools seemed likely to last through the heat of summer. At 1.0 p.m. we came on a party of natives, five of whom came up to us, following us for some distance. As they seemed to prefer mimicking our attempts to speak the York dialect to using their own, we could not obtain much information; they carried kylies and dowaks, but had left their spears and shields with the rest of their party, who did not make their appearance. At 3.0 pa.s.sed several ridges of red sandstone rocks, the strata dipping to the east-north-east at an angle of from 20 to 60 degrees. The granite rock entirely disappearing, the country became quite level, and covered with one universal thicket of acacia and cypress, except the very slight depression which formed a shallow valley about three miles wide, through which the river runs in a deep channel from 80 to 100 yards wide in ordinary seasons, but when in flood must exceed 300 yards, and the rise of the water, judging from the rubbish drifted up in former years, must exceed thirty feet. The valleys did not seem to be more than 100 feet below the general surface of the country (which was quite level), filled with a dense thicket of wattles; a narrow strip of large gum-trees, growing in gra.s.sy flats close to the river, marked the course of the stream. At 5.0 we halted for the night by a small pool of fresh water in one of the back channels of the river, the pools in the main bed being all brackish.

12th October.

Started at 6.35 a.m., following the river, the general course being north-north-east; no change was observed in its character. At 11.20 halted to rest the horses, and again started at 1.40 p.m. At 3.40 came on a large party of natives at a fresh water pool; five followed us some miles, and were not to be satisfied until we had made an exchange of part of a handkerchief for a quant.i.ty of noolban, some dowaks, and dabbas, some of which we accepted as a token of our friendly intentions. The stream-bed turned east, and we followed it until 6.0, when we were halted for the night, having the good fortune to find a little fresh water by digging in the sand in the bed of the river, the pools being all brackish.

RETURN TO DEPOT CAMP.

13th October.

At 6.15 a.m., we were again in our saddles, and continued journey up the river--the general course north-north-east. In vain we looked for some rising ground or hill from which we might obtain a view of the country, but the same sandy level, covered with dense thickets of wattles, still met the eye till 11.0, when we observed a low sandstone cliff forming the eastern side of the valley. In this direction we steered, and after pushing through thickets of wattle growing on stony ground, with small patches of salsolaceous plants, we arrived at the foot of the cliff, which was about sixty feet in height, of white sandstone, full of rounded quartz pebbles. The top was nearly on a level with the general plane of the country, which was of a most cheerless aspect. The valley of the river trended to the north-north-east for eight or ten miles, then to the east; the width appeared about five miles, and one dense thicket of wattles seemed to fill the entire s.p.a.ce. The rest of the country was, without the slightest exception, level in the extreme, covered with one universal thicket of acacia and cypress, the latter indicating the sandy nature of the soil. As no appearance of change in the character of the country within twenty or thirty miles was visible, and we had only two days' provisions left (not having expected the stream to extend so far), and the camp at sixty miles distant, we were obliged to leave the farther examination of the river to some future explorers; but we regretted it the less as, from the nature of the gravel and sand brought down by the stream, there seemed great probability that it takes its rise in large salt marshes similar to those known to exist 100 miles east of the Irwin, if it does not actually drain them, as the general trend of the most northerly marshes seen was in the direction of the upper part of the Murchison. Under these circ.u.mstances, we returned to our bivouac of last night, reaching it at 5.40 p.m.

14th October.

Started at 6.25 a.m., and retracing our route down the river, came to our bivouac of the 11th at 5.5 p.m. without any incident worthy of notice, but surprising three or four natives asleep in the bed of the stream; they were of the party seen on our route up the river.

15th October (Sunday).

Resumed our journey; pa.s.sed two parties of natives; a few of them followed us some distance, and having overcome their first surprise, commenced talking in their own language, which, as far as we could understand it, had great affinity to that spoken by the natives in the York and Toodyay districts. After a smart ride of seven hours we arrived at the encampment, found the rest of the party all well, and the horses much improved by their few days' rest.

THE GERALDINE LEAD MINE DISCOVERED. THE HUTT RIVER.

16th October.

The two horses we had ridden up the river requiring a day's rest, which was also acceptable to Mr. Burges and myself, we remained at the camp and made preparations to move on to the Hutt River the next day. Mr. Walcott brought in some specimens of galena, which, on farther observation, proved to be abundant.

17th October.