Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia Volume I Part 4

Impeded by a lofty range of mountains.

Marks of natives' feet.

Maule's river.

A grilled snake.

View on ascending the range of Nundewar.

Native female.

Proposed excursion with packhorses.

Native guide absconds.

The range impa.s.sable.

Return to Tangulda.

Prepare to launch the boats on the Namoi.

ENTER AN UNEXPLORED REGION.

We advanced with feelings of intense interest into the country before us, and impressed with the responsibility of commencing the first chapter of its history. All was still new and nameless, but by this beginning, we were to open a way for the many other beginnings of civilised man, and thus extend his dominion over some of the last holds of barbarism.

SITUATION OF MR. OXLEY'S CAMP ON THE PEEL.

About a mile and a half below Wallamoul, we crossed a small open plain, and I was informed that Mr. Oxley encamped on its southern side, and had afterwards forded the Peel at no great distance from the spot.

WESTWARD COURSE OF THE RIVER.

We crossed a succession of gentle slopes, without any gully or watercourse between them. After travelling about eight miles in a north-west direction, we came upon the Peel, having thus cut off a great bend of the river. From that point our route was west and even to the southward of west, until we again encamped near the river, after a journey of fifteen miles. Some flats crossed by the party this day appeared to be subject to inundations. One gully only had impeded our carts. It was about a mile short of the encampment, and it was called Goora by the natives. It had evidently been long dry, had steep banks, and its bottom consisted of gravel and sand. The banks of the Peel, thus far, are composed chiefly of extensive flats of good land, thinly wooded, and occasionally flooded by the river.

Only a few of the flats however are quite clear of trees, but where the ground is open, the soil appears to be rich, and presents the same characters which I noticed elsewhere. We saw a numerous family of kangaroos this day, but although the dogs were let loose, such was the length of the gra.s.s, that they could not see the game. The morning had been clear, but the sky in the afternoon was overcast by a thunderstorm, with a strong gale of wind. At sunset, the weather cleared up, and the sky became again serene.

December 14.

The sun rose clear, and the party were in motion at seven o'clock. This day I discovered that the native had sent back his gin early in the morning, a circ.u.mstance which I regretted, for the woman had an intelligent countenance, and having been brought from the country towards which we were travelling, she might have been of service to us.

KANGAROO SHOT.

When we had proceeded a few miles, the quick eye of Mr. Brown distinguished the head of a kangaroo peeping at us over the long gra.s.s.

On discharging my rifle at it, the animal, as he supposed, bounded off; but as I had taken very steady aim, I ran to the spot, and there found, to the astonishment of our guide, the kangaroo at which I had aimed lying dead, the ball having pa.s.sed through the throat and neck. The kangaroo which leapt about on the discharge of the piece, was another which had not been previously in sight, and appeared to have been the mate of that which fell. The distance was considerable, and the shot fortunate, as being well calculated to strengthen Mr. Brown's confidence, who had only seen previously the heavy old muskets carried by stockmen. He surveyed with great attention the percussion lock and heavier barrel of the rifle, surprised, no doubt, at its superior make and accuracy.

Our course was still westward, and thus we occasionally touched upon the bends of the river. Adjacent to one sharp angle, we met with a rather singular formation of little hills formed by projecting strata, the strike extending in the direction of North 30 West, and the dip being to the east, at an angle of about 30 degrees.

CALCAREOUS ROCKS.

The rock appeared to consist in some parts of a buff calcareous sandstone, calcareous tuff; and, more abundantly, of limestone of a peculiar aspect, presenting at first sight the appearance of porphyry, but consisting of a base of compact limestone, with disseminated portions of calcareous spar, princ.i.p.ally due to fragments of crinoidea. At a lower part in the same rock, less compact, I found a beautiful chalcedonic cast, apparently of a terebra. The calcareous sandstone consisted of grains of quartz cemented by calcareous spar, and contained fragments of sh.e.l.ls of the littorina or turbo.*

(*Footnote. Also a sriated sh.e.l.l (Plate 4 figure 5) near to Buccinum globulare of Phillips, Volume 2nd 16 and 15; but Mr. Sowerby thinks it is different, and more probably a Littorina, and would call it L. filosa.)

Acacia pendula FIRST SEEN.

On crossing another low ridge beyond this we descended to a valley in which I saw, for the first time, that beautiful shrub of the interior, the Acacia pendula. The foliage is of a light green colour and it droops like the weeping willow; the bark is rough, and the trunk seldom exceeds nine inches in diameter. The wood of this graceful tree is sweet-scented, of a rich dark-brown colour, and being very hard, it is in great request with the natives for making their boomerangs and spearheads. It appears to grow chiefly on flats which are occasionally inundated.

OTHER TREES NEAR THE RIVER.

During this day's journey we also met with the Callitris pyramidalis, a tree which in external appearance closely resembles some kinds of pine-tree. The wood is of a rich yellow hue, very compact, and possesses a very agreeable perfume; it grows on the drier parts of the country. We found lofty bluegum-trees (eucalyptus) growing on the flats near the Peel, whose immediate banks were overhung by the dense umbrageous foliage of the casuarina, or river-oak of the colonists.

JUNCTION OF THE PEEL AND MULUERINDIE.

We encamped on the river at the foot of a small hill named Perimbungay.

In this very interesting position I could at leisure continue from the hill my observations of the country before us, while the cattle were at rest and feeding. The Muluerindie had joined the Peel about a mile above, and the united streams here flowed along a reach of most promising extent. Mr. Brown said it was so deep that the natives could never dive to the bottom. The ford of Wallanburra, by which we were to cross this river, was only a short way below, and the summit of Perimbungay commanded a view of the country beyond it. The bank here presented a section of at least 50 feet of rich earth; and flats of this character, of more or less width, occur between the river and the hills. In the left bank at the camp I found a conglomerate rock, consisting of water-worn fragments of serpentine and trap, cemented by calcareous spar. The men were very successful in fishing; the cod-perch which they caught weighing upwards of nine pounds each (See figure 1 Plate 6). With such abundance of fish, and also the kangaroo, I hoped to feast Mr. Brown, but he set no value on food so common to him, preferring flour to all things else, while this was precisely the article which I was most unwilling to spare.

He ate about two pounds and a half of flour daily, yet I considered his services of so much value, that I felt loth to lessen his allowance; for with all this he seldom seemed satisfied. He came to me however in the afternoon, pointing to his protuberant stomach, and actually declaring that, for once at least, he did not wish any more.

VIEW FROM PERIMBUNGAY.

December 15.

To avoid as much as possible the heat which had proved very distressing to the cattle, I ordered the party to prepare to move off this morning soon after sunrise; and while the people were packing up and loading, I again ascended Perimbungay. The range we had crossed at Turi was near us to the westward, and a conical hill, called Uriary, in the direction of Turi, was the most prominent feature to the south-west. The Peel continued its course westward, pa.s.sing through this range, which presented a more defined and elevated outline where it continued beyond the river. The highest summits there were Periguaguey, bearing west by south, and Waroga. Turial, a hill still more remote, bore west-north-west; and between it and Waroga appeared an opening, which I judged therefore to be the best direction for our route, after crossing the Peel, for I saw that it was impossible to pa.s.s to the westward of that range at any part nearer the river; but by that opening we could pursue the further course of the Peel, as the nature of the country permitted. The land immediately beyond the Peel was inviting enough; one green hill arose from a level country which lay between the river and the base of these hills. The waters of the Peel, and the shady trees overhanging its banks, were visible for several miles; and the varying outlines of wood, tinted with the delicate lights, around which the deep grey shadows of early morning were still slumbering, contrasted finely with the rugged rocks of the hill on which I stood, already sharpened by the first rays of the rising sun. This hill consisted of trap-rock.

FORD OF WALLANBURRA.

The pa.s.sage between it and the river was not very safe for the carts, so that we made a detour on leaving the camp, and did not again see the Peel until we arrived near the ford of Wallanburra, distant from Perimbungay 4 1/4 miles. The bed of the river was here broad and gravelly; and the banks on each side were low, qualities most essential to a good ford, but by no means common on the Peel. Two emus, the first we had seen on this journey, were drinking on the opposite side, as we approached the ford, but they ran away on seeing the party. The current was strong, though the water did not reach above the axles of the carts, and by half-past seven A.M. everything was safe on the other side of the Peel. On quitting the immediate banks of the river, we pa.s.sed through a forest of the tree resembling pine (Callitris) with bushes of the Acacia pendula interspersed. There was also a tree new to us, having a small round leaf.

PLAINS OF MULLUBA.

After proceeding six miles, we reached the borders of an extensive open tract, named Mulluba. It could scarcely bear the usual designation of plain (the term applied in New South Wales to almost all land free from trees) for the undulations were as great as those which occur between London and Hampstead, and, indeed, the whole territory bore a remarkable resemblance to an enclosed and cultivated country. The ridges, of the kind already described, I observed in directions, both with the slopes, and across them, exactly resembling furrows in fallow land. Trees grew in rows, as if connected with field enclosures, and parts, where bushes or gra.s.s had been recently burnt, looked red or black, thus contributing to the appearance of cultivation. The soil was, indeed, well worthy of being cultivated, for it consisted of a rich black mould, so loose and deep that it yawned in cracks, as if for want of feet to tread it down. It appeared very probable however that in wet weather such parts of the country might be too soft for the pa.s.sage of carts. I then supposed the ridge on our left might be that called Hardwick's range, by Oxley; its general direction being about 20 degrees westward of north. We at length reached the remarkable opening in that range, which I had observed from Perimbungay, and pa.s.sing through it, over a narrow flat, we arrived at a low woody country westward of these ranges. Having now travelled sixteen miles, I was anxious to encamp here, but we could not, at first, find any watercourse; and one small, dry channel appeared to be the only line of drainage in wet weather from the extensive open country of Mulluba. It struck me at the time that much might be done to remedy the natural disadvantages, whether of a superfluity of water lodging on the plains in rainy seasons, or of too great a scarcity of moisture in dry weather.

Channels might be cut in the lines of natural drainage, which would serve to draw off the water from the plains, and concentrate and preserve a sufficient supply for use in times of drought, when it would not be obtained elsewhere.

VIEW FROM MOUNT YDIRE.

We had followed the dry channel for about a mile and a half in search of water, without much prospect of finding any, when we came to a rocky part, which still contained, in several pools, more indeed than sufficient for all our wants, and here we gladly encamped. The range no longer intercepted our view to the westward, and I lost no time in ascending one of its pointed summits, named Ydire, accompanied by Mr.

White, and our guide, Mr. Brown. From this hill, the view extended far and wide over the country to the westward. The most conspicuous feature in that landscape was a lofty flat-topped hill in the middle distance, being somewhat isolated, and on the western border of a plain which extended from our position to its base. The native name of this was Boonalla.

TANGULDA.

A singular-looking pic, someway northward of Boonalla, next drew my attention. This, according to my sable authority, was Tangulda. A meandering line of trees bounded an open part of the intervening plain, and marked the course, as my guide informed me, of the Namoi.

HILLS SEEN AGREE WITH THE BUSHRANGER'S ACCOUNT.

Now the hills I have just mentioned and the course of this river had been exactly described by The Bushranger, and the scene made me half believe his story.

I determined to proceed to the pic of Tangulda, this being the course also recommended by my guide as the best for the continued pursuit of the Namoi.

Liverpool plains, which appear to the colonists as if boundless to the northward, were now so far behind us that their most northern limits were barely visible to the southward, in two faint yellow streaks. The basin in which these plains are situated belongs however to the Namoi, which receives all their waters; and, in the extensive landscape before me, there appeared to be an opening near Tangulda, through which the whole of these waters probably pa.s.sed to the north-west.

The Bushranger's tale was that he had reached the Kindur, or large river, by proceeding north-east by north from Tangulda. I then perceived only a few low hills to the eastward of that pic: circ.u.mstances which rendered the account of his journey beyond it also probable.

I had scarcely time to complete a sketch of these hills before the sun went down. Mr. White took bearings of the princ.i.p.al summits, and at the same time obtained their respective names from the native. The range that we had ascended consisted of porphyry, having a base of fawn-coloured compact felspar, with grains of quartz, and crystals of common felspar.

We reached the tents, distant from the hill a mile and a half, as night came on. The moon soon rose in cloudless splendour, and received our particular attention, for we were uncertain how soon we should be compelled to depend on the chronometer alone for the longitude, which thus far we had been enabled to connect with the survey of the colony by means of Barragundy and other hills towards Liverpool range.

December 16.

We proceeded over a perfectly level surface, wooded rather thickly with a broad-leaved eucalyptus, and the Acacia pendula. The air was cool, and a most refreshing breeze met us in the face during the whole of this day's journey; the thermometer at sunrise was only 52 degrees.

THE RIVER NAMOI.