Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia Volume II Part 6

Dry bed of the Lachlan.

Find at length a large pool.

Food of the natives discovered.

Horses knock up.

Scenery on the Lachlan.

Character of the different kinds of trees.

Return to the party.

Dead body found in the water.

Ascend Burradorgang.

A rainy night without shelter.

A new guide.

Native dog.

Branches of the Lachlan.

A native camp.

Children.

A widow joins the party as guide.

Horse killed.

The Balyan root.

How gathered.

Reach the united channel of the Lachlan.

No water.

Natives' account of the rivers lower down.

Mr. Oxley's lowest camp on the Lachlan.

Slow growth of trees.

A tribe of natives come to us.

Mr. Oxley's bottle.

Waljeers Lake.

Trigonella suavissima.

Barney in disgrace.

A family of natives from the Murrumbidgee.

Inconvenient formality of natives meeting.

Rich tints on the surface.

Improved appearance of the river.

Inhabited tomb.

Dead trees among the reeds.

Visit some rising ground.

View northward.

Difficulties in finding either of the rivers or any water.

Search for the Murrumbidgee.

A night without water.

Heavy fall of rain.

Two men missing.

Reach the Murrumbidgee.

Natives on the opposite bank.

They swim across.

Afraid of the sheep.

Their reports about the junction of the Darling.

Search up the river for junction of Lachlan.

Course of the Murrumbidgee.

Tribe from Cudjallagong visits the camp in my absence.

Caught following my steps.

Piper questions them.

NORTH ARM OF THE LACHLAN.

April 17.

We proceeded along the right bank of the Lachlan, crossing at five miles a small arm or ana-branch* which had been seen higher up diverging from the river, and flowing towards the north-west by Mr. Oxley. The local name of it is Yamorrima. Beyond this watercourse Cannil plains extend and were more gra.s.sy than plains in general. I observed a small ridge of trap-rock near the river. We crossed soon after the base of Mount Torrens, also a hill of trap; and a continuation on this bank of the Lachlan of the Goulburn range. Mount Torrens is however only an elongated hill. The trap-rock reappears in some lower hills further northward, of which Mount Davison is the highest and most eastern.

(*Footnote. See Footnote below.)

QUAWYS.

Beyond Mount Torrens we entered the region which lies to the westward of the Macquarie range, and found several new plants, especially a very pretty Xerotes, with sweetly perfumed flowers, being a good deal like X.

leucocephala, but with the leaves filamentous at the edges, and the male spikes interrupted.* We encamped on a deep pond at a bend of the Lachlan named Gonniguldury. I learnt from the old native guide who accompanied us from Regent's lake that they call those ponds of a river which never dry up quawy, a word which proved to be of use to us in descending the Lachlan. At this camp I found, by a careful observation of alpha and beta Centauri, that the magnetic variation was 8 degrees 56 minutes 15 seconds East.

(*Footnote. X. typhina, Lindley ma.n.u.scripts; acaulis, foliis longissimis angusto-linearibus margine laevibus filamentosis basi laceris, capitulis omnibus cylindraceis lanatis foemincis simplicibus masculis interruptis.)

WALLANGOME.

April 18.

We continued along the riverbank pa.s.sing quawys of various names as they were pointed out by our guide. We crossed the skirt of an extensive plain (Eeoappa) which brought in view just ahead of us a low ridge named Wallangome. At 8 1/2 miles we found the river close under the southern extremity of this hill, and its rocks so obstructed our pa.s.sage that we were delayed an hour in clearing a way. I ascended that point nearest the river and determined its position by taking angles on various heights already laid down in my map such as Granard, Yarrarar, Mount Torrens, etc. The hill itself consisted chiefly of quartz rock, but at its base were water-worn blocks of quartzose sandstone containing pebbles of quartz, and they seemed to be the princ.i.p.al rock in the bed of the Lachlan.

As we proceeded a low rocky ridge or extremity from Wallangome extended upwards of a mile along the river. Soon after we had pa.s.sed a bend called Taralago we crossed the southern limits of a plain of which the local name is Nyaindurry, being bounded on the north-west by an isolated hill named Moriattu. After pa.s.sing successively two similar points of the river we reached that of Gooda, where we encamped, the lat.i.tude observed being 33 degrees 23 minutes 3 seconds South.

WILD CATTLE.

Mr. Stapylton, with overseer Burnett and the natives, had gone forward early in the morning towards the hills near this place in pursuit of wild cattle, which were said to abound near it. The tracks we perceived were old, and although the other party had found many that were newer they returned without having seen any of these wild animals. It appeared that a herd of such cattle had got together about Macquarie's range, then only a short way ahead of us, and I saw no objections to the overseer's killing one or two, as he wished to do, in order that we might feed our native guides without drawing so largely as we were otherwise compelled to do on our own stock of provisions. This was a fortunate day for us in regard to plants. Besides several curious kinds of gra.s.s,* a splendid blue Brunonia was found on Wallangome. Its colour surpa.s.sed any azure I had ever seen in flowers, the tinge being rather deeper than that of the turquoise. We also obtained the seed so that I hoped this plant, which seemed hardy enough, might become a pleasing addition to our horticultural treasures.

The flowers are nature's jewels.**

(*Footnote. Lappago racemosa, W. and Aristida ramosa, R. Br.)

(**Footnote. Croly's Gems.)

The pink lily* was also found, as on Yerrarar, amongst rocks, but growing in rich red soil. We gathered a number of the bulbs, being very desirous to propagate this plant, which differs from the common white amaryllis and others belonging to the plains not only in colour, but also in the absence from their corona of intermediate teeth. We again found here the new Xerotes, having the flower in five or six round tufts on the blade.

The flowered blades drooped around, radiating from the centre, while those without flowers stood upright, giving to the whole an uncommon appearance; the flower had a very pleasant perfume.

ASCEND MORIATTU.

April 19.

Mr. Stapylton conducted the party forward while I went to the summit of Moriattu with the theodolite. Thence I saw Mount Granard, Yerrarar, and Mount Torrens, also the various points which I had intersected from Wallangome. A level plain appeared to extend southward in the midst of the groups of ridges composing Macquarie and Peel's ranges. Coccaparra, a range very abrupt on the eastern side, appeared to be Macquarie's range of Oxley, and an elevated extremity of it, near the river, I took to be Mount Porteous, and of which the local name is Willin.* To the northward the most remarkable feature was a line of plains similar to those beside the main channel of the river, and they appeared to border a branch from it, which extended in a western direction under the base of a small hill named Murrangong, and far beyond it. The hill on which I stood was the most perfectly isolated that I had ever seen, low level ground surrounding it on every side. It consisted of a variety of the same quartz rock as Wallangome, but contained pebbles of laminated compact felspar. This hill was abrupt and rocky on the west and north-west sides, the best ascent being from the south-east.

(*Footnote. Willi, an opossum)

We overtook the party after it had crossed some extensive plains, where we observed a species of solanum, the berries of which our native guides gathered and ate.* Overseer Burnett made another search this day on Coccaparra range for the wild bullocks; the party fell in with a herd but it kept at a great distance and got off into scrubs. Their bedding places and paths were numerous, and it thus appeared that the number of these animals was considerable. We gathered on Coccaparra and Mount Porteous several bulbous plants of a species quite new to me, the root being very large. There also we found a remarkable acacia, having long upright needle-like leaves among which a few small tufts of yellow flowers were sparingly scattered.** We encamped on a pond of the river named Burrabadimba, after travelling fifteen miles.

(*Footnote. S. esuriale, Lindley ma.n.u.scripts; caule humili suffruticoso, aculcis subulatis tenuibus in apice ramulorum et costa, foliis lineari-oblongis obtusis subrepandis utrinque cinereis stellato-pilosis, pedunculis subtrifloris, calycibus campanulatis pentagonis 5-dentatis stellato-pilosis corollis tomentosis multo brevioribus.)