Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia Volume II Part 32

CROSS THE FITZROY.

The timber was thin and light and, with a fine deep stream flowing through it, the tract which at first sight from Mount Eckersley I had considered so sterile and wet proved to be one likely at no distant day to smile under luxuriant crops of grain. We found the river (which I named the Fitzroy) fordable, although deep at the place where we first came upon it. Shady trees of the mimosa kind grew along the banks and the earth was now good and firm on both sides. We heard the natives as we approached this stream and cooeyed to them; but our calls had only the effect, as appeared from the retiring sound of their voices, of making them run faster away. Continuing our ride southward we entered at two miles beyond the Fitzroy a forest of the stringybark eucalyptus; and although the anthisterium still grew in hollows I saw swampy open flats before us which I endeavoured to avoid, sometimes by pa.s.sing between them and finally by turning to a woody range on the left. I ascended this range as night came on, in hopes of finding gra.s.s for our horses; but there the mimosa and xanthorrhoea alone prevailed--the latter being a sure indication of sterility and scanty vegetation. We found naked ground higher up consisting of deep lagoons and swamps amongst which I was satisfied with my success in pa.s.sing through in such a direction as enabled me to regain, in a dark and stormy night, the shelter of the woods on the side of the range. But I sought in vain for the gra.s.s, so abundant elsewhere on this day's ride, and we were at length under the necessity of halting for the night where but little food could be found for our horses, and under lofty trees that creaked and groaned to the blast.

August 29.

The groaning trees had afforded us shelter without letting fall even a single branch upon our heads,* but the morning was squally and unfavourable for the objects of the excursion, and we had still to ride some way before I could commence operations. Proceeding along the skirts of the woody ridge on the left in order to avoid swamps, we at length saw through the trees the blue waters of the sea and heard the roar of the waves.

(*Footnote. The Australian woods are in general very brittle, and no experienced bushman likes to sleep under trees, especially during high winds.)

CROSS THE SURRY.

My intended way towards the deepest part of the bay and the hills beyond it did not lead directly to the sh.o.r.e, and I continued to pursue a course through the woods, having the sh.o.r.e on our left. We thus met a deep and rapid little river exactly resembling the Fitzroy and coming also from the westward. Tracing this a short distance upwards we came to a place set with a sort of trelliswork of bushes by the natives for the purpose, no doubt, of catching fish. Here we found the stream fordable though deep; a brownish granular limestone appearing in the bank. We crossed and then continuing through a thick wood we came out at length on the sh.o.r.e of Portland Bay at about four miles beyond the little river.

LADY JULIA PERCY'S ISLE.

Straight before us lay Laurence's Island, or rather, islands, there being two small islets of rock in that situation; and, some way to the eastward I perceived a much larger island which I concluded was one of Lady Julia Percy's Isles. At a quarter of a mile back from the beach broad broom-topped casuarinae were the only trees we could see; these grew on long ridges parallel to the beach, resembling those long breakers which, aided by winds, had probably thrown such ridges up. They were abundantly covered with excellent gra.s.s and, as it wanted about an hour of noon, I halted that the cattle might feed while I took some angles and endeavoured to obtain the sun's alt.i.tude during the intervals between heavy squalls, some of which were accompanied by hail and thunder.

BEACH OF PORTLAND BAY.

On reaching the seash.o.r.e at this beach I turned to observe the face of Tommy Came-last, one of my followers who, being a native from the interior, had never before seen the sea. I could not discover in the face of this young savage, even on his first view of the ocean, any expression of surprise; on the contrary the placid and comprehensive gaze he cast over it seemed fully to embrace the grand expanse then for the first time opened to him.

A VESSEL AT ANCHOR. HOUSE AND FARMING ESTABLISHMENT THERE.

I was much more astonished when he soon after came to tell me of the fresh tracks of cattle that he had found on the sh.o.r.e, and the shoemarks of a white man. He also brought me portions of tobacco-pipes and a gla.s.s bottle without a neck. That whaling vessels occasionally touched there I was aware, as was indeed obvious from the carca.s.ses and bones of whales on the beach; but how cattle could have been brought there I did not understand. Proceeding round the bay with the intention of examining the head of an inlet and continuing along sh.o.r.e as far as Cape Bridgewater, I was struck with the resemblance to houses that some supposed grey rocks under the gra.s.sy cliffs presented; and while I directed my gla.s.s towards them my servant Brown said he saw a brig at anchor; a fact of which I was soon convinced and also that the grey rocks were in reality wooden houses. The most northern part of the sh.o.r.e of this bay was comparatively low, but the western consisted of bold cliffs rising to the height of 180 feet.

We ascended these cliffs near the wooden houses which proved to be some deserted sheds of the whalers. One shot was heard as we drew near them and another on our ascending the rocks. I then became somewhat apprehensive that the parties might either be, or suppose us to be, bushrangers and, to prevent if possible some such awkward mistake, I ordered a man to fire a gun and the bugle to be sounded; but on reaching the higher ground we discovered not only a beaten path but the track of two carts, and while we were following the latter a man came towards us from the face of the cliffs. He informed me in answer to my questions that the vessel at anchor was the Elizabeth of Launceston; and that just round the point there was a considerable farming establishment belonging to Messrs. Henty, who were then at the house. It then occurred to me that I might there procure a small additional supply of provisions, especially of flour, as my men were on very reduced rations. I therefore approached the house and was kindly received and entertained by the Messrs. Henty who as I learnt had been established there during upwards of two years.

It was very obvious indeed from the magnitude and extent of the buildings and the substantial fencing erected that both time and labour had been expended in their construction. A good garden stocked with abundance of vegetables already smiled on Portland Bay; the soil was very rich on the overhanging cliffs, and the potatoes and turnips produced there surpa.s.sed in magnitude and quality any I had ever seen elsewhere.

WHALE FISHERY.

I learnt that the bay was much resorted to by vessels engaged in the whale fishery and that upwards of 700 tons of oil had been shipped that season. I was likewise informed that only a few days before my arrival five vessels lay at anchor together in that bay, and that a communication was regularly kept up with Van Diemen's Land by means of vessels from Launceston. Messrs. Henty were importing sheep and cattle as fast as vessels could be found to bring them over, and the numerous whalers touching at or fishing on the coast were found to be good customers for farm produce and whatever else could be spared from the establishment.

Portland Bay is well sheltered from all winds except the east-south-east, and the anchorage is so good that a vessel is said to have rode out a gale even from this quarter. The part of the western sh.o.r.e where the land is highest shelters a small bay which might be made a tolerable harbour by means of two piers or quays erected on reefs of a kind of rock apparently very favourable for the purpose, namely amygdaloidal trap in rounded boulders. The present anchorage in four fathoms is on the outside of these reefs, and the water in this little bay is in general smooth enough for the landing of boats. A fine stream falls into the bay there and the situation seems altogether a most eligible one for the site of a town. The rock is trap consisting princ.i.p.ally of felspar; and the soil is excellent as was amply testified by the luxuriant vegetation in Mr.

Henty's garden.

EXCURSION TO CAPE NELSON.

August 30.

I proceeded with the theodolite to a height near Cape Nelson and from it I intersected that cape and also Cape Bridgewater, Cape Sir William Grant, the islands to the eastward, etc.

MOUNT KINCAID.

I here recognised also the high hill which appeared within these capes when first seen from the westward. It formed the most elevated part of the Rifle range at its termination on the coast and I was informed by Mr.

Henty that there was a fine lake at its base. I named the hill Mount Kincaid after my old and esteemed friend of Peninsular recollections.

Returning to the party at Portland Bay where I had left my s.e.xtant, I then obtained a good observation on the sun's meridian alt.i.tude. I was accommodated with a small supply of flour by Messrs. Henty who, having been themselves on short allowance, were awaiting the arrival of a vessel then due two weeks. They also supplied us with as many vegetables as the men could carry away on their horses.

A WHALE CHASE.

Just as I was about to leave the place a whale was announced and instantly three boats well manned were seen cutting through the water, a harpooneer standing up at the stern of each with oar in hand and a.s.sisting the rowers by a forward movement at each stroke. It was not the least interesting scene in these my Australian travels thus to witness from a verandah on a beautiful afternoon at Portland Bay the humours of the whale fishery and all those wondrous perils of harpooneers and whale boats of which I had delighted to read as scenes of the stormy north. The object of the present pursuit was "a hunchback" and it being likely to occupy the boats for some time I proceeded homewards.

SAGACITY OF THE NATIVES ON THE COAST.

I understood it frequently happened that several parties of fishermen left by different whaling vessels would engage in the pursuit of the same whale, and that in the struggle for possession the whale would occasionally escape from them all and run ash.o.r.e, in which case it is of little value to whalers as the removal, etc., would be too tedious and they in such cases carry away part of the head matter only. The natives never approach these whalers, nor had they ever shown themselves to the white people of Portland Bay but, as they have taken to eat the castaway whales, it is their custom to send up a column of smoke when a whale appears in the bay, and the fishers understand the signal. This affords an instance of the sagacity of the natives for they must have reflected that, by thus giving timely notice, a greater number will become compet.i.tors for the whale and that consequently there will be a better chance of the whale running ash.o.r.e, in which case a share must fall finally to them. The fishers whom I saw were fine able fellows; and with their large ships and courageous struggles with the whales they must seem terrible men of the sea to the natives. The neat trim of their boats set up on stanchions on the beach looked well, with oars and in perfect readiness to dash at the moment's notice into the angry surge. Upon the whole, what with the perils they undergo and their incessant labour in boiling the oil, these men do not earn too cheaply the profits derived from that kind of speculation. I saw on the sh.o.r.e the wreck of a fine boat which had been cut in two by a single stroke of the tail of a whale.

The men were about to cast their net into the sea to procure a supply of fish for us when the whale suddenly engaged all hands.

We returned along the sh.o.r.e of the bay, intersecting at its estuary the mouth of the little river last crossed and which, at the request of Mr.

Henty, I have named the Surry. This river enters Portland Bay in lat.i.tude 38 degrees 15 minutes 43 seconds South; longitude (by my survey)141 degrees 58 minutes East. We encamped on the rich gra.s.sy land just beyond and I occupied for the night a snug old hut of the natives.

August 31.

Early this morning Richardson caught a fine bream and I had indeed been informed by Messrs. Henty that these streams abound with this fish.

MOUNT CLAY.

On ascending the highest point of the hill immediately behind the estuary of the Surry and which I named Mount Clay, I found it consisted of good forest land, and that its ramifications extended over as much as three miles. Beyond it we descended into the valley of the Fitzroy, and at noon I ascertained the lat.i.tude where we had before forded it to be 38 degrees 8 minutes 51 seconds South. The river had risen in the interim a foot and a half, so that we were obliged to carry the flour across on the heads of the men wading up to the neck. When we reached the summit of Mount Eckersley, the horizon being clear, I completed my series of angles on points visible from that station by observing the Julian Island and Mount Abrupt, two of great importance in my survey which were hidden from our sight by the squally weather when I was last on this hill.

RETURN TO THE CAMP.

We reached the camp about sunset and found all right there, the carts having been drawn out of the bogs, all the claw-chains repaired by the blacksmith, our hatchets resteeled, and two new shafts made for the heavy carts. Piper had during our absence killed abundance of kangaroos, and I now rejoiced at his success on account of the aboriginal portion of our party for whose stomachs, being of savage capacity, quant.i.ty was a more important consideration than quality in the article of food, and we were then living on a very reduced scale of rations. On my return from such excursions The Widow and her child frequently gave notice of our approach long before we reached the camp: their quick ears seemed sensible of the sound of horses' feet at an astonishing distance, for in no other way could the men account for the notice which Turandurey and her child, seated at their own fire, were always the first to give of my return, sometimes long before our appearance at the camp. Piper was usually the first to meet me and a.s.sure me of the safety of the party, as if he had taken care of it during my absence; and I encouraged his sense of responsibility by giving him credit for the security they had enjoyed. A serene evening, lovely in itself, looked doubly beautiful then as our hopes of getting home were inseparable from fine weather, for on this chance our final escape from the mud and bogs seemed very much to depend.

The barometer however indicated rather doubtfully.

September 1.

Heavy rain and fog detained us in the same camp this morning and I availed myself of the day for the purpose of laying down my recent survey. The results satisfied me that the coastline on the engraved map was very defective and indeed the indentations extended so much deeper into the land that I still entertained hopes of finding some important inlet to the eastward, a.n.a.logous to that remarkable break of the mountain chain at Mount William.

STILL r.e.t.a.r.dED BY THE SOFT SOIL.

September 2.

We travelled as much in a north-east direction as the ground permitted but, although I should most willingly have followed the connecting features whatever their directions, I could not avoid the pa.s.sage of various swamps or boggy soft hollows in which the carts and more especially the boat-carriage, notwithstanding the greatest exertions on the part of the men, again sank up to the axles. I had proceeded with the light carts and one heavy cart nearly nine miles while the boat-carriage fell at least six miles behind me, the other heavy carts having also been r.e.t.a.r.ded from the necessity for yoking additional teams to the cattle drawing the boats. The weather was still unsettled and the continued rains had at length made the surface so soft that even to ride over it was in many places difficult. I had reached some fine forest land on the bank of a running stream where the features were bolder, and I hoped to arrive soon at the good country near the head of the Wannon. I encamped without much hope that the remainder of the party could join us that night and they in fact did remain six miles behind. I had never been more puzzled in my travels than I was with respect to the nature of the country before us then. Mount Napier bore 74 degrees East of North distant about 16 miles. The little rivulet was flowing northward, and yet we had not reached the interior side of that elevated though swampy ground dividing the fine valleys we had seen further westward from the country sloping towards the sea.

LEAVE ONE OF THE BOATS, AND REDUCE THE SIZE OF THE BOAT CARRIAGE.

September 3.

This morning we had steady rain accompanied as usual by a north-west wind; I remarked also that at any rise of the barometer after such rain the wind changed to the south-east in situations near the coast, or to the north-east when we were more inland. I sent back the cattle we had brought forward to this camp to a.s.sist those behind, and in the meanwhile Mr. Stapylton took a ride along the ridge on which we were encamped in order to ascertain its direction. Towards evening Burnett returned from the carts with the intelligence that the boat-carriage could not be got out of the swamps and that, after the men had succeeded in raising it with levers and had drawn it some way, it had again sunk and thus delayed the carts, but that the latter were at length coming on, two men having been left behind with the boat-carriage. Mr. Stapylton returned in the afternoon having ascertained that a swamp of upwards of a mile in breadth and extending north and south as far as he could see lay straight before us, and he had concluded that the rivulet upon which we were then encamped turned into it. Under such circ.u.mstances we could not hope to be able to travel much further with the boats, nor even indeed with the carts unless we found ground with a firmer surface in the country before us. Ere we could reach the nearest habitations of civilised men we had yet to traverse 400 miles of a country intersected by the highest mountains and watered by the largest rivers known in New Holland.

September 4.

Although the boats and their carriage had been of late a great hindrance to us I was very unwilling to abandon such useful appendages to an exploring party, having already drawn them overland nearly 3000 miles. A promising part of the coast might still be explored, large rivers were to be crossed, and we had already found boats useful on such occasions. One however might answer these temporary purposes, since for the main object, the exploration of inland seas, they could not possibly be wanted. We had two and the outer one, which was both larger and heavier than the inner, had been shaken so much when suspended without the thwarts that she was almost unserviceable in the water, and very leaky as we had lately found in exploring the Glenelg. She had in fact all along served as a case for the inner boat, which could thus be kept distended by the thwarts and was consequently in excellent repair and in every respect the best. I determined therefore to abandon the outer boat and shorten the carriage so that the fore and hind wheels would be brought two feet nearer each other. I expected from this arrangement that, instead of boats r.e.t.a.r.ding the party, this one might thus be drawn in advance with the light carts.

EXCURSION TO MOUNT NAPIER.

Having directed the alteration to be made during my intended absence I set out for Mount Napier and soon found the broad swamp before me. After riding up an arm of it to the left for a mile and a half I found it pa.s.sable and, having crossed, we proceeded towards the hill by a rather circuitous route but over a fine tract of country although then very soft under our horses' feet.

CROSS SOME FINE STREAMS.