Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia Volume I Part 9

Crested pigeon.

The party impeded by the soft state of the surface.

Lagoons near the river.

Excursion northward.

Reach a broad sheet of water.

Position of the party.

The common course of the river, and the situation of the range considered.

Nondescript tree and fruit.

Plains of rich soil, beautifully wooded.

Small branches of the Gwydir.

Much frequented by the natives.

Laughable interview of Dawkins with a tribe.

Again reach the Gwydir.

A new cuc.u.mber.

Cross the river and proceed northward.

A night without water.

Man lost.

Continue northward.

Water discovered by my horse.

Native weirs for catching fish.

Arrive at a large and rapid river.

Send back for the party on the Gwydir.

Abundance of three kinds of fish.

Preparations for crossing the river.

Natives approach in the night.

View from one tree fastened to another.

Mr. White arrives with the party and lost man.

Detained by natives.

Mr. White crosses the river.

Marks of floods on trees.

Man lost in the woods.

Natives' method of fishing.

Native dog.

Mr. White's account of the river.

CHANGE THE ROUTE TO TRACE THE COURSE OF THE GWYDIR.

The line of our route to this river described no great detour, and the trees being marked, as also the ground, by the cartwheels, Mr. Finch could have no difficulty in following our track THUS far. We were now however to turn from a northern, to a western course, and I accordingly explained this to Mr. Finch in a letter which I deposited in a marked tree, as arranged with him before I set out.

January 10.

This morning it rained heavily, but we left the encampment at six to pursue the course of the Gwydir. The deep and extensive hollows formed by the floods of this river compelled us to travel southward for several miles.

A NATIVE VILLAGE OF BOWERS.

In crossing one hollow we pa.s.sed among the huts of a native tribe. They were tastefully distributed amongst drooping acacias and casuarinae; some resembled bowers under yellow fragrant mimosae; some were isolated under the deeper shades of casuarinae; while others were placed more socially, three or four together, fronting to one and the same hearth. Each hut was semicircular, or circular; the roof conical, and from one side a flat roof stood forward like a portico, supported by two sticks. Most of them were close to the trunk of a tree, and they were covered, not as in other parts, by sheets of bark, but with a variety of materials, such as reeds, gra.s.s, and boughs. The interior of each looked clean and to us, pa.s.sing in the rain, gave some idea not only of shelter, but even of comfort and happiness. They afforded a favourable specimen of the taste of the gins, whose business it usually is to construct the huts. This village of bowers also occupied more s.p.a.ce than the encampments of native tribes in general; choice shady spots seemed to have been an object, and had been selected with care.

EFFECT OF SUDDEN MOISTURE ON THE WHEELS.

We had at length been able to turn westward, keeping the river trees in view when, the rain continuing, we began to experience the effects of moisture on the felloes of the wheels. The heat and contraction had lately obliged us to tighten and wedge them to such a degree that now, when the ground had become wet, the expansion of the whole broke the tirering of the wheel. Having no forge we could only attempt the necessary repairs with a common fire, and for this purpose I left three men with Mr. White; and I resumed the journey with the rest of the party.

The rain continuing, the soft ground so clogged the wheels that the draught was very distressing to the bullocks. We pursued a westerly direction for five miles over ground thinly wooded, with patches of open plain. Changing our course to 60 degrees west of north, we traversed a very extensive tract of clear ground until, after crossing four miles and a half of it, we reached a bend of the river, and at three P.M. encamped on an open spot a quarter of a mile from it. At five o'clock the other cart came up, having been substantially repaired, by taking off the ring, shortening the felloes, closing them on the spokes, and then replacing the ring again by drilling two holes through it.

January 11.

Pursuing a westerly course I found the river on my right at five miles.

At a mile further it crossed my intended line of route, and obliged me to turn south-south-west, in which direction we intercepted the junction of the dry river, named Kareen, which we crossed on the 8th instant. The bed above the junction was narrow but deep, and the permanent character of its banks gave to this channel the appearance of a considerable tributary, which it probably may be at some seasons, although then dry.

In a section of the bank near the junction, I observed a bed of calcareous tuff. The pa.s.sage of this channel was easiest for the carts at the spot where it joined that of the Gwydir. We travelled, after crossing, along the north-western skirts of extensive open plains, and thus reached, at five miles further, another line of trees, enclosing a chain of ponds, on which we encamped, after a journey of twelve miles.

TORTUOUS COURSE OF THE GWYDIR.

January 12.

I continued the westerly course through woods until at three miles we fell in with the river, and on turning to the left in order to avoid its immediate banks, a large lagoon also obstructed our progress. The tortuous course of the river was such that it was only by pursuing a direction parallel to the general course we could hope to make sufficient progress. But in exploring the general course only of rivers the traveller must still grope his way occasionally; for here, after turning the lagoon, we again encountered the river taking such a bend southward that we were compelled to travel towards the east, and even northward of east, to avoid the furrowed ground on its immediate bank.

LINES OF IRRIGATION ACROSS THE PLAINS.

At length we reached an open tract across which we travelled in a south-west direction about eight miles, when we arrived at one of those watercourses or chains of ponds which always have the appearance of being on the highest parts of the plains. As the general course of this, as far as it could be seen, was nearly east and west, I thought it might be the same as the channel which I had named Wheel Ponds on the 7th instant; but the range of these chains of ponds, not being confined by any hills of note, I could not be certain as to the ident.i.ty, or whether such channels did not separate into different branches on that level country. The ponds they contained, even during the dry season, and the permanent character of their banks, each lined with a single row of trees throughout a meandering course over naked plains, bespoke a providential arrangement for the support of life in these melancholy wastes, which, indeed, redeemed them from the character of deserts. We encamped on this chain of ponds, having first crossed the channel, that we might have no impediment before us, in the morning; experience having taught us that the cattle could overcome a difficulty of this kind better when warmed to their work than at first starting from their feeding-place.

HEAVY RAIN--UNABLE TO PROCEED.

Some very heavy thundershowers fell, but the sky became clear in the evening so that we ascertained the lat.i.tude to be 29 degrees 39 minutes 49 seconds South. We also obtained the bearing of Mount Riddell, and other points of the Nundewar range, making our lat.i.tude 146 degrees 37 minutes 30 seconds East.

CRESTED PIGEON.

On these ponds we first saw the beautiful crested pigeon mentioned by Mr.

Oxley as frequenting the neighbourhood of the marshes of the Macquarie.

THE PARTY IMPEDED BY THE SOFT STATE OF THE SURFACE.

January 13.

We packed up our tents to proceed on our journey as usual, the weather being beautiful; but after three hours of excessive toil the bullocks had not advanced two miles, because the stiff clay so clogged the wheels that it could not be easily removed. Seeing the cattle so distressed I was compelled to encamp, and await the effect of the sunshine and the breeze on the clammy surface.

LAGOONS NEAR THE RIVER.

In the meantime I rode northward towards the river accompanied by Mr.

White and, at about a mile from the tents, we found one of the lagoons which are supplied by its floods. The margin was thickly imprinted with the marks of small naked feet, in all probability those of the gins and children whose most constant food, in these parts, appeared to be a large, freshwater mussel. We next traced the course of the river westward for about five miles, being guided by the line of river trees. When we arrived we found within them a still lagoon of deep water, the banks thereof being steep like a river, and enclosing the water within a very tortuous ca.n.a.l, or channel, which I had no doubt belonged to the river.

To the southward the whole country was clear of wood, and presented one general slope towards the line of the river.

From our camp on the plain Mount Riddell bore 123 degrees 30 minutes East.

THE SURFACE AGAIN HARDENED.

January 14.

After an unusually hot night the morning broke amid thunderclouds which threatened, by another shower, to destroy our hopes of advancing this day and the next at least. Nevertheless, we lost no time in yoking the cattle and proceeding: for the heat and drought of the previous day had already formed a crust upon which the animals could travel. Meanwhile the thunder roared, and heavy showers were to be seen falling in two directions. One rain-cloud in the north-east, whence the wind blew strong, nearly overtook us; while another in the south-west exhausted itself on the Nundewar range. But as the wind increased the storm-clouds sank rapidly towards the part of the horizon whence it came, until the beams of the ascending sun at length overwhelmed them with a glorious flood of light, and introduced a day of brilliant sunshine.

EXCURSION NORTHWARD.

We traversed, as rapidly as we could, these precarious plains, keeping the woods which enveloped the Gwydir on our right: and thus, at the end of twelve miles, we arrived on the banks of a lagoon, apparently a continuation of the line of ponds or river, which had proved such a providential relief to us after our severe suffering from want of water under Mount Frazer.