RECEPTION BY THE NATIVES OF THE LEFT BANK.
I was met as favourably by the natives on this first passage of the Murray as I had been on our first approach to the Murrumbidgee. A small tribe came forward and laid a number of newly-made nets at my feet. I declined accepting anything however save a beautifully wrought bag, telling the owner through Piper that when the party should have passed to that side I would give him a tomahawk in return for it.
PASSAGE OF THE MURRAY.
As soon as the day had become rather warm we endeavoured to swim the bullocks across by driving them into the water at the mouth of the basin where the river seemed most accessible. But the bank was soft and muddy, and the animals, when driven into the water, got upon an island in a shallow part, whence they could not be dislodged, much less compelled to swim from it to the opposite shore. Not a little time was thus lost, while only a few could be drawn over by ropes attached to the boats; and by which process one was accidentally drowned. This was owing to the injudicious conduct of one of the men (Webb) who gave the animal rope instead of holding its head close aboard, so as to keep the mouth at least above water. The drivers then represented that the rest of the bullocks had been too long in the water to be able to cross before the next day but, having first tried their plan, I now determined to try my own; and I directed them to take the cattle to the steepest portion of the bank, overhanging the narrow part of the river, and just opposite to the few bullocks which had already gained the opposite shore. Notwithstanding the weakness of the animals this measure succeeded for, on driving them down the steep bank so that they fell into the water, the whole at once turned their heads to the opposite shore and reached it in safety. We next swam the horses over by dragging each separately at the stern of a boat, taking care to hold the head above water. Thus by sunset everything except one or two carts and the boat-carriage had been safely got across.
The natives beyond the Murray were differently-behaved people from those of the Darling for, although one group sat beside that portion of our party which was still on the right bank, another, at a point of the opposite shore to the eastward of our new camp, and a third near my tent in the neck of a peninsula on which I found we had landed, not one of them caused us any anxiety or trouble. It was to the last party that I owed the tomahawk, and I went up with it as they sat at their fires. They were in number about twenty and unaccompanied by any gins. The man who had given me the bag seemed to express gratitude for the tomahawk by offering me another net, also one which he wore on his head; and he presented to me his son. He saw the two native boys who then accompanied me as interpreters dressed well and apparently happy, and I had no doubt the poor man was willing to place his own son under my care. I endeavoured to explain that we had no more tomahawks, that we had given none to any other tribe upon the Murray, and that our men were apt to be very saucy with their guns if too much troubled. Experience had taught me the necessity for thus perpetually impressing on the minds, even of the most civil of these savages that, although inoffensive, we were strong; an idea not easily conceived by them. They however came forward and sat down near us until very heavy rain, which fell in the night, obliged them to seek their huts.
HEAVY RAINS SET IN.
June 14.
The morning dawned under the most steady fall of rain that I had seen during the journey; and this happened just after new moon, a time when I had hoped for a favourable change in the weather. Everything was got across the river this day, and we were prepared for the survey of a new region. I was occupied with the maps of the country which we had just left sufficiently to be regardless of the rain, even if it had continued to fall many days; and very thankful was I that we had got thus far without having been impeded by the weather.
June 15.
The rain ceased in the morning and the barometer had risen so much that no more was to be apprehended then; yet the blacksmith had still some work to do to the boat-carriage, and we were therefore obliged to halt another day.
ROW UP THE MURRAY TO THE JUNCTION OF THE MURRUMBIDGEE.
In the afternoon I proceeded in one of the boats up the river to the junction of the Murrumbidgee; and I ascertained that there was a fresh in that river also. It was certainly narrower at the mouth than at Weyeba; and here indeed some fallen trees almost crossed the stream. There was a hollow or break in the bank of the Murray, about 100 yards lower down, which seemed to have been once an outlet of the Murrumbidgee. The opening formed a deep section through a stratum of ferruginous sandstone, and was fully equal to the present breadth of the tributary river. On pulling higher up, the Murray seemed rather smaller above this junction, although still a splendid stream. The natives on this side told Piper that the Darling tribe from the other had danced a corrobory with them about six weeks before, and promised to return in one moon. They also inquired whether Piper had seen any of that tribe as they were waiting for us whitefellows, to which Piper answered that he had NOT. I blamed him for this reply, and asked why he did not say that we had been obliged to fire upon and kill some of them: but he said he could not tell them that, because they would hate him so.
COMMENCE THE JOURNEY UPWARDS, ALONG THE LEFT BANK.
June 16.
We left our encampment and commenced our travels up the left bank of the Murray over ground which seemed much better than any we had seen on the right bank. We crossed grassy plains bounded by sandhills on which grew pines (callitris); and open forests of goborro (or box-tree) prevailed very generally nearer the river. Where this tree grew we found the ground still good for travelling upon, notwithstanding the heavy rain, in consequence apparently of the argillaceous character of the soil; for in the plains of red earth, which before the last fall of rain we had found the best, the horses now sank above their fetlocks and the carts could scarcely be dragged along. In the course of the day we passed several broad lagoons in channels which probably were ana-branches of the river in high floods. On the largest plain crossed by the party four emus appeared, and one of them was killed after a fine chase by the dogs. The river appeared to come from the east-south-east but the course was very tortuous, and we encamped at a reach where it seemed to come from the south.
STRANGE ANIMAL.
The most remarkable incident of this days' journey was the discovery of an animal of which I had seen only the head among the remains found in the caves at Wellington Valley. This animal was of the size of a young wild rabbit and of nearly the same colour, but had a broad head terminating in a long very slender snout, like the narrow neck of a wide bottle; and it had no tail. The forefeet were singularly formed, resembling those of a hog; and the marsupial opening was downwards, and not upwards as in the kangaroo and others of that class of animals. This quadruped was discovered on the ground by our native guides, but when pursued it took refuge in a hollow tree from which they extracted it alive, all of them declaring that they had never before seen an animal of that kind.*
(*Footnote. The original has been deposited in the Sydney Museum but, having shown my friend Mr. Ogilby a drawing of it, he has noticed the discovery in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1838 describing the animal as "belonging to a new genus closely allied to Perameles, but differing in the form of the forefeet, which have only two middle toes resembling those of a hog, and in the total absence of tail. This genus has been named by Mr. Ogilby Chaeropus ecaudatus.)
PLATE 27: Choeropus ecaudatus (OGILBY), A NEW AND SINGULAR ANIMAL.T.L.M. del.Published by T. and W. Boone, London.
PLATE 27: Choeropus ecaudatus (OGILBY), A NEW AND SINGULAR ANIMAL.T.L.M. del.Published by T. and W. Boone, London.
PLATE 27: Choeropus ecaudatus (OGILBY), A NEW AND SINGULAR ANIMAL.T.L.M. del.Published by T. and W. Boone, London.
June 17.
The cattle were not brought up until ten o'clock, an unusual circumstance, and one which curtailed the day's journey. The course of the river compelled us to travel southward, and even to the westward of south; but we found better ground by keeping on the open forest-land of box or goborro, which in general occupied a very extensive space between the river and the bergs of soft red sandhills on which grew the callitris.
SALSOLAE ON THE PLAINS.
The plains covered with salsolae which, as I have just remarked, before the rain, were considered to afford the best surface for travelling on, had now become so soft as to be almost impassable, at least by our wheels, and I this day avoided them as much as I could. The margin where the box or goborro grew was in many parts hollowed into lagoons or ana-branches of the river, so that it was desirable to shape our line of route as closely by the base of these bergs or sandhills as possible.
PICTURESQUE SCENERY ON THE RIVER.
On crossing the point of one of them we came upon a most romantic-looking scene where a flood branch had left a serpentine piece of water, enclosing two wooded islands of rather picturesque character, the whole being overhung by the steep and bushy slope of the hill. The scenery of some lakes thus formed was very fine, especially when their rich verdure and lofty trees were contrasted with the scrub which covered the sandhills nearest the river, where a variety of shrubs such as we had not previously seen formed a curious foreground. Amongst them was a creeper with very large pods, two of which were brought to me last year, while on the Darling, by one of the men, who could not afterwards find the tree again, or say what it was like. We also found one Eucarya murrayana with young unripe fruit. (See Plate 28 which represents the general character of the scenery on the Murray.)
KANGAROOS NUMEROUS.
The country abounded with kangaroos. On ascending some grassy ridges I perceived a verdant plain which extended as far as I could see to the westward. It was bounded on the south, not by scrub, but by a forest of large trees; and the horizon beyond presented something like an outline of hills, a refreshing sight, accustomed as we had been for several months to a horizon as level as that of the ocean. After travelling about three miles we were obliged to turn westward by a creek or ana-branch of the river, having on its banks large yarra trees resembling those in the main stream. It prevented us from approaching the Murray during the rest of the day, and we finally encamped on its margin having found there most excellent grass.
June 18.
Continuing along the firm ground between the bergs and this creek we pursued a course which for some miles bore to the westward of south. We passed through forests of the box or goborro, under which grew a luxuriant crop of grass and two of these flats (on which we saw yarra trees also) stretched away to the westward, breaking the elsewhere unvaried wilderness of sandhills and scrub. On crossing one of these forest flats we heard the sound of the natives' hatchet on some hollow trees before us; and Piper as usual hastened forward to communicate with them, but in vain for, as soon as they saw him, they ran like kangaroos, leaving the fortunate opossum which they had been seeking still alive in his hole in the tree. At length we got clear of the creek on reaching a bend of the river not far beyond the spot where we had seen the natives.
PLATE 28: BACKWATER, OR FLOOD-BRANCH OF THE MURRAY, WITH THE SCENERY COMMON ON ITS BANK.Acacia exudans.Major T.L. Mitchell del. G. Barnard Lith. J. Graf Printer to Her Majesty.Published by T. and W. Boone, London.
PLATE 28: BACKWATER, OR FLOOD-BRANCH OF THE MURRAY, WITH THE SCENERY COMMON ON ITS BANK.Acacia exudans.Major T.L. Mitchell del. G. Barnard Lith. J. Graf Printer to Her Majesty.Published by T. and W. Boone, London.
PLATE 28: BACKWATER, OR FLOOD-BRANCH OF THE MURRAY, WITH THE SCENERY COMMON ON ITS BANK.Acacia exudans.Major T.L. Mitchell del. G. Barnard Lith. J. Graf Printer to Her Majesty.Published by T. and W. Boone, London.
COUNTRY IMPROVES AS WE ASCEND THE RIVER.
The Murray was flowing rapidly in a narrower channel and within two or three feet of the top of the banks. The country appeared on the whole superior to any that we had seen on the other side of this river. The grassy flats backed by hills covered with callitris seemed very eligible for cattle runs, the chief objection to them being only that the banks of the river were so steep and yielding that the water was in general inaccessible. The breadth seldom exceeded 60 or 70 yards; and I suspected that we might be already above the junction of some stream on the right bank, especially as the course came now so much from the southward.
A REGION OF REEDS.
On crossing the extremity of a sandhill, about two miles from the spot where we afterwards encamped, I perceived that reeds covered a vast region before us. They grew everywhere, even under the trees, and extended back from the channel of the river as far as I could see and, no alternative presenting itself, we endeavoured to face them. The lofty ash-hills of the natives, used chiefly for roasting the balyan (or bulrush) a root found only in such places, again appeared in great numbers. We soon came upon a lagoon about a mile in circumference and surrounded on all sides by high reeds. One or two smooth grassy hills arose among them, but the ground, even where they grew, was as firm and good for travelling upon as any that we had recently crossed. They were no impediment to a man or bullock in motion, but grew to the height of about seven or eight feet.
THE WATER INACCESSIBLE FROM SOFT AND MUDDY BANKS.
Grass was also to be found among them and I was willing to encamp there; but the difficulty was in finding a spot where the cattle could approach the water. The flood ran high in the deep and rapid river; yet the margin was covered with high reeds and, although I ultimately encamped near a small lagoon within the reeds, the cattle would not venture to drink at it, instinctively shrinking back from the muddy margin. In the course of the evening one animal fell into the river and was extricated with great difficulty and after much digging in the bank. One remarkable difference between this river and the Murrumbidgee was that, in the latter, even where reeds most prevailed, a certain space near the bank remained tolerably clear: whereas on this river the reeds grew most thickly and closely on its immediate banks, thus presenting a much less imposing appearance than the Murrumbidgee, with its firmer banks crowned with lofty forests of yarra. Each Australian river seems to have some peculiar character, sustained with remarkable uniformity throughout the whole course.
HABITS OF OUR NATIVE GUIDES.
June 19.
Piper, although so far from his country, could still point directly to it, but he had grown so homesick that he begged Burnett not to mention Bathurst. To return except with us was quite out of the question, and as we still receded he dragged, as the phrase is, a lengthening chain. He studied my visage however and could read my thoughts too well to doubt that I too hoped to return. The whole management of the chase now devolved on him and the two boys, his humble servants; and this native party usually explored the woods with our dogs for several miles in front of the column. The females kept nearer the party, and often gave us notice of obstacles in time to enable me to avoid them. My question on such occasions was Dago nyollong yannagary? (Which way shall we go? ) to which one would reply, pointing in the proper direction, Yalyai nyollong-yannar! (Go that way.) Depending chiefly on the survey for my longitude, my attention was for the most part confined to the preservation of certain bearings in our course by frequent observations of the pocket compass; but in conducting carts where no roads existed, propitiating savage natives, taking bearings and angles, observing rocks, soil and productions, so much care and anxious attention was necessary that I believe I was indebted to the sympathy even of my aboriginal friends for the zealous aid they at all times afforded.
Notwithstanding the obvious necessity for closely watching the cattle, they had been suffered to ramble nine miles up the river during the night; and were not brought back to the camp until noon. This unusual and untoward circumstance was the more surprising as the whole country along the riverbank was covered with good grass. Whether they had instinctively set off towards the upper country, where most of them were bred; or that want of water after a hard day's work had occasioned such restlessness, it was difficult to say; but they wandered even beyond the camp that we reached this day in a journey commenced however only at half-past 12.
NATIVES VERY SHY.
The natives peeped over the reeds at us from a considerable distance; and some of those whom Piper saw when in search of the men with the cattle, immediately jumped into the river, carrying their spears and boomerangs with them. We had not proceeded above a mile and a half when I perceived among the reeds close to the berg on which we were travelling a small, deep and still branch of the river, apparently connected with numerous others, in all of which the water was quite still, although it had the same muddy colour as that flowing in the river, and they seemed to be equally deep. These still channels wound in all directions among the reeds. Further on the water was not even confined to such canals, large spaces between them being inundated, and lofty gum (or yarra) trees stood even in the water. Light appeared at length through the wood before us, which soon terminated on a sea of reeds bounded only by the horizon. On ascending some sandhills confining this basin of reeds on our side, I observed a low grassy ridge with pines upon it, and forming a limit to the reedy basin, except in a part of the horizon which bore 14 degrees South of East. A broad sheet of water (probably only an inundation occasioned by the late rain) filled the centre of the reedy space. About six miles from our last camp we came upon the river flowing with a strong current; and at its full width the water not more than a foot below the level of the right bank. Thus the Murray seemed to flow through that reedy expanse, unmarked in its course by trees or bushes, although one or two distant clumps of yarra probably grew on the banks of the permanent stream. At two miles further on these trees again grew plentifully, close under the berg along which we travelled, and where I hoped again to see the river. We found however that the yarras only enclosed shallow lagoons; and on a small oasis of dry ground near one of them we encamped for the night. A species of solanum forming a very large bush was found this day in the scrub, also several interesting shrubs, and among them some fine specimens of that rare one, the Eucarya murrayana. But in all these scrubs on the Murray the Fusanus acuminatus is common and produces the quandang nut (or kernel) in such abundance that it and gum acacia may in time become articles of commerce in Australia.*
(*Footnote. Having brought home specimens of most of the woods of the interior, I find that several of the acacias would be valuable for ornamental work, having a pleasing perfume resembling that of a rose. Some are of a dark colour of various shades and very compact; others light-coloured and resembling in texture box or lancewood. The new caper tree also resembles the latter so much as not to be distinguished from it. Specimens of these woods may be seen at Hallet's, Number 83 High Holborn.)
June 20.
The morning was frosty and clear. Soon after we left our encampment we came to a ridge or berg, bare of trees with the exception of a fine clump on the highest part; and behind it was an extensive flat which was also destitute of wood, only a few atriplex bushes appearing upon it. I sent the carts across this flat while I rode along the crest of the ridge. The sea of reeds skirted this ridge on the north, and a meandro-serpentine canal full of water intersected the reedy expanse in almost all directions. The river flood had not reached it, at least if it had the water continued unmoved by any current. I perceived some smoke arising from the reeds at the distance of a mile, and at the extreme point of a tongue of firmer ground which extended into them.
PIPER SPEAKS TO NATIVES ON THE RIVER.
Piper went boldly up to the fire and found three families of blacks in as many canoes on the river. They told him there was a junction of rivers some way ahead of us; and I understood him to say that part of these natives had come across from Waljeers. The country opened more and more as we proceeded, and the basin of reeds was more extensive. The bergs on the opposite side (on which I had fixed several points) were distant on an average about eight miles, which was the breadth therefore of that low margin of reeds. The winding borders of this plain terminated on our side in rich grassy flats, some of which extended back farther than I could discover; and on two of these plains I perceived fine sheets of water, surrounded by shining verdure and enclosed by sheltering hills clothed with Callitris pyramidalis.
GOOD LAND ON THE MURRAY.
One or two spots seemed very favourable for farms or cattle stations. The soil in these grassy flats was of the richest description: indeed the whole of the country covered by reeds seemed capable of being converted into good wheat land, and of being easily irrigated at any time by the river. This stream was also navigable when we were there, and produce might be conveyed by it at such seasons to the seashore. There was no miasmatic savannah, nor any dense forest to be cleared; the genial southern breeze played over these reedy flats which may one day be converted into clover-fields. For cattle stations the land possessed every requisite, affording excellent winter grass back among the scrubs to which cattle usually resort at certain seasons; while at others they could fatten on the rich grass of the plains, or during the summer heat enjoy the reeds amid abundance of water. We found on these plains an addition to the common grasses.* The fine open country afforded extensive views, and to the eastward and south-east we saw hills with grassy sides and crowned with callitris.
(*Footnote. An Andropogon allied to A. bombycinus.)
WOOD AND WATER SCARCE.
Through the intervening valley flowed the Murray, the course of which was seldom visible as no trees grew along its border. Under such circumstances we could not encamp upon the bank, neither could it be safely approached by cattle; and our prospect of obtaining wood and watering our animals was this day rather uncertain. At length we came upon a path which Mr. Stapylton pursued amongst high reeds for a mile without reaching the river as we both expected. I continued to travel towards four trees on the side of a green hill, still at a great distance but in the direction in which I wished to proceed.
JUNCTION OF TWO BRANCHES. SWAN HILL.
When we arrived there just before sunset we had the good fortune to find close under the hill a bend of the Murray, and to discover the junction of another river or branch with it at this point. Within the margin we found a small pond quite accessible to the cattle, and behind the hill was an extensive flat covered with the richest grass. Here therefore we could encamp most contentedly beside a clear hill, always a desirable neighbour, and an accessible river. We were also thus enabled to determine the junction perhaps of two rivers, an important object in geography. The latitude was 35 degrees 19 minutes 43 seconds South.
The lesser stream was about 50 yards wide, but below the junction the main stream divided into two branches so that I was doubtful whether this might not be only the termination of an ana-branch. From the falling off of the bergs on the distant right bank, and the approach of a line of lofty trees from the same quarter, I was almost convinced that some junction took place thereabouts, as indeed the natives last seen had informed us. During the day columns of smoke arose behind us in the direction where we had seen these natives, and further eastward we perceived a widespreading conflagration, doubtless caused by them although this expression of ire troubled us but little so long as the flames did not approach our route. The scrubs now receded from the river, but the curious variety of acacias they contained still drew our attention towards them. We found this day several which were new. One with a rigid hard leaf, not in flower, resembled in many respects the A. farinosa met with two days later, but it was perfectly smooth in all its parts.* Another appeared to be related to A. hispidula, but with much narrower leaves without the ragged cartilaginous margin of that species.**
(*Footnote. A. sclerophylla, Lindley manuscripts; ramulis angulatis glabriusculis, phyllodiis rigidis carnosis rectiusculis linearibus apice latioribus mucronulatis multinerviis glabris eglandulosis, capitulis 1-2 sessilibus glaberrimis.)
(**Footnote. A. aspera, Lindley manuscripts; phyllodiis oblongo-linearibus uninerviis mucronatis eglandulosis ramisque angulatis asperrimis, capitulis 1-2 axillaribus, pedunculis villosis phyllodiis duplo brevioribus.)
Exploring through a fog.Lakes.Circular Lake of Boga.Clear grassy hills.Natives on the lake.Scarcity of fuel on the bank of a deep river.Different character of two rivers.Unfortunate result of Piper's interview with the natives of the lake.Discovery of the Jerboa in Australia.Different habits of the savage and civilized.A range visible in the south.Peculiarities in the surface of the country near the river.Water of the lakes brackish, or salt.Natives fly at our approach.Arrival in the dark, on the bank of a watercourse.Dead saplings of ten years growth in the ponds.Discovery of Mount Hope.Enter a much better country.Limestone.Curious character of an original surface.Native weirs for fish.Their nets for catching ducks.Remarkable character of the lakes.Mr. Stapylton's excursion in search of the main stream.My ride to Mount Hope.White Anguillaria.View from Mount Hope.Return of Mr. Stapylton.
SWAN HILL.
June 21.
Among the reeds on the point of ground between the two rivers was a shallow lagoon where swans and other wild fowl so abounded that, although half a mile from our camp, their noise disturbed us through the night. I therefore named this somewhat remarkable and isolated feature Swan Hill, a point which may probably be found to mark the junction of two fine streams.
EXPLORING THROUGH A FOG.
I wished to devote the day to meteorological observations as prearranged with my friends in the Colony, Mr. Dunlop and Captain King; but a thick fog in the morning promised a day of clear settled weather, and I was obliged to proceed; I observed the barometer however every hour during the journey. For several miles we travelled through the mist over plains partly covered with reeds and partly with grass. Having reconnoitred the country on the previous evening I had no difficulty in pursuing the direction I then chose for this day's route.
LAKES. CIRCULAR LAKE OF BOGA.
At eleven A.M. when the fog arose I perceived a low grassy ridge before us; and a fine lake covered with black swans, ducks and other waterfowl was afterwards discovered beyond it. We passed along the southern shore of this lake, thus keeping it between us and the river. It was surrounded with reeds and bulrushes, and appeared to be supplied by a small feeder from the river, like other similar lakes which we had seen near rivers elsewhere: but the water could pass by such small channels only during the highest floods, for the lake was even then very low, although the flood in the river was evidently high. This lake was about three miles in circumference.
CLEAR GRASSY HILLS.
As I ascended a grassy hill two miles beyond it I perceived on my left another smaller lake; with no reeds about it, but with grass growing to the water's edge; and there we also found a curious little plant covered with short imbricated silvery leaves, but not in flower. Behind the lake, or away from the river, was the low scrub of the back country in which I again saw, just coming into flower, the Cassia heteroloba discovered on the 6th instant. On reaching the top of the hill I discovered to the eastward a third lake, much larger than either of the others, and apparently of a different character for its banks were higher, and it contained one or two small islets while the surface of the water was covered with some brown aquatic weed. It was bounded on the east by a ridge which seemed green, smooth, and quite clear of trees. A low neck of firm ground separated the lake first seen from this; and it was also connected with the hill on which I then stood.
NATIVES ON THE LAKE.
In one place, a narrow line of high reeds appearing likely to impede us, Mr. Stapylton rode forward to examine it. As he reached the spot much smoke suddenly arose, evidently from natives whom he had thus accidentally disturbed. He nevertheless pressed forward amongst the reeds, and soon reappeared on the green hill beyond, thus showing us there was no obstruction, and the carts proceeded through. These reeds enveloped a small creek or hollow through which the floods of the river supplied the lake. In one part was a pool of water, and in another the bottom was so soft that the united strength of two teams was necessary to draw out the wheel of a cart which sunk into it. We found there the huts of natives who had fled on Mr. Stapylton's approach, having left their fishing spears, skin cloaks, shields, etc. They soon appeared on the lake in twenty-four canoes, all making for the little isle in the centre which, being covered with reeds, was probably their stronghold according to their modes of warfare. The aquatic tribes, as I have elsewhere observed, invariably take to the water in times of alarm, and from among the reeds in their little island these people could easily throw their spears at any assailant without being themselves exposed, or even seen. Piper found in their huts some fragments of blue earthenware, nicely attached with gum to threads by which it would appear that the gins wore them in their hair as ornaments.
SCARCITY OF FUEL ON THE BANK OF A DEEP RIVER.
Being desirous to learn the native names of these lakes, and to obtain some information respecting the rivers, I requested Piper and the two Tommies to remain behind for the purpose of obtaining a parley if possible. I should indeed have encamped by this lake had not the environs been entirely destitute of wood. Before us however, although at the distance of some miles, was a line of majestic trees which appeared to mark the course of a river; and I had directed Mr. Stapylton to lead the party through the reeds along an interval which appeared to be chiefly covered with grass, and by which I expected he would arrive at the line of high trees. Meanwhile I was occupied alone to the southward of the lake, surveying it. Near the margin I found a small fragment of highly vesicular lava.
DISCOVERY OF THE RIVER.
The ground traversed by the party was firm and, when I overtook it within a mile and a half of the line of trees, we came suddenly on a river full to the very margin, and flowing slowly to the westward, its width being about 50 yards. Not a tree grew near it, nor did I see any indication of a river until I reached the bank.
The ground presented an unbroken level, or declined slightly towards the line of trees which still marked, as I supposed, the course of the Murray. We had no means of reaching it however, nor any alternative left but to change our route towards the east-south-east and travel along the bank of this river, in hopes it might at last approach the trees. We found on the contrary that it receded from them towards a country without a single bush; and thus while the sun was setting on a raw frosty evening we could not encamp for want of fuel, although water and grass were abundant. One solitary group of trees seeming to be on our side of the stream, though distant about two miles, Mr. Stapylton and myself galloped towards them, the party following. There too we found the river, separating us even from these trees, three very small ones only being on our side, and likely to fall when cut into the stream. It had become quite dark before we got to them but, by lighting some reeds, the rest of the party found its way to us; and there we encamped, although the green wood could not be made to burn, while the thermometer stood so low as 29 degrees. We were perhaps more sensible of the want of fuel from the abundance so apparent on the banks of what seemed another river at so small a distance across the open plain.
DIFFERENT CHARACTER OF TWO RIVERS.
These streams flowing so near each other seemed in this respect distinctly different: the one being edged with only reeds, the other with lofty trees like almost every interior river of New South Wales.
UNFORTUNATE RESULT OF PIPER'S INTERVIEW WITH THE NATIVES OF THE LAKE.
Piper came in soon after the carts arrived, bringing a sad account of his interview with the natives. It appeared that, as soon as our party had proceeded to some distance from the lake, twelve men sprang from among the reeds armed with spears, boomerangs, etc., and when Piper accosted one of them, inquiring the name of the lake "I wont tell you," was the answer (murry coolah, i.e. very angrily). They then told him there was "too much ask" about him, and they blamed him for bringing the whitefellows there; adding that they did not like him; and an old man calling to the rest to kill him, for that he was no good, two spears were immediately thrown. These Piper parried with his carabine, and then instantly discharged it at the foremost, wounding him in the right jaw. The rest immediately disappeared among the reeds. The wounded savage fell, but Piper loaded again and killed him by another shot through the body. Such was Piper's story. I blamed him very much for firing at the wounded man, and I regretted exceedingly the result of his interview. I was besides most anxious to maintain a good understanding with these people.
The spears used on this occasion were made of reed and pointed with bones of the emu; but we saw at their huts several heavy jagged ones of very hard wood for the purposes of fishing. The natives wore cloaks made of kangaroo skins.
DISCOVERY OF THE JERBOA IN AUSTRALIA.
A very curious and rare little quadruped was this day found by the two Tommies, who had never before seen such an animal. Its fore and hind legs resembled in proportion those of the kangaroo; and it used the latter by leaping on its hindquarters in the same manner as that animal. It was not much larger than a common fieldmouse, but the tail was longer in proportion to the rest of the body even than that of a kangaroo, and terminated in a hairy brush about two inches long.* (Plate 29.)
(*Footnote. This appears to be a species of Jerboa, thus for the first time seen by us in Australia. My friend Mr. Ogilby has described this animal in the Linnean Transactions from my drawing and descriptions; the specimen itself having been deposited in the Australian Museum at Sydney. Dipus mitchellii, D. plantis subpentadactylis; corpore supra cinereo-fusco, subtus albido; auriculis magnis, cauda longissima, floccosa. Linnean Transactions volume page 129.)
PLATE 29: Dipus mitchellii (OGILBY), A NEW ANIMAL RESEMBLING THE JERBOA.T.L.M. del. A. Picken Lith. Day and Haghe Lithographers to the Queen.
PLATE 29: Dipus mitchellii (OGILBY), A NEW ANIMAL RESEMBLING THE JERBOA.T.L.M. del. A. Picken Lith. Day and Haghe Lithographers to the Queen.
PLATE 29: Dipus mitchellii (OGILBY), A NEW ANIMAL RESEMBLING THE JERBOA.T.L.M. del. A. Picken Lith. Day and Haghe Lithographers to the Queen.
We also discovered a beautiful new species of the Cape genus Pelargonium, which would be an acquisition to our gardens. I named it P. rodneyanum* in honour of Mrs. Riddell at Sydney, grand-daughter of the famous Rodney.
(*Footnote. P. rodneyanum, Lindley manuscripts; patentim pilosum, caule subterraneo horizontali crasso fragili ramos erectos promente apice tantum epigaeos foliosos, ramulis herbaceis erectis, foliis ovato-oblongis sublobatis basi cuneatis obtusis grosse crenatis tenuibus glabriusculis longipetiolatis, pedunculis erectis foliis longioribus, umbellis tomentosis 8-10-floris demum laxis divaricatis, petalis anguste obovatis calyce triplo longioribus, staminum tubo obliquo: sterilium 3 denticuliformibus, fortilium 2 sterilibus interjectis caeteris longioribus.)
DIFFERENT HABITS OF THE SAVAGE AND CIVILIZED.
At this camp where we lay shivering for want of fire, the different habits of the aborigines and us, strangers from the north, were strongly contrasted. On that freezing night the natives, according to their usual custom, stripped off all their clothes previous to lying down to sleep in the open air, their bodies being doubled up around a few burning reeds. We could not understand how they could lay thus naked when the earth was white with hoar frost; and they were equally at a loss to know how we could sleep in our tents without a bit of fire to keep our bodies warm. For the support of animal heat, fire and smoke are almost as necessary to them as clothes are to us. The naked savage however is not without some reason on his side, for fire is the only means he possesses to warm his body when cold, and it is therefore the only comfort he ever knows; whereas we require both fire and clothing and have no conception of the intensity of enjoyment imparted to the naked body of a savage by the glowing embrace of a cloud of smoke in winter. In summer also he may enjoy, unrestrained by dress, the luxury of a bath in any pool when not content with the refreshing breeze that fans his sensitive body during the intense heat. Amidst all this exposure the skin of the Australian native remains as smooth and soft as velvet, and it is not improbable that the obstructions of drapery would constitute the greatest of his objections in such a climate to the permanent adoption of a civilised life.
A RANGE VISIBLE IN THE SOUTH.
June 22.
A night of hard frost was succeeded by a beautifully clear morning. The refraction brought the summits of a distant range above the south-east horizon; and the sight was so welcome to us, after having found Australia a mere desert from the want of hills, that I was at a loss for a name to give these that should sufficiently express my satisfaction. I found the breadth of the river at our camp to be 50 yards; and the velocity 4 chains (or 88 yards) in 127 seconds, being something less than a mile and a half per hour; and the height of the bank above the water to be 18 inches.
PECULIARITIES IN THE SURFACE OF THE COUNTRY NEAR THE RIVER.
The entirely open country through which the nearer river or branch continued to flow, and the lofty and remarkable trees on the banks of the other enabled me, in chaining along our route, to survey the course of both by fixing points on the more distant, and tracing the nearer. At length we approached a better-wooded country where clear green hills appeared to our right. I ascended the highest of these and discovered a vast plain beyond which appeared to be, or rather to have been, the bed of an extensive lake. I was now struck with the uncommon regularity of the curve described by the hill or ridge, having previously observed the same peculiarity in that which overlooked the lake of the savage tribe. We passed over some slight undulations covered with luxuriant grass, and were not sorry to see a wood of pines (or callitris) on our left. Large gumtrees (yarra) grew beyond and, the general course I wished to pursue leading towards them, I hoped to reach there an angle of the river. We found however that they hung over a small ana-branch only, in which the muddy flood-water of the river was then flowing. This stream was nevertheless exactly what we wanted, being safely accessible to our cattle, which the river itself was not. We therefore pitched our tents on a spot where there was excellent grass, and wood was again to be had in great abundance. We found in the adjacent scrub a remarkably rigid bush with stiff sickle-shaped blunt leaves and mealy balls of flowers not quite expanded;* also an acacia resembling A. hispidula, but the leaves were quite smooth and much smaller.** In approaching this spot we had passed along a low sandy ridge, every way resembling a beach but covered with pines and scrub. A bare grassy hill extended southward from each end of it; and the intervening hollow containing some water was evidently the bed of a lake, nearly dry.
(*Footnote. It is found to be an acacia related to A. multinervia. A. farinosa, Lindley manuscripts; ramulis angulatis glabriusculis, phyllodiis rigidis carnosis incurvis linearibus apice latioribus mucronatis multinerviis glabris: margine superiore infra medium glanduloso, capitulis 2-4 axillaribus breviter pedunculatis farinosis.)
(**Footnote. For description see 19th September.)
June 23.
The most eastern of these smooth bare ridges was immediately above our camp and, observing in it the regularity of curve which I had noticed in others, I was struck with the analogy, and in these ridges being always on the eastern shore of hollows or lakes, while the western was irregularly indented, and was in some parts so abrupt as to have the character of cliffs. The southern end of the ridges was generally the highest.
WATER OF THE LAKES BRACKISH, OR SALT.
Perceiving no reeds near the lake nor any birds upon it I sent Mr. Stapylton to taste the water, which he found to be quite salt, like that of the sea. This and several of the other basins were surrounded by high ground and were without any communication with the river.
NATIVES FLY AT OUR APPROACH.
I passed soon after another of these circular basins which, although much smaller, presented similar features, and had some rather brackish water in pools in the deepest part. During the day's journey we passed several ridges connected with extensive basins in a similar manner, and in the bottom of one of these I perceived Polygonum junceum growing amongst yarra trees. On the western shore we saw the remains of large native ash-hills. They were old and overgrown with bushes, but they proved that this lake had once contained mussels and the balyan or bulrush, a root eaten by the natives and cooked in such ovens as these. The other lake was surrounded by a circle of yarra trees and had but recently become dry, the earth in it being still without vegetation and covered with innumerable native companions and white cockatoos. Finding no indication of the river, notwithstanding the presence of so many yarra trees, I turned to the east towards another line of them which appeared still more promising. There however we encountered the dry bed only of a small creek which we crossed, and continued eastward, passing over much grassy land, and through much wood of the box or goborro species of eucalyptus. We travelled thus upwards of seven miles beyond the dry creek without discovering any sign of the river, although we had previously traced it so far in pursuing a much more southerly direction.
NATIVES FLY AT OUR APPROACH.
The natives were heard in this wood chopping with their stone hatchets but they fled at our approach. On entering a small plain we saw their deserted fire on the opposite side. Beyond this another plain, still more extensive, appeared before us, and a few yarra trees on the horizon gave some promise of water, though not of the river.
ARRIVAL IN THE DARK, ON THE BANK OF A WATERCOURSE.
Before I reached the spot and while far ahead of the party darkness had overtaken us; but I found there a deep creek with some water in large ponds; and by lighting a fire the carts at length came up to us, after a journey of nineteen miles. This seemed by moonlight such a singular place that I was anxious for daylight to see at what we had arrived.
June 24.
I expected to find the main stream not far from the ponds, but the morning light shone over a plain which extended in a north-western direction to the very horizon. It was bounded on the north by very distant trees which had not the usual appearance of trees distinguishing the river. The country on all sides seemed perfectly level, and if there was any exception at all it was in the box forests to the southward whence we had come, and where the land seemed lower than the plain on which we had encamped. The bed of the creek was full twenty feet below the general surface. The symmetry of the curves described by it was remarkable, and it was rendered still more striking by a narrow line of rushes which had grown on the margin of the water when it had stood at a much higher level.
DEAD SAPLINGS OF TEN YEARS GROWTH IN THE PONDS.
A concentric border of grass of uniform breadth grew on the slope above the rushes, and one of fragrant herbs below the line of rushes, all being at nearly equal distances; while a single row of bare poles measuring from three to five inches in diameter stood where a row of saplings had grown in what had, at one time, been the very centre of the stream. These poles were the remains of yarra trees eight or ten years old, and marked the extent doubtless of a long period of drought which had continued until some high flood killed them.
DISCOVERY OF MOUNT HOPE.
The grass was excellent over the whole of the plains on both sides and, from a tree near the camp, Burnett descried a goodly hill bearing 36 1/2 degrees East of South and distant, as afterwards ascertained, twenty-two miles.
Near our camp we found some recent fireplaces of the natives, from which they must have hastily escaped on our approach for, in the branches of a tree, they had left their net bags containing the stalks of a vegetable that had apparently undergone some culinary process, which gave them the appearance of having been half boiled. Vegetables are thus cooked, I was told, by placing the root or plant between layers of hot embers until it is heated and softened. The stalks found in the bag resembled those of the potato, and they could only be chewed, such food being neither nutritious nor palatable for it tasted only of smoke.* A very large ash-hill, raised no doubt by repeated use in such simple culinary operations, and probably during the course of a great many years, was close to our camp. On its ample surface were just visible the vestiges of a very ancient grave, once encompassed by exactly the same kind of ridges that I had observed around the inhabited tomb near the junction of the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee. The natives were at length seen about two miles off on the skirts of the wood; and although I sent forward the overseer and Piper, each carrying a large green bough, they all ran away, leaving behind them their spears and skin cloaks.
(*Footnote. July 17 1838. This plant has at length flowered in the Horticultural Gardens at Chiswick and proves to be a new species of Pieris of which Dr. Lindley has favoured me with the following description: P. barbarorum; sparse hispida, foliis ciliatis supra nitidis scabriusculis radicalibus spathulato-lanceolatis subdentatis caulinis oblongis sessilibus amplexi-caulibus recurvis dentatis integrisque, caule stricto ramoso, involucri foliolis lineari-lanceolatis acutis apice vel secus dorsum serie simplici pilorum longorum reflexorum appendiculatis, achaeniis badiis longe rostratis transverse rugosissimis disci sterilibus.)
While the party proceeded eastward along the bank of Moonlight creek, as we named it, I sent Mr. Stapylton across the wide plain to ascertain, if possible, whether the river flowed through it without the usual indication of trees on its banks, as we had found to be the case below. Mr. Stapylton found beyond the northern limits of the plain, amongst yarra trees, an ana-branch only, but containing quite clear and still water.
The course of the creek which I in the meantime traced first led me to the north-east where high trees seemed to mark its course, to the bed of the river; but a smaller branch, still dry, extended southward from it, which, on returning to the main party, I found it desirable that the carts should cross. We next passed for three miles through a forest of goborro, and then crossed a plain three miles in extent. Beyond the plain we approached a promising line of lofty yarra trees, but found it shaded only a hollow subject to inundations. Two miles and a half further we came to another similar line of trees, and we found within its shade an ana-branch full of clear water. A little in advance a much deeper branch afforded a good spot for our camp, as I intended to cross it by some means in the afternoon and seek for the river.
ENTER A MUCH BETTER COUNTRY.
The plains we had crossed this day were covered with excellent grass; and in many places detached groups of trees gave to the country a park-like appearance very unlike anything on the banks of the Darling.
After crossing the creek by means of a fallen tree, I found the ground beyond to be of the richest description, with excellent grass and lofty yarra trees growing upon it. I passed through two separate strips of high reeds extending north-east and south-west; but I found they only enveloped lagoons of soft mud and, seeing no appearance of the river at two miles from the camp, I returned. We found on the hills a little bush, very like European heaths, having the branches covered with small three-cornered leaves and tipped with clusters of small pink flowers.*
(*Footnote. Baeckea micrantha.)
LIMESTONE.
June 25.
The country we passed over this day was upon the whole richer in point of grass than any we had seen since we left Sydney; I therefore suspected that the soil had some better rock for a basis than sandstone; and I had reason to believe that it was limestone, from indications of subsidence which I observed on the surface.
CURIOUS CHARACTER OF AN ORIGINAL SURFACE.
We had discovered no similar country during either of the two former journeys. There were none of the acacia trees we had seen on the lower Bogan; while the grasses were also different from any of those on the Darling. A fine new species of Daviesia, very like a Grevillea and forming a most singular bush, grew here. It had no leaves, but green branches formed into short, broad, thick vertical plates arranged spirally, and much lower than the little axillary clusters of flowers which were just beginning to open.* We also met with bushes of the rare Trymalium majoranaefolium, a hoary bush with clusters of small grey flowers, enclosed when young in a bright, large membranous involucre. Once or twice distant rows of lofty gumtrees appeared to indicate the line of the river; but on approaching them we found either dry hollows or the same ana-branch, as it seemed, on which we last encamped. I observed at several places that the more dense box-forests near this branch of the river were skirted with ground broken into low undulations six or eight feet square. These appeared where there was great depth of soil, and were probably caused by deep rents or cracks opened at the first induration of the deposit, and subsequently modified by rain and other atmospheric agents. This seems to be the state of the deep deposits at the present day where, from the absence of trees, the surface of tenacious soils remains visible. I was first struck with this effect in the clays near the Darling where alternate saturation and desiccation seemed to check all vegetation. On the upper parts of the Bogan also I saw these inequalities on a very large scale, but there the hollows still exist under dense forests of casuarinae, and are so deep and extensive that I for some time was induced to examine them in hopes of finding water; but from a small hole or fissure still remaining there I soon learnt that any such search was hopeless.
(*Footnote. D. pectinata, Lindley manuscripts; glabra, aphylla, ramis lateralibus ensiformibus crassis rigidis spinosis verticalibus pectinatim spiralibus dorso decurrentibus racemulis glomeratis multo longioribus.)
When we had travelled some miles, the hill we had seen from the camp on Moonlight creek bore exactly south by compass, and appeared to be about half the distance that it was from us when discovered. At 3 1/2 miles we again came upon the ana-branch; a slight current now appeared in it and the water was tinged with the turbid colour of the main stream.
LAST CAMP ON THE MURRAY.
After winding around several of its turnings we encamped at one P.M. beside a large pool. This day's journey was nearly fourteen miles.
June 26.
The barometer being unusually low, and some long journeys having prevented me from laying down my surveys of the lakes as well as having fatigued the cattle, I halted here with the intention of filling up my maps, refreshing the animals, and reconnoitring the country to the south-west, in which direction a vast extent was unexplored. The river we had endeavoured to trace thus far was now so shut in by ana-branches that it could rarely be seen at all; but I had now brought the survey of it so far upwards that I should be able to trace it, or its several tributaries, downwards upon the same point when returning to the northward, under the western extremities of the Snowy Range. I hoped then also to obtain a better knowledge of the branches composing the Murray than we possessed at this time.
This day I requested Mr. Stapylton to cross the piece of water where we had encamped, and endeavour to find the river in a north-east direction; but he ascertained that the watercourse turned northward, and to the west of north, without entering the river, as far as he traced it. He then returned after having followed its course five miles without falling in with the main stream. His party saw some of the natives who could not be induced to stop by all the calls of Piper.
NATIVE WEIRS FOR FISH.
Mr. Stapylton observed in the channel he traced a net or fence of boughs which the natives had that morning set up; and which showed not only that they expected a flood, but also, from the manner in which it was placed, that the water would flow first up the channel. This circumstance, as already observed, is not unusual in ana-branches where the lower end is naturally on a lower level, having been worn by the currents into a deeper channel there than at the upper end, where the water not unfrequently leaves the river by overflowing its banks in various channels of small depth.
THEIR NETS FOR CATCHING DUCKS.
The natives had left in one place a net suspended across the river between two lofty trees, evidently for the purpose of catching ducks and other waterfowl. The meshes were about two inches wide, and the net hung down to within five feet of the surface of the stream. In order to obtain waterfowl with this net some of the natives proceed up, and others down, the river to scare the birds from other places and, when any flight comes into the net, it is suddenly lowered into the water, thus entangling the birds beneath until the natives go into the water and secure them. Among the first specimens of art manufactured by the primitive inhabitants of these wilds none come so near our own as the net which, even in quality, as well as the mode of knotting, can scarcely be distinguished from those made in Europe. As these natives possess but little besides what was essentially necessary to their existence, we may conclude that they have used spears for killing the kangaroo, stone-axes for cutting out the opossum, and nets for catching birds, or kangaroos, or fish, since their earliest occupation of Australia.* Almost every specimen of art they possess is the result of urgent necessity. Perhaps the iron tomahawk is the only important addition made to their implements during many centuries.
(*Footnote. Isaiah 24:17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee.] "These images are taken from the different methods of hunting and taking wild beasts which were anciently in use. The snare or toils were a series of nets enclosing, at first, a great space of ground in which the wild beasts were known to be, and drawn in by degrees into a narrower compass till they were at last closely shut up and entangled in them." Harmer. This is precisely the method adopted by the Australian natives at present for the same or similar purposes.)
REMARKABLE CHARACTER OF THE LAKES.
On laying down my survey of the country which we had lately passed over I found that the lakes were nearly all circular or oval, and that a very regularly curved ridge, as before stated, bounded the eastern shore of all of them. The number of lakes or hollows of this character already seen by us to the south-west of the Murray amounted to eleven. In three of them the water was salt, and the greater number had no communication with the river; but between it and the others there was a narrow creek or gully, but accessible only to the highest floods. The northern margin of one of the salt lakes consisted of a bank of white sand on which grew thickly a kind of pine, different from the trees around. The channels between the river and the lakes seemed neither to belong to the original arrangement of watercourses, nor to ana-branches of the rivers; for they frequently extended upwards in directions opposed to that of the river's course. The fact being established that some of these lakes have no obvious connection with the river, it becomes probable that they are the remains of what the surface was before the fluviatile process began to carry off its waters. I had no difficulty in referring to an early system of this kind other lakes which we had seen elsewhere, the anomalous peculiarities of which were equally remarkable. Among these were Cudjallagong and others adjacent; Waljeers; the two smaller on the Murrumbidgee named Weromba; also Lake Benanee and Prooa its neighbour; in all which the peculiarities accorded with what I had observed in those on the left bank of the Murray.
MR. STAPYLTON'S EXCURSION IN SEARCH OF THE MAIN STREAM.
June 27.
The morning was clear and Mr. Stapylton set out with a party of six men to trace, if possible, the branch on which we were encamped into the main stream. At ten the weather became hazy; at noon the sky was overcast; and at two P.M. a steady rain set in which continued until six P.M. when the barometer began to rise and, the moon soon after shining out, the sky became once more serene. A hill apparently covered with good grass was within sight of our present camp but inaccessible from it because a reach of deep and still water intervened. This day I sent Burnett with Piper to the hill, and they brought me some of the soil which I found consisted of loose red sand.
MY RIDE TO MOUNT HOPE.
June 28.
The morning being fine I at length proceeded towards the hill which we had already twice seen from great distances. It bore 206 degrees 45 minutes (from North) and was exactly ten miles from our camp. After riding six miles through box-forest we crossed a dry creek, and immediately entered upon an extensive plain beyond which I had the satisfaction of seeing the hopeful hill straight before me.