Volume I Part 14 (1/2)

SCENERY AND THUNDERSTORM.

On the northern bank lofty mountains, crowned with castellated summits, rear their sterile heads over the broad waters, and fling their giant shadows on the bosom of the basin, forming a scene of surpa.s.sing beauty.

We had entered the more contracted channel of the river, when there came on a tremendous squall of wind, rain, thunder, and most vivid lightning.

The pealing echoes of the thunder as they bounded from height to height and from cliff to cliff was awfully magnificent; whilst the rugged mountains which had just before looked golden in the bright light of the setting sun were now shrouded in gloomy mists, and capped with dark clouds from which issued incessant and dazzling flashes of lightning.

During this grand and terrific elemental convulsion our little boat was driven powerless before the blast. The impenetrable forests of mangroves which clothed the riverbanks obliging us to run far up the stream until at last a convenient opening enabled us to land upon the southern sh.o.r.e.

DELUSIVE APPEARANCE ON THE ROCKS.

We had not long landed when the rain ceased and, as we found several natural caverns in the rock and plenty of dead mangrove trees, we proceeded to make ourselves comfortable for the night; but the men soon reported that they saw the smoke of a native fire close to us, and Captain Browse and myself, under the conviction that such was the case, darted with Mr. Walker to endeavour to gain an interview. But, as we proceeded over the rocks, the smoke appeared gradually to retire, always keeping about the same distance from us: and we at last ascertained that what had appeared to us to be smoke was nothing but the rising vapour occasioned by the cold rain falling on sandstone rocks, which had during the whole day been exposed to the burning rays of a tropical sun.

We had now become so much accustomed to sleeping without any covering, and upon hard rocks, that we should not have minded our exposure had it not been for the rain which fell during the night and beat in under the rocks, beneath which we had crept for shelter. The cold air of the morning awoke us long before daylight; and Mr. Walker and myself, having explored the country to the southward and climbed a high hill from which we had an extensive view, we started on our return to the schooner. In proceeding down the river we landed on an island, situate at the south-eastern extremity of St. George's Basin, just where the river runs into it. The presence of large dead trees on this island, which had evidently been swept down the river in the time of floods and washed up far above the usual water-mark, showed that Prince Regent's River is subject to the same sudden inundations as all other rivers in Australia which I have seen. During our pa.s.sage down the river we saw no extent of good land in any one place.

STATE OF THE STOCK.

For the next few days we had almost uninterrupted bad weather. The party were all occupied in preparing the saddles, etc. The ponies having eaten off the gra.s.s in the ravine, we were compelled, about the 28th, to move them to the higher grounds. These at our first arrival on this coast were perfectly dry and burnt up; but since the heavy rains had set in they teemed with running springs, along the margins of which grew a scanty coating of gra.s.s. Being obliged to send the horses to a distance to graze delayed us a great deal for one portion of our party was occupied in attending upon them. Our sheep also now began to die off: they had up to this time improved rapidly and were doing very well, having, during the absence of the vessel, been regularly tended and driven to the high dry ground to feed; but now the pressure of business was so great that we were compelled in some degree to neglect them, and from this they suffered. The goats had from some cause never succeeded well.

From the period of their being landed many of the horses had declined very much, and several of them were by this time reduced to a very weakly state. This originated from the heavy rains and the excessive cold which accompanied them, as well as from some food they had eaten which had not agreed with them. On the 28th and 29th the rains increased in violence and duration; but we still continued our occupations of completing the packsaddles and arranging the stores in such small packages that they could easily in case of necessity be transported on men's shoulders.

FINAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE MARCH.

Having provided every requisite for the party, such as food, working utensils, soap, tobacco, etc., all of which were arranged in their respective packages, I issued an order that nothing but certain articles of clothing for each individual were to be put upon the ponies. This step was rendered the more necessary from their weakness and their diminutive size having greatly abridged our intended means of transport. Numerous requests were now made to me to be allowed to put various articles upon the horses, all of which I felt myself obliged to meet by a steady refusal; but this refusal, dictated entirely by the necessity of the case, raised angry and discontented feelings, tending to diminish materially the individual zeal and energy which were so much required at this juncture to ensure our success.

DEPARTURE FOR THE INTERIOR. DIFFICULTIES OF THE ROUTE.

On the 29th we began in the afternoon to load our horses. Mr. Walker's pathway was completed by means of a number of circuitous and sharp turnings: it led directly up the face of cliffs which were almost precipitous and 180 feet in height. To commemorate the completion of this really laborious undertaking I named the valley Walker's Valley.

TROUBLESOME ASCENT FROM THE VALLEY. SICKNESS AND MORTALITY AMONG THE HORSES AND STOCK.

The ponies, though weak, bore their burdens and submitted to the packsaddles better than I had hoped. The first horse was led up by the stock-keeper in safety, with its saddle and load on it; I followed with the second, but was not so fortunate. I had accomplished about three-fourths of the ascent when, turning one of the sharp corners round a rock, the load struck against it and knocked the horse over on its side. I thought for a moment that the poor beast would have fallen down the precipice, but luckily its roll was checked in time to prevent this.

There it lay however on a flat rock, four or five feet wide, a precipice of 150 feet on one side of it, and the projecting rock against which it had struck on the other, whilst I sat upon its head to prevent it from moving. Its long tail streamed in the wind over the precipice; its wild and fiery eye gleamed from its s.h.a.ggy mane and forelock; and, ignorant of its impending danger, it kicked and struggled violently, whilst it appeared to hang in mid-air over the gloomy depth of this tropical ravine. Anxious as I felt for the safety of my pony I could not be unconscious of the singular beauty of the scene during the few minutes that elapsed whilst I was repressing its struggles on a narrow ledge of rock, of which the dark brow projected threateningly above me, whilst the noise of a rus.h.i.+ng torrent was audible far below. I cut the girths of the saddle, which then with its load rolled over the precipice, and pitched with a heavy crash on a rock far down. Even then, if the brute had not been a denizen of a wild and mountainous country, it must have been lost; but now it no sooner felt itself freed from its enc.u.mbrance than, looking sagaciously around and then raising itself cautiously up, it stood trembling by my side upon the narrow terrace.

Warned by this misfortune we managed to make another turn in the path, by which this awkward rock was avoided, and the remainder of the horses, with their loads, reached the tableland in safety. But so rocky was this country that, even after having mastered the ascent, we found great difficulty in getting the loaded ponies half a mile further to a point I had fixed on for our camp. We had this night a continued succession of heavy showers, accompanied with thunder and lightning.

January 30.

This morning it was reported to me that several sheep were dead, and that the horses were beginning to suffer much from constant exposure to the heavy cold rains, for the trees were so small, and their foliage so slight, that they afforded no shelter whatever from tropical showers. On repairing to the ravine I found that the stream which even yesterday was much swollen had now become an impetuous torrent, so much so that even to swim across it was not an easy matter. A tree was soon felled and a temporary foot-bridge thus formed; and as the rain cleared off a little towards the afternoon we managed, in this interval of fine weather, to load the ponies and carry some stores up the cliffs, but the poor beasts were so much weakened since yesterday that we were obliged to diminish their loads considerably. They all appeared to be gradually declining in health, strength, and condition, but from what cause except exposure I could not tell.

IMPEDIMENTS FROM BAD WEATHER.

January 31.

During last night we had heavy storms, the torrent was still more swollen and, although we laboured hard all day, we accomplished very little; several sheep died during the day, and the ponies appeared to be worse. I became now very anxious as to the result of the expedition; my worst apprehensions as to the rainy season setting in before we had got clear of the sandstone ranges had already been fully realized; every endeavour to hasten our preparations and to prevent this occurrence had been used, though unsuccessfully; it appeared now the better course to bear up against evils that could not be avoided than to lose time in murmuring; I therefore kept all hands constantly employed in doing something which might tend to accelerate our departure.

HEAVY RAINS.

February 1.