Volume I Part 15 (1/2)

With this view Coles and myself searched until after sunset, but without success. We found the ravine bounded throughout its southern side by inaccessible cliffs. Occasionally little branch ravines ran into it; but on penetrating for some distance up these they invariably terminated in precipitous cascades. A great portion of this afternoon was spent up to our middles in water as we waded about the flooded valley; and the only thing we had to compensate us for the fatigue and suffering we underwent was the wild beauty of the scenery, which was as lovely and picturesque as impetuous torrents, foaming cascades, lofty rocks, and a rich tropical vegetation could render it.

NATIVES.

On our return homewards, wearied and disappointed, we came close upon a large party of natives before they were aware of our presence. Coles had followed me up the northern bank of the ravine, and we thus occupied a good position; the natives had, I suppose, wished to avoid us, for we saw no more of them, but merely heard the sound of their retiring voices as they moved up the centre of the valley. We now returned to the men we had left in charge of the stores, and reached the tent soon after dark.

LABOUR OF TRACING AND FORMING A PATH.

February 7.

This day was pa.s.sed in constructing the pathway which was to lead us down into the deep ravine in our front. Whilst the men were thus engaged I traversed the country I had yesterday visited in the hope that I might yet find some outlet into the good country which would take us clear of the others; but my searches were in vain. Only one man accompanied me, and I completely knocked him up ere the evening closed in upon us. We then were obliged to retrace our steps to the camp, and I now found myself perfectly worn out by the fatigue consequent on such continued and violent walking exercise under a tropical sun.

It was however cheering to me to see how constantly some of the men had laboured at forming the road down the valleys which led into the ravine.

The horses had been brought down thus far; but three more of them had died, so that our twenty-six ponies were reduced to nineteen, many of whom were in wretched condition.

CONTINUED DIFFICULTIES OF ROUTE.

February 8.

We again resumed our journey towards the interior; but the pathway, which ran through the valleys leading to the summit of the ravine, was still so broken and difficult that the ponies could only carry half loads along it; and the descent down the clifTs was so steep that they were obliged to be unladen and led into the ravine without their burdens, which were carried down upon the men's shoulders. Men could not have behaved better than they all did on this occasion, particularly Corporal Auger who, possessing the power of carrying on his back very heavy burdens, took every occasion of exercising it in such a way as to stimulate the others, and very much to accelerate our movements.

But even when we had with so much labour got ponies, stores, etc. to the bottom of the ravine, our troubles had, as it were, only commenced, for we now had to get out of it on the other side. In the course of the afternoon however a path had been made, and most of the stores were safely stowed upon an elevated tableland where we had pitched the tents.

The place I had chosen for our camp was a pretty spot; a sweet, short herbage had been raised by the heavy rains from the sandy soil, and amongst this the beauteous flowers, for which Australia is deservedly celebrated, were so scattered and intermixed that they gave the country an enamelled appearance. A lofty species of Casuarina was intermingled with trees of a denser foliage, and on each side we looked down into two deep ravines; through the dense dark foliage of which could be seen the white foaming waters brawling on their way far below.

The next day was occupied in bringing up the remainder of the stores from the ravine and repairing the damages which had resulted from the bursting of bags and other mischief in their transit over such rough ground. Early in the morning we all had a good bathe, and only those who have been so constantly engaged under a burning sun, and for upwards of a week without regularly was.h.i.+ng or undressing, can at all estimate the pleasure with which I plunged into the clear and rapid stream.

ASCENT FROM THE RAVINE.

After thus performing our ablutions we breakfasted, and then, whilst the stores were being conveyed to the tableland, I started, accompanied by one man, to explore a route for our line of march next day. After continuing on the tableland for about a mile I traced a good route both into and out of another ravine; the stream which occupied the bed of this was so swollen that I had some difficulty in finding a ford across it; but after a few rather ludicrous plunges and falls upon the green slippery rocks I succeeded in detecting a tolerably good one. Our line of route now lay across some elevated open plains, clothed with spinifex, and thinly wooded with a large species of Eucalyptus. We saw here numerous signs of the natives, who had been cutting steps in the trees for the purpose of hunting opossums. These open plains extended for about two miles, and we then reached another small ravine, with a rapid stream running through it. A very good route brought us across this slight descent and stream; and from this point no further impediment of any consequence appeared to lie in our way. The direction in which I now wished to travel presented a series of rocky, sandy plains, thinly wooded, and affording a scanty sufficiency of food for the ponies.

EXHAUSTION FROM FATIGUE. COLD RAINS.

During the time I was searching for this route the rain had fallen in torrents, and the quant.i.ty of ground I had walked over was so considerable that I was exhausted; riding was quite impossible in these excursions as, in many places where the ground was covered with loose rocks overgrown with a vegetation which concealed treacherous cavities, it was necessary to pa.s.s across it two or three times before I could determine whether a horse could move over it or not. Today I found myself completely knocked up, and felt certain that I could not for many days longer bear up against such continued fatigues. On my return to the camp I found all prepared for a start tomorrow; but many of the horses were so ill as to be incapable of carrying more than half a load.

February 10.

We moved off at daybreak and, having reached the ravine, set to work to form a pathway down the descent, and up the ascent on the other side, under the additional disadvantage of heavy rain. The sudden transition from the rays of a burning sun to this cold bath made my teeth chatter as if I had a tertian ague. When half our work was completed we breakfasted in the beautiful ravine amidst the dark luxuriant vegetation of the tropics, formed by the panda.n.u.s, bamboo, and palm.

After breakfast the men recommenced their labour on the road. About two P.M. it was completed, and we then loaded the ponies and set out. The poor animals were however so weak that it was almost impossible to get them to move; they stumbled and fell repeatedly, and thus thereby not only injured themselves but so delayed our movements that we only made three miles and a half during the day, and then halted for the night on very elevated land, and in a good position, for we were on a little sandy rise, along the base of which ran a stream, distant about one hundred yards.

WORST DIFFICULTIES SURMOUNTED.

Having thus gained the elevated plains I laid down to sleep, satisfied that the worst of our labours were over; yet I could not but recollect that it had taken us ten days to reach a spot which by the proper route was only a short day's journey from the valley we were first encamped in, and that in our march through the country we had been compelled to traverse we had lost seven ponies, and injured many of those remaining; all these difficulties arose from our departure having been delayed so long that the rains had set in and so flooded the country that we could not proceed by the proper route.

CHAPTER 8. TO THE GLENELG RIVER.

MEETING AND ENCOUNTER WITH THE NATIVES.

February 11.