Volume I Part 17 (2/2)

Before the first dawn I called some of the party and we started off to visit the banks of the river. The first part of our journey lay across rich gra.s.sy flats, thinly wooded with large shady trees, or over gently rising grounds, on which grew an abundance of young gra.s.s which appeared to be a species of oat. These rising grounds were thinly wooded with a small sort of gum tree, called in the Isle of France the Bois noir.

We soon reached low marshy land intersected with large dry mud flats and, as it was impossible, from the nature of the country, to get the pony further, I tethered it, and we tried to make the river on foot. The position which we had selected was however so unfavourable that we did not succeed in reaching the river, and my wound became so painful that I was scarcely able to crawl back to the pony.

We then returned to the tents, which we reached in the afternoon, and I sent another party out to examine the country and to see if they could find a more favourable position for the tent where we might be less exposed to the mosquitoes. The remainder of the men were employed in repairing the packsaddles and in mending our shoes, which were in a very dilapidated condition. The detached party, on their return, reported that they could not find a more favourable position for the tents; and that we appeared to be on a low marshy tongue of land which the river nearly flowed round. We this day saw the tracks of an emu, and of several large dogs, and kangaroos.

ASCEND A HILL.

March 4.

By sunrise I had gained the foot of the highest hill near our encampment.

It is a very remarkable rocky eminence; in height above the immediate base it was only 250 feet, but it rose by a regular steep slope from the river, which was distant about four miles. I do not think therefore that its height above the level of the sea was less than 800 feet. I was unable to ride up this hill, from the rocky nature of the ground, which was composed of a basalt resembling that of the Isle of France; its sides were slightly wooded and clothed with a fine gra.s.s nearly as high as myself. From the heaviness of the dew, walking through a river would have been about as agreeable as walking through this gra.s.s; but when I had reached the summit the view amply repaid me for the trouble of the ascent.

VIEW OF THE GLENELG FROM IT.

The river flowed through a rich and fertile country at the base of the hill, having in some places hereabouts a triple channel formed by large and apparently fertile islands, and its width must have been at least three or four miles; it however ran away so much to the north-eastward that I began to fear it might be a great salt-water inlet, communicating in some manner with Prince Regent's River, and that we might thus find ourselves upon a large island. I had a good view of the valley for 10 or 12 miles in an easterly direction over a country still very fertile, but all that I saw tended to make me believe that the river had some communication with the sea, somewhere towards the north-east.

We reached the camp before breakfast; and, as this was Sunday and our ponies were rapidly improving from the goodness of their feed, I determined to halt here for a day or two whilst a detachment examined the country to ascertain, if possible, whether we were on an island or not, and whether it was possible to cross the river near our present position.

March 5.

This morning accordingly an exploring party started; and, as it was necessary that they should traverse the country on foot so as to be able to cross the low marshy grounds near the river, I was, on account of my wound, unable to accompany them, and therefore occupied myself in making a set of magnetic observations.

March 6.

This afternoon Mr. Lus.h.i.+ngton and the party returned, having found the northern bank of the river to consist of low marshy ground covered with a luxuriant vegetation, and in some places with such forests of mangrove trees that it was impossible to approach the stream. They however succeeded in reaching one of the channels of the river, which was upwards of 400 yards wide; the rise and fall of tide was here about twenty feet, and the current, of course, extremely rapid. They reported the river as being, to all appearance, navigable, and that the tide only set in from the westward.

THE RIVER.

As the southern bank of the river was bordered by high rocky hills they saw nothing of the country in that direction. Their report was on the whole satisfactory, for it appeared that the good country still extended along the northern bank, and that we were upon the mainland.

PORPOISES SEEN.

A good idea may be formed of the size of the river where the party made it from the circ.u.mstance of their seeing a large shoal of porpoises.

IGUANA. DENSENESS OF VEGETATION.

March 7.

This morning we started early in a north-easterly direction and travelled all day through a very fertile and picturesque country. On our left lay hills covered with gra.s.s, and on our right extensive plains, through which ran the Glenelg. The vegetation in these was so luxuriant that it choked the fresh water up; and whole plains were sometimes thus inundated ankle deep. The country was thinly timbered, but in general the trees were of a very great size: one particularly took my fancy, having very large leaves about the colour of those of the horse-chestnut, and which cast more shade around them than any other which I have seen in Australia.

In the afternoon, as we were pa.s.sing through a densely vegetated bottom, we saw a very large iguana run up a tree. This brute was of a beautiful green colour and five or six feet long; it sat on the tree, making a noise somewhat like a snake, and was the largest and ugliest of the lizard tribe which I have ever seen on land. As we could make no use of it I thought it would be wanton to kill it; so, after examining it as well as we could, we moved on, leaving it undisturbed.

The black flies on this day changed their character, and became much smaller than those I had hitherto seen.

March 8.

We made but little progress today on account of the denseness of the vegetation, which was so luxuriant that we found great difficulty in forcing our way through it; in several instances indeed it was wholly impa.s.sable; and, after making an attempt to penetrate through a jungle, we were obliged to turn about and coast round it. The numerous streams we met with were also a serious impediment, for many of these were so muddy and deep that we had great difficulty in finding a place where we could cross.

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