Volume II Part 29 (1/2)

A fine clear morning gave full effect to the beauty of the country which I now saw to the eastward from a hill near our camp. The summit of the Victoria range crowned the distant landscape; and the whole of the intervening territory appeared to consist of green hills, partially wooded. We crossed a mountain-stream by filling up its bed with logs and, as we ascended the slopes beyond, we found the country gra.s.sy until we reached the high and wooded crest. Lofty stringybark trees and other timber grew there on a white sandy soil; but we found among the bushes abundance of the anthisteria or kangaroo gra.s.s.

After travelling some miles beyond this crest we at length found the ground sloping to the southward; and some swampy hollows with reeds in them obliged us to turn to the right or south-west, as the water in these depressed parts falling eastward, or to the left, showed that we were not so very near the river, on the right, which I was endeavouring to follow.

We were delayed in several of these hollows by the sinking of the carts and boat-carriage.

RIFLE RANGE.

We next traversed an extensive moor or heath on which the rising ground was firm, and a little way beyond it some rising ground bounded our view.

On ascending this highest feature which I named the Rifle range I found it commanded an extensive view over a low and woody country.

MOUNT GAMBIER FIRST SEEN FROM IT.

One peaked hill alone appeared on the otherwise level horizon and this bore 68 degrees West of South. I supposed this to be Mount Gambier near Cape Northumberland which, according to my survey, ought to have appeared in that direction at a distance of forty-five miles.

STERILE MOORS CROSSED BY THE PARTY.

I expected to find the river on reaching the lower country beyond this range; but instead of the Glenelg and the rich country on its banks we entered on extensive moors of the most sterile description. They were however firm enough for travelling upon, the surface being very level and the soil a whitish sand. These open wastes were interrupted in some parts by clumps of stringybark forest which entirely concealed from view the extent of this kind of country. Swamps full of water and containing reeds of a dark yellow colour at length became numerous; and although I succeeded in pursuing a course clear of these obstacles, we were obliged to encamp at twilight without having any immediate prospect of a better country before us. There was however abundance of gra.s.s in these wet swamps and our carts pa.s.sed over one quite covered with water without sinking. Our camp was marked out on a low hill of white sand on which grew mahogany and stringybark trees of large dimensions. The ridge from which we had descended now appeared continuous as far as we could see eastward.

NATIVES NUMEROUS BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE.

Much smoke arose from this lower country when we entered upon it and after sunset the incessant calls of a native were heard near our camp as if he had lost some comrade. I sent up a rocket that he might be convinced we had not arrived by stealth as the tribes do when they insidiously make war on each other, but he only reiterated his calls the more.

August 13.

At daybreak the cries of the native were renewed. I then made Piper cooey to him whereupon he became silent and I heard him no more, the natives of that country being, as Piper expressed it ”still very wild.” This morning we were on the march as soon as the sun rose, all being very anxious to see the river again and a better country. At two miles we pa.s.sed along a sandy ridge between two extensive swamps; but at a mile and a half farther I found at length a small hollow and water running in it, a feature which convinced me at once that the river could not be very distant. In the bank there was a thin stratum of sh.e.l.ly limestone bearing a resemblance to some of the oolitic limestones of England; and in the bed were irregular concretions of ironstone containing grains of quartz, some of the concretions having externally a glazed appearance arising from a thin coating of compact brown haemat.i.te.

AGAIN ARRIVE ON THE GLENELG.

Casuarinae and banksia growing on gra.s.sy slopes were the next marks of a different country from that of the swamps, and at less than a mile from this point we came upon the river.

INDIFFERENT COUNTRY ON ITS BANKS.

Its banks had a different character from that which they presented above but they were still fine.

BREADTH AND VELOCITY OF THE RIVER.

The river now flowed in a narrow valley, the bed being about 70 feet below the common level of the swampy flats. At sharp bends the banks consisted of cliffs of a soft limestone, composed in part of comminuted fragments of corallines, the interstices being rarely filled up; the rock contained also a few specimens of Foraminifera, most probably of recent species. In the narrow valley all was flouris.h.i.+ng and green, attesting the rich luxuriance of the alluvial soil. The mimosa trees predominated, but still the bushes of leptospermum darkened the stream which was deep, rapid, and muddy, its breadth being about 40 yards and the bed consisting of a friable or soft calcareous sandstone. In accompanying it in its course downward we met with less difficulty than I had expected, but I perceived that the barren swampy land, or more frequently the stringybark forests, approached the higher banks on both sides the river. The few ravines falling in our way were only the drains from swamps close at hand and they were easily crossed by the party at the fall of the ground, where we found rocky strata.

ENCAMP ON A TRIBUTARY.

After tracing the river more than four miles we encamped on an elevated point overlooking a flat of good gra.s.s, so necessary for the cattle.

August 14.

Some of the bullocks were missing and we were compelled to wait an hour or two while parties went in search of them; one party being guided by Piper, the other by the two Tommies. I availed myself of the leisure afforded by this delay to measure the breadth, depth, and velocity of the river which were respectively as follows:

Average breadth: 35 yards.

Mean depth: 17 feet.

Velocity of the current: 1,863 yards per hour; the general course, as far as we had traced this portion being nearly South-East.

When most of the cattle had been brought in we proceeded and, in endeavouring to keep along the highest ground between the swamps, I unavoidably left the river at some distance on our right, a circ.u.mstance I considered of less consequence as the ground appeared to be falling on my left towards some tributary; and at four miles we came upon a small river flowing rapidly in a valley nearly as deep and wide as the main stream. The country on its immediate bank looked better than that last found on the main stream. Limestone rock appeared in the bank opposite and at the foot of some cliffs we found fossil oyster-sh.e.l.ls. Mr.