Volume I Part 13 (2/2)
Tarrant, in one of the whaleboats; we reached the ht between them and the eastern shore On the 8th the tide suited us but badly, and ere only able to proceed about four miles beyond Escape Point, where we secured the boats in a creek out of the influence of the tide We found much less water off Escape Point than on our former visit
EXCURSION INTO THE INTERIOR
In the evening we made an excursion into the interior It was one vast unbroken level, covered with a strong and wiry grass, intersected with nuh-water, there were also indications of ular, visits from the sea Here and there a solitary tree assisted us in esti the distance we had walked We sao emus in this plain, which appeared also a favourite resort of quail and a bronze-winged pigeon We could not get within shot of the wary eood sport, notwithstanding the ceaseless attacks of the rass, and defied anything less is, encumbrances not desirable for a pedestrian with the therrees, particularly orn over a pair of Flushi+ng trousers Thus defended, I could, in soht, under the additional security afforded by a large painted coat, contrived to secure two or three hours of unbroken rest--a luxury few of my companions enjoyed
It ith much disappointment that we found the channel occupied, at loater, by athe extensive h soether destroyed by this malapropos discovery, and we still looked forith an interest but little abated, to the results of a complete survey of our new discovery
March 9
Weclose to the eastern bank of the river, where there appeared at loater, the largest strea the sinuosity of the shore, our general direction was south, and after we had thus proceeded two miles, we found the width of the river suddenly contract from three miles to one The banks were low and covered with a coarse grass
NATIVES
Herethree natives, stretching their long spare bodies over the bank, watching the leading boat with the fixed gaze of apparent terror and anxiety Sso rivetted was their attention, that they allowed my boat to approach unnoticed within a very short distance of theave a yell oftherass, were alreatly alariven them confidence, was not with us, it seemed hopeless to attempt any communication with them, much as we should have liked to convince thes forh even of our existence they could have had no previous idea
EXPLORATION OF THE RIVER
Sixour southerly direction, brought us to so al only confined and shallow channels; through one of which we had, at half tide, soe for the boats The river noidened out a little, and we found the deep water near the western bank, the appearance of the country reht at a rocky point on the east side of the river, one mile south from the most western islet of the chain just described as al our ascent The depth of the river at this point was about twelve feet at loater; and its breadth some four or five hundred yards We found the water fresh at all ti ten feet less than its greatest rise eight h-water at the full and change of the moon occurs at 4 hours 10 minutes PM
This was the first rock for Point Torrained red sandstone, darkened and rendered heavy by the presence of ferruginous particles The appearance of the country now began to iher up, the western appeared clothed in verdure I noticed here the saht's bivouac; it was sh bark, not unlike that of the coreen, contrasted with the evergreen Eucalypti by which it was surrounded, reive the charlish woods, and lend to each succeeding season a distinctive and characteristic beauty
(Footnote The diaht inches: it was exceedingly hard, and of a very dark red colour, except a white rim about an inch in thickness This orked and looked the best, in a table I had made out of various specimens of woods collected on the North-west coast of Australia)
SUFFERINGS FROM MOSQUITOES
Ito our old eneht is too deeply engraven on otten
NIGHT OF TORMENT
They swars in which the ht to protect theing persecutors Woe to the unhappy wretch who had left unclosed the least hole in his bag; the persevering mosquitoes surely found it out, and as surely drove the luckless occupant out of his retreat I noticed oneover the fire till it was quite full of s the mouth over his head at the apparent risk of suffocation; he obtained three hours of what he gratefully tered from his shelter, where he had been stewed up with the therined
Our hands were in constant requisition to keep the tormentors from the face and ears, which often received a hearty whack, aimed in the fruitless irritation of the mo headache to the list of annoyances Strike as you please, the ceaseless hu of the invincible mosquito close to your ear seems to mock his unhappy victim!
One poor fellohose patience was quite exhausted, fairly jumped into the river to escape further persecution
We had the wind fro the afternoon, but at 6 PM it veered round to North-North-West
While getting the observations for time and latitude, some of us were compelled to remain quiet, an opportunity our tiny assailants instantly availed the our faces and hands To listen quietly to their huht put the patience of Job himself to a severe trial
ASCENT OF THE FITZROY
March 10
After such a night of tor partaken of an early breakfast, proceeded on our interesting discovery The first reach took us more than atowards the latter end nearly a quarter of a ht feet) was on the west side, and a dry flat of sand fronted the other for soed, first to South-East then round to West-North-West enclosing ato the water being very shoal, in getting our boats through the next reach, which was ratherour way through threeSouth-South-West--South-West, and South and froue attending a long and unsatisfactory day's work, warned us that it was tih we had but little hopes of obtaining any We had eneral South-West by West direction Our progress being delayed by the difficulty we had in getting the boats over the shallows, and by a current running at the rate of from one to twothe day from one to fourteen feet, and its width from three to five hundred yards In the deep reaches were the wrecks of large trees, rearing their decayed heads, in evidence of the resistless fury of the torrent that had torn the some vast inundation, traces of which still remain on the banks, eneral aspect of the country had improved, and the eastern bank reached an elevation of 20 feet; it was covered with long, green grass, and thickly wooded with a luxuriant growth of the white eucalyptus, while the almost total absence of every appearance of animal life, impressed an air of solemn tranquillity upon the whole scene Perhaps it was fro scenery that ere so ilded clouds reat ruler of the day It was scarcely possible to behold a ht, his rise, as he tinged the eastern sky, was hailed with even greater delight
March 11
At daylight I clihest tree I could find on the eastern bank of the river, in order to get a peep at the surrounding country The prospect, however, was but limited The landscape presented to my vieas an almost uninterrupted level; open woodlands, with here and there a few grassy spots, were its prevailing features I could see nothing of the river itself beyond the reach in which the boats were lying; its upper extremity bore South by West and was about half athis tree, which I hoped to make available in our farther ascent of the Fitzroy, should we be so fortunate as to accomplish its further exploration, or in any si our examination of these untrodden wilds It was this, and I mention it, as the hint may be useful to others: I found our eneher portions of the tree, and that by cliht's repose, or at least a night undisturbed by their attacksback to the boats, we pushed on, but were so to the end of the reach, the shallowness of the water rendering our advance difficult and tedious; entering at length the next, which trended South-West for about half a radually widened out until it attained a breadth of about half that space An extensive flat of sand fronted the eastern bank, which was very low, and though now dry, bore undoubtednot unfrequently visited by floods The western bank of the next reach was low and broken, evidently forrassy islands when the river is in a higher state
Soht, formed the opposite bank of this reach, which extended barely a quarter of a mile, in from a South by East to a South by West direction; and varied in width from one to two hundred yards We now entered a lake-like reach of the river, trending south for aa breadth of about a hundred yards, and a depth intwice that which we had usually found in any of the lower reaches, with scarcely any strea this remarkable sheet of water, we noticed a rock forrained red sandstone, with fragments of quartz, and extended for nearly a quarter of a e of the water Overof a dark and metallic appearance, about three inches thick; and the surface in places presented a glazed or smelted appearance Mr Darwin, in his work upon volcanic islands, page 143, alludes to this forinous beds,” and thus concludes his observations: ”The origin of these superficial beds, though sufficiently obscure, see with iron”
As we proceeded along this canal, for such was the appearance of the reach ere now ascending, we surprised a se, beneath a high mound of loose white sand, over which the children were so with anxiety and fear, as they half buried themselves beneath its treacherous surface; and soain to the base All parental care see sense of present danger, caused by the strange and unknown spectacle thus suddenly presented to the gaze of these poor savages Our white faces, curious garular motions and unaccustomed sounds of our heavy oars, must indeed have filled them with amazement I have since frequently re the various tribes who first learnt through us the existence of their white brethren, than almost any other instrument of which they could at all understand the use; perhaps, as they propel their frail rafts with a spear, they jumped to the conclusion, that our oars were also iiven us a for the trees on the banks of this natural canal, two varieties of the palm; both kinds had been observed by Mr Brown in the Gulf of Carpentaria, during Captain Flinders' voyage
At the end of this reach, which extended for a mile and a half in a South-East by South direction, the river was scarcely 50 yards wide, and the depth had decreased from 12 to 6 feet; the current, scarcely perceptible in the deep water, now ran with a velocity of from one to two miles per hour Here, therefore, the Fitzroy may be said to assume all the more distinctive features of an Australian river: deep reaches, connected by shallows, and probably forhts which characterize Australia, an unlinked chain of ponds or lagoons; and in places, leaving no other indication of its former existence than the water-worn banks and deep holes, thirsty and desolate as a desert plain
At this point, the river divided into two branches, one having an East-South-East, and the other a South-South-East direction Anxious to deterer, best deserved our exploration, we landed at a high grassy point on the west bank Frohbourhood, I commanded an extensive view of the wide and far-spread landscape then first submitted to the scrutiny of a European
Varied and undefined are the thoughts called forth at such a moment; the past, the present, and the future, at once occupy, and als acco for the first time upon a vast and unknown land, thelife by which it is infor fancies, called into life as by the wand of thefor a while to the influence of the scene, I was glad to perceive the greater nitude of the southerly branch of the river, which offered the most direct line into the interior I could trace each stream for nearly three miles, but that which trended to the east was a h a perfectly level country Seven miles was about as far as the eye could reach over this weariso level To the ard the country was open; the trees were srassy patches between; but in other directions, it was densely wooded, and on the eastern bank the trees were large In the branches of the one I ascended, rushes, deposited by the current, were found 20 feet above the present level of the stream This part of the country is therefore sometimes visited by heavy floods; they do not, however, seem to depend immediately upon the quantity of rain, for while the whole face of the landscape indicated large and recent supplies, the river appeared little, if at all, affected by them