Part 5 (1/2)
Marsilea grows everywhere on the flats; and a fine little pea plant with a solitary red blossost the basaltic rocks round the water-hole We observed, growing along the creek, another species of Portulaca, with linear fleshy leaves, erect stem, and small yelloers; and a half-shrubby Malvaccous plant, with small clustered yellow blossoms: the latter is common at the outside of scrubs in the Moreton Bay district We also rereen foliage, and three-winged capsules slightly united at the base; and another sed capsules united in all their length; the last is nearly allied to Dodonaea
I never before saw nor heard so many cockatoos as I did at Comet Creek
Swarms of the the air ring with their incessant screahts to their favourite haunts, froaroos; and shot soeons; in the crop of one I found a s spire,--a for seen before in the colony A considerable nu in the water-hole; they were generally seen in the shalloater with their heads above the surface, but, at our approach, dived into the deepest part of the hole Our daily allowance of flour was now reduced to three pounds Our provisions disappear rapidly, and the wear and tear of our clothes and harness is very great; but, as our wants increase, our desires becoreen hide furnishes a the the harness The latitude of this ca rass and water, I followed the creek, with Brown, in expectation of a long ride, as Messrs Gilbert and Roper had been forward about nineany We very soon left the open country, and entered the vilest scrub we had ever before encountered The parallel lines of lagoons disappeared, and the banks of the creek becahbouring scrub, not being intercepted by lagoons, is washed by heavy rains into the bed of the creek, which was no longer sandy, but inclined to the for it iht sandy soil, disappeared at the same time, and was succeeded by the narrow-leaved Melaleuca The flooded-gureat size About twelve miles from the camp, a small water-hole appeared in the bed of the creek This was the first we hadits banks a distance of seventyabout four miles farther, we passed a succession of fine water-holes well supplied ater; and others were found in the adjoining creeks Afterwards, however, the water suddenly disappeared again; and for eight rass was growing in it We had every prospect of passing the night without water, as the sun was sinking fast; but we fortunately reached a s a little water, which we had to share with our horses, with a seons; the latter, surprised at our presence, first alighted on the neighbouring trees to observe us, and then hurried down to take their evening draught
Jan 7--I travelled farther down the river, and again came, after a ride of three miles, into a atered country, but still occupied by scrub; in which the Capparis, with its large white sweet-scented blossoms, was very frequent; but its sepals, petals, and stahtest touch Its fruit was like a sent seeds were ireeable to eat At last the scrub ceased, and, over an open rise on the right side of Coe of bluea continuation of good country At this time a fine water-hole was at hand, and invited us to stop and make our luncheon on dried beef and a pot of tea Whilst I was preparing the tea, Broent to shoot pigeons; and, whilst thus employed, he was surprised by the cooee of a Blackfellow; and, on looking round, he saw one on the opposite bank of the creek oing Brown pointed down the creek; the black then gave hi upward to join his wife We started about half-an-hour afterwards, and met with hihter, and his son He was a fine old htened; they left all their things at the fire, as if offering theeons, which had been shot by Brown We asked the to e could understand frons, was plentiful lower down the creek In returning holes of the creek, and passed through a much finer and more open country On its left bank we passed a scrub creek containing oons At my arrival in the camp, I was inforh none had showed theht miles to the northward, and halted at a fine water-hole in a scrub creek joining Co hiaroos and wallabies are very frequent; several brush turkeys were seen, and the partridge and bronze-winged pigeons are very plentiful Our latitude was 23 degrees 51down to the water-hole, where we had met the Blackfellow and his family, we kept a little tooa more open country; instead, however, of an improvement, we encountered sandy hills covered with a dense low scrub and cypress-pine The latter alht sandstone elevations in a scrubby country After sur many difficulties, we came upon a broad scrub creek, in the dry bed of which we travelled down to Comet Creek, which we followed, and at last reached our intended cae had suffered severely, and we devoted the next day to sundry repairs The weather was very hot: the night clear Our latitude was 23 degrees 41 minutes 14 seconds
Jan 10--To prevent unnecessary loss of ti excursions, and to render theed that both the blacks should go with ht send one back fro the party on, whilst I continued to explore the country with the other Under this arrange the creek, it was found to sweep to the eastward, round a high plain of rich black soil, and covered with luxuriant vegetation This plain is basaltic, but, in the valley of the creek, sandstone crops out below it The slopes froullies, which ain turned to the west and north-west, the water-holes increased both in size and nuh the flats within the valley were limited and intersected by watercourses I sent Charley back ere about seven miles NW by N from our camp, and proceeded with Bron the creek, which, at about four ht, joined a river co to the east and north-east It was not, however, running, but forht th, and frequently fro to our view the finest succession of large sheets of water we had seen since leaving the Brisbane Its course continued through a very deep and winding valley, bounded by high but generally level land The gullies going down to the river were generally covered with a belt of thick scrub, as was also the high land nearest to it; but, farther off, the country appeared to bewith open forest land, but yet, in places, much occupied by tracts of almost impervious scrub of various extent We one down the river, having previously burned the grass, leaving very little for our horses and cattle At 8 o'clock PM a fine strong northerly breeze ca its broad open valley, and which I supposed to be the sea breeze This supposition was so at the sa
The plains are basaltic, and occasionally covered with pebbles of white and iron-coloured quartz and congloht elevations, which are probably colomerate, and usually covered with low scrub and cypress-pine
Sandstone crops out in the gullies of the valley, in horizontal strata, so, others like the blue clay beds of Newcastle, with the impressions of fern-leaves identical with those of that formation At the junction of Coood coal, and large trunks of trees changed into ironstone I called this river the ”Mackenzie,” in honour of Sir Evan Mackenzie, Bart, as a sreat assistance which he rendered me in the preparations for my expedition Farther down the river, the country became better watered, even at a distance fro down between scrubby sandstone hills, were full of water, and a chain of fine lagoons was crossed, covered with splendid blue Nyeons rose fro, and ducks and pelicans were numerous on the stretches of water in the bed of the river Heaps of fresh-waterwith fish, apparently of considerable size, as their splashi+ng startled ht, and e tribe of natives were bathing
A very stiff high grass beca the river On the plains there were fields of native carrots, now dry; also of vervain and burr The long-podded cassia was plentiful, and its young seeds tasted well, but considerably affected the bowels
cu: the afternoon was clear, and the night bright
When I returned to the camp on the 11th January, h plains they had observed a high range to the north-west
Jan 12--I removed my camp down Comet Creek, and followed the Mackenzie for a fewits bank Cole; the direction of the latter being east, and the course of the forht several fine fishes and an eel, in the water-holes of the Mackenzie The fores on the lower lip, and two on the upper; dorsal fin 1 spine 6 rays, and an adipose fin, pectoral 1 spine 8 rays; ventral 6 rays; anal 17 rays; caudal 17-18 rays; velvety teeth in the upper and lower jaws, and in the palatal bones Head flat, belly broad; back of a greenish silver-colour; belly silvery white; length of the body 15-20 inches It ular noise when taken out of the water
We found here Unios of a fine pink and purple colour inside the valves, and a new species of Cyclas with longitudinal ribs S each other, annoy us veryus severely, and the other falling into our soup and tea, and covering our ht-breeze protects us from the mosquitoes A pretty lizard (Tiliqua) of sht, and see linear drooping leaves, that had been observed at the Dawson, re-appeared both on Comet Creek and the banks of the Mackenzie Our latitude was 23 degrees 33 minutes 38 seconds
Jan 13--We travelled about nine h open forest land, and several plains skirted on both sides by scrub I observed a new species of Flindersia, a se and very regular branches, forrees 29about threethe banks of the river--having, at about a ood-sized creek on its left bank--the river took a sudden bend to the ard, and a large creek cole to its course As we proceeded, we ca out of the water, but who, on reaching a distance in which they thought the at us as we slowly and peaceably passed by In the bed of the river, which was here broad and sandy, a bean was gathered, bearing race slender ste it round shrubs and trees: its pods were fro, and about half an inch broad, containing from four to six seeds, very sirowing in the sandy beds, or along the bergs of alht; for the seeds, after roasting and pounding thereeable substitute for coffee
We passed soical section of horizontal layers of sandstone and coal-slate There were also soreater part of those visible were of a slaty character Nodules of Ironstone were very frequent in the sandstone
After having fixed upon a place to pitch the tent, and after some refreshment, I started withthe course of the river, which eneral direction was to the north-east We passed over some very fine flats of bastard-box, silver-leaved Ironbark, and white gum, with a few scattered Acacia-trees, ree, and ain to scrub, which uniforh land towards the river Here, within the scrub, on the side towards the open country we found many deserted camps of the natives, which, from their position, seemed to have been used for shelter fro-places from enemies: several places had evidently been used for corroborris, and also for fighting
On a White-gureen leaves, I found a species of Loranthus, with leaves rese those of the silver-leaved Ironbark (Eucalyptus pulverulentus) Having reached a point down the river, in about lat 23 degrees 18 es to the NW
became visible, I returned to the camp At the point where it turned, a dyke of basalt traverses the river The country still maintained its favourable character, and the river contained fine sheets of water similar to those already described, on one of which a pelican floated undisturbed by our presence Large heaps of enerations of the natives, cover the steep sloping banks of the river, and indicate that this part of the country is very populous The tracks of the natives ell beaten, and the fire-places in their ca logs, scattered in every direction, were often rekindled by the usual night breeze, andin numbers around us,--and more particularly on the opposite side of the river; added to which, the incessant splashi+ng of nument our fears As a matter of precaution, therefore, we tied our horses near our sleeping-place, and gathered the grass which grew along the edge of the water for theht that our alar now ascertained, beyond a doubt, that the Mackenzie flowed to the north-east, I returned to the ca my course to the west-north-west and north-west; but, as it was extre across the country without a leading watercourse, and as we had failed in procuring a sufficient quantity of game, I deter a bullock before leaving the river
Jan 16--On returning, we found our party encamped about four miles lower down the river than where I had left them I then removed them to a more convenient spot about two rees 21to shoot the bullock, we heard the cooee of a native, and in a short ti and apparently desirous of having a parley Accordingly, I went up to them; the elder, a well er had all his teeth perfect; he was of a enerality of Australian aborigines, had rather slender bones; he had a splendid pair of e entirely different fro Downs, but ”yarrai” still meant water Charley, who conversed with them for some time, told me that they had informed him, as well as he could understand, that the Mackenzie flowed to the north-east
Brown found an empty seed-vessel of the Nelumbiu the 17th and 18th occupied ourselves in cutting up thethe hide, and greasing our harness Charley, in riding after the horses, careen belt of Neluroith a sie peltate leaf on a leaf stalk, about eight feet high, and frohteen inches in diaer, croith a pink flower reseer: its seed-vessel is a large cone, with perpendicular holes in its cellular tissue, containing seeds, about three quarters of an inch in length We found the following shells in the river, viz; two species of Melania, a Paludina, the lanceolate Liitudinal ribs, and the Unio before described Murphy shot an Ostioglossu, with very large scales, each scale having a pink spot We afterwards found this fish in the waters flowing into the Gulf of Carpentaria; both on its eastern and western sides: and, according to the natives of Port Essington, to whom I showed the dried specimen, it is also found in the per peninsula
Jan 18--Leavingthe charqui, I started with my two black companions to exaullies in the ies covered with an almost impenetrable scrub; chiefly composed of stiff and prickly shrubs,the intervals As no grass grew on the poor soil, the bush-fires--those scavengers of the forest--are unable to enter and consume the dead wood, which forress Difficult, however, as it was to penetrate such thickets with pack-bullocks, I had no choice left, and therefore proceeded in the same direction In a short ti many dry water-holes, which, farther on, united into a watercourse We passed a creek flowing to the eastward to join the Mackenzie, and continued our route through patches of Bricklow scrub, alternating with bastard-box forest, and open Vitex scrub, in which the Moreton Bay ash was very plentiful About eight miles from our camp, we came upon an open forest of narrow-leaved Ironbark (E
resinifera) and bastard-box, covering gentle slopes, frorassed hollows descended to the ard Co it down in a westerly direction, we ca the scrub Considering this a favourable place for the cah the scrub; whilst I proceeded with Brown to examine the creek upwards, to the north-west After a ride of about five oons were seen, we reached a prominent hill of sandstone formation, surrounded by aoccasionally into plains without a tree I ascended the hill, and obtained a very extensive view frorees W; another range, with undulating outline, was seen to the south-east; and another less prorees W The hill is in latitude 23 degrees 10 minutes, and bears the name of Mount Stewart, in coeon of Sydney, to whoreat assistance and most valuable advice