Part 10 (1/2)

Stuart having been very diligent in his work Flood had also obeyed my orders; but could find no water in the lower branches of the creek, although there was so much in it nearer the hills The party had fallen in with a small tribe of natives, for whom Flood had shot an emu Mr

Stuart infore was unknown to him He understood from them that they intended to visit the camp in a couple of days; but as I had some doubts on this head, and was anxious to establish a communication, and induce them to return with me to the camp, I rode on the 5th with Mr Browne across the plain, at the farther extremity of which they were encaht cart accompanied us

Great as the heat had been, it appeared rather to increase than diminish

The wind constantly blew fro, with the deep purple tint to the west I have already had occasion to notice It then went round with the sun, and blew heavily at noon; but gradually subsided to a cal then visible above the eastern horizon which in the ed frorees in the shade at 3 prees

Water boiled at 211 degrees and a fraction; but there was no dew point I should have stated, that both whilst Mr Browne and I were in the hills and at the camp, there was thunder and rain on the 23rd, 24th, and 25th, but the shoere too light even to lay the dust, and had no effect whatever on the te we started to pay a visit to the blacks was more than usually oppressive even at daybreak, and about 9 it blew a hot wind fro between us and the hills, the heated and parching blasts that came upon us were more than we could bear We were in the centre of the plain, when Mr Browne drew my attention to a number of sus rapidly In an incredibly short time ere surrounded by several hundreds of the co down to within a few feet of us, and then turning away, after having eyed us steadily Several approached us so closely, that they threw the their beaks and spreading out their talons The long flight of these birds, reaching froly in ns, in which he produces the effect of distance by afrom the view Whatever the reader may think, these birds had a most formidable aspect, and were too numerous for us to have overpowered, if they had really attacked us That they ca across the lonely deserts over which they soar, in the hope of prey, there can be no doubt; but seeing that ere likely to prove foronists, they wheeled from us in extensive sweeps, and were soon lost to view in the lofty region from whence they had descended

When we reached the place where the natives had been, ere disappointed in not finding them They had, however, covered up their fires and left their nets, as if with the intention of returning

Nevertheless we , after a ride of 40 miles

After -in the charts; but the ink in our pens dried so rapidly, that ere obliged to have an underground room constructed to work in, and it proved of infinite service and corees to 8 degrees cooler than that of the outer air

Our observations and lunars placed us in latitude 29 degrees 40 rees 30 minutes 41 seconds E

Mount Hopeless, therefore, bore W by S {NNW in published text} of us, as ere still 7 miles to the north of it {25 MILES TO THE SOUTH OF IT in published text}, the difference of longitude being about 110 {171 in published text} miles, and our distance from the eastern shore of Lake Torrens about 85 {120 in published text} The result of our lunars, however, placed us soiven; and when I cales back from the Depot to Williorara, I found that they terminated considerably to the ard of Sir Thomas Mitchell's position there My lunars at Williorara, however, had not been satisfactory, and I therefore gave that officer credit for correctness, and in the first chart I transmitted to the Secretary of State assue, distant about 20 e connected with the Depot Creek It struck ht froe of country favourable to my future views Under this impression, I left the camp on the 7th of the es were at a greater distance than I had i at them I found that the horizon to the as still closed froround that intervened

I should have pushed on for it, but Mr Poole was unfortunately taken ill, and I felt it necessary to give hi easier paces than the one he was riding It ith difficulty I got him on his way back to the camp as far as the upper waterhole, just outside the Rocky Glen, at which we slept, and by thatI had anticipated rain before we should get back, from the masses of heavy clouds that rose to the ard, after the wind, which had been variable, had settled in that quarter; but they were dispersed during the night, and theof the 8th was clear and warly hot the day we left the camp--there the men were oppressed with intolerable heat, the therrees in the shade We had not ourselves felt the day so overpowering, probably because ere in e in the state of the atmosphere, had influenced the temperature, as the eastern horizon was banded by thunder clouds, though not so heavy as those to the ard, and there was a good deal of lightning in that quarter

I have said that I was not satisfied with the result of my last excursion with Mr Browne to the north I could not but think that we had approached to within a tangible distance of an inland sea, from the extreme depression and peculiar character of the country we traversed I determined, therefore, to ained, and to ascertain the nature of the interior there;up my mind at the same time to examine the country both to the eastward and ard of the northern ranges before I should return to the ca too weak to venture on a protracted excursion of such a kind, I took Mr Stuart, my draftsman, with me I should have delayed this excursion for a few days, however, only that I feared the total failure of the creeks in the distant interior; I proposed, in the first place, to make for the last and es Thence to take the light cart with one horse, carrying as much water as he could draw, and with one man, on foot, to pursue a due north course into the brush I hoped by this arrange to satisfy myself as to the point on which I was so anxious I selected a fine young lad to accompany me, named Joseph Cowley, because I felt soe in the event of any disaster befalling us On this occasion I had the tank reconstructed, and took all the barrels I could, to enable o as far as possible, and the day after I returned to the caain left it with Mr Stuart, Joseph, and Flood, in whose charge I intended to leavewhich I also proposed that Mr Stuart should e in the hills

We reached the muddy creek at the foot of the hills at 2 pm, after a ride of 25 miles, over the stony and barren plains I have described, and as the distance to the next water was too great for us to atteht Some natives had been on the creek in the early part of the day, and had apparently moved down it to the eastward The water had diminished fearfully since the time we passed on our return from the north

The day was cool and pleasant, as the wind blew frorees

We had not ridden four , e observed several natives on the plain at a little distance to the south, to e called out, and who immediately came to us We stopped with these people for ain soht expect rain, or of the character of the distant interior, but they spoke a language totally different froh they had some feords in common, so that I could not rely on my interpretation of what they said

They were all of theht front tooth of the upper jaw When we left these people I gave them a note for Mr Poole, in the faint hope that they would deliver it, and I explained to theive them a tomahawk and blankets, but, as I afterwards learnt, they never went to the cahbourhood before, he had soeon, the flesh of which wasupon the seed of the rice grass, and were scattered about, butfound theated in vast nurate to the north-east, apparently their direct line of ration; they were co any hen they came to water

On the 9th we slept at the water in the creek at the top of the ranges; but, on the 10th, instead of going through the pass, and by the valley, under the two little peaks, through which we had entered the plains on the first journey,turned to the ard in order to avoid that rugged line, and discovered that the creek, instead of losing itself in the flat to the eastward, continued on a westerly course to our left; for being attracted by a flight of pigeons, wheeling round soht otherwise have overlooked it; I sent Flood to exa information that the creek had reformed, and that there was a pool of water under the trees, nearly as large as the one we had just left

I was exceedingly pleased at this discovery and determined to send Mr

Stuart back to it, as it would place him nearer his work We reached the farthest water, from which we had the second time driven the poor native, late in the afternoon, and on exa the hut, found he had ventured back to it and taken away his traps; but the water in the creek was almost dried up; thick, retted that we had not brought water with us from the hills, but I had been influenced by a desire to spare h the poor brute was little aware of it

About sunset an unfortunate emu came to water, and unconsciously approached us so near that Flood shot it with his fusee This was a solitary wanderer, for we had seen very few either of these birds or kangaroos in these trackless solitudes

On theof the 10th ere up early, and had loaded the cart with 69 gallons of water before breakfast, when Joseph and I took our departure, and Mr Stuart with Flood returned to the hills I had selected one of our best horses for this journey, an ani, powerful, and in good condition, therefore well qualified for the journey I had detereneral north course, but in the kind of country in which I soon found myself it was impossible to preserve a direct line At about four miles from the creek the brush became thick, and the country sandy, and at sixto ease the horse ason the intervening flats, but this necessarily lengthened the day's journey, and threw me more to the eastward than I had intended A noon I halted for two hours, and then pushed on, the day being cool, with the wind as it had been for the last three or four days froht have got on tolerably, but as we advanced it changed greatly for the worse We lost the flats, on a general coating of sand thickly h which it was equally painful to ourselves and poor Punch to tread We crossed small sandy basins or hollows, and were unable to see to any distance The only trees growing in this terrible place were a few acacias in the hollows, and so melaleuca, with hakeae and one or two other corass, neither were the few herbs that grew on the hollows such as the horse would eat We stopped a little after sunset, having journeyed about 22 miles, on a small flat on which there were a few acacias, and sorass as dry as a chip, so that if we had not been provident in bringing soone without his supper A rees 41 rees 15 , I observed that the horse had eaten but little of the dry and withered food on which he had been tethered; however, in consequence of our tank leaking, I was enabled to give hiood drink, when he see than he perspired ular course than on the previous day, over a country that underwent no change Before we started I left a nine gallon cask of water in a small flat to ease the horse, and as the water in the tank had alht Still it was a laborious task to draw the cart over such a country Fortunately for us the weather was cool, as the wind continued south, for I do not knoe should have done if we had been exposed to the same heat Mr Browne and myself had experienced on our return froes now about 10 miles to the ard of us A little before noon the wind shi+fted to the NE; I had at this time stopped to rest the horse, but we ie of terees rose before we again started to 93 degrees, and at half-past three had attained 119 degrees We were then in one of the ions that ned around us, no living creature was to be heard; nothing visible inhabited that dreary desert but the ant, even the fly shunned it, and yet its yielding surface was s

We started shortly after noon, and passed a pointed sand-hill, froe but also the e of hills The little peak on which Mr Browne and I took bearings on our last journey bore 150 degrees, the pass through which we had descended into the plains 170 degrees, when I turned however to take bearings of the stony range it had disappeared, having been elevated by refraction above its true position It bore about NW 1/2 W, distant froain some tiht contain two or at the rass upon it, but this I knew the horse would not eat, neither had I ive hirees 22of the 13th we still pushed on, leaving, as before, a cask of water to pick up on our return I had been obliged to liallons a day, but where he had been in the habit of drinking from 25 to 30, so sone many miles when he shewed symptoms of exhaustion, and rather tottered than walked He took no pains to avoid anything, but threw Joseph into every bush he passed The country still continued unchanged, sand and spinifex were the universal covering of the land, and only round the edges of the little flats were a few stunted shrubs to be seen It was reat a distance without any change I could at no tihts of parrots flew over our heads to the north-west, at such an elevation as led me to suppose they would not pitch near us; but not a bird of any kind did we see in the desert itself The day being exceedingly hot I stopped at one, rather fro travelled 12 or 14 miles Both Joseph and s were full of the sharp ends of the spinifex, but it was more in mercy to poor Punch than to ourselves that I pulled up, and held a consultation with Joseph as to the prudence of taking the cart any further, when it was decided that our doing so would infallibly lead to Punch's destruction According to rees 9 minutes 0 seconds or thereabouts I had hoped to have advanced some 60 miles beyond this point, but now found that it would be ie of country froround near us, and as it was still early in the day I resolved on pushi+ng forward until I should feel satisfied that I had passed into the 27th parallel;a desire to knohat the character of the country, so far in the interior from, and in the sa Punch out, and walking with Joseph, but as he re hih without a saddle, and taking our guns, with a quart of water, we commenced our journey We moved rapidly on, as I was anxious to return to the cart whilst there was yet daylight, to enable us to keep our tracks, but no e took place in the aspect of the country We crossed sand-ridge after sand-ridge only to ,at the distance of about a quarter of a her than any we had ascended It was to little purpose however that we extended our ramble to it At about a mile from where we left the cart, we had crossed two or three s , and I had hoped that this trifling change would have led to a greater, but as I have stated such did not prove to be the case

From the top of the little hill to which alked (and froht e how far the distant horizon was froe, but the brush in the distance was darker than that nearer to us, as if plains succeeded the sandy desert we had passed over The whole landscape however was one of the ed to turn froe we passed about a itude by account only being 141 degrees 18 rees 75/100 The evening had closed in before we got back to the cart, but our course was fortunately true, and having given poor Punch as liberal a draught as reason would justify we laid down to rest

It ith great difficulty that we got our exhausted aniave hient want of food was astonishi+ng He was in fact troubleso, and walked round and round the cart and over us as we sat drinking our tea, s holes, and implored for relief as much as an animal could do so by looks Yet I a attachment to man, but that he is a selfish brute, for however kindly he may be treated, where is the horse that will stay, like the dog, at the side of his er and thirst are upon hiuard the hand that has fed hiht, and where will you find hih your life depended on his stay?