Part 16 (1/2)
At length, arriving at the junction of an important tributary from the N.
W., full of water, and seeing another also join from the east, I crossed the main channel and encamped on the left bank, in sight of a reach of broad blue water below the junction, of an extent which reminded us of the Balonne itself. The valley of the river seemed bounded by continuous ranges of high land, which looked in the back-ground like table-land.
Recently, much gra.s.s and bushes had been burnt, along the banks of the river, by the natives; and we this day pa.s.sed over a tract where the gra.s.s was still in a blaze on both sides of us. Crows and hawks hovered over the flames, apparently intent on depriving the devouring clement of whatever prey more properly belonged to them. In a dry part of the bed of the river, I met with many instances of a singular habit of the eelfish (JEWFISH) PLOTOSUS TANDa.n.u.s.[*] I had previously observed, elsewhere, in the aquatic weeds growing in extensive reaches, clear circular openings, showing white parts of the bottom, over which one or two fishes continually swam round in circles. I now found in the dry bed, that such circles consisted of a raised edge of sand, and were filled with stones, some as large as a man's closed fist. Yuranigh told me that this was the nest of a pair of these fish, and that they carried the stones there, and made it. The general bed of the river where I saw these nests, consisted wholly of deep firm sand; and that the fish had some way of carrying or moving stones to such spots, seemed evident, but for what purpose I could not discover. Thermometer, at sunrise, 56; at noon, 83; at 4 P. M., 93; at 9, 75;--with wet bulb, 59.
[* See Pl. 6. fig. 2. p. 44. vol. i. of Three Expeditions.]
27TH OCTOBER.--We now travelled along the left bank of the river, and found the country tolerably open. The ADRIANIA ACERIFOLIA grew on an islet in the river.[*] This still pursued a remarkably straight course, and contained abundance of water. After pa.s.sing over a place where the bush was on fire, we saw a female in the act of climbing a tree. When she had ascended about eight feet, she remained stationary, looking at us without any appearance of dismay. I continued to pursue a straight- forward course, but told Yuranigh to inquire, EN Pa.s.sANT, what was the name of the river; to which question she replied, in his own language, ”The name of that water is Marana:” thus confirming the name we had already understood, however indirectly, to be that of the river. It proved the accuracy of my servant Brown's ear, for it was first communicated to him, during my absence, by the old chief at Bindango. The gin appeared to be climbing in search of honey. To state that this female wore no sort of clothing, were superfluous to any reader of this journal who may have been in such interior parts of Australia. After travelling about fourteen miles, we came upon a fine reach of the river, and encamped beside it. Thermometer, at sunrise, 59; at noon, 68; at 4 P.
M., 95; at 9, 77;--wet bulb, 65. Height above the sea, 832 feet.
(Camp 80.)
[* A. ACERIFOLIA (CROTON ACERIFOLIUM All. Cunn. MS.); foliis cordato- ovatis trifidis segmentis ac.u.minatis grosse inaequaliter sinuato- serratis, subtus bracteisque p.u.b.escenti-tomentosis.--Shrub three feet high. Flowers scarlet. Collected by Allan Cunningham along the Lachlan river.]
28TH OCTOBER.--Heavy rain was falling soon after day-break, and I most willingly sat still in my tent, hoping the rain would continue. Just in sight of it grew a picturesque tree: the half-dead, half-alive aspect presented by the same sort of tree, was not unfrequent in the Australian woods; and I was induced to sketch this specimen, as highly characteristic of the scenery. These trees, ”so wither'd and so wild in their attire,” generally appear under the shelter of other taller trees; have half their branches dead, the part still in foliage drooping like the willow, the leaf being very small. It is an Acacia (A. VARIANS), and I was informed by Yuranigh that it is the Upas of Australia; the natives call it ”Goobang,” and use a bough of it to poison the fish in waterholes. They are too honest and fair in their fights to think of poisoning their weapons. The aspect of this half-dead tree is certainly characteristic of its deleterious qualities, in the wild romantic outline resembling Shakspeare's lean, poison-selling apothecary,--
--”who dwelt about the very gates of death, Pale misery had worn him to the bones.”
Some good soaking rain fell until about 10 A. M., after which we had a cool day and cloudy sky. The rain ensured to us at least dew on the gra.s.s for a morning or two; and this, with the prospect of finding the channel dry lower down, was a great advantage. Thermometer, at sunrise, 61; at noon, 75; at 4 P. M., 76; at 9, 60;--wet bulb, 51.
29TH OCTOBER.--A clear cool morning. We travelled this day with so much ease, that we got over twenty miles without apparent fatigue, to bullocks or horses. The necessity for travelling so far arose from the utter want of water in the river bed. The course was very direct; the country was open, and clothed with rich verdure on which our cattle could have reposed, doubtless with great satisfaction, both to themselves and drivers, had water also been at hand; but after travelling over, and measuring twenty miles, we were obliged to encamp without any. As this seemed only a branch of the river. I sent Corporal Graham to ascertain what was beyond, while I, with Yuranigh, examined this channel backwards.
We found no water in either direction, but Corporal Graham discovered the main channel at a mile and a half westward from our camp, and traced it to near the junction with the ana-branch on which we were encamped. We discovered this day a club and s.h.i.+eld, such as the natives use on the Belyando, carefully put away upon a sort of scaffold of bark, and covered with bark. The s.h.i.+eld was made of very light wood, the face being rounded, and having been covered with a dark varnish like j.a.pan; for which the surface had been made rough by crossed lines, resembling those made on the first coat of plaster. It was evident, from the marks on this s.h.i.+eld, that the clubs were frequently used as missiles.[*] Each man of the tribe that visited my camp on the Belyando, carried three or four of these, but no s.h.i.+elds; a plain indication that they were not then armed for war against other aborigines. Thermometer, at sunrise, 36; at noon, 68; at 4 P.M., 73; at 9, 49;--with wet bulb, 40.
[* Deposited in the British Museum (60, 61.).]
30TH OCTOBER.--We were now fifty-two miles from the junction of the dry channel we crossed by the Balonne, and forty from the nearest part of our former route, in advancing into this country. The risk of want of water was worth encountering in the most direct line homewards, which was by following down this river. I travelled, as straight as the bush would allow, towards the junction; Graham examining the channel while we proceeded. No water was found where the rivers united. Having halted the small party with me, I followed one branch many miles with Yuranigh, but all we could find were some wells, dug by natives, in a part of the sandy bed; in one of which Yuranigh found, by a long bough he thrust in, that there was moisture about five feet below the surface. I returned, determined to encamp near this, and dig a well. The bullock teams had also arrived when I returned to the party, and I learnt that Drysdale, having observed that my little dog Procyon came in wet, had been led to the discovery of a lagoon about three miles back, at which the cattle had been already watered. I immediately encamped. At finding water the dog was most expert, the native next, we inferior to both. We had come about fifteen miles, and I wished to lay down the journey on the map. On doing this, I found we had at length attained a point from whence, in case of necessity, we could go as far as the Balonne, even if no water were found in the country intervening, the direct distance being under forty miles.
During the afternoon, a still larger lagoon was found, higher up than the first. I resolved to give the cattle a day's rest, and then to proceed prepared, by well watering them previously, to travel on to the Balonne, but not with much expectation that scarcity of water would oblige us to go so far. Thermometer, at sunrise, 34; at noon, 70; at 4 P. M., 78; at 9, 60;--with wet bulb, 46.
31ST OCTOBER.--Two men were sent to the westward, where they found a dry sandy country with pines, the same as that seen by me on my first ride from St. George's bridge to the N.W., on the 18th of April. I was myself engaged at the camp, on my general map of the country. Thermometer, at sunrise, 33; at noon, 81; at 4 P. M., 84; at 9, 51--wet bulb, 43.
Height above the sea, 882 feet.
1ST NOVEMBER.--The cattle and horses, having been all night loose beside Drysdale's ponds, were brought in early, and we then proceeded. After travelling about eight miles, over ground bearing traces of inundation, and looking, as we proceeded, into the river channel for water, Yuranigh found a lagoon in a hollow parallel to the river, and I encamped, resolved to reduce as much as possible the distance to be traversed in uncertainty about finding water. We had, however, found rocky ridges on the left, like bergs to the river; and the voices of natives in the woods, as well as these ridges, redeemed the country from the aspect of drought. This was but a small portion of the fine pastoral country, traversed by this river, where we found the channel dry; and I think this want was compensated by many lagoons and watercourses in that back country extending to the little river from Mount Abundance, the Cogoon.
2D NOVEMBER.--After watering all the animals, we went forward, prepared to go on to the Balonne, even if we should meet with no water until we arrived at that river. We found, however, that the country we were to traverse was well watered. Three miles on from our camp, the country appeared quite verdant, and park-like in its woods. The channel of the river was bordered with green reeds, and contained a deep reach of sparkling water. The river took a turn to the eastward, and, in the angle formed by its again turning south, a little tributary entered it from the north, which was full of ponds of water, and had not long ceased to run.
This came from the rocky tract situated between our old line of route, along the little river Cogoon near Mount First View, and the Marana. The water now found supplied the only link wanting in our explored line along the last mentioned river, and I had no doubt that, by crossing that country more directly towards the upper part of the Marana, a supply would be found at convenient stages. On crossing the little tributary (which I called Requisite Ponds), we found that the river resumed its straight course towards the Balonne; and, in lat.i.tude 27 31' 37” S., we again saw green reeds and a good pond, beside which we encamped.
Thermometer, at sunrise, 50; at noon, 76; at 4 P. M., 79; at 9, 63; --with wet bulb, 61. (Camp 82.) Height above the sea, 969 feet.
3D NOVEMBER.--The river accompanied us but a short way this day, as I had determined to follow a straight line towards the junction with the Balonne, aware that the course of the river, for ten or twelve miles above that point, turned very much to the westward. We pa.s.sed through much open forest, and over much sandy ground, on which the callitris always appeared to predominate. Little scrub lay in our way. At length, plains again appeared before us through the trees; and, beyond them, after travelling twenty-two miles, we saw before us the river line, running north-east. We crossed it, and still continued to travel on towards the main river; but night overtook us when not far distant from it, so that we were obliged to encamp within the distance of a mile and a half, after a journey, with carts, of 26 miles. Here occurred the only Epiphyte observed during the expedition. It was growing in the dead parts of trees in the forest, and proved to be the CYMBIDIUM Ca.n.a.lICULATUM of Brown. One of the specimens had a raceme of flowers above a foot long.
The fragrant JASMINUM MITCh.e.l.lII occurred, with narrower leaves than usual, at the foot of the forest trees. JUSTICIA ADSCENDENS, an inconspicuous weed, covered the plains in large tufts. The MELALEUCA TRICHOSTACHYA was there; and on the plains, and in open forests, grew a woolly. ANDROPOGON, which appeared not to be distinct from the A.
BOMBYCINUS. In the open forest grew, here and there, the delicate COESIA OCCIDENTALIS, and on the plains a small species of HEDYOTIS; a new CALOCEPHALUS in bunches[*], and a creeping plant, with yellow flowers, since found to be a new species of GOODENIA.[**] Thermometer, at sunrise, 51; at noon, 85; at 4 P.M., 86; at 9, 66;--with wet bulb, 54. Height above the sea, 819 feet.
[* C. GNAPHALIOIDES (Hook. MS.); annua erecta arachnoidea superne dichotome ramosa, foliis linearibus, capitulorum glomerulis laxiusculis corymbosis, involucri cylindracei squamis pellucidis albis.--Probably a distinct genus.]
[** G. FLAGELLIFERA (de Vriese MS.); herbacea, glabra, foliis radicalibus longe petiolatis, spathulatis, flagellis elongatis: floribus radicalibus, axillaribus, longissime pedunculatis; calyce supero, quinquefido, laciniis lineari-lanceolatis, bibracteolato; corolla bil.a.b.i.ata flava, labio superiore fisso; fllamentis et antheris liberis; stigmatis indusio ciliato; flagellis folii-et floriferis valde elongatis capsula prismatica, biloculari; seminibus marginatis compressis; flagellis floriferis; floribus in axilla folii ovatorotundati, auriculati, subamplexicaulis, contentis, brevius pedunculatis.--Folia radicalia, 8-10 cent. longa, 1-2 cent. lata, apice rotundata, subrepandula, deorsum attenuata, subdecurrentia, utrinque glaberrima, subtus pallidiora; folia flagellorum bracteiformia, ovata, subrotunda, uno vel utroque latere auriculata, alterutra auricula multo minore, floribus vero in bractearum illarum axillis, reliquis multo minoribus neque ad normam perfectis, brevius pedunculatis. Affinis species G. HEDERACEOE.--DE VR.]
4TH NOVEMBER.--At an early hour we proceeded, and had the satisfaction soon to find our old wheeltracks along the bank of the majestic Balonne.
This truly n.o.ble river was here as broad as the Thames at Richmond; its banks were verdant with a luxuriant crop of gra.s.s, and the merry notes of numerous birds gave the whole scene a most cheering appearance; especially to us who were again upon a route connected with home, and at a point 200 miles nearer to it, than where we had last seen that route.
We had since made the discovery, and completed the survey, of the lower Marana, a river which had brought us in a very straight direction back to this point; and by tracing this down, we had established a well watered line of route back to the fine regions we had discovered in the more remote interior. I marked a tree at this camp (83.), which mark is intended to show where this route turns towards the Marana x. being marked at the next camp back along the old track. In the Balonne, huge cod-fish (GRISTES PEELII) were caught this afternoon; indeed, we already felt comparatively at home, although still far from the settled districts, and strangers to all that had been pa.s.sing in the world during seven months. I was busy endeavouring to complete my maps before other cares should divert my attention from the one subject that had occupied it so long. But in perusing nature's own book, I could, at leisure, think sometimes on many other subjects, and I fancied myself wiser than when I set out,--much improved in health,--bronzed and bearded; sunproof, fly- proof, and water-proof: that is to say, proof against the want of it, ”LUCUS A NON LUCENDO.” Thermometer, at sunrise, 44; at noon, 76; at 4 P.M., 85; at 9, 71;--wet bulb, 59. Height above the sea, 738 feet.