Part 16 (2/2)
5TH NOVEMBER.--We now travelled back along our old track towards Camp VIII., at St. George's Bridge, where the first depot had been stationed; the tracks of several hors.e.m.e.n, returning after rain, were visible along our route, and the prints of natives' feet with them. How far these parties had been further on, along the other route by which we had advanced, we could not then ascertain. In the course of our ride this day, we came suddenly upon two females, who were so busy digging roots on a plain crossed by our track, that we were too near to admit of their running off before they perceived us; they therefore remained on the spot until we went up to them. They informed us, through Yuranigh, that ”the tracks were those of five white men on horseback, who had been accompanied by natives on foot. They came there about one moon before then, and had been looking very much all about; these females could not think what for.” We took up our old position, overlooking the rocky bed of the river. Pieces of old iron had been left untouched by the natives, both at this camp, and were found on our old track in returning. As these articles were such as they could have made great use of, I considered their leaving them a proof of their good disposition towards the exploring party; and of the very favourable impression we had made formerly on the aborigines, at the interview with the a.s.sembled tribes of this river. In the scrubs adjacent, we found, for the first time, the ripe fruit of the ”Quandang” (FUSa.n.u.s Ac.u.mINATUS), and several shrubs in flower that we thought new to botany. Thermometer, at sunrise, 44; at noon, 76; at 4 P.M., 85; at 9, 71;--wet bulb, 59.
Chapter IX.
MR. KENNEDY SENT TO EXPLORE THE MOONI PONDS.--I COMPLETE THE MAPS.-- EXCESSIVE HEAT AGAIN.--NEW PLANTS FOUND.--MR. KENNEDY RETURNS--AFTER SUFFERING MUCH FROM THE HEAT AND DROUGHT.--CORPORAL GRAHAM SENT WITH DESPATCHES FOR THE GOVERNOR OF NEW SOUTH WALES.--THE PARTY CROSSES THE BALONNE--BY ST. GEORGE'S BRIDGE.--REACHES THE MOONI PONDS--OR RIVER.-- TRACKS OF CATTLE AND HORSES NUMEROUS.--A WHITE WOMAN MET WITH.--CATTLE STATIONS.--HEAVY AND CONTINUED RAIN r.e.t.a.r.dS THE PARTY.--FLOODS ALMOST SURROUND THE CAMP.--THE WATERS KEPT BACK BY A DAM OF SAND.--AFTER SEVENTEEN DAYS HALT, THE PARTY CROSSES FROM THE MOONI TO THE BARWAN.--A FLOOD IN THE BARWAN.--Pa.s.sAGE WITH THE BOATS.--MUSQUITOES NUMEROUS AFTER THE RAIN.--STRAY HORSES JOIN OURS.--THE MAAL ALSO FLOODED.--CROSS IT WITH THE BOATS.--THE MEEI CROSSED.--CROSS OTHER BRANCHES OF THE GWYDIR.-- RECOGNISE MOUNT RIDDELL.--ENTER ON EXTENSIVE PLAINS.--SNODGRa.s.s LAGOON.-- A YOUNG SQUATTER.--LEAVE THE PARTY IN CHARGE OF MR. KENNEDY.--RIDE HOMEWARDS.
5TH to 9TH NOVEMBER.--These days I devoted to the protracting of angles taken on the Victoria, and the last day to writing my despatch to the Government; and on this morning (the 9th) I sent Mr. Kennedy, followed by Corporal Graham and John Douglas, to examine the country in the direction of the furthest point attained by me on my journey of 1831; that was on the Barwan (Karaula) in lat.i.tude 29 2' S., and bearing about 20 E. of S. from this camp. A chain of ponds, called the ”Mooni” ponds, were said to water the intervening country, and I wished to ascertain whether they were favourable for the connection of our recently explored route, with the termination of that marked out by me in 1831, when my journey, undertaken expressly with the same objects in view, was accidentally frustrated.
Corporal Graham was to go forward to the postoffice at Tamworth with the despatches, when Mr. Kennedy, having ascertained the situation of the Mooni ponds, should return. In the meanwhile, I continued to finish maps and drawings, although suffering much inconvenience from excessive heat, under a tent infested with numerous flies. The banks of the river were gay with the purple flowers of SWAINSONA CORONILLOEFOLIA; FUSa.n.u.s Ac.u.mINATUS, produced its crimson-coloured fruit, which Yuranigh brought us from the bush; the spotted bark tree, ELOEODENDRON MACULOSUM, was also in these scrubs. A yellow-flowered herbaceous plant, has been determined by Professor De Vriese to be identical with the Swan River GOODENIA PULCh.e.l.lA. A salt plant, greedily eaten by the cattle, proved to be a variety of the ATRIPLEX NUMMULARIS, observed in February on the Macquarie. A species of GREWIA, in fruit, appeared to be the same as the G. RICHARDIANA of Walpers. The TRICHINIUM FUSIFORME R. Br., was covered with its globular, s.h.a.ggy flower-heads, in the sandy open parts of the forest. A very remarkable shrub, five or six feet high, with the foliage of a Phyllirea, and spreading branches, was loaded with short racemes of white flowers. It proved to be a plant of the natural order of Bixads, and allied to MELICYTUS, but with hermaphrodite flowers.[*] A submerged plant, in the water, was found to be a new species of MYRIOPHYLLUM, with tuberculate fruit.[**] Ca.s.sIA CORONILLOIDES, a low shrub, was in flower.[***] A shrubby MYOPORUM put forth sweet and edible fruit. A new ELOEODENDRON, with small panicles of white flowers, formed a forest tree twenty feet high, remarkable for its spotted bark.[****] A fir-leaved Ca.s.sIA, with thin, sickle-leaved pods, formed a bush, from four to five feet high.[*****] A new blue-flowered MORGANIA, decorated the river- bank[******]; lastly, a new species of indigo[*******], completed the list of plants we gathered at this season at the camp over St. George's Bridge.
[* M. ? OLEASTER (Lindl. MS.); glaberrimus, foliis lineari-lanceolatis supra griseis subtus virentibus venosis racemis strictis multo longioribus, floribus hermaphroditis.--OBS. SEP. 5. PET. 5 hypog.
imbricata. ST. 5 in margine disci magni inserta. OVAR. ovatum 1-loc.
plac. 3-par. STYLUS simplex. STIGMA parvum 3-dent. FRUCTUS ignotus, verisim. carnosus.]
[** M. VERRUCOSUM (Lindl. MS.); foliis submersis capillaceo-multifidis emersis ternatim verticillatis ovatis pinnatifidis, floribus octandris, fructibus tuberculatis.]
[*** C. CORONILLOIDES (A. Cunn. MS.); ramis subangulatis petiolisque minute p.u.b.erulis, foliolis 8-10-jugis lineari-oblongis obtusiusculis glabris, glandula cylindrica inter par infimum, racemis axillaribus 2-3- floris folio multo brevioribus.--Very near C. AUSTRALIS, but the leaflets are fewer and smaller, and the subulate glands of that species are wanting.--G. B. M. DULCE (Benth. MS.); ramulis laevibus, foliis anguste lanceolatis planis acutis uninervibus basi angustatis, laciniis calycinis linearilanceolatis acutis brevibus, corollae limbo imberbi.--Intermediate between M. TENUIFOLIUM Br. and M. DESERTI Cunn.]
[**** E. MACULOSUM (Lindl. MS.); inerme, foliis linearibus obovatis integerrimis obtusis, paniculis terminalibus ultra folia evectis.]
[***** C. CIRCINNATA (Benth. MS.); glabriuscula, petiolis phyllodineis lineari-subteretibus, foliolis nullis, racemis phyllodio plerumque brevioribus 1-2-floris, legumine plano glabro cincinnato v. spiraliter contorto.--Phyllodia one to one and a half inch long, resembling the leaflets of C. HETEROLOBA. Pod like that of several PITHECOLOBIA, but not yet ripe.]
[****** M. FLORIBUNDA (Benth. MS.); dense glandulosa, caeterum glabra, ramis strictis dense foliosis foliis linearibus rarissime dentatis, pedicellis plerisque geminis folio florali multo brevioribus.--This is a very distinct species which was also gathered by Sir T. Mitch.e.l.l in 1836, but my specimen was not complete enough to describe it accurately, the branches are thickly covered with leaves and flowers. The lower leaves are one to two inches long, the flowers blue, like those of M. GLABRA.
G.B.]
[******* I. BREVIDENS (Benth. MS.) fruticosa, gracilis, pilis parvis canescens, foliolis 6-10-jugis c.u.m impari oppositis obovatis subplanis mucronatis v. emarginatis utrinque strigosis, racemis multifloris laxis folia vix superantibus, bracteis minutis, calycis villosuli dentibus brevissimis obtusis, corolla p.u.b.escente, legumine strigilloso incurvo.-- It has much the aspect of I. MICRANTHA (Bunge), but the flowers are not quite so small, and the teeth of the calyx are very different.]
15TH NOVEMBER.--Mr. Kennedy having been absent much longer than was expected, at length appeared on the opposite bank of the river with Douglas, both being on foot, and Douglas leading only one (strange) horse. The information Mr. Kennedy brought me was favourable to the project of uniting this route with that to the Barwan, and the (now) settled district of the Nammoy. He had found that the Mooni ran nearly north and south, and that its banks were occupied with cattle-stations to within a day's ride of our camp. This ride of discovery had, however, cost the lives of two of our horses, the bearing already mentioned as the direction given for Mr. Kennedy's guidance having been TRUE and not magnetic. Pursuing that bearing BY COMPa.s.s, Mr. Kennedy had ridden almost parallel to the Mooni, sixty-three miles, without hitting them, or finding water. The heat was intense, one of the horses died, and the men were very ill; when they at length reached these ponds. In returning, he had travelled by the stations, and borrowed the horse brought back, from the station nearest to us, occupied by Messrs. Hook. From these gentlemen Mr. Kennedy had ascertained that Sir Charles Fitzroy was the new Governor.
17TH NOVEMBER.--The whole party crossed the Balonne by St. George's Bridge, and I arrived, the same afternoon, with a small advanced party on the Mooni, which we made in lat.i.tude 28 17' 51” S. The channel was full of water, and thus we completed the last link wanted to form a chain of communication DIRECT FROM SYDNEY, to the furthest limits we had explored.
The ground was imprinted with the hoofs of cattle, and we already felt as if at home. The day was one of extreme heat without any wind; the thermometer stood at 104 in the shade. Yet the horses drew the carts easily twenty-four miles and a quarter. We had pa.s.sed over a country covered with excellent gra.s.s, consisting chiefly of plains and open forest, with scrubs of ACACIA PENDULA, and a soil of clay. In the scrubs we found a new species of CANTHIUM, a shrub ten or twelve feet high; and in the open forest ACACIA NERIIFOLIA was observed in fruit; HIBISCUS STURTII Hook.; an Evolvulus related to SERICEUS; a new yellow CROTALARIA[*] ; and a n.o.ble new species of STENOCHILUS, with willowy leaves and large trumpet flowers.[**] Thermometer, at sunrise, rise, 62; at noon, 103; at 4 P.M., 104; at 9, 81;--with wet bulb, 67. Height above the sea, 622 feet. (Camp 84.)
[* C. DISSITIFLORA (Benth. MS.); herbacea, laxe ramosa, stipulis setaceis, foliolis elliptico-oblongis rarius ovalibus obtusis supra glabris subtus ramulisque p.u.b.e tenui subcanescentibus, racemis erectis oppositifoliis elongatis, floribus (ultra 20) distantibus, carinae rostro brevi recto, ovulis numerosis, legumine breviter stipitato p.u.b.escente.-- Very near to C. SENEGALENSIS among the LONGIROSTRES, but the habit is more rigid, the leaflets rather larger, the beak of the keel shorter, and the pod (which is only very young in the specimen) is borne on a short stalk.]
[** S. (PLATYCHILUS) BIGNONIAEFLORUS (Benth. MS.); glaber viscosus-foliis longe lanceolatis linearibusve apice subuncinato, calycis foliolis latis acutis, corollae glabrae ventricosae laciniis obtusissimis infima dilatata subtriloba vix caeteris magis soluta, staminibus vix exsertis.-- Leaves three to six inches long, two to six lines broad, thick and clammy. Flowers above an inch long, remarkable for the broad divisions of the corolla, and the general form much that of a BIGNONIA. This difference in the form of the corolla, would perhaps justify the placing it into a distinct genus instead of a mere section, especially as that peculiarity which gave the name of STENOCHILUS does not exist, were it not that the forms of the corolla are so different in different other species, that they will not furnish generic characters where the habit is similar.--G. B.]
18TH NOVEMBER.--The teams came in very early, not having been above one mile behind. I remained encamped there, in the expectation of some decided change of weather. The night had been oppressively hot. The season during which we had been beyond the Balonne, viz., that between the 23rd April and 5th November, was the most proper for visiting the tropical regions of Australia.
Here we found TRICORYNE ELATIOR, a delicate yellow-flowered plant; a species of the genus Fugosia near F. DIGITATA, a plant of Senegambia, but less glabrous, and with the leaflets of the involucre much larger.
MORGANIA GLABRA, a little erect herbaceous plant, having the appearance of being parasitical on roots; ACACIA VARIANS, in the open forest, in rich soil. ANTHERIc.u.m BULBOSUM, formerly seen on the Narran. In the thick forest, a shrub six feet high with small white flowers, CATHA CUNNINGHAMII[*] (Hook. MS.), and a new species of VIGNA very near V.
LANCEOLATA, though very different in habit.[**] Thermometer, at sunrise, 58; at noon, 102; at 4 P.M., 103; at 9, 76;--with wet bulb, 64.
[* C. CUNNINGHAMII (Hook. MS.); inermis, foliis lineari-lanceolatis rigidis mucronato-acutis integerrimis subfalcatis superne latioribus basi in petiolum perbrevem attenuatis, floribus axillaribus fasciculatis, pedunculis simplicibus vel racemosis bracteolatis.]
[* V. SUBERECTA (Benth. MS.); leviter p.u.b.escens, suberecta, ramosissima, foliolis lato-lanceolatis basi integris vel hastato-trilobatis, pedunculis folio subbrevioribus apice paucifloris, calycis p.u.b.escentis campanulati dentibus tubo subaequilongis, carina rostrata acuta, legumine p.u.b.erulo.]
19TH NOVEMBER.--The party moved off at an early hour. The tracks of cattle and horses became more and more numerous as we proceeded, and the channel of the little river was full of water, on which a large species of duck was very plentiful. At length we came upon the track of wheels, and followed them towards the station; which was not yet visible when our young native, d.i.c.ky, fell a shouting and laughing, drawing my attention to what certainly was a ”RARA AVIS” to him. This was a white woman going with pails to milk the cows, and the first white female he could ever have seen. The jeering laugh of the young savage was amusing, as he pointed to that swaddled, straw-bonneted object, as something curious in natural history, to which my attention, as he thought, would be rivetted: but the sight was, nevertheless, a welcome one to all the party. Soon two comfortable stations, one on each side of the river, appeared before us; and the neatly dressed mother of two chubby white children stood at the door of one of them. I had a memorandum from Mr. Kennedy to call at the other, to thank the owner for lending him a horse; and there I first entered again under a roof, and a most agreeable cover it did seem to me after living nearly a year under canva.s.s, in houseless wilds. These were cattle stations, and both appeared to be well-laid out for the purpose, and upon a scale more substantial and worthy of it, than I had hitherto seen in squatting districts. The placing of two such stations thus near each other, is a good arrangement, not only affording better security against the depredations of natives, but also as banis.h.i.+ng that aspect of solitude and loneliness such places in general present; and in the outset of such a life, implanting, in the still uncultivated soil, the germs of social union, on the solid basis of mutual protection.
I continued to travel some miles beyond these stations, for the sake of obtaining better gra.s.s for our cattle; and thus lengthened the journey to near twenty miles, in very warm weather, the thermometer being 104 in the shade. Thermometer, at sunrise, 58; at noon, 102; at 4 P.M., 104; at 9, 75;--with wet bulb, 63. (Camp 85.) Lat.i.tude, 28 30' 51” S.
20TH NOVEMBER.--Travelling south by compa.s.s, we found a tolerably open forest, and the Mooni on our left, until we fell in with Mr. Kennedy's track on riding back. Following this (as he had been guided back by an experienced stockman), we at length crossed the Mooni, and fell into a cart-track leading southward, and at a few miles beyond where we fell into that track, we encamped on the left bank of the Mooni; a tree at this camp being marked 86. Again we saw, in the woods about this camp, the HYLOCOCCUS SERICEUS R. Br., a remarkable tree, with oblong leaves, and fruit resembling a small orange. It is a curious genus, and belongs to the poisonous order of Spurgeworts. We found here also, the HELICHRYSUM SEMIPAPPOSUM D. C.; ACACIA SPECTABILIS; a new species of BEYERIA, near B. VISCOSA, Mig.; the variety of Ca.s.sIA SOPHERA (Linn.) cultivated in some botanical gardens, under the name of C. SOPHERELLA; a beautiful tree with pinnate leaves and spreading panicles of large white flowers, called THOUINIA AUSTRALIS; the EUCALYPTUS BICOLOR A. Cunn. MS., a species closely allied to E. HOEMATOMMA Sm., but the marginal nerve is not so close to the edge of the leaf (this is the ”b.a.s.t.a.r.d box” of the carpenters); a fine new large-flowered SIDA[*]; and it appears that the ”Yarra” tree of the natives here, is a new Eucalyptus, which Sir William Hooker calls E. Ac.u.mINATA.[**]
<script>