Chapter 12

Two miles north the river turned west, and kept that course for seven or eight miles, through a poor sandy and stony tract of country, and was then joined by a fine channel coming from the south. Near the junction are two reaches of water, half a mile long each and a rifle-shot across, containing a quantity of ducks and other water-fowl, amongst which our sportsmen were very successful, along with other game bagging the only two swans we had seen since landing; a number of fine fish, like cobblers, were also caught, weighing from 1 to 5 pounds a-piece. As it was Saturday, and our horses were showing unmistakable signs of knocking up, we halted for the rest of the day. Camp 43.

Latitude 21 degrees 6 minutes 5 seconds; longitude 117 degrees 32 minutes 30 seconds.

VOLCANIC HILLS.

14th July (Sunday).

After reading prayers, Messrs. Brown, Harding, and myself walked to the summit of the range of black volcanic hills that skirted the western bank of the river at about a mile distant. These hills consist of ragged scoria, elevated 300 to 400 feet above the plain, and are nearly destitute of vegetation. At their summits are deep fissures, the heat of the eruptive rocks from beneath having been sufficient to convert the trap and sandstone rocks into a deep bluish-grey scoria, having a specific gravity of nearly four; but we did not observe any instance of the actual overflow of lava, and consequently there was a want of the fertilising properties in the soil resulting from it that usually accompanies volcanic formations. A native dog had left a litter of pups under a heap of stones not eighteen inches beneath our feet, but such was the sharpness and ponderability of the fragments of rock that it fairly baffled our attempts to unhouse them. A valuable round of bearings was procured from this spot, Depuch Island being seen bearing north 14 degrees east, distant about twenty-eight miles.

EXTENSIVE GRASSY PLAINS.

15th July.

We resumed our course down the Sherlock, the stony nature of the country telling severely upon our horses' feet, who in other respects were in very tolerable condition. We had not proceeded more than three or four miles when Mr. Brockman's horse, Rocket, gave in, and could not move another step, the hoof being fairly worn through; leaving him close to a pool of water amongst plenty of feed, I hoped he might possibly recover by the time we returned from the bay. Below this the channel became sandy and dry, and we only procured a little water at night in a clay-hole. Plains extended from the river to the north and eastward as far as the eye could reach, only interrupted by occasional detached hills of granite or volcanic trap, the feed being generally coarse and the soil poor. Camp 44.

Latitude 20 degrees 54 minutes 45 seconds.

NATIVES FISHING WITH NETS.

16th July.

Leaving the valley of the river on a north-west course, in half an hour we came upon an open plain of rich clayey loam, covered with a fine even sward of good grass, on which were feeding large flocks of pigeons and white cockatoos; this change in the character of the soil being ascribable to the occasional overflow of the river, leaving a deposit of rich mud. This plain extends as far as we could see to the north and east, a few widely-scattered topes of trees being the only objects breaking the monotony of the sea of grass. To the north-west was a strong line of large timber, for which we steered. At three miles we entered the wood, and found it to contain the main channel of the Sherlock, in which were a few small pools of rainwater. Crossing the bed of the river on the same course, we soon came upon another branch coming from the south-west, which was named the George. Immediately below the junction of the two streams the river opened out into reaches of brackish water, evidently under the influence of the spring tides. From this point the left bank was followed down to within three or four miles of the sea, when, the country becoming low and flat, the grass coarse, and no fresh water procurable, we quitted the Sherlock and struck to the west for six or seven miles, crossing several salt-water creeks, until we were compelled to turn to the southward to avoid a channel much larger and deeper than the rest, at which a party of natives were engaged drawing their nets, but ran away on our approach. A little further on the plain became more fertile, and we found a small pool of rainwater in the clay, at which we encamped. There is no doubt but that the Sherlock and the creek we were upon discharged their waters, by the numerous creeks shown on Captain King's charts, fifteen or sixteen miles to the west of Depuch Island. Camp 45.

Latitude 20 degrees 52 minutes 15 seconds; longitude 117 degrees 15 minutes.

RETURN TO NICKOL BAY.

17th July.

By observation of the sun at rising, the variation of the needle was found to be 1 degree 10 minutes east. We were now about forty miles from Nickol Bay; and as it was very doubtful whether water would be procurable in that distance, I became very anxious on account of the horses, as, should the country prove stony, I was quite certain they could not perform the journey in less than three days; I therefore determined upon following up a leading valley towards the Maitland River, with the intention, in the event of not finding water or a pass through the heavy mass of hills that back Cape Lambert, of pushing through the upper branches of that river, and by a round of sixty or seventy miles to approach the bay by our outward track; fortunately, however, in the course of the day we fell in with some small pools of rainwater, which enabled us to advance about eighteen miles over tolerably even plains, well grassed, our night halt being without water. Camp 46.

18th July.

From our position, and the observations I had made of the country on the eastern shores of Nickol Bay, I was satisfied that the breadth of stony ranges lying between us and our destination did not exceed eight or ten miles, which we therefore now determined to venture upon, although at great risk to the horses, some of which now walked upon stones as they would over red-hot coals. Entering the range by a small ravine, three hours' scramble over sharp rocks brought us out on the head of a small tributary to the Nickol River, the sufferings of the horses in crossing the range being quite painful to witness; they all, however, succeeded in getting through, and as a little water was found in the bed of the stream, we were enabled to push on late, and cross the marsh at the head of the bay before it was quite dark, the departing rays of the setting sun having first favoured us with a glimpse of the Dolphin, riding at anchor on the deep-blue waters of the bay--a sight which was welcomed with no small satisfaction by the little band of weary travellers. Camp 47.

19th July.

The camp was easily aroused by the morning watch, as there was now only six miles between us and the landing-place in Hearson cove, the horses appearing to partake of the general activity; so that it was only 10.0 a.m. when we arrived on our old camping ground, which we found occupied by ten or a dozen natives, engaged mending their nets. Coming upon them suddenly, they would not stop to carry off their gear, although not half an hour before they had been employed assisting a boat's crew from the Dolphin, in loading with wood and water. A rifle-shot soon recalled the boat, which was not a mile from the shore, when we were glad to learn that Mr. Hearson was fast recovering from his wound, and that all had been going on well since our departure. From Mr. Walcott I ascertained that he had been able to establish a friendly understanding with the natives who frequented the western side of the bay, and that they had been made useful in filling up the ship's water and wood, for which service they had been rewarded by a suitable distribution of biscuit. In one instance the natives on the eastern shore of the bay had shown a hostile tendency on the occasion of a boat landing on the reef to gather shells. One of the seaman, who had wandered from the rest, was chased into the sea, and menaced with spears and clubs until he was up to his neck in water, when the boat came to his rescue, the officer in charge of her firing a shot over their heads to drive them off. Mr. Walcott had also been successful in obtaining a very useful vocabulary of native words and other interesting particulars from the aborigines, as also many botanical specimens, shells, etc.--amongst the latter some very fine pearl-oysters, from which several pearls of good colour had been obtained, but appeared to be principally valuable on account of the size and beauty of the mother-of-pearl, which averaged six inches diameter, with more than half an inch in thickness of solid shell.

PARTY REFIT FOR JOURNEY TO EASTWARD.

20th July.

The forge, stores, and other additional supplies having been landed, and the party set to work shoeing horses, repairing saddle-bags, etc., I proceeded with Mr. Walcott and Mr. Angel in the boat to make a rough survey of the coves on the western side of the bay, with a view to selecting a suitable spot from which to re-embark the horses on our return from the next trip, as it would be too late in the season by that time to venture the trip overland to Champion Bay. I found that a good anchorage existed, with three fathoms at low water, one mile off the little cove from which the ship had been watered, and is approachable at all times, except in strong east or south-east gales, when a heavy swell sets in across the bay, rendering a landing unsafe. The fresh water runs down a rocky gully at the north-west corner of the cove, at the north end of a small patch of sandy beach, and the supply appears tolerably abundant; it is, however, rather difficult of access towards the end of the dry season, as the water has then to be carried over the rocks in small baracas fifty or sixty yards to the boats, but from the setting in of the rains to the end of August it runs down strongly at high-water mark. I walked back overland to the camp with Mr. Walcott, the distance being about four miles, heading by the way another deep cove, the margin of which was lined with a broad belt of mangroves.

21st to 28th July.

Was fully taken up in shoeing horses, making spare shoes, refitting and packing stores, etc., ready for our trip to the eastward, my own time being principally taken up in roughly plotting the country already explored, so as to secure all the information obtained, in the event of any accident occurring to my field-books.

29th July.

Everything being in readiness for our departure, I gave Captain Dixon instructions to wait for us in the bay to the 10th December, and in the event of our not then returning, Mr. Walcott would land one of the ship's iron tanks, and bury in it a quantity of stores, at a spot already agreed upon; the Dolphin would then proceed to Fremantle. It blew so fresh all the morning that I could not land until 3 p.m., when we quickly saddled up and proceeded three miles to a waterhole up in the volcanic hills, as it was probable we should have a very long day's march tomorrow without water. As we had now only nineteen horses, and one of these so low in condition as not to be able to carry a load, we could only take with us eighty-seven days' rations, at the rate of one pound of flour, seven ounces of meat, and four ounces of sugar per man per diem; we were, however, well provided with ammunition, and thirty spare sets of horse-shoes, with nails sufficient for at least two removes, the horses themselves being shod at starting with extra strong shoes tipped with steel. We had now only seven saddle-horses, so that one of the party was always on foot by turns of an hour each. It had been originally intended that the Dolphin should proceed to Roebuck Bay and meet us there; but it was now so late in the season that I did not deem it prudent to run the risk of removing her to an unknown anchorage, where it was possible we might not be able to reach, and thus lay ourselves open to the probability of a very embarrassing uncertainty. The result proved we had adopted the right course. Bivouac.

DIFFICULTY IN CROSSING MUD FLATS.

30th July.

This morning we crossed the marsh with some difficulty, as all the pack-horses but three fell and stuck in the mud, until we transferred their loads to our own backs and carried them through half a mile of the softest part. The operation detained us so long that we did not make more than eighteen miles, when we found a little water left in the pool seen on the 18th. Camp 48.

31st July.

Started at 8 a.m., following our old tracks to 3.30 p.m., when we turned to the south up a stream-bed crossed on the 17th. At the gorge where it issued from the granite ranges we found a fine pool of permanent water and abundance of beautiful green grass. This stream was now named the Harding, and, as the packs were heavy, we remained here the rest of the afternoon. Camp 49.

A FERTILE PLAIN.

1st August.

Passing under the northern foot of the granite ranges on an easterly course for sixteen miles, we came upon a fine reach of open water in a branch of the creek on which we had encamped on the 16th July. This pool was a valuable discovery, as it would not only form a useful halting place on our return, but, from being in the middle of a fertile plain containing at least from 15,000 to 20,000 acres of arable land equal in quality to the Greenough Flats, the whole could, if necessary, be easily irrigated from this large natural reservoir, the highest part of the plain not being thirty feet above the water-level at the driest period of the year. This fine tract of country, in connection with the lands already seen almost adjoining on the eastern bank of the Sherlock, would in itself support a larger population than is at present contained in the whole of the colony of Western Australia. We had seen more kangaroos on these plains than on any other portion of our route; one that was shot resembled the Osphranter, and was in very good order, the fur much thicker and softer than the common kangaroo of the western coast, and of a pale mouse colour. It weighed about forty-five pounds. Camp 50.

Latitude 21 degrees 54 minutes 18 seconds.

2nd August.

Proceeding eastward over grassy plains and stony ridges, at thirteen miles we struck the Sherlock only two miles below the pool at which we had left the horse Rocket, and hoped to find him improved by the rest; but, on approaching the spot, the presence of crows and a wild dog gave indications of a different fate; we found him partly devoured within a few yards of where we left him, inflammation of the feet having most probably produced mortification. Pushing on till sunset, we arrived at our old camping ground (Camp 43) at the bend of the Sherlock. Camp 51.

ASCEND THE SHERLOCK RIVER.

3rd August.

Followed up the left bank of the Sherlock to Camp 42, and found a little water still remaining in the bird-cage pools, where we halted for two hours. At 1.30 p.m. resumed an easterly route across a sandy plain, yielding little but hakea and triodia. Five miles brought us to a large branch of the Sherlock coming from the south-east, in which were several small permanent pools, surrounded by flags, at which we halted. Camp 52.

Latitude 21 degrees 7 minutes.

4th August (Sunday).

Although the feed here was very indifferent, yet, as we had again entered unexplored country, I was glad to make it a day of rest before entering upon the rather unpromising tract of country that lay in the outward route.

5th August.

Making a rather late start, on account of the horses having strayed very far in search of feed, we steered for a bold range bearing east-south-east, distant about twenty miles. At four miles crossed a dry channel coming from the south-south-east, and continued our course over a poor tract of country, covered with triodia and a few acacia, large bare red granite rocks cropping out here and there. At one of these was a small waterhole, near which a native was hunting mice. Although at first alarmed, he soon told us, in answer to our inquiries, that we should find no water to the east, but plenty to the south, which we found to be correct, as we had to halt, after a very long day's march, in a dry ravine in the ranges for which we had been making. Camp 53.

Latitude 21 degrees 10 minutes 35 seconds.

RECONNOITRE THE COUNTRY AHEAD.

6th August.

Having reconnoitred the country for some miles ahead overnight without finding water, it was no use leading our horses further into the rugged defiles, where we might get entangled for many hours; we accordingly struck to the south-west for four miles, when we came on a rocky pool of permanent water in the south-east branch of the Sherlock, just at the point where it emerges from the hills. Having watered the horses and given them an hour's rest, we followed up the stream to the south-east for seven miles, when it divided into numerous small dry ravines in the heart of an elevated range of granite, capped with metamorphic sandstone; water having only been met with within the first mile from where we struck it. Camp 54.

7th August.

The horses requiring water, we fell back upon the pool passed yesterday, where I decided upon leaving the bulk of the party for the day or two, while I explored the country for a pass to the eastward. Camp 55.

Latitude 21 degrees 14 minutes 28 seconds.

8th August.

Taking with me Mr. Brown and Mr. Harding mounted, and one pack-horse carrying water, we struck through the hills to the eastward, and at six miles came upon a stream-bed that led us to the north-east fifteen or sixteen miles, when, finding it contained no water, we resumed an easterly course over an open sandy and stony plain, covered with triodia, for twelve miles, and encamped in poor feed without water. Camp 56.

Latitude 21 degrees 4 minutes.

THE YULE RIVER.

9th August.

A heavy dew having fallen during the night, our horses were much refreshed, and we were enabled to proceed with the scanty supply of water carried with us. In an hour we struck upon the channel of a river with a sandy bed, 300 yards wide, in which were a few pools of water, under a bold sandstone bluff, rising abruptly 300 feet from the plain. From the summit of this hill the river was observed to trend to the north-north-west for eight or ten miles, and to come upon a gap in a granite range four miles to the south-south-east, towards which we now turned our steps, across extensive beds of soft drift-sand brought down by the river. Cajeput and acacia trees occupied a large portion of the channel, and it was not until reaching the gorge in the range that grass was met with in sufficient quantities to supply our wants. Several large pools, teeming with water-fowl, occupied the whole of the valley, which here was fully a quarter of a mile wide. The remainder of the day I devoted to sketching and triangulating the country, while the horses were enjoying the benefit of the fine feed. Camp 57.

Latitude 21 degrees 6 minutes 26 seconds.

10th August.

As this river, from its magnitude, afforded a fair chance of working to the south-east, I determined to bring forward the rest of the party. Having named this river the Yule, we returned to the depot party by a somewhat shorter cut, making it in about thirty miles, which we accomplished by sundown.

11th August (Sunday).

Party resting. Observed a set of lunars, which placed us in longitude 118 degrees 3 minutes east, the rate of the chronometer being still so irregular as to be almost useless.

12th August.

To-day the whole party proceeded twenty-four miles towards the Yule, finding a small pool of water in a rocky ravine by the way which we had missed on our former trip. Bivouacked in an open grassy plain six miles short of the river.

13th August.

Moved on to our camp of the 9th, and halted there for the remainder of the day. The latitude by meridian altitude of the sun I found to be 21 degrees 6 minutes 22 seconds.

14th August.

As travelling near the river was found to be very laborious, on account of the vast beds of loose drift-sand thrown up by the summer floods, we steered to the south-south-east for a pass in the ranges about twenty miles distant, through which the river was supposed to come, but on reaching the hills, the river was observed to the westward; we accordingly altered our course to south-west, and struck it at about six miles; the character of the river being still the same, the aggregate width of the several channels amounting to nearly half a mile; water being procured in them by digging a few inches in the sand. The country passed over during the day was an open plain of light sandy loam, interspersed with bare granite rocks, cropping out at intervals of a few miles. Giant ant-hills of from ten to sixteen feet in height, and thirty to forty feet in circumference (a few of which had already been met with on our first trip), were here remarkably conspicuous, on account of their size and bright brick-red colour. An emu was shot during the day, while running at full speed, at the range of over 200 yards. Camp 58.

Latitude 21 degrees 23 minutes 23 seconds.

15th August.

One of the horses was missing this morning, so we did not start until 10 a.m., when the river was followed up to the south-east through country the same as yesterday; halting for the night in latitude 21 degrees 32 minutes 13 seconds. Camp 59.

16th August.

Our average course to-day was nearly east, occasionally crossing channels coming from the south-east. Towards evening we found that the main channel, which it had been our intention to have followed, had escaped our observation to the southward, and we were only on a comparatively small tributary coming from a rugged range of hills to the eastward. Our object for the present not being to push too far into the interior, this tributary was followed until it broke up into numerous small valleys, in one of which water was obtained by digging three feet in the sand, amongst tolerable feed, the country having much improved in the course of the day. Camp 60.

Latitude 21 degrees 34 minutes.

ROCKY RANGES.

17th August.

Soon after starting this morning we came upon a camp of natives, but we could not prevail upon any of them to stop and hold parley with us. Four hours' travelling over rather rocky ground led us well into the range, which we found to consist of granite, capped with metamorphic sandstones and broken up by dykes of variegated jasper. In a deep ravine at the foot of a cliff we found a small pool of beautiful clear spring water, which was very acceptable, as the sun had now acquired considerable power, and the grasses were beginning to get very dry food for our horses. During the halt at this spring Mr. Harding and myself ascended the highest part of the range, which was found to be 500 or 600 feet above the plain. From this elevation I was enabled to select our onward route, and obtain bearings to several useful summits for triangulation--a few hills to the south-south-east being visible at the distance of sixty or seventy miles, which no doubt form part of the continuation of the Hamersley Range. Resuming an east course, the culminating point of the range was soon passed, when we descended to the eastward down some deep and remarkably picturesque rocky glens, in which were found several springs and pools of water, leading down to a fine grassy flat, in which were growing some fine large flooded-gum trees. Camp 61.

18th August (Sunday).

Found our latitude 21 degrees 36 minutes 8 seconds; longitude 119 degrees 13 minutes east by account.

THE STRELLEY RIVER.

19th August.