Chapter 20

It rained continuously during the night, with thunder and lightning. At 8.0 a.m. steered 160 degrees and soon came on a small creek with water-pandanus on its banks; followed it to the south-south-east; at 11.0 crossed it and changed the course to south-east, and at 11.30 encamped in a small gully; I then went with Mr. H. Gregory to look for a practicable ascent of Stokes' Range; having been successful in the search, we returned to the camp at 6 p.m. There are few spots where this range can be ascended, as a line of cliffs run along the brow of the hills varying from 10 to 100 feet in height. While on the hill we saw a few blacks, but they did not approach; the day was cloudy and cool, clearing after sunset.

Latitude by Canopus and Capella 15 degrees 59 minutes 57 seconds.

7th January.

The day again commenced with heavy showers, which lasted till 7 a.m. At 7.30 started on a course of 120 degrees; reached the foot of the sandstone range at 8.50, and the summit at 9.30, the tableland on the top of the range being intersected by deep ravines trending to the south-west; we steered east till 11.40, when we came to a deep valley trending east-south-east; having made the necessary observations for elevation, commenced the descent of the hills, which was practicable in few places, as the valley was walled-in by steep hills crowned by sandstone cliffs 20 to 100 feet in height, with only an occasional break. At 1.0 p.m. reached the base of the hill, and encamped at a small gully. The summit of the range is nearly a level tableland, the undulations not exceeding 100 feet, but is intersected by deep ravines with perpendicular sides, which vary from 100 to 600 feet in depth. The upper rock is sandstone, and the soil on it very poor and sandy, producing small eucalypti, hakea, grevillia, and a sharp spiny grass (triodia); this is the spinifex of Captain Sturt and other Australian explorers. The character of the country is similar to that of the interior of some parts of the western coast.

Latitude by Capella 15 degrees 59 minutes 32 seconds.

JASPER CREEK. GRASSY COUNTRY.

8th January.

Heavy rain till 7.0 a.m.; at 7.15 started and followed down the valley of the creek to south-south-east and south till 9.0, when it joined a larger valley trending east, in which a large creek in high flood obstructed our course. As the water was too deep to ford, we fixed a rope to a branch of a tree and passed the packs over the stream. This was accomplished at 3.0 p.m., and the water having also sunk a foot, the horses crossed over, and we encamped on the south side of the creek. The valleys are well grassed, and vary from a quarter to three-quarters of a mile in width, the hills rising steeply from the base to near the summit, where they are crowned by a sandstone cliff 20 to 150 feet high; the summits are level, or nearly so, as the valleys are only deep ravines excavated in the tableland. The valley of the larger creek appears to expand about five miles to the west of the camp, and the hills all rounded in their outline.

9th January.

A light shower at night was followed by a cool cloudy morning. At 6.50 a.m. followed down the creek to the east, and crossed to the left bank to avoid a rocky hill. On attempting to cross lower down, one of the pack-horses was carried down the stream some distance by the force of the current, and the saddle-bags were recovered a quarter of a mile below. The valley contracted as we proceeded, and at length the steep cliff left no passage on the left bank, and we had to return one and a half miles up the creek and cross to the right bank, when our course was again obstructed by a large tributary, which was crossed with some difficulty, and we passed through the rough rocky gorge of the creek, where the cliff approached the bank of the stream so closely that there was scarcely space for a horse to pass. At 12.10 p.m. camped on the bank of the creek at the termination of the hilly country, and, ascending a rocky elevation, obtained a view of the valley of the Victoria, and ascertained that we were on one of the branches of Jasper Creek. The afternoon and night were showery.

10th January.

Started at 6.30 a.m. and steered south-east, leaving the creek to the north; the country soon changed to a level plain well-grassed, but, owing to the late rain, very soft and muddy; at 10.20 passed to the north end of Jasper Range, and came to a creek fifteen yards wide trending north-east. Having forded the creek, camped on the right bank. The soil of the country traversed this day is a good brown loam on the plains, but rough and stony on the hills. The trees are of a small size, principally box and bauhinia. Sandstone is the prevailing rock, sometimes passing into jasper, and also into chert and coarse limestone. Small veins of quartz intersected the jasper, and contained small crystals of sulphuret of copper and iron.

Latitude by Aldebaran and Capella, 116 degrees 6 minutes 54 seconds; variation of compass, 3 degrees 6 minutes east.

11th January.

One of the mares having foaled in the night, she was not fit for a day's journey; we therefore remained at the camp, and employed the day in repairing and adjusting the saddles, and other works of indispensable nature; marked a large gum-tree NAE, 11 Jan., 1856.

12th January.

The night was fine, with a heavy dew and a light breeze from the south. At 6.15 a.m. steered north 150 degrees east over the level country which extends along the east side of Jasper Range; the soil is stony, but well grassed, and the fine weather had allowed the surface to become firm, so that the horses were not often bogged. At 12.25 p.m. camped on a small creek between the Fitzgerald and Jasper Ranges; marked a gum-tree at camp Number 9. The general character of this part of the country is good and well suited for stock, though not equal to the basaltic country to the eastward on the Victoria. Hard sandstone, jasper, and coarse limestone are the prevailing rocks.

Latitude by Aldebaran, Saturn, and a Orionis 16 degrees 16 minutes 22 seconds.

FINE PLAINS.

13th January.

The night cool and clear; thermometer 62 degrees at sunrise with heavy dew; steering an average south course from 6.40 a.m. till 11.25, reached the western branch of the Victoria River and encamped. The country traversed was nearly level and well grassed and thinly wooded with eucalypti and bauhinia; the soil is brown loam with small fragments of limestone; the river was running strong, but not in flood; the greatest rise this season had been only ten feet, and the usual flood-marks were twenty feet higher.

Latitude by Aldebaran and Capella 16 degrees 25 minutes 12 seconds.

14th January.

Followed the river to the west-south-west, crossing two large tributary creeks from the north-west, approaching the sandstone ranges on the western side of the plain; the soil did not improve, but became very sandy; the country is thinly wooded with box-trees and bauhinia of small size; grass is abundant and good. At noon one of the pack-horses, Sam, knocked up, and his load being transferred to one of the riding-horses, he was left to rest while we sought a suitable spot for a camp, and at 12.15 p.m. halted at a small gully, as the bank of the river was unsafe for the horses, being very boggy. Sent back for the horse Sam, and brought him to camp; ascended the hill to the north-west of the camp to take bearings, but no important features of the country were visible; in ascending the hill the aneroid (B) fell from 29.62 to 28.55 degrees, and on descending only rose to 28.80 degrees, the estimated height being 300 feet; as this indicated a change in form of the metal of the instrument, I re-adjusted it to the aneroid (A), 29.45 degrees. The continuance of fine weather and forward state of the grass led to the supposition that the wet season had already terminated, though only two months have elapsed since the first rains. It is probable that the wet season is much shorter in the interior than on the coast, and at no great distance inland the tropical wet season will cease altogether, as Captain Sturt, in latitude 26 degrees, only observed a fall of rain in the month of August; but this might be exceptional, as in the case of Dr. Leichhardt, who never encountered a rainy season during the journey to Port Essington.

Latitude by Aldebaran and Capella 16 degrees 27 minutes 20 seconds.

15th January.

Started at 6.45 a.m. and followed the river to the west-south-west; the hills coming close to the bank for some miles, caused the journey to be slow and difficult; crossed two large creeks coming from the west-north-west, the second seventy yards wide; at 10.35 encamped in a fine grassy flat. The course of the river was now more from the south, and the valley expanded into a plain several miles wide.

16th January.

As several of the horses required a day's rest, at 6.0 a.m. I started with Mr. H. Gregory to examine the country to the southward, and followed the river through a fine grassy plain till 10.0, when it entered the sandstone ranges, and the valley contracted to half a mile; the hills were steep, but the level ground in the valley, except where intersected by gullies, was good travelling and well grassed. The river is much reduced in size and the water is confined to the smaller channels of the principal bed; the water is clear, and had not that muddy appearance which characterises it lower down. The geological character of the rocks is unchanged; but the bed of the river being less deeply excavated, the lower beds of limestone and jasper are not so largely developed, the summit of the hills are not quite as level, and large blocks of sandstone, the remains of an upper stratum, gives the country a very rugged appearance. Returned to the camp at 6.30 p.m. In the evening there was a heavy thunder-squall from the north, but the weather cleared at midnight.

LOSE A HORSE.

17th January.

Started at 7.5 a.m. and steered a south-west course till 10.30 a.m., passing over a level grassy flat the whole distance; but the soil became more sandy as we proceeded up the river; there is very little wood of any description; the few trees that exist are white-stem eucalypti and a few acacia with pinnate leaves; the horse Sam is very weak, and two other horses are lame and can scarcely travel; since the 3rd of January the distance travelled has not exceeded ten miles per diem; water and grass everywhere abundant, and the loads not heavy, yet the greater part of the horses appear to be unable to perform a greater amount of work.

Latitude by Aldebaran 16 degrees 36 minutes 43 seconds.

18th January.

Some of the horses having strayed towards our last camp, we were detained till 8.10 a.m. and then steered south for three miles; the sandstone hills here closed in on each side of the river, scarcely leaving a passage at the base of the steep rocks; here the horse Sam fell into a pool of water, and when extricated could not stand; this having caused considerable delay, we encamped in a grassy flat half a mile farther on; in the evening sent Bowman and Dean to bring the horse to the camp, but they found him dead; marked a tree near camp 14.

19th January.

The night was fine, with heavy dew, the temperature 73 degrees at sunrise; having collected the horses and saddled at 6.45 a.m., left the camp and followed the valley of the river on an average south-west course, crossing a large creek from the north-west; the valley of the river expanded to three miles and then narrowed to one mile, and the course of the river was nearly west till 10.50 a.m., when we encamped; the soil of the valley is a brown loam, producing abundance of grass; but the hills, though less rocky, are more barren than lower down the river; the character of the channel of the river has altered, and has the appearance of a stream which continues to run late into the dry season, as the channels are narrow and fringed with pandanus, melaleuca, and other trees which grow near permanent water; the banks are of less height and the timber on them grows to a greater size than lower down the valley; at 1.0 p.m. the thermometer 100 degrees, and the wet bulb 76 degrees, indicating 24 degrees of evaporation.

CROSS THE WICKHAM RIVER.

20th January.

Left the camp at 6.55 a.m. and followed the river in a west-north-west direction till 8.5, when we crossed at a ledge of rocks which caused a fall of about one foot, the water being twenty yards wide and one to two feet deep; but above and below the rapid the river formed fine reaches seventy yards wide; the course was now west-south-west till 9.0 a.m., when the river turned west, and at 10.50 came to a large stony creek from the south-west, at which we encamped; the country on the banks of the river rises gradually as it recedes, and, except within the influence of the floods, is poor and stony, producing little besides a sharp grass (triodia)--this is the spinifex of some Australian explorers--a few small gum-trees and bushes. As we progress towards the interior the wet season appears to have been of less duration and the fall of rain less, yet the great heat has forced the vegetation towards maturity, and many of the grasses have already ripened their seeds, while there are many other indications of the dry season having fairly set in; the wind is steadily from the south and south-east, and is very dry; the sky is clear and bright, and the creeks have ceased to run; the almost total absence of birds or animals shows that we are approaching the limits of the dry summer season of the southern interior; in the afternoon rode out with Mr. H. Gregory to examine the country, and found that the river came through a gorge in the sandstone range; this gorge is two miles long, a quarter of a mile wide, and 400 feet deep, with nearly perpendicular sides, the winter channel of the river occupying nearly the whole breadth, and intersecting the otherwise flat bottom of the valley with dry sandy channels and long pools of water; beyond the gorge the valley opened, but the view was intercepted by hills.

A HORSE KILLED.

21st January.

Resumed our journey at 7.10 a.m., and, following the right bank of the river nearly west through the gorge, at 9.0 entered an open valley, through which the river came from the south-west; but at 10.0 we entered a second defile, which, from the inclined strata of sandstone, was almost impassable for the horses. In crossing some soft ground between the rocks one of the horses fell on a sharp stump, and was deeply wounded in the belly. The wound was sewn up; but the injury was so severe that the horse died in the night. Having extricated ourselves from this ravine, we encamped at the foot of a sandstone hill, the strata of which dipped 60 degrees to the south-west. Ascending the hill, which was about 300 feet high, the country appeared more level to the south, rising into sandstone ranges at ten miles distance. The course of the river was from west-south-west, the channel being bounded by sandstone cliffs 100 to 200 feet high. The general aspect of the country was wretched in the extreme, as little besides a few small gum-trees and triodia clothed the rugged surface of the red sandstone. The weather continues fine, with only an occasional cloud or flash of lightning in the early part of the night. The temperature is increasing, being 104 degrees at 1.0 p.m. Some catfish and a small tortoise were caught in the river.

22nd January.

At 7.0 a.m. continued our route up the river; but, to avoid the deep ravines on its banks, made a sweep to the south, and at noon encamped in a grassy flat on the bank of the river. The country traversed was very barren and rocky, and the horses had great difficulty in crossing the deep ravines; many of their shoes were torn from their feet during the day's journey. The highest ridge crossed was 500 feet above the bed of the river, the height of which is approximately 500 feet above the sea-level, and thus the general level of the tableland may be considered to be 1000 feet above the sea. The general course of the river being from the west, it appears advisable to reconnoitre the country to the south.

Latitude by Capella 16 degrees 47 minutes 58 seconds.

RECONNOITRE TO THE SOUTH.

23rd January.

Leaving the camp in charge of Dr. Mueller, at 6.30 a.m. started in a southerly direction, accompanied by Messrs. H. Gregory and Baines, taking with us four horses and six days' rations, etc.; after clearing the deep rocky gullies near the river, we passed over a more level country with some fine open plains covered with fine grass, but the intervening ridges were very stony; at 9.45 a.m. reached the highest part of the range, and the country declined to the south-east, and intersected by deep rocky ravines trending towards a large valley, which is probably drained by the southern branch of the Victoria; the course was now south-east, descending to the valley of a creek, through a very barren and rugged sandstone country, producing little besides stunted eucalypti, acacia, and triodia. At 11.15 a.m. halted at the creek, and resumed our route at 3.0 p.m., and followed the valley to the south-east till 4.40 p.m., when it turned east through a rocky gorge between cliffs 150 feet high; but notwithstanding the dense bush of pandanus, fallen rocks and deep muddy channel of the creek, we succeeded in forcing our way through the gorge of the creek, and bivouacked in the open valley below at 5.30 p.m., there being a fine patch of grass in the flat, though the surrounding country is rocky and barren. The sandstone rocks show a great disturbance and dip at all angles and directions, so that no general angle or strike could be determined; the upper rocks, however, show a new feature in a coarse conglomerate of fragments of the lower sandstones and a few fragments of basalt; some of the enclosed pieces of rock are nearly a foot in diameter, and are mostly angular, though occasionally round; this rock forms a horizontal bed of 100 feet in thickness. Towards evening the sky was clouded, with lightning to the east, but no rain.

BASALTIC PLAINS.

24th January.

At 6.0 a.m. crossed the creek, and steered south-east over broken sandstone ridges till 8.0, when we entered a plain of basaltic formation covered with good grass, and where the ground was not entirely composed of fragments of rock the soil was a rich black loam; crossing the large creeks trending north, at 10.0 a.m. halted on the second. These creeks appear to rise in a steep range of sandstone hills which bound the basaltic plains to the west, about two miles from our track. At 3.0 p.m. resumed our route and traversed the trap plain for one and a half hours, and bivouacked in a small gully; the country on both sides of our track seems to be of trap formation for several miles, and then rises into sandstone hills with flat tops. The basaltic rock of this plain is not of great thickness, as the sandstone rose in a few spots above its surface and formed small islands covered with coarse vegetation, surrounded by the open grassy plain. The basalt seems to have been poured out into the valley after it had been excavated in the sandstone, and not to have been much disturbed subsequently. The surface of the plain is very stony, and the horses' feet were much injured by the roughness of the rock.

STONE SPEAR HEADS.

25th January.

The night was cloudy, and it was not till after daybreak that I could get observations for latitude by altitudes of Venus and b Centauri. At 6.5 a.m. were again in the saddle, and steered south-east to a rocky hill, which we reached at 7.0; the hill was sandstone, rising about 150 feet above the trap plain; from the summit the view was extensive, but from the broken nature of the country to the east nothing could be traced of either the courses of creeks or rivers; to the south the trap plain rose to a greater elevation than the summit of the hill we were on, and was surmounted by table hills of sandstone at ten miles distance to the east and north-east; the country appeared to consist of plains of basaltic formation, well grassed, and very thinly wooded. Leaving this hill at 8.0, followed a dry rocky creek to the east and north-east, through basaltic plains with sandstone hills and ridges, till 10.30, and halted during the heat of the day. At this place the bed of the creek had been cut through the basalt into the sandstone, exposing a fine section of the junction of the two rocks; the sandstone was much altered at the line of contact, and, having been deeply cracked, the basalt had filled the fissures of the older rock. This altered sandstone and also a white quartz-like rock are much used by the natives for the heads of their spears; and during this day's journey great quantities of broken stones and imperfect spear heads were noticed on the banks of the creek. At 3.45 p.m. recommenced our journey, and proceeded down the creek to the north-east till 6.30, and bivouacked.

Latitude by Capella, Saturn, and Canopus 17 degrees 24 seconds.

ROE'S DOWNS.

26th January.

Having ascertained that the party could be moved across the range to the basalt plains with advantage, commenced our return to the camp by a westerly route across the plain, which rose gently for ten miles, and was well grassed, but thinly wooded; the soil was stony, with fragments of altered sandstone and basalt. On the higher part of the plain there were several hills of trap-rock, forming flat-topped ridges trending north and south; the highest of these we named Mount Sanford, and the plains Roe's Downs. The country now generally sloped to the bank of the creek near the western limit of the plain, at which, after six hours' ride, we halted at 11.35. The banks of the creek are of trap-rock; but the sandstone is exposed in the bed; the pools of water are deep and apparently permanent. At 4.0 resumed our route and passed over about one mile of sandstone, and then two miles of basalt, and bivouacked at a small gully at the western limit of the valley.

27th January.

At 5.30 a.m. steered north-north-west, over several ridges of sandstone, till we struck our outward track, which we followed with some deviations to the camp, which was reached at 2.0 p.m. The evening was cloudy with a smart thunder-shower. Dr. Mueller informed me that he had traced the river about six miles to the west-south-west, but that beyond that point it appeared to come from the north-west, in which direction there was a low range of hills.

28th January.

Having collected the horses, at 7.15 a.m. steered south to the rocky creek, and followed it down to the rocky gorge and encamped. As the valley was completely walled in by steep rocks, it appeared to be a suitable spot for a depot camp, as it would prevent the horses from straying; and, from the rapidity with which the water in the creeks was drying up, it became desirable that no time should be lost in pushing to the head of the Victoria while it was practicable to cross the ranges in which it was supposed to rise; but as many of the horses were quite unfit for the journey, it became necessary to leave them in some convenient spot while a small party pushed on with a light equipment.

FORM A DEPOT CAMP.

29th January.

Preparing equipment for the party proceeding to the interior and making arrangements for the formation of the depot camp; the party to consist of myself, Mr. H. Gregory, Dr. Mueller, and C. Dean, Mr. Baines remaining at the depot in charge. Selected eleven of the strongest horses and had them re-shod; fitted four with riding and seven with pack saddles. The following provisions were packed for the journey: 150 pounds pork, 300 pounds flour, 50 pounds rice, 10 pounds sago, 8 pounds tea, 6 pounds coffee, 48 pounds sugar.

30th January.