Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia, Complete

C >> Charles Sturt >> Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia, Complete

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CUSTOMS OF THE NATIVES.

The natives of the Darling are a clean-limbed, well-conditioned race,
generally speaking. They seemingly occupy permanent huts, but their tribe
did not bear any proportion to the size or number of their habitations.
It was evident their population had been thinned. The customs of these
distant tribes, as far as we could judge, were similar to those of the
mountain blacks, and they are essentially the same people, although their
language differs. They lacerate their bodies, but do not extract the front
teeth. We saw but few cloaks among them, since the opossum does not
inhabit the interior. Those that were noticed, were made of the red
kangaroo skin. In appearance, these men are stouter in the bust than at
the lower extremities; they have broad noses, sunken eyes, overhanging
eyebrows, and thick lips. The men are much better looking than the women.
Both go perfectly naked, if I except the former, who wear nets over the
loins and across the forehead, and bones through the cartilages of the
nose. Their chief food is fish, of which they have great supplies in the
river; still they have their seasons for hunting their emus and kangaroos.
The nets they use for this purpose, as well as for fishing, are of great
length, and are made upon large frames. These people do not appear to have
warlike habits nor do they take any pride in their arms, which differ
little from those used by the inland tribes, and are assimilated to them
as far as the materials will allow. One powerful man, however, had a
regular trident, for which Mr. Hume offered many things without success.
He plainly intimated to us that he had a use for it, but whether against
an enemy or to secure prey, we could not understand. I was most anxious to
have ascertained if any religious ceremonies obtained among them, but the
difficulty of making them comprehend our meaning was insurmountable; and
to the same cause may be attributed the circumstance of my being unable to
collect any satisfactory vocabulary of their language. They evinced a
strange perversity, or obstinacy rather, in repeating words, although it
was evident that they knew they were meant as questions. The pole we
observed in the creek, on the evening previously to our making the
Darling, was not the only one that fell under our notice; our impression
therefore, that they were fixed by the natives to propitiate some deity,
was confirmed. It would appear that the white pigment was an indication of
mourning. Whether these people have an idea of a superintending Providence
I doubt, but they evidently dread evil agency. On the whole I should say
they are a people, at present, at the very bottom of the scale of
humanity.

REMARKS ON THE DARLING RIVER.

We struck the Darling River in lat. 29 degrees 37 minutes S. and in E.
long. 145 degrees 33 minutes, and traced it down for about sixty-six miles
in a direct line to the S.W. If I might hazard an opinion from appearance,
to whatever part of the interior it leads, its source must be far to the
N.E. or N. The capacity of its channel, and the terrific floods that must
sometimes rage in it, would argue that it is influenced by tropical rains,
which alone would cause such floods. It is likely that it seldom arrives
at so reduced a state as that in which we found it, and that, generally
speaking, it has a sufficient depth of water for the purposes of inland
navigation: in such case its future importance cannot be questioned, since
it most probably receives the chief streams falling westerly from the
coast ranges. But, with every anticipation of the benefit that may at some
time or other be derived from this remarkable and central stream, it is
incumbent on me to state that the country, through which it flows, holds
out but little prospect of advantage. Certainly the portion we know of it,
is far from encouraging. The extent of alluvial soil, between the inner
and outer banks of the river, is extremely limited, and, instead of being
covered with sward, is in most places over-run by the polygonum. Beyond
this the plains of the interior stretch away, whose character and soil
must change, ere they can be available to any good purpose. But there is a
singular want of vegetable decay in the interior of New Holland, and that
powerfully argues its recent origin.

REMARKS ON THE COUNTRY.

There is no life upon its surface, if I may so express myself; but the
stillness of death reigns in its brushes, and over its plains. It cannot,
however, be doubted that we visited the interior during a most unfavorable
season. Probably in ordinary ones it wears a different appearance, but its
deserts are of great extent, and its productions are of little value.

Agreeably to our arrangements, we broke up our camp at an early hour on
the morning of the 12th, and proceeded up the river to the junction of
New Year's Creek. We then struck away in an easterly direction from it,
detaching a man to trace the creek up, lest we should pass any water; and
we should certainly have been without it had we not taken this precaution.

On the following day, we again passed to the eastward, through an open
country, having picturesque views of Oxley's Table Land. We crossed our
track about noon, and struck on the creek at about five miles beyond it,
and we were fortunate enough to procure both water and grass. The timber
upon the plains, between us and the Darling, we found to be a rough gum,
but box prevailed in the neighbourhood of the creek at this part of it.

On the 14th, we changed our direction more to the southward, but made a
short journey, in consequence of being obliged to make some slight repairs
on the boat carriage.

REGAIN OUR OLD ROUTE.

On the 15th, we kept an E.S.E. course, and, crossing the creek at an early
hour, got upon our old track, which we kept. We had the lateral ridge of
the Pink Hills upon our right, and travelled through a good deal of brush.
Four or five natives joined us, and two followed us to the end of our
day's journey. In the course of the evening, they endeavoured to pilfer
whatever was in their reach, but were detected putting a tin into a bush,
and soon took to their heels. This was the first instance we had of open
theft among the natives of the interior.

We passed Mosquito Brush on the 18th, but found the ponds quite dry, we
were, therefore, under the necessity of pushing on, to shorten the next
day's journey, as we could not expect to get water nearer than the
marshes. At noon, on the 19th, we entered the plain, and once more saw
them spreading in dreariness before us. While the party was crossing to
the first channel, I rode to the left, in order to examine the appearance
of the country in the direction of the wood, and as far as I skirted the
reeds had my impressions confirmed as to their partial extension. I was
obliged, however, to join the men without completing the circuit of the
marshes. They had found the first channel dry, and had passed on to the
other, in which, fortunately, a small quantity of water still remained.
It was, however, so shallow as to expose the backs of the fish in it, and
a number of crows had congregated, and were pecking at them. Wishing to
satisfy my mind as to the distance to which the river extended to the
northward, Mr. Hume rode with me on the following day, to examine the
country in that direction, leaving the men stationary. We found that the
reeds gradually decreased in body, until, at length, they ceased, or gave
place to bulrushes. There were general appearances of inundation, and of
the subsidence of waters, but none that led us to suppose that any channel
existed beyond the flooded lands.

ALARM FOR THE SAFETY OF THE PROVISION PARTY.

On our return to the camp, we observed dense masses of smoke rising at the
head of the marshes, and immediately under Mount Foster. This excited our
alarm for the safety of the party we hoped to find at Mount Harris, and
obliged us to make forced marches, to relieve it if threatened by the
natives.

On the 22nd, we crossed the plains of the Macquarie, and surprised a
numerous tribe on the banks of the river; and the difficulty we found in
getting any of them to approach us, their evident timidity, and the
circumstance of one of them having on a jacket, tended to increase our
apprehensions. When two or three came to us, they intimated that white
men either had been or were under Mount Harris, but we were left in
uncertainty and passed a most anxious night.

The body of reeds was still on fire; and the light embers were carried to
an amazing distance by the wind, falling like a black-shower around us. As
we knew that the natives never made such extensive conflagration, unless
they had some mischievous object in view, our apprehension for the safety
of Riley, with his supplies, was increased.

At the earliest dawn, we pushed for the hill. In passing that part of the
meadows under Mount Foster, we observed that the grass had also been
consumed, and we scarcely recognised the ground from its altered
appearance. As we approached Mount Harris, we saw recent traces of cattle,
but none were visible on the plains. Under the hill, however, we could
distinctly see that a hut of some kind had been erected, and it is
impossible for me to describe the relief we felt when a soldier came
forward to reconnoitre us. I could no longer doubt the safety of the
party, and this was confirmed by the rest of the men turning out to
welcome us. It appeared that our suspicions with regard to the natives had
not been without foundation, since they attempted to surprise the camp,
and it was supposed the firing of the marshes was done with a view to
collect the distant tribes, to make a second attack; so that our arrival
was most opportune.

The party I found awaiting our arrival at Mount Harris consisted of one
soldier, Riley, who had the charge of the supplies, and a drayman. They
had found the paper I had fixed against the tree, and also the letters I
had hid, and had forwarded them to Sydney, by another soldier and a
prisoner; which had weakened their party a good deal. Riley informed me,
that he had been between a month and three weeks at the station, and that
knowing our provisions must have run short he had expected us much earlier
than we had made our appearance.

My dispatches stated, that additional supplies had been forwarded for my
use, together with horses and bullocks, in the event of my requiring them.
On examination, the former were found to be in excellent order; and, as it
would take some time to carry any changes I might contemplate, or find it
necessary to make, into effect, I determined to give the men who had been
with me a week's rest.

ENCAMP AT MOUNT HARRIS.

The camp was made snug; and as the weather had become much cooler I
thought it a good opportunity to slaughter one of the bullocks, in order
to guard against any bad effects of our having been living for some weeks
exclusively on salt provisions. I was also induced to this measure, from a
wish to preserve my supplies as much as possible.

These matters having been arranged, I had a temporary awning erected near
the river, and was for three or four days busily employed writing an
account of our journey for the Governor's information.

Having closed my despatches, and answered the numerous friendly letters I
had received, my attention was next turned to the changes that had taken
place at Mount Harris during our absence. The Macquarie, I found, had
wholly ceased to flow, and now consisted of a chain of ponds. Such of the
minor vegetation as had escaped the fires of the natives, had perished
under the extreme heat of the season. The acacia pendula stood leafless
upon the plains, and the polygonum junceum appeared to be the only plant
that had withstood the effects of the drought. Yet, notwithstanding this
general depression of the vegetable kingdom, the animals that had been
brought from Wellington Valley were in the best condition, and were,
indeed, too fat for effective labour; it might, therefore, be reasonably
presumed, that herbage affording such nourishment in so unfavourable a
season, would be of the richest quality, if fresh and vigorous under the
influence of seasonable, and not excessive, rains.

FIRING OF THE GREAT MARSHES.

The appearance of the country was, however, truly melancholy; there was
not a flower in bloom, nor a green object to be seen. Whether our arrival
had increased their alarm, is uncertain, but the natives continued to fire
the great marshes, and as the element raged amongst them, large bodies of
smoke rose over the horizon like storm clouds, and had the effect of
giving additional dreariness to the scene. I am inclined to think that
they made these conflagrations to procure food, by seizing whatsoever
might issue from the flames, as snakes, birds, or other animals; for they
had taken every fish in the river, and the low state of its waters had
enabled them to procure an abundance of muscles from its bed, which they
had consumed with their characteristic improvidence. They were,
consequently, in a starving condition, and so pitiable were their
indications of it, that I was induced to feed such of them as visited the
camp, notwithstanding their late misconduct; being likewise anxious to
bring about a good understanding, as the best means of ensuring the safety
of the smaller party when we should separate, of which I had reason to be
doubtful. These people had killed two white men not long before my arrival
among them, and as the circumstances attending the slaughter are singular,
I shall relate them.

SLAUGHTER OF TWO IRISH RUNAWAYS.

The parties were two Irish runaways, who thought they could make their way
to Timor. They escaped from Wellington Valley with a fortnight's provision
each, and a couple of dogs, and proceeded down the Macquarie. About the
cataract, they fell in with the Mount Harris tribe, and remained with them
for some days, when they determined on pursuing their journey. The blacks,
however, wanted to get possession of their dogs, and a resistance on the
part of the Europeans brought on a quarrel. It appears, that before the
blacks proceeded to extremities, they furnished the Irishmen, who were
unarmed, with weapons, and then told them to defend themselves, but
whether against equal or inferior numbers, I am uninformed. One of them
soon fell, which the other observing, he took his knife out, and cut the
throats of both the dogs before the blacks had time to put him to death.
He was, however, sacrificed; and both the men were eaten by the tribe
generally. I questioned several on the subject, but they preserved the
most sullen silence, neither acknowledging nor denying the fact.

ARBUTHNOT'S RANGE.

Mr. Hume had been one day on Mount Harris, and while there, had laid his
compass on a large rock, near to which Mr. Oxley's boat had been burnt.
To his surprise, he found the needle affected; and his bearings were all
wrong. I subsequently went up to ascertain the extent of the error
produced, and found it precisely the same as Mr. Hume noticed. When I
placed the compass on the rock, Mount Foster bore from me N. by W., the
true bearing of the one hill from the other being N.N.W. My placing my
notebook under the compass did not alter the effect, nor did the card move
until I raised the instrument a couple of feet above the stone, when it
first became violently agitated, and then settled correctly; and my
bearings of the highest parts of Arbuthnot's Range, and of its centre,
were as follows:

Mount Exmouth to the N ...... N. 86 E.
Centre....................... N. 85 E.
Vernon's Peak................ N. 89 E.
Distance 70 miles.

Having finished my reports and letters, it became necessary to consider
the best point on which to move, and to fix a day for our departure from
Mount Harris. It struck me that having found so important a feature as the
Darling River, the Governor would approve my endeavouring to regain it
more to the southward, in order to trace it down. I, therefore, detached
Mr. Hume to survey the country in that direction, and to ascertain if a
descent upon the Bogen district would be practicable, through which I had
been informed a considerable river forced itself. The report he made on
his return was such as to deter me from that attempt, but he stated that
the country for 30 miles from the Macquarie was well watered, and superior
to any he had passed over during the journey; beyond that distance, it
took up the character of the remote interior, and alternated with plains
and brush, the soil being too sandy to retain water on its surface. He saw
some hills from the extremity of his journey, bearing by compass W.S.W.
We consequently determined to make for the Castlereagh, agreeably to our
instructions. Preparations were made for breaking up the camp, all the
various arrangements in the change of animals were completed, the boat
carriage was exchanged for a dray, and I took Boyle in the place of
Norman, whose timidity in the bush rendered him unfit for service.

CIRCUIT OF THE GREAT MARSHES.

There is a small hill on the opposite side of the river, and immediately
facing Mount Harris, and to the S.E. of it there is a small lagoon, the
head of a creek, by means of which its superfluous waters are carried off.
This creek runs parallel to the river for about ten miles, and enters the
marshes at the S.E. angle. This I ascertained one day in riding to carry
on my survey of the southern extremity of the marshes, and to join my line
of route by making the circuit of that part of them. I found that the
river was turned to its northerly course by a rising ground of forest
land, which checks its further progress westerly. I proceeded round
the S.W. angle, and then, taking a northerly course, got down to the
bottom of the first great marsh, thus completing the circuit of them. I
did not return to the camp until after 10 p.m., having crossed the river
at day-light, nor did we procure any water from the time we left the
stream to the moment of our recrossing it.

WALLIS'S PONDS.

Having completed our various arrangements, and closed our letters, we
struck our tents on the morning of the 7th March; we remained, however, to
witness the departure of Riley's party for Wellington Valley, and then
left the Macquarie on an E.N.E. course for Wallis's Ponds, and made them
at about 14 miles. They undoubtedly empty themselves into the marshes, and
are a continuation of that chain of ponds on which I left the party in
Mr. Hume's charge. About a mile from Mount Harris, we passed a small dry
creek, that evidently lays the country under water in the wet seasons.
There was a blue-gum flat to the eastward of it, which we crossed, and
then entered a brush of acacia pendula and box. The soil upon the plain
was an alluvial deposit; that in the brushes was sandy. From the extremity
of the plain, Mount Harris bore, by compass, S.W. by W.; Mount Foster due
west. The scrub through which we were penetrating, at length became so
dense, that we found it impossible to travel in a direct line through it,
and frequent ridges of cypresses growing closely together, turned us
repeatedly from our course. The country at length became clearer, and we
travelled over open forest of box, casuarina, and cypresses, on a sandy
soil; the first predominating. For about two miles before we made the
creek, the country was not heavily timbered, the acacia pendula
succeeding the larger trees. The ground had a good covering of grass upon
it, and there were few of the salsolaceous plants, so abundant on the
western plains, to be found. The rough-gum abounded near the creek, with a
small tree bearing a hard round nut, and we had the luxury of plenty of
water.

We remained stationary on the 8th, in hopes that Riley would have met the
soldier who had been sent back to Wellington Valley, and that he would
have forwarded any letters to us, of which he might have been the bearer.
The day, however, passed over without realizing our expectations; and we
started once more for the interior, and cut ourselves off from all
communication with society.

MORRISSET'S PONDS.

We made for Morrisset's chain of ponds, and travelled over rich and
extensive plains, divided by plantations of cypress, box, and casuarina,
in the early and latter period of the day. About noon we entered a dense
forest of cypresses, which continued for three miles, when the cypresses
became mixed with casuarina, box, and mountain-gum, a tree we had not
remarked before in so low a situation. We struck upon the creek after a
journey of about 15 miles. It had a sandy bed, and was extremely tortuous
in its course, nor was it until after a considerable search, that we at
length succeeded in finding water, at which a party of natives were
encamped. The moment they saw us, they fled, and left all their utensils,
&c. behind them. Among other things, we found a number of bark troughs,
filled with the gum of the mimosa, and vast quantities of gum made into
cakes upon the ground. From this it would appear these unfortunate
creatures were reduced to the last extremity, and, being unable to procure
any other nourishment, had been obliged to collect this mucilaginous food.

The plains we traversed, were of uniform equality of surface. Water
evidently lodges and continues on them long after a fall of rain, and in
wet seasons they must, I should imagine, be full of quagmires, and almost
impassable.

On the 10th, we passed through a country that differed in no material
point from that already described. We stopped at 10 a.m. under some brush,
in the centre of a large plain, from which Arbuthnot's range bore S. 84 E.
distant from 50 to 55 miles, and afterwards traversed or rather crossed,
those extensive tracts described by Mr. Evans as being under water and
covered with reeds, in 1817. They now bore a very different appearance,
being firm and dry. The soil was in general good, and covered with forest
grass and a species of oxalia. We did not observe any reeds, or the signs
of inundation, but, as is invariably the case with plains in the interior,
they were of too even surface, as I have so lately remarked, to admit of
the waters running quickly off them; and no doubt, when they became
saturated, many quagmires are formed, that would very much impede the
movements of an expedition.

REACH THE CASTLEREAGH RIVER.

We reached the Castlereagh about 4 p.m., and although its channel could
not have been less than 130 yards in breadth, there was apparently not a
drop of water in it. Its bed consisted of pure sand and reeds; amid the
latter, we found a small pond of 15 yards circumference, after a long
search. There is a considerable dip in the country towards the river, at
about two miles from it; and the intervening brush was full of kangaroo,
which, I fancy, had congregated to a spot where there was abundance of
food for them. The soil covering the space was of the richest quality,
and the timber upon it consisted of box, mountain gum, and the angophora
lanceolata, a tree that is never found except on rich ground.

WANT OF WATER; CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY.

It appeared that our troubles were to recommence, and that in order to
continue on the Castlereagh, it would be necessary for Mr. Hume and myself
to undertake those fatiguing journeys in search of water that had so
exhausted us already: and after all, it was doubtful how soon we might be
forced back. I had certainly expected that, on our gaining the banks of
the river, we should have had a constant supply of water, but the
circumstance of the Castlereagh having not only ceased to flow, but being
absolutely dry, while it afforded the best and clearest proof of the
severity and continuance of the drought in the interior, at the same time
damped the spirits and ardour of the men. We kept the left bank of the
river as we proceeded down it, and passed two or three larger ponds about
a mile below where we had slept, but there they ceased. The bed of the
river became one of pure sand, nor did there appear to be any chance of
our finding any water in it. I stopped the party at about eight miles, and
desired the men to get their dinners, to give Mr. Hume and myself time to
search for a supply upon the plains. Disappointed to the left, we crossed
the channel of the Castlereagh, and struck over a small plain upon the
right bank, and at the extremity of it, came upon a swamp, from which we
immediately returned for the cattle, and got them unloaded by seven
o'clock. As there was sufficient pasture around us, I proposed to Mr. Hume
on the following day, to leave the party stationary, and to ride down the
river to see how far its present appearances continued. Like the
generality of rivers of the interior, it had, where we struck upon it,
outer banks to confine its waters during floods, and to prevent them from
spreading generally over the country; the space between the two banks
being of the richest soil, and the timber chiefly of the angophora kind.
Flooded-gum overhung the inner banks of the river, or grew upon the many
islands, with casuarina. It became evident, however, that the outer banks
declined in height as we proceeded down the river, nor was it long before
they ceased altogether. As we rode along, we found that the inner ones
were fast decreasing in height also. Riding under a hanging wood of the
angophora, which had ceased for a time, we were induced to break off to
our right, to examine some large flooded-gum trees about a couple of miles
to the N.W. of us. On arriving near them, we were astonished to find that
they concealed a serpentine lagoon that had a belt of reeds round it.
Keeping this lagoon upon our right, we at length came to the head of it,
past which the river sweeps. Crossing the channel of the river, we
continued to ride in an easterly direction to examine the country. In
doing this, we struck on a second branch of the Castlereagh, leading
W. by N. into a plain, which it of course inundates at times, and running
up it, we found its bed at the point of separation, to be considerably
higher than that of the main channel, which still continued of pure
sand--and was stamped all over with the prints of the feet of natives,
kangaroos, emus, and wild dogs, We then turned again to the head of the
lagoon, and took the following bearings of Arbuthnot's range:

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