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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In this extremity, I knew not what movement to make, as Mr. Hume had been
checked in his progress north. I therefore determined to ascertain the
nature of the country to the eastward and to the westward, that I might
move accordingly; I proposed to Mr. Hume, to take a week's provisions,
with two attendants, and go to the north-east, in order again to turn the
marsh, but with the expectation that the angle formed by the junction of
the Castlereagh with the Macquarie would arrest its progress, as the last
was fast approaching the former.

I myself determined to cross the river, and to skirt the marshes on the
left, and in case they turned off to the north east, as they appeared to
do, it was my intention to pursue a N.W. course into the interior, to
learn the nature of it. With these views I left the camp on the 31st of
December, and did not return until the 5th of January. Having found early
in my journey, from the change of soil and of timber, that I was leaving
the neighbourhood of the Macquarie, I followed a N.W. course, from a more
northerly one, and struck at once across the country, under an impression
that Mr. Hume would have made the river again long before my return.
I found, after travelling between twenty and thirty miles, the country
began to rise; and at the end of my journey, I made a hill of considerable
elevation, from the summit of which I had a view of other high lands; one
to the S.W. being a very fine mountain. As I had not found any water
excepting in two creeks, which I had left far behind me, and as I had got
on a soil which appeared incapable of holding it, I made this the
termination of my journey, having exceeded 100 miles in distance from the
camp, on my return to which I found Mr. Hume still absent. When he joined,
he stated to me, that not making the Castlereagh as soon as he expected,
he had bent down westerly for the Macquarie, and that he ended his journey
at some gentle hills he had made; so that it appeared we must either have
crossed each other's line of route, or that they were very near, and that
want of length must alone have prevented them from crossing; but as such
all assumption led to the conclusion that the Macquarie no longer existed,
I determined to pursue a middle course round the swamps, to ascertain the
point; as in case the river had ended, a westerly course was the one which
my instructions directed me to pursue.

In the immediate neighbourhood of the marshes we were obliged to sink
wells for water, and it was thus early that we began to feel the want of a
regular supply.

Having made a creek about four miles from our position by cutting through
the reeds where there was a narrow space, we pursued a westerly course
over a plain, having every appearance of frequent inundation, and for four
or five days held nearly the same direction; in the course of which we
crossed both our tracks on the excursions we had made, which had
intersected each other in a dense oak brush; thus renewing the few doubts,
or rather the doubt we had as to the fate of the Macquarie, whose course
we had been sent to trace. Indeed, had I not felt convinced that that
river had ceased, I should not have moved westward without further
examination, but we had passed through a very narrow part of the marshes,
and round the greater part of them, and had not seen any hollow that could
by any possible exaggeration be construed into or mistaken for the channel
of a river.

It appears, then, that the Macquarie, flowing as it does for so many
miles, through a bed, and not a declining country, and having little water
in it, except in times of flood, loses its impetus long ere it reaches the
formidable barrier that opposes its progress northwards; the soil in which
the reeds grow being a stiff clay. Its waters consequently spread, until
a slight declivity giving them fresh impulse, they form a channel again,
but soon gaining a level, they lose their force and their motion together,
and spread not only over the second great marsh, but over a vast extent
of the surrounding country, the breadth of ground thus subject to
inundation being more than twenty miles, and its length considerably
greater; around this space there is a gentle rise which confines the
waters, while small hollows in various directions lead them out of the
marshes over the adjacent plains, on which they eventually subside. On my
return from the interior, I examined those parts round which I had not
been, with particular attention, partly in company with Mr. Hume, and this
statement was confirmed by what we saw. Thus, at a distance of about
twenty-five miles from Mount Foster to the N.N.W. the river Macquarie
ceases to exist, in any shape as a river, and at a distance of between
fifty and sixty, the marshes terminate, though the country subject to
inundation from the river is of a very considerable extent, as shown by
the withered bulrushes, wet reeds, and shells, that are scattered over
its surface.

Having executed the first part of the instructions with which I had been
honoured, I determined on pursuing a west, or north-west course into the
interior, to ascertain the nature of it, in fulfilment of the second, but
in doing this I was obliged to follow creeks, and even on their banks had
to carry a supply of water, so uncertain was it that we should meet with
any at the termination of our day's journey, and that what we did find
would be fit to drink. Our course led us over plains immediately bordering
the lower lands of the Macquarie, alternating with swamp oak, acacia
pendula, pine, box, eucalyptus, and many other trees of minor growth, the
soil being inclined to a red loam, while the plains were generally covered
with a black scrub, though in some places they had good grass upon them.
We crossed two creeks before we made the hills Mr. Hume had ascended, and
which he called New Year's Range. Around these hills the country appeared
better--they are gentle, picturesque elevations, and are for the most
part, covered with verdure, and have, I fancy, a whinstone base, the rock
of which they are composed being of various substances. I place New Year's
Range in lat. 30 degrees 21 minutes, long. 146 degrees 3 minutes
30 seconds. Our course next lying north-west along a creek, led us to
within twenty miles of the hill that had terminated my excursion, and as I
hoped that a more leisurely survey of the country from its summit would
open something favourable to our view, I struck over for it, though
eventually obliged to return. From it Mr. Hume and I rode to the S.W.
mountain, a distance of about forty miles, without crossing a brook or a
creek, our way leading through dense acacia brushes, and for the most part
over a desert. We saw high lands from this mountain, which exceeds 1,300
feet in elevation, and is of sandstone formation, and thickly covered with
stunted pine, in eight different points--the bearings of which are as
follows:--

Oxley's Table Land, N. 40 E., distant 40 miles.
Kengall Hill, due E. very distant.
Conical Hill, S. 60 E.
Highland, S.E. distance 30 miles.
Highland, S. 30 E. distance 25 miles.
Long Range, S. 16 E. distance 60 miles.
Long Range, S. 72 W. distance 60 miles.
Distant Range, S. 25 W. supposed.

It was in vain, however, that we looked for water. The country to the
north-west, was low and unbroken, and alternated with wood and plain.

The country from New Year's Range to the hill I had made, and which I
called Oxley's Table Land, had been very fair, with good soil in many
places, but with a total want of water, except in the creeks, wherein the
supply was both bad and uncertain; on our second day's journey from the
former, we came to the creek on which we were moving, where it had a
coarse granite bottom. The country around it improved very much in
appearance, and there was abundance of good grass on the surface of it, in
spite of the drought. On the right of this creek, a large plain stretches
parallel to it for many miles, varying in quality of soil. Near Oxley's
Table Land, we passed over open forest, the prevailing timber of which was
box. I have placed Oxley's Table Land in latitude 29 degrees 57 minutes
30 seconds, longitude 145 degrees 43 minutes 30 seconds.

Finding it impracticable to move westward from the hill I again descended
on the creek, whose general course was to the north-west, in which
direction we at length struck upon a river whose appearance raised our
most sanguine expectations. It flowed round an angle from the north-east
to the north-west, and extended in longitude five reaches as far as we
could see. At that place it was about sixty yards broad, with banks of
from thirty to forty feet high, and it had numerous wild fowl and many
pelicans on its bosom, and seemed to be full of fish, while the paths of
the natives on both sides, like well-trodden roads, showed how numerous
they were about it. On tasting its waters, however, we found them
perfectly salt, and useless to us, and as our animals had been without
water the night before, this circumstance distressed us much; our first
day's journey led us past between sixty and seventy huts in one place, and
on our second we fell in with a numerous tribe of natives, having
previously seen some between two creeks before we made New-Year's Range.
At some places the water proved less salt than at others; our animals
drank of it sparingly: we found two small fresh-water holes, which served
us as we passed. After tracing the river for a considerable distance, we
came on brine springs in the bed of it, the banks having been encrusted
with salt from the first; and as the difficulty of getting fresh water was
so great, I here foresaw an end to our wanderings. And as I was resolved
not to involve my party in greater distress, I halted it, on overtaking
the animals, and the next morning turned back to the nearest fresh-water,
at a distance of eighteen miles from us. Unwilling, however, to give up
our pursuit, Mr. Hume and I started with two men on horseback, to trace
the river as far as we could, and to ascertain what course it took; in the
hopes also that we should fall on some creek, or get a more certain supply
of drinkable water. We went a distance to which the bullocks could not
have been brought, and then got on a red sandy soil, which at once
destroyed our hopes; and on tasting the river water we found it salter
than ever, our supply being diminished to two pints. Our animals being
weak and purged, and having proceeded at least forty miles from the camp,
I thought it best to yield to circumstances, and to return, though I trust
I shall be believed when I add, it was with extreme reluctance I did so;
and had I followed the wishes of my party, should still have continued
onwards. Making a part of the river where we had slept, we stayed to
refresh, and in consequence of the heat of the weather were obliged to
drink the water in it, which made us sick. While here, a tribe of blacks
came to us and behaved remarkably well. At night we slept on a plain
without water, and the next day we regained the camp, which had been
visited by the natives during our absence.

We found the river held a south-west course, and appeared to be making for
the central space between a high land, which I called Dunlop's Range, at
Mr. Hume's request, and a lofty range to the westward. It still continued
its important appearance, having gained in breadth and in the height of
its banks, while there were hundreds of pelicans and wild-fowl on it.
Flowing through a level country with such a channel, it may be presumed
that this river ultimately assumes either a greater character, or that it
adds considerably to the importance of some other stream. It had a clay
bottom, generally speaking, in many places semi-indurated and fast forming
into sandstone, while there was crystallized sulphate of lime running in
veins through the soil which composed the bank.

This river differs from most in the colony, in having a belt of barren
land of from a quarter of a mile to two miles in breadth in its immediate
neighbourhood, and which is subject to overflow. This belt runs to the
inland plains, where a small elevation checks the further progress of the
flood. There is magnificent blue gum on both sides the river, but the
right bank is evidently the most fertile, and I am mistaken greatly if
there is not a beautiful country north of it.

Of the country over which we have passed, it is impossible for me to have
formed a correct opinion under its present melancholy circumstances. It
has borne the appearance of barrenness, where in even moderate rain, it
might have shown very differently, though no doubt we passed over much of
both good and bad land; our animals on the whole, have thrived on the food
they have had, which would argue favourably for the herbage. Generally
speaking, I fear the timber is bad--the rough-gum may be used for knees,
and such purposes, and we may have seen wood for the wheelwright and
cabinet-maker, specimens of which I have procured, but none for general or
household purposes.

The creeks we have traced are different in character from those in the
settled districts, inasmuch as that, like the river, they have a belt of
barren land near then and but little grass--they have all of them been
numerously frequented by the natives, as appeared from the number of
muscle-shells on their banks, but now having scarcely any water in them,
the fish having either been taken, or are dead, and the tribes gone
elsewhere for food, while the badness of the river water has introduced a
cutaneous disease among the natives of that district, which is fast
carrying them off. Our intercourse with these people was incessant from
the time we first met them, and on all occasions they behaved remarkably
well, nor could we have seen less than than two hundred and fifty of them.

Our return is to be attributable to the want of water alone, and it is
impossible for me to describe the effects of the drought on animal as well
as vegetable nature. The natives are wandering in the desert, and it is
melancholy to reflect on the necessity which obliges them to drink the
stinking and loathsome water they do--birds sit gasping in the trees and
are quite thin--the wild dog prowls about in the day-time unable to avoid
us, and is as lean as he can be in a living state, while minor vegetation
is dead, and the very trees are drooping. I have noticed all these things
in my Journal I shall have the honour of submitting through you, for the
Governor's perusal and information, on my return. Finally, I fear our
expedition will not pave the way to any ultimate benefit; although it has
been the means by which two very doubtful questions,--the course of the
Macquarie, and the nature of the interior, have been solved; for it is
beyond doubt, that the interior for 250 miles beyond its former known
limits to the W.N.W., so far from being a shoal sea, has been ascertained
not only to have considerable elevations upon it, but is in itself a table
land to all intents and purposes, and has scarcely water on its surface to
support its inhabitants.

I beg you will inform His Excellency the Governor, that I have on all
occasions received the most ready and valuable assistance from Mr, Hume.
His intimate acquaintance with the manners and customs of the natives,
enabled him to enter into intercourse with them, and chiefly contributed
to the peaceable manner in which we have journeyed, while his previous
experience put it in his power to be of real use to me. I cannot but say
he has done an essential service to future travellers, and to the colony
at large, by his conduct on all occasions since he has been with me; nor
should I be doing him justice, if I did not avail myself of the first
opportunity of laying my sentiments before the Governor, through you. I am
happy to add that every individual of the party deserves my warmest
approbation, and that they have, one and all, borne their distresses,
trifling certainly, but still unusual, with cheerfulness, and that they
have at all times been attentive to their duty, and obedient to their
orders. The whole are in good health, and are eager again to start.

I have the honor to be,
Sir
Your most obedient and most humble servant,
CHARLES STURT,
Capt. 39th Regt.

THE HONORABLE THE COLONIAL SECRETARY.

* * * * *

MOUNT HARRIS, 5TH MARCH, 1829.

SIR,--It having appeared to me, that after discovering such a river as the
one I have described in my letter of yesterday, His Excellency the
Governor would approve of my endeavouring to regain it. There being a
probability that it ultimately joins the Southern Waters, I thought of
turning my steps to the southward and westward; and with a view to learn
the nature of the country, I despatched Mr. Hume in that direction on
Saturday last. He returned in three days, after having gone above forty
miles from the river, and states, that he crossed two creeks, the one
about twenty-five miles, the other about thirty-two distance, evidently
the heads of the creeks we passed westward of the marshes of the
Macquarie. He adds, that, to the second creek the land was excellent, but
that on crossing it, he got onto red soil, on which he travelled some
miles further, until he saw a range of high land, bearing from him S.W..
by W., when, knowing from the nature of the country around him, and from
the experience of our late journey, that he could not hope to find a
regular supply of water in advance, and that in the present dry state of
the low lands, a movement such as I had contemplated would be
impracticable, he returned home. I do myself the honour, therefore, to
report to you, for His Excellency's information, that I shall proceed on
Saturday next in a N.E. direction towards the Castlereagh, intending to
trace that river down, and afterwards to penetrate as far to the northward
and westward as possible; it being my wish to get into the country north
of the more distant river, where I have expectations that there is an
extensive and valuable track of country, but that in failure of the above,
I shall examine the low country behind our N.W. boundaries, if I can find
a sufficiency of water to enable me to do so.

I am to inform you that in this neighbourhood the Macquarie has ceased to
flow, and that it is now a chain of shallow ponds. The water is fast
diminishing in it, and unless rain descends in a few weeks it will be
perfectly dry.

I am also to report, that the natives attempted the camp with the supplies
before my arrival at Mount Harris, but that on the soldier with the party
firing a shot, after they had thrown a stone and other of the weapons,
they fled. It was in consequence of their fires, which I saw at a distance
of forty miles, and which they never make on so extensive a scale, except
as signals when they want to collect, and are inclined to be mischievous,
that I made forced marches up, and I am led to believe my arrival was very
opportune. The natives have visited us since, and I do not think they will
now attempt to molest either party when we separate.

I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient and most humble servant,
CHARLES STURT,
Capt. 39th Regt.

THE HON. THE COLONIAL SECRETARY.

END OF VOLUME I

* * * * * * *

VOLUME II.

CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME

EXPEDITION DOWN THE MORUMBIDGEE AND MURRAY RIVERS, IN 1829, 1830 AND 1831.

CHAPTER I.

Introductory--Remarks on the results of the former Expedition--The
fitting out of another determined on--Its objects--Provisions,
accoutrements, and retinue--Paper furnished by Mr. Kent--Causes that have
prevented the earlier appearance of the present work.

CHAPTER II.

Commencement of the expedition in November, 1829.--Joined by Mr. George
M'Leay--Appearance of the party--Breadalbane Plains--Hospitality of Mr.
O'Brien--Yass Plains--Hill of Pouni--Path of a hurricane--Character of the
country between Underaliga and the Morumbidgee--Appearance of that river--
Junction of the Dumot with it--Crossing and recrossing--Geological
character and general aspect of the country--Plain of Pondebadgery--Few
natives seen.

CHAPTER III.

Character of the Morumbidgee where it issues from the hilly country--
Appearance of approach to swamps--Hamilton Plains--Intercourse with the
natives--Their appearance, customs, &c.--Change in the character of the
river--Mirage--Dreariness of the country--Ride towards the Lachlan river
--Two boats built and launched on the Morumbidgee; and the drays, with
part of the men sent back to Goulburn Plains.

CHAPTER IV.

Embarkation of the party in the boats, and voyage down the Morumbidgee--
The skiff swamped by striking on a sunken tree--Recovery of boat and its
loading--Region of reeds--Dangers of the navigation--Contraction of the
channel--Reach the junction of a large river--Intercourse with the natives
on its banks--Character of the country below the junction of the rivers--
Descent of a dangerous rapid--Warlike demonstrations of a tribe of
natives--Unexpected deliverance from a conflict with them--Junction of
another river--Give the name of the "Murray" to the principal stream.

CHAPTER V.

Character of the country--Damage of provisions--Adroitness of the natives
in catching fish--The skiff broken up--Stream from the North-East supposed
to be the Darling--Change of country in descending the river--Intercourse
with the natives--Prevalence of loathsome diseases among them--Apparent
populousness of the country--Junction of several small streams--The Rufus,
the Lindesay, &c.--Rainy and tempestuous weather--Curious appearance of
the banks--Troublesomeness of the natives--Inhospitable and desolate
aspect of the country--Condition of the men--Change in the geological
character of the country--The river passes through a valley among hills.

CHAPTER VI.

Improvement in the aspect of the country--Increase of the river--Strong
westerly gales--Chronometer broken--A healthier tribe of natives--
Termination of the Murray in a large lake--Its extent and environs--
Passage across it--Hostile appearance of the natives--Beautiful scenery
--Channel from the lake to the sea at Encounter Bay--Reach the beach--
Large flocks of water fowl--Curious refraction--State of provisions--
Embarrassing situation--Inspection of the channel to the ocean--Weak
condition of the men--Difficulties of the return.

CHAPTER VII.

Valley of the Murray--Its character and capabilities--Laborious progress
up the river--Accident to the boat--Perilous collision with the natives
--Turbid current of the Rufus--Passage of the Rapids--Assisted by the
natives--Dangerous intercourse with them--Re-enter the Morumbidgee--
Verdant condition of its banks--Nocturnal encounter with the natives--
Interesting manifestation of feeling in one family--Reach the spot where
the party had embarked on the river--Men begin to fail entirely--
Determine to send two men forward for relief--Their return--Excursion on
horseback--Reach Pondebadgery Plain, and meet the supplies from the
colony--Cannibalism of the natives--Return to Sydney--Concluding remarks.

CHAPTER VIII.

Environs of the lake Alexandrina--Appointment of Capt. Barker to make a
further survey of the coast near Encounter Bay--Narrative of his
proceedings--Mount Lofty, Mount Barker, and beautiful country adjacent--
Australian salmon--Survey of the coast--Outlet of lake to the sea--
Circumstances that led to the slaughter of Capt. Barker by the natives--
His character--Features of this part of the country and capabilities of
its coasts--Its adaptation for colonization--Suggestions for the
furtherance of future Expeditions.

APPENDIX.

No. I. Geological Specimens found to the south-west of Port Jackson
No. II. Official Report to the Colonial Government

ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE SECOND VOLUME
(Not included in this etext)

View on the Morumbidgee River
Junction of the supposed Darling with the Murray
Palaeornis Melanura, or Black Tailed Paroquet
Pomatorhinus Temporalis
Pomatorhinus Superciliosus
Chart of Cape Jervis, and Encounter Bay
Mass of Fossils of the Tertiary Formation
Bulla
Conus
Genus Unknown
Chrystallized Selenite
Selenite
Single Fossils of the Tertiary Formation

EXPEDITION DOWN THE MORUMBIDGEE AND MURRAY RIVERS, IN 1829, 1830 AND 1831.

CHAPTER I.

Introductory

Remarks on the results of the former Expedition--The fitting out of
another determined on--Its objects--Provisions, accoutrements, and
retinue--Paper furnished by Mr. Kent--Causes that have prevented the
earlier appearance of the present work.

OBJECTS OF THE EXPEDITION.

The expedition of which we have just detailed the proceedings was so far
satisfactory in its results, that it not only set at rest the hypothesis
of the existence of an internal shoal sea in southern Australia, and
ascertained the actual termination of the rivers it had been directed to
trace, but also added very largely to our knowledge of the country
considerably to the westward of former discoveries. And although no land
had been traversed of a fertile description of sufficient extent to invite
the settler, the fact of a large river such as the Darling lying at the
back of our almost intertropical settlements, gave a fresh importance to
the distant interior. It was evident that this river was the chief drain
for carrying off the waters falling westerly from the eastern coast, and
as its course indicated a decline of country diametrically opposite to
that which had been calculated upon, it became an object of great
importance to ascertain its further direction. Had not the saline quality
of its waters been accounted for, by the known existence of brine springs
in its bed, it would have been natural to have supposed that it
communicated with some mediterranean sea; but, under existing
circumstances, it remained to be proved whether this river held on a due
south course, or whether it ultimately turned westerly, and ran into the
heart of the interior. In order fully to determine this point, it would be
necessary to regain it banks, so far below the parallel to which it had
been traced as to leave no doubt of its identity; but it was difficult to
fix upon a plan for approaching that central stream without suffering from
the want of water, since it could hardly be expected that the Lachlan
would afford such means, as it was reasonable to presume that its
termination was very similar to that of the Macquarie. The attention of
the government was, consequently, fixed upon the Morumbidgee, a river
stated to be of considerable size and of impetuous current. Receiving its
supplies from the lofty ranges behind Mount Dromedary, it promised to hold
a longer course than those rivers which, depending on periodical rains
alone for existence, had been found so soon to exhaust themselves.

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