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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The joy this intimation spread was universal, Both Hopkinson and
Mulholland readily undertook the journey, and I, accordingly, prepared
orders for them to start by the earliest dawn. It was not without a
feeling of sorrow that I witnessed the departure of these two men, to
encounter a fatiguing march. I had no fears as to their gaining the plain,
if their reduced state would permit them. On the other hand, I hoped they
would fall in with our old friend the black, or that they would meet the
drays; and I could not but admire the spirit and energy they both
displayed upon the occasion. Their behaviour throughout had been such as
to awaken in my breast a feeling of the highest approbation. Their
conduct, indeed, exceeded all praise, nor did they hesitate one moment
when I called upon them to undertake this last trying duty, after such
continued exertion. I am sure the reader will forgive me for bringing
under his notice the generous efforts of these two men; by me it can never
be forgotten.

ABANDON AND BURN THE BOAT.

Six days had passed since their departure; we remaining encamped. M'Leay
and myself had made some short excursions, but without any result worthy
of notice. A group of sand-hills rose in the midst of the alluvial
deposits, about a quarter of a mile from the tents, that were covered with
coarse grasses and banksias. We shot several intertropical birds feeding
in the latter, and sucking the honey from their flowers. I had, in the
mean time, directed Clayton to make some plant cases of the upper planks
of the boat, and then to set fire to her, for she was wholly
unserviceable, and I felt a reluctance to leave her like a neglected log
on the water. The last ounce of flour had been served out to the men, and
the whole of it was consumed on the sixth day from that on which we had
abandoned the boat. I had calculated on seeing Hopkinson again in eight
days, but as the morrow would see us without food, I thought, as the men
had had a little rest it would be better to advance towards relief than to
await its arrival.

MEN RETURN WITH SUPPLIES.

On the evening of the 18th, therefore, we buried our specimens and other
stores, intending to break up the camp in the morning. A singular bird,
which invariably passed it at an hour after sunset, and which, from its
heavy flight, appeared to be of unusual size so attracted my notice, that
in the evening M'Leay and I crossed the river, in hope to get a shot at
it. We had, however, hardly landed on the other side, when a loud shout
called us back to witness the return of our comrades.

They were both of them in a state that beggars description. Their knees
and ankles were dreadfully swollen, and their limbs so painful, that as
soon as they arrived in the camp they sunk under their efforts, but they
met us with smiling countenances, and expressed their satisfaction at
having arrived so seasonably to our relief. They had, as I had foreseen,
found Robert Harris on the plain, which they reached on the evening of the
third day. They had started early the next morning on their return with
such supplies as they thought we might immediately want. Poor Macnamee
had in a great measure recovered, but for some days he was sullen and
silent: sight of the drays gave him uncommon satisfaction. Clayton gorged
himself; but M'Leay, myself and Fraser could not at first relish the meat
that was placed before us.

It was determined to give the bullocks a day of rest, and I availed myself
of the serviceable state of the horses to visit some hills about eighteen
miles to the northward. I was anxious to gain a view of the distant
country to the N.W., and to ascertain the geological character of the
hills themselves. M'Leay, Fraser, and myself left the camp early in the
morning of the 19th, on our way to them. Crossing the sand hills, we
likewise passed a creek, and, from the flooded or alluvial tracks, got on
an elevated sandy country, in which we found a beautiful grevillia. From
this we passed a barren ridge of quartz-formation, terminating in open box
forest. From it we descended and traversed a plain that must, at some
periods, be almost impassable. It was covered with acacia pendula, and the
soil was a red earth, bare of vegetation in many places. At its extremity
we came to some stony ridges, and, descending their northern side, gained
the base of the hills. They were more extensive than they appeared to be
from our camp; and were about six hundred feet in height, and composed of
a conglomerate rock. They were extremely barren, nor did the aspect of the
country seem to indicate a favourable change. I was enabled, however, to
connect my line of route with the more distant hills between the
Morumbidgee and the Lachlan. We returned to the camp at midnight.

MEET WITH THE DRAYS.

On the following morning we left our station before Hamilton's Plains.
We reached Pondebadgery on the 28th, and found Robert Harris, with a
plentiful supply of provisions. He had everything extremely regular, and
had been anxiously expecting our return, of which he at length wholly
despaired. He had been at the plain two months, and intended to have moved
down the river immediately, had we not made our appearance when we did.

I had sent M'Leay forward on the 20th with letters to the Governor, whose
anxiety was great on our account. I remained for a fortnight on the plain
to restore the men, but Hopkinson had so much over-exerted himself that it
was with difficulty he crawled along.

In my despatches to the Governor, from the depot, I had suggested the
policy of distributing some blankets and other presents to the natives on
the Morumbidgee, in order to reward those who had been useful to our
party, and in the hope of proving beneficial to settlers in that distant
part of the colony. His Excellency was kind enough to accede to my
request, and I found ample means for these purposes among the stores that
Harris brought from Sydney.

We left Pondebadgery Plain early on the 5th of May, and reached Guise's
Station late in the afternoon. We gained Yass Plains on the 12th, having
struck through the mountain passes by a direct line, instead of returning
by our old route near Underaliga. As the party was crossing the plains I
rode to see Mr. O'Brien, but did not find him at home.

INSTANCE OF CANNIBALISM.

While waiting at his hut, one of the stockmen pointed out two blacks to me
at a little distance from us. The one was standing, the other sitting.
"That fellow, sir," said he, "who is sitting down, killed his infant child
last night by knocking its head against a stone, after which he threw it
on the fire and then devoured it." I was quite horror struck, and could
scarcely believe such a story. I therefore went up to the man and
questioned him as to the fact, as well as I could. He did not attempt to
deny it, but slunk away in evident consciousness. I then questioned the
other that remained, whose excuse for his friend was that the child was
sick and would never have grown up, adding he himself did not PATTER (eat)
any of it.

Many of my readers may probably doubt this horrid occurrence having taken
place, as I have not mentioned any corroborating circumstances. I am
myself, however, as firmly persuaded of the truth of what I have stated as
if I had seen the savage commit the act; for I talked to his companion who
did see him, and who described to me the manner in which he killed the
child. Be it as it may, the very mention of such a thing among these
people goes to prove that they are capable of such an enormity.

We left Yass Plains on the 14th of May, and reached Sydney by easy stages
on the 25th, after an absence of nearly six months.

* * * * *

CONCLUDING REMARKS.

To most of my readers, the foregoing narrative will appear little else
than a succession of adventures. Whilst the expedition was toiling down
the rivers, no rich country opened upon the view to reward or to cheer the
perseverance of those who composed it, and when, at length, the land of
promise lay smiling before them, their strength and their means were too
much exhausted to allow of their commencing an examination, of the result
of which there could be but little doubt. The expedition returned to
Sydney, without any splendid discovery to gild its proceedings; and the
labours and dangers it had encountered were considered as nothing more
than ordinary occurrences. If I myself had entertained hopes that my
researches would have benefited the colony, I was wholly disappointed.
There is a barren tract of country lying to the westward of the Blue
Mountains that will ever divide the eastern coast from the more central
parts of Australia, as completely as if seas actually rolled between them.

GEOGRAPHICAL REMARKS.

In a geographical point of view, however, nothing could have been more
satisfactory, excepting an absolute knowledge of the country to the
northward between the Murray and the Darling, than the results of the
expedition. I have in its proper place stated, as fairly as I could, my
reasons for supposing the principal junction (which I consequently left
without a name) to be the Darling of my former journey, as well as the
various arguments that bore against such a conclusion.

Of course, where there is so much room for doubt, opinions will be
various. I shall merely review the subject, in order to connect subsequent
events with my previous observations, and to give the reader a full idea
of that which struck me to be the case on a close and anxious
investigation of the country from mountain to lowland. I returned from the
Macquarie with doubts on my mind as to the ultimate direction to which the
waters of the Darling river might ultimately flow; for, with regard to
every other point, the question was, I considered, wholly decided. But,
with regard to that singular stream, I was, from the little knowledge I
had obtained, puzzled as to its actual course; and I thought it as likely
that it might turn into the heart of the interior, as that it would make
to the south. It had not, however, escaped my notice, that the northern
rivers turned more abruptly southward (after gaining a certain distance
from the base of the ranges) than the more southern streams: near the
junction of the Castlereagh with the Darling especially, the number of
large creeks joining the first river from the north, led me to conclude
that there was at that particular spot a rapid fall of country to the
south.

The first thing that strengthened in my mind this half-formed opinion, was
the fall of the Lachlan into the Morumbidgee. I had been told that
Australia was a basin; that an unbroken range of hills lined its coasts,
the internal rivers of which fell into its centre, and contributed to the
formation of an inland sea; I was not therefore prepared to find a break
in the chain--a gap as it were for the escape of these waters to the
coast.

Subsequently to our entrance into the Murray, the remarkable efforts of
that river to maintain a southerly course were observed even by the men,
and the singular runs it made to the south, when unchecked by high lands,
clearly evinced its natural tendency to flow in that direction.

Had we found ourselves at an elevation above the bed of the Darling when
we reached the junction of the principal tributary with the Murray, I
should still have had doubts on my mind as to the identity of that
tributary with the first-mentioned river; but considering the trifling
elevation of the Darling above the sea, and that the junction was still
less elevated above it, I cannot bring myself to believe that the former
alters its course. It is not, however, on this simple geographical
principle that I have built my conclusions; other corroborative
circumstances have tended also to confirm in my mind the opinion I have
already given, not only of the comparatively recent appearance above
the ocean of the level country over which I had passed, but that the true
dip of the interior is from north to south.

In support of the first of these conclusions, it would appear that a
current of water must have swept the vast accumulation of shells, forming
the great fossil bank through which the Murray passes from the northern
extremity of the continent, to deposit them where they are; and it would
further appear from the gradual rise of this bed, on an inclined plain
from N.N.E. to S.S.W., that it must in the first instance, have swept
along the base of the ranges, but ultimately turned into the above
direction by the convexity of the mountains at the S.E. angle of the
coast. From the circumstance, moreover, of the summit of the fossil
formation being in places covered with oyster shells, the fact of the
whole mass having been under water is indisputable, and leads us naturally
to the conclusion that the depressed interior beyond it must have been
under water at the same time.

It was proved by barometrical admeasurement, that the cataract of the
Macquarie was 680 feet above the level of the sea, and, in like manner,
it was found that the depot of Mr. Oxley, on the Lachlan, was only 500,
there being a still greater fall of country beyond these two points.
The maximum height of the fossil bank was 300 feet; and if we suppose a
line to be drawn from its top to the eastward, that line would pass over
the marshes of the two rivers, and would cut them at a point below which
they both gradually diminish. Hence I am brought to conclude that in
former times the sea washed the western base of the dividing ranges, at or
near the two points whose respective elevations I have given; and that
when the mass of land now lying waste and unproductive, became exposed,
the rivers, which until then had pursued a regular course to the ocean,
having no channel beyond their original termination, overflowed the almost
level country into which they now fall; or, filling some extensive
concavity, have contributed, by successive depositions, to the formation
of those marshes of which so much has been said. I regret extremely, that
my defective vision prevents me giving a slight sketch to elucidate
whet I fear I have, in words, perhaps, failed in making sufficiently
intelligible.

GEOLOGICAL REMARKS.

Now, as we know not by what means the changes that have taken place on the
earth's surface have been effected, and can only reason on them from
analogy, it is to be feared we shall never arrive at any clear
demonstration of the truth of our surmises with regard to geographical
changes, whether extensive or local, since the causes which produced them
will necessarily have ceased to operate. We cannot refer to the dates when
they took place, as we may do in regard to the eruptions of a volcano,
or the appearance or disappearance of an island. Such events are of minor
importance. Those mighty changes to which I would be understood to allude,
can hardly be laid to the account of chemical agency. We can easily
comprehend how subterranean fires will occasionally burst forth, and can
thus satisfactorily account for earthquake or volcano; but it is not to
any clashing of properties, or to any visible causes, that the changes of
which I speak can be attributed. They appear rather as the consequences of
direct agency, of an invisible power, not as the occasional and fretful
workings of nature herself. The marks of that awful catastrophe which so
nearly extinguished the human race, are every day becoming more and more
visible as geological research proceeds. Thus, in the limestone caves at
Wellington Valley, the remains of fossils and exuviae, show that their
depths were penetrated by the same searching element that poured into the
caverns of Kirkdale and other places. They are as gleams of sunshine
falling upon the pages of that sublime and splendid volume, in which the
history of the deluge is alone to be found; as if the Almighty intended
that His word should stand single and unsupported before mankind: and when
we consider that such corroborative testimonies of his wrath, as those I
have noticed, were in all probability wholly unknown to those who wrote
that sacred book, the discovery of the remains of a past world, must
strike those under whose knowledge it may fall with the truth of that
awful event, which language has vainly endeavoured to describe and
painters to represent.

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.

ENVIRONS OF THE LAKE ALEXANDRINA.

The foregoing narrative will have given the reader some idea of the state
in which the last expedition reached the bottom of that extensive and
magnificent basin which receives the waters of the Murray. The men were,
indeed, so exhausted, in strength, and their provisions so much reduced by
the time they gained the coast, that I doubted much, whether either would
hold out to such place as we might hope for relief. Yet, reduced as the
whole of us were from previous exertion, beset as our homeward path was by
difficulty and danger, and involved as our eventual safety was in
obscurity and doubt, I could not but deplore the necessity that obliged me
to re-cross the Lake Alexandrina (as I had named it in honour of the heir
apparent to the British crown), and to relinquish the examination of its
western shores. We were borne over its ruffled and agitated surface with
such rapidity, that I had scarcely time to view it as we passed; but,
cursory as my glance was, I could not but think I was leaving behind me
the fullest reward of our toil, in a country that would ultimately render
our discoveries valuable, and benefit the colony for whose interests we
were engaged. Hurried, I would repeat, as my view of it was, my eye never
fell on a country of more promising aspect, or of more favourable
position, than that which occupies the space between the lake and the
ranges of St. Vincent's Gulf, and, continuing northerly from Mount Barker,
stretches away, without any visible boundary.

It appeared to me that, unless nature had deviated from her usual laws,
this tract of country could not but be fertile, situated as it was to
receive the mountain deposits on the one hand, and those of the lake upon
the other.

FURTHER EXAMINATION OF THE COAST.

In my report to the Colonial Government, however, I did not feel myself
justified in stating, to their full extent, opinions that were founded on
probability and conjecture alone. But, although I was guarded in this
particular, I strongly recommended a further examination of the coast,
from the most eastern point of Encounter Bay, to the head St. Vincent's
Gulf, to ascertain if any other than the known channel existed among the
sand-hills of the former, or if, as I had every reason to hope from the
great extent of water to the N.W., there was a practicable communication
with the lake from the other; and I ventured to predict, that a closer
survey of the interjacent country, would be attended with the most
beneficial results; nor have I a doubt that the promontory of Cape Jervis
would ere this have been settled, had Captain Barker lived to complete his
official reports.

CAPT. BARKER'S SURVEY.

The governor, General Darling, whose multifarious duties might well have
excused him from paying attention to distant objects, hesitated not a
moment when he thought the interests of the colony, whose welfare he so
zealously promoted, appeared to be concerned; and he determined to avail
himself of the services of Captain Collet Barker, of the 39th regiment,
who was about to be recalled from King George's Sound, in order to satisfy
himself as to the correctness of my views.

Captain Barker had not long before been removed from Port Raffles, on the
northern coast, where he had had much intercourse with the natives, and
had frequently trusted himself wholly in their hands. It was not, however,
merely on account of his conciliating manners, and knowledge of the temper
and habits of the natives, that he was particularly fitted for the duty
upon which it was the governor's pleasure to employ him. He was, in
addition, a man of great energy of character, and of much and various
information.

Orders having reached Sydney, directing the establishment belonging to
New South Wales to be withdrawn, prior to the occupation of King George's
Sound by the government of Western Australia, the ISABELLA schooner was
sent to receive the troops and prisoners on board; and Captain Barker was
directed, as soon as he should have handed over the settlement to Captain
Stirling, to proceed to Cape Jervis, from which point it was thought he
could best carry on a survey not only of the coast but also of the
interior.

This excellent and zealous officer sailed from King George's Sound, on the
10th of April, 1831, and arrived off Cape Jervis on the 13th. He was
attended by Doctor Davies, one of the assistant surgeons of his regiment,
and by Mr. Kent, of the Commissariat. It is to the latter gentleman that
the public are indebted for the greater part of the following details;
he having attended Captain Barker closely during the whole of this short
but disastrous excursion, and made notes as copious as they are
interesting. At the time the ISABELLA arrived off Cape Jervis, the weather
was clear and favourable. Captain Barker consequently stood into
St. Vincent's Gulf, keeping, as near as practicable, to the eastern shore,
in soundings that varied from six to ten fathoms, upon sand and mud.
His immediate object was to ascertain if there was any communication with
the lake Alexandrina from the gulf. He ascended to lat. 34 degrees
40 minutes where he fully satisfied himself that no channel did exist
between them. He found, however, that the ranges behind Cape Jervis
terminated abruptly at Mount Lofty, in lat. 34 degrees 56 minutes, and,
that a flat and wooded country succeeded to the N. and N.E. The shore of
the gulf tended more to the N.N.W., and mud flats and mangrove swamps
prevailed along it.

INVITING COUNTRY--MOUNT LOFTY.

Mr. Kent informs me, that they landed for the first time on the 15th, but
that they returned almost immediately to the vessel. On the 17th, Captain
Barker again landed, with the intention of remaining on shore for two or
three days. He was accompanied by Mr. Kent, his servant Mills, and two
soldiers. The boat went to the place at which they had before landed, as
they thought they had discovered a small river with a bar entrance. They
crossed the bar, and ascertained that it was a narrow inlet, of four miles
in length, that terminated at the base of the ranges. The party were quite
delighted with the aspect of the country on either side of the inlet,
and with the bold and romantic scenery behind them. The former bore the
appearance of natural meadows, lightly timbered, and covered with a
variety of grasses. The soil was observed to be a rich, fat, chocolate
coloured earth, probably the decomposition of the deep blue limestone,
that showed itself along the coast hereabouts. On the other hand, a rocky
glen made a cleft in the ranges at the head of the inlet; and they were
supplied with abundance of fresh water which remained in the deeper pools
that had been filled by the torrents during late rains. The whole
neighbourhood was so inviting that the party slept at the head of the
inlet.

MOUNT LOFTY AND ITS ENVIRONS.

In the morning, Captain Barker proceeded to ascend Mount Lofty,
accompanied by Mr. Kent and his servant, leaving the two soldiers at the
bivouac, at which he directed them to remain until his return. Mr. Kent
says they kept the ridge all the way, and rose above the sea by a gradual
ascent. The rock-formation of the lower ranges appeared to be an
argillaceous schist; the sides and summit of the ranges were covered with
verdure, and the trees upon them were of more than ordinary size. The view
to the eastward was shut out by other ranges, parallel to those on which
they were; below them to the westward, the same pleasing kind of country
that flanked the inlet still continued.

MOUNT BARKER.

In the course of the day they passed round the head of a deep ravine,
whose smooth and grassy sides presented a beautiful appearance. The party
stood 600 feet above the bed of a small rivulet that occupied the bottom
of the ravine. In some places huge blocks of granite interrupted its
course, in others the waters had worn the rock smooth. The polish of these
rocks was quite beautiful, and the veins of red and white quartz which
traversed them, looked like mosaic work. They did not gain the top of
Mount Lofty, but slept a few miles beyond the ravine. In the morning
they continued their journey, and, crossing Mount Lofty, descended
northerly, to a point from which the range bent away a little to the
N.N.E., and then terminated. The view from this point was much more
extensive than that from Mount Lofty itself. They overlooked a great part
of the gulf, and could distinctly see the mountains at the head of it to
the N.N.W. To the N.W. there was a considerable indentation in the coast,
which had escaped Captain Barker's notice when examining it. A mountain,
very similar to Mount Lofty, bore due east of them, and appeared to be the
termination of its range. They were separated by a valley of about ten
miles in width, the appearance of which was not favourable. Mr. Kent
states to me, that Capt. Barker observed at the time that he thought it
probable I had mistaken this hill for Mount Lofty, since it shut out the
view of the lake from him, and therefore he naturally concluded, I could
not have seen Mount Lofty. I can readily imagine such an error to have
been made by me, more especially as I remember that at the time I was
taking bearings in the lake, I thought Captain Flinders had not given
Mount Lofty, as I then conceived it to be, its proper position in
longitude. Both hills are in the same parallel of latitude. The mistake on
my part is obvious. I have corrected it in the charts, and have availed
myself of the opportunity thus afforded me of perpetuating, as far as I
can, the name of an inestimable companion in Captain Barker himself.

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