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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He brought up a nest of small paroquets of the most beautiful plumage, as
a present to Mr. Maxwell, and affirmed that they were common about his
part of the river. The peculiarity of the seasons had also brought a
parrot into the valley which had never before visited it. This delicate
bird was noticed by Captain Cook upon the coast, and is called
PSITTACUS NOVAE HOLLANDIAE, or New Holland Parrot, by Mr. Brown. It had
not, however, been subsequently seen until the summer of 1828, when it
made its appearance at Wellington Valley in considerable numbers, together
with a species of merops or mountain bee-eater.

DEPARTURE FOR THE INTERIOR.

On the 5th, our preparations being wholly completed, and the loads
arranged, the party was mustered, and was found to consist of myself and
Mr. Hume, two soldiers and eight prisoners of the crown, two of whom were
to return with dispatches. Our animals numbered two riding, and seven
pack, horses, two draft, and eight pack, bullocks, exclusive of two
horses of my own, and two for the men to be sent back.

BANKS OF THE MACQUARIE.

The morning of the 7th December, the day upon which we were to leave the
valley, was ushered in by a cloudless sky, and that heated appearance in
the atmosphere which foretells an oppressively sultry day. I therefore put
off the moment of our departure to the evening, and determined to proceed
no further than Gobawlin. I was the more readily induced to order this
short journey because the animals had not been practised to their full
loads, and I thought they might have given some trouble at starting with
an unusual weight. They moved off however very quietly, and as if they had
been accustomed to their work by a long course of training. We took our
departure from the settlement at 3 p.m. and, crossing to the right bank of
the Macquarie, a little above its junction with the Bell, reached Mr
Wylde's station about half-past five. Thus we commenced our journey under
circumstances as favorable as could have been wished. In disengaging
ourselves on the following day from the hills by which Wellington Valley
is encompassed on the westward, with a view to approach Mr. Palmer's first
station, we kept rather wide of the river, and only occasionally touched
on its more projecting angles. The soil at a distance from the stream was
by no means so good as that in its immediate vicinity, nor was the timber
of the same description. On the rich and picturesque grounds near the
river the angophora prevailed with the flooded gum, and the scenery upon
its banks was improved by the casuarinae that overhung them. On the
latter, inferior eucalypti and cypresses were mixed together. The country
was broken and undulating, and the hills stony, notwithstanding which,
they appeared to have an abundance of pasture upon them. Mr. Hume rode
with me to the summit of a limestone elevation, from which I thought it
probable we might have obtained such a view as would have enabled us to
form some idea of the country into which we were about to descend. But in
following the river line, the eye wandered over a dark and unbroken
forest alone. The ranges from which we were fast receding formed an
irregular and beautiful landscape to the southward; and contrasted
strongly with the appearance of the country to the N. W., in which
direction it was rapidly assuming a level.

We reached Mr. Palmer's at a late hour in the afternoon, in consequence of
a delay we experienced in crossing a gully, and encamped upon a high bank
immediately opposite to the mouth of Molle's rivulet which here joins the
Macquarie from the southward. The cattle had consumed all the food, and
the ground on both sides of the river looked bare and arid.

No doubt, however, the face of the country in ordinary seasons wears a
very different appearance. Its general elevation continued high; nor did
the Macquarie assume any change of aspect. Mountain debris and rounded
pebbles of various kinds formed its bed, which was much encumbered with
timber.

DIBILAMBLE.

We had been unable to persuade any of the natives of Wellington Valley to
accompany us as guides, on our leaving that settlement. Even Mr. Maxwell's
influence failed; for, notwithstanding the promises of several, when they
saw that we were ready to depart, they either feigned sickness or stated
that they were afraid of the more distant natives. The fact is, that they
were too lazy to wander far from their own district, and too fond of
Maxwell's beef to leave it for a precarious bush subsistence. Fortunately
we found several natives with Mr. Palmer's stockmen, who readily undertook
to conduct us by the nearest route to the cataract, which we considered to
be midway between Wellington Valley and Mount Harris. We started under
their guidance for Dibilamble, Mr. Palmer's second station, and reached it
about half-past 4 p.m. The distance between the two is sixteen miles. The
country for some miles differs in no material point from that through
which we had already passed. The same rich tracts of soil near the river
and the same inferiority in the tracks remote from it. Near Dibilamble,
however, the limestone formation terminates, and gives place to barren
stony ridges, upon which the cypress callities is of close and stunted
growth. The ridges themselves were formed of a coarse kind of freestone
in a state of rapid decomposition. The Tabragar (the Erskine of Mr. Oxley)
falls into the Macquarie at Dibilamble. It had long ceased to flow, being
a small mountain torrent whose source, if we judge from the shingly nature
of its bed, cannot be very distant. Our descent was considerable during
the day; the rapids were frequent in the river, but it underwent no change
in its general appearance. Its waters were hard and transparent, and its
banks, in many places, extremely lofty; with a red sandy loam and gravel
under the alluvial deposits. It generally happened that where the bank was
high on the one side it was low and subject to flood, to a limited extent
at least, on the other. Upon these low grounds the blue-gum trees were of
lofty growth, but on the upper levels box prevailed.

SCENERY NEAR THE RIVER.

The views upon the river were really beautiful, and varied at every turn;
nor is it possible for any tree to exceed the casuarina in the graceful
manner in which it bends over the stream, or clings to some solitary rock
in its centre.

It here became necessary for us to cross to the left bank of the river,
not only to avoid its numerous windings, and thus to preserve as much as
possible the direct line to Mount Harris; but also, because the travelling
was much better on the south side. We therefore availed ourselves of a
ford opposite to the ground on which the tents had stood; and then pursued
our journey, in a south-westerly course, over a country of a description
very inferior to that of any we had previously noticed.

Iron-bark and cypresses generally prevailed along our line of route on a
poor and sandy soil, which improved after we passed Elizabeth Burn, a
small creek mentioned by Mr. Oxley.

TAYLOR'S RIVULET.

We approached the river again early in the day, and pitched our tent on
the summit of a sloping bank that overlooked one of its long still
reaches. We were protected from the sun by the angophora trees, which
formed a hanging wood around us, and, with its bright green foliage, gave
a cheerfulness to the scene that was altogether unusual. The opposite side
of the river was rather undulated, and the soil appeared to be of the
finest description. The grass, although growing in tufts, afforded
abundance of pasture for the cattle; and, on the whole, this struck me as
a most eligible spot for a station, and I found it occupied as such on the
return of the expedition. We had encamped about a quarter of a mile from
Taylor's Rivulet, which discharges itself into the Macquarie from the
N. E., and is the first stream, upon the right bank, below the Wellington
Valley.

Immediately after receiving it the river sweeps away to the southward, in
consequence of which it became again necessary for us to cross it. Our
guides, who were intelligent lads, led the cattle to a ford, a little
below the junction of Taylor's Rivulet, at which we effected a passage
with some difficulty; the opposite bank being very steep, and we were
obliged to force our way up a gully for some eighty or a hundred yards
before we could extricate the team. Pursuing our journey, in a N. W.
direction, we soon left the rich and undulating grounds bordering the
river behind us. A poor, level, and open country, succeeded them. The
soil changed to a light red, sandy loam, on which eucalypti, cypresses,
and casuarinae, were intermixed with minor shrubs; of which latter, the
cherry tree (exocarpus cupressiformis) was the most prevalent.

At about seven miles from the river we passed some barren freestone
ridges, near which Mr. Hume killed the first kangaroo we had seen. At
mid-day we passed a small creek, at which the cattle were watered; and
afterwards continued our journey through a country similar to that over
which we had already made our way.

As we neared the stream we noticed the acacia pendula for the first
time,--an indication of our approach to the marshes. The weather still
continued extremely hot. Our journey this day was unusually long, and our
cattle suffered so much, and moved so slowly, that it was late when we
struck upon the Macquarie, at a part where its banks were so high that we
had some difficulty in finding a good watering place.

SURPRISE SOME NATIVES.

Being considerably in front of the party, with one of our guides, when we
neared the river, I came suddenly upon a family of natives. They were much
terrified, and finding that they could not escape, called vehemently to
some of their companions, who were in the distance. By the time Mr. Hume
came up, they had in some measure recovered their presence of mind, but
availed themselves of the first favourable moment to leave us. I was
particular in not imposing any restraint on these men, in consequence of
which they afterwards mustered sufficient resolution to visit us in our
camp. We now judged that we were about ten miles from the cataract, and
that, according to the accounts of the stockman, we could not be very
distant from the lake he had mentioned.

NATIVE BURIAL PLACE.

As I was unwilling to pass any important feature of the country without
enquiry or examination, I requested Mr. Hume to interrogate the strangers
on the subject. They stated that they belonged to the lake tribe, that the
lake was a short day's journey to the eastward, and that they would guide
us to it if we wished. The matter was accordingly arranged. They left us
at dusk, but returned to the camp at the earliest dawn; when we once more
crossed the river, and, after traversing a very level country for about
nine miles, arrived at our destination. We passed over the dried beds of
lagoons, and through coppices of cypresses and acacia pendula, or open
forest, but did not observe any of the barren stony ridges so common to
the N.E. About a mile, or a mile and a half, from the lake we examined a
solitary grave that had recently been constructed. It consisted of an
oblong mound, with three semicircular seats. A walk encompassed the whole,
from which three others branched off for a few yards only, into the
forest. Several cypresses, overhanging the grave, were fancifully carved
on the inner side, and on one the shape of a heart was deeply engraved.

BUDDAH LAKE.

We were sadly disappointed in the appearance of the lake, which the
natives call the Buddah. It is a serpentine sheet of fresh water, of
rather more than a mile in length, and from three to four hundred yards in
breadth. Its depth was four fathoms; but it seemed as if it were now five
or six feet below the ordinary level. No stream either runs into it or
flows from it; yet it abounds in fish; from which circumstance I should
imagine that it originally owed its supply to the river during some
extensive inundation. Notwithstanding that we had crossed some rich tracts
of land in our way to it, the neighbourhood of the lake was by no means
fertile. The trees around it were in rapid decay, and the little
vegetation to be seen appeared to derive but little advantage from its
proximity to water.

EXTREME HEAT OF THE WEATHER.

We had started at early dawn; and the heat had become intolerable long ere
the sun had gained the meridian. It was rendered still more oppressive
from the want of air in the dense bushes through which we occasionally
moved. At 2 p.m. the thermometer stood at 129 degrees of Fahrenheit, in
the shade; and at 149 degrees in the sun; the difference being exactly 20
degrees. It is not to be wondered at that the cattle suffered, although
the journey was so short. The sun's rays were too powerful even for the
natives, who kept as much as possible in the shade. In the evening, when
the atmosphere was somewhat cooler, we launched the boat upon the lake,
in order to get some wild fowl and fish; but although we were tolerably
successful with our guns, we did not take anything with our hooks.

The natives had, in the course of the afternoon, been joined by the rest
of the tribe, and they now numbered about three and twenty. They were
rather distant in their manner, and gazed with apparent astonishment at
the scene that was passing before them.

If there had been other proof wanting, of the lamentably parched and
exhausted state of the interior, we had on this occasion ample evidence of
it, and of the fearful severity of the drought under which the country was
suffering. As soon as the sun dipped under the horizon, hundreds of birds
came crowding to the border of the lake, to quench the thirst they had
been unable to allay in the forest. Some were gasping, others almost too
weak to avoid us, and all were indifferent to the reports of our guns.

CATARACT OF THE MACQUARIE.

On leaving the Buddah, eleven only of the natives accompanied us. We
reached the river again about noon, on a north-half-east course, where it
had a rocky bed, and continued to journey along it, until we reached the
cataract at which we halted. We travelled over soil generally inferior to
that which we had seen on the preceding day, but rich in many places. The
same kind of timber was observed, but the acacia pendula was more
prevalent than any other, although near the river the flooded gum and
Australian apple-tree were of beautiful growth.

It had appeared to me that the waters of the Macquarie had been
diminishing in volume since our departure from Wellington Valley, and I
had a favourable opportunity of judging as to the correctness of this
conclusion at the cataract, where its channel, at all times much
contracted, was particularly so on the present occasion. So little force
was there in the current, that I began to entertain doubts how long it
would continue, more especially when I reflected on the level character of
the country we had entered, and the fact of the Macquarie not receiving
any tributary between this point and the marshes. I was in consequence
led to infer that result, which, though not immediately, eventually took
place.

As they were treated with kindness, the natives who accompanied us soon
threw off all reserve, and in the afternoon assembled at the pool below
the fall to take fish. They went very systematically to work, with short
spears in their hands that tapered gradually to a point, and sank at once
under water without splash or noise at a given signal from an elderly man.
In a short time, one or two rose with the fish they had transfixed; the
others remained about a minute under water, and then made their
appearance near the same rock into the crevices of which they had driven
their prey. Seven fine bream were taken, the whole of which they insisted
on giving to our men, although I am not aware that any of themselves had
broken their fast that day. They soon, however, procured a quantity of
muscles, with which they sat down very contentedly at a fire. My
barometrical admeasurement gave the cataract an elevation of 680 feet
above the level of the sea; and my observations placed it in east
longitude 148 degrees 3 minutes and in latitude 31 degrees 50 minutes
south.

It became an object with us to gain the right bank of the Macquarie as
soon as possible; for it was evident that the country to the southward of
it was much more swampy than it was to the north: but for some distance
below the cataract, we found it impossible to effect our purpose. The
rocks composing the bed of the river at the cataract, which are of trapp
formation, disappeared at about eight miles below it, when the river
immediately assumed another character. Its banks became of equal height,
which had not before been the case, and averaged from fifteen to eighteen
feet. They were composed entirely of alluvial soil, and were higher than
the highest flood-marks. Its waters appeared to be turbid and deep, and
its bed was a mixture of sand and clay. The casuarina, which had so often
been admired by us, entirely disappeared and the channel in many places
became so narrow as to be completely arched over by gum-trees.

A TRIBE OF NATIVES.

On the 16th, we fell in with a numerous tribe of natives who joined our
train after the very necessary ceremonies of an introduction had passed,
and when added to those who still accompanied us, amounted to fifty-three.
On this occasion I was riding somewhat in front of the party, when I came
upon them. They were very different in appearance from those whom we had
surprised at the river; and from the manner in which I was received, I was
led to infer that they had been informed of our arrival, and had
purposely assembled to meet us. I was saluted by an old man, who had
stationed himself in front of his tribe, and who was their chief. Behind
him the young men stood in a line, and behind them the warriors were
seated on the ground.

CONDUCT OF THE NATIVES.

I had a young native with me who had attached himself to our party, and
who, from his extreme good nature and superior intelligence, was
considered by us as a first-rate kind of fellow. He explained who and what
we were, and I was glad to observe that the old chief seemed perfectly
reconciled to my presence, although he cast many an anxious glance at the
long train of animals that were approaching. The warriors, I remarked,
never lifted their eyes from the ground. They were hideously painted with
red and yellow ochre, and had their weapons at their sides, while their
countenances were fixed, sullen, and determined. In order to overcome this
mood, I rode up to them, and, taking a spear from the nearest, gave him
my gun to examine; a mark of confidence that was not lost upon them, for
they immediately relaxed from their gravity, and as soon as my party
arrived, rose up and followed us. That which appeared most to excite their
surprise, was the motion of the wheels of the boat carriage. The young
native whom I have noticed above, acted as interpreter, and, by his
facetious manner, contrived to keep the whole of us in a fit of laughter
as we moved along. He had been named Botheri by some stockman.

In consequence of our wish to cross the river, we kept near it, and
experienced considerable delay from the frequent marshes that opposed
themselves to our progress. In one of these we saw a number of ibises and
spoonbills; and the natives succeeded in killing two or three snakes. Our
view to the westward was extremely limited; but to the eastward the
country appeared in some places to expand into plains.

CROSSING OF THE RIVER.

After travelling some miles down the banks of the river, finding that they
still retained their steep character, we turned back to a place which Mr.
Hume had observed, and at which he thought we might, with some little
trouble, cross to the opposite side. And, however objectionable the
attempt was, we found ourselves obliged to make it. We descended,
therefore, into the channel of the river, and unloaded the animals and
boat-carriage. In order to facilitate the ascent of the right bank, some
of the men were directed to cut steps up it. I was amused to see the
natives voluntarily assist them; and was surprised when they took up bags
of flour weighing 100 pounds each, and carried them across the river. We
were not long in getting the whole of the stores over. The boat was then
hoisted on the shoulders of the strongest, and deposited on the top of the
opposite bank; and ropes being afterwards attached to the carriage, it was
soon drawn up to a place of safety. The natives worked as hard as our own
people, and that, too, with a cheerfulness for which I was altogether
unprepared, and which is certainly foreign to their natural habits. We
pitched our tents as soon as we had effected the passage of the river;
after which, the men went to bathe, and blacks and whites were mingled
promiscuously in the stream. I did not observe that the former differed in
any respect from the natives who frequent the located districts. They were
generally clean limbed and stout, and some of the young men had pleasing
intelligent countenances. They lacerate their bodies, inflicting deep
wounds to raise the flesh, and extract the front teeth like the Bathurst
tribes; and their weapons are precisely the same. They are certainly a
merry people, and sit up laughing and talking more than half the night.

BAROMETER BROKEN.

During the removal of the stores my barometer was unfortunately broken,
and I had often, in the subsequent stages of the journey, occasion to
regret the accident. I apprehend that the corks in the instrument, placed
to steady the tube, are too distant from each other in most cases; and
indeed I fear that barometers as at present constructed, will seldom be
carried with safety in overland expeditions.

DESERTED BY THE NATIVES.

Nine only of the natives accompanied us on the morning succeeding the day
in which we crossed the river. Botheri was, however, at the head of them;
and, as we journeyed along, he informed me that he had been promised a
wife on his return from acting as our guide, by the chief of the last
tribe. The excessive heat of the weather obliged us to shorten our
journey, and we encamped about noon in some scrub after having traversed a
level country for about eleven miles.

Several considerable plains were noticed to our right, stretching east and
west, which were generally rich in point of soil; but we passed through
much brushy land during the day. It was lamentable to see the state of
vegetation upon the plains from want of moisture. Although the country
had assumed a level character, and was more open than on the higher
branches of the Macquarie, the small freestone elevations, backing the
alluvial tracts near the river, still continued upon our right, though
much diminished in height, and at a great distance from the banks. They
seemed to be covered with cypresses and beef-wood, but dwarf-box and the
acacia pendula prevailed along the plains; while flooded-gum alone
occupied the lands in the immediate neighbourhood of the stream, which was
evidently fast diminishing, both in volume and rapidity; its bed, however,
still continuing to be a mixture of sand and clay.

The cattle found such poor feed around the camp that they strayed away in
search of better during the night. On such an occasion Botheri and his
fraternity would have been of real service; but he had decamped at an
early hour, and had carried off an axe, a tomahawk, and some bacon,
although I had made him several presents. I was not at all surprised at
this piece of roguery, since cunning is the natural attribute of a savage;
but I was provoked at their running away at a moment when I so much
required their assistance.

Left to ourselves, I found Mr. Hume of the most essential service in
tracking the animals, and to his perseverance we were indebted for their
speedy recovery, They had managed to find tolerable feed near a serpentine
sheet of water, which Mr. Hume thought it would be advisable to examine.
We directed our course to it as soon as the cattle were loaded, moving
through bush, and found it to be a very considerable creek that receives a
part of the superfluous waters of the Macquarie, and distributes them,
most probably, over the level country to the north. It was much wider than
the river, being from fifty to sixty yards across, and is resorted to by
the natives, who procure muscles from its bed in great abundance. We were
obliged to traverse its eastern bank to its junction with the river, at
which it fortunately happened to be dry. We had, however, to cut roads
down both its banks before we could cross it; and, consequently, made but
a short day's journey. The soil passed over was inferior to the generality
of soil near the river, but we encamped on a tongue of land on which both
the flooded-gum and the grass were of luxuriant height. We found a
quantity of a substance like pipe-clay in the bed of the river, similar to
that mentioned by Mr. Oxley.

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