12th June.
One of the horses having slipped his halter during the night, Messrs.
Brown and Brockman returned down the gully to track it up, while we made
an attempt to follow up the deep defile in which we were hemmed, but a
quarter of a mile brought us to an impassable barrier of cliffs.
Retracing our steps about a mile, we again made an attempt more to the
eastward, and this time succeeded in reaching a considerable stream-bed,
which ultimately proved to be the main channel of the Fortescue, and led
us through the range. Resting till noon, Messrs. Brown and Brockman
overtook us with the missing horse, when we resumed our route up the bed
of the river to the southward, until again brought to a dead stand by the
whole bed of the stream being occupied by deep pools of water, fed by
numerous strong springs. As it was getting late in the day, I left the
party to form a camp, while I climbed the hills to get a view of the
country in advance. A laborious ascent of nearly an hour brought me to
one of the highest summits of the range, at an elevation of about 2700
feet above the sea, and 700 above the bed of the river. From this hill I
had a fine view to the southward, and observed that by following up a
small dry ravine to the south-east there would be a fair prospect of
reaching a large extent of open level plain that came within two or three
miles of the camp in that direction. To the east and south-east the range
was lofty and mountainous, while to the south and south-west stretched
open grassy plains, occasionally interrupted by bold detached hills,
apparently of the same formation as the Hamersley Range. On descending to
the camp, I started a fragment of rock of a few tons weight, which rushed
with fearful velocity towards the deep gorge in which the horses were
feeding. After carrying all before it for a quarter of a mile, it made a
clear spring over a cliff 200 feet in depth, and plunged into the waters
below with a sound like thunder, inducing a belief at the camp that a
large portion of cliff had fallen. Fortunately it did not produce an
estampede, which I had known to have been caused on another occasion by a
similar occurrence. Camp 19.
Latitude 22 degrees 15 minutes; longitude 118 degrees 4 minutes 30
seconds.
13th June.
Availing ourselves of the observations made yesterday, we succeeded,
after a hard scramble of two hours, in getting through the remaining
portion of the range, our horses having learned to climb like goats, or
they never would have accomplished the passage. The plain appears to have
a considerable elevation above those to the northward, and is drained by
several deep breaks through the Hamersley Range. Resuming a
south-south-west course to latitude 22 degrees 26 minutes 32 seconds, we
passed at first over some very stony land, yielding little else besides
triodia and stunted acacia; but for the last six or seven miles was a
rich alluvial clay, covered with very fair pasture, and water was found
in abundance in pools in the bed of a watercourse coming from the
south-east. Camp 20.
Latitude 22 degrees 26 minutes 58 seconds.
14th June.
On our first landing at Nickol Bay the nights had been very mild, but we
now began to feel them cold and bracing. This was partly owing to the
increased elevation of the country we were now travelling over; the
south-east wind coming off the mountainous country was very keen, and
almost frosty early in the morning. Our course this day was at first over
tolerably good country, which gradually became more and more rocky, the
ridges increasing in elevation until the aneroid barometer fell to 27.33,
giving an altitude of 2400 feet above the sea. Night overtook us in a
deep rocky ravine, where we had much difficulty in keeping the
pack-horses together, and were at last compelled to unload them amongst
rocks in the bed of a dry watercourse trending to the westward; a little
grass being procurable in the vicinity. Fortunately water had been met
with at noon, so that we were not pressed for want of it. Camp 21.
Latitude 22 degrees 41 minutes 43 seconds.
15th June.
Following the gully upon which we had encamped, it led us to the
westward, over a rocky line of country, until 1 p.m., when not meeting
with any water, and the horses showing great weakness and symptoms of
distress from the loss of their shoes, it was found desirable to quit the
main gully and try and find feed and water up a promising tributary
coming from the north with the view of ultimately falling back on the
plains under the Hamersley Range, should we fail to meet with water
sooner; fortunately, however, in an hour we came upon a small supply
amongst rocks, surrounded by some tolerable feed. Had we failed to find
this timely relief, it is probable that not more than half the horses
would have been able to carry their loads to the nearest known waterhole.
Camp 22.
16th June (Sunday).
This day of rest was alike acceptable to man and horse, and afforded me
an opportunity, after reading prayers to the party, to clear a set of
lunar distances, by which I found that the chronometer would have placed
us forty miles to the west of our true position. I had long since
observed that it could not be trusted under even ordinary variations of
temperature, but could procure no other, the Acting Surveyor-General
having declined to supply me with either of the two chronometers
belonging to his department that could be relied on, and in consequence I
now found I should be compelled to have recourse entirely to lunar
observations and triangulation for the compilation of the maps, which
would add very much to the amount of labour and liability to error.
Several crested pigeons, white cockatoos, and crested quail or
partridges, were shot as they came to drink at the waterhole.