9th August.
A heavy dew having fallen during the night, our horses were much
refreshed, and we were enabled to proceed with the scanty supply of water
carried with us. In an hour we struck upon the channel of a river with a
sandy bed, 300 yards wide, in which were a few pools of water, under a
bold sandstone bluff, rising abruptly 300 feet from the plain. From the
summit of this hill the river was observed to trend to the
north-north-west for eight or ten miles, and to come upon a gap in a
granite range four miles to the south-south-east, towards which we now
turned our steps, across extensive beds of soft drift-sand brought down
by the river. Cajeput and acacia trees occupied a large portion of the
channel, and it was not until reaching the gorge in the range that grass
was met with in sufficient quantities to supply our wants. Several large
pools, teeming with water-fowl, occupied the whole of the valley, which
here was fully a quarter of a mile wide. The remainder of the day I
devoted to sketching and triangulating the country, while the horses were
enjoying the benefit of the fine feed. Camp 57.
Latitude 21 degrees 6 minutes 26 seconds.
10th August.
As this river, from its magnitude, afforded a fair chance of working to
the south-east, I determined to bring forward the rest of the party.
Having named this river the Yule, we returned to the depot party by a
somewhat shorter cut, making it in about thirty miles, which we
accomplished by sundown.
11th August (Sunday).
Party resting. Observed a set of lunars, which placed us in longitude 118
degrees 3 minutes east, the rate of the chronometer being still so
irregular as to be almost useless.
12th August.
To-day the whole party proceeded twenty-four miles towards the Yule,
finding a small pool of water in a rocky ravine by the way which we had
missed on our former trip. Bivouacked in an open grassy plain six miles
short of the river.
13th August.
Moved on to our camp of the 9th, and halted there for the remainder of
the day. The latitude by meridian altitude of the sun I found to be 21
degrees 6 minutes 22 seconds.
14th August.
As travelling near the river was found to be very laborious, on account
of the vast beds of loose drift-sand thrown up by the summer floods, we
steered to the south-south-east for a pass in the ranges about twenty
miles distant, through which the river was supposed to come, but on
reaching the hills, the river was observed to the westward; we
accordingly altered our course to south-west, and struck it at about six
miles; the character of the river being still the same, the aggregate
width of the several channels amounting to nearly half a mile; water
being procured in them by digging a few inches in the sand. The country
passed over during the day was an open plain of light sandy loam,
interspersed with bare granite rocks, cropping out at intervals of a few
miles. Giant ant-hills of from ten to sixteen feet in height, and thirty
to forty feet in circumference (a few of which had already been met with
on our first trip), were here remarkably conspicuous, on account of their
size and bright brick-red colour. An emu was shot during the day, while
running at full speed, at the range of over 200 yards. Camp 58.
Latitude 21 degrees 23 minutes 23 seconds.
15th August.
One of the horses was missing this morning, so we did not start until 10
a.m., when the river was followed up to the south-east through country
the same as yesterday; halting for the night in latitude 21 degrees 32
minutes 13 seconds. Camp 59.
16th August.
Our average course to-day was nearly east, occasionally crossing channels
coming from the south-east. Towards evening we found that the main
channel, which it had been our intention to have followed, had escaped
our observation to the southward, and we were only on a comparatively
small tributary coming from a rugged range of hills to the eastward. Our
object for the present not being to push too far into the interior, this
tributary was followed until it broke up into numerous small valleys, in
one of which water was obtained by digging three feet in the sand,
amongst tolerable feed, the country having much improved in the course of
the day. Camp 60.
Latitude 21 degrees 34 minutes.