24th October.
Leaving our camp at 6.0 a.m., steered south-south-east over well-grassed
basaltic flats, timbered thinly with ironbark, etc.; the soil a red loam.
At 9.0 a.m. came on a large reedy lagoon or swamp with considerable
patches of shallow open water, on which were great numbers of ducks,
geese, pelicans, etc. A broad and deep stream flowed from it to the
south-east, varying from thirty to eighty yards in width, with a thick
belt of reeds along the margin, beyond which the ground rose about fifty
feet to the level surface of the basaltic plain. Following the winding of
the stream till 10.35 a.m., crossed it at a ledge of basaltic rocks, when
it formed a fine rapid with vertical fall of eight to ten feet. Beyond
the running channel a dry sandy creek ran parallel at a distance of 80 to
100 yards from it. Our course was now between the creek and the steep
rocky edge of the basaltic plain, which was too rugged for the horses to
ascend till 11.20 a.m., when, crossing the basalt, we passed to the south
of a shallow lake about half a mile in diameter. The country now became
scrubby, with patches of grass. Altering the course more to the east, we
again entered an open ironbark forest; at 2.0 p.m. crossed a large dry
sandy creek, beyond which the country was poor and sandy, with pandanus
growing on the ridges. On the bank of the creek we observed the marks of
a recent camp of a large party of blacks, and a patch of ground twenty
yards by thirty yards cleared of grass, and the surface scraped up into
ridges, the whole covered with footprints, which showed that some dance
or ceremony had been performed by a large number of men. At 3.30 p.m.
entered a dense scrub of small crooked eucalypti and acacia, with a few
sterculia. After losing an hour in attempting to penetrate the scrub, we
turned north to the dry creek and followed it down till 7.0 p.m., when we
camped near a pool of water; but the night was so dark that the horses
could not be watered with safety, the banks being very steep and rendered
slippery by a slight shower.
25th October.
The grass having been burnt near the camp, the horses had strayed
considerably, and we did not start till 7.30 a.m., when, turning east, we
soon came on the Burdekin, which now trended to the south-south-west and
south-east; the basalt coming close to the river, we were compelled to
cross a very rough ridge and came on a deep pool of water eighty yards
wide and half a mile long; it terminated in a dry stony channel which
joined a sandy creek, and entered the river. Crossing a granite ridge, we
camped in a fine grassy flat on the bank of the Burdekin, the banks being
high and steep, but the water easy of access.
Latitude by a Pegasi 19 degrees 58 minutes 48 seconds.
26th October (Sunday).
Remained at the camp. During the day there was a succession of showers
without thunder, the clouds and wind from the east. At 10.0 p.m. the rain
ceased, but the night continued cloudy.