North arm of the Lachlan.
Quawys.
Wallangome.
Wild cattle.
Ascend Moriattu.
Leave the Lachlan to travel westward.
No water.
Natives from Warranary.
Course down the Lachlan resumed.
Extensive ride to the westward.
Night without water.
Continue westward, and south-west.
Sandhills.
Atriplex.
Deep cracks in the earth.
Search for the Lachlan.
Cross various dry channels.
Graves.
Second night without water.
Native tumulus.
Reedy swamp with dead trees.
Route of Mr. Oxley.
Dry bed of the Lachlan.
Find at length a large pool.
Food of the natives discovered.
Horses knock up.
Scenery on the Lachlan.
Character of the different kinds of trees.
Return to the party.
Dead body found in the water.
Ascend Burradorgang.
A rainy night without shelter.
A new guide.
Native dog.
Branches of the Lachlan.
A native camp.
Children.
A widow joins the party as guide.
Horse killed.
The Balyan root.
How gathered.
Reach the united channel of the Lachlan.
No water.
Natives' account of the rivers lower down.
Mr. Oxley's lowest camp on the Lachlan.
Slow growth of trees.
A tribe of natives come to us.
Mr. Oxley's bottle.
Waljeers Lake.
Trigonella suavissima.
Barney in disgrace.
A family of natives from the Murrumbidgee.
Inconvenient formality of natives meeting.
Rich tints on the surface.
Improved appearance of the river.
Inhabited tomb.
Dead trees among the reeds.
Visit some rising ground.
View northward.
Difficulties in finding either of the rivers or any water.
Search for the Murrumbidgee.
A night without water.
Heavy fall of rain.
Two men missing.
Reach the Murrumbidgee.
Natives on the opposite bank.
They swim across.
Afraid of the sheep.
Their reports about the junction of the Darling.
Search up the river for junction of Lachlan.
Course of the Murrumbidgee.
Tribe from Cudjallagong visits the camp in my absence.
Caught following my steps.
Piper questions them.
NORTH ARM OF THE LACHLAN.
April 17.
We proceeded along the right bank of the Lachlan, crossing at five miles
a small arm or ana-branch* which had been seen higher up diverging from
the river, and flowing towards the north-west by Mr. Oxley. The local
name of it is Yamorrima. Beyond this watercourse Cannil plains extend and
were more grassy than plains in general. I observed a small ridge of
trap-rock near the river. We crossed soon after the base of Mount
Torrens, also a hill of trap; and a continuation on this bank of the
Lachlan of the Goulburn range. Mount Torrens is however only an elongated
hill. The trap-rock reappears in some lower hills further northward, of
which Mount Davison is the highest and most eastern.
(*Footnote. See Footnote below.)
QUAWYS.
Beyond Mount Torrens we entered the region which lies to the westward of
the Macquarie range, and found several new plants, especially a very
pretty Xerotes, with sweetly perfumed flowers, being a good deal like X.
leucocephala, but with the leaves filamentous at the edges, and the male
spikes interrupted.* We encamped on a deep pond at a bend of the Lachlan
named Gonniguldury. I learnt from the old native guide who accompanied us
from Regent's lake that they call those ponds of a river which never dry
up quawy, a word which proved to be of use to us in descending the
Lachlan. At this camp I found, by a careful observation of alpha and beta
Centauri, that the magnetic variation was 8 degrees 56 minutes 15 seconds
East.
(*Footnote. X. typhina, Lindley manuscripts; acaulis, foliis longissimis
angusto-linearibus margine laevibus filamentosis basi laceris, capitulis
omnibus cylindraceis lanatis foemincis simplicibus masculis interruptis.)
WALLANGOME.
April 18.
We continued along the riverbank passing quawys of various names as they
were pointed out by our guide. We crossed the skirt of an extensive plain
(Eeoappa) which brought in view just ahead of us a low ridge named
Wallangome. At 8 1/2 miles we found the river close under the southern
extremity of this hill, and its rocks so obstructed our passage that we
were delayed an hour in clearing a way. I ascended that point nearest the
river and determined its position by taking angles on various heights
already laid down in my map such as Granard, Yarrarar, Mount Torrens,
etc. The hill itself consisted chiefly of quartz rock, but at its base
were water-worn blocks of quartzose sandstone containing pebbles of
quartz, and they seemed to be the principal rock in the bed of the
Lachlan.
As we proceeded a low rocky ridge or extremity from Wallangome extended
upwards of a mile along the river. Soon after we had passed a bend called
Taralago we crossed the southern limits of a plain of which the local
name is Nyaindurry, being bounded on the north-west by an isolated hill
named Moriattu. After passing successively two similar points of the
river we reached that of Gooda, where we encamped, the latitude observed
being 33 degrees 23 minutes 3 seconds South.
WILD CATTLE.
Mr. Stapylton, with overseer Burnett and the natives, had gone forward
early in the morning towards the hills near this place in pursuit of wild
cattle, which were said to abound near it. The tracks we perceived were
old, and although the other party had found many that were newer they
returned without having seen any of these wild animals. It appeared that
a herd of such cattle had got together about Macquarie's range, then only
a short way ahead of us, and I saw no objections to the overseer's
killing one or two, as he wished to do, in order that we might feed our
native guides without drawing so largely as we were otherwise compelled
to do on our own stock of provisions. This was a fortunate day for us in
regard to plants. Besides several curious kinds of grass,* a splendid
blue Brunonia was found on Wallangome. Its colour surpassed any azure I
had ever seen in flowers, the tinge being rather deeper than that of the
turquoise. We also obtained the seed so that I hoped this plant, which
seemed hardy enough, might become a pleasing addition to our
horticultural treasures.
The flowers are nature's jewels.**
(*Footnote. Lappago racemosa, W. and Aristida ramosa, R. Br.)
(**Footnote. Croly's Gems.)
The pink lily* was also found, as on Yerrarar, amongst rocks, but growing
in rich red soil. We gathered a number of the bulbs, being very desirous
to propagate this plant, which differs from the common white amaryllis
and others belonging to the plains not only in colour, but also in the
absence from their corona of intermediate teeth. We again found here the
new Xerotes, having the flower in five or six round tufts on the blade.
The flowered blades drooped around, radiating from the centre, while
those without flowers stood upright, giving to the whole an uncommon
appearance; the flower had a very pleasant perfume.
ASCEND MORIATTU.
April 19.
Mr. Stapylton conducted the party forward while I went to the summit of
Moriattu with the theodolite. Thence I saw Mount Granard, Yerrarar, and
Mount Torrens, also the various points which I had intersected from
Wallangome. A level plain appeared to extend southward in the midst of
the groups of ridges composing Macquarie and Peel's ranges. Coccaparra, a
range very abrupt on the eastern side, appeared to be Macquarie's range
of Oxley, and an elevated extremity of it, near the river, I took to be
Mount Porteous, and of which the local name is Willin.* To the northward
the most remarkable feature was a line of plains similar to those beside
the main channel of the river, and they appeared to border a branch from
it, which extended in a western direction under the base of a small hill
named Murrangong, and far beyond it. The hill on which I stood was the
most perfectly isolated that I had ever seen, low level ground
surrounding it on every side. It consisted of a variety of the same
quartz rock as Wallangome, but contained pebbles of laminated compact
felspar. This hill was abrupt and rocky on the west and north-west sides,
the best ascent being from the south-east.
(*Footnote. Willi, an opossum)
We overtook the party after it had crossed some extensive plains, where
we observed a species of solanum, the berries of which our native guides
gathered and ate.* Overseer Burnett made another search this day on
Coccaparra range for the wild bullocks; the party fell in with a herd but
it kept at a great distance and got off into scrubs. Their bedding places
and paths were numerous, and it thus appeared that the number of these
animals was considerable. We gathered on Coccaparra and Mount Porteous
several bulbous plants of a species quite new to me, the root being very
large. There also we found a remarkable acacia, having long upright
needle-like leaves among which a few small tufts of yellow flowers were
sparingly scattered.** We encamped on a pond of the river named
Burrabadimba, after travelling fifteen miles.
(*Footnote. S. esuriale, Lindley manuscripts; caule humili suffruticoso,
aculcis subulatis tenuibus in apice ramulorum et costa, foliis
lineari-oblongis obtusis subrepandis utrinque cinereis stellato-pilosis,
pedunculis subtrifloris, calycibus campanulatis pentagonis 5-dentatis
stellato-pilosis corollis tomentosis multo brevioribus.)
(**Footnote. This proved to be the rare A. quadrilateralis of De
Candolle.)
LEAVE THE LACHLAN TO TRAVEL WESTWARD.
April 20.
After proceeding some miles on this day's journey our Cudjallagong guide
pointed in a west-north-west direction as the way to Oolawambiloa.
Leaving therefore the Kalare or Lachlan, near a great bend in its general
course which below this (according to Mr. Oxley's map) was south-west, we
followed the route proposed by my native friend as it was precisely in
the direction by which I wished to approach the Darling. The universal
scarcity of water had however deprived me of every hope that any could be
found in that country, at a season when we often sought it in vain, even
in the bed of one of the large rivers of the country. Our guide however
knew the nature of our wants, and also that of the country, and I eagerly
followed him towards a hill, the most distant and most westerly on the
northern horizon.
NO WATER.
At sunset we halted full twenty miles short of that hill, beside the bed
of a small river, resembling in capacity and the nature of its banks that
of the Bogan; but to the manifest consternation of our guide we could
find no water in it, although some ponds had been only recently dried up.
This watercourse, he informed me, was the same which I had seen passing
by Murrangong, but he said it did not return its waters to the Lachlan, a
circumstance which I could not understand. Booraran was the name he gave
it. He went with some of our people in the dark and found a few quarts of
water two miles beyond it, but our cattle were obliged to pass the night
without any. The barometer had been falling for several days and the wind
arising suddenly at 9 P.M. brought a misty mass of cloud which began most
providentially to drop upon us, to the great relief of our thirsty
cattle. This day we found on the plains a new species of Sida with small
yellow flowers, very fragrant, and on a long stalk.* In the woods I
observed a eucalyptus of a graceful drooping character, apparently
related to E. pilularis and amygdalina.
(*Footnote. S. fibulifera, Lindley manuscripts; incano-tomentosa,
pusilla, diffusa, foliis ovato-oblongis obtusis dentatis basi cordatis,
stipulis longissimis setaceis, pedunculis axillaribus aggregatis
filiformibus petiolis longioribus, calycibus lanatis corolla parum
brevioribus, fructu disciformi convexo tomentoso, coccis monospermis.)
NATIVES FROM WARRANARY.
April 21.
A rainy morning. Some strange natives approached from the woods while I
was looking at the country beyond the dry channel, in the direction in
which our guide still wished us to proceed (about west-north-west). They
were grave and important-looking old men, and each carried a light. They
called out to me in a serious tone "Weeri kally," words which I too well
understood, meaning simply no water. I took my guide to them, but he
still seemed in doubt about the scarcity.
COURSE DOWN THE LACHLAN RESUMED.
It was necessary not to depend on uncertainties on such a point, and I
therefore lost no time in shaping our course again towards the nearest
bend of the Lachlan, which we reached after travelling nine miles in the
rain, and we encamped beside a pond or quawy named Buree. I considered
this day's journey to be the first deviation from the most direct line of
route towards that part of the Darling where my last journey terminated.
It was evident that in common seasons the country I wished to traverse
was not without water, our guide having suggested it as the way to
Oolawambiloa (a name always referring to a great abundance of water). I
considered it necessary now to ascertain, if possible, and before the
heavy part of our equipment moved further, whether the Lachlan actually
joined the Murrumbidgee near the point where Mr. Oxley saw its waters
covering the country; or whether it pursued a course so much more to the
westward as to have been taken for the Darling by Captain Sturt. Near the
Lachlan at this place the Anthericum bulbosum occurred in abundance, and
the cattle seemed to eat it with avidity.
On the bank of the river a new species of rosella appeared amongst the
birds, and several were shot and preserved as specimens.
EXTENSIVE RIDE TO THE WESTWARD.
April 22.
I proceeded westward accompanied by five men and an aboriginal guide, all
mounted on horseback. My object was to obtain, if possible, some
knowledge of the final course of the Lachlan; and secondly to ascertain
how far the hills to the north-west of our camp ranged beyond that very
remarkable feature, resembling a cape or promontory and named Warranary,
which marked the extent of our sight and knowledge at that time. This
point was in a direct line between the camp we then occupied on the
Lachlan and the lowest part of the Darling attained during the former
journey, and we had just fallen back from want of water; a circumstance
likely to compel me to follow the Lachlan downwards, at least if it could
be ascertained thus early that this river could not possibly be the
supposed Darling of Sturt. In case it proved otherwise I thought it not
improbable that, at the end of two days' journey westward, I might fall
in with the Lachlan, and if I could find water in it at such a point
under any circumstances, I considered that a position so much advanced
would be equally favourable, either for reaching the junction of the
Murray or the upper Darling. Should I succeed in reaching the Lachlan at
about sixty miles west of my camp I might be satisfied that it was this
river which Captain Sturt took for the Darling, and then I might seek
that river by crossing the range on the north. Whereas, should I find
sufficient reason to believe that the Darling would join the Murray, I
might continue my journey down the Lachlan until I reduced the distance
across to the Darling as much as the scarcity of water might render
necessary.
We traversed fine plains of greater extent than I had ever seen before,
and in general of more tenacious surface. They were in many parts covered
with salsolaceous plants, but I found also a kind of grass which I had
not previously noticed; and a curious woolly plant with two-spined fruit,
belonging to the genus Sclerolaena of Brown.* I looked in vain however
for the continuation of the range to the northward. The cape
before-mentioned first rose to a considerable height over the horizon,
but as we proceeded it sunk so as to be just visible behind us, bearing
at the point where we lay down for the night 31 degrees East of North.
The continuation of the range, as we now saw, receded to the north-west;
so that the horizon of these plains continued unbroken save by the
cape-like point of Warranary.
(*Footnote. S. bicornis, Lindley manuscripts; caule lanato ramoso, foliis
linearibus succulentis glabris, calycibus solitariis bispinosis lana alba
involutis.)
A flight of the cockatoo of the interior, with scarlet and yellow
top-knot, passed over our heads from the north-west.
The intense interest of this day's ride into a region quite unknown urged
me forward at a good pace, having a horizon like that of the sea before
and around us, and being in constant expectation of seeing either some
distant summit or line of lofty river-trees; all the results of the
journey depending on whether it should be the one or the other. Neither
however, as already stated, appeared, and the sun went down on the
unbroken horizon; nor could the native discern from the top of the
highest tree any other objects besides the lofty yarra trees of the
Lachlan, at a vast distance to the south-west by south. During the ride
many a tree and bush rose on the horizon before us and sunk on that we
left behind. We saw five emus together which did not run so far from us
as usual but stood at a little distance to gaze on our advancing party.
In a strip of scrub consisting of Acacia longifolia and lanceolata and
some other graceful shrubs I found a new species of correa, remarkable
for its small, green, bell-shaped flowers, and the almost total absence
of hairiness from its leaves.*
(*Footnote. C. glabra, Lindley manuscripts; ramulis incanis, foliis
ovalibus obtusis in petiolum angustatis glabris subtus punctatis, corolla
brevi campanulata tomentosa 4-dentata calyce truncato cupulari triplo
longiore.)
NIGHT WITHOUT WATER.
Near this scrub we saw also many pigeons and parrots; which strengthened
our hopes of finding water, which hopes however were disappointed, and we
at length tied our horses' heads to the trees in a bit of scrub, and I
lay down on a few boughs for the night under the cover of a gunya or
bower which, on such occasions, was set up by Woods in a very short time.
(See Volume 1.)
April 23.
Dew had providentially fallen during the night and it proved in some
measure a substitute for the want of water to our horses. It was also
highly favourable to the object of our tour in affording a refraction
when the sun rose, so that Coccaparra (Macquarie's range) appeared above
the horizon and enabled me to determine our distance from it to be sixty
miles. Still even this refractive state of the air brought no hills in
view to the north or north-west, a circumstance which surprised me and
afforded additional reason for supposing that the Lachlan might not unite
so soon as had been imagined with the Murrumbidgee.
CONTINUE WESTWARD, AND SOUTH-WEST.
This may require explanation. The course of rivers is in general
conformable to the direction of ranges or the position of those hills
which bound the valley or basin, however extensive, in which they flow.
As this range fell off to the north-west, opposite to where the course of
the Murrumbidgee had continued south-west, it was less probable that the
Lachlan would unite with the main stream there than if the range had
approached, or had even continued parallel to it.
I was disappointed in not finding sufficient water for our use remaining
on the surface after the late rain; and although the country appeared
declining to the westward, and we saw more pigeons and recent marks of
natives, I was reluctantly obliged at length to bend my steps
south-westward and afterwards south. The country we traversed was one
level plain whose extent westward we neither knew nor could discover, and
for some hours during this day's ride scarcely a bush was visible.
SAND HILLS.
Clumps of trees of the flooded box, or marura of the natives, appeared
occasionally in and about the many hollows in the surface; and, on the
isolated eminences of red sand, callitris trees grew, always hopeless
objects to persons in want of water. These patches of sand however were
not numerous, and never rose more than a few feet above the common
surface, which in general consisted of clay more or less tenacious. Parts
of it were quite naked; but others bore a crop of grass about three years
old which probably sprang up after the last thorough drenching of the
surface.
DEEP CRACKS IN THE EARTH.
So parched however was the ground now, especially in those parts which
bore no vegetation, that it yawned in cracks too deep to be fathomed by
the length of my sabre and arm together.
ATRIPLEX.
The best ground for travelling was of a reddish colour, glossy and firm
with tufts of a species of atriplex upon it; a dwarf grass with large
seeds not seen elsewhere by me was springing up, apparently in
consequence of the late rains. This new vegetation did not grow near the
old grass, and was too thin and low to tinge the surface.* The dreary
look of the old grass in other parts, decayed and of the colour of lead,
could not be exceeded; roots and stalks being all dead and decayed like
rotten timber.
(*Footnote. Panicum flavidum of Retz.)
SOUTH-WEST WINDS.
Every blade drooped towards the north-east and showed plainly how
prevalent the south-west winds were on these open wastes. In a gloomy day
a wanderer lost upon them might have known his course merely by the
uniform drooping of those blades of grass towards the north-east.
SEARCH FOR THE LACHLAN.
After travelling ten miles south-west without perceiving any indication
of the river I directed our course southward and, after proceeding seven
miles in that direction, we came upon a hollow of Polygonum junceum so
full of wide and deep cracks that our horses were got across with
difficulty. It extended in a south-west direction towards some flooded
box-trees. The country beyond was better wooded, and at eleven miles we
at length approached a creek, and the large trees which enveloped it
looked like those of the river itself; but we saw none of the yarra or
white-trunked trees which always accompanied such waters and, although we
certainly found the channel of a considerable current, it was shallow,
quite dry, and full of Polygonum junceum.
I could hardly consider this a lateral branch of the river as I thought
that I had seen its head in some hollows which I crossed on the plains
the day before. After passing this channel however we descried a long
dark line of river-trees which, as our horses were getting tired, we were
now somewhat anxious to see and, the native perceiving smoke arising from
the woods there, I, at his request, altered my course to that direction
which was 30 degrees East of South.
THIRST OF BARNEY.
None of the party suffered so much apparently from the want of water as
Barney, our native friend. He rode foremost of the men with a tin pot in
his hand, his eyes fixed on remote distance and his mouth open, with the
lower lip projecting, as if to catch rain from the heavens. When we were
within two miles of those trees we found enough of rainwater in a shallow
hole to refresh our horses, but it was surrounded with such tempting
grass that the animals preferred the verdure to it. Barney drank as much
as he wished, and I advised the men to fill their horns, but the horses
soon trod the water into mud, and all expected to find plenty near the
smoke; a hope in which I was by no means sanguine.
CROSS VARIOUS DRY CHANNELS.
The first line of trees we crossed enclosed only a shallow channel,
overgrown with polygonum; and we in vain sought the natives although we
saw where portions of fire had been recently dropped.
Three miles further we perceived a more promising line of trees and smoke
arising from them also. There we found the yarra trees growing on a flat
with a reedy channel meandering amongst them. The fire arose from some
burning trees and grass; and there were huts of natives but no
inhabitants.
GRAVES.
Green bushes grew luxuriantly, and amongst them, in a romantic looking
spot, three separate graves had been recently erected. Still we could
perceive neither signs of water nor any of the natives who might have
told us where to find it. Crossing another small plain of firm ground we
came upon what seemed to be the main channel of the Lachlan, pursuing a
course to the west-north-west. It had not however above one-third of the
capacity of the bed above, but in every other respect it was similar.
Having in vain looked for a waterhole we hastened towards another line of
trees which we reached by sunset. It consisted of the yarra kind also,
but overhung what was only a hollow in the midst of a plain, although
evidently subject to inundation.
SECOND NIGHT WITHOUT WATER.
To find water there seemed quite out of the question; but we were
nevertheless obliged to halt, for the sun had set. Late in the night, as
we lay burning with thirst and dreaming of water, a species of duck flew
over our heads which, from its peculiar note, I knew I had previously
heard on the Darling. It was flying towards the south-west.
April 24.
We proceeded on the bearing of 80 degrees east of south, towards the
nearest bend of a line of yarra river-trees. There we found, after riding
two miles, another diminutive Lachlan, precisely similar to the former,
but rather less: it was very sinuous in its course and full of holes, but
surrounded by green bushes with chirping birds; but it was too obvious
that these holes had been long, long dry. Thence I pursued a course 24
degrees North of East over naked ground, evidently subject at times to
inundation, towards other large trees; being anxious to cross all the
arms of the Lachlan before taking up its general course to guide us back
to our camp which lay then, by my calculation, 43 miles in direct
distance, higher up the river.
NATIVE TUMULUS.
On this flat we passed a newly-raised tumulus, a remarkable circumstance
considering the situation; for I had observed that the natives of the
Darling always selected the higher ground for burying in; and it might be
presumed that, on this part of the Lachlan, the tribe (whose marks were
numerous on the trees) could find no heights within their territory.
REEDY SWAMP WITH DEAD TREES.
We found that this belt of river-trees enclosed a dry swamp only, covered
with dead reeds, amongst which stood a forest of dead yarra trees,
bearing well-defined marks of water in dark stained rings at the height
of about four feet on their barkless trunks. The soil was soft and rich
and, where no roots of reeds bound it together, it opened in yawning
cracks which were very deep. This dried up swamp was nearly a mile broad,
and beyond it we found firm open and good ground; some very large
eucalypti or yarra growing between it and the edge of the reeds.
ROUTE OF MR. OXLEY.
I was now satisfied that we had crossed the whole bed of the Lachlan; and
I thought Mr. Oxley's line of route might have passed near the spot where
I then stood; and that in a time of flood all the channels, save the one
next the firm ground, might easily have escaped his notice. Here our
horses began to be quite knocked up, chiefly from want of water; we
therefore dismounted and dragged them on, for I hoped by taking the
direction of Mr. Oxley's line of route, as shown on his map, that the
branches would soon concentrate in one united channel.
DRY BED OF THE LACHLAN.
At the end of four miles we found that junction had taken place, and the
bed of the river as broad and deep as usual, but it was everywhere dry. I
made the people lead the exhausted horses from point to point, while I
examined all the bends, for the course was very sinuous; still I saw no
appearance of water, nor even of any having recently dried up.
FIND AT LENGTH A LARGE POOL.
After proceeding thus about two miles, the chirping of birds and a tree
full of chattering parrots raised my hopes that water was near; and at a
very sharp turn of the channel, to the great delight of all, I at length
saw a large and deep pool. Our horses stood drinking a full quarter of an
hour; and during the time a duck dropped into the pond amongst them. The
poor bird appeared to have been as much overcome by thirst as ourselves
for, on the inconsiderate native throwing his boomerang, it was scarcely
able to fly to the top of the opposite bank. As the grass was good I
halted during the remainder of the day for the sake of our horses;
although the delay subjected us to another night in the bush. I made the
men sit down out of sight of the pond for a reason which I did not choose
to tell them; but it was that we might not, by our presence, deprive many
other starving creatures of a benefit which Providence had so bountifully
afforded to us.
On a large tree overlooking the pond, and which had already been deprived
by the natives of a considerable patch of bark, I chalked the letter M,
which the men cut out of the solid wood with their tomahawks. This being
the lowest permanent pond above the separation of the river into so many
arms, I thought that by such a mark of a white man the natives would be
more ready to point out the spot to any future traveller when required. I
found about the fires of the natives a number of small balls of dry fibre
resembling hemp, and I at first supposed it to be a preparation for
making nets, having seen such on the Darling.
FOOD OF THE NATIVES DISCOVERED.
Barney the native however soon set me right by taking up the root of a
large reed or bulrush which grew in a dry lagoon hard by, and by showing
me how the natives extracted from the rhizoma a quantity of gluten; and
this was what they eat, obtaining it by chewing the fibre. They take up
the root of the bulrush in lengths of about eight or ten inches, peel off
the outer rind and lay it a little before the fire; then they twist and
loosen the fibres, when a quantity of gluten, exactly resembling wheaten
flour, may be shaken out, affording at all times a ready and wholesome
food. It struck me that this gluten, which they call Balyan, must be the
staff of life to the tribes inhabiting these morasses, where tumuli and
other traces of human beings were more abundant than at any part of the
Lachlan that I had visited.
HORSES KNOCK UP.
April 25.
We continued our route upwards along the right bank of the Lachlan on a
bearing of 36 degrees East of North taken from Mr. Oxley's map: and
coming to the river at nine miles we again watered our horses, and rested
them for they were very weak. After travelling fifteen miles one of them
rode by Woods, who carried the theodolite, knocked up when we were far
from the Lachlan. With some difficulty we however got it on until we
reached the river and, finding water, we halted for the day after a ride
of twenty-one miles.
SCENERY ON THE LACHLAN.
The scenery was highly picturesque at that part of the banks of the
Lachlan notwithstanding the dreary level of the naked plains back from
them.
CHARACTER OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF TREES.
The yarra grew here, as on the Darling, to a gigantic size, the height
sometimes exceeding 100 feet; and its huge gnarled trunks, wild
romantic-formed branches often twisting in coils, shining white or light
red bark, and dark masses of foliage, with consequent streaks of shadow
below, frequently produced effects fully equal to the wildest forest
scenery of Ruysdael or Waterloo. Often as I hurried along did I take my
last look with reluctance of scenes forming the most captivating studies.
The yarra is certainly a pleasing object in various respects; its shining
bark and lofty height inform the traveller of a distant probability of
water, or at least of the bed of a river or lake; and being visible over
all other trees it usually marks the course of rivers so well that, in
travelling along the Darling and Lachlan, I could with ease trace the
general course of the river without approaching its banks until I wished
to encamp. The nature and character of several other species of the genus
eucalyptus were nevertheless very different and peculiar. The small kind,
covered with a rough bark and never exceeding the size of fruit trees in
an orchard and called, I believe, by Mr. Oxley, the dwarf-box, but by the
natives goborro, grows only on plains subject to inundation, and it
usually bears on the lower part of the trunk the mark of the water by
which it is at times surrounded. Between the goborro and the yarra there
seems this difference: the yarra grows only on the banks of rivers,
lakes, or ponds, from the water of which the roots derive nourishment;
but when the trunk itself has been too long immersed the tree dies; as
appeared on various lakes and in reedy swamps on the Lachlan. The goborro
on the contrary seldom grows on the banks of a running stream, but seems
to thrive in inundations, however long their duration. Mr. Oxley remarked
during his wet journey that there was always water where these trees
grew. We found them in most cases during a dry season, a sure indication
that none was to be discovered near them. It may be observed however that
all permanent waters are invariably surrounded by the yarra. These
peculiarities we ascertained only after examining many a hopeless hollow
where grew the goborro by itself; nor until I had found my sable guides
eagerly scanning the yarra from afar when in search of water, and
condemning any distant view of goborro trees as hopeless during that dry
season. In describing the trees which ornamented the river scenery I must
not omit to mention a long-leaved acacia whose dark stems and sombre
foliage, drooping over the bank, presented a striking and pleasing
contrast to the yarra trunks, and the light soil of the water-worn banks.
The bimbel (or spear-wood) which grows on dry forest land, the pine-like
Callitris pyramidalis on red sandhills, and a variety of acacias in the
scrubs, generally present groups of the most picturesque description.
RETURN TO THE PARTY.
April 26.
We continued towards the camp which I reached at about nine miles and
found that nothing extraordinary had occurred during my absence. The
overseer had been again to Coccoparra to hunt the wild cattle (by my
orders) yet, although he found a herd and put two bullets through one
animal, all escaped. The party thought to hem them in by driving them to
the foot of the range; but as soon as the cattle found themselves beset
they climbed, apparently without much difficulty, the abrupt rocky face
of the hills, throwing down on their ascent the large fragments and loose
stones that lay in their way and which, rolling down the declivities,
checked their pursuers until the bullocks, wounded and all, escaped.
DEAD BODY FOUND IN THE WATER.
The working cattle had little good grass at the camp, and another reason
I had for quitting it was the state of the waterhole. Even at first it
was small and the water had a slightly putrid taste, the cause of which
having been discovered, the water had become still less palatable. Piper,
our native interpreter, in diving for fish on the previous day had, to
his horror, brought up on his spear, instead of a fish, the putrid leg of
a man! Our guide (to the Booraran) had left the camp during my absence;
and it was said that he was aware of the circumstance of the body of a
native having been thrown into the hole; for he had abstained from
drinking any of the water.
I had still however a desire to reconnoitre the country to the southward
in hopes that I might see enough of its features to enable me to arrive
at some conclusion as to the final course of the Lachlan, and to arrange
our further journey accordingly.
ASCEND BURRADORGANG.
April 27.
I rode to Burradorgang, a saddle-backed hill bearing 117 degrees from our
camp and distant 19 miles. This hill I found to be the most western and
the last between the Murrumbidgee and the Lachlan. I only reached its
base with tired horses an hour before dusk. Just as I dismounted and
began to climb the rocks a drizzling rain came on from the north-west,
and it unfortunately first obscured that portion of the horizon which I
was most anxious to see.
VIEW FROM BURRADORGANG.
To the northward, eastward, and southward however it continued clear, and
the points visible in those directions fully occupied my attention until
the western horizon became distinct. I was at once enabled to identify
this hill with an angle observed when on the top of Yerrarar. Granard and
the principal summits of Peel's and Macquarie's ranges were visible and,
as the sky cleared I could see Warranary, that south-western extremity of
the Mount Granard range already mentioned, and which I was enabled by my
observations here to connect with the trigonometrical survey. But even
from this summit nothing could be observed beyond besides the
continuation of the range towards the north-west at an immense distance.
The object next in importance was the country between me and the
Murrumbidgee in a south-west direction. I expected that some kind of
ridge or hills above the common level would separate that river from the
Lachlan if the courses of both rivers continued to separate to any
considerable distance westward. But although I perceived a low ridge
extending towards the west from the most southern part of Peel's range I
also saw that it terminated in the low level of the plains at about 20
degrees West of South.
A RAINY NIGHT WITHOUT SHELTER.
Burradorgang, this last of hills, consisted of ferruginous sandstone like
all the others I saw further in the interior during the former journey. I
descended to its base just as darkness came on; and myself and the men
with me were forced to pass the night exposed to the wind and rain at a
place where nevertheless we could find no water for our horses.
April 28.
The rain ceased some time before daybreak, but the weather continued
cloudy and, fogs hanging on the distant horizon, I was not tempted again
to ascend the mountain as I certainly should have done had the morning
been clear. We mounted and retraced our steps to the camp. The country
between this hill and the river consisted chiefly of soft red soil in
which grew the cypress-like callitris, also acacia, and the bimbel or
spear-wood.* It seemed to consist of a very low undulation, extending
from the hill into the great angle formed by the Lachlan, whose general
course changes near that camp from west to south-west. There was however
a tract extending southward from the river for about three miles, on
which grew yarra trees bearing the marks of occasional floods to the
height of a foot above the common surface. This ground was probably in
part under water when Mr. Oxley passed it, as he represents a swamp or
morass in his map within this bend of the river. I found on the low
tract, between Burradorgang and our camp, a new curious species of
solanum, so completely covered with yellow prickles that its flowers and
leaves could scarcely be seen.**
(*Footnote. The wood named bimbel by the natives grows with a shining
green lance-shaped leaf, and is in much request with them for the purpose
of making their spears, boomerangs, waddies, etc.)
(**Footnote. S. ferocissimum, Lindl manuscripts; caule herbaceo erecto:
aculeis confertissimis pugioniformibus arcuatis, foliis linearibus
obtusis utrinque praesertim subtus furfuraceo-tomentosis aculeatissimis,
pedunculis subtrifloris foliorum longitudine, calycibus inermibus.)
A NEW GUIDE.
On reaching the camp I found that Piper had fallen in with some natives,
one of whom, an old man, undertook to conduct us to the Murrumbidgee in
five days, assuring us that the Lachlan entered that river. This
information, the dry state of the country, and the knowledge I had
acquired of its principal features, determined me to follow the course of
the Lachlan; and in the event of its soon uniting with the Murrumbidgee,
to continue along the right bank of that river to its junction with the
Murray, then to leave the bulk of our equipment, the carts and most of
the cattle, and complete the survey of the Darling with a lighter party.
April 29.
We moved down the Lachlan, travelling in my former track, and we pitched
our tents near the place where I had slept on the 26th, the cattle not
being able to go further, from the softness of the ground after the rain.
April 30.
Following the same track, the party reached, at the distance of twelve
miles, an angle of the river named Curwaddilly, at which there was a good
pond, and here we encamped. From this point I obtained a bearing on
Burradorgang, and it was the lowest station on the river which could be
connected with my survey of the hills for, when Burradorgang sunk below
the eastern horizon, a perfectly level line bounded our view on all
sides.
NATIVE DOG.
May 1.
Just as the party was leaving the ground a noise was heard in the rear,
and two shots were fired before I could hasten to the spot. These I found
had been inconsiderately fired by Jones our shepherd at a native dog
belonging to our new guide and which had attacked the sheep. This
circumstance was rather unfortunate, for our guide soon after fell
behind, alleging to the party that he was ill. I knew however where to
find water that day; and we proceeded to the fine pond which I was so
fortunate as to discover on the 24th ultimo after our horses had suffered
thirst for three days and two nights. Two young natives who had
accompanied us for some days undertook to find water for a couple of
journeys beyond this pond. The men caught in this friendly pool several
good cod-perch (Gristes peelii) a fish surpassing, in my opinion, all
others in Australia. As we crossed the plains this day I observed the
natives eating a plant which grew in the hollows and we found it, when
boiled, a very good vegetable.
BRANCHES OF THE LACHLAN.
May 2.
We pursued a course nearly west for seven miles, having the Lachlan on
our left until we were stopped by a watercourse, or branch of the river,
which crossed our intended route at rightangles. Its banks were steep and
the passage of our waggons was consequently a work of difficulty, but the
best crossing place appeared to be just where it left the main channel.
Here accordingly we cut down the bank on each side with spades and filled
up the soft lowest part of the hollow with stumps and branches of trees,
and all of which being covered with earth from the sides, the carts were
got safely across after about half an hour's work. We soon however came
to another similar watercourse, but by the advice of the natives we
followed it to the northward, and we found that at a short distance it
branched into shallow hollows of polygonum which we traversed without
delay or difficulty. Soon after we had resumed our course by crossing
these hollows, we came upon the main channel which very much resembled
other parts of the Lachlan, only that it was smaller.
A NATIVE CAMP.
Piper's gin came to tell us that there was water ahead, and that natives
were there. We accordingly approached with caution and having found two
ponds of water we encamped beside them, the local name of the situation
being Combedyega.
CHILDREN.
A fire was burning near the water and at it sat a black child about seven
or eight years old, quite blind. All the other natives had fled save one
poor little girl still younger who, notwithstanding the appearance of
such strange beings as we must have seemed to her, and the terror of
those who fled, nevertheless lingered about the bushes and at length took
her seat beside the blind boy. A large supply of the balyan root lay near
them, and a dog so lean as scarcely to be able to stand, drew his feeble
body close up beside the two children as if desirous to defend them. They
formed indeed a miserable group, exhibiting nevertheless instances of
affection and fidelity creditable both to the human and canine species.
An old man came up to the fire afterwards with other children. He told us
the name of the waterholes between that place and the Murrumbidgee, but
he could not be prevailed on to be our guide.
A WIDOW JOINS THE PARTY AS GUIDE.
Subsequently however a gin who was a widow, with the little girl
above-mentioned, whose age might be about four years, was persuaded by
him to accompany us.
HORSE KILLED.
At this camp, just after I had inspected the horses and particularly
noticed one as the second best draught animal we had, I was requested by
the overseer to look at him again, both bones of his near thigh having
been broken by an unlucky kick from a mare. The horse had been with me on
two former expeditions, and it was with great regret that I consented to
his being shot. We were enabled to regale the old native with his flesh,
the men shrewdly giving him to understand through Piper that the horse
was with us what the emu was with them, too good a thing to be eaten by
young men. He seemed to relish it much and next morning we left him
roasting a large piece.
THE BALYAN ROOT.
The principal food of these inhabitants of the Kalare or Lachlan appeared
to be balyan, the rhizoma, as already stated, of a monocotyledonous plant
or bulrush growing amongst the reeds. It contains so much gluten that one
of our party, Charles Webb, made in a short time some excellent cakes of
it; and they seemed to me lighter and sweeter than those prepared from
common flour.
HOW GATHERED.
The natives gather the roots and carry them on their heads in great
bundles within a piece of net. The old man came thus loaded to the fire
where the blind child was seated; and indeed this was obviously their
chief food among the marshes.
May 3.
We proceeded nearly west according to the suggestion of our female guide.
We crossed, at a few miles from Combedyega, my track in the afternoon of
April 23rd; and soon after we entered on plains similar to those which we
had traversed that day:
The morn was wasted in the pathless grass,
And long and lonesome was the wild to pass.
REACH THE UNITED CHANNEL OF THE LACHLAN.
We saw however the river-line of trees on our left, and late in the day
we approached it. Here I recognised the Lachlan again united in a single
channel, which looked as capacious as it was above, the only difference
being that the yarra trees seemed low and of stunted growth. A singular
appearance on the bushes which grew on the immediate bank attracted my
attention. A paper-like substance hung over them in the manner in which
linen is sometimes thrown over a hedge; but on examination it appeared to
be the dried scum of stagnant water. This--marks of water on the trees
and the less water-worn character of the banks which were of even slope
and grassy--seemed to show that the current of the river during floods
here loses its force, and that the water is consequently slower in
subsiding than higher up the stream.
NO WATER.
The course of the river was very tortuous, but still I in vain traced the
channel for water, even in the sharpest of its turnings, until long after
it was quite dark. We encamped at length near a small muddy hole
discovered with the assistance of our female guide, after having
travelled nineteen miles. I found the latitude of this camp to be 33
degrees 52 minutes 59 seconds, which was so near that of Mr. Oxley's
lowest point according to his book that I concluded we must be close to
it. Fortunately we found some natives at this waterhole who told us that
a long while ago white men had been encamped on the opposite side of the
Kalare, and that the place where they had marked a tree was not very far
distant, but that it had recently been burnt down. We saw today for the
first time on the Kalare the red-top cockatoo (Plyctolophus leadbeateri).
NATIVES' ACCOUNT OF THE RIVERS LOWER DOWN.
May 4.
This morning it rained and, considering the long journey of yesterday, I
gave the cattle rest. Here the natives again told us of Oolawambiloa,
near a great river coming from the north, and only five days' journey
from where we should make the Murrumbidgee. They also told us that the
latter river was joined by another coming from the south before it
reached Oolawambiloa.
We had now therefore the direct testimony of the natives that the Darling
(for it could be no other) joined the Murray and that the river Lachlan
did not lose its channel here as supposed by Mr. Oxley, but that in five
days' journey further we might expect to trace it into the Murrumbidgee.
MR. OXLEY'S LOWEST CAMP ON THE LACHLAN.
May 5.
The ground being very heavy the cattle in the carts proceeded but slowly
along the plains to the northward of the Lachlan; and while the party
followed Mr. Stapylton I went along the bank with the natives to visit
Mr. Oxley's last camp, which was not above a mile from that we had left.
On my way I crossed a bed of fine gravel, a circumstance the more
remarkable, not only because gravel was so uncommon on these muddy
plains, but because Mr. Oxley had also remarked that no stone of any kind
could be seen within five miles of the place. This gravel consisted of
sand and pebbles of quartz about the size of a pea. Our female guide, who
appeared to be about thirty years of age, remembered the visit of the
white men; and she this day showed me the spot where Mr. Oxley's tent
stood, and the root with some remains of the branches of a tree near it
which had been burnt down very recently, and on which she said some marks
were cut.
SLOW GROWTH OF TREES.
Several trees around had been sawn and on two, about thirty yards west
from the burnt stump, were the letters WW and IW 1817. The tree bearing
the last letters was a goborro or dwarf box, and had been killed two
years before by the natives stripping off a sheet of bark; but from the
growth of the solid wood around the carved part it appeared that this
tree had increased in diameter about an inch and a half in seventeen
years; the whole diameter, including the bark, being sixteen inches. We
immediately dug around the burnt stump in search of the bottle deposited
there by Mr. Oxley, but without success. The gins said that he rode
forward some way beyond, and marked another tree at the furthest place he
reached. I accordingly went there with them, and they showed me a tree
marked on each side but, the cuttings being in the bark only, they were
almost grown out. It stood beside a small branch or outlet of the river,
which led into a hollow of polygonum. The natives also said that one of
Mr. Oxley's men was nearly drowned in trying to cross this but that they
got him out. They positively assured me that this was the farthest point
Mr. Oxley reached; and it seemed the more probable as during a flood the
deep and narrow gully extending between the river and the field of
polygonum must have then been under water, and a most discouraging
impediment to the traveller. I place this spot in latitude 33 degrees 45
minutes 10 seconds South; longitude 144 degrees 56 minutes East. The
natives further informed me that three white men on horseback who had
canoes (boats) on the Murrumbidgee had visited this part of the Lachlan
since, and that after crossing it and going a little way beyond, they had
returned.
A TRIBE OF NATIVES COME TO US.
In the evening, while a heavy shower fell, the natives who had come with
me gave the alarm that a powerful tribe was advancing with scouts ahead,
as when they mean mischief. We were immediately under arms and soon saw a
small tribe consisting chiefly of old men, women, and children,
approaching our party. They sat down very quietly near us, lighting their
fire and making huts without saying a word; and on Piper going to them we
soon came to a good understanding.
MR. OXLEY'S BOTTLE.
From them we learnt that, after the tree at Oxley's camp had been burnt
down, a bottle had been found by a child who broke it, and that it
contained a letter. This information saved us all further search,
although it had been my intention to halt next day and send back six men
to dig for the bottle; I had purposed also to have promised a full one in
exchange for it, if they had found it.
May 6.
The chief of the new tribe had ordered a man to accompany us as guide,
but after going a mile or two he fell back and left us; and we were thus
compelled again to depend on the information of the gin for the situation
of water. I regretted exceedingly the defection of this envoy, by whose
means I hoped to have been passed from tribe to tribe.
The grass had improved very much on the banks of the Lachlan. A vast
plain of very firm surface extended southward, but not a tree was visible
upon it, while on our side the country was wooded in long stripes of
trees.
WALJEERS LAKE.
About seven miles from the camp the river, the general course of which
had been for several days about south-west, turned southward; and we came
in sight of Waljeers. The natives had for some days told us of Waljeers,
which proved to be the bed of a lake nearly circular and about four miles
in circumference. It was perfectly dry, but in wet seasons it must be a
fine sheet of water. As we approached its banks I observed that the
surface, which was somewhat elevated above the country nearer the river,
consisted of firm red soil with large bushes of atriplex,
mesembryanthemum, and other shrubs peculiar to that kind of surface,
which is so common on the left bank of the Bogan.
TRIGONELLA SUAVISSIMA.
The whole expanse of the lake was at this time covered with the richest
verdure and the perfumed gale which:
fanned the cheek and raised the hair,
Like a meadow breeze in spring,
heightened the charm of a scene so novel to us. I soon discovered that
this fragrance proceeded from the plant resembling clover which we found
so excellent as a vegetable during the former journey.* A young crop of
it grew in scanty patches near the shores of the lake, and I recognised
it with delight, as it seems the most interesting of Australian plants.
The natives here called it Calomba and told us that they eat it. Barney
said it grew abundantly at Murroagin after rain. It seems to spring up
only on the richest of alluvial deposits, in the beds of lagoons during
the limited interval between the recession of the water and the
desiccation of the soil under a warm sun.** Exactly resembling new mown
hay in the perfume which it gives out even when in the freshest state of
verdure, it was indeed sweet to sense and lovely to the eye in the heart
of a desert country. When at sea off Cape Leeuwin in September 1827,
after a three months' voyage and before we made the land, I was sensible
of a perfume from the shore which this plant recalled to my recollection.
(*Footnote. Trigonella suavissima, Volume 1.)
(**Footnote. On leaving Sydney for this expedition I placed in charge of
Mr. McLeay, colonial secretary, the first specimen of this plant produced
by cultivation. It grew luxuriantly in a flower-pot from seeds brought
from the Darling where it was discovered. Volume 1.)
In the bed of Waljeers we again found the Agristis virginica of
Linnaeus,* and an Echinochloa allied to E. crusgalli, two kinds of very
rich grass; but most of the verdure in the middle of the bed consisted of
a dwarf species of Psoralea which grew but thinly.** Hibiscus was also
springing very generally. The bed of this lake had been full of the
freshwater mussel; and under a canoe (which I took away in the carts)
were several large crayfish dead in their holes. Dry and parched as the
bed of the lake then was, the natives found nevertheless live freshwater
mussels by digging to a substratum of sand. I understood that they also
find this shell alive in the same manner, in the dry bed of the Lachlan.
(*Footnote. See Volume 1.)
(**Footnote. The third species of Psoralea before referred to (March
19th). P. cinerea, Lindley manuscripts; herbacea, incana, foliis pinnatim
trifoliolatis, foliolis dentatis punctatis ovatis acutis intermedio basi
cuneato, racemo pedunculato denso multifloro foliis triplo longiore,
bracteis minimis ovatis acuminatis, calycibus pellucide pauci-punctatis,
caule ramisque strictis.)
This lake was surrounded by yarra trees similar to those on the banks of
the river; and within them was a narrow belt of slender reeds but no
bulrushes. On the western shore lay a small beach of sand. The banks were
in height about eight feet above the ordinary water-line of the lake; and
the greatest depth in the centre was about sixteen feet below that line.
The yarra trees distinguishing the margin continued to form a dense belt
extending westward from the northern shore; and the natives informed me
that these trees surrounded a much smaller lake named Boyonga which lay,
as they pointed, immediately to the northward of it.
On ascending the bank overlooking the western shore of Waljeers we found
that it also consisted of firm red soil with high bushes of atriplex,
etc., as on the opposite side. We next traversed a plain of the same
elevation but of firmer texture than any we had seen nearer the Lachlan.
The grass upon it was also good and abundant; and we found ourselves upon
the whole in a better sort of country than we had seen for weeks; but
still water was, if possible, scarcer than ever. After travelling about
seven miles beyond Waljeers we regained the banks of the Lachlan; but I
pursued its channel about two miles without finding a drop, and we
encamped finally without having any for the animals after travelling
upwards of sixteen miles.
BARNEY IN DISGRACE.
May 7.
The grass was green and abundant and dew had fallen upon it during the
night; our cattle therefore had not fared as badly as on other nights of
privation; and were able to proceed. After we had left our former
encampment and the envoy had deserted us it occurred to me that our
friend Barney, who had accompanied us a long way, appeared rather too
anxious to have a gin. He had been busy, as I subsequently learnt, in
raising a hue and cry on the approach of the tribe we last met, in hopes
that we might quarrel with them, and that he might get one, in
consequence, on easy terms. I recollected that he reminded me of his
wants in this respect at the very moment these people were approaching. I
foresaw the mischief likely to arise from this readiness of Barney to
insult native tribes while under the wing of our party; and the
unfavourable impression he was likely to make on them respecting us if he
were allowed to covet their gins. I therefore blamed him for causing the
return of the guide who had been sent with us by that tribe, placed him
in irons for the night and, much as I liked the poor fellow as an
intelligent native, I thought it necessary to send him back this morning
in company with a mute young savage, also from Cudjallagong, who seemed
much inclined to become a follower of the camp. Our stock of provisions
could not be too carefully preserved and such followers, when beyond
their beat, might have had claims on it not to be resisted. There then
remained with us, besides Piper and his gin, two intelligent native boys,
each being named Tommy, together with The Widow and her child. The two
Tommies obtained new chronometrical surnames, being known in the party as
Tommy Came-first and Tommy Came-last. The former had been told plainly to
go back, upon which he was heard to say he should follow the party,
notwithstanding Majy's orders, as he could always find opossums in the
trees. I was pleased with his independence on being told this, and
allowed him to accompany the party as well as his friend Tommy Came-last,
whom he had picked up somehow in the woods.
A FAMILY OF NATIVES FROM THE MURRUMBIDGEE.
Our female guide maintained that there was a waterhole some miles onward
at Pomabil; and we accordingly proceeded in that direction, regaining
first the firm plains outside the trees growing on the river margin. We
reached the part to which she had pointed and she went forward to look
for the water but, on her calling out soon after that natives were there,
we advanced into the wood, when we observed smoke arising and natives
running away, pursued by The Widow. At length, perceiving that she stood
talking to them, we went up. The strangers consisted of a family just
come from the Murrumbidgee, and presented such a picture of the wild and
wonderful that I felt a strong desire to make a sketch of the whole
group. One man who was rather old being in mourning, as I was told, for
the death of a brother, had his face, head and breast so bedaubed with
white that he resembled a living skeleton; the others had large sticks,
snakes and other reptiles in their hands, but they were perfectly naked
and, crowding around him, presented a strange assemblage.
INCONVENIENT FORMALITY OF NATIVES MEETING.
I was anxious to learn from the principal personage the situation of the
water; but on this first meeting it was necessary, as usual on all such
occasions, to continue for some time patient and silent. This formality
was maintained very remarkably by the old man and Piper. In vain did I
desire the latter to ask him a question; each stood silent for a full
quarter of an hour about eight yards apart, neither looking at the other.
The female however became the intermediate channel of communication, for
both spoke alternately in a low tone to her. At length Piper addressed
the old man, raising his voice a little but with his head averted; and
the other answered him in the same way; until at length by slow degrees
they got into conversation. We were then informed that water was to be
found a mile or two on, and the old man agreed to guide overseer Burnett
and Piper to the place. I conducted the wheel-carriages along the firm
plain outside and, after proceeding more than 2 1/2 miles, I heard a shot
from Burnett, announcing his arrival at the water. I accordingly
proceeded with the party in that direction, and we encamped near the
river, amid the finest verdure that we had yet seen and after a journey
of nine miles. We were informed that the Lachlan contained water in more
abundance one or two days' journey lower down, and that the Murrumbidgee
was not far to the southward.
May 8.
This day being Sunday I gave the cattle rest; but Mr. Stapylton went down
the river with two men to make sure of water at our next stage. They
found a pond at the distance of about eleven miles; the way to it being
over a fine hard plain covered with mesembryanthemum and salsolae. The
party saw a large kangaroo, the first observed on the banks of the
Lachlan during this journey. The old man and his family had proceeded
across to Waljeers in order to procure mussels, the object, as I
understood, of his journey from the Murrumbidgee.
May 9.
We moved to the pond above-mentioned, named Yambarenga, and found near it
a number of large huts similar to those of the Darling. The water was
very green and muddy but the taste was good. The plain we traversed this
day exactly resembled the best of the ground on the Darling; and in some
places I observed the Quandang bushes,* having their branches covered
with a parasitical plant whose bright crimson flowers were very
ornamental.**
(*Footnote. Fusanus acuminatus.)
(**Footnote. Loranthus quandang, Lindley manuscripts; incanus, foliis
oppositis lineari-oblongis obsolete triplinerviis obtusis, pedunculis
axillaribus folio multo bevioribus apice divaricato-bifidis 6-floris,
floribus pentameris aequalibus, petalis linearibus, antheris linearibus
basi insertis. Next L. gaudichaudi.)
THE MURRUMBIDGEE SEEN FROM THE LACHLAN.
South of the spot where we now encamped the ground, which consisted of
firm red clay, gradually rose; and from a tree Burnett observed the tall
yarras of the Murrumbidgee at a distance of about eight miles. The
latitude observed was 34 degrees 14 minutes 37 seconds South, longitude
144 degrees 25 minutes East.
May 10.
A thick fog prevented the men from getting the cattle together as early
as usual. In the meantime I made a drawing of the native female and the
scenery around; and we finally left the encamping ground at a quarter
before eleven. The first part of this day's journey was over a rising
ground, on leaving which the country seemed as if it descended westward
into a lower basin, so that I took the river Lachlan which lay below to
be already the Murrumbidgee.
RICH TINTS ON THE SURFACE.
We next travelled over a fine hard plain covered very generally with
small bushes of a beautiful orange-flowered, spreading under-shrub, with
broad thin-winged fruit;* but the Mesembryanthemum aequilaterale grew
almost everywhere and seemed to take the place of grass. It crept over
the light red earth, ornamenting it with a rich variety of bright green,
light red, purple, and scarlet tints which, when contrasted with the dead
portions that were all of a pale grey colour, produced a fine harmonious
foreground, fit for any landscape. The plains were intersected by a small
wood of goborro (dwarf box) and after crossing this and keeping the lofty
yarra trees in view we found these trees at length growing on ground
which was intersected by hollows full of reeds, other parts of the
surface bearing a green crop of grass.
(*Footnote. Ropera aurantiaca, Lindley manuscripts; foliolis linearibus
obtusis succulentis petiolo aequalibus, petalis obovatis obtusissimis,
fructibus orbiculatis. November 1838: This Ropera has grown in the
gardens of the Horticultural Society at Chiswick and proves a pretty new
annual flower.)
IMPROVED APPEARANCE OF THE RIVER.
The banks of the river bore here a very different aspect from any parts
which we had seen above; and I supposed that we were at length
approaching its junction with the Murrumbidgee. The bed was broader but
not so deep, and contained abundance of water at every turning. Ducks,
pigeons, cockatoos and parrots were numerous; and we had certainly
reached a better country than any we had yet traversed.
INHABITED TOMB.
On a corner of the plain, just as we approached the land of reedy
hollows, I perceived at some distance a large, lonely hut of peculiar
construction, and I accordingly rode to examine it. On approaching it I
observed that it was closed on every side, the materials consisting of
poles and large sheets of bark, and that it stood in the centre of a plot
of bare earth of considerable extent, but enclosed by three small ridges,
the surface within the area having been made very level and smooth. I had
little doubt that this was a tomb but, on looking through a crevice, I
perceived that the floor was covered with a bed of rushes which had been
recently occupied. On removing a piece of bark and lifting the rushes, I
ascertained, on thrusting my sabre into the hollow loose earth under
them, that this bed covered a grave.
Tommy Came-first, who was with me, pronounced this to be the work of a
white man; but by the time I had finished a sketch of it The Widow had
hailed him from the woods and told him that it was a grave, after which I
could not prevail on him to approach the spot. I carefully replaced the
bark, anxious that no disturbance of the repose of the dead should
accompany the prints of the white man's feet. I afterwards learnt from
The Widow that the rushes within that solitary tomb were actually the
nightly bed of some near relative or friend of the deceased (probably a
brother) and that the body was thus watched and attended in the grave
through the process of corruption or, as Piper interpreted her account,
until no flesh remains on the bones; "and then he yan (i.e. goes) away!"
No fire, the constant concomitant of places of shelter, had ever been
made within this abode alike of the living and the dead, although remains
of several recent fires appeared on the heath outside.
DEAD TREES AMONG THE REEDS.
In the afternoon we came upon the river where rich weeds and lofty reeds
enveloped a soft luxuriant soil. The yarra, or bluegum, not only grew on
its banks, but spread over the flats; but I remarked that where the reeds
grew thickest most of the trees were dead; and that almost all bore on
their trunks the marks of inundation. These dead trees among reeds
suggest several questions: Were they killed by the frequent burning of
the reeds in summer? If so, how came they to grow first to such a size
among them? Or did excess of moisture or its long continuance kill them?
Are seasons now different from those which must have admitted of the
growth of these trees for half a century? Or have changes in the levels
of the deposits made by the larger rivers below, produced inundations
above, to a greater extent than they had spread formerly?
I was returning with the overseer from examining the country some miles
in advance of the carts, and with the intention of encamping where I had
left them halted, when I found the men had followed my track into some
bad ground. After extricating them from it I proceeded three miles
further to Bidyengoga, which we did not reach until dark. Water was found
in the bed of the Lachlan on our penetrating through a broad margin of
reeds towards some lofty yarra trees. Latitude 34 degrees 12 minutes 17
seconds South; longitude 144 degrees 18 minutes East.
VISIT SOME RISING GROUND.
May 11.
Rising ground appeared on the horizon about four miles to the north-west,
and an intervening plain of firm clay covered with atriplex and salsolae
rose towards it from the very margin of the reedy basin of the river.
Although anxious to see the junction of the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee,
curiosity irresistible led me to the rising ground, while Mr. Stapylton
traced the supposed line of the Lachlan and the overseer conducted the
carts and party westward. Unlike the hills I had seen on the limits of
interior plains elsewhere, the ridge I now visited consisted of the same
rich loam as the plains themselves.
VIEW NORTHWARD.
It was connected with other low ridges which extended in a north-western
direction into a country finely diversified with hill, dale, and patches
of wood, but in all probability at that time entirely without water. The
dry bed of a lake lay in a valley immediately north of the hills on which
I stood. A few trees of stunted appearance alone grew in the hollow. On
the top of this ridge I ate a russet apple which had grown in my garden
at Sydney, and I planted the seeds in a spot of rich earth likely to be
saturated with water as often as it fell from the heavens.
DIFFICULTIES IN FINDING EITHER OF THE RIVERS OR ANY WATER.
Southward I could see no trace of the Lachlan, and I hastened towards the
highest trees where I thought it turned in that direction. I thus met the
track of the carts at rightangles and galloped after them as they were
driving through scrubs and over heaths away to the westward. When I
overtook them I found that Mr. Stapylton had crossed over to them and
told Burnett to say to me that he had not seen the Lachlan.
SEARCH FOR THE MURRUMBIDGEE.
A row of lofty yarra trees appeared to the southward and, as I expected
to find the Murrumbidgee among them, I directed my course thither,
travelling to the westward of south as well as any appearance of water
would allow. We passed through a scrub which swarmed with kangaroos,
bronze-wing pigeons, and cockatoos; also by a rather singular hollow
resembling the bed of a dry lake, in which we found several grasses
apparently new and very beautiful,* together with a low but
wide-spreading bush which bore a fruit resembling a cherry in size and
taste, but with a more elongated stone.
(*Footnote. A Poa near P. australis, R. Br. and Bromus australis of R.
Br.)
After descending into what I had thought was the bed of a river we found
unequal ground and saw, at a distance, patches of reeds, also lofty yarra
trees growing all about. On reaching the reeds we found they filled only
very slight hollows in the surface and, after passing through them, we
crossed another firm plain with atriplex and salsolae. No river was to be
seen, but another line of trees bounded this plain, exactly like those on
the banks of streams, and on reaching it I felt confident of finding
water; but on the contrary there was only an open forest of goodly trees
without the least indication of it.
A NIGHT WITHOUT WATER.
The sun had now set and I directed the people to encamp while I rode
forward in search of this river. Passing through a thick scrub I observed
another line of river trees, but I penetrated their shades with no better
success than before.
HEAVY FALL OF RAIN.
A dark and stormy night of wind and rain closed over us and,
notwithstanding the want of water which we were again destined to
experience, we got wet enough before we regained the camp. Mr. Stapylton
had arrived there before me without having seen either the Lachlan or the
Murrumbidgee in the course he had taken, and as the general bearings and
directions I had given him did not admit of his deviating too far from
the route of the carts he had been obliged to return unsuccessful. After
so long a day's journey the cattle were doomed to pass another night
yoked up, although surrounded by luxuriant pasture, for thus only could
we prevent them from straying in search of water. The rain however
moistened the grass on this as on three former occasions when we had
suffered the same privation; and the cattle were ordered to be loosened
to feed at the earliest dawn.
May 12.
It had rained heavily during the night so that water was no longer
scarce. The canoe brought from Waljeers had been placed to receive the
rain and conduct it into a cask which was thus filled.
TWO MEN MISSING.
On getting up I learnt that two men had set off in quest of water and had
been absent all night. That they should have taken this step without
first asking permission was wrong, but that nobody had mentioned the
circumstance to me till then was still more vexatious as, by firing shots
and throwing up rockets, these men might have found their way back in the
dark. I was very glad however to hear them at length answer our shots,
and not at all sorry to see them come in thoroughly drenched with the
empty kettles on their shoulders. After this I learnt, when we were about
to start, that six of the bullocks had got away; Piper however managed to
trace and bring them back. The weather then cleared up and we proceeded,
in a south-west direction as nearly as patches of scrub permitted, in
search of the Murrumbidgee; for I was then convinced, from the different
appearance of the country, that we had got beyond the junction of the
Lachlan. On passing the scrubs we crossed a plain of the same kind which
we had so often met. It sloped towards a belt of large trees in a flat,
where we also saw reeds, the ground there being very soft and heavy for
the draught animals. Passing this flat we again reached firm ground with
stately yarra trees; and charming vistas through miles of open forest
scenery had indeed nearly drawn me away from the bearing which was
otherwise most likely to hit the river.
REACH THE MURRUMBIDGEE.
I however continued to follow it and, in the midst of such scenery
without being at all aware that I was approaching a river, I suddenly saw
the water before me and stood at last on the banks of the Murrumbidgee.
This magnificent stream was flowing within eight feet of its banks with
considerable rapidity, the water being quite clear; and it really
exceeded so much my expectations (surpassing far the Darling and all the
Australian rivers I had then seen) that I was at first inclined to think
it could be nothing less than the Murray which, like the Darling, might
have been laid down too far to the west. At all events I was delighted to
find that this corner of Australia could supply at least one river worthy
of the name. After thirsting so long amongst the muddy holes of the
Lachlan I witnessed, with no slight degree of satisfaction, the jaded
cattle drinking at this full and flowing stream, resembling a thing of
life in its deep and rippling waters. Now at length there was an end to
the privations we had so often suffered from want of water; and the bank
was also clothed with excellent grass--a pleasing sight for the cattle.
Reeds appeared in patches back from the river but, unlike the banks of
the Darling, the best and clearest ground was on the immediate margin of
the Murrumbidgee.
NATIVES ON THE OPPOSITE BANK.
Piper, with that keenness of vision so peculiar in savages, soon descried
some natives on the other side, and pointed out to me a tribe filing in a
straggling line through the woods at a distance. I made him cooey to
them, they answered the call, and in a short time appeared on the
opposite bank. Our first interview with these sons of the woods was
highly creditable to them. They advanced in a numerous group, but in a
silent and submissive manner, each having a green bough twined round the
waist or in his hand. They sat down on the opposite bank and The Widow,
having taken a position exactly facing them, held a parley which
commenced before I could get to the spot. It was now that we learnt the
full value of this female, for it appeared that while some diffidence or
ceremony always prevents the male natives, when strangers to each other,
from speaking at first sight, no such restraint is imposed on the gins;
who with the privilege of their sex are ever ready to speak, and the
strangers as it seemed to answer; for thus at least we held converse with
this tribe across the river. Our female guide, who had scarcely before
ventured to look up, stood now boldly forward and addressed the strange
tribe in a very animated and apparently eloquent manner; and when her
countenance was thus lighted up, displaying fine teeth and great
earnestness of manner, I was delighted to perceive what soul the woman
possessed, and could not but consider our party fortunate in having met
with such an interpreter.
THEY SWIM ACROSS.
At length the strangers proposed swimming over to us and we invited them
to do so.
AFRAID OF THE SHEEP.
They then requested that those wild animals, the sheep and horses, might
be driven away, at which The Widow and Piper's gin laughed heartily, but
they were removed accordingly. The warriors of the Murrumbidgee were
about to plunge into the angry flood, desirous, no doubt, of showing off
like so many Caesars before these females, but their fears of the sheep,
which they could not hide, must have said little for their prowess in the
eyes of the damsels on our side of the water. The weather was cold, but
the stranger who first swam across bore in one hand a piece of burning
wood and a green branch. He was no sooner landed than he converted his
embers into a fire to dry himself. Immediately after him followed a
grey-haired chief (of whom I had heard on the Lachlan) and two others. It
appeared however that Piper did not at first understand their language,
saying it was "Irish"; but it happened that there was with this tribe a
native of Cudjallagong (Regent's lake) and it was rather curious to see
him act as interpreter between Piper and the others.
THEIR REPORTS ABOUT THE JUNCTION OF THE DARLING.
We learnt that the Murrumbidgee joined a much larger river named the
Milliwa, a good way lower down, and that these united streams met, at a
still greater distance, the Oolawambiloa, a river from the north which
received a smaller one, bringing with it all the waters of Wamboul (the
Macquarie). These natives proposed to amuse us with a corrobory dance, to
which I did not object, but they postponed it until the following
evening.
SEARCH UP THE RIVER FOR JUNCTION OF THE LACHLAN.
May 13.
Having been very anxious to complete my survey of the Kalare by
determining the true situation of its junction with the Murrumbidgee, I
set out this morning with the intention of tracing this river upwards to
that point, which I thought could not be at a greater distance than ten
or twelve miles. We sought it however in vain, until darkness put a stop
to our progress after we had measured full twenty miles. We lay down by
the riverside and, although entirely without either food or shelter,
determined to prosecute our search at daylight next morning.
COURSE OF THE MURRUMBIDGEE.
May 14.
Having laid down our work on the map last evening (by the light of the
fire) I found that we were to the eastward, not only of our late camp
where we had wanted water, but also even of our last camp on the Lachlan,
and to the southward of it thirteen miles. It thus appeared that the
river had taken a very extraordinary turn to the south or south-east,
probably near our last encampment upon it. After measuring three miles
further this morning, by which I was enabled to intersect a low hill in
the situation where I expected to find the Kalare, and being then on a
bend of the Murrumbidgee whence I could see no other indication of it
save the line of trees some miles off, in which however it no doubt was,
the whole intervening space being covered with Polygonum junceum, I was
content with intersecting the point where that line joined the
Murrumbidgee, chiefly out of consideration for the men who were with me.
It was well that I then determined to return, for one man became so
faint, when within a few miles of the camp, that the two others had to
remain with him until I rode forward to it and sent back the doctor with
something for them to eat.
The course of the Murrumbidgee, as far as I traced it in that excursion,
appeared to be about west, and I distinctly saw, from the highest point I
attained on that river, rising ground at a great distance also bearing
east. Under these circumstances it was obvious that the long course of
the river Lachlan is in no part better defined than where it enters the
basin of the Murrumbidgee. Water, which had been so scarce in other
parts, was abundant where its channel and immediate margins assumed the
reedy character of the greater river. So far from terminating in a lagoon
or uninhabitable marsh, the banks of the Lachlan at fifty miles below the
spot where Mr. Oxley supposed he saw its termination as a river, are
backed on both sides by rising ground, until the course turns finally
southward into the Murrumbidgee.
TRIBE FROM CUDJALLAGONG VISITS THE CAMP IN MY ABSENCE.
On my arrival at the camp I found that six of the party mounted had set
out in search of me at midday. A strong tribe had arrived soon after my
departure and, in conjunction with those natives whom we found there, it
had been molesting the camp during the whole of the night. On first
coming up the men composing it boldly approached the fires and took their
seats, demanding something to eat.
MOVEMENTS OF THE TRIBE.
It appeared that they had followed our cart track downwards, having with
them a native of Cudjallagong. They inquired particularly why Majy had
gone to the junction of the Kalare with so few people; and they gave a
very unfavourable account of the tribe at that place. This alarmed Mr.
Stapylton, and when he observed the tribe set off in the morning, back
along the cart track, he despatched the party on horseback under Burnett
with orders to observe the movements of the tribe, to look for my track
and, if possible, to join me. The party returned to the camp about eight
in the evening, to my great satisfaction, for I had been apprehensive
that they might have proceeded to seek me at the junction and I had
despatched two men to recall them as soon as I returned.
CAUGHT FOLLOWING MY STEPS.
Burnett reported when he returned that he had found our track after
making a considerable circuit five or six miles from the camp; and as
Piper, who accompanied him, was tracing my steps homewards, on perceiving
some natives running along it, he concluded that we were just before them
and sounded the bugle, when they proved to be the tribe before mentioned,
all armed with spears. What their object was I cannot say, for three of
them had been trotting along the footmarks, while the rest of the tribe
in a body kept pace abreast of them. On hearing the bugle it appeared
that they seemed much alarmed and drew up at a distance.
PIPER QUESTIONS THEM.
They would not allow Piper to approach them, but one at length came
forward and informed him that Majy was gone home. Piper was so dubious
about this that he insisted on examining the points of their spears.
During the nights passed at this camp the natives were on the alert, so
that their various movements, cooeys, and calls kept the party in a state
of watchfulness, aware, as experience had taught us, of their thieving
propensities. Some rockets sent up about the time I was expected on the
evening of our absence had however scared them a little; and it is
probable that the man from Cudjallagong had given them new ideas about
soldiers. Piper's watchword, also, when taking up his carabine, usually
was "Bell gammon soldiers."* They left the neighbourhood of our camp on
my return and we saw no more of the tribe which had followed me.
(*Footnote. Meaning Soldiers are no joke!)