CHAPTER 3.6.
Return along the bank of the Murray.
Mount Lookout.
Appearance of rain.
Chance of being cut off from the depot by the river floods.
A savage man at home.
Tributaries of the Murray.
A storm in the night.
Traverse the land of lagoons before the floods come down.
Traces of many naked feet along our old track.
Camp of 400 natives.
Narrow escape from the floods of the river.
Piper overtakes two youths fishing in Lake Benanee.
Description of the lake.
Great rise in the waters of the Murray.
Security of the depot.
Surrounded by inundations.
Cross to it in a bark canoe made by Tommy Came-last.
Search for the junction of the Murrumbidgee and Murray.
Mr. Stapylton reaches the junction of the rivers.
Reception by the natives of the left bank.
Passage of the Murray.
Heavy rains set in.
Row up the Murray to the junction of the Murrumbidgee.
Commence the journey upwards, along the left bank.
Strange animal.
Picturesque scenery on the river.
Kangaroos numerous.
Country improves as we ascend the river.
A region of reeds.
The water inaccessible from soft and muddy banks.
Habits of our native guides.
Natives very shy.
Piper speaks to natives on the river.
Good land on the Murray.
Wood and water scarce.
Junction of two branches.
Swan Hill.
RETURN ALONG THE BANK OF THE MURRAY.
Returning from the junction towards our last camp on the Murray we again crossed, when within a mile of that position, the dry channel we had seen on proceeding towards the north-west. It contained some deep lagoons on which were pelicans, but we crossed it where the bed was quite dry and where it presented, like many other parts occasionally under water, striking proofs of the uncertainty of seasons in these parts of Australia. Numerous dead saplings of eight or ten years growth stood there, having evidently flourished in that situation until the water again filled this channel, after so long an interval of drought, and killed them.
On reaching the firm ground beyond we came upon some old graves which had been disturbed, as the bones protruded from the earth. Piper said that the dead were sometimes dug up and eaten; but this I could not believe.
MOUNT LOOKOUT.
By three P.M. we again occupied the remarkable point where we had formerly encamped. It is at this point (Mount Lookout on the map) that the berg of the Murray terminates on the basin of the Darling and thus commands, as before observed, an extensive view over the woody country to the westward. It would be an important position in any kind of warfare, and during my operations I felt as strong upon it with my party as if we had been in a citadel. I had now, I hoped, again got between the junction tribes and our old enemies, though the latter were still between us and our depot; and thus any danger of the junction tribes uniting with those up the Murray was less to be apprehended. Piper however discovered the track of a considerable number who had proceeded up the river the day before. Indeed all the tracks of natives he found led upwards and, seeing no longer any of them there, we felt more anxious about the safety of the depot.
APPEARANCE OF RAIN. CHANCE OF BEING CUT OFF FROM THE DEPOT BY THE RIVER FLOODS.
The barometer had been falling gradually from the 1st instant, and this was another source of anxiety to me; for we were in no small danger of being separated from the other party by any such rise of the river as might be expected after a heavy fall of rain.
June 4.
Notwithstanding the unpromising state of the mercurial column the night had been fair, and in the morning the sky was clear. We lost no time in moving on and we continued until we were four miles beyond our former camp; and then crossing Golgol creek we occupied a clear point of land between it and the Murray.
A SAVAGE MAN AT HOME.
As I was reconnoitring the ground for a camp I observed a native on the opposite bank and, not being seen by him, I watched awhile the habits of a savage man at home. His hands were ready to seize any living thing; his step, light and noiseless as that of a shadow, gave no intimation of his approach; and his walk suggested the idea of the prowling of a beast of prey. Every little track or impression left on the earth by the lower animals caught his keen eye, but the trees overhead chiefly engaged his attention; for deep in the heart of some of the upper branches he probably hoped to find the opossum on which he was to dine. The wind blew cold and keenly through the lofty trees on the river margin, yet that broad brawny savage was entirely naked. Had I been unarmed I had much rather have met a lion than that sinewy biped; but situated as I was, with a broad river flowing between us while I overlooked him from a high bank, I ventured to disturb his meditations with a loud halloo: he stood still, looked at me for about a minute, and then retired with that easy bounding step which may be termed a running walk, and exhibits an unrestrained facility of movement, apparently incompatible with dress of any kind. It is in bounding lighting at such a pace that, with the additional aid of the woomerah, an aboriginal native can throw his spear with sufficient force and dexterity to kill the emu or kangaroo, even when at their speed. One or two families of natives afterwards appeared hutted on the riverbank nearly opposite to our camp, and Piper opened a conversation with them across the river. These people had heard nothing of what had befallen the Benanee tribe. They had some years before seen white men go down and return up the river in a large canoe; and Piper also learnt from them that the Millewa (Murray) had now a flood in it, having for some time previous been much lower than it was then; but they assured Piper, apparently with exultation, that it flowed always.
TRIBUTARIES OF THE MURRAY.
The name of the creek we had just crossed was Golgol, and it came from the low range of the same name which I had observed on May 29. From what these natives said of Bengallo creek I thought it might be that branch of the Lachlan, already mentioned as Boororan, flowing westward under Warranary and other hills between the Murrumbidgee and the Darling.
A STORM IN THE NIGHT.
June 5.
Rain had fallen during the night but the day was favourable though cloudy. I ventured on a straight line through the sand and bushes of Eucalyptus dumosa in order to cut off some miles of our beaten track, which was nearer the river and rather circuitous. We crossed some sandhills, the loose surface of which was bound down only by the prickly grass already described. From these hills the view was extensive and bounded on all sides by a perfectly level horizon. On one of them a solitary tree drew my attention and, on examining it, I discovered with much satisfaction that it was of that singular kind I had only once or twice seen last year in the country behind the Darling. The leaves, bark, and wood tasted strongly of horse-radish. We now obtained specimens of its flower and seed, both of which seemed very singular.* By the more direct route through the scrub this day, with what we gained yesterday, we were enabled to reach, at the usual hour for encamping, the red cliffs near the spot where we formerly met the second division of the Darling tribe. I took up a position on the western extremity of the broken bank, overlooking an angle of the river, and commanding a grassy flat where our cattle would be also secure. The weather became very boisterous after sunset, and our tents were so much exposed to the fury of the wind that at one time I thought they would be blown into the river. The waters continuing to rise, the Murray now poured along nearly on a level with its banks, and how we should cross or avoid:
The mosses, waters, slaps, and stiles
that lay between us and the depot, if the river rose much longer, was a question for which I was prepared. On the other hand the very cold and boisterous weather was in our favour as being opposed to any assembling of the tribes at points of difficulty along the line of our track, as they certainly ought to have done as good tacticians, for they never lost sight of our movements while we were in that country.
(*Footnote. A new and genuine species of Gyrostemon. Gyrostemon pungens, Lindley manuscripts; foliis rhomboideis acutis glaucis in petiolum angustatis. The capsules are arranged in a single verticillus and consequently this species will belong to Gyrostemon as distinguished from Codonocarpus by Mr. Endlicher.)
TRAVERSE THE LAND OF LAGOONS BEFORE THE FLOODS COME DOWN.
June 6.
It had rained heavily during the night but the morning was clear. As we continued our journey the natives were heard in the woods although none appeared. Fortunately for our progress the floods had not reached the lagoons, and we succeeded in passing the whole of this low tract, so subject to inundations, without difficulty; and we finally encamped within four miles of the ground where we had been obliged to disperse the Darling tribes. We pitched our tents on the eastern side of the lagoon where we found an agreeable shelter from the storm in some scrub which, on former occasions, we should not have thought so comfortable a neighbour. We could now enter such thickets with greater safety; and in this we found a very beautiful new shrubby species of cassia, with thin papery pods and numbers of the most brilliant yellow blossoms. On many of the branches the leaflets had fallen off and left nothing but the flat leafy petioles to represent them. The pods were of various sizes and forms, on which account, if new, I would name it C. heteroloba.*
(*Footnote. C. heteroloba, Lindley manuscripts; foliolis bijugis linearibus carnosis cito deciduis apice mucronulatis recurvis, glandula parva conica inter omnia, petiolo compresso herbaceo nunc aphyllo mucronulato, racemis paucifloris folio brevioribus, leguminibus oblongis planis obtusis papyraceis continuis aut varie strangulatis.)
June 7.
The ground had been so heavy for travelling during some days that the cattle much needed rest; and as I contemplated the passage, in one day of that dumosa scrub, occupying twenty miles along the tract before us, I made this journey a short one, moving only to our old encampment of May 26. The scrub here seemed more than usually rich in botanical novelties for, besides the Murrayana tree, we found a most beautiful Leucopogon allied to L. rotundifolius of Brown, with small heart-shaped leaves polished on the upper side and striated on the lower, so as to resemble the most delicate shell-work.* Piper discovered, on examining the ground where we had repulsed the Darling tribes, that they had left many of their spears, nets, etc. on our side of the river, and had afterwards returned for them, also that a considerable number did not swim across, but had retired along the riverbank. Upon the whole it was estimated that the numbers then in our rear amounted to at least one hundred and eighty.
(*Footnote. L. cordifolius, Lindley manuscripts; ramulis pubescentibus, foliis sessilibus subrotundis planis patentibus cordatis mucronatis margine scabris supra laevigatis subtus striatis, floribus solitariis sessilibus axillaribus.)
TRACES OF MANY NAKED FEET ALONG OUR OLD TRACK.
June 8.
As soon as daylight appeared this morning we commenced our long journey through the scrub; and we discovered to our surprise, by the traces of innumerable feet along our track, that the natives had not, as I till then supposed, come along the riverbank, but had actually followed us through that scrub. They have nevertheless a great dislike to such parts, not only because they cannot find any game there, but because the prickly spinifex-looking grass is intolerable against their naked legs. While we were encamped in the scrub on May 25 they must have also passed that stormy night there, without either fire or water. On our way through it now we discovered a new hoary species of Trichinium, very different from Brown's Tr. incanum.* The cattle, though they were jaded, accomplished the journey before sunset, and we halted beside the large lagoon adjacent to that part of the river which was within three miles of our former camp, being the spot where the natives, in following us from lake Benanee, first emerged from the woods. The weather being still boisterous, we occupied a piece of low ground where we were sheltered from the west or stormy quarter by the river berg.
(*Footnote. Tr. lanatum, Lindley manuscripts; incano-tomentosum, caule corymboso, foliis obovatis cuneatisque, capitulis hemisphericis lanatis, bracteis dorso villosis.)
CAMP OF 400 NATIVES.
On the brow of this height and just behind our camp I counted the remains of one hundred and thirty-five fires at an old encampment of natives and, as one fire is seldom lighted for less than three persons, there must have been at least four hundred. The bushes placed around each fire seemed to have been intended for that temporary kind of shelter required for only one night.
June 9.
We proceeded this morning as silently as possible, for we were now approaching the haunts of the enemy, and I wished to come upon them by surprise, thinking that I might thereby sooner ascertain whether any misfortune had befallen the depot.
NARROW ESCAPE FROM THE FLOODS OF THE RIVER.
Two creeks lay in our way and, from the flood then in the Murray, it was likely that they might be full of water, and the savages prepared to take advantage of the difficulty we should then experience in crossing them. The first channel we arrived at, which was quite dry when we formerly crossed, was now brimful of the muddy water of the Murray and before we reached its banks we heard the voices of natives on our right. We forded it however without annoyance, the water reaching only to the axles of the carts, but the current was very strong and FROM the river, that is to say, upwards. We next reached our old camp where we had passed that anxious night near Benanee. Here to my great satisfaction and indeed surprise, I found the bed of the larger creek, which occasioned us so great a detour when we first met the natives, still quite dry at our old crossing-place; being in the same state in which it was then, although the flood water was now fast approaching it. We got over however with ease and at length again traversed the plain which skirts the lake; and we were glad to find that tranquillity prevailed along its extensive shores.
PIPER OVERTAKES TWO YOUTHS FISHING IN LAKE BENANEE.
I perceived only one or two natives fishing, and I took Piper down to the beach to speak to them, being desirous also to examine at leisure this fine sheet of water. We found on arriving there that other natives had run off from some huts on the shore, but Piper pursued those in the lake, for the purpose of obtaining information about the tribe, until they ran so far out into the water that they seemed at length up to their ears, and I was really afraid that the poor fellows, who were found to be only boys, would be drowned in endeavouring to avoid him. I could scarcely distinguish them at length from the numerous waterfowl floating around. In vain I called to their pursuer to come back, Piper was not to be baffled by boys, and continued to walk through the water like a giant, brandishing a short spear, or, as the boys would probably say to their tribe;
Black he stood as night, Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell, And shook a dreadful dart.
At length, when apparently near the centre of the lake, he overtook one; and while leading him towards the shore he ascertained that the Darling tribe had returned to the lake only on the day before, having been ever since their dispersion on the 27th May until this time, on the opposite bank of the Murray. That they were then fishing in a lagoon near the river (where in fact we afterwards saw smoke and heard their voices) and that they had despatched three messengers to a portion of the tribe on the upper Darling, with the news of what had befallen them, of our progress in that direction, and requesting them to join them as soon as possible at the lake.
DESCRIPTION OF THE LAKE.
I perceived that the depth of water in this basin did not then in any part exceed 8 or 10 feet, although the surface was probably 20 feet below the level of the sandy beach, thus making 28 or 30 feet the extreme depth when full. Now that I could examine it at leisure, I found that this fine lake was much more extensive than I had at first supposed. The breadth was about four miles, and I could see along it in a westerly direction at least six miles. Part of the north-western shore seemed to be clear of trees but well covered with grass, and to slope gently towards the water. The whole was surrounded by a beach consisting of fine clean quartzose sand. This was an admirable station for a numerous body like that from the Darling. The cunning old men of that tribe seemed well aware that there they could neither be surrounded nor surprised; the approach to the lake from the river being also covered in both directions by deep creeks, passable only at certain places. Their choice of such a position was creditable to their skill in strategy, and consistent with their thorough knowledge of localities. I could spare no time to look at the country beyond this lake (or northward) as I wished to do. From what we learnt however we were satisfied that the depot was safe, and this fact relieved me from much anxiety. We had still to cross that creek or ana-branch which apparently supplies the lake, although it was then still dry. I had observed that such ana-branches* were deepest at the lower mouths, as if the river floods entered first there and flowed upwards; although before the river reached its maximum a strong current would probably set downwards in the same channel, which would thus become at last a branch of the main stream.
RETURN TO THE DEPOT.
We reached our former camp on the Murray by 3 P.M., and once more pitched our tents on the bank of this river. By comparing its height, as measured formerly, with as much of it as remained above the waters, I found that it had risen eight feet and a half. We were then within a short day's journey of the depot but anxious enough still to know if it were safe.
June 10.
We started early and, by crossing a small plain, cut off half a mile of our former route. When within a few miles of the camp of Mr. Stapylton we heard a shot, and soon discovered that it was fired by one of the men (Webb) rather a mauvais sujet, who had been transgressing rules by firing at a duck. We learnt from him however the agreeable news that the depot had not been disturbed.
GREAT RISE IN THE WATERS OF THE MURRAY.
It was now cut off from us by a deep stream which filled the creek it overlooked and which flowed with a considerable current towards the Murray, having also filled Lake Stapylton to the brim.
SECURITY OF THE DEPOT.
Mr. Stapylton and his party were well; and during the whole time that we had been absent the natives had never approached his camp. Such singular good fortune was more than I could reasonably have expected, and my satisfaction was complete when I again met Stapylton and saw the party once more united. The little native Ballandella's leg was fast uniting, the mother having been unremitting in her care of the child. Good grass had also been found so that the cattle had become quite fresh and indeed looked well.
SURROUNDED BY INUNDATIONS. CROSS TO IT IN A BARK CANOE MADE BY TOMMY CAME-LAST.
I was ferried over Stapylton's creek in a bark canoe by Tommy Came-last who also, by the same simple means, soon conveyed every article of equipment and the rest of the party across to the depot camp.
We had now got through the most unpromising part of our task. We had penetrated the Australian Hesperides, although the golden fruit was still to be sought. We had accomplished so much however, with only half the party, that nothing seemed impossible with the whole; and to trace the Murray upwards and explore the unknown regions beyond it was a charming undertaking when we had at length bid adieu forever to the dreary banks of the Darling.
SEARCH FOR THE JUNCTION OF THE MURRUMBIDGEE AND MURRAY.
The first object of research was the actual junction of the Murrumbidgee with the Murray. I knew that the creek on which I had fixed the depot camp came from the former and entered the latter; and that our depot thus stood on a tract surrounded by water, being between the creek and the main stream. We were already in fact on a branch-island, immediately adjacent to the junction we were in search of and, as I intended to across the Murray either at or below that point, I determined to make an excursion in search of it next morning.
June 11.
Riding southward I reached a bend of the river about two miles from our camp. While tracing the stream upwards from that point we saw some natives running away from their fires. One of them however held up a green branch in each hand and, though as he ran he answered Piper, and a gin had left a heavy bag near us, yet he could not be prevailed on to stop. When Piper took the bag to the tribe he was obliged to follow them nearly a mile, when a number at length stood still together, but at a considerable distance from us, and kept incessantly calling for tomahawks. From the number of huts along the riverbank it was obvious that the inhabitants were numerous, and I was therefore the more surprised that our depot could have continued so long near them without their discovering it. After following the river upwards of eight miles without meeting with the Murrumbidgee I came to a place where it seemed to have formerly had a different channel, and to have left a basin where the banks of the stream were of easy access, the breadth being only 110 yards. This spot was so favourable for effecting a passage that I determined on moving the party to it at once; and to entrust to Mr. Stapylton the further search for the junction of the Murrumbidgee, which could not be far from it.
MR. STAPYLTON REACHES THE JUNCTION OF THE RIVERS.
June 12.
While I conducted the party to the point at which I intended to cross Mr. Stapylton returned along our old route to where we first traversed the now flooded creek and, by tracing it downward to the Murrumbidgee, and that river to the Murray, he ascertained the junction to be little more than a mile from the encampment which I had taken up with the intention of crossing the Murray. Meanwhile no time had been lost there in pitching the boats and sinking them in the adjacent basin of still water that the planks might swell and unite.
June 13.
I crossed early in the morning and found the opposite bank very favourable for the cattle to get out; this being a object of much importance.
RECEPTION BY THE NATIVES OF THE LEFT BANK.
I was met as favourably by the natives on this first passage of the Murray as I had been on our first approach to the Murrumbidgee. A small tribe came forward and laid a number of newly-made nets at my feet. I declined accepting anything however save a beautifully wrought bag, telling the owner through Piper that when the party should have passed to that side I would give him a tomahawk in return for it.
PASSAGE OF THE MURRAY.
As soon as the day had become rather warm we endeavoured to swim the bullocks across by driving them into the water at the mouth of the basin where the river seemed most accessible. But the bank was soft and muddy, and the animals, when driven into the water, got upon an island in a shallow part, whence they could not be dislodged, much less compelled to swim from it to the opposite shore. Not a little time was thus lost, while only a few could be drawn over by ropes attached to the boats; and by which process one was accidentally drowned. This was owing to the injudicious conduct of one of the men (Webb) who gave the animal rope instead of holding its head close aboard, so as to keep the mouth at least above water. The drivers then represented that the rest of the bullocks had been too long in the water to be able to cross before the next day but, having first tried their plan, I now determined to try my own; and I directed them to take the cattle to the steepest portion of the bank, overhanging the narrow part of the river, and just opposite to the few bullocks which had already gained the opposite shore. Notwithstanding the weakness of the animals this measure succeeded for, on driving them down the steep bank so that they fell into the water, the whole at once turned their heads to the opposite shore and reached it in safety. We next swam the horses over by dragging each separately at the stern of a boat, taking care to hold the head above water. Thus by sunset everything except one or two carts and the boat-carriage had been safely got across.
The natives beyond the Murray were differently-behaved people from those of the Darling for, although one group sat beside that portion of our party which was still on the right bank, another, at a point of the opposite shore to the eastward of our new camp, and a third near my tent in the neck of a peninsula on which I found we had landed, not one of them caused us any anxiety or trouble. It was to the last party that I owed the tomahawk, and I went up with it as they sat at their fires. They were in number about twenty and unaccompanied by any gins. The man who had given me the bag seemed to express gratitude for the tomahawk by offering me another net, also one which he wore on his head; and he presented to me his son. He saw the two native boys who then accompanied me as interpreters dressed well and apparently happy, and I had no doubt the poor man was willing to place his own son under my care. I endeavoured to explain that we had no more tomahawks, that we had given none to any other tribe upon the Murray, and that our men were apt to be very saucy with their guns if too much troubled. Experience had taught me the necessity for thus perpetually impressing on the minds, even of the most civil of these savages that, although inoffensive, we were strong; an idea not easily conceived by them. They however came forward and sat down near us until very heavy rain, which fell in the night, obliged them to seek their huts.
HEAVY RAINS SET IN.
June 14.
The morning dawned under the most steady fall of rain that I had seen during the journey; and this happened just after new moon, a time when I had hoped for a favourable change in the weather. Everything was got across the river this day, and we were prepared for the survey of a new region. I was occupied with the maps of the country which we had just left sufficiently to be regardless of the rain, even if it had continued to fall many days; and very thankful was I that we had got thus far without having been impeded by the weather.
June 15.
The rain ceased in the morning and the barometer had risen so much that no more was to be apprehended then; yet the blacksmith had still some work to do to the boat-carriage, and we were therefore obliged to halt another day.
ROW UP THE MURRAY TO THE JUNCTION OF THE MURRUMBIDGEE.
In the afternoon I proceeded in one of the boats up the river to the junction of the Murrumbidgee; and I ascertained that there was a fresh in that river also. It was certainly narrower at the mouth than at Weyeba; and here indeed some fallen trees almost crossed the stream. There was a hollow or break in the bank of the Murray, about 100 yards lower down, which seemed to have been once an outlet of the Murrumbidgee. The opening formed a deep section through a stratum of ferruginous sandstone, and was fully equal to the present breadth of the tributary river. On pulling higher up, the Murray seemed rather smaller above this junction, although still a splendid stream. The natives on this side told Piper that the Darling tribe from the other had danced a corrobory with them about six weeks before, and promised to return in one moon. They also inquired whether Piper had seen any of that tribe as they were waiting for us whitefellows, to which Piper answered that he had NOT. I blamed him for this reply, and asked why he did not say that we had been obliged to fire upon and kill some of them: but he said he could not tell them that, because they would hate him so.
COMMENCE THE JOURNEY UPWARDS, ALONG THE LEFT BANK.
June 16.
We left our encampment and commenced our travels up the left bank of the Murray over ground which seemed much better than any we had seen on the right bank. We crossed grassy plains bounded by sandhills on which grew pines (callitris); and open forests of goborro (or box-tree) prevailed very generally nearer the river. Where this tree grew we found the ground still good for travelling upon, notwithstanding the heavy rain, in consequence apparently of the argillaceous character of the soil; for in the plains of red earth, which before the last fall of rain we had found the best, the horses now sank above their fetlocks and the carts could scarcely be dragged along. In the course of the day we passed several broad lagoons in channels which probably were ana-branches of the river in high floods. On the largest plain crossed by the party four emus appeared, and one of them was killed after a fine chase by the dogs. The river appeared to come from the east-south-east but the course was very tortuous, and we encamped at a reach where it seemed to come from the south.
STRANGE ANIMAL.
The most remarkable incident of this days' journey was the discovery of an animal of which I had seen only the head among the remains found in the caves at Wellington Valley. This animal was of the size of a young wild rabbit and of nearly the same colour, but had a broad head terminating in a long very slender snout, like the narrow neck of a wide bottle; and it had no tail. The forefeet were singularly formed, resembling those of a hog; and the marsupial opening was downwards, and not upwards as in the kangaroo and others of that class of animals. This quadruped was discovered on the ground by our native guides, but when pursued it took refuge in a hollow tree from which they extracted it alive, all of them declaring that they had never before seen an animal of that kind.*
(*Footnote. The original has been deposited in the Sydney Museum but, having shown my friend Mr. Ogilby a drawing of it, he has noticed the discovery in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1838 describing the animal as "belonging to a new genus closely allied to Perameles, but differing in the form of the forefeet, which have only two middle toes resembling those of a hog, and in the total absence of tail. This genus has been named by Mr. Ogilby Chaeropus ecaudatus.)
PLATE 27: Choeropus ecaudatus (OGILBY), A NEW AND SINGULAR ANIMAL.
T.L.M. del.
Published by T. and W. Boone, London.
June 17.
The cattle were not brought up until ten o'clock, an unusual circumstance, and one which curtailed the day's journey. The course of the river compelled us to travel southward, and even to the westward of south; but we found better ground by keeping on the open forest-land of box or goborro, which in general occupied a very extensive space between the river and the bergs of soft red sandhills on which grew the callitris.
SALSOLAE ON THE PLAINS.
The plains covered with salsolae which, as I have just remarked, before the rain, were considered to afford the best surface for travelling on, had now become so soft as to be almost impassable, at least by our wheels, and I this day avoided them as much as I could. The margin where the box or goborro grew was in many parts hollowed into lagoons or ana-branches of the river, so that it was desirable to shape our line of route as closely by the base of these bergs or sandhills as possible.
PICTURESQUE SCENERY ON THE RIVER.
On crossing the point of one of them we came upon a most romantic-looking scene where a flood branch had left a serpentine piece of water, enclosing two wooded islands of rather picturesque character, the whole being overhung by the steep and bushy slope of the hill. The scenery of some lakes thus formed was very fine, especially when their rich verdure and lofty trees were contrasted with the scrub which covered the sandhills nearest the river, where a variety of shrubs such as we had not previously seen formed a curious foreground. Amongst them was a creeper with very large pods, two of which were brought to me last year, while on the Darling, by one of the men, who could not afterwards find the tree again, or say what it was like. We also found one Eucarya murrayana with young unripe fruit. (See Plate 28 which represents the general character of the scenery on the Murray.)
KANGAROOS NUMEROUS.
The country abounded with kangaroos. On ascending some grassy ridges I perceived a verdant plain which extended as far as I could see to the westward. It was bounded on the south, not by scrub, but by a forest of large trees; and the horizon beyond presented something like an outline of hills, a refreshing sight, accustomed as we had been for several months to a horizon as level as that of the ocean. After travelling about three miles we were obliged to turn westward by a creek or ana-branch of the river, having on its banks large yarra trees resembling those in the main stream. It prevented us from approaching the Murray during the rest of the day, and we finally encamped on its margin having found there most excellent grass.
June 18.
Continuing along the firm ground between the bergs and this creek we pursued a course which for some miles bore to the westward of south. We passed through forests of the box or goborro, under which grew a luxuriant crop of grass and two of these flats (on which we saw yarra trees also) stretched away to the westward, breaking the elsewhere unvaried wilderness of sandhills and scrub. On crossing one of these forest flats we heard the sound of the natives' hatchet on some hollow trees before us; and Piper as usual hastened forward to communicate with them, but in vain for, as soon as they saw him, they ran like kangaroos, leaving the fortunate opossum which they had been seeking still alive in his hole in the tree. At length we got clear of the creek on reaching a bend of the river not far beyond the spot where we had seen the natives.
PLATE 28: BACKWATER, OR FLOOD-BRANCH OF THE MURRAY, WITH THE SCENERY COMMON ON ITS BANK.
Acacia exudans.
Major T.L. Mitchell del. G. Barnard Lith. J. Graf Printer to Her Majesty.
Published by T. and W. Boone, London.
COUNTRY IMPROVES AS WE ASCEND THE RIVER.
The Murray was flowing rapidly in a narrower channel and within two or three feet of the top of the banks. The country appeared on the whole superior to any that we had seen on the other side of this river. The grassy flats backed by hills covered with callitris seemed very eligible for cattle runs, the chief objection to them being only that the banks of the river were so steep and yielding that the water was in general inaccessible. The breadth seldom exceeded 60 or 70 yards; and I suspected that we might be already above the junction of some stream on the right bank, especially as the course came now so much from the southward.
A REGION OF REEDS.
On crossing the extremity of a sandhill, about two miles from the spot where we afterwards encamped, I perceived that reeds covered a vast region before us. They grew everywhere, even under the trees, and extended back from the channel of the river as far as I could see and, no alternative presenting itself, we endeavoured to face them. The lofty ash-hills of the natives, used chiefly for roasting the balyan (or bulrush) a root found only in such places, again appeared in great numbers. We soon came upon a lagoon about a mile in circumference and surrounded on all sides by high reeds. One or two smooth grassy hills arose among them, but the ground, even where they grew, was as firm and good for travelling upon as any that we had recently crossed. They were no impediment to a man or bullock in motion, but grew to the height of about seven or eight feet.
THE WATER INACCESSIBLE FROM SOFT AND MUDDY BANKS.
Grass was also to be found among them and I was willing to encamp there; but the difficulty was in finding a spot where the cattle could approach the water. The flood ran high in the deep and rapid river; yet the margin was covered with high reeds and, although I ultimately encamped near a small lagoon within the reeds, the cattle would not venture to drink at it, instinctively shrinking back from the muddy margin. In the course of the evening one animal fell into the river and was extricated with great difficulty and after much digging in the bank. One remarkable difference between this river and the Murrumbidgee was that, in the latter, even where reeds most prevailed, a certain space near the bank remained tolerably clear: whereas on this river the reeds grew most thickly and closely on its immediate banks, thus presenting a much less imposing appearance than the Murrumbidgee, with its firmer banks crowned with lofty forests of yarra. Each Australian river seems to have some peculiar character, sustained with remarkable uniformity throughout the whole course.
HABITS OF OUR NATIVE GUIDES.
June 19.
Piper, although so far from his country, could still point directly to it, but he had grown so homesick that he begged Burnett not to mention Bathurst. To return except with us was quite out of the question, and as we still receded he dragged, as the phrase is, a lengthening chain. He studied my visage however and could read my thoughts too well to doubt that I too hoped to return. The whole management of the chase now devolved on him and the two boys, his humble servants; and this native party usually explored the woods with our dogs for several miles in front of the column. The females kept nearer the party, and often gave us notice of obstacles in time to enable me to avoid them. My question on such occasions was Dago nyollong yannagary? (Which way shall we go? ) to which one would reply, pointing in the proper direction, Yalyai nyollong-yannar! (Go that way.) Depending chiefly on the survey for my longitude, my attention was for the most part confined to the preservation of certain bearings in our course by frequent observations of the pocket compass; but in conducting carts where no roads existed, propitiating savage natives, taking bearings and angles, observing rocks, soil and productions, so much care and anxious attention was necessary that I believe I was indebted to the sympathy even of my aboriginal friends for the zealous aid they at all times afforded.
Notwithstanding the obvious necessity for closely watching the cattle, they had been suffered to ramble nine miles up the river during the night; and were not brought back to the camp until noon. This unusual and untoward circumstance was the more surprising as the whole country along the riverbank was covered with good grass. Whether they had instinctively set off towards the upper country, where most of them were bred; or that want of water after a hard day's work had occasioned such restlessness, it was difficult to say; but they wandered even beyond the camp that we reached this day in a journey commenced however only at half-past 12.
NATIVES VERY SHY.
The natives peeped over the reeds at us from a considerable distance; and some of those whom Piper saw when in search of the men with the cattle, immediately jumped into the river, carrying their spears and boomerangs with them. We had not proceeded above a mile and a half when I perceived among the reeds close to the berg on which we were travelling a small, deep and still branch of the river, apparently connected with numerous others, in all of which the water was quite still, although it had the same muddy colour as that flowing in the river, and they seemed to be equally deep. These still channels wound in all directions among the reeds. Further on the water was not even confined to such canals, large spaces between them being inundated, and lofty gum (or yarra) trees stood even in the water. Light appeared at length through the wood before us, which soon terminated on a sea of reeds bounded only by the horizon. On ascending some sandhills confining this basin of reeds on our side, I observed a low grassy ridge with pines upon it, and forming a limit to the reedy basin, except in a part of the horizon which bore 14 degrees South of East. A broad sheet of water (probably only an inundation occasioned by the late rain) filled the centre of the reedy space. About six miles from our last camp we came upon the river flowing with a strong current; and at its full width the water not more than a foot below the level of the right bank. Thus the Murray seemed to flow through that reedy expanse, unmarked in its course by trees or bushes, although one or two distant clumps of yarra probably grew on the banks of the permanent stream. At two miles further on these trees again grew plentifully, close under the berg along which we travelled, and where I hoped again to see the river. We found however that the yarras only enclosed shallow lagoons; and on a small oasis of dry ground near one of them we encamped for the night. A species of solanum forming a very large bush was found this day in the scrub, also several interesting shrubs, and among them some fine specimens of that rare one, the Eucarya murrayana. But in all these scrubs on the Murray the Fusanus acuminatus is common and produces the quandang nut (or kernel) in such abundance that it and gum acacia may in time become articles of commerce in Australia.*
(*Footnote. Having brought home specimens of most of the woods of the interior, I find that several of the acacias would be valuable for ornamental work, having a pleasing perfume resembling that of a rose. Some are of a dark colour of various shades and very compact; others light-coloured and resembling in texture box or lancewood. The new caper tree also resembles the latter so much as not to be distinguished from it. Specimens of these woods may be seen at Hallet's, Number 83 High Holborn.)
June 20.
The morning was frosty and clear. Soon after we left our encampment we came to a ridge or berg, bare of trees with the exception of a fine clump on the highest part; and behind it was an extensive flat which was also destitute of wood, only a few atriplex bushes appearing upon it. I sent the carts across this flat while I rode along the crest of the ridge. The sea of reeds skirted this ridge on the north, and a meandro-serpentine canal full of water intersected the reedy expanse in almost all directions. The river flood had not reached it, at least if it had the water continued unmoved by any current. I perceived some smoke arising from the reeds at the distance of a mile, and at the extreme point of a tongue of firmer ground which extended into them.
PIPER SPEAKS TO NATIVES ON THE RIVER.
Piper went boldly up to the fire and found three families of blacks in as many canoes on the river. They told him there was a junction of rivers some way ahead of us; and I understood him to say that part of these natives had come across from Waljeers. The country opened more and more as we proceeded, and the basin of reeds was more extensive. The bergs on the opposite side (on which I had fixed several points) were distant on an average about eight miles, which was the breadth therefore of that low margin of reeds. The winding borders of this plain terminated on our side in rich grassy flats, some of which extended back farther than I could discover; and on two of these plains I perceived fine sheets of water, surrounded by shining verdure and enclosed by sheltering hills clothed with Callitris pyramidalis.
GOOD LAND ON THE MURRAY.
One or two spots seemed very favourable for farms or cattle stations. The soil in these grassy flats was of the richest description: indeed the whole of the country covered by reeds seemed capable of being converted into good wheat land, and of being easily irrigated at any time by the river. This stream was also navigable when we were there, and produce might be conveyed by it at such seasons to the seashore. There was no miasmatic savannah, nor any dense forest to be cleared; the genial southern breeze played over these reedy flats which may one day be converted into clover-fields. For cattle stations the land possessed every requisite, affording excellent winter grass back among the scrubs to which cattle usually resort at certain seasons; while at others they could fatten on the rich grass of the plains, or during the summer heat enjoy the reeds amid abundance of water. We found on these plains an addition to the common grasses.* The fine open country afforded extensive views, and to the eastward and south-east we saw hills with grassy sides and crowned with callitris.
(*Footnote. An Andropogon allied to A. bombycinus.)
WOOD AND WATER SCARCE.
Through the intervening valley flowed the Murray, the course of which was seldom visible as no trees grew along its border. Under such circumstances we could not encamp upon the bank, neither could it be safely approached by cattle; and our prospect of obtaining wood and watering our animals was this day rather uncertain. At length we came upon a path which Mr. Stapylton pursued amongst high reeds for a mile without reaching the river as we both expected. I continued to travel towards four trees on the side of a green hill, still at a great distance but in the direction in which I wished to proceed.
JUNCTION OF TWO BRANCHES. SWAN HILL.
When we arrived there just before sunset we had the good fortune to find close under the hill a bend of the Murray, and to discover the junction of another river or branch with it at this point. Within the margin we found a small pond quite accessible to the cattle, and behind the hill was an extensive flat covered with the richest grass. Here therefore we could encamp most contentedly beside a clear hill, always a desirable neighbour, and an accessible river. We were also thus enabled to determine the junction perhaps of two rivers, an important object in geography. The latitude was 35 degrees 19 minutes 43 seconds South.
The lesser stream was about 50 yards wide, but below the junction the main stream divided into two branches so that I was doubtful whether this might not be only the termination of an ana-branch. From the falling off of the bergs on the distant right bank, and the approach of a line of lofty trees from the same quarter, I was almost convinced that some junction took place thereabouts, as indeed the natives last seen had informed us. During the day columns of smoke arose behind us in the direction where we had seen these natives, and further eastward we perceived a widespreading conflagration, doubtless caused by them although this expression of ire troubled us but little so long as the flames did not approach our route. The scrubs now receded from the river, but the curious variety of acacias they contained still drew our attention towards them. We found this day several which were new. One with a rigid hard leaf, not in flower, resembled in many respects the A. farinosa met with two days later, but it was perfectly smooth in all its parts.* Another appeared to be related to A. hispidula, but with much narrower leaves without the ragged cartilaginous margin of that species.**
(*Footnote. A. sclerophylla, Lindley manuscripts; ramulis angulatis glabriusculis, phyllodiis rigidis carnosis rectiusculis linearibus apice latioribus mucronulatis multinerviis glabris eglandulosis, capitulis 1-2 sessilibus glaberrimis.)
(**Footnote. A. aspera, Lindley manuscripts; phyllodiis oblongo-linearibus uninerviis mucronatis eglandulosis ramisque angulatis asperrimis, capitulis 1-2 axillaribus, pedunculis villosis phyllodiis duplo brevioribus.)