Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, Volume 2 / With Descriptions of the Recently Explored Region of Australia Felix, and of the Present Colony of New South Wales

by T. L. Mitchell

CHAPTER 3.9.

Plains of stiff clay.
The Wimmera.
Difficult passage of its five branches.
Ascend Mount Zero.
Circular lake, brackish water.
The Wimmera in a united channel.
Lose this river.
Ascend Mount Arapiles.
Mr. Stapylton's excursion northward.
Salt lakes.
Green Hill lake.
Mitre lake.
Relinquish the pursuit of the Wimmera.
The party travels to the south-west.
Red lake.
Small lakes of fresh water.
White lake.
Basketwork of the natives.
Muddy state of the surface.
Mr. Stapylton's ride southward.
Disastrous encounter of one man with a native.
A tribe makes its appearance.
More lakes of brackish water.
Escape at last from the mud.
Encamp on a running stream.
Fine country.
Discovery of a good river.
Granitic soil.
Passage of the Glenelg.
Country well watered.
Pigeon ponds.
Soft soil again impedes the party.
Halt to repair the carts and harness.
Natives very shy.
Chetwynd rivulet.
Slow progress over the soft surface.
Excursion into the country before us.
Beautiful region discovered.
The party extricated with difficulty from the mud.

PLAINS OF STIFF CLAY.

July 17.

The ground on the sides of the low hills was still so soft (and in this respect I had found the country we had lately crossed even worse than that previously traversed by the carts) that the only prospect which remained to us of being able to continue the journey was by proceeding over the plains extending along the interior side of the Grampians of the South. The soil of such plains consisted chiefly of clay, and we had recently found that it bore the wheels of the waggons much better during the winter season than the thin and loose soil on the sides of hills; apparently because this lay on rock, or a substratum so tenacious as to support the water in or just under the surface. The wheels and also the feet of the cattle sunk at once to this rocky subsoil whatever its depth, and up came the water, so that on level parts our track resembled a ditch of mud and water, and on slopes it formed a current of water and a drain from the sides of hills. I had observed the plains during my reconnaissance of the interior from the side of Mount William, and I now directed our course towards them. We crossed without difficulty the little river by the passage Mr. Stapylton had prepared during my absence and, after travelling about four miles first west and then north-west, we came upon an extensive plain. The soil consisted of good strong clay on which the cattle travelled very well, and it was covered with the best kind of grass. On reaching it I resumed my former course which was nearly west-south-west towards Mount Zero, a name I applied to a remarkable cone at the western extremity of the chain of mountains. After travelling 2 1/2 miles over the plain we again reached the banks of Richardson's creek, and forded it after some delay and considerable difficulty on account of the softness of the bottom. We next entered on a tract of grassy forest land, the trees being chiefly box and casuarinae. At 2 1/2 miles beyond Richardson's creek we crossed a small run of water flowing west-north-west, apparently towards it. After passing over similar ground for some miles further and having had another plain on our right, we at length encamped near a large serpentine pond or lake which was broad, deep, and bordered with lofty gum trees.

July 18.

We continued for five miles along good firm ground on which there was open forest of box and gumtrees; and part of the bold outline of the Grampians appeared to our left.

THE WIMMERA.

At nine miles we fell in with a flowing stream, the water being deep and nearly as high as the banks. I did not doubt that this was the channel of the waters from the north side of these mountains, and I was convinced that it contained the water of all the streams we had crossed on our way to Mount William, with the exception of Richardson's creek, already crossed by the party where it was flowing to the north-west. The richness of the soil and the verdure near the river, as well as the natural beauty of the scenery could scarcely be surpassed in any country. The banks were in some places open and grassy and shaded by lofty yarra trees, in others mimosa bushes nodded over the eddying stream.

Continuing along the right bank in a north-west direction we travelled two miles on a grassy plain; and we then turned towards the river, encamping on its banks in latitude 36 degrees 46 minutes 30 seconds South, longitude 142 degrees 39 minutes 25 seconds East. Magnetic variation 5 degrees 21 minutes 45 seconds East.

Some natives being heard on the opposite bank, Piper advanced towards them as cautiously as possible; but he could not prevail on them to come over, although he ascertained that the name of the river was the Wimmera.

DIFFICULT PASSAGE OF ITS FIVE BRANCHES.

July 19.

On examining the Wimmera with Piper's assistance I found that it was fordable in some places; but in order to effect a passage with greater facility we took over several of the loads in one of the boats. Thus the whole party had gained what I considered to be the left bank by ten A.M. On proceeding I perceived some yarra trees before me which grew, as we soon discovered, beside a smaller branch, the bottom of which was soft. We had however the good fortune to pass the carts across this branch also. At a quarter of a mile further we came upon another flowing stream, apparently very deep and having steep but grassy banks. The passage of this occupied the party nearly two hours, one of the carts having sunk up to the axle in a soft bank or channel island. While the men were releasing the cart I rode forward and found a FOURTH channel, deep, wide, and full to the brim. In vain did Tally-ho (trumpeter, master of the horse, etc. to the party) dash his horse into this stream in search of a bottom; though at last one broad favourable place was found where the whole party forded at a depth of not more than 2 1/2 feet. Beyond these channels another similar one still obstructed our progress; but this we also successfully forded, and at length we found rising ground before us, consisting of an open plain which extended to the base of the mountains. On its skirt we pitched our tents at a distance of not quite one mile and a half from our last camp; a short journey certainly, but the passage of the five branches of the Wimmera was nevertheless a good day's work. I had frequently observed in the Australian rivers a uniformity of character throughout the whole course of each, and the peculiarities of this important stream were equally remarkable, it being obviously the same we had crossed in three similar channels when on our way to Mount William, twenty miles above this point. The shrubs on the banks at the two places were also similar.

ASCEND MOUNT ZERO.

July 20.

While Mr. Stapylton conducted the party across the plains in a west-south-west direction I proceeded towards Mount Zero, the most western extremity of the mountain range and distant from our camp 8 1/2 miles. I found this hill consisted also of highly micaceous sandstone; the whole being inclined towards the north-west. Having planted my theodolite on the summit I intersected various higher points to the eastward, and also a very remote, isolated hill on the low country far to the northward which I had also seen from Mount William, and from several stations on our route. Several specimens of shrubs and flowers that had not been previously seen by us were gathered on the sides of this rocky hill. Among them was a very singular hairy Acacia covered with a profusion of the most brilliant yellow flowers. In some respects it resembled A. lanigera, but it proved upon examination to be undescribed.*

(*Footnote. A. strigosa, Lindley manuscripts; glanduloso-hirsuta, phyllodiis linearibus v. lineari-oblongis obovatisque uninerviis eglandulosis apice rotundatis mucronatis obliquis, stipulis subulatis villosis, capitulis solitariis sessilibus.)

An isolated mass appeared to the westward, having near its base a most remarkable rock resembling a mitre. Beyond this the distant horizon was not quite so level as the plains of the interior usually are and, as far as I could see northward with a good telescope, I perceived open forest land and various fine sheets of water. I observed with great satisfaction that the Grampians terminated to the westward on a comparatively low country. This was an important object of attention to me then as it comprised all that intervened between us and the southern coast; in which direction I perceived only one or two groups of conical hills. I resolved however, before turning southwards, to extend our journey to the isolated mass already mentioned, which I afterwards named Mount Arapiles. After descending from Mount Zero I proceeded towards the track of the carts and found that the plains, unlike any hitherto seen, undulated so much that in one place I could perceive only the tops of trees in the hollows. On these plains I found small nodules of highly ferruginous sandstone, apparently similar to that which occurs near Jervis Bay and in other places along the eastern coast.

CIRCULAR LAKE, BRACKISH WATER.

Reaching at length a low green ridge of black soil very different from that of the plains, I found it formed the eastern bank of another of those remarkable circular lakes of which I had seen so many near the Murray. The bed of this hollow consisted of rich black earth and was thirty-two feet below the level of the adjacent plain. It seemed nearly circular, the diameter being about three-quarters of a mile. One peculiarity in this lake was a double bank on the eastern side consisting first of a concentric break or slope from the plain, the soil not being clay as usual, but a dry red sand; and then arose the green bank of black earth, leaving a concentric fosse or hollow between. A belt of yarra trees grew around the edge of this singular hollow which was so dry and firm that the carts, in the track of which I was riding, had traversed it without difficulty. I learnt from Mr. Stapylton, on reaching the camp, that the party had previously passed near two other lakes, the largest containing salt water; and in the neighbourhood of these he had also remarked a great change of soil; so that what with the verdure upon it, the undulating surface, and clumps of casuarinae on light soil, or lofty yarra trees growing in black soil, that part of the country looked tolerably well.

THE MACKENZIE AND THE NORTON.

July 21.

At a quarter of a mile from the camp we crossed a running stream which also contained deep and apparently permanent pools. Several pine or callitris trees grew near its banks being the first we had seen for some time. I named this mountain stream the Mackenzie. Beyond it were grassy undulating plains with clumps of casuarinae and box trees (eucalypti). At three miles and a half we crossed another chain of ponds, and at four miles we came to a deep stream, running with considerable rapidity over a bed of sandstone rock. It was overhung with mimosa-bushes; and it was not until after considerable search that I could find a convenient place for fording it. This I named the Norton. Good grassy hills arose beyond, and after crossing them we found an undulating country and sandy soil where there were shallow lagoons and but little grass.

THE WIMMERA IN A UNITED CHANNEL.

At nine miles I was aware, from the sloping of the ground, of the vicinity of a river; and we soon came once more upon the Wimmera, flowing in one deep channel nearly as broad as the Murrumbidgee, but in no other respect at all similar. The banks of this newly discovered river were not water-worn but characterised by verdant slopes, the borders being fringed with bushes of mimosae. The country was indeed fine adjacent to the Wimmera, and at the point where we came to it the river was joined by a running creek from the south which we crossed, and at two miles and a quarter further we encamped on a spot overlooking a reedy lagoon, from which some long slopes descended towards the river, distant from our camp about half a mile. When we thus again intersected the Wimmera I was travelling due west, partly with a view to ascertain its ultimate course.

LOSE THIS RIVER.

The isolated hill lay before me, and it was now to be ascertained whether the course of the stream was to the south or north of it. The appearance of the country from Mount Zero certainly afforded no prospect of our falling in with the river where we did, but at this camp Burnett, having climbed to the top of a high tree, thought he could trace the course to the southward of the hill before us, which bore nearly west. This prospect accorded with my wishes, and I hoped to trace it to the coast without deviating too far to the westward of my intended route.

July 22.

A small stream from the south crossed our way when we had proceeded about half a mile. At six miles and a half we met with another; and three miles beyond it I perceived a change in the appearance of the country. We had been for some time travelling through forest land which now opened into grassy and level plains, variegated with belts and clumps of lofty trees giving to the whole the appearance of a park. We had now the hilly mass of Mount Arapiles on our right, or north of us, but to my surprise there was no river flowing between us and those heights as I had reason to suppose from what had been seen from the tree by Burnett. Turning towards the north-west therefore and at last northward, we finally encamped on a spot to the westward of the hill after a journey of sixteen miles. Much of the ground near this hill was so soft that one of the carts could not be brought in before midnight, although assisted by several teams sent back from the camp. We were now encamped on a dark-coloured soil from which arose the same peculiar smell that I had remarked at Cudjallagong (Regent's Lake of Oxley). What had become of the Wimmera I could scarcely imagine but, anxious to ascertain its course, I hastened before sunset to a western extremity of the hill; but instead of the river, of which I could see no trace, I beheld the sun setting over numerous lakes: the nearest, two miles and a half to the northward, being apparently six miles in circumference. It seemed to be nearly circular and a group of low grassy hills formed a concentric curve around the eastern margin, and from the total absence of any reeds, trees, or smoke of natives, it was too obvious that the water was salt. From the spot where I then stood I counted twelve such lakes, most of them appearing to have a crescent-shaped mound or bank on the eastern side. This certainly was a remarkable portion of the earth's surface, and rather resembled that of the moon as seen through a telescope. The eastern and principal summit of the hill was at some distance; and I returned to the camp in hopes of being able to discover from that point in the morning some indication of the further course of the Wimmera.

ASCEND MOUNT ARAPILES.

July 23.

Having ascended the highest summit I counted from that height twenty-seven circular lakes, two of the largest being about seven miles to the north-east, the direction in which I expected to see the river. Beyond these however I observed an extensive woody valley whence much smoke arose, marking, to all appearance, the course of the Wimmera which must have taken a turn in that direction, not far below the junction of the last creek crossed by the party. Beyond that supposed bed of the Wimmera the country appeared to be undulated, open, and grassy; and it was probably covered with lakes similar to those on this side, for I had observed from Mount Zero patches of water in that direction. From this summit I had a good view of the Grampians of the South and, discovering that a lofty range extended from them southward, I named it the Victoria range having also recognised and intersected Mount William, distant 53 1/2 miles. I could see no high land to the westward, and the hill on which I stood seemed to divide the singular lacustrine country from that where the character of the surface was fluviatile. Mount Arapiles is a feature which may always be easily recognised both by its isolated position and by its small companion the Mitre Rock, situated midway between it and the lake to the northward, which I named Mitre Lake after the little hill, its neighbour. Like the mountains in the east Mount Arapiles consists of sandstone passing into quartz, the whole apparently an altered sandstone, the structure being in one part almost destroyed, in others perfectly distinct and containing pebbles of quartz. At the western extremity this rock occurs in columns, resembling, at a distance, those of basalt. (See Plate 31.) On the steep slopes grew pines, casuarinae, and a variety of shrubs among which we found a new species of Baeckea, forming a handsome evergreen bush, the ends of whose graceful branches were closely covered with small white delicate flowers.* This mass occupies about two square miles, its highest summit being elevated above Mitre Lake 726 feet. I ascended this hill on the anniversary of the battle of Salamanca and hence the name.

(*Footnote. B. calycina, Lindley manuscripts; glaberrima, foliis planis sparse punctatis oblongo-cuneatis acutis, floribus pedicellatis terminali-axillaribus, laciniis calycinis petaloideis petalis longioribus. Near B. virgata.)

MR. STAPYLTON'S EXCURSION NORTHWARD.

July 24.

While Mr. Stapylton rode northward in search of the Wimmera I proceeded to examine and survey some of these remarkable lakes.

PLATE 31: MITRE ROCK AND LAKE, FROM MOUNT ARAPILES.
Major T.L. Mitchell del. G. Barnard Lith. J. Graf Printer to Her Majesty.
Published by T. and W. Boone, London.

SALT LAKES.

On the margin of one of them, bearing 55 1/2 degrees West of North from our camp, a green hill of rather singular shape rose to a considerable height above the surrounding country. I found the water in the lake beside it shallow and quite salt. The basin was nearly circular though partially filled with firm level earth which was water-worn at the brink, its surface being about three feet higher than the water. This was surrounded by a narrow beach of soft white mud or clay in which we found no change on digging to the depth of several feet.

PLATE 32: PLAN OF HILLS BESIDE GREENHILL LAKE (INTERIOR OF AUSTRALIA, ENGRAVED FROM A MODEL).
Bate's Patent Anaglyptograph. Freebairn.
Published by T. and W. Boone.

GREEN HILL LAKE.

The green hill was the highest of several semicircular ridges whose forms may perhaps be better understood by the accompanying plan.* There was a remarkable analogy in the form and position of all these hills; the form being usually that of a curve, concentric with the lake, and the position invariably on the eastern or north-eastern shores, a peculiarity I had previously observed not only in the lakes near the banks of the Murray but also in others on the Murrumbidgee and Lachlan where the ridge consisted of red sand. The country on the western shore of these lakes is, on the contrary, low and wooded like the surrounding country. In such hills concretions of indurated marl frequently occur, but the earth they consist of is sometimes light-coloured, in other cases very dark, like the soil from trap-rock, and the ridges beside the lakes on the Murrumbidgee, consisted of red sand.

(*Footnote. Having modelled this feature I have the satisfaction of presenting to the reader the first specimen of a plan of ground worked from a model by the anaglyptograph, an important invention recently perfected in this country by Mr. Bates and likely to be of very considerable value in the representation of the earth's surface under the skilful management of Mr. Freebairn.)

MITRE LAKE.

The water of Mitre Lake was also salt,* but there were numbers of ducks and black swans upon it. The western shore was low, and the soil where it had been thrown up in the roots of fallen trees was nearly as white as chalk. A gray rather fine quartzose sand occurred in some places; and along the water's edge a very minute shell had been cast up in considerable quantities by the waves.** The hills to the eastward of this lake were arranged in a crescent around the basin, but this being composed of a number of hills almost separate from each other had a less regular or uncommon appearance, although they were apparently the remains of a curve equally as symmetrical as the others. The basin of this lake was very extensive but partly filled on the side next the low hills by a level tract of dry land covered with a brown bush (Salicornia arbuscula of Brown); and the concentric curves in which it grew, as if closing on the lake, seemed to record its progressive diminution. The breadth of this heathy-looking flat between the water and the crescent of low hills was nearly half a mile. A small rill of fresh water oozed into the lake from the sides of Mount Arapiles. The bed of this watercourse was soft and boggy near the lake, so that I could cross only by going up its channel much nearer to the hill and at a point where some rocks protruded and prevented our horses from sinking.

(*Footnote. For Professor Faraday's analysis of these waters see below.)

(**Footnote. This was a truncatella, a saltwater shell of which there are several species on the English and French coasts. The one found here has been named by Mr. J. De Carl Sowerby T. filosa.)

MOUNT ARAPILES FROM MITRE LAKE.

Mr. Stapylton, in his search for the Wimmera, rode about six miles to the northward without reaching the river, although he saw the valley through which he thought it flowed; and where the river seemed likely to resume a course to the southward of west. Upon the whole I think that the estuary of the Wimmera will most probably be found either between Cape Bernouilli and Cape Jaffa, or at some of the sandy inlets laid down by Captain Flinders to the northward of the first of these capes. The country which Mr. Stapylton crossed assumed the barren character of the lower parts of the Murray. He actually passed through a low scrub of the Eucalyptus dumosa; but I have no doubt that the country on the immediate banks of the Wimmera continues good, whatever its course may be, even to the sea-coast.

RELINQUISH THE PURSUIT OF THE WIMMERA.

At all events I here abandoned the pursuit of that river and determined to turn towards the south-west that we might ascertain what streams fell in that direction from the Grampians; and also the nature of the country between these mountains and the shores of the Southern Ocean.

THE PARTY TRAVELS TO THE SOUTH-WEST.

July 25.

Proceeding accordingly about south-west, we crossed at less than a mile from our camp the dry bed of a circular lake. The ground on the eastern shore was full of wombat holes which had been made in a stratum of compact tuff about a foot in thickness. The tuff was irregularly cavernous and it was loose, calcareous, or friable in the lower part where the wombats had made their burrows. On the opposite margin of this dry lake the surface was covered with concretions of indurated marl; and the burrows of the wombat were even more numerous there than in the other bank; the stratum of compact tuff occurring also and being three feet in thickness.

RED LAKE.

At 2 1/4 miles we came upon the shores of Red lake which I so named from the colour of a weed growing upon its margin. The lake was nearly a mile in length and half a mile broad; the water was so slightly brackish that reeds grew upon the borders which were frequented by many swans and ducks. A very symmetrical bank overlooked the eastern shore, the ground on the westward being low and wooded with the ordinary trees of the country. We next crossed a flat of dry white sand on which banksia grew thickly; and then we reached some low white sandhills on which were stunted ironbark trees (eucalypti). In the higher part of those hills we crossed a small dry hollow or lake which had also its bank on the eastern side.

PLATE 33: WESTERN EXTREMITY OF MOUNT ARAPILES.
Left: Casuarinae. Right: an altered Sandstone. Right foreground: Banksia.
Major T.L. Mitchell del. G. Barnard Lith. J. Graf Printer to Her Majesty.
Published by T. and W. Boone, London.

SMALL LAKES OF FRESH WATER.

At the end of 5 1/2 miles we passed two small lakes of fresh water about half a mile to the right and, soon after, another about the same distance to the left. On completing seven miles we crossed a low ridge of white sand on which grew stunted trees of stringybark and black-butted gumtrees (both belonging to the genus eucalyptus). Beyond this we crossed a country in which wet, reedy swamps of fresh water, white sandhills, and fine flats of good forest land occurred alternately. Towards the end of our day's journey, the barren sandhills seemed to prevail, but at length we descended from them rather suddenly to a smooth firm plain, clothed with the finest grass and on the edge of this we pitched our tents for the night.

July 26.

We proceeded through a thick fog and found the plain studded with clumps of casuarinae. About a mile from the camp we came upon an extensive swamp or lake, full of grass and rushes. Turning this by the left we crossed some more good country, and then reached the banks of an extensive lagoon, also full of green rushes and water. The western bank was high and consisted of rich grassy land, very open; a small stream of water fell into the lake on the north-west side, and another on the south-east. It was surrounded by lofty gum trees and had a wood on the south and east. We met with sandhills and stunted timber beyond. They enclosed a long grassy flat covered with water, stretching away to the south-east. We next entered on a fine flat of forest land bounded by a low ridge with Callitris pyramidalis, or pine trees.

WHITE LAKE.

From this I perceived a circular lake a little to our right and on riding to it I found the water salt and of a very white colour. No trees grew on the margin and the surrounding scene was so dreary that it resembled a mountain-tarn. Two solitary ducks were upon it, apparently of a species new to us, but this I could not ascertain, having had only my rifle with me and, the cap missing fire, I lost even that chance of killing them. The bed of the lake also consisted of a very white marl. A high semicircular bank swept round the eastern shore; that opposite, or towards the west being low and swampy. On that side I saw two natives at a distance making the best of their way to the southward. We had this day noticed some of their huts which were of a very different construction from those of the aborigines in general, being large, circular, and made of straight rods meeting at an upright pole in the centre; the outside had been first covered with bark and grass and then entirely coated over with clay. The fire appeared to have been made nearly in the centre; and a hole at the top had been left as a chimney. The place seemed to have been in use for years as a casual habitation.

BASKETWORK OF THE NATIVES.

In this hut the natives had left various articles such as jagged spears, some of them set with flints; and an article of their manufacture which we had not before seen, namely, bags of the gins, very neatly wrought, apparently made of a tough small rush. Two of these also resembled reticules and contained balls of resin, flints for the spearheads etc. The iron bolt of a boat was likewise found in one of these huts. The natives invariably fled at our approach, a circumstance to be regretted perhaps on account of the nomenclature of my map; but otherwise their flight was preferable to the noisy familiarity of the natives of the Darling, perplexing us between their brands of defiance and treacherous invitations to dance. Indeed the two regions were as different in character as the manners of their respective inhabitants. Instead of salsolaceous deserts and mesenbryanthemum we now found a variety of everything most interesting in a newly discovered country. Every day we passed over land which for natural fertility and beauty could scarcely be surpassed; over streams of unfailing abundance and plains covered with the richest pasturage. Stately trees and majestic mountains adorned the ever-varying scenery of this region, the most southern of all Australia and the best. Beyond the White lake, which may be the distinguishing name of the last mentioned, we passed over several tracts of open forest land separated by dry sandhills, and at length encamped on a rich flat.

MUDDY STATE OF THE SURFACE.

The cattle were very much fatigued from the heaviness of the draught owing to the extreme softness of the surface, especially on the more open forest lands; and one bullock-driver remained behind with a cart until we could send back a team by moonlight to his assistance.

NATIVES AND THE BULLOCK-DRIVER.

July 27.

The cart which had fallen behind came in about three o'clock in the morning. The natives had soon been heard about the solitary driver, and four of them came up to him and demanded tomahawks; but being an old bushranger, he, on their approach, laid out all his cartridges one by one before him on a tarpaulin with his pistol and carabine, ready for action; but fortunately his visitors did not proceed to extremities. The morning was very foggy and, as this weather did not admit of my choosing a good line of route, and as the surface of the country was so soft that it was imperatively necessary to look well before us, I halted. I could thus at least bring up my maps and journals and rest the jaded cattle after so much long-continued toil in travelling through the mud.

BARBED SPEARS OF THE NATIVES.

MR. STAPYLTON'S RIDE SOUTHWARD.

I directed Mr. Stapylton to ride in the direction of 30 degrees West of South (my intended route) and ascertain whether we were approaching any river. The country we were in, being still lacustrine, I hoped to find the surface more favourable for travelling upon where it was drained by rivers; for on that amongst the salt lakes, although the land was very good in point of fertility, there was evidently a deficiency of slope and consequently much more water retained in the soil. Still the ground presented undulations, being rarely quite level like the plains except indeed in the beds of swamps. Recent experience had taught us to avoid the very level parts and to seek any kind of rising ground. The hills we occasionally fell in with consisted of white sand, and at first looked like connected ridges where we might find streams; but we ascertained that they always parted without enclosing any channels and left us in the mud. The sand itself still consisted of the same rock (decomposed) which appeared to be so generally spread over the country then between us and the eastern shores of New Holland. Mr. Stapylton did not return this evening, a circumstance which very much alarmed me as he had taken only one man with him and was to have come back before sunset.

July 28.

Supposing that Mr. Stapylton had gone past our camp in returning, the afternoon having been very rainy, I this morning sent out two parties, the one to proceed east, the other west, in search of his track which, if found by either, was to be followed until he was overtaken. Mr. Stapylton returned however before midday, having ridden twenty miles in the direction pointed out without having seen any river. He had passed a number of circular lakes similar to those already described; the seventh and most remote having appeared the largest. Just then as he turned his horse he perceived that the land beyond became higher, indicating a change of country. The party which had gone eastward heard our signal shot on Mr. Stapylton's arrival and returned, having also seen four similar lakes; but the party sent westward did not reach the camp until some hours after the other.

DISASTROUS ENCOUNTER OF ONE MAN WITH A NATIVE.

They had unfortunately come upon some huts of the natives, where one of them remained and who, refusing to listen to Piper's explanations, was about to hurl his spear at Pickering, when this man, at Piper's desire, immediately fired his carabine and wounded the native in the arm. I regretted this unlucky collision exceedingly and blamed Pickering for having been so precipitate; but his defence was that Piper told him unless he fired he would be instantly speared.

July 29.

We endeavoured to proceed today in a direction more to the eastward than the route of Mr. Stapylton, in the hope of finding firmer ground than he had seen, by following that which was highest and sandy. But even in this way we could not accomplish five miles and a half, although the last of the carts did not arrive at the spot where we were at length compelled to re-encamp until long after it became dark. The wheels sank up to the axles, and the cattle from wallowing in the mud had become so weak as to be scarcely able to go forward when unyoked, much less to draw the laden carts. I had with difficulty found a spot of firm ground where we could encamp, but during that evening I had reconnoitred a more favourable-looking line which I meant to try in the morning.

A TRIBE MAKES ITS APPEARANCE.

Soon after we commenced this day's journey, while I was watching in some anxiety the passage of a soft hollow by the carts, a man was sent back by the chaining party to inform me that a number of natives had come before them pointing their spears. On going forward I found they had retired, having probably with their usual quickness of perception observed the messenger sent back and guessed his errand.

JUST REMONSTRANCE OF A TRIBE.

But their conduct as I then explained it to the men was quite reasonable on this occasion. One (I was told) had spoke very loud and fast, pointing west towards where the man had been fired at the day before and then, touching his shoulder in allusion to the wound, he finally poised his spear at Blanchard as if in just resentment.

PLANT OF A NEW GENUS.

While awaiting the slow progress of the carts through the mud I found a most curious new genus allied to Correa, with the habit of C. speciosa, and with long tubular four-petaled green flowers. It had been previously observed by Mr. Cunningham, who called it Sida correoides; it was however not a Sida, nor even a Malvaceous plant, but a new form of Australasian Rutaceae, differing from Correa in having the petals each rolled round a pair of stamens in its quadripartite conical calyx, and in there being constantly two seeds in each cell of the fruit.*

(*Footnote. Didimeria aemula, Lindley manuscripts; undique pilis stellatis lutescentibus furfuracea. Rami stricti. Folia subrotunda cordata obtusa opposita brevi petiolata, pellucido-punctata. Pedunculi axillares, filiformes, uniflori, supra medium bracteolis 2 subulatis acuti. Calyx conicus, membranaceus, 4-partitus: laciniis acuminatis. Petala 4, longissima, distincta, linearia, convoluta circa staminum paria, extus tomentosa intus glabra. Stamina 8, hypogyna; filamentis liberis, lineari-lanceolatis, membranaceis, alternis brevioribus; antheris sagittatis inappendiculatis. Stylus filiformis glaber. Discus 0. Capsula 4-cocca, villosissima, coccis dispermis, endocarpio solubili; seminibus uno supra alterum positis.)

MORE LAKES OF BRACKISH WATER.

July 30.

By pursuing a course towards the base of the friendly mountains I hoped that we should at length intercept some stream, channel, or valley where we might find a drier soil and so escape, if possible, from the region of lakes. We could but follow such a course however only as far as the ground permitted and, after travelling over the hardest that we could this day find for a mile and a half, I discovered a spacious lake on the left, bounded on the east by some fine-looking green hills. These separated it from a plain where I found the ground firm, and also from several smaller lakes to the right of my intended route. I accordingly proceeded along the ground between them, and I found that it bore the wheels much better than any we had recently crossed. The lakes were however still precisely similar in character to those of which we had already seen so many. The water in them was rather too brackish to be fit for use, and the ridges were all still on the eastern shores. From the highest of these ridges the pinnacled summits of the Victoria range presented an outline of the grandest character. The noble coronet of rocks was indeed a cheering object to us after having been so long half immersed in mud. We had passed between the lakes and were proceeding as lightly as we could across the plain when down went the wheel of a cart, sinking to the axle, and the usual noise of flogging (cruelty which I had repeatedly forbidden) and a consequent delay of several hours followed.

ESCAPE AT LAST FROM THE MUD.

In the meantime I rode to some grassy hills on the right, and found behind them on the south-west another extensive lake on which I saw a great number of ducks. Its bed consisted of dark-coloured mud and the water was also salt. The green hills before mentioned were curiously broken and scooped out into small cavities much resembling those on Green-hill Lake near Mount Arapiles. The plain rose gradually towards the east to some scrubby ground nearly as high as these hills and, in a fall beyond this scrub, I found at length to my great delight a small hollow sloping to the south-east and a little water running in it.

ENCAMP ON A RUNNING STREAM.

Following it down I almost immediately perceived a ravine before me, and at a mile and a quarter from the first fall of the ground I crossed a chain of fine ponds in a valley, where we finally encamped on a fine stream flowing to the south-west over granite rocks.*

(*Footnote. Consisting of white felspar and quartz and silvery mica.)

FINE COUNTRY.

Thus suddenly were we at length relieved from all the difficulties of travelling in mud. We had solid granite beneath us; and instead of a level horizon the finely rounded points of ground presented by the sides of a valley thinly wooded and thickly covered with grass. This transition from all that we sought to avoid to all we could desire in the character of the country was so agreeable that I can record that evening as one of the happiest of my life. Here too the doctor reported that no men remained on the sick-list, and thus we were in all respects prepared for going forward and making up for so much time lost.

DISCOVERY OF A GOOD RIVER. THE GLENELG.

July 31.

We now moved merrily over hill and dale, but were soon however brought to a full stop by a fine river flowing, at the point where we met it, nearly south-west. The banks of this stream were thickly overhung with bushes of the mimosa, which were festooned in a very picturesque manner with the wild vine. The river was everywhere deep and full and, as no ford could be found, we prepared to cross it with the boats. But such a passage required at least a day and, when I saw the boats afloat, I was tempted to consider whether I might not explore the further course of this river in them and give the cattle some rest. It was likely, I imagined, soon to join another where we might meet with less obstruction. During the day everything was got across save the empty carts and the boat-carriage, our camp being thus established on the left bank. One bullock was unfortunately drowned in attempting to swim across, having got entangled in the branches of a sunken tree which, notwithstanding a careful search previously made in the bottom of the stream, had not been discovered.

The river was here, on an average, 120 feet wide and 12 feet deep.

GRANITIC SOIL.

Granite* protruded in some places, but in general the bold features of the valley through which this stream flowed were beautifully smooth and swelling; they were not much wooded but on the contrary almost clear of timber and accessible everywhere. The features were bold and round but only so inclined that it was just possible to ride in any direction without obstruction; a quality of which those who have been shut up among the rocky gullies of New South Wales must know well the value. I named this river the Glenelg after the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, according to the usual custom.

(*Footnote. This granite varied consequently in the size of its component parts which sometimes, especially in quartz and felspar, exceeded a foot square, and in this I found distinctly imbedded friable masses, apparently of sandstone, but which proved to consist of a very fine-grained grey granite, approaching in character to mica-slate.)

PASSAGE OF THE GLENELG.

August 1.

The first part of this day was taken up in dragging the carts and boat-carriage through the river. At one P.M. I embarked in the boats, taking in them a fortnight's provisions and leaving Mr. Stapylton in a strong position with nine men, the stores, and the cattle. We proceeded for two miles without encountering much obstruction, but we found on going further that the river ran in several channels, all of these being overgrown with bushes, so that it was not without great difficulty that we could penetrate about a mile farther by the time it had become nearly quite dark. It was no easy matter to push through the opposing branches even to reach the bank. Many similar branches had been cut during this day's navigation, Woods, Palmer and most of the other men having been more in the water than in the boats during the last mile. Every article having been at length got to land, we encamped on the side of a steep hill for the night, and I made up my mind to resume our land journey next day unless I saw the river more favourable ahead. By the banks of the Glenelg we found a stiff furze-like bush with small purple flowers, spiny branches, and short stiff spiny leaves. It proved to be a new Daviesia allied to D. colletioides.* Bossiaea cordifolia, a hairy shrub with beautiful purple and yellow flowers, was common.

(*Footnote. D. brevifolia, Lindley manuscripts; glabra, ramis rigidis strictis apice spinescentibus, foliis conicis spinosis subrecurvis, racemis foliis duplo longioribus, bracteolis obovatis cucullatis.)

COUNTRY WELL WATERED.

August 2.

There was a noble reach a quarter of a mile below the point to which we had brought the boats, and it was terminated by a rocky fall which we had heard during the night. Beyond that point the river turned southward and, this being the direction of our intended journey, I perceived that we could more conveniently in less time pursue its course by land. The country on its banks was, as far as I could see, the finest imaginable, either for sheep and cattle or for cultivation. A little rill then murmured through each ravine:

Whose scattered streams from granite basins burst, Leap into life, and sparkling woo your thirst.

But it was in returning along a winding ridge towards the camp that I was most struck with the beauty and substantial value of the country on the banks of this river. It seemed that the land was everywhere alike good, alike beautiful; all parts were verdant, whether on the finely varied hills or in the equally romantic vales which seemed to open in endless succession on both banks of the river. No time was lost this morning in raising the boats out of the water and, having proceeded myself to the camp at an early hour, and led the carts round, and the carriage to take up the boats, the whole party was once more in movement by eleven o'clock. As far as I had yet traced the course of the river it appeared to flow towards the west-south-west, and it was thus doubtful, at that stage of our progress, whether the estuary might not be to the westward of Cape Northumberland; whereas my chief inducement in looking for a river on this side of the Grampians was the promising situation afforded by the great bay to the eastward of that cape for some harbour or estuary, and this being more likely, considering the position of the mountains. I had little doubt that under such circumstances some river would be found to enter the sea there and, having left the Wimmera flowing westward, and crossed as I imagined the highest ground that could extend from the mountain range to Cape Bernouilli, I expected to meet at length with rivers falling southward. The ultimate course of the Glenelg could only be ascertained by following it down, and to do this by land was not easy; first because it was joined by many small tributaries flowing through deep valleys and from all points of the compass; and secondly, because the general horizon was so level that no point commanding any extensive view over the country could be found. Thus while our main object was to pursue the river, we were obliged to grope our way round the heads of ravines often very remote from it, but which were very perplexing from their similarity to the ravine in which the main stream flowed. A more bountiful distribution of the waters for the supply of a numerous population could not be imagined, nor a soil better adapted for cultivation. We this day crossed various small rivulets or chains of ponds, each watering a grassy vale, sheltered by fine swelling hills. The whole country consisted of open forest land on which grew a few gumtrees (or eucalypti) with banksia and occasionally a few casuarinae.

FISHES PECULIAR TO DIFFERENT PONDS.

August 3.

The ponds where we had encamped were large and deep, and I endeavoured to ascertain whether the cod-perch (Gristes peelii) inhabited these waters. Neither this fine fish nor either of the two others found in the streams flowing towards the interior from the eastern coast range have ever been seen in the rivers which reach the eastern shores; and I had now ascertained that all the waters in which we had procured the fish in question belonged to the extensive basin of the Murray. We were at length on channels evidently distinct, both from those leading to the eastern coast and those belonging to the basin of the Murray. The beds of the rivers flowing to the east coast are chiefly rocky, containing much sand but very little mud, consequently no reeds grow on their banks, nor is the freshwater mussel found in them, as in rivers on the interior side, which in general flow over a muddy bed and are not unfrequently distinguished by reedy banks. Judging therefore from the nature of the soil of this southern region, the fishes peculiar to the Murray might be looked for in the rivers of the south, rather than those fishes known in the rivers falling eastward. It was important to ascertain at least what point of the coast separated the rivers containing different kinds of fish. In these ponds we caught only some very small fry, and the question could not be satisfactorily determined, although the natives declared that none of them were the spawn of cod-perch.

It was no easy matter now to ascertain in what direction the waters of the valley ran, but by the tendency of the hollows on each side they appeared to decline in general to the left or northward. In proceeding on our route, the heads of other similar ravines rendered our course very intricate: to have been shut in between any such ravine and the river must have been rather embarrassing, and seemed then almost inevitable. We had the good fortune however to avoid this; and at length, keeping along dry ground, a beautiful scene appeared on the left in an open valley about two miles in width where the hills sloped gradually to the confluence of two streams, brimful of water, which shone through some highly ornamental wood. Both streams came from valleys of a similar character; and beyond them I saw hills of the finest forms, all clothed with grass to their summits and many entirely clear of timber.

PIGEON PONDS.

A bronze-winged pigeon flew up just as I discovered the stream and, as this bird had not been before seen by us on that side of the mountains, I named the waters Pigeon ponds. we descended to that part of the valley which lay in our proposed course and found that some of these ponds rather deserved to be styled lakes. The soil was everywhere black and rich.

SOFT SOIL AGAIN IMPEDES THE PARTY.

August 4.

Proceeding over ground of a similar character we crossed several fine streams, some flowing in shallow channels over rocks, others in deep ravines. The ground on the higher parts was however still so soft as to yield to the wheels, and very much impeded the progress of the party, especially at one place where an extensive lake, full of reeds or rushes, appeared to the right. The drays sunk to the axles, the whole of the soil in our way having become so liquid that it rolled in waves around the struggling bullocks. The passage of some of the streams could not be accomplished until we had filled up the bed with large logs, covered them with boughs, and strewed over the whole, the earth cut away from the steep banks. Under such circumstances I considered six miles a good day's journey, and indeed too much for the cattle. I halted for the night with a small advanced party only on a fine little stream running over a rocky bed; while the main body was compelled to remain with the carts several miles behind, having broken, in the efforts made to extricate the carts and boat-carriage, many of the chains, and also a shaft. The small river I had reached ran in a bed of little width, but was withal so deep that it seemed scarcely passable without a bridge. At the junction however of a similar one, some rocks, favourably situated, enabled us to effect a passage by bedding logs between them and covering the whole with branches and earth, leaving room for the water to pass between.

HALT TO REPAIR THE CARTS AND HARNESS.

August 5.

A halt was this day unavoidable, but the necessity was the less to be regretted as the weather was very unfavourable. Indeed we had scarcely seen one fine day for some weeks. Mr. Stapylton set out to trace the rivulet downwards, and returned in the evening after having reached its junction with the Glenelg at the distance of nine miles in a north-west direction. The course of the river thus determined to that junction appeared to be more to the westward than I had previously expected, and I began again to think its estuary might still be to the westward of Cape Northumberland, and this prospect induced me to alter our course. The carts having come up about one P.M., the blacksmith was set to work and wrought throughout the night to repair all the claw-chains.

NATIVES VERY SHY.

While other men were employed at the log-bridge some natives were heard coming along the most southern of the two streams; whereupon Piper went towards them as usual and found they were females with children; but from the moment they discovered us until they were fairly out of hearing their shrieks were so loud and incessant that it seemed, for once, our presence in that country had been unknown to the surrounding natives, a proof perhaps of the smallness of their numbers. In the evening other natives (men) were heard approaching along the creek, and we at first supposed they had come to that place as their rendezvous to meet the gins and their families whom we had unwillingly scared; but Mr. Stapylton, during his ride home along one side of the ravine, had observed four natives very intent on following the outward track of his horses' hoofs on the other; and these were doubtless the same men guided by his tracks to our camp. They could not be brought to a parley however, although Piper and Burnett at first invited them towards the camp and, when they set off, pursued them across the opposite ridge.

CHETWYND RIVULET.

On the bank of this little stream I found a charming species of Tetratheca, with large rich purple flowers and slender stems growing in close tufts about a foot high. It was perhaps the most beautiful plant we met with during the expedition.*

(*Footnote. T. ciliata, Lindley manuscripts; caulibus erectis tomentosis filiformibus, foliis oppositis verticillatisque obovatis ovatisque ciliatis subtus glabris, pedicellis setosis, sepalis ovatis concavis acutis, petalis obovatis.)

August 6.

The passage of the rivulet which I named the Chetwynd, after Stapylton who had explored it at considerable risk, was effected with ease by the temporary bridge and we proceeded, soon crossing by similar means two other running streams, probably tributaries to this.

SLOW PROGRESS OVER THE SOFT SURFACE.

When we had travelled four miles we came to a swamp where a considerable current of water was flowing into it through some ponds; the margin of this running water being broad, flat, and grassy, and having also lofty gumtrees (white bark and eucalypti) growing on it. Unfortunately it was so soft and rotten, as the men described it, that all the wheels sunk to the axles and, although in such cases it was usual to apply the combined force of several teams to draw each vehicle through in turn, we found that the rising ground opposite was equally soft and yielding, so that the cattle could have no firm footing to enable them to pull. It was night before we could, with the strength of all the teams united by long chains and yoked to each vehicle successively, bring the whole through, the broad wheels of each cart actually ploughing to the depth of the axle in soft earth; the labour of the cattle may therefore be imagined. We encamped on a small barren plain much resembling a heath and just beyond the swamp which had proved so formidable an impediment.

August 7.

Our progress this day was still less than that made during the preceding one for it did not much exceed a mile. To that distance we had proceeded tolerably well, having crossed two small running brooks, and all appeared favourable before us. But a broad piece of rising ground which, being sandy with banksia and casuarinae trees on it, I had considered firm proved so very soft that even my own horse went down with me and wallowed in the mud.

EXCURSION INTO THE COUNTRY BEFORE US.

There was no way of avoiding this spot, at least without delay, and I ordered the men immediately to encamp, being determined to go forward with a party on horseback and ascertain the position of some point where the ground was more favourable, and then to adopt such a mode of extricating the carts and proceeding thither as circumstances permitted. I took with me provisions for three days that I might explore the country, if necessary, to the coast.

BEAUTIFUL REGION DISCOVERED.

I had not proceeded above five miles southward when I perceived before me a ridge in bluey distance, rather an unusual object in that close country. We soon after emerged from the wood and found that we were on a kind of tableland and, approaching a deep ravine coming from our right and terminating on a very fine-looking open country below, watered by a winding river. We descended by a bold feature to the bottom of the ravine and found there a foaming little river hurrying downwards over rocks. After fording this stream with ascended a very steep but grassy mountain-side, and on reaching a brow of high land, what a noble prospect appeared! a river winding amongst meadows that were fully a mile broad and green as an emerald. Above them rose swelling hills of fantastic shapes, but all smooth and thickly covered with rich verdure. Behind these were higher hills, all having grass on their sides and trees on their summits, and extending east and west throughout the landscape as far as I could see. I hastened to ascertain the course of the river by riding about two miles along an entirely open grassy ridge, and then found again the Glenelg, flowing eastward towards an apparently much lower country. All our difficulties seemed thus already at an end, for we had here good firm ground, clear of timber, on which we could gallop once more. The river was making for the most promising bay on the coast (for I saw that it turned southward some miles below the hill on which I stood) through a country far surpassing in beauty and richness any part hitherto discovered. I hastened back to my men in the mud and arrived before sunset with the good news, having found most of the intervening country fit for travelling upon. Thus the muddy hill which had before seemed unsurmountable led to the immediate discovery of the true course of the river, and prevented me from continuing my route into the great angle of its course over unfavourable ground instead of thus reaching it so much sooner by a much less deviation from the course I wished to pursue. I now hoped to extricate the carts in the morning and henceforward to accomplish journeys of considerable length.

THE PARTY EXTRICATED WITH DIFFICULTY FROM THE MUD.

August 8.

It was in vain that I reconnoitred the environs of the hill of mud for some portion of surface harder than the rest; and we could only extricate ourselves by floundering through it. Patches of clay occurred but they led only to places where the surface under the pressure of the cattle was immediately converted into white and liquid mud. It was necessary to take the loads from the carts and carry them by hand half a mile, and then to remove the empty vehicles by the same means. After all this had been accomplished the boat-carriage (a four-wheeled waggon) still remained immovably fixed up to the axle-tree in mud in a situation where the block and tackle used in hoisting out the boats could not be applied. Much time was lost in our attempts to draw it through by joining all the chains we possessed and applying the united strength of all the bullocks; but even this was at length accomplished after the sun had set; the wheels, four inches broad, actually cutting through to the full depth of the spokes. On the eastern side of the hill the ground descended into a ravine where it was grassy and firm enough; and it was a great relief to us all to feel thus at liberty, even by sunset, to start next morning towards the beautiful country which we now knew lay before us.