At 7.0 a.m. steered north 160 degrees east till 10.0, over a level grassy plain wooded with small eucalypti and melaleuca, etc., the soil varying from a brown loam to a strong clay; altering the course to 190 degrees, we passed some low stony ridges, and at 11.30 halted in a dry gully to rest the horses during the heat of the day; at 3.0 p.m. again started and steered to the south-west for half an hour, when we camped at a sandy creek in which there was a shallow waterhole. At 4.0 I left the camp with Mr. H. Gregory and proceeded west-south-west to the river, which we reached at 5.45, and then followed it up for half an hour, when we observed a tent and boat on the opposite side of the river. Having hobbled the horses, we crossed over to the camp, which was established at a small spring, and found Mr. Elsey and two of the men in charge. Mr. Elsey informed me that the schooner had grounded on the bank below Mosquito Flat, and had received considerable damage. Fourteen of the sheep had been brought up to the camp, and the boat was expected up that evening with another lot of sheep. I now ascertained that a bottle had been buried near the marked trees at Kangaroo Point, and a pencil-mark made on one of the trees indicating its position, but this mark had escaped our observation. In the evening Messrs. Baines and Flood and one of the men arrived at the camp in the long-boat, bringing twelve sheep, having lost several on the passage up the river in consequence of detention on the shoals near the Dome. The whole stock of provisions at the camp consisting of ten pounds flour, ten pounds pork, six pounds sugar, and twelve pounds beef, I was unable to send the required supplies to the party in charge of the horses, and the sheep were too poor to be fit for food. The Tom Tough reached Entrance Island on the 25th September, and the next day anchored off Rugged Ridge; on the 27th was proceeding up the river, and grounded on a ledge of rocks on the south side of the river, about six miles below Mosquito Flats; and from that date was never sufficiently afloat to be under control, but gradually drifted up to about two and a half miles below Curiosity Peak. From the time of getting on the rocks she had leaked considerably, and a large quantity of stores had been destroyed or damaged, there being at one time four feet of water in the hold; but by nailing battens and tarred blankets over the open seams the leaks had been greatly reduced. The stock of water on board the schooner having been exhausted during her detention, Mr. Wilson had sent the boat up to Palm Island to bring down a supply; but having greatly miscalculated the time requisite for this expedition up the river, the distance being sixty miles, the sheep had been kept several days without a sufficient supply of water, and a great number had died.
21st October.
Proceeding down the river with Messrs. Baines and Flood in the long-boat, the tide being unfavourable, we only reached Kangaroo Point.
22nd October.
Started at 2.0 a.m., and reached the schooner at 11.0 a.m., having been delayed by the flood tide. The vessel had not moved during the last four tides, and the leaks had in some degree stopped. She was so deeply bedded in the sand that, though the bank was dry at three-quarter ebb, I could not examine her bottom. The deck beams, however, were strained and broken, and it was evident that the vessel had been much damaged by resting on her centre, when the current had worked deep holes at the head and stern. Only fifty-five sheep remained on board, and those in a miserable condition. At 5.0 p.m. despatched Mr. Flood in the gig with one month's provisions for the party at the camp; 8.0 p.m. the tide rose to five feet on the bank, but the vessel only just floated in the hollow in which she lay.
23rd October.
At 8.0 a.m. the tide rose to six feet on the bank, and the schooner was moved her own length towards the channel in shore; at 10.0 a.m. the tide ebbed, and she settled on an even keel. Mr. Baines having informed me that Overseer Humphries had refused to assist in pumping the schooner on the 9th, he had, therefore, put him off duty till Mr. Wilson returned, on the 14th, when he was put on duty again. I therefore fined him one week's pay. The night tide did not rise so high as in the morning. Landed to search for fresh water, and found a small spring on the bank of the river at the upper end of the stony beach, three and a half miles below Curiosity Peak; this spring is below high-water mark, but at half tide boats can approach close to it, there being deep water close to the bank.
24th October.
Landed at 2 a.m. to procure water, having opened a well at the spring; filled two casks and returned to the vessel at 7. At 9.30 the schooner floated, and we moved her to about a mile above Curiosity Peak, where she again grounded on a bank; while afloat the pumps had to be kept constantly at work. With the night tide we floated over the bank; but the breeze failing, she was swept against the shore two and a half miles above Curiosity Peak, and before the kedge could be laid out the tide fell.
25th October.