CHAPTER II/IV.
REMARKS ON THE SEASON
DRY STATE OF THE ATMOSPHERE
THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS
WINDS IN THE INTERIOR
DIRECTION OF THE RANGES
GEOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS
NON-EXISTENCE OF ANY CENTRAL CHAIN
PROBABLE COURSE OF THE STONY DESERT
WHETHER CONNECTED WITH LAKE TORRENS
OPINIONS OF CAPTAIN FLINDERS
NO INFORMATION DERIVED FROM THE NATIVES
THE NATIVES
THEIR PERSONAL APPEARANCE
DISPROPORTION BETWEEN THE SEXES
THE WOMEN
CUSTOMS OF THE NATIVES
THEIR HABITATIONS
FOOD
LANGUAGE
CONCLUSION.
Having thus brought my narrative to a conclusion I shall trespass but little more on the patience of the reader. It appears to me that a few observations are necessary to clear some parts, and to make up for omissions in the body of my work. I have written it indeed under considerable disadvantage; for although I have in a great measure recovered from the loss of sight consequent on my former services, I cannot glance my eye so rapidly as I once did over such a voluminous document as this journal; and I feel that I owe it to the public, as well as to myself, to make this apology for its imperfections.
There were two great difficulties against which, during the progress of the expedition, I had to contend. The one was, the want of water; the other, the nature of the country. That it was altogether impracticable for wheeled carriages of any kind, may readily be conceived from my description; and in the state in which I found it, horses were evidently unequal to the task. I cannot help thinking that camels might have done better; not only for their indurance, but because they carry more than a horse. I should, undoubtedly, have been led to try those animals if I could have procured them; but that was impossible. Certain however it is, that I went into the interior to meet with trials that scarcely camels could have borne up against; for I think there can be no doubt, from the facts I have detailed, that the season, during which this expedition was undertaken, was one of unusual dryness; but although the arid state of the country contributed so much to prevent its movements, I question whether, under opposite circumstances, it would have been possible to have pushed so far as the party succeeded in doing. Certainly, if the ground had been kept in a state of constant saturation, travelling would have been out of the question; for the rain of July abundantly proved how impracticable any attempt to penetrate it under such circumstances would have been.
It is difficult to say what kind of seasons prevail in Central Australia. That low region does not, as far as I can judge, appear to be influenced by tropical rains, but rather to be subject to sudden falls. That the continent of Australia was at one time more humid than it now is, appears to be an admitted fact; the marks of floods, and the violence of torrents (none of which have been witnessed), are mentioned by every explorer as traceable over every part of the continent; but no instance of any general inundation is on record: on the contrary the seasons appear to be getting drier and drier every year, and the slowness with which any body exposed to the air decomposes, would argue the extreme absence of moisture in the atmosphere. It will be remembered that one of my bullocks died in the Pine Forest when I was passing through it in December, 1844. In July, 1845, when Mr. Piesse was on his route home from the Depot in charge of the home returning party, he passed by the spot where this animal had fallen; and, in elucidation of what I have stated, I will here give the extract of a letter I subsequently received from him from India. Speaking of the humidity of the climate of Bengal, he says: "It appears to me that heat alone is rather a preservative from decomposition; of which I recollect an instance, in the bullock that died in the march through the Pine scrub on the 1st of January, 1845. When I passed by the spot in the following July, the carcase was dried up like a mummy, and was in such a perfect state of preservation as to be easily recognised."
No stronger proof, I apprehend, could have been adduced of the dryness of the atmosphere in that part of the interior, or more corroborative of the intensity of heat there during the interval referred to; but the singular and unusual effects it had on ourselves, and on every thing around was equally corroborative of the fact. The atmosphere on some occasions was so rarified, that we felt a difficulty in breathing, and a buzzing sensation on the crown of the head, as if a hot iron had been there.
There were only two occasions on which the thermometer was noticed to exceed the range of 130 degrees in the shade, the solar intensity at the same time being nearly 160 degrees. The extremes between this last and our winter's cold, when the thermometer descended to 24 degrees was 133 degrees. I observe that Sir Thomas Mitchell gives the temperature at the Bogan, in his tent at 117 degrees and when exposed to the wind at 129 degrees; but I presume that local causes, such as radiation from stones and sand, operated more powerfully with us than in his case. Whilst we were at the Depot about May, the water of the creek became slightly putrid, and cleared itself like Thames water; and during the hotter months of our stay there, it evaporated at the rate of nearly an inch a day, as shewn by a rod Mr. Browne placed in it to note the changes, but the amount varied according to the quiescent or boisterous state of the atmosphere. It will readily be believed that in so heated a region the air was seldom still; to the currents sweeping over it we had to attribute the loathsome and muddy state of the water on which we generally subsisted after we left that place, for the pools from which we took it were so shallow as to be stirred up to the consistency of white-wash by the play and action of the wind on their surfaces. During our stay at the Depot the barometer never rose above 30.260, or fell below 29.540.
From December, 1844, to the end of April of the following year, the prevailing winds were from E.N.E. to E.S.E., after that month they were variable, but westerly winds predominated. The south wind was always cold, and its approach was invariably indicated by the rise of the barometer.
The rain of July commenced in the north-east quarter and gradually went round to the north-west; but more clouds rose from the former point than from any other. The sky generally speaking was without a speck, and the dazzling brightness of the moon was one of the most distressing things we had to endure when out in the bush. It was impossible indeed to shut out its light which ever way one turned, and its irritating effects were remarkable.
It will be observable to those who cast their eyes over the chart of South Australia that the range of mountains between St. Vincent's Gulf and the Murray river runs up northwards into the interior. In like manner the ranges crossed by the Expedition also ran in the same direction. The Black Rock Hill, so named by Captain Frome, is in lat. 32 degrees 45 minutes and in the 139th meridian, and is the easternmost of the chain to which it belongs. Mount Gipps on the Coonbaralba range is in lat. 31 degrees 52 minutes and in long. 141 degrees 41 minutes, but from that point the ranges trend somewhat to the westward of south, and consequently, may run nearer to that (of which the Black Rock Hill forms so prominent a feature) than we may suppose, but there is a distance of nearly 150 miles of country still remaining to be explored, before this point can be decided. Nevertheless, it is more than probable the two chains are in some measure connected, especially as they greatly resemble each other in their classification. They are for the most part composed of primary igneous rocks, amongst which there is a general distribution of iron, and perhaps of other metals. The iron ore, however, that was discovered during the progress of the Expedition, of which Piesse's Knob is a remarkable specimen, was of the purest kind.