ASCEND WIZARD PEAK.
In the course of the afternoon we reached the summit of that remarkable and almost solitary pyramidal hill, Wizard Peak,* which we found composed of large blocks of ironstone, having a most powerful effect on the needle, and changing its direction in different places ten degrees. Here we noticed two or three stunted xanthorrhoeas growing on the South-West side of the hill; and a few small casuarinas, and wattles were thinly scattered on its summit, which, by barometric measurement, was found to be 715 feet above the level of the sea. Part of the range lying immediately north was absolutely a mass of bare ironstone. This view was very commanding--to the North-North-West and North-East lay extensive valleys, all of which appeared through a spy-glass to be of the same arid nature; for a few miles to the eastward, and a great many to the northward, the formation of the country was of the same flat, broken, and irregular character, but no part visible appeared to be of greater elevation than that on which we stood; to seawards the appearance of the country was that of an undulating plain, with patches of stunted woodland widely scattered.
(*Footnote. Distant eleven miles from Champion Bay.)
APPEARANCE OF COUNTRY FROM WIZARD PEAK.
After attentively examining with my glass, resting on the ground, all that lay within the extensive range of vision afforded by Wizard Peak,* I could not help congratulating Mr. Clifton on his display of judgment, in taking the responsible step I have mentioned; and it is to be deeply regretted, that one so energetic, and so well adapted for the duty he had undertaken, should have been totally abandoned by those who sent him out. It was now clear that this part of the country was not fit for the settler, being deficient in the three most necessary articles, water, timber for building, and food for stock.** It was also now clear that the opinion expressed at Swan River, regarding both the harbour and the quality of the country was substantially correct. But it was not until it became apparent to my own eyes, that I could believe anyone could be so reckless as to induce a large number of individuals, including women and children, by false, or at least exaggerated representations, to sever the ties of kindred and of friendship, and become voluntary exiles to a far country, in search of a new and more prosperous home; whilst in lieu of the promised streams and fertile plains, nothing in reality awaited them but sterility--the certain loss of property, and the imminent risk of their lives.
(*Footnote. The reader will see my position, at this time, together with the track of the Beagle's party, and that of Captain Grey's, laid down in one of the charts accompanying this work.)
(**Footnote. Mr. Moore's description of the country near Champion Bay, is as follows: "Judging by the eye at that distance, the entire space, as far as we had any opportunity of seeing, after going a little way back from the coast, on the slope to the hills, upon the hills, among the hills, beyond the hills, and, in short, everywhere, as far as the eye could discern, appeared a grassy country, thinly sprinkled with some low trees or shrubs, perhaps acacias. If this be the case, and there be water sufficient, of which there is no reason to doubt, this may certainly turn out to be the finest district for sheep pasture that this colony can possess." This testimony, one would have thought, was much too vague to justify the expression of any decided opinion as to the capabilities of the country. Mr. Moore judged entirely from a distant view with the naked eye: he could not discern the nature of the trees, does not assert positively that the land was grassy, is unable to speak with certainty as to the existence of sufficient water, and ventures only to draw the conditional conclusion that this district MAY turn out to be the finest the colony can possess.
Mr. Bynoe, who accompanied me in my excursion over this part of the continent, writes as follows respecting it: "There can be but one opinion of the country in the vicinity of the supposed Port Grey, namely, that it is comparatively sterile. All the soil passed over, during our two days' journey, was of a sandy nature; and the gumtrees, particularly in the open country, were stunted and gnarled. Isolated clumps, however, of a taller, straighter, and smoother character, were met with in the dried watercourses. Near Wizard Peak, the warran, or native yam seemed to grow in great abundance, and to some considerable depth. There the soil could be pretty well judged of; and the deeper the holes had been dug by the natives to obtain the root, the more pure was the sand; it was only the surface soil that held decayed vegetable matter. Twice during the trip, near the bases of cliffs, I saw a few acres of alluvial deposit, two very circumscribed beds, which were lost in the bottom of a watercourse, sliding, as it were, gradually under the sand. Near Moresby's Range, where the soil became freely mixed with ironstone and pebbles, the vegetation was more stunted, consisting principally of a prickly bush, mingled with coarse brown grass. During the whole time of our ramble, we saw only three kangaroos, and five emus; and in some parts of the tall scrub were wallaby tracks.")
Descending, we found the party left below in the dry bed of a watercourse had failed in their endeavour to procure water by digging; we, therefore, as we supposed, had no resource but to return, exhausted as we were, to the brackish water-pools we had seen in the Chapman or Greenough.
NATIVE WELL AND BURIAL PLACE.