The great outlines of the geology of this interesting country were seen at one glance. Along the eastern edge of a basaltic table land, rose a series of domitic cones, stretching from south-east to north-west, parallel to the coast. The whole extent of country between the range and the coast, seemed to be of sandstone, either horizontally stratified, or dipping off the range; with the exception of some local disturbances, where basalt had broken through it. Those isolated ranges, such as Coxen's Range--the abruptness of which seemed to indicate igneous origin--were entirely of sandstone. The various Porphyries, and Diorites, and Granitic, and Sienitic rocks, which characterize large districts along the eastern coast of Australia, were missing; not a pebble, except of sandstone, was found in the numerous creeks and watercourses. Pieces of silicified wood were frequent in the bed of the Isaacs.
The nature of the soil was easily distinguished by its vegetation: the Bastard box, and Poplar gum grew on a stiff clay; the narrow-leaved Ironbark, the Bloodwood, and the Moreton Bay ash on a lighter sandy soil, which was frequently rotten and undermined with numerous holes of the funnel ant. Noble trees of the flooded-gum grew along the banks of the creeks, and around the hollows, depending rather upon moisture, than upon the nature of the soil. Fine Casuarinas were occasionally met with along the creeks; and the forest oak (Casuarina torulosa), together with rusty-gum, were frequent on the sandy ridges.
One should have expected that the prevailing winds during the day, would have been from the south-east, corresponding to the south-east trade winds; but, throughout the whole journey from Moreton Bay to the Isaacs, I experienced, with but few exceptions, during the day, a cooling breeze from the north and north-east. The thunder-storms came principally from the south-west, west, and north-west; but generally showed an inclination to veer round to the northward.
From Coxen's Range I returned to the river, and soon reached the place where I had met the Black-fellows. In passing out of the belt of scrub into the openly timbered grassy flat of the river, Brown descried a kangaroo sitting in the shade of a large Bastard-box tree; it seemed to be so oppressed by the heat of the noonday sun as to take little notice of us, so that Brown was enabled to approach sufficiently near to shoot it. It proved to be a fine doe, with a young one; we cooked the latter for our dinner, and I sent Brown to the camp with the dam, where my companions most joyfully received him; for all our dried meat was by this time consumed, and all they had for supper and breakfast, were a straw-coloured ibis, a duck, and a crow. As Mr. Gilbert and myself were following the course of the river, we saw numerous tracks of Blackfellows, of native dogs, of emus, and kangaroos, in its sandy bed; and, when within a short distance of the place where I had seen the black women, loud cries of cockatoos attracted our notice; and, on going in their direction, we came to a water-hole in the bed of the river, at its junction with a large oak tree creek coming from the northward. This water-hole is in latitude 22 degrees 11 minutes; the natives had fenced it round with branches to prevent the sand from filling it up, and had dug small wells near it, evidently to obtain a purer and cooler water, by filtration through the sand. Pigeons (Geophapsscripta, GOULD.) had formed a beaten track to its edge; and, the next morning, whilst enjoying our breakfast under the shade of a gigantic flooded-gum tree, we were highly amused to see a flight of fifty or more partridge pigeons tripping along the sandy bed of the river, and descending to the water's edge, and returning after quenching their thirst, quite unconscious of the dangerous proximity of hungry ornithophagi. The cockatoos, however, observed us, and seemed to dispute our occupation of their waters, by hovering above the tops of the highest trees, and making the air resound with their screams; whilst numerous crows, attracted by a neighbouring bush fire, watched us more familiarly, and the dollar bird passed with its arrow-like flight from shade to shade.
We continued our ride six miles higher up the river, without finding any water, with the exception of some wells made by the natives, and which were generally observed where watercourses or creeks joined the river. In these places, moisture was generally indicated by a dense patch of green reeds. The bush fire, which was raging along the left bank of the river on which we were encamped for the night, fanned by the sea breeze, which set in a little after six o'clock, approached very near to our tent, but died away with the breeze; and the temperature cooled down, although no dew was falling. The fire, which was smouldering here and there along the steep banks of the river, was quickened up again by the morning breeze.
We observed a great number of very large dead shells of Limnaea and Paludina, in the dry water-holes and melon-holes along the scrub; some of them not even bleached; but every thing seemed to indicate this to be a more than usually dry season.
In the morning we returned to the camp. As I had not discovered a more convenient spot for killing another bullock, I decided upon stopping at the rushy lagoon, until we had provided ourselves with a fresh stock of dried beef. Accordingly, on the 17th February, we killed Mr. Gilbert's bullock, which turned out a fine heavy beast, and gave us a large supply of fat meat and suet. We had formerly been under the erroneous impression that fat meat would not dry and keep; and, consequently, had carefully separated the fat from the meat. Some chance pieces, however, had shown us, that it not only dried and kept well, but that it was much finer than the lean meat. We therefore cut up the fat in slices, like the lean; and it was found not only to remain sweet, but to improve with age. The only inconvenience we had experienced in this process, was a longer detention; and we had to remain four days, (to the 21st February) before the provision was fit for packing. On the 19th, immediately after breakfast, whilst we were busily employed in greasing our saddles and straps--a very necessary operation on a journey like ours, where every thing is exposed to the dust, and a scorching sun--Charley left the camp, and did not return before the afternoon. He had frequently acted thus of late; and it was one of the standing complaints against him, that he was opossum and honey hunting, whilst we were kept waiting for our horses and cattle. As I was determined not to suffer this, after his late misbehaviour, I reprimanded him, and told him that I would not allow him any food, should he again be guilty of such conduct. Upon this, he burst out into the most violent and abusive language, and threatened "to stop my jaw," as he expressed himself. Finding it, therefore, necessary to exercise my authority, I approached him to show him out of the camp, when the fellow gave me a violent blow on the face, which severely injured me, displacing two of my lower teeth; upon which my companions interfered, and manifested a determination to support me, in case he should refuse to quit us; which I compelled him to do. When he was going away, Brown told him, in a very consoling manner, that he would come by and bye and sleep with him. I was, however, determined that no one within the camp should have any communication with him; and therefore told Brown, that he had either to stop with me entirely, or with Charley. He answered that he could not quarrel with him; that he would sleep with him, but return every morning; and, when I replied that, in such a case, he should never return, he said that he would stop altogether with Charley, and walked off. If I had punished these fellows for their late misconduct, I should have had no occasion for doing so now: but full of their own importance, they interpreted my forbearance, by fancying that I could not proceed without them.
Previous to this occurrence, Charley had, during my absence from the camp, had an interview with the natives, who made him several presents, among which were two fine calabashes which they had cleaned and used for carrying water; the larger one was pear-shaped, about a foot in length, and nine inches in diameter in the broadest part, and held about three pints. The natives patted his head, and hair, and clothing; but they retired immediately, when he afterwards returned to them, accompanied by Mr. Calvert on horseback.
We started, on the 21st February, from our killing camp, and travelled a long stage; the day was very hot, and the heat of the rotten ground was intense. Our little terrier, which had so well borne former fatigues, died; and our remaining kangaroo-dog was only saved by Mr. Calvert's carrying him on his horse. It was a day well calculated to impress on the Blackfellows the difference between riding and walking, between finding a meal ready after a fatiguing journey, and looking out for food for themselves. Hearing Brown's cooee as we were travelling along, Mr. Roper stopped behind until Brown came up to him, and expressed his desire to rejoin my party, as he had had quite enough of his banishment and bush life; and, before sunset, he arrived quite exhausted at our camping-place, and begged me to pardon him, which I did, under the former condition, that he was to have no farther communication with Charley, to which he most willingly assented.
Feb. 22.--On a ride with Mr. Gilbert up the river, we observed several large reedy holes in its bed, in which the Blackfellows had dug wells; they were still moist, and swarms of hornets were buzzing about them. About eight miles north-west from the junction of North Creek with the river, a large flight of cockatoos again invited us to some good water-holes extending along a scrubby rise. Large Bastard-box flats lie between North Creek and the river. About four miles from the camp, the country rises to the left of the river, and ranges and isolated hills are visible, which are probably surrounded by plains. Wherever I had an opportunity of examining the rocks, I found sandstone; flint pebbles and fossil-wood are in the scrub and on the melon-hole flats.