Part 5

At 7.30 a.m. steered 328 degrees for two hours through thickets of acacia, cypress, and gum; then entered a grassy country with jam-wattle; at 10.35 passed a granite hill and altered the course to 357 degrees, and at 11.30 ascended a high granite hill, from which many similar hills were visible to the north and east, and a remarkable range of trap hills about thirty miles to the north-north-east; also some smaller trap ranges to the north-west, from ten to thirty miles distant. At noon steered 302 degrees towards the nearest of these ranges, traversing a level plain with brushwood and grass; at 4.45 crossed a small dry watercourse trending west, and at 5.5 bivouacked on a granite hill, with some grass and a fine pool of rainwater in a hollow of the rock.

Latitude 29 degrees 3 minutes 14 seconds; longitude 117 degrees 31 minutes.

1st September.

Resumed our route at 7.45 a.m.; at 8.45 reached the hills we had been steering for; from the summit there was an extensive view: to the north and west were many trap hills and several dry salt lakes; to the north the country was level for several miles, and then rose into a low range of granite hills, covered with brushwood and grass; at 9.20 steered 230 degrees over level country with dense thickets of acacia; at noon the country became more open; at 1.0 passed some small dry salt lagoons, the country more open and with some grass, and at 3.0 camped at the foot of a granite hill, with good grass and some water oozing out of a cleft in the rock.

Latitude 28 degrees 50 minutes 44 seconds; longitude 117 degrees 20 minutes.

2nd September.

Leaving the bivouac at 7.40 a.m., steered 330 degrees over a succession of grassy granite hills, with small watercourse trending to the west; at 12.40 p.m. came on a party of four aboriginals, who hastily decamped, leaving their spears and shields behind in the hurry of retreat; they appeared to be of rather small stature, and somewhat darker in colour than the blacks near the Swan River. Observing a remarkable hill bearing 312 degrees about twenty miles distant, steered for it; the country became more level, with grass and brushwood; at 3.5 turned north to a steep granite hill, crossing a dry watercourse thirty yards wide and sixteen feet deep trending north-west; at 4.40 halted in a gully in the granite range, and obtained water by digging among the rocks.

Latitude 28 degrees 34 minutes 9 seconds; longitude 117 degrees 2 minutes.

3rd September.

Started at 8.0 a.m., steering towards the hill seen yesterday, and which now bore 307 degrees. The country was nearly a dead level, with a few small dry watercourses trending south-west; the soil a red loam, producing some grass and small acacias; at 10.50 came on an extensive flat covered with salicornia, which extended to the base of the hill, the summit of which was reached at 12.25 p.m.; from this position the flat or marsh appeared to extend fifteen miles to the north-east, a branch also to the north-west, in which direction the water seemed to trend, though the dip of the country, if any, was so slight as to render it uncertain. To the north a range of trap hills, five to ten miles distant, intercepted the view. Having completed observations at 2.10, steered 300 degrees along the foot of a range of trap hills; at 3.50 passed a dry salt lake on our right, and at 5.15 bivouacked on the side of a trap hill, among some fine oat-grass growing on calcareous tufa. From the summit of the hill we could see salt marshes continuing in a north-west direction for many miles; all the hills within twenty miles were of a trap formation, and therefore gave no prospect of obtaining water, the soil being loose and the rock full of fissures; hitherto we seldom had found water except on or near granite rocks, which serve to collect the rainwater of even slight showers.

Latitude 28 degrees 24 minutes 20 seconds; longitude 116 degrees 42 minutes.

SCARCITY OF WATER. TURN TO THE WEST.

4th September.

As the horses had been twenty-four hours without water, and there was no prospect of obtaining any to the north or west, no rain having fallen for the past month, it was deemed advisable to return to the last bivouac, and then, by a westerly course, attempt to make the sources of the Hutt or Arrowsmith rivers, the mouths of which had been discovered by Captain Grey on the coast opposite our position. Accordingly, after six hours' ride, we got back to the well at the bivouac of the 2nd.

5th September.

At 7.50 a.m. left the bivouac, and, steering 240 degrees, at 8.15 crossed the dry watercourse trending west; at 11.0 ascended the ridge bounding the valley; at noon found a small pool of water in a gully descending to the westward; after this traversed a continuous thicket of acacia with narrow strips of cypress forest, and bivouacked at 5.50 without water.

Latitude 29 degrees 47 minutes 15 seconds; longitude 116 degrees 41 minutes.

6th September.

At 6.45 a.m., proceeding west, ascended a granite hill, near the top of which we found a native well, where we halted at 7.30. Having watered the horses and breakfasted, at 9.30 resumed our journey over granite hills, covered with brushwood and cypress with a few grassy patches; at 11.10 passed a native well; altered the course to west-south-west, crossing three small watercourses trending north-west; and at 1.15 p.m. halted at the foot of a bare granite hill, on the top of which there was a fine pool of rainwater in a shallow basin of the rock.

Latitude 28 degrees 50 minutes 51 seconds; longitude 116 degrees 29 minutes.

7th September.

Started at 7.15 a.m. on a course 255 degrees through acacia thickets; at 10.5 crossed a narrow strip of salt marsh, which spread out into dry salt lakes to the south; after this the country was grassy till 11.30, when we entered a dense thicket of acacia, melaleuca, cypress, and eucalypti, the ground gradually rising till 4.0 p.m., and then descending till 5.25, when we crossed a small dry watercourse trending south; at 6.10 bivouacked in a gum forest without water or grass, though a large flight of white cockatoos which roosted near seemed to indicate that water was not far distant.

Latitude 28 degrees 58 minutes 14 seconds; longitude 116 degrees 6 minutes.

8th September.

Leaving the bivouac at 7.0 am steered west; at 7.20 came to a grassy granite hill, then west-north-west to another hill, where we halted for half an hour to look for water, but being unsuccessful, again resumed a westerly course through acacia thickets, alternating with grassy gum forest, till noon, when the soil changed from a red loam to ironstone gravel; grass disappeared and was replaced by scrub; the country was much broken and continued to rise till 4.0 p.m., when it began to descend rapidly till 4.30, when we came to a small watercourse trending south; following it down for half a mile, found a small pool of water and some grass, and halted for the night, this being the only water seen for nearly fifty miles.

Latitude 28 degrees 58 minutes 50 seconds; longitude 115 degrees 45 minutes.

DISCOVER TWO SEAMS OF COAL.

9th September.