Part 59

Latitude by Leonis 17 degrees 35 minutes 6 seconds.

26th March.

Proceeded down the creek, and at 7.20 a.m. came to a small pool of water, which the horses consumed in the space of a few minutes, but farther on came to a more abundant supply, and some of the pools appeared to be permanent, having a belt of water-pandanus and reeds round them; below this the channel was perfectly dry and sandy, but was much enlarged by numerous tributary gullies. At 12.50 p.m. came to a shallow pool, at which we camped. The country through which this creek passes is poor and stony, low hills of sandstone schist and limestone rising immediately behind the narrow strip of grassy land, which is fertilised by the overflow of the creek in the rainy season. The vegetable productions of the country seemed to be limited to a few small gum-trees, shrubby acacia, and triodia, with an occasional patch of grass. At the camp the bed of the creek was about forty yards wide, with banks fifteen feet high; the general course appeared to be north-west, a direction which renders it probable that it flows into Cambridge Gulf.

Latitude by Pollux 17 degrees 25 minutes 31 seconds.

SIXTY MILES WITHOUT WATER.

27th March.

At 6.0 a.m. left the camp and steered a course north 60 degrees east, gradually ascending among hills of schist and sandstone till 8.20, when we reached the level tableland. The principal trees were white-gum and silver-leafed ironbark, the soil a red loam of varying character, well grassed, but with patches of triodia, which affects a poor gravelly soil or deep sand. The country was now so nearly level that scarcely any rise or fall was discoverable, though the aneroid showed some slight undulations; at 1.15 p.m. halted for an hour, and at 6.0 camped in a patch of green grass, which enabled the horses to feed though they had no water. The weather was clear and hot during the day with a light easterly breeze, the night cloudy and very warm.

DEPOT CAMP.

28th March.

At 5.10 a.m. resumed our course north 60 degrees east through a grassy forest of ironbark and bloodwood, with patches of small acacia and triodia. At 7.45 entered a series of open plains covered with high grass. The plains continued till 10.0, when we passed through an open gum forest, and the country declined to the east, and at 11.15 came on a small watercourse, which was dry and sandy. This we followed down to the north-east till 11.40, when it passed through a rocky gorge in a sandstone ridge, which rose at an angle of 30 degrees to the south-west and 40 degrees to the north-east, the latter being the dip of the strata. In this rocky gorge we could see some pools of water, but they were quite inaccessible from that side of the ridge, and we had to make a considerable detour to the south before we could descend to the plain below, and found a fine pool of water at the termination of the gorge, at which we halted and watered our thirsty horses. As we were now only two hours' ride from the depot camp, we after a short rest started again at 3.10 p.m., and at 5.15 reached the depot camp, where we were welcomed by Mr. Baines and his party, and I was glad to find them all enjoying good health, and that the horses were in excellent condition. They had been, however, somewhat annoyed by the blacks, who had made frequent attempts to burn the camp, and also the horses, by setting fire to the grass, and on some occasions had come to actual hostilities, though by judicious management none of the party had been injured; nor was it certain that any of the blacks had been wounded, though it had been necessary to resort to the use of firearms in self-defence and for the protection of the horses.

29th March.

Returned our surplus provisions into store, when we found that the pieces of pork, originally four pounds weight each, were reduced to one-fifth of the original weight, as the long continuance of heat had melted the whole of the fat. Our ration had therefore been one pound flour, one-fifth pound salt pork, and two ounces sugar per diem. Mr. H. Gregory and Bowman rode out to round in the horses.

Latitude by Regulus and e Argus 17 degrees 2 minutes.

30th March (Sunday).

Read prayers to those of the party who were in camp, some of the men having been sent out to attend to the horses. Mr. Baines having handed me his journal, I regret to find that he has been compelled to make an entry regarding Mr. Flood, who had refused to attend to his order to carry arms while on watch at night on the 18th March. I therefore called on Mr. Flood for any statement he had to make in extenuation of his conduct. His replies were, however, extremely unsatisfactory, and only attempted to excuse the act on account of some private misunderstanding with Mr. Baines some months previous, and that the order to wear his pistol was given before he had time to put on his clothes. There had, however, been a distinct refusal to obey the orders of the officer in charge of the party, and those orders were neither vexatious or unreasonable, as they were simply in enforcement of well-established regulations. I therefore cautioned Mr. Flood that unless his future conduct was more satisfactory than it had hitherto been I should remove his name from the list of officers taking command in the Expedition, according to the general orders of the 27th August, 1855. The weather continues cloudy and calm, and, though the temperature is not extreme, it is very oppressive.

31st March.

Examining and packing stores in readiness for the exploration of the valley of the Victoria to the east of the depot. Found the stores in good condition, though the bags had been much injured by the rats and white ants. Although in some respects it would be more convenient to move the party at once to the bank of the Victoria before examining the country beyond, yet as the horses were now accustomed to the run near the depot, and the huts and stockyard rendered the station a more safe and convenient spot than any we could elsewhere select, I therefore decided on leaving the party here until I had explored the country to the east, and then move the whole party down the right bank of the river, by which the number and magnitude of the tributaries from the east would be ascertained, as this was an important point with reference to the contemplated journey to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

1st April.

Preparing equipment for a light party to explore the country to the east of the camp; shod six horses, and packed eighteen days' provisions for four persons. The weather continues cloudy, with light variable winds.

EXPLORE EAST OF THE DEPOT.

2nd April.

At 6.45 am started from the depot with Messrs. H. Gregory, Baines, and John Fahey, taking four riding and two pack horses, carrying eighteen days' rations, etc. Steered east over an undulating grassy country of basaltic formation with occasional sandstone ridges; the soil was generally good, but very stony. I had already traversed this country, and as the day was very misty with much rain, nothing worthy of further record was observed. At 1.30 p.m. altered the course to east-south-east, and at 3.15 camped on a large creek trending north-east, in the bed of which were large pools of a permanent character. The hills were basaltic, but the creeks having cut through the rocks and excavated the sandstone, the valleys were not of such a fertile character as the plains and ridges. Timber was wholly absent, and only a few small trees were seen at intervals on the hills. The morning was cloudy with light rain, but it cleared towards sunset.

Latitude by e Argus 17 degrees 4 minutes 6 seconds.

3rd April.

Resumed our route at 6.30, and steered east-south-east to a basaltic hill, which we reached at 7.40; from the summit a great extent of country was visible, but there were no marked features, as the broken ranges and isolated hills were nearly similar to each other. The whole country appeared to be a nearly level basaltic plain, with masses of sandstone rising 100 to 200 feet above its surface, while the valleys of the creek were excavated to the depth of 100 feet. The country was well grassed, but very stony; but this, though very inconvenient to the traveller, does not render it less valuable for pasture, as stony land always stands feeding better than any other. At 8.20 altered the course to nearly east towards a low ridge of hills. The plain was well grassed till 12.50 p.m., when the sandstone prevailed on the surface and triodia prevailed in the valleys. At 1.50 followed down a rocky ravine, and at 2.15 encamped.

THE VICTORIA RIVER.

4th April.

At 6.5 a.m. left the camp and followed the gully to the east-south-east; at 7.0 crossed a sandstone ridge, and beyond it a large creek from the south-west, in the bed of which there were some fine pools of water. We then ascended to a basaltic plain, and altered the course to south-east; at 8.0 the country gradually declined to the east, and sandstone was the prevailing rock, but grass was abundant. At 9.40 reached the Victoria, the course from south-south-west to north-north-east; the river had ceased to run and was now only in large pools; crossed to the right bank and steered south half an hour, and camped on the bank of a creek from south-south-east; at noon the sky was overcast, and at 2 p.m. it commenced raining and continued till 4.30, with thunder; heavy dew at night. After it commenced raining the aneroid fell 0.10, but rose again before it ceased. In this part of Australia neither wind nor rain appear to affect the atmospheric pressure to any great extent.