High
and singularly crenelated ranges were seen to the south-west; detached
peaks and hills to the westward; short ranges and peaks to the north; and
considerable ranges between north and north-east. A river was observed to
join the Burdekin from the ranges to the south-west.
Numerous kangaroos were seen bounding over the rocky slopes to the grassy
glens below. A stunted silver-leaved Ironbark covered the hills.
April 10. - The night was very cold, particularly towards morning, and the
dew heavy; the morning was calm; a breeze from the south-east set in at
nine o'clock a.m.; cumuli formed about eleven o'clock, and became very
heavy during the afternoon.
The country over which we travelled about eight miles N. by W., was one
of the finest we had seen. It was very open, with some plains, slightly
undulating or rising into ridges, beautifully grassed and with sound
ground. We crossed the river I had seen the preceding day from the hill,
and found it running. Two large creeks, one from the right and the other
from the left, also joined the Burdekin. I observed Pegmatite of a white
colour, and hornblende Porphyry and Diorite. A shrubby Clerodendron and
an arborescent Bursaria, covered with white blossoms, adorned the forest.
The latitude was 20 degrees 0 minutes 36 seconds.
April 11. - We continued our journey up the river, in a W.N.W. direction,
for about ten miles. The first part of our journey lay through a most
beautiful country. The hollows along the river were covered with a dense
sward of various grasses, and the forest was open as far as the eye could
reach. Farther on, however, we occasionally met with patches of Vitex
scrub, and crossed some stony ridges. A small river joined from the
north-east, at about a mile and a half from the last camp, and also two
large creeks from the south-west. I ascended the hills opposite our camp,
and looked over an immense and apparently flat country, out of which
small peaks and short ranges rose. The hills on which I stood were
composed of Pegmatite, with patches of white Mica in large leaflets.
During the journey we found granite changing into gneiss, diorite, and
quartz rock.
On the rocky crest of the hill, I gathered the pretty red and black seeds
of a leguminous climbing shrub (Abrus precatorius). Phonolithic or
basaltic pebbles made me suppose that we were near to a change of
country. Our latitude was 19 degrees 58 minutes 11 seconds.
April 12. - We had scarcely travelled a mile and a half, when we had to
cross a large creek, which increased in size higher up. Box-tree flats
and open Vitex scrub extended along its banks, and the latter, according
to Mr. Roper's account, changed into dense Bricklow scrub. At the
junction of the creek and the river, we came on a dyke of basalt, the
flat summit of which was so rough that we were compelled to travel along
the flats of the creek, which for a long distance ran parallel to the
Burdekin.
