It was the river Mr. Roper had seen two days before, and
I named it after him, as I had promised to do. The country along its left
bank was well-grassed and openly timbered with box; hills were on the
opposite side. Its course was from north-west to south-east; but this
seemed to be rather local. Natives seemed to be numerous; for their
foot-path along the lagoon was well beaten; we passed several of their
fisheries, and observed long fishtraps made of Flagellaria (rattan). All
the cuts on various trees were made with an iron tomahawk. Natives,
crows, and kites were always the indications of a good country. Charley,
Brown, and John, who had been left at the lagoon to shoot waterfowl,
returned with twenty ducks for luncheon, and went out again during the
afternoon to procure more for dinner and breakfast. They succeeded in
shooting thirty-one ducks and two geese; so that we had fifty-one ducks
and two geese for the three meals; and they were all eaten, with the
exception of a few bony remains, which some of the party carried to the
next camp. If we had had a hundred ducks, they would have been eaten
quite as readily, if such an extravagant feast had been permitted.
Oct. 20. - We travelled about ten miles N. 60 degrees W. up the river; and
I was fortunate enough to determine my latitude by an observation of
Alpheratz, which cloudy nights had prevented me from obtaining since the
15th October: it was 14 degrees 47 minutes; my longitude, according to
reckoning, was 135 degrees 10 minutes. The river continued equally broad,
with a fine open box-tree country on its right, whilst a range of hills
with several bluff breaks extended along the left side, interrupted
occasionally by some openings of small creeks, and, in one place, by the
valley of a small river, which Brown saw joining it from the northward.
We followed a broad foot-path of the natives, which cut the angles of the
river, and passed along several large lagoons at the foot of some low
sandstone ridges, that occasionally approached the river, which was
joined by some brushy creeks, one of which was of a considerable size.
The box-trees were of stunted growth, but the raspberry-jam trees were
still abundant and larger than usual. The grass was plentiful, but old
and dry. The lagoons were covered with ducks, geese, and pelicans; and
native companions were strutting about on the patches of fresh burnt
grass. Brown pursued two emus, and caught one of them. Wallabies were
numerous; two bustards, and even a crocodile were seen. A small lizard or
newt was observed on the mud between high and low water marks. The green
ant of the Lynd inhabited the shady trees of the brushy banks; and, in
the forest, brick coloured and black ants were numerous and troublesome.
A strong easterly wind was blowing during the day, and no cumuli formed.
Camps of the natives were frequent, and fresh burnings and fresh
mussel-shells showed that they had been lately at the lagoons. But, on
the river, the camps were older and not so numerous, and no burnings had
lately taken place.
Oct. 21. - After waiting a very long time for our horses, Charley came and
brought the dismal tidings that three of the most vigorous of them were
drowned, at the junction of the creek with the river. Although the banks
of the Roper were steep and muddy, the large creek we had passed was
scarcely two miles distant, and offered an easy approach to the water on
a rocky bed. It remained, therefore, inexplicable to us how the accident
could have happened.
This disastrous event staggered me, and for a moment I turned almost
giddy; but there was no help. Unable to increase the load of my bullocks,
I was obliged to leave that part of my botanical collection which had
been carried by one of the horses. The fruit of many a day's work was
consigned to the fire; and tears were in my eyes when I saw one of the
most interesting results of my expedition vanish into smoke. Mr.
Gilbert's small collection of plants, which I had carefully retained
hitherto, shared the same fate. But they were of less value, as they were
mostly in a bad state of preservation, from being too much crowded. My
collection had the great advantage of being almost complete in blossoms,
fruit, and seed, which I was enabled to ensure in consequence of the long
duration of our expedition, and of the comparative uniformity of the
Australian Flora.
I left the unfortunate place, and travelled about six miles up the river,
which kept a W. N. W. course. Open box-flats were bounded by ridges two
or three miles from the river. At the opposite side, ranges were seen
with some rocky bluff hills. Charley shot a bustard.
Oct. 22. - We travelled about seven miles to the westward, when we came to
a broad creek, which compelled us to go five miles to the southward in
order to cross it. The country was still a succession of box-flats along
the river, with rocky barren ranges in the distance; the latter, however,
approached so near the creek, that we found it difficult to pass along.
About two miles and a-half from our last camp, we had to cross a running
Casuarina brook, which, though very small, was so boggy, that two of our
horses were again in great danger of being lost.
Last night we heard the calls of natives at the opposite side of the
river. As soon as they saw us, they crossed the river, and came pretty
close to us: the discharge of our guns, however, kept them at a distance.
Several of our party, during their watches saw them moving with fire
sticks on the other side of the river.
