Our Horses And Bullocks, Which Were Crowding
Impatiently Round The Little Hole We Had Dug, Were Immediately Harnessed,
And We
Proceeded about three miles in a north direction to the head of a
rocky valley, where our cattle were enabled
At least to drink, but all
the grass had been consumed by a late bush fire.
The Acacia of Expedition Range was plentiful in the large flat and at the
wells of the natives, and formed a fine tree: its seeds, however, were
shed, and had been roasted by the late bush fire. Mr. Phillips (who was
always desirous of discovering substitutes for coffee, and to whom we
owed the use of the river-bean of the Mackenzie) collected these seeds,
and pounded and boiled them, and gave me the fluid to taste, which I
found so peculiarly bitter that I cautioned him against drinking it; his
natural desire, however, for warm beverage, which had been increased by a
whole day's travelling, induced him to swallow about a pint of it, which
made him very sick, and produced violent vomiting and purging during the
whole afternoon and night. The little I had tasted acted on me as a
lenient purgative, but Mr. Calvert, who had taken rather more than I did,
felt very sick. The gum of this Acacia was slightly acid, and very
harmless.
Oct. 30. - We travelled about four miles to the N.W. and N.N.W. along the
summit of rocky ranges, when a large valley bounded by high ranges to the
north and north-west, burst upon us. We descended into it by a steep and
rocky basaltic slope, and followed a creek which held a very tortuous
course to the south-west; we had travelled along it about seven miles,
when Charley was attracted by a green belt of trees, and by the late
burnings of the natives, and discovered a running rivulet, coming from
the N.N.W. It was fringed with Pandanus, Acacia (Inga monilifornis) and
with an arborescent Vitex, with ternate leaves. The flats were well
grassed, and lightly timbered with box and white-gum. On the flat summit
of the sandstone ranges, we observed the Melaleuca gum, the rusty gum,
the mountain Acacia, and Persoonia falcata, (R. Br.) The basaltic rock
was apparently confined to the upper part of the valley, where it had
broken through the sandstone, which composed all the ranges round our
camp, the latitude of which I observed to be 14 degrees 23 minutes 55
seconds. At our last camp, I observed a Platycercus, of the size of the
Moreton Bay Rosella, with blackfront, yellow shoulders, and sea-green
body; the female had not the showy colours of the male, and the young
ones were more speckled on the back. I believe it to be the Platycercus
Brownii, GOULD. A black and white Ptilotis, the only stuffed specimen of
which was taken by a kite almost out of Mr. Gilbert's hand, was very
frequent at the wells of the natives.
During the night, a great number of flying-foxes came to revel in the
honey of the blossoms of the gum trees. Charley shot three, and we made a
late but welcome supper of them. They were not so fat as those we had
eaten before, and tasted a little strong; but, in messes made at night,
it was always difficult to find out the cause of any particular taste, as
Master Brown wished to get as quickly as possible over his work, and was
not over particular in cleaning them. Platycercus versicolor (the Port
Essington Parrakeet) visited, in large flocks, the blossoms of the gum
trees, and was quite as noisy through the day, as the flying-fox was
during the night.
Oct. 31. - When we were going to start, Brown's old horse was absent, and
after much searching, the poor brute was found lying at the opposite side
of the creek, with its back down the slope, and unable to move. We
succeeded in turning him, and helping him to rise, but he was so weak, as
to be scarcely able to stand: indeed all our cattle were tired and
foot-sore, in consequence of several days travelling over rocky ranges,
and required rest. I therefore determined on remaining here a day, as no
place could be better suited for their recovery. The grass was young and
various, the water delightfully cool, and the scattered trees were large
and shady. Numerous birds frequented the water; a species of Ptilotis,
with its cheerful and pleasing note, entertained us at daybreak, as the
Leatherhead with its constantly changing call and whistling did during
the day. Dacelo cervina, GOULD, (the small laughing Jackass) was not
heard so frequently nor so regularly as its representative of the east
coast. I found a species of fern (Taeniopsis) along the creek, and a
species of Mimosa about three feet high had been observed on the plains
and the flats of the Roper. Charley and Brown went to shoot flying-foxes,
and returned at luncheon with twelve; during the afternoon, they went
again and brought in thirty more; having left about fifty hanging,
wounded, on the trees. They had been at a large swamp and a pond,
connected with the creek, in which Charley declared that he had seen a
strange animal "with two horns," and which had deterred him from going
into the water. As Brown, on the following day, saw a crocodile in the
same pond, Charley's imagination had very probably added two horns to his
wonderful animal.
CHAPTER XIV
INTERVIEW WITH A NATIVE - DISTRESSING HEAT - A HORSE STAKED: IT
DIES - MYRIADS OF FLYING-FOXES - MAGNIFICENT VALLEY - FRIENDLY NATIVES - SHOT
EXHAUSTED - INSTINCT OF BULLOCKS - SOUTH ALLIGATOR RIVER - FRIENDLY NATIVES
WITH AN ENGLISH HANDKERCHIEF, AND ACQUAINTED WITH FIRE-ARMS - THEIR
LANGUAGE - MIRAGE.
Nov. 1. - We reached lat. 14 degrees 16 minutes 17 seconds, having
travelled about nine miles north-west by north. A range composed of baked
sandstone, approached so close to the banks of "Flying-Fox Creek," that
we were obliged to cross the range; to the east-ward of which tea-tree
flats extended, with many deep but dry water-holes, fringed with fine
drooping tea-trees.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 118 of 139
Words from 119206 to 120244
of 141354
