A Thunder-Storm From The North-East, Compelled Us To Hasten Into Camp;
And We Had Scarcely Housed Our Luggage, When Heavy Rain Set In And
Continued To Fall During The First Part Of The Night.
Nov. 24.
- We travelled about nine miles to the north-west, to lat. 13
degrees 5 minutes 49 seconds, which a clear night enabled me to observe
by a meridian altitude of Castor. We were, according to my latitude, and
to my course, at the South Alligator River, about sixty miles from its
mouth, and about one hundred and forty miles from Port Essington.
The river gradually increased in size, and its bed became densely fringed
with Pandanus; the hollows and flats were covered with groves of drooping
tea-trees. Ridges of sandstone and conglomerate approached the river in
several places, and at their base were seen some fine reedy and rushy
lagoons, teeming with water-fowl. A flock of black Ibises rose from a
moist hollow; white and black cockatoos, were seen and heard frequently.
At day-break, I was struck with the sweet song of Rhipidura flaviventris,
GOULD.
The natives cooeed from the other side of the river, probably to
ascertain whether we were friendly or hostile; but did not show
themselves any farther. They were Unio eaters to a great extent, judging
from the heaps of shells we saw along the river; the species of Unio on
which they lived, was much smaller than that we had observed on the
Roper. John and Charley saw a native in the bed of the river, busily
employed in beating a species of bark, very probably to use its fibres to
strain honey. He did not interrupt his work, and either did not see them,
or wished to ignore their presence. The horse flies began to be very
troublesome, but the mosquitoes fortunately did not annoy us,
notwithstanding the neighbourhood of the river, and the late rains.
Charley and Brown shot five geese, which gave us a good breakfast and
luncheon.
A strong breeze from the northward set in late every afternoon, since we
had descended into the valley of the South Alligator River.
Nov. 25. - We travelled about seven miles and a half N.W. by W., to lat.
13 degrees 0 minutes 56 seconds. I intended to follow the sandy bergue of
the river, but a dense Pandanus brush soon compelled us to return, and to
head several grassy and sedgy swamps like those we passed on the last
stage. Chains of small water-holes, and Nymphaea ponds, ran parallel to
the river; and very extensive swamps filled the intervals between rather
densely wooded ironstone ridges, which seemed to be spurs of a more hilly
country, protruding into the valley of the river. Some of these swamps
were dry, and had a sound bottom, allowing our cattle to pass without
difficulty. Others, however, were exceedingly boggy, and dangerous for
both horse and man; for Charley was almost suffocated in the mud, in
attempting to procure a goose he had shot. The swamps narrowed towards
the river, and formed large and frequently rocky water-holes, in a well
defined channel, which, however, became broad and deep where it
communicated with the river, and which in many places rivalled it in
size. A belt of drooping tea-trees surrounded the swamps, whilst their
outlets were densely fringed with Pandanus. The Livistona palm and
Cochlospermum gossypium grew on the ridges; the tea-tree, the
stringy-bark, the leguminous Ironbark and Eugenia were useful timber. The
whole country was most magnificently grassed.
A Porphyritic sienite cropped out at the head of the first swamp, about a
mile from our last camp.
We had cut our rifle balls into slugs, with which Charley and Brown shot
three geese (Anseranus melanoleuca, GOULD).
A low range was seen at the south-east end of the large swamp on which we
encamped.
Nov. 26. - We travelled about nine miles and a half N.N.W. to lat. 12
degrees 51 minutes 56 seconds. After having once more seen the river,
where it was joined by the broad outlet of a swamp, I turned to the
northward, and passed over closely-wooded and scrubby ridges of ironstone
and conglomerate, with pebbles and pieces of quartz covering the ground.
Livistona inermis, R. Br. formed small groves; and Pandanus covered the
hollows and banks of two small creeks with rocky water-holes going to the
westward. About six miles from our last camp, an immense plain opened
before us, at the west side of which we recognized the green line of the
river. We crossed the plain to find water, but the approaches of the
river were formed by tea-tree hollows, and by thick vine brush, at the
outside of which noble bouquets of Bamboo and stately Corypha palms
attracted our attention. In skirting the brush, we came to a salt-water
creek (the first seen by us on the north-west coast), when we immediately
returned to the ridges, where we met with a well-beaten foot-path of the
natives, which led us along brush, teeming with wallabies, and through
undulating scrubby forest ground to another large plain. Here the noise
of clouds of water-fowl, probably rising at the approach of some natives,
betrayed to us the presence of water. We encamped at the outskirts of the
forest, at a great distance from the large but shallow pools, which had
been formed by the late thunder-showers. The water had received a
disagreeable sour aluminous taste from the soil, and from the dung of
innumerable geese, ducks, native companions, white cranes, and various
other water-fowl. The boggy nature of the ground prevented our horses and
the bullock from approaching it; and they consequently strayed very far
in search of water. In the forest land, the Torres Straits pigeon
(Carpophaga luctuosa, GOULD,) was numerous. At sunset, Charley returned
to the camp, accompanied by a whole tribe of natives. They were armed
with small goose spears, and with flat wommalas; but, although they were
extremely noisy, they did not show the slightest hostile intention.
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