A Great Number Of
Natives, Men, Boys, And Children, Who Had Been Attracted By The Screams
Of Their Companions, Now Came Running Towards Us; But On Our Putting Our
Horses Into A Sharp Canter, And Riding Towards Them, They Retired Into
The Scrub.
The yams proved to be the tubers of a vine with blue berries;
both tubers and berries had the same pungent taste, but the former
contained a watery juice, which was most welcome to our parched mouths.
A
similar tuber was found near Mount Stewart on the 18th January. We then
proceeded down the river; but not succeeding in our search for water,
returned to our camp, which was about fifteen miles distant. As soon as I
arrived, I sent Mr. Gilbert and Brown down Hughs's Creek, to examine the
country near its junction.
Very thick clouds came from the westward, from which a few drops of rain
fell: thunder-storms were forming to the north-east and also to the west,
but none reached us: the night was very cloudy and warm: the scud flying
from the north-east.
Feb. 14. - After sunrise the weather cleared up again. All hands were now
employed in shooting crows; which, with some cockatoos, and a small scrub
wallabi, gave us several good messes.
Mr. Gilbert and Brown had, on their excursion, found a rushy lagoon on
the left bank of the Isaacs, at a short half-mile from its junction with
Hughs's Creek. Here they encamped; and, about 10 o'clock at night, the
loud voices of Blackfellows travelling down the river were heard; these
also encamped at some small water-holes, not very distant from Mr.
Gilbert, of whose presence they were not aware. Mr. Gilbert kept the
horses tied up in case of any hostility; but was not molested. The blacks
continued their loud conversations during the greater part of the night;
and Mr. Gilbert departed very early in the morning without being seen by
them. He continued to follow the river further down, and found that four
large creeks joined it from the northward. Another creek also joined it
from the southward; as subsequently observed by Mr. Roper. Beyond these
creeks, several lagoons or swamps were seen covered with ducks, and
several other aquatic birds, and, amongst them, the straw-coloured Ibis.
Feb. 15. - We travelled down to the above-mentioned lagoon, which was
about ten miles east by north from our camp; its latitude, was by
calculation, about 22 degrees 20 or 21; for several circumstances had
prevented me from taking observations. As the river turned to the
eastward, I determined to trace it up to its head; and set out with Mr.
Gilbert and Brown to examine the country around the range which I had
observed some days before and named "Coxen's Peak and Range," in honour
of Mr. Coxen of Darling Downs. We passed the night at a small pool, but
were not successful in discovering water in any of the numerous
watercourses and creeks, which come down from Coxen's Range, or out of
the belt of scrub which intervened between the range and the river. A
loose variegated clayey sandstone, with many irregular holes; cropped out
in the beds of the creek. Coxen's Peak and Range were found to be
composed of horizontal strata of excellent sandstone, rising by steep
terraces, on the western side, but sloping gently down to the east; its
summit is covered with scrub, but its eastern slope with groves of
grass-trees. The view from the top of Coxen's Peak was very extensive:
towards the south-west and west, Peak Range was seen extending from
Scott's and Roper's Peaks to Fletcher's Awl; and, beyond the last, other
mountains were seen, several of which had flat tops. Mount Phillips
seemed about thirty or forty miles distant; and a very indistinct blue
hill was seen to the W.N.W. To the northward, ranges rose beyond ranges,
and to the eastward, the country seemed to be flat, to a great extent,
and bounded by distant mountains. To the southward, the eye wandered over
an unbroken line of horizon, with the exception of one blue distant
elevation: this immense flat was one uninterrupted mass of forest without
the slightest break. Narrow bands of scrub approached the river from the
westward, and separated tracts of fine open forest country, amongst which
patches of the Poplar-gum forest were readily distinguished by the
brightness of their verdure. A river seemed to come from the south-west;
the Isaacs came from the north-west, and was joined by a large creek from
the northward. There was no smoke, no sign of water, no sign of the
neighbourhood of the sea coast; - but all was one immense sea of forest
and scrub.
The great outlines of the geology of this interesting country were seen
at one glance. Along the eastern edge of a basaltic table land, rose a
series of domitic cones, stretching from south-east to north-west,
parallel to the coast. The whole extent of country between the range and
the coast, seemed to be of sandstone, either horizontally stratified, or
dipping off the range; with the exception of some local disturbances,
where basalt had broken through it. Those isolated ranges, such as
Coxen's Range - the abruptness of which seemed to indicate igneous
origin - were entirely of sandstone. The various Porphyries, and Diorites,
and Granitic, and Sienitic rocks, which characterize large districts
along the eastern coast of Australia, were missing; not a pebble, except
of sandstone, was found in the numerous creeks and watercourses. Pieces
of silicified wood were frequent in the bed of the Isaacs.
The nature of the soil was easily distinguished by its vegetation: the
Bastard box, and Poplar gum grew on a stiff clay; the narrow-leaved
Ironbark, the Bloodwood, and the Moreton Bay ash on a lighter sandy soil,
which was frequently rotten and undermined with numerous holes of the
funnel ant. Noble trees of the flooded-gum grew along the banks of the
creeks, and around the hollows, depending rather upon moisture, than upon
the nature of the soil.
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