Fine Casuarinas Were Occasionally Met With Along
The Creeks; And The Forest Oak (Casuarina Torulosa), Together With
Rusty-Gum, Were Frequent On The Sandy Ridges.
One should have expected that the prevailing winds during the day, would
have been from the south-east, corresponding
To the south-east trade
winds; but, throughout the whole journey from Moreton Bay to the Isaacs,
I experienced, with but few exceptions, during the day, a cooling breeze
from the north and north-east. The thunder-storms came principally from
the south-west, west, and north-west; but generally showed an inclination
to veer round to the northward.
From Coxen's Range I returned to the river, and soon reached the place
where I had met the Black-fellows. In passing out of the belt of scrub
into the openly timbered grassy flat of the river, Brown descried a
kangaroo sitting in the shade of a large Bastard-box tree; it seemed to
be so oppressed by the heat of the noonday sun as to take little notice
of us, so that Brown was enabled to approach sufficiently near to shoot
it. It proved to be a fine doe, with a young one; we cooked the latter
for our dinner, and I sent Brown to the camp with the dam, where my
companions most joyfully received him; for all our dried meat was by this
time consumed, and all they had for supper and breakfast, were a
straw-coloured ibis, a duck, and a crow. As Mr. Gilbert and myself were
following the course of the river, we saw numerous tracks of
Blackfellows, of native dogs, of emus, and kangaroos, in its sandy bed;
and, when within a short distance of the place where I had seen the black
women, loud cries of cockatoos attracted our notice; and, on going in
their direction, we came to a water-hole in the bed of the river, at its
junction with a large oak tree creek coming from the northward. This
water-hole is in latitude 22 degrees 11 minutes; the natives had fenced
it round with branches to prevent the sand from filling it up, and had
dug small wells near it, evidently to obtain a purer and cooler water, by
filtration through the sand. Pigeons (Geophapsscripta, GOULD.) had formed
a beaten track to its edge; and, the next morning, whilst enjoying our
breakfast under the shade of a gigantic flooded-gum tree, we were highly
amused to see a flight of fifty or more partridge pigeons tripping along
the sandy bed of the river, and descending to the water's edge, and
returning after quenching their thirst, quite unconscious of the
dangerous proximity of hungry ornithophagi. The cockatoos, however,
observed us, and seemed to dispute our occupation of their waters, by
hovering above the tops of the highest trees, and making the air resound
with their screams; whilst numerous crows, attracted by a neighbouring
bush fire, watched us more familiarly, and the dollar bird passed with
its arrow-like flight from shade to shade.
We continued our ride six miles higher up the river, without finding any
water, with the exception of some wells made by the natives, and which
were generally observed where watercourses or creeks joined the river. In
these places, moisture was generally indicated by a dense patch of green
reeds. The bush fire, which was raging along the left bank of the river
on which we were encamped for the night, fanned by the sea breeze, which
set in a little after six o'clock, approached very near to our tent, but
died away with the breeze; and the temperature cooled down, although no
dew was falling. The fire, which was smouldering here and there along the
steep banks of the river, was quickened up again by the morning breeze.
We observed a great number of very large dead shells of Limnaea and
Paludina, in the dry water-holes and melon-holes along the scrub; some of
them not even bleached; but every thing seemed to indicate this to be a
more than usually dry season.
In the morning we returned to the camp. As I had not discovered a more
convenient spot for killing another bullock, I decided upon stopping at
the rushy lagoon, until we had provided ourselves with a fresh stock of
dried beef. Accordingly, on the 17th February, we killed Mr. Gilbert's
bullock, which turned out a fine heavy beast, and gave us a large supply
of fat meat and suet. We had formerly been under the erroneous impression
that fat meat would not dry and keep; and, consequently, had carefully
separated the fat from the meat. Some chance pieces, however, had shown
us, that it not only dried and kept well, but that it was much finer than
the lean meat. We therefore cut up the fat in slices, like the lean; and
it was found not only to remain sweet, but to improve with age. The only
inconvenience we had experienced in this process, was a longer detention;
and we had to remain four days, (to the 21st February) before the
provision was fit for packing. On the 19th, immediately after breakfast,
whilst we were busily employed in greasing our saddles and straps - a very
necessary operation on a journey like ours, where every thing is exposed
to the dust, and a scorching sun - Charley left the camp, and did not
return before the afternoon. He had frequently acted thus of late; and it
was one of the standing complaints against him, that he was opossum and
honey hunting, whilst we were kept waiting for our horses and cattle. As
I was determined not to suffer this, after his late misbehaviour, I
reprimanded him, and told him that I would not allow him any food, should
he again be guilty of such conduct. Upon this, he burst out into the most
violent and abusive language, and threatened "to stop my jaw," as he
expressed himself. Finding it, therefore, necessary to exercise my
authority, I approached him to show him out of the camp, when the fellow
gave me a violent blow on the face, which severely injured me, displacing
two of my lower teeth; upon which my companions interfered, and
manifested a determination to support me, in case he should refuse to
quit us; which I compelled him to do.
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