A Cold,
Southerly Wind Set In On The Morning Of The 18th, Which Made Brown And
Myself Shiver, And I Most Gladly Availed Myself Of A Flannel Shirt,
Whilst Brown Covered Himself With His Blanket.
We rode about five hours
over an undulating forest land, interrupted by one or two plains, and for
the greater part exceedingly stony.
We came at last to fresh burnt grass,
and observed recent marks of the stone tomahawk of the natives; and,
having passed a stony slope, with irregular low stony ridges, we saw an
oak-tree creek before us, on the opposite side of which rose the granitic
range for which we had directed our course. This creek also ran on the
line of contact of primitive and basaltic rocks; the primitive side was
cut by gullies and ravines, whilst the basalt formed a steep
uninterrupted slope, though covered with boulders which had been carried
down even into the sandy bed of the creek, where they were intermingled
with those of granite and pegmatite. I called this creek "Separation
Creek," in allusion to its geological relations: at the point where we
met it, it turned to the north and north-west, which made me believe that
it was a westerly water; but in this I was mistaken.
We had some slight showers of drizzling rain during the afternoon. The
wind veered towards evening to the northward, and the night was clear.
We saw several kangaroos, and their tracks to the water showed that they
were numerous. One of them, which we saw in the creek, was of a light
grey colour, with rich fur and a white tail.
May 19. - We returned to the camp. A cold easterly wind continued during
the day; low rainy clouds in the morning formed into heavy cumuli during
the afternoon.
My geological observations lead me to the conclusion, that an immense
valley between granitic ranges has here been filled by a more modern
basaltic eruption, which (supposing that Mount Lang is basaltic in the
centre of elevation) rose in peaks and isolated hills, but formed in
general a level table land. The basalt has been again broken by still
more recent fissures, through which streams of lava have risen and
expanded over the neighbouring rock.
May 20. - We moved our camp about eighteen miles N.N.W., to Separation
Creek, the latitude of which was 18 degrees 2 minutes 22 seconds.
John Murphy found Grevillea chrysodendron in blossom, the rich orange
colour of which excited general admiration. The stringy-bark tree, and
Tristania, were growing on the sandy soil, and the latter near
watercourses. Several native bustards (Otis Novae Hollandiae, GOULD.)
were shot, and I found their stomachs full of the seeds of Grewia, which
abounded in the open patches of forest ground. In crossing a plain we
observed, under the shade of a patch of narrow-leaved tea trees, four
bowers of the bowerbird, close together, as if one habitation was not
sufficient for the wanton bird to sport in; and on the dry swamps I
mentioned above, small companies of native companions were walking around
us at some distance, but rose with their sonorous cu-r-r-r-ring cry,
whenever Brown tried to approach them. [The natives of Argyle call the
cry of the native companion, Ku-ru-duc Ku-ru-duc; the natives of
Port Essington call the bird Ororr. - NOTE BY CAPT. KING]
May 21. - I went with Brown to reconnoitre the course of the creek, and to
ascertain whether it flowed to the westward. We soon found, however, that
it turned to the north and north-east, and that it was still an eastern
water. As far as I followed it down, it formed the separation between the
primitive rocks and the basalt, but received several creeks from the
westward. In riding along we heard the cooees of natives, and passed
several large camping places near the large water-holes of the creek. A
Blackfellow emerged suddenly from the creek, holding a Casuarina branch
in his hand, and pointing to the westward. We made a sign that we were
going down the creek, and that we had no intention of hurting him; the
poor fellow, however, was so frightened that he groaned and crouched down
in the grass. Wishing not to increase his alarm, we rode on. I followed
up one of the largest tributary creeks coming from the westward towards
its head; it was lined with Casuarinas and flooded-gum trees, like
Separation Creek, and came from an entirely granitic country, ridges and
ranges, with some high hills, bounding its valley on both sides; it soon
divided, however, into branches, and as one turned too much to the north
and the other to the south, I kept between them to the westward, and
passed over a hilly, broken, granitic country. Large blocks of granite
crested the summits of the hills, and their slopes were covered with
Acacia thickets, and arborescent Hakeas and Grevilleas. A dwarf Acacia,
with rhomboid downy phyllodia, an inch long, grew between the rocks. The
natives were busy on the hills, cutting out opossums and honey. We heard
their calls and the cries of their children. As we descended into another
valley, the whole slope was on fire; we passed through it, however, with
little difficulty. We crossed ridges after ridges, passed from one little
creek and watercourse to another, all of which turned to the northward.
At last, heartily tired, and almost despairing of attaining the object of
our search, viz., a western water, we came into a valley which went down
to the south-west; and, following it down, found that it joined a larger
one which went to the westward. A broad creek, with the drooping tea tree
and a sandy bed, gave us the promise of soon finding water; and,
following the tracks of numerous kangaroos and native dogs, we came to a
small pool. After passing over very rocky granitic hills, we came into a
more open country; the banks of the creek became reedy, and water was
more abundant, and at last a fine pool, surrounded by a rich belt of
reeds, was before us.
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