Journals Of Expeditions Of Discovery Into Central Australia And Overland From Adelaide To King George's Sound In The Years 1840-1: Sent By The Colonists Of South Australia By Eyre, Edward John
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- Having struck the tent, and loaded the dray, Mr. Scott and I
rode into town to breakfast with Dr. Harvey, and take leave of our Port
Lincoln friends.
After transacting business matters, I settled with the
man who was going to leave me, deducting the price of the sheep which by
his carelessness he had lost, and which had not been recovered; I then
paid Dr. Harvey for the hire of his boat, etc. and in arranging for it, he
generously refused to receive more than 5 pounds as his boat had not been
used in the return voyage from Adelaide. He also most kindly supplied us
with some few small things, which we yet required, and was altogether
most attentive and courteous.
Upon returning to our camp, I moved on the party, delighted once more
with the prospect of being actively employed. Whilst I conducted the
dray, I sent Mr. Scott round by Mr. Brown's station, to buy eleven more
sheep in the place of those M'Robert had lost, and at night he rejoined
us with them near Mr. White's station, about ten miles from Port Lincoln;
it was late before the sheep came, and the yard to put them in was made,
and as there were so few of them, they were a good deal alarmed and would
not go into the yard, rushing about violently, breaking away every time
we drove them near it; at last we got ten safely housed, and were obliged
to put up with the loss of the eleventh, the night being quite dark.
Mr. White and Mr. Poole visited us from their station, and I tried to
purchase from the former a noble dog that he possessed, of the mastiff
breed, but could not prevail upon him to part with it.
On the 25th I detained the party in camp, that I might get our sheep
shorn, and send to Port Lincoln to inquire if there were any more letters
for me by Dr. Harvey's little boat, which was expected to arrive to-day.
Mr. Scott, who rode into the settlement, returned in the afternoon.
October 26. - Sending the dray on under the guidance of the native boy, I
rode with Mr. Scott up to Mr. White's station to wish him good bye, and
to make another effort to secure an additional dog or two; finding that
he would not sell the noble mastiff I so much wished to have, I bought
from him two good kangaroo dogs, at rather a high price, with which I
hastened on after the drays, and soon overtook them, but not before my
new dogs had secured two fine kangaroos. For the first few miles we
crossed a low flat country, which afterwards became undulating and
covered with dwarf scrub, after this we passed over barren ridges for
about three miles, with quartz lying exposed on the surface and timbered
by the bastard gum or forest casuarinae. We then descended to a level
sandy region, clothed with small brush, and having very many salt lakes
scattered over its surface; around the hollows in which these waters were
collected, and occasionally around basins that were now dry, we found
large trees of the gum, together with a few casuarinae.
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