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

























































































































 -  By putting on board the cutter the
greater part of our dead weight, we relieved our jaded horses from loads - Page 138
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 - Page 138 of 480 - First - Home

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By Putting On Board The Cutter The Greater Part Of Our Dead Weight, We Relieved Our Jaded Horses From Loads

They could no longer draw; and by obtaining from her occasional supplies of water at such points of the coast

As we could procure none on shore, we were enabled to reach Fowler's Bay on the 22nd November.

"From this point I could no longer avail myself of the valuable services of the cutter, the wild unprotected character of the coast extending around the Great Australian Bight, rendering it too dangerous for a vessel to attempt to approach so fearful a shore, and where there is no harbour or shelter of any kind to make for in case of need.

"Under these circumstances, I left my party in camp behind Point Fowler, whilst I proceeded myself, accompanied by a native boy, to examine the country a-head, and I now only detained the WATERWITCH, in the hopes that by penetrating on horseback beyond the head of the Great Bight, I might be able to give his Excellency some idea of our future prospects.

"For the last twenty-four days I have been engaged in attempting to round the head of the Bight; but so difficult is the country, that I have not as yet been able to accomplish it. In my first essay I was driven back by the want of water and obliged to abandon one of my horses. This animal I subsequently recovered.

"In my second attempt, I went, accompanied by one of my native boys, and a man driving a dray loaded solely with water and our provisions; but such was the dreadful nature of the country, that after penetrating to within twelve miles of the head of the Bight, I was again obliged to abandon three of our horses, a dray, and our provisions. The poor horses were so exhausted by previous fatigue and privation, that they could not return, and I was most reluctantly obliged to leave them to obtain relief for ourselves, and the two remaining horses we had with us. After reaching the nearest water, we made every effort to save the unfortunate animals we had left behind; and for seven days, myself, the man, and a boy, were incessantly and laboriously engaged almost day and night in carrying water backwards and forwards to them - feeding them with bread, gruel, etc. I regret to say that all our efforts were in vain, and that the expedition has sustained a fatal and irreparable injury in the loss of three of its best draught horses. The dray and the provisions I subsequently recovered, and on the evening of the 15th December, I rejoined my party behind Point Fowler, to prepare despatches for the WATERWITCH, since the weak and unserviceable condition of nearly the whole of our remaining horses rendered any further attempt to penetrate so inhospitable a region quite impracticable for the present. In traversing the country along the coast from Streaky Bay to the limits of our present exploration, within twelve miles of the head of the Great Bight, we have found the country of a very uniform description - low flat lands, or a succession of sandy ridges, densely covered with a brush of EUCALYPTUS DUMOSA, salt water tea-tree, and other shrubs - whilst here and there appear a few isolated patches of open grassy plains, scattered at intervals among the scrub.

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