Australia Twice Traversed - The Romance Of Exploration, Through Central South Australia, And Western Australia, From 1872 To 1876 By Ernest Giles
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This Was My
Thirty-Second Camp; I Called It Rogers's Pass; Twenty-Two Miles Was
Our Day's Stage.
From here two conspicuous semi-conical hills, or as I
should say, truncated cones, of almost identical appearance, caught my
attention; they bore nearly south 60 degrees east.
(ILLUSTRATION: JUNCTION OF THE PALMER AND FINKE.)
Bidding adieu to our sable friends, who had had breakfast with us and
again made themselves useful, we started for the twins. To the south
of them was a range of some length; of this the twins formed a part. I
called it Seymour's Range, and a conic hill at its western end Mount
Ormerod. We passed the twins in eleven miles, and found some water in
the creek near a peculiar red sandstone hill, Mount Quin; the general
course of the creek was south 70 degrees east. Seymour's Range,
together with Mounts Quin and Ormerod, had a series of watermarks in
horizontal lines along their face, similar to Johnston's Range, seen
when first starting, the two ranges lying east and west of one
another; the latter-named range we were again rapidly approaching. Not
far from Mount Quin I found some clay water-holes in a lateral
channel. The creek now ran nearly east, and having taken my latitude
this morning by Aldeberan, I was sure of what I anticipated, namely,
that I was running down the creek I had called Number 2. It was one
that joined the Finke at my outgoing Number 2 camp. We found a
water-hole to-day, fenced in by the natives. There was a low range to
the south-west, and a tent-shaped hill more easterly. We rested the
horses at the fenced-in water-hole. I walked to the top of the tent
hill, and saw the creek went through another pass to the north-east.
In the afternoon I rode over to this pass and found some ponds of
water on this side of it. A bullock whose tracks I had seen further up
the creek had got bogged here. We next travelled through the pass,
which I called Briscoe's Pass, the creek now turning up nearly
north-east; in six miles further it ran under a hill, which I well
remembered in going out; at thirteen miles from the camp it ended in
the broader bosom of the Finke, where there was a fine water-hole at
the junction, in the bed of the smaller creek, which was called the
Palmer. The Finke now appeared very different to when we passed up. It
then had a stream of water running along its channel, but was now
almost dry, except that water appeared at intervals upon the surface
of the white and sandy bed, which, however, was generally either salty
or bitter; others, again, were drinkable enough. Upon reaching the
river we camped.
My expedition was over. I had failed certainly in my object, which was
to penetrate to the sources of the Murchison River, but not through
any fault of mine, as I think any impartial reader will admit.
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