Long. 144 33 50 E.
Mean variation 7 25 00 E.
Situation of the spot where the stream ceased to have a current.
Lat 33 degrees 57 minutes 30 seconds S.
Long. comp. 144 23 00 E.
Do. do. 144 31 15 E.
No hill or eminence in a south-west direction terminating in
lat. 34. 22. 12. and in long. 143. 30. 00. E. which is the calculated
extent of our visible clear horizon.
The afternoon proved cloudy, with occasional showers: prepared every
thing for our return eastward on the morrow.
July 9. - The morning fair and pleasant, but cold, the ground being
covered with hoar-frost. At half-past eight we set out on our return
eastward, every one feeling no little pleasure at quitting a region
which had presented nothing to his exertions but disappointment and
desolation. Under a tree near the tent, inscribed with the words "Dig
under," we buried a bottle, containing a paper bearing the date of our
arrival and departure, with our purposed course, and the names of each
individual that composed the party. I cannot flatter myself with the
belief, however, that European eyes will ever trace the characters
either on the tree or the paper; but we deposited the scroll as a
memorial that the spot had been once in the tide of time visited by
civilized man, and that should Providence forbid our safe return to
Bathurst, the friends who might search for us should at least know the
course we had taken.
About two o'clock we arrived at our halting-place of the 4th; and
there being no place convenient for pitching our tent within six or
seven miles farther on, we determined to remain here.
July 10. - Observed the variation of the compass by amp., at sun-rising,
to be 7. 47. E., by Kater's compass. The horses having strayed, it was
nearly eleven o'clock before we could set out, and between four and five
o'clock we stopped at our halting-place of the 3d. On our way we passed
a raised mound of earth which had somewhat the appearance of a
burial-place; we opened it, but found nothing in it except a few ashes,
but whether from bones or wood could not be distinguished; a
semicircular trench was dug round one side of it, as if for seats for
persons in attendance.
July 11. - At nine, again set forward on our return up the river, and it
was near four o'clock before we arrived at a convenient halting-place on
its banks, the river presented a most singular phenomenon to our
astonished view. That river which yesterday was so shallow that it could
be walked across, and whose stream was scarcely perceptible, was now
rolling along its agitated and muddy waters nearly on a level with the
banks: whence this sudden rise, we could not divine, any more than we
could account for the non-appearance of a fresh twenty miles lower down;
unless the marshes which we have traced for the two last days, at a
distance from the river, should have absorbed the waters in passing, or
unless the extremely winding course should so protract and retard the
current of them as to cause a considerable time to elapse before a flood
in the upper parts could reach the lower. We considered ourselves as
extremely fortunate in having quitted our station of the 8th a day or
two before it was originally intended, as we should otherwise have been
in considerable danger.
The present height of the bank above the level of the stream is four
feet nine inches.
A singular instance of affection in one of the brute creation was this
day witnessed. About a week ago we killed a native dog, and threw his
body on a small bush: in returning past the same spot to-day, we found
the body removed three or four yards from the bush, and the female in a
dying state lying close beside it; she had apparently been there from
the day the dog was killed, being so weakened and emaciated as to be
unable to move on our approach. It was deemed mercy to despatch her.
A tomb similar in form to that which we observed yesterday being
discovered near our halting-place of this day, I caused it to be opened:
it is as a conical mound of earth about four feet high in the centre,
and nearly eight feet long in the longest part, exactly in the centre,
and deep in the ground: we at first thought we perceived the remains of
a human body, which had been originally placed upon sticks arranged
transversely, but now nearly decayed by time; nothing remained of what
we took for the body but a quantity of unctuous clayey matter. The whole
had the appearance of being not recent, the semicircular seats being now
nearly level with the rest of the ground, and the tomb itself overgrown
with weeds. The river fell about three inches in the course of the
night.
July 12. - It is impossible that any weather can be finer than that which
we are favoured with. For days together the sky is unobscured by even a
single cloud, and although the air is cold and sharp, yet the dryness of
the atmosphere amply repays us for any little inconvenience we sustain
from the cold. At nine, we again set forward on our return up the river,
and at three arrived on its banks, having performed about twelve miles.
The river had fallen about one foot in the course of the day. The horses
being much fatigued by the heavy travelling over the flats, and many of
them being very sorely galled in the back, I propose halting to-morrow
to refresh them. We were this day once more cheered by the sight of
rising ground; Macquarie's Range just appearing above the horizon,
distance about forty miles; and we felt that we were again about to
tread on secure and healthy land, with a chance of procuring some sort
of game, which would now be very acceptable, our diet being entirely
confined to pork and our morsel of bread.
