The Impossibility Of Our
Travelling Up This Side Was Demonstrated, As Well As The Nature Of These
Lower Grounds Or Clear Plains, Which Retain All The Water That Falls
Upon Them, The Little Inequalities Forming Shallow Pools.
It was much
better travelling over them, than on a low ridge of hills a couple of
miles from the river on which I returned; the soil of the latter being
so loose and boggy as to render it difficult for the horses to proceed.
On my return I found considerable progress had been made in transporting
our luggage, and by four o'clock every thing was safely crossed; our
little bark was however completely water logged, and at last would
scarcely support a single man, though when first launched, three or four
might venture in her with safety.
As I think the state of the seasons in New South Wales may serve to
explain, at least partially, why there are no running streams in
the western parts of it, it may be worth while to make some little
inquiry into that subject. It appears to me that it can never rain
simultaneously westward of the Blue Mountains and on the coast,
for these reasons: first, That the Lachlan and Macquarie Rivers,
being the sole channels by which the waters falling on the Blue Mountain
range are conveyed westward to the low-lands, are always flooded in
times of great rains in those mountains and on the coast; secondly, that
the winter, that is to say, the period between March and August, is the
time when the rains are most to be expected, and have most generally
fallen on the east coast, and which so falling would naturally cause a
flood in the streams above mentioned; thirdly, that in the summer
season, or from September to February, which is certainly the driest
period of the year, the rains fall westward of the Blue Mountains; but
falling upon flat sandy land without any watercourses, do not in the
smallest degree add to the waters of the Lachlan or Macquarie, which are
then consequently in a state nearly if not entirely stagnant. It is at
this season, therefore, that these streams are visited by the natives,
as they are then enabled to procure the shell and other fish which abound
in them. The tracks and impressions made by the feet of the natives were
certainly made when the ground was very soft and marshy, whilst their
guneahs were merely the branches of trees, and erected in places which we
found to be swamps, but which in summer would, in comparison with the
plains, be dry ground, the waters from them being drained off into
the river.
The Blue Mountain range is by far the highest in New South Wales; the
ranges westerly, though high when viewed from the low grounds from which
they rise, cannot in any respect be compared with them.
In the summer, the north-east and south-east winds coming from the sea
are forced over these mountains, and the vapours with which they are
charged are attracted by the lower ranges westerly, and converted into
rain. In the winter, the prevailing winds on the coast and inland, as is
evident from the trees on the tops of the hills, are from south-west to
north-west. In the winter, these westerly winds blowing over a vast
extent of country, and coming with great violence on the Blue Mountains,
confine those clouds and vapours which would occasion rain, to the
vicinity of the coast, and the eastern side of the mountains. A wet
summer on the east coast would occasion a flood in the Lachlan at that
season; and should the rains then be attended with easterly winds,
causing rain on the western side also, the whole low country must be
under water for a double reason. This is a circumstance which, I think,
could seldom happen, otherwise the consequence to the miserable natives
must be dreadful.
It may be remembered that for nearly two years (viz. 1814 and 1815),
scarcely a drop of rain fell on the east coast of New South Wales; and
when the country about Bathurst was first visited, it bore marks of
being similarly affected by drought. The last summer was a very wet one
on the east coast; at the depot on the Lachlan, during that period when
the rains were heaviest (in February), the people enjoyed the finest
weather, at the same time the river was constantly flooded, sometimes
rising to a great height in the most sudden manner.
Since the present expedition has been out it has generally enjoyed dry,
clear weather, otherwise we could not have travelled. Our meteorological
journal will, when compared with one kept at Sydney, throw farther light
upon this subject; and I merely hazard the above ideas as hints for a
more general and extended view of the natural causes which seem to
govern the seasons in this truly singular country.
Another proof (if more were wanting) that the river is only periodically
full and flowing, I think may be derived from the numberless windings of
the stream, setting aside the general course. If the water was always
running, it would doubtless have forced a straighter channel through the
soft, loose, sandy, loamy country through which it flows; it being also
remembered that there is not a single stone or rock to be found along
the whole banks of the river: the few low rocky hills that terminate
upon it, either have a narrow slip of soft land between their base and
the river, or the country is flat to a considerable distance on the
opposite shore. Its windings and sudden bends are so remarkable, that I
am sure I under estimate it, when I consider that on a straight line of
ten miles from point to point, the water passes over twenty-five miles;
in many places, from thirty to thirty-five would be within the truth.
The animals differing from those in the neighbourhood of Bathurst are
but few:
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