On The West Side
Of It, We Came Suddenly Upon A Couple Of Native Families; They, However,
With The Exception Of An Old Man, And A Boy Who Was Up A Tree, Made
Their Escape.
No entreaties could bring the boy down; he seemed, in
fact, as well as the old man, petrified with terror.
The man was
possessed of the remains of an iron tomahawk, which he had fitted as a
mogo, or native axe. I think it probable he became possessed of this
treasure through others of his countrymen who had visited the party in
Wellington Vale, as it was clear he had never seen white people before.
The man made repeated attempts to induce us to depart, which to his
great joy we shortly did. The left side of this man's body was one
continued ulcer, occasioned most likely by a burn. The river wound upon
every point of the compass, and its breadth was much contracted by
shoals and rapids running over a rocky bottom: the stream ran with
great velocity, and the boat experienced no interruptions. The banks
were very high and wide, and although the marks of flood were observed
to upwards of thirty feet, the waters were confined to the actual bed of
the river, without flooding the lands on either side. Large masses of
coarse granite were in the river where we stopped for the evening; it
was of a different species from any we had hitherto seen, and the bases
of the hills ending on the river seemed to be composed of it.
June 14.-I had determined to halt this day, for the purpose of verifying
our situation by survey, but was prevented by rain of great violence
throughout the day, accompanied by strong winds from the north-west;
this confined us to our tents.
June 15. - Our journey lay over alternate rich flats and barren stony
scrubs; the country irregular, and the banks much elevated: the land to
the north-west and north, as far as we could see, (ten or twelve miles)
broken into bare, irregular hills and valleys. On the south side of the
river the flats were more extended; thick coppices, and tracts of
barren land, were also observed on that side. About four miles down the
river large blocks of granite were scattered in its bed, and formed the
base of the surrounding hills, the tops of which were covered with
different kinds of stone, cemented or fused together by the action of
fire: many of those stones were beautifully crystallised, and the
appearance of some kind of mineral was evident. The river sometimes
swept along in fine reaches, then, becoming contracted into narrow rocky
channels, rushed through those straits with extreme violence, rendering
it difficult to steer the boats clear of the obstructions that presented
themselves on every side: the large boat struck twice in those narrows.
The water has fallen considerably, and it does not appear to be even now
at its usual level; its quality is very hard. The granite we fell in
with four miles below our last encampment was of a totally different
species, being much finer and closer grained, with small black specks
thickly intermingled in the mass; some freestone was also seen. The
botany of the country was in all respects the same as observed on our
journey homewards last year; the grassy nature of the herbage preventing
any material addition to our collection. Kangaroos were in great
numbers, and continued to furnish us with a welcome addition to our
rations.
June 16. - Our day's route was as usual over a very flat though rich
country, thickly wooded with good timber of the eucalyptus and angophora
species, with some fine cypresses in the looser soils, and back from the
river. The country, although flat, appears considerably elevated, and is
neither flooded nor swampy; the opposite side apparently of the same
kind. We fell in with another small camp of natives; the women and
children withdrew before we came up with them: among the men (seven in
number) we recognised four whom we had seen on the last expedition at
Mary's Rivulet; the recognition was mutual, and they seemed highly
pleased with it: they accompanied us about eight miles farther to our
evening's encampment, where being gratified with some kangaroo, and
undergoing the operation of shaving, (at their earnest request, after
seeing one of their number disencumbered of an immense beard) they left
us
at sunset to join their families, which were probably at no great
distance. About four miles above our encampment, on the immediate banks
of
the river, we discovered a large mass of saponaceous earth; I at first
took it to be a fine pipeclay, but on examination, it appears to possess
all the valuable qualities of fuller's earth; and a piece of woollen
cloth
being partially greased, and then rubbed over with the earth, the grease
was perfectly extracted and the cloth left entirely clean. Among this
earth, small white pieces of a hard marly substance were found, and
appeared either to be pure lime, or to contain a very considerable
portion of it. On one of the beaches a small shell was found, which was
unanimously adjudged to be a marine production; at least, we had never
before seen any fresh-water shell resembling it. The river fell during
the
last night and the course of this day very considerably, and is, I think,
below its proper level; there is however an ample sufficiency of water
for our boats: the chief dangers are from stumps and branches of trees
in the narrows; and what previously to the great fall in the water we
could have passed over without difficulty, now occasions us some anxiety
and trouble. The course the river took to-day was considerably to
the north.
June 17. - A very severe frost, the ice a quarter of an inch thick. About
a mile down the river, we saw a native burial-place or tomb, not more
than a month old; the characters carved on the trees were quite fresh:
the tomb had no semicircular seats, but in other respects was similar to
those seen on our last journey.
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