This Accident Was The More To Be Lamented, As The Watch With
Which I Was Furnished By The Crown Had Also Stopped, And We Had Now
Nothing To Regulate Our Time By.
July 26.
- We passed a dreadful night; the elements seemed to be bursting
asunder, and we were almost deluged with rain. Towards noon the weather
partially cleared tip. Our design of moving was however rendered
abortive: we found it impossible to bring the horses near the tents to
lade them, and the rain recommencing with great violence, continued
throughout the day. An inmate of an alarming description took up its
lodging in our tent during the last night, probably washed out of its
hole
by the rain: a large diamond snake was discovered coiled up among the
flour bags, four or five feet from the doctor's bed.
July 27. - This morning the weather cleared up just in time to enable us
to retreat to the river banks in safety, for we were washed out of the
tent. The provisions and heavy baggage were carried by the people to a
firmer spot of ground, at which place the horses being lightly laden, we
got every thing transported to the river by one o'clock. Castlereagh
River is certainly a stream of great magnitude; its channel is divided
by numerous islands covered with trees: it measured in its narrowest
part one hundred and eighty yards, and the flood that had now risen in
it was such as to preclude any attempt to cross it. The outer banks were
good firm land, apparently free from floods, and extending not more on
this side than a quarter of a mile, when it became wet and marshy: the
banks were from twelve to seventeen feet high, and gradually sloped to
the water. The trees on this firm margin of land were a species of
eucalyptus, cypresses, and the sterculia heterophylla, with a few
casuarinae. This river doubtless discharges itself into that interior
gulf, in which the waters of the Macquarie are merged: to that river it
is in no respect inferior, and when the banks are full, the body of
water in it must be even still more considerable. Towards evening I
thought the waters were falling, which was an event we anxiously looked
for, to enable us to proceed to Arbuthnot's Range, from the heights of
which we hoped for an interesting view. Natives appear to be numerous;
their guniahs (or bark-huts) are in every direction, and by their
fire-places several muscle-shells of the same kind as those found on the
Lachlan and Macquarie Rivers were seen. Game (kangaroos and emus),
frequenting the dry banks of the river, were procured in abundance.
July 28. - The river during the night had risen upwards of eight feet;
and still continued rising with surprising rapidity, running at the rate
of from five to six miles per hour, bringing down with it great
quantities of driftwood and other wreck. The islands were all deeply
covered, and the whole scene was peculiarly grand and interesting. The
sudden rise probably was caused by the heavy rains of the preceding
days; but great must be the sources from whence so stupendous a body of
water is supplied, and equally grand must be that reservoir, which is
capable of containing such an accumulation of water as is derived from
this and the Macquarie Rivers; not to mention the supplies from the
occasional streams which had their sources in the marshes which we have
crossed. The water was so extremely thick and turbid, that we could not
use it; but were forced to send back to the marshes for what we wanted.
At night, the river seemed at its greatest height.
July 29. - The waters this day subsided rapidly. It is evident that there
has been no flood in the river for a very considerable period prior to
the present one, there being no marks of wreck or rubbish on the trees
or banks. Now the quantity of matter is astonishing, and, such as must
take some years to remove. The rapid rise and fall in the water would
seem to indicate that neither its source nor its embouchure can be at
any great distance. The former is probably not far east of Arbuthnot's
Range.
August 2. - It was not until this morning that the river had fallen
sufficiently to allow us to ford it. Though the morning was unpromising
with slight rain, it was not deemed prudent to lose a moment in passing
it, while in our power; and by one o'clock every thing was safely over,
to our great satisfaction. Before this, it had begun to rain hard, and
it continued to do so throughout the day, and great part of the
night. Our observations place this part of Castlereagh River in
lat. 31. 14. 14. S., long. 148. 18. E., variation 8. 14. E.
August 3. - A dark cloudy morning. At nine o'clock proceeded on our
eastern course towards Arbuthnot's Range. The river had risen in the
night so considerably, that had we delayed until this morning, we should
have been unable to pass it. The rain had rendered the ground so
extremely soft and boggy, that we found it impossible to proceed above
three-quarters of a mile on our eastern course. We therefore returned,
resolving to keep close to the river's edge, until we should be enabled
to sound the vein of quagmire, with which we appeared to be hemmed in.
In this attempt we were equally unfortunate, the horses falling
repeatedly: one rolled into the river, and it was with difficulty we
saved him: my baggage was on him, and was entirely spoiled; the
chart case and charts were materially damaged, and our spare thermometer
broken: we therefore unladed the horses where they stood, and the men
carried the provisions to a firmer spot, where they were reladen. We
again proceeded easterly, and for upwards of a mile we travelled up to
our knees in water and mud:
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