The Horses Were Here Stopped By Running
Waters From The Marshes, Encircling A Spot Of Comparatively Dry Ground;
They Were Again Unladen, And With The Utmost Difficulty We Got Every
Thing Safe Over.
Both men and horses were so much exhausted by the
constant labour they had undergone, that I determined to halt, in order
to restore our baggage to some order.
Our ardent hopes are fixed upon
the high lands of Arbuthnot's Range, which I estimate to be about twenty
miles off. The intermediate country, we fear, will be one continued
morass.
August 4. - Proceeded on our journey. In the seven miles and a half which
we accomplished to-day, the water and bog were pretty equally divided;
and a plain covered with the former was a great relief both to men and
horses, since an apparently dry brush, or forest, was found a certain
forerunner of quicksands and bogs. The natives appear pretty numerous:
one was very daring, maintaining his ground at a distance armed with a
formidable jagged spear and club, which he kept beating against each
other, making the most singular gestures and noises that can be
imagined: he followed us upwards of a mile, when he left us, joining
several companions to the right of us. Emus and kangaroos abound, and
there is a great diversity of birds, some of which have the most
delightful notes, particularly the thrush.
August 5. - At three o'clock we were obliged to give up all attempts to
proceed farther this day; it was with the utmost difficulty we
accomplished six miles: for the last half mile, the horses were not on
their legs for twenty yards together. This, too, was in the middle of an
apparently dry forest of iron bark and cypress trees: the surface gave
way but little to the human tread, but the horses were scarcely on it
before the water sprang at every step, and the ground sank with them to
their girths. In this dilemma, it was agreed to rest for the night, and
in the morning endeavour to proceed to the nearest hill, which appeared
to be distant about two miles and a half, with very light loads upon the
best track we could find, and then return for the remainder of the
baggage and stores. A foreknowledge of the difficulties we should have
to encounter would certainly have prevented me from attempting to reach
these mountains; the nature of this country baffles all reasonable
expectation and conjecture, and that which appears one thing at a
distance, has a quite different form and aspect when more nearly
approached. Neither rivers, brushes, nor marshes, seem to make the least
difference in the vegetation of this singular tract: a dreary uniformity
pervades alike its geology and its botany.
August 6. - At eight o'clock the horses set forward with half the
baggage; with considerable difficulty they at length reached the hill,
and were immediately sent back for the remainder of the stores. The hill
was about three miles from our camp, and from it a view of Arbuthnot's
Range was obtained, distant nine or ten miles: its elevated points were
extremely lofty, and of a dark, barren, and gloomy appearance; the rocks
were of a dark grey, approaching to black, and from their crevices, a
few stunted trees protruded themselves. It was half past three o'clock
before every thing was removed to the foot of the hill, when it was much
too late to think of proceeding, anxious as we were to arrive at the
main range itself. We killed this day one of the largest kangaroos we
had seen in any part of New South Wales, being from one hundred and
fifty to one hundred and eighty pounds weight. These animals live in
flocks like sheep; and I do not exaggerate, when I say that some
hundreds were seen in the vicinity of this hill; it was consequently
named Kangaroo Hill: several beautiful little rills of water have their
source in it, but are soon lost in the immeasurable morass at its base.
August 7. - About a mile from Kangaroo Hill, after crossing a marshy
plain, we came to a limestone rock, spreading in smaller pieces over a
low hill. It is somewhat remarkable, that this stone should again be
found precisely under the same meridian as seen on the Lachlan and
Macquarie Rivers: the same stratum appears to have run from south to
north, upwards of two hundred miles. This hill is certainly its northern
termination, since beyond it the low and marshy plains of the interior
commence. At one o'clock we arrived under the hill which Mr. Evans had
previously ascended: at this spot I intended to remain a couple of days,
as well to refresh the horses, as for the purpose of ascending Mount
Exmouth, from whence I promised myself an extensive view of the country
over which our intended route lay. On ascending the hill before
mentioned, I was surprised with the remarkable effect which the
situation appeared to have on the compass. The station I had chosen was
the highest part, and nearly the centre of the hill; placing the compass
on the rock before me, the card flew round with extreme velocity, and
then suddenly settled at opposite points, the north point becoming the
south. Astonished at such a phenomenon, I made the following
observations. The compass on the rock, Mount Exmouth, bore S. 60. W.
(its true bearing being N. 75. E.), and on raising it gradually to the
eye, the card was violently agitated, and the same point now bore
N. 67. E. About one hundred yards farther south, the compass was again
placed on the rock; the effect on the compass was very different, Mount
Exmouth bore E. 48. S., and the tent in the valley beneath S. 74. W. The
card on raising the compass was rather less agitated than before, and
from
the eye, Mount Exmouth bore N. 77. E., and the tent S. 15.
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