The Clear Levels
Examined To-Day Were Named The Solway Flats.
Many fish were caught here,
one of which weighed upwards of thirty pounds.
May 6. - Proceeded down the river. It is impossible to fancy a worse
country than the one we were now travelling over, intersected by swamps
and small lagoons in every direction; the soil a poor clay, and covered
with stunted useless timber. It was excessively fatiguing to the horses
which travelled along the banks of the river, as the rubus and
anthistiria
were so thickly intermingled, that they could scarcely force a passage.
After proceeding about eight miles, a bold rocky mount terminated on the
river, and broke the sameness which had so long wearied us: we ascended
this hill, which I named Mount Amyot, and from the summit had one of the
most extensive views that can be imagined. On the opposite side of the
river was another hill precisely similar to Mount Amyot, leaving a
passage between them for the river, and the immense tract of level
country to the eastward; this hill was named Mount Stuart. Vast plains
clear of timber lay on the south side of the river, and which, from our
having travelled on a level with them, it was impossible for us to
distinguish before. These plains I named Hamilton's Plains, and they
were bounded by hills of considerable elevation to the southward; whilst
the whole level country thus bounded was honoured with the designation
of Princess Charlotte's Crescent.
To the west of Mount Amyot the view was equally extensive, being bounded
only by the horizon; some high detached hills, rising like islands from
the ocean, broke, in some measure, the sameness of the prospect. I
estimated that in the west north-west I could see at least forty miles,
and in the south south-west as far; the view in other points being
slightly interrupted by low ranges of hills, rising occasionally to
points of considerable elevation: none of those elevated spots was
nearer than twenty-five or thirty miles, and considerable spaces of
clear ground could, by the assistance of the telescope, be distinguished,
interspersed amidst the ocean of trees whence those hills arise: a long
broken mountain, bearing W. 32 1/2. N., was named Mount Melville;
one W. 24. N. Mount Cunningham; and another, bearing S. 70. W. Mount
Maude. Smoke, arising from the fires of the wandering inhabitants of
these
desolate regions was seen in several quarters. At four o'clock we stopped
for the evening, about three miles west of Mount Amyot.
I have reason to believe that the whole of the tract named Princess
Charlotte's Crescent is at times drowned by the overflowing of the
river; the marks of flood were observed in every direction, and the
waters in the marshes and lagoons were all traced as being derived from
the
river. During a course of upwards of seventy miles not a single running
stream emptied itself into the river on either side; and I am forced to
conclude that in common seasons this whole tract is extremely badly
watered, and that it derives its principal if not only supply from the
river within the bounding ranges Of Princess Charlotte's Crescent. There
are doubtless many small eminences which might afford a retreat from the
inundations, but those which were observed by us were too trifling and
distant from each other to stand out distinct from the vast level
surface which the crescent presents to the view. The soil of the country
we passed over was a poor and cold clay; but there are many rich levels
which, could they be drained and defended from the inundations of the
river, would amply repay the cultivation. These flats are certainly not
adapted for cattle; the grass is too swampy, and the bushes, swamps, and
lagoons, are too thickly intermingled with the better portions to render
it either a safe or desirable grazing country. The timber is universally
bad and small; a few large misshapen gum trees on the immediate banks of
the river may be considered as exceptions. If however the country itself
is poor, the river is rich in the most excellent fish, procurable in the
utmost abundance. One man in less than an hour caught eighteen large
fish,
one of which was a curiosity from its immense size, and the beauty of its
colours. In shape and general form it most resembled a cod, but was
speckled over with brown, blue, and yellow spots, like a leopard's skin;
its gills and belly a clear white, the tail and fins a dark brown. It
weighed entire seventy pounds, and without the entrails sixty-six pounds:
it is somewhat singular that in none of these fish is any thing found
in the stomach, except occasionally a shrimp or two. The dimensions of
this fish were as follow:
Feet. Inches.
Length from the nose to the tail 3 5
Circumference round the shoulders 2 6
Fin to fin over the back 1 5
Circumference near the anus 1 9
Breadth of the tail 1 1 1/2
Circumference of the mouth opened 1 6
Depth of the swallow 1 foot.
Most of the other fish taken this evening weighed from fifteen to thirty
pounds each, and were of the same kind as the above.
May 7. - A fine clear frosty morning. The horses having been much
fatigued by the two last days' journey, I determined to halt to-day
instead of Saturday, as the grass was good, which is more than could be
said of it for some days past. Observed the latitude to be 33. 22. 59. S.
May 8. - Proceeded down the river. Our general course was westerly, and
the country, though equally level with any we had passed, improved in
the quality of the soil, which, during the greater part of to-day's
route, was a good vegetable mould, the land thickly covered with small
acacia and dwarf trees. On the south side of the river it was apparently
the same; and the whole we passed over bore evident marks of being
subject to inundations.
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