I Hailed Erskine River As A Good Omen Of
Ultimate Success:
It was the first stream we had met with falling from
the eastward, and was a proof to me that the Macquarie was the natural
reservoir or channel for the waters from the north-east, as I knew it to
be from the south.
We had as yet seen no inhabitants, and very few signs
that the country is inhabited at all. Fish, flesh, and fowl are
abundant, but there are no human beings to enjoy them but ourselves:
native dogs are in considerable numbers, and keep up during the night a
continual howling.
June 12. - We this day passed over a very beautiful country, thinly
wooded, and apparently safe from the highest floods; the river had
considerable windings, but was of noble width and appearance; the
rapids were few, and offered no obstruction; its medium width from one
hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty feet, and in many reaches
much more. On one of the higher back ridges there are some good iron
bark trees, with abundance of cypress; the apple, blue gum, and box,
were the principal trees growing on the flats. Kangaroos were in very
great numbers: our dogs took four; they were of that species called by
Dr. Smith macropus elegans, and are very rare on the east coast. The
stones and rocks were generally hard whinstone, or freestone, the former
in large masses; the beach, of pebbles of all colours and kinds, from
quartz to sandstone. About a mile from our resting-place, we passed the
mouth of the small rivulet named in the former journey Elizabeth's Burn;
the stream now in it was inconsiderable.
June 13. - Our route during this day's journey was generally over a very
level country, the land three or four miles back from the river very
inferior to that on the borders of it, being covered with small trees
and brush; the soil a light, red loam. The rich flats on the banks on
either side were not flooded, and were of the best quality: these flats
seemed more extensive on the south than the north side of the river, and
were bounded by the fine hills, which were passed over on the return of
the expedition last year. About five miles from our last night's
resting-place, we fell in with a small rivulet from the north-east,
which I named after Major Taylor, of the 48th regiment. 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.
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