CHAPTER 2.5.

Rain at last. Stockade erected. Named Fort Bourke. Visited by the natives. Mortality among them from smallpox. Results of the journey. Friendly disposition of a native. Boats launched. Presents to natives. They become importunate. We leave the depot and embark in the boats. Slow progress down the river. Return to the depot. Natives in canoes. Excursion with a party on horseback. A perfumed vegetable. Interview with natives. Present them with tomahawks. Unsuccessful search for Mr. Hume's marked tree. Ascend D'Urban's group. Promising view to the southward. A burnt scrub full or spinous dead boughs. A night without water. Return to the camp. The party proceeds down the Darling. Surprise a party of natives. New acacia. Mr. Hume's tree found. Fall in the Darling. Surprised by a party of natives. Emu killed by the dogs. Dunlop's range. Meet the Puppy tribe. Ascend Dunlop's range. High land discovered to the westward. Grass pulled and piled in ricks by the natives. Hills beyond the Darling. Convenient refraction. Native huts. Interview with the Red tribe. The Puppy tribe. How to avoid the sandy hills and soft plains. Macculloch's range. Visit a hill beyond the Darling. View from its summit.

RAIN AT LAST.

May 27.

During the night the wind blew and rain fell for the first time since the party left the colony. As we had been travelling for the last month on ground which must have become impassable after two days of wet weather, it may be imagined what satisfaction our high position gave me when I heard the rain patter. The morning being fair I reconnoitred the course of the river and the environs of our camp, and at once selected the spot on which our tents then stood for a place of defence, and a station in which the party should be left with the cattle. The boats were immediately lowered from the carriage, and although they had been brought 500 miles across mountain ranges and through trackless forests, we found them in as perfect a state as when they left the dockyard at Sydney.

STOCKADE ERECTED.

Our first care was to erect a strong stockade of rough logs, that we might be secure under any circumstances; for we had not asked permission to come there from the inhabitants, who had been reported to be numerous, and who would of course soon make their appearance. All hands were set to fell trees and cut branches, and in a very short time a stockade was in progress, capable of a stout resistance against any number of natives.

NAMED FORT BOURKE.

As the position was in every respect a good one, either for its present purpose or, hereafter perhaps, for a township, and consequently was one important point gained by this expedition, I named it Fort Bourke after His Excellency the present Governor, the better to mark the epoch in the progress of interior discovery.

VISITED BY THE NATIVES.

May 28.

This morning some natives appeared on the opposite bank of the river, shouting and calling, but keeping at a respectful distance from the bullocks, some of which had already crossed. At length they ventured over and, on my going to meet them, they sat down about 200 yards from the tents. The party consisted of four men and a boy, followed by seven women and children who sat at a little distance behind.

MORTALITY AMONG THEM FROM SMALLPOX.

The men carried no spears and looked diminutive and simple; most of them had had the smallpox, but the marks were not larger than pin heads. I found they had either seen or heard of Captain Sturt's party for, pointing to the sun, they showed me that six revolutions of that source of heat had elapsed since the visit of others like us. Other gestures, such as a reference to covering, and expressions of countenance, made their indications of the lapse of time plain enough. It seemed to me that the disease which it was understood had raged among them (probably from the bad water) had almost depopulated the Darling, and that these people were but the remains of a tribe. The females were numerous in proportion to the males, and they were not at all secluded by the men, as in places where the numerical proportions were different. All these natives (with the exception of the boy) had lost the right front tooth. They had a very singular mode of expressing surprise, making a curious short whistle by joining the tongue and lips. The gins were hideous notwithstanding they were rouged with red ochre, by way, no doubt, of setting off their charms. I gave to one man a piece of my sword blade, and to another a tomahawk, which he carefully wrapped in the paper in which I had kept it, and he seemed much pleased with his present. They pointed to the west as the general course of the river.

RESULTS OF THE JOURNEY.

The results of our journey thus far were, first, the survey of the Bogan, nearly from its sources to its junction with the Darling. This I considered no trifling addition to Australian geography; for the knowledge of the actual course of a long river, however diminutive the channel, may often determine to a great extent the character of the country through which it passes. In the present instance it may be remarked that, had Captain Sturt considered the course of this river when he named the lower part of it New Year's Creek, the idea that the plains which he saw to the southward of New Year's range formed the "channel of a broad and rapid river" never could have occurred to him; for the basin of the Bogan being bounded on the west by a succession of low hills, no other river could have been reasonably looked for in such a direction. Again, the connection of that chain of low hills with the higher lands of the colony, being thus indicated by the course of the Bogan, it is not probable that this traveller, had he been aware of the fact, would have described New Year's range, which is about the last of these hills, as "the FIRST elevation in the interior of Eastern Australia, to the westward of Mount Harris." On the contrary, the divergent lines of the Bogan and the Lachlan might rather have been supposed to include a hilly country which, increasing in height in proportion as its breadth thus became greater, would naturally form that high ground so likely to separate the Upper Darling from the valley of the Murray.

Secondly. The continuous course of the Bogan into the Darling being thus at length determined, Duck creek, a deeper chain of ponds in the level country nearer to the Macquarie, could only be considered the final channel for the waters of that river in their course towards the Darling; and it only remained to be ascertained on our return at what point these waters of the Macquarie separated during its floods from the main stream.

Thirdly. The non-existence of any swamp under Oxley's Tableland furnished another proof of the extreme vicissitudes of climate to which that part of Australia is subject. This spot had been specially recommended to government by Captain Sturt as the best place for my depot, on account of the water to be found there, whereas we had found that vicinity so dry that had I relied too implicitly on the suggestion I must, as already observed, in all probability, have lost the cattle.

Fourthly. The water of the Darling, which when discovered had been salt, was now fresh, thus proving that there was on this last occasion a greater abundance of water in the river; while the swamp dried up, proved that less remained upon the surface than when this country had been previously visited.

The geological character of the country was obvious enough, the hills consisting of quartz rock and that fine-grained red sandstone which characterises the most barren regions of New South Wales. Below this rock granite appeared in the bed of the Bogan precisely at the place where this river, after a long course nearly parallel to the Macquarie, at length takes a remarkable turn westward towards the Darling.

FRIENDLY DISPOSITION OF A NATIVE.

May 29.

We this day completed the stockade and had felled most of the timber near it; and I was glad to find that the blacks had already resumed their usual occupations. One of those, whom I saw yesterday, while passing down the river today on a piece of bark, perceived Mr. Larmer fishing, upon which he approached the riverbank, and after throwing to him a fish which he had caught, continued in his frail bark to float down the stream. This was a most prepossessing act of kindness, and I begged Mr. Larmer to endeavour to recognise the man again and show our sense of it by suitable presents.

EMBARK IN THE BOATS.

May 30.

This morning we launched the boats and one of them, which had never floated before, was called by the men The Discovery. I therefore named the other The Resolution, telling them that they had now the names of Captain Cook's two ships for our river-navigating vessels. Most of the loads were also arranged today for embarkation, including three months' rations: three months supplies were also left for the garrison, besides a store of one month for the whole party, to serve for the journey home. This day our Vulcan presented me with a good blade, forged on the Darling and tempered in its waters. We were fortunate in our blacksmith, for he also made some good pikes or spearheads, which he mounted on long poles, to be carried in the boats.

PRESENTS TO NATIVES.

May 31.

The same natives with an old man and a very wild-looking young one, covered with red ochre, total gules, came to their tree, and I went to them. I gave the old man a spike-nail sharpened, but he asked for a tomahawk, and I then gave him one.

THEY BECOME IMPORTUNATE.

This last gift only made our visitors more importunate; but I at length left them to attend to more important matters. Soon after, the man to whom I first gave a tomahawk beckoned me to come to him again, and I went up with my rifle, demanding what more he wanted; whereupon he only laughed, and soon after pulled my handkerchief from my pocket. I restored it to its place in a manner that showed I disliked the freedom taken with it. I then sent a ball into a tree a good way off, which seemed to surprise them; and having made them understand that such a ball would easily pierce through six blackfellows, I snapped my fingers at one of their spears, and hastened to the camp. I considered these hints the more necessary as the natives seemed to think us very simple fools who were ready to part with everything. Thus enlightened as to the effect of our firearms these thankless beggars disappeared; although several gins and some men still sat on the opposite bank, observing our boats.

WE LEAVE THE DEPOT AND EMBARK IN THE BOATS.

June 1.

Everything being ready I embarked with Mr. Larmer and 14 men, leaving the depot in charge of Joseph Jones (assistant overseer) and six other men, armed with four muskets and as many pistols. We proceeded well enough some way down the river, but at length a shallow reach first occasioned much delay, and afterwards rocks so dammed up the channel that it was necessary to unload and draw the boats over them.

SLOW PROGRESS DOWN THE RIVER.

Our progress was thus extremely slow, notwithstanding the activity and exertions of the men, who were almost constantly in the water, although a bitter cold wind blew all day. By sunset we had got over a bad place where there was a considerable fall, when, on looking round the point, we found that the bed of the river was full of rocks, to the extent of nearly a mile. I therefore encamped only a few miles from the depot, the latitude being 30 degrees 9 minutes 59 seconds South.

RETURN TO THE DEPOT.

These unexpected impediments to our progress down the river determined me to return to the depot with the boats, and afterwards to explore its course on horseback until I could discover more of its character and ultimate course.

No time had yet been lost, for the horses and cattle had required some rest; and the depot was still desirable as a place of defence while I proceeded down with the horses. We had however acquired such a knowledge of the bed, banks, and turnings of the river at this part as could not have been otherwise obtained. The water being beautifully transparent the bottom was visible at great depths, showing large fishes in shoals, floating like birds in mid-air. What I have termed rocks are only patches of ferruginous clay which fill the lowest part of the basin of this river. The bed is composed either of that clay or of a ferruginous sandstone exactly similar to that on the coast near Sydney, and which resembles what was formerly called the iron-sand of England, where it occurs, as before stated, both as a fresh and saltwater formation. At the narrows the quantity of running water was very inconsiderable, but perhaps as much as might have turned a mill. It made some noise among the stones however although at the very low level of this river compared to its distance from the known coasts it could not fall much. I was nevertheless unwilling to risk the boats among the rocks or clay banks, and accordingly decided on returning to the camp.

June 2.

We proceeded up the river with the boats, re infecta, and reached the depot about two o'clock, where we found all things going on as I had directed.

NATIVES IN CANOES.

As we pulled up the river two natives appeared at a distance in one of the long reaches, fishing in two small canoes. On observing our boats they dashed the water up, paddling with their spears, and thus scudding with great rapidity to the right bank, where they left their canoes and instantly disappeared. These vessels were of the simplest construction; so slight indeed that it seemed to us singular how a man could float in one, for it was merely a sheet of bark, with a little clay at each end; yet there was a fire besides in each, the weather being very cold. A native, when he wishes to proceed, stands erect and propels the canoe with the short spear he uses in fishing; striking the water with each end alternately, on each side of the canoe, and he thus glides very rapidly along.

EXCURSION WITH A PARTY ON HORSEBACK.

June 3.

I set off with four men on horseback to examine the river downwards, proceeding first two miles on a bearing of 151 degrees, and then south-west. At about 20 miles we made an angle of the river where the left bank was 50 feet high. None of the usual indications of the neighbourhood of the Darling appeared here. No flats of Polygonum junceum, nor falls in the ground. The river was evidently encroaching on this high bank which consisted of red sandy earth to the depth of ten feet. Below this stratum was clay mixed with calcareous concretions. The opposite bank was lower and very grassy; and the water in the river was brackish; but a small spring oozing from the rocks above-mentioned, at about two feet above the water of the river, was perfectly sweet. From this bend the highest point of D'Urban's group bore 151 degrees (from north). About one half of the way which we had come today lay across plains, the last portion we crossed containing several hollows, thickly overgrown with the Polygonum junceum. Between these low parts the ground was rather more elevated than usual, especially where D'Urban's group bore 163 degrees (from north). The undulations were probably connected with that range, and their position afforded some clue to the western bends of the river. We passed in a scrub a young gin and a boy. They did not begin to run until we stood still and had called to them for some time. As there was still light to spare I proceeded onward, travelling west-south-west, and with difficulty regained sight of the river at dusk. Here the water was still more brackish but quite good enough for use; and we passed the night in a hollow by the riverside.

June 4.

At an angle of the river, below the gully in which we had slept, a rocky dyke crossed the stream in a north-north-west direction. It consisted of a very hard ferruginous sandstone resembling that on the eastern coast. This must have been another of the many impediments to our boat navigation had we proceeded by water, and from the general appearance of the river I was satisfied that a passage with boats could not have been attempted in its present state with any prospect of getting soon down. We travelled on, without seeing the river, from seven until twelve, following a south-west course, then due west, and in this direction we crossed the broad dry bed of a watercourse coming from the south-east, having previously observed high ground on the left.

A PERFUMED VEGETABLE.

The bed of this watercourse was covered with a plant resembling clover or trefoil, but it had a yellow flower, and a perfume like that of woodrooffe.* A fragrant breeze played over this richest of clover fields and reminded me of new-mown hay. The verdure and the perfume were new to my delighted senses, and my passion for discovering something rich and strange was fully gratified, while my horse, defying the rein, seemed no less pleased in the midst of so delicious a feast as this verdure must have appeared to him. The ground seemed to rise before me, and I was proceeding with the intention of ascending the nearest elevation to look for the Darling when I suddenly came upon its banks, which were higher, and its bed was broader and deeper than ever!

(*Footnote. See below for Dr. Lindley's description of this plant.)

INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES.

We had also arrived on it at a point occupied by a numerous tribe of blacks, judging by the number of fires which we saw through the trees. Their roads appeared in all directions, and their gins were fishing in the river at a distance. In short, the buzz of population gave to the banks at this place the cheerful character of a village in a populous country. Conscious of the alarm our first appearance was likely to produce, although I could not suppose that all the inhabitants would run off, I hastened to the water edge with our horses (for they had not drunk that morning) in order that we might, after refreshing them, recover a position favourable for a parley with whoever might approach us. I was much pleased, though surprised, to find the water again quite fresh, and its current still sustained.* Our appearance caused less alarm than I had even expected. A sturdy man hailed me from a distance and came boldly up, followed by another very athletic, though old, individual, and six younger men with an old woman. I alighted and met them after sending, at their request, the horses out of sight. With difficulty I persuaded them at length to go near the horses; but I endeavoured in vain to gain any information as to the further course of the river. The Callewatta was still their name for it, as it was higher up. I observed here that the old woman was a loquacious and most influential personage, scarcely allowing the older of the men to say a word.

(*Footnote. See below.)

PRESENT THEM WITH TOMAHAWKS.

The curiosity of these people was too intense to admit of much attention on their part, at that time, either to our words or gestures so, after giving them a tomahawk and two large nails, and refusing to let them have my pocket-handkerchief (no unusual request, for such natives always found it out) I mounted, and we galloped off to the eastward, their very singular mode of expressing surprise being audible until we were at some distance. On reaching that point in my track where I had in the morning changed the direction of my ride, I took off to the north-north-east, in search of the river, and at six miles we reached a branch of it where it formed an island. We did not arrive here until long after sunset and were, consequently, in an unpleasant state of ignorance as to the locality, but we made our fire in a hollow, as on the preceding night, and could only rely on the surrounding silence for security. The result of the excursion thus far was that I ascertained that angle of the river which I first made on this tour to be the part nearest of all to D'Urban's group; that its general course thence to the lowest position at which I had seen it (the direct distance being 21 miles) is nearly two points more to the westward than the course from the depot; and that, even at such a distance from Oxley's Tableland and D'Urban's group, the line of the river is evidently influenced by these heights, thus rendering it probable that it might be found to turn still more towards the west or north-west on its approaching any other hills situated on the left bank.

(*Footnote. See below.)

June 5.

I awoke thankful that we had been again guided to a solitary and secure place of rest. That no tribe was near admitted of little doubt after we had seen the morning dawn and found ourselves awake for, had our fire been discovered by any natives, it was very unlikely that any of us had been permitted to wake again.

UNSUCCESSFUL SEARCH FOR MR. HUME'S MARKED TREE.

Being within a mile and a half of where Captain Sturt and Mr. Hume had turned (as indicated by the bearing given by the former of D'Urban's group, namely 58 degrees East of South) I looked along the riverbank for the tree described by the former as having Mr. Hume's initials cut upon it, but without success, and at ten o'clock I left the river and rode on the same bearing to D'Urban's group. The thick scrub, having been previously burnt, presented spikes like bayonets, which reduced our hurried ride to a walking pace, our horses winding a course through it as the skeleton trees permitted. In an unburnt open place I found one solitary specimen of a tree with light bluish-green leaves, and a taste and smell resembling mustard. It was no less remarkable for its rare occurrence and solitary character than for the flavour of its wood and remarkable foliage. I could obtain no seeds of it.*

(*Footnote. See description of this plant as discovered in a better state on the banks of the Murray, Volume 2 Chapter 3.6. June 5. Gyrostemon.)

ASCEND D'URBAN'S GROUP.

I ascended the highest and most southern summit, anxiously hoping to obtain a view of Dunlop's range. The view was most satisfactory. I beheld a range, the first I had seen since I lost sight of Harvey's. It was extensive and descended towards the river from the south-east, being a different kind of feature from the various detached hills which cannot form basins for rivers on these dead levels, nor even supply springs.

PROMISING VIEW TO THE SOUTHWARD.

Dunlop's range certainly was not high, but its undulating crest, vanishing far in the south-east, showed its connection with the high ground south of the Bogan; and a long line of smoke skirting its northern base afforded fair promise of some river or chain of ponds near which a native population could live. The course of the Darling was clearly marked out by its extensive plains and the darker line of large trees vanishing far in the west. Beyond, or westward of the river, no high ground appeared, no Berkley's range as shown on the map, unless it might be a slight elevation, so very low and near as to be visible above the horizon, only from the foot of the hill on which I then stood. A few detached hills were scattered over the country between me and the Bogan; and of these Oxley's Tableland was the most remarkable, being a finer mass by far than Mount Helvelyn. This ridge, the features of which are rather tame, consists of two hills (a and b) the principal or southern summit (a) being 910 feet, the other 660 feet, above the plain at their base. These heights are 2 1/2 miles from each other, which distance comprises the whole extent of D'Urban's group, in the line of its summits between north-east and south-west.

The steep and rocky face of the ridge thus formed is towards the river, or westward. Eastward lower features branch off, and are connected by slight undulations with some of the otherwise isolated hills in that quarter. Towards the base is a very fine-grained sandstone, and at the summit I found a quartzose rock, possessing a tendency to break into irregular polygons, some of the faces being curved. There are a few stunted pines on the higher crest, but the other parts are nearly bare. The highest point of Helvelyn (which I take to be the southern summit) is distant from the nearest bend of the Darling 17 2/6 miles, on a line bearing 151 degrees from North, and from the highest part of Oxley's Tableland, which bears 43 degrees from North (variation 6 degrees 30 minutes East) it is distant 39 miles. At this summit the western extremity of Dunlop's range forms with Oxley's Tableland an angle coinciding with the general course of the Darling, which flows through the adjacent plains at an average distance of about 16 miles from each of these points.

A BURNT SCRUB FULL OR SPINOUS DEAD BOUGHS.

It was nearly sunset when I mounted my horse at the foot of Helvelyn, intending to return to the Darling for, there being no other water in the whole country at that time, my intention was to travel back to this river by moonlight. I had found however during my ride to this hill, that the intervening country was covered by a half-burnt scrub, presenting sharp points between which we could scarcely hope to pass in safety by moonlight with our horses, since even in daylight we could not proceed except at a very slow pace. The half-burnt branches were armed with points so sharp as to penetrate, in one instance, the upper part of my horse's hoof, and in another, a horse's fetlock, from which a portion was drawn measuring more than an inch.

A NIGHT WITHOUT WATER.

I therefore determined to pass the night at a short distance from the foot of this hill, on a spot where I found some good grass.

RETURN TO THE CAMP.

June 6.

We proceeded to the Darling where we could, at length, have breakfast and water the horses. Returning from the river along our track to the camp I arrived there at seven in the evening with two of the men, the others having fallen behind on account of their horses. The latter however came in not long after, although it had been found necessary to leave one poor horse tied in the bush near the camp until sent for early next morning. On our way back we discovered that a native having a very large foot had followed our track for fifteen miles from where we had first alarmed the gin; it was therefore probable that he had not been far from where we slept in the hollow on the first evening.

THE PARTY LEAVES FORT BOURKE.

June 8.

We broke up our encampment on the position which I had selected for a depot (and which had served as such during our short absence down the river) and after proceeding two miles on the bearing of 151 degrees, in order to clear the river, we followed my previous track to the south-west.

THE PARTY PROCEEDS DOWN THE DARLING.

The ground crossed by the party this day consisted chiefly of plains with little scrub; and when we had travelled 12 1/2 miles, it appearing open towards a bend in the river, we made for the tall trees (our never-failing guides to water) on a bearing of 248 degrees. We reached the Darling at 14 1/4 miles and encamped near it.

SURPRISE A PARTY OF NATIVES.

As we approached this spot, and while I was reconnoitring the bank for the purpose of marking out the camp, I came suddenly upon a party of natives, one of whom giving a short cooey first made me aware of the circumstance. Burnett went towards them with a branch; but they hastily gathered up their things and fled. The party appeared to consist of two men and five women, and it doubtless belonged to the same tribe as the gins we had previously seen; and the men were probably those who had traced us so far. The river water was brackish; and in the bank was a bed of calcareous concretions which some of the men supposed to be bones.

June 9.

Striking again into the original south-west track by leaving the river on a bearing of 202 degrees we arrived on the eastern bend of it, where we had before breakfasted, and where we now heard natives, as if hastily making their escape. Continuing the journey to the next bend lower down we encamped at the head of the same gully in which I slept on the night between the 4th and 5th of June.

NEW ACACIA.

On passing through the bush this day we fell in with a tree that was new to me. It appeared to be very near Acacia eglandulosa (De C.) but the branches had so graceful a character that I was tempted to draw it while I awaited the arrival of the carts, whose progress through the spinous scrub already mentioned was very slow. The wood of this acacia was hard and of a dark brown colour. We gathered some stones of the fruit: and we brought away its stem also.

June 10.

The knowledge which I had acquired in my ride down the Darling now enabled me to follow the most desirable route in order to avoid the scrub, and travel along the plains near its banks. At five miles and twelve chains we approached a bend of the river, and found there the remains of a large hut, in the construction of which an axe had been used. It therefore occurred to me that we might be near the tree where Captain Sturt had turned from the Darling, and I found that the northern head of D'Urban's group bore nearly 58 degrees East of South, the bearing given by him of this group.

MR. HUME'S TREE FOUND.

I therefore looked along the riverbank for the tree in question, but without success. In crossing a dry watercourse some miles further on it occurred to me that this might be the one at the mouth of which Mr. Hume had cut his name. I therefore sent overseer Burnett and The Doctor to trace the channel down, and to look for a tree so marked. They found at the mouth of the creek a very large and remarkable gumtree, and on the side next the river the letters H.H. appeared, although the cross-line of one H had grown out. The letters seemed to have been cut with a tomahawk, and were about five inches in length. The men cut my initials also on that tree, which to my regret I was prevented from seeing by a desire to attain a certain point with the party which I was consequently obliged to lead. We travelled for this purpose until after sunset, and then encamped at a distance of about a mile and a half to the southward of a bend of the Darling.

CATARACT IN THE DARLING.

Here the river formed a cataract of about two feet, falling over some argillaceous ironstone: and as the waters glittered in the moonlight I listened with awe to the unwonted murmur of this mysterious stream which poured through the heart of a desert, by its single channel, that element so essential to the existence of all animals. One of the men (Robert Whiting) had examined the river a mile and a half above the fall, and found the water there so very salt that he could not drink it, and he therefore proceeded downwards to this fall, where it proved to be good.

SURPRISED BY A PARTY OF NATIVES.

June 11.

In the morning, while examining the river below the fall, some natives hailed me from the opposite side, and soon afterwards, having slyly swum the river, they stole suddenly upon us while I sat drawing the cataract. One of our men heard them creeping along the bank above us, whereupon the whole party stood up and laughed. Among them I recognised the old man whom I had seen a few days previously on my excursion lower down the river. There was another old man who was more intelligent and less covetous than the rest. I gave him a clasp-knife with which he appeared much pleased, making the most expressive gestures of friendship and kindness by clasping me around the neck, and patting my back. The number of this tribe amounted to about twenty. I remarked among them an old woman having under her especial care a very fine-looking young one. They had swum across the river with as little inconvenience as if they had only stepped over it. The teeth and shape of the mouth of the young female were really beautiful, and indeed her person and modest air presented a good specimen of Australian womanhood. On leaving us they loudly pronounced a particular word which I as often repeated in reply; and they pointed to the earth and the water, giving us to understand in every way they could that we were welcome to the water, which they probably considered their own.

EMU KILLED BY THE DOGS.

As we crossed a plain the dogs set off after three emus, the pursued and the pursuers disappearing in the woods. Some time after, while passing through a scrub, we came upon the dogs standing quietly beside a dead emu. If not the first killed by them, it was at least the first that fell into our hands; and if this were the only one they had killed it was singular enough that the capture should have happened exactly in the line of our route. This acquisition we considered a favourable omen on our approaching the hills, for we had begun to despair of obtaining any of these swift though gigantic birds, inhabitants of the plains.

DUNLOP'S RANGE.

At length we reached rising ground, rather a novelty to us; and I continued my course across a ridge which appeared to be connected on the south with Dunlop's range. It consisted of a very hard conglomerate composed of irregular concretions of milk-white quartz, in a ferruginous basis, with apparently compact felspar weathering white. It seemed the same kind of rock which I found nearest to the Karaula, in latitude 29 degrees.* On this hill we encamped for the night, the bend of the river nearest to us bearing north-north-east, and being distant about two miles. It was almost sunset before we took up our ground, and we had still to seek the nearest way to the river, through woods. Such occasions tried the nettle of my men; but he who, at the close of such days, was the first to set out for the river, with his bucket in hand, and musket on shoulder, was the man for me. Such men were Whiting, Muirhead, and The Doctor; and although I insisted on several going together on such an errand, I had some trouble to prevent these from setting out alone. The river made a sharp turn northward, and at the bend the water was deeper and broader than we had seen it elsewhere. The taste was perfectly sweet.

(*Footnote. See below.)

June 12.

We travelled for several miles over stony ground which gradually rose to a hill on our right, and then declined rapidly to the river. Descending at length to the level ground, we passed through much scrub which terminated on a plain, bounded on the side opposite to us by the large gumtrees or eucalypti, the never-failing indicators of the river. The stream there ran in a rather contracted channel, and over a sandy bed. Its course was to the southward, in which direction extensive plains appeared to stretch along its bank.

MEET THE PUPPY TRIBE.

As I approached the river a tribe of natives who were seated very near me at their fires, under a large tree, called out. We communicated in the usual manner, but I could learn nothing from them about the general course of the Darling lower down. I gave them a clasp-knife and two young pups of a good breed for killing kangaroos. They expressed astonishment at everything (no common trait in the aborigines) and I was obliged to sit cross-legged before a very old chief nearly blind while he examined my dress, shirt, pockets, etc. This tribe, like the others, was not at all numerous.

We proceeded until we arrived under the north-western extremity of Dunlop's range, when we encamped on the margin of a small lagoon, evidently the remains of some flood which had been produced by the overflowing of the river, only half a mile distant to the north-west. The lagoon was more convenient to us for watering our cattle than the river, the left bank of which, adjacent to our camp, was broken to a much greater distance back than I had observed it to be anywhere higher up.

ASCEND DUNLOP'S RANGE.

June 13.

The wheels of the two carts requiring some repairs, and it being also necessary to shoe several horses, I thought it advisable to rest the party this day: I wished also to ascend Dunlop's range. On climbing to the top I found that it consisted of a chain of hills composed of a very hard sandstone, or quartz rock, similar to that of D'Urban's group. The summit was bare, not only of trees but even of grass, or any vegetation. This nakedness was however the more favourable for my chief object, which was to obtain a view of the distant country. The weather was not very auspicious, the sky being cloudy, and slight showers fell occasionally. The height of these hills is not considerable, the summit of that which I ascended was about 528 feet above the plains. It was seven miles to the south-east of the camp and at the north-west extremity of the range, or the most western part visible from D'Urban's group. I never ascended a hill with feelings of keener interest in the views it commanded. Eastward I beheld that hilly country which I had always considered to lie in the best line of exploration; and from this point it looked well.

HIGH LAND DISCOVERED TO THE WESTWARD.

I could easily trace the further course of the Darling for about 20 miles westward; but the most remarkable feature discoverable from the hill was the undulating character of the country to the north-west beyond the river. That region no longer presented a dead flat like the ocean, but had upon it various eminences some resembling low portions of tableland, others being only undulations raised a little above the common level; but the whole country was much variegated with wood and plain.

June 14.

We moved forward along the plains, keeping the river in sight on the right; and after travelling 13 1/2 miles we encamped close to it. The banks were so steep at this part that the cattle could not be got down without considerable difficulty. The water was quite sweet.

June 15.

We continued our journey in a south-west direction, and thus crossed various slight eminences connected with a range which lay nearly parallel to our route, on the left, and was named by me Rankin's Range.

THE OCCA TRIBE.

Some natives followed us during a part of this day, shouting, and at length came boldly up to the head of the column. They were very greedy, coveting everything they saw; and holding out their hands, uttering constantly, in an authoritative tone, the word occa! which undoubtedly means give! I had not been in their presence one minute before their chief, a very stout fellow, drew forth my pocket-handkerchief, while a boy took my Kater's compass from the other pocket and was on the point of running off with it. I gave a clasp-knife to the chief, when another of the party most importunately demanded a tomahawk. Observing that he carried a curious stone hatchet I offered to exchange the tomahawk for it, to which he reluctantly agreed. I left them at last disgusted with their greediness; and I determined henceforward to admit no more such specimens of wild men to any familiarity with my clothes, pockets, or accoutrements. They paid no attention to my questions about the river. When the party moved on they followed, and when I halted or rode back they ran off; thus alternately retiring and returning, and calling to the men. At last I galloped my horse at them, whereupon they disappeared altogether in the bush. At 10 1/2 miles we came upon the river, and encamped where it was very deep and broad, the banks and also the flood marks being much lower than further up the Darling.

June 16.

We were compelled to turn east for half a mile to clear a bend in the river to our left, which, impinging upon some rather high ground, left us no very good passage. The course of the river lower down was such that after travelling many miles to the south-west, and two to the west and north-west, I was obliged to encamp without being able to find it. By following a hollow however which descended in a north-east direction from our camp, the river was discovered by our watering party in the evening at the distance of about three miles. The country which we had crossed this day was of a somewhat different character from any yet passed, consisting of low, bare eminences, bounding extensive open plains on which were hollows on a clay bottom surrounded by Polygonum junceum, and evidently the receptacles of water at other times. The hills, if the bare eminences might be so-called, were composed of a red sandy soil producing only salsolae and composite plants, but no grass. This red sand was so loose that the wheels of the carts sank in it at some places to the axles. There were bold undulations where we encamped; all declining towards the hollow connected with the river. There was also a little hill overlooking plains to the north and west. We passed a solitary tree of a remarkable character, related to Banisteria, the wood being white and close-grained, much resembling beech. As it pleased the carpenters I gathered some of the seeds. This evening by observation of the star alpha Crucis I ascertained the variation to be 7 degrees 52 minutes 15 seconds East.

June 17.

We descried, from a tree not far from the camp, hills to the westward, and the interest with which we now daily watched the horizon may easily be imagined, for on the occurrence and direction of ridges of high land depended the course of the Darling and its union with other rivers, or discharge into the sea on the nearest line of coast. A range extending from west to north-west was in sight, also a lower ridge, but apparently on the other side of the river. The cattle having separated on its banks during the night they were not brought up so early as usual; and in the interim I endeavoured to repair the barometer, which was out of order. This accident had occurred in consequence of the man having carried it, contrary to my orders, slung round his body instead of holding it in his hand. Much of the quicksilver had shaken out of the bag and lodged in the lower part of the cylinder; but by filing the brass and letting off this mercury the instrument was rendered once more serviceable. We travelled this day due west, and at the end of 7 1/2 miles we encamped on a bend of the river where the water was deep, and the banks rather low, but very steep. The sky became overcast, almost for the first time since we had advanced into these interior regions, and at sunset it began to rain. The position of the hills and the direction of the river were here particularly interesting, as likely soon to decide the question respecting the ultimate course of this solitary stream on which our lives depended in this dry and naked wilderness!

June 18.

The morning was fine as usual, the rain which fell during the night had only laid the dust. We proceeded south-west until the bends of the river obliged me to move still more to the southward. The hills on the opposite bank at length receded, and we saw before us only a wide desert plain where nothing seemed to move, and the only indication of life throughout this melancholy waste was a distant column of dark smoke ascending in remarkable density to the sky. In the afternoon, the wind blowing keenly from the west-south-west, we encamped amongst some polygonum bushes near the river after travelling 10 1/4 miles.

June 19.

A thick haze came on, with an extremely cold wind from the south-west; and as it was necessary to look well before me in this part of our journey, I gave the men and cattle the benefit of a day's rest. The river was so shallow that it seemed almost possible to step across it; and no deep reaches appeared in its bed. This probably was the reason why no natives were in the vicinity, as in such deep parts only can they find fish. The quantity of water continued the same as when we first came on the river 120 miles higher up.

GRASS PULLED AND PILED IN RICKS BY THE NATIVES.

In the neighbourhood of our camp the grass had been pulled to a very great extent, and piled in hay-ricks so that the aspect of the desert was softened into the agreeable semblance of a hay-field. The grass had evidently been thus laid up by the natives, but for what purpose we could not imagine. At first I thought the heaps were only the remains of encampments, as the aborigines sometimes sleep on a little dry grass; but when we found the ricks, or haycocks, extending for miles we were quite at a loss to understand why they had been made. All the grass was of one kind, a new species of Panicum related to P. effusum R. Br.* and not a spike of it was left in the soil over the whole of the ground. A cucurbitaceous plant had also been pulled up and accumulated in smaller heaps; and from some of the roots the little yam had been taken, but on others it remained. The surface, naturally soft, thus appeared as bare as a fallow field. I found a pole about 20 feet long, with a forked end, set upright by having one end planted in the ground and fixed by many sticks and pieces of old stumps from the river. As the natives erect similar poles on the banks of the Darling to stretch their nets on for taking ducks it is probable that the heaps of grass had been pulled here for some purpose connected with the allurement of birds or animals.

(*Footnote. P. laevinode, Lindley manuscripts; panicula composita contracta capillari, ramis pedicellisque flexuosis, spiculis acutis glabris, gluma exteriore rotundata laxa: interiore 5-nervi, foliis vaginis geniculisque glabris laevibus.)

HILLS BEYOND THE DARLING.

June 20.

The morning was fine but a heavy dew had fallen during the night. We proceeded across ground quite open, herbless, and so very soft that even my horse waded through it with difficulty. At length we gained some gentle rises at the base of which the soil was a clay, so tenacious as to have hollows in its surface which, during wet seasons, had evidently retained water for a considerable time. A fine hill, apparently connected with a range extending northward, at length became visible beyond the right bank of the river and, as I had previously observed in one or two similar cases, the Darling took a westerly turn towards the hill, so that this day's journey was not much to the south of west. On one of the low eminences which we crossed a new species of parrot was shot, having scarlet feathers on the breast, those on the head and wings being tinged a beautiful blue, and on the back, etc. a dark brownish green.* The round knolls consist of a red earth which is different from the soil of the plains; its basis appearing to be ironstone. We encamped on good firm ground, and there was abundance of good grass on the riverbank. We were not very far from the heights on the opposite side; a branch from them extending nearly to the river.

(*Footnote. This bird has since been named by Mr. Gould Platycercus haematogaster.)

June 21.

The ground was much better this day for travelling over. We passed through a scrub of limited extent, and for the first time in these parts we discovered a new species of casuarina. On ascending a small hill to the left of our route I perceived two summits of a distant range, bearing 169 degrees 20 minutes (from North) and I was not sorry to see that the intervening country was better wooded and undulated more than that we had lately traversed, for wherever trees or bushes grew, we generally found the ground to be hardest. We were compelled to travel much farther than I intended in order to reach the river, which took a great sweep to the west, a change in its direction which I had previously observed to take place in the course of this river on approaching a similar feature on the right bank. The river was narrower and its channel more contracted at this part than at any other I had seen; indeed so great was the change in the dimensions that I doubted whether this was more than an arm of it. The current however ran at about the same rate, and the general course for some miles to the southward was marked out, as usual, by large trees. At the camp the head of the range on the right bank bore North 16 degrees West.

CONVENIENT REFRACTION.

June 22.

The distant range which I observed during the journey of yesterday appeared high above the horizon of our camp this morning, and the refracted image was so perfect that with my glass I could distinguish the trees and other objects. Thus I obtained bearings on the range from a spot whence it could be but seldom visible. The small eminences to the eastward, from which I first saw that range, were also refracted, and appeared like cliffs on a sea coast. To the astonishment of the men all the hills however soon disappeared. The Darling took some bends eastward of south; and we were much troubled during this day's journey by the soft ground through which we were obliged to travel in order to keep clear of the river. At length I could proceed south-west, and on reaching, at 12 1/4 miles, a bend in the channel, I saw one of the low ridges extending westward. On ascending it I discovered a range to the south-west, apparently connected with that already seen to the south, and from the many beaten paths of the natives it seemed probable that this angle was the nearest to the hilly country which lay to the south-east.

NATIVE HUTS.

There were also permanent huts on both banks, the first of the kind I had seen, large enough certainly to contain a family of 15 persons; and in one there had recently been a fire. They were semicircular and constructed of branches of trees, well thatched with straw, forming altogether a covering of about a foot in thickness, and they were well able to afford a ready and dry shelter in bad weather. In this respect the inhabitants of that part of the Darling may be considered somewhat before their brethren further eastward as rational beings. These permanent huts seemed also to indicate a race of more peaceful and settled habits, for where the natives are often at war such habitations could neither be permanent nor safe. The river was here itself again, and not contracted as at the last encampment.

INTERVIEW WITH THE RED TRIBE.

June 23.

Early this morning the natives were heard hailing us from the woods, and as soon as I had breakfasted I advanced to them with Burnett. They were seventeen in number, and five or six of the foremost held out green boughs. I also pulled one, but they called to me and beckoned me to lay aside my sword, which I accordingly did, and then they all sat down. They had good, expressive countenances, but they were not strong-looking men. One, whose physiognomy I thought very prepossessing, and much improved by the cheeks and other features being coloured red, appeared to be their chief. He sat in the middle of the front row, and though he said but little yet he was addressed by the more forward and talkative. This rough, manly, rosy-faced fellow was such a figure as Neptune or Jupiter are usually represented; he had also a flowing beard. The group were almost all marked with the smallpox. I could not gain any certain information from them about the course of the river or the bearing of the nearest sea; but they all pointed to the north-north-west when I made signs of rowing in water, or of large waves, etc. On quitting them I presented the king with a greyhound pup and a tomahawk. A total ignorance of the nature of the latter was a proof that we were indeed strangers to them; for, although the tool had a handle, they knew not what use to make of it until I showed them. We left them quite delighted with both gifts, which were doubtless as important to them as the discovery of a sea would then have been to me. The journey of this day opened prospects the most promising for such a discovery, for the river from that bend pursued a more westerly course. Ranges beyond ranges arose also in the south-west, while vast plains, without any indication of the Darling among them, extended before us to the west-south-west. I had some trouble indeed to get as near to the river as was indispensable for encampment; but at length we halted on a firm bit of ground, close to a very sharp bend in its course.

HOW TO AVOID THE SANDY HILLS AND SOFT PLAINS.

June 24.

We possessed nearly west over open ground skirted on the south by gentle eminences of red earth. There plains of soft naked soil were most distressing to the bullocks, and even to horses and men on foot; in the general direction of the river these plains extended to the horizon, but the southern boundary of small hills was a peculiar feature, not observed higher up. Though the base of these eminences consisted of fine blue clay, yet their tops were so sandy and soft that the carts sank deeper than on the plains. It was my study to keep along the side of these hills as much as my route would permit; for in general the best line for travelling through the valley of the Darling is along the edging of stiff clay always to be found near the base of the red sandhills, which form the limits of those softer plains that usually extend for several miles back from the river.

MACCULLOCH'S RANGE.

On ascending the highest of the hills on my left I discovered that the ground to the southward was much more broken, and the appearance of a valley between me and a range which I named after Dr. Macculloch raised my hopes of finding some change in the country. On ascending however another eminence to the right, I perceived the summit of a hill which bore west-north-west, and rather discouraged my hopes respecting the river, for I had assumed that its new direction towards the westward would continue. We crossed the hill and encamped about two miles to the southward of a bend of the river. Here there was a fall of about four feet over masses of ferruginous clay with selenites embedded.* The banks were lower at this point than usual, and the quantity of running water was rather increased, probably from the springs which we had latterly observed in great abundance in the banks, generally about two feet above the surface of the stream. On the plains this day we found much selenite.

(*Footnote. This clay, in the opinion of geologists, has every appearance of a mud deposit.)

June 25.

There was again a considerable mirage or refraction this morning on the rising of the frost; and I hastened to a small hill near our camp that I might behold the transient vision of a distant horizon. The view was most interesting for the high lands on all sides appeared raised as if by magic; and I thus discovered that the hill, previously seen in the west, was connected with a chain which extended round to the north, and that there was higher land to the southward of Macculloch's range; the highest point being to the east, or east-north-east, beyond the hill discovered on the 21 instant. The horizon was lowest towards the west-south-west, for even in the south-west I could perceive a rise sufficient to confine the course of the river to the west-south-west. We proceeded nearly west by south over a soft bed of naked earth, across which, at one place, a well-beaten road of the natives led to the valley on the south and to some watercourse, if not to water itself. After 10 1/4 miles of weary travelling, we encamped on a bend of the Darling, in latitude 31 degrees 31 minutes 20 seconds South.

The soil of the plains being extremely soft, uneven, and full of holes, the cattle were at length almost unable to get through their allotted journeys; I therefore determined to let them rest during the three following days while I proceeded to the hills beyond the Darling, in a west-north-west direction nearly, and distant from our camp 11 2/3 miles.

VISIT A HILL BEYOND THE DARLING.

June 26.

I forded the Darling where the bottom was a hard clay; and I proceeded in a direction bearing 27 degrees north of west to the hill. There was much less of the soft soil on this bank, and at a mile from the ford we travelled on very firm clay, quite clear of vegetation, white, shining, and level as ice. At about seven miles from the river we reached the first rise of firm red earth. The vegetation upon it consisted of the two species of atriplex so very common on that soil, and more of the salsolae than I had before seen. This rise seemed to mark the extent of the bed of clay through which the Darling flows, at least as far as we had hitherto traced it. The country was open to about three miles from the summit where we passed through a scrub of stunted casuarinae, interspersed with a few of the acacia with spotted bark. Here we crossed some beds of conglomerate, consisting of grains and pebbles of quartz, cemented by a hard ferruginous matrix, probably decomposed felspar; and we saw soon after a few blocks of the same hard sandstone which occurs at Dunlop's range and other high points.

VIEW FROM ITS SUMMIT.

The summit, consisting of the same rock, was very broad and strewed with small stones, and partly covered with a dwarf acacia bush which gave a uniform tinge, like heath, to the whole country as far as my view extended to the westward. The horizon to the west and south-west was finely broken by hills resembling Oxley's Tableland and D'Urban's group, but the day was hazy, and I looked in vain for any indication of water. The heights towards the south-west appeared too detached also to promise any; more resembling islands in a sea, or pinnacles, only half-emerged from a deluge, so level was the general surface. Towards the north-west however the heights did seem connected, and had the appearance of being the loftier summits of very distant ranges; especially an eminence bearing 21 degrees north of west which I named Mount Lyell. There was also an isolated and remarkable summit which bore 50 1/2 degrees north of west, to which I gave the name of my friend, Dr. Daubeny. The lower ground seemed to undulate, but no part of it was intersected by open plains or any lines of large river trees indicating the permanent existence of water. On the contrary, as far as I could judge from colour and outline, the same thick dwarf scrub appeared to be the universal covering of the land; neither could I distinguish any smoke or other trace of human inhabitants, nor even the track of a single emu or kangaroo in that trans-Darling region. Still, it was impossible to ascertain from the hill whether any streams did flow through the country beyond, although appearances were by no means in favour of such a conclusion. Neither could I distinguish from that summit, as I hoped to do, the ultimate course of the Darling, as the line of large trees upon its banks continued, as far as I could distinguish, in the same direction. Another low but extensive range, exactly resembling that to the eastward of our camp, was visible on the horizon beyond it, and seemed to be the limit of its bed or basin on the eastern or left bank, and the range certainly did differ most essentially in its outline from the hills on the right bank, being the last and lowest termination of the higher ranges in the east.

MOUNT MURCHISON.

As we descended I named the first hill beyond the Darling ever ascended by any European after my friend Mr. Murchison, a gentleman who has so greatly advanced the science of geology. We recrossed the river at the ford just as the sun was going down, and I had the satisfaction to find that no natives had visited the camp during my absence.

CHAPTER 2.6.

Natives of the Spitting tribe. Singular behaviour on the discharge of a pistol. Conjectures. Second interview with the Spitting tribe. Strange ceremonial. Amusing attempts to steal, or diamond cut diamond. Dry channel of a stream. Tombs on the sandhills. White balls on tombs. Australian shamrock. Old canoe. Dry state of the country. Danger and difficulty of watching the cattle on the riverbanks. Uniform character of the Darling. The Grenadier bird. The Doctor and the natives. A range discovered by refraction. Dance of natives. A lake. Tombs of a tribe. Plan of natives' hut. Method of making cordage. The tall native's first visit. Channel of a small stream. The carts beset on the journey by very covetous natives. Mischievous signals. Cattle worn out. The tall man again. Approach of the Fishing tribe. Covetous old man. Conduct on witnessing the effect of a shot. The party obliged to halt from the weak state of the cattle. The natives very troublesome. Singular ceremonies. Ichthyophagi. Their manner of fishing. The burning brand. A tribe from the south-east. The old man appears again with a tribe from the south-west. Small streams from the west. The Darling turns southward. Resolve to return. Description of the country on the banks of the river. The men at the river obliged to fire upon the natives. Steady conduct of the party. Origin of the dispute. Narrow escape of Muirhead. Treacherous conduct of the aborigines. Melancholy reflections.

NATIVES OF THE SPITTING TRIBE.

June 27.

About nine o'clock this morning Joseph Jones came in to report that a native had pointed a spear at him when he was on the riverbank with the sheep; and that this native, accompanied by a boy, kept his ground in a position which placed the sheep entirely in his power, and prevented Jones from driving them back. He added that on his holding out a green bough the man had also taken a bough, spit upon it, and then thrust it into the fire. On hastening to the spot with three men I found the native still there, no way daunted, and on my advancing towards him with a twig he shook another twig at me, quite in a new style, waving it over his head, and at the same time intimating with it that we must go back. He and the boy then threw up dust at us in a clever way with their toes.* These various expressions of hostility and defiance were too intelligible to be mistaken. The expressive pantomime of the man plainly showed the identity of the human mind, however distinct the races or different the language—but his loud words were, of course, lost upon us. Overseer Burnett very incautiously stole up and sat unarmed and defenceless within five yards of him. All Burnett's endeavours to conciliate and inspire confidence had but little effect upon the savage, who merely lowered his tone a little, and then advancing a few steps, addressed himself no longer to me, but to him. I felt some apprehension for the safety of Burnett but it was too late to call him back. We were seated in the usual form at a distance of at least one hundred yards from him, and the savage held a spear, raised in his hand. At length however he retired slowly along the riverbank, making it evident by his gestures that he was going for his tribe; and singing a war-song as he went. The boy in particular seemed to glory in throwing up the dust at us, and I had not the least doubt, but certainly not the slightest wish, that we should see this man again.

(*Footnote. Strange as this custom appears to us it is quite consistent with some passages in the early history of mankind. King David and his host met with a similar reception at Bahurim: "And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill's side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust." 2 Samuel 16:13. So also we read in Acts 22:23: "They cried out and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air." Frequent mention is made of this as the practice of the Arabians, in Ockley's History of the Saracens, when they would express their contempt of a person speaking, and their abhorrence of what he publicly pronounces. We find also this directly stated in Light's Travels in Egypt page 64: "One more violent than the rest, threw dust into the air, the signal both of rage and defiance, ran for his shield, and came towards me dancing, howling, and striking the shield with the head of his javelin, to intimidate me.")

About half-past four in the afternoon a party of the tribe made their appearance in the same quarter; holding out boughs, but according to a very different ceremonial from any hitherto observed towards us by the aborigines. They used the most violent and expressive gestures, apparently to induce us to go back whence we had come; and as I felt that we were rather unceremonious invaders of their country it was certainly my duty to conciliate them by every possible means. Accordingly I again advanced, bearing a green branch on high, but the repulsive gestures then becoming much more violent than before I stopped at some distance from the party. Honest Vulcan, our blacksmith (two or three men being near him) was at work with his bellows and anvil near the riverbank. This man's labour seemed to excite very much their curiosity; and again the overseer and Bulger advanced quietly towards those natives who had approached nearest to the blacksmith. Hearing at length much laughter, I concluded that a truce had been effected as usual, and I too walked forward with my branch. But on going to the spot I found that all the laughter came from our party, the natives having refused to sit down and continuing to wave the branches in our people's faces, having also repeatedly spit at them; the whole of which conduct was good-naturedly borne in hopes of establishing a more amicable intercourse. As a peace-offering I then presented the man who appeared to be the leader with a tomahawk, the use of which he immediately guessed by turning round to a log and chopping at it. Two other stout fellows (our morning visitor being one of them) then rudely demanded my pistols from my belt; whereupon I drew one and, curious to see the effect, I fired it at a tree.

SINGULAR BEHAVIOUR ON THE DISCHARGE OF A PISTOL.

The scene which followed I cannot satisfactorily describe or represent, although I shall never forget it. As if they had previously suspected we were evil demons, and had at length a clear proof of it, they repeated their gesticulations of defiance with tenfold fury, and accompanied the action with demoniac looks, hideous shouts and a war-song, crouching, jumping, spitting, springing with the spear, and throwing dust at us, as they slowly retired. In short, their hideous crouching postures, measured gestures, and low jumps, all to the tune of a wild song, with the fiendish glare of their countenances, at times all black, but now all eyes and teeth, seemed a fitter spectacle for Pandemonium than the light of the bounteous sun. Thus these savages slowly retired along the riverbank, all the while dancing in a circle like the witches in Macbeth, and leaving us in expectation of their return and perhaps an attack in the morning. Any further attempt to appease them was out of the question.

CONJECTURES.

Whether they were by nature implacable or whether their inveterate hostility proceeded from some cause of disquiet or apprehension unimaginable by us it was too probable they might ere long force upon us the painful necessity of making them acquainted with the superiority of our arms.

CHARACTER OF DIFFERENT TRIBES.

The manner and disposition of these people were so unlike those of the aborigines in general that I hoped they might be an exception to the general character of the natives we were to meet with: an evil disposed tribe perhaps, at war with all around them. The difference in disposition between tribes not very remote from each other was often striking. We had left at only three days' journey behind us natives as kind and civil as any I had met with; and I was rather at a loss now to understand how they could exist so near fiends like these. I believe the peculiar character of different tribes is not to be easily changed by circumstances. I could certainly mention more instances of well than evil disposed natives on the Darling; where indeed until now all had met us with the branch of peace. We had not yet accomplished one half of our journey to the Murray from the junction of the Bogan and Darling; and it was no very pleasing prospect to have to travel such a distance through a country which might be occupied by inhabitants like these. In the present case I hoped that our patient forbearance and the gift of the tomahawk would deter our late visitors, if anything human were in their feelings, from annoying us more: and if not that their great dread of the pistol would at least keep them at a distance.

SECOND INTERVIEW WITH THE SPITTING TRIBE.

June 28.

The natives did not appear in the morning as we had expected, but at three in the afternoon their voices were again heard in the woods. I ordered all the men to be on the lookout, and when the natives came near I sent Burnett towards them, once more with a branch, but with orders to retire upon any indication of defiance. It turned out, as I had supposed, that their curiosity and desire to get something more had brought them forward again.

STRANGE CEREMONIAL.

An old man was at length prevailed on to join Burnett and to sit down by him. This was effected however but very slowly, the others standing at a great distance, and some who remained in the rear still making signs of defiance. Others of the tribe at length joined the old man, but they prepared to return on my approach, recognising me perhaps as the owner of the pistol. On seeing this I directed Burnett to give a clasp-knife to the old man who seemed much pleased with the present. They next made a move towards the spot where the blacksmith was at work, commencing at the same time a kind of professional chant, and slowly waving their green boughs. The appearance of one of these men in particular was very odd. There was evidently some superstition in the ceremony, this personage being probably a coradje or priest. He was an old man with a large beard and bushy hair, and the lower part of his nose was wanting, so that the apex of that feature formed more than a rightangle, giving him an extraordinary appearance. None except himself and other ancients wore any kind of dress; and this consisted of a small cloak of skins fastened over the left shoulder. While the man from the woods waved his bough aloft and chanted that monotonous hymn, an idea of the ancient druids arose in my mind. It was obvious the ceremony belonged to some strange superstition. He occasionally turned his back towards each of us like the grisly priest with murmuring prayer; he touched his eyebrows, nose, and breast as if crossing himself, then pointed his arm to the sky; afterwards laid his hand on his breast, chanting with an air of remarkable solemnity and abstracted looks, while at times his branch:

he held on high, With wasted hand and haggard eye, And strange and mingled feelings woke, While his anathema he spoke.* Scott.

(*Footnote. Burder in his Oriental Customs says (Number 187): "An opinion prevailed both in those days and after ages that some men had a power, by the help of their gods, to devote not only particular persons, but whole armies to destruction. This they are said to have done, sometimes by words of imprecation, of which there was a set form among some people, which Aeschines calls diorizomenen aran, the determinate curse. Sometimes they also offered sacrifices, and used certain rites and ceremonies with solemn charms.")

All this contrasted strangely with the useful occupation of honest Vulcan, whom I had positively enjoined not to laugh, or stop working.

AMUSING ATTEMPTS TO STEAL, OR DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND.

At length I prevailed on an old man to sit down by me and gave him a clasp-knife in order to check the search he was disposed to make through my pockets. Meanwhile the others came around the forge and immediately began to pilfer whatever they could lay either hand or foot upon. While one was detected making off with a file another seized something else, until the poor blacksmith could no longer proceed with his work. One set his foot on an axe and thus, all the while staring the overseer (who eyed him) in the face he quickly receded several yards, jumping backwards to another, who stood ready behind him to take the tool. Some jogged their neighbours at the moments most opportune for plundering; and an old man made amusing attempts to fish up a horse-shoe into the hollow of a tree. The best of this part of the scene was that they did not mind being observed by anyone except the blacksmith, supposing that they were robbing him only. Vulcan was at last tempted to give one of them a push, when a scene of chanting, spitting,* and throwing dust commenced on the part of the thief, who was a stout fellow and carried a spear which he seemed inclined to use. Notwithstanding all the vigilance of several men appointed to watch the articles about the forge, an excellent rasp or file was carried off. The natives left our party however in a perfectly civil way, and we were right glad to feel at peace with them on any terms.

(*Footnote. "The malediction of the Turks, as of other oriental nations, is frequently expressed in no other way than by spitting on the ground." Clarke's Travels volume 3 page 225. Mons. D'Arvieux tells us: "the Arabs are sometimes disposed to think that when a person spits it is done out of contempt; and that they never do it before their superiors. But Sir J. Chardin's manuscript goes much further; he tells us in a note on Numbers 12:14 that spitting before anyone, or spitting upon the ground in speaking of anyone's actions, is throughout the East an expression of extreme detestation." Harmer volume 4 page 429.)

HOSTILE MOVEMENTS.

June 29.

At length we were ready to quit this spot and gladly continued our journey in hopes of leaving our troublesome neighbours also. After proceeding some way however Mr. Larmer's horse pitched him over its head and galloped back to the place which we had so willingly quitted. Just then the natives emerged from their woods in greater numbers than ever, being painted white, many carrying spears, and shouting. This startled the horse and made him again gallop away, and we halted on the edge of a plain until Mr. Larmer recovered the animal; which was the more easily accomplished as the attention of the natives was fortunately fixed chiefly on us. They repeated all their menaces and expressions of defiance, and as we again proceeded the whole of their woods appeared in flames. I never saw such unfavourable specimens of the aborigines as these children of the smoke, they were so barbarously and implacably hostile and shamelessly dishonest, and so little influenced by reason, that the more they saw of our superior weapons and means of defence the more they showed their hatred and tokens of defiance. The day's journey was over a firmer surface than usual, and we encamped on a bend of the river in latitude 31 degrees 36 minutes 48 seconds South.

DRY CHANNEL OF A STREAM.

June 30.

The party moved off early. The ground we travelled over, or rather through, was very soft and exceedingly heavy for the draught animals. At about five miles we approached a line of trees, extending from the hollow, which for some days past had appeared between us and the hills on our left. On examining it I found that it was the dry bed of what had been a considerable stream, preserving a uniform breadth of about 50 yards; and having lines of flood-marks upon the bank, similar to those of the Darling, and rising to the height of eight or nine feet. Trees such as characterised the banks of the Darling but of smaller size grew on its banks, which had also their flats of polygonum and small gullies similar to those on that river, but on a lesser scale. Upon the whole it was evident that this channel at some seasons was filled with a body of water, the sources of which were in the high ground between the Lachlan and the Bogan. We had observed so many paths of the natives leading from the Darling towards the country whence this riverbed ranged that for several days we were of opinion water was still to be found there. The utter dryness of the bed was not surprising at a season when large dead freshwater mussels, weighing 3 1/2 ounces, projected amid the roots of the grass of two summers, and from ground which was the firmest we could find for travelling upon with carts. Crossing to the left bank of this riverbed we continued our course towards an angle of the Darling until we came again on this tributary, as I supposed it to be. I therefore again continued along its left bank because it afforded firmer ground than the cracked plains, and in expectation that it would lead to some near turn of the main river. When we were rapidly approaching the larger trees by which the latter was known the dry channel of the minor stream suddenly turned to the southward, and we finally encamped two miles east of the nearest part of the Darling; in latitude 31 degrees 44 minutes 28 seconds. This newly discovered channel seemed to turn from that river so as to embrace the extremities of the low ranges coming from the east, and which successively terminate on the plains of the Darling. One of these was about a mile to the east of our camp and consisted of hardish sandstone, composed of grains of quartz, without any apparent cement, but containing a small quantity of decomposed felspar. At the base of those hills I found, as elsewhere, pebbles consisting chiefly of a splintery quartz rock, in which the grains of sand or quartz were firmly embedded in a siliceous cement. On the northern side of that ridge I observed at some distance an isolated clump of trees resembling pines or cypresses, growing very thick, and the foliage was of a brighter green than that of the callitris trees which they most resemble; unlike them however they had no dead lower branches but were thick and green to the ground. I regretted much that I had not an opportunity of examining them closely. In the Darling, westward of this camp, was a bed of round concretions, all about an inch in diameter. They were dark-coloured and when first taken out had a foetid smell.

July 1.

Pursuing the left bank of the newly discovered channel we found that it embraced some low rising grounds which, ever since we had made Macculloch's range, had been the limits of the polygonum flats along the left bank also of the Darling.

TOMBS ON THE SANDHILLS.

On the tops of some of those hills I observed what appeared to be the tombs of the natives. They consisted of a circular trench of about 30 feet in diameter, the grave being covered by a low mound in the centre; and they were always dug in the highest parts of hills. On observing this preference of heights as burying places I remembered that it was on the summit of the hill where I fixed our depot on the Darling that we saw the numerous white balls and so many graves.* The balls were shaped as in the accompanying woodcut, and were made of lime.

(*Footnote. M. de la Roque says of the Bedouin Arabs of Mount Carmel: "that the frequent change of the place of their encampment, not admitting their having places set a part for burial, they always choose a place somewhat elevated for that purpose, and at some distance from the camp. They make a grave there, into which they put the corpse, and cover it with earth, and a number of great stones, lest the wild beasts should get at the body." Voyage dans la Palestine chapter 23. See also 2 Kings 23:16, 1 Kings 13:2 and Isaiah 23:15-17.)

WHITE BALLS ON TOMBS.

Beside them were, in some cases, casts also in lime or gypsum, which had evidently been taken from a head, the hair of which had been confined by a net, as the impression of it and some hairs remained inside. A native explained one day to Mr. Larmer, in a very simple manner, the meaning of the white balls, by taking a small piece of wood, laying it in the ground, and covering it with earth; then, laying his head on one side and closing his eyes, he showed that a dead body was laid in that position in the earth where these balls were placed above.*

(*Footnote. A singular coincidence with the ancient customs of Israel: "The Jews used to mark their graves with white lime that they might be known, that so priests, Nazarites, and travellers might avoid them, and not be polluted. They also marked their graves with white lime, and so also in their intermediate feast-days. They made use of chalk because it looked white like bones." Burder's Oriental Customs volume 2 page 232. It may be also remarked that a superstitious custom prevailed amongst the Gentiles in mourning for the dead. They cut off their hair, and that roundabout, and threw it into the sepulchre with the bodies of their relatives and friends; and sometimes laid it upon the face or the breast of the dead as an offering to the infernal gods, whereby they thought to appease them and make them kind to the deceased. See Maimonides de Idol c. 12 1. 2. 5.)

AUSTRALIAN SHAMROCK.

On crossing the channel of the tributary which we had followed I found its bed broad, extensive, and moist, and in it two small ponds containing the first water besides that of the Darling seen by the party in tracing the course of this river nearly 200 miles. The rich soil in the dry bed was here beautifully verdant with the same fragrant trefoil which I saw on the 4th of June in crossing a lagoon, the bed of which was of the same description of soil. The perfume of this herb, its freshness and flavour, induced me to try it as a vegetable, and we found it to be delicious, tender as spinach, and to preserve a very green colour when boiled. This was certainly the most interesting plant hitherto discovered by us; for, independently of its culinary utility, it is quite a new form of Australian vegetation, resembling, in a striking manner, that of the south of Europe.* I endeavoured to preserve some of its roots by taking them up in the soil as the seed (a very small pea) was not ripe.

(*Footnote. Trigonella suavissima, Lindley manuscripts; caulibus porstratis, foliolis obcordatis cum dente interjecto subdentatis subtus pilosiusculis, stipulis semisagittatis aristato-dentatis trinerviis, umbellis paucifloris sessilibus, leguminibus falcatis reticulatis glabris.)

Finding that the minor river-course which had been at one time within half a mile of the Darling was again receding from that river, so that when I wished to encamp I saw no appearance of it within six miles, and that no more water could be seen in the dry channel, I crossed over and made for the Darling in a west-south-west direction.

OLD CANOE. DRY STATE OF THE COUNTRY.

Exactly where the carts passed the dry channel a native's fishing canoe, complete with the small oar or spear and two little cords, lay in the dry and grassy bed of this quondam river where now we were likely to pass the night without finding water.* The intervening plain became very soft and distressing to the draught animals, and we were compelled to encamp on the edge of a scrub which bounded it, and at a distance of about four miles from the Darling. This was a long way to send our cattle, but the observance of our usual custom seemed preferable upon the whole, even in this extreme case, to passing the night without water. The sun was just setting when oxen and horses were driven towards the west in quest of the Darling, our only and never-failing resource at that time. Magnetic variation 7 degrees 8 minutes 15 seconds East.

(*Footnote. Large shells of the Unio genus projected from the hard and grassy surface, which had evidently been in the state of mud for a sufficient time to admit of their growth.)

DANGER AND DIFFICULTY OF WATCHING THE CATTLE ON THE RIVERBANKS.

July 2.

The men who returned with water for the camp last evening had obtained it at a lagoon short of the river, and where a large tribe of natives were seated by their fires. Another party of our men had driven the cattle to the river itself, for on its banks alone could any tolerable grass be found. I was therefore apprehensive that the natives would molest the cattle, when so far from our camp, and I accordingly sent six men armed to watch them. They returned about eleven o'clock this morning with all the cattle except one bullock; and as the drivers had been closely followed by the natives from daybreak it was then supposed that the animal had been speared. One of our wheels requiring new spokes, I proceeded only four miles this day, towards an angle of the river, in order to encamp in a good position and recover the missing animal alive or dead. The death of a bullock by the hands of the natives would have been a most unfortunate circumstance at that time, not so much because this was one of our best working animals, as because the dread with which these animals inspired the natives was one of our best defences. If they once learned to face and kill them it would be difficult for us, under present circumstances, to prevent the loss of many, and still more serious evils might follow. As soon as we took up our ground therefore I sent six men in search of the lost bullock; and before night they had followed his track to within a mile and a half of our camp near the river. Meanwhile we had found, long before their return, that he had fortunately joined the others early in the morning.

UNIFORM CHARACTER OF THE DARLING.

The river and its vicinity presented much the same appearance here that they did 200 miles higher up. Similar lofty banks (in this neighbourhood 60 feet in altitude) with marks of great floods traced in parallel lines on the clayey sides; calcareous concretions, transparent water, with aquatic plants, a slow current, with an equal volume of water, fine gumtrees, and abundance of luxuriant grass. Slight varieties in the feathered tribe were certainly observed; besides the crested pigeon there was one much smaller and of handsome but sober plumage and excellent flavour when dressed. Cockatoos with scarlet and yellow top-knot, and about six kinds of parrots which were new to us; also some curious small birds.

THE GRENADIER BIRD.

But of all the birds of the air the great object of Burnett's search was one wholly scarlet, of which kind only two had been seen at different places, far apart. Being wholly new, this bird might have been named the Grenadier, as a companion to the Rifle-bird. The junction of even the dry bed of a tributary was certainly a novelty; and the effect of this on the course of the river remained to be seen. From the station beyond the Darling I took the bearing of the furthest visible trees in the line of that river, and on my map it exactly intersected the bend, now the nearest to our camp. Beyond it nothing could be seen from hills or lofty trees, and all I could know then was that the river turned nearly westward, and that a tributary was about to fall into it from the east. We were near the place where it might reasonably be ascertained, from the direction of its further course, whether the Darling finally joined the Murray.

THE DOCTOR AND THE NATIVES.

July 3.

The repair of the wheel could not be effected before one o'clock. Meanwhile The Doctor, having been to the river for two buckets of water, was surprised on ascending the bank by a numerous tribe armed with spears and boomerangs. One of the natives however stepped forward unarmed, between his fellows and The Doctor, and with the aid of two others made the tribe fall back. Souter had fortunately bethought him of holding out a twig as soon as he saw them. These three men accompanied him to the camp, and as they seemed well-disposed, and showed confidence, I gave the foremost a tomahawk. Two of them were deeply marked with smallpox. On mentioning the Calare, they immediately pointed towards the Lachlan, this being the well-known native name of that river; but their curiosity was too strongly excited by the novelties before them to admit of much attention being given to my questions. They remained about half an hour and then departed; and we soon after proceeded. Having passed through some scrub we reached a firm bit of plain on which we encamped; the day's journey being about six miles. Near our camp there was a long lagoon in the bed of a watercourse which seemed to be a channel from the back country. We heard the many voices of our black friends in the woods.