The Most Distant Range Was Particularly Striking And
Imposing; I Called It "Expedition Range," And To A Bell-Shaped Mountain
Bearing N. 68 degrees W., I gave the name of "Mount Nicholson," in honour
of Dr. Charles Nicholson, who first
Introduced into the Legislative
Council of New South Wales, the subject of an overland expedition to Port
Essington; and to a sharp peak N. 66 degrees W., the name of "Aldis's
Peak," in acknowledgment of the kind assistance received from Mr. Aldis
of Sydney. We then descended, with great difficulty into a broad valley,
bounded on either side by fine slopes and ridges, openly timbered with
silver-leaved Ironbark. On the small well-grassed flats along the
watercourse, the flooded-gum and apple-trees grew to a considerable size.
The morning was cloudy, with occasional drops of rain; but it cleared up
towards noon, and, near sunset, a wall of dark clouds rose in the west,
over the ranges. Thunder-storms very generally come with westerly cloudy
weather, with north-westerly, and northerly winds. We busied ourselves in
extracting the oil from the skin of the emu: this operation was performed
by suspending it on sticks before a gentle fire, the oil dripping from it
into a shallow vessel. It is of a light amber colour, and is very useful
in oiling the locks of our fire-arms; it has been considered a good
anti-rheumatic, and I occasionally used it for that purpose.
Mr. Gilbert skinned the tail of the kangaroo to make a bag for holding
fat; but it broke and ripped so easily when dry, as to render it unfit
for that purpose.
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