The Condamine
Forms, For A Great Distance, The Separation Of The Sandstone Country To
The Westward, From The Rich Basaltic Plains To The Eastward.
These
plains, so famous for the richness of their pasture, and for the
excellency of the sheep and cattle
Depastured upon them, have become
equally remarkable as the depositaries of the remains of extinct species
of animals, several of which must have been of a gigantic size, being the
Marsupial representatives of the Pachydermal order of other continents.
Mr. Isaacs' station is particularly rich in these fossil remains; and
they have been likewise found in the beds and banks of Mr. Hodgson's and
of Mr. Campbell's Creeks, and also of Oaky Creek. At Isaacs' Creek, they
occur together with recent freshwater shells of species still living in
the neighbouring ponds, and with marly and calcareous concretions; which
induces me to suppose that these plains were covered with large sheets of
water, fed probably by calcareous springs connected with the basaltic
range, and that huge animals, fond of water, were living, either on the
rich herbage surrounding these ponds or lakes, or browsing upon the
leaves and branches of trees forming thick brushes on the slopes of the
neighbouring hills. The rise of the country, which is very generally
supposed to have taken place, was probably the cause of the disappearance
of the water, and of the animals becoming extinct, when its necessary
supply ceased to exist. Similar remains have been found in Wellington
Valley, and in the Port Phillip District, where, probably, similar
changes have taken place.
The elevation of Darling Downs - about 1800 to 2000 feet, according to the
barometrical observations of Mr. Cunningham - renders the climate much
cooler than its latitude would lead one to suppose; indeed, ice has
frequently been found, during the calm clear nights of winter. During
September and October, we observed at sunrise an almost perfect calm.
About nine o'clock, light westerly winds set in, which increased towards
noon, died away towards evening, and after sunset, were succeeded by
light easterly breezes; thunder-storms rose from south and south-west,
and passed over with a violent gust of wind and heavy showers of rain;
frequently, in half an hour's time, the sky was entirely clear again;
sometimes, however, the night and following day were cloudy.
The plains, as we passed, were covered with the most luxuriant grass and
herbage. Plants of the leguminosae and compositae, were by far the most
prevalent; the colour of the former, generally a showy red, that of the
latter, a bright yellow. Belts of open forest land, principally composed
of the Box-tree of the Colonists (a species of Eucalyptus), separate the
different plains; and patches of scrub, consisting of several species of
Acacias, and of a variety of small trees, appear to be the outposts of
the extensive scrubs of the interior. There are particularly three
species of Acacias, which bestow a peculiar character on these scrubs:
the one is the Myal (A. pendula) - first seen by Oxley on Liverpool
Plains, and afterwards at the Barwan, and which exists in all the western
plains between the Barwan and Darling Downs - whose drooping foliage and
rich yellow blossoms render it extremely elegant and ornamental.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 8 of 272
Words from 3727 to 4265
of 141354
