At one or two points in our routs I climbed up to the top of high
summits, but was not rewarded for my toil, the prospect being generally
cheerless and barren in the extreme, nor did the account given by Mr.
Brown of his ascent of Mount Brown in March 1802, tempt me to delay a day
to enable me to view the uninteresting prospect he had seen from the
summit of that hill - by far the highest peak in this part of Flinders
range.
Having decided upon ridingon a head of my party to reconnoitre, as soon
as the WATERWITCH should arrive, I at once commenced my preparations, and
made the overseer put new shoes on the horses I intended to take with me.
The very stony character of the country we had been lately traversing and
the singularly hard nature of the stone itself, had caused the shoes to
wear out very rapidly, and there was hardly a horse in the teams that did
not now require new shoes; fortunately we had brought a very large supply
with us, and my overseer was a skilful and expeditious farrier. At dusk a
watch was set upon one of the hills near us, to look out for signals from
the WATERWITCH in the direction of Spencer's gulf, but none were seen.
July 4. - Whilst writing in my tent this evening, my attention was
attracted by the notes of swans, and upon going out I perceived a flight
of several of the black species coming up from the southward; when they
had got over the tents, they appeared to be alarmed and wheeled to the
eastward, but soon returning, they took a nearly due northerly course.
This was encouraging for us, and augured well for the existence of some
considerable body of water inland, but we hoped and expected that a few
days would perhaps give us a clue to the object of their flight.
Sunday, July 5. - A day of rest to all. In the afternoon I employed myself
in writing out instructions for the overseer during my absence, as also
for the master of the WATERWITCH, for whose arrival we now kept a
constant and anxious look out. In the evening about eight o'clock the
sentinel on the hill reported a fire on the opposite side of Spencer's
gulf. Upon receiving this intelligence I had blue lights exhibited, and
rockets fired, which in a little time were replied to by rockets from the
gulf and the lighting up of a second fire on shore assuring me at once of
the safe arrival of the cutter.
Chapter IV.
MAKE ARRANGEMENTS FOR GETTING UP STORES FROM THE WATERWITCH - LEAVE THE
PARTY - SALT WATERCOURSE - MOUNT EYRE - ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY - LAKE
TORRENS - RETURN TOWARDS THE HILLS - NATIVE FEMALE - SALINE CHARACTER OF THE
COUNTRY - MOUNT DECEPTION - REACH THE EASTERN HILLS - LARGE
WATERCOURSES - WATER HOLE IN A ROCK - GRASSY BUT HILLY COUNTRY - RUNNING
STREAM - ASCEND A RANGE - RETURN HOMEWARDS - DECAY OF TREES IN THE
WATERCOURSES - SHOOT A KANGAROO - ARRIVE AT THE DEPOT - BURY STORES - MAKE
PREPARATIONS FOR LEAVING - SEND DESPATCHES TO THE VESSEL.
July 6. - BEING anxious to pursue my explorations, and unwilling to lose
another day solely for the purpose of receiving my letters, I sent down
my overseer to arrange about getting our stores up from the vessel, which
was about fourteen miles away, and to request the master to await my
return from the north, and in the interval employ himself in surveying
and sounding some salt water inlets, we had seen on the eastern shores of
the gulf in our route up under Flinders range.
Having made all necessary arrangements and wished Mr. Scott good bye, I
set off on horseback with the eldest of my native boys, taking a pack
horse to carry our provisions, and some oats for the horses. After
rounding a projecting corner of the range we passed Mount Arden, still
traversing open plains of great extent, and very stony. In some of these
plains we found large puddles of water much discoloured by the soil, so
that it was evident there had been heavy rains in this direction, though
we had none to the southward.
After travelling twenty-four miles we came to a large watercourse winding
from Flinders range through the plains, with its direction distinctly
marked out by the numerous gum-trees upon its banks. This was the "salt
watercourse" of my former journeys so called from the large reaches of
salt water in its bed a mile or two among the hills. By digging in the
gravelly bed of the channel, where the natives had scooped a small hole,
we got some tolerable water, and were enabled to give as much as they
required to our horses, but it was a slow and tedious operation. We could
get very little out at once, and had to give it to them to drink in the
black boy's duck frock, which answered the purpose of a bucket amazingly
well.
There was not a blade of grass, or anything that the horses could eat
near this creek, so I was obliged to tie them up for the night, after
giving to each a feed of oats.
July 7. - Towards morning several showers of rain fell, and I found that I
had got a severe attack of rheumatism, which proved both troublesome and
painful. Pushing on for ten miles we reached the height standing out from
the main range which Colonel Gawler named Mount Eyre, from its having
been the limit of my first journey to the north in May 1839.
