Part 9 (1/2)

Both were left in perfect repair, and had apparently been swept prior to the departure of their inmates

On the 8th we started at 5 am, and reached our destination (a place to which Mr Poole had already been) at 11 We crossed barren stony plains, having sonetic hill as well as another to the south of it shewed as thunder clouds above the horizon

On our arrival at the creek we found about 30 fires of natives still burning, e htened away We did not see any of them, nor did I attempt to follow on their tracks which led up the creek

As I have already stated the fall of Flood's Creek was to the west The creek from which we had just removed, as well as the one on which we then were, fell in the opposite direction or to the eastward, terrassy plains or in shallow lagoons

On the 9th I reave Mr Piesse an opportunity to examine a part of our stores He reported to ht nearly 10 per cent, soinal quantity by upwards of sixteen pounds As the ht it advisable, in consequence of this, to reduce the ration of flour to 7 lb per week, and I should be doing an injustice to theive them credit for the readiness hich they acquiesced in this arrangement

The 10th of the s We left our position rather late in the day, and halted a little after sunset at the outskirt of a brush, into which I was afraid to enter by that uncertain light, and as the ani before, I had no apprehension as to their suffering We started at 4 a of the 11th, and soon passed the scrub; we then traversed open plains thickly covered incrossed barren sandy plains on the other side of the scrub We now found the country very open, and entirely denuded of ti on the creeks, the courses of which were consequentlya little to the eastward to avoid the gullies connected with soround Mr Poole had fixed upon as our next te place To the eye of an inexperienced bush; there was a good deal of grass in its neighbourhood; the spot looked cheerful and picturesque, with a broad sheet of water in the creek, which when Mr

Poole first saw it er and deeper; but in the interval between his first and second visit, it had been greatly reduced, and now presented a broad and shallow surface, and I felt assured that it would too soon dry up Convinced therefore of the necessity of exertion, to secure to us if possible a supply of water, on which we couldfor it without delay Both Mr Poole and Mr Broere better, and the enerally complained less than they had done On Sunday, the 12th, we had thunder with oppressive heat, but no rain On Monday the wind, which had kept with the regularity of a monsoon to the ESE, flew round to the NW, the therrees in the shade

From the period at which we left Flood's Creek we had not seen any hills to the eastward, the ranges having terminated on that side The hills we had passed were detached from each other, and to the ard of our course The fall of the creek on which ere at this time encamped was consequently to the eastward, but there was a small hill about five miles to the ENE, under which it ran; that hill was the southern extrees Mr Poole and Mr Browne had lately visited

I left the camp on the 14th of thesome place of more permanent safety than the one we then occupied, for we could almost see the water decrease, so powerful was the evaporation that was going on I was accompanied by Mr

Browne and Mr Poole, with Flood, Joseph, and Mack; but Mr Poole only attendedthe next day with Mack, in the event of our finding water, to which hemy absence We traced the creek upwards to the north-west, and at about fourit frorass about its banks, and it was evidently a tributary of nothis we traced up thethe Red Hill, subsequently called Mount Poole, on our left We were obliged to keep the banks of the creek to avoid the rough and stony plains on either side A little above the junction of the creek I have noticed, we passed a long water-hole, at which Mr Poole and Mr Browne had stopped on their excursion to the north; but it was so nise it

The fact however shewed how uncertain our prospects were at this period

The bed of the creek was grassy, but broad, level, and gravelly At almost every turn to which we came Mr Poole assured e sheet of water; but not a drop now re find the least appearance of hly flooded, there being a great accumulation of rubbish at the butts of the trees on the flats over which its waters ed at a considerable height in the branches of those growing in its bed

Following its general course for 14 miles, ere led somewhat to the eastward of north, towards some hills in that direction, from which the creek appeared to issue, and then halted for the night, after a vain search for water The Red Hill bore S 47 degrees W, and some hills of less elevation were seen more to the ard of it, but beyond the last towards the north there were vast open and stony plains, destitute of ti of the 15th, at 5 pm, we traversed these plains on a north course, and at 11 miles struck the creek of which Mr Poole had spoken as containing muddy water, and found it precisely as he described There were long water-holes about twenty-five feet broad, and three or four deep; but the water was exceedingly ht-coloured clay, without any vegetation either on therowing under box-trees

We here stopped to breakfast, although there was but little for the horses to eat We then proceeded on a north-east {SOUTH-EAST in published text} course down the creek, keeping close upon its banks to avoid the macadamized plains on either side To our left there were so hills, and beyond them the summits of so the place where we had breakfasted, we did not find any more water in the bed of the creek, but halted late in the afternoon at a soon was surrounded by trees; but like those of the creek its waters were muddy and not more than 18 inches deep Our latitude at this point was 29 degrees 14 rees 42 rees 5 er away from the party, I sent hi him to examine the creek we had crossed on his way hoh some hills about three ht it probable hemy absence to trace the creek on which the camp was established doards, to ascertain if there ater in it below us

In the es, which presented a very singular appearance as we surveyed theical formation of these hills was perfectly new, for they were now composed almost exclusively of indurated or coer presented the character of ranges, properly so called, but were a group of flat-topped hills, siators Soroup, not th, with less than a third of that breadth, and an elevation of between three and four hundred feet These detached hills were perfectly level at the top, and their sides declined at an angle of 54 degrees The roup asit appeared to consist of a nu points, connected by seetation on the sides either of the detached hills or of the projecting points, but they consisted of a compact white quartz, that had been split by solar heat into innurams

Vast heaps of these laid at the base of the hills, and resembled the ruins of a town, the edifices of which had been shaken to pieces by an earthquake, and on a closer examination it appeared to me that a portion of the rock thus scaled off periodically We approached these hills by a gradual ascent, over ground exceedingly stony in places; but as we neared theeological structure of the hills It was covered with a long kind of grass in tufts, but growing closer together than usual There were bare patches of fine blistered soil, that had as it were been raised into small hillocks, and on these, rounded particles, or stools, if Iin diameter from three to ten inches or more These stools were perfectly flat and transparent, the upper surface smooth, but in the centre of the under surface a pointed projection, like that in a bull's eye inglass was buried in the ground, as if the gypsuoon, we crossed the creek, riding on a north-east course over stony plains, and at five ood supply of water, co to the SSE, becas of two of the oon, and directing Flood to go to one of them with Joseph, and wait for me at the base, I rode aith Mr Browne to ascend the other; but finding it was ined, that it would take us out of our way, and oblige us to return, we checked our horses and made for the other hill, at the foot of which Flood had already arrived

The ascent was steep and difficult, nor did the view fro interesting about it, it was the rees The reader will understand their character and structure fro cut, better than froive They were, in fact, wholly different in foreneral To the ard there was a low, depressed tract, with an unbroken horizon and a glooly broken, hilly, and confused; but there was a line of hills bounding this rugged region to the eastward, and ie were the plains I had crossed in going to Mount Lyell From the point on which we stood there were nu points, si outwards at an angle of 55 degrees, as if they had crumbled down from perpendicular precipices The faces of these points were of a dirty white, without any vegetation growing on theround behind sloped abruptly down to the plains The ranges were all flat-topped and devoid of tietation resements of rock scattered over theranite, and other rocks (none of which occurred in the stratification of these ranges), were to be found on their summits as on the plains, and in equal proportion, as if the whole country had once been perfectly level, and that the hills had been forced up Such indeed was the impression upon Mr Poole's es ”They appear,” he remarked, ”to have been raised from the plains, so similar in every respect are their tops to the district below” Our eyes wandered over an immense expanse of country to the south, and ere enabled to take bearings of h there was sonition of them at the distance of 40 miles The Red Hill, however, close to the camp bore south, and was full that distance from us We could also see the course of the creeks we had been tracing, ultie to the eastward and passing into the plains beyond Behind us to the north there were e These seemed to be the northern termination of these hills, and beyond the points was hilly, and they were so exactly alike that it would have been iht have taken bearings; but there were two little cones in a sreater certainty They respectively bore 302 and 306 from me; and as they were the only advanced points on which I could now keep up bearings, although in the midst of hills, I deterhbourhood a little more, to proceed to them From our first position ent to the next, a hill of about 450 feet in height, perfectly flat-topped, and detached froround was stony, but there was a good deal of grass growing in tufts upon it, and bare patches of blistered earth on which flat stools of gypsum were apparently in process of formation Immediately to the left there were five remarkable conical hills These we successively passed, and then entered a narrow, short valley, between the last of these cones and the hill ere about to ascend The ground was covered with fragroup was corams of different dimensions The scene was like that of a city whose structures had been shaken to pieces by an earthquake--one of ruin and desolation The faces of the hills, both here and in other parts of the group, were cracked by solar heat, and thus the rock was scaling off We were here obliged to dis insufferably hot, it was no pleasant task to climb under such exposure to an elevation of nearly 500 feet We had frequently to take breath during our ascent, and reached the summit of the hill somewhat exhausted The vieas precisely similar to that we had overlooked froain the two little peaks were visible to the NNW, and after taking bearings of several distant points, we descended, as I had deterht to the creek we had passed in theit into the hills onwe co where we should next find the water At about six h land on either side, and at a mile beyond reached the head of the creek, and had the steep brow of a hill to ascend, which I thought it most prudent first to attempt on foot Mr

Browne and I, therefore, cli back to the north-east, saw there was a declining plain in that direction Over the level outline the tops of the projections of this range were to be seen all exactly alike; but there was an open space to the north-east, as if the fall of waters was to that point There were also so to mark the course of a creek Anxious to ascertain if we had been so fortunate, I looked for a practicable line for the horses to ascend, and having got the at the first trees, there was a little channel, or rather gutter, and a greener verdurethe plain to the next trees Gradually it becaer, and at last was fully developed as a creek After tracing it down for so stony barren plains on both sides, we turned to look for the hill we had so lately left, and only for a red tint it had peculiar to itself, should we again have recognised it We now pushed on in eager anticipation that sooner or later water would appear, and this hope was at last gratified by our arrival at a fine pool, into which we drove a brood of very young ducks, and h a roast duck would have been very acceptable, we spared her for her children's sake This was a nice pond, but sum-trees, and there was a cavernous clay bank on the west side of it, in which gravel stones were embedded Here we staid but for a short tieons as we rode along, and flights came to the water while we stopped, but were not treated with the same forbearance as the duck We shot two or three, and capital eating they were About 3, we had left the creek, as it apparently turned to the eastward, and was lost on the plain, and crossing soes We then found ourselves on the brow of a deep valley that separated us fro The side of it which trended to the north-as very abrupt and stony, and it ith some difficulty we descended into it; but that done, we left Morgan and Flood with the cart, and ascended the nearer peak

Frohest of the cones we had a clear view round more than one half of the horizon Ies northwards, there was a long strip of plain, and beyond it a dark and gloo equi-distant fro at the latter point where it closed in upon thee, apparently unconnected with any other, and distant about 40 ical fore The same abrupt points, and detached flat-topped hills, characterised their northern as well as the southern extremity We had noever reached their termination northwards, but they continued in an easterly direction until they were totally lost in the dark mass of scrub that covered and surrounded theht to break the line of the horizon To the SW a colu in the ion appeared to be uninhabited On descending fro the line of a water-course at the botto it for about fourthe eleained the point where the valley opened out upon the plains, and halted under disappointrass for the horses Our little bivouac was in lat 29 degrees 2 minutes 14 seconds S The above outline will enable the reader to judge of the character of the hills, that still existed to the eastward of us, and the probability of their continuance or cessation I must confess that they looked to me as if they had been so er one They rose in detached groups from the midst of the plains, as such islands froether bore such a striking resemblance to many of the flat-topped islands round the Australian continent described by other travellers, that I could not but think they had once been similarly situated

On the 18th I passed into the plains until we had cleared the hills, e rode along their base on a course somewhat to the east of north We kept about half a es, with the brush about three miles to our left, and a clear space between us and them I had been induced to take this direction in the hope that if there were any creeks falling from the hills into the plains we should intersect thely after a ride of about seven um-trees, about two eons, cockatoos, and parrots winging round about the the air resound with their shrill notes The anticipations these indications of our approach to water raised, were soon verified by our arrival on the banks of a s from the hills Under the trees there were two little puddles, rather than pools of water The one had been reduced to its last dregs, and smelt offensively, the other was very rateful for it The horses requiring rest here, I halted for the night, more especially as the day was unusually hot, and as we could see the creek line of trees extending to the NW, towards the low range we had noticed in that direction from the little peak, I deter, and toneould develop itself

On the other side of the creek from that on which we remained, there was a new but unfinished hut Round about it were the fresh impressions of feet of all sizes, so that it was clear a fa this si, and that we htened them away Under this idea Mr Browne and I tried to find them, perhaps hid in some low brush near us, but we could not The plains were exceedingly open on both sides, so that they reat distance, and thus had tiht, as I proposed if possible to gain the hills before sunset, that being asthe creek down at three and a half eons, the rose cockatoo, the crested paroquet, and a variety of others flying round a clureat distance froly wild and watchful We found a pool under, or rather shaded by the trees, of tolerable size, and much better than the water nearer to the hills Close to it also, on a sloping bank, there was another more than half finished hut from which the natives could only just have retreated, for they had left all their worldly goods behind them; thus it appeared we had scared these poor people a second time from their work I was really sorry for the trouble we had unintentionally given them, and in order toblade, to the top of a spear that stood upright in front of the hut; not without hopes that the owner of the weapon seeing we intended them no harm, would come to us on our return from the hills

Below this water-hole the creek sensibly di it we struck away to the NW At about half a mile we entered the scrub, which had indeed commenced from the water, but which at that distance became thick We were then in a perfect desert, froot on barren sandy flats, bounded at first by sandy ridges at some little distance froed, and the sand ridges succeeded each other like waves of the sea We had no sooner descended one than ere ascending another, and the excessive heat of so confined a place oppressed us greatly We had on our journey to the ard found an abundance of grass on the sand ridges as well as the flats; but in this desert there was not a blade to be seen The ridges were covered with spinifex, through which we found it difficult to force a way, and the flats with salsolaceous productions alone There were no pine trees, but the brush consisted of several kinds of acacia, casuarina, cassia, and hakeae, and these were ht, and had leaves only at the ter dropped off, withered by the intensity of the reflected surface heat At one we stopped to rest the horses, but ain at half-past one, and reached the hills at 5 pm The same dreary desert extended to their base, only that as we approached the hills the flats were broader, and the fall of waters apparently to the east The surface of the flats was furrowed by water, and there were large bare patches of red soil, but with the exception of a flossy grass that grew sparingly on so but rhaGodia and atriplex flourished