Part 11 (1/2)

There were very extensive plains to our left, on which water ood, or the vegetation thick upon them We could just see the points of the northern flat-topped ranges beyond them At five miles we turned due east, and crossed several sh to be ter to be extre a sand hill, Mr Browne caught sight of a native stealing through the brush, after who him, ran away On this Mr

Browne called out to hih at the moment, the poor fellow took to his heels, and secreted himself so adroitly, that we could not find him He must, indeed, have been terribly alarmed at the uncouth sound he heard

A short time before our adventure with the native we had seen three pelicans coround, and wheeled along in circles in a very remarkable th they soared upwards, and flew straight for the lagoon where we had left the natives With the exception of these three birds, no other was to be seen in those dreary regions Both Mr

Browne and I, however, rode over a snake, but our horses fortunately escaped being bitten; this ani disturbed, and crept into a hole; it was very pretty, being of a bright yellow colour with brown specks Arriving at the termination of the sand hills, we looked down upon an i to the north and south-east further than the range of vision, whichthe rainy season There was scarcely any vegetation, a proof, it struck me, that it retains water on its surface till the summer is so advanced that the sun's rays are too powerful for any plants thatcan force itself through There was little, if any grass to be seen; but the mesembryanthemum reappeared upon it, with other salsolaceous plants The for slender stalk, heaps of which had been gathered by the natives for the seed Of the tium-trees near the creeks, with box-trees on the flats, and a few stunted acacia and hakea on the small hills, constituted alrees; that is to say at our camp e slept, about two miles advanced into it, but the plain extended about fivethis on the following , we traversed a country which Mr Browne informed me was very similar to that near Lake Torrens It consisted of sand banks, or drifts, with large bare patches at intervals: the whole bearing testie it We then traversed a succession of flats (I call them so because they did not deserve the name of plains) separated from each other by patches of red sand and clay, that were not more than a foot and a half above the surface of the flats At nine miles the country became covered with low scrub, and we soon after passed the dry bed of a lagoon, about aof salt and gypsu on soft black mud About a mile from this we passed a new tree, similar to one we had seen on the Cawndilla plain Froth we found ourselves on some sandy elevations thickly covered with scrub of acacia, alrass around theht at another season, and if the trees had been in leaf, have looked pretty We pushed through this scrub, the soil being a bright red sand for nine miles, e suddenly found ourselves at the base of a sht Froion round about To the eastward, as a medium point, it was covered with a dense scrub, that extended to the base of a range of hills, distant about 33 rees respectively froh the country under them was covered with brush, the hills appeared to be clear and denuded of brushes of any kind Our position here was about 138 , and about 97 from the Depot My object in this excursion had been to ascertain the characteristic of the country between us and the Darling, but I did not think it necessary to run any risks withon for the hills, as I could not have reached the day, when in the event of not finding water, their fate would have been sealed; for we could not have returned with them to the creek They had already been two days without, if I except the little we had spared them from the casks I had deemed it prudent to send Joseph and Lewis back to the creek for a fresh supply, with orders to return and meet at a certain point, and there to await our arrival, for without this supply I felt satisfied we should have great difficulty as it was in getting our animals back to the creek We descended froe new to ain There were neither flowers or fruit on the trees, but frolans At sunset we e of the acacia scrub to give our horses soht, but started early on the followingto meet Joseph We reached the appointed place, about 10, but not finding him there continued to journey onwards, and at five allons of water each, after which we tethered them out, but they were so restless that I deter on reached the creek at half-past 1, a rest I relad to keep in the shade, not that the day was particularly hot, but because I began to feel the effects of constant exposure Having expressed soht have been water to the north of us, in the direction whence the pelicans caly with Flood leftfound any He ascertained that the creek I had sent Flood to trace when Mr Stuart went to sketch in the ranges, terminated in the barren plain we had crossed, and such, the reader will observe, is the general terions

We returned to the camp on the 21st, and from that period to the end of the month I remained stationary, employed in various ways On the 24th and 29th we took different sets of lunars, which gave our longitude as before, nearly 141 degrees 29 rees 14 minutes East

The e in the weather It appeared as if the flood gates of Heaven were closed upon us for ever We now began to feel the effects of disappointment, and watched the sky with extreme anxiety, inso-much that the least cloud raised all our hopes The men were employed in various ways to keep them in health

We planted seeds in the bed of the creek, but the sun burnt theround On the evening of the 3rd there was distant thunder, and heavy clouds to the ard I thought it ht have been that some shower had approached sufficiently near for me to benefit by the surface water it would have left to push towards Lake Torrens, and therefore mounted my horse and rode away to the ard on the 4th, but returned on the night of the 7th in disappointment Time rolled on fast, and still ere unable to stir

Mr Piesse, who took great delight in strolling out with un, occasionally shot a new bird

On the 4th the wind blew strong froh the air was cooled, no rain fell, nor indeed was there any likelihood of rain with the wind in that quarter Still as this was the first decided shi+ft froood froht meteor was seen to burst in the south-east quarter of the heavens; crossing the sky with a long train of light, and in exploding seemed to forht the temperature cooled down froe of moon, but neither produced a variation of wind or weather of any immediate benefit to us On the 14th we tried to ascertain the dew point, but failed, as in previous instances The therrees of Farenheit, but we could not reduce the rees; nor was I surprised at this, considering we had not had rain for nearly fourour stay at the Depot we had never experienced a dew The ground was thoroughly heated to the depth of three or four feet, and the treetation and drawnIn an air so rarified, and an atmosphere so dry, it was hardly to be expected that any experiment upon it would be attended with its usual results, or that the particles of moisture so far separated, could be condensed by ordinary methods The mean of the thermometer for the rees, 104 degrees, and 101 degrees respectively in the shade Under its effects every screw in our boxes had been drawn, and the horn handles of our instruments, as well as our combs, were split into fine lanal rockets were entirely spoiled; our hair, as well as the wool on the sheep, ceased to grow, and our nails had becoht per cent of its original weight, and the other provisions in a still greater proportion The bran in which our bacon had been packed, was perfectly saturated, and weighed aled to bury our wax candles; a bottle of citric acid in Mr Browne's box beca, burnt a quantity of his linen; and we found it difficult to write or draw, so rapidly did the fluid dry in our pens and brushes It was happy for us, therefore, that a cooler season set in, otherwise I do not think that h it ht be said that the intense heat of the summer had passed, there still were intervals ofof March I had had occasion to speak to Mr Browne as to certain indications of disease that were upon me I had violent headaches, unusual pains in my joints, and a coppery taste inslept so frequently on the hard ground and in the beds of creeks, and it was only when y, that I felt it necessary to trouble Mr Broho at once told retted to learn from him that both he and Mr Poole were similarly affected, but they hoped I had hitherto escaped Mr Broas the more surprised at my case, as I was very moderate in my diet, and had taken but little food likely to cause such a radually declined in health For h I could not hope soon to shake off such a disease, especially under such unfavourable circumstances as those in which ere placed, I was yet thankful that I did not become worse

For Mr Browne, as he did not complain, I had every hope that he too had succeeded in arresting the progress of this fearful disteular, that the officers only should have been thus attacked; but the fact is, that they had been constantly absent froed to use bacon, whereas theon fresh mutton; besides, the same men were seldom taken on a second journey, but were allowed time to recover from the exposure to which they had been subjected, but for the officers there was no respite

On the 18th the wind, which had again settled in the SE changed to the NE, and the sky beca over the Mount Serle chain, and I thought that rain would have fallen, but all these favourable indications vanished before sunset At dawn of theof the 19th, dense masses of clouds were seen, and thunder heard to the west; and the wind shi+fting to that quater, we hoped that some of the clouds would have been blown over to us, but they kept their place for two days, and then gradually disappeared These distant indications, however, were sufficient to rouse us to exertion, in the hope of escaping fro been held I left the ca that rain ht have extended to the eastward from Mount Serle, sufficiently near to enable us to push into the NW interior, and as it appeared to me that a W by N

course would take me abreast of Mount Hopeless, I ran upon it At 16froe we struck the head of a creek, and at six s of a pool of water, so thick that it was useless to us We next crossed barren stony undulations and open plains, some of them apparently subject to floods; and halted at half-past six, after a journey of between thirty and forty rass for our horses to eat Although the course we kept, had taken us at tiain came on it before sunset, and consequently halted upon its banks; but in tracing it down on the followingwe lost its channel on an extensive plain, and therefore continued our journey to the ard At seven miles we entered a dense scrub, and at fifteen ascended a sand hill, from which we expected to have had a more than usually extensive view, but it was lihtest prospect of a change of country being at hand At four ly fro water; but as its channel became sandy, and turned southwards, I left it, and onceon our old course, pulled up at sunset under a bank of sand, without anything either for ourselves or our horses to drink During the latter part of the evening we had observed a good deal of grass on the sand hills, nor was there any deficiency of it round our bivouac; but, notwithstanding that there was h for the few horses we had, a herd of cattle would have discussed the whole in a night It was evident froround that no rain had fallen hereabouts, and I consequently began to doubt whether it had extended beyond thethe appearance of the country ere in, with that through which Mr Browne passed for 50that soe would have taken place here if we had approached within any reasonable distance of that basin, I could not but apprehend that ere still a long way fro refused the water we had found in the creek, I could hardly expect they would drink it on their return, so that I calculated our distance from water at about 68so, it would be necessary for us to ain Close to where we stopped there was a large burrow of Talperos, an animal, as I have observed, similar to the rabbit in its habits, and one of which the natives are very fond, as food The sandy ridges appeared to be full of them, and other animals, that must live for manyin the dusk near our fire, two beautiful parrots attracted by it, I suppose, pitched close to us; but iain, and fleay to the NW They, no doubt, thought that ere near water, but like ourselves were doo also so to the south-west At daylight, therefore, we rode in that direction, with the hope of finding the elerassy flat opened out to view upon our right, siht have contained 1000 acres, but there was not at the first glance, a tree to be seen upon it This flat was bounded to the SW by a sand bank, lying at right angles to the sand ridges we had been crossing The latter, therefore, ran down upon this bank in parallel, lines, so it; so that, as the drainage was towards the eainst it After crossing a portion of the plainsome box-trees in a holloards which we rode, and then ca several wells, and had evidently lingered near it as long as a drop of water remained It was now clear that our further search for water would be useless I therefore turned on a course of 12 degrees to the north of east for the muddy water we had passed two days before, and halted there about an hour after sunset, having journeyed 42out about four miles before we halted, and were surprised to observe that a solitary native had been running the a little further however, we noticed several tracks of different sizes, as if a fa the country to the north-west It isfailed in the hills, they were on their way to soh we had ourselves been without water for two days, the mud in the creek was so thick that I could not s it, and was really astonished how Mr Browne ed to drink a pint of it made into tea It absolutely fell over the cup of the panakin like thick cream, and stuck to the horses' noses like pipe-clay They drank sparingly however, and took but little grass during the night As we pursued our journey hohts of dotterel ration we had observed in that direction These birds were in great nu, and had afforded good sport to ht of pelicans, wheeling about close to the ground, as they had before done to the eastward, as well as a flight of the black-shouldered hawks hovering in the air Our day's ride had been very long and fatiguing, as the horses were tired, but we got relieved by our arrival at the camp a little before sunset on the 25th: and thus terretted to find that Mr Poole was seriously indisposed His reat pain, but, as the disease appeared inclined to make to the surface, Mr Browne had soe Both Mr

Browne and ree with us, and were equally anxious for the reappearance of vegetation, in the hope that we should be able to collect sow-thistles or the tender shoots of the rhaGodia as a change We had, whilst it lasted, taken mint tea, in addition to the scanty supply of tea to which ere obliged to limit ourselves, but I do not think it holesome

The ht no change; on the contrary she chased away the clouds as she rose, and htness Sometimes a dark mass of clouds would rise siht advanced in her upward course they gradually diminished the velocity hich they at first caain, below the horizon Not once, but fifty ti forces, but whether I a the cause I will not say

At this tih the ther steady at south accounted for the unusual height of the baroht of the 20th we had a heavy dew, the first since our departure fro of the 28th it thundered, and a dense cloud passed over to the north, the as unsteady, and I hoped that the storm would have worked round, but it did not At ten the wind sprung up frohted

Notwithstanding that we treated the natives who came to the creek with every kindness, none ever visited us, and I was the more surprised at this, because I could not but think that ere putting thereat inconvenience by our occupation of this spot Towards the end of the lad to have fires close to our tents

Mr Poole had gradually become worse and worse, and was noholly confined to his bed, unable to stir, aour detention in that glooood health, but al at the nose; I was only too thankful that h I still felt the scurvy in a ated form, but Mr

Browne had more serious symptoms about him

The 10th of May completed the ninth month of our absence from Adelaide, and still ere locked up without the hope of escape, whilst every day added fresh causes of anxiety to those I had already to bear up against

Mr Poole beca thefrom the roof of his mouth, which was in such a state that he could hardly eat Instead of looking with eagerness to the moment of our liberation, I now dreaded the consequent necessity ofhim about in so dreadful a condition Mr Browne attended him with a constancy and kindness that could not but raise hi which friendshi+p or syest

On the 11th about 3 p up and rushi+ng across the creek, but supposing they had seen a native dog, I did not rise; however, I soon knew by their continued barking that they had so after came to inforround in front of the camp I sent his, and to bring hiht s, and escaped injury, but had broken his waddy over one of them He was an emaciated and elderly er and thirst; he drank copiously of the water that was offered to him, and then ate as much as would have served me for four and twenty dinners The hs close to the cart near the servants, and I gave him a blanket in which he rolled himself up and soon fell fast asleep Whence this solitary stranger could have come from we could not divine No other natives approached to look after him, nor did he shew anxiety for any absent companion His composure and apparent self-possession were very remarkable, for he neither exhibited astonishment or curiosity at the novelties by which he was surrounded His whole de himself placed in unusual jeopardy, had deterhtest display of fear or timidity

From the period of our return fro every change in the sky; I was indeed reluctant to absent myself for any indefinite period, in consequence of Mr Poole's precarious state of health He had now used all the ht out, and none therefore reht subsequently be taken ill As however he was better, on the 12th, I determined to make a second excursion to the eastward, to see if there were any rassy plains than when I was last there Wishi+ng to get so also, in the hope that he would be of use

Although the water in the creek had sunk fearfully there was still a , but if it had been used by our stock it would then have been dry Close to the spot where we had before stopped, there were two huts that had been recently erected Before these two fires were burning, and sorass seed were close to them, but no native could we see, neither did any answer to our call Mr Browne, however, observing some recent tracks, ran them down, and discovered a native and his lubra who had concealed themselves in the hollow of a tree, from which they crept as soon as they saw they were discovered The man, we had seen before, and the other proved to be the frail one who exhibited such indignation at our rejecting her addresses on a forlad to renew our acquaintance with her We learnt froed to an absent native as out hunting, the father of a pretty little girl who now obeyed their signal and came forth They said the water on the plain had dried up, and that the only water-holes re were to the west, viz at our camp, and to the south, where they said there were tater-holes As they had informed us, the absent native ht, so we once ave them all our mutton; he proved to be the est native we had seen; he wanted the front tooth, but was not circu we had a thunder storm, but could have counted the drops of rain that fell, notwithstanding the thunder was loud and the lightning vivid We returned to the Depot on the 13th, and on crossing the plain Mr Browne had well nigh captured a jerboa, which sprang froed to elude him, and popped into a little hole before he could approach sufficiently near to strike at it On reaching the tents we had the mortification to find Mr Poole still worse, but I attributed his relapse in some measure to a depression of spirits The old man who had come to the camp the day before we left it, was still there, and had apparently taken up his quarters between the cart andour absence the men had shewn hily excited their anticipations, by what he had told them

He appeared to be quite aware of the use of the boat, inti that it was turned upside down, and pointed to the NW as the quarter in which we should use her He ave thee that they would not get through theanxious to hear what he had to say I sent for him to my tent, and with Mr Browne cross-questioned him

It appeared quite clear to us that he are of the existence of large water somewhere or other to the northward and ard He pointed from WNW round to the eastward of north, and explained that large waves higher than his head broke on the shore On ured in Sir Thoured in Cuvier's works he gave specific nanised, as the hippocampus, the turtle, and several sea fish, as the chetodon, but all the others he included under one generic nauia,”

fish