Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia - Thomas Mitchell
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[* C. SWAINSONIOIDES (Benth. MS.); foliolis 8-11 anguste oblongis,
racemis laxis dissitifloris, carina spiraliter contorta.--Habit of a
SWAINSONIA or LESSERTIA. Flowers blue, as in the original Swan river
species (C. CANESCENS). That has not a spirally-twisted keel, but the
structure is indicated both by the circinnate apex of the style, and by a
slight curl at the summit of the keel.]
[** C. OLEIFOLIUM (Hook. MS.); foliis obovato-oblongis obtusis glaucis
basi in petiolum gracilem attenuatis, stipulis parvis acutis, fructibus
didymis.]
[*** H. LONGICUSPIS (Hook. MS.); rigida glaberrima, ramis junioribus
subpubescentibus, foliis bi-triuncialibus tereti-filiformibus rigidis
strictis longe mucronatis, perianthiis glabris, capsulis suboblique
ovatis lignosis glabris brevi-acuminatis.]
[**** P. LONGIFOLIA (Lindl. MS.); erecta, foliis sericeo-nitentibus
linearilanceolatis auriculatis, pedunculis unifloris foliis multo
brevioribus.]
12TH DECEMBER.--Thermometer, at 6 A.M., 67 deg.. Passing over a similar sort
of country for some miles (and through a scrub, on first leaving the
camp), we at length came upon a more open country, where the ground
seemed to fall southward. Cattle-tracks were again numerous, and cow-dung
abundant, an article in much request with us just then, its smoke being a
valuable specific for keeping off the mosquitoes, when a little of it was
burnt before a tent. We next came upon more spacious plains than any we
had seen southward of the Balonne; and I recognised, with great pleasure
and satisfaction, the blue peak of Mount Riddell, distant 61 miles. This
seemed to peep through the obscurity of fifteen laborious years, that had
intervened since I had given a name to that summit. It now proved the
accuracy of my recent survey, appearing exactly in the direction, where,
according to my maps, I pointed my glass to look for it. Like the face of
an old friend, which, as the Persian proverb says, "brighteneth the
eyes," so this required clear eyes to be seen at all; even Yuranigh,
could not at first be persuaded that it was not a cloud. This fine peak
must always be a good landmark on these vast plains, and may yet brighten
the eye of the traveller from India, when emerging from the level regions
upon the Barwan. We next perceived at a distance, a cloud of dust raised
by a numerous herd of cattle, and came upon a water-course, or branch of
the Gwydir, called, I believe, the "Meei." As I wanted to cross the
Gwydir, I crossed this and continued; met with another deep ditch or
channel, four miles beyond the Meei; and, at three miles beyond that,
another: none of these resembling the Gwydir I had formerly seen. I had
ridden twenty-five miles, and hastened back to meet the carts, and
encamped them just beyond the first-mentioned of these two water-courses.
The heavy drays were, of course, far behind. Latitude, 29 deg. 34' 41" S.
Height above the sea, 553 feet.
13TH DECEMBER.--Thermometer, at 10 A.M., 70 deg.. The drays joined us early,
having performed an immense distance yesterday. This being Sunday, rest
for the remainder of the day was both proper and necessary. I found we
were within a less distance of Snodgrass Lagoon, than we were from the
camp we had left the previous day. I expected to fall in with some road,
when we reached the country to which I had formerly led the way. At
sunset the sky seemed charged with rain, and the barometer had fallen 21/2
millimetres; much thunder, and but a slight shower followed, after which
the sky cleared up. Heavy rain there, must have caused much difficulty
and delay to the party, as we were upon low levels subject to inundation.
Height above the sea, 499 feet. Thermometer, at 6 P.M., 88 deg..
14TH DECEMBER.--Thermometer, at 6 A.M., 76 deg.. During the night, and at
day-break, heavy rain pattered on my tent, but a streak of the blue sky
appeared in the N.W., which increased; and before 7 A.M. the sun shone on
the ground, and dried it so that we could proceed. We crossed a channel
of the river, at three miles, which is called the "Moomings;" and still I
doubted whether we had not yet to cross the main channel of the Gwydir,
having seen no current in any of those channels I had crossed. I had
however already crossed the latitude of the river I had formerly seen;
and, coming soon to rising ground, and seeing before me the wide-spread
plains of my former journey, I was convinced that the late rains had not
extended to the Gwydir, and that this river had been crossed by us in
these several channels. At length, I arrived at the lagoon I had named,
in former times, after Colonel Snodgrass; thus terminating this journey,
having travelled in a direct line the last seventy-three miles of it, to
meet at this point the line from Sydney, traced by me thus far in the
year 1831. Height above the level of the sea, 545 feet. Thermometer, at 7
P.M., 87 deg.. The temporary occupation of the country by squatters, imprints
but few traces of colonization. Cattle-tracks were visible, certainly,
but nothing else. No track remained along the line which I had so many
years before laboured to mark out. Having ordered some of the men to look
out for a stockman, one was at length caught, and persuaded to come to my
tent, but not without some apprehension that the people he had come
amongst so suddenly were robbers. He was a youth, evidently of the Anglo-
Saxon race, in a state of transition to the condition of an Australian
stockman. His fair locks strayed wildly from under a light straw hat
about the ears of an honest English face, and the large stock whip in his
hand explained what he was about,--"in search of some stray cattle." He
had evidently never heard of exploring expeditions, past or present; nor
of such a name as "Snodgrass Lagoon." Mount Riddell was called "Cow
hill," according to him. Knew there was a road to Maitland, but of Sydney
he seemed to require some minutes to recal the recollection. He had come
from the station of Mr.----, where he was employed as stockman. Came out
from England about six years ago with a brother. When asked if his
brother was with him, he said "No." To my next question, as to the rest
of his relatives, a tear was the only reply, and I pushed my inquiries no
further.
16TH DECEMBER.--I left the camp, accompanied by Mr. Kennedy, and, in
looking for my old route, we soon arrived at cattle stations. The lagoon
was full, and the first station we saw was on the opposite bank; but
having crossed some miles higher, we arrived at one, where the master and
some men were busy in the stockyard, and there we were hospitably
received. It was then about 2 P.M., and tea mixed with milk was set
before us, with a quart pot full of fine salt, and some hard-boiled eggs.
Having put into my tea a table-spoonful of the salt, mistaking it for
sugar, and there being no sugar, I had two strong reasons for not taking
much tea. Fortunately for me, however, I did eat one of the hard-boiled
eggs, for from that hour I was doomed to fast two days. There I bade Mr.
Kennedy farewell, leaving him in charge of the party, and proceeded along
a cart-track homewards, followed by John Douglas, and a led horse. Before
we could arrive at the station where I intended to halt, night overtook
us on a plain, with very heavy rain, and total darkness. The cart-track
was no longer visible, and, after groping on some way without it, we were
obliged to alight and sit in the mud, without the shelter of even a tree,
until day-break. Daylight exhibited the station not above two miles off,
but that did not avail us much; for, on awaking the inmates, and asking
them for some breakfast, the hut-keeper shook his head, and said he had
no provisions to spare. Once more I struck away from these "abodes of
civilized men," to look for my old track, which had been traced along the
base of the Nundawar Range, where the bold outlines of Mounts Lindesay
and Forbes hung dimly, like shadows of the past, amongst clouds lighted
by beams from the rising sun. After having been long in unknown regions,
time and distance seem of little consequence when we return to those
previously known; and thus the whole day soon passed in looking for my
former track. But I sought it in vain; and was glad at night to turn
towards the banks of the Nammoy, in search of a cattle-station. Since I
had first explored that country to which my wheel-tracks marked and led
the way, station after station had been taken up by squatters, not by
following any line of route, but rather according to the course of the
river, for the sake of water; and in such cases, the beaten track from
station to station, no matter how crooked, becomes the road. Thus it is,
in the fortuitous occupation of Australia, that order and arrangement may
precede, and be followed only by "CHAOS come again." I arrived about
sunset, at Mr. Cyrus Doyle's station near the Nammoy, where I was
hospitably entertained by a man in charge of it, who rode eight miles in
twenty minutes only, to borrow some tea and sugar for me, and who lived
on very friendly terms with some old natives who remembered me, and my
first advance into that country.
18TH DECEMBER.--At 6 A.M., Thermometer 75 deg.. Height above the sea 750
feet. Guided by one of these natives, I reached the "great road," saw
many wool drays upon it, before I arrived at Maule's creek; and I
endeavoured, for a considerable time, to pass two gentlemen in a gig, and
wearing veils, who were driving a lot of mares before them, and who
seemed to derive amusement from making their mares keep pace with my
entire horse.
The road this day traversed the luxuriant flats of the Nammoy, one of the
richest districts in the colony, as the fat cattle on the banks of the
river sufficiently attested. The mountains behind, afforded equally
eligible runs for sheep. Nothing could surpass the beauty of the scenery,
amid abundance of water, umbrageous trees, cattle, verdure, and distant
mountains. I was most comfortably lodged that night at Mr. Wentworth's
station on the Nammoy, elevated above the sea 1055 feet, and next day I
reached the dwelling of a resident squatter, and saw a lady in a
comfortable house near the very spot, where, fifteen years before, I had
taken a lonely walk by the then unknown Nammoy, the first white man
permitted there to discover a "flowery desert."[*] I was most kindly
welcomed by this family; but I asked in vain, even there, to be favoured
with the perusal of a newspaper. When I expressed anxiety about my
numerous family, and spoke of my long absence of a year, I observed a
tear in the lady's eye, which I then thought the product of mere
sensibility; but I learnt subsequently, that she was aware the newspapers
she possessed, and out of sympathy withheld, would have apprised me of
the death of a son, which sad tidings were only communicated to me some
days after.[**]
[* Three Expeditions, etc., vol. i. p. 54.]
[** He died on the 16th July, at the age of eighteen, from the want of
medical aid, when surveying, in winter, the Australian Alps. His grave,
trodden by cattle hoofs, is in a desolate unconsecrated spot. He had
served the public, gratis, upwards of two years, as a draughtsman and
surveyor.]
Chapter X.
MR. KENNEDY CONDUCTS THE PARTY TO SYDNEY.--PROCEEDS OF THE SALE OF THE
CATTLE AND EQUIPMENT.--APPLIED TO THE REFITTING OF A LIGHT PARTY ON
HORSEBACK.--MR. KENNEDY'S INSTRUCTIONS TO TRACE DOWN THE VICTORIA.--Of
the aborigines.--CHARACTER OF YURANIGH.--IMPEDIMENTS TO THEIR
CIVILIZATION.--Of the Convicts.--THEIR USES IN THE COLONY.--CHARACTER OF
THOSE OF THE PARTY.--DIFFERENT CLASSES OF CRIMINALS.--THE UNFORTUNATE AND
THE DEPRAVED.--Of the present Colony of New South Wales.--NATURAL STATE.
--CAPABILITIES.--ITS TEMPORARY USES.--ULTIMATE COLONIZATION.--RETENTION
OF WATER.--NEW SYSTEMS OF AGRICULTURE REQUISITE.--GROWTH OF COTTON AND
SUGAR ALONG THE EASTERN COAST.--THE VINE AND THE OLIVE.--WHEAT CROPS.--
DIFFICULTY OF ACCESS TO MARKETS.--ROADS.--PROJECTED RAILWAYS.--
Conclusion.--ORIGIN OF THIS SURVEY.--ITS PRIMARY OBJECTS.--ULTIMATE
TENDENCY.--MY RESPONSIBILITY TO THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT.--CO-OPERATION OF
THE COLONIAL LEGISLATURE.--FINAL REPORT.--GREAT GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES.--
THE NATURAL DIVISIONS OF THE TERRITORY.--PORT BOWEN--CAPRICORNIA.--GULF
OF CARPENTARIA--AUSTRALINDIA.
The party which I had left in charge of Mr. Kennedy near Snodgrass Lagoon
arrived in the neighbourhood of Sydney on the 20th of January, and the
new Governor, Sir Charles Fitzroy, kindly granted such gratuities to the
most deserving of my men as I had recommended, and also sent the names to
England of such prisoners as His Excellency thought deserving of Her
Majesty's gracious pardon.
The sale of the cattle and equipment produced about 500L.; and as Mr.
Kennedy volunteered his services, when the proper season should arrive
(March), to trace down the course of the river Victoria with a light
party on horseback, I submitted a plan to Sir Charles Fitzroy, and
obtained His Excellency's permission to send this officer to survey the
river, and to apply the above-mentioned proceeds of sale in providing the
equipment of his party. Mr. Kennedy finally left Sydney about the middle
of March, with a party of eight men, all well mounted and leading spare
horses, with two light carts carrying a stock of provisions for fourteen
months. The following copy of his instructions will show what Mr. Kennedy
was required to do.
* * *
Surveyor-General's Office, Sydney, 22d February, 1847.
"Sir,
"His Excellency the Governor having been pleased to sanction my proposal
for the further exploration of the river Victoria with a small party to
be sent under your command; I have now the honour to enclose to you a
copy of instructions by which I was guided in conducting the late
expedition into the northern interior, and I have to request that you
will conform thereto, as much as the following particular instructions
for your especial guidance may permit.
"You will as early as possible return by the road across Liverpool Plains
so as to fall into the return route of the late expedition before you
leave the settled districts, and in this manner you will recross the
Balonne at St. George's Bridge, take the route back to Camp (83), and
thence by the route along the Maranoa to Camp (XXIX), beyond which you
will proceed as hereinafter detailed, with reference to the accompanying
tracing of my survey.
"You will cross the Maranoa at Camp (XXIX), and continue along my return
route until you reach Camp (75). I beg you will be particular so far in
looking for the track of my party returning, as you will perceive by the
map that many very circuitous detours may be thus avoided. But beyond
Camp (75), about seven miles, you will have to leave my return track on
your right, and not cross a little river there at all, but go along my
old advance track to Camp (XXXIV). Thence you will proceed by Camps
(XXXV) and (XXXVI), in order to approach the bed of the Warrego in the
direction of my ride of 14th June, in a general N. W. direction. It is
very desirable that you should keep my horse tracks there; but this I can
scarcely expect, and I can only therefore request that you will proceed
as closely in that direction as you can. The bed of the Warrego may be
looked for at a distance further on, equal to that of my ride of 14th
June.
"You will next pursue the course of the Warrego upwards towards Mount
Playfair, which the accompanying map will be sufficient to guide you to.
You will follow up the Cunno Creek, leaving Mount Playfair on your right
or to the eastward, and you will thus fall into the line of my horse-
track about the spot where I spoke to an old native female. I wish you
would then take some pains to travel in the direction of my track from
the head of Cunno through the Brigalow, which is comparatively open, in
the direction of my bivouac of 11th September.
"Keeping the direction of my track of next day, you will arrive at a low,
but stony, ridge (A) (across which you must be careful how you pass your
carts, but it is of no breadth), and you will descend into a flat, from
which you will ascend another stony ridge (B), of no greater height but
more asperity than the first, and covered with fallen timber. You will
have about a mile of that sort of difficulty to deal with on the higher
part, but by turning then to the right, you will fall into a well watered
valley, which will lead you to the Nive. In the whole of your route thus
far, you can meet with no difficulty in tracing it, guided by the map,
and following these instructions; but if Douglas should be with you, he
will no doubt recognize the country through which he passed with me. It
is very important that you should keep that route, as leading to the
Victoria in a very straight direction from Sydney, and a direction in
which, should your return be delayed beyond the time for which your party
is to be provisioned, it is probable, that any party sent after you to
your aid or assistance would proceed to look for you. After you shall
have reached the Nive and Camp (77), you cannot have any difficulty in
finding Camp (72) near the Gap, and from that valley you have only to
follow down the watercourse to be certain that you are on my track to the
Victoria, and, as you have been instructed to take an expert native with
you, you ought to find still my horse's track across the downs, cutting
off large bends of the river. But beyond Camps 16th September or 1st
October, you must keep by the river along my route back, and not follow
the circuitous track which I took through Brigalow to the westward. After
about four miles by the river, you will see, by the map, that my return
track again crossed the outward track over the downs, so that you may
fall into the route westward of the great northern bend of the Victoria.
I fear you must depend on the latitude, pace measurement, and bearings,
for ascertaining the situations of my camps of 29th September and 28th
September. You will see by the map how generally straight my journeys
were between these points, and how important it would be for you to know
the situation of the camp of 28th September, that you may thence set out
westward in the direction of my return route, instead of following the
main channel throughout the very circuitous turn it then takes to the
northward. Beyond the lowest point attained by me, or the point (wherever
that may be) to which you will be able to identify the accompanying map
with my track, of course it will be your duty to pursue the river, and
determine the course thereof as accurately as your light equipment and
consequent rapid progress, may permit. You may, however, employ the same
means by which I have mapped that river so far; and, for your guidance, I
shall add the particulars of my method of measuring the relative
distances. If you count the strokes of either of your horse's fore feet,
either walking or trotting, you will find them to be upon an average,
about 950 to a mile. In a field-book, as you note each change of bearing,
you have only to note down also the number of paces (which soon becomes a
habit); and to keep count of these, it is only necessary to carry about
thirty-five or forty small pieces of wood, like dice (beans or peas would
do), in one waistcoat pocket, and, at the end of every 100 paces, remove
one to the empty pocket on the opposite side. At each change of bearing,
you count these, adding the odd numbers to the number of hundreds,
ascertained by the dice, to be counted and returned at each change of
bearing to the other pocket. You should have a higher pocket for your
watch, and keep the two lower waisctoat pockets for this important
purpose.
"Now, to plot such a survey, you have only to take the half-inch scale of
equal parts (on the 6-inch scale in every case of instruments), and
allowing TEN for a hundred, the half-inch will represent 1000 paces. You
may thus lay down any broken number of paces to a true scale, and so
obtain a tolerably accurate map of each day's journey. The latitude will,
after all, determine finally the scale of paces; and you can, at leisure,
adjust each day's journey by its general bearing between different
latitudes; and, subsequently, introduce the details. You will soon find
the results sufficiently accurate to afford some criterion of even the
variation of the needle, when the course happens to be nearly east or
west, and when, of course, it behoves you to be very well acquainted with
the rate of your horse's paces, as determined by differences of latitude.
You will be careful to intersect the prominent points of any range that
may appear on the horizon; and the nature of the rock also should be
ascertained in the country examined: small specimens, with letters of
reference, will be sufficient for this. Specimens of the grasses, and of
the flower or seed of new trees, should be also preserved, with dates, in
a small herbarium. But the principal object of the journey being the
determination of the course of the Victoria, and the discovery of a
convenient route to the head of the Gulph of Carpentaria, the
accomplishment of these great objects must be steadily kept in view,
without regard to minor considerations. Should the channel finally spread
into an extensive bed, whether dry or swampy, you will adhere, as a
general rule, to the eastern side or shore, as, in the event of any
scarcity of water, the high land known to be there will thus be more
speedily accessible to you; and I am also strongly of opinion, that you
would cross in such a route more tributaries from the east than from the
west. On arriving at or near the Gulph of Carpentaria, I have
particularly to caution you against remaining longer than may be
unavoidable there, or, indeed, in any one place, in any part of your
route, where natives may be numerous.
"Having completed (at least roughly) the map of your general route, it
will be in your power in returning, to take out detours, and cut off
angles, by previously ascertaining the proper bearings for doing so; and
when so returning, it would be convenient to number your camps, that the
route and the country may be better described by you, and recognised
afterwards by others. These numbers may be cut in common figures on
trees; and if, as I hope, you should reach the Gulph, you can commence
them there: you may prefix C to each number commencing with 1, thus
avoiding any confusion with the numbers of my numbered camps on the
Victoria.
"On returning to the colony, you will report to me, or to the officer in
charge of the Survey Department, the progress and results of your
journey.
"I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient servant,
"T. L. MITCHELL, SURVEYOR-GENERAL.
"E. B. C. Kennedy, Esq. J. P. Assistant Surveyor, Sydney."
OF THE ABORIGINES.
There is no subject connected with New South Wales, or Australia, less
understood in England than the character and condition of the aboriginal
natives. They have been described as the lowest in the scale of humanity,
yet I found those who accompanied me superior in penetration and judgment
to the white men composing my party. Their means of subsistence and their
habits, are both extremely simple; but they are adjusted with admirable
fitness to the few resources afforded by such a country, in its wild
state. What these resources are, and how they are economised by the
natives, can only be learnt by an extensive acquaintance with the
interior; and the knowledge of a few simple facts, bearing on this
subject, may not be wholly devoid of interest. Fire, grass, kangaroos,
and human inhabitants, seem all dependent on each other for existence in
Australia; for any one of these being wanting, the others could no longer
continue. Fire is necessary to burn the grass, and form those open
forests, in which we find the large forest-kangaroo; the native applies
that fire to the grass at certain seasons, in order that a young green
crop may subsequently spring up, and so attract and enable him to kill or
take the kangaroo with nets. In summer, the burning of long grass also
discloses vermin, birds' nests, etc., on which the females and children,
who chiefly burn the grass, feed. But for this simple process, the
Australian woods had probably contained as thick a jungle as those of New
Zealand or America, instead of the open forests in which the white men
now find grass for their cattle, to the exclusion of the kangaroo, which
is well-known to forsake all those parts of the colony where cattle run.
The intrusion therefore of cattle is by itself sufficient to produce the
extirpation of the native race, by limiting their means of existence; and
this must work such extensive changes in Australia as never entered into
the contemplation of the local authorities. The squatters, it is true,
have also been obliged to burn the old grass occasionally on their runs;
but so little has this been understood by the Imperial Government that an
order against the burning of the grass was once sent out, on the
representations of a traveller in the south. The omission of the annual
periodical burning by natives, of the grass and young saplings, has
already produced in the open forest lands nearest to Sydney, thick
forests of young trees, where, formerly, a man might gallop without
impediment, and see whole miles before him. Kangaroos are no longer to be
seen there; the grass is choked by underwood; neither are there natives
to burn the grass, nor is fire longer desirable there amongst the fences
of the settler. The occupation of the territory by the white race seems
thus to involve, as an inevitable result, the extirpation of the
aborigines; and it may well be pleaded, in extenuation of any adverse
feelings these may show towards the white men, that these consequences,
although so little considered by the intruders, must be obvious to the
natives, with their usual acuteness, as soon as cattle enter on their
territory. The foregoing journal affords instances of the habits of the
natives in these respects. Silently, but surely, that extirpation of
aborigines is going forward in grazing districts, even where protectors
of aborigines have been most active; and in Van Diemen's Land, the race
has been extirpated, even before that of the kangaroos, under an agency
still more destructive.