Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia, in Search of a Route from Sydney to the Gulf of Carpentaria (1848)Mitchell, T. L. (Thomas Livingstone)
History
Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia, in Search of a Route from Sydney to the Gulf of Carpentaria (1848)
Mitchell, T. L. (Thomas Livingstone)
New South Wales -- Discovery and exploration; Queensland -- Discovery and exploration
Douglas found, at length, a fallen tree, and under this,
covered with a few boughs, we lay down on the wet earth for the night,
being ourselves as wet, yet wanting withal, water for ourselves and
horses. Thermometer, at sunrise, 54 deg.; at noon, 69 deg.; at 4 P.M., 67 deg.; at 9,
57 deg..
21ST JUNE.--The rain had abated to my great disappointment, for we should
have been amply compensated for wet jackets, by the sight of well filled
ponds of water, the want of which was the great impediment to this
journey. The sky was still overcast, and the wet bushes were unavoidable.
On I travelled north-west, until we approached some fine open forest
hills, the bare tops of which, just visible from the foot of Mount Owen,
had first drawn me in that direction. One tempting peak induced me to
approach it, and to think of an ascent. In a rugged little water-course
in its bosom, we found water enough for our horses, the product of last
night's rain. The view from the summit, made up for the deviation from my
route. A group of the most picturesque hills imaginable lay to the
northward, and were connected with this, the whole being branches from
the Table Land of Hope. Some appeared of a deep blue colour, where their
clothing was evergreen bush. Others were partly of a golden hue, from the
rich ripe grass upon them. The sun broke through the heavy clouds and
poured rays over them, which perfected the beauty of the landscape. I
recognised, from this apex, my station on Mount Owen, and several hills I
had intersected from it. Amongst others, the three remarkable cones to
the westward of Mount Faraday, apparently a continuation of the line of
summits I have already mentioned. This hill consisted of amygdaloidal
trap in nodules, the crevices being filled with crystals of sulphate of
lime, and there were many round balls of ironstone, like marbles or round
shot, strewed about. A red ferruginous crust projected from the highest
part, and, on this summit, the magnetic needle was greatly affected by
local attraction, and quite useless. Fortunately, I had also my pocket
sextant, and with it took some valuable angles. On descending, I heartily
enjoyed a breakfast, and named the hill which gave us the water, Mount
Aquarius. Returning towards Mount Owen, by a more direct route, I arrived
at the head of a gully which led tolerably direct until we found our
track, in the creek I had run down on the preceding day. But night was
approaching, and we had water enough in a rocky hollow, and also a cavern
before which a large fire gave such warmth, that, in passing the night
there in my cloak, I was quite insensible to a frost without, which, at
the camp, at 4 P. M., had lowered the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer
to 22 deg., or 10 deg. below the freezing point.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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