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
2nd. That the deepest indentation as yet discovered of the division of
the waters, was at the sources of that river, and corresponded with the
greatest elevation indicated by the barometer (about 2500 feet); and,
3dly. That there, I. E. under the parallel of 25 deg. S., the highest spinal
range must extend westward, in a line of truncated cones, whereof Mount
Faraday appeared to be one.
I accordingly determined to retrace our wheel-tracks back to the head of
the Salvator, and to explore from thence the country to the north-west,
as far as our stock of provisions and the season would permit. I had
marked my camps by Roman letters cut deep in sound trees, and at this, I
left the number LXIX. cut under the initials of the colony, N.S.W.; this
being the number marked from the Culgoa. We had, at least, laid out a
good carriage road from the colony to a river in M. Leichardt's route;
which road, as far as we had marked it with our wheels, led through
pastoral regions of much greater extent than all the colonists now
occupied. At this farthest point traced by our wheels within the Tropics,
the plants were still known to botanists, but with some interesting
exceptions. We here found the CASSIA HETEROLOBA in flower; also the burr
plant, CALOTIS CUNEIFOLIA of Brown; the PITTOSPORUM LANCEOLATUM of A.
Cunningham, a shrub with yellow flowers and narrow willowy leaves; and
the beautiful laurel-leaved GEIGERA LATIFOLIA was still conspicuous among
the forest trees. But here also we found a very fine new species of
STENOCHILUS[*], a new pine-leaved DODONOEA, allied to the D. PINIFOLIA of
Swan River[**], and a most singular hard-leaved shrub, with spiny foliage
resembling five pointed stars, proved to be a new species of
LABICHEA.[***] Thermometer, at sunrise, 36 deg.; at noon, 71 deg.; at 4 P.M.,
70 deg.; at 9, 35 deg.;--with wet bulb, 30 deg..
[* S. PUBIFLORUS (Benth. MS.) foliis lanceolato-linearibus elongatis
integerrimis apice subuncinato novellis ramulisque tomentellis mox
glabratis, calycis foliolis lanceolatis, corollae pubescentis inferne
attenuatae laciniis oblatis infima breviter soluta.--This agrees pretty
well with Brown's short diagnosis of S. LONGIFOLIUS, as well as with
Cunningham's specimens so named; but those have no corolla, which Brown
also had not seen, and his is a south coast plant. (Another new species
with leaves like this, but very different flowers, was gathered by Sir T.
Mitchell in his former expedition.)]
[** D. ACEROSA (Lindl. MS.); foliis tenuibus acerosis subfalcatis
glandulosis, corymbis axillaribus paucifloris folio brevioribus, capsulis
tetrapteris alis apice rotundatis.]
[*** L. DIGITATA (Benth. MS.) ramulis tomentellis, foliis subsessili bus,
foliolis 3-5-digitatis lineari-oblongis spinoso-mucronatis coriaceis
reticulatis terminali caeteris vix majore, antheris parum inaequalibus
conformibus.]
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