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
11TH SEPTEMBER.--Within 400 yards of the spot where we had slept, we
found a small pond. The water was of that rich brown tint so well known
to those with whom water is most precious, and to whom, after long
custom, clear water seems, like some wines, to want body. Here we had
breakfast, and we took also a bagful of water[*] with us. This timely
supply relieved me from the necessity for following up the windings of
some water-course; and I could proceed in a straight direction, westward.
We passed, at first, through rather thick scrub, until, at length, I
perceived a sharp pic before me, which I ascended. It consisted of trap
rock, as did also the range to which it belonged, being rather a lateral
feature thereof. Mount Hutton, Mount Pluto, and Mount Playfair, were all
visible from it, as were also Mounts Owen and Faraday. The connections
extended westward; for to the W.N.W. the broken cliffs at the head of the
Salvator and the Claude, were not very distant, and these I was careful
to avoid. A range immediately westward of this cone, was higher than it,
and extended from Mount Playfair. To cross that range at its lowest part,
which bore 26 deg. W. of S., was our next object. We found the range covered
with brigalow and other still more impervious scrubs. On the crest, the
rock consisted of clay ironstone. The centigrade thermometer stood, at
noon, at 30 deg. 5' equal to 87 deg., of Fahrenheit; the height above the sea we
made 2032 feet. Beyond this crest, we encountered a scrub of matted
vines, which hung down like ropes, and pulled some of us off our horses,
when it happened that any of these ropes were not observed in time in
riding through the thicket. A very dense forest of young Callitris trees
next impeded us, and were more formidable than even the vines. The day
was passed in forcing our way through these various scrubs, the ground
declining by a gentle slope only. We next found firmer soil underfoot,
that where the Callitris scrub grew having been sandy, and we saw at
length, with a feeling of relief, that only brigalow scrub was before us;
we ascended gravelly hills, came upon a dry water-course, and then on a
chain of ponds. Near one of these ponds, sate an old woman, beside a
fire, of course, although the weather was very warm; and a large net,
used for taking emus, hung on a brigalow bush close by. The men were
absent, looking for food, as we partly conjectured, for little could
Yuranigh make out of what she said, besides the names of some rivers, to
which I could point with the hand. I was surprised to find that here, the
name for water was "Narran," the name for it in the district of the
Balonne being "Nadyeen," whereas the word for water amongst the tribes of
the Darling is Kalli. That the "Narran" river and swamp are named from
this language of tribes now dwelling much further northward, seems
obvious; and, as the natives on the Darling know little of the "Narran"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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