Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia: From Moreton Bay to Port Essington, a distance of upwards of 3000 miles, during the years 1844-1845Leichhardt, Ludwig
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Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia: From Moreton Bay to Port Essington, a distance of upwards of 3000 miles, during the years 1844-1845
Leichhardt, Ludwig
Australia -- Description and travel; Australia -- Discovery and exploration
The weather very fine, but hot; the wind westerly; thermometer at sunset
74 degrees (84 degrees in the water.)
Oct. 23.--At the commencement of last night, westerly winds, the sky
clear; at the setting of the moon (about 3 o'clock a.m.), the wind
changed to the north-east; scuddy clouds passing rapidly from that
quarter; at sunrise it clears a little, but the whole morning cloudy, and
fine travelling weather.
We travelled in a north-westerly direction, through a Casuarina thicket,
but soon entered again into fine open Ironbark forest, with occasionally
closer underwood; leaving a Bricklow scrub to our right, we came to a dry
creek with a deep channel; which I called "Acacia Creek," from the
abundance of several species of Acacia. Not a mile farther we came on a
second creek, with running water, which, from the number of Dogwood
shrubs (Jacksonia), in the full glory of their golden blossoms. I called
"Dogwood Creek." The creek came from north and north-east and flowed to
the south-west, to join the Condamine. The rock of Dogwood Creek is a
fine grained porous Psammite (clayey sandstone), with veins and nodules
of iron, like that of Hodgson's creek. A new gum-tree, with a
rusty-coloured scaly bark, the texture of which, as well as the
seed-vessel and the leaf, resembled bloodwood, but specifically
different; the apple-tree (Angophora lanceolata); the flooded-gum; a
Hakea with red blossoms; Zierea; Dodonaea; a crassulaceous plant with
handsome pink flowers; a new myrtaceous tree of irregular stunted growth,
about 30 feet high, with linear leaves, similar to those of the rosemary;
a stiff grass, peculiar to sandstone regions; and a fine Brunonia, with
its chaste blue blossoms, adorn the flats of the creek as well as the
forest land. The country is at present well provided with water and
grass, though the scattered tufts of Anthistiria, and the first
appearance of the small grass-tree (Xanthorrhaea), render its constancy
very doubtful. The winding narrow-leaved Kennedyas, Gnaphaliums in
abundance; Aotus in low bushes.
No game, except a kangaroo rat, pigeons, ducks, and mutton-birds. Mr.
Phillips brought a crawfish from the creek: it had just thrown off its
old shell. Fresh-water muscles plentiful, though not of the size of those
of the Condamine. A small rat was caught this morning amongst our flour
bags; it had no white tip at the tail, nor is the tail so bushy as that
of the rabbit-rat: probably it was a young animal.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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