Journals of Australian ExplorationsGregory, Augustus Charles
History
Journals of Australian Explorations
Gregory, Augustus Charles
Australia -- Discovery and exploration
At 7.25 a.m. resumed our journey on a south-east course, over a miserable
sandy country, with stunted eucalypti, grevillia, and triodia; at 11.0
reached a range of broken sandstone hills, which, with great difficulty
and risk to the horses, we crossed in an east-south-east direction; but
though the direct distance was only three miles, the deep ravines and
rocks delayed us for three hours, and we were glad to emerge into an open
valley, in which we camped at 2.30 p.m.; in the deep ravines of the
sandstone hills water was abundant, but inaccessible for our horses, from
the steep and rocky character of the country; a few small white-gum trees
and triodia formed almost the entire vegetation; the rock is gray
sandstone in horizontal beds with cleavage lamina, which varied so much
in angle and direction that no general direction could be assigned, the
cleavage of the upper beds often being the reverse of those immediately
below them; the beds were from one to four feet thick, and the lamina
half an inch to two inches, the grain very even and moderately fine.
Latitude by Vega 16 degrees 24 minutes 20 seconds.
7th August.
Resumed our journey at 7.10 a.m. on an average east-south-east course,
along the foot of a rocky range of sandstone hills; at 8.30 came on a
deep rocky creek, with long pools of water trending to the north; as our
horses required rest, and the country ahead appeared very barren and
rocky, we encamped.
8th August.
Steering a south-east course from 6.50 a.m., crossed a sandy tableland,
with paper-bark and melaleuca with broad leaves; passed a small creek
with pools trending north-east, and at 10.0 a low rocky ridge; then
descended into a wide valley, with melaleuca and a few box-trees. At 1.25
camped on a large sandy creek with two channels ten yards wide, with low
sandy banks; one channel was dry, but the other had a few small pools in
it; a line of melaleuca and flooded-gum trees marked its course along the
valley. When in flood the waters of the creek are 100 yards wide and ten
to fifteen feet deep. The grass was inferior, but from having been burnt
had grown up fresh and green.
Latitude by a Trianguli Australis 16 degrees 34 minutes 44 seconds.
IRON TOOLS USED BY NATIVES.
9th August.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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