Journals of Australian ExplorationsGregory, Augustus Charles
History
Journals of Australian Explorations
Gregory, Augustus Charles
Australia -- Discovery and exploration
shrubby vegetation, were the characteristic feature. West of longitude
147 degrees, nearly to the boundary of South Australia, in 141 degrees,
the country is unfit for occupation, for, though in favourable seasons
there might in some few localities be abundance of feed for stock, the
uncertainty of rain and frequent recurrence of drought renders it
untenable, the grasses and herbage being principally annuals, which not
only die but are swept away by the hot summer winds, leaving the surface
of the soil completely bare. On Cooper's Creek, near the boundary, there
is a small tract of second-rate country, which, being abundantly supplied
with water, may eventually be occupied. The best part is, however, within
the province of South Australia. Between Cooper's Creek and Lake Torrens
about 120 miles of sandy country intervenes. This tract is destitute of
surface water, but as it is probable that it could be obtained by sinking
wells of moderate depth, I think it might be occupied to advantage during
the cool season, and thus relieve the stations which are now established
within Lake Torrens, though I fear that the summer heat would be too
great to admit of permanent occupation. The geological character of the
country is remarkably uniform. Carboniferous sandstones and shales,
containing occasional beds of coal, with superincumbent hills and ridges
of basalt, extend from Darling Downs to the 146th meridian, where these
rocks are covered by horizontal sandstones with beds of chert and
water-worn quartz pebbles. This latter formation extends as far as Mount
Hopeless, where the slate ranges of South Australia rise abruptly from
the plain. The sandy deserts and mud plains are only superficial
deposits, as the sandstones are often exposed where the upper formation
is intersected by gullies. The direction of the parallel ridges of drift
sand appear to be the result of the prevailing winds, and not the action
of water, it being sufficient to visit them on a windy day to be
convinced that it is unnecessary to seek for a more remote and obscure
cause than that which is in present operation. It is, perhaps, with
reference to the physical geography of Australia that the results of the
Expedition are most important; as by connecting successively the
explorations of Sir T. Mitchell, Mr. Kennedy, Captain Sturt, and Mr.
Eyre, the waters of the tropical interior of the eastern portion of the
Continent are proved to flow towards Spencer's Gulf, if not actually into
it, the barometrical observations showing that Lake Torrens, the lowest
part of the interior, is decidedly above the sea-level. Although only
about one-third of the waters of Cooper's Creek flow into Lake Torrens by
the channel of Streletzki Creek, there is strong evidence that the
remaining channels, after spreading their waters on the vast plains which
occupy the country between them and Sturt's Stony Desert, finally drain
to the south, augmented probably by the waters of Eyre's Creek, the Stony
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