Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia and Overland from Adelaide to King George's Sound in the Years 1840-1: Sent By the Colonists of South Australia, with the Sanction and Support of the Government: Including an Account of the Manners and Customs of the Aborigines and the State of Their Relations with Europeans — Volume 01Eyre, Edward John
History
Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia and Overland from Adelaide to King George's Sound in the Years 1840-1: Sent By the Colonists of South Australia, with the Sanction and Support of the Government: Including an Account of the Manners and Customs of the Aborigines and the State of Their Relations with Europeans — Volume 01
Eyre, Edward John
Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Ethnology -- Australia
March 10.--At five we were again on our route, every moment expecting to
see a break in the line of cliffs along which we had now travelled so
far. Alas! they still continued stretching as far as the eye could see to
the westward, and as fast as we arrived at one point which had bounded
our vision (and beyond which we hoped a change might occur), it was but
to be met with the view of another beyond. Distressing and fatal as the
continuance of these cliffs might prove to us, there was a grandeur and
sublimity in their appearance that was most imposing, and which struck me
with admiration. Stretching out before us in lofty unbroken outline, they
presented the singular and romantic appearance of massy battlements of
masonry, supported by huge buttresses, and glittering in the morning sun
which had now risen upon them, and made the scene beautiful even amidst
the dangers and anxieties of our situation. It was indeed a rich and
gorgeous view for a painter, and I never felt so much regret at my
inability to sketch as I did at this moment.
Still we kept moving onwards and still the cliffs continued. Hour after
hour passed away, mile after mile was traversed, and yet no change was
observable. My anxiety for the party who were to follow behind with the
pack-horses became very great; the state of doubt and uncertainty I was
in was almost insupportable, and I began to fear that neither sheep nor
horses would ever reach the water, even should we suceeed in doing so
ourselves, which now appeared to be very doubtful. At noon I considered
we had come one hundred and ten miles from the last water, and still the
country remained the same. The cliffs indeed appeared to be gradually
declining a little in elevation to the westward, but there was nothing to
indicate their speedy termination. Our sheep still travelled, but they
were getting so tired, and their pace was so slow, that I thought it
would be better to leave them behind, and by moving more rapidly with the
horses endeavour at least to save their lives. Foreseeing that such a
contingency as this might occur, I had given the overseer strict orders
to keep the tracks of my horses, that if I should be compelled to abandon
the sheep he might find them and bring them on with his party.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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