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
Sunday, June 21.--We remained in camp. The day was cold, the weather
boisterous, with showers of rain at intervals, and the barometer falling;
our delay enabled me to write letters to my various friends, before
finally leaving the occupied parts of the country, I was glad too, to
give the horses and men a little rest after the fatigue they had endured
yesterday in crossing the country.
June 22.--As we still remained in camp, the day being dark and cloudy
with occasional showers, I took the opportunity of having one of the
drays boarded close up, and of re-arranging the loads, oiling the
fire-arms, and grinding the axes, spades, etc.; we completed our
complement of tools, tents, tarpaulins, etc. from those at the station,
and had everything arranged on the drays in the most convenient manner,
always having in view safety in carriage and facility of access; the best
place for the fire-arms I found to be at the outside of the sides, the
backs, or the fronts, of those drays that were close boarded.
By nailing half a large sheepskin with the wool on in any of these
positions, a soft cushion was formed for the fire-arms to rest against,
they were then fixed in their places by a loop of leather for the muzzle,
and a strap and buckle for the stock; whilst the other half of the
sheepskin which hung loose, doubled down in front of the weapons, between
them and the wheel, effectually preserving them from both dirt and wet,
and at the same time keeping them in a position, where they could be got
at in a moment, by simply lifting up the skin and unbuckling the strap;
by this means too, all danger or risk was avoided, which usually exists
when the fire-arms are put on or off the drays in a loaded state. I have
myself formerly seen carbines explode more than once from the cocks
catching something, in being pulled out from, or pushed in amidst the
load of a dray, independently of the difficulty of getting access to them
in cases of sudden emergency; a still better plan than the one I adopted,
would probably be to have lockers made for the guns, to hang in similar
places, and in a somewhat similar manner to that I have described, but in
this case it would be necessary for the lockers to be arranged and fitted
at the time the drays or carts were made.
All the time I could spare from directing or superintending the loading
of the drays, I devoted to writing letters and making arrangements for
the regulation of my private affairs, which from the sudden manner in
which I had engaged in the exploring expedition, and from the busy and
hurried life I had led since the commencement of the preparations, had
fallen into some confusion. I was now, however, obliged to content myself
with such a disposition of them as the time and circumstances enabled me
to make.--I observed the latitude of the station to be 34 degrees 15
minutes 56 seconds S.
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