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
August 2.--Leaving early, I took with me a native boy, and a man on
horseback, leading a pack-horse, to carry water, as I could not but be
apprehensive, lest we might find none in the country into which we were
advancing. In following down the Depot watercourse to the plains, we
found a fire where the natives had encamped the previous night. This
surprised us, because we were not aware that there were any so
immediately in our vicinity. It however shewed us the necessity of
vigilance and circumspection in our future movements.
Steering for the most western point of Mount Deception range, until we
opened one still more distant to the north-west, and which I named
Termination Hill, we kept pushing on through barren stony plains, without
grass or shrubs, and arrived late in the afternoon upon a large
watercourse with gum-trees, but could find no water in its bed. Near it,
however, in the plains, we were fortunate enough to discover a puddle of
rain water, and at once halted for the night, though the feed was
indifferent. We had travelled twenty-eight miles, and the pack-horse
carrying twelve gallons of water, was considerably fatigued. At the
puddle, two teal were seen, which indicated the existence of a larger
body of water somewhere in the neighbourhood, but our efforts to find it
were unsuccessful.
August 3.--Crossing very heavy sandy ridges, we passed at intervals one
or two dry watercourses, and the beds of some small dry lakes among the
sandy ridges, in one of which was a little rain water which appeared to
be rapidly drying up. Watering the horses we moved on for Termination
Hill, but the nature of the country had been so unfavourable, that the
pack-horse was knocked up, and I was obliged to halt four miles short of
our intended destination, and where there was but poor feed for the
animals. After dinner I walked to Termination Hill and ascended it. Like
all the others I had recently examined, it was composed principally of
quartz, ironstone and a kind of slaty rock; the low hills in front
exhibiting the grey limestone, whilst patches of gum scrub were
observable in many places. From the summit of Termination Hill, Lake
Torrens bore W. 20 degrees S. but the view was obstructed by intervening
sand ridges, the elevated land on the opposite shore of the lake still
appeared to continue, and was visibly further north than the lake itself,
which, as I observed, was partially shut out by the ridges. To the north
were low broken hills similar to those around me, but less elevated, and
immediately under these hills to the westward, were heavy red sandy
ridges, such as we had crossed during the day. To the eastward and ten
degrees north of east were seen Flinders range, with which Mount
Deception and Termination Hills were connected, by low long spurs thrown
off to the northward. In the north-east the horizon was one unbroken,
low, flat, level waste, with here and there small table-topped
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account