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 12.--Steering to the N. W. to a low range (the highest summit of
which I named Mount North-west,) we just kept far enough in the plains to
intercept the watercourses from the hills where they spread into the
level country, and by this means we got excellent feed for our horses;
generally the same rich succulent herbage I have mentioned before,
occasionally mixed with wild oats. It was only in places of this
description that we could expect to find anything for our horses. In the
plains or on the hills there was not a blade of of anything green; at
night we encamped upon a small dry channel with tolerable feed, but no
water, and we again gave each horse three gallons from our kegs.
The country we were traversing as yet under-went no alteration, the only
difference being, that the hills were getting lower and the watercourses
less numerous, and both apparently without water; the sand ridges came
more in among the hills, and the dry beds of small salt lakes were often
met with; the salsolae were more abundant, but the traces of natives were
now less frequent; whilst those we fell in with seemed for the most part
to have been left during the wet season. The rock formation still
continued the same, quartz, ironstone, slate, and grey limestone, with
saline crusts peeping above the ground in many places in the lower
levels; the sky was cloudy and threatened rain, but none fell: our stage
was 18 miles.
August 13.--Continuing our course to the N. W. I took on the cart for 13
miles to a large dry channel, coming from the hills, upon which we halted
for an hour or two to rest and feed the horses, as there were some
sprinklings of grass around. We had now a change in the appearance of the
country; the ironstone ranges seemed to decrease rapidly in elevation to
the north, and the region around appeared more level, with many very
singular looking table-topped elevations from 50 to 300 feet in height
and with steep precipitous sides which were red, with the ironstone
above, and white, with a substance like chalk, below. The country was
covered with salsolae, and we passed the beds of many dried up salt
lakes. Ascending the highest ridge near us, I found Lake Torrens was no
longer visible, being shut out by the sandy ridges to the westward,
whilst the low ironstone hills impeded our view to the north, and to the
east. Having given our horses water, we buried twelve gallons against our
return, and sending back the man with the cart, and extra horses, the
native boy and I still pushed on to the N. W., taking a pack-horse to
carry our provisions and a few quarts of water for ourselves.
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