Journals of Two Expeditions into the Interior of New South WalesOxley, John
History
Journals of Two Expeditions into the Interior of New South Wales
Oxley, John
New South Wales -- Discovery and exploration; Oxley, John, 1783-1828
June 26.--The country this day was as various as can be imagined; low
but not level; in some places covered with the acacia pendula,
chenopodeae, and polygonum juncium; in others, with good gum and box
trees. The whole, with few exceptions, appeared liable to flood. Four or
five miles back the country imperceptibly rises, and is free from river
floods; but the hollows, proceeding from the inequalities of its
surface, are in rainy seasons the reservoirs of the land floods. The
whole country was now perfectly dry, and must have been so for a long
period: it would indeed have been impossible, had the season been wet,
to have kept company with the boats. The river itself continues
undiminished, and is a fine stream, with nothing to impede the
navigation; its windings, however, are very considerable. The banks
appear lower by nearly three feet than yesterday: there are still no
marks of flood rising upon the land above a foot on either side: the
depth of the stream is from twenty to twenty-four feet, breadth from
sixty to one hundred and sixty, and its current is about a mile and a
half per hour. The river has fallen yesterday and to-day nearly eighteen
inches.
June 27.--The river continues to fall. We had gone about five miles
through a country as low and brushy as usual, when we were agreeably
surprised with the view of a small hill about a mile to the eastward: we
hastened to it, in hopes that we should find that the country rose to
the north-east; we however saw nothing but another hill still higher,
about three miles to the north-north-west, in the direction of the
river. The hill, or rather rock, we had just quitted, was about a
quarter of a mile long by half a quarter broad, and about seventy feet
high; it was nothing but granite, having the sides and summit covered
with broken pieces of a fine and very compact species of the same
mineral. We named it Welcome Rock; for any thing like an eminence was
grateful to our sight. From the summit of the hill seen to the
north-north-west our view was very extensive; but nothing indicated
either
a speedy change of country or a termination of the river. To the
westward,
the land was a perfect level, with clear spaces or marshes interspersed
amidst the boundless desert of wood. To the east, a most stupendous
range of mountains, lifting their blue heads above the horizon, bounded
the view in that direction, and were distant at least seventy miles, the
country appearing a perfect plain between us and them. From north-west
to north-east nothing interrupted the horizontal view, except a hill
similar to the one we were on, about five miles distant to the
north-north-west. Extended as was our prospect, it did not afford much
room for satisfactory anticipation; and there was nothing that gave us
reason to believe that any stream, either from the east or west, joined
the river for the next forty miles at least. The hill from which this
view was taken was named Mount Harris, after my friend, who accompanied
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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