Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia — Volume 2 — John Shaqi
Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia — Volume 2Sturt, Charles
History
Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia — Volume 2
Sturt, Charles
New South Wales -- Discovery and exploration; Sturt, Charles, 1795-1869
On the following morning, we started for the place at which it had been
arranged that we should cross the Morumbidgee, but, though no more than
five miles in a direct line from Whaby's house, in consequence of the
irregularity of the ground, the drays did not reach it before noon. The
weight and quantity of our stores being taken into consideration, the
task we had before us was not a light one. Such, however, was the
industry of the men, that before it became dark the whole of them,
including the drays and sheep, were safely deposited on the opposite
bank. We were enabled to be thus expeditious, by means of a punt that
we made with the tarpaulins on an oblong frame. As soon as it was
finished, a rope was conveyed across the river, and secured to a tree,
and a running cord being then fastened to the punt, a temporary ferry
was established, and the removal of our stores rendered comparatively
easy. M'Leay undertook to drive the horses and cattle over a ford below
us, but he did not calculate on the stubborn disposition of the latter,
and, consequently, experienced some difficulty, and was well nigh swept
away by the current. So great was his difficulty, that he was obliged
to land, to his great discomfiture, amidst a grove of lofty nettles.
Mulholland, who accompanied him, and who happened to be naked, was
severly stung by them. The labour of the day was, however,
satisfactorily concluded, and we lay down to rest with feelings of
entire satisfaction.
A great part of the following day was consumed in reloading, nor did we
pursue our journey until after two o'clock. We then passed over tracks
on the left of the river of the same rich description that existed on
its right; they were much intersected by creeks, but were clear of
timber, and entirely out of the reach of floods. At about seven miles
from where we started, we found ourselves checked by precipitous rocks
jutting into the stream, and were obliged once more to make
preparations for crossing it. Instead of a deep and quiet reach,
however, the Morumbidgee here expanded into a fretful rapid; but it was
sufficiently shallow to admit of our taking the drays over, without the
trouble of unloading them. There was still, however, some labour
required in cutting down the banks, and the men were fully occupied
until after sunset; and so well did they work, that an hour's exertion
in the morning enabled us to make the passage with safety. On ascending
the right bank, we found that we had to force through a dense body of
reeds, covering some flooded land, at the base of a range terminating
upon the river; and we were obliged, in order to extricate ourselves
from our embarrassments, to pass to the N.W. of the point, and to cross
a low part of the range. This done, we met with no further
interruptions during the day, but travelled along rich and clear flats
to a deep bight below an angle of the river called Nangaar by the
natives; where we pitched our camp, and our animals revelled amid the
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