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
I found and left the Darling in a complete state of exhaustion. As a
river it had ceased to flow; the only supply it received was from brine
springs, which, without imparting a current, rendered its waters saline
and useless, and lastly, the fish in it were different from those
inhabiting the other known rivers of the interior. It is true, I did
not procure a perfect specimen of one, but we satisfactorily
ascertained that they were different, inasmuch as they had large and
strong scales, whereas the fish in the western waters have smooth
skins. On the other hand, the waters of the new river were sweet,
although turbid; it had a rapid current in it; and its fish were of the
ordinary kind. In the above particulars, therefore, they differed much
as they could well differ. Yet there were some strong points of
resemblance in the appearance of the rivers themselves, which were more
evident to me than I can hope to make them to the reader. Both were
shaded by trees of the same magnificent dimensions; and the same kind
of huts were erected on the banks of each, inhabited by the same
description, or race, of people, whose weapons, whose implements, and
whose nets corresponded in most respects.
We will now cast our eyes over the chart: and see if the position of
the two rivers upon it, will at all bear out our conclusion that they
are one and the same; and whether the line that would join them is the
one that the Darling would naturally take, in reference to its previous
course.--We shall find that the two points under discussion, bear
almost N.E. and S.W. of each other respectively, the direct line in
which the Darling had been ascertained to flow, as far as it had been
found practicable to trace it. I have already remarked that the
fracture of my barometer prevented my ascertaining the height of the
bed of the Darling above the sea, during the first expedition. A
similar accident caused me equal disappointment on the second; because
one of the most important points upon which I was engaged was to
ascertain the dip of the interior. I believe I stated, in its proper
place, that I did not think the Darling could possibly be 200 feet
above the sea, and as far as my observations bear me out, I should
estimate the bed of the Murray, at its junction with the new river, to
be within 100. It would appear that there is a distance of 300 miles
between the Murray River at this place, and the Darling; a space amply
sufficient for the intervention of a hilly country. No one could have
been more attentive to the features of the interior than I was; nor
could any one have dwelt upon their peculiarities with more earnest
attention. It were hazardous to build up any new theory, however
ingenious it may appear. The conclusions into which I have been led,
are founded on actual observation of the country through which I
passed, and extend not beyond my actual range of vision; unless my
assuming that the decline of the interior to the south has been
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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