Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia | Page 7

direction.
The thermometer, before and at sunrise, 32 degrees; so cold that I could
not work with my knife, away from the fire. At sunset, a thick
gathering of clouds to the westward.
Oct. 4.--Cloudy sky; thermometer 50 degrees at sunrise; little dew; 64
degrees at eight o'clock.
We travelled about eleven miles in a S. W. and S. S. W. direction,
skirting the scrub. During the journey, two thunder-storms passed over;
one to the southward beyond the Condamine, the other to the north and
north-east over the mountains. The scrub is a dense mass of vegetation,
with a well defined outline--a dark body of foliage, without grass, with
many broken branches and trees; no traces of water, or of a rush of
waters. More to the southward, the outline of the scrub becomes less
defined, and small patches are seen here and there in the forest. The
forest is open and well timbered; but the trees are rather small. A chain
of lagoons from E. by N.--W. by S.; large flooded gum-trees (but no
casuarinas) at the low banks of the lagoons. The presence of many
fresh-water muscles (Unio) shows that the water is constant, at least in
ordinary seasons.
The scrub opens more and more; a beautiful country with Bricklow
groves, and a white Vitex in full blossom. The flats most richly adorned
by flowers of a great variety of colours: the yellow Senecios, scarlet
Vetches, the large Xeranthemums, several species of Gnaphalium,
white Anthemis-like compositae: the soil is a stiff clay with concretions:
melon-holes with rushes; the lagoons with reeds.
At night, a thunder-storm from south-west. Our dogs caught a female
kangaroo with a young one in its pouch, and a kangaroo rat.
Oct. 5.--We followed the chain of lagoons for about seven miles, in a
west by south direction; the country to our right was most beautiful,
presenting detached Bricklow groves, with the Myal, and with the
Vitex in full bloom, surrounded by lawns of the richest grass and
herbage; the partridge pigeon (Geophaps scripta) abounded in the
Acacia groves; the note of the Wonga Wonga (Leucosarcia picata,

GOULD.) was heard; and ducks and two pelicans were seen on the
lagoons. Blackfellows had been here a short time ago: large unio shells
were abundant; the bones of the codfish, and the shield of the
fresh-water turtle, showed that they did not want food. A small orange
tree, about 5-8 minutes high, grows either socially or scattered in the
open scrub, and a leafless shrub, belonging to the Santalaceae, grows in
oblong detached low thickets. Chenopodiaceous plants are always
frequent where the Myal grows. The latitude of our camp was 26
degrees 56 minutes 11 seconds.
Oct. 6.--Was fully occupied with mending our packsaddles and straps,
broken by the bullocks in throwing off their loads.
Oct. 7.--In following the chain of lagoons to the westward, we came,
after a few miles travelling, to the Condamine, which flows to the
north-west: it has a broad, very irregular bed, and was, at the time, well
provided with water--a sluggish stream, of a yellowish muddy colour,
occasionally accompanied by reeds. We passed several gullies and a
creek from the northward, slightly running.
The forest on the right side of the river was tolerably open, though
patches of Myal scrub several times exposed us to great inconvenience;
the left bank of the Condamine, as much as we could see of it, was a
fine well grassed open forest. Conglomerate and sandstone cropped out
in several sections. Mosquitoes and sandflies were very trouble-some. I
found a species of snail nearly resembling Succinea, in the fissures of
the bark of the Myal, on the Box, and in the moist grass. The
muscle-shells are of immense size. The well-known tracks of
Blackfellows are everywhere visible; such as trees recently stripped of
their bark, the swellings of the apple-tree cut off to make vessels for
carrying water, honey cut out, and fresh steps cut in the trees to climb
for opossums. Our latitude was 26 degrees 49 minutes. The
thermometer was 41 1/2 at sunrise; but in the shade, between 12 and 2
o'clock, it stood at 80 degrees, and the heat was very great, though a
gentle breeze and passing clouds mitigated the power of the scorching
sun.
Oct. 8.--During the night, we had a tremendous thunder-storm, with
much thunder and lightning from the west. The river was very winding,
so that we did not advance more than 7 or 8 miles W.N.W.; the
Bricklow scrub compelled us frequently to travel upon the flood-bed of

the river. Fine grassy forest-land intervened between the Bricklow and
Myal scrubs; the latter is always more open than the former, and the
soil is of a rich black concretionary character. The soil of the Bricklow
scrub is a stiff clay,