Chapter 7

• The written Records of the Expedition.
• Diary kept jointly by Messrs. Burke and Wills.
• Surveyor's Report on the Country lying between Torowoto and Cooper's Creek.

It now becomes necessary to advert to the written records left by the exploring party. These were kept in the handwriting of Mr Wills, who devoted part of every evening to the compilation of a diary in which the proceedings of the day were entered and read over to Mr Burke, who made any additions or alterations he thought advisable. Mr Wills also, in his capacity of surveyor, furnished to his leader, for the information of the Committee, a detailed account of the country through which they passed. The paper referring to that part of Australia lying between Torowoto and Cooper's Creek is here given, and will be found a most interesting document, full of valuable information, and useful as being explanatory of many allusions made in the diaries which follow hereafter. The accompanying map will show the course taken by the expedition, as marked in the tracing referred to by Mr Wills:

Surveyor's Report

The accompanying tracing will show the course taken by the expedition party from the Torowoto Swamp, in lat. 30° 1' 30" S, long. 142º 36' E, to the Depot on Cooper's Creek, Camp 65, lat. 27º 37' 8" S, long. 141° 6' E.

Water Supply between Torowoto and Wright's Creek.- The country traversed to the north of the Torowoto Swamp, and lying between that place and Wright's Creek is neither well grassed nor watered as that to the south of the swamp; the land falls considerably as far as Cangapundy, and a great extent of it is subject to inundation. Nearly all the water met with was thick and muddy; it was obtained from small clay pans, most of which would probably be dry in three weeks. This applies to all the places at which we found water, with the exception of Cannilta, Cangapundy, and the four water-holes to the south of Wright's Creek.

Cannilta.-Cannilta is a water-hole of good clear water in a small rocky creek, which runs out on the low mud flats and swampy ground lying between Altolka and Tangowoko; it is situated in lat. 29º 26' 42" S, long. 142' 40' E. by account, nearly a mile from the northwesternmost point of the swampy ground. This point may be distinguished by the growth of a coarse kind of reedy grass, which does not make its appearance on the southern portion of the swamp or lake. The water in the hole was only two or three feet deep, but is well shaded by box-trees, and will probably last two or three months. The temperature of the surface of the water at seven AM November 2nd, was 60.5º that of the air being at the same time 60.0º

The Cangapundy Swamp.-The Cangapundy Swamp is an extensive tract of low clay land, which bears the appearance, as regards the vegetation on its banks, of having a tolerably permanent supply of water; but, unless some portions of the swamp are much deeper than where we passed, the water could not last throughout a dry season. The banks of the swamp are densely clothed with grasses, marshmallows, polygonurn bushes, and shrubs, which shelter numerous kinds of water-fowl and snakes.

Character of Land.-It will be seen by the tracing that a large proportion of the land between Torowoto and Wright's Creek is composed of low mud plains and clay flats, subject to inundation. Most of these are devoid of vegetation of any kind, and others carry some stunted salt bushes and coarse grasses which appear to be struggling between life and death. Bounding the mud flats are generally some stony rises, well grassed, and sometimes lightly timbered. The more elevated plains are sandy, and support a fine supply of healthy Balt bushes, as well as here and there a few grasses. On the rises to the SSE of Cannilta may be seen great quantities of quartz rock, forming dykes in the schist rises; the latter in some places adjoin and run into hills of loose stone, having the appearance of indurated clay. From Cangapundy to Wright's Creek the ground is light-coloured, and of a clayey nature; it forms a series of dry clay-pans, separated from one another by low sandy banks on which the vegetation was fresh and green. At about seventeen miles from the former place are three large holes, with water from two to three feet deep in the deepest part, and at six miles farther on another large one, which might almost be termed a lake, being nearly 1,000 links square. About these were some lines of sand-hills running about northeast and south-west, and in one of the flats between the sand-hills I found several pieces of satin spar in lumps, the size of one's hand, partially buried in the ground, and all of them with the plane of cleavage nearly perpendicular to the surface of the ground.

Balloo or Wright's Creek.-The lower portion of Wright's Creek, called by the natives "Balloo," is situated in lat. 28º 48' S, and long. 142º 53' E. by account. At this point the creek, after breaking into several small channels, runs out on a grassy plain, the water continuing in a southerly direction, probably until it meets that from the Torrens and other creeks at the Cangapundy Swamp. There was plenty of water in this part of the creek when we passed, but I cannot speak to its permanence. The banks are well lined with box timber, as well as with marshmallows and wild spinach ; the land on either side consists of well-grassed sandy rises. At four or five miles above this the creek is a narrow, dry, sandy watercourse, winding through a grassy valley, which everywhere presents indications of the most violent floods. Beyond this is an extensive grassy plain, and for three or four miles scarcely a trace of the creek could be seen. We then came to a clump of trees, amongst which were two large water-holes surrounded by polygonum bushes, and containing great numbers of small fish. These holes appear to be permanent. We found about sixty blacks camped here. Above these water-holes, which are together about half a mile long, the creek again disappears on the plain.

The land for the next ten or twelve miles in a NNE direction is very fine for pastoral purposes, being alternately grassy plains and sand ridges. At twelve or thirteen miles we crossed the creek, where it has cut for itself a deep narrow channel, the banks of which are densely timbered and well grassed, but the water-holes are small and contained very little water. For a distance of six miles the creek is of a very insignificant character. It appears to be divided into several branches, which traverse clay flats badly grassed. Here and there are some lines of low sandy rises, with plenty of feed on them. All the watercourses are distinctly marked by lines of box timber. At about nine miles from where we crossed the creek, and after traversing some loose polygonum ground which was covered with mussel-shells and a shell resembling a periwinkle, we came to a branch of the creek containing a splendid water-hole, 150 links broad and about half a mile long. A little above this the creek again disappears for a short distance, and then there is a long narrow channel of undoubtedly permanent water, being nearly four feet deep in the shallowest places; it is only on an average about fifty links broad, and well sheltered by overhanging box-trees. The temperature of the water on the morning of the 7th of November, at six o'clock, was 68º; the temperature of the air at the name time being 50.5º. Our camp at this place is indicated by a box-tree marked B over LII in square, the geographical position of which is by account 28º 26' 9 S lat, and long 143º E. In proceeding from here in a NNE direction up the course of the creek, or rather of the water, for the creek is again lost on the plains for five or six miles, we passed the southernmost point of a prominent sandstone range, the nearest portion of which lay about a mile and a half to the westward.

At about nine miles we again touched the creek, where it is about three chains broad. The banks are firm and shelving, from ten to twelve feet above the water, and lined with box, acacias, some large gums, gigantic marshmallows, polygonurn, &c. In the creek there is abundance of fish, and the ducks and other water-fowl on it are numberless. From what we have seen of the blacks, I should say the population cannot be far short of 150, and it might be considerably more. From here we proceeded in an ENE direction along the west bank of this fine water-hole, and at two and a half miles found it begin rapidly to decrease in breadth, and a little farther on there was nothing but a few small stony watercourses traversing a dense box forest. At this point there is a level bed of sandstone pebbles, close to and over a part of which the creek flows. The blacks have here gone to the trouble of making paths for themselves, along which we turned off from the creek on a NNE course, and at about three miles, coming on earthy plains, with no signs of water ahead, we again turned into the creek, and camped at a small water-hole. From here the line of river timber continues in a NE direction. To the W and NNW is a line of sandstone ranges running off in the same direction. The land in the immediate vicinity of the creek on the west side is very poorly grassed all the way up from where we crossed it; that on the east side appeared to be better.

I think there can scarcely be a doubt but what this creek is the lower portion of the Warrego River, although I believe that its main supply of water is obtained from the adjoining ranges, which send down innumerable creeks into the flats through which it flows.

Some latitude observations at Camp 53 (the farthest point to which we traced the creek) placed us in 28º 16' 40" S., our latitude, by account, being 28º 17' 8", and longitude 143º 18' E. On Thursday, 8th November, we left Wright's Creek with the intention of crossing the ranges to Cooper's Creek. We found the land as we approached the hills well grassed, and in some places densely timbered; it is intersected by numerous watercourses, with deep sandy channels, in most of which there seemed little chance of finding water. We camped at a water-hole in McDonough's Creek; the spot is indicated by a gum-tree marked B over LIV within square.

De Rinsy's Tracks.-Near here we found the tracks of drays; there were four distinct tracks, two of which appeared to be those of heavy horse-drays, the other two might have been made by light ones or spring carts ; we were unable to make out the tracks of the horses or cattle. I cannot imagine what tracks these are, unless they may be those of De Rinsy, who, I believe, had some drays with him, and reported that he had been somewhere in this direction. From Camp 54 to Camp 55, we were obliged to take a very circuitous route, on account of the rugged and stony nature of the ranges, which were more extensive than we had anticipated; they stretch away far to the N and NNW, and although we kept well out to the NW, we were unable to avoid the low stony rises which adjoin them.

On the NW side of the hills we crossed two dry creeks which flow in a NNE direction; their banks were thinly lined with box-trees, and the holes in them mere quite dry. From this we took a WNW course across undulating county covered with sandstone, quartz, and (magnetic) ironstone pebbles, so densely and firmly set together in some places as to have the appearance of an old-fashioned pavement. At about three miles we had to change our course to NW to avoid a spur of the high range on our left. At two miles farther we came to a grassy flat, through which ran a fine-looking creek, but the bed was sandy and quite dry; there were, however, a good many small birds about here, which would indicate that there must be water in the neighbourhood. We here again changed our course to WNW, and at six miles camped at a dry stony creek, having travelled about twenty-eight miles over the worst ground that me had yet met with. On the morning of the 10th we continued on a WNW course across stony ground of the same nature as that passed during the previous day, but at a distance of five miles we turned to W¼S, as the ranges appeared to be as low in that direction as in the other, and as they ran nearly NNW, there seemed a chance of sooner getting out of them, which we did at a distance of about eight miles more.

From the point at which we emerged from these ranges, the view was as follows:-From SW nearly up to NW were extensive plains as far as the eye could reach, intersected by numerous lines of timber, the general direction of which was about NNW; several columns of smoke were visible along these lines, some of which had the appearance of camp and others of bush fires. From NW to N were lines of ranges running in a NW direction, and in the valley between us and the first spur was a fine line of timber, indicating the course of what appeared to be a large creek, probably the recipient of all the small creeks that we had crossed during the morning; in every other direction there was nothing to be seen but timbered sandstone ranges. At noon we crossed a small creek running nearly north; the grass had been burnt on its banks. About half a mile beyond it was another creek of a more promising appearance, and as we approached it we saw several crows, as well as other birds in the trees. We here found a small hole with the water fast dying up; it contained a lot of young fish, about half an inch long, and just sufficient water to replenish our water-bags, and give the horses a drink; below it the creek took a NNW course, and was dry and sandy for a distance of two miles and a half, at which point we found some large but shallow holes of milky-looking water. On the plains near these holes we found large flocks of pigeons; the grass was very coarse and dry, and the water would probably not last more than a few weeks.

Horse Tracks.-On the plains to the east of the creek were the tracks of a single horse, which had evidently crossed when the ground was very soft, and gone in a SW direction.

Position of Water.-The water-holes are situated in lat. 27º 51' S, long 142º 40' E, by account from Camp 55. From here a course of W½S took us in a distance of about twenty miles to Cooper's Creek, which we first struck in lat. 27º 49' S, long 142º 20' E. The land through which we passed on the 11th was so low and wooded as to prevent me from seeing the direction of the ranges; the first five or six miles was tolerably open; we then came to a box forest, were the soil was loose and earthy, similar to polygonum ground; there were in every direction signs of heavy floods and frequent inundations; we crossed several small water-courses, in one of which there was a hole of rather creamy water, at which we halted for an hour; from the water-hole we quite unexpectedly obtained a rather fine fish, about eight inches long, of the same description as the young ones we had found in Brahe's Creek.

Cooper's Creek.-At the point at which we first struck Cooper's Creek it was rocky, sandy, and dry, but about half a mile further down we came to some good waterholes, where the bed of the creek was very boggy, and the banks richly grassed with kangaroo and other grasses. The general course is a little north of west, but it winds about very much between high sand-hills. The waterholes are not large, but deep and well shaded both by the steep banks and the numerous box-trees surrounding them; the logs and bushes, high up in the forks of the trees, tell of the destructive floods to which this part of the country has been subjected, and that at no very distant period, as may be seen by the flood-marks on trees of not more than five or six years' growth.

From Camp 57 we traced the creek in a WNW direction about six miles; it then runs out among the sandhills, the water flowing by various small channels in a south-westerly direction. The main channel, however, continues nearly south until it is lost on an extensive earthy plain, covered with marshmallows and chrysanthemums.

Creek.--In one of the valleys between the sand-hills, at a distance of about ten miles in a SW direction, we found a shallow water-hole, where a creek is formed for a short distance, and is then lost again on the earthy plain beyond. W by N and W from here, about twelve miles, there are some splendid sheets of water, in some places two and three chains broad; the banks are well-timbered, but the land in the neighbourhood is so loose and rotten, that one can scarcely ride over it. I expect this is the reason why we saw no blacks about here, for it must be worse for them to walk over than the stony ground. From Camp 60 the general course of the creek is NW, but it frequently disappears on the earthy plains for several miles, and then forms into water-holes win finer than before. At our first Depot, Camp 63, in lat 27º 36' 15 S, long 141° 30' E, there is a fine hole about a mile long, and on an average one chain and a half broad. It exceeds five feet in depth everywhere that I tried it, except within three or four feet of the bank. Two or three miles above this camp we saw the first melaburus growing around the water-holes, some of them as large as a moderate-sized gum-tree.

Earthy Flat.-The feed in the vicinity of Camp 63 is unexceptionable, both for horses and camels, but the herbage on the creek generally down to this point is of a very inferior quality; the grasses are very coarse, and bear a very small proportion to the other plants By far the chief portion of the herbage consists of chrysanthemums and marshmallows; the former, to judge from their dried up powdery state, can contain very little nourishment, although some of the horses and camels eat them with great relish; the latter, I need hardly mention, are at this time of the year merely withered sticks. A few small salsolaceous plants are to be found on some of the flats, but they are scarcely worth mentioning. In some places, where the bed of the creek is shallow and dry, there is an abundance of good grw and rushes of several kinds. The polygonurn bushes are also fresh and good in such places.

Stony Rises.-The stony rises are generally bare and barren; but some of those on the north side of the creek carry a fair crop of light grass.

Sand-Hills.-Wherever there are sand banks or ridges, the feed is almost invariably good; the salt bush is healthy and abundant, and there are a variety of plants on which cattle would do well. For camels these hills are particularly well adapted, for there is scarcely a plant grows on them that they will not eat, with the exception of porcupine grass; but there is very little of that until one gets many miles back from the creek.

Character of Ground.-I have mentioned three distinct kinds of ground-the earthy plains, the stony rises, and the sand-ridges. The latter, which is by far the most agreeable, whether for travelling on, for feed, or in respect to the freedom from flies, ants, mosquitoes, and rats, is simply a series of hills composed of blown sand of a red colour, very fine, and so compactly set that the foot does not sink in it much; in some places the ridges have a uniform direction, in others the hills are scattered about without any regularity; the average direction of the ridges is NNE and SSW. In the valleys between the hills are shallow clay pans, in which the water rapidly collects, even after slight showers, but when full, they seldom exceed five or six inches in depth, so that in summer they are soon dry again.

Stony Rises.-The stony ground, in contradistinction to the sandstone ranges appears to have been formed from the detritus of the latter, deposited in undulating beds of vast extent. The greater portion of this ground appears almost level when one is on it, but when viewed from a distance the undulations are very distinct; the atones are chiefly waterworn pebbles of sandstone, quartz, and ironstone; in some places the rises approach more nearly to the nature of the sandstone ranges, and here the stones are less waterworn, and are mixed with large blocks of rock. I found the magnetic polarity to be very distinct in some of the ironstone pebbles on these rises.

Earthy Plains.-The earthy plains, which are such an important geological feature in this part of the county, will, I fear, greatly interfere with its future occupation; when dry, they are so intersected by chasms and cracks, that it is in some places dangerous for animals to cross them; and when wet, they would be quite impassable. Cattle would, perhaps, do well on them for some time after an inundation, and the ground might improve after having been stocked. The boggy nature of the banks of the creeks passing through this ground would be another impediment to settlers, from the losses of cattle that it would sometimes entail. To give one an idea of the danger in that respect, I may mention, that there are places where, for a distance of two or three miles, neither a bullock nor a horse could get to the water with safety, and it was with difficulty that, we could approach it ourselves; the safest spots are at the lower ends of the water-hole, where the creeks run out on the plains. A peculiar geological feature that I have never seen so strongly exhibited elsewhere is, that the watercourses on these plains have a strong tendency to work away to the south and southwest, the fall of the ground, as shown by the flow of the flood-water, being to the west and north-west. I found that at almost every place where a portion of the creek ran out, the mall branches into which it split before disappearing struck off at nearly right angles to the creek, and that the flow of the water on the level plain was invariably in a westerly or north-westerly direction ; whereas the creeks generally had a course considerably to the south of west, more especially before running out. The branch creeks and water-holes are always lined with boxtrees and polygonum bushes; they are generally situated between or near sand-hills, and have doubtless been formed by the rush of water consequent on the interference of these hills with the general flow. In some places the direction of the sand-ridges was the course of the creeks, trending to the southward; but I allude to the tendency as exhibited on the open plain, with no sandridges near the creek.

County to the North of Camp 63 (Cooper's).-During our stay at Camp 63, from which spot we found it necessary to remove for several reasons, but chiefly because the rats attacked our stores in such numbers that we could keep nothing from them, unless by suspending it in the trees, four excursions were made to the north of that place in search of a practicable route to the Gulf. The first attempt was made with horses, which were soon knocked up, from the strong nature of the ground and the want of water; the others we made by camels, by the help of which the country was well examined to a distance of nearly ninety miles. Water was found at two places at distances of about seventy and seventy-three miles north of the creek, but it was fast drying up, and would not last beyond Christmas. No blacks were seen, but a column of smoke was observed to the NNE, at a distance of about fifteen miles, as ascertained by some bearings, from the point at which we turned back. The chief portion of the land traversed consists of sand-dunes and flats of the same nature, the latter clothed with porcupine grass, the former with salt bushes, grasses, and a variety of shrubs, some times intermixed with mesembryanthemums and porcupine grass. The sandy ground is bounded on either side by sandstone ranges, from which numerous small creeks flow east and west until they are lost in small flats and clay pans amongst the sand-hills. Their whole country is marked by an acacia, which is somewhat analogous in its general characteristics to the common wattle; a few are favoured with some box-trees, but we only found water in one. The whole country has a most deplorable arid appearance; birds are very scarce, native dogs numerous. The paths of the blacks on the strong ground look as if they had not been used for many years. Ant-hills and beds are to be found everywhere in great numbers, and of considerable size; the paths to and from them are better marked and more worn than any I have seen before, but nearly all of them are deserted, and those that are inhabited contain a small and weakly population, that seems to be fast dying away. Neither about the flats nor the ranges did we see any signs of the heavy floods that have left such distinct marks in other parts and the appearance of the whole country gave me the idea of a place that had been subjected to a long-continued drought. At the northernmost end of the eastern line of ranges, and on the west side of them, in lat. 26º 30' S, long. 141º 40' E., is a low detached line of range about seven miles from north to south. On passing inside this range at its southern extremity, one enters a flat bounded to the south by high red sand-hills, to the west and north by the low range, and running up to the NNE until it reaches the main range. On the lower part of the flat there is no creek, but on proceeding up it at a mile and a half there are three waterholes, with a few bushes growing around them; the water was fast drying up when we were there. There were some ducks, snipe, and pigeons about them: the former always returned to the holes after having been disturbed, so I imagine there is not much more water in the vicinity. In continuing up the flat, the main creek appears to be that along which the box timber grown, but the bed is sandy and quite dry. By keeping off a little to the left, at a mile above the water-holes, one comes on the bed of another creek, with only here and there a gum-tree and a few bushes. Up this creek, at a distance of three miles nearly north from the three holes, and where the creek emerges from the ranges, is a large hole, well shaded by heavy box-trees; it contained only a small quantity of water when we passed, but I fancy that in ordinary seasons the water would be permanent. This creek has been much frequented by blacks at one time, but not lately. Hundreds of hawks and a good many crows and magpies were in the trees near the water-hole.

Geographical Position.-The geographical position of the three water-holes is by account from Cooper's Creek, lat. 26º 34' south, long. 140° 43' east.

Meteorological Remarks.-It would be rather premature for me to offer any opinion on the climate of Cooper's Creek on so short a stay, and my other duties have prevented me from making any observations that would be worth forwarding in detail. I may mention, however, that neither on the creek, nor during the journey up, have we experienced any extreme temperatures; the heat, although considerably greater here than in Melbourne, as shown by a thermometer, is not felt more severely by us. The maximum daily temperatures since our arrival on Cooper's Creek have generally exceeded 100º; the highest of all was registered on November 27th at Camp 63, when the thermometer stood at 109º in the shade. There was at that time a strong wind from the north, which felt rather warm, but had not the peculiar characteristics of a hot wind. One of the mosat noticeable features in the weather has been the well-marked regularity in the course of the wind, which almost invariably blew lightly from the E or SE soon after sunrise, went gradually round to the north by two o'clock, sometimes blowing fresh from that quarter, followed the south-west by sunset, and then died away, or blew gently from south throughout the night. A sudden change took place yesterday, December 14th; the day had been unusually hot; temperature of air at one PM 106º, at which time circum clouds began to cross the sky from NW, and at two PM the wind sprung up in the SW, blowing with great violence (force 6); it soon shifted to south, increasing in force to (7) and sometimes (8) ; it continued to blow from the same quarter all night, and has not yet much abated; once during the night it lulled for about an hour, and then commenced again; it is now (four PM) blowing with a force of (5) from S by E, with a clear sky. Before the wind sprung up the sky had become overcast, and we were threatened with a thunderstorm; rain was evidently Wind in the W and NW, but the sky partially cleared in the evening without our receiving any. Flashes of distant lightning were visible towards the north; during the night the thunderstorm from the north approached sufficiently near for thunder to be distinctly heard: the flashes of lightning were painfully brilliant, although so far away. The storm passed to the SE without reaching us; the sky remained overcast until between eight and nine AM, since when it has been quite clear; the temperature of air, which at sunrise was as low as 72º, has reached a maximum of 92.0º: it is at present 89.0°, and that of the surface of the water in the creek 78º. Two other thunderstorms have passed over since we have been on the creek, from only one of which we have received any rain worth mentioning.

Mr Brahe, who remains here in charge of the Depot, and from whom I have received great assistance both in making meteorological observations and in the filling in of feature surveys, will keep a regular meteorological register. I have handed over to him for that purpose an aneroid barometer, No. 21,543, and four thermometers, two for dry and wet bulb observations, and the others for temperature of water, &c.

With regard to hot winds, the direction of the sandridges would seem to indicate a prevalence of east and west winds here rather than northerly.

William J Wills,
Surveyor and Astronomical Observer.
Cooper's Creek, December 15, 1860.