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Survey from Torowoto to Cooper's
Creek
The accompanying tracing will show the course taken by the
expedition party from the Torowoto Swamp, in latitude 30° 1'
30" S, long. 142° 36' E, to the depot on Cooper's
Creek, Camp 65, latitude 27° 37' 8" S., longitude 141°
6' E.
(Map accompanied report)
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 so 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 met with in 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 waterholes to the
south of Wright's Creek.
Cannilta.
Cannilta is a waterhole of good
clear water in a small rocky creek which runs out on the low mud
flats and swampy ground lying between Altoka and Tangowoko. it is
situated in latitude 29° 26' 42" S, longitude 142° 40'
E, by account, nearly a mile from the north-western most 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 A.M., 2nd of
November, was 60.5°; that of the air being at the same time
60°.
The Cangapundy Swamp.
The Cangapundy Swamp
is an extensive tract of low clay land, which bears the
appearance, as regards the vegetation of 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, polygonum bushes, and
shrubs, which shelter numerous kinds of waterfowl 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.
Bordering 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 salt bushes, as
well as here and there a few grasses. On the rises to the S.S.E.
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
further another large one which might almost be termed a lake,
being nearly 1000 links square. About these there were some lines
of sandhills running about N.E. and S.W; and in one of the flats
between the sandhills I found several pieces of satin spar in
lumps of the size of one's hand, partially buried in the ground,
and all of them with the plane of cleavage nearly perpendicular
with the surface to the ground.
Balloo, or Wright's Creek.
The lower
portion of Wright's Creek, called by the natives balloo,' is
situated in latitude 28° 48' S, and longitude 142° 53'
E. by account. At this point, the creek-, after breaking into
several small channels, runs out on a grassy plain, the water
running 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 seem. We then came to a clump of
trees, amongst which were two large waterholes 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 waterholes, 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 N.N.E. direction is
very fine for pastoral purposes, being alternately grassy plains
and 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 waterholes
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 waterhole 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 November, at
six o' clock, was 68°; the temperature of the air at the
same time being 50.5°. 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 28° 26' 9" S latitude, and
longitude 143° 0' E. In proceeding from here in a N.N.E.
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, polygonum,
&c. In the creek there is abundance of fish, and the ducks
and other waterfowl 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 E.N.E. direction along the west bank of this fine waterhole,
and at two and a half miles found it begin rapidly to decrease in
breadth, and a little further 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
of from the creek on a N.N.E. course, and at about three miles,
coming on earthy plains, with no signs of water ahead, we again
turned in to the creek and camped at a small waterhole. From here
the line of river timber continues in a N.E. direction. To the W.
and N.N.W. 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 cast side appeared to be better.
I think there can scarcely be a doubt but that 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 furthest point to
which we traced the creek) placed us in 28° 16' 40" S.; our
latitude, by account, being 28° 17' 8" and longitude,
143° 18' east. On Thursday, November 8th, 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
waterhole in M'Donagh'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 ring 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 W. and N.N.W., and
although we kept well out to the N.W. we were unable to avoid the
low stony rises which adjoin them.
On the N.W. side of the hills we crossed two dry creeks which
flow in a N.N.E. direction; their banks are thinly lined with box
trees, and the holes in them were quite dry. From this we took a
W.N.W. course, across an undulating country 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 N.W, to avoid a spur of the high range on
our left. At two miles further 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 W.N.W. and at
six miles camped at a dry stony creek, having travelled about
eight and twenty miles over the worst ground that we had yet me
with. On the morning of the 10th we continued on a
W.N.W. 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 W. ¼ S., as the ranges appeared to be as low in
that direction as in the other; and as they ran nearly N.N.W.
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 S.W. nearly up to N.W. were extensive
plains, as far as the eye could reader, intersected by numerous
lines of timber, the general direction of which was about N.N.W.
Several columns of smoke were visible along these lines, some of
which had the appearance of camp and others of bush fires. From
N.W. to N. were lines of ranges running in a N.W. 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 drying 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 N.N.W. 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 cast of the creek were the tracks of a single
horse, which had evidently crossed when the ground was very soft,
and gone in a S.W. direction.
Position of Water.
The waterholes are
situated in latitude 27° 51' S, longitude 142° 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 latitude 27° 49' S, longitude 142°
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, where 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 watercourses, in one of which there was a hole of rather
creamy water, at which we halted for an hour. From the waterhole
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 upon 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 W.N.W. direction about
six miles. It then runs out among the sand hills, 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 south- westerly direction, we found a shallow waterhole
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 well timbered,
but the land in the neighbourhood 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 N.W., but it frequently disappears on the earthy plains
for several miles and then forms into waterholes again finer than
before. At our first depot, Camp 63, in latitude 27°
36' 15" S, longitude 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
waterholes, some of them as large as a moderate size 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
grass and rushes of several kinds. The polygonum 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 directions in
other the hills are scattered about without any regularity; the
average direction of the ridges is N.N.E. and S.S.W. In the
valleys between the hills, are shallow clay plains, 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 stones are chiefly
water-worn pebbles of sandstone, quartz, and iron-stone; in some
places the rises approach more nearly to the nature of the
sandstone ranges, and here the stones are less water-worn, 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 country,
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 furnish 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 our- selves; the safest spots are at
the lower end of the waterhole, 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
south-west; 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
small branches into which it split before disappearing struck Of
at nearly right angles to the creek, and that the flow of the
water on the level plain was invariably in a W. or N. W
'direction; whereas the creeks generally had a course
considerably to the S. and W. more especially before running out.
The branch creeks and waterholes are always lined with box trees
and polygonum bushes; they are generally situated between or near
sandhills, and have doubtless been formed by the rush of water
consequent on the interference of these hills by 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 sand ridges
near the creek.
Country 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
with 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 N.N.E., 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, sometimes intermixed with mesembryanthemums
and porcupine grass. The sandy ground is bounded on either side
by sandstone ranges, from which numerous small creeks flow cast
and west until they are lost in small flats and clay pans amongst
the sand bills. Their course 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 deplorably and
appearance; birds are very scarce, native dogs numerous. The
paths of the blacks on the strong ground look as if they had been
used many years. Anthills and beds are to be found everywhere in
great numbers and of considerable size; the paths to and from
them are better marked and wore worn than any I have ever 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. 26°
30' S, long. 141° 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 N.N.E., 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 grows, but the bed
is sandy and quite dry. By keeping off a little to the left, at a
mile above the waterholes, 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 waterhole.
Geographical position.
The geographical
position of the three waterholes is by account from Cooper's
Creek latitude 26° 34' S., longitude 140° 43' E.
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 100°; the highest
of all was registered on November 27th at Camp 63,
when the thermometer stood at 109° 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, most noticeable features in the weather has been the
well-marked regularity in the course of the windy which almost
invariably blew lightly from the E. or S.E. soon after sunrise,
went gradually round to north by two o' clock, sometimes blowing
fresh from that quarter, followed the sun to west by sunset, and
then died away or blew gently from the south throughout the
night. A sudden change took place yesterday, December
14th; the day had been unusually hot, temperature of
air at one P.M. 106°, at which time circum clouds began to
cross the sky from N.W., and at two P.M. the wind sprang up in
the S.W., 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 P.M.) blowing
with a force of (5) from S. by E., with a clear sky. Before the
wind had sprung up the sky had become overcast, and we were
threatened with a thunderstorm; rain was evidently falling in the
W. and N.W., 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 S.E. without
reaching us; the sky remained overcast until between eight and
nine A.M., since when it has been quite clear; the temperature of
air, which at sun-rise was as low as 72°, has reached a
maximum of 92°: it is at present 89°, and that of the
surface of the water in the creek 78°. 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 sand-ridges
would seem to indicate a prevalence of east and west winds here
rather than of northerly.
William J Wills, Surveyor and Astronomical Observer.
Cooper's Creek,
15th December, 1860.
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