The dogs lost the skin off the soles of
their feet, and poor Fingall, one of our best, perished on the road.
Amidst all the sufferings of the other animals the sheep thrived
exceedingly well under Tampawang's charge who was a capital shepherd.
Their fleeces were as white as snow, and some of them were exceedingly
fat. On the 3rd I sent Mr. Stuart to the Magnetic hill, Mount Arrowsmith,
to verify Mr. Poole's bearings, in consequence of the great deviation of
the compass from its true point, and also to sketch in that isolated
group of hills; but as he found the same irregularity in his compass, I
did not trust to the bearings either he or Mr. Poole had taken. The rock
of which that hill was composed is a compact sandstone, with blocks of
specular iron ore scattered over it, highly magnetic.
In the hope that a ride would do both my officers good, I sent them on
the 4th to trace the creek up, and to fix on our next halting place. I
also despatched Flood to the pine forest for the remaining drays, sending
an empty one to lighten the other loads; a precaution that proved of
great advantage, as the bullocks got on much easier than on the former
occasion, but the day also was much cooler.
Mr. Poole and Mr. Browne returned at 11 on the 5th, but I was sorry to
observe that Mr. Browne looked very unwell, and Mr. Poole continued to
complain.
Pages:
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251