Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia : from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, a distance of upwards of 3000 miles, during the years 1844-1845 by Ludwig Leichhardt
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page 50 of 431 (11%)
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their nets. It was to this spot that Mr. Pemberton Hodgson penetrated,
when he afterwards followed my tracks, to ascertain the truth of the rumours, which had been carried by the blacks to Moreton Bay, of my having been either killed by the natives, or destroyed by a hurricane, which was said to have passed through the narrow valley of the confined creek. The high mountain ranges, at the head of Robinson's Creek, which we observed from the tops of the hills, at the entrance into the mountainous country, bore W.N.W., and N.W. from the position I now occupied. We had a thunder-storm on the 21st November, followed by continued rain and a perfect calm During the night occasional showers of rain fell; at sunrise light fleecy clouds from W.N.W.: the nights, when clear, were very cold. Until very lately we had all suffered severely from diarrhoea, which I could not account for, othewise than by attributing it to our change of diet. Fresh meat had almost invariably affected us; but after a time our continued exposure to the air, the regularity of our movements, and constant state of exertion, rendered us more hardy, and sharpened our appetites. Iguanas, opossums, and birds of all kinds, had for some time past been most gladly consigned to our stewing-pot, neither good, bad, nor indifferent being rejected. The dried kangaroo meat, one of our luxuries, differed very little in flavour from the dried beef, and both, after long stewing, afforded us an excellent broth, to which we generally added a little flour. It is remarkable how soon man becomes indifferent to the niceties of food; and, when all the artificial wants of society have dropped off, the bare necessities of life form the only object of his desires. One of our bullocks had torn one of the flour-bags, and about fifteen |
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