Exploration by P. Egerton Warburton

Hack's report of the Gawler Range had been made public and was of such a glowing description that the eyes of the pastoralists were naturally turned to such a wonderful country as portrayed by him. Although Warburton had been through part of the country, he was not too enamored with Hack's opinion, but there was a possibility of settlement taking place — actually a plan had been prepared of the land in blocks suitable in size for pastoralists — therefore police protection would be required, and the periodical inspection tour of the Commissioner of Police gave him another opportunity to go through the ranges in 1858. Further, Messrs. Miller and Dutton had reported good land to the north of Streaky and Denial Bays, on which doubts had been cast ; another trip would enable the accuracy of those statements to be tested. In addition, as we have seen, to Police-Trooper Geharty had been delegated the duty of going over the particular portion of country dealt with by Miller and Dutton.

GRANITE OUTCROPS

In company with Hon. S. Davenport, Major Warburton left the Wedge (Andrew Tennant's station) on June 17, 1858, in a northerly course, passing near Poldanee. Here and there he found granite outcrops, the disintegration of which made small oases in the scrub. The granite rock holes also provided water after rain. All these rocks had native names, of which he unfortunately did not leave a list for the benefit of the future generations. The rocks varied in size, from small flat sheets, level with the surface to masses of bare stone, 100 ft. high and 400 to 500 ft. long.

Cockatoo Valley was poorly grassed and no water was seen. Paney was said to contain a permanent spring, but the weather was so wet that Warburton did not have an opportunity to examine the spring. A sheet of water reached from the hill, covering the spring and the ground near it.

Between Paney and Kolaymerrika and Kundery they passed over some "fair country." He saw tracks which he ascribed to Eyre and Baxter, in one account and in another to Eyre, Baxter and Darke, but most probably they were those of Darke.

He considered the outlying portion of the range consisted "often, if not generally of granite" and the mass of the range of a sort of porphyry. The cleavage in the latter was perpendicular, allowing the water to percolate downward providing the soakage springs, whereas the granite rocks held water in every cavity. The disintegration of the granite appeared to be more rapid than the porphyry, and in the resulting detritus, the native wells were sunk. His advice to would-be settlers was to look for springs in the porphyry and sink wells in the granite country. He pointed out that "the granite hills are not stony hills, but hills of stone, the first will hold water, the others throw it off." He questioned the permanency of many of the waters. To the native with their limited requirement and short duration of their stay at each, yes ; but even for 100 head of cattle, fed on saltbush, in the heat of the summer, he left it as an open question. The blacks " ungrateful, in deed would they be, did not they, in reply to the eager inquiries of the white man, assure him that the water ' mukku tumble down.' "

Like many others visiting the district, he tried to formulate some theory to account for the many salt lakes. He came very near to the truth when he said "that the whole of the soil is strongly impregnated with salt." Shallow depressions with a retentive stratum conserved the rain water, which flowed over the salt impregnated soil, and then the continued evaporation caused the water to become more salty. But he did not solve where the salt came from.

SALT FROM SEA

This subject has been touched upon previously. Mr. J. Lockhart Jack in his geological survey of the Peninsula, stated that the sea breezes carried a certain amount of salt, which was deposited on the land, thus we get the cycle, the salt water gradually drifting to the sea, with the lakes becoming more salty, the sea breezes in their turn carrying salt back on to the land. Having tried his hand at geological examination of the country, Warburton then tried his hand at judging the potentiality of the country for stock-raising purposes. Hack with his surveyor Harris had estimated that they had found 4,500 square miles of good country which ought to carry 225,000 sheep; now Warburton said his opinion "for what it may be thought worth," was that if the figures 220,000 were deleted, there might be sufficient water for the remaining 5,000 sheep. Time proved that the gallant major was not strictly accurate in his estimate. However, it was an honest opinion and not gilded with an offer of a substantial bonus.

On the 29th, at 'Kangaroo Flat,' about 10 miles east-north-east from Moonaree, the Hon. S. Davenport and the major separated, the former going westward and the latter north-ward. Warburton was accompanied by Sergeant Hooker, Police-Trooper Danne and four pack horses. The 'Register' of July 27, 1858, gave a scanty account of Davenport's trip, he having returned to Adelaide on the 24th. Davenport had traced Lake Gairdner (of course, Lake Everard) trending to the north-west, 60 miles beyond the point at which it was seen by Hack. Davenport found there was a break in the lake, beyond which nothing could be seen. The water of the lake was studded with numerous islands, and consisted of a few salt lagoons. He considered that Hack's description of the country was fair, for he (Hack) had travelled at the favorable period of the year, when the grass was high, whereas when he (Davenport) went through, the grass was only beginning to grow, so that the appearance of the country was "less agreeable." The country should do very well for stock, if water could be procured. He considered there was no permanent waters to be depended upon.

Major Warburton and Hon. S. Davenport had the services of a native who had been out with Hack, which enlightened their work considerably. We have no record by what route Davenport returned.

GOOD COUNTRY

Warburton went northward for 25 miles, and of this distance, 15 miles was through good country, and if water could be found " would be as nice a run as any one need desire." He followed up a creek and though only 24 hours had elapsed since heavy rain had fallen, not a drop of water was to he found in it. The only water seen that day was in a creek, but the water was "salt — twice salted." He must have been steering for Hack's Kokatha Range, but turned aside, westward, to a lake in that direction. Thinking to strike the northern side of Lake Gairdner, but after passing through "fifteen miles of vile red sand and scrub " he found an arm of a lake running north-north-west. From an eminence he found the lake extending eastward and northward as far is he could see. Thinking he had arrived at the extremity of what he thought was Lake Gairdner, but actually a lake which afterwards was named Lake Everard, he made north-westerly and after travelling 25 miles found he was surrounded by water except the lane up which he had come. He was hemmed in, but not lost, but probably did not know where he was, for he said the weather was wet, cloudy and unfavorable and he would not have been a bit wiser had the sun, moon and stars lent him their light all at once.

STEPS RETRACED

Distant views were wholly deceptive; near ones often led to wrong conclusions. "Seeing is not believing, and partial examination offers no proof to the position," was the major's verdict. He had to retrace his steps, and then shaped another course for three days, "over a bad and mostly very bad country; mapped into runs !" which brought him to Yarlbinda, the most westerly point reached by Hack. He rested a day there, and his considered opinion was that on Run No. 4 the nature of the water supply and feed must be much altered before it could "permanently carry anything beyond its present stock of rock wallabies." Warburton viewed it in July, in raining weather and he wondered what the country would be like in January.

From Yarlbinda he went 23 miles north Nuckalla (Nakalla?), a hill of which the natives gave such a glowing description, good grass and water, but the horses could not be taken there. However Warburton did take horses, and found that it was a huge granite boulder, in the midst of sandhills, containing water crevices and having grass around the base as would satisfy a dozen horses for one night only. Such is the reliance that could be placed on the information obtained from the natives.

The route to Nakalla was through dreary sand ridges running north-west and south-east, and as he expected, Lake Gairdner (Lake Everard) "lazily stretching itself out, lay in passive obstructiveness at my feet." He had experienced trouble with his compass, the variation being as much as 70 deg. to 90 deg. eastward, with no attraction to the westward of the magnetic north. He overcame the influence of the iron stone of the hills by raising the compass on to a heavy stick.

At this spot the Streaky Bay black complained of sickness, so he was given a horse and rations and sent back.

Warburton still followed the course of the lake until he found he had a northerly course and thus he thought he had rounded the lake. Food and water getting scarce, he was disappointed at having to turn back, but it was the only prudent and proper course. However, he did not retreat very far, for soon he made a westward course.

On July 12 he cut Gebarty's track, passing through fair country and then sandhills. On the 13th, although it rained nearly all day, 17 miles were made. On the 14th he came to a serpentine narrow salt lake, 25 to 30 miles long, running west by north and east by south. It was some distance north of this lake that J. McDouall Stuart, less than a month afterwards found horse tracks of "long time ago."

Following Gebarty's track, Warburton on the 17th " smelt a fire stick," and on searching, found hidden in the scrub, a black fellow, the first native seen. He had a narrow strap round his waist, a present from Gebarty . . . . . . a bone about eight inches long stuck through the cartilage of his nose, in all other respects Nature was left unadorned. On the 18th three more blacks were seen, and on the 19th Eyre's Beelimah on the coast in Denial Bay was reached. The water was not good, and the blacks would not show any other, but Sergeant Hooker found a native well among the sandhills about 1½ miles west by north from Beelimah. Eyre's tracks were still quite distinct even after 17 years.

MORE PROMISING COUNTRY

Warburton reported that the country for the last 70 miles along his route consisted "almost entirely of heavy scrubby sand ridges. It was level in its general character, but its surface resembled the waves of the sea," or as another writer put it, "level undulating." From Beelimah, Warburton went to Streaky Bay. Here he found the country more promising than in the Gawler Range. He cautioned travellers against being too greedy and sinking wells too deep, then the water which lies just under the upper limestone crust either runs away or gets salted. This, at least, would be the result I should anticipate."

For the benefit of future explorers he also stated that "the general impression left upon my mind is that the unexplored portion of the colony between the 26th and 32nd parallels of latitude will be found to be open patches of scrub, with small worthless limestone waterholes, for a depth of about 20 to 25 miles from the coast ; and that, after crossing this tract, the country will get worse and worse the further it is penetrated. In this, I may very likely be wrong, but, if the question as to the nature of the country is ever to be set at rest, Fowler's Bay, or the most northerly crossing place in Lake Torrens, are the only two places from which a favorable start could be made."

Generally speaking this reasoning seemed sound, yet we have seen that in 1856, two years previously, straying bullocks showed there was a roadway from the north, round the west ern end of Lake Everard; also the explorer, John McDouall Stuart, was able to come from the vicinity of Lake Wingilpin, southward to Streaky Bay within two months of the time when Warburton penned those words.

Major Warburton returned to Adelaide on August 8, 1858 and the ' Observer' recorded that he was "in perfect health and looks infinitely better for his travel in the distant bush." Of the explorer's report that paper said it was the best narrative of exploration they had seen for a long time and commended it to other explorers as a sample of what a report should be.