Darling River

“ TO THE RIVER YVETTE O lovely river of Yvette! O darling river! like a bride, Some dimpled, bashful, fair Lisette, Thou goest to wed the Orge's tide. ”

“ Dunlop's range certainly was not high, but its undulating crest, vanishing far in the south-east, showed its connection with the high ground south of the Bogan; and a long line of smoke skirting its northern base afforded fair promise of some river or chain of ponds near which a native population could live. The course of the Darling was clearly marked out by its extensive plains and the darker line of large trees vanishing far in the west. ”

“ It was my study to keep along the side of these hills as much as my route would permit; for in general the best line for travelling through the valley of the Darling is along the edging of stiff clay always to be found near the base of the red sandhills, which form the limits of those softer plains that usually extend for several miles back from the river. ”

“ He got his water from the Darling Range, the low wooded hills that make such a charming background to the Swan River, utilising a stream in the hills to form a great dam or weir. Mundaring Weir is one of the sights of Perth, not merely as a triumph of engineering, but for its beautiful scenery. We started early in the afternoon one hot day on the pretty little journey up to the granite slopes of the Darling Range. The intervening country is almost populous, and very busy. ”

“ That they rise rapidly may be implied from the fact that in two days the floods we witnessed rose more than nine feet, and that they come from the higher branches of the river there can be no doubt, since the Darling has no tributary between Laidley's Ponds and Fort Bourke. ”

“ The natives of the Darling live chiefly on the fish of the river, and are expert swimmers and divers. They can swim and turn with great velocity under water, and they can both see and spear the largest fish, sometimes remaining beneath the surface a considerable time for this purpose. In very cold weather however they float on pieces of bark; and thus also they can spear the fish, having a small fire beside them in such a bark canoe. ”

“ The river is never open to navigation all the year round, and frequently it is not open to navigation from year's end to year's end. The occasional failure of the Darling for so long a period upsets all calculations. The colonists will take this stream and the river Murray in hand some day, and will lock both and preserve their storm waters, and the south-eastern corner of the continent will then have a grand river communication. Stores will then be sent up, and wool will be brought down with certainty, where now all is doubt and speculation. ”

“ The species of fish most abundant in the Darling is the Gristes peelii, or cod-perch, and they are caught of a very large size by the natives. We also saw the thick-scaled mud-tasted fish (Cernua bidyana, see above) . We did not on this occasion see that very remarkable fish, the Eel-fish (Plotosus tandanus) so abundant in the higher parts of the river. The water was too clear and the weather too cold for fishing with bait, one of each of the two species first mentioned caught during our first occupation of Fort Bourke, being all we ever procured. ”

“ Hardy, two acres of the grass lands in this district were capable of supporting three sheep per annum. As soon as we came to Darling's range, an unfavourable change took place in the soil. The range, at this point, was easy of access, and the travelling good; during our walk ve passed a party of natives sitting round a fire; they did not appear to take any notice of us, and we did not disturb them. We walked to-day eighteen mileS, over a country which, from the time we ascended the hills, after having proceeded five miles from the river, contained, occasional patches of good soil. ”

“ Horses in much better heart. Traversed the course of the river for about five miles, where it had assumed a fine, clear, uninterrupted stream, running about three and a half knots, and about sixty yards wide, also very deep. We had crossed a wide mountain stream, running into the river. ”

“ I believe I stated, in its proper place, that I did not think the Darling could possibly be 200 feet above the sea, and as far as my observations bear me out, I should estimate the bed of the Murray, at its junction with the new river, to be within 100. It would appear that there is a distance of 300 miles between the Murray River at this place, and the Darling; a space amply sufficient for the intervention of a hilly country. No one could have been more attentive to the features of the interior than I was; nor could any one have dwelt upon their peculiarities with more earnest attention. ”

“ Brockman's house to the river which washes the base of the Dyott Hills, and which formed the extreme point or termination of our journey, to be forty miles in due easterly course, and to which there is no obstacle of sufficient importance to prevent a good communication from being opened. The general characteristic of the soil of the country to the eastward of Mount Mackie, which we considered to be the eastern extremity of Darling's Range, was a light, sandy loam, the sub-soil of which was clay, which occasionally appeared on the surface. ”

“ And although no land had been traversed of a fertile description of sufficient extent to invite the settler, the fact of a large river such as the Darling lying at the back of our almost intertropical settlements, gave a fresh importance to the distant interior. It was evident that this river was the chief drain for carrying off the waters falling westerly from the eastern coast, and as its course indicated a decline of country diametrically opposite to that which had been calculated upon, it became an object of great importance to ascertain its further direction. ”

“ The alluvial portion of the margin of the Darling is narrow, and in most places overgrown with the dwarf box, which is another species of eucalyptus. In it are hollow places as already observed, covered with the Polygonum junceum, which is an unsightly leafless bush or bramble. Grass is only to be found on the banks of the river and, strictly speaking, the margin only can be considered alluvial, for this being irrigated and enriched by the floods it is everywhere abundantly productive of grass, though none may appear in the back country. ”

“ This is Tide Water Day and men of the river, like Vikings of old, are gathering on the coast to pay tribute to tide water counties, and as it was in the wilderness period, so it is now, every path of the river leads to the sea.
The tide water men from each shore town. ”

“ In its depths laughs or murmurs a limpid stream that can rarely be noticed, such is the thickness and luxuriance of the trees and shrubs that overhang it. Powerscourt Waterfall is close by the Dargle. The river that forms it leaps down a rock nearly three hundred feet in height, into a valley of brightest verdure, covered with a thick growth of primeval oak-trees. An enchanting spot—which it is gross folly to attempt to describe—in a land of towering hills and flower-crowned rocks. Its wildness, winsomeness, and loveliness must be seen in order to form anything like a just idea of it. ”

“ Bay horse much better, though not able to carry weight. Traversed round the south side of the swamp, where was found a wide stream running south, which we crossed, and then made a south-westerly course. After marching nine miles, made the Swan River about two miles above Mr. ”

“ I towed an outrigger canoe with two girls across the bay, and as quick as they could paddle back they wanted me to do it again.
Darling, the Nature Man, and Young, a Socialist, had accompanied us. It was amusing to see Darling splash along shore in the shallow water, catching fish. At times he lay in the shade of a tree, resting. When a crowd of natives gathered around him, he would jump up and yell like an Indian war dancer, which performance always doubled the natives with laughter. They all like Darling, and he likes them. ”

“ Similar addresses were sent to him from about the same number of men in New York, from supporters in Newburyport, Medford, Kennebeck River, Philadelphia, the Detroit Common Council, Manchester, New Hampshire, and "the neighbors" in Salisbury. His old Boston Congressional district triumphantly elected Eliot, one of Webster's most loyal supporters, by a vote of 2,355 against 473 for Charles Sumner. 781 The Massachusetts legislature overwhelmingly defeated a proposal to instruct Webster to vote for the Wilmot Proviso. ”

“ The road that but a moment before had made a feint of stopping for good and all at a dark and hilly wall of cedars, swept around a rocky curve and revealed the glint of the river. After that by all the dictates of convenience it should have curved again and continued its course to Kenny's destination, pleasantly parallel with the bends of the river. Instead it crossed the river bridge and went off at a foolish tangent, disappearing over the crest of a hill. Wild and wooded country swept steeply down to the river edge. ”

“ Though every billow threatened to engulf the frail craft, yet it nevertheless rode through the mountainous waves and drew near the rock where the helpless men and women were standing face to face with death. When it was sufficiently close to the shore William Darling sprang out to help the weary perishing creatures, whilst Grace was left to manage the boat unaided. ”

“ But these streams themselves, save while nameless becks, are not so familiar to Lakers—to use an obsolete term—as the Derwent, which, gathering size above Rossthwaite within a very short space, races down Borrowdale{148} into Derwentwater, a beautiful and lusty river. Indeed, the head of the Lake knows Derwent well: when raging down in flood from the rainiest watershed in England, to lift its surface over field and roadway. ”

“ These mountains, with the direction of the coast and what has been said of the clusters of hills, may serve as marks for Port Dalrymple to ships coming along shore from the westward.
Reefs and banks extend out to a considerable distance on the west side of the entrance; so that strangers should avoid that side, and endeavour to come in with Low Head. The greater part of these shoals, as also of those in Sea Reach, are covered at half tide; therefore the first of the flood, or even a little before, is the best time to enter Port Dalrymple, as almost the whole of the dangers are then visible. ”

“ Behind the lime-kiln rose knoll on knoll, and beyond these the verdant hills, all converging to Dalgrothe Mountain. In front of it was the river, with its banks dropping forty feet, and below, the rapids, always troubled and sportive. On the farther side of the river lay peaceful areas of meadow and corn land, and low-roofed, hovering farm-houses, with one larger than the rest, having a wind-mill and a flag-staff. ”

“ I know of no place on the upper half of the Bend where the river is less than a hundred feet wide. The Little Dalles, just below the American line, are about a hundred and forty feet across in their narrowest part, and the Great Dalles below Celilo Falls are slightly wider. Kettle Falls, Hell-Gate and Rock Island Rapids have side channels of less than a hundred feet, but the main channels are much broader. Save only the Dalles des Morts (which are really its continuation) the Rock Slide has no near rival anywhere on the river. ”

“ The profuse wooding which formed the steep and rich barrier of the opposite side of the river, was suddenly interrupted by a huge naked rock that stood out into the stream, as if it had swelled forward indignantly from the touch of cultivation, and, proud of its primitive barrenness, had flung aside the hand that was dispensing beauty around it, and that would have intruded upon its craggy and original majesty. It was here that our imaginations fixed a residence for the Genius of the river and the spirit of the Dargle. ”

“ Until the other evening at the Caliph's we had not seen the water of Darby creek for ten years; not such a long time, perhaps, as some reckon these matters, but quite long enough. And our mind runs back with unrestrained enthusiasm to the days when we lived only two miles away from that delicious stream. Darby creek is associated in our mind with a saw and cider mill that used to stand—and very likely still stands—where the creek crosses the West Chester pike. To that admirable spot, in the warm blue haze of an October afternoon, certain young men used to tramp. ”

“ The Darling is peopled more permanently by these natives, than perhaps any other part of Australia: affording as it does a more certain supply of food. It is only in seasons of very high flood that this food, the fish, cannot be got at, and that they are obliged to resort to the higher country at such seasons, between the Darling, the Lachlan, and the Bogan. ”

“ The road runs on the edge of a declivity, from whence there is a most pleasing prospect of the river’s course through the vale and the wood of Powerscourt, which here appear in large masses of dark shade, the whole bounded by mountains. Turn to the left into the private road that leads to the Dargle, and presently it gives a specimen of what is to be expected by a romantic glen of wood, where the high lands almost lock into each other, and leave scarce a passage for the river at bottom, which rages as if with difficulty forcing its way. ”