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Author: Ride, W. D. L. (William David Lindsay), 1926-2011; Butler, Harry (William Henry), 1930-2015; Tedford, Richard H.
Call no: FN212
Year: 17 Aug - 8 Sept. 197
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> 17th August (Monday)
Kalgoorlie R.F.D. Base saw John Flower and got scheds. 0730 1545.
Arranged a sched with Ruth or Eric at 1530 today to give place & E.T.A.
Left R.F.D. Base at 11.00
Drove through Kalgoorlie, down the Boulder Rd. to the Trans line. Took left fork to Boulder Block Hotel, turned hard left around Hotel then hard right around post office following road to Lakewood. End of bitumen between mullock heaps. passed left fork to Golden Ridge. Turned off hard left signpost Condeela, Randalls[?], Karonie.
Kalgoorlie R.F.D. Base saw John Flower and got scheds. 0730 1545.
Arranged a sched with Ruth or Eric at 1530 today to give place & E.T.A.
Left R.F.D. Base at 11.00
Drove through Kalgoorlie, down the Boulder Rd. to the Trans line. Took left fork to Boulder Block Hotel, turned hard left around Hotel then hard right around post office following road to Lakewood. End of bitumen between mullock heaps. passed left fork to Golden Ridge. Turned off hard left signpost Condeela, Randalls[?], Karonie.
Karonie, Coonana, Zanthus.
Kildana. Start of Kanandah fence to south[?]. Lime kilns. Got in touch with Ruth at 3.30 and they collected a lot of small lizards and some snakes, all under bit of wood - more under tin.
Drove in the Kandandah. Ruth and Eric all at home, Susie inepiasible as ever. Ruth and Eric well, delighted to see them. They have had a very poor season. Carrying about 30,000 from the 40 ooo of two years ago. An excellent wool clip last year but only 3 inches so far.
Had a most pleasant evening to bed at 9.30, a very cold night. How nice to have a good bed.
Told Eric about the Wedgetail sitting on the fence post about 10 ft. from four half-grown lambs which were watching it (it was measuring dinner[?]) - we drove over and it flew off & as it did so the lambs moved forward in concert. Eric tells of an Eagle he watched in Qld. which struck a half-grown roo but he was too slow as the on the ground so he made repeated air strikes tumbling[?] over the swinging[?] kangaroo each time until he killed it.
> 18th August 1970 (Tuesday)
Kanandah, put in 12 gals.
Trainline, stopped at gate & collected Gymnodactylus milii under sleeper.
Sleeper, collected Heteronotia binoei and Mus musculus underneath.
Rawlinna.
Abandoned camp. Collected under sleepers and rocks H. binoei, and a small Asleplous[?] elegans. This was the place where Butler previously collected S. murina under sleepers. Fantastically unlikely for murina ! Took photos [C6524, 5]. Trachysaurus rugosus on track. Very rugose like a pine cone. Collected.
Haig. Stopped for lunch in a little patch of Casuarina. Very pleasant in the sun. Wind died a bit and no longer bitterly cold. Photographed Gymnodactylus [C6626,7] and also the Trans train which came through while we were lunching [C6628]. All people sitting in the Diner. We were probably more comfortable than they - at any rate would not have swapped !
Nurina. Stopped to turn over sleepers, collected a couple of geckoes Phyllodactylus (laminated toes, bifid pad, claw on each digit - Gelya has non bifid pad & no claw on inner digit - Butler's diagnostics), Heteronotia binoei.
Road very rough indeed milage scarcely 20 mph much of the time.
Loongana. Very slow progress. Decided to camp for the night before the light goes. Camped in a little clump of "dead finish" Acacia (? aphylla) and desert willows Pittosporum (will collect seed).
Collected wolf spiders, running on the ground. Some salt and blue bush, Temp. 53*F.
> 19th August 1970 (Wednesday)
Camped 9.3 E. of Loongana. A good night, fairly warm, cloud coming up, wind shifted fr. N into due West. Off at 0810.
Butler found a small Ablepharus butleri under a stone. Collected a bag of seeds of native willow Pittosporum which I must try to grow.
Mundrabilla Siding. Small sprinkle of rain at intervals but little risk of it developing.
Stopped at a donga to photograph an Acacia [C6629] collected a few of the very scarce and small puffball flowers. Phyllodes and twisted..
Forrest. Posted letters to M & Jim. Crossed to south of track, stopped at Gurney [?] near Reid for lunch - looked for fossils in fissure fils[?] nothing.
Reid. Track comes off for airfield. Collected Tympanocryptus running , went under a stone.
XD140 Benchmart, Lands & Surveys WA.
Harry's diagram of cave. The cave has a compacted earth floor & scraps of bone, easy to get into. No evidence of H. sap. but flakes collected on surface within 1 mile of cave. Worth excavation someday.
Investigated cave alongside road (to east). Harry collected bones of Perameles, Leporillus, Dasycereas, a small macropod, 2 small Drymidae, Notys?, Pseudemys. Collected Trapdoor spider, no door on brow but copious silk sleeve. Unfortunately burro between stues & destroyed in excavating it. Collected land shells 3spp.& slater.
Bad mark XD155.
Camped among myalls to the west of the track. Collected Huntsman spider T50F, 3/4 moon on the wane. Turned in at 10.00 pm. Few meals around. Saw a couple of rabbits along the trans line & two foxes. Country very poor. Salt and bluebush in reasonable condition but grass all black & grey. No water anywhere. Red kangaroo & ten greys as we entered the myall zone at 87.9.
> 20th August (Thursday)
Camped in myall, a good night. Cold morning west gone road to N.W. Off at 8.10, only 140 m. yesterday, must make Ceduna tonight. Eucla. Put in 15 3/4 gals super, gauge showing empty, 302.2 m. since Kanandah average 18.8 mpg.
S.A. / W.A. border mallee & saltbush. Wombat holes on Nullarbor Stn. in saltbush, took some photos and collected land snails and a wombat palate & teeth. The holes are common between mileposts 28 and 26 to Nullarbor Homestead.
Nullarbor Homestead turnoff, collected bobtail on road just past the turnoff. Myall comes in again after a stretch of the plain which started before the wombat holes (although there was scattered Myall there).
Ivy Tanks.
Start of the Yalata reserve: Bluebush, Eucalypts (woolly butts) and myall. First wheat starts after cleared grazing in open myall and eucalypt "parkland" for some miles.
Fuel pump at Nindroo, Fowlers Bay turn off.
Wolf spider in hole under stone in a small roadside "reserve". Collected.
Penong fuel 15 gals average 18.6 mpg. Ceduna X road.
Stayed in Poochera to phone in. All well at home. Seds a bit off colour but Jim's operation seems to be successful. Dark 8.15 and cold.
Turnoff main road at Minnipa to go south to find camp in the dark. Find a place behind a small belt of trees and off the road. After meal wrote decisions in cases for International Commission until about 11.00 pm, to bed, cold & windy. Harry got some spiders.
> 21st August (Friday)
Camped 5 miles south of Minnipa in a small clump of eucalypts at a bend in the road among paddocks of wheat. A nice morning. Alice Springs sched starts at 8.00 on 5410, can hear perfectly well, off at 0840.
Back on Eyre Highway, Kimba 18 1/4 gals.
Drove on to Port Augusta across country which at first was mallee rather like Lake Grace but soon became less strong and then changed to myall, sheoak, bluebush/saltbush. Finally coming up to the Middleback Range before Iron Knob to the south of Lake Giles the country might virtually be a cross between the flats between the Wooramel and Brown Range of the Nullarbor. come through the Middleback Range the country gets even worse until Port Augusta reached.
Port Augusta left Hwy with vehicle after lunch to get 4000 miles service done & roofrack welded where it had fractured. Went to the Public Library where the girls let me wash before handling books ! I then worked on Commission business and got it posted.
Drove out into the Flinders Ranges to Quorn and camped on a tributary of Willochra Creek just north of Gordon [Kanyaka Creek 6m. S. of Wilson]
Camped in rain. Got the fly up - leaks ! Bats flying low and very fast. Spotlighted while Harry shot. He collected a Tadarida australis, male, wt:37gr, H & B 84 mm, T.V. 49mm, H.I 10 mm, E26mm, forearm 62 mm (wt & measurements taken by Butler). A beautiful chocolate brown with a well marked golden pouch with raised globular rim (bone) and with two dense clusters of marvellous rich brown chocolate hair which, when wanted for the pouch stood up like two dense bristly fans. Photographed pouch b&w. A male trapdoor walked into the tent & onto Harry's leg ! Collected. T.52* a very fine wolf spider about in the rain.
> 22nd August (Saturday)
Rained hard all night. Was awakened about 03.30 and did not sleep much after that. Fly leaks and water splashing in my face.Sound of running water gave me some concern that we would have difficulty in getting up the bank out of this valley - but looked better in daylight! Still raining , but much more lightly during breakfast, which was leisurely. Harry collected a Pardelote.
Rail coming at Wilson [Halt]
Hawker[?]. Still raining but asked a bus driver who had just driven down the Wilpena Pound road what it was like. He said slippery but we would have no bother. Country very interesting. Callitris in hills rather like European hill scenery with firs. Triodia starts among the Callitris and bluebush eucalypts along the creeks looking like silver birch. Stopped at a flat with callitris and grass alongside the road at the foot of Rawnsley Bluff and opposite Moongarie Gap. Dry out spiders.[C6633].
Turned off into Wilpena Pound turnoff. The view is incredibly beautiful pastoral scenery. The Chalet is a privately owned property & camping area. Tents among the trees. Drove into the area and then walked up into the pound by the tourist track. A wonderful isolated woodland of tall eucalypts. Photographs [C6635-36]. Dry out 3 trapdoor spiders, more photos into the entrance of the Pound[C6701-2]. Stopped raining.
Back at main road.Through heavily-grazed hill country, Reds and Euros grazing, rabbits and fox.
Blinman, an isolated hill town. Drove down the road to Mt Mary and Parachilna. A very beautiful and spectacular descent high hosting defiles. Rocky and dry[C6703]. Harry shot a rabbit. Saw several Euros. Down into the mud and desolate plains at the foot - to Parachilna 4002.6. Camped on Green Well Creek, collected spiders. Tadarida flying. V. cold.
> 23rd August (Sunday)
Camped in Greenwell Creek 7 miles N. of Parachilna. The creek's a rock strewn bed lined by quite tall rivergums and flowing along the top of a crest. Coming into it last night, up hill from Parachilna, I found it difficult to believe it was a creek at all.
An excellent night and lovely morning, clouds are still hanging around the Flinders and there is light cloud cover as a front passes over - but not enough to keep the sun off.
Country bare with low sand - looks badly eaten out. Breakfast-Time Creek is a lovely name in a dreadful area of eaten out country ; some of the most desolate I have seen.
Beltana - dreadful. Trying to make living on tourists in hopeless country.
Arrived at Leigh Creek township. An incredible place in such desolation. Sealed roads, brickbuilt houses, green trees and a little park with green lawns and wonderful flowering trees filled with birds.
Went to the police station (Sgt Marple & Const Cavanaugh) who say that the trees in park were Disto Lothian at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. Wish that Bond had turned his energy to this sort of thing in W.A. Sgt Marple's boy is a keen fossil rock collector & hopes to be a geologist. Harry gaven him advice on Physics, Chemistry & Maths.
Drove back to Copley and fuel 14 1/2 gals - 15 mpg. Stopped for lunch in the bed of Leigh Creek. Dug out scorpions, Harry showed an excellent technique with water for folling tiosty burrows.
Went back to Leigh Creek and tried to phone Grant Inglis in Adelaide to find out why they had not turned up. No luck. Police advised checking with Johnny Akbar in Copley whether the Crusers were still out at Callabonna on Moolawatana stn. Went & checked and found out they were still there so decided to go back to Leigh Creek until 3.30 and then if they didn't want to go on out to Moolawatana to contact Michael Sheehan - manager. Did this and left message with Const. Cavanaugh to pass on to Grant. Tel from Briston : Collecting N.T. O.K. fuel Warburton O.K.
Leave Leigh Creek. Turn off at Copley on East. Passed Mt. Searl turnoff. This is incredibly desolate hill country almost completely bare of vegetation. [C6705] . Nepabunna Mission, houses in good condition, a school. Wooltana H.S. in the plain at the N side of the range. country beautiful plains - quite good condition.
Camped in Arkaroola Crk. 6.4 m. N.E. of Wooltana H.S. Collected spiders T 54*F a nice (comparatively) warm evening. Pleasant sitting around the fire writing.
The general impression I get of this country is of incredibly desolate, thrashed saltbush country to the West of the Flinders Range which lies like a dividing rampart NpS through the country. he range itself has been destroyed by pastoral activity but is picturesque desolation with adits here & there. Very rough rather reminiscent of Nullagine and the Warraweena[?] series. And then over the other side, quiet plains in much better condition, apparently better watered, with good trees along numerous creeks feeding out of the range. Good grasses. Why do so many of the creeks on the other side (ie the West) seem to flow along the tops of ridges ?!
Telegram at Leigh Creek
"RIDE. COLLECTING; PERMIT APPROVED DARWIN COPY AVAILABLE ONCE NO REPLY YET ADELAIDE STOP FUEL OKAY WARBURTON NO REPLY GILES AM CABLING AGAIN REGARDS BANNUTER"
> 24th Aug. 1970 (Monday)
Camped at Arkaroola Creek. A beautiful night, windy in the middle of the night but woke to a still clear morning. Warm enough to sit comfortably in a pullover. Listened to Alice Springs sched, nothing for us, off at 0850. After leaving creek took 2 photos back at Creek & range [C6706] and Right ls of Range.[C6707]. Then stopped while Harry walked up a couple of quail thrushes of which he collected are - a very beautiful pale bird rising between little tussocks and small bushes, male.
[C6708] Creek and hills across gibber and sandy plain. N. Mulga (entrys). N. Mulga Homestead. Moolawatana H.S. a beautiful modern Homestead. The home paddock is full of bush but the rest is desolation. Met a young geologist and wife who were mapping the area. They told us where Tedford and party were working. We then met a truckdriver who also gave us a road map, v. useful in relation to mills and fences [see over]. Drove out to Tedford's camp and on the way were caught up by the rest of the party.
Grant Inglis S. A. Museum
Paul Lawson S.A. Museum
Jim Warren Monash
Mike Plane Bureau Of Mineral Resources
Alan Bartholomai Queensland Museum
We then followed Paul into the camp, a desolate wind-blasted spot. They have a caravan and two bedrooms[?] with open backs. They had left a note for us to come out to the lake so we had lunch and then drove out on their tracks to the lake. The site is fantastic. Skeletons outcropping on the surface into a ventenesd[?] zone of gypsum and sands below this a blue clay interbedded with thin sands and then going into sand at 2ft6 to 3 ft in most places. The skeletons are all in the grey clay except where deflation has brought them into the weathered zone. Took numerous photos, went for Side 4 ; where they were working to a place where Diprotodon trackings were visible on the surface. These arplute explicable as follows :
[Sketch] [blue clays] "bioturbation" (Tedford's name)
The deflation removes the less compact material and leaves the actual treads. Took photos. Aso took photos of giant bird remains as well as concentrations of clay[?] stones.Drove to Side 1 where Tedford demonstrated the sequence of beds which were Upper sands, Upper clay, with Emu[?], smaller birds, fish otalites, then an apparent disinfinity with the Diprotodon-bearing clays break down. The only aquatic animals in these lower beds are Coriellas. So Tedford believes that these were saline at the time of deposition. He also believes that the distortion of the skeleton is due to "bioturbation" - or simply animals walking on each other !
Sand blowing like hell - really a wretched place. They say that this is the worst day they have had.
Back to camp to an excellent dinner cooked by Paul Lawson.
After yarning with the party went out and collected spiders. Strong wind. T54*F.
Mudmap to site of camp on Woolatchi Creek.
> 25th Aug 1970 (Tuesday)
Camp on Woolatchi Creek, Lake Callabonna. Up at dawn after a very windy night, but slept v. well. drove to Homestead and filled with fuel.
Homestead. Took northwards road through Lyndhurst cb house. Incredibly desolate country here. All the bush and most of the larger shrubs have been killed leaving only Mitchell Grass as the staple. Mile Shean says that they have had no rain for 2 years and that he is down to 6,000 head from 12,000 - obviously that is too much.
Mt Fitton H.S.
Signpost "Talc Mine 3 miles" on turnoff to our right. Photo[C6801] of typical desolation.
Mt. Freeling H.S. An old camp with incredible stone corral and post & rail fence - photos :[C3802, 03] collected - few bib of worthwhile gear.
Farina. Incredible place - "On western plains where shade is not.." [C3804,5]
Maree [Marree ?] Fuel 171/2 gals to fill. Sent Telegram to Jim on his birthday, "Many happy returns of the day All going well Love Dad". Ran into Warren Bonython. Incredible place to meet one's friends ! He was going to look at a new National Park at Lake Eyre North.
On the Birdsville Track.
Clayton Bore. Camped by the bore stream. Collected a good series of spiders. Saw in the water (a large black water spider) a few small greenish ones in bushes but not on the sand. T 56* F, Slight showers.
> 26th August 1970 (Wednesday)
Camped at Clayton Bore. Up before dawn. Harry started the day well by lamping into a Sminthopsis crassicaudata [WR218] as it had the misfortune to walk within the circle of lamplight - Incredible performance.
Hayes Hill where Dick researches[?] the contact between the Cretaceous Blanchewater Fn. and the Lower Testing Murnpeowie Fn. and the relation of test to the "silicated Dricrest"[?] the feral crugent [?] at the place.
Sketch of silicated land forms e.g. Hays Hill.
The Blanchewater is probably the equivalent of the Winton Fri [?] which contains dinosaurs The Murnpeowie is probably the equivalent of the Plutagents, M. contains plant impressions in the silcrete near Hays Hill.
[C6806,7] Dick Tedford study on the Basal beds of the Murnpeowie [C6808,9] Mike Plane standing in one section showing the deflated gibbers on the top.
[C6810,11]A good shot of Hays Hill showing how the contact mantles a basin in the Blanchewater Fn. Sketch of [C6810,11] : the dip of the Blanchewater is about 13* to the NW into the basin which is filled with the Etadunna Fm. The Winton Fm. shows up in a bore underlying the Etadunna Fm.
[C6812] Sketch : Geological map of the area.
Unfortunately the contact between the Etadunna Fm. and the Murnpeowie do not show on the surface. Outcrop on side of road seems to be Murnpeowie Fm.
Cannuwankaninna Bore. Stopped here and had a bath while the Holden went up to Etadunna Station Homestead. Camped in under the lee of a large Dune in the Cooper (between it and L. Palankarinna) M.R. 66435. Reached SW. corner of lake to look at the contact between the Cretaceous and the Etadunna Fm with the B.M.R. and the S.A. Mines Dept.
The Etadunna fm here lies on top of a silveted[?] and ladinized[?] horizon which Dick says is typical of the lowest[?] horizon of a massive[?] denicrest[?]. Mary Lindsay (S.A. Mines) points out that there is similar silcected[?] Nullarbor bestie[?] at Lake Pidinga N. of Yalata Mission on the track to Watson.) The least[?] part of the Etadunna Fm. is Dolomitic limestone with Both-like gastropods and some Rhaggada-like shells. Collected a good swag. On top of this is the remnant of gibbers which Dick believes is transported[?] from an adjacent area of limestone.
Sketch.
Photographed a channel of Katapiri cut into the Etadunna Fm.[C6815] Moved along the W. side of the lake and looked at typical exposures of the 3 fms present here.
[C6819] Sketch looking west Tirari
C6820 looking north [C6821] [C6822] Sketch Katapiri, Tirari, Etadunna, note that the Tirari has been pinched out with the Katapiri cut into the Etadunna fm. Tedford points out that the Tirari overlies the Mampuwordu but not the Katapiri. It is not known what the relationship with Wipijiri is (this is only known at Ngapakaldi) T. does not believe that Tirari is the lateral equivalent of the Wipajiri Tirari is not fossiliferous anywhere.
C6823 Taken at the top of the syncline where the Etdunna is thickest [Sketch] Tirari , Dolomitic limestone of the top of the Etadunna.
C6827, 28 Lawson Quarry, a Mumpuwordu channel in the Etadunna overlain by Tirari.
C6829 Keane Quarry: - note the ?ypcrete in the Tirari above the contact.
Started to look for fossils and found a lot of scrap bone from the Etadunna. Fantastically rich. Paul found some teeth with a curious sclandent[?] fn of two sets of 3 cusps.[6824 after excavation]
Started back to camp. Camp alongside the large N.S. dune.
Collected spiders. A very warm night with an incredible sandstorm which got out in the night and could have torn everything to shreds if we had had tents.
> 27th August (Thursday) 1970
Camp at Palankarinna in lee of the dunes on west side of lake. We collect the teeth and mandible found by Paul Lawson yesterday. Photos of mandible in situ.[C6824]. Photos down the line of exposures looking south [C6825]. Photo [C6826] looking across the lake to the Dricrusted[?] sediments to fossils which Dick believes the Silcrete[?] clants in the sediments are derived C6826,27 See notes of previous day.[error in transcribing fm pencil notes]. Drove back to camp for lunch after collecting all moving. Sched. [6832] Landrover in Dunes on my way back to camp. Perth 3.48 pm. 25th Dr Ride 8WNX
PERMIT GRANTED SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES AND FOR COLLECTING ON R1028 SELF BUTLER STOP COLLECT AUTHORIZATION SUPERINTENDENT DOCKER RIVER NO WORD YET GILES HAVE REQUESTED SOUTH AUSTRALIAN AUTHORITIES CONTACT YOU DIRECT BANNISTER.
C6829 Shows the Mampuwordu sands in quarry face.
C6830 Same scene of above / Tiari Hand pointing , say where D M ends.
Yellow gohere of Mampuwordu Sands, Etadunna in hole.
C6831 Dipnotodited plate in situ.
Set off for Lake Kanunka. Passage up the broad valley to the Cooper.
Cooper Creek photo C6828
Continued along Cooper to a point recognised by Tedford as been away northwards up a dune valley wth a seismic track running along it with shot holes. Lake Kanunka, excellent exposures of sediment.
Camped at the foot of a large bluff - the eastern side of the lake. Very cold night. Too tired to collect. Harry went out and got some spiders while I talked palaeontology. On the way up the country was very impressive little vegetation and almost no signs of water. A beautiful little mob of brumbies came down and investigated the convoy of Landrovers and galloped along waiting about 23-25mph for several miles. V. impressive. Dunes about 20-30 ft high, fairly well vegetated except the crests.
> 28th August 1970 (Friday)
Camped at Lake Kanunda. Up at 5 am, dreadfully cold. The Sminthopsis had died in the night. A female with large teats but no young. Preserved in formalin [WR218] F. Sminthopsis crassicaudata centralis, very large ears (rather like lirtipes) tail, invanited but not fat, white patches behind the ears very marked. Ears without the the distinct dark triangle of sunken S. crassicaudata. Tail shorter than H and B., feral colour a display four al white indourifers.
Clayton Bore shown on Birdsville Track between Marree and Etadunna H.S. ; W.H.Butler by hand, HB. 80, HF16, FA19, TV68, F22. Photographed the stratigraphy at the camp site. C6824,35 Sketch.
Collected for the scree of Katapiri, very rich indeed.
C6836,37 C6838 Map of the Etadunna localities. Scheds.
1. ADELAIDE RIDE : SCIENTIFIC PERMIT TO COLLECT PROTECTED FAUNA EXCLUDING RARE SPECIES RECOMMENDED TO MINISTER WILL DESPATCH TO PERTH OLSEN
2. PERTH RIDE : SUGGEST YOU CONTACT GILES DIRECT THEIR ADDRESS OUTPOST ALICE SPRINGS BANNISTER
Drove north along the lake then out to Lake Pitikanta, a remarkable lake with excellent exposures of Etadunna fm. Saw how whole skeleton Dyprotodontidae were collected on earlier expeditions where driver presence is indicated by signs of surface bane.
Mandible of small Dyprotodon Ngapakaldia as found by weating pattern.
General view of above. Etadunna fm with tigia and a Katzini channel in mesa background. Another skeleton revealed by ducertution.
5 skeletons revealed in valley. Mandible 04 excavated and shellac added. Plaster badged for removal. Had lunch and then drove back to Lake Ngapakaldi.
Very unimpressive. Low exposures on the Eastern side. An island in the middle and the Western side have better exposures but no vertebrate fossil locs. C6810 general scene of exposures. Walked northwards for a little bluff midway along the Southern side of the lake and came to the Wipajiri loc. This is a very strange locality walked by small clasts reaching out into the beach. They found it by avere and some turtle bones which weakened out. They then put in a trench and find that it was a channel rising parallel to the beach and below the present surface: it is in the Etadunna but there is no Tirari fms to give superimprintual control ? Where does it come in the sequence ? The fauna is very strange indeed. the channel enters Etadunna clasts. Is there some possibility that the channel is itself laid down in Etadunna times and not post-Etadunna ?
Clasts on the beach.
Clasts of fossil plants (Detail)
Drove up into the dunes to find a little valley for the night. The evening started warm 67*F - collected spiders & wrote up diary. Got cold by 11.00. To bed.
> 29th August 1970 (Saturday)
Camped at Lake Ngapapaldi. Left to drive south via Pitikanta to pick up the mandible in plaster block. Dick Tedford and Mike Plane decided to go north with the Bureau party to investigate some as yet unexplored lakes which had good exposures in the photos. Left at 0810 after sched and sent RIDE PHONE 862242 PERTH LEAVING ETADUNNA TODAY ON WAY ALICE SPRINGS STOP TELL JOHN PERMITS OK LOVE DEE
Passed old well. Harry shot 2 Babblers that he is not familiar with. Took photos of the locality which is approx 1.5 m. north of Wyalta Waterhole in Cooper Creek (654448) [C690].
Cooper Creek. We joined the truck we took work at his place. We had got one dune too far east on the way back and did not have the advantage of the seismic track. [C690].
Crossing of the Cooper.
Cannuwaukaninna Bore. had a wonderful bath in hot water, washed the spilt oil off the roof of the Toyota (due to oil cans being insuffiently stood and splitting in the roof rack) and washed our clothes.
Clayton Bore. Met the others and camped for the night. Had a good talk, especially with Jim Warren. He will write to me about the need for an Australian Carbon Dating Ind. to be run on a commercial(?) basis. I have told him that I will have a go at the WAIT
> 30th August 1970 (Sunday)
Camped at Clayton Bore, said goodbye.
Started on the Birdsville Track and photographed Marree [C6916]
Marree 24 gals of super, All new supplies of vegetables and meat $9.52
Signpost Oodnadatta road.
Gate in Dog Fence.
Photo of country - very desolate Margaret Siding !
Mount Hamilton Homestead
William Creek Hotel - Turned west off the Oodnadatta road at a signpost Oodnadatta 130
Anna Creek Homestead turned left at road marked to Coober Pedy.
Gibber plain (photo[c6919].
Camped beside creek in good eucalypts, the first we have seen all day of any size. The country we have been through is very desolate and heavily grazed. For the first part (i.e. Birdsville Track - William Creek mostly "bush" or mitchell grass, very little ground cover). After William Creek a few sandhills but not much cover. After Anna Creek low vegetated dunes with extensive gibber between. Altogether very little vegetation left but enough to show that there must have been pretty good cover prior to stocking - but now virtually nothing. There does not seem to be any plant (like spinifex in Pilbara) which has taken advantage of the situation.
Blew a tyre (staked) coming into amp - Harry fixed it as well as that we did the other day. H collected spiders, a beautiful yellow one. Temp 43*, I prepared maps.
> 31st August 1970 (Monday)
Camped on creek to east of Coober Pedy. Photo [C6920] of map with Etadunna Formation locs. filled in for teaching.
0800 Sched sent.
OFFICER IN CHARGE ANIMAL INDUSTRIES BRANCH N.T.ADMIN. , ALICE SPRINGS. AM INFORMED COPY OF MY PERMIT IS WITH YOU STOP WISH TO AVOID DEVIATING THROUGH ALICE SPRINGS THROUGH KULGERA UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY PLEASE ADVISE RIDE
[C6528]Photo of Coolibahs along creek bank at camp. Spiders cone osteid (the new yellow one) in burrows about 8" degs" in sediment above creek bank. Sediments sandy gossels did not find in the soft lam. Bruno with silk-lined rim and lined with silk. Photographed spider & bread bin - also a small-chosed scorpion which we found about 12 inches down in a Trapdoor spider burrow [6521-27].
Coober Pedy. A remakable place which looks like an outback town which has been set down in the middle of a mine. Heaps of mullock all over them place, dirt roads anywhere anyone wanted to take a vehicle a cloud of dust & vehicles parked all over the place, an increddible mixture of built places (pub, post office, store etc.) as well as the traditional dugouts. Called on Eric Smith of "Aladdin's Cave"- a contact of Harry Butler's. Eric sells opals and anything else which will catch a tourist. Had coffee with him in his 11 room dugout. It cost him $20,000 dollars only a couple of years ago. He is the chairman of the Progress association. They are fighting hard for local government and were responsible for the recent clear up of some hard cases following the recent robbings and stabbing of an opal buyer. Had a few drinks with him and agreed to identify a shell for him. Fuel 16 gals supplies $4.22 (total to date $13.54).
Drove over to the rubbish tip to see if we could find any small shells which Harry found last time he was here. Nothing except 2 small boys spending a useful morning breaking bottles ! Wrote to Sunes & Kathy.
Mt. Willoughby Homestead. Oodnadatta Rd. joins from the east. Welbourn Hill. Camp in mulga on a stray plane. After we had eaten we went out and collected spiders. V. few species here but many individuals. The country here is pretty poor. For the first 70 miles north of Coober Pedy it was gibber plain with very little vegetation at all, a little low scrub here a cheae and an occasional mulga. At about 60-70 m. N. of Coober Pedy stands of mulga become common and for the next 50 or so miles one almost continues. However since then there have been alternate gibber plains & mulga. The camp is in mulga with virtually no industry - much frequented by cattle. The gibber plain surrounding it is very bare.
Approx 24 m. S. of Gibber Downs Homestead on the Coober Pedy Rd.
> 1st Sept. 1970 (Tuesday) 1st day of Spring.
Camp 24 m. S. of Granite Downs H.S.
Recd. following. RIDE 8WNX ALICE SP. PERMIT OK PROCEED DIRECTLY STOP LETTER RE EXPORT OF SPECIMENS FOLLOWING:CHIEF ANIMAL INDUSTRIES.
Sent 1.BANNISTER 284411 PERTH OMITTING ALICE SPRINGS BY ASSESSMENT N.T.A. PROCEEDING KULGERA AYRES ROCK DIRECT TODAY RIDE
2. OFFICER IN CHARGE 8SCG (GILES) ALICE SPRINGS. HAVE I PERMISSION TO REFUEL AT GILES UP TO 30 GALS 3RD SEPTEMBER RIDE DIRECTOR W.A.MUSEUM
Drove northwards, a lovely day, country badly affected by grazing.
Photo of degraded mulga country [C6933].
Granite Downs turnoff. out of fuel in tank (consumption p - 250 miles at 12 1/2 mpg : not good enough). Very nice patch of good mulga & grevillea[C6934,5].
Border of N.T./S.A.. Country still generally rather poor but rather more grass.
Victory Downs turnoff. Victory Downs. Now running a motel business, fuel 22 1/2 gals. Lunch stop. Photo of a rather nice Cassia [C6926] collected a bit too. It occurs as a rather pale green bush in sandhills.
Sched. Telegram recd. RIDE 8WNX PERTH10.12am
PERMISSION NECESSARY FROM DIRECTOR WEAPONS RESEARCH ESTABLISHMENT TO ENTER PROHIBITED AREA INCLUDING GILES STOP FAMILY WELL STOP THEY WILL CONTACT YOU SOONEST STOP LETTER AT WARBURTON STOP REGARDS BANNISTER
Photo of Musgrave Ranges at N.E. end [C7001].
Mulga Park H.S. Looks a nice place, lovely country with excellent mulga and various shrubs including the Cassia and native poplar Codnocarpus. Good grass. Photo of road lined with native poplars [C7002].
First Triodia we have seen in the whole trip! From here on the whole plant association begins to look more familiar and typical of the Western Desert as we know it. Occasional sandhills, grasses and spinifex seeding. Plenty of water, Euros in rocky places.
Mt Connor looking as striking as I expected from the air [C7003]
Curtin Springs, Mrs Dawn Severis (husband Peter away), a motel & petrol station. Dawn very pleasant to us, gave us a cup of tea (she was a Qld friend of Harry Butler who visited with the U.S. Exped. and also with Rolf Harris) and let us have a shower. Very nice. Felt well dressed afterwards despite lack of ironing. At least our clothes did not call attention to us. A busload of schoolgirls (from Melburne S.C.E.G.G.S.) had broken down there (50 tourist buses a day!) - schoolgirls are rather more attractive than I remember!
Camp. Went spider collecting T. 52*F, very few individuals about. None in the dune. Shot a rabbit with the .410 pistol. Got one Lialis burtonis being not spinifex, H. shot a Tadarida australis in the firelight! m. [WR219], ivB 85 mm, TV 47 mm, HF12 mm., E 29 gm., forearm 55 mm., Wt. 34 gms., gulmar pouch of moderately developed Hairs in two tufts but not bristle or strikingly rich brown as in [217]
> 2nd Sept 1970 (Wednesday)
Camp 6m. w. of Curtin Springs in mulga in a slight clay flat with desert oaks and mulga. A sandhill behind, some spinifex. [C7004] First photos of Ayres Rock. Sched 1 recd DR RIDE 8WNX WEAPONS RESEARCH ESTABLISHMENT SALISBURY S.A. SUGGEST YOU PICK UP FUEL AT DOCKER RIVER AS GILES IS NOT SET UP TO SUPPLY FUEL AND IS IN ANY CASE A RESTRICTED AREA. WEAPONS SALISBURY
Ayres Rock Warden's Office & letter box. Talked to Derek Roth, Curator of the Rock (Ranger). They are having real problems over controlling people and keeping them in camping areas and on roads. They had 27,000 last year and 15 tourist buses a day at present. His offsider is Ian Carwood and Lance ?. He was particularly bitter about so-called naturalists etc who seem to think that they need special treatment. He gave an example of a group from the University of Adelaide who were not aware that they needed permits. He is an ex-policeman from Nairobi and seems competent.
Collected owl pellets, and bones from ambast in a ledge.
Met Dave Simpson and (aboriginal) wife Trixie, he is a motor mechanic and is trying to get set up at the Rock. He is performing unofficially under canvas (a camp - with corrugated iron under the canvas!) and has a small museum of artifacts. He would like to get some lainduley points.
8.00 left Rock.
Took a lot of photos round the Rock and also over towards Olgas. Desert oaks lovely. Left circular track in the NW of Mt. Olga, joined Giles track [C7014] last photo at Mt Olga, joined Giles track at Nat. Park sign. Collected Ampliboleus inernis in flat burrow after it ran across the road. Collected noteu.
Armstrong Creek. Photographed beefwood and blackwood on the flat (beefwood's a drooping Acacia, bloodwood is a Eucalypt) [C7018]
Camp on the edge of a dune 6 miles east of the Irving Creek crossing on the Giles Road. Sandhill alive with small mammal tracks. Set all the Elliott traps (20) and also set about 26 breakbacks. Went out in the evening to look for spiders, again very few induviduals here T.55*F. Collected a gecko as well. Back in camp H. shot a Nycticeius in the spotlight. [WR220] Nycticeius , H B 53 mm., Ear 13mm., TV37 mm. forearm 35mm. HF 8 wt 10 gm. The bats are flying low over a profusely flowering Acacia, very difficult photo, they were so close. The Acacia is a lovely white-stemmed little tree (?shrub) about 8ft. tall.[C7019].
Very tired, I don't know why because we rose late and have not done much today. To bed at 10.30
> 3rd Sept. (Thursday)
Camped on the Westward facing of a sandhill 6 miles East of Irving Creek. Mulga on the flat, spinifex and grass on the sandhill with flowering acacias and a few mallee-form Eucalypts with broad leaves. Trapped one Notomys alexis f. [WR221] H & B 98, E 24, O+2=4, tv139, Wt 36 g , Hf 32, Incisors not grooved. Made him a stall. Gular pouch a rather confusing feature. It is a whorl of white hairs with a bare area in the centre. When the animal is relaxed it looks like a pouch but when it is examined closely & stretched it can be seen that there is barely enough of a raised rim to call it a pouch Nevertheless there is little doubt that it is alexis. The book might be improved by the words "(sometimes a saucer-like depression of bare skin)" inserted after "pouch". Pregnant 4 foetuses approx 18 x 13 in utero. Note: When the animal was skinned the pouch showed as a thin window-like area in the throat. The creamy white hair of the actual area also shows through the skin. Both areas are separate [C7020] locality of N. alexis (sandhill). Holes common, tracks everywhere.
Photos of the two eucalypts of the country. Collected species for honesis Blackwell [C7021,2] opposite leaved small fruit.(mallee form but also as a tree about 40 ft high).[C7023,4] alternate leaved bigger fruits.
Small rock cistern on side of road in a low outage of granite. Typical Desert rockhole bad dry and not maintained.
A tree of Duboisia hopwoodi, Pitcheri, about 10 ft tall [C7025, 6, 7,8] also a mob of about 20 camels.
[C7028] photo of the edge of the Petermann country [C7030] of Bloods Range in distance. This is lovely country ; by groves of Desert oaks, some white backed Eucalypts in addition to the mallees, mulga and gidgee None of it has been grazed and there is no browse line. The grass and spinifex is in high seed and it all looks golden and wonderful.
Shaw Creek.
Chirnside River, lots of Wirlies on the flat [C7031] - deraded.
Hull River Lasseter's Cave where they found his log.[C7032,3]. A lovely place under these conditions - but woeful without hope of relief.
A grindstone and pieces of ochre on the river flats.
Petermann range - view across to the gap behind the Ruined Ramparts [C7034]. Docker River Crossing.
Docker River Settlement. Met Supt who runs it for the N. T. Administration. This is not a mission but a Govt. Welfare place. Well equipped with canares about 300 people here. Supt hopes to run cattle - this will be the end of this wonderful place. 12 gals.
Sent to BANNISTER PHONE 284411 PERTH
WIRELESS U/S PLEASE SEND FURTHER TRAFFIC WARBURTON REGARDS RIDE (CHARLIE 8WNX)
W.A. Border. Just before that saw a grove of blackboys also took [C7035] to the north.
Rebecca Creek. T.O. to Sandy Blight Junction, photo of white eucalypts [C7036] Giles Corner NOT 41 miles as per map BUT 31. To road down a track to camp at 714.4. Collected spiders. 52* F.
> 4th Sept (Friday) 1970
Camped some miles down a track to the east of the main track in an attempt to find a rock-hole marked approx 16 m. s. of Giles Corner on the map. These maps are difficult to me because of the lack of features. Must tell John Morgan.
Back on main track.
Northern edge of area excluded from Native Reserve (identified by "F.E.Govt" signs)
Photo of a new Mallee [C7101]
Blackstone Camp turnoff. Photo of a dead mulga and regenerating mulga is a situation that stock could not be involved. Mt. Aloysius in background [C7102]. Track joins far west along northern flank of range. T. O. to the Wingellina Camp. Wingellina Camp. Met John Smith and Mrs. Smith (camp manager), Dave Louth (Manager of Alice office of International Nickel), Cliff Hall. The men have all left preparatory for the total shut-down and John Smith expects to move out in a week or so. They invited us to use their hot showers (bliss) and took the opportunity to do a little washing as well. They gave us lunch and afterwards they all took us around the sites which were reported on by Crawford and Tomlinson.
S.A. Border nearest Mt. Davies [C7103]. Cleft in range making Irundju waterhole, this is part of the Papa myth. Crawford's site 1.[C7104-7]
Butler noticed grinding grooves in the rocks and immediately identified these as ochre grinding places for ceremonial - but I am suspicious because I find no ochre lumps at these sites.
Drove up the hill to Crawford's site 12 the place where the dog split in the hillside this is Njugali. Photographs [C7108-11] including a set of stones and sticks and leaves arranged on top of an adjacent rock. Flakes common around this site. Photo[C7112] of Aicotinium.
Arrived at the next site in the Papa myth (Crofonds site 3); the red sandhill where the puppies played. Njiguwalgu. This is a sticky isolated sandhill - quite out of place. International Nickel have fenced it and put up signs.
Drove on to Giani's claim. This is being worked by a group of whites Reg Hockley (manager) & wife, Des..., Norm ... who set up the ground with a bulldozer and then employ natives on piecework to pick up drums of chrysoprase or moss agate. Reg estimates that in a 10 day period a man can at the current rate of working about $20 and that he works about 6 hrs per day. This compares unfavorably with the International Nickel rate for natives of $61 per week (6 days ; 8 hrs day) or for casuals $55 which John says he has to reduce to $45 for late starting, etc. This should be looked into. The per drum rate is $10 for chrysoprase and $5 for moss agate.
Drove over Wingellina Hill where took photos of cave Njangalba, and hill with pyrics (pieces of magnesite) Ngangguna [C7118-21]. Some of the magnesite is clearly placed in position, one small cave had yellow ochre on the floor, the larger cave had ayle charcoal (Site 13). Also took photos [C7122,3] of the ruins of the place where the dingo bitch had been. This had been destroyed by rock hunters.
Back at camp took photos of Stran's instructions to employees re sacred sites [C7124]
Mining camp at Wingellina.
Main road to Blackstone, Giles, etc.
Blackstone turnoff - took it. Blackstone camp and mill. Seems deserted.
Camp on side of road, probably a couple of miles short of the Cavenagh Range turnoff.
Collected spiders and turned in. A very warm night - no wind.
One huge spider - very beautiful with very long striped legs and small body ; Red eyes, adpressed to a round boulder in a wash. Most memorable. Very few spiders of about 5 species. A mulga thicket in a creek with gravels.
> 5th Sept 1970 (Saturday)
Camped in a mulga flat on the side of the road. The site is a wash of black sand and boulders and has nothing to commend it except a total absence of bindiie! It is incredibly dead and no tracks around the camp.
Cavenagh Range track to south, stayed on main road.
Bilbring and Lightning rocks. The rockhole is completely dry. Looked over Bilbring, there has been no defacementof the pictographs since I was last here but tyremarks show that the rock at wayside is visited.[C7125,26]
Giles Tank still has a little water in it - very low in incredibly dry season. Main tank empty i.e. we have done 277 miles since Docker River on the main tank much of it at 50-60 mph. Tank on roadside: mill and tank.
Warburton Mission. There had been a message over our fuel and they will only let us have 20 gals to fill the main tank. Very irritating because we counted on the extra to get us down to the sticknest rat locality. 3 girls at the hospital having trouble with severe cases (one a dehydrated baby). Hoped I was a medic, felt sorry for them.
They have had a very poor season about 150 points altogether although they say Cosmo "just down the road" (i.e. 300 miles away)had over 300. No wonder the rockholes are dry.
Native Welfare Reserve sign.
Deviated several times from the road search for the way into the Neale Jn. road without success. Finally found a good road 34.7 miles from Warburton Mission and went down it bearing approx 113*, and heading straight on the skyline for the Simpson Hill group of heights.
Left main road to go down the road , stopped at Hwy , collected a banded whiteface [Aphelocephala nigricinata].
A lovely patch of mallee sandplain between sandhills.
3 White crosses - probably a datum point for aerial photography.
Reluctantly decided to turn back ; too dangerous without wireless and not enough petrol to get us to Cosmo. Camped in the mallee sandplain seen before.
Harry shot a Tadarida australis [222] f. with much white, a white collar and two white patches on the lower thorax on either side extending to the red vertical line from the two round white stripes. Garlai(?) pouch very obvious , but tuft of hair and small all within the pouch. H. made a skin to show colour. H & B 88 mm., E.26, TV46, fuermn 60, HF 13, Wt. 34 g. body in spirit.
Collected spiders, not many around despite reasonably warm eveving, moths numerous while at Warburton we collected mail and telegrams, mail for me with news of family. Telegram:
1. 4.9.70. 10am.RIDE
JUST HEARD FITZGERALD HEARING PROBABLY WEDNESDAY SEPT 9TH. CAN YOU MAKE IT.
BANNISTER.
2. 4.9.70. 10.37 RIDE
THANKS FOR LETTER ALL GOING WELL LOVE MARGARET
3. 5.9.70 Perth RIDE
FITZGERALD HEARING NOW THOUGHT MORE LIKELY 14 SEPT 1970 BUT TO BE CONFIRMED.
BANNISTER WA MUSEUM.
SENT. RIDE PHONE 862242 PERTH PASSED THROUGH WARBURTON SATURDAY WILL PHONE FROM LAVERTON MONDAY IF WE GET THERE TELL BANNISTER LOVE DEE.
> 6th Sept 1970 (Sunday)
Camp in mallee in sandhills. We recorded this locality on the label of the Tadarida as approx 25 m. ENE of Winduldana Rock Hole approx 25 m. SSW of Warburton Mission. [C7129, 30] of eucalypts at the site.
Curved back at main road, airstrip across the road. Road curves away northwards towards Sutherland Range. - all these factorsa point towards the road we are on being Dick Huotham's road to Neale Junction.
Winduldarra Rock Hole . The rockhole is very similar to Gamba R.H. but less well-shaded and is dry. It badly needs cleaning. We walked out the breakaway behind the rockhole. These extend around a wide depression to the NE and have numerous caves and holes. The rock and stick piles of the "rat" are common, but H. is very sceptical about them. He will not agree that they are modern and claims that the aborigines do not know such an animal. Personally they
look recent to me al some have recent scats of bark fibre on the outside. We did not open any up.
Collected a group of 20 E. purilis from a small hole in the ceiling of a cave shelter. I arescaped col the other 11 were all femane, probably a wholly female colony. We took 8 and let the rest go. [WR223-230] Very little sign of life. The cave shelters look interesting and would be worth an excavation. Collected some owl pellets with what seems to be Leggadina hermannsburgensis.
Gamba (Gahnda) R.H. Went to the caves in the cliffs at the back and Harry showed me where he got the Macroderma many years ago. The cave seems to be a solitary roost - still occupied. Also visited a much larger dune cave which has a floor covered by old Macroderma deposits. Not in use and no obvious skeletal remains. Found disguised jaws in cave.
After Gahnda we ran into two parties of natives with a car and a lorry in trouble. Harry gave advice. The lorry seemed to have a huge number of old people and children in the back and everywhere - amazing how they all got in.
Mannida Rock Hole.
Muggan R.H.
26th //road south to Hunt oil camp. (disused)
Terhan R.H.
Harry shot E. pumilus flying at dusk.[WR231]Fem. H&B 39mm, E. 9 16.2 miles SW, T.V. 36 forearm 34 Tehran R.H., Hf 5, Wt 5.3 Warburton Rd.
Sign after lake entry saying 2.8 miles to water to N of road. Followed in to Watchole with water. Camped in a flat plain with Eremophila bushes in a rather kopi-like deposit.
Collected spiders (T.56*F) very numerous. Harry set net over water.
Bats collected at Winduldarra R.H. E. pumilus (females)
No H B TV E Hf Forearm Wy. g.
223 41 39 11 6 34 4.5
224 44 42 10 6 35 5
225 41 39 11 6 34 5
226 41 39 11 6 34 5
227 42 39 10 6 32 4.8
228 44 37 11 6 32 5
229 45 41 11 7 35 5.3
230 39 36 10 6 33 5.
No 223 Skin & body in formalin. Remainder in formalin.
> 7th Sept 1970 (Monday)
Native well at Paine & Barclay Peg PB84
A good warm night & cloudless morning after yesterday morning which looked like rain. Took photographs of the well & birds at it [C7131,2,3]. Galahs, spiny-cheeked honeyeaters, crested pigeons. Collected a small spider, camouflaged on back for the stem of an eremophila.
The well is signposted at main road "Paltju Soak". Main Road.
Beegul Rockhole, tiliqua crossing road.
Minnie Creek (Yamarna) turn off. New turnoff signposted Yamarna 23 m.
Cosmo Newberry. Filled up.
Windana T.O.
Laverton Pub.
Menzies turn off Xroad, took direct route and avoided Leonora.
Kookynie. Main road -- Bitumen !!
Menzies filled up. Kalgoorlie Post Office.
Rang Margaret and discovered that Seds had had an emergency operation for acute appendicitis and had been seriously ill. Now O.K. sounded v. forlorn. Coolgardie. Rain building up, cold night ; decided to drive through rather than get bedding etc. out. Both feeling very fresh. Southern Cross 21+ gals, had meal.
6 Florence Rd. at 01.30 am.
end of trip.
more...
Author: Ride, W. D. L. (William David Lindsay), 1926-2011
Call no: FN214
Year: 18 - 19 March 1972
Archives
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> 18th March 1972
Take off Beechcraft Baron, pilot Tony Green(?)
Perth & Swan R., Mundaring Weir & Coastal plain legend.
Cuballing Rock
Dry kilns near Wagin
Dumbleyung
Lake Grace china
Take off Beechcraft Baron, pilot Tony Green(?)
Perth & Swan R., Mundaring Weir & Coastal plain legend.
Cuballing Rock
Dry kilns near Wagin
Dumbleyung
Lake Grace china
On ground Jerramungup
Valley of Fitzgerald R.
Mid cut Bremer - Bremer Bay
> 19 March 1972
Up at 6.15 sunshine with cloud : due South
T.O. 22 miles to Treetop to Vermin Fence to east
Do not take T O to the right which joins track
T O down to Twertup Creek
Crossing of Twertup Creek
Turn back from foot of cliff of spyllite near Roe Rock .
Creek crossing
Turn left to Jonacoonack
River with coal seams
View upstream to Roe Rock across coal seam
Map of Jupiter oil leases.
Park left
Park left to oil well
Oil well
7834, 35 Photos from the oil well upstream.
At oil well at 11.30 hrs
Beclend NS track
Main track
Verticordia oxylepsis fished film with access see Steve
01, 2 photos of bush as our
Turn off to mid out camera for the Esty track
Mt Am Track
Rabbit proof fence turned S. between Mt Bland and West Mt Barren.
H victorine photos
Crossed track & stayed fence line
Through fence line.
Main road turn left.
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Author: Ride, W. D. L. (William David Lindsay), 1926-2011; Douglas, Athol M., 1915-2006; Main, Albert Russell, 1919-2009; Serventy, Vincent, 1916-2007; McMillan, Robert Peter, 1921-2009; Vollprecht, K.; Buller, Kenneth Gordon, 1915-1995; Mees, G. F. (Gerlof Fokko), 1926-2013; Butler, Harry (William Henry), 1930-2015; Lees, T. W.; Parsons, Roy; Malcolm (Injubundi); White, Stan
Call no: FN177
Year: Oct. 57 - June 1960
Archives
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Journeys Oct 1957 - May 1959
Pilbara Dist. - Dec. 57 Gullewa - Feb. 58 Wongan Hills - June 58 Transline Train - July 58 Hamersley - Oct. 58 Margaret R. - Nov. 58 Gullewa and Yalgoo - Nov 58 Jurien Bay - Jan. 59 Margaret R. - May 1959 Murchison R.
Pilbara Dist. - Dec. 57 Gullewa - Feb. 58 Wongan Hills - June 58 Transline Train - July 58 Hamersley - Oct. 58 Margaret R. - Nov. 58 Gullewa and Yalgoo - Nov 58 Jurien Bay - Jan. 59 Margaret R. - May 1959 Murchison R.
W.A. Notebook No. 1: Oct 1957.
Pilbara district and journey south along coastal highway.
> 12 Oct. 1957. Flew to Marble Bar from Perth by air. Francis Ratcliffe in aircraft. Marble Bar 106* at 1400 hrs.
Trip from Marble Bar to Bamboo Creek with A. Douglas, Landrover. M. robustus shot 2 miles W. of homestead on Talga station. Spinifex flat. Sitting, did not attempt to move. male, H.F. 24.7 cms., total length (. 311 cms.[R.I.] 21 lbs.
Phascogales seen at Bamboo Creek on arrival [late dusk in headlights]
[Brushy tail - appeared to be size of P. pencillata]
10pm. - 2400. Visited cave mine with Athol D. entered middle drive. 3 specimens of Taphosous seen in upper drive. These were not copulating. No specimen of Vespadelus seen. No Macroderma seen. Two piles of Macroderma droppings seen. Average depth of droppings 3 inches to 6 inches. Approx 3 ft wide. Surface droppings contained no feathers seen on surface. 1 dried out skeleton of young Macroderma [No.D.1.] on surface. Surface samples previously collected by A.D..
A.D. mentioned that prey was brought into roost when young are present which they are not at this time of year. A subsurface sample was taken [D.2] to check this.
The cave was infested with large black wingless cockroaches which appeared to be associated with the Macroderma droppings. These were collected [D3. specimen] There were no specimens seen of the Terrebrionical beetle Pterobeloeus which A. D. had seen in Nov. and Jan. but not in this particular cave.
Large spiders seen, red eyes in torchlight, leg span up to 5" approx. Peculiar droppings collected D4.
"Exploratory adit" at Bamboo Creek. Droppings of Macroderma and small droppings possibly V. pumilis. 3 specimens of V. pumilis seen in cave. No Macroderma seen in cave. Peculiar droppings seen and not collected, same as D.4. Macropus shell collected D.11.
> 13th Oct. 1957 - 300hrs. 100*F.
"Exploratory Adit" Bamboo Creek. netted and collected.
No Macroderma, 5 Taphosus, 3 collected all m.[D5,6,7]
Cave also contained Vespadelus 3 collected 1 f., 2 m. [D8,9,10]
Rock wallaby skull collected from skeleton[D12] at MacCallum's house (a driller) Bamboo Creek.
"Prophecy West" Bamboo Creek. Adit inhabited by Taphozous and numerous Vespadelus. 1 Taphozous taken [D13] and small lizard[D14]. Few Macroderma droppings and cockroaches (latter put in with D.13).
"Cave Mine" lowest level.
No Macroderma. 2 Vespadelus & 3 Taphozus but more collected.
3 mummified Macroderma collected from under surface of pile of Macroderma droppings and 1 small bat lying on surface of pile slightly covered by Macroderma droppings [D15]. The specimen appeared to be fresh. 1 rodent tail [D16] in pile of droppings, 2 cockroaches associated with Macroderma droppings.
Left Bamboo Creek 15.30 hrs.
2 m. west of Bamboo Creek male euro shot Ride HF25.2, overall 149.5, Spinifex Hills, did not attempt to move off, sitting [R2].
[Douglas had collected previously Hyla sp. at Green Pool, Little de Grey R. 10 m. N.E. of Bamboo Creek, nr Marble Bar - natural included in this collection]
> 14th Oct. 1957
Mines Office Marble Bar Mus H & B 7.6 mm. [R3] T8.3, HF 1.79 poisoned in Mines office.
1330 hrs 110*F ;1530 hrs. arrived at Klondyke Queen Mine, Warrawoona 17 m. E of Marble Bar. Temp. 102*F. Decided not to disturb the bats until following morning.
> 15 Oct 1957 -05.30 hrs. 60*F, 06.00 hrs. 65*F.
Entered KQ 6.30.
Macroderma disturbed by erection of nets and 3 captured alive 4 dead [Douglas using squash raquet effectively in adit] also 1 Tychozus and 1 Vespadelus. These two were the only specimens seen of non-Macroderma bats. Douglas estimates numbers of Macroderma in mine at vicinity of 100. I saw about 12 at one time, i.e. lowest possible number 12. Probably about 70 specimens seen in all. dead Macroderma injected and placed in spirit. Living specimens will be brought back to Perth. Vespadelus & Typhozous injected and placed in bag and dated. Specimens of droppings taken and Pterohelaeus and larvae. 1 extra beetle found at net which might be escape, so placed in spirit with Bamboo Creek cockroaches.
Also in bag are the pellets which were found in cave ; two of them in a vertical Echidna - like shape. 1 quill found in a pile of Macroderma droppings. Left K.Q. at 09.15 hrs 91*F
Road to Copper Hill., 12.00hrs 99*F. Arrived Woodstock Station 1900 hrs.
> 16 Oct 1957 - Woodstock Stn.
10.00 hrs. Taken by Tim Ealey & Francis Ratcliffe to see Thalaconey's lagotis diggings (photographed). Next moved to small stone piles made by a small rodent. These are about 4-6 ft across and consist of small stones collected from the area (photographed).
To Eagle 11 granite. Found Macroderma droppings (collected), Taphozous seen. Diggings of some small mammal. Many Euros. Highly polished Petrogale rocks and Petrogale-type droppings. A number of small lizards collected, shot with .22 among spinifex on flat [D16, 17, 18, 19].
Recommendation: F. S. Bodenheimer, Hebrew University Jerusalem, The Ecology of Mammals in Arid Zones, in "Human and Animal Ecology".
14.15 hrs left Woodstock on road to Abydos Stn. 14.45 104*F.
1/2 mile beyond Abydos Station small Varanus collected on spinifex flat. Shot Douglas [D20].
Turner River about 12 mles beyond Abydos. Brown-winged wren shot in dry river bed [D21]
15.15hrs. River 30 miles beyond Abydos Stint [D22] solitary wading in permanent pool, shot. Also small fish [D23] shot by concussion with .22 hollow-nosed Water fish. Fish moving around in schools in about 6 inches of water. Rushes surrounding pool growing in water.
62 miles beyond Abydos 3 small parrots about 6 inches long. Steel blue above and a flash of red underneath when taking off. Seen on spinifex plain.1920 hrs. One of our Macrodermas found dead. Skinned. other two not at all happy. Pectoral muscles of stint placed in cage with them. Their feet are in a bad state from hanging onto the jolting cage in the moving Landrover. Skull of skinned macroderma labelled [D24].
Went into Port Hedland and then, after refuelling, out again towards Roebourne on coastal highway. Camped at E. Turner River.
> 17th Oct 1957 - East Turner River 0730 hrs 85*f.
At 06.30 shot small brown bird on bank of dry river. It moved from patch of dry brushwood to patch of dry brushwood along the top of the main bank [D25]. Caught cockroach (Polyzosterias sp.), placed in alcohol. Brown with fawn edges. M. rufus, Plains kangaroos seen in fairly large numbers.
W. Turner River 8911.5 on speedometer, 15 m. w. of Port Hedland.
8945 Woodswallow shot. 76 miles from Roebourne. Flock of them in a small seeding acacia [D26].
8949 Outcrop. Euros (72 m. n.e. of Roebourne) Douglas shot a female [D27]. Examined caves in outcrop for bats but no Macroderma vespadelus present. 11.20 hrs. 1008F, 13.20 hrs. 105*F, 15.00 102* F.
9050 m. M. rufus shot [D28] sheltering under a small tree on dry grass plain. Skinned, very large, many M. rufus seen.
9054 Karratha Stn., 9107 Artifact picked up & skull of M. rufus [D29].
> 18th Oct. 1957
Camped previous night at 9168 which is approx 40 miles east of Onslow.
0745 hrs 728F
Shot male honeyeater solitary in mulga. Area surrounded by mulga scrub [D30]
Large number of termite mounds seen about 20 m. E of Onslow (9194.5)
Photographed. 3 miles N of Onslow, pair of white-backed swallows [D31m] [D32f] shot by A. Douglas. Undulating grass plains.
Onslow 11.45 86*F, 88* F
Minderoo Stn. Ashburton River. Low sandhills timbered with ghost gums, acacia, saltbush and gums.
Shot small finch [D33m]. Gregarious in dead brushwood.
Sandplain with sparse broadleafed mulga. Varanus shot by A. D. [D34] Skull picked up. Macrop ashybrown with black feet, located as above.
Koordanie Stn. 9264 1530 hrs 92*F
[D35] Lizard shot by A.M.D. Mixed broadleafed mulga and acacia with spinifex, red loam.
[D36] shot small male Acanthiza or robin by A.M.D., scrubby plain, acacia (Karara) dominant. Solitary in dry bush.
Yanrey Stn.
Spinifex and broad-leafed mulga, sandplain lizard shot [D37]took refuge in hole.
Wolf spider found on side of road 19.50hrs, mixed mulga.
> 19th Oct 1957
67 miles N of Carnarvon. Rhytidoponera and trapdoor spider [D30] collected by Douglas. Red soil on Mulga.
Yalobia Stn. 56 m. to Carnarvon, 0700 hrs. 78*F
[D40] f. M. rufus shot young m. in pouch [D40] Also one at heel but not collected, Length 76" 173 cm.
[D41] Acanthiza shot by Douglas in m. Mulga scrub, red soil, Acanthiza in pairs. Rain 0825 hrs.
52 m. N of Carnarvon. [D42] f. M. rufus and young F. at heel [D43] shot in mulga. f.42 was lactating. Stopped.
Mixed acacia and sparse scrub. Small dove [D44] and honeyeater [D45] shot by A.M.D. 24 m. N. of Carnarvon. Carnarvon. Discovered that belt with knife & compass lost, probably left at 461. Turned back, Carnarvon turnoff, found knife, 29 m. to Carnarvon, 15.40 hrs. 84*F, 15.20hrs,
600 milepost to Perth.
Douglas shot Demansia saltbush plain. Tank no. 2.
Wooramel River Bridge, 17.30 hrs, 73*F
Breakaways. Collected rock sample, apparently limestone.
Woodleigh Stn. turnoff.
Just before No. 4 tank m. M. rufus, shot [D47] overall 72" 178cm. Mulga.
Stopped at Overlander Cafe for meal. Friendly people. Owner claims to be Ex Long Range Desert Group. Offered to take collecting tank.
Address : Mr. S. St. John, The Overlander, Hamelin Pool, Roadside Mail, via Geraldton.
m. rufus shot [D48] overall 7ft 7".
Mulga. Eucalypts begin. Decided to drive all night.
> 20th Oct 1957 - 0325 hrs 66*F, Murchison River.
Euro seen north of the Murchison, F. grey, seen south of Geraldton.
Darling Ranges 1330 68*F.
> 15th December 1957
Trip to Fossil site on Ederga River nr Gullewa.
A. R. Main had previously found a fossil vertebra in the bed of the dry river.
Party:
A. R. Main
V. N. Serventy
W. D. L. Ride
Speedo at 6 Florence Rd. Nedlands. 44441 whole miles.
Causeway 0540 hrs 70*F.
Rabbit dead on road
" " " 0805 hrs.. Had breakfast at Main's opal hill.
Fox dead on road 0840 hrs, kestrel feeding on carcass.
Miling air temp. 92*F
Dalwallinu 0925
Wubin
102*F )953 Buntine.
Varanus gouldi dead on road,
Sandplain vegetation. Hakea Casuarina Grevillea.
Latham 1020, Caron 1042.
Rabbit (juv.) dead on road. Signs of a large rabbit population, burrows, runs, droppings & fresh ? fox droppings, 11.10 hrs, 107*F. Dust devils.
Koolanooka 11.35, Morawa 11.44. Rabbit dead on road.
Turn off to Gullewa, dirt road off bitumen 12.05 hrs 110*F.
(See Mapsheet H50/2 Zone1 2nd ed1942)
Gullewa Turi Ari Hill (mine). Cross roads take right turn, turn off track obliquely to right along fence just before stock gate 436455.
Well, and then on to well east of this 455454 and then due east of this to cut Salt River at 446454. The sides and approaches are all loose sand and vehicle became bogged down, dug out and walked down to river.
W. bank sloped but E bank cut into deposits. Section at 446454 :
"Sketch of bank of river, weathered and unweathered greenstone."
No sign of invertebrate remains but in the upper sands (loess) there are hollow tubes and cylindrical fillings which appears to be moulds of tree roots and casts of tree roots (specimens collected), gastropods? coxiella.
Walked further north along west bank and here the sands are eroded off right down to the greenstones leaving sea hued rounded pebbles from the gravels all over the erosion surface. Just before this erosion stage is reached the sands are exposed on the upper surface back from the edge with erosion products freely visible. Aboriginal flake found here not worn.
Back at Gullewa mine 1730 hrs, 106*F. Fox 2 cubs seen in spotlight.
Ebano Creek, spent night .
> 16th Dec. 1957
Road between Morawa and Mingenew. Bert says that Permian shales along the green river contain shallow water deposits.
Way into Green River series south of road. 200 yards east of Bushfire sign.
Rabbits in paddocks.
Mingenew Hill. Triassic redbeds, isolated, dated on plant fossils.
Bridge S. of Mingenew.
Sandstone with copper at well on road to Eneabba Creek and Donkeys Creek. First turn-off to right south of Arriano approx. 3 miles S. of Arriano.
Three Springs, Prowaka, Carnamah, Coorow, Watheroo, Gingin.
> 26th February 1958
Perth-Wongan Hills - Perth.
Journey made with R. P. McMillan & Kaye Vollprecht to collect Buprestidae from flowering mallee in the Wongan Hills area.
(Full data in McMillan's notes)
Museum
Midland P. O. 0640hrs. F64*
White necked heron at 0710 hrs standing in pool.
Emu 0720 hrs.
Helen in flight 0755
Piawanning turnoff
0930 Wongan Hills turnoff. 79*F
Walked around at Wongan Hills saw signs of fresh digging of several different types. Collected droppings at one of these scrapes.
Saw hole that is possibly T. lagotis. This area should be surveyed as soon as possible.
No Buprestidae.
Elphin 11.30 hrs.
Wongan Hills turnoff
12.25 Cockroach with light stripes. Found in blackboy.
Highway
Collecting
Main road.
Grey kangaroo dead on roadside, skull destroyed (65 m. to Perth on northern highway). Grey kangaroo dead on roadside skull destroyed.
Juv. magpie dead on road, collected.
Guilford. Town Hall.
> June 5th 1958.
Crossing Nullarbor by Train.
I had heard that there had been rain on the Nullarbor and wanted to see it. I was going to a Unesco conference & travelled by train instead of air.
Left Perth by train for Kalgoorlie.
Very cold night. No heating at all. v. poor train.
> 6th June 1958
0820 hrs arrive Kalgoorlie
0845 hrs leave Kalgoorlie Commonwealth train. Excellent. Warm !!
Both before and after Kalgoorlie
(?) Mulga with mallee-form (?) Salmon gums
10.10 Very little mulga. Saltbush and scattered but larger salmon gums. Sheep grazing.
1100hrs First spinifex seen among mallee & mulga.
1200 hrs Zanthus, spinifex, salmon gums and mallee.
12.30 a gum, both mallee form and larger with a very copper-coloured stem. Others here have salmon upperworks with peeled stems except on lower parts of main stems which are unpeeled, scruffy and rough grey-red.
1240 Buildings (?) Kitchen
1300 Stopped. (no apparent reason - 2 huts on roadside) Spinifex disappeared.
1310 Eucalypts finish
1315 Collection of buildings
1345 6 houses and no name, double line, Naretha.
1405 left Naretha scattered mulga, small grassy vegetation. No saltbush, no spinifex.? Heavily grazed.
1420 Very scattered scrubby bushes, gibbers.
1425 886 mile post
1427 884 mile post
1445 Left Rawlinna - quite a large town by Trans standards
1455 Kestrel hovering
1540 "Grassy plain" stopped at next town (Haig)
1545 Colour exposures. - 1 at 1/100 1 at 1/60
1615 A large number of patches of vivid billiard-table-green. purple flowers, white flowers, bushes with yellow berries.
1620 Puddles of water lying about.
1620 Sun going down.
Advance watch 1 1/2 hrs.
> 7th June 1958
0650 hrs Kingoonya
0809 Wirraminna
All the country here is mulga and saltbush. Before Wirraminna there is very little mulga and appears to be the result of sheep grazing. Occasional bushes and stumps among the saltbush.
0845 Macropus rufus, a grey heron
0915 Pimba
0930 Macropus rufus in groups of 4-6. more than 12. Saltbush with no top cover. Undulating country.
0945 (?) Wirrapen - rounded hills with tendency to breakaway.
1130 Felis on roadside looking at train. Saltbush with considerable mulga. Flat with one high hill with breakaway to the south.
Adelaide - after change of train !
> 16th July 1958
The Hamersley Expedition.
The expedition is planned to collect extensively in the area of the Hamersley Range and Roebourne Tableland in the hope of gaining a better understanding of
the so-called Tovesian Outliers which occur in the area south of the Canning basin.
The party comprises :
Ride leader and
K. M. Buller Preparation
G. F. Mees Birds & Fish
K. Vollprecht Fish
W. H. Butler Reptiles
Athol Douglas - Mammals
John Mitchell (S. A. Mus.) - Reptiles
R. P. McMillan - Insects
Tony Watson - Insects
& Joan Jacoby - Women's Weekly reporter
10.15 pm. Ken Buller picked up John Mitchell and self in taxi and then on to M.M.A. in Perth
11.45 Met Kaye Vollprecht, Butler, Joan Jacoby (Womens Weekly) and Tony Watson at Airport. Peter Lefroy also on plane. Plane held up by weather & finally took off at approx 01.45 on the 17th.
> 17th July 1958
Geraldton
Carnarvon - dawn. Wittenoom Gorge. Met Athol Douglas (who with McMillan & Mees had gone up by road in Landrover) who reported that Rover u.s. with worn main brake-cylinder. Off-loaded Butler to travel with Athol to Coolawanyah and took the rest of the party in by air. Arrived Coolawanyah at approx 0945 hrs. Had excellent morning with owner of Coolawanyah - Roy Parsons who showed party over his shearing sheds. Shearing in progress, very good season. Met Ted Parsons and his younger brother Leslie (sns of Roy). Ted runs Hooley Stn. while Les manages Coolawanyah when Roy is in Perth.
Athol turned up at 1300 hrs and we left to go to Millstream Stn.
Many kangaroos and a small wallaby a bit like Petrogale but deep red allover. Surprised - in open country and headed for breakaway. Many rufus & robustus allover the place. Took a Tachyglossus crossing the road. About 12 species of reptiles taken.
Arrioved at Millstream. Met Pixie Gordon (Mrs. Stuart Gordon) Stuart away in Roebourne. Much toil and tribulation in getting things straight. Through by about 20.45hrs Gerlof Mees skinning birds through it all!
[From here on, notes spasmodic because of the considerable pressure involved in running the show and filming. Birds and small mammals have full data with their labels and the notes which follow relate almost entirely to large mammals shot or measured by myself (others recorded by A.M.D.) ; and results of important conversations.]
Mees & Mitchell kept full notes. All mammals numbered in a series "H..." with birds. (List of bird H nos. at end of book).
> 19th July 1958
Evening [H50] f. shot with spotlight. spinifex plains wt 27lbs, small hairless pouch young L53 1/2 in., T 25 1/4, HF 91/2, E 4in.
> 20th July 1958
(All specs. shot night of 19/7)
[H62]f. wt 38 lbs. L 571/2 in., T 273/4, HF 91/2, E 4 1/4
[H63] m. wt 49 lbs, L631/2 in., T 29 3/4 in., HF11 3/4, E 51/2in.
[H64] f., more than 75 lbs, L671/2in, T32in, HF53/4 in., E 111/2in.
[H65] m. L 67 1/2 in., T 32 in., HF11 1/2in., E 4 1/4
[H66] f. with young L69 1/2 in., T 29 1/2, HF 12in., E 5 3/4 in.
[H67] m. Millstream on road M. rufus. L79 in., T39 in., HF15 1/2 in.E53/4in.
]H68] m. L 77in., T 39 1/4in., HF 14 in., E 6 1/2 in.
[H69] m. L 72 in., T 38 in., HF 13 1/2in., E 6
[H70] m. L72 1/4 in., T 36 1/2, HF 11 1/4 in., E 4 3/4 in/
With the exception of H67 all reds were shot in the vicinity of Kanjeange [Karijini?] outstation (grass country) all Euros were shot near Millstream (Rock, spinifex).
> 21st July 1958
5 m. North of Kanjearge turnoff Caves. Shot at Macroderma gigas. Solitary specimen in cave, escaped but Douglas collected droppings. Collected Taphozous georgeanus in net. Douglas shot Python in cave. Shot hooded robin in snakewood "mulga" grove on spinifex plain.
Set traps around river and breakaway to North west of crossing pool.
9 Longwaths, 8 Havaharts, 2 Cat-traps.
> 24th July 1958
[H143] m. Euro shot between Kanjeange and Coolawanyah : L 120.5cm, T 56.5cm, E 9.5, HF 24, Wt 21 lbs.
Turkey shot A.M.D.. Stomach contents were beetles and grasshoppers, m, testes enlarged 29 x 19 mm
F. M. rufus shot 10 m. south of Karijgine Homestead : L. 117.5 cm., Wt.15 1/2 lbs., . 59.1/2 cm., HF 23.5 cm., E 11.
> 25 July 58
Set traps in gorge in Hamersley Range on Millstream : 1 cat-trap, 4 Havaharts, 12 Longwaths.
In gorge :
1. spotted bower-bird in low bush 0730 hrs
2. 0800 Singing honeyeater (with Butler) in sturtpeas.
3. 0930 Hen robin in dead tree.
4. Grey thrush in deep rocky gorge in low bush.
5. Painted finch m. at small pools of water in deep rocky gorge.
> 26th July
Butler took (a) hen painted finch on rock in deep rocky gorge 9b0 Singing honeyeater in acacia (c) brown honeyeater in acaia.
Set traps at Millstream: 2 cat traps, 5 Havaharts + 2, 2 Langworths.
Telegrams sent from Coolwanyah
GEORGE MUSEUM PERTH . PLEASE SEND SIZE TEN TUF BOOTS TO COOLAWANYAH RIDE.
DALGETTYS ROEBOURNE NO PETROL AT COOLAWANYA FOR MUSEUM. PLEASE DISPATCH
IMMEDIATELY MCMILLAN
> 30th July 1958
Pouched mouse trapped by Butler. F length 178mm, T 81, HF 15.5, E 19, least width of tail at incrassation = 3.9. width of tail 6.1, Wt 2 kg [This appears to be the 'red-eared' species of Woodstock.]
Bat Typhozous HF 14.6 E 22.8 WT 25 g.
> 1st August 1958
Budgerigah ? Iris white, legs blue grey, nose skin of male Blue.
Crimson chat . Iris yellowish-white, legs almost black, bill black.
Mudlark. Iris greenish yellow, beak, upper, white blackish nostrils and tip, lower white, feet dark.
Ringnecked. Skin of nose hazel in one specimen, blackish in the other, feet dark, eyes brown.
Conversation with Malcolm, an Injubundi man. Working on Coolawanyah. This used to be the country of his people. Now they are camped at Roebourne.
Junguna Owlet nightjar
Jungun Emu
Mundayung Euro
Wandera Magpie
Mounda Hill
Ngundama People of Black Hill
Ngungumurra People of Hedland
Paiwanada Red kangaroo
Puggara Plain
Waiwarra (?) Lagorchestes
Kundi Stone knife
Burring Kangaroo tick
Mooloo Knife for skinning kangaroo
> 2nd August 1958
Pindima mile peg 103.
Black duck. Iris light brown, Bill greenish grey, feet greyish brown.
Malcolm vocab:
Iddiawarra Satarellus
Dirridi Macroderma
Injubundi Malcolm's people
Jurrawarru small bat.
Sketch map of area.
> 4th August 1958
To Millstream.
[H 332] robustus m. spotlit. Tambrey. Wt over 60 lbs., L.69 1/2", T. 33", HF11", E 4 1/4".
[H333] rufus m. spotlit. Tambrey, wt 44lbs., L 63 1/2, T 30 3/4, E 6.
> 5th Aug 1958
Coolawanyah, lizards and spinifex.
Kimberley Kite. Yellow cere & skin of angle of mouth. Tip of bill black, feet yellow with black claws, iris brown.
People about Malcolm's:
Paigu people other side of Mulga Downs.
Murrudinia. South of Mt. Enid to Yarralula Stn.
Ngulluma people at Black Hill from Roebourne to Yule R. as far east as Hooley Stn. Page map of Malcolm's country.
Next pages map: The Range from Coolawanya, to Hamersley Stn, Willumurra. The English names were given by Roy Parsons, The Injubidi by Malcolm.
Malcolm says that only four of the Injubundi know the old things. These are
Old Toby - Old man , born when Mulga downs was no station and people speared each other at night.
Old Charlie. Taught by Old Toby but not so old himself.
Old Timblar, Old Wally - Song men
Purdud - Corroboree before making men.
"Coming down Mt. Abbot with 2 camels in the shafts and all 4 wheels locked with the chain".
Brokwinyi - Rock python
Ping(g)arung
Moogoo/unna - The evening star.
Pindiri - Stars
Wil/lulla - Moon
Yura Sun.
> 6th August 1958
Robins in gorge (Asbestos Creek). Iris sepia, rest black.
[H348] Planigale collected at Tambrey by W. H. Butler.
H & B 70 mm., T. 55 mm., E. 10, HF. 10, Wt approx 15 gm.
Mammals recorded by Douglas in his notes of the Hamersley Expedition
[H1-7] Skulls of unsexed Euros dead at waterhole, Marilana Stn 14 m. west
[H 8] M. rufus, f., 19 m. E of Marilana Stn.
[H9] M. rufus f. 27m. E of Marilana Stn.
[H10] m. rufus juvenile
[H37] Millstream. Shot W.D.L. Ride, wt 34 lbs., HF 27, L 1460, T 66, E 109, 3/4 grown young at heel, open spinifex, wt of young 100 gm.
[H38] m. Palm pool Millstream, 20/7/58. L1830, T830, HF290, E 122.
[H39] f. Spinifex near road at Millstream.
[H142] f. Young wt 11.5 lbs., Tail 18.8, H & B 40. 23 July 1730 hrs
[H300] m. Testes removed, length 1930, T 990, HF 34.6, Ear 14.5.
[H14] Skin found in WAM 8.6.61 unregistered in 2 pieces, destroyed K.7.
> 16th Oct 1958
Perth- Margaret River
Ride & Bowen
Called fisheries office Bunbury Inspector Barry Baines. Arranged with him for alcohol tank to be delivered to him by a fisheries dept. vehicle.
Met Maskell who presented an eel caught 15th Oct. Species identified by Mees as Gymnothorax woodwardi type in WAM.
Baines presented very small long necked tortoise caught 6 miles up the Collie R. from its mouth.
> Arrived Margaret R. contacted tourist bureau got hold of the Caves guide - a local farmer Dudley McLeod. He is a most cooperative & useful man. Worked until 10.30 still plenty of Glauert's deposit left. It appears that it was part of an earlier cave which has collapsed into the present one. Well worth stratifying.
> 17th Oct 1958
Margaret R - Alexander's Bridge - Nannup - Donnybrook - Collie - West Arthur - Williams - Quindanning - Marranong - Perth.
> Collected bobtails (redheads) 18 m. north east of Collie in mixed Wandoo, useful numbat country. Also shot f. shrikehrush, sitting in jarrah. Brought back specimen.
> 22nd Nov. 1958.
Perth - Yalgoo
Ride, Buller, Eric Car (Asst. Prepenata)
Home
Museum
Northam
Goomalling,
Buller shot 28 parrot (1), Ride shot 28 parrot (2)
Insects (3 or 4 ) collected from flowers on roadside.
Wongan Hills
Pilbara
Wubin
Buller shot 28 parrots (5) & (6).
Denansia michaelis found dead.
Perenjori
Morawa
Rear tank dry
Tonight onto dirt road to Gutha.
23rd Nov.
Gutha 7.15 am 6 x 28 parrots shot
Crossroad turn left to Melenby
Old road from left
Stock gate
Stock gate on bend of road.
Melenby turn off.
Stock gate
Collected small fish in salt river at Gullewa, small scraps of vertebrate bone but no real success at Ederga R. deposits shown by main.
Turn off to Yalgoo passed stone tank.
Collected Varanus on bank of Ederga.
Pipit shot Ride.
Eudergasp
Australian skylark
Yalgoo & Carnaby's house. desolate town, nearly a ghost town.
Drove south with Ivan Carnaby to look for a new species of quail thrush that he says occurs south of Yalgoo. Filled tanks with 13 gals.
Road to Fields Find.
Camped for night. Shot 2 goats, 1 mulga snake, collected Gecko. Goats appear plentiful.
> 24th Nov. 1958
Left Ivan and moved south. breakfast at 0645 hrs on road.
Shot Quail Thrush & Bell Bird the quail thrush is the southern species thrush playing around under mulga in mulga thicket with grassy floor. Bill black, deep grey horn, eye red orange. Amphibolus also taken.
Fields Find.
Turnoff right to Wubin
A salt lake (? an outlier of Lake Monger)
Collected casuarina for McMillan.
A very large salt lake with banks on its southern side.? Lake Monger. Banks red and eroded but apparently no fossils in them. Single artifact of crystalline quartz collected in a "blowout".
Changed over into front tank, 8 gals exactly since Yalgoo 629 ie 23 miles per gal. with trailer up !
Bobtail, 28 parrot, Miling, New Norcia, 29 miles post, Back to Perth.
> 28th Nov. 1958
Perth - Jurien Bay - Perth
With Balme, Glenister, Glover all Geology Dept U. of W.A. to examine caves and reports of destruction of fossil deposits for "guano".
Home
Geol. Dept University
Shot 28 parrot
100 milepost from Perth
Moora
Collected varanus killed by car on side of road. Saw it killed. 28 parrot shot.
Collected Bobtail at Jurien Bay. Spent night in Beach Hut with owner, local farmer Bob Ward.
Drove to Smith's Cave
Smith's cave shot pipit, Smoker parrot shot.
Turn off to Cave back to Jurien Bay for lunch, shot small green parrot.
Pipit
Turn off to cave again.
Hill River
Kingfisher shot in scrubby plain beyond river.
Black cockatoo shot, white tailed, feeding in open plain with low heath among blackboys
Back in Perth.
> 10th January 1959
Perth - Margaret R. - Perth
Ride, Vollprecht, A. M. Douglas
Took Douglas down to Margaret R. to set up a showcase in the cave.
Idea, to stimulate tourist interest in both the Caves and the W.A.M.
Arrived caves after dark.
During stay collected rats. R. rattus caught in traps outside the cave along side of the stream. Breakbacks baited with bacon.
Also shot Chalinolobus morio returning to crevices in the ceiling of main chamber after their evening flight.
> 12th May 1959
Perth - Murchison R. - Perth
Ride and John Kelsall (Canadian Wild Life)
Museum
Northam, grey overcast 65*F
Goomalling 14.15 hrs spots of rain.
Wongan Hills 1500 hrs
Pilbara 16.00 hrs
Changed to front tank
Dalwallinu 16.15hrs
Whites at Merkanooka 19.13 hrs.
(The Whites are relatives of Stan White's (S.R.) and the reason for the trip is that, through Stan, the Whites - Father, sons (Hansel and John) presented a fine mandible of Nototherium to the Museum. They found it in the bed of the Murchison at the crossing at Billabalong Stn
> 13th May 1959
White's House
Turn off to John White's
John White's
Highway Mullewa - Morawa
Mullewa 08.45 petrol
Murchison at Billablong arrived at bridge 12.00 , 76*F.
River has been in flood. Whites unable to find remains they saw at the time they collected the Jaw. Water in bed of river and sand and salt deposited over formerly bare surface. Had meal. Whites (Stan and Jeff O'Brien) fished and got 2spp water in pools not too salt to drink. Fair amount of aquatic vegetation and many very small crustacea (?Daphnia).
John White walked out the bank about 1/2 mile west of bridge, bone in bank.
2 species of fish:
1 plimmer species (? atherine) olive green above, white below, lateral line marked by extremely vivid white longitudinal band.
Other species Perch like (?spangled perch) greenish above, spotted with brown blotches.
Small bird collected in bush at dusk. Bell birds plentiful and small green parrot here in mulga. Cormorants in river. Bird shot : bill horn, legs blackish, soles of feet pale, wt 9gm
[Coll No. 6] f. m. rufus, shot joey in pouch 2.5 g. Total length 162, Tail 85, Wt 43lbs. HF 27, Ear 14.5.
> 14th May 1959
Rose with first light, cold.
Startedto look for birds but nothing doing until sun came up about 7.30.
Bush canaries, weebills, babblers, willies, mudlarks, galahs, grey falcon, 28s, topknot pigeons (large flocks of topknots c.100 birds at least), grey herons, heard bellbirds and butcher birds. Crows in fair numbers. Shot 2 28s.
Walked out bank on way back to breakfast, further bone in undisturbed beds where river is cutting away bank. wts of 28s between 100 & 200 gm.
Temp at midday 88* F becoming overcast, clouds high, breeze.
The two bones found west of the river are 1 (by white) a small fragment of ? pelvis, and the other is more-or-less complete scapula of Nototherium.
Sketch of cliff with samples.
Going out with spotlight 9 miles n. of river. No kangaroos seen N. of river itself. Shot m. [coll.no. 7] Wt 43 lbs., HF 27, Ear 13.5, Total length 149.5, Tail 77.5
> 15th May 1959
100 hrs left Murchison
Greenough R. walked out banks for about a mile to west of road, no fossils. Rabbits plentiful in burrows, foxes' earth. Shot bellbird.
Shot pair of mulga parrots put in Mrs White's frig. for night.
Merkanooka
Spotlighting around Merkanooka, locals say that all three species of Kangaroos occur locally : Greys and Euros on the Irwin and coastal side of the watershed and Reds and Euros in the "lakes" side. Reds occasionally come into grey and euro territory. They also say that the greys and foxes move from the coast and back to inland each year. Local greys have short toenails (hard substrate) but when they appear at the beginning of the winter toenails are long - sand plain conditions.
[Coll. No 8] Grey f. Wt 43 lbs HF28. Nail 2.3. Ear 12. Tail 66 Total 144. with pouch joey. wt 200g. Shot in rolled bush, spotlight.
[Coll. No 9] Euro m. shot in crop. Wt 24lbs. Ear 12. Tail 71 HF 25 Nail 10. Total 144
[Coll. No 10]Fox f. Wt 8lbs. Ear 9.2, Tail 35.5. HF 15. Total 99, shot in grass pasture.
[Coll. No 11] Fox m. wt. 14lbs. Ear 9.5, Tail 42, HF 16.5 Total 104. Shot in grass pasture.
Locals say Euros fairly common in Salmon, York Gum country. Small breakaways with caves occur (8 ft or so.) Greys plentiful in scrub. Jams etc.
Left Merkanooka for Perth 1400 hrs 16th May.
3 p. typed list of Latin names of birds observed.
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Author: Ride, W. D. L. (William David Lindsay), 1926-2011; Douglas, Athol M., 1915-2006; Butler, Harry (William Henry), 1930-2015
Call no: FN178
Year: July-Aug, Oct. 1958
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Hamersley Expedition from 19 July 1958.
> 19th July 1958
Honso doe shot with spotlight, spinifex plain, wt. 27 lbs. Small hairless pouch, young. 62 - 71.
[List of animals, 61-71 wt. and sex] ; with the exception of H67 Millstream Stn. on road, all reds were shot on Kingenge(?), all Euros shot near Millstream, much spinifex.
> 21st July
5 miles N of Kingenge turnoff, Caves - shot at Macroelna gigans - solitary opening in cave : escaped but Douglas collected droppings. Collected Typhozous in net. Douglas shot Python(?) in cave. Shot hooded robin in snakewood mulga grove in spinifex plain. [Sketch].
> 24 July
H143. Euro (m) shot between Kingenge and Coolawanya(?)
Turkey, shot by AMD : stomach contents Beetles & Grasshoppers.
Red f. Tew(?) shot 10 miles S. of Kingenge Homestead W.H.B., wt. 15 1/2 lbs.
Traps in gorge
In gorge.
1. Spotted brown bird in loo bush 0730 hrs.
2. Singing honeyeater with Butler 0800 in Sturt pea.
3. Hen robin in dead tree, 07304.
4. Grey Thrush in deep rocky gorge in low bush.
5. Painted fish m. at small pools of water in deep rocky gorge.
Butler
a)Painted finch on rock in damp rocky gorge.
b)Singing honeyeater in eig
c) Brown honeyeater in acacia.
d)
DALGETTYS ROEBOURNE NO PETROL AT COCAWAN YAH FOR MUSEUM PLEASE DISPATCH IMMEDIATELY MCMILLAN
H159 m. Robustus shot between Timbery & Coolawanyah with doe.
H160 f. Teats fired 84 lbs.
H161 m. not fired 42 lbs.
Despite great difficulties
Birds : 170 specimens representing 58 species. Promises to be the most important single collection to come to the museum.
Rare birds 1. species of Aytinus(?) striatus (2 in coll.)
2. Flock pigeon (3in coll.
Emu Wren (Rufous crowned)
Royles 43 species approx 260 spec., hector 4,000 of 150 egg.
Fox, red, euro, white ent. paranticlinus, 2 bats, mouse, dingo, echidna.
Pouched mouse trapped 30 July by Butler, 1 p. sketch. L.178, T.81, HF15.5, E.19, least width of tail at incrusation = 3.9, middle of tail 6.1, Wt 24 gms.
> 1 Aug
Bat Taphozous HF 14.6, E. 22.8, Wt. 24 g.
1. Aways(?) Iris white legs, blue grey nose skin of male Phe(?) Common chat, Iris yellowish white, legs chest black, bill black.
Mudlark D. greenish-yellow beak upper, white with blackish nostrils & tip. looa. white feet dark.
Ring-necked. skin of nose hazel mm one blackish feet dark eyes brown.
Jounguna Owlet N.
Jungun Emu
Mundayung Euro
Wandera Magpie
Mounda Hill
Ngundama people Black hill
Ngungumurra people Headland
Paiwanada Red K
Puggare Plain
Waiwurra ?Lazachistes
Kundi
Buring Kangaroo fish
Mooloo
Black duck I Light brown. B. Greenish grey F Greenish brown
old Larrawarru Satullim
Dirridi - macrodima
haledis people Nijubundi
Juryawarru - small bat
sketch Mt Hubert
> 4 Aug to Millstream
332 Robustus 333 rufus
> 5 Aug 1958
Coolenegal, lizards in spinifex. Kimberley kite, yellow are & skin of male of mouth, tip of bill black, feet yellow with black claws, iris brown.
Cowareontemp hash (tunt). Melgadous Yungailinna. Punjimma people in Fortescue. Mt Land cattle station.
Yuwarrana = big hill
Paigu people other side Mulga Downs, Manudinia south of Mt Bird to Yarradula Stn. Ngillama people at black hill from Roebourne to Yule River as far east as Hooley.
> 16th October 1958
Perth - Margaret River, Collie River 16th, 17th Oct. 1958, Alexander Ridge, Nannup, Donnybrook, Quindinning, Perth.
List of mammals recorded by Douglas in Hamersley Exp.
Called Fisheries Office in Bunbury, Inspector Barry Baines, arranged with him for alcohol tank to be delivered to him by Fisheries Dept vehicle.
Met Mr Maskell who presented eel caught 15 Oct, species identified by mees as Gymnothorax woodwardii type in W.A.M.
Baines presented small long necked tortoise caught 6 miles up the Collie River from its mouth.
> 17th Oct 58
Arrived Margaret River , contacted tourist bureau & got hold of the Caves guide - a local farmer Dudley McLeod. He is a most cooperative and useful man. Worked until 10.30, still plenty of Glauert's deposit left. It appears that it was part of an earlier cave which had collapsed into the present one. Well worth stratifying.
Margaret River, Alexander Bridge, Nannup, Donnybrook, Collie, West Arthur, Williams, Quindinning, Warramong, Perth.
Collected bobtails 18 m. NE of Collie in mixed wandoo, useful numbat country. Also shot shieke thrush, f. sitting in Jarrah, brought back specimen.
Mammals recorded by Douglas on Hamersley Exp.
H 1-7 Marilana Stn W of
Skulls of Euros at waterhole.
H 8 Munifus f. 19 m E of Marilana
H 9 " f. 27 m. E of Marilana
H 10 " juv.
H 37 Millstream shot W.D.L. Ride Wt 34 lbs HF27 L1460 T 66 E 10.9 3/4 young at heel, wt of young 100 g.
H 38 Palm pool Millstream m. 20/7/58 L.1830 T.830, HF290, E 122
H 39 f. Spinifex near road at Millstream
H 142 f. young wt 11.5 lbs, tail 188, H B 40, 23rd July 1730 hrs.
H300 m testes removed length1930, T,990, HF31.6, ear 14.5 .
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Author: Ride, W. D. L. (William David Lindsay), 1926-2011; Ladyman, Alan Lincoln, 1905-1983; Kelsall, John P.; Beeck, Neville Anderson, 1920-2012; Churchill, David Maughan, 1933-; Kalin, John L., 1931-1985; Dhu, Cecil George (Scotty), 1922-1967
Call no: FN181
Year: 14 - 25 Oct, 1959
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Type localities of mammals from the South Western Part of the State are listed (7 p.)
> 14th Oct.
Katanning opened Wildlife Show organised by Neville Beeck and Alan Ladyman
> 15th Oct.
> 14th Oct.
Katanning opened Wildlife Show organised by Neville Beeck and Alan Ladyman
> 15th Oct.
Visited Beeck's property, lists specimens and fossils, to Tambellup, Toolbrunup Lake, Kojonup, Boyup Brook, quartzite and fossils found by Kalin
> 16th Oct
Kalin gave fossils, told about Boodie rats (Potoroos?) at Two People's Bay gave 2 bats from Katanning district. Arrived Kojonup, collected fossils, drove on to Bridgetown through Blackwood forest, then to Nannup through excellent forest country to Margaret River.
> 17th Oct.
McLeod of Mammoth Cave, collected worms for Cain in Oxford, looked at Lake Cave, arrived at bridge at "Bailes Brook" (Donnelly River) camped
> 18th Oct.
Fished billabong caught various invertebrates, fished in Weld River s. of Shannon, plains with granite and laterite hills, jarrah and karri trees. S. Price at Nanalup told about quokkas and possums and his farm was damaged by a big fire in 1937. Camped east of Nunalup
> 19th Oct.
To Denmark, turned off on way to Tower Hill & petrified forest, to Albany and Two Peoples Bay (with uninhabited tin shacks), drove back towards Albany stopping to set cage traps baited with bread, stayed at Albany.
> 20th Oct.
Called on Inspector Carmichael in Albany for a couple of skulls and mandibles from a blown out line in the Southern Promontory at Broke Inlet. Called at Albany Advertiser to Keith Butler asking people to send specimens to Carmichael + instructions. Went back to Two Peoples Bay, fished, went back to traps and collected specimens [listed]
> 21 Oct 1959
Visited traps, back to Albany, then to Porongurups, scrubby Jarrah, York gums, mixed Wandoo. SW of Ongerup salty creek, small species of fish. Around Lake Grace Mallee + York gums, saltbush and sand plain shrubs. Many rabbits, stopped for night at Rabbit-proof fence.
> 22nd Oct.1959
Wandoo on road to Wickepin, fished in Walellemin Brook where a culvert went under Pingelly road, caught quite large fish, picked up bobtail on road, mixed casuarina, wandoo and blackboys, fished fish & gilgies, in pools probably tributary of Hotham River, slightly brackish. Collected maps showing location of reserves from Pingelly police station. drove out to Shortridge's old collecting locality Woyerling Well, a townsite that never grew, well still there, only animals rabbits and bobtails. Camped for night: wandoo, mullet, blackboy etc, dense scrub, granite rocks.Signs of Trichosurus in Wandoo, shot Bettongia pencillata[WR64] preserved in tin for Geoff and Cleland, infested with ticks and lice, collected stomach contents, rectal pellets, gut, heart. Before shot a large cat with 2 kittens who became quite motionless when mother shot. Set 3 traps.
> 23rd Oct 1959
Bettongia pencillata caught in trap. Drove towards Pingelly , east along Wickepin road then along dirt road signposted Tuttaning, collected Varanus gouldii then along firebreak, Scotty Dhu part owner of property 2500 acres, trapped animals going into his crops for years: Greys - plentiful,Tammar - plentiful in sheoak thicket, Woylies (or Boodies) still plentiful, they eat the seeds, Bush uncommon, Prom fairly common, Ringtail not seen often - Bandicoots hereabouts - Dalgytes (Bilby) not seen since 1939 moved out with the Boodies - Numbats hereabouts - Sminthopsis crassicaudata "like mice with fat tails and faces like little foxes" - Mice (plague last year) - Rats caught in bin dark with whitish tail - Wild cats caught in traps - Foxes not very common - Rabbits few - Porcupine caught in traps. Went spotlighting, saw grey, tammar, woylies, shot tammar female [WR65] description.
> 24th Oct. 1959
Caught woylies in live traps baited with bread, save for Hugh 1 with joey. From Pingelly on Wickepin Rd, leftt Yealering signpost , left at T-junction to main reserve. Set traps. Collected Myrmicobius common, Quenda (bandicoot) common, Grey not common but spread around, bush getting scarce, natural habitat is sandplain, Tammar plentiful but habitat clearing - Woylie (called boodie locally) plentiful, toxic at part of year - Boodie not seen since Gill was a boy - Dalgyte not seen since before the war, Mrs Gardener remembers seeing them when she was a girl - Field mice plentiful - Rats appeared in past two years - Wambenger not common - Sminthopsis crassicaudata seen occasionally - A small marsupial like a dunnart with 3 dark stripes along its back, Tursiops ? - Australite found locally - Trap caught a Bettongia pencillata [WR67] - Woylie returning joey to pouch.
> 25th October 1959 Returned to Perth.
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Author: Ride, W. D. L. (William David Lindsay), 1926-2011; White, Stan
Call no: FN179
Year: 12 - 19 May 1959
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Perth to Merkanooka
> 12th May 1959
Museum
Northam : grey overcast 65*F
Goomalling 14.15 hrs, spots of rain
Wongan Hills
Pilbara, changed to first tank.
Dalwallinu
Whites' at Merkanooka 19.15 hrs
> 12th May 1959
Museum
Northam : grey overcast 65*F
Goomalling 14.15 hrs, spots of rain
Wongan Hills
Pilbara, changed to first tank.
Dalwallinu
Whites' at Merkanooka 19.15 hrs
> 13 May
White's house 07.10 hrs
Turnoff to John White's
John White's
Highway Mullewa - Uwara(?)
Mullewa petrol
Luncheon(?) at Billabalong
Arrived at bridge 12.00, 76*FRiver has been in flood. Whites unable to find remains(?) they saw at the time they collected the jaw (?). Water in bed of river is sand or salt deposited over former bone (bare) surfaces. Had meal. Whites (Stan & Jeff O'Brien) fished & got 2spp. Water in pools not too salt to drink for most of the aquatic vegetation & very small crustacea (?diphinia). J. White walks at the bank about 1/2 mile to west of bridge. Brings back 2 species of fish.
1.slinner sp. Olive green above white below. Lateral line marked by extremely vivid white longitudinal band.
1 perch-like , greenish above spotted with brown blotches.
Small bird collected in bush at dusk. Bellbirds plentiful & a small green parrot here in mulga, cormorants on river. Bird shot, bill, horn, legs blackest, soles of feet pale, wt 9 g.
F. rufus shot, joey 2.5 g. (No. 6), total length 162, tail 85, Wt.43 lbs., HF 27, Ear 14.5
> 14 May 1959
Rose with first light, cold, started to look for birds but nothing doing until sun came up about 7.30.
Bush canaries, weebills, babblers, willies, mudlarks, galahs, grey falcon, 28s, topknot pigeons, large flocks of topknots c. 100 birds at least, grey heron, heard bellbirds & butcher bird. Crows in fine numbers. Shot 2 28s.
Walked out bush on way back to breakfast, further bone in undisturbed beds where river is cutting coming back.
Wts of 28s between 100 7 200 gr
> Midday 14 May 1959. 88*F bearing overcast, clouds high, breeze.
Sketch: Section of cliff with scepder.
fine showing well silicified roots & the bands of white calcareous material.
> 19 May
Evening out with spotlight. 9 miles N of R, no kangaroos seen. All at river itself. Shot m., Wt -43lb. HF 27 Total length 149.5 Ear 13.5" Tail 77.5 (No7)
> 17 May
Left Murchison 10.00 Greenough R. walked out west of road, nothing.
Rabbits plentiful in burrows, foxes' earths. Shot bellbird. Shot pair of budgie parrots, put in Mrs White's fridge for night.Spotlighting at Merkanooka, locals say that all these species of kangaroos occur locally, greys and euros on the Irwin & coastal side of the watershed & reds & euros on the "lakes" side. Reds occasionally come into grey & euro territory. They also say that the greys and foxes move from the coast & back inland each year. Local greys have short toenails. Hard substrata but when they appear at the beginning of the winter toenails are long - sand plain conditions.
(No8) Grey Wt 43 lbs H.F.28 Nail 2.3 Female Ear 12 Tail 66 Total 144 with pouch young 200gms.
(9)Euro m. Wt 34lbs ear 12 Tail 71, HF 25 Nail 10 Total 144
Shot 2 foxes.
(11) male Wt 14lbs, Ear 9.5 Tail 42 HF 16.5 Total 104
(10) female Wt 8lbs Ear 9.2 Tail 35.5 HF 15 Total 99
Euros fairly common in Salmon and York Gum cubtry. Small breakaways with caves seen (8 ft. or so). Greys plentiful in scrub, young etc.
Left Merkanooka 1400 hrs.
Arrived Perth.
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Author: Ride, W. D. L. (William David Lindsay), 1926-2011
Call no: FN185
Year: 18 - 24 Nov. 1961
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> 18th Nov. 1961 (Sat.)
Drove to Busselton. Collected a fly on the bonnet of the car at the Harvey Cut between Mandurah & Bunbury on the Coast road. Fly was predating a bush fly. Arrived at Busselton. Seddy caught a frog some inches below surface in the garden of the hotel Lymnodynastes dorsalis.
Drove to Busselton. Collected a fly on the bonnet of the car at the Harvey Cut between Mandurah & Bunbury on the Coast road. Fly was predating a bush fly. Arrived at Busselton. Seddy caught a frog some inches below surface in the garden of the hotel Lymnodynastes dorsalis.
> 19th Nov. (Sunday) - Rained all day, no collecting.
> 20 Nov. (Monday)
Drove to Yallingup. Collected Boths[Bothriembryontidae?] from surface of dunes below Dardanup Hill. Vegetation Spinifex longifolius and Carpobrotus. Caught fish in drainage out W. of motel & W. of point where Margaret River leaves the road to Dunsborough. Caught 2 march-flies.
> 21 Nov. (Tues) 61
Drove to north of Margaret River.The road workers had just bulldozed through a dune and there are many Boths. which appeared fossil lying in the depression. There was also a fossil soil horizon exposed in the cut face. Boths embedded in the black earth and further Boths (clearly recent) lying among the vegetation upon the surface of the modern dunes beyond the cutting. Collected from all three localities [sketch + notes]. Mouth of Margaret River v. interesting, the river opens to the sea between 2 courses of granite with the dunes overlying there. There is aeolinite overlying this on the south side & modern dunes overlying much of the landscape to an estimated 80-100 ft. There is granite exposed in the N. bank of the river above its barred basin. Stratigraphy may be v. interesting. On way back to Busselton crossed Margaret River on coast road at Burnside. Collected sample of rock from side of road some 30* above river level on N. bank, appear to be metasomatized granite but to my ignorant eye ? meta sediments.
Collected native bee from sand at mouth of river. Collected 2 insects from inside vehicle between Lake Cave and Burnside.
Photographed side at mouth of Margaret River in both colour and B&W.
> 22nd Nov. 1961 (Wednesday)
Frog caught by Seds in garden of motel defecated 3 beetles into bag, preserved in spirits.
Drove to Locke Estate, dense peppermint bush on side of road, stip of peppermint on N. of road as well next to foreshore. Estate bounded on West by semi-cleared land. House (Harvey dealers) called Ilgarrie on west and then "Siesta Park" & garage. Estate seems largely to be composed of mature peppermint regeneration. This has suffered severe burns in places. Generally unkempt and in poor condition in comparison with surrounding areas, particularly those to the West.
Drove to Capel Estate of T. Jamieson (probably block 3281) on the Capel River. Old and very beautiful house includes the original home of the 1840-50 period, its successor and the remainder built at the turn of the century. Could be a most wonderful showplace. Had an old mill (water) recently taken away by Brisbane and Wunderlich.
Jamieson is a Shetlander who came out as a small boy c.2-3 yrs., father went out to get various jobs to make money to get a start. They took up land in bush and lived in three tents for 2 years, mother walked 5 miles to shops leaving children alone in bush. Later father built a hessian house & later still a corrugated iron 4 roomed house (unlined) - "They thought it was a palace". Jamieson remembers walking 2 miles to school after being up milking since about 4 am, hardly being able to keep awake at school and wondering on the way home if he would even make it. They finished up on a property near the present one with a weatherboard house and then shortly before the war the owners of the present property decided to sell and offered it to them - no capital outlay "as long as they could pay the interest". Jamieson took it and he and his wife lived for years on 15/- jobs making the grade. Now seem very satisfied & proud of their success. She is a sister-in-law of Fred Barr of St. Pauls & their choral society, beautiful garden, 3 children, 2 daughters, 1 working in bank, 1 still at school, and Ross, a big boy (aged 12-seems 15) at state school.
A memorable day for the children, rode on a tractor, saw bantams & chicks, a cygnet in a pen, a pair of 28s, ponies, horses, dogs and a cat.
> 23rd Nov. 1961 (Thursday)
Collected insects in garden of motel, mostly sweeping the peppermints.
Drove out to Canal Rocks (marked Winjee San Rock in our litlo) to see if we could locate a whale's skull which we had een told of. No luck but collected from the Cowaramup conglomerate which is exposed to the east of the parking place at the end of the road. Excellent exposures in the Precambrian basement and directly overlain by crossbedded aeolianite. Collected various fossils, corals, from the conglomerate and ? clay inclosures for pollen testing & also a lump from ?chertified zone at the top of the conglomerate [sketch].
There is a track down into the headlands NE of Canal Rocks (not possible to 2wheeldrive vehicles). From this the view to Wardanup hill is clear and also down into a small valley with a creek which leads to Gunyulgup. This valley is v. interesting, a few yards to the north of its outlet through the sand hills is what seems to be a very well marked "5-10 ft" terrace. In addition the cliffs of Wardanup Hill seems to have a well marked terrace above the top of the present sea cliffs & at the foot of an earlier set.
Saw notice of C. P. Conigrave in West. Sent it to Helen with request to contact Mollie Lukis and check for letters, diaries, field notes etc. Also for a portrait of Conigrave c.1910-20.
Photographed Sed's frog in colour & b&w.
Drove down to valley of Gungulup and phoographed valley terrace from just north of road looking down towards sea, col. & b&w. Took north to Canal Rocks, climbed steep hill, track leading down to left & took it to end of valley. Found whale's skull & photographed baris cranii probably [page of sketch and notes] the skull of a humpback , had a good hit at it with a hammer, am fairly certain that the "whalebird" is the biospheroid of a whale's skull with the exoccipitals knocked off. However, certainly not a humpback.
Seddy found a brachiopod on the beach opposite the motel at Busselton.
> 15th Nov. 1961.
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Author: Ride, W. D. L. (William David Lindsay), 1926-2011
Call no: FN195
Year: 23rd June - 3rd July
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> 23rd June 1964
Take off, Aero Commander, Perth Airport, Course to Carnarvon, Gascoyne Jr. closed, Ht 4000, cloud at slightly less than 4,000, Raining below line of reefs along coast with white breakers. On ground at Geraldton, rang. Take off for Carnarvon, cloud. Murchison R., over Hamelin Pool, photograph of deep channel & peninsula - Exposure-metre. Carnarvon, 3K, 1B taken way in. 2B of Gascoyne Trades Trucks for Jim.
Take off, Aero Commander, Perth Airport, Course to Carnarvon, Gascoyne Jr. closed, Ht 4000, cloud at slightly less than 4,000, Raining below line of reefs along coast with white breakers. On ground at Geraldton, rang. Take off for Carnarvon, cloud. Murchison R., over Hamelin Pool, photograph of deep channel & peninsula - Exposure-metre. Carnarvon, 3K, 1B taken way in. 2B of Gascoyne Trades Trucks for Jim.
> 24th June 1964
Take off Carnarvon, low cloud and rain (light), all roads are closed north of town. Boolathana, photo of clay pans & salt lake on Quobba country flooded, ASI 140. All country here, i.e. E of large salt lake, seemed to be spinifex in flats with ironstone sand on gravel rises with sparse mulga. Claypans here seem to be oriented approx N/S a high there is no sign of the Boologooro redhills(?), must be earlier. Minilya HS large river gums along river, spinifex in between, claypans with low rise covered with sparse (?mulga) sand. Breakaways of a low range directed by eastward flagstones. Breakaways face west and streams from there to the Western lake are very short, from there backs browner they are clay streams flowing east into the claypan system to the west of the highway. Learmonth road .... length stream flowing into the northern end of the lakes system (Cardadia Creek). The breakaways must be the edge of the Cretaceous. Now in red Cainozoic (?) sands of Cape. E.W. road crosses river and scrubby range to our east. Flat bedded sediments exposed on western sides of range. River flowing through K. sediments, good exposures in bands, river flows from n-s +1 fence, +1 fence +1 fence +fence. Bullara Homestead (I must tell Glen. Excellent rubbish dump!) Sandhills trending SSW.
Rough Range. Breakaways along S.C. side of range (i.e. edge of a plateau), deep creeks with trees in gorges. Coming down to Learmonth Strip, leaving Learmonth Strip. Turned off road south of airstrip, truck just past creek crossing (concrete) marker in sandhill at post in east of area C, post 513.
92.4 Fence line, very slightly w of north
92.9 Corner fence lines approx nw
95.3 big circle
394.0 Corner near ....(?)
393.3 through fence at mill & back along Fu.... track
394.5 back at corner & turn straight on along the direction of the short fence to the mill 220*. Line of pegs at small barbed wire enclave, sign reads Corrosion testing, metal samples buried "Location F".
395.3 Red peg BB..R1 White pegs 1107 &1089, line of pegs due south & N.
95.5 last pegs for final clo.. - well defined track
96.2 Wide creek no pegs turned back.
96.5 Xroads just beyond our original turnoff. bery trig pt. 39*.
Pegs (300/8500 : 9400 :9300 342 in ascending value.
900 9100 Back at testing clearing - peg 11107 Al. disc in peg T5 - 1.
Lasts & surveys connect just. E/5.
400.0 Try P... ridge beams. Back at 225* Drive back along ridge to main track ie firebreak to main road. fr is cross road 400.9 between .... 7 concrete creek crossing (R... 401.01), 8404.2 Run through
408.2 Back at airstrip.
Decided to spend night at Learmonth to collect fossil, Lt. Col. Keith Murdoch MBE, Civil Commission, Exmouth, (A.J.) Lee Brunning, Jack Neal. Spent the whole afternoon with Lee Brunning looking for the line of pegs but no luck at all. Found the West Base Trig and tried to pick up the line of pegs but no luck. They should be metal fenceposts with aluminium discs attached to them (Commonwealth surveyor back at Learmonth informed me afterwards). They run in extremely rough limestone foothill country.
Cave paintings at Talgarno. C'wealth Surveyor Arthur Dawson, approx S-SE of Talgarno Tn.site, approx 35 miles : Circles, reptile, Included Hill- overhang with cave shelter. Dawson has accurate fix of spot in his survey notes. Write to Chief ...... Officer, Dept of Interior, 11-15 William St., Perth
> 25th June
Take off DC3 Learmonth. [K1]Coast south of Onslow flooded mud flats, creeks & mangroves. 13.15[2B] Onslow.
14.15 Back at Barrow [K - all the rest] of island. Found Dampier Archipelago coming up. ETA Hedland is 15.40. Have sent message to XW via DCA to inform them. We may catch them on the ground & save a night in Hedland [K8] of Dampier Archipelago and Kanasclen country and also[3B] of Northern Springs only. Remarkable silhouette.
15.10 Discovered that an ETA now 15.50 will just miss the party in Hedland by 10 mins. Pilot decided to put me down to try.
Arrived Hedland, Aerocommander still on strip at Xstrips, pilot pulled up & I jumped out & scrambled into A/C & off !! Now to get into Broome before dark !
Broome : people to contact : John Tapper & brother Edgar (medico), Peter Hinchley engineer,, Dr Des Kelly. Small footprinters(?) K.B. Spry, Broome, job prospects, letter to me in Perth making enquiries.
[K1] coastal .... at Talgarno. Very clear in lowering sun, old coastline also shows up very well.
Get address of Australian Natural History for John Tapper. Dr Bill Smith physician at Chest Hospital.
John Tapper described a possum with short ears, large eyes, scaley bare tail like a file which he caught in the cylinder box at Entrance point - clearly Wyulda [squamicaudata]. He let it go in his garden.
> 26th June
Photos of luggers (?) ; Dampier West etc. Went with John Tapper and Peter Hinchley to the new jetty & to Entrance Point. Saw the usual(?) scappy plst fossils at new jetty, then on to Entrance Point and took photo of general view . Bloodwoods, Banksia, Corktrees.
Taxi out to the take off for survey of Dampier (?) land. B7W with green filter x 2, colour at 25AsA. [K1] [B1], photos of Pindan 500ft just before Barred creek(?), Quondong Downs (?), Point Coulomb,
[2K] [2B]Cape Bertholet turned 90* along 236802 north, sandy, AS130K, 1443. Changed B&W in camera, tried 90*note 14.50. Camera now at B in 4, K in 23. Last photo before turning E some drifts of same etc at coast at Cape Bertholet. Pilot estimates about 15 mls.
The study of the ..... seems to be very dense for Pindan - there are flowering acacias, ? cadeppents & pandanus in the creeks - well integrated with creeks.
Coming up to Beagle Bay 1457 [1K] [1BW] of much more typical Pindan.[1K][1B] of mangroves at Beagle Bay looking E. close into Bay.
Pindan in flower[2K][1B] cutting across to Pender Bay. Pender Bay turned East up Kelk Creek 150 about halfway along creek[1K] +[1B] (mudflats & kadgetty) up here there seems much less like pindan. Roos [K1] Donkeys (Bill) been at500 ft all the way so far.1512 Turned new course for Derby for about centre of peninsula 158* [1K] pindan with white .......[K1] Creek at Disaster Bay [B1] Big boas in midst of pindan 1520 Valentine Island coming up [B2] of Derby.
Derby
Documents (a) Postmaster : explain ..... decision (b) Alan Ridge (c) McGregor fossils for Kainzoic library freelists 21c for John Tozer (d) Glen Cairns Native Welfare (e) Jim Coleman. Basil McQuade, note Cencil Lands (?).
> 27th June
Take off from Derby. Before takeoff [2K] [2B] of the Prison Tree and of the Royal Flying Doctor Service tablet.
Meda Homestead , Mt Hart strip (Clearskin(?) directly overhead, very rough & broken country. Headwaters of Barker River. There is an old strip there, looks very interesting country, rough as blazes. Synnot Range, very big tableland country, huge breakaways down into narrow valleys with good waters.[K1] just short of Gibb River, photo towards SSE [K1] Gibb R. sandy bed, altitude 7000. Gally forest in headwaters of Durack R. [K1], Durack R. further downstream [K1]. END OF FILM.
Breakaways to the SE of the Gut(?) [K1]
[2K] View of Wyndham [1B], Wyndham town [1B] Meatworks. [K1] Rayes(?) with Ord River between [B1] Kununurra.
> 28 June 1964
Parry's lagoon on the ground. Echidna collected in Saw Ranges nr Wyndham, Mark Nevill, 1963 / 4 Christmas.
Took Halls Creek Rd to Kununurra [K2] in hills near Parry's Creek : Eucalypts on hills, boabs, colewoods(?), cassias & other deciduous trees in valleys [K1] between hills. Here less eucalypts and more deciduous [K1] from range of hills near creek to across the plain to Kununurra, white tipped post in picture, white top about 10 in.[3K] Dunham River Bridge +[1K] Bandicoot Br, Ord R.
> 29 June 1964
0520 Climbed Kelly's Knob in order to check reported fossil in the Precambrian quartzite on the top. Not a fossil.
0800 left Kununurra. 0838 bus(?) take off Wyndham, course 185*, 120 knots
0857 [K1] [B1] Gorge ? King R. Looley West along Cockburn Ra. 0905 140 knots, course 180*, 8000 ft. Turkey Creek looking west [K1] [B1]end of film. Violet Valley Country [all Kodachromes to date are probably out of focus] This is very dry country, looks like sandstone savannah, so much for the myth that the Wyalda country is high rainfall country. Now b&w.
[B1] Taken looking west, sandstone savannah country typical of Violet Valley crossed main road immediately afterwards. Country here dissected by creeks with lines of trees. Very broken country wide NS Ranges across the river. All these streams seem to be headwaters of the Ord. There is a peculiar small portal of sediments in a formation 10* from Halls Creek, 10-20 m. appears to lie among Precambrian. Trends NS on opposite side of river to the main ranges. Good exposures[Check this] Well west of main road, circles Halls Creek[K1] [B1]of town & looking west [2K] at low level looking oast. 0953 Air strip.
Examined skeleton at police stn., Aboriginal (?male) caves in anthill burial. Moola Bulla Skeleton, Const. Dwyer (says burial ground nr. Mt. Burnet(?). Appleby says that there is another stn. Flora Valley.
Prospecting Company. Pickards Mather & co. Industrial. George Hanna Camp manager, Donald Perkin, geologist, Sydney. C. of PM Halls Creek, Don Ealey, Project Chief. Donald Perkin is a good one with a fine collection of pickup artifacts. They collect insects for New England.
Take off for Fitzroy Crossing by road route. Country seems to be mostly flat alluvial works with the remains of an old plateau along ... ... torn bits of breakaways looks rather like Nullagine country.
Koongie Park[Aboriginal Community] claypan country, Lamboo, May River [K1] [B1] flat burnt out country with rivers & long ranges in distance. Margaret R.[K1][B4] junction of May & Margaret [K1][B1] Louisa(?) Downs on Margaret R.[K1B1], Red Bluff & Mt Frank. Spinifex plain, gently undulating with N.s..fit... wood and small eucalypts.
1350 Red Bluff[K1B1] halfway between Red Bluff & Wolaria(?) Downs> [B3K] in gorge. Hancligan(?) Cliffs. Christmas Creek[1K]taken Cooley N. way from the station. Chestnut Bore, all of the country, green spinifex pindan(?) with small trees scattered about. Nipper Creek a gaggle of eucalypts across the plain, gigantic anthills & N..... everywhere.1420 [K2] Emanuel Ra.
> 30th June 64
John Greymark, Senior Constable, Norm Newland, Const [Inspector Gallagher Browne], Joy & Jack Sandford, Mrs Newland is a Mungton (?) girl, Bath St., Dulcie (Peg) Edgington (Cec Edgington, Hardware).
(saiwon) Wangillee (jillie) =cycles "golliwog" police native. Met Jim Clarks and Directu Liverings, Ted McLarty, Luluigui, Mac, McNamara. Jubilee Duncan Boston, Noonkan. They say that Karrabul are quite common on Luluigui and Liveringa country. Rabbits have been seen towards the end of the dry season on Jubilee by McLarty, Waciots (?) appear to be quite plentiful along the river country. Saw Jeff Rose on Quanbun and went up to Aligator Dam (now Jubilee Dam) also went to the dam futen made. There is a curious white conglomerate at Aligator Dam but not in the more northern of the dams, suspect that this is the material from which fossils obtained. Collected specimens, no bore (?) : 12804 - 12805 Geological catalogue. (Added) From examining these fossils on the occasion of their accession to the collection on 22/9/66, it appears probable that the site is the same as that visited by Douglas & Kendrick on 1/7/66 this is 12 miles by road from Fitzroy Crossing Post Office & I have endorsed the labels etc accordingly numbers are 66.884 to 66.898 GWK.
> 1 July
Drove out to exposures of Fairfield beds beyond airfield on road to Derby, collected front fossils. Take off [K2] of .... inn [K1] near trig hill [B1] at about 1000ft, climbing to make light near Alexander Island, 3000 ft triodia. The [K1]B1], long ridges of ? Fairfield beds exposed, on bearing strike 230* may be old sandhills. Jubilee Homestead [K1] on bend of river, taken looking over towards Jubilee Dam on Quanbun Downs (Aligator Tank). Ht 7000 Very broken range country over on the left i.e. south of the river i.e. Permian grant Fn of St. George's Range [K1].
Quite a lot of bare fidhill country red sand, remainder particularly to the west is sand and triodia. The bare sand is fine pattern [K1][B1], 8,200.The Bowns probably listing too far open.
Breakaways [K1][B1] capped with a hard crust of greenish more friable material beneath matches Springs.
Abeam of Mowla bluff, Edgar Ranges a very broken piece of country clear of the sandhills. Headwaters of Geegully creek[K1] [B1] Woyley slightly W. of Nack, 8000 [K1][B1]looking 150* Wapet track, vegetation the same as further east, long sandhills evenly spaced, very few chains. Study about +EW. Passing to the west of the most easterly of the salt lake chain of the extinct Tilgano river. Chain dunes seem to be very stable, vegetation in the links, almosts if the dune system is beginning to break down - in fact the chains are commonest towards the ends of the dunes. Crossing the salt lake system(most northern chain)have some of the chain dunes are beginning to blow out. There is water in the lakes and also in interclinal depressions. Change course to 230*, Ht 8000. Sandhills finish. Main channel of Talga R., sandhills start again.[K1]. Dunes now cleared to coast with fine change to sandhills clear. Sandhills finish. Open triodia plain with small isolated lumps of breakaway. Very much fire damage, whole square miles denuded. We have been flying along the outer edge of the sandhills. Low features with streams and vegetation in valleys, sandhills start again but we are only crossing the western end about a mile inland. Junction of Nullagine R., De Grey and Oakover River head. Passing east of small range of broken hills at headwaters of Calleon Creek [K1][B1] along DeGrey crossing Bamboo creek, photo in angle of range at about 250*.
Marble Bar town, Mines Office, 2000ft coming into land, looking SSW approx. Marble Bar Mr. B.H. Stubbs was the person responsible for the rabbit bandicoot. Have told him that Douglas and Butler will call.
Take off for Nullagine, course 150*. Crossed the Marble Bar hills and now on a flat spinifex plain to the west of very broken country. hills on NW of Nullagine, mostly rough country with spinifex and a few trees.[K1] tributaries of Nullagine River flowing eastwards on edge of hills less than 10 m. from Nullagine.[K1][K1][B1] Nullagine township. W illiam M. McKinnon is reputed to be mining diamonds in the conglomerate. 74 Duckland St N. Perth.
> 2nd July 1964
Nullagine takeoff course 195*. East of Bonney Downs Homestead [K1] Roy Hill beds, breakaways n. of Roy Hill to the immediate W. of the road. Good exposures 8000Ft@140K. The Fortescue here flows west along a flat plain jumped up from the breakaway to the north. Looks very much like Mulga Downs country. Roy Hill directly underneath, photo taken west [K1][K1] Mt Newman and the Ophthalmia Range looking west. Eastwards flowing Fortescue round the top of the Ophthalmia Range. Spinifex and ironstone sand country with little relief.
Booloo Downs Homestead. Headwaters of the Ashburton R. Some flat slightly rolling spinifex country with trees along creeks. [K1][B1]8000 looking west. Collier Range[K2] looking west. Abeam of 3Rivers
Homestead. Flat ironstone sand country , spinifex some mulga. At Gascoyne R flowing westwards[K1][B1] looking west. Crossing highway south of Doolgunna Homestead & just south of Robertson Range. Course changed to 210* more or less// add to east of road.
Sherwood and Yoothapina coming in to land at Meekatharra. Mulga to the north is v. patchy and seems to be very dry in the area drained by the many tributaries of the Murchison itself seems to be more dense to the west, east & south [K1][B1] Mulga is dense to the west, east & south but this may only be on deck.(Meekatharra). Take off for Leonora course 135*[K1][B1] looking south 3000ft. Passed Hillview, 7,500 (Real 6,200) Course 135* ASI. 140. Among Montague Range a very nondescript set of low breakaways down to a lower level. There is a curious little patch of (long N.S. dunes) on top of dunes?. Lake Mason : very poor exposures. A few small breakaways a mile or so from the northern bank. Lake itself has very gently sloping margin. Airstrip abeam, coming up for Leinster Downs, red soil with scattered mulga.
Lawlers. Coming up for Wildara above the main road to Leonora, largish creeks with eucalypts, remainder still seems to be gently undulating red soil with not very dense mulga and some sort of greyish low cover. Sturt Meadows Homestead [K1][B1] 4000 ft. Clover Downs & Lake Raeside in background, poor exposures, white river gums along creeks, grey foliage of shrubs? away from river must be mulga the shadows come right down to the ground[K1].
[K1][B1] of Gwalia & Leonora : Sons of Gwalia mine. Landing. Took [K&B] of mine, end of films.
Sons of Gwalia, Mr. R.A.Barden, general manager of Mine, Has first 10 folders of correspondence 1898-1904, including correspondence of Herbert Hoover 1st Agreement & between prospectus & S. of G. Mr Barden will leave here within six months.
> 3rd July 1964
Took[K] of mulga at aerodrome [B4] [new film], of mulga, grass, sticks and solanaceous plant. Up above Leonora, course 175* straight to Kalgoorlie. Dense mulga cover, Alt.6,000 looking west ; patches of ?eucalypt beginning to come in particularly along the shallow stream washes [K1][B1] looking west. Salt lakes crossed ? skyline a few poor exposures at Radd-Western? and otherwise mostly gently shelving banks even creeks flowing in have very poor banks.
Mulga / eucalypt mixture looking west [K1][B1] suggest grey mulga - darker eucalypt. More lakes, still mixed mulga eucalypt. Descent begins.
[K1][B1] 2500 alt., [K1] of spoil heaps at mine on deck, Alt. 0900ft.
In air on way to Perth[K1][B1] two kinds of eucalypt, 1 green, 1 grey, green with shiny leaves & brown stems, grey with whitish stems.
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Author: Ride, W. D. L. (William David Lindsay), 1926-2011
Call no: FN193
Year: 15 - 29 April, 1966.
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To get to Mellenbye:
Turn east off road to Gutha, 14 m. N of Morawa
+2 Gutha
+10 left at Xroads well signposted to Yalgoo +8.7 stock gate, 3.2 bend in road stockgate, 2.3 Mellenbye turnoff [to go to Marloo Well], stockgate, stockgate, stockgate, stockgate, Turi-Ari Hill, stockgate, Xroads take right, well signposted Yalgoo, windmill on left, fork right along fenceline before stockgate, well & mill go through gate, take track straight ahead (due east), no fence, telephone line at first, Mooloo Well. Ederga is .4 m. due east of this.
Turn east off road to Gutha, 14 m. N of Morawa
+2 Gutha
+10 left at Xroads well signposted to Yalgoo +8.7 stock gate, 3.2 bend in road stockgate, 2.3 Mellenbye turnoff [to go to Marloo Well], stockgate, stockgate, stockgate, stockgate, Turi-Ari Hill, stockgate, Xroads take right, well signposted Yalgoo, windmill on left, fork right along fenceline before stockgate, well & mill go through gate, take track straight ahead (due east), no fence, telephone line at first, Mooloo Well. Ederga is .4 m. due east of this.
The Murgoo Meteorite.
Described to Ride & Merrilees,10-10-61, by W. Hamlet on Woolgarry Stn. Broke a fenceline in Murgoo, 1 1/2 m. from Deep Well and about 4 1/2 m. from the Woolshed. Jimmy Tyson, Joker Mungo working on Murgoo know the position. Hamlet also described bones sticking up out of the rock in Boolardy Stn towards Mileura boundary. Fred Simpson, Danny Simpson, Murgoo Fred, Frank Tiger, Mick Gilbert, Mat Nugee all know of this (mention Hamlet to them).
> Wednesday, 15th April 1964
Left Florence Road, 2hrs New Norcia, Yandanooka Hills camped across railway line in a thicket of low Casuarina. Fairly cold night with heavy dew, mist developed by dawn, dew dripping from acacia like heavy rain in early morning, Black-faced cuckoo shrikes, 28s, at least 3 species of frog calling: 1. a small rasping quack 2. a helioporous like woo-woo 3. a repeated setting of low sounds which together produced a faint moo. Seds collected 2 species the next day in a pond near the railway line, Pete collected a third.
> Thursday 16th April
Yandanooka Hills : Gecko collected by Sue & Jim from crack in log. Dongara, Murchison river crossing, camped for night, G .... night, no dew, fed children on fish & chips at Geraldton on way through, camped in the dark at our usual place.
> Friday 17th April 1964
Murchison river crossing, went fishing but no bites at all, some small Atherines swimming on the surface. Drove along Carnarvon road looking for a tank .......went back & looked at old copper ....Turned off main road to Ajana, bought petrol, Northampton, back at camp, a warm night.
> Saturday 18th April 1964
523 Camp at Murchison river crossing at the 383 mile post.
575 Arrived at Kalbarri road
576 Left Kalbarri
Back at camp.
> Sunday 19th April 1964
Left camp at 383 milepost at 11.45 hrs
No. 1 Tank
Mobil Station, bought new tyre
Carnarvon Motel for night. Met Eric Barker, Dick Slack-Smith.
> Monday 20th April 1964
Carnarvon motel.
Went down to Whaling Stn, saw the remains. Martin still there managing Prawn factory, met Moore - Bob Moore's brother, all seem very bitter about Australia agreeing to quota on Sperms when the international whaling fleets are still taking all they can get off shore. Prawning venture going well, factory operating. Drove out to Gascoyne bridge for lunch, after lunch back fishing off whaling stn. jetty. Seds & Jim caught 4 species, pickled a series for Uren.
> Tuesday 21st April 1964
Drove out to the Blowholes on Quobba. Gascoyne river crossing. Blowholes.
Had lunch about 800* N of Blowholes at Quobba Point, the same Bothriembryon limestone here as in B. & D., collected a good series of Boths. : 66.660, 66.663. here the pisolitic limestone with Boths. includes a relatively weathered (?) aeolianite at a discomformity about 12 ft above sea level, collected specimens of each & a specimen of the junction. Back to Carnarvon, saw q rabbit, 2 Reds, and a white egret in Quobba. At Motel, met Grahame Wilson - he is Welfare Officer Carnarvon now. Appears happy.
> Wednesday 22nd April
Gascoyne bridge.
Booloogaroo Homestead.
Gascoyne bridge.
Motel.
> Thursday 23rd April
Motel at Carnarvon, V. J. Lewis.
Shark Bay turn off.
Denham. No exposed rocks on the trip, met Dick Slack-Smith and Eric Barker & Jock Campbell at Fisheries Dept., they suggested we go to Pechick's Caravan Park. We got a very large caravan. Kenney (.....)(?) called in with daughter, took us out to the place where the hopping mouse was seen. Bathgate had cabled him. Nothing seen.
> Friday 24th April
Denham. Road to Monkey Mia, bobtail.
Monkey Mia.
Back at Denham. Collected a bobtail on road (see above). While at Monkey Mia Dick and Eric took us over to the redcliff N. of Monkey Mia across Red Cliff Bay. This appears to be a deposit of a red deposit which is non-marine. It does not appear to be fossiliferous. Just to the north of it there is a fossil shellbank crossbedded with the top about 12 or 15 ft above sea level(HW). photographed and collected. I did not ascertain its relationship with the red deposit - it may be a plastic(?). Collected Boths., recent but dead from around(?) the vegetation on the top of the cliff.
> Saturday 25th April (Anzac Day)
Denham.
Peter found weathered(?) out Boths. at the foot of a weathered out (i.e. blown out) dune slightly to the south of the Caravan Park. Made a collection. They seem to be slightly larger than the living specimens collected from near Monkey Mia. Seds found a sectioned fossil Both. in the pisolitic limestone lumps which have been exposed in the bulldozing of the caravan park. It seems to be too small to be the same as the B & D, a Quobba species. Collected rock and further scraps. Drove over to lagoon, collected juvenile gecko under a sheet of tin.
66.658, 66.659, 66.662, 66.664.
> Sunday 26th April 1964
Denham. Drove out to Eagle Point, collected a small red (?) aphibolus in red sandhill country ring between bushes. Ditto a small(?) Donismia. Dick & Eric collected two small Aphibolus among rocks on the outer level.
> Monday 27 April
Drove up to the school, then to pick me up to collect a small snake : the school yard, it was in a hole. Went fishing caught good whiting ; preserved 1 whiting, 1 blowfish, 1 white striped fish.
> Tuesday 28 April
Denham, left at 1300 hrs, main road 14.40 hrs Billabong Road House, bend in road after 71 miles straight, Camp at Murchison 383 mile peg.
> Wednesday 29 April 1964
Camp at Murchison, returned to small copper(?) show, Geraldton, Carnarvon.
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Author: Ride, W. D. L. (William David Lindsay), 1926-2011
Call no: FN194
Year: 9 August 1963
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> 9th Aug 1963 (Friday)
6 Florence Rd.13.42 hrs
Last service station at city prices14.32 hrs
Pingelly turnoff 55 m peg 15.07 hrs
Williams 16.08 left, turn left to Wagin, Woodanilling +roads 161 m peg
Marracoonda Church, turn right, turn left, +roads turn right, Summerfield gate.
6 Florence Rd.13.42 hrs
Last service station at city prices14.32 hrs
Pingelly turnoff 55 m peg 15.07 hrs
Williams 16.08 left, turn left to Wagin, Woodanilling +roads 161 m peg
Marracoonda Church, turn right, turn left, +roads turn right, Summerfield gate.
In general the country looks in beautiful condition. The excellent rains have made everything green and the recent spell of good weather has cleared up the lying water.
> 10th August 1963 (Saturday)
To Katanning.
Katanning heading south.
Tambellup, cross railway line, turn left at Post Office - right at main road past tennis courts. Turn right off main road, +railway, sign to Lake Toolbrunup, turn right opposite dam. Turn back, rotten granite on hill top. Back at dam - Lake Toolbrunup road, granite and schist in fields, turn right at shed.
Turn right at "Ribbleton", home of Mr Diver who took us to exposure. Back down road for .4 of mile then right through fence at top of hill - through another fence across several paddocks to creek. Silicified wood plentiful over surface of paddock on far side of creek. Impressions of matted "medles"(?) common on top of hill, large logs elsewhere or further down, little sign of promising exposures for other fossils. Diver then took us approx 3/4 mile south of this locality to exposures of "soapstone" (his name) flags, actually sandstones with gentle crossbedding and intubated mudstones. V. promising - would be worth working over.
Saw 2 baby dugites and collected a family of Sminthopsis (3 living, 1 found dead) from under a rock pile, also collected 3 scorpions.
Drive, notes on native mammals :-
[2 pages, later in book] 11th August 1963
Measurements of Lagostrophus.
No 1 specimen Weight. Ear. Hind foot. Diasteama
male 0815 3lbs 2 oz 44.2 107.7 11.4
male 0172 3lbs 71/2 oz 47.3 110.0 11.9
female 0171 3lbs 2 oz 47.7 105.2 10.7
male son of 0171(no 2780) 15 0z 38.9 90.1 3rd incisor not fully in line.
male 2777 5lbs 50.5 108.2 14.0
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