July 5th... DAY 19

Is this Monet's garden we camped in ?

Later last night we did further study of the death report of Charles Edwin Desailly. It was written by  

Police Officer T.M. McCarthy Senior Constable stationed at Thornborough, 15th March 1883 and addressed to Edwin & Christina Desailly parents of Charles. We now think the 'lower' end of Mt Mulligan was the northern end instead of the southern end. Thinking along these lines allows the distances and place names to fall into place.
John has checked the contours on his map and found that there is a lengthy gully at the northern end, a little
to the west. This certainly fits the description of the rescue of the body which had to be brought back to
Thornborough a distance of about 50 kms (or 30 miles in the 1800s).
The day was clear so we were able to enjoy this huge sand stone mountain in the morning light. It was quite a
 slow trip because of so many creek crossings. As we were going by the northern bluff of Mt Mulligan there was a track to the left travelling west...Did this track lead to the site of the spearing incident? We will never know. There was a sign..TRESPASSERS PROSECUTED. We did not enter but I did feel sad that we could not have explored the area further.
We lunched by the crossing of the Mitchell River. There were a lot of campers there so we travelled on to meet the Peninsular Developmental Road. A speedy new road! We drove east for a couple of kilometers to cross Desailly Creek and then turned west to a lookout which gave us a fine view of Mt Desailly. The creek of the same name appears to run off the mountain and into the Hodgkinson River.

Mt Desailly

Bridge over Desailly Creek

The bird of the day was the sighting of two bustards camouflaged in the grass beside the road.

Luckily we have found a tiny picturesque camp on a lagoon with waterlillies. John has discovered a nearby
gold mine. Mullock heaps are very common in this country.