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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:35:19 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:35:19 -0700 |
| commit | 22d34dc021e9634ba752724c1f913eed8b8ab7b5 (patch) | |
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diff --git a/old/10840-h.zip b/old/10840-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..58c704f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10840-h.zip diff --git a/old/10840-h/10840-h.htm b/old/10840-h/10840-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9fbc89b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10840-h/10840-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10515 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>Explorations in Australia</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<style type="text/css"> +<!-- +body {background:lightyellow; margin:10%; text-align:justify} +h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {color:green; text-align:center} +blockquote {font:smaller} +p.poem {text-align:center} +p.external {font:bold} +--> +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Explorers of Australia and their +Life-work, by Ernest Favenc + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work + +Author: Ernest Favenc + +Release Date: January 26, 2004 [EBook #10840] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPLORERS OF AUSTRALIA *** + + + + +Produced by Amy M Zelmer, Sue Asscher + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h3>THE EXPLORERS OF AUSTRALIA</h3> + +<h4>AND THEIR LIFE-WORK.</h4> + +<h5>BY</h5> + +<h3>ERNEST FAVENC,</h3> + +<blockquote><b>Explorer, and Author of The History of Australian Exploration, The +Geographical Development of Australia, Tales of the Austral Tropics, The +Secret of the Australian Desert, etc., and Voices of the Desert (Poems).</b></blockquote> + + +<h5>1908.</h5> + +<p align="center"><b><a href= "#contents">GO TO TABLE OF CONTENTS</a></b></p> + +<hr width="50%" align="center"> + +<h3>[Advertisement]</h3> + +<h4>THE MAKERS OF AUSTRALASIA.</h4> + +<h5>EARLY VOLUMES</h5> + +<h5>(IN PREPARATION).</h5> + +<p>CAPTAIN COOK and his Predecessors in Australasian Waters, by REGINALD +FORD, F.R.G.S., Member of the British National Antarctic Expedition. + +<p>GOVERNOR PHILLIP and his Immediate successors, BY F.M. BLADEN, Chief +Librarian, Public Library, Sydney. + +<p>EDWARD GIBBON WAKEFIELD, by THE EDITOR. + +<p>SIR GEORGE GREY, by JAMES COLLIER, sometime Librarian, General Assembly +Library, Wellington. + +<hr width="50%" align="center"> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-01"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-01.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Captain Charles Sturt, aged about 54 years. From the painting by Crossland.</b></p> +</center> + +<hr width="50%" align="center"> + +<a name="preface"></a> +<h3>AUTHOR'S PREFACE.</h3> + +<p>In presenting to the public this history of those makers of Australasia +whose work consisted in the exploration of the surface of the continent +of Australia, I have much pleasure in drawing the reader's attention to +the portraits which illustrate the text. It is, I venture to say, the +most complete collection of portraits of the explorers that has yet been +published in one volume. Some of them of course must needs be +conventional; but many of them, such as the portrait of Oxley when a +young man, and of A.C. Gregory, have never been given publicity before; +and in many cases I have selected early portraits, whenever I had the +opportunity, in preference to the oft published portrait of the same +subject when advanced in years. + +<p>There are many who assisted me in the collection of these portraits. To +Mr. F. Bladen, of the Public Library, Sydney; Mr. Malcolm Fraser, of +Perth, Western Australia; Mr. Thomas Gill, of Adelaide; Sir John Forrest; +The Reverend J. Milne Curran; Mr. Archibald Meston; and many others my +best thanks are due. In fact, in such a work as this, one cannot hope for +success unless he seek the assistance of those who remembered the +explorers in life, or have heard their friends and relatives talk +familiarly of them. Let me particularly hope that from these pages our +youth, who should be interested in the exploration of their native land, +will form an adequate idea of the character of the men who helped to make +Australia, and of some of the adverse conditions against which they +struggled so nobly. + +<p>ERNEST FAVENC. + +<p>Sydney, 1908. + +<hr width="50%" align="center"> + +<a name="bibliography"></a> +<h3>BIBLIOGRAPHY.</h3> + +<p>The published Journals of all the Explorers of Australia.<br> +Reports of Explorations published in Parliamentary Papers.<br> +History of New South Wales, from the Records. (Barton and Bladen.)<br> +Account of New South Wales, by Captain Watkin Tench.<br> +Manuscript Diaries of Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth.<br> +Manuscript Diaries of G.W. Evans. (Macquarie and Lachlan Rivers.)<br> +The Pioneers of Victoria and South Australia, by various writers.<br> +Contemporaneous Australian Journals of the several States.<br> +Private letters and memoranda of persons in all the States.<br> +Manuscript Diary of Charles Bonney.<br> +Pamphlets and other bound extracts on the subject of exploration.<br> +The Year Book of Western Australia.<br> +Records of the Geographical Societies of South Australia and Victoria.<br> +Russell's Genesis of Queensland.<br> +Biographical Notes, by J.H. Maiden.<br> +Spinifex and Sand, by David Carnegie.</p> + +<hr width="50%" align="center"> + +<a name="introduction"></a> +<h3>INTRODUCTION.</h3> + +<p>In introducing this book, I should like to commend it to its readers as +giving an account of the explorers of Australia in a simple and concise +form not hitherto available. + +<p>It introduces them to us, tells the tale of their long-tried patience and +stubborn endurance, how they lived and did their work, and gives a short +but graphic outline of the work they accomplished in opening out and +preparing Australia as another home for our race on this side of the +world. + +<p>The battle that they fought and won was over great natural difficulties +and obstacles, as fortunately there were no ferocious wild beasts in +Australia, while the danger from the hostility of the aborigines (though +a barbarous people) was with care and judgment, with a few exceptions, +avoided. + +<p>Their triumph has resulted in peaceful progress and in permanent +occupation and settlement of a vast continent. + +<p>Of all the Australian explorers the fate of Leichhardt -- "the Franklin +of Australia," as the author so justly terms him -- is alone shrouded in +mystery. "No man knoweth his sepulchre to this day." His party of six +white men (including Leichhardt) and two black boys, with 12 horses, 13 +mules, 50 bullocks, and 270 goats, have never been heard of since they +left McPherson's station on the Cogoon on 3rd April, 1848; and although +there have been several attempts to unravel the mystery, there is +scarcely a possibility of any discovery in regard to their fate ever +being made. + +<p>There can be no doubt that the fascination concerning the work of the +early explorers of Australia will gather strength as it goes. Hitherto we +have been too close to them rightly to appreciate what was done. This +book therefore comes at an opportune time, and is a valuable record. The +author has already done a great service to Australian explorations by his +writings, and in the present instance has added to our obligation to him +by condensing the records into a smaller compass, and by that means has +brought it within convenient limits for use in schools and for general +readers. + +<p>Of the explorers of Australia, eleven have been honoured by being placed +on the Golden Roll (Gold Medallists) of the Royal Geographical Society of +London; Edward John Eyre being the first to receive the honour in 1843, +and Ernest Giles being the eleventh and last to receive it in 1880. In +the order of Nature one generation passeth away and another generation +cometh, and so it comes to pass that every one on the Golden Roll except +myself has gone to the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller +returns. + +<p>That the Australian people will always remember the deeds of those, who, +in their day and generation, under arduous and difficult conditions +devoted themselves to the exploration of the Continent goes without +saying, and I, who in bygone years had the honour of assisting in the +task, heartily wish that such fruit may be born of those deeds that +Australia will continue to increase and flourish more and more +abundantly, and thus fulfil her destiny as the great civilising and +dominating power in the Southern Seas. + +<p>JOHN FORREST. + +<p>The Bungalow,<br> +Hay Street, Perth,<br> +Western Australia,<br> +January 7th, 1908.<br> + +<hr width="50%" align="center"> + +<a name="contents"></a> +<h3>CONTENTS.</h3> + +<p> +<a href= "#preface">PREFACE.</a><br> +<a href= "#bibliography">BIBLIOGRAPHY.</a><br> +<a href= "#introduction">INTRODUCTION, by Sir John Forrest.</a><br> +<a href= "#illustrations">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</a><br> +<a href= "#maps">LIST OF MAPS AND PLANS</a></p> + +<p><a href= "#part1">PART 1. EASTERN AUSTRALIA.</a></p> +<p><a href= "#chapter1">CHAPTER 1. ORIGINS.</a></p> +<blockquote>1.1. Governor Phillip.<br> +1.2. Captain Tench.<br> +1.3. The Blue Mountains: Barallier.<br> +1.4. The Blue Mountains: Blaxland.</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#chapter2">CHAPTER 2. GEORGE WILLIAM EVANS.</a></p> +<blockquote>2.1. First Inland Exploration.<br> +2.2. The Lachlan River.<br> +2.3. The Unknown West.</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#chapter3">CHAPTER 3. JOHN OXLEY.</a></p> +<blockquote>3.1. General Biography.<br> +3.2. His First Expedition.<br> +3.3. The Liverpool Plains.<br> +3.4. The Brisbane River.</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#chapter4">CHAPTER 4. HAMILTON HUME.</a></p> +<blockquote>4.1. Early Achievements.<br> +4.2. Discovery of the Hume (Murray).</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#chapter5">CHAPTER 5. ALLAN CUNNINGHAM.</a></p> +<blockquote>5.1. Coastal Expeditions.<br> +5.2. Pandora's Pass.<br> +5.3. The Darling Downs.</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#chapter6">CHAPTER 6. CHARLES STURT.</a></p> +<blockquote>6.1. Early Life.<br> +6.2. The Darling.<br> +6.3. The Passage of the Murray.</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#chapter7">CHAPTER 7. SIR THOMAS MITCHELL.</a></p> +<blockquote>7.1. Introductory.<br> +7.2. The Upper Darling.<br> +7.3. The Passage of the Darling.<br> +7.4. Australia Felix.<br> +7.5. Discovery of the Barcoo.</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#chapter8">CHAPTER 8. THE EARLY FORTIES.</a></p> +<blockquote>8.1. Angas McMillan and Gippsland.<br> +8.2. Count Strzelecki.<br> +8.3. Patrick Leslie.<br> +8.4. Ludwig Leichhardt.</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#chapter9">CHAPTER 9. EDMUND B. KENNEDY.</a></p> +<blockquote>9.1. The Victoria River and Cooper's Creek.<br> +9.2. A Tragic Expedition.</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#chapter10">CHAPTER 10. LATER EXPLORATION IN THE NORTH-EAST.</a></p> +<blockquote>10.1. Walker in Search of Burke and Wills.<br> +10.2. Burdekin and Cape York Expeditions.</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#part2">PART 2. CENTRAL AUSTRALIA.</a></p> + +<p><a href= "#chapter11">CHAPTER 11. EDWARD JOHN EYRE.</a></p> +<blockquote>11.1. Settlement of Adelaide and the Overlanders.<br> +11.2. Eyre's Chief Journeys.</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#chapter12">CHAPTER 12. ATTEMPTS TO REACH THE CENTRE.</a></p> +<blockquote>12.1. Lake Torrens Pioneers and Horrocks.<br> +12.2. Charles Sturt.</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#chapter13">CHAPTER 13. BABBAGE AND STUART.</a></p> +<blockquote>13.1. B. Herschel Babbage.<br> +13.2. John McDouall Stuart.</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#chapter14">CHAPTER 14. BURKE AND WILLS.</a></p> + +<p><a href= "#chapter15">CHAPTER 15. BURKE AND WILLS RELIEF EXPEDITIONS AND ATTEMPTS TOWARDS PERTH.</a></p> +<blockquote>15.1. John McKinley.<br> +15.2. William Landsborough.<br> +15.3. Major P.E. Warburton.<br> +15.4. William Christie Gosse.</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#chapter16">CHAPTER 16. TRAVERSING THE CENTRE.</a></p> +<blockquote>16.1. Ernest Giles.<br> +16.2. W.H. Tietkins and Others.</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#part3">PART 3. WESTERN AUSTRALIA.</a></p> + +<p><a href= "#chapter17">CHAPTER 17. ROE, GREY, AND GREGORY.</a></p> +<blockquote>17.1. Roe and the Pioneers.<br> +17.2. Sir George Grey.<br> +17.3. Augustus C. Gregory.</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#chapter18">CHAPTER 18. A.C. AND F.T. GREGORY.</a></p> +<blockquote>18.1. A.C. Gregory on Sturt's Creek and the Barcoo.<br> +18.2. Frank T. Gregory.</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#chapter19">CHAPTER 19. FROM WEST TO EAST.</a></p> +<blockquote>19.1. Austin.<br> +19.2. Sir John Forrest.<br> +19.3. Alexander Forrest.</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#chapter20">CHAPTER 20. LATER WESTERN EXPEDITIONS.</a></p> +<blockquote>20.1. Cambridge Gulf and the Kimberley District.<br> +20.2. Lindsay and the Elder Exploring Expedition.<br> +20.3. Wells and Carnegie in the Northern Desert.<br> +20.4. Hann and Brockman in the North-West.</blockquote> + +<p><a href= "#indexofnames">INDEX OF NAMES OF PERSONS.</a><br> +<a href= "#indexofplaces">INDEX OF PLACE NAMES.</a></p> + +<hr width="50%" align="center"> + +<a name="illustrations"></a> +<h3>ILLUSTRATIONS.</h3> + +<p><a href= "#favenc-01">Charles Sturt</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-02">Gregory Blaxland</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-04">George William Evans</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-05">John Oxley</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-06">Lachlan River</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-07">Hamilton Hume</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-09">Allan Cunningham</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-10">The Cunningham Memorial, Sydney</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-12">Darling River</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-13">Junction of Darling and Murray Rivers</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-14">Sir Thomas Mitchell</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-15">A Chief of the Bogan River Tribe</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-16">Ludwig Leichhardt</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-18">John Frederick Mann</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-19">Edmund B. Kennedy</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-20">Wild Blacks of Cape York</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-21">Frank Jardine</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-22">Alec Jardine</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-23">John McDouall Stuart</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-24">Edward John Eyre</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-27">John Ainsworth Horrocks</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-29">Sturt's Depot Glen</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-30">Poole's Grave and Monument</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-31">B. Herschel Babbage</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-32">John McDouall Stuart</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-34">Robert O'Hara Burke</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-35">William John Wills</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-36">Scenes on Cooper's Creek (<i>Howitt</i>)</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-37">John King</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-38">Edwin J. Welch</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-39">Burke and Wills Monument, Melbourne</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-40">Major P.E. Warburton</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-41">William Christie Gosse</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-42">Baron Sir Ferdinand von Mueller</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-43">Caravan of Camels in an Australian Desert</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-44">W.H. Tietkins</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-45">Ernest Favenc</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-46">John Septimus Roe</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-47">Sir George Grey.</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-48">Rock Painting</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-49">Augustus C. Gregory</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-50">Frank T. Gregory</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-51">Maitland Brown</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-52">Sir John Forrest (1874)</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-54">Members of Geraldton-Adelaide Exploring Expedition, 1874</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-55">Alexander Forrest</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-56">W. Carr-Boyd</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-57">Sir Thomas Elder</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-58">David Lindsay</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-59">L.A. Wells</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-60">David Wynford Carnegie</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-61">Frank Hann</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-62">Aboriginal Rock Painting, Glenelg River</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-63">Typical Australian Explorers of the early Twentieth Century</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-64">Ernest Giles</a></p> + +<hr width="50%" align="center"> + +<a name="maps"></a> +<h3>MAPS AND PLANS.</h3> + +<p><a href= "#favenc-03map">1. Routes of Blaxland, Wentworth, and Lawson (1813); Evans (1813); Oxley (1817, 1818, 1823); and Sturt (1828 and 1829).</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-08map">2. Routes of Hume and Hovell (1824); Sturt (1829 and 1830); and Mitchell (1836).</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-11map">3. Routes of Sturt (1829 and 1830); and Hume and Hovell (1824).</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-17map">4. Routes of Leichhardt (1844 and 1845); Mitchell (1845 and 1846); and Kennedy (1847 and 1848).</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-25map">5. Routes of Eyre (1840 and 1841).</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-26map">6. Basin of Lake Torrens, supposed extent and formation of.</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-28map">7. Route of Sturt's Central Australian Expedition (1844 to 1846).</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-33map">8. Routes of Stuart (1858 to 1862); and Burke and Wills (1860 and 1861).</a><br> +<a href= "#favenc-53map">9. Routes of Grey (1836, 1837 and 1839); Forrest (1869, 1870, 1874, 1879); and Giles (1873).</a></p> + +<hr width="50%" align="center"> + +<a name="part1"></a> +<h2>PART 1. EASTERN AUSTRALIA.</h2> + +<a name="chapter1"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 1. ORIGINS.</h3> + +<h4>1.1. GOVERNOR PHILLIP.</h4> + +<p>Arthur Phillip, whose claim to be considered the first inland explorer of +the south-eastern portion of Australia rests upon his discovery of the +Hawkesbury River and a few short excursions to the northward of Port +Jackson, had but scant leisure to spare from his official duties for +extended geographical research. For all that, Phillip and a few of his +officers were sufficiently imbued with the spirit of discovery to find +opportunity to investigate a considerable area of country in the +immediate neighbourhood of the settlement, and, considering the fact that +all their explorations at the time had to be laboriously conducted on +foot, they did their work well. + +<p>The first excursion undertaken by Phillip was on the 2nd of March, 1788, +when he went to Broken Bay, whence, after a slight examination, he was +forced to return by the inclemency of the weather. On the 15th of April +he made another attempt to ascertain the character and features of the +unknown land that he had taken possession of. Landing on the shore of the +harbour, a short distance from the North Head, he started on a tour of +examination, and, in the course of his march, penetrated to a distance of +fifteen miles from the coast. At this point he caught sight of the +distant range that was destined to baffle for many years the western +progress of the early settlers. Phillip, on this his first glimpse of it, +christened the northern elevations the Caermarthen Hills, and the +southern elevations the Lansdowne; and a remarkable hill, destined to +become a well-known early landmark, he called Richmond Hill. In the brief +view he had of this range, there was suddenly born in Phillip's mind the +conviction that a large river must have its source therein, and that upon +the banks of such a river, the soil would be found more arable than about +the present settlement. He at once made up his mind to try and gain the +range on a different course. + +<p>A week later he landed at the head of the harbour and directed his march +straight inland, hoping to reach either the mountains, which he knew to +be there, or the river in whose existence he firmly believed. +Disappointment dogged his steps; on the first day a belt of dense scrub +forced his party to return and when, on the morrow, they avoided the +scrub by following up a small creek and got into more thinly timbered +country, their slow progress enabled them to accomplish only thirty miles +in five days. By that time, they were short of provisions; there was no +river visible, and the range still looked on them from afar. What cheered +them was the sight of some land that promised richly to reward the labour +of cultivation. + +<p>It was not until the 6th of June, 1789, that Phillip resumed his labours +in the field of exploration. The Sirius had then returned from the Cape +of Good Hope, and he could reckon on the assistance of his friend, +Captain Hunter, to re-investigate Broken Bay with the vessel's boats. +Accordingly, two boats were sent on to Broken Bay with provisions, where +they were joined by the Governor and his party, who had marched overland. +Besides Phillip, the party consisted of Captain Hunter and two of his +officers, Captain Collins, Captain Johnston, and Surgeon White. + +<p>For two days they were engaged in examining the many inlets and openings +of the Bay, and on the third, they chanced upon a branch that had before +escaped their notice. They proceeded to explore it, and found the river +of which Phillip had dreamed. The next day, renewed examination proved +that it was indeed a noble river, with steep banks and a depth of water +that promised well for navigation. + +<p>After their return to Sydney Cove, preparations were at once made to +follow up this important discovery. On the 28th of June, Phillip, again +accompanied by Hunter, left the Cove, having made much the same +arrangements as before. There was a slight misunderstanding with regard +to meeting the boat; but, after this was cleared away, the party soon +floated out on to the waters of the new-found river. They rowed up the +river until they reached the hill that Phillip, at a distance, had +christened Richmond Hill. On traversing a reach of the stream, the main +range, that as yet they had only dimly seen in the distance, suddenly +loomed ahead of them, frowning in rugged grandeur close upon them, as it +seemed. Struck with admiration and astonishment at this unexpected +revelation of the deep ravines and stern and gloomy gorges that scored +its front, over which hung a blue haze, Phillip, almost involuntarily, +named them on the moment; the Blue Mountains. Next morning the explorers +ascended Richmond Hill, from whose crest they looked across a deep, +wooded valley to the mountains still many miles away. After a hasty +examination of the country on the banks of the river, Phillip and his +band returned to the settlement, he having now realised his brightest +hopes and anticipations. + +<p>On the 11th of April, 1791, Phillip again started on an expedition, the +object of which was a closer inspection of the Blue Mountains. He was +accompanied this time by Captain Tench and Lieutenant Dawes; the latter, +in December, 1789, had been sent out with a small party to reach the foot +of the range, but had succeeded in approaching only within eleven miles +of the Mountains, whence he was forced to retire by the rugged and broken +nature of the country. On the present occasion, they reached the river +two days after leaving Rose Hill. They followed it for another two days, +but made no further discoveries, being greatly delayed by the constant +detours around the heads of small tributary creeks, too deep to cross in +the neighbourhood of the river. + +<p>This was the last exploring expedition undertaken by Governor Phillip. +Considering that his health was not robust, and that the work entailed +was of a specially arduous nature, his personal share in exploring the +country about the little settlement was noteworthy. It proved him to +possess both the foresight and the energy necessary in an explorer. + +<h4>1.2. CAPTAIN TENCH.</h4> + +<p>In the month of June, 1789, Captain Watkin Tench, who, during his short +sojourn in the infant colony showed himself as zealous in exploration as +he was keen in his observations, started from the newly-formed redoubt at +Rose Hill, of which he was in command, on a short excursion to examine +the surrounding country. This trip, inspired by Tench's ardent love of +discovery, became a noteworthy one in the annals of New South Wales. It +was made during the month that witnessed the discovery of the Hawkesbury +River. On the second day after his party left Rose Hill, they found +themselves early in the morning on "the banks of a river, nearly as broad +as the Thames at Putney, and apparently of great depth, the current +running very slowly in a northerly direction." + +<p>This river, at first known as the Tench, was afterwards named the Nepean +by Phillip, when its identity as a tributary of the Hawkesbury had been +confirmed. Two other slight excursions were made by Tench in company with +Lieutenant Dawes, who was in charge of the Observatory, and ex-surgeon +Worgan. In May, 1791, Tench and Dawes started from Rose Hill and +confirmed the supposition that the Nepean was an affluent of the +Hawkesbury, a matter over which there had been some doubt since its first +discovery by Tench. Tench returned to England in H.M.S. Gorgon, in +December, 1791. + +<p>The names of Paterson, Johnson, Palmer, and Laing are also connected with +exploration on the upper Hawkesbury. + +<h4>1.3. THE BLUE MOUNTAINS: BARALLIER.</h4> + +<p>The exploration of that portion of Australia which was accessible by the +scanty means of the early settlers was for many years impeded by the +stern barrier of the mountains, and most of their efforts in the +direction of discovery were aimed at surmounting the range that defied +their attacks. Among the many whose attempts were signalised only by +failure were the gallant Bass, whose name, for other reasons, will never +be forgotten by Australians, the quarrelsome and pragmatic Cayley, and +the adventurous Hack. Amongst them there was one, however, whose failure, +read by the light of modern knowledge, was probably a geographical +success. This was Francis Barallier, ensign in the New South Wales corps, +who was encouraged by Governor King to indulge his ardent longing for +discovery. By birth a Frenchman, Barallier had received his ensigncy by +commission on the 13th of February, 1801, having done duty as an ensign +since July, 1800, by virtue of a government general order issued by +Governor Hunter. In August, 1801, he had been appointed by Governor King +military engineer, in place of Captain Abbott resigned. In February, +1802, he was succeeded by Lieutenant George Bellasis, an artillery +officer. Besides his expeditions to the Blue Mountains, he did much +surveying with Lieutenant James Grant in the Lady Nelson. In 1804, he +went to England and saw service in several regiments, distinguishing +himself greatly in military engineering, amongst his works being the +erection of the Nelson Column in Trafalgar Square, the designer of which +was Mr. Railton. Barallier died in 1853. + +<p>Peron, the French naturalist, tells us that when in Sydney in October, +1802, he persuaded Governor King to fit out a party to attempt the +passage of the mountains, and that a young Frenchman, aide-de-camp to the +Governor, was intrusted with the leadership. He returned, however, +without having been able to penetrate further than his English +predecessors. + +<p>On the following month, however, Barallier set out from Parramatta, on +his famous embassy to the King of the Mountains. This fictitious embassy +arose from the fact that Colonel Paterson having refused Barallier the +required leave, King claimed him as his aide-de-camp, and sent him on +this embassy. Barallier started with four soldiers, five convicts, and a +waggon-load of provisions drawn by two bullocks. He crossed the Nepean +and established a depot at a place known as Nattai, whence the waggon was +sent back to Sydney for provisions, Barallier, with the remainder of his +men and a native, pushing out westwards. After this preliminary +examination he returned to the depot, and made a fresh departure on the +22nd of November, and, continuing mostly directly westwards, he reached a +point (according to his chart) about one hundred and five miles due west +from Lake Illawarra. If this position is even approximately correct, he +must have been at the very source of the Lachlan River. + +<p>I give a few extracts from his diary, which was not even translated until +the Historical Records of New South Wales were collected by Mr. F.M. +Bladen. They refer to the crossing of the range. + +<p>"On the 24th of November, I followed the range of elevated mountains, +where I saw several kangaroos. This country is covered with meadows and +small hills, where trees grow a great distance apart...I resumed my +journey, following various directions to avoid obstacles, and at 4 +o'clock I arrived on the top of a hill where I discovered that the +direction of the chain of mountains extended itself north-westerly to a +distance which I estimated to be about thirty miles, and which turned +abruptly at right angles. It formed a barrier nearly north and south, +which it was necessary to climb over...At 7 o'clock I arrived on the +summit of another hill, from where I noticed three openings: the first on +the right towards North 50 West; the other in front of me, and which +appeared very large, was west from me; and the third was South 35 West. + +<p>...This discovery gave me great hope, and the whole of the party appeared +quite pleased, thinking that we had surmounted all difficulties, and that +we were going to enter a plain, the apparent immensity of which gave +every promise of our being able to penetrate far into the interior of the +country...At six o'clock I found myself at a distance of about two miles +from the western passage...I was then only half-a-mile from the passage, +and I sent on two men in order to discover it, instructing them to ascend +the mountain to the north of this passage...I waited till 7 o'clock for +my two men, who related to me, that after passing the range which was in +front of us we would enter an immense plain, that from the height where +they were on the mountain, they had caught sight of only a few hills +standing here and there on this plain, and that the country in front of +them had the appearance of a meadow...At daybreak I left with two men to +verify myself the configuration of the ground, and to ascertain whether +the passage of the Blue Mountains had really been effected. I climbed the +chain of mountains north of us. When I had reached the middle of this +height the view of a plain as vast as the eye could reach confirmed to me +the report of the previous day...I discovered towards the west and at a +distance which I estimated to be forty miles, a range of mountains higher +than those we had passed...From where I was, I could not detect any +obstacle to the passage right to the foot of those mountains...After +having cut a cross of St. Andrew on a tree to indicate the terminus of my +second journey, I returned by the same route I had come." + +<p>Barallier concludes his diary by mentioning another projected expedition +over the mountains from Jervis Bay. But no record of such a journey has +ever come to light. + +<h4>1.4. THE BLUE MOUNTAINS: BLAXLAND.</h4> + +<p>Whether Barallier succeeded or not in reaching the summit of the +mountains, the verdict accepted at that date was that they had not been +passed; and until the year 1813, they were regarded as impenetrable. The +narrative of the crossing of these mountains, and the chain of events +that led up to the successful attempt is widely known, but only in a +general way. It is for this reason that a longer and more detailed +account is given in these pages; and as the expedition was successful in +opening up a way to the interior of the Continent, it is fitting that its +leader and originator, Gregory Blaxland, should be classed amongst the +makers of Australasia. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-02"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-02.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Statue of Gregory Blaxland, Lands Office, Sydney.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>Blaxland was born in Kent, in 1771, and arrived in the colony in 1806, +accompanied by his wife and three children. He settled down to the +congenial occupation of stockbreeding, on what was then considered to be +a large scale. Finding that his stock did not thrive so well in the +immediate neighbourhood of the sea coast, and wanting more land for +pasturing his increasing herds, he made anxious enquiries in all +directions as to the possibility of crossing the Blue Mountains inland. +Nobody would entertain such a suggestion, the failures had been too many: +every one to whom he broached the subject declared it to be impossible, +prophesying that the extension of the settlement westward would forever +be obstructed by their unscalable heights. Blaxland, however, was not +intimidated by these disheartening predictions; and, in 1811, he started +out on a short journey of investigation, in company with three Europeans +and two natives. On this trip he found that by keeping on the crowning +ridge or dividing water-shed between the streams running into the Nepean +and those that fed what he then took to be an inland river, he got along +fairly well. Some time afterwards he accompanied the Governor in a boat +excursion up the Warragamba, a tributary of the Nepean, and though there +were no noteworthy results, it convinced Blaxland that, could he follow +his former tactics of adhering to the leading ridge that formed the +divide between the tributaries of the northern bank of this river and the +affluents of the Grose, a tributary of the Hawkesbury, he would attain +his object and reach the highlands. It will thus be seen that Blaxland +acted with a definite and well-thought-out mode of procedure; and that +the ridge he selected for the attempt was chosen with judgment based on +considerable knowledge of the locality, which he gained from many talks +with the men who hunted and frequented the foothills of the range. +Finally, when he had arranged his plan of assault, he confided his +intention to two friends, Lieutenant William Lawson and William Charles +Wentworth, whose names are associated with his in the conquest of the +Mountains. They both consented to accompany him, and agreed to follow his +idea of stubbornly following one leading spur. Blaxland's former +expedition had convinced him that the local knowledge of the natives did +not extend far enough to be of any service, and they therefore did not +take any aborigines with them. They took pack-horses, however, which +proves that the party started with a well-founded faith in their ultimate +success, and gave no heed to the terrifying descriptions of former +travellers. + +<p>The besetting hindrance to their progress was the low scrub of brushwood +that greatly delayed the pack-horses. This obstacle was overcome only by +patiently advancing before the horses every afternoon, and cutting a +bridle-track for the succeeding day's stage. Thus literally, the way that +ultimately led into the interior was won by foot, and the little +pioneering band eventually descended into open grazing country at the +head of what is now known as the Cox River. The outward and return trip +occupied less than one month's time; which speaks volumes for the wise +choice of route; but what says more, is the fact that no better natural, +upward pathway has since been found. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-03map"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-03map.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Routes of Blaxland, Wentworth, and Lawson (1813); Evans (1813); Oxley (1817, 1818, 1823); and Sturt (1828 and 1829).</b></p> +</center> + +<p>A synopsis of Blaxland's journal is given here, commencing with a few +quoted lines of preamble:-- + +<p>"On Tuesday, May 11th, 1813, Mr. Gregory Blaxland, Mr. William Wentworth +and Lieutenant Lawson, attended by four servants, with five dogs and four +horses laden with provisions and other necessaries, left Mr. Blaxland's +farm at South Creek for the purpose of endeavouring to affect a passage +over the Blue Mountains, between the Western River* and the River +Grose...The distance travelled on this and subsequent days was computed +by time, the rate being estimated at about two miles per hour." + +<blockquote>*[Footnote.] The Warragamba.</blockquote> + +<p>They camped at the foot of the ridge that was to witness the last +struggle between man and the Mountains. On the first day, they did three +miles and a half in a direction varying from south-west to +west-north-west, and that night obtained a little grass for the horses, +and some water in a rocky hole. + +<p>The heavy dews in the morning retarded any attempts at early departures, +as the thick wet brush rendered it difficult to drive the horses, so +that, as a rule, it was nine o'clock before they were able to strike +camp. The ridge, still favouring the direction of west and north-west, on +the third day they arrived at a tract of land, hilly, but with tolerable +grass on it. Here they found traces of a former white visitant in the +shape of a marked-tree line. Two miles from this point, they met with a +belt of brushwood so dense that for the first time they were forced to +alter their course; but the subordinate spurs on either side ending in +rocky precipices, they had to return and again confront the scrub. In +these circumstances, they made up their minds to rely upon axe and +tomahawk to win a way, and so next morning fell to work cutting a passage +for the horses. The ascent was also now becoming steep and rough, and on +this day some of the horses fell while struggling up with their loads. + +<p>The first day's work gained for them five miles, but at the end of their +toil they had to retrace their weary way back to the last night's camp. +The next day they cleared the track for only two miles further ahead; so +much time being wasted in walking backwards and forwards to the work. +There was no grass amongst the scrub that encompassed them, and when, on +Monday, they determined to move the camp equipage forward, they packed +the horses with as much cut-grass as they could put on them. This +amounted to, according to Lawson's diary, about two hundred pounds weight +for each horse, which, in addition to their ordinary loads, must have +been a very weighty packload for uphill work. However, according to +Blaxland, "they stood it well." They obtained no water for their animals +that night, and what they wanted for their own requirements had to be +painfully carried up a cliff about six hundred feet in height. On the +succeeding day they suddenly came on what at first appeared to be an +impassable barrier. The ridge which they had so pertinaciously followed, +had, for the last mile narrowed and dwindled down into a sharp +razor-backed spur, flanked with rugged and abrupt gullies on either +slope. Across this narrow way now stretched a perpendicularly-sided mass +of rock, which seemed effectually to bar their path. The removal of a few +large boulders however, revealed an aperture which, after some labour, +they widened sufficiently to allow the pack-horses to squeeze through. + +<p>Once through they began to ascend what they estimated to be the second +tier of the Mountains. Shortly after they left camp that morning they +came on a pile of stones, or cairn, evidently the work of some European, +which they attributed to Bass. They were much elated at the thought that +they had now passed beyond the limit of any previous attempt.* + +<blockquote>*[Footnote.] This cairn was afterwards named Cayley's Repulse by Governor +Macquarie: but recent research goes to show that Cayley followed the +valley of the Grose, and was many miles to the north of where the cairn +was found. According to Flinders, Bass was not on the high ridge +traversed by Blaxland and party.</blockquote> + +<p>They could now look round with triumph on the panorama spread beneath +their view, and from the superior elevation which they had obtained, they +took the bearings of several noticeable landmarks that they had seen +before only from the flat country. The labour of cutting a path each day +for the horses for the next day's march had, however, still to be +continued; but the crest of the ridge was again wider, though the gullies +on each side were as steep as before. That night, in camp, the dogs were +uneasy throughout the night, and several times gave tongue and aroused +the sleepers, tired with their day's work. From what they found +afterwards, they had good reason to believe that the blacks had been +lurking around meditating an attack. + +<p>They then passed over the locality known in the present day as +Blackheath, and soon afterwards had their course diverted to the +northward by what Blaxland terms "a stone wall rising perpendicularly out +of the side of the mountain." This they tried to descend, but without +success, and so kept on along its brow. Undergrowth still delayed them, +and they still had to spend their energies in hewing a passage, until on +the 28th of the month, they camped on the edge of the steep descent that +had lately marched beside them. The decline was, however, not quite so +abrupt, and the face no longer composed of solid rock. They paused to +overlook what lay before them and immediately below, and found the view +more gratifying than they had anticipated. What they had at first taken +for sandy barren soil proved now, on nearer inspection, to be forest-land +fairly covered with a good growth of grass. The horses not having tasted +fresh grass for some days, they cut a slanting trench across the sloping +face of the descent in order to afford the horses some sort of foot-hold, +and managed to get them down to a little feed that evening. + +<p>Next morning they were up and away early, and reached the foot of the +mountain (Mount York) at 9 a.m., having had to carry the pack-loads down +most of the way themselves, as it was too steep for laden horses to +preserve their balance with safety. The actual base of the mountain was +reached through a gap in the rocks, some thirty feet in width. + +<p>They now found themselves on what was then termed meadow land, drained by +the upper tributaries of the Warragamba; and this country presenting no +serious obstacle to their further progress, they rightly concluded that +they had now surmounted every difficulty. They followed the mountain +stream up for some distance and, at the furthest point they reached, +ascended a high sugar-loaf hill, which surveyor Evans, who followed in +their footsteps, called Mount Blaxland. From the summit they had an +extensive view all around, and Blaxland described the character of the +country they saw in the following words: "Forest and grass land, +sufficient to support the stock of the colony for the next thirty years." + +<p>Just here, let us compare this prophecy with a similar one made by Evans +a few months afterwards, on the pasture lands of the upper Macquarie: +"The increase of stock for some hundred years cannot overrun it." + +<p>The provisions of the explorers were now nearly expended; their apparel, +especially their footgear, was in rags and tatters; on the other hand, +the work that they had set themselves to do was well done. They had +vanquished the Blue Mountains. Their return was uneventful. After +breakfast on the 6th of June, they crossed the Nepean, their provisions, +with the exception of a little flour, being quite consumed. We thus see +how in the end the impenetrable range, that had so long overawed the +colonists with its frown, was overcome, with slight difficulty, when +local experience combined with method, was arrayed against it. To liken +the former expeditions to Blaxland's is to compare a few headlong +assaults with a well-conceived and skilfully worked-out attack. The men +themselves write slightingly of the feat. Blaxland says: "the passage of +the Blue Mountains might be easily effected." Lawson's opinion of the +mountain is: "that there would be no difficulty in making a good road"; +and Wentworth's verdict is: "that the country they reached is easy of +access." Evans, who was hot upon their trail, gives as his opinion: "that +there are no hills on the ridge that their ascent or descent is in any +way difficult." + +<p>The tidings brought back by the party of successful pioneers created the +greatest excitement in the little colony. No longer would the mountainous +barrier stand defiantly in their western path. For over thirty years it +had laughed at their puny efforts to cross its rugged crest, but its time +had come at last; the way to the unknown west was now open, and +rejoicingly the settlers prepared to follow on the explorers' trail. What +the mysterious interior might hold, they could not imagine; but the gates +thereto being thrown wide at last, its secrets would be soon known to +them. + +<p>Blaxland died on the 3rd of January, 1853, having lived long enough to +witness the wonderful advance in settlement due to his energies. + +</p><a name="chapter2"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 2. GEORGE WILLIAM EVANS.</h3> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-04"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-04.jpg"></p> +<p><b>George W. Evans, Discoverer of the Macquarie and Lachlan +Rivers.</b></p> +</center> + +<h4>2.1. FIRST INLAND EXPLORATION.</h4> + +<p>George William Evans, Deputy-Surveyor of Lands, came forward at this +stage as the most prominent figure in Australian exploration. To him is +due the honour, without dispute or cavil, of being the first discoverer +of an Australian river flowing into the interior. For some reason he has +never received adequate recognition of his important explorations, and he +is well-nigh forgotten by the people of New South Wales, the state that +has benefited most by his labours. After Oxley's second expedition, his +name appears to have been overshadowed by his official superior's. Yet +his work was invariably successful, and his labour in the field +unremitting. + +<p>Evans was born in England, at Warwick, in 1778. When a young man he went +to the Cape of Good Hope, where he obtained an appointment in the +dockyard, and while there he married his first wife, Janet Melvill. In +1802 he was appointed Deputy Surveyor-General, and came to Australia in +H.M.S. Buffalo, in order to take up his official duties. It was while he +held this post that he carried out his work of exploration. + +<p>When he returned from these explorations, he resumed his duties as Deputy +Surveyor-General only, until he was permanently settled in Tasmania, +where he remained in office until the year 1825, when he resigned in +disgust at his treatment by his superiors. + +<p>Evans lived at a time when official jealousies were rife, and men in +position often heedless of the justice or veracity of their statements +when influenced by party rancour. The machinations of a cabal led by +Governor Arthur, and an effort made to deprive him of his well-deserved +pension, necessitated Evans's departure for England to defend his claims. +In this he was only partially successful, for the pension which it was +understood was for life, was stopped in 1832. He returned to Tasmania, +and passed the rest of his days at his residence, Warwick Lodge, at the +head of Newtown Bay. He died at the age of seventy-four, and is buried in +the old cemetery, Hobart; his second wife, Lucy Parris, rests in the same +grave. + +<p>Evans was a clever draughtsman, and some of his sketches of the country +explored are reproduced in Oxley's journal. He also published a book +entitled History and Description of the Present State of Van Diemen's +Land. + +<p>It was on Saturday, the 20th of November, 1813, that Evans, in charge of +five men, one of whom had been with Blaxland's party, started from the +point of forest land on the Nepean known as Emu Island. He lost no time +in following the tracks of the late expedition, leaving the measurement +until his return. On Friday, the 26th, he reached Blaxland's furthest +point, and thenceforward passed over new ground. It is somewhat amusing +to note that his opinions of the country when on his outward way and on +his homeward, are widely divergent. He candidly and ingenuously writes, +after he has been on the table-land:-- + +<p>"What appeared to me fine country on my first coming to it, looks +miserable now after returning from so superior and good a country." + +<p>On Tuesday, the 30th of November, he gained a ridge that he had had in +view for some time, though he had been "bothered" by the hills in his +efforts to reach it. From this ridge he caught a tantalising view, a +glimpse of the outskirts of the vast interior. + +<p>There before him, the first white man to look upon the scene, lay the +open way to two thousand miles of fair pasture-lands and brooding +desert-wastes -- of limitless plains and boundless rolling downs -- of +open grassy forests and barren scrubs -- of solitary mountain peaks and +sluggish rivers; and, though then hidden from even the most brilliant +imagination, the wondrous potentialities latent in that silent and +untrodden region. If a vision of the future had been vouchsafed +Deputy-Surveyor Evans as he stood and gazed -- a vision of all that would +cover the spacious lands before and beyond him before one hundred years +had passed away -- the entry he made in his diary would surely have +reflected in its style his flight of imagination. Instead, we have the +prosaic statement:-- + +<p>"I came to a very high mount, when I was much pleased with the sight +westward. I think I can see 40 miles which had the look of open country." + +<p>In a pleasant valley, he came upon a large "riverlett," and on its banks +they camped. There they shot ducks and caught "trout" -- as he called the +Murray Cod -- the first of the species to tickle the palate of a white +man; fine specimens, too, weighing five and six pounds. As he proceeded +further and further, he became enchanted with the scenery: "The +handsomest I have yet seen, with gently-rising hills and dales +well-watered" -- and he finally notes that language failed him to +describe it adequately. + +<p>Evans named the river that led him through this veritable land of promise +the Fish River, and a river which joined its waters with it from the +south he called the Campbell River. The united stream he christened, as +in duty bound, the Macquarie. Unimpeded in his course, he followed the +Macquarie until he was 98 1/2 measured miles -- for they had been +chaining since passing the limit of the first explorers -- from the +termination of Blaxland's journey. He then decided to return; for he had +gained all the information he had been sent to seek; and though game was +plentiful, his party were without shoes, and the horses were suffering +from sore backs. + +<p>Thus was concluded in a most satisfactory manner the first journey of +exploration into the interior. Evans constantly saw, during his progress, +unmistakeable traces of the natives; but he interviewed only a small +party of five. This representative band of the inland aborigines of +Australia was composed of two lubras and some picaninnies, both the women +being blind of the right eye. + +<p>The party reached the Nepean on their return journey on the 8th of +January, 1814. Mr. Cox was immediately intrusted with the superintendence +of the work of making a public road over the range, following closely the +same route as that taken by Blaxland's party. This work was completed in +the year 1815, and on the 26th of April of the same year, Governor +Macquarie and a large staff set out to visit the newly-found territory. +The Governor arrived at the recently-formed town of Bathurst on the 4th +of May; but before his arrival Evans had been again ordered out on +another exploring expedition to the south-west. + +<h4>2.2. THE LACHLAN RIVER.</h4> + +<p>Evans started from Bathurst on the 13th of May, 1815. He commenced his +journey along the fine flat country then known as Queen Charlotte Vale, +maintaining a southerly course for a day or two; but finding himself +still amongst the tributaries of the Campbell River, he retraced his +steps some twelve or fourteen miles in order to avoid a row of rocky +hills. He then struck out more to the westward. On Thursday, the 23rd, he +came to a chain of ponds bearing nearly north-west, and from a commanding +ridge saw before him a prospect as gratifying as some of the scenes +viewed on his former trip. + +<p>"I never saw a more pleasing-looking country. I cannot express the +pleasure I feel in going forward. The hills we have passed are excellent +land, well-wooded. To the south, distant objects are obscured by high +hills, but in the south-west are very distant mountains, under them +appears a mist as tho' rising from a river. It was the like look round to +the west, but beyond the loom of high hills are very faintly +distinguished." + +<p>This was the first view Evans obtained of the Lachlan valley. The ponds +he had met with gradually grew into a connected stream: other ponds +united with them from the north-east, and he writes: "they have at the +end of the day almost the appearance of a river." On the 24th he came to +a creek which joined "the bed of a river rising in a North 30 East +direction, now dry except in hollow places. It is fully 70 feet wide, +having a pebbly bottom; on each side grow large swamp-oaks." + +<p>On Thursday, the 1st of June, this river holding a definite course to the +westward, and he being clear of the points of the hills, which hitherto +had hindered him greatly, he determined to return, as he was running +short of provisions. + +<p>"To-morrow I am necessitated to return, and shall ascend a very high hill +I left on my right hand this morning. I leave no mark here more than +cutting trees. On one situated in an angle of the river on a wet creek +bearing north I have deeply carved EVANS, 1st JUNE, 1815."* + +<blockquote>*[Footnote.] This tree, a tall and sturdy gum, flourished for over ninety +years, and when in its prime was, unfortunately, owing to the spread of +agricultural settlement, inadvertently ring-barked and killed. It must +have been a fine tree when marked by the explorer, and though dead it is +still standing at the date of the publication of this book. In 1906, the +shield of wood bearing the inscription, was cut off by Mr. James Marsh, +of Marshdale, and is now preserved in the Australian Museum in Sydney, +New South Wales. It is the oldest marked-tree in the whole of +Australasia.</blockquote> + +<p>On the next morning Evans ascended the hill he alluded to, and from the +summit enjoyed a most extended view of the surrounding country, which he +compared to a view of the ocean. On his way back to Bathurst, he bestowed +upon the new river the name it now bears. A short passage in his diary, +written during his return, is of peculiar interest, as it contains the +first mention of snow seen in Australia by white men. On Thursday, the +8th of June, he writes:-- + +<p>"The mountains I observed bearing north-west are covered with snow; I +thought on my way out that their tops looked rather white. To-day it was +distinguished as plain as ever I saw snow on the mountains in Van +Diemen's Land. I never felt colder weather than it has been some days +past. We have broken ice full two inches thick." + +<p>On the 12th of June the party returned to Bathurst, and Evans had by that +time accomplished two of the most momentous journeys ever made in +Australia. It was not his actual discoveries alone that brought him fame, +but the vast field for settlement these discoveries opened up. The +independent explorations of Surveyor Evans ceased after his discovery of +the Lachlan; thenceforward he served Australia as second to Lieutenant +Oxley. + +<h4>2.3. THE UNKNOWN WEST.</h4> + +<p>The settlers of that day took every advantage of the new outlets for +their energies, thrown open to them by the recent successful +explorations. Cattle and sheep were rapidly driven forward on to the +highlands, and, favoured by a beautiful site, the town of Bathurst soon +assumed an orderly appearance. Private enterprise had also been at work +elsewhere. The pioneer settlers were making their way south; the tide of +settlement flowed over the intermediate lands to the Shoalhaven River; +and in the north they had commenced the irresistible march of +civilization up the Hunter River. + +<p>It was in the Shoalhaven district that young Hamilton Hume, the first +Australian-born explorer to make his mark in the field, gained his +bushcraft. + +<p>Governor Macquarie, during his term of office, did his best to foster +exploration; and it was fortunate that the first advance into the +interior occurred when there was a Governor in Australia who did not look +coldly upon geographical enterprise. + +<p>The men who entered first upon the task of solving the geographical +problems of the interior of the Australian continent were doomed to meet +with much bitter disappointment. The varying nature of the seasons caused +the different travellers to form contrary and perplexing ideas, often +with regard to the same tract of country. What appeared to one man a land +of pleasant gurgling brooks, flowing through rich pastures, appeared to +another as a pitiless desert, unfit for human foot to venture upon. +Oxley, who traversed what is now the cream of the agricultural portion of +the state of New South Wales, speaks of the main part of it in terms of +the bitterest condemnation. His error was of course rather a mistake in +judgment than the result of inaccurate observation. + +<p>Some of the colonists nursed far fonder hopes, and the general opinion +seemed to be that these western flowing rivers would gather in +tributaries, and having swollen to a size worthy of so great a continent, +seek the sea on the west coast. W.C. Wentworth, who certainly was capable +of forming an opinion deserving consideration, wrote thus of the then +untraced Macquarie River:-- + +<p>"If the sanguine hopes to which the discovery of this river (the +Macquarie) has given birth should be realised, and it should be found to +empty itself into the ocean in the north-west coast, which is the only +part of this vast island that has not been accurately surveyed, in what +mighty conceptions of the future power and greatness of this colony may +we not reasonably indulge? The nearest point at which Mr. Oxley left off +to any part of the western coast is very little short of two thousand +miles. If this river therefore be already of the size of the Hawkesbury +at Windsor, which is not less than two hundred and fifty yards in +breadth, and of sufficient depth to float a seventy-four gun ship, it is +not difficult to imagine what must be its magnitude at its confluence +with the ocean, before it can arrive at which it has to traverse a +country nearly two thousand miles in extent. If it possesses the usual +sinuosities of rivers, its course to the sea cannot be less than from +five to six thousand miles, and the endless accession of tributary +streams which it must receive in its passage through so great an extent +of country will, without doubt, enable it to vie in point of magnitude +with any river in the world." + +<p>It was to realise such ambitious hopes as these that Oxley went forth to +penetrate into the interior. + +</p><a name="chapter3"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 3. JOHN OXLEY.</h3> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-05"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-05.jpg"></p> +<p><b>John Oxley. From a portrait in the possession of Mrs. Oxley, of Bowral. The portrait was presented to Mrs. King, widow of Governor King, in 1810, +and signed by him.</b></p> +</center> + +<h4>3.1. GENERAL BIOGRAPHY.</h4> + +<p>Oxley was born in England in the early part of 1781. In his youth he +entered the navy, saw active service in many parts of the world, and rose +to the rank of Lieutenant. He came to Australia in January, 1812, and was +appointed Surveyor-General. + +<p>Throughout his career in Australia, Oxley would seem to have won the +friendship and respect of all he came in contact with. Captain Charles +Sturt, in the journal of his first expedition, wrote of him as follows:-- + +<p>"A reflection arose to my mind, on examining these decaying vestiges of a +former expedition, whether I should be more fortunate than the leader of +it, and how far I should be able to penetrate beyond the point which had +conquered his perseverance. Only a week before I left Sydney I had +followed Mr. Oxley to the tomb. A man of great quickness and of uncommon +ability. The task of following up his discoveries was no less enviable +than arduous." + +<p>These thoughts were suggested to Sturt when standing at one of Oxley's +old camps, and coming from such a man carry great weight. + +<p>The following obituary notice of Oxley appeared in the Government Gazette +of May 27th, 1828. + +<p>"It would be impossible for his Excellency, consistently with his +feelings, to announce the decease of the late Surveyor-General without +endeavouring to express the sense he entertains of Mr. Oxley's services, +though he cannot do justice to them. + +<p>"From the nature of this colony, the office of Surveyor-General is +amongst the most important under Government; and to perform its duties in +a manner Mr. Oxley has done for a long series of years is as honourable +to his zeal and abilities as it is painful for the Government to be +deprived of them. + +<p>"Mr. Oxley entered the public service at an early period of his life, and +has filled the important situation of Surveyor-General for the last +sixteen years. + +<p>"His exertions in the public service have been unwearied, as has been +proved by his several expeditions to explore the interior. The public +have reaped the benefit while it is to be apprehended that the event, +which they cannot fail to lament, has been accelerated by the privations +and fatigues of these arduous services. Mr. Oxley eminently assisted in +unfolding the advantages of this highly favoured colony from an early +stage of its existence, and his name will ever be associated with the +dawn of its advancement. It is always gratifying to the Government to +record its approbation of the services of meritorious public officers, +and in assigning to Mr. Oxley's name a distinguished place in that class +to which his devotion to the interests of the colony has so justly +entitled him, the Government would do honour to his memory in the same +degree as it feels the loss it has sustained in his death." + +<p>Oxley died at Kirkham, his private residence near Sydney, on the 25th of +May, 1828. Though his judgment was at times at fault, as will be seen +later on, he was essentially a successful explorer; for, although he did +not in every case achieve the object aimed at, he always brought back his +men without loss, and he opened up vast tracts of new country. John +Oxley's personality is not very familiar, but the portrait presented to +the reader in this volume was taken in the prime of his life, before he +suffered the scars of doubtful battle with the Australian wilderness. It +has never been published before, and is taken from the original miniature +that he presented to Mrs. King, widow of Governor King, in 1810. + +<h4>3.2. HIS FIRST EXPEDITION.</h4> + +<p>On this, Oxley's first journey of exploration, Evans accompanied him as +second in command, and another man who has left an immortal name was also +with him -- Allan Cunningham, officially known as King's Botanist. +Charles Fraser, well-known in connection with the early history both of +New South Wales and of Western Australia, accompanied Oxley under the +title of Colonial Botanist. There were nine other men in the party -- +boatmen, horse-tenders, and so forth; they had with them two boats and +fourteen pack and riding-horses. A depot was first formed at the junction +of the small creek whence Evans had turned back, and where he had marked +a tree with his initials in 1815. There the boats were launched and +preparations completed for the final start. On the 6th of April, 1817, +Oxley left Sydney and joined his party at the depot on the 1st of May. +Thence he soon commenced this most momentous journey in Australia's early +annals, eager to penetrate into the unknown, and inspired with hopes of +solving the mystery of the outlet of this inland river. + +<p>Disappointment marks the tone of Oxley's journal from the start; the +exceeding flatness of the country, the many ana-branches of the river, +the low altitude of its banks, and the absence of any large tributary +streams, above all, the dismal impression made by the monotony of the +surroundings, seem to have depressed Oxley's spirit. He appears to have +formed the idea that the interior tract he was approaching was nothing +more than a dead and stagnant marsh -- a huge dreary swamp, within whose +bounds the inland rivers lost their individuality and merged into a +lifeless morass. A more melancholy picture could not be imagined, and +with such an awesome thought constantly haunting his mind there is no +wonder that he became morbid, and that the dominant tone of his journal, +whilst on the Lachlan, is so hopelessly pessimistic. + +<p>"These flats," he says, "are certainly not adapted for cattle; the grass +is too swampy, and the bushes, swamps, and lagoons are too thickly +intermingled with the better portion to render it a safe or desirable +grazing country. The timber is universally bad and small; a few misshapen +gum trees on the immediate banks of the river may be considered an +exception." + +<p>The channel of the river now divided, and Oxley followed the channel on +the northern side, which they were skirting. But before they had +progressed a mile beyond the point of divergence, they reached the spot +where the river overflowed its banks and its course was lost in the +marshes. It was on the 12th of May that they received this check to their +as yet uninterrupted progress. + +<p>"Observing an eminence about half-a-mile from the south side, we crossed +over the horses and baggage at a place where the water was level with the +banks, and which, when within its usual channel, did not exceed thirty or +forty feet in width. + +<p>"We ascended the hill, and had the mortification to perceive that the +termination of our research was reached, at least down this branch of the +river. The whole country from the west, north-west, round to the north, +was either a complete marsh or lay under water." + +<p>The country to the south and south-west appearing more elevated. Oxley +determined to return to the place where the branches separated, and to +try his fortune on the other one. This, after a while, proved as +unsatisfactory as the one they had abandoned. Bitterly disappointed, +Oxley altered his plans entirely. He resolved to cease trying to follow +the river through this water-logged country, and determined to strike out +on a direct course to the south coast in the neighbourhood of Cape +Northumberland. In this way he hoped to cross any river that these dreary +marshes and swamps gave birth to, and that found an outlet into the +Southern Ocean, between Spencer's Gulf and Cape Otway. + +<p>This resolve was at once carried out. The boats were hauled up and +secured together; all unnecessary articles were abandoned to suit the +reduced means of transit; and at nine o'clock on May 18th they said +farewell to this weary river and started to encounter fresh troubles +under another guise. Instead of travelling in a superfluity of water they +now found themselves straitened by drought, and the work began to tell +upon the horses. Scrub, too, that besetting hindrance of so many +Australian explorers, began to impede their onward path. Eucalyptus brush +overrun with creepers and prickly acacia bushes united to bar the way, +and when, after much toil and suffering, they at last reached the point +of a range, which Oxley named the Peel Range, the leader had reluctantly +again to change his mind and to abandon the idea of making south-west to +the coast. Sick at heart of this sequence of disastrous happenings, he +confided his feeling of sorrow to his journal. + +<p>"June 4th. Weather as usual fine and clear, which is the greatest comfort +we enjoy in these deserts abandoned by every living creature capable of +getting out of them. I was obliged to send back to our former +halting-place for water, a distance of near eight miles; this is terrible +for the horses, who are in general extremely reduced; but two in +particular cannot, I think, endure this miserable existence much longer. + +<p>"At five o'clock two of the men whom I had sent to explore the country to +the south-west and see if any water could be found, returned after +proceeding six or seven miles; they found it impossible to go any farther +in that direction, or even south, from the thick bushes that intersected +their course on every side; and no water (nor in fact the least sign of +any) was discovered either by them or by those who were sent in search of +it nearer our little camp. + +<p>"June 5th. From everything I can see of the country to the south-west, it +appears, upon the most mature deliberation, highly imprudent to persevere +longer in that direction, as the consequences to the horses of want of +grass and water might be most serious; and we are well assured that +within forty miles on that point the country is the same as before passed +over...Our horses are unable to go more than eight or ten miles a day, +but even they must be assured of finding food of which in these deserts +the chances are against the existence." + +<p>On the following day, June 6th, Oxley, having changed his course to the +west and north-west, made another effort to escape from the surroundings +that so disheartened him. On the 4th of June, before leaving, Allan +Cunningham planted some acorns and peach and apricot stones in honour of +the King's birthday. Upon this episode Oxley remarks, that they would +serve to commemorate the day and situation, "should these desolate plains +be ever again visited by civilised man, of which, however, I think there +is very little probability." All this only shows how the lack of +experience of the paradoxical nature of the Australian interior induced +Oxley to form an absurdly erroneous idea of the country in its virgin +state. His observations read almost like a present-day description of the +sandy spinifex desert of the north-west of Western Australia, and, in +fact, the very same remark was made by Warburton in 1873, when traversing +that awful desert. He confessed his uncertainty about the longitude of +Joanna Spring, and says that it did not matter, as no white man would +ever come into the desert again in search of the oasis. + +<p>But Oxley's troubles were increasing, and on June 8th he wrote: "The +whole country in these directions, as far as the eye can reach, was one +continued thicket of eucalyptus scrub. It was impossible to proceed that +way, and our situation was too critical to admit of delay: it was +therefore resolved to return back to our last station on the 6th, under +Peel's Range, if for no other purpose than that of giving the horses +water." + +<p>Forced to return once more, Oxley became thoroughly convinced of the +inhabitability of the country, and it is no wonder that his condemnation +was so sweeping and hasty. He wrote on June the 21st:-- + +<p>"The farther we proceed westerly, the more convinced I am that for all +the practical purposes of civilised man the interior of this country +westward of a certain meridian is uninhabitable, deprived as it is of +wood, water and grass." + +<p>Unfortunately for his fame, he then relinquished all thoughts and hopes +of a southward course; for had he pushed on, posterity would have hailed +his memory as the discoverer of the Murrumbidgee. But Fate decided +otherwise, and dejected and baffled, he turned to follow the Peel Range +north, making for the part he had left, where at least he was sure of a +supply of water. The expedition suddenly came upon the river again on the +23rd of June, and hoping to find that it had modified its nature, they +commenced to run it down again. The 7th of July they were forced to halt +once more, when Oxley gave up all idea of tracing the Lachlan. He began +his return journey, making this last desponding entry:-- + +<p>"It is with infinite regret and pain that I was forced to come to the +conclusion that the interior of this vast country is a marsh and +uninhabitable...There is a dreary uniformity in the barren desolateness +of this country which wearies one more than I am able to express. One +tree, one soil, one water, and one description of bird, fish, or animal +prevails alike for ten miles and for one hundred. A variety of +wretchedness is at all times preferable to one unvarying cause of pain or +distress." + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-06"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-06.jpg"></p> +<p><b>The Lachlan River at the point where Oxley left it on the 4th August, 1818, and struck North-East to gain the Macquarie River and follow that river up to Bathurst. Photo by the Reverend J.M. Curran.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>On the 4th of August, the leader, knowing the repellant nature of the +river and its swamps and morasses that lay ahead of their returning +footsteps, determined to quit the Lachlan altogether, and steering a +northern course, to abandon the low country, reach the Macquarie River +and follow it up to the settlement at Bathurst. + +<p>The boats having been long since abandoned, it was necessary to build a +raft of pine-logs wherewith to transport the baggage over the stream. +They crossed in safety, and we can imagine that it was with no feelings +of regret that they finally lost sight of the stream that had so +persistently baffled them in all their attempts to traverse its banks. + +<p>For some days they had to struggle against the many obstacles of a new +and untrodden land, but they at last emerged on to the Macquarie country, +which made a pleasant and welcome contrast with the detested Lachlan. + +<p>It may be thought that too much stress has been laid upon Oxley's opinion +of the Lachlan, but it was this pessimistic report that dominated the +public mind for many years in its speculations as to the character of the +interior. + +<p>To Oxley himself, the first glimpse of the Macquarie came like a ray of +sunshine on his harassed feelings. Was he not to reap some reward for his +heroic efforts along the Lachlan, to enjoy the realisation of some of his +ambition as geographical discoverer? The Macquarie seemed a favourable +subject for the exercise of his talents. Would it not lead him westward +to the conquest of that mysterious inland country which had hitherto +guarded its secrets with an invincible obstinacy? Poor Oxley, who can +help rejoicing with him in his short-lived joy? Without knowing it, he +was the first of a long line of brave spirits who were doomed to lose +health and life in carving their way into the heart of Australia. + +<p>As they returned homeward up the bank of the Macquarie, the river seemed +to him to glitter with the bright promise of a crown of success. For +almost the first time the entry in his journal has a cheery ring of +hope:-- + +<p>"Nothing can afford a stronger contrast than the two rivers -- Lachlan +and Macquarie -- different in their habits, their appearance, and the +source from which they derive their waters, but, above all, differing in +the country bordering on them; the one constantly receiving great +accession of water from four streams, and as liberally rendering fertile +a great extent of country, whilst the other, from its source to its +termination is constantly diffusing and diminishing the water it +originally receives over low and barren deserts, creating only wet flats +and uninhabitable morasses, and during its protracted and sinuous course +is never indebted to a single tributary stream." + +<h4>3.3. THE LIVERPOOL PLAINS.</h4> + +<p>The disappointment occasioned by Oxley's return to Bathurst and his +failure to trace the course of the Lachlan was in part atoned for by the +high opinion he had formed of the Macquarie. A second expedition was +planned, and the command again offered to the Surveyor-General. + +<p>Evans was again second, and Dr. Harris, a very able man, accompanied the +party as a volunteer. Charles Fraser was botanist, but Allan Cunningham +did not go. The expedition was on a slightly larger scale, there being, +besides those already mentioned, twelve ordinary members, with eighteen +horses and provisions for twenty-four weeks. A depot was formed at +Wellington Valley, and men sent ahead to build two boats. + +<p>On June 6th, the start was made from the depot, and for the first 125 +miles no obstacles nor impediments were met with. Elated by this, Oxley +sent two men back to Bathurst, in accordance with instructions, bearing a +favourable despatch to Governor Macquarie. But Fate was again deriding +the unfortunate explorer. No sooner had the two parties separated, one +with well-grounded hopes of their ultimate success, the other bearing +back tidings of these confident hopes, than doubt and distrust entered +into the mind of the leader. Twenty-four hours after the departure of the +messengers, Oxley wrote in his journal:-- + +<p>"For four or five miles there was no material change in the general +appearance of the country from what it had been on the preceding days, +but for the last six miles the land was considerably lower, interspersed +with plains clear of timber and dry. On the banks it was still lower, and +in many places it was evident that the river-floods swept over them, +although this did not appear to be universally the case...These +unfavourable appearances threw a damp upon our hopes, and we feared that +our anticipations had been too sanguine." + +<p>And still, as Oxley went on, he found the country getting flatter and +more liable to inundation, until at last, with a heart nearly as low as +the country, he found himself almost hemmed in by water. In fact, it was +necessary to retrace steps in order to find a place where they could +encamp with safety. Upon this emergency, Oxley held a consultation with +Evans and Harris, and it was decided to send the baggage and horses back +to a small and safe elevation that stood some fifteen miles higher up the +river, thus making a subsidiary depot camp. Oxley himself, with four +volunteers in the largest of the two boats, would take a month's +provisions and follow the stream as long as there was enough water to +float their craft. Meanwhile, Evans, during Oxley's absence, was to make +an excursion to the north-east, and return by a more northerly route, +this being the direction the party intended to take, should the river +fail them as the Lachlan had done on the previous journey. + +<p>It was a wet and stormy day on which Oxley started on the river voyage. +For about twenty miles there was, as Oxley expresses it, "no country." +The main channels being in an overflow state, the flat country which +surrounded them could be recognised only by the timber growing on the +banks. The clear spaces whereon no trees grew were now covered with +reeds, which stood at the height of six or seven feet above the surface. +That night they took refuge on a piece of land which was so nearly +submerged that there was scarcely enough space on which to kindle a fire. +In the morning the violence of the storm had somewhat abated, and as soon +as the grey light was strong enough for them to recognise their way, they +resumed their dreary journey. + +<p>Oxley still contrived to keep to what he took to be the main channel, +although, as it now pursued its course amid a dense thicket of reeds, it +was becoming more difficult with every succeeding mile. Oxley's +seamanship, however, stood him in good stead, and although fallen logs +now began to obstruct their passage, they kept doggedly on for another +twenty miles. There was no diminution in the volume of the current that +was now bearing them onward, and Oxley felt confident that he was +approaching that hidden lake, wherein the inland waters mingled their +streams, and of whose existence he thought he had now every reason to +rest assured. Just as he was buoying his spirits up with these hopes, +dreaming that in future he would be able proudly to say, + +<p>We were the first that ever burst +Into that silent sea, + +<p>the river eluded all further pursuit by spreading out in every direction +amongst the ocean of reeds that surrounded them. + +<p>Wounded to the heart at this unlooked-for disappointment, Oxley, after +vainly seeking for some clue or indication by which he could continue the +search, had to 'bout ship and return to the camp of the night before. He +says:-- + +<p>"There was no channel whatever amongst these reeds, and the depth varied +from five to three feet." + +<p>Although he was still convinced that the "long sought-for Australian Sea" +existed, he recognised the futility of continuing this search to the +westward, in which direction some malignant genius seemed ever to persist +in thwarting him; and so he regained the shelter of the depot at Mount +Harris, with another tale of frustrated hopes. + +<p>Evans, on his return from his scouting expedition to the north and +north-east, had a more cheerful story to tell. The weather had been wet +throughout, and the impassable nature of the country occasioned thereby +had hampered him greatly; nevertheless he had struggled across the worst +of the flat country, and in the north-east had come to a new river, which +he named the Castlereagh. He was absent ten days, and on his return Oxley +determined to abandon the Macquarie, which had proved even more deceptive +and elusive than the Lachlan, and to strike out for the higher lands +which Evans reported having seen. + +<p>He left Mount Harris on July 20th, first burying a bottle there +containing a written scheme of his intended movements, and some silver +coin. Ten years afterwards, Captain Sturt made an ineffectual search for +this bottle. Oxley had also buried a bottle at the point of his departure +from the Lachlan. Mitchell search for it without success, and learned +afterwards that it had been broken by the blacks. + +<p>On July 27th, the party reached the bank of the Castlereagh, after +fighting their way through bog, quagmire, and all the difficulties common +to virgin country during continued wet weather. As the direction they +were steering was towards a range seen by Evans, and named Arbuthnot +Range, their march was again interrupted by finding the new-found river +this time running bank-high, having evidently risen immediately after +Evans had crossed it on his return journey. Here, perforce, they had to +stay until the water subsided, and it was not until August 2nd that the +river had fallen enough to allow them to cross. The ground was still +soaked and boggy, and the horses having had to carry increased pack-loads +since the abandonment of the boats, the party suffered great toil and +hardship in their efforts to gain Arbuthnot Range. The Range was reached, +however, and rounding one end of it by skirting the base of a prominent +hill which they named Mount Exmouth, the harassed explorers at last +emerged upon splendid pastoral country. + +<p>As Oxley, from a commanding position, surveyed the magnificent scene +spread out beneath him -- gentle hills separating smiling valleys, which +in their turn merged into undulating plains all ripe for settlement -- he +must have felt that Fate had at length relented, and granted him a +measure of reward as the discoverer of this beautiful land. He called the +locality Liverpool Plains, and the name has long been synonymous with +pastoral prosperity. Their journey to the eastward, which carried them +through the heart of this rich and highly-favoured country, was now less +arduous; and though the ground was still wet from the late soaking rains, +the sun shone cheerily overhead, and the horses, revelling in the +abundant rich grass and succulent herbage, began to recover their +strength. On September 2nd, they came to a river, which Oxley named the +Peel; and here the expedition narrowly escaped the shadow of a fatality, +one man being nearly drowned whilst crossing. After leaving the Peel, +Oxley still continued easterly, traversing splendid open grazing country. +He was now approaching the dividing water-shed of the Main Range, to the +northward of that portion of it which is known at the present day as the +Liverpool Range. Here the deep glens and gullies with which the seaward +front is serrated, began to interfere seriously with the direct course of +travel, and at the heads of many of them there were cataracts and +waterfalls which compelled the wanderers to turn away to the south; and +on one occasion to revert almost to the west. One of these striking +natural features received the name of Becket's Cataract, and another was +christened Bathurst's Falls. Once again tempests and storms beset them, +and this wild weather found them wandering amongst the steep ravines and +dizzy descents of the mountainous range, seeking a way leading to the +lowlands. + +<p>It was on September 23rd that Oxley and Evans, while searching for a +practicable route, climbed a tall peak, and from the summit caught a +glimpse of the sea. It seems to have greatly impressed Oxley, and he +writes in his journal of his emotions on the occasion:-- + +<p>"Bilboa's ecstacy at the first sight of the South Sea could not have been +greater than ours when, on gaining the summit of this mountain, we beheld +Old Ocean at our feet. It inspired us with new life; every difficulty +vanished, and in imagination we were already home." + +<p>The descent was attended with many perils: Oxley says that at one period +he would willingly have compromised for the loss of one-third of the +horses to ensure the safety of the remainder. But the men with him were +tried and steady, and the thick tufts of grass and the loose soil +afforded them help in securing a surer footing, of every chance of +availing themselves of which the men skilfully took advantage, so that +both men and horses reached the foot of the mountain -- now called Mount +Seaview -- without mishap. + +<p>They had reached the head of a river running into the Pacific, and +proceeded to follow its course down with more or less difficulty until +they reached the mouth, when Oxley, judging the entrance to be navigable, +named it Port Macquarie, though one should imagine that he had become +tired of that name. The river was named the Hastings. + +<p>On October 12th, a toilsome march commenced, following the shore to the +southward. The wearisome interruptions of the many inlets and saltwater +creeks greatly fatigued and distressed his men. But at last they came +upon a boat, half-buried in the sand, which had been lost some time +before from a Hawkesbury coaster. This they cleaned and patched, and +carried with them, utilising it during the latter stages of this weary +journey to facilitate the passage of the many saltwater creeks and +channels that impeded their progress. It is owing to the possession of +this derelict boat that Oxley crossed the mouth of the Manning without +identifying it as a river. The blacks now harassed them greatly, and it +was during one of the attacks made upon the party that one of the men, +named William Black, was dangerously wounded, being speared through the +back and the lower part of the body. The care and conveyance of this +invalided man was now added to Oxley's other anxieties, and it was with +feelings of great satisfaction that on November 1st they caught sight of +the rude buildings of Port Stephens. Through much hardship and privations +he had brought his party back without loss. + +<p>Oxley sent Evans on to Newcastle with despatches to the governor, in +which he alluded to his sanguine anticipations at the time he had sent in +his last report, and their almost immediate collapse. But the discovery +of Liverpool Plains compensated in some degree for the disappointment +caused by the renewed failure that had attended Oxley's efforts to trace +an inland river. + +<p>In the following year, 1819, the Lady Nelson, with the Surveyor-General +on board, visited the newly found Port Macquarie and the Hastings River, +to survey the entrance; in which task he was assisted by Lieutenant P.P. +King in the Mermaid. On his return to Port Jackson, in the same year, he +made a short excursion to Jarvis Bay with Surveyor Meehan, when they were +accompanied by the explorer who was to win fame as Hamilton Hume. Oxley +returned by boat, his companions overland. + +<h4>3.4. THE BRISBANE RIVER.</h4> + +<p>It was in October, 1823, that Oxley left Sydney on the expedition that +resulted in the finding of the Brisbane River, and the foundation of the +settlement at Moreton Bay. He was despatched on a mission to examine +certain openings on the east coast, and report on the suitability of them +as sites for penal establishments. Moreton Bay, Port Curtis, and Port +Bowen were selected; and Oxley left in the colonial cutter Mermaid, with +Uniacke and Stirling as assistants. + +<p>As the cutter went up the coast, she called at Port Macquarie, and Oxley +had the pleasure of noting the rapid growth of the settlement that had +been built upon his recommendation. Further along the coast, Oxley +discovered and named the Tweed River. The Mermaid reached Port Curtis on +the 6th of November, and cast anchor for some time, during which Oxley +made a careful examination of the locality, his opinion of it as a site +for a settlement being decidedly unfavourable. He however discovered and +named the Boyne River. + +<p>It being considered too late in the season to proceed and examine Port +Bowen, the Mermaid went south again, and entering Moreton Bay, anchored +off the river that appeared to Flinders to take its source in the Glass +House Peaks, and which he had called the Pumice Stone River. + +<p>They had scarcely anchored when several natives were seen at a distance, +evidently attracted by their arrival, and on examining them with the +telescope, Uniacke was struck with the appearance of one of a much +lighter colour than that of his companions. The next day Oxley landed and +discovered that the man they had noticed was in reality a castaway white +man of the name of Pamphlet. He told a singular tale. + +<p>He had left Sydney in an open boat with three others, intending to go to +the Five Islands and bring back cedar. A terrible gale arose, and they +were blown out to sea and quite out of their reckoning, Pamphlet being +under the impression that they had come ashore south of Port Jackson. +They had suffered fearful hardships in the open boat, being at one time, +he averred, twenty-one days without water, during which time one man died +of thirst. The boat was at last cast up on an island in the bay (Moreton +Island) where they had joined the blacks, and lived amongst them ever +since, a matter of seven months. The other survivors were named Finnegan +and Parsons. Pamphlet informed Oxley that not long before the Mermaid +arrived, the three of them had started to try and reach Sydney overland, +but when they had got about fifty miles, he had turned back and the next +day had been rejoined by Finnegan, who stated that he had quarrelled with +Parsons. The latter was never heard of again. + +<p>Finnegan put in an appearance the next day, and Oxley naturally took the +opportunity to question them as to the knowledge they had gained of the +surrounding country during their enforced stay in it. On one important +point both of them were confident, and this was that, in the southern +portion of the bay, a large river was to be found which appeared +navigable, having a strong current. + +<p>Taking Finnegan with them, Oxley and Stirling started in the whaleboat +the following morning to verify this information. They found the river +and pulled up it about fifty miles. Oxley was greatly pleased with such a +discovery, and landing, ascended a hill which he named Termination Hill. +From the top he obtained a view over a wide extent of country, through +which he was able to trace the river for a long distance. Strangely +enough, the hasty glimpse he thus caught of a new and untrodden part of +Australia seemed to confirm his fixed belief in the final destination of +the Lachlan and the Macquarie as an inland sea. + +<p>"The nature of the country and a consideration of all the circumstances +connected with the appearances of the river, justify me in entertaining a +strong belief that the source of the river will not be found in +mountainous country, but rather that it flows from some lake, which will +prove to be the receptacle of those inland streams crossed by me during +an expedition of discovery in 1818." + +<p>Oxley named the river the Brisbane, and, taking aboard the two rescued +men, the Mermaid set sail for Port Jackson, where she arrived on December +13th. This ended the chapter of Oxley's discoveries in the field of +active exploration. + +</p><a name="chapter4"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 4. HAMILTON HUME.</h3> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-07"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-07.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Hamilton Hume, in his later life.</b></p> +</center> + +<h4>4.1. EARLY ACHIEVEMENTS.</h4> + +<p>Hamilton Hume was the son of the Reverend Andrew Hume, who came to the +colony with his wife in the transport Lady Juliana, and held an +appointment in the Commissariat Department. Hamilton was born in +Parramatta in the year 1797, on the 18th of June. He seems to have been +specially marked out by Nature for prominence as an explorer, for, from +his earliest boyhood he was fond of rambling through the bush, and his +father encouraged him in his desire for a free country life and his love +of adventure. School facilities were lacking, but fortunately his mother +attended to his education and saw to it that he did not grow up destitute +of that instruction common to youth of those times and of his standing. + +<p>At the age of seventeen he made his initial effort at exploration in the +country around Berrima, in company with his brother Kennedy and a black +boy. They were successful in their endeavours, and found some good +pastoral country. In the following year, encouraged by their success, the +brothers made another excursion. In 1816, a Mr. Throsby bought some of +the land that young Kennedy and Hamilton had found; and their father sent +them out with him to show him the country he had purchased. John Oxley, +too, held a farm in the Illawarra district, and the Surveyor-General, who +must have heard of Hamilton's repute for good bushmanship, engaged him to +go out with his overseer and guide the men on to the locality. Governor +Macquarie also seems to have had his attention drawn to the same +conspicuous quality, for he sent young Hume out with Meehan, a surveyor, +and Throsby to examine the country about the Shoalhaven River. On the +way, however, Throsby disagreed with Meehan about the course they should +adopt, and, taking a black boy with him, left his companions and made the +best of his way to Port Jervis. Meehan and Hume carried out the work as +originally decided on, and then forced their way up the range, which had +now seemingly been deprived of a great many of its original terrors by +the hardy pioneers of the coast. On the highlands they discovered and +named Lake George, a freshwater lake, and a smaller one which they called +Lake Bathurst, both, strange to say, seemingly isolated. + +<p>Here we may remark on the tenacity with which the Murrumbidgee River long +eluded the eye of the white man. It is scarcely probable that Meehan and +Hume, who on this occasion were within comparatively easy reach of the +head waters, could have seen a new inland river at that time without +mentioning the fact, but there is no record traceable anywhere as to the +date of its discovery, or the name of its finder. When in 1823 Captain +Currie and Major Ovens were led along its bank on to the beautiful +Maneroo country by Joseph Wild, the stream was then familiar to the early +settlers and called the Morumbidgee. Even in 1821, when Hume found the +Yass Plains, almost on its bank, he makes no special mention of the +river. From all this we may deduce the extremely probable fact that the +position of the river was shown to some stockrider by a native, who also +confided the aboriginal name, and so it gradually worked the knowledge of +its identity into general belief. This theory is the more feasible as the +river has retained its native name. If a white man of any known position +had made the discovery, it would at once have received the name of some +person holding official sway. But this is altogether a purely +geographical digression. + +<p>It was while on this expedition that Hume found the Goulburn Plains. On +another occasion he went with Alexander Berry, a noted south-coast +pioneer, up the Shoalhaven River, and accompanied the party when they +landed and conducted different excursions. By the time he reached +manhood, Hume was justly classed amongst the finest bushmen in the +colony. In his after career when he led the famous expedition to the +south coast, and again, when as Sturt's right hand he accompanied that +explorer on the notable expedition that solved the mystery of the outflow +of the inland rivers and gave to settled Australia the mighty Darling, he +fully proved his right to the title. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-08map"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-08map.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Routes of Hume and Hovell (1824); Sturt (1829 and 1830); and Mitchell (1836).</b></p> +</center> + +<h4>4.2. DISCOVERY OF THE HUME OR MURRAY.</h4> + +<p>It is perhaps by his fame as leader of the party that crossed from Lake +George to the Southern Ocean that Hume's name is best remembered. At that +time especially it aroused anew the bright hopes for the future of the +interior that Oxley's gloomy prognostications had done so much to +depress. The Surveyor-General having been unable to determine the +question as to whether any large river entered the sea between Cape Otway +and Spencer's Gulf, a somewhat hazardous idea entered the head of the +then Governor, Sir Thomas Brisbane, to land a party of convicts near +Wilson's Promontory, and induce them by the offer of a free pardon and a +grant of land to find their way back to Sydney overland. It was further +proposed that an experienced bushman should be put in charge of them. The +flattering offer of this responsible, if somewhat precarious position, +was made to young Hamilton Hume who, on mature consideration declined it. + +<p>He offered, however, to conduct a party from Lake George to Western Port +if the Government would provide the necessary assistance. This offer the +authorities accepted, but they forgot the essential condition of +furnishing assistance. Naturally, much delay and vexation were caused by +this display of official ineptitude. At this juncture a retired coasting +skipper, Captain William Hilton Hovell, made an offer to join the party, +and find half the necessary cattle and horses. This offer aroused the +Government to some sense of its responsibility, and it agreed to do +something in the matter. This "something" amounted to six pack-saddles +and gear, one tent of Parramatta cloth, two tarpaulins, a suit of slop +clothes a-piece for the men, and an order to Hume to select 1,200 acres +of land for himself. In addition, the Government generously granted the +explorers two skeleton charts upon which to trace the route of their +journey, some bush utensils, and promised a cash payment for the hire of +the cattle should an important discovery be made. This cash payment was +refused on their return, although one would have thought that the +discovery of the Hume (Murray) should surely take rank as an important +discovery. Hume also stated that he had much difficulty in obtaining +tickets-of-leave for the men, and the confirmation of his own order to +select land for himself. + +<p>Each of the leaders brought with him three men, so that the strength of +the party was eight all told. Their outfit of animals consisted of five +bullocks and three horses, and they had two carts with them. + +<p>Hovell was born at Yarmouth on the 26th of April, 1786. He arrived in +Sydney in 1813, but after being engaged in the coasting trade with +occasional trips to New Zealand, he had relinquished his career as a +sailor and had settled at Narellan, New South Wales. After his exploring +expedition with Hume, he settled down at Goulburn, and he died at Sydney +in 1876. + +<p>On the 14th of October, 1824, Hume and Hovell left Lake George. Reaching +the Murrumbidgee, they found that river flooded, and after waiting three +days for the water to fall, they crossed it borne on the body of one of +their carts, with the wheels detached, and with the aid of the tarpaulin, +rigged like a punt. South of the Murrumbidgee the country was broken and +difficult to traverse, but it was well grassed and admirably adapted for +grazing purposes. As it became too rough for the passage of their carts, +these were abandoned, and the baggage and rations were packed on the +bullocks for the remainder of their journey. + +<p>After following the course of the Murrumbidgee for some days, the +travellers turned from its bank and pursued a south-westerly direction, +which led them through hills and valleys richly grassed and plenteously +endowed with running streams. On the 8th of November they beheld a sight +rarely witnessed before by white men in Australia. Ascending a range in +order to obtain a view of the country ahead of them, they suddenly found +themselves confronted with snow-capped mountains. There, under the +brilliant sun of an Australian summer's day, rose the white crests of +lofty peaks that might have found fitting surroundings amidst the +chilling splendours of some far southern clime, robed as they were for +nearly one-fourth of their height in glistening snow. + +<p>Skirting this range, which received the name of the Australian Alps, the +explorers, after wandering for eight days across its many spurs, came +upon a fine, flowing river, which Hume named after his father, the Hume. +This river was destined to be re-named the Murray, when its course was +eventually followed to the ocean.* + +<blockquote>*[Footnote.] See Chapter 6.</blockquote> + +<p>There being no safe ford, a makeshift boat was constructed with the aid +of the serviceable tarpaulin, and the Hume was crossed, close to the site +of the present town of Albury. Still passing through good pastoral land, +watered by numerous creeks, they crossed a river which was named the +Ovens, and on the 3rd of December they came to another, named by them the +Hovell, but now called the Goulburn; and on the 16th of December they +reached their goal, the shore of the Southern Ocean, at the spot where +Geelong now stands. + +<p>This expedition had a great and immediate influence on the extension of +Australian settlement. Within a few years after the chief surveyor had +characterised the western interior, beyond a certain limit, as unfitted +for human habitation, and had expressed his opinion that the monotonous +flats across which he vainly looked for any elevation extended to the +sea-coast, snowy mountains, feeding the head tributaries of perennial +rivers had been discovered to the southward of his track. + +<p>Hume was exceptionally fitted for the work of exploration at this +particular juncture in colonial history. Born and reared in the land, he +was well competent to judge justly of its merits and demerits; his +opinion was not likely to be tainted by the prejudices formed and +nourished in other and different climes. The history of Australian +exploration was then a statement of hasty conclusions, formed perhaps +under certain climatic circumstances to be falsified on a subsequent +visit when the conditions were radically different. In Hume's case, there +was no ill-founded conclusion of the availability of the +freshly-discovered district. The journey just recorded at once added to +the British Colonial Empire millions of acres of arable land watered by +never-failing rivers, with a climate and altitude calculated to foster +the growth of almost every species of temperate fruit or grain. + +<p>It is to be regretted that the narration of an expedition fraught with so +much benefit to the young colony, and executed with so much courage, +endurance, and facility of resource should be marred by any discordant +note. But friendly and genial relations were endangered by the presence +of two independent leaders. Divided authority here, as it nearly always +does, caused petty and undignified squabbles, which were in later days +elaborated into unseemly paper conflict. It is painful if somewhat +amusing to read of the acrid disputes as to the course, under the very +shadow of the majestic Australian Alps whose solitude had only then been +first disturbed by white men; and how, on agreeing to separate and divide +the outfit, it was proposed to cut the only tent in two, and how the one +frying-pan was broken by both men pulling at it. Thomas Boyd, who was the +only survivor of the party in 1883, and was then eighty-six years old, +signed a document assigning to Hume the full credit of conducting the +expedition to safety. Boyd was one of the most active members of the +expedition, always to the front when there was any trying work to be +done. He was the first white man to cross the Hume River, swimming over +with the end of a line in his teeth. + +<p>After Hume's return he lived for some time quietly on his farm, until the +call of the wild drew him forth from his retirement to join Sturt in his +first battle with the wilderness. His temporary association with that +explorer will find its due place in the account of that expedition.* He +died at Yass, near the scene of one of his early exploits. + +<p>*[Footnote.] See Charles Sturt. 6.2. The Darling. + +</p><a name="chapter5"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 5. ALLAN CUNNINGHAM.</h3> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-09"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-09.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Allan Cunningham.</b></p> +</center> + +<h4>5.1. COASTAL EXPEDITIONS.</h4> + +<p>Allan Cunningham, the great botanical explorer of Australia, was born at +Wimbledon, near London, in 1791. He received a good education, his father +intending him for the law; but he preferred gardening, and obtained a +position under Mr. Aiton, at Kew. In 1814 he went to Brazil, where he +made large collections of dried specimens, living plants, and seeds. Here +he remained two years, collecting in the vicinity of Rio, the Organ +Mountains, San Paolo, and other parts of Brazil. Sir Joseph Banks wrote +that his collections, especially of orchids, bromeliads, and bulbs, "did +credit to the expedition and honour to the Royal Gardens." He was +nominated for service in New South Wales, and landed at Port Jackson on +the 21st of December, 1816.* He first started collecting about the +present suburb of Woolloomooloo in Sydney, which we may infer therefrom +presented a very different appearance from that which it now presents. He +next went with Oxley on his Lachlan expedition. On his return, he +commenced the first of his five coastal voyages, in which he accompanied +Captain P.P. King around most of the continent of Australia. In the tiny +cutter the Mermaid, of 84 tons, they left Port Jackson on the 22nd of +December, 1817, and sailed round the south coast of Australia to King +George's Sound, the west coast, the north coast, and finally to Timor. +The Mermaid returned by the same route and anchored in Port Jackson on +the 24th of July, 1818. Again on the 24th of December, the Mermaid left +Port Jackson on a short trip to Tasmania, from which they returned in +February, 1819. Once more the busy little Mermaid sailed from Sydney on +the 8th of May, 1819, to make a running survey of the east coast. On this +voyage, many ports hitherto unvisited were examined by King, and amongst +other places, Cunningham paid his first visit to the Endeavour River. +Continuing the survey, she rounded Cape York, crossed the mouth of the +Carpentaria Gulf, and kept along the north coast, where King found +Cambridge Gulf. At Cassini Island, the Mermaid left for Timor, and +eventually returned to Sydney round the west coast of Australia. + +<blockquote>*[Footnote.] For the accompanying notes of Allan Cunningham's earlier +lifework I am indebted to the Biographical Notes concerning Allan +Cunningham, compiled by Mr. J.H. Maiden, Director of the Sydney Botanical +Gardens.</blockquote> + +<p>On the 14th of June, 1820, the Mermaid was again busy with King and +Cunningham on board, and, sailing up the east coast she re-visited the +Endeavour River. During their stay, Cunningham ascended Mount Cook, where +he made a fine collection of seeds and plants. She coasted north again +and picked up the survey at Cassini Island once more. At Careening Bay, +where they had occasion to stay for some time, Cunningham was again very +fortunate in his collections. Returning homeward by way of the west and +south coasts, the little cutter was almost wrecked off Botany Bay. + +<p>The Mermaid was now overhauled and condemned, and in her place H.M. +Storeship Dromedary, re-christened the Bathurst, was placed under the +command of Lieutenant King. This was Cunningham's fifth voyage as +collector with the same commander -- a very clear proof of their +compatibility of tastes and temperament. As before, the Bathurst ran +round the east coast and resumed her work on the north-west of Australia. +While thus engaged she was found to be in a dangerous condition, and went +to Port Louis to refit. They sailed from Mauritius on the 15th of +November, and reached King George's Sound on the 24th of December. Here +Cunningham found that the garden he had been at great pains to form +during his visit in 1818 had disappeared altogether. The Bathurst stayed +some weeks on the south-west coast, and then shaped a course to Port +Jackson, where they arrived on the 25th of April, 1822. Of the botany of +these coastal surveys Cunningham published a sketch entitled A Few +General Remarks on the Vegetation of Certain Coasts of Terra Australis, +and more especially of its North-Western Shore. + +<h4>5.2. PANDORA'S PASS.</h4> + +<p>Let us now turn to his record as an inland explorer of Australia. + +<p>On the 31st of March, 1823, Allan Cunningham left Bathurst with two +objects in view. One was his favourite pursuit of botany; and the other +the discovery of an available route to Oxley's Liverpool Plains, through +the range that bounded it on the south; a route which Lawson and Scott +had vainly sought for the preceding year. On reaching the vicinity of the +range, he searched in vain to the eastward for any opening that would +enable him to pierce the barrier. He then retraced his steps, and, +exploring more to the eastward, he came upon a pass through a low part of +the mountain belt which he considered practicable and easy. The valley +leading to the pass he named Hawkesbury Vale, and the pass itself +Pandora's Pass, inasmuch as, in spite of the hardships the party had been +put to, they had still hoped to find it. Here Cunningham left a parchment +document, stating that the information thereon contained was for the +first farmer "who may venture to advance as far to the northward as this +vale." The finding of the bottle which contained this scroll has never +been recorded. Bathurst was reached on their return journey, on June +27th. + +<p>In March, 1824, he botanised about the heads of the Murrumbidgee and the +Monaro and Shoalhaven Gullies, and in September of the same year, went +north by sea with Oxley to Moreton Bay, to investigate that locality and +pronounce on its suitability as a settlement site. In March, 1825, he +left Parramatta, threaded the Pandora Pass once more, and ascended to +Liverpool Plains, returning to Parramatta on the 17th of June. In 1826 +and the beginning of the following year, he visited New Zealand. + +<h4>5.3. THE DARLING DOWNS.</h4> + +<p>It was in the year 1827 that Cunningham accomplished his most notable +journey of exploration, one which eventually threw open to settlement an +entirely new area of country; country destined to mould the destiny of +the yet unborn colony of Queensland, and afford homes for thousands of +settlers. It was mainly by his exertions that the young community at +Moreton Bay was able to stretch its growing limbs to the westward +immediately after its birth, instead of waiting long weary years and +wasting its strength against an impassable obstacle as had been the fate +of the settlement at Farm Cove. + +<p>Cunningham started from Segenhoe, a station on one of the head +tributaries of the Hunter River, whence he ascended the main range +without any difficulty beyond having to unload some of the pack-horses +during the steepest part of the ascent. He had with him six men, eleven +horses, and provisions for fourteen weeks. He left civilisation, or the +outskirts of it, on the 2nd of May, and on the 11th he crossed the +parallel on which Oxley had crossed the Peel River in 1818, and once +beyond that point he was traversing unexplored country. The land was +suffering under a prolonged drought in that district, and most of the +streams encountered had but detached pools of water in their beds, at one +of which, however, his party caught a good haul of cod, which were such +ravenous biters and so heavy that several were lost in the attempt to +land them. + +<p>Travelling through open forest land, which was suffering more or less +from the want of rain, Cunningham came on the 19th of May to a valley. +Here, on the bank of a creek he encamped on "the most luxuriant pasture +we had met since we had left the Hunter." + +<p>"We were not a little surprised," he says, "to observe at this valley, so +remote from any farming establishment, the traces of horned cattle, only +two or three days old, as also the spots on which about eight to a dozen +of these animals had reposed. + +<p>"From what point of the country these cattle had originally strayed +appeared at first difficult to determine. On consideration, however, it +was thought by no means impossible that they were stragglers from the +large wild herds that are well-known to be occupying plains around +Arbuthnot Range." + +<p>This speaks volumes for the wonderful increase and spread of wild cattle +in those days; Arbuthnot Range, first sighted by Evans in 1817, being +already an acknowledged resort of wild cattle in seven years. Or it +advertises the negligence of the stockmen who guarded the comparatively +tiny herds of the period. + +<p>The dry weather had put its mark upon the country. Though the degree of +aridity was much less than that afterwards experienced in Australia by +the explorers of its interior, nevertheless conditions were sufficiently +dry to compel the leader to exercise great forethought, and Cunningham +determined to pursue a more easterly course, keeping nearer the crest of +the range, where he was more likely to find grass and water. The country +he passed through was inferior, but on the 28th he came to the bank of a +river "presenting a handsome reach, half-a-mile in length, thirty yards +wide, and evidently very deep." This river he named the Dumaresque, and +it led him to the northward, through what he considered poor land, until +the new-found river took an easterly direction, when the party left it, +still keeping north. At the end of the month, after passing through much +scrubby country, they were agreeably surprised to meet with a stream, the +banks of which presented an appearance of great verdure. "It was a +subject of great astonishment to us to meet with so beautiful a sward of +grass permanently watered by an active stream, after traversing that +tract of desert forest, and penetrating brushes the extremes of sterility +in its immediate vicinity." + +<p>This was named McIntyre's Brook, and Cunningham writes that they had some +difficulty in fording it on account of its extreme rapidity. The party +continued on, now in a north-easterly direction, passing again through +dense thickets such as they had formerly met with. + +<p>On the 5th of June, Cunningham, from a small elevation, had a view of +open country of decidedly favourable appearance: "A hollow in the forest +ridge immediately before us allowed me distinctly to perceive that at a +distance of eight or nine miles, open plains or downs of great extent +appeared to extend easterly to the base of a lofty range of mountains, +lying south and north, distant by estimation about thirty miles." + +<p>This was Cunningham's first glimpse of the now world-famous Darling +Downs. On reaching the commencement of the great plains, they came to the +"bank of a small river, about fifteen yards in breadth, having a brisk +current to the North-West." As there was deep water in the pools of this +river, the men anticipated some good fishing, and they were not +disappointed. Cunningham named this river the Condamine. + +<p>Although their provisions were failing them, Cunningham remained for some +time on the site of his new discovery, fully impressed with the certainty +of its immense importance in the future settlement of Australia. Peel's +Plains and Canning Downs were named by him, and to the north-west "beyond +Peel's Plains an immeasurable extent of flat country met the eye, on +which not the slightest eminence could be observed to interrupt the +common level, which, in consequence of the very clear state of the +atmosphere, could be discerned to a very distant blue line of horizon." + +<p>Cunningham's far-seeing mind fathomed the future requirements of such a +vast agricultural and pastoral extent of country, and he at once turned +his attention to its natural means of communication with its obvious +port, Moreton Bay. A lofty range of mountains to the east and north-east +seemed to offer a difficult barrier, and he determined upon making a +closer inspection. As his horses were recruiting all the time on the +luxuriant herbage, he did not so much regret their own scarcity of +rations. Finding a beautiful grassy valley which he named Logan Vale, +after Captain Logan, the well-known commandant of Moreton Bay, leading to +the base of the principal range, he proceeded to make a nearer +inspection. After much climbing of successive tiers or ridges, he gained +the loftiest point of a main spur, and through some gaps in the main +range itself, he was able to overlook portions of the country in the +vicinity of Moreton Bay, and even to recognise the cone of Mount Warning. +He took particular notice of one gap, and on closer inspection he came to +the conclusion that a line of road could be constructed without much +difficulty. + +<p>Having spent a week on the Downs, and his shortness of provisions and the +weakness of his horses preventing any excursion to the western interior, +as his intention had been, he set out on his homeward journey on the 18th +of June. In order to render his chart of the country traversed as +complete as possible, he kept a course about equidistant between the +route of his outward journey and the coastal watershed. He reached +Segenhoe on the 28th of July, bringing his men and horses back in safety, +after one of the most successful and important expeditions on the east +coast. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-10"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-10.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Memorial to Allan Cunningham, Botanical Gardens, Sydney.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>In the following year, accompanied by his old companion Fraser, who had +been one of Oxley's party on his two inland expeditions, Cunningham +proceeded by sea to Moreton Bay, with the intention of starting from the +settlement, identifying the gap he had taken particular notice of, and +connecting with his former camp on the Downs. In this attempt he was also +accompanied by Captain Logan, but they were unsuccessful. Then Cunningham +again went from the outpost of Limestone, with three men and two +bullocks, and was completely satisfied. A road through this gap on to the +Darling Downs was immediately constructed, and used until the +introduction of railway communication: the opening was known far and wide +as Cunningham's Gap. + +<p>In May, 1830, Cunningham went to Norfolk Island. While there he crossed +to the little islet adjoining, known as Phillip Island. Having landed +with three men, he sent the boat back. That night eleven convicts +escaped, seized the boat, and were launching her when they were +challenged by a sentry. One of them replied that they were going for Mr. +Cunningham, and they got away though they were fired upon. They did go +for Mr. Cunningham, and robbed him of his chronometer, pistols, tent, and +provisions. Then they sailed away, and were picked up by a whaler, which +they seized and finally scuttled. The Government refused to compensate +Cunningham for his loss, and he had to replace the instruments himself. + +<p>Cunningham left Sydney on the 25th of February, 1831, on a visit to +London, where he spent nearly two years at Kew, returning to Sydney on +the 12th of February, 1837. He was appointed Colonial Botanist and +Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens, but did not retain the position +very long, being disgusted to find that supplying Government officials +with vegetables was to be a chief part of his duties. He resigned, and +after another visit to New Zealand, whence he returned in 1838, so ill +was he that he was compelled to decline to accompany Captain Wickham on +his survey of the north-west coast. He died of consumption on the 24th of +January, 1839, at the cottage in the Botanic Gardens, whither he had been +removed for change of air and scene. He was buried in the Devonshire +Street cemetery, and on the 25th of May, 1901, his remains were removed +to the obelisk in the Botanic Gardens. + +</p><a name="chapter6"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 6. CHARLES STURT.</h3> + +<h4>6.1. EARLY LIFE.</h4> + +<p>Charles Sturt was born in India at Chunar-Ghur, on April the 28th, 1795. +His father, Thomas Lennox Napier Sturt, was a puisne Judge in Bengal +under the East India Company; his mother was Jeanette Wilson. The Sturts +were an old Dorsetshire family. In 1799, Charles, as was common with most +Anglo-Indian children, was sent home to England, to the care of his +aunts, Mrs. Wood and Miss Wilson, at Newton Hall, Middlewich. He went +first to a private school at Astbury, and in 1810 was sent to Harrow. On +the 9th of September, 1813, he was gazetted as Ensign in the 39th +Regiment of Foot. He served with his regiment in the Pyrenees, and in a +desultory campaign in Canada. When Napoleon escaped from Elba, the 39th +returned to Europe, but all too late to join in the victory of Waterloo, +and it was stationed with the Army of Occupation in the north of France. +In 1818, the regiment was sent to Ireland. Here for several years Sturt +remained in most uncongenial surroundings, watching smugglers, seizing +illicit stills, and assisting to quell a rising of the Whiteboys. It was +in Ireland that the devoted John Harris, his soldier-servant, who was +afterwards the companion of his Australian wanderings, was first attached +to him. In 1823, Sturt was gazetted Lieutenant, and his promotion to +Captain followed in 1825. + +<p>In December, 1826, he sailed for New South Wales with a detachment of his +regiment, in charge of convicts. The moment he set foot on this vast +unknown land, its chief geographical enigma at once occupied his +attention. Sir Ralph Darling, to whom he acted for some time as private +secretary, formed a high opinion of his tact and ability, and appointed +him Major of Brigade and Military Secretary. + +<h4>6.2. THE DARLING.</h4> + +<p>As soon as an expedition inland was mooted, Sturt volunteered for the +leadership, and was recommended by Oxley, who was then on his deathbed. +The recommendation was adopted by Governor Darling, and Sturt embarked on +the career of exploration that was to render his name immortal. + +<p>It was ever Sturt's misfortune to be the sport of the seasons; drought +and its attendant desolation dogged his footsteps like an evil genius. +Oxley had followed, or attempted to follow, the rivers down when a long +period of recurrent wet seasons had saturated the soil, filled the swamps +and marshes, and swollen the river-courses so that they appeared to be +navigable throughout for boats. Sturt came at a period when the country +lay faint under a prolonged drought and the rivers had dwindled down into +dry channels, with here and there a parched and meagre water-hole. The +following description of his is too often quoted as depicting the usual +state of the Australian interior:-- + +<p>"In the creeks, weeds had grown and withered, and grown again; and young +saplings were now rising in their beds, nourished by the moisture that +still remained; but the large forest trees were drooping, and many were +dead. The emus with outstretched necks, gasping for breath, search the +channels of the rivers for water in vain; and the native dog, so thin +that he could hardly walk, seemed to implore some merciful hand to +despatch him." + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-11map"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-11map.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Routes of Sturt (1829 and 1830); and Hume and Hovell (1824).</b></p> +</center> + +<p>To Sturt and his companions, who were the first white men to face the +interior during a season of drought, the scene may not have seemed too +highly-coloured; but, in common with many of Sturt's graphic +word-pictures, his description applies only to special or rare +circumstances. + +<p>In 1828, no rain had fallen for two years, and even the dwellers on the +coastal lands began to despair of copious rainfalls. Whenever their +glance wandered over their own dried-up pastures, men's thoughts +naturally turned to that widespread and boundless swamp wherein the +Macquarie was lost to Oxley's quest; and many saw in the drought a +favourable opportunity to discover the ultimate destination of these lost +rivers. An expedition to the west was accordingly prepared in order to +solve the problem under these very different existing circumstances, and +Sturt was selected as leader. To Hamilton Hume was offered the position +of second in command, and, as the dry weather had brought all farming +operations to a standstill, he was able to accept it. Besides Sturt and +Hume, the party consisted of two soldiers and eight prisoners, two of the +latter being taken to return with despatches as soon as they had reached +the limit of the known country. They also had with them eight riding and +seven pack-horses, and two draught and eight pack-bullocks. A small boat +rigged up on a wheeled carriage was also taken; but like many others +carried into the interior, it never served any useful purpose. + +<p>The country was by this time well-known, and partly settled up to and +below Wellington Vale; but when Sturt reached Mount Harris, Oxley's +former depot camp, he had come to the verge of the unknown, and halted in +order to consider as to his immediate movements. He consulted with Hume, +and as there seemed to be no present obstacle to their progress, it was +determined, as Sturt writes, "to close with the marshes." + +<p>This they did much sooner than was expected, for at the end of the first +day's march their camp was set in the very midst of the reeds. A halt for +a couple of days was made, whilst Sturt prepared his despatches to the +Governor. On the 26th, the two messengers were sent off to Bathurst, and +the progress of the party was resumed. Before the day closed, they found +themselves on a dreary expanse of flats and of desolate reed beds. The +progress of the main body was thus suddenly and completely checked, and +Sturt decided to launch the boat and with two men endeavour to trace the +course of the river, while Hume and two others endeavoured to find an +opening to the northward. + +<p>The boat voyage soon terminated, for Sturt was as completely baffled as +Oxley had been. The channel ceased altogether, and the boat quietly +grounded. Sturt could do nothing but return to camp and await Hume's +report. All search for the lost river proved vain. + +<p>Hume had found a serpentine sheet of water to the north which he was +inclined to think was the continuation of the elusive Macquarie. He had +pushed on past it, but had been checked by another body of reed beds. It +was decided to shift camp to this lagoon and launch the boat once more; +but without result, for the boat was hauled ashore again after having +vainly followed the supposed channel in amongst reeds and shallows. Again +the leader and his second went forward on a scouting trip. Each took with +them two men; Sturt going to the north-west, and Hume to the north-east. +They left on the last day of December, 1828. + +<p>Sturt toiled on until after sunset he came to a northward-flowing creek, +in which there was a fair supply of water. Next day their course lay +through plains intersected with belts of scrub, and they discovered +another creek, inferior to the last one both in size and the quality of +the water. They camped for a few hours on its bank, and Sturt called it +New Year's Creek, but it is now known as the Bogan River. They were about +to pass that night without water on the edge of a dry plain, when one of +the men had his attention drawn to the flight of a pigeon, and searching, +found a puddle of rain water which barely satisfied them. An isolated +hill with perpendicular sides, which Sturt had noticed for some time, now +attracted his attention, as being a lofty point of vantage from which to +get an extensive view to the west. They accordingly made for it, over +more promising country. They reached the hill which Sturt called Oxley's +Tableland, but from its summit he saw nothing but a stretch of monotonous +plain, with no sign of the long-sought river. That night they camped at a +small swamp, and the next morning turned back, Sturt agreeing with Oxley, +but without as much reason, that "the space I traversed is unlikely to +become the haunt of civilised man." Hume did not return until the day +after Sturt's arrival. He reported that the Castlereagh River must have +suddenly turned to the north below where Oxley crossed it, for he had +been unable to find it. He had gone westward, but had seen nothing except +far-stretching plains. After a few aimless and unprofitable ramblings, +they made their way again to Oxley's Tableland, and Sturt and Hume, with +two men, made a journey to the west, with only a negative result. On the +31st of January they commenced to follow down Sturt's New Year's Creek, +and the next day, to their unbounded surprise, came upon the bank of a +noble river. From its size and width they judged they had struck it at a +point as far from its source as from its termination; but when the men +rushed tumultuously down the bank to revel in the water and quench their +thirst, they cried out, with disgust and surprise, that the water was +salt. + +<p>Poor Sturt, whose heart was bounding with joy at the realisation of his +fondest hopes in this important discovery of a river which seemed to +answer all men's dreams and anticipations, felt the sudden revulsion of +despair. One saving thought he had, and that was that they were close to +its junction with the inland sea. Meantime, although human tracks were to +be seen everywhere, they saw none of the aborigines. Hume at length found +a pool of fresh water, which provided them with water for themselves and +their stock. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-12"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-12.jpg"></p> +<p><b>The Darling River, at Sturt's first view point. Photo by the Reverend J. Milne Curran.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>The long-continued absence of rain having lowered the fresh water so that +the supply from the brine springs on the banks predominated, was the +explanation of the saltness of the water; but Sturt did not know this, +and for six days the party moved slowly down the river until the +discovery of saline springs in the bank convinced the leader that the +saltness was of local origin. Still that did not supply them with the +necessary drinking water, and on the sixth day, leaving the men encamped +at a small supply of fresh water, Sturt and Hume pushed on to look for +more, but in vain, and Sturt was compelled to order a retreat to Mount +Harris. + +<p>This shows how the exploration of the continent has ever been conditioned +by the uncertainty of the seasons. Had Sturt found the Darling in a +normal season, he would probably have followed it down to its junction +with the Murray, and the geographical system of the east would have been +at once laid bare. But it was not in such a simple manner that the great +river basin was to become known. Toil, privation, and the sacrifice of +human lives, had first to be suffered. + +<p>To the river which he had found Sturt gave the name Darling, in honour of +the Governor. + +<p>The return journey to Mount Harris continued without interruption. At +Mount Harris they expected to find fresh supplies; but as they approached +the place they could not restrain fears with regard to their safety. The +surrounding reed beds were in flames in all parts. The few natives that +were met with displayed a guilty timidity, and one was observed wearing a +jacket. Fortunately, however, their fears were groundless; the relief +party had arrived and had been awaiting their return for about three +weeks. An attack by the natives had been made, but it had been easily +repulsed. While Sturt rested at Mount Harris, Hume struck off to the +west, beyond the reeds. He reported the country as superior for thirty +miles to any they had yet seen, but beyond that limit lay brushwood and +monotonous plains. + +<p>On the 7th of March the party struck camp and departed for the +Castlereagh River. They found that the flooded stream, impassable by +Oxley, had totally disappeared. Not a drop of water lay in the bed of the +river. They commenced to follow its course down, and the old harassing +hunt for water had to be conducted anew. No wonder that Sturt could never +free himself from the memory of his fiery baptism as Australian explorer, +and that his mental picture of the country was ever shrouded in the haze +of drought and heat. + +<p>As they descended the Castlereagh into the level lower country, they were +greatly delayed by the many intricate windings of the river and its +multiplicity of channels. On the 29th of March they again reached the +Darling, ninety miles above the place where they had first come upon it, +and they observed the same characteristics as before, including the +saltness. This was a blow to Sturt, who had hoped to find it free from +salinity. Fortunately they were not distressed for fresh water at the +time, and knowing what to expect if the river was followed down again, +the party halted and formed a camp. + +<p>The next day Sturt, Hume, and two men crossed the river and made a short +journey of investigation to the west, to see what fortune held for them +further afield. Not having passed during the day "a drop of water or a +blade of grass," they found themselves by mid-afternoon on a wide plain +that stretched far away to the horizon. Sturt writes that had there been +the slightest encouragement afforded by any change in the country, he +would even then have pushed forward, "but we had left all traces of the +natives behind us, and this seemed a desert they never entered -- that +not even a bird inhabited." + +<p>Back to Mount Harris once more, where they arrived on the 7th of April, +1829. On their way they had stopped to follow a depression first noticed +by Hume, and decided that it was the channel of the overflow of the +Macquarie Marshes. + +<h4>6.3. THE PASSAGE OF THE MURRAY.</h4> + +<p>The mystery of the Macquarie was now, to a certain extent, cleared away, +but the course and final outlet of the Darling now presented another +riddle, which Sturt too was destined to solve. + +<p>The discovery of such a large river as the Darling, augmented by the +Macquarie and Castlereagh, and (so people then thought) in all +probability the Lachlan, naturally inflamed public curiosity as to the +position of the outlet on the Australian coast. All the rivers that had +been tried as guides to the hidden interior having failed to answer the +purpose, the Murrumbidgee -- the beautiful river of the aboriginals -- +was selected as the scene of the next attempt. There were good reasons +for the choice: it derived its volume from the highest known mountains, +snow-capped peaks in fact, that reminded the spectator of far northern +latitudes, and thus it was to a great extent independent of the variable +local rainfall. + +<p>Captain Sturt was naturally selected to be the leader of the Murrumbidgee +expedition, and with him as second went George MacLeay, the son of the +then Colonial Secretary. Harris, who had been Sturt's soldier-servant for +nearly eighteen years, and two other men of the 39th, who had been with +their Captain on the Macquarie expedition, also accompanied him, with a +very complete and well-furnished party, including the usual boat rigged +up on a carriage. This time, however, unlike the craft that had +accompanied previous exploring parties, the whaleboat was destined to be +immortalised in Australian history. + +<p>Settlement had by this time extended well up to and down the banks of the +Murrumbidgee, and Sturt took his departure from the borders of +civilisation about where the town of Gundagai now stands, almost at the +junction of the Tumut River, at Whaby's station. The course for some time +lay along the rich river-flats of the Murrumbidgee. The blacks, who of +course from their position were familiar with the presence of white men, +maintained a friendly demeanour. One slight excursion to the north was +made to connect with Oxley's furthest south, made when on his Lachlan +expedition; but though they did not actually verify the spot, Sturt +reckoned that he went within twenty miles of it, showing how narrowly +that explorer had missed the discovery of the Murrumbidgee. + +<p>As they got lower down the river they found themselves travelling through +the flat desolate country that reminded them only too forcibly of late +experiences on the Macquarie. Owing to some information gleaned from the +natives, Sturt and MacLeay rode north to try and again come upon the +Lachlan. They struck a dry channel, which Sturt believed was the drainage +from the Lachlan into the Murrumbidgee. This proved to be correct, as +natives afterwards testified that they had seen the two white men +actually on the Lachlan. + +<p>On the 25th, which was an intensely hot day, MacLeay, who was on ahead, +found himself suddenly confronted with a boundless sea of reeds, and the +river itself had suddenly vanished. He sent a mounted messenger back to +Sturt with these disastrous tidings. Sturt thereupon turned the drays, +which were already in difficulties in the loose soil, sharp round to the +right, and finally came to the river again, where they camped to discuss +the untoward circumstance. + +<p>At daylight the next morning, Sturt and MacLeay rode along its bank, +whilst Clayton, the carpenter, was set to work felling a tree and digging +a sawpit. Progress along the bank with the whole party was evidently +impossible. Sturt, however, had faith in the continuity of the river, and +announced to MacLeay his intention to send back most of the expedition, +and with a picked crew to embark in the whaleboat, committing their +desperate fortunes to the stream, and trusting to make the coast +somewhere, and leaving their return in the hands of Providence. + +<p>The more one regards this heroic venture, the more sublime does it +appear. The whole of the interior was then a sealed book, and the river, +for aught Sturt knew, might flow throughout the length of the continent. +But the voyage was commenced with cool and calm confidence. + +<p>In a week the whaleboat was put together, and a small skiff also built. +Six hands were selected for the crew, and the remainder, after waiting +one week in case of accident, were to return to Goulburn Plains and there +await events. It would be as well to embody here the names of this band. +John Harris, Hopkinson, and Fraser were the soldiers chosen, and Clayton, +Mulholland, and Macmanee the prisoners. The start was made at seven on +the morning of January 7th, the whale-boat towing the small skiff. Within +about fifteen miles of the point of embarkation they passed the junction +of the Lachlan, and that night camped amongst a thicket of reeds. The +next day the skiff fouled a log and sank, and though it was raised to the +surface and most of the contents recovered, the bulk of them was much +damaged. Fallen and sunken logs greatly endangered their progress, but on +the 14th they "were hurried into a broad and noble river." Such was the +force with which they were shot out of the Murrumbidgee that they were +carried nearly to the opposite bank of the new and ample stream. Sturt's +feelings at that moment were to be envied, and for once in a life +chequered with much disappointment he must have felt that a great reward +was granted to him in this crowning discovery. He named the new river the +Murray, after Sir George Murray, the head of the Colonial Department. As +some controversy has of late arisen as to the question of Sturt's right +to confer the name, we here quote his own words, written after surveying +the Hume in 1838. + +<p>"When I named the Murray I was in a great measure ignorant of the other +rivers with which it is connected...I want not to usurp an inch of ground +or of water over which I have not passed." + +<p>On the bosom of the Murray they could now make use of their sail, which +the contracted space in the bed of the Murrumbidgee had before prevented +them from doing. The aborigines were seen nearly every day, and once when +the voyagers had to negotiate a very ticklish rapid, some of them +approached quite close, and seemed to take great interest in the +proceedings. + +<p>Sturt's thoughts now turned towards the junction of the Darling, and at +last he sighted a deserted camp on which the huts resembled those he had +seen on that river. On the 23rd of January they came upon the junction at +a very critical moment. A line of magnificently-foliaged trees came into +view, among which was perceived a large gathering of blacks, who +apparently were inclined to be hostile. Sturt, who was at the helm, was +steering straight for them and made the customary signs of peace. Just +before it was too late to avoid a collision, Sturt marked hostility in +their quivering limbs and battle-lusting eyes. He instantly put the helm +a-starboard, and the boat sheered down the reach, the baffled natives +running and yelling defiantly along the bank. The river, however, was +shoaling rapidly, and from the opposite side there projected a sand-spit; +on each side of this narrow passage infuriated blacks had gathered, and +there was no mistaking their intentions. Sturt gave orders to his men as +to their behaviour, and held himself ready to give the battle-signal by +shooting the most active and forward of their adversaries. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-13"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-13.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Junction of the Darling and Murray Rivers.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>Mention has been made of a small party of blacks who had been interested +in the shooting of a rapid by the boat's crew. Four of these savages had +camped with the explorers the preceding night, leaving at daylight in the +morning. Sturt imagined that they had gone ahead as peace delegates, and +he was thus most anxious to avoid a fight. But the life of the whole +party depended on prompt action being taken, and Sturt's eye was on the +leader and his finger on the trigger when "my purpose," he says "was +checked by MacLeay, who called to me that another party of blacks had +made their appearance on the left bank of the river. Turning round, I +observed four men at the top of their speed." These were the dusky +delegates, and the description given by Sturt of the conduct of the man +who saved the situation is very graphic:-- + +<p>"The foremost of them, as soon as he got ahead of the boat, threw himself +from a considerable height into the water. He struggled across the +channel to the sand-bank, and in an incredibly short space of time stood +in front of the savage against whom my aim had been directed. Seizing him +by the throat, he pushed him backwards, and forcing all who were in the +water on the bank, he trod its margin with a vehemence and an agitation +that was exceedingly striking. At one moment pointing to the boat, at +another shaking his clenched hand in the faces of the most forward, and +stamping with passion on the sand, his voice, that was at first distinct, +was lost in hoarse murmurs." + +<p>This episode, unequalled in the traditions of the Australian aborigines, +removed the imminent danger; and Sturt's tact, in a few moments changed +the hundreds of demented demons into a pack of laughing, curious +children, an easy and common transition with the savage nature. But for +the intervention of this noble chief, Sturt and his followers, penned +within the boat in shallow water, would have been massacred without a +chance to defend themselves. Surrounded as they were by six hundred +stalwart foes, their fate, save from unreliable native tradition, would +never have been known to their countrymen. + +<p>During the crisis, the boat had drifted untended, and grounded on the +sand. While the men were hastily pushing her off, they caught sight of "a +new and beautiful stream coming apparently from the north." A crowd of +natives were assembled on the bank of the new river, and Sturt pulled +across to them, thus creating a diversion amongst his erstwhile foes, who +swam after, as he says, "like a parcel of seals." + +<p>After presenting the friendly native with some acknowledgement and +refusing presents to the others, the pioneers examined the new river. The +banks were sloping and well-grassed, crowned with fine trees, and the men +cried out that they had got on to an English river. To Sturt himself the +moment was supreme. He was convinced "that we were now sailing on the +bosom of that very stream from whose banks I had been twice forced to +retire." They did not pull far up the stream, for a native fishing-net +was stretched across, and Sturt forbore to break it. The Union Jack was, +however, run up to the peak and saluted with three cheers, and then with +a favouring wind they bade farewell to the Darling and the now +wonderstruck natives. + +<p>As they went on, the party landed occasionally to inspect the surrounding +country, but on all sides from their low elevation they could see nothing +but a boundless flat. The skiff being now only a drag upon them, it was +broken up and burnt for the sake of the ironwork. On account of the +damage to the salt pork caused by the sinking of this boat, the strictest +economy of diet had to be exercised, and though an abundance of fish was +caught, they had become unattractive to their palates. The continuation +of the voyage down the course of the Murray was henceforth a monotonous +repetition of severe daily toil at the oar. The natives whom they +encountered, though friendly, became a nuisance from the constant +handling and embracing that the voyagers had, from purposes of policy, to +suffer unchecked. The tribes met with were more than ordinarily filthy, +and were disfigured by loathsome skin diseases. After twenty-one days on +the water, Sturt began to look most anxiously for indications of the sea, +for his men were fagging with the unremitting labour and short rations, +and they had only the strength of their own arms to rely on for their +return against the current. Soon, however, an old man amongst the natives +described the roaring of the waves, and showed by other signs that he had +been to the sea coast. But more welcome than all were some flocks of +sea-gulls that flew over and welcomed the tired men. + +<p>On the thirty-third day after leaving the starting-point on the +Murrumbidgee, Sturt, on landing to inspect the country, saw before him +the lake which was indeed the termination of the Murray, but not the end +that he had dreamt of. "For the lake was evidently so little influenced +by tides that I saw at once our probable disappointment of practical +communication between it and the ocean." + +<p>This foreboding was realised after examination of Lake Alexandrina, as it +is now called. Upon ascertaining their exact position on the southern +coast, nothing was left but to take up the weary labours of their return; +the thunder of the surf brought no hopeful message of succour, but rather +warned the lonely men to hasten back while yet some strength remained to +them. + +<p>Sturt re-entered the Murray on his homeward journey on the 13th of +February; and the successful accomplishment of this return is Sturt's +greatest achievement. His crew were indeed picked men, but what other +Australian leader of exploration could have inspired them with such a +deep sense of devotion as to carry them through their herculean task +without one word of insubordination or reproach. "I must tell the Captain +to-morrow that I can pull no more," was the utmost that Sturt heard once, +when they thought him asleep; but when the morrow came the speaker +stubbornly pulled on. + +<p>Three of these men, it must be remembered, were convicts; yet, despite +their heroic conduct, one only (Clayton) received a free pardon on their +return, though Sturt did his utmost to win fuller recognition of their +merits. + +<p>In such a work of generalisation as this, space will not permit of a +detailed account of the return voyage, but on the 20th of March they +reached the camp on the Murrumbidgee from which they had started. The +relief party were not there, and there was nothing left but to toil on, +though the men were falling asleep at the oars, and the river itself rose +and raged madly against them. When they reached a point within ninety +miles of the depot where Sturt expected the relief party to be, they +landed, and two men -- Hopkinson and Mulholland -- went forward on foot +for succour. They were now almost utterly without food, and had to wait +six dragging days before men arrived with drays and stores to their aid. + +<p>One little item let me add; the boat being no longer serviceable, was +burnt, Sturt giving as a reason that he was reluctant to leave her like a +log on the water. What a priceless relic that boat would now have become! + +<p>Sturt received but scant appreciation on his return from this heroic +journey. His eyesight was impaired and his health was failing; but +instead of obtaining much-needed rest, he was sent to Norfolk Island, +with a detachment of his regiment. There the moist climate still further +prejudiced his health, though he was able to quell a mutiny of the +convicts, and to save Norfolk Island from falling into their hands. +Governor Darling too proposed that Sturt should be sent as British +Resident to New Zealand, but filled with the love of continental +exploration, he would not leave Australia, to the satisfaction of the +fossils of the Colonial Office, who did not know of him, and promptly +appointed Busby. Even Sir G. Murray, after whom the river had been named, +had never heard of the river. + +<p>In 1832 or a little later, the temporary loss of the sight of one eye +forced him to go to England on leave, when he also bade adieu to his +regiment, which was ordered to India. + +<p>While in England, he published the first of his maps and books, but his +eyesight totally failing him, he retired from the army, July, 1833. +Sturt's eyesight, although never the same as before, was gradually +restored to him, and on September the 21st, 1834, he was married at Dover +to Charlotte Greene. + +<p>We must now take leave of this distinguished man, until he reappears in +these pages as an explorer of Central Australia.*</p> + +<blockquote>*[Footnote.] See Chapter 12.</blockquote> + +<a name="chapter7"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 7. SIR THOMAS MITCHELL.</h3> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-14"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-14.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Sir Thomas Mitchell.</b></p> +</center> + +<h4>7.1. INTRODUCTORY.</h4> + +<p>Mitchell, whose name both as explorer and Surveyor-General looms large in +our history, was born at Craigend, Stirlingshire, in 1792. He was the son +of John Mitchell of Grangemouth, and his mother was a daughter of +Alexander Milne of Carron Works. When he was but sixteen, young Mitchell +joined the army of the Peninsula as a volunteer. Three years later he +received a commission in the 95th Regiment or Rifle Brigade. He was +employed on the Quartermaster General's staff at military sketching; and +he was present in the field at Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca, the +Pyrenees, and St. Sebastian. After the close of the war he went to Spain +and Portugal to survey the battlefields. He received promotion to a +Lieutenancy in 1813. He served in the 2nd, 54th, and 97th Regiments of +foot, and was promoted to be Captain in 1822, and Major in 1826. His +appointment as Surveyor-General of New South Wales, as successor to John +Oxley, took place in 1827, when he at once assumed office, and started +energetically to lay out and construct roads, then the urgent need of the +new colony. + +<p>His strong personality, and the energy and thoroughness he displayed in +all his undertakings, combined with his many gifts as draughtsman, +surveyor and organizer, proved to be of peculiar service to the colony at +that period of its existence. There was a vast unknown country +surrounding the settled parts, awaiting both discovery and development, +and Mitchell's inclinations and talents being strongly directed towards +geographical discovery, the office of Surveyor-General that he held for +so long was the most appropriate and advantageous appointment that could +have been given him in the interests of the colony. + +<p>At the same time, Major Mitchell had faults which have always detracted +from the estimation in which he would otherwise be held for his undoubted +capabilities. His domineering temper led him into acts of injustice, and +often made it impossible for him to allow the judgments of others to +influence his opinions. In his view, no other explorer but himself ever +achieved anything worthy of commendation or propounded any credible +theory regarding the interior of Australia. He always referred +slightingly to Sturt, Cunningham, and Leichhardt, and his perversity on +the subject of the junction of the Darling and the Murray drew even from +the gentle Sturt a richly-deserved and unanswerable retort. On his second +expedition, which was supposed to establish the identity of the Darling +with the junction seen by Sturt, Mitchell excused himself from further +exploration of the lower Darling as he expressed himself satisfied that +Sturt's supposition was justified. But later, when on his expedition to +what is now the State of Victoria, he again fell into a doubting mood, +and he was not finally convinced until he had re-visited the junction. +This constant doubting at last roused Sturt, who speaking in 1848 of +Mitchell's work, said: "In due time he came to the disputed junction +which he tells us he recognised from its resemblance to a drawing of it +in my first work. As I have since been on the spot, I am sorry to say +that it is not at all like the place, because it obliges me to reject the +only praise Sir Thomas Mitchell ever gave me." + +<p>Sturt's original sketch of the junction had been lost, and Sturt, who was +nearly blind at the time of publication, obtained the assistance of a +friend, who drew it from his verbal description. + +<h4>7.2. THE UPPER DARLING.</h4> + +<p>Rumours of a mysterious river called the Kindur, which was said, on no +better authority than a runaway convict's, to pursue a north-west course +through Australia, now began to be noised about. This convict, whose name +was Clarke, but who was generally known as the Barber, said that he had +taken to the bush in the neighbourhood of the Liverpool Plains, and had +followed down a river which the natives called the Gnamoi. He crossed it +and came next to the Kindur. This he followed down for four hundred miles +before he came upon the junction of the two. The union of the two formed +a broad navigable river, which he still followed, although he had lost +his reckoning, and did not know whether he had travelled five hundred or +five thousand miles. One thing, however, he was convinced of, and that +was that he had never travelled south of west. He asserted that he had a +good view of the sea, from the mouth of this most desirable river, and +had seen a large island from which, so the natives reported, there came +copper-coloured men in large canoes to take away scented wood. The Kindur +ran through immense plains, and past a burning mountain. As no one had +invited him to stay in this delectable country, he had returned. + +<p>The story, which bore every evidence of having been invented to save his +back, received a certain amount of credence, and Sir Patrick Lindesay, +then Acting-Governor, gave the Surveyor-General instructions to +investigate the truth of it. It was in this way that Mitchell's first +expedition originated. + +<p>On the 21st of November, 1831, Mitchell left Liverpool Plains and reached +the Namoi on the 16th December. He crossed it and penetrated some +distance into a range which he named the Nundawar Range. He then turned +back to the Namoi, and set up some canvas boats which he had brought to +assist him in following the river down. The boats were of no use for the +purpose, one of them getting snagged immediately, and it was clear that +it would be easier to follow the river on land. As the range was not easy +of ascent, he worked his way round the end of it and came on to the lower +course of Cunningham's Gwydir, which he followed down for eighty miles. +At this point he turned north and suddenly came to the largest river he +had yet seen. Mitchell, ever on the alert to bestow native names on +geographical features -- a most praiseworthy trait in his character, and +through the absence of which in most other explorers, Australian +nomenclature lacks distinction and often euphony -- enquired of the name +from the natives, and found it to be called the Karaula. Was this, or was +this not the nebulous Kindur? The answer could be supplied only by +tracing its course; but its general direction and the discovery and +recognition of its junction with the Gwydir showed that the Karaula was +but the upper flow of Sturt's Darling. Much disappointed, for Mitchell +was intent upon the discovery of a new river system having a northerly +outflow, he prepared to make a bold push into the interior. Before he +started, Finch, his assistant-surveyor arrived hurriedly on the scene +with a tale of death. Finch had been bringing up supplies, and during his +temporary absence his camp had been attacked by the natives, the cattle +dispersed, the supplies carried off, and two of the teamsters murdered. +All ideas of further penetration into the new country had to be +abandoned. Mitchell was compelled to hasten back, bury the bodies of the +victims, and after an ineffective quest for the murderers, return to the +settled districts. + +<p>The journey, however, had not been without good results. Knowledge of the +Darling had been considerably extended, and it was now shown to be the +stream receiving the outflow of the rivers whose higher courses +Cunningham had discovered. The beginning of the great river system of the +Darling may be said to have been thus placed among proven data. Mitchell +himself afterwards showed himself an untiring and zealous worker in +solving the identity of the many ramifications of this system. + +<h4>7.3. THE PASSAGE OF THE DARLING.</h4> + +<p>His next journey was undertaken to confirm the fact of the union of the +Darling and the Murray. Sturt himself was fully convinced that he had +seen the junction of the two rivers when on his long boat voyage; but he +had not converted every one, and Mitchell, with a large party was +despatched to settle the question and make a systematic survey. Early in +March, 1833, the expedition left Parramatta to proceed by easy stages to +the head of the Bogan River, which had been partly traversed the year +before by surveyor Dixon. It was during this expedition that Richard +Cunningham, brother of Allan, was murdered by the natives. He had not +been long in Australia, and had been appointed botanist to the +expedition. On the morning of April 17th, he lost sight of the party, +whilst pursuing some scientific quest, and as the main body were then +pushing hurriedly over a dry stage to the Bogan River, he was not +immediately missed. Not having any bush experience, he lost himself, and +was never seen again. A long and painful search followed, but owing to +some mischance, Cunningham's tracks were lost on the third day, and it +was not until the 23rd of the month that they were again found. Larmer, +the assistant-surveyor, and three men were sent to follow them up until +they found the lost man. Three days later they returned, having come +across only the horse he had ridden, dead, with the saddle and bridle +still on. Mitchell personally conducted the further search. Cunningham's +tracks were again picked up, and his wandering and erratic footsteps +traced to the Bogan, where some blacks stated that they had seen the +white man's tracks in the bed of the river, and that he had gone west +with the Myalls, or wild blacks.* + +<blockquote>*[Footnote.] Lieutenant Zouch, of the Mounted Police, subsequently found +the site of his death, and recovered a few bones, a Manilla hat, and +portions of a coat. The account afterwards given by the natives was to +the effect that the white man came to them and they gave him food, and he +camped with them: but that during the night he repeatedly got up, and +this roused their fears and suspicions, so that they determined to +destroy him. One struck him on the back of the head with a nulla-nulla, +when the others rushed in and finished the deadly work.</blockquote> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-15"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-15.jpg"></p> +<p><b>A Chief of the Bogan River Tribe. Photo by the Reverend J.M. Curran.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>As is often the case with men lost in the bush, the unfortunate botanist, +by wandering on confusing and contradictory courses, had rendered the +work of the search party more tedious and difficult, thus sealing his own +fate. A rude stone memorial has since been erected on the spot, and a +tablet put up in the St. Andrew's Scots Church, Sydney. The death of +Cunningham, who was a young and ardent man with the promise of a +brilliant future caused Mitchell much distress of mind. He did all he +could to find his lost comrade, and jeopardised the success of the +expedition by the long delay of fourteen days. + +<p>He resumed his journey by easy stages down the Bogan, and on the 25th of +May came to the Darling. This river was at once recognised by all who had +been with him on his former trip as identical with the Karaula as +Mitchell had supposed; but he found the country in a different condition +from that presented by it when Sturt and Hume first discovered the river +at nearly the same place. The water was now fresh and sweet to drink, and +the flats and banks luxuriant with grass and herbage. + +<p>After choosing a site for a camp, where the town of Bourke now stands, +Mitchell erected a stockade of logs, which he named Fort Bourke, after +the Governor. The country on either side of the Darling was now alive +with natives, and though a sort of armed truce was kept up, it was at the +cost of constant care and watchfulness, and the tactful submission to +numerous annoyances, including much petty pilfering. The boats proved to +be of no service, and after Mitchell with a small party had made a short +excursion down the river to the farthest limit of Sturt and Hume in 1829, +where he saw the tree then marked by Hume, H.H., he had the camp +dismantled, and started with the whole party to follow the river down to +its junction with the Murray. + +<p>By the 11th of July, one month after leaving Fort Bourke, they had traced +the river for three hundred miles through a country of level monotony +unbroken by any tributary rivers or creeks of the least importance. +Mitchell was now certain from the steadfast direction the river +maintained, and the short distance that now intervened between the lowest +point they had reached and Sturt's junction, that Sturt had really been +correct in his surmise, and that he had witnessed the meeting of the +rivers on that memorable occasion. He therefore decided that to keep on +was but needlessly endangering the lives of his men. He was constantly +kept in a state of anxiety for the safety of any member of the party +whose duty compelled him to separate from the main body, for the natives, +who had become doubly bold through familiarity, were now persistently +encroaching and rapidly assuming a defiant manner. + +<p>On the very day that Mitchell had made up his mind to retreat, the long +threatened rupture took place. Mitchell refers to the blacks of this +region as the most unfavourable specimens of aborigine that he had yet +seen, barbarously and implacably hostile, and shamelessly dishonest. On +the morning of July 11th, two of the men were engaged at the river, and +five of the bullock-drivers were collecting their cattle. One of the +natives, nick-named King Peter by the men, tried to snatch a kettle from +the hand of the man who was carrying it, and on this action being +resented, he struck the man with a nulla-nulla, stretching him senseless. +His companion shot King Peter in the groin, and his majesty tumbled into +the river and swam across. The swarm of natives who were constantly +loitering around the camp gathered together and advanced in an armed +crowd, threatening the men, who fired two shots in self-defence, one of +which accidentally wounded a woman. Alarmed by the shots, three men from +the camp came to the assistance of their mates, and one native was shot +just when he was about to spear a man. The blacks now drew back a little, +and the men seized the opportunity to warn the bullock-drivers, whom they +found occupied in lifting a bullock that had fallen into a bog. Their +arrival probably saved their lives, as the bullock drivers were unarmed. +No further attack took place, but the strictest watch had to be kept +until the party was ready to begin the return journey or to beat a +retreat as the natives regarded it. They reached Fort Bourke without +further molestation, the aborigines being content with having driven away +the whites, who retraced their steps from Fort Bourke to Bathurst. + +<p>The geographical knowledge gained on this journey consisted mainly in the +confirmation of tentative theories -- the identity of the Karaula with +the Darling, and the uninterrupted course of the latter river southwards, +as Major Mitchell himself had to confess, into the Murray. Furthermore it +seemed now satisfactorily settled that all the inland rivers as yet +discovered found the same common embouchure. Mitchell's experience too +proved that the pastoral country through which the Darling ran was by no +means unfit for habitation, nor was the river a salt one; true some of +his men had noticed that the water was brackish in places, but this +brackishness, it was seen, had a purely local origin. + +<p>Mitchell was a keen observer of the habits and customs of the aborigines. +He was remarkably quick at detecting tribal differences and distinctions, +and his records of his intercourse with them -- which occupies so much of +his journals -- were most interesting then, when little had been written +on the subject; and are even more valuable now, as a first-hand account +by an intelligent man and a practised observer of the appearance of the +natives at the time of earliest contact with the white man. + +<h4>7.4. AUSTRALIA FELIX.</h4> + +<p>One would have thought that the fact of the union of the Darling and the +Murray was now sufficiently well-established; but the official mind +deemed otherwise. When the Surveyor-General's next expedition started in +March, 1836, he was informed that the survey of the Darling was to be +completed without any delay; that, having returned to the point where his +last journey had come to an end, he was to trace the river right into the +Murray -- see the waters of the two mingle in fact -- then to cross over +the Murray and follow up the southern bank, recrossing, and regaining the +settled districts at Yass Plains. Although the primary object of the +expedition was the verification of previous discoveries, the programme +was largely departed from, and this particular journey of Mitchell's led +to the opening up and speedy settlement of what is now the State of +Victoria. + +<p>A drought, long-continued and severe, was in full force when Mitchell +commenced his preparations for departure; consequently bullocks and +horses in suitable condition were hard to obtain. But as the Government +spared no expense, the necessary animals were at last available. Though +upon reaching Bathurst Mitchell was informed that the Lachlan River was +dry, he started on his third exploring expedition in the best of spirits. +His mind overflowed with old memories and associations, and he wrote in +his journal that this was the anniversary of the day "when he marched +down the glacis of St. Elvas to the tune of St. Patrick's Day in the +Morning, as the sun rose over the beleaguered towers of Badajoz." He had +heard that the aborigines of the lower Murray had been informed of his +approach, and that they had assured the other tribes that they were +gathering murry coolah -- very angry -- to meet him, but this to one of +the Major's temper, lent but an added zest to the journey; for there were +old scores to settle on both sides. It was the 17th of March, 1836, +before he got free of the cattle stations and found himself at the point +where Oxley had finally left the river. He noticed that throughout this +route, in spite of the dry weather, the cattle were all in good +condition; and he found Oxley's swamps and marshes transmuted into grassy +flats. In fact, so changed was the face of the land, that even the +landmarks of that explorer could scarcely be recognised. + +<p>Again his mind began to be troubled with doubts as to whether he had not +acknowledged the veracity of Sturt's judgment too hastily, for we find in +his journal that he again wavered, after professing that the identity +admitted of little doubt. Now, on the Lachlan, he reverted to his old +idea that the Darling drained a separate and independent basin of its +own. He wrote:-- + +<p>"I considered it necessary to ascertain, if possible, and before the +heavy part of our equipage moved further forward, whether the Lachlan +actually joined the Murrumbidgee near the point where Mr. Oxley saw its +waters covering the face of the country, or whether it pursued a course +so much more to the westward as to have been mistaken for the Darling by +Captain Sturt." + +<p>Impelled by this doubt he undertook a long excursion to the westward with +no result but the discomfort of several thirsty nights and an unchanging +outlook across a level expanse of country bounded by an unbroken horizon. +He reached Oxley's furthest on the 5th of May, but did not find that +explorer's marked tree, though he found others marked by Oxley's party +with the date 1817. + +<p>On the 12th of May, he halted on the bank of the Murrumbidgee, which in +his opinion surpassed all the other Australian rivers he had yet seen. As +his orders were simply to clear up the last hazy doubts that wrapped the +Murray and Darling junction, and then to visit the southern bank of the +Murray, he did not take his heavy baggage on to the Darling, but formed a +stationary camp on the Murrumbidgee, and thence went on with a small +party. When they came to the Murray, they found their old enemies awatch +for them. It was afterwards ascertained that many of these aborigines had +travelled as far as two hundred miles to assist in chasing back the white +intruders once more from their violated hunting-grounds. But these braves +of the Darling did not yet understand the nature of the man they sought +to intimidate. + +<p>At first a nominal peace prevailed, and for two days the blacks followed +the expedition closely, seeking to cut off any stragglers, and rendered +the out-roving work of minding and collecting the cattle and horses one +of considerable risk. Mitchell was soon convinced that a sharp lesson was +necessary to save his men. In the event of losing any of his party, he +would have had to fight his way back with the warriors of what seemed a +thickly-populated district arrayed against him. One morning, therefore, +the party was divided, and half of them sent back to an ambush in the +scrub. The natives were allowed to pass on in close pursuit of the +advance party. The native dogs, however, scented this ambuscade, and, +after their fashion, warned the blacks of the presence of the hidden +whites. As they halted, and began handling and poising their spears, one +of the ambushed men fired without orders, and the others followed his +example. The natives faltered, and those in advance, hearing the firing, +rushed back eager to join in the fray. The conflict was short and +decisive; the over-confident fighting men of the Darling lost seven of +their number and were driven ignominiously back into the Murray scrub and +across that river. Henceforth the explorers were unmolested. These +pugnacious aboriginals were the same that had threatened to bring Sturt's +boat voyage to a tragical conclusion, and soon after Mitchell's +exploration, they waged a determined war against the early overlanders +and their stock. + +<p>Mitchell's way to the Darling was now clear, and on the 31st of May he +came upon that river, a short distance above the confluence. Tracing the +stream upwards, he again convinced himself that it was the same river +that he had been on before, and, satisfied of this, he turned and +proceeded right down to the junction itself, and finally disposed of one +of the most interesting problems in Australian exploration. + +<p>He naturally felt much anxiety, after his late skirmish, for the safety +of the stationary camp he had left behind, and having lost no time during +his return, he was relieved to find his camp in quiet and safety. + +<p>The Surveyor-General first mapped the exact junction of the Murrumbidgee +and Murray, and then transferred the whole of the expedition in boats to +the other side of the Murray. Thus was commenced the investigation of the +unexplored side of the Murray, that above its junction with the +Murrumbidgee, in other words the Hume proper. On the 30th of June the +party camped at Swan Hill, having found the country traversed to exceed +expectations in every way. This pleasing state of affairs continued and +Mitchell journeyed on without check or hindrance. After finding the +Loddon River on the 8th of July, and the Avoca on the 10th, he altered +his preconceived plan to follow the main river up, and, drawn by the +beauty and pastoral advantages of this new territory, he struck off to +the south-west in order to examine it in detail, and trace its +development southwards. + +<p>More and more convinced that he had found the garden of Australia -- he +afterwards named this region Australia Felix -- Mitchell kept steadily on +until he came to the Wimmera, that deceptive river which afterwards +nearly lured Eyre to a death of thirst. On the last day of July he +discovered the beautiful Glenelg, and launched his boat on its waters. At +the outset he was stopped by a fall, was compelled to take to the land +once more, and proceeded along the bank, occasionally crossing to examine +the other side. On the 18th the boats were again used, the river being +much broader, and in two days he reached the coast, a little to the east +of Cape Northumberland. + +<p>The whole expedition then moved homewards, and reached Portland Bay, +where they found that the Henty family from Van Diemen's Land had been +established on a farm for about two years. From them Mitchell received +some assistance in the way of necessary supplies, and then resumed his +journey for home. On the 19th the party separated; Mitchell pushed ahead, +leaving Stapylton, his second, to rest the tired animals for a while and +then to follow slowly. On his homeward way Mitchell ascended Mount +Macedon, and from the summit saw and identified Port Phillip. His return, +with his glowing report of the splendid country he had discovered -- +country fitted for the immediate occupation of the grazier and the farmer +-- at once stimulated its settlement, and as the man whose explorations +were of immediate benefit to the community in general -- Mitchell's name +stands first on the roll of explorers. + +<h4>7.5. DISCOVERY OF THE BARCOO.</h4> + +<p>Some years elapsed before Mitchell -- now Sir Thomas -- again took to the +field of active exploration. The settlement of the upper Darling and the +Darling Downs had caused numerous speculations as to the nature of the +unknown territory comprising the northern half of Australia. In 1841, +communications had passed between the Governor and Captain Sturt, and in +December of the same year Eyre, not long returned from his march round +the Great Bight, wrote offering his services, provided that no prior +claim had been advanced by Sturt. Governor Gipps asked for an estimate of +the expenses, but considered Eyre's estimate of five thousand pounds too +high, and nothing further was done. In 1843, Sir Thomas Mitchell +submitted a plan of exploration to the Governor, who consulted the +Legislative Council. The Council approved it and voted one thousand +pounds towards expenses. The Governor referred the matter to Lord +Stanley, whose reply was favourable, but the project still hung fire. In +1844 Eyre again wrote offering to make the journey at a much more +reasonable rate, but his offer was however declined as Mitchell's +proposals held the field. In 1845 the fund was increased to two thousand +pounds, and Sir George Gipps ordered the Surveyor-General to make his +preparations. + +<p>Mitchell favoured the search for a practicable road to the Gulf of +Carpentaria, and hoped also that he would at last find his long-sought +northern-flowing river. In a letter which he then received from a +well-known grazier, Walter Bagot, there is mention of an aboriginal +description of a large river running northward to the west of the +Darling. But as natives in their descriptions frequently confuse flowing +to and flowing from, they probably had Cooper's Creek in mind. + +<p>During the earlier part of the year, Commissioner Mitchell, the son of +Sir Thomas, who was afterwards drowned during a passage to Newcastle, had +made a flying survey towards the Darling, and the discovery of the +Narran, Balonne, and Culgoa rivers has been attributed to him. + +<p>On the 15th of December, 1845, Mitchell started from Buree with a very +large company, including E.B. Kennedy as second in command, and W. +Stephenson as surgeon and collector. He struck the Darling much higher +than Fort Bourke, and it was not until he was across the river that he +passed the outermost cattle-stations, which had sprung rapidly into +existence since his last visit to the neighbourhood. The Narran was then +followed up until the Balonne was reached. This river, in his superlative +style, Mitchell pronounced to be the finest in Australia, with the +exception of the Murray. He then struck and followed the Culgoa upwards +until it divided into two branches; he skirted the main one, which +retained the name of the Balonne. On the 12th of April he came to the +natural bridge of rocks which he called St. George's bridge, and which is +the site of the present town of St. George. Here a temporary camp was +formed; Kennedy was left in charge to bring the main body on more slowly; +Mitchell with a few men went ahead. He followed up the Balonne to the +Maranoa, but as the little he saw of that tributary did not tempt him to +further investigation of it, he kept on his course up the main stream +until he reached the junction of a stream which he named the Cogoon. This +riverlet led him on into a magnificent pastoral district, in the midst of +which stood a solitary hill that he named Mount Abundance. It is in his +description of this region in his journal that we first find an allusion +to the bottle tree. + +<p>The party wandered on over a low watershed and came down out on to a +river which, from its direction and position, he surmised to be the +Maranoa, the stream he had not followed. At this new point it was full of +deep reaches of water, and drained a tract of most pleasing land. On its +banks he determined to await Kennedy's arrival. + +<p>Kennedy overtook him on the 1st of June, bringing from Sir Thomas's son +Roderick despatches which had reached the party after the leader's +departure. Amongst other items of news in the despatches was the report +of Leichhardt's return, and of the hearty reception that he had been +accorded in Sydney. One piece of random information, a mere floating +newspaper surmise, but enough to arouse Mitchell's suspicious temper, +annoyed him greatly. "We understand," it ran, "the intrepid Dr. +Leichhardt is about to start another expedition to the Gulf, keeping to +the westward of the coast ranges." + +<p>As this seemed to indicate an intention of trespassing on Mitchell's +present field of operations, he naturally felt some resentment not likely +to be allayed by such a paragraph as the following: "Australia Felix and +the discoveries of Sir Thomas Mitchell now dwindle into comparative +insignificance." + +<p>Again leaving Kennedy, he set out to make a very extended excursion. +Traversing the country from the head of the Maranoa, he discovered the +Warrego River. Keeping north, over the watershed, for a time he fondly +imagined that he had reached northward-flowing waters; but the direction +of the rivers that he found, the Claude and the Nogoa, soon convinced him +of his error, and that he was on rivers of the east coast. Even when he +had reached the Belyando, a river which he named and followed down for a +short distance, he still deluded himself that he had reached inland +waters. Intensely mortified at finding that he was on a tributary of the +Burdekin, and approaching the ground already trodden by Leichhardt, he +returned to the head of the Nogoa, once more subdivided his party, and +formed a stationary camp to await his return from a westward trip. + +<p>This time, however, he was blessed with the most splendid success. He +found the Barcoo, a river that seemed to him to promise all he sought +for. The direction of its upper course easily led him to believe that it +was an affluent of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and after tracing it for some +distance he returned to camp. The newly-discovered river he named the +Victoria, thinking it would prove to be the same as that found by Captain +Stokes on his survey expedition. It was on the Barcoo, or Victoria, that +Mitchell first noticed the now famous grass that bears his name. On their +return journey, they followed down the Maranoa, and at the old camp at +St. George's Bridge, they were told by the natives that white men had +visited the place during their long absence. It was a singular and +welcome feature of Mitchell's discoveries that they had always proved to +be adjacent to civilisation, and to be suitable for immediate occupation. + +<p>The discovery of the Barcoo was the last feather in the cap of the +Surveyor-General. He was doomed to learn soon that it was not the river +of his dreams, but only the head waters of that central stream discovered +by Sturt, Cooper's Creek; but meanwhile the delusion must have been very +gratifying. + +<p>In 1851 Mitchell was sent out to report on the Bathurst goldfields, and +on a subsequent visit to England he took with him the first specimen of +gold and the first diamond found in Australia. He was for a short time +one of the members for the Port Phillip electorate, but resigned, as he +found faithful discharge of the duties to be incompatible with his +office. He patented the boomerang screw propeller, and was the author of +many educational and other works, including a translation of the Lusiad +of Camoens. Although a strict martinet in his official duties, and +subject to a choleric temper, he was strenuous in his devotion to the +advancement of Australia, among whose makers he must always occupy a +proud position. He died on the 5th of October, 1855, at Carthona, his +private residence at Darling Point, Sydney, New South Wales. His wife was +a daughter of Colonel Blount. + +</p><a name="chapter8"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 8. THE EARLY FORTIES.</h3> + +<h4>8.1. ANGAS McMILLAN AND GIPPSLAND.</h4> + +<p>Angas McMillan, who was the discoverer of what is now so widely-known as +Gippsland, in Victoria, was a manager of the Currawang station, in the +Maneroo district. On the 20th of May, 1839, he started from the station +on a trip to the southward to look for new grazing land. He had with him +but one black boy, named Jimmy Gibbu, who claimed to be the chief of the +Maneroo tribe, so that if the party was small, it was very select. On the +fifth day McMillan got through to the country watered by the Buchan +River, and, from the summit of an elevation which he called Mount +Haystack, he obtained a most satisfactory view over the surrounding +region. The next night, McMillan, awakened by a noise, found Jimmy Gibbu +bending over him with a nulla-nulla in his hand. Fortunately, McMillan's +pistol was within easy reach, and, presenting it at Jimmy's head, he +compelled him to drop the nulla-nulla, and to account for his suspicious +attitude. Jimmy confessed to a fear of the Warrigals, or wild blacks of +that region, to acute home-sickness, and to a general unwillingness to +proceed further. + +<p>McMillan examined the country he had found, and having judged it to be +very desirable pastoral land, he returned home. He then formed a new +station for Mr. Macalister on some country he had found on the Tambo +River, and went himself on another trip of discovery. This time he had +four companions with him, two friends named Cameron and Matthews, a +stockman, and a black boy. they followed the Tambo River down its course +through fine grazing country, both plains and forest, until in due course +it led them to the point of its embouchure in the lakes of the south +coast. He named Lake Victoria, and then directed his course to the west, +where he discovered and named the Nicholson and Mitchell rivers. He was +so deeply impressed with the resemblance of the country he had just been +over to some parts of Scotland, that he called the district by the now +obsolete name of Caledonia Australis. On January the 23rd, 1840, he was +out again and discovered and named the Macalister River, and pushed on as +far west as the La Trobe River. This addition of rich pastoral regions to +the already settled districts was altogether due to Angas McMillan's +energy, and is now known as Gippsland, being named officially after Sir +George Gipps, the Governor who had the amusing eccentricity of insisting +that all the towns laid out during his term of office should have no +public squares included within their boundaries, being convinced that +public squares encouraged the spread of democracy. + +<h4>8.2. COUNT STRZELECKI.</h4> + +<p>Count Strzelecki's expedition through Gippsland with the discovery of +which district he is commonly and wrongly credited, was due to the +literary and geographical work he had undertaken, as he was gathering +material for his well-known work, The Physical Description of New South +Wales, Victoria, and Van Diemen's Land. He ascended the south-east +portion of the main dividing range, and named the highest peak thereof +Kosciusko, after a fancied resemblance in its outline to that Polish +patriot's tomb at Cracow. + +<p>On the 27th of March, 1840, he reached the cattle station on the Tambo +whither McMillan had just returned, and was directed by him on to his +newly-discovered country. Strzelecki pushed through to Western Port, +meeting with some scrubby and almost inaccessible country during the last +stages of his journey. His party had to abandon both horses and packs, +and fight its way through a dense undergrowth on a scanty ration of one +biscuit and a slice of bacon per day, varied with an occasional native +bear. It was here that the Count, who was an athletic man, found that his +hardy constitution stood the party in good stead. So weakened and +exhausted were his companions, that it was only by constant encouragement +that he urged them along at all. When forcing their way through the +matted growth of scrub, he often threw himself bodily upon it, breaking a +path for his weary followers by the mere weight of his body. It was in a +wretched condition that they at last reached Western Port. + +<h4>8.3. PATRICK LESLIE.</h4> + +<p>In 1840 Patrick Leslie, who has always been considered the father of +settlement on the Darling Downs, started with stock from a New England +station, then the most northerly settled district in New South Wales, and +formed the first station on the Condamine River, actually before that +river had been identified as a tributary of the Darling. There was a +general impression that the Condamine flowed north and east, and finally +found its way through the main range to the Pacific. In 1841, Stuart +Russell, who closely followed Leslie as a pioneer, followed the river +down for more than a hundred miles to the westward, and in the following +year it was traced still further, and the Darling generally accepted as +its final destination. + +<h4>8.4. LUDWIG LEICHHARDT.</h4> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-16"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-16.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Ludwig Leichhardt.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>Leichhardt is the Franklin of Australia, around whose name has ever clung +a tantalising veil of mystery and romance. Truth to tell, his claim as a +leading explorer rests solely on his first and undoubtedly fruitful +expedition. But for his mysterious fate mention of his name would not +stir the hearts of men as it does. Had he returned from his final venture +beaten, it must have been to live through the remainder of his life a +disappointed and embittered man. Far better for one of his temperament to +rest in the wilderness, his grave unknown, but his memory revered. + +<p>Leichhardt was born at Beskow, near Berlin, and studied at Berlin. +Through an oversight he was omitted from the list of those liable to the +one year of military service, and the sweets of exemption tempted him to +evade the three-year military course. The consequence was that he was +prosecuted as a deserter, and sentenced in contumaciam. Afterwards, +Alexander von Humboldt succeeded, by describing his services to science +on his first expedition in Australia, in obtaining a pardon from the +King. By a Cabinet Order, Leichhardt received permission to return to +Prussia unpunished. When the order arrived in Australia, he had already +started on his last expedition. + +<p>Dr. Leichhardt appears to have been a man whose character, to judge from +his short career, was largely composed of contradictions and +inconsistencies. Eager for personal distinction, with high and noble +aims, he yet lacked that ready sympathy and feeling of comradeship that +attract men. Leichhardt's followers never desired to accompany him on a +second expedition. Yet strange to say, he was capable of inspiring firm +friendship in such men as William Nicholson and Lieutenant Robert Lynd. + +<p>When he left on his first exploring expedition, on which he was +successful owing to the luck of the novice, people generally predicted -- +and with much reason -- that he would fail. But when he set out on his +second and disastrous journey, universally applauded and with his name on +everybody's lips, it was never doubted but that he would succeed. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-17map"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-17map.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Routes of Leichhardt (1844 and 1845); Mitchell (1845 and 1846); and Kennedy (1847 and 1848).</b></p> +</center> + +<p>On his first expedition he was insufficiently equipped, had but +inexperienced men with him, and was a bad bushman himself. In fact the +journal of the trip reads to a man accustomed to bush life like the fable +of The Babes in the Wood; yet he managed to blunder through. On his +second expedition he was amply provided, and most of his companions were +experienced men, but it proved a miserable fiasco. + +<p>His great confidence in himself led him to ignore or undervalue the fact, +patent to others, that he was no bushman either by instinct or training. +And he seemed to prefer for companions men like himself, who could not +detect this failing, as is evident from a letter written by him to W. +Hull, of Melbourne, with reference to a young man who was anxious to join +his party. In this letter he enumerates the qualities that he considers +necessary in a follower:-- + +<p>"Activity, good humour, sound moral principle, elasticity of mind and +body, and perfect willingness to obey my orders, even though given +harshly...I have been extremely unfortunate in the choice of my former +companions." + +<p>The last remark is an unworthy one, and of course applies to the +companions of his second expedition. He does not include a knowledge of +open-air life amongst his qualifications, nor the needful bushmanship; +and apparently in Leichhardt's opinion, a useless man of good moral +principle would be as acceptable to an explorer as a good bushman of +doubtful morality. It causes one to inquire whether the devoted men who +toiled for Sturt, private soldiers and prisoners of the Crown, were men +of sound moral principle? This extract affords an insight into +Leichhardt's failures. He wanted only those men who would blindly and +ignorantly obey and believe in him. For a man of Leichhardt's +temperament, such men were not to be found: he had missed the fairy gift +at birth -- all the essentials of good leadership. + +<p>Stuart Russell, in his Genesis of Queensland, cites his shrewd old +stockman's opinion of Dr. Leichhardt, as he was just before his first +trip. The station from which Leichhardt started on that occasion was near +Russell's, so that the man spoke from personal knowledge: "It's my belief +that if Dr. Leichhardt do it at all, 'twill be more by good luck than +management. Why, sir, he hasn't got the knack of some of us; why it comes +like mother's milk to some. I can't tell how or why, but it does. Mark my +words, sir, Dr. Leichhardt hasn't got it in him, and never will have." + +<p>Two invaluable qualities in an explorer, apart from his scientific +attainments, Leichhardt possessed. These were courage and determination; +necessary no doubt, but not sufficient in themselves to carry through an +expedition to success. He lacked tact, and was deficient in practical +knowledge of the bush, and especially in what is known as bushmanship. +One fixed idea of his was, that in dry country if one can only keep on +far enough one is bound to come to water: a theory plausible enough if it +could be carried out to its logical conclusion; but the application of +which often involves a physical impossibility. And it must be taken into +consideration that Leichhardt had never travelled in the dry country of +the interior, but that what small experience he possessed had been gained +on the fairly well-watered coast. He asserts in his journal that cattle +and horses trust entirely to the sense of vision for finding water, and +not to the sense of smell. The exact reverse is of course the case. + +<p>The character of the lost explorer will thus be seen to have militated +strongly against his success when he came to be pitted against the -- to +him -- unknown dangers of a dry season in the far interior. But his fatal +self-confidence led him to challenge the desert, thinking that he must +succeed where better men had been denied even the hope of success. When +his last expedition comes to be reviewed, a more detailed discussion of +the probabilities of a successful issue to it will be made. Poor +Leichhardt, with all his moods and caprices, it would have been strange +if he had not shown some appreciation of humour. Let us quote his +description of his sudden and unexpected arrival in Sydney, after the +Port Essington expedition. + +<p>"We did come to Sydney, it was quite dark; we did go ashore, and then I +thought to see my dear friend Lynd. So I went up George Street to the +barracks. And then I went to his quarters to his window. He was dressing +himself; I did put in my head; he did jump out of the other window and I +stood there wondering. Soon many people did come round, and did look, Oh +so timid. I did not know all. And there was such a greeting. I was dead, +and was alive again. I was lost, and was found." + +<p>But in thus reviewing Leichhardt's aptitude -- or rather inaptitude -- +for the work, and commenting upon his shortcomings, we must do him the +fullest justice by paying homage to the sincerity of his belief in +himself and his mission. In that belief he was honestly loyal. His +conception of his duty was of the highest, and in its interest he would, +and did, make every sacrifice in his power. If some prescient tongue +could have told Leichhardt that the end of his quest would be an unknown +death, he would have accepted the fate without a murmur, provided his +death benefited geographical discovery. + +<p>As the man of science in a party under a capable leader, Leichhardt would +have achieved greater success than many men who have filled that +position; as the leader himself he was, of necessity, an absolute +failure. + +<p>Leichhardt arrived in New South Wales in 1842, and after some botanical +excursions about the Hunter River district, he travelled overland to +Moreton Bay, and there occupied himself with short expeditions in the +neighbourhood, pursuing his favourite study of physical science. When the +subject of the exploration of the north was mooted, he was desirous of +securing the position of naturalist, but the delay in forming the +projected expedition disappointed him, and he resolved to try and +organise a private one. In this he received very little encouragement. He +persevered, however, and eking out his own resources by means of private +contributions, both in money and stock, he managed to get a party +together. On the 1st of October, 1844, he left Jimbour station on the +Darling Downs, on the trip that was destined to make his name as an +explorer. His preparations were on a much smaller scale than Mitchell's. +Considering the importance of the undertaking, his party was absurdly +small. He had with him six white and two black men, seventeen horses, +sixteen head of cattle and four kangaroo dogs; and his supply of +provisions was equally meagre. His plan of starting from Moreton Bay to +Port Essington differed considerably from Mitchell's proposed journey to +the Gulf from Fort Bourke, but although longer and more roundabout, it +would be a safer route for his little party to adopt, as they would keep +to the comparatively well-watered coastal lands. Leaving the Condamine, +he crossed the northern watershed, and struck the head of one of the main +tributaries of the Fitzroy River, which he named the Dawson. Thence he +passed westward into a region of fine pastoral country, which he named +the Peak Downs. Here he named the minor waters of the Planet and the +Comet, and Zamia Creek. On the 10th of January, 1845, he found the +Mackenzie River, and thence crossed on to and named the Isaacs, a +tributary of the Fitzroy coming from the north. This river they followed +up till they crossed the watershed on to the head waters of the Suttor +River. They followed this stream down until it brought them to the +Burdekin, Leichhardt's most important discovery. + +<p>Up the valley of this river they travelled, until they reached the head, +where, at the Valley of Lagoons, they crossed the watershed on to the +waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Here, for some unknown reason, +Leichhardt went far too much to the north, which necessitated a long +detour around the south-eastern corner of the Gulf. It was while they +were retracing a southern course along the eastern shore of the Gulf that +the naturalist Gilbert met his fate. Up to this time they had been so +little troubled with the natives that they had ceased almost to think of +a possible hostile encounter with them. This fancied immunity was broken +in a most tragic manner on the night of the 28th of June, 1845. It was a +calm, quiet evening, and the party were peacefully encamped beside a +chain of shallow lagoons. The doctor was thinking out his plans for the +next few days, Gilbert was planting a few lilies he had gathered, as was +his nightly habit when any flowers were available. Roper and the others +were grouped around the fire warding off the attacks of the mosquitoes. +Suddenly about seven o'clock a shower of spears was thrown among the +unarmed men, and Gilbert was almost instantly killed, Roper and Calvert +being seriously wounded. The whites rushed for their guns, but +unfortunately not one weapon was ready capped, and it was some time +before any of them could be discharged, when a volley caused the blacks +to scamper off. It is most astonishing that the whole of the members of +the party were not cut down in one dreadful massacre. + +<p>The body of the murdered naturalist was buried at the fatal camp, but the +grave was left unmarked, and a large fire built and consumed above it to +hide all traces of it from the natives. The river where this sad mishap +occurred now bears the name of Gilbert. + +<p>From the scene of this tragedy, which ordinary precautions would have +avoided, the party proceeded around the southern shore of the Gulf, +keeping a short distance above tidal waters; but their progress was slow +and painful on account of the two wounded men. Most of Leichhardt's names +are still retained for the rivers of the Gulf which he crossed, the +Leichhardt itself being an exception. This river he mistook for the +Albert, so named by Captain Stokes during his marine survey of the north +coast. A.C. Gregory rectified the error in after years, and gave the +river the name of the lost explorer for whom he was then searching. With +fast-dwindling supplies, lagging footsteps, and depressed spirits, the +expedition travelled slowly on to the south-west corner of the Gulf +where, in crossing a large river, the Roper, four of the horses were +drowned in consequence of the boggy banks. This misfortune so limited +their means of carriage that Leichhardt had to sacrifice the whole of his +botanical collection. On the 17th of December, 1845, the worn-out +travellers, nearly destitute of everything, reached the settlement of +Victoria, at Port Essington, and the long journey of fourteen months was +over. + +<p>This expedition, successful as it was in opening up such a large area of +well-watered country, attracted universal attention both to the +gratifying economic results and to the hitherto untried leader. He was +enthusiastically welcomed back to Sydney, and dubbed by journalists the +prince of explorers. But what captivated public fancy was a certain halo +of romance that clung to the journey on account of the reported death of +Leichhardt, a report that gained general credence. His unexpected return +invested him with a romance which -- fortunately for his reputation -- +the total and absolute disappearance of himself and company in 1848 has +but the more richly coloured. Enthusiastic poets gush forth in song, and +a more substantial reward was raised by public and private subscriptions +and shared among the expedition in due proportions. + +<p>Encouraged by these encomiums on his success, and perhaps a little +intoxicated by the general acclamation, Leichhardt now conceived the +ambitious idea of traversing the continent from the eastern to the +western shore; keeping as far as possible on the same parallel of +latitude. This was a bold project, coming as it did so soon after Sturt +had returned to Adelaide from his excursion into the interior with a +terrible tale of thirst and suffering. But this time the hero of the hour +experienced no difficulty in obtaining funds and other necessary aids. +The party, when organised, travelled from the Hunter River to the +Condamine, taking with them their outfit of mules, cattle, and goats. +When the expedition departed from Darling Downs, they numbered seven +white men and two natives, with 270 goats, 180 sheep, 40 bullocks, 15 +horses, and 13 mules. There were besides an ample outfit and provisions +calculated to last the explorers on a two years' journey; for it was +estimated that the expedition would be absent from civilisation for that +time. + +<p>Instead of setting out westwards from the initial point in a direction +where Leichhardt could reasonably expect fair travelling country for some +distance, he proceeded along his old track north to the Mackenzie and +Isaacs Rivers. What induced him to adopt this course is uncertain. He +explained to one of his party that it was to verify some former +observations; or he may have had some dim notion that by keeping to the +tropical line he would gain some climatic assistance. Whatever the cause, +the result was disastrous. The wet season and monsoonal rains caught the +party amongst the sickly acacia scrubs of that region; and hemmed in by +mud and bog they lost their stock, consumed their provisions, and made no +progress. Henceforth the narrative is one of semi-starvation, varied by +gorging on the days when a beast was killed; and wrangles and quarrels, +in which the leader appeared in no amiable light. Medicine had been +omitted from the stores, and all the covering they had from the +torrential rains was provided by two miserable calico tents. The 6th day +of July found them back on Chauvel's station on the Condamine; a sad +contrast to the party which had aspired to cross the continent. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-18"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-18.jpg"></p> +<p><b>John Frederick Mann. Born 1819, died September 7th, 1907, at Sydney. The last survivor of a Leichhardt expedition.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>The onus of this wretched failure Leichhardt tried to cast upon his +companions, upon whom he made many unjust aspersions. J.F. Mann, late of +the Survey Department of New South Wales, was one of the expedition, and +the last surviving member of any expedition connected with Leichhardt. He +wrote a booklet in which he vigorously defends his comrades and himself +against the unworthy slurs cast at them by Leichhardt. Amongst his papers +is a rough sketch from life of Leichhardt in bush costume. + +<p>On reaching the Condamine, Leichhardt was put into possession of the news +of Mitchell's return and of the discovery of the Barcoo. Being anxious to +examine the country lying between the upper Condamine and Mitchell's +latest track, he, in company with two or three of his late companions, +left Cecil Plains for that purpose; he went as far as the Balonne River, +crossed it and returned. This doubtless was in view of organising another +expedition, with which he evidently intended to start in another manner, +straight to the westward. + +<p>Still persisting and believing in his capability of leading an expedition +across the continent, and fearful that this ambitious project might be +forestalled, he now made strong and strenuous efforts to organise another +party. He succeeded at length, but the party was neither so well +provided, nor so large, nor composed of such capable men as the second. + +<p>In fact, very little is known of the members that composed it; the only +thing certain is that it was not at all adapted for the work that lay +before it. A few words of the Reverend W.W.B. Clarke, the well-known +geologist, have been many times quoted, and they convey about all that is +known of the personnel of the expedition:-- + +<p>"The parties that accompanied Leichhardt were perhaps little capable of +shifting for themselves in case of any accident to their leader. The +second in command, a brother-in-law of Leichhardt, came from Germany to +join him before starting, and he told me, when I asked him what his +qualifications for the journey were, that he had been at sea and had +suffered shipwrecks, and was therefore well able to endure hardship. I do +not know what his other qualifications were." + +<p>The last sentence is very pregnant, and implies that a very poor opinion +of the men as experienced bushmen was entertained by those who saw them. + +<p>The lost expedition is supposed to have consisted of six whites and two +blacks; the names known being those of the doctor himself, Classen, +Hentig, Stuart, and Kelly. He had with him 12 horses, 13 mules, 50 +bullocks, and 270 goats; beside the utterly inadequate allowance of 800 +pounds of flour, 120 pounds of tea, some sugar and salt, 250 pounds of +shot, and 40 pounds of powder. His last letter is dated the 3rd of April, +1848, from McPherson's station on the Cogoon, but in it he speaks only of +the country he has passed through, and nothing of his intended route. +Since the residents of this then outlying station lost sight of him, no +sure clue as to the fate of him and his companions has ever come to +light. The total evanishment, not alone of the men, but of the animals -- +especially the mules and the goats -- is one of the strangest mysteries +of our mysterious interior. Thirst probably caused the death of the +animals, and in that case they would have died singly and apart, and +their remains would in after years elude attention. A similar fate +probably befel the men. + +<p>Rumour has always been rife as to the locality of Leichhardt's death, and +suggestions the most hopelessly unlikely and inconsistent have been put +forward and seriously considered. At the same time, the only two reliable +marks, undoubtedly genuine and fitting in in every way with Leichhardt's +projected course of travel, have been neglected. + +<p>Leichhardt started from McPherson's station on the Cogoon, now perhaps +better known as Muckadilla Creek. There was a rumour, never +authenticated, that after he had proceeded nearly one hundred miles he +sent back a man with a report that he had passed through some splendid +pastoral land, but this is not at all likely to be true. The first +indication of him is then met with on the Barcoo (Victoria) whereon A.C. +Gregory, in charge of the Leichhardt Search Expedition, in 1858, found +his marked tree and other indications:-- + +<p>"Continuing our route along the river (latitude 24 degrees 35 minutes; +longitude 36 degrees 6 minutes), we discovered a Moreton Bay ash, about +two feet in diameter, marked with the letter L on the east side, cut +through the bark about four feet from the ground, and near it the stumps +of some small trees that had been cut with a sharp axe, also a deep notch +cut in the side of a sloping tree, apparently to support the ridge-pole +of a tent, or some similar purpose; all indicating that a camp had been +established here by Leichhardt's party. No traces of stock could be +found; this however is easily accounted for, as the country had been +inundated last season." + +<p>There can be little doubt about the authenticity of the trace, and it at +once does away with the truth of the stories told to Hovenden Hely by the +blacks as to Leichhardt's murder on the Warrego River. Gregory then went +up the Thomson River but found no other mark, and returning followed that +river and Cooper's Creek down to South Australia. This camp of +Leichhardt's is easily understood. Then follows an account of the other +found by the same explorer in 1856, during an earlier expedition. This +was on the upper waters of Elsey Creek, and his description of it runs as +follows:-- + +<p>"The smoke of bush fires was visible to the south, east, and north, and +several trees cut with iron axes were noticed near the camp. There were +also the remains of a hut, and the ashes of a large fire, indicating that +there had been a party encamped there for several weeks; several trees +from six to eight inches in diameter had been cut down with iron axes in +fair condition, and the hut built by cutting notches in standing trees +and resting a large pole therein for a ridge. This hut had been burnt +apparently by the subsequent bush fires; and only some pieces of the +thickest timber remained unconsumed. Search was made for marked trees, +but none were found, nor were there any fragments of iron, leather, or +other material of the equipment of an exploring party, or of any bones of +animals other than those common to Australia. Had an exploring party been +destroyed there, there would most likely be some indications, and it may +therefore be inferred that the party proceeded on its journey. It could +not have been a camp of Leichhardt's in 1845, as it is 100 miles +south-west of his route to Port Essington, and it was only six or seven +years old, judging by the growth of the trees; having subsequently seen +some of Leichhardt's camps on the Burdekin, Mackenzie, and Barcoo Rivers, +a great similarity was observed in the mode of building the hut, and its +relative position with regard to the fire and water supply, and the +position with regard to the great features of the country was exactly +where a party going westward would first receive a check from the +waterless tableland between the Roper and Victoria Rivers, and would +probably camp and reconnoitre before attempting to cross to the +north-west coast." + +<p>Leichhardt's track, as far as the Elsey, seems tolerably plain and +entirely in accordance with the character of the man and his intentions. +Forced to retreat from the dry country west of the Thomson, he probably +followed that river to its head, and crossing the main watershed regained +and re-pursued his track of 1845, as far as the Roper, of which river +Elsey Creek is a tributary. When he left the camp seen by Gregory, he +would, going either south-west or west, find himself in the driest of dry +country, which is even now but sparsely settled. And there came the end. + +<p>Long before the last water they carried with them had been used, their +beasts would have all died, left here and there wherever they fell. So +too would the men. Differences of opinion would have arisen, and some +would have been for turning back, and others for keeping on. Some would +have persisted in changing the direction they were following, and, led on +by some mad delirious fancy in seeing water indications in some rock or +bush, would have separated and staggered on to die alone. Their baggage +would have been left strewn over the desert where it had been abandoned, +and the men, one by one, would have shared the same fate. Into such a +waterless and barren region the blacks would seldom penetrate, and what +with the sun, hot winds, bush fires, and sand-storms, all recognisable +traces would soon have been effaced. + +<p>With regard to the notched tree to support a ridge-pole, which feature +was noticed by Gregory in both camps, J.F. Mann, of whose companionship +with Leichhardt mention has already been made, often stated that he would +recognise Leichhardt's camps anywhere by this singular device for +supporting the ridge of a tent. + +</p><a name="chapter9"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 9. EDMUND B. KENNEDY.</h3> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-19"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-19.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Edmund B. Kennedy.</b></p> +</center> + +<h4>9.1. THE VICTORIA AND COOPER'S CREEK.</h4> + +<p>E.B. Kennedy, whose tragic death ineffaceably branded the Cape York +blacks as remorselessly cruel, came to Australia early in life, and was +appointed a Government surveyor in 1840. His first experience as an +explorer was gained when as Assistant-Surveyor and second in command he +accompanied his chief on the last expedition that Mitchell led into the +interior. On this occasion he remained in charge of the camp formed at +St. George's Bridge, and then conducted part of the expedition on to the +Maranoa, where he rejoined the Major, and remained in charge whilst +Mitchell made his exploration westward. + +<p>On Mitchell's return to Sydney, there being some doubt as to the point of +outflow of the newly-discovered Victoria River, Kennedy was sent out with +a small party to follow the river down and ascertain its course and +destination. + +<p>On the 13th of August, he reached Mitchell's lowest camp on the Victoria +River, and started to trace the river down. During the first day's +journey he came across some natives, from one of whom he learnt that the +aboriginal name of the river was the Barcoo. Two days afterwards he +observed with some anxiety that the trend of the valley was inclining +from northwards towards the point whence Sturt had turned back from his +upward course on Cooper's Creek. As the second part of his instructions +was to find a practicable road to the Gulf, he feared that he would not +have sufficient provisions to fulfil both duties. He therefore made a +stationary camp, and with two men proceeded down the river. But after two +days' journey, he found that the Barcoo turned to the west, and even +north of west. The channel now showed large reaches of water within its +confines, some of them more than one hundred yards in width. This induced +him to alter his plan, and he thought he should follow such an important +watercourse and ascertain its outflow. He therefore turned back for the +remainder of his party. On the 30th of August he discovered a large river +coming from the North-North-East, and he named it the Thomson. With the +usual inconsistency of Australian inland rivers, the Thomson soon +presented another and different scene. The great pastoral stretches of +the upper course were left behind, and were succeeded by flat and +inferior country intersected by sand-ridges. The course of the river +itself once more turned to the southward, and was but scantily watered. +Still Kennedy persevered until convinced that further progress must bring +him to Sturt's furthest on Cooper's Creek. The face of the land answered +to Sturt's description; and grass and feed both beginning to fail him, +Kennedy had to consider whether it was worth while risking the lives of +his men to confirm what was practically a certainty. At last vistas of +the desert, described by Sturt with such terrible fidelity, appeared +stretching away to the horizon, and Kennedy turned back, satisfied that +the Victoria River and Cooper's Creek were one and the same stream. + +<p>It was now Kennedy's intention to make an excursion towards the Gulf of +Carpentaria. On his way down, in order to travel lighter, he had buried a +large quantity of flour and sugar as well as his drays. When he arrived +at the cache of provisions on his way back, he found that the natives had +dug the rations up, and in mere wantonness had so mixed and scattered +them as to render them useless. A little further on, he was just in time +to save the carts, for an aboriginal was probing in the ground with a +spear to ascertain their whereabouts. During this excursion Kennedy +noticed that the blacks were given to "chewing tobacco in a green state;" +but the "tobacco" was, of course, the pituri plant, which they are +accustomed to masticate. By the time he reached the head of the Warrego, +Kennedy was too short of provisions to attempt his projected Gulf +expedition, and had to make homeward, but resolved to go down by that +river and ascertain whether it joined the Darling or flowed westward. + +<p>The Warrego dividing into many dry channels when they reached its lower +courses, the party struck eastward to the Culgoa, and reached that river +after a very distressing stage over dry country on which they lost six +horses from heat and thirst, whilst bringing the carts across it. + +<h4>9.2. A TRAGIC EXPEDITION.</h4> + +<p>Kennedy's first experience of an independent exploring expedition in the +west was by no means a fitting prelude to the tragic journey he next +undertook. The same impulse that led to Mitchell's and Leichhardt's +northern journeys stimulated Kennedy to make his dangerous journey up the +eastern coast of the long peninsula that terminates in Cape York -- the +desire to find a road to the north coast, so that an easy chain of +communication should exist between the southern settlements and the far +north. + +<p>It was at the end of the month of May that Kennedy landed at Rockingham +Bay with his party of twelve men. He had started from Sydney in the +barque Tam o' Shanter, which was convoyed by Captain Owen Stanley in the +Alligator. This was in 1848, the same fateful year that witnessed +Leichhardt's disappearance. A schooner was to meet the party on the +north, at Port Albany, where it was proposed to form a settlement should +the features of the peninsula warrant such an enterprise. In actual point +of distance the task was not great, being a land traverse of from three +to four hundred miles, allowing for deviations. But never were men in +Australia so dogged by disaster and beset by danger as were Kennedy and +his followers. Opposed by country as yet unfamiliar to them, they found +their onward path hindered by many totally unforeseen conditions. Ranges +and ravines clothed with an almost impenetrable jungle, which was +infested with the venomous leaves of the stinging tree and the hooked +spikes of the lawyer vine, confronted them. The land was densely +populated with the most savage and relentless natives on the continent, +who resented the invasion from the outset. Death tracked them steadily +throughout, and claimed ten out of the thirteen of the devoted party as +his victims. + +<p>The country through which their course lay is now dotted with +mining-fields and townships, and fertile spaces of tilled tropical +plantations. The coast-line rich in harbours is the busy haunt of +steamers, and the narrow waterway between the mainland and the great +barrier reef the home of many lightships. But when Kennedy and his party +made their pioneer journey, the great desolation of the wilderness beset +them on every side from the land, whilst the sea off-shore held myriad +dangers. + +<p>Kennedy landed from the Tam o'Shanter at the little point that still +bears the jovial name, and bade farewell to Owen Stanley in good spirits, +and with no dread premonitions. He was fresh from the sun-scorched plains +of the interior, and would confidently confront whatever might lie before +him. Scrub and swampy country delayed him on his way to the higher land +at the foot of the range, where he had hoped to find better travelling +country; but the foothills were serried with ravines and gullies, and the +sides clothed with the ever-present jungle. The horses and sheep, +unaccustomed to the sour grasses of the coast lands of northern +Australia, pined and rapidly wasted away. Their troubles were augmented +by acts of annoyance, and on one unfortunate occasion, of open hostility +on the part of the blacks. + +<p>By the 18th of July, a little over six weeks after they had left +Rockingham Bay, the sheep had been reduced from one hundred to fifty, and +the horses began to fail so rapidly that they had to abandon the carts, +while the men were becoming completely exhausted from the endless cutting +and hacking of the scrub. At length they surmounted the range, the +backbone of the peninsula, and on the western slope, amid the heads of +the rivers flowing into the Gulf of Carpentaria, made better progress. +Kennedy, however, adhered to his instructions to examine the eastern +slope, and recrossed the watershed, where troubles again came thick upon +him. One after another the horses began to give in, and owing to the +storekeeper's mismanagement, they were nearly out of provisions. On the +9th of December they reached Weymouth Bay, and Kennedy determined to form +a stationary camp, and leaving there the main body of his men, push +forward to Port Albany, whence he would send back the schooner that was +awaiting them with relief. He selected seven men whom he left in charge +of Carron, the naturalist, and with three men and the heroic Jacky-Jacky, +an aboriginal of New South Wales, he pushed on -- to his death. + +<p>Before the departure the last sheep was slaughtered, and its lean and +miserable carcase shared between the two parties; and with Carron, +Kennedy ascended a hill that commanded a prospect of the country lying to +the north, but could see nothing but rugged hills and black scrub. He +confided only to Carron his gloomy foreboding that he would never reach +Albany, so disheartened were both the men by the prospect. And throughout +those long weeks of starvation that ensued, Carron refrained from +crushing all hope in his comrades by communicating to them Kennedy's +despair of relief. + +<p>For three weeks Kennedy struggled on, cutting his path through the scrub, +and, with dwindling strength, clambering across the spurs of the range. +For the story of his struggles and eventual death Australia has had to +rely on the report of the only survivor, the faithful Jacky-Jacky. They +reached Shelburne Bay, where one of the men accidentally shot himself, +and became so weak from loss of blood that it was impossible for him to +move. As another man, Luff, was sick, Kennedy left the third man, Dunn, +to attend to his two comrades, and pushed on alone with the native boy. +He had actually gained the Escape River, within sight of Albany Island, +when his fate overtook him, and, surrounded by the blood-thirsty foes who +had so long and persistently hung upon his footsteps, he fell at last +beneath their spears. + +<p>The story is best told in Jacky's own words, although it has been often +repeated. They had come across some natives whom Kennedy was inclined to +trust, but of whom Jacky was suspicious, and that night they camped in +the scrub, foodless and fireless. + +<p>"I and Mr. Kennedy," said Jacky, "watched them that night, taking it in +turns every hour that night. By and by I saw the blackfellows. It was a +moonlight night, and I walked up to Mr. Kennedy and said: 'There is +plenty of blackfellows now;' this was in the middle of the night. Mr. +Kennedy told me to get my gun ready. + +<p>"The blacks did not know where we slept, as we did not make a fire. We +both sat up all night. After this daylight came and I fetched the horses +and saddled them. Then we went a good way up the river, and then we sat +down a little while, and then we saw three blackfellows coming along our +track, and then they saw us, and one ran back, as hard as he could run, +and fetched up plenty more, like a flock of sheep almost. I told Mr. +Kennedy to put the saddles on the horses and go on, and the blacks came +up and they followed us all day. All along it was raining. I now told him +to leave the horses and come on without them, that horses made too much +track. Mr. Kennedy was too weak, and would not leave the horses. We went +on this day until the evening; raining hard and the blacks followed us +all day, some behind, some planted before. In fact, blackfellows all +round following us. Now we went into a little bit of scrub, and I told +Mr. Kennedy to look behind always. Sometimes he would do so, and +sometimes he would not do so to look out for the blacks. Then a good many +blackfellows came behind in the scrub and threw plenty of spears, and hit +Mr. Kennedy in the back first. Mr. Kennedy said to me: 'Oh Jacky! Jacky! +shoot 'em! shoot 'em!' then I pulled out my gun and fired and hit one +fellow all over the face with buck-shot. He tumbled down and got up again +and again, and wheeled right round, and two blacks picked him up and +carried him away. They went a little way and came back again, throwing +spears all round, more than they did before -- very large spears. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-20"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-20.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Wild Blacks of Cape York signalling.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>"I pulled out the spear at once from Mr. Kennedy's back, and cut the jag +with Mr. Kennedy's knife. Then Mr. Kennedy got his gun and snapped, but +the gun would not go off. The blacks sneaked all around by the trees, and +speared Mr. Kennedy again, in the right leg above the knee a little, and +I got speared in the eye, and the blacks were now throwing always, never +giving over, and shortly again speared Mr. Kennedy again in the right +side. There were large jags in the spears, and I cut them off and put +them in my pocket. At the same time we got speared the horses got speared +too, and jumped and bucked about and got into the swamps. I now told Mr. +Kennedy to sit down while I looked after the saddle-bags, which I did, +and when I came back again I saw the blacks along with Mr. Kennedy. I +then asked him if he saw the blacks with him. He was stupid with the +spear wounds, and said 'No'; I then asked him where was his watch? I saw +the blacks taking away watch and hat as I was returning to Mr. Kennedy. +Then I carried Mr. Kennedy into the scrub. He said, 'Don't carry me a +good way.' Then Mr. Kennedy looked this way, very bad (Jacky rolling his +eyes). I asked him often, 'are you well now?' and he said -- 'I don't +care for the spear wound in my leg, Jacky, but for the other two spear +wounds in my side and back, and I am bad inside, Jacky!' I told him +blackfellow always die when he got spear wound in there (the back). He +said: 'I am out of wind, Jacky.' I asked him: 'Are you going to leave +me?' And he said, 'Yes, my boy; I am going to leave you; I am very bad, +Jacky, you take the books, Jacky, to the Captain, but not the big ones; +the Governor will give you anything for them.' I then tied up the papers. +He then said: 'Jacky, give me paper and I will write.' I gave him pencil +and paper, and he tried to write, and he then fell back and died, and I +caught him in my arms and held him; and I then turned round myself and +cried. I was crying a good while until I got well; that was about an +hour, and then I buried him. + +<p>"I digged up the ground with a tomahawk, and covered him over with logs +and grass, and my shirt and trousers. That night I left him near dark. I +would go through the scrub and the blacks threw spears at me; a great +many; and I went back into the scrub. Then I went down the creek which +runs into Escape River, and I walked along the water in the creek, very +easy, with my head only above the water, to avoid the blacks, and get out +of their way. In this way I went half-a-mile. Then I got out of the +creek, and got clear of them, and walked all night nearly, and slept in +the bush without a fire." + +<p>At the southern entrance of Albany Pass, one of the most picturesque +spots of the east coast of Australia, the schooner Ariel lay at anchor, +awaiting, day after day, some signal to indicate the arrival of the +expected Kennedy. One day the look-out man announced that there was an +aboriginal on the mainland making urgent signals to the schooner. There +was nothing unusual in this, for during the delay and tedious waiting, +the blacks had constantly been seen making gestures on the shore. An +examination through the glass, however, showed the people on the Ariel +that this blackfellow was making such vehement and persistent signals +that it was thought worth while to send the boat in to investigate +affairs. + +<p>No wonder the poor fellow's signals were urgent and vehement; he was +Jacky-Jacky, who, thirteen days after Kennedy's death, by devious +twistings and windings, occasionally climbing a tree in the hope to catch +a glimpse of the schooner, and existing on roots and vermin, had at last +reached the goal. But when he stood prominently on the shore to signal to +the schooner, his relentless pursuers sighted him, and his frantic signs +were for rescue from imminent peril. The boat's crew fortunately +recognised the emergency, and a smart race ensued between them and the +natives. The rescuers won, and Jacky-Jacky was saved to tell his +melancholy story. + +<p>There was no time lost on board the Ariel. There were three men who might +be still alive at Shelburne Bay, and eight more starving at Weymouth Bay. +Kennedy was dead; their duty, and urgent duty it was, lay with the +living. At once the schooner commenced to beat down the coast, and at +Shelburne Bay they landed but failed to find the camp. But they seized a +native canoe which bore sufficient evidence that the men had been +murdered. Clearly time must not be wasted in inflicting punishment; +according to Jacky's account, the men at Weymouth Bay were absolutely +starving, if they had not already succumbed to famine. + +<p>After their leader had left Weymouth, Carron had shifted the camp on to +the nearest hill, as it was more open and less exposed to the treacherous +attacks of the natives. A flagstaff was erected on the crest, in view of +the Bay. Then the party had only to sit down and await the coming of the +grim shadow following them through the jungle to strike them with the +death chill. They had two skeletons of horses and two gaunt dogs, and a +tiny remnant of flour. The men gave themselves up to moody despondency. +"Wearied out by long endurance of trials that would have shaken the +courage and tried the fortitude of the strongest," says Carron in his +diary, "a sort of sluggish indifference prevailed that prevented the +development of those active energies which were necessary to support us +in our present critical position." + +<p>One of the two horses was killed, and its scanty flesh, cut into strips, +was dried in the sun and smoke. This, the most repellant, sapless food to +be found in the world, had been their diet for some time. Douglas was the +first to die. The survivors were still strong enough to give him burial. +In a few days Taylor followed him and was interred by his side. The +blacks threatened them continually, though at times they would lay down +their arms and bring pieces of fish and turtle into the camp; but this +only the better to spy out their weakness. Carpenter was the next to +succumb, and on the 1st of December they were doomed to drink their +bitterest cup to the dregs. They had killed the remaining horse, but the +monsoonal rains descended, and in the steamy atmosphere the meat turned +putrid. Torn with anxiety, Carron was dejectedly mounting the look-out to +the flagstaff when he caught sight of a vessel beating into the Bay. The +sudden change from despair to relief was overwhelming. Kennedy must have +reached Port Albany, and had doubtless sent the Bramble to rescue them. +With eager, tremulous hands he hoisted a pre-arranged signal to warn them +against the blacks. Darkness fell and they kept a fire burning, and fired +off rockets, and when daylight came and a boat was lowered from the +schooner, they felt no misgivings. Time passed, and Carron again ascended +the look-out. What he saw nearly blasted his eyesight. The schooner was +standing out to sea; he was just in time to see her round the point and +disappear. + +<p>They strove to persuade themselves that it was not the Bramble, a relief +schooner that was supposed to cruise along the coast. But it assuredly +had been the Bramble, and her men had not seen the signals against the +gloomy background of scrub and hills. They knew nothing of Kennedy's +death, nor of Carron's plight. The agony of this disappointment must have +been more bitter than death. Mitchell was the next to die, and the +survivors were too weak to give him burial. Then Niblett and Wall +departed, but on the last day of the year relief came to the remaining +two. + +<p>Some natives suddenly brought Carron a dirty note, to say that help was +coming, and he saw by their gestures that there was a vessel in the bay. +He scribbled a note in reply, but they refused to take it, and began to +crowd into the camp and handle their weapons. They were not going to be +baulked of their prey. At the very moment when they were poising their +spears, the relief party arrived. Four brave men -- Captain Dobson of the +Ariel, Dr. Vallack, Barrett a sailor, and the eager Jacky-Jacky -- had +forced their way through mangroves and hostile threatening natives to +snatch them from their doom. + +<p>Nothing could be carried away but the two famished men, and they were +helped down to the boat without coming into active hostilities. Thus +ended the most disastrous expedition in Australian annals. Kennedy's body +was never recovered, nor was the fate of the men at Shelburne Bay +revealed. The bodies at Weymouth Bay were re-buried on Albany Island, and +a tablet was erected in memory of Kennedy, in St. James's Church, Sydney. + +</p><a name="chapter10"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 10. LATER EXPLORATION IN THE NORTH-EAST.</h3> + +<h4>10.1. WALKER IN SEARCH OF BURKE AND WILLS.</h4> + +<p>Frederick Walker commenced his bush career as a pioneer squatter in the +districts of Southern Queensland, but afterwards made his residence near +the centre, where he joined the Native Police. He had long bush +experience, was a firm believer in the training of the natives in +quasi-military duty, and had taken a prominent part in the formation of +the Queensland Native Police. On this relief expedition, the party was +composed almost entirely of Native Police troopers under his leadership. + +<p>On receiving his commission, he pushed rapidly out to the Barcoo, and, +near the Thomson River, came upon another tree marked L. This might have +been made by Leichhardt. He ascended the main watershed, and crossed it +coming down on to the head of the Flinders River. Here he experienced +many hindrances arising from the rough basaltic nature of the country +that borders the northern head-waters of that river. When he finally +debouched upon the wide western plains, he crossed the Flinders, without +recognising it as the main branch, in the search for which he went on +northward. Approaching the Gulf of Carpentaria, he had several encounters +with the aboriginals. As he neared the coast, the bend of the Flinders +brought that river again across his route, and it was then that he came +on some camel tracks, which assured him that the missing party, the +object of his search, had at any rate reached the Gulf safely. On his +outward way Walker may be said to have pursued a course parallel with +that of the Flinders, a little further to the northward. + +<p>He pushed on to the Albert River, to replenish his provisions at the +depot provided for the use of the various relief parties. He arrived +there safely, after having had two more skirmishes with the blacks on the +way. He reported the finding of the camel tracks, and having come to the +conclusion that Burke and Wills had probably made for the Queensland +settlements, he decided to follow them thither. He traced out a tributary +of the Flinders, the Saxby, on his homeward route, but saw no more of the +camel tracks, and finally crossed the water-shed on to the rough basaltic +country at the head of the Burdekin. Here his horses suffered so severely +from the rugged nature of the country, that by the time they reached +Strathalbyn, a station on the lower Burdekin, the whole of the party were +well-nigh horseless, as well as almost out of provisions. + +<p>Walker was afterwards engaged by the Queensland Government to mark out a +course for a telegraph line between Rockingham Bay and the mouth of the +Norman River in Carpentaria. This work he carried out successfully; but +when at the Gulf, he was attacked by the prevalent malarial fever, and +died there. + +<h4>10.2. BURDEKIN AND CAPE YORK EXPEDITIONS.</h4> + +<p>The main portion of eastern Australia was now fairly well known; it had +been crossed from south to north, and from east to west, and it was only +the elongated spur of the Cape York peninsula that stood in urgent need +of detailed exploration. + +<p>Amongst what may be called the minor pastoral expeditions of that period, +was one conducted by G.E. Dalrymple, who penetrated the coastal country +north of Rockhampton as far north as the Burdekin. In 1859 he followed +that river down to the sea, and found that the mouth had been located +further to the south than was really the case. His party then struck +inland, examined the head of that river, and found the Valley of Lagoons. +The following year another party, consisting of Messrs. Cunningham, +Somer, and three others, explored the tributaries of the Upper Burdekin, +and opened up several good tracts of pastoral country. The permanent +running stream which flows through a rugged wall of basalt into an +ana-branch of the Burdekin, was first noticed by this party, and called +Fletcher's Creek. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-21"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-21.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Frank L. Jardine.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>Frank and Alec Jardine jointly led up the Cape York Peninsula an +expedition that in its hardships and dangers emulated that of Kennedy's, +but fortunately without a tragic ending. The year 1863 was one of great +activity in the northern part of eastern Australia. At Cape York, the +Imperial Government had, on the recommendation of Sir George Bowen, the +first governor of Queensland, decided to form a settlement. John Jardine, +the police magistrate of the central town of Rockhampton, was selected to +take charge, and a detachment of marines was sent out to be stationed +there. Somerset, the new settlement, was formed on the Albany Pass, +opposite to the island of the same name. Jardine was to proceed by sea to +his new sphere of office, but, anticipating the want of fresh meat at the +proposed station, he entered into an arrangement with the Government +whereby his two sons were to take a small herd of cattle thither +overland, and on the way make careful observations of the land through +which they were to pass. Somerset was situated near the scene of +Kennedy's death, and knowing what tremendous difficulties that explorer +had met with on the eastern shore, it was decided that the expedition +should attempt to follow the western shore through the unknown country +that faced the Gulf of Carpentaria. Both the Jardine brothers were quite +young men at the time when they started on their exceedingly adventurous +trip, which combined cattle-droving with exploration: Frank, the accepted +leader, being only twenty-two years old, and his brother Alexander but +twenty. Their father had come from Applegarth, in Dumfriesshire; they had +both been born near Sydney, and had been educated by private tutors and +at the Sydney Grammar School. + +<p>They took with them A.J. Richardson, a surveyor sent by the Government, +Scrutton, Binney, Cowderoy, and four natives. The stock consisted of +forty-two horses and two hundred and fifty head of cattle. The cheerful +acceptance of this hazardous enterprise by these youths was a fine +indication of adventurous spirit, and reflects great credit on their +courage and the courage of the native-born. The fate of the last explorer +who dared to face the perils of the Peninsula would have deterred any but +the boldest from taking up his task. + +<p>Before the final start from Carpentaria Downs, then the furthest station +to the north, supposed to be situated on Leichhardt's Lynd River, Alec +Jardine made a trip ahead in order to secure knowledge of an available +road for the cattle, and save delay in the earlier stages of the main +journey. On this preliminary observational excursion, he followed the +presumed Lynd down for nearly 180 miles, until he was convinced that +neither in appearance, direction, nor position did it correspond with the +river described by Leichhardt. On the subsequent journey with the cattle, +this conviction was found to be in accordance with fact, for the stream +was then proved to be a tributary of the Gilbert, now known as the +Einnesleigh. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-22"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-22.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Alec W. Jardine.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>On the 11th of October the final start was made, and the party commenced +a journey seldom equalled in Australia for peril and adventure. The head +of the Einnesleigh was amongst rough ranges, and on the 22nd of the month +they halted the cattle while they conducted another search for the +invisible Lynd. They found other good-sized creeks, but no Lynd, nor did +they ever see it. They afterwards found that, owing to an error in the +map they had with them, the Lynd was placed 30 miles out of position. A +misfortune happened at the outset of their expedition. In the morning a +large number of horses were missing. Leaving some of the party to stay +behind and look for them, the two brothers and the remainder went on with +the cattle. On the second day they arrived at a large creek, without +having been overtaken by the party with the missing horses and the +pack-horses. After an anxious day spent in waiting, Alec Jardine started +back to find out the cause of the delay. He met the missing party, who +were bringing bad news with them. Through carelessness in allowing the +grass round the camp to catch fire, half of their rations and nearly the +whole of their equipment had been burnt. In addition, one of the most +valuable of their horses had been poisoned. This terrible misfortune, +coming at such an early stage of their journey when they had all the +unknown country ahead of them, seriously imperilled the success of their +undertaking. But there was nothing to do but to bear it with what +equanimity they could muster. + +<p>The Cape York natives now seemed to rejoice that they had another party +of white men to dog to death. Once about twenty of them appeared about +sundown and boldly attacked the camp with showers of spears. Two days +afterwards, they surprised the younger Jardine when alone, and he had to +fight hard for his life. The creek they had been following down led them +on to the Staaten River, where the blacks succeeded in stampeding their +horses, and it was days before some of them were recovered. + +<p>On the 5th of December, they left this ill-omened river, and steered due +north. Bad luck still haunted them; tortured by flies, mosquitoes, and +sand-flies, their horses scattered and rambled incessantly. While the +brothers were absent, searching one day for the horses, the party at the +camp allowed the solitary mule to stray away with its pack on. The mule +was never found again, and it carried with it, in its pack, some of their +most necessary articles, reducing them nearly to the same state of +deprivation as their determined enemies, the aboriginals. Two more horses +went mad, through drinking salt water; one died, and the other was so ill +that he had to be abandoned. On the 13th of December they reached the +Mitchell River, not without having had another hot battle with the +blacks, who followed them day after day, watching for every opportunity +and displaying the same relentless hostility that they had formerly shown +to Kennedy. Whilst the party were on the Mitchell, the natives mustered +in force and fell upon the explorers with the greatest determination. +After a severe contest, in which heavy loss had been inflicted upon the +savages, they sullenly and reluctantly retired. From what was afterwards +gathered from the semi-civilised natives about Somerset, these tribes +followed the Jardines for nearly 400 miles. This perseverance and +inappeasable enmity had been equalled before only by the Darling natives. +It can be imagined how these incessant attacks, combined with the +harassing nature of the country, gave the party all they could do to hold +their own, and but for the prompt and plucky manner in which the attacks +were met, not one of them would have survived. + +<p>After crossing the Mitchell, steering north, they got into poor country, +thinly-grassed and badly-watered, with the natives still hanging on their +flanks. On the 28th of December, the blacks began to harass the horses, +and another hard struggle took place. Storms of rain now set in, and they +had to travel through dismal tea-tree flats, with the constant +expectation of being caught by a flood in the low-lying country. + +<p>In January, they had a gleam of hope. On the 5th they came to a +well-grassed valley, with a fine river running through it, which they +named the Archer. On the 9th they crossed another river, which they +supposed to be the one named the Coen on the seaward side. But once +across this river, troubles gathered thick again; the rain poured down +constantly, the country became so boggy that they could scarcely travel, +and to crown all their misfortunes, two horses were drowned when crossing +the Batavia, and six others were poisoned and died there. + +<p>Fate seemed now to have done her worst, and the explorers faced the +future manfully. Burying all that they could dispense with, they packed +all their remaining horses and started resolutely to finish the journey +on foot. On the 14th two more of their horses died, and the blacks once +more came up behind to reconnoitre. As may be imagined, the whites were +not in a patient humour, and this last skirmish was brief and severe. + +<p>On the 17th two more horses died from the effects of the poison plant. +Fifteen only were left out of the forty-two with which they had started. +They were now approaching the narrow point of the Cape, and found +themselves on a dreary waste of barren country whereon only heath grew, +and which was intersected with boggy creeks. + +<p>On the 10th of January, they caught a glimpse of the sea from the top of +a tree, and on the 20th they were in full view of it. As they went on, +they were entangled in the same kind of scrub that baffled Kennedy, and +at last on the 29th, after some days of scrub-cutting, it was determined +to halt the cattle, whilst the brothers should push on to Somerset in the +endeavour to find a more practicable track. In the tangled, scrubby +country through which they had passed, it had been difficult to form a +true conception of the distance, and their estimate of twenty miles for +the distance separating them from the settlement was much too short. + +<p>On the 30th of January, the two Jardines and their most trusted black +boy, Eulah, started to find the settlement. For a time they were hemmed +in by a bend of what they took to be the Escape River, but on getting +clear of it, they were surprised to come to another large and swollen +river, which apparently ran into the Gulf. This forced them to return. +After a few days' rest, they made a second vain attempt. Hemmed in by +impassable morasses and impenetrable thickets, in some places they were +cut off from approaching even the river, by formidable belts of +mangroves. In fact, the Jardine River, as it is now called, heads almost +from the eastern shore, from Pudding Pan Hill in fact, Kennedy's fatal +camp. It overlaps the Escape River, and after many devious windings and +twistings, flows across the Cape out on to the Gulf shore. + +<p>It was not until the end of February that, on the subsidence of some of +the flooded creeks, the brothers made a successful effort, and got into +somewhat better travelling country. The next morning they came across +some blacks who were eager to be on good terms, and hailed them to their +surprise with shouts of "Franco; Allico; Tumbacco". These cries had been +taught them by Mr. Jardine, who was getting anxious because of his sons' +delay, and had done all he could think of to help them. He had cut a +marked tree line, almost from sea to sea; and coached the local natives +up in a few English words, so as to be recognised as friends. This last +device succeeded admirably. From these newcomers, they selected three as +guides, and the following day reached the settlement. + +<p>The rest of the party and the stock were soon brought into Somerset, +where a cattle-station was formed. When we look back at the difficulties +that beset the path of this expedition, and the unforseen disasters that +befel them, one cannot help feeling the greatest admiration for the +leaders and their conduct. In spite of the numberless treacherous attacks +of the blacks to which they had been subjected, not a member of the band +had been lost. They had fought their way through the same species of +danger that had environed the unfortunate Kennedy, and had all lived to +tell the tale. The Royal Geographical Society rewarded the labours of the +two brothers by electing them Fellows of the Society, and by awarding +them the Murchison medal. + +<p>Frank Jardine was for some period Government Resident at Thursday Island, +whither the settlement has been removed; but of late he has resided at +his own station at Somerset, and engaged in pearl-shelling. Alec entered +the Queensland civil service, as Roads Engineer, and in that capacity did +much important work in the construction of the roads of that State. In +1871 and 1872, he designed and constructed the road and railway-bridge +over the Dawson River, and in 1890 he became Engineer-in-Chief for +Harbours and Rivers. + +<p>But the scrubby and hilly nature of the country on Cape York militated +against its speedy settlement, and it needed the lure of gold to induce +men to risk their lives in a land with such hostile inhabitants. In 1872 +the Queensland Government decided upon another exploration of the neck of +land that forms the northern-most point of Australia. More than eight +years had elapsed since the Jardines had made their dashing journey; but +their report, coupled with Kennedy's fate, did not offer much temptation +to follow up their footsteps. There was, however, a tract of country near +the base of the Peninsula still comparatively unknown; and a party was +organised and placed under the leadership of William Hann. Hann was a +native of Wiltshire, who had come out to the south of Victoria with his +parents at an early age. He was afterwards one of the pioneer squatters +of the Burdekin, in which river his father was drowned. The object of the +trip was to examine the country as far as the 14th parallel South, with a +special view to its mineral resources. The discovery of gold having +extended so far north in Queensland had raised a hope that its existence +would be traced along the promontory. Hann had with him Taylor as +geologist, and Dr. Tate as botanist, the latter being a survivor of the +melancholy Maria expedition to New Guinea. Apparently his ardour for +exploration had not been cooled by the narrow escape he had then +experienced. + +<p>The party left Fossilbrook station on the creek of the same name, a +tributary of the Lynd, north of the initial point of the Jardine +expedition. Crossing much rugged and broken country, they found two +rivers running into the Mitchell, and named them the Tate and the Walsh. + +<p>From the Walsh, the party proceeded to the upper course of the Mitchell, +and crossing it, struck a creek, marked on Kennedy's map as "creek ninety +yards wide." This was named the Palmer, and here Warner, the surveyor +found traces of gold. A further examination of the river resulted in +likely-looking results being obtained; and the discovery is now a matter +of history, the world-wide Palmer rush to north Queensland being the +result in 1874. + +<p>On the 1st of September, Hann reached his northern limit, and the next +day commenced the ascent of the range dividing the eastern and western +waters. A few days afterwards, he sighted the Pacific at Princess +Charlotte Bay. From this point the party returned south, and came to a +large river which he called the Normanby, where a slight skirmish with +the natives occurred, the blacks having hitherto been on friendly terms. +While the men were collecting the horses in the morning, the natives +attempted to cut them off, each native having a bundle of spears. A few +shots at a long distance were sufficient to disperse them, and the affair +ended without bloodshed. + +<p>On the 21st of September, Hann crossed the historical Endeavour River, +and upon a small creek running into this inlet, he lost one of his horses +from poison. Below the Endeavour, the party encountered similar +difficulties to those that dogged poor Kennedy's footsteps -- +impenetrable scrub and steep ravines. This went on for some days, and an +attempt to reach the seashore involved them in a perfect sea of scrub, +and necessitated the final conclusion that advance by white men and +horses was impossible. Hann had reluctantly to make up his mind to return +by the Gulf Coast, and abandon the unexplored ground to the south of him. + +<p>After many entanglements in the ranges, and confusion arising from the +tortuous courses of the rivers, the watershed was at last crossed, and on +the 28th of October they camped once more on the Palmer, whence they +safely returned along their outward course. + +<p>The gold discoveries on the Palmer, and the rush caused thereby, coming +soon after this expedition, led to a great deal of minor exploration done +under the guise of prospecting; and it is greatly to the work of +prospectors for gold that much of the knowledge of the petty details of +the geographical features of Australia is due. To the courage and +endurance of this class of settler, Australia owes a great debt, but +their labours are unrecorded and often forgotten.</p> + +<a name="part2"></a> +<h2>PART 2. CENTRAL AUSTRALIA.</h2> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-23"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-23.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Statue of John McDouall Stuart, in the Lands Office, Sydney.</b></p> +</center> + +<a name="chapter11"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 11. EDWARD JOHN EYRE.</h3> + +<h4>11.1. SETTLEMENT OF ADELAIDE AND THE OVERLANDERS.</h4> + +<p>The exploration of the centre of the continent was long retarded by the +difficult nature of the country -- by its aridity, its few +continuously-watered rivers, and the supposed horse-shoe shape of Lake +Torrens, which thrust its vast shallow morass across the path of the +daring explorers making north. + +<p>For most of us of the present day, to whom Lake Torrens is but a +geographical feature, it is hard to imagine the sense of awe it inspired +in the breasts of the South Australian settlers, who appeared to be cut +off completely from the north by its gloomy and forbidding environs of +salt and barrenness. + +<p>In 1836, Colonel Light surveyed the shores of St. Vincent's Gulf, and +selected the site of the city of Adelaide. Governor Hindmarsh and a +company of emigrants arrived soon afterwards, and the Province of South +Australia was proclaimed. + +<p>The very promising discoveries made to the south of the Murray by Major +Mitchell soon induced an invasion of adventurous pastoralists bringing +their stock from the settled parts of New South Wales. + +<p>Charles Bonney led the way across to the Port Phillip settlement in 1837 +with sheep. G.H. Ebden accompanied him, and they were shortly followed by +many more: Hamilton, Gardiner, Langbourne, and others, whose names are +well-known in Australian history as the first Overlanders. Very shortly +this overlanding of stock was extended to the newly-founded city of +Adelaide, Charles Bonney and Joseph Hawdon being the first drovers on +this long journey. Their Adelaide journey was in fact an exploration +trip, and an important one, as they followed the bank of the Murray below +its junction with the Darling; this part of the river having been +followed down before only by Sturt, and then only by water. + +<p>It was in January, 1838, that Hawdon and Bonney left Mitchell's crossing +at the Goulburn River with cattle as pioneers on the overland route to +Adelaide. Unknown to them they were closely followed by E.J. Eyre, with +another mob of cattle. Eyre, as we shall afterwards see, was thrown out +of the race through trying to make a short cut to avoid the sweeping bend +of the river. Bonney and Hawdon crossed the Murray above the junction of +the Darling, and in places found the bed of the latter river dry. The +natives, strange to say, were quite friendly; perhaps they had taken to +heart the lesson Mitchell had read them. But their amiable demeanour did +not last long. Bonney and Hawdon were almost the last overlanding party +to proceed unmolested. Within a comparatively short time afterwards, an +incessant war began to be waged between the blacks and every Overlander +who passed down the Murray. It ended only with the sanguinary battle of +the Rufus. More fortunate than Sturt, Hawdon and Bonney were able to cut +off many of the wearisome bends that had so fatigued Sturt's crew. Sturt +had had to follow every turn and curve, whilst the Overlanders avoided +the bends of the Murray by following the native paths, which spared them +in some cases a journey of one or two days. It was while following a +native path that they discovered and named Lake Bonney. At last they +sighted the Mount Lofty ranges, and after some difficulty in getting +through some rough mallee-covered country, arrived at Adelaide, and +gladdened the residents with the prospect of roast beef. "Up to this +time," says Bonney in his diary, "they had been living almost exclusively +on kangaroo flesh." Eyre, whose name was afterwards so closely allied +with a famous story of thirst and hardship, narrowly escaped with his +life during his overlanding trip. + +<p>It was owing to a very natural mistake that Eyre was led astray. He +intended to try a straighter and shorter route than the one round the +Murray, and for a time got on very well, but coming across a tract of dry +country across which he could not take the cattle, he determined to +follow Mitchell's Wimmera River to the north, naturally thinking that it +would lead him easily to the Murray, and would probably prove to be +identical with the Lindsay, as marked on Sturt's chart. From Mitchell's +furthest point, he traced it a considerable distance to the north-west, +and at last found its termination in a large swampy lake, which he called +after the first Governor of South Australia, Lake Hindmarsh. From this +lake he could find no outlet, so taking with him two men, he made an +attempt to push through to the Murray, leaving his cattle to await him. +He found the country covered with an almost impenetrable mallee scrub, +and as there was neither grass nor water for the horses, he was forced to +retreat. He reached his camp after a weary struggle on foot, the horses +having died from thirst. Eyre was then compelled to return and gain the +bank of the Murray by the nearest available route. The bitter +disappointment of the trip was, that when forced to retreat by the +inhospitable nature of the country, he was but twenty-five miles from the +river. + +<p>Bonney, however, on another occasion, took a mob of cattle from the +Goulburn River to Adelaide in almost a direct line. In February 1839, he +left the Goulburn and steered a course for the Grampian Mountains, where +he struck the Wannon, and followed it down to the Glenelg. Here he came +upon one of the Henty stations, and was strongly advised not to persist +in his attempt. Captain Hart, who had been examining the country with the +same purpose in view as Bonney's, stated that it would be impossible to +take cattle through and turned back with his own to follow the old route +round the Murray bend. But Bonney was not to be daunted, and resolutely +pushed on west of the Glenelg. He discovered and named Lake Hawdon, and +also named two mountains, Mount Muirhead and Mount Benson. But at +Lacepede Bay his most serious troubles commenced. The party had pushed on +steadily to within forty miles of Lake Alexandrina when, in the middle of +a sandy desert, the working bullocks failed. Bonney divided his party, +and sending some of the men back to take the workers to a brackish pool +which they had passed, he himself with the stockmen and two black boys, +made a desperate effort to reach the Lake with the main mob. For two days +they pushed steadily on, travelling day and night, until men and beasts +were alike at their last gasp. Bonney then tried a desperate expedient: +"I then determined," he says, "as a last resource, to kill a calf and use +the blood to assuage our thirst. This was done, and though the blood did +not allay the pangs of thirst to any great extent, it restored our +strength very much." + +<p>The exhausted men then lay down to rest; but whilst they slept their +thirsty beasts scented a faint smell of damp earth on a wandering puff of +wind, and stampeded off to windward. Too weak to follow on at once, the +men, after an hour or two, staggered after them and tracked them to a +half-dry swamp, which still maintained a little mud and water. It was +brackish, but palatable enough for men in their exhausted condition, and +saved the lives of all. After some trouble in crossing the Murray, they +reached Adelaide in safety with the stock. + +<p>When the news of their arrival reached Port Phillip, many other +Overlanders were encouraged by Bonney's example to try the shorter route, +and the trade in shipping cattle across the straits from Tasmania almost +ceased. + +<p>Bonney had been born at Sandon, near Stafford, and educated at the +Grammar School, Rugby. He had come out to Sydney in 1834, as clerk to Sir +William Westbrooks Burton; but the love of adventure prevailed over his +other inclinations, and in 1837, he joined Ebden in squatting pursuits, +and eventually distinguished himself as one of the leading Overlanders. +He subsequently settled in South Australia. From 1842 to 1857 he was +Commissioner for Crown Lands, and he afterwards served the State as +manager for railways, and in other capacities. Subsequently he returned +to Sydney, where he died. + +<h4>11.2. EYRE'S CHIEF JOURNEYS.</h4> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-24"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-24.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Edward John Eyre.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>Edward John Eyre was the son of the Reverend Anthony Eyre, vicar of +Hornsea and Long Riston, Yorkshire, and was born on August 14th, 1815. He +was educated at Louth and Sedburgh Grammar Schools. He came to Australia +in 1833, and immediately engaged in squatting pursuits, his enterprising +spirit constantly leading him beyond the pale of civilization, where his +natural love for exploration rapidly increased. His fortunes as an +Overlander have already been noticed. On the 5th August, 1839, he left +Port Lincoln, on the western shore of Spencer's Gulf, meaning to +penetrate as far as he could to the westward. Some time before he had +made an expedition to the north of Adelaide as far as Mount Arden, a +striking elevation to the North-North-East of Spencer's Gulf. He had +ascended this mount, and from the summit seen a depression which he took +to be a lake with a dry bed. This lake afterwards played an important +part in the history of South Australian settlement under the name of Lake +Torrens. + +<p>Eyre's party on his westward trip consisted of an overseer, three men, +and two natives. Twenty days after leaving Port Lincoln, they arrived at +Streaky Bay, not having crossed a single stream, rivulet, or chain of +ponds the whole distance of nearly three hundred miles. Three small +springs only had been found, and the country was covered with the gloomy +mallee and tea-tree scrub. Westward of Streaky Bay the country was still +found to be scrubby; so Eyre formed a camp, and taking only a black boy +with him, he forced a stubborn way onward, until he was within nearly +fifty miles of the western border of South Australia. To all appearance +the country was slightly more elevated than the level scrubby flats he +had been traversing, but there was neither grass nor water, and an +immediate return became necessary. Before he got back to Streaky Bay +camp, he nearly lost three of his horses. + +<p>Leaving Streaky Bay again, he went east of north to the head of Spencer's +Gulf, finding the country on this route a little better, but still devoid +of water, the party getting through, thanks only to a timely rainfall. On +the 29th of September, he came to his old camp at Mount Arden, where he +wrote:-- + +<p>"It was evident that what I had taken on my last journey to be the bed of +a dry lake now contained water, and was of considerable size; but as my +time was very limited, and the lake at a great distance, I had to forego +my wish to visit it. I have, however, no doubt of its being salt, from +the nature of the country, and the fact of finding the water very salt in +one of the creeks draining into it from the hills. Beyond this lake +(which I distinguished with the name of Colonel Torrens) to the westward +was a low, flat-topped range, extending north-westerly, as far as I could +see." + +<p>From this point Eyre returned, pursuing his former homeward route. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-25map"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-25map.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Routes of Eyre (1840 and 1841).</b></p> +</center> + +<p>The main objects that now attracted the attention of the colonists of +South Australia were (1) discovery to the northward, regarding both the +extent of Lake Torrens and the nature of the interior; and (2) the +possibility of the existence of a stock route to the Swan River +settlement. Eyre, however, after his late experience, was convinced that +the overlanding of stock around the head of the Great Bight was +impracticable. The country was too sterile, and the absence of +water-courses rendered the idea hopeless. For immediate practical +results, beneficial to the growing pastoral industry, Eyre favoured the +extension of discovery to the north. This then was the course adopted, +and subscriptions were raised towards that end. Eyre himself provided +one-third of the needful horses and other expenses; and the Government +and colonists found the remainder. + +<p>Meantime it was found that the country in the immediate neighbourhood of +Port Lincoln was not altogether of the same wretched nature as that +traversed by Eyre between Streaky Bay and the head of Spencer's Gulf. +Captain Hawson, William Smith, and three others had made an excursion for +some considerable distance, and found well-grassed country and abundance +of water. From the point whence they turned back, they had seen a fine +valley with a running stream. This valley they named Rossitur Vale, after +Captain Rossitur of the French whaler Mississippi, the first foreign +vessel to enter Port Lincoln. Rossitur was the man who was destined later +to afford opportune aid to Eyre, without which he would never have +reached Albany. + +<p>On the 18th of June, 1840, Eyre's preparations were complete, and he left +Adelaide after a farewell breakfast at Government House, where Captain +Sturt presented him with a flag -- the Union Jack -- worked by some of +the ladies of Adelaide. + +<p>His party was not a large one considering the nature of the undertaking, +consisting as it did of six white men and two black boys. At Mount Arden +they formed a stationary camp. A small vessel called the Waterwitch was +sent to the head of Spencer's Gulf with the heaviest portion of their +supplies, and the party had three horse drays with them. Eyre trusted +that a range of hills, which he had seen stretching to the north-east, +would continue far enough to take him clear of the flat and depressed +country around Lake Torrens -- would, in fact, as he says, form a +stepping-stone into the interior. + +<p>Taking one black boy with him, Eyre made a short trip to Lake Torrens, +leaving the rest of the party to land the stores from the Waterwitch. He +found the bed of the lake coated with a crust of salt, pure white, and +glistening brilliantly in the sunshine. It yielded to the footstep, and +below was soft mud, which rapidly grew so boggy as to stop their +progress. In fact they had to return to the shore without being able to +ascertain whether there was any water on the surface or not. At this +point the lake appeared to be about fifteen or twenty miles across, +having high land bounding it on the distant west. + +<p>There seemed no chance of crossing the lake; and following its shore to +the north was impossible. There was neither grass nor water; the very +rainwater turned salt after lying a short time on the saline soil. The +only chance of success appeared to be to keep close to the north-eastern +range, which Eyre named the Flinders Range, trusting to its broken +gullies to supply them with some scanty grass and rainwater. + +<p>It was a cheerless outlook. On one side was an impassable lake of +combined mud and salt; on the other a desert of bare and barren plains; +whilst their onward path was along a range of inhospitable rocks. + +<p>"The very stones, lying upon the hills," says Eyre, "looked like scorched +and withered scoria of a volcanic region, and even the natives, judging +from the specimen I had seen to-day, partook of the general misery and +wretchedness of the place." + +<p>He directed his course to the most distant point of the Flinders Range, +but when he arrived there, he was obliged to christen it Mount Deception, +as his hope of finding water there was disappointed. Subsisting as well +as they could on rain puddles on the plains, Eyre and his boy searched +about for some time and at last found a permanent-looking hole in a small +creek. They then returned to the main party. Having concealed the +supplies landed from the cutter, Eyre sent the vessel back to Adelaide +with despatches, and moved the whole of the men out to the pool of water +that he had just found. From this vantage point he made various scouting +trips with the black boy, both to the eastward and westward of north. The +2nd of September found him on the summit of an elevation which he +appropriately named Mount Hopeless, gazing at the salt lake that he now +thought hemmed him in on three sides, even to the eastward. There was no +prospect visible of crossing the lake, which seemed persistently to defy +him, meeting him at every attempt with a barrier of stagnant mud. There +was nothing for it but to leave the interior unvisited by this route, and +to return to Mount Arden. + +<p>He divided his party, sending Baxter, the overseer, with most of the men +and stores straight across to Streaky Bay, where he had formerly made a +camp, while, with the remainder, he made his way to Port Lincoln. Having +abandoned his intention to penetrate to the interior on a northern +course, he now determined to push out westward, to King George's Sound, +finding, perhaps, on the way across, some inducement that would lead him +north. + +<p>At Port Lincoln he could not obtain the extra supplies he wanted without +sending to Adelaide; it was therefore the 24th of October when he finally +started for Streaky Bay. He found that Baxter had arrived there safely, +and was anxiously awaiting him. + +<p>He now camped for many weeks at Fowler's Bay, which was as far as the +cutter they now had, the Hero, could act as convoy, her charter not +extending beyond South Australian waters. The Waterwitch having sprung a +leak, the Hero had taken her place. During the time that they remained +there, Eyre made many journeys ahead to estimate his chances of getting +across the dry and barren country intervening between him and the Sound, +but the outlook was disheartening. He met some natives, who all assured +him that there was no water ahead; nor could he find any but some +brackish water obtained by digging in some sandhills. Worse than all, he +sacrificed three of his best horses during these fruitless attempts. + +<p>On the 25th of January, the Hero arrived with the oats and bran he had +sent back for. So poverty-stricken was the country that Eyre, in the +circumstances, resolved to send back nearly the whole of his expedition +by the vessel, and then, with only a small party, to push through to King +George's Sound or perish in the attempt. + +<p>Baffled successively to the north and to the west, Eyre had been put upon +his mettle, and he could not endure the thought of returning to Adelaide +a beaten man. + +<p>On the 31st of January the cutter departed, and Eyre, Baxter, and three +native boys, one of whom had come by the vessel on her last trip, were +left alone to face the eight hundred miles of desert solitude before +them. Some time was spent in making their final preparations, but on the +24th of February they had actually begun their journey when, to their +astonishment, they heard two shots fired at sea. Thinking that a whaler +had put in to the bay, Eyre turned back, but found the Hero again in port +with an urgent request from Adelaide to abandon his desperate project, +and return in the vessel. Upon a man of Eyre's temperament, this recall +could have only one effect, that of strengthening his resolve to proceed +westward at all hazards. He did not emulate Cortez by burning his ship +behind him, but he none the less effectually deprived himself of means of +retreat by dismissing the little Hero. + +<p>It was at the close of a hot summer when Eyre started, and the nature of +the sandy soil, combined with the low prickly scrub, soon began to hamper +their progress and render the lack of water especially severe. On one +side of them, flanking their line of march, were the cliffs of the Great +Bight, against which thundered the ever-restless southern rollers; on the +other there stretched a limitless expanse of dark, gloomy scrub. Their +only hope of relief was the faint chance of striking some native path +which might lead them to an infrequent soakage-spring. Even in these +depressing circumstances, Eyre seems to have found time to express his +admiration of Nature as she then revealed herself to him:-- + +<p>"Distressing and fatal as the continuance of these cliffs might prove to +us, there was a grandeur and sublimity in their appearance that was most +imposing, and which struck me with admiration. Stretching out before us +in lofty, unbroken outline, they presented the singular and romantic +appearance of massy battlements of masonry, supported by huge buttresses, +glittering in the morning sun which had now risen upon them, and made the +scene beautiful even amidst the dangers and anxieties of our situation." + +<p>Five days of slow, dragging toil passed, until, with the horses at their +last gasp, and the men baked and parched, they found relief in some +native wells amongst the sandhills, at a point where the cliffs receded +from the sea. + +<p>After resting for some days at this camp, Eyre, misled by a report he had +obtained from the natives, again moved forward, taking with him but a +small supply of water. When he had discovered the blunder, he had gone +forty miles, and over this weary distance the horses had to return. It +was one of those mishaps that helped so much to wear out his unfortunate +animals. + +<p>Trouble after trouble now added itself to the burden of the explorers. +Another five days had passed without water, and their only hopes rested +upon some sandhills ahead, seen from the sea by Flinders, and marked by +him upon his chart. Retreat was impossible, and with their horses failing +one after another, they toiled on, desperate and well-nigh hopeless. +Eyre's anxiety was increased by Baxter's growing despondency and +pessimistic view of the issue of their enterprise. They were now +travelling along the sea beach, firm and hard, and ominously marked with +wreckage. Their last drop of water had been consumed, and that morning +they had been collecting dew from the bushes with a sponge, as a last +resource. When they reached the sand-dunes, they were almost too weak to +search for a likely place to dig for water; but making a final effort, +they discovered a patch whence, at six feet, they obtained a supply of +water. + +<p>It was now that Eyre approached the grand crisis of his adventurous +journey. According to the chart compiled by Flinders, he had another long +succession of cliffs to encounter, and he knew that where these cliffs +came in and sternly fronted the ocean, he need hope for no relief. Should +this space be happily surmounted by a desperate effort, he hoped to reach +a kindlier country. Disaffection appeared in his small camp. Baxter was +always suggesting and even urging a return. Perhaps some shadow of his +tragic fate overhung his spirit. The native boys were ripe for desertion, +and two of them did desert, only to return in a few days, starving, and +apparently repentant. Better for Eyre had they gone altogether. Amid such +discouraging surroundings did Eyre commence his last struggle with the +cliffs of the Great Bight. + +<p>The party had been tantalised by threatening clouds, which never broke in +rain. When on the third day they gathered once more, black and lowering. +Baxter urged Eyre to camp that night instead of pushing on, as rain +seemed certain, and the rock holes by which they were then passing were +well adapted to catch the slightest shower. Eyre consented, against his +better judgment. It was necessary to watch the horses lest they should +ramble too far, and Eyre kept the first watch. The night was cold, the +wind blowing a gale and driving the flying scud across the face of the +moon. The horses wandered off in different directions in the scrub, +giving the tired man much trouble to keep them together. About half-past +ten he drove them near the camp intending shortly to call the overseer to +relieve him. + +<p>Suddenly the dead stillness of the night and the wilderness was broken by +the report of a gun. Eyre was not at first alarmed, thinking it was a +signal of Baxter's to indicate the position of their camp. He called, but +received no answer. Hastening in the direction of the shot, he was met by +Wylie, the King George's Sound native, running towards him in great alarm +crying out: "Oh, massa, massa, come here!" and then losing speech from +terror. Eyre was soon at the camp, and one glance was enough to see that +his purpose must now be pursued grimly alone. Baxter, fatally wounded, +was stretched upon the ground, bleeding and choking in his last agony. As +Eyre raised his faithful companion in his arms he expired. + +<p>"At the dead hour of night, in the wildest and most inhospitable waste of +Australia, with the fierce wind raging in unison with the scene of +violence before me, I was left with a single native, whose fidelity I +could not rely on, and who, for aught I knew might be in league with the +other two, who, perhaps were even now lurking about to take my life, as +they had done that of the overseer." + +<p>On examining the camp, Eyre found that the two boys had carried off both +double-barrelled guns, all the baked bread and other stores, and a keg of +water. All they had left behind was a rifle, with the barrel choked by a +ball jammed in it, four gallons of water, forty pounds of flour, and a +little tea and sugar. + +<p>When he had time to think the matter over calmly, Eyre judged, from the +position of the body, that Baxter must have been aroused by the two +natives plundering the camp, and that, getting up hastily to stop them, +he was immediately shot. His first care was to put his rifle into +serviceable condition, and then, when morning broke, he hastened to leave +the ill-omened place. It was impossible to bury the body of his murdered +companion; one unbroken sheet of rock covered the surface of the country +for miles in every direction. Well might Eyre write, many years +afterwards:-- + +<p>"Though years have now passed away since the enactment of this tragedy, +the dreadful horrors of that time and scene are recalled before me with +frightful vividness, and make me shudder even now when I think of them. A +lifetime was crowded into those few short hours, and death alone may blot +out the impressions they produced." + +<p>The two murderers followed the white man and boy during the first day, +evading all Eyre's attempts to bring them to close quarters, and calling +to the remaining boy, Wylie, who refused to go to them. They disappeared +the next morning, and must have died miserably of thirst and starvation. + +<p>Seven days passed without a drop of water for the horses, before they +reached the end of the line of cliffs, and providentially came to a +native well amid the sand dunes. From this point water was more +frequently obtained, and what wretched horses they had left showed feeble +symptoms of renewed life. At last, when their rations were completely +exhausted, they sighted a ship at anchor in Thistle Cove. She proved to +be the Mississippi, commanded by Captain Rossitur, the whaler already +referred to as the first foreign vessel to enter Port Lincoln; and once +more Eyre had to give thanks for relief at a most critical moment. + +<p>For ten days, in the hospitable cabin of the French whaler, he forgot his +sufferings, and regained some of his lost strength. Then, provided with +fresh clothes and provisions, and with his horses freshly-shod, Eyre +recommenced his weary pilgrimage, and, in July, 1841, arrived at his +long-desired goal, King George's Sound. + +<p>In reflecting upon this painful march of Eyre's round the Great Bight, +one feels an exceeding great pity that so much heroic suffering should +have been spent on the execution of a purpose the fulfilment of which +promised but little of economic value. The maritime surveys had fairly +established the fact that no considerable creek or river found its way +into the Southern Ocean, either in or about the Great Bight. Granted that +the outflow of some of our large Australian rivers had been overlooked by +the navigators, the local conditions were such as to render it virtually +certain that any such omission was not made along this part of the south +coast. Here there was to be found no fringe of low, mangrove-covered +flats, studded with inlets and saltwater creeks, thus masking the +entrance of a river. In some parts, a bold forefront of lofty precipitous +cliffs, in others a clean-swept sandy shore, alone faced the ocean. +Flinders, constantly on the alert as he was for anything resembling the +formation of a river-mouth, would scarcely have been mistaken in his +reading of such a coast-line. And the journey resulted in no knowledge of +the interior, even a short distance back from the actual coast-line. The +conjectures of a worn-out, starving man, picking his way painfully along +the verge of the beach, were, in this respect, of little moment. + +<p>Eyre, however, won for himself well-deserved honour for courage and +perseverance, in as exacting circumstances as ever beset a solitary +explorer. The picture of the lonely man in his plundered camp bending +over his murdered companion, separated from his fellow-men by countless +miles of unwatered and untrodden waste, appeals resistlessly to our +sympathies. But admiration of Eyre's good qualities has blinded many to +his errors of judgment. + +<p>He was accorded a generous public welcome on his return to Adelaide, and +was subsequently appointed Police Magistrate on the Murray, where his +inland experience and knowledge of native character were of great +service. When Sturt started on his memorable trip to the centre of +Australia, Eyre accompanied his old friend some distance. But his +activities were exercised in other fields than those of Australian +exploration during his after life. He was Lieutenant-Governor of the +Province of New Munster in New Zealand under Sir George Grey from 1848 to +1853, when that colony was divided into two provinces. He was afterwards +Governor-General of Jamaica, where the active and energetic measures he +took to crush the insurrection of 1865 incited a storm of opposition +against him in certain quarters, and he played a leading part in the +great constitutional cases of Philips v. Eyre, and The Queen v. Eyre. He +died at Steeple Aston, in Oxfordshire, in 1906. + +</p><a name="chapter12"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 12. ATTEMPTS TO REACH THE CENTRE.</h3> + +<h4>12.1. LAKE TORRENS PIONEERS AND HORROCKS.</h4> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-26map"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-26map.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Basin of Lake Torrens, supposed extent and formation of.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>It will be remembered that Eyre, in 1840, reached, after much labour, an +elevation to the north-east, at the termination of the range which he had +followed, and had named it Mount Hopeless. From the outlook from its +summit he came to the conclusion that the lake was of the shape shown in +the diagram, completely surrounding the northern portion of the new +colony of South Australia. In fact, he formed a theory that the colony in +far distant times had been an island, the low-lying flats to the east +joining the plains west of the Darling. It was in 1843 that the +Surveyor-General of South Australia, Captain Frome, undertook an +expedition to determine the dimensions of this mysterious lake. He +reached Mount Serle, and found the dry bed of a great lake to the +eastward, as Eyre had described, but discovered that Eyre had made an +error of thirty miles in longitude, placing it too far to the east. He +got no further north. He thus confirmed the existence of a lake eastward +of Lake Torrens (now Lake Frome), but achieved nothing to prove or +disprove Eyre's theory of their continuity. Prior to this the pioneers +had spread settlement both east and west of Eyre's track from Adelaide to +the head of Spencer's Gulf. Amongst these early leaders of civilisation +in the central state are to be found the names of Hawker, Hughes, +Campbell, Robinson, and Heywood. But unfortunately the details of their +expeditions in search of grazing country have not been preserved. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-27"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-27.jpg"></p> +<p><b>John Ainsworth Horrocks.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>John Ainsworth Horrocks is one of those whose accidental death at the +very outset of his career plunged his name into oblivion. Had he lived to +climb to the summit of his ambition as an explorer, it would have been +written large in Australian history. That he had some premonition of the +conditions necessary to successful exploration to the west is shown by +his having been the first to employ the camel as an aid to exploration. +He took one with him on his last and fatal trip, and it is an example of +fate's cruel irony that the presence of this animal was inadvertently the +cause of his death. + +<p>Horrocks was born at Penwortham Hall, Lancashire, on March 22nd, 1818. He +was very much taken with the South Australian scheme of colonisation, and +left London for Adelaide, where he arrived in 1839. He at once took up +land, and with his brother started sheep-farming. He was a born explorer, +however, and made several excursions into the surrounding untraversed +land, finding several geographical features, which still preserve the +names he gave them. In 1846 he organised an expedition along more +extended lines, intending to proceed far into the north-west and west. +After having over-looked the ground, he would then prepare another party +on a large scale to attempt the passage to the Swan River. He started in +July, but in September occurred the disaster which cut him off in the +flower of his promise. In his dying letter he describes how he saw a +beautiful bird, which he was anxious to obtain:-- + +<p>"My gun being loaded with slugs in one barrel and ball in the other, I +stopped the camel to get at the shot belt, which I could not get without +his lying down. + +<p>"Whilst Mr. Gill was unfastening it, I was screwing the ramrod into the +wad over the slugs, standing close alongside of the camel. At this moment +the camel gave a lurch to one side, and caught his pack in the cock of my +gun, which discharged the barrel I was unloading, the contents of which +first took off the middle fingers of my right hand between the second and +third joints, and entered my left cheek by my lower jaw, knocking out a +row of teeth from my upper jaw." + +<p>His sufferings were agonising, but he was easy between the fearful +convulsions, and at the end of the third day after he had reached home, +whither his companions had succeeded in conveying him, he died without a +struggle. + +<h4>12.2. CAPTAIN STURT.</h4> + +<p>Charles Sturt, whose name is so closely bound up with the exploration of +the Australian interior, had settled in the new colony which the South +Australians loyally maintain he had created by directing attention to the +outlet of the Murray. After a short re-survey of the river, from the +point where Hume crossed it to the junction of the Murray and +Murrumbidgee, which had been one of Mitchell's tasks, he re-entered civil +life under the South Australian Government. He was now married, and +settled on a small estate which he was farming, not far from Adelaide. In +1839 he became Surveyor-General, but in October of the same year he +exchanged this office for that of Commissioner of Lands, which he held +until 1843. In the following year he commenced his most arduous and +best-known journey, a journey that has made the names of Sturt's Stony +Desert and the Depot Glen known all over the world, and that has, +unhappily for Australia, done much to create the popular fallacy that the +soil and climate of the interior are such as preclude comfortable +settlement by whites. Sturt's graphic account is at times somewhat +misleading, and the lapse of years has proved his denunciatory judgment +of the fitness of the interior for human habitation to have been hasty. +But if we examine the circumstances in which he received the impressions +he has recorded, we must grant that he had considerable justification for +his statements. + +<p>He was a broken and disappointed man, worn out by disease and frustrated +hopes, and nearly blind. During six months of his long absence, he had +been shut up in his weary depot prison, debarred from attempting the +completion of his work, and compelled to watch his friend and companion +die a lingering death from scurvy. And when the kindly rains released +him, he was doomed to be repulsed by the ever-present desert wastes. No +wonder that he despaired of the country, and viewed all its prospects +through the heated, treacherous haze of the desert plains. Yet now, close +to the ranges where Sturt spent the burning summer months of his +detention, there has sprung up one of the inland townships of New South +Wales, where men toil just as laboriously as in a more temperate zone. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-28map"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-28map.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Route of Sturt's Central Australian Expedition (1844 to 1846).</b></p> +</center> + +<p>But, though baffled and unable to win the goal he strove for, never did +man better deserve success. The instructions that he received from the +Home Office were, to reach the centre of the continent, to discover +whether mountains or sea existed there, and, if the former, to note the +flow and direction of the northern waters, but on no account to follow +them down to the north coast. Sturt was instructed to proceed by Mount +Arden, a route already tried, condemned, and abandoned by Eyre; and he +elected to proceed by way of the Darling. His plan was to follow that +river up as far as the Williora, a small western tributary of the +Darling, opposite the place whence Mitchell turned back in 1835, after +his conflict with the natives, an episode which Sturt found that they +bitterly remembered. Poole, Sturt's second in command, resembling +Mitchell in figure and appearance, the Darling blacks addressed him as +Major, and evinced marked hostility towards him. From Williora, or +Laidley's Ponds, Sturt intended to strike north-west, hoping thus to +avoid the gloomy environs of Lake Torrens, and the treacherous surface of +its bed. At Moorundi, on the Murray, where Eyre was then stationed as +Resident Magistrate, the party was mustered and the start made. + +<p>In addition to Poole, Sturt was accompanied by Dr. Browne, a thorough +bushman and an excellent surgeon, who went as a volunteer and personal +friend. With the party as surveyor's draftsman, went McDouall Stuart, +whose fame as explorer was afterwards destined nearly to equal that of +his leader. In addition there were twelve men, eleven horses, one +spring-cart, three bullock-drays, thirty bullocks, one horse-dray, two +hundred sheep, four kangaroo dogs, and two sheep dogs. + +<p>Eyre accompanied the expedition as far as Lake Victoria, which they +reached on the 10th of September, 1844. On the 11th of October they +arrived at Laidley's Ponds. This was the place from which Sturt intended +to leave the Darling for the interior, and where he expected to find, +from the account given him by the natives, a fair-sized creek heading +from a low range, visible at a distance to the north-west. But he found +the stream to be a mere surface channel, distributing the flood water of +the Darling into some shallow lakes about seven or eight miles distant. +Sturt despatched Poole and Stuart to this range to see if they could +obtain a glimpse of the country beyond to the north-west. + +<p>They returned with the rather startling intelligence that, from the top +of a peak of the range, Poole had seen a large lake studded with islands. + +<p>Although in his published journal, written some time after his return, +Sturt makes light of Poole's fancied lake, which of course was the effect +of a mirage, at that time his ardent fancy, and the extreme likelihood of +the existence of a lake in that locality, made him believe that he was on +the eve of an important discovery. In a letter to Mr. Morphett of +Adelaide, he wrote:-- + +<p>"Poole has just returned from the range. I have not time to write over +again. He says there are high ranges to the North and North-West, and +water, a sea, extending along the horizon from South-West by South and +then East of North, in which there are a number of lofty ranges and +islands, as far as the eye can reach. What is all this? To-morrow we +start for the ranges, and then for the waters, the strange waters, on +which boat never swam and over which flag never floated. But both shall +ere long. We have the heart of the interior laid open to us, and shall be +off with a flowing sheet in a few days. Poole says that the sea was a +deep blue, and that in the midst of it was a conical island of great +height." + +<p>Poor Sturt! No boat was ever to float upon that visionary sea, nor flag +to wave over those dream-born waters. To those who know the experiences +that awaited the expedition, it is pathetic to read of the leader's +soaring hopes, as delusive as the desert mirage itself. + +<p>The whole of the party now removed to a small shallow lakelet, the +commencement of the Williora channel (Laidley's Ponds). After a short +excursion to the distant ranges reported by Poole, Sturt, accompanied by +Browne and two men, went ahead for the purpose of finding water of a +sufficient permanency to remove the whole of the party to. At the small +lake where they were then encamped, there was the ever-present likelihood +of a conflict with the pugnacious natives of the Darling. He was +successful in finding what he wanted, and on the 4th of November the main +body of the expedition, finally leaving the Darling basin, removed to the +new water depot. + +<p>The next day Sturt, with Browne and three men and the cart, started on +another trip in search of water ahead. This was found in small +quantities, but rain coming on, Sturt returned and sent Poole out again +to search while the camp was being moved. On his return, Poole reported +having seen some brackish lakes, and also having caught sight of Eyre's +Mount Serle. They were now well on the western slope of the Barrier +Range, and, but for the providential discovery of a fine creek to the +northward, which was called Flood's creek, after one of the party, they +would have been unable to maintain their position. To Flood's creek the +camp was removed, and Sturt congratulated himself on the steady and +satisfactory progress he was making. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-29"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-29.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Sturt's Depot Glen. The Glen, eroded in vertical silurian slate, is less than a mile long. Poole rests by the creek where the gorge opens quite abruptly on to a vast cretaceous plain. Photo by the Reverend J.M. Curran.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>The party now left the Barrier Range, and followed a course to another +range further north, staying for some time at a small lagoon while +engaged in making an examination of the country ahead. On the 27th of +January, 1845, they camped on a creek rising in a small range, and +affording, at its head, a fine supply of permanent water. When upon its +banks the explorers pitched their tents, they little thought that it +would be the 17th of the following July before they would strike camp +again. This was the Depot Glen, and an extract from Sturt's journal +depicts the situation of the party:-- + +<p>"It was not, however, until after we had run down every creek in the +neighbourhood, and had traversed the country in every direction, that the +truth flashed across my mind, and it became evident to me that we were +locked up in the desolate and heated region into which we had penetrated, +as effectually as if we had wintered at the Pole. It was long, indeed, +ere I could bring myself to believe that so great a misfortune had +overtaken us, but so it was. Providence had, in its all wise purposes, +guided us to the only spot in that wide-spread desert where our wants +could have been permanently supplied, but had there stayed our further +progress into a region that almost appears to be forbidden ground." + +<p>This then was Sturt's prison -- a small creek marked by a line of gum +trees, issuing from a glen in a low range. By a kindly freak of nature, +enough water had been confined in this glen to provide a permanent supply +for the exploring party and their animals, during the long term of their +detention. + +<p>Of Sturt's existence and occupation during this dreary period little can +be said. He tried to find an avenue of escape in every direction, until +convinced of the futility of the attempt; sometimes encouraged and lured +on by the shallow pools in some fragmentary creek, at others, seeing +nothing before him but hopeless aridity. Now, too, he found himself +attacked with what he then thought to be rheumatism, but which proved to +be scurvy. Poole and Browne were afflicted in the same manner. + +<p>Sturt made one desperate attempt to the north during his imprisonment in +the Depot Glen, and succeeded in reaching a point one mile beyond the +28th parallel, but further north he could not advance, nor did he find +any inducement to risk the safety of his party. + +<p>There passed weeks of awesome monotony, relieved by one strange episode. +From the apparently lifeless wilderness around them there strayed an old +aboriginal into their camp. He was hungry and athirst, and in complete +keeping with the gaunt waste from which he had emerged. The dogs attacked +him when he approached, but he stood his ground and fought them valiantly +until they were called off. His whole demeanour was calm and courageous, +and he showed neither surprise nor timidity. He drank greedily when water +was given to him, ate voraciously, and accepted every service rendered to +him as a duty to be discharged by one fellow-being to another when cut +off in the desert from his kin. He stopped at the camp for some time and +recognised the boat, explaining that it was upside down, as of course it +was, and pointing to the North-West as the region where they would use +it, thus raising Sturt's hopes once more. Whence he came they could not +divine, nor could he explain to them. After a fortnight he departed, +giving them to understand that he would return, but they never saw him +again. + +<p>"With him" writes Sturt pathetically, "all our hopes vanished, for even +the presence of this savage was soothing to us, and so long as he +remained we indulged in anticipations for the future. From the time of +his departure a gloomy silence pervaded the camp; we were indeed placed +under the most trying circumstances: everything combined to depress our +spirits and exhaust our patience. We had witnessed migration after +migration of the feathered tribes, to that point to which we were so +anxious to push our way. Flights of cockatoos, of parrots, of pigeons, +and of bitterns; birds also whose notes had cheered us in the wilderness, +all had taken the same road to a better and more hospitable region." + +<p>And now the water began to sink with frightful rapidity, and all thought +that surely the end must be near. Hoping against hope, Sturt laid his +plans to start as soon as the drought broke up. He himself was to proceed +north and west, whilst poor Poole, reduced to a frightful condition by +scurvy, was to be sent carefully back to the Darling, as the only means +of saving his life. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-30"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-30.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Poole's Grave and Monument, near Depot Glen, Tibbuburra, New South Wales. Photo by the Reverend J.M. Curran.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>On the 12th and 13th of June the rain came, and the drought-beleaguered +invaders of the desert were relieved. But Poole did not live to profit by +the rain. Every arrangement was made for his comfort that their +circumstances permitted, but on the first day's journey he died. His body +was brought back and buried under the elevation which they called the Red +Hill, and which is now known as Mount Poole, three and a-half miles from +Depot Camp. + +<p>Sturt's way was now open. He again despatched the party selected to +return to the Darling, whose departure had been interrupted by Poole's +untimely death, and, with renewed hope, made his preparations for the +long-denied north-west. + +<p>Having first removed the depot to a better grassed locality, he made a +short trip to the west. On the 4th of August he found himself on the edge +of an immense shallow, sandy basin, in which water was standing in +detached sheets, "as blue as indigo, and as salt as brine." This he took +to be a part of Lake Torrens. He returned to the new depot, called Fort +Grey, which was sixty or seventy miles to the north-west of the Glen, and +arranged matters for his final departure. + +<p>McDouall Stuart was left in charge of the depot. Dr. Browne accompanied +the leader, and on the 14th of August a start was made. For some +distance, owing to the pools of surface water left by the recent rain, +they had no difficulty in keeping a straightforward course. The country +they passed over consisted of large, level plains, intersected by +sand-ridges; but they crossed numerous creeks with more or less water in +all of them. To one of these creeks Sturt gave the name of Strzelecki. +Finally they reached a well-grassed region which greatly cheered them +with the prospect of success it held out. Suddenly they were confronted +with a wall of sand; and for nearly twenty miles they toiled over +successive ridges. Fortunately they found both water and grass, but the +unexpected check to their brighter anticipations was depressing. Nor did +a walk to the extremity of one of the ridges serve to raise their +spirits. + +<p>Sturt saw before him what he describes as an immense plain, of a dark +purple hue, with a horizon like that of the sea, boundless in the +direction in which he wished to proceed. This was Sturt's Stony Desert. +That night they camped within its dreary confines, and during the next +day crossed an earthy plain, with here and there a few bushes of +polygonum growing beside some straggling channel in which they +occasionally found a little muddy rain-water remaining. At night when +they camped just before dusk, they sighted some hills to the north, and, +on examining them through the telescope, they discerned dark shadows on +the faces, as if produced by cliffs. Next morning they made for these +hills, in the hope of finding a change of country and feed for the +horses, but they were disappointed. Sand ridges in repulsive array +confronted them once more. "Even the animals," writes Sturt, "appeared to +regard them with dismay." + +<p>Over plains and sand dunes, the former full of yawning cracks and holes, +the party pushed on, subsisting on scanty pools of muddy water and +fast-sinking native wells. On the 3rd of September, Flood, the stockman +who was riding in the lead, lifted his hat and waved it on high, calling +to the others that a large creek was in sight. + +<p>When the main party came up, they feasted their eyes on a beautiful +watercourse, its bed studded with pools of water and its banks clothed +with grass. This creek Sturt named Eyre's Creek, and it was an important +discovery in the drainage system of the region that he was then +traversing. + +<p>Along this new-found watercourse, they were enabled to make easy stages +for five days, when the course of the creek was lost; nor could any +continuation be traced. The lagoons, too, that were found a short +distance from the banks, proved to be intensely salt. Repeated efforts to +continue his journey to other points of the compass only led Sturt +amongst the terrible sandhills, their parallel rows separated by barren +plains encrusted with salt. Sturt now came to the erroneous conclusion +that he had reached the head of Eyre's Creek, and that further progress +was effectually barred by a waterless tract of country. In fact, he was +then within reach of a well-watered river, along which he could have +travelled right up to the main dividing range of the northern coast. But +Sturt was baffled in the most depressed area on the surface of the +continent, where rivers and creeks lost their identity in the numberless +channels into which they divided before reaching their final home in the +thirsty shallows of the then unknown Lake Eyre. There was neither sign +nor clue afforded him; his men were sick, and any further progress would +jeopardise his retreat. There was nothing for it but to fall back once +more; and, after a toilsome journey, they reached Fort Grey on the 2nd of +October. + +<p>Sturt's last effort had been made to the west of north; he now made up +his mind for a final effort due north. Before starting, however, he +begged of Browne, who was still suffering, to retreat, while the way was +yet open, to the Darling. This Browne resolutely refused to do; stating +that it was his intention to share the fate of the expedition. The 9th of +October saw Sturt again under way to the seemingly forbidden north, +Stuart and two fresh men accompanying him. On the second day they reached +Strzelecki Creek, and on the 13th they came on to the bank of a +magnificent channel, with fine trees growing on its grassy banks, and +abundance of water in the bed. This was the now well-known Cooper's +Creek, which Sturt, on his late trip, had crossed unnoticed, as it was +then dry and divided into several channels on their route. This was the +most important discovery made in connection with the lake system, +Cooper's Creek being one of the far-reaching affluents, its tributaries +draining the inland slopes of the main dividing range. + +<p>Sturt, on making this unexpected discovery, was undecided whether to +follow Cooper's Creek up to the eastward or persevere in his original +intention of pushing to the north. A thunder-storm falling at the time +made him adhere to his original determination, and defer the examination +of the new river until his return. + +<p>Seven days after crossing Cooper's Creek, he had the negative +satisfaction of seeing his gloomy forebodings fulfilled. Once more he +gazed over the dreary waste of the stony desert, unchanged and repellant +as ever. They crossed it, but were again turned back by sandhill and salt +plain, and forced to retrace their steps to Cooper's Creek. This creek +Sturt followed up for many days, but found that it came from a more +easterly direction than the route he desired to travel along; moreover, +the one broad channel that they had commenced to follow became divided +into several ana-branches, running through plains subject to inundation. +This became so tiring to their now exhausted horses, who were woefully +footsore, that he reluctantly turned back. He had found the creek peopled +with well-nurtured natives, and the prospects of advancing were brighter +than they had ever been; but both Sturt and his men were weak and ill, +and the horses almost incapable of further effort. Moreover, he was not +certain of his retreat. + +<p>As they went down Cooper's Creek on their way back, they found that the +water was drying up so rapidly that grave fears were entertained lest +Strzelecki's Creek, their main resource in getting back to Fort Grey, +should be dry. Fortunately they were in time to find a little muddy fluid +left, just enough to serve their needs. Here, though most anxious to get +on, they were forced to camp the whole of one day, on account of an +extremely fierce hot wind. + +<p>Sturt's vivid account of the day spent during the blast of that +furnace-like sirocco has been oft quoted. But the reader should remember +when reading it that the man who wrote it was in such a weakened +condition that he had not sufficient energy left to withstand the hot +wind, whilst the shade under which the party sought shelter was of the +scantiest description. + +<p>They had still a distance of eighty-six miles to cover to get back to +Fort Grey, with but little prospect of finding water on the way. After a +long and weary ride they reached it, only to find the tents struck, the +flag hauled down, and the Fort abandoned. The bad state of the water and +the steady diminution of supply had forced Browne to fall back to Depot +Glen, riding day and night Sturt reached the old encampment, so exhausted +that he could hardly stand after dismounting. + +<p>The problem of their final escape had now to be resolved. The water in +Depot Creek was reduced so low that they feared there would be none left +in Flood's Creek. If this failed, they were once more imprisoned. Browne, +now much recovered, undertook the long ride of one hundred and eighteen +miles which would decide the question. Preparations had been made for his +journey by filling a bullock skin with water, and sending a dray with it +as far as possible. On the eighth day he returned. + +<p>"Well, Browne," asked Sturt, who was helpless in his tent, "what news? Is +it good or bad?" "There is still water in the creek," replied Browne, +"but that is all I can say; what there is is as black as ink, and we must +make haste, for in a week it will be gone." + +<p>The boat that was to have floated over the inland sea was left to rot at +Depot Glen. All the heaviest of the stores were abandoned, and the +retreat of over two hundred miles commenced. + +<p>More bullock-skins were fashioned into water-bags, and with their aid and +that of a scanty but kindly shower of rain, they crossed the dry stage to +Flood's Creek in safety. Here they found the growth of the vegetation +much advanced, and with care, and constant activity in searching ahead +for water, they gradually increased the distance from the scene of their +sufferings, and approached the Darling. Sturt had to be carried on one of +the drays, and lifted on and off at each stopping-place. On the 21st of +December, they arrived at the camp of the relief-party under Piesse, at +Williorara, and Sturt's last expedition came to an end. + +<p>In taking leave of this explorer, we quote a short extract from his +Journal to show the exalted character of the man whom Australians should +ever regard with the greatest of pride:-- + +<p>"Circumstances may yet arise to give a value to my recent labours, and my +name may be remembered by after generations in Australia as the first who +tried to penetrate to its centre. If I failed in that great object, I +have one consolation in the retrospect of my past services. My path among +savage tribes has been a bloodless one, not but that I have often been +placed in situations of risk and danger, when I might have been justified +in shedding blood, but I trust I have ever made allowance for human +timidity, and respected the customs of the rudest people." + +<p>Sturt's health and eyesight had been greatly impaired by his last trip, +but although he was for a time almost totally blind, he still managed to +discharge the duties of Colonial Secretary. He was at last pensioned by +the South Australian Government, and soon afterwards returned to England. +He died at his residence at Cheltenham. Though the Home Office had +treated him disgracefully during his life, and ignored his services, he +lives for ever in the hearts of the Australians as the hero and chief +figure of the exploration of their country. When he was on his death-bed, +in 1869, the empty title of knighthood was conferred upon him. As he +could not enjoy the tardy honour, his widow, who lived until 1887, was +graciously allowed to wear the bauble. + +</p><a name="chapter13"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 13. BABBAGE AND STUART.</h3> + +<h4>13.1. B. HERSCHEL BABBAGE.</h4> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-31"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-31.jpg"></p> +<p><b>B. Herschel Babbage. Born 1815; died 1878.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>The unsolved problem of the extent and other details of that vast region +of salt lakes and flat country then known under the generic name of Lake +Torrens still greatly occupied the attention and excited the imaginations +of the colonists of South Australia. And the accounts brought back by the +different exploring parties were conflicting in the extreme. In 1851, two +squatters, named Oakden and Hulkes, out run-hunting, pushed westward of +Lake Torrens, and found suitable grazing country. They also discovered a +lake of fresh water, and heard from the natives of other lakes to the +north-west some fabulous legends of strange animals. Their horses giving +in, Oakden and Hulkes returned, but although they applied for a squatting +licence for the country they had been over, it was not then settled or +stocked. In 1856, Surveyor Babbage made some explorations in the field +partly traversed by Eyre and Frome. He penetrated through the plains that +were supposed to occupy the central portion of the horseshoe formation at +that time associated in the public opinion with Lake Torrens. More +fortunate than his predecessors, he found permanent water in a gum-tree +creek, and saw some fair-sized sheets of water, one of which he named +Blanche Water, or Lake Blanche. Some further excursions led to the +discovery of more fresh water and well-grassed pastoral country. The +aboriginals, too, directed him to what they said was a crossing-place in +that portion of Lake Torrens that had been sighted, in 1845, by Poole and +Browne of Captain Sturt's party, when Poole thought he saw an inland sea. +Their directions, however, proved unreliable, or Babbage failed to find +the place, for he lost his horse in the attempt to cross the lake. + +<p>In 1857, another excursion to the westward of Lake Torrens was made by a +Mr. Campbell, who discovered a creek of fresh water, which he called the +Elizabeth. He also visited Lake Torrens, of which he reported in similar +terms to those of previous explorers -- that it was surrounded with +barren country. + +<p>In April of the same year, a survey conducted by Deputy Surveyor-General +Goyder, over the same country as that lately explored by Babbage, led to +some absurd mistakes. A few miles north of Blanche Water he came to many +surface springs surrounding a fine lagoon. To the north of them was an +isolated hill, which he called Weathered Hill. From the summit of this +hill he had a curious example of the effects of refraction in this region +in a similar illusion to that which suggested Poole's inland sea. To the +northward he saw a belt of gigantic gum-trees, and beyond them what +appeared to be a sheet of water with elevated land on the far side. To +the eastward was another large lake. But all this was but the glamourie +of the desert -- on closer examination the gigantic gums dwindled down to +stunted bushes, and the mountainous ground to broken clods of earth. + +<p>But the greatest surprise reserved for Goyder was at Lake Torrens, where +he found the water quite fresh. He described the Lake as stretching from +fifteen to twenty miles to the north-west, with a water horizon, with an +extensive bay forming to the southward; while to the north, a bluff +headland and perpendicular cliffs were clearly to be discerned with the +telescope. From the appearance of the flood-marks, Goyder came to the +conclusion that there was little or no rise and fall in the lake, drawing +the natural conclusion that its size was such as not to be influenced +appreciably by flood waters, but that it absorbed them without showing +any variation in its level. + +<p>Adelaide was overjoyed at the news. The threatening desert that hemmed in +their fair province to the north was suddenly converted into a land of +milk and honey. The Surveyor-General, Colonel Freeling, immediately +started out, taking with him both a boat and an iron punt with which to +float on these new waters. But there was a sudden fall to their hopes +when a letter was received from him stating that the cliffs, the bay, and +the head-lands were all built up on the airy foundation of a mirage. The +elves and sprites of this desolate region had been playing a hoax upon +Goyder's party. But it is no wonder that Goyder had been so open to +deception after unexpectedly finding fresh water in the lake that had +been so long known as salter than the sea. + +<p>On reaching the lake, Freeling found the water still almost fresh; but +one of Goyder's men who accompanied him, told him that it had already +receded half-a-mile since the latter's visit. An attempt to float the +punt was made, but after dragging it through mud and a few inches of +water for a quarter of a mile, the men abandoned the attempt as hopeless. +Freeling and some of the party then started to wade through the slush, +but after proceeding three miles, and then sounding only six inches of +water, they returned. Some of the more adventurous extended their muddy +wade, but only met with a similar result. Lake Torrens was re-invested +with its evil name, only somewhat shrunken in proportions. + +<p>In the same year, 1857, Stephen Hack started with a party from Streaky +Bay to examine the Gawler Range of Eyre, and investigate the country west +of Lake Torrens. He reached the Gawler Range and examined the country +very carefully, finding numerous fresh-water springs, and large plains +covered with both grass and saltbush. He also discovered a large salt +lake, Lake Gairdner. Simultaneously with Hack's expedition, a party under +Major Warburton was out in the same neighbourhood; in fact, Hack's party +crossed Warburton's tracks on one or two occasions. Strange to say, the +reports of the two were flatly contradictory. Warburton described the +country as dry and arid; but Hack's account was distinctly favourable. Of +the two men, however, it is most probable that Hack possessed the more +experience and knowledge of country, and, moreover, Time, the great +arbitrator, has endorsed his words. + +<p>The year 1857 saw much exploration done in South Australia. One party, +consisting of Swinden, Campbell, Thompson, and Stock, at about seventy +miles from the head of Spencer's Gulf, found good pastoral country and a +permanent water-hole called by the natives Pernatty. to the north they +came upon Campbell's former discovery of the Elizabeth, but their +provisions failing they were forced to return. + +<p>A month afterwards Swinden started again from Pernatty. North of the +Gawler Range he found available pastoral country, which became known as +Swinden's country. During this year also, Miller and Dutton explored the +country at the back of Fowler's Bay. Forty miles to the north they saw +treeless, grassy plains stretching far inland, but could find no +permanent water. Warburton afterwards reported in depreciatory terms of +this region; but Delisser and Hardwicke, who also visited it, stated that +it would make first-class pastoral country if only surface water could be +obtained. During the whole of Warburton's career, his judgment of the +pastoral value of country seems to have been lamentably defective. He +made no allowance for the varying nature of the seasons. A suggestion +that he made to the South Australian Government to explore the interior, +which had turned back such men as Sturt and Gregory, with the aid of the +police, verges on the ludicrous. + +<p>In 1858, the South Australian Government voted a sum of money to fit out +a party to continue the northern explorations. This party was put under +the leadership of Babbage; but he was not given a free hand, being +hampered with official instructions, and there being no allowance made +for unforeseen exigencies. His instructions were to examine the country +between Lakes Torrens and Gairdner, and to map the respective western and +eastern shores of the two lakes, so as to remove for the future any doubt +as to their actual formation and accurate position. This alone, apart +from any extended exploration, meant a work of considerable time; but, +unfortunately for the surveyor in charge, the general public was just +then eager for fresh discoveries of available pastoral land, and was +inclined to regard survey work as of secondary importance. It took +several months to complete the survey work of the two lakes, and when +Babbage returned to Port Augusta he found that Harris, the second in +command of his depot camp, had started to return to Adelaide with many of +the drays and horses. Babbage rode one hundred and sixty miles before he +overtook him at Mount Remarkable, and there learned that the South +Australian Government had changed its official mind with regard to the +conduct of the expedition, and had decided that it should be conducted in +future with pack-horses only. + +<p>It was A.C. Gregory's arrival in Adelaide with pack-horses from his last +expedition down the Barcoo that had led to this change of tactics. +Charles Gregory, who had accompanied his brother, was now engaged by the +Government to overtake Babbage and acquaint him with their intention, but +when he reached Port Augusta, Gregory took it upon himself to order the +drays home, Babbage being away surveying. Babbage overtook them and +ordered them back; but pleading Government orders, they refused to +return. Babbage wrote to the authorities pointing out the unfairness of +their action, and, mustering up a small party, returned to continue his +work with six months' provisions. + +<p>On this occasion, Babbage gave more time to discovery than he had done +before. He went out beyond the boundaries of his survey, and pushed on to +Chambers Creek, so called by Stuart, who discovered it while Babbage was +busy at Lake Gairdner. Babbage traced Chambers Creek into Lake Eyre, and +was thus the first discoverer of this lake, which he called Lake Gregory. +He found a range which he called Hermit Range, but from its crest +discerned no sign of Lake Torrens, thus settling a certain limit to its +extension to the north. He made further explorations to the west of Lake +Gregory, now Lake Eyre, and found some hot springs. Meanwhile, during the +time he was making these researches, the Government had, in a very +high-handed manner, appointed Warburton to supersede him. Warburton +started out to find Babbage, taking Charles Gregory as his second. +Failing to find him at the Elizabeth, he followed and overtook him at the +newly-discovered Lake Gregory. Warburton made a few discoveries while +seeking for Babbage, amongst them the Douglas, a creek which was +afterwards of great assistance to Stuart, and the Davenport Range; and he +also came upon some fair pastoral country. + +<p>Babbage's surveys and explorations had done much to clear up the mystery +and confusion that had hitherto obscured the geography of the salt lake +region. His discovery of Lake Eyre (Gregory) and of the complete +isolation of Lake Torrens, reduced the component parts of that huge +saline basin to some sort of method and order. In addition to these +achievements, Surveyor Parry made some further discoveries both of fresh +water and available pastoral country to the eastward of the Lake. + +<p>B. Herschel Babbage was the eldest son of the well-known inventor of the +calculating machine. He had been educated as an engineer, and for a +considerable time had followed his profession in Europe. He had been +engaged on several main lines in England, and had worked in conjunction +with the celebrated Brunel. He had also been commissioned by the +Government of Piedmont to report on a line across the Alps by way of +Mount Cenis. He had remained in Italy some years until his work was +interrupted by the revolution. He had returned to England, and had +subsequently come to South Australia in 1851, in the ship Hydaspes. He +died at his residence, in 1878, at St. Mary's, South Road, where he had a +vineyard. + +<h4>13.2. JOHN MCDOUALL STUART.</h4> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-32"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-32.jpg"></p> +<p><b>John McDouall Stuart.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>John McDouall Stuart, the great explorer of the centre of Australia, +arrived in South Australia in 1839. His first experience of Australian +exploration was sufficiently trying, gained as it was when he was acting +as a draughtsman with Captain Sturt on his last arduous expedition. But +it had kindled in him a high ardour for discovery, and fostered a +stubborn resolution to carry through whatever he undertook. + +<p>He commenced his early explorations when in a position to do so +independently, to the north-west of Swinden's country, in search of some +locality called by the natives Wingillpin. Not finding it, he came to the +strange conclusion that Wingillpin and Cooper's Creek were one and the +same, although he was now on a different watershed. He also, at that +period, seems to have entertained somewhat extensive notions of the +course of Cooper's Creek, as in one part of his Journal he remarks:-- + +<p>"My only hope of cutting Cooper's Creek is on the other side of the +range. The plain we crossed to-day resembles those of the Cooper, also +the grasses. If it is not there, it must run to the north-west, and form +the Glenelg of Captain Grey." + +<p>Now, although we know that Grey held rather extravagant notions of the +importance of the Glenelg, even he would not have thought it possible for +the Glenelg to be the outlet of such a mighty river as Cooper's Creek +would have become by the time it reached the north-west coast. + +<p>Stuart's horses were now too footsore to proceed over the stony country +he found himself then in, and he had no spare shoes with him. Failing +therefore to find the promised land of Wingillpin, although he had passed +over much good and well-watered country, he turned to the south-west, and +made some explorations in the neighbourhood of Lake Gairdner. Before +this, however, he had found and named Chambers Creek. From Lake Gairdner, +he steered for Fowler's Bay, and his description of some of the country +he passed is anything but inviting. From a spur of the high peak that he +named Mount Finke, he saw:-- + +<p>"A prospect gloomy in the extreme: I could see a long distance, but +nothing met the eye save a dense scrub, as black and dismal as night." + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-33map"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-33map.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Routes of Stuart (1858 to 1862); and Burke and Wills (1860 and 1861).</b></p> +</center> + +<p>From this point the party passed into a sandy spinifex desert, which +Stuart says was worse than Sturt's; there had been a little salt-bush +there, but here there was nothing but spinifex to be found, and the +barren ground provided no food of any kind for the horses. + +<p>The state of affairs was becoming desperate with the little band, as +their provisions were nearly finished; and though the leader was tempted +to persist in the search for good pastoral country, he was at last forced +to abandon the search and beat a hasty retreat. Dense scrub and the same +"dreary dismal desert," as he calls it in his Journal, surrounded them +day after day. Tired out and half-starved they reached the coast, and had +but two meals left to carry them to Streaky Bay, where they found relief +at Gibson's station. Here the sudden change from starvation to a full +diet invalided most of them, and Stuart himself was very ill for some +days. Finally they reached Thompson's station at Mount Arden, and there +Stuart's first expedition terminated. + +<p>But this severe test only whetted Stuart's appetite for further +exploration, and in April, 1859, he made another start. After crossing +over some of the already-traversed country, Hergott, one of his +companions, found the now well-known springs that bear his name. Stuart +crossed his former discovery of Chambers Creek, and made for the +Davenport Range, discovered by Warburton, finding many of the mound +springs that characterize some parts of the interior. On the 6th of June +he discovered a large creek, which he called the Neale. It ran through +very good country, and Stuart followed it down, hoping to find it +increase in volume and value as he went. In this he was not disappointed, +as large plains covered with salt-bush and grass were found, and the +party encountered several more springs. After satisfying himself of the +extent and economic value of the country he had found, Stuart was obliged +to return; for his horses' shoes had again worn out, and he had a lively +and painful remembrance of the misery which his horses had suffered +before from the lack of them. + +<p>In November of the same year, he made a third expedition in the vicinity +of Lake Eyre, but there is little of interest attaching to the Journal of +this trip, as his course was mostly over closely explored country. He +reached the Neale again, and instituted a survey of the promising +pastoral country he had traversed during his last trip, approaching at +times to within sight of what he calls in his Journal Lake Torrens, but +which in reality was what is now known as Lake Eyre. All these minor +expeditions of Stuart's may be looked upon as preparatory to his great +struggle to find an available passage through the unknown fastnesses of +the centre of the continent. + +<p>It was in 1860 that Stuart made the first of his daring and stubborn +attempts to cross Australia from south to north. The South Australian +Government had offered a standing reward of 2,000 pounds for the man who +should first succeed in this undertaking. + +<p>Stuart's party on his first trip was but a very small one: three men in +all, with but thirteen horses. It reads lilliputian compared with the +princely cavalcade that later on set out with Burke to travel over +comparatively well-known country, involving only a short excursion +through a land without natural difficulties or obstacles; and yet it +actually achieved the greatest part of the task set it. + +<p>Stuart started from Chambers Creek, but for part of the journey he was of +course travelling over country that was fairly well-known by that time. +After passing the Neale, he entered untrodden country, which proved to be +good available pastoral land. Numerous well-watered creeks were passed, +which were named respectively the Frew, the Finke, and the Stevenson, and +on the 6th of April they reached a hill of a remarkable shape, which had +for some time attracted and excited their attention and curiosity. They +found it to be a column of sandstone, on the apex of a hill. The hill was +but a low one of a few hundred feet in height, but the sandstone column +that surmounted it was one hundred and fifty feet in height and twenty +feet in width. This striking object was named by Stuart Chambers Pillar, +to commemorate a friend who had assisted him greatly in his explorations. +It stood amongst other elevations of fantastic shapes and grotesque +formations, resembling ruined forts and castles. On the 9th of April they +sighted two remarkable bluffs, and on the 12th reached the range of which +the bluffs formed the centre. The eastern bluff was called Brinkley Bluff +and the western Hanson Bluff; the range, which is now well-known as a +leading geographical feature of Australia, and on which the most elevated +peaks in the interior have since been found, Stuart named the MacDonnell +Range, after the then Governor of South Australia. The little band +crossed the range, which was rough but had good grass on its slopes. +There was, however, a scarcity of water; for they were now approaching +the tropical line, and on reaching the northern slope of the range found +themselves amongst spinifex and scrub, and obliged to undergo two nights +without water for the horses. At a high peak, which was named Mount +Freeling, they found a small supply; and as it was now evident that there +was dry country ahead, a more careful search was made before pushing any +further forward, in order to ensure certain means of retreat. Fortunately +they found, amongst some ledges of rock, a large natural reservoir, which +promised to be permanent, and capable of supplying their wants on their +homeward way. + +<p>On the 22nd of April, Stuart camped in the centre of Australia, on the +spot which his former leader, Sturt, had vainly undergone so much +suffering to reach; and his feeling of elation must have been tempered +with regret that his old leader was not then with him to share this +success. About two miles and a half to the North-North-East there was a +tolerably high hill which he called in reality Central Mount Sturt. It is +now, however, erroneously called Stuart, owing to the publishers of his +diary having misread his manuscript. + +<p>Having, in company with his tried companion Kekwick, climbed the mount, +he erected a cairn of stones at the top and hoisted the Union Jack. They +then recommenced their northern journey. That night they camped without +finding water, but the next morning were lucky enough to get a permanent +supply. Then ensued much delay, caused by fruitless attempts to strike +either to the eastward or the westward. Stuart tried on several occasions +to reach the head of the Victoria River, but failed, and sacrificed some +horses. On a creek he called the Phillips, some natives were encountered +who, according to Stuart, made and answered a masonic sign. + +<p>To the north of this spot, the explorers came to a large gum-tree creek, +with very fair-sized sheets of water in it. As they followed down, they +passed an encampment of natives, but kept steadily on their course +without interfering with them. Not finding any water lower down the +creek, the party had to return, and when close to the creek at the point +where they had crossed that morning, they were suddenly surrounded by a +mob of armed and painted savages, who had emerged unexpectedly from +concealment in a clump of scrub. To all attempts at peaceful parley they +returned showers of boomerangs and clubs, until the whites were compelled +in self-defence to fire on them. Even then they were not deterred from +following the party, even up to the camp of the night before. This +incident caused Stuart to hesitate. His party was so small that the loss +or even disablement of one man would have crippled the expedition; and +they had already lost a good many horses. He therefore wisely decided to +fall back, as they had penetrated far enough to prove that the passage of +the continent could be effected with a few more men. It was on the 27th +of June that he began his homeward march, and on the 26th of August he +reached Brodie's camp at Hamilton Springs, with the strength of all much +reduced, and Stuart himself suffering from scurvy. + +<p>After the result of Stuart's journey had been reported in Adelaide, and +it was seen how inadequate means only had led to his defeat, the +Government voted 2,500 pounds to equip a better-organized party; of this +he was to take command. + +<p>Stuart judged it best to keep his old track by way of the Finke and the +Hugh. On the 12th of April they arrived at the Bonney, and finding it +running strong, with abundance of good feed on the banks, they were +betrayed into following it down; but it soon spread abroad and was lost +in a large plain. Leaving the Bonney, they adhered to the old route, and +reached Tennant's Creek on the 21st of April, and four days afterwards +they were on the scene of the attack that had been made on them at Attack +Creek. But although the tracks of the natives were numerous, the +explorers were, at this time, permitted to pass on in peace. Keeping at +the foot of the low range, which there has an approximate northerly and +southerly direction, Stuart crossed many creeks which promised long +courses where they formed in the range, but which were all alike lost +when they reached the level country. On the 4th of May they attained to +the northern termination of this range, which he called the Ashburton +Range. Here he made several attempts to the north and north-west, but +could discover neither water nor watercourses in those directions; +nothing indeed but plains, beautifully grassed, but heavy to ride over +and yielding under the horses' feet. Beyond these plains, the country +changed for the worse, and became sandy and scrubby. On the 16th of May +he encountered a new description of scrub that grew in a very obstructive +manner, and is now known as Stuart's Desert Hedgewood. + +<p>On the 23rd he found a magnificent sheet of permanent water which he +called the Newcastle Waters, and at first he judged that a clear way +north was now assured. But he was deluded, for beyond these waters he +could not advance his party a mile; north, north-east, and north-west, +there was the one outlook -- endless grassy plains, terminating in dense +scrubby forest country. He had to give up all hope for the present, and +return to Adelaide. + +<p>Such however was the confidence of the authorities in him, and such his +own energy, that in less than a month after his arrival in Adelaide he +was on his way to Chambers Creek to make preparations for a fresh +departure. His last two journeys had proved the existence of a long line +of good country, fairly well-watered; and although beyond it he had not +been able to gain a footing, still there was no knowing what a fresh +endeavour would bring to light. + +<p>He had brought his party back in safety, with the loss of only a few +horses, and had actually reached in point of position as low a latitude +as the Victorian explorers had done, and that with a more difficult +country to travel through, without camels, and with an inferior equipment +in all other respects. + +<p>It is not necessary again to follow Stuart's horse-tracks over the +northern way he was now pursuing for the third time. On the 14th of +April, 1862, we find him encamped at the northern end of Newcastle +Waters, once more about to force a passage through the forest of +waterless scrub to the north. On the second day he was partly successful, +finding an isolated waterhole, surrounded by conglomerate rocks. This he +called Frew's Pond; and it is now a well-known camping-place for +travellers on the overland telegraph line. + +<p>Past this spot he was not able to make any progress. Twice he made +strenuous but vain efforts to reach some tributary of the Victoria River. +He then spent many days riding through dense mulga and hedgewood scrub. +At length, after much hope deferred, finding a few scanty waterholes that +did not serve the purpose he had in view, he succeeded in striking the +head of a chain of ponds running in a northerly direction. These being +followed down, led him to the head of the creek now called Daly Waters +Creek, and finally to the large waterhole on which the present telegraph +station bearing the name of Daly Waters, stands. The creek was then lost +in a swamp, and Stuart was unable to find the channel where it reformed, +which has since been named the Birdum. Missing this water-guide, Stuart +worked his way to the eastward, to a creek he named the Strangways, which +led him down to the Roper River, a river which he had never striven to +reach, his sole aim being the Victoria. He crossed the Roper, and +followed up a northern tributary, which he named after his constant +friend John Chambers. + +<p>Scarcity of water was now a thing of the past, but his stock of spare +horseshoes had to be most jealously guarded, for his horses were +beginning to fall lame, the country he was on was very stony, and he was +far removed from Adelaide. From the Chambers he came to the lower course +of a creek called by Leichhardt Flying-Fox Creek, re-named by Stuart the +Katherine, the name it now bears. Thence he struck across the stony +tableland and descended on the head waters of a river which he christened +the Adelaide, and on following this river down he found himself in rich +tropical scenery, which told him that at last he was approaching the +sea-shore. + +<p>On the 24th of July he turned a little to the north-east, intending to +strike the sea-beach and travel along it to the mouth of the Adelaide. He +told only two of the party of the eventful moment awaiting them. As they +rode on, Thring, who was riding ahead, suddenly called out, "The Sea," +which so took the majority by surprise that they were some time before +they understood what was meant, and then three hearty cheers were given. + +<p>At this, his first point of contact with the ocean, Stuart dipped his +feet and hands in the sea, as at last he gazed across the water he had so +perseveringly striven for years to reach. + +<p>He attempted to get to the mouth of the Adelaide River along the beach, +but found it too boggy for the horses. Wishing to husband the forces at +his command, Stuart wisely resolved to push no further; he had a space +cleared where they were, and a tall sapling stripped of its boughs to +serve as a flagstaff. On this he hoisted the Union Jack which he had +carried with him. A record of their arrival, contained in an air-tight +case, was then buried at the foot of the impromptu staff, and Stuart cut +his initials on the largest tree he could find. The tree has since been +found and recognised, but the buried memorial has not been discovered. +More fortunate than the ill-fated Burke, Stuart surveyed the open sea +from his point of contact with the ocean, instead of having to be content +with some mangrove trees and salt water. + +<p>McDouall Stuart, whose last expedition we have thus followed out to its +successful end, is rightly considered the man to whom the credit for the +first crossing the continent is due. His victory was all his own; he had +followed in no other person's footsteps; he had crossed the true centre, +and he had made the coast at a point much further to the north than that +reached by Burke and Wills, their journey having been considerably +shortened by its northern end being placed on the southern shore of the +great gulf that bites so deeply into north Australia. Along Stuart's +track there is now erected the Overland Telegraph Line, an enduring +monument to his indomitable perseverance. + +<p>Stuart's health was fast failing, and his horses were sadly reduced in +strength. He therefore started back the day after the consummation of his +dearest ambition. On his way south, after leaving Newcastle Waters, he +found the water in many of the short creeks heading from the Ashburton +Range to be rapidly diminishing; in some there was none left, in others +it was fast drying. The horses commenced to give in rapidly one after the +other, and more were lost on successive dry stages. Stuart himself +thought that he would never live to see the settled districts. Scurvy had +brought him down to a lamentable state, and after all his hard-won +success, it seemed as though he would not profit by it. His right hand +had become useless to him, and his eyes lost power of sight after sunset. +He could not undergo the pain of riding, and a stretcher had to be slung +between two horses to carry him on. With painful slowness they crept +along until they reached Mount Margaret, the first station. Here the +leader, reduced to a mere skeleton, was furnished with a little relief; +and after resting and gaining a little strength, he rode on to Adelaide. + +<p>This was Stuart's last expedition; for he never recovered his health nor +former eyesight. He was rewarded by the government of the colony which he +had served so well, and was awarded the gold medal of the Royal +Geographical Society. He went to reside in England, where he died in the +year 1869, on the 16th of July. + +</p><a name="chapter14"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 14. BURKE AND WILLS.</h3> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-34"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-34.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Robert O'Hara Burke. From a photograph in the possession of E.J. Welch, of the Howitt Relief Expedition.</b></p> +</center> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-35"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-35.jpg"></p> +<p><b>William John Wills. From a photograph in the possession of E.J. Welch, of the Howitt Relief Expedition.</b></p> +</center> + +<p> +We have now to deal with an exploring expedition of greater notoriety +than that of any similar enterprise in the annals of Australia, though +its results in the way of actual exploration in the true meaning of the +term were quite insignificant. The expedition could not reasonably hope +to reveal any new geographical conditions; for the nature of the country +to be traversed was fairly well-known: there was no such expanse of +unknown territory along the suggested course of travel as to justify the +anticipation of any discovery of magnitude. Both Kennedy and Gregory had +followed much the same line of route when tracing the course of the +Barcoo and Cooper's Creek, a short distance to the eastward. The only +apparent motive for the expedition seems to have been not particularly +creditable, the desire to outdo Stuart, who after nearly accomplishing +the task might well have been allowed the honour of completing it. But +Time is after all the great arbitrator: Stuart re-entered Adelaide +successful, on the same day that the bodies of Burke and Wills arrived +for shipment to Melbourne. + +<p>Robert O'Hara Burke was born in the county of Galway, in Ireland, in +1821. He was the second son of John Hardiman Burke, of St. Clerans, and +was educated in Belgium. In 1840 he entered the Austrian army, in which +he rose to the rank of Captain. In 1848 he joined the Royal Irish +Constabulary, but five years later emigrated to Tasmania. Thence he went +to Victoria, where he entered the local police force, and became an +Inspector. Such was his position when he was offered the command of the +expedition which ended in his death. + +<p>William John Wills was born at Totnes, in Devonshire. He was the son of a +medical man, and after his arrival in Victoria, in 1852, he led for a +time a bush life on the Edwards River. He was later employed as a +surveyor in Melbourne, and then became assistant to Professor Neumayer at +the Melbourne Observatory, a post he quitted in order to act as +assistant-surveyor on the ill-starred journey. + +<p>Sentiment, and an hysterical sentiment at that, seems to have dominated +this expedition throughout. There was no urgent necessity for Victoria to +equip and send forth an exploring expedition. Her rich and compact little +province was known from end to end, and she had no surplus territory in +which to open up fresh fields of pastoral occupation for her sons. But +her people became possessed with the exploring spirit, and the planning +and execution of the scheme was a signal indication of national +patriotism. And if sense and not sentiment had marked the counsel, the +results might have conferred rich benefit upon Australia. + +<p>The necessary funds were made up as follows: 6,000 pounds voted by +Government; 1,000 pounds presented by Mr. Ambrose Kyte; and the balance +of the first expenditure of 12,000 pounds made up by public subscription. +But the final cost of the expedition and of the relief parties amounted +to 57,000 pounds. And the exploratory work done by the different relief +parties far and away exceeded in geographical results the small amount +effected by the original expedition. + +<p>A committee of management was appointed, and to his interest with this +committee Burke owed his elevation to the position of leader. He seems to +have been supported by that sort of general testimony which fits a man to +apply for nearly any position; but of special aptitude and training for +the work to be done he had none. He was frank, openhearted, impetuous, +and endowed with all those qualities which made him a great favourite +with women; moreover, his service in the Austrian army had given people +an exaggerated notion of his ability to command and organize. It would +appear on the whole that his appointment was due solely to the influence +he wielded, and to his personal popularity. + +<p>Wills appears to have been a man gifted with many of the qualities +essential for efficient discharge of the duties and responsibilities +appertaining to the post he held; but his amiable disposition allowed him +to be influenced too readily in council by the rash and foolish judgment +of his impetuous superior. If, for instance, he had persisted in +combating Burke's incomprehensible plan of leaving the depot for Mount +Hopeless, the last fatality would never have occurred. + +<p>When the expedition left Melbourne, it was amid the shouts and hurrahs of +acclaiming thousands, who probably had not the faintest idea of the easy +task that the explorers with their imposing retinue and outfit had before +them. In fact, with all the resources at Burke's command, a favourable +season and good open country, the excursion would have been a mere picnic +to most men of experience. A number of camels had been specially imported +from India at a cost of 5,500 pounds. G.J. Landells came to the country +in charge of them, and had been appointed second in command. Long before +they left the settled districts, Burke quarrelled with him, whereupon he +resigned and returned to Melbourne. There he openly declared that under +Burke's control the expedition would assuredly meet with disaster. Wills +was then appointed second by Burke, and Wright, who was supposed to be +acquainted with the locality which they were approaching, was engaged as +third, another most unfortunate selection. Besides those already +mentioned, there were Dr. Hermann Beckler, medical officer and botanist, +and Dr. Ludwig Becker, artist, naturalist, and geologist, ten white +assistants, and three camel-drivers. + +<p>The expedition in full reached Menindie on the Darling, where Wright +joined them. On the 19th of October, 1860, Burke, Wills, six men, five +horses and sixteen camels, left Menindie for Cooper's Creek. Wright went +with them two hundred miles to indicate the best route, and then returned +to take charge of the main body waiting at Menindie. On the 11th of +November, Burke with the advance party reached Cooper's Creek, where they +camped and awaited the arrival of Wright with the rest. Grass and water +were both plentiful, and the journey had hitherto proved no more arduous +than an ordinary over-landing trip. + +<p>The long delay and inaction worked sadly upon Burke's active and +impatient temperament, and he suddenly announced his intention to +subdivide his party and, with three men, to start across the belt of +unknown country -- a distance of five hundred miles at the furthest -- +that separated him from Gregory's track round the Gulf. Although his +lavish outfit had been purchased specially to explore this comparatively +small extent of land, he thus deliberately left it behind him during the +most critical part of the journey. He had with him no means of following +up any discoveries he might make, and his botanist and naturalist and +geologist were also left behind. He killed time for a little while by +making short excursions northward, and then, on the 16th of December, +impatient of further delay, he started with Wills and two men for +Carpentaria. The others were left, with verbal instructions, to wait +three months for him. Thus, dispersed and neglected, he left the costly +equipment containing within itself all the elements of successful +geographical research. Certainly this was not the plan that had been +anticipated by the promoters and organisers. We have now, at this stage, +the spectacle of the main body loitering on the outskirts of the settled +districts, four men killing time on the banks of Cooper's Creek, and the +leader and three others scampering across the continent, all four of them +utterly inexperienced in bushcraft. + +<p>As might have been expected the results of the journey are most barren: +Wills's diary is sadly uninteresting, and Burke made only a few scanty +notes, at the end of which he writes: "28th March. At the conclusion of +report it would be as well to say that we reached the sea, but we could +not obtain a view of the open ocean, although we made every endeavour to +do so." + +<p>Shortly condensing Wills's diary, we gather the following account of +their route. The first point they intended to reach was Eyre's Creek, but +before arriving at it, they discovered a fine watercourse coming from the +north, which took them a long distance in the direction they desired to +follow. This watercourse, which McKinlay afterwards called the Mueller, +began in time to lead their steps too much to the eastward, in which +direction lay its source. They therefore quitted it and kept due north, +following a tributary well-supplied with both grass and water. This +tributary led them well on to the northern dividing range, which they +crossed without difficulty, coming down on to the head of the Cloncurry +River. By tracing that river down they reached the Flinders River, which +they followed down to the mangroves and salt water. They were, however, +considerably out in their longitude, for they thought that they were on +the Albert, over one hundred miles to the westward. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-36"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-36.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Scenes on Cooper's Creek (After Howitt). 1. Burke's Grave. 2. Where King was Found. 3. Grave of Wills.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>Having sighted salt water, if not the open sea, they commenced the +retreat. Gray and King were the two men who were with Burke and Wills; +and for equipment they had started with six camels, one horse, and three +months' provisions. Short rations and fatiguing marches now began to +tell, and during the struggle back to the Depot, there seems to have been +an absence of that kindly spirit of comradeship that has so often +distinguished other exploring expeditions fallen on evil days. + +<p>Gray became ill, and took some extra flour to make a little gruel with. +For this infringement of rules, Burke personally chastised him. A few +days afterwards, Wills wrote in his diary that they had to halt and send +back for Gray, who was "gammoning" that he could not walk. Nine days +afterwards the unfortunate man died, an act which is not often +successfully "gammoned." + +<p>But to bring the miserable story to an end, at last on the evening of the +21st of April, 1861, two months after they had reached the Gulf, they +re-entered the depot camp at Cooper's Creek, where four men had been +instructed to await their return, only to find it deserted and lifeless. +Keenly disappointed, for though they knew they were behind the appointed +time, they had still hoped that some one would have waited for them, they +searched the locality for some sign or message from their friends, and on +a tree saw the word DIG carved. Beneath this message of hope they were +soon busy digging, and before long they unearthed a welcome store of +provisions and a letter, which ran:-- + +<p>Depot, Cooper's Creek, April 21, 1861. + +<p>The depot party of V.E.E.* leaves this camp to-day to return to the +Darling. I intend to go South-East from Camp 60 to get on our old track +at Bulloo. Two of my companions and myself are quite well; the third -- +Patton -- has been unable to walk for the last eighteen days as his leg +has been severely hurt when thrown by one of the horses. No person has +been up here from the Darling. We have six camels and twelve horses in +good working condition. + +<p>WILLIAM BRAHE. + +<blockquote>*[Footnote] Victorian Exploration Expedition.</blockquote> + +<p>Unfortunately, this was so worded that when Burke found it the same +night, it gave him the impression that the depot party were all, with one +exception, fairly well; and that, with fresh animals just off a long rest +they would travel long stages on their homeward march. As a matter of +fact, on the evening of the day that Burke returned, they were camped but +fourteen miles away. But this was only the first of a series of singular +and fatal oversights -- that almost seemed pre-ordained by mocking Fate. + +<p>Burke consulted his companions as to the feasibility of their overtaking +Brahe, and they both agreed that, in their tired and enfeebled condition, +it was hopeless to attempt it. Burke proposed that instead of returning +up the creek along the old route to Menindie, they should follow the +creek down to Mount Hopeless in South Australia, following the route +taken by A.C. Gregory.* Wills objected to this, and so did King, but +ultimately both gave in, thereby signing their death warrant; for if they +had remained quietly at the depot, they would have been rescued. + +<blockquote>*[Footnote.] See Chapter 18.</blockquote> + +<p>After resting for five days, and finding their strength much restored by +the food, they started for Mount Hopeless, ill-omened name. Before they +left, Burke placed in the cache a paper, stating that they had returned, +and then carefully restored the ground to its former condition. The +common and natural thought to mark a tree or to make some other +unmistakable sign of their return, does not seem to have occurred to +either of the leaders. It will be seen further on how this scarcely +credible omission was a main factor in deciding their fate. + +<p>As they progressed slowly down the creek, one of the two camels became +bogged, and had to be shot where it lay. The wanderers cut off what meat +there was on the body, and stayed two or three days to dry it in the sun. +The one camel had now to carry what they had, except the bundles that the +men bore, each some twenty-five pounds in weight. They made but little +progress; the creek split up into many channels that ran out into earthy +plains; and at last, when their one beast of burden gave in, they had to +acknowledge defeat, and commenced to return. After shooting the wretched +camel and drying his flesh, the men tried to live like the blacks, on +fish and nardoo, the seeds of a small plant of which the natives make +flour. But the struggle for existence was very hard; they were not expert +hunters, and the natives, who were at first friendly and shared their +food with them, soon out-grew the novelty of their presence, began to +find them an encumbrance, and constantly shifted camp to avoid the burden +of their support. + +<p>On the 27th of May, Wills went forward alone to visit the depot and +deposit there the journals and a note stating their condition. He reached +there on the 30th and wrote in his diary that "No traces of anyone, +except blacks have been here since we left." + +<p>But while they were absent down the creek, Brahe and Wright had visited +the place, and finding no sign of their return, and the cache apparently +untouched, had ridden away concluding that they had not yet come back. +This was the note that Wills left:-- + +<p>May 30th, 1861. We have been unable to leave the creek. Both camels are +dead. Burke and King are down on the lower part of the creek. I am about +to return to them, when we shall probably all come up here. We are trying +to live the best way we can, like the blacks, but we find it hard work. +Our clothes are going fast to pieces; send provisions and clothes as soon +as possible. + +<p>The depot party having left contrary to instructions has put us into this +fix. I have deposited some of my journals here for fear of accidents. + +<p>WILLIAM J. WILLS. + +<p>Having done this, and once more carefully concealed all traces of the +cache having been disturbed, Wills rejoined his companions in misfortune. +Some friendly natives fed him on his way back to them. + +<p>During the intercourse that of necessity they had with the natives along +Cooper's Creek, they had noticed the extensive use made by them of the +seeds of the nardoo plant; but for a long time they had been unable to +find this plant, nor would the blacks show it to them. At last King +accidentally found it, and by its aid they managed to prolong their +lives. But the seeds had to be gathered, cleaned, pounded and cooked; and +in comparison with all this labour the nourishment afforded by the cakes +was very slight. An occasional crow or hawk was shot, and a little fish +now and then begged from the natives. As they were sinking rapidly, it +was at last decided that Burke and King should go up the creek and +endeavour to find the main camp of the natives and obtain food from them. +Wills, who was now so weak as to be unable to move, was left lying under +some boughs, with an eight days' supply of nardoo and water, the others +trusting that within that period they would have returned to him. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-37"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-37.jpg"></p> +<p><b>John King. From a photo in the possession of E.J. Welch.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>On the 26th of June the two men started, and poor Wills was left to meet +death alone. By the entries in his diary, which he kept written up as +long as his strength remained, he evidently retained consciousness almost +to the last. So exhausted was he that death must have come to him as a +merciful release from the pain of living. His last entries, although +giving evidence of fading faculties, are almost cheerful. He jocularly +alludes to himself as Micawber, waiting for something to turn up. But it +is evident that he had given up hope, and was waiting for death's +approach, calm and resigned, without fear, like a good and gallant man. + +<p>Burke and King did not advance far. On the second day Burke had to give +in from sheer weakness; the next morning when his companion looked at him +he saw by the breaking light that his leader was dead. + +<p>The last entries in Burke's pocket-book run thus:-- + +<p>"I hope we shall be done justice to. We have fulfilled our task but have +been aban----. We have not been followed up as we expected, and the depot +party abandoned their post...King has behaved nobly. He has stayed with +me to the last, and placed the pistol in my hand, leaving me lying on the +surface as I wished." + +<p>Left to himself, King wandered about in search of the natives, and, not +finding them, the lonely man returned to the spot where they had left +Wills, and found that his troubles too were over. He covered up the +corpse with a little sand, and then left once more in search of the +natives. This time he found them, and, moved by his solitary condition, +they helped him to live until rescued by Howitt's party on September +15th. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-38"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-38.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Edwin J. Welch, second in command of the Howitt Relief Expedition, and the first man to find King.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>Meanwhile the absence of any news from Wright, in charge of the main +body, was beginning to create a feeling of uneasiness in Melbourne. A +light party had already been equipped under A.W. Howitt to follow up +Burke's tracks, when suddenly despatches from the Darling arrived from +Wright, telling of the non-arrival of the four men. Howitt's party was +doubled, and he was immediately sent off to Cooper's Creek to commence a +search for the missing men. He had not far to go. On the 13th of +September he arrived at the fateful depot camp on Cooper's Creek, with +Brahe. He immediately commenced to follow, or try to follow, Burke's +outward track, but on Sunday the 15th, while still on Cooper's Creek, +King was found by E.J. Welch, the second in command of the relief party. +Welch's account of the finding of King is as follows:-- + +<p>"After travelling about three miles, my attention was attracted by a +number of niggers on the opposite bank of the creek, who shouted loudly +as soon as they saw me, and vigorously waved and pointed down the creek. +A feeling of something about to happen excited me somewhat, but I little +expected what the sequel was to be. Moving cautiously on through the +undergrowth which lined the banks of the creek, the blacks kept pace on +the opposite side, their cries increasing in volume and intensity; when +suddenly rounding a bend I was startled to see a large body of them +gathered on a sandy neck in the bed of the creek, between two large +waterholes. Immediately they saw me, they too commenced to howl and wave +their weapons in the air. I at once pulled up, and considered the +propriety of waiting the arrival of the party, for I felt far from +satisfied with regard to their intentions. But here, for the first time, +my favourite horse -- a black cob known in the camp as Piggy, a Murray +Downs bred stock-horse of good repute both for foot and temper -- +appeared to think that his work was cut out for him, and the time had +arrived in which to do it. Pawing and snorting at the noise, he suddenly +slewed round and headed down the steep bank, through the undergrowth, +straight for the crowd as he had been wont to do after many a mob of +weaners on his native plains. The blacks drew hurriedly back to the top +of the opposite bank, shouting and gesticulating violently, and leaving +one solitary figure apparently covered with some scarecrow rags and part +of a hat prominently alone in the sand. Before I could pull up I had +passed it, and as I passed it tottered, threw up its hands in the +attitude of prayer and fell on the sand. The heavy sand helped me to +conquer Piggy on the level, and when I turned back, the figure had +partially risen. + +<p>"Hastily dismounting, I was soon beside it, excitedly asking: 'Who in the +name of wonder are you?' He answered, 'I am King, sir.' For the moment I +did not grasp the thought that the object of our search was attained, for +King being only one of the undistinguished members of the party, his name +was unfamiliar to me. + +<p>"'King,' I repeated. 'Yes,' he said; 'the last man of the exploring +expedition.' 'What! Burke's?' 'Yes,' he said. 'Where is he -- and Wills?' +'Dead, both dead, long ago,' and again he fell to the ground. + +<p>"Then I knew who stood before me. Jumping into the saddle and riding up +the bank, I fired two or three revolver shots to attract the attention of +the party, and on their coming up, sent the other black boy to cut +Howitt's track and bring him back to camp. We then put up a tent to +shelter the rescued man, and by degrees we got from him the sad story of +the death of his leader. We got it at intervals only, between the long +rests which his exhausted condition compelled him to take." + +<p>As soon as King had recovered enough strength to accompany the party, +they went to the place where Wills had breathed his last; and found his +body in the gunyah as King had described it. There it was buried. On the +21st Burke's body was found up the creek; he too was at first buried +where he died. Howitt, after rewarding the blacks who had cared for King, +started back for Melbourne by easy stages. On his arrival there he was +sent back to disinter the remains of the dead; a task which he and Welch +safely accomplished, bringing the bodies down by way of Adelaide. + +<p>Dr. Becker, Stone, Purcell, and Patton were the others whose lives were +sacrificed on this expedition, so marked with disaster. These victims +received no token of public recognition of their fate, although a public +funeral was accorded to Burke and Wills, and a statue has been erected to +their memory in Melbourne. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-39"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-39.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Burke and Wills Monument Statue, Melbourne.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>The foolish and unaccountable oversight of Burke and his companions in +not marking a tree, or otherwise leaving some recognisable sign of their +return at the depot, seems to have led Brahe astray completely. He states +his side of the case as follows:-- + +<p>"Mr. Burke's return being so soon after my departure caused the tracks of +his camels to correspond in the character of age exactly with our own +tracks. The remains of three separate fires led us to suppose that blacks +had been camped there...The ground above the cache was so perfectly +restored to the appearance it presented when I left it, that in the +absence of any fresh sign or mark of any description to be seen near, it +was impossible to suppose that it had been disturbed." + +<p>The story of the lost explorers created intense excitement throughout the +other colonies. Queensland, as the colony wherein the explorers were +supposed to have met with disaster, sent out two search parties. The +Victoria, a steam sloop, was sent up to the mouth of the Albert River in +the Gulf of Carpentaria, having on board William Landsborough, with +George Bourne as second in command, and a small and efficient party; +another Queensland expedition, under Fred Walker, left the furthest +station in the Rockhampton district; and from South Australia John +McKinlay started to traverse the continent on much the same line of route +as that taken by the unhappy men. + +</p><a name="chapter15"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 15. THE RELIEF EXPEDITIONS AND ATTEMPTS TOWARDS PERTH.</h3> + +<h4>15.1. JOHN MCKINLAY.</h4> + +<p>John McKinlay was born at Sandbank, on the Clyde, in 1819. He first came +to the colony of New South Wales in 1836, and joined his uncle, a +prosperous grazier, under whose guidance he soon became a good bushman +with an ardent love of bush life. He took up several runs near the South +Australian border, and thenceforth became associated with that province. + +<p>In 1861 he was appointed leader of the South Australian relief party and +started from Adelaide on October 26th. On arriving at Blanche Water, he +heard a vague rumour from the blacks that white men and camels had been +seen at a distant inland water; but put little faith in the story. He +traversed Lake Torrens, and, striking north, crossed the lower end of +Cooper's Creek at a point where the main watercourse is lost in a maze of +channels. Here he learned definite and particular details respecting the +rumoured white men, and thinking there might be some groundwork of truth +in the report, he now pressed forward to the locality indicated. Having +formed a depot camp, he went ahead with two white men and a native. +Passing through a belt of country with numerous small shallow lakelets, +they came to a watercourse whereon they found signs of a grave, and they +picked up a battered pint-pot. Next morning, feeling sure that the ground +had been disturbed with a spade, they opened what proved to be a grave, +and in it found the body of a European, the skull marked, so McKinlay +states, with two sabre cuts. He noted down the description of the body, +the locality, and its surroundings; and in view of these particulars, it +has been stated that the body was that of Gray, who died in the +neighbourhood.* + +<blockquote>*[Footnote.] See Chapter 14.</blockquote> + +<p>Considering the minute and circumstantial accounts that have from time to +time been related by the blacks concerning Leichhardt, one is not +astonished at the legends told to McKinlay. The native with him told him +that the whites had been attacked in their camp, and that the whole of +them had been murdered; the blacks having finished by eating the bodies +of the other men, and burying the journals, saddles, and similar portions +of the equipment beside a lake a short distance away. A further search +revealed another grave -- empty -- and there were other and slighter +indications that white men had visited the neighbourhood, so that +McKinlay was led to place some credence in this story. + +<p>Next morning a tribe of blacks appeared; and although they immediately +ran away on perceiving the party, one was captured who corroborated the +statement made by the other native. Both of them bore marks on them like +bullet and shot wounds. The second native said that there was a pistol +concealed near a neighbouring lake. He was sent to fetch it; but returned +the next morning at the head of a host of aboriginals, armed, painted, +and evidently bent on mischief. The leader was obliged to order his men +to fire upon them, and it was only after two or three volleys that they +retired. + +<p>McKinlay was now satisfied that he had discovered all there was to find +of the Victorian expedition, and, after burying a letter for the benefit +of any after-comers, he left Lake Massacre, as it was mistakenly named, +and returned to the depot camp. His letter was as follows:-- + +<p>"S.A.B.R. Expedition, + +<p>"October 23rd, 1861. + +<p>"To the leader of any expedition seeking tidings of Burke and party. + +<p>"Sir, I reached this water on the 19th instant, and by means of a native +guide discovered a European camp, one mile north on west side of flat. At +or near this camp, traces of horses, camels, and whites were found. Hair, +apparently belonging to Mr. Wills, Charles Gray, Mr. Burke, or King, was +picked up from the surface of a grave dug by a spade, and from the skull +of a European buried by the natives. Other less important traces -- such +as a pannikin, oil-can, saddle-stuffing, etc., have been found. Beware of +the natives, on whom we have had to fire. We do not intend to return to +Adelaide, but proceed to west of north. From information, all Burke's +party were killed and eaten. + +<p>"JNO. MCKINLAY. + +<p>"P.S. All the party in good health. + +<p>"If you had any difficulty in reaching this spot, and wish to return to +Adelaide by a more practicable route, you may do so for at least three +months to come by driving west eighteen miles, then south of west, +cutting our dray track within thirty miles. Abundance of water and feed +at easy stages." + +<p>McKinlay next sent one of his party -- Hodgkinson -- with men and +pack-horses to Blanche Water, to carry down the news of his discovery, +and to bring back rations for a prolonged exploration. Meanwhile he +remained in camp. From one old native with whom he had a long +conversation, he obtained another version of the alleged massacre, in +which there was apparently some vestige of truth. + +<p>The new version was to the effect that the whites, on their return, had +been attacked by the natives, but had repulsed them. One white man had +been killed, and had been buried after the fight, whilst the other whites +went south. The natives had then dug up the body and eaten the flesh. The +old fellow also described minutely the different waters passed by Burke, +and the way in which the men subsisted on the seeds of the nardoo plant, +all of which he must have heard from other natives. + +<p>After waiting a month, Hodgkinson returned, bringing the news of the +rescue of King and the fate of Burke and Wills. This explained McKinlay's +discovery as that of Gray's body, the narrative of the fight and massacre +being merely ornamental additions by the natives. After an easterly +excursion, in which he visited the two graves on Cooper's Creek, McKinlay +started definitely north. It is difficult to follow without a map the +Journal containing the record of his travel during the first weeks. Not +only does he give the native name of every small lakelet and waterhole in +full, but he omits to give the bearing of his daily course. + +<p>A northerly course was however, in the main pursued, and Mckinlay +describes the country crossed as first-class pastoral land. As it was +then the dry season of the year, immediately preceding the rains, it +proves what an abnormally severe season must have been encountered by +Sturt when that explorer was turned back on his last trip in much the +same latitude. On the 27th of February, the wet season of the tropics set +in; but fortunately the party found a refuge among some stony hills and +sand-ridges, in the neighbourhood of which they were camped, though at +one time they were completely surrounded by water. On March 10th, the +rain had abated sufficiently to allow them to resume their journey; but +the main creek which they still continued to follow up north was so boggy +and swollen that they were forced to keep some distance from its banks. +This river, which McKinlay called the Mueller, is one of the main rivers +of Central Australia, and an important affluent of Lake Eyre, and is now +known as the Diamantina. McKinlay left it at the point where it comes +from the north-west, and following up a tributary, he crossed the +dividing range, there called the McKinlay Range, in about the same +locality as Burke's crossing. He had christened many of the inland +watercourses on his way across, but most of his names have been replaced +by others, it having been difficult subsequently to identify them. In +many cases, the watercourses which he thought to be independent creeks, +are but ana-branches of the Diamantina. + +<p>Passing through good travelling country, and finding ample grass and +water, he reached the Leichhardt River flowing into the Gulf of +Carpentaria, on the 6th of May. + +<p>As his rations were becoming perilously low, McKinlay was anxious to get +to the mouth of the Albert, it having been understood that Captain +Norman, with the steam-ship Victoria was there to form a depot for the +use of the Queensland search parties. His attempts to reach it however, +were fruitless, as he was continually turned back by mangrove creeks both +broad and deep, and by boggy flats; so that on the 21st of May he started +for the nearest settled district in North Queensland, in the direction of +Port Denison. + +<p>He followed much the same route as that taken by A.C. Gregory on his +return from the Victoria River.* Crossing on to the head of the Burdekin, +he followed that river down, trusting to come across some of the flocks +and herds of the advancing settlers. On reaching Mount McConnell, where +the two former explorers had crossed the Burdekin, he continued to follow +the river, and descended the coast range where it forces its way through +a narrow gorge. Here on the Bowen River, he arrived at a temporary +station just formed by Phillip Somer, where he received all the +accustomed hospitality. Since leaving the Gulf, the explorers had +subsisted on little else but horse and camel flesh, and were necessarily +in a weak condition. Had they but camped a day or two when on the upper +course of the Burdekin, they would have been relieved much earlier, for +the pioneer squatters were already there, and the party would have been +spared a rough trip through the Burdekin Gorge. In fact the tracks of the +camels were seen by one pioneer at least, a few hours after the caravan +had passed. E. Cunningham, who had just then formed Burdekin Downs +station, tells with much amusement how McKinlay's tracks puzzled him and +his black boy. The Burdekin pioneers did not of course, expect McKinlay's +advent amongst them, although they knew that he was then somewhere out +west; and such an animal as a camel did not enter into their +calculations. Cunningham said that the only solution of the problem of +the footprints that he could think of was that the tracks were those of a +return party who had been looking for new country, and that their horses, +having lost their shoes and becoming footsore, they had wrapped their +feet in bandages. + +<blockquote>*[Footnote.] See Chapter 18.</blockquote> + +<p>For his services on this expedition which were of great value in opening +up Central Australia, McKinlay was presented with a gold watch by the +Royal Geographical Society, and was voted 1,000 pounds by the South +Australian Government. + +<p>During the early settlement of the Northern Territory, much +dissatisfaction had arisen concerning the site chosen at Escape Cliffs. +McKinlay was sent north by the South Australian Government to select a +more favourable position, and to report generally on the capabilities of +the new territory. He organized an expedition at Escape Cliffs, and left +with the intention of making a long excursion to the eastward. But a very +wet season set in, and he had reached only the East Alligator River when +sudden floods cut him off and hemmed him in. The whole party would have +been destroyed but for the resourcefulness displayed by the leader, who +made coracles of horse-hides stretched on frames of saplings, by which +means they escaped. On his return, McKinlay examined the mouth of the +Daly River, and recommended Anson Bay as a more suitable site, but his +suggestion was not adopted. McKinlay, whose health suffered from the +effect of the hardships incident to his journeys, retired to spend his +days in the congenial atmosphere of pastoral pursuits, and died, in 1874, +at Gawler, South Australia, where a monument is erected to his memory. + +<h4>15.2. WILLIAM LANDSBOROUGH.</h4> + +<p>William Landsborough, the son of a Scotch physician, was born in Ayrshire +and educated at Irvine. When he came to Australia, he settled first in +the New England district of New South Wales, and thence removed to +Queensland. In 1856, his interest in discovery and a desire to find new +country led him to undertake much private exploration, principally on the +coastal parts of Queensland, in the district of Broadsound and the Isaacs +River. In 1858 he explored the Comet to its head, and in the following +year the head waters of the Thomson. + +<p>An old friend and erstwhile comrade, writing of him, says: +"Landsborough's enterprise was entirely founded on self-reliance. He had +neither Government aid nor capitalists at his back when he achieved his +first success as an explorer. He was the very model of a pioneer -- +courageous, hardy, good-humoured, and kindly. He was an excellent +horseman, a most entertaining and, at times, eccentric companion, and he +could starve with greater cheerfulness than any man I ever saw or heard +of. But, excellent fellow though he was, his very independence of +character and success in exploring provoked much ill-will." + +<p>Landsborough was recommended for the position of leader by the veteran +A.C. Gregory, and on the 14th of August he left Brisbane in the Firefly, +having on board a party of volunteer assistants who had been stirred by +the widespread sympathy with the missing men to take an active part in +the relief expedition. Unfortunately, those under Landsborough were, with +one exception, unacquainted with bush life. The exception was George +Bourne, the second in command, an old squatter who had seen and suffered +many a long drought, and whose services proved to be of great value. +After some mishap the Firefly, convoyed by the Victoria, reached the +mouth of the Albert River, where the party was safely landed. + +<p>After starting from the Albert, Landsborough came unexpectedly upon a +river hitherto unknown. It flowed into the Nicholson, and both Leichhardt +and Gregory had crossed below the confluence. It was a running stream +with much semi-tropical foliage on its banks, running through +well-grassed, level country, and he named it the Gregory. As they neared +the higher reaches of the Gregory, they found the country of a more arid +nature. They ascended the main range, and on the 21st of December, +Landsborough found an inland river flowing south, which he named the +Herbert. The Queensland authorities subsequently re-christened the stream +with the singularly inappropriate name of Georgina. In this river two +fine sheets of water were found, and called Lake Frances and Lake Mary. +An ineffectual attempt was then made to go westward, but lack of water +compelled them to desist. + +<p>Landsborough now returned to the depot by way of the Gregory, and, on +arriving there, learnt that Walker had been in and had reported having +seen the tracks of Burke and Wills on the Flinders. Landsborough +thereupon resolved to return by way of the Flinders, instead of going +back by boat. They had very little provisions, but by reducing the number +of the party, they managed to subsist on short allowance. On this second +trip, he followed the Flinders up, and was rewarded by being the first +white man to see the beautiful prairie-like country through which it +flows. He named the remarkable isolated hills visible from the river Fort +Bowen, Mount Brown and Mount Little. From the upper Flinders he struck +south, hoping to come across a newly-formed station, but was +disappointed, though he saw numerous horse-tracks showing that settlement +was near at hand. At last after enduring a long period of +semi-starvation, they reached the Warrego, and at the station of Neilson +and Williams, first learnt the fate of those whom they had been seeking. + +<p>Landsborough was next appointed Resident at Burketown, and afterwards +Inspector of Brands for the district of East Moreton. He died in 1886. + +<h4>15.3. P.E. WARBURTON.</h4> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-40"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-40.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Major P.E. Warburton.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>Major Warburton was the fourth son of the Reverend Rowland Warburton of +Arley Hall, Cheshire, where he was born on the 15th of August, 1813. He +was first educated in France. He entered the Royal Navy in 1826, and in +1829 proceeded to Addiscombe College, preparatory to entering the East +India Company's service, in which he served from 1831 to 1853, when he +retired with the rank of Major. In 1853 he arrived at Albany. From there +he went on to Adelaide, and at the end of the same year was appointed +Commissioner of Police, an office which he held until he was placed in +charge of the Imperial Pension Department. On his return from his +exploring expedition he was voted 1,000 pounds for himself, and 500 +pounds for his party. He was created a C.M.G. in 1875, was awarded the +Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, and he died in +1889. + +<p>In 1873 two prominent South Australian colonists, whose names are +intimately connected with the promotion of exploration in that colony, +Thomas Elder and Walter Hughes, fitted out an expedition which it was +hoped would lead to the rapid advancement of geographical knowledge. +Unfortunately the result was not commensurate with the ambitious nature +of the undertaking. The command was given to Major Warburton, who was +instructed to start from the neighbourhood of Central Mount Stuart, and +to steer a course direct to Perth. In spite of being provided with a long +string of camels, Warburton incurred so much delay in getting through the +sandhills that his camels were knocked up and his provisions nearly all +consumed before he had advanced half-way. This compelled him to bear up +north to the head waters of the Oakover River. Besides the leader, the +party consisted of his son Richard; Lewis, a surveyor; one more white +man; two Afghans; and a native. Lewis, the surveyor, showed himself to be +a most capable man; in fact, but for his energy and forethought, the +expedition would have been swallowed up in the sands of the north-west +desert. + +<p>On the 15th of April, 1873, the explorers left Alice Springs and followed +the overland line until they reached a creek called Burt's Creek, whence +they struck to the westward. After a vain search for the rivers Hugh and +Finke, which were popularly supposed to rise to the north of the +McDonnell Ranges, Warburton altered his course to the north-west, meaning +to connect with A.C. Gregory's most southerly point on Sturt's Creek. For +some distance his way led him through available pastoral country, and in +some of the minor ranges beautiful glens were discovered with deep pools +of water in their beds. So frightened were the camels by the rocks that +surrounded them, that they would not approach them to drink. On the 22nd +of May, after travelling for some days in poor sandy country, they came +to a good creek with a full head. The whole flat, on to which the creek +emerged from the hills, was one vast spring. This place, the best camp +they had yet met with, was named Eva Springs. Leaving the main body +resting at these springs, the leader, with two companions, started ahead, +and was successful in finding some native wells that enabled him to break +up his main camp and advance with all the men and material. + +<p>On the 5th of June they crossed the boundary-line between the two +colonies, and found themselves on the scrubby, sandy tableland common to +the interior. At some native wells, which were called Waterloo Wells, +they made an enforced sojourn of about a month; in addition they lost +three camels, and one of the Afghans nearly died of scurvy. When they +were at last enabled to leave the Waterloo Wells, they found themselves +plunged into the salt lake country, where the native inhabitants exist on +shallow wells and soakage springs. By their reckoning they were now +within ten miles of Gregory's Sturt's Creek; but though Warburton made +two separate attempts to find the place, he was unable to recognise any +country that at all resembled the description given by Gregory. +Rightfully ascribing this disappointment to an error in his longitude, he +proceeded on a westerly course once more. The tale of each day's journey +now becomes a dreary record of travels across a monotonous barren +country, and an incessant search for native wells, their only means of +sustaining life. + +<p>In addition to other causes for delay, the excessive heat caused by +radiation from the surrounding sandhills during the day compelled the +leader to spare his camels as much as possible by travelling at night. +This naturally led to a most unsatisfactory inspection of the country +traversed, and it was impossible to say what clues to water were passed +by unwittingly. + +<p>Starvation now commenced to press close upon them; the constant delays +had so reduced their store of provisions that they were almost at the end +of their resources, whilst still surrounded by the endless desert of +sand-ridges and spinifex. Sickness, too, befel them, so that almost the +full brunt of the work of the expedition was placed upon the capable +shoulders of Lewis and the black boy Charley. The time of these two was +taken up in watching the smoke of the fires of the natives, or in looking +for their tracks. During the early morning and in the evening they could +travel a little, but at night the myriad swarms of ants prevented the +tired men from obtaining their natural sleep. If they stopped to rest the +camels, they only prolonged their own starvation; yet without rest the +camels could not carry them ahead in the search for water. On the 9th of +October, the camels strayed away during the night, but luckily came +across a small waterhole, and at this welcome spot the party rested for a +while; indeed with the exception of Lewis and the native, they were all +too weak to do aught else. They slaughtered a camel, and were fortunate +to shoot a few pigeons and galah parrots, the fresh meat restoring a +little of their strength. They had long since despaired of carrying out +the original purpose of the expedition. All that they could hope for was +to struggle on with the last remaining flicker of life to the nearest +settled country. This was the Oakover River, on the north coast, and to +the head of the Oakover, therefore, their worn-out camels were directed. +They could entertain no hope of relief before reaching the Oakover, for +the discoverer of that river, Frank Gregory, a man always reluctant to +acknowledge defeat, had been turned from the southward attempt by this +very desert across which they were painfully toiling. On the evening that +they started for the station, the whole party were about to ride blindly +on into waterless country, where, but for the black boy, they would all +have perished. The boy had left the camp early in the morning, and, +having come across the fresh tracks of some natives, followed them up to +their camp, where he found a well. He hastened back to the party to tell +them of his discovery, only to find that they had gone. Fortunately he +had sharp ears, and hearing the distant receding tinkle of the camel +bell, by dint of energetically pushing on and cooeeing loudly, he managed +to attract their attention, and then led them back to the new source of +relief. Lewis and the black boy were now the eyes and ears of the party, +and but for them the expedition would never have reached the river. + +<p>A fresh start was made after a welcome halt at this well. Warburton and +his son could scarcely sit their camels, and followed the weary caravan +almost with apathy. On the 14th of November Charley found another native +well; but its discovery nearly cost him his life. When close to the +native camp, he had gone ahead by himself, as he usually did, so as not +to startle the aboriginals. The blacks received him kindly and gave him +water, but when he cooeed for his companion, they took sudden alarm and +attacked him. They had speared him in the arm and back, and cut his head +open with a club when Lewis came up just in time to rescue him. Evidently +this attack was not premeditated, but caused by the sudden fear aroused +by the sight of the white men and camels. At this well Lewis and one of +the Afghans went ahead to strike the head of the Oakover, for they +thought they must be drawing near the coast, as the nights were growing +cool and dewy, and they had found traces of white iron work in an old +camp. In a week Lewis returned, having reached a tributary of the river; +and on the 5th of December the whole party arrived at the rocky creek +that he had found. + +<p>They now proceeded slowly down the Oakover, but came across no sign of +occupation. The indefatigable Lewis had therefore again to go ahead for +help whilst the others waited for him, living on the flesh of the last +camel. He had 170 miles to journey over before he reached the cattle +station belonging to Grant, Harper, and Anderson, where he was +immediately supplied with horses and provisions to take back to the +starving men. + +<p>It was on the 29th of December as Warburton was lying in the shade +thinking moodily that the station must have been abandoned, and that +Lewis had surely been compelled to push on to Roebourne, when the black +boy from a tree-top gave a cheerful signal. Starting to their feet, the +astonished men found the pack-horses and the relief party almost in their +camp. + +<p>Of the seventeen camels with which they had started, the two that Lewis +had taken on to the station were the only survivors; and all their +equipment had been abandoned piecemeal in the desert. + +<h4>15.4. WILLIAM CHRISTIE GOSSE.</h4> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-41"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-41.jpg"></p> +<p><b>William Christie Gosse, Deputy Surveyor-General of South Australia.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>On the 23rd of April, about a week after the departure of Warburton, +William Christie Gosse, Deputy Surveyor-General of South Australia, also +left Alice Springs on an exploring expedition, having been appointed by +the South Australian Government to take charge of the Central and Western +Exploring Expedition. Like Warburton, he was frustrated by dry country in +his endeavour to reach Perth. He had with him both white men and Afghan +camel drivers, and a mixed outfit of horses and camels. He left the +telegraph line and struck westward, soon finding himself in very dry +country, where he lost one horse on a dry stage. He made a depot camp on +a creek which he called the Warburton, and while on an excursion from +this camp he had the singular experience of riding all day through heavy +rain and camping at night without water, the sandy soil having quickly +absorbed the downpour. On his return he found that the creek at the camp +was running, and though repeated attempts had been made by the Afghans to +goad one of the camels over, the animal obstinately refused to cross. +Probably the leader thought that it was fortunate for the progress of the +expedition that they were not likely to meet with many more running +streams. After passing both Warburton's tracks and those of Giles, Gosse +reached the extreme western point of the Macdonnell Ranges, where another +stationary camp was pitched. The leader made a long excursion to the +south-west, and at 84 miles, after passing over sand-ridges and spinifex +country, caught sight of a remarkable hill, that on a nearer approach +proved to be of singular limestone formation. + +<p>"When I got clear of the sandhills, and was only two miles distant, and +the hill, for the first time coming fairly in view, what was my +astonishment to find it was one immense rock rising abruptly from the +plain; the holes I had noticed were caused by the water in some places +causing immense caves." + +<p>This hill, which Gosse made an ineffectual attempt to ascend, he called +Ayer's Rock. He returned to his depot camp, crossing an arm of Lake +Amadeus as he did so, and moved the main body on to Ayer's Rock. Rain +having set in heavily for some days, he pushed some distance into Western +Australia, but soon reached the limit of the rainfall. After many +attempts to penetrate the sand-hill region which confronted him, the heat +and aridity compelled him to turn back. + +<p>His homeward course was by way of the Musgrave Ranges, where he found a +greater extent of pastoral country than had been thought to exist there. +He discovered and christened the Marryat, and followed down the Alberga +to within sixty miles of the Overland Line, when he turned north-eastward +to the Charlotte Waters station. + +<p>Although Gosse's exploration did not add any important new features, he +filled in many details in the central map, and was able correctly to lay +down the position of some of the discoveries of Ernest Giles. + +<p>William Christie Gosse was the son of Dr. Gosse, and was born in 1842 at +Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire. He had come to Australia with his father in +1850, and in 1859 had entered the Government service of South Australia. +He held various positions in the survey department, and, after his return +from the exploring expedition, he was made Deputy Surveyor-General. He +died prematurely on August 12th, 1881. + +</p><a name="chapter16"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 16. TRAVERSING THE CENTRE.</h3> + +<h4>16.1. ERNEST GILES.</h4> + +<p>Ernest Giles was born at Bristol, a famous birthplace of adventurous +spirits. He was educated at Christ's Hospital, London, and after leaving +school came out to South Australia to join his parents, who had preceded +him thither. In 1852 he went to the Victorian goldfields, and +subsequently became a clerk, first in the Post Office, Melbourne, and +afterwards in the county court. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-64"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-64.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Ernest Giles.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>Having resigned his clerkship, he pursued a bush life, and in 1872 made +his first effort in the field of exploration. His party was a small one, +the funds being found by contributions from S. Carmichael, one of the +party, Baron von Mueller, Giles himself, and one of his relatives. The +members of the expedition were Giles, Carmichael, and Robinson; 15 horses +and a little dog were included in the equipment. They started from +Chambers Pillar, and it was on this journey that Lake Amadeus and Mount +Olga were discovered, the two most enduring physical features whose +discovery we owe to Giles. The lake is a long narrow salt-pan of +considerable size, but without any important affluents; Mount Olga is a +singular mountain situated about 50 miles from the lake. On this trip +Giles went over much untrodden country, but the smallness of the party at +last convinced him that it was beyond their frugal means to force their +way through the desert country to the settlements of West Australia. +Giles was fortunate on this his first trip in having two able and willing +bushmen for his companions; otherwise he would not have progressed as far +as he did and returned in safety. But most untiring endeavours will not +compensate for the lack of numbers, and Giles was forced to return beaten +from his first attempt. + +<p>His second expedition took place about the same time as that undertaken +by Gosse. In consequence of a stirring appeal by Baron von Mueller, he +had now the advantage of both substantial private help and a small sum +from the South Australian Government. The party numbered four: W.H. +Tietkins, who afterwards made an honourable name as an independent +explorer; the unfortunate Alfred Gibson; and a lad named Andrews, in +addition to the leader. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-42"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-42.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Baron Sir Ferdinand von Mueller.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>Giles left the settled district at the Alberga, and made several +determined efforts to push through the sandy spinifex desert that had +baffled so many. It was during one of these forlorn hopes that Gibson +died. + +<p>Anxious to reach a range which he had sighted in the distance, and where +he hoped to find a change of country, Giles made up his mind to make a +determined effort to reach it, carrying a supply of water with him on +pack-horses. As usual, Tietkins was to accompany him, but as Gibson +complained of having been always previously left in camp, he was allowed +to go instead. The two kept doggedly on, the horses, as they gave in, +being left to find their way back to the main camp. At last, when several +days out, they had but two horses left. Giles sent Gibson back on one, +with instructions to push on for the camp, taking what little water he +wanted out of a keg they had buried on their outward way, leaving the +remainder for his use. He himself intended to make a final effort to +reach the range. + +<p>Giles's horse soon gave in after they parted, and he had to start to +return on foot. On his weary way back he saw that one of the abandoned +horses had turned off from the trail, and that Gibson's tracks turned off +too, seemingly following it. When he reached the keg, he found that the +contents were untouched. Fearing greatly that the unfortunate man's fate +was sealed, Giles dragged himself on to the camp. A search was at once +instituted, but it was fruitless. Neither man nor horse was ever seen +again; and the scene of his fate is known as Gibson's Desert. + +<p>During his excursions in various directions, Giles discovered and +traversed four different ranges of hills. The party were much worried by +the hostility of the blacks, and, what with the uneasiness caused by +their attacks, the plague of myriads of ants, the loss of Gibson, and the +failure of their own hopes, they were forced to return to Adelaide, +baffled for a time, but not beaten. + +<p>We thus see how the arid belt of the middle country had defied three +different explorers -- Warburton, Gosse, and Giles -- one equipped with +camels only, one with camels and horses, and one who had relied on horses +alone. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-43"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-43.jpg"></p> +<p><b>A Camel Caravan in an Australian Desert.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>In 1875 Giles took the field once more. This time, owing to the +generosity of Sir Thomas Elder, of South Australia, he was well-prepared. +He had a fine caravan of camels, and had his former companion Tietkins +with him, besides a completely-equipped party. + +<p>The start was made from Beltana, the next halting-place being Youldeh, +where a depot was formed. From this place they shifted north to a native +well, Oaldabinna. As the water supply here proved but scanty, Giles +started off to the westward to search for a better place, sending +Tietkins to the north on a similar errand accompanied by Young. + +<p>Giles pushed his way for 150 miles through scrub and past shallow +lakelets of salt water until he came to a native well or dam, containing +a small supply of water. Beyond this he went another 30 miles, but +finding himself amongst saline swamps and scrub, he then returned to the +depot. Tietkins and his companion were not so successful. At their +furthest point they had come across a large number of natives, who, after +decamping in a terrified manner, returned fully armed and painted for +war. No attempts of the two white men to open friendly communication or +to obtain any information from them had succeeded. + +<p>A slight shower of rain having replenished the well they were camped at, +Giles determined to make a bold push to the west, trusting to the powers +of endurance of his camels to carry him on to water. + +<p>On reaching the dam that he had formerly visited, he was agreeably +surprised to find that it had been nearly filled by the late rains. As it +now contained plenty of water for their wants, and there was good feed +all around, they rested by it until the supply of water began to show +signs of declining. + +<p>On the 16th of September, 1875, he left the Boundary Dam, as he called +it, and commenced to try conclusions with the desert to the westward. For +the first six days of their march the caravan passed through scrubs of +oak, mulga, and sandalwood; next they entered upon vast plains +well-grassed, with salt-bush and other edible shrubs growing upon them. +Crossing these, the camel train again passed through scrub, but not so +dense as before. + +<p>When 250 miles had been accomplished, Giles distributed amongst the +camels the water he had carried with him. As they kept on, sand-ridges +began to make their appearance, native smoke was often seen, and they +frequently crossed the tracks of the natives. + +<p>On the seventeenth day from the Boundary Dam, Tietkins, who judged by the +appearance of the sandhills that there was water in the neighbourhood, +sent the black boy Tommy on to a ridge lying south of their course. It +was fortunate that he did so, for hidden in a hollow surrounded by +sandhills was a tiny lake which they were passing by unheeded until Tommy +arrested their progress with frantic shouts. Giles gave this place of +succour, which he should have named after his companion, the commonplace +name of Victoria Spring; and here the caravan rested for nine days. + +<p>Recruited and in good spirits, they soon found themselves amongst the +distinctive features of the inner slopes of Western Australia -- outcrops +of granite mounds and boulders, salt lakes, and bogs. Their next camp of +relief was at a native well 200 miles from Victoria Spring. + +<p>The quietude of their life at this encampment was however rudely broken +by the natives. During their stay they had had friendly intercourse with +the blacks, but no suspicions of treachery had been aroused. The +explorers were just concluding their evening meal when Young saw a mob of +armed and painted natives approaching. He caught sight of them in time to +give the alarm to the others, who stood to their arms. Giles says in his +journal that they were "a perfectly armed and drilled force," though +military discipline was a singular characteristic to find amongst the +blacks of this barren region. A discharge of firearms from the whites +checked their assailants before any spears had been thrown, and probably +prevented the massacre of the whole party. + +<p>On leaving this camp the caravan travelled through dense scrub, with +occasional hills and patches of open country intervening. They were +fortunate to find some wells on the way, and on the 4th of November +arrived at an outside sheep-station in the settled districts of Western +Australia, and Giles's long-cherished ambition was at last fulfilled. + +<p>The result of this trip was satisfactory to Giles, who thus saw his many +fruitless, though gallant efforts, at last crowned with success; but the +journey had no substantial geographical or economic results. It resembled +Warburton's in having been a hasty flight with camels through an unknown +country, marking only a thin line on the map of Australia. An explorer +with the means at his command, in the shape of camels, of venturing on +long dry stages with impunity, is tempted to sacrifice extended +exploration of the country bordering his route and the deeper and more +valuable knowledge that it brings to rapidity of onward movement. John +Forrest, for example, was able, owing to the many minor excursions he was +forced to make because of the nature of his equipment, to gain infinitely +more knowledge of the geographical details of the country he passed over +than either Warburton or Giles. + +<p>Giles now retraced his steps to South Australia, following a line to the +northward of Forrest's track. He went by way of the Murchison, and +crossed over the Gascoyne to the Ashburton, which he followed up to its +head. Then striking to the south of east, he cut his former track of 1873 +at the Alfred and Marie Range, the range he had so ardently striven to +reach when the unfortunate man Gibson died. How futile was the vain +attempt that led to Gibson's death he now realised. He finally arrived at +the Peake telegraph station. Few watercourses were crossed; the country +was suffering under extreme drought; and no discoveries of importance +were made. + +<p>Giles published a narrative of his explorations entitled Australia Twice +Traversed. He was a gold medallist of the Royal Geographical Society. He +entered the West Australian Government service on the Coolgardie +goldfields, and, on the 13th of November, 1897, died at Coolgardie, West +Australia, where the Western Australian Government erected a monument to +his memory. + +<h4>16.2. W.H. TIETKINS AND OTHERS.</h4> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-44"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-44.jpg"></p> +<p><b>W.H. Tietkins, 1878.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>W.H. Tietkins was born in London on the 30th of August, 1844, and was +educated at Christ's Hospital. He arrived in Adelaide in September, 1859, +and took to bush life and subsequently survey-work. On the conclusion of +his exploring expeditions with Ernest Giles, he engaged in the survey of +Yorke's Peninsula for the South Australian Government, and then paid a +visit to England. On his return he went to Sydney, and did some survey +work for the New South Wales Government into whose service he permanently +entered. He is now a Lands Inspector on the South Coast. + +<p>After his experiences as second with Ernest Giles, Tietkins took charge, +in 1889, of the Central Australian Exploring Expedition. He left Alice +Springs on the overland line on the 14th of March to examine the hitherto +unknown country to the north and west of Lake Amadeus. Late in the month +of May he discovered and named the Kintore Range, to the north-west of +Lake Macdonald, and ascended one of the elevations, Mount Leisler. During +the beginning of the next month he practically completed the circuit of +Lake Macdonald and discovered the Bonython Ranges to the south-east. On +his return journey, Tietkins corrected the somewhat exaggerated notion +entertained as to the extent of Lake Amadeus, as he passed through sixty +miles of country supposed to be contained in its area without seeing a +vestige of this natural feature. In after years he surveyed and correctly +fixed its location. + +<p>In 1874, surveyor Lewis, the gallant and tireless spirit whose +indefatigable efforts had pulled the Warburton Expedition out of the fire +took charge of an expedition equipped by Sir Thomas Elder to define the +many affluents of Lake Eyre. Starting from the overland line, Lewis +skirted Lake Eyre to the north, penetrated to Eyre's Creek, traced that +stream and the Diamantina into Lake Eyre, and confirmed the opinion that +the waters of Cooper's Creek as well as the more westerly streams found +their way into that inland sea. J.W. Lewis afterwards died in Broome, +Western Australia. + +<p>In 1875 the Queensland Government decided to send out an expedition to +ascertain the amount of pastoral country that existed to the westward of +the Diamantina River. It was placed in charge of W.O. Hodgkinson, who had +occupied a subordinate position in the Burke and Wills expedition. They +started from the upper reaches of the Cloncurry and, crossing the main +dividing range on to the Diamantina, followed that river down to the +southern boundary of Queensland, where it had been named the Everard by +Lewis. This portion was now well-known, and the tracks of the pioneers' +stock were everywhere visible. From the lower Diamantina, the party went +westwards, and, beyond Eyre's Creek, in good pastoral country, came upon +a watercourse which was named the Mulligan. This creek Hodgkinson +followed up to the north; and, not knowing that he had crossed its head +watershed, went on down the Herbert (Georgina) under the impression that +he was still on the Mulligan. He was undeceived when he overtook N. +Buchanan with cattle, who was then engaged in re-stocking the stations on +the Herbert that had been abandoned in the commercial depression of 1872 +and 1873. This was the last exploring expedition sent out by the +Queensland authorities, the country within the bounds of that colony +being by that time all known. + +<p>But across the western border, the vacant and unknown country of South +Australia attracted many private expeditions to examine it in search of +pastoral holdings. Amongst those from Queensland were two brothers named +Prout, who, with one man, went out to look for new grazing lands, and +never returned. Many months afterwards a search party, under W.J.H. +Carr-Boyd, found some of the horses, and then the remains of one of the +brothers. It was evident from the fragments of a diary recovered, that +they had pushed far into the dry region of South Australia, and had met +their deaths from thirst on the return journey. Probably some of the +waters on which they had relied had unexpectedly failed. + +<p>In 1878, Nathaniel Buchanan, a veteran pioneer and overlander of +Queensland, made an excursion from the Queensland border to Tennant's +Creek on the overland telegraph line. Starting from the Ranken, a +tributary of the Georgina, Buchanan struck a westerly course, and +discovering the head of a well-watered creek running through fine open +downs, he followed it down to the westward for some days. The creek +eventually ran out into dry flats, so Buchanan struck westward to the +telegraph line, which he reached after some hardship, a little to the +south of Tennant's Creek. The creek which he discovered, and to which +Favenc afterwards gave the name of Buchanan's Creek, was a most important +discovery, affording a practicable stock route to the great pastoral +district lying between the Queensland border and the overland line. + +<p>Frank Scarr, a Queensland surveyor, was the next to invade this strip of +still unknown land. He attempted to steer a course south of Buchanan's, +but was turned back by the dry belt of country. On this excursion he also +found two of the horses of the ill-fated Prout brothers. Scarr then made +further north, and, with the assistance of the creek discovered by +Buchanan, was enabled to reach the line. Owing to the severity of the +drought, however, he was unable to extend his researches any further, and +returned safely to Queensland. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-45"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-45.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Ernest Favenc.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>In 1878, a project for a railway line on the land-grant principle between +Brisbane and Port Darwin was originated in the former city. The +proprietor of the leading Brisbane newspaper, Gresley Lukin, organized +and equipped a party to explore a suitable line of country, the object +being to ascertain the nature and value of the land in the neighbourhood +of the proposed line, and the geographical features of the unexplored +portion. The leader was Ernest Favenc, who was accompanied by surveyor +Briggs, G. Hedley, and a black boy. They left Cork station on the +Diamantina, and kept a north-west course through the untraversed country +between that river and the Georgina, or Herbert, as it was then called. +They then crossed the border into South Australia, and struck the creek +which Buchanan had found, and to which the name of Buchanan's Creek was +now given. Leaving this creek at the lowest water, the party struck +north, and, after finding two large but shallow lakes, came, in the midst +of most excellent pastoral country, to a fine lagoon which they named the +Corella Lagoon. The trees on the banks of this lagoon, which was about +four miles long, were at the time of the visit white with myriads of +corella parrots; hence the name. Some three hundred natives were +assembled at this lagoon to celebrate their tribal rites; but they showed +a friendly disposition. + +<p>From the Corella Lagoon the expedition proceeded north and discovered a +large creek running from east to west. It proved to be one of the +principal creeks of that region, and was named Cresswell Creek; and a +permanent lagoon on it was named the Anthony Lagoon. Cresswell Creek was +followed down until, like its fellow creek the Buchanan, it too was +absorbed in dry, parched flats. The last permanent water on Cresswell +Creek was named the Adder Waterholes, on account of the large number of +death-adders that were killed there. A dry stage of ninety miles now +intervened between the party and the telegraph line, and the first +attempt to cross, on a day of terrible heat, resulted in a return to the +Adder Camp, three horses having succumbed to the heat, thirst, and the +cracked and fissured arid plains. It being the height of the summer +season, and no water within a reasonable distance, it was evidently +useless to sacrifice any more horses. There was nothing to do, therefore, +but to await at the last camp the fall of a kindly thundershower, by +means of which they might bridge the dry gap between them and the line. + +<p>The long delay exhausted the supply of rations, but by means of birds -- +ducks and pigeons -- horseflesh, and the usual edible bush plants -- +blue-bush and pigweed -- the party fared sufficiently well. + +<p>During their detention at this camp, many short excursions were made, and +the country traversed was found to be mostly richly grassed downs. Where +flooded country was encroached upon, the dry beds of former lakes were +found, encircled in all cases with a ring of dead trees. + +<p>In January, 1879, the thunderstorms set in, and the party reached +Powell's Creek telegraph station in safety. + +<p>This expedition opened up a good deal of fine pastoral country, which is +now all stocked and settled. + +<p>Western Australia was still busy in the field of exploration. In 1876 +Adam Johns and Phillip Saunders started from Roebourne and crossed to the +overland line in South Australia. Ostensibly theirs was a prospecting +expedition; but as the country to the eastward of the Fitzroy River was +then unknown, it was an important exploration event. They were +unsuccessful in finding gold, but on their arrival at the line they +reported having passed through good pastoral country. + +<p>There is no doubt that the east and west tracks of the Queensland +explorers, and of Alexander Forrest,* did more to throw open that part of +Australia to settlement than did the north and south journey of Stuart, +more important as that one was from the purely geographical point of +view. Stuart led the way across the centre of the continent, but even +after the telegraph line was constructed on his route, very little was +known of the country to the east and the west. + +<blockquote>*[Footnote.] See Chapter 19.</blockquote> + +<p>The South Australian Government had several times made slight attempts to +reach the Queensland border, but in 1878, they sent out H.V. Barclay to +make a trigonometrical survey of most of the untraversed country between +the line and the Queensland boundary. Barclay left Alice Springs, of +which station he first fixed the exact geographical position by a series +of telegraphic exchanges with the observatory in Adelaide. Barclay had +much dry country to contend against, but managed to reach a north point +close to Scarr's furthest south. He did not, however, on that occasion, +actually arrive at the Queensland border, but explored the territory on +the South Australian side. During the conduct of the survey he discovered +and named the Jervois Ranges, the spurs of the eastern MacDonnell, and +the following tributaries of Lake Eyre -- the Hale, the Plenty, the +Marshall, and the Arthur Rivers. + +<p>In 1883, Favenc, on a private expedition to report on pastoral country, +traced the heads of several of the rivers of the Carpentarian Gulf, and +in the following year left the north Newcastle Waters to examine and +trace the Macarthur River. The river was followed from its source to the +sea, and a large extent of valuable pastoral country and several +permanent springs found in its valley; a large tributary, the Kilgour, +was also discovered and named. These short excursions, and some +exploratory trips made by MacPhee, east of Daly Waters, may be said to +have concluded exploration between the line and the Queensland border. + +<p>In 1883, the South Australian Government despatched an expedition in +charge of David Lindsay to complete the survey of Arnhem's Land. Lindsay +left the Katherine station, and proceeded to Blue Mud Bay. On the way the +party had a narrow escape of massacre at the hands of the blacks, who +speared four horses, and made an attempt to surprise the camp of the +whites. Lindsay had trouble with his horses in the stony, broken +tableland that had nearly baffled Leichhardt; and from one misfortune and +another, lost a great number of them. In fact, at one time, so rough was +the country that he anticipated having to abandon his horses and make his +way into the telegraph station on foot. On the whole, however, the +country was favourably reported on, particularly with regard to tropical +agriculture. + +<p>Another journey was undertaken about this time by O'Donnell and +Carr-Boyd, who left the Katherine River and pushed across the border into +Western Australia. They succeeded in finding a large amount of pastoral +country; but no important geographical discoveries were made. + +<p>In 1884 H. Stockdale, who had had considerable experience in the southern +colonies, and was an old bushman, made an excursion from Cambridge Gulf +to the south through the Kimberley district. Stockdale found well-grassed +country with numerous permanently-watered creeks. When he came to the +creek which he named Buchanan Creek, he formed a depot. On his return +from an expedition to the south with three men, he found that during his +absence the men left in charge of it had been hunting kangaroos with the +horses instead of allowing them to rest. There were other irregularities +as well, and Stockdale found his resources too much reduced, both in +horseflesh and rations, to continue the exploration. They started for the +telegraph line, but on the way the two men who had been misbehaving +requested to be left behind. As they persisted in their wish, there was +nothing left but to accede to it. The two men, with as much rations as +could be spared, arms, and powder and shot, were then left at their own +request on a permanent creek in a country where game could be obtained. +Stockdale himself had to undergo some hardship before reaching the +Overland Line. Although search was made for the two men, they were never +afterwards found. + +<p>One little area of country, of no great importance but still untrodden by +man yet remained in Central Australia, as a lure to excite the white +man's curiosity. This unvisited spot was situated north of latitude 26, +and bounded on the west by the Finke River, on the north by the Plenty +and Marshall Rivers and part of the MacDonnell Ranges, and on the west by +the Hay River and the Queensland border. An expedition to exploit it was +equipped by Ronald MacPherson, and assisted by the South Australian +Government with the loan of camels. The leader was Captain V. Barclay, an +old South Australian surveyor, whose name has already been mentioned in +these pages. + +<p>Barclay had been born in Lancashire, at Bury, on the 6th of January, +1845. He had entered the Royal Navy in 1860, and had been severely +wounded on board H.M.S. Illustrious by a gun breaking loose when at +target practice. He had emigrated to Tasmania in the seventies, and in +1877 had been appointed by the South Australian Government to explore the +country lying between the line and the Queensland border, a notice of +which occurs in the preceding pages. + +<p>The party, lightly equipped to be more effective, was absent from +Oodnadatta from July 24th until December 5th 1904, and in that time +accomplished much useful work in the face of great difficulties. On +account of the great heat, the expedition had to resort to travelling by +night and resting by day. The country was principally high sandy ridges, +some so steep that it was not easy to find crossing-places. They had to +sacrifice a lot of valuable stores, personal effects, and a valuable +collection of native curios, all chiefly on account of the shortness of +water. + +<p>By this date the whole of the central portion of Australia was known, and +the greater part of it mapped; while all the permanently-watered country +had been rapidly utilised by the pastoralists.</p> + +<a name="part3"></a> +<h2>PART 3. THE WEST.</h2> + +<a name="chapter17"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 17. ROE, GREY, AND GREGORY.</h3> + +<h4>17.1. ROE AND THE PIONEERS.</h4> + +<p>Whilst Sturt and kindred bold spirits had been painfully but surely +piecing together the geographical puzzle of the south-east corner of the +Australian continent, a similar struggle between man and Nature had +commenced in the south-west. Here, Nature kept close her secrets with no +less pertinacity than in the east; but, though the struggle was just as +arduous, the environment was very different. Instead of rearing an +unscalable barrier of gloomy mountains, Nature here showed a level front +of sullen hostility. Nor did she lure the first explorers inland with a +smiling face of welcome once the outworks had been forced, as she had +drawn Evans when he reached the head-waters of the Macquarie and Lachlan. +Beyond the sources of the western coastal streams, she fought silently +for every eastward mile of vantage ground, spreading before the +adventurous intruder the salt lake and the arid desert. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-46"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-46.jpg"></p> +<p><b>John Septimus Roe, First Surveyor-General of West Australia.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>As far back as 1791, George Vancouver, a whilom middy of Cook's, +discovered and named King George's Sound, when in command of H.M.S. +Discovery. He formally took possession of the adjacent country, and +remained there some days, making a careful survey of both the inner and +outer harbours. + +<p>On the 9th of December, 1826, Sir Ralph Darling, then Governor of New +South Wales, sent Major Lockyer, of the 57th, with a detachment of the +39th, a regiment intimately associated with the early settlement of +Australia, to form a settlement at King George's Sound, where they landed +on the 25th of December of the same year. This settlement was established +in order to forestall the French, who, according to rumour, intended to +occupy the harbour and adjacent lands. + +<p>On the 17th of January, 1827, Captain James Stirling, of H.M.S. Success, +left Sydney, intending to survey those portions of the west coast +unvisited by Lieutenant King, and also to investigate the nature of the +country in the neighbourhood of the Swan River with a view to its +suitability for settlement. Stirling was accompanied by Charles Fraser, +who had considerable experience as adviser upon Australian sites for +settlement. Both Stirling and Fraser reported favourably on the Swan +River; and the latter waxing enthusiastic on its eligibility, it was +decided to found a new colony there. + +<p>In 1829, Captain Fremantle of H.M.S. Challenger hoisted the British flag +at the mouth of the Swan River, and thenceforth the whole of the +Australian continent was under British sway. Captain, now +Lieutenant-Governor, Stirling arrived a month later in the transport +Parmelia, and the free colony of Western Australia was launched on its +varied career. + +<p>The names first mentioned in the annals of land exploration in Western +Australia are those of Alexander Collie and Lieutenant William Preston, +who together explored the country on the coast between Cockburn Sound and +Geographe Bay. This was in November, 1829, and in the following month Dr. +J.B. Wilson, who came to the Sound with Captain Barker on the abandonment +of Raffles Bay, made an excursion from the Sound and discovered and named +the Denmark River. + +<p>In a passage in a letter written by R.M. Davis, of the medical staff, to +Charles Fraser, the botanist, there is a detailed reference to this +trip:-- + +<p>"Dr. Wilson, who came here with Captain Barker, started in a direction to +Swan Port (Swan River) with a party of men, and in eleven days went over +at least two hundred miles of ground. He says, without fear of +contradiction in future, that there is far greater proportion of good +land in this direction than in any other part of Australia that he had +been in, and also wood of large growth, with innumerable rivers. He +ascended a very high mountain, which he called Mount Lindsay, in honour +of the 39th regiment." + +<p>On the 22nd of March, 1830, we first hear of the exploring feats of +Lieutenant Roe, R.N., the Surveyor-General of the new colony. Captain +John Septimus Roe was born in 1797, and entered the navy. He accompanied +Captain P. King to explore the north and north-west coasts of Australia, +in 1818, and was a member of King's expedition in 1821. He was the first +Surveyor-General of Western Australia, and held that position for +forty-two years. He is commonly styled the father of western exploration. +He died at Perth on May 28th, 1878. Mrs. Roe, who accompanied her husband +to Western Australia in 1829, pre-deceased him in 1870. + +<p>On the date mentioned in 1830, Roe was in the field exploring in the +vicinity of Cape Naturaliste. Afterwards he was active in the country +between the head-waters of the Kalgan and Hay Rivers. In 1836 he first +tried serious conclusions with the inland country of Western Australia, +when he headed an expedition to explore the tableland that lies to the +north and east of Perth. The country was dreary and depressing, and, +judging from its configuration and natural properties, he was unable to +recommend it as a site for settlement or to depict it as the entrance to +more pleasant lands beyond. He reached Lake Brown, near the western +boundary of the present Yilgarn goldfield; but the only noteworthy +features that he perceived were the salt lakes that are now so well-known +throughout Western Australia. In 1839, Roe distinguished himself by +rescuing Grey's dismembered party. On the 14th of September, 1848, he +started to make an attempt at further discovery to the eastward. He had +with him six men, twelve horses, and three months' provisions. Upon +leaving the outer settlements, they encountered the same depressing +country as before. Having crossed it, they were turned from their course +by scrub of exceeding density, which in turn was succeeded by sandy +desert plains. Foiled for the time being they made for the south coast, +where they recruited their strength at one of the outlying settlements. + +<p>On the 18th they started again, and followed up the course of the +Pallinup River. They ascended a branch coming from the north-east, and +for a time revelled in the spectacle of well-grassed and promising +valleys; but they soon again came amongst the scrub and sand plains of +the inland desert. Sighting a granite range to the eastward, they made +towards it, but the outlook from its summit brought nothing but exceeding +disappointment. Fortunately the weather was showery, and the lack of +water did not induce such keen anxiety as the total absence of grass. +Still pushing to the eastward, they found their difficulties increase at +every step. To the perils of travel through dense thickets and over +barren, scorching plains, there was now added the risk of death from +thirst. It was not until after days of extreme privation that they +reached some elevated peaks, where they obtained a little grass and +water. + +<p>Their course lay now to the south-east, towards the range sighted by +Eyre, and named the Russell Range, and there commenced a desperate +struggle with the intervening desert. + +<p>So weak were the horses and so compact the belts of scrub, that in three +days they had traversed only fifty miles. After being four days and three +nights without water for the horses, they reached a rugged hill which +they named Mount Riley, where they were relieved by a scant supply. +Thence it was but fifty miles to the Russell Range, but the journey +involved a repetition of the worst sufferings they had endured. The scrub +disputed their passage the whole route, being often so dense as to defy +the use of the axe, and many long detours had to be made before they +reached their goal. + +<p>Every hope they had entertained of a change for the better was shattered +by an inspection of the country to which they had so laboriously +penetrated. The range, destined to be associated with so many subsequent +important explorations, was a mass of naked rocks, and from the summit +they could see nothing but the interminable scrub thickets, and in the +distance the thin blue line of ocean. Fortunately they found a little +grass and water, which saved the lives of their animals. They had +discovered a coal seam at the mouth of the Murchison River, and now, on +their return journey, they found another at the Fitzgerald River. This +was Roe's longest and most important expedition, and it placed him in the +front rank of Australian explorers. + +<p>Amongst the very early explorers who did as good work as the scanty +opportunities permitted, was Ensign R. Dale, of the 63rd Regiment, who +pushed east of the Darling Range. Bannister, Moore, and Bunbury are other +noteworthy names amongst those of the early discoverers. + +<p>17.2. SIR GEORGE GREY. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-47"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-47.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Sir George Grey.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>In 1837 an expedition in charge of Captain George Grey and Lieutenant +Lushington was sent out from England to the Cape of Good Hope. It was +under instructions from Lord Glenelg, and was to procure a small vessel +at the Cape to convey the party and their stores to the most convenient +point in the vicinity of the Prince Regent's River on the coast. Once +landed there, the party was to take such a course as would lead them in +the direction of the great opening behind Dampier's Land, where they were +to make every endeavour to cross to the Swan River. + +<p>The schooner Lynher was chartered at the Cape, and on the 3rd of +December, 1837, the party was landed at Hanover Bay, with large +quantities of livestock, stores, seeds, and plants. Whilst the schooner +proceeded to Timor for ponies, Grey employed the time in forming a +garden, building sheds for the stores, and in exploring the country in +the neighbourhood of Hanover Bay. On the 9th of December, he hoisted the +British flag and went through the ceremony of taking possession. On the +17th of January the Lynher returned, and nearly a month later Grey and +his party, which now numbered twelve, started from the coast with +twenty-six half-broken Timor ponies as baggage-carriers, and some sheep +and goats. + +<p>The rainy season had now set in, and many of the stock succumbed almost +at the outset, whilst their route proved a veritable tangle of steep +spurs and deep ravines. On the 11th of February they came into collision +with the natives, and Grey was severely wounded in the hip with a spear. +When he had recovered sufficiently to be lifted on to one of the ponies, +a fresh start was made, and on the 2nd of March his perseverance was +rewarded by the discovery of a river which he named the Glenelg. He +followed the course of this river upwards, and reported the country as +good, being well-grassed and watered. Sometimes his route lay along the +river's bank; at other times by keeping to the foot of a sandstone ridge +he was enabled to avoid detours around many wearisome bends. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-48"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-48.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Rock Painting, North-Western Australia.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>The party continued along the Glenelg for many days, until indeed they +were checked by a large tributary coming from the north. As both the +river and the tributary were here much swollen, they had to fall back on +the range. It was among the recesses of this range that Grey discovered +some curious cave paintings of the blacks, in which the aboriginal +figures were represented as clothed*. + +<blockquote>* [Footnote.] A subsequent photograph of these paintings, by Brockman, is +reproduced in Chapter 20.</blockquote> + +<p>Unable to find a pass through the mountains, and enfeebled by his wound, +Grey determined to retrace his steps. As a last resort he sent Lushington +some distance ahead, but there was no noticeable change to report in the +aspect of the country. Hanover Bay was reached on the 15th of April. The +Lynher was waiting there at anchor, and H.M.S. Beagle was lying in Port +George the Fourth, awaiting the return of Captain Stokes, who was away +exploring the coast. The party having embarked, the Lynher sailed for the +Isle of France, where they safely arrived. Thus ended Captain Grey's +first expedition, which is interesting chiefly as a proof of the heroic +qualities of its members; for the Glenelg River has never invited +settlement, and has yet to prove that it possesses any considerable +economic value. + +<p>During January, 1839, Grey explored the country between the Williams and +the Leschenhault, while searching for a settler who had been lost in the +bush. + +<p>On the 17th of February in the same year, Grey, who had been back +endeavouring to persuade Sir James Stirling to assist him in his +explorations, was enabled to start on another exploring enterprise. The +object of this, his second important expedition, was to examine the +undiscovered parts of Shark's Bay, and to make excursions as far inland +as circumstances permitted. The party comprised four of the members of +his first expedition, five other men, and a Western Australian +aboriginal, and they left Fremantle in an American whaler, taking three +whale-boats with them. They were duly landed at Bernier Island, where +their troubles commenced at once. The whaler sailed away, taking with her +by mistake the whole of their supply of tobacco. There was no water on +the island, and, in their first attempt to start, one of the boats was +smashed and nearly half a ton of stores lost. The next day they succeeded +in making Dorre Island, but that night both the remaining boats were +driven ashore by a violent storm. Two or three days were spent in making +good the damage, when they succeeded in making the mainland, and obtained +a supply of fresh water. They had landed at or near the mouth of a stream +which afterwards proved to be the second longest river in Western +Australia. Grey named it the Gascoyne, and found that it was then dry +beyond the limit of tidal influence. They then pulled up the coast, but +one night, when effecting a landing, both boats were swamped, and their +previously-damaged provisions suffered another soaking. This accident +kept them prisoners for a week till the wind and surf had abated. Tired, +hungry, and ill, they were here harassed by frequent threats and one +actual attack by the blacks. A slight break in the weather tempted them +forth once more, and, having succeeded in righting the boats, they made +for the mouth of the Gascoyne, where they re-filled their water-beakers. +On March 20th they made a desperate effort in the teeth of foul weather +to fetch their depot on Bernier Island. We may picture their dismay when +they found that during their absence a hurricane had swept the island, +and scattered their cherished stores to the four winds. + +<p>Their position was now as desperate as could be imagined: the southerly +winds had set in, and they had to coast along a surf-beaten shore against +a head wind. Their food was scanty, and they were weak with the constant +toils they had undergone. There was nothing for it, however, but to put +to sea again, and they succeeded in reaching Gantheaume Bay on the 31st +of March. Fate had not yet spent all her wrath on them, and in attempting +a landing, Grey's boat was dashed to destruction upon a rock, and the +other received such a buffeting as to place it beyond repair. The only +hope of safety lay in an overland march to Perth, three hundred miles +away, upon their twenty pounds of damaged flour and one pound of salt +pork per man; and yet, so wearied were they with the unceasing battle +against wind and sea, that they even welcomed this hazardous prospect as +a change for the better. + +<p>They had not proceeded far before differences of opinion arose. Grey +naturally wished the men to cover the ground as quickly as possible +whilst their strength lasted, whilst they favoured slow marches, relieved +by frequent rests. Grey, who recognised that in their weakened condition +they could not replenish their scanty food supplies from the native game, +held firmly to his opinion, and made strenuous efforts to quicken their +progress; but the comparative safety of the shore had lulled his +followers into a feeling of false security; and after goading them along +for a hundred miles, bearing the chief burden of the march and sharing +much of his scanty food with the black boy, Grey left them to push +onwards, and if possible send them assistance. He took two or three +picked men with him, and after terrible sufferings and privations, +reached Perth, whence a rescue party was immediately despatched. This +party found only one man, Charles Wood, who by more closely following +Grey's instructions, had made better progress than the others. The +remaining five could not be found, and at the end of a fortnight the +rescuers were forced to return on account of the lack of provisions. Roe +immediately left with another party, and, after experiencing trouble in +tracking the erratic wanderings of the unfortunates, came upon most of +them hopelessly regarding a face of rock that stopped their march along +the beach, unable to muster sufficient strength to climb it. They had +then been three days without water, having nothing in their canteens but +a loathsome substitute. + +<p>One of them, Smith, a lad of eighteen who had accompanied the expedition +as a volunteer, had died two days before the rescue; his body was +recovered and buried in the wilderness. Walker, the surgeon and second in +charge, was still absent; but he had voluntarily left the main body and +had pushed on for assistance towards Fremantle, which he safely reached. + +<p>During these unfortunate expeditions, Grey had shown a generous spirit of +self-sacrifice combined with high courage and a fine enthusiasm for +geographical discovery. But his lack of experience and his ignorance of +the local seasonal conditions counterbalanced these, and explained his +failures. Afterwards he became Acting Government Resident at Albany, on +King George's Sound, and he was at a critical period Governor of South +Australia. But Australia proper saw little of him in his after prime, and +his fame was built up elsewhere, in New Zealand and at the Cape of Good +Hope. + +<p>Grey's reports left doubt as to the precise value of the country he +traversed under such trying circumstances, but he is justly credited with +the discovery of many rivers on the west coast -- the Grey, the Buller, +the Chapman, the Greenough, the Arrowsmith, the Hutt, the Bowyer, and +those important streams, the Murchison and the Gascoyne. + +<h4>17.3. AUGUSTUS C. GREGORY.</h4> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-49"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-49.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Augustus C. Gregory, 1880. Photo, Freeman, Sydney.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>In 1846 we come upon a name destined to become linked with the history of +exploration in most parts of Australia. There were three notable brothers +of the name of Gregory; but as their expeditions, at least those of +Augustus and Frank, were conducted independently, with the exception of +the first, we shall deal with them separately. H.C. Gregory, it is true, +associated his work mostly with that of his brother, A.C. Gregory, +generally in a subordinate position, but Frank Gregory won nearly equal +fame with his brother Augustus as an independent explorer. + +<p>A.C. Gregory was the son of Lieutenant J. Gregory of the 78th +Highlanders. He was born at Farnsfield, Nottinghamshire, in 1819, and +came to Western Australia with his parents in 1829 in the Lotus, 500 +tons, Captain Summerson, the second passenger ship that sailed for +Western Australia. Lieutenant Gregory had five sons in all: William, +Augustus, Francis, Henry, and James. The Lotus reached Fremantle about +the 10th of October, 1829. Captain Gregory had been obliged to retire +from active service, being incapacitated by serious wounds received at El +Hamed, in Egypt, and held a large grant of land from the Imperial +Government in lieu of pension. On this grant, situated not far from +Perth, he established a farm, and on that farm Augustus and his brothers +received the balance of their education and underwent their course of +bush training. Augustus, after his last expedition, was appointed in 1859 +Surveyor-General of Queensland, in which colony he settled down later, +after retiring from active official life. He had a seat in the +Legislative Council, and was a prominent freemason. He was created C.M.G. +in 1874, and K.C.M.G. in 1903, and had several honours conferred upon him +by the Royal Geographical Society. He died in Brisbane, in 1905. + +<p>If we except a short excursion down the Blackwood and Kojonup Rivers, his +expedition of 1846, in which he was accompanied both by F.T. and H.C. +Gregory, was the first important enterprise undertaken by him. It was in +August that his party left Captain Scully's station at Bolgart's Springs, +about seventy miles from Perth. + +<p>On leaving the settled districts they at once found themselves in the +barren country that was damming back the eastward flow of settlement. +Having traversed it, they reached a range of granite hills, and turning +more to the northward, they kept along these for the sake of the +rain-water to be found in the rock holes. On striking again to the east, +they encountered an extensive salt lake, and in attempting to cross an +arm of this marsh, their horses were bogged, and extricated only after +great labour. The lake was afterwards proved to be of great size, and to +hem them in completely to the eastward, whilst, owing to its +crescent-like formation, for five days it baffled all their attempts to +proceed northwards. + +<p>Finally abandoning the lake, which they called Lake Moore, they turned to +the westward to examine some of the streams crossed by Grey during his +return from Shark's Bay. On the head of one of these rivers, the Irwin, +they found a seam of coal. + +<p>"Having pitched our tent and tethered our horses, we commenced to collect +specimens of the various strata, and succeeded in cutting out five or six +hundredweight of coal with the tomahawk, and in a short time had the +satisfaction of seeing the first fire of West Australian coal burning +cheerfully in front of the camp, this being the first discovery of coal +in Western Australia." + +<p>The party then returned by way of the Moore River to Bolgart Springs, +which they reached on the 22nd of September. + +<p>The discovery of coal deposits and of country available for settlement +was seen to be of great importance by the Government, and Lieutenant +Helpman, A.C. Gregory, his brother Henry, and Messrs. Irby and Meekleham, +in the colonial schooner Champion, were despatched to procure a quantity +of coal for testing. They were also instructed to make a further +inspection of the pastoral capabilities of the district, of which there +had been so many conflicting opinions. A three days' examination of the +country convinced them that it was suitable for settlement. + +<p>In 1846 Gregory took charge of an expedition to the north of Perth, +organised by the settlers of the colony, and entitled The Settlers' +Expedition; its object being to proceed to the Gascoyne River, examining +the intervening country as to its suitability for pastoral purposes. + +<p>Gregory was accompanied by one of his brothers, Messrs. Burges, Walcott, +and Bedart, and private King of the 96th Regiment, of whose services he +speaks very highly. This expedition excited great hopes amongst the +settlers, who found most of the horses and provisions. The party left +Lefroy's station of Welbing on the 9th of September, with ten pack, and +two riding-horses, but did not succeed in penetrating any distance beyond +the Murchison, being turned back at all points, after repeated efforts, +by the belt of impervious scrub between the Murchison and Gascoyne. They +therefore returned without seeing the latter river, after having attained +a distance of 350 miles from Perth; but they succeeded in finding a +considerable extent of available country, both pastoral and agricultural, +and in discovering a vein of galena on the Murchison. They re-entered +Perth on the 17th of November. + +<p>The following month, Gregory, Bland, and three soldiers of the 96th +accompanied Governor Fitzgerald by sea to Champion Bay to examine the new +mineral discoveries. The galena lode was found to be more important than +had been at first supposed. On their return to the schooner, an affray +occurred with the natives, in which the Governor was wounded. + +<p>"As the country was covered with dense wattle thickets, the natives took +advantage of the ground, and having completely surrounded the party, +commenced first to threaten to throw their spears, then to throw stones, +and finally one man caught hold of Mr. Bland by the arm, threatening to +strike him with a dowak; another native threw a spear at myself, though +without effect; but before I could fire at him, the Governor, perceiving +that unless some severe example was made, the whole party would be cut +off, fired at one of the most forward of our assailants and killed him; +two other shots were fired by the soldiers, but the thickness of the +bushes prevented our seeing with what effect. A shower of spears, stones, +kylies and dowaks followed, and although we moved to a more open spot, +the natives were only kept off by firing at any that exposed themselves. +At this moment a spear struck the Governor in the leg, just above the +knee, with such force as to cause it to protrude two feet on the other +side, which was so far fortunate as to enable me to break off the barb +and withdraw the shaft. The Governor, notwithstanding his wound, +continued to direct the party, and although the natives made many +attempts to approach close enough to reach us with their spears, we were +able by keeping on the most open ground and checking them by an +occasional shot, to avoid their attacks when crossing the gullies." + +<p>The natives followed them for seven miles, but finally desisted, and the +whites reached the beach and boarded the Champion without further mishap. + +<p>In 1856 Gregory made his most celebrated journey in the north of central +Australia. An account of this journey might have been included in Part 2, +but as the name of Gregory is so intimately connected with Western +Australia, this section is perhaps the most appropriate place in which to +recount its incidents. [But its lengthy place in which to recount its +incidents (sic)]. But its numerous details demand another chapter. + +</p><a name="chapter18"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 18. A.C. AND F.T. GREGORY.</h3> + +<h4>18.1. A.C. GREGORY ON STURT'S CREEK AND THE BARCOO.</h4> + +<p>The Imperial Government having long considered the feasibility of further +exploration of the interior of Australia voted 5000 pounds for the +purpose, and offered the command of the expedition to A.C. Gregory. As +the inexplicable disappearance of Leichhardt was then exciting much +interest in Australia, search for the lost expedition was to form one of +its chief duties. + +<p>On the 12th of August, 1855, Gregory's party left Moreton Bay in the +barque Monarch, attended by the schooner Tom Tough. There were eighteen +men in all. H.C. Gregory was second in command, Ferdinand von Mueller was +botanist, J.S. Wilson geologist, J.R. Elsey surgeon and naturalist, and +J. Baines artist and storekeeper. They had on board fifty horses, two +hundred sheep, and provisions and stores calculated to last them eighteen +months on full rations. + +<p>They did not reach Point Pearce, at the mouth of the Victoria River, +until the 24th of September. There they separated, the schooner taking +the stores up the river, and the Monarch proceeding on her voyage to +Singapore. The horses had been landed at Point Pearce, whence Gregory, +his brother, and seven men took them on overland by easy stages. One +night the horses were attacked by crocodiles, and three of them were +severely wounded. They followed up the course of the Fitzmaurice River +and then passed over rough country, not reaching the Victoria until the +17th. On the 20th they rejoined the members who had gone round by the +schooner, and learned that she was aground in the river. A large part of +their stores was spoiled; and the number of the sheep had also been +reduced to forty, in consequence of their being foolishly kept penned up +on board. These losses and accidents considerably weakened Gregory's +resources, and it was not until the 24th of November that any excursion +on horseback was undertaken. An attempt had previously been made to +ascend the river in the portable boat with which the expedition had been +supplied, but it was not successful, as the boat could not navigate the +rocky bars in safety. + +<p>Gregory left camp accompanied by his brother, Dr. von Mueller, and +Wilson, taking seven horses and twenty days' rations, his object being to +examine the country through which the exploring party would have to +travel on their route to the interior. On this preliminary trip, he +penetrated as far as latitude 16 1/2 south, whence, finding the +tributaries flowing from fine open plains and level forest country, all +well-grassed, he returned to the main camp. + +<p>On the 4th of January, 1856, Gregory started with a much larger party on +an energetic dash into the interior. He had with him six men besides his +brother, Dr. von Mueller and Baines the artist, and thirty-six horses. He +retraced his steps along his preliminary route, and on the 30th of +January, thinking it wise judging from the rapid evaporation of the +waterholes, to make his means of retreat secure, he formed a temporary +camp, leaving there four men and all the horses but eleven to await his +return, whilst he, his brother, Dr. Mueller, and a man named Dean, rode +ahead to challenge the desert to the south. On the 9th of February, +having run the Victoria out, he crossed an almost level watershed, and +found himself on the confines of the desert. From a slight rise he looked +southwards:-- + +<p>"The horizon was unbroken; all appeared one slightly undulating plain, +with just sufficient triodia and bushes growing on it to hide the red +sand when viewed at a distance." + +<p>Gregory reviewed the problem from a logical standpoint. He decided to +follow the northern limit of the desert to the westward, until he should +find a southern-flowing watercourse which would afford him the +opportunity to make a dash beyond its confines. + +<p>On the 15th of February he came to a small flat which gradually developed +into a channel and ultimately became a creek, running first west, and +then south-west. This gave him his desired opening, and he pursued the +course of the creek through good open country, finding the water +plentiful, though shallow. On February 20th, however, the channel of the +creek was lost in an immense grassy plain. The country to the south being +sandy and unpromising, Gregory kept westwards, and succeeded in again +picking up the channel, now finding the water in it to be slightly +brackish. That day he crossed the boundary of Western Australia. The +creek now gave promise of continuity, the water-holes taking on a more +permanent appearance. It was now pursuing a general south-west course, +and Gregory, though still rightly anticipating that it would eventually +be lost in the dry interior, determined to follow it as far south as +should be compatible with safety. He named the creek Sturt's Creek, after +the gallant explorer of that name, who was naturally then often in his +mind. The creek maintained its southern course, until, on the 8th of +March, it ran out into a mud plain and a salt lake. + +<p>"Thus, after having followed Sturt's Creek for nearly 300 miles, we have +been disappointed in our hope that it would lead to some important outlet +to the waters of the Australian interior; it has, however, enabled us to +penetrate far into the level tract of country which may be termed the +Great Australian Desert." + +<p>Gregory, convinced that no useful results could arise from any attempt to +penetrate the inhospitable region to the south, determined to return +before the rapidly-evaporating water on which they were dependent should +vanish and cut off all retreat. He therefore retraced his steps up +Sturt's Creek, and on the 28th of March arrived at his temporary depot, +where he found the men all well and the horses much improved in +condition. + +<p>On the 2nd of April, A.C. Gregory, taking his brother Henry, Baines, and +one man, started on an excursion to examine the eastern tributaries of +the Victoria, and was absent a little over a fortnight. On their return, +the whole of the members started for the landing-place on the Victoria, +which they reached on the 9th of May. After all arrangements and +preparations had been completed, Gregory, with most of the party, started +on the return journey overland to Moreton Bay. The Tom Tough, now caulked +and repaired, was to make her way to the Albert River in the Gulf of +Carpentaria, where they would again probably meet. + +<p>Traversing the tributaries of the Victoria on his homeward way, Gregory +met with no remarkable incident until his arrival on the Elsey, a +tributary of the Roper River, which he named after the surgeon of the +expedition. It was here that he came upon the last authentic trace of +Leichhardt. He describes his discovery as follows:-- + +<p>"There was also the remains of a hut and the ashes of a large fire, +indicating that there had been a party camped there for several weeks; +several trees from six to eight inches in diameter had been cut down with +iron axes in fair condition, and the hut built by cutting notches in +standing trees and resting a large pole therein for a ridge; this hut had +been burnt apparently by the subsequent bush fires, and only some pieces +of the thickest timber remained unconsumed. Search was made for marked +trees, but none found, nor were there any fragments of leather, iron, or +other equipment of an exploring party, or of any bones of animals other +than those common to Australia. Had an exploring party been destroyed +here, there would most likely have been some indications, and it may +therefore be inferred that the party proceeded on its journey. It could +not have been a camp of Leichhardt's in 1845, as it is 100 miles south of +his route to Port Essington; and it was only six or seven years old, +judging by the growth of the trees; having subsequently seen some of +Leichhardt's camps on the Burdekin, Mackenzie and Barcoo Rivers, a great +similarity was observed in regard to the manner of building the hut and +its relative position with regard to the fire and water supply, and the +position in regard to the great features of the country was exactly where +a party going westward would first receive a check from the waterless +tableland between the Roper and Victoria Rivers, and would probably camp +and reconnoitre ahead before attempting to cross to the north-west +coast." + +<p>From the Roper the party travelled around the shore of the Gulf, keeping +rather more inland than Leichhardt had done. On reaching the Albert they +found that the Tom Tough had not yet arrived at the rendezvous; and +Gregory, leaving a marked tree with a message indicating the situation of +some instructions he had buried, pushed onwards. + +<p>His route from the Albert lay along much the same line of country as that +followed by Leichhardt during his journey to Port Essington. He did not, +however, make such a wide sweep to the north, up to the Mitchell, but +struck away from Carpentaria at the Gilbert River. He corrected the error +Leichhardt had fallen into over the situation of the Albert, and re-named +the river that he had mistaken the Leichhardt. The exploring party +reached the settled districts at Hay's station, Rannes, south of the +Fitzroy; and thence reached Brisbane on the 16th of December, 1856. + +<p>To advance the search after Leichhardt, the interest in whose fate had +been stimulated by the discovery made by Gregory, a public meeting was +held in September, 1857, at which resolutions were passed requesting +monetary assistance from the Government, and offering the leadership of a +new expedition to A.C. Gregory. The appeal was successful, and +accordingly in March, 1858, Gregory left Euroomba station on the Dawson +with a party of nine in all, one of his brothers going as second. The +expedition was equipped for light travelling, taking as means of carriage +pack-horses only, of which there were thirty-one, as well as nine +saddle-horses. + +<p>Gregory crossed the Nive on to the Barcoo, which he proceeded to run +down, finding the country in a very different condition from that in +which it bloomed when Mitchell rode rejoicingly along what he thought was +a Gulf river. A sharp look out was of course kept for any trace of the +missing party, and on the 21st of April they came across another marked +tree. + +<p>"We discovered a Moreton Bay ash (Eucalyptus sp.), about two feet in +diameter marked with the letter L on the east side, cut through the bark +about four feet from the ground, and near it the stumps of some small +trees that had been cut with a sharp axe, also a deep notch cut in the +side of a sloping tree, apparently to support the ridge-pole of a tent, +or some similar purpose; all indicating that a camp had been established +here by Leichhardt's party...No other indications having been found, we +continued the search down the river, examining every likely spot for +marked trees, but without success." + +<p>Approaching the Thomson River, they found the country suffering from +drought although the river was running in consequence of some late rains. +As winter was now approaching, there was however no spring in the +vegetation, and their horses were suffering great hardship. On the 15th +of May they found themselves beyond the rainfall, and realised that lack +of water was likely to be added to an absence of grass. + +<p>"We, however, succeeded in reaching latitude 23 degrees 47 minutes, when +the absence of water and grass -- the rain not having extended so far +north, and the channels of the river separating into small gullies and +spreading on to the wide plains -- precluded our progressing further to +the north or west; and the only chance of saving our horses was to return +south as quickly as possible. This was a most severe disappointment, as +we had just reached that part of the country through which Leichhardt +most probably travelled if the season was sufficiently wet to render it +practicable. Thus compelled to abandon the principal object of the +expedition, only two courses remained open -- either to return to the +head of the Victoria (Barcoo) River and attempt a northern course by the +valley of the Belyando, or to follow down the river and ascertain whether +it flowed into Cooper's Creek or the Darling." + +<p>The latter alternative was chosen, and they proceeded to retrace their +steps down the Thomson, and on reaching the junction of the Barcoo they +continued south and west. In fact, following Kennedy's route, they soon +found themselves involved in the same difficulties that had beset that +explorer. The river -- now Cooper's Creek -- broke up into countless +channels running through barren, fissured plains. Toiling on through +these, varied by an interlude of sandhills, Gregory at last reached a +better-grassed land, where his famished horses regained a little +strength. He reached Sturt's furthest point, and continued on to the +point where Strzelecki's Creek carried off some of the surplus flood +waters, and finally lost the many channels amongst the sandhills and +flooded plains. He again struck Strzelecki's Creek and traced it as he +then thought, into Lake Torrens, but in reality into Lake Blanche, for +the salt lake region had not then been properly delimited. He reached +Baker's recently-formed station, eight miles beyond Mount Hopeless, and +thence he went on to Adelaide. + +<h4>18.2. FRANK T. GREGORY.</h4> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-50"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-50.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Frank T. Gregory.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>It was in Western Australia, in March, 1857, that Frank T. Gregory +commenced his career as an independent explorer by taking advantage of a +sudden heavy downpour of rain on the upper reaches of the Murchison +River, which flooded the dry course of the lower portion where he was +then engaged on survey work. Gregory at once seized the opportunity thus +afforded of examining the upper reaches of this river, from which former +explorers had been driven back by the aridity of the country. Accompanied +by his assistant, S. Trigg, he proceeded up the river finding, thanks to +the wet season that had preceded him, luxuriant grass and ample supplies +of water. In consequence, he had a more pleasing account of the country +to bring back than the report based on the thirsty experiences of Austin. +So easy did he find the country, that only scarcity of provisions +prevented him from pushing on to the long-sought-for Gascoyne River. As +it was, he returned after an absence of thirteen days, having completed +what the Perth Gazette of that time justly described as "one of the most +unassuming expeditions, yet important in its results." + +<p>It was so far satisfactory, and roused such fresh hopes in the minds of +the settlers, that they once more formed bright hopes of what the River +Gascoyne might have in store for the successful explorer. For a long time +now they had become resigned to the conclusion that their northern +pathway was barred by a dry, scrubby country; but they at once took +advantage of the promising practical passage along which Frank Gregory +had led the way. Another expedition was organised to penetrate to the +Gascoyne, and the leadership being naturally offered to Frank Gregory, +was accepted by him. + +<p>On the 16th of April, 1858, he left the Geraldine mine with a +lightly-equipped party of six, including J.B. Roe, son of the +Surveyor-General. They had with them six pack and six riding-horses, and +rations for 60 days. + +<p>They proceeded up the Murchison, and on the 25th of the same month they +reached a tributary called the Impey, which had been the highest point +reached by Gregory the preceding year. This time, however, the party did +not find such ample pasture as he had described. Still following the +river up until the 30th April, on that day they struck off on a +nor-north-east course, the course of the Murchison tending too much in an +easterly direction to lead them speedily on to the Gascoyne. On the 3rd +they reached a gentle stony ascent, which proved to be the watershed +between the two rivers. Descending the slope to the northward, they soon +came to the head of a watercourse flowing northwards. They followed the +new creek, and on the 6th of May came to a river joining it from the +eastward, which at last proved to be the Gascoyne. + +<p>Gregory kept down the south bank of the Gascoyne, and on the 12th of May +passed a large tributary coming from the north, which he named the Lyons. +On the 17th they ascended a sandy ridge about sixty feet in height, and +had a view of Shark's Bay. + +<p>He returned along the north bank of the river, and having reached the +Lyons, followed that river up. On the 3rd of June he ascended the highest +mountain yet discovered in Western Australia, which he named Mount +Augustus, after his brother. Gregory gives the elevation at 3,480 feet, +but Mount Bruce in the Hammersley Range, to the north of it, has since +been found to be higher.* From the summit, however, he had an extensive +view, and was enabled to sketch in the courses of the various rivers for +over twenty miles. + +<blockquote>*[Footnote.] 3,800 feet.</blockquote> + +<p>As they had now been out 51 days, and their supply of provisions was +approaching the end, the party turned back at Mount Augustus, and struck +southwards. On the 8th the Gascoyne was re-crossed at a place where its +course lay through flats and ana-branches. On the 10th of June they again +came to the Murchison, and followed it down to the Geraldine mine, and +finally reached Perth on the 10th of July. This expedition, so fruitful +in its results to the pastoral welfare of the colony, cost the settlers +only their contributions in horses and rations, and a cash expenditure of +forty pounds. + +<p>The discovery of so much fresh available country on the Gascoyne River, +with the prospect of a new base for exploration in the tropical regions +beyond, attracted the attention of English capitalists. The American +civil war had so depressed the cotton trade that those interested in +cotton manufacture were seeking for fresh fields in which to establish +the growth of the plant. Frank Gregory was then in London, and advantage +was taken of his presence to urge upon the Home Government and the Royal +Geographical Society the desirability of fitting out an expedition to +proceed direct to the north-west coast of Australia, accompanied by a +large body of Asiatic labourers, and all the necessary appliances for the +establishment of a colony. + +<p>Fortunately this rash and ill-considered scheme was greatly modified +under wise advice. Roe, the Surveyor-General of Western Australia, and +other gentlemen practically acquainted with the subject, suggested that +the country should be explored before the idea of any actual settlement +should be entertained. Acting on this advice, the Imperial Government +gave a grant of 2,000 pounds, to be supplemented by an equal subsidy by +the Colonial Treasury. + +<p>Gregory therefore obtained a suitable outfit in London for the party, and +left for Perth to complete the necessary details. The usual official +delays occurred, and the expedition did not leave Fremantle, in the +barque Dolphin, until 23rd April, 1861, nearly two months later than had +been arranged. As the rainy season in northern Australia terminates in +March, this delay was unfortunate. + +<p>Nickol Bay on the north-west coast was the destination, and was safely +reached. The work of disembarkation being completed, the exploring party +started on the 25th of May, 1861. + +<p>Gregory first pursued a western course, as he wished to cut any +considerable river discharging into the sea, and coming from the +interior. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-51"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-51.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Maitland Brown.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>On the 29th of May they struck the river which was subsequently named the +Fortescue. As this river seemed likely to answer their expectations of a +passage through the broken range that hemmed them in to the south, they +followed it up. A narrow precipitous gorge forced them to leave the +river, and, after surmounting a table-land, they steered a course due +south to a high range, which, however, they found too rough to surmount. +Making back on to a north-east course, they again struck the Fortescue, +above the narrow glen which had stopped them. They followed it up once +more through good country, occasionally hampered by its course lying +between rugged hills; but they finally crossed the range, partly by the +aid of the river-bed, and partly through a gap. On the 18th June, they +succeeded in completely surmounting the range, and found that to the +south the decline was more gradual. The range was named the Hammersley +Range. Their horses had suffered considerably, and had lost some of their +shoes in the rough hills. From here they kept south meaning to strike the +Lyons River, discovered by Frank Gregory during his last trip. On coming +to a small tributary which he named the Hardey, he formed a depot camp. +Leaving some of the party and the most sore-footed of the horses, he +pushed on with three men, Brown, Harding, and Brockman, taking three +packhorses and provisions for eight days. + +<p>On the 23rd of June they came on a large western-flowing river, which he +called the Ashburton, and which has since proved to be the longest river +in Western Australia. Having crossed this river, and still pursuing a +southerly course, he arrived at a sandstone tableland, and on the 23rd +had, as Gregory writes, "at last the satisfaction of observing the bold +outlines of Mount Augustus." + +<p>He returned to the depot camp on the 29th, and though anxious to follow +up the Ashburton to the east, the condition of his horses' feet and the +lack of shoes prevented him. During the return journey to Nickol Bay, he +ascended Mount Samson, and from the summit obtained an extensive view +that embraced every prominent peak within seventy miles, including Mount +Bruce to the north, and Mount Augustus to the south, the distance between +these two elevations being 124 geographical miles. They crossed the +Hammersley Range on to the level plains of the Fortescue by means of a +far easier pass than that used on the outward journey, and arrived at the +Bay on the 19th of July. + +<p>On the 31st of July Gregory started on a new expedition to the east. On +the 9th of August he came to a river which apparently headed from the +direction they desired to explore -- namely the south-east. Crossing +another river, which they named the Shaw, the explorers, still keeping +east and south of east, found on the 27th of August, a river of some +importance running through a large extent of good pastoral and +agricultural land. This river was named the De Grey, but as their present +object was to push to the south-east, they left its promising banks and +proceeded into a hilly country where they soon became involved in deep +ravines. After surmounting a rugged tableland, they camped that night at +some springs. + +<p>The next night, the 29th of August, they came, some time after dark, on +to the bank of a wide river lined with the magnificent weeping tea-trees. +As three of the horses were tired out, Gregory determined to follow this +river up for a day or two, instead of closing with a range of granite +hills, capped with horizontal sandstones, which loomed threateningly in +their path. + +<p>So for two or three days they continued on the Oakover, as he christened +the river, and followed its western branch; a tributary of that led them +in amongst the ranges, which were threaded by an easy pass. On the 2nd of +September they got through the ranges and emerged upon open sandy plains +of great extent, with nothing visible across the vast expanse but low +ridges of red drift-sand. Here it was Gregory's lot to experience a test +almost equal to one of the grim tramps that had tried Sturt and Eyre. + +<p>He camped at a native deserted camp, and the next day failing to find any +water ahead, had to return and form a depot. Here he left five of the +party with instructions to remain three days and then fall back upon the +Oakover. He himself, with Brown and Harding, and six horses, went on to +find a passage. + +<p>So far he had encountered fewer obstacles, and made more encouraging +discoveries than had fallen to the lot of any other Western Australian +explorer; but he was now confronted with the stern presence that had +daunted the bravest and best in Australia. In front of him lay barren +plains, hills of drifted sand, and the ominous red haze of the desert. +Let Gregory describe the scene in his own words, as the locality has +become historic:-- + +<p>The three men started on the 6th of September, "steering south-south-east +along the ranges, looking for some stream-bed that might lead us through +the plains, but I was disappointed to find that they were all lost in the +first mile after leaving the hills, and as crossing the numerous ridges +of sand proved very fatiguing to the horses, we determined once more to +attempt to strike to the eastward between the ridges, which we did for +fifteen miles, when our horses again showed signs of failing us, which +left us the only alternative of either pushing on at all hazards to a +distant range that was just visible to the eastward, where, from the +numerous native fires and general depression of the country, there was +every reason to think a large river would be found to exist, or to make +for some deep rocky gorges in the granite hills ten miles to the south, +in which there was every prospect of finding water. In the former case +the travelling would be smoothest, but the distance so great that, in the +event of our failing to find water, we probably should not succeed in +bringing back one of our horses; while in the latter we should have to +climb over the sand-ridges which we had already found so fatiguing; this +course, however, involved the least amount of risk, and we accordingly +struck south four miles and halted for the night. + +<p>"7th September. The horses did not look much refreshed by the night's +rest; we, however, divided three gallons of water amongst them, and +started off early, in the hope of reaching the ranges by noon, but we had +not gone three miles when one of the pack-horses that was carrying less +than forty pounds weight began to fail, and the load was placed on my +saddle-horse; it did not, however, enable him to get on more than a +couple of miles further, when we were compelled to abandon him, leaving +him under the shade of the only tree we could find, in the hope that we +could bring back water to his relief. Finding that it would be many hours +before the horses could be got on to the ranges, I started ahead on foot, +leaving Brown and Harding to come on gently, while I was to make a signal +by fires if successful in finding water. Two hours' heavy toil through +the sand, under a broiling sun, brought me to the ranges, where I +continued to hunt up one ravine after another until 5 p.m. without +success. Twelve hours' almost incessant walking, on a scanty breakfast +and without water, with the thermometer over a hundred degrees of +Fahrenheit, began to tell upon me severely; so much so that by the time I +had tracked up my companions (who had reached the hills by 1 p.m. and +were anxiously waiting for me) it was as much as I could do to carry my +rifle and accoutrements. The horses were looking truly wretched, and I +was convinced that the only chance of saving them, if water was not +found, would be by abandoning our pack-saddles, provisions, and +everything we could possibly spare, and try and recover them afterwards +if practicable. We therefore encamped for the night on the last plot of +grass we could find, and proceeded to make arrangements for an early +start in the morning. There was still a few pints of water in the kegs, +having been very sparing in the use of it; this enabled us to have a +little tea and make a small quantity of damper, of which we all stood in +much need. Camp 77. + +<p>"8th September. At 4 p.m. we were again up, having disposed of our +equipments and provisions, except our riding-saddles, instruments, and +firearms, by suspending them in the branches of a low tree. We divided a +pint of water for our breakfast, and by the first peep of dawn were +driving our famished horses at their best speed towards the depot, which +was now thirty-two miles distant. For the first eight miles they went on +pretty well, but the moment the sun began to have power they flagged +greatly, and it was not long before we were obliged to relinquish another +horse quite unable to proceed. By 9 a.m. I found that my previous day's +march, and the small allowance of food that I had taken was beginning to +have its effects upon me, and that it was probable that I could not reach +the depot before the next morning, by which time the party left there +were to fall back to the Oakover; I therefore directed Brown, who was +somewhat fresher than myself, to push on to the camp and bring out fresh +horses and water, while Harding and myself would do our best to bring on +any straggling horses that could not keep up with him. By dark we +succeeded in reaching to within nine miles of the depot, finding +unmistakable signs towards evening of the condition to which the horses +taken on by Brown were reduced, by the saddles, guns, hobbles, and even +bridles, scattered along the line of march, which had been taken off to +enable them to get on a few miles further." + +<p>Next morning they met Brown within a few miles of the depot coming back +to them with water. All the horses but the two which had been left at the +remotest point were recovered. + +<p>Further on Gregory remarks upon the painful effects produced on the +horses by excessive heat and thirst:-- + +<p>"I cannot omit to remark the singular effects of excessive thirst upon +the eyes of the horses; they absolutely sunk into their heads until there +was a hollow of sufficient depth to bury the thumb in, and there was an +appearance as though the whole of the head had shrunk with them, +producing a very unpleasant and ghastly expression." + +<p>Gregory was now convinced that the sandy tract before him was not to be +crossed with the means at his command, so reluctantly he had to return to +the Oakover and follow that river down to its junction with the De Grey. +Down the united streams, which now bore the name of the De Grey, the +weary explorers travelled through good fertile land, until the coast was +reached on the 25th of September. The worn-out state of their horses +delayed them greatly in getting across a piece of dry country between the +Yule and the Sherlock, where one animal had to be abandoned. + +<p>On the 18th of October, they reached Nickol Bay, and were gladly welcomed +by the crew of the Dolphin, who had profitably passed their time in +collecting several tons of pearl-shell and a few pearls. On the 23rd the +horses and equipment were shipped, and the Dolphin sailed for Fremantle. + +<p>This journey ended Frank Gregory's active life as an explorer; and it was +a noteworthy career which now closed. For the western colony he had +thrown open to settlement the vast area of the north-western coastal +territory; and after relieving the Murchison from the stigma of +barrenness that rested on it, he had discovered and made known all the +rivers to the north and east, until the Oakover was reached. + +<p>It is singular that Frank Gregory should, like nearly all explorers, have +erred greatly in the deductions he drew. When forced to turn back from +the country beyond the Oakover, he much laments the fact, because, not +only had we now attained to within a very few miles of the longitude in +which, from various geographical data, there are just grounds for +believing that a large river may be found to exist draining central +Australia; but the character of the country appeared strongly to indicate +the vicinity of such a feature." + +<p>Of course we now know that no such river drains the centre of Australia. +On the contrary, beyond Gregory's eastern limit there occurs a long +stretch of coastline unmarked by the mouth of any river. Inland, to the +southward, the country even in this day is known as the most hostile and +repellant desert in Australia, markedly deficient in continuous +watercourses. Providence, then, restrained his footsteps from a land +wherein earth and sun seem to unite in hostility against the white +intruder. It is a pity that Frank Gregory did not give his undoubted +powers of description free scope in his Journal. Now and again he gives +them rein; but soon calls a halt, as though alarmed that picturesque +language should be found in a scientific, geographical journal. His +brother Augustus was unfortunately just as correct and precise. + +<p>Frank went to reside in Queensland in 1862, and was nominated to the +Legislative Council of that colony in 1874. Before going to Queensland he +had acted for some time as Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was +married at Ipswich, Queensland, to the daughter of Alexander Hume. He +held office for some time in the McIlwraith Ministry, as +Postmaster-General. He was a gold medallist of the Royal Geographical +Society, and one of the best of the Australian explorers, as bushman, +navigator, surveyor, and scientist. He died at Toowoomba, in 1888, on the +24th of October. + +</p><a name="chapter19"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 19. FROM WEST TO EAST.</h3> + +<h4>19.1. AUSTIN.</h4> + +<p>By 1854 the gold fever was running high in Australia, and each colony was +eager to discover new diggings within its borders. Robert Austin, +Assistant Surveyor-General of Western Australia, was instructed to take +charge of an inland exploring party to search for pastoral country, and +to examine the interior for indications of gold. + +<p>He started from the head of the Swan River on a north-easterly course, +and on the 16th of July reached a lake, rumours of whose existence had +been spread by the blacks, who had called it Cowcowing. The colonists had +hoped that it would prove to be a lake of fresh water in the Gascoyne +valley, but Cowcowing in reality was a salt marsh, no great distance from +the starting-point of Austin's expedition. + +<p>The lake was dry and its bed covered with salt incrustations, showing +that its waters are undoubtedly saline. Thence Austin made directly +north, and passing through repellant country, such as always fell to the +lot of the early western explorers in their initial efforts, he directed +his course to a distant range of table-topped hills. Here he found both +grass and water, and named the highest elevation Mount Kenneth, after +Kenneth Brown, a member of his party. Thence he kept a north-east course, +traversing stony plains intersected by the dry beds of sandy +watercourses. Here the party met with dire misfortune. The horses ate +from a patch of poisonous box plant, and nearly all of them were +disabled. A few escaped, but the greater number never recovered from the +effects of the poison, and fourteen died. Pushing on in the hope of +finding a safe place in which to recruit, Austin found himself so +crippled in his means of transit that he had to abandon all but his most +necessary stores. + +<p>He now made for Shark's Bay, whither a vessel was to be sent to render +him assistance or take the party home if required. The course to Shark's +Bay led them over country that did not tempt them to linger on the way. +On the 21st of September a sad accident occurred. They were then camped +at a spring near a cave in the face of a cliff, in which there were some +curious native rock-paintings. While resting here, a young man named +Charles Farmer accidentally shot himself in the arm, and in spite of the +most careful attention the poor fellow died of lockjaw in the most +terrible agony. He was buried at the cave-spring camp, and the highest +hill in the neighbourhood was christened Mount Farmer. His death and +burial reminds one of Sturt's friend Poole, who rests in the east of the +continent under the shadow of Mount Poole. Thus two lonely graves in the +Australian wilderness are guarded by mountains whose names perpetuate the +memory of their occupants. And who could desire a nobler monument than +the everlasting hills? + +<p>Austin now came to the upper tributaries of the Murchison only to find +them waterless. Even the deep cut channel of the Murchison itself was +dry. They crossed the river, but beyond it all their efforts to penetrate +westward were in vain. They had fought their way to within one hundred +miles of Shark's Bay, but they had then been so long without water that +further advance meant certain death. Even during the retreat to the +Murchison, the lives of the horses were saved only by the accidental +discovery of a small native well in a most improbable situation, namely, +in the middle of a bare ironstone plain. Their only course now was to +fall back on the Murchison, hoping that they would find water at their +crossing. Austin pushed on ahead of the main body, and struck the river +twenty-five miles below their previous crossing, to make the tantalising +discovery that the pools of water on which they had fixed their hopes +were hopelessly salt. + +<p>A desperate and vain search was made to the southward, during a day of +fierce and terrible heat; but on the next day, having made for some small +hills they had sighted, they providentially found both water and grass. +The whole party rested at this spot, which was gratefully named Mount +Welcome. + +<p>Nothing daunted by the sufferings he had undergone, Austin now made +another attempt to reach Shark's Bay. On the way to the Murchison, they +had induced an old native to come with them to point out the +watering-places of the blacks. At first he was able to show them one or +two that in all probability they would have missed, but after they had +crossed the Murchison and proceeded some distance to the westward, the +water the native had relied on was found to have disappeared, and it was +only after the most acute sufferings from thirst and the loss of some +more horses, that they managed to struggle back to Mount Welcome. + +<p>Austin's conduct during these terrible marches seems to have bordered on +the heroic. Whilst his companions fell away one by one and lay down to +die, and the one native of the wilds was cowering weeping under a bush, +he toiled on and managed to reach a little well which the blackfellow had +formerly shown him. Without resting, he tramped back with water to revive +his exhausted companions. + +<p>At Mount Welcome they found the water on the point of giving out, and +weak and exhausted though they were, an immediate start had to be made to +the Geraldine mine, a small settlement having been formed there to work +the galena lode discovered by Gregory. That they would ever reach the +mine the explorers could not hope; they and their horses were in a state +of extreme weakness, the distance to the mine was one hundred and sixty +miles, and to the highest point on the Murchison, where Gregory had found +water, their first stage was ninety miles. They began their journey at +midnight, and by means of forced marches, travelling day and night, they +reached Gregory's old camp on the river. Fortunately they had found a +small supply of water at one place on the way. From this point the worst +of their perils were passed. They followed the river down, obtaining +water from springs in the banks, and on the 27th of November arrived at +the mine, where they were warmly entertained. Thence they returned to +Perth, some by sea and some overland. + +<p>Austin's exploration had led to no profitable result. Cowcowing had +proved only a saline marsh similar to Lake Moore, the large lake which +had haunted Gregory; the upper Murchison was not of a nature to invite +further acquaintance or settlement; and the whole of the journey had been +a disheartening round of daily struggles with a barren and waterless +district, under the fiery sun of the southern summer. + +<p>Austin thought that eastward of his limit the country would improve; but +subsequent explorations have not substantiated his supposition. He had +had singularly hard fortune to contend against. After the serious loss he +sustained by the poisoning of his horses, a risk that cannot be +effectually warded off by the greatest care, he had been pitted against +exceptionally dry country, covered with dense scrub and almost grassless, +in which the men and horses must assuredly have lost their lives but for +his dauntless and heroic conduct. + +<p>Austin afterwards settled in North Queensland, and followed the +profession of mining surveyor. + +<h4>19.2. SIR JOHN FORREST.</h4> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-52"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-52.jpg"></p> +<p><b>John Forrest in 1874.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>John Forrest, the explorer who ultimately succeeded in crossing the +hitherto impassable desert of the western centre, now made his first +essay. An old rumour that the blacks had slain some white men and their +horses on a salt lake in the interior was now revived, and gained some +credence. A black who stated that he had visited the scene of the +incident was interviewed, and Baron von Mueller wrote to the Western +Australian Government offering to lead a party thither and ascertain if +there was any truth in the report. The Government favourably considered +the offer, and made preparations to send out a party. Von Mueller was +prevented from taking charge, and the command was given to John Forrest, +then a surveyor in the Government service. Forrest was born near Bunbury, +Western Australia, on the 22nd of August, 1847, and entered the Survey +Department of West Australia in December 1865. + +<p>On the 26th of April, 1869, Forrest left Yarraging, then the furthest +station to the eastward. When camped at a native well, visited by Austin +thirteen years before, he says that he could still distinctly see the +tracks of that explorer's horses. Past this spot he fell in with some +natives who told him that a large party of men and horses had died in a +locality away to the north, and that a gun belonging to the party was in +possession of the natives. On closer examination this story was proved to +have its origin in the death of Austin's horses. + +<p>Forrest continued his journey to the east, and on the 18th came to a +large dry salt lake, which he named Lake Barlee. An attempt to cross this +lake resulted in the bogging of the horses, and it was only after +strenuous exertions that the horses and packs were once more brought on +to hard ground. Lake Barlee was afterwards found to be of considerable +size, extending for more than forty miles to the eastward. + +<p>The native guide Forrest had with him now began to express doubts as to +his knowledge of the exact spot at which he saw the remains. After +considerable search, Forrest came across a large party of the aborigines +of the district. These men, however, proved to be anything but friendly; +they threw dowaks at the guide, and advised the whites to go back before +they were killed. Next morning they had speech with two of them, who said +that the bones were those of horses, some distance to the north; they +said they would come to the camp the next day and lead the whites there, +but they did not fulfil their promise. No other profitable intercourse +with the blacks was possible. One old man howled piteously all the time +they were in his company, and another, who had two children with him, +gave them to understand most emphatically that he had never heard of any +horses having been killed, though some natives had just killed and eaten +his own brother. + +<p>After vainly searching the district for many days, Forrest determined to +utilise the remainder of the time at his disposal by examining the +country as far to the eastward as his resources would permit. It was now +clear that the story of the white men's remains had originated in the +skeletons of the horses that perished during Austin's trip. No matter how +circumstantial might be a narration of the blacks, they invariably +contradicted themselves the next time they were interrogated, and it was +evident that no useful purpose would be served by following them on a +foolish errand from place to place. Forrest therefore penetrated some +distance east, but was not encouraged by the discovery of any useful +country. Nevertheless, he started on a solitary expedition ahead, taking +only one black boy and provisions for seven days. He reached a point one +hundred miles beyond the camp of the main body, to the eastward of Mount +Margaret on the present goldfields. He ascended the highest tree he could +find, and found the outlook was dreary and desolate. The country was +certainly slightly more open than that hitherto traversed, but it was +covered with spinifex, interspersed with an occasional stunted gum-tree. +Rough sandstone cliffs were visible about six miles to the north-east, +and more to the north appeared a narrow line of samphire flats with gum +trees and cypress growing on their edges. Of surface water there was no +appearance. + +<p>On his homeward route Forrest kept a more northerly and westerly course, +and crossed Lake Barlee and examined the northern shore; but he found +nothing to induce him to modify the unfavourable opinion pronounced on +the country by other explorers. He returned to Perth on the 6th August. + +<p>Forrest was next placed at the head of an expedition which was to cross +to Adelaide by way of the shores of the Great Australian Bight, along the +same ill-omened route followed by Eyre, and never trodden since his +remarkable journey. This time the historic cliffs were to be traversed +with but slight privation and no bloodshed. Though the information +supplied by Eyre was considered to be thoroughly trustworthy, it was +recognized that with the scanty means of observation at his command and +his famished condition, a few important facts might have escaped his +notice, and that if his route were followed by a well-equipped party, the +terrors of the region might assume less gigantic proportions. + +<p>Forrest's company was to consist of the leader and his brother Alexander, +two white men, and two natives, one of whom had accompanied Forrest on +his former trip. A coasting schooner, the Adur, of 30 tons, was to +accompany them round the coast, calling at Esperance Bay, Israelite Bay, +and Eucla, supplying them with provisions at these depots. + +<p>On the 30th of March they left Perth. The first part of the journey to +Esperance Bay was through comparatively settled and well-known country, +so that no fresh interest attached to it. They arrived at Dempster's +station at Esperance a few days before the Adur sailed into the Bay, and +on the 9th of May, 1870, they started on their next stage to Israelite +Bay. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-53map"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-53map.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Routes of Grey (1836, 1837 and 1839); Forrest (1869, 1870, 1874, 1879); and Giles (1873).</b></p> +</center> + +<p>From Esperance Bay to Israelite Bay the journey lacked incident, and it +was not until Forrest again parted from his relief boat that he had to +encounter the most serious part of his undertaking. He had now to face +the line of cliffs which frowned over the Bight, behind which he had, as +he knew, little or no chance of finding water for 150 miles. Having made +what arrangements he could to carry water, he left the last water on the +5th of April. About a week afterwards he reached the break in the cliffs, +where water could be obtained by digging in the sandhills. Luckily they +had found many small rock-holes filled with water, which had enabled them +to push steadily on. Forrest says that the cliffs, which fell +perpendicularly to the sea, although grand in the extreme, were terrible +to gaze from:-- + +<p>"After looking very cautiously over the precipice, we all ran back, quite +terrified by the dreadful view." + +<p>While resting and recruiting at the sandhills, he made an excursion to +the north, and after passing through a fringe of scrub twelve miles deep, +he came upon most beautifully-grassed downs. At fifty miles from the sea +there was nothing visible as far as the eye could reach but gentle +undulating plains of grass and saltbush. There being no prospects of +water, he was forced to turn back, fortunately finding a few surface +pools both on his outward and homeward way. + +<p>On the 24th they started from the sandhills for Eucla, the last +meeting-place appointed with the Adur. During this stage he kept to the +north of the Hampton Range, and through a country well-grassed but +destitute of surface water. The party reached Eucla on the 2nd of July, +and found the Adur duly awaiting them. Whilst at Eucla, Forrest, in +company with his brother, made another excursion to the north; he +penetrated some thirty miles inland, and found as before boundless +plains, beautifully grassed, though destitute of any signs of water. + +<p>After leaving Eucla, the explorers had a distressing stage to the head of +the Great Bight, where they finally obtained water by digging in the +sand. On this stage the horses suffered more than on any previous one, +having had to travel three days without a drink. From this point they +soon reached the settled districts of South Australia in safety. + +<p>Although this journey of Forrest's cannot strictly be called an exploring +expedition, inasmuch as he repeated the journey made under such terrible +conditions by Eyre travelling in the opposite direction, yet it is of +first-rate importance, inasmuch as, owing to the greater facilities he +enjoyed, he was able to pronounce a more final verdict than Eyre was able +to give. Forrest found that the gloomy thicket was a fringe confined to +the immediate coast-line. On every occasion that he penetrated it, he +came on good pastoral land beyond. He writes:-- + +<p>"The country passed over between longitude 126 degrees 24 minutes and 128 +degrees 30 minutes East as a grazing country far surpasses anything I +have ever seen. There is nothing in the settled portion of Western +Australia equal to it, either in extent or quality; but the absence of +permanent water is a great drawback...The country is very level, with +scarcely any undulation, and becomes clearer as you proceed north." + +<p>On his arrival in Adelaide he received a hearty welcome, and a similar +reception was accorded him on his return to Perth. Unfortunately this +expedition destroyed all hope of the existence of any river, the mouth of +which might have been crossed unwittingly by Eyre. + +<p>We now come to that exploit which gained for Forrest a place in the +foremost rank of Australian explorers. The western central desert had +long defied the explorers in their attempts to cross its dread confines. +But the young West Australian took his men and most of his horses through +the very heart of the terrible desert. We have seen how three expeditions +had started from the east for the purpose of making this continental +traverse, all differently composed -- one with the aid of camels only, +one with a composite equipment of both horses and camels, and the third +with only horses. The successful expedition to be now recorded travelled +from west to east, and crossed the desert with horses only. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-54"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-54.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Members of the Exploring Expedition, Geraldton to Adelaide, 1874. Standing, left to right: Tommy Pierre, Tommy Windich, James Kennedy, James Sweeny. Seated, left to right: Alexander Forrest (Second in Command), John Forrest (In Command).</b></p> +</center> + +<p>On the 14th of April, 1874, Forrest left Yuin, then the border of +settlement on the Murchison, accompanied by his brother Alexander, two +white men, and two natives, to endeavour to cross the unknown stretch of +desert country that separated the colonies of eastern Australia from the +western settlements. Their route at first lay along the Murchison River, +following the upper course, which they found to run through well-grassed +country, available for either sheep or cattle. From the crest of the head +watershed they had a view of their future travelling-ground to the +eastward. It appeared level, with low elevations, but there was a lack of +conspicuous hills, which did not promise favourably for water-finding, +though good pasture might be obtainable. + +<p>For the next few days the party were dependent for water on occasional +springs and scanty clay-pans. On the 27th, when following down a creek, +they suddenly came upon a fine spring, apparently permanent, which is +described by Forrest in his journal as one of the best he had ever seen, +both the grass and other herbage around being of fine quality. This place +he named Windich Springs, after Tommy Windich, one of the blacks who had +now been with Forrest on three expeditions. To the north-west was a fine +range of hills, which he named the Carnarvon Range. On leaving this +oasis, the explorers found themselves in less attractive country; +spinifex and sand became more frequent features of the landscape, and the +occasional water-supply became precarious. + +<p>On the 2nd of June, Forrest discovered the spring which aided them so +greatly in their efforts to cross. This he called Weld Springs, and he +describes it as unlimited in supply, clear, fresh, and extending down its +gully for over twenty chains. At this relief camp they halted in order to +rest the horses. + +<p>On the 8th Forrest started on a scouting expedition ahead, taking only a +black boy with him. He fully anticipated finding water, for as yet they +had not reached a waterless region, and he left instructions for the rest +to follow in his tracks in a day's time. He was unfortunate in his +selection of a course, for it led them for more than twenty miles over +undulating sand-ridges, without a sight of any indication of the presence +of water. At daybreak, from the top of a low stony rise, he obtained an +extensive outlook. Far as he could see to the north and east, nothing was +visible but the level unending spinifex; not a watercourse or a hill in +sight. Evidently they were trespassing on the edge of the central desert. + +<p>Turning back they met the remainder of the party about twenty miles from +Weld Springs; and the whole body retreated to their lately deserted camp. +After a day's rest, Alexander Forrest and a black boy started to the +south-east searching for water. At one o'clock sixty or seventy natives +appeared on the brow of the rise overlooking the camp. They were painted +and dressed in war costume, and evidently planning an attack. After some +consultation they suddenly descended the slope and dashed at the camp. +Fortunately the whites were on the alert, and a well-directed volley sent +them in head-long retreat to their vantage-point on the brow of the +ridge, where they held a fresh council of war. Presently they renewed the +assault, but a rifle-shot from Forrest put an end to the skirmish. That +evening Alexander and the boy returned, and were much surprised to hear +of the adventure with the blacks. They had been over fifty miles from +camp and had passed over some well-grassed country but had found no +water. As their detention at Weld Springs promised to be indefinite, the +party then built a rough shelter of stones in order to ensure themselves +some measure of protection against night attacks. When this small defence +work was finished, Forrest again reconnoitred ahead for water accompanied +by one black boy, and found some clay waterholes, of no great extent, but +sufficient for camping purposes. Thither the camp was shifted. + +<p>On the 22nd the leader made another search in advance, and in thirty +miles came to a fine supply of water, in a gully running through a +well-grassed plain whereon there was abundance of good feed for the +horses. To the south of this spot there was a small salt lake, which he +named Lake Augusta. Another good spring in grassy country was also found. +On the 30th of June Forrest made a scouting excursion to the eastward, +but experienced ill fortune; for having penetrated as far as possible +into the spinifex country, his horses gave out. By the aid of some scanty +pools of rainwater trapped in some rocks, he succeeded in getting a short +distance farther on foot, and in reaching a low range. From its summit he +obtained an extensive but depressing view, such as too often greeted the +explorer at that time and in that part of Australia. Far away to the +north and east, the grey horizon was as level and as uniform as the +placid sea; spinifex everywhere, unbroken by ranges or elevations within +over thirty miles. + +<p>He was now worried and perplexed as to the direction of his future +movements. The main party were following up his tracks; but to plunge +unthinkingly into such a desert as lay in front of them were sheer +madness. Fate relented, however, and after much toilsome search Forrest +found a small supply of water, enough for a few days, where he gratefully +awaited the approach of his companions. + +<p>During the short respite thus accorded them, a diligent search for water +was made amongst the low ranges, the only alternative being a retreat of +seventy miles. A little more water was found to the south-east, and, as +there was coarse rough grass around the well, it helped to prolong their +rest and afforded more time for further search. This time Alexander +Forrest went ahead, and twenty-five miles further to the eastward found a +spring, which was named after him, the Alexander Springs. + +<p>Another scouting excursion to the east was likewise fortunate, as far as +water was concerned, but the feed for the horses was very poor indeed, +and they were suffering greatly. They were now within one hundred miles +of Gosse's furthest point west, but that hundred miles was one long line +of desert perils. Repeated efforts to traverse it only reduced the little +remaining strength in the horses, leading to no discovery of water. But +at length a kindly shower filled some rock holes to the north-east of +their camp, and after much exertion and hardship they reached the old +camp that Giles had named Fort Mueller, and were able to congratulate +themselves upon having been the first to bridge the central gap of desert +that separated the two colonies. + +<p>As the course of Forrest's party from Fort Mueller to the telegraph line +was more or less the same as that pursued by Gosse, it is unnecessary to +follow the journal to its end. It is enough to state that on Sunday, the +27th of September, the telegraph line was reached at a point some +distance to the north of the Peake station. Thus safely concluded an +expedition that makes a mark in our geographical history, although it was +accompanied by no notable discovery. Central Australia had now been +crossed in the same zone that had turned back the explorers from the +east, and the fact that Forrest got through, equipped with only the +ordinary outfit of horses stamped him as a leader of unusual foresight +and judgment. + +<p>Forrest's last expedition was rather a survey than a journey of +discovery. In 1883, in company with several other surveyors, he landed at +Roebuck Bay, and examined a large portion of the Kimberley Division. He +proceeded from Roebuck Bay to the Fitzroy River, which his brother had +lately explored, and examined the intermediate country as far as St. +George's Range, reporting that it consisted mainly of rich elevated +grassy plains with abundance of water. He also investigated Cambridge +Gulf and the lowest part of the Ord River. + +<p>After quitting the field of exploration, John Forrest entered the wider +arena of politics, in which his reputation was enhanced. He held the +office of Premier of Western Australia continuously for ten years, and he +still fills a distinguished position among the public men of federated +Australia. He was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical +Society in 1876, and is now a G.C.M.G. and a Privy Councillor. + +<h4>19.3. ALEXANDER FORREST.</h4> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-55"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-55.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Alexander Forrest.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>Alexander Forrest was born in 1849, and died in 1901. He accompanied +his brother, as we have already noted, in two important expeditions, and +in 1871 he took charge of a private expedition to the eastward in search +of pastoral country. Owing to a late start, he and his party were +compelled to make for the coast when they had reached latitude 31 degrees +south, longitude 123 degrees east. This course led them to Mount Ragged, +whence, proceeding westerly, they returned to Perth by way of Esperance, +having penetrated inland six hundred miles and found a considerable area +of good country. + +<p>In 1879, Alexander Forrest led an expedition from the De Grey River to +the now customary goal, the overland telegraph line of South Australia. +He left the De Grey on the 25th of February, and reached Beagle Bay on +the 10th of April, the country passed over being like most land in the +immediate neighbourhood of the coast, poor and indifferent. + +<p>From Beagle Bay he followed the coast round to the Fitzroy, and proceeded +up that river until he encountered a range, which was named the King +Leopold Range. Here the party left the Fitzroy, of which river Forrest +speaks very highly, and struck north, looking for a pass through the +range. It proved to be very rough and precipitous, and when at last they +reached the sea, they found themselves in an angle, wedged in between the +sea and the range, romantic and picturesque, according to Forrest's +description, but quite impassible. Here, too, the natives approached them +in threatening numbers, but through the exercise of tact, peace was +preserved. On the 22nd of June they attacked one tier of the range, and +after a steep climb, which caused the death of one horse, they reached +the height of 800 feet and camped. Finding it so hard upon the horses, +Forrest left them to rest, and went on foot to discover a road. But he +came upon endless rugged zigzags, which so involved and baffled him that +he gave it up in despair, and returned. He had now, most reluctantly, to +abandon the idea of surmounting the range, and to make for the Fitzroy +once more. Following up the Margaret, a tributary of the Fitzroy, he +managed to work round the southern end of the range, which still frowned +defiance at him, and at last reached the summit, the crest of a +tableland, whence he saw before him good grassy hills and plains. Of this +country, which he called Nicholson Plains, Forrest speaks most +enthusiastically, and doubtless, after the late struggle with the range, +it must have appeared a perfect picture of enchantment. + +<p>On the 24th they reached a fine river, which was then running strong. +They named it the Ord, and followed its course for a time. Thence he +continued his way to the line, and on the 18th of August came to the +Victoria River. From the Victoria, Forrest had a hard struggle to reach +the telegraph line. The rations being nearly exhausted, and one man being +very ill, the leader started for Daly Waters station, taking one man with +him. After much suffering and privation they at last reached the line, +and obtained water at some tanks kept for the use of the line repairers. +The absence of a map of the line led Forrest to follow it north, away +from Daly Waters, and it was four days before they overtook a repairing +party and obtained food. + +<p>Alexander Forrest was afterwards for many years a member of the +Legislative Council of West Australia, was for six years Mayor of Perth +and a C.M.G. He died on the 20th June, 1901. A bronze statue was +erected to his memory in Perth, Western Australia, by his friends. + +</p><a name="chapter20"></a> +<h3>CHAPTER 20. LATER EXPLORATION IN THE WEST.</h3> + +<h4>20.1. CAMBRIDGE GULF AND THE KIMBERLEY DISTRICT.</h4> + +<p>The futile rush for gold to the Kimberley district had one good result -- +a better appreciation of its pastoral capabilities, and numerous short +expeditions were made in search of grazing country. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-56"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-56.jpg"></p> +<p><b>W. Carr-Boyd and Camel. Photographed at Laverton, Western Australia, October, 1906.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>Amongst these was one by W.J. O'Donnell and W. Carr-Boyd, who explored an +area extending from the overland line in the direction of Roebourne, and +were fortunate in finding good country. Later, in 1896, Carr-Boyd, +accompanied by a companion named David Breardon, who was afterwards out +with David Carnegie, visited the country about the Rawlinson Ranges and +penetrated to Forrest's Alexander Spring. His name is also known in +connection with exploration in the Northern Territory, and he has made +several excursions between the Southern goldfields of West Australia and +the South Australian border. + +<p>His experiences were not unlike those of the other explorers; he had to +struggle on against heat, thirst, and spinifex, and found occasional +tracts of pastoral land destitute of surface water. + +<p>In 1884 Harry Stockdale, an experienced bushman, started from Cambridge +Gulf in order to investigate the country to the southward, and explore +the land in its vicinity. + +<p>From the Gulf southward, he traversed well-watered and diversified +country till he reached Buchanan's Creek, which must be distinguished +from the stream of the same name in the Northern Territory of South +Australia.* Having formed a depot there, he hoped to make further +explorations, but owing to certain irregularities which had occurred +among his followers in his absence on a flying trip, he was compelled to +start immediately for his destination on the overland line. A very +singular incident happened during this latter part of his journey. Two of +the men, named Mulcay and Ashton desired, under the plea of sickness, to +be left behind, and resisted every attempt to turn them from their +purpose. Stockdale reached the line after suffering great hardship, but +the fate of the two abandoned men eluded all subsequent search. + +<blockquote>*[Footnote.] See Chapter 16.</blockquote> + +<h4>20.2. LINDSAY AND THE ELDER EXPLORING EXPEDITION.</h4> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-57"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-57.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Sir Thomas Elder, G.C.M.G. Photo: Duryea, Adelaide.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>In 1891 Sir Thomas Elder of South Australia, who had already done much in +the cause of exploration, projected another expedition on a large and +most ambitious plan. It was called The Elder Exploring Scientific +Expedition, and its main purpose was announced to be the completion of +the exploration of Australia. A map was prepared on which a huge extent +of the continent was partitioned off into blocks each bearing a +distinctive letter, A, B, C, D, etc., quite irrespective of the fact that +all these blocks had been partially explored and that some had even been +settled. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-58"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-58.jpg"></p> +<p><b>David Lindsay.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>The leadership of the party was offered to and accepted by David Lindsay, +who had already won for himself a name as a capable explorer in South +Australia. The second in charge was L.A. Wells. As the expedition was in +the main destitute of any striking results, a short synopsis of the +journey will satisfy our requirements. + +<p>Shortly after the expedition crossed the border-line between South +Australia and West Australia, Mr. Leech, one of the responsible officers, +was despatched on a fruitless trip northward to search for traces of the +ill-fated Gibson, who had perished with Giles some seventeen years +previously. The expedition then proceeded via Fort Mueller to Mount +Squires, where water was obtainable. Thence a south-west course was taken +to Queen Victoria's Spring. In latitude 29 degrees, 270 miles south of +Mount Squires, the eastern end of a patch of good pastoral country was +observed. On reaching the springs they were found to be dry, and all the +intended exploration which was to be effected from this base had to be +abandoned, the party having to push on to Fraser's Range; and this hasty +trip through the desert comprised the only useful work done. Lindsay +reported that, when half-way to the Range, they passed some good country +consisting of rich red soil, producing good stock bushes but all +exceedingly dry. A belt of country deserving the attention of prospectors +was also noted. Having rested some time at the Range, they set out to +examine, if possible, the western side of the desert they had just +traversed, but lack of water compelled them to take an extreme westerly +course to the Murchison by way of Mount Monger, passing through a country +covered with miserable thicket on a sandy soil with granite outcrops. On +the 1st of January, 1892, they reached their destination, when the +majority of the members left the party, and the leader was recalled to +Adelaide. + +<p>At the termination of the original expedition, or rather before its +conclusion was absolutely determined on, L.A. Wells made a flying trip +into the district lying between Giles's track of 1876 and Forrest's route +of 1874. Starting from his depot at Welbundinum, he completed the +examination of what was practically the whole of the still unexplored +portion in about six weeks, between the 23rd of February and the 4th of +April. During this expedition he travelled 834 miles, discovered some +fine ranges and hills, a large extent of pastoral country, some +apparently auriferous land, but no water of a permanent kind. The results +were indeed very promising, more valuable than those of the original +Elder Expedition, and Wells, whose hopes had risen with the success, was +intensely disappointed to find on his return that the expedition had been +disbanded. Both Lindsay and Wells were natives of South Australia, +Lindsay having been born at Goolwa, and Wells at Yallum station in the +south-east, which was owned by his father and uncle. Wells joined the +Survey Department of South Australia when but eighteen, and at +twenty-three was appointed assistant-surveyor to the North Territory +Border expedition. On the settlement of the border question he returned +to Adelaide, and is now engaged on the Victoria River. + +<h4>20.3. WELLS AND CARNEGIE IN THE NORTHERN DESERT.</h4> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-59"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-59.jpg"></p> +<p><b>L.A. Wells. Photo: Duryea, Adelaide.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>By this time the gold rush to the southern portion of Western Australia +had set in strong, and the country that had so long repelled the pastoral +pioneer by its aridity was now overrun with prospectors, their camps +supplied with water by condensers at the salt lakes and pools. At first +the loss of life was very great; for it was not likely that a district +that could be safely traversed only by the hardiest and most experienced +bushmen would freely yield its secrets to untried men. Of the many deaths +that occurred from thirst, no complete record will ever be available. +Some unrecognisable and mummified remains may some day be found amid the +untrodden waste; but few have yet been tempted to break in upon the +solitude of the dead men of the desert. + +<p>As the southern goldfields spread and became thickly-populated, the food +supply was an important question, and men's eyes naturally turned to the +well-stocked northern stations, from which many cattle were being sent +south by steamer. Though the distance overland was not prohibitive, the +belt of desert country that intervened, upon which Warburton to his +sorrow was the first to venture, forbade the passage of stock. This belt +of Sahara extended, roughly speaking, from the eastern border of the +colony to the head waters of the western coastal rivers. North and south +it lay between the parallels of 19 degrees and 31 degrees south. As yet +no daring attempt had been made to traverse its barren confines from +south to north. But, to the born explorer, difficulty and danger give an +added zest to geographical research; and in the year 1896 two separate +expeditions sought to cross this dreadful zone. Both left civilization +within a few days of each other. The first to start was known as the +Calvert Expedition, from its originator. It was under L.A. Wells, the +South Australian surveyor who had been the energetic second of the former +Elder Expedition. The other was equipped and led by the Honourable David +Carnegie. + +<p>Wells formed a depot at a spot well provided with camel feed and water, +at some distance to the south-west of Forrest's Lake Augusta, which he +found, at that time, dry. Here he left the main part of his caravan to +await his return whilst he made a flying trip to the north. He was away +from the 10th of August to the 8th of September, during which he found at +his furthest point, a distance of two hundred miles, a good native well, +which he named Midway Well. On the 14th of September the whole party made +a start, and reached Midway Well on the 29th, all well. At Separation +Well, another good well a little farther to the north, the party +separated, C.F. Wells, a cousin of the leader, and G.L. Jones, intending +to travel for about eighty miles in a north-west direction to examine the +country, and then to return on a north-east course and rejoin the caravan +at Joanna Springs, which had relieved Warburton in his extremity. About +thirty miles south of Joanna Springs, where the leader expected the two +men to cut his tracks, Wells found his camels suffering terribly from the +extreme heat and their labours among the constantly-recurring +sand-ridges, whilst the scanty native wells they found were insufficient +to give their camels water. When at last they reached the latitude of +Joanna Springs they had been obliged to abandon three camels and all +their equipment except the actual necessaries. + +<p>It was also evident that the longitude of the springs given by Warburton +was wrong, for all the country around was a sandy desert without the +slightest indication of well or spring. To linger in such a spot was to +court destruction, and they had to push on to the Fitzroy as fast as +their worn-out camels could take them. The reader will remember that +Warburton had failed to find A.C. Gregory's most southerly point on +Sturt's Creek when looking for it, and it was afterwards proved that +Joanna Springs had been charted by him about ten miles to the westward of +its true position. On the 7th of November, in the darkness of morning +they at last reached the Fitzroy, with the camels just at their last +gasp. + +<p>On the 16th of December, Wells, accompanied by that veteran pioneer N. +Buchanan, formerly of Queensland, started back with an Afghan, a native +boy, and eight camels, to look for the two men, who he hoped had +succeeded in finding Joanna Springs. He was absent until the 10th of +January, 1897, when he was forced to return unsuccessful. At the +beginning of April, taking with him his former companions of the +expedition, Wells renewed the search, and on the 9th at last succeeded in +identifying the Joanna Springs of Warburton. On the 13th some articles +belonging to the lost men were found amongst the natives, but he did not +at that time find the bodies. He started again with two members of the +West Australia police force, Sub-Inspector Ord and Trooper Nicholson, and +native trackers. This time they were successful in inducing some natives +to guide them to the exact spot where the remains lay amongst the +spinifex and sand. The bodies were within six miles of the place where, +on the last search expedition, Wells had found articles of equipment with +the natives. + +<p>G.L. Jones had kept a journal which supplied the clue to the cause of +their death. + +<p>"He stated in his journal," says Wells, "that they had gone +west-north-west for five days after separating from the main party, then +travelling a short distance north-east, and that both he and Charles felt +the heat terribly and were both unwell. They then returned to the well +(Separation Well) after an absence of nine days, rested at the water five +days, and then started to follow our tracks northward. Afterwards one of +their camels died, which obliged them to walk a great deal, and they +became very weak and exhausted by the intense heat. When writing he says +that two days previously he attempted to follow their camels, which had +strayed, but after walking half-a-mile he felt too weak to proceed and +returned with difficulty. There was at that time about two quarts of +water remaining to them, and he did not think they could last long after +that was finished." + +<p>From the above extract from Wells's Journal, it is evident that the +unfortunate men lost their lives through a mistake in judgment in +returning to Separation Well, the straying away of their camels, and the +merciless rays of the desert sun. + +<p>The account of this, the first expedition to cross the great sandy desert +from south to north, confirms in every particular Warburton's experiences +of the difficulties of exploration in that region. The intense heat of +the sun, and its radiation from the red sand-ridges, the heat from both +sky and earth, render it nearly impossible to travel during day, the only +time when a man can perceive those slight indications which may +eventually lead him to water. The traveller is therefore compelled to +make night-stages, and frequently passes unheeding the very pool or well +that would have saved his life. During the night not only are the natural +physical features difficult to discern, but the birds, those water-guides +of the desert, are sleeping. + +<p>As soon as the news that Jones and Wells were missing was wired to Perth, +the West Australian Government promptly despatched W.P. Rudall in charge +of a search-party, from Braeside station on the Oakover River. + +<p>Crossing into the desert country, Rudall, guided by blacks, came upon a +camp in which footsteps, supposed to be those of the missing men, were +traceable. His camels failing him, the tracks were lost, and he was +obliged to return. A second search was likewise fruitless, but rumours +brought in by the natives of straying camels, caused a third party to be +organised. Rudall this time went south of the head of the Oakover, and +penetrated the dry spinifex country below the Tropic. Here the bodies of +two men, supposed to have been murdered by the natives, were found, but +on further investigation it was decided that the remains were not those +of the men they were searching for. On his return Rudall started out on a +final trip, and penetrated to a point sixty miles south of Joanna Spring +before returning. Though these journeys were not successful in attaining +the initial object of their search, they were of great service in gaining +much information concerning the hitherto unknown desert. Running easterly +into this dry belt, Rudall found a creek, which is now known as the +Rudall River. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-60"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-60.jpg"></p> +<p><b>David Wynford Carnegie.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>Four days after Wells had started, the Honourable David Carnegie, fourth +son of the ninth Earl of Southesk, born March 23rd, 1871, left an outpost +of civilization called Doyle's Well, some fifty miles south of Lake +Darlot, intending to cross Warburton's Desert on a north-easterly course, +about two hundred miles to the east of the route pursued by surveyor +Wells. The objects of this purely private expedition were (1) extension +of geographical knowledge; (2) the desire to ascertain if any practicable +stock-route existed between Kimberley and Coolgardie; (3) the discovery +of patches of auriferous country within the confines of the desert. In +the two last objects Carnegie was doomed to disappointment, but as a +geographical contribution to our scanty knowledge of north-west +Australia, the outcome of his repeated journey was distinctly valuable. + +<p>Carnegie started with three white men and a native boy, and for many days +passed through country that afforded no water for the camels; of which +they had nine. A native was induced to lead them to a singular spring +situated in a cavern twenty-five feet underground. Though the water was +not easy of access, having to be hauled up by bucket to the surface, +there was an ample supply for the camels, and, as Carnegie considered the +well to be permanent, he named it the Empress Spring. + +<p>The discovery of this subterranean spring was indeed a godsend, as when +they eventually reached Forrest's Alexander Spring they found it dry. A +similar experience had befallen W.W. Mills who, after Forrest's +exploration, had attempted to take over a mob of camels in Forrest's +tracks. + +<p>Strangely enough a lagoon of fresh water was found at the foot of the +creek in which the spring was situated, and this satisfied their wants. +From this sheet, which was named Woodhouse Lagoon, the party kept a +nearly northerly course across what Carnegie calls in his book "the great +undulating desert of gravel." Over this terrible region of drought and +desolation the party made their painful way by the aid of miserable +native wells, found with the greatest difficulty, and a few chance +patches of parakeelia,* until they were relieved by finding, through the +good offices of an aboriginal guide, a beautiful spring which was named +Helena Spring. They were then seven days out from Woodhouse Lagoon, and +during the last days of the stage they had been travelling across most +distressing parallel sand-ridges. + +<blockquote>*[Footnote.] A ground plant which camels eat, and which assuages their +thirst.</blockquote> + +<p>From Helena Spring Carnegie struggled on, intending to strike the +northern settlements at Hall's Creek where there is a small mining +township. On the way there, while still in unexplored country, they +discovered one more oasis, in a rock hole, which was called Godfrey's +Tank, after Godfrey Massie, one of the party. On November 25th, 1896, +they congratulated themselves that they were at last clear of the desert +and its desolation, having come out on to a well-watered shady river, +running towards the northern coast. But a sad accident turned their +rejoicing into mourning. Charles Stansmore accidentally slipped on a rock +when out shooting, and his gun going off, he was shot through the heart +and died instantly. His friend Carnegie speaks most highly of him, and +his sudden death on the threshold of success was a sad blow to the +company. Stansmore was the third explorer to lose his life from a gun +accident. + +<p>At Hall's Creek Carnegie heard of the misfortune that had befallen Wells, +in the loss of two of his party, and he at once volunteered his +assistance; but as search-parties had already started out, his aid was +not required. He therefore rested for a short time before again trying +conclusions with the desert on the return journey. Sturt's Creek was by +this time occupied and stocked, and the party followed it down until they +arrived at its termination in Gregory's Salt Sea. From this point +Carnegie kept a southerly course to Lake Macdonald near the South +Australian border, passing on his way a striking range which he named the +Stansmore Range, after his unfortunate companion. Lake Macdonald was long +thought to be a continuation of Lake Amadeus, until the exploration of +Tietkins in 1889 proved its isolation. From Lake Macdonald, Carnegie, who +had now three horses in his equipment, kept a more south-westerly course +towards the Rawlinson Range, the endless sand-dunes still crossing his +track in dreary succession. So persistently did they rise across his path +that, on one day, eighty-six of them were crossed by the caravan during a +progress of eight hours. From the Rawlinson Range they kept on the same +south-west course until they struck their outward track at Alexander +Spring. A fall of rain fortunately replenished the spring shortly after +the arrival of the party. They reached Lake Darlot on the 15th of July, +and their desert pilgrimage was ended. + +<p>Not only did Carnegie get safely across the dreaded desert, but he +returned overland to his starting-point by a different route. He wrote a +book, Spinifex and Sand, which contains a most interesting account of +this journey, as well as a graphic and picturesque description of the +physical features of the Great Sandy Desert. + +<p>Carnegie died before he had made more than this one contribution to +Australian geography. Like the ill-fated Horrocks, he had the explorer's +ardent spirit. His restless and adventurous soul ever leading him onward +to the frontiers of settlement and the outskirts of civilised life, he +fell beneath a shower of poisoned arrows at Lokojo in Nigeria, on the +west coast of Africa, on the 27th of November, 1900. + +<h4>20.4. HANN AND BROCKMAN IN THE NORTH-WEST.</h4> + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-61"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-61.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Frank Hann. Explorer of the North-West, and discoverer of a stock route between South Australia and Western Australia. Photo: Mathewson, Brisbane.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>The isolation of that remote corner of the continent in which Grey had +made his maiden effort at exploration, added to the discouraging and +forbidding report brought back by Alexander Forrest of his repulse by the +King Leopold Range, had deterred further exploration there. Frank H. +Hann, who had been a Queensland pioneer, came over to Derby, and, after +one or two tentative excursions into the desert country to the south, had +his attention drawn to the unknown country to the north of the King +Leopold Range. Hann crossed the range with difficulty; but after +examining the country to the north and east on the coast side of the +range, he was so well satisfied with its pastoral capabilities that he +returned to Derby and applied for a pastoral lease. + +<p>Wishing to make a closer examination of the locality, he returned +accompanied by Sub-Inspector Ord. Some of the tributaries of the Fitzroy +were traced and named, and an extensive river, which Hann called the +Phillips, was afterwards re-named the Hann by the Surveyor-General of +Western Australia. One very rugged range could not be surmounted, and had +to be skirted to the east, as the only apparent gap was an impassable +gorge with precipitous sides, through which the Fitzroy River forced a +passage. It was named the Sir John Range. After more good pastoral +country was found, the party returned to Derby. Hann afterwards, in 1903, +made the first of several trips from Laverton, Western Australia, to +Oodnadatta in South Australia. He reported having found a practicable +stock-route, of which he was chiefly in search, as far as the Warburton +Ranges, and some pastoral land north and west of Elder Creek. Since then +he made another journey with the same object in view, but encountered +extremely dry weather and underwent many hardships. Hann was born in +Wiltshire, in 1846, and came to Victoria with his parents at a very early +age. He spent most of his life squatting in North Queensland, where he +held several station properties. + +<p>In the first year of the present century the Western Australian +Government followed up Hann's explorations north of the King Leopold +Range, by a larger and better-equipped party instructed to make a +thorough examination of the region. It was placed in charge of F.S. +Brockman, a Government surveyor, who had with him C. Crossland as second, +F. House as naturalist, and Gibbs Maitland as geologist. + +<p>Brockman was born in Western Australia in 1857, was educated at Bishop's +College, and after a spell in the bush on his father's properties, he +joined a Government Survey camp, as cadet. In 1879 he started as surveyor +on his own account. From 1882 to 1897 he was employed by the Lands and +Survey Department in many parts of Western Australia from Cambridge Gulf +in the north to the Great Bight in the south. At the time when he was +selected to lead the Kimberley expedition, he was Controller of the Field +Survey Staff. + +<p>Brockman was most successful in securing full information of this +long-secluded region; of its geographical, geological, and botanical +details. Many interesting photographs were obtained of the different +physical features and of the aborigines and their modes of life; amongst +them being views of rock paintings similar to the mysterious scenes +noticed by Grey during his first expedition to the Glenelg River. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-62"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-62.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Aboriginal Rock Painting on the Glenelg River. From a photograph by F.S. Brockman.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>The party left Wyndham on Cambridge Gulf and proceeded first southwards +and then to the westward to the Charnley River, which had been discovered +by Frank Hann. The tributary waters of the Glenelg and Prince Regent +Rivers, and the tidal rivers that flow into Collier and Doubtful Bays +were also visited, and Brockman traced the Roe River from its source to +its outflow in Prince Frederick Harbour. The Moran River was discovered, +and its whole course traced to the mouth in the same inlet. The head +waters of the King Edward River were discovered at the watershed; and +this river was again met lower down and its course traced to its exit. +Portions of the shores of Admiralty Gulf, Vansittart, and Napier Broome +Bay were closely examined with a view to selecting a suitable port for +the district. The most important practical result of the expedition was +the discovery of an area of six million acres of basaltic pastoral +country covered with blue grass, Mitchell and kangaroo grasses, and many +varieties of what is known as top feed. No auriferous country was found, +but some fine specimens of the baobab tree were seen, some of them +averaging fifty feet in diameter. + +<center> +<p><a name="favenc-63"></a><img alt="" src="favenc-63.jpg"></p> +<p><b>Typical Australian Explorers of the early Twentieth Century.</b></p> +</center> + +<p>We have now turned the last page of the story of those bold spirits who +played no mean part in the making of Australasia by exploring the +continent. For nearly a century and a quarter the white man had been +restlessly searching out and traversing every square mile of the land, +and now, at the beginning of the twentieth century, his work is finished. +And throughout the long struggle it had ever been a stubborn conflict +between the explorer and the inert forces of Nature. Through the weary +toilsome years of arduous discovery, Man and Nature had seldom marched +side by side as friends and allies. When Nature posed as the explorer's +friend and guide, it was often only to lure him on with a smiling face to +his doom. From the days when the soldier of King George the Third went +forth with his firelock on his shoulder, computing the distance he +covered by wearily counting the number of paces he trudged, to the day +when the modern adventurer aloft on his camel eagerly scans the horizon +of the red desert in search of the distant smoke of a native fire, and +then patiently tracks the naked denizen of the wilderness to his hoarded +rock-hole or scanty spring, the explorer has ever had to fight the battle +of discovery unaided by Nature. The aborigines generally either feigned +ignorance of the nature of the country, or gave only false clues and +misguiding directions. Even the birds and animals of the untrodden +regions seemed to resent the advance of civilization, and to delight in +leading the footsteps of the white intruder astray. Hence it was by slow +degrees, by careful study of the work of his predecessors in the field, +and often by heeding the warning conveyed in their unhappy fate, that the +Australian explorer added to the sum of knowledge of his country, and +step by step unveiled the hidden mysteries of the continent. + +<hr width="50%" align="center"> + +<a name="indexofnames"></a> +<h3>INDEX OF NAMES OF PERSONS.</h3> + +<p>Andrews.<br> +Ashton.<br> +Austin.</p> + +<p>Babbage.<br> +Bagot, Walter.<br> +Baines.<br> +Baker.<br> +Bannister.<br> +Barallier.<br> +Barclay, H.V.<br> +Barker, Captain.<br> +Barrett.<br> +Bass.<br> +Baxter.<br> +Beckler, Dr. H.<br> +Becker, Dr. L.<br> +Bedart.<br> +Berry, Alex.<br> +Binney.<br> +Black, William.<br> +Bladen, F.M.<br> +Bland.<br> +Blaxland.<br> +Bonney.<br> +Boyd, Thomas.<br> +Bourne.<br> +Bowen, Governor.<br> +Breardon.<br> +Brahe.<br> +Briggs.<br> +Brisbane, Governor.<br> +Brockman.<br> +Brown, Kenneth.<br> +Brown, Maitland.<br> +Browne, Dr.<br> +Buchanan, N.<br> +Bunbury.<br> +Burgess.<br> +Burke.</p> + +<p>Calvert (Leichhardt).<br> +Calvert.<br> +Cameron.<br> +Campbell (South Australia).<br> +Campbell.<br> +Carmichael, S.<br> +Carnegie, D.W.<br> +Carpenter.<br> +Carr-Boyd.<br> +Carron.<br> +Cayley.<br> +Clarke, A.W.B.<br> +Clarke (The Barber).<br> +Classen.<br> +Clayton.<br> +Collie, Alex.<br> +Collins, Captain.<br> +Cowderoy.<br> +Cox.<br> +Crossland.<br> +Cunningham.<br> +Cunningham, Allan.<br> +Cunningham, Richard.<br> +Currie, Captain.</p> + +<p>Dale, Ensign.<br> +Dalrymple.<br> +Darling, Governor.<br> +Davis, R.N.<br> +Dawes, Lieutenant.<br> +Delisser.<br> +Dempster.<br> +Dixon.<br> +Dobson, Captain.<br> +Douglas.<br> +Dunn.<br> +Dutton.</p> + +<p>Ebden.<br> +Elder, Sir Thomas.<br> +Elsey, J.R.<br> +Eulah.<br> +Evans, G.W.<br> +Eyre.</p> + +<p>Farmer, Charles.<br> +Favenc, Ernest.<br> +Finch.<br> +Finnegan.<br> +Fitzgerald, Governor.<br> +Flinders.<br> +Flood.<br> +Forrest, Alexander.<br> +Forrest, Sir John.<br> +Fraser.<br> +Fraser, Charles.<br> +Freeling.<br> +Fremantle.<br> +Frome, Captain.</p> + +<p>Gardiner.<br> +Gibbu, Jimmy.<br> +Gibson, Alfred.<br> +Gilbert.<br> +Giles.<br> +Gipps, Governor.<br> +Gosse, W.C.<br> +Goyder.<br> +Grant, Lieutenant J.<br> +Grant, Harper, and Anderson.<br> +Gray.<br> +Gregory, A.C.<br> +Gregory, Frank.<br> +Gregory, H.C.<br> +Grey, Sir G.</p> + +<p>Hack, Stephen.<br> +Hack.<br> +Hamilton.<br> +Hann, Frank.<br> +Hann, William.<br> +Harding.<br> +Hardwicke.<br> +Harris, J.<br> +Harris, Dr.<br> +Harris (Babbage).<br> +Hart, Captain.<br> +Hawdon, Joseph.<br> +Hawker.<br> +Hawson, Captain.<br> +Hedley, G.<br> +Helpman, Lieutenant.<br> +Hely, Hovenden.<br> +Hentig.<br> +Henty.<br> +Hergott.<br> +Heywood.<br> +Hindmarsh, Governor.<br> +Hodgkinson.<br> +Hopkinson.<br> +Horrocks.<br> +House.<br> +Hovell, Captain.<br> +Howitt.<br> +Hughes, Walter.<br> +Hughes.<br> +Hulkes.<br> +Hume, H.<br> +Hume, K.<br> +Hunter, Captain.</p> + +<p>Irby.</p> + +<p>Jacky-Jacky.<br> +Jardine, Alec.<br> +Jardine, Frank.<br> +Jardine, John.<br> +Johns, Adam.<br> +Johnson.<br> +Johnston, Captain.<br> +Jones, G.L.</p> + +<p>Kekwick.<br> +Kelly.<br> +Kennedy, E.B.<br> +King (Burke and Wills).<br> +King, Governor.<br> +King, Lieutenant P.P.<br> +King, Private.<br> +Kyte, Ambrose.</p> + +<p>Landells, G.J.<br> +Landsborough, W.<br> +Lang.<br> +Langbourne.<br> +Larmer.<br> +Lawson, Lieutenant W.<br> +Leech.<br> +Leichhardt.<br> +Leslie, P.<br> +Lewis.<br> +Light, Colonel.<br> +Lindesay, Sir P.<br> +Lindsay, David.<br> +Lockyer.<br> +Logan, Captain.<br> +Luff.<br> +Lukin, Gresley.<br> +Lushington, Lieutenant.<br> +Lynd, R.</p> + +<p>MacLeary, G.<br> +Macmanee.<br> +MacPhee.<br> +MacPherson, R.<br> +Macquarie, Governor.<br> +Maitland.<br> +Mann, J.F.<br> +Marsh, James.<br> +Massie.<br> +Matthews.<br> +McKinlay.<br> +McMillan, Angas.<br> +Meehan.<br> +Meekleham.<br> +Miller.<br> +Mills, W.W.<br> +Mitchell, Commissioner.<br> +Mitchell, Sir Thomas.<br> +Mitchell (Kennedy's expedition).<br> +Moore.<br> +Mueller, Baron von.<br> +Mulcay.<br> +Mulholland.<br> +Murray, Sir G.<br> +Myalls.</p> + +<p>Neilson and Williams.<br> +Niblett.<br> +Nicholson, Trooper.<br> +Nicholson, William.</p> + +<p>Oakden.<br> +O'Donnell.<br> +Ord.<br> +Ovens, Major.<br> +Overlanders.<br> +Oxley.</p> + +<p>Palmer.<br> +Pamphlet.<br> +Parry.<br> +Parsons.<br> +Patterson.<br> +Patton.<br> +Peron.<br> +Phillip, Governor.<br> +Piesse.<br> +Poole.<br> +Preston, Lieutenant.<br> +Prout.<br> +Purcell.</p> + +<p>Robinson.<br> +Robinson (Giles).<br> +Roe.<br> +Roper.<br> +Rossitur, Captain.<br> +Rudall.<br> +Russell, Stuart.</p> + +<p>Saunders, P.<br> +Scarr, F.<br> +Scott.<br> +Scrutton.<br> +Scully, Captain.<br> +Smith, William.<br> +Smith (Grey).<br> +Somer.<br> +Stanley, Captain.<br> +Stanley, Lord.<br> +Stansmore.<br> +Stapylton.<br> +Stephenson, W.<br> +Stirling.<br> +Stock.<br> +Stockdale, H.<br> +Stone.<br> +Stokes, Captain.<br> +Strzelecki, Count.<br> +Stuart.<br> +Sturt, Captain.<br> +Swinden.</p> + +<p>Tate.<br> +Taylor (geologist).<br> +Taylor.<br> +Tench, Captain.<br> +Thompson.<br> +Thring.<br> +Throsby.<br> +Tietkins, W.H.<br> +Tommy (Giles).<br> +Trigg, S.</p> + +<p>Uniacke.</p> + +<p>Vallack.<br> +Vancouver.</p> + +<p>Walcott.<br> +Walker, Dr.<br> +Walker, Frederick.<br> +Wall.<br> +Wannon, R.<br> +Warburton, Major.<br> +Warburton, Richard.<br> +Warner.<br> +Warrigals.<br> +Welch.<br> +Wentworth, W.C.<br> +White, Surgeon.<br> +Wickham, Captain.<br> +Wild, Joseph.<br> +Wells, L.A.<br> +Wells, C.F.<br> +Wills.<br> +Wilson, Dr. J.B.<br> +Wilson, J.S.<br> +Windich, Tommy.<br> +Wood, Charles.<br> +Worgan, Surgeon.<br> +Wright.<br> +Wylie.</p> + +<p>Young.</p> + +<p>Zouch, Lieutenant.</p> + +<hr width="50%" align="center"> + +<a name="indexofplaces"></a> + +<h3>INDEX OF PLACE NAMES.</h3> + +<p>Abundance, Mount.<br> +Adder Waterholes.<br> +Adelaide.<br> +Adelaide River.<br> +Admiralty Gulf.<br> +Albany.<br> +Albany Pass.<br> +Albany, Port.<br> +Alberga River.<br> +Albert River.<br> +Albury.<br> +Alexander Springs.<br> +Alexandria Lake.<br> +Alfred and Marie Range.<br> +Alice Springs.<br> +Alps, Australian.<br> +Amadeus, Lake.<br> +Anson Bay.<br> +Anthony Lagoon.<br> +Arbuthnot Range.<br> +Archer River.<br> +Arden, Mount.<br> +Arnhem's Land.<br> +Arthur River.<br> +Ashburton Range.<br> +Ashburton River.<br> +Attack Creek.<br> +Augusta, Lake.<br> +Augusta, Port.<br> +Augustus, Mount.<br> +Australia Felix.<br> +Australian Alps.<br> +Australian Bight.<br> +Australian Sea (inland).<br> +Avoca River.<br> +Ayer's Rock.</p> + +<p>Ballone River.<br> +Barcoo River.<br> +Barlee, Lake.<br> +Barrier Range.<br> +Batavia River.<br> +Bathurst.<br> +Bathurst's Falls.<br> +Bathurst, Lake.<br> +Beagle Bay.<br> +Becket's Cataract.<br> +Beltana.<br> +Belyando River.<br> +Benson, Mount.<br> +Bernier Island.<br> +Berimma.<br> +Birdum.<br> +Blackheath.<br> +Blackwood River.<br> +Blanche, Lake.<br> +Blaxland, Mount.<br> +Blue Mud Bay.<br> +Blue Mountains.<br> +Bogan River.<br> +Bolgart Springs.<br> +Bonney, Lake.<br> +Bonython Range.<br> +Boundary Dam.<br> +Bourke.<br> +Bowen, Port.<br> +Bowen River.<br> +Boyne River.<br> +Braeside.<br> +Brinkley Bluff.<br> +Brisbane River.<br> +Broadsound.<br> +Brodie's Camp.<br> +Brown, Lake.<br> +Brown, Mount.<br> +Broken Bay.<br> +Bruce, Mount.<br> +Buchan River.<br> +Buchanan's Creek.<br> +Buchanan Creek.<br> +Bulloo.<br> +Burdekin River.<br> +Buree.<br> +Burt's Creek.</p> + +<p>Caermarthen Hills.<br> +Caledonia Australis.<br> +Cambridge Gulf.<br> +Campbell River.<br> +Canning Downs.<br> +Carnarvon Range.<br> +Careening Bay.<br> +Carpentaria Downs.<br> +Carpentaria, Gulf.<br> +Cassini Island.<br> +Castlereagh River.<br> +Cecil Plains.<br> +Central Mount Stuart (Sturt).<br> +Chambers's Creek.<br> +Chambers Pillar.<br> +Chambers River.<br> +Charlotte Waters.<br> +Charnley River.<br> +Chauvel's Station.<br> +Claude River.<br> +Cloncurry River.<br> +Cockburn Sound.<br> +Coen River.<br> +Cogoon River.<br> +Collier Bay.<br> +Comet Creek.<br> +Condamine River.<br> +Coolgardie.<br> +Cooper's Creek.<br> +Corella Lagoon.<br> +Cowcowing.<br> +Cox River.<br> +Cresswell Creek.<br> +Culgoa, River.<br> +Cunningham's Gap.<br> +Curtis, Port.</p> + +<p>Daly, River.<br> +Daly Waters Creek.<br> +Dampier's Land.<br> +Darling Downs.<br> +Darling River.<br> +Darlot, Lake.<br> +Davenport Range.<br> +Dawson River.<br> +Deception, Mount.<br> +De Grey River.<br> +Denison, Port.<br> +Denmark River.<br> +Depot Glen.<br> +Derby.<br> +Diamantina River.<br> +Dorre Island.<br> +Doubtful Bay.<br> +Douglas Creek.<br> +Doyle's Well.<br> +Dumaresque River.</p> + +<p>East Alligator River.<br> +Einnesleigh River.<br> +Elder Creek.<br> +Elizabeth, Lake.<br> +Elsey Creek.<br> +Empress Spring.<br> +Emu Island.<br> +Endeavour River.<br> +Escape River.<br> +Escape Cliffs.<br> +Esperance Bay.<br> +Essington, Port.<br> +Eucla.<br> +Euroomba.<br> +Eva Springs.<br> +Everard River.<br> +Exmouth, Mount.<br> +Eyre, Lake.<br> +Eyre's Creek.</p> + +<p>Farmer, Mount.<br> +Finke Creek.<br> +Finke, Mount.<br> +Fish River.<br> +Fitzgerald River.<br> +Fitzmaurice River.<br> +Fitzroy River.<br> +Fletcher's Creek.<br> +Flinders Range.<br> +Flinders River.<br> +Flood's Creek.<br> +Flying Fox Creek.<br> +Fortescue River.<br> +Fossilbrook.<br> +Fowler's Bay.<br> +Frances, Lake.<br> +Fraser's Range.<br> +Fremantle.<br> +Freeling, Mount.<br> +Frew's Pond.<br> +Frew River.<br> +Frome, Lake.</p> + +<p>Gairdner Lake.<br> +Gantheaume Bay.<br> +Gascoyne River.<br> +Gawler Range.<br> +Geelong.<br> +Geographe Bay.<br> +George the Fourth, Port.<br> +George, Lake.<br> +Georgina River.<br> +Geraldine.<br> +Gibson's Desert.<br> +Gibson's Station.<br> +Gilbert River.<br> +Gippsland.<br> +Glenelg River.<br> +Gnamnoi River.<br> +Godfrey's Tank.<br> +Goulburn Plains.<br> +Goulburn River.<br> +Grampian Mountains.<br> +Great Australian Desert.<br> +Gregory, Lake (Eyre).<br> +Gregory River.<br> +Grey, Fort.<br> +Grose River.<br> +Gundagai.<br> +Gwydir River.</p> + +<p>Hale River.<br> +Hall's Creek.<br> +Hamilton Springs.<br> +Hampton Range.<br> +Hammersley Range.<br> +Hann River.<br> +Hanover Bay.<br> +Hanson Bluff.<br> +Hardey River.<br> +Harris, Mount.<br> +Hastings River.<br> +Hawdon, Lake.<br> +Hawkesbury River.<br> +Hawkesbury Vale.<br> +Hay River.<br> +Haystack, Mount.<br> +Helena Spring.<br> +Hopeless, Mount.<br> +Herbert River.<br> +Hergott Springs.<br> +Hermit Range.<br> +Hovell River.<br> +Hugh River.<br> +Hume River.<br> +Hunter River.</p> + +<p>Illawara, Lake.<br> +Impey River.<br> +Inland Sea.<br> +Irwin River.<br> +Isaacs River.<br> +Israelite Bay.</p> + +<p>Jarvis Bay.<br> +Jervois Ranges.<br> +Jimbour.<br> +Joanna Springs.</p> + +<p>Kalgan River.<br> +Karaula River (Darling).<br> +Katherine Creek.<br> +Katherine Station.<br> +Kenneth, Mount.<br> +Kilgour River.<br> +Kimberley.<br> +Kindur River.<br> +King Edward River.<br> +King George's Sound.<br> +King Leopold Range.<br> +Kintore Range.<br> +Kojunup River.</p> + +<p>Lacepede Bay.<br> +Lachlan River.<br> +Lagoons, Valley of.<br> +Laidley's Ponds.<br> +Lansdowne Hills.<br> +La Trobe River.<br> +Laverton.<br> +Leichhardt River.<br> +Leisler, Mount.<br> +Leschenhault River.<br> +Limestone.<br> +Lincoln, Port.<br> +Lindsay, Mount.<br> +Lindsay River.<br> +Little, Mount.<br> +Liverpool Plains.<br> +Liverpool Range.<br> +Loddon, River.<br> +Lofty, Mount.<br> +Logan Vale.<br> +Lyons River.</p> + +<p>Macalister River.<br> +Macarthur River.<br> +MacDonnell Range.<br> +Macdonald, Lake.<br> +Macedon, Mount.<br> +Mackenzie River.<br> +Macquarie, Port.<br> +Macquarie River.<br> +Maneroo.<br> +Manning River.<br> +Maranoa River.<br> +Margaret River.<br> +Margaret, Mount.<br> +Marshall River.<br> +Marryat River.<br> +Mary, Lake.<br> +Massacre, Lake.<br> +McConnel, Mount.<br> +McIntyre's Brook.<br> +McKinlay's Range.<br> +McPherson's Station.<br> +Menindie.<br> +Midway Well.<br> +Mitchell River.<br> +Monaro.<br> +Monger, Mount.<br> +Moran River.<br> +Moreton Bay.<br> +Moore, Lake.<br> +Moore River.<br> +Moorundi.<br> +Muckadilla Creek.<br> +Mueller, Fort.<br> +Mueller Creek.<br> +Muirhead, Mount.<br> +Mulligan River.<br> +Murchison River.<br> +Murray River.<br> +Murrumbidgee River.<br> +Musgrove Range.</p> + +<p>Namoi River.<br> +Napier Broome Bay.<br> +Narran River.<br> +Nattai.<br> +Naturaliste Creek.<br> +Neale Creek.<br> +Nepean River.<br> +Newcastle Waters.<br> +New Year's Creek.<br> +New Zealand.<br> +Nicholson River.<br> +Nicholson Plains.<br> +Nickol Bay.<br> +Nive River.<br> +Nogoa River.<br> +Norfolk Island.<br> +Norman River.<br> +Normanby River.<br> +Northumberland Creek.<br> +Nundawar Range.</p> + +<p>Oakover River.<br> +Oaldabinna.<br> +Olga, Mount.<br> +Oodnadatta.<br> +Ord River.<br> +Ovens River.<br> +Oxley's Tableland.</p> + +<p>Pallinup River.<br> +Palmer River.<br> +Pandora's Pass.<br> +Peak Downs.<br> +Peak Station.<br> +Pearce Point.<br> +Peel's Plains.<br> +Peel Range.<br> +Peel River.<br> +Pernatty.<br> +Perth.<br> +Phillip Island.<br> +Phillips Creek.<br> +Phillips River.<br> +Planet Creek.<br> +Plenty River.<br> +Poole, Mount.<br> +Portland Bay.<br> +Powell's Creek.<br> +Prince Frederick Harbour.<br> +Prince Regent's River.<br> +Princess Charlotte Bay.<br> +Pudding Pan Hill.<br> +Pumice Stone River.</p> + +<p>Queen Charlotte Vale.</p> + +<p>Raffles Bay.<br> +Ragged, Mount.<br> +Ranken River.<br> +Rannes.<br> +Rawlinson Ranges.<br> +Red Hill.<br> +Remarkable, Mount.<br> +Richmond Hill.<br> +Riley, Mount.<br> +Rockhampton.<br> +Rockingham Bay.<br> +Roe River.<br> +Roebourne.<br> +Roebuck Bay.<br> +Roper River.<br> +Rossitur Vale.<br> +Rudall River.<br> +Russell Range.</p> + +<p>Samson, Mount.<br> +Saxby River.<br> +Seaview, Mount.<br> +Segenhoe.<br> +Separation Well.<br> +Serle, Mount.<br> +Shark's Bay.<br> +Shaw River.<br> +Shelburne Bay.<br> +Sherlock River.<br> +Shoalhaven River.<br> +Sir John Range.<br> +Somerset.<br> +South Australia.<br> +Spencer's Gulf.<br> +Squires, Mount.<br> +Stansmore Range.<br> +Staaten River.<br> +Stephens, Port.<br> +Stevenson Creek.<br> +St. George's Range.<br> +St. George's Rocks.<br> +St. Vincent's Gulf.<br> +Stony Desert.<br> +Strangways Creek.<br> +Strathalbyn.<br> +Streaky Bay.<br> +Strzelecki Creek.<br> +Sturt's Creek.<br> +Sutton River.<br> +Swan Hill.<br> +Swan River.<br> +Swinden's Country.</p> + +<p>Tambo River.<br> +Tate River.<br> +Tench River.<br> +Tennant's Creek.<br> +Termination Hill.<br> +Thistle Cove.<br> +Thompson's Station.<br> +Thomson River.<br> +Timor.<br> +Torrens, Lake.<br> +Tumut River.<br> +Tweed River.</p> + +<p>Vansittart Bay.<br> +Victoria (Port Essington).<br> +Victoria.<br> +Victoria, Lake.<br> +Victoria River, (Barcoo).<br> +Victoria Spring.</p> + +<p>Walsh River.<br> +Warburton Creek.<br> +Warburton Desert.<br> +Warburton Range.<br> +Warning, Mount.<br> +Warragamba River.<br> +Warrego River.<br> +Waterloo Wells.<br> +Weathered Hill.<br> +Welbundinum.<br> +Welcome, Mount.<br> +Weld Springs.<br> +Welbing.<br> +Wellington Valley.<br> +Western Port.<br> +Weymouth Bay.<br> +Whaby's Station.<br> +Williams River.<br> +Williora, River.<br> +Williorara.<br> +Wimmera River.<br> +Windich Springs.<br> +Wingillpin.<br> +Woodhouse Lagoon.<br> +Woolloomooloo.<br> +Wyndham.</p> + +<p>Yarraging.<br> +Yass Plains.<br> +Yilgarn.<br> +York, Cape.<br> +York, Mount.<br> +Yorke Peninsula.<br> +Youldeh.<br> +Yuin.<br> +Yule River.</p> + +<p>Zamia Creek.</p> + +<hr width="50%" align="center"> + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Explorers of Australia and their +Life-work, by Ernest Favenc + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPLORERS OF AUSTRALIA *** + +***** This file should be named 10840-h.htm or 10840-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/8/4/10840/ + +Produced by Amy M Zelmer, Sue Asscher + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating 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of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work + +Author: Ernest Favenc + +Release Date: January 26, 2004 [EBook #10840] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPLORERS OF AUSTRALIA *** + + + + +Produced by Amy M Zelmer, Sue Asscher + + + + +THE MAKERS OF AUSTRALASIA. + +EARLY VOLUMES +(IN PREPARATION). + +CAPTAIN COOK and his Predecessors in Australasian Waters, by REGINALD +FORD, F.R.G.S., Member of the British National Antarctic Expedition. + +GOVERNOR PHILLIP and his Immediate successors, BY F.M. BLADEN, Chief +Librarian, Public Library, Sydney. + +EDWARD GIBBON WAKEFIELD, by THE EDITOR. + +SIR GEORGE GREY, by JAMES COLLIER, sometime Librarian, General Assembly +Library, Wellington. + + +[Illustration. Captain Charles Sturt, aged about 54 years. From the +painting by Crossland.] + + + +THE + +EXPLORERS OF AUSTRALIA + +AND THEIR LIFE-WORK. + +BY + +ERNEST FAVENC, + +Explorer, and Author of The History of Australian Exploration, The +Geographical Development of Australia, Tales of the Austral Tropics, The +Secret of the Australian Desert, etc., and Voices of the Desert (Poems). + + + +1908. + + + +AUTHOR'S PREFACE. + +In presenting to the public this history of those makers of Australasia +whose work consisted in the exploration of the surface of the continent +of Australia, I have much pleasure in drawing the reader's attention to +the portraits which illustrate the text. It is, I venture to say, the +most complete collection of portraits of the explorers that has yet been +published in one volume. Some of them of course must needs be +conventional; but many of them, such as the portrait of Oxley when a +young man, and of A.C. Gregory, have never been given publicity before; +and in many cases I have selected early portraits, whenever I had the +opportunity, in preference to the oft published portrait of the same +subject when advanced in years. + +There are many who assisted me in the collection of these portraits. To +Mr. F. Bladen, of the Public Library, Sydney; Mr. Malcolm Fraser, of +Perth, Western Australia; Mr. Thomas Gill, of Adelaide; Sir John Forrest; +The Reverend J. Milne Curran; Mr. Archibald Meston; and many others my +best thanks are due. In fact, in such a work as this, one cannot hope for +success unless he seek the assistance of those who remembered the +explorers in life, or have heard their friends and relatives talk +familiarly of them. Let me particularly hope that from these pages our +youth, who should be interested in the exploration of their native land, +will form an adequate idea of the character of the men who helped to make +Australia, and of some of the adverse conditions against which they +struggled so nobly. + +ERNEST FAVENC. + +Sydney, 1908. + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY. + +The published Journals of all the Explorers of Australia. +Reports of Explorations published in Parliamentary Papers. +History of New South Wales, from the Records. (Barton and Bladen.) +Account of New South Wales, by Captain Watkin Tench. +Manuscript Diaries of Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth. +Manuscript Diaries of G.W. Evans. (Macquarie and Lachlan Rivers.) +The Pioneers of Victoria and South Australia, by various writers. +Contemporaneous Australian Journals of the several States. +Private letters and memoranda of persons in all the States. +Manuscript Diary of Charles Bonney. +Pamphlets and other bound extracts on the subject of exploration. +The Year Book of Western Australia. +Records of the Geographical Societies of South Australia and Victoria. +Russell's Genesis of Queensland. +Biographical Notes, by J.H. Maiden. +Spinifex and Sand, by David Carnegie. + + +INTRODUCTION. + +In introducing this book, I should like to commend it to its readers as +giving an account of the explorers of Australia in a simple and concise +form not hitherto available. + +It introduces them to us, tells the tale of their long-tried patience and +stubborn endurance, how they lived and did their work, and gives a short +but graphic outline of the work they accomplished in opening out and +preparing Australia as another home for our race on this side of the +world. + +The battle that they fought and won was over great natural difficulties +and obstacles, as fortunately there were no ferocious wild beasts in +Australia, while the danger from the hostility of the aborigines (though +a barbarous people) was with care and judgment, with a few exceptions, +avoided. + +Their triumph has resulted in peaceful progress and in permanent +occupation and settlement of a vast continent. + +Of all the Australian explorers the fate of Leichhardt -- "the Franklin +of Australia," as the author so justly terms him -- is alone shrouded in +mystery. "No man knoweth his sepulchre to this day." His party of six +white men (including Leichhardt) and two black boys, with 12 horses, 13 +mules, 50 bullocks, and 270 goats, have never been heard of since they +left McPherson's station on the Cogoon on 3rd April, 1848; and although +there have been several attempts to unravel the mystery, there is +scarcely a possibility of any discovery in regard to their fate ever +being made. + +There can be no doubt that the fascination concerning the work of the +early explorers of Australia will gather strength as it goes. Hitherto we +have been too close to them rightly to appreciate what was done. This +book therefore comes at an opportune time, and is a valuable record. The +author has already done a great service to Australian explorations by his +writings, and in the present instance has added to our obligation to him +by condensing the records into a smaller compass, and by that means has +brought it within convenient limits for use in schools and for general +readers. + +Of the explorers of Australia, eleven have been honoured by being placed +on the Golden Roll (Gold Medallists) of the Royal Geographical Society of +London; Edward John Eyre being the first to receive the honour in 1843, +and Ernest Giles being the eleventh and last to receive it in 1880. In +the order of Nature one generation passeth away and another generation +cometh, and so it comes to pass that every one on the Golden Roll except +myself has gone to the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller +returns. + +That the Australian people will always remember the deeds of those, who, +in their day and generation, under arduous and difficult conditions +devoted themselves to the exploration of the Continent goes without +saying, and I, who in bygone years had the honour of assisting in the +task, heartily wish that such fruit may be born of those deeds that +Australia will continue to increase and flourish more and more +abundantly, and thus fulfil her destiny as the great civilising and +dominating power in the Southern Seas. + +JOHN FORREST. + +The Bungalow, +Hay Street, Perth, +Western Australia, +January 7th, 1908. + + + +CONTENTS. + +PREFACE. + +BIBLIOGRAPHY. + +INTRODUCTION, by Sir John Forrest. + +CONTENTS. + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + +PART 1. EASTERN AUSTRALIA. + +CHAPTER 1. ORIGINS. +1.1. Governor Phillip. +1.2. Captain Tench. +1.3. The Blue Mountains: Barallier. +1.4. The Blue Mountains: Blaxland. + +CHAPTER 2. GEORGE WILLIAM EVANS. +2.1. First Inland Exploration. +2.2. The Lachlan River. +2.3. The Unknown West. + +CHAPTER 3. JOHN OXLEY. +3.1. General Biography. +3.2. His First Expedition. +3.3. The Liverpool Plains. +3.4. The Brisbane River. + +CHAPTER 4. HAMILTON HUME. +4.1. Early Achievements. +4.2. Discovery of the Hume (Murray). + +CHAPTER 5. ALLAN CUNNINGHAM. +5.1. Coastal Expeditions. +5.2. Pandora's Pass. +5.3. The Darling Downs. + +CHAPTER 6. CHARLES STURT. +6.1. Early Life. +6.2. The Darling. +6.3. The Passage of the Murray. + +CHAPTER 7. SIR THOMAS MITCHELL. +7.1. Introductory. +7.2. The Upper Darling. +7.3. The Passage of the Darling. +7.4. Australia Felix. +7.5. Discovery of the Barcoo. + +CHAPTER 8. THE EARLY FORTIES. +8.1. Angas McMillan and Gippsland. +8.2. Count Strzelecki. +8.3. Patrick Leslie. +8.4. Ludwig Leichhardt. + +CHAPTER 9. EDMUND B. KENNEDY. +9.1. The Victoria River and Cooper's Creek. +9.2. A Tragic Expedition. + +CHAPTER 10. LATER EXPLORATION IN THE NORTH-EAST. +10.1. Walker in Search of Burke and Wills. +10.2. Burdekin and Cape York Expeditions. + + +PART 2. CENTRAL AUSTRALIA. + +CHAPTER 11. EDWARD JOHN EYRE. +11.1. Settlement of Adelaide and the Overlanders. +11.2. Eyre's Chief Journeys. + +CHAPTER 12. ATTEMPTS TO REACH THE CENTRE. +12.1. Lake Torrens Pioneers and Horrocks. +12.2. Charles Sturt. + +CHAPTER 13. BABBAGE AND STUART. +13.1. B. Herschel Babbage. +13.2. John McDouall Stuart. + +CHAPTER 14. BURKE AND WILLS. + +CHAPTER 15. BURKE AND WILLS RELIEF EXPEDITIONS AND ATTEMPTS TOWARDS +PERTH. +15.1. John McKinley. +15.2. William Landsborough. +15.3. Major P.E. Warburton. +15.4. William Christie Gosse. + +CHAPTER 16. TRAVERSING THE CENTRE. +16.1. Ernest Giles. +16.2. W.H. Tietkins and Others. + + +PART 3. WESTERN AUSTRALIA. + +CHAPTER 17. ROE, GREY, AND GREGORY. +17.1. Roe and the Pioneers. +17.2. Sir George Grey. +17.3. Augustus C. Gregory. + +CHAPTER 18. A.C. AND F.T. GREGORY. +18.1. A.C. Gregory on Sturt's Creek and the Barcoo. +18.2. Frank T. Gregory. + +CHAPTER 19. FROM WEST TO EAST. +19.1. Austin. +19.2. Sir John Forrest. +19.3. Alexander Forrest. + +CHAPTER 20. LATER WESTERN EXPEDITIONS. +20.1. Cambridge Gulf and the Kimberley District. +20.2. Lindsay and the Elder Exploring Expedition. +20.3. Wells and Carnegie in the Northern Desert. +20.4. Hann and Brockman in the North-West. + + +INDEX OF NAMES OF PERSONS. + + +INDEX OF PLACE NAMES. + + +[ILLUSTRATIONS. + + +Captain Charles Sturt, aged about 54 years. From the painting by +Crossland. + +Gregory Blaxland. Statue of Gregory Blaxland, Lands Office, Sydney. + +George William Evans. Discoverer of the Macquarie and Lachlan Rivers. + +John Oxley. From a portrait in the possession of Mrs. Oxley, of Bowral. +The portrait was presented to Mrs. King, widow of Governor King, in 1810, +and signed by him. + +The Lachlan River at the point where Oxley left it on the 4th August, +1818, and struck North-East to gain the Macquarie River and follow that +river up to Bathurst. Photo by the Reverend J.M. Curran. + +Hamilton Hume, in his later life. + +Allan Cunningham. + +Memorial to Allan Cunningham, Botanical Gardens, Sydney. + +The Darling River, at Sturt's first view point. Photo by the Reverend J. +Milne Curran. + +Junction of the Darling and Murray Rivers. + +Sir Thomas Mitchell. + +A Chief of the Bogan River Tribe. Photo by the Reverend J.M. Curran. + +Ludwig Leichhardt. + +John Frederick Mann. Born 1819, died September 7th, 1907, at Sydney. The +last survivor of a Leichhardt expedition. + +Edmund B. Kennedy. + +Wild Blacks of Cape York signalling. + +Frank L. Jardine. + +Alec W. Jardine. + +Statue of John McDouall Stuart, in the Lands Office, Sydney. + +Edward John Eyre. + +John Ainsworth Horrocks. + +Sturt's Depot Glen. The Glen, eroded in vertical silurian slate, is less +than a mile long. Poole rests by the creek where the gorge opens quite +abruptly on to a vast cretaceous plain. Photo by the Reverend J.M. +Curran. + +Poole's Grave and Monument, near Depot Glen, Tibbuburra, New South Wales. +Photo by the Reverend J.M. Curran. + +B. Herschel Babbage. Born 1815; died 1878. + +John McDouall Stuart. + +Robert O'Hara Burke. From a photograph in the possession of E.J. Welch, +of the Howitt Relief Expedition. + +William John Wills. From a photograph in the possession of E.J. Welch, of +the Howitt Relief Expedition. + +Scenes on Cooper's Creek (After Howitt). +1. Burke's Grave. +2. Where King was Found. +3. Grave of Wills. + +John King. From a photo in the possession of E.J. Welch. + +Edwin J. Welch, second in command of the Howitt Relief Expedition, and +the first man to find King. + +Burke and Wills Monument Statue, Melbourne. + +Major P.E. Warburton. + +William Christie Gosse, Deputy Surveyor-General of South Australia. + +Baron Sir Ferdinand von Mueller. + +A Camel Caravan in an Australian Desert. + +W.H. Tietkins, 1878. + +Ernest Favenc. + +John Septimus Roe, First Surveyor-General of West Australia. + +Sir George Grey. + +Rock Painting, North-Western Australia. + +Augustus C. Gregory, 1880. Photo, Freeman, Sydney. + +Frank T. Gregory. + +Maitland Brown. + +John Forrest in 1874. + +Members of the Exploring Expedition, Geraldton to Adelaide, 1874. +Standing, left to right: Tommy Pierre, Tommy Windich, James Kennedy, +James Sweeny. +Seated, left to right: Alexander Forrest (Second in Command), John +Forrest (In Command). + +Alexander Forrest. + +W. Carr-Boyd and Camel. Photographed at Laverton, Western Australia, +October, 1906. + +Sir Thomas Elder, G.C.M.G. Photo: Duryea, Adelaide. + +David Lindsay. + +L.A. Wells. Photo: Duryea, Adelaide. + +David Wynford Carnegie. + +Frank Hann. Explorer of the North-West, and discoverer of a stock route +between South Australia and Western Australia. Photo: Mathewson, +Brisbane. + +Aboriginal Rock Painting on the Glenelg River. From a photograph by F.S. +Brockman. + +Typical Australian Explorers of the early Twentieth Century. + +Ernest Giles. + + +MAPS AND PLANS. + +1. Routes of Blaxland, Wentworth, and Lawson (1813); Evans (1813); Oxley +(1817, 1818, 1823); and Sturt (1828 and 1829). + +2. Routes of Hume and Hovell (1824); Sturt (1829 and 1830); and Mitchell +(1836). + +3. Routes of Sturt (1829 and 1830); and Hume and Hovell (1824). + +4. Routes of Leichhardt (1844 and 1845); Mitchell (1845 and 1846); and +Kennedy (1847 and 1848). + +5. Routes of Eyre (1840 and 1841). + +6. Basin of Lake Torrens, supposed extent and formation of. + +7. Route of Sturt's Central Australian Expedition (1844 to 1846). + +8. Routes of Stuart (1858 to 1862); and Burke and Wills (1860 and 1861). + +9. Routes of Grey (1836, 1837 and 1839); Forrest (1869, 1870, 1874, +1879); and Giles (1873). + +... + + +PART 1. + + +EASTERN AUSTRALIA. + + + +CHAPTER 1. ORIGINS. + + +1.1. GOVERNOR PHILLIP. + +Arthur Phillip, whose claim to be considered the first inland explorer of +the south-eastern portion of Australia rests upon his discovery of the +Hawkesbury River and a few short excursions to the northward of Port +Jackson, had but scant leisure to spare from his official duties for +extended geographical research. For all that, Phillip and a few of his +officers were sufficiently imbued with the spirit of discovery to find +opportunity to investigate a considerable area of country in the +immediate neighbourhood of the settlement, and, considering the fact that +all their explorations at the time had to be laboriously conducted on +foot, they did their work well. + +The first excursion undertaken by Phillip was on the 2nd of March, 1788, +when he went to Broken Bay, whence, after a slight examination, he was +forced to return by the inclemency of the weather. On the 15th of April +he made another attempt to ascertain the character and features of the +unknown land that he had taken possession of. Landing on the shore of the +harbour, a short distance from the North Head, he started on a tour of +examination, and, in the course of his march, penetrated to a distance of +fifteen miles from the coast. At this point he caught sight of the +distant range that was destined to baffle for many years the western +progress of the early settlers. Phillip, on this his first glimpse of it, +christened the northern elevations the Caermarthen Hills, and the +southern elevations the Lansdowne; and a remarkable hill, destined to +become a well-known early landmark, he called Richmond Hill. In the brief +view he had of this range, there was suddenly born in Phillip's mind the +conviction that a large river must have its source therein, and that upon +the banks of such a river, the soil would be found more arable than about +the present settlement. He at once made up his mind to try and gain the +range on a different course. + +A week later he landed at the head of the harbour and directed his march +straight inland, hoping to reach either the mountains, which he knew to +be there, or the river in whose existence he firmly believed. +Disappointment dogged his steps; on the first day a belt of dense scrub +forced his party to return and when, on the morrow, they avoided the +scrub by following up a small creek and got into more thinly timbered +country, their slow progress enabled them to accomplish only thirty miles +in five days. By that time, they were short of provisions; there was no +river visible, and the range still looked on them from afar. What cheered +them was the sight of some land that promised richly to reward the labour +of cultivation. + +It was not until the 6th of June, 1789, that Phillip resumed his labours +in the field of exploration. The Sirius had then returned from the Cape +of Good Hope, and he could reckon on the assistance of his friend, +Captain Hunter, to re-investigate Broken Bay with the vessel's boats. +Accordingly, two boats were sent on to Broken Bay with provisions, where +they were joined by the Governor and his party, who had marched overland. +Besides Phillip, the party consisted of Captain Hunter and two of his +officers, Captain Collins, Captain Johnston, and Surgeon White. + +For two days they were engaged in examining the many inlets and openings +of the Bay, and on the third, they chanced upon a branch that had before +escaped their notice. They proceeded to explore it, and found the river +of which Phillip had dreamed. The next day, renewed examination proved +that it was indeed a noble river, with steep banks and a depth of water +that promised well for navigation. + +After their return to Sydney Cove, preparations were at once made to +follow up this important discovery. On the 28th of June, Phillip, again +accompanied by Hunter, left the Cove, having made much the same +arrangements as before. There was a slight misunderstanding with regard +to meeting the boat; but, after this was cleared away, the party soon +floated out on to the waters of the new-found river. They rowed up the +river until they reached the hill that Phillip, at a distance, had +christened Richmond Hill. On traversing a reach of the stream, the main +range, that as yet they had only dimly seen in the distance, suddenly +loomed ahead of them, frowning in rugged grandeur close upon them, as it +seemed. Struck with admiration and astonishment at this unexpected +revelation of the deep ravines and stern and gloomy gorges that scored +its front, over which hung a blue haze, Phillip, almost involuntarily, +named them on the moment; the Blue Mountains. Next morning the explorers +ascended Richmond Hill, from whose crest they looked across a deep, +wooded valley to the mountains still many miles away. After a hasty +examination of the country on the banks of the river, Phillip and his +band returned to the settlement, he having now realised his brightest +hopes and anticipations. + +On the 11th of April, 1791, Phillip again started on an expedition, the +object of which was a closer inspection of the Blue Mountains. He was +accompanied this time by Captain Tench and Lieutenant Dawes; the latter, +in December, 1789, had been sent out with a small party to reach the foot +of the range, but had succeeded in approaching only within eleven miles +of the Mountains, whence he was forced to retire by the rugged and broken +nature of the country. On the present occasion, they reached the river +two days after leaving Rose Hill. They followed it for another two days, +but made no further discoveries, being greatly delayed by the constant +detours around the heads of small tributary creeks, too deep to cross in +the neighbourhood of the river. + +This was the last exploring expedition undertaken by Governor Phillip. +Considering that his health was not robust, and that the work entailed +was of a specially arduous nature, his personal share in exploring the +country about the little settlement was noteworthy. It proved him to +possess both the foresight and the energy necessary in an explorer. + +1.2. CAPTAIN TENCH. + +In the month of June, 1789, Captain Watkin Tench, who, during his short +sojourn in the infant colony showed himself as zealous in exploration as +he was keen in his observations, started from the newly-formed redoubt at +Rose Hill, of which he was in command, on a short excursion to examine +the surrounding country. This trip, inspired by Tench's ardent love of +discovery, became a noteworthy one in the annals of New South Wales. It +was made during the month that witnessed the discovery of the Hawkesbury +River. On the second day after his party left Rose Hill, they found +themselves early in the morning on "the banks of a river, nearly as broad +as the Thames at Putney, and apparently of great depth, the current +running very slowly in a northerly direction." + +This river, at first known as the Tench, was afterwards named the Nepean +by Phillip, when its identity as a tributary of the Hawkesbury had been +confirmed. Two other slight excursions were made by Tench in company with +Lieutenant Dawes, who was in charge of the Observatory, and ex-surgeon +Worgan. In May, 1791, Tench and Dawes started from Rose Hill and +confirmed the supposition that the Nepean was an affluent of the +Hawkesbury, a matter over which there had been some doubt since its first +discovery by Tench. Tench returned to England in H.M.S. Gorgon, in +December, 1791. + +The names of Paterson, Johnson, Palmer, and Laing are also connected with +exploration on the upper Hawkesbury. + +1.3. THE BLUE MOUNTAINS: BARALLIER. + +The exploration of that portion of Australia which was accessible by the +scanty means of the early settlers was for many years impeded by the +stern barrier of the mountains, and most of their efforts in the +direction of discovery were aimed at surmounting the range that defied +their attacks. Among the many whose attempts were signalised only by +failure were the gallant Bass, whose name, for other reasons, will never +be forgotten by Australians, the quarrelsome and pragmatic Cayley, and +the adventurous Hack. Amongst them there was one, however, whose failure, +read by the light of modern knowledge, was probably a geographical +success. This was Francis Barallier, ensign in the New South Wales corps, +who was encouraged by Governor King to indulge his ardent longing for +discovery. By birth a Frenchman, Barallier had received his ensigncy by +commission on the 13th of February, 1801, having done duty as an ensign +since July, 1800, by virtue of a government general order issued by +Governor Hunter. In August, 1801, he had been appointed by Governor King +military engineer, in place of Captain Abbott resigned. In February, +1802, he was succeeded by Lieutenant George Bellasis, an artillery +officer. Besides his expeditions to the Blue Mountains, he did much +surveying with Lieutenant James Grant in the Lady Nelson. In 1804, he +went to England and saw service in several regiments, distinguishing +himself greatly in military engineering, amongst his works being the +erection of the Nelson Column in Trafalgar Square, the designer of which +was Mr. Railton. Barallier died in 1853. + +Peron, the French naturalist, tells us that when in Sydney in October, +1802, he persuaded Governor King to fit out a party to attempt the +passage of the mountains, and that a young Frenchman, aide-de-camp to the +Governor, was intrusted with the leadership. He returned, however, +without having been able to penetrate further than his English +predecessors. + +On the following month, however, Barallier set out from Parramatta, on +his famous embassy to the King of the Mountains. This fictitious embassy +arose from the fact that Colonel Paterson having refused Barallier the +required leave, King claimed him as his aide-de-camp, and sent him on +this embassy. Barallier started with four soldiers, five convicts, and a +waggon-load of provisions drawn by two bullocks. He crossed the Nepean +and established a depot at a place known as Nattai, whence the waggon was +sent back to Sydney for provisions, Barallier, with the remainder of his +men and a native, pushing out westwards. After this preliminary +examination he returned to the depot, and made a fresh departure on the +22nd of November, and, continuing mostly directly westwards, he reached a +point (according to his chart) about one hundred and five miles due west +from Lake Illawarra. If this position is even approximately correct, he +must have been at the very source of the Lachlan River. + +I give a few extracts from his diary, which was not even translated until +the Historical Records of New South Wales were collected by Mr. F.M. +Bladen. They refer to the crossing of the range. + +"On the 24th of November, I followed the range of elevated mountains, +where I saw several kangaroos. This country is covered with meadows and +small hills, where trees grow a great distance apart...I resumed my +journey, following various directions to avoid obstacles, and at 4 +o'clock I arrived on the top of a hill where I discovered that the +direction of the chain of mountains extended itself north-westerly to a +distance which I estimated to be about thirty miles, and which turned +abruptly at right angles. It formed a barrier nearly north and south, +which it was necessary to climb over...At 7 o'clock I arrived on the +summit of another hill, from where I noticed three openings: the first on +the right towards North 50 West; the other in front of me, and which +appeared very large, was west from me; and the third was South 35 West. + +...This discovery gave me great hope, and the whole of the party appeared +quite pleased, thinking that we had surmounted all difficulties, and that +we were going to enter a plain, the apparent immensity of which gave +every promise of our being able to penetrate far into the interior of the +country...At six o'clock I found myself at a distance of about two miles +from the western passage...I was then only half-a-mile from the passage, +and I sent on two men in order to discover it, instructing them to ascend +the mountain to the north of this passage...I waited till 7 o'clock for +my two men, who related to me, that after passing the range which was in +front of us we would enter an immense plain, that from the height where +they were on the mountain, they had caught sight of only a few hills +standing here and there on this plain, and that the country in front of +them had the appearance of a meadow...At daybreak I left with two men to +verify myself the configuration of the ground, and to ascertain whether +the passage of the Blue Mountains had really been effected. I climbed the +chain of mountains north of us. When I had reached the middle of this +height the view of a plain as vast as the eye could reach confirmed to me +the report of the previous day...I discovered towards the west and at a +distance which I estimated to be forty miles, a range of mountains higher +than those we had passed...From where I was, I could not detect any +obstacle to the passage right to the foot of those mountains...After +having cut a cross of St. Andrew on a tree to indicate the terminus of my +second journey, I returned by the same route I had come." + +Barallier concludes his diary by mentioning another projected expedition +over the mountains from Jervis Bay. But no record of such a journey has +ever come to light. + +[Illustration. Statue of Gregory Blaxland, Lands Office, Sydney.] + +[Map. Routes of Blaxland, Wentworth, and Lawson (1813); Evans (1813); +Oxley (1817, 1818, 1823); and Sturt (1828 and 1829).] + +1.4. THE BLUE MOUNTAINS: BLAXLAND. + +Whether Barallier succeeded or not in reaching the summit of the +mountains, the verdict accepted at that date was that they had not been +passed; and until the year 1813, they were regarded as impenetrable. The +narrative of the crossing of these mountains, and the chain of events +that led up to the successful attempt is widely known, but only in a +general way. It is for this reason that a longer and more detailed +account is given in these pages; and as the expedition was successful in +opening up a way to the interior of the Continent, it is fitting that its +leader and originator, Gregory Blaxland, should be classed amongst the +makers of Australasia. + +Blaxland was born in Kent, in 1771, and arrived in the colony in 1806, +accompanied by his wife and three children. He settled down to the +congenial occupation of stockbreeding, on what was then considered to be +a large scale. Finding that his stock did not thrive so well in the +immediate neighbourhood of the sea coast, and wanting more land for +pasturing his increasing herds, he made anxious enquiries in all +directions as to the possibility of crossing the Blue Mountains inland. +Nobody would entertain such a suggestion, the failures had been too many: +every one to whom he broached the subject declared it to be impossible, +prophesying that the extension of the settlement westward would forever +be obstructed by their unscalable heights. Blaxland, however, was not +intimidated by these disheartening predictions; and, in 1811, he started +out on a short journey of investigation, in company with three Europeans +and two natives. On this trip he found that by keeping on the crowning +ridge or dividing water-shed between the streams running into the Nepean +and those that fed what he then took to be an inland river, he got along +fairly well. Some time afterwards he accompanied the Governor in a boat +excursion up the Warragamba, a tributary of the Nepean, and though there +were no noteworthy results, it convinced Blaxland that, could he follow +his former tactics of adhering to the leading ridge that formed the +divide between the tributaries of the northern bank of this river and the +affluents of the Grose, a tributary of the Hawkesbury, he would attain +his object and reach the highlands. It will thus be seen that Blaxland +acted with a definite and well-thought-out mode of procedure; and that +the ridge he selected for the attempt was chosen with judgment based on +considerable knowledge of the locality, which he gained from many talks +with the men who hunted and frequented the foothills of the range. +Finally, when he had arranged his plan of assault, he confided his +intention to two friends, Lieutenant William Lawson and William Charles +Wentworth, whose names are associated with his in the conquest of the +Mountains. They both consented to accompany him, and agreed to follow his +idea of stubbornly following one leading spur. Blaxland's former +expedition had convinced him that the local knowledge of the natives did +not extend far enough to be of any service, and they therefore did not +take any aborigines with them. They took pack-horses, however, which +proves that the party started with a well-founded faith in their ultimate +success, and gave no heed to the terrifying descriptions of former +travellers. + +The besetting hindrance to their progress was the low scrub of brushwood +that greatly delayed the pack-horses. This obstacle was overcome only by +patiently advancing before the horses every afternoon, and cutting a +bridle-track for the succeeding day's stage. Thus literally, the way that +ultimately led into the interior was won by foot, and the little +pioneering band eventually descended into open grazing country at the +head of what is now known as the Cox River. The outward and return trip +occupied less than one month's time; which speaks volumes for the wise +choice of route; but what says more, is the fact that no better natural, +upward pathway has since been found. + +A synopsis of Blaxland's journal is given here, commencing with a few +quoted lines of preamble:-- + +"On Tuesday, May 11th, 1813, Mr. Gregory Blaxland, Mr. William Wentworth +and Lieutenant Lawson, attended by four servants, with five dogs and four +horses laden with provisions and other necessaries, left Mr. Blaxland's +farm at South Creek for the purpose of endeavouring to affect a passage +over the Blue Mountains, between the Western River* and the River +Grose...The distance travelled on this and subsequent days was computed +by time, the rate being estimated at about two miles per hour." + +*[Footnote.] The Warragamba. + +They camped at the foot of the ridge that was to witness the last +struggle between man and the Mountains. On the first day, they did three +miles and a half in a direction varying from south-west to +west-north-west, and that night obtained a little grass for the horses, +and some water in a rocky hole. + +The heavy dews in the morning retarded any attempts at early departures, +as the thick wet brush rendered it difficult to drive the horses, so +that, as a rule, it was nine o'clock before they were able to strike +camp. The ridge, still favouring the direction of west and north-west, on +the third day they arrived at a tract of land, hilly, but with tolerable +grass on it. Here they found traces of a former white visitant in the +shape of a marked-tree line. Two miles from this point, they met with a +belt of brushwood so dense that for the first time they were forced to +alter their course; but the subordinate spurs on either side ending in +rocky precipices, they had to return and again confront the scrub. In +these circumstances, they made up their minds to rely upon axe and +tomahawk to win a way, and so next morning fell to work cutting a passage +for the horses. The ascent was also now becoming steep and rough, and on +this day some of the horses fell while struggling up with their loads. + +The first day's work gained for them five miles, but at the end of their +toil they had to retrace their weary way back to the last night's camp. +The next day they cleared the track for only two miles further ahead; so +much time being wasted in walking backwards and forwards to the work. +There was no grass amongst the scrub that encompassed them, and when, on +Monday, they determined to move the camp equipage forward, they packed +the horses with as much cut-grass as they could put on them. This +amounted to, according to Lawson's diary, about two hundred pounds weight +for each horse, which, in addition to their ordinary loads, must have +been a very weighty packload for uphill work. However, according to +Blaxland, "they stood it well." They obtained no water for their animals +that night, and what they wanted for their own requirements had to be +painfully carried up a cliff about six hundred feet in height. On the +succeeding day they suddenly came on what at first appeared to be an +impassable barrier. The ridge which they had so pertinaciously followed, +had, for the last mile narrowed and dwindled down into a sharp +razor-backed spur, flanked with rugged and abrupt gullies on either +slope. Across this narrow way now stretched a perpendicularly-sided mass +of rock, which seemed effectually to bar their path. The removal of a few +large boulders however, revealed an aperture which, after some labour, +they widened sufficiently to allow the pack-horses to squeeze through. + +Once through they began to ascend what they estimated to be the second +tier of the Mountains. Shortly after they left camp that morning they +came on a pile of stones, or cairn, evidently the work of some European, +which they attributed to Bass. They were much elated at the thought that +they had now passed beyond the limit of any previous attempt.* + +*[Footnote.] This cairn was afterwards named Cayley's Repulse by Governor +Macquarie: but recent research goes to show that Cayley followed the +valley of the Grose, and was many miles to the north of where the cairn +was found. According to Flinders, Bass was not on the high ridge +traversed by Blaxland and party. + +They could now look round with triumph on the panorama spread beneath +their view, and from the superior elevation which they had obtained, they +took the bearings of several noticeable landmarks that they had seen +before only from the flat country. The labour of cutting a path each day +for the horses for the next day's march had, however, still to be +continued; but the crest of the ridge was again wider, though the gullies +on each side were as steep as before. That night, in camp, the dogs were +uneasy throughout the night, and several times gave tongue and aroused +the sleepers, tired with their day's work. From what they found +afterwards, they had good reason to believe that the blacks had been +lurking around meditating an attack. + +They then passed over the locality known in the present day as +Blackheath, and soon afterwards had their course diverted to the +northward by what Blaxland terms "a stone wall rising perpendicularly out +of the side of the mountain." This they tried to descend, but without +success, and so kept on along its brow. Undergrowth still delayed them, +and they still had to spend their energies in hewing a passage, until on +the 28th of the month, they camped on the edge of the steep descent that +had lately marched beside them. The decline was, however, not quite so +abrupt, and the face no longer composed of solid rock. They paused to +overlook what lay before them and immediately below, and found the view +more gratifying than they had anticipated. What they had at first taken +for sandy barren soil proved now, on nearer inspection, to be forest-land +fairly covered with a good growth of grass. The horses not having tasted +fresh grass for some days, they cut a slanting trench across the sloping +face of the descent in order to afford the horses some sort of foot-hold, +and managed to get them down to a little feed that evening. + +Next morning they were up and away early, and reached the foot of the +mountain (Mount York) at 9 a.m., having had to carry the pack-loads down +most of the way themselves, as it was too steep for laden horses to +preserve their balance with safety. The actual base of the mountain was +reached through a gap in the rocks, some thirty feet in width. + +They now found themselves on what was then termed meadow land, drained by +the upper tributaries of the Warragamba; and this country presenting no +serious obstacle to their further progress, they rightly concluded that +they had now surmounted every difficulty. They followed the mountain +stream up for some distance and, at the furthest point they reached, +ascended a high sugar-loaf hill, which surveyor Evans, who followed in +their footsteps, called Mount Blaxland. From the summit they had an +extensive view all around, and Blaxland described the character of the +country they saw in the following words: "Forest and grass land, +sufficient to support the stock of the colony for the next thirty years." + +Just here, let us compare this prophecy with a similar one made by Evans +a few months afterwards, on the pasture lands of the upper Macquarie: +"The increase of stock for some hundred years cannot overrun it." + +The provisions of the explorers were now nearly expended; their apparel, +especially their footgear, was in rags and tatters; on the other hand, +the work that they had set themselves to do was well done. They had +vanquished the Blue Mountains. Their return was uneventful. After +breakfast on the 6th of June, they crossed the Nepean, their provisions, +with the exception of a little flour, being quite consumed. We thus see +how in the end the impenetrable range, that had so long overawed the +colonists with its frown, was overcome, with slight difficulty, when +local experience combined with method, was arrayed against it. To liken +the former expeditions to Blaxland's is to compare a few headlong +assaults with a well-conceived and skilfully worked-out attack. The men +themselves write slightingly of the feat. Blaxland says: "the passage of +the Blue Mountains might be easily effected." Lawson's opinion of the +mountain is: "that there would be no difficulty in making a good road"; +and Wentworth's verdict is: "that the country they reached is easy of +access." Evans, who was hot upon their trail, gives as his opinion: "that +there are no hills on the ridge that their ascent or descent is in any +way difficult." + +The tidings brought back by the party of successful pioneers created the +greatest excitement in the little colony. No longer would the mountainous +barrier stand defiantly in their western path. For over thirty years it +had laughed at their puny efforts to cross its rugged crest, but its time +had come at last; the way to the unknown west was now open, and +rejoicingly the settlers prepared to follow on the explorers' trail. What +the mysterious interior might hold, they could not imagine; but the gates +thereto being thrown wide at last, its secrets would be soon known to +them. + +Blaxland died on the 3rd of January, 1853, having lived long enough to +witness the wonderful advance in settlement due to his energies. + + +CHAPTER 2. GEORGE WILLIAM EVANS. + +[Illustration. George W. Evans, Discoverer of the Macquarie and Lachlan +Rivers.] + + +2.1. FIRST INLAND EXPLORATION. + +George William Evans, Deputy-Surveyor of Lands, came forward at this +stage as the most prominent figure in Australian exploration. To him is +due the honour, without dispute or cavil, of being the first discoverer +of an Australian river flowing into the interior. For some reason he has +never received adequate recognition of his important explorations, and he +is well-nigh forgotten by the people of New South Wales, the state that +has benefited most by his labours. After Oxley's second expedition, his +name appears to have been overshadowed by his official superior's. Yet +his work was invariably successful, and his labour in the field +unremitting. + +Evans was born in England, at Warwick, in 1778. When a young man he went +to the Cape of Good Hope, where he obtained an appointment in the +dockyard, and while there he married his first wife, Janet Melvill. In +1802 he was appointed Deputy Surveyor-General, and came to Australia in +H.M.S. Buffalo, in order to take up his official duties. It was while he +held this post that he carried out his work of exploration. + +When he returned from these explorations, he resumed his duties as Deputy +Surveyor-General only, until he was permanently settled in Tasmania, +where he remained in office until the year 1825, when he resigned in +disgust at his treatment by his superiors. + +Evans lived at a time when official jealousies were rife, and men in +position often heedless of the justice or veracity of their statements +when influenced by party rancour. The machinations of a cabal led by +Governor Arthur, and an effort made to deprive him of his well-deserved +pension, necessitated Evans's departure for England to defend his claims. +In this he was only partially successful, for the pension which it was +understood was for life, was stopped in 1832. He returned to Tasmania, +and passed the rest of his days at his residence, Warwick Lodge, at the +head of Newtown Bay. He died at the age of seventy-four, and is buried in +the old cemetery, Hobart; his second wife, Lucy Parris, rests in the same +grave. + +Evans was a clever draughtsman, and some of his sketches of the country +explored are reproduced in Oxley's journal. He also published a book +entitled History and Description of the Present State of Van Diemen's +Land. + +It was on Saturday, the 20th of November, 1813, that Evans, in charge of +five men, one of whom had been with Blaxland's party, started from the +point of forest land on the Nepean known as Emu Island. He lost no time +in following the tracks of the late expedition, leaving the measurement +until his return. On Friday, the 26th, he reached Blaxland's furthest +point, and thenceforward passed over new ground. It is somewhat amusing +to note that his opinions of the country when on his outward way and on +his homeward, are widely divergent. He candidly and ingenuously writes, +after he has been on the table-land:-- + +"What appeared to me fine country on my first coming to it, looks +miserable now after returning from so superior and good a country." + +On Tuesday, the 30th of November, he gained a ridge that he had had in +view for some time, though he had been "bothered" by the hills in his +efforts to reach it. From this ridge he caught a tantalising view, a +glimpse of the outskirts of the vast interior. + +There before him, the first white man to look upon the scene, lay the +open way to two thousand miles of fair pasture-lands and brooding +desert-wastes -- of limitless plains and boundless rolling downs -- of +open grassy forests and barren scrubs -- of solitary mountain peaks and +sluggish rivers; and, though then hidden from even the most brilliant +imagination, the wondrous potentialities latent in that silent and +untrodden region. If a vision of the future had been vouchsafed +Deputy-Surveyor Evans as he stood and gazed -- a vision of all that would +cover the spacious lands before and beyond him before one hundred years +had passed away -- the entry he made in his diary would surely have +reflected in its style his flight of imagination. Instead, we have the +prosaic statement:-- + +"I came to a very high mount, when I was much pleased with the sight +westward. I think I can see 40 miles which had the look of open country." + +In a pleasant valley, he came upon a large "riverlett," and on its banks +they camped. There they shot ducks and caught "trout" -- as he called the +Murray Cod -- the first of the species to tickle the palate of a white +man; fine specimens, too, weighing five and six pounds. As he proceeded +further and further, he became enchanted with the scenery: "The +handsomest I have yet seen, with gently-rising hills and dales +well-watered" -- and he finally notes that language failed him to +describe it adequately. + +Evans named the river that led him through this veritable land of promise +the Fish River, and a river which joined its waters with it from the +south he called the Campbell River. The united stream he christened, as +in duty bound, the Macquarie. Unimpeded in his course, he followed the +Macquarie until he was 98 1/2 measured miles -- for they had been +chaining since passing the limit of the first explorers -- from the +termination of Blaxland's journey. He then decided to return; for he had +gained all the information he had been sent to seek; and though game was +plentiful, his party were without shoes, and the horses were suffering +from sore backs. + +Thus was concluded in a most satisfactory manner the first journey of +exploration into the interior. Evans constantly saw, during his progress, +unmistakeable traces of the natives; but he interviewed only a small +party of five. This representative band of the inland aborigines of +Australia was composed of two lubras and some picaninnies, both the women +being blind of the right eye. + +The party reached the Nepean on their return journey on the 8th of +January, 1814. Mr. Cox was immediately intrusted with the superintendence +of the work of making a public road over the range, following closely the +same route as that taken by Blaxland's party. This work was completed in +the year 1815, and on the 26th of April of the same year, Governor +Macquarie and a large staff set out to visit the newly-found territory. +The Governor arrived at the recently-formed town of Bathurst on the 4th +of May; but before his arrival Evans had been again ordered out on +another exploring expedition to the south-west. + +2.2. THE LACHLAN RIVER. + +Evans started from Bathurst on the 13th of May, 1815. He commenced his +journey along the fine flat country then known as Queen Charlotte Vale, +maintaining a southerly course for a day or two; but finding himself +still amongst the tributaries of the Campbell River, he retraced his +steps some twelve or fourteen miles in order to avoid a row of rocky +hills. He then struck out more to the westward. On Thursday, the 23rd, he +came to a chain of ponds bearing nearly north-west, and from a commanding +ridge saw before him a prospect as gratifying as some of the scenes +viewed on his former trip. + +"I never saw a more pleasing-looking country. I cannot express the +pleasure I feel in going forward. The hills we have passed are excellent +land, well-wooded. To the south, distant objects are obscured by high +hills, but in the south-west are very distant mountains, under them +appears a mist as tho' rising from a river. It was the like look round to +the west, but beyond the loom of high hills are very faintly +distinguished." + +This was the first view Evans obtained of the Lachlan valley. The ponds +he had met with gradually grew into a connected stream: other ponds +united with them from the north-east, and he writes: "they have at the +end of the day almost the appearance of a river." On the 24th he came to +a creek which joined "the bed of a river rising in a North 30 East +direction, now dry except in hollow places. It is fully 70 feet wide, +having a pebbly bottom; on each side grow large swamp-oaks." + +On Thursday, the 1st of June, this river holding a definite course to the +westward, and he being clear of the points of the hills, which hitherto +had hindered him greatly, he determined to return, as he was running +short of provisions. + +"To-morrow I am necessitated to return, and shall ascend a very high hill +I left on my right hand this morning. I leave no mark here more than +cutting trees. On one situated in an angle of the river on a wet creek +bearing north I have deeply carved EVANS, 1st JUNE, 1815."* + +*[Footnote.] This tree, a tall and sturdy gum, flourished for over ninety +years, and when in its prime was, unfortunately, owing to the spread of +agricultural settlement, inadvertently ring-barked and killed. It must +have been a fine tree when marked by the explorer, and though dead it is +still standing at the date of the publication of this book. In 1906, the +shield of wood bearing the inscription, was cut off by Mr. James Marsh, +of Marshdale, and is now preserved in the Australian Museum in Sydney, +New South Wales. It is the oldest marked-tree in the whole of +Australasia. + +On the next morning Evans ascended the hill he alluded to, and from the +summit enjoyed a most extended view of the surrounding country, which he +compared to a view of the ocean. On his way back to Bathurst, he bestowed +upon the new river the name it now bears. A short passage in his diary, +written during his return, is of peculiar interest, as it contains the +first mention of snow seen in Australia by white men. On Thursday, the +8th of June, he writes:-- + +"The mountains I observed bearing north-west are covered with snow; I +thought on my way out that their tops looked rather white. To-day it was +distinguished as plain as ever I saw snow on the mountains in Van +Diemen's Land. I never felt colder weather than it has been some days +past. We have broken ice full two inches thick." + +On the 12th of June the party returned to Bathurst, and Evans had by that +time accomplished two of the most momentous journeys ever made in +Australia. It was not his actual discoveries alone that brought him fame, +but the vast field for settlement these discoveries opened up. The +independent explorations of Surveyor Evans ceased after his discovery of +the Lachlan; thenceforward he served Australia as second to Lieutenant +Oxley. + +2.3. THE UNKNOWN WEST. + +The settlers of that day took every advantage of the new outlets for +their energies, thrown open to them by the recent successful +explorations. Cattle and sheep were rapidly driven forward on to the +highlands, and, favoured by a beautiful site, the town of Bathurst soon +assumed an orderly appearance. Private enterprise had also been at work +elsewhere. The pioneer settlers were making their way south; the tide of +settlement flowed over the intermediate lands to the Shoalhaven River; +and in the north they had commenced the irresistible march of +civilization up the Hunter River. + +It was in the Shoalhaven district that young Hamilton Hume, the first +Australian-born explorer to make his mark in the field, gained his +bushcraft. + +Governor Macquarie, during his term of office, did his best to foster +exploration; and it was fortunate that the first advance into the +interior occurred when there was a Governor in Australia who did not look +coldly upon geographical enterprise. + +The men who entered first upon the task of solving the geographical +problems of the interior of the Australian continent were doomed to meet +with much bitter disappointment. The varying nature of the seasons caused +the different travellers to form contrary and perplexing ideas, often +with regard to the same tract of country. What appeared to one man a land +of pleasant gurgling brooks, flowing through rich pastures, appeared to +another as a pitiless desert, unfit for human foot to venture upon. +Oxley, who traversed what is now the cream of the agricultural portion of +the state of New South Wales, speaks of the main part of it in terms of +the bitterest condemnation. His error was of course rather a mistake in +judgment than the result of inaccurate observation. + +Some of the colonists nursed far fonder hopes, and the general opinion +seemed to be that these western flowing rivers would gather in +tributaries, and having swollen to a size worthy of so great a continent, +seek the sea on the west coast. W.C. Wentworth, who certainly was capable +of forming an opinion deserving consideration, wrote thus of the then +untraced Macquarie River:-- + +"If the sanguine hopes to which the discovery of this river (the +Macquarie) has given birth should be realised, and it should be found to +empty itself into the ocean in the north-west coast, which is the only +part of this vast island that has not been accurately surveyed, in what +mighty conceptions of the future power and greatness of this colony may +we not reasonably indulge? The nearest point at which Mr. Oxley left off +to any part of the western coast is very little short of two thousand +miles. If this river therefore be already of the size of the Hawkesbury +at Windsor, which is not less than two hundred and fifty yards in +breadth, and of sufficient depth to float a seventy-four gun ship, it is +not difficult to imagine what must be its magnitude at its confluence +with the ocean, before it can arrive at which it has to traverse a +country nearly two thousand miles in extent. If it possesses the usual +sinuosities of rivers, its course to the sea cannot be less than from +five to six thousand miles, and the endless accession of tributary +streams which it must receive in its passage through so great an extent +of country will, without doubt, enable it to vie in point of magnitude +with any river in the world." + +It was to realise such ambitious hopes as these that Oxley went forth to +penetrate into the interior. + + +CHAPTER 3. JOHN OXLEY. + +[Illustration. John Oxley. From a portrait in the possession of Mrs. +Oxley, of Bowral. The portrait was presented to Mrs. King, widow of +Governor King in 1810, and signed by him.] + + +3.1. GENERAL BIOGRAPHY. + +Oxley was born in England in the early part of 1781. In his youth he +entered the navy, saw active service in many parts of the world, and rose +to the rank of Lieutenant. He came to Australia in January, 1812, and was +appointed Surveyor-General. + +Throughout his career in Australia, Oxley would seem to have won the +friendship and respect of all he came in contact with. Captain Charles +Sturt, in the journal of his first expedition, wrote of him as follows:-- + +"A reflection arose to my mind, on examining these decaying vestiges of a +former expedition, whether I should be more fortunate than the leader of +it, and how far I should be able to penetrate beyond the point which had +conquered his perseverance. Only a week before I left Sydney I had +followed Mr. Oxley to the tomb. A man of great quickness and of uncommon +ability. The task of following up his discoveries was no less enviable +than arduous." + +These thoughts were suggested to Sturt when standing at one of Oxley's +old camps, and coming from such a man carry great weight. + +The following obituary notice of Oxley appeared in the Government Gazette +of May 27th, 1828. + +"It would be impossible for his Excellency, consistently with his +feelings, to announce the decease of the late Surveyor-General without +endeavouring to express the sense he entertains of Mr. Oxley's services, +though he cannot do justice to them. + +"From the nature of this colony, the office of Surveyor-General is +amongst the most important under Government; and to perform its duties in +a manner Mr. Oxley has done for a long series of years is as honourable +to his zeal and abilities as it is painful for the Government to be +deprived of them. + +"Mr. Oxley entered the public service at an early period of his life, and +has filled the important situation of Surveyor-General for the last +sixteen years. + +"His exertions in the public service have been unwearied, as has been +proved by his several expeditions to explore the interior. The public +have reaped the benefit while it is to be apprehended that the event, +which they cannot fail to lament, has been accelerated by the privations +and fatigues of these arduous services. Mr. Oxley eminently assisted in +unfolding the advantages of this highly favoured colony from an early +stage of its existence, and his name will ever be associated with the +dawn of its advancement. It is always gratifying to the Government to +record its approbation of the services of meritorious public officers, +and in assigning to Mr. Oxley's name a distinguished place in that class +to which his devotion to the interests of the colony has so justly +entitled him, the Government would do honour to his memory in the same +degree as it feels the loss it has sustained in his death." + +Oxley died at Kirkham, his private residence near Sydney, on the 25th of +May, 1828. Though his judgment was at times at fault, as will be seen +later on, he was essentially a successful explorer; for, although he did +not in every case achieve the object aimed at, he always brought back his +men without loss, and he opened up vast tracts of new country. John +Oxley's personality is not very familiar, but the portrait presented to +the reader in this volume was taken in the prime of his life, before he +suffered the scars of doubtful battle with the Australian wilderness. It +has never been published before, and is taken from the original miniature +that he presented to Mrs. King, widow of Governor King, in 1810. + +3.2. HIS FIRST EXPEDITION. + +On this, Oxley's first journey of exploration, Evans accompanied him as +second in command, and another man who has left an immortal name was also +with him -- Allan Cunningham, officially known as King's Botanist. +Charles Fraser, well-known in connection with the early history both of +New South Wales and of Western Australia, accompanied Oxley under the +title of Colonial Botanist. There were nine other men in the party -- +boatmen, horse-tenders, and so forth; they had with them two boats and +fourteen pack and riding-horses. A depot was first formed at the junction +of the small creek whence Evans had turned back, and where he had marked +a tree with his initials in 1815. There the boats were launched and +preparations completed for the final start. On the 6th of April, 1817, +Oxley left Sydney and joined his party at the depot on the 1st of May. +Thence he soon commenced this most momentous journey in Australia's early +annals, eager to penetrate into the unknown, and inspired with hopes of +solving the mystery of the outlet of this inland river. + +Disappointment marks the tone of Oxley's journal from the start; the +exceeding flatness of the country, the many ana-branches of the river, +the low altitude of its banks, and the absence of any large tributary +streams, above all, the dismal impression made by the monotony of the +surroundings, seem to have depressed Oxley's spirit. He appears to have +formed the idea that the interior tract he was approaching was nothing +more than a dead and stagnant marsh -- a huge dreary swamp, within whose +bounds the inland rivers lost their individuality and merged into a +lifeless morass. A more melancholy picture could not be imagined, and +with such an awesome thought constantly haunting his mind there is no +wonder that he became morbid, and that the dominant tone of his journal, +whilst on the Lachlan, is so hopelessly pessimistic. + +"These flats," he says, "are certainly not adapted for cattle; the grass +is too swampy, and the bushes, swamps, and lagoons are too thickly +intermingled with the better portion to render it a safe or desirable +grazing country. The timber is universally bad and small; a few misshapen +gum trees on the immediate banks of the river may be considered an +exception." + +The channel of the river now divided, and Oxley followed the channel on +the northern side, which they were skirting. But before they had +progressed a mile beyond the point of divergence, they reached the spot +where the river overflowed its banks and its course was lost in the +marshes. It was on the 12th of May that they received this check to their +as yet uninterrupted progress. + +"Observing an eminence about half-a-mile from the south side, we crossed +over the horses and baggage at a place where the water was level with the +banks, and which, when within its usual channel, did not exceed thirty or +forty feet in width. + +"We ascended the hill, and had the mortification to perceive that the +termination of our research was reached, at least down this branch of the +river. The whole country from the west, north-west, round to the north, +was either a complete marsh or lay under water." + +The country to the south and south-west appearing more elevated. Oxley +determined to return to the place where the branches separated, and to +try his fortune on the other one. This, after a while, proved as +unsatisfactory as the one they had abandoned. Bitterly disappointed, +Oxley altered his plans entirely. He resolved to cease trying to follow +the river through this water-logged country, and determined to strike out +on a direct course to the south coast in the neighbourhood of Cape +Northumberland. In this way he hoped to cross any river that these dreary +marshes and swamps gave birth to, and that found an outlet into the +Southern Ocean, between Spencer's Gulf and Cape Otway. + +This resolve was at once carried out. The boats were hauled up and +secured together; all unnecessary articles were abandoned to suit the +reduced means of transit; and at nine o'clock on May 18th they said +farewell to this weary river and started to encounter fresh troubles +under another guise. Instead of travelling in a superfluity of water they +now found themselves straitened by drought, and the work began to tell +upon the horses. Scrub, too, that besetting hindrance of so many +Australian explorers, began to impede their onward path. Eucalyptus brush +overrun with creepers and prickly acacia bushes united to bar the way, +and when, after much toil and suffering, they at last reached the point +of a range, which Oxley named the Peel Range, the leader had reluctantly +again to change his mind and to abandon the idea of making south-west to +the coast. Sick at heart of this sequence of disastrous happenings, he +confided his feeling of sorrow to his journal. + +"June 4th. Weather as usual fine and clear, which is the greatest comfort +we enjoy in these deserts abandoned by every living creature capable of +getting out of them. I was obliged to send back to our former +halting-place for water, a distance of near eight miles; this is terrible +for the horses, who are in general extremely reduced; but two in +particular cannot, I think, endure this miserable existence much longer. + +"At five o'clock two of the men whom I had sent to explore the country to +the south-west and see if any water could be found, returned after +proceeding six or seven miles; they found it impossible to go any farther +in that direction, or even south, from the thick bushes that intersected +their course on every side; and no water (nor in fact the least sign of +any) was discovered either by them or by those who were sent in search of +it nearer our little camp. + +"June 5th. From everything I can see of the country to the south-west, it +appears, upon the most mature deliberation, highly imprudent to persevere +longer in that direction, as the consequences to the horses of want of +grass and water might be most serious; and we are well assured that +within forty miles on that point the country is the same as before passed +over...Our horses are unable to go more than eight or ten miles a day, +but even they must be assured of finding food of which in these deserts +the chances are against the existence." + +On the following day, June 6th, Oxley, having changed his course to the +west and north-west, made another effort to escape from the surroundings +that so disheartened him. On the 4th of June, before leaving, Allan +Cunningham planted some acorns and peach and apricot stones in honour of +the King's birthday. Upon this episode Oxley remarks, that they would +serve to commemorate the day and situation, "should these desolate plains +be ever again visited by civilised man, of which, however, I think there +is very little probability." All this only shows how the lack of +experience of the paradoxical nature of the Australian interior induced +Oxley to form an absurdly erroneous idea of the country in its virgin +state. His observations read almost like a present-day description of the +sandy spinifex desert of the north-west of Western Australia, and, in +fact, the very same remark was made by Warburton in 1873, when traversing +that awful desert. He confessed his uncertainty about the longitude of +Joanna Spring, and says that it did not matter, as no white man would +ever come into the desert again in search of the oasis. + +But Oxley's troubles were increasing, and on June 8th he wrote: "The +whole country in these directions, as far as the eye can reach, was one +continued thicket of eucalyptus scrub. It was impossible to proceed that +way, and our situation was too critical to admit of delay: it was +therefore resolved to return back to our last station on the 6th, under +Peel's Range, if for no other purpose than that of giving the horses +water." + +Forced to return once more, Oxley became thoroughly convinced of the +inhabitability of the country, and it is no wonder that his condemnation +was so sweeping and hasty. He wrote on June the 21st:-- + +"The farther we proceed westerly, the more convinced I am that for all +the practical purposes of civilised man the interior of this country +westward of a certain meridian is uninhabitable, deprived as it is of +wood, water and grass." + +Unfortunately for his fame, he then relinquished all thoughts and hopes +of a southward course; for had he pushed on, posterity would have hailed +his memory as the discoverer of the Murrumbidgee. But Fate decided +otherwise, and dejected and baffled, he turned to follow the Peel Range +north, making for the part he had left, where at least he was sure of a +supply of water. The expedition suddenly came upon the river again on the +23rd of June, and hoping to find that it had modified its nature, they +commenced to run it down again. The 7th of July they were forced to halt +once more, when Oxley gave up all idea of tracing the Lachlan. He began +his return journey, making this last desponding entry:-- + +"It is with infinite regret and pain that I was forced to come to the +conclusion that the interior of this vast country is a marsh and +uninhabitable...There is a dreary uniformity in the barren desolateness +of this country which wearies one more than I am able to express. One +tree, one soil, one water, and one description of bird, fish, or animal +prevails alike for ten miles and for one hundred. A variety of +wretchedness is at all times preferable to one unvarying cause of pain or +distress." + +[Illustration. The Lachlan River at the point where Oxley left it on the +4th August, 1818, and struck North-East to gain the Macquarie River and +follow that river up to Bathurst. Photo by the Reverend J.M. Curran.] + +On the 4th of August, the leader, knowing the repellant nature of the +river and its swamps and morasses that lay ahead of their returning +footsteps, determined to quit the Lachlan altogether, and steering a +northern course, to abandon the low country, reach the Macquarie River +and follow it up to the settlement at Bathurst. + +The boats having been long since abandoned, it was necessary to build a +raft of pine-logs wherewith to transport the baggage over the stream. +They crossed in safety, and we can imagine that it was with no feelings +of regret that they finally lost sight of the stream that had so +persistently baffled them in all their attempts to traverse its banks. + +For some days they had to struggle against the many obstacles of a new +and untrodden land, but they at last emerged on to the Macquarie country, +which made a pleasant and welcome contrast with the detested Lachlan. + +It may be thought that too much stress has been laid upon Oxley's opinion +of the Lachlan, but it was this pessimistic report that dominated the +public mind for many years in its speculations as to the character of the +interior. + +To Oxley himself, the first glimpse of the Macquarie came like a ray of +sunshine on his harassed feelings. Was he not to reap some reward for his +heroic efforts along the Lachlan, to enjoy the realisation of some of his +ambition as geographical discoverer? The Macquarie seemed a favourable +subject for the exercise of his talents. Would it not lead him westward +to the conquest of that mysterious inland country which had hitherto +guarded its secrets with an invincible obstinacy? Poor Oxley, who can +help rejoicing with him in his short-lived joy? Without knowing it, he +was the first of a long line of brave spirits who were doomed to lose +health and life in carving their way into the heart of Australia. + +As they returned homeward up the bank of the Macquarie, the river seemed +to him to glitter with the bright promise of a crown of success. For +almost the first time the entry in his journal has a cheery ring of +hope:-- + +"Nothing can afford a stronger contrast than the two rivers -- Lachlan +and Macquarie -- different in their habits, their appearance, and the +source from which they derive their waters, but, above all, differing in +the country bordering on them; the one constantly receiving great +accession of water from four streams, and as liberally rendering fertile +a great extent of country, whilst the other, from its source to its +termination is constantly diffusing and diminishing the water it +originally receives over low and barren deserts, creating only wet flats +and uninhabitable morasses, and during its protracted and sinuous course +is never indebted to a single tributary stream." + +3.3. THE LIVERPOOL PLAINS. + +The disappointment occasioned by Oxley's return to Bathurst and his +failure to trace the course of the Lachlan was in part atoned for by the +high opinion he had formed of the Macquarie. A second expedition was +planned, and the command again offered to the Surveyor-General. + +Evans was again second, and Dr. Harris, a very able man, accompanied the +party as a volunteer. Charles Fraser was botanist, but Allan Cunningham +did not go. The expedition was on a slightly larger scale, there being, +besides those already mentioned, twelve ordinary members, with eighteen +horses and provisions for twenty-four weeks. A depot was formed at +Wellington Valley, and men sent ahead to build two boats. + +On June 6th, the start was made from the depot, and for the first 125 +miles no obstacles nor impediments were met with. Elated by this, Oxley +sent two men back to Bathurst, in accordance with instructions, bearing a +favourable despatch to Governor Macquarie. But Fate was again deriding +the unfortunate explorer. No sooner had the two parties separated, one +with well-grounded hopes of their ultimate success, the other bearing +back tidings of these confident hopes, than doubt and distrust entered +into the mind of the leader. Twenty-four hours after the departure of the +messengers, Oxley wrote in his journal:-- + +"For four or five miles there was no material change in the general +appearance of the country from what it had been on the preceding days, +but for the last six miles the land was considerably lower, interspersed +with plains clear of timber and dry. On the banks it was still lower, and +in many places it was evident that the river-floods swept over them, +although this did not appear to be universally the case...These +unfavourable appearances threw a damp upon our hopes, and we feared that +our anticipations had been too sanguine." + +And still, as Oxley went on, he found the country getting flatter and +more liable to inundation, until at last, with a heart nearly as low as +the country, he found himself almost hemmed in by water. In fact, it was +necessary to retrace steps in order to find a place where they could +encamp with safety. Upon this emergency, Oxley held a consultation with +Evans and Harris, and it was decided to send the baggage and horses back +to a small and safe elevation that stood some fifteen miles higher up the +river, thus making a subsidiary depot camp. Oxley himself, with four +volunteers in the largest of the two boats, would take a month's +provisions and follow the stream as long as there was enough water to +float their craft. Meanwhile, Evans, during Oxley's absence, was to make +an excursion to the north-east, and return by a more northerly route, +this being the direction the party intended to take, should the river +fail them as the Lachlan had done on the previous journey. + +It was a wet and stormy day on which Oxley started on the river voyage. +For about twenty miles there was, as Oxley expresses it, "no country." +The main channels being in an overflow state, the flat country which +surrounded them could be recognised only by the timber growing on the +banks. The clear spaces whereon no trees grew were now covered with +reeds, which stood at the height of six or seven feet above the surface. +That night they took refuge on a piece of land which was so nearly +submerged that there was scarcely enough space on which to kindle a fire. +In the morning the violence of the storm had somewhat abated, and as soon +as the grey light was strong enough for them to recognise their way, they +resumed their dreary journey. + +Oxley still contrived to keep to what he took to be the main channel, +although, as it now pursued its course amid a dense thicket of reeds, it +was becoming more difficult with every succeeding mile. Oxley's +seamanship, however, stood him in good stead, and although fallen logs +now began to obstruct their passage, they kept doggedly on for another +twenty miles. There was no diminution in the volume of the current that +was now bearing them onward, and Oxley felt confident that he was +approaching that hidden lake, wherein the inland waters mingled their +streams, and of whose existence he thought he had now every reason to +rest assured. Just as he was buoying his spirits up with these hopes, +dreaming that in future he would be able proudly to say, + +We were the first that ever burst +Into that silent sea, + +the river eluded all further pursuit by spreading out in every direction +amongst the ocean of reeds that surrounded them. + +Wounded to the heart at this unlooked-for disappointment, Oxley, after +vainly seeking for some clue or indication by which he could continue the +search, had to 'bout ship and return to the camp of the night before. He +says:-- + +"There was no channel whatever amongst these reeds, and the depth varied +from five to three feet." + +Although he was still convinced that the "long sought-for Australian Sea" +existed, he recognised the futility of continuing this search to the +westward, in which direction some malignant genius seemed ever to persist +in thwarting him; and so he regained the shelter of the depot at Mount +Harris, with another tale of frustrated hopes. + +Evans, on his return from his scouting expedition to the north and +north-east, had a more cheerful story to tell. The weather had been wet +throughout, and the impassable nature of the country occasioned thereby +had hampered him greatly; nevertheless he had struggled across the worst +of the flat country, and in the north-east had come to a new river, which +he named the Castlereagh. He was absent ten days, and on his return Oxley +determined to abandon the Macquarie, which had proved even more deceptive +and elusive than the Lachlan, and to strike out for the higher lands +which Evans reported having seen. + +He left Mount Harris on July 20th, first burying a bottle there +containing a written scheme of his intended movements, and some silver +coin. Ten years afterwards, Captain Sturt made an ineffectual search for +this bottle. Oxley had also buried a bottle at the point of his departure +from the Lachlan. Mitchell search for it without success, and learned +afterwards that it had been broken by the blacks. + +On July 27th, the party reached the bank of the Castlereagh, after +fighting their way through bog, quagmire, and all the difficulties common +to virgin country during continued wet weather. As the direction they +were steering was towards a range seen by Evans, and named Arbuthnot +Range, their march was again interrupted by finding the new-found river +this time running bank-high, having evidently risen immediately after +Evans had crossed it on his return journey. Here, perforce, they had to +stay until the water subsided, and it was not until August 2nd that the +river had fallen enough to allow them to cross. The ground was still +soaked and boggy, and the horses having had to carry increased pack-loads +since the abandonment of the boats, the party suffered great toil and +hardship in their efforts to gain Arbuthnot Range. The Range was reached, +however, and rounding one end of it by skirting the base of a prominent +hill which they named Mount Exmouth, the harassed explorers at last +emerged upon splendid pastoral country. + +As Oxley, from a commanding position, surveyed the magnificent scene +spread out beneath him -- gentle hills separating smiling valleys, which +in their turn merged into undulating plains all ripe for settlement -- he +must have felt that Fate had at length relented, and granted him a +measure of reward as the discoverer of this beautiful land. He called the +locality Liverpool Plains, and the name has long been synonymous with +pastoral prosperity. Their journey to the eastward, which carried them +through the heart of this rich and highly-favoured country, was now less +arduous; and though the ground was still wet from the late soaking rains, +the sun shone cheerily overhead, and the horses, revelling in the +abundant rich grass and succulent herbage, began to recover their +strength. On September 2nd, they came to a river, which Oxley named the +Peel; and here the expedition narrowly escaped the shadow of a fatality, +one man being nearly drowned whilst crossing. After leaving the Peel, +Oxley still continued easterly, traversing splendid open grazing country. +He was now approaching the dividing water-shed of the Main Range, to the +northward of that portion of it which is known at the present day as the +Liverpool Range. Here the deep glens and gullies with which the seaward +front is serrated, began to interfere seriously with the direct course of +travel, and at the heads of many of them there were cataracts and +waterfalls which compelled the wanderers to turn away to the south; and +on one occasion to revert almost to the west. One of these striking +natural features received the name of Becket's Cataract, and another was +christened Bathurst's Falls. Once again tempests and storms beset them, +and this wild weather found them wandering amongst the steep ravines and +dizzy descents of the mountainous range, seeking a way leading to the +lowlands. + +It was on September 23rd that Oxley and Evans, while searching for a +practicable route, climbed a tall peak, and from the summit caught a +glimpse of the sea. It seems to have greatly impressed Oxley, and he +writes in his journal of his emotions on the occasion:-- + +"Bilboa's ecstacy at the first sight of the South Sea could not have been +greater than ours when, on gaining the summit of this mountain, we beheld +Old Ocean at our feet. It inspired us with new life; every difficulty +vanished, and in imagination we were already home." + +The descent was attended with many perils: Oxley says that at one period +he would willingly have compromised for the loss of one-third of the +horses to ensure the safety of the remainder. But the men with him were +tried and steady, and the thick tufts of grass and the loose soil +afforded them help in securing a surer footing, of every chance of +availing themselves of which the men skilfully took advantage, so that +both men and horses reached the foot of the mountain -- now called Mount +Seaview -- without mishap. + +They had reached the head of a river running into the Pacific, and +proceeded to follow its course down with more or less difficulty until +they reached the mouth, when Oxley, judging the entrance to be navigable, +named it Port Macquarie, though one should imagine that he had become +tired of that name. The river was named the Hastings. + +On October 12th, a toilsome march commenced, following the shore to the +southward. The wearisome interruptions of the many inlets and saltwater +creeks greatly fatigued and distressed his men. But at last they came +upon a boat, half-buried in the sand, which had been lost some time +before from a Hawkesbury coaster. This they cleaned and patched, and +carried with them, utilising it during the latter stages of this weary +journey to facilitate the passage of the many saltwater creeks and +channels that impeded their progress. It is owing to the possession of +this derelict boat that Oxley crossed the mouth of the Manning without +identifying it as a river. The blacks now harassed them greatly, and it +was during one of the attacks made upon the party that one of the men, +named William Black, was dangerously wounded, being speared through the +back and the lower part of the body. The care and conveyance of this +invalided man was now added to Oxley's other anxieties, and it was with +feelings of great satisfaction that on November 1st they caught sight of +the rude buildings of Port Stephens. Through much hardship and privations +he had brought his party back without loss. + +Oxley sent Evans on to Newcastle with despatches to the governor, in +which he alluded to his sanguine anticipations at the time he had sent in +his last report, and their almost immediate collapse. But the discovery +of Liverpool Plains compensated in some degree for the disappointment +caused by the renewed failure that had attended Oxley's efforts to trace +an inland river. + +In the following year, 1819, the Lady Nelson, with the Surveyor-General +on board, visited the newly found Port Macquarie and the Hastings River, +to survey the entrance; in which task he was assisted by Lieutenant P.P. +King in the Mermaid. On his return to Port Jackson, in the same year, he +made a short excursion to Jarvis Bay with Surveyor Meehan, when they were +accompanied by the explorer who was to win fame as Hamilton Hume. Oxley +returned by boat, his companions overland. + +3.4. THE BRISBANE RIVER. + +It was in October, 1823, that Oxley left Sydney on the expedition that +resulted in the finding of the Brisbane River, and the foundation of the +settlement at Moreton Bay. He was despatched on a mission to examine +certain openings on the east coast, and report on the suitability of them +as sites for penal establishments. Moreton Bay, Port Curtis, and Port +Bowen were selected; and Oxley left in the colonial cutter Mermaid, with +Uniacke and Stirling as assistants. + +As the cutter went up the coast, she called at Port Macquarie, and Oxley +had the pleasure of noting the rapid growth of the settlement that had +been built upon his recommendation. Further along the coast, Oxley +discovered and named the Tweed River. The Mermaid reached Port Curtis on +the 6th of November, and cast anchor for some time, during which Oxley +made a careful examination of the locality, his opinion of it as a site +for a settlement being decidedly unfavourable. He however discovered and +named the Boyne River. + +It being considered too late in the season to proceed and examine Port +Bowen, the Mermaid went south again, and entering Moreton Bay, anchored +off the river that appeared to Flinders to take its source in the Glass +House Peaks, and which he had called the Pumice Stone River. + +They had scarcely anchored when several natives were seen at a distance, +evidently attracted by their arrival, and on examining them with the +telescope, Uniacke was struck with the appearance of one of a much +lighter colour than that of his companions. The next day Oxley landed and +discovered that the man they had noticed was in reality a castaway white +man of the name of Pamphlet. He told a singular tale. + +He had left Sydney in an open boat with three others, intending to go to +the Five Islands and bring back cedar. A terrible gale arose, and they +were blown out to sea and quite out of their reckoning, Pamphlet being +under the impression that they had come ashore south of Port Jackson. +They had suffered fearful hardships in the open boat, being at one time, +he averred, twenty-one days without water, during which time one man died +of thirst. The boat was at last cast up on an island in the bay (Moreton +Island) where they had joined the blacks, and lived amongst them ever +since, a matter of seven months. The other survivors were named Finnegan +and Parsons. Pamphlet informed Oxley that not long before the Mermaid +arrived, the three of them had started to try and reach Sydney overland, +but when they had got about fifty miles, he had turned back and the next +day had been rejoined by Finnegan, who stated that he had quarrelled with +Parsons. The latter was never heard of again. + +Finnegan put in an appearance the next day, and Oxley naturally took the +opportunity to question them as to the knowledge they had gained of the +surrounding country during their enforced stay in it. On one important +point both of them were confident, and this was that, in the southern +portion of the bay, a large river was to be found which appeared +navigable, having a strong current. + +Taking Finnegan with them, Oxley and Stirling started in the whaleboat +the following morning to verify this information. They found the river +and pulled up it about fifty miles. Oxley was greatly pleased with such a +discovery, and landing, ascended a hill which he named Termination Hill. +From the top he obtained a view over a wide extent of country, through +which he was able to trace the river for a long distance. Strangely +enough, the hasty glimpse he thus caught of a new and untrodden part of +Australia seemed to confirm his fixed belief in the final destination of +the Lachlan and the Macquarie as an inland sea. + +"The nature of the country and a consideration of all the circumstances +connected with the appearances of the river, justify me in entertaining a +strong belief that the source of the river will not be found in +mountainous country, but rather that it flows from some lake, which will +prove to be the receptacle of those inland streams crossed by me during +an expedition of discovery in 1818." + +Oxley named the river the Brisbane, and, taking aboard the two rescued +men, the Mermaid set sail for Port Jackson, where she arrived on December +13th. This ended the chapter of Oxley's discoveries in the field of +active exploration. + + +CHAPTER 4. HAMILTON HUME. + +[Illustration. Hamilton Hume, in his later life.] + +[Map. Hume and Hovell's Route 1824; Sturt's Route, 1829 and 1830; Major +Mitchell's Route 1836.] + +4.1. EARLY ACHIEVEMENTS. + +Hamilton Hume was the son of the Reverend Andrew Hume, who came to the +colony with his wife in the transport Lady Juliana, and held an +appointment in the Commissariat Department. Hamilton was born in +Parramatta in the year 1797, on the 18th of June. He seems to have been +specially marked out by Nature for prominence as an explorer, for, from +his earliest boyhood he was fond of rambling through the bush, and his +father encouraged him in his desire for a free country life and his love +of adventure. School facilities were lacking, but fortunately his mother +attended to his education and saw to it that he did not grow up destitute +of that instruction common to youth of those times and of his standing. + +At the age of seventeen he made his initial effort at exploration in the +country around Berrima, in company with his brother Kennedy and a black +boy. They were successful in their endeavours, and found some good +pastoral country. In the following year, encouraged by their success, the +brothers made another excursion. In 1816, a Mr. Throsby bought some of +the land that young Kennedy and Hamilton had found; and their father sent +them out with him to show him the country he had purchased. John Oxley, +too, held a farm in the Illawarra district, and the Surveyor-General, who +must have heard of Hamilton's repute for good bushmanship, engaged him to +go out with his overseer and guide the men on to the locality. Governor +Macquarie also seems to have had his attention drawn to the same +conspicuous quality, for he sent young Hume out with Meehan, a surveyor, +and Throsby to examine the country about the Shoalhaven River. On the +way, however, Throsby disagreed with Meehan about the course they should +adopt, and, taking a black boy with him, left his companions and made the +best of his way to Port Jervis. Meehan and Hume carried out the work as +originally decided on, and then forced their way up the range, which had +now seemingly been deprived of a great many of its original terrors by +the hardy pioneers of the coast. On the highlands they discovered and +named Lake George, a freshwater lake, and a smaller one which they called +Lake Bathurst, both, strange to say, seemingly isolated. + +Here we may remark on the tenacity with which the Murrumbidgee River long +eluded the eye of the white man. It is scarcely probable that Meehan and +Hume, who on this occasion were within comparatively easy reach of the +head waters, could have seen a new inland river at that time without +mentioning the fact, but there is no record traceable anywhere as to the +date of its discovery, or the name of its finder. When in 1823 Captain +Currie and Major Ovens were led along its bank on to the beautiful +Maneroo country by Joseph Wild, the stream was then familiar to the early +settlers and called the Morumbidgee. Even in 1821, when Hume found the +Yass Plains, almost on its bank, he makes no special mention of the +river. From all this we may deduce the extremely probable fact that the +position of the river was shown to some stockrider by a native, who also +confided the aboriginal name, and so it gradually worked the knowledge of +its identity into general belief. This theory is the more feasible as the +river has retained its native name. If a white man of any known position +had made the discovery, it would at once have received the name of some +person holding official sway. But this is altogether a purely +geographical digression. + +It was while on this expedition that Hume found the Goulburn Plains. On +another occasion he went with Alexander Berry, a noted south-coast +pioneer, up the Shoalhaven River, and accompanied the party when they +landed and conducted different excursions. By the time he reached +manhood, Hume was justly classed amongst the finest bushmen in the +colony. In his after career when he led the famous expedition to the +south coast, and again, when as Sturt's right hand he accompanied that +explorer on the notable expedition that solved the mystery of the outflow +of the inland rivers and gave to settled Australia the mighty Darling, he +fully proved his right to the title. + +4.2. DISCOVERY OF THE HUME OR MURRAY. + +It is perhaps by his fame as leader of the party that crossed from Lake +George to the Southern Ocean that Hume's name is best remembered. At that +time especially it aroused anew the bright hopes for the future of the +interior that Oxley's gloomy prognostications had done so much to +depress. The Surveyor-General having been unable to determine the +question as to whether any large river entered the sea between Cape Otway +and Spencer's Gulf, a somewhat hazardous idea entered the head of the +then Governor, Sir Thomas Brisbane, to land a party of convicts near +Wilson's Promontory, and induce them by the offer of a free pardon and a +grant of land to find their way back to Sydney overland. It was further +proposed that an experienced bushman should be put in charge of them. The +flattering offer of this responsible, if somewhat precarious position, +was made to young Hamilton Hume who, on mature consideration declined it. + +He offered, however, to conduct a party from Lake George to Western Port +if the Government would provide the necessary assistance. This offer the +authorities accepted, but they forgot the essential condition of +furnishing assistance. Naturally, much delay and vexation were caused by +this display of official ineptitude. At this juncture a retired coasting +skipper, Captain William Hilton Hovell, made an offer to join the party, +and find half the necessary cattle and horses. This offer aroused the +Government to some sense of its responsibility, and it agreed to do +something in the matter. This "something" amounted to six pack-saddles +and gear, one tent of Parramatta cloth, two tarpaulins, a suit of slop +clothes a-piece for the men, and an order to Hume to select 1,200 acres +of land for himself. In addition, the Government generously granted the +explorers two skeleton charts upon which to trace the route of their +journey, some bush utensils, and promised a cash payment for the hire of +the cattle should an important discovery be made. This cash payment was +refused on their return, although one would have thought that the +discovery of the Hume (Murray) should surely take rank as an important +discovery. Hume also stated that he had much difficulty in obtaining +tickets-of-leave for the men, and the confirmation of his own order to +select land for himself. + +Each of the leaders brought with him three men, so that the strength of +the party was eight all told. Their outfit of animals consisted of five +bullocks and three horses, and they had two carts with them. + +Hovell was born at Yarmouth on the 26th of April, 1786. He arrived in +Sydney in 1813, but after being engaged in the coasting trade with +occasional trips to New Zealand, he had relinquished his career as a +sailor and had settled at Narellan, New South Wales. After his exploring +expedition with Hume, he settled down at Goulburn, and he died at Sydney +in 1876. + +On the 14th of October, 1824, Hume and Hovell left Lake George. Reaching +the Murrumbidgee, they found that river flooded, and after waiting three +days for the water to fall, they crossed it borne on the body of one of +their carts, with the wheels detached, and with the aid of the tarpaulin, +rigged like a punt. South of the Murrumbidgee the country was broken and +difficult to traverse, but it was well grassed and admirably adapted for +grazing purposes. As it became too rough for the passage of their carts, +these were abandoned, and the baggage and rations were packed on the +bullocks for the remainder of their journey. + +After following the course of the Murrumbidgee for some days, the +travellers turned from its bank and pursued a south-westerly direction, +which led them through hills and valleys richly grassed and plenteously +endowed with running streams. On the 8th of November they beheld a sight +rarely witnessed before by white men in Australia. Ascending a range in +order to obtain a view of the country ahead of them, they suddenly found +themselves confronted with snow-capped mountains. There, under the +brilliant sun of an Australian summer's day, rose the white crests of +lofty peaks that might have found fitting surroundings amidst the +chilling splendours of some far southern clime, robed as they were for +nearly one-fourth of their height in glistening snow. + +Skirting this range, which received the name of the Australian Alps, the +explorers, after wandering for eight days across its many spurs, came +upon a fine, flowing river, which Hume named after his father, the Hume. +This river was destined to be re-named the Murray, when its course was +eventually followed to the ocean.* + +*[Footnote.] See Chapter 6. + +There being no safe ford, a makeshift boat was constructed with the aid +of the serviceable tarpaulin, and the Hume was crossed, close to the site +of the present town of Albury. Still passing through good pastoral land, +watered by numerous creeks, they crossed a river which was named the +Ovens, and on the 3rd of December they came to another, named by them the +Hovell, but now called the Goulburn; and on the 16th of December they +reached their goal, the shore of the Southern Ocean, at the spot where +Geelong now stands. + +This expedition had a great and immediate influence on the extension of +Australian settlement. Within a few years after the chief surveyor had +characterised the western interior, beyond a certain limit, as unfitted +for human habitation, and had expressed his opinion that the monotonous +flats across which he vainly looked for any elevation extended to the +sea-coast, snowy mountains, feeding the head tributaries of perennial +rivers had been discovered to the southward of his track. + +Hume was exceptionally fitted for the work of exploration at this +particular juncture in colonial history. Born and reared in the land, he +was well competent to judge justly of its merits and demerits; his +opinion was not likely to be tainted by the prejudices formed and +nourished in other and different climes. The history of Australian +exploration was then a statement of hasty conclusions, formed perhaps +under certain climatic circumstances to be falsified on a subsequent +visit when the conditions were radically different. In Hume's case, there +was no ill-founded conclusion of the availability of the +freshly-discovered district. The journey just recorded at once added to +the British Colonial Empire millions of acres of arable land watered by +never-failing rivers, with a climate and altitude calculated to foster +the growth of almost every species of temperate fruit or grain. + +It is to be regretted that the narration of an expedition fraught with so +much benefit to the young colony, and executed with so much courage, +endurance, and facility of resource should be marred by any discordant +note. But friendly and genial relations were endangered by the presence +of two independent leaders. Divided authority here, as it nearly always +does, caused petty and undignified squabbles, which were in later days +elaborated into unseemly paper conflict. It is painful if somewhat +amusing to read of the acrid disputes as to the course, under the very +shadow of the majestic Australian Alps whose solitude had only then been +first disturbed by white men; and how, on agreeing to separate and divide +the outfit, it was proposed to cut the only tent in two, and how the one +frying-pan was broken by both men pulling at it. Thomas Boyd, who was the +only survivor of the party in 1883, and was then eighty-six years old, +signed a document assigning to Hume the full credit of conducting the +expedition to safety. Boyd was one of the most active members of the +expedition, always to the front when there was any trying work to be +done. He was the first white man to cross the Hume River, swimming over +with the end of a line in his teeth. + +After Hume's return he lived for some time quietly on his farm, until the +call of the wild drew him forth from his retirement to join Sturt in his +first battle with the wilderness. His temporary association with that +explorer will find its due place in the account of that expedition.* He +died at Yass, near the scene of one of his early exploits. + +*[Footnote.] See Charles Sturt. 6.2. The Darling. + + + +CHAPTER 5. ALLAN CUNNINGHAM. + +[Illustration. Allan Cunningham.] + + +5.1. COASTAL EXPEDITIONS. + +Allan Cunningham, the great botanical explorer of Australia, was born at +Wimbledon, near London, in 1791. He received a good education, his father +intending him for the law; but he preferred gardening, and obtained a +position under Mr. Aiton, at Kew. In 1814 he went to Brazil, where he +made large collections of dried specimens, living plants, and seeds. Here +he remained two years, collecting in the vicinity of Rio, the Organ +Mountains, San Paolo, and other parts of Brazil. Sir Joseph Banks wrote +that his collections, especially of orchids, bromeliads, and bulbs, "did +credit to the expedition and honour to the Royal Gardens." He was +nominated for service in New South Wales, and landed at Port Jackson on +the 21st of December, 1816.* He first started collecting about the +present suburb of Woolloomooloo in Sydney, which we may infer therefrom +presented a very different appearance from that which it now presents. He +next went with Oxley on his Lachlan expedition. On his return, he +commenced the first of his five coastal voyages, in which he accompanied +Captain P.P. King around most of the continent of Australia. In the tiny +cutter the Mermaid, of 84 tons, they left Port Jackson on the 22nd of +December, 1817, and sailed round the south coast of Australia to King +George's Sound, the west coast, the north coast, and finally to Timor. +The Mermaid returned by the same route and anchored in Port Jackson on +the 24th of July, 1818. Again on the 24th of December, the Mermaid left +Port Jackson on a short trip to Tasmania, from which they returned in +February, 1819. Once more the busy little Mermaid sailed from Sydney on +the 8th of May, 1819, to make a running survey of the east coast. On this +voyage, many ports hitherto unvisited were examined by King, and amongst +other places, Cunningham paid his first visit to the Endeavour River. +Continuing the survey, she rounded Cape York, crossed the mouth of the +Carpentaria Gulf, and kept along the north coast, where King found +Cambridge Gulf. At Cassini Island, the Mermaid left for Timor, and +eventually returned to Sydney round the west coast of Australia. + +*[Footnote.] For the accompanying notes of Allan Cunningham's earlier +lifework I am indebted to the Biographical Notes concerning Allan +Cunningham, compiled by Mr. J.H. Maiden, Director of the Sydney Botanical +Gardens. + +On the 14th of June, 1820, the Mermaid was again busy with King and +Cunningham on board, and, sailing up the east coast she re-visited the +Endeavour River. During their stay, Cunningham ascended Mount Cook, where +he made a fine collection of seeds and plants. She coasted north again +and picked up the survey at Cassini Island once more. At Careening Bay, +where they had occasion to stay for some time, Cunningham was again very +fortunate in his collections. Returning homeward by way of the west and +south coasts, the little cutter was almost wrecked off Botany Bay. + +The Mermaid was now overhauled and condemned, and in her place H.M. +Storeship Dromedary, re-christened the Bathurst, was placed under the +command of Lieutenant King. This was Cunningham's fifth voyage as +collector with the same commander -- a very clear proof of their +compatibility of tastes and temperament. As before, the Bathurst ran +round the east coast and resumed her work on the north-west of Australia. +While thus engaged she was found to be in a dangerous condition, and went +to Port Louis to refit. They sailed from Mauritius on the 15th of +November, and reached King George's Sound on the 24th of December. Here +Cunningham found that the garden he had been at great pains to form +during his visit in 1818 had disappeared altogether. The Bathurst stayed +some weeks on the south-west coast, and then shaped a course to Port +Jackson, where they arrived on the 25th of April, 1822. Of the botany of +these coastal surveys Cunningham published a sketch entitled A Few +General Remarks on the Vegetation of Certain Coasts of Terra Australis, +and more especially of its North-Western Shore. + +5.2. PANDORA'S PASS. + +Let us now turn to his record as an inland explorer of Australia. + +On the 31st of March, 1823, Allan Cunningham left Bathurst with two +objects in view. One was his favourite pursuit of botany; and the other +the discovery of an available route to Oxley's Liverpool Plains, through +the range that bounded it on the south; a route which Lawson and Scott +had vainly sought for the preceding year. On reaching the vicinity of the +range, he searched in vain to the eastward for any opening that would +enable him to pierce the barrier. He then retraced his steps, and, +exploring more to the eastward, he came upon a pass through a low part of +the mountain belt which he considered practicable and easy. The valley +leading to the pass he named Hawkesbury Vale, and the pass itself +Pandora's Pass, inasmuch as, in spite of the hardships the party had been +put to, they had still hoped to find it. Here Cunningham left a parchment +document, stating that the information thereon contained was for the +first farmer "who may venture to advance as far to the northward as this +vale." The finding of the bottle which contained this scroll has never +been recorded. Bathurst was reached on their return journey, on June +27th. + +In March, 1824, he botanised about the heads of the Murrumbidgee and the +Monaro and Shoalhaven Gullies, and in September of the same year, went +north by sea with Oxley to Moreton Bay, to investigate that locality and +pronounce on its suitability as a settlement site. In March, 1825, he +left Parramatta, threaded the Pandora Pass once more, and ascended to +Liverpool Plains, returning to Parramatta on the 17th of June. In 1826 +and the beginning of the following year, he visited New Zealand. + +5.3. THE DARLING DOWNS. + +It was in the year 1827 that Cunningham accomplished his most notable +journey of exploration, one which eventually threw open to settlement an +entirely new area of country; country destined to mould the destiny of +the yet unborn colony of Queensland, and afford homes for thousands of +settlers. It was mainly by his exertions that the young community at +Moreton Bay was able to stretch its growing limbs to the westward +immediately after its birth, instead of waiting long weary years and +wasting its strength against an impassable obstacle as had been the fate +of the settlement at Farm Cove. + +Cunningham started from Segenhoe, a station on one of the head +tributaries of the Hunter River, whence he ascended the main range +without any difficulty beyond having to unload some of the pack-horses +during the steepest part of the ascent. He had with him six men, eleven +horses, and provisions for fourteen weeks. He left civilisation, or the +outskirts of it, on the 2nd of May, and on the 11th he crossed the +parallel on which Oxley had crossed the Peel River in 1818, and once +beyond that point he was traversing unexplored country. The land was +suffering under a prolonged drought in that district, and most of the +streams encountered had but detached pools of water in their beds, at one +of which, however, his party caught a good haul of cod, which were such +ravenous biters and so heavy that several were lost in the attempt to +land them. + +Travelling through open forest land, which was suffering more or less +from the want of rain, Cunningham came on the 19th of May to a valley. +Here, on the bank of a creek he encamped on "the most luxuriant pasture +we had met since we had left the Hunter." + +"We were not a little surprised," he says, "to observe at this valley, so +remote from any farming establishment, the traces of horned cattle, only +two or three days old, as also the spots on which about eight to a dozen +of these animals had reposed. + +"From what point of the country these cattle had originally strayed +appeared at first difficult to determine. On consideration, however, it +was thought by no means impossible that they were stragglers from the +large wild herds that are well-known to be occupying plains around +Arbuthnot Range." + +This speaks volumes for the wonderful increase and spread of wild cattle +in those days; Arbuthnot Range, first sighted by Evans in 1817, being +already an acknowledged resort of wild cattle in seven years. Or it +advertises the negligence of the stockmen who guarded the comparatively +tiny herds of the period. + +The dry weather had put its mark upon the country. Though the degree of +aridity was much less than that afterwards experienced in Australia by +the explorers of its interior, nevertheless conditions were sufficiently +dry to compel the leader to exercise great forethought, and Cunningham +determined to pursue a more easterly course, keeping nearer the crest of +the range, where he was more likely to find grass and water. The country +he passed through was inferior, but on the 28th he came to the bank of a +river "presenting a handsome reach, half-a-mile in length, thirty yards +wide, and evidently very deep." This river he named the Dumaresque, and +it led him to the northward, through what he considered poor land, until +the new-found river took an easterly direction, when the party left it, +still keeping north. At the end of the month, after passing through much +scrubby country, they were agreeably surprised to meet with a stream, the +banks of which presented an appearance of great verdure. "It was a +subject of great astonishment to us to meet with so beautiful a sward of +grass permanently watered by an active stream, after traversing that +tract of desert forest, and penetrating brushes the extremes of sterility +in its immediate vicinity." + +This was named McIntyre's Brook, and Cunningham writes that they had some +difficulty in fording it on account of its extreme rapidity. The party +continued on, now in a north-easterly direction, passing again through +dense thickets such as they had formerly met with. + +On the 5th of June, Cunningham, from a small elevation, had a view of +open country of decidedly favourable appearance: "A hollow in the forest +ridge immediately before us allowed me distinctly to perceive that at a +distance of eight or nine miles, open plains or downs of great extent +appeared to extend easterly to the base of a lofty range of mountains, +lying south and north, distant by estimation about thirty miles." + +This was Cunningham's first glimpse of the now world-famous Darling +Downs. On reaching the commencement of the great plains, they came to the +"bank of a small river, about fifteen yards in breadth, having a brisk +current to the North-West." As there was deep water in the pools of this +river, the men anticipated some good fishing, and they were not +disappointed. Cunningham named this river the Condamine. + +Although their provisions were failing them, Cunningham remained for some +time on the site of his new discovery, fully impressed with the certainty +of its immense importance in the future settlement of Australia. Peel's +Plains and Canning Downs were named by him, and to the north-west "beyond +Peel's Plains an immeasurable extent of flat country met the eye, on +which not the slightest eminence could be observed to interrupt the +common level, which, in consequence of the very clear state of the +atmosphere, could be discerned to a very distant blue line of horizon." + +Cunningham's far-seeing mind fathomed the future requirements of such a +vast agricultural and pastoral extent of country, and he at once turned +his attention to its natural means of communication with its obvious +port, Moreton Bay. A lofty range of mountains to the east and north-east +seemed to offer a difficult barrier, and he determined upon making a +closer inspection. As his horses were recruiting all the time on the +luxuriant herbage, he did not so much regret their own scarcity of +rations. Finding a beautiful grassy valley which he named Logan Vale, +after Captain Logan, the well-known commandant of Moreton Bay, leading to +the base of the principal range, he proceeded to make a nearer +inspection. After much climbing of successive tiers or ridges, he gained +the loftiest point of a main spur, and through some gaps in the main +range itself, he was able to overlook portions of the country in the +vicinity of Moreton Bay, and even to recognise the cone of Mount Warning. +He took particular notice of one gap, and on closer inspection he came to +the conclusion that a line of road could be constructed without much +difficulty. + +Having spent a week on the Downs, and his shortness of provisions and the +weakness of his horses preventing any excursion to the western interior, +as his intention had been, he set out on his homeward journey on the 18th +of June. In order to render his chart of the country traversed as +complete as possible, he kept a course about equidistant between the +route of his outward journey and the coastal watershed. He reached +Segenhoe on the 28th of July, bringing his men and horses back in safety, +after one of the most successful and important expeditions on the east +coast. + +[Illustration. Memorial to Allan Cunningham, Botanical Gardens, Sydney.] + +In the following year, accompanied by his old companion Fraser, who had +been one of Oxley's party on his two inland expeditions, Cunningham +proceeded by sea to Moreton Bay, with the intention of starting from the +settlement, identifying the gap he had taken particular notice of, and +connecting with his former camp on the Downs. In this attempt he was also +accompanied by Captain Logan, but they were unsuccessful. Then Cunningham +again went from the outpost of Limestone, with three men and two +bullocks, and was completely satisfied. A road through this gap on to the +Darling Downs was immediately constructed, and used until the +introduction of railway communication: the opening was known far and wide +as Cunningham's Gap. + +In May, 1830, Cunningham went to Norfolk Island. While there he crossed +to the little islet adjoining, known as Phillip Island. Having landed +with three men, he sent the boat back. That night eleven convicts +escaped, seized the boat, and were launching her when they were +challenged by a sentry. One of them replied that they were going for Mr. +Cunningham, and they got away though they were fired upon. They did go +for Mr. Cunningham, and robbed him of his chronometer, pistols, tent, and +provisions. Then they sailed away, and were picked up by a whaler, which +they seized and finally scuttled. The Government refused to compensate +Cunningham for his loss, and he had to replace the instruments himself. + +Cunningham left Sydney on the 25th of February, 1831, on a visit to +London, where he spent nearly two years at Kew, returning to Sydney on +the 12th of February, 1837. He was appointed Colonial Botanist and +Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens, but did not retain the position +very long, being disgusted to find that supplying Government officials +with vegetables was to be a chief part of his duties. He resigned, and +after another visit to New Zealand, whence he returned in 1838, so ill +was he that he was compelled to decline to accompany Captain Wickham on +his survey of the north-west coast. He died of consumption on the 24th of +January, 1839, at the cottage in the Botanic Gardens, whither he had been +removed for change of air and scene. He was buried in the Devonshire +Street cemetery, and on the 25th of May, 1901, his remains were removed +to the obelisk in the Botanic Gardens. + + + +CHAPTER 6. CHARLES STURT. + + +6.1. EARLY LIFE. + +Charles Sturt was born in India at Chunar-Ghur, on April the 28th, 1795. +His father, Thomas Lennox Napier Sturt, was a puisne Judge in Bengal +under the East India Company; his mother was Jeanette Wilson. The Sturts +were an old Dorsetshire family. In 1799, Charles, as was common with most +Anglo-Indian children, was sent home to England, to the care of his +aunts, Mrs. Wood and Miss Wilson, at Newton Hall, Middlewich. He went +first to a private school at Astbury, and in 1810 was sent to Harrow. On +the 9th of September, 1813, he was gazetted as Ensign in the 39th +Regiment of Foot. He served with his regiment in the Pyrenees, and in a +desultory campaign in Canada. When Napoleon escaped from Elba, the 39th +returned to Europe, but all too late to join in the victory of Waterloo, +and it was stationed with the Army of Occupation in the north of France. +In 1818, the regiment was sent to Ireland. Here for several years Sturt +remained in most uncongenial surroundings, watching smugglers, seizing +illicit stills, and assisting to quell a rising of the Whiteboys. It was +in Ireland that the devoted John Harris, his soldier-servant, who was +afterwards the companion of his Australian wanderings, was first attached +to him. In 1823, Sturt was gazetted Lieutenant, and his promotion to +Captain followed in 1825. + +In December, 1826, he sailed for New South Wales with a detachment of his +regiment, in charge of convicts. The moment he set foot on this vast +unknown land, its chief geographical enigma at once occupied his +attention. Sir Ralph Darling, to whom he acted for some time as private +secretary, formed a high opinion of his tact and ability, and appointed +him Major of Brigade and Military Secretary. + +6.2. THE DARLING. + +As soon as an expedition inland was mooted, Sturt volunteered for the +leadership, and was recommended by Oxley, who was then on his deathbed. +The recommendation was adopted by Governor Darling, and Sturt embarked on +the career of exploration that was to render his name immortal. + +It was ever Sturt's misfortune to be the sport of the seasons; drought +and its attendant desolation dogged his footsteps like an evil genius. +Oxley had followed, or attempted to follow, the rivers down when a long +period of recurrent wet seasons had saturated the soil, filled the swamps +and marshes, and swollen the river-courses so that they appeared to be +navigable throughout for boats. Sturt came at a period when the country +lay faint under a prolonged drought and the rivers had dwindled down into +dry channels, with here and there a parched and meagre water-hole. The +following description of his is too often quoted as depicting the usual +state of the Australian interior:-- + +"In the creeks, weeds had grown and withered, and grown again; and young +saplings were now rising in their beds, nourished by the moisture that +still remained; but the large forest trees were drooping, and many were +dead. The emus with outstretched necks, gasping for breath, search the +channels of the rivers for water in vain; and the native dog, so thin +that he could hardly walk, seemed to implore some merciful hand to +despatch him." + +[Map. Sturt's Route. Hume and Hovell's Route 1824.] + +To Sturt and his companions, who were the first white men to face the +interior during a season of drought, the scene may not have seemed too +highly-coloured; but, in common with many of Sturt's graphic +word-pictures, his description applies only to special or rare +circumstances. + +In 1828, no rain had fallen for two years, and even the dwellers on the +coastal lands began to despair of copious rainfalls. Whenever their +glance wandered over their own dried-up pastures, men's thoughts +naturally turned to that widespread and boundless swamp wherein the +Macquarie was lost to Oxley's quest; and many saw in the drought a +favourable opportunity to discover the ultimate destination of these lost +rivers. An expedition to the west was accordingly prepared in order to +solve the problem under these very different existing circumstances, and +Sturt was selected as leader. To Hamilton Hume was offered the position +of second in command, and, as the dry weather had brought all farming +operations to a standstill, he was able to accept it. Besides Sturt and +Hume, the party consisted of two soldiers and eight prisoners, two of the +latter being taken to return with despatches as soon as they had reached +the limit of the known country. They also had with them eight riding and +seven pack-horses, and two draught and eight pack-bullocks. A small boat +rigged up on a wheeled carriage was also taken; but like many others +carried into the interior, it never served any useful purpose. + +The country was by this time well-known, and partly settled up to and +below Wellington Vale; but when Sturt reached Mount Harris, Oxley's +former depot camp, he had come to the verge of the unknown, and halted in +order to consider as to his immediate movements. He consulted with Hume, +and as there seemed to be no present obstacle to their progress, it was +determined, as Sturt writes, "to close with the marshes." + +This they did much sooner than was expected, for at the end of the first +day's march their camp was set in the very midst of the reeds. A halt for +a couple of days was made, whilst Sturt prepared his despatches to the +Governor. On the 26th, the two messengers were sent off to Bathurst, and +the progress of the party was resumed. Before the day closed, they found +themselves on a dreary expanse of flats and of desolate reed beds. The +progress of the main body was thus suddenly and completely checked, and +Sturt decided to launch the boat and with two men endeavour to trace the +course of the river, while Hume and two others endeavoured to find an +opening to the northward. + +The boat voyage soon terminated, for Sturt was as completely baffled as +Oxley had been. The channel ceased altogether, and the boat quietly +grounded. Sturt could do nothing but return to camp and await Hume's +report. All search for the lost river proved vain. + +Hume had found a serpentine sheet of water to the north which he was +inclined to think was the continuation of the elusive Macquarie. He had +pushed on past it, but had been checked by another body of reed beds. It +was decided to shift camp to this lagoon and launch the boat once more; +but without result, for the boat was hauled ashore again after having +vainly followed the supposed channel in amongst reeds and shallows. Again +the leader and his second went forward on a scouting trip. Each took with +them two men; Sturt going to the north-west, and Hume to the north-east. +They left on the last day of December, 1828. + +Sturt toiled on until after sunset he came to a northward-flowing creek, +in which there was a fair supply of water. Next day their course lay +through plains intersected with belts of scrub, and they discovered +another creek, inferior to the last one both in size and the quality of +the water. They camped for a few hours on its bank, and Sturt called it +New Year's Creek, but it is now known as the Bogan River. They were about +to pass that night without water on the edge of a dry plain, when one of +the men had his attention drawn to the flight of a pigeon, and searching, +found a puddle of rain water which barely satisfied them. An isolated +hill with perpendicular sides, which Sturt had noticed for some time, now +attracted his attention, as being a lofty point of vantage from which to +get an extensive view to the west. They accordingly made for it, over +more promising country. They reached the hill which Sturt called Oxley's +Tableland, but from its summit he saw nothing but a stretch of monotonous +plain, with no sign of the long-sought river. That night they camped at a +small swamp, and the next morning turned back, Sturt agreeing with Oxley, +but without as much reason, that "the space I traversed is unlikely to +become the haunt of civilised man." Hume did not return until the day +after Sturt's arrival. He reported that the Castlereagh River must have +suddenly turned to the north below where Oxley crossed it, for he had +been unable to find it. He had gone westward, but had seen nothing except +far-stretching plains. After a few aimless and unprofitable ramblings, +they made their way again to Oxley's Tableland, and Sturt and Hume, with +two men, made a journey to the west, with only a negative result. On the +31st of January they commenced to follow down Sturt's New Year's Creek, +and the next day, to their unbounded surprise, came upon the bank of a +noble river. From its size and width they judged they had struck it at a +point as far from its source as from its termination; but when the men +rushed tumultuously down the bank to revel in the water and quench their +thirst, they cried out, with disgust and surprise, that the water was +salt. + +Poor Sturt, whose heart was bounding with joy at the realisation of his +fondest hopes in this important discovery of a river which seemed to +answer all men's dreams and anticipations, felt the sudden revulsion of +despair. One saving thought he had, and that was that they were close to +its junction with the inland sea. Meantime, although human tracks were to +be seen everywhere, they saw none of the aborigines. Hume at length found +a pool of fresh water, which provided them with water for themselves and +their stock. + +[Illustration. The Darling River, at Sturt's first view point. Photo by +the Reverend J. Milne Curran.] + +The long-continued absence of rain having lowered the fresh water so that +the supply from the brine springs on the banks predominated, was the +explanation of the saltness of the water; but Sturt did not know this, +and for six days the party moved slowly down the river until the +discovery of saline springs in the bank convinced the leader that the +saltness was of local origin. Still that did not supply them with the +necessary drinking water, and on the sixth day, leaving the men encamped +at a small supply of fresh water, Sturt and Hume pushed on to look for +more, but in vain, and Sturt was compelled to order a retreat to Mount +Harris. + +This shows how the exploration of the continent has ever been conditioned +by the uncertainty of the seasons. Had Sturt found the Darling in a +normal season, he would probably have followed it down to its junction +with the Murray, and the geographical system of the east would have been +at once laid bare. But it was not in such a simple manner that the great +river basin was to become known. Toil, privation, and the sacrifice of +human lives, had first to be suffered. + +To the river which he had found Sturt gave the name Darling, in honour of +the Governor. + +The return journey to Mount Harris continued without interruption. At +Mount Harris they expected to find fresh supplies; but as they approached +the place they could not restrain fears with regard to their safety. The +surrounding reed beds were in flames in all parts. The few natives that +were met with displayed a guilty timidity, and one was observed wearing a +jacket. Fortunately, however, their fears were groundless; the relief +party had arrived and had been awaiting their return for about three +weeks. An attack by the natives had been made, but it had been easily +repulsed. While Sturt rested at Mount Harris, Hume struck off to the +west, beyond the reeds. He reported the country as superior for thirty +miles to any they had yet seen, but beyond that limit lay brushwood and +monotonous plains. + +On the 7th of March the party struck camp and departed for the +Castlereagh River. They found that the flooded stream, impassable by +Oxley, had totally disappeared. Not a drop of water lay in the bed of the +river. They commenced to follow its course down, and the old harassing +hunt for water had to be conducted anew. No wonder that Sturt could never +free himself from the memory of his fiery baptism as Australian explorer, +and that his mental picture of the country was ever shrouded in the haze +of drought and heat. + +As they descended the Castlereagh into the level lower country, they were +greatly delayed by the many intricate windings of the river and its +multiplicity of channels. On the 29th of March they again reached the +Darling, ninety miles above the place where they had first come upon it, +and they observed the same characteristics as before, including the +saltness. This was a blow to Sturt, who had hoped to find it free from +salinity. Fortunately they were not distressed for fresh water at the +time, and knowing what to expect if the river was followed down again, +the party halted and formed a camp. + +The next day Sturt, Hume, and two men crossed the river and made a short +journey of investigation to the west, to see what fortune held for them +further afield. Not having passed during the day "a drop of water or a +blade of grass," they found themselves by mid-afternoon on a wide plain +that stretched far away to the horizon. Sturt writes that had there been +the slightest encouragement afforded by any change in the country, he +would even then have pushed forward, "but we had left all traces of the +natives behind us, and this seemed a desert they never entered -- that +not even a bird inhabited." + +Back to Mount Harris once more, where they arrived on the 7th of April, +1829. On their way they had stopped to follow a depression first noticed +by Hume, and decided that it was the channel of the overflow of the +Macquarie Marshes. + +6.3. THE PASSAGE OF THE MURRAY. + +The mystery of the Macquarie was now, to a certain extent, cleared away, +but the course and final outlet of the Darling now presented another +riddle, which Sturt too was destined to solve. + +The discovery of such a large river as the Darling, augmented by the +Macquarie and Castlereagh, and (so people then thought) in all +probability the Lachlan, naturally inflamed public curiosity as to the +position of the outlet on the Australian coast. All the rivers that had +been tried as guides to the hidden interior having failed to answer the +purpose, the Murrumbidgee -- the beautiful river of the aboriginals -- +was selected as the scene of the next attempt. There were good reasons +for the choice: it derived its volume from the highest known mountains, +snow-capped peaks in fact, that reminded the spectator of far northern +latitudes, and thus it was to a great extent independent of the variable +local rainfall. + +Captain Sturt was naturally selected to be the leader of the Murrumbidgee +expedition, and with him as second went George MacLeay, the son of the +then Colonial Secretary. Harris, who had been Sturt's soldier-servant for +nearly eighteen years, and two other men of the 39th, who had been with +their Captain on the Macquarie expedition, also accompanied him, with a +very complete and well-furnished party, including the usual boat rigged +up on a carriage. This time, however, unlike the craft that had +accompanied previous exploring parties, the whaleboat was destined to be +immortalised in Australian history. + +Settlement had by this time extended well up to and down the banks of the +Murrumbidgee, and Sturt took his departure from the borders of +civilisation about where the town of Gundagai now stands, almost at the +junction of the Tumut River, at Whaby's station. The course for some time +lay along the rich river-flats of the Murrumbidgee. The blacks, who of +course from their position were familiar with the presence of white men, +maintained a friendly demeanour. One slight excursion to the north was +made to connect with Oxley's furthest south, made when on his Lachlan +expedition; but though they did not actually verify the spot, Sturt +reckoned that he went within twenty miles of it, showing how narrowly +that explorer had missed the discovery of the Murrumbidgee. + +As they got lower down the river they found themselves travelling through +the flat desolate country that reminded them only too forcibly of late +experiences on the Macquarie. Owing to some information gleaned from the +natives, Sturt and MacLeay rode north to try and again come upon the +Lachlan. They struck a dry channel, which Sturt believed was the drainage +from the Lachlan into the Murrumbidgee. This proved to be correct, as +natives afterwards testified that they had seen the two white men +actually on the Lachlan. + +On the 25th, which was an intensely hot day, MacLeay, who was on ahead, +found himself suddenly confronted with a boundless sea of reeds, and the +river itself had suddenly vanished. He sent a mounted messenger back to +Sturt with these disastrous tidings. Sturt thereupon turned the drays, +which were already in difficulties in the loose soil, sharp round to the +right, and finally came to the river again, where they camped to discuss +the untoward circumstance. + +At daylight the next morning, Sturt and MacLeay rode along its bank, +whilst Clayton, the carpenter, was set to work felling a tree and digging +a sawpit. Progress along the bank with the whole party was evidently +impossible. Sturt, however, had faith in the continuity of the river, and +announced to MacLeay his intention to send back most of the expedition, +and with a picked crew to embark in the whaleboat, committing their +desperate fortunes to the stream, and trusting to make the coast +somewhere, and leaving their return in the hands of Providence. + +The more one regards this heroic venture, the more sublime does it +appear. The whole of the interior was then a sealed book, and the river, +for aught Sturt knew, might flow throughout the length of the continent. +But the voyage was commenced with cool and calm confidence. + +In a week the whaleboat was put together, and a small skiff also built. +Six hands were selected for the crew, and the remainder, after waiting +one week in case of accident, were to return to Goulburn Plains and there +await events. It would be as well to embody here the names of this band. +John Harris, Hopkinson, and Fraser were the soldiers chosen, and Clayton, +Mulholland, and Macmanee the prisoners. The start was made at seven on +the morning of January 7th, the whale-boat towing the small skiff. Within +about fifteen miles of the point of embarkation they passed the junction +of the Lachlan, and that night camped amongst a thicket of reeds. The +next day the skiff fouled a log and sank, and though it was raised to the +surface and most of the contents recovered, the bulk of them was much +damaged. Fallen and sunken logs greatly endangered their progress, but on +the 14th they "were hurried into a broad and noble river." Such was the +force with which they were shot out of the Murrumbidgee that they were +carried nearly to the opposite bank of the new and ample stream. Sturt's +feelings at that moment were to be envied, and for once in a life +chequered with much disappointment he must have felt that a great reward +was granted to him in this crowning discovery. He named the new river the +Murray, after Sir George Murray, the head of the Colonial Department. As +some controversy has of late arisen as to the question of Sturt's right +to confer the name, we here quote his own words, written after surveying +the Hume in 1838. + +"When I named the Murray I was in a great measure ignorant of the other +rivers with which it is connected...I want not to usurp an inch of ground +or of water over which I have not passed." + +On the bosom of the Murray they could now make use of their sail, which +the contracted space in the bed of the Murrumbidgee had before prevented +them from doing. The aborigines were seen nearly every day, and once when +the voyagers had to negotiate a very ticklish rapid, some of them +approached quite close, and seemed to take great interest in the +proceedings. + +Sturt's thoughts now turned towards the junction of the Darling, and at +last he sighted a deserted camp on which the huts resembled those he had +seen on that river. On the 23rd of January they came upon the junction at +a very critical moment. A line of magnificently-foliaged trees came into +view, among which was perceived a large gathering of blacks, who +apparently were inclined to be hostile. Sturt, who was at the helm, was +steering straight for them and made the customary signs of peace. Just +before it was too late to avoid a collision, Sturt marked hostility in +their quivering limbs and battle-lusting eyes. He instantly put the helm +a-starboard, and the boat sheered down the reach, the baffled natives +running and yelling defiantly along the bank. The river, however, was +shoaling rapidly, and from the opposite side there projected a sand-spit; +on each side of this narrow passage infuriated blacks had gathered, and +there was no mistaking their intentions. Sturt gave orders to his men as +to their behaviour, and held himself ready to give the battle-signal by +shooting the most active and forward of their adversaries. + +Mention has been made of a small party of blacks who had been interested +in the shooting of a rapid by the boat's crew. Four of these savages had +camped with the explorers the preceding night, leaving at daylight in the +morning. Sturt imagined that they had gone ahead as peace delegates, and +he was thus most anxious to avoid a fight. But the life of the whole +party depended on prompt action being taken, and Sturt's eye was on the +leader and his finger on the trigger when "my purpose," he says "was +checked by MacLeay, who called to me that another party of blacks had +made their appearance on the left bank of the river. Turning round, I +observed four men at the top of their speed." These were the dusky +delegates, and the description given by Sturt of the conduct of the man +who saved the situation is very graphic:-- + +[Illustration. Junction of the Darling and Murray Rivers.] + +"The foremost of them, as soon as he got ahead of the boat, threw himself +from a considerable height into the water. He struggled across the +channel to the sand-bank, and in an incredibly short space of time stood +in front of the savage against whom my aim had been directed. Seizing him +by the throat, he pushed him backwards, and forcing all who were in the +water on the bank, he trod its margin with a vehemence and an agitation +that was exceedingly striking. At one moment pointing to the boat, at +another shaking his clenched hand in the faces of the most forward, and +stamping with passion on the sand, his voice, that was at first distinct, +was lost in hoarse murmurs." + +This episode, unequalled in the traditions of the Australian aborigines, +removed the imminent danger; and Sturt's tact, in a few moments changed +the hundreds of demented demons into a pack of laughing, curious +children, an easy and common transition with the savage nature. But for +the intervention of this noble chief, Sturt and his followers, penned +within the boat in shallow water, would have been massacred without a +chance to defend themselves. Surrounded as they were by six hundred +stalwart foes, their fate, save from unreliable native tradition, would +never have been known to their countrymen. + +During the crisis, the boat had drifted untended, and grounded on the +sand. While the men were hastily pushing her off, they caught sight of "a +new and beautiful stream coming apparently from the north." A crowd of +natives were assembled on the bank of the new river, and Sturt pulled +across to them, thus creating a diversion amongst his erstwhile foes, who +swam after, as he says, "like a parcel of seals." + +After presenting the friendly native with some acknowledgement and +refusing presents to the others, the pioneers examined the new river. The +banks were sloping and well-grassed, crowned with fine trees, and the men +cried out that they had got on to an English river. To Sturt himself the +moment was supreme. He was convinced "that we were now sailing on the +bosom of that very stream from whose banks I had been twice forced to +retire." They did not pull far up the stream, for a native fishing-net +was stretched across, and Sturt forbore to break it. The Union Jack was, +however, run up to the peak and saluted with three cheers, and then with +a favouring wind they bade farewell to the Darling and the now +wonderstruck natives. + +As they went on, the party landed occasionally to inspect the surrounding +country, but on all sides from their low elevation they could see nothing +but a boundless flat. The skiff being now only a drag upon them, it was +broken up and burnt for the sake of the ironwork. On account of the +damage to the salt pork caused by the sinking of this boat, the strictest +economy of diet had to be exercised, and though an abundance of fish was +caught, they had become unattractive to their palates. The continuation +of the voyage down the course of the Murray was henceforth a monotonous +repetition of severe daily toil at the oar. The natives whom they +encountered, though friendly, became a nuisance from the constant +handling and embracing that the voyagers had, from purposes of policy, to +suffer unchecked. The tribes met with were more than ordinarily filthy, +and were disfigured by loathsome skin diseases. After twenty-one days on +the water, Sturt began to look most anxiously for indications of the sea, +for his men were fagging with the unremitting labour and short rations, +and they had only the strength of their own arms to rely on for their +return against the current. Soon, however, an old man amongst the natives +described the roaring of the waves, and showed by other signs that he had +been to the sea coast. But more welcome than all were some flocks of +sea-gulls that flew over and welcomed the tired men. + +On the thirty-third day after leaving the starting-point on the +Murrumbidgee, Sturt, on landing to inspect the country, saw before him +the lake which was indeed the termination of the Murray, but not the end +that he had dreamt of. "For the lake was evidently so little influenced +by tides that I saw at once our probable disappointment of practical +communication between it and the ocean." + +This foreboding was realised after examination of Lake Alexandrina, as it +is now called. Upon ascertaining their exact position on the southern +coast, nothing was left but to take up the weary labours of their return; +the thunder of the surf brought no hopeful message of succour, but rather +warned the lonely men to hasten back while yet some strength remained to +them. + +Sturt re-entered the Murray on his homeward journey on the 13th of +February; and the successful accomplishment of this return is Sturt's +greatest achievement. His crew were indeed picked men, but what other +Australian leader of exploration could have inspired them with such a +deep sense of devotion as to carry them through their herculean task +without one word of insubordination or reproach. "I must tell the Captain +to-morrow that I can pull no more," was the utmost that Sturt heard once, +when they thought him asleep; but when the morrow came the speaker +stubbornly pulled on. + +Three of these men, it must be remembered, were convicts; yet, despite +their heroic conduct, one only (Clayton) received a free pardon on their +return, though Sturt did his utmost to win fuller recognition of their +merits. + +In such a work of generalisation as this, space will not permit of a +detailed account of the return voyage, but on the 20th of March they +reached the camp on the Murrumbidgee from which they had started. The +relief party were not there, and there was nothing left but to toil on, +though the men were falling asleep at the oars, and the river itself rose +and raged madly against them. When they reached a point within ninety +miles of the depot where Sturt expected the relief party to be, they +landed, and two men -- Hopkinson and Mulholland -- went forward on foot +for succour. They were now almost utterly without food, and had to wait +six dragging days before men arrived with drays and stores to their aid. + +One little item let me add; the boat being no longer serviceable, was +burnt, Sturt giving as a reason that he was reluctant to leave her like a +log on the water. What a priceless relic that boat would now have become! + +Sturt received but scant appreciation on his return from this heroic +journey. His eyesight was impaired and his health was failing; but +instead of obtaining much-needed rest, he was sent to Norfolk Island, +with a detachment of his regiment. There the moist climate still further +prejudiced his health, though he was able to quell a mutiny of the +convicts, and to save Norfolk Island from falling into their hands. +Governor Darling too proposed that Sturt should be sent as British +Resident to New Zealand, but filled with the love of continental +exploration, he would not leave Australia, to the satisfaction of the +fossils of the Colonial Office, who did not know of him, and promptly +appointed Busby. Even Sir G. Murray, after whom the river had been named, +had never heard of the river. + +In 1832 or a little later, the temporary loss of the sight of one eye +forced him to go to England on leave, when he also bade adieu to his +regiment, which was ordered to India. + +While in England, he published the first of his maps and books, but his +eyesight totally failing him, he retired from the army, July, 1833. +Sturt's eyesight, although never the same as before, was gradually +restored to him, and on September the 21st, 1834, he was married at Dover +to Charlotte Greene. + +We must now take leave of this distinguished man, until he reappears in +these pages as an explorer of Central Australia.* + +*[Footnote.] See Chapter 12. + + + +CHAPTER 7. SIR THOMAS MITCHELL. + +[Illustration. Sir Thomas Mitchell.] + + +7.1. INTRODUCTORY. + +Mitchell, whose name both as explorer and Surveyor-General looms large in +our history, was born at Craigend, Stirlingshire, in 1792. He was the son +of John Mitchell of Grangemouth, and his mother was a daughter of +Alexander Milne of Carron Works. When he was but sixteen, young Mitchell +joined the army of the Peninsula as a volunteer. Three years later he +received a commission in the 95th Regiment or Rifle Brigade. He was +employed on the Quartermaster General's staff at military sketching; and +he was present in the field at Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca, the +Pyrenees, and St. Sebastian. After the close of the war he went to Spain +and Portugal to survey the battlefields. He received promotion to a +Lieutenancy in 1813. He served in the 2nd, 54th, and 97th Regiments of +foot, and was promoted to be Captain in 1822, and Major in 1826. His +appointment as Surveyor-General of New South Wales, as successor to John +Oxley, took place in 1827, when he at once assumed office, and started +energetically to lay out and construct roads, then the urgent need of the +new colony. + +His strong personality, and the energy and thoroughness he displayed in +all his undertakings, combined with his many gifts as draughtsman, +surveyor and organizer, proved to be of peculiar service to the colony at +that period of its existence. There was a vast unknown country +surrounding the settled parts, awaiting both discovery and development, +and Mitchell's inclinations and talents being strongly directed towards +geographical discovery, the office of Surveyor-General that he held for +so long was the most appropriate and advantageous appointment that could +have been given him in the interests of the colony. + +At the same time, Major Mitchell had faults which have always detracted +from the estimation in which he would otherwise be held for his undoubted +capabilities. His domineering temper led him into acts of injustice, and +often made it impossible for him to allow the judgments of others to +influence his opinions. In his view, no other explorer but himself ever +achieved anything worthy of commendation or propounded any credible +theory regarding the interior of Australia. He always referred +slightingly to Sturt, Cunningham, and Leichhardt, and his perversity on +the subject of the junction of the Darling and the Murray drew even from +the gentle Sturt a richly-deserved and unanswerable retort. On his second +expedition, which was supposed to establish the identity of the Darling +with the junction seen by Sturt, Mitchell excused himself from further +exploration of the lower Darling as he expressed himself satisfied that +Sturt's supposition was justified. But later, when on his expedition to +what is now the State of Victoria, he again fell into a doubting mood, +and he was not finally convinced until he had re-visited the junction. +This constant doubting at last roused Sturt, who speaking in 1848 of +Mitchell's work, said: "In due time he came to the disputed junction +which he tells us he recognised from its resemblance to a drawing of it +in my first work. As I have since been on the spot, I am sorry to say +that it is not at all like the place, because it obliges me to reject the +only praise Sir Thomas Mitchell ever gave me." + +Sturt's original sketch of the junction had been lost, and Sturt, who was +nearly blind at the time of publication, obtained the assistance of a +friend, who drew it from his verbal description. + +7.2. THE UPPER DARLING. + +Rumours of a mysterious river called the Kindur, which was said, on no +better authority than a runaway convict's, to pursue a north-west course +through Australia, now began to be noised about. This convict, whose name +was Clarke, but who was generally known as the Barber, said that he had +taken to the bush in the neighbourhood of the Liverpool Plains, and had +followed down a river which the natives called the Gnamoi. He crossed it +and came next to the Kindur. This he followed down for four hundred miles +before he came upon the junction of the two. The union of the two formed +a broad navigable river, which he still followed, although he had lost +his reckoning, and did not know whether he had travelled five hundred or +five thousand miles. One thing, however, he was convinced of, and that +was that he had never travelled south of west. He asserted that he had a +good view of the sea, from the mouth of this most desirable river, and +had seen a large island from which, so the natives reported, there came +copper-coloured men in large canoes to take away scented wood. The Kindur +ran through immense plains, and past a burning mountain. As no one had +invited him to stay in this delectable country, he had returned. + +The story, which bore every evidence of having been invented to save his +back, received a certain amount of credence, and Sir Patrick Lindesay, +then Acting-Governor, gave the Surveyor-General instructions to +investigate the truth of it. It was in this way that Mitchell's first +expedition originated. + +On the 21st of November, 1831, Mitchell left Liverpool Plains and reached +the Namoi on the 16th December. He crossed it and penetrated some +distance into a range which he named the Nundawar Range. He then turned +back to the Namoi, and set up some canvas boats which he had brought to +assist him in following the river down. The boats were of no use for the +purpose, one of them getting snagged immediately, and it was clear that +it would be easier to follow the river on land. As the range was not easy +of ascent, he worked his way round the end of it and came on to the lower +course of Cunningham's Gwydir, which he followed down for eighty miles. +At this point he turned north and suddenly came to the largest river he +had yet seen. Mitchell, ever on the alert to bestow native names on +geographical features -- a most praiseworthy trait in his character, and +through the absence of which in most other explorers, Australian +nomenclature lacks distinction and often euphony -- enquired of the name +from the natives, and found it to be called the Karaula. Was this, or was +this not the nebulous Kindur? The answer could be supplied only by +tracing its course; but its general direction and the discovery and +recognition of its junction with the Gwydir showed that the Karaula was +but the upper flow of Sturt's Darling. Much disappointed, for Mitchell +was intent upon the discovery of a new river system having a northerly +outflow, he prepared to make a bold push into the interior. Before he +started, Finch, his assistant-surveyor arrived hurriedly on the scene +with a tale of death. Finch had been bringing up supplies, and during his +temporary absence his camp had been attacked by the natives, the cattle +dispersed, the supplies carried off, and two of the teamsters murdered. +All ideas of further penetration into the new country had to be +abandoned. Mitchell was compelled to hasten back, bury the bodies of the +victims, and after an ineffective quest for the murderers, return to the +settled districts. + +The journey, however, had not been without good results. Knowledge of the +Darling had been considerably extended, and it was now shown to be the +stream receiving the outflow of the rivers whose higher courses +Cunningham had discovered. The beginning of the great river system of the +Darling may be said to have been thus placed among proven data. Mitchell +himself afterwards showed himself an untiring and zealous worker in +solving the identity of the many ramifications of this system. + +7.3. THE PASSAGE OF THE DARLING. + +His next journey was undertaken to confirm the fact of the union of the +Darling and the Murray. Sturt himself was fully convinced that he had +seen the junction of the two rivers when on his long boat voyage; but he +had not converted every one, and Mitchell, with a large party was +despatched to settle the question and make a systematic survey. Early in +March, 1833, the expedition left Parramatta to proceed by easy stages to +the head of the Bogan River, which had been partly traversed the year +before by surveyor Dixon. It was during this expedition that Richard +Cunningham, brother of Allan, was murdered by the natives. He had not +been long in Australia, and had been appointed botanist to the +expedition. On the morning of April 17th, he lost sight of the party, +whilst pursuing some scientific quest, and as the main body were then +pushing hurriedly over a dry stage to the Bogan River, he was not +immediately missed. Not having any bush experience, he lost himself, and +was never seen again. A long and painful search followed, but owing to +some mischance, Cunningham's tracks were lost on the third day, and it +was not until the 23rd of the month that they were again found. Larmer, +the assistant-surveyor, and three men were sent to follow them up until +they found the lost man. Three days later they returned, having come +across only the horse he had ridden, dead, with the saddle and bridle +still on. Mitchell personally conducted the further search. Cunningham's +tracks were again picked up, and his wandering and erratic footsteps +traced to the Bogan, where some blacks stated that they had seen the +white man's tracks in the bed of the river, and that he had gone west +with the Myalls, or wild blacks.* + +*[Footnote.] Lieutenant Zouch, of the Mounted Police, subsequently found +the site of his death, and recovered a few bones, a Manilla hat, and +portions of a coat. The account afterwards given by the natives was to +the effect that the white man came to them and they gave him food, and he +camped with them: but that during the night he repeatedly got up, and +this roused their fears and suspicions, so that they determined to +destroy him. One struck him on the back of the head with a nulla-nulla, +when the others rushed in and finished the deadly work. + +[Illustration. A Chief of the Bogan River Tribe. Photo by the Reverend +J.M. Curran.] + +As is often the case with men lost in the bush, the unfortunate botanist, +by wandering on confusing and contradictory courses, had rendered the +work of the search party more tedious and difficult, thus sealing his own +fate. A rude stone memorial has since been erected on the spot, and a +tablet put up in the St. Andrew's Scots Church, Sydney. The death of +Cunningham, who was a young and ardent man with the promise of a +brilliant future caused Mitchell much distress of mind. He did all he +could to find his lost comrade, and jeopardised the success of the +expedition by the long delay of fourteen days. + +He resumed his journey by easy stages down the Bogan, and on the 25th of +May came to the Darling. This river was at once recognised by all who had +been with him on his former trip as identical with the Karaula as +Mitchell had supposed; but he found the country in a different condition +from that presented by it when Sturt and Hume first discovered the river +at nearly the same place. The water was now fresh and sweet to drink, and +the flats and banks luxuriant with grass and herbage. + +After choosing a site for a camp, where the town of Bourke now stands, +Mitchell erected a stockade of logs, which he named Fort Bourke, after +the Governor. The country on either side of the Darling was now alive +with natives, and though a sort of armed truce was kept up, it was at the +cost of constant care and watchfulness, and the tactful submission to +numerous annoyances, including much petty pilfering. The boats proved to +be of no service, and after Mitchell with a small party had made a short +excursion down the river to the farthest limit of Sturt and Hume in 1829, +where he saw the tree then marked by Hume, H.H., he had the camp +dismantled, and started with the whole party to follow the river down to +its junction with the Murray. + +By the 11th of July, one month after leaving Fort Bourke, they had traced +the river for three hundred miles through a country of level monotony +unbroken by any tributary rivers or creeks of the least importance. +Mitchell was now certain from the steadfast direction the river +maintained, and the short distance that now intervened between the lowest +point they had reached and Sturt's junction, that Sturt had really been +correct in his surmise, and that he had witnessed the meeting of the +rivers on that memorable occasion. He therefore decided that to keep on +was but needlessly endangering the lives of his men. He was constantly +kept in a state of anxiety for the safety of any member of the party +whose duty compelled him to separate from the main body, for the natives, +who had become doubly bold through familiarity, were now persistently +encroaching and rapidly assuming a defiant manner. + +On the very day that Mitchell had made up his mind to retreat, the long +threatened rupture took place. Mitchell refers to the blacks of this +region as the most unfavourable specimens of aborigine that he had yet +seen, barbarously and implacably hostile, and shamelessly dishonest. On +the morning of July 11th, two of the men were engaged at the river, and +five of the bullock-drivers were collecting their cattle. One of the +natives, nick-named King Peter by the men, tried to snatch a kettle from +the hand of the man who was carrying it, and on this action being +resented, he struck the man with a nulla-nulla, stretching him senseless. +His companion shot King Peter in the groin, and his majesty tumbled into +the river and swam across. The swarm of natives who were constantly +loitering around the camp gathered together and advanced in an armed +crowd, threatening the men, who fired two shots in self-defence, one of +which accidentally wounded a woman. Alarmed by the shots, three men from +the camp came to the assistance of their mates, and one native was shot +just when he was about to spear a man. The blacks now drew back a little, +and the men seized the opportunity to warn the bullock-drivers, whom they +found occupied in lifting a bullock that had fallen into a bog. Their +arrival probably saved their lives, as the bullock drivers were unarmed. +No further attack took place, but the strictest watch had to be kept +until the party was ready to begin the return journey or to beat a +retreat as the natives regarded it. They reached Fort Bourke without +further molestation, the aborigines being content with having driven away +the whites, who retraced their steps from Fort Bourke to Bathurst. + +The geographical knowledge gained on this journey consisted mainly in the +confirmation of tentative theories -- the identity of the Karaula with +the Darling, and the uninterrupted course of the latter river southwards, +as Major Mitchell himself had to confess, into the Murray. Furthermore it +seemed now satisfactorily settled that all the inland rivers as yet +discovered found the same common embouchure. Mitchell's experience too +proved that the pastoral country through which the Darling ran was by no +means unfit for habitation, nor was the river a salt one; true some of +his men had noticed that the water was brackish in places, but this +brackishness, it was seen, had a purely local origin. + +Mitchell was a keen observer of the habits and customs of the aborigines. +He was remarkably quick at detecting tribal differences and distinctions, +and his records of his intercourse with them -- which occupies so much of +his journals -- were most interesting then, when little had been written +on the subject; and are even more valuable now, as a first-hand account +by an intelligent man and a practised observer of the appearance of the +natives at the time of earliest contact with the white man. + +7.4. AUSTRALIA FELIX. + +One would have thought that the fact of the union of the Darling and the +Murray was now sufficiently well-established; but the official mind +deemed otherwise. When the Surveyor-General's next expedition started in +March, 1836, he was informed that the survey of the Darling was to be +completed without any delay; that, having returned to the point where his +last journey had come to an end, he was to trace the river right into the +Murray -- see the waters of the two mingle in fact -- then to cross over +the Murray and follow up the southern bank, recrossing, and regaining the +settled districts at Yass Plains. Although the primary object of the +expedition was the verification of previous discoveries, the programme +was largely departed from, and this particular journey of Mitchell's led +to the opening up and speedy settlement of what is now the State of +Victoria. + +A drought, long-continued and severe, was in full force when Mitchell +commenced his preparations for departure; consequently bullocks and +horses in suitable condition were hard to obtain. But as the Government +spared no expense, the necessary animals were at last available. Though +upon reaching Bathurst Mitchell was informed that the Lachlan River was +dry, he started on his third exploring expedition in the best of spirits. +His mind overflowed with old memories and associations, and he wrote in +his journal that this was the anniversary of the day "when he marched +down the glacis of St. Elvas to the tune of St. Patrick's Day in the +Morning, as the sun rose over the beleaguered towers of Badajoz." He had +heard that the aborigines of the lower Murray had been informed of his +approach, and that they had assured the other tribes that they were +gathering murry coolah -- very angry -- to meet him, but this to one of +the Major's temper, lent but an added zest to the journey; for there were +old scores to settle on both sides. It was the 17th of March, 1836, +before he got free of the cattle stations and found himself at the point +where Oxley had finally left the river. He noticed that throughout this +route, in spite of the dry weather, the cattle were all in good +condition; and he found Oxley's swamps and marshes transmuted into grassy +flats. In fact, so changed was the face of the land, that even the +landmarks of that explorer could scarcely be recognised. + +Again his mind began to be troubled with doubts as to whether he had not +acknowledged the veracity of Sturt's judgment too hastily, for we find in +his journal that he again wavered, after professing that the identity +admitted of little doubt. Now, on the Lachlan, he reverted to his old +idea that the Darling drained a separate and independent basin of its +own. He wrote:-- + +"I considered it necessary to ascertain, if possible, and before the +heavy part of our equipage moved further forward, whether the Lachlan +actually joined the Murrumbidgee near the point where Mr. Oxley saw its +waters covering the face of the country, or whether it pursued a course +so much more to the westward as to have been mistaken for the Darling by +Captain Sturt." + +Impelled by this doubt he undertook a long excursion to the westward with +no result but the discomfort of several thirsty nights and an unchanging +outlook across a level expanse of country bounded by an unbroken horizon. +He reached Oxley's furthest on the 5th of May, but did not find that +explorer's marked tree, though he found others marked by Oxley's party +with the date 1817. + +On the 12th of May, he halted on the bank of the Murrumbidgee, which in +his opinion surpassed all the other Australian rivers he had yet seen. As +his orders were simply to clear up the last hazy doubts that wrapped the +Murray and Darling junction, and then to visit the southern bank of the +Murray, he did not take his heavy baggage on to the Darling, but formed a +stationary camp on the Murrumbidgee, and thence went on with a small +party. When they came to the Murray, they found their old enemies awatch +for them. It was afterwards ascertained that many of these aborigines had +travelled as far as two hundred miles to assist in chasing back the white +intruders once more from their violated hunting-grounds. But these braves +of the Darling did not yet understand the nature of the man they sought +to intimidate. + +At first a nominal peace prevailed, and for two days the blacks followed +the expedition closely, seeking to cut off any stragglers, and rendered +the out-roving work of minding and collecting the cattle and horses one +of considerable risk. Mitchell was soon convinced that a sharp lesson was +necessary to save his men. In the event of losing any of his party, he +would have had to fight his way back with the warriors of what seemed a +thickly-populated district arrayed against him. One morning, therefore, +the party was divided, and half of them sent back to an ambush in the +scrub. The natives were allowed to pass on in close pursuit of the +advance party. The native dogs, however, scented this ambuscade, and, +after their fashion, warned the blacks of the presence of the hidden +whites. As they halted, and began handling and poising their spears, one +of the ambushed men fired without orders, and the others followed his +example. The natives faltered, and those in advance, hearing the firing, +rushed back eager to join in the fray. The conflict was short and +decisive; the over-confident fighting men of the Darling lost seven of +their number and were driven ignominiously back into the Murray scrub and +across that river. Henceforth the explorers were unmolested. These +pugnacious aboriginals were the same that had threatened to bring Sturt's +boat voyage to a tragical conclusion, and soon after Mitchell's +exploration, they waged a determined war against the early overlanders +and their stock. + +Mitchell's way to the Darling was now clear, and on the 31st of May he +came upon that river, a short distance above the confluence. Tracing the +stream upwards, he again convinced himself that it was the same river +that he had been on before, and, satisfied of this, he turned and +proceeded right down to the junction itself, and finally disposed of one +of the most interesting problems in Australian exploration. + +He naturally felt much anxiety, after his late skirmish, for the safety +of the stationary camp he had left behind, and having lost no time during +his return, he was relieved to find his camp in quiet and safety. + +The Surveyor-General first mapped the exact junction of the Murrumbidgee +and Murray, and then transferred the whole of the expedition in boats to +the other side of the Murray. Thus was commenced the investigation of the +unexplored side of the Murray, that above its junction with the +Murrumbidgee, in other words the Hume proper. On the 30th of June the +party camped at Swan Hill, having found the country traversed to exceed +expectations in every way. This pleasing state of affairs continued and +Mitchell journeyed on without check or hindrance. After finding the +Loddon River on the 8th of July, and the Avoca on the 10th, he altered +his preconceived plan to follow the main river up, and, drawn by the +beauty and pastoral advantages of this new territory, he struck off to +the south-west in order to examine it in detail, and trace its +development southwards. + +More and more convinced that he had found the garden of Australia -- he +afterwards named this region Australia Felix -- Mitchell kept steadily on +until he came to the Wimmera, that deceptive river which afterwards +nearly lured Eyre to a death of thirst. On the last day of July he +discovered the beautiful Glenelg, and launched his boat on its waters. At +the outset he was stopped by a fall, was compelled to take to the land +once more, and proceeded along the bank, occasionally crossing to examine +the other side. On the 18th the boats were again used, the river being +much broader, and in two days he reached the coast, a little to the east +of Cape Northumberland. + +The whole expedition then moved homewards, and reached Portland Bay, +where they found that the Henty family from Van Diemen's Land had been +established on a farm for about two years. From them Mitchell received +some assistance in the way of necessary supplies, and then resumed his +journey for home. On the 19th the party separated; Mitchell pushed ahead, +leaving Stapylton, his second, to rest the tired animals for a while and +then to follow slowly. On his homeward way Mitchell ascended Mount +Macedon, and from the summit saw and identified Port Phillip. His return, +with his glowing report of the splendid country he had discovered -- +country fitted for the immediate occupation of the grazier and the farmer +-- at once stimulated its settlement, and as the man whose explorations +were of immediate benefit to the community in general -- Mitchell's name +stands first on the roll of explorers. + +7.5. DISCOVERY OF THE BARCOO. + +Some years elapsed before Mitchell -- now Sir Thomas -- again took to the +field of active exploration. The settlement of the upper Darling and the +Darling Downs had caused numerous speculations as to the nature of the +unknown territory comprising the northern half of Australia. In 1841, +communications had passed between the Governor and Captain Sturt, and in +December of the same year Eyre, not long returned from his march round +the Great Bight, wrote offering his services, provided that no prior +claim had been advanced by Sturt. Governor Gipps asked for an estimate of +the expenses, but considered Eyre's estimate of five thousand pounds too +high, and nothing further was done. In 1843, Sir Thomas Mitchell +submitted a plan of exploration to the Governor, who consulted the +Legislative Council. The Council approved it and voted one thousand +pounds towards expenses. The Governor referred the matter to Lord +Stanley, whose reply was favourable, but the project still hung fire. In +1844 Eyre again wrote offering to make the journey at a much more +reasonable rate, but his offer was however declined as Mitchell's +proposals held the field. In 1845 the fund was increased to two thousand +pounds, and Sir George Gipps ordered the Surveyor-General to make his +preparations. + +Mitchell favoured the search for a practicable road to the Gulf of +Carpentaria, and hoped also that he would at last find his long-sought +northern-flowing river. In a letter which he then received from a +well-known grazier, Walter Bagot, there is mention of an aboriginal +description of a large river running northward to the west of the +Darling. But as natives in their descriptions frequently confuse flowing +to and flowing from, they probably had Cooper's Creek in mind. + +During the earlier part of the year, Commissioner Mitchell, the son of +Sir Thomas, who was afterwards drowned during a passage to Newcastle, had +made a flying survey towards the Darling, and the discovery of the +Narran, Balonne, and Culgoa rivers has been attributed to him. + +On the 15th of December, 1845, Mitchell started from Buree with a very +large company, including E.B. Kennedy as second in command, and W. +Stephenson as surgeon and collector. He struck the Darling much higher +than Fort Bourke, and it was not until he was across the river that he +passed the outermost cattle-stations, which had sprung rapidly into +existence since his last visit to the neighbourhood. The Narran was then +followed up until the Balonne was reached. This river, in his superlative +style, Mitchell pronounced to be the finest in Australia, with the +exception of the Murray. He then struck and followed the Culgoa upwards +until it divided into two branches; he skirted the main one, which +retained the name of the Balonne. On the 12th of April he came to the +natural bridge of rocks which he called St. George's bridge, and which is +the site of the present town of St. George. Here a temporary camp was +formed; Kennedy was left in charge to bring the main body on more slowly; +Mitchell with a few men went ahead. He followed up the Balonne to the +Maranoa, but as the little he saw of that tributary did not tempt him to +further investigation of it, he kept on his course up the main stream +until he reached the junction of a stream which he named the Cogoon. This +riverlet led him on into a magnificent pastoral district, in the midst of +which stood a solitary hill that he named Mount Abundance. It is in his +description of this region in his journal that we first find an allusion +to the bottle tree. + +The party wandered on over a low watershed and came down out on to a +river which, from its direction and position, he surmised to be the +Maranoa, the stream he had not followed. At this new point it was full of +deep reaches of water, and drained a tract of most pleasing land. On its +banks he determined to await Kennedy's arrival. + +Kennedy overtook him on the 1st of June, bringing from Sir Thomas's son +Roderick despatches which had reached the party after the leader's +departure. Amongst other items of news in the despatches was the report +of Leichhardt's return, and of the hearty reception that he had been +accorded in Sydney. One piece of random information, a mere floating +newspaper surmise, but enough to arouse Mitchell's suspicious temper, +annoyed him greatly. "We understand," it ran, "the intrepid Dr. +Leichhardt is about to start another expedition to the Gulf, keeping to +the westward of the coast ranges." + +As this seemed to indicate an intention of trespassing on Mitchell's +present field of operations, he naturally felt some resentment not likely +to be allayed by such a paragraph as the following: "Australia Felix and +the discoveries of Sir Thomas Mitchell now dwindle into comparative +insignificance." + +Again leaving Kennedy, he set out to make a very extended excursion. +Traversing the country from the head of the Maranoa, he discovered the +Warrego River. Keeping north, over the watershed, for a time he fondly +imagined that he had reached northward-flowing waters; but the direction +of the rivers that he found, the Claude and the Nogoa, soon convinced him +of his error, and that he was on rivers of the east coast. Even when he +had reached the Belyando, a river which he named and followed down for a +short distance, he still deluded himself that he had reached inland +waters. Intensely mortified at finding that he was on a tributary of the +Burdekin, and approaching the ground already trodden by Leichhardt, he +returned to the head of the Nogoa, once more subdivided his party, and +formed a stationary camp to await his return from a westward trip. + +This time, however, he was blessed with the most splendid success. He +found the Barcoo, a river that seemed to him to promise all he sought +for. The direction of its upper course easily led him to believe that it +was an affluent of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and after tracing it for some +distance he returned to camp. The newly-discovered river he named the +Victoria, thinking it would prove to be the same as that found by Captain +Stokes on his survey expedition. It was on the Barcoo, or Victoria, that +Mitchell first noticed the now famous grass that bears his name. On their +return journey, they followed down the Maranoa, and at the old camp at +St. George's Bridge, they were told by the natives that white men had +visited the place during their long absence. It was a singular and +welcome feature of Mitchell's discoveries that they had always proved to +be adjacent to civilisation, and to be suitable for immediate occupation. + +The discovery of the Barcoo was the last feather in the cap of the +Surveyor-General. He was doomed to learn soon that it was not the river +of his dreams, but only the head waters of that central stream discovered +by Sturt, Cooper's Creek; but meanwhile the delusion must have been very +gratifying. + +In 1851 Mitchell was sent out to report on the Bathurst goldfields, and +on a subsequent visit to England he took with him the first specimen of +gold and the first diamond found in Australia. He was for a short time +one of the members for the Port Phillip electorate, but resigned, as he +found faithful discharge of the duties to be incompatible with his +office. He patented the boomerang screw propeller, and was the author of +many educational and other works, including a translation of the Lusiad +of Camoens. Although a strict martinet in his official duties, and +subject to a choleric temper, he was strenuous in his devotion to the +advancement of Australia, among whose makers he must always occupy a +proud position. He died on the 5th of October, 1855, at Carthona, his +private residence at Darling Point, Sydney, New South Wales. His wife was +a daughter of Colonel Blount. + + + +CHAPTER 8. THE EARLY FORTIES. + + +8.1. ANGAS McMILLAN AND GIPPSLAND. + +Angas McMillan, who was the discoverer of what is now so widely-known as +Gippsland, in Victoria, was a manager of the Currawang station, in the +Maneroo district. On the 20th of May, 1839, he started from the station +on a trip to the southward to look for new grazing land. He had with him +but one black boy, named Jimmy Gibbu, who claimed to be the chief of the +Maneroo tribe, so that if the party was small, it was very select. On the +fifth day McMillan got through to the country watered by the Buchan +River, and, from the summit of an elevation which he called Mount +Haystack, he obtained a most satisfactory view over the surrounding +region. The next night, McMillan, awakened by a noise, found Jimmy Gibbu +bending over him with a nulla-nulla in his hand. Fortunately, McMillan's +pistol was within easy reach, and, presenting it at Jimmy's head, he +compelled him to drop the nulla-nulla, and to account for his suspicious +attitude. Jimmy confessed to a fear of the Warrigals, or wild blacks of +that region, to acute home-sickness, and to a general unwillingness to +proceed further. + +McMillan examined the country he had found, and having judged it to be +very desirable pastoral land, he returned home. He then formed a new +station for Mr. Macalister on some country he had found on the Tambo +River, and went himself on another trip of discovery. This time he had +four companions with him, two friends named Cameron and Matthews, a +stockman, and a black boy. they followed the Tambo River down its course +through fine grazing country, both plains and forest, until in due course +it led them to the point of its embouchure in the lakes of the south +coast. He named Lake Victoria, and then directed his course to the west, +where he discovered and named the Nicholson and Mitchell rivers. He was +so deeply impressed with the resemblance of the country he had just been +over to some parts of Scotland, that he called the district by the now +obsolete name of Caledonia Australis. On January the 23rd, 1840, he was +out again and discovered and named the Macalister River, and pushed on as +far west as the La Trobe River. This addition of rich pastoral regions to +the already settled districts was altogether due to Angas McMillan's +energy, and is now known as Gippsland, being named officially after Sir +George Gipps, the Governor who had the amusing eccentricity of insisting +that all the towns laid out during his term of office should have no +public squares included within their boundaries, being convinced that +public squares encouraged the spread of democracy. + +8.2. COUNT STRZELECKI. + +Count Strzelecki's expedition through Gippsland with the discovery of +which district he is commonly and wrongly credited, was due to the +literary and geographical work he had undertaken, as he was gathering +material for his well-known work, The Physical Description of New South +Wales, Victoria, and Van Diemen's Land. He ascended the south-east +portion of the main dividing range, and named the highest peak thereof +Kosciusko, after a fancied resemblance in its outline to that Polish +patriot's tomb at Cracow. + +On the 27th of March, 1840, he reached the cattle station on the Tambo +whither McMillan had just returned, and was directed by him on to his +newly-discovered country. Strzelecki pushed through to Western Port, +meeting with some scrubby and almost inaccessible country during the last +stages of his journey. His party had to abandon both horses and packs, +and fight its way through a dense undergrowth on a scanty ration of one +biscuit and a slice of bacon per day, varied with an occasional native +bear. It was here that the Count, who was an athletic man, found that his +hardy constitution stood the party in good stead. So weakened and +exhausted were his companions, that it was only by constant encouragement +that he urged them along at all. When forcing their way through the +matted growth of scrub, he often threw himself bodily upon it, breaking a +path for his weary followers by the mere weight of his body. It was in a +wretched condition that they at last reached Western Port. + +8.3. PATRICK LESLIE. + +In 1840 Patrick Leslie, who has always been considered the father of +settlement on the Darling Downs, started with stock from a New England +station, then the most northerly settled district in New South Wales, and +formed the first station on the Condamine River, actually before that +river had been identified as a tributary of the Darling. There was a +general impression that the Condamine flowed north and east, and finally +found its way through the main range to the Pacific. In 1841, Stuart +Russell, who closely followed Leslie as a pioneer, followed the river +down for more than a hundred miles to the westward, and in the following +year it was traced still further, and the Darling generally accepted as +its final destination. + +8.4. LUDWIG LEICHHARDT. + +[Illustration. Ludwig Leichhardt.] + +Leichhardt is the Franklin of Australia, around whose name has ever clung +a tantalising veil of mystery and romance. Truth to tell, his claim as a +leading explorer rests solely on his first and undoubtedly fruitful +expedition. But for his mysterious fate mention of his name would not +stir the hearts of men as it does. Had he returned from his final venture +beaten, it must have been to live through the remainder of his life a +disappointed and embittered man. Far better for one of his temperament to +rest in the wilderness, his grave unknown, but his memory revered. + +Leichhardt was born at Beskow, near Berlin, and studied at Berlin. +Through an oversight he was omitted from the list of those liable to the +one year of military service, and the sweets of exemption tempted him to +evade the three-year military course. The consequence was that he was +prosecuted as a deserter, and sentenced in contumaciam. Afterwards, +Alexander von Humboldt succeeded, by describing his services to science +on his first expedition in Australia, in obtaining a pardon from the +King. By a Cabinet Order, Leichhardt received permission to return to +Prussia unpunished. When the order arrived in Australia, he had already +started on his last expedition. + +Dr. Leichhardt appears to have been a man whose character, to judge from +his short career, was largely composed of contradictions and +inconsistencies. Eager for personal distinction, with high and noble +aims, he yet lacked that ready sympathy and feeling of comradeship that +attract men. Leichhardt's followers never desired to accompany him on a +second expedition. Yet strange to say, he was capable of inspiring firm +friendship in such men as William Nicholson and Lieutenant Robert Lynd. + +When he left on his first exploring expedition, on which he was +successful owing to the luck of the novice, people generally predicted -- +and with much reason -- that he would fail. But when he set out on his +second and disastrous journey, universally applauded and with his name on +everybody's lips, it was never doubted but that he would succeed. + +[Map. Leichhardt's Route 1844 and 1845, Mitchell's Route 1845 and 1846, +and Kennedy's Route 1847 and 1848] + +On his first expedition he was insufficiently equipped, had but +inexperienced men with him, and was a bad bushman himself. In fact the +journal of the trip reads to a man accustomed to bush life like the fable +of The Babes in the Wood; yet he managed to blunder through. On his +second expedition he was amply provided, and most of his companions were +experienced men, but it proved a miserable fiasco. + +His great confidence in himself led him to ignore or undervalue the fact, +patent to others, that he was no bushman either by instinct or training. +And he seemed to prefer for companions men like himself, who could not +detect this failing, as is evident from a letter written by him to W. +Hull, of Melbourne, with reference to a young man who was anxious to join +his party. In this letter he enumerates the qualities that he considers +necessary in a follower:-- + +"Activity, good humour, sound moral principle, elasticity of mind and +body, and perfect willingness to obey my orders, even though given +harshly...I have been extremely unfortunate in the choice of my former +companions." + +The last remark is an unworthy one, and of course applies to the +companions of his second expedition. He does not include a knowledge of +open-air life amongst his qualifications, nor the needful bushmanship; +and apparently in Leichhardt's opinion, a useless man of good moral +principle would be as acceptable to an explorer as a good bushman of +doubtful morality. It causes one to inquire whether the devoted men who +toiled for Sturt, private soldiers and prisoners of the Crown, were men +of sound moral principle? This extract affords an insight into +Leichhardt's failures. He wanted only those men who would blindly and +ignorantly obey and believe in him. For a man of Leichhardt's +temperament, such men were not to be found: he had missed the fairy gift +at birth -- all the essentials of good leadership. + +Stuart Russell, in his Genesis of Queensland, cites his shrewd old +stockman's opinion of Dr. Leichhardt, as he was just before his first +trip. The station from which Leichhardt started on that occasion was near +Russell's, so that the man spoke from personal knowledge: "It's my belief +that if Dr. Leichhardt do it at all, 'twill be more by good luck than +management. Why, sir, he hasn't got the knack of some of us; why it comes +like mother's milk to some. I can't tell how or why, but it does. Mark my +words, sir, Dr. Leichhardt hasn't got it in him, and never will have." + +Two invaluable qualities in an explorer, apart from his scientific +attainments, Leichhardt possessed. These were courage and determination; +necessary no doubt, but not sufficient in themselves to carry through an +expedition to success. He lacked tact, and was deficient in practical +knowledge of the bush, and especially in what is known as bushmanship. +One fixed idea of his was, that in dry country if one can only keep on +far enough one is bound to come to water: a theory plausible enough if it +could be carried out to its logical conclusion; but the application of +which often involves a physical impossibility. And it must be taken into +consideration that Leichhardt had never travelled in the dry country of +the interior, but that what small experience he possessed had been gained +on the fairly well-watered coast. He asserts in his journal that cattle +and horses trust entirely to the sense of vision for finding water, and +not to the sense of smell. The exact reverse is of course the case. + +The character of the lost explorer will thus be seen to have militated +strongly against his success when he came to be pitted against the -- to +him -- unknown dangers of a dry season in the far interior. But his fatal +self-confidence led him to challenge the desert, thinking that he must +succeed where better men had been denied even the hope of success. When +his last expedition comes to be reviewed, a more detailed discussion of +the probabilities of a successful issue to it will be made. Poor +Leichhardt, with all his moods and caprices, it would have been strange +if he had not shown some appreciation of humour. Let us quote his +description of his sudden and unexpected arrival in Sydney, after the +Port Essington expedition. + +"We did come to Sydney, it was quite dark; we did go ashore, and then I +thought to see my dear friend Lynd. So I went up George Street to the +barracks. And then I went to his quarters to his window. He was dressing +himself; I did put in my head; he did jump out of the other window and I +stood there wondering. Soon many people did come round, and did look, Oh +so timid. I did not know all. And there was such a greeting. I was dead, +and was alive again. I was lost, and was found." + +But in thus reviewing Leichhardt's aptitude -- or rather inaptitude -- +for the work, and commenting upon his shortcomings, we must do him the +fullest justice by paying homage to the sincerity of his belief in +himself and his mission. In that belief he was honestly loyal. His +conception of his duty was of the highest, and in its interest he would, +and did, make every sacrifice in his power. If some prescient tongue +could have told Leichhardt that the end of his quest would be an unknown +death, he would have accepted the fate without a murmur, provided his +death benefited geographical discovery. + +As the man of science in a party under a capable leader, Leichhardt would +have achieved greater success than many men who have filled that +position; as the leader himself he was, of necessity, an absolute +failure. + +Leichhardt arrived in New South Wales in 1842, and after some botanical +excursions about the Hunter River district, he travelled overland to +Moreton Bay, and there occupied himself with short expeditions in the +neighbourhood, pursuing his favourite study of physical science. When the +subject of the exploration of the north was mooted, he was desirous of +securing the position of naturalist, but the delay in forming the +projected expedition disappointed him, and he resolved to try and +organise a private one. In this he received very little encouragement. He +persevered, however, and eking out his own resources by means of private +contributions, both in money and stock, he managed to get a party +together. On the 1st of October, 1844, he left Jimbour station on the +Darling Downs, on the trip that was destined to make his name as an +explorer. His preparations were on a much smaller scale than Mitchell's. +Considering the importance of the undertaking, his party was absurdly +small. He had with him six white and two black men, seventeen horses, +sixteen head of cattle and four kangaroo dogs; and his supply of +provisions was equally meagre. His plan of starting from Moreton Bay to +Port Essington differed considerably from Mitchell's proposed journey to +the Gulf from Fort Bourke, but although longer and more roundabout, it +would be a safer route for his little party to adopt, as they would keep +to the comparatively well-watered coastal lands. Leaving the Condamine, +he crossed the northern watershed, and struck the head of one of the main +tributaries of the Fitzroy River, which he named the Dawson. Thence he +passed westward into a region of fine pastoral country, which he named +the Peak Downs. Here he named the minor waters of the Planet and the +Comet, and Zamia Creek. On the 10th of January, 1845, he found the +Mackenzie River, and thence crossed on to and named the Isaacs, a +tributary of the Fitzroy coming from the north. This river they followed +up till they crossed the watershed on to the head waters of the Suttor +River. They followed this stream down until it brought them to the +Burdekin, Leichhardt's most important discovery. + +Up the valley of this river they travelled, until they reached the head, +where, at the Valley of Lagoons, they crossed the watershed on to the +waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Here, for some unknown reason, +Leichhardt went far too much to the north, which necessitated a long +detour around the south-eastern corner of the Gulf. It was while they +were retracing a southern course along the eastern shore of the Gulf that +the naturalist Gilbert met his fate. Up to this time they had been so +little troubled with the natives that they had ceased almost to think of +a possible hostile encounter with them. This fancied immunity was broken +in a most tragic manner on the night of the 28th of June, 1845. It was a +calm, quiet evening, and the party were peacefully encamped beside a +chain of shallow lagoons. The doctor was thinking out his plans for the +next few days, Gilbert was planting a few lilies he had gathered, as was +his nightly habit when any flowers were available. Roper and the others +were grouped around the fire warding off the attacks of the mosquitoes. +Suddenly about seven o'clock a shower of spears was thrown among the +unarmed men, and Gilbert was almost instantly killed, Roper and Calvert +being seriously wounded. The whites rushed for their guns, but +unfortunately not one weapon was ready capped, and it was some time +before any of them could be discharged, when a volley caused the blacks +to scamper off. It is most astonishing that the whole of the members of +the party were not cut down in one dreadful massacre. + +The body of the murdered naturalist was buried at the fatal camp, but the +grave was left unmarked, and a large fire built and consumed above it to +hide all traces of it from the natives. The river where this sad mishap +occurred now bears the name of Gilbert. + +From the scene of this tragedy, which ordinary precautions would have +avoided, the party proceeded around the southern shore of the Gulf, +keeping a short distance above tidal waters; but their progress was slow +and painful on account of the two wounded men. Most of Leichhardt's names +are still retained for the rivers of the Gulf which he crossed, the +Leichhardt itself being an exception. This river he mistook for the +Albert, so named by Captain Stokes during his marine survey of the north +coast. A.C. Gregory rectified the error in after years, and gave the +river the name of the lost explorer for whom he was then searching. With +fast-dwindling supplies, lagging footsteps, and depressed spirits, the +expedition travelled slowly on to the south-west corner of the Gulf +where, in crossing a large river, the Roper, four of the horses were +drowned in consequence of the boggy banks. This misfortune so limited +their means of carriage that Leichhardt had to sacrifice the whole of his +botanical collection. On the 17th of December, 1845, the worn-out +travellers, nearly destitute of everything, reached the settlement of +Victoria, at Port Essington, and the long journey of fourteen months was +over. + +This expedition, successful as it was in opening up such a large area of +well-watered country, attracted universal attention both to the +gratifying economic results and to the hitherto untried leader. He was +enthusiastically welcomed back to Sydney, and dubbed by journalists the +prince of explorers. But what captivated public fancy was a certain halo +of romance that clung to the journey on account of the reported death of +Leichhardt, a report that gained general credence. His unexpected return +invested him with a romance which -- fortunately for his reputation -- +the total and absolute disappearance of himself and company in 1848 has +but the more richly coloured. Enthusiastic poets gush forth in song, and +a more substantial reward was raised by public and private subscriptions +and shared among the expedition in due proportions. + +Encouraged by these encomiums on his success, and perhaps a little +intoxicated by the general acclamation, Leichhardt now conceived the +ambitious idea of traversing the continent from the eastern to the +western shore; keeping as far as possible on the same parallel of +latitude. This was a bold project, coming as it did so soon after Sturt +had returned to Adelaide from his excursion into the interior with a +terrible tale of thirst and suffering. But this time the hero of the hour +experienced no difficulty in obtaining funds and other necessary aids. +The party, when organised, travelled from the Hunter River to the +Condamine, taking with them their outfit of mules, cattle, and goats. +When the expedition departed from Darling Downs, they numbered seven +white men and two natives, with 270 goats, 180 sheep, 40 bullocks, 15 +horses, and 13 mules. There were besides an ample outfit and provisions +calculated to last the explorers on a two years' journey; for it was +estimated that the expedition would be absent from civilisation for that +time. + +Instead of setting out westwards from the initial point in a direction +where Leichhardt could reasonably expect fair travelling country for some +distance, he proceeded along his old track north to the Mackenzie and +Isaacs Rivers. What induced him to adopt this course is uncertain. He +explained to one of his party that it was to verify some former +observations; or he may have had some dim notion that by keeping to the +tropical line he would gain some climatic assistance. Whatever the cause, +the result was disastrous. The wet season and monsoonal rains caught the +party amongst the sickly acacia scrubs of that region; and hemmed in by +mud and bog they lost their stock, consumed their provisions, and made no +progress. Henceforth the narrative is one of semi-starvation, varied by +gorging on the days when a beast was killed; and wrangles and quarrels, +in which the leader appeared in no amiable light. Medicine had been +omitted from the stores, and all the covering they had from the +torrential rains was provided by two miserable calico tents. The 6th day +of July found them back on Chauvel's station on the Condamine; a sad +contrast to the party which had aspired to cross the continent. + +[Illustration. John Frederick Mann. Born 1819, died September 7th, 1907, +at Sydney. The last survivor of a Leichhardt expedition.] + +The onus of this wretched failure Leichhardt tried to cast upon his +companions, upon whom he made many unjust aspersions. J.F. Mann, late of +the Survey Department of New South Wales, was one of the expedition, and +the last surviving member of any expedition connected with Leichhardt. He +wrote a booklet in which he vigorously defends his comrades and himself +against the unworthy slurs cast at them by Leichhardt. Amongst his papers +is a rough sketch from life of Leichhardt in bush costume. + +On reaching the Condamine, Leichhardt was put into possession of the news +of Mitchell's return and of the discovery of the Barcoo. Being anxious to +examine the country lying between the upper Condamine and Mitchell's +latest track, he, in company with two or three of his late companions, +left Cecil Plains for that purpose; he went as far as the Balonne River, +crossed it and returned. This doubtless was in view of organising another +expedition, with which he evidently intended to start in another manner, +straight to the westward. + +Still persisting and believing in his capability of leading an expedition +across the continent, and fearful that this ambitious project might be +forestalled, he now made strong and strenuous efforts to organise another +party. He succeeded at length, but the party was neither so well +provided, nor so large, nor composed of such capable men as the second. + +In fact, very little is known of the members that composed it; the only +thing certain is that it was not at all adapted for the work that lay +before it. A few words of the Reverend W.W.B. Clarke, the well-known +geologist, have been many times quoted, and they convey about all that is +known of the personnel of the expedition:-- + +"The parties that accompanied Leichhardt were perhaps little capable of +shifting for themselves in case of any accident to their leader. The +second in command, a brother-in-law of Leichhardt, came from Germany to +join him before starting, and he told me, when I asked him what his +qualifications for the journey were, that he had been at sea and had +suffered shipwrecks, and was therefore well able to endure hardship. I do +not know what his other qualifications were." + +The last sentence is very pregnant, and implies that a very poor opinion +of the men as experienced bushmen was entertained by those who saw them. + +The lost expedition is supposed to have consisted of six whites and two +blacks; the names known being those of the doctor himself, Classen, +Hentig, Stuart, and Kelly. He had with him 12 horses, 13 mules, 50 +bullocks, and 270 goats; beside the utterly inadequate allowance of 800 +pounds of flour, 120 pounds of tea, some sugar and salt, 250 pounds of +shot, and 40 pounds of powder. His last letter is dated the 3rd of April, +1848, from McPherson's station on the Cogoon, but in it he speaks only of +the country he has passed through, and nothing of his intended route. +Since the residents of this then outlying station lost sight of him, no +sure clue as to the fate of him and his companions has ever come to +light. The total evanishment, not alone of the men, but of the animals -- +especially the mules and the goats -- is one of the strangest mysteries +of our mysterious interior. Thirst probably caused the death of the +animals, and in that case they would have died singly and apart, and +their remains would in after years elude attention. A similar fate +probably befel the men. + +Rumour has always been rife as to the locality of Leichhardt's death, and +suggestions the most hopelessly unlikely and inconsistent have been put +forward and seriously considered. At the same time, the only two reliable +marks, undoubtedly genuine and fitting in in every way with Leichhardt's +projected course of travel, have been neglected. + +Leichhardt started from McPherson's station on the Cogoon, now perhaps +better known as Muckadilla Creek. There was a rumour, never +authenticated, that after he had proceeded nearly one hundred miles he +sent back a man with a report that he had passed through some splendid +pastoral land, but this is not at all likely to be true. The first +indication of him is then met with on the Barcoo (Victoria) whereon A.C. +Gregory, in charge of the Leichhardt Search Expedition, in 1858, found +his marked tree and other indications:-- + +"Continuing our route along the river (latitude 24 degrees 35 minutes; +longitude 36 degrees 6 minutes), we discovered a Moreton Bay ash, about +two feet in diameter, marked with the letter L on the east side, cut +through the bark about four feet from the ground, and near it the stumps +of some small trees that had been cut with a sharp axe, also a deep notch +cut in the side of a sloping tree, apparently to support the ridge-pole +of a tent, or some similar purpose; all indicating that a camp had been +established here by Leichhardt's party. No traces of stock could be +found; this however is easily accounted for, as the country had been +inundated last season." + +There can be little doubt about the authenticity of the trace, and it at +once does away with the truth of the stories told to Hovenden Hely by the +blacks as to Leichhardt's murder on the Warrego River. Gregory then went +up the Thomson River but found no other mark, and returning followed that +river and Cooper's Creek down to South Australia. This camp of +Leichhardt's is easily understood. Then follows an account of the other +found by the same explorer in 1856, during an earlier expedition. This +was on the upper waters of Elsey Creek, and his description of it runs as +follows:-- + +"The smoke of bush fires was visible to the south, east, and north, and +several trees cut with iron axes were noticed near the camp. There were +also the remains of a hut, and the ashes of a large fire, indicating that +there had been a party encamped there for several weeks; several trees +from six to eight inches in diameter had been cut down with iron axes in +fair condition, and the hut built by cutting notches in standing trees +and resting a large pole therein for a ridge. This hut had been burnt +apparently by the subsequent bush fires; and only some pieces of the +thickest timber remained unconsumed. Search was made for marked trees, +but none were found, nor were there any fragments of iron, leather, or +other material of the equipment of an exploring party, or of any bones of +animals other than those common to Australia. Had an exploring party been +destroyed there, there would most likely be some indications, and it may +therefore be inferred that the party proceeded on its journey. It could +not have been a camp of Leichhardt's in 1845, as it is 100 miles +south-west of his route to Port Essington, and it was only six or seven +years old, judging by the growth of the trees; having subsequently seen +some of Leichhardt's camps on the Burdekin, Mackenzie, and Barcoo Rivers, +a great similarity was observed in the mode of building the hut, and its +relative position with regard to the fire and water supply, and the +position with regard to the great features of the country was exactly +where a party going westward would first receive a check from the +waterless tableland between the Roper and Victoria Rivers, and would +probably camp and reconnoitre before attempting to cross to the +north-west coast." + +Leichhardt's track, as far as the Elsey, seems tolerably plain and +entirely in accordance with the character of the man and his intentions. +Forced to retreat from the dry country west of the Thomson, he probably +followed that river to its head, and crossing the main watershed regained +and re-pursued his track of 1845, as far as the Roper, of which river +Elsey Creek is a tributary. When he left the camp seen by Gregory, he +would, going either south-west or west, find himself in the driest of dry +country, which is even now but sparsely settled. And there came the end. + +Long before the last water they carried with them had been used, their +beasts would have all died, left here and there wherever they fell. So +too would the men. Differences of opinion would have arisen, and some +would have been for turning back, and others for keeping on. Some would +have persisted in changing the direction they were following, and, led on +by some mad delirious fancy in seeing water indications in some rock or +bush, would have separated and staggered on to die alone. Their baggage +would have been left strewn over the desert where it had been abandoned, +and the men, one by one, would have shared the same fate. Into such a +waterless and barren region the blacks would seldom penetrate, and what +with the sun, hot winds, bush fires, and sand-storms, all recognisable +traces would soon have been effaced. + +With regard to the notched tree to support a ridge-pole, which feature +was noticed by Gregory in both camps, J.F. Mann, of whose companionship +with Leichhardt mention has already been made, often stated that he would +recognise Leichhardt's camps anywhere by this singular device for +supporting the ridge of a tent. + + + +CHAPTER 9. EDMUND B. KENNEDY. + +[Illustration. Edmund B. Kennedy.] + + +9.1. THE VICTORIA AND COOPER'S CREEK. + +E.B. Kennedy, whose tragic death ineffaceably branded the Cape York +blacks as remorselessly cruel, came to Australia early in life, and was +appointed a Government surveyor in 1840. His first experience as an +explorer was gained when as Assistant-Surveyor and second in command he +accompanied his chief on the last expedition that Mitchell led into the +interior. On this occasion he remained in charge of the camp formed at +St. George's Bridge, and then conducted part of the expedition on to the +Maranoa, where he rejoined the Major, and remained in charge whilst +Mitchell made his exploration westward. + +On Mitchell's return to Sydney, there being some doubt as to the point of +outflow of the newly-discovered Victoria River, Kennedy was sent out with +a small party to follow the river down and ascertain its course and +destination. + +On the 13th of August, he reached Mitchell's lowest camp on the Victoria +River, and started to trace the river down. During the first day's +journey he came across some natives, from one of whom he learnt that the +aboriginal name of the river was the Barcoo. Two days afterwards he +observed with some anxiety that the trend of the valley was inclining +from northwards towards the point whence Sturt had turned back from his +upward course on Cooper's Creek. As the second part of his instructions +was to find a practicable road to the Gulf, he feared that he would not +have sufficient provisions to fulfil both duties. He therefore made a +stationary camp, and with two men proceeded down the river. But after two +days' journey, he found that the Barcoo turned to the west, and even +north of west. The channel now showed large reaches of water within its +confines, some of them more than one hundred yards in width. This induced +him to alter his plan, and he thought he should follow such an important +watercourse and ascertain its outflow. He therefore turned back for the +remainder of his party. On the 30th of August he discovered a large river +coming from the North-North-East, and he named it the Thomson. With the +usual inconsistency of Australian inland rivers, the Thomson soon +presented another and different scene. The great pastoral stretches of +the upper course were left behind, and were succeeded by flat and +inferior country intersected by sand-ridges. The course of the river +itself once more turned to the southward, and was but scantily watered. +Still Kennedy persevered until convinced that further progress must bring +him to Sturt's furthest on Cooper's Creek. The face of the land answered +to Sturt's description; and grass and feed both beginning to fail him, +Kennedy had to consider whether it was worth while risking the lives of +his men to confirm what was practically a certainty. At last vistas of +the desert, described by Sturt with such terrible fidelity, appeared +stretching away to the horizon, and Kennedy turned back, satisfied that +the Victoria River and Cooper's Creek were one and the same stream. + +It was now Kennedy's intention to make an excursion towards the Gulf of +Carpentaria. On his way down, in order to travel lighter, he had buried a +large quantity of flour and sugar as well as his drays. When he arrived +at the cache of provisions on his way back, he found that the natives had +dug the rations up, and in mere wantonness had so mixed and scattered +them as to render them useless. A little further on, he was just in time +to save the carts, for an aboriginal was probing in the ground with a +spear to ascertain their whereabouts. During this excursion Kennedy +noticed that the blacks were given to "chewing tobacco in a green state;" +but the "tobacco" was, of course, the pituri plant, which they are +accustomed to masticate. By the time he reached the head of the Warrego, +Kennedy was too short of provisions to attempt his projected Gulf +expedition, and had to make homeward, but resolved to go down by that +river and ascertain whether it joined the Darling or flowed westward. + +The Warrego dividing into many dry channels when they reached its lower +courses, the party struck eastward to the Culgoa, and reached that river +after a very distressing stage over dry country on which they lost six +horses from heat and thirst, whilst bringing the carts across it. + +9.2. A TRAGIC EXPEDITION. + +Kennedy's first experience of an independent exploring expedition in the +west was by no means a fitting prelude to the tragic journey he next +undertook. The same impulse that led to Mitchell's and Leichhardt's +northern journeys stimulated Kennedy to make his dangerous journey up the +eastern coast of the long peninsula that terminates in Cape York -- the +desire to find a road to the north coast, so that an easy chain of +communication should exist between the southern settlements and the far +north. + +It was at the end of the month of May that Kennedy landed at Rockingham +Bay with his party of twelve men. He had started from Sydney in the +barque Tam o' Shanter, which was convoyed by Captain Owen Stanley in the +Alligator. This was in 1848, the same fateful year that witnessed +Leichhardt's disappearance. A schooner was to meet the party on the +north, at Port Albany, where it was proposed to form a settlement should +the features of the peninsula warrant such an enterprise. In actual point +of distance the task was not great, being a land traverse of from three +to four hundred miles, allowing for deviations. But never were men in +Australia so dogged by disaster and beset by danger as were Kennedy and +his followers. Opposed by country as yet unfamiliar to them, they found +their onward path hindered by many totally unforeseen conditions. Ranges +and ravines clothed with an almost impenetrable jungle, which was +infested with the venomous leaves of the stinging tree and the hooked +spikes of the lawyer vine, confronted them. The land was densely +populated with the most savage and relentless natives on the continent, +who resented the invasion from the outset. Death tracked them steadily +throughout, and claimed ten out of the thirteen of the devoted party as +his victims. + +The country through which their course lay is now dotted with +mining-fields and townships, and fertile spaces of tilled tropical +plantations. The coast-line rich in harbours is the busy haunt of +steamers, and the narrow waterway between the mainland and the great +barrier reef the home of many lightships. But when Kennedy and his party +made their pioneer journey, the great desolation of the wilderness beset +them on every side from the land, whilst the sea off-shore held myriad +dangers. + +Kennedy landed from the Tam o'Shanter at the little point that still +bears the jovial name, and bade farewell to Owen Stanley in good spirits, +and with no dread premonitions. He was fresh from the sun-scorched plains +of the interior, and would confidently confront whatever might lie before +him. Scrub and swampy country delayed him on his way to the higher land +at the foot of the range, where he had hoped to find better travelling +country; but the foothills were serried with ravines and gullies, and the +sides clothed with the ever-present jungle. The horses and sheep, +unaccustomed to the sour grasses of the coast lands of northern +Australia, pined and rapidly wasted away. Their troubles were augmented +by acts of annoyance, and on one unfortunate occasion, of open hostility +on the part of the blacks. + +By the 18th of July, a little over six weeks after they had left +Rockingham Bay, the sheep had been reduced from one hundred to fifty, and +the horses began to fail so rapidly that they had to abandon the carts, +while the men were becoming completely exhausted from the endless cutting +and hacking of the scrub. At length they surmounted the range, the +backbone of the peninsula, and on the western slope, amid the heads of +the rivers flowing into the Gulf of Carpentaria, made better progress. +Kennedy, however, adhered to his instructions to examine the eastern +slope, and recrossed the watershed, where troubles again came thick upon +him. One after another the horses began to give in, and owing to the +storekeeper's mismanagement, they were nearly out of provisions. On the +9th of December they reached Weymouth Bay, and Kennedy determined to form +a stationary camp, and leaving there the main body of his men, push +forward to Port Albany, whence he would send back the schooner that was +awaiting them with relief. He selected seven men whom he left in charge +of Carron, the naturalist, and with three men and the heroic Jacky-Jacky, +an aboriginal of New South Wales, he pushed on -- to his death. + +Before the departure the last sheep was slaughtered, and its lean and +miserable carcase shared between the two parties; and with Carron, +Kennedy ascended a hill that commanded a prospect of the country lying to +the north, but could see nothing but rugged hills and black scrub. He +confided only to Carron his gloomy foreboding that he would never reach +Albany, so disheartened were both the men by the prospect. And throughout +those long weeks of starvation that ensued, Carron refrained from +crushing all hope in his comrades by communicating to them Kennedy's +despair of relief. + +For three weeks Kennedy struggled on, cutting his path through the scrub, +and, with dwindling strength, clambering across the spurs of the range. +For the story of his struggles and eventual death Australia has had to +rely on the report of the only survivor, the faithful Jacky-Jacky. They +reached Shelburne Bay, where one of the men accidentally shot himself, +and became so weak from loss of blood that it was impossible for him to +move. As another man, Luff, was sick, Kennedy left the third man, Dunn, +to attend to his two comrades, and pushed on alone with the native boy. +He had actually gained the Escape River, within sight of Albany Island, +when his fate overtook him, and, surrounded by the blood-thirsty foes who +had so long and persistently hung upon his footsteps, he fell at last +beneath their spears. + +The story is best told in Jacky's own words, although it has been often +repeated. They had come across some natives whom Kennedy was inclined to +trust, but of whom Jacky was suspicious, and that night they camped in +the scrub, foodless and fireless. + +"I and Mr. Kennedy," said Jacky, "watched them that night, taking it in +turns every hour that night. By and by I saw the blackfellows. It was a +moonlight night, and I walked up to Mr. Kennedy and said: 'There is +plenty of blackfellows now;' this was in the middle of the night. Mr. +Kennedy told me to get my gun ready. + +"The blacks did not know where we slept, as we did not make a fire. We +both sat up all night. After this daylight came and I fetched the horses +and saddled them. Then we went a good way up the river, and then we sat +down a little while, and then we saw three blackfellows coming along our +track, and then they saw us, and one ran back, as hard as he could run, +and fetched up plenty more, like a flock of sheep almost. I told Mr. +Kennedy to put the saddles on the horses and go on, and the blacks came +up and they followed us all day. All along it was raining. I now told him +to leave the horses and come on without them, that horses made too much +track. Mr. Kennedy was too weak, and would not leave the horses. We went +on this day until the evening; raining hard and the blacks followed us +all day, some behind, some planted before. In fact, blackfellows all +round following us. Now we went into a little bit of scrub, and I told +Mr. Kennedy to look behind always. Sometimes he would do so, and +sometimes he would not do so to look out for the blacks. Then a good many +blackfellows came behind in the scrub and threw plenty of spears, and hit +Mr. Kennedy in the back first. Mr. Kennedy said to me: 'Oh Jacky! Jacky! +shoot 'em! shoot 'em!' then I pulled out my gun and fired and hit one +fellow all over the face with buck-shot. He tumbled down and got up again +and again, and wheeled right round, and two blacks picked him up and +carried him away. They went a little way and came back again, throwing +spears all round, more than they did before -- very large spears. + +[Illustration. Wild Blacks of Cape York signalling.] + +"I pulled out the spear at once from Mr. Kennedy's back, and cut the jag +with Mr. Kennedy's knife. Then Mr. Kennedy got his gun and snapped, but +the gun would not go off. The blacks sneaked all around by the trees, and +speared Mr. Kennedy again, in the right leg above the knee a little, and +I got speared in the eye, and the blacks were now throwing always, never +giving over, and shortly again speared Mr. Kennedy again in the right +side. There were large jags in the spears, and I cut them off and put +them in my pocket. At the same time we got speared the horses got speared +too, and jumped and bucked about and got into the swamps. I now told Mr. +Kennedy to sit down while I looked after the saddle-bags, which I did, +and when I came back again I saw the blacks along with Mr. Kennedy. I +then asked him if he saw the blacks with him. He was stupid with the +spear wounds, and said 'No'; I then asked him where was his watch? I saw +the blacks taking away watch and hat as I was returning to Mr. Kennedy. +Then I carried Mr. Kennedy into the scrub. He said, 'Don't carry me a +good way.' Then Mr. Kennedy looked this way, very bad (Jacky rolling his +eyes). I asked him often, 'are you well now?' and he said -- 'I don't +care for the spear wound in my leg, Jacky, but for the other two spear +wounds in my side and back, and I am bad inside, Jacky!' I told him +blackfellow always die when he got spear wound in there (the back). He +said: 'I am out of wind, Jacky.' I asked him: 'Are you going to leave +me?' And he said, 'Yes, my boy; I am going to leave you; I am very bad, +Jacky, you take the books, Jacky, to the Captain, but not the big ones; +the Governor will give you anything for them.' I then tied up the papers. +He then said: 'Jacky, give me paper and I will write.' I gave him pencil +and paper, and he tried to write, and he then fell back and died, and I +caught him in my arms and held him; and I then turned round myself and +cried. I was crying a good while until I got well; that was about an +hour, and then I buried him. + +"I digged up the ground with a tomahawk, and covered him over with logs +and grass, and my shirt and trousers. That night I left him near dark. I +would go through the scrub and the blacks threw spears at me; a great +many; and I went back into the scrub. Then I went down the creek which +runs into Escape River, and I walked along the water in the creek, very +easy, with my head only above the water, to avoid the blacks, and get out +of their way. In this way I went half-a-mile. Then I got out of the +creek, and got clear of them, and walked all night nearly, and slept in +the bush without a fire." + +At the southern entrance of Albany Pass, one of the most picturesque +spots of the east coast of Australia, the schooner Ariel lay at anchor, +awaiting, day after day, some signal to indicate the arrival of the +expected Kennedy. One day the look-out man announced that there was an +aboriginal on the mainland making urgent signals to the schooner. There +was nothing unusual in this, for during the delay and tedious waiting, +the blacks had constantly been seen making gestures on the shore. An +examination through the glass, however, showed the people on the Ariel +that this blackfellow was making such vehement and persistent signals +that it was thought worth while to send the boat in to investigate +affairs. + +No wonder the poor fellow's signals were urgent and vehement; he was +Jacky-Jacky, who, thirteen days after Kennedy's death, by devious +twistings and windings, occasionally climbing a tree in the hope to catch +a glimpse of the schooner, and existing on roots and vermin, had at last +reached the goal. But when he stood prominently on the shore to signal to +the schooner, his relentless pursuers sighted him, and his frantic signs +were for rescue from imminent peril. The boat's crew fortunately +recognised the emergency, and a smart race ensued between them and the +natives. The rescuers won, and Jacky-Jacky was saved to tell his +melancholy story. + +There was no time lost on board the Ariel. There were three men who might +be still alive at Shelburne Bay, and eight more starving at Weymouth Bay. +Kennedy was dead; their duty, and urgent duty it was, lay with the +living. At once the schooner commenced to beat down the coast, and at +Shelburne Bay they landed but failed to find the camp. But they seized a +native canoe which bore sufficient evidence that the men had been +murdered. Clearly time must not be wasted in inflicting punishment; +according to Jacky's account, the men at Weymouth Bay were absolutely +starving, if they had not already succumbed to famine. + +After their leader had left Weymouth, Carron had shifted the camp on to +the nearest hill, as it was more open and less exposed to the treacherous +attacks of the natives. A flagstaff was erected on the crest, in view of +the Bay. Then the party had only to sit down and await the coming of the +grim shadow following them through the jungle to strike them with the +death chill. They had two skeletons of horses and two gaunt dogs, and a +tiny remnant of flour. The men gave themselves up to moody despondency. +"Wearied out by long endurance of trials that would have shaken the +courage and tried the fortitude of the strongest," says Carron in his +diary, "a sort of sluggish indifference prevailed that prevented the +development of those active energies which were necessary to support us +in our present critical position." + +One of the two horses was killed, and its scanty flesh, cut into strips, +was dried in the sun and smoke. This, the most repellant, sapless food to +be found in the world, had been their diet for some time. Douglas was the +first to die. The survivors were still strong enough to give him burial. +In a few days Taylor followed him and was interred by his side. The +blacks threatened them continually, though at times they would lay down +their arms and bring pieces of fish and turtle into the camp; but this +only the better to spy out their weakness. Carpenter was the next to +succumb, and on the 1st of December they were doomed to drink their +bitterest cup to the dregs. They had killed the remaining horse, but the +monsoonal rains descended, and in the steamy atmosphere the meat turned +putrid. Torn with anxiety, Carron was dejectedly mounting the look-out to +the flagstaff when he caught sight of a vessel beating into the Bay. The +sudden change from despair to relief was overwhelming. Kennedy must have +reached Port Albany, and had doubtless sent the Bramble to rescue them. +With eager, tremulous hands he hoisted a pre-arranged signal to warn them +against the blacks. Darkness fell and they kept a fire burning, and fired +off rockets, and when daylight came and a boat was lowered from the +schooner, they felt no misgivings. Time passed, and Carron again ascended +the look-out. What he saw nearly blasted his eyesight. The schooner was +standing out to sea; he was just in time to see her round the point and +disappear. + +They strove to persuade themselves that it was not the Bramble, a relief +schooner that was supposed to cruise along the coast. But it assuredly +had been the Bramble, and her men had not seen the signals against the +gloomy background of scrub and hills. They knew nothing of Kennedy's +death, nor of Carron's plight. The agony of this disappointment must have +been more bitter than death. Mitchell was the next to die, and the +survivors were too weak to give him burial. Then Niblett and Wall +departed, but on the last day of the year relief came to the remaining +two. + +Some natives suddenly brought Carron a dirty note, to say that help was +coming, and he saw by their gestures that there was a vessel in the bay. +He scribbled a note in reply, but they refused to take it, and began to +crowd into the camp and handle their weapons. They were not going to be +baulked of their prey. At the very moment when they were poising their +spears, the relief party arrived. Four brave men -- Captain Dobson of the +Ariel, Dr. Vallack, Barrett a sailor, and the eager Jacky-Jacky -- had +forced their way through mangroves and hostile threatening natives to +snatch them from their doom. + +Nothing could be carried away but the two famished men, and they were +helped down to the boat without coming into active hostilities. Thus +ended the most disastrous expedition in Australian annals. Kennedy's body +was never recovered, nor was the fate of the men at Shelburne Bay +revealed. The bodies at Weymouth Bay were re-buried on Albany Island, and +a tablet was erected in memory of Kennedy, in St. James's Church, Sydney. + + + +CHAPTER 10. LATER EXPLORATION IN THE NORTH-EAST. + + +10.1. WALKER IN SEARCH OF BURKE AND WILLS. + +Frederick Walker commenced his bush career as a pioneer squatter in the +districts of Southern Queensland, but afterwards made his residence near +the centre, where he joined the Native Police. He had long bush +experience, was a firm believer in the training of the natives in +quasi-military duty, and had taken a prominent part in the formation of +the Queensland Native Police. On this relief expedition, the party was +composed almost entirely of Native Police troopers under his leadership. + +On receiving his commission, he pushed rapidly out to the Barcoo, and, +near the Thomson River, came upon another tree marked L. This might have +been made by Leichhardt. He ascended the main watershed, and crossed it +coming down on to the head of the Flinders River. Here he experienced +many hindrances arising from the rough basaltic nature of the country +that borders the northern head-waters of that river. When he finally +debouched upon the wide western plains, he crossed the Flinders, without +recognising it as the main branch, in the search for which he went on +northward. Approaching the Gulf of Carpentaria, he had several encounters +with the aboriginals. As he neared the coast, the bend of the Flinders +brought that river again across his route, and it was then that he came +on some camel tracks, which assured him that the missing party, the +object of his search, had at any rate reached the Gulf safely. On his +outward way Walker may be said to have pursued a course parallel with +that of the Flinders, a little further to the northward. + +He pushed on to the Albert River, to replenish his provisions at the +depot provided for the use of the various relief parties. He arrived +there safely, after having had two more skirmishes with the blacks on the +way. He reported the finding of the camel tracks, and having come to the +conclusion that Burke and Wills had probably made for the Queensland +settlements, he decided to follow them thither. He traced out a tributary +of the Flinders, the Saxby, on his homeward route, but saw no more of the +camel tracks, and finally crossed the water-shed on to the rough basaltic +country at the head of the Burdekin. Here his horses suffered so severely +from the rugged nature of the country, that by the time they reached +Strathalbyn, a station on the lower Burdekin, the whole of the party were +well-nigh horseless, as well as almost out of provisions. + +Walker was afterwards engaged by the Queensland Government to mark out a +course for a telegraph line between Rockingham Bay and the mouth of the +Norman River in Carpentaria. This work he carried out successfully; but +when at the Gulf, he was attacked by the prevalent malarial fever, and +died there. + +10.2. BURDEKIN AND CAPE YORK EXPEDITIONS. + +The main portion of eastern Australia was now fairly well known; it had +been crossed from south to north, and from east to west, and it was only +the elongated spur of the Cape York peninsula that stood in urgent need +of detailed exploration. + +Amongst what may be called the minor pastoral expeditions of that period, +was one conducted by G.E. Dalrymple, who penetrated the coastal country +north of Rockhampton as far north as the Burdekin. In 1859 he followed +that river down to the sea, and found that the mouth had been located +further to the south than was really the case. His party then struck +inland, examined the head of that river, and found the Valley of Lagoons. +The following year another party, consisting of Messrs. Cunningham, +Somer, and three others, explored the tributaries of the Upper Burdekin, +and opened up several good tracts of pastoral country. The permanent +running stream which flows through a rugged wall of basalt into an +ana-branch of the Burdekin, was first noticed by this party, and called +Fletcher's Creek. + +[Illustration. Frank L. Jardine. + +Illustration. Alec W. Jardine.] + +Frank and Alec Jardine jointly led up the Cape York Peninsula an +expedition that in its hardships and dangers emulated that of Kennedy's, +but fortunately without a tragic ending. The year 1863 was one of great +activity in the northern part of eastern Australia. At Cape York, the +Imperial Government had, on the recommendation of Sir George Bowen, the +first governor of Queensland, decided to form a settlement. John Jardine, +the police magistrate of the central town of Rockhampton, was selected to +take charge, and a detachment of marines was sent out to be stationed +there. Somerset, the new settlement, was formed on the Albany Pass, +opposite to the island of the same name. Jardine was to proceed by sea to +his new sphere of office, but, anticipating the want of fresh meat at the +proposed station, he entered into an arrangement with the Government +whereby his two sons were to take a small herd of cattle thither +overland, and on the way make careful observations of the land through +which they were to pass. Somerset was situated near the scene of +Kennedy's death, and knowing what tremendous difficulties that explorer +had met with on the eastern shore, it was decided that the expedition +should attempt to follow the western shore through the unknown country +that faced the Gulf of Carpentaria. Both the Jardine brothers were quite +young men at the time when they started on their exceedingly adventurous +trip, which combined cattle-droving with exploration: Frank, the accepted +leader, being only twenty-two years old, and his brother Alexander but +twenty. Their father had come from Applegarth, in Dumfriesshire; they had +both been born near Sydney, and had been educated by private tutors and +at the Sydney Grammar School. + +They took with them A.J. Richardson, a surveyor sent by the Government, +Scrutton, Binney, Cowderoy, and four natives. The stock consisted of +forty-two horses and two hundred and fifty head of cattle. The cheerful +acceptance of this hazardous enterprise by these youths was a fine +indication of adventurous spirit, and reflects great credit on their +courage and the courage of the native-born. The fate of the last explorer +who dared to face the perils of the Peninsula would have deterred any but +the boldest from taking up his task. + +Before the final start from Carpentaria Downs, then the furthest station +to the north, supposed to be situated on Leichhardt's Lynd River, Alec +Jardine made a trip ahead in order to secure knowledge of an available +road for the cattle, and save delay in the earlier stages of the main +journey. On this preliminary observational excursion, he followed the +presumed Lynd down for nearly 180 miles, until he was convinced that +neither in appearance, direction, nor position did it correspond with the +river described by Leichhardt. On the subsequent journey with the cattle, +this conviction was found to be in accordance with fact, for the stream +was then proved to be a tributary of the Gilbert, now known as the +Einnesleigh. + +On the 11th of October the final start was made, and the party commenced +a journey seldom equalled in Australia for peril and adventure. The head +of the Einnesleigh was amongst rough ranges, and on the 22nd of the month +they halted the cattle while they conducted another search for the +invisible Lynd. They found other good-sized creeks, but no Lynd, nor did +they ever see it. They afterwards found that, owing to an error in the +map they had with them, the Lynd was placed 30 miles out of position. A +misfortune happened at the outset of their expedition. In the morning a +large number of horses were missing. Leaving some of the party to stay +behind and look for them, the two brothers and the remainder went on with +the cattle. On the second day they arrived at a large creek, without +having been overtaken by the party with the missing horses and the +pack-horses. After an anxious day spent in waiting, Alec Jardine started +back to find out the cause of the delay. He met the missing party, who +were bringing bad news with them. Through carelessness in allowing the +grass round the camp to catch fire, half of their rations and nearly the +whole of their equipment had been burnt. In addition, one of the most +valuable of their horses had been poisoned. This terrible misfortune, +coming at such an early stage of their journey when they had all the +unknown country ahead of them, seriously imperilled the success of their +undertaking. But there was nothing to do but to bear it with what +equanimity they could muster. + +The Cape York natives now seemed to rejoice that they had another party +of white men to dog to death. Once about twenty of them appeared about +sundown and boldly attacked the camp with showers of spears. Two days +afterwards, they surprised the younger Jardine when alone, and he had to +fight hard for his life. The creek they had been following down led them +on to the Staaten River, where the blacks succeeded in stampeding their +horses, and it was days before some of them were recovered. + +On the 5th of December, they left this ill-omened river, and steered due +north. Bad luck still haunted them; tortured by flies, mosquitoes, and +sand-flies, their horses scattered and rambled incessantly. While the +brothers were absent, searching one day for the horses, the party at the +camp allowed the solitary mule to stray away with its pack on. The mule +was never found again, and it carried with it, in its pack, some of their +most necessary articles, reducing them nearly to the same state of +deprivation as their determined enemies, the aboriginals. Two more horses +went mad, through drinking salt water; one died, and the other was so ill +that he had to be abandoned. On the 13th of December they reached the +Mitchell River, not without having had another hot battle with the +blacks, who followed them day after day, watching for every opportunity +and displaying the same relentless hostility that they had formerly shown +to Kennedy. Whilst the party were on the Mitchell, the natives mustered +in force and fell upon the explorers with the greatest determination. +After a severe contest, in which heavy loss had been inflicted upon the +savages, they sullenly and reluctantly retired. From what was afterwards +gathered from the semi-civilised natives about Somerset, these tribes +followed the Jardines for nearly 400 miles. This perseverance and +inappeasable enmity had been equalled before only by the Darling natives. +It can be imagined how these incessant attacks, combined with the +harassing nature of the country, gave the party all they could do to hold +their own, and but for the prompt and plucky manner in which the attacks +were met, not one of them would have survived. + +After crossing the Mitchell, steering north, they got into poor country, +thinly-grassed and badly-watered, with the natives still hanging on their +flanks. On the 28th of December, the blacks began to harass the horses, +and another hard struggle took place. Storms of rain now set in, and they +had to travel through dismal tea-tree flats, with the constant +expectation of being caught by a flood in the low-lying country. + +In January, they had a gleam of hope. On the 5th they came to a +well-grassed valley, with a fine river running through it, which they +named the Archer. On the 9th they crossed another river, which they +supposed to be the one named the Coen on the seaward side. But once +across this river, troubles gathered thick again; the rain poured down +constantly, the country became so boggy that they could scarcely travel, +and to crown all their misfortunes, two horses were drowned when crossing +the Batavia, and six others were poisoned and died there. + +Fate seemed now to have done her worst, and the explorers faced the +future manfully. Burying all that they could dispense with, they packed +all their remaining horses and started resolutely to finish the journey +on foot. On the 14th two more of their horses died, and the blacks once +more came up behind to reconnoitre. As may be imagined, the whites were +not in a patient humour, and this last skirmish was brief and severe. + +On the 17th two more horses died from the effects of the poison plant. +Fifteen only were left out of the forty-two with which they had started. +They were now approaching the narrow point of the Cape, and found +themselves on a dreary waste of barren country whereon only heath grew, +and which was intersected with boggy creeks. + +On the 10th of January, they caught a glimpse of the sea from the top of +a tree, and on the 20th they were in full view of it. As they went on, +they were entangled in the same kind of scrub that baffled Kennedy, and +at last on the 29th, after some days of scrub-cutting, it was determined +to halt the cattle, whilst the brothers should push on to Somerset in the +endeavour to find a more practicable track. In the tangled, scrubby +country through which they had passed, it had been difficult to form a +true conception of the distance, and their estimate of twenty miles for +the distance separating them from the settlement was much too short. + +On the 30th of January, the two Jardines and their most trusted black +boy, Eulah, started to find the settlement. For a time they were hemmed +in by a bend of what they took to be the Escape River, but on getting +clear of it, they were surprised to come to another large and swollen +river, which apparently ran into the Gulf. This forced them to return. +After a few days' rest, they made a second vain attempt. Hemmed in by +impassable morasses and impenetrable thickets, in some places they were +cut off from approaching even the river, by formidable belts of +mangroves. In fact, the Jardine River, as it is now called, heads almost +from the eastern shore, from Pudding Pan Hill in fact, Kennedy's fatal +camp. It overlaps the Escape River, and after many devious windings and +twistings, flows across the Cape out on to the Gulf shore. + +It was not until the end of February that, on the subsidence of some of +the flooded creeks, the brothers made a successful effort, and got into +somewhat better travelling country. The next morning they came across +some blacks who were eager to be on good terms, and hailed them to their +surprise with shouts of "Franco; Allico; Tumbacco". These cries had been +taught them by Mr. Jardine, who was getting anxious because of his sons' +delay, and had done all he could think of to help them. He had cut a +marked tree line, almost from sea to sea; and coached the local natives +up in a few English words, so as to be recognised as friends. This last +device succeeded admirably. From these newcomers, they selected three as +guides, and the following day reached the settlement. + +The rest of the party and the stock were soon brought into Somerset, +where a cattle-station was formed. When we look back at the difficulties +that beset the path of this expedition, and the unforseen disasters that +befel them, one cannot help feeling the greatest admiration for the +leaders and their conduct. In spite of the numberless treacherous attacks +of the blacks to which they had been subjected, not a member of the band +had been lost. They had fought their way through the same species of +danger that had environed the unfortunate Kennedy, and had all lived to +tell the tale. The Royal Geographical Society rewarded the labours of the +two brothers by electing them Fellows of the Society, and by awarding +them the Murchison medal. + +Frank Jardine was for some period Government Resident at Thursday Island, +whither the settlement has been removed; but of late he has resided at +his own station at Somerset, and engaged in pearl-shelling. Alec entered +the Queensland civil service, as Roads Engineer, and in that capacity did +much important work in the construction of the roads of that State. In +1871 and 1872, he designed and constructed the road and railway-bridge +over the Dawson River, and in 1890 he became Engineer-in-Chief for +Harbours and Rivers. + +But the scrubby and hilly nature of the country on Cape York militated +against its speedy settlement, and it needed the lure of gold to induce +men to risk their lives in a land with such hostile inhabitants. In 1872 +the Queensland Government decided upon another exploration of the neck of +land that forms the northern-most point of Australia. More than eight +years had elapsed since the Jardines had made their dashing journey; but +their report, coupled with Kennedy's fate, did not offer much temptation +to follow up their footsteps. There was, however, a tract of country near +the base of the Peninsula still comparatively unknown; and a party was +organised and placed under the leadership of William Hann. Hann was a +native of Wiltshire, who had come out to the south of Victoria with his +parents at an early age. He was afterwards one of the pioneer squatters +of the Burdekin, in which river his father was drowned. The object of the +trip was to examine the country as far as the 14th parallel South, with a +special view to its mineral resources. The discovery of gold having +extended so far north in Queensland had raised a hope that its existence +would be traced along the promontory. Hann had with him Taylor as +geologist, and Dr. Tate as botanist, the latter being a survivor of the +melancholy Maria expedition to New Guinea. Apparently his ardour for +exploration had not been cooled by the narrow escape he had then +experienced. + +The party left Fossilbrook station on the creek of the same name, a +tributary of the Lynd, north of the initial point of the Jardine +expedition. Crossing much rugged and broken country, they found two +rivers running into the Mitchell, and named them the Tate and the Walsh. + +From the Walsh, the party proceeded to the upper course of the Mitchell, +and crossing it, struck a creek, marked on Kennedy's map as "creek ninety +yards wide." This was named the Palmer, and here Warner, the surveyor +found traces of gold. A further examination of the river resulted in +likely-looking results being obtained; and the discovery is now a matter +of history, the world-wide Palmer rush to north Queensland being the +result in 1874. + +On the 1st of September, Hann reached his northern limit, and the next +day commenced the ascent of the range dividing the eastern and western +waters. A few days afterwards, he sighted the Pacific at Princess +Charlotte Bay. From this point the party returned south, and came to a +large river which he called the Normanby, where a slight skirmish with +the natives occurred, the blacks having hitherto been on friendly terms. +While the men were collecting the horses in the morning, the natives +attempted to cut them off, each native having a bundle of spears. A few +shots at a long distance were sufficient to disperse them, and the affair +ended without bloodshed. + +On the 21st of September, Hann crossed the historical Endeavour River, +and upon a small creek running into this inlet, he lost one of his horses +from poison. Below the Endeavour, the party encountered similar +difficulties to those that dogged poor Kennedy's footsteps -- +impenetrable scrub and steep ravines. This went on for some days, and an +attempt to reach the seashore involved them in a perfect sea of scrub, +and necessitated the final conclusion that advance by white men and +horses was impossible. Hann had reluctantly to make up his mind to return +by the Gulf Coast, and abandon the unexplored ground to the south of him. + +After many entanglements in the ranges, and confusion arising from the +tortuous courses of the rivers, the watershed was at last crossed, and on +the 28th of October they camped once more on the Palmer, whence they +safely returned along their outward course. + +The gold discoveries on the Palmer, and the rush caused thereby, coming +soon after this expedition, led to a great deal of minor exploration done +under the guise of prospecting; and it is greatly to the work of +prospectors for gold that much of the knowledge of the petty details of +the geographical features of Australia is due. To the courage and +endurance of this class of settler, Australia owes a great debt, but +their labours are unrecorded and often forgotten. + + + +PART 2. CENTRAL AUSTRALIA. + +[Illustration. Statue of John McDouall Stuart, in the Lands Office, +Sydney.] + + +CHAPTER 11. EDWARD JOHN EYRE. + + +11.1. SETTLEMENT OF ADELAIDE AND THE OVERLANDERS. + +The exploration of the centre of the continent was long retarded by the +difficult nature of the country -- by its aridity, its few +continuously-watered rivers, and the supposed horse-shoe shape of Lake +Torrens, which thrust its vast shallow morass across the path of the +daring explorers making north. + +For most of us of the present day, to whom Lake Torrens is but a +geographical feature, it is hard to imagine the sense of awe it inspired +in the breasts of the South Australian settlers, who appeared to be cut +off completely from the north by its gloomy and forbidding environs of +salt and barrenness. + +In 1836, Colonel Light surveyed the shores of St. Vincent's Gulf, and +selected the site of the city of Adelaide. Governor Hindmarsh and a +company of emigrants arrived soon afterwards, and the Province of South +Australia was proclaimed. + +The very promising discoveries made to the south of the Murray by Major +Mitchell soon induced an invasion of adventurous pastoralists bringing +their stock from the settled parts of New South Wales. + +Charles Bonney led the way across to the Port Phillip settlement in 1837 +with sheep. G.H. Ebden accompanied him, and they were shortly followed by +many more: Hamilton, Gardiner, Langbourne, and others, whose names are +well-known in Australian history as the first Overlanders. Very shortly +this overlanding of stock was extended to the newly-founded city of +Adelaide, Charles Bonney and Joseph Hawdon being the first drovers on +this long journey. Their Adelaide journey was in fact an exploration +trip, and an important one, as they followed the bank of the Murray below +its junction with the Darling; this part of the river having been +followed down before only by Sturt, and then only by water. + +It was in January, 1838, that Hawdon and Bonney left Mitchell's crossing +at the Goulburn River with cattle as pioneers on the overland route to +Adelaide. Unknown to them they were closely followed by E.J. Eyre, with +another mob of cattle. Eyre, as we shall afterwards see, was thrown out +of the race through trying to make a short cut to avoid the sweeping bend +of the river. Bonney and Hawdon crossed the Murray above the junction of +the Darling, and in places found the bed of the latter river dry. The +natives, strange to say, were quite friendly; perhaps they had taken to +heart the lesson Mitchell had read them. But their amiable demeanour did +not last long. Bonney and Hawdon were almost the last overlanding party +to proceed unmolested. Within a comparatively short time afterwards, an +incessant war began to be waged between the blacks and every Overlander +who passed down the Murray. It ended only with the sanguinary battle of +the Rufus. More fortunate than Sturt, Hawdon and Bonney were able to cut +off many of the wearisome bends that had so fatigued Sturt's crew. Sturt +had had to follow every turn and curve, whilst the Overlanders avoided +the bends of the Murray by following the native paths, which spared them +in some cases a journey of one or two days. It was while following a +native path that they discovered and named Lake Bonney. At last they +sighted the Mount Lofty ranges, and after some difficulty in getting +through some rough mallee-covered country, arrived at Adelaide, and +gladdened the residents with the prospect of roast beef. "Up to this +time," says Bonney in his diary, "they had been living almost exclusively +on kangaroo flesh." Eyre, whose name was afterwards so closely allied +with a famous story of thirst and hardship, narrowly escaped with his +life during his overlanding trip. + +It was owing to a very natural mistake that Eyre was led astray. He +intended to try a straighter and shorter route than the one round the +Murray, and for a time got on very well, but coming across a tract of dry +country across which he could not take the cattle, he determined to +follow Mitchell's Wimmera River to the north, naturally thinking that it +would lead him easily to the Murray, and would probably prove to be +identical with the Lindsay, as marked on Sturt's chart. From Mitchell's +furthest point, he traced it a considerable distance to the north-west, +and at last found its termination in a large swampy lake, which he called +after the first Governor of South Australia, Lake Hindmarsh. From this +lake he could find no outlet, so taking with him two men, he made an +attempt to push through to the Murray, leaving his cattle to await him. +He found the country covered with an almost impenetrable mallee scrub, +and as there was neither grass nor water for the horses, he was forced to +retreat. He reached his camp after a weary struggle on foot, the horses +having died from thirst. Eyre was then compelled to return and gain the +bank of the Murray by the nearest available route. The bitter +disappointment of the trip was, that when forced to retreat by the +inhospitable nature of the country, he was but twenty-five miles from the +river. + +Bonney, however, on another occasion, took a mob of cattle from the +Goulburn River to Adelaide in almost a direct line. In February 1839, he +left the Goulburn and steered a course for the Grampian Mountains, where +he struck the Wannon, and followed it down to the Glenelg. Here he came +upon one of the Henty stations, and was strongly advised not to persist +in his attempt. Captain Hart, who had been examining the country with the +same purpose in view as Bonney's, stated that it would be impossible to +take cattle through and turned back with his own to follow the old route +round the Murray bend. But Bonney was not to be daunted, and resolutely +pushed on west of the Glenelg. He discovered and named Lake Hawdon, and +also named two mountains, Mount Muirhead and Mount Benson. But at +Lacepede Bay his most serious troubles commenced. The party had pushed on +steadily to within forty miles of Lake Alexandrina when, in the middle of +a sandy desert, the working bullocks failed. Bonney divided his party, +and sending some of the men back to take the workers to a brackish pool +which they had passed, he himself with the stockmen and two black boys, +made a desperate effort to reach the Lake with the main mob. For two days +they pushed steadily on, travelling day and night, until men and beasts +were alike at their last gasp. Bonney then tried a desperate expedient: +"I then determined," he says, "as a last resource, to kill a calf and use +the blood to assuage our thirst. This was done, and though the blood did +not allay the pangs of thirst to any great extent, it restored our +strength very much." + +The exhausted men then lay down to rest; but whilst they slept their +thirsty beasts scented a faint smell of damp earth on a wandering puff of +wind, and stampeded off to windward. Too weak to follow on at once, the +men, after an hour or two, staggered after them and tracked them to a +half-dry swamp, which still maintained a little mud and water. It was +brackish, but palatable enough for men in their exhausted condition, and +saved the lives of all. After some trouble in crossing the Murray, they +reached Adelaide in safety with the stock. + +When the news of their arrival reached Port Phillip, many other +Overlanders were encouraged by Bonney's example to try the shorter route, +and the trade in shipping cattle across the straits from Tasmania almost +ceased. + +Bonney had been born at Sandon, near Stafford, and educated at the +Grammar School, Rugby. He had come out to Sydney in 1834, as clerk to Sir +William Westbrooks Burton; but the love of adventure prevailed over his +other inclinations, and in 1837, he joined Ebden in squatting pursuits, +and eventually distinguished himself as one of the leading Overlanders. +He subsequently settled in South Australia. From 1842 to 1857 he was +Commissioner for Crown Lands, and he afterwards served the State as +manager for railways, and in other capacities. Subsequently he returned +to Sydney, where he died. + +11.2. EYRE'S CHIEF JOURNEYS. + +[Illustration. Edward John Eyre.] + +Edward John Eyre was the son of the Reverend Anthony Eyre, vicar of +Hornsea and Long Riston, Yorkshire, and was born on August 14th, 1815. He +was educated at Louth and Sedburgh Grammar Schools. He came to Australia +in 1833, and immediately engaged in squatting pursuits, his enterprising +spirit constantly leading him beyond the pale of civilization, where his +natural love for exploration rapidly increased. His fortunes as an +Overlander have already been noticed. On the 5th August, 1839, he left +Port Lincoln, on the western shore of Spencer's Gulf, meaning to +penetrate as far as he could to the westward. Some time before he had +made an expedition to the north of Adelaide as far as Mount Arden, a +striking elevation to the North-North-East of Spencer's Gulf. He had +ascended this mount, and from the summit seen a depression which he took +to be a lake with a dry bed. This lake afterwards played an important +part in the history of South Australian settlement under the name of Lake +Torrens. + +Eyre's party on his westward trip consisted of an overseer, three men, +and two natives. Twenty days after leaving Port Lincoln, they arrived at +Streaky Bay, not having crossed a single stream, rivulet, or chain of +ponds the whole distance of nearly three hundred miles. Three small +springs only had been found, and the country was covered with the gloomy +mallee and tea-tree scrub. Westward of Streaky Bay the country was still +found to be scrubby; so Eyre formed a camp, and taking only a black boy +with him, he forced a stubborn way onward, until he was within nearly +fifty miles of the western border of South Australia. To all appearance +the country was slightly more elevated than the level scrubby flats he +had been traversing, but there was neither grass nor water, and an +immediate return became necessary. Before he got back to Streaky Bay +camp, he nearly lost three of his horses. + +Leaving Streaky Bay again, he went east of north to the head of Spencer's +Gulf, finding the country on this route a little better, but still devoid +of water, the party getting through, thanks only to a timely rainfall. On +the 29th of September, he came to his old camp at Mount Arden, where he +wrote:-- + +"It was evident that what I had taken on my last journey to be the bed of +a dry lake now contained water, and was of considerable size; but as my +time was very limited, and the lake at a great distance, I had to forego +my wish to visit it. I have, however, no doubt of its being salt, from +the nature of the country, and the fact of finding the water very salt in +one of the creeks draining into it from the hills. Beyond this lake +(which I distinguished with the name of Colonel Torrens) to the westward +was a low, flat-topped range, extending north-westerly, as far as I could +see." + +From this point Eyre returned, pursuing his former homeward route. + +[Map. Eyre's Explorations, 1840 and 1841.] + +The main objects that now attracted the attention of the colonists of +South Australia were (1) discovery to the northward, regarding both the +extent of Lake Torrens and the nature of the interior; and (2) the +possibility of the existence of a stock route to the Swan River +settlement. Eyre, however, after his late experience, was convinced that +the overlanding of stock around the head of the Great Bight was +impracticable. The country was too sterile, and the absence of +water-courses rendered the idea hopeless. For immediate practical +results, beneficial to the growing pastoral industry, Eyre favoured the +extension of discovery to the north. This then was the course adopted, +and subscriptions were raised towards that end. Eyre himself provided +one-third of the needful horses and other expenses; and the Government +and colonists found the remainder. + +Meantime it was found that the country in the immediate neighbourhood of +Port Lincoln was not altogether of the same wretched nature as that +traversed by Eyre between Streaky Bay and the head of Spencer's Gulf. +Captain Hawson, William Smith, and three others had made an excursion for +some considerable distance, and found well-grassed country and abundance +of water. From the point whence they turned back, they had seen a fine +valley with a running stream. This valley they named Rossitur Vale, after +Captain Rossitur of the French whaler Mississippi, the first foreign +vessel to enter Port Lincoln. Rossitur was the man who was destined later +to afford opportune aid to Eyre, without which he would never have +reached Albany. + +On the 18th of June, 1840, Eyre's preparations were complete, and he left +Adelaide after a farewell breakfast at Government House, where Captain +Sturt presented him with a flag -- the Union Jack -- worked by some of +the ladies of Adelaide. + +His party was not a large one considering the nature of the undertaking, +consisting as it did of six white men and two black boys. At Mount Arden +they formed a stationary camp. A small vessel called the Waterwitch was +sent to the head of Spencer's Gulf with the heaviest portion of their +supplies, and the party had three horse drays with them. Eyre trusted +that a range of hills, which he had seen stretching to the north-east, +would continue far enough to take him clear of the flat and depressed +country around Lake Torrens -- would, in fact, as he says, form a +stepping-stone into the interior. + +Taking one black boy with him, Eyre made a short trip to Lake Torrens, +leaving the rest of the party to land the stores from the Waterwitch. He +found the bed of the lake coated with a crust of salt, pure white, and +glistening brilliantly in the sunshine. It yielded to the footstep, and +below was soft mud, which rapidly grew so boggy as to stop their +progress. In fact they had to return to the shore without being able to +ascertain whether there was any water on the surface or not. At this +point the lake appeared to be about fifteen or twenty miles across, +having high land bounding it on the distant west. + +There seemed no chance of crossing the lake; and following its shore to +the north was impossible. There was neither grass nor water; the very +rainwater turned salt after lying a short time on the saline soil. The +only chance of success appeared to be to keep close to the north-eastern +range, which Eyre named the Flinders Range, trusting to its broken +gullies to supply them with some scanty grass and rainwater. + +It was a cheerless outlook. On one side was an impassable lake of +combined mud and salt; on the other a desert of bare and barren plains; +whilst their onward path was along a range of inhospitable rocks. + +"The very stones, lying upon the hills," says Eyre, "looked like scorched +and withered scoria of a volcanic region, and even the natives, judging +from the specimen I had seen to-day, partook of the general misery and +wretchedness of the place." + +He directed his course to the most distant point of the Flinders Range, +but when he arrived there, he was obliged to christen it Mount Deception, +as his hope of finding water there was disappointed. Subsisting as well +as they could on rain puddles on the plains, Eyre and his boy searched +about for some time and at last found a permanent-looking hole in a small +creek. They then returned to the main party. Having concealed the +supplies landed from the cutter, Eyre sent the vessel back to Adelaide +with despatches, and moved the whole of the men out to the pool of water +that he had just found. From this vantage point he made various scouting +trips with the black boy, both to the eastward and westward of north. The +2nd of September found him on the summit of an elevation which he +appropriately named Mount Hopeless, gazing at the salt lake that he now +thought hemmed him in on three sides, even to the eastward. There was no +prospect visible of crossing the lake, which seemed persistently to defy +him, meeting him at every attempt with a barrier of stagnant mud. There +was nothing for it but to leave the interior unvisited by this route, and +to return to Mount Arden. + +He divided his party, sending Baxter, the overseer, with most of the men +and stores straight across to Streaky Bay, where he had formerly made a +camp, while, with the remainder, he made his way to Port Lincoln. Having +abandoned his intention to penetrate to the interior on a northern +course, he now determined to push out westward, to King George's Sound, +finding, perhaps, on the way across, some inducement that would lead him +north. + +At Port Lincoln he could not obtain the extra supplies he wanted without +sending to Adelaide; it was therefore the 24th of October when he finally +started for Streaky Bay. He found that Baxter had arrived there safely, +and was anxiously awaiting him. + +He now camped for many weeks at Fowler's Bay, which was as far as the +cutter they now had, the Hero, could act as convoy, her charter not +extending beyond South Australian waters. The Waterwitch having sprung a +leak, the Hero had taken her place. During the time that they remained +there, Eyre made many journeys ahead to estimate his chances of getting +across the dry and barren country intervening between him and the Sound, +but the outlook was disheartening. He met some natives, who all assured +him that there was no water ahead; nor could he find any but some +brackish water obtained by digging in some sandhills. Worse than all, he +sacrificed three of his best horses during these fruitless attempts. + +On the 25th of January, the Hero arrived with the oats and bran he had +sent back for. So poverty-stricken was the country that Eyre, in the +circumstances, resolved to send back nearly the whole of his expedition +by the vessel, and then, with only a small party, to push through to King +George's Sound or perish in the attempt. + +Baffled successively to the north and to the west, Eyre had been put upon +his mettle, and he could not endure the thought of returning to Adelaide +a beaten man. + +On the 31st of January the cutter departed, and Eyre, Baxter, and three +native boys, one of whom had come by the vessel on her last trip, were +left alone to face the eight hundred miles of desert solitude before +them. Some time was spent in making their final preparations, but on the +24th of February they had actually begun their journey when, to their +astonishment, they heard two shots fired at sea. Thinking that a whaler +had put in to the bay, Eyre turned back, but found the Hero again in port +with an urgent request from Adelaide to abandon his desperate project, +and return in the vessel. Upon a man of Eyre's temperament, this recall +could have only one effect, that of strengthening his resolve to proceed +westward at all hazards. He did not emulate Cortez by burning his ship +behind him, but he none the less effectually deprived himself of means of +retreat by dismissing the little Hero. + +It was at the close of a hot summer when Eyre started, and the nature of +the sandy soil, combined with the low prickly scrub, soon began to hamper +their progress and render the lack of water especially severe. On one +side of them, flanking their line of march, were the cliffs of the Great +Bight, against which thundered the ever-restless southern rollers; on the +other there stretched a limitless expanse of dark, gloomy scrub. Their +only hope of relief was the faint chance of striking some native path +which might lead them to an infrequent soakage-spring. Even in these +depressing circumstances, Eyre seems to have found time to express his +admiration of Nature as she then revealed herself to him:-- + +"Distressing and fatal as the continuance of these cliffs might prove to +us, there was a grandeur and sublimity in their appearance that was most +imposing, and which struck me with admiration. Stretching out before us +in lofty, unbroken outline, they presented the singular and romantic +appearance of massy battlements of masonry, supported by huge buttresses, +glittering in the morning sun which had now risen upon them, and made the +scene beautiful even amidst the dangers and anxieties of our situation." + +Five days of slow, dragging toil passed, until, with the horses at their +last gasp, and the men baked and parched, they found relief in some +native wells amongst the sandhills, at a point where the cliffs receded +from the sea. + +After resting for some days at this camp, Eyre, misled by a report he had +obtained from the natives, again moved forward, taking with him but a +small supply of water. When he had discovered the blunder, he had gone +forty miles, and over this weary distance the horses had to return. It +was one of those mishaps that helped so much to wear out his unfortunate +animals. + +Trouble after trouble now added itself to the burden of the explorers. +Another five days had passed without water, and their only hopes rested +upon some sandhills ahead, seen from the sea by Flinders, and marked by +him upon his chart. Retreat was impossible, and with their horses failing +one after another, they toiled on, desperate and well-nigh hopeless. +Eyre's anxiety was increased by Baxter's growing despondency and +pessimistic view of the issue of their enterprise. They were now +travelling along the sea beach, firm and hard, and ominously marked with +wreckage. Their last drop of water had been consumed, and that morning +they had been collecting dew from the bushes with a sponge, as a last +resource. When they reached the sand-dunes, they were almost too weak to +search for a likely place to dig for water; but making a final effort, +they discovered a patch whence, at six feet, they obtained a supply of +water. + +It was now that Eyre approached the grand crisis of his adventurous +journey. According to the chart compiled by Flinders, he had another long +succession of cliffs to encounter, and he knew that where these cliffs +came in and sternly fronted the ocean, he need hope for no relief. Should +this space be happily surmounted by a desperate effort, he hoped to reach +a kindlier country. Disaffection appeared in his small camp. Baxter was +always suggesting and even urging a return. Perhaps some shadow of his +tragic fate overhung his spirit. The native boys were ripe for desertion, +and two of them did desert, only to return in a few days, starving, and +apparently repentant. Better for Eyre had they gone altogether. Amid such +discouraging surroundings did Eyre commence his last struggle with the +cliffs of the Great Bight. + +The party had been tantalised by threatening clouds, which never broke in +rain. When on the third day they gathered once more, black and lowering. +Baxter urged Eyre to camp that night instead of pushing on, as rain +seemed certain, and the rock holes by which they were then passing were +well adapted to catch the slightest shower. Eyre consented, against his +better judgment. It was necessary to watch the horses lest they should +ramble too far, and Eyre kept the first watch. The night was cold, the +wind blowing a gale and driving the flying scud across the face of the +moon. The horses wandered off in different directions in the scrub, +giving the tired man much trouble to keep them together. About half-past +ten he drove them near the camp intending shortly to call the overseer to +relieve him. + +Suddenly the dead stillness of the night and the wilderness was broken by +the report of a gun. Eyre was not at first alarmed, thinking it was a +signal of Baxter's to indicate the position of their camp. He called, but +received no answer. Hastening in the direction of the shot, he was met by +Wylie, the King George's Sound native, running towards him in great alarm +crying out: "Oh, massa, massa, come here!" and then losing speech from +terror. Eyre was soon at the camp, and one glance was enough to see that +his purpose must now be pursued grimly alone. Baxter, fatally wounded, +was stretched upon the ground, bleeding and choking in his last agony. As +Eyre raised his faithful companion in his arms he expired. + +"At the dead hour of night, in the wildest and most inhospitable waste of +Australia, with the fierce wind raging in unison with the scene of +violence before me, I was left with a single native, whose fidelity I +could not rely on, and who, for aught I knew might be in league with the +other two, who, perhaps were even now lurking about to take my life, as +they had done that of the overseer." + +On examining the camp, Eyre found that the two boys had carried off both +double-barrelled guns, all the baked bread and other stores, and a keg of +water. All they had left behind was a rifle, with the barrel choked by a +ball jammed in it, four gallons of water, forty pounds of flour, and a +little tea and sugar. + +When he had time to think the matter over calmly, Eyre judged, from the +position of the body, that Baxter must have been aroused by the two +natives plundering the camp, and that, getting up hastily to stop them, +he was immediately shot. His first care was to put his rifle into +serviceable condition, and then, when morning broke, he hastened to leave +the ill-omened place. It was impossible to bury the body of his murdered +companion; one unbroken sheet of rock covered the surface of the country +for miles in every direction. Well might Eyre write, many years +afterwards:-- + +"Though years have now passed away since the enactment of this tragedy, +the dreadful horrors of that time and scene are recalled before me with +frightful vividness, and make me shudder even now when I think of them. A +lifetime was crowded into those few short hours, and death alone may blot +out the impressions they produced." + +The two murderers followed the white man and boy during the first day, +evading all Eyre's attempts to bring them to close quarters, and calling +to the remaining boy, Wylie, who refused to go to them. They disappeared +the next morning, and must have died miserably of thirst and starvation. + +Seven days passed without a drop of water for the horses, before they +reached the end of the line of cliffs, and providentially came to a +native well amid the sand dunes. From this point water was more +frequently obtained, and what wretched horses they had left showed feeble +symptoms of renewed life. At last, when their rations were completely +exhausted, they sighted a ship at anchor in Thistle Cove. She proved to +be the Mississippi, commanded by Captain Rossitur, the whaler already +referred to as the first foreign vessel to enter Port Lincoln; and once +more Eyre had to give thanks for relief at a most critical moment. + +For ten days, in the hospitable cabin of the French whaler, he forgot his +sufferings, and regained some of his lost strength. Then, provided with +fresh clothes and provisions, and with his horses freshly-shod, Eyre +recommenced his weary pilgrimage, and, in July, 1841, arrived at his +long-desired goal, King George's Sound. + +In reflecting upon this painful march of Eyre's round the Great Bight, +one feels an exceeding great pity that so much heroic suffering should +have been spent on the execution of a purpose the fulfilment of which +promised but little of economic value. The maritime surveys had fairly +established the fact that no considerable creek or river found its way +into the Southern Ocean, either in or about the Great Bight. Granted that +the outflow of some of our large Australian rivers had been overlooked by +the navigators, the local conditions were such as to render it virtually +certain that any such omission was not made along this part of the south +coast. Here there was to be found no fringe of low, mangrove-covered +flats, studded with inlets and saltwater creeks, thus masking the +entrance of a river. In some parts, a bold forefront of lofty precipitous +cliffs, in others a clean-swept sandy shore, alone faced the ocean. +Flinders, constantly on the alert as he was for anything resembling the +formation of a river-mouth, would scarcely have been mistaken in his +reading of such a coast-line. And the journey resulted in no knowledge of +the interior, even a short distance back from the actual coast-line. The +conjectures of a worn-out, starving man, picking his way painfully along +the verge of the beach, were, in this respect, of little moment. + +Eyre, however, won for himself well-deserved honour for courage and +perseverance, in as exacting circumstances as ever beset a solitary +explorer. The picture of the lonely man in his plundered camp bending +over his murdered companion, separated from his fellow-men by countless +miles of unwatered and untrodden waste, appeals resistlessly to our +sympathies. But admiration of Eyre's good qualities has blinded many to +his errors of judgment. + +He was accorded a generous public welcome on his return to Adelaide, and +was subsequently appointed Police Magistrate on the Murray, where his +inland experience and knowledge of native character were of great +service. When Sturt started on his memorable trip to the centre of +Australia, Eyre accompanied his old friend some distance. But his +activities were exercised in other fields than those of Australian +exploration during his after life. He was Lieutenant-Governor of the +Province of New Munster in New Zealand under Sir George Grey from 1848 to +1853, when that colony was divided into two provinces. He was afterwards +Governor-General of Jamaica, where the active and energetic measures he +took to crush the insurrection of 1865 incited a storm of opposition +against him in certain quarters, and he played a leading part in the +great constitutional cases of Philips v. Eyre, and The Queen v. Eyre. He +died at Steeple Aston, in Oxfordshire, in 1906. + + + +CHAPTER 12. ATTEMPTS TO REACH THE CENTRE. + +[Map (Diagram). Supposed Extent and Formation of Lake Torrens in 1846.] + + +12.1. LAKE TORRENS PIONEERS AND HORROCKS. + +It will be remembered that Eyre, in 1840, reached, after much labour, an +elevation to the north-east, at the termination of the range which he had +followed, and had named it Mount Hopeless. From the outlook from its +summit he came to the conclusion that the lake was of the shape shown in +the diagram, completely surrounding the northern portion of the new +colony of South Australia. In fact, he formed a theory that the colony in +far distant times had been an island, the low-lying flats to the east +joining the plains west of the Darling. It was in 1843 that the +Surveyor-General of South Australia, Captain Frome, undertook an +expedition to determine the dimensions of this mysterious lake. He +reached Mount Serle, and found the dry bed of a great lake to the +eastward, as Eyre had described, but discovered that Eyre had made an +error of thirty miles in longitude, placing it too far to the east. He +got no further north. He thus confirmed the existence of a lake eastward +of Lake Torrens (now Lake Frome), but achieved nothing to prove or +disprove Eyre's theory of their continuity. Prior to this the pioneers +had spread settlement both east and west of Eyre's track from Adelaide to +the head of Spencer's Gulf. Amongst these early leaders of civilisation +in the central state are to be found the names of Hawker, Hughes, +Campbell, Robinson, and Heywood. But unfortunately the details of their +expeditions in search of grazing country have not been preserved. + +[Illustration. John Ainsworth Horrocks.] + +John Ainsworth Horrocks is one of those whose accidental death at the +very outset of his career plunged his name into oblivion. Had he lived to +climb to the summit of his ambition as an explorer, it would have been +written large in Australian history. That he had some premonition of the +conditions necessary to successful exploration to the west is shown by +his having been the first to employ the camel as an aid to exploration. +He took one with him on his last and fatal trip, and it is an example of +fate's cruel irony that the presence of this animal was inadvertently the +cause of his death. + +Horrocks was born at Penwortham Hall, Lancashire, on March 22nd, 1818. He +was very much taken with the South Australian scheme of colonisation, and +left London for Adelaide, where he arrived in 1839. He at once took up +land, and with his brother started sheep-farming. He was a born explorer, +however, and made several excursions into the surrounding untraversed +land, finding several geographical features, which still preserve the +names he gave them. In 1846 he organised an expedition along more +extended lines, intending to proceed far into the north-west and west. +After having over-looked the ground, he would then prepare another party +on a large scale to attempt the passage to the Swan River. He started in +July, but in September occurred the disaster which cut him off in the +flower of his promise. In his dying letter he describes how he saw a +beautiful bird, which he was anxious to obtain:-- + +"My gun being loaded with slugs in one barrel and ball in the other, I +stopped the camel to get at the shot belt, which I could not get without +his lying down. + +"Whilst Mr. Gill was unfastening it, I was screwing the ramrod into the +wad over the slugs, standing close alongside of the camel. At this moment +the camel gave a lurch to one side, and caught his pack in the cock of my +gun, which discharged the barrel I was unloading, the contents of which +first took off the middle fingers of my right hand between the second and +third joints, and entered my left cheek by my lower jaw, knocking out a +row of teeth from my upper jaw." + +His sufferings were agonising, but he was easy between the fearful +convulsions, and at the end of the third day after he had reached home, +whither his companions had succeeded in conveying him, he died without a +struggle. + +12.2. CAPTAIN STURT. + +Charles Sturt, whose name is so closely bound up with the exploration of +the Australian interior, had settled in the new colony which the South +Australians loyally maintain he had created by directing attention to the +outlet of the Murray. After a short re-survey of the river, from the +point where Hume crossed it to the junction of the Murray and +Murrumbidgee, which had been one of Mitchell's tasks, he re-entered civil +life under the South Australian Government. He was now married, and +settled on a small estate which he was farming, not far from Adelaide. In +1839 he became Surveyor-General, but in October of the same year he +exchanged this office for that of Commissioner of Lands, which he held +until 1843. In the following year he commenced his most arduous and +best-known journey, a journey that has made the names of Sturt's Stony +Desert and the Depot Glen known all over the world, and that has, +unhappily for Australia, done much to create the popular fallacy that the +soil and climate of the interior are such as preclude comfortable +settlement by whites. Sturt's graphic account is at times somewhat +misleading, and the lapse of years has proved his denunciatory judgment +of the fitness of the interior for human habitation to have been hasty. +But if we examine the circumstances in which he received the impressions +he has recorded, we must grant that he had considerable justification for +his statements. + +He was a broken and disappointed man, worn out by disease and frustrated +hopes, and nearly blind. During six months of his long absence, he had +been shut up in his weary depot prison, debarred from attempting the +completion of his work, and compelled to watch his friend and companion +die a lingering death from scurvy. And when the kindly rains released +him, he was doomed to be repulsed by the ever-present desert wastes. No +wonder that he despaired of the country, and viewed all its prospects +through the heated, treacherous haze of the desert plains. Yet now, close +to the ranges where Sturt spent the burning summer months of his +detention, there has sprung up one of the inland townships of New South +Wales, where men toil just as laboriously as in a more temperate zone. + +[Map. Sturt's Route 1844, 1845 and 1846.] + +But, though baffled and unable to win the goal he strove for, never did +man better deserve success. The instructions that he received from the +Home Office were, to reach the centre of the continent, to discover +whether mountains or sea existed there, and, if the former, to note the +flow and direction of the northern waters, but on no account to follow +them down to the north coast. Sturt was instructed to proceed by Mount +Arden, a route already tried, condemned, and abandoned by Eyre; and he +elected to proceed by way of the Darling. His plan was to follow that +river up as far as the Williora, a small western tributary of the +Darling, opposite the place whence Mitchell turned back in 1835, after +his conflict with the natives, an episode which Sturt found that they +bitterly remembered. Poole, Sturt's second in command, resembling +Mitchell in figure and appearance, the Darling blacks addressed him as +Major, and evinced marked hostility towards him. From Williora, or +Laidley's Ponds, Sturt intended to strike north-west, hoping thus to +avoid the gloomy environs of Lake Torrens, and the treacherous surface of +its bed. At Moorundi, on the Murray, where Eyre was then stationed as +Resident Magistrate, the party was mustered and the start made. + +In addition to Poole, Sturt was accompanied by Dr. Browne, a thorough +bushman and an excellent surgeon, who went as a volunteer and personal +friend. With the party as surveyor's draftsman, went McDouall Stuart, +whose fame as explorer was afterwards destined nearly to equal that of +his leader. In addition there were twelve men, eleven horses, one +spring-cart, three bullock-drays, thirty bullocks, one horse-dray, two +hundred sheep, four kangaroo dogs, and two sheep dogs. + +Eyre accompanied the expedition as far as Lake Victoria, which they +reached on the 10th of September, 1844. On the 11th of October they +arrived at Laidley's Ponds. This was the place from which Sturt intended +to leave the Darling for the interior, and where he expected to find, +from the account given him by the natives, a fair-sized creek heading +from a low range, visible at a distance to the north-west. But he found +the stream to be a mere surface channel, distributing the flood water of +the Darling into some shallow lakes about seven or eight miles distant. +Sturt despatched Poole and Stuart to this range to see if they could +obtain a glimpse of the country beyond to the north-west. + +They returned with the rather startling intelligence that, from the top +of a peak of the range, Poole had seen a large lake studded with islands. + +Although in his published journal, written some time after his return, +Sturt makes light of Poole's fancied lake, which of course was the effect +of a mirage, at that time his ardent fancy, and the extreme likelihood of +the existence of a lake in that locality, made him believe that he was on +the eve of an important discovery. In a letter to Mr. Morphett of +Adelaide, he wrote:-- + +"Poole has just returned from the range. I have not time to write over +again. He says there are high ranges to the North and North-West, and +water, a sea, extending along the horizon from South-West by South and +then East of North, in which there are a number of lofty ranges and +islands, as far as the eye can reach. What is all this? To-morrow we +start for the ranges, and then for the waters, the strange waters, on +which boat never swam and over which flag never floated. But both shall +ere long. We have the heart of the interior laid open to us, and shall be +off with a flowing sheet in a few days. Poole says that the sea was a +deep blue, and that in the midst of it was a conical island of great +height." + +Poor Sturt! No boat was ever to float upon that visionary sea, nor flag +to wave over those dream-born waters. To those who know the experiences +that awaited the expedition, it is pathetic to read of the leader's +soaring hopes, as delusive as the desert mirage itself. + +The whole of the party now removed to a small shallow lakelet, the +commencement of the Williora channel (Laidley's Ponds). After a short +excursion to the distant ranges reported by Poole, Sturt, accompanied by +Browne and two men, went ahead for the purpose of finding water of a +sufficient permanency to remove the whole of the party to. At the small +lake where they were then encamped, there was the ever-present likelihood +of a conflict with the pugnacious natives of the Darling. He was +successful in finding what he wanted, and on the 4th of November the main +body of the expedition, finally leaving the Darling basin, removed to the +new water depot. + +The next day Sturt, with Browne and three men and the cart, started on +another trip in search of water ahead. This was found in small +quantities, but rain coming on, Sturt returned and sent Poole out again +to search while the camp was being moved. On his return, Poole reported +having seen some brackish lakes, and also having caught sight of Eyre's +Mount Serle. They were now well on the western slope of the Barrier +Range, and, but for the providential discovery of a fine creek to the +northward, which was called Flood's creek, after one of the party, they +would have been unable to maintain their position. To Flood's creek the +camp was removed, and Sturt congratulated himself on the steady and +satisfactory progress he was making. + +[Illustration. Sturt's Depot Glen. The Glen, eroded in vertical silurian +slate, is less than a mile long. Poole rests by the creek where the gorge +opens quite abruptly on to a vast cretaceous plain. Photo by the Reverend +J.M. Curran.] + +The party now left the Barrier Range, and followed a course to another +range further north, staying for some time at a small lagoon while +engaged in making an examination of the country ahead. On the 27th of +January, 1845, they camped on a creek rising in a small range, and +affording, at its head, a fine supply of permanent water. When upon its +banks the explorers pitched their tents, they little thought that it +would be the 17th of the following July before they would strike camp +again. This was the Depot Glen, and an extract from Sturt's journal +depicts the situation of the party:-- + +"It was not, however, until after we had run down every creek in the +neighbourhood, and had traversed the country in every direction, that the +truth flashed across my mind, and it became evident to me that we were +locked up in the desolate and heated region into which we had penetrated, +as effectually as if we had wintered at the Pole. It was long, indeed, +ere I could bring myself to believe that so great a misfortune had +overtaken us, but so it was. Providence had, in its all wise purposes, +guided us to the only spot in that wide-spread desert where our wants +could have been permanently supplied, but had there stayed our further +progress into a region that almost appears to be forbidden ground." + +This then was Sturt's prison -- a small creek marked by a line of gum +trees, issuing from a glen in a low range. By a kindly freak of nature, +enough water had been confined in this glen to provide a permanent supply +for the exploring party and their animals, during the long term of their +detention. + +Of Sturt's existence and occupation during this dreary period little can +be said. He tried to find an avenue of escape in every direction, until +convinced of the futility of the attempt; sometimes encouraged and lured +on by the shallow pools in some fragmentary creek, at others, seeing +nothing before him but hopeless aridity. Now, too, he found himself +attacked with what he then thought to be rheumatism, but which proved to +be scurvy. Poole and Browne were afflicted in the same manner. + +Sturt made one desperate attempt to the north during his imprisonment in +the Depot Glen, and succeeded in reaching a point one mile beyond the +28th parallel, but further north he could not advance, nor did he find +any inducement to risk the safety of his party. + +There passed weeks of awesome monotony, relieved by one strange episode. +From the apparently lifeless wilderness around them there strayed an old +aboriginal into their camp. He was hungry and athirst, and in complete +keeping with the gaunt waste from which he had emerged. The dogs attacked +him when he approached, but he stood his ground and fought them valiantly +until they were called off. His whole demeanour was calm and courageous, +and he showed neither surprise nor timidity. He drank greedily when water +was given to him, ate voraciously, and accepted every service rendered to +him as a duty to be discharged by one fellow-being to another when cut +off in the desert from his kin. He stopped at the camp for some time and +recognised the boat, explaining that it was upside down, as of course it +was, and pointing to the North-West as the region where they would use +it, thus raising Sturt's hopes once more. Whence he came they could not +divine, nor could he explain to them. After a fortnight he departed, +giving them to understand that he would return, but they never saw him +again. + +"With him" writes Sturt pathetically, "all our hopes vanished, for even +the presence of this savage was soothing to us, and so long as he +remained we indulged in anticipations for the future. From the time of +his departure a gloomy silence pervaded the camp; we were indeed placed +under the most trying circumstances: everything combined to depress our +spirits and exhaust our patience. We had witnessed migration after +migration of the feathered tribes, to that point to which we were so +anxious to push our way. Flights of cockatoos, of parrots, of pigeons, +and of bitterns; birds also whose notes had cheered us in the wilderness, +all had taken the same road to a better and more hospitable region." + +And now the water began to sink with frightful rapidity, and all thought +that surely the end must be near. Hoping against hope, Sturt laid his +plans to start as soon as the drought broke up. He himself was to proceed +north and west, whilst poor Poole, reduced to a frightful condition by +scurvy, was to be sent carefully back to the Darling, as the only means +of saving his life. + +[Illustration. Poole's Grave and Monument, near Depot Glen, Tibbuburra, +New South Wales. Photo by the Reverend J.M. Curran.] + +On the 12th and 13th of June the rain came, and the drought-beleaguered +invaders of the desert were relieved. But Poole did not live to profit by +the rain. Every arrangement was made for his comfort that their +circumstances permitted, but on the first day's journey he died. His body +was brought back and buried under the elevation which they called the Red +Hill, and which is now known as Mount Poole, three and a-half miles from +Depot Camp. + +Sturt's way was now open. He again despatched the party selected to +return to the Darling, whose departure had been interrupted by Poole's +untimely death, and, with renewed hope, made his preparations for the +long-denied north-west. + +Having first removed the depot to a better grassed locality, he made a +short trip to the west. On the 4th of August he found himself on the edge +of an immense shallow, sandy basin, in which water was standing in +detached sheets, "as blue as indigo, and as salt as brine." This he took +to be a part of Lake Torrens. He returned to the new depot, called Fort +Grey, which was sixty or seventy miles to the north-west of the Glen, and +arranged matters for his final departure. + +McDouall Stuart was left in charge of the depot. Dr. Browne accompanied +the leader, and on the 14th of August a start was made. For some +distance, owing to the pools of surface water left by the recent rain, +they had no difficulty in keeping a straightforward course. The country +they passed over consisted of large, level plains, intersected by +sand-ridges; but they crossed numerous creeks with more or less water in +all of them. To one of these creeks Sturt gave the name of Strzelecki. +Finally they reached a well-grassed region which greatly cheered them +with the prospect of success it held out. Suddenly they were confronted +with a wall of sand; and for nearly twenty miles they toiled over +successive ridges. Fortunately they found both water and grass, but the +unexpected check to their brighter anticipations was depressing. Nor did +a walk to the extremity of one of the ridges serve to raise their +spirits. + +Sturt saw before him what he describes as an immense plain, of a dark +purple hue, with a horizon like that of the sea, boundless in the +direction in which he wished to proceed. This was Sturt's Stony Desert. +That night they camped within its dreary confines, and during the next +day crossed an earthy plain, with here and there a few bushes of +polygonum growing beside some straggling channel in which they +occasionally found a little muddy rain-water remaining. At night when +they camped just before dusk, they sighted some hills to the north, and, +on examining them through the telescope, they discerned dark shadows on +the faces, as if produced by cliffs. Next morning they made for these +hills, in the hope of finding a change of country and feed for the +horses, but they were disappointed. Sand ridges in repulsive array +confronted them once more. "Even the animals," writes Sturt, "appeared to +regard them with dismay." + +Over plains and sand dunes, the former full of yawning cracks and holes, +the party pushed on, subsisting on scanty pools of muddy water and +fast-sinking native wells. On the 3rd of September, Flood, the stockman +who was riding in the lead, lifted his hat and waved it on high, calling +to the others that a large creek was in sight. + +When the main party came up, they feasted their eyes on a beautiful +watercourse, its bed studded with pools of water and its banks clothed +with grass. This creek Sturt named Eyre's Creek, and it was an important +discovery in the drainage system of the region that he was then +traversing. + +Along this new-found watercourse, they were enabled to make easy stages +for five days, when the course of the creek was lost; nor could any +continuation be traced. The lagoons, too, that were found a short +distance from the banks, proved to be intensely salt. Repeated efforts to +continue his journey to other points of the compass only led Sturt +amongst the terrible sandhills, their parallel rows separated by barren +plains encrusted with salt. Sturt now came to the erroneous conclusion +that he had reached the head of Eyre's Creek, and that further progress +was effectually barred by a waterless tract of country. In fact, he was +then within reach of a well-watered river, along which he could have +travelled right up to the main dividing range of the northern coast. But +Sturt was baffled in the most depressed area on the surface of the +continent, where rivers and creeks lost their identity in the numberless +channels into which they divided before reaching their final home in the +thirsty shallows of the then unknown Lake Eyre. There was neither sign +nor clue afforded him; his men were sick, and any further progress would +jeopardise his retreat. There was nothing for it but to fall back once +more; and, after a toilsome journey, they reached Fort Grey on the 2nd of +October. + +Sturt's last effort had been made to the west of north; he now made up +his mind for a final effort due north. Before starting, however, he +begged of Browne, who was still suffering, to retreat, while the way was +yet open, to the Darling. This Browne resolutely refused to do; stating +that it was his intention to share the fate of the expedition. The 9th of +October saw Sturt again under way to the seemingly forbidden north, +Stuart and two fresh men accompanying him. On the second day they reached +Strzelecki Creek, and on the 13th they came on to the bank of a +magnificent channel, with fine trees growing on its grassy banks, and +abundance of water in the bed. This was the now well-known Cooper's +Creek, which Sturt, on his late trip, had crossed unnoticed, as it was +then dry and divided into several channels on their route. This was the +most important discovery made in connection with the lake system, +Cooper's Creek being one of the far-reaching affluents, its tributaries +draining the inland slopes of the main dividing range. + +Sturt, on making this unexpected discovery, was undecided whether to +follow Cooper's Creek up to the eastward or persevere in his original +intention of pushing to the north. A thunder-storm falling at the time +made him adhere to his original determination, and defer the examination +of the new river until his return. + +Seven days after crossing Cooper's Creek, he had the negative +satisfaction of seeing his gloomy forebodings fulfilled. Once more he +gazed over the dreary waste of the stony desert, unchanged and repellant +as ever. They crossed it, but were again turned back by sandhill and salt +plain, and forced to retrace their steps to Cooper's Creek. This creek +Sturt followed up for many days, but found that it came from a more +easterly direction than the route he desired to travel along; moreover, +the one broad channel that they had commenced to follow became divided +into several ana-branches, running through plains subject to inundation. +This became so tiring to their now exhausted horses, who were woefully +footsore, that he reluctantly turned back. He had found the creek peopled +with well-nurtured natives, and the prospects of advancing were brighter +than they had ever been; but both Sturt and his men were weak and ill, +and the horses almost incapable of further effort. Moreover, he was not +certain of his retreat. + +As they went down Cooper's Creek on their way back, they found that the +water was drying up so rapidly that grave fears were entertained lest +Strzelecki's Creek, their main resource in getting back to Fort Grey, +should be dry. Fortunately they were in time to find a little muddy fluid +left, just enough to serve their needs. Here, though most anxious to get +on, they were forced to camp the whole of one day, on account of an +extremely fierce hot wind. + +Sturt's vivid account of the day spent during the blast of that +furnace-like sirocco has been oft quoted. But the reader should remember +when reading it that the man who wrote it was in such a weakened +condition that he had not sufficient energy left to withstand the hot +wind, whilst the shade under which the party sought shelter was of the +scantiest description. + +They had still a distance of eighty-six miles to cover to get back to +Fort Grey, with but little prospect of finding water on the way. After a +long and weary ride they reached it, only to find the tents struck, the +flag hauled down, and the Fort abandoned. The bad state of the water and +the steady diminution of supply had forced Browne to fall back to Depot +Glen, riding day and night Sturt reached the old encampment, so exhausted +that he could hardly stand after dismounting. + +The problem of their final escape had now to be resolved. The water in +Depot Creek was reduced so low that they feared there would be none left +in Flood's Creek. If this failed, they were once more imprisoned. Browne, +now much recovered, undertook the long ride of one hundred and eighteen +miles which would decide the question. Preparations had been made for his +journey by filling a bullock skin with water, and sending a dray with it +as far as possible. On the eighth day he returned. + +"Well, Browne," asked Sturt, who was helpless in his tent, "what news? Is +it good or bad?" "There is still water in the creek," replied Browne, +"but that is all I can say; what there is is as black as ink, and we must +make haste, for in a week it will be gone." + +The boat that was to have floated over the inland sea was left to rot at +Depot Glen. All the heaviest of the stores were abandoned, and the +retreat of over two hundred miles commenced. + +More bullock-skins were fashioned into water-bags, and with their aid and +that of a scanty but kindly shower of rain, they crossed the dry stage to +Flood's Creek in safety. Here they found the growth of the vegetation +much advanced, and with care, and constant activity in searching ahead +for water, they gradually increased the distance from the scene of their +sufferings, and approached the Darling. Sturt had to be carried on one of +the drays, and lifted on and off at each stopping-place. On the 21st of +December, they arrived at the camp of the relief-party under Piesse, at +Williorara, and Sturt's last expedition came to an end. + +In taking leave of this explorer, we quote a short extract from his +Journal to show the exalted character of the man whom Australians should +ever regard with the greatest of pride:-- + +"Circumstances may yet arise to give a value to my recent labours, and my +name may be remembered by after generations in Australia as the first who +tried to penetrate to its centre. If I failed in that great object, I +have one consolation in the retrospect of my past services. My path among +savage tribes has been a bloodless one, not but that I have often been +placed in situations of risk and danger, when I might have been justified +in shedding blood, but I trust I have ever made allowance for human +timidity, and respected the customs of the rudest people." + +Sturt's health and eyesight had been greatly impaired by his last trip, +but although he was for a time almost totally blind, he still managed to +discharge the duties of Colonial Secretary. He was at last pensioned by +the South Australian Government, and soon afterwards returned to England. +He died at his residence at Cheltenham. Though the Home Office had +treated him disgracefully during his life, and ignored his services, he +lives for ever in the hearts of the Australians as the hero and chief +figure of the exploration of their country. When he was on his death-bed, +in 1869, the empty title of knighthood was conferred upon him. As he +could not enjoy the tardy honour, his widow, who lived until 1887, was +graciously allowed to wear the bauble. + + + +CHAPTER 13. BABBAGE AND STUART. + + +13.1. B. HERSCHEL BABBAGE. + +[Illustration. B. Herschel Babbage. Born 1815; died 1878.] + +The unsolved problem of the extent and other details of that vast region +of salt lakes and flat country then known under the generic name of Lake +Torrens still greatly occupied the attention and excited the imaginations +of the colonists of South Australia. And the accounts brought back by the +different exploring parties were conflicting in the extreme. In 1851, two +squatters, named Oakden and Hulkes, out run-hunting, pushed westward of +Lake Torrens, and found suitable grazing country. They also discovered a +lake of fresh water, and heard from the natives of other lakes to the +north-west some fabulous legends of strange animals. Their horses giving +in, Oakden and Hulkes returned, but although they applied for a squatting +licence for the country they had been over, it was not then settled or +stocked. In 1856, Surveyor Babbage made some explorations in the field +partly traversed by Eyre and Frome. He penetrated through the plains that +were supposed to occupy the central portion of the horseshoe formation at +that time associated in the public opinion with Lake Torrens. More +fortunate than his predecessors, he found permanent water in a gum-tree +creek, and saw some fair-sized sheets of water, one of which he named +Blanche Water, or Lake Blanche. Some further excursions led to the +discovery of more fresh water and well-grassed pastoral country. The +aboriginals, too, directed him to what they said was a crossing-place in +that portion of Lake Torrens that had been sighted, in 1845, by Poole and +Browne of Captain Sturt's party, when Poole thought he saw an inland sea. +Their directions, however, proved unreliable, or Babbage failed to find +the place, for he lost his horse in the attempt to cross the lake. + +In 1857, another excursion to the westward of Lake Torrens was made by a +Mr. Campbell, who discovered a creek of fresh water, which he called the +Elizabeth. He also visited Lake Torrens, of which he reported in similar +terms to those of previous explorers -- that it was surrounded with +barren country. + +In April of the same year, a survey conducted by Deputy Surveyor-General +Goyder, over the same country as that lately explored by Babbage, led to +some absurd mistakes. A few miles north of Blanche Water he came to many +surface springs surrounding a fine lagoon. To the north of them was an +isolated hill, which he called Weathered Hill. From the summit of this +hill he had a curious example of the effects of refraction in this region +in a similar illusion to that which suggested Poole's inland sea. To the +northward he saw a belt of gigantic gum-trees, and beyond them what +appeared to be a sheet of water with elevated land on the far side. To +the eastward was another large lake. But all this was but the glamourie +of the desert -- on closer examination the gigantic gums dwindled down to +stunted bushes, and the mountainous ground to broken clods of earth. + +But the greatest surprise reserved for Goyder was at Lake Torrens, where +he found the water quite fresh. He described the Lake as stretching from +fifteen to twenty miles to the north-west, with a water horizon, with an +extensive bay forming to the southward; while to the north, a bluff +headland and perpendicular cliffs were clearly to be discerned with the +telescope. From the appearance of the flood-marks, Goyder came to the +conclusion that there was little or no rise and fall in the lake, drawing +the natural conclusion that its size was such as not to be influenced +appreciably by flood waters, but that it absorbed them without showing +any variation in its level. + +Adelaide was overjoyed at the news. The threatening desert that hemmed in +their fair province to the north was suddenly converted into a land of +milk and honey. The Surveyor-General, Colonel Freeling, immediately +started out, taking with him both a boat and an iron punt with which to +float on these new waters. But there was a sudden fall to their hopes +when a letter was received from him stating that the cliffs, the bay, and +the head-lands were all built up on the airy foundation of a mirage. The +elves and sprites of this desolate region had been playing a hoax upon +Goyder's party. But it is no wonder that Goyder had been so open to +deception after unexpectedly finding fresh water in the lake that had +been so long known as salter than the sea. + +On reaching the lake, Freeling found the water still almost fresh; but +one of Goyder's men who accompanied him, told him that it had already +receded half-a-mile since the latter's visit. An attempt to float the +punt was made, but after dragging it through mud and a few inches of +water for a quarter of a mile, the men abandoned the attempt as hopeless. +Freeling and some of the party then started to wade through the slush, +but after proceeding three miles, and then sounding only six inches of +water, they returned. Some of the more adventurous extended their muddy +wade, but only met with a similar result. Lake Torrens was re-invested +with its evil name, only somewhat shrunken in proportions. + +In the same year, 1857, Stephen Hack started with a party from Streaky +Bay to examine the Gawler Range of Eyre, and investigate the country west +of Lake Torrens. He reached the Gawler Range and examined the country +very carefully, finding numerous fresh-water springs, and large plains +covered with both grass and saltbush. He also discovered a large salt +lake, Lake Gairdner. Simultaneously with Hack's expedition, a party under +Major Warburton was out in the same neighbourhood; in fact, Hack's party +crossed Warburton's tracks on one or two occasions. Strange to say, the +reports of the two were flatly contradictory. Warburton described the +country as dry and arid; but Hack's account was distinctly favourable. Of +the two men, however, it is most probable that Hack possessed the more +experience and knowledge of country, and, moreover, Time, the great +arbitrator, has endorsed his words. + +The year 1857 saw much exploration done in South Australia. One party, +consisting of Swinden, Campbell, Thompson, and Stock, at about seventy +miles from the head of Spencer's Gulf, found good pastoral country and a +permanent water-hole called by the natives Pernatty. to the north they +came upon Campbell's former discovery of the Elizabeth, but their +provisions failing they were forced to return. + +A month afterwards Swinden started again from Pernatty. North of the +Gawler Range he found available pastoral country, which became known as +Swinden's country. During this year also, Miller and Dutton explored the +country at the back of Fowler's Bay. Forty miles to the north they saw +treeless, grassy plains stretching far inland, but could find no +permanent water. Warburton afterwards reported in depreciatory terms of +this region; but Delisser and Hardwicke, who also visited it, stated that +it would make first-class pastoral country if only surface water could be +obtained. During the whole of Warburton's career, his judgment of the +pastoral value of country seems to have been lamentably defective. He +made no allowance for the varying nature of the seasons. A suggestion +that he made to the South Australian Government to explore the interior, +which had turned back such men as Sturt and Gregory, with the aid of the +police, verges on the ludicrous. + +In 1858, the South Australian Government voted a sum of money to fit out +a party to continue the northern explorations. This party was put under +the leadership of Babbage; but he was not given a free hand, being +hampered with official instructions, and there being no allowance made +for unforeseen exigencies. His instructions were to examine the country +between Lakes Torrens and Gairdner, and to map the respective western and +eastern shores of the two lakes, so as to remove for the future any doubt +as to their actual formation and accurate position. This alone, apart +from any extended exploration, meant a work of considerable time; but, +unfortunately for the surveyor in charge, the general public was just +then eager for fresh discoveries of available pastoral land, and was +inclined to regard survey work as of secondary importance. It took +several months to complete the survey work of the two lakes, and when +Babbage returned to Port Augusta he found that Harris, the second in +command of his depot camp, had started to return to Adelaide with many of +the drays and horses. Babbage rode one hundred and sixty miles before he +overtook him at Mount Remarkable, and there learned that the South +Australian Government had changed its official mind with regard to the +conduct of the expedition, and had decided that it should be conducted in +future with pack-horses only. + +It was A.C. Gregory's arrival in Adelaide with pack-horses from his last +expedition down the Barcoo that had led to this change of tactics. +Charles Gregory, who had accompanied his brother, was now engaged by the +Government to overtake Babbage and acquaint him with their intention, but +when he reached Port Augusta, Gregory took it upon himself to order the +drays home, Babbage being away surveying. Babbage overtook them and +ordered them back; but pleading Government orders, they refused to +return. Babbage wrote to the authorities pointing out the unfairness of +their action, and, mustering up a small party, returned to continue his +work with six months' provisions. + +On this occasion, Babbage gave more time to discovery than he had done +before. He went out beyond the boundaries of his survey, and pushed on to +Chambers Creek, so called by Stuart, who discovered it while Babbage was +busy at Lake Gairdner. Babbage traced Chambers Creek into Lake Eyre, and +was thus the first discoverer of this lake, which he called Lake Gregory. +He found a range which he called Hermit Range, but from its crest +discerned no sign of Lake Torrens, thus settling a certain limit to its +extension to the north. He made further explorations to the west of Lake +Gregory, now Lake Eyre, and found some hot springs. Meanwhile, during the +time he was making these researches, the Government had, in a very +high-handed manner, appointed Warburton to supersede him. Warburton +started out to find Babbage, taking Charles Gregory as his second. +Failing to find him at the Elizabeth, he followed and overtook him at the +newly-discovered Lake Gregory. Warburton made a few discoveries while +seeking for Babbage, amongst them the Douglas, a creek which was +afterwards of great assistance to Stuart, and the Davenport Range; and he +also came upon some fair pastoral country. + +Babbage's surveys and explorations had done much to clear up the mystery +and confusion that had hitherto obscured the geography of the salt lake +region. His discovery of Lake Eyre (Gregory) and of the complete +isolation of Lake Torrens, reduced the component parts of that huge +saline basin to some sort of method and order. In addition to these +achievements, Surveyor Parry made some further discoveries both of fresh +water and available pastoral country to the eastward of the Lake. + +B. Herschel Babbage was the eldest son of the well-known inventor of the +calculating machine. He had been educated as an engineer, and for a +considerable time had followed his profession in Europe. He had been +engaged on several main lines in England, and had worked in conjunction +with the celebrated Brunel. He had also been commissioned by the +Government of Piedmont to report on a line across the Alps by way of +Mount Cenis. He had remained in Italy some years until his work was +interrupted by the revolution. He had returned to England, and had +subsequently come to South Australia in 1851, in the ship Hydaspes. He +died at his residence, in 1878, at St. Mary's, South Road, where he had a +vineyard. + +13.2. JOHN MCDOUALL STUART. + +[Illustration. John McDouall Stuart.] + +John McDouall Stuart, the great explorer of the centre of Australia, +arrived in South Australia in 1839. His first experience of Australian +exploration was sufficiently trying, gained as it was when he was acting +as a draughtsman with Captain Sturt on his last arduous expedition. But +it had kindled in him a high ardour for discovery, and fostered a +stubborn resolution to carry through whatever he undertook. + +He commenced his early explorations when in a position to do so +independently, to the north-west of Swinden's country, in search of some +locality called by the natives Wingillpin. Not finding it, he came to the +strange conclusion that Wingillpin and Cooper's Creek were one and the +same, although he was now on a different watershed. He also, at that +period, seems to have entertained somewhat extensive notions of the +course of Cooper's Creek, as in one part of his Journal he remarks:-- + +"My only hope of cutting Cooper's Creek is on the other side of the +range. The plain we crossed to-day resembles those of the Cooper, also +the grasses. If it is not there, it must run to the north-west, and form +the Glenelg of Captain Grey." + +Now, although we know that Grey held rather extravagant notions of the +importance of the Glenelg, even he would not have thought it possible for +the Glenelg to be the outlet of such a mighty river as Cooper's Creek +would have become by the time it reached the north-west coast. + +Stuart's horses were now too footsore to proceed over the stony country +he found himself then in, and he had no spare shoes with him. Failing +therefore to find the promised land of Wingillpin, although he had passed +over much good and well-watered country, he turned to the south-west, and +made some explorations in the neighbourhood of Lake Gairdner. Before +this, however, he had found and named Chambers Creek. From Lake Gairdner, +he steered for Fowler's Bay, and his description of some of the country +he passed is anything but inviting. From a spur of the high peak that he +named Mount Finke, he saw:-- + +"A prospect gloomy in the extreme: I could see a long distance, but +nothing met the eye save a dense scrub, as black and dismal as night." + +[Map. Stuart's Routes 1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, 1862; Burke and Wills's +Route 1860 and 1861.] + +From this point the party passed into a sandy spinifex desert, which +Stuart says was worse than Sturt's; there had been a little salt-bush +there, but here there was nothing but spinifex to be found, and the +barren ground provided no food of any kind for the horses. + +The state of affairs was becoming desperate with the little band, as +their provisions were nearly finished; and though the leader was tempted +to persist in the search for good pastoral country, he was at last forced +to abandon the search and beat a hasty retreat. Dense scrub and the same +"dreary dismal desert," as he calls it in his Journal, surrounded them +day after day. Tired out and half-starved they reached the coast, and had +but two meals left to carry them to Streaky Bay, where they found relief +at Gibson's station. Here the sudden change from starvation to a full +diet invalided most of them, and Stuart himself was very ill for some +days. Finally they reached Thompson's station at Mount Arden, and there +Stuart's first expedition terminated. + +But this severe test only whetted Stuart's appetite for further +exploration, and in April, 1859, he made another start. After crossing +over some of the already-traversed country, Hergott, one of his +companions, found the now well-known springs that bear his name. Stuart +crossed his former discovery of Chambers Creek, and made for the +Davenport Range, discovered by Warburton, finding many of the mound +springs that characterize some parts of the interior. On the 6th of June +he discovered a large creek, which he called the Neale. It ran through +very good country, and Stuart followed it down, hoping to find it +increase in volume and value as he went. In this he was not disappointed, +as large plains covered with salt-bush and grass were found, and the +party encountered several more springs. After satisfying himself of the +extent and economic value of the country he had found, Stuart was obliged +to return; for his horses' shoes had again worn out, and he had a lively +and painful remembrance of the misery which his horses had suffered +before from the lack of them. + +In November of the same year, he made a third expedition in the vicinity +of Lake Eyre, but there is little of interest attaching to the Journal of +this trip, as his course was mostly over closely explored country. He +reached the Neale again, and instituted a survey of the promising +pastoral country he had traversed during his last trip, approaching at +times to within sight of what he calls in his Journal Lake Torrens, but +which in reality was what is now known as Lake Eyre. All these minor +expeditions of Stuart's may be looked upon as preparatory to his great +struggle to find an available passage through the unknown fastnesses of +the centre of the continent. + +It was in 1860 that Stuart made the first of his daring and stubborn +attempts to cross Australia from south to north. The South Australian +Government had offered a standing reward of 2,000 pounds for the man who +should first succeed in this undertaking. + +Stuart's party on his first trip was but a very small one: three men in +all, with but thirteen horses. It reads lilliputian compared with the +princely cavalcade that later on set out with Burke to travel over +comparatively well-known country, involving only a short excursion +through a land without natural difficulties or obstacles; and yet it +actually achieved the greatest part of the task set it. + +Stuart started from Chambers Creek, but for part of the journey he was of +course travelling over country that was fairly well-known by that time. +After passing the Neale, he entered untrodden country, which proved to be +good available pastoral land. Numerous well-watered creeks were passed, +which were named respectively the Frew, the Finke, and the Stevenson, and +on the 6th of April they reached a hill of a remarkable shape, which had +for some time attracted and excited their attention and curiosity. They +found it to be a column of sandstone, on the apex of a hill. The hill was +but a low one of a few hundred feet in height, but the sandstone column +that surmounted it was one hundred and fifty feet in height and twenty +feet in width. This striking object was named by Stuart Chambers Pillar, +to commemorate a friend who had assisted him greatly in his explorations. +It stood amongst other elevations of fantastic shapes and grotesque +formations, resembling ruined forts and castles. On the 9th of April they +sighted two remarkable bluffs, and on the 12th reached the range of which +the bluffs formed the centre. The eastern bluff was called Brinkley Bluff +and the western Hanson Bluff; the range, which is now well-known as a +leading geographical feature of Australia, and on which the most elevated +peaks in the interior have since been found, Stuart named the MacDonnell +Range, after the then Governor of South Australia. The little band +crossed the range, which was rough but had good grass on its slopes. +There was, however, a scarcity of water; for they were now approaching +the tropical line, and on reaching the northern slope of the range found +themselves amongst spinifex and scrub, and obliged to undergo two nights +without water for the horses. At a high peak, which was named Mount +Freeling, they found a small supply; and as it was now evident that there +was dry country ahead, a more careful search was made before pushing any +further forward, in order to ensure certain means of retreat. Fortunately +they found, amongst some ledges of rock, a large natural reservoir, which +promised to be permanent, and capable of supplying their wants on their +homeward way. + +On the 22nd of April, Stuart camped in the centre of Australia, on the +spot which his former leader, Sturt, had vainly undergone so much +suffering to reach; and his feeling of elation must have been tempered +with regret that his old leader was not then with him to share this +success. About two miles and a half to the North-North-East there was a +tolerably high hill which he called in reality Central Mount Sturt. It is +now, however, erroneously called Stuart, owing to the publishers of his +diary having misread his manuscript. + +Having, in company with his tried companion Kekwick, climbed the mount, +he erected a cairn of stones at the top and hoisted the Union Jack. They +then recommenced their northern journey. That night they camped without +finding water, but the next morning were lucky enough to get a permanent +supply. Then ensued much delay, caused by fruitless attempts to strike +either to the eastward or the westward. Stuart tried on several occasions +to reach the head of the Victoria River, but failed, and sacrificed some +horses. On a creek he called the Phillips, some natives were encountered +who, according to Stuart, made and answered a masonic sign. + +To the north of this spot, the explorers came to a large gum-tree creek, +with very fair-sized sheets of water in it. As they followed down, they +passed an encampment of natives, but kept steadily on their course +without interfering with them. Not finding any water lower down the +creek, the party had to return, and when close to the creek at the point +where they had crossed that morning, they were suddenly surrounded by a +mob of armed and painted savages, who had emerged unexpectedly from +concealment in a clump of scrub. To all attempts at peaceful parley they +returned showers of boomerangs and clubs, until the whites were compelled +in self-defence to fire on them. Even then they were not deterred from +following the party, even up to the camp of the night before. This +incident caused Stuart to hesitate. His party was so small that the loss +or even disablement of one man would have crippled the expedition; and +they had already lost a good many horses. He therefore wisely decided to +fall back, as they had penetrated far enough to prove that the passage of +the continent could be effected with a few more men. It was on the 27th +of June that he began his homeward march, and on the 26th of August he +reached Brodie's camp at Hamilton Springs, with the strength of all much +reduced, and Stuart himself suffering from scurvy. + +After the result of Stuart's journey had been reported in Adelaide, and +it was seen how inadequate means only had led to his defeat, the +Government voted 2,500 pounds to equip a better-organized party; of this +he was to take command. + +Stuart judged it best to keep his old track by way of the Finke and the +Hugh. On the 12th of April they arrived at the Bonney, and finding it +running strong, with abundance of good feed on the banks, they were +betrayed into following it down; but it soon spread abroad and was lost +in a large plain. Leaving the Bonney, they adhered to the old route, and +reached Tennant's Creek on the 21st of April, and four days afterwards +they were on the scene of the attack that had been made on them at Attack +Creek. But although the tracks of the natives were numerous, the +explorers were, at this time, permitted to pass on in peace. Keeping at +the foot of the low range, which there has an approximate northerly and +southerly direction, Stuart crossed many creeks which promised long +courses where they formed in the range, but which were all alike lost +when they reached the level country. On the 4th of May they attained to +the northern termination of this range, which he called the Ashburton +Range. Here he made several attempts to the north and north-west, but +could discover neither water nor watercourses in those directions; +nothing indeed but plains, beautifully grassed, but heavy to ride over +and yielding under the horses' feet. Beyond these plains, the country +changed for the worse, and became sandy and scrubby. On the 16th of May +he encountered a new description of scrub that grew in a very obstructive +manner, and is now known as Stuart's Desert Hedgewood. + +On the 23rd he found a magnificent sheet of permanent water which he +called the Newcastle Waters, and at first he judged that a clear way +north was now assured. But he was deluded, for beyond these waters he +could not advance his party a mile; north, north-east, and north-west, +there was the one outlook -- endless grassy plains, terminating in dense +scrubby forest country. He had to give up all hope for the present, and +return to Adelaide. + +Such however was the confidence of the authorities in him, and such his +own energy, that in less than a month after his arrival in Adelaide he +was on his way to Chambers Creek to make preparations for a fresh +departure. His last two journeys had proved the existence of a long line +of good country, fairly well-watered; and although beyond it he had not +been able to gain a footing, still there was no knowing what a fresh +endeavour would bring to light. + +He had brought his party back in safety, with the loss of only a few +horses, and had actually reached in point of position as low a latitude +as the Victorian explorers had done, and that with a more difficult +country to travel through, without camels, and with an inferior equipment +in all other respects. + +It is not necessary again to follow Stuart's horse-tracks over the +northern way he was now pursuing for the third time. On the 14th of +April, 1862, we find him encamped at the northern end of Newcastle +Waters, once more about to force a passage through the forest of +waterless scrub to the north. On the second day he was partly successful, +finding an isolated waterhole, surrounded by conglomerate rocks. This he +called Frew's Pond; and it is now a well-known camping-place for +travellers on the overland telegraph line. + +Past this spot he was not able to make any progress. Twice he made +strenuous but vain efforts to reach some tributary of the Victoria River. +He then spent many days riding through dense mulga and hedgewood scrub. +At length, after much hope deferred, finding a few scanty waterholes that +did not serve the purpose he had in view, he succeeded in striking the +head of a chain of ponds running in a northerly direction. These being +followed down, led him to the head of the creek now called Daly Waters +Creek, and finally to the large waterhole on which the present telegraph +station bearing the name of Daly Waters, stands. The creek was then lost +in a swamp, and Stuart was unable to find the channel where it reformed, +which has since been named the Birdum. Missing this water-guide, Stuart +worked his way to the eastward, to a creek he named the Strangways, which +led him down to the Roper River, a river which he had never striven to +reach, his sole aim being the Victoria. He crossed the Roper, and +followed up a northern tributary, which he named after his constant +friend John Chambers. + +Scarcity of water was now a thing of the past, but his stock of spare +horseshoes had to be most jealously guarded, for his horses were +beginning to fall lame, the country he was on was very stony, and he was +far removed from Adelaide. From the Chambers he came to the lower course +of a creek called by Leichhardt Flying-Fox Creek, re-named by Stuart the +Katherine, the name it now bears. Thence he struck across the stony +tableland and descended on the head waters of a river which he christened +the Adelaide, and on following this river down he found himself in rich +tropical scenery, which told him that at last he was approaching the +sea-shore. + +On the 24th of July he turned a little to the north-east, intending to +strike the sea-beach and travel along it to the mouth of the Adelaide. He +told only two of the party of the eventful moment awaiting them. As they +rode on, Thring, who was riding ahead, suddenly called out, "The Sea," +which so took the majority by surprise that they were some time before +they understood what was meant, and then three hearty cheers were given. + +At this, his first point of contact with the ocean, Stuart dipped his +feet and hands in the sea, as at last he gazed across the water he had so +perseveringly striven for years to reach. + +He attempted to get to the mouth of the Adelaide River along the beach, +but found it too boggy for the horses. Wishing to husband the forces at +his command, Stuart wisely resolved to push no further; he had a space +cleared where they were, and a tall sapling stripped of its boughs to +serve as a flagstaff. On this he hoisted the Union Jack which he had +carried with him. A record of their arrival, contained in an air-tight +case, was then buried at the foot of the impromptu staff, and Stuart cut +his initials on the largest tree he could find. The tree has since been +found and recognised, but the buried memorial has not been discovered. +More fortunate than the ill-fated Burke, Stuart surveyed the open sea +from his point of contact with the ocean, instead of having to be content +with some mangrove trees and salt water. + +McDouall Stuart, whose last expedition we have thus followed out to its +successful end, is rightly considered the man to whom the credit for the +first crossing the continent is due. His victory was all his own; he had +followed in no other person's footsteps; he had crossed the true centre, +and he had made the coast at a point much further to the north than that +reached by Burke and Wills, their journey having been considerably +shortened by its northern end being placed on the southern shore of the +great gulf that bites so deeply into north Australia. Along Stuart's +track there is now erected the Overland Telegraph Line, an enduring +monument to his indomitable perseverance. + +Stuart's health was fast failing, and his horses were sadly reduced in +strength. He therefore started back the day after the consummation of his +dearest ambition. On his way south, after leaving Newcastle Waters, he +found the water in many of the short creeks heading from the Ashburton +Range to be rapidly diminishing; in some there was none left, in others +it was fast drying. The horses commenced to give in rapidly one after the +other, and more were lost on successive dry stages. Stuart himself +thought that he would never live to see the settled districts. Scurvy had +brought him down to a lamentable state, and after all his hard-won +success, it seemed as though he would not profit by it. His right hand +had become useless to him, and his eyes lost power of sight after sunset. +He could not undergo the pain of riding, and a stretcher had to be slung +between two horses to carry him on. With painful slowness they crept +along until they reached Mount Margaret, the first station. Here the +leader, reduced to a mere skeleton, was furnished with a little relief; +and after resting and gaining a little strength, he rode on to Adelaide. + +This was Stuart's last expedition; for he never recovered his health nor +former eyesight. He was rewarded by the government of the colony which he +had served so well, and was awarded the gold medal of the Royal +Geographical Society. He went to reside in England, where he died in the +year 1869, on the 16th of July. + + + +CHAPTER 14. BURKE AND WILLS. + +[Illustration. Robert O'Hara Burke. From a photograph in the possession +of E.J. Welch, of the Howitt Relief Expedition. + +Illustration. William John Wills. From a photo in possession of E.J. +Welch, of the Howitt Relief Expedition. + +Illustration. John King. From a photo in the possession of E.J. Welch.] + + +We have now to deal with an exploring expedition of greater notoriety +than that of any similar enterprise in the annals of Australia, though +its results in the way of actual exploration in the true meaning of the +term were quite insignificant. The expedition could not reasonably hope +to reveal any new geographical conditions; for the nature of the country +to be traversed was fairly well-known: there was no such expanse of +unknown territory along the suggested course of travel as to justify the +anticipation of any discovery of magnitude. Both Kennedy and Gregory had +followed much the same line of route when tracing the course of the +Barcoo and Cooper's Creek, a short distance to the eastward. The only +apparent motive for the expedition seems to have been not particularly +creditable, the desire to outdo Stuart, who after nearly accomplishing +the task might well have been allowed the honour of completing it. But +Time is after all the great arbitrator: Stuart re-entered Adelaide +successful, on the same day that the bodies of Burke and Wills arrived +for shipment to Melbourne. + +Robert O'Hara Burke was born in the county of Galway, in Ireland, in +1821. He was the second son of John Hardiman Burke, of St. Clerans, and +was educated in Belgium. In 1840 he entered the Austrian army, in which +he rose to the rank of Captain. In 1848 he joined the Royal Irish +Constabulary, but five years later emigrated to Tasmania. Thence he went +to Victoria, where he entered the local police force, and became an +Inspector. Such was his position when he was offered the command of the +expedition which ended in his death. + +William John Wills was born at Totnes, in Devonshire. He was the son of a +medical man, and after his arrival in Victoria, in 1852, he led for a +time a bush life on the Edwards River. He was later employed as a +surveyor in Melbourne, and then became assistant to Professor Neumayer at +the Melbourne Observatory, a post he quitted in order to act as +assistant-surveyor on the ill-starred journey. + +Sentiment, and an hysterical sentiment at that, seems to have dominated +this expedition throughout. There was no urgent necessity for Victoria to +equip and send forth an exploring expedition. Her rich and compact little +province was known from end to end, and she had no surplus territory in +which to open up fresh fields of pastoral occupation for her sons. But +her people became possessed with the exploring spirit, and the planning +and execution of the scheme was a signal indication of national +patriotism. And if sense and not sentiment had marked the counsel, the +results might have conferred rich benefit upon Australia. + +The necessary funds were made up as follows: 6,000 pounds voted by +Government; 1,000 pounds presented by Mr. Ambrose Kyte; and the balance +of the first expenditure of 12,000 pounds made up by public subscription. +But the final cost of the expedition and of the relief parties amounted +to 57,000 pounds. And the exploratory work done by the different relief +parties far and away exceeded in geographical results the small amount +effected by the original expedition. + +A committee of management was appointed, and to his interest with this +committee Burke owed his elevation to the position of leader. He seems to +have been supported by that sort of general testimony which fits a man to +apply for nearly any position; but of special aptitude and training for +the work to be done he had none. He was frank, openhearted, impetuous, +and endowed with all those qualities which made him a great favourite +with women; moreover, his service in the Austrian army had given people +an exaggerated notion of his ability to command and organize. It would +appear on the whole that his appointment was due solely to the influence +he wielded, and to his personal popularity. + +Wills appears to have been a man gifted with many of the qualities +essential for efficient discharge of the duties and responsibilities +appertaining to the post he held; but his amiable disposition allowed him +to be influenced too readily in council by the rash and foolish judgment +of his impetuous superior. If, for instance, he had persisted in +combating Burke's incomprehensible plan of leaving the depot for Mount +Hopeless, the last fatality would never have occurred. + +When the expedition left Melbourne, it was amid the shouts and hurrahs of +acclaiming thousands, who probably had not the faintest idea of the easy +task that the explorers with their imposing retinue and outfit had before +them. In fact, with all the resources at Burke's command, a favourable +season and good open country, the excursion would have been a mere picnic +to most men of experience. A number of camels had been specially imported +from India at a cost of 5,500 pounds. G.J. Landells came to the country +in charge of them, and had been appointed second in command. Long before +they left the settled districts, Burke quarrelled with him, whereupon he +resigned and returned to Melbourne. There he openly declared that under +Burke's control the expedition would assuredly meet with disaster. Wills +was then appointed second by Burke, and Wright, who was supposed to be +acquainted with the locality which they were approaching, was engaged as +third, another most unfortunate selection. Besides those already +mentioned, there were Dr. Hermann Beckler, medical officer and botanist, +and Dr. Ludwig Becker, artist, naturalist, and geologist, ten white +assistants, and three camel-drivers. + +The expedition in full reached Menindie on the Darling, where Wright +joined them. On the 19th of October, 1860, Burke, Wills, six men, five +horses and sixteen camels, left Menindie for Cooper's Creek. Wright went +with them two hundred miles to indicate the best route, and then returned +to take charge of the main body waiting at Menindie. On the 11th of +November, Burke with the advance party reached Cooper's Creek, where they +camped and awaited the arrival of Wright with the rest. Grass and water +were both plentiful, and the journey had hitherto proved no more arduous +than an ordinary over-landing trip. + +The long delay and inaction worked sadly upon Burke's active and +impatient temperament, and he suddenly announced his intention to +subdivide his party and, with three men, to start across the belt of +unknown country -- a distance of five hundred miles at the furthest -- +that separated him from Gregory's track round the Gulf. Although his +lavish outfit had been purchased specially to explore this comparatively +small extent of land, he thus deliberately left it behind him during the +most critical part of the journey. He had with him no means of following +up any discoveries he might make, and his botanist and naturalist and +geologist were also left behind. He killed time for a little while by +making short excursions northward, and then, on the 16th of December, +impatient of further delay, he started with Wills and two men for +Carpentaria. The others were left, with verbal instructions, to wait +three months for him. Thus, dispersed and neglected, he left the costly +equipment containing within itself all the elements of successful +geographical research. Certainly this was not the plan that had been +anticipated by the promoters and organisers. We have now, at this stage, +the spectacle of the main body loitering on the outskirts of the settled +districts, four men killing time on the banks of Cooper's Creek, and the +leader and three others scampering across the continent, all four of them +utterly inexperienced in bushcraft. + +As might have been expected the results of the journey are most barren: +Wills's diary is sadly uninteresting, and Burke made only a few scanty +notes, at the end of which he writes: "28th March. At the conclusion of +report it would be as well to say that we reached the sea, but we could +not obtain a view of the open ocean, although we made every endeavour to +do so." + +Shortly condensing Wills's diary, we gather the following account of +their route. The first point they intended to reach was Eyre's Creek, but +before arriving at it, they discovered a fine watercourse coming from the +north, which took them a long distance in the direction they desired to +follow. This watercourse, which McKinlay afterwards called the Mueller, +began in time to lead their steps too much to the eastward, in which +direction lay its source. They therefore quitted it and kept due north, +following a tributary well-supplied with both grass and water. This +tributary led them well on to the northern dividing range, which they +crossed without difficulty, coming down on to the head of the Cloncurry +River. By tracing that river down they reached the Flinders River, which +they followed down to the mangroves and salt water. They were, however, +considerably out in their longitude, for they thought that they were on +the Albert, over one hundred miles to the westward. + +[Illustration. Scenes on Cooper's Creek (After Howitt). +1. Burke's Grave. +2. Where King was Found. +3. Grave of Wills.] + +Having sighted salt water, if not the open sea, they commenced the +retreat. Gray and King were the two men who were with Burke and Wills; +and for equipment they had started with six camels, one horse, and three +months' provisions. Short rations and fatiguing marches now began to +tell, and during the struggle back to the Depot, there seems to have been +an absence of that kindly spirit of comradeship that has so often +distinguished other exploring expeditions fallen on evil days. + +Gray became ill, and took some extra flour to make a little gruel with. +For this infringement of rules, Burke personally chastised him. A few +days afterwards, Wills wrote in his diary that they had to halt and send +back for Gray, who was "gammoning" that he could not walk. Nine days +afterwards the unfortunate man died, an act which is not often +successfully "gammoned." + +But to bring the miserable story to an end, at last on the evening of the +21st of April, 1861, two months after they had reached the Gulf, they +re-entered the depot camp at Cooper's Creek, where four men had been +instructed to await their return, only to find it deserted and lifeless. +Keenly disappointed, for though they knew they were behind the appointed +time, they had still hoped that some one would have waited for them, they +searched the locality for some sign or message from their friends, and on +a tree saw the word DIG carved. Beneath this message of hope they were +soon busy digging, and before long they unearthed a welcome store of +provisions and a letter, which ran:-- + +Depot, Cooper's Creek, April 21, 1861. + +The depot party of V.E.E.* leaves this camp to-day to return to the +Darling. I intend to go South-East from Camp 60 to get on our old track +at Bulloo. Two of my companions and myself are quite well; the third -- +Patton -- has been unable to walk for the last eighteen days as his leg +has been severely hurt when thrown by one of the horses. No person has +been up here from the Darling. We have six camels and twelve horses in +good working condition. + +WILLIAM BRAHE. + +*[Footnote] Victorian Exploration Expedition. + +Unfortunately, this was so worded that when Burke found it the same +night, it gave him the impression that the depot party were all, with one +exception, fairly well; and that, with fresh animals just off a long rest +they would travel long stages on their homeward march. As a matter of +fact, on the evening of the day that Burke returned, they were camped but +fourteen miles away. But this was only the first of a series of singular +and fatal oversights -- that almost seemed pre-ordained by mocking Fate. + +Burke consulted his companions as to the feasibility of their overtaking +Brahe, and they both agreed that, in their tired and enfeebled condition, +it was hopeless to attempt it. Burke proposed that instead of returning +up the creek along the old route to Menindie, they should follow the +creek down to Mount Hopeless in South Australia, following the route +taken by A.C. Gregory.* Wills objected to this, and so did King, but +ultimately both gave in, thereby signing their death warrant; for if they +had remained quietly at the depot, they would have been rescued. + +*[Footnote.] See Chapter 18. + +After resting for five days, and finding their strength much restored by +the food, they started for Mount Hopeless, ill-omened name. Before they +left, Burke placed in the cache a paper, stating that they had returned, +and then carefully restored the ground to its former condition. The +common and natural thought to mark a tree or to make some other +unmistakable sign of their return, does not seem to have occurred to +either of the leaders. It will be seen further on how this scarcely +credible omission was a main factor in deciding their fate. + +As they progressed slowly down the creek, one of the two camels became +bogged, and had to be shot where it lay. The wanderers cut off what meat +there was on the body, and stayed two or three days to dry it in the sun. +The one camel had now to carry what they had, except the bundles that the +men bore, each some twenty-five pounds in weight. They made but little +progress; the creek split up into many channels that ran out into earthy +plains; and at last, when their one beast of burden gave in, they had to +acknowledge defeat, and commenced to return. After shooting the wretched +camel and drying his flesh, the men tried to live like the blacks, on +fish and nardoo, the seeds of a small plant of which the natives make +flour. But the struggle for existence was very hard; they were not expert +hunters, and the natives, who were at first friendly and shared their +food with them, soon out-grew the novelty of their presence, began to +find them an encumbrance, and constantly shifted camp to avoid the burden +of their support. + +On the 27th of May, Wills went forward alone to visit the depot and +deposit there the journals and a note stating their condition. He reached +there on the 30th and wrote in his diary that "No traces of anyone, +except blacks have been here since we left." + +But while they were absent down the creek, Brahe and Wright had visited +the place, and finding no sign of their return, and the cache apparently +untouched, had ridden away concluding that they had not yet come back. +This was the note that Wills left:-- + +May 30th, 1861. We have been unable to leave the creek. Both camels are +dead. Burke and King are down on the lower part of the creek. I am about +to return to them, when we shall probably all come up here. We are trying +to live the best way we can, like the blacks, but we find it hard work. +Our clothes are going fast to pieces; send provisions and clothes as soon +as possible. + +The depot party having left contrary to instructions has put us into this +fix. I have deposited some of my journals here for fear of accidents. + +WILLIAM J. WILLS. + +Having done this, and once more carefully concealed all traces of the +cache having been disturbed, Wills rejoined his companions in misfortune. +Some friendly natives fed him on his way back to them. + +During the intercourse that of necessity they had with the natives along +Cooper's Creek, they had noticed the extensive use made by them of the +seeds of the nardoo plant; but for a long time they had been unable to +find this plant, nor would the blacks show it to them. At last King +accidentally found it, and by its aid they managed to prolong their +lives. But the seeds had to be gathered, cleaned, pounded and cooked; and +in comparison with all this labour the nourishment afforded by the cakes +was very slight. An occasional crow or hawk was shot, and a little fish +now and then begged from the natives. As they were sinking rapidly, it +was at last decided that Burke and King should go up the creek and +endeavour to find the main camp of the natives and obtain food from them. +Wills, who was now so weak as to be unable to move, was left lying under +some boughs, with an eight days' supply of nardoo and water, the others +trusting that within that period they would have returned to him. + +On the 26th of June the two men started, and poor Wills was left to meet +death alone. By the entries in his diary, which he kept written up as +long as his strength remained, he evidently retained consciousness almost +to the last. So exhausted was he that death must have come to him as a +merciful release from the pain of living. His last entries, although +giving evidence of fading faculties, are almost cheerful. He jocularly +alludes to himself as Micawber, waiting for something to turn up. But it +is evident that he had given up hope, and was waiting for death's +approach, calm and resigned, without fear, like a good and gallant man. + +Burke and King did not advance far. On the second day Burke had to give +in from sheer weakness; the next morning when his companion looked at him +he saw by the breaking light that his leader was dead. + +The last entries in Burke's pocket-book run thus:-- + +"I hope we shall be done justice to. We have fulfilled our task but have +been aban----. We have not been followed up as we expected, and the depot +party abandoned their post...King has behaved nobly. He has stayed with +me to the last, and placed the pistol in my hand, leaving me lying on the +surface as I wished." + +Left to himself, King wandered about in search of the natives, and, not +finding them, the lonely man returned to the spot where they had left +Wills, and found that his troubles too were over. He covered up the +corpse with a little sand, and then left once more in search of the +natives. This time he found them, and, moved by his solitary condition, +they helped him to live until rescued by Howitt's party on September +15th. + +[Illustration. Edwin J. Welch, second in command of the Howitt Relief +Expedition, and the first man to find King.] + +Meanwhile the absence of any news from Wright, in charge of the main +body, was beginning to create a feeling of uneasiness in Melbourne. A +light party had already been equipped under A.W. Howitt to follow up +Burke's tracks, when suddenly despatches from the Darling arrived from +Wright, telling of the non-arrival of the four men. Howitt's party was +doubled, and he was immediately sent off to Cooper's Creek to commence a +search for the missing men. He had not far to go. On the 13th of +September he arrived at the fateful depot camp on Cooper's Creek, with +Brahe. He immediately commenced to follow, or try to follow, Burke's +outward track, but on Sunday the 15th, while still on Cooper's Creek, +King was found by E.J. Welch, the second in command of the relief party. +Welch's account of the finding of King is as follows:-- + +"After travelling about three miles, my attention was attracted by a +number of niggers on the opposite bank of the creek, who shouted loudly +as soon as they saw me, and vigorously waved and pointed down the creek. +A feeling of something about to happen excited me somewhat, but I little +expected what the sequel was to be. Moving cautiously on through the +undergrowth which lined the banks of the creek, the blacks kept pace on +the opposite side, their cries increasing in volume and intensity; when +suddenly rounding a bend I was startled to see a large body of them +gathered on a sandy neck in the bed of the creek, between two large +waterholes. Immediately they saw me, they too commenced to howl and wave +their weapons in the air. I at once pulled up, and considered the +propriety of waiting the arrival of the party, for I felt far from +satisfied with regard to their intentions. But here, for the first time, +my favourite horse -- a black cob known in the camp as Piggy, a Murray +Downs bred stock-horse of good repute both for foot and temper -- +appeared to think that his work was cut out for him, and the time had +arrived in which to do it. Pawing and snorting at the noise, he suddenly +slewed round and headed down the steep bank, through the undergrowth, +straight for the crowd as he had been wont to do after many a mob of +weaners on his native plains. The blacks drew hurriedly back to the top +of the opposite bank, shouting and gesticulating violently, and leaving +one solitary figure apparently covered with some scarecrow rags and part +of a hat prominently alone in the sand. Before I could pull up I had +passed it, and as I passed it tottered, threw up its hands in the +attitude of prayer and fell on the sand. The heavy sand helped me to +conquer Piggy on the level, and when I turned back, the figure had +partially risen. + +"Hastily dismounting, I was soon beside it, excitedly asking: 'Who in the +name of wonder are you?' He answered, 'I am King, sir.' For the moment I +did not grasp the thought that the object of our search was attained, for +King being only one of the undistinguished members of the party, his name +was unfamiliar to me. + +"'King,' I repeated. 'Yes,' he said; 'the last man of the exploring +expedition.' 'What! Burke's?' 'Yes,' he said. 'Where is he -- and Wills?' +'Dead, both dead, long ago,' and again he fell to the ground. + +"Then I knew who stood before me. Jumping into the saddle and riding up +the bank, I fired two or three revolver shots to attract the attention of +the party, and on their coming up, sent the other black boy to cut +Howitt's track and bring him back to camp. We then put up a tent to +shelter the rescued man, and by degrees we got from him the sad story of +the death of his leader. We got it at intervals only, between the long +rests which his exhausted condition compelled him to take." + +As soon as King had recovered enough strength to accompany the party, +they went to the place where Wills had breathed his last; and found his +body in the gunyah as King had described it. There it was buried. On the +21st Burke's body was found up the creek; he too was at first buried +where he died. Howitt, after rewarding the blacks who had cared for King, +started back for Melbourne by easy stages. On his arrival there he was +sent back to disinter the remains of the dead; a task which he and Welch +safely accomplished, bringing the bodies down by way of Adelaide. + +Dr. Becker, Stone, Purcell, and Patton were the others whose lives were +sacrificed on this expedition, so marked with disaster. These victims +received no token of public recognition of their fate, although a public +funeral was accorded to Burke and Wills, and a statue has been erected to +their memory in Melbourne. + +[Illustration. The Burke and Wills Statue, Melbourne.] + +The foolish and unaccountable oversight of Burke and his companions in +not marking a tree, or otherwise leaving some recognisable sign of their +return at the depot, seems to have led Brahe astray completely. He states +his side of the case as follows:-- + +"Mr. Burke's return being so soon after my departure caused the tracks of +his camels to correspond in the character of age exactly with our own +tracks. The remains of three separate fires led us to suppose that blacks +had been camped there...The ground above the cache was so perfectly +restored to the appearance it presented when I left it, that in the +absence of any fresh sign or mark of any description to be seen near, it +was impossible to suppose that it had been disturbed." + +The story of the lost explorers created intense excitement throughout the +other colonies. Queensland, as the colony wherein the explorers were +supposed to have met with disaster, sent out two search parties. The +Victoria, a steam sloop, was sent up to the mouth of the Albert River in +the Gulf of Carpentaria, having on board William Landsborough, with +George Bourne as second in command, and a small and efficient party; +another Queensland expedition, under Fred Walker, left the furthest +station in the Rockhampton district; and from South Australia John +McKinlay started to traverse the continent on much the same line of route +as that taken by the unhappy men. + + + +CHAPTER 15. THE RELIEF EXPEDITIONS AND ATTEMPTS TOWARDS PERTH. + + +15.1. JOHN MCKINLAY. + +John McKinlay was born at Sandbank, on the Clyde, in 1819. He first came +to the colony of New South Wales in 1836, and joined his uncle, a +prosperous grazier, under whose guidance he soon became a good bushman +with an ardent love of bush life. He took up several runs near the South +Australian border, and thenceforth became associated with that province. + +In 1861 he was appointed leader of the South Australian relief party and +started from Adelaide on October 26th. On arriving at Blanche Water, he +heard a vague rumour from the blacks that white men and camels had been +seen at a distant inland water; but put little faith in the story. He +traversed Lake Torrens, and, striking north, crossed the lower end of +Cooper's Creek at a point where the main watercourse is lost in a maze of +channels. Here he learned definite and particular details respecting the +rumoured white men, and thinking there might be some groundwork of truth +in the report, he now pressed forward to the locality indicated. Having +formed a depot camp, he went ahead with two white men and a native. +Passing through a belt of country with numerous small shallow lakelets, +they came to a watercourse whereon they found signs of a grave, and they +picked up a battered pint-pot. Next morning, feeling sure that the ground +had been disturbed with a spade, they opened what proved to be a grave, +and in it found the body of a European, the skull marked, so McKinlay +states, with two sabre cuts. He noted down the description of the body, +the locality, and its surroundings; and in view of these particulars, it +has been stated that the body was that of Gray, who died in the +neighbourhood.* + +*[Footnote.] See Chapter 14. + +Considering the minute and circumstantial accounts that have from time to +time been related by the blacks concerning Leichhardt, one is not +astonished at the legends told to McKinlay. The native with him told him +that the whites had been attacked in their camp, and that the whole of +them had been murdered; the blacks having finished by eating the bodies +of the other men, and burying the journals, saddles, and similar portions +of the equipment beside a lake a short distance away. A further search +revealed another grave -- empty -- and there were other and slighter +indications that white men had visited the neighbourhood, so that +McKinlay was led to place some credence in this story. + +Next morning a tribe of blacks appeared; and although they immediately +ran away on perceiving the party, one was captured who corroborated the +statement made by the other native. Both of them bore marks on them like +bullet and shot wounds. The second native said that there was a pistol +concealed near a neighbouring lake. He was sent to fetch it; but returned +the next morning at the head of a host of aboriginals, armed, painted, +and evidently bent on mischief. The leader was obliged to order his men +to fire upon them, and it was only after two or three volleys that they +retired. + +McKinlay was now satisfied that he had discovered all there was to find +of the Victorian expedition, and, after burying a letter for the benefit +of any after-comers, he left Lake Massacre, as it was mistakenly named, +and returned to the depot camp. His letter was as follows:-- + +"S.A.B.R. Expedition, + +"October 23rd, 1861. + +"To the leader of any expedition seeking tidings of Burke and party. + +"Sir, I reached this water on the 19th instant, and by means of a native +guide discovered a European camp, one mile north on west side of flat. At +or near this camp, traces of horses, camels, and whites were found. Hair, +apparently belonging to Mr. Wills, Charles Gray, Mr. Burke, or King, was +picked up from the surface of a grave dug by a spade, and from the skull +of a European buried by the natives. Other less important traces -- such +as a pannikin, oil-can, saddle-stuffing, etc., have been found. Beware of +the natives, on whom we have had to fire. We do not intend to return to +Adelaide, but proceed to west of north. From information, all Burke's +party were killed and eaten. + +"JNO. MCKINLAY. + +"P.S. All the party in good health. + +"If you had any difficulty in reaching this spot, and wish to return to +Adelaide by a more practicable route, you may do so for at least three +months to come by driving west eighteen miles, then south of west, +cutting our dray track within thirty miles. Abundance of water and feed +at easy stages." + +McKinlay next sent one of his party -- Hodgkinson -- with men and +pack-horses to Blanche Water, to carry down the news of his discovery, +and to bring back rations for a prolonged exploration. Meanwhile he +remained in camp. From one old native with whom he had a long +conversation, he obtained another version of the alleged massacre, in +which there was apparently some vestige of truth. + +The new version was to the effect that the whites, on their return, had +been attacked by the natives, but had repulsed them. One white man had +been killed, and had been buried after the fight, whilst the other whites +went south. The natives had then dug up the body and eaten the flesh. The +old fellow also described minutely the different waters passed by Burke, +and the way in which the men subsisted on the seeds of the nardoo plant, +all of which he must have heard from other natives. + +After waiting a month, Hodgkinson returned, bringing the news of the +rescue of King and the fate of Burke and Wills. This explained McKinlay's +discovery as that of Gray's body, the narrative of the fight and massacre +being merely ornamental additions by the natives. After an easterly +excursion, in which he visited the two graves on Cooper's Creek, McKinlay +started definitely north. It is difficult to follow without a map the +Journal containing the record of his travel during the first weeks. Not +only does he give the native name of every small lakelet and waterhole in +full, but he omits to give the bearing of his daily course. + +A northerly course was however, in the main pursued, and Mckinlay +describes the country crossed as first-class pastoral land. As it was +then the dry season of the year, immediately preceding the rains, it +proves what an abnormally severe season must have been encountered by +Sturt when that explorer was turned back on his last trip in much the +same latitude. On the 27th of February, the wet season of the tropics set +in; but fortunately the party found a refuge among some stony hills and +sand-ridges, in the neighbourhood of which they were camped, though at +one time they were completely surrounded by water. On March 10th, the +rain had abated sufficiently to allow them to resume their journey; but +the main creek which they still continued to follow up north was so boggy +and swollen that they were forced to keep some distance from its banks. +This river, which McKinlay called the Mueller, is one of the main rivers +of Central Australia, and an important affluent of Lake Eyre, and is now +known as the Diamantina. McKinlay left it at the point where it comes +from the north-west, and following up a tributary, he crossed the +dividing range, there called the McKinlay Range, in about the same +locality as Burke's crossing. He had christened many of the inland +watercourses on his way across, but most of his names have been replaced +by others, it having been difficult subsequently to identify them. In +many cases, the watercourses which he thought to be independent creeks, +are but ana-branches of the Diamantina. + +Passing through good travelling country, and finding ample grass and +water, he reached the Leichhardt River flowing into the Gulf of +Carpentaria, on the 6th of May. + +As his rations were becoming perilously low, McKinlay was anxious to get +to the mouth of the Albert, it having been understood that Captain +Norman, with the steam-ship Victoria was there to form a depot for the +use of the Queensland search parties. His attempts to reach it however, +were fruitless, as he was continually turned back by mangrove creeks both +broad and deep, and by boggy flats; so that on the 21st of May he started +for the nearest settled district in North Queensland, in the direction of +Port Denison. + +He followed much the same route as that taken by A.C. Gregory on his +return from the Victoria River.* Crossing on to the head of the Burdekin, +he followed that river down, trusting to come across some of the flocks +and herds of the advancing settlers. On reaching Mount McConnell, where +the two former explorers had crossed the Burdekin, he continued to follow +the river, and descended the coast range where it forces its way through +a narrow gorge. Here on the Bowen River, he arrived at a temporary +station just formed by Phillip Somer, where he received all the +accustomed hospitality. Since leaving the Gulf, the explorers had +subsisted on little else but horse and camel flesh, and were necessarily +in a weak condition. Had they but camped a day or two when on the upper +course of the Burdekin, they would have been relieved much earlier, for +the pioneer squatters were already there, and the party would have been +spared a rough trip through the Burdekin Gorge. In fact the tracks of the +camels were seen by one pioneer at least, a few hours after the caravan +had passed. E. Cunningham, who had just then formed Burdekin Downs +station, tells with much amusement how McKinlay's tracks puzzled him and +his black boy. The Burdekin pioneers did not of course, expect McKinlay's +advent amongst them, although they knew that he was then somewhere out +west; and such an animal as a camel did not enter into their +calculations. Cunningham said that the only solution of the problem of +the footprints that he could think of was that the tracks were those of a +return party who had been looking for new country, and that their horses, +having lost their shoes and becoming footsore, they had wrapped their +feet in bandages. + +*[Footnote.] See Chapter 18. + +For his services on this expedition which were of great value in opening +up Central Australia, McKinlay was presented with a gold watch by the +Royal Geographical Society, and was voted 1,000 pounds by the South +Australian Government. + +During the early settlement of the Northern Territory, much +dissatisfaction had arisen concerning the site chosen at Escape Cliffs. +McKinlay was sent north by the South Australian Government to select a +more favourable position, and to report generally on the capabilities of +the new territory. He organized an expedition at Escape Cliffs, and left +with the intention of making a long excursion to the eastward. But a very +wet season set in, and he had reached only the East Alligator River when +sudden floods cut him off and hemmed him in. The whole party would have +been destroyed but for the resourcefulness displayed by the leader, who +made coracles of horse-hides stretched on frames of saplings, by which +means they escaped. On his return, McKinlay examined the mouth of the +Daly River, and recommended Anson Bay as a more suitable site, but his +suggestion was not adopted. McKinlay, whose health suffered from the +effect of the hardships incident to his journeys, retired to spend his +days in the congenial atmosphere of pastoral pursuits, and died, in 1874, +at Gawler, South Australia, where a monument is erected to his memory. + +15.2. WILLIAM LANDSBOROUGH. + +William Landsborough, the son of a Scotch physician, was born in Ayrshire +and educated at Irvine. When he came to Australia, he settled first in +the New England district of New South Wales, and thence removed to +Queensland. In 1856, his interest in discovery and a desire to find new +country led him to undertake much private exploration, principally on the +coastal parts of Queensland, in the district of Broadsound and the Isaacs +River. In 1858 he explored the Comet to its head, and in the following +year the head waters of the Thomson. + +An old friend and erstwhile comrade, writing of him, says: +"Landsborough's enterprise was entirely founded on self-reliance. He had +neither Government aid nor capitalists at his back when he achieved his +first success as an explorer. He was the very model of a pioneer -- +courageous, hardy, good-humoured, and kindly. He was an excellent +horseman, a most entertaining and, at times, eccentric companion, and he +could starve with greater cheerfulness than any man I ever saw or heard +of. But, excellent fellow though he was, his very independence of +character and success in exploring provoked much ill-will." + +Landsborough was recommended for the position of leader by the veteran +A.C. Gregory, and on the 14th of August he left Brisbane in the Firefly, +having on board a party of volunteer assistants who had been stirred by +the widespread sympathy with the missing men to take an active part in +the relief expedition. Unfortunately, those under Landsborough were, with +one exception, unacquainted with bush life. The exception was George +Bourne, the second in command, an old squatter who had seen and suffered +many a long drought, and whose services proved to be of great value. +After some mishap the Firefly, convoyed by the Victoria, reached the +mouth of the Albert River, where the party was safely landed. + +After starting from the Albert, Landsborough came unexpectedly upon a +river hitherto unknown. It flowed into the Nicholson, and both Leichhardt +and Gregory had crossed below the confluence. It was a running stream +with much semi-tropical foliage on its banks, running through +well-grassed, level country, and he named it the Gregory. As they neared +the higher reaches of the Gregory, they found the country of a more arid +nature. They ascended the main range, and on the 21st of December, +Landsborough found an inland river flowing south, which he named the +Herbert. The Queensland authorities subsequently re-christened the stream +with the singularly inappropriate name of Georgina. In this river two +fine sheets of water were found, and called Lake Frances and Lake Mary. +An ineffectual attempt was then made to go westward, but lack of water +compelled them to desist. + +Landsborough now returned to the depot by way of the Gregory, and, on +arriving there, learnt that Walker had been in and had reported having +seen the tracks of Burke and Wills on the Flinders. Landsborough +thereupon resolved to return by way of the Flinders, instead of going +back by boat. They had very little provisions, but by reducing the number +of the party, they managed to subsist on short allowance. On this second +trip, he followed the Flinders up, and was rewarded by being the first +white man to see the beautiful prairie-like country through which it +flows. He named the remarkable isolated hills visible from the river Fort +Bowen, Mount Brown and Mount Little. From the upper Flinders he struck +south, hoping to come across a newly-formed station, but was +disappointed, though he saw numerous horse-tracks showing that settlement +was near at hand. At last after enduring a long period of +semi-starvation, they reached the Warrego, and at the station of Neilson +and Williams, first learnt the fate of those whom they had been seeking. + +Landsborough was next appointed Resident at Burketown, and afterwards +Inspector of Brands for the district of East Moreton. He died in 1886. + +15.3. P.E. WARBURTON. + +[Illustration. Major Warburton.] + +Major Warburton was the fourth son of the Reverend Rowland Warburton of +Arley Hall, Cheshire, where he was born on the 15th of August, 1813. He +was first educated in France. He entered the Royal Navy in 1826, and in +1829 proceeded to Addiscombe College, preparatory to entering the East +India Company's service, in which he served from 1831 to 1853, when he +retired with the rank of Major. In 1853 he arrived at Albany. From there +he went on to Adelaide, and at the end of the same year was appointed +Commissioner of Police, an office which he held until he was placed in +charge of the Imperial Pension Department. On his return from his +exploring expedition he was voted 1,000 pounds for himself, and 500 +pounds for his party. He was created a C.M.G. in 1875, was awarded the +Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, and he died in +1889. + +In 1873 two prominent South Australian colonists, whose names are +intimately connected with the promotion of exploration in that colony, +Thomas Elder and Walter Hughes, fitted out an expedition which it was +hoped would lead to the rapid advancement of geographical knowledge. +Unfortunately the result was not commensurate with the ambitious nature +of the undertaking. The command was given to Major Warburton, who was +instructed to start from the neighbourhood of Central Mount Stuart, and +to steer a course direct to Perth. In spite of being provided with a long +string of camels, Warburton incurred so much delay in getting through the +sandhills that his camels were knocked up and his provisions nearly all +consumed before he had advanced half-way. This compelled him to bear up +north to the head waters of the Oakover River. Besides the leader, the +party consisted of his son Richard; Lewis, a surveyor; one more white +man; two Afghans; and a native. Lewis, the surveyor, showed himself to be +a most capable man; in fact, but for his energy and forethought, the +expedition would have been swallowed up in the sands of the north-west +desert. + +On the 15th of April, 1873, the explorers left Alice Springs and followed +the overland line until they reached a creek called Burt's Creek, whence +they struck to the westward. After a vain search for the rivers Hugh and +Finke, which were popularly supposed to rise to the north of the +McDonnell Ranges, Warburton altered his course to the north-west, meaning +to connect with A.C. Gregory's most southerly point on Sturt's Creek. For +some distance his way led him through available pastoral country, and in +some of the minor ranges beautiful glens were discovered with deep pools +of water in their beds. So frightened were the camels by the rocks that +surrounded them, that they would not approach them to drink. On the 22nd +of May, after travelling for some days in poor sandy country, they came +to a good creek with a full head. The whole flat, on to which the creek +emerged from the hills, was one vast spring. This place, the best camp +they had yet met with, was named Eva Springs. Leaving the main body +resting at these springs, the leader, with two companions, started ahead, +and was successful in finding some native wells that enabled him to break +up his main camp and advance with all the men and material. + +On the 5th of June they crossed the boundary-line between the two +colonies, and found themselves on the scrubby, sandy tableland common to +the interior. At some native wells, which were called Waterloo Wells, +they made an enforced sojourn of about a month; in addition they lost +three camels, and one of the Afghans nearly died of scurvy. When they +were at last enabled to leave the Waterloo Wells, they found themselves +plunged into the salt lake country, where the native inhabitants exist on +shallow wells and soakage springs. By their reckoning they were now +within ten miles of Gregory's Sturt's Creek; but though Warburton made +two separate attempts to find the place, he was unable to recognise any +country that at all resembled the description given by Gregory. +Rightfully ascribing this disappointment to an error in his longitude, he +proceeded on a westerly course once more. The tale of each day's journey +now becomes a dreary record of travels across a monotonous barren +country, and an incessant search for native wells, their only means of +sustaining life. + +In addition to other causes for delay, the excessive heat caused by +radiation from the surrounding sandhills during the day compelled the +leader to spare his camels as much as possible by travelling at night. +This naturally led to a most unsatisfactory inspection of the country +traversed, and it was impossible to say what clues to water were passed +by unwittingly. + +Starvation now commenced to press close upon them; the constant delays +had so reduced their store of provisions that they were almost at the end +of their resources, whilst still surrounded by the endless desert of +sand-ridges and spinifex. Sickness, too, befel them, so that almost the +full brunt of the work of the expedition was placed upon the capable +shoulders of Lewis and the black boy Charley. The time of these two was +taken up in watching the smoke of the fires of the natives, or in looking +for their tracks. During the early morning and in the evening they could +travel a little, but at night the myriad swarms of ants prevented the +tired men from obtaining their natural sleep. If they stopped to rest the +camels, they only prolonged their own starvation; yet without rest the +camels could not carry them ahead in the search for water. On the 9th of +October, the camels strayed away during the night, but luckily came +across a small waterhole, and at this welcome spot the party rested for a +while; indeed with the exception of Lewis and the native, they were all +too weak to do aught else. They slaughtered a camel, and were fortunate +to shoot a few pigeons and galah parrots, the fresh meat restoring a +little of their strength. They had long since despaired of carrying out +the original purpose of the expedition. All that they could hope for was +to struggle on with the last remaining flicker of life to the nearest +settled country. This was the Oakover River, on the north coast, and to +the head of the Oakover, therefore, their worn-out camels were directed. +They could entertain no hope of relief before reaching the Oakover, for +the discoverer of that river, Frank Gregory, a man always reluctant to +acknowledge defeat, had been turned from the southward attempt by this +very desert across which they were painfully toiling. On the evening that +they started for the station, the whole party were about to ride blindly +on into waterless country, where, but for the black boy, they would all +have perished. The boy had left the camp early in the morning, and, +having come across the fresh tracks of some natives, followed them up to +their camp, where he found a well. He hastened back to the party to tell +them of his discovery, only to find that they had gone. Fortunately he +had sharp ears, and hearing the distant receding tinkle of the camel +bell, by dint of energetically pushing on and cooeeing loudly, he managed +to attract their attention, and then led them back to the new source of +relief. Lewis and the black boy were now the eyes and ears of the party, +and but for them the expedition would never have reached the river. + +A fresh start was made after a welcome halt at this well. Warburton and +his son could scarcely sit their camels, and followed the weary caravan +almost with apathy. On the 14th of November Charley found another native +well; but its discovery nearly cost him his life. When close to the +native camp, he had gone ahead by himself, as he usually did, so as not +to startle the aboriginals. The blacks received him kindly and gave him +water, but when he cooeed for his companion, they took sudden alarm and +attacked him. They had speared him in the arm and back, and cut his head +open with a club when Lewis came up just in time to rescue him. Evidently +this attack was not premeditated, but caused by the sudden fear aroused +by the sight of the white men and camels. At this well Lewis and one of +the Afghans went ahead to strike the head of the Oakover, for they +thought they must be drawing near the coast, as the nights were growing +cool and dewy, and they had found traces of white iron work in an old +camp. In a week Lewis returned, having reached a tributary of the river; +and on the 5th of December the whole party arrived at the rocky creek +that he had found. + +They now proceeded slowly down the Oakover, but came across no sign of +occupation. The indefatigable Lewis had therefore again to go ahead for +help whilst the others waited for him, living on the flesh of the last +camel. He had 170 miles to journey over before he reached the cattle +station belonging to Grant, Harper, and Anderson, where he was +immediately supplied with horses and provisions to take back to the +starving men. + +It was on the 29th of December as Warburton was lying in the shade +thinking moodily that the station must have been abandoned, and that +Lewis had surely been compelled to push on to Roebourne, when the black +boy from a tree-top gave a cheerful signal. Starting to their feet, the +astonished men found the pack-horses and the relief party almost in their +camp. + +Of the seventeen camels with which they had started, the two that Lewis +had taken on to the station were the only survivors; and all their +equipment had been abandoned piecemeal in the desert. + +15.4. WILLIAM CHRISTIE GOSSE. + +[Illustration. William Christie Gosse, Deputy Surveyor-General of South +Australia.] + +On the 23rd of April, about a week after the departure of Warburton, +William Christie Gosse, Deputy Surveyor-General of South Australia, also +left Alice Springs on an exploring expedition, having been appointed by +the South Australian Government to take charge of the Central and Western +Exploring Expedition. Like Warburton, he was frustrated by dry country in +his endeavour to reach Perth. He had with him both white men and Afghan +camel drivers, and a mixed outfit of horses and camels. He left the +telegraph line and struck westward, soon finding himself in very dry +country, where he lost one horse on a dry stage. He made a depot camp on +a creek which he called the Warburton, and while on an excursion from +this camp he had the singular experience of riding all day through heavy +rain and camping at night without water, the sandy soil having quickly +absorbed the downpour. On his return he found that the creek at the camp +was running, and though repeated attempts had been made by the Afghans to +goad one of the camels over, the animal obstinately refused to cross. +Probably the leader thought that it was fortunate for the progress of the +expedition that they were not likely to meet with many more running +streams. After passing both Warburton's tracks and those of Giles, Gosse +reached the extreme western point of the Macdonnell Ranges, where another +stationary camp was pitched. The leader made a long excursion to the +south-west, and at 84 miles, after passing over sand-ridges and spinifex +country, caught sight of a remarkable hill, that on a nearer approach +proved to be of singular limestone formation. + +"When I got clear of the sandhills, and was only two miles distant, and +the hill, for the first time coming fairly in view, what was my +astonishment to find it was one immense rock rising abruptly from the +plain; the holes I had noticed were caused by the water in some places +causing immense caves." + +This hill, which Gosse made an ineffectual attempt to ascend, he called +Ayer's Rock. He returned to his depot camp, crossing an arm of Lake +Amadeus as he did so, and moved the main body on to Ayer's Rock. Rain +having set in heavily for some days, he pushed some distance into Western +Australia, but soon reached the limit of the rainfall. After many +attempts to penetrate the sand-hill region which confronted him, the heat +and aridity compelled him to turn back. + +His homeward course was by way of the Musgrave Ranges, where he found a +greater extent of pastoral country than had been thought to exist there. +He discovered and christened the Marryat, and followed down the Alberga +to within sixty miles of the Overland Line, when he turned north-eastward +to the Charlotte Waters station. + +Although Gosse's exploration did not add any important new features, he +filled in many details in the central map, and was able correctly to lay +down the position of some of the discoveries of Ernest Giles. + +William Christie Gosse was the son of Dr. Gosse, and was born in 1842 at +Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire. He had come to Australia with his father in +1850, and in 1859 had entered the Government service of South Australia. +He held various positions in the survey department, and, after his return +from the exploring expedition, he was made Deputy Surveyor-General. He +died prematurely on August 12th, 1881. + + + +CHAPTER 16. TRAVERSING THE CENTRE. + +[Illustration. Ernest Giles. + +Illustration. Baron Sir Ferdinand von Mueller.] + + +16.1. ERNEST GILES. + +Ernest Giles was born at Bristol, a famous birthplace of adventurous +spirits. He was educated at Christ's Hospital, London, and after leaving +school came out to South Australia to join his parents, who had preceded +him thither. In 1852 he went to the Victorian goldfields, and +subsequently became a clerk, first in the Post Office, Melbourne, and +afterwards in the county court. + +Having resigned his clerkship, he pursued a bush life, and in 1872 made +his first effort in the field of exploration. His party was a small one, +the funds being found by contributions from S. Carmichael, one of the +party, Baron von Mueller, Giles himself, and one of his relatives. The +members of the expedition were Giles, Carmichael, and Robinson; 15 horses +and a little dog were included in the equipment. They started from +Chambers Pillar, and it was on this journey that Lake Amadeus and Mount +Olga were discovered, the two most enduring physical features whose +discovery we owe to Giles. The lake is a long narrow salt-pan of +considerable size, but without any important affluents; Mount Olga is a +singular mountain situated about 50 miles from the lake. On this trip +Giles went over much untrodden country, but the smallness of the party at +last convinced him that it was beyond their frugal means to force their +way through the desert country to the settlements of West Australia. +Giles was fortunate on this his first trip in having two able and willing +bushmen for his companions; otherwise he would not have progressed as far +as he did and returned in safety. But most untiring endeavours will not +compensate for the lack of numbers, and Giles was forced to return beaten +from his first attempt. + +His second expedition took place about the same time as that undertaken +by Gosse. In consequence of a stirring appeal by Baron von Mueller, he +had now the advantage of both substantial private help and a small sum +from the South Australian Government. The party numbered four: W.H. +Tietkins, who afterwards made an honourable name as an independent +explorer; the unfortunate Alfred Gibson; and a lad named Andrews, in +addition to the leader. + +Giles left the settled district at the Alberga, and made several +determined efforts to push through the sandy spinifex desert that had +baffled so many. It was during one of these forlorn hopes that Gibson +died. + +Anxious to reach a range which he had sighted in the distance, and where +he hoped to find a change of country, Giles made up his mind to make a +determined effort to reach it, carrying a supply of water with him on +pack-horses. As usual, Tietkins was to accompany him, but as Gibson +complained of having been always previously left in camp, he was allowed +to go instead. The two kept doggedly on, the horses, as they gave in, +being left to find their way back to the main camp. At last, when several +days out, they had but two horses left. Giles sent Gibson back on one, +with instructions to push on for the camp, taking what little water he +wanted out of a keg they had buried on their outward way, leaving the +remainder for his use. He himself intended to make a final effort to +reach the range. + +Giles's horse soon gave in after they parted, and he had to start to +return on foot. On his weary way back he saw that one of the abandoned +horses had turned off from the trail, and that Gibson's tracks turned off +too, seemingly following it. When he reached the keg, he found that the +contents were untouched. Fearing greatly that the unfortunate man's fate +was sealed, Giles dragged himself on to the camp. A search was at once +instituted, but it was fruitless. Neither man nor horse was ever seen +again; and the scene of his fate is known as Gibson's Desert. + +During his excursions in various directions, Giles discovered and +traversed four different ranges of hills. The party were much worried by +the hostility of the blacks, and, what with the uneasiness caused by +their attacks, the plague of myriads of ants, the loss of Gibson, and the +failure of their own hopes, they were forced to return to Adelaide, +baffled for a time, but not beaten. + +We thus see how the arid belt of the middle country had defied three +different explorers -- Warburton, Gosse, and Giles -- one equipped with +camels only, one with camels and horses, and one who had relied on horses +alone. + +[Illustration. A Camel Caravan in an Australian Desert.] + +In 1875 Giles took the field once more. This time, owing to the +generosity of Sir Thomas Elder, of South Australia, he was well-prepared. +He had a fine caravan of camels, and had his former companion Tietkins +with him, besides a completely-equipped party. + +The start was made from Beltana, the next halting-place being Youldeh, +where a depot was formed. From this place they shifted north to a native +well, Oaldabinna. As the water supply here proved but scanty, Giles +started off to the westward to search for a better place, sending +Tietkins to the north on a similar errand accompanied by Young. + +Giles pushed his way for 150 miles through scrub and past shallow +lakelets of salt water until he came to a native well or dam, containing +a small supply of water. Beyond this he went another 30 miles, but +finding himself amongst saline swamps and scrub, he then returned to the +depot. Tietkins and his companion were not so successful. At their +furthest point they had come across a large number of natives, who, after +decamping in a terrified manner, returned fully armed and painted for +war. No attempts of the two white men to open friendly communication or +to obtain any information from them had succeeded. + +A slight shower of rain having replenished the well they were camped at, +Giles determined to make a bold push to the west, trusting to the powers +of endurance of his camels to carry him on to water. + +On reaching the dam that he had formerly visited, he was agreeably +surprised to find that it had been nearly filled by the late rains. As it +now contained plenty of water for their wants, and there was good feed +all around, they rested by it until the supply of water began to show +signs of declining. + +On the 16th of September, 1875, he left the Boundary Dam, as he called +it, and commenced to try conclusions with the desert to the westward. For +the first six days of their march the caravan passed through scrubs of +oak, mulga, and sandalwood; next they entered upon vast plains +well-grassed, with salt-bush and other edible shrubs growing upon them. +Crossing these, the camel train again passed through scrub, but not so +dense as before. + +When 250 miles had been accomplished, Giles distributed amongst the +camels the water he had carried with him. As they kept on, sand-ridges +began to make their appearance, native smoke was often seen, and they +frequently crossed the tracks of the natives. + +On the seventeenth day from the Boundary Dam, Tietkins, who judged by the +appearance of the sandhills that there was water in the neighbourhood, +sent the black boy Tommy on to a ridge lying south of their course. It +was fortunate that he did so, for hidden in a hollow surrounded by +sandhills was a tiny lake which they were passing by unheeded until Tommy +arrested their progress with frantic shouts. Giles gave this place of +succour, which he should have named after his companion, the commonplace +name of Victoria Spring; and here the caravan rested for nine days. + +Recruited and in good spirits, they soon found themselves amongst the +distinctive features of the inner slopes of Western Australia -- outcrops +of granite mounds and boulders, salt lakes, and bogs. Their next camp of +relief was at a native well 200 miles from Victoria Spring. + +The quietude of their life at this encampment was however rudely broken +by the natives. During their stay they had had friendly intercourse with +the blacks, but no suspicions of treachery had been aroused. The +explorers were just concluding their evening meal when Young saw a mob of +armed and painted natives approaching. He caught sight of them in time to +give the alarm to the others, who stood to their arms. Giles says in his +journal that they were "a perfectly armed and drilled force," though +military discipline was a singular characteristic to find amongst the +blacks of this barren region. A discharge of firearms from the whites +checked their assailants before any spears had been thrown, and probably +prevented the massacre of the whole party. + +On leaving this camp the caravan travelled through dense scrub, with +occasional hills and patches of open country intervening. They were +fortunate to find some wells on the way, and on the 4th of November +arrived at an outside sheep-station in the settled districts of Western +Australia, and Giles's long-cherished ambition was at last fulfilled. + +The result of this trip was satisfactory to Giles, who thus saw his many +fruitless, though gallant efforts, at last crowned with success; but the +journey had no substantial geographical or economic results. It resembled +Warburton's in having been a hasty flight with camels through an unknown +country, marking only a thin line on the map of Australia. An explorer +with the means at his command, in the shape of camels, of venturing on +long dry stages with impunity, is tempted to sacrifice extended +exploration of the country bordering his route and the deeper and more +valuable knowledge that it brings to rapidity of onward movement. John +Forrest, for example, was able, owing to the many minor excursions he was +forced to make because of the nature of his equipment, to gain infinitely +more knowledge of the geographical details of the country he passed over +than either Warburton or Giles. + +Giles now retraced his steps to South Australia, following a line to the +northward of Forrest's track. He went by way of the Murchison, and +crossed over the Gascoyne to the Ashburton, which he followed up to its +head. Then striking to the south of east, he cut his former track of 1873 +at the Alfred and Marie Range, the range he had so ardently striven to +reach when the unfortunate man Gibson died. How futile was the vain +attempt that led to Gibson's death he now realised. He finally arrived at +the Peake telegraph station. Few watercourses were crossed; the country +was suffering under extreme drought; and no discoveries of importance +were made. + +Giles published a narrative of his explorations entitled Australia Twice +Traversed. He was a gold medallist of the Royal Geographical Society. He +entered the West Australian Government service on the Coolgardie +goldfields, and, on the 13th of November, 1897, died at Coolgardie, West +Australia, where the Western Australian Government erected a monument to +his memory. + +16.2. W.H. TIETKINS AND OTHERS. + +[Illustration. W.H. Tietkins, 1878.] + +W.H. Tietkins was born in London on the 30th of August, 1844, and was +educated at Christ's Hospital. He arrived in Adelaide in September, 1859, +and took to bush life and subsequently survey-work. On the conclusion of +his exploring expeditions with Ernest Giles, he engaged in the survey of +Yorke's Peninsula for the South Australian Government, and then paid a +visit to England. On his return he went to Sydney, and did some survey +work for the New South Wales Government into whose service he permanently +entered. He is now a Lands Inspector on the South Coast. + +After his experiences as second with Ernest Giles, Tietkins took charge, +in 1889, of the Central Australian Exploring Expedition. He left Alice +Springs on the overland line on the 14th of March to examine the hitherto +unknown country to the north and west of Lake Amadeus. Late in the month +of May he discovered and named the Kintore Range, to the north-west of +Lake Macdonald, and ascended one of the elevations, Mount Leisler. During +the beginning of the next month he practically completed the circuit of +Lake Macdonald and discovered the Bonython Ranges to the south-east. On +his return journey, Tietkins corrected the somewhat exaggerated notion +entertained as to the extent of Lake Amadeus, as he passed through sixty +miles of country supposed to be contained in its area without seeing a +vestige of this natural feature. In after years he surveyed and correctly +fixed its location. + +In 1874, surveyor Lewis, the gallant and tireless spirit whose +indefatigable efforts had pulled the Warburton Expedition out of the fire +took charge of an expedition equipped by Sir Thomas Elder to define the +many affluents of Lake Eyre. Starting from the overland line, Lewis +skirted Lake Eyre to the north, penetrated to Eyre's Creek, traced that +stream and the Diamantina into Lake Eyre, and confirmed the opinion that +the waters of Cooper's Creek as well as the more westerly streams found +their way into that inland sea. J.W. Lewis afterwards died in Broome, +Western Australia. + +In 1875 the Queensland Government decided to send out an expedition to +ascertain the amount of pastoral country that existed to the westward of +the Diamantina River. It was placed in charge of W.O. Hodgkinson, who had +occupied a subordinate position in the Burke and Wills expedition. They +started from the upper reaches of the Cloncurry and, crossing the main +dividing range on to the Diamantina, followed that river down to the +southern boundary of Queensland, where it had been named the Everard by +Lewis. This portion was now well-known, and the tracks of the pioneers' +stock were everywhere visible. From the lower Diamantina, the party went +westwards, and, beyond Eyre's Creek, in good pastoral country, came upon +a watercourse which was named the Mulligan. This creek Hodgkinson +followed up to the north; and, not knowing that he had crossed its head +watershed, went on down the Herbert (Georgina) under the impression that +he was still on the Mulligan. He was undeceived when he overtook N. +Buchanan with cattle, who was then engaged in re-stocking the stations on +the Herbert that had been abandoned in the commercial depression of 1872 +and 1873. This was the last exploring expedition sent out by the +Queensland authorities, the country within the bounds of that colony +being by that time all known. + +But across the western border, the vacant and unknown country of South +Australia attracted many private expeditions to examine it in search of +pastoral holdings. Amongst those from Queensland were two brothers named +Prout, who, with one man, went out to look for new grazing lands, and +never returned. Many months afterwards a search party, under W.J.H. +Carr-Boyd, found some of the horses, and then the remains of one of the +brothers. It was evident from the fragments of a diary recovered, that +they had pushed far into the dry region of South Australia, and had met +their deaths from thirst on the return journey. Probably some of the +waters on which they had relied had unexpectedly failed. + +In 1878, Nathaniel Buchanan, a veteran pioneer and overlander of +Queensland, made an excursion from the Queensland border to Tennant's +Creek on the overland telegraph line. Starting from the Ranken, a +tributary of the Georgina, Buchanan struck a westerly course, and +discovering the head of a well-watered creek running through fine open +downs, he followed it down to the westward for some days. The creek +eventually ran out into dry flats, so Buchanan struck westward to the +telegraph line, which he reached after some hardship, a little to the +south of Tennant's Creek. The creek which he discovered, and to which +Favenc afterwards gave the name of Buchanan's Creek, was a most important +discovery, affording a practicable stock route to the great pastoral +district lying between the Queensland border and the overland line. + +Frank Scarr, a Queensland surveyor, was the next to invade this strip of +still unknown land. He attempted to steer a course south of Buchanan's, +but was turned back by the dry belt of country. On this excursion he also +found two of the horses of the ill-fated Prout brothers. Scarr then made +further north, and, with the assistance of the creek discovered by +Buchanan, was enabled to reach the line. Owing to the severity of the +drought, however, he was unable to extend his researches any further, and +returned safely to Queensland. + +[Illustration. Ernest Favenc.] + +In 1878, a project for a railway line on the land-grant principle between +Brisbane and Port Darwin was originated in the former city. The +proprietor of the leading Brisbane newspaper, Gresley Lukin, organized +and equipped a party to explore a suitable line of country, the object +being to ascertain the nature and value of the land in the neighbourhood +of the proposed line, and the geographical features of the unexplored +portion. The leader was Ernest Favenc, who was accompanied by surveyor +Briggs, G. Hedley, and a black boy. They left Cork station on the +Diamantina, and kept a north-west course through the untraversed country +between that river and the Georgina, or Herbert, as it was then called. +They then crossed the border into South Australia, and struck the creek +which Buchanan had found, and to which the name of Buchanan's Creek was +now given. Leaving this creek at the lowest water, the party struck +north, and, after finding two large but shallow lakes, came, in the midst +of most excellent pastoral country, to a fine lagoon which they named the +Corella Lagoon. The trees on the banks of this lagoon, which was about +four miles long, were at the time of the visit white with myriads of +corella parrots; hence the name. Some three hundred natives were +assembled at this lagoon to celebrate their tribal rites; but they showed +a friendly disposition. + +From the Corella Lagoon the expedition proceeded north and discovered a +large creek running from east to west. It proved to be one of the +principal creeks of that region, and was named Cresswell Creek; and a +permanent lagoon on it was named the Anthony Lagoon. Cresswell Creek was +followed down until, like its fellow creek the Buchanan, it too was +absorbed in dry, parched flats. The last permanent water on Cresswell +Creek was named the Adder Waterholes, on account of the large number of +death-adders that were killed there. A dry stage of ninety miles now +intervened between the party and the telegraph line, and the first +attempt to cross, on a day of terrible heat, resulted in a return to the +Adder Camp, three horses having succumbed to the heat, thirst, and the +cracked and fissured arid plains. It being the height of the summer +season, and no water within a reasonable distance, it was evidently +useless to sacrifice any more horses. There was nothing to do, therefore, +but to await at the last camp the fall of a kindly thundershower, by +means of which they might bridge the dry gap between them and the line. + +The long delay exhausted the supply of rations, but by means of birds -- +ducks and pigeons -- horseflesh, and the usual edible bush plants -- +blue-bush and pigweed -- the party fared sufficiently well. + +During their detention at this camp, many short excursions were made, and +the country traversed was found to be mostly richly grassed downs. Where +flooded country was encroached upon, the dry beds of former lakes were +found, encircled in all cases with a ring of dead trees. + +In January, 1879, the thunderstorms set in, and the party reached +Powell's Creek telegraph station in safety. + +This expedition opened up a good deal of fine pastoral country, which is +now all stocked and settled. + +Western Australia was still busy in the field of exploration. In 1876 +Adam Johns and Phillip Saunders started from Roebourne and crossed to the +overland line in South Australia. Ostensibly theirs was a prospecting +expedition; but as the country to the eastward of the Fitzroy River was +then unknown, it was an important exploration event. They were +unsuccessful in finding gold, but on their arrival at the line they +reported having passed through good pastoral country. + +There is no doubt that the east and west tracks of the Queensland +explorers, and of Alexander Forrest,* did more to throw open that part of +Australia to settlement than did the north and south journey of Stuart, +more important as that one was from the purely geographical point of +view. Stuart led the way across the centre of the continent, but even +after the telegraph line was constructed on his route, very little was +known of the country to the east and the west. + +*[Footnote.] See Chapter 19. + +The South Australian Government had several times made slight attempts to +reach the Queensland border, but in 1878, they sent out H.V. Barclay to +make a trigonometrical survey of most of the untraversed country between +the line and the Queensland boundary. Barclay left Alice Springs, of +which station he first fixed the exact geographical position by a series +of telegraphic exchanges with the observatory in Adelaide. Barclay had +much dry country to contend against, but managed to reach a north point +close to Scarr's furthest south. He did not, however, on that occasion, +actually arrive at the Queensland border, but explored the territory on +the South Australian side. During the conduct of the survey he discovered +and named the Jervois Ranges, the spurs of the eastern MacDonnell, and +the following tributaries of Lake Eyre -- the Hale, the Plenty, the +Marshall, and the Arthur Rivers. + +In 1883, Favenc, on a private expedition to report on pastoral country, +traced the heads of several of the rivers of the Carpentarian Gulf, and +in the following year left the north Newcastle Waters to examine and +trace the Macarthur River. The river was followed from its source to the +sea, and a large extent of valuable pastoral country and several +permanent springs found in its valley; a large tributary, the Kilgour, +was also discovered and named. These short excursions, and some +exploratory trips made by MacPhee, east of Daly Waters, may be said to +have concluded exploration between the line and the Queensland border. + +In 1883, the South Australian Government despatched an expedition in +charge of David Lindsay to complete the survey of Arnhem's Land. Lindsay +left the Katherine station, and proceeded to Blue Mud Bay. On the way the +party had a narrow escape of massacre at the hands of the blacks, who +speared four horses, and made an attempt to surprise the camp of the +whites. Lindsay had trouble with his horses in the stony, broken +tableland that had nearly baffled Leichhardt; and from one misfortune and +another, lost a great number of them. In fact, at one time, so rough was +the country that he anticipated having to abandon his horses and make his +way into the telegraph station on foot. On the whole, however, the +country was favourably reported on, particularly with regard to tropical +agriculture. + +Another journey was undertaken about this time by O'Donnell and +Carr-Boyd, who left the Katherine River and pushed across the border into +Western Australia. They succeeded in finding a large amount of pastoral +country; but no important geographical discoveries were made. + +In 1884 H. Stockdale, who had had considerable experience in the southern +colonies, and was an old bushman, made an excursion from Cambridge Gulf +to the south through the Kimberley district. Stockdale found well-grassed +country with numerous permanently-watered creeks. When he came to the +creek which he named Buchanan Creek, he formed a depot. On his return +from an expedition to the south with three men, he found that during his +absence the men left in charge of it had been hunting kangaroos with the +horses instead of allowing them to rest. There were other irregularities +as well, and Stockdale found his resources too much reduced, both in +horseflesh and rations, to continue the exploration. They started for the +telegraph line, but on the way the two men who had been misbehaving +requested to be left behind. As they persisted in their wish, there was +nothing left but to accede to it. The two men, with as much rations as +could be spared, arms, and powder and shot, were then left at their own +request on a permanent creek in a country where game could be obtained. +Stockdale himself had to undergo some hardship before reaching the +Overland Line. Although search was made for the two men, they were never +afterwards found. + +One little area of country, of no great importance but still untrodden by +man yet remained in Central Australia, as a lure to excite the white +man's curiosity. This unvisited spot was situated north of latitude 26, +and bounded on the west by the Finke River, on the north by the Plenty +and Marshall Rivers and part of the MacDonnell Ranges, and on the west by +the Hay River and the Queensland border. An expedition to exploit it was +equipped by Ronald MacPherson, and assisted by the South Australian +Government with the loan of camels. The leader was Captain V. Barclay, an +old South Australian surveyor, whose name has already been mentioned in +these pages. + +Barclay had been born in Lancashire, at Bury, on the 6th of January, +1845. He had entered the Royal Navy in 1860, and had been severely +wounded on board H.M.S. Illustrious by a gun breaking loose when at +target practice. He had emigrated to Tasmania in the seventies, and in +1877 had been appointed by the South Australian Government to explore the +country lying between the line and the Queensland border, a notice of +which occurs in the preceding pages. + +The party, lightly equipped to be more effective, was absent from +Oodnadatta from July 24th until December 5th 1904, and in that time +accomplished much useful work in the face of great difficulties. On +account of the great heat, the expedition had to resort to travelling by +night and resting by day. The country was principally high sandy ridges, +some so steep that it was not easy to find crossing-places. They had to +sacrifice a lot of valuable stores, personal effects, and a valuable +collection of native curios, all chiefly on account of the shortness of +water. + +By this date the whole of the central portion of Australia was known, and +the greater part of it mapped; while all the permanently-watered country +had been rapidly utilised by the pastoralists. + + +PART 3. THE WEST. + +[Illustration. John Septimus Roe, First Surveyor-General of West +Australia.] + + + +CHAPTER 17. ROE, GREY, AND GREGORY. + + +17.1. ROE AND THE PIONEERS. + +Whilst Sturt and kindred bold spirits had been painfully but surely +piecing together the geographical puzzle of the south-east corner of the +Australian continent, a similar struggle between man and Nature had +commenced in the south-west. Here, Nature kept close her secrets with no +less pertinacity than in the east; but, though the struggle was just as +arduous, the environment was very different. Instead of rearing an +unscalable barrier of gloomy mountains, Nature here showed a level front +of sullen hostility. Nor did she lure the first explorers inland with a +smiling face of welcome once the outworks had been forced, as she had +drawn Evans when he reached the head-waters of the Macquarie and Lachlan. +Beyond the sources of the western coastal streams, she fought silently +for every eastward mile of vantage ground, spreading before the +adventurous intruder the salt lake and the arid desert. + +As far back as 1791, George Vancouver, a whilom middy of Cook's, +discovered and named King George's Sound, when in command of H.M.S. +Discovery. He formally took possession of the adjacent country, and +remained there some days, making a careful survey of both the inner and +outer harbours. + +On the 9th of December, 1826, Sir Ralph Darling, then Governor of New +South Wales, sent Major Lockyer, of the 57th, with a detachment of the +39th, a regiment intimately associated with the early settlement of +Australia, to form a settlement at King George's Sound, where they landed +on the 25th of December of the same year. This settlement was established +in order to forestall the French, who, according to rumour, intended to +occupy the harbour and adjacent lands. + +On the 17th of January, 1827, Captain James Stirling, of H.M.S. Success, +left Sydney, intending to survey those portions of the west coast +unvisited by Lieutenant King, and also to investigate the nature of the +country in the neighbourhood of the Swan River with a view to its +suitability for settlement. Stirling was accompanied by Charles Fraser, +who had considerable experience as adviser upon Australian sites for +settlement. Both Stirling and Fraser reported favourably on the Swan +River; and the latter waxing enthusiastic on its eligibility, it was +decided to found a new colony there. + +In 1829, Captain Fremantle of H.M.S. Challenger hoisted the British flag +at the mouth of the Swan River, and thenceforth the whole of the +Australian continent was under British sway. Captain, now +Lieutenant-Governor, Stirling arrived a month later in the transport +Parmelia, and the free colony of Western Australia was launched on its +varied career. + +The names first mentioned in the annals of land exploration in Western +Australia are those of Alexander Collie and Lieutenant William Preston, +who together explored the country on the coast between Cockburn Sound and +Geographe Bay. This was in November, 1829, and in the following month Dr. +J.B. Wilson, who came to the Sound with Captain Barker on the abandonment +of Raffles Bay, made an excursion from the Sound and discovered and named +the Denmark River. + +In a passage in a letter written by R.M. Davis, of the medical staff, to +Charles Fraser, the botanist, there is a detailed reference to this +trip:-- + +"Dr. Wilson, who came here with Captain Barker, started in a direction to +Swan Port (Swan River) with a party of men, and in eleven days went over +at least two hundred miles of ground. He says, without fear of +contradiction in future, that there is far greater proportion of good +land in this direction than in any other part of Australia that he had +been in, and also wood of large growth, with innumerable rivers. He +ascended a very high mountain, which he called Mount Lindsay, in honour +of the 39th regiment." + +On the 22nd of March, 1830, we first hear of the exploring feats of +Lieutenant Roe, R.N., the Surveyor-General of the new colony. Captain +John Septimus Roe was born in 1797, and entered the navy. He accompanied +Captain P. King to explore the north and north-west coasts of Australia, +in 1818, and was a member of King's expedition in 1821. He was the first +Surveyor-General of Western Australia, and held that position for +forty-two years. He is commonly styled the father of western exploration. +He died at Perth on May 28th, 1878. Mrs. Roe, who accompanied her husband +to Western Australia in 1829, pre-deceased him in 1870. + +On the date mentioned in 1830, Roe was in the field exploring in the +vicinity of Cape Naturaliste. Afterwards he was active in the country +between the head-waters of the Kalgan and Hay Rivers. In 1836 he first +tried serious conclusions with the inland country of Western Australia, +when he headed an expedition to explore the tableland that lies to the +north and east of Perth. The country was dreary and depressing, and, +judging from its configuration and natural properties, he was unable to +recommend it as a site for settlement or to depict it as the entrance to +more pleasant lands beyond. He reached Lake Brown, near the western +boundary of the present Yilgarn goldfield; but the only noteworthy +features that he perceived were the salt lakes that are now so well-known +throughout Western Australia. In 1839, Roe distinguished himself by +rescuing Grey's dismembered party. On the 14th of September, 1848, he +started to make an attempt at further discovery to the eastward. He had +with him six men, twelve horses, and three months' provisions. Upon +leaving the outer settlements, they encountered the same depressing +country as before. Having crossed it, they were turned from their course +by scrub of exceeding density, which in turn was succeeded by sandy +desert plains. Foiled for the time being they made for the south coast, +where they recruited their strength at one of the outlying settlements. + +On the 18th they started again, and followed up the course of the +Pallinup River. They ascended a branch coming from the north-east, and +for a time revelled in the spectacle of well-grassed and promising +valleys; but they soon again came amongst the scrub and sand plains of +the inland desert. Sighting a granite range to the eastward, they made +towards it, but the outlook from its summit brought nothing but exceeding +disappointment. Fortunately the weather was showery, and the lack of +water did not induce such keen anxiety as the total absence of grass. +Still pushing to the eastward, they found their difficulties increase at +every step. To the perils of travel through dense thickets and over +barren, scorching plains, there was now added the risk of death from +thirst. It was not until after days of extreme privation that they +reached some elevated peaks, where they obtained a little grass and +water. + +Their course lay now to the south-east, towards the range sighted by +Eyre, and named the Russell Range, and there commenced a desperate +struggle with the intervening desert. + +So weak were the horses and so compact the belts of scrub, that in three +days they had traversed only fifty miles. After being four days and three +nights without water for the horses, they reached a rugged hill which +they named Mount Riley, where they were relieved by a scant supply. +Thence it was but fifty miles to the Russell Range, but the journey +involved a repetition of the worst sufferings they had endured. The scrub +disputed their passage the whole route, being often so dense as to defy +the use of the axe, and many long detours had to be made before they +reached their goal. + +Every hope they had entertained of a change for the better was shattered +by an inspection of the country to which they had so laboriously +penetrated. The range, destined to be associated with so many subsequent +important explorations, was a mass of naked rocks, and from the summit +they could see nothing but the interminable scrub thickets, and in the +distance the thin blue line of ocean. Fortunately they found a little +grass and water, which saved the lives of their animals. They had +discovered a coal seam at the mouth of the Murchison River, and now, on +their return journey, they found another at the Fitzgerald River. This +was Roe's longest and most important expedition, and it placed him in the +front rank of Australian explorers. + +Amongst the very early explorers who did as good work as the scanty +opportunities permitted, was Ensign R. Dale, of the 63rd Regiment, who +pushed east of the Darling Range. Bannister, Moore, and Bunbury are other +noteworthy names amongst those of the early discoverers. + +17.2. SIR GEORGE GREY. + +[Illustration. Sir George Grey.] + +In 1837 an expedition in charge of Captain George Grey and Lieutenant +Lushington was sent out from England to the Cape of Good Hope. It was +under instructions from Lord Glenelg, and was to procure a small vessel +at the Cape to convey the party and their stores to the most convenient +point in the vicinity of the Prince Regent's River on the coast. Once +landed there, the party was to take such a course as would lead them in +the direction of the great opening behind Dampier's Land, where they were +to make every endeavour to cross to the Swan River. + +The schooner Lynher was chartered at the Cape, and on the 3rd of +December, 1837, the party was landed at Hanover Bay, with large +quantities of livestock, stores, seeds, and plants. Whilst the schooner +proceeded to Timor for ponies, Grey employed the time in forming a +garden, building sheds for the stores, and in exploring the country in +the neighbourhood of Hanover Bay. On the 9th of December, he hoisted the +British flag and went through the ceremony of taking possession. On the +17th of January the Lynher returned, and nearly a month later Grey and +his party, which now numbered twelve, started from the coast with +twenty-six half-broken Timor ponies as baggage-carriers, and some sheep +and goats. + +The rainy season had now set in, and many of the stock succumbed almost +at the outset, whilst their route proved a veritable tangle of steep +spurs and deep ravines. On the 11th of February they came into collision +with the natives, and Grey was severely wounded in the hip with a spear. +When he had recovered sufficiently to be lifted on to one of the ponies, +a fresh start was made, and on the 2nd of March his perseverance was +rewarded by the discovery of a river which he named the Glenelg. He +followed the course of this river upwards, and reported the country as +good, being well-grassed and watered. Sometimes his route lay along the +river's bank; at other times by keeping to the foot of a sandstone ridge +he was enabled to avoid detours around many wearisome bends. + +[Illustration. Rock Painting, North-Western Australia.] + +The party continued along the Glenelg for many days, until indeed they +were checked by a large tributary coming from the north. As both the +river and the tributary were here much swollen, they had to fall back on +the range. It was among the recesses of this range that Grey discovered +some curious cave paintings of the blacks, in which the aboriginal +figures were represented as clothed. + +[*Footnote.] A subsequent photograph of these paintings, by Brockman, is +reproduced in Chapter 20. + +Unable to find a pass through the mountains, and enfeebled by his wound, +Grey determined to retrace his steps. As a last resort he sent Lushington +some distance ahead, but there was no noticeable change to report in the +aspect of the country. Hanover Bay was reached on the 15th of April. The +Lynher was waiting there at anchor, and H.M.S. Beagle was lying in Port +George the Fourth, awaiting the return of Captain Stokes, who was away +exploring the coast. The party having embarked, the Lynher sailed for the +Isle of France, where they safely arrived. Thus ended Captain Grey's +first expedition, which is interesting chiefly as a proof of the heroic +qualities of its members; for the Glenelg River has never invited +settlement, and has yet to prove that it possesses any considerable +economic value. + +During January, 1839, Grey explored the country between the Williams and +the Leschenhault, while searching for a settler who had been lost in the +bush. + +On the 17th of February in the same year, Grey, who had been back +endeavouring to persuade Sir James Stirling to assist him in his +explorations, was enabled to start on another exploring enterprise. The +object of this, his second important expedition, was to examine the +undiscovered parts of Shark's Bay, and to make excursions as far inland +as circumstances permitted. The party comprised four of the members of +his first expedition, five other men, and a Western Australian +aboriginal, and they left Fremantle in an American whaler, taking three +whale-boats with them. They were duly landed at Bernier Island, where +their troubles commenced at once. The whaler sailed away, taking with her +by mistake the whole of their supply of tobacco. There was no water on +the island, and, in their first attempt to start, one of the boats was +smashed and nearly half a ton of stores lost. The next day they succeeded +in making Dorre Island, but that night both the remaining boats were +driven ashore by a violent storm. Two or three days were spent in making +good the damage, when they succeeded in making the mainland, and obtained +a supply of fresh water. They had landed at or near the mouth of a stream +which afterwards proved to be the second longest river in Western +Australia. Grey named it the Gascoyne, and found that it was then dry +beyond the limit of tidal influence. They then pulled up the coast, but +one night, when effecting a landing, both boats were swamped, and their +previously-damaged provisions suffered another soaking. This accident +kept them prisoners for a week till the wind and surf had abated. Tired, +hungry, and ill, they were here harassed by frequent threats and one +actual attack by the blacks. A slight break in the weather tempted them +forth once more, and, having succeeded in righting the boats, they made +for the mouth of the Gascoyne, where they re-filled their water-beakers. +On March 20th they made a desperate effort in the teeth of foul weather +to fetch their depot on Bernier Island. We may picture their dismay when +they found that during their absence a hurricane had swept the island, +and scattered their cherished stores to the four winds. + +Their position was now as desperate as could be imagined: the southerly +winds had set in, and they had to coast along a surf-beaten shore against +a head wind. Their food was scanty, and they were weak with the constant +toils they had undergone. There was nothing for it, however, but to put +to sea again, and they succeeded in reaching Gantheaume Bay on the 31st +of March. Fate had not yet spent all her wrath on them, and in attempting +a landing, Grey's boat was dashed to destruction upon a rock, and the +other received such a buffeting as to place it beyond repair. The only +hope of safety lay in an overland march to Perth, three hundred miles +away, upon their twenty pounds of damaged flour and one pound of salt +pork per man; and yet, so wearied were they with the unceasing battle +against wind and sea, that they even welcomed this hazardous prospect as +a change for the better. + +They had not proceeded far before differences of opinion arose. Grey +naturally wished the men to cover the ground as quickly as possible +whilst their strength lasted, whilst they favoured slow marches, relieved +by frequent rests. Grey, who recognised that in their weakened condition +they could not replenish their scanty food supplies from the native game, +held firmly to his opinion, and made strenuous efforts to quicken their +progress; but the comparative safety of the shore had lulled his +followers into a feeling of false security; and after goading them along +for a hundred miles, bearing the chief burden of the march and sharing +much of his scanty food with the black boy, Grey left them to push +onwards, and if possible send them assistance. He took two or three +picked men with him, and after terrible sufferings and privations, +reached Perth, whence a rescue party was immediately despatched. This +party found only one man, Charles Wood, who by more closely following +Grey's instructions, had made better progress than the others. The +remaining five could not be found, and at the end of a fortnight the +rescuers were forced to return on account of the lack of provisions. Roe +immediately left with another party, and, after experiencing trouble in +tracking the erratic wanderings of the unfortunates, came upon most of +them hopelessly regarding a face of rock that stopped their march along +the beach, unable to muster sufficient strength to climb it. They had +then been three days without water, having nothing in their canteens but +a loathsome substitute. + +One of them, Smith, a lad of eighteen who had accompanied the expedition +as a volunteer, had died two days before the rescue; his body was +recovered and buried in the wilderness. Walker, the surgeon and second in +charge, was still absent; but he had voluntarily left the main body and +had pushed on for assistance towards Fremantle, which he safely reached. + +During these unfortunate expeditions, Grey had shown a generous spirit of +self-sacrifice combined with high courage and a fine enthusiasm for +geographical discovery. But his lack of experience and his ignorance of +the local seasonal conditions counterbalanced these, and explained his +failures. Afterwards he became Acting Government Resident at Albany, on +King George's Sound, and he was at a critical period Governor of South +Australia. But Australia proper saw little of him in his after prime, and +his fame was built up elsewhere, in New Zealand and at the Cape of Good +Hope. + +Grey's reports left doubt as to the precise value of the country he +traversed under such trying circumstances, but he is justly credited with +the discovery of many rivers on the west coast -- the Grey, the Buller, +the Chapman, the Greenough, the Arrowsmith, the Hutt, the Bowyer, and +those important streams, the Murchison and the Gascoyne. + +17.3. AUGUSTUS C. GREGORY. + +[Illustration. Augustus C. Gregory, 1880. Photo, Freeman, Sydney.] + +In 1846 we come upon a name destined to become linked with the history of +exploration in most parts of Australia. There were three notable brothers +of the name of Gregory; but as their expeditions, at least those of +Augustus and Frank, were conducted independently, with the exception of +the first, we shall deal with them separately. H.C. Gregory, it is true, +associated his work mostly with that of his brother, A.C. Gregory, +generally in a subordinate position, but Frank Gregory won nearly equal +fame with his brother Augustus as an independent explorer. + +A.C. Gregory was the son of Lieutenant J. Gregory of the 78th +Highlanders. He was born at Farnsfield, Nottinghamshire, in 1819, and +came to Western Australia with his parents in 1829 in the Lotus, 500 +tons, Captain Summerson, the second passenger ship that sailed for +Western Australia. Lieutenant Gregory had five sons in all: William, +Augustus, Francis, Henry, and James. The Lotus reached Fremantle about +the 10th of October, 1829. Captain Gregory had been obliged to retire +from active service, being incapacitated by serious wounds received at El +Hamed, in Egypt, and held a large grant of land from the Imperial +Government in lieu of pension. On this grant, situated not far from +Perth, he established a farm, and on that farm Augustus and his brothers +received the balance of their education and underwent their course of +bush training. Augustus, after his last expedition, was appointed in 1859 +Surveyor-General of Queensland, in which colony he settled down later, +after retiring from active official life. He had a seat in the +Legislative Council, and was a prominent freemason. He was created C.M.G. +in 1874, and K.C.M.G. in 1903, and had several honours conferred upon him +by the Royal Geographical Society. He died in Brisbane, in 1905. + +If we except a short excursion down the Blackwood and Kojonup Rivers, his +expedition of 1846, in which he was accompanied both by F.T. and H.C. +Gregory, was the first important enterprise undertaken by him. It was in +August that his party left Captain Scully's station at Bolgart's Springs, +about seventy miles from Perth. + +On leaving the settled districts they at once found themselves in the +barren country that was damming back the eastward flow of settlement. +Having traversed it, they reached a range of granite hills, and turning +more to the northward, they kept along these for the sake of the +rain-water to be found in the rock holes. On striking again to the east, +they encountered an extensive salt lake, and in attempting to cross an +arm of this marsh, their horses were bogged, and extricated only after +great labour. The lake was afterwards proved to be of great size, and to +hem them in completely to the eastward, whilst, owing to its +crescent-like formation, for five days it baffled all their attempts to +proceed northwards. + +Finally abandoning the lake, which they called Lake Moore, they turned to +the westward to examine some of the streams crossed by Grey during his +return from Shark's Bay. On the head of one of these rivers, the Irwin, +they found a seam of coal. + +"Having pitched our tent and tethered our horses, we commenced to collect +specimens of the various strata, and succeeded in cutting out five or six +hundredweight of coal with the tomahawk, and in a short time had the +satisfaction of seeing the first fire of West Australian coal burning +cheerfully in front of the camp, this being the first discovery of coal +in Western Australia." + +The party then returned by way of the Moore River to Bolgart Springs, +which they reached on the 22nd of September. + +The discovery of coal deposits and of country available for settlement +was seen to be of great importance by the Government, and Lieutenant +Helpman, A.C. Gregory, his brother Henry, and Messrs. Irby and Meekleham, +in the colonial schooner Champion, were despatched to procure a quantity +of coal for testing. They were also instructed to make a further +inspection of the pastoral capabilities of the district, of which there +had been so many conflicting opinions. A three days' examination of the +country convinced them that it was suitable for settlement. + +In 1846 Gregory took charge of an expedition to the north of Perth, +organised by the settlers of the colony, and entitled The Settlers' +Expedition; its object being to proceed to the Gascoyne River, examining +the intervening country as to its suitability for pastoral purposes. + +Gregory was accompanied by one of his brothers, Messrs. Burges, Walcott, +and Bedart, and private King of the 96th Regiment, of whose services he +speaks very highly. This expedition excited great hopes amongst the +settlers, who found most of the horses and provisions. The party left +Lefroy's station of Welbing on the 9th of September, with ten pack, and +two riding-horses, but did not succeed in penetrating any distance beyond +the Murchison, being turned back at all points, after repeated efforts, +by the belt of impervious scrub between the Murchison and Gascoyne. They +therefore returned without seeing the latter river, after having attained +a distance of 350 miles from Perth; but they succeeded in finding a +considerable extent of available country, both pastoral and agricultural, +and in discovering a vein of galena on the Murchison. They re-entered +Perth on the 17th of November. + +The following month, Gregory, Bland, and three soldiers of the 96th +accompanied Governor Fitzgerald by sea to Champion Bay to examine the new +mineral discoveries. The galena lode was found to be more important than +had been at first supposed. On their return to the schooner, an affray +occurred with the natives, in which the Governor was wounded. + +"As the country was covered with dense wattle thickets, the natives took +advantage of the ground, and having completely surrounded the party, +commenced first to threaten to throw their spears, then to throw stones, +and finally one man caught hold of Mr. Bland by the arm, threatening to +strike him with a dowak; another native threw a spear at myself, though +without effect; but before I could fire at him, the Governor, perceiving +that unless some severe example was made, the whole party would be cut +off, fired at one of the most forward of our assailants and killed him; +two other shots were fired by the soldiers, but the thickness of the +bushes prevented our seeing with what effect. A shower of spears, stones, +kylies and dowaks followed, and although we moved to a more open spot, +the natives were only kept off by firing at any that exposed themselves. +At this moment a spear struck the Governor in the leg, just above the +knee, with such force as to cause it to protrude two feet on the other +side, which was so far fortunate as to enable me to break off the barb +and withdraw the shaft. The Governor, notwithstanding his wound, +continued to direct the party, and although the natives made many +attempts to approach close enough to reach us with their spears, we were +able by keeping on the most open ground and checking them by an +occasional shot, to avoid their attacks when crossing the gullies." + +The natives followed them for seven miles, but finally desisted, and the +whites reached the beach and boarded the Champion without further mishap. + +In 1856 Gregory made his most celebrated journey in the north of central +Australia. An account of this journey might have been included in Part 2, +but as the name of Gregory is so intimately connected with Western +Australia, this section is perhaps the most appropriate place in which to +recount its incidents. [But its lengthy place in which to recount its +incidents (sic)]. But its numerous details demand another chapter. + + + +CHAPTER 18. A.C. AND F.T. GREGORY. + + +18.1. A.C. GREGORY ON STURT'S CREEK AND THE BARCOO. + +The Imperial Government having long considered the feasibility of further +exploration of the interior of Australia voted 5000 pounds for the +purpose, and offered the command of the expedition to A.C. Gregory. As +the inexplicable disappearance of Leichhardt was then exciting much +interest in Australia, search for the lost expedition was to form one of +its chief duties. + +On the 12th of August, 1855, Gregory's party left Moreton Bay in the +barque Monarch, attended by the schooner Tom Tough. There were eighteen +men in all. H.C. Gregory was second in command, Ferdinand von Mueller was +botanist, J.S. Wilson geologist, J.R. Elsey surgeon and naturalist, and +J. Baines artist and storekeeper. They had on board fifty horses, two +hundred sheep, and provisions and stores calculated to last them eighteen +months on full rations. + +They did not reach Point Pearce, at the mouth of the Victoria River, +until the 24th of September. There they separated, the schooner taking +the stores up the river, and the Monarch proceeding on her voyage to +Singapore. The horses had been landed at Point Pearce, whence Gregory, +his brother, and seven men took them on overland by easy stages. One +night the horses were attacked by crocodiles, and three of them were +severely wounded. They followed up the course of the Fitzmaurice River +and then passed over rough country, not reaching the Victoria until the +17th. On the 20th they rejoined the members who had gone round by the +schooner, and learned that she was aground in the river. A large part of +their stores was spoiled; and the number of the sheep had also been +reduced to forty, in consequence of their being foolishly kept penned up +on board. These losses and accidents considerably weakened Gregory's +resources, and it was not until the 24th of November that any excursion +on horseback was undertaken. An attempt had previously been made to +ascend the river in the portable boat with which the expedition had been +supplied, but it was not successful, as the boat could not navigate the +rocky bars in safety. + +Gregory left camp accompanied by his brother, Dr. von Mueller, and +Wilson, taking seven horses and twenty days' rations, his object being to +examine the country through which the exploring party would have to +travel on their route to the interior. On this preliminary trip, he +penetrated as far as latitude 16 1/2 south, whence, finding the +tributaries flowing from fine open plains and level forest country, all +well-grassed, he returned to the main camp. + +On the 4th of January, 1856, Gregory started with a much larger party on +an energetic dash into the interior. He had with him six men besides his +brother, Dr. von Mueller and Baines the artist, and thirty-six horses. He +retraced his steps along his preliminary route, and on the 30th of +January, thinking it wise judging from the rapid evaporation of the +waterholes, to make his means of retreat secure, he formed a temporary +camp, leaving there four men and all the horses but eleven to await his +return, whilst he, his brother, Dr. Mueller, and a man named Dean, rode +ahead to challenge the desert to the south. On the 9th of February, +having run the Victoria out, he crossed an almost level watershed, and +found himself on the confines of the desert. From a slight rise he looked +southwards:-- + +"The horizon was unbroken; all appeared one slightly undulating plain, +with just sufficient triodia and bushes growing on it to hide the red +sand when viewed at a distance." + +Gregory reviewed the problem from a logical standpoint. He decided to +follow the northern limit of the desert to the westward, until he should +find a southern-flowing watercourse which would afford him the +opportunity to make a dash beyond its confines. + +On the 15th of February he came to a small flat which gradually developed +into a channel and ultimately became a creek, running first west, and +then south-west. This gave him his desired opening, and he pursued the +course of the creek through good open country, finding the water +plentiful, though shallow. On February 20th, however, the channel of the +creek was lost in an immense grassy plain. The country to the south being +sandy and unpromising, Gregory kept westwards, and succeeded in again +picking up the channel, now finding the water in it to be slightly +brackish. That day he crossed the boundary of Western Australia. The +creek now gave promise of continuity, the water-holes taking on a more +permanent appearance. It was now pursuing a general south-west course, +and Gregory, though still rightly anticipating that it would eventually +be lost in the dry interior, determined to follow it as far south as +should be compatible with safety. He named the creek Sturt's Creek, after +the gallant explorer of that name, who was naturally then often in his +mind. The creek maintained its southern course, until, on the 8th of +March, it ran out into a mud plain and a salt lake. + +"Thus, after having followed Sturt's Creek for nearly 300 miles, we have +been disappointed in our hope that it would lead to some important outlet +to the waters of the Australian interior; it has, however, enabled us to +penetrate far into the level tract of country which may be termed the +Great Australian Desert." + +Gregory, convinced that no useful results could arise from any attempt to +penetrate the inhospitable region to the south, determined to return +before the rapidly-evaporating water on which they were dependent should +vanish and cut off all retreat. He therefore retraced his steps up +Sturt's Creek, and on the 28th of March arrived at his temporary depot, +where he found the men all well and the horses much improved in +condition. + +On the 2nd of April, A.C. Gregory, taking his brother Henry, Baines, and +one man, started on an excursion to examine the eastern tributaries of +the Victoria, and was absent a little over a fortnight. On their return, +the whole of the members started for the landing-place on the Victoria, +which they reached on the 9th of May. After all arrangements and +preparations had been completed, Gregory, with most of the party, started +on the return journey overland to Moreton Bay. The Tom Tough, now caulked +and repaired, was to make her way to the Albert River in the Gulf of +Carpentaria, where they would again probably meet. + +Traversing the tributaries of the Victoria on his homeward way, Gregory +met with no remarkable incident until his arrival on the Elsey, a +tributary of the Roper River, which he named after the surgeon of the +expedition. It was here that he came upon the last authentic trace of +Leichhardt. He describes his discovery as follows:-- + +"There was also the remains of a hut and the ashes of a large fire, +indicating that there had been a party camped there for several weeks; +several trees from six to eight inches in diameter had been cut down with +iron axes in fair condition, and the hut built by cutting notches in +standing trees and resting a large pole therein for a ridge; this hut had +been burnt apparently by the subsequent bush fires, and only some pieces +of the thickest timber remained unconsumed. Search was made for marked +trees, but none found, nor were there any fragments of leather, iron, or +other equipment of an exploring party, or of any bones of animals other +than those common to Australia. Had an exploring party been destroyed +here, there would most likely have been some indications, and it may +therefore be inferred that the party proceeded on its journey. It could +not have been a camp of Leichhardt's in 1845, as it is 100 miles south of +his route to Port Essington; and it was only six or seven years old, +judging by the growth of the trees; having subsequently seen some of +Leichhardt's camps on the Burdekin, Mackenzie and Barcoo Rivers, a great +similarity was observed in regard to the manner of building the hut and +its relative position with regard to the fire and water supply, and the +position in regard to the great features of the country was exactly where +a party going westward would first receive a check from the waterless +tableland between the Roper and Victoria Rivers, and would probably camp +and reconnoitre ahead before attempting to cross to the north-west +coast." + +From the Roper the party travelled around the shore of the Gulf, keeping +rather more inland than Leichhardt had done. On reaching the Albert they +found that the Tom Tough had not yet arrived at the rendezvous; and +Gregory, leaving a marked tree with a message indicating the situation of +some instructions he had buried, pushed onwards. + +His route from the Albert lay along much the same line of country as that +followed by Leichhardt during his journey to Port Essington. He did not, +however, make such a wide sweep to the north, up to the Mitchell, but +struck away from Carpentaria at the Gilbert River. He corrected the error +Leichhardt had fallen into over the situation of the Albert, and re-named +the river that he had mistaken the Leichhardt. The exploring party +reached the settled districts at Hay's station, Rannes, south of the +Fitzroy; and thence reached Brisbane on the 16th of December, 1856. + +To advance the search after Leichhardt, the interest in whose fate had +been stimulated by the discovery made by Gregory, a public meeting was +held in September, 1857, at which resolutions were passed requesting +monetary assistance from the Government, and offering the leadership of a +new expedition to A.C. Gregory. The appeal was successful, and +accordingly in March, 1858, Gregory left Euroomba station on the Dawson +with a party of nine in all, one of his brothers going as second. The +expedition was equipped for light travelling, taking as means of carriage +pack-horses only, of which there were thirty-one, as well as nine +saddle-horses. + +Gregory crossed the Nive on to the Barcoo, which he proceeded to run +down, finding the country in a very different condition from that in +which it bloomed when Mitchell rode rejoicingly along what he thought was +a Gulf river. A sharp look out was of course kept for any trace of the +missing party, and on the 21st of April they came across another marked +tree. + +"We discovered a Moreton Bay ash (Eucalyptus sp.), about two feet in +diameter marked with the letter L on the east side, cut through the bark +about four feet from the ground, and near it the stumps of some small +trees that had been cut with a sharp axe, also a deep notch cut in the +side of a sloping tree, apparently to support the ridge-pole of a tent, +or some similar purpose; all indicating that a camp had been established +here by Leichhardt's party...No other indications having been found, we +continued the search down the river, examining every likely spot for +marked trees, but without success." + +Approaching the Thomson River, they found the country suffering from +drought although the river was running in consequence of some late rains. +As winter was now approaching, there was however no spring in the +vegetation, and their horses were suffering great hardship. On the 15th +of May they found themselves beyond the rainfall, and realised that lack +of water was likely to be added to an absence of grass. + +"We, however, succeeded in reaching latitude 23 degrees 47 minutes, when +the absence of water and grass -- the rain not having extended so far +north, and the channels of the river separating into small gullies and +spreading on to the wide plains -- precluded our progressing further to +the north or west; and the only chance of saving our horses was to return +south as quickly as possible. This was a most severe disappointment, as +we had just reached that part of the country through which Leichhardt +most probably travelled if the season was sufficiently wet to render it +practicable. Thus compelled to abandon the principal object of the +expedition, only two courses remained open -- either to return to the +head of the Victoria (Barcoo) River and attempt a northern course by the +valley of the Belyando, or to follow down the river and ascertain whether +it flowed into Cooper's Creek or the Darling." + +The latter alternative was chosen, and they proceeded to retrace their +steps down the Thomson, and on reaching the junction of the Barcoo they +continued south and west. In fact, following Kennedy's route, they soon +found themselves involved in the same difficulties that had beset that +explorer. The river -- now Cooper's Creek -- broke up into countless +channels running through barren, fissured plains. Toiling on through +these, varied by an interlude of sandhills, Gregory at last reached a +better-grassed land, where his famished horses regained a little +strength. He reached Sturt's furthest point, and continued on to the +point where Strzelecki's Creek carried off some of the surplus flood +waters, and finally lost the many channels amongst the sandhills and +flooded plains. He again struck Strzelecki's Creek and traced it as he +then thought, into Lake Torrens, but in reality into Lake Blanche, for +the salt lake region had not then been properly delimited. He reached +Baker's recently-formed station, eight miles beyond Mount Hopeless, and +thence he went on to Adelaide. + +18.2. FRANK T. GREGORY. + +[Illustration. Frank T. Gregory.] + +It was in Western Australia, in March, 1857, that Frank T. Gregory +commenced his career as an independent explorer by taking advantage of a +sudden heavy downpour of rain on the upper reaches of the Murchison +River, which flooded the dry course of the lower portion where he was +then engaged on survey work. Gregory at once seized the opportunity thus +afforded of examining the upper reaches of this river, from which former +explorers had been driven back by the aridity of the country. Accompanied +by his assistant, S. Trigg, he proceeded up the river finding, thanks to +the wet season that had preceded him, luxuriant grass and ample supplies +of water. In consequence, he had a more pleasing account of the country +to bring back than the report based on the thirsty experiences of Austin. +So easy did he find the country, that only scarcity of provisions +prevented him from pushing on to the long-sought-for Gascoyne River. As +it was, he returned after an absence of thirteen days, having completed +what the Perth Gazette of that time justly described as "one of the most +unassuming expeditions, yet important in its results." + +It was so far satisfactory, and roused such fresh hopes in the minds of +the settlers, that they once more formed bright hopes of what the River +Gascoyne might have in store for the successful explorer. For a long time +now they had become resigned to the conclusion that their northern +pathway was barred by a dry, scrubby country; but they at once took +advantage of the promising practical passage along which Frank Gregory +had led the way. Another expedition was organised to penetrate to the +Gascoyne, and the leadership being naturally offered to Frank Gregory, +was accepted by him. + +On the 16th of April, 1858, he left the Geraldine mine with a +lightly-equipped party of six, including J.B. Roe, son of the +Surveyor-General. They had with them six pack and six riding-horses, and +rations for 60 days. + +They proceeded up the Murchison, and on the 25th of the same month they +reached a tributary called the Impey, which had been the highest point +reached by Gregory the preceding year. This time, however, the party did +not find such ample pasture as he had described. Still following the +river up until the 30th April, on that day they struck off on a +nor-north-east course, the course of the Murchison tending too much in an +easterly direction to lead them speedily on to the Gascoyne. On the 3rd +they reached a gentle stony ascent, which proved to be the watershed +between the two rivers. Descending the slope to the northward, they soon +came to the head of a watercourse flowing northwards. They followed the +new creek, and on the 6th of May came to a river joining it from the +eastward, which at last proved to be the Gascoyne. + +Gregory kept down the south bank of the Gascoyne, and on the 12th of May +passed a large tributary coming from the north, which he named the Lyons. +On the 17th they ascended a sandy ridge about sixty feet in height, and +had a view of Shark's Bay. + +He returned along the north bank of the river, and having reached the +Lyons, followed that river up. On the 3rd of June he ascended the highest +mountain yet discovered in Western Australia, which he named Mount +Augustus, after his brother. Gregory gives the elevation at 3,480 feet, +but Mount Bruce in the Hammersley Range, to the north of it, has since +been found to be higher.* From the summit, however, he had an extensive +view, and was enabled to sketch in the courses of the various rivers for +over twenty miles. + +*[Footnote.] 3,800 feet. + +As they had now been out 51 days, and their supply of provisions was +approaching the end, the party turned back at Mount Augustus, and struck +southwards. On the 8th the Gascoyne was re-crossed at a place where its +course lay through flats and ana-branches. On the 10th of June they again +came to the Murchison, and followed it down to the Geraldine mine, and +finally reached Perth on the 10th of July. This expedition, so fruitful +in its results to the pastoral welfare of the colony, cost the settlers +only their contributions in horses and rations, and a cash expenditure of +forty pounds. + +The discovery of so much fresh available country on the Gascoyne River, +with the prospect of a new base for exploration in the tropical regions +beyond, attracted the attention of English capitalists. The American +civil war had so depressed the cotton trade that those interested in +cotton manufacture were seeking for fresh fields in which to establish +the growth of the plant. Frank Gregory was then in London, and advantage +was taken of his presence to urge upon the Home Government and the Royal +Geographical Society the desirability of fitting out an expedition to +proceed direct to the north-west coast of Australia, accompanied by a +large body of Asiatic labourers, and all the necessary appliances for the +establishment of a colony. + +Fortunately this rash and ill-considered scheme was greatly modified +under wise advice. Roe, the Surveyor-General of Western Australia, and +other gentlemen practically acquainted with the subject, suggested that +the country should be explored before the idea of any actual settlement +should be entertained. Acting on this advice, the Imperial Government +gave a grant of 2,000 pounds, to be supplemented by an equal subsidy by +the Colonial Treasury. + +Gregory therefore obtained a suitable outfit in London for the party, and +left for Perth to complete the necessary details. The usual official +delays occurred, and the expedition did not leave Fremantle, in the +barque Dolphin, until 23rd April, 1861, nearly two months later than had +been arranged. As the rainy season in northern Australia terminates in +March, this delay was unfortunate. + +Nickol Bay on the north-west coast was the destination, and was safely +reached. The work of disembarkation being completed, the exploring party +started on the 25th of May, 1861. + +Gregory first pursued a western course, as he wished to cut any +considerable river discharging into the sea, and coming from the +interior. + +[Illustration. Maitland Brown.] + +On the 29th of May they struck the river which was subsequently named the +Fortescue. As this river seemed likely to answer their expectations of a +passage through the broken range that hemmed them in to the south, they +followed it up. A narrow precipitous gorge forced them to leave the +river, and, after surmounting a table-land, they steered a course due +south to a high range, which, however, they found too rough to surmount. +Making back on to a north-east course, they again struck the Fortescue, +above the narrow glen which had stopped them. They followed it up once +more through good country, occasionally hampered by its course lying +between rugged hills; but they finally crossed the range, partly by the +aid of the river-bed, and partly through a gap. On the 18th June, they +succeeded in completely surmounting the range, and found that to the +south the decline was more gradual. The range was named the Hammersley +Range. Their horses had suffered considerably, and had lost some of their +shoes in the rough hills. From here they kept south meaning to strike the +Lyons River, discovered by Frank Gregory during his last trip. On coming +to a small tributary which he named the Hardey, he formed a depot camp. +Leaving some of the party and the most sore-footed of the horses, he +pushed on with three men, Brown, Harding, and Brockman, taking three +packhorses and provisions for eight days. + +On the 23rd of June they came on a large western-flowing river, which he +called the Ashburton, and which has since proved to be the longest river +in Western Australia. Having crossed this river, and still pursuing a +southerly course, he arrived at a sandstone tableland, and on the 23rd +had, as Gregory writes, "at last the satisfaction of observing the bold +outlines of Mount Augustus." + +He returned to the depot camp on the 29th, and though anxious to follow +up the Ashburton to the east, the condition of his horses' feet and the +lack of shoes prevented him. During the return journey to Nickol Bay, he +ascended Mount Samson, and from the summit obtained an extensive view +that embraced every prominent peak within seventy miles, including Mount +Bruce to the north, and Mount Augustus to the south, the distance between +these two elevations being 124 geographical miles. They crossed the +Hammersley Range on to the level plains of the Fortescue by means of a +far easier pass than that used on the outward journey, and arrived at the +Bay on the 19th of July. + +On the 31st of July Gregory started on a new expedition to the east. On +the 9th of August he came to a river which apparently headed from the +direction they desired to explore -- namely the south-east. Crossing +another river, which they named the Shaw, the explorers, still keeping +east and south of east, found on the 27th of August, a river of some +importance running through a large extent of good pastoral and +agricultural land. This river was named the De Grey, but as their present +object was to push to the south-east, they left its promising banks and +proceeded into a hilly country where they soon became involved in deep +ravines. After surmounting a rugged tableland, they camped that night at +some springs. + +The next night, the 29th of August, they came, some time after dark, on +to the bank of a wide river lined with the magnificent weeping tea-trees. +As three of the horses were tired out, Gregory determined to follow this +river up for a day or two, instead of closing with a range of granite +hills, capped with horizontal sandstones, which loomed threateningly in +their path. + +So for two or three days they continued on the Oakover, as he christened +the river, and followed its western branch; a tributary of that led them +in amongst the ranges, which were threaded by an easy pass. On the 2nd of +September they got through the ranges and emerged upon open sandy plains +of great extent, with nothing visible across the vast expanse but low +ridges of red drift-sand. Here it was Gregory's lot to experience a test +almost equal to one of the grim tramps that had tried Sturt and Eyre. + +He camped at a native deserted camp, and the next day failing to find any +water ahead, had to return and form a depot. Here he left five of the +party with instructions to remain three days and then fall back upon the +Oakover. He himself, with Brown and Harding, and six horses, went on to +find a passage. + +So far he had encountered fewer obstacles, and made more encouraging +discoveries than had fallen to the lot of any other Western Australian +explorer; but he was now confronted with the stern presence that had +daunted the bravest and best in Australia. In front of him lay barren +plains, hills of drifted sand, and the ominous red haze of the desert. +Let Gregory describe the scene in his own words, as the locality has +become historic:-- + +The three men started on the 6th of September, "steering south-south-east +along the ranges, looking for some stream-bed that might lead us through +the plains, but I was disappointed to find that they were all lost in the +first mile after leaving the hills, and as crossing the numerous ridges +of sand proved very fatiguing to the horses, we determined once more to +attempt to strike to the eastward between the ridges, which we did for +fifteen miles, when our horses again showed signs of failing us, which +left us the only alternative of either pushing on at all hazards to a +distant range that was just visible to the eastward, where, from the +numerous native fires and general depression of the country, there was +every reason to think a large river would be found to exist, or to make +for some deep rocky gorges in the granite hills ten miles to the south, +in which there was every prospect of finding water. In the former case +the travelling would be smoothest, but the distance so great that, in the +event of our failing to find water, we probably should not succeed in +bringing back one of our horses; while in the latter we should have to +climb over the sand-ridges which we had already found so fatiguing; this +course, however, involved the least amount of risk, and we accordingly +struck south four miles and halted for the night. + +"7th September. The horses did not look much refreshed by the night's +rest; we, however, divided three gallons of water amongst them, and +started off early, in the hope of reaching the ranges by noon, but we had +not gone three miles when one of the pack-horses that was carrying less +than forty pounds weight began to fail, and the load was placed on my +saddle-horse; it did not, however, enable him to get on more than a +couple of miles further, when we were compelled to abandon him, leaving +him under the shade of the only tree we could find, in the hope that we +could bring back water to his relief. Finding that it would be many hours +before the horses could be got on to the ranges, I started ahead on foot, +leaving Brown and Harding to come on gently, while I was to make a signal +by fires if successful in finding water. Two hours' heavy toil through +the sand, under a broiling sun, brought me to the ranges, where I +continued to hunt up one ravine after another until 5 p.m. without +success. Twelve hours' almost incessant walking, on a scanty breakfast +and without water, with the thermometer over a hundred degrees of +Fahrenheit, began to tell upon me severely; so much so that by the time I +had tracked up my companions (who had reached the hills by 1 p.m. and +were anxiously waiting for me) it was as much as I could do to carry my +rifle and accoutrements. The horses were looking truly wretched, and I +was convinced that the only chance of saving them, if water was not +found, would be by abandoning our pack-saddles, provisions, and +everything we could possibly spare, and try and recover them afterwards +if practicable. We therefore encamped for the night on the last plot of +grass we could find, and proceeded to make arrangements for an early +start in the morning. There was still a few pints of water in the kegs, +having been very sparing in the use of it; this enabled us to have a +little tea and make a small quantity of damper, of which we all stood in +much need. Camp 77. + +"8th September. At 4 p.m. we were again up, having disposed of our +equipments and provisions, except our riding-saddles, instruments, and +firearms, by suspending them in the branches of a low tree. We divided a +pint of water for our breakfast, and by the first peep of dawn were +driving our famished horses at their best speed towards the depot, which +was now thirty-two miles distant. For the first eight miles they went on +pretty well, but the moment the sun began to have power they flagged +greatly, and it was not long before we were obliged to relinquish another +horse quite unable to proceed. By 9 a.m. I found that my previous day's +march, and the small allowance of food that I had taken was beginning to +have its effects upon me, and that it was probable that I could not reach +the depot before the next morning, by which time the party left there +were to fall back to the Oakover; I therefore directed Brown, who was +somewhat fresher than myself, to push on to the camp and bring out fresh +horses and water, while Harding and myself would do our best to bring on +any straggling horses that could not keep up with him. By dark we +succeeded in reaching to within nine miles of the depot, finding +unmistakable signs towards evening of the condition to which the horses +taken on by Brown were reduced, by the saddles, guns, hobbles, and even +bridles, scattered along the line of march, which had been taken off to +enable them to get on a few miles further." + +Next morning they met Brown within a few miles of the depot coming back +to them with water. All the horses but the two which had been left at the +remotest point were recovered. + +Further on Gregory remarks upon the painful effects produced on the +horses by excessive heat and thirst:-- + +"I cannot omit to remark the singular effects of excessive thirst upon +the eyes of the horses; they absolutely sunk into their heads until there +was a hollow of sufficient depth to bury the thumb in, and there was an +appearance as though the whole of the head had shrunk with them, +producing a very unpleasant and ghastly expression." + +Gregory was now convinced that the sandy tract before him was not to be +crossed with the means at his command, so reluctantly he had to return to +the Oakover and follow that river down to its junction with the De Grey. +Down the united streams, which now bore the name of the De Grey, the +weary explorers travelled through good fertile land, until the coast was +reached on the 25th of September. The worn-out state of their horses +delayed them greatly in getting across a piece of dry country between the +Yule and the Sherlock, where one animal had to be abandoned. + +On the 18th of October, they reached Nickol Bay, and were gladly welcomed +by the crew of the Dolphin, who had profitably passed their time in +collecting several tons of pearl-shell and a few pearls. On the 23rd the +horses and equipment were shipped, and the Dolphin sailed for Fremantle. + +This journey ended Frank Gregory's active life as an explorer; and it was +a noteworthy career which now closed. For the western colony he had +thrown open to settlement the vast area of the north-western coastal +territory; and after relieving the Murchison from the stigma of +barrenness that rested on it, he had discovered and made known all the +rivers to the north and east, until the Oakover was reached. + +It is singular that Frank Gregory should, like nearly all explorers, have +erred greatly in the deductions he drew. When forced to turn back from +the country beyond the Oakover, he much laments the fact, because, not +only had we now attained to within a very few miles of the longitude in +which, from various geographical data, there are just grounds for +believing that a large river may be found to exist draining central +Australia; but the character of the country appeared strongly to indicate +the vicinity of such a feature." + +Of course we now know that no such river drains the centre of Australia. +On the contrary, beyond Gregory's eastern limit there occurs a long +stretch of coastline unmarked by the mouth of any river. Inland, to the +southward, the country even in this day is known as the most hostile and +repellant desert in Australia, markedly deficient in continuous +watercourses. Providence, then, restrained his footsteps from a land +wherein earth and sun seem to unite in hostility against the white +intruder. It is a pity that Frank Gregory did not give his undoubted +powers of description free scope in his Journal. Now and again he gives +them rein; but soon calls a halt, as though alarmed that picturesque +language should be found in a scientific, geographical journal. His +brother Augustus was unfortunately just as correct and precise. + +Frank went to reside in Queensland in 1862, and was nominated to the +Legislative Council of that colony in 1874. Before going to Queensland he +had acted for some time as Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was +married at Ipswich, Queensland, to the daughter of Alexander Hume. He +held office for some time in the McIlwraith Ministry, as +Postmaster-General. He was a gold medallist of the Royal Geographical +Society, and one of the best of the Australian explorers, as bushman, +navigator, surveyor, and scientist. He died at Toowoomba, in 1888, on the +24th of October. + + + +CHAPTER 19. FROM WEST TO EAST. + + +19.1. AUSTIN. + +By 1854 the gold fever was running high in Australia, and each colony was +eager to discover new diggings within its borders. Robert Austin, +Assistant Surveyor-General of Western Australia, was instructed to take +charge of an inland exploring party to search for pastoral country, and +to examine the interior for indications of gold. + +He started from the head of the Swan River on a north-easterly course, +and on the 16th of July reached a lake, rumours of whose existence had +been spread by the blacks, who had called it Cowcowing. The colonists had +hoped that it would prove to be a lake of fresh water in the Gascoyne +valley, but Cowcowing in reality was a salt marsh, no great distance from +the starting-point of Austin's expedition. + +The lake was dry and its bed covered with salt incrustations, showing +that its waters are undoubtedly saline. Thence Austin made directly +north, and passing through repellant country, such as always fell to the +lot of the early western explorers in their initial efforts, he directed +his course to a distant range of table-topped hills. Here he found both +grass and water, and named the highest elevation Mount Kenneth, after +Kenneth Brown, a member of his party. Thence he kept a north-east course, +traversing stony plains intersected by the dry beds of sandy +watercourses. Here the party met with dire misfortune. The horses ate +from a patch of poisonous box plant, and nearly all of them were +disabled. A few escaped, but the greater number never recovered from the +effects of the poison, and fourteen died. Pushing on in the hope of +finding a safe place in which to recruit, Austin found himself so +crippled in his means of transit that he had to abandon all but his most +necessary stores. + +He now made for Shark's Bay, whither a vessel was to be sent to render +him assistance or take the party home if required. The course to Shark's +Bay led them over country that did not tempt them to linger on the way. +On the 21st of September a sad accident occurred. They were then camped +at a spring near a cave in the face of a cliff, in which there were some +curious native rock-paintings. While resting here, a young man named +Charles Farmer accidentally shot himself in the arm, and in spite of the +most careful attention the poor fellow died of lockjaw in the most +terrible agony. He was buried at the cave-spring camp, and the highest +hill in the neighbourhood was christened Mount Farmer. His death and +burial reminds one of Sturt's friend Poole, who rests in the east of the +continent under the shadow of Mount Poole. Thus two lonely graves in the +Australian wilderness are guarded by mountains whose names perpetuate the +memory of their occupants. And who could desire a nobler monument than +the everlasting hills? + +Austin now came to the upper tributaries of the Murchison only to find +them waterless. Even the deep cut channel of the Murchison itself was +dry. They crossed the river, but beyond it all their efforts to penetrate +westward were in vain. They had fought their way to within one hundred +miles of Shark's Bay, but they had then been so long without water that +further advance meant certain death. Even during the retreat to the +Murchison, the lives of the horses were saved only by the accidental +discovery of a small native well in a most improbable situation, namely, +in the middle of a bare ironstone plain. Their only course now was to +fall back on the Murchison, hoping that they would find water at their +crossing. Austin pushed on ahead of the main body, and struck the river +twenty-five miles below their previous crossing, to make the tantalising +discovery that the pools of water on which they had fixed their hopes +were hopelessly salt. + +A desperate and vain search was made to the southward, during a day of +fierce and terrible heat; but on the next day, having made for some small +hills they had sighted, they providentially found both water and grass. +The whole party rested at this spot, which was gratefully named Mount +Welcome. + +Nothing daunted by the sufferings he had undergone, Austin now made +another attempt to reach Shark's Bay. On the way to the Murchison, they +had induced an old native to come with them to point out the +watering-places of the blacks. At first he was able to show them one or +two that in all probability they would have missed, but after they had +crossed the Murchison and proceeded some distance to the westward, the +water the native had relied on was found to have disappeared, and it was +only after the most acute sufferings from thirst and the loss of some +more horses, that they managed to struggle back to Mount Welcome. + +Austin's conduct during these terrible marches seems to have bordered on +the heroic. Whilst his companions fell away one by one and lay down to +die, and the one native of the wilds was cowering weeping under a bush, +he toiled on and managed to reach a little well which the blackfellow had +formerly shown him. Without resting, he tramped back with water to revive +his exhausted companions. + +At Mount Welcome they found the water on the point of giving out, and +weak and exhausted though they were, an immediate start had to be made to +the Geraldine mine, a small settlement having been formed there to work +the galena lode discovered by Gregory. That they would ever reach the +mine the explorers could not hope; they and their horses were in a state +of extreme weakness, the distance to the mine was one hundred and sixty +miles, and to the highest point on the Murchison, where Gregory had found +water, their first stage was ninety miles. They began their journey at +midnight, and by means of forced marches, travelling day and night, they +reached Gregory's old camp on the river. Fortunately they had found a +small supply of water at one place on the way. From this point the worst +of their perils were passed. They followed the river down, obtaining +water from springs in the banks, and on the 27th of November arrived at +the mine, where they were warmly entertained. Thence they returned to +Perth, some by sea and some overland. + +Austin's exploration had led to no profitable result. Cowcowing had +proved only a saline marsh similar to Lake Moore, the large lake which +had haunted Gregory; the upper Murchison was not of a nature to invite +further acquaintance or settlement; and the whole of the journey had been +a disheartening round of daily struggles with a barren and waterless +district, under the fiery sun of the southern summer. + +Austin thought that eastward of his limit the country would improve; but +subsequent explorations have not substantiated his supposition. He had +had singularly hard fortune to contend against. After the serious loss he +sustained by the poisoning of his horses, a risk that cannot be +effectually warded off by the greatest care, he had been pitted against +exceptionally dry country, covered with dense scrub and almost grassless, +in which the men and horses must assuredly have lost their lives but for +his dauntless and heroic conduct. + +Austin afterwards settled in North Queensland, and followed the +profession of mining surveyor. + +19.2. SIR JOHN FORREST. + +[Illustration. John Forrest in 1874.] + +John Forrest, the explorer who ultimately succeeded in crossing the +hitherto impassable desert of the western centre, now made his first +essay. An old rumour that the blacks had slain some white men and their +horses on a salt lake in the interior was now revived, and gained some +credence. A black who stated that he had visited the scene of the +incident was interviewed, and Baron von Mueller wrote to the Western +Australian Government offering to lead a party thither and ascertain if +there was any truth in the report. The Government favourably considered +the offer, and made preparations to send out a party. Von Mueller was +prevented from taking charge, and the command was given to John Forrest, +then a surveyor in the Government service. Forrest was born near Bunbury, +Western Australia, on the 22nd of August, 1847, and entered the Survey +Department of West Australia in December 1865. + +On the 26th of April, 1869, Forrest left Yarraging, then the furthest +station to the eastward. When camped at a native well, visited by Austin +thirteen years before, he says that he could still distinctly see the +tracks of that explorer's horses. Past this spot he fell in with some +natives who told him that a large party of men and horses had died in a +locality away to the north, and that a gun belonging to the party was in +possession of the natives. On closer examination this story was proved to +have its origin in the death of Austin's horses. + +Forrest continued his journey to the east, and on the 18th came to a +large dry salt lake, which he named Lake Barlee. An attempt to cross this +lake resulted in the bogging of the horses, and it was only after +strenuous exertions that the horses and packs were once more brought on +to hard ground. Lake Barlee was afterwards found to be of considerable +size, extending for more than forty miles to the eastward. + +The native guide Forrest had with him now began to express doubts as to +his knowledge of the exact spot at which he saw the remains. After +considerable search, Forrest came across a large party of the aborigines +of the district. These men, however, proved to be anything but friendly; +they threw dowaks at the guide, and advised the whites to go back before +they were killed. Next morning they had speech with two of them, who said +that the bones were those of horses, some distance to the north; they +said they would come to the camp the next day and lead the whites there, +but they did not fulfil their promise. No other profitable intercourse +with the blacks was possible. One old man howled piteously all the time +they were in his company, and another, who had two children with him, +gave them to understand most emphatically that he had never heard of any +horses having been killed, though some natives had just killed and eaten +his own brother. + +After vainly searching the district for many days, Forrest determined to +utilise the remainder of the time at his disposal by examining the +country as far to the eastward as his resources would permit. It was now +clear that the story of the white men's remains had originated in the +skeletons of the horses that perished during Austin's trip. No matter how +circumstantial might be a narration of the blacks, they invariably +contradicted themselves the next time they were interrogated, and it was +evident that no useful purpose would be served by following them on a +foolish errand from place to place. Forrest therefore penetrated some +distance east, but was not encouraged by the discovery of any useful +country. Nevertheless, he started on a solitary expedition ahead, taking +only one black boy and provisions for seven days. He reached a point one +hundred miles beyond the camp of the main body, to the eastward of Mount +Margaret on the present goldfields. He ascended the highest tree he could +find, and found the outlook was dreary and desolate. The country was +certainly slightly more open than that hitherto traversed, but it was +covered with spinifex, interspersed with an occasional stunted gum-tree. +Rough sandstone cliffs were visible about six miles to the north-east, +and more to the north appeared a narrow line of samphire flats with gum +trees and cypress growing on their edges. Of surface water there was no +appearance. + +On his homeward route Forrest kept a more northerly and westerly course, +and crossed Lake Barlee and examined the northern shore; but he found +nothing to induce him to modify the unfavourable opinion pronounced on +the country by other explorers. He returned to Perth on the 6th August. + +Forrest was next placed at the head of an expedition which was to cross +to Adelaide by way of the shores of the Great Australian Bight, along the +same ill-omened route followed by Eyre, and never trodden since his +remarkable journey. This time the historic cliffs were to be traversed +with but slight privation and no bloodshed. Though the information +supplied by Eyre was considered to be thoroughly trustworthy, it was +recognized that with the scanty means of observation at his command and +his famished condition, a few important facts might have escaped his +notice, and that if his route were followed by a well-equipped party, the +terrors of the region might assume less gigantic proportions. + +Forrest's company was to consist of the leader and his brother Alexander, +two white men, and two natives, one of whom had accompanied Forrest on +his former trip. A coasting schooner, the Adur, of 30 tons, was to +accompany them round the coast, calling at Esperance Bay, Israelite Bay, +and Eucla, supplying them with provisions at these depots. + +On the 30th of March they left Perth. The first part of the journey to +Esperance Bay was through comparatively settled and well-known country, +so that no fresh interest attached to it. They arrived at Dempster's +station at Esperance a few days before the Adur sailed into the Bay, and +on the 9th of May, 1870, they started on their next stage to Israelite +Bay. + +[Map. Forest's Route 1869; Forrest's Route 1870; Forrest's Route 1874; +Giles's Route 1873; Grey's Route 1836 and 1837 and 1839.] + +From Esperance Bay to Israelite Bay the journey lacked incident, and it +was not until Forrest again parted from his relief boat that he had to +encounter the most serious part of his undertaking. He had now to face +the line of cliffs which frowned over the Bight, behind which he had, as +he knew, little or no chance of finding water for 150 miles. Having made +what arrangements he could to carry water, he left the last water on the +5th of April. About a week afterwards he reached the break in the cliffs, +where water could be obtained by digging in the sandhills. Luckily they +had found many small rock-holes filled with water, which had enabled them +to push steadily on. Forrest says that the cliffs, which fell +perpendicularly to the sea, although grand in the extreme, were terrible +to gaze from:-- + +"After looking very cautiously over the precipice, we all ran back, quite +terrified by the dreadful view." + +While resting and recruiting at the sandhills, he made an excursion to +the north, and after passing through a fringe of scrub twelve miles deep, +he came upon most beautifully-grassed downs. At fifty miles from the sea +there was nothing visible as far as the eye could reach but gentle +undulating plains of grass and saltbush. There being no prospects of +water, he was forced to turn back, fortunately finding a few surface +pools both on his outward and homeward way. + +On the 24th they started from the sandhills for Eucla, the last +meeting-place appointed with the Adur. During this stage he kept to the +north of the Hampton Range, and through a country well-grassed but +destitute of surface water. The party reached Eucla on the 2nd of July, +and found the Adur duly awaiting them. Whilst at Eucla, Forrest, in +company with his brother, made another excursion to the north; he +penetrated some thirty miles inland, and found as before boundless +plains, beautifully grassed, though destitute of any signs of water. + +After leaving Eucla, the explorers had a distressing stage to the head of +the Great Bight, where they finally obtained water by digging in the +sand. On this stage the horses suffered more than on any previous one, +having had to travel three days without a drink. From this point they +soon reached the settled districts of South Australia in safety. + +Although this journey of Forrest's cannot strictly be called an exploring +expedition, inasmuch as he repeated the journey made under such terrible +conditions by Eyre travelling in the opposite direction, yet it is of +first-rate importance, inasmuch as, owing to the greater facilities he +enjoyed, he was able to pronounce a more final verdict than Eyre was able +to give. Forrest found that the gloomy thicket was a fringe confined to +the immediate coast-line. On every occasion that he penetrated it, he +came on good pastoral land beyond. He writes:-- + +"The country passed over between longitude 126 degrees 24 minutes and 128 +degrees 30 minutes East as a grazing country far surpasses anything I +have ever seen. There is nothing in the settled portion of Western +Australia equal to it, either in extent or quality; but the absence of +permanent water is a great drawback...The country is very level, with +scarcely any undulation, and becomes clearer as you proceed north." + +On his arrival in Adelaide he received a hearty welcome, and a similar +reception was accorded him on his return to Perth. Unfortunately this +expedition destroyed all hope of the existence of any river, the mouth of +which might have been crossed unwittingly by Eyre. + +We now come to that exploit which gained for Forrest a place in the +foremost rank of Australian explorers. The western central desert had +long defied the explorers in their attempts to cross its dread confines. +But the young West Australian took his men and most of his horses through +the very heart of the terrible desert. We have seen how three expeditions +had started from the east for the purpose of making this continental +traverse, all differently composed -- one with the aid of camels only, +one with a composite equipment of both horses and camels, and the third +with only horses. The successful expedition to be now recorded travelled +from west to east, and crossed the desert with horses only. + +[Illustration. Members of the Exploring Expedition, Geraldton to +Adelaide, 1874. +Standing, left to right: Tommy Pierre, Tommy Windich, James Kennedy, +James Sweeny. +Seated, left to right: Alexander Forrest (Second in Command), John +Forrest (In Command).] + +On the 14th of April, 1874, Forrest left Yuin, then the border of +settlement on the Murchison, accompanied by his brother Alexander, two +white men, and two natives, to endeavour to cross the unknown stretch of +desert country that separated the colonies of eastern Australia from the +western settlements. Their route at first lay along the Murchison River, +following the upper course, which they found to run through well-grassed +country, available for either sheep or cattle. From the crest of the head +watershed they had a view of their future travelling-ground to the +eastward. It appeared level, with low elevations, but there was a lack of +conspicuous hills, which did not promise favourably for water-finding, +though good pasture might be obtainable. + +For the next few days the party were dependent for water on occasional +springs and scanty clay-pans. On the 27th, when following down a creek, +they suddenly came upon a fine spring, apparently permanent, which is +described by Forrest in his journal as one of the best he had ever seen, +both the grass and other herbage around being of fine quality. This place +he named Windich Springs, after Tommy Windich, one of the blacks who had +now been with Forrest on three expeditions. To the north-west was a fine +range of hills, which he named the Carnarvon Range. On leaving this +oasis, the explorers found themselves in less attractive country; +spinifex and sand became more frequent features of the landscape, and the +occasional water-supply became precarious. + +On the 2nd of June, Forrest discovered the spring which aided them so +greatly in their efforts to cross. This he called Weld Springs, and he +describes it as unlimited in supply, clear, fresh, and extending down its +gully for over twenty chains. At this relief camp they halted in order to +rest the horses. + +On the 8th Forrest started on a scouting expedition ahead, taking only a +black boy with him. He fully anticipated finding water, for as yet they +had not reached a waterless region, and he left instructions for the rest +to follow in his tracks in a day's time. He was unfortunate in his +selection of a course, for it led them for more than twenty miles over +undulating sand-ridges, without a sight of any indication of the presence +of water. At daybreak, from the top of a low stony rise, he obtained an +extensive outlook. Far as he could see to the north and east, nothing was +visible but the level unending spinifex; not a watercourse or a hill in +sight. Evidently they were trespassing on the edge of the central desert. + +Turning back they met the remainder of the party about twenty miles from +Weld Springs; and the whole body retreated to their lately deserted camp. +After a day's rest, Alexander Forrest and a black boy started to the +south-east searching for water. At one o'clock sixty or seventy natives +appeared on the brow of the rise overlooking the camp. They were painted +and dressed in war costume, and evidently planning an attack. After some +consultation they suddenly descended the slope and dashed at the camp. +Fortunately the whites were on the alert, and a well-directed volley sent +them in head-long retreat to their vantage-point on the brow of the +ridge, where they held a fresh council of war. Presently they renewed the +assault, but a rifle-shot from Forrest put an end to the skirmish. That +evening Alexander and the boy returned, and were much surprised to hear +of the adventure with the blacks. They had been over fifty miles from +camp and had passed over some well-grassed country but had found no +water. As their detention at Weld Springs promised to be indefinite, the +party then built a rough shelter of stones in order to ensure themselves +some measure of protection against night attacks. When this small defence +work was finished, Forrest again reconnoitred ahead for water accompanied +by one black boy, and found some clay waterholes, of no great extent, but +sufficient for camping purposes. Thither the camp was shifted. + +On the 22nd the leader made another search in advance, and in thirty +miles came to a fine supply of water, in a gully running through a +well-grassed plain whereon there was abundance of good feed for the +horses. To the south of this spot there was a small salt lake, which he +named Lake Augusta. Another good spring in grassy country was also found. +On the 30th of June Forrest made a scouting excursion to the eastward, +but experienced ill fortune; for having penetrated as far as possible +into the spinifex country, his horses gave out. By the aid of some scanty +pools of rainwater trapped in some rocks, he succeeded in getting a short +distance farther on foot, and in reaching a low range. From its summit he +obtained an extensive but depressing view, such as too often greeted the +explorer at that time and in that part of Australia. Far away to the +north and east, the grey horizon was as level and as uniform as the +placid sea; spinifex everywhere, unbroken by ranges or elevations within +over thirty miles. + +He was now worried and perplexed as to the direction of his future +movements. The main party were following up his tracks; but to plunge +unthinkingly into such a desert as lay in front of them were sheer +madness. Fate relented, however, and after much toilsome search Forrest +found a small supply of water, enough for a few days, where he gratefully +awaited the approach of his companions. + +During the short respite thus accorded them, a diligent search for water +was made amongst the low ranges, the only alternative being a retreat of +seventy miles. A little more water was found to the south-east, and, as +there was coarse rough grass around the well, it helped to prolong their +rest and afforded more time for further search. This time Alexander +Forrest went ahead, and twenty-five miles further to the eastward found a +spring, which was named after him, the Alexander Springs. + +Another scouting excursion to the east was likewise fortunate, as far as +water was concerned, but the feed for the horses was very poor indeed, +and they were suffering greatly. They were now within one hundred miles +of Gosse's furthest point west, but that hundred miles was one long line +of desert perils. Repeated efforts to traverse it only reduced the little +remaining strength in the horses, leading to no discovery of water. But +at length a kindly shower filled some rock holes to the north-east of +their camp, and after much exertion and hardship they reached the old +camp that Giles had named Fort Mueller, and were able to congratulate +themselves upon having been the first to bridge the central gap of desert +that separated the two colonies. + +As the course of Forrest's party from Fort Mueller to the telegraph line +was more or less the same as that pursued by Gosse, it is unnecessary to +follow the journal to its end. It is enough to state that on Sunday, the +27th of September, the telegraph line was reached at a point some +distance to the north of the Peake station. Thus safely concluded an +expedition that makes a mark in our geographical history, although it was +accompanied by no notable discovery. Central Australia had now been +crossed in the same zone that had turned back the explorers from the +east, and the fact that Forrest got through, equipped with only the +ordinary outfit of horses stamped him as a leader of unusual foresight +and judgment. + +Forrest's last expedition was rather a survey than a journey of +discovery. In 1883, in company with several other surveyors, he landed at +Roebuck Bay, and examined a large portion of the Kimberley Division. He +proceeded from Roebuck Bay to the Fitzroy River, which his brother had +lately explored, and examined the intermediate country as far as St. +George's Range, reporting that it consisted mainly of rich elevated +grassy plains with abundance of water. He also investigated Cambridge +Gulf and the lowest part of the Ord River. + +After quitting the field of exploration, John Forrest entered the wider +arena of politics, in which his reputation was enhanced. He held the +office of Premier of Western Australia continuously for ten years, and he +still fills a distinguished position among the public men of federated +Australia. He was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical +Society in 1876, and is now a G.C.M.G. and a Privy Councillor. + +19.3. ALEXANDER FORREST. + +[Illustration. Alexander Forrest.] + +Alexander Forrest was born in 1849, and died in 1901. He accompanied +his brother, as we have already noted, in two important expeditions, and +in 1871 he took charge of a private expedition to the eastward in search +of pastoral country. Owing to a late start, he and his party were +compelled to make for the coast when they had reached latitude 31 degrees +south, longitude 123 degrees east. This course led them to Mount Ragged, +whence, proceeding westerly, they returned to Perth by way of Esperance, +having penetrated inland six hundred miles and found a considerable area +of good country. + +In 1879, Alexander Forrest led an expedition from the De Grey River to +the now customary goal, the overland telegraph line of South Australia. +He left the De Grey on the 25th of February, and reached Beagle Bay on +the 10th of April, the country passed over being like most land in the +immediate neighbourhood of the coast, poor and indifferent. + +From Beagle Bay he followed the coast round to the Fitzroy, and proceeded +up that river until he encountered a range, which was named the King +Leopold Range. Here the party left the Fitzroy, of which river Forrest +speaks very highly, and struck north, looking for a pass through the +range. It proved to be very rough and precipitous, and when at last they +reached the sea, they found themselves in an angle, wedged in between the +sea and the range, romantic and picturesque, according to Forrest's +description, but quite impassible. Here, too, the natives approached them +in threatening numbers, but through the exercise of tact, peace was +preserved. On the 22nd of June they attacked one tier of the range, and +after a steep climb, which caused the death of one horse, they reached +the height of 800 feet and camped. Finding it so hard upon the horses, +Forrest left them to rest, and went on foot to discover a road. But he +came upon endless rugged zigzags, which so involved and baffled him that +he gave it up in despair, and returned. He had now, most reluctantly, to +abandon the idea of surmounting the range, and to make for the Fitzroy +once more. Following up the Margaret, a tributary of the Fitzroy, he +managed to work round the southern end of the range, which still frowned +defiance at him, and at last reached the summit, the crest of a +tableland, whence he saw before him good grassy hills and plains. Of this +country, which he called Nicholson Plains, Forrest speaks most +enthusiastically, and doubtless, after the late struggle with the range, +it must have appeared a perfect picture of enchantment. + +On the 24th they reached a fine river, which was then running strong. +They named it the Ord, and followed its course for a time. Thence he +continued his way to the line, and on the 18th of August came to the +Victoria River. From the Victoria, Forrest had a hard struggle to reach +the telegraph line. The rations being nearly exhausted, and one man being +very ill, the leader started for Daly Waters station, taking one man with +him. After much suffering and privation they at last reached the line, +and obtained water at some tanks kept for the use of the line repairers. +The absence of a map of the line led Forrest to follow it north, away +from Daly Waters, and it was four days before they overtook a repairing +party and obtained food. + +Alexander Forrest was afterwards for many years a member of the +Legislative Council of West Australia, was for six years Mayor of Perth +and a C.M.G. He died on the 20th June, 1901. A bronze statue was +erected to his memory in Perth, Western Australia, by his friends. + + + +CHAPTER 20. LATER EXPLORATION IN THE WEST. + +[ Illustration. Carr-Boyd and Camel. Photographed at Laverton, Western +Australia, October, 1906.] + + +20.1. CAMBRIDGE GULF AND THE KIMBERLEY DISTRICT. + +The futile rush for gold to the Kimberley district had one good result -- +a better appreciation of its pastoral capabilities, and numerous short +expeditions were made in search of grazing country. + +Amongst these was one by W.J. O'Donnell and W. Carr-Boyd, who explored an +area extending from the overland line in the direction of Roebourne, and +were fortunate in finding good country. Later, in 1896, Carr-Boyd, +accompanied by a companion named David Breardon, who was afterwards out +with David Carnegie, visited the country about the Rawlinson Ranges and +penetrated to Forrest's Alexander Spring. His name is also known in +connection with exploration in the Northern Territory, and he has made +several excursions between the Southern goldfields of West Australia and +the South Australian border. + +His experiences were not unlike those of the other explorers; he had to +struggle on against heat, thirst, and spinifex, and found occasional +tracts of pastoral land destitute of surface water. + +In 1884 Harry Stockdale, an experienced bushman, started from Cambridge +Gulf in order to investigate the country to the southward, and explore +the land in its vicinity. + +From the Gulf southward, he traversed well-watered and diversified +country till he reached Buchanan's Creek, which must be distinguished +from the stream of the same name in the Northern Territory of South +Australia.* Having formed a depot there, he hoped to make further +explorations, but owing to certain irregularities which had occurred +among his followers in his absence on a flying trip, he was compelled to +start immediately for his destination on the overland line. A very +singular incident happened during this latter part of his journey. Two of +the men, named Mulcay and Ashton desired, under the plea of sickness, to +be left behind, and resisted every attempt to turn them from their +purpose. Stockdale reached the line after suffering great hardship, but +the fate of the two abandoned men eluded all subsequent search. + +*[Footnote.] See Chapter 16. + +20.2. LINDSAY AND THE ELDER EXPLORING EXPEDITION. + +[Illustration. Sir Thomas Elder, G.C.M.G. Photo: Duryea, Adelaide. + +Illustration. David Lindsay.] + +In 1891 Sir Thomas Elder of South Australia, who had already done much in +the cause of exploration, projected another expedition on a large and +most ambitious plan. It was called The Elder Exploring Scientific +Expedition, and its main purpose was announced to be the completion of +the exploration of Australia. A map was prepared on which a huge extent +of the continent was partitioned off into blocks each bearing a +distinctive letter, A, B, C, D, etc., quite irrespective of the fact that +all these blocks had been partially explored and that some had even been +settled. + +The leadership of the party was offered to and accepted by David Lindsay, +who had already won for himself a name as a capable explorer in South +Australia. The second in charge was L.A. Wells. As the expedition was in +the main destitute of any striking results, a short synopsis of the +journey will satisfy our requirements. + +Shortly after the expedition crossed the border-line between South +Australia and West Australia, Mr. Leech, one of the responsible officers, +was despatched on a fruitless trip northward to search for traces of the +ill-fated Gibson, who had perished with Giles some seventeen years +previously. The expedition then proceeded via Fort Mueller to Mount +Squires, where water was obtainable. Thence a south-west course was taken +to Queen Victoria's Spring. In latitude 29 degrees, 270 miles south of +Mount Squires, the eastern end of a patch of good pastoral country was +observed. On reaching the springs they were found to be dry, and all the +intended exploration which was to be effected from this base had to be +abandoned, the party having to push on to Fraser's Range; and this hasty +trip through the desert comprised the only useful work done. Lindsay +reported that, when half-way to the Range, they passed some good country +consisting of rich red soil, producing good stock bushes but all +exceedingly dry. A belt of country deserving the attention of prospectors +was also noted. Having rested some time at the Range, they set out to +examine, if possible, the western side of the desert they had just +traversed, but lack of water compelled them to take an extreme westerly +course to the Murchison by way of Mount Monger, passing through a country +covered with miserable thicket on a sandy soil with granite outcrops. On +the 1st of January, 1892, they reached their destination, when the +majority of the members left the party, and the leader was recalled to +Adelaide. + +At the termination of the original expedition, or rather before its +conclusion was absolutely determined on, L.A. Wells made a flying trip +into the district lying between Giles's track of 1876 and Forrest's route +of 1874. Starting from his depot at Welbundinum, he completed the +examination of what was practically the whole of the still unexplored +portion in about six weeks, between the 23rd of February and the 4th of +April. During this expedition he travelled 834 miles, discovered some +fine ranges and hills, a large extent of pastoral country, some +apparently auriferous land, but no water of a permanent kind. The results +were indeed very promising, more valuable than those of the original +Elder Expedition, and Wells, whose hopes had risen with the success, was +intensely disappointed to find on his return that the expedition had been +disbanded. Both Lindsay and Wells were natives of South Australia, +Lindsay having been born at Goolwa, and Wells at Yallum station in the +south-east, which was owned by his father and uncle. Wells joined the +Survey Department of South Australia when but eighteen, and at +twenty-three was appointed assistant-surveyor to the North Territory +Border expedition. On the settlement of the border question he returned +to Adelaide, and is now engaged on the Victoria River. + +20.3. WELLS AND CARNEGIE IN THE NORTHERN DESERT. + +[Illustration. L.A. Wells. Photo: Duryea, Adelaide.] + +By this time the gold rush to the southern portion of Western Australia +had set in strong, and the country that had so long repelled the pastoral +pioneer by its aridity was now overrun with prospectors, their camps +supplied with water by condensers at the salt lakes and pools. At first +the loss of life was very great; for it was not likely that a district +that could be safely traversed only by the hardiest and most experienced +bushmen would freely yield its secrets to untried men. Of the many deaths +that occurred from thirst, no complete record will ever be available. +Some unrecognisable and mummified remains may some day be found amid the +untrodden waste; but few have yet been tempted to break in upon the +solitude of the dead men of the desert. + +As the southern goldfields spread and became thickly-populated, the food +supply was an important question, and men's eyes naturally turned to the +well-stocked northern stations, from which many cattle were being sent +south by steamer. Though the distance overland was not prohibitive, the +belt of desert country that intervened, upon which Warburton to his +sorrow was the first to venture, forbade the passage of stock. This belt +of Sahara extended, roughly speaking, from the eastern border of the +colony to the head waters of the western coastal rivers. North and south +it lay between the parallels of 19 degrees and 31 degrees south. As yet +no daring attempt had been made to traverse its barren confines from +south to north. But, to the born explorer, difficulty and danger give an +added zest to geographical research; and in the year 1896 two separate +expeditions sought to cross this dreadful zone. Both left civilization +within a few days of each other. The first to start was known as the +Calvert Expedition, from its originator. It was under L.A. Wells, the +South Australian surveyor who had been the energetic second of the former +Elder Expedition. The other was equipped and led by the Honourable David +Carnegie. + +Wells formed a depot at a spot well provided with camel feed and water, +at some distance to the south-west of Forrest's Lake Augusta, which he +found, at that time, dry. Here he left the main part of his caravan to +await his return whilst he made a flying trip to the north. He was away +from the 10th of August to the 8th of September, during which he found at +his furthest point, a distance of two hundred miles, a good native well, +which he named Midway Well. On the 14th of September the whole party made +a start, and reached Midway Well on the 29th, all well. At Separation +Well, another good well a little farther to the north, the party +separated, C.F. Wells, a cousin of the leader, and G.L. Jones, intending +to travel for about eighty miles in a north-west direction to examine the +country, and then to return on a north-east course and rejoin the caravan +at Joanna Springs, which had relieved Warburton in his extremity. About +thirty miles south of Joanna Springs, where the leader expected the two +men to cut his tracks, Wells found his camels suffering terribly from the +extreme heat and their labours among the constantly-recurring +sand-ridges, whilst the scanty native wells they found were insufficient +to give their camels water. When at last they reached the latitude of +Joanna Springs they had been obliged to abandon three camels and all +their equipment except the actual necessaries. + +It was also evident that the longitude of the springs given by Warburton +was wrong, for all the country around was a sandy desert without the +slightest indication of well or spring. To linger in such a spot was to +court destruction, and they had to push on to the Fitzroy as fast as +their worn-out camels could take them. The reader will remember that +Warburton had failed to find A.C. Gregory's most southerly point on +Sturt's Creek when looking for it, and it was afterwards proved that +Joanna Springs had been charted by him about ten miles to the westward of +its true position. On the 7th of November, in the darkness of morning +they at last reached the Fitzroy, with the camels just at their last +gasp. + +On the 16th of December, Wells, accompanied by that veteran pioneer N. +Buchanan, formerly of Queensland, started back with an Afghan, a native +boy, and eight camels, to look for the two men, who he hoped had +succeeded in finding Joanna Springs. He was absent until the 10th of +January, 1897, when he was forced to return unsuccessful. At the +beginning of April, taking with him his former companions of the +expedition, Wells renewed the search, and on the 9th at last succeeded in +identifying the Joanna Springs of Warburton. On the 13th some articles +belonging to the lost men were found amongst the natives, but he did not +at that time find the bodies. He started again with two members of the +West Australia police force, Sub-Inspector Ord and Trooper Nicholson, and +native trackers. This time they were successful in inducing some natives +to guide them to the exact spot where the remains lay amongst the +spinifex and sand. The bodies were within six miles of the place where, +on the last search expedition, Wells had found articles of equipment with +the natives. + +G.L. Jones had kept a journal which supplied the clue to the cause of +their death. + +"He stated in his journal," says Wells, "that they had gone +west-north-west for five days after separating from the main party, then +travelling a short distance north-east, and that both he and Charles felt +the heat terribly and were both unwell. They then returned to the well +(Separation Well) after an absence of nine days, rested at the water five +days, and then started to follow our tracks northward. Afterwards one of +their camels died, which obliged them to walk a great deal, and they +became very weak and exhausted by the intense heat. When writing he says +that two days previously he attempted to follow their camels, which had +strayed, but after walking half-a-mile he felt too weak to proceed and +returned with difficulty. There was at that time about two quarts of +water remaining to them, and he did not think they could last long after +that was finished." + +From the above extract from Wells's Journal, it is evident that the +unfortunate men lost their lives through a mistake in judgment in +returning to Separation Well, the straying away of their camels, and the +merciless rays of the desert sun. + +The account of this, the first expedition to cross the great sandy desert +from south to north, confirms in every particular Warburton's experiences +of the difficulties of exploration in that region. The intense heat of +the sun, and its radiation from the red sand-ridges, the heat from both +sky and earth, render it nearly impossible to travel during day, the only +time when a man can perceive those slight indications which may +eventually lead him to water. The traveller is therefore compelled to +make night-stages, and frequently passes unheeding the very pool or well +that would have saved his life. During the night not only are the natural +physical features difficult to discern, but the birds, those water-guides +of the desert, are sleeping. + +As soon as the news that Jones and Wells were missing was wired to Perth, +the West Australian Government promptly despatched W.P. Rudall in charge +of a search-party, from Braeside station on the Oakover River. + +Crossing into the desert country, Rudall, guided by blacks, came upon a +camp in which footsteps, supposed to be those of the missing men, were +traceable. His camels failing him, the tracks were lost, and he was +obliged to return. A second search was likewise fruitless, but rumours +brought in by the natives of straying camels, caused a third party to be +organised. Rudall this time went south of the head of the Oakover, and +penetrated the dry spinifex country below the Tropic. Here the bodies of +two men, supposed to have been murdered by the natives, were found, but +on further investigation it was decided that the remains were not those +of the men they were searching for. On his return Rudall started out on a +final trip, and penetrated to a point sixty miles south of Joanna Spring +before returning. Though these journeys were not successful in attaining +the initial object of their search, they were of great service in gaining +much information concerning the hitherto unknown desert. Running easterly +into this dry belt, Rudall found a creek, which is now known as the +Rudall River. + +[Illustration. David Wynford Carnegie.] + +Four days after Wells had started, the Honourable David Carnegie, fourth +son of the ninth Earl of Southesk, born March 23rd, 1871, left an outpost +of civilization called Doyle's Well, some fifty miles south of Lake +Darlot, intending to cross Warburton's Desert on a north-easterly course, +about two hundred miles to the east of the route pursued by surveyor +Wells. The objects of this purely private expedition were (1) extension +of geographical knowledge; (2) the desire to ascertain if any practicable +stock-route existed between Kimberley and Coolgardie; (3) the discovery +of patches of auriferous country within the confines of the desert. In +the two last objects Carnegie was doomed to disappointment, but as a +geographical contribution to our scanty knowledge of north-west +Australia, the outcome of his repeated journey was distinctly valuable. + +Carnegie started with three white men and a native boy, and for many days +passed through country that afforded no water for the camels; of which +they had nine. A native was induced to lead them to a singular spring +situated in a cavern twenty-five feet underground. Though the water was +not easy of access, having to be hauled up by bucket to the surface, +there was an ample supply for the camels, and, as Carnegie considered the +well to be permanent, he named it the Empress Spring. + +The discovery of this subterranean spring was indeed a godsend, as when +they eventually reached Forrest's Alexander Spring they found it dry. A +similar experience had befallen W.W. Mills who, after Forrest's +exploration, had attempted to take over a mob of camels in Forrest's +tracks. + +Strangely enough a lagoon of fresh water was found at the foot of the +creek in which the spring was situated, and this satisfied their wants. +From this sheet, which was named Woodhouse Lagoon, the party kept a +nearly northerly course across what Carnegie calls in his book "the great +undulating desert of gravel." Over this terrible region of drought and +desolation the party made their painful way by the aid of miserable +native wells, found with the greatest difficulty, and a few chance +patches of parakeelia,* until they were relieved by finding, through the +good offices of an aboriginal guide, a beautiful spring which was named +Helena Spring. They were then seven days out from Woodhouse Lagoon, and +during the last days of the stage they had been travelling across most +distressing parallel sand-ridges. + +*[Footnote.] A ground plant which camels eat, and which assuages their +thirst. + +From Helena Spring Carnegie struggled on, intending to strike the +northern settlements at Hall's Creek where there is a small mining +township. On the way there, while still in unexplored country, they +discovered one more oasis, in a rock hole, which was called Godfrey's +Tank, after Godfrey Massie, one of the party. On November 25th, 1896, +they congratulated themselves that they were at last clear of the desert +and its desolation, having come out on to a well-watered shady river, +running towards the northern coast. But a sad accident turned their +rejoicing into mourning. Charles Stansmore accidentally slipped on a rock +when out shooting, and his gun going off, he was shot through the heart +and died instantly. His friend Carnegie speaks most highly of him, and +his sudden death on the threshold of success was a sad blow to the +company. Stansmore was the third explorer to lose his life from a gun +accident. + +At Hall's Creek Carnegie heard of the misfortune that had befallen Wells, +in the loss of two of his party, and he at once volunteered his +assistance; but as search-parties had already started out, his aid was +not required. He therefore rested for a short time before again trying +conclusions with the desert on the return journey. Sturt's Creek was by +this time occupied and stocked, and the party followed it down until they +arrived at its termination in Gregory's Salt Sea. From this point +Carnegie kept a southerly course to Lake Macdonald near the South +Australian border, passing on his way a striking range which he named the +Stansmore Range, after his unfortunate companion. Lake Macdonald was long +thought to be a continuation of Lake Amadeus, until the exploration of +Tietkins in 1889 proved its isolation. From Lake Macdonald, Carnegie, who +had now three horses in his equipment, kept a more south-westerly course +towards the Rawlinson Range, the endless sand-dunes still crossing his +track in dreary succession. So persistently did they rise across his path +that, on one day, eighty-six of them were crossed by the caravan during a +progress of eight hours. From the Rawlinson Range they kept on the same +south-west course until they struck their outward track at Alexander +Spring. A fall of rain fortunately replenished the spring shortly after +the arrival of the party. They reached Lake Darlot on the 15th of July, +and their desert pilgrimage was ended. + +Not only did Carnegie get safely across the dreaded desert, but he +returned overland to his starting-point by a different route. He wrote a +book, Spinifex and Sand, which contains a most interesting account of +this journey, as well as a graphic and picturesque description of the +physical features of the Great Sandy Desert. + +Carnegie died before he had made more than this one contribution to +Australian geography. Like the ill-fated Horrocks, he had the explorer's +ardent spirit. His restless and adventurous soul ever leading him onward +to the frontiers of settlement and the outskirts of civilised life, he +fell beneath a shower of poisoned arrows at Lokojo in Nigeria, on the +west coast of Africa, on the 27th of November, 1900. + +20.4. HANN AND BROCKMAN IN THE NORTH-WEST. + +[Illustration. Frank Hann. Explorer of the North-West, and discoverer of +a stock route between South Australia and Western Australia. Photo: +Mathewson, Brisbane.] + +The isolation of that remote corner of the continent in which Grey had +made his maiden effort at exploration, added to the discouraging and +forbidding report brought back by Alexander Forrest of his repulse by the +King Leopold Range, had deterred further exploration there. Frank H. +Hann, who had been a Queensland pioneer, came over to Derby, and, after +one or two tentative excursions into the desert country to the south, had +his attention drawn to the unknown country to the north of the King +Leopold Range. Hann crossed the range with difficulty; but after +examining the country to the north and east on the coast side of the +range, he was so well satisfied with its pastoral capabilities that he +returned to Derby and applied for a pastoral lease. + +Wishing to make a closer examination of the locality, he returned +accompanied by Sub-Inspector Ord. Some of the tributaries of the Fitzroy +were traced and named, and an extensive river, which Hann called the +Phillips, was afterwards re-named the Hann by the Surveyor-General of +Western Australia. One very rugged range could not be surmounted, and had +to be skirted to the east, as the only apparent gap was an impassable +gorge with precipitous sides, through which the Fitzroy River forced a +passage. It was named the Sir John Range. After more good pastoral +country was found, the party returned to Derby. Hann afterwards, in 1903, +made the first of several trips from Laverton, Western Australia, to +Oodnadatta in South Australia. He reported having found a practicable +stock-route, of which he was chiefly in search, as far as the Warburton +Ranges, and some pastoral land north and west of Elder Creek. Since then +he made another journey with the same object in view, but encountered +extremely dry weather and underwent many hardships. Hann was born in +Wiltshire, in 1846, and came to Victoria with his parents at a very early +age. He spent most of his life squatting in North Queensland, where he +held several station properties. + +In the first year of the present century the Western Australian +Government followed up Hann's explorations north of the King Leopold +Range, by a larger and better-equipped party instructed to make a +thorough examination of the region. It was placed in charge of F.S. +Brockman, a Government surveyor, who had with him C. Crossland as second, +F. House as naturalist, and Gibbs Maitland as geologist. + +Brockman was born in Western Australia in 1857, was educated at Bishop's +College, and after a spell in the bush on his father's properties, he +joined a Government Survey camp, as cadet. In 1879 he started as surveyor +on his own account. From 1882 to 1897 he was employed by the Lands and +Survey Department in many parts of Western Australia from Cambridge Gulf +in the north to the Great Bight in the south. At the time when he was +selected to lead the Kimberley expedition, he was Controller of the Field +Survey Staff. + +Brockman was most successful in securing full information of this +long-secluded region; of its geographical, geological, and botanical +details. Many interesting photographs were obtained of the different +physical features and of the aborigines and their modes of life; amongst +them being views of rock paintings similar to the mysterious scenes +noticed by Grey during his first expedition to the Glenelg River. + +[Illustration. Aboriginal Rock Painting on the Glenelg River. From a +photograph by F.S. Brockman.] + +The party left Wyndham on Cambridge Gulf and proceeded first southwards +and then to the westward to the Charnley River, which had been discovered +by Frank Hann. The tributary waters of the Glenelg and Prince Regent +Rivers, and the tidal rivers that flow into Collier and Doubtful Bays +were also visited, and Brockman traced the Roe River from its source to +its outflow in Prince Frederick Harbour. The Moran River was discovered, +and its whole course traced to the mouth in the same inlet. The head +waters of the King Edward River were discovered at the watershed; and +this river was again met lower down and its course traced to its exit. +Portions of the shores of Admiralty Gulf, Vansittart, and Napier Broome +Bay were closely examined with a view to selecting a suitable port for +the district. The most important practical result of the expedition was +the discovery of an area of six million acres of basaltic pastoral +country covered with blue grass, Mitchell and kangaroo grasses, and many +varieties of what is known as top feed. No auriferous country was found, +but some fine specimens of the baobab tree were seen, some of them +averaging fifty feet in diameter. + +[Illustration. Typical Australian Explorers of the early Twentieth +Century.] + +We have now turned the last page of the story of those bold spirits who +played no mean part in the making of Australasia by exploring the +continent. For nearly a century and a quarter the white man had been +restlessly searching out and traversing every square mile of the land, +and now, at the beginning of the twentieth century, his work is finished. +And throughout the long struggle it had ever been a stubborn conflict +between the explorer and the inert forces of Nature. Through the weary +toilsome years of arduous discovery, Man and Nature had seldom marched +side by side as friends and allies. When Nature posed as the explorer's +friend and guide, it was often only to lure him on with a smiling face to +his doom. From the days when the soldier of King George the Third went +forth with his firelock on his shoulder, computing the distance he +covered by wearily counting the number of paces he trudged, to the day +when the modern adventurer aloft on his camel eagerly scans the horizon +of the red desert in search of the distant smoke of a native fire, and +then patiently tracks the naked denizen of the wilderness to his hoarded +rock-hole or scanty spring, the explorer has ever had to fight the battle +of discovery unaided by Nature. The aborigines generally either feigned +ignorance of the nature of the country, or gave only false clues and +misguiding directions. Even the birds and animals of the untrodden +regions seemed to resent the advance of civilization, and to delight in +leading the footsteps of the white intruder astray. Hence it was by slow +degrees, by careful study of the work of his predecessors in the field, +and often by heeding the warning conveyed in their unhappy fate, that the +Australian explorer added to the sum of knowledge of his country, and +step by step unveiled the hidden mysteries of the continent. + + +INDEX OF NAMES OF PERSONS. + +Andrews. +Ashton. +Austin. + +Babbage. +Bagot, Walter. +Baines. +Baker. +Bannister. +Barallier. +Barclay, H.V. +Barker, Captain. +Barrett. +Bass. +Baxter. +Beckler, Dr. H. +Becker, Dr. L. +Bedart. +Berry, Alex. +Binney. +Black, William. +Bladen, F.M. +Bland. +Blaxland. +Bonney. +Boyd, Thomas. +Bourne. +Bowen, Governor. +Breardon. +Brahe. +Briggs. +Brisbane, Governor. +Brockman. +Brown, Kenneth. +Brown, Maitland. +Browne, Dr. +Buchanan, N. +Bunbury. +Burgess. +Burke. + +Calvert (Leichhardt). +Calvert. +Cameron. +Campbell (South Australia). +Campbell. +Carmichael, S. +Carnegie, D.W. +Carpenter. +Carr-Boyd. +Carron. +Cayley. +Clarke, A.W.B. +Clarke (The Barber). +Classen. +Clayton. +Collie, Alex. +Collins, Captain. +Cowderoy. +Cox. +Crossland. +Cunningham. +Cunningham, Allan. +Cunningham, Richard. +Currie, Captain. + +Dale, Ensign. +Dalrymple. +Darling, Governor. +Davis, R.N. +Dawes, Lieutenant. +Delisser. +Dempster. +Dixon. +Dobson, Captain. +Douglas. +Dunn. +Dutton. + +Ebden. +Elder, Sir Thomas. +Elsey, J.R. +Eulah. +Evans, G.W. +Eyre. + +Farmer, Charles. +Favenc, Ernest. +Finch. +Finnegan. +Fitzgerald, Governor. +Flinders. +Flood. +Forrest, Alexander. +Forrest, Sir John. +Fraser. +Fraser, Charles. +Freeling. +Fremantle. +Frome, Captain. + +Gardiner. +Gibbu, Jimmy. +Gibson, Alfred. +Gilbert. +Giles. +Gipps, Governor. +Gosse, W.C. +Goyder. +Grant, Lieutenant J. +Grant, Harper, and Anderson. +Gray. +Gregory, A.C. +Gregory, Frank. +Gregory, H.C. +Grey, Sir G. + +Hack, Stephen. +Hack. +Hamilton. +Hann, Frank. +Hann, William. +Harding. +Hardwicke. +Harris, J. +Harris, Dr. +Harris (Babbage). +Hart, Captain. +Hawdon, Joseph. +Hawker. +Hawson, Captain. +Hedley, G. +Helpman, Lieutenant. +Hely, Hovenden. +Hentig. +Henty. +Hergott. +Heywood. +Hindmarsh, Governor. +Hodgkinson. +Hopkinson. +Horrocks. +House. +Hovell, Captain. +Howitt. +Hughes, Walter. +Hughes. +Hulkes. +Hume, H. +Hume, K. +Hunter, Captain. + +Irby. + +Jacky-Jacky. +Jardine, Alec. +Jardine, Frank. +Jardine, John. +Johns, Adam. +Johnson. +Johnston, Captain. +Jones, G.L. + +Kekwick. +Kelly. +Kennedy, E.B. +King (Burke and Wills). +King, Governor. +King, Lieutenant P.P. +King, Private. +Kyte, Ambrose. + +Landells, G.J. +Landsborough, W. +Lang. +Langbourne. +Larmer. +Lawson, Lieutenant W. +Leech. +Leichhardt. +Leslie, P. +Lewis. +Light, Colonel. +Lindesay, Sir P. +Lindsay, David. +Lockyer. +Logan, Captain. +Luff. +Lukin, Gresley. +Lushington, Lieutenant. +Lynd, R. + +MacLeary, G. +Macmanee. +MacPhee. +MacPherson, R. +Macquarie, Governor. +Maitland. +Mann, J.F. +Marsh, James. +Massie. +Matthews. +McKinlay. +McMillan, Angas. +Meehan. +Meekleham. +Miller. +Mills, W.W. +Mitchell, Commissioner. +Mitchell, Sir Thomas. +Mitchell (Kennedy's expedition). +Moore. +Mueller, Baron von. +Mulcay. +Mulholland. +Murray, Sir G. +Myalls. + +Neilson and Williams. +Niblett. +Nicholson, Trooper. +Nicholson, William. + +Oakden. +O'Donnell. +Ord. +Ovens, Major. +Overlanders. +Oxley. + +Palmer. +Pamphlet. +Parry. +Parsons. +Patterson. +Patton. +Peron. +Phillip, Governor. +Piesse. +Poole. +Preston, Lieutenant. +Prout. +Purcell. + +Robinson. +Robinson (Giles). +Roe. +Roper. +Rossitur, Captain. +Rudall. +Russell, Stuart. + +Saunders, P. +Scarr, F. +Scott. +Scrutton. +Scully, Captain. +Smith, William. +Smith (Grey). +Somer. +Stanley, Captain. +Stanley, Lord. +Stansmore. +Stapylton. +Stephenson, W. +Stirling. +Stock. +Stockdale, H. +Stone. +Stokes, Captain. +Strzelecki, Count. +Stuart. +Sturt, Captain. +Swinden. + +Tate. +Taylor (geologist). +Taylor. +Tench, Captain. +Thompson. +Thring. +Throsby. +Tietkins, W.H. +Tommy (Giles). +Trigg, S. + +Uniacke. + +Vallack. +Vancouver. + +Walcott. +Walker, Dr. +Walker, Frederick. +Wall. +Wannon, R. +Warburton, Major. +Warburton, Richard. +Warner. +Warrigals. +Welch. +Wentworth, W.C. +White, Surgeon. +Wickham, Captain. +Wild, Joseph. +Wells, L.A. +Wells, C.F. +Wills. +Wilson, Dr. J.B. +Wilson, J.S. +Windich, Tommy. +Wood, Charles. +Worgan, Surgeon. +Wright. +Wylie. + +Young. + +Zouch, Lieutenant. + + +INDEX OF PLACE NAMES. + +Abundance, Mount. +Adder Waterholes. +Adelaide. +Adelaide River. +Admiralty Gulf. +Albany. +Albany Pass. +Albany, Port. +Alberga River. +Albert River. +Albury. +Alexander Springs. +Alexandria Lake. +Alfred and Marie Range. +Alice Springs. +Alps, Australian. +Amadeus, Lake. +Anson Bay. +Anthony Lagoon. +Arbuthnot Range. +Archer River. +Arden, Mount. +Arnhem's Land. +Arthur River. +Ashburton Range. +Ashburton River. +Attack Creek. +Augusta, Lake. +Augusta, Port. +Augustus, Mount. +Australia Felix. +Australian Alps. +Australian Bight. +Australian Sea (inland). +Avoca River. +Ayer's Rock. + +Ballone River. +Barcoo River. +Barlee, Lake. +Barrier Range. +Batavia River. +Bathurst. +Bathurst's Falls. +Bathurst, Lake. +Beagle Bay. +Becket's Cataract. +Beltana. +Belyando River. +Benson, Mount. +Bernier Island. +Berimma. +Birdum. +Blackheath. +Blackwood River. +Blanche, Lake. +Blaxland, Mount. +Blue Mud Bay. +Blue Mountains. +Bogan River. +Bolgart Springs. +Bonney, Lake. +Bonython Range. +Boundary Dam. +Bourke. +Bowen, Port. +Bowen River. +Boyne River. +Braeside. +Brinkley Bluff. +Brisbane River. +Broadsound. +Brodie's Camp. +Brown, Lake. +Brown, Mount. +Broken Bay. +Bruce, Mount. +Buchan River. +Buchanan's Creek. +Buchanan Creek. +Bulloo. +Burdekin River. +Buree. +Burt's Creek. + +Caermarthen Hills. +Caledonia Australis. +Cambridge Gulf. +Campbell River. +Canning Downs. +Carnarvon Range. +Careening Bay. +Carpentaria Downs. +Carpentaria, Gulf. +Cassini Island. +Castlereagh River. +Cecil Plains. +Central Mount Stuart (Sturt). +Chambers's Creek. +Chambers Pillar. +Chambers River. +Charlotte Waters. +Charnley River. +Chauvel's Station. +Claude River. +Cloncurry River. +Cockburn Sound. +Coen River. +Cogoon River. +Collier Bay. +Comet Creek. +Condamine River. +Coolgardie. +Cooper's Creek. +Corella Lagoon. +Cowcowing. +Cox River. +Cresswell Creek. +Culgoa, River. +Cunningham's Gap. +Curtis, Port. + +Daly, River. +Daly Waters Creek. +Dampier's Land. +Darling Downs. +Darling River. +Darlot, Lake. +Davenport Range. +Dawson River. +Deception, Mount. +De Grey River. +Denison, Port. +Denmark River. +Depot Glen. +Derby. +Diamantina River. +Dorre Island. +Doubtful Bay. +Douglas Creek. +Doyle's Well. +Dumaresque River. + +East Alligator River. +Einnesleigh River. +Elder Creek. +Elizabeth, Lake. +Elsey Creek. +Empress Spring. +Emu Island. +Endeavour River. +Escape River. +Escape Cliffs. +Esperance Bay. +Essington, Port. +Eucla. +Euroomba. +Eva Springs. +Everard River. +Exmouth, Mount. +Eyre, Lake. +Eyre's Creek. + +Farmer, Mount. +Finke Creek. +Finke, Mount. +Fish River. +Fitzgerald River. +Fitzmaurice River. +Fitzroy River. +Fletcher's Creek. +Flinders Range. +Flinders River. +Flood's Creek. +Flying Fox Creek. +Fortescue River. +Fossilbrook. +Fowler's Bay. +Frances, Lake. +Fraser's Range. +Fremantle. +Freeling, Mount. +Frew's Pond. +Frew River. +Frome, Lake. + +Gairdner Lake. +Gantheaume Bay. +Gascoyne River. +Gawler Range. +Geelong. +Geographe Bay. +George the Fourth, Port. +George, Lake. +Georgina River. +Geraldine. +Gibson's Desert. +Gibson's Station. +Gilbert River. +Gippsland. +Glenelg River. +Gnamnoi River. +Godfrey's Tank. +Goulburn Plains. +Goulburn River. +Grampian Mountains. +Great Australian Desert. +Gregory, Lake (Eyre). +Gregory River. +Grey, Fort. +Grose River. +Gundagai. +Gwydir River. + +Hale River. +Hall's Creek. +Hamilton Springs. +Hampton Range. +Hammersley Range. +Hann River. +Hanover Bay. +Hanson Bluff. +Hardey River. +Harris, Mount. +Hastings River. +Hawdon, Lake. +Hawkesbury River. +Hawkesbury Vale. +Hay River. +Haystack, Mount. +Helena Spring. +Hopeless, Mount. +Herbert River. +Hergott Springs. +Hermit Range. +Hovell River. +Hugh River. +Hume River. +Hunter River. + +Illawara, Lake. +Impey River. +Inland Sea. +Irwin River. +Isaacs River. +Israelite Bay. + +Jarvis Bay. +Jervois Ranges. +Jimbour. +Joanna Springs. + +Kalgan River. +Karaula River (Darling). +Katherine Creek. +Katherine Station. +Kenneth, Mount. +Kilgour River. +Kimberley. +Kindur River. +King Edward River. +King George's Sound. +King Leopold Range. +Kintore Range. +Kojunup River. + +Lacepede Bay. +Lachlan River. +Lagoons, Valley of. +Laidley's Ponds. +Lansdowne Hills. +La Trobe River. +Laverton. +Leichhardt River. +Leisler, Mount. +Leschenhault River. +Limestone. +Lincoln, Port. +Lindsay, Mount. +Lindsay River. +Little, Mount. +Liverpool Plains. +Liverpool Range. +Loddon, River. +Lofty, Mount. +Logan Vale. +Lyons River. + +Macalister River. +Macarthur River. +MacDonnell Range. +Macdonald, Lake. +Macedon, Mount. +Mackenzie River. +Macquarie, Port. +Macquarie River. +Maneroo. +Manning River. +Maranoa River. +Margaret River. +Margaret, Mount. +Marshall River. +Marryat River. +Mary, Lake. +Massacre, Lake. +McConnel, Mount. +McIntyre's Brook. +McKinlay's Range. +McPherson's Station. +Menindie. +Midway Well. +Mitchell River. +Monaro. +Monger, Mount. +Moran River. +Moreton Bay. +Moore, Lake. +Moore River. +Moorundi. +Muckadilla Creek. +Mueller, Fort. +Mueller Creek. +Muirhead, Mount. +Mulligan River. +Murchison River. +Murray River. +Murrumbidgee River. +Musgrove Range. + +Namoi River. +Napier Broome Bay. +Narran River. +Nattai. +Naturaliste Creek. +Neale Creek. +Nepean River. +Newcastle Waters. +New Year's Creek. +New Zealand. +Nicholson River. +Nicholson Plains. +Nickol Bay. +Nive River. +Nogoa River. +Norfolk Island. +Norman River. +Normanby River. +Northumberland Creek. +Nundawar Range. + +Oakover River. +Oaldabinna. +Olga, Mount. +Oodnadatta. +Ord River. +Ovens River. +Oxley's Tableland. + +Pallinup River. +Palmer River. +Pandora's Pass. +Peak Downs. +Peak Station. +Pearce Point. +Peel's Plains. +Peel Range. +Peel River. +Pernatty. +Perth. +Phillip Island. +Phillips Creek. +Phillips River. +Planet Creek. +Plenty River. +Poole, Mount. +Portland Bay. +Powell's Creek. +Prince Frederick Harbour. +Prince Regent's River. +Princess Charlotte Bay. +Pudding Pan Hill. +Pumice Stone River. + +Queen Charlotte Vale. + +Raffles Bay. +Ragged, Mount. +Ranken River. +Rannes. +Rawlinson Ranges. +Red Hill. +Remarkable, Mount. +Richmond Hill. +Riley, Mount. +Rockhampton. +Rockingham Bay. +Roe River. +Roebourne. +Roebuck Bay. +Roper River. +Rossitur Vale. +Rudall River. +Russell Range. + +Samson, Mount. +Saxby River. +Seaview, Mount. +Segenhoe. +Separation Well. +Serle, Mount. +Shark's Bay. +Shaw River. +Shelburne Bay. +Sherlock River. +Shoalhaven River. +Sir John Range. +Somerset. +South Australia. +Spencer's Gulf. +Squires, Mount. +Stansmore Range. +Staaten River. +Stephens, Port. +Stevenson Creek. +St. George's Range. +St. George's Rocks. +St. Vincent's Gulf. +Stony Desert. +Strangways Creek. +Strathalbyn. +Streaky Bay. +Strzelecki Creek. +Sturt's Creek. +Sutton River. +Swan Hill. +Swan River. +Swinden's Country. + +Tambo River. +Tate River. +Tench River. +Tennant's Creek. +Termination Hill. +Thistle Cove. +Thompson's Station. +Thomson River. +Timor. +Torrens, Lake. +Tumut River. +Tweed River. + +Vansittart Bay. +Victoria (Port Essington). +Victoria. +Victoria, Lake. +Victoria River, (Barcoo). +Victoria Spring. + +Walsh River. +Warburton Creek. +Warburton Desert. +Warburton Range. +Warning, Mount. +Warragamba River. +Warrego River. +Waterloo Wells. +Weathered Hill. +Welbundinum. +Welcome, Mount. +Weld Springs. +Welbing. +Wellington Valley. +Western Port. +Weymouth Bay. +Whaby's Station. +Williams River. +Williora, River. +Williorara. +Wimmera River. +Windich Springs. +Wingillpin. +Woodhouse Lagoon. +Woolloomooloo. +Wyndham. + +Yarraging. +Yass Plains. +Yilgarn. +York, Cape. +York, Mount. +Yorke Peninsula. +Youldeh. +Yuin. +Yule River. + +Zamia Creek. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Explorers of Australia and their +Life-work, by Ernest Favenc + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPLORERS OF AUSTRALIA *** + +***** This file should be named 10840.txt or 10840.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/8/4/10840/ + +Produced by Amy M Zelmer, Sue Asscher + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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