THE HON. JOHN FORREST'S EXPLORATIONS IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
This distinguished explorer is a native of West Australia, and an honour
to his country. He is a man of ability, well educated, and thoroughly
competent for the work to which he has devoted so much of his time and
attention. In early life he entered the Survey Department, where his
services were appreciated and rewarded by an appointment, in 1876, to
the office of Deputy Surveyor-General. Mr. Forrest has gained
imperishable laurels in the field of exploration. His services in the
three following expeditions entitle him to a high position among the
Australian explorers. A short notice of each is all that our space
permits.
I.
About the close of 1868 a report reached Perth to the effect that
natives in the eastern districts knew of a party of white men who had
been murdered some twenty years earlier. This rumour was strongly
confirmed by a gentleman who had penetrated into the interior in search
of sheep-runs. He reported that his native guide had assured him he had
been to the very spot where the murder had been committed, and had seen
the remains of white men. His story was very circumstantial, stating
that it was on the border of a large lake, and that the white men were
killed while making damper. He volunteered, moreover, to conduct any
party to the scene of the murder. The story possessed a sufficient
likeness to truth to impose on grave and sober-minded men. Among these
was Baron Von Mueller, of Melbourne, who organized a party to proceed to
the spot, in the hope of finding the remains of Leichhardt's expedition.
He intended to take the lead himself, but this purpose he had to change,
through business engagements, and the expedition accordingly was placed
under the command of Mr. John Forrest. The route lay to the north-east
from Perth. The party was able to penetrate 250 miles in advance of
former expeditions. This was, so far, another gain to the knowledge of
Australian geography; but the new country was found to be unsuitable for
pastoral or agricultural purposes. In regard to its principal object,
the expedition turned out a complete failure, adding only one other
proof of the utter worthlessness of aboriginal testimony. The
blackfellow who had led them out with such confidence made some
significant admissions as they proceeded on the journey. First, he had
not, properly speaking, been at the place himself, or seen the relics,
but had heard of them from others of the black fraternity; then, again,
he could not be sure whether they were the bones of men or horses--more
likely, perhaps, the latter. Finally, it was pretty clearly ascertained
that the whole story had originated from the remains of a number of
horses which had belonged to the explorer Austin, and were poisoned in
that neighbourhood. No traces of Leichhardt were found in that quarter,
nor is it at all probable that he had penetrated so far west.
II.
Almost immediately after returning from the search after Leichhardt, Mr.
Forrest was put in command of a second expedition. Governor Weld was
anxious to obtain a more accurate survey of the southern coast between
Perth and Adelaide, with a view to telegraphic connection. The largest
and most difficult part of the route lay along the Great Australian
Bight, which had been traversed with terrible suffering by Mr. E. J.
Eyre thirty years previously. Since that time a little more information
had been gained, tending to lessen the horrors of travel in that
forbidding region; and Port Eucla, a valuable harbour, had been
discovered just within the eastern boundary of West Australia. But the
whole of the southern country from Perth to Adelaide required to be
examined afresh for the object which was now contemplated. Mr. John
Forrest was easily persuaded to lead this expedition, which consisted of
his brother, Mr. Alexander Forrest, as second in command, Police
Constable M'Larty, a farrier, and two aboriginals. A small schooner, the
_Adur_, was despatched, to wait with supplies at Esperance Bay,
Israelite Bay, and Port Eucla--an arrangement which greatly lessened
the difficulties and dangers of the expedition. After reaching the Great
Bight the party followed, in a reverse direction, the line of Eyre's
journey, keeping a little more inland, though they were never more than
thirty miles from the sea. So far as the old explorer's tracks were
followed, Forrest had the advantage of finding an occasional supply of
water as indicated on the chart, and when he deviated from this route he
was well rewarded by the discovery of better, and sometimes of really
first-class country. The season, though too dry, seems to have been less
so than when Eyre encountered the perils of this region, and for this
reason occasional surface water was found, in very limited quantities.
Yet on several of the long waterless stages both men and horses were
near their last gasp in the agonies of thirst. From Port Eucla an
attempt was made to penetrate for some distance to the north, in the
interest of discovery. The land appeared, and has since been proved, to
be of the best quality, but absolute want of water compelled the
explorers to beat a retreat when they had proceeded only about thirty
miles inland. The expedition again started on its proper course and
rounded the head of the Bight. Soon an escort was in readiness from
South Australia, which led them through the Gawler Ranges to the city of
Adelaide. The party had started on the 30th of March, 1870, and their
destination was reached on the 27th of August--not half the time Mr.
Eyre had required for a much shorter journey. This new adventure in
exploration was highly successful. A practicable route for the telegraph
having been found, the line was constructed in the course of another
year or two, thus connecting Perth with the intercolonial and also with
the European telegraphic systems. Fine reaches of the best pastoral
country were examined or indicated lying to the north of the wretched
seaboard, the only drawback being the absence of permanent water. This
difficulty is now being overcome by boring, by which means an ample
supply is obtained at a reasonable depth. The latest proposal is to run
a railway from Perth to Port Eucla, with probable extension to Adelaide.
A syndicate has offered to construct it on the land-grant system,
engineers are presently engaged on the survey, and its completion may be
accepted as one of the great events of the near future.
III.
Mr. John Forrest's third expedition was much more arduous, as it was
also of greater geographical importance, than either of the preceding.
Before the transcontinental telegraph was fully completed, he proposed
to the authorities at Perth to lead an exploring party across the centre
of Western Australia from Champion Bay to the route of the new line, on
condition of a grant from the Treasury of £400 for expenses, himself
engaging to provide another £200. The proposal was gladly accepted, and
no time was lost in making the necessary preparations. His party, as
finally organized, consisted of Alexander Forrest, five whites, two
aboriginals, and twenty-one horses. It being resolved to keep the line
of the Murchison to its sources, the start was made from Geraldton,
Champion Bay, on the 1st of April, 1874. For some time the course lay to
the south of the river, which was not joined till the 23rd, after which
beautifully grassed country was travelled over. The Murchison in its
upper waters divided into several channels, causing some perplexity. One
of these was selected, and followed as far as it served their purpose,
and then the course was directed to the watershed. Now they found
themselves in a dry, barren land, which afforded the scantiest supply of
water, and only after laborious search--sometimes not even then.
Occasionally, but only at long intervals, a good native well was
reached, when the temptation to rest for several days was irresistible.
To the most noted of these Mr. Forrest gave the name of the Weld
Springs, in honour of the Governor, who ever did his utmost to forward
the exploration of the interior. The encampment at Weld Springs was not
an unbroken pleasure. The blacks were numerous in the neighbourhood, and
irreconcilably hostile. Finding his party assailed with murderous
intent, Forrest, seeing it had become a question of self-defence, fired
upon the natives, and some blood was shed. But for this act of stern
necessity, it is evident that the explorers must have perished. This
pleasant spot was but an oasis in a great desert, which became the more
inhospitable the further they penetrated into its secrets. For 600
miles they had to thread their way through a wilderness of spinifex,
sometimes also approaching the verge of despair through want of water,
in search of which the scouts had always to scour the country. In this
desert the natives were seldom seen, and still more rarely could they be
induced to come within speaking distance. At one place they decamped on
the first appearance of the intruders on their desert home, leaving a
whole kangaroo roasting on the fire. This would have been quite a
godsend for Warburton and his party, but happily the present expedition
was never reduced to such dire necessity. In another respect, too,
Forrest seems to have had better luck than his brother explorers. During
the latter part of his journey a kind of fig-tree (_Ficus platypoda_)
was occasionally met with, producing an agreeable fruit about the size
of a bullet. Such a discovery in the wilds of Australia is nothing short
of a marvel. Nature has reserved few such favours for this country. Yet
still better fortune was at hand. It became evident, first by faint and
then by very plain indications, that they were coming on the tracks of
Europeans. Only a short time previously Mr. Giles and Mr. Gosse had
separately been out in these parts, but had to return for want of water.
Still, a marked tree or an old camping-ground was an inspiring object,
seeing they had been made by travellers who had started from the
opposite end of the journey. Much yet remained to be done, but the
ground was now got over with much better heart. The monotony of the
desert-wandering had been much relieved in a manner highly creditable to
Mr. Forrest. Here, as in all his explorations, he remembered the Sabbath
day to keep it holy. Regularly, as the Sunday came round, divine service
was read in the camp. Even the old habit of a good Sunday dinner was not
forgotten. People in different circumstances might not have thought the
cheer much to be envied; but hunger is the best sauce. If a pigeon or a
parrot could be secured at the seasonable time it was reserved as a
special treat for the Sunday dinner. But better things were in store.
Perseverance had not much longer to wait for its reward. Following the
tracks of the preceding explorers, they came on to the Marryat River,
which led them on to the Alberga, and this clue finally conducted the
weary wanderers to the long-desired telegraph line. The journal of the
expedition contains the following entry for the 27th August,
1874:--"Continued east for about twelve miles, and then E.N.E. for three
miles, and reached the telegraph line between Adelaide and Port Darwin,
and camped." [The 104th camp from the start.] "Long and continued cheers
came from our little band as they beheld at last the goal to which we
have been travelling for so long. I felt rejoiced and relieved from
anxiety; and in reflecting on the long time of travel we had performed
through an unknown country, almost a wilderness, felt very thankful to
that good Providence that had guarded and guided us so safely through
it." A well-beaten track had now been made along the telegraph line,
which the party followed, proceeding to the south. In a day or two the
Peak station was reached. From this point the journey to Adelaide was
made by easy stages. Forrest's track lay a long way south of
Warburton's, and threw a streak of light across another dark region of
the western half of Australia. The results of the journey are thus
summed up in the explorer's own words:--"The whole of the country, from
the settled districts near Champion Bay to the head of the Murchison, is
admirably suited for pastoral settlement, and in a very short time will
be taken up and stocked; indeed, some has already been occupied. From
the head of the Murchison to the 129th meridian, the boundary of our
colony, I do not think will ever be settled. Of course, there are many
grassy patches, such as at Windich Springs, the Weld Springs, all round
Mount Moore, and other places; but they are so isolated, and of such
extent, that it would never pay to take stock to them. The general
character of this immense tract is a gently undulating spinifex
desert--_Festuca (Triodia) irritans_, the spinifex of the desert
explorers, but not the spinifex of science. It is lightly wooded ... and
there is a great absence of any large timber."