"From Lieutenant Grey's description of the tribes his party had

encountered, he must have been among a people more advanced in

civilization than any me had hitherto seen upon this coast. He found

several curious figures, images, and drawings, generally in colours, upon

the sides of caves in the sandstone rock, which, notwithstanding their

rude style, yet evince a greater degree of advancement and intelligence

than we have been able to find any traces of; at the same time, it must

be remembered that no certain date absolutely connects these works with

the present generation; the dryness of the natural walls upon which they

are executed, and the absence of any atmospheric moisture may have, and

may yet preserve them for an indefinite period, and their history, read

aright, may testify-not the present condition of the Australian School of

Design, but the perfection which it had formerly attained. Lieutenant

Grey, too, like ourselves, had seen certain individuals, in company with

the natives, much lighter in colour, and widely differing in figure and

physiognomy from the savages by whom they were surrounded, and was

inclined to believe that they are descended from Dutch sailors who, at

different times suffering shipwreck upon the coast, have intermarried

with its native inhabitants; but as no authentic records can be produced

to prove that this portion of the coast was ever visited by Dutch

navigators at all, I am still more disposed to believe that these lighter

coloured people are Malays captured from the trepang fishers, or,

perhaps, voluntarily associating with the Australians, as we know that

the Australian not unfrequently abandons his country and his mode of life

to visit the Indian Archipelago with them."

From Port George the Fourth the BEAGLE sailed for Swan River, where she

arrived on the 25th of May. Her most important discovery during this

cruise was King's Sound and the Fitzroy River. As they neared Miago's

birthplace, Stokes says he questioned him upon the account he intended

giving his friends of the scenes he had witnessed.

"I was quite astonished at the accuracy with which he remembered the

various places we had visited during the voyage. He seemed to carry the

ship's track in his memory with the most careful accuracy. His

description of the ship's sailing and anchoring was most amusing. He used

to say: 'Ship walk--walk--all night--hard walk--then, by-and-by, anchor

tumble down.' His manner of describing, his interviews with the wicked

'northern men' was most graphic. His countenance and figure became at

once instinct with animation and energy, and no doubt he was then

influenced by feelings of baffled hatred and revenge, from having failed

in his much-vaunted determination to carry off in triumph one of their

gins. I would sometimes amuse myself by asking him how he was to excuse

himself to his friends for having failed in the promised exploit, but the

subject was evidently a very unpleasant one, and he was always anxious to

escape it.

"We were considerably amused with the consequential air Miago assumed

towards his countrymen on our arrival, which afforded us a not

uninstructive instance of the prevalence of the ordinary infirmities of

our common human nature, whether of pride or vanity, universally to be

met with, both in the civilised man and the uncultivated savage. He

declared that he would not land until they first came off to wait on him.

Decorated with an old full-dress lieutenant's coat, white trousers, and a

cap with a tall feather, he looked upon himself as a most exalted

personage, and for the whole of the first day remained on board,

impatiently, but in vain, prying into each boat that left the shore for

the dusky forms of some of his quondam friends. His pride, however, could

not long withstand the desire of display. Yielding to the impulse of

vanity he, early the following morning, took his departure from the ship.

Those who witnessed the meeting described it as cool on both sides,

arising on the part of his friends from jealousy; they, perhaps, judging

from his costume that he had abandoned his bush life."

The BEAGLE had arrived at Fremantle just in time to allow her company to

share in the annual festivities with which the inhabitants celebrate the

formation of the colony. It may give some idea of the neglected state of

this then infant colony to mention that during the six months' absence of

the BEAGLE, only one boat had arrived there, and that, H.M.S. PELORUS

from the Indian station. Communication with the home country was sadly

needed, apart from the wish for news. Necessary articles of home

manufacture or importation were becoming unattainable.

From the Swan River settlement, the BEAGLE proceeded to Sydney, passing

Cape Leeuwin on the 23rd June, the south-western extremity of the

continent named by the first discoverer in 1622, "Landt van de Lewin," or

the Land of Lions. It was their intention to pass through Bass's Strait,

but the weather had been extreme on rounding Cape Leeuwin, making that

impossible.

On the morning of the 8th, the south-western extremity of Van Dieman's

Land was seen. Van Dieman's Land, as before noted, was discovered in 1633

by Abel Janz Tasman, the Dutch navigator, and so named by him after the

Governor of Batavia, under whose authority his voyage had been performed,

but the insularity of the island was not fully proved until Bass passed

through the Strait in 1798.

The bad state of weather detained the BEAGLE in Hobart Town for some

time, reaching Port Jackson on July 24th.

It was not until the 11th of November that the BEAGLE left Port Jackson,

and anchored close to the southern shore of Port Phillip. Surveying

operations were set to work in good earnest, chiefly in determining the

position of the mouths of the various channels intersecting the bank that

extended across the entire bay, three miles from the entrance, then

continuing the examination to the westward. Passing the mouth of the

Barwon, the nature of the country begins to change, and high grassy

downs, with rare patches of woodland, present themselves; then, as they

near Cape Otway, a steep rocky coast, with dense woodland rising abruptly

over it. Cape Otway, being the northern point of the western extremity of

Bass's Strait, is swept by all the winds that blow into that end of the

funnel, and this is the cause of the stunted appearance of the trees in

that neighbourhood.

Having coasted the northern side of the strait, they cross to Tasmania to

examine the south side.

Again, in May 1840, the BEAGLE left Sydney to cruise on the north coast,

and explore the north-western part of the continent, this time taking

the inside passage between the east coast and the Barrier Reef to reach

her destination, and after discovering the mouth of a river near Cape

Upstart (the present Burdekin), and making other minor corrections and

additions in King's chart, the vessel anchored at the new settlement of

Port Essington. In 1829, it will be remembered that Fort Dundas and Fort

Wellington had been abandoned, and it was not until the year 1829 that

any fresh attempt was made. The ships ALLIGATOR and BRITOMART, under Sir

Gordon Bremer and Lieutenant Owen Stanley, were then despatched to Port

Essington; but the new settlement to be formed was intended to be a

purely military one, and although many intending settlers volunteered and

sought permission to try their fortunes, no inducement was held out to

them.

The township (destined to follow the date of its predecessors) received

the imposing name of Victoria. Not long after the arrival of M. D'Urville

with the ASTROLABE and ZELIE in Raffles Bay, Lieutenant Stewart, when

visiting that bay to invite the French officers to the new settlement,

found nothing remaining of the old one, but the graves of those buried

there; the garden and stockade had totally disappeared.

Leaving Port Essington, the BEAGLE discovered a river at the head of Adam

Bay, which was explored for eighty miles, and called the Adelaide. Here

occurred the trago-comic episode that gave the name of Escape Cliffs to

the neighbourhood.

"Messrs. Fitzmaurice and Keys went ashore to compare the compasses. From

the quantity of iron contained in the rocks it was necessary to select a

spot free from their influence. A sandy beach at the foot of Escape

Cliffs was accordingly chosen. The observations had been commenced and

were about half completed, when on the summit of the cliffs, which rose

about twenty feet above their heads, suddenly appeared a large party of

natives with poised and quivering spears, as if about immediately to

deliver them. Stamping on the ground and shaking their heads too and fro,

they threw out their long shaggy locks in a circle, whilst their glaring

eyes flashed with fury as they champed and spit out the ends of their

long beards (a custom with Australian natives when in a state of violent

excitement). They were evidently in earnest, and bent on mischief. It was

therefore not a little surprising to behold this paroxysm of rage

evaporate before the happy presence of mind displayed by Mr. Fitzmaurice,

in immediately beginning to dance and shout, though in momentary

expectation of being pierced by a dozen spears. In this he was imitated

by Mr. Keys, and they succeeded in diverting them from their bad designs

until a boat landing in a bay drew off their attention.

"Messrs. Fitzmaurice and Keys had fire-arms lying on the ground within

reach of their hands, the instant, however, they ceased dancing, and

attempted to touch them, a dozen spears were pointed at their breasts.

Their lives hung upon a thread, and their escape must be regarded as

truly wonderful, and only to be attributed to the happy readiness with

which they adapted themselves to the perils of their situation. This was

the last we saw of the natives in Adam Bay, and the meeting is likely to

be long remembered by some and not without pleasant recollections, for

although at the time it was justly looked upon as a serious affair, it

afterwards proved a great source of mirth. No one could recall to mind,

without laughing, the ludicrous figure necessarily cut by our shipmates,

when to amuse the natives they figured on the light fantastic toe; they

literally danced for their lives."

The BEAGLE now returned to Port Essington, first examining the southern

shore of Melville Island. It was a visit not soon to be forgotten. Here

they encountered their first experience of the green ants. Standing under

a tree, whilst taking some observations, they found themselves covered,

and nothing but undressing, at least tearing off their clothes, relieved

them of the torture. The name of Ant Cliffs records this visit on the

south shore of Melville Island.

Leaving Port Essington for the second time on September 4th, 1839, the

BEAGLE threaded her way through Clarence Straits, to examine the western

entrance, and on the 7th came in sight of the mouth of an opening not

examined by Captain King. The next morning, with the boat provisioned for

four days, they started on their exploring trip, and named the opening

Hope Inlet, to commemorate the feelings it excited on its first

discovery, and the bay in which it lies, Shoal Bay, it being very shallow

at the head. Another wide opening, some fifteen miles ahead, having a

more favourable appearance, they pulled for it, and reached the entrance

at dark. In the morning, they found themselves at the entrance of a large

and promising harbour, which they at once proceeded to investigate, and

Stokes gave it the name of Port Darwin. Stokes seems to have been far

more anxious to discover a river than a harbour; the discovery of the

Adelaide elated him far more than did the finding of Port

Darwin, and he does not seem to have at all anticipated finding the site

of the future capital of the north, that was to take the place of all the

former settlements. Stokes returned to the ship, and the BEAGLE entered

the new found port, and a thorough survey was made. Resuming her voyage,

the BEAGLE, after examining Port Patterson and Bynoe Harbour, sailed for

a large opening one hundred and forty miles to the westward.

"Captain King's visit to this part of the coast was in 1819, and under

very adverse circumstances; his vessel had but one anchor left, and the

strong easterly winds then prevailing, with thick hazy weather, rendered

his progress into the opening both difficult and hazardous. After a trial

of two days, and having several narrow escapes from getting on shore, he

bore away to examine the coast to the south-west, where he was repaid for

his disappointment by the discovery of Cambridge Gulf. Thus did the

exploration of this wide and interesting opening fall to our good

fortune."

The explorers had great hopes of finding the mouth of an important river.

These hopes were rewarded by the discovery of the Victoria, which Stokes,

in his extravagant joy, deemed equal in importance to the Murray. Captain

Wickharn bestowed the present name on it, and the delighted explorers

proceeded to trace their new found stream, and pulled up it thirty miles.

After their return, Lieutenant Fitzmaurice returned, having also

discovered a river more to the eastward, which received the name of

Fitzmaurice, after its discoverer. A long and interesting task now

commenced--the examination of the new river, and the process of taking the

vessel up as far as possible. After this had been successfully

accomplished, Captain Wickharn being unwell, Stokes was put in charge of

a boat party to follow the river up as far as possible. Taking the boats

as far as practicable, and then forming a land party, they managed to

reach a distance of one hundred and forty miles from the sea, and finding

the river still of considerable size, and full of large freshwater

reaches, Stokes hugged the belief that at last the highway to the

interior was discovered.

His raptures on this point led to a much higher estimate of the value of

this river being entertained than it deserved; and until its exploration

by Gregory, many shared Stokes' opinion as to its future importance. The

party returned in safety, and on going to weigh the anchors found them so

firmly embedded in the bottom, which must have been a quicksand, that

they had to slip both.

While anchored at the mouth of this river, Stokes went on shore to take

observations, and, when ahead of his companions, was suddenly surprised

and speared by the natives; the wound narrowly escaped being a fatal one.

By December 12th he was sufficiently recovered to bear the motion of the

ship, and sail was made for Swan River, where they arrived safely, having

made some most important discoveries. A cruise on the west coast, and to

Coepang, followed, and thence they returned by way of the west coast and

Cape Leeuwin to Adelaide.

In the beginning of June, 1841, the BEAGLE, now in charge of Captain

Stokes, Captain Wickharn having gone home on sick leave, left Sydney for

another northern cruise. On the way up the ship fell in with four

merchant vessels, which she convoyed as far as Booby Island, she herself

pursuing her way down the Gulf of Carpentaria. Their first stay of any

length was at Sweer's Island, and all the coastal inlets in the

neighbourhood were well examined, resulting in the discovery of the

Flinders River, on the 20th July, and of the Albert on the 1st of August.

On the merits of this river Stokes waxes nearly as eloquent as he did

over the Victoria, and once more indulges in excited hopes of reaching

the centre of the continent. At fifty miles from the mouth the fallen

logs stayed the progress of the boats, and the party landed and made an

excursion on foot. Stokes now saw the plains to which he gave the name of

the Plains of Promise, the position of which gave rise to so much

discussion amongst the land explorers in after years. As may be imagined,

the extent of level country, and its apparent richness, gave rise to much

enthusiastic speculation on his part, and he returned to his ship well

satisfied with his work.

During the discovery and examination of the Albert, Mr. Fitzmaurice had

been engaged to the eastward, where he found the other mouth of the

Flinders River, known as Bynoe Inlet. Unfortunately, another gun accident

resulted in his being lamed for life, a charge of shot having entered his

foot. This was the second accident while in the Gulf, a gun having burst

with Lieutenant Gore, and badly lacerated his hand.

On the banks of the Flinders a native burial tree was found:--

"On the eastern bank rose a tree, the branches of which were laden with a

most singular looking bundle or roll of pieces of wood. Struck with its

appearance, we rested our oars to observe it. Landing, I advanced for

nearer inspection towards the huge bundle of sticks before mentioned. It

seemed almost like the nest of some new bird, and greatly excited my

curiosity. As I approached a most unpleasant smell assailed me, and on

climbing up to examine it narrowly I found that it contained the decaying

body of a native.

"Within the outer covering of sticks was one of net, with an inner one of

the bark of the papyrus tree enveloping the corpse. According to the

singular practice of uncivilised peoples of providing for the wants of

those who have nothing more to do with earthly things, some weapons were

deposited with the deceased in this novel kind of mortuary habitation,

and a little beyond was a rill of water."

The BEAGLE then sailed to Booby Island, and from there to Victoria--the

settlement at Port Essington--which they found in a comparatively

flourishing state. Strange to say, Stokes, the discoverer of Port Darwin,

says of Port Essington:

"As steam communication, moreover, must soon be established between

Singapore and our colonies on the south-eastern shores of Australia, this

port, the only real good one on the north coast, will be of vast

importance as a coal depôt."

Another of the many instances of the hasty and fallacious deductions of

first discovery, a second proof of which was afforded on the arrival of

the BEAGLE at Swan River, whither, after calling at Coepang, they

directed her course. Here they found the colonists in a state of doubt as

to the existence of an inlet called Port Grey. A large number of

immigrants had arrived from England, with the intention of settling

there, but owing to the rumours of its non-existence, the name was

changed to Leschenault Inlet. Captain Stokes was asked to settle the

question, which he did by confirming the rumour that there was no Port

Grey, and that the fertile country at the back of the spot indicated had

likewise no existence. Grey, it will be remembered, reported seeing this

available country when on his return from the hair-brained expedition to

Sharks' Bay, and called it the Province of Victoria, but no subsequent

exploration ever confirmed its existence.

The work of exploration by the BEAGLE now came to an end. Her remaining

cruises in Australian waters were in the neighbourhood of the south coast

and Tasmania. The work performed by her was more intimately connected

with land exploration than that done by any other survey ship, and her

close examination of the north coast resulted in the discovery of many

important rivers. The Flinders, the Albert, the Adelaide, Victoria, and

Fitzroy, all owe their names to the commander of the BEAGLE, and with her

last cruise the maritime explorations of Australia may be said to close.

CHAPTER XX.

Nationality of the first finders of Australia--Knowledge of the

Malays--The bamboo introduced--Traces of smallpox amongst the natives in

the north-west--Tribal rites--Antipathy to pork--Evidence of admixture in

origin--Influence of Asiatic civilisation partly visible--Coast

appearance repelling--Want of indigenous food plants--Lack of intercourse

with other nations--Little now left of unexplored country--Conclusions

respecting various geological formations--Extent of continental

divisions--Development of coastal towns--Inducements for

population--Necessity of the first explorings--Pioneer squatters'

efforts--First Australian-born explorer--Desert theory exploded--Fertile

downs everywhere--Want of water apparently insurmountable--Heroism of

explorers--Inexperience of the early settlers--Grazing possible--Rapid

stocking of country--The barrenness of the "Great Bight"--Sturt, the PENN

of Australia--Results--Mitchell's work--Baron von Mueller's researches--A

salt lake--Stuart first man across the continent--Burke and Wills'

heroism--Services of McKinlay and Landsborough--John Forrest's

journeys--Camel expedition by Giles--The BRISBANE COURIER

expedition--Further explorations--Stockdale at Cambridge Gulf--Carr-Boyd

and O'Donnell open good country in Western Australia--Work done by

explorers--Their characteristics--Conclusion.

By common consent the nationality of the first navigators who landed on

our shores is awarded to the Spanish. Following them came the Dutch, and,

finally, the French and English. And, although the record of the Spanish

visit to our northern coast is but vague, the fact of their being the

first to acquaint the Western nations with the undoubted existence of a

far southern land is generally allowed. Amongst the people inhabiting the

many islands of the Malay Archipelago and portions of the mainland of

Asia, there can be little doubt that our continent was known, and

intercourse of an occasional kind carried on with its natives. That no

permanent settlement was ever formed, or probably attempted, we may

ascribe to the unpromising nature of the soil, compared to the fertile

islands left by the visitors, and the fact that the products of which

they came in search were mostly found in the sea itself, the shore only

being at times visited for obtaining fresh water or seeking shelter.

During these visits no inducements would be forthcoming for undertaking

an excursion inland. The monotonous character of the country would not

excite curiosity, and the absence of all temptation in the way of

articles of barter and traffic likely to be found, would confine their

investigations chiefly to the sea shore. A temporary camp for drying the

sea-slugs of commerce, a refuge for their crafts when the sudden storms

of the tropics broke loose, met all their requirements. It is to the

Malay ancestors of the men whose proas are still to be found fishing

among the outlying reefs of the north, that we must look for the first

discoverers of our island continent, and failing all written record or

existing monument of their doings, search amongst the natives themselves

for confirmation of the fact.

The presence of the bamboo in Arnheim's Land only, and its indigenous

nature, is strong evidence of its Malay origin. It is found in abundance

over this large promontory, and on the banks of the different rivers and

creeks. Its extensive spread and thick growth point to many centuries of

introduction, and that the Australians first obtained it from their

northern visitors is almost certain. In abandoned camps pieces of bamboo

would be left sticking in the ground, and formed, as most of their camps

are, on the sandy banks of a creek, their growth would be under

favourable circumstances, and their spread down the watercourses rapid.

Amongst all the tribes whose hunting grounds are between Cape Arnheim,

and Cambridge Gulf, the traces of small-pox can be seen unmistakeably on

many of the old men. Some are blind, and deeply pitted, others but

lightly marked. Apparently the disease has worn itself out, for only the

oldest members of the tribes have suffered. None seem to have it now, nor

are the marks of the disease to be seen on the middle-aged men. The

ravages of this scourge must have been confined to the coast tribes, as

no evidence of its having been amongst the natives of the interior is to

be found. The belt of dry country separating the aborigines of the plain

from those of the sea may have saved the former, as this belt is often

left uncrossed for years. This disease must have been brought from the

north, and the date of its introduction would probably lie many centuries

back.

Many of their customs and tribal rites bear a close resemblance to some

that may be found in the New Testament, and are foreign to the usual

habits of the Australian blackfellow. Add to this an innate antipathy to

the flesh of swine when tasted for the first time, and it seems evident

that some of the laws and traditions of more civilised nations have

drifted down and been partly appropriated by the Australians.

In many of the sea-coast blacks of the north, sleepy eyes and

straight-cut noses are often prominent, and render some of them

especially remarkable; these features giving their faces an entirely

different aspect to the common blackfellow type adjoining them inland.

That, in the event of the wreck of a proa on the coast, some intermixture

of the races would take place, and the survivors, perhaps, pass the

remainder of their lives amongst the blacks, is quite possible, seeing

that to many of our countrymen it has happened.

The close acquaintanceship shown by the Malay bêche-de-mer fishers with

the nooks and inlets that are so thickly strewn along the coast, west of

Cape Wessell, appears to be the result of much old-world seafaring lore,

handed down from father to son. Whether the Chinese ever ventured so far

south as Australia cannot be affirmed with certainty. Accident may have

led them to our shores, but it is scarcely probable that the love of

adventure would have tempted them so far.

Taking, then, the exceptional customs common to the natives of that

portion 'of Australia still visited by the Malays, and seeing that these

customs would only be the outcome of some centuries of intercourse, it is

reasonable to suppose that from these outposts of Asiatic civilisation

came the first adventurous traders to the lone land of the south. The

distinct type of the Australian, while showing in exceptional cases the

signs of foreign blood, precludes the idea that the continent was peopled

from the north; but, at the same time, it is evident that some

rudimentary forms of a higher development drifted down in after ages from

that source.

The effect that the repellant nature of the Australian coast has had upon

the southern progress of semi-civilisation is remarkably distinct. Each

successive wave of improvement from the Asiatic continent seems to grow

weaker and weaker as it travels south, until it breaks hopelessly on

Australia. Nor is it hard to find the reason. The savage, coming from

islands where a rude cultivation of indigenous fruits, valuable in their

nature, had induced primitive land laws, and consequently settled

habitations and a defined code of laws concerning tribal rights and

boundaries, found himself amongst a nomadic race, trusting to hunting and

fishing solely for the means of existence. The soil, formed of the

denudation of the sandstone rocks, scantily fertilised here and there by

the decaying jungle, presented no field for rude agriculture, even had

the dry seasons permitted; and gave forth no native fruits, save

tasteless berries and half-poisonous roots. No knowledge of minerals would

tempt him into the semi-scorched ranges inland; he would simply see that

life after the old fashion of village existence was no longer for him,

and would become a hunter and fisher like his fellows.

It would have been of inestimable benefit to the Australians, had tribes

from the northern countries, only slightly higher than themselves in the

scale, established a permanent footing on the mainland, and gradually

worked their way throughout the land, carrying their superior knowledge

with them, and having in the extended area before them a wide field for

future development. Intermixing socially with the aborigines, they would

have in a few generations made an indelible mark upon their mental

capacity, which, after all, is only dormant; and the march of improvement

once set in motion, centuries of confirmed intercourse with races of

greater culture, and the consequent spread of new ideas would have

peopled our continent with a different race to the improvident native of

the present.

But the force of nature was against it; the new land of the south held

forth no inducements even for the pirate or marauder. In the hand to

mouth struggle for existence, not even a supply of food would be found in

a ransacked camp; no land seen tempting settlement by its luxuriant

vegetation and produce. The visitors of the straits scorned the

inhospitable coast, and returned north. Only those whom ill-fate had

deprived of the means of return stayed perforce, and lost their identity

amongst the aborigines.

The white man, when he came, looked upon the country as he would upon an

uninhabited land; the native was too far beneath him to profit by his

coming, no inter-mixture of races could take place, the difference was

too widely marked; and the aborigines of Australia were from the first

numbered amongst the doomed tribes of the earth. An earlier introduction

of the spirit of progress, however meagre in form, might have saved them.

Had our northern coasts but possessed some lure for Asiatic nations, the

story would have travelled and brought their overflowing population down

to settle the continent long before the advent of our countrymen.

It is an accepted fact that on the continent of Australia proper there is

very little unexplored territory left, and that we pretty well know what

resources, in the way of land, we have still to fall back upon. This

acceptance of our knowledge of the unsettled regions of our country is

both right and wrong. Right, inasmuch that in a general sense, arguing

from our knowledge of climatic influences in different latitudes, we can

infer the particular nature of a particular district, although untrodden

as yet by any one capable of giving us information. Wrong, in that the

geographical formations of Australia are so persistently antagonistic

that no true nor reliable deduction can always be arrived at. When I say

persistently antagonistic, I mean that the two formations common to the

interior, namely, sandstone and limestone, produce either a desert or a

rich prairie. As a rule, in the vast interior, still unvisited and

unsettled, the conditions are that the soil either grows grasses and

herbs of the most nutritive character, or such as are totally unfitted to

support graminivorous animal life. And these two conditions we may call

antagonistic, as far as our efforts at practical settlement are

concerned. When the outcrop is limestone, we may reckon on good pastoral

country, and a fair water supply. When the outcrop is the pure red

sandstone, we can hope for little else but the desert spinifex.

The distinction between these two formations is so strongly marked that

it almost seems that a hard and fast line had, in places, been drawn

between the productive and unproductive portions of Australia. That these

strange and sudden alterations occur right through the continent, we have

the evidence in the diaries of Giles and Forrest; and although we cannot

doubt that a great portion of unexplored Australia consists of country

that will never support population, we have as yet no valid reason for

condemning the whole.

The continent of Australia contains, roughly speaking, three millions of

square miles less about thirty-five thousand square miles. It may be

summarised as follows: that New South Wales contains no unexplored

country; Victoria, none; Queensland, a small portion of Cape York

Peninsula; South Australia, a considerable area; and Western Australia, a

very great deal. All the important explorations of late years have been

in the last two mentioned colonies, for the very reason that in these

colonies only the unknown exists. South Australia has at least 300,000

square miles of unexplored and partly explored country, and Western

Australia can claim more than half a million of miles just touched here

and there by the tracks of Eyre, Gregory, Giles, Forrest, and Warburton.

In speculating upon the future capabilities of this great expanse, we

must fairly weigh the testimony of these men, and, by comparison, see

what chance we have in the future of finding fresh pasture lands for the

next generation. On the whole the testimony is unfavourable, but, on

close inspection, there are strange coincidences in their diaries which

would lead one to think that, perhaps, after all the "hopeless desert"

that witnessed both their struggles and successes may yet hold secrets

worth knowing and worth seeking for. In our time we have seen how the

desert theory has been exploded in New South Wales--forced, as it were,

outside our boundaries by the mere expansion of settlement. It is but a

question of time for the mysteries of the yet unknown interior to share

the same fate, and in the solution of the unknown great possibilities

exist.

The development of the towns along the northern sea-board must

necessarily be rapid. From the sheep-growing downs of the inland plateau,

to the sugar and coffee-growing flats of the coast, the exports will be

ever on the increase, and the wants of a growing people will necessitate

ports in places that are now uninhabited. That the north will become one

of the richest portions of our continent there is no doubt; its immense

mineral wealth stands but partially revealed, while its adaptability for

settlement is practically unbounded. The progress and utilisation of the

waste lands of the north will be an interesting experiment to watch.

Nature has, to a great extent, indicated the laws of settlement that will

dominate the territory. To the capitalist she has given the rich

wool-growing slopes of the inland country, where the expenditure of money

is necessary, in order that the full value may be reaped from the land

leased; money expended in water-storage, that repays the owner in a

hundred ways. To the man of humbler means the well-watered coast

districts offer facilities for small cattle stations and selections, and

on the banks of some of the rivers the planter will soon be making a

home, whilst for the miners are the broken ranges and gullies of the

Dividing Range.

A settled Australia--that is, comparatively settled-this century may not

witness, but that it will be a fact of the future, few, who have lived in

the colonies during the last two decades, can doubt.

We may look forward to the crowning work of the future, when we shall no

longer be altogether dependent upon the caprices of climate; nor sit idly

by whilst our heritage of rainfall rushes past us into the ocean.

From the arrival of Governor Phillip with the first fleet, 1789, to the

year 1813, when Wentworth, Lawson, and Blaxland succeeded in crossing the

main range--the Blue Mountains--all attempts at exploration into the

interior had been limited, the main range proving an impenetrable

barrier. For the wants of the colony, the country up to that time found

had proved sufficient. In the neighbourhood of Sydney, the Nepean, Grose,

and Hawkesbury; to the north, the River Hunter; and to the south, the

district known now as the Illawarra. But combined with the severe drought

of 18 13, and the increase of stock, it was necessary to seek pastures

new.

Their hopes of finding a navigable river flowing west into the sea were

never realised, although for years it was each explorer's dream. On

following a stream, they invariably found it run out into a shallow

swamp, and then thought the continent possessed an inland sea or lake.

Oxley pronounced this portion desert, and to them it then was; no thought

could enter their minds of how after years of stocking, the entire

country would change; how time and labour alone could make that vast

waste profitable.

Directly the pass of the Blue Mountains had been won, and a public road

made across the range, settlers with their stock steadily flowed west;

the township of Bathurst sprang up, and settlement was made south towards

the Shoalhaven River. The first large expedition into the interior was

undertaken by Oxley, and he again comes to the conclusion that "the

interior westward of a certain meridian is uninhabitable, deprived, as it

is, of wood, water, and grass . . . that the interior of this vast

country is a marsh, and uninhabitable." Only the edge of the interior

crossed, it was early to come to this conclusion. But we must remember

that the party were weary and disgusted with their want of success-the

barren country, with no variety of trees, or soil; everything always the

same. Eventually they reached good, well-watered country, and turning

back from the Macquarie, delighted with the river, believed that the high

road to the interior had been found.

This trip successful, he again left to follow the Macquarie, and although

the inland sea remained undiscovered, large tracts of fertile country

were opened for settlement; moreover, he had crossed the coast range to

the north, and discovered that Port Macquarie (which, on following down

the River Hastings, he had found and named) proved a practicable route to

the interior.

About this time the pioneer squatter took share with the explorer, and

settlement quickly advanced. Lawson and Scott were disappointed in their

attempt to reach Oxley's discovery of Liverpool Plains; unable to

penetrate the southern boundary of the plains, they discovered the

Goulburn River. The year 1823 found Oxley, Cunningham, and Currie, all

out in different directions; Currie to the south of Lake George,

Cunningham engaged north of Bathurst, first in his capacity of botanist,

and the discovery of a pass through the northern range on Liverpool

Plains, which Lawson and Scott had sought in vain. He found and named the

Pandora Pass, it proving practicable as a stock route.

Oxley then left Sydney in the MERMAID, to examine the inlets of Port

Curtis, Moreton Bay, and Port Bowen, with a view to forming a penal

settlement there. It was on this trip, while at Moreton Bay, that they

rescued from the blacks the two men Pamphlet and Finnigan, who had been

wrecked at Moreton Island seven months before. Oxley named the Brisbane

River. This was his last work, and he died near Sydney in 1828. His

career as an explorer was very successful. He had done much to aid the

new colony, but was ever disappointed in his hopes of reaching the inland

sea or lake, and of proving, except to his own satisfaction, whether any

large rivers entered the sea between Cape Otway and Spencer's Gulf. Then

Sir Thomas Brisbane thought of landing a party of prisoners near Wilson's

Promontory, and by offer of a free pardon and a land grant, to find their

way back to Sydney.

Mr. Hume, the first Australian-born explorer, and Mr. Hovell, took a

party from Lake George, at that time the most outside station, to Western

Port, and they were the first to see the Australian Alps. This trip

helped to prove the hasty condemnation of Oxley's "desert" theory, and

besides giving to the colony millions of acres of well-watered fertile

country, and adding another large and important river--the Murray--it

also held out far higher hopes for the future of the interior. During

this time a settlement was formed at Moreton Bay, and subsequently

removed to a better site on the Brisbane River. Cunningham, in 1827, left

on a trip destined materially to effect the immediate progress of this

new colony. Crossing Oxley's track, and entering the unexplored region,

after naming the Gwydir and Dumaresque Rivers, he finally emerged on the

Darling Downs. He was in raptures at the inexhaustible range of cattle

pasture, the permanent water, and the grass and herbage generally. Then a

passage across the range to Moreton Bay was found by way of Cunningham's

Gap, but it was not used until the next year, when, accompanied by Mr.

Frazer, colonial botanist, they proceeded by sea to Moreton Bay, and

connected the settlement with the Darling Downs. How easy was the main

range crossed here, and the fertile downs laid open, compared to the

years of labour spent on the pass of the Blue Mountains. In the year

following Cunningham made his last expedition, closing ten years of

unceasing work in the cause of exploration.

Sturt followed Oxley's tracks. He exposed some of Oxley's mistakes, but

only to make others as great; for the land was smitten with drought, and

the rivers that Oxley had followed were now mere creeks, and in passing

judgment no allowance was made for the seasons, and the country was

valued according to the standard of other countries. His descriptions of

the interior are wonderful pictures of the desolate, waterless, abandoned

desert, "I scorched beneath a lurid sun of burning fire." His mission was

to ascertain what lay beyond the shallow bed of reeds to the westward, in

which Oxley lost the Macquarie; but as suddenly and as mysteriously the

river ran out, and they were as completely baffled as Oxley had been. Dry

on all sides, nothing was found but stony ridges or open forest, the

country was monotonously level, and no sign of a river. Creek after creek

they followed, only to lose it in a marsh. Suddenly they found themselves

on the banks of a noble river, and from its size and saltness, Sturt

conjectured he was near its confluence with an inland sea; but to be

convinced in a few more days that the saltness was of local origin, fed

by saline springs. This river Sturt called the Darling. The homeward

march began, and the same harassing hunt for water; no break in the

country, or change in the vegetation; all brown, blank, and desolate; not

even inhabited by a bird-the drought had so long continued. Sturt had

found the Darling, and he it was who eventually traced its course and

outlet. Starting for that purpose the next year, they sailed down the

Murray, proving its confluence with the Darling, and on down the united

streams of the Murray and Darling with boundless flats on each side. The

river widened day by day; the flight of sea-gulls, and the chopping sea

caused by the wind, surely showed they were near the ocean. Still, Sturt

had reached his goal--the Murray ended in a lake. They had hoped that

succour would have waited them, had the ocean been reached. Now they must

re-enter the Murray while the weary party had still strength to face each

day's never-ending toil, and return to the camp on the Murrumbidgee. The

great satisfaction of having successfully followed the course of the

Murray was damped by the apparently valueless nature of the country

passed through. And this trip, while adding greatly to Australian

geography, gave a proof of the most patient endurance and courage--even

to heroism--not excelled in the many records of bravery and dangers

undergone by other explorers.

We have now looked through the reports of the country given by many men,

and become familiar with their opinions of the future of the interior;

they are almost unanimous in pronouncing it barren and uninhabitable. We

must remember it was not their want of ability, but their inexperience of

the value of the native grasses and herbs. In comparison with other

countries, they appeared worthless. They did not realize that stocking

would force the waters into natural channels, and that the stock would

bring fresh grasses in their train, getting accustomed to and, after a

while, fattening on the despised bushes and herbs. To them it was the

embodiment of a desert--irreclaimable.

During the time these explorations were in progress, a settlement had

been formed in Western Australia, and some attempt at exploration made,

but for a few years not to any great distance. No difficulties here

presented themselves to a passage through the coast range, and the

country discovered seemed fitted both for pasture and agriculture.

For many years little was done in the way of fresh expeditions, until the

year 1831. Major Mitchell in charge of a party traced the rivers,

discovered by Oxley and Cunningham; his explorations were also surveys

and the river system of the continent was partially worked out, but the

hope of a river running through the interior to the north-west coast bad

to be finally abandoned. His report of the country was also more

favourable, and his after expeditions, merely connecting surveys,

confirming and verifying previous discoveries, rather than an exploration

into the unknown. His reports were glowing of the country passed through

generally; from snow-topped mountains to level plains, watered with

permanent streams and rivers, fitted for immediate occupation of the

grazier or farmer.

Now it may be said the difficulties were overcome of entering the

interior, for it was assailed from three points; Perth on the west, Port

Phillip and St. Vincent's Gulf on the south, and from the settled parts

of New South Wales and Moreton Bay on the east. Henceforth the settler so

promptly followed the explorer, that the country became settled and

stocked almost as quickly as known, and, foot by foot, the desert driven

back.

Grey and Lushington wishing to verify the existence or not of a large

river supposed to empty itself into the sea, at Dampier's Archipelago,

endured great hardships. They were without experience of the colonies, or

of the capabilities of the country; but as far as they could judge,

pronounced the country well grassed and timbered. Their second trip

resulted in the discovery of the Gascoigne, but little else; no great

results to compensate for their terrible suffering and privation.

Small explorations were rapidly carried on to provide for the number of

stock imported and the best stock routes; and now it was time to turn

north, to look for the inland sea and the chain of mountains--Australia's

backbone--that was supposed to exist. E. J. Eyre's discovery of Lake

Torrens turned the colonists' attention north as a practicable stock

route to Western Australia. From the sterile nature of the coast of the

bight, and the absence of any rivers emptying into the sea, it was

useless to seek in that direction. His march round the Great Bight was a

journey of terrible suffering; it certainly proved that no water flowed

into the south coast, and gave us our knowledge of the barren country

shut in by the impenetrable, monotonous cliff line that closed its

secrets against our mariners, but it gave no knowledge of the interior.

After some of his men had deserted, and the one that remained murdered,

Eyre, alone, on foot, with his stubborn courage, wearied out and

starving, followed the coast line for numberless miles. Any errors of

judgment leading to the tragic end of his expedition must needs be

overlooked in the face of the great dangers and the perseverance that

carried him through.

Sturt has been called the father of Australian exploration, and may well

be held as one of our greatest scientific explorers--his object always to

solve the mystery of the great interior; its strange peculiarity and

physical formation. He returned disappointed, baffled. But was he in

reality beaten? He was exceptionally unlucky in his seasons, and the

report of the land he brought back caused settlement to progress slowly;

only after years, when men had grown accustomed to the terrors of the

desert, and knew that experience robbed them of their effect, Sturt

found, but unwittingly, the outflow of the second river system. He longed

to be the first to reach the centre of Australia, and hoped that once

past the southern zone of the tropics he would reach a country blessed

with a heavy and constant rainfall. Always he looked back with pleasure

upon his travels, and said: "My path amongst savage tribes has been a

bloodless one."

Next among our explorers comes Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt, and his trip from

Fort Burke, on the Darling, to the Gulf of Carpentaria, which opened up

so much well-watered country and attracted universal attention; but,

unlike Sturt, he had exceptional good fortune, travelling always through

country easy to penetrate and well watered--not one night had the party

to camp without water.

During this expedition, Sir Thomas Mitchell started with one having

almost the same end in view as Dr. Leichhardt's. He did not reach the

Gulf, but threw open our wonderful western prairies, and found the upper

tributaries of the second great river system. This was his last

expedition, and it fully confirmed his reputation. More fortunate than

Sturt, he had been favoured in having plentiful and bountiful seasons of

water and vegetation; but both men had done wonders in the cause of

exploration. Mitchell's discovery of the Victoria, along the banks of

which river he felt the high road to the north coast was found, was

continued by Kennedy, who had been second in command during the first

expedition of Sir Thomas Mitchell.

With a lightly equipped party Kennedy started to follow the course of the

Victoria. Finally the river led them into the desert described by Sturt:

"Plains gaping with fissures, grassless and waterless," and he turned

back satisfied that the Victoria had not its outflow in the Gulf of

Carpentaria, as hoped for by Sir Thomas Mitchell, but lost itself in

Cooper's Creek. The loss of flour, through the natives, prevented Kennedy

from extending his explorations towards the Gulf.

Kennedy's second trip, to examine Cape York Peninsula, ended most

disastrously. Out of his party of thirteen only two men and a black boy

were rescued. Through marshes and scrubs--seemingly the one monotonous

entry in their journal being, "Cutting scrub all day"--they endeavoured

to push their way to Port Albany, the extreme north of the Peninsula,

where a ship would meet them. Saltwater creeks and marshy ground, with

the ranges inhabited by hostile natives, was their prospect, while their

horses were rapidly failing on the sour coast grasses. From first to last

this was a most unfortunate expedition-the awful and impassable nature of

the country travelled through, the hostile blacks and loss of the horses,

and then, when sickness came upon the little band, it was doomed.

In the south, Baron von Mueller was busy exploring some of the unknown

portion of South Australia and the Australian Alps-botanical and

geographical researches combined. The heights of several of the highest

mountains in Australia were fixed, and geographical positions accurately

placed.

Leichhardt, encouraged by his successes, makes his final venture, but

what befel his party--shall we ever know? It is so late now that we can

entertain little hope of ever elucidating his fate.

In 1846, the Gregory brothers are in the west, led by A. C. Gregory, who

so distinguished himself afterwards as a scientific explorer, and in 1855

he was in command of the North Australian Expedition; with him his

brother and the celebrated botanist Baron Von Mueller. Captain Stokes

reported the Victoria as an important stream, and the probable means of

gaining access to the interior, upon which Gregory traced its course. He

professed great disappointment at the reality of Captain Stokes' "Plains

of Promise," compared to what he had been led to expect. The successful

conclusion of this expedition, which had covered nearly five thousand

miles, proves Gregory an explorer of undoubted qualifications, and it is

to he regretted that so scanty a record of his travels has been

published.

Lake Torrens still occupied the attention of the South Australian

colonists, its probable extent and direction, and several expeditions

were undertaken to solve the question. To the south-east fresh water and

well grassed pastoral country, but Lake Torrens still remained as on its

first discovery by Eyre--a dry bed covered with a thick incrustation of

salt, and far away surrounded on all sides by barren country. Goyder

found fresh water in the lake, but its unavailability was confirmed.

M'Dowall Stuart has been recognised as the man who first crossed from sea

to sea, from the south to the north coast, and now on Stuart's track is

built the overland telegraph line, a lasting witness of his indomitable

perseverance. In his subsequent expeditions following his old tracks, he

was destined to meet success, and come to the sea near the mouth of the

Adelaide River. Stuart dipped his hands and feet in the sea, and his

initials were cut on the largest tree they could find. This was his last

trip, and he never recovered from the great suffering of his return

journey.

The expedition under Burke and Wills left amid great celebration; in

fact, it was a gala day in Melbourne, and their journey through the

settled districts one triumphant march. Their purpose was to cross to

Carpentaria. Fate seemed so propitious that one would think in irony she

laughed, as she thought of their return.

They accomplished their task; they reached the Gulf; but did not know

their exact position; and when they turned back it became a terrible

struggle for existence. In spite of the princely outfit with which they

started, short rations and great hardships was their lot, and the men

tried to live like the blacks, on fish and nardoo, and an occasional crow

or hawk which they shot. Wills met his death alone, while Burke and King

were searching for food, and to him, suffering from such extreme

exhaustion, death must have come as the "comforter." He met it as a

gallant man would, without fear. From his last entries he had given up

hope and waited calmly. Burke died the second day; when King looked at

him in the dawning light, he saw that he was really, alone. Meantime, the

rest of the party were left on Cooper's Creek, and were slowly starving

to death. Parties from all sides were now being equipped to go in search

of them.

M'Kinlay's trip across the continent did great service. It verified

Stuart's report that the country always considered as a terrible desert

was not unfit for all pastoral occupation, and, being an experienced man,

his report carried conviction.

One of the search parties for Burke and Wills was under William

Landsborough, having, through previous explorations, good knowledge of

the country; and another, in charge of Frederick Walker, composed of

native troopers. Now the eastern half of Australia was nearly all known;

it had been crossed and re-crossed from south to north; still, the

distinctive value of the country had yet to be learned, and the delusion

that the sheeps' wool would turn to hair in the torrid north to be given

up. All around the coast settlement was surely and steadily creeping, and

unoccupied country going further back every day.

On the north coast, Burketown, under the care of William Landsbrough, was

growing up, and in the north of Arnheim's Land, M'Kinlay was looking for

a suitable site to establish a port for the South Australian Government.

Somerset was formed on the mainland of Cape York Peninsula, and the

formation of this led to the expedition of the Jardine brothers. The

successful termination of their journey, when we look at the difficulties

through which they passed, and the misfortunes they had to encounter,

merits our greatest admiration; and although it did not result in the

discovery of good pastoral country, still they accomplished their object.

The overland telegraph line, and the small explorations made on either

side of it, led greatly to our knowledge of the interior.

John Forrest made his first important journey in 1869, but found no great

results in good country to the eastward of Perth. Then a journey was made

from Perth to Adelaide by way of the Great Bight--never traversed since

Eyre's journey. Owing to a better equipment, he was able to give a more

impartial report of the country passed through; for Eyre was struggling

for life, and it was natural that nature to him would then look at her

blackest.

Warburton and Giles now occupied attention, and their great hope, the

country between the overland telegraph line and the western settlements.

Warburton's expedition led to the western half of the continent being

condemned as a hopeless desert. He no doubt got into a strip of barren

country, and being so occupied in pressing straight through, devoted no

time to the examination of country on either side.

Giles was twice driven back in his attempts to reach Western Australia.

Then, with an equipment of camels, made a third, and successful, attempt.

No discoveries of any importance were made; the country was suffering

from severe drought.

William Hann, one of the pioneer squatters of the North of Queensland,

took charge of a party sent by the Queensland Government to investigate

the tract of country at the base of Cape York Peninsula, both for its

mineral and other resources. Naming the Palmer, and finding here

prospects of gold, the further examination of the river resulted in the

discovery of what turned out to be one of the richest goldfields in

Queensland.

Again the Queensland Government sent out an expedition, under charge of

W. 0. Hodgkinson, to determine the amount of pastoral country to the west

of the Diamantina River.

Buchanan and F. Scarr next attacked the country between the overland

telegraph line and the Queensland border, and in 1878, Mr Lukin,

proprietor of the COURIER, in Brisbane, organised an expedition for the

purpose of exploring the country in the neighbourhood of a proposed

railway line, which had been inaugurated in Port Darwin, and to find the

nature, value, and geographical features of the unexplored portions.

Under the leadership of Ernest Favenc, the party started from Blackall.

This expedition had the effect of opening up a great area of good

pastoral country, nearly all of which is now stocked.

In 1883, Favenc traced the heads of the rivers running into the Gulf of

Carpentaria, near the Queensland border, and in the year following,

crossed from the Queensland border to the telegraph line, and across the

coast range to the mouth of the Macarthur River. Soon after, the South

Australian Government surveyed this river, and opened it as a port; a

good road was formed from the interior to the coast, and the settlement

of the country followed.

In Western Australia, Alexander Forrest led an expedition from the De

Grey River to the telegraph line, which they reached after a great

struggle. It was a most successful trip, and the district found contains

some of the best country in Western Australia, both for pastoral and

mineral purposes.

Stockdale, with a view to settlement, explored the country in the

neighbourhood of Cambridge Gulf. Landing there by steamer, he began the

journey, which ended in a tragedy. After a hard struggle, he reached the

telegraph line.

McPhee's exploration east of Daly Waters may be said to conclude the

expeditions between the Queensland border and the overland line.

To complete the exploration of Arnheim's Land, the South Australian

Government fitted out an expedition under the guidance of Mr. David

Lindsay, but the country passed over was not available for pastoral

settlement, some of it being good sugar country. Messrs. Carr Boyd and

O'Donnell, undertaking another trip from the Katherine River to Western

Australia, were more fortunate in finding good country, but no

geographical discovery resulted.

Thus our island continent has been opened to us by the indomitable

courage and endurance of navigators and explorers. Can we look for

instances of greater bravery in the exploration of any other portion of

the globe? Our old navigators, with their meagre equipment, searched

minutely every portion of the coast, until the termination of the survey

of the BEAGLE, for the mouth of some river that would communicate with

the interior, as our earlier explorers hoped to find a waterway in the

wilderness through which they travelled.

The idea of the work they did, being verified as it now is, could never

have been dreamt of. Think of Flinders, in the old INVESTIGATOR, as he.

sailed from group to group of islands, and from point to point of reefs;

when he got at last through Torres Straits, and stood down the Gulf,

looking up the old land marks of the early Dutch visitors to our

shores--Duyfhen Point, the Van Alphen River, GROOTE EYLANDT, and the

rest--names still preserved, that bear witness to the brave old navigator

who visited these shores before we did. Many an anxious day and night,

doubtless, he had. Now, with steam at our command, the straits have

become the safe highway of traffic to all the leading marts of the world.

It is well for us to bear in mind that, as a rule, experienced bushmen do

find the best points of new country, and not the worst. The after result

generally is that the discoveries of the first explorers are extended,

but not improved on. Therefore, in comparing the different routes that

traverse the western half of our continent, we can safely allow that each

man found, and noted, the most promising features on his line of travel.

By close comparison of the work done by the men who have laid bare so

many of the secrets of the interior, and by deductions to be drawn from

the physical conformation and climatic peculiarities already revealed, we

may, to some extent, conjecture the possibilities of the future. With

every variety of climate between temperate and tropical, with enormous

mineral treasures--the extent of which, even at the present time, can

only be conjectured--boundless areas of virgin soils, and a coastline

dotted with good harbours and navigable rivers, we have all the elements

of a nation yet to take rank among the recognised powers of the world.

But in the interim there is much to be done. The flat and monotonous

nature of most of the continent, which is at present to a certain extent

our bane, will, when the principles of water storage, and its

distributation are fully understood, be of wonderful assistance. The

physical formation of the interior lends itself to the creation of

artificial channels, and the work of leading waterways through the great

areas of unwatered country, that for months lie useless and unproductive,

will be comparatively easy. We have always, or nearly always, our annual

floods to depend upon, and the supply furnished by them should be amply

sufficient for use. Flood water is surplus water, and its conservation

should be the thing aimed at. Many a dry watercourse, that is now but a

slight depression, could be utilised as a channel for conducting the

flood waters to the back country. What would be impossible in an island

of bold mountain ranges, becomes easy in the flats of our dry interior.

In the dry inland plains, a water supply that will relieve the frontage

from overstocking during the droughty months, means the preservation of

some of our most valuable indigenous fodder plants. The overcrowding of

stock on the natural permanent waters during dry periods, has often been

the cause of a depreciation in the natural grasses on some of our

principal rivers. And whilst this has been going on, sun-cracked lagoons

and lakes, surrounded by good, if dry, feed have been lying unnoticed and

useless, waiting for the time to come when they would be turned to

account.

Back from the main watercourses are countless natural reservoirs, that

lie for years dry, and drought-smitten, save in an exceptional flood.

They are never filled, and the fact of supplying them with water is

practicably feasible.

In many districts of the inland slope, the rivers have sandy beds,

incapable of retaining the water for more than a few months; whilst

running parallel with them on either side, are chains of lagoons that

often run dry through the floods not being excessive enough to overflow

the banks. These lagoons are, as a rule, well calculated to hold water,

and could be brought under the influence of ordinary floods, instead of

being, as now, dependent upon extraordinary ones; thus atoning for the

insufficient retaining power of the river bed.

The present great need of Australia is the conservation of water, and the

irrigation works which have been already commenced on the banks of the

Murray River, coupled with the recent discoveries of an apparently

unlimited artesian supply on the and plains of Western Queensland,

testify alike to the recognition of the want, and to the ease with which

it may be met. One inevitable rule of settlement is that population

follows water; present prospects therefore amply justify the hope that at

no very distant date the one-time "central desert" of the first

explorers will be the centre of attraction for the fast-growing

population of the coast line; and that in the merging together of the

peoples of the colonies, now separated by merely imaginary boundary

lines, will be found the one great help to the fulfilment of the desire

of every true Australiana Federated Australia--a grand result of the

indomitable courage, heroic self-sacrifice, and dogged perseverance of

the men of all nationalities, who have established a claim to the proud

title of "Australian Explorer."

APPENDIX.

THE PANDORA PASS.

The following memorandum, written on parchment, was enclosed in a bottle,

and buried under a marked tree in the Pandora Pass:

"MEMORANDUM.

"After a very laborious and harassing journey from Bathurst, since April

last, a party, consisting of five persons, under the direction of Allan

Cunningham, H.M. Botanist (making the sixth individual), having failed of

finding a route to Liverpool Plains, whilst tracing the south base of the

Barrier Mountains (before us north), so far as fifty miles to the

eastward of this spot, at length upon prosecuting their research under

this great mountain belt, in a westerly direction, reached this valley,

and discovered a practicable and easy passage through a low part of the

mountain belt, north by west from this tree, to the very extensive levels

connected with the abovementioned plains, of which the southernmost of

the chain is distant about eleven or twelve miles (by estimation), N.N.W.

from this valley, and to which a line of trees has been carefully marked,

thus opening an unlimited, unbounded, seemingly well-watered country,

N.N.W., to call forth the exertions of the industrious agriculturist and

grazier, for whose benefit the present labours of the party have been

extended. This valley, which extends to the S.W. and W.S.W., has been

named 'Hawkesbury Vale,' and the highest point of the range, bearing N.W.

by W. from this tree, was called 'Mount Jenkinson,' the one a former

title, and the other the family name of the noble earl whose present

title the plains bear, and which, from the southern country, this gap

affords the only passage likely to be discovered. The party in the

earlier and middle stages of their expedition encountered many privations

and local difficulties of travelling to, and in their return from the

eastward; in spite, however, of these little evils, 'a HOPE at the

bottom,' or, at this almost close of their journey, an encouragement

induced them to persevere westerly a limited distance, and thus it was

this passage was discovered. It has therefore been named 'Pandora's

Pass.' Due east and west by compass from this tree, in a direct line (by

odometrical admeasurement) were planted the fresh stones of peaches,

brought from the colony in April last, with every good hope that their

produce will one day or other afford some refreshment to the weary

farmer, whilst on his route beyond the bourne of the desirable country

north of Pandora's Pass. A like planting took place on the plains, twelve

miles distance north at the last marked trees, with similar good wishes

for their growth. A remarkably high mount above the pass east, being a

guide to the traveller advancing south from the plains, has been named

'Direction Head.' The situation of this tree is as follows:--Latitude,

observed on the 7th and 8th of June, 1832, 32 deg. 15 min. 19 sec. S; its

longitude being presumed about 149 deg. 30 min. E. The party now proceed

with the utmost despatch south for Bathurst.

"ALLAN CUNNINGHAM.

"June 9th, 1823.

"Buried for the information of the first farmer who may venture to

advance so far to the northwards as this vale, of whom it is requested

this document may not be destroyed, but carried to the settlement of

Bathurst, after opening the bottle."

(See page 72.--Chapter II.)

* * * * *

DEATH OF SURVEYOR-GENERAL OXLEY.

ABSTRACT FROM 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 fatigue he endured during the performance 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."

(See page 74.--Chapter II.)

* * * * *

LIST OF THE MEN COMPRISING SIR THOMAS MITCHELL'S PARTY ON HIS

EXPEDITION TO THE VICTORIA (BARCOO), 1846.

* * * * *

Sir T. L. Mitchell, Kt., Surveyor-General--Chief of the Expedition.

Edmund B. Kennedy, Esq., Assistant Surveyor--Second in Command.

W. Stephenson, M.R.C.S.L--Surgeon and collector of objects of

natural history.

Peter M'Avoy, Charles Niblett, William Graham--Mounted videttes.

Anthony Brown--Tent-keeper.

William Baldock--In charge of the horses.

John Waugh Drysdale--Store-keeeper.

Allan Bond, Edward Taylor, William Bond, William Mortimer,

George Allcot, John Slater, Richard Horton,

Felix Maguire--Bullock-drivers.

James Stephens, Job Stanley--Carpenters.

Edward Wilson--Blacksmith.

George Fowkes--Shoemaker.

John Douglas--Barometer-carrier.

Isaac Reid--Sailor and chainman.

Andrew Higgs--Chainman.

William Hunter, Thomas Smith--With the horses.

Patrick Travers--Carter and pioneer,

Douglas Arnott--Shepherd and butcher.

Arthur Bristol--Sailmaker and Sailor.

Eight drays, drawn by eighty bullocks, two boats, thirteen horses, four

private horses, and three light carts, comprised the means of conveyance,

and the party was provided with provisions for a year; two hundred and

fifty sheep (to travel with the party) constituting the chief part of the

animal food. The rest consisted of gelatine, and a small quantity of

pork.

(See page 105.--[Chapter IV.])

* * * * *

RICHARD CUNNINGHAM's FATE.

REPORT OF LIEUTENANT ZOUCH, OF THE MOUNTED POLICE, REGARDING

THE DEATH OF RICHARD CUNNINGHAM.

"SIR,

"Bathurst, December 7th, 1835.

"I have the honour to state that, in conforming with the instructions

contained in the Colonial Secretary's letter of the 16th October,

together with your orders, directing me to proceed to the interior for

the purpose of ascertaining the fate of Mr. Cunningham, I proceeded with

the party on the 24th of October for Buree, which place I left on the

29th, accompanied by Sandy (the native black mentioned in my

instructions). On the 2nd of November I fortunately met with two blacks

who knew the particulars of a white man having been murdered on the

Bogan, also the names and persons of the perpetrators of the deed. They

likewise offered to accompany the police to where the tribe to which the

murderers belonged were encamped. I accordingly took them as guides, and

on the evening of the 6th they informed me they could see the smoke from

the fires of the Myall blacks, on the borders of a lake called Budda.

"On arriving at the banks of the lake, we found a tribe encamped

consisting of upwards of forty men, women, and children, all of whom we

succeeded in making prisoners, without any resistance on their part.

Having questioned them as to the murder of a white man, they acknowledge

to one having been killed on the Bogan by four of their tribe, three of

whom they delivered up; the fourth, they stated, was absent on the Big

River. On searching the bags of the tribe, we found a knife, a glove,

and part of a cigar case, which the three blacks acknowledged they had

taken from the white man, and which Muirhead said he was sure belonged to

Mr. Cunningham.

"The three murderers, whose names are Wongadgery, Boreeboomalie, and

Bureemal, stated that they and another black, about six moons ago, met a

white man on the Bogan, who came up and made signs that he was hungry;

that they gave him food, and that he encamped with them that night. The

white man repeatedly getting up during the night excited suspicion, and

they determined to destroy him the following morning, which they did by

Wongadgery going unperceived behind him and striking him on the back of

the head with a nulla-nulla. The other three men then rushing upon him

with their weapons, speedily effected their purpose.

"I then determined to proceed to the spot where the murder was committed,

which I was informed by the blacks was distant three days' journey, but,

learning from them that there was a great scarcity of water, Muirhead,

and one of the prisoners (Burreemal) as a guide across to the Bogan,

leaving the other two prisoners in charge, under the command of Corporal

Moore, to proceed to a station about thirty miles distant from

Wellington, there to await my return.

"On Tuesday, the 10th, I arrived at a place called Currindine, where the

black showed me some bones, which he said were those of a white man they

had killed, and pointed out a small portion of a coat, and also of a

Manilla hat. Being thus convinced of the truth of their statement, and

also of the spot where the melancholy event had occurred, I collected all

the remains I could discover, and having deposited them in the ground,

raised a small mound over them, and barked some of the nearest trees, as

the only means in my power of marking the spot.

"Having thus accomplished the object of my expedition, I proceeded on my

return, and on rejoining the party under Corporal Moore, I learned the

escape of the two prisoners, which took place on the night of the 11th

November, when trooper Lard was on sentry, against whom I have forwarded

a charge for neglect of duty. The fulfilment of my instructions being

thus partially defeated, I considered it my duty to proceed in search of

the runaways, and continued the pursuit, I regret to say, without

success, until I was obliged to return, our stock of provisions being

consumed. I arrived here with the party yesterday, and shall forward the

prisoner, 'Bureemal,' to Sydney, together with the articles I was enabled

to collect, supposed to have belonged to the late Mr. Cunningham.

"I have the honor to be, etc.,

"W. ZOUCH,

"Lieut. Mounted Police."

"To CAPTAIN WILLIAMS,

"Commandant of Mounted Police."

(See page 106.--[Chapter IV.])

* * * * *

CAVE DRAWINGS.

The singular cave paintings found by Lieutenant George Grey near the

Glenelg River, in Western Australia, during the expedition of 1838.

"The cave was twenty feet deep, and at the entrance seven feet high, and

about forty feet wide. As before stated, the floor gradually approached

the roof in the direction of the bottom of the cavern, and its width also

contracted, so that at the extremity it was not broader than the slab of

rock, which formed a natural seat. The principal painting in it was the

figure of a man ten feet six inches in length, clothed from the chin

downwards in a red garment, which reached to the wrists and ankles;

beyond this red dress the feet and hands protruded and were badly

executed.

"The face and head of the figure were enveloped in a succession of

circular bandages or rollers, or what appeared to be painted to represent

such. These were coloured red, yellow, and white, and the eyes were the

only features represented on the face. Upon the highest bandage or

roller, a series of lines were painted in red, but although so regularly

done as to indicate they have some meaning, it was impossible to tell

whether they were intended to depict written characters, or some ornament

for the head. This figure was so drawn on the roof that its feet were

just in front of the natural seat, whilst its head and face looked

directly down on any one who stood in the entrance of the cave, but it

was totally invisible from the outside.

* * * * *

"It would be impossible to convey in words an adequate idea of this

uncouth and savage figure; I shall, therefore, only give such a succint

account of this and the other paintings as will serve as a sort of

description. Its head was encircled by bright red rays, something like

the rays which one sees proceeding from the sun, when depleted on the

signboard of a public house; inside of this came a broad stripe of very

brilliant red, which was coped by lines of white, but both inside and

outside of this red space were narrow stripes of a still deeper red,

intended probably to mark its boundaries. The face was painted vividly

white and the eyes black; being, however, surrounded by red and yellow

lines, the body, hands and arms were outlined in red, the body being

curiously painted with red stripes and bars.

"Upon the rock which formed the left hand wall of this cave, and which

partly faced you on entering, was a very singular painting, vividly

coloured, representing four heads joined together. From the mild

expression of the countenances, I imagined them to represent females, and

they appeared to be drawn in such a manner, and in such a position, as to

look up at the principal figure which I have before described; each had a

very remarkable head dress coloured with a deep bright-blue, and one had

a necklace on. Both of the lower figures had a sort of dress, painted

with red in the same manner as that of the principal figure, and one of

them had a band round her waist. Each of the four faces was marked by a

totally distinct expression of countenance, and although none of them had

mouths, two, I thought, were otherwise rather good looking.

"The whole painting was executed on a white ground. The next most

remarkable drawing in the cave was an ellipse, three feet in length, and

one foot ten inches in breadth. The outside line of this painting was of

a deep-blue colour, the body of the ellipse being of a bright yellow,

dotted over with red lines and spots, whilst across it ran two transverse

lines of blue. The portion of the painting above described formed the

ground, or main part of the picture, and upon this ground was painted a

kangaroo in the act of feeding, two stone spear-heads, and two black

balls. One of the spear-heads was flying to the kangaroo, and one away

from it, so that the whole subject probably constituted a sort of charm,

by which the luck of an enquirer in killing game could be ascertained.

"There was another rather humorous sketch, which represented a native in

the act of carrying a kangaroo, the height of the man being three feet.

The number of drawings in the cave could not altogether have been less

than from fifty to sixty, but the majority of them consisted of men,

kangaroos, etc., the figures being carelessly and badly executed, and

being evidently a very different origin to those which I have first

described.

"Another very striking piece of art was exhibited in the little gloomy

cavities, situated at the back of the main cavern. In these instances

some rock at the sides of the cavity had been selected, and the stamp of

a hand and arm by some means transferred to it. This outline of the hand

and arm was then painted black, and the rock about it white, so that on

entering that part of the cave it appeared as if a human hand and arm

were projecting through a crevice, admitting light."

(See page 118--Chapter V.)

* * * * *

SMITH, A LAD OF EIGHTEEN, FOUND DEAD, MAY 8TH, 1839.

The following is Warrup's account of the finding of Smith's body, the

young volunteer of Grey's party who died. Warrup was a Western Australian

native who accompanied the search party under Mr. Roe:--

"7th Day. The next day away, away, away, away, returning, on our tracks

returning, on our tracks returning. At Barramba we sit down; we eat bread

and meat; they eat fresh-water mussels; the natives eat not fresh-water

mussels.

"Away, away, away, away; we reach the water of Djunjup; we shoot game.

Away, away, away, through a forest away, through a forest away; we see no

water. Through a forest away, along our tracks away. We sleep at

Ka-jil-up; rain falls; the water here is good, the horses feed, well do

the horses feed.

"Away, away; along our tracks away; hills ascending; then pleasantly

away, away, through a forest away, through a forest away; we see a

water-the water of Goonmarrup. Along the river away, along the river

away, a short distance we go, then away, away, away, through a forest

away.

"Then along another river away, across the river away. At Meergamuny we

sleep, raising huts.

"Still we go onwards along the sea away, through the bush away, then

along the sea away, along the sea away. We see three white men, three of

them we see; they cry out, 'Where is water?' water we give them-brandy

and water we give them. We sleep near the sea.

"Away, away we go (I, Mr. Roe, and Kinchela), along the shore away, along

the shore away, along the shore away. We see a paper--the paper of Mortimer

and Spofforth. I see Mr. Smith's footsteps ascending a sand-hill; onwards

I go, regarding his footsteps. I see Mr. Smith dead. We commence digging

the earth. Two SLEEPS had he been dead; greatly did I weep, and much I

grieved. In his blanket folding him, we scraped away the earth.

"We scrape earth into the grave, we scrape the earth into the grave, a

little wood we place in it. Much earth we heap upon it-much earth we

throw up. No dogs can dig there, so much earth we throw up. The sun had

inclined to the westward as we laid him in the ground."

(See page 121.--[Chapter V.])

* * * * *

EYRE'S LETTERS.

Adelaide, 4th January, 1844.

"Having observed that during the past year the subject of an overland

journey from Moreton Bay to Port Essington has again been mooted by the

Legislative Council of New South Wales, I do myself the honour of

applying to you for information as to whether the Executive Government

have any such expedition in contemplation during the present year.

"In the event of such being the case, I beg leave respectfully to offer

my services to conduct the explorations, and should his Excellency the

Governor do me the honour to confide in me so honourable and important an

employment, his Excellency may confidently rely that no effort or

exertions should be wanting on my part to ensure all practicable success.

In a former communication on the subject, I had the honour of giving a

rough estimate of the probable expense of the undertaking, if carried out

in accordance to a plan of operations and a scale of party then proposed.

The altered circumstances of the colonies would now probably enable an

equipment to be prepared at much lower prices than were then estimated

for, and I may remark that, although in my former letter to his

Excellency, Sir G. Gipps, I specified, in accordance with his

Excellency's request, the nature of the party I thought it advisable to

have, and the general line of route I deemed most likely to be

practicable, I shall be most happy to endeavour to carry out any views

his Excellency may entertain upon the subject, with any party or any

direction his Excellency may think desirable. The only point to which I

would call the attention of his Excellency the Governor, in the event of

an expedition being now in contemplation, is the great necessity there

would be for the party to take the field early in the season, so as to

have the whole winter before them for active operations; and, even then,

I feel very doubtful whether it would be possible for a party to

accomplish the whole distance to Port Essington in less than two winters,

being, as I am, strongly of opinion that it will be found quite

impracticable to travel in a tropical climate during the summer months.

"I have the honor to be,

"Yours obediently,

"E. J. EYRE."

* * * * *

"Adelaide, 23rd December, 1841.

"Sir,--Having understood from Captain Sturt that your Excellency is

desirous of sending an expedition into the interior from the northeast

coast towards Port Essington, I do myself the honour of addressing your

Excellency upon the subject, as I feel a very great interest in the

investigation of the interior of this singular continent, and shall be

most ready to give my services to conduct an expedition should your

Excellency decide upon fitting one out, and confide to me that

responsible and honourable duty. In September last I met with a printed

copy of a letter addressed by your Excellency to Lord John Russell, in

which some allusion was made to your wish to send an expedition to

explore the interior, and I at once wrote to the Colonial Secretary of

Sydney to volunteer my services, but, from various causes, I am induced

to believe that my communication must have miscarried, and I now

therefore beg leave to renew that offer.

"As I am not in possession of your Excellency's views as to the nature of

the expedition it might be in contemplation to send out, or the direction

it might be considered desirable to take, I cannot do more at present

than express my willingness to engage in the undertaking generally, and

should your Excellency do me the honour of entertaining the offer I have

made, I shall be most happy, when put in possession of your Excellency's

wishes on the subject, to enter more fully into the necessary detail.

"Being now engaged in the public service at some distance inland, I

should be most anxious to have as early notice as possible of your

Excellency's reply to my proposal, so that, by giving timely notice to

the colonial Government here, no obstruction of the public service might

take place. It would also be necessary for me to be in Sydney as early as

may be practicable to prepare the equipment of the expedition in time to

take the field at the close of the summer.

"E. J. EYRE."

NOTE BY SIR GEORGE Gipps.

"Acknowledge receipt, and say I shall be happy to avail myself of

the offer of Mr. Eyre's services in the proposed expedition, provided no

prior claim be preferred by Captain Sturt, with whom I have had some

communication on the subject. The whole expense of the expedition

would be defrayed by the Government; but before I can enter into any

engagement with Mr. Eyre it will be necessary that I should be

furnished with some account of the equipment, etc., which would be

considered necessary, in order that some estimate of the expense of the

expedition may be formed.

"G. G.

"November 12."

(See page 155.--[Chapter VI.])

* * * * *

EXTRACT OF LETTER FROM MAJOR MITCHELL.

"5th September, 1845.

"In attention to your letter of yesterday, I have now the honour to

submit the outlines of my plan for the exploration of the northern

interior.

"I would therefore first beg leave to observe that my proposed line of

route is founded on views which I have always entertained respecting the

interior, but not more so than on the expediency of ascertaining the

character of that portion of the colony to the northwest of the River

Darling. To avoid unnecessary repetition, I shall annex a quotation here

from my despatch, dated Peel's River, 29th February, 1832, in which my

reasons for believing that there is a dividing range beyond the Darling,

and that a great river may be looked for beyond it, are stated at length.

I have had no occasion to alter my plans or views respecting the interior

since that time; on the contrary, subsequent experience has rather tended

to support these views. The course of the Condamine, now better known,

affords now a better indication that the high ground is in the situation

I supposed. And I annex also a communication from Walter Bagot respecting

that portion of the country beyond the Darling which is nearly opposite

to Fort Bourke, affording additional evidence of the existence of a lofty

range to the north-west, and a great river beyond it. The overflowing of

the 'Waramble' agreed so well with what I observed at the upper part of

the Darling in 1831, and near Fort Bourke in 1836, and the situation of

the range and river beyond accord so well with all that can reasonably be

assumed, as to leave no doubt in my mind as to the accuracy of Mr.

Bagot's statement, even where it is founded on that of the natives."

MINUTE BY SIR G. Gipps.

"Acknowledge receipt, and inform Sir Thos. Mitchell, that desiring to

leave him as far as possible free to act upon his own judgment in the

arduous undertaking in which he is about to embark, I do not consider it

necessary to do more than communicate to him my approval of the course

which he has proposed. Mr. Townsend will be authorised to accompany him,

and act as his next in command, and Mr. Stephenson may, should Sir Thomas

himself approve of it, be engaged at a salary of 7s. 6d. per diem from

the day of his leaving Sydney; he must, however, find his own horse.

"Mr. Townsend will, during his absence, as well as Sir Thomas Mitchell

himself, continue to receive his usual salary from the land fund, but

every other expense will be charged against the sum voted for the purpose

by the Legislative Council, which is now increased to £2,000."

(See page 156.--[Chapter VI.])

* * * * *

EXTRACT OF A LETTER OF MR. WALTER BAGOT.

"20th January, 1844.

"The country beyond the Darling for the first few miles from the river

exhibits the same features as on its southern bank, the soil blackish,

soft, and yielding; the trees principally myall, and a species of myall,

called by the squatters rosewood, interspersed with the small and gnarled

forest oak. About ten miles from the river, and nearly parallel to it, is

the Waramble, a sort of swamp, boggy, and difficult to cross after wet

weather, directly after which water remains in the holes along its

course. From thirty to forty miles beyond this is the Nareen Creek. Here,

except in very dry seasons, water stands. This I know from the Nareen

blacks coming into the Barwin only at those times when they are in much

danger from the Barwin blacks, who are extremely hostile to them. I

cannot tell where the Nareen joins the Barwin; as far as I am acquainted

with it, it is nearly parallel to it, slightly converging to the river

westward. Between the Waramble and Nareen there is no perceptible rising

ground; from the harder nature of the soil, the plain becoming more open,

and the timber straighter and larger. I have no doubt that there is a

gradual ascent. The grass is extremely luxuriant, like all the unstocked

portions of rich ground in this country, the long kangaroo grass rising

to the saddle skirts. The brigalow, which I have never seen in any but

high ground, is here too.

"I now come to the reports of the blacks, which are: That about three

days' journey of theirs (ninety miles) beyond the Barwin is a lofty range

of mountains (I have beard of these mountains also from a gentleman who

got a distant view of them from a plain near the Nareen); that a river,

called the Culgoa, runs at the foot of these mountains, which river, from

the similarity of the name, I am inclined to think, is one which empties

itself into the Barwin, about one hundred miles lower down than the

junction of the Castlereagh. I have remarked that the word Culgoa in the

Wilem dialect signifies 'waterfall,' which adds to the likelihood of its

being a mountain stream; that after crossing the mountains, which

occupies one day (thirty miles), and travelling for two days (sixty

miles), still north-west, they reach a large river, broader and deeper

than the Barwin, the waters of which river never fail. Their name for

this river I cannot now recollect. The old black, who gave the clearest

account of this river, and who was the only one I have seen who admitted

having been actually at this river, distinctly described its course to be

different from that of the Barwin, and, perhaps, north or south-west.

Might not this river be a tributary to one of the large rivers which flow

into the Gulph of Carpentaria? and if so, how well adapted for a line of

road traversing its valley to the Gulph? I have often wished, while

residing on the Barwin, to make up a party to explore the size and course

of this river, but the dangerous character of the black tribes in its

direction, with the late Iong-continued drought, were enough to prevent

it."

(See page 156.--[Chapter VI.])

* * * * *

THE LAST LETTER RECEIVED FROM DR. LEICHHARDT.

"M'Pherson's Station, Cogoon,

"April 3, 1848.

"I Take the last opportunity of giving you an account of my progress. In

eleven days we travelled from Mr. Burell's station, on the Condamine, to

Mr. M'Pherson's, on the Fitzroy Downs. Though the country was

occasionally very difficult, yet everything went on very well. My mules

are in excellent order--my companions in excellent spirits. Three of my

cattle are footsore, but I shall kill one of them to-night, to lay in our

necessary stock of dried beef. The Fitzroy Downs, over which we travelled

for about twenty-two miles from east to west, is indeed a splendid

region, and Sir Thomas has not exaggerated their beauty in his account.

The soil is pebbly and sound, richly grassed, and, to judge from the

Myalls, of the most fattening quality. I came right on Mount Abundance,

and passed over a gap in it with my whole train. My latitude agreed well

with Mitchell's. I fear that the absence of water on Fitzroy Downs will

render this fine country to a great extent unavailable. I observe the

thermometer daily at 6 a.m. and 8 p.m., which are the only convenient

hours. I have tried the wet thermometer, but am afraid my observations

will be very deficient. I shall, however, improve on them as I proceed.

"The only serious accident that has happened was the loss of a spade, but

we are fortunate enough to make it up on this station. Though the days

are still very hot, the beautiful clear nights are cool, and benumb the

mosquitoes, which have ceased to trouble us. Myriads of flies are the

only annoyance we have.

"Seeing how much I have been favoured in my present progress, I am full

of hopes that our Almighty Protector will allow me to bring my darling

scheme to a successful termination.

"Your most sincere friend,

"LUDWIG LEICHHARDT."

(See page 166.--Chapter VII.)

* * * * *

THE NARDOO PLANT.

The Nardoo appears generally to be considered the seed of the lentil, or

some other plant of the bean tribe, whereas it belongs to one of those

cryptogamic or flowerless plants, which, like ferns and mosses, do not

produce perfect seeds, but are increased by cellular bodies named spores.

It belongs to the genus MARSILLEA, order MARSILLEACEAE, and that class of

sexual or flowerless plants called Acrogens, which have distinguishable

stems and leaves, in contra-distinction to THALLOGENS, in which stems and

leaves are indistinguishable, as sea-weeds, fungi, and lichens. The part

used for food is the INVOLUCEN SPORANGIUM, or spore case, with its

contained spores, which is of an oval shape, flattened, and about

one-eighth of an inch in its longest diameter; hard and horny in texture,

requiring considerable force to crush or pound it when dry, but becoming

soft and mucila ginous when exposed to moisture. The natives pound it

between two stones, and make it into cakes like flour. The spores

vegetate in water, and root in soil at the bottom, where the plant grows

to maturity. After the water dries up, the plants die, and leave the

spore cases on, in many instances quite covering the surface of the dried

mud. It is then that they are gathered for food. On the return of

moisture, the spore cases softened, become mucilaginous, and discharge

their contents to form a fresh crop of plants. The foliage is green, and

resembles clover somewhat, being composed of three fleshy leaflets on the

top of a stalk a few inches in length.

(See page 2166.--[Chapter IX.])

* * * * *

THE FINDING OF JOHN KING.

The details connected with the rescue of John King, the sole survivor of

the Burke and Wills Expedition, have, strangely enough, never yet found

their way into print, owing to a series of minor accidents, into the

particulars of which it is not necessary to enter here.

The relief party, under the leadership of Mr. A. W. Howitt, fully

equipped and provisioned to follow the supposed track of the expedition

to the Gulf of Carpentaria, if necessary, knew nothing up to the time of

the actual finding of King of the miserable fate which had overtaken the

lost explorers; nor had they the faintest reason for supposing that they

were actually on the verge of the discovery which was to so completely

elucidate the mystery of their disappearance.

Early in September, 1861, Howitt's party reached Cooper's Creek,

accompanied by W. Brahe, a member of Burke's expedition, who had been

left in charge of the depôt at Fort Wills by Burke. He had remained there

a month over the time mentioned in his instructions; his men were

attacked by scurvy; the blacks in the neighbourhood were getting

troublesome, and his provisions getting low. He therefore planted all the

stores he could spare under a tree, marked "dig," and with them an

explanatory letter to his leader, in the event of the return of the

absent men, and retired to the depôt at Bulloo. He then started for

Melbourne to report himself, but was intercepted by Howitt and taken back

to Cooper's Creek as a guide.

King was found by Mr. Edwin J. Welch, the surveyor, and second in command

of Howitt's party, a gentleman who afterwards identified himself with

journalism, and who has been for many years favourably known in

connection with the country press as a proprietor of newspapers, both in

Northern and Western Queensland and Victoria. The following interesting

account of his first meeting with King is taken from Mr. Welch's diary:--

"13th September, 1861. Shortly after leaving camp this morning, Howitt

and I, accompanied by Brahe, rode on down the creek, ahead of the party,

to the depôt at Fort Wills, hoping against hope that we should find

Brahe's plant empty and some record of the missing men. We were doomed to

disappointment. After a careful examination of the spot, Brahe declared

that everything was as he had left it six weeks before. The CACHÉ had not

been disturbed, and nothing but a few blacks' tracks in the loose soil

existed to show that any human life had broken the solitude. We,

therefore, continued our way, wondering what could have become of them,

and discussing with keen interest the suggestions offered by each to

guide us in our future movements. . . Camped the horses and camels about

3 p.m., on the bank of a large waterhole in the creek, covered with

wild-fowl and partially surrounded by a dense growth of dead mallows of

great size and height.

"14th September. Proceeded slowly westward, along the north bank of the

creek, carefully searching for tracks. . . . Country opening out and

improving in character. Magnificent reaches of water in the creek; some

of the water quite salt, other holes containing water of a milky tint,

sweet and pleasant to the taste, while in others again, it was brackish,

and the edges were lined with petrified boughs, leaves, and some few

fish. . . . Several times during the day we noticed blacks stealthily

watching our movements from a distance, and travelling through the long

grass in the direction we ourselves were going. . . . In the afternoon,

Howitt, who had been riding well out from the creek, returned with the

news that he had struck fresh camel tracks trending northwards,

apparently those of a lost camel. . . . Another comfortable camp on the

creek, with plenty of feed.

"15th September (Sunday). Left camp at 8 a.m. Howitt, with one of the

black boys, started to run the camel track seen yesterday. I gave Sampson

(the leading man of the file) a compass bearing to follow, with

instructions to keep as closely to it as the windings of the creek would

permit, and rode on ahead, actuated by curiosity as to the movements of

our black friends of yesterday. 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 covered the banks of

the creek, the blacks kept pace with me on the opposite side, their cries

increasing in volume and intensity; when suddenly rounding a bend, I was

startled at seeing 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, throw their arms about, 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 local repute, both for foot and temper--appeared to

think that his work was cut out for him, and the time 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 ground. 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 a 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.' '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, I rode up the

bank, 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, as he recovered from the excitement of the

meeting, we got from him the, sad story of the fate of his leader. We got

it at intervals only, between the long rests which his exhausted

condition compelled him to take, and the main facts are, as summarised,

given below:--

"'Burke, Wills, Gray, and I, left the depôt in charge of Brahe, at Fort

Wills, on the 16th December, 1860, with six camels, one horse, and

provisions for three months. The stock was in splendid condition, and we

were in high spirits. Keeping a steady course northwards, we reached salt

water and mangrove swamps on--but I can't tell you the date; you will

find it in Wills' field-books. He said it was the Gulf of Carpentaria,

and we were satisfied; we could not get through the mangroves, and never

saw the open water, but we had accomplished the object of the expedition.

One of the camels had knocked up some distance back, and we had to plant

his load, so that we were afraid to stay too long, for fear of getting

short of rations. We did not follow our own tracks all the way back, but

hurried as much as possible to reach the depôt in time. On the way back

we killed the horse and one camel for meat, and one of the camels got

away from us, so that we had only two left to finish the journey. We all

walked, and threw away everything except the rations, a gun, and the

clothes we had on. At one of the camps we buried all Mr. Wills'

instruments, but I don't remember which one it was. Gray was getting

knocked up worse and worse every day, and then he got to taking more than

his share of the flour and sugar when he got a chance. Mr. Burke

threatened him and boxed his ears for this, and when he turned in one

night, about two days before we expected to reach the depôt, he said he

felt he would not live till morning, and, sure enough, he didn't. When we

turned out at daylight, Gray was dead; so we stopped there that day, and

scooped a hole in the sand about three feet deep with our hands, and

buried him in it. The next morning we pushed on for the depôt, and when

we got there, two days after, it was deserted. The fire was still alight,

and the tracks of Brahe's party were all fresh. There was a tree marked

'DIG,' and when we were able to get at the plant we found Brahe's note,

which said they had left that morning; but we did not mind it very much,

as there was plenty to eat. Of course, we were disappointed, but Mr.

Burke said we could get back by Strzelecki's Creek to Mount Hopeless, and

so to Adelaide. We stopped at the depôt five days, which was a good spell

for ourselves and the two camels, and we felt much better. When we were

ready to start, we buried all the field-books and some letters, to let

anybody who came by know where we were going, and then covered up the

plant carefully, so that the blacks should not find it out. We went

westerly down the creek, and saw lots of blackfellows, but Mr. Burke did

not care to try and make friends with them; he said there were too many

of them, and it was no good wasting time. After we got some distance down

the creek, it was decided to cross and strike to the southward, but we

must have picked a bad place, for one of the camels got stuck in a

quicksand at the end of a waterhole, and we could not get him out,

although we worked hard for nearly twenty-four hours; so, as there was

nothing else left for it, we shot him, cut off as much meat as we could

carry, and, after drying it, started on again; but our load was so much

heavier now that we had to travel very slowly, and the other camel was

beginning to knock up. After two days more, he got so weak that he

couldn't get up off the ground, so we had to shoot him too, pack some

more of the meat, and then go on. We got on to a branch creek, which ran

in the direction we wanted to go, but after a few more miles it ran out,

and lost itself in channels in an earthy plain: so we had to go back to

the last water. We were all three beginning to feel bad now, so it was

decided to take a good spell before making another attempt. While we were

doing this the rations were getting very short, and we began to cat

nardoo the same as the blacks. Sometimes the blacks would come by and

give us a few fish, which we could not catch ourselves, and sometimes we

managed to shoot a crow or a hawk, but we had no strength to go and look

for anything. Mr. Wills, however, determined to go back to the depôt, and

see if anybody had been there, and he was away some days by himself. When

he came back, he told us that he had seen nobody, but that he had opened

the plant in the night, to bury another letter to the committee, and

carefully covered it up again. A good thing for us, it happened that the

weather was very fine, although cold at night, and we felt the cold

badly, having very few clothes. Then we shifted camp a little higher up

the creek, where there were two or three blacks' gunyahs, and Mr. Wills

got so weak that he could not move out of his at all. Mr. Burke and I

were getting very weak, too, but I was not so bad as they were, and

managed to collect and pound enough nardoo to keep us all from starving

outright. In a few days things were so bad that Wills, who was getting

worse all the time and suffering great pain, persuaded Mr. Burke and I to

go up the creek, while we had strength, and look for the blacks, as our

only chance of life. We didn't like the idea of separating, but it seemed

to be our only chance, so we made him some nardoo bread, and left it,

with a billy of water, beside him, and went away. Together, Mr. Burke and

I wandered slowly up the creek, but could not see a sign of any blacks,

and after we had gone fourteen or fifteen miles, Mr. Burke said he could

not go any farther, and lay down under a tree. I found some nardoo close

by, and had the good luck to shoot a crow. The night was very cold, and

we felt it dreadfully, and before daylight Mr. Burke said he was dying,

and told me not to try and bury him or cover up his body in any way, but

just put his pistol in his right hand. I did this, and then he wrote

something in his pocket-book, and died about two hours after sunrise.

When I was able to move, I went on again, to try and find help for Wills,

but the blacks had all disappeared. I found some nardoo in one of their

camps, though, and with this and another crow I shot, I started back to

Wills. It took me four days to get back, and when I got there I found he

was dead, too. I covered up his body with boughs and sand as well as I

could, and then rested for two days, and started off again to look for

blacks. I don't know how many days it was before I found them, but I

think a good many. At first they were very kind to me, and gave me plenty

to eat; after that they tried to drive me away, but I stuck to them, and

the women gave me some nardoo every day, and sometimes one of the men

would give me some fish. I don't know how long I have been with them, but

I think it must be about three months. I knew you were coming before I

saw you, for some strange blacks came down the creek and brought the news

to the others, and somehow I got to understand that they had seen some

white men on horses, who I knew would look for me. I could not learn to

talk to them, but I began slowly to understand what they were saying. I

think I could have lived for a long time with them, for I was all the

while getting a little bit stronger.'"

From the foregoing narrative it will be at once seen that the unfortunate

collapse of Gray, when within only two days' journey of the depôt, was

the direct cause of the death of Burke and Wills. King was a young man,

of good physique, and of a nature in which the disposition to mental

worry or anxiety had no part. The leaders had to endure this in addition

to their physical sufferings, and the bitterness of dying within the

reach of help, after having successfully accomplished the most dashing

feat ever recorded in the annals of Australian exploration. They had

performed their allotted task, and they perished miserably in the hour of

their success.

The criticisms of Australians generally, and of bushmen in particular,

were for a long time afterwards directed to the apparently unaccountable

circumstance that neither Howitt, Welch, nor Brahe detected at their

first visit to the depôt that the CACHÉ had been opened. King's narrative

showed that it had actually been twice opened, but it must be borne in

mind that on each occasion the best precautions were adopted to conceal

the fact, and thereby avoid attracting the attention of the blacks. The

unfortunate men, who were slowly starving to death on the banks of the

creek, had left no visible sign of their visit to the spot. Brahe, who

made the plant, positively asserted that it had not been interfered with,

and Howitt, therefore, wisely declined to burden himself with an

additional weight of stores for which he had no present use. Even had it

been opened on that 13th of September, the knowledge which it would have

revealed was too late to be of service, and could not have expedited the

rescue of King by more than a few hours, if at all.

(See page 219.--[Chapter IX.])

* * * * *

POISON PLANTS.

The properties of the Australian plants are only imperfectly known, very

few species having been chemically examined; numbers are suspected, but

have not been positively proved. The poison plant that caused such havoc

amongst the horses of both Jardine and Austin mostly affects the spinifex

country. It is a ground plant, and liable to be cropped by a horse

amongst the grass, when the animal would probably refuse to touch a bush.

Amongst the most poisonous plants known in Australia may be mentioned the

"thorny apple," DATURA STRAMONIUM, and DATURA TATULA; also the EXCAECARIA

AGALLOCHA, and LOLIUM TERMULENTUM.

The indigo plant, SWAINSONA GALEGIFOLIA, is a glabrous perennial, or

undershrub, with erect flexuose branches, sometimes under one foot,

sometimes ascending, or even climbing, to the height of several feet. The

flowers are rather large, and deep-red in the original variety; pod much

inflated, membranous one to two inches long, on a stipe varying from two

to six lines. The species varies, with light, purplish-pink flowers, S.

CORONILLAEFOLIA; and white flowers, S. ALBIFLORA. The difference in the

length of the stipes of the pod does not, as had been supposed, coincide

with the difference in the colour of the flower. This plant acts in a

peculiar way upon sheep, driving them insane until death ensues. The

sheep, however, select it as an especial tit-bit, it, apparently,

possessing an irresistible fascination for them.

The "Darling pea" SWAINSONA PROCUMBENS. Glabrous; or the young shoots and

foliage slightly silky; or sometimes pubescent, or hirsute, with

procumbent ascending, or erect stems of one to three feet. Leaflets

varying from oblong or almost linear, and one-quarter inch to half-inch

long, to lanceolate, or linear-acute, and above one inch long. Flowers:

large, fragrant, violet, or blue; pod sessile, above one inch long.

The "Pitchuri plant," ANTHOCERCIS HOPWOODII. A glabrous tree, or shrub.

Leaves: narrow-linear, acutely acuminate, with the point often recurved,

entire, rather thick, narrowed into a short petiole, two to four inches

long; fruit unknown.

"Australian Tobacco," NICOTIAN SUAVEOLENS. An erect annual, or biennial,

of one to two feet. Flowers: white, or greenish on side; sweet-scented,

especially at night.

Amongst those that are but slightly poisonous are: TYPHONIUM BROWNII, and

COLOCASIA MACRORRHIZA; the CRINUM FLACCIDUM and C. PENDUNCULATUM, both

bulbous herbs; CARCUMBUM POPULIFOLIUM and C. STILLINGIAEFOLIUM, tall

shrubs; DUBOISEA MYOPOROIDES and D. LEICHHARDTII, shrubs; ARISTOLOCHIA

praevenos, a tall, climbing shrub; A. PUBERA, a small, prostrate, or

trailing herb; CHAMAE FISTULA LAEVIGATA and C. SOPHERA, erect, glabrous

shrubs.

The "Nightshade," SOLANUM NIGRUM. An erect annual, or biennial, with very

spreading branches, one to nearly two feet high. Leaves: petiolate,

ovate, with coarse, irregular, angular teeth, or nearly entire, one to

two inches long. Flowers; small and white, in little cymes, usually

contracted into umbels on a common peduncle, from very short, to nearly

one inch long. Berry: small, globular, usually nearly black, but

sometimes green-yellow, or dingy-red.

The "Bean tree," CASTANOSPERMUM AUSTRALE. A tall, glabrous tree; pods

eight or nine inches long, about two inches broad; the valves hard and

thick, the spongy substance inside dividing it into three to five cells

each, containing a large, chestnut-like seed.

(See page 241.--[Chapter XI.])

INDEX OF NAMES, DATES, AND INCIDENTS

"Adventure" (The)--

Under Captain Tobias Furneaux, in search of the South Continent, touched

on the coast of Tasmania. 1772.

Alouarn, M. de St.--

Anchored near Cape Leeuwin, but no record of his visit has been

preserved. 1777.

Alt, Matthew B--

With the ships HORMUZEER and CHESTERFIELD, through Torres Straits. 1793.

"Amsterdam," (The) "Klyn," and "Wezel"--

From Banda. commanded by Gerrit Tomaz Poole; revisited Arnheim's Land.

Captain Poole was killed on the New Guinea coast. 1636.

"Arnheim" (The) and "Pera"--

On the coast of New Guinea. Captain Jan Carstens, with eight of his crew

murdered; but the vessels proceeded to, and touched on the north coast of

New Holland, west of the Gulf of Carpentaria, still known as "Arnheim's

Land." 1623.