During Gregory's absence Australia bad lost her renowned explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell. He died on the 15th October, near Sydney. He had served on the staff of the Duke of Wellington during the Peninsular War, and in addition to his energy and activity in the field, was a well read and accomplished scholar.
The unsolved puzzle of the extent, direction, and boundaries of Lake Torrens still occupied the attention and exercised the minds of the South Australian colonists. It seemed almost like a region of enchantment, so conflicting were the accounts brought in by different parties, and so contradictory the statements made.
In 1851, two squatters in search of a run, Messrs. Oakden and Hulkes, pushed out to the western side of Lake Torrens, and according to their account found a most favourable land. They discovered a lake of fresh water, surrounded with good country; and the natives told them of other lakes to the north-west; also 'introducing descriptions of strange animals, whose appearance could have only been equalled by that of the JIMBRA, or apes, of Western Australia, which ruthless animals, according to blackfellows' legend, devoured the survivors of Leichhardt's party, as they straggled into the confines of that colony. Their horses giving in, Oakden and Hulkes returned; but although they applied for a squatting license for the country they had visited, it was not then settled or stocked. In 1856 Mr. Babbage made some explorations on the field to the north, traversed by Eyre and Frome. He penetrated to the plains which were supposed to occupy the central portion of the horseshoe; but, more successful than his predecessors, he found permanent water in a gum creek, and saw some fair-sized sheets of water, one of which he named Blanche Water, or Lake Blanche.
Some excursions to the south-east led to the discovery of some more fresh water and well-grassed pastoral country, and the natives directed him to a crossing-place in that portion of Lake Torrens that had been sighted in 1845, by Messrs. Poole and Browne, of Captain Sturt's party. Babbage, however, failed to find the place, and lost his horse in the attempt to cross.
In 1857, a Mr. Campbell made an excursion to the west of Lake Torrens, and discovered a creek with fresh water in it, which he called the Elizabeth. He finally came to Lake Torrens which he found in the same condition as other explorers had done—surrounded by barren country.
In April of the same year, a survey in the country where Babbage had been exploring was conducted by Deputy Surveyor-General Goyder, and he certainly got into the land of enchantment. A few miles north of Blanche Water he found many springs bubbling out of the ground, around a fine lagoon, and north was an isolated hill, which he named Weathered Hill. From the summit of this hill he had a fine specimen of the effect produced by refraction. To the north, or thereabouts, he saw a belt of gigantic gum-trees show out, beyond which appeared a sheet of water with elevated lands on the far side, while to the east was another large lake; all this, however, was but the glamourie of the desert. The gigantic gum trees dwindled down to stunted bushes, and the rising ground to broken clods of earth.
But the greatest surprise was reserved for the time Goyder actually reached Lake Torrens, for he found the water quite fresh. He described it as stretching from fifteen to twenty miles to the north-west, with a water horizon; an extensive bay forming to the southward, while to the north a bluff headland and perpendicular cliffs were clearly discerned with a telescope. From the appearance of the flood-marks, Goyder came to the conclusion that there was little or no rise and fall in the lake, inferring therefrom that its size would absorb the flood waters without showing any variation of level.
No wonder that the good people of Adelaide were overjoyed when they heard the news. The threatening desert that hemmed in their fair province on the north had been suddenly converted into the promised land. Colonel Freeling, the Surveyor-General, immediately started out, taking with him both a boat and an iron punt with which to float on these new-found waters.
What must have been the public feeling when a letter was received from the Surveyor-General, saying that the cliffs the headlands, and the grassy shores, where all built up on the basis of the mirage. The elfs and sprites of this desolate region had been playing a hoax on the former party.
It will be remembered in Sturt's expedition, how Poole came back and reported confidently having seen the inland sea, and how Gray on the west coast led his companions a tramp, after a receding lake that they never overtook, it is scarcely to be wondered at then, that Goyder was deceived, more particularly after finding the water of Lake Torrens fresh, when it had always been represented as salt.
On reaching the lake, Freeling found the water almost fresh, but one of Goyder's men who was with him said that the water had already receded half a mile. An attempt to float the punt was made, but after dragging it through mud and a few inches of water for a quarter of a mile; the idea was abandoned. Freeling, and some of the party then started to wade through the slush, but after getting three miles, found no water deeper than six inches. Some of the more adventurous went further still, but only to meet with a like result. The Surveyor-General returned a disappointed man, and the unavailability of Lake Torrens was confirmed.
During this time—1857—Mr. Hack started with a party from Streaky Bay to examine the Gawler Ranges of Eyre, and investigate the country west of Lake Torrens. He reached the Gawler Range and examined the country very patiently, finding numerous springs, and large plains of both grass and saltbush, also sighting a large salt lake (Lake Gairdner). On the whole, his report was a very favourable one.
Simultaneously with Hack's trip, a party under Major Warburton, was out in the same direction, in fact Hack's party crossed Warburton's track on one or two occasions. Warburton's account was contradictory of Hack's; he reported the country dry and arid, and found very little to say in favour of it.
Of the two men, however, it is probable that Hack's experience enabled him to judge with most truth of the value of land seen under unfavourable conditions.
This year of 1857 was rife with explorations in South Australia. A party of settlers consisting of Messrs. Swinden, Campbell, Thompson, and Stock set out, and at about seventy miles from the head of Spencer's Gulf, found fine pastoral country, and a permanent waterhole, PERNATTY. To the northward they came upon the Elizabeth, formerly discovered by Campbell, and here from want of provisions they returned. A month afterwards Swinden started again from PERNATTY, and found available pastoral land north of the Gawler Ranges, which became known as Swinden's country. During this year, also, Messrs. Miller and Dutton explored the country at the back of Fowler's Bay. Forty miles to the north they saw treeless plains stretching far inland, but they found no permanent water. Warburton afterwards reported deprecatingly of this country, but Messrs. Delisser and Hardwicke in their turn stated that it was first-class pastoral land, if water could be obtained. Judging from Major Warburton's career as an explorer, he seemed quite unable to judge correctly of the value of country when seen under an adverse season, and it is only one of the many instances of the necessity of a STATION training to adequately fit a man to pronounce definite judgment on the availability or non-availability of country. One of Warburton's suggestions to the South Australian Government was to explore the interior-which had proved such a difficult nut to crack—by means of the POLICE. One has to know the country well to fully appreciate the exquisite humour of this suggestion.
Before referring to two expeditions, both of great importance, one under A. C. Gregory, and the other by Frank Gregory, it may be as well to pursue the fortunes of the Lake Torrens explorers to the end.
In 1858, the South Australian Government voted a sum of money to fit out a party to continue the northern explorations. This party was put under the leadership of Mr. Babbage, and his instructions were to examine the country between Lake Torrens and the lately-discovered Lake Gairdner, and to survey and map the respective western and eastern shores of the two lakes, so as to remove for the future any doubts as to their true formation and position. This alone, apart from any more extended explorations, meant a work of considerable time; but, unfortunately for Babbage, the survey work was generally regarded as but of secondary importance, and the public looked eagerly forward to hearing of the discovery of new pasture lands, especially as the outfit had been on a most liberal scale. Considerable delay (whether avoidable or not, it is scarcely worth while to discuss) happened during the outset of this expedition; for, although the party was reported ready on the 11th February, the end of August found Babbage back in Port Augusta having passed the intervening months in surveying the shores of the two large lakes, and making short excursions to the westward, over a country that had been several times traversed by private parties looking for land. At Port Augusta he was considerably surprised to find that his second in command, Harris, had started south to Adelaide, with a great many of the horses and drays. Babbage pursued, and overtook them at Mount Remarkable, after riding one hundred and sixty miles. Here he found that fresh instructions had been issued by the Government, and forwarded by Charles Gregory, lately arrived with his brother from the north.
The explanation was, that A. C. Gregory's expedition in search of Leichhardt had arrived in Adelaide during Babbage's absence, and it having been successfully conducted with the aid of packhorses only, the South Australian Government came to the conclusion that Babbage would manage just as well without the drays, and engaged, and sent Charles Gregory to join him, and inform him that his expedition was in future to be conducted in a like manner. Not finding Babbage at his camp, Gregory had started the drays and draught horses home on his own authority. Babbage ordered his men back, but they refused to go; so after writing to the Government, complaining of the treatment he had received, he returned north with a small party and six months' provisions. He arrived at the boundary of his late surveys, and pushing on reached Chambers' Creek, so named by Stuart, who had discovered it during Babbage's absence at Lake Gairdner.
This creek, which Babbage called Stuart's Creek, he traced to a large salt lake, which he christened Lake Gregory, now known as Lake Eyre. From here he made to a range which he called Hermit Range, but from its summit could see no sign of Lake Torrens, and came to the just conclusion that it did not extend so far. West of Lake Eyre the explorers found a hot spring, and afterwards many more were discovered.
Meantime, Major Warburton had been sent to supersede Babbage, and during the time the latter gentleman was making these discoveries, Warburton was searching for him. This result had come about partly through the appearance of Babbage at Mount Remarkable, and partly through the return of Messrs. Stuart and Forster, who reported good country beyond Babbage's furthest, which naturally made the public think that that explorer should have been the first to find it.
On arriving at the camp on the Elizabeth, Warburton, who had C. Gregory with him as a second, found Babbage absent, so he sent Gregory after him to bring him back, and after waiting some time, determined to go himself, and a comical sort of hunt commenced, ending in Warburton coming up with Babbage at Lake Eyre, and there carrying out the duty imposed upon him, in a manner that says little for his generosity of spirit.
During this game of hunt-the-slipper, Warburton had made some minor discoveries on his own account. He had come upon fairly good country west of the lakes, and had found the springs which he christened Beresford Springs; he also discovered the Douglas, a creek which afterwards greatly assisted Stuart to push forward, and a range which he called the Davenport Range. He had got north-west of where Babbage was, and in fact afterwards disputed that explorer's claim to the discovery of Lake Eyre.
It seems only in keeping with the paradoxical nature of our continent that this blundering expedition should have been so conducive in establishing the great geographical fact that had so long puzzled the colonists, namely, the definite size and shape of Lake Torrens. No longer was this terror of the north to extend its encircling arms against all advancement. Henceforth, its isolated character was decided, and the supposed continuations known under independent names.
Of the whole conduct of the expedition, the less said the better; the Government instructions were vacillating and contradictory; Babbage was slow and apathetic, Warburton pompous and arbitrary; and in the end the affair was further degraded by an old-womanish wrangle between the two explorers as to the priority of certain discoveries.
During this year, Surveyor Parry had advanced into what was then supposed to be the horseshoe of Lake Torrens, and found in many places both fresh water and fairly available country.
This time it is with more cheering tidings that we turn once again to the work of exploration in Western Australia.
On the 16th April, during this same year of 1858, when some exploring tarantula seemed to have bitten all the colonies, Frank Gregory left the Geraldine mine on the Murchison, where it will be remembered the gallant Austin and party arrived in such a critical state, to endeavour to reach the Gascoyne and the upper reaches of the coast rivers.
Following up the Murchison for some distance, Gregory, finding but little feed, although the country was not quite so scrubby as usual, struck north-east, and coming to a large channel with a due northern course, followed it down, and on the 3rd of May, to his great joy, reached the long-sought Gascoyne. It was flowing from the eastward and running west, but soon changed its course to the north, thence north-west, thence west and south until the junction of a large river from the north-west was reached. From this junction the Gascoyne ran due west straight for Shark's Bay, and on the 17th May, Gregory reached the mouth of the river. Returning, he explored the tributary from the north-west, which he named the Lyons, and which he followed for a considerable distance, until he came to a high mountain, three thousand five hundred feet above sea level, which he called Mount Augustus. From the summit he had a splendid view north and east, and traced the course of the river far to the eastward. Turning southeast, and crossing tributaries of the Gascoyne, and the main river itself, they reached another lofty hill-Mount Gould—from the top of which Gregory thought he could infer the course of the Murchison for nearly one hundred miles.
Following the Murchison down, they arrived at the Geraldine mine, having in the space of a little over two months completed a trip which resulted in the most favourable manner. Good pastoral country, well-watered, the great want of the settlers, had been discovered, only awaiting the finding of an available port to at once invite settlement. After so many bitter disappointments this was a much-needed encouragement to the colony.
Still in the fruitful year of 1858, we must accompany the elder brother, A. C. Gregory, on his Barcoo expedition. This expedition was organised in order to search for some traces of the course of Leichhardt's party, and although there was little hope of finding him, or any of his party, still alive, there was a great probability of at least ascertaining the route he had travelled, and possibly rescuing part of his journals.
The freshly awakened interest in the fate of the lost party may or may not have sprung from the story of a convict, in confinement in Sydney, which has since been repeated with various alterations.
This man, whose name was Garbut, started a wild and improbable legend about the existence, in the interior, of a settlement of escaped convicts, amongst whom Leichhardt and his band were held prisoners, lest they should reveal the whereabouts of the runaways. Of course such a story, which might have obtained credence in the very early days, was at once scouted; but it, at any rate, turned public attention to the strange fact that, in spite of the many explorations of the past ten years, no sign nor token of the missing men had ever been seen.
A. C. Gregory then with his brother and seven men started on the quest. They were equipped for rapid travelling, taking with them only pack horses to carry their provisions. The leader followed the now well-known track to the Warrego, and crossing the head of the Nive, reached the Barcoo waters on the 16th April. If the marked trees seen by Hely were Leichhardt's there was a great probability that they would thus be on his tracks to the west, and a sharp look-out was kept on both sides of river, which resulted in the discovery in about 241 deg. south latitude, and 145 deg. east longitude, of a tree marked L, on the eastern bank, and in the neighbourhood were stumps of trees, felled by an axe. Although Leichhardt could not have foreseen his fate, it is unfortunate that he did not mark his trees in a more unmistakeable manner, for a mysterious L without date seems to turn up in all parts of our continent.
This memorial of the visit of some white men Gregory thought might be Leichhardt's, especially as the letter was very large, after the manner of some of the trees marked on that explorer's former journeys. It may be as well to mention here that this was all that was found, and the journey henceforth was only one of pure exploration.
The travellers found the country suffering under a long-continued drought, and feed for the horses very hard to get. Necessarily, Gregory's picture of it is very different to Sir Thomas Mitchell's; but it would be scarcely worth while to compare the two statements now, considering that the reputation of the land as one of the best sheep-breeding districts in Australia has long since been established.
Knowing what Kennedy had encountered on the lower part of the river, and anticipating finding more traces of Leichhardt to the westward. Gregory, on reaching the Thomson, followed that river up for some distance, but turned back disheartened at the want of grass, although the river was running from recent rains. It must be remembered that he was there in the beginning of the winter, when there is little or no spring in the grass, even after heavy rain.
Returning to the junction of the two rivers, he followed down the united stream, and soon found himself involved in the same difficulties that had beset Kennedy. The river broke up into countless channels, running through barren, fissured plains. Toiling on over these, with an occasional interlude of sand hills, Gregory at last reached that portion of Cooper's Creek visited by Sturt. This he now followed down to where Strzelecki's Creek left the main stream and carried off some of the surplus flood water to the south.
Gregory followed on the many channels trending west, but finally lost them amongst sand hills and flooded plains. He turned back and once more struck Strzelecki's Creek, which he thought he traced to Lake Torrens. This lake he crossed on a firm sandy space, through which he could distinguish no connecting channel, thus helping to rob Lake Torrens of some more of its terrors. He soon arrived in the settled districts, having safely accomplished a most successful journey.
The main discovery that was the most valuable outcome of this trip was, of course, the confirmation of the supposed identity of the Barcoo and Cooper's Creek; as Gregory was otherwise on the tracks of former explorers, no fresh discoveries could well be expected on the course he followed.
Thus, after many fruitless efforts and disappointments, the second great inland river system was evolved.
We now meet with an old friend in the field, in the person of J. M'Dowall Stuart, formerly draughtsman for Captain Sturt, and one of the party who bought experience of heat, thirst, and desolation, during their long imprisonment in the depôt glen.
On the 14th May, 1858, Stuart left Oratunga for an excursion to the north-west of Swinden's country, west of Lake Torrens. He was delayed some time before he finally got away from Octaina, on the 10th June. Passing Mr. Babbage, he arrived at the Elizabeth on the 18th, but was disappointed in the expectations he had formed. Soon afterwards he found a large hole of permanent water, which he called Andamoka, and on the 23rd June caught sight of one of the arms of Lake Torrens. From here he followed a creek (Yarraout) to the north-west, in search of the country called Wingillpin that the blacks had told him of. This he was unable to find, and came to the somewhat strange conclusion that Wingillpin and Cooper's Creek were one and the same, although so widely separated, as he well knew. He also seems to have entertained broad notions of the extent of Cooper's Creek, as in one part of his journal at this period he remarks:—
"My only hope now of cutting Cooper's Creek is on the other side of the range. The plain we crossed to-day resembles those of the Cooper, also the grasses. If it is not there it must run to the north-west, and form the Glenelg of Captain Grey."
Now although we know that Grey held rather extravagant notions of the importance of the Glenelg River on the northwest coast, which time has certainly not confirmed, even he would scarcely have imagined it possible for it to be the outlet of such a mighty stream as Cooper's Creek would have become by the time it reached there.
Stuart's horses were now very lame, as the stony ground had worn out their shoes, and they had no spare sets with them. Failing, therefore, to find the promised land of Wingillpin, although he had passed over much good and well-watered country, and had also found Chambers' Creek, he turned south-west, and made some explorations in the neighbourhood and to the west of Lake Gairdner. Thence he steered for Fowler's Bay, and his' description of some of the country on his course is anything but inviting. From a spur of the high peak that he named Mount Fincke he saw—
"A prospect gloomy in the extreme; I could see a long distance but nothing met the eye save a dense scrub, as black and dismal as night."
From here they got fairly into a sandy, spinifex desert, which Stuart says was worse than Sturt's, for there, there was a little salt-bush; "here there was nothing but spinifex to be found and the horses were foodless."
Things were getting desperate with the little band, their provisions were finished, but still the leader would not desist from looking for good country; but at last he had to make back as fast as he could. Dense scrub, and the same "dreary, dreadful, dismal desert," as he calls it, accompanied them day after day. Tired out and half-starved, they reached the coast, and then they had only two meals left to take them to Streaky Bay, one hundred miles away, where they hoped to find relief, and where they safely arrived at Mr. Gibson's station. Here they were laid up with the sudden change from starvation to a full diet, and for some days Stuart was very ill. They finally reached Mr. Thompson's station of Mount Arden, which terminated Stuart's first expedition.
This severe trip only gave Stuart a fresh taste for adventure. In April, 1859, he made another start, and on the 19th, after crossing over some of the already known country, Hergott, one of his companions, discovered the well-known springs that still bear his name. Stuart crossed Chambers' Creek, and made for the Davenport Range, of Warburton, finding many of the springs resembling those mound ones crowned with reeds already mentioned. On the 6th June, he discovered a large creek, which he called the Neale. It ran through very good country, and Stuart followed it down, hoping to find its importance increase; and in this he was not disappointed, as large plains covered with grass and salt bush were crossed, and several more springs discovered. After satisfying himself of the extent and value of the country he had found, Stuart started back, his horse's shoes having again given out, and he had a lively remembrance of the misery he suffered before from want of them.
In November of the same year, he made a third expedition in the vicinity of Lake Eyre, but there is very little of interest attaching to his journal, as his course was mostly over much-trodden country. He reached the Neale again, and instituted a survey of the good country he had formerly traversed, occasionally approaching to within sight of what he calls Lake Torrens, but which was in reality Lake Eyre. All these minor expeditions of Stuart's may be considered as preparatory to his great struggle to find a passage across the continent; for which work these trips gave him a good knowledge of the country he had to face, and its difficulties. Stuart's efforts to cross Australia from south to north, and the expeditions made by others with a like object, will occupy the undivided attention of the reader so much, that in order not to lose the thread of the narrative of this peculiar and marked epoch in Australian history, it may be better to here notice an important journey undertaken in Western Australia, although slightly out of chronological order.
It was an expedition organised partly by the Imperial, and partly by the Colonial Governments, and was also aided by private subscription. Frank Gregory, the successful explorer of the Gascoyne, was put in charge of it. They left Perth in the DOLPHIN for Nickol Bay, on the north-west coast, where they intended to land their horses and commence operations. This was safely accomplished, and on 25th May, 1861, the party started.
Their first important discovery on a westerly course was a large river coming from the south, which they named the Fortescue. This stream they followed up until impeded by a very narrow, precipitous gorge, when they left the river, and made for a range they had sighted to the south. This range, which was called Hammersley Range, they attempted to cross, without success, so the explorers turned to the north-east, and came again on the Fortescue, above the gorge, and after some difficulty traced it to the range, through which it forced a passage. Crossing the range, partly by the aid of the river-bed, and partly by a gap, they came to fair average country stretching away to the southward. On this course the large and important river, the Ashburton, was found, which was traced upwards, flowing through a very large extent of good pastoral country. On the 25th of June, from the top of a sandstone tableland, they sighted Mount Augustus, at the head of the Lyons River. The view was most promising. Open forest and undulating country took the place of the everlasting scrubs and rocks, that had been such common objects with them, and well satisfied with what they saw the explorers turned north.
Mount Samson and Mount Bruce, two most prominent peaks of the Hammersley Range, were named by Gregory on his return; the latter being considered by him the highest point in Western Australia. From here they struck back to the coast, their horses having become terribly foot-sore, and reached the sea forty miles from Nickol Bay, and on the 19th arrived at their rendezvous in that bay, where the ship was awaiting them. After a rest of ten days, Gregory started again, and to the eastward found the Yule River; thence they crossed to the Shaw, and still pushing east they succeeded in penetrating a considerable way into the tableland, where they found good grass and springs. On the 26th of August a fine stream running to the north was discovered, and named the De Grey; and after crossing ail immense plain they came to another river, which was christened the Oakover. Up this river Gregory went, the men admiring the rich foliage of the drooping ti-trees that bordered the long reaches of water, and the horses appreciating the wide grassy flats on either bank.
Finding the course of the river trending too much westerly, they crossed to a tributary of the Oakover and thence passed easterly through a small range. Here he was confronted by a most unwelcome sight. Before him were the hills of drifted sand, the barren plains and the ominous red haze of the desert. So far he had encountered fewer obstacles and made more encouraging discoveries than had fallen to the lot of any other Western Australian explorer; and now, the desert had drawn its forbidding hand suddenly across his track, and sternly ordered him to halt.
Gregory made one effort of eighteen miles across the red sand dunes, but his 'horses were not equal to the task, and he returned to his camp at the foot of the range.
After resting for a day, he started with two companions for a final attempt, leaving the remainder camped to await his return, with instructions, if the water failed, to fall back on the Oakover. This excursion nearly proved fatal; the heat was something terrible, and when well advanced in the sand ridges, the horses gave in altogether. Afar to the east, a distant range was faintly visible, and a granite range could be seen to the south, about ten miles distant. These granite hills were their only hope, and to them they turned.
Across the sand hills now, instead of running parallel with them, the horses at once gave up, and, leaving his comrades to drive them on as best they could, Gregory pushed towards the goal on foot, but when he reached it no sign of verdure or moisture greeted him. Blasted, scorched, and barren the rocks and rugged ravines lay before him, and all his weary searching resulted only in his completely breaking down with distress and fatigue. When his companions came up with the dying horses there was nothing to do but make preparations to get back as soon as they could to the depôt, trusting that the want of water might not have compelled the main party to abandon the camp.
By dawn the wearied men commenced their retreat, but when the heat of the day set in, the poor, thirsty horses of course began to fail; and Gregory, too, was so completely exhausted with his previous day's efforts that he could not keep up with the other two. One of the party, Brown, started on ahead with the horses, the other remaining with Gregory to follow more slowly. Brown had to abandon nearly everything to get the wretched animals on, finally reaching the camp with only one; but fortunately he found the party still there. He started back at once, with fresh horses, to meet the others, and recover the equipment; but two of the horses were never found.
Gregory was now convinced that the sandy tract before him was not to be crossed with the means at his command, so that, reluctantly, he had to give way and turn to the northward, to follow down the Oakover. They found the country fertile, and the river abounding with water; and on the 18th September reached the junction of De Grey with the Oakover. Down the united streams, henceforth bearing the name of the De Grey only, the explorers travelled through fair, open land, the course of the river flowing now to the westward, until the coast was reached on the 25th.
From here the party made back to their rendezvous at Nickol Bay, crossing once more the Yule and the Sherlock, rivers named on their outward journey. On the 17th October the ship was reached, and they were taken on board.
Gregory had thus done good service to the colony during his last two expeditions. The stigma of desolation was at any rate partially removed, and it was with hopeful hearts that the colonists looked forward to the future of the valleys of the Gascoyne, the Ashburton, and the De Grey.
Another party, with less success, had been exploring to the eastward of the settled districts, in the southern part of the colony, and as it will be some time before we shall revisit Western Australia, it will be most convenient to now follow out the fortunes of the little body of colonists with the large territory.
In 1861, whilst Gregory was opening up his new country, Messrs. Dempster, Clarkson, and Harper started from Northam to make one more trial to the east to get through the dense scrubs and the salt-lake country into a more promising region. It was purely a private expedition; one of those that have done so much of the work of discovery in Australia; each member of the party found his own horses and equipment.
They left on the 3rd July, and for many days met with nothing but the usual alternations of scrub and sandy plains dotted with granite hills. On the 19th, we find in their diary the first mention of the legend amongst the blacks of white men having been murdered on a large lake to the eastward. Their informant was a native who was with them for some time as a guide, and his authority was a great traveller of the name of Boodgin, who must have revelled in the possession of a singularly fertile imagination. The account of Boodgin was to the effect that three white men with horses had many years ago come to a large lake of salt water, a long way to the eastward, and after travelling along the shore for some time, they turned back, and were either killed by the JIMBRAS, or perished from want of water. Thus ran Mr. Boodgin's story, which we shall immediately have to refer to.
Still endeavouring to reach to the east by various detours, on the 24th they came to the largest hill they had yet seen—Mount Kennedy—and at the end of the month found themselves still in the lake district. For sixty miles they had traced the lakes, and from the hills could see a continuation of the low range they were on. On one of them (Lake Grace) they had speech with a few natives, who repeated what they had formerly heard, as to the death of three white men, far away at some interior lake or inland sea. They were also acquainted with the before-mentioned Boodgin, who, unfortunately, had in some way offended them; so he was not present, the others having announced an intention of spearing him on the first opportunity. These men gave an account of the JIMBRA, or JINGRA, a strange animal, male and female, which they described as resembling a monkey, very fierce, and would attack men when it caught one singly. Thinking there might be a confusion of names, the explorers asked if the JIMBRA, or JINGRA, was the same as the GINKA—the native name for devil. This, however, was not so, as the natives asserted that the devil, or GINKA, was never seen, but that the JIMBRA was both seen and felt.
From this point the party returned homeward, having, at any rate, demonstrated the fact that the thickets to the eastward were not impenetrable, and that no insurmountable obstacles existed to further progress.
Whatever may have been the origin of the native tradition about the deaths of three white men, which Forrest afterwards investigated, it must seem strange that the natives should in the JIMBRA have described an animal (the ape) they could not possibly have ever seen. It may be mentioned here that reports about the bones of cattle having been found on the outskirts of Western Australia had been circulated in the Eastern colonies before Leichhardt left.
Across the continent, from south to north—M'Dowall Stuart's first attempt to reach the north coast—Native warfare—Chambers' Pillar— Central Mount Stuart—Singular footprint—Sufferings from thirst— Aboriginal Freemasons—Attack Creek—Return—Stuart's second departure— The Victorian expedition—Costly equipment—Selection of a leader—Burke, and his qualifications for the post—Wills—Resignation of Landells— Wright left in charge of the main party—Burke and Wills, with six men, push on to Cooper's Creek—Delay of Wright—Burke's final determination to push on to the north coast—Starts with Wills and two men—Progress across the continent—Arrival at the salt water—Wills' account—Homeward journey—The depôt deserted—Resolve to make for Mount Hopeless—Failure and return—Wills revisits the depôt—Kindness of the natives—Burke and King start in search of the blacks—Death of Burke—King finds Wills dead on his return—Wright and Brahe visit the depôt—Fail to see traces of Burke's return—Consternation in Melbourne—Immediate dispatch of search parties—Howitt finds King—Narrow escape of trooper Lyons—Stuart in the north—Hedgewood scrub first seen—Discovery of Newcastle waters—All attempts to the north fruitless—Return of Stuart.
We are now about to turn a page in the history of Australia which, however marked by misfortune and disappointment, still embodies some of the most fruitful achievements in the history of discovery. The unfortunate result of one expedition led to so many minor ones, that an immense area of new country was thrown open in a very short time.
An extraordinary craze had seized on the imaginations of the southern colonies to send out expeditions to strive to be the first to cross the continent from the southern shore to the northern one. The South Australian Government had for a time a standing reward of £10,000 offered for the man who should accomplish this gigantic task with private means.
M'Dowall Stuart has been recognised as the one to whom most honour is due for successfully spanning the gap, and there are many reasons for awarding the chief praise to him. He was the first to attempt the feat, and although he was not the first to reach salt water on the north, he was the first to sight the open sea, and actually cross from sea to sea. Nor in so doing was he aided by the former successes of other explorers. He also was the one who crossed fairly in the centre of Australia, and his track extends further north, as the others made for the southern shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria, while Stuart came out at the head of Arnhem's Land.
Burke and Wills were, according to the journal of Wills, at the northern coast in February, 1861, so they could claim the honour of first crossing; next came M'Kinlay, in May, 1862. Landsborough reached the Darling from the north in June of the same year, and then Stuart on the north coast comes but a few weeks afterwards in July. On Stuart's track however, has been built the overland telegraph line, an enduring monument to his indomitable perseverance. His was but a small party when he started to reach the spot so ardently longed for by his former leader Sturt. Less than a handful of men, three in all, with thirteen horses, left on this eventful trip, a strange company to contrast with the princely cavalcade that a few months later was to leave Melbourne on a like journey.
The starting point was from Chambers' Creek, but naturally from here their course for a time was over much-trodden ground.
At Beresford Springs there were unmistakable traces of recent native warfare. Lying on his back was the corpse of a tall native, the skull broken, and both feet and hands missing. Near the place was a handful of human hair, and some emu feathers, placed between two charred pieces of wood, as a sign or token of some sort, but nothing to be interpreted by the whites as to the meaning of this strange neglect of burial rites, so unusual amongst the aborigines.
After passing the Neale, the little band commenced their march into the unknown. Their journey was, for the most part, through good pastoral country, crossing numerous well-watered creeks, which they named, respectively, the Frew, the Fincke, and the Stevenson, and on the 6th they reached a remarkable hill, which they had observed for some time. It proved to be a pillar of sandstone on a hill about one hundred feet high. The pillar itself, in addition, is one hundred and fifty feet in height, and twenty feet in width. Stuart christened it Chambers' Pillar. This freak of nature was surrounded by numerous other remarkable bills, resembling ruined castles.
Passing through a range, which was called the Waterhouse Range, and again striking a creek, christened the Hugh, they made for one of two remarkable bluffs, first sighted on the 9th of April, and reached the range of which these two bluff cliffs formed the centre on the 12th. This was the highest range Stuart had yet found, and he named it MacDonnell Range, after the then Governor of South Australia; the east bluff was called Brinkley Bluff and the west one Hanson Bluff. Crossing this range, which, although rough, was very well-grassed, the party got among spinifex and scrub, and, after being two nights without water, made for a high peak in the distance (Mount Freeling), where they found a small supply.
It was evident that they had now reached the limit of the rainfall, and were trespassing on dry country.
A search for permanent water was made before going on, and a large reservoir found in a ledge of rocks, that promised to supply their wants on their return.
On the 22nd of April, Stuart camped in the centre of Australia, and one of his hopes was accomplished; about two miles and a-half to the N.N.E. was a tolerable high mount, which he called Central Mount Stuart. The next morning, with his tried companion, Kekwick, he climbed this mount, and on the top erected a cairn of stones, and hoisted the Union Jack. What must have been his thoughts at having, with such a feeble party, so comparatively easily accomplished what others had striven in vain for? Surely he must have thought with regret that his old leader, dauntless Sturt, was not standing beside him.
The first night after leaving Mount Stuart, they camped without water, and the next day found a permanent supply under a high peak, which he called Mount Leichhardt; and while mentioning this fact, he notices that he has found no trace of that explorer having ever passed to the westward.
On the first of May they came to a small gum creek, which Stuart called the Fisher, and in which the only water they could get was in a native well. Crossing this creek they got into a dead level country, covered with spinifex and stunted gum trees. Here they came across the track of a blackfellow which differed considerably from the ordinary mark made by the foot of a native:—
"The spinifex in many places has been burnt, and the track of the native was peculiar-not broad and flat as they generally are, but long and narrow, with a deep hollow in the foot, and the large toe projecting a good deal; in some respects more like the print of a white man than a native. Had I crossed it the day before, I would have followed it. My horses are now suffering too much from the want of water to allow me to do so. If I did, and we were not to find water to-night, I should lose the whole of the horses and our lives into the bargain."
As it was, they had a hard struggle to get back to the native well at theFisher.
After a week's interval Stuart tried again to the' east of north, but found things no better; mulga scrub and spinifex again surrounded them, and after travelling twenty-seven miles they had to camp without water. The next day was the same, Stuart getting a nasty fall, being pulled off by some scrub and dragged for a short distance. There was nothing for it but to retreat once more. Scurvy had now laid its hand upon the leader, and he began to suffer severely.
After much trouble and delay, Stuart, by working to the eastward, at last got forward again, and on the 1st of June found a large creek, the best he had yet seen, which he called the Bonney, and on the second of the month reached the range christened by him the Murchison Range. On the 6th he came to a gum creek, which he called Tennant's Creek, destined to be the site of one of the telegraph stations of the overland line. He now made an effort to the west of north to reach the head waters of the Victoria, and got into a dry strip of country that nearly put an end to the expedition. When they at last, with some losses, got the horses back to water, the animals had travelled one hundred and twelve miles, and been one hundred and one hours without a drink. Some of them had gone mad. "Thus," says Stuart, "ends my last attempt, at present, to make the Victoria River. Three times I have tried it, and been forced to retreat."
After many days' rest, he started again, this time to the eastward of north, and in ten miles came to a well-watered creek, which he named Phillips' Creek. Once more he had another two or three days of useless efforts to force his way through a dry belt, vainly flattering himself that he was approaching the watershed of the Gulf; but had to fall back on the Phillips again. Whilst camping here some natives visited them, two of them wearing a kind of helmet made of net work and feathers, tightly bound together:—
"One was an old man, and seemed to be the father of these two fine young men. He was very talkative, but I could make nothing of him. I have endeavoured, by signs, to get information from him as to where the next water is, but we cannot understand each other. After some time, and having conferred with his two sons, he turned round, and surprised me by giving me one of the Masonic signs. I looked at him steadily; he repeated it; and so did his two sons. I then returned it, which seemed to please them much, the old man patting me on the shoulder and stroking down my beard."
Whether Stuart's imagination here led him astray, it is impossible to say, but very shortly afterwards they encountered a tribe who displayed anything but the friendly feelings that should have been shown by brother masons.
On the next start they came in fourteen miles to a large gum creek, with very fair-sized sheets of water in it, and as they followed it down they passed the encampment of some natives, but did not take any notice of them, keeping steadily on their course. Finding no water lower down the creek, they had to return. When close to the place where they crossed the creek in the morning, and the evening rapidly closing in, they were suddenly surrounded by a number of well-armed natives, who started out of a scrub they were passing through. All signs of friendship, masonic or otherwise, were thrown away on them, and at last, after receiving two or three showers of boomerangs and waddies they had to turn and fire on them. So bold and determined were they in their attack upon the three men, that Stuart had to return to his camp of the night before still followed by them. Here he had to make up his mind to abandon his further progress for the present. He had too small a party to stand a pitched battle with the aboriginal proprietors; the water behind them was failing, and they had suffered considerable loss in their horses. Most wisely Stuart determined to return.
On the 27th June he commenced his retreat. On reaching the Bonney he halted for a few days, during which time the cloudy aspect of the sky made him entertain the idea of another effort to reach the Victoria River; but no rain fell, and he had to keep on his way. On the 26th of August the party arrived at Mr. Brodie's camp at Hamilton Springs, all of them very weak and reduced.
After the result of Stuart's expedition had been reported in Adelaide, and it was seen how inadequate means alone had led to the retreat of the explorer, the Government voted £2,500 to equip a larger and better-organized party, of which he was to take command. Meanwhile, such a report of the results of the journey as the Government thought might prove useful to the leaders of the Victorian expedition, then on the march, was forwarded, but, as will be seen, shared the same chapter of accidents that beset that unfortunate expedition, and never reached them.
This time Stuart's party numbered at the final start, ten men and forty-seven horses; and by the end of January, 1861, they were fairly on their way outside the settled districts, and here we must leave them to turn to that other expedition, the issue of which attracted so much attention throughout the world.
Public opinion is notably fickle, and never more so than when dealing with the memories of distinguished men. No guide, no standard is followed in the matter; the recognition of their services is made solely a matter of sentiment.
Poor Kennedy, who, confronted with almost insurmountable difficulties, harassed by hostile natives, and ill-provisioned at the start, lost his life, and the majority of his party, in a gallant effort to fulfil his task, is almost forgotten, save by the few who take an interest in the history of our country. Whilst Burke—who left the settlements, equipped with everything that a generous people could provide, and that the experience of others could suggest, to make the journey safe and ensure its success—travelled through a country that is now a vast sheep and cattle walk; and frittered away his magnificent resources, wantonly sacrificing his own life and those of his men, is elevated into a hero. It may truly be said that for the fate of the two leaders, the mistakes of others must be greatly held accountable; but at the same time it must be also kept strongly in view that, for the want of judgment that placed Burke in such a position that the mistake of a subordinate could entail such fatal results, he alone was responsible.
The action of Victoria in sending out the expedition of discovery under Burke and Wills, was, without doubt, exceptional in the annals of exploration; it was an instance of a public body emulating the generous act of a private individual. The colony itself had no territory left to explore. Her rich and compact little province was known from end to end, and it was not with her, as with others, a case of necessity to send her sons into the wilderness, to open fresh fields for emigration.
Whatever then was the upshot of the expedition, and whatever the guilty mismanagement attaching to its progress, the colony must ever look back with pride upon the noble and unselfish motives that prompted its inauguration.
Without counting the cost of the relief parties, seven lives were laid down, and over £12,000 expended, and it was all cheerfully rendered; and Victoria, in her one expedition, had the satisfaction of knowing that her representatives carried off the coveted prize, and were the first to cross the continent from south to north.
The money for the expenses was subscribed as follows:— £6,000 voted by Government, £1,000 subscribed by Mr. Ambrose Kyte, and the balance of the £12,000 made up by public subscription.
The outfit was on a most lavish scale; camels were imported from Peshawar, with native drivers; provisions and stores for twelve months provided, and no expense spared to render the whole appointments the most complete ever provided for an exploring expedition. When the party was organised, it consisted of the leader, R. O'Hara Burke; second in command, G. J. Landells, who had brought the camels from India; third, W. J. Wills, astronomical and meteorological observer., Dr. Hermann Beckler, medical officer and botanist; Dr. Ludwig Becker, artist, naturalist, and geologist; ten white men, and three camel drivers.
It was a gala day when they left Melbourne, and their progress through the settled districts was a triumphant march; it almost seemed that Fate was playing with them in very mockery, smiling at the thought of the return.
The choice of the leader has always been a puzzle to most men, and it can only be accounted for in two ways. First, that the committee of management did not wish (as was only natural) to go outside of the colony for a man, and the tried and experienced explorers were all residents in other colonies; secondly, that the committee was, with two notable exceptions, composed of men quite unable to judge of the qualities essential in a leader; for the man of their choice, the unfortunate Burke, was most singularly unfitted for the position.
Burke was an Irishman, from the county of Galway. He had been in the Austrian service, and also in the Irish mounted constabulary. At the time when he applied for the post, which unhappily was awarded to him, he was an inspector of mounted police at Castlemaine. His appointment as leader was strongly supported by the chairman of the committee, Sir William Stawell, and it appears to have been backed up by those kind of general testimonials as to ability which recommend a man almost equally for any grade or position. Of special aptitude or scientific training he possessed no pretension, and his selection was a fatal blunder. In saying this, there is no reflection on the private character of the mistaken leader; he paid for the wrong estimation he held of his own fitness with his life, and the fault rests with those who placed him in a position where he also was responsible for the lives of others. After passing in review the different expeditions that have added so much lustre to our history, and striving to judge dispassionately of the characters of the men who, with good and evil fortune, have commanded them, one cannot help being struck by the exaggerated and misplaced stress laid upon the reputation Burke possessed for personal bravery. The calm and simple courage of Sturt, the cool judgment and forethought of Mitchell, the devotion of Austin, seem all to have been lost sight of by writers, who extol Burke in a way that would lead men to believe that every other Australian leader must have been an abject craven. This mistaken laudation has done more to glaringly parade Burke's many failings than more modest and judicious praise would have done.
Of his second, W. J. Wills (who shared the fate of his leader), he appears to have been a man eminently possessed of most of the qualities that would fit him for the position he held, but apparently tempered with an amiability of disposition that led him to give way completely to the rash judgment of his superior, without striving to temper that rashness.
Before the expedition travelled outside of the settled country, trouble appeared. First, Landells resigned in consequence of a quarrel with the leader. On returning to Melbourne, he expressed publicly an opinion that, under Burke's management, the expedition would be attended by most disastrous results.
Wright was then appointed third in charge, and he apparently had not the most remote idea of any of the functions entailed on him by his position, and has since been blamed as having caused the final catastrophe. He joined the party at Menindie, which, for the purpose of explanation, may be said to occupy the same position on the Darling as Laidley's Ponds, whence Sturt started for the interior.
The foregoing estimate of the men holding the principal commands is essential to enable the reader to understand how the astonishing blunders were so constantly perpetrated, that brought the whole campaign to such utter grief.
From Menindie to Cooper's Creek was the next stage, but the country now being fairly well known, they did not follow the route of Sturt the explorer. The main body of the party was left behind. Burke took with him Wills, six men, five horses, and sixteen camels, leaving the others to follow afterwards under the guidance of Wright, who went two hundred miles with them to point out the best route. They left Menindie on the 19th of October, 1860. On the 11th of November they arrived at Cooper's Creek, and here they camped, waiting for the arrival of Wright with the main body, and making short excursions to the northward. Grass and water were both plentiful, and up to their arrival at Cooper's Creek the journey had not been so arduous as an ordinary overlanding trip with cattle.
Wright's non-arrival, and the delay caused thereby, seemed to have worked upon Burke's impatient temper, and the extraordinary notion came into his head to divide his party of eight, and with three men to start across the continent to the Gulf of Carpentaria, leaving the others in charge of Brahe, to await his return, and also Wright's long-delayed arrival. On the 16th December, 1860, Burke, having with him Wills, King, and Gray, six camels, two horses, and three months' provisions, started on this tramp, which for perverse absurdity stands unequalled. The first duty of a man entrusted with such a large party, was to have carried out its chief aim and mission of reporting on the geographical features and formation of the country he was sent to explore, and bringing back the fullest and most minute account of it, and its productions. Burke, during the most important part of his journey, left behind him his botanist, naturalist, and geologist, and started without even the means at his disposal of following up any discoveries he might make. His sole thought evidently was to cross to Carpentaria and back, and be able to say that he had done so—a most unworthy ambition on the part of the leader of such a party, containing within itself all the elements of geographical research, and one that could certainly not have been anticipated by the promoters. After all the pains and cost expended in the organisation of this expedition, we have now the spectacle of the main body, including two of the scientific members, loitering on the outskirts of the settled districts; four men killing time on the banks of Cooper's Creek, and the leader and three others racing headlong across the country ahead, all four of them being utterly inexperienced men. As might be expected, the results of the journey are most barren. Burke scarcely troubled to keep any journal at all.
Wills' diary, too, is sadly uninteresting—it is but the baldest record of the day's doings, and destitute of the sympathetic style which is so essential in an explorer's log. From it we find that their first point was to make Eyre's Creek, but, before reaching it, they discovered a fine water-course coming from the north that took them a long distance on their way, there being abundance of both water and grass along its banks. From where this creek turned to the eastward they kept steadily north, the rivers, fortunately for them, keeping mostly a north and south course. They crossed the dividing range at the head of the Cloncurry River, and by following that river down reached the Flinders, and, finally, the mangroves and salt water in February, 1861. At the end of his scanty notes, Burke says:—
"28th March. At the conclusion of report, it would be as well to say that we reached the sea, but we could not obtain a view of the open ocean, although we made every endeavour to do so."
Wills' description of their arrival is as follows:
"Finding the ground in such a state from the heavy falls of rain that the camels could scarcely be got along, it was decided to leave them at camp 119, and for Mr. Burke and I to proceed towards the sea on foot, After breakfast, we accordingly started, taking with us the horse and three days' provisions. Our first difficulty was in crossing Billy's Creek, which we had to do where it enters the river, a few hundred yards below the camp. In getting the horse in here he got bogged in a quicksand so deeply as to be unable to stir, and we only succeeded in extricating him by undermining him on the creek side, and then lunging him into the water. Having got all the things in safety, we continued down the river bank, which bent about from east to west, but kept a general north course. A great deal of the land was so soft and rotten that the horse, with only one saddle on and twenty-five pounds on his back, could scarcely walk over it. At a distance of about five miles we again had him bogged, in crossing a small creek, after which he seemed so weak that we had some doubts about getting him on. We, however, found some better ground close to the water's edge, where the sandstone rock runs out, and we stuck to it as far as possible. Finding that the river was bending about so much that we were making very little progress in a northerly direction, we struck off due north, and soon came on some tableland, where the soil is shallow and gravelly, and clothed with box and swamp gums. Patches of the land were very boggy, but the main portion was sound enough. Beyond this we came on an open plain, covered with water up to one's ankles. The soil here was a stiff clay, and the surface very uneven, so that between the tufts of grass one was frequently knee-deep in water. The bottom, however, was sound, and no fear of bogging. After floundering through this for several miles, we came to a path formed by the blacks, and there were distinct signs of a recent migration in a southerly direction. By making use of this path we got on much better, for the ground was well-trodden and hard. At rather more than a mile the path entered a forest, through which flowed a nice watercourse, and we had not gone far before we found places where the blacks had been camping. The forest was intersected by little pebbly rises, on which they made their fires, and in the sandy ground adjoining some of the former had been digging yams, [The DIOS-COREA of Carpentaria.] which seemed to be so numerous that they could afford to leave plenty of them behind, probably having selected only the very best. We were not so particular, but ate many of those that they had rejected, and found them very good. About half a mile further we came close on a blackfellow who was coiling by a camp fire, whilst his gin and piccaninny were yabbering alongside. We stopped for a short time to take out some of the pistols that were on the horse, and that they might see us before we were so near as to frighten them. Just after we stopped, the black got up to stretch his limbs, and after a few seconds looked in our direction. It was very amusing to see the way in which he stared, standing for some time as if he thought he must be dreaming, and then, having signalled to the others, they dropped on their haunches and shuffled off in the quietest manner possible."
It will be, however, tedious to continue the quotation, suffice it to say that they reached a channel with tidal waters, and had to return without actually seeing the open sea. Then comes a blank in Wills' diary, and when he next writes they were on their way back.
Having accomplished their task, but with little profit, for they did not actually know their position on the Gulf, being strangely out in their reckoning; mistaking the river they were on for the Albert, over a hundred miles to the westward, the retreat commenced. Short rations and hardship now began to tell, and during the struggle back to the depôt there seems to have been an absence of that kindly spirit of self sacrifice which is so distinguishing a feature in nearly all the other expeditions whose lines have fallen disastrously. Gray fell sick, and stole some flour to make some gruel with; for this Burke beat him severely. Wills writes on one occasion that they had to wait, and send back for Gray, who was "gammoning" that he could not walk. Nine days afterwards the unfortunate man dies—an act which at any rate is not often successfully gammoned. But to bring the story to an end, they at last, on the evening of the 21St of April, reached the camp on Cooper's Creek, where they had left their four companions, and instead of finding the whole party there to greet them, found it lifeless and deserted.
Searching at the foot of a tree marked "dig" they found a small quantity of provisions concealed, and a note from Brahe stating that they had left only that morning. They sat down and ate a welcome supper of porridge, and considered their position. They could scarcely walk, and their camels were the same; they had fifty pounds of flour, twenty pounds of rice, sixty pounds of oatmeal, sixty pounds of sugar, and fifteen pounds of dried meat; a very fair stock if they only had had the means of transit; if Brahe had left three or four horses hobbled at the depôt they would have been able to follow, but as it was they could do nothing, and all the time Brahe was only separated from them by a very short distance, had they but known it,
Burke consulted his companions as to the feasibility of their being able to overtake Brahe, and they all agreed that in their tired and enfeebled condition it was hopeless to attempt it; then, according to King's narrative, Burke said that instead of returning up the creek, their old route to Menindie, they would go down to Mount Hopeless, in South Australia, following the line taken by A. C. Gregory. Wills objected and so did King, but ultimately both gave in, and this was the death warrant of two of them.
The following paper was placed in the depôt by Burke before starting:—
"Depôt No. 2, Cooper's Creek, Camp 65. The return party from Carpentaria consisting of myself, Wills and King (Gray dead), arrived here last night, and found that the depôt party had started on the same day. We proceed on to-morrow slowly down the creek to Adelaide, by Mount Hopeless, and shall endeavour to follow Gregory's track, but we are very weak. The two camels are done up and we shall not be able to travel faster than two or three miles a day. Gray died on the road from exhaustion and fatigue. We have all suffered much from hunger. The provisions left here will, I think, restore our strength. We have discovered a practicable route to Carpentaria, the chief portion of which lies on 140 deg. of east longitude. There is some good country between this and the Stony Desert. From there to the tropics the country is dry and stony. Between the tropics and Carpentaria a considerable portion is rangy, but it is well-watered and richly-grassed. We reached the shores of Carpentaria on February 11th, 1861. Greatly disappointed at finding the party here gone.
"(Signed) ROBERT O'HARA BURKE.
"April 22, 1861.
"P.S.—The camels cannot travel, and we cannot walk or we should follow the other party. We shall move very slowly down the creek."
After resting four or five days, and finding great advantage from their change of diet, the three men started, but one of the camels got bogged, and had to be shot as he lay in the creek, the explorers cutting off what meat they could from the body, and staying a couple of days to dry it in the sun. When they again started, the one camel they had left carried most of what they had, and they each took with them a bundle of about twenty-five pounds; but they made no progress, all the creeks they followed to the southward ran out into earthy plains and their one solitary beast of burden being knocked up, they had to return.
Now commenced a terrible struggle for mere existence the camel being past recovery, was shot, and the meat dried, and then the men tried to live, after the fashion of the blacks, on fish and nardoo. The natives were especially kind to the unfortunate men. In Wills' diary we find frequent mention of the liberal hospitality they extended to them, but to a great extent the novelty soon died out, and the blacks began to find their white guests rather an encumbrance, and soon commenced shifting their camps to avoid the burden of their support.
On the 27th May, Wills started alone to the depôt to deposit the journals, and a note stating their condition. He reached there on the 30th, and says in his diary:—
"No traces of anyone, except blacks, have been here since we left.Deposited some journals and a notice of our present condition."
This was the notice:—
"May 30th, 1861.
"We have been unable to leave the creek. Both camels are dead. Mr. Burke and King are down on the lower part of the creek. I am about to return to them, when we shall probably all come up this way. We are trying to live the best way we can, like the blacks, but we find it hard work. Our clothes are going fast to pieces. Send provisions and clothes as soon as possible.
"(Signed) WILLIAM J. WILLS."
"The depôt party having left, contrary to instructions, has put us in this fix. I have deposited some of my journals here for fear of accidents."
Having done this, Wills returned to his companions, being fed by the friendly natives on his way back. During the intercourse that of necessity they had had with the blacks during their detention on Cooper's Creek, they had noticed the extensive use the natives made of the seeds of the nardoo [See Appendix.] plant as an article of food; but for a long time they were unable to find out this plant, nor would the blacks show it to them. At last King accidentally found it, and, by its aid, they now managed to prolong their lives. But the seeds had to be gathered, cleaned, pounded and cooked, and even after all this labour (and to men in their state it was labour) very little nourishment was derived from eating it. An occasional crow or hawk was shot, and, by chance, a little fish obtained from the natives, and as this was all they could get, they were sinking rapidly. At last they decided that Burke and King should go up the creek and endeavour to find the natives and get food from them. Wills, who was now so weak as to be unable almost to move, was left lying under some boughs, with an eight days' supply of water and nardoo, the others trusting that before that time they would have returned to him.
On the 26th June the two men started, and poor Wills was left to meet his death alone. He must have retained his consciousness almost to the last. So exhausted was he, that death must have been only like a release from the trouble of living. His last entries, though giving evidences of fading faculties, are almost cheerful. He jocularly alludes to himself as Micawber, waiting for something to turn up. It is evident that he had given up hope, and waited for death's approach in a calm and resigned frame of mind, without fear, like a good and gallant man.
King and Burke did not go far; on the second day Burke had to give in from sheer weakness, and the next morning when his companion looked at him, he saw by the breaking light that his leader was dead.
This was the sad and bitter end of the high-spirited captain of this luckless expedition; an almost solitary death on the wide western plain, after enduring weeks of hunger and starvation. What must have been King's feelings at finding himself thus left without a companion to cheer his last hours when his turn, as he then thought, must inevitably soon come?
After wandering in search of the natives, and not finding them, the solitary man returned to Wills, who was also dead, and all he could do was to cover the body up with a little sand, without any hope that the same would be done by him.
Burke's last notes in his pocket book are as follows:—
"I hope we shall be done justice to. We have fulfilled our task, but we have been aban——. We have not been followed up as we expected, and the depôt party abandoned their post."
He winds up:—
"King has behaved nobly. He has stayed with me to the last, and placed the pistol in my hand, leaving me lying on the surface as I wished."
Left to himself, King, after a few days, made another effort to find the natives, and this time succeeded, living with their assistance until rescued by Howitt's relief party on September 15th, having for nearly three months subsisted on the hospitality of the natives.
Meanwhile that these unfortunate men were slowly starving to death on Cooper's Creek, parties were soon to be dispatched from north, south and east in quest of them.
Left at the depôt on Cooper's Creek, Brahe remained from the 14th of December, 1860, until the 21st of April, 1861. Then he left, his instructions, according to his own account, being (verbally) to remain at the depôt three months, or longer, if provisions and other circumstances would permit. Before leaving he buried, as before stated, a small supply of provisions and a note, which in full ran:—
"Depôt, Cooper's Creek, April 21, 1861. The depôt party of V.E.E. leaves this camp to-day to return to the Darling. I intend to go S.E. from camp 60 to get on to our old track at Bulloo. Two of my companions and myself are quite well; the third—Patton-has been unable to walk for the last eighteen days, as his leg has been severely hurt when thrown by one of the horses. No person has been up here from the Darling. We have six camels and twelve horses, in good working condition.
Unfortunately this was worded in such a way as to leave Burke, who got it that night, under the impression that they were all, with one exception, fairly well, and would probably make long stages, whereas, on the evening of the day that Burke returned, they were camped but fourteen miles away.