Part 3 (1/2)

EYRE'S ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY ALONG THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN BIGHT

Edward John Eyre, the son of a Yorkshi+re clergyman, was born in the year 1815 A youthful passion for the heroic led hi failed to obtain a commission, he turned his attention to the colonies, and came to Sydney in 1833, with the slender capital of 400 Part of this suraduated so high as to become the leader in a new Australian enterprise The newly founded settlements of Port Phillip (subsequently Victoria) and South Australia had created a great demand for stock, all of which had hitherto been carried by sea, and, on reaching their destination, were sold at fa Eyre conceived the practicability of an overland route, and proceeded to prove it to a demonstration In the first of these journeys he took 1,000 sheep and 600 head of cattle from the Monaro district, in New South Wales, to Adelaide, in South Australia, by way of the Murray River, and reaped a handsome pecuniary reward in the sale of the stock

Smalleroverlanding the lut was produced in the southernfollowed Eyre in the new path his enterprise had struck out, he was soon in possession of sufficient funds to begin squatting on his own account He purchased the station ”Murrundi,” on the Lower Murray, where he resided for several years, acting also as ines Occasionally, too, he varied the monotony of bush life by feats of exploration into the unknown territory, thus keeping alive the spirit of adventure, and unconsciously qualifying himself for the romantic enterprise which will transmit his name to distant posterity

Up to the year 1840 Western Australia remained completely isolated from the other colonies, and could be approached only by sea But as that country was now being extensively occupied, it was of great importance also to the settlers in the south to find an overland route from Adelaide, and it was believed the time had come when a successful effort could be made The obstacles which barred the ere enormous, and for that epoch insuperable; but so little were they suspected by the South Australians that the proposed journey was regarded as a pleasure excursion, and it was considered advisable to lighten the expense of the expedition by sending over a quantity of stock with the pioneer explorers! The one man who could correct this public delusion was Mr

Eyre, for he knew enough of the outlying country to feel safe in predicting the failure of the proposed undertaking By both speech and pen he laboured to oppose thea certain waste of treasure and a very probable sacrifice of human life But it was far from his desire to see so much ardour for exploration run to waste, and now that the colony was in high feather for discovery, Eyre made a successful effort to divert it into what he considered a more profitable channel Very little was yet known of the country to the north Why not strike out in this direction now, and make a bold attempt to reach the centre of Australia froument alone was sufficient, and with it Eyre prevailed

He offered to be the leader of the expedition, providing one-third of its expense froet on with the preparations

On the 20th of June, 1840, a well-provisioned party consisting of eight persons, with Eyre in command, supported by two other Europeans, Scott and Baxter, left Adelaide under favourable auspices, and in high hopes of exploring a large portion of the interior if more cherished results should prove unattainable; but, as the event proved, only todisappointment Lake Torrens was as yet very imperfectly known, and Eyre, misled by refraction, conceived it to be an immense sheet of water in the shape of a horse-shoe, within the bend of which he supposed the expedition was being entrapped The curve, in reality, was described by a chain of mud lakes partly covered ater, and partly encrusted with salt Passages are now found, at intervals, between these ood luck to hit on one of they of despair, he next determined to round this impenetrable barrier, and struck out to the eastward, for an isolated peak which he called Mount Hopeless The name corresponded to the reality, for the outlook fro desert, which forced the expedition to fall back by a western route to the southern coast

Headquarters now remained for some time at Streaky Bay, on the eastern shoulder of the Great Australian Bight Taking a subdivision of the party, he again and again endeavoured to round the head of the Bight in the hope of finding better country, which would open a favourable route towards the interior Here, too, his expectations were baffled in this latter respect, and even Eyre had to abandon his pet project in utter despair But he was of too dauntless a te to Adelaide without acco worthy of remembrance His next move was competent only to a madman or a hero It was a serious attempt to lead an expedition fro the Great Australian Bight, a journey of more than 1,500 miles over the worst country under the sun

He proposed to proceed with his present party unbroken, if Governor Gaould allow the government cutter to advance to Cape Arid, a sort of half-way station, and there await the expedition, with a supply of provisions The Governor refused the use of the vessel in connection with so ro the entire party back to Adelaide, and so putting an end to what heas a mad freak But Eyre was a man born to lead, not to be led, and determined to stick to his purpose, with help or without it Yet, being conscious of the extre, he resolved to risk the sacrifice of no European's life but his own, and made preparations to send home Scott and Baxter in the cutter Baxter, an old and faithful servant, who had been overseer on Eyre's station, persisted in clinging to his master, whether for life or death And, alas! it was for the latter The party, as thus reduced, consisted of only thitean old favourite naether with a limited supply of provisions, made up the sum total of the expedition

Never before was an enterprise of such overwheled in by reasonable men This section of the southern coast was yet scarcely known The navigators Nuyts and Flinders had cruised over its waters, gazing withto the precipitous height of 400 or even 600 feet above the water At intervals along the base the waves had under it to fall inbreach, the _debris_ of which coe between the rocks and the sea in the few places where such a convenience ht have been previously possible

The crown of these cliffs had not yet been trodden by the white ines were enough to freeze the ardour of the e of Australian exploration On this border-land of earth and sea contending winds had deposited the dust particles borne on their wings, and rolled the and dreary intervals These sand-hills, resting on a limestone formation, retained at their base a s, and often painful, digging For the greater part of the way no other water was to be found on this barren and inhospitable region of parched-up Australia

From Cape Adieu, where leave had been taken of the cutter and its passengers, to the first stage at the head of the Bight, the difficulties were eable--for this part of the route had been traversed and supplies hidden for future use--but, this over, they had to be faced in all their appalling nitude The sand-hills were found to be so far apart that it was i the stock from the one to the other without intermediate supply When the sheep, and sometimes the horses, could travel no further, one or two of the parties had to be left in charge while others pushed forward in search of water, and then returned hat supply they could bring, when the aniements were infinite and the labour superhuman Eyre alone was equal to the strain, and he owed it th It was a sore trial to perceive even Baxter to be giving way and wishi+ng to return; but as this seemed to threaten certain death, he kept to his resolution, and persevered against all hope of a successful issue, so desperate had the aspect of affairs now beco dwindled aith ominous rapidity, it had become necessary to kill several of the horses and eat theh they furnished little but skin and bone Matters having coe had to be reduced to the smallest proportions, and most of the valuables were throay in the wilderness to lighten the burden of carriage Their sufferings from want of water now became indescribable Man and beast were co a mouthful

With only one exception, none had been found but in the sand-hills for the distance of 800 miles, and how hard it was to reach it there has already been described Even the dew on the sparse patches of grass was put in requisition, asextract fro the overseer to search for the horses, which had strayed, I took a sponge and went to try to collect sorass and shrubs

Brushi+ng these with the sponge, I squeezed it, when saturated, into a quart-pot, which in an hour's time I filled ater The native boys were occupied in the sarass instead of a sponge, they collected about a quart a taken the water to the cast the party, and never was a h we ate the last ain enjoy either a drink of water or a mouthful of bread We had now de water from the dew I had often heard fro this plan, but had never before actually witnessed its adoption”

But the climax was yet to come To privations and difficulties the crime of treachery and murder was now to be added Two of the blacks proved unfaithful, and shot the overseer, Baxter, in cold blood, apparently for the purpose of deserting with as much of the provisions as they could lay hands on, perhaps after the murder of the leader hiuish of his situation exceed the highest efforts of tragedy, and sho fact ht was cold, and the wind blowing hard fro very rapidly by the ood deal, threading in and out arassy openings, until I scarcely knew exactly where our cao It was now half-past ten, and I headed the horses back in the direction in which I thought the caht be ready to call the overseer to relievesteadfastly around a the scrub to see if I could anywhere detect the embers of our fires, I was startled by a sudden flash, followed by the report of a gun, not a quarter of athat the overseer hadable to find me or the horses had taken that method to attract my attention, I iot alar the horses, hurried up towards the camp as rapidly as I could About a hundred yards fro towardsout, 'Oh, Massa! oh, Massa, coain no infor the encampment, which I did in about five minutes after the shot was fired, I was horror-struck to findin his blood, and in the last agonies of death Glancing hastily around the caer native boys, whilst the scattered frage, which I left carefully piled under the oilskin, lay thrown about in wild disorder, and at once revealed the cause of the harrowing scene beforethe body of my faithful but ill-fated follower, I found that he was beyond all huh the left breast with a ball; the last convulsions of death were upon him, and he expired alhtful, the appalling truth now burst upon me that I was alone in the desert He who had faithfully served me for many years, who had followed my fortunes in adversity and prosperity, who had accos, and whose attachment to me had been his sole inducement to remain with me in this last and, to him, alas! fatal journey, was now no more For an instant, I was almost tempted to wish that it had been lared uponreality as for an instant alht, in the wildest and most inhospitable wastes of Australia, with the fierce wind raging in unison with the scene of violence before le native, whose fidelity I could not rely upon, and who for aught I knew ue with the other tere perhaps even now lurking about with the view of taking away my life as they had done that of the overseer Three days had passed away since we left the last water, and it was very doubtful e ht find any more Six hundred miles of country had to be traversed before I could hope to obtain the slightest aid or assistance of any kind, whilst I knew not that a single drop of water or an ounce of flour had been left by these murderers froh years have now passed away since the enactedy, the dreadful horrors of that tihtful vividness, and make me shudder when I think of them A lifetime was crowded into those few short hours, and death alone ive decent burial to the body of a friend whom death only could separate would have been a ht tribute of affection was denied by the situation No grave could be dug, for sheet-rock, stretching far and wide, formed the adamantine pavement of this horrible place Wrapt in a blanket for its winding-sheet, the corpse was left in this lonely wilderness, where it lay undisturbed till it was stumbled on quite recently by the district mailman On a calmer view of the position, Eyre discovered that the ruffians had left hiar, and four gallons of water Such was the provision for two , however, could be gained by delay in this awful scene, and every consideration counselled an ie that the two hbourhood with the probable design of taking Eyre's life A start was made without further loss of ti been poor and sickly, its flesh did not agree with theht face to face with the last extremity, a sudden vision of deliverance nearly overwhel in the Bight, first a boat and then a shi+p at anchor rushed upon the view A closer acquaintance proved the apparition to be a French whaling-vessel, under the coly perpetuated in the same little bay The unlooked-for visitors were hospitably entertained and lodged for twelve days in the shi+p, till they were sufficiently recruited for the reth, and a fresh supply of provisions, the h the desert was once more resumed, for the indoh hardshi+p had now lost its sting, ht have been expected, but they were of a different kind fro Water became only too plentiful, for a wet season had set in, and the travellers had often to wade rather than to walk But the end of this terrible journey drew on apace To their unspeakable joy the an to loom in the distance, and Wylie, as a native of that district, now for the first time showed so hiht, in truth, inspired both the black and the white man with fresh life; for they had to make only one more effort, and, this over, their weary feet found rest in the hospitable settle this journey stands without a parallel in history, but it led to nothing but a barren triumph over stupendous difficulties Had Eyre kept further inland he would have found a better route and opened up a more profitable country This discovery had to wait for another andthe shore, travelled over a tract of country that was seen to be utterly useless for the wants of civilization So patent was this fact to Mr Eyre himself that he justified the publication of his narrative by the strange argument that no one had traversed this wilderness before and he was perfectly sure none would ever do it again

Henceforward Edward John Eyre was known to fa subsequently appointed Governor of Jamaica, he fell heir to an upheaval of disorder, which culminated in open rebellion This insurrection Eyre put doith an iron hand Some accused him of needless severity, while others justified his conduct as an act of imperative necessity The hero-worshi+pper, the late Thomas Carlyle, defended him bravely, and was seconded by many sympathizers of less note, who came to the rescue with pen and purse This perilous journey of former years was justly pleaded in Mr Eyre's favour, but his friends weakened their case by confounding the Great Australian Bight with the Gulf of Carpentaria! Though exonerated by a commission of inquiry, the Governor was recalled, and for four years thereafter harassed by a bitter prosecution, which he probably found harder to endure than his terrible journey on the Great Australian Bight

CHAPTER VIII

SIR THOMAS MITChell'S FOUR EXPEDITIONS

This e been born at Craigend, Stirlingshi+re, in 1792 He chose the arton, in the Peninsular war, from 1808 till its close His career appears to have been aout the faave a fatal check to the ambition of Napoleon Mitchell left the service with the rank of Major, receiving also a rated to New South Wales, he was appointed Surveyor-General, an office which had fallen vacant by the death of Mr John Oxley Being an active and adventurous man, he threw himself, heart and soul, into the cause of exploration Mitchell was the ood fortune to open up the nificent territory which now forreat expeditions, which shall now be briefly related in the order of their occurrence

I

A the notabilities of the old convict days there are not e Clarke, better known, in his own ti taken to bushranging and cattle-stealing as naturally as the duck makes for the water, had also shown himself an adept in the arts which elude the detective Passing beyond the bounds of settlement, which had now extended 300 miles to the north of Sydney, he fixed his headquarters and erected a stockyard for stolen cattle on the further side of the Liverpool Plains Here he abjured the last vestige of civilization and associated hi becoree He doffed every article of clothing, blackened his skin, and even scarified his flesh, in order to appear a naked savage pure and simple But the compliment does not seeaining the hearts of two black gins, who followed him and his fortunes as far as fate would permit; but the sable brotherhood did not take kindly to the intruder

Hearing he anted by the police to answer for his cattle-stealing propensities, they lent a hand to the progress of civilization, and delivered up this spurious brother, as forthwith lodged in Bathurst gaol Of all the men in the world this runaway convict, who had enjoyed the sweets of liberty, both in the savage and the civilized life, would be the last to brook the restraints of confine about for the means of deliverance Thehis object undoubtedly lay in the plan which his native cunning led him to adopt Popular excitement was then at fever heat on the exploration of the unknown territory Sturt had recently returned from an expedition in which he had opened up ee and Murray rivers, and had, consequently, given a great i enterprise Noas the tiaol Having passed beyond a range of mountains to the northward of the Liverpool Plains, so his story ran, he had discovered a nificent river which the natives called the ”Kindur” It traversed a splendid country, was itself navigable throughout, and having followed its course on two different occasions, it led hih the heart of Australia to the north coast, without ever turning to the south Men readily believe what they wish to be true, and such a river as here described was the very thing wanted in order to open up a ay to Carpentaria The story accordingly coeneral attention, and ree of verisi expedition to put it to the proof

Major Mitchell was now in the place where he would feel the impulse for exploration with all its force, and so fell inthe most favourable construction upon the ”Barber's” story, and believing that it contained, at least, a substratuo in search of the ”Kindur,” provided the Acting-Governor, Sir Patrick Lindsay, would supply the necessary outfit This request was readily granted, and Major Mitchell left Sydney on the 24th Novereat discovery It was not necessary to organize the expedition before starting, as the country was now settled so far to the north, and final arrangely postponed till a nearer approach was made to the unknown land The early part of the journey was pretty much in the style of a pleasure excursion The would-be explorer of the ”Kindur” passed northward to Parrareat novelty, the first olive-tree planted in the colony The Hawkesbury was crossed at Wiseman's Ferry, and in due course the Wollombi, a tributary of the Hunter, was reached Soon after he proceeded to entlemen volunteers, named White and Finch, and fifteen convicts, all of whom, the leader avers, were ready to face fire and water in the hope of regaining that liberty which they had forfeited by transgressing the laws of their country The expedition having been thus organized and supplied with every requisite,the Hunter withoutparticularly worthy of notice, until they caen, which attracted their attention as a remarkable curiosity It is not a volcano, but a mountain of coal or shale, on fire underneath, which sends forth voluh the rents in its surface On the 5th of Deceained and a co view of the plains obtained This fine tract of country had been discovered by Oxley, explored by Cunninghaely occupied by pioneer squatters The Peel River was struck at Wallamoul, about two miles above the spot where Oxley had first crossed it, and here was found the last station, owned by a squatter of the na 1,600 head of cattle The route of the expedition was now directed towards the lower course of the river, where it becomes known under the native name of the Namoi The euphonious ”Naer had spoken of a river of this nanation The Major was gratified to find this slight confirht him so far from home, and hastened to e the Barber” ht have the benefit; and a real benefit it was, for it saved hi failed to obtain his liberty when his information was acted on, this noted cri the irons off his feet, and in this wayarrasp, was condemned to suffer the last penalty, from which doom he was saved by the tinita_ noas entered upon, and the first object that drew the attention of the explorers was the old stockyard of the bushranger, which, doubtless, was too near a neighbour of Brown's cattle station About two ulda rose to a conspicuous elevation This was one of the landmarks of the prisoner's tale The ”Kindur” was to be reached by proceeding north-east, over a range of mountains which were visible froly; but, after several days of distressing travel, found the mountains to be impracticable, and was compelled to return to his foran to fill histhe truth of the convict's story No other course being open, he deter an effort to sail down the Namoi, to see what fortune had in store for him The attempt was scarcely well s and shoals in the streae of position was sufficient to make it apparent that the ht now be turned This achievement was next successfully accoth found himself on their northern flanks These mountains bore the native name of ”Nundawar,”

and, in respect of their outward appearance, had been described sufficiently well by the bushranger But now ca to the same story the ”Kindur” was the first river to be reached beyond these mountains, and, one way or other, the question could not now have long to wait for an answer A river of so wanted by the explorers, for they had passed through a rugged and waterless country Were they now, at last, to drop upon the ”Kindur?” Such a discovery would have been doubly welcome, for it would have relieved theoal of a journey which, it was hoped, would place the laurel crown on the brow of the Major and sound the trumpet of freedom to his fifteen convict attendants The 9th of January arrived, and this day was destined to feast the eyes of the weary travellers with the sudden appearance of a noble river, broader and deeper than the Naht well be proud Was this the ”Kindur” at last?

Not for adirection, and lost much of its volume in its doard course; and Mitchell soon satisfied hi else than one of theIn fact, it had not the inal discovery This was the Gwydir, which had been crossed long ago by Allan Cunninghaust andupon some discovery really worthy of the expedition He was rewarded, in so far that he discovered an important river, called the Karaula by the natives, but now better known as the Macintyre Further exploration proved this strea, and, therefore, useless for the purpose of one as seeking a water-channel to the Gulf of Carpentaria