Part 4 (1/2)

Its width was 120 feet, with an average depth of 12 feet, and froh the ave it the na, in compliment to the Secretary of State for the Colonies The track of the expedition kept as closely as possible to the left bank of the river, which withsouthward One of theis the number of feeders which it receives froh deep ravines, whichdifficult for the drays But the scenery is described as being exquisite Mitchell put the English language on the rack to make it express his conception of the lovely scenes which daily met his eye Either of the valleys of the Wando or the Wannon ust the Rifle Range was reached, and frohts Mount Gambier, near Cape Northumberland, was plainly seen, and this was accepted as sufficient evidence that the sea could not be very far distant After receiving another tributary, which was named the Stokes, the river, affected also by the proximity to the ocean, became so much increased in size as to induce Mitchell to launch the boat which had been brought froly formed at this position which was called Fort O'Hare Mitchell took two-thirds of his men, and, after a few days' pleasant sail, landed safely at theto Sydney it was thought advisable to make a short journey to Portland Bay, for the sake of exa country In this excursion various streams were discovered and crossed, such as the Crawford, the Fitzroy, and the Surrey; and the prominent peaks, Ellerslie, Clay, and Kincaid, were ascended or sighted The country generally arounds, until Portland was reached, where the soil was found to be of the best possible description Here a great surprise was in store for the explorers They had stumbled by mere chance on the newly-forenerously supplied the still forward, Mitchell kept for a considerable ti a pass which would be generally available Such an opening he was fortunate enough to discover, near the foot of Mount Byng, which he safely passed through, barring an accident to his travelling gear While this was being repaired, he ht about 30 limpse of Port Phillip, and thus enable him to connect his surveys with this iave the name of Mount Macedon, and froraphical features of what is now the site, or the ihbourhood, of Melbourne, and also white sails or tents, which most likely were the encampments of Batman and Fawkner, who had been in their new ho, the Campaspe River was discovered, and other tributaries of the Murray, made known by Hume and Hovell, were crossed without difficulty The e of the Murray; but it was passed without accident or ed country had to be encountered before the Murruee was crossed But this was the _ultimus labor_ of the expedition, for the settled territory had now been reached Mitchell accordingly reckoned this outpost the termination of his journey; and it had not been a short one He had travelled over 2,400 miles of country, and was seven months in the bush But he had been more fortunate than any of his predecessors; nor, indeed, has his success been eclipsed to this day

For this splendid service he orthily rewarded with the honour of knighthood froood fortune which had followed Sir Thohout his three earlier expeditions did not forsake hi this one, which proved to be the last and most arduous of the series It was his ambition this time to cross the continent and open an overland route to the distant Carpentaria Of all , he was the most likely to accomplish this task He did not, indeed, attain the desire of his heart, but in all other respects his expedition was eminently successful, and forms a memorable epoch in the history of exploration

The party mustered at the old rendezvous of Buree, in the Western District, which, though no longer the outpost of settle-point Mitchell chose for his second in command Mr

Edmund B Kennedy, the unfortunate explorer who, several years later, was killed by the blacks when leading a disastrous expedition in Cape York Peninsula The rest of the party were mostly convicts from Port Jackson, who had volunteered their services in the hope of obtaining their freedo of two dozen able-bodied men, amply provisioned, left Buree on the 15th of December, 1845 The old route was followed for a considerable way, and in a short tian, was crossed without serious difficulty For a long distance ard the country was now occupied by squatters, but many of the outsiders had already succu blacks, who had speared their cattle and otherwise harassed them beyond the limit of human endurance Ten years had now passed away since Mitchell led his preceding expedition through these parts, and the abortive attees observable in the general aspect of the country One very rerass and horehound, which had sprung up around the stockyards Mitchell was quite positive in asserting that no specimen of these plants could have been found in the district before the white men settled there

The party suffered froan was reached, on the 16th January, and then one difficulty was quickly followed by another

Most of the ht, and coer than was convenient for the object of the expedition But they were again on thenow directed towards the Macquarie Meanwhile an encaan While resting here the saltbush beca experiular plant of the interior plains

The tiny leaves were found to be a tolerable substitute for vegetables after boiling, by which process a yield of pure salt was obtained in the proportion of one ounce to the pound The condition of the stock also bore witness to the fattening quality of the same plant

After a few days of eventful travel by way of Sturt's Duck Ponds, the Macquarie River was struck a few miles below Mount Harris, which had been an important landmark for explorers since the time of Oxley The channel was dry, but the blacks reported a heavy flood as near at hand

Mitchell had often heard of sudden inundations appearing in an arid part of the country, and was anxious to witness so singular a visitation

Late in the still evening there fell upon his ear a dulland crashi+ng of trees, and in a fewits banks in a wide-spreading flood The phenorand in the extreme, and of so improbable a character as scarcely to be credited unless it had been witnessed

On the 27th the Castlereagh was reached, and the next day the party found the For many miles in both directions the river at this period was studded with pastoral settle crossed at Warley, near one of the stations, Mitchell now struck out for the Narran, the nearest point of which was reckoned to be about 35space was found to consist of choice pastoral country, covered with tall kangaroo grass

Commissioner Mitchell, son of the explorer, had previously traversed these parts, and this expedition soon ”pulled up” his tracks The line of the Narran River having thus been already explored, it was traversed as expeditiously as possible, and this part of the journey was over by the beginning of April, when the Balonne (pronounced Baloon) was sighted Mitchell described it as the finest river he had seen in Australia, with the exception of the Murray The current was very slight, but the water stretched out in long and beautiful reaches Thethe line of this river till St George's Bridge was reached, where the width expanded to 120 yards At this point there is a chain of rocks stretching from bank to bank, which has always the appearance, and soe It was this circue, a na townshi+p that has sprung up in the vicinity

While enjoying a short interval of repose in this enchanting situation, Mitchell had the pleasure of receiving a despatch fro a brief account of Leichhardt's successful journey to Port Essington Being somewhat jealous of his rival, and, ita redoubled effort to cross the continent and discover a more practicable route than Leichhardt had been able to find Leaving Kennedy in charge of the depot at St George, he took a light party and pushed forward, having given instructions to the rest to follow his tracks when the stock should be sufficiently recruited for travel One day's ht the advance party to the junction of another important river, which was afterwards found to be the Maranoa But they still kept the line of the Balonne as far as the Cogoon, a considerable tributary, which was now followed This led the explorers into a splendid district, known afterwards as the Fitzroy Downs, near the centre of which the town of Roion was studded with isolated mountain-peaks, one of which Mitchell hastened to ascend The prospect obtained fronificent, and the pasture so abundant on this height as to suggest the name of Mount Abundance, which it has ever since retained At a short distance the three-peaked Bindango, standing near its fellow, Bindeygo, formed most picturesque features in the landscape It was on Mount Abundance that the first bottle-tree was discovered This is the strangest product of the Australian forest, and Sir Thoetable kingdoe of hills Mitchell, bent on reaching Carpentaria, had for so the division of the northern waters, and fervently hoped this distant range would prove to be the dividing line This watershed was to hih the whole journey, what the horizon is to the traveller--always appearing near and ever receding Many a weary day did he toil on, sustained by this expectation, but it kept rave without having crossed the coveted watershed But for the present he enjoyed the pleasures of hope Leaving Mount Abundance he soon discovered the A followed, led on to the Maranoa, whose junction with the Balonne he had previously discovered Here he established another depot and waited for Kennedy,in the meantime several short excursions in various directions

Not far fro station was subsequently formed, and more recently an important town has been built, in both of which the naht up his party in excellent condition, the experie was repeated here--the leader again setting out for the north with a small equipment and a four months' supply of provisions The natives in this quarter were not disposed to stand on friendly terers, and usually kept at a safe distance One inconvenience only Mitchell regretted Many interesting natural features were observed, especially ladly havein this, his favourite custoAs an exception, he nahts Mount Aquarius, in remembrance of a very seasonable supply of water it had furnished for his party

This difficulty now seemed to be overcome for some time by the discovery of the Nive and the Nivelle, ie river

This was the Warrego, which would have been followed had it not persisted in taking a course which would have led them in the opposite direction to Carpentaria

The country to the northward continued to rise till it reached an elevation of so also of a mountainous character, it was fondly hoped that here, at least, would be found the long-sought watershed This anticipation was rather confirmed by the discovery of a beautiful stream, now called Salvator Rosa, which flowed northith a clear anddelusion lasted only one day, for on the morrow the lovely river ended its course in a reedy lake, on the opposite side of which a channel was found, but it contained no water at that ti too much to the east to suit Sir Thomas's purpose Other discoveries of streams or watercourses werenagestive of pleasant associations, and, while speaking well for the country, sufficiently prove that the expedition had its share of enjoyue

The 21st of July was rendered memorable by the discovery of the Belyando, a fine river, heading towards the north, and offering a better proerly followed, and in four days conducted the explorers across the Tropic of Capricorn Inout in splendid dohich squatters have long since applied to a lucrative purpose, but in other places the axe had to be used to clear a path through the brigalow scrubs In common with other explorers, Mitchell has noticed that ”the Australian rivers have all distinguishi+ng characteristics, which they seem to possess from their source to their terhout its course to have an unfortunate propensity for splitting into channels, which were often difficult to trace through the thick scrub; but, as a compensation, these branches afforded excellent facilities for storage of water against dry seasons Many days of persevering travel gave the party a good northing, but, after passing over three and a half degrees of latitude, it began to be evident that the Belyando also was going to deceive the for the east, thus leaving no hope of conducting the expedition to Carpentaria Mitchell rightly conjectured that itthe Suttor, and, with a crushi+ng feeling of disappointe his front and return ho still a sufficient store of provisions, he was unwilling to continue his homeward track, and resolved to follow up a river to the ard, which took its rise in the high ground previously h first-class pasture land, and this excursion resulted in opening up a large area of squatting country Many tributaries were noticed to fall in on either side, particularly the Alice, which came from the north Theto the coveted north Soon after Sir Thoether, and set his face in earnest for the settled districts, which he reached, after no long interval, by way of the Mooni River and the Liverpool Plains Having failed to enter into coines, he was unable to ascertain the native name of the river which had led hireat discoveries, and he called it after the nanation, as there is another Victoria River on the west coast About the sa on another part of this river, and gave it the name of Cooper's Creek The natives called it the Barcoo, and by this nahout its whole course

CHAPTER IX

KENNEDY'S DISASTROUS EXPEDITION TO CAPE YORK

This chapter is from first to last a tale of woe The history of exploration, tragic as it has so often been, contains no parallel to the expedition which is now to be described Of the thirteen brave men who, full of hope, set forth on this memorable journey, only three starved and emaciated shadows of hus The disaster produced in Sydney an i as a successful issue had been confidently expected The leader, Mr Edhly capable person He had formerly been taken from the Survey Department and placed second in command of the northern expedition of Sir Thomas Mitchell, whose discoveries on the Barcoo and the Warrego he had subsequently followed up on his own account So great care had been taken in selecting theleader, for this reason, simply, that the colony was now passionately in earnest on this business The rising i attitude of Port Phillip made it more than ever necessary to discover, if possible, a practicable route to soht serve as an _entrepot_ for the trade with India Mitchell, after doing his best, had failed to supply this want

Leichhardt had, indeed, been ton; but his track was too rough and circuitous to serve the purpose of commerce Another effort to reach the same object was now to be made on a modified plan To simplify the process, it was proposed to land a party of explorers at Rockingham Bay, with instructions to proceed overland to Port Albany, near Cape York, in the extreme north This was the priht follow in the opening up of new country, and the eventual connection of the survey with those of Leichhardt and Mitchell

The enterprise coham Bay was tempestuous, and extended over the unusual period of twenty-one days By the 1st day of June, 1848, the adventurers had escaped frouardianshi+p of a land inhabited as yet only by savages A hazardous journey of six months lay between theainst starvation consisted of 1 ton of flour, 90 lbs of tea, and 600 lbs of sugar, together with a few sheep, which were soon aled that a relief vessel should be waiting at Cape York to receive the explorers at the end of their journey, and it was promised also that an attempt would be made to communicate with thee to reach that place by the s the _Tam o' Shanter_ spread sail, and left Kennedy with his heroic dozen to battle with difficulties, known and unknown, as they best could These unhappily commenced at once, and never ceased till nearly all this brave band found rest in the ar had been effected was covered with inter these, before any northing could be made It was the misfortune of this ill-provisioned party to encounter within a short compass nearly all the obstacles which have beset Australian explorers, and these, truly, have been neither few nor small

Scarcely had the maze of marshes been left behind when iress These first visitors to York Peninsula found the scrubs entangled and interlaced by a new creeper which is non under the name of _Calae of the first nitude For days in succession the axe had to be used to cut a passage through this exquisite specimen of nature's lattice-work, and then the severed tendrils, furnished as they ith curved spines, andthe flesh of the men at work, ere thus subjected to perpetual annoyance But aupon the rear The blacks, having assu attitude for so force, painted and arns of friendshi+p were still kept up; but it was too evident that they were bent on mischief, and only waited a fit opportunity for a decisive assault When least expected a spear was thrown into the caave battle This decision was exceedingly unfortunate, as it led to extremities at once Men like Sturt would have tried every conceivable shi+ft before allowing ained their object by the un