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The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888

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Following down the Suttor, they arrived at the Burdekin, the largest
river on the east coast, discovered by Leichhardt, up the valley of which
they travelled, until they crossed the dividing watershed between the
waters of the east coast and the Gulf of Carpentaria, on to the head of
the Lynd, which river they followed to its junction with the Mitchell.
Finding the course of this river leading them too high north, on the
eastern shore of the Gulf, they left it, and struck to the sea coast,
intending to follow round the southern coast at a reasonable distance
inland. Up to this time they had been so little troubled by the natives,
that they had ceased almost to think of meeting with any hostility from
them.

On the night of the 28th June, 1845, they were encamped at a chain of
shallow lagoons, when soon after seven o'clock, a shower of spears was
thrown into the camp, wounding Messrs. Roper and Calvert, and killing Mr.
Gilbert instantly. So unprepared were the party, that the guns were
uncapped, and it was some time before three or four discharges made the
blacks take to their heels. The body of the naturalist was buried at the
camp, but his grave was unmarked, as in order to prevent the blacks from
disinterring it, a large fire was lit over the grave to hide its site.

From this unfortunate camp the party proceeded slowly with the two
wounded men for some days. A strange incident, scarcely credible,
happened during their tramp round the Gulf. One night a blackfellow
walked deliberately up to the fire round which the party were assembled,
having seemingly mistaken it for his own. On discovering his mistake, he
immediately climbed up a tree, and raised a horrible din, lamenting,
sobbing, and crying, until they all removed to a short distance and
afforded him a chance of which he eagerly availed himself, of escaping.

Leichhardt followed round the Gulf shores, naming the many rivers he
crossed after friends or contributors to his expedition, or where he
could identify them, retaining the names of the coast surveys. On the 6th
of August, he reached a river which he mistook for the Albert, of Captain
Stokes, but which now bears his name, being so christened by A. C.
Gregory, who rectified his error. On this occasion, Leichhardt did not
err so widely as Burke and Wills did subsequently, when they mistook the
mouth of the Flinders for the Albert. With decreasing supplies and
increasing fatigue, they at last reached the large river in the
south-west corner of the Gulf, which he named the Roper, and here he had
the misfortune to lose four horses, and had to sacrifice the whole of his
botanical collection--a heavy loss. On the 17th December, when very near
the last of everything, they arrived at the settlement of Victoria, at
Port Essington, and their long journey of ten months was over.

This expedition, successful as it was in opening up such a large area of
well watered country, attracted universal attention, and enthusiastic
poets broke forth into song at Leichhardt's return, as they already had
done at his reported death. He was heartily welcomed back to Sydney, and
dubbed by journalists the "Prince of Explorers." But, perhaps, better
still, a solid money reward was raised by both public and private
subscription, and shared amongst the party, in due proportions. During
his journey, Leichhardt had discovered many important rivers draining
large and fertile areas. The principal being the Dawson, the Mackenzie,
the Suttor, the Burdekin, and its many tributaries. The numerous streams
of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and others that have since become almost
household words in Australian geography. He was singularly fortunate on
this occasion; although, judging by his after career, the luck which had
carried him through from Moreton Bay to Port Essington deserted him
suddenly and completely. His route had been through a country so easy to
penetrate and well watered, that on one night only, had the party camped
without water. The blacks, with the exception of the time when Mr.
Gilbert was killed, were neither troublesome nor hostile, beyond
occasionally threatening them. Game was fairly plentiful, and compared
with the obstacles that beset Sturt, Eyre, and Mitchell, the footsteps of
the explorers had been through a garden of Eden.

But what took the public fancy the most was a certain halo of romance
surrounding the journey, partly from the report of the death of the
traveller having been circulated, and partly from the trip having been
successful in reaching the goal aimed at, and attaining the results
desired, namely, an available and habitable route to the settlement at
Port Essington. All these circumstances, combined with the very slender
means which had enabled the young and enthusiastic explorer to succeed,
threw around Leichhardt's reputation a glamour, which, fortunately for
his reputation, the mystery surrounding the total and absolute
disappearance of himself and party, in 1848, has deepened, and kept alive
until this day.

Leichhardt added a long string of discoveries to his name during this one
trip, and had his other attempts been as successful in proportion, he
would have taken the first place in the history of Australian discovery,
but it was not to be so, and on this undoubtedly fruitful expedition his
fame now stands.

Before Leichhardt's return, Sir Thomas Mitchell had started on his
long-delayed journey, which, in the main, had the same purpose in view as
Leichhardt's. This expedition had been long talked of. In 1841,
communications between Governor Gipps and Captain Sturt had taken place
on the subject, and in December of the same year, Eyre, not long back
from his journey to King George's Sound, wrote, offering his services.
[See Appendix.] To this the Governor replied that he would be glad to
avail himself of Mr. Eyre's services, provided that no prior claim to the
post was advanced by Captain Sturt. He also desired Eyre's views as to
the expense of the party.

Eyre estimated that the sum of five thousand pounds would, he thought, be
sufficient to fully cover every expense, including the hire of a vessel
(to meet the party on the north coast), and the payment of the wages of
the men and the salaries of the surveyor and draughtsman. But the colony
was not in a mood to indulge in such expense, and nothing was done just
then.

In 1843, Major Mitchell submitted A plan of exploration to the Governor,
who promised to consult the Legislative Council who approved, and voted a
sum of one thousand pounds towards the expenses. The Governor referred
the matter to Lord Stanley, who gave a favourable reply; but still the
matter was delayed.

In the beginning of the following year (1844), Eyre again made an offer
of his services, intimating that now the altered circumstances of the
colony would allow it to be carried through at a much cheaper rate. His
offer was, however, declined, on account of the Surveyor-General, to whom
the honour rightfully belonged, being in the field.

In 1845, the Council increased the exploration fund to two thousand
pounds, and Sir George Gipps instructed Major Mitchell to start.

The views of Sir Thomas were in favour of obtaining a road to the foot of
the Gulf, instead of Port Essington, on account of reducing the land
journey considerably, and also there being such a reasonable probability
that a large river would be found flowing northward into it.

In a letter which the Surveyor-General received from Mr. Walter Bagot
[See Appendix.] about this time, mention is made of the blacks reporting
a large river west of the Darling, running to the north or north-west.
As, however, the natives do not seem very clear in their knowledge of the
difference between flowing from and flowing to, it was probable that
Cooper's Creek, not then discovered by Sturt, was the foundation of the
legend, or possibly the Paroo.

During the earlier part of the year, Commissioner Mitchell (a son of Sir
Thomas) made an exploration towards the Darling, and the discoveries of
the Narran, the Balonne, and the Culgoa have been attributed to him; but,
as will be seen by Bagot's letter, they were known to the settlers a year
before; no special interest beyond this is to be found in the narrative
of the journey.

On the 15th of December, 1845, Sir Thomas Mitchell started from Buree,
his old point of departure, at the head of the small army with which he
was once more going to vanquish the wilderness. Mounted videttes,
barometer carrier, carter, and pioneer, etc., etc., were amongst the list
of his subordinates. Well might poor Leichhardt say, when thinking over
his slender resources:--


"Believe me, that one experienced and courageous bushman is worth more
than the eight soldiers Sir Thomas intends to take with him. They will be
an immense burthen, and of no use."


But Sir Thomas thought otherwise; without soldiers he considered that
certain failure awaited the rash explorer; discipline and method were the
sheet anchors of his exploratory existence, every tent in his camp was
pitched by line, and every dray had its station. With the fated Kennedy
as second, and Mr. W. Stephenson as surgeon and collector, he had also
with him twenty-eight men, eight bullock drays, three horse drays, and
two boats; and thus accompanied, he marched to the north.

Sir Thomas Mitchell struck the Darling much higher than Fort Bourke, the
state of the country at this time of the year rendering this change in
his plan needful. It was not until he was across the Darling that he was
outside the settled districts, so rapidly had the country been stocked
since last he was there, and even then he was on territory that his son
had lately explored.

The first river the party struck, west of the Darling, was the Narran,
and this was followed up until the Balonne was reached, which Mitchell
pronounced the finest river in Australia, with the exception of the
Murray. Beyond this, they made the Culgoa, and, crossing it, struck the
river again above the separation of the two streams, which from thence
upwards preserved the name of the Balonne.

On the 12th April, they reached the natural bridge of rocks on the
Balonne, where the township of St. George now stands, long known as St.
George's Bridge; and from here Sir Thomas advanced with a light party,
leaving Kennedy to follow on his tracks with the remainder, after a rest
of three weeks.

Soon after leaving the camp, Mitchell crossed the junction of the
Maranoa, but did not at that time like its appearance, and only followed
it a few miles, returning and keeping the course of the Balonne until
they reached the junction of the Cogoon from the westward, when they
followed the course of that river, which led them into a beautiful
pastoral district around a solitary hill, which the leader named Mount
Abundance, and here Mitchell first noticed the bottle tree.

Passing over a low range from the Cogoon, after crossing some tributary
streams, Sir Thomas found a river with a northerly and southerly course,
full of fine reaches of water, which retained its native name of the
Maranoa, being supposed to be the same as the junction before noticed.
Here they awaited the arrival of Kennedy with the heavy waggons and main
body.

On the 1st of June, the party was reunited, and the leader prepared for a
fresh excursion. Before Kennedy left the first depôt, at which, it will
be remembered, he was to remain six weeks, he received dispatches from
Commissioner Mitchell to Sir Thomas, by which that gentleman learnt of
the success of Leichhardt's expedition.

Major Mitchell has been accused of regarding Leichhardt's success with
jealous eyes, but that can scarcely be the case; true, he was of a
slightly imperious temper, but he must have felt far too secure of his
own reputation to fear any man's rivalry. The hasty and 'impatient
remarks he was occasionally betrayed into would, no doubt, be the natural
result of a man of his temperament reading such paragraphs in the Sydney
newspapers as those he has quoted in his journal:--


"Australia Felix and the discoveries of Sir Thomas Mitchell now dwindle
into comparative insignificance."

"We understand the intrepid Dr. Leichhardt is about to start another
expedition to the Gulf, keeping to the westward of the coast ranges."


The last item would be especially annoying, as it would indicate an
intention of trespassing on Mitchell's then field of operation.

On the 4th, the Surveyor-General started, intending to be away from the
depôt for at least four months. He followed up the Maranoa, and crossing
the broken tableland at its head, reached the Warrego, afterwards
explored by Kennedy. From this river Mitchell struck north, feeling
inclined to think that he was at last on the long looked for dividing
watershed that separated the northern from the southern flow.

On the 2nd July, they discovered a fine running stream that soon
broadened into a river, and eventually into a lake, called by Mitchell
Lake Salvator, the river receiving the same name. Travelling along the
basin of the head-waters of the Nogoa, which, however, turned too much to
the eastward for his purpose, crossing the Claude and the fine country
known as Mantuan Downs, Mitchell ascended a dividing range, and struck
the head of the Belyando--one of the main tributaries of the Burdekin so
lately discovered by Leichhardt. Following it down through the thick
brigalow scrub, which is a marked feature of this river and its companion
the Suttor, of Leichhardt, the party crossed the southern tropic on the
25th July, being, as Mitchell says, the first to enter the interior
beyond that line. In this he rather overlooked the fact, which he must
have known, that Leichhardt's track was only a few miles to the eastward,
and also what he did not then know, that he was not in the interior but
still on coast waters.

On the 10th August, the camp was visited by some natives, who did not
appear of the most friendly disposition. They apparently called the river
Belyando, which name was adopted. On their getting noisy and troublesome,
they were ignominiously put to flight by the dogs charging them. At this
point Mitchell had reluctantly to alter his preconceived opinions and
conjectures, and come to the conclusion that the northern fall of the
waters was still to be looked for to the westward, and that a further
continuance on his present course would lead him on to Leichhardt's
track. Disappointed, he gave the order to turn back, and on the last days
of August they were once again on the Nogoa tributaries.

At the foot of the range Mitchell established a second depôt, and on the
10th September started with the black boy and two men for a month's trip
to the westward. On this trip, he must receive the credit of initiating
the now commonly used water-bag for carrying water. His, it must be
confessed, was a very crude one, being only a thick flour bag, covered
outside with melted mutton fat.

The second day they met some natives, and from one old woman learnt the
names of some of the neighbouring streams, particularly the Warrego,
which river they had crossed on their outward way. The first river he
encountered was the Nive, and again he, as usual, flattered himself that
he was at the head of Gulf waters, little thinking that he was on the
most northern tributary of the Darling. A small tributary was called the
Nivelle. A short day's ride convinced him that this river ran too much to
the south-east, and he turned to the north through the scrub, and on the
morning of the 15th September, was rewarded with the splendid outlook
that has since greeted so many wayfarers on emerging from the Nive scrub.

In his journal he says:--


"I there beheld downs and plains extending westward beyond the reach of
vision, bounded on the S.W. by woods and low ranges, and on the N.E. by
higher ranges, the whole of these open downs declining to the N.W., in
which direction a line of trees marked the course of a river traceable to
the remotest verge of the horizon. There I found then, at last, the
realization of my long-cherished hopes--an interior river falling to the
N.W. in the heart of an open country, extending also in that direction.
. . . From the rock where I stood, the scene was so extensive, as to
leave no room for doubt as to the course of the river, which thus and
there revealed to me alone, seemed like a reward direct, from Heaven for
perseverance, and as a compensation for the many sacrifices I had made
in order to solve the question as to the interior rivers of tropical
Australia."


Once more the victim of a too sanguine belief, he followed tip his
discovery by at once commencing to trace down the river that ran through
this new-found paradise. He had made a great contribution to Australian
geography, as great as what he hoped for; but if he had been told the
truth he would scarcely have been satisfied. He had found the upper
tributaries of the second great river system of the interior, as Sturt
-had found its lower outflow, and he had thrown open the wonderful
western prairies, but he was as far from the Gulf as ever.

Light-hearted and satisfied, the party rode on for days through the
beautiful undulating downs country. On the 22nd September, we find in his
journal a notice of the new kind of grass, which was in future to be so
highly prized and to bear his name:


"Two kinds of grass grew on these plains, one of them, a brome grass,
possessing the remarkable property of shooting up green from the old
stalk."


On the 23rd, they crossed and named the Alice, and on the 26th, being
fully satisfied, and their provisions running short turned back.

Mitchell for once, in honour of such a discovery, departed from his usual
custom, which was the healthy plan of giving "good, sonorous native
names" to the most noticeable features, and called the river the
Victoria. On the 6th of October they reached the depôt camp, and found
all well.

The return to the main depôt, left in charge of Kennedy, was soon
accomplished, and on the 19th this was reached, and the occupants found
safe and unmolested, although the absence of Mitchell had now extended
over the four months. As a proof of the capabilities of the country he
had travelled over, Mitchell brought back all his animals in first-rate
condition, having lost only one horse, and that was through an accident.

The final return was made down the yet unexplored Maranoa, at the head of
which the depôt had been fixed so long; and on the 4th November they
arrived at the Balonne, having passed through splendidly-grassed and
well-watered country the whole way. The party took up their old camp at
St. George's Bridge, where they learnt from the natives that a party of
whites had been in the neighbourhood during their absence. Kennedy was
dispatched to inspect the Mooni ponds, or river, which they understood
was to the eastward of them. He found them occupied by cattle stations to
within a day's ride of the camp, so that the explorer's work may be
considered as at an end.

This expedition, it may well be supposed, fully confirmed Mitchell's
reputation. Once more he had been the means of assuring the colonists
that away towards the setting sun the flocks and herds might advance
unchecked, so far as he had been, and as he thought, across the great
continent. Added to which, he felt convinced, and expected the public
also to feel the same, that along the banks of the Victoria was the great
high road to the north coast.

This was the last expedition of the Surveyor-General, and the year before
concluded the active work of his old rival in the field, Charles Sturt.
Both men had done wonders in the cause of exploration; but the genii of
plentiful seasons and bountiful vegetation seems to have been the
forerunner of Sir Thomas, whilst a demon of drought and aridity stalked
in front of Sturt.




CHAPTER VII.



Kennedy traces the Victoria in its final course south--Re-named the
Barcoo--First notice of the PITURI chewing natives--Leichhardt's second
Expedition--Failure and Return--Leichhardt's last Expedition--His
absolute disappearance--Conjectures as to his fate--Kennedy starts from
Rockingham Bay to Cape York--Scrubs and swamps--Great exertions--Hostile
natives--Insufficiency of supplies provided--Dying horses--Main party
left in Weymouth Bay--Another separation at Shelburne Bay--Murder of
Kennedy at the Escape River--Rescue of Jacky the black boy--His pathetic
tale of suffering--Failure to find the camp at Shelburne Bay--Rescue of
but two survivors at Weymouth Bay--The remainder starved to death--Von
Mueller in the Australian Alps--Western Australia--Landor and Lefroy, in
1843--First expedition of the brothers Gregory, in 1846--Salt lakes and
scrub--Lieutenant Helpman sent to examine the coal seam discovered--Roe,
in 1848--His journey to the east and to the south--A. C. Gregory attempts
to reach the Gascoyne--Foiled by the nature of the country--Discovers
silver ore on the Murchison--Governor Fitzgerald visits the mine--Wounded
by the natives--Rumour of Leichhardt having been murdered by the
blacks--Hely's expedition in quest of him--Story unfounded--Austin's
explorations in Western Australia--Terrible scrubs--Poison camp--
Determined efforts to the north--Heat and thirst--Forced to return.


The importance of deciding the final course of the Victoria was at once
recognised, and Kennedy was chosen to lead a lightly equipped party.
However convinced Sir Thomas Mitchell was of the affluent of the Victoria
being in the Gulf of Carpentaria, others did not at once fall in with
the notion. It was evident that the vast flooded plains, and many
channels of Cooper's Creek absorbed immense quantities of water from the
interior, and apparently this water came from the north-east. What more
probable than that the Victoria was lost there.

Kennedy followed the old track to the river, found by Mitchell, and
reaching his lowest camp on the 13th of August, commenced to run the
river down from there. On the first day's journey he met a native, from
whom he learnt the aboriginal name of the Victoria, the BARCOO.

On the 15th Kennedy noticed with anxiety that the valley of the river
certainly fell to the south, and that ever since it had turned from its
northerly course, it was making for the point where Sturt turned back on
Cooper's Creek. He consequently began to dread that he might follow the
course of it, so far as not to be able to carry out the second part of
his instructions, namely, to look for a road to the Gulf, not having
enough means with him for both journeys. He decided to follow with two
men along the Barcoo, far enough to the south to leave no doubt about its
not being a north coast river. After two days' journey, the direction of
the Barcoo turned west, and even north of west, and the bed contained
fine reaches of water, one hundred, and one hundred and twenty yards
wide. Kennedy turned back for the whole of his party, considering that
his duty was to follow such a river, no matter in what direction it led
him.

On the 30th August, they came upon a large tributary from the N.N.E.,
which was named the Thomson, and they found the country very different
from the grassy plains of the upper reaches.

Finally, the river led them amongst plains gaping with fissures,
grassless and waterless, where the only change in the flat character of
the country was the sandhill formation, that exactly agreed with Sturt's
description. In fact, it was now evident to Kennedy that the only result
of his journey would be to connect with that explorer's most northerly
and easterly point, and, however satisfactory or unsatisfactory this
might be, it was scarcely worth risking the lives of his party, and the
certain loss of his horses to attain. Grass, or feed of any sort, had now
failed them for several days, and at last they could find no more water.
They were confronted with the desert described by Sturt with such
terrible accuracy, and there was nothing to be gained by entering into a
struggle with it. Kennedy turned back quite satisfied that the end of the
Victoria was in Cooper's Creek.

As the nomenclature of these watercourses is rather conflicting, and they
were the field of many subsequent explorations, it may be as well to
mention that the Victoria (now the Barcoo) joins Kennedy's Thomson, which
still retains its name, and below the junction the united stream is
always now called Cooper's Creek. Thus, as the residents out there tell
you, IT TAKES TWO RIVERS IN THAT PART OF AUSTRALIA TO MAKE A CREEK.

A noticeable incident here occurs in Kennedy's journal. Writing on the
11th September, he says:--


"A curious fact I observed here is, that the men chew tobacco; it is, of
course, in a green state, but it is strong and hot."


This was almost, certainly, the PITURI plant, which the natives of the
interior chew, and then bury in the sand, where the heat of the sun
causes it to ferment; it is then chewed as an intoxicant, the natives
carrying a plug behind their car in their hair. It is offered to a
stranger as an especial compliment, and great is the affront if this
toothsome morsel is declined. It only grows in certain localities, far
west of where Kennedy saw the natives using it, and the blacks of the
locality where it is found barter it away with other tribes, by which
means it is found at a considerable distance from where it grows. Amongst
the natives there are PITURI and NON-PITURI chewers.

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