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The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888

E >> Ernest Favenc >> The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888




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.




CHAPTER IX.



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 the
Fisher.

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."

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