The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888 Part 15

Sturt found the Darling, and traced the Murray to its mouth, thus discovering the great arteries of the water system of the most populated part of Australia, leaving the details to be filled in by others. In the interior he was the finder of Eyre's Creek and Cooper's Creek; one of the tributaries of the latter was soon afterwards discovered by Mitch.e.l.l, and named by him the Victoria, now called the Barcoo. In these two creeks, as he called them, on account of the absence of flowing water in their beds, Sturt unwittingly crossed the second and only other great inland river system of the continent. In the basin he traversed, in which these creeks lost their character, he was riding over the united beds of the Barcoo, the Thomson, the Diamentina, and the Herbert, west of whose waters nothing in the shape of a defined system of drainage exists, until the rivers of the western coast are reached. As a scientific explorer then, whose object was to unravel the mystery of the interior, solve, if possible, the question of its strange peculiarity, and trace out its physical formation, Sturt may well be held the first and greatest. His success, perhaps, was greater than he himself imagined, he came back dispirited with failure but as before he had found the broad outlines of the plan of the drainage of the great plains, to be afterwards completed by the discoveries of the tributary streams.

In addition to his longing to be the first to reach the centre of Australia, Sturt fondly hoped that once past the southern zone of the tropics, he would find himself in a country blessed with a heavier and more constant rainfall; as it was impossible for him to know at that time, that the force of the north-west monsoon was expended on the northern coast, and none of the tropical deluge found its way with any degree of regularity to the thirsty inland slope; this theory appeared on the face of it, feasible. Although an after knowledge may have now enabled us to see the mistakes he made, and to regard his descriptions of the uninhabitable nature of the interior as exaggerated, it must be admitted that others in the same place and circ.u.mstances would have made similar errors, and drawn equally false conclusions.

In taking leave of this explorer, another short extract from his journal will best show the character of the man of whom Australians should be so justly proud.

"Circ.u.mstances may yet arise to give a value to my recent labours, and my name may be remembered by after generations in Australia, as the first who tried to penetrate to its centre. If I failed in that great object, I have one consolation in the retrospect of my past services. My path amongst savage tribes has been a bloodless one, not but that I have often been placed in situations of risk and danger, when I might have been justified in shedding blood, but I trust I have ever made allowances for human timidity, and respected the customs of the rudest people."

The next prominent figure in the history of this time is Leichhardt, whose unknown fate has been the cause of so much sentiment clinging about his name.

Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt arrived in the colony in 1842, and travelled to Moreton Bay overland, where he occupied himself for two years in short excursions in the neighbourhood, pursuing his favourite study of physical science. Leichhardt was born in Beskow, near Berlin, and studied in Berlin. Through a neglect, he was excluded from the one-year military service, and thereby induced to escape from the three-yearly service. The consequence was, that he was pursued as a deserter and sentenced IN CONTUMACIAM.

Afterwards, Alexander Von Humboldt succeeded, by representing his services to science on his first expedition in Australia, in obtaining a pardon from the King. By a Cabinet order Leichhardt received permission to return to Prussia unpunished. This order, whether of any value to Leichhardt or not, came too late. When it arrived in Australia he had already started on his last expedition.

When the expedition was projected from Fort Bourke, on the Darling, to the Gulf of Carpentaria or Port Essington, he was desirous of securing the position of naturalist thereon; the delay in the starting of it disappointed him, and he made up his mind to attempt one on his own account, a project in which he received little encouragement. He persevered, however, and eking out his own resources, by means of private contributions he managed to get a party together, and on the 1st of October, 1844, he left Jimbour, on the Darling Downs, with six whites and two blacks, 17 horses, 16 head of cattle, and four kangaroo dogs; his other supplies being proportionately meagre.

As Leichhardt's journal of this trip has been so widely read, and as it does not possess the same striking interest as that of Sturt's, from the more accessible nature of the country travelled through, and the absence of the constantly threatening dangers overhanging both Sturt and Eyre, a shorter account of the progress of the expedition will be found most acceptable.

His plan of starting from the Moreton Bay district, and proceeding to Port Essington, differed considerably from that proposed by Sir Thomas Mitch.e.l.l. The course adopted by Leichhardt, although longer and more roundabout than that suggested from Fort Bourke, would be safer for his little band, keeping as it would, more to the well-watered coastal districts, and avoiding the constant separations entailed upon parties traversing the interior.

Leaving the head waters of the Condamine, the river which receives so many of the tributary streams of the Darling Downs, Leichhardt struck a river, which he named the Dawson, thence he pa.s.sed westward, on to the fine country of the Peak Downs, whereon he named the minor waters of the Comet, Planet, and Zamia Creeks.

On the 10th of January, 1845, the Mackenzie River was discovered, and here the Doctor and the black boy, Charlie, managed to get lost for two or three days, a faculty which apparently most of the party happily possessed. Following up the Isaacs River, a tributary of the Fitzroy, they crossed the head of it on to the Suttor; the only variation in the monotonous record of the daily travel being the occasional capture of game, and the mutinous conduct of the two black boys, who at various times essayed to leave the party and s.h.i.+ft for themselves, but were on each occasion glad to return.

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 Mitch.e.l.l.

Finding the course of this river leading them too high north, on the eastern sh.o.r.e 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 a.s.sembled, 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 sh.o.r.es, 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 princ.i.p.al 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 Mitch.e.l.l, 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 circ.u.mstances, 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 Mitch.e.l.l 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 Mitch.e.l.l 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 circ.u.mstances 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 Mitch.e.l.l 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 Mitch.e.l.l (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 Mitch.e.l.l 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 Mitch.e.l.l 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 Mitch.e.l.l p.r.o.nounced 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 towns.h.i.+p 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, Mitch.e.l.l 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 Mitch.e.l.l first noticed the bottle tree.

Pa.s.sing 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 depot, at which, it will be remembered, he was to remain six weeks, he received dispatches from Commissioner Mitch.e.l.l to Sir Thomas, by which that gentleman learnt of the success of Leichhardt's expedition.

Major Mitch.e.l.l 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 Mitch.e.l.l 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 trespa.s.sing on Mitch.e.l.l's then field of operation.

On the 4th, the Surveyor-General started, intending to be away from the depot 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 Mitch.e.l.l 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 Mitch.e.l.l 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, Mitch.e.l.l 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 Mitch.e.l.l 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 Mitch.e.l.l 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.