The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888

expedition in 1855-56, accompan

Goyder-Deceived by mirage-Excitement in Adelaide-Freeling sent out-Discovers the error-Hack explores the Gawler Range-Discovers Lake Gairdner-Warburton in the same direction-Swinden and party west of Lake Torrens-Babbage in the Lake District-His long delay-Warburton sent to supersede him-Rival claims to discovery-Frank Gregory explore

further exploration in the interior, and some generous offers were made by private individuals to provide money for the outfit of a

is brother H. C. Gregory. Mr. Elsey, surgeon and naturalist, Mr. Baines, artist, and the requisite n

r, which from the report of Captain Stokes was then considered an im

voyage, and Gregory, Dr. Mueller, and seven men proceeded to the upper part of the Victoria overland, leaving the schooner to work her way up the river with the sheep on board. The land party first made the Macadam Range, so named by Stokes, thence they went to the Fitzmaurice River, where their horses were attacked by alligators and three of them severely wounded; and on the 10th of October they reached the Vict

s. On the 24th of November, Gregory, with his brother, Dr. Mueller, and Wilson, followed the Victoria to the south, on horseback. The party reached latitude 161

rren. A westerly course was then kept, and on the 15th the head of a creek was reached, which turning at first northerly, afterwards kept a distinct S.W. course for about three hundred miles. The country passed through for a large portion of the upper part was good available pastoral land, but as the lower part of the creek was reached a more desert formation took its place, and at last the creek terminated in extensive salt lakes. Beyond this point no continuation of the channel could be found, and Gregory too easily recognised the as

ulked, started for Timor, to obtain more provisions, and then return and meet the party at a rendezvous appointed on the Albert

shape to that usually made by the natives; but no marked trees were found, nor anything more seen to confirm the supposition. Thence the party followed down the Roper for some distance, and then crossing the head waters of the Limmen Bight River, skirted the Gulf at some considerable way south of Lei

schooner people when they should arrive, and on the 3rd of September started. Two days' journey from the true Albert, they reached a st

professes great disappointment with them compared to what he had been led to expect. Since then many conflicting opinions have been given as to their value. Settlement, however, as it generally does, decided the question; they have been

s journey, and discovering the beautiful pastoral downs that this most important river flows through, he wandered away to the north, and followed up the Gilbert River, thus duplicating, only further to the south, the eccentric course of Leichhardt. The dividing watershed was crossed on the basaltic plateau at the head of the Burdekin, and this stream was traced to the Sutt

uipment certainly was of the very best, but a series of unfortunate accidents, which could not have been prevented, left him nearly as short as some of his brother explorers had been. One thing about this journey of Gregory's has always been regretted-the short and scanty record which he

15th October, near Sydney. He had served on the staff of the Duke of Wellington during the Peninsular

and exercised the minds of the South Australian colonists. It seemed almost like a region of enchantment,

only been equalled by that of the JIMBRA, or apes, of Western Australia, which ruthless animals, according to blackfellows' legend, devoured the survivors of Leichhardt's party, as they straggled into the confines of that colony. Their horses giving in, Oakden and Hulkes returned; but although they applied for a squatting license for the country they had visited, it was not then settl

natives directed him to a crossing-place in that portion of Lake Torrens that had been sighted in 1845, by Messrs. Poole an

ek with fresh water in it, which he called the Elizabeth. He finally came to Lake Torrens w

nd, around a fine lagoon, and north was an isolated hill, which he named Weathered Hill. From the summit of this hill he had a fine specimen of the effect produced by refraction. To the north, or thereabouts, he saw a belt of gigantic gum-trees show out, beyond whi

est, with a water horizon; an extensive bay forming to the southward, while to the north a bluff headland and perpendicular cliffs were clearly discerned with a telescope. From the appearance of the

their fair province on the north had been suddenly converted into the promised land. Colonel Freeling, the Surveyor-Gene

ing that the cliffs the headlands, and the grassy shores, where all built up on the basis of the

the west coast led his companions a tramp, after a receding lake that they never overtook, it is scarcely to be wondered at then, th

g it through mud and a few inches of water for a quarter of a mile; the idea was abandoned. Freeling, and some of the party then started to wade through the slush, but after getting three miles, found no water d

ry west of Lake Torrens. He reached the Gawler Range and examined the country very patiently, finding numerous springs, and large pl

act Hack's party crossed Warburton's track on one or two occasions. Warburton's account was contrad

experience enabled him to judge with most truth of t

anges, which became known as Swinden's country. During this year, also, Messrs. Miller and Dutton explored the country at the back of Fowler's Bay. Forty miles to the north they saw treeless plains stretching far inland, but they found no permanent water. Warburton afterwards reported deprecatingly of this country, but Messrs. Delisser and Hardwicke in their turn stated that it was first-class pastoral land, if water could be obtained. Judging from Major Warburton's career as an explorer, he seemed quite unable to

under A. C. Gregory, and the other by Frank Gregory, it may be as w

y for Babbage, the survey work was generally regarded as but of secondary importance, and the public looked eagerly forward to hearing of the discovery of new pasture lands, especially as the outfit had been on a most liberal scale. Considerable delay (whether avoidable or not, it is scarcely worth while to discuss) happened during the outset of this expedition; for, although the party was reported ready on the 11th February, the end of August found Babbage back in Port Augusta having passed the intervening months in surveying the shores of the two larg

ays, and engaged, and sent Charles Gregory to join him, and inform him that his expedition was in future to be conducted in a like manner. Not finding Babbage at his camp, Gregory had started the drays and draught horses home on his own authority. Babbage ordered his men back, but they refused to go; so after

e. From here he made to a range which he called Hermit Range, but from its summit could see no sign of Lake Torrens, and came to the jus

ng for him. This result had come about partly through the appearance of Babbage at Mount Remarkable, and partly through the return of Messrs. Stuart and F

him to bring him back, and after waiting some time, determined to go himself, and a comical sort of hunt commenced, ending in Warburton com

ound the springs which he christened Beresford Springs; he also discovered the Douglas, a creek which afterwards greatly assisted Stuart to push forward, and a range

geographical fact that had so long puzzled the colonists, namely, the definite size and shape of Lake Torrens. No longer was this terror of the north to ext

nd contradictory; Babbage was slow and apathetic, Warburton pompous and arbitrary; and in the end the affair was

then supposed to be the horseshoe of Lake Torrens, and found

ings that we turn once again to the wo

nies, Frank Gregory left the Geraldine mine on the Murchison, where it will be remembered the gallant Austin and p

t, thence west and south until the junction of a large river from the north-west was reached. From this junction the Gascoyne ran due west straight for Shark's Bay, and on the 17th May, Gregory reached the mouth of the river. Returning, he explored the tributary from the north-west, which he named the Lyons, and which he followed for a considerable distance, until he came to a high mountain, three thousand five

d in the most favourable manner. Good pastoral country, well-watered, the great want of the settlers, had been discovered, only awaiting the fin

d in order to search for some traces of the course of Leichhardt's party, and although there was little hope of finding him, or any of his par

r may not have sprung from the story of a convict, in confinement

were held prisoners, lest they should reveal the whereabouts of the runaways. Of course such a story, which might have obtained credence in the very early days, was at once scouted;

th April. If the marked trees seen by Hely were Leichhardt's there was a great probability that they would thus be on his tracks to the west, and a sharp look-out was kept on both sides of river, which resulted in the discovery in about 241 deg. south latitude, and 145 deg. east longitude, of a tree mark

s very large, after the manner of some of the trees marked on that explorer's former journeys. It may be as wel

ory's picture of it is very different to Sir Thomas Mitchell's; but it would be scarcely worth while to compare the two statements now

ching the Thomson, followed that river up for some distance, but turned back disheartened at the want of grass, although the river was running from rece

oke 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 porti

cki'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

ion of the supposed identity of the Barcoo and Cooper's Creek; as Gregory was otherwise on the t

and disappointments, the second gre

formerly draughtsman for Captain Sturt, and one of the party who bought experience

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

e plain we crossed to-day resembles those of the Cooper, also the grasses. If it

northwest coast, which time has certainly not confirmed, even he would scarcely have imagined it possible for

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 Gai

e a long distance but nothing met the eye sav

s was worse than Sturt's, for there, there was a little salt-bush; "here

al 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 safe

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 disappointe

alls 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, a

k 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 c

he 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

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 stre

nwelcome 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 di

d sand dunes, but his 'horses were not equal to the tas

ck 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 eas

ign 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

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

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, he

once more the Yule and the Sherlock, rivers named on their outward journ

f desolation was at any rate partially removed, and it was with hopeful hearts that the coloni

thern part of the colony, and as it will be some time before we shall revisit Western Australia, it will

al to the east to get through the dense scrubs and the salt-lake country into a more promising region. It was purely a private expeditio

. 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

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, ma

nstrated the fact that the thickets to the eastward were not impenetra

nge 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 repo