 Section 16 of History of Australia and New Zealand from 1696 to 1890. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. History of Australia and New Zealand from 1696 to 1890 by Alexander and George Sutherland. Section 16, Queensland, 1823 to 1890. Number one, Morton Bay. When Captain Cook in 1770 sailed into the wide opening of Morton Bay, several of his friends on board observed the sea to be paler than usual and formed the opinion that, if careful search were made along the shores, it would be found that a large river fell into the sea somewhere in the neighbourhood. Cook attached so little weight to this idea that he did not stay to make any examination. And when about 20 years later, Captain Flinders surveyed the same bay, he saw no trace of a river, though he had made special search for one. But the reports of both these travellers were subsequently found to be erroneous. For in 1823, when Governor Brisbane sent the discoverer Oxley in the mermaid to select a place for a new convict station in the northern district of New South Wales, Morton Bay was found to receive the waters of a large and important river. His success was, at least in part, due to an accident. Among the blacks on the shore of the bay was a naked man who was seen to be white. This man was taken on board. He had sailed in an open boat from Sydney with three others about a year before, but had been driven by gales out to sea and far north. They had landed and had been well received by the blacks. The rest had started to walk along the shore to Sydney. But one man, named Pamphlet, had remained with the natives. And it was he who was now rescued by Oxley, to whom he gave the information that when roving inland with the tribe among whom he was living, he had seen a fine river of fresh water. Under the guidance of Pamphlet, Oxley left his little vessel in the bay and with a boat entered upon the broad current of the stream. Before sunset he had ascended about 20 miles and had been delighted by the richness of the scenery and the magnificence of the timber. On the following day, he proceeded 30 miles farther up and throughout the whole distance found the stream to be broad and of sufficient depth to be navigatable for vessels of considerable size. Oxley was justly proud of his discovery and wished to penetrate still farther into the forests that way beyond. But his boat's crew had been so exhausted by their long row under a burning sun that he could not go no further and found it necessary to turn and glide with the current down to his vessel, which he had reached late on the fourth night. To the stream he had thus discovered he gave the name of the Brisbane River. Two, Convict Station. On his return, he recommended this district as a suitable position for the new Convict Station. And during the following year, 1824, he was sent to form the settlement. With a small party consisting of convicts and their guards, he landed at Redcliff, now known as Humpy Bong, a peninsula which jut out into Morton Bay a few miles above the mouth of the Brisbane. Here the settlement remained for a few months, but afterwards it was moved 20 miles up the river to that pleasant bend which is now occupied by the city of Brisbane. Here, under Captain Logan, the first permanent commandant of the settlement, large stone barracks for the soldiers was erected and lines of jails and other buildings for the convicts. And in these, for 12 or 14 years, the lonely community dwelt about a thousand twice-convicted prisoners and a party of soldiers and officials to keep them in order. No free person was allowed to approach within 50 miles of the settlement, unless with special permission, which was very sparingly granted. A place convict settlement of the harshest type and stern were the measures of that relentless commandant, Captain Logan, who flogged and hanged the unfortunate people under his charge until he became hated with a deadly hatred. He was an active explorer and did much to open up the interior country, till at length, on a trip which he was accompanied by only some convicts, they gluttered their vengeance by spearing him and battered his head with a native tomahawk. Three, the squatters. For 13 years the settlement was not affected by anything that went on in that outside world from which it was so completely excluded. But in 1840, the onward progress of squatting enterprise brought free men with sheep and cattle close to Morton Bay. That fine district, covered by Alan Cunningham in 1827 and called by him the Liverpool Plains, had almost immediately attracted squatters, who by degrees filled up the whole of the available land and those who were either newcomers or who'd found their flocks increasing too fast for the size of their runs were forced to move outward and, as a rule, northward. It was about the year 1840 that the pioneers entered that fine table-land district called by Alan Cunningham in 1829, the Darling Downs. And when the year 1844 was ended there were at least 40 squatters over the Queensland borders with nearly 200,000 sheep and 60,000 cattle and with many hundreds of shepherds in stock when to attend them. Four, a free settlement. Whilst the squatters were gathering all round, a change took place at Brisbane itself. We have seen that about 1840 the English government had resolved to discontinue transportation except to Van Diemen's land. The world, therefore, went forth that Brisbane was no longer to be a place of exile for criminals. It was to be the home of free men and the capital of a new district. In 1841, Governor Sir George Gyps arrived from Sydney and laid out the plan of what is now a handsome city. Blocks of land were offered to sail to free settlers and eagerly bought. The governor also laid out a little town now called Ipswich, Father Inland. Meanwhile, the township of Drayton, and that which is now much larger to Womba, began to gather round two wayside inns established for the convenience of travellers. Captain Wickham was sent up to assume the position of superintendent of Morton Bay, which thus became practically a new colony just as Port Phillip was in cell, though both were then regarded as only districts of New South Wales. Chapter 5 The Natives In these early years, the squatters of the district were scattered and wide intervals throughout a great extent of country and being in the midst of native tribes who were not only numerous, but have a peculiarly hostile disposition. They often found themselves in a very precarious situation, but blacks swarmed on the runs, killing the sheep and stealing the property of the squatters, who had many annoyances to suffer and injuries to guard against, but their retaliation oftentimes exhibited a ferocity and inhumanity almost incredible in civilized men. The government troopers showed little compunction destroying scores of natives and, strange to say, the most inhuman atrocities were committed by blacks who were employed to act as troopers. On one occasion, after the murder of a white man by two blacks, a band of troopers in the dead of night stealthily surrounded the tribe to which the murderers belonged whilst it was holding a corroboree and, at a given signal, fired a volley into the midst of the dancing crowd, a blind and ruthless revenge from which, however, the two murderers escaped. On another occasion, the shepherds and hutkeepers out of a lonely plain had begun to grow afraid of the troublesome tribes in their neighborhood and cunningly made them a present of flower in which white arsenic had been mixed. Half a tribe might then have been seen writhing and howling in the agony of this frightful poison till death relieved them. On such occasions, the black tribes took terrible revenge when they could and so the hatred of black for white and white for black became stronger and deadlier. Chapter 6 Separation In less than five years after the removal of convicts, the district began to agitate for separation from New South Wales. And in 1851, a petition was sent to the Queen urging the right of Morton Bay to receive the same concession as had in that year been made to Port Phillip. On this occasion, their request was not granted. But on being renewed about three years later, it met with very favorable reception and, in the following year, an act was passed by the Imperial Parliament giving the British government power to constitute the new colony. Again, as in the case of Port Phillip, delays occurred, and in 1856 a change of ministry caused the matter to almost be forgotten. It was not until the year 1859 that the territory to the north of the 29th parallel of latitude was proclaimed a separate colony under the title of Queensland. In the December of that year, Sir George F. Bowen, the first governor, arrived and the little town of Brisbane with its 7,000 inhabitants was raised to the dignity of being a capital. The seat of government of a territory containing more than 670,000 square miles though inhabited by only 25,000 persons. A few months later, Queensland received its constitution which differed but little from that of New South Wales. There were established two houses of legislature, one consisting of members nominated by the governor and the other elected by the people. Chapter 7 Gold In 1858 it was reported that gold had been discovered far to the north on the banks of the Fitzroy River and in a short time many vessels arrived in Keppel Bay. Their holds and decks crowded with men who eagerly landed and hastened to Canoona a place about 60 or 70 miles up the river. But it was soon discovered that the gold was confined to a very small area and by no means plentiful, and those who had spent all their money in getting to the place were in a wretched plight. A large population had been hurriedly gathered in an isolated region without provisions or the possibility of obtaining them. Their expectations of the gold field had been disappointed and for some time the Fitzroy River was one great scene of misery and starvation till the governments of New South Wales and Victoria sent vessels to convey the unfortunate diggers away from the place. Some, however, in the extremity of the famine had selected portions of the fertile land on the banks of the river and had begun to cultivate them as farms. They were pleased with the district and, having settled down on their land, found what is now the thriving city of Rockhampton. A great amount of success, however, attended a subsequent effort in 1867. The government of Queensland offered rewards varying from two hundred to two thousand pounds for the discovery of paying gold fields. The result was that during the course of the next two or three years many districts were opened up to the minor. Towards the end of 1867 a man named Nash, who had been wandering in an idle way over the country found in a reference region of great extent at Gympie about a hundred and thirty miles from Brisbane. He concealed his discovery for a time and set to work to collect as much of the gold as possible before attracting others to the spot. In the course of a day or two he gathered several hundred pounds worth of gold, being, however, often disturbed in his operations by the approach of travellers on the adjacent road when he had to crouch among the bushes until the footsteps died away and he could again pursue his solitary task. After some time it seemed impossible to avoid discovery unless anyone should firstall him in making known the district he entered Maribyr, not far away, announced his discovery and received the reward. A rush took place to Gympie which was found to be exceedingly rich and it was not long before a nugget worth about four thousand pounds was met with close to the surface. Far to the north on the Palmer River, a tributary of the Mitchell there have been discovered rich gold fields where in spite of the great heat and dangers from the blacks there are crowds of diggers at work. Many thousands of Chinaman have settled down in the district and to these the natives seem to have a special antipathy. But all the stories which Australia offers of gold digging romance are eclipsed by that of the Mount Morgan mine near Rockampton and in the midst of that very district to where the diggers had rushed in 1858 but in which they had starved through being unable to find gold a young squatter bought from the Government of Queensland a selection of six hundred and forty acres. It was on a rocky hill so barren that he considered it useless and was glad to sell it for six hundred and forty pounds to three brothers of the name of Morgan. These gentlemen were lucky enough to find out that the dirty grey rocks of which the hill was composed were very richly mixed with gold. So that twenty or thirty pounds worth of gold could be got by crushing and washing every cartload of rock. They immediately set to work and before long showed that they were the possessors of the richest gold mine in the world. A year or two later the hill was sold at a price equivalent to eight millions of pounds and it was now reckoned that it contains gold to the value of at least double that sum. What a strange adventure for the man who owned it and reckoned it worth almost nothing. Chapter 8 Cotton Throughout most of the colony the climate is either tropical or semi-tropical and it is therefore in its most fertile parts well suited to the growth of cotton and sugar. About the year 1861 the cultivation of the cotton plant was commenced on a small scale but although the plantations were found to thrive yet the high rate of wages which prevailed in Queensland the price of cotton in Europe caused the first attempts to be very unprofitable. Matters were changed however in 1863 for then a great civil war was raging in America and as the people of the southern states were prevented by the long chain of blockading vessels stationed by the northern states along their coasts from sending their cotton to Europe there was a great scarcity of cotton in England and its price rose to be exceedingly high. This was a favourable opportunity for Queensland. The plantations were of course still as expensive as ever but the handsome prices obtained for the cotton not only covered its great expense but also left considerable profits. The cultivation of sugar cane was introduced in 1865 and after a few years had passed away great fields of waving cane were to be seen in various parts of the country growing ripe and juicy beneath the tropical sun. Chapter 9 Polynesian Labour The prices of cotton and sugar remained high for some years but when the American Civil War was over they fell to their former rates and planters of Queensland found it necessary to obtain some cheaper substitute for their white labourers. At first it was proposed to bring over Hindus from India but nothing came of this idea and afterwards when Chinese were introduced they were not found to give the satisfaction expected. But it happened that one of the planters named Robert Towns was the owner of a number of ships which traded to the South Sea Islands and having persuaded a few of the islanders to cross to Queensland he employed them on a sugar plantation. He took some little trouble in teaching them the work he wished them to do and found that they soon became expert at it. As the remuneration they required was very small they served admirably to supply the necessary cheap labour. The practice of employing these South Sea Islanders or canackers as they were called soon became general and parts of Queensland had all the appearance of the American plantations where crowds of dusky figures decked in the brightest of colours plied their labours with laughter and with song among the tall cane breaks or the bursting pods of cotton the canackers generally worked for a year or two in the colony then having received a bundle of goods consisting of cloth, knives, hatchets, beads and so forth to the value of about ten pounds they were again conveyed to their palm-clad islands. A system of this kind was apt to give rise to abuses and it was found that a few of the more unscrumptuous plantars not content with the ordinary prophets stooped to the shameful meanness of cheating the poor islander out of his hard-earned reward. They hurried him on board a vessel and sent after him a parcel containing a few shillings worth of property then, when he reached his home, he found that all his toil and his years of absence from his friends had procured him only so much trash. Happily this was not a very frequent occurrence but there was another abuse both common and glaring as the plantations in Queensland increased they required more labourers than were willing to leave their homes in the South Sea Islands and as the captains of vessels were paid by the plantars a certain sum of money for every canacker they bought over there was a strong temptation to carry off the natives by force when, by other means, a sufficient number could not be obtained there were frequent conflicts between the crews of labour vessels and the inhabitants of the islands the white men burnt the native villages and carried off crowds of men and women while in revenge the islanders often surprised a vessel and massacred its crew and in such cases the innocent suffered for the guilty the sailors often had the baseness to disguise themselves as missionaries in order the more easily to affect their purpose and when the true missionaries suspecting nothing approached the natives on their ever-end of good will they were speared or clubbed to death by the unfortunate islanders but, as a rule, the canackers were themselves the sufferers the English vessels pursued their frail canoes, ran them down and sank them then, while struggling in the sea, the men were seized and thrust into the hold and the hatches were fastened down when, in this dastardly manner, a sufficient number had been gathered together and in the dark interior of the ship was filled with steaming mass of human beings densely huddled together the captain set sail for Queensland where they landed those of their living cargos who had escaped the deadly pestilence which filth and confinement always engendered in such cases Chapter 10 The Polynesian Labourers Act These were the deeds of a few ruthless and disreputable seamen but the people of Queensland as a whole had no sympathy with such barbarities and, in 1868, a law was passed to regulate the labour traffic it enacted that no South Sea islander were to be brought into the colony unless the captain of the vessel could show a document signed by a missionary or British consul stating that they had left the island of their own free will the government agents were to accompany every vessel in order to see that the canackers were well treated on the voyage and, on leaving the colony, no labourer was to receive less than six pounds worth of goods for every year he had worked These regulations were of great use but they were often evaded for, by giving a present to the king of an island the sailors could bribe him to force his people to express their willingness before the missionary The trembling men were brought forward and, under the fear of their chief's revenge declared their perfect readiness to sail Sometimes the government agents on board the vessel were bribed not to report the misdeeds of the sailors and, in the case of the Jason, on which the agent was too honest to be so bribed he was changed below by the captain on the pretense that he was mad When the ship arrived in Queensland the unfortunate man was found in a most miserable state of filth and starvation For this offence the captain was arrested, tried and imprisoned Whatever regulations may be made a traffic of this sort will occasionally have its dark and ugly features Yet it may be truly enough said that while the canackers have been of great service to Queensland the colony has also been of service to them The islanders are generally glad to be taken They have better food and easier lives on the plantations than they have had in their homes They gather a trunk full of property such as passes for great wealth in the islands and when they are sent home after two years absence to their palms and coral shores it is in full costume generally in excellent spirits and always more or less civilised Sometimes poor fellows are stripped and plundered by their naked relatives but at any rate they help by what they have learnt to improve the style of life in those native groves so sunny but so full of superstition and barbarious rites Chapter 11 Present State of the Colony In 1868 Sir George Bowen was sent to govern New Zealand and Governor Blackor took charge of affairs in Queensland He was a man of fine talents and amiable character and was greatly respected by the colonists but he died not long after his arrival and was succeeded by the Marquis of Normandy who was succeeded in 1874 by Mr Cairns Sir Arthur Kennedy in 1877 Sir Arthur Musgrave in 1883 Sir Arthur Hunter Palmer in 1888 and General Sir H. Wiley Norman bring the list of governors to the present year 1894 Queensland possesses magnificent resources which have only recently been made known and are now in the process of development Her exports of gold exceed 2 million pounds a year She produces large quantities of tin, copper, silver and other minerals The wool clipped from her sheep exceeds 1,400,000 pounds in annual value and her total exports including cotton, sugar and other tropical productions amount to about 6 million pounds per annum The population is now about half a million and immigrants continue to arrive at the rate of about 16,000 a year Although the youngest of the Australian colonies Queensland now ranks fourth on the list and appears to have the most promising future before her Her cotton industry has almost vanished and her sugar plantations have passed through troublesome times but there seem to be good hopes for them in the future However, it will be in the raising of sheep and of cattle as well as in the gold mining that the colony will have to look for her most permanent resources She now has nearly 20 million sheep and 6 million cattle and sends wool, tallow, hides and frozen meat to England while she supplies prime bullocks for the Melbourne market Chapter 12 The Aborigines Australian history practically begins with the arrival of the white man For before that time, though tribe fought with tribe and there were many doings of savage men there is nothing that could be told as a general story Each tribe of from 20 to a couple hundred dusky forms wandered over the land seeking animals to hunt and fresh water to drink They were very thinly spread not more than one person to ten square miles yet every little tribe was at deadly feud with its neighbour The tribe wandered over the grassy and park-like lands the men stalking ahead with spears and boomerangs in hand the women trudging behind loaded with babies and utensils At evening they camp and the men put up frail breakwinds consisting of a few branches and leafy tufts Behind this on the sheltered side a few leaves made a bed Meantime the fire was lit close by and soon a dozen little columns of blue smoke curled up among the trees The opossum or duck or wallaby is soon cooked or half cooked The men devour as much as they want and pass on the remains to the women and children A frog or two and a lizard or a few grubs taken out of decayed timber or perhaps a few roots that have been dug up on the march by the women form a sort of dessert After dusk there is the sound of chatter around fires then all retired to rest with the glowing embers of the fires to give them warmth At daybreak all are awake If there is food at hand they may stay at the camp for weeks together but if not they journey on Each man had as many wives as he could obtain He did not support them but they supported him When children became too numerous he lessened his family by killing off a few More than half the children were thus destroyed Their enjoyments consisted of games with a kind of ball and mock fights but especially in wild dance they called the corroboree They were in general good human when things went pleasantly but a man would spear his wife through the leg or dash his child's brains out readily enough when things were not to his taste and nobody would think any the worse of him for it End of Chapter 16 1890 by Alexander and George Sutherland Section 17 Explorations in the Interior 1840 to 1860 1. Progress of Exploration The coasts of Australia had all been examined before the year 1815 From that date those who wished to make fresh discoveries were obliged to penetrate into the interior and we have already seen that previous to the year 1836 explorers were busy in opening up the southeast portion of the continent Oxley had made known the northern districts of New South Wales and Alan Cunningham the southern part of what is now the colony of Queensland Hume and Hobbles, Sturt and Mitchell had traversed the southern districts of New South Wales and the territory now occupied by Victoria Following closely in the footsteps of these intrepid discoverers the squatters had entered all these districts and wherever the land was suitable had settled down with their flocks so that ere long all that corner of Australia which would be cut off by drawing a straight line from Brisbane to Adelaide was fully surveyed but there still remained to be explored about 7 eighths of the continent and from this date onward there was an unbroken succession of adventurous travellers who entered the vast central territory for the purpose of making known its nature and capacities but the manner of conducting an expedition was now very different from what it had been Previous explorers had been provided with parties of convicts and had traversed lands for the greater part, grassy and well watered These expeditions had their dangers arising chiefly from the hostility of the blacks and Alan Cunningham, his brother Richard with many others sacrificed their lives in their ardour for discovery but subsequent travellers had to encounter in addition the pangs of hunger and thirst in that dry and desolate country which occupies so great a portion of central Australia The first on this roll of gallant discoverers was Edward John Eyre who in 1840 offered to conduct an expedition to the interior He himself provided about half the money required The South Australian government, which was then in difficulties gave a hundred pounds and a number of Eyre's personal friends made up the remainder With five Europeans, three natives and thirteen horses and with forty sheep to serve as food on the way he set out from Adelaide and travelled to the head of Spencer's Gulf where a small vessel lay waiting to supply them with provision sufficient for three months Having traversed forty or fifty miles of desert land he turned to the west and came in sight of what he called Lake Torrens It was now dried up so that in place of a sheet of water twenty miles broad he saw only a dreary region covered with glittering salt When he entered upon it the thin crust of salt broke and a thick black mud oozed up The party plunged onward for about six miles the mud becoming always deeper and deeper till at length at half covered the saddles of their horses He was then forced to turn back and to seek a passage round this lake of mud But having followed its shores for many miles there seemed to be so little prospect of reaching the end of the obstacle that he turned his course again from west to north After travelling about two hundred miles through a very desolate country he was much more arrested by coming upon a similar sheet of salt encrusted mud which he called Lake Eyre Again there appeared no hope of either crossing the lake or going round it No water was to be found and his supplies were fast failing so that he was forced to hasten back a long distance to the nearest stream Setting out once more he twice attempted to penetrate westward into the interior but on each occasion the salt lakes barred his progress and as a last effort he urged his failing party towards the northeast Here the country was the most barren and desolate that can be imagined It was not always so, but after a period of drought when the grass is burnt to the roots and not a drop of fresh water to be seen in a hundred miles it has all the appearance of a desert His supplies of water ran short and frequently the explorers were on the point of perishing When they approached the Froome River, a creek which flows northwards into Lake Eyre they were inexpressibly delighted to view from afar the winding current but its waters were found to be as salt as the ocean After a long and dreary journey, air ascended a hill in order to see if there was any hope of finding better country but the view was only a great and barren level stretching far away to the horizon on every side He had now no water and his only course was to turn back so leaving this place, which he called Mount Hopeless he retraced his steps to the head of Spencer's Gulf 3. Australian Bight Here he changed the object of his journey and made efforts to go along the shores of the Great Australian Bight in order to reach West Australia Three times he rounded Streaky Bay but in that barren desert land the want of water was an insuperable obstacle and each time he was forced to retreat to less desolate country Governor Gawler now sent word to him to return to Adelaide as it seemed madness to make further efforts but air replied that to go back without having accomplished anything would be a disgrace he could never endure Seeing that his only chance of reaching West Australia was to push rapidly forward with a simple and light equipment he sent back the whole of his party except Mr Baxter his black servant Wiley and the other two natives and taking with him a few horses carrying a supply of water and provisions for several weeks he set out to follow the coast along the Great Australian Bight His party had to scramble along the tops of rough cliffs which everywhere frowned from 300 to 600 feet above the sea and if they left the coast to travel inland they had to traverse great stretches of moving sands which filled their eyes and ears covered them when asleep and when they sat at meals made their food unpleasant but they suffered most from want of water for often they were obliged to walk day after day beneath a broiling sun when all their water was gone and not a drop to be seen on the burning soil beneath them on one occasion after they had thus travelled 110 miles the horses fell down from exhaustion and could not be induced to move air and a native hastened forward but though they wandered for more than 18 miles they saw no sign of water and when darkness came on they lay down with lips parched and burning and tossed in feverish slumber till morning at early dawn they perceived a ridge of sandhills not far away and making for them they found a number of little wells places where the natives had dug into the sand for six or eight feet and so had reached fresh water here air and his black companion drank a delicious draught and hastened back with the precious beverage to revive the horses the whole party was then able to go forward and there around these little water holes air halted for a week to refresh his men and animals before attempting another stretch of similar country they saw some natives who told them that there was plenty of water further on and when air set out again he carried very little with him so as to not overburden the horses but after 60 miles of the desert had been traversed without meeting any plates in which water was to be found he became alarmed and sent back Mr. Baxter with the horses to bring up a better supply whilst he himself remained to take charge of the baggage when Baxter returned they all set forward again and reached a sandy beach where they had great difficulty in preventing the horses from drinking the seawater which would certainly have made them mad as it was two of them lay down to die and part of the provisions had to be abandoned Baxter now grew despondent and wished to return but air was determined not yet to give up onward they toiled through the dreary wilderness and two more horses fell exhausted 126 miles from the last halting place and still no signs of water still onward and the horses continued to drop by the way Baxter constantly in treating air to return it was only after a journey of 160 miles that they came to a place whereby digging they could obtain fresh water in very small quantities they were now forced to eke out their failing provisions by eating horse flesh Baxter was altogether disheartened and if to return had not been as dangerous as to go forward air would himself have abandoned the attempt the three natives however were still as lighthearted and merry as ever while the food lasted they were always full of frolic and laughter four death of Baxter each evening air formed a little camp loaded the muskets and laid them down ready for use in case of an attack by the blacks the horses were hobbled and set free to gather the little vegetation they could find but this forced air and Baxter to keep watch by turns lest they should stray so far as to be lost one evening when air had taken the first watch the horses in their search for grass had wandered about a quarter of a mile from the camp he had followed them and was sitting on a stone beneath the moonlight musing on his gloomy prospects when he was startled by a flash and a report hastening to the camp he was met by Wiley who was speechless with terror and could only wring his hands and cry oh NASA when he entered he saw Baxter lying on his face whilst the baggage was broken open and scattered in all directions he raised the wounded man in his arms but only in time to support him as his head fell back in death then placing the body on the ground and looking around him he perceived that two of his natives had plundered the provisions shot Mr. Baxter as he rose to remonstrate with them and had then escaped the moon became obscured and in the deep gloom beside the dead body of his friend air passed a fearful night peering into the darkness lest the miscreants might be lurking near to shoot him also he says in his diary ages can never efface the horrors of that single night nor would the wealth of the world ever tempt me to go through a similar one the slowly spreading dawn revealed the bleeding corpse the plundered bags and the crouching form of Wiley who was still faithful the ground at this place consisted of a great hard sheet of rock and there was no chance of digging a grave so air could only wrap the body in a blanket leave it lying on the surface and thus take farewell of his friend's remains 5. Arrival at King George's Sound then he and Wiley set out together on their mournful journey they had very little water and seven days elapsed before they reached a place where more was to be obtained at intervals they could see the murderers stealthily following their footsteps and air was afraid to lie down lest his sleep should prove to have no waking and thus with parching thirst by day and hours of watchfulness by night he slowly made his way towards King George's Sound after a time the country became better he saw and shot two kangaroos and once more approached the coast his surprise was great on seeing two boats some distance out at sea he shouted and fired his rifle without attracting the attention of the crews but on rounding a small cape he found the vessel to which these boats belonged it was a French whaling ship and the two men having been taken on board were hospitably entertained for eleven days Captain Rossiter gave them new clothes and abundance of food and when they were thoroughly refreshed they landed to pursue their journey the country was not now so inhospitable and three weeks afterwards they stood on the brow of the hill overlooking the little town of Albany at King George's Sound here they sat down to rest but the people hearing who they were came out to escort them triumphantly into the town where they were received with the utmost kindness they remained for eleven days and then set sail for Adelaide which they reached after an absence of one year and twenty six days this expedition was unfortunately through so barren a country that it had but little practical effect and the additions it made to our geography but the perseverance and skill with which it was conducted are worthy of all honour and air is to be remembered as the first explorer who braved the dangers of the Australian desert six, Sturt two years after the return of air Captain Sturt, the famous discoverer of the Darling and Murray wrote to Lord Stanley offering to conduct an expedition into the heart of Australia his offer was accepted and in May 1844 a well-equipped party of sixteen persons was ready to start from the banks of the Darling River places which Sturt had explored sixteen years before when they were a deep and unknown solitude were now covered with flocks and cattle and he could use as the starting place of this expedition the farthest point he had reached in that of 1828 Mr. Poole went with him as surveyor Mr. Brown as surgeon and the draftsman was Mr. J. McDowell Stewart who in this expedition received a splendid training for his own great discoveries of subsequent years following the Darling they reached Laidley's Ponds past near Lake Corn Diller and then struck northward for the interior the country was very bare one dead level of cheerless desert and when they reached a few hills which they called Stanley Range now better known as Barrier Range Sturt who ascended to one of the summits could see nothing hopeful in the prospect how little did he dream that the hills beneath him were full of silver and that one day a popular city of miners should occupy the waterless plain in front of him in this region he had to be very careful how he advanced for he had with him eleven horses thirty bullocks and two hundred sheep and water for so greater multitude could with difficulty be procured he had always to ride forward and find a creek or pond of sufficient size as the next place of encampment before allowing the expedition to move on and as water was often very difficult to find his progress was but slow fortunately for the party it was the winter season and a few of the little creeks had a moderate supply of water but after they had reached a chain of hills which Sturt called the Grey Range the warm season was already upon them the summer of 1844 was one of the most intense on record and in these vast interior plains of sand under the fiery glare of the sun the earth seemed to burn like plates of metal it split the hooves of the horses it scorched the shoes and the feet of the men it dried up the water from the creeks and pools and left all the country parched and full of cracks Sturt spent a time of great anxiety for the streams around were rapidly disappearing and when all the water had been dried up the prospects of his party would indeed be gloomy his relief was therefore great when Mr. Pool found a creek in a rocky basin whose waters seemed to have a perennial flow Sturt moved forward and formed his depot beside the stream and here he was forced to remain for six weeks for it appeared as though he had entered a trap the country before him was absolutely without water so that he could not advance while the creeks behind him were now only dry courses and it was hopeless to think of returning he made many attempts to escape and struck out into the country in all directions in one of his efforts if he had gone only 30 miles farther he would have found the fine stream of Cooper's Creek in which there was sufficient water for the party but hunger and thirst forced him to return to the depot he followed down the creek on which they were encamped but found that after a course of 29 miles it lost itself in the sand meanwhile the travellers passed a summer such as few men have ever experienced the heat was sometimes as high as 130 degrees in the shade and in the sun it was altogether intolerable they were unable to write as the ink dried at once on their pens their combs split their nails became brittle and readily broke and if they touched a piece of metal it blistered their fingers in their extremity they dug an underground room deep enough to be beyond the dreadful furnace glow above here they spent many a long day as month after month passed without a shower of rain sometimes they watched the clouds gather and they could hear the distant roll of thunder but there fell not a drop to refresh the dry and dusty desert the party began to grow thin and weak Mr. Pool became ill with scurvy and from day to day he sank rapidly at length when winter was again approaching a gentle shower moistened the plain and as the only chance of saving the life of Pool half of the party was sent to carry him quickly back to the Darling they had been gone only a few hours when a messenger rode back with the news that he was already dead the mournful cavalcade returned during his remains and a grave was dug in the wilderness a tree close by on which his initials were cut formed the only memorial of the hapless explorer 7. Journey to the Centre shortly afterwards there came a succession of wet days and as there was now an abundance of water the whole party once more set off having travelled north-west for 61 miles farther they formed a new depot and made excursions to explore the country in the neighbourhood McDool's Stuart crossed over to Lake Torrance while stirred with Dr. Brown and three men pushing to the north discovered the Streslecky Creek a stream which flows through very agreeable country but as they proceeded farther to the north their troubles began again they came upon a region covered with hill after hill of fiery red sand amid which lay lagoons of salt and bitter water they toiled over this weary country in hopes that a change for the better might soon appear but when they reached the last hill they had the mortification to see a great plain barren, monotonous and dreary stretching with a purple glare as far as the eye could reach on every side this plain was called by Stuart the Stony Desert for on descending he found it covered with innumerable pieces of quartz and sandstone among which the horses were at least stumbled Stuart wished to penetrate as far as the Tropic of Capricorn but summer was again at hand their water was failing and they could find neither stream nor pool when the madness of any farther advance became apparent Stuart with his head buried in his hands sat for an hour in bitter disappointment after toiling so far and reaching within 150 miles of his destination to be turned back for the want of a little water was a misfortune very hard to bear and but for his companions he would have still gone forward and perished as they hastened back their water was exhausted and they were often in danger of being buried by moving hills of sand but at length they reached the depot having traversed 800 miles during the eight weeks of their absence it was not long before Stuart started again taking with him at dual Stuart as his companion on this trip he suffered the same hardships but had the satisfaction of discovering a magnificent stream which he called Cooper's Creek on crossing this creek he again entered the Stony Desert and was once more compelled reluctantly to retrace his steps when he reached the depot he was utterly worn out and they embed for a long time tenderly nursed by his companions and when the whole party set out on its return to the settled districts he had to be lifted in an out-of-the-drey in which he was carried as they neared their homes his sight began to fail the glare of the burning sands had destroyed his eyes and he passed the remainder of his days in darkness and the reports of the arid country gave rise to the opinion that the whole interior of Australia was a desert but this was afterwards found to be far from correct 8. Leichhardt Alan Cunningham's discovery is extended over the northern parts of New South Wales and the southern districts of Queensland but all the north-eastern parts of the continent were left unexplored until 1844 and an intrepid young German botanist named Ludwig Leichhardt made known this rich and fertile country with five men he started from Sydney and passing through splendid forests and magnificent pasturelands he made his way to the Gulf of Carpentaria discovering and following up many large rivers the Fitzroy with its tributaries the Dawson, the Isaacs and the Mackenzie the Verdican with several of its branches then the Mitchell and lastly the Gilbert he also crossed the Flinders and Albert without knowing that a short time previously these rivers had been discovered and named by Captain Stokes who was exploring the coasts in a British warship having rounded the Gulf he discovered the Roper and followed the Alligator River down to Van Diemen's Gulf where a vessel was waiting to receive his party on his return to Sydney the utmost enthusiasm prevailed for Leichhardt had made known a wide stretch of most valuable country the people of Sydney raised a subscription of 1,500 pounds and the government rewarded his services with a thousand pounds Leichhardt was of too ardent a nature to remain content with what he had already done and in 1847 he again set out to make further explorations in the north of Queensland on this occasion however he was not so successful he had taken with him great flocks of sheep and goats and they impeded his progress so much that after wandering over the Fitzroy Downs for about seven months he was forced to return in 1848 he organised a third expedition to cross the whole country from east to west he proposed to start from Morton Bay and to take two years in traversing the centre of the continent so as to reach the Swan River settlement he set out with a large party and soon reached the Cogan River a tributary of the Condomine from this point he sent to a friend in Sydney a letter in which he described himself as in good spirits and full of hope that the expedition would be a success he then started into the wilderness and was lost forever from men's view for many years parties were from time to time sent out to rescue the missing explorers if per chance they might still be wandering with the blacks in the interior but no traces of the lost company have ever been brought to light 9. Mitchell whilst Leichhardt was absent on his first journey Sir Thomas Mitchell the discoverer of the Glineorg had prepared an expedition for the exploration of Queensland having waited till the return of Leichhardt in order not to go over the same ground out towards the north and after discovering the Kulgoa and Warago two important tributaries of the Darling he turned to the west he travelled over a great extent of level country and then came upon a river which somewhat puzzled him he followed the current for 150 miles and it seemed to flow steadily towards the heart of the continent he thought that its waters must eventually find their way to the sea and would therefore after a time flow north to the Indian Ocean if that were the case the river which the natives called the Baku must be the largest stream on the northern coast and he concluded that it was identical with the Victoria whose mouth had been discovered about nine years before by Captain Stokes he therefore provisionally gave it the name of the Victoria River 10. Kennedy on the return of Mitchell the further prosecution of exploration in these districts was left to his assistant surveyor, Edmund Kennedy who having been sent to trace the course of the supposed Victoria River followed its banks for 150 miles below the place where Mitchell had left it he was then forced to return through want of provisions but he had gone far enough however to show that this stream was only the higher part of Cooper's Creek discovered not long before by Captain Sturt this river has course of about 1200 miles and it is therefore the largest of central Australia but its waters spread out into the broad marshes of Lake Eyre and are there lost by evaporation in 1848 Kennedy was sent to explore Cape York Peninsula he was landed with a party of 12 men at Rockingham Bay and striking inland to the northwest travelled towards Cape York where a small schooner was to wait for him the difficulties met by the explorers were immense for in these tropical regions dense jungles of prickly shrubs impeded their course and lacerated their flesh while vast swamps often made their journey tedious and unexpectedly long thinking there was no necessity for all to endure these hardships he left eight of his companions at Waymouth Bay intending to call for them on his way back in the schooner he was courageously pushing through the jungle towards the north with three men and his black servant Jackie when one of the party accidentally received a severe gunshot wound which made it impossible for him to proceed Kennedy was now only a few miles distant from Cape York and leaving the wounded man under the care of the two remaining whites he started, accompanied by Jackie to reach the Cape and obtain assistance from the schooner they had not gone far and were on the banks of the escape river when they perceived that their steps were being closely followed by a tribe of natives whose swarthy bodies from time to time appeared among the trees Kennedy now proceeded warily keeping watch all around but a spear urged by an unseen hand from among the leaves suddenly pierced his body from behind and he fell the blacks rushed forward Jackie fired and at the report they hastily fled Jackie held up his master's head for a short time weeping bitterly Kennedy knew he was dying and he gave his faithful servant instructions as to the papers he was to carry and the course he must follow not long after this he breathed his last and Jackie with his tomahawk dug a shallow grave for him in the forest he spread his coat and shirt in the hollow laid the body tenderly upon them and covered it with leaves and branches then packing up the journals he plunged into the creek along which he walked with only his head above the surface until he reached the shore hastily making for the north he reached the Cape where he was taken on board the schooner this expedition was one of the most disastrous of the inland explorations the wounded man and the two who had been left with him were never afterwards heard of in all probability they were slaughtered by the natives whilst the party of eight who had been left at Weymouth Bay after constant struggles with the natives had been reduced by starvation and disease to only two ere the expected relief arrived 11. Gregory in 1856 AC Gregory went in search of Leichhardt and thinking he might possibly have reached the northwest coast took a small party to Cambridge Gulf travelling along the banks of the Victoria River he crossed a low range of hills and discovered a stream to which he gave the name of Sturt Creek by following this he was led into a region covered with long ridges of glaring red sand resembling those which had baffled Captain Sturt except that in this desert there grew the scattered blades of the spinifex grass which cut like daggers into the hoofs of the horses the creek was lost in marshes and salt lakes and Gregory was forced to retrace his steps until he reached the great bend in the Victoria River then striking to the east he skirted the gulf of Carpentaria about 50 miles from the shore and after a long journey arrived at Morton Bay but without any news regarding Leichhardt and his party his expedition however had explored a great extent of country and had mapped out the courses of two large rivers the Victoria and the Roper End of Section 17 Section 18 of History of Australia in New Zealand from 1696 to 1890 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Jane Bennett Australia in New Zealand from 1696 to 1890 by Alexander and George Sutherland Section 18 Discoveries in the Interior 1860 to 1886 1. Birkened Wells In the year 1860 a merchant of Melbourne offered a thousand pounds for the furtherance of discovery in Australia the Royal Society of Victoria undertook to organise an expedition for the purpose of crossing the continent and collected subscriptions to the amount of 3,400 pounds the Victorian Government voted 6,000 pounds and spent an additional sum of 3,000 pounds in bringing 26 camels from Arabia under an energetic committee of the Royal Society the most complete arrangements were made Robert O'Hara Burke was chosen as leader Landau's was second in command with special charge of the camels for which three Hindu drivers were also provided W. J. Wills an accomplished young astronomer was sent to take charge of the costly instruments and make all the scientific observations There were two other scientific men and 11 subordinates with 28 horses to assist in transporting the baggage On the 20th of August 1860 the long train of laden camels and horses set out from the Royal Park of Melbourne Burke heading the procession on a little grey horse the Mayor made a short speech wishing him God speed the explorers shook hands with their friends and amid the ringing cheers of thousands of spectators the long and picturesque line moved forward The journey as far as the Marambiji lay through settled country and was without incident but on the banks of that river quarrelling began among the party and Burke dismissed the foreman Landau's then resigned and Wills was promoted to be second in command Burke committed a great error in his choice of a man to take charge of the camels in place of Landau's On a sheep station he met with a man named Wright who made himself very agreeable The two were soon great friends and Burke whose generosity was unchecked by any prudence gave to this utterly unqualified person an important charge in the expedition On leaving the Marambiji they ascended the Darling till they reached Manindy the place from which Sturt had set out 16 years before Here Burke left Wright with half the expedition intending himself to push on rapidly and to be followed up more leisurely by Wright Burke and Wills with six men and half the camels and horses set off through a very miserable country not altogether barren but covered with a kind of pee which poisoned the horses A rapid journey brought them to the banks of Cooper's Creek where they found fine pastures and plenty of water Here they formed a depot and lived for some time waiting for Wright who however did not appear The horses and camels by this rest improved greatly in condition and the party were in capital quarters but Burke grew tired of waiting and as he was now near the centre of Australia he determined to make a bold dash across to the Gulf of Carpentaria He left one of his men called Brahe and three assistants with six camels and twelve horses giving them instructions to remain for three months and if within that time he did not return they might consider him lost and would then be at liberty to return to Menindy On 16th December Burke and Wills along with two men named King and Gray started on the apparelous journey taking with them six camels and one horse which carried provisions to last for three months Two rapid journey to Gulf of Carpentaria They followed the broad current of Cooper's Creek for some distance and then struck off to the north till they reached a stream which they called Air Creek From this they obtained abundant supplies of water and therefore kept along its banks till it turned to the eastward Then abandoning it they marched to Dew North keeping along the 140th Meridian through forests of Boxwood alternating with plains well watered and richly covered with grass Six weeks after leaving Cooper's Creek they came upon a fine stream flowing north to which they gave the name Concari and by following its course they found that it entered a large river on whose banks they were delighted to perceive the most luxuriant vegetation and frequent clusters of palm trees They felt certain that its waters flowed into the Gulf of Carpentaria and therefore by keeping close to it they had nothing to fear But they had brought only three months provisions with them More than half of that time had now elapsed and there were still 150 miles from the sea Burke now lost no time but hurried on so fast that one after another the camels sank exhausted and when they had all succumbed Burke and Wills took their only horse to carry a small quantity of provisions and leaving Grey and King behind set out by themselves on foot They had crossed several patches of swampy ground and the horse becoming inextricably bogged was unable to go further but still Burke and Wills hurried on by themselves till they reached a narrow inlet on the Gulf of Carpentaria and found that the river they had been following was the Flinders whose mouth had been discovered by Captain Stokes in 1842 They were very anxious to view the open sea but this would have required another couple of days and their provisions were already exhausted They were therefore obliged to hasten back as quickly as possible The pangs of hunger overtook them before they could reach the place where King and Grey had remained with the provisions Burke killed a snake and ate a part of it but he felt very ill immediately after and when at length they reached the provisions he wasn't able to go forward so quickly as it was necessary to do if they wished to be safe However, they recovered the horse and camels which had been greatly refreshed by their rest and by taking easy stages they managed to move south towards home but their hurried journey to the north in which they had traversed beneath a tropical sun about 140 miles every week had told severely on their constitutions Grey became ill and it was now necessary to be so careful with the provisions that he had little chance of regaining his lost strength One evening after they had come to a halt he was found sitting behind a tree eating a little mixture he had made for himself of flour and water Burke said he was stealing a provisions fell upon him and gave him a severe thrashing He seems after this never to have rallied whilst the party moved forward he was slowly sinking Towards the end of March their provisions began to fail They killed a camel, dried its flesh and then went forward At the beginning of April this was gone and they killed their horse Grey now lay down saying he could not go on Burke said he was shamming and left him However, the gentler council of wills prevailed They returned and brought him forward but he could only go a little farther The poor fellow breathed his last a day or two after and was buried in the wilderness Burke now regretted his harshness all the more as he himself was quickly sinking All three indeed were utterly worn out They were thin and haggard and so weak that they tottered rather than walked along The last few miles were very, very weary but at last on the 21st of April they came in sight of the depot four months and a half after leaving it Grey was their alarm on seeing no sign of people about the place and as they staggered forward to the spot at sunset their hearts sank within them when they saw a notice stating that Bray had left that very morning He would be then only seven hours march away The three men looked at one another in blank dismay but they were so worn out that they could not possibly move forward with any hope of overtaking the fresh camels of Bray's party On looking round however they saw the word dig cut on a neighbouring tree and when they turned up the soil they found a small supply of provisions Bray had remained a month and a half longer than he had been told to wait and as his own provisions were fast diminishing and there seemed as yet to be no signs of right with the remainder of the expedition he thought it unsafe to delay his return any longer This man right was the cause of all the disasters that ensued Instead of following closely on Berg he had loitered at Menundi for no less than three months and one week amusing himself with his friends and when he did set out he took things so leisurely that Bray was half way back to the darling before they met three sufferings On the evening when they entered the depot Berg, Willes and King made a hearty supper then for a couple of days they reached their stiff and weary limbs at rest but in action was dangerous for even with the greatest expedition their provisions would only serve to take them safely to the darling They now began to deliberate as to their future course Berg wished to go to Adelaide because at Mount Hopeless where air had been forced to turn back in 1840 there was now a large sheep station and he thought it could not be more than 150 miles away Willes was strongly averse to this proposal It is true he said Menundi is 350 miles away but then we know the road and a shore of water all the way but Berg was not to be persuaded and they set out for Mount Hopeless Following Cooper's Creek for many miles they entered a region of frightful barrenness Here as one of the camels became too weak to go farther they were forced to kill it and to dry its flesh Still they followed the creek till it lasted spread itself into marshy thickets and was lost They then made a halt and found they had scarcely any provisions left while their clothes were rotten and falling to pieces Their only chance was to reach Mount Hopeless speedily They shot their last camel and while Burke and King were drying its flesh Willes struck out to find Mount Hopeless but no one knew which way to look for it and Willes after laboriously traversing the dry and barren wastes in all directions came back unsuccessful The short rest was taken and then the whole party turned southward determined this time to reach the mount but they were too weak to travel fast day after day over these dreary plains and still no sign of a hill till at length when they were within 50 miles of Mount Hopeless they gave in Had they only gone but a little farther they have seen the summit of the mountain rising upon the horizon but just at this point they lost hope and turned to go back After a weary journey they once more reached the freshwater and the grassy banks of Cooper's Creek but now with provisions for only a day or two they sat down to consider their position and Burke said he had heard that the natives of Cooper's Creek lived chiefly on the seed of a plant which they called Nadu so that if they could only find a native tribe they might perhaps learn to find sufficient subsistence from the soil around them accordingly Burke and King set out to seek a native encampment and having found one they were kindly received by the blacks who very willingly showed them how to gather the little black seeds from a kind of grass which grows close to the ground with this information they returned to Wills and as the Nadu seed was abundant they began at once to gather it but they found that through want of skill they could scarcely obtain enough for two meals a day by working from morning till night and when evening came they had to clean, roast and grind it and besides this whatever it might have been to the blacks to them it was by no means nutritious it made them sick and gave them no strength whilst they were thus dwelling on the lower part of Cooper's Creek several miles away from the depot Bri had returned to find them and bring them relief on his way home he had met with Wright leisurely coming up and had hastened back with him to the depot but when they reached it they saw no signs of Burke and Wills although the unfortunate explorers had been there only a few days before Bri therefore concluded that they were dead and once more set out for home meanwhile Burke thought it possible that a relief party might in this way have reached the creek and Wills volunteered to go to the depot to see if anyone was there he set out by himself and after journeying three or four days reached the place but only to find it still and deserted he examined it carefully but could see no trace of it having been recently visited there could be no advantage in remaining and he turned back to share the doom of his companions he now began to endure fearful pangs from hunger one evening he entered an encampment that had just been abandoned by the natives and around the fire there were some fish bones which he greedily picked next day he saw two small fish floating dead upon a pool and they made a delicious feast but in spite of these stray morsels he was rapidly sinking from hunger when suddenly he was met by a native tribe the black men were exceedingly kind one carried his bundle for him another supported his feeble frame and gently they led the gaunt and emaciated white man to their camp they made him sit down and gave him a little food while he was eating he saw a great quantity of fish on the fire for a few minutes he wondered if all these could possibly be for him till at length they were cooked and the plentiful repast was placed before him the natives then gathered round and clapped their hands with delight when they saw him eat heartily he stayed with them for four days and then set out to bring his friends to enjoy likewise this simple hospitality it took him some days to reach the place where he had left them but when they heard his good news they lost no time in seeking their native benefactors yet on account of their weakness they travelled very slowly and when they reached the encampment it was deserted they had no idea whether the natives had gone they struggled a short distance further their feebleness overcame them and they were forced to sink down in despair all day they toiled hard to prepare Nardu's seed but their small strength could not provide enough to support them once or twice they shot a crow but such slight repasts served only to prolong their sufferings Wills throughout all his journeyings had kept a diary but now the entries became very short in the struggle for life there was no time for such duties and the grim fight with starvation required all their strength at this time Wills records that he cannot understand why his legs are so weak he has bathed them in the stream but finds them no better and he can hardly crawl out of the hut his next entry is that unless relief comes shortly he cannot last more than a fortnight after this his mind seems to have begun to wander he makes frequent and unusual blunders in his diary the last words he wrote were that he was waiting like Mr. McCorber for something to turn up and that though starving on Nardu's seed was by no means unpleasant yet he would prefer to have a little fat and sugar mixed with it 4. Death of Burke and Wills Burke now thought that their only chance was to find the blacks and propose that he and King should set out for that purpose they were very loath to leave Wills but under the circumstances no other course was possible they laid him softly within the hut and placed at his head enough of Nardu to last him for eight days Wills asked Burke to take his watch and a letter he had written for his father the two men pressed his hands smoothed his couch tenderly for the last time and set out there in the utter silence of the wilderness the dying man lay for a day or two no ear heard his last sigh but his end was as gentle as his life had been free from reproach Burke and King walked out on their desperate errand on the first day they traversed a fair distance but on the second they had not proceeded two miles when Burke lay down saying he could go no further King entreated him to make another effort and so he dragged himself to a little clump of bushes where he stretched his limbs very wearily an hour or two afterwards he was stiff and unable to move he asked King to take his watch and pocketbook and if possible to give them to his friends in Melbourne then he begged of him not to depart till he was quite dead he knew he should not live long and he should like someone to be near him to the last he spoke with difficulty but directed King not to bury him but to let him lie above the ground with a pistol in his right hand they passed a weary and lonesome night and in the morning at eight o'clock Burke's restless life was ended King wandered for some time for lawn but by good fortune he stumbled upon an abandoned encampment whereby neglect the blacks had left a bag of Nardu sufficient to last him a fortnight and with this he hastened back to the hut where wills had been laid all he could do now however was to dig a grave for his body in the sand and having performed that last sad duty he set out once more on his search and found a tribe differing from that which he had already seen they were very kind but not anxious to keep him until having shot some birds and cured their chief of a malady he was found to be of some use and soon became a great favourite with them they made a trip to the body of Burke but respecting his last wishes they did not seek to bury it and merely covered it gently with a layer of leafy boughs 5. Relief Parties when Wright and Bray returned to Victoria with the news that though it was more than five months since Burke and Wilts had left Cooper's Creek there were no signs of them at the depot all the colonies showed their solicitude by organising parties to go to the relief of the explorers if perchance they should be still alive Victoria was the first in the field and the Royal Society equipped a small party under Mr A. W. Howard to examine the banks of Cooper's Creek Queensland offered £500 to assist in that search and with this sum an expedition was sent to examine the Gulf of Carpentaria Lansborough, its leader, was conveyed in the Victoria steamer to the Gulf and followed the Albert almost to its source in hopes that Burke and Wilts might be dwelling with the natives on that stream Walker was sent across from Rockhampton to the Gulf of Carpentaria he succeeded in reaching the Flinders River where Burke and Wilts had been but of course he saw nothing of them McKinley was sent by South Australia to advance in the direction of Lake Torrens and reach Cooper's Creek these various expeditions were all eager in prosecuting the search but it was to Mr Howard's party that success fell in following the course of Cooper's Creek downward from the depot he saw the tracks of camels and by these he was led to the district in which Burke and Wilts had died several natives whom he met brought him to the place where beneath a native hut King was sitting, pale, haggard and wasted to a shadow he was so weak that it was with difficulty Howard could catch the feeble whispers that fell from his lips but a day or two of European food served slightly to restore his strength Howard then proceeded to the spot where the body of Wilts was lying partly buried and after reading over at a short service he interred it decently then he sought the thicket where the bones of Burke lay with the rusted pistol beside them and having wrapped a union jack around them he dug a grave for them hard by three days later the blacks were summoned and their eyes brightened at the sight of knives, tomahawks, necklaces, looking glasses and so forth which were bestowed upon them in return for their kindness to King gay pieces of ribbon were fastened round the black heads of the children and the whole tribe moved away rejoicing in the possession of fifty pounds of sugar which had been divided among them when Howard and King returned and the sad story of the expedition was related the Victorian government sent a party to bring the remains of Birkenwells to Melbourne where they received the melancholy honours of a public funeral amid the general mourning of the whole colony in after years a statue was raised to perpetuate their heroism and testify to the esteem with which the nation regarded their memory Birkenwells were the first to ever cross to the Australian continent but for several years before they set out another traveller Howard with wonderful perseverance repeatedly attempted this feat John McDowell Stewart had served as draftsman in Sturt's expedition to the Stoney Desert and he had been well trained in that school of adversity and sufferings he was employed in 1859 by a number of squatters who wished him to explore for them new lands in South Australia and having found a passage between Lake Eyre and Lake Torrens he discovered beyond the deserts which had so much disheartened air a broad district of fine pastoral land next year the South Australian government offered £2,000 as a reward to the first person who should succeed in crossing Australia from south to north and Stewart set out from Adelaide to attempt the exploit with only two men he travelled to the north towards Van Demon's gulf and penetrated much further than Sturt had done in 1844 indeed he was only 400 miles from the other side of Australia when the hostility of the blacks forced him to return he succeeded however in planting a flag in the centre of the continent at a place called by him Central Mount Stewart next year he was again in the field and following exactly the same course approached very near to Van Demon's gulf being no more than 250 miles distant from its shores when want of provisions forced him once more to return the report of this expedition was sent to Bergen-Wills just before they set out from Cooper's Creek on their fatal trip to the gulf of Carpentaria it was not until the following year 1862 that Stewart succeeded in his purpose he had the perseverance to start a third time and follow his former route and on this occasion he was successful in reaching Van Demon's gulf and returned safely after having endured many sufferings and hardships his triumphal entry into Adelaide took place on the very day when Howard's mournful party entered that city bearing the remains of Bergen-Wills on their way to Melbourne Stewart then learnt that these brave explorers had anticipated him in crossing the continent for they had reached the gulf of Carpentaria in February 1861 whilst he did not arrive at Van Demon's gulf until July 1862 however Stewart had shown so great a courage and had been twice before so near the completion of his task that everyone was pleased when the South Australian Government gave him the well-merited reward 7. Warbiton in a subsequent chapter it will be told how a line of telegraph was in 1872 constructed along the track followed by Stewart and as the stations connected with this line are numerous it is now an easy matter to cross the continent from south to north but in recent years a desire has arisen among the adventurers to journey overland from east to west Warbiton in 1873 made a successful trip of this kind with his son, two men and two Afghans to act as drivers of his 17 camels he started from Alice Springs, a station on the telegraph line close to the Tropic of Capricorn the country immediately round Alice Springs was very beautiful but a journey of only a few days served to bring the expedition into a dry and barren plain so desolate that Warbiton declared it could never be traversed without the assistance of camels after travelling about 400 miles he reached those formidable ridges of fiery red sand in which the waters of Sturt's Creek are lost and where AC Gregory was in 1856 compelled to turn back in traversing this district the party suffered many hardships only two out of 17 camels survived and the men were themselves frequently on the verge of destruction it was only by exercising the greatest care and prudence that Warbiton succeeded in bringing his party to the Okova River on the northwest coast and when he arrived once more in Adelaide it was found that he had completely lost the sight of one eye 8. Giles and Forest towards the close of the same year 1873 a young Victorian named Giles started on a similar trip intending to cross from the middle of the telegraph line to west Australia he held his course courageously to the west but the country was of such appalling barrenness that after penetrating halfway to the western coast he was forced to abandon the attempt and return but when three years afterwards he renewed his efforts he succeeded after suffering much and making long marches without water he had more than one encounter with the natives but he had the satisfaction of crossing from the telegraph line to the west Australian coast through country never before traversed by the foot of civilised man in 1874 this region was successfully crossed by Forest a government surveyor of west Australia who started from Geraldton to the south of Shark Bay and after a journey of 1200 miles almost due east succeeded in reaching the telegraph line his entry into Adelaide was like a triumphal march so great were the crowds that went out to escort him to the city Forest was then a young man but a most skillful and sagacious traveller lightly equipped and accompanied by only one or two companions he has on several occasions performed long journeys through the most formidable country with a celerity and success that are indeed surprising his brother Alexander Forest and a long list of bold and skillful bushmen have succeeded in traversing the continent in every direction it is not all desert they have found fine tracts of land in the course of their journeys indeed more than half of the recently explored regions are suitable for sheep and cattle but there are other great districts which are miserable and forbidding however thanks to the heroic men whose names have been mentioned and to such others as the Jardine brothers Ernest Favinck Goss and the Baron von Muller almost the whole of Australia is now explored only a small part of South Australia and the central part of West Australia remain unknown we all of us owe a great debt of gratitude to the men who endured so much to make known to the world the capabilities of our continent End of Section 18 Section 19 of History of Australia and New Zealand from 1696 to 1890 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org History of Australia and New Zealand from 1696 to 1890 by Alexander and George Sutherland Tasmania 1837 through 1890 1. Governor Franklin Sir John Franklin the great arctic explorer arrived in 1837 to assume the governorship of Tasmania he had been a midshipman under Flinders during the survey of the Australian coast and for many years had been engaged in the British Navy in the cause of science he now expected to enjoy as governor of a small colony that ease in retirement which he had so laboriously earned but his hopes were doomed to disappointment although his bluff and hearty manner secured to him the goodwill of the people yet censures on his administration were both frequent and severe for during his rule commenced that astonishing decline of the colony which continued with scarcely any interruption for nearly 30 years 2. Flood of convicts after the cessation of transportation to New South Wales in 1840 hopes were entertained that Tasmania would likewise cease to be a penal settlement and under this impression great numbers of immigrants arrived in the colony but ere long it became known that Tasmania was not only to continue as before a receptacle for British felons but was in fact to be made the only convict settlement and was destined to receive the full stream of criminals that had formally been distributed over several colonies the result was immediately disastrous to the free settlers for convict labor could be attained at very little cost and wages therefore fell to a rate so miserable that free laborers not being able to earn enough for the support of their families were forced to leave the island thus in 1844 whilst the arrival of energetic and hard working immigrants was adding greatly to the prosperity of the other colonies Tasmania was losing its free population and was sinking more and more into the degraded position of a mere convict station Lord Stanley the British Colonial Secretary in 1842 proposed a new plan for the treatment of convicts according to which they were to pass through various stages from a condition of absolute confinement to one of comparative freedom and again instead of being all collected into one town it was arranged that they should be scattered throughout the colony in small gangs by this system it was intended that the prisoners should pass through several periods of probation before they were set at liberty and it was therefore called the probation scheme the great objection to it was that the men could scarcely be superintendent with due precaution when they were scattered in so many separate groups and many of them escaped either to the bush or to the adjacent colonies three, Franklin's difficulties the feelings of personal respect with which the people of Van Diemen's land regarded Sir John Franklin were greatly increased by the amiable and high-spirited character of his wife Lady Franklin possessed in her own right a large private fortune which she employed in the most generous and kindly manner her counsel and her wealth were ever ready to promote prosperity and alleviate sufferings and yet in spite of all this personal esteem the experience of the new governor among the colonists was far from being agreeable before the arrival of Sir John Franklin two nephews of Governor Arthur had been raised to very high positions one of them, Mr. Montague, was the chief secretary during his uncle's government he had contrived to appropriate to himself so great a share of power that Franklin, an assuming office was forced to occupy quite a secondary position by some of the colonists the governor was blamed for permitting the arbitrary acts of the chief secretary while on the other hand he was bitterly denounced as an inter-meddler by the numerous friends of the ambitious Montague who himself lost no opportunity of bringing the governor's authority into contempt at length Montague went so far as to write him a letter containing a mid-biting sarcasm and mock courtesy a statement equivalent to a charge of falsehood in consequence of this he was dismissed but Sir John Franklin who considered Montague to be a man of ability magnanimously gave him a letter to Lord Stanley recommending him for employment in some other important position this letter being conveyed to Lord Stanley was adduced by Montague as a confession from the governor of the superior ability and special fitness of the chief secretary for his post Lord Stanley ordered his salary to be paid from the date of his dismissal and Franklin shortly after this insult to his authority suddenly found himself superseded by Sir Erdley Wilma without having received the previous notice which as a matter of courtesy he might have expected in 1843 he returned to England followed by the regrets of nearly all the Tasmanians two years afterwards he sailed with the ships Erebus and Terror to search for a passage into the Pacific Ocean through the Arctic regions of North America he entered the icebound regions of the north and for many years no intelligence regarding his fate could be obtained Lady Franklin prosecuted the search with a wife's devotion long after others had given up hope and at last the discovery of some papers and ruined huts proved that the whole party had perished in those frozen wastes 4. Governor Wilma Sir Erdley Wilma had gained distinction as a debater in the British Parliament like governors Bly and Gipps in New South Wales Wilma found that to govern at the same time a convict population and a colony of free settlers was a most ungrateful task a large proportion of the convicts after being liberated renewed their former courses police had to be employed to watch them judges and courts appointed to try them gales built to receive them and provisions supplied to maintain them if a prisoner was arrested and again convicted for a crime committed in Tasmania then the colony was obliged to bear all the expenses of supporting him and amidst a larger population of criminals these expenses became intolerably burdensome it is true that colonists had to some extent a compensating advantage in receiving free of charge a plentiful supply of convict labor for their public works but when Lord Stanley ordered that they should in future pay for all such labor received they loudly complained of their grievances was it not enough they asked to send out the felons of Great Britain to become Tasmanian bush rangers without forcing the free settlers to feed and clothe them throughout their lives after the completion of their original sentences to all such remonstrances Lord Stanley's answer was that Tasmania had always been a convict colony and that the free settlers had no right to expect that their interests would be specially consulted in the management of its affairs Sir Irvley Wilmot found it impossible to obtain the large sums required for the maintenance of the necessary police and gales and he proposed to the legislative council to borrow money for this purpose those of the council who were government officials were afraid to vote in opposition to the wishes of the governor who therefore had a majority at his command but the other members, six in number denounced the proposed scheme as injurious to the colony when they found that the governor was determined to carry it out they all resigned their seats for this action they were honored with the title of the patriotic six about this time Mr Gladstone seceded Lord Stanley in England as the secretary of state for the colonies and as he had shortly afterwards to complain that in reporting on these and other important matters Sir Irvley had sent home vague statements for the purpose of deceiving the imperial authorities the governor was recalled but he was destined never to leave the scene of his troubles for two or three months after his recall he became ill and died in the colony five Denison and the transportation question on the arrival of the next governor Sir William Denison in 1847 the queen reinstated the patriotic six and the colonists encouraged by this concession vigorously set to work to obtain their two great desires namely government by elective parliaments and the abolition of transportation it was found that between the years 1846 and 1850 more than 25,000 convicts had been brought into Tasmania free immigration had ceased and the number of convicts in the colony was nearly double the number of free men in all parts of the world if it became known that a man had come from Tasmania he was looked upon with the utmost distrust and suspicion and was shunned as contaminated on behalf of the colonists a gentleman named McLaughlin went to London for the purpose of laying before Mr. Gladstone the grievances under which they suffered at the same time within the colony Mr. Pitcairn strenuously exerted himself to prepare petitions against transportation and forward them to the imperial authorities these representations were favorably entertained and in a short time Sir W. Denison received orders to inquire whether it was the unanimous desire of the people of Tasmania that transportation should cease entirely the question was put to all the magistrates of the colony who submitted it to the people in public meetings the discussion was warm and party feelings ran high there were some who had been benefited by the trade and the English subsidies which convicts brought to the colony and there were others who desired, at all hazards to retain the cheap labor of the liberated convicts these exerted themselves to maintain the system of transportation but the great body of the people were determined on its abolition and the answer returned by every meeting expressed the same unhesitating sentiment transportation ought to be abolished entirely accordingly it was not long before the Tasmanians were informed by the governor that transportation should in a short time be discontinued but Earl Grey was now preparing another scheme for the treatment of convicts they were to be kept for a time in English prisons after they had served a part of their sentence if they had been well conducted the British government would take them out to the colonies and land them there as free men so as to give them a chance of starting an honourable career in a new country it was a scheme of kind intention for the reformation of criminals that were not utterly bad while the English government would keep all the worst prisoners at home under lock and key but the colonies had no desire to receive even the better half of the prisoners they were afraid that cunning criminals would sham a great deal of reformation ordered to be set free and would then revert to their former ways whenever they were let loose in the colonies but Earl Grey was resolved to give the criminal a fair chance ships filled with convicts were sent out to the various colonies but the prisoners were not allowed to land in 1849 the Randolph appeared at Port Phillip Heads but the people of Melbourne forbade the captain to enter he paid no attention to the order and sailed up the bay to Williamstown but when he was preparing to land the convicts he perceived among the colonists signs of resistance so stern and resolute that he was glad to take the advice of Mr. Lattrow and sail for Sydney but in Sydney also the arrival of the convicts was viewed with the most intense disgust the inhabitants held a meeting on the circular key in which they protested very vigorously against the renewal of transportation to New South Wales West Australia alone accepted its share of the convicts and we have seen how the reputation of that colony suffered in consequence 6. The Anti-Transportation League the vigorous protest of the other colonies had procured their immunity from this evil in its direct form but many of the ticket of leave men found their way to Victoria and New South Wales which were therefore all the more inclined to assist Tasmania in likewise throwing off the burden a grand anti-transportation league was formed in 1851 and the inhabitants of all the colonies banded themselves together to induce the home government to emancipate Tasmania immediately after this the discovery of gold greatly assisted the efforts of the league because the British government perceived that prisoners could never be confined in Tasmania when by escaping from the colony and mixing with the crowds on the gold fields they might not only escape notice but also make their fortunes and there was now reason to suppose that banishment to Australia would be rather sought than shunned by the thieves and criminals of England 7. End of Transportation in 1850 Tasmania like the other colonies received its legislative council and when the people proceeded to elect their share of the members no candidate had the slightest hope of success who was not an adherent of the anti-transportation league after this new and unmistakable expression of opinion the English authorities no longer hesitated and the new secretary of state the Duke of Newcastle directed that from the year 1853 transportation to Tasmania should cease up to this time the island had been called Dondiams land but the name was now so intimately associated with ideas of crime and villainy that it was gladly abandoned by the colonists who adopted from the name of its discoverer the present title of the colony Sir Henry Young formerly governor of South Australia was appointed to Tasmania in 1855 and held office till 1861 during this period responsible government was introduced when the legislative council undertook the task of drawing up the new constitution it was arranged that the nominee element which had now become extremely distasteful should be entirely abolished and that both of the legislative bodies should be elected by the people after Sir Henry Young the next three governors were Colonel Brown, Mr. Duquesne and Mr. Weld all men of ability and very popular among the Tasmanians after the initiation of responsible government in 1856 various reforms were introduced by a very liberal land act of 1863 inducements were offered to industrious men to become farmers in the colony for the purpose of opening up the country by means of railways great facilities were given to companies who undertook to construct lines through the country districts an act of search was made for gold and other metals but in spite of these reforms the population was decreasing owing to the attractions of the gold producing colonies no great amount of land was occupied for farming purposes and even the squatters on the island were contented with smaller runs than those in the other colonies they reared stock on the English system and their domains were sheep farms rather than stations indeed the whole of Tasmania were rather England and the bustling appearance of an Australian colony but the efforts to throw off the taint of convictism were crowned with market success and from being a gaol for the worst of criminals Tasmania has become one of the most moral and respectable of the colonies of late years Tasmania has made great advances her population has risen to about 150,000 and her resources have been enormously increased by the rapid development of her mineral enterprise tin mines of great value are now widely spread over the west of the island and gold mines of promising appearance are giving employment to many persons who formerly could find little to do there's room for a very great further development of the resources of Tasmania but the colony is now on the right track and it is uncertain to be prosperous the Tasmanian natives were of a different type from those of Australia having more of the negro in them they were even ruder and less advanced in their habits although not without qualities of simplicity and good humor that were attractive when white men first landed in their island there were about 7,000 of them roving through the forest and living upon possums in the year 1869 all were gone but a man and three women in that year the man died and one by one the women disappeared till it last with the death of Truganina in 1877 the race became extinct end of section 19