As before observed, the aspect of South Australia, and indeed of many parts of the neighbouring colonies, is essentially English. There, as in England, you see the white-washed cottage, and its little garden stocked with fruit trees of every kind, its outward show of cleanliness telling that peace and comfort are within. To sever oneself from our kindred, and to abandon the dwelling of our fathers, is a sacrifice of no imaginary magnitude, whether we are rich or poor, and the prospects of reward should be bright indeed to compensate for it. I conclude that it has been to combat the reluctance in the lower orders to leave their homes, that inducements too highly coloured in many instances, have been held out to them, the consequence of which has been that many, whose expectations were excited, suffered proportionate disappointment at the outset of their career as emigrants. Convinced of the injurious tendency of such a practice, and regarding it as a culpable and cruel mockery of misfortunes, which, having been unavoidable, claim our best sympathies, I should not have said so much as I have done on this important subject, had I not felt justified in so doing. The reader may rest assured that to the sober, the honest, and the industrious, the certainty of success in South Australia is beyond all doubt. An individual with these qualities may experience disappointment on landing, but he must recollect that this is always a period of anxiety, and the circumstances in which he first finds himself placed, may not come up to his expectations; his useful qualities and regular habits cannot be immediately known, and we seldom alter our condition, even for the better, without some trouble or vexation.

I have, in the course of my remarks, in my recommendation of the Australian colonies as being favourable to the views of emigrants, given a preference to South Australia. I have done so because I am better acquainted with its condition than with that of either of the other settlements. Of it I have spoken as to what I know; but, of the others, to a great extent, from hearsay. The character however of those colonies needs no recommendation from me. As far as its pastoral and agricultural capabilities go, I believe Port Phillip to be as fine a district as any in the world. The advantages indeed of the Australian colonies must be nearly equal, from the fact that the pursuits of their respective inhabitants are so nearly the same. Local circumstances may give some parts of the continent a preference over others, but, as points of emigration there is little choice. The southern portions are not subject to the withering droughts to which parts of the eastern coast are liable, and may be preferred on that account, but still there are districts in New South Wales as unexceptionable as any in Port Phillip or South Australia.

It now remains to make some observations on the present state of society in the last-mentioned colony; for it appears to me, that in order to give a correct picture of it, some notice on that head is required. I think too, I am the more called upon to do so, because many very mistaken notions are held of it. As in most of Her Majesty's possessions, so in South Australia, the Government officers form a prominent, and I may say, distinct class. Colonel Robe, the late Governor of the province, made Government House the seat of the most unmeasured hospitality, which he exercised beyond the point to which there was any public call upon him. His table was covered with every delicacy the season could afford, his wines were of the very best, and there was a quiet but effective manner about him, which gained universal esteem. As a soldier, he was exceedingly particular in the order and appearance of his establishment, nor was there anything wanting to complete the comfort of it. The number of the colonists who assembled round him occasionally, was from 50 to 60; on more public festive occasions they exceeded 300, and I may add, that on both, the scene differed not in the slightest degree from that of similar parties in this country, save that there was less of formality in the interchange of friendly communications between the visitors. Except also in giving a tone to society, and setting an irreproachable example to the community, the officers of the Government are exceedingly retired, their salaries are too limited to enable them to follow the example of their chief.

They live quietly, and as gentlemen, are ever happy to see their friends, but public parties are seldom given by any of them. Prudence indeed calls upon them to refrain from those displays, which they cannot reasonably afford, and the consequence was, that a warmer intimacy existed in their quiet intercourse with each other, than could have sprung from more formal entertainments.

The truth is, the salaries of the Government officers, bear no proportion to the means of the majority of the settlers, who have risen into affluence from a combination of circumstances, that have been unprecedented in the history of colonization. There are few private individuals in the province, who have not, at one time or other, benefited by some speculation, but I am not aware that any one of the Government officers have any private interests in the colony, if I except the possession of a section or two of land, on which they have built and reside, nor do I know that any of them have allowed a spirit of speculation to interfere with public duties.

Amongst the leading or upper classes of society, there are many very estimable persons. I do not mention names, but my recollection will bear me back to the many happy days I have spent with them, and certainly any one not desiring an extended circle of acquaintance could no where, whether amongst gentlemen or the ladies, find individuals more worthy of his regard or friendship than in the still limited society of South Australia.

Many of the tradesmen having succeeded in business, or acquired an independence from their interests in the mines, have retired, and live in suburban residences, which they have built in well selected situations, and with considerable taste. Attached to the customs of Home, many of the citizens of Adelaide possess carriages of one kind or another, and are fond of devoting their Sunday evenings to visiting places in the neighbourhood. As regards the lower classes, I do not think there is in any of Her Majesty's possessions, a greater amount of mechanical genius and enterprise than amongst the mechanics of South Australia. I speak confidently on this head, since I have had very many points referred to me, which have long satisfied me of this fact.

There are many societies in South Australia, of which the lower orders are members, all of them tending to promote social interests. The order of Odd Fellows is prominent amongst these, and spreads a feeling throughout all classes which cannot fail of doing good, for the charities of this order are extensive, and it supports a well-attended school. Taking then the lower orders of the province in the aggregate, they may be said to be thoroughly English, both in their habits and principles.

In speaking of the upper classes I did not notice a portion of them included under the denomination of the "Squatters." It is a name that grates harshly on the ear, but it conceals much that is good behind it; they in truth are the stockholders of the province, those in whom its greatest interests would have been vested if the mines had not been discovered. Generally speaking, the squatters are young men who, rather than be a burthen on their families, have sought their fortunes in distant lands, and carried out with them almost to the Antipodes the finest principles and feelings of their forefathers. With hearts as warm as the climate in which they live, with a spirit to meet any danger, and an energy to carry them through any reverse of fortune, frank, generous, and hospitable, the squatters of the Australian colonies are undoubtedly at the head of their respective communities, and will in after days form the landed, as they do now the pastoral interests, from whom every thing will be expected that is usually required of an English country gentleman. Circumstanced as they are at the present moment, most of them leading a solitary life in the bush, and separated by such distances from each other as almost to preclude the possibility of intercourse, they are thus cut off as it were from society, which tends to give them feelings that are certainly prejudicial to their future social happiness, but I would fain hope that the time is coming round when these gentlemen will see that they have it very much in their own power to shorten the duration of many of the sacrifices they are now called upon to make, and that they will look to higher and to more important duties than those which at present engage their attention.

The views taken by the late Sir George Gipps of the state of society in the distant interior of New South Wales is perfectly correct, nor can there be any doubt but that it entails evils on the stock-holders themselves which, on an abstract view of the question, I cannot help thinking they have it in their power to lessen, or entirely to remove, when an influx of population shall take place; but, however regular their establishments may be, they cannot, as single men, have the same influence over those whom they employ, or the settlers around them, as if they were married; for it is certainly true, that the presence of females puts a restraint on the most vicious, and that wherever they are, especially in a responsible character, they must do good. I do not know anything, indeed, that would more conduce to the moral improvement of the settlers, and people around them, than that squatters should permanently fix themselves, and embrace that state in which they can alone expect their homes to have real attractions. That they will ultimately settle down to this state there cannot, I think, be a doubt, and however repugnant it may be to them at the present moment to rent lands, on the occupation of which any conditions of purchase is imposed, I feel assured that many of the squatters will hereafter have cause to thank the Secretary of State for having anticipated their future wants, and enabled them to secure permanent and valuable interests on such easy terms. Nothing, it appears to me, can be more convincing in proof of the real anxiety of Earl Grey for the well being of the Australian provinces than the late regulations for the occupation of crown lands.

I believe I am right in stating that every word of those regulations was penned by Earl Grey himself, and certainly, apart from local prejudices, I am sure a disinterested person would admit the care and thought they evince, and how calculated they are to promote the best interests of the squatters, and the future social and moral improvement of the people under their influence. There seems to me to run throughout the whole of these regulations an earnest desire to place the stockholder on a sure footing, and to remove all causes of anxiety arising from the precarious tenure upon which they formerly held property.

There is another division of the population of South Australia I have hitherto omitted to mention, I mean the German emigrants. They now number more than 2000, and therefore form no inconsiderable portion of the population of the province. These people have spread over various districts, but still live in communities, having built five or six villages.

The Germans of South Australia are quiet and inoffensive, frugal and industrious. They mix very little with the settlers, and, regarded as a portion of the community, are perhaps too exclusive, as not taking a due share in the common labour, or rendering their assistance on occasions when the united strength of the working classes is required to secure a general good—as the gathering in of the harvest, or such similar occasions. Their religious observances are superintended by different pastors, all of them very respectable persons. The oldest of these is Mr. Kavel, to whom the Germans look with great confidence, and hold in deserved esteem. Many of the Germans have been naturalized, and have acquired considerable property in various parts of the province, but very few have taken to business, or reside in Adelaide as shopkeepers. The women bring their market or farm produce into the city on their backs, generally at an early hour of the morning, and the loads some of them carry are no trifle. Here, however, as in their native country, the women work hard, and certainly bear their fair proportion of labour. The houses of the Germans are on the models of those of their native country, and are so different in appearance from the general style, as to form really picturesque objects. There is nowhere about Adelaide a prettier ride than through the village of Klemzig, on the right bank of the Torrens, that having been the first of the German settlements. The easy and unmolested circumstances of these people should make them happy, and lead them to rejoice that in flying from persecution at home they were guided to such a country as that in which they now dwell, and I have no doubt that as a moral and religious people, they are thankful for their good fortune, and duly appreciate the blessings of Providence.

My anxiety to raise the character of the natives of Australia, in the eyes of the civilized world, and to exhibit them in a more favourable light than that in which they are at present regarded, induces me, before I close these volumes, to adduce a few instances of just and correct feeling evinced by them towards myself, which ought, I think, to have this effect and to satisfy the unprejudiced mind that their general ideas of right and wrong are far from being erroneous, and that, whatever their customs may be, they should not, as a people, occupy so low a place in the scale of human society, as that which has been assigned to them. I am quite aware that there have been individual instances of brutality amongst them, that can hardly be palliated even in savage life—that they have disgusting customs—that they are revengeful and addicted to theft. Still I would say they have redeeming qualities; for the first, I would fain believe that the horrors of which they have been guilty, are local; for the last, I do not see that they are worse than other uncivilized races. Treachery and cunning are inherent in the breast of every savage. I question, indeed, if they are not considered by them as cardinal virtues; but, admitting the Australian native to have the most unbridled passions, instances can be adduced of their regard for truth and honesty, that ought to weigh in any general estimate we may form of their character. No European living, not even Mr. Eyre, has seen so many of the Aborigines of the Australian continent as myself; and that, too, under circumstances when strife might have been expected; and no man certainly has had less reason to complain of them. If my party has ever been menaced by these people, if we have ever had their spears raised in hundreds against us, it has been because they have been taken by surprise, and have acted under the influence of fear. If I had rushed on these poor people, I should have received their weapons, and have been obliged to raise my arm against them, but, by giving them time to recover from their surprise, allowing them to go through their wonted ceremonies, and, by pacific demonstrations, hostile collisions have been avoided. If I had desired a conflict, the inclination might have been indulged without the fear of censure, but I saw no credit, no honour to be gained by such a course, and I therefore refrained. I can look back to my intercourse with the Australian aborigines, under a consciousness that I never injured one of them, and that the cause of humanity has not suffered at my hands;—but, I am travelling out of my proper course, and beg the reader to excuse me, it is for him, I allow, not for me, to draw such conclusions.

I have said, that I thought I could adduce instances of a regard for justice and honesty that would weigh in favour of the Australian native. As one instance, let me ask, if anything could have been more just, than the feeling which prompted the native to return the blanket one of his tribe had stolen from the camp on the banks of the Castlereagh, as detailed in my former work, vol. i. page 141. The man who restored the lost property was apprehensive of danger, from the fact of his having come armed, and from his guarded and menacing attitude when the soldier approached to ascertain what he wanted. Had he been the father of the thief, we could only have said that it was a singular proof of honest pride by a single individual, but such was not the case, the whole tribe participated in the same feeling, for we learnt from them, that the thief had been punished and expelled their camp. Could anything have been more noble than the conduct of the native, who remained neuter, and separated himself from them, when the tribes attempted to surprise my camp on the Murrumbidgee, because I had made him presents as I went down that river, vol. ii. page 212. On the other hand, could anything have been more just than the punishment inflicted on the boy who stole my servant Davenport's blanket at Fort Grey? as mentioned in the present work; or the decision of the two sons of the Boocolo of Williorara, as regarded the conveyance of our letter-bag to Lake Victoria? Here are broad instances of honesty that would do credit to any civilized nation. Surely men, who can so feel, should not be put lowest in the scale of the human race? It is true that all attempts to improve the social condition of the Australian native has failed, but where is the savage nation with which we have succeeded better? The natives of New Zealand will perhaps be the only instance, in modern times, of a barbarous race surviving the introduction of civilization amongst them. Without venturing to compare the natives of Australia, to a people so much superior, I would only claim for them a due share of consideration. All I can say is that they have submitted to our occupation of their country with a forbearance that commands our best sympathies.

It will be borne in mind, that I have not here spoken of their personal appearance. That that generally is against them, cannot be doubted. If there is any truth in phrenology, they must have their share of the brutal passions. The whole appearance of the cranium indeed, would lead to the conclusion that they possess few of the intellectual faculties; but, in a savage state, these are seldom called forth. They are, nevertheless, capable of strong attachment, are indulgent parents, and certainly evince a kindly feeling towards their relations, are improvident and generous, having no thought for the morrow. On the other hand, they are revengeful and crafty, and treat their wives with much harshness, imposing on them the burthen of almost everything: that man being considered the richest who has the greatest number, because he can sit in his hut, and send them out to procure food.

I think it is agreed on all hands that the natives of Australia are sprung from the same parent stock. Their personal appearance and customs, if not their dialects, shew this. From what race they originally sprang it is more difficult to determine, for there is not one of the great families into which the human race has been divided, with which they may properly be classed. With such features as they generally possess, in the flattened nose, thick lip, and overhanging brow, one can hardly fancy that they would be good looking, but I certainly have seen very good looking men amongst them—I may say tribes, indeed, on the Darling for instance, and on the Murrumbidgee, (see page 53, vol. ii. of my last work.) The men on Cooper's Creek were fine rather than handsome. Generally speaking, the natives have beautiful teeth, and their eye, though deep sunk, is full of fire. Although their muscular development is bad, they must have a very remarkable strength of sinew, or they could not otherwise raise themselves, as they do, on so slender a footing in climbing up the trees, and in many other occupations. I have read in several authors that the natives of Australia have woolly hair. This is a mistake; their hair is as fine and as curly as that of an European, but its natural beauty is destroyed by filth and neglect. Nothing can prove its strength more than the growth of their beards, which project from their chins, and are exceedingly stiff.

In many places the natives have but a scanty and precarious subsistence, which may in some measure account for the paucity of their numbers in some localities. In many parts of the country in which I have been I feel satisfied they can seldom procure animal food, as they would not otherwise resort to the use of some things which no time could, I should imagine, make palateable. Their dexterity at the chase is very great, although in hunting the kangaroo they become so nervous that they frequently miss their mark. I have seen them sink under water and bring up a fish writhing on the short spear they use on such occasions, which they have struck either in the forehead, or under the lateral fin, with unerring precision. Still some of our people come pretty close to them in many of their exercises of the chase, and the young settlers on the Murray very often put them to the blush. At the head of them is Mr. Scott, Mr. Eyre's companion, who has now succeeded him in the post at Moorundi. There is not a native on the river so expert in throwing the spear, in taking kangaroo or fish, or in the canoe, as he is. His spear is thrown with deadly precision, and he has so mixed with the natives, that he may be said to be one of themselves, having the most unbounded influence over them, and speaking their language as fluently as themselves. Mr. Scott is at the same time very firm and decided, and is exceedingly respected by the settlers on the Murray. Under such circumstances it is to be hoped he will emulate Mr. Eyre and effect much good among his sable friends. Their devotion and attachment to him is very remarkable, and every native on the Murray knows "Merrili," as he is called.

One great cause of the deaths amongst the Aborigines is their liability to pulmonary diseases from being constantly in the water. They are much annoyed by rain, nor will any thing induce them to stir during wet weather, but they sit shivering in their huts even in the height of summer. There is no people in the world so unprovided against inclemency or extremes of weather as they are. They have literally nothing to cover them, to protect them from the summer heat or the winter's cold; nor would any charity be greater than to supply these poor people with clothing. A few blankets, a few Guernsey shirts, and woollen trowsers, would be to them a boon of the first importance, and I would that my voice in their favour could induce the many who are humane and charitable here to devote a small portion of that which they bestow in works and purposes of charity to think of these children of the desert. It is only by accustoming them to comforts, and to implements which they cannot afterwards do without, to supersede as it were their former customs, that we can hope to draw them towards civilized man and civilization; for what inducement has the savage with his wild freedom and uncontrolled will, to submit to restraint, unless he reap some advantage?

The yearly and monthly distribution of blankets and of flour to the natives at Moorundi is duly appreciated. They now possess many things which they prefer to their own implements. The fish-hooks they procure from the Europeans are valued by them beyond measure, since they prevent the necessity of their being constantly in the water, and you now see the river, at the proper season, lined by black anglers, and the quantity of fish they take is really astonishing, and those too of the finest kinds. I once saw Mr. Scott secure a Murray cod, floating on the top of the water, that weighed 72lbs. This beautiful and excellent fish is figured in Mitchell's first work. It is a species of perch, and is very abundant, as well as several others of its own genus, that are richer but smaller; the general size of the cod varying from 15lbs. to 25lbs.

The manners and customs of the natives have been so well and so faithfully recorded by Mr. Eyre that I need not dwell on them here. My views have been philanthropic, my object, to explain the manner in which I have succeeded in communicating with such of them as had never before seen Europeans, in order to ensure to the explorer, if possible, the peaceable results I myself have experienced. There are occasions when collisions with the natives are unavoidable, but I speak as to general intercourse. I feel assured no man can perform his duty as an explorer, who is under constant apprehension of hostility from the people through whose country he is passing.

The province of South Australia could never at any time have been thickly inhabited. There are some numerous tribes on the sea-coast at the head of the Gulfs and in Encounter Bay, as well as on the Murray River, but with the exception of a few scattered families on the northern hills, and in the scrub, the mountain ranges are, and it appears to me have been, almost uninhabited. There are no old or recent signs of natives having frequented the hills, no marks of tomahawks on the trees, or of digging on the flats. The Mount Lofty ranges, indeed, are singularly deficient of animal life, and seem to be incapable of affording much subsistence to the savage, however luxuriant and beneficial the harvest they now yield.

The Adelaide tribe is not numerous; they occupy a portion of the Park lands, called the native location, and every encouragement has been given them to establish themselves in comfort on it, but they prefer their wild roving habits to any fixed pursuit. Nevertheless, they are variously employed by the townspeople, in carrying burthens, in cutting up wood, in drawing water, and similar occupations; and, independently of any assistance they may receive from the Government, earn an immense quantity of food from the citizens. The natives properly belonging to the Adelaide tribe are all more or less clothed, nor are they permitted by the police to appear otherwise, and as far as their connection with the settlers goes, they are fast falling into habits of order, and understand that they cannot do any thing improper with impunity.

The Murray tribe, as well as the tribes from the south, frequently visit their friends near the capital, and on such occasions some scene of violence or dispute generally ensues. Frequently the abduction of a lubra, or of an unmarried female of another tribe, brings about a quarrel, and on such occasions some angry fighting is sure to follow; and so long as that custom remains, there is little hope of improvement amongst them. The subject of ameliorating their condition is, however, one of great difficulty, because it cannot be done without violating those principles of freedom and independence on which it is so objectionable to infringe; but when a great ultimate good is to be obtained, I cannot myself see any objection to those restraints, and that interference which should bring it about. There is nowhere, not even in Sydney, more attention paid to the native population than in South Australia, and if they stand a chance of improvement it is there. Whilst every kindness is shewn to the adult portion, the children are under the direct care of the Government. There is, as I have elsewhere stated, a school, at which from thirty to forty boys and girls attend. Nothing can be more regular or more comfortable than this institution. The children are kindly treated, and very much encouraged, and really to go into it as a visitor, one would be disposed to encourage the most sanguine expectations of success. As far as the elementary principles of education go, the native children are far from deficient. They read, write, and cypher as well as European children of their own age, and, generally speaking, are quiet and well behaved; but it is to be regretted that, as far as our experience goes, they can advance no farther; when their reason is taxed, they fail, and consequently appear to be destitute of those finer qualifications and principles on which both moral feeling and social order are based. It is however questionable with me whether this is not too severe a construction to put on their intellect, and whether, if the effect of ancient habits were counteracted, we should find the same mental defect.

At present, the native children have free intercourse with their parents, and with their tribe. The imaginations of the boys are inflamed by seeing all that passes in a native camp, and they long for that moment, when, like their countrymen, they will be free to go where they please, and to join in the hunt or the fray. The girls are told that they are betrothed, and that, at a certain age, they must join their tribe. The voice of Nature is stronger even than that of Reason. Why therefore should we be surprised at the desertion of the children from the native schools? But it will be asked—What is to be done? The question, as I have said, is involved in difficulty, because, in my humble opinion, the only remedy involves a violation, for a time at all events, of the natural affections, by obliging a complete separation of the child from its parents; but, I must confess, I do not think that any good will result from the utmost perseverance of philanthropy, until such is the case, that is, until the children are kept in such total ignorance of their forefathers, as to look upon them as Europeans do, with astonishment and sympathy. It may be argued that this experiment would require too great a sacrifice of feeling, but I doubt this. Besides which, it is a question whether it is not our duty to do that which shall conduce most to the benefit of posterity. The injury, admitting it to be so, can only be inflicted on the present generation, the benefit would be felt to all futurity. I have not, I hope, a disposition for the character of an inhuman man, and certainly have not written thus much without due consideration of the subject, but my own experience tells me we are often obliged to adopt a line of conduct we would willingly avoid to ensure a public good.

It will not then, I trust, be thought that I have ventured to intrude this opinion on the public, with any other views than those which true philanthropy dictates. I am really and sincerely interested in the fate of the Australian Aborigine, and throw out these suggestions, derived from long and deep practical experience, in the ardent hope that they may help to produce the permanent happiness of an inoffensive and harmless race.



MR. KENNEDY'S SURVEY OF THE RIVER VICTORIA.



Whilst I was endeavouring to penetrate into the heart of the Australian Continent, there were two other Expeditions of Discovery engaged in exploring the country to the eastward of me. Dr. Leichhardt, an account of whose successful and enterprising journey from Moreton Bay to Port Essington is already before the public, was keeping the high lands at no great distance from the coast, and Sir Thomas Mitchell, the Surveyor-General of New South Wales, was traversing the more depressed interior, between my own and Dr. Leichhardt's tracks. The distance at which Dr. Leichhardt passed the extreme westerly point gained by me was 600 geographical miles, and his distance from my extreme easterly one was 420 miles; Sir Thomas Mitchell's distance from my extreme west, being about 380 miles, and that from my last position, (on Cooper's Creek), about 260. He had been traversing a country of great richness and fertility, a country, indeed, such as he had never before seen, and in a despatch addressed to the Governor of New South Wales, thus describes it and the river he discovered on the occasion:—

"On ascending the range early next morning, I saw open downs and plains with a line of river in the midst, the whole extending to the N.N.W., as far as the horizon. Following down the little stream from the valley in which I had passed the night, I soon reached the open country, and during ten successive days I pursued the course of that river, through the same sort of country, each day as far as my horse could carry me, and in the same direction again approaching the Tropic of Capricorn. In some parts the river formed splendid reaches, as broad and important as the river Murray; in others it spread into four or five branches, some of them several miles apart. But the whole country is better watered than any part of Australia I have seen, by numerous tributaries arising in the downs.

"The soil consists of rich clay, and the hollows give birth to numerous water-courses, in most of which water was abundant. I found at length that I might travel in any direction, and find water at hand, without having to seek the river, except when I wished to ascertain its general course, and observe its character. The grass consists of Panicum and several new sorts, one of which springs green from the old stem. The plains were verdant indeed, the luxuriant pasturage surpassed in quality, as it did in extent, any thing I had ever seen. The Myall-tree and salt bush, (Acacia pendula and salsolae), so essential to a good run, are also there. New birds and new plants marked this out as an essentially different region from any I had previously explored; and although I could not follow the river throughout its long course at that advanced season, I was convinced that its estuary was in the Gulf of Carpentaria; at all events the country is open and well watered for a direct route thereto. That the river is the most important of Australia, increasing as it does by successive tributaries, and not a mere product of distant ranges, admits of no dispute; and the downs and plains of Central Australia, through which it flows, seem sufficient to supply the whole world with animal food. The natives are few and inoffensive. I happened to surprise one tribe at a lagoon, who did not seem to be averse that such strangers were in that country; our number being small, they seemed inclined to follow us. I crossed the river at the lowest point I reached, in a great southerly bend in long. 144 degrees 34 minutes east, lat. 24 degrees 14 minutes south, and from rising ground beyond the left bank, I could trace its downward course far to the northward. I saw no Callitris (Pine of the colonists) in all that country, but a range, shewing sandstone cliffs appeared to the southward, in long. 145 degrees and lat. 24 degrees 30 minutes south. The country to the northward of the river, is, upon the whole, the best, yet, in riding ninety miles due east from where I crossed the southern bend, I found plenty of water, and excellent grass, a red gravel there approaches the river, throwing it off to the northward. Ranges extending N. N. W. were occasionally visible from the country to the northward."

Sir Thomas Mitchell's position at his extreme west was more than 460 miles from the nearest part of the Gulf of Carpentaria; he was in a low country, and on the banks of a river which had ceased to flow. Whatever the local appearances might have been, which led the Surveyor-General to conclude that it would reach the northern coast, I do not know, but notwithstanding the favourable report he made of it, I never for a moment anticipated that this river would do so; I felt assured, indeed, that however promising it might be, it would either enter the Stony Desert or be found to turn southward, and be lost amongst marshes and lagoons. The appearance of Cooper's Creek might have justified my most sanguine expectations, but I was too well aware of the character of Australian rivers, and had seen too much of the country into which they fall, to trust them beyond the range of sight. My natural course on the discovery of Cooper's Creek would have been to have traced it downwards, but I was not unmindful that I should keep it between myself and the track on which Mr. Browne and I had last returned from the north-west interior, in pursuing the northerly course I intended, and I consequently felt satisfied, after a little consideration, that if it continued northerly, I should strike it again; if not, that it would either spread over the Stony Desert, or fall short of it altogether.

On making this discovery, therefore, my hopes were centered in its upward, not its downward course, for judging that in crossing the Stony Desert, I had crossed the lowest part of the interior, my anticipations of finding any important river in the central regions of Australia were destroyed. My endeavour had been, not only to examine the country through which I was immediately passing, but to deduce from it, what might be its more extended features, and to put together such facts as I reasonably could, to elucidate the past and present state of the continent. In the course of my investigations, I saw grounds for believing that the fall of the interior was from north to south and from east to west. However much the more northerly streams might hold to the northward and westward, whilst in the hilly country, I felt assured, that as soon as they gained the depressed interior, they would double round to the southward, and thus disappoint the explorer. Sir Thomas Mitchell himself tells us, that every river he traced on his recent journey, excepting the Victoria, disappointed him, by turning to that point and entering a sandy country. It is evident, indeed, upon the face of Sir Thomas Mitchell's journal, that there are no mountains in that part of the interior, in which the basins of the Victoria must lie, or from which a river could emanate, of such a character, as to lead even the most sanguine to expect, that after having ceased to flow, it would continue onwards for another 460 miles through such a country. From the favour able nature of the Surveyor-General's report, however, it was deemed a point of great importance to ascertain the further course of the river, and Mr. Kennedy, a young and intelligent officer, who had accompanied Sir Thomas Mitchell into the interior, was ordered on this interesting service. Before I make any observations, however, on the result of his investigations, I shall give the following extract from his letter to the Colonial Secretary, on his return from the interior.

"Having reached the lowest point of the Victoria attained by the Surveyor-General, I was directed to pursue the river, and determine the course thereof as accurately as my light equipment, and consequent rapid progress, might permit. Accordingly, on the 13th of August we moved down the river, and at 4 1/2 miles crossed over to its proper right bank; the Victoria is there bounded on the south by a low sand-stone ridge, covered with brigalow; and on the north by fine grassy plains, with here and there clumps of the silver leaf brigalow; at seven miles we passed a fine deep reach, below which the river is divided into three channels, and inclines more to the southward; at thirteen miles we encamped upon the centre channel; the three were about half a mile apart, the southern one under the ridge being the deepest; we found water in each, but I believe it to be only permanent in the southernmost, which contains a fine reach, one mile below our encampment, in latitude 24 degrees 17 minutes 34 seconds; an intelligent native, whom we met there with his family on our return, gave me the name of the river, which they call Barcoo. I also obtained from him several useful words, which he seemed to take a pleasure in giving, and which I entered in my journal.

"Between the parallels of 24 minutes 17 seconds and 24 minutes 53 seconds, the river preserves generally a very direct course to the south-south-west, and maintains an unvaried character, although the supply of water greatly decreases below the latitude of 24 degrees 25 minutes. It is divided into three principal channels, and several minor watercourses, which traverse a flat country, lightly timbered by a species of flooded box; this flat is confined on either side by low sand-stone ridges, thickly covered with an acacia scrub. In latitude 24 degrees 50 minutes we had some difficulty in finding a sufficiency for our own consumption, but after searching the numerous channels, the deep (though dry) lagoons and lakes formed there by the river, we at length encamped at a small water-hole in latitude 24 degrees 52 minutes 55 seconds and longitude 144 degrees 11 minutes 26 seconds.

"Being aware that the principal view of the Government in sending me to trace the Victoria, was the discovery of a practical route to the Gulf of Carpentaria, I then began to fear that I should be unable, with my small stock of provisions, to accomplish the two objects of my Expedition. My instructions confined me to the river, which had now preserved almost without deviation a south-south-west course for nearly a hundred miles; the only method which occurred to me, by the adoption of which I might still hope to perform all that was desired, was to trace the river with two men as far as latitude 26 degrees, which the maintenance of its general course would have enabled me to do in two days, and then to hasten back to my party, to conduct them to the extreme northern point attained by the Victoria, and endeavour to prolong the direct route carried that far, from Sydney towards the Gulf of Carpentaria, by Sir Thomas Mitchell.

"With this intention I left the camp on the 20th of August, and at twelve miles found several channels united, forming a fine reach, below which the river takes a turn to the west-south-west, receiving the waters of rather a large creek from the eastward, in latitude 25 degrees 3 minutes 0 seconds. In latitude 25 degrees 7 minutes, the river having again inclined to the southward, impinges upon the point of a low range on its left, by the influence of which it is turned in one well watered channel to the west and west by north, for nearly thirty miles; in that course the reaches are nearly connected, varying in breadth from 80 to 120 yards; firm plains of a poor white soil extend on either side of the river; they were rather bare of pasture, but they are evidently in some seasons less deficient of grass. In latitude 25 degrees 9 minutes 30 seconds, and longitude about 143 degrees 16 minutes, a considerable river joins the Victoria from the north-east, which I would submit may be named the "Thomson," in honour of E. Deas Thomson, Esquire, the Honourable the Colonial Secretary. It was on one of the five reaches in the westerly course of the Victoria that I passed the second night; the river there measured 120 yards across, and seemed to have a great depth; the rocks and small islets which here and there occurred in its channel giving it the semblance of a lasting and most important river; this unexpected change, however, both in its appearance and course, caused me to return immediately to my camp for the purpose of conducting my party down such a river whithersoever it should flow.

"On the 25th August, we resumed our journey down that portion of the Victoria above described, and made the river mentioned from north-east three miles above its junction; following it down we found an unbroken sheet of water in its channel, averaging fifty yards in breadth; we forded it at the junction, and continued to move down the Victoria, keeping all the channels, into which it had again divided, on my left. At about one mile the river there turns to the south-south-west and south, spreading over a depressed and barren waste, void of trees or vegetation of any kind, its level surface being only broken by small doones of red sand, resembling islands upon the dry bed of an inland sea, which, I am convinced, at no distant period did exist there.

"On the 1st September, we encamped upon a long, though narrow, reach in the most western channel, at which point a low sandstone ridge, strewed with boulders, and covered with an acacia scrub, closes upon the river. This position is important, as a small supply of grass will, I think, in most seasons, be found on the bank of the river, when not a blade, perhaps, may be seen within many miles above or below: my camp, which I marked K/IV was in latitude 25 degrees 24 minutes 22 seconds, longitude 142 degrees 51 minutes. Beyond camp IV the ridge recedes, and the soil becomes more broken and crumbling; our horses struggled with difficulty over this ground to my camp, at a small water-hole, in latitude 25 degrees 43 minutes 44 seconds, where I found it necessary to lighten some of their loads by having buried 400 lbs. flour, and 70 lbs. sugar, still retaining a sufficient supply to carry us to Captain Sturt's farthest, on Cooper's Creek, to the eastward, (to which point I was convinced this river would lead me) and from thence back to the settled districts of New South Wales; which was all I could then hope to accomplish. At about sixteen miles further, the ground becoming worse, so that our horses were continually falling into the fissures up to their hocks, I was compelled to leave 270 lbs. more of flour and sugar at my camp of the 4th September, in latitude 25 degrees 51 minutes, at another small water-hole, found in the bed of a very dry and insignificant channel; here a barren sandstone range again impedes the river in its southerly course, and throws it off to the westward, thus causing many of its channels to unite and form a reach of water in latitude 25 degrees 54 minutes; this, the lowest reach we attained, I did not discover until my return, having found a sufficient supply in a channel more to the westward. In latitude 25 degrees 55 minutes, and longitude, by account, 142 degrees 23 minutes, the river, having rounded the point of the range which obstructs it, resumes its southerly course, spreading in countless channels over a surface bearing flood marks six and ten feet above its present level; this vast expanse is only bounded to the eastward by the barren range alluded to, which, ending abruptly, runs parallel with the river at a distance varying from four to seven miles. On the 7th September, I encamped upon a small water-hole in 26 degrees 0 minutes 13 seconds, in the midst of a desert not producing a morsel of vegetation; yet so long as we could find water, transient as it was, I continued to push on with the hope of reaching, sooner or later, some grassy spot, whereon by a halt I might refresh the horses; however, that hope was destroyed at the close of the next day, for although I had commenced an early search for water when travelling to the southward, with numerous channels on either side of me, I was compelled at length to encamp in latitude 26 degrees 13 minutes 9 seconds, and longitude, by account, 142 degrees 20 minutes, on the bank of a deep channel, without either water or food for our wearied horses. The following morning, taking one man and Harry with me, we made a close search down the most promising watercourses and lagoons, but upon riding down even the deepest of them, we invariably found them break off into several insignificant channels, which again subdivided, and in a short distance dissipated the waters, derived from what had appeared the dry bed of a large river, on the absorbing plain; returning in disappointment to the camp, I sent my lightest man and Harry on other horses to look into the channels still unexamined, but they also returned unsuccessful. We had seen late fires of the natives at which they had passed the night without water, and tracked them on their path from lagoon to lagoon in search of it; we also found that they had encamped on some of the deepest channels in succession, quitting each as it had become dry, having previously made holes to drain off the last moisture. My horses were by this time literally starving, and all we could give them was the rotten straw and weeds which had covered some deserted huts of the natives. Seeing, then, that it would be the certain loss of many, and consequently an unjustifiable risk of my party to attempt to push farther into a country where the aborigines themselves were at a loss to find water, I felt it my imperative duty to at once abandon it. I would here beg to remark, that although unsuccessful in my attempt to follow it that far, from the appearance of the country, and long-continued direction of the river's course, I think there can exist but little doubt that the "Victoria" is identical with Cooper's Creek, of Captain Sturt; that creek was abandoned by its discoverer in latitude 27 degrees 46 minutes, longitude 141 degrees 52 minutes, coming from the north-east, and as the natives informed him, "in many small channels forming a large one;" the lowest camp of mine on the Victoria was in latitude 26 degrees 13 minutes 9 seconds, longitude 142 degrees 20 minutes; the river in several channels trending due south, and the lowest point of the range which bounds that flat country to the eastward, bearing south 25 degrees east; Captain Sturt also states that the ground near the creek was so blistered and light that it was unfit to ride on; but that before he turned, he had satisfied himself that there was no apparent sign of water to the eastward.

"Having marked a tree EK/1847, we commenced our return journey along the track at two p.m. of the 9th of September; at eight miles I allowed one of the horses to be shot; for being an old invalid, and unable to travel further, he must have starved if left alive. At thirteen miles we reached the water. Some while after dark the following day we made our next camp; but it was with much difficulty that my private horse and two or three others were brought to water, one being almost carried by three men the latter part of the day. Upon discovering the reach, in latitude 25 degrees 54 minutes, near the range, and finding a little grass in the channel about the water, I gave the horses two days' rest. My camp on the reach is marked K/III.; it is in latitude 25 degrees 55 minutes 37 seconds, longitude, by account, 142 degrees 24 minutes; the variation of the compass 8 degrees east; water boiled at 214 degrees, the temperature of the air being 64 degrees. On the 14th September we proceeded on our journey, and reached the firm plains beyond the desert. On the 22nd, having halted a day, we again moved on, and arrived within five miles of the carts; on the 7th October, leaving my party on the south channel, I rode to the spot, and found them still safe, although a native had been examining the ground that very morning. Lest he should have gone to collect others to assist him in his researches, I brought my party forward the same evening, had the carts dug out during the night, and at sunrise proceeded to our position of the 4th August on the south channel."

From the above account, which is equally clear and distinct, it would appear, that, just below where the river Alice joins the Victoria, the latter river had already commenced its south-west course, and that the last thirty miles down which the Surveyor-General traced this river was a part of the general south-west course, which it afterwards maintained to the termination of Mr. Kennedy's route, and consequently the latter traveller never had an opportunity of approaching so near the Gulf of Carpentaria as the Surveyor-General had done. Here its channel separates into three principal branches, at half-a-mile apart, and, notwithstanding the promise it had given down to the point, at which he had now arrived, (latitude 24 degrees 52 minutes, and longitude 144 degrees 11 minutes,) having then travelled nearly 100 miles along its banks, Mr. Kennedy had great difficulty in finding water. In consequence indeed, of the unfavourable changes that had taken place in the river, he determined on leaving the party stationary, and proceeding down it with two men to the 26th parallel, whence, if he found that it still held to the south, he proposed returning with the intention of trying to find a practicable route to the Gulf of Carpentaria, in compliance with his instructions, and under an impression, I presume, that the fate of the Victoria would then have been fully determined.

In latitude 25 degrees 3 minutes, the river having changed its course to the W. S. W. was joined by a large creek from the "EASTWARD." In latitude 25 degrees 7 minutes it was turned by some low sandstone ranges on its left, and trended for thirty miles to the west, and even to the northward of that point, having almost connected ponds of water for that distance, varying in breadth, from 80 to 120 yards, and being bounded on either side by firm plains of white soil. About 25 degrees 9 minutes and 143 degrees 16 minutes the river was joined by a large tributary stream from the NORTH-EAST, to which Mr. Kennedy gave the name of the "Thomson," and encouraged by the favourable changes which had now taken place, he returned for his party with the determination of following so fine a river to the last.

We shall now see how far his anticipations were confirmed, and how far his further investigation of the Victoria river, and his account of the country through which it flows, accords with the description I have given of the dreary region into which I penetrated.

On the 26th of September, Mr. Kennedy having brought down his party, resumed his journey, and crossing the Victoria, struck the N. E. tributary about three miles above its junction with the main stream, and fording at that point, kept on the proper right bank of the Victoria.

"At about a mile," says Mr. Kennedy, "it (the Victoria) there turns to the S.S.W. and south, spreading over a depressed and barren waste, void of trees or vegetation of any kind, its level surface being only broken by small doones of red sand, like islands upon the dry bed of an inland sea, which I am convinced at no distant period did exist there."

There cannot, I think, be any reasonable doubt, but that Mr. Kennedy had here reached the edge of the great central desert.

Both the river he was tracing, and the country were precisely similar in character to Cooper's Creek, and the country I had so long been wandering over. The former at one point having a fine deep channel, at another split into numberless small branches, and then spreading over some extensive level without the vestige of a water-course upon it. The country monotonous and sterile, its level only broken by low sandstone hills, or doones of sand, the whole bearing in its general appearance the stamp of a submarine origin.

Mr. Kennedy's last camp on the Victoria was in lat. 26 degrees 13 minutes 9 seconds S. and in long. 142 degrees 20 minutes E.; the most eastern point of Cooper's Creek gained by me was in lat. 27 degrees 46 minutes S. and long. 141 degrees 51 minutes E. This longitude, however, was by account, and I may have thrown it some few miles to the eastward; in like manner Mr. Kennedy's longitude being also by account, I believe he may have placed his camp a little to the west of its true position; but, as the two points are now laid down, there is a distance of 98 geographical miles between them, on a bearing of 13 degrees to the east of north. Admitting the identity of the Victoria with Cooper's Creek, of which I do not think there is the slightest doubt, the course of the former in order to join the latter would be south, 13 degrees W. the very course Mr. Kennedy states it had apparently taken up when he left it. "The lowest camp on the Victoria," he says, "was in lat. 26 degrees 13 minutes 9 seconds, and in long. 142 degrees 20 minutes, the river in several channels trending due south." If such is the case I must have misunderstood the signs of the natives, and been mistaken in my supposition that the vast basin into which I traced it, was the basin of Cooper's Creek, but I had so frequently remarked the rapid and almost instantaneous formation of such features in similar localities, that, I confess, I did not doubt the meaning the natives intended to convey.

There are several facts illustrative of the structure and LAY, if I may use the expression, of the interior unfolded to us, in consequence of the farther knowledge Mr. Kennedy's exploration has given of that part through which the Victoria flows, which strike myself, who have so deep an interest in the subject, when they might, perhaps, escape the general reader; I have therefore thought it right to advert to them for a moment. He will not, however, have failed to observe, in the perusal of Mr. Kennedy's Report, that excepting where small sandstone ranges turned it to the westward, the tendency of the Victoria was to the SOUTH. The same fact struck me in reference to the Murray river, as I proceeded down it in 1830. I could not fail to observe its efforts to run away in a southerly direction when not impeded by cliffs or sand-hills. This would seem to indicate, that the dip of the continent is more directly to the south than to the west. There is a line of rocky hills, that turn Cooper's Creek to the latter point immediately to the south-west of the grassy plains on which I supposed it took its rise. From that point its general direction is to the westward for about eighty miles, when it splits into two branches, the one flowing to the north-west, and terminating in the extensive grassy plains described at page 39, Vol. II. of the present work, the other passing to the westward and laying all the country under water during the rainy season, which Mr. Brown and I traversed on our journey to the north-west; the several creeks we discovered on that occasion, being nothing more than ramifications of Cooper's Creek, which thus, like all the other interior rivers of Australia, expends itself by overflowing extensive levels; but instead of forming marshes like the Lachlan, the Macquarie, and the Murrumbidgee, terminates in large grassy plains, which are as wheat-fields to the natives, since the grass-seed they collect from them appears to constitute their principal food.

I have observed in the beginning of this work, that the impression on my mind, before I commenced my recent expedition, was, that a great current had passed southwards through the Gulf of Carpentaria which had been split in two by some intervening obstacle, that one branch of this current had taken the line of the Darling, the other having passed to the westward. Now, it would appear, that the sources of the Victoria are in long. 146 degrees 46 minutes, and we are aware, that the course of that river is to the W.S.W. as far as the 139th meridian; unless, therefore, there is a low and depressed country between the sources of the Victoria, and the coast ranges traversed by Dr. Leichhardt, through which the southerly current could have passed, my hypothesis, as regards it, is evidently wrong; and such, on an inspection of Sir Thomas Mitchell's map, appears to be the case, as he has marked a line of hills, connecting the basins of the Victoria with the higher ranges traversed by Doctor Leichhardt, nearer the coast. My object being to elicit truth, I have deemed it necessary to call the attention of the reader to this point, because it would appear to argue against the general conclusions I have drawn, since, if there is no apparent outlet, there could not have been any southerly current as I have supposed; whereas, if the features of the country could have justified such a conclusion, the general ones I have formed would have been very considerably strengthened.

Mr. Kennedy's survey of the Victoria establishes the fact, that there is not a single stream or water-course falling into the main drainage of the continent, from the northward or westward, between the 24th and 34th parallels of latitude, a distance of more than 700 geographical miles—a fact which strongly proves the depressed nature of the north-west interior, and would appear to confirm the opinion already expressed, that the Stony Desert is the great channel into which such rivers as have a sufficiently prolonged course, are ultimately led, and towards which the northerly, and a great portion of the easterly drainage tends. How that singular feature may terminate, whether in an in land sea, or as an arid wilderness, stretching to the Great Australian Bight, it is impossible to say. From the general tendency of the rivers to fall to the south, it may be that the Stony Desert, as Mr. Arrowsmith supposes, has some connexion with Lake Torrens, but I think, for reasons already stated, that it passes far to the westward.

It may not be generally known, that Dr. Leichhardt is at this moment endeavouring to accomplish an undertaking, in which, if he should prove successful, he will stand the first of Australian explorers. It is to traverse the continent from east to west, nor will he be able to do this under a distance of more than 5000 miles in a direct line. He had already started on this gigantic journey, but was obliged to return, as his party contracted the ague, and he lost all his animals; but undaunted by these reverses, he left Moreton Bay in December last, and has not since been heard of. One really cannot but admire such a spirit of enterprise and self-devotion, or be too earnest in our wishes for his prosperity. Dr. Leichhardt intends keeping on the outskirts of the Desert all the way round to Swan River, and the difficulties he may have to encounter as well as the distance he may have to travel, will greatly depend on its extent. We can hardly hope for intelligence of this dauntless explorer for two years; but if such a period should elapse without any intelligence of him, I trust there will not those be wanting to volunteer their services in the hope of rendering him assistance. Our best feelings have been raised to save the Wanderer at the Pole—should they not also be raised to carry relief to the Wanderer of the Desert? The present exploration of Dr. Leichhardt, if successful, will put an end to every theory, and complete the discovery of the internal features of the Australian continent, and when we look at the great blank in the map of that vast territory, we cannot but admit the service that intrepid traveller is doing to the cause of Geography and Natural History, by the undertaking in which he is at present engaged. It is doubtful to me, however, whether his investigations and labours will greatly extend the pastoral interests of the Australian colonies, for I am disposed to think that the climate of the region through which he will pass, is too warm for the successful growth of wool. As I stated in the body of my work, the fleece on the sheep we took into the interior, ceased to grow at the Depot in lat. 29 degrees 40 minutes, as did our own hair and nails; but local circumstances may account for this effect upon the animal system, although it seems to me that the great dryness of the Australian atmosphere, where the heat is also excessive, as it must be in the interior and juxta-tropical parts of it, would prevent the growth of wool, by drying up the natural moisture of the skin. Nevertheless, if Dr. Leichhardt should discover mountains of any height or extent, their elevated plateaux, like that of the Darling Downs, which is one of the finest pastoral districts of New South Wales, and is in lat. 27 1/2 degrees, would not be liable to the same objections; for I believe no better wool is produced than in that district, and that only there, and in Port Phillip, has the sheep farmer been able to clear his expenses this year. Were it not, therefore, for the almost boundless and still unoccupied tracts of land within the territory of New South Wales, we might look with greater anxiety, as regards the pastoral interests of Australia, to the result of Dr. Leichhardt's labours. At present, however, there seems to be no limit to the extent either of grazing or of agricultural land in New South Wales. The only thing to be regretted is, that the want of an industrious population, keeps it in a state of nature, and that the thousands who are here obtaining but a precarious subsistence, should not evince a more earnest desire to go to a country where most assuredly their condition would be changed for the better.



APPENDIX.



ANIMALS.

But few mammalia inhabit Central Australia. The nature of the country indeed is such, that we could hardly expect to find any remarkable variety. The greater part is only tenable after or during heavy rains, when the hollows in the flats between the sandy ridges contain water. On such occasions the natives move about the country, and subsist almost exclusively on the Hapalotis Mitchellii, and an animal they call the Talpero, a species of Perameles, which is spread over a great extent of country, being common in the sand hills on the banks of the Darling, to the S.E. of the Barrier Range, as well as to the sandy ridges in the N.W. interior, although none were met with to the north of the Stony Desert.

The Hapaloti feed on tender shoots of plants, and must live for many months together without water, the situation in which we found them precluding the possibility of their obtaining any for protracted intervals. They make burrows of great extent, from which the natives smoke them, and they sometimes procure as many as twelve or eighteen from one burrow. This animal is grey, the fur is exceedingly soft; although the animal is in some measure common, I could not procure any skins from the natives.

Very few kangaroos were seen, none indeed beyond the parallel of 28 degrees. All that were seen were of the common kind, none of the minor description apparently inhabiting the interior, if I except some Rock Wallabi, noticed on the Barrier Range. The last beautiful little animal always escaped us in consequence of its extreme agility and watchfulness.

The Native Dog was not seen beyond lat. 28 degrees. Nor was it found in a wild state beyond Fort Grey, to the best of my recollection; these miserable and melancholy animals would come to water where we were, unconscious of our presence, and would gain the very bank of the creek before they discovered us, rousing us by as melancholy a howl as jackal ever made; their emaciated bodies standing between us and the moon, were the most wretched objects of the brute creation.

The first Choeropus castanotus seen, was on the banks of the Darling, in the possession of the natives, but it was too much injured to be valuable as a specimen. A second was also killed there, but torn to pieces by the dogs. None were afterwards seen until after the Barrier Range had been crossed, when about lat. 27 degrees several were captured alive, as detailed under the head Dipus. In like manner the first nest of the "Building Rats" (Mus conditor, Gould) was found in the brushes on the Darling, where they were numerous. The last nest of these animals was on the bank of the muddy lagoon to the north of the Pine Forest, in which the party were so embarrassed, at the end of 1844.

The first Hapalotis, seen was in lat. 29 1/2 degrees on some plains to the eastward of the Depot, where it was nearly captured by Mr. Browne. A second was taken by Mr. Stewart, at the tents, but in neither places were they found inhabiting the same kind of country as that in which they were subsequently found in such vast numbers. Mr. Gould thinks there were two species amongst those brought home, and it may be that these two were different from those inhabiting the sand hills: they only differed, however, in a darker shade in the fur, and a reddish mark on the back of the ears.

There were both rats and mice in the N.W. interior, numbers of which took up their abode in our underground room at the Depot, but there was no apparent difference between them and the ordinary rat or mouse.

There was only one Opossum killed, or indeed seen to the westward of the Barrier Range, nor do they appear to inhabit the interior in any numbers. Since there were no signs of the trees having been ascended by the natives in search of them.

* * * * *

1. CANIS FAMILIARIS, var. AUSTRALASIAE.—Dingo.

This animal was not very numerous in the interior, more especially towards the centre, for it was not noticed to the north of the Stony Desert. Wherever seen it was in the most miserable condition, and it is difficult to say on what they lived. This animal was of all colours. It appears to me that if these dogs are indigenous, nature has departed from her usual laws as regards wild beasts, in giving them such a variety of colours.

2. MACROPUS MAJOR.—Great Kangaroo.

This animal did not extend beyond 28 degrees. Six or seven were there seen on a small stony range, but very few were observed to the westward of the Barrier Range.

3. MACROPUS LANIGER.—Red Kangaroo.

This fine animal did not extend beyond the neighbourhood and plains of the Murray, where it is not numerous. Several of the smaller kangaroos were taken during the progress of the Expedition up the Murray and Darling rivers; but as they have been frequently described, it is not thought necessary to insert them in this list.

4. CHOEROPUS CASTANOTUS, GRAY.

This animal was first killed on the Darling, but the specimen was destroyed by the dogs. Two or three were afterwards taken alive in latitude 26 1/2 degrees. They were found lying out in tufts of grass, and when roused betook themselves after a short run, to some hollow logs where they were easily cut out. The Choeroups is a beautiful animal, about eight inches long in the body, with a tail of considerable length, having a tuft at the end. The fur is a silvery grey, and very soft. When confined in a box they ate sparingly of grass and young leaves, but preferred meat and the offal of birds shot for them. The Choeropus is insectivorous, and I was therefore not surprised at their taking to animal food, which, however, not agreeing with them, they died one after the other. They squat like rabbits, laying their broad ears along their backs in the same kind of way.

5. HAPALOTIS MITCHELLII.

This beautiful little animal was, as I have observed in the introduction to this notice, first seen in the vicinity of the Depot. It was subsequently found in vast numbers, inhabiting the sandy ridges from Fort Grey to Lake Torrens. Those immense banks of sand were in truth marked over with their footprints as if an army of mice or rats had been running over them. They are not much larger than a mouse, have a beautiful full black eye, long ears, and tail feathered towards the end. The colour of the fur is a light red, in rising they hop on their hind legs, and when tired go on all four, holding their tail perfectly horizontal. They breed in the flats on little mounds, burrowing inwards from the edge; various passages tending like the radii of a wheel to a common centre, to which a hole is made from the top of the mound, so that there is a communication from it to all the passages.

They are taken by the natives in hundreds, who avail themselves of a fall of rain to rove through the sandy ridges to hunt these little animals and the talpero, Perameles, as long as there shall be surface water. We had five of these little animals in a box, that thrived beautifully on oats, and I should have succeeded in getting them to Adelaide if it had not been for the carelessness of one of the men in fastening a tarpauline down over them one dreadful day, by which means they were smothered.

6. MUS CONDITOR, GOULD.—The Building Rat.

Inhabits the brushes in the Darling, in which it builds a nest of small sticks, varying in length from eight inches to three, and in thickness, from that of a quill to that of the thumb. The fabric is so firm and compact as almost to defy destruction except by fire. The animals live in communities, and have passages leading into apartments in the centre of the mound or pyramid, which might consist of three or four wheelbarrows full of the sticks, are about four feet in diameter, and three feet high. The animal itself is like an ordinary rat, only that it has longer ears and its hind feet are disproportioned to the fore feet. It was not found beyond latitude 30 degrees. See page 120, Vol. I.

7. ACROBATES PYGMAEA.—Flying Opossum Mouse.

This beautiful and delicate little animal was killed in a Box tree, whence it came out of a hole, and ran with several others along a branch, retreating again with great swiftness. It was so small that if the moon had not been very bright it could not have been seen. It is somewhat less than a mouse in size and has a tail like an emu's feather, its skin being of a dark brown.

8. LAGORCHESTES FASCIATUS (L. ALBIPILIS, GOULD?).—Fasciated Kangaroo.

One only of this animal was seen on the plains of the interior. It is peculiar in its habits, in that it lies in open ground and springs from its form like a hare, running with extreme velocity, and doubling short round upon its pursuers to avoid them. The Lagorchestes is very common on the plains to the north of Gawler Town, but is so swift as generally to elude the dogs. It is marsupial, and about the size of a rabbit, but is greatly disproportioned, as all the Kangaroo tribe are, as regards the hind and fore quarters. In colour this animal is a silvery grey, crossed with dark coloured bars on the back.

9. PHALANGISTA VULPINA.—The Opossum.

Like the preceding, only one of these animals was seen or shot during the Expedition; it was in one of the gum-trees, taking its silent and lonely ramble amongst its branches, when the quick eye of Tampawang, my native boy, saw him. It does not appear generally to inhabit the N.W. interior. The present was a very large specimen, with a beautifully soft skin, and as it was the only one noticed during a residence of nearly six months at the same place, it was in all probability a stray animal.

10. VESPERTILIO.—Little black Bat.

This diminutive little animal flew into my tent at the Depot, attracted by the light. It is not common in that locality, or any other that we noticed. It was of a deep black in colour and had smaller ears than usual.

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BIRDS.

I have observed that a principal reason I had for supposing that there was either an inland sea, a desert country, or both in the interior, was from observations I had made during several expeditions, and in South Australia, of the migration of certain of the feathered tribes to the same point—that is to say, that in lat. 30 and in long. 144, I observed them passing to the N.W. and in lat. 35, long. 138, to the north. Seeing, on prolonging these two lines, that they would pass over a great portion of the interior before they met, about a degree beyond the tropic, I concluded that the nature of the intervening country was not such as they could inhabit, and that the first available land would be where the two lines thus met. It so happened that at the Depot, in lat. 29 1/2 and in long. 142, I was in the direct line of migration to the N.W., and that during our stay at that lonely post, we witnessed the migration of various birds to that quarter, though not of all. This was more particularly the case with the water-birds, as ducks, bitterns, pelicans, cormorants, and swans,—we saw few of the latter, but generally heard them at night passing over our heads from N.W. to S.E. or vice versu; but we never afterwards found any waters which we could suppose those birds could frequent in the distant interior. On Strzelecki's Creek a small tern was shot, and on Cooper's Creek several seagulls were seen, but beyond these we had no reason to anticipate the existence of inland water from any thing we noticed as to the feathered races. On our first arrival at the Depot there was a bittern, Ardetta flavicollis, that frequented the creek in considerable numbers. This bird was black and white, with a speckled breast and neck. Every evening at dusk they would fly, making a hoarse noise, to the water at the bottom of the Red Hole Creek, and return in the morning, but as winter advanced they left us, and went to the N.W.

About February and the beginning of March, the Epthianura tricolor and E. aurifrons, and some of the Parrot tribe, collected in thousands on the creeks, preparatory to migrating to the same point to which the aquatic birds had gone. It was their wont to fly up and down the creeks, uttering loud cries, and collecting in vast numbers, but suddenly they would disappear, and leave the places which had rung with their wild notes as silent as the desert. The Euphema elegans then passed us, with several other kinds of birds, but some of them remained, as did also the Euphema Bourkii, which the reader will find more particularly noticed under its proper head.

The range of the Speckled Dove (Geopelia cuneata), so common on the Darling, extended to the Depot, and two remained with us during the winter, and roosted two or three times on the tent ropes over my fire.

There were always an immense number of Raptores following the line of migration, and living on the smaller birds; nor was any thing more remarkable than the terror they caused amongst them. The poor things would hardly descend to water, and several of the Euphema came to the creek in the dark, when we could not see to fire at them, and several killed themselves by flying against our tent ropes.

The range of the Rose Cockatoo was right across the continent as far as we went—as well as that of the Crested Parroquet, which was, as I have observed, the last bird we saw, just before Mr. Browne and I turned homewards from our first going to the N.W. The Cacatua sanguinea, Gould, succeeded the Sulphur Crested Cockatoo to the westward of the Barrier Range, and was in flocks of thousands on Evelyn's Plains, near the Depot, but I am not certain as to the point to which it migrated. It is remarkable, however, that the Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, though numerous along the whole line of the Darling, was never seen near the Depot, or to the westward of the Barrier Range.

The Amadina Lathami, to which we always looked as the harbinger of good, was met with in every part of the interior—where there was water—and frequently at such vast distances from it, when migrating, I suppose, that vast numbers must have perished.

I have noticed the Pigeons in their proper place, and stated my opinion as to the point to which they went on leaving us; and I would refer my reader to my remarks on that head: he will find their habits and localities fully described there.

We fell in with the water-hen, Tribonyx, on one of the creeks on our journey to Lake Torrens, and again on Strzelecki's Creek, apparently migrating to the south. These birds ran along the banks likefowls, as they did in the located districts of Adelaide, as described by Mr. Gould, and that too in great numbers, and when disturbed took wing to the south. In like manner we observed the Eudromias Australis, migrating southwards in May. From these facts it would appear that the great line taken by the feathered tribes in migrating from the southern or southeastern parts of the province is in a direction between the east and south points of the compass, and I cannot still help thinking that about a degree to the north of the Tropic, and about the meridian of 138, a more fertile country than any hitherto discovered will be found.

It may be necessary for me to observe that on our advance to Fort Grey, in August, we observed numerous Caloderae, and other smaller birds in the brushes, apparently on the move whilst there was water for them, that had been left by the then recent rains. We did not again see these birds until we had passed the Stony Desert and entered the box-tree forest to the north of it, in which was the creek with the huge native well. There a variety of birds had congregated—the Rose Cockatoo, the piping Magpie, the Calodera, various parrots and parroquets, bronze-wing Pigeons, and numerous small birds.

At Cawndilla, Mr. Poole shot a Euphema splendida, Gould. It was in company with several others; but this bird was not again seen until we passed the 26th parallel, in September, when it was met by Mr. Browne and myself coming from the north. The following is a list of the birds seen during the expedition.

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1. AQUILA FUCOSA, CUVIER.—The Wedge-tailed Eagle.

Two of these birds frequented the Depot Glen, in 29 degrees 40 minutes 0 seconds and in longitude 142 degrees, one of which was secured. They generally rested on a high pointed rock, whence their glance extended over the whole country, and it was only by accident that the above specimen was killed.

This powerful bird is common both on the Murray and the Darling, and is widely, perhaps universally distributed over the Australian continent, although the two birds in the Glen were the only ones seen in the interior to the N.W. of the Barrier, or Stanley's Range.

2. HALIASTUR SPHENURUS.—The Whistling Eagle.

This species of Eagle is considerably smaller than the first and has much lighter plumage. It is a dull and stupid bird, and is easily approached. It was shot at the Depot, in the month of April, 1845. Several others were seen during our stay there.

3. FALCO HYPOLEUCUS, GOULD.—The Grey Falcon.

This beautiful bird was shot at the Depot, at which place, during our long stay, Mr. Piesse, my storekeeper, was very successful with my gun. A pair, male and female, were observed by him one Sunday in May, whilst the men were at prayers, hovering very high in the air, soon after which he succeeded in killing both. They came down from a great height and pitched in the trees on the banks of the creek, and on Mr. Piesse firing at and killing one the other flew away; but returning to look for its lost companion, shared its fate. Nothing could exceed the delicate beauty of these birds when first procured. Their large, full eyes, the vivid yellow of the ceres and legs, together with their slate-coloured plumage, every feather lightly marked at the end, was quite dazzling; but all soon faded from the living brightness they had at first. The two specimens were the only ones seen during an interval of seventeen months that the party was in the interior, and these, it appears probable to me, were on the flight, and were attracted down to us.

4. FALCO MELANOGENYS, GOULD.—The Black-cheeked Falcon.

A single specimen of this bird was shot at the Depot, when just stooping at a duck on some water in the glen. The strength of limb, and muscle of this fine species of falcon were extremely remarkable, and seemed to indicate that he despised weaker or smaller prey than that at which he was flying when shot. He had been seen several times before he was killed. His flight was rapid and resistless, and his stoop was always sure.

This must be a scarce bird, as the specimen was the only one seen.

5. FALCO SUBNIGER, G. R. GRAY.—The Black Falcon.

The colour of this fine bird is a sooty black, but his shape is beautiful, and his flight, as his sharp pointed wings indicate, rapid. He was shot in some brushes behind the Depot, where he had been spreading alarm amongst a flight of parroquets, (Euphema Bourkii).

This must also be a scarce bird, as he was the only one seen.

6. FALCO FRONTATUS.—The White-fronted Falcon.

This is both a smaller and a more common bird; its range being very wide. This species followed the line of migration, and made sad havoc among the parroquets and smaller birds. He was generally hid in the trees, and would descend like an arrow when they came to water, frequently carrying off two of the little Amadina castanotis, a favourite bird of ours, one in each talon.

7. TINNUNCULUS CENCHROIDES.—Nankeen Kestril.

Like the last, small and swift of wing, following also the line of migration.

This bird is generally distributed over the continent and is known by the nankeen colour of his back.

8. ASTUR APPROXIMANS, VIG. AND HORSF. Australian Goshawk.

This bird was occasionally seen during the journey.

9. MILVUS AFFINIS, GOULD.—Allied Kite.

This bird is common over the whole continent of Australia. They are sure to be in numbers at the camps of the natives, which they frequent to pick up what may be left when they go away. They are sure also to follow any party in the bush for the same purpose. About fifty of these birds remained at the Depot, with about as many crows, when all the other birds had deserted us; and afforded great amusement to the men, who used to throw up pieces of meat for them to catch in falling. But although so tame that they would come round the tents on hearing a whistle, they would not eat any thing in captivity, and would have died if they had not been set at liberty again. It was this bird which descended upon Mr. Browne and myself in such numbers from the upper regions of the air, as we were riding on some extensive plains near the Depot in the heat of summer. There can be no doubt but that in the most elevated positions where they are far out of the range of human sight, they mark what is passing on the plains below them. This bird is figured, see page 269, Vol. 1.