Expedition into Central Australia | Page 8

presumed that he
here gave up every hope of the Darling changing its course for the
interior, and of proving that I was wrong and that he was right. The
consequence, however, was, that he left the matter as much in doubt as
before, and gained but little additional knowledge of the country to the
westward of the river.
In the course of the following year Sir Thomas Mitchell was again sent
into the interior to complete the survey of the Darling. On this occasion,
instead of proceeding to the point at which he had abandoned it, the

Surveyor-General followed the course of the Lachlan downwards, and
crossing from that river to the Murrumbidgee, from it gained the banks
of the Murray. In due time he came to the disputed junction, which he
tells us he recognised from its resemblance to a drawing of it in my first
work. As I have since been on the spot, I am sorry to say that it is not at
all like the place, because it obliges me to reject the only praise Sir
Thomas Mitchell ever gave me; but I mention the circumstance because
it gives me the opportunity to relate an anecdote, connected with the
drawing, in which my worthy and amiable friend, Mr. Shannon, a
clergyman of Edinburgh, and a very popular preacher there, but who is
now no more, took a chief part. I had lost the original drawing of the
junction of the Murray, and having very imperfect vision at the time I
was publishing, I was unable to sketch another. It so happened that Mr.
Shannon, who sketched exceedingly well with the pen, came to pay me
a visit, when I asked him to try and repair my loss, by drawing the
junction of the Darling with the Murray from my description. This he
did, and this is the view Sir Thomas Mitchell so much approved. I take
no credit to myself for faithfulness of description, for the features of the
scene are so broad, that I could not but view them on my memory; but I
give great credit to my poor friend, who delineated the spot, so as that it
was so easily recognised. It only shews how exceedingly useful such
things are in books, for if Sir Thomas Mitchell had not so recognised
the view, he might have doubted whether that was really the junction of
the Darling or not, for he had well nigh fallen into the mistake of
thinking that he had discovered another river, when he came upon the
Darling the year before, and had as much difficulty in finding a marked
tree of Mr. Hume's upon its banks, as if it had been a needle in a bundle
of straw. Fortunately, however, the Surveyor-General was enabled to
satisfy himself as to this locality, and he accordingly left the Murray,
and traced the junction upwards to the north for more than eight miles,
when he was suddenly illuminated. A ray of light fell upon him, and he
became convinced, as I had been, of the identity of this stream with the
Darling, and suddenly turning his back upon it, left the question as
much in the dark as before. Neither did he therefore on this occasion,
throw any light on the nature and character of the distantinterior.
In the year 1837 the Royal Geographical Society, assisted by Her
Majesty's Government, despatched an expedition under the command

of Lieuts. afterwards Captains Grey and Lushington--the former of
whom has since been Governor of South Australia, and is at the present
moment Governor in Chief of New Zealand--to penetrate into the
interior of the Australian continent from some point on the north-west
or west coast; but those gentlemen were unable to effect such object.
The difficulties of the country were very great, and their means of
transport extremely limited; and in consequence of successive
untoward events they were ultimately obliged to abandon the enterprise,
without any satisfactory result. But I should be doing injustice to those
officers, more particularly to Captain Grey, if I did not state that he
shewed a degree of enthusiasm and courage that deserve the highest
praise.
As, however, both Sir Thomas Mitchell and Capt. Grey [Note 4.
Journals of Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western
Australia, during the years 1837-8-9, by Captain George Grey.] have
published accounts of their respective expeditions, it may not be
necessary for me to notice them, beyond that which may be required to
connect my narrative and to keep unbroken the chain of geographical
research upon the continent.
In the year 1838, I myself determined on leading a party overland from
New South Wales to South Australia, along the banks of the Murray; a
journey that had already been successfully performed by several of my