Explorations in Australia | Page 5

already taken advantage of the delay occasioned by my illness at the time of, and since, my arrival home to collect what scraps of information they could obtain, with the intention of publishing them as my travels. I leave the reward of such conduct to a discriminating public; I shall not fail to carry out my intention with regard to a Telegraph line; and should I have no opportunity of submitting it to the public, I shall take care to advance the matter in such channels as may be most likely to lead to a successful issue. I beg reference to my map accompanying this work, which will at once show the favourable geographical situation of the Adelaide River for a settlement, and the short and safe route it opens up for communication and trading with India: indeed when I look upon the present system of shipping to that important empire, I cannot over-estimate the advantages that such an extended intercourse would create."
Mr. Stuart is also very anxious for the formation of a new colony on the scene of his discoveries on the River Adelaide, and would fain have been one of the first pioneers of such an enterprise, but his health has been so much shattered by his last journey that he can only now hope to see younger men follow in the path which he had made his own. He writes as follows:--
"Judging from the experience I have had in travelling through the Continent of Australia for the last twenty-two years, and also from the description that other explorers have given of the different portions they have examined in their journeys, I have no hesitation in saying, that the country that I have discovered on and around the banks of the Adelaide River is more favourable than any other part of the continent for the formation of a new colony. The soil is generally of the richest nature ever formed for the benefit of mankind: black and alluvial, and capable of producing anything that could be desired, and watered by one of the finest rivers in Australia. This river was found by Lieutenant Helpman to be about four to seven fathoms deep at the mouth, and at one hundred and twenty miles up (the furthest point he reached) it was found to be about seven fathoms deep and nearly one hundred yards broad, with a clear passage all the way up. I struck it about this point, and followed it down, encamping fifteen miles from its mouth, and found the water perfectly fresh, and the river broader and apparently very deep; the country around most excellent, abundantly supplied with fresh water, running in many flowing streams into the Adelaide River, the grass in many places growing six feet high, and the herbage very close--a thing seldom seen in a new country. The timber is chiefly composed of stringy-bark, gum, myall, casurina, pine, and many other descriptions of large timber, all of which will be most useful to new colonists. There is also a plentiful supply of stone in the low rises suitable for building purposes, and any quantity of bamboo can be obtained from the river from two to fifty feet long. I measured one fifteen inches in circumference, and saw many larger. The river abounds in fish and waterfowl of all descriptions. On my arrival from the coast I kept more to the eastward of my north course, with the intention of seeing further into the country. I crossed the sources of the running streams before alluded to, and had great difficulty in getting more to the west. They take their rise from large bodies of springs coming from extensive grassy plains, which proves there must be a very considerable underground drainage, as there are no hills of sufficient elevation to cause the supply of water in these streams. I feel confident that, if a new settlement is formed in this splendid country, in a few years it will become one of the brightest gems in the British Crown. To South Australia and some of the more remote Australian colonies the benefits to be derived from the formation of such a colony would be equally advantageous, creating an outlet for their surplus beef and mutton, which would be eagerly consumed by the races in the Indian Islands, and payment made by the shipment of their useful ponies, and the other valuable products of those islands; indeed I see one of the finest openings I am aware of for trading between these islands and a colony formed where proposed."
Mr. Stuart was accompanied on his last journey by Mr. Waterhouse, a clever naturalist, whose report to the Commissioner of Crown Lands of South Australia, although too long for insertion here, is full of most interesting information. Unfortunately, the interests