Explorations in Australia - John Forrest
On our arrival at the town hall we were received by the Ministry, the
Honourable W. Milne (President of the Legislative Council), Sir G.S.
Kingston (the Speaker), several members of both Houses of Parliament, and
other gentlemen. Having alighted, we were conducted to a platform, and
addresses were presented to us by the Mayor, on behalf of the citizens of
Adelaide; from the Odd Fellows, the Foresters, the Rechabites, the Good
Templars, and four German societies. In replying to these I did my best,
but very inadequately, to express my feelings of gratitude for the
reception we had met with, and of thanks for the generous manner in which
our endeavours to successfully perform an arduous task had been
recognized. The Mayors of Kensington, Norwood, and Port Adelaide, also
offered a few words of congratulation to our party.
By particular request, we showed ourselves on the balcony, and bowed our
acknowledgments for the very hearty welcome we received. Then we
remounted our horses, and took them to the police paddocks, after which
my brother and I were introduced to the Adelaide Club.
I have mentioned that several distinguished Australian explorers took
part in the reception, and I may add that among them were the whole of
Stuart's last party, except the gallant leader and Mr. Kekwick, who were
dead, Mr. Few, who was in a distant part of the colony, and the farrier,
who had gone no one knew whither. It was also appropriate to the occasion
that two horses, who were memorably connected with explorations, should
be associated with the animals who had served one so well. The horse
which had carried poor Burke on his ill-fated expedition from Melbourne
was ridden by Mr. F.G. Waterhouse, and Mr. F. Thring was mounted on a
horse which had crossed the continent with Stuart.
BANQUET AT THE TOWN HALL.
In the evening we were entertained at a banquet in the town hall, the
chair being occupied by the Honourable Arthur Blyth, the Premier of the
colony. The proceedings were fully reported in the newspapers on the
following day; and as so many explorers were present, and addressed the
company, I may be permitted, apart from personal considerations, to quote
the principal speeches delivered on the occasion.
The chairman rose to propose the toast of the evening, and was received
with cheers. He said, "I think, for the last two or three days, that
there has been a general feeling that South Australians were not very
good at receptions and getting up processions; but at all events to-day
we have showed that we can manage such things as well as people of more
importance probably than ourselves--at all events quite as well as
countries much more thickly populated than our own. (Cheers.) We have all
of us read something about the old Roman triumphs--how the conquerors,
when they went forth and were successful, were granted a triumph, and in
this triumph were accompanied by the most beautiful of their captives,
and the most wonderful and singular of the animals they had taken, and
passed through the cities of which they were citizens, and received the
plaudits of their inhabitants. To-day we have granted a triumph, not to a
warrior who has killed thousands of his fellows, or added much to the
landed property of the country, but to one who has been a warrior
nevertheless, fighting many difficulties that many warriors had not to
contend with, and carrying his life in his hands, as warriors have done
of old, in leading those who are associated with him in the triumph here
to-day. (Cheers.) There was no beautiful captive in his train, and no
curious animals, as in the old Roman triumphs. All that we saw were some
dusty pack-horses, and some well-worn packsaddles; yet with these the
explorer has to proceed on his journey, and conquer the difficulties of
the desert, knowing that with such slender things to rely upon he must
hope to overcome the dangers, and endure to the end. (Cheers.) Gentlemen,
in the page of Australian Exploration, which is the sentiment attached to
my toast--in its pages there are to be read too many tragic stories. We
cannot think of the history of exploration without thinking with regret
of some of the names connected with it. What an extraordinary page is
that of Leichardt, of whom it has been said no man
'--knows his place of rest
Far in the cedar shade.'
"And yet so great is the interest which is taken in his fate that the
wildest stories of a convict in the gaols of a neighbouring colony have
been of interest to us, and have caused some of our fellow Australians to
send out a party to see if something could not still be heard of that
explorer. Then think of Burke and Wills, and what a tragic tale was
theirs--so nearly saved, so closely arrived to a place of safety, and yet
to miss it after all! I daresay there are hundreds here who, like myself,
saw their remains taken through our streets in the gloomy hearse on the
road to that colony which they had served so well; and we know that now
the country where they laid down their lives is brought under the hand of
pastoral settlement. They were the heroes of other lands; but have we not
heroes also of our own? (Loud cheering.) Have we not here the likeness of
a man who knew not what fear was, because he never saw fear who carried
out the thorough principle of the Briton in that he always persevered to
the end? And then, coming nearer to our own time, speaking by weeks and
months, had we not our opportunity of entertaining in the city the leader
of an expedition that successfully passed its way through the desert to
the shores of Western Australia? I refer to Colonel Warburton. When
speaking, upon that occasion, of the noble way in which the people of
Western Australia had received our explorer, I ventured to hope that
before many months we should have an opportunity of welcoming some
explorer from that colony. Gentlemen, the hour has come, and the man.
(Loud cheering.) For West Australia, though the least of the colonies in
population, has its exploring heroes too. (Cheers.) I have no doubt you
have read, within the last few days, all about the battle that Mr.
Forrest has had to fight with the spinifex desert, with unknown regions,
and hostile natives. While giving all praise to those Australian
explorers connected with this Australian Empire that is to be, I ask you
to join with me in drinking the health of the last and not the least, and
I now give you the toast of Australian Exploration, coupled with the name
of Mr. John Forrest." (Cheers.)
The toast was enthusiastically received, and three hearty cheers given.
Band: The Song of Australia.
Mr. John Forrest, who was received with loud cheers, said, "Mr. Chairman
and Gentlemen, I feel very proud that my name should be coupled with the
toast of Australian Exploration. I assure you I feel altogether unequal
to the toast so aptly proposed by our worthy chairman, my forte not being
public speaking; still, I will try to do as well as I can. (Cheers.)
Since I arrived at years of discretion, I have always taken a very deep
interest in exploration, and for the last five years I have been what is
generally termed in Western Australia The Young Explorer, as I have
conducted all the explorations that have been undertaken by our
Government. In the year 1869 I was instructed to accompany an expedition
as navigator, which was intended to be commanded by Dr. Mueller, of
Melbourne, to search for the remains of the late Dr. Leichardt, who
started from near Moreton Bay in 1848, I think. Dr. Mueller not having
arrived to take command as was anticipated, and the expedition having
been got ready, I was deputed to the command, and we went out about 500
miles to the eastward of the settled districts of our colony, in order to
find out whether the statements of the natives relative to the existence
of white men or their remains in the locality were correct or not. We
were out about five months. Although we did not suffer very much, as we
had sufficient water and sufficient provisions, still it was a very dry
season. We came back and settled that there were no remains--that, in
fact, the reports of the natives were unfounded, and that they referred
to the remains of horses lost by an explorer of our colony, Mr. Austin,
not many miles to the eastward. This was the first attempt at exploration
I had made, and, although I had been brought up to bush life, I knew very
little about exploration, as I found when I went out. I was made aware of
many things that I did not know about before, and I must say that I was a
much better second than a commander. After this I undertook to conduct an
exploration north-east from our colony to Sturt's Creek, where Mr. A.
Gregory came down about 1855, and down the Victoria River. This fell to
the ground; but our present Governor, Mr. Weld, had a great idea that we
should organize an expedition to come to this colony overland along the
coast--along the course which was previously taken by Mr. Eyre, I think
in 1841--and he requested me to take command. Of course I readily
acquiesced in his suggestion, and in 1870 we started on our journey; and
although we did not experience the difficulties Mr. Eyre experienced,
still we had some little difficulty, and we would have had a great deal
more, I have no doubt, if we had not had Mr. Eyre's experience to guide
us. Many people--in our colony, I mean--thought it was a very little
thing indeed we had done, as we had only travelled along another man's
tracks, although they gave us a very hearty and enthusiastic reception.
We reported that there was good country along the coast, and I am glad to
say that in the course of a year a telegraph line will be run across the
route we travelled. (Cheers.) I hope it will tend to unite more closely
than they are at present united the whole of the Australian colonies, and
especially this colony with our own. (Cheers.) There is a very great deal
of good country inland from the south coast; and if only water can be
procured, I am quite certain it will be the finest pastoral district of
West Australia. (Hear, hear.) I have no doubt the establishment of
telegraphic communication will tend to the settlement of that part of the
country, and I am very glad indeed that the Government of South Australia
have acted so liberally as to join with our Government in erecting the
line. (Cheers.) After this my exploration experience still increased, and
I tried very hard to get up another expedition; but, not being a wealthy
man, I had to depend upon others. I often represented that I would like
to go, and people talked about the matter, and then I thought I would
make an offer to the Government, which they might accept or not as they
liked. We have the good fortune to have in our colony a Governor--who, I
am sorry to say, is leaving shortly--who takes a great interest in
exploration. He had been an explorer himself, having, as he has often
told me, travelled across New Zealand with his swag on his back.
(Cheers.) He has always been a great supporter of mine, and done all he
could to forward exploration; and about two years ago I laid before him,
through the Commissioner of Crown Lands, a project which I was willing to
accomplish if he would recommend the granting of the necessary funds. In
a very complimentary reply he quite acquiesced with what I suggested, and
promised to lay it before the Legislative Council with the support of the
Government; and in 1873 the matter was brought before the Council. All I
asked was that the Government of West Australia would grant me some 400
pounds, and I would from my own private purse, and those of others who
had agreed to assist me, stand the remainder of the cost. (Cheers.) If
they granted me that sum, I was willing to undertake an exploration from
Champion Bay up to the Murchison, the head of which we did not know, and
strike the telegraph line for Port Darwin, it being left to my discretion
which course should be pursued. Four hundred pounds seems a paltry sum,
but there was some bitter opposition to its being granted, although by
the aid of the Government and other members it was voted. Last year was
the year when I should have undertaken the exploration, and I was, of
course, quite prepared to do so; but in the meantime a whole host of
expeditions from South Australia had come into the field. Mr. Giles, I
saw, had started from some part of the telegraph line westward, and I
heard afterwards that he had through some misunderstanding--I do not know
what it was; I only know by what I read in the papers--returned to
Adelaide. Then we heard that the South Australian Government had
despatched Mr. Gosse, and that the Honourable Thomas Elder--whom I have
the pleasure of meeting to-day--had despatched Colonel Warburton
(cheers)--to explore towards the same direction--as we judged from the
despatches and newspapers--that I intended to start from. I belong to the
Survey Department of West Australia, and was requested by the
Commissioner of Crown Lands and Surveyor-General, the Honourable Malcolm
Fraser, to superintend some surveys he specially wished undertaken that
season. I had an interview with the Governor, and he said very wisely he
did not wish to order me in any way; that it was no use running a race
with South Australia, and that as they were first in the field, although
we were the first to suggest the exploration, we should wait till the
next year, when, if the South Australian explorers were fortunate enough
to reach this colony, we should have no necessity to send an expedition,
and that if they did not, we should certainly profit by their experience.
I, being engaged in another service in which I took great interest, was
willing to wait for another year; and if, as Mr. Weld said, the South
Australians did not succeed, I would undertake it the next year, and
benefit by their experience. As it turned out, the expedition undertaken
by the Government, commanded by Mr. Gosse, did not succeed in reaching
the colony of Western Australia, and the expedition undertaken by Colonel
Warburton, under the auspices of my recent friend, the Honourable Thomas
Elder, reached our colony, but so far north that it did not add to the
knowledge of the route we had laid out for ourselves. He came out between
the 20th and 22nd degrees of latitude, whereas we started from the 26th,
and did not intend to go more north than that. After we heard--his
Excellency the Governor was away on a visit to New Zealand at the
time--that Mr. Gosse had turned back, although he had succeeded in
reaching a very great distance from the telegraph line, I had
instructions from the Colonial Secretary to equip an expedition at once.
If Mr. Gosse had succeeded, I am sure I would not have been here to-day;
but, as he did not succeed, I had orders to equip an expedition, and as I
was starting news arrived from the north-west coast by a coaster that
Colonel Warburton and his party had arrived. (Cheers.) This, of course,
gave us very great pleasure, and steps were at once taken to give him a
reception in Perth. (Cheers.) As soon as we heard that he had arrived,
our whole colony rose up to give him a welcome; and although what we did
did not come up with what you have given to us to-day--for our colony is
only a small one, with little over 30,000 inhabitants--still I am sure
that Colonel Warburton told you it was a kind reception. (Cheers.) I am
sorry to say that I was not able to be present when he was received,
though I waited some time in order to have that opportunity. The
opportunities for transport from our north-west settlements to the
capital are very few at a certain time of the year, and that was the time
when Colonel Warburton arrived in our settlements; so that in a matter of
700 or 800 miles, from Nicol Bay to Perth, he delayed unfortunately three
or four months. It was a very great pity that he should have been delayed
so long. After receiving addresses at Roeburne and Fremantle, the colonel
arrived just in time to be forwarded 250 miles to catch the mail, and
therefore he had not time, I know, to receive the reception that would
have been given him by the people of West Australia had he remained in
our colony a little longer. (Cheers.) All I can say is, that though what
has been done for Colonel Warburton cannot compare with what has been
done for us to-day, it was done in the same spirit, and we did our best.
(Cheers.) I am sure that I would have been very much pleased to have met
Colonel Warburton here this evening; but I understand that he is gone
upon a tour to his native land, and so I am deprived of the opportunity.
I have, however, had the pleasure of meeting other explorers, and I must
congratulate South Australia upon possessing so many explorers. I had no
idea that she could assemble so many, and that so young a man as myself
should be able to meet so many, all young men. I have read a great deal
of early explorations, and could tell you a good deal about them; but I
have no doubt you are just as well acquainted with their histories as I
am. I have only gleaned their history from books written by able men on
exploration; and I therefore need say little upon that subject, and will
content myself with a short reference to explorations of recent date. I
have already referred to Colonel Warburton. Mr. Gosse's is of more recent
date. I have never been able to read his journal to this day; but I hope
to be able to do so now. Through the kindness of Mr. Phillipson, of
Beltana, I was able to see his map of the country he passed over, with
which I am very well pleased; and, in spite of what some people have
said, I think that Mr. Gosse's exploration will be found of considerable
benefit to the colony, and that his action was one for which he deserved
very much credit. He travelled for some time in bad country, but, going
on, he got into good country; and that which he has described as the
Musgrave and Mann and Tomkinson Ranges I hope to see next year stocked
with South Australian sheep and cattle. (Cheers.) The country which Mr.
Gosse found is country abounding with any quantity of grass, with many
springs; and there are, perhaps, many more than I saw, for I kept along
Mr. Gosse's track; but I will say that I always found water where he said
that it would be found. (Cheers.) There is but one fault that I have to
find with him, and that is, that he did not say that water would be found
where I sometimes found it; but doubtless this arose from a very laudable
caution in an explorer, for had he stated that water would be found where
it failed it might have cost men their lives. One place he marked
springs, and if he had been mistaken there, we would have lost our lives;
but I am glad to say that we found there a very good spring indeed,
(cheers) enough to last all the sheep of South Australia, or at any rate
a good spring; and I am glad on this occasion to be able to thank him for
being so careful to mark permanent water where permanent water really
existed. Mr. Giles's exploration would have been as useful to me as Mr.
Gosse's, but unfortunately he did not return before I left the settled
districts of West Australia, and therefore I did not benefit by his work.
I am sure that my companions and myself feel very much the hearty
reception you have given us on this occasion. I cannot find words to
express my feelings on that point at all. I feel very deeply thankful,
and that is about all that I can say. (Loud cheers.) Six weary
travellers, travelling through the spinifex desert with about fifteen or
sixteen nearly knocked-up horses, not knowing whether they should find
water, or whether their lives were safe or not, I am sure that we could
not imagine that, after all our travels were over, we should receive such
a reception as we have received to-day. (Cheers.) I am sure that if any
stimulus is required to induce persons to become explorers, those who
witness our reception to-day ought to feel content. I am very proud of
the hearty and enthusiastic reception my companions and myself have met
with. I hope you will take the will for the deed, and in the absence of
better speaking on my part, consider that we are deeply thankful." (Loud
cheers.)
Sir H. Ayers, K.C.M.G., had much pleasure in proposing a toast that had
been allotted to him, and made no doubt that the company would have equal
pleasure in responding to it. The toast was Early Explorers, and he had
been requested to associate with it the name of Mr. John Chambers.
(Cheers.) It seemed to be the lot of poor human nature that whenever we
met for rejoicing there was always sure to be some little mournful
circumstance attending it, and we could scarcely think of the early
explorers without remembering with regret the noble leaders and brave
members of former expeditions who have now passed to their eternal rest.
There was the name of Sturt that came first in the list of our old
explorers. There was the name and the likeness of a man far more familiar
to many of them. There was Kekwick, and more recently poor McKinlay--all
gone to their last account. But still he was proud to see, and he was
sure it formed a source of gratification to that company, and especially
so to our guest, so many brave men at the table who had been companions
of those leaders and others in the early expeditions of this country.
(Cheers.) He said it with pride, that in no other Australian colony could
be seen such a group as sat at that table who had gone through the
hardships and dangers of exploration; for with one or two exceptions all
of them in the row were explorers. It was hardly possible for us to
estimate how much we had benefited by those who had opened up the country
for us. We were few in numbers and could not appreciate the work of the
explorer; but generations yet unborn would bless the names of those men
who had carried it out. (Cheers). He thought that it was doing only a
just tribute to associate the name of Mr. John Chambers with this toast,
because it might not be known to all present that Mr. Chambers, with his
late brother James and Mr. W. Finke, enabled Mr. Stuart to accomplish the
journeys that he made throughout the continent. (Cheers.) It was their
capital and his great skill, for in the face of so many explorers he was
not ashamed to say that Mr. McDouall Stuart was the greatest explorer
that ever lived. It was their capital that had enabled him to perform the
work which he had done, and for which his name would remain as a monument
for ever in the memories of South Australians. For not only were we
indebted to Stuart for the most valuable discoveries he had made, but he
thought Mr. Todd would say that his indications had proved the most
accurate. But he had also done a great thing for exploration in changing
the modus operandi. He had been one of Sturt's party that went out with
bullock-drays; but he had had genius, and had changed all that, starting
upon exploring with light parties, and thus being able to accomplish so
much, and he was glad to say that explorers since had followed up the
same plan with great success. (Cheers.) And they were still further
indebted to the Messrs. Chambers. They had not only assisted in
discovering far-off country, but had been the first to invest their
capital in stocking it and making it useful. He was sorry to see that
there were not more Messrs. Chambers to go and do likewise; but he
thought he saw signs of the spread of settlement further, for the toe of
the agriculturist was very near upon the heel of the sheep-farmer, and if
the sheep-farmers did not look out and get fresh fields and pastures new,
they would soon find that the agriculturist was all too near. That was a
question that he enlarged upon, especially in another place; but as
brevity seemed to be the order of the night, he would only ask them to
drink the health of The Early Explorers, coupled with the name of Mr.
John Chambers.
The toast was received with three cheers.
Band: Auld lang syne.
Mr. J. Chambers rose amid cheers, and said that he was proud to say that
he had been connected with the earliest of our explorations, having been
associated with the gallant Captain Sturt in his exploration of the
Murray. After his arrival in the colony he had first travelled with him
and the then Governor, the late Colonel Gawler, in exploring the south.
They had had no difficulties and dangers to encounter then that some of
the explorers of the present had to go through, and, although they
travelled with heavy bullock-drays, managed to have plenty of water and
food. Their principal difficulty lay in getting through the ranges to the
south, and the interminable creeks and gullies which they got into and
had to retrace their steps from. This was a small matter of exploration,
and might at the present day appear absurd; but then there were doubts
where the Angas was, and whether the Onkaparinga in Mount Barker District
was not the Angas, and when beyond the hills they did not know whether
Mount Barker was not Mount Lofty, and whether Mount Lofty was not some
other mount. It was, however, done, and, having settled these matters by
observation, they returned to Adelaide after an exploration of three
weeks. They were on their return made small lions of, although they had
not had to fight the natives, and had had bullock-drays with them, while
their horses were in rather better condition than when they went out.
There was no doubt that the subject of exploration was one of the most
important to be considered by those who in the future would have to do
with the country, as it was always well to have information beforehand;
and, if Governor Gawler and Captain Sturt had known more, there would
have been a different result to their exploration journey up the Murray.
The gallant Captain Sturt had made Cooper's Creek his depot, and that
place twelve months ago had been looked upon as a home by persons in
search of country with a view of stocking it. His youngest son had been
round there for five months, and had penetrated the country far and wide,
and had often to retrace his steps there for water. They had heard from
the young explorer, Mr. Forrest, how it was said when he came here before
that he had only traversed the tracks of Mr. Eyre. So be it, and often
was it said that Mr. Eyre did no good because he kept to the coast; but
they had heard from Mr. Forrest that the tracks and descriptions of Mr.
Eyre were of vast assistance to him. (Cheers.) Therefore no man could
tell what good he might do; the finding of a spring in a desert might
eventually become of great service to the descendants of those who lived
at the time. There were some whom he wished could have been there, but
Providence had ordained the contrary, and therefore he stood before them
to say that it was for no purpose of self-aggrandizement, but for the
purpose of good to the nation, that the early expeditions were promoted
and conducted (cheers) and that the object of James Chambers, Finke,
Stuart, and himself was to span this colony for the purpose of allowing a
telegraph line to be laid. (Cheers.) When we read of the many times that
Stuart was driven back by the force of circumstances, it could easily be
conceived that he possessed a very energetic spirit. It was not once or
twice that Stuart was driven back, but he was determined to penetrate the
continent for the purpose, he was proud to know, of paving the way for
telegraphic communication; and had it not been for his brother, Mr.
Stuart, and himself, he was proud to say, we should not this day have had
the telegraph. It was often said that there never would be a telegraph
line, but their answer was always "yes." (Cheers). He thanked them
heartily for the position in which they had placed him and Mr. Stuart's
companions, and which they all appreciated. (Cheers).