Explorations in Australia - John Forrest
Tommy Pierre, one of the aboriginals attached to the expedition, then
stepped forward, and, addressing the assembly, said: I only black fellow,
you know; nothing at all but just a few words. I ought to give you good
lecture. (Laughter.) Well, gentlemen, I am very thankful that I got into
the city of Perth; that people give me welcome and everything. I am
always thankful to any person that brought me into city of Perth.
(Laughter.) When I speak so of city of Perth I don't speak wrong at all,
what I speak is true and true. Well, gentlemen, I am very thankful to the
people in Perth at the Town Hall; I am very thankful to every one that
welcome me. I am always very glad to see white fellows around me. In
Bunbury, Governor Weld spoke to me and say he left me a present in city
of Perth, and I hope I will get it too. (Cheers and laughter.) Governor
Weld is a splendid fellow; splendid governor. Well, gentlemen, I am all
thankful; my last word is--I am thankful to you all. (Cheers.)
Mr. Randell: In consequence of the absence of the Surveyor-General--from
what cause I am unable to state--his lordship Bishop Hale has kindly
consented to propose the next toast. (Cheers.)
His Lordship, on rising, was received most cordially. He said that the
toast which had just been entrusted to him was one that would have been
better proposed by the Surveyor-General. The sentiment was Australian
Exploration. It so happened that ever since he had arrived in Australia
he had been very much interested in exploration, and much mixed up with
persons engaged in that work. He had known the veteran explorer Sturt,
the discoverer of South Australia; and he had also been acquainted with
his brave companion, John McDouall Stuart, who had marked out the route
subsequently followed by the trans-continental telegraph line from
Adelaide to Port Darwin, for, wonderful to say, no better route could
afterwards be discovered; the map of Stuart's journey and the map of the
telegraph line were almost identical. With regard to Mr. Forrest's
exploratory labours, referred to with unaffected and characteristic
modesty by the young explorer himself, his lordship believed that great
and practical results would follow, and that, even as Stuart's track from
south to north of the continent had become the line of communication
between those two extreme points, so would the path traversed by Mr.
Forrest become, some day or other, the line of communication through the
central portion of the continent from West to South Australia. (Cheers.)
With respect to the necessity for exploration, no doubt it was a very
essential work to be carried out. Whenever he had gone to distant and
sequestered parts of the colony in the exercise of his ecclesiastical
functions, and was called upon to console people so situated as to be cut
off from the blessings of regular ministration, he was in the habit of
saying to them, "Although you are at present cut off, yet you may believe
that God in His providence has designed that His world shall be
inhabited, and ordained that pioneers shall go forth into desert places
in order to accomplish that end." Explorers, therefore, like Mr. Forrest,
might well feel that in devoting themselves to the work of exploration
they were doing their duty to God and to their country in seeking to
discover new fields, likely to be of practical use as new settlements for
the ever-increasing human family. Their efforts in that direction, often
purchased with much suffering and privation, entitled explorers to be
classed in the front rank of benefactors to mankind. (Applause.) The
population of the world was continuously increasing, and new settlements
became a necessity. In London alone it was said there was a birth every
five minutes. What, then, must be the population of the British empire if
the increase in one city was at that rate? It was but due to Mr. Forrest
and to all such explorers that they should receive the thanks of their
fellow-men for devoting their lives to so desirable a work as the
discovery of new country, fitted for the habitation of civilized men.
(Applause.) He would not trespass any further on the patience of the
assembly: he was present in order to join in that general feeling of
admiration which Mr. Forrest's exploit had evoked. Cooler courage and
greater heroism could not be displayed under any circumstances than were
displayed by his young friend on his right, circumstanced as he had been
on divers occasions during his journey, with his life and the lives of
his brave companions frequently in imminent peril. (Cheers.) Mr. Forrest
had just told them that he did not think it necessary to enter into the
details of that journey, inasmuch as the most important particulars
connected therewith had already appeared in his telegraphic despatch to
the Government, published in the local newspapers. That telegram was
certainly one of the most explicit and distinct records of the kind that
his lordship had ever perused. He had paid but a moderate degree of
attention to it, but had experienced no difficulty whatever in pricking
out Mr. Forrest's track on a map, and in forming a distinct conception of
his journey. (Cheers.) It only remained for his lordship to ask them to
join him in drinking the sentiment of Australian Exploration, and at the
same time to drink the health of Mr. Alexander Forrest, whose name was
coupled with it. (Cheers.)
The toast was enthusiastically honoured, the band playing The Song of
Australia.
Mr. A. Forrest, on rising, was received with applause. He was
indistinctly heard at the reporter's table, owing to the distance which
separated him from it, and the constant hum of conversation, which by
this time was becoming general. He was understood to express the proud
satisfaction he felt at being present that evening, and more especially
as his name had been associated with the toast of Australian Exploration.
The sentiment was a wide one, and they need not suppose that he was going
to enter into the history of all Australian explorations that had taken
place. He was sure that time would not admit of his making even cursory
remarks upon these events. Mr. Forrest then alluded to the exploratory
labours of Stuart--perhaps the greatest of Australian explorers--of
McKinlay, of Burke and Wills, of Captain Roe, and the Gregorys, and of
the veteran Warburton. The hospitality shown by this colony to the
last-named gallant explorer had produced a lasting feeling of gratitude
throughout South Australia. The manner in which our southern neighbours
spoke of the kind treatment extended by the inhabitants of this colony to
that aged explorer, from the day he reached our north-west settlements to
the hour he embarked on board steamer for Adelaide, reflected honourably
upon the hospitable nature of West Australian people. Mr. Elder, one of
the enterprising gentlemen at whose expense the expedition was organized
and equipped, had told him (Mr. Forrest) that he never heard of such
kindness. The South Australians, however, were not long before an
opportunity was afforded them of returning that hospitality, and they
certainly had not neglected the opportunity. Than the treatment which the
party to which he had the honour of belonging had received at the hands
of the people of South Australia nothing could be kinder--nothing could
possibly be more hospitable. Every house was thrown open to them; their
horses were fed free of charge; it did not cost them a single penny in
travelling; everywhere they were met with the most cordial reception.
Their triumphal entry into Adelaide was a demonstration worthy of a
prince. (Cheers.) Having thanked his fellow-colonists for the very hearty
reception accorded them on their return, Mr. Forrest spoke in very
complimentary terms of the other members of the expedition. The two
natives were first-rate fellows, and, as for Sweeney and Kennedy, he
would never wish to have better companions in the bush. They were always
for going ahead; no thought of turning back ever entered their heads; in
their greatest privations not a murmur escaped their lips. (Loud cheers.)
Mr. L.S. Leake said: "The toast I have to propose is South Australia and
the Sister Colonies--a sentiment which I think might most appropriately
have immediately followed on the speech of my noble friend, Mr. John
Forrest, who by his remarks paved the way to the few words I have to say.
Why South Australia should be placed before the other colonies on this
occasion it is not difficult to conjecture. She has, above all others,
gained our affection by her kind and hospitable treatment of our
fellow-colonists, our respected guests this evening who were received in
Adelaide with even greater honour than the son of our beloved Queen.
(Cheers.) With reference to Mr. Forrest himself, Western Australia should
be proud of having produced such a man; and I only wish I had arrived in
the colony four years and a half earlier, so that I might lay claim to
having been born here. Many of those around me are natives of Western
Australia; and although I am proud of Old England, my native country, I
should have been glad to boast of having been born in the same colony as
John Forrest. All of his fellow-colonists should be proud that Mr.
Forrest has accomplished a feat which the whole civilized world must
admire. (Cheers.) I did think that the Surveyor-General would have
considered it worthy of his coming here to-night to join us in doing
honour to Mr. Forrest, and that he would have introduced you to a
gentleman connected with the Government of Victoria, now in this
colony--Mr. Wardell, the Inspector-General of Public Works, for whose
services we are under deep obligation. I believe him to be an excellent
engineer, and in examining our harbour at Fremantle he will be the right
man in the right place. Had he, however, been in his right place
to-night, he would have been here amongst us, introduced by the
Surveyor-General, and we should thus have an opportunity of publicly
thanking the Victorian Government for granting us the benefit of his
services. (Hear, hear.) But, though Victoria is not represented at this
festive gathering, South Australia is, and that by a gentleman whose name
it affords me great pleasure to connect with the toast which has been
entrusted to me. This colony was established in the year 1829, and in
1830 there arrived amongst us one of our pioneer settlers, a good,
worthy, honest--I cannot say English, but Scotch--gentleman, Mr. Walter
Boyd Andrews, than whom a more upright man never landed on our shores. He
is represented here to night by his eldest son, with whom I spent the
greater portion of my younger days, and who for the last ten years has
been Registrar-General of the colony of South Australia. I have,
therefore, much pleasure in associating his name with the toast which I
now ask you to join me in drinking, Prosperity to South Australia and the
Sister Colonies." (Cheers.)
The toast was drunk with loud cheering, the band playing Pull, pull
together.
Mr. Andrews, in response, said: "Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I rise at
once to return thanks, because I always fancy that words spoken on the
spur of the moment come from the very heart. I will first of all dispose
of myself, having been taken completely by surprise in finding my name
associated with the sentiment proposed by my old friend, Mr. Leake. I
thank you most heartily for the honour you have done me, and the kind
manner in which you have responded to the toast. As regards South
Australia and the Sister Colonies, you have done South Australia the
proud honour of giving her precedence over her sisters of the group,
thereby showing, as Mr. Leake has said, the warmth of your affection
towards her, which kindly feeling, I sincerely believe, is reciprocated
on her part. The cordial reception accorded to your gallant explorers is
an earnest of that feeling, and I think I may venture to say that the
colony which I have the honour to serve will at all times extend a hearty
welcome to any West Australian colonist. There is, I assure you, a very
affectionate feeling entertained by South Australians towards this
colony--a feeling that has been in existence for a long time, and which
is growing deeper and deeper every day. She is not only willing to extend
the right hand of friendship to you, but, as you know, has expressed her
readiness to meet you half way across the desert that separates you from
each other by means of the telegraph. (Cheers.) She does not feel jealous
that you should receive telegraphic intelligence from the outside world
earlier than she does; on the contrary, she is anxious that you should be
placed in the same advantageous position as regards telegraphic
communication as your other sisters are. (Applause.) Gentlemen, on her
behalf, and on my own behalf, I thank you most heartily for the kind
manner in which this toast has been received."
RESULTS OF THE EXPLORATIONS.
Since then, in the summer of 1875, I have visited Europe and received
many proofs of the interest felt by Englishmen in Australian exploration.
In the colonies, too, I find that the spirit of adventure which
stimulates settlers to follow eagerly in the steps of the pioneer has
been active. Already stations are being advanced on each side along the
shores of the Great Bight, and a telegraph line is being constructed from
King George's Sound to Adelaide, along my route of 1870, which will
connect Western Australia with the telegraph systems of the world.
Farther north, towards the head waters of the Murchison, advances have
been made, and I and other explorers must feel a gratification, which
gives ample reward for all our toil, in knowing that we have made some
advance at least towards a more complete knowledge of the interior of
vast and wonderful Australia.
APPENDIX TO JOURNAL.
1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANTS, ETC., COLLECTED ON EXPEDITION;
SHOWING ALSO THE LOCALITY FROM WHICH THEY WERE TAKEN:
BY BARON VON MUELLER, C.M.G., ETC.
CAMP 21.
Latitude 25 degrees 57 minutes 32 seconds South; longitude 117 degrees 20
minutes East:--
Cassia desolata. Trichodesma Zeilonicum. Stylobasium spatulatum. Psoralea
Cucantha. Scaevola spiniscens. Sida petrophila. Codonocarpus
cotinifolius. Adriana tomentosa. Salsola Kali.
CAMP 31.
Latitude 26 degrees 8 minutes 31 seconds South; longitude 119 degrees 18
minutes East:--
Acacia aneura. Oeschynomene Indica. Eremophila longifola. Cassia Sturtii.
Plectronia latifolia.
CAMP 33.
Latitude 26 degrees 13 minutes South; longitude 119 degrees 32 minutes
East:--
Santalum Preissianum. Plectronia latifolia.
CAMP 36.
Latitude 26 degrees 17 minutes 12 seconds South; longitude 119 degrees 53
minutes East:--
Brachychiton Gregorii. Dodonaea petiolaris. Cassia artemisioides.
Eremophila latifolia. Hakea lorea. Acacia aneura. Eremophila longifolia.
CAMP 40.
Latitude 25 degrees 38 minutes 44 seconds South; longitude 120 degrees 38
minutes East:--
Cassia eremophila. Eremophila longifolia.
CAMP 46.
Latitude 25 degrees 0 minutes 46 seconds South; longitude 121 degrees 22
minutes East:--
Stemodia viscosa. Eremophila longifolia. Sida petrophila. Adriana
tomentosa. Convolvulus erubescens. Cassia Sturtii. Hakea lorea.
Camp 48.
Latitude 25 degrees 22 minutes 50 seconds South; longitude 121 degrees 57
minutes East:--
Acacia aneura. Eremophila longifolia. Cassia eremophila. Cassia desolata.
Eremophila Brownii. Loranthus Exocarpi.
CAMP 52.
Latitude 25 degrees 41 minutes 23 seconds South; longitude 122 degrees 53
minutes East:--
Pappophorum commune. Cassia eremophila. Acacia salicina. Santalum
lanceolatum. Senecio lantus. Eremophila Duttoni. Ptilotus alopecuroides.
Brunonia Australis. Hakea lorea. Cassia eremophila. Eremophila
longifolia.
CAMP 59.
Latitude 25 degrees 43 minutes 8 seconds South; longitude 124 degrees 10
minutes East:--
Cassia notabilis. Cassia artemisioides.
CAMP 61.
Latitude 25 degrees 53 minutes 23 seconds South; longitude 124 degrees 31
minutes East:--
Eremophila Latrobei. Dodonaea petiolaris.
CAMP 62.
Latitude 26 degrees 5 minutes 10 seconds South; longitude 124 degrees 46
minutes East:--
Crotalaria Cunninghami. Indigofera brevidens. Sida petrophila. Acacia
salicina. Dodonaea petriolaris. Condonocarpus cotinifolius. Cassia
Sturtii. Cassia artemisioides. Kochia Brownii. Eremophila longifolia.
Loranthus Exocarpi.
CAMP 70.
Latitude 25 degrees 54 minutes 53 seconds South; longitude 126 degrees 48
minutes East:--
Hakea lorea. Cassia desolata. Eremophila longifolia. Abutilon Fraseri.
Acacia salicina. Cassia platypoda. Ficus platypoda (the native fig).
CAMP 71.
Latitude 26 degrees 1 minute South; longitude 127 degrees 7 minutes East.
Crotolaria Cunninghami. Indigofera brevidens. Cassia Eremophila.
Trichodesma Zeilanicum. Cassia artemisioides.
CAMP 72.
Latitude 26 degrees 2 minutes South; longitude 127 degrees 22 minutes
East.
Abutilon Fraseri. Trichodesma Zeilanicum. Acacia salicina.
CAMP 78.
Latitude 26 degrees 15 minutes 10 seconds South; longitude 122 degrees 9
minutes East:--
Gossypium Sturtii. Hibiscus Farragei. Pterocaulon Sphacelatus. Salsola
Kali. Condonocarpus cotinifolius. Heliotropium undulatum. Scaevola
spiniscens. Stylobasium spatulatum. Adriana tomentosa. Tecoma Australis.
Ficus platypoda. Trichodesma Zeilanicum. Sida virgata. Dodonaea viscosa.
Helichrysum apiculatum. Jasminum lineare. Adriana tomentosa. Indigofera
Australis. Petalostylis labicheoides. Scaevola Aemula. Pterocaulon
Sphacelatus. Santalum Preissianum. Festuca (Triodia) irritans.
The Santalum Preissianum, the so-called native peach, with edible fruit,
is found generally on the whole route.
The Spinifex so often mentioned is the Festuca (Triodia) irritans, the
Spinifex of the Desert Explorers, but not of Science.
Latitude 25 degrees 46 minutes South; longitude 118 degrees East:--
Marsdenia Leichardti, the climber with edible pods and milky sap, the
seeds with a downy top, called by the natives Carcular.
Latitude 26 degrees 4 minutes South; longitude 129 degrees 50 minutes
East:--
The Casuarina Decaisneana, the Shea-oak or Desert Oak peculiar to Central
Australia.
APPENDIX 2.
REPORT FROM R. BROUGH SMYTH, ESQUIRE,
SECRETARY FOR MINES OF VICTORIA,
ON THE GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS COLLECTED ON THE EXPEDITION.
COLUMN 1: POSITION OF LOCALITY WHERE THE SPECIMEN WAS COLLECTED.
COLUMN 2: REMARKS BY MR. JOHN FORREST ON THE SPECIMENS FORWARDED.
COLUMN 3: MR. R. BROUGH SMYTH'S REPORT ON SPECIMENS.
Latitude 26 degrees South, Longitude 117 degrees 20 minutes East : Taken
from Mount Hale on the Murchison River. This formation extends to
longitude 120 degrees East, and is very magnetic, also very heavy. There
must be a great deal of iron in it. The hills are very high, and the echo
very remarkable. I have seen the same kinds of hills in latitude 29
degrees, longitude 120 degrees. Bare granite rocks sometimes in the
vicinity, though not attached. (May 4th.) : Two small specimens of
Micaceous Iron-ore with brown Haematite. Impossible to state the age.
Similar ore occurs in Victoria, in Elvans in Porphyry, but it also occurs
in Tertiary rocks.
Latitude 26 degrees 17 minutes South, Longitude 119 degrees 54 minutes
East : The water shed of the Murchison, after crossing which we entered
the Triodia desert. Found oozing out of rock in the water-shed of the
Murchison. : Brown Haematite, decomposing to yellow. (Tertiary.)
Bituminous material. Mr. Cosmo Newbery reports that it is probably the
result of the decomposition of the excrement of bats. It contains
fragments of the wing cases of insects, and gives reactions similar to
the bituminous mineral or substance found in Victoria.
Latitude 25 degrees 14 minutes South, Longitude 121 degrees East : Peaks
rising out of sandy Triodia desert. (May 29th.) : 5, Quartz; 6,
Chalcedony; 7, Quartz; 8, Silky Shale (Silurian); 9, very Micaceous
Schist (Silurian).
Latitude 25 degrees 40 minutes South, Longitude 120 degrees 35 minutes
East : Found in the Frere Ranges. : 10, Ferruginous rock (Tertiary); 11,
portion of a seam or joint of a rock; 12, very fine soft purple slightly
micaceous rock (Silurian); 13, white micaceous slaty sandstone
(Silurian).
Latitude 25 degrees 39 minutes South, Longitude 120 degrees 40 minutes
East : This rock was broken off the face of the side of a bank of brook.
It is rather soft, and would split; it is all in layers. I cut my
initials in it with a chisel. : Purple brown slate (Silurian).
Latitude 25 degrees 40 minutes South, Longitude 122 degrees 20 minutes
East, Mount Moore : Many ranges and some grassy country running from
longitude 122 to longitude 124 degrees, generally composed of this
description of rock. : 15, Rough quartzite (conglomeritic) Tertiary; 16,
rough quartzite with white band, brown and purple (Tertiary).
Latitude 25 degrees 32 minutes South, Longitude 124 degrees 17 minutes
East : Taken from rough range rising out of gently undulating desert.
(July 5th.) : White flinty rock; consists in the main of Silica, with
Magnesia and Alumina; it also contains water and traces of the Alkalies.
It is probably derived from the decomposition of granite. The "rough
ranges" are perhaps granitic.
Latitude 26 degrees 6 minutes South, Longitude 124 degrees 46 minutes
East : From a low table hill (Alexander Spring). : Translucent greenish
quartz. Impossible to state the probable age.
Latitude 26 degrees 2 minutes South, Longitude 125 degrees 27 minutes
East : This sandstone is the usual rock found in all the country from
longitude 122 degrees to 126 degrees 30 minutes. In it are receptacles
for water, and all the rising ground is composed of it. Very often one
side of the rise forms a cliff. Where this is taken from there is a long
line of cliffs with many creeks running from them, and low cliff-hills
all about. : Light red sandstone (desert sandstone, Tertiary).
Latitude 26 degrees South, Longitude 126 degrees 30 minutes East : From
the farthest ranges westward from telegraph line; good grassy country in
flats. The dark piece from a salt gully. (August 8th.) : 20, Silico
felspathic rock impregnated with Micaceous iron (probably from a dyke);
21, 22, green schist (Silurian).
Latitude 26 degrees 12 minutes South, Longitude 128 degrees East : In the
Cavanagh Ranges. Many ranges. (August 17th.) : Greenstone (Diabase ?).
Latitude 26 degrees 18 minutes South, Longitude 129 degrees 9 minutes
East : Tomkinson Ranges. Many ranges running East and West, and grassy
flats between them. (August 26th.) Mount Jane. : Aphanite.
NOTE BY THE EDITOR.
The publication of the preceding Journal affords an appropriate occasion
for inviting attention to the remarkable progress of Western Australia
within the last few years. Mr. John Forrest is proud to acknowledge
himself as belonging to that colony--indeed native-born--and his
fellow-colonists have invariably supported and encouraged his
explorations. Belonging to the public service, he has recognized as his
main object the discovery of new and good country with the view of
extending colonization, while within his ideas of duty there has been a
steadfast regard for those objects which promote the welfare of young
settlements. It has long been observed that Western Australia requires to
be thoroughly understood in its great capacities for carrying a large
population. There are vast resources yet to be developed, and what has
been accomplished in sheep and cattle stations, in copper and lead
mining, in wine-growing, in pearl fisheries, besides other important
operations, prove that the country has scarcely been tapped, and will be
sure to reward those who have the enterprise and industry to become
settlers. It is only necessary to substantiate these statements by
official documents, and, in the hope that this volume will do good
service to Western Australia, the following papers are reprinted.
GOVERNOR WELD'S REPORT TO THE EARL OF CARNARVON.
Government House, Perth,
September 30, 1874.
MY LORD,
It has appeared to me that your lordship may think it desirable that,
before I leave, I should, so far as the limits of a despatch may enable
me to do so, place before you the present state of this colony, review
the progress it has made within the last five years, and indicate its
future prospects.
2. When I was appointed to the Government of Western Australia I was
aware that from various causes the colony had made but little progress;
and on my arrival in September, 1869, I found chronic despondency and
discontent, heightened by failure of the wheat crop, by the prospect of
the gradual reduction of convict expenditure and labour on which the
settlers had been accustomed to depend, by the refusal of the Home
Government to continue to send out free immigrants, and by that vague
dread of being thrown on their own resources so natural to men who have
been accustomed to take no part in their own affairs, and who have
consequently learned to rely entirely upon the Government, and not at all
upon themselves. One healthy symptom there was, and that was a desire,
not very strong perhaps, or even generally founded upon a just
appreciation of the past, or political foresight of the future; but still
a very wide-spread desire, and to many a reasonable and intelligent
desire, for a form of representative institutions which might give the
colonists some real voice in the management of their own affairs.