Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara Volume Iii Part 27

"A dreadful typhoon occurred at Canton on 27th July, 1862. The destruction of life and property is immense, the loss of life in the city and neighbourhood being estimated at about forty thousand. In the telegram which was received a few days ago announcing this event, a query was placed, and very reasonably, after the number stated; but the press state that as far as inquiries have been made at present it is probably correct.

The loss of life has chiefly occurred amongst the junk population, and the fine new fleet of forty Imperial junks, intended for the Yang-tse-kiang, has been destroyed. The water rose till the streets of Honam had three feet in them, but the buildings suffered less than might have been expected; some two or three hundred feet of the granite wall at Shameen was washed away, and blocks of stone were driven about as if they had been billets of wood; houses in the city had also been blown down, and trees rooted up; the rice crops have suffered severely; and the total damage may be estimated in millions of dollars. Mr. Gaillard, an American Missionary, was killed by the falling in of his house; and the residences of the Rev.

Messrs. Bonney and Piercey were thrown down, a large junk having been driven up against them. At Whampoa the docks were all flooded, while the workshops attached were unroofed and otherwise injured. From the _China Mail_, which gives a long and graphic description of this disastrous visitation, we extract the following:--'The British brig _Mexicana_ capsized in Hall and Co.'s dock, and lies on her beam-ends; the British s.h.i.+p _Dewa Gungadhur_ is lying on her side in Gow and Co.'s dock; the British steamer _Antelope_, in the Chinese dock at the corner of Junk River, has her bow run up over the head of the dock, and her stern at an angle of thirty degrees into it; the British steamer _Bombay Castle_ was washed off the blocks in Couper's wooden dock, and was scuttled by her captain to save her from being floated out of the dock; the American s.h.i.+p _Was.h.i.+ngton_ is aground, blocking up the entrance to the Chinese dock in Junk River; the American s.h.i.+p _Jacob Bell_ and British barque _Cannata_ are high on a mud flat, dry at low water--the latter making water, and discharging her cargo; the new British steamer _Whampoa_ broke from her moorings and went ash.o.r.e, but has since been got off without injury.

Several chops sunk, and five of the foreign Customs' inspectors were drowned. Many junks went down with all hands. Bamboo-town is entirely destroyed, the water having flooded it to the depth of six feet, and swept off a great number of its inhabitants. It is greatly to be feared that the disasters among the s.h.i.+pping outside will prove something frightful, and that many vessels now anxiously expected have either been driven on the rocks and gone to pieces or have foundered at sea. Already, it will have been observed, one dismasted vessel, the Danish brig _Hercules_, has come in; and more may be looked for in the course of the next fortnight. The _Iskandershah_ is on sh.o.r.e in the river, close to Tiger Island, a little above the Bogue.' One writer says the city looks just as it did after the bombardment by Admiral Seymour, and that there has not been such a typhoon since 1832.

"The typhoon which visited Canton so severely also committed great ravages at the port of Macao. The loss of life was very great. Many junks were sunk or driven ash.o.r.e, and their crews drowned. The _Chilo_, a British s.h.i.+p engaged in the rice trade, went ash.o.r.e, and is a total wreck; and another vessel was also reported lost. The wharves have suffered severely, and houses were blown down. A letter, dated 28th July, says:--'Yesterday morning a very strong typhoon did a great deal of damage here. The new sea wall on the Praia Grande stood it well, except in one place; but the old one, which has stood so many typhoons before, is now nearly entirely broken down; also Messrs. De Mello and Co.'s wharf. Some houses have come down, and trees on the Praia and other places have lost nearly all their branches. The British barque _Chilo_ got ash.o.r.e outside, and has parted amids.h.i.+ps; about 100 piculs copper cash have been saved from her cargo.

The steamer _Syce_ is ash.o.r.e in the inner harbour, but without damage. A good many junks and boats have capsized or been dismasted, and a great many lives lost. The appearance of the Praia Grande after the typhoon was really astonis.h.i.+ng. We had a very short notice or indication of a typhoon.

On Sat.u.r.day night the wind commenced to blow from N.E., but not before Sunday morning, about a quarter past four, did the barometer go down, and it stood at 8 A.M. at 28.60; thermometer 81. At about 10 A.M. it was blowing hardest from S.W., and caused the greatest damage.'"

VOL. III.

APPENDIX I. (p. 13.)

_The following reprint (by permission) from the columns of the "Spectator" of 11th Oct. and 25th Oct., 1862, conveys so accurate an idea of the achievements of the gallant and lamented Burke and Wills, and of the mismanagement that led to their disastrous fate, that no apology is needed for inserting it here._

THE AUSTRALIAN EXPLORING EXPEDITION OF 1860.[159]

(_Spectator, 11th and 25th Oct., 1862._)

"Those who are interested--and who is not?--in the history of the latest and most successful of Australian exploring expeditions will find the princ.i.p.al materials requisite for the satisfaction of their curiosity in the small volume now before us. The special interest attaching to this particular expedition lies in the striking contrast which it presents between the perfect success of its leaders and their melancholy end.

Having accomplished their arduous task of traversing the Australian continent from south to north, Messrs. Burke and Wills returned to their starting-point, only to find that the depot which they had established there had been abandoned by their companions less than twelve hours before their arrival. Utterly broken down by privation and fatigue, and disappointed of the succour on which they had confidently relied, they were unable to traverse the comparatively trifling distance which separated them from the settled districts, and, after some weeks of hopeless wandering, they were literally starved to death when almost within sight of aid. The story of these few weeks, as contained in the scanty records left by Messrs. Burke and Wills, and in the statement made by their sole surviving companion, is one of the most touching narratives of human fort.i.tude that we have ever met with. The feeling of sympathy, almost painful in its intensity, which it necessarily excites, is immediately followed by a desire to ascertain the precise quarter in which the gross neglect which alone could have rendered such a catastrophe possible can justly be charged. It is to this point that we propose mainly to direct the remarks which we have to make on Mr.

Jackson's volume; and we shall recapitulate the history of the expedition only so far as is absolutely necessary to render our observations generally intelligible.

"The exploring party left Melbourne on August 20, 1860. It was accompanied by a number of camels, which had been imported for the purpose, on the supposition that these animals would be peculiarly fitted to bear the privations incidental to such a journey. The party was headed by Mr.

Robert O'Hara Burke. Mr. Landells, who had charge of the camels, was second in command; and the third officer was Mr. William John Wills, who also acted as astronomical and meteorological observer to the expedition.

On September 23 they reached Menindie, on the Darling river, about 400 miles from Melbourne. Here Mr. Landells, in consequence of some disagreement with Mr. Burke, resigned his post; and Dr. Beckler, the medical officer to the expedition, declined to go any further. Hereupon Burke appointed Wills in Landells' place, and divided his party, leaving one section at Menindie, in charge of Beckler, while he, with Wills and six others, pushed on, on October 19, for Cooper's Creek, about 400 miles further north, under the guidance of one Wright, a man acquainted with the country, whom he met with on the spot. On October 31, when about half-way between Menindie and Cooper's Creek, Burke appointed Wright third officer, and sent him back to the Darling, with instructions to bring up the remainder of the party and stores to Cooper's Creek without delay. He then pushed on, and reached the Creek on November 11. He remained here about a month, and then again divided his party. Three men, six camels, and twelve horses were left at the depot on the Creek, under the command of Mr.

Brahe, whose instructions were to remain till Burke's return, or until he was forced to retreat by want of provisions. Burke started on December 16, taking with him Wills, King, and Gray, six camels, one horse, and provisions for three months, which was the time he expected to be absent; but he told Brahe that he might be away four months, or even more. On February 11, 1861, he reached a point only a few miles from the sh.o.r.e of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and thus accomplished his mission of entirely crossing the Australian Continent from south to north. He at once retraced his steps, and arrived at the depot in Cooper's Creek on April 21, accompanied by Wills and King, Gray having died a few days before. They found that Brahe had quitted his post that very morning, and started for the Darling, leaving some provisions buried at the foot of a tree, on which he had cut an inscription indicating the fact. The exhausted explorers debated what they had best do. Wills and King wished to make for Menindie; but Burke, thinking that, weak as they were, it was hopeless to try to overtake Brahe, decided to push for the nearest settled districts of South Australia, distant about 150 miles. This they did on April 23, having left a note in Brahe's _cache_, but without adding anything to his inscription on the tree, or leaving any distinct intimation that they had ever been there. But the enterprise was beyond their strength. They were so weak that they could not advance more than five or six miles a day; their camels knocked up, their provisions ran short; and, finally, Burke died on July 1st, Wills having succ.u.mbed a day or two earlier. King, the sole survivor, fell in with the natives, who treated him kindly; and he was rescued on September 15th by a party sent from Melbourne in search of him, under the guidance of Mr. Howitt.

"We must now return to Mr. Wright, and see how he carried out the instructions given him by his chief. Mr. Burke, as we have already said, sent him back to Menindie on October 31, 1860; and he reached that place on November 5. Here, in the teeth of Burke's orders to bring the rest of the party on to Cooper's Creek _without delay_, he remained inactive until January 26, 1861, when he appears to have moved northward. He never, however, got further than Bullo, a place about sixty miles south of Cooper's Creek, where Mr. Brahe fell in with him on April 29, and at once placed himself under his orders. Two days later Wright left Bullo, and moved a few miles further south, "not seeing the utility of pus.h.i.+ng on the depot to Cooper's Creek for the purpose of remaining there the few weeks their stores would last." On May 3, at Brahe's suggestion, Wright and he returned to the depot on Cooper's Creek, taking no stores with them. They remained there a quarter of an hour, did not examine the _cache_, and then, seeing no signs of Burke having been there, rejoined the rest of their party, and made their way back to the Darling, whence Brahe at once proceeded to Melbourne. On hearing his report, the Exploration Committee lost no time in despatching the relief party, under Mr. Howitt, which, as we have already said, discovered King in the following September.

"After the foregoing brief summary of the facts of the case, the reader will probably have but little difficulty in coming to the conclusion that the death of Messrs. Burke and Wills was, in great measure, owing to Mr.

Wright's having so unaccountably neglected to obey the distinct instructions of his chief. Mr. Jackson, indeed, holds that no one but Wright was at all to blame in the matter. Nay, he even goes so far as to accuse Wright of having wilfully and deliberately left the leaders of the expedition to a fate which he must have known would be the natural result of his inaction. 'Can any reasonable person,' he asks, 'doubt that Wright knew perfectly well the exact nature of his instructions, and foresaw the disastrous consequences almost certain to ensue should they be disregarded.' This very serious charge is based upon a pa.s.sage in a despatch from Mr. Wright to the Exploration Committee at Melbourne, dated Dec. 19th, in which he says:--'As I have every reason to believe that Mr.

Burke has pushed on from Cooper's Creek, relying upon finding the depot stores at that water-course upon his return, there is room for the most serious apprehensions as to the safety of himself and party, should he find that he has miscalculated.' This pa.s.sage seems at least to prove that Wright had fully comprehended both the meaning and the object of the instructions he had received, _to return to Menindie, and bring up the stores as rapidly as possible to Cooper's Creek_. In the teeth of these positive orders he remained at Menindie no less than eighty-two days, from Nov. 5th, 1860, to Jan. 26th, 1861, doing literally nothing at all. There was, as far as we can see, nothing to prevent him from reaching Cooper's Creek with a portion of the stores before the end of 1860. The distance from Menindie to the Creek is about 400 miles, and Mr. Burke had traversed it without difficulty in twenty-three days. When Burke left Cooper's Creek on December 16th, he was in daily expectation of Wright's arrival. Had this reasonable expectation been fulfilled, there would then have been no reason why Brahe should not have remained at the depot for six months, or even a longer time. Wright appears to have spent a considerable portion of the time which he wasted at Menindie in making trips to see his wife and family, who were at a station about twenty-one miles off, being troubled with fears that they would not get safely and comfortably to Adelaide, whither he wished to send them. The explanation by which he subsequently endeavoured to account for his delay was anything but satisfactory. In the despatch already referred to, dated Dec. 29th, he alleged that he 'delayed starting merely because the camels left behind by Mr. Brahe were too few in number, and too inferior in carrying powers, to carry out a really serviceable quant.i.ty of provisions.' When, however, he was examined by the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the affair, he stated that he remained at Menindie because he was waiting for the confirmation of his appointment as third officer. When pressed to reconcile these two statements, and reminded that, unless he could do so satisfactorily, he 'stood in an awkward position before the Commission,' he made no reply.

When at last he did set out from Menindie, we have seen that he advanced no further than Bullo, where he was joined by Brahe on April 29th. In explanation of this circ.u.mstance, he urges that Burke had left Menindie at a favourable season, when water was abundant; while when he started the advance of summer had dried up all the water-courses, and the ravages of scurvy had reduced the effective strength of his party to an alarming extent. This statement is, no doubt, substantially true; but we need hardly observe that it rather aggravates than extenuates his offence.

Since he was well acquainted with the country, and knew that the advance of summer would immensely increase the difficulty of traversing it, he is all the more inexcusable for not having attempted the journey before the hot weather set in. When, after having been joined by Brahe, he paid a final visit to Cooper's Creek, the careless manner in which he conducted the search almost drives us to the conclusion that he was completely indifferent to its result. It was at Brahe's suggestion that he went back at all. Then though both he and Brahe were mounted, and were accompanied by a spare pack-horse, he did not, although the contingency of finding Burke's party was the sole object of his journey, attempt to provide for it by taking with him any stores of any kind. On reaching the depot, he stayed there only a quarter of an hour, and then, having failed in that time to discover any trace of Burke's party, at once turned his back on the Creek. It is scarcely possible to imagine how, under such circ.u.mstances, he could have omitted to examine the _cache_ made by Brahe a few days before, in which case he would have discovered that Burke's party had returned to the Creek, and would have learnt the direction in which they had gone. When questioned on this point by the Commissioners, he replied that he had noticed traces of natives about the place, and feared that if he disturbed the ground where the stores were hid they would see that something was buried there, and would plunder the _cache_.

He 'had not the presence of mind,' he went on, to add any mark of his own to the inscription which Brahe had cut upon the tree. He seems, in fact, to have been thoroughly sick of the whole business, and to have thought of nothing but getting back to the settled districts with all possible speed.

"We must now inquire what amount of blame can be fairly attached to Mr.

Brahe, whose departure from Cooper's Creek was the immediate cause of the melancholy end of Messrs. Burke and Wills. He appears to have received instructions to remain at the Creek until the return of Burke's party, or, at any rate, until the failure of his provisions obliged him to retreat.

Burke fixed three months as the probable duration of his absence; but Wills seems to have impressed upon Brahe that it was quite possible they might have been away for at least four months. Brahe did actually remain there more than four months--from December 16th to April 21st;--but he left before he was absolutely compelled to do so. Even supposing him not to have overrated the supply of provisions necessary to carry his party back to the Darling, he could clearly have remained until he had consumed the stores which he left behind him at the Creek. But we must not forget that he was placed in a very difficult position. One of his companions was dangerously ill, and had for some time beset him with entreaties to return to Menindie; and all his party seem to have thought it very doubtful whether Burke would return that way at all. In Brahe's diary, on April 18th, we find the entry, 'There is no probability of Mr. Burke returning this way.' Here the observation suggests itself that, had this been his real conviction, there was no occasion for him to deprive himself of the stores which he left behind him. Mr. Jackson points out that the letter left by Brahe in the _cache_ at the Creek did not give a true account of the condition of his party. In it Brahe said that they were all quite well except one, and that the camels and horses were in good working condition. It was this intelligence which induced Burke to decide to make a push for South Australia. Had he known that Brahe's party, both men and beasts, were really in a weak and exhausted state, as the slowness of their rate of progression appears to prove, he would probably have decided to follow in their track. Since Brahe was under Wright's command at the time of their final return to Cooper's Creek, the lamentable carelessness which, as we have already said, was displayed on that occasion, cannot fairly be laid to his charge. It is almost impossible for us, with the full knowledge of all the circ.u.mstances which we now possess, not to allow our judgment to be influenced by the fact that, if Brahe had postponed his departure for a few hours only, the melancholy catastrophe would not have occurred. If, however, we wish to judge him fairly, we must not forget that this is a fact of which, at the time of his departure, he was necessarily ignorant. On the whole, we are inclined to agree with the verdict p.r.o.nounced in his case by the Commissioners who were appointed to inquire into the affair. 'His decision,' they say, 'was most unfortunate; but we believe he acted from a conscientious desire to discharge his duty, and we are confident that the painful reflection that twenty-four hours'

further perseverance would have made him the rescuer of the explorers, and gained for himself the praise and approbation of all, must be of itself an agonizing thought, without the addition of censure he might feel himself undeserving of.'

"We have now to inquire into the manner in which Mr. Burke discharged his duties as leader of the expedition, with a view of ascertaining whether its melancholy termination can, in any degree, be traced to any fault, whether of omission or of commission, on his part. If we are willing to submit ourselves absolutely to Mr. Jackson's guidance, we may, indeed, spare ourselves this trouble; for he a.s.serts most distinctly that Mr.

Burke invariably did what was best under existing circ.u.mstances, and that he never neglected any precaution which could tend in any way to bring his undertaking to a successful issue. But we must remember that Mr. Jackson comes forward as the avowed advocate of Mr. Burke; and, while we are not one whit behind him in enthusiastic admiration for the energy and self-devotion displayed by his hero, we must not allow our respect for these qualities to blind us to any defects which we think we can detect in the conduct of the expedition. The report of the Commission, appointed by the Victorian Government to inquire into the circ.u.mstances connected with the death of Burke and Wills, finds fault with Burke on several points, which we will proceed to consider in detail. In the first place, it p.r.o.nounces that Burke acted 'most injudiciously' in dividing his party at Menindie. We are not sure that we can entirely concur in this verdict. We do not see any evidence that Burke intended the depot at Menindie to be a permanent one. On the contrary, it seems clear that he intended it to have been transferred bodily to Cooper's Creek. On his arrival at Menindie, Dr.

Beckler's refusal to proceed further placed him in an awkward position. As Beckler had no objection to remain at Menindie, Burke resolved to make his services available as far as possible, and left him there with a section of the party in charge of the heavier stores, while he himself pushed on towards Cooper's Creek under the guidance of Mr. Wright. The division of the party did not in any way r.e.t.a.r.d or imperil Burke's arrival at Cooper's Creek; and he seems to have looked forward to the union of all his forces at that place before he proceeded further. As soon as he was convinced that Wright was worthy of confidence, he appointed him third officer of the expedition, and sent him back to bring the remainder of the party to Cooper's Creek without delay, at the same time accepting Beckler's resignation, and relieving him from any further charge. We cannot therefore see that the division of the party at Menindie was directly productive of any evil consequences, nor would any harm have resulted from it, but for Wright's flagrant neglect of the instructions of his chief. In the next place, the report p.r.o.nounces that 'it was an error of judgment on the part of Mr. Burke to appoint Mr. Wright to an important command in the expedition, without a previous personal knowledge of him.' On this point we think there is good ground for the censure of the Commission. That Burke was, as it were, driven into a corner by the resignation of Landells and Beckler is quite true; but it is difficult to imagine that he should not have been able (supposing him to possess any insight into character at all) to detect, during the time that he and Wright were together, some indication of the gross incompetence which the latter subsequently displayed. Mr. Jackson endeavours to s.h.i.+ft the blame from Mr. Burke's shoulders to those of the Exploration Committee, by observing that the Committee knew of Wright's appointment by Dec. 3, and so had plenty of time, if they had had any objection to him, to replace him by some one else. What objection could the Committee possibly have to a man whose name they had never heard before that moment? Clearly they are not to blame for relying upon the judgment of the leader whom they had selected, and confirming his appointment of a man who he a.s.sured them 'was well qualified for the post, and bore the very highest character.' Whatever blame may attach to the selection of Mr. Wright for a post of trust must rest entirely upon Mr. Burke. The Commissioners next proceed to blame Mr.

Burke for finally departing from Cooper's Creek before the arrival of the depot party from Menindie, and for undertaking so extended a journey with an insufficient supply of provisions. On both these points there is something to be said in Mr. Burke's favour. As regards the first, his conduct was the natural result of his misplaced confidence in Wright, combined with the consideration that the success of his journey depended in great measure upon the rapidity with which it was prosecuted. With respect to the second, we must remember that on an expedition of this kind, when the carrying power is limited, and every ounce of weight has to be considered, it is almost as important to exclude everything that is superfluous as it is to leave behind nothing that is strictly necessary.

It seems probable, however, that Mr. Burke was guilty of an error in judgment, in underrating the time which the journey from Cooper's Creek to Carpentaria was likely to require. Finally, the Commissioners draw attention to the fact that it does not appear that Burke kept any regular journal, or that he gave written instructions to his officers. 'Had he,'

they observe on this point--and we fully concur in their remark--'performed these essential portions of the duties of a leader, many of the calamities of the expedition might have been averted, and little or no room would have been left for doubt in judging of the conduct of those subordinates, who pleaded unsatisfactory and contradictory verbal orders and statements.'

"We are unable, the reader will perceive, to concur in Mr. Jackson's repeatedly expressed opinion, that there are no grounds whatever for any of the censures which the Commissioners found it their duty to p.r.o.nounce on some points connected with Mr. Burke's management of the expedition.

The fact is, that after a careful consideration of all the circ.u.mstances of the case, we incline to the conclusion that Mr. Burke did not possess the qualifications necessary for the successful leaders.h.i.+p of such an enterprise; and that, consequently, some blame must rest with the Exploration Committee, who selected a comparatively unfit person for a position of such responsibility and importance. We appreciate and admire, as enthusiastically as Mr. Jackson himself can possibly do, the courage and self-devotion displayed by Mr. Burke; but we cannot forget that gallantry and daring are not the only qualities required in the leader of an exploring expedition through an unknown and difficult country. The choice of the Committee was, we believe, mainly dictated by the consideration that Mr. Burke had, while employed in the police-force of the colony, shown himself to be possessed of a considerable talent for organization, and of no little apt.i.tude for command. They appear not to have attached sufficient importance to the not less material fact, that he knew nothing of bush-travelling, and had no practical experience of the preparations and precautions necessary for the successful prosecution of such a journey as that with which he was entrusted. Mr. Jackson calls upon us to observe that it was to the _rapidity_ of Mr. Burke's progress that his ultimate success is due; and the observation is, to a great extent, justified by facts. It appears to us, however, that most, if not all, of the errors of judgment of which he was guilty, during the progress of the expedition, are directly traceable to the same quality of mind which rendered him so prompt in action. The Commissioners. .h.i.t the blot in his character when they p.r.o.nounced that 'his zeal was greater than his prudence.' The examination of his proceedings which we have already made affords, we think, ample grounds for this conclusion. We have, however, met with one pa.s.sage in the records of the expedition which exhibits Mr.

Burke's const.i.tutional hastiness of temper and want of judgment in so strong a light, that we cannot refrain from placing it before the reader.

It occurs in King's narrative of the attempt made by himself, Burke, and Wills, to reach the settled districts of South Australia, after they had found the depot at Cooper's Creek deserted. Mr. Wills had gone back to the depot, and Burke and King were awaiting his return. King proceeds as follows:--

"'A few days after Mr. Wills left, some natives came down to the creek to fish at some water-holes near our camp. They were civil to us at first, and offered us some fish; on the second day they came again to fish, and Mr. Burke took down two bags, which they filled for him; on the third day they gave us one bag of fish, and afterwards all came to our camp. We used to keep our ammunition and other articles in one gunyah, and all three of us lived together in another. One of the natives took an oil-cloth out of this gunyah; and Mr. Burke, seeing him run away with it, followed him with his revolver, and fired over his head, and upon this the native dropped the oil-cloth. While he was away, the other blacks invited me away to a water-hole to eat fish, but I declined to do so, as Mr. Burke was away, and a number of natives were about who would have taken all our things.

When I refused, one took his boomerang and laid it over my shoulder, and then told me by signs that if I called out for Mr. Burke, as I was doing, that he would strike me. Upon this, I got them all in front of the gunyah, and fired a revolver over their heads; but they did not seem at all afraid, until I got out the gun, when they all ran away. Mr. Burke, hearing the report, came back, and we saw no more of them until late that night, when they came with some cooked fish, and called out, "White fellow." Mr. Burke then went out with his revolver, and found a whole tribe coming down, all painted, and with fish in small nets carried by two men. Mr. Burke went to meet them, and they wished to surround him; but he knocked as many of the nets of fish out of their hands as he could, and shouted out to me to fire. I did so, and they ran off. We collected about five small nets of cooked fish. The reason he would not accept the fish from them was, that he was afraid of being too friendly, lest they should be always at our camp. We then lived on fish until Mr. Wills returned.'

"This method of dealing with the natives was surely, to say the least of it, exceedingly injudicious. They had, it appears, always shown themselves friendly to the explorers; and, in the weak state of the party, it was little short of madness to run the risk of disturbing the friendly relations between them and the blacks by any act of violence. And yet we find Mr. Burke actually attacking them, and taking forcibly from them the food which they had always shown themselves ready to give; and for no better reason than that 'he was afraid of their being too friendly, lest they should be always at the camp.' Not many days later Mr. Burke died while making a last attempt to rejoin those very natives whom he had driven away. It is scarcely possible to avoid the conclusion that Mr.

Burke's judgment must have been materially weakened by the sufferings and privations he had undergone, before he could possibly have acted in so utterly unaccountable a manner.

"We must now say a few words as to the route taken by Mr. Burke on his journey from Cooper's Creek to Carpentaria, and the nature of the country through which he pa.s.sed. His first idea after reaching the Creek was to proceed due north, and four tentative expeditions were made in that direction, one of which was pushed to a distance of ninety miles. Finding, however, that the ground was too rough, either for horses or camels, he finally resolved to proceed in a north-westerly direction as far as Eyre's Creek, and at that point turned northward, and crossed the continent by a route which lies mainly on or about the 140th meridian of east longitude.

The country does not appear to be difficult to traverse; and Mr. Wills tells us that the worst travelling-ground they met with was between Bullo and Cooper's Creek. As regards the nature of the land, Mr. Burke briefly sums it up in the following words: 'There is some good country between this (Cooper's Creek) and the Stony Desert. From thence to the tropics the country is dry and stony. Between the tropics and Carpentaria a considerable portion is rangy, but is well watered and richly gra.s.sed.'

Mr. Wills reports that 'as to pasture, it is only the actually stony ground that is bare, and many a sheep-run is, in fact, worse grazing than that.' As regards the supply of water, it appears that the expedition, except when actually crossing the desert, never pa.s.sed a day in which they did not traverse the banks of, or cross, a creek or other water-course.

The whole country appears, in short, to be admirably adapted for pastoral purposes, and its discovery cannot but add largely to the resources of the Australian colonies. Sir Henry Barkly, the Governor of Victoria, in a despatch to the Duke of Newcastle, states that the occupation of "Burke's Land" with stock is already seriously contemplated by the squatters, and that there seems little reason to doubt that in the course of a few years the journey from Melbourne to Carpentaria will be performed with comparative facility by pa.s.sing from station to station. He adds that much of the country traversed by the expedition between the Darling and Cooper's Creek is already taken up, so that both sheep and cattle are now depastured within 25 miles of Bullo, stretching thence easterly along the Queensland boundary in an almost unbroken chain. These antic.i.p.ations are fully confirmed by the report of Mr. Landsborough, the Queensland explorer. This gentleman, who has crossed the continent from Carpentaria to Melbourne, gives the most favourable account of the pastoral capabilities of the country which he traversed, and does not hesitate to express an opinion that within twelve months the whole of it will be taken up by settlers. We need not therefore hesitate to conclude, with Sir Henry Barkly, that 'the results attained by the expedition are of the very highest importance, both to geographical science and to the progress of civilization in Australia.'"

APPENDIX II. (p. 131.)

_The following pathetic address, recently transmitted by H.E.

Sir George Grey to the Duke of Newcastle, H. M. Secretary of State for the Colonies, for presentation to Her Majesty under her recent bereavement, also attests the deeply poetic vein that marks the Maori character._

Oh Victoria, our Mother!--We greet you! You, who are all that now remains to recall to our recollection Albert, the Prince Consort, who can never again be gazed upon by the people.

We, your Maori children, are now sighing in sorrow together with you, even with a sorrow like to yours. All we can now do is to weep together with you. Oh, our good mother, who hast nourished us, your ignorant children of this island, even to this day!

We have just heard the crash of the huge-headed forest tree which has untimely fallen, ere it had attained its full growth of greatness.

Oh, good lady, pray look with favour on our love. Although we may have been perverse children, we have ever loved you.

This is our lament.

Great is the pain which preys on me for the loss of my beloved.

Ah, you will now lie buried among the other departed kings.

They will leave you with the other departed heroes of the land.

With the dead of the tribes of the mult.i.tude of 'Ti Mani.

Go fearless then, O Pango, my beloved, in the path of death; for no evil slanders can follow you.

Oh my very heart! Thou didst shelter me from the sorrows and ills of life.

Oh my pet bird, whose sweet voice welcomed my glad guests!

Oh my n.o.ble pet bird, caught in the forests of Rapaura!

Let, then, the body of my beloved be covered with royal purple robes!

Let it be covered with all-rare robes!

The great Rewa, my beloved, shall himself bind these round thee.

And my ear-ring of precious jasper shall be hung in thy ear.