"In this undertaking, my young friend Mr. Scott—with his usual spirit and perseverance—was most anxious to have joined me; but painful as it has been to refuse, I have felt it my duty, from the nature of the service, not to comply with his request. It now only remains for me to return my most sincere thanks to the many friends to whose kindness I have been so much indebted during the continuance of this long and anxious undertaking. To his Excellency the Governor I feel that I can never be sufficiently grateful for the very kind, prompt, and liberal support and encouragement which I have invariably experienced, and to which I have been mainly indebted for the means of accomplishing even the little I have done. To yourself, as chairman, the committee, and the colonists, by whom the expedition was fitted out, I return my most sincere acknowledgments for the very great honour done me in appointing me to the command of an undertaking at once so interesting and important—for the liberal and kind way in which I have been supported, and my wishes complied with; and, above all, for the flattering and encouraging confidence expressed in my abilities and perseverance. To a conviction of the existence of this confidence in the minds of those by whom I was appointed, I feel that I owe much of the stimulus that has sustained and encouraged me under difficulties and disappointments of no ordinary kind. Deeply as I lament the unsuccessful and unsatisfactory result of an undertaking from which so much was expected, I have the cheering consciousness of having endeavoured faithfully to discharge the trust confided to me; and although from a concurrence of most unfortunate circumstances which no human prudence could foresee or guard against, and which the most untiring perseverance has been unable to surmount, I have not succeeded in effecting the great objects for which this expedition was fitted out, I would fain hope that our labours have not been altogether in vain, but that hereafter, some future and more fortunate traveller, judging from the considerable extent of country we have examined, and the features it has developed, may, by knowing where the interior is not practicable, be directed to where it is.
"In concluding my report of our endeavours to penetrate the northern interior, I beg to express to all who have been connected with the expedition, my sincere thanks for their zeal and good conduct. In my young friend, Mr. Scott, I have had a cheerful companion and useful assistant; whilst in my overseer and men, I have met with a most praiseworthy readiness and steadiness of conduct, under circumstances and disappointments that have at once been trying and disheartening.
"I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient servant,
"EDWARD JOHN EYRE.
"The Chairman of the Committee for promoting the Northern Expedition."
We were now alone, myself, my overseer, and three native boys, with a fearful task before us, the bridge was broken down behind us, and we must succeed in reaching King George's Sound, or perish; no middle course remained. It was impossible for us to be insensible to the isolated and hazardous position we were in; but this very feeling only nerved and stimulated us the more in our exertions, to accomplish the duty we had engaged in; the result we humbly left to that Almighty Being who had guided and guarded us hitherto, amidst all our difficulties, and in all our wanderings, and who, whatever he might ordain, would undoubtedly order every thing for the best.
Our time was now entirely taken up, in the daily routine of the camp, attending to the sheep and horses, and in making preparations for our journey. We had a large supply of corn and bran sent for our horses, and as long as any of this remained, I determined to continue in depot.
In the mean time, the overseer was thoroughly occupied in preparing pack-saddles, (all of which we had to make) extra bridles, new hobbles, and in shoeing all the horses. I undertook the duty of new stuffing and repairing the various saddles, making what extra clothes were required for myself and the native boys for our journey; weighing out and packing in small linen bags, all the rations of tea, sugar, etc. which would be required weekly, preparing strong canvas saddle-bags, making light oilskins to protect our things from the wet, etc. etc. These many necessary and important preparations kept us all very busy, and the time passed rapidly away. On one occasion, I attempted with one of my native boys, to explore the country due north of Fowler's Bay, but the weather turned out unfavourable, the wind being from the north-east, and scorchingly hot; I succeeded, however, in penetrating fully twenty miles in the direction I had taken, the first ten of which was through a dense heavy scrub, of the Eucalyptus dumosa, or the tea-tree. Emerging from this, we entered an open pretty looking country, consisting of grassy plains of great extent, divided by belts of shrubs and bush; as we advanced the shrubs became less numerous, the country more open, and salsolaceous plants began to occupy the place of the grass. Had we been able to continue our exploration for another day's journey, I have no doubt, from the change which appeared gradually to be taking place as we advanced north, that the whole country around would have been one vast level open waste, without bush or shrub of any kind, and covered by salsolae. I felt strongly convinced, we were gradually approaching a similar kind of country to that I had been in between Lake Torrens and Flinders range; the only difference was that as far as we had yet gone from Fowler's Bay, the elevation of the country did not appear to have been diminished; its average height above the level of the sea, I judged to be about 300 feet, and forming doubtless a continuation of the table land, I had found existing at the head of the Great Bight. The weather, however, was as unfavourable as the country, for such researches, at this season of the year, and the horses I had taken out with me suffered a good deal, even in the short space of two days, during which I was engaged in this attempt.
On some occasions the thermometer was 113 degrees in the shade, and whenever the wind was from the north-east, it was hot and oppressive beyond all conception. The natives, though occasionally seen, generally kept away from us during the time we were in depot. One old man alone (called Mumma) came up to our camp, and remained with us for several days; he was one of the few who had accompanied us so far from the neighbourhood of Denial Bay, and seemed to have taken a great fancy to us. We now endeavoured to reward him for his former services, by giving him a red shirt, a blanket, and a tomahawk, and whenever we got our meals he joined us, eating and drinking readily any thing we gave him—tea, broth, pease soup, mutton, salt pork, rice, damper, sugar, dried fruits, were all alike to him, nothing came amiss, and he appeared to grow better in condition every day.
At last he too got tired of remaining so long in one place; the novelty had worn away, and packing up his things he left us. During the time this man had been with us, I took the opportunity of ascertaining whether the King George's Sound native, Wylie, could understand him, but I found he could not. There were one or two words common to both, but the general character, meaning, and sound of the two languages were so very different upon comparison, that I could myself understand the old man much better than Wylie could.