"One night the two natives armed themselves with guns, killed the overseer, and ran away, leaving Mr. Eyre, with his servant, Wylie, two horses, and a very small stock of provisions; they had six hundred miles of unknown desert before them, and their whole supply of food was forty pounds of flour, four gallons of water, and part of a dead horse. They had to go one hundred and fifty miles before finding any more water, and after struggling on for a month, living on horse-flesh, fish, and occasional game, with a little flour paste, they were rescued by a whaling-ship just in time to save their lives. They remained two weeks on the ship, and then continued their journey, with more sufferings for twenty-three days, to King George Sound.
"The next great exploration was that of Captain Sturt towards the middle of the continent, mentioned in the previous chapter. About the same time Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt, a German naturalist, was fitted out by private subscription in Sydney, and explored Eastern Queensland from its southern border to the Gulf of Carpentaria. In less than five months he made a journey of three thousand miles, and was highly successful in every way.
EXPLORERS IN CAMP.
"Afterwards he started with another expedition to attempt to cross the continent from east to west, carrying provisions for two years; but after struggling for seven months he was forced to turn back. Later he set out again with the same object, but since April, 1848, nothing authentic has been heard from him or any member of his party. Several searching parties were sent out, but beyond a few trees with the letter 'L' carved upon them, nothing was ever found to show where he went, and nobody knows what was his fate; the general belief is that he and his companions perished of thirst. About the same time Sir Thomas Mitchell explored a part of what is now Queensland, and a year or so later Mr. Kennedy started on an expedition in which he, with most of his party, was killed.
