CAMELS FOR EXPLORING EXPEDITIONS IN AUSTRALIA.

Anglo-Maori Warder, Volume 1, Issue 19, 31 August 1848, Page 1

CAMELS FOR EXPLORING EXPEDITIONS IN AUSTRALIA.

[From the Arhenæam] As a practical mao—one who has been engaged in many exploring expeditions in New South Wales-I venture to assert, that although a swift dromedary might be of important seiv.ce in emergencies, it would bs neither prac'icable nor advisable to emplov a string of camels for the conveyance of baggage. Y u u nuns be well awara that at all ttmcs it has been found difficult to raise sufficient funds for any expedi'ion—even for Dr. Leichbardt, one of the most succrsstu'. discovered. To add to these excuses the cost ot a string of camels, which wou'd be useless fur other purpose, as well as the difficulty of obtunrni; experienced drivers —for a c<imel is a very difficult brute to manage m strange h^nds—would be siroply to render any new expeditions impossible. Colonial vi:ll da wonders—moie than explorers require under on! nary circumstances. I have known a uorsemau to execute eighty miles within twenty four hou's. On [iiiva-e exploring expeditious, by wlrch ihe finest lands »n the colonies have been discovered, the party h.is usuaHy consisted of I*o men well a Mack native lid a'so mounted, and a pack horse. With such a party, in the hottest weather, I have myFelf executed seventy m:lvs in a day without finding water fiotti the hoe of starung t about four o'clock in the moroing, until eight o'clock in the evening. I have on moie Utan one occasion known hordes <o go three dajs wittwut water. Now, I should recommend an expioi n; pa lv to ue formed of not more than five person*— Uree would bs belter—including one nadv e (r* an interpreter, and to find and fetch the horses in a morn ng,) a pack hoite or two, and oo° swift dromedary to be mounted by c«c of the party. Ine command should be given to 01 experienced bu-mman, to whom 'he difficulties of a desert are matters ot eveiyday usp. The dromedary driver wonldbe iuvaluabl.—first, as a scout todi cover water for each evening's encampment, and next, to explore any barren plain that might interrupt the pre* gress ef the expedition. Bullock drays hnve hitherto been m favour, because, although pack hoises travel much more swaily, there is (treat difficulty iu keeping their backs sour-d; but I think if paik-baddte were introduced from Spain, where the cli-cf inland trade U carried on upon tlum, tlrs might be ohvUtul. I would employ drajs to convey stores to the furihpst hut in the uist.kt from which the expedition was intended to sta ;, end by loading the pack horse or 'horses there you inMit calculate on executing tram thirty to fifty miles a day. Dromedaries employed to convey a messenger with silver for the payment of wages on indigo estates in lodh perform ei»hy nii'es a day for two or three days successively with e;se ; but these are costly animus. Thus, you se my expedition wor'd consist of two divisions: —first, a dray party, to take stores to toe last wtiUd static.; nt* , an experienced bushmon, a mtm of science, and a name black, all mounted on well-bred horses, a dromedary driver, and one or two loaded pack horses. Exploring expeditions have betn most successful when conducted by exneri-nced colonists Mco Sir Thomas Mit.-hell; woo always had in lus natty some first rate hushmen—such as Robert Wliiting and Mickey Woods—men who in the Wildest country could travel fttty miles away from *ny spot and find their way back to it: —or by hardy pedestrians like Dr. Leichhardt. Such expeditonshave been unsuccessful when undertaken by raw eutbusiasta *ith cumbrous partes Thus Captain Grey endured most unnecessarily frightful bu d->hips; and only succeeded in deceiving bume'f and friends into the belief that he had discovered a country and harbour, wh'ru, turned out to be a complete delusion—a sort of Fata Morgana; and Mr. Eyre wmdattd along Che sea shore in hovel as misery, ted hither and thither by a paity of savages. Depend upon it, Mr. Editor, the bush man wbo spends his Ufa upon wild woods and tracku-ss plains mil be»t mdiUry amateurs and amiable enthusiast* in th* art of finding food and in a new country;—and that is the secret of ■access m exploring expeditious in Australia. J. S. Late of the Mac Tntyre River, K. s>. Wales

k Movrments —Donna Lo!» Mnnt-u for Itsly: the King of Bavaria for the cava of despair, A (Juh-TDN i'or Mr, tißiEPLses.—A. B, hai Ma pocket picku<l by C 1). oi u writ. I* C L). u»Ui& holder of tlie v>ta buuud to cater aa aj'pearauc« ?