AN AUSTRALIAN EXPLORER.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 99, 9 October 1863, Page 3

AN AUSTRALIAN EXPLORER.

'publication- of ithe Strangely[Myfinlurousfiiarrafoes of; those- hardy sea- • W en: W ho;vin:th^last; C entury, explored the mystery of the southern seas, lifted the - gateways of the day," and thereby iLntTibltedsijargelytothena^ glory, thas portion of our teeming • population which had scant sustenance^ and' elbow-bow room at home, must have heard with delight of the existence Sunnier isles of Eden lying ia dark purple spheres of sea — wherein abundanceand an independence hitherto unknown, awaited all who had the courage requisite to expatriation: and it seems somewhat unaccountable that so many years should have elapsed ere the tide of emigration set toward the new Utopia; and, yet more so, that while hastening to plant her flagon the great southern continent, England s first step toward colonisation should foive been to convert the fair land into a sewer for the reception and utilisation •of the garbage which tainted her social atmosphere. For a quarter of a century after the establishment of this penal settlement, the colonists were coutent with the narrow region enclosed between the ocean and the mountain chain parallel to the eastern coast; the vast interior was absolutely unknown; and though the outlines of the continent had been defined by Flinders, as no outlet of any size had been discovered by him — openings in a low sandy coast, so narrow as are generally those whereby the Australian rivers reach the sea, easily escaping observation — it was too hastily assumed that only trivial streams existed, and that the interior was an arid desert. The successful introduction of the merino sheep led to the general adoption of rpistoial pursuits by the colonists, and in time the increase of their flocks, and the limited area available for pasturage incited them to earnest exploration of the surrounding countries. One result o[ these expeditions was the discovery bejond the Blue Mountains of fertile and well-wooded plains traversed by frequent westward -flowing rivers; and as these ordinarily ran into, and were presumed to be lost in inaccessible morasses, a theory arose that they were eventually drained into a great central sea. The mind is so eager to arrive at definite conclusions, and so prone to generalise alike its knowledge and its ignorance, that in default of proof it is content with theory, end twists what fragmentary facts it may possess into harmony therewith ; and a theory tends to discourage those researches which might prove its erroneousness. In 1831, Captain Sturt, the most distinguished of Australian explorers, crossing the ; Blue Mountains and embarking on the Murrumbidgee, one of these westward-flowing streams, descended ;to its junction with one yet iirger-— the Murray, and this, after flowing west for many hundred miles, v/as deflected almost at right angles to the south ; and, instead of falling directly into the ocean, as Sturt anticipated, expanded into a large, but shallow lake, separated from the sea by a low sandy neck of land, and apparently communicating with it only by a shallow and impracticable channe), This discovery was fatal to the popular theory of an inland sea. Subsequent examination of the region between the Lower Murray and the Gulf of St. Vincent, led to the foundation of the colony of South Australia, and from consideration if the remarkable facilities for internal trade afforded by the Murray, far-sighted men speculated on the probability of the commerce of New South Wales being at some future time entirely diveited into that channel, to the special advantage of the younger colony. It will be evident on glancing at the map that, as all the streams westward of the mountain chain are affluents of the Murray, the natural outlet for the. produce of nine-tenths of the colony of New South Wales is that seaport of South Australia nearest to its mouth. Now, as the value of produce to the producer depends on the cost of transportation to a market, the agriculturist or grazier of that section of New South Wales west of the mountain range, though J2GO or 3,400 miles by water from South Australia, is practically much nearer to the markets of that colony than to Sydney, which is but 300 or 40G miles distant ; and were Sydney the only market open to him, the value of his produce would decrease with increase of the distance, till it would be unremunerative to send it there at all. In 1840 it was ascertained that the mouth of the Murray was not, as at first supposed, absolutely inaccessible, but local conditions seemed unfavorable to any hopes of its ever being commercially useful. The channel connecting the lake, wherein to the riv.r expands, with the sea, is choked up by a bar: and this is impassable by other than boats, except when the depth of water is increased by the coincidence of a flood-tide with a flooded condition of the river, and then a very dangerous surf arises from the coutest between the tita and the rapid current. The entrance of the river is rendered yet more difficult by the swell ordinarily setting into Encounter Bay, the waves rising all along the coast to the height of fifteen and eighteen feet before breaking ; and this turmoil of the ocean only ceases in summer, when a north wind has prevailed for several days. These seemingly insuperable obstacles discouraged attempts to open the navigation of the river for some years after its importance, had been recognised ; hut in 1850, Sir H. Young, the Governor of South Australia, conceived the idea of evading the difficulty arising

Jprpni the bar jhy. cenuectiug: the lake with.the sea,; by.,eanal or railway'? so that "the : produce; of the interior? coming down the driver,; might be convoyed overland from Goolwa, the lake terminus of* the- channel to Port Elliot in •Encounter Bay for shipment; the distance between the two points being only seven miles. Feasible as this scheme was,; it was not favorably received by the citizens of Adelaide ; who, finding their private advantage in the existing state of things, and apprehending that their city would suffer were the agricultural produce of the vast region drained by the Murray to find its outlet at Port Elliott instead of by a long and costly land carriage at Adelaide, obstinately opposed the Governor's plan. : Assured of the necessity of providing a direct outlet for the trade of the valley of the Murray, Sir H. Young did not, however, lose sight of the subject ; and, at his instance, the Colonial Legislature, in 1851, voted large rewards for the navigation of the River Murray under • certain conditions ; and these were subsequently modified so as to favor colonial enterprise, as follows : — £500 to the first steam -vessel crossing the bar , £1000 additional provided the Darling was attained; and £1000 additional for the completion of six voyages between fixed pom's with a year. The solution of the problem could not be longer deferred, and one came forward to salve it who, though a stranger, was by the bent of his genius specially interested in this as a geographical question, and was by mental character and professional pursuits peculiarly qualified to determine it. Francis Cadell, the descendant of a good Scottish f-imily, was born in February, 1822, atCockenzie, near Preston Pans, a place of historical note. He was educated in Edinburgh and Germany, but, as is usually the case with those fitted rather for active pursuits than indolent contemplation, his scholastic career was brief; and it may be inferred that a taste for perilous enterprises was fostered in him, as in other boys who take to water as naturally as a duckling, by those narratives of maritime adventure that delighted our own childhood ; for, when but fourteen years of age, he adopted the professiou for which his bold and energetic character adapted him, and made his first voyage as a middy in an Eist Indiaman. This vessel being subsequently chartered by Government as a transport, the lad took an active part in the first Chinese war, being present at the siege of Canton, the capture of Amoy, Ningpo, &c, and winning honour as well as prize-money. AVhen only twentytwo he attained the command of a ship, but he did not intermit his exertions ; and, far from being content with the moderate acquirements that masters of merchant vessels are or.dinjrjJjLftWiiafiftd witb.,Jieidfi«Q!tied the intervals between his voyages to attaining a practical knowledge of shipbuilding and of the construction of the marine steam- engjne in the ship-yards of the Tyne and the work-shops of the Clyde. His professional pursuits and intellectual tastes specially interesting him in geographical questions, he was, when at Para, so impressed by the majesty and mystery of the Amazon, as to be led to speculate on the means of developing the resources of the vast region that it drains ; and his vague ideas assumed the form of a scheme for descending the river from its sources amid the Andes, which from lack of encouragement he did not carry into execution. Arriving in Australia in 1848, and his attention being directed to the navigation of the Murray, then uppermost in the Colonial mind, he# carefully examined its mouth and satisfied himself of its practicability. In consequence of this he returned to Australia in 1850 in a ship of his own. and being encouraged thereto by Sir H. Young, immediately set ab^ut determining this important question, lookiwgf rather to the honor than to any pecuniary reward that might accrue to him ; for the sum offered by the Legislature was not only very incommensurate to the service required, but was contingeut on success : all the risk and outlay, contrary to the ordinary procedure of Government in such cases, being in case of failure thrown up on the spirited adventurer. After examining the ever-shifting bar, and when so employed he nearly lost his life by the capsising of his whaleboat (in making a similar attempt ij) 1839, Captain Blenkinsop and Sir John Jefferies both met with a watery grave), Captain Cadell proceeded to Melbourne, and thence crossed to Swan Hill, on the Upper Murray, and accompanied by four adventurous miners, commenced from that point the descent of the stream in a boat of an original and rough construction, — a wooden frame 21.8 feet long, covered with canvass, his launching forth in which sufficiently indicated the dauntless perseverance of the man. In this frail craft significantly yclept the Forerunner, carefully sounding as he proceeded, Captain Cadell acomplished the voyage of 1300 • miles to Lake Victoria in twenty-two days under the most unfavorable con-* ditidns, the weather being stormy, and the greatest caution being enjoined by the frailty of his bark; her leakiness requiring constant caulkings with fat from the frying pan ; but an accidental rent from a snag having been readily repaired with a thread and needle, proved that there may be compensations in the most unfavorable circumstances. Assured by the result of this trip, Captain Cadell, on August 17, 1858, successfully crossed the dreaded bar and entered the lake in the steamer Lady Augusta, of 00 tons burthen and 40 , horse-power, which he had built at Sydney. On the 25th August the Lady Augusta, with a tender of 87 tons bur- , then lashed to her, pursued her journey r up the Murray, — Sir H, Young and

several other gentlemen, .interested in the, enterprise being on board,?— reached Swan Hill on the 17th September, and after proceeding alone a couple of hundred miles yet higher, retraced her way with her consort, heavily freighted with local produce, and arrived safely at Goolwa on October 14, having run over dOOO miles within 50 days. The breadth of the Murray between the lake and Swan Hill averaged 200 yards, and its depth 3 fathoms; above the Wakool the bends were sharper and more frequent, the breadth less, but not the depth, though there were many snags. Further acquaintance with the periodical changes whereto it is subject was needed to determine whether the Murray was thus easily navigable at all j seasons, but this expedition proved that it was open to steamers for many months in ordinary years. The importance of this discovery could scarcely be exaggerated; the establishment of steam communication on the Murray practically quadrupled the value to the colonists on its upper waters of their wool and other produce, the transporta- | tion of which to Melbourne by ox-teams previously took from three to six months, according to the season and condition of the river crossings. The inhabitants of the thn j e colonies testified their sense of his services by presenting Captain Cadell with a gold candelabrum and the Legislative presented him with a gold medal commemorative of the auspicious event. •Captain Cadell continued for some time to run his vessel regularly on the Murray, a higher point being attained ■ at each successive trip ; but she was . quite inadequate to the greatness of the traffic that vvas being developed ; and conceiving that there was a fair field for commercial enterprise, Captain Cadell took a,prominent share in the formation of a Company for navigating the River Murray; for which two steamers, the ■ Albany aed Gundagai, were built in Glasgow, sent out in pieces to Fort Elliot in the first vessel : which had eve? arrived at, that p ] ace from Europe, and being carried across to Goolwa were there set up and launched on the lake. In one oi these, Captain Cadell, in October, 1855, reached Albany on the upper Murray, a point 1,740 miles from Goolwa, whereto the river is navigable duriug half the year. In 1856 he explored the Edward River, which, branching out of the Murray, rejoins it lower down after a course of 600 miles. In 1858 he succeeded in reaching in his steamer Gundagai on the Murrum- : bidgee, 2,000 miles from the sea, and ■ in the Very heart of New South Wales : after a month's voyage. In 1859 he i proceeded up the Darling beyond ; Mount Murchison. As if these toilsome explorations were insufficient fully to engage his . thoughts, this "indefatigable man' wasr | at the same time pondering various 1 schemes ; for inland navigation in other parts of the Australian Colonies, lor irrigating the Billibong district by a canal from the Murrumbidgee ; for the canalisation of the Darling ; and lastly, fur renderiug navigable the (liver Latrobe and the lakes wherewith it is connected in Gipp's Land. Largely as Captain Cadell's labors contributed to-the developement of the resources and to the prosperity of Australia, and loud as were the acknowledgments of the people he had benefitted, he himself derived very little substantial rewards from them. The sums granted in aid of his explorations by the local legislature were utterly inadequate to cover the expenses they involved, and ia his eagerness to serve ihe public, his attention was distracted from those commercial pursuits which might have been combined with and would have amply rewarded his exploratory labors ; but, perchance, the mental hai.it which is required for the accumulation of wealth is rarely associated with real genius, which is in its essence noble and disinterested. His has been the fate j of most pioneers in all ages; others having watched the results of bis discoveries and the development of his plans, reaped the fruits of his adventurous explorations in an easy manner. It is not creditable to the Australians that, after wearing out the best years of his life in their service, and expending his means in enterprises whereby they have so greatly benefited, this , remarkable man should have been enforced to retreat into the wilds, and begin life again as a settler, near Mount Murchison. The least they could have done would have been to bestow on Captain Cadell a present of land on one of the great rivers wherewith his name will ever be associated. Such is the gratitude aul justice of the world ; probitas laudatur et alget. While Drake, the .object of whose piratical expeditions was his personal enrichment, remains a national hero ; Cadell, who has conferred an inestimable benefit on a great j continent, is left to begin the world in a | new sphere. We believe, however, that a memorial is now under the consideration of the Legislative bodies of South j Australia, Victoria, and New South i 1 Wales for a grant of land commensurate j with his merits, near the scenes of his labors ; and we hope that, for the j credit of those three great colonies, this ! suggestion may scon be carried into effect, Captain Cadell being now a much poorer man than he was thirteen years ago, when he first devoted his time and attention to exploits which have proved of inestimable benefit to an immense continent, but have brought himself only an empty fame.