DEPARTURE OF THE EXPLORING EXPEDITION.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 313, 19 October 1860, Page 3

DEPARTURE OF THE EXPLORING EXPEDITION.

(From the Melbourne Argus.)

The Royal Park presented a sceue of unwonted bustle on Monday, August, 20. Long before noon, hundreds of persons flocked thither, and, as the day advanced, the assemblage gradully increased until it numbered several thousands. The usually quiet umbrageous retreat was consequently all animation. The cause of the gathering was the departure of the exploring expedition, an event which, as might naturally be expected, a large portion of the Melbourne public would not allow to occur without taking the opportunity of wishing the party " God speed " on their way. Near the wooden houses which have afforded accommodation for the camels for some weeks past were pitched about a dozen small tents, composed of stout canvas, lined with green baize. The.;e are for the accommodation of the officers and associates of the expedition, and can be easily pitched and struck. Near them were larger tents, containing stores and equine appliances. Several four-horse and six-horse waggons were being packed with material for the expedition. At one part might be observed a couple of " associates," already dressed in their expeditionary undress uniform (scarlet jumper, flannel trousers, and cabbage-tree Garibalbi), busily engaged iv packing; at another, a sepoy might be seeu occupied iv tying together the legs of a sheep. Orders were being rapidly issued and rapidly executed, and there was, indeed, every indication of the approach of a movenent of an extraordinary character. But amidst all the " hurrying to ami fro," there was time for cordial greeting and hearty shake of hand, which •every member of the expedition was compelled to undergo from friends who had assembled to witness his departure. The expedition carries 12 months' stores, which, however, will be but sligbly trenched upon so long as the explorers are within what may be called the limits of civilisation, the squatters resident on the line of route having kindly undertaken to entertain the party on their passage. The stores, with the exception of about 15 tons, which will be conveyed by way of Adelaide and the Murray, occupied six waggons, three of which belong to the expedition, and one of these on being unfastened from its bed can be used as a flat-bottomed boat, and will therefore be useful for crossing the streams which may be met with during the progress. One important item in the provisions is the " expedition biscuit." This is made of meat dried thoroughly and pulverized, and mixed with an equal quantity of wheat flour. One biscuit is considered quite sufficient for a man's dinner. A pannier contrivance, suited admirably for the camel's back, will afford capital accommodation for invalids, should sickness unfortunately visit the party. Every beast of burden, by having provided for it a waterproof covering lined with flannel, will be" protected when stationary from the injurious effects of adverse weather, and by the supply for each camel of two sets of shoes each made of several folds of leather, and shod with iron, the difficulties attending the travelling on stony ground will be overcome. Then again, by the aid of a peculiar kind of bridle, there will be no obstacle to the camels swimming the rivers which may intersect the regions about to be opened up. Each member of the expedition is in possession of a pocket charcoal filter, by means of which he will be able to obtain drinkable water under the most unfavorable circumstances. Then there are a large number of leather water bags, and other means to guard against a scarcity of the pure element. But as a safeguard, and also to procure food, the expedition have a supply of breech-loading rifles, revolvers, and ammunition. And in order to provide for the contingencies of separation and loss of track, there is an abundance of signals from the rocket and the blue light, to the " Union Jack " and the gong. Between two and three o'clock, in anticipation of some little ceremonial to precede the departure of the expedition, the ground occupied by the tents was cleared, and the spectators formed a circle; but as the time fled, and nothing transpired, the open space was gradually occupied by the crowd. Then a right-angled avenue was formed, after great trouble, by the police, who certainly discharged their delicate duty of keeping the ground with remarkable urbanity. But scarcely had this arrangement bees satisfactorily accomplished, than everybody was startled by a camel which had got loose from its companions, aud was running among the crowd, pursued by a sepoy. The horses kicked, the females screamed, and there was general confusion for a time; but at lenghth order was restored, and, the cimols, being duly loaded, Mr. Burke, the leader of the expedition, announced that everything was ready lor a start. The Mayor of Melbourne (Dr. Eades) thereupon mounted a waggon, and expressed his gratification at so large a number of the citizens of Victoria assembling to witness the departure of the exploriug expedition, to the members of

which he would s iy, in the name of all present, and in the name of the colony at large, " May God speed you," His worship then called for three cheers for Mr. Burke, which were accorded with right good willl, this being followed by " Three cheers for Mr. Landellsand the officers," and " Three for the party itself," each invitatioD being cordially responded to. Mr. Burke, who was mounted on a gallant grey charger, acknowledged the compliment in brief but forcible terms. No expedition, he said, had ever started under such favorable circumstances. The Government and the Exploration Committee had done everything in their power ;• and it was now the part of the members of the expedition to show what they could do. These observations were greeted with loud acclamations and then the long caravan, headed by Mr. Laodells on his favorite camel, filed off towards the north portion of the park, to the tune of " Cheer, boys, cheer," which a party of volunteer musicians appropriately struck up. After filing past, the expedition turned, and left the park by the south gate, proceeding past the cattle-yards and the swamp aud taking the road for Esseudon, where it was expected the party would encamp for the night. The officers and men forming the expedition number fifteen, exclusive of three sepoys, whose duty it is to attend to the camels. The men are fine healthy looking fellows, and seem to enter with all their soul into the adventure. The camels accompanying the expedition number twenty, the horses twenty-two. Four or five camels are left at Melbourne. The Chief Justice, several members of the legislature, and a number of ladies, were among those who witnessed the departure of the expedition. The exact route of the expedition is not known. Before starting, the leader had presented to him a series of general instructions, or rather suggestions, drawn up chiefly by the Surveyor-General (Mr.Ligar), submitted for the opinions of Dr. Mueller, Mr. Selwyn, and Professor Neumayer, and discussed paragraph by paragraph by the committee. The scientific members of the expedition received a special list of instructions: those for the botanist being prepared by Dr. Mueller; those for the astronomer and surveyor, by Professor Neumayer; those for the geologist, by Mr. Selwyn; and those for the naturalist, by Professor M'Coy. Until the expedition is beyond the limits of civilisation, full reports will be received monthly from the leader and his officers. Full instructions have been given for the expedition to leave traces of its progress by the building of cairns, the branding of trees, and the depositing of message bottles. The scientific instruments belonging to the expedition are said to be of the first order.

Sheep Dogs.—To show the power of training even in the inferior animal world, and as a hint to our pastoral readers, we copy the following from the Lyttelton Times:—We have lately seen a letter addressed to a gentleman in Christchurch, by a well-known stockowner of this province, describing a tour just concluded by him through the sheepbreeding districts of Western Texas. He gives the following account of the mode which he witnessed of breeding dogs:—' Here I was greatly amused to see a great black bulldog in charge of a flock of sheep and goats, and at Perham's there are two kangaroo dogs always with the flock. The sheep dp not take the least notice of them, and the dogs walk all through the flock as if they were themselves sheep, but will attack anything that disturbs the flock, and they never leave it except to be fed. at night. The Mexicans take the pups before they can see and put them into a close pen with a lamb or kids, and they suck the goat or sheep together. Children are never allowed to go near them or they come away from the pen; and so never seeing any thing else, they naturally take to the sheep. Beer, Brewers, and Druggists.—The following is taken from a Liverpool paper, and confirms the observations we have frequently made concerning the necessity of looking after quality as well as quantity :—'A batch of beer poisoners was dealt with at Halifax, when four persons, for adulterating beer with grains of paradise, were fined £50 each ; and a druggist, who had sold grains of paradise to a brewer, was fined ,£125/ Morals of New Zealand.—Out of £66,485— the value of duties imposed on spirits—Auckland, Wellington, and Canterbury, paid at the rate of £1 per head for every European man, woman, and child, in those provinces. Otago paid a little more than that; and while Hawke's Bay paid no less than 355. per head, Nelson only paid 9s. The largest quantity of spirits is, therefore, beyond all proportion, drank at Hawke's Bay; and by far the smallest at Nelson. A greater quantity of imported beer is consumed at Wellington than in any other Province; the smallest quantity, in proportion to its population, is consumed at Nelson. Lyttelton consumes the largest quantity of wine; and Nelson also, in-proportion to its population, the smallest. We should conclude that the most drunken Province is that of Hawke's Bay, if we did not suspect that a larger proportion of spirits was consumed by the natives there, than in the other provinces; but we must conclude that Nelson is the most sober Province, though we are aware that a larger quantity of colonial beer is consumed there than in any of the other provinces. — Wellington Advertiser. Hope School.—At a Public Meeting held in Hope School-room on Tuesday evening, October 16, Mr. E. Green in the chair, the following resolution, moved by Mr. W. Win, and seconded by Mr. Neale, was unanimously adopted:—" That it is the opinion of this meeting that the schools should remain as they are, and consider that the alteration contemplated by the Local Board of reducing the three schools into two by altering their position would be prejudicial to the inhabitants."—Communicated. Customs Revenue.—By the Government Gazette of September, we find that the Customs Revenue of Nelson for the quarter ended June 30, 1860, amounted to £3728 9s. 2d.; to which should be added .£175 17s. 4d. for Collingwood. The amount for the corresponding quarter of 1859 was £3570 9s. 4d. for Nelson, and £138 9s. 9d. for Collingwood. Progress of Natal.—-From Natal our advices are, as usual, of a very favorable character. The Lieutenant-Governor comes home by this mail to obtain the sanction and aid of the Imperial Government to the proposed expenditure for the improvement of Natal harbor—a work which is indispensably necessary to the progress or the colony, and which will be seriously impeded if the question is not received by the Home Government with a liberal and enlightened policy. Natal, with this drawback removed, would soon manifest astonishing progress. Already has a direct trade been established with the mother country, as well as with eastern ports, and the great staples of that conntry—sugar, arrow-root, ivory, wool, hides, and skins—are manifestly increasing year by year, bringing wealth into the country and giving confidence in the certain prosperity of the young colony.— Gape and hatal News. A gentleman coming into the room of the late Dr. Barton, told him that Mr. Vowell was dead. "What," said he, •' Vowell dead. Let us be thankful it was neither v nor iJ*