Port Denison Times, 4 October 1865, p2

[centred] PENINSULAR QUEENSLAND.

THE Empire thus reviews the journal of Mr. Richardson, surveyor to Messrs Jardine's party:—

A considerable period has now elapsed since anxiety was relieved by the announcement that Messrs. Jardine had arrived safely at Cape York, after their long and arduous journey down the peninsular [sic]. It is known that the whole party left Rockhampton in May last year; but we take up Mr. Richardson's narrative at the time when, in the month of October, they left Mr. Macdonald's station, on the stream then supposed to be the Lynd, and started on a general north-westerly course. They soon struck another stream, which some of the party believed to be the real Lynd, but which Mr. Richardson determined to be a branch of the river Staaten, so named by the Dutch. Throughout the whole of the remainder of the journey, in the direction of Carpentaria the country was very poor, often broken and stony, and very badly supplied with water. On the 20th November they had the first encounter with the aboriginals. The journal says:—"In the evening we were startled by a shout from one of our black boys, who espied about twenty natives coming up from the river bank. The sun was nearly down, and they took care to have him at their backs. They were fully armed and painted; danced and shouted a little while like maniacs, and began to throw their spears. Two shots from our rifles scattered without touching any of them. Fortunately none of the party were hit. On the 5th December the party left the Staaten, and proceeded in search of the River Mitchell, near which, on the 16th, Messrs. Jardine, who were in advance, again met the natives, who attacked them, but were put to flight without difficulty. Again on the 18th, says Mr. Richardson, "About five miles from camp our leader with his brother met us, saying that a number of natives— seventy or eighty—had disputed their passage, throwing spears at them, some of which came unpleasantly close. Our rifles and amunition were soon in readiness— we could hear the natives coming up around us—when we advanced to the attack. Many of them lost the numbers of their mess, but none of our party were hit." The aborigines, however, seemed by no means disposed to let the travellers pass if they could help it. They were now on the Mitchell, when, on the 21st December, according to the journal, "our black boys reported that some natives were hovering about, not far away, armed with spears, watching our movements. In this instance it was thought better to carry the war into the enemy's camp than to have them throwing spears at us in the night. Most of our party went after them, and an exciting chase commenced, so close that the natives were obliged to throw away their spears, two dozen of which were brought into camp. Some are made of reed, and others of hardwood, and most of them pointed with fish bones. No one was hurt on either side."

It is remarkable that notwithstanding this repeated opposition to their progress, none of the horses were speared, although they strayed several times, and were missing for days together; but these animals had soon to encounter a more deadly foe than the blacks. At the commencement of January the party had emerged from the barren and inhospitable tracts which they had been traversing, and came upon tolerably good pastoral country, on and near the River Batavia. Here, about the middle of the month, the horses first became affected by the poisonous qualities of some plant or herb, quite distinct from what is known as the poison plant of the Flinders, which was never once seen throughout the journey. The symptoms exhibited by the horses were excessive perspiration, blindness, contraction of the stomach, and thirst. In two days six of the horses died, and this, with previous losses, reduced the number to twenty, which were barely enough to carry the packs, so that the party had to walk. Several more horses died from the same cause; but during all this time the poisonous herb seemed to have no effect upon the cattle. The horses, in most instances, kept walking round and round until they dropped.

The party were now making over towards the east coast, when, on the 15th January, they again saw the natives, but were not exposed to any danger. The blacks, to the number of about fifteen or twenty, approached the camp unarmed, gesticulating vehemently, and making a great noise. Mr. Richardson says: "They would not allow us to come near—that is, on our approach they retreated, and finally getting their spears came up with the intention of attacking us. Two shots only were fired, some of our party then chased

[next column] them, the natives, however, soon outrunning everybody. They use the wommerah to throw their pears [sic], which are pointed with fishbone; the shaft being made of hardwood." Shortly after this the good pastoral country terminated, and towards the close of January they came to a river which was called the Jardine, but Mr. Richardson believed it to be the Escape River.

All the party were now suffering from sore feet, and walking was difficult and painful. Provisions, too, were running short, and a foal belonging to a mare that had been bogged and left behind was killed and partly consumed for food, Mr. Jardine not being disposed to slaughter any of the cattle. Altogether, the journey along the peninsular [sic] was far from being a pleasant one. In some of the scrubs on the banks of the creeks they found "many wild and some luscious-looking fruits; many eatable and good. These would no doubt improve with cultivation." More game was found here—that is on the Jardine, or Escape River—than they had seen for a long time—"kangaroo, wallaby, scrub and plain turkeys, black cockatoos, parrots, and many pigeons." The rains were heavy, commencing always at midday; but the nights were fine.

They were now approaching the termination of their journey, but were much delayed owing to the winding course of the river, which led them to believe that, after all, it was a western water. Finally, however, they became satisfied that it was really the Escape River, and accordingly they retraced their steps, and after much difficult travelling through a wretched country, and being often stopped by creeks and swamps, they crossed by means of a punt, formed by stretching a bullock's hide upon a frame. The sea was now plainly visible, and also Prince of Wales Island, and the blacks became more friendly. "On the 10th March," says the journal, "some natives came to the camp, during _______________________________________ the morning, and were sent away to bring some fish in exchange for tobacco. Five of them returned in the evening, each bringing his supply of shell-fish, receiving some tobacco, of which they are all very fond, in return. They smoked the leaf by inhaling a long draught from a peice [sic] of bamboo, which is previously filled by means of a tube made of a large green leaf, in which a leaf of the weed is rolled, lit, and the smoke blown into the bamboo. This singular method of smoking had great effect on them, making them very stupid." Two days afterwards, the whole party encamped within two miles of the settlement of Somerset, which Mr. Richardson thus describes:—

The site of the town seems to be admirably selected on the S. W. side of a channel, averaging perhaps 800 yards width, which divides Albany Island from the main land. The coast line is very irregular. Ridges, 100 to 150 feet above the sea level, end abruptly in the channel, separating small sandy or muddy bays, the shore of Albany Island also presenting indentations and projections. The ridges are generally clothed with scrub, although on the S. E. side of the town the slopes are bald. The land between the ridges slopes down gently to the beach of each bay, being in some instances more openly timbered. Small fresh water streams or rivulets find their way slowly to the sea. Good water is also to be found by digging a few feet deep in the hollows. The soil is very poor white sand, although vines and shrubs grow very luxuriantly in the scrubs which cover so much of the neighbouring country. On the ridges the soil is very thin, ironstone frequently cropping out. Sandstone, too, is laid bare, by the weather and time, immediately above high water mark. The views are picturesque from any point, and a great relief to the eye after travelling for five months through nothing but forest."

Bad as a portion of the route is, it may be considered to have been now established as practicable. Many will call to mind the melancholy story of poor Kennedy dying in the wilderness, and the faithful aboriginal Jackey weeping over him, and finally interring the body, after his rude fashion. They were the pioneers of the peninsular [sic] and Jackey was the first, to all human knowledge, who passed from the settled districts to Cape York, where, to use his own simple language, he was "very glad " when he espied the ship that was waiting to receive his unhappy master. The difficulty has now been conquered, and the indomitable colonists have traversed, and laid the foundations of civilization along the whole of the eastern coast, from South to North.