It Has Been My Fate, In All My Exploration Work, To Find None But Useless
Country, Though When Merely Prospecting On The Goldfields I Have Been
More Fortunate.
So far, therefore, as being of benefit to mankind, my
work has had no better result than to demonstrate to others, that part of
the interior that may best be avoided.
No mountain ranges, no rivers, no
lakes, no pastoral lands, nor mineral districts has it brought to light;
where the country was previously unknown it has proved only its
nakedness; nevertheless I do not regret one penny of the cost or one
minute of the troubles and labours entailed by it. Nor, I am confident,
do my companions repine because they wasted so many months of their lives
in such a howling wilderness. May good fortune attend them wherever they
go; for they were brave and true men, and to them I once more express my
feelings of thanks and gratitude for their untiring energy and help
through all our journeyings. I verily believe that so large an extent of
country, good or bad, has never been travelled through by a more cheerful
party, or by one, the members of which were more in accord; and to the
unanimity, and ready co-operation that prevailed throughout the camp, the
successful issue of the expedition must in a large degree be ascribed.
Before leaving Coolgardie I had to perform the melancholy task of selling
off my camels and all belongings. I have seldom felt anything so deeply
as the breaking up of our little band, and the sale of my faithful
animals. However, it was a matter of necessity, for much as I wished to
pension off my favourites I was not in a position to do so, and
eventually made my exit from the Colony in much the same state as that in
which I arrived.
Before leaving for home I spent some time in Perth, where the
Surveyor-General, Mr. Johnston, did all in his power to assist me in the
preparation of plans and maps. These, together with all information I had
gathered, I placed at the disposal of the Government, for which they were
pleased to express many thanks. At a gathering in the Perth Town Hall, at
which I was present on the day of my departure, Sir John Forrest, the
Premier, proposed the toast of the guest and said many kind things, to
which I replied: ". . . I regret that I am only able to give such a bad
report of the far interior of this Colony; but even so, and even though
it has not been our fortune to discover any country useful either to the
pastoralist or miner, yet I hope we have done good service in proving the
nature of a large tract of country previously unknown. Our late journey
will, I think, give an answer to the oft-repeated question, "Does the
gold-belt extend in a direct line from Coolgardie to Kimberley?" and the
answer is in the negative.
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