The
Blinman Copper Mine is about thirty miles from there, and was then,
the terminus of the mail coach line from Adelaide. The residents of
the Blinman invited Alec Ross and myself to a dinner, presided over by
my very good friend Mr. J.B. Buttfield, the Resident Police
Magistrate. Then we all took the mail coach, and reached the
Burra-Burra Copper Mines, on the evening of the next day. Here a
banquet was held in our honour, at which a number of ladies attended,
and I was presented with a very handsome address. The Burra Mines are
a hundred miles from Adelaide.
Next day we took the train for the city. At the town of Gawler, or, as
it used to be called, Gawlertown, twenty-five miles from the
metropolis, a number of gentlemen were assembled to welcome us on the
platform. Our healths were drank in champagne, and an address
presented to me. Pursuing our journey, Adelaide was reached by midday.
A number of people were waiting the arrival of the train, and when we
alighted we were welcomed with cheers. Carriages were in attendance to
take us to the Town Hall, where we were welcomed by Caleb Peacock,
Esquire, the Mayor, - who first invited us to refreshments, and then
presented us to the citizens, who were crowded in the large hall. Mr.
Peacock made a very eloquent and eulogistic speech, and presented me
with a very handsome address on behalf of himself, the Corporation,
and the citizens of Adelaide. The next day the party was disbanded,
and the expedition was at an end.
A few closing remarks, I suppose I may make. We again joined the great
family of civilised mankind; and if I have any readers who have
followed my story throughout its five separate phases, I may account
myself fortunate indeed. A long array of tautological detail is
inseparable from the records of Australian, as well as any other
exploration, because it must be remembered that others, who come
after, must be guided by the experiences and led to places, and
waters, that the first traveller discovers; and am I to be blamed if I
have occasionally mixed up my narrative with an odd remark, anecdote,
or imaginative idea? These, I trust, will not in my reader's opinion
detract from any merits it may possess. I have collected many
thousands of plants and hundreds of entomological and geological
specimens; a great portion of the list of the former and all of the
latter have unfortunately been lost, only a list of plants collected
during my first and second expeditions now remains, which appears at
the end of these volumes.
It is with regret I have had to record the existence of such large
areas of desert land encountered in my travels in Australia. The
emigrant, however, need have no fear on that account. The scenes of
his avocations will be far removed from them. They are no more a check
to emigration now than fifty years ago. As a final remark, I may say
my former companion in the field, Mr. W.H. Tietkens, has just returned
from a fresh exploration of the country in the vicinity of Lake
Amadeus, and the report of his travels should be looked forward to
with pleasure by all who take any interest in our Colonial
dependencies.
If my narrative has no other recommendation, it may at least serve to
while away a vacant hour, and remind my readers of something better,
they have read before. It was not for what I had written, that I hoped
to reap the good opinion of the world, but for what I have done, and
that I have recorded. Any one who is sufficiently interested to read
these pages, may well understand the trials and dangers that have
beset my path. The number of miles of previously unknown country that
I have explored reaches to the sum of many thousands. The time I
expended was five of the best years of my life. As a recognition of my
labours, I have received the Patron's Gold Medal of the Royal
Geographical Society of London; and the late King Victor Emanuel sent
me a decoration and diploma of Knighthood, of the Order of the Crown
of Italy.
To a man accustomed to camels for exploration, the beautiful horse
sinks into the insignificance of a pigmy when compared to his majestic
rival, the mighty ship of the desert, and assuredly had it not been
for these creatures and their marvellous powers, I never could have
performed the three last journeys which complete my public
explorations in Australia.
I have called my book The Romance of Exploration; the romance is in
the chivalry of the achievement of difficult and dangerous, if not
almost impossible, tasks. Should I again be called on to enter the
Field of Discovery, although to scenes remote from my former
Australian sphere, I should not be the explorer I have represented
myself in these pages, if, even remembering the perils of my former
adventures, I should shrink from facing new. An explorer is an
explorer from love, and it is nature, not art, that makes him so.
The history of Australian exploration, though not yet quite complete,
is now so far advanced towards its end, that only minor details now
are wanting, to fill the volume up; and though I shall not attempt to
rank myself amongst the first or greatest, yet I think I have reason
to call myself, the last of the Australian explorers.
As a last remark, I may say the following lines may convey some of my
real feelings towards: -
AUSTRALIA.
What though no hist'ries old,
Rest o'er that land of gold;
And though no bard has told
Tales, of her clime:
