telegraph line at the junction of the Stevenson and Alberga Creeks. In his party were—W.H. Tietkens, A. Gibson, and J. Andrews, with 24 horses. Giles, although not aware of it, kept close to the line of route of Gosse, who only preceded him by a few months. He was not destined to reach his goal on this occasion, for on 10th November, after getting beyond longitude 126°, slightly below latitude 26°, he was compelled to turn back. On the 9th he had made a short trip to the westward alone, but was quickly forced to retrace his steps. His horse was exceedingly thirsty, and Giles found a little water in a native well, which he describes as follows:—"I found the hole choked with rotten leaves, dead animals, birds, and all sorts of filth. On poking a stick down into it, seething bubbles aerated through the putrid mass, and yet the natives had evidently lived upon this water for some time. My horse was anxious to drink, but one bucket was all he could manage. Nearly all the country had been burnt, but not recently. I felt sure it would be necessary to travel 150 miles at least before a watering spot could be found." The sufferings of this band were severe. On another occasion Giles and a companion left camp on an excursion to penetrate the sand hills to the west, when his companion, to whom he had given his horse, became separated from him. Said Giles, in a speech at Perth, "I had to walk back with an empty water-keg on my back, over 100 miles in the heat of the summer, during which all I had to eat was eleven sticks of dried horse flesh, averaging 1½ ozs. each, and which I had to devour raw, having no water to boil them. My position at that time was certainly a precarious one. I was sixty miles from water, and eighty from food, with the thermometer at 90° in the shade. What made the matter worse—the ground I had to travel over was all stones, and, as my feet were very sore, I could only go at a snail's pace over them. On that occasion I picked up a small dying wallaby, whose mother had thrown it from her pouch. The instant I saw it I pounced upon it, like an eagle, and ate it raw, dying as it was—fur, skin, and all." The retreat was successfully made after he had been nearly twelve months in the field, but not until one of the party met his death on Gibson's desert. Giles named numerous features.
In March, 1874, Ross, his son, and another European, three Arabs, with fourteen horses and sixteen camels, left the line near the Peake Station in South Australia. He was unable to do more than his predecessors. But a Western Australian party, starting from the other end of the desert a little later, was successful. This was the crowning effort of John Forrest in exploration. And while his former feats were begirt with dangers enough, they in nowise compared with the risks now willingly met. Major Warburton, at the conclusion of his trip with camels, had expressed the opinion that it was impossible for horses to undertake the tremendous journey. Giles and others who employed horses were all beaten back, but Forrest determined to essay the task, and that over a longer area than Warburton traversed. As early as July, 1872, he wrote the Surveyor-General, offering to lead an expedition from Champion Bay, along the course of the Murchison River, through the interior to the South Australian telegraph line. The proposal was laid before Governor Weld, who gave it his grateful support, and recorded that the public-spirited desire of John Forrest would, if carried out, undoubtedly lead to great advantages to Western Australia, and to a material extension of geographical knowledge. The Legislative Council voted £400 towards defraying the cost of an expedition, and the public subscribed the remainder. Owing to the projected trips of the South Australian parties, the departure of the expedition was postponed until 1874. John Forrest's party consisted of Alexander Forrest (second in command), James Sweeney (farrier), James Kennedy (police constable), the tried aboriginal Tommy Windich, and a second native, Tommy Pierre, with twenty-one horses and eight months’ provisions. Perth was quitted 18th March, when Colonel Harvest, the Acting Governor, wished the pathfinders God-speed. The Surveyor-General accompanied them some distance along the road. On 31st March they were entertained at dinner in Geraldton, and the following day their serious work commenced. The horses not knowing what trials lay before them, started on their journey in a frolicsome spirit; they kicked and plunged and ran away, so that their obliviousness was quite pathetic, and their actions annoying. The route for some days lay through settled districts or localities known to travellers. Knockbrack was the first camping-place, and thence the party proceeded by way of Allen Nolba, Wandanoe, Kolonaday, North Spring, Tinderlong, Bilyera, Yuin, Beetinggnow, Poondarrie, Wallala, and Warrorang, north-east of Geraldton. The last-named place was reach on 20th April. The day before, Police-Constable Haydon carried letters to them from Champion Bay, and he was the last white man they were destined to see for nearly six months.
The serious conflict now began. Only three horses were used for riding purposes, so that half of the men were always walking. They arrived at the Murchison watershed, north of the Sandford River, on 22nd April, and the Barlomeery Peaks and the river itself early on the 24th. Holding to the river's course they passed well-grassed flats of good, loamy soil, adorned with white gum. Game abounded, and for some days the travellers were amply supplied with ducks, cockatoos, and emus. During this time they surveyed some beautifully grassed plains, over which the river spread for many miles. From 1st May a more easterly course was struck, but still along the banks of the river and Forrest spent part of Sunday, the 3rd May, on Mount Hale. After an hour's rough climbing he assailed the summit. The rocks were magnetic, and the compass useless. A view of extensive plains lay all around, broken east and south by ranges, about thirty miles distant. He could see small creeks joining with the course of the river, like the branches of a tree. On 6th May he conferred names on surrounding features, such as Mount Maitland, Robinson Range (after Governor Robinson), Mount Fraser (after the Surveyor-General), and Mount Padbury (after Mr. W. Padbury). White gums continued to line the more fertile banks of the watercourses, and showed from a distance whence they trailed, but owing to the numerous channels cutting the flats in different directions, the leader had some difficulty deciding which was the main channel. The attractions of the country, from a pastoral point of view, did not diminish, and occasional rich meadows were crossed. Even in these comparatively fructive localities Forrest was compelled to repeatedly turn out of his course, to right and left, for fresh water. The term river, as applied to a large part of the Murchison, was one of name only, for, as with most northern rivers, it was rather a channel to carry off storm waters. Then were named Glengarry Range (in honour of Mr. Maitland Brown), Negris Creek, a brook shaded by white gums, and draining some good country, Mount Bartle and Mount Russell (after the President and the Foreign Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society), and the Kimberley Range (after Lord Kimberley, a Secretary of State for the Colonies). At intervals, from 12th May, areas of miserable country were entered, covered with spinifex. For about 100
