horses' shoes had again worn out, and he had a lively
and painful remembrance of the misery which his horses had suffered
before from the lack of them.

In November of the same year, he made a third expedition in the vicinity
of Lake Eyre, but there is little of interest attaching to the Journal of
this trip, as his course was mostly over closely explored country. He
reached the Neale again, and instituted a survey of the promising
pastoral country he had traversed during his last trip, approaching at
times to within sight of what he calls in his Journal Lake Torrens, but
which in reality was what is now known as Lake Eyre. All these minor
expeditions of Stuart's may be looked upon as preparatory to his great
struggle to find an available passage through the unknown fastnesses of
the centre of the continent.

It was in 1860 that Stuart made the first of his daring and stubborn
attempts to cross Australia from south to north. The South Australian
Government had offered a standing reward of 2,000 pounds for the man who
should first succeed in this undertaking.

Stuart's party on his first trip was but a very small one: three men in
all, with but thirteen horses. It reads lilliputian compared with the
princely cavalcade that later on set out with Burke to travel over
comparatively well-known country, involving only a short excursion
through a land without natural difficulties or obstacles; and yet it
actually achieved the greatest part of the task set it.

Stuart started from Chambers Creek, but for part of the journey he was of
course travelling over country that was fairly well-known by that time.
After passing the Neale, he entered untrodden country, which proved to be
good available pastoral land. Numerous well-watered creeks were passed,
which were named respectively the Frew, the Finke, and the Stevenson, and
on the 6th of April they reached a hill of a remarkable shape, which had
for some time attracted and excited their attention and curiosity. They
found it to be a column of sandstone, on the apex of a hill. The hill was
but a low one of a few hundred feet in height, but the sandstone column
that surmounted it was one hundred and fifty feet in height and twenty
feet in width. This striking object was named by Stuart Chambers Pillar,
to commemorate a friend who had assisted him greatly in his explorations.
It stood amongst other elevations of fantastic shapes and grotesque
formations, resembling ruined forts and