on and underwent their course of
bush training. Augustus, after his last expedition, was appointed in 1859
Surveyor-General of Queensland, in which colony he settled down later,
after retiring from active official life. He had a seat in the
Legislative Council, and was a prominent freemason. He was created C.M.G.
in 1874, and K.C.M.G. in 1903, and had several honours conferred upon him
by the Royal Geographical Society. He died in Brisbane, in 1905.

If we except a short excursion down the Blackwood and Kojonup Rivers, his
expedition of 1846, in which he was accompanied both by F.T. and H.C.
Gregory, was the first important enterprise undertaken by him. It was in
August that his party left Captain Scully's station at Bolgart's Springs,
about seventy miles from Perth.

On leaving the settled districts they at once found themselves in the
barren country that was damming back the eastward flow of settlement.
Having traversed it, they reached a range of granite hills, and turning
more to the northward, they kept along these for the sake of the
rain-water to be found in the rock holes. On striking again to the east,
they encountered an extensive salt lake, and in attempting to cross an
arm of this marsh, their horses were bogged, and extricated only after
great labour. The lake was afterwards proved to be of great size, and to
hem them in completely to the eastward, whilst, owing to its
crescent-like formation, for five days it baffled all their attempts to
proceed northwards.

Finally abandoning the lake, which they called Lake Moore, they turned to
the westward to examine some of the streams crossed by Grey during his
return from Shark's Bay. On the head of one of these rivers, the Irwin,
they found a seam of coal.

"Having pitched our tent and tethered our horses, we commenced to collect
specimens of the various strata, and succeeded in cutting out five or six
hundredweight of coal with the tomahawk, and in a short time had the
satisfaction of seeing the first fire of West Australian coal burning
cheerfully in front of the camp, this being the first discovery of coal
in Western Australia."

The party then returned by way of the Moore River to Bolgart Springs,
which they reached on the 22nd of September.

The discovery of coal deposits and of country available for settlement
was seen to be of great importance by the Government, and Lieutenant
Helpman, A.C. Gregory, his brother Henry, and Messrs. Irby and Meekleham,