gh they were, an immediate start had to be made to
the Geraldine mine, a small settlement having been formed there to work
the galena lode discovered by Gregory. That they would ever reach the
mine the explorers could not hope; they and their horses were in a state
of extreme weakness, the distance to the mine was one hundred and sixty
miles, and to the highest point on the Murchison, where Gregory had found
water, their first stage was ninety miles. They began their journey at
midnight, and by means of forced marches, travelling day and night, they
reached Gregory's old camp on the river. Fortunately they had found a
small supply of water at one place on the way. From this point the worst
of their perils were passed. They followed the river down, obtaining
water from springs in the banks, and on the 27th of November arrived at
the mine, where they were warmly entertained. Thence they returned to
Perth, some by sea and some overland.

Austin's exploration had led to no profitable result. Cowcowing had
proved only a saline marsh similar to Lake Moore, the large lake which
had haunted Gregory; the upper Murchison was not of a nature to invite
further acquaintance or settlement; and the whole of the journey had been
a disheartening round of daily struggles with a barren and waterless
district, under the fiery sun of the southern summer.

Austin thought that eastward of his limit the country would improve; but
subsequent explorations have not substantiated his supposition. He had
had singularly hard fortune to contend against. After the serious loss he
sustained by the poisoning of his horses, a risk that cannot be
effectually warded off by the greatest care, he had been pitted against
exceptionally dry country, covered with dense scrub and almost grassless,
in which the men and horses must assuredly have lost their lives but for
his dauntless and heroic conduct.

Austin afterwards settled in North Queensland, and followed the
profession of mining surveyor.

19.2. SIR JOHN FORREST.

[Illustration. John Forrest in 1874.]

John Forrest, the explorer who ultimately succeeded in crossing the
hitherto impassable desert of the western centre, now made his first
essay. An old rumour that the blacks had slain some white men and their
horses on a salt lake in the interior was now revived, and gained some
credence. A black who stated that he had visited the scene of the
incident was interviewed, and Baron von Mueller wrote to t