Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/36

 lO ADELAIDE AND VICINITY The Forerunners Sturt pursued his intricate journey to the westwards, and presently entered the territory now included in the Province of South Australia. Here his course was not as a rule so interesting, nor the country so fertile. Plain and melancholy scrub, alternatetl with pretty high b;inks and fructive reaches : but the former outsized the latter. Occasionally the river spread over low-lying ground, and it was difficult to find sufficient depth to float the little boiit. The horizon began to get clearer to the south, and on February 9 Sturt and his men were somewhat disappointed to find that the Murray terminated in a beautiful lake, which seemed to afford no navigable channel to the ocean. The lake (Alexandrina) was no great distance from the shores of P:ncounter Bay, where Flinders and Baudin met, and east of the Gulf St. Vincent. A picturesque panorama stretched before the explorers. The water of the lake was ruffied by a breeze which swept over it. Some 40 miles westwards was a range which, gradually declining to the south, terminated abruptly in the north in a high peak, which Sturt at once took to be the Mount Lofty of Flinders. Between the range and the onlookers was a lovely promontory projecting into the lake, and beyond the promontory the water ran to the base of the hills, and formed an extensive bay. Over low country in the north-west distant peaks were just visible, and over a bold headland, and through a strait which formed in the south-west, was a glimpse of clear and open sea. East and south-east the land was low, but the left shore of the lake was studded with minor elevations crowned with cypress trees. Tents were pitched upon a bank of the lake, where the soil was rich in black vegetable deposit. Sturt and Macleay examined the neighboring country, much of which was lightly wooded and covered with grass. But the ex- plorers could not remain here long ; their provisions were running short, and they had to pull against the current Flihoiks Mkmorial, Port Lincoln 1 »/t ■ o of the Murray for the whole distance homeward to the depot on the Murrumbidgee. On the downward journey natives had exhibited hostility towards them, and it was apprehended that they would be even more threatening on the return. Sturt regretted the necessity of hurrying from Encounter Bay, and recorded that his eye never fell on country of a more promising aspect, and that he believed that it would prove of immense value. The tale of anxiety and suffering, strange vicissitude, and an inflexible will during the next few week.s, is full of interest. The men, reduced to half rations, had to pull against a strong current. One by one they almost dropj)ed in the boat with fatigue, and one man became insane through his intense suffering. Flffort and will were unrelaxed ; on March 20 the camp on the Murrumbidgee was reached, but not yet was their misery ended. The journey to Sydney in physical and mental anguish was such as men are seldom able to accomplish, and the wonder was that they lived to tell the surprising tale. Sturt was never daunted, he overcame what would be impossible to most men, and fully merited the honor he