Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/543

 Mr. w. R. Randall ADELAIDE AND VICINITY 517 In a lecture entitled " Australia : What it is, and what it may be," delivered at the Metropolitan Hall, Dublin, on May 7, 1863, by Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, ex-Governor of South Australia, the lecturer said : — " The most remarkable voyaj^e, however, which has hitherto been made in Australia most certainly was one undertaken by Mr. William Randell. That gentleman has scarcely had justice done him ; for he appears to me, from indubitable evidence, to have been the first navigator of the Murray in a steamer. Yet, as he started in the year 1853, just before a trip made by the then Lieutenant-Governor, accompanied by Captain Cadell — one of the most enterprising, useful, and, I may say, ubiquitous of Australian pioneers — the official (?clat and general importance of the latter somewhat obscured the more modest pretensions of Captain Randell. Not merely, however, was he the first to start, despite of slender means and a frail steamer — which, I believe, he had himself built — but he actually persevered till he got to Echuca, which is farther by several hundred miles than Swan Hill, the point then reached by Captain Cadell. "Again, in 1859, Mr. Randell made another ascent of the Murray, and from it went up the Darling. I was myself at the time engaged in a pioneering vovage up that river, with Captain Cadell, and we had succeeded in reaching a point at Menindie, 1, 200 miles from the sea, when, as we were descending, Mr. Randell appeared with apparently a rather crazy and broken-winded steamer, which vastly amused the natives by its melancholy wheezing and puffing. Yet in that boat Mr. Randell not merely succeeded in getting higher than our highest point, but, owing to a fortunate flood, was enabled to reach Fort Bourke. He then passed on to one of the Darling's upper branches, called the Barwon and Namoi, and finally proceeded to a distance which, after comparing notes with him on his return and examining the maps, I could not make out to be less, if we include the extremely tortuous windings of the rivers, than 1,800 miles from the junction of the Darling with the Murray, and therefore 2,400 miles from the sea-mouth of the latter. I remember at the time transmitting a report to that effect to the Secretary of State. Thus, in a country where drought and suffering from want of water are so common, Mr. Randell made a vojage of nearly double the length possible on any European river." In 1892 Mr. Randell relinquished his practical connection with the Murray River trade, although his steamers are still running, and took up his residence on land he purchased at Gumeracha. Here he has followed a quieter and less exciting occupation, but one not less useful. He has taken great interest in the improvement of his property, and has entered into public affairs. He was the first chairman of the Gumeracha Butter, Cheese, and Produce Society. In April, 1893, he offered himself to the suffrages of the electors of Gumeracha for a seat in the House of Assembly, and was returned — an honor that was repeated at' an election on July 10, 1896. As a politician, Mr. Randell showed as much common-sense, intelligence, and courage as he did earlier in life, and proved a useful representative of his constituency. He was, years ago, gazetted a Justice of the Peace. Mr. Randell has the characteristics of a large-hearted colonist, and in his time has done excellent work for the Province, wherein he has resided for 60 years.