322 SIDNEY'S PROPOSED SEARCH FOR [Mauch 23, 1857- 



passes. About niue miles from Shiraz was the pass called the Yirgin's Pass, 

 ■which was, in fact, a flight of steps, protected by a very low parapet wall, yet 

 exceedingly dangerous to pass. It was constructed at the private expense of a 

 merchant, who said he had lost more of his mules in one year than the road 

 cost. To the right of it a good road, liowever, might be made, without great 

 difficulty, as it was but two niiles over, altogether. From this point the route^ 

 descended into a fine wooded valley, and proceeded along till it reached the Old 

 Woman's Pass, which was about four miles in length. This pass was neither 

 so steep nor so rocky as the other. Beyond this came a succession of well- 

 watered and well-cultivated valleys. The cultivation of the plain of Shiraz 

 itself was limited, owing to the want of water, as the small stream which passed 

 the town was used to water the gardens and fields in the vicinity. Sculptured 

 rocks of the kind alluded to by Mr. Abbott, were to be found in every part of 

 the province. At Kazeran there is a stalactite cave, 100 feet deep, and at the 

 bottom there was a statue which had been thrown down, and the water which 

 formed the stalactite had attached it to the bottom of the cave. 



2. Proposed Search for Dr. Leichhardfs Missing Parti/. By Samuel 

 Sidney, Esq. — (Author of ' The Three Colonies of Australia'). 



Mr, Sidnp:y said the paper had been transmitted to him from 

 Australia, by one of the squatters in the most northern district of the 

 province of New South Wales, who had resided fourteen years in 

 the wildest part of the colony, who had himself conducted exploring 

 expeditions in search of " Euns," into districts never before trodden 

 by white men, and who therefore was entitled to speak with all the 

 authority of experience on the subject of the evening - the probable 

 fate of Dr. Leichhardt. > The last intelligence received of Leichhardt 

 was contained in a letter dated Cogoon, April, 1848. At that time 

 he expected to reach Swan Eiver, in about three years. The gi*eat 

 length of time which had elapsed since Leichhardt's departure, was 

 no proof of his death, because if supported by hunting, which he 

 must be, he could only proceed at the rate of three or four miles a 

 day, and would not leave any place where game was plentiful, as 

 there are many in the oases of the interior. Dr. Leichhardt had, 

 on former occasions, lived on friendly terms with the aborigines and 

 been fed by them, when they were at the same time at war with neigh- 

 bouring stockowners. The northern Bushmen do not believe the 

 story brought by Mr. Hovenden Hely, that Leichhardt was murdered 

 on a creek 150 miles from Wandaigumbal, on the Condamine. They 

 say that the remains of pack saddles, found by Mr. Hely, were not 

 those of Leichhardt's party, but of two squatters, who were lost in the 

 Bush. They observe that although it is well known that cattle will 

 return 600 miles to their homes, especially if attacked and dispersed 

 by blacks, not one of Leichhardt's large lot has ever been seen — a 

 positive proof that he had penetrated too far for them to return. 



