194 EARL DE GREY'S ADDRESS— AUSTRALIA. [May 28, 1860. 



practical discoveries of new and available territory. In tlie pro- 

 secution of these discoveries, what Mr. Burke calls " the dex- 

 terous and firm sagacity of English enterprise" has never been more 

 eminently displayed. Among the most eager of Australian dis- 

 coverers must be ranked His Excellency Sir Eichard Macdonnell, 

 the Governor of South Australia, who in his own person gives a 

 signal example of the precepts he laj^s down for the conduct of the 

 subordinate officers of his government. We are indebted to the 

 courtesy and geographical zeal of the Secretary for the Colonies 

 for Sir Eichard's public despatches, and from these, and an in- 

 teresting private letter of his own addressed to my predecessor, 

 we have an account of one of his journeys. In the course of this 

 expedition, which extended over seventy-seven days, he rode 1800 

 miles, penetrating the continent to the 28° of latitude, bivouacking 

 at night, and seeking shelter in the day from a heat sometimes 

 reaching 115° of the thermometer, under the scanty shade of a few 

 branches of the scrub. 



Under the auspices of Sir Eichard Macdonnell, Mr. William 

 Eandell performed last year the most remarkable achievement in 

 steam navigation which has yet been accomplished on the Austra- 

 lian continent. This consisted in a voyage on the Darling, extend- 

 ing by the windings of the river to 2400 miles from the sea, and to 

 1800 reckoning from the junction of the Darling and Murray. The 

 Darling in its long course has but a single fall of about 8 feet in 

 several hundred yards, an obstruction to its navigation only when 

 its waters are at the lowest ; so that we have here a great water 

 way into the interior of the continent, and already on the fertile 

 banks of the Darling many runs have been established. 



Mr. Macdougall Stuart, whose discovery of a well watered 

 country in Southern Australia, equal in area to half that of Ireland, 

 was brought to our knowledge last year, is, by the most recent 

 accounts, prosecuting new discoveries with the hardy intrepidity 

 which characterised his previous one, And which called for the 

 marked approbation of our Society, and the substantial reward of 

 the local Government.* 



The coasting charts, twelve in number, on various scales, pub- 

 lished by the Trinity House, Adelaide, under the superintendence 

 of B. Douglas, Esq., and accompanied by sailing directions, will 

 be duly appreciated by mariners visiting those parts of Australia. 



* Through the Duke of Newcastle, H.M. Secretary for the Colonies, a gold 

 ■watch was forwarded to Mr. Stuart from this Society. 



