40 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 



this purpose I suggested his being sent to the westward of Mount Nor.'- 

 West. • • • • ]VJr. Babbage did not open the subject of there 

 being a passage to me : I opened it to him on the 5th November. 

 When I opened it he at first dissented from my views, stating that he 

 did not think there was any passage there. I then showed him a 

 different map, and repeated to him what Mr. Forster had told me. 

 After this, Mr. Babbage changed his opinion, admitting that there might 

 be a passage and adding that he had ascended Hermit's Hill, from which 

 he thought he could see at least fifteen miles — he appealed to his brother- 

 in-law to confirm this extreme range of vision — and no lake was visible. 

 • • • • I think it was on the last morning we were together that 

 Mr. Babbage came to the camp fire, where Mr. Baker, myself, and, I 

 believe, some others were sitting, and said, as nearly as I can remember 

 the exact words — ' Major Warburton, do not let us misunderstand each 

 other. You will understand distinctly that I have expressed my desire 

 to go and find a passage across Lake Torrens, and my reason for wishing 

 to do so is that the public will say it is an additional proof of my in- 

 capacity that I was in the very spot for finding the passage and yet 

 took no steps to find it.' I replied that ' It was very probable the 

 public would say what Mr. Babbage supposed, but that it was no fault 

 of mine that the time for his exploring was past, that the idea of finding 

 a passage had never entered his head till I put it there, and that he 

 could not expect me both to give him the idea and the means of carry- 

 ing it into execution to my own prejudice.' This, I believe, ended our 

 conversation on the subject. 



Parliamentary Paper, South Australia, 1858, No. 159, p. 3. 

 " Police Commissioner's Office, Adelaide, December 9th, 1858. Sir — 

 I beg to transmit, for your perusal, an extract from an official report 

 of Mr. Babbage's presented to Parliament, and as I think you were 

 present on two occasions when the subject referred to in this extract 

 was under discussion between Mr. Babbage and myself, I should feel 

 obliged if you would favor me with a statement, as nearly as your 

 memory will permit, of what you on those occasions heard. — I have, &c., 

 P. Egerton Warburton, Commissioner of Police. To Mr. Arthur 

 J. Baker, Kent Terrace, Norwood." 



" Kent Terrace, Norwood, December 9th, 1858. — Sir — In reply 

 to yours of this date, enclosing an extract from Mr. Babbage's official 

 report to Parliament, which I have read, I beg to state that the con- 

 versation which I heard between Mr. Babbage and yourself was quite 

 the reverse of the extract now before me, and herewith annexed. The 

 following is, as near as I can remember, an exact statement, viz., 

 you had been giving Mr. Babbage a description of the springs and 

 country you had discovered, and then went on to describe your plans, 

 and stated you intended to try and find a practicable route from Stuart's 

 Creek into Parry's country, so that the stock might be brought through 

 from the northern runs, and avoid the horrible desert via Beda and 

 the Pernatty Plains. At this time Mr. Babbage would not entertain 

 the idea of a practicable crossing over Lake Torrens, nor did he appear 

 to have any faith in your plan until you told him that the black- 



