412 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION E. 



bottom, and shaped like a canoe, of this he says : " It is the 

 finest piece of workmanship I have ever seen executed by the 

 natives. It was about twelve inches deep and ten inches wide, 

 tapering off at the ends. Small lines were cut along both sides 

 of it. It had been cut out of a solid piece of wood, with some 

 sharp instrument. It is exactly the form of a canoe." 



Here we have a perfect model of a dug out canoe in the 

 interior of Australia, where such canoes are unknown. Does not 

 this look like the work of a sailor 1 



Mr. Worsnop also mentions that Gosse in 1873, found amongst 

 some cave drawings at Ayer's Rock, devices of two hearts joined 

 together, but of this no illustration is given. 



Stuart also mentions that he was astonished to find the natives 

 near Newcastle Waters give Masonic signs. Is it not probable 

 that they were given instruction by some poor European captive, 

 the kindest return he could give for their attention, and trusting 

 that some day it might be of service to his benefactors. 



Mr. Lindsey in writing some months ago from the Ruby Mines, 

 which are situated about one hundred miles to the east of where 

 these traces were found and about Latitude 23°, mentioned that 

 he had met with nn old native who recollected, when a little boy, 

 having seen a party of white fellows passing from east to west, 

 at a point south from where he was then camped, and in reply to 

 a letter which I addressed to him asking for futher information 

 on this subject, he replied under date 16th July last : — 



" I was very sorry at not being able to follow up that story of 

 the blackfellow about the party of long ago, but without saying 

 anything to us he went away and I did not see him again. The 

 line of route was just south of Glen Annie, on the Ruby map, 

 say in Latitude 23° 30', and Longitude 135°. If I drop across the 

 native when I am there next I will take a run down. Of course 

 I cannot afford to devote much time to searching for tracks of 

 poor Leichhardt. If I were single and had no one depending on 

 me, I certainly would devote two years of my life in the 

 endeavour to wrest from the silent busli the long kept secret. Do 

 you not think that it is a disgrace to the colonies that such a 

 man's fate should be left undetermined ?" 



Now that I have had the pleasure of reading Mr. Lindsey's 

 report of his exploration and jouiniey from the Finke River to 

 Lake Nash, and thence north to the lower McArthur River, I 

 think it is probable that the reconnoitring party may have 

 crossed further to the south than the Pitcherry Creek, but I still 

 think that they may liave met with disaster about the McDonald 

 Range, and that the survivors were the artists who executed the 

 several devices which I have noted. 



