60 A HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA 



on the Hume, or Murray, now so low as to be easily forded in three 

 feet of water. Twenty-four hours' rest here for the cattle, and an 

 unstinted supply of fish for the men, sends them off in high spirits 

 the next day, making good headway, and falling in with large 

 numbers of friendly natives. On the 8th of January the last of the 

 rations was served out, and they had still 150 miles to go. Could 

 they have held on due north until they reached the Murrumbidgee, 

 they would have found no difficulty in following it up towards the 

 occupied country. But failure, from meeting with any unexpected 

 obstacle, meant starvation, and they determined rather to recross 

 the Tumut, and encounter the known mountain difficulties in order 

 to reach their depot on the Coodradigbee, where they had at least 

 some store provisions. On the 13th they were fortunate enough 

 to kill a kangaroo, but it was not until Sunday, the 16th of January, 

 that they reached the spot where they had left the carts, and found 

 everything untouched, except the tarpaulin, which bore evidence 

 of the natives having been there, by a piece having been cut out 

 of it with a tomahawk. The cattle were by this time so weak and 

 lame that it was impossible to use them further, and selecting two 

 of the strongest horses, they started with one cart to seek a supply 

 of flour from the nearest settler, leaving two men in charge of 

 the cattle and the camp. The Murrumbidgee, which was such a 

 difficulty at the outset, was now easily forded on the very spot 

 where they had crossed in the tarpaulin-covered cart. Two days 

 brought them to Mr. Hume's station on Lake George, whence 

 they promptly sent back supplies to the men left behind, and their 

 heroic enterprise was completed. 



The poor reward of a land grant of 1,200 acres each, which 

 these men received for an enterprise that gave the most important 

 stimulus to real colonisation as distinguished from mere official 

 occupation, was certainly shamefully inadequate. From a money 

 point of view it did not represent much more than 200, and 

 probably did not cover the expenses they had incurred for outfit 

 and provisions, without any recompense for their loss of time and 

 arduous labours. They were denied payment for the hire of their 

 cattle, as originally promised by Governor Brisbane, and subsequent 

 applications for an extension of the land grant by both of them 



