CHAPTER LIV 



WILLIAM HANN'S EXPEDITION, continued 

 THE PALMER RIVER AND THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD 



LEAVE THE MITCHELL FOR THE NORTH, IST AUGUST, 1872. CAMP 17. TELEGRAPH 

 LINE. MOUNT MULGRAVE. CAMP 18. GARNET CREEK. CAMP 19. MOUNT 

 DAINTREE. PALMER RIVER. CAMP 20 AT FROME, NEAR LUKINVILLE. KENNEDY'S 

 TRACKS. DISCOVERY OF GOLD BY WARNER. RECONNAISSANCE UP THE PALMER 

 RIVER AND PROSPECTING FOR GOLD. CAMPS OF 9 AND IOTH AUGUST. MOUNT 

 Fox. TRACES OF CATTLE AND AN UNSUCCESSFUL HUNT FOR BEEF. CAMP OF 

 I2TH AUGUST, ON SITE OF FUTURE TOWNSHIP OF PALMERVILLE. BETTER 

 PROSPECTS OF GOLD. SANDY CREEK. GOLD. CAMPS OF 13 AND 14 AUGUST. 

 SITE OF FUTURE TOWNSHIP OF MAYTOWN. HORSE CRIPPLED BY SHARP SLATES. 

 FURTHEST EAST AT MOUNT HANN. MISCHIEVOUS NATIVES. RETURN JOURNEY. 

 CAMP OF I5TH AUGUST ON NORTH PALMER RIVER. REACH CAMP 20 ON i6TH 

 AUGUST. SHEEP AND A HORSE MISSING. NATIVES ALARMED. HANN DID NOT 

 CONSIDER PAYABLE GOLD HAD BEEN PROVED. SUBSEQUENT PROSPECTING AND ITS 

 CONSPICUOUS SUCCESS. 



(SEE MAP G.) 



HANN and his companions turned their backs on the 

 MITCHELL on 1st August, 1872, and for some distance 

 to the north were favoured with good travelling. This 

 led to an under-estimation of the distances covered, 

 just as bad travelling leads to over- estimation. Those tendencies 

 to estimation by difficulty are a weakness common to all explorers, 

 and allowances have to be made for it in every case. No amount 

 of experience on the part of a traveller will eliminate it, and the 

 " fatigue correction " and the " easy-going correction " have had 

 to be applied to my own estimates as well as to others. In 

 following Hann from the Mitchell to the Palmer, and comparing 

 his diary and sketch-map with the modern 4- mile map, the 

 " easy-going correction " is applied freely and without apology. 

 It may be noted, further, that, especially north of Mount 

 Mulgrave, the Diary and Report both display some carelessness in 

 giving (or omitting) bearings and distances, taking into con- 

 sideration Hann's initial point at Camp 16 and the point at which 

 he arrived on the Palmer at Camp 20. 



Almost from the start at CAMP 16 the course was directed 

 towards a conspicuous mountain (MOUNT MULGRAVE) which bore 

 N. 5 E. Eight miles on this course, CAMP 17 was pitched in a 

 gully falling into the Mitchell through the medium of " Sandy 



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