CHAPTER LXIII 

 MULLIGAN'S FOURTH EXPEDITION, 1874 



ST. GEORGE AND McLEOD RIVERS AND THE HEADS 

 OF THE NORMANBY AND PALMER 



SHORT UNSUCCESSFUL TOUR NORTH-WEST AND NORTH OF PALMERVILLE. ON THE 

 SANDSTONE TABLELAND. KENNEDY RIVER AND MACMILLAN'S ROAD. LITTLE 

 KENNEDY RIVER AND MACKENZIE'S ROAD. FRESH START FROM PALMERVILLE, 

 22ND OCTOBER. UP MITCHELL RIVER AND UP ST. GEORGE RIVER TO ITS HEAD. 

 GOLD ON ST. GEORGE. SOUTHWARD TO NEW RIVER, NAMED THE McLEOD, A 

 TRIBUTARY OF THE MITCHELL. GOLD IN McLEOD RIVER AND ESCAPE CREEK. 

 NATIVES. UP SPENCER'S CREEK, A HEAD OF THE McLEOD. HUNTING FOR BEEF. 

 ACROSS RANGE TO HEAD OF PALMER. DOWN THE PALMER. GOLD BEGINS TO 

 APPEAR. NATIVE CAMPS. NORTHWARD ACROSS HEADS OF PALMER AND LITTLE 

 PALMER TO LAURA VALLEY. PROJECT TO PROSPECT THE DAINTREE CONSIDERED. 

 COULD BE DONE BY PARTY FITTING OUT AT CoOKTOWN. EXTRAVAGANT COST OF 

 FITTING our AT PALMERVILLE. RECROSS DIVIDING RANGE TO LITTLE PALMER, 

 igTH NOVEMBER. PROSPECTING. GOLD, BUT No WATER. EXCURSION TO 

 HEADS OF NORMANBY. LONG DRY STAGE. EAST NORMANBY RIVER (Cox CREEK). 

 NEAR HANN'S TRACK. IMPOSSIBLE TO GO EAST TO BLOMFIELD RIVER. DOWN 

 THE EAST NORMANBY. GOLD, BUT No WATER. DRY-BLOWING. FIND JACK 

 WATSON, AN OLD MATE, WORKING ON GOLD. A RUSH DEFEATED. STACKING 

 WASHDIRT. RETURN TO CAMP OF 19 NOVEMBER. Two MEN GO TO COOK- 

 TOWN FOR STORES. THE OTHERS SET our FOR PALMERVILLE. GOLD AT HEAD OF 

 LITTLE PALMER AND IN THE PALMER RIVER AROUND BYERSTOWN, AND NOT YET 

 TRIED BY DIGGERS. DOUGHBOY AND PENRICH CREEKS, WHERE GOLD HAD BEEN 

 WORKED. UHRSTOWN. THE SOUTH PALMER. GOLD. GRANITE CREEK. SANDY 

 CREEK. BACK TO PALMERVILLE, 5TH DECEMBER. 



(SEE MAP G.) 



MULLIGAN left his camp, near MOUNT Fox, about 10 

 miles below PALMERVILLE, on 1st October, 1874, anc ^ 

 spent about a fortnight on a PROSPECTING TOUR TO 

 THE WEST AND NORTH. He crossed BIG CREEK and 

 STEWART'S CREEK and CAMPED on 2nd October at a hill which he 

 estimated to be 22 miles W. 30 N. of MOUNT DAINTREE. The 

 bearing is no doubt correct, and assuming the correctness of the 

 distance, the camp would be on the north side of ANNIE CREEK, 

 about 7 miles west of HANN'S TRACK between his 2oth and 2ist camps. 

 He got " colours " of GOLD, but places which appeared promising 

 could not be prospected for want of water. The CAMP of $rd 

 October was 8 miles NNE. at a spring on HANN'S TRACK, north of 



433 



