CHAPTER XXII 



THE PROSPECTOR 



Having examined the various forces, physical and moral, 

 that went towards the shaping of the pastoral Hfe in 

 these new countries, we are now prepared to watch their 

 operation. The disadvantages of presenting the differ- 

 ent phases of that life in sequence, logical or not, when 

 they are simultaneous may be compensated by the 

 clearer view that is thus had of each separate phase. 



The prospectors of country suitable for runs were still 

 more various than the prospectors of goldfields. Some- 

 times an individual, " seized by the longing to explore 

 new country," would set out by himself or accompanied 

 only by a mate. He would be armed with a gun, 

 equipped with a compass, and supplied with provisions. 

 Many such perished in the bush. Such was one of the 

 very first settlers of these in Northern Queensland, de- 

 scribed by Mrs. Campbell Praed. His gun accidentally 

 going off, he was killed, while his companion, unable 

 to guide himself by the compass the dying man taught 

 him to use, drifted among the blacks, who kept him for 

 eight months. Another, whose bones, together with 

 fragments of a letter, were found, might be either sur- 

 veyor or prospector.* 



Or a rich squatter, actual or potential, would despatch 

 an overseer or bushman, to go in search of new country. 

 Thus, in 1832, W. G. Cann headed an expedition sent by 

 Henry Dangar, and, after encountering formidable 

 obstacles and suffering fearful privations, discovered 

 Armidale. Four years later the same prospector pushed 



* My Australian Girlhood, pp. 101-2. 



179 



