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of Barnard's Spur, but I had treated them kindly and liberally all 
through the expedition, and they at once exclaimed, "All right, 
master," took up their swags and started after me as cheerfully as if 
going to a picnic. Ascending Barnard's Spur, it was nearly too dark 
to find the track. I pushed on to the summit, followed by Harold, 
and had a big fire ready when the boys arrived. They flung down 
their swags, crawled into one of the blacks' camps, and never moved 
until about 9 o'clock next morning. As for Harold, he seriously pro- 
posed that when the moon rose we should go on to the Mulgrave, a 
further day's journey of eighteen miles, after we had already done a 
two-days' severe journey in one day ! This youngster's physical en- 
durance is simply phenomenal. ]N"ext day we descended from Barnard's 
Spur, and arrived at the polioe camp on the Mulgrave about 4 o'clock 
in the afternoou. It would require very powerful reasons indeed 
to induce me to repeat the experience of those four days. On 
the 19th we all started for Cairns, and on the 21st went out to 
Kamerunga, and thence on the 22nd to the top of Freshwater Creek, 
where we were most hospitably entertained for a couple of days at 
the homestead of Mr. Andrew^ Banning. On the 26th we returned to 
Cairns, and next day left by the " Waroonga" for Brisbane, where we 
arrived on the 2nd of September, after a total absence of thirteen 
weeks, during which we had completed the whole of our programme, 
and a little more, leaving nothing undone that was contemplated 
except a trip with Mr. Bailey to the scrubs of the Upper Barron. 
"We had made the most of our time ; but that time was far too res- 
tricted to cover more than a fraction of the vast area available for 
exploration and botanical research. Still the results have far exceeded 
all anticipations, and though the flora and fauna of the summer 
months are yet untouched, the expedition may be safely regarded as 
a very satisfactory investment by the State, not only as a grand 
advertisement for the colony, but by reason of the splendid botanical 
results obtained by Mr. Bailey, in addition to the zoological, geogra- 
phical, ethnological, and other information acquired during the period 
of exploration. The total cost, including the £100 paid for my official 
report, is less than £400, probably the cheapest scientific expedition 
on record. No one connected with the affair can be accused of 
reckless extravagance ! 
And now a few lines from the French of Pompignan, and a verse 
from Byron, slightly altered : — 
Vanish, ye vast and gloomy views ! 
Ye rocks that pierce the warring clouds, 
Of skies, enwf'rapped in misty shrouds, 
Impracticable avenues. 
Ye torrents that with might and main 
Break pathways through the rocky walls 
With your terrific waterfalls ! 
Farewell ! a word that must be, and hath been — 
A sound which makes us linger ; yet — farewell ! 
Ye who have traced the Pilgrims to the scene 
Which is their last, if in your memories dwell 
A thought which once was theirs, if on ye swell 
A single recollection, not in vain 
They wore their sandshoes and their tights as well. 
Farewell ! with them alone may rest the pain, 
If such there were — with you, the moral of their strain. 
