Art. III. Report of the Expedition from Moreton Bay to PoH 
Essington. By L. Leichardt, Esq. 
{From the Sydney Australian , March 26, 1846.) 
I left Sydney the 13th August, 1844, in the Sovereign, Captain 
Cape, the Hunter River Steam Navigation Company having giv^n 
to me and to my party a free passage to Moreton Bay. Aftvr 
recruiting my horses at Moreton Bay I went up to Darling Downs, 
and stayed for a month at Mr. Campbell's station, waiting for rUy 
provisions, which the kind people of Moreton Bay had voluij- 
teered to send up to the Downs with drays. Finding that n}y 
horses were not sufficient to move all the provisions, and consi¬ 
dering that bullocks would give at the same time means to move 
our provisions, and form a good stock of provisions themselves, I 
bought three bullocks from Major North, at Laidley Plains, and 
five from Mr. Hughes, at Darling Downs. My party consisted 
originally of six persons—Mr. Roper, Mr. James Calvert, John 
Murphy, Phillips, and the black fellow, Harry Brown, of New¬ 
castle. In Moreton Bay, a negro, Caleb, and a black of Bathurst, 
Charley, joiued me. At the Downs, Mr. Hodgson and Mr. Gil¬ 
bert increased the number of my party to ten persons. The two 
latter added two bullocks to those I had, and Messrs. Stephens 
and Campbell made us a present of four young steers and a bul¬ 
lock. Mr. Isaacks gave a fat bullock. I started, therefore, from 
Jimba, the farthest station of Darling Downs to the westward, on 
the 13th October, 1844, with sixteen head of cattle, seventeen 
horses, and four kangaroo dogs. Mr. Hodgson and Caleb 
returned with two horses, from Kent’s Lagoon, about seventy 
miles from Jimba. We travelled at first through the system of 
waters of the Condamine, which goes much farther to the north¬ 
ward than is laid down in the map, as I left it about 26 deg. 
44 min. of latitude. I passed several creeks which evidently 
joined the Condamine in latitude 26 deg. 26 min. and 26 deg. 
16 min. and 26deg. 10 min. in a course north west from Jimba; 
and I hare soon to mention that I came on westerly waters again, 
in latitude 25deg. 19 min. and 25deg. 13 min., which, in all 
probability, go to the westward and southward to join the Conda¬ 
mine, or belong to the great basin of the Darling. 
