183 
' Interior of New Holland. 
Captain Sturt himself, with the ready concurrence of his Excel¬ 
lency the Governor :— 
No one, who was present on the occasion, (says Capt. Sturt), 
will forget the breakfast given to me and to my companions, on 
the 10th of August, 1844—the day on which the main body of 
the expedition destined to attempt the central penetration of the 
Continent, left Adelaide for the interior, I did not take my 
final departure until the 15th of the month, when, having been 
joined by Mr. John Browne, who accompanied me as medical 
officer, I proceeded with him and my assistant, Mr. Poole, to 
Gawler Town. Before I commence any detail of our proceedings, 
however, it may be necessary for me to state, for the informa¬ 
tion of my readers, that my instructions directed me to gain the 
meridian of Mount Arden, or that of 138°, with a view to deter¬ 
mine whether there was any chain of mountains connected with 
the high lands seen by Mr. Eyre to the westward of Lake 
Torrens, and running into the interior from S. W. to N. E. I 
was ordered to push my way to the westward, and to make the 
south the constant base of my operations. I was prohibited 
from descending to the north coast; but it was left optional with 
me to fall back on Moreton Bay, if I should be forced to the 
eastward. Whether I performed the task thus assigned to me, 
or wavered in the accomplishment of it; whether I fell short of 
my duty, or yielded only to difficulties against which human 
efforts are unavailing, the world will be enabled to judge from 
the perusal of the brief memoranda I have here thrown together. 
That I found no fine country is to be regretted ; however, I was 
not sent to find a fine country, but to solve a geographical 
problem. My own desire and ambition were to extend my 
investigations over the province of South Australia, as far as my 
instructions would permit, and to strike the centre of the Conti¬ 
nent ; by the first, to benefit the province to which I am attached ; 
and by the last, to do that which any man would be justified in 
venturing his life to perform. I can only say, that when I deter¬ 
mined on turning homewards, with my mind perhaps depressed 
by latent malady and constant disappointment, and my strength 
weakened by exposure and want, it appeared to me that I had 
n 2 
