11 August 1932

CROSSING THE CONTINENT

Stuart's Journey From Sea To Sea

How John McDouall Stuart crossed unknown Australia from north to south in 1861-2 is told below by a descendant of one of the adventurous spirits who made the journey. For his great feat Stuart received £10,000.

Crossing The Continent.

— In the early days of South Australia, the Government offered a prize of £10,000 to the explorer who should be first to cross the continent from sea to sea. John McDouall Stuart determined to win this money. He gathered together a party of brave and courageous men — twelve in number — and with the necessary equipment set out on the adventure. My great-uncle, P. W. Thring, was third in command of the expedition.

The first and second attempts ended in failure, but in 1861 they tried for the third time and succeeded. The party had 49 horses when they left Adelaide, but some proved unruly and were later left behind on the trail. The men, at times, suffered severely from thirst, lack of food, and sickness. The natives, too, were a constant source of anxiety, being warlike and treacherous. My great-uncle had a 'way' with him when dealing with the blacks. He could make friends with them more successfully than could his companions. It was said that on more than one occasion the lives of the party depended on him. At Strangways River, a tributary of the Roper, the natives became particularly inquisitive. They were headed by an old blackfellow over seven feet high. He was presented with a fish-hook, and was delighted with it. Next morning he returned with sixteen natives all wanting a fish-hook! They were clad in their birthday suits. My uncle took a couple of red handkerchiefs, tore them into strips, and tied them around their necks. They were very proud of the decoration, and paraded around the camp until they became a nuisance. Hoping to scare them, my uncle brought his horse, and opened its mouth showing its teeth to the fullest extent. The ruse was successful. The blacks dashed into the scrub and were not seen again that day.

After nine months of journeying over desert: scrub and flooded rivers, the party reached the northern coast and saw, to their great joy, the sea. On July 25, 1862, a tall tree on the beach was used as a flagpole, and cheers given for Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales. A document giving a record of the expedition, and signed by all the members of the party, was buried in an airtight tin at the foot of the tree which served as a flagpole.

Next day the return journey was begun, and all haste made to reach Adelaide, as Stuart was now very ill. He was carried in a litter for 600 miles, being too ill to walk or ride. The party reached Adelaide just twelve months and thirteen days after they had left it. As a result of this expedition, a route was opened up for the great Overland Telegraph line, which was completed just ten years later.— 'R.V.H.' Yeelenna.

Reporting, Up-to-date.

— The reporter made it a practice to report the monthly meeting of the Millicent Institute committee. One day he wandered into the office, and asked had there been a meeting the previous evening. Receiving an affirmative reply, he asked shortly, 'Anything done?' The librarian was standing on a chair at the end of the shelves where the minute book was usually stored. Reaching for it, he threw it on the table, and it opened as it fell. A report was duly written up from notes taken, and appeared in the next issue of the paper.

Next day a committee man waited on the editor and asked 'about that report.' He said he was present at the meeting, was not late, and did not remember any thing about the discussion on the Big Dictionary. He was sure there must be some mistake. There was. The minute book had opened at the wrong page, and the meeting reported had taken place three years previously. — 'Tanta Tyga,' Millicent.

Gold at Sellick's Hill

— A few evenings ago I was talking to a lady who has lived in this district all her life. She told me the following story, and showed me the nugget on a three-bar brooch: —

'Many years ago, when my children were little tots. I went to cook for my husband and his mate, who were fencing on a property at Sellick's Hill. I took my children with me. One afternoon they were playing with some clay dug out of the pestholes. They were making little clay models of pigs and cows. When they had made one they would bring it to me. They used to put in little bits of stone for eyes. I would take the model to please them, and when they were gone I would throw it outside the tent.

One model they brought was of a pig. I happened to glance at the little stone they had put in for an eye, and thought it seemed rather bright, but did not at the time attach any importance to it. Later I began to wonder what it could be. I went outside, and recovering the clay, looked carefully at the eye. It was a little nugget of gold.' — 'Sellick's Hill,' Myponga.

Early Franklin Harbor.

— The history of Franklin Harbor began when Captain Flinders, in the Investigator, sighted the harbor. Though he never entered it, he named it after a young sailor on board, who afterwards earned fame as Sir John Franklin, the explorer, who perished in the Arctic.

The man who paved the way for land settlement was the late Dr. MacKecknie, who took up Wangarbednie station, between where the towns of Cowell and Cleve are now located. It was an employe of this run, a Mr. McKensie, who first grew wheat on northern Eyre's Peninsula. Later this gentleman represented Flinders in the State Parliament.

On Mr. McKensie's farm at Tabmana stand the ruins of an old building which at one time served as a fortress against the blacks, who in this locality had a bad reputation for treachery. They were responsible for several horrible murders. In the early days the travelling route between Port Augusta and Port Lincoln was guarded by mounted troopers. One of them was a young Irishman named Ghearty hence Mount Ghearty. He fell victim to one of the foulest of these native murders. But some years before this, two overlanders were massacred on Middlecamp station, and their flintlock gun thrown into Death Hole, over which the wall of the Ullabidnie reservoir is now built. These brutal crimes led to the hanging of three natives on a pine where the Cowell post-office now stands. Some years later, when a cellar was being excavated at the Franklin Harbor Hotel their remains were dug up. For a considerable time the skeletons stood in the bar.

One of the greatest tragedies of this district was McCarthy's fire. This is said to have been lit near Cockabidnie by a black called 'Sore- Eyed Jimmy.' Mrs. McCarthy and her seven children perished in the flames.

In the droving of cattle from Adelaide to Port Lincoln many animals strayed into the bush-clad ranges and formed wild herds. Years later the Government issued licences to settlers allowing them to shoot or capture these beasts. — 'Dad Wayback,' Cowell.

Getting Bid Of Polly.

— In the early days of Millicent there were a good many abos. about the district, and they were a pest at times. There were two abos who came to our place a lot. One was Fanny Hawker and the other Mount Burr Polly. One day Polly came, and, as usual, she sat at the fire and smoked. My mother got tired of it, and asked dad if he could shift her. Dad had a brain wave. He said he would shift Polly. He was a tanner, and he got some damp tan bark and went inside. There was Polly beside the fire. 'Well, Polly, cold this morning,' says dad. 'Yes, boss.' 'Make you warm,' said dad, as he heaped on the damp bark. He told mother to keep out for a while, and then he put a bag on top of the chimney and waited. Polly stood it for quite a while. At last she emerged rubbing her eyes. 'Warm now?' asks dad. 'Oh, boss, too much smoke and no baccy,' said Polly. 'Danny,' Millicent.

Graham Castle.

— Charles Hudson, of Phillimore street, Fremantle, writes:— In looking through 'The Chronicle' of July 14 my eye caught a paragraph about Graham's Castle. In 1877 fifteen or sixteen boys lived there as boarders of Whinham College, and I was among them. It was a two-storied building, built on pillars, which made the verandah and balcony. The lower verandah, was protected by wooden shutters painted green. There was a fine stair case in the main hall, which led to the first floor, where the boarders' bed rooms were, and just at the top of the landing another narrower stair case went up to the roof. Halfway up this staircase there was a door on the left leading into an attic, where all the bell wires seemed to pass through, and it was known by us boys as the 'ghost room.' Some of the boys who were with me at that time that I can remember were Chris Wade, of Paratoo Station; Hartley Allen, Willunga; C. W. Tolley, who afterwards came over to Western Australia; and Charles Grieve, who, I think, lived somewhere up Gawler way. Our resident teacher was J. T. Hackett, who was afterwards in partnership as Bray & Hackett, solicitors. Standing in the garden at the front of the castle was an old buttress or pyramid, which might have been used as a rifle butt at some time or other. At that time Ovingham was just being started, and buildings were going up round about a good deal. They were mostly of concrete. There was rather a large shop erected on the comer. I think it must have been on the corner of the Old Port road and the North road, where we used to buy our sweets. The castle was surrounded by a high stone wall, and there were big gates away at the back, where we boys used to cut through sometimes to go up into Prospect. I might mention that we did not have any sleepless nights over ghosts.

[See also 14 July 1932]