31 Oct 1935

FIRST OVERLANDERS FROM MELBORNE TO ADELAIDE

Peril Which Beset Hawdon's Expedition In 1838

Nowadays, motorists think little of the journey between Adelaide and Melbourne, but in 1838, two years after the State had been founded, overlanding was a different matter. Roads, or even tracks, wore non-existent, and a water supply was precarious. The feat of Joseph Hawdon in bringing 300 cattle from Melbourne to Adelaide in 1938 along the Murray, was one which colonists in South Australia were not slow to recognise.

Mr. Hawdon arrived at Sydney in the brig Children in 1834. There he met his brother who had been at Bateman's Bay for six years. Two years after his arrival Mr. Hawdon made the first overland journey from the Murrumbidgee River to the new settlement of Port Phillip (Melbourne). His journey resulted in 5,000 cattle and 140,000 sheep being taken to Victoria within 18 months, with a consequent increase in the value of land in that settlement.

When, in 1837, he spoke of attempting to take cattle overland from Victoria to South Australia, his friends tried to dissuade him, describing the proposal as rash and quixotic. 'But,' he says in his diary, 'so strongly was I impressed with the conviction of the inestimable advantages which an overland intercourse must secure to both colonies, that I resolved to brave the toil and danger, formidable as they appeared, of ascertaining if such an intercourse was practicable.'

His brother John, at Bateman's Bay agreed to help him meet the expenses of the expedition, and he set about making his preparations. He arranged for five men to accompany him on the journey. Their wages were to be £1 a week, but they were not to be paid until Adelaide was reached. It seemed to Mr. Hawdon that the men thought that they were signing away their lives, so solemnly did they treat the agreement. Two men were to drive the drays, one was to have charge of the horses, an other to cook, and the other to look after tents and baggage.

They set out from Mr. Hawdon's Victorian cattle station for Melbourne on January 1, 1838. The following day he arranged with Captain Lonsdale, the police magistrate, to take one of the captain's drays as far as the Goulbourn River, where one of his own was waiting. The party started on January 2 with the postman, who was employed by Mr. Hawdon to carry mails from Melbourne to Yass, 400 miles, once a fortnight. To do this for 12 months, Mr. Hawdon received £1,200. At least 200 miles of the journey, he explains, was through country occupied by na tive savages.

On January 4 they reached Mr. M.C. Bonney's station, 36 miles from Melbourne, and he was induced to join the party. In the first week the travellers drove the stock 180 miles to Mr. Hawdon's station on the Upper Murray, then known as the Hume. Shortly after leaving the station one of the men became blinded with what was known as land blight, and, had to be sent back.

At the close of one particularly hot day a thunderstorm occurred. 'We had arrived within a quarter of a mile of the waterhole. where we had left the blinded man,' says Mr. Hawdon in his diary, 'when a tremendous peal of thunder burst over our heads. The electric current passed along my head, causing me to feel as though struck with a heavy bludgeon. Two of the bullocks within four yards of us were killed on the spot, one of them standing stiff and dead some seconds before he fell. On looking round, I saw Mr. Weatherall supporting his head with his hands. He also had felt the shock, but more severely than myself. A second peal roared, and crashed round us, killing another beast about 15 yards from where I stood. To prevent the whole herd from being killed, we galloped among them to scatter them in various directions, but one fell, struck by lightning, while I was on the point of hitting it. We dismounted to bleed those that had fallen, and while doing so the tree under which I stood was shivered to pieces. The thunder continued, branches and limbs of trees falling in all directions.' The horses had been too frightened to move, and 200 of the cattle were huddled together. The others, in groups of 30 or 40, were rushing hither and thither. Three of the cattle which were thought to be dead were brought round, but three others were quite dead.

Near where Echuca is now, the party moved into unknown country. The order of the expedition was— First, the light dray, drawn by six bullocks, then the heavy dray, drawn by eight bul locks. Behind the drays went a man driving a few sheep for fresh supplies of mutton, and then came the cattle, driven by four horsemen, each having a spare horse. The party followed the Goulbourn for some days, meeting innumerable kangaroos on the way. Further along a look-out was kept for Major Mitchell who, in 1836, travelled through the western and south-western part of Victoria. On February 1 Mr. Hawdon camped on the same spot as Major Mitchell had two years previously. Mr. Hawdon decided to follow the track taken by Major Mitchell, and turned southward towards the River Yarano, partly on account of the reported hostility of the River Murray blacks and partly in the belief that the Yarano would prove to be a good watercourse, and so would provide water for his stock. The Yarano, how ever, was dry, and he was forced to return to the Murray.

Wild dogs caused considerable trouble, and one night a number of sheep were frightened away. Some months later Mr. Hawdon learned that these sheep had found their way back to a station on the Goulburn, escaping blacks and wild dogs in a remarkable way. It was at Swan Hill which had been named by Major Mitchell previously, that the natives first threatened to become troublesome, and they became more hostile as the party pushed westward, frequently setting fire to the grass and so impeding the progress of the stock.

On reaching the junction of the Darling and the Murray, Mr. Hawdon noticed on a trunk of a tree the words, 'Dig under.' He found there a small phial in which was a slip of paper on which Major Mitchell had written a message on January 3, 1836. He stated that he was about to begin his return journey from the Darling at this point, and at the time was very anxious about the safety of his party, since they were surrounded by hostile natives.

One of the most important results of Hawdon's journey was the discovery of Lake Victoria, near the South Australian border. 'I rode out with one of my men about five miles to the north from our camping ground,' he wrote in his diary 'to the summit of a rather lofty sandhill, on reaching which I was perfectly startled with the view. Beneath me lay a beautiful lake about 30 or 40 miles in circumference, with a line of gum trees scattered along its edge. The bed of the lake was composed of a white clay, the water being deliciously fresh and cool, and not a reed growing in it.' The party later drank the health of Queen Victoria, and named the lake after her.

It was not far from here that Mr. Hawdon nearly lost his life. He fired at a fat bullock which he wished to kill for the use of the party. The animal was only wounded, however, and made a rush towards the river. Two men seized its tail to hold it back, but in vain. The bullock charged on. Directly in its path was a man, standing close to the river bank, in such a position that he could not move out of the animal's way. seeing the danger this man was in, Mr. Hawdon also seized hold of the bullock's tail. Drawing his horse pistol, the man fired at the animal, but missed, and the ball grazed Mr. Hawdon's chest instead.

On March 12 the party discovered Lake Bonney. The native name of this lake was Nookamka, but, as Mr. Hawdon was the European discoverer of it, be named it after his friend, Mr. M. C. Bonney. A quantity of nitre was found on its edge. On March 19, the party reached North-West Bend, and soon afterwards footprints of horses were found. The party was cheered at finding the mark of a man's shoe, some feathers which had been plucked from ducks, and marks on the ground which showed where horses had been tethered.

Coming on 30 blacks, they were in formed by signs that there had been four horsemen. These horsemen had been the first white men the natives had ever seen. One had struck a match and smoked a cigar, another had amazed them by wearing spectacles. They turned out to be four men from Adelaide who were in search of the Murray. Thirty or 40 miles south of where Morgan is, the party turned westward.

Six days after leaving the river, the overlanders arrived at Mount Barker. They had taken a south-westerly course along the ranges, experiencing considerable difficulty in crossing the hills with their drays. 'We halted at a creek of excellent water,' Hawdon's narrative continues, and found most luxurious grass in the valley. The drays passed round the north end of the mount and encamped on a beautiful creek of running water. The country round consists of land of the best description, and is covered with the most luxuriant grass. The scenery also is beautiful, the open plains being skirted with a thin forest of large gum trees. The cattle presented a pleasing sight as they grazed on these verdant plains, so different from anything I had seen before on the whole course of the journey.'

The expedition experienced considerable difficulty in descending to the plains, and spent several days endeavoring to do so. Mr. Hawdon describes the country as the 'steepest and most scrubby mountains that drays ever passed over.' In one place the descent was 900 ft , and so steep that a dray could hardly be sent down it. Eventually they encamped on the banks of the Onka paringa. about where Noarlunga is now. There they came across the fresh print of a horse's hoof, and after following the tracks, Mr. Hawdon came to a hut where three young men lived. Their occupation at this time was hunting kangaroos for the Adelaide market. They received 1/ a lb. for the meat.

In the evening of April 3, three months after he had left Melbourne, Mr. Hawdon reached Adelaide, and was given a tumultuous welcome at a hotel. The next evening he dined with the Governor. His journey had shown that it was not only possible to travel between Adelaide and Melbourne overland, but that a stock route could be opened up, too.

The following year Mr. Bonney led a second expedition for Mr. Hawdon, bringing with him 300 sheep. The party reached the sea coast near Lacepede Bay, miles out of its course. This, however, led to further settlement. On this trip Mount Muirhead, Mount Benson, and Lake Hawdon were named— C.V.H.

Real Life Stories Of South Australia (1935, October 31). Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), p. 14. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92329979