Story of Eyre's Explorations

We now come to the investigations of the travels by a remarkable and able explorer, Edward John Eyre, a gold medallist of the Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain, subsequently Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand, St. Vincent, Antigua ; Acting Governor and finally Governor of Jamaica, the latter appointment carrying the office of Captain-General, General-in-Chief and Vice-Admiral of the island of Jamaica.

The colonists, to show their appreciation, named the following places in his honor : — Mount Eyre, District of Eyria, Eyre Peninsula, Lake Eyre, River Eyre in Queensland, Port Eyre, Eyre Island, town of Eyre in Western Australia. All these names still ap-pear on present-day maps, except that of District of Eyria. Can one wonder at such a name falling into disuse, similarly as Sturtia and Bonneia, which were named in the same proclamation made by Governor Colonel George Gawler, have disappeared.

Eyre was born on August 5, 1815, and came to Australia in 1833, when a little over 17 years of age, and came to South Australia on July 13, 1838, when he made his first overland journey with 300 head of cattle. Not content with that feat, he made a second journey, arriving in Adelaide on February 23, 1839, when he brought 1,000 sheep and 600 head of cattle, and was the first to demonstrate the feasibility of travelling sheep overland from the New South Wales and Victoria of the future. I believe there is a Chinese proverb which says, "If you wish to know the road before you, ask of those who had travelled it." If there were any proverbs believed in by Eyre, this is one that he did not subscribe to. His motto must have been, "If there is any road not previously travelled, then that is the one I must take."

Tradition carries the family life back to the time of William the Conqueror, to the time when that king renamed the soldier who had unloosed the straps of his helmet as De l'Eyre. The family motto is certainly apt for such a personage as Edward John, ''Si je puis." On one occasion writing to his family he extends the motto into English as, " If I can distinguish myself, I will."

Eyre almost at once entered upon his self-imposed task of explorations. It is probable that while in Adelaide the first time he saw the article which appeared in the 'South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register ' (August 14, 1838) on the theory of an immense inland sea with a probable outlet into the northern seas. A writer after seeing and experiencing the great ocean current that swirled through the straits between the northern islands, had advanced the theory that there must be a large channel discharging a tremendous quantity of water to cause such a strong current.

As has been previously remarked, there was an ancient idea that Australia consisted of two or more islands. Flinders had practically exploded that idea. Then came the inland sea theory. An editorial in the newspaper quoted said : "It is probable that during the summer some private expedition will be fitted out from here to explore the interior." The editor realised that the Government would be disinclined at that stage of South Australian history to assist in exploring the outback districts, as all its surveyors were busy surveying land for settlers, some of whom were still impatiently waiting to get on to their new selections, so he (the editor) wrote, " We must look to private enterprise alone for this. The surveyors paid by the public have hitherto done but little for the progress of geographical discovery. And with the sole exception of Nepean Bay and the eastern shore of Gulf St. Vincent, we literally know nothing more of the coast of our territory than Captain Flinders discovered 35 years ago."

In New South Wales, explorations had been the most important work in the spread of settlement. First the Blue Mountains presented a very difficult problem, blocking the population from spreading out westward, but was finally conquered and crossed, only for the country beyond to present another problem of "the tangled river system" — rivers that flow into the interior, away from the natural outlet, the sea. To solve this riddle we have T. L. Mitchell and C. Sturt making attempt after attempt, and finality was not reached until 1836, when it was found that all the rivers west of the Blue Mountains and the Great Dividing Range flowed into the sea at Encounter Bay.

It was also seen that very little water entered the Darling from the west. When Eyre arrived in Adelaide, explorers had not touched the country west of the Darling, and the ' mysterious ' centre of Australia was unknown. The subject was interesting. Was the centre a big inland sea? — some aboriginal legends stated it was so. Or was the centre, high hills or a barren desert?

Naturally out of such speculations, two other questions came into prominence. Was there a practical route to the north and to the west ? For nearly every problem, there is one anxious to solve it, and in Eyre we have one who made valiant attempts to give us the solutions to these queries. In doing so he spent his money lavishly. His first two trips were entirely at his own expense, and the third was financed partly by the Government and the public, but Eyre still had to bear the greater part of the cost.

So far as I can trace, the only reasons Eyre advanced for his exploration north and south-west of Mount Arden were (1) "To ascertain the nature of the country," and (2) to open "a line of road to Port Lincoln." Probably the second may have been the prime object, for the township of Port Lincoln was then booming, and Eyre had bought some of the water frontage blocks which entitled him to other township blocks and country sections.

The newspaper of the day did not notice his departure which occurred on May 1, 1839. It will be remembered that Robert Cock was at the head of Spencer's Gulf about this time. On arriving at Mount Arden, Eyre found a depot which proved of almost untold value during the next few years to himself and others. He fixed the latitude of the camp as 32.6. This on a subsequent visit he corrected to 33, 12'.30.' On reading Eyre's book of explorations, I marvelled at his being able to fix his latitudes and longitudes. There is nothing in his book to give us the slightest clue as to why he was able to do this, as well as to plot plans and courses. Fortunately Hamilton Hume wrote a life of Eyre, not so much to exploit the deeds done in Australia, but to defend him in his troubles in Jamaica, and from that source we learn that at school he learned a little astronomy. At school it was said he was not 'a bookish boy,' but he was fond of angling, climbing difficult and dangerous rocks,' he preferred a 'long solitary ramble ' or any active exercise to reading, but whatever he once began he never left it until he mastered it. Under one of his school masters he learned to lay down maps and calculate heights and distances. He also acquired some knowledge of chemistry. He was handy at carpentry and had a turn for mechanical knowledge. All these, Hume points out, were unknowingly fitting him for the work he undertook in Australia.

His parents, like all other parents, were at a loss what to do with their boy. His studious habits pointed to-ward college and university, but the strange feature is recorded by his biographer, "a constitutional delicacy of the chest, however, forbade his following any sedentary profession." His name was then put down for the purchase of a commission in the army, and the money was actually lodged. Fortunately for Australia, if not for England, a friend then advised his settling in Australia. This appealed to his adventurous spirit, "and so at the early age of seventeen, with a good outfit, several introductions and about £400 in his pocket he went forth from his father's house to seek a fortune in a new world." On the River Hunter he went ' jackerooing,' and after gaining experience he purchased sheep, sold them to advantage, bought a farm, and then sold it to become an 'overlander' to Port Phillip and South Australia, at which, it is said, he was eminently successful.