THE PROPOSED SEARCH FOR LEICHARDT.

Press, Volume VII, Issue 798, 20 May 1865, Page 2

THE PROPOSED SEARCH FOR LEICHARDT.

[From the Australasian, April 21.] A special meeting of the Medical Society of Victoria was held on Thursday in the board-room of the Melbourne Hospital, for the purpose of hearing an address by Dr. Mueller on the subject of the proposed search for Leichardt. The members of the profession generally were invited to attend, but nor more than twenty gentlemen were present during any portion of the proceedings. Dr. Martin, who took the chair, explained that the meeting had been called at the instance of Dr Mueller, who considered that it was the duty of the medical profession, more than any other body, to give the movement the utmost possible support. Before calling upon Dr Mueller to address the meeting he read an extract from one of the latest letters written by Leichardt, in which the explorer remarked that whatever might befal him '''c should never die of starvation in the bush. He also read extracts from "Wood's History of Australian Exploration," to show that the natives had on former occasions treated Dr. Leichardt and his party with great kindness, giving them what food they could, and expressing regret that they were unable to obtain more. Dr. Mueller having noticed the circumstances nnder which Dr. Leichardt came to this colony* and briefly alluded to the results of his first expedition, remarked that the ladies had been induced to undertake the duty of obtaining the necessary means to equip the proposed expedition, and it was necessary that some steps should be taken to facilitate their labors. The committee had a right to expect that the support of the public would be spontaneous, but advantage should be taken of every aid which was offered The colonel-commandant of the volunteers would be asked to obtain contributions from the members of that force, and steps would be taken to bring the matter prominently before the schools and other public institutions of the colony. medical gentlemen in the community could render immense service, as they had many opportunities: of dispelling errors which were entertained' on this subject. It was disheartening to observe that in many instances the ladies had been much discouraged, and it was necessary that the fallacies whtch existed respecting Leicbardt's fate should be publicly and effectually dispelled. The ladies were for instance, met with the objection that travellers and squatters were constantly moving about in ell directions, and had traversed the country in which Leichardt was supposed to have sunk, and that if he had still been alive he must have been found by this time, or, if dead, that his remains must have been discovered. In order to refute this theory, he made a careful examination of the route followed by Leichardt on his last journey, and referred to the various expeditions which had been sent out in search of him, particularly that which hnd,been equipped by Mr. Gideon Lang at liis own expense. Mr Lang, he remarked, proceedet with his expedition as far as the head of the Maranoa. and there learned that Leichardt and his party had been annihilated in a combat with the natives, or in a night attack. It was, however, worthy of remark, that of the fifty oxen presented to Leichardt by St Charles Fitzroy, Governor of New South Wales, not a single bone had yet been found; and it must be further understood that tnere had never been seen amongst the natives so much as a buckle or saddle-strap belonging to the expedition. Although ad the accounts given by the natives concurred in the statement that Leichardt had been killed in the vicinity of the Alice River, yet there were great discrepancies between them, and the matter appeared to rest only on tradition. The meeting would remember that in December last Mr. M'lntyre came down into Melbourne with the information that 350 miles from the supposed place of the massacre two marked trees had been found, viz., on the western branch of the Flinders River. If, therefore, the accounts given by the natives were correct, some disaster must have happened to the party which caused them to fall back on their own track, and ended in then* being killed.in the retreat., This, was certainly highly improbable, if not impossible ; for, from his own knowledge of the country, he was certain that Leichardt would much rather have pushed forward towards the coast than have turned back. In addition to the testimony of Leichardt's presence on the Flinders River, they had been startled to learn from Mr. M'lntyre that two horses had been found over 200 miles dwtant from the spot; and although all marks had been obliterated from the animal*, it seemed impossible that they could be any other than Leichardt'a horses. Here, However, all information with respect to Leichardt ceased, and they could not hope to obtain any satwfactory intelligence unless the party that was to he sent out was specially a search party. It was IratJ

right to mention that in Gregory's expedition, which lid not succeed in fin'ling any trve* of Leichardt, no wives wore ensued, and therefore th* m";i<i-< nf ■nterrogating the various tribes whs not av»ili'>l-v Natives beingmore conversant with tho language wer» nueh mora likely to obtain inforimtion as to the existence of marked trees than an ordinary "tplorer, and by these means he thought there would *ie a chance of tracing the lost expedition from one •amn to another. The slow progress such a party •vould make wonld also have given a better opportunity for mapping out the country than any flvin-r geographical expedition, and, therefore, groat advantages must in any case arise from the search, lie regretted that so many members of the mercantile classes were unaware of the importance of the movement, for it must bo apparent, to all that, the occupation of the country must follow exploration, and that as the occupation of tho country extended commerce would increase. It was right that he should refer to another objection that had been made. The ladies of the committee had been occasionally met with the reoly that all the country which Leieh•irdt intended to travere would by this time have been taken up by the squatters. Such answers as this not only evinced a colossal amount of ignorance, hut betrayed a want of feeling, and every gentleman who discouraged the efforts which the ladies were making brought no inconsiderable amount of responsibility upon himself. Those gentlemen who wore now so hasty in their replies might one day repem of what they had done. Suppose it was found in 1870 that Leichardt had been alive in 1565, and these gentlemen felt that they had discouraged or retarded the formation of an expedition to search for him, what would their feelings be ? The oersons who made these s'atements would be blind if they did not see that pastoral settlement must follow the coast, and that no squatter would take up land in the interior as long as any remained near the sea. Therefore, the idea that the •squatters had traversed the remote interior where Leichardt's traces had been found was monstrous. There were three probabilities as to Leichardt's fate. In the first place, he might have been detained with his party in an isolated place in the western part of the interior, either from having lost his stock or from having met with an accident which rendered a long journey on foot impossible. There were many probabilities in the case, but he could not assent, to the statement that Leichardt must be dead. The natives of that part of the continent, visited by them had never seen white men before, and were therefore likely to treat the party with kindness, as they did King. This consideration led him to doubt that the next probability was a fact—viz , that Leichardt and his party were surprised by the natives and massacred. The third, and most dreadful probability was that Leichardt had perished from thirst, having penetrated too far into the interior to return, and having met with a season in which little or no rain fell. These were the three probabilities, but there was no evidence upon which to come to a conclusion, and it was to endeavor to remove these doubts that the expedition had been proposed The party which would be sent out would enjoy many advantages not possessed by former explorers, and it would not be necessary to risk any lives. The knowledge of the country had been greatly extended since Leichardt started on his expedition, and the position of the various supplies of water had been laid down by numerous explorers, and one of the greatest dangers to which an exploring expedition could be exposed, viz., want of water, was to a great extent removed. The danger was also lessened by the fact that they now had a noble herd of camels, which could go where Leichardt with lus horses would have perished, and the Ladies' Committee might be satisfied, therefore, that there was not an unreasonable amount of danger attaching to the enterprise which they were endeavoring to assist The party, he might add, would have the further advantage of the revolver and revolving rifle, which had been possessed by no other expedition except the very last. Whether Leichardt was discovered alive or dead, his journals would be found. If he perished from thirst, the last thing he would do would be to bury his journals, as Franklin had done, and perhaps, like Franklin, it would be discovered that he had accomplished the object for which he went out. He would impress upon all that alacrity in this movement was absolutely necessary. If any members of the party were alive, every month would appear to them like an eternity; and besides, it must be remembered that Mr M,lntyre's services would not be available after September, as he had some important affairs of his own to attend- to. If through any neglect of the inhabitants of the colonies a proper search was not made, such pressure would be brought to bear from Europe that they would be forced into performing their duty. The public might rest assured that such a man as Sir Roderick Murohison, of the Royal Geographical Society, would have something to say on the matter at his next anniversary address, and the scientific men of other European countries would not allow the subject to drop. For his own. part he had not entirely abandoned the glorious hope that Leichardt might yet be found alive, and he need not say that the project which he was advocating received his warmest approval. The thanks of the community were due to the promoters of the enterprise for the manner in which they were carrying it into effect. There had never before been a record in history of ladies having, with such kindness, self sacrifice, and, he would add, such moral counige stepped forward to foster such an important enterprise. If they succeeded they would have the glorious satisfaction of having initiated an enterprise which would set an example to all other communities. The movement only required to be set going.' Once started, the united Governments of the Australian colonies would never allow the expedition to want for funds, and there was, therefore, every reason why the movement should at once be set on foot. He might also refer to the fact that Leichardt had an aged mother and a sister in Germany, awaiting tidings of their lost relative, and although an annuity of £100 per annum, granted by the New South Wales Government, placed the family beyond the. reach of want., nothing could compen-ate the mother for the loss of her son, in whom were combined greater virtues and learning than had distinguished any other man the colony had seen. ■ . Dr. Mueller was warmly cheered at the conclusion of his address ; and, after a short discussion, it was resolved, on the motion of Dr. Wilkie, that an appeal should be made to the medical profession throughout the Australian colonies to aid the proposed search for Leichardt, and that the press be requested to give gratuitous publication to the appeals. A committee, composed of the following gentlemen, was appointed to carry out the objects of the meeting : —Drs. Wilkie, Martin, Black, Blair, Outts, Farrage, Embliug, Girdlestone, and Rurtall, The proceedings terminated with a unanimous vote of thanks to Dr. Mueller for his address.