TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7869, 21 May 1891, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Some modern statistician has told us that within a certain number of years, which h.e lias <Je£i}e<l. fckis e&rfck will l>e lull, all ■fcixe t-. rt i-» ? n"fr> spots fceixxg , occct— lUDiiiiiisiiiiiiwifipiii forebodings as to the probability of ui3 descendants being crowded out. This question, however, together -wich. fcliat of iix& alleged. decrease of Che aua's heat, which threatens some day to leave this earth a. dead, -world like the moon, does not trouble the present generation much ; there is still plenty of warmth in the sun and room in the world for the majority of us, and. it is only those restless spirits who sigh for freaii worlds to conquer who feel at all crowded. There are, however, even now, after all the exploration which baa been goiug on for bo many years, some few parts of the world yet unmapped, terra incognita where no white men aud probably but few black ones have trod, though these few places are slowly giving up their secrets to the advancing wave of modern exploration. Among these spots are some large tracts of country in the western half of the con - tinent of Australia, and it ia into this unknown land that the Elder exploring expedition has just commenced ltd inarch. The long roll of modern explorers contains few more brilliant names than those of Warburtou, Grey, Leichardt, Sturt, Forrest, Eyre and others, who braved the dangers of heat, thirst, and hunger in Australia, and opened up a country which is now one of the storehouses of the world, destined to become in future days a great power. But those old explorers had many difficulties to contend with, from which the present expedition will, it is hoped, be free. They were hampered by wane of money, which necessarily meant want of time, for without the resources which could provide all the requirements of suoh expeditions, the work of exploration was restricted. Sir Thomas Eider, however, acting ou a. hint given by Baron yon Mueller as the meeting of the Australasian Science Association, in Melbourne, last year, generously offered £10,000, with the promise of any sums which wight be farther required, for the purpose of completing the exploration of the interior of the Continent, the only condition imposed being that the Geographical Society of Australia undertook the task of the formation and equipment of the expedition. The offer was, it is needless to say, eagerly accepted, the Council of the South Australian Branch of the Society was entrusted with the principal management .of the enterprise, and so far that body seems to have done its work well. The all-important queetioa of the leadership was solved by the appointment of Mr David Lindsay, who some years ago had charge of a successful exploring expedition in Amheiin'3 Land, between Carpentaria and Cambridge Gulf.; Messrs Leec'u and Wells hold the respective positions of second in command and surveyor; Dr. F. J. Elliott,' of Townsville, aota in the doable capacity of doctor and photographer; Mr Helms, of Sydney, as naturalist; and Mr Streich, of Adelaide, as geologist. The party, of course, includes a . number of subordinates, and a black boy is to be picked up on the way. The greater part of the expedition left Adelaide on April 22nd, and were followed a few days later by the leader and the doctor.

A wbitbb in the Age gives an interesting description of the .oute which is to be followed. The country to be first explored, after leaving the Peake station, contains some 390,000 square miles, more' than four times the area of the United Kingdom. Six or seven months' pro visions and stores are to be supplied for this part of the undertaking, and a further depot of stores will be established at the head waters of the Murchison, in Western Australia, the provisions for which are to be sent up from Geraldton, in that colony. He goes on to say s—

" From the Murchison the explorers will probably move northwards towards the Fitzroy, proceeding between the tracks of Warburton in 1873 and Giles in 1876. Then will follow the exploration of the Kimberley country, the nature of which will require the use of horses instead of camels. From here the route will extend to the Northern Territory, where what is termed a "patch of land" haa to be opened up interlying the explorations of Gregory in 1856, Warburton in 1878, and Forrest in 1879. This "patch"is about 400 miles by 800, extending between the overland telegraph line and the Victoria Biver and Sturt's Creek. It is in this 'district that Baron yon Mueller uiticipates finding relics of the long lost explorer. Leichhardt. Leichhardt left Sydney in 1848, with the avowed intention of spanning the full extent of the continent to Swan Biver. Two years before he had conducted a party successfully to Port Essington, on the Coburg Peninsula, some 200 miles distant from the present capital of the Northern Territory. Speculations have hitherto been offered that remains of Leichhardt should probably be looked for on the site of tPort Essington. At the termination ef hia first exploration he found a cordial welcome at that settlement. Port Essington was maintained for about ten years by the British Government; and, after Leichhardt left the settled districts on hie second fatal enterprise, its abandonment was resolved uoon and promptly carried out, and if Leichhardt, finding he oould not accomplish the longer journey he had essayed across the continent, turned once again to his old refuge, he would have found it a solitude, which, so far as we are aware, has never since been disturbed. The further proceedings of Mr Lindsay's expedition are left tolerably open. It is probable that a detour will probably be made through a portion of the Northern territory toDaly Water, eastward of whioh a stretch of unknown land in proiunity to the Queensland border will be examined and mapped out. The return journey, it is expected, will pass through country eastward of the overland telegraph, the tims allotted to complete the exphwatiQa

and bring the party back to the Bet„!*_ districts being not loss than ei_hfc»l. months.", * Bl *»

As we have said, all that money can dofo* an exploring expedition haß been done fot .this one, and the absence of restraint cl any kind will assuredly be of good service, to the leader, who is only required to pierce the few remaining unKnown tracti of Australia, no matter what the <j o at may be. Sir Thomas Kldar has, wo at* told, allowed it to be known that if jfJaoooo more ie required for the work it will b« forthcoming. "With such a free hand H, Lindsay must have set about hia task with a light heart, and if the couatry to which he is bound proves to be as fertile as ths vast tracts once called deserts, which &*» now supporting countless thousands of sheep and cattle, or as rich in mi_e*_j wealth as those spots whicli drew tha attention of the whole world to Australia in the forties and fifties, Sir Thomas Elder will indeed deserve well of his country