Expedition into Central Australia   By: Charles Sturt (1795-1869)

IN 2 VOLUMES. (both in this one eBook)

STURT, CHARLES (1795 1869)

PRODUCTION NOTES: 1. Notes have been placed in square brackets[] where indicated in the published text or at the end of the paragraph, as appropriate. 2. Italics in the published text have been capitalised in the eBook, with the exception of common and scientific names appearing in the appendices at the end of volume 2, which appear in the eBook as normal text. 3. Plates and maps have not been included. Plates to both volumess have been listed in the Table of Contents. 4. Errata have been corrected. Original text has been placed in the eBook between braces{}.

NARRATIVE OF AN EXPEDITION INTO CENTRAL AUSTRALIA PERFORMED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF HER MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT, DURING THE YEARS 1844, 5, AND 6, TOGETHER WITH A NOTICE OF THE PROVINCE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA IN 1847.

IN 2 VOLUMES.

TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE THE EARL GREY, ETC. ETC. ETC.

MY LORD,

Although the services recorded in the following pages, which your Lordship permits me to dedicate to you, have not resulted in the discovery of any country immediately available for the purposes of colonization, I would yet venture to hope that they have not been fruitlessly undertaken, but that, as on the occasion of my voyage down the Murray River, they will be the precursors of future advantage to my country and to the Australian colonies.

Under present disappointment it must be as gratifying to those who participated in my labours, as it is to myself to know that they are not the less appreciated by your Lordship, because they were expended in a desert.

I can only assure your Lordship, that it has been my desire to give a faithful description of the country that has been explored, and of the difficulties attending the task; nor can I refuse myself the anticipation that the perusal of these volumes will excite your Lordship's interest and sympathy. I have the honour to be,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's Most obedient humble servant, CHARLES STURT.

London, November 21,1848.

NOTICE.

It might have been expected that many specimens, both of Botany and Ornithology, would have been collected during such an Expedition as that which the present narrative describes, but the contrary happened to be the case.

I am proud in having to record the name of my esteemed friend, Mr. Brown, the companion of Flinders, and the learned author of the "Prodromus Novae Hollandiae," to whose kindness I am indebted for the Botanical Remarks in the Appendix.

To my warm hearted friend, Mr. Gould, whose splendid works are before the Public, and whose ardent pursuits in furtherance of his ambition, I have personally witnessed, I owe the more perfect form in which my ornithological notice appears.

I have likewise to acknowledge, with very sincere feelings, the assistance I have received from Mr. Arrowsmith, in the construction of my Map, to whose anxious desire to ensure correctness and professional talent I am very greatly indebted.

I hope the gentlemen whose names I have mentioned will accept my best thanks for the assistance they have afforded me in my humble labours. It is not the least of the gratifications enjoyed by those who are employed on services similar to which I have been engaged, to be brought more immediately in connection with such men.

London, November 21, 1848.

CONTENTS

VOLUME I.