In 1858 John McDouall Stuart began the first of his expeditions. These would culminate five years later, in him crossing the continent from south to north, and through the centre. He reached the north coast of Australia at Chambers Bay in Van Diemen's Gulf on 24 July 1862. Along the way and over the course of six expeditions he discovered and named Chambers Creek which was a string of mound springs west of Lake Eyre that would provide a well-watered route to the interior. He also discovered and named the Finke River, Chambers Pillar, Central Mt Stuart, Newcastle Waters and much more besides.
As a result of his explorations South Australia would annexe the Northern Territory and send surveyors and settlers to the northern shore. Eventually, after a number of false starts, Darwin(originally Palmerston) would be surveyed and settled as the chief town. The Overland Telegraph Line would be built across the continent, largely along Stuart's route and would link Australia to the world through the telegraph.
In the published account of his last expedition, Stuart records the beginning of the return journey. There would be no lingering on the north coast; provisions were already low, horses and men wearied by the long exhausting struggle against the terrain and unreliable water supplies. They set out on the second day after their arrival. Stuart explains his reasons for not attempting to reach the mouth of the Adelaide River; largely because of his concern for the condition of the horses. Without them the party would be unlikely to complete the return journey. His reference to the 'C horses' refers to the tough bush-bred horses he had been supplied with from James Chambers' Cobdogla station. These horses had repeatedly proved themselves superior to the 'town' horses he also had.
On page 60 he refers to the 'Mary branch of the Adelaide'. Stuart erroneously believed that he had followed down a tributary of the Adelaide River, named the Mary. The Mary however, is in fact a separate river, some 20 miles east of the Adelaide and roughly parallel to it. Stuart describes endless trouble as horses become bogged and are extricated. There were encounters with the Aboriginal people and Stuart expresses his 'intention to pass peaceably through the different tribes'. Only a fortnight into the return journey Stuart is already commenting on the speed with which the water is drying up, the continued weakening of his horses and his own poor health.
By October he had become so weakened with scurvy that he was unable to sit his horse and was carried back south in the 'ambulance', a litter slung between two horses. Adelaide was finally reached on 17 December 1862, to great public acclaim and a public procession on 21 January. The acclaim was fleeting however. Stuart returned to England in 1864 and died in 1866, with few mourners at his grave. He was buried in Kensal Green cemetery.
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