the south-west he came to a river which he named O’Shanassy, which has long and deep reaches of water.  In the waterholes on the southern side of Barkly’s Tableland, which he followed down for seventy miles, he found plenty of fish, and his impression was that these fish came up from rivers farther to the south-west.  It was the dry season when he was there, but he could see traces of water where it had spread for several miles across the country in the wet season.  He had no doubt that, if he had been able to go farther down, he should have got to a large river.

Dr. Mueller observed that this seemed to augur well for any expeditions that might be undertaken from the south of the Gulf of Carpentaria to the south-west.  He begged to ask whether, in following down the tributaries of the Thomson, Mr. Landsborough met with any traces of Dr. Leichhardt?  It would appear from the information supplied by Mr. Walker that Leichhardt took the tributaries of the Thomson in order to be able to skirt the desert of Captain Sturt.  Mr. Landsborough said he went from near Port Denison to the heads of the Thomson River some years ago, and the probability was, he thought, that Mr. Walker saw his tracks or those of Cornish and Buchanan, who had also gone from Rockhampton to the heads of the Thomson.  The party of Mr. Peter McDonald (a Victorian) also went from Rockhampton to the southern side of the range several years ago.  In his (Mr. Landsborough’s) first expedition he endeavoured to find Leichhardt’s tracks on the heads of the Thomson, but unsuccessfully.

Dr. Iffla asked whether Mr. Landsborough in the course of his brilliant journey across the country met with many bodies of natives, and whether they evinced a friendly or hostile disposition.

Mr. Landsborough did not admit that it was a brilliant journey.  (Laughter.) He saw very few blacks.  The largest number he saw at a time was about thirty.  He saw no tracks of blacks and he could not imagine that they were numerous.  He always avoided having much intercourse with the blacks.  He seldom had any trouble with them until this expedition.  On the Barcoo River a number of blacks who had previously appeared most friendly approached the camp in the middle of the night and, but for the watchfulness of Jemmy, might have knocked them on the head.  They were driven away, but the next morning they appeared disposed to attack the party.  Under those circumstances he was obliged to fire upon them.  One volley and a few shots however were sufficient to get rid of them.  He came upon the Flinders above the navigable point.  The range which he crossed to the south-west of Carpentaria was a tableland, that between the Flinders and the Thomson consisted of a series of hills and mountains with passes between them, as Mr. Walker had described in his journal.

His Excellency inquired what were Mr. Landsborough’s impressions and ideas of the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria with reference to the settlement there of Europeans at any future time?