The whole expedition then moved homewards, and reached Portland Bay, where they found that the Henty family from Van Diemen’s Land had been established on a farm for about two years.  From them Mitchell received some assistance in the way of necessary supplies, and then resumed his journey for home.  On the 19th the party separated; Mitchell pushed ahead, leaving Stapylton, his second, to rest the tired animals for a while and then to follow slowly.  On his homeward way Mitchell ascended Mount Macedon, and from the summit saw and identified Port Phillip.  His return, with his glowing report of the splendid country he had discovered —­ country fitted for the immediate occupation of the grazier and the farmer —­ at once stimulated its settlement, and as the man whose explorations were of immediate benefit to the community in general —­ Mitchell’s name stands first on the roll of explorers.

7.5.  Discovery of the Barcoo.

Some years elapsed before Mitchell —­ now Sir Thomas —­ again took to the field of active exploration.  The settlement of the upper Darling and the Darling Downs had caused numerous speculations as to the nature of the unknown territory comprising the northern half of Australia.  In 1841, communications had passed between the Governor and Captain Sturt, and in December of the same year Eyre, not long returned from his march round the Great Bight, wrote offering his services, provided that no prior claim had been advanced by Sturt.  Governor Gipps asked for an estimate of the expenses, but considered Eyre’s estimate of five thousand pounds too high, and nothing further was done.  In 1843, Sir Thomas Mitchell submitted a plan of exploration to the Governor, who consulted the Legislative Council.  The Council approved it and voted one thousand pounds towards expenses.  The Governor referred the matter to Lord Stanley, whose reply was favourable, but the project still hung fire.  In 1844 Eyre again wrote offering to make the journey at a much more reasonable rate, but his offer was however declined as Mitchell’s proposals held the field.  In 1845 the fund was increased to two thousand pounds, and Sir George Gipps ordered the Surveyor-General to make his preparations.

Mitchell favoured the search for a practicable road to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and hoped also that he would at last find his long-sought northern-flowing river.  In a letter which he then received from a well-known grazier, Walter Bagot, there is mention of an aboriginal description of a large river running northward to the west of the Darling.  But as natives in their descriptions frequently confuse flowing to and flowing from, they probably had Cooper’s Creek in mind.

During the earlier part of the year, Commissioner Mitchell, the son of Sir Thomas, who was afterwards drowned during a passage to Newcastle, had made a flying survey towards the Darling, and the discovery of the Narran, Balonne, and Culgoa rivers has been attributed to him.