They took with them A.J.  Richardson, a surveyor sent by the Government, Scrutton, Binney, Cowderoy, and four natives.  The stock consisted of forty-two horses and two hundred and fifty head of cattle.  The cheerful acceptance of this hazardous enterprise by these youths was a fine indication of adventurous spirit, and reflects great credit on their courage and the courage of the native-born.  The fate of the last explorer who dared to face the perils of the Peninsula would have deterred any but the boldest from taking up his task.

Before the final start from Carpentaria Downs, then the furthest station to the north, supposed to be situated on Leichhardt’s Lynd River, Alec Jardine made a trip ahead in order to secure knowledge of an available road for the cattle, and save delay in the earlier stages of the main journey.  On this preliminary observational excursion, he followed the presumed Lynd down for nearly 180 miles, until he was convinced that neither in appearance, direction, nor position did it correspond with the river described by Leichhardt.  On the subsequent journey with the cattle, this conviction was found to be in accordance with fact, for the stream was then proved to be a tributary of the Gilbert, now known as the Einnesleigh.

On the 11th of October the final start was made, and the party commenced a journey seldom equalled in Australia for peril and adventure.  The head of the Einnesleigh was amongst rough ranges, and on the 22nd of the month they halted the cattle while they conducted another search for the invisible Lynd.  They found other good-sized creeks, but no Lynd, nor did they ever see it.  They afterwards found that, owing to an error in the map they had with them, the Lynd was placed 30 miles out of position.  A misfortune happened at the outset of their expedition.  In the morning a large number of horses were missing.  Leaving some of the party to stay behind and look for them, the two brothers and the remainder went on with the cattle.  On the second day they arrived at a large creek, without having been overtaken by the party with the missing horses and the pack-horses.  After an anxious day spent in waiting, Alec Jardine started back to find out the cause of the delay.  He met the missing party, who were bringing bad news with them.  Through carelessness in allowing the grass round the camp to catch fire, half of their rations and nearly the whole of their equipment had been burnt.  In addition, one of the most valuable of their horses had been poisoned.  This terrible misfortune, coming at such an early stage of their journey when they had all the unknown country ahead of them, seriously imperilled the success of their undertaking.  But there was nothing to do but to bear it with what equanimity they could muster.

The Cape York natives now seemed to rejoice that they had another party of white men to dog to death.  Once about twenty of them appeared about sundown and boldly attacked the camp with showers of spears.  Two days afterwards, they surprised the younger Jardine when alone, and he had to fight hard for his life.  The creek they had been following down led them on to the Staaten River, where the blacks succeeded in stampeding their horses, and it was days before some of them were recovered.