Enterprise and Adventure/Count Strzelecki and his Companions in the Bush
COUNT STRZELECKI AND HIS COMPANIONS IN THE BUSH.
The world of science is almost entirely indebted for its knowledge of the geology of Australia, to the researches of the Count Strzelecki, an enterprising Hungarian geologist and his brave companions. In 1833 this adventurous little band of scientific travellers surprised the inhabitants of Melbourne, by making their appearance in that city, from an exploring journey through the unknown land on the south-east coast of New South Wales, in the course of which they had made numerous important discoveries, and undergone great privations.
This tour had been undertaken by the Count in continuation of those geognostic and mineralogical researches which he had previously carried over two thousand miles within the limits of the colony, and which had now induced him to explore the territory hitherto untrodden by white men, lying between the Murray and the south-eastern coast of New South Wales. At Ellerslie, a remote station, the Count was joined by Mr. James Macarthur, the son of a settler, and another gentleman named Riley, both of whom were eager to share with him the toils and gratifications of his undertaking.
The party started well provided with provisions and pack-horses, and all well mounted, excepting the Count, who, having with him a considerable number of valuable instruments necessary for the prosecution of his observations, which, on account of their delicate construction, required the greatest care of carriage, preferred pursuing his journey on foot, with his budget on his back. From Ellerslie the party descended into the beautiful valley of the Murray, and followed its picturesque windings for about fifty miles. Here the travellers encamped. The Count and Mr. Macarthur ascended the Australian Alps on the 12th of February; about noon they found themselves sitting on the most elevated peak of Australia, at the height of seven thousand eight hundred feet above the level of the sea, beyond the reach of vegetation, and surrounded with perpetual snows; with a serene and lucid sky above them, and below, an unbroken view over an extent of about four thousand square miles. On the summit of the Alps, Count Strzelecki secured many valuable meteorological and magnetic observations. The trigonometrical survey, which the Count had begun, received new supports from this predominant point; 
COUNT STREZELECKI AND HIS COMPANIONS IN THE BUSH.
valuable materials for future publication were also obtained in aid of the Count's barometrical survey, and his geognostic and mineralogical investigations. From this snowy range, retracing their steps for about thirty miles to the westward, the party struck for the south, through a broken and uninhabited country, opening, as it were, by their first track, perhaps a future communication with the Murray. The country, from latitude 37° 10' south, assumed the most cheering and gratifying aspect; but the rivers which beset the country, from north-west to south-east, greatly retarded the progress of the travellers, whose provisions now began to fail.
On the 6th of April it was determined to place all hands on half-rations (a biscuit and a slice of bacon per day), but new difficulties and new delays soon rendered it evident that, even with this precautionary measure, it would be impossible to make the stock of provisions last out the journey. The greatest impediment the travellers had to contend with, was the exhausted state of their horses; each day saw one or other of the party dismounted, to follow the Count on foot; but this, far from removing, only increased the impediments to their progress, for the men, unaccustomed to walk, like the horses, began to feel the effects of the wear and tear of the journey. In this situation it became necessary for the travellers to relinquish (which they did with regret) their original intention of prosecuting their researches as far as Wilson's Promontory, and thence, commencing the exploration of the sea-coast, its inlets and outlets; and to take, instead, the straight course for Western Port, the nearest point whence fresh supplies could be obtained. The open forests, plains and valleys, through which the party, if well supplied with provisions, might have travelled at leisure, had now to be exchanged for a rocky and mountainous path, through which a passage could not be effected without infinite difficulty. The horses, now completely exhausted, served more to retard than to accelerate the progress of the travellers, and they were finally obliged to abandon them in a valley of tolerable pasture and well watered, about seventy-five miles beyond Western Port. Here also they were forced to leave f he packs with the men's wearing apparel, and the Count's mineralogical and botanical collection, taking with them only their blankets and the residue of their bread, which, notwithstanding the allowance had been greatly restricted, did not last longer than four days from this time. From this place, the Count and his companions took, and at all hazards maintained, a direct course to Western Port, in the hope of bringing their sufferings to a close as speedily as possible; but, unfortunately, this course led them for days together through a dense scrub, which it was almost impossible to penetrate. The party was now in a most deplorable condition. Macarthur and Riley, and their attendants, had become so exhausted as to be unable to cope with the difficulties which beset their progress. The Count, being more inured to the fatigue and privations attendant upon a pedestrian journey through the wilds of the inhospitable interior, alone retained possession of his strength; and, although burthened with a load of instruments and papers of forty-five pounds' weight, continued to pioneer his exhausted companions day after day through an almost impervious tea-tree scrub, closely interwoven with climbing grasses, vines, willows, ferns, and reeds. Here the Count was to be seen breaking a passage with his hands and knees through the centre of the scrub, there throwing himself at full length among the dense underwood, and thus opening, by the weight of his body, a pathway for his companions in distress. Thus the party, inch by inch, forced their way, the incessant rains preventing them from taking rest by night or day. Their provisions, during the last eighteen days of their journey, consisted only of a very scanty supply of the flesh of the native bear or monkey, but for which, the only game the country afforded, the travellers must have perished from starvation. This food, which the travellers described as somewhat of the toughest, was but scantily obtained, and the nutriment it afforded was altogether insufficient for the maintenance of the health and strength necessary for undergoing such fatigue.
On the twenty-second day after they had abandoned their horses, they came in sight of Western Port, and with joy obtained the first view of the water on which a small vessel was riding at anchor. A wreath of smoke observed at the same time to be rising among the trees, told them that some human habitation was at hand. This proved to be the encampment of their friend, Mr. Berry, to whose kindness and hospitality the party were indebted for the speedy recovery of their health and vigour.