with a watery grave), Captain Cadell proceeded to Melbourne, and thence crossed to Swan Hill, on the upper Murray, and accompanied by four adventurous miners, commenced from that point the descent of the stream in a boat of an original and rough construction,—a wooden frame 21.8 feet long, covered with canvas, his launching forth in which sufficiently indicated the dauntless perseverance of the man. In this frail craft significantly yclept the Forerunner, carefully sounding as he proceeded, Captain Cadell accomplished the voyage of 1300 miles to Lake Victoria in twenty-two days under the most unfavourable conditions, the weather being stormy, and the greatest caution being enjoined by the frailty of his bark; her leakiness requiring constant caulkings with fat from the frying-pan; but an accidental rent from a snag having been readily repaired with a thread and needle, proved that there may be compensations in the most unfavourable circumstances.
Assured by the result of this trip, Captain Cadell, on August 17, 1853, successfully crossed the dreaded bar and entered the lake in the steamer Lady Augusta, of 90 tons burthen and 40 horse-power, which he had built at Sydney. On the 25th August the Lady Augusta, with a tender of 87 tons burthen lashed to her, pursued her journey up the Murray,—Sir H. Young and several other gentlemen interested in the enterprise being on board,—reached Swan Hill on the 17th September, and after proceeding alone a couple of hundred miles yet higher, retraced her way with her consort, heavily freighted with local produce, and arrived safely at Goolwa on October 14, having run over 3000 miles within 50 days. The breadth of the Murray between the lake and Swan Hill averaged 200 yards, and its depth 3 fathoms; above the Wakool the bends were sharper and more frequent, the breadth less, but not the depth, though there were many snags. Further acquaintance with the periodical changes whereto it is subject was needed to determine whether the Murray was thus easily navigable at all seasons, but this expedition proved that it was open to steamers for many months in ordinary years. The importance of this discovery could scarcely be exaggerated; the establishment of steam communication on the Murray practically quadrupled the value to the colonists on its upper waters of their wool and other produce, the transportation of which to Melbourne by ox-teams previously took from three to six months, according to the season and condition of the river crossings. The inhabitants of the three colonies testified their sense of his services by presenting Captain Cadell with a gold candelabrum, and the Legislature presented him with a gold medal commemorative of the auspicious event.
Captain Cadell continued for some time to run his vessel regularly on the Murray, a higher point being attained at each successive trip; but she was quite inadequate to the greatness of the traffic that was being developed; and conceiving that there was a fair field for commercial enterprise, Captain Cadell took a prominent share in the formation of a Company for navigating the River Murray; for which two steamers, the Albany and Gundagai, were built in Glasgow, sent out in pieces to Port Elliott in the first vessel which had ever arrived at that place from Europe, and being carried across to Goolwa were there set up and launched on the lake. In one of these, Captain Cadell, in October, 1855, reached Albany on the upper Murray, a point 1740 miles from Goolwa, whereto the river is navigable during half the year. In 1856 he explored the Edward River, which, branching out of the Murray, rejoins it lower down after a course of 600 miles. In 1858 he succeeded in reaching in his steamer Gundagai on the Murrumbidgee, 2000 miles from the sea, and in the very heart of New South Wales, after a month’s voyage. In 1859 he proceeded up the Darling beyond Mount Murchison.
As if these toilsome explorations were insufficient fully to engage his thoughts, this indefatigable man was at the same time pondering various schemes; for inland navigation in other parts of the Australian Colonies, for irrigating the Billibong district by a canal from the Murrumbidgee; for the canalisation of the Darling; and lastly, for rendering navigable the River Latrobe and the lakes wherwith it is connected in Gipp’s Land.
Largely as Captain Cadell’s labours contributed to the development of the resources and to the prosperity of Australia, and loud as were the acknowledgments of the people he had benefited, he himself derived very little substantial rewards from them. The sums granted in aid of his explorations by the local legislature were utterly inadequate to cover the expenses they involved, and in his eagerness to serve the public, his attention was distracted from those commercial pursuits which might have been combined with and would have amply rewarded his exploratory labours; but, perchance, the mental habit which is required for the accumulation of wealth is rarely associated with real genius, which is in its essence noble and disinterested. His has been the fate of most pioneers in all ages; others having watched the results of his discoveries and the development of his plans, reaped the fruits of his adventurous explorations in an easy manner. It is not creditable to the Australians that, after wearing out the best years of his life in their service, and expending his means in enterprises whereby they have so greatly benefited, this remarkable man should have been enforced to retreat into the wilds, and begin life again as a settler, near Mount Murchison. The least they could have done would have been to bestow on Captain Cadell a present of land on one of the great rivers wherewith his name will ever be associated. Such is the gratitude and justice of the world; probitas laudatur et alget. While Drake, the object of whose piratical expeditions was his personal enrichment, remains a national hero; Cadell, who has conferred an inestimable benefit on a great Continent, is left to begin the world in a new sphere. We believe, however, that a memorial is now under the consideration of the Legislative bodies of South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales for a grant of land commensurate with his merits, near the scenes of his labours; and we hope that, for the credit of those three great colonies, this suggestion may soon be carried into effect, Captain Cadell being now a much poorer man than he was thirteen years ago, when he first devoted his time