good Providence that had guarded and guided us so safely through it." They rested by the line, making the 104th camp from Geraldton. Thenceforth the explorers travelled down the telegraph line, and on 30th September reached the settled district of Peak, where they were received with great hospitality by the owner of the station, Mr. Bagot, and by Mr. and Mrs. Blood, of the telegraph station. Telegrams were sent to the Governor of South Australia and other persons, and congratulatory messages were received in reply. Forrest and his companions arrived at Beltana on 18th October, and in towns on the way down to Adelaide received the warm plaudits of admiring crowds. Dinners and banquets were given in their honour. A number of the inhabitants of the little town of Salisbury, a few miles from Adelaide, escorted them on the road on 3rd November after banqueting them, and the pageant to the capital was impressive and elaborate. The mayors and town clerks of metropolitan corporations joined in the long procession, and numbers of members of various exploring expeditions went out to greet the conquerors of the deserts. Balconies and housetops along the streets of Adelaide were thronged with people eager to catch a glimpse of the heroes; flags, decorations, and inscriptions of welcome adorned the route; bells rang out merry peals, and the day was observed as a general holiday. R.E. Warburton, William and Harry Gosse, and Ernest Giles formed part of the procession. The explorers were mounted on the horses which had served them so well, and wore the dilapidated garments which clothed them as they crossed the desert. When the town hall was reached, leading officials and politicians received them and addresses were presented. Banquets were given, and no more hearty and enthusiastic greeting could have been accorded one of Royal blood than was tendered these hardy pathfinders. Perth was reached early in December, when local residents vied with South Australians to do honour to them.
The speech of Tommy Pierre to the welcoming crowds in Perth on the day of reception, couched in homely language, gives a native's idea of the journey. He said:—"Well, gentlemen, I am very thankful to come back to Swan River, and Bunbury, Fremantle, and Perth. I thought we was never to get back. (Laughter.) Many a time I go into camp in the morning going through desert place, and swear and curse, and say—'Master, where the deuce are you going to take us?' I say to him—'I'll give you a pound to take us back.' (Cheers and laughter.) Master say 'Hush! what are you talking about? I will take you all right through to Adelaide,' and I always obey him. Gentlemen, I am thankful to you that I am in the Town Hall. That's all I got to say." (Cheers.) The much-travelled Tommy Windich, when called upon, could not say a word.
Forrest with his horses had accomplished what Giles and Gosse could not do, and made his journey in much shorter time and with greater ease than Warburton with his camels. By his discreet leadership he minimised the dangers of the undertaking. Numbers of honours were showered upon him from different parts of the world. He gratefully recorded his indebtedness to his companions. It would not be out of place to mention that his faithful companion in all his expeditions—Tommy Windich—died at Esperance Bay in February, 1876. Not only did he accompany John Forrest, but he was a member of the parties led by Alexander Forrest and C.C. Hunt over the Hampton Plains. John Forrest recorded when he heard of his death:—"I am sure he was the most experienced and best bushman in the colony. The tidings of his death are especially sad to me, and I feel that I have lost an old and well-tried companion and friend."
Ernest Giles had already stamped himself as worthy to be reckoned among Australia's greatest explorers. His unyielding character where obstacles in travel were concerned took him out again after the brilliant achievements of John Forrest. Mr. Thomas Elder, the patron of almost all Australian explorations of his time, supplied the funds. The party consisted of W.H. Tietkens (second), J. Young (observer), A. Ross, P. Nicholls, Salah (an Afghan), and Tommy (native), with nineteen camels and eighteen months' provisions. On this occasion Giles seems to have staked his life on getting through. He chose a much more southerly course than Warburton and Forrest. After making preliminary excursions to choose a route, he set out from Ouldabinna on 24th August, 1875. Seldom has an expedition had greater difficulties to encounter; every day's march revealed the utter inhospitality of the regions traversed. Indeed, it would seem that the further the explorers penetrated into the deserts the more certain death became, and it was the amazing endurance of the camels, with the inflexible wills of the men, which brought them out of their dangers.
Ouldabinna stood in lat. 29° 7' 4" and long. 131° 15' 4", and after crossing spinifex sand hills, passing salt lakes and marshes, and getting through stretches of mulga, mallet, and (occasional) casuarina wastes, they reached the border, and just beyond it, in long. 128° 38' 16", came to what was named the Boundary Dam. This point was gained on 3rd September, and Giles halted for a week taking advantage of its fair supply of good water. Then came the incomprehensible part of the journey. Taking a course west by south, Giles found himself launched on a limitless ocean-desert. Hardly changing his course a mile, he got further and further into an arid waste, but even then, said Giles afterwards, "not a soul thought of retreating." The desert was majestic in its melancholy and desolation. Through scrub, by salt lagoons, and over spinifex plains, they proceeded day after day without obtaining water of any kind. In this way, by 25th September, they were 323 miles from the Boundary Dam, with no signs of an improvement. The situation had become extremely critical, and the native (Tommy) was sent ahead to search for water. Tommy caught sight of an emu, and he followed it to the top of a ridge, whence he saw on the other side an open grassy tract adorned by a cluster of pine trees. Still following the emu, he descended the hill, and in the hollow found a lake of pure water. The camels had gone 325 miles without water, and the relief from anxiety and the joy of Giles and his companions can be well imagined when Tommy made known to them his discovery. A camp was fixed, and for twelve days Giles rested there; for the first time for seventeen days he washed himself. This oasis probably saved the expedition, and Giles thankfully dedicated it Queen Victoria Spring (lat. 30° 25' 30", long. 123° 21' 13").
The explorers were now north-east of Hampton Plains, and about fifty miles from the furthest point north of A. Forrest's track in 1871. A west by north course was then taken, north of Lake Roe, Broad Arrow, and Siberia. A further waterless tract of 180 miles was crossed to granite hills, where difficulty was experienced with natives. Ullarring was passed, and Mount Churchman, near settlement, was reached, over scrubby land with occasional water; the eggs of the lowan supplied food. On 6th November Giles reached Mr. Clarke's station, near the Wongan Hills, Victoria Plains. From that time the progress of the party was a series of ovations; the gathering in Perth on 18th
