Hoffnung and Co. to Thursday Island were found unsuitable from various causes, and did not correspond with the copy I received from the Secretary of the President's order to that firm (the fire-arms not being selected by myself, or any opportunity of inspecting them having been given me before arrival at Thursday Island), so I called a survey on them, and such as were condemned I sent back to Sydney, and after considerable trouble, managed to replace them from Thursday Island, Cooktown, and Townsville. But when we left Thursday Island, our armament was quite complete in every respect, as per list, and Sub-leader's receipt forwarded to the Society, which I read.
List of Fire-arms.
- 8 Winchester repeating rifles,
- 3 Sniders,
- 6 Double-barrel fowling pieces,
- 1 Rook rifle,
- 5 Colt's improved revolvers (6 chambers),
- 13 Bull-dog revolvers (6 chambers),
with an abundance of cartridges and reloaders, with spare powder and shot.
These firearms were, I consider, quite sufficient for our party, consisting of twelve Europeans and twelve Malays.
The repairs, together with the difficulty of obtaining firearms, detained us on Thursday Island until July 14th; our party also here became one short—Mr. Broadbent returning to Sydney sick—and on leaving Thursday Island consisted of the following:—
- Dr. Haacke, Chief Scientist (Zoology and Geology);
- Dr. Bernays, M.D., and Botanist;
- Mr. Hemsworth, Nautical Sub-leader;
- Mr. Creagh, Land Sub-leader;
- Mr. Froggart, Zoological Collector and Entomologist;
- Mr. Bauerlin, Botanical Collector;
- Mr. Senior, Surveyor and Explorer;
- Mr. Shaw, Photographer and Explorer;
- Mr. Vogan, Artist and Explorer;
- Mr. McGechan, Engineer and Explorer;
- Mr. Waddick, Seaman and Explorer;
and eleven Malays and one cook Cingalese, the Malay names being difficult to remember. Some of the most facetious of the party re-christened them by the
