then struck directly northwards. But now water failed them, and they were compelled to remain in inactivity for six months in what they called the Rocky Glen depôt, where there was a good pool of water. Whilst imprisoned here the heat of the summer became insupportable, and they were compelled to excavate an underground chamber, in which they took refuge during the day from the intensity of a heat which drew every screw from their boxes, caused the lead to drop out of their pencils, and their nails to become brittle as glass. Fortunately their water supply held out, and enabled them, when the winter rains fell, to push on through the seemingly trackless desert of the interior. At length even they could go no farther, and after innumerable hardships succeeded in retracing their steps to the Murray, reaching Adelaide after an absence of nineteen months, during which they had discovered Cooper's Creek. Captain Sturt's eyesight had been greatly impaired by his previous journeys, but the third rendered him almost totally blind. He managed, however, to discharge the duties of Colonial Secretary of South Australia for some time longer, but subsequently returned to England, where he died at Cheltenham on June 16th, 1869. Pensioned by the South Australian Government, the Imperial authorities tardily recognised after their manner triumphs in their way as valuable to the Empire as those of Clive or Hastings, and better than theirs, because blamelessly won. Whilst Captain Sturt was on his deathbed, the K.C.M.G., the normal reward of a very different class of service, was placed at his disposal, but he did not live to assume this lagging honour. The Colonial Office authorities, with an excess of grace remarkable in a body which has so resolutely sat on the safety-valve of Imperial expansion, procured the royal permission for his widow to have the same title and precedence as though her husband had survived to receive the title. Lady Sturt died on June 5th, 1887, aged eighty-five.
Sullivan, Barry, the well-known tragedian, whose name is inseparably connected with the Australian stage, was born of Irish parents, in Birmingham in 1824, and made his first appearance on the stage in Cork, in 1840. After gaining a thorough mastery of the histrionic art in the English provinces, as understood by the "old school" of "legitimate," actors Mr. Sullivan "starred" in the United States and Canada (1857-60), and returning to England he sailed for Australia in May 1861. He remained chiefly at the old Theatre Royal, Melbourne, for the next six years, and may be said to have put theatrical matters on a democratic basis by instituting the "shilling pit." Barry Sullivan's career as manager and "star" in Melbourne may be very fairly compared with that of Mr. Irving in the same dual capacity in London. He played in that city for over a thousand consecutive nights with almost unvarying success, producing in a long line the whole of the great acting Shakespearian dramas, as well as the other recognised masterpieces of the British stage. His own acting as Richard III., Hamlet, Macbeth, King John, Othello and Iago, was greatly admired by Australian audiences, who were not without standard of comparison, having previously been made familiar with the performances of G. V. Brooke in the same rôles. Nor was Mr. Sullivan suffered to enjoy his great popularity in Melbourne without encountering personal rivalry. During his lesseeship of the Theatre Royal, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean appeared at the Haymarket Theatre, Melbourne, and the two tragedians were often "billed" to appear in the same characters on the same evening. As well as succeeding in the great tragic rôles referred to, Mr. Sullivan proved himself an admirable representative of such parts as Charles Surface, in School for Scandal, and he was also most effective in modern melodrama. One secret of Mr. Sullivan's wonderful success in the colonies was the excellence of his companies. The names of such artistes as Mr. and Mrs. Robert Heir (neé Cathcart), Mr. Vincent, and Miss Cleveland (now Mrs. Arthur Stirling), Mr. T. C. Lambert, Mr. H. G. Rogers, Mr. H. R. Harwood, Mr. Richard Stewart, Miss Rosa Dann, and numerous other "old favourites," were always to be found in the "cast." Mr. Sullivan played also in Sydney and other Australian cities, returning to England in 1866, when he reappeared at Drury Lane Theatre. In 1868 he became lessee of the Holborn Theatre. His management closed in 1870, and from this time forward
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