Memoirs of the Queensland Museum | Culture Volume 7 Part 1 The Leichhardt diaries: Early travels in Australia during 1842–1844 Minister: Ian Walker MP, Minister for Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts CEO: I.D. Galloway, PhD Editor in Chief: J.N.A. Hooper, PhD Editors: Thomas A. Darragh, Roderick J. Fensham Managing Editor: Sarah Verschoore, BA Issue Editors: Geraldine Mate, PhD, Tracy Ryan, PHA(Q) PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE BOARD 30 June 2013 © Queensland Museum PO Box 3300, South Brisbane 4101, Australia Phone: +61 (0) 7 3840 7555 Fax: +61 (0) 7 3846 1226 Web: qm.qld.gov.au National Library of Australia card number ISSN 1440-4788 VOLUME 7 IS COMPLETE IN 2 PARTS COVER Images on book cover: Conrad Martens (1801–78) Forest, Cunningham’s Gap, 1856 © Queensland Art Gallery IMAGES Unless otherwise stated, images used within the book are sketches by Ludwig Leichhardt 1842-1844. NOTE Papers published in this volume and in all previous volumes of the Memoirs of the Queensland Museum may be reproduced for scientific research, individual study or other educational purposes. Properly acknowledged quotations may be made but queries regarding the republication of any papers should be addressed to the CEO. Copies of the journal can be purchased from the Queensland Museum Shop. A Guide to Authors is displayed on the Queensland Museum website qm.qld.gov.au A Queensland Government Project Typeset by Tanya Edbrooke, Queensland Museum Printed by Harding Colour The Leichhardt Diaries. Early travels in Australia during 1842–1844 Foreword The disappearance of the German explorer intentions to mount the first expedition across and scientist Ludwig Leichhardt has become the north-eastern quarter of the continent. a grand Australian legend. Much more On his successful return from Port Essington poorly appreciated, but equally mysterious in 1846 Leichhardt was heralded as a hero is the precise nature of his character and and his name would become imprinted achievements. Hovenden Hely described on the minds of generations of spellbound him as ‘the most selfish greedy man I ever school children tantalised by the romantic saw’, while Henry Turnbull who was with and tragic sagas of the Australian explorers. Leichhardt on the same expedition urged Given the eminence of Leichhardt in our for a memorial to be built ‘not of bronze, cultural imagination it seems incredible however, but of marble—pure marble—pure that the most revealing archive from his as the unsullied reputation of the man whose first formative years in Australia has been memory it would perpetuate!’. The passage essentially inaccessible for 170 years. of time has done nothing to moderate the The Leichhardt of the diaries is far-removed divergent impressions of his acquaintances from Voss. Here is a young man unburdened and Leichhardt’s polarized character has by the pressures and expectations of fame. become magnified by the historical lens. He will be found in periods of depression The ambiguities of Leichhardt’s personality and indecision, wrestling with his emotions and motivations invite his reinvention. In and a developing philosophy of life. Like 1959 Patrick White published a literary Voss he is introspective, but the Leichhardt masterpiece about an explorer who pits of the diaries is intimately engaged with the himself against a merciless land. Throughout world and the people he meets. the novel there could be no mistaking the The diaries reveal how Leichhardt navigated identity of Voss and the genius of White’s his way through Sydney society and choice. Not only did White have the drama then found his confidence as a scientific of the expeditions at his disposal, but the traveller, along the way acquiring the array quixotic character of Leichhardt was the of skills that define a ‘bushman’. The pages perfect vehicle for dissecting the destructive illuminate the state of European settlement, force of obsessive pride and exposing the the nature of aboriginal culture and the discord of the European psyche in the geography of the Australian east coast with Australian landscape. Voss is a stoic, single- detailed observations on the natural world. minded megalomaniac estranged from His earnest intent as a scholar of science and people, like a desert himself, and hell-bent his outstanding ability are demonstrated on sacrificing his body and soul for the sake beyond all doubt. Amidst the detailed of his mission. scientific notes are sections that allow an During the 30 months covered by the diaries intimate acquaintance with the author. he arrived in Australia as a diligent student Without the affectation of his letters or the from the lower strata of Prussian society grandiloquence of his expedition journals the without connections, capital or prospects; diaries bear witness to the essential character and by the closing passages he reveals his of Leichhardt. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum | Culture 7(1) 2013 | i Darragh and Fensham In the period immediately after the diaries he on the Darling Downs. A side journey to the wrote a treatise on Australian geology and Maranoa District recovered some sense of prepared his substantial body of specimens achievement, but the more enduring legacy and despatched a portion of them to Europe. At from this second expedition came from the same time he was exercising his charisma the derogatory stories told by his fellow amongst the wealthier citizens of Sydney to expeditioners. Leichhardt was portrayed secure financial patronage for his long and as selfish and incompetent, and devoid of hazardous journey. This was a remarkable the inspirational or commanding qualities fundraising exercise for a foreigner with no required for successful leadership. More family or business connections in a colony than any others it is these accounts that have in the grips of a depression. Further he propagated Leichhardt’s derision. selected his party of men and purchased and Leichhardt was mortified but responded to prepared the necessary equipment. It seems his failure by re-equipping another party almost impossible that these achievements of expeditioners and headed out again as were finalised in only three months between though the first attempt was merely a false May and August 1844. start. They left the last outpost of settlement Leichhardt calculated a route to Port at Mount Abundance in April 1847 and were Essington that skirted the harsh desert never seen again. The disappearance of environments and wove around the north- Leichhardt, his band of men and their vast eastern quarter of the continent to the tiny array of animals and equipment inspired a garrison of Port Essington. The expedition flood of historical inquiry, speculation and was not without tragedy as the ornithologist mythologising which continues to this day. John Gilbert was killed and Roper and This publication sheds little light on the Calvert were dreadfully wounded during mystery of Leichhardt’s death but reveals an attack by Aborigines on the Nassau River much about his life. The essays accompanying in north Queensland. When their pack- the diaries explore how the Leichhardt horses drowned crossing the Roper River, legacy has permeated Australian science and Leichhardt had to abandon most of his culture. These erudite analyses only scratch botanical specimens and with them a large the surface of the material. Leichhardt’s measure of his prestige as a scientist. medical practice, his struggle to understand On return to Sydney, the rewards for the culture and plight of the Aborigines, his the exalted Leichhardt allowed him to experience with the fledgling winemakers, choose his future. Instead of resting on his zoological insights, his developing his laurels and developing his scientific religious philosophy and his frustrated interests he immediately begun planning love-life are all fodder for future readers. a journey of outrageous ambition — an Hopefully this publication will invigorate east-west crossing of the continent. With renewed interest in the misunderstood and brilliant, but ultimately mysterious Ludwig a full appreciation of geography this was a Leichhardt, as well how his legacy informs suicidal mission. His first attempt was an our history. unmitigated disaster marred by appalling weather, errant livestock, plagues of insects and debilitating illness. The party achieved little more than retracing the previous route Roderick J. Fensham as far as Peak Downs in central Queensland Queensland Herbarium / before returning to the frontier of settlement University of Queensland ii | Memoirs of the Queensland Museum | Culture 7(1) 2013 The Leichhardt Diaries. Early travels in Australia during 1842–1844 Acknowledgements Martin Beckett assisted access to the Smith carefully processed the images to manuscript and Paul Brunton, Elizabeth Ellis, ensure they are as faithful to the originals Richard Neville, and the other staff of the as possible. Robbie Clarkson of Sydney Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW, have checked one of Leichhardt’s notebooks been generous supporters. Rod Fensham was and provided copies of relevant pages. the recipient of a Nancy Keesing Fellowship Rob Bower and Sara Maroske commented from the Mitchell Library which assisted on drafts of the translation. Museum his ongoing involvement and allowed him Victoria provided facilities to enable Tom to scope out the geographical locations of Darragh to undertake the work, and the Leichhardt’s travels provided in Appendix 3. Queensland Herbarium did likewise for Rod Fensham. Tanya Edbrooke performed