years. This expedition resulted in little or nothing, as far as its
main object was concerned, one or two trees, marked L, on the Barcoo
and lower end of the Thompson, was all it discovered; but,
geographically, it settled the question of the course of the Barcoo,
or Mitchell's Victoria, which Gregory followed past Kennedy's farthest
point, and traced until he found it identical with Sturt's Cooper's
Creek. He described it as being of enormous width in times of flood,
and two of Sturt's horses, abandoned since 1845, were seen but left
uncaptured. Sturt's Strezletki Creek in South Australian territory was
then followed. This peculiar watercourse branches out from the Cooper
and runs in a south-south-west direction. It brought Gregory safely to
the northern settlements of South Australia. The fruitless search for
it, however, was one of the main causes of the death of Burke and
Wills in 1861. This was Gregory's final attempt; he accepted the
position of Surveyor-General of Queensland, and his labours as an
explorer terminated. His journals are characterised by a brevity that
is not the soul of wit, he appearing to grudge to others the
information he had obtained at the expense of great endurance,
hardihood, knowledge, and judgment. Gregory was probably the closest
observer of all the explorers, except Mitchell, and an advanced
geologist.

In 1858 a new aspirant for geographical honours appeared on the field
in the person of John McDouall Stuart, of South Australia, who, as
before mentioned, had formerly been a member of Captain Sturt's
Central Australian expedition in 1843-5 as draftsman and surveyor.
Stuart's object was to cross the continent, almost in its greatest
width, from south to north; and this he eventually accomplished. After
three attempts he finally reached the north coast in 1862, his rival
Burke having been the first to do so. Stuart might have been first,