As I had been the means of diverting public attention from a Western to a
Northern exploration, so was I willing to encounter myself the risks and
toils of the undertaking I had suggested, and I therefore at once
volunteered to His Excellency to take the command of any party that might
be sent out, to find one-third of the number of horses required, and pay
one-third of the expenses. Two days after this a lecture was delivered at
the Mechanics' Institute in Adelaide, by Captain Sturt, upon the
Geography and Geology of Australia, at the close of which that gentleman
acquainted the public with the proposal I had made to the Governor, and
the sanction and support which His Excellency was disposed to give it.
The following extract is from Captain Sturt's address, and shews the
disinterested and generous zeal which that talented and successful
traveller was ever ready to exert on behalf of those who were inclined to
follow the career of enterprise and ambition in which he had with such
distinction led the way.


"Before I conclude, however, having drawn your attention to the science
of geology, I would for a moment dwell on that of geography, and the
benefit the pursuit and study of it has been to mankind. To geography we
owe all our knowledge of the features of the earth's surface, our
intercourse with distant nations, and our enjoyments of numberless
comforts and luxuries. The sister sciences of geography and hydrography
have enabled us to pursue our way to any quarter of the habitable and
uninhabitable world. With the history of geography, moreover, our
proudest feelings are associated. Where are there names dearer to us than
those of the noble and devoted Columbus, of Sebastian Cabot, of Cook, of
Humboldt, and of Belzoni and La Perouse? Where shall we find the generous
and heroic devotion of the explorers of Africa surpassed? Of Denham, of
Clapperton, of Oudeny, and of the many who have sacrificed their valuable