1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. So today's 4 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: subject is one that any of our Australian listeners will 5 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:23,880 Speaker 1: know well, I have no doubt. It's quite a well 6 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 1: known story there, and in some ways this story reads 7 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:29,920 Speaker 1: a little bit like a sitcom, although it also involves 8 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:33,239 Speaker 1: some very serious physical hardship, some of which sounds just 9 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: awful to me. It is about the expedition that really 10 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: established some of the earliest knowledge that European colonists had 11 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: about the interior of the Australian continent. And just a 12 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: heads up, we're going to talk about things like land 13 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: grants in this episode, specifically land grants given to Europeans 14 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: who moved to Australia, and we won't go into it 15 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: every time for context, but obviously that land wasn't really 16 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: Britton's to give. And this is a situation where colonialism 17 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:04,320 Speaker 1: kind of blots out the indigenous peoples of an area 18 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:07,959 Speaker 1: and nation in terms of the historical record. And also 19 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: there is often a lot of violence, disease in genocide 20 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:13,520 Speaker 1: involved in that The other thing I read recently. My 21 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: understanding is that in Aboriginal culture you can on own 22 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:19,479 Speaker 1: land the land owns you, so there's like an extra 23 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: added layer of just kind of ignorance and insult to 24 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:25,759 Speaker 1: it um. There are also a lot of instances where 25 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,039 Speaker 1: the two men involved in this story are said to 26 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 1: have discovered places. Hello, the people who lived there already 27 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: knew they were there. Uh So, of course, once again 28 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,559 Speaker 1: that means from the European point of view, it became known, 29 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: But discovery isn't really the right word. And the two 30 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: men at the center of this story are William Hilton 31 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:48,279 Speaker 1: Hovel and Hamilton's Hume. So we're gonna start by talking 32 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: about their lives before they became expedition collaborators. We'll start 33 00:01:53,720 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: with William Hilton Hovell, who was born April six and Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. 34 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 1: Even as a very young boy, he was working at sea. 35 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: His father was part owner and captain of a trading 36 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:12,680 Speaker 1: vessel that ran from England to the Mediterranean, and that 37 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: ship was captured by the French in when William was 38 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:20,920 Speaker 1: only eight. William's father was held as a prisoner of 39 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:24,360 Speaker 1: war for more than two years because they didn't have 40 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:27,799 Speaker 1: any income from his father, William had to start working 41 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,399 Speaker 1: when he was only ten. This would have obviously been 42 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,280 Speaker 1: a hard life, but according to one obituary on Hovel, 43 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: he was quote made of the right kind of stuff 44 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: for life at sea, and that is sort of reflected 45 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: in his first command, which was at the very young 46 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: age of twenty two in eight o eight. Prior to that, 47 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: he was mate on a ship called Zenobia, which made 48 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:52,520 Speaker 1: a trading voyage to Peru, and then his commander commission 49 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:54,920 Speaker 1: was aboard the Juno, which was a trading ship that 50 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 1: was bound for Rio de Janeiro. After that he was 51 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 1: given command of another ship, the Titia, which also made 52 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: the journey to Brazil, and then he led a trading 53 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 1: mission to Kittiez, Spain, on a ship called the John 54 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:12,120 Speaker 1: and Thomas. On May tenth, eighteen ten, Hovell married Esther Arndell, 55 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:15,239 Speaker 1: and in the autumn of the following year he applied 56 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: for a land grant in New South Wales, Australia. Estor's 57 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:23,519 Speaker 1: father had already lived in Australia for decades by that time. 58 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 1: Hovell was granted his land parcel, and he his wife 59 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:30,520 Speaker 1: and their two children sailed to Australia aboard the Earl Spencer. 60 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: They arrived on October nine, eight thirteen. William Hovell and 61 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: his family lived in Cumberland County, which was founded in 62 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: sevent and named for Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland, who 63 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: was the brother of King George the Third in the 64 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: eighteen teens. When Hovell arrived, that was the main area 65 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: that English immigrants had moved to. Much of the rest 66 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: of Australia was pretty much unknown to Europeans. It's a 67 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: little unclear happened when the Trial arrived in New Zealand, 68 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 1: but it definitely did not go well. According to Hovell's 69 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: cruise accounts, mau reforces attacked the crew of the Trial 70 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: and Hovel and his men fought their way back to 71 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: the ship and then headed straight back to Sydney. After this, 72 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: Hovel commanded several more trade missions, but ultimately turned in 73 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: a life at sea for a life on a farm 74 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:25,039 Speaker 1: in eighteen nineteen, and he stayed there for several years. 75 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 1: So now we will pause Hovel's story and we'll talk 76 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: about the life of his partner in this tail. Hamilton's 77 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:38,839 Speaker 1: Hume was born on June His parents were Andrew h 78 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 1: Hume and Elizabeth Kennedy Hume. Andrew was the Commissary General 79 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:46,039 Speaker 1: of New South Wales and had moved to Australia the 80 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:50,159 Speaker 1: same year that Hamilton's was born. He had arrived with 81 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:54,719 Speaker 1: Elizabeth on a frigate called the Rue. Hamilton was born 82 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: in Paramtta, which at the time was a town in 83 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:01,080 Speaker 1: New South Wales. Today it's more a suburb of Sydney. 84 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: Hamilton's was educated at home by his mother for the 85 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 1: most part. In eighteen twelve, when Hamilton's was fifteen, the 86 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: family moved roughly sixty kilometers south to the town of Appen, 87 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:15,880 Speaker 1: where Andrew Hume had been given a sizeable land grant. 88 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:18,360 Speaker 1: This meant that they were in an area that had 89 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:21,839 Speaker 1: not really been developed by European inhabitants, and for Hume, 90 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,280 Speaker 1: being out in the country sparked his interest in exploration. 91 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:28,480 Speaker 1: When he reached the age of eighteen, Hume was given 92 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:31,560 Speaker 1: his own land grant in Appen, and he was described 93 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:35,279 Speaker 1: in an account of his life as unquote accomplished bushman 94 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: by the age of seventeen, and he often took his 95 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 1: young brothers with him on exploring trips around the bush 96 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 1: One such expedition was a trip through the area surrounding 97 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:48,360 Speaker 1: the town of Barrima in the southern Highlands of New 98 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: South Wales. This is not to be confused with Barrima, 99 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:55,240 Speaker 1: which exists in the Northern Territory of Australia today. That's 100 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: quite a long way away from where Hume was exploring. 101 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:01,480 Speaker 1: Hume took notes on the land as he traveled, and 102 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: when he returned to Happen he shared the information that 103 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: there was good potential for some farming in this area 104 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: surrounding Barrema. Yeah, a lot of these explorations were like 105 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:16,599 Speaker 1: can people move there again European people, Could we have 106 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: farms and agriculture? Could we support ourselves? So that's a 107 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:24,360 Speaker 1: lot of the focus of these these explorations and expeditions. 108 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: Because of Hume's reputation, he was selected by Governor Lachlan 109 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: mcquarie in eighteen seventeen to accompany a surveyor named me 110 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:36,120 Speaker 1: In and traveled the southern country of New South Wales. 111 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:40,160 Speaker 1: Those two men are credited with discovering Lake Bathurst and 112 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:42,480 Speaker 1: the Goulburn Plains, but as we mentioned at the top 113 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:45,400 Speaker 1: of the episode, discovery not really the right word here. 114 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:49,680 Speaker 1: They mapped the area for the British colonial governors. Hume 115 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:52,560 Speaker 1: went on several similar trips at the behest of Governor 116 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:56,480 Speaker 1: McQuary over the next several years with various other travelers. 117 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,320 Speaker 1: He explored Jervis Bay, the Clyde River and Yes Janes. 118 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:04,240 Speaker 1: The start of the expedition we're talking about today began 119 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:09,440 Speaker 1: and initially sputtered out, when Sir Thomas Brisbane, who succeeded 120 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 1: Macquarie as governor, wanted to send an expedition to the 121 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: area between Lake George and Bass Strait in the early 122 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: eighteen twenties, and Hamilton's Hume was recommended as the perfect 123 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 1: man for the job. Brisbane took that recommendation and Hume 124 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: was chosen to lead the project, which was envisioned as 125 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 1: starting at Wilson's Promontory on the southern coast of Australia 126 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:34,120 Speaker 1: or Cape how at the southeastern tip of the continent, 127 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:38,680 Speaker 1: and then move north to Sydney. But regardless of route, 128 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:42,680 Speaker 1: that expedition was going to be extremely costly and Brisbane 129 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: was ultimately unable to secure financing for it. Hume had 130 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,120 Speaker 1: been really enthused about the idea, though, and after Brisbane's 131 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:53,640 Speaker 1: funding fell through he started a plan to create a 132 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: similar expedition on his own, this one to the body 133 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: of water we now know as the Spencer Gulf west 134 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:03,840 Speaker 1: of Adelaide, Australia. But Hume ran into that same problem money. 135 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: He just could not afford to finance a trip like 136 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:09,840 Speaker 1: that on his own. And then a friend of Humes 137 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,080 Speaker 1: named Alexander Berry, who was a surgeon and explorer who 138 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 1: had been born in Scotland and moved to Australia, had 139 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: an idea to connect Hume with another explorer who might 140 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 1: be able to help, and that is how Hamilton Hume 141 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:26,600 Speaker 1: was introduced to William Hovell. Before we dive into the 142 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:30,119 Speaker 1: time they spent together, let's pause for a quick sponsor break. 143 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 1: While William Hovell had done some exploring overland, his expertise 144 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: and experience really was at sea, but his ability to 145 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:50,199 Speaker 1: navigate was what was really valuable for a trip into 146 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:53,840 Speaker 1: unmapped areas. I say unmapped really there were some sketch 147 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:57,200 Speaker 1: maps available, but they really didn't know specific details about 148 00:08:57,200 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: the terrain. When Huvell and Hugh met that you found 149 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 1: shared enthusiasm enough that Huvel offered to not only join 150 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 1: the project but to split the cost of mounting the expedition. 151 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:11,080 Speaker 1: Hovell sold some of his land to raise the money, 152 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:14,719 Speaker 1: and Hume sold a valuable iron plow. This is something 153 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:17,280 Speaker 1: that would have been in high demand in Australia where 154 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: people were starting their farms, and not something they could 155 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,559 Speaker 1: manufacture there but had to have shipped from overseas. They 156 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 1: also received from assistance from the government in the form 157 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:29,720 Speaker 1: of a tent and some saddles and supplies for their crew, 158 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 1: which was made up in part with convicted men who 159 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:37,520 Speaker 1: were assigned to their service. Once all the logistics were 160 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:40,679 Speaker 1: in place, the team assembled at Hume's home in Appen. 161 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: They left there on Saturday October two. The six men 162 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:49,360 Speaker 1: who accompanied human Hovel are described in accounts of the 163 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,760 Speaker 1: day as quote assigned servants, so that meant they were 164 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:56,400 Speaker 1: convicted men who had been transported to the British penal 165 00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:01,240 Speaker 1: colonies in Australia for various petty crimes. The men assigned 166 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: to Hamilton's Hume were Claude Bossla, Henry Angel and James Fitzpatrick. 167 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:10,400 Speaker 1: Hovel's three assigned men were Thomas Boyd, William Ballard and 168 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:14,400 Speaker 1: Thomas Smith. Yeah, there are some accounts that suggest that, 169 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:17,560 Speaker 1: um I read one that said that at least one 170 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 1: of the men had actually been a freeman who had 171 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: immigrated but then also had some sort of indenture to 172 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:28,160 Speaker 1: the government or something. It was a little unclear to 173 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:30,720 Speaker 1: me what was going on there, but uh, these were, 174 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:33,320 Speaker 1: like we said, men that had been assigned to them. 175 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:36,640 Speaker 1: The team had two carts loaded with supplies, as well 176 00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:39,800 Speaker 1: as several steer and horses. So to get a sense 177 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:43,000 Speaker 1: of how much they packed for an anticipated four month journey, 178 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:46,880 Speaker 1: here's what Hovell noted in his journal. Quote six hundred 179 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:51,360 Speaker 1: forty pounds flower, two hundred pounds pork, one hundred pounds sugar, 180 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:58,959 Speaker 1: fourteen pounds t eight pounds tobacco, twelve pounds soap, salt, coffee, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, 181 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 1: for myself and three men, together with a musket and 182 00:11:02,559 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: ammunition for each man. This is exclusively for ourselves, as 183 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:11,199 Speaker 1: Mr Hume has supplied, as I understand, the same quantity. 184 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,680 Speaker 1: Hume also added a cart, a steer, and two horses 185 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:18,000 Speaker 1: to the cause, and Hovel provided a cart, four steer 186 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:21,280 Speaker 1: and one horse. They also brought along dogs to help 187 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: with hunting game, and sketch maps of the area that 188 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:27,040 Speaker 1: we mentioned just a moment ago. Those included information that 189 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:31,560 Speaker 1: had been shared with colonists by Indigenous Australians. The initial 190 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 1: leg of the trip was from Appen to Yas and 191 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:36,640 Speaker 1: as they made that segment of the trip, they visited 192 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:40,760 Speaker 1: with friends along the way. They often had meals with acquaintances. 193 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 1: Hamilton's brother John was with them for that first stretch. 194 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:48,640 Speaker 1: It took ten days to travel roughly two hundred kilometers. 195 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,959 Speaker 1: Hovel and Hume estimated the distance at a hundred twenty 196 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:55,959 Speaker 1: three point five miles. The destination of that first stretch 197 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:59,000 Speaker 1: was a station Hume had set up at Yes. They 198 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 1: got there around one pm on October. In addition to 199 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:07,160 Speaker 1: seeing acquaintances and friends, the team also identified problems with 200 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:09,800 Speaker 1: their carts, which they were able to have serviced as 201 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: they were passing through these areas that were populated with 202 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:18,280 Speaker 1: colonists rather than brush. Yeah, it was a definitely through 203 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 1: populated area in that first chunk. The following day, after 204 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,720 Speaker 1: they got to the station, Human Hovel went to Lake George's, 205 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:29,440 Speaker 1: about twelve miles from the station, to calculate the distance 206 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:32,200 Speaker 1: and to just observe the land. They returned to the 207 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:35,520 Speaker 1: station that same day at dusk. The team had intended 208 00:12:35,559 --> 00:12:39,079 Speaker 1: to leave the Ya station on Saturday, October sixte there 209 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:41,880 Speaker 1: was inclement weather and, according to the team account quote, 210 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:44,920 Speaker 1: a native guide who had promised to help them move 211 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 1: south through the area was a no show, so they 212 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:51,240 Speaker 1: didn't actually begin until Sunday the seventeen, and they set 213 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:55,880 Speaker 1: out without a guide early into the trip. On October nineteenth. 214 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: After traveling eleven miles that day, they quote found themselves 215 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,240 Speaker 1: on the banks of the Murrambijee River, but this posed 216 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:07,040 Speaker 1: a problem. According to their published account quote, the river, however, 217 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:10,160 Speaker 1: is so swollen by the late rains that it appears 218 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:15,280 Speaker 1: utterly impassable, and it is evidently rising. Human Houvel estimated 219 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:18,079 Speaker 1: that the river was thirty to forty yards across, and 220 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:21,040 Speaker 1: in this account that they kept they said the current 221 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:24,760 Speaker 1: was between five and six knots an hour. So initially 222 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 1: they made camp where they were, and they couldn't cross 223 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: the next day either, but they did manage to catch 224 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:34,000 Speaker 1: some fresh fish and eat it. On October twenty two, 225 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:37,080 Speaker 1: seeing no evidence that the river was going to diminish 226 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:39,840 Speaker 1: or slow, they decided that they had to go ahead 227 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:42,680 Speaker 1: and attempt a crossing. As they put it quote without 228 00:13:42,679 --> 00:13:46,199 Speaker 1: further delay and whatever the risk. But the trees around 229 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:48,440 Speaker 1: the river were water logged from the rains, so they 230 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:51,760 Speaker 1: weren't buoyant and they couldn't be used like to float across. 231 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:54,839 Speaker 1: So they stripped one of the carts down and they 232 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:57,440 Speaker 1: covered it with a tarpaulin to create a raft that 233 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:00,319 Speaker 1: could be passed back and forth across the river if 234 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:02,400 Speaker 1: they could attach it to a rope that was anchored 235 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 1: on the opposite shore. Hume and one of the assistants 236 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:08,040 Speaker 1: took on the task of swimming across the river to 237 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,120 Speaker 1: affix this rope, which they had to carry across by 238 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:15,040 Speaker 1: biting it as they swam. Per their account quote. This 239 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:19,080 Speaker 1: was not done without great difficulty and some danger. They 240 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: were successful, though they landed farther downstream than they had 241 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:26,200 Speaker 1: initially intended. But once the setup was completed and they 242 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 1: had the rope, they started moving supplies across the river 243 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 1: in that raft. They walked and swam the animals across 244 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:34,920 Speaker 1: with a tow rope. After all the time that it 245 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:37,400 Speaker 1: took to get the supplies and the other cart over, 246 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:40,680 Speaker 1: one of the steer rolled on its back and made 247 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:43,480 Speaker 1: a lot of the crossing in that position. Once they 248 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 1: got everything and all the animals across, they made camp 249 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:48,920 Speaker 1: and they slept on the river bank. I sort of 250 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 1: feel like that's all I would have the energy to 251 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: do after all that. Yeah, I mean they talked about 252 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:55,760 Speaker 1: how it took you know, five hours just to get 253 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:57,840 Speaker 1: all the stuff across, and then the animals were a 254 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:00,800 Speaker 1: couple of hours more, uh, because they couldn't do them 255 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:02,760 Speaker 1: all at once since they didn't have enough men to 256 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:05,800 Speaker 1: make sure everything worked. So that's like a full work 257 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:09,200 Speaker 1: day of just crossing this river of terror. But their 258 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 1: troubles were just the beginning. The day after the river crossing, 259 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:16,320 Speaker 1: the expedition traveled ten miles and ended up at kind 260 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:20,040 Speaker 1: of a mountain barrier. Hume and Hovell disagreed on the 261 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:22,480 Speaker 1: way to go to try to get around this obstacle. 262 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 1: They couldn't go straight up. They were really at like 263 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:27,880 Speaker 1: a rock face. Here is the description of what happened 264 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:30,840 Speaker 1: from the jointly published account that they put out some 265 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 1: years later. Sunday, October up to two o'clock. The day 266 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 1: was spent in a laborious but ineffectual attempt to discover 267 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,120 Speaker 1: a pass through the mountain barrier. In their advance. The 268 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:45,320 Speaker 1: party now separated Mr. Hovell, with one of the men 269 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:48,640 Speaker 1: following a chain of ponds in the direction northwest for 270 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: four or five miles, when these ponds were found to 271 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:54,240 Speaker 1: form a stream which made its escape through a chasm 272 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:57,080 Speaker 1: dividing the Northern and Western Barrier Ranges from each other. 273 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:01,040 Speaker 1: Down this chasm, the stream soon press sipated itself in 274 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 1: numerous falls that it became impracticable to follow it further. 275 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:08,680 Speaker 1: They would now have returned to the tent, but lost 276 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: their way in the attempt to find an emu, which 277 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:14,680 Speaker 1: they had killed on their way out. Hume, on the 278 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:18,400 Speaker 1: other hand, headed in a southwest direction. He had followed 279 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:21,720 Speaker 1: a chain of ponds, but unlike Hovel, Hume's route led 280 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:24,560 Speaker 1: to the discovery of a pass through the mountains into 281 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:29,080 Speaker 1: a valley. The jointly published account merely mentions that Hovel 282 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:32,640 Speaker 1: and Boyd rejoined the rest early in the morning, although 283 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:37,040 Speaker 1: biographies of Hume indicate he actually went out and found them. 284 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:39,440 Speaker 1: Yeah they did not find their way back by themselves. 285 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:44,720 Speaker 1: This trip continued to be quite difficult. Over and over 286 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:48,560 Speaker 1: they had trouble with crossing bodies of water and mountain ridges. 287 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 1: The pack animals were difficult to steer through a lot 288 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:55,640 Speaker 1: of the treacherous areas, and in some cases, roots which 289 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 1: had been described to them as passable by some of 290 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 1: the indigenous people were possible for a person but not 291 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:05,960 Speaker 1: for a cart. They eventually had to ditch their carts, 292 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: but that also meant that the animals each had to 293 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:11,400 Speaker 1: carry more weight, which slowed them down. They also were 294 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 1: pretty plagued with bush flies, march flies, and mosquitoes. At 295 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:17,239 Speaker 1: one point, one of their accounts say something like I 296 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:19,399 Speaker 1: considered taking off all my clothes and just rolling in 297 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:23,480 Speaker 1: the dirt like they were miserable. Um, it's pretty clear 298 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:27,520 Speaker 1: that this entire trip was very difficult and tensions between 299 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:33,280 Speaker 1: human Hovel continued to bubble over throughout. On Monday, November eight, 300 00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 1: they had a very good day and Hovel and Hume 301 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:39,159 Speaker 1: became the first Europeans on record to see what was 302 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:43,280 Speaker 1: dubbed the Australian Alps. They had been hiking through various 303 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 1: smaller ranges throughout the trip, and in the jointly published 304 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:50,919 Speaker 1: account it's described as follows, quote Mrs Hovell and Hume 305 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,320 Speaker 1: having ascended close to the stream with some difficulty, about 306 00:17:54,359 --> 00:17:56,720 Speaker 1: half the height of this range in order to be 307 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: the better enabled to decide as to their future opera. 308 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 1: Rations were suddenly surprised by a sight to the utmost degree. 309 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:09,280 Speaker 1: Magnificent mountains, of a conoidal form and of an apparently 310 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:12,639 Speaker 1: immense height, and some of them covered about one fourth 311 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:16,439 Speaker 1: of their height with snow, were now seen, extending semi 312 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:20,760 Speaker 1: circularly from the southeast to south southwest at the supposed 313 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:24,560 Speaker 1: distance of about twenty miles. The sun was bright, it 314 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:27,320 Speaker 1: was about ten or eleven in the forenoon, and gave 315 00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 1: them an appearance the most brilliant. The mountains which they 316 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:35,760 Speaker 1: had hitherto seen, compared with these stupendous elevations, were no 317 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 1: more than hillocks, from which also their forum, as well 318 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:45,440 Speaker 1: as their other general characters, rendered them not the less dissimilar. 319 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:50,760 Speaker 1: But that thrilling view led to an argument. For several 320 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:52,960 Speaker 1: days they were kind of moving along and taking in 321 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:56,240 Speaker 1: these mountains, and after having seen them, Hugh really thought 322 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: they needed to alter their planned course, because he was 323 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: certain they were going to end up trapped if they 324 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:04,600 Speaker 1: continued to head east as they had been. Huvell was 325 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:06,639 Speaker 1: not having it. He did not want to change the 326 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:11,880 Speaker 1: plan at all, and an epic fight ensued. This fight 327 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:14,879 Speaker 1: is often what people reference when they talk about this expedition, 328 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:19,720 Speaker 1: because while it involves too theoretically experienced explorers making fairly 329 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:24,440 Speaker 1: big decisions about their entire team safety, it devolved into 330 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:28,240 Speaker 1: what sounds like a petty sitcom construct. The two men 331 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:31,560 Speaker 1: just could not come to any kind of resolution on 332 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:35,639 Speaker 1: the matter, and so they decided, out in unmapped territory 333 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:38,480 Speaker 1: that neither of them had ever been in before, to 334 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:43,840 Speaker 1: just part ways then and there. Their equitable solution was 335 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:47,000 Speaker 1: to divide the supplies evenly, but that was actually a 336 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,800 Speaker 1: problem because when they had dropped their carts to streamline 337 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:55,200 Speaker 1: the journey, they had also eliminated any redundancies they could, 338 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:58,240 Speaker 1: so for a lot of things they needed to use 339 00:19:58,359 --> 00:20:03,280 Speaker 1: every day, they only had one and that included the tent. 340 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,480 Speaker 1: These two men bickered so much about who had rights 341 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:10,520 Speaker 1: to the tent that they decided that the only solution 342 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:14,080 Speaker 1: was to cut it in half. But Human is said 343 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:16,680 Speaker 1: to have aborted that plan because he realized that half 344 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:19,760 Speaker 1: a tent is really still no tent in terms of 345 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:23,520 Speaker 1: the structure working, so he let Hovel take it. And 346 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:26,399 Speaker 1: then there was the frying pan. This is one of 347 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:29,800 Speaker 1: those details that does not appear in the jointly published account, 348 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:32,920 Speaker 1: but was mentioned in accounts by the attendants. The two 349 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:35,880 Speaker 1: men essentially got into a tug of war over who 350 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: was going to get this fry pan, and in both 351 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:41,240 Speaker 1: pulling at it, they broke it into One had the 352 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:43,680 Speaker 1: handle and one had the plate, and they each took 353 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:48,520 Speaker 1: their broken peace and angrily parted ways. I'm curious about 354 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:51,520 Speaker 1: what this frying pan was made of. I know, like 355 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:54,639 Speaker 1: it's not a cast iron pan if they pulled it apart. Yeah, 356 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:57,879 Speaker 1: like I'm imagining in my head an iron skillet. And 357 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 1: so we get to the part where it's just broken 358 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,480 Speaker 1: and half in a tug of war. The separation did 359 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:07,240 Speaker 1: not last long. Hume turned west as he had intended, 360 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:11,200 Speaker 1: Hovell continued toward the east, as had been the initially 361 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:14,840 Speaker 1: plotted course. Thomas Boyd was with Hubble, and once the 362 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,000 Speaker 1: navigator had calmed down, made the case that they were 363 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 1: going to end up in snowy terrain if they kept 364 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:23,320 Speaker 1: on going as they were, and that they could easily 365 00:21:23,359 --> 00:21:26,199 Speaker 1: get stuck there and died. They did not have the 366 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:30,360 Speaker 1: equipment for those kinds of conditions. Huvel acquiesced and they 367 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:34,240 Speaker 1: backtrack and then hurried to catch up with Hume. William 368 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:37,359 Speaker 1: Hovell's journal entry from that day does not mention the 369 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:41,919 Speaker 1: fight or the frying pan or splitting up. He merely states, quote, 370 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:44,800 Speaker 1: as we found it impossible to proceed any further in 371 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 1: that direction without endangering the lives of both men and beasts, 372 00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:52,880 Speaker 1: and perhaps to no purpose. I proposed that we should 373 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,399 Speaker 1: attempt a passage over the range west of us, and 374 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:58,919 Speaker 1: to endeavor to get fifty or sixty miles in a 375 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:03,840 Speaker 1: westerly direct him. Hume's account reads quote, I found we 376 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:07,040 Speaker 1: were getting in too high a country for the snowy mountains. 377 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:11,720 Speaker 1: The Australian Alps were observed crossing our course. I propose 378 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:14,680 Speaker 1: that we should take a direction more westerly in order 379 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:18,520 Speaker 1: to avoid the formidable barrier which threatens to interrupt our way. 380 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:22,800 Speaker 1: But Mr Howell dissented from my proposal. Hume goes on 381 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 1: to describe their quote wrangling and disputing, each being positive 382 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:30,680 Speaker 1: of the correctness of his own opinion, although he does 383 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:34,240 Speaker 1: not mention the tent or the frying pan. Thomas Boyd's 384 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:37,640 Speaker 1: account lines up with the argument and Hume having proposed 385 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:40,840 Speaker 1: the better course, although he also notes quote I had 386 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:44,600 Speaker 1: to go with Mr Hovell. It is actually Henry Angel's 387 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:46,800 Speaker 1: account that is the one that offers up the details 388 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:49,080 Speaker 1: of the tent and the frying pan, which have been 389 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:52,840 Speaker 1: much repeated ever since. Coming up, we'll talk about Hume's 390 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:56,840 Speaker 1: ongoing quest to get to Australia's southern shore and the 391 00:22:56,920 --> 00:23:01,200 Speaker 1: fraying health and nerves of really the entire team. First, though, 392 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:03,760 Speaker 1: we will hear from the sponsors that keep stuffy missed 393 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:16,920 Speaker 1: in history class. Going on November six, the group encountered 394 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:20,800 Speaker 1: a river about which Hume was quite excited, and according 395 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:24,359 Speaker 1: to Thomas Boyd, Hume named it the Hume River after 396 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:28,960 Speaker 1: his father. This was another potentially treacherous crossing. The river 397 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:31,480 Speaker 1: was wide, even wider than the other river that had 398 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:34,639 Speaker 1: given them trouble, and the water was whirling, but Hume 399 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:37,720 Speaker 1: was very eager to go to the other side. That 400 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:41,960 Speaker 1: started another conflict. Hubble thought that the expedition had discovered 401 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,480 Speaker 1: quite enough to please the governor and that they really 402 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:46,560 Speaker 1: could turn back for home. At this point, they were 403 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:50,720 Speaker 1: all getting tired, they were doing dangerous things, but Hume 404 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,520 Speaker 1: was insistent that they had not finished the intended route, 405 00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 1: and that he was going to make it to the coast. 406 00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:59,879 Speaker 1: Hume built a boat by using their remaining tarpaulin and 407 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:03,199 Speaker 1: poles and branches cut from trees, and they spent the 408 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:05,720 Speaker 1: next day or so trying to find a good point 409 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:09,320 Speaker 1: for crossing. Hovell wrote in his journal that he followed 410 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:12,240 Speaker 1: the river north and found a crossing point, and at 411 00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:15,159 Speaker 1: that point the tarp boat was built in the style 412 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:19,040 Speaker 1: of when he had made before on another expedition. His 413 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:22,840 Speaker 1: account is completely different than that of all the other men. Yeah, 414 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:27,080 Speaker 1: he definitely in his journals makes every good idea sound 415 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:32,480 Speaker 1: like his. Uh. The next river they encountered led to 416 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,679 Speaker 1: an even larger disagreement. Hovel really really thought that they 417 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:40,119 Speaker 1: were being rash and continuing to use this tarpaulin for 418 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:43,200 Speaker 1: a boat. He noted that there was only one tarp 419 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:45,520 Speaker 1: and that it was in rough shape, and in response, 420 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 1: Hume reportedly yelled at him quote, I do not think 421 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:51,720 Speaker 1: it necessary to point out the defects in the tarpaulin 422 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:53,760 Speaker 1: to the men, and if they do not like to 423 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,560 Speaker 1: risk themselves in it, they can stop and be damned. 424 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:00,119 Speaker 1: He had a plan if the tarp failed to kill 425 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 1: one of the pack animals and use it for food 426 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:05,520 Speaker 1: and then make the hide into a boat. He had 427 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:08,840 Speaker 1: no intention of falling short of completing the expedition, and 428 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:11,159 Speaker 1: he was going to do whatever it took to complete it. 429 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:15,160 Speaker 1: But that finish at all costs attitude was really starting 430 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,480 Speaker 1: to rattle the rest of the crew, and Claude Bosswa 431 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:23,120 Speaker 1: decided he agreed with Hovel, which made him furious. Hume 432 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:25,960 Speaker 1: is said to have grabbed Bosswa by the neck and 433 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:28,400 Speaker 1: threatened to throw him in the river if he chose 434 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,320 Speaker 1: not to cross. Although it looked like the two leads 435 00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:34,000 Speaker 1: were going to split apart again and go their separate ways, 436 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:37,120 Speaker 1: hubbl decided to cross the river with the group at 437 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:41,440 Speaker 1: the last minute. This apparently also really irritated Hume, who 438 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:43,960 Speaker 1: had been kind of relieved that he was not going 439 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:49,080 Speaker 1: to have to be with Huvel any longer. Oh, it's 440 00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:55,080 Speaker 1: hard to travel with the group. As the expedition reached 441 00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 1: its late stages, things were predictably more and more difficult. 442 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:01,600 Speaker 1: Rations were running low, they had lost all but one 443 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:04,600 Speaker 1: dog to hunt, and the terrain had taken a toll 444 00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:09,080 Speaker 1: on the horses in the steer. During a particularly arduous 445 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:11,639 Speaker 1: effort to get through mountains and terrain just north of 446 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:15,800 Speaker 1: modern day Melbourne, sometimes crawling on hands and knees to 447 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:18,240 Speaker 1: do it. Because there was so much shrubbery and brush 448 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,679 Speaker 1: around them. The men really started to lose their spirit. 449 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:25,080 Speaker 1: Hubvill didn't want to keep going, but this time no 450 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,159 Speaker 1: one else did either except for Hume, and at this 451 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:30,840 Speaker 1: point a lot of their clothes had been destroyed by brush. 452 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,800 Speaker 1: These men were literally wearing rags at this point, their 453 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:36,840 Speaker 1: boots were falling apart, and they were starting to be 454 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:41,200 Speaker 1: severely malnourished. This is a situation where Hume really held 455 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:44,760 Speaker 1: all the cards. He was by far the most experienced 456 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,879 Speaker 1: explorer among them, and the others would have been unlikely 457 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:50,360 Speaker 1: to survive if they turned back and tried to make 458 00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:54,240 Speaker 1: it home without him. But instead of merely being insistent, 459 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:57,240 Speaker 1: he made them a deal. He felt like they were 460 00:26:57,359 --> 00:27:00,280 Speaker 1: very close to the coast, so he asked him to 461 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:03,480 Speaker 1: go just two more days, and if they hadn't hit 462 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:05,959 Speaker 1: their goal by then, they would all turn back together. 463 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:10,920 Speaker 1: Everyone agreed, a deal was struck, and fortunately the next 464 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:13,879 Speaker 1: couple of days were much easier than a lot of 465 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:17,760 Speaker 1: the trip. Then, on December six, the expedition saw what 466 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:20,400 Speaker 1: it believed to be a stretch of water on the horizon, 467 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:23,160 Speaker 1: and they pressed on until they reached the shore where 468 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:26,960 Speaker 1: they camped. At last, they had reached the destination, which 469 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:30,560 Speaker 1: they believed to be Western Port. This sounds like a wonderful, 470 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:33,639 Speaker 1: happy ending, but remember they had to turn around and 471 00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:36,639 Speaker 1: march all the way back with only five weeks worth 472 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:40,439 Speaker 1: of supplies when the trip down had taken eleven weeks. 473 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 1: As they were preparing for the return journey, James Fitzpatrick 474 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,760 Speaker 1: had an interaction with two indigenous men while he was 475 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:52,760 Speaker 1: out hunting duck. These two men approached him with spears, 476 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 1: and he claimed he had accidentally fired his gun, although 477 00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: it was a misfire and hit no one. The two 478 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:03,800 Speaker 1: men chased him back to camp, and Hume engaged them 479 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:06,320 Speaker 1: by showing them his weapon and putting it on the ground, 480 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:09,960 Speaker 1: and then encouraging them to do the same through hand 481 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:13,840 Speaker 1: signals and miming. The indigenous men indicated to the members 482 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:16,280 Speaker 1: of the expedition that they had seen a ship in 483 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:19,720 Speaker 1: the harbor and colonists building shelter. That's believed to have 484 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:21,919 Speaker 1: been a reference to the Botany Bay Colony of the 485 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:26,439 Speaker 1: seventeen eighties. Hume later described the Aboriginal people they had 486 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:30,840 Speaker 1: encountered as quote friendly and peaceable. While Hovel kind of 487 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:34,360 Speaker 1: admired their life free of taxes and industrialization. He talks 488 00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:37,199 Speaker 1: about them in this sort of idyllic way, but he 489 00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:42,280 Speaker 1: also wrote that their conduct was quote very suspicious and treacherous. 490 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:45,760 Speaker 1: This entry and Hovel's journal may have seemed really foolish 491 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:48,440 Speaker 1: to him. The next morning, when the men returned with 492 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:51,440 Speaker 1: their families, their wives and their children just to visit. 493 00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:56,080 Speaker 1: On December eighteenth, Hume, Hovel, and their attendants started their 494 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 1: track home. This time, Hume knew the land well enough 495 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 1: to skirt around the most difficult parts of the trip, 496 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:06,200 Speaker 1: so that sped things along. They had to kill one 497 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,120 Speaker 1: of their steer who was injured and couldn't make the trip. 498 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:12,240 Speaker 1: They ate the meat, which they really desperately needed, and 499 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:14,760 Speaker 1: then they used the hide to make shoes, which they 500 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:20,320 Speaker 1: also really desperately needed. Hume was fairly relentless and pushing 501 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:22,680 Speaker 1: the men every day, which he needed to do to 502 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: get them all home before their reserves were totally depleted. 503 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:29,240 Speaker 1: There were several instances on the way home where the 504 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:32,320 Speaker 1: expedition met with indigenous communities. It seems like more so 505 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:35,800 Speaker 1: going back than when they they had headed south. Hume 506 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:37,600 Speaker 1: reported later in life that one of the men that 507 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:40,200 Speaker 1: they met along the way actually moved to Yes and 508 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:42,920 Speaker 1: would occasionally visit him over the years and they became friends. 509 00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:46,560 Speaker 1: Hume called him Mickey. Hovel tended to opt out of 510 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:50,080 Speaker 1: these social interactions, and when they had these engagements with 511 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:54,280 Speaker 1: people who were part of indigenous communities, he would just 512 00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:57,040 Speaker 1: kind of continue on the planned route and right ahead 513 00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:59,640 Speaker 1: of Hume and usually wait for them to catch up. 514 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,400 Speaker 1: The trip back was almost rougher than the one on 515 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:06,840 Speaker 1: the way out, because despite sticking as often as they 516 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:10,400 Speaker 1: could with more gentle terrain, the men and the animals 517 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:13,880 Speaker 1: were all just depleted. Things looked really grave and early 518 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:17,680 Speaker 1: January until the team was able to relocate the carts, 519 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:20,720 Speaker 1: which were where they had left them. That eased the 520 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:25,120 Speaker 1: situation a little bit. They started to travel almost relay style, 521 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:27,520 Speaker 1: where some of the men would rest while others would 522 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:31,160 Speaker 1: go ahead and then rest while the others caught up. Finally, 523 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:36,240 Speaker 1: on January they had all made at home, although none 524 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:39,440 Speaker 1: of their dogs or steer were with them. Yeah, it's 525 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:41,920 Speaker 1: kind of heartbreaking. I didn't include a lot of it here, 526 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:44,840 Speaker 1: but they really described kind of the degrading state of 527 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:48,160 Speaker 1: the animal's health, because in some cases, you know, if 528 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:50,479 Speaker 1: the men weren't eating, neither were the animals. And they 529 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:53,360 Speaker 1: were still carrying these heavy loads and their their hooves 530 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:55,280 Speaker 1: were really breaking down. They had a very hard time. 531 00:30:56,400 --> 00:30:59,320 Speaker 1: Not long after they had made their reports to the 532 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:02,440 Speaker 1: Governor tom As Brisbane about the land, the potential for 533 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:05,520 Speaker 1: farming in various areas, and the ruggedness of the terrain 534 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:08,880 Speaker 1: and others, the governor arranged for a follow up expedition 535 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:10,880 Speaker 1: by sea to the point they had reached on the 536 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:14,320 Speaker 1: continent southern shore. This actually took a little while to 537 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:17,120 Speaker 1: get going, but Huvell was part of that trip and 538 00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:19,760 Speaker 1: it was discovered that the team had not actually made 539 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:22,440 Speaker 1: it to Western Ports as they had believed, but to 540 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:25,680 Speaker 1: Port Philip, which sits in a bay about seventy kilometers 541 00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:29,440 Speaker 1: that's about forty three miles north of Western Port. This 542 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:32,240 Speaker 1: error was not really considered a problem or a failure. 543 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,760 Speaker 1: The expedition was successful in giving the colonial government a 544 00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:39,360 Speaker 1: lot of information about the land, and that ultimately led 545 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:43,000 Speaker 1: to the founding of Melbourne the following decade. Both Hume 546 00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:46,240 Speaker 1: and Hovel were given very sizeable land grants for their 547 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:50,640 Speaker 1: work Humes and Hovels. Conflict went on past the expedition 548 00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:55,120 Speaker 1: as their accounts differred. For example, Hume claimed that he 549 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:58,880 Speaker 1: named the Hume River after his father, but Hubble claimed 550 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:02,880 Speaker 1: that he named the river after his colleague. Now it's 551 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:06,440 Speaker 1: known as the Murray River. Both men asserted that they 552 00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:08,680 Speaker 1: had been the head of the expedition and had been 553 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:13,040 Speaker 1: responsible for the greater part of its successes. Anytime one 554 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:16,640 Speaker 1: of them was publicly lauded for the expedition, the other 555 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:21,160 Speaker 1: one became enraged and would publish pamphlets setting the records 556 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:25,400 Speaker 1: straight on their differing versions. Hume married a woman named 557 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:28,920 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Dight in November of eighteen twenty five, so about 558 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:32,000 Speaker 1: ten months after they got back. He also headed up 559 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:36,360 Speaker 1: several additional expeditions like this, and then he became magistrate 560 00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:40,080 Speaker 1: Magistrate and Yes, a position that he served in for decades, 561 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:44,080 Speaker 1: right up until his death on April nineteenth, eighteen seventy three, 562 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:47,960 Speaker 1: at the age of seventy five. Despite being eleven years 563 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:51,320 Speaker 1: older than Hume. Hubvell outlived his colleague and fhrenem Me. 564 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:54,680 Speaker 1: He died on November nine, eighteen seventy five, at the 565 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:58,360 Speaker 1: age of eighty nine, so Yes for almost fifty years 566 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:02,960 Speaker 1: they just kind of seethed about each other. Today there 567 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:05,760 Speaker 1: are multiple monuments to the two of them and their 568 00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:10,600 Speaker 1: expedition in various places in Australia. And if there's an afterlife, 569 00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:14,160 Speaker 1: they're probably bickering about having to share credit on all 570 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:20,800 Speaker 1: of them. Yes, Oh, I have so many thoughts. We'll 571 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:24,200 Speaker 1: talk about those on Friday. UM. I also have listener mail. 572 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:27,280 Speaker 1: We got so much good listener mail about the French 573 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:29,440 Speaker 1: Republican Calendar. You may hear a lot of it, but 574 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:32,760 Speaker 1: this one made me laugh and laugh and laughs from 575 00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:36,240 Speaker 1: our listener, Amanda. And it's titled manure Day, My Dad's 576 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:42,120 Speaker 1: Best Break, and Amanda writes, I heard my favorite holiday 577 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:45,280 Speaker 1: mentioned on your Republican Calendar episode and I nearly dropped 578 00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:48,360 Speaker 1: my phone. Longtime listener, and this is not what I 579 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:50,880 Speaker 1: thought I would be writing about. My dad is a 580 00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:53,560 Speaker 1: Christmas baby. When I was very little, I told him 581 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:56,320 Speaker 1: that I wished I had been born on a holiday too, 582 00:33:56,600 --> 00:33:58,840 Speaker 1: and he assured me that I had that I was 583 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:01,680 Speaker 1: born on Manure Day. I had never heard of it 584 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:03,720 Speaker 1: and it was not on the calendar, but he explained 585 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:08,680 Speaker 1: that that's because it was a Canadian holiday. Well, That 586 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:11,280 Speaker 1: satisfied me, and I definitely told a lot of people 587 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:14,280 Speaker 1: that I was born on manure Day at Canadian holiday. 588 00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:16,880 Speaker 1: It wasn't until fourth grade at a new school when 589 00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:19,160 Speaker 1: I was telling somebody about it at recess and as 590 00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:21,920 Speaker 1: the words came out of my mouth, I heard them. 591 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:24,360 Speaker 1: I mean I really heard them for the first time. 592 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:28,080 Speaker 1: The embarrassment. I confronted my dad about it, and he 593 00:34:28,160 --> 00:34:31,279 Speaker 1: had no recollection of telling me this. That only made 594 00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:34,360 Speaker 1: it worse. When I found out that manure Day was 595 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:37,400 Speaker 1: a real day, I felt vindicated, both personally and on 596 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:40,160 Speaker 1: behalf of my dad. I immediately went to look up 597 00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:43,600 Speaker 1: whether I really was born on manure Day. I wasn't. 598 00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:47,680 Speaker 1: Manure Day falls around December, while I am a springtime baby. 599 00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:50,319 Speaker 1: But to me, my birthday will always be manure Day, 600 00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:55,320 Speaker 1: a celebration of an important agricultural resource. I'm including pictures 601 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:58,120 Speaker 1: of my two cats, Bagheera and Shackleton. Yes, like that 602 00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:01,080 Speaker 1: other Shackleton who was podcast subjec. There are five year 603 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:03,080 Speaker 1: old litter mates and take care of each other through 604 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,680 Speaker 1: thick and thin. Like Sir Ernest Shackleton, He's a bit 605 00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:10,480 Speaker 1: of an explorer and he also has endurance. Shacky suffers 606 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:15,200 Speaker 1: from UM I'm probably gonna mispronounce this I sinophilic granuloma 607 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:18,680 Speaker 1: complex and sometimes has flare ups causing serious facial and 608 00:35:18,719 --> 00:35:22,040 Speaker 1: tongue swelling and sores. But through it all he endures 609 00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:24,400 Speaker 1: is the most affectionate can and if he's having a 610 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:26,880 Speaker 1: flare up and can't groom everyone in the house, Bagheera 611 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:29,160 Speaker 1: will pick up the slack and groom him. I feel 612 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:32,560 Speaker 1: lucky to have him on my crew. These two are 613 00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:35,640 Speaker 1: like two cute. I can't deal with it. See Shackleton 614 00:35:35,719 --> 00:35:37,880 Speaker 1: the adventure getting into the space ut of the tub 615 00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:40,320 Speaker 1: and between the ceiling floor via the plumbing access in 616 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:42,600 Speaker 1: the wall, and also then being wishes thank you for 617 00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:45,640 Speaker 1: being wonderful, Amanda. I love this story so much. This 618 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:48,280 Speaker 1: is the kind of thing that would go on, I 619 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:51,120 Speaker 1: am sure amongst my friends or something, and I probably 620 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:53,440 Speaker 1: would have told everyone my birthday was manure Day too. 621 00:35:53,520 --> 00:35:58,319 Speaker 1: But it's very very charming um and it reclaims manure Day. 622 00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:01,439 Speaker 1: I love that you celebrate it. It's an important resource day. 623 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:05,600 Speaker 1: Although I will also say that like I wish my 624 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:08,560 Speaker 1: birthday were on a holiday, thing is probably made by 625 00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:12,440 Speaker 1: people who don't you know, realize that when your birthday 626 00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:14,759 Speaker 1: is on a holiday, you also have to share that 627 00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:17,480 Speaker 1: day with the holiday. Listen. One of us on this 628 00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:19,840 Speaker 1: podcast turned twenty one a Memorial Day when all the 629 00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:27,319 Speaker 1: bars closed. I'm just saying, big problem. So if you 630 00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:30,760 Speaker 1: would like to write to us and share your perhaps 631 00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:34,040 Speaker 1: frech Republican calendar birthday, you can do that at History 632 00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:36,719 Speaker 1: Podcast at iHeart radio dot com. You can also find 633 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:39,759 Speaker 1: us as Missed in History pretty much everywhere, and if 634 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:41,680 Speaker 1: you would like to subscribe to the podcast and haven't, 635 00:36:41,719 --> 00:36:43,520 Speaker 1: you can do that on the iHeart Radio app or 636 00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:51,600 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Stuff You Missed 637 00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:54,040 Speaker 1: in History Class is a production of I heart Radio. 638 00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:56,960 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i 639 00:36:57,040 --> 00:37:00,280 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen into 640 00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:02,000 Speaker 1: your favorite shows. H