Mr. F. Gregory’s report.

Western Australia,

Perth, July 26, 1858.

Sir,

In accordance with the instructions conveyed in your letter of the 15th March, authorising me to take command of the Expedition to Shark’s Bay, in course of organisation by the northern settlers, I have the honour to furnish the following report of our proceedings while in that service, for the information of His Excellency the Governor.

The preliminary arrangements having been completed, and the heavy portion of the stores forwarded by sea to Champion Bay, I left Perth on the 26th March, accompanied by Mr. James Roe as second in command, chainer Fairburn having started the previous day with the team and light equipment of the Expedition.

Proceeding by way of Toodyay to the Irwin River, the party were joined by Mr. W. Moore with three horses; passing on by way of Champion Bay, we arrived a Koobijawanna, the point of general rendezvous, by the 10th of April.  On the 12th the remainder of the stores arrived from Champion Bay, the party being augmented to six persons by the addition of Mr. C. Nairn and Dugel, an aboriginal policeman.  This day and the following were occupied in weighing and packing stores, shoeing horses, etc.

14th April.

The equipment of the Expedition being completed (with the exception of one horse to be procured at the Geraldine Mine), we moved on to Yanganooka, passing the Geraldine Mine on the 16th, and bivouacked on the Murchison River, six miles above the mine, having obtained the additional horse, making in all six saddle and six pack horses; our supplies consisting of sixty days’ rations, on a scale of one and a half pounds of flour, eight ounces of pork, four ounces of sugar, and half an ounce of tea per diem, the party being all well armed and furnished with ammunition.

The mean of our observations with the Aneroid barometer gives 575 feet for the elevation of this part of the river above the sea.

Ascend the Murchison river.

17th April to the 25th April.

Was occupied in ascending the Murchison River by easy stages to the junction of the Impey, the highest point attained by me last year.  The only observations worthy of remark were that the inundation had not been so great as that which occurred the previous summer, the grass up to this point not being by any means so abundant as I had found it on my former visit; the volume of water now running in the bed of the river being, however, at this time about the same, although none of the tributaries, including the Roderick and Impey, had been in flood, little or no rain having fallen to the west of the 117th degree of longitude, except to the north of latitude 26 degrees.

I availed myself of the opportunity afforded to make several additions and corrections to the map of this part of the country, verifying the correction made by me last year in the latitude of Mount Murchison and adjacent hills.  By an improved series of triangulation and a carefully observed set of lunar distances, I am inclined to place Mount Murchison in about longitude 116 degrees 30 minutes east, which makes it more nearly approximate to the longitude formerly given by Mr. Austin.