CHAPTER 5.5.  FROM 23RD AUGUST TO 20TH SEPTEMBER, 1876.

Depart for the south. 
Arrive at Beltana. 
Camels returned to their depot. 
The Blinman Mine. 
A dinner. 
Coach journey to the Burra-Burra Mines. 
A banquet and address. 
Rail to Adelaide. 
Reception at the Town Hall. 
A last address. 
Party disbanded. 
Remarks. 
The end.

Being among such good friends at the Peake, we naturally remained a few days before we left for Adelaide; nothing remarkable occurred on the road down.  At Beltana the camels were returned to their depot.  The Blinman Copper Mine is about thirty miles from there, and was then, the terminus of the mail coach line from Adelaide.  The residents of the Blinman invited Alec Ross and myself to a dinner, presided over by my very good friend Mr. J.B.  Buttfield, the Resident Police Magistrate.  Then we all took the mail coach, and reached the Burra-Burra Copper Mines, on the evening of the next day.  Here a banquet was held in our honour, at which a number of ladies attended, and I was presented with a very handsome address.  The Burra Mines are a hundred miles from Adelaide.

Next day we took the train for the city.  At the town of Gawler, or, as it used to be called, Gawlertown, twenty-five miles from the metropolis, a number of gentlemen were assembled to welcome us on the platform.  Our healths were drank in champagne, and an address presented to me.  Pursuing our journey, Adelaide was reached by midday.  A number of people were waiting the arrival of the train, and when we alighted we were welcomed with cheers.  Carriages were in attendance to take us to the Town Hall, where we were welcomed by Caleb Peacock, Esquire, the Mayor,—­who first invited us to refreshments, and then presented us to the citizens, who were crowded in the large hall.  Mr. Peacock made a very eloquent and eulogistic speech, and presented me with a very handsome address on behalf of himself, the Corporation, and the citizens of Adelaide.  The next day the party was disbanded, and the expedition was at an end.

A few closing remarks, I suppose I may make.  We again joined the great family of civilised mankind; and if I have any readers who have followed my story throughout its five separate phases, I may account myself fortunate indeed.  A long array of tautological detail is inseparable from the records of Australian, as well as any other exploration, because it must be remembered that others, who come after, must be guided by the experiences and led to places, and waters, that the first traveller discovers; and am I to be blamed if I have occasionally mixed up my narrative with an odd remark, anecdote, or imaginative idea?  These, I trust, will not in my reader’s opinion detract from any merits it may possess.  I have collected many thousands of plants and hundreds of entomological and geological specimens; a great portion of the list of the former and all of the latter have unfortunately been lost, only a list of plants collected during my first and second expeditions now remains, which appears at the end of these volumes.