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STORY OF THE JARDINES.
TOLD BY ION IDRIESS.
FEAT IN AUSTRALIAN EX-
PLORATION.
The Jardine expedition is one of the
notable things in the annals of Aus-
tralian exploration. It is the story of
two boys, Frank and Alexander Jar-
dine, who set out from Rockhampton
for Somerset in the extreme north of
Cape York Peninsula, with orders to
explore the western coast of the Pen-
insula, map the ranges and the rivers
flowing west into the Gulf of Carpen-
taria, and ascertain whether any areas
of the country they passed over were
suitable for pastoral settlement. At the
same time, they were to take with
them horses and a small herd of cattle
to start a cattle station in the northern
part of the peninsula. In a word, their
job was to place a huge area of un-
known Australia on the map.
The story has, of course, been told
and retold, but never more vividly
and picturesquely than by Ion Idriess
in "The Great Trek," just published
by Angus and Robertson, of Sydney.
He has written this book because he
believes the story of the daring and
initiative of the two Jardines, and
their determination to push on to suc-
cess, despite all obstacles, should be
an inspiration to other Australian
boys. They were the sons of John
Jardine, Police Magistrate and Gold
Commissioner, of Rockhampton, who
had been entrusted with the task of
establishing a new settlement to be
called Somerset, far away in the ex-
treme north.
All of the great Cape York Penin-
sula, with the exception of one long,
thin, tragic line running parallel with
the eastern coast, was a big blank
space. The southern area of the map
below the peninsula was spider-web-
bed here and there with the lonely
tracks of the explorers—the ill-fated
Leichhardt, the dashing Gregory,
Landsborough, Walker and McKinlay,
names then ringing throughout the
continent. Along that North Queens-
land coast line were half a dozen dots,
settlements started within recent
years—Mackay, Bowen, Townsville,
Cardwell; and now John Jardine had
just placed a dot right at the farthest
north which represented the settlement
to be, Somerset.
That two beardless youths could suc-
cessfully lead an expedition through
country which had defied Leichhardt
and brought disaster to Kennedy was
doubted by many, but their father, who
was then making arrangements for the
Government vessel Eagle to load with
stores for Somerset, never doubted
their ability to pull through. And they
did pull through. They were born and
bred in the bush, and with them went
some of the best bushmen of North
Queensland and a number of reliable
aborigines. To these last the expedi-
tion owed a great deal. Many were the
disappointments, and great were the
obstacles, that were met with, including
a number of serious encounters with
the blacks; but after a trip of one
thousand eight hundred miles, the last
three hundred on foot and through
flooded country, with little in the way
of clothes remaining on their backs,
they completed the journey—"a jour-
ney of difficulties and hardships, of
dangers and escapes never surpassed
in the annals of Australian explora-
tion," as Mr. Idriess says. "They got
through without the loss of a man.
Any of the great explorers of the day,
any of the hardy pioneers, would have
been proud to have led such an ex-
pedition. That it was led by two lads
makes it all the more remarkable and
memorable."
Although the Jardine expedition
proved that much of the western coast
of Cape York Peninsula was poor
country, various pastoralists followed
the brothers' tracks and occupied the
good country on the lower Einasleigh,
the Gilbert, the Mitchell, the Archer
and the Coen, thus furthering Austra-
lia's development.
A NOTABLE FAMILY.
The author states that his account
of the expedition has been mainly
written from Jardine's Journal, the
diary of Frank Jardine, edited by F. J.
Byerley, engineer of roads, North
Queensland, and he adds:—
"For years I travelled throughout
the length and breadth of Cape
York Peninsula. On the western
coast I searched for sandalwood, along
the very country the Jardine brothers
toiled over; on the eastern coast I
travelled poor Kennedy's tracks while
prospecting for tin and gold. With Bert
Jardine I crossed the Jardine River
and battled through the very turkey-
bush country written of here. On that
queer river, the Escape, I have search-
ed for the spot where Kennedy fell; in
the strange swamps there, have ex-
amined the Jardine Pitcher Plant that
intrigued Kennedy so; and have stood
where poor old Eulah fell to the spears
of the blacks. In the Jardines' old home
at Somerset I have pored over the big
old journals that are the record of a
great pioneering family; and have
stood where Frank sleeps, under the
whispering palms on the beach below
the cliffs of Somerset.
"Frank and Alick, as the years went
by, sought out sweethearts and mar-
ried. Their children carried out the
traditions of this adventurous family.
Chum Jardine (Frank's eldest son)
grew into one of the most wonderful
swimmers, both above and below
water, that the South Seas has ever
known. Bert Jardine fought and was
wounded in France. Alice Jardine mar-
ried the well-known Bert Vidgen, one
of the big pearlers in the Coral Sea
to-day. Alick had one son, Hugh, who
was killed in France. Alick's daughter,
Evelyn Stella Jardine, married Colonel
Cameron, who commanded the famous
5th Light Horse in Palestine. Colonel
Cameron is now Sir Donald Cameron,
K.C.M.G., D.S.O., who did such a
great job while Director of Recruiting
for the Air Force. John's two sons
served in the A.I.F. The elder was
killed in France. The younger, F. L.
Jardine, was wounded at Gallipoli. He
now lives at Stanthorpe, Queensland.
John's only daughter, Rose, married Dr.
Eric Molle and lives at Southport.
"Frank and Alick had two sisters,
Kate and Elizabeth. Kate, who is still
alive and hearty, married Hugh Mill-
man, who did good work as Govern-
ment Resident at Thursday Island.
Elizabeth Jardine, noted for her beauty,
married Colonel Wilbraham. Jardine,
the cricketer, is a member of this ad-
venturous clan."
Simultaneously with "The Great
Trek," Angus and Robertson have pub-
lished two other books by Mr. Idriess
—"Lightning Ridge," which is auto-
biographical and deals with the
author's opal-mining experiences, and
"Headhunters of the Coral Sea,''
which tells of the life and adventures
of two white boys, Jack Ireland and
Will D'Oyly, survivors from the
wreck of the Charles Eaton, who lived
for many years among the natives on
the island of Mer, in Torres Strait. Ion
Idriess, easily the most popular and
the most prolific of Australian authors,
has now written no fewer than seven-
teen books. Most of his life has been
spent in North Australia, but he now
lives in Sydney.
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