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Kennedy made many expeditions into
unexplored areas of Queensland opening up many new areas. In 1845, he was
second-in-command of an expedition led by Thomas Mitchell, when they
discovered the Victoria River and rich grasslands in central Queensland.
On another expedition in 1847, Kennedy discovered that the Victoria River
did not flow into the Gulf as Mitchell thought, but was part of Coopers
Creek. He renamed it the Barcoo River.
In 1848, Edmund Kennedy, together
with 12 other men left Rockingham Bay north of Townsville to travel to
Cape York. They planned to map the eastern coast of northern Queensland. The
expedition was well planned. As an extra precaution, The HMS
'Rambler" was asked to cruise along the Cape York coast. Finally,
after they had reached Cape York, they were to return aboard a ship called
the 'Ariel". They took with them 28 horses, 3 carts and a flock
of 100 sheep. They were well equipped and took with them pistols and
double barrelled shotguns. Their supplies consisted of a tonne of flour to
make damper. This was washed down by tea, sweetened by sugar. They also
ate salted pork. The sheep would also provide meat during the journey. The
expedition faced the problem of thick rainforest and a high
barrier of mountains, the Great Dividing Range. The animals and carts were
a problem in the dense scrub of the rainforest through which they had to
travel.
At first they went along the beach
but this was very difficult with the carts. As they had no boats, they
unloaded the carts and wrapped tarpaulins around them. These makeshift
boats were used to ferry the sheep across the crocodile infested waters.
When they came across creek banks 7 metres high, the carts had to be
lowered with ropes.
They had to struggle through thick
jungle and hack their way through dense scrub and creepers. It was a
battle to travel 2 kilometres a day. In addition the country was not
suitable for the heavy carts. Late tropical rains weakened both the men
and their animals and they were covered with leech bites. To add to
their problems, hostile aborigines trailed the party for hundreds of
miles.
It was now obvious that they should
have stayed close to the coast. If they had, they would have been shocked
to see their supply ship, "Rambler", turn south for home. It had
been ordered to patrol the coast only until August. Eventually they were
forced to abandon their carts and some of their equipment that was too
heavy to carry. Horses were dying under the strain of carrying what
supplies were left. When they set off, they had hoped to catch animals for
extra food. But during the 3 months they had been travelling they had only
managed to shoot 1 kangaroo, 2 emus and 5 wallabies. They caught a few
fish and had eaten duck and pigeon once. They tried eating goanna and
seeds from the trees. Figs that they ate, made them very ill. The horses
were becoming weaker because there was no good grass and when they became
too weak, they were shot and used for meat. After 5 months in the
rainforest, they had covered only 500 direct kilometres, although they had
covered twice that many in their wanderings. By the time they reached
Princess Charlotte Bay, they were sick and weary and looked in vain for
the 'Rambler".
It took them 6 months to reach
Weymouth Bay. Here Kennedy left behind 8 of his men because they were too
sick to go any further, while he and 4 men went on to Shelburne Bay.
Before setting off, they killed the last of the sheep. Kennedy also left
behind 2 horses, which were too weak to be used for anything else but
food. They shared up what was left of the dried meat, flour and tea.
Kennedy took the rest of the horses, promising the eight sick men they
would soon sail back on the 'Ariel".
When they reached Shelburne Bay, two
of the men, Luff and Dunn decided they could go no further. Also, one of
the party accidentally shot himself, so Kennedy decided leave him with the
other two. Kennedy decided to make a fast dash to the Cape with the
aboriginal called Jacky Jacky as his only companion.
At one time Kennedy became bogged up
to his shoulders and had to be rescued by Jacky Jacky. Kennedy's feet were
very swollen and he became ill, so they had to rest. Jacky Jacky would
carry Kennedy on his back for a kilometre at a time. All their meat was
now gone and Jacky Jacky tried to catch some fish.
The aborigines who had been
following them had watched the party become smaller and now decided to
attack. When they were just 20 kilometres from Cape York, Kennedy
was speared. Jacky Jacky cut the spear out of Kennedy's back and
carried him to the creek to bathe his wounds. Kennedy asked for pen and
paper and tried to write, but died in Jacky Jacky's arms. Jacky Jacky
stayed with Kennedy until he died. Though wounded himself, Jacky Jacky
managed to meet the rescue ship which was waiting for them at Albany
Bay. The crew of the ship were amazed to see Jacky Jacky run down the
beach, more dead than alive. Wasting no time, the crew of the 'Ariel"
headed south to rescue the men who had been left behind. However, the 3
men who had been left at Shelburne Bay were missing and 6 of the the 8 men
at Weymouth Bay had died of hunger. Only 2 survived.
Now all that remained was to take
Kennedy's body back to Sydney for burial. Jacky Jacky led the sailors to
the spot where he had buried Kennedy, but the grave was empty. Kennedy's
body was never found. Jacky Jacky was given a breast plate in recognition
of his bravery by Governor Fitzroy. He returned to the Muswellbrook area
to his tribe, but unfortunately, while drunk, fell into a campfire and was
burned.
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