All I asked was that the Government of West Australia would grant me some 400 pounds, and I would from my own private purse, and those of others who had agreed to assist me, stand the remainder of the cost.

(Cheers.) If they granted me that sum, I was willing to undertake an exploration from Champion Bay up to the Murchison, the head of which we did not know, and strike the telegraph line for Port Darwin, it being left to my discretion which course should be pursued.

Four hundred pounds seems a paltry sum, but there was some bitter opposition to its being granted, although by the aid of the Government and other members it was voted.

Last year was the year when I should have undertaken the exploration, and I was, of course, quite prepared to do so; but in the meantime a whole host of expeditions from South Australia had come into the field.

Mr.Giles, I saw, had started from some part of the telegraph line westward, and I heard afterwards that he had through some misunderstanding--I do not know what it was; I only know by what I read in the papers--returned to Adelaide.