Mr.
Giles says: "Ludwig Leichhardt was a surgeon and botanist, who successfully conducted an expedition from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, on the northern coast.

A military and penal settlement had been established at Port Essington by the Government of New South Wales, to which colony the whole territory then belonged.

At this settlement--the only point of relief after eighteen months' travel--Leichhardt and his exhausted party arrived.
"Of Leichhardt's sad fate, in the interior of Australia, no certain tidings have ever been heard.

I, who have wandered into and returned alive from the curious regions he attempted and died to explore, have unfortunately never come across a single record, nor any remains or traces of the party." Leichhardt started on his last sad venture with a party of eight, including one or two native black-boys.

They had with them about twenty head of bullocks broken in to carry pack loads.