This successful conclusion to such an extensive expedition as he had undertaken, stamped Gregory as possessing the highest qualifications for an explorer. His travels embraced journeys extending over a distance of nearly five thousand miles, and he was absent in all sixteen months. His equipment certainly was of the very best, but a series of unfortunate accidents, which could not have been prevented, left him nearly as short as some of his brother explorers had been. One thing about this journey of Gregory's has always been regretted--the short and scanty record which he published, it being little more than a list of dates, and the distances daily travelled. However we may lament this reticence from a man of Gregory's ability and reputation, it is a pity that his example in this respect had not been followed by some of the explorers of the last two decades. During Gregory's absence Australia bad lost her renowned explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell. He died on the 15th October, near Sydney. He had served on the staff of the Duke of Wellington during the Peninsular War, and in addition to his energy and activity in the field, was a well read and accomplished scholar. The unsolved puzzle of the extent, direction, and boundaries of Lake Torrens still occupied the attention and exercised the minds of the South Australian colonists. It seemed almost like a region of enchantment, so conflicting were the accounts brought in by different parties, and so contradictory the statements made. In 1851, two squatters in search of a run, Messrs. Oakden and Hulkes, pushed out to the western side of Lake Torrens, and according to their account found a most favourable land. They discovered a lake of fresh water, surrounded with good country; and the natives told them of other lakes to the north-west; also 'introducing descriptions of strange animals, whose appearance could have only been equalled by that of the JIMBRA, or apes, of Western Australia, which ruthless animals, according to blackfellows' legend, devoured the survivors of Leichhardt's party, as they straggled into the confines of that colony. Their horses giving in, Oakden and Hulkes returned; but although they applied for a squatting license for the country they had visited, it was not then settled or stocked. In 1856 Mr. Babbage made some explorations on the field to the north, traversed by Eyre and Frome. He penetrated to the plains which were supposed to occupy the central portion of the horseshoe; but, more successful than his predecessors, he found permanent water in a gum creek, and saw some fair-sized sheets of water, one of which he named Blanche Water, or Lake Blanche.