Captain Sturt was in spirit, temperament and accomplishments, thoroughly cut out for an explorer. He went to Sydney with his regiment, the 39th, young and ardent, and soon grew attached to the features of the vast new country around him, and his imagination excited by the mysterious character of its interior. “In a climate,” he says, in the opening of his first expedition, “so soft that man scarcely requires a dwelling, and so enchanting that few have left it without regret, the spirits must necessarily be acted upon, and the heart feels lighter. Such, indeed, I have myself found to be the case; nor have I ever been happier than when roving through the woods, or wandering along one of the silent and beautiful bays, for which the harbour of Port Jackson is so celebrated.”

That is said in the true spirit of an explorer; and, in fact, no man is happier than one who is possessed by the love of nature and of adventure, and finds himself on the eve of its indulgence. We shall see that Captain Sturt, by his address, his kindness to his companions and followers, his indomitable spirit of perseverance, and his steadfast humanity to the natives, even under most trying provocations, was most worthy of the success which he achieved. He went to Australia strongly prejudiced against both the country and the settlers, but he remained when his regiment returned, and rendered signal services to the country.