MITCHELL, Ste Thomas Livingstone, Scottish explorer: b. Craigend, Stirlingslure, Scotland, 16 June 1792; d. Darling Point, Sydney, Australia, 5 Oct. 1855. He served in Wellington's army in the Peninsular War from 1808 until the end of the campaign, obtaining the rank of major in 1826, and was sent to survey the battlefields afterward. His map of the Lower Pyrenees is still valued. This led to his publishing 'Outlines of a System of Surveying for Geographical and Military Pur poses' (1827) and the appointment of deputy surveyor-general of New South Wales (1828). Between 1831 and 1846 he made four explor ing expeditions discovering the Peel, the Namoi, the Gwyder and other rivers and traced the course of the Darling and the Glendg. He was also the first to penetrate into the district that he named Australia Felix. On his last expedi tion, devoted to the discovery of a route be tween Sydney and the Gulf of Carpentaria, he explored the Fitzroy Downs, and discovered the Balonne, Victoria, Warrego and other rivers. Visiting England in 1838-39 he was
knighted and made D.C.L. by Oxford. He took with him some of the first specimens of gold and the first diamond found in Australia. In 1851 he was sent to the Bathurst goldfields to make a report. In 1853 he again visited England where he patented his boomerang propeller for steamers. His publications chiefly relate to his explorations: 'Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia' (2 vols., London 1838) ; 'Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia' (1848); 'Australian Geography' (1850); and 'The Lusiad of Camoens Closely Translated' (1854).