The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888

cross the Nepean, and to try to penetrate the mountains-Attempt by Governor Phillip to establish the confluence of the Nepean and Hawkesbury- Failure-The identity settled by Captain Tench-Escaped con

of the convicts to reach it- James Wilson-His life with the

e of a body of criminals of the most dangerous type, Arthur Phillip and his officers had no light task to perform, and every credit must be given to the little band of pilgrims who, beset by danger from within and without, brought the colony through its

aluable ores, and quarries of limestone, chalk, and marble were daily proclaimed soon after we had landed. At first we hearkened wit

en up a pair of brass buckles, he mixed the fragments with sand and stones, and represented the result as specimens of ore he had found. A party was sent out under his guidance t

e settlement, may be looked upon as the first effort emanating

r spending some time without result, they pulled into an inlet, and suddenly found themselves at the entrance of a f

progress was stayed by a fall. The party examined the surrounding country, but opinions differed greatly as to its value; some reporting rich and beautiful

y Mr. Arndell, assistant-surgeon of the settlement, Mr. Lowes, surgeon's mate of the SIRIUS, two marines, and a convict. His relation of his trip is interesting, as

existence of a river. We continued to march all day through a country untrodden before by an European foot. Save that a melancholy crow now and then flew croaking overhead, or a kangaroo was seen to bound at a distance, the picture of solitude was complete and undisturbed. At four o'clock in the afternoon we halted near a small pond of water, where we took up our residence for the night, lighted a fire, and prepared to cook our supper-that was to broil over a couple of ramrods a few slices of salt pork, and a crow

practices of the natives here follo

r Sydney; and in some places grass springs up luxuriantly; other places are quite bare of it. The soil is various; in many places a stiff, arid clay, covered with small pebbles; in other places, of a soft, loamy nature; but invariably in every part near the river it is a coarse, sterile sand. Our observations

ew South Wales corps). The distance of the part of the river which was first hit up

netrate the range beyond. They discovered a ford in the river, and crossing, proceeded in a westerly direction. So rugged and difficult, however, did they find the country that i

the former occasion, and remained out seven days, penetrating to a considerable distance in a south-west direction. Near the end of the same month

set out on an expedition from Rose Hill to determine the identity, or not, of the Nepean and the Hawkesbury. On the 12th of

Tench, Dawes, and two soldiers, again w

tempt to proceed overland to China. They, however, only managed a very short stage of the journey-namely, to Broken Ba

ard there was a large river which separated this country from China, and when it was crossed they

n Johnstone, and Messrs. Palmer and Lang. The party was well equipped, and provisioned for six weeks. Pulling up the Hawkesbury, they left the heavy boats at the fall that had formerly stayed the progress of Governor Phillip, and taking two light ones with them, they tried to ascend higher up the river. They managed t

n or twenty ridges, formed of little else but precipitous rocks, they saw before them nothing but the same savage and inaccessible country. Tier after tier of ranges rose in view, divided by abrupt and impassable chasms and gorges. The only natives they saw fled at their approach, and, saving for the presence of some large red kangar

g land on the Nepean, and there had settled down. When discovered they had thriven well, and increased into a small herd. By the

pean River, took a straight course to the coast, where a whale boat was sent to meet them. Their .experience was of the usual kind. After leaving the f

ttending his steps, although the endeavour to obtain success was carried through, as might be expected, with his usual untiring energy and contemp

ting rumour being found out by the authorities, it proved on investigation that so far had this preposterous legend gained ground that written instructions had been issued for guidance to this Arcadia, accompanied with a paper having the figure of a compass drawn on it. The Governor, wishing to save these foolish dupes from the punishment and probable loss of life that would necessarily ensue in carrying out such a wild project, wrote to a magistrate at

in search of the supposed colony when a treacherous plot was discovered. A scheme was on foot for a stronger party of convicts to abscond, and these meeting the explorers at a pre-arranged spot, should there murder the guides, and having possessed

his return from this nomadic existence, he stated that he had traversed the country for nearly one hundred miles in every direction around the settlement, and discoursed at length upon having seen large tracts of open c

mountains, where it was arranged that the soldiers were to leave the party and return home, these three men were

d than alive. Wilson alone had kept heart, and managed to sustain the flagging spi

untry passed over as alternating between barren, rocky ridges and spacious meadows. Running creeks had been crossed, and they turned

fatter than those formerly familiar to them, a kind of pheasant, as they described it, now known as the lyre-bird, a specimen of which the brought back with them, and a kind of mole, the modern wombat, one of which formed their l

nd that several veins of salt existed, and the two men stated that they had succeeded in getting 140 miles S.W. by W. from Prospect Hill. During their journey they had travelled over many varieties of country, crossing a number of narrow creeks and rivers with which the land was intersected. The

rates. His voyage was not by any means destitute of result, as on his return he found a river; "into which he carried three fathoms of water in the shoalest part of its entrance, finding deep water and good anchorage within. The entrance of this river was but narrow, and covered by a high rocky island, lying right off, so as to leave a good passage round the north end of the island between that and the shore. A reef connects the south part of the island w

was so called after some remarkable peaks that were visible on the north side. These peaks Captain Flinders made an excursion to examine, and from the summit of one obtained an extended view over the surrou

ee man had passed a great part of his time wandering through the bush with the aboriginals. He had been suspected, justly or unjustly, of prompting the blacks to attack the settlers; aiding them with his knowledge of the habits

umscribed by the ever present barrier of the Blue Mountains, he was evidently an indefatigable worker in the cause of science. From a letter of Governor King's, addressed to Sir Joseph

of hills, till his further course was interrupted by a river running north, which is a curious circumstance, being in the mountains. He described it as wide as the Thames at Kingston. Some native iron he found, and also an imperfect limestone, and the dung of an unknown animal.

is knowledge to himself, I am hopeful you are benefited by it, and I hope much good will result from his journeys, which he i

s vocation, but sadly overburdened with vanity. He made one important journey to the Blue Mountains, with the usual result. He

Governor King, in the same

ng useful observations about the settlement, and in making a partial journey to the mountains, which was introductory to his undertaking the journey he afterwards performed, but which I was obliged to effect by a ruse, as Col. Paterson had very ill-naturedly informed me that officers being at all detached from the

dent in the history of exploration as can be imagined. Whether Barraillier reac

I have not had time to decipher and read it, but am satisfied from what M. Barraillier has done and seen, that passing these barriers, if at all practicable, is of no great moment to attempt any further at present, as it is now well ascertained that the cattle have not, nor cannot,

dominion of the overshadowing range that stayed their western progress. It required the stern

fied their intentions into a sinister claim being about to be established upon Van Dieman's Land or the south coast of New Holland. I

the latter place, I am anxious to begin it, but unfortunately I have no person I can send t

vernor King sent a small schooner under command of a midshipman after M. Baudin, with secret orders to watch their movements, and, if

now stands. The port was discovered three times independently in the same year. First by Murray, next by Baudin, and again by Flinders. Colonel Collins, formerly of Norfolk Island, was dispatched in the year th

inders on the south coast had sailed up Spencer's Gulf, and from M

every direction the eye traversed over an uninterruptedly flat, woody country; the sole exceptions be

ose, with other minor tributaries in the neighbourhood of Sydney. To the north, the river Hunter, and to the south, the district now known as the Illawarra. This was the sum total of the known country inside the coastal