The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work

Oxley, of Bowral. The portrait was presented to Mrs. K

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navy, saw active service in many parts of the world, and rose to the rank of Lieu

iendship and respect of all he came in contact with. Captain Charles St

t, and how far I should be able to penetrate beyond the point which had conquered his perseverance. Only a week before I left Sydney I had followed

n standing at one of Oxley's old camps, an

of Oxley appeared in the Gover

ounce the decease of the late Surveyor-General without endeavouring to express the

Government; and to perform its duties in a manner Mr. Oxley has done for a long series of years is

riod of his life, and has filled the important situa

se arduous services. Mr. Oxley eminently assisted in unfolding the advantages of this highly favoured colony from an early stage of its existence, and his name will ever be associated with the dawn of its advancement. It is always gratifying to the Government to record its approbation of the services

ieve the object aimed at, he always brought back his men without loss, and he opened up vast tracts of new country. John Oxley's personality is not very familiar, but the portrait presented to the reader in this volume was taken in the p

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the title of Colonial Botanist. There were nine other men in the party -- boatmen, horse-tenders, and so forth; they had with them two boats and fourteen pack and riding-horses. A depot was first formed at the junction of the small creek whence Evans had turned back, and where he had marked a tree with his initials in 1815. There the boats were laun

the surroundings, seem to have depressed Oxley's spirit. He appears to have formed the idea that the interior tract he was approaching was nothing more than a dead and stagnant marsh -- a huge dreary swamp, within whose bounds the inland rivers lost their individuality and me

ons are too thickly intermingled with the better portion to render it a safe or desirable grazing country. The timber is

they had progressed a mile beyond the point of divergence, they reached the spot where the river overflowed its banks and its

e horses and baggage at a place where the water was level with the banks, and wh

research was reached, at least down this branch of the river. The whole country from th

one they had abandoned. Bitterly disappointed, Oxley altered his plans entirely. He resolved to cease trying to follow the river through this water-logged country, and determined to strike out on a direct course to the south co

superfluity of water they now found themselves straitened by drought, and the work began to tell upon the horses. Scrub, too, that besetting hindrance of so many Australian explorers, began to impede their onward path. Eucalyptus brush overrun with creepers and prickly acacia bushes united to bar the way, and when, aft

ble of getting out of them. I was obliged to send back to our former halting-place for water, a distance of near eight miles; this is terri

ix or seven miles; they found it impossible to go any farther in that direction, or even south, from the thick bushes that intersected their course on ev

consequences to the horses of want of grass and water might be most serious; and we are well assured that within forty miles on that point the country is the same as before passed o

te the day and situation, "should these desolate plains be ever again visited by civilised man, of which, however, I think there is very little probability." All this only shows how the lack of experience of the paradoxical nature of the Australian interior induced Oxley to form an absurdly erroneous idea of the country in its virgin state. His observations read almost li

ontinued thicket of eucalyptus scrub. It was impossible to proceed that way, and our situation was too critical to admit of delay: it was ther

the inhabitability of the country, and it is no wonder that his c

actical purposes of civilised man the interior of this country westward of a

d and baffled, he turned to follow the Peel Range north, making for the part he had left, where at least he was sure of a supply of water. The expedition suddenly came upon the river again on the 23rd of June, and hoping to find that

ary uniformity in the barren desolateness of this country which wearies one more than I am able to express. One tree, one soil, one water, and one description of bir

st, 1818, and struck North-East to gain the Macquarie River and fo

lay ahead of their returning footsteps, determined to quit the Lachlan altogether, and steering a northern

baggage over the stream. They crossed in safety, and we can imagine that it was with no feelings of regret that the

and untrodden land, but they at last emerged on to the Macquarie countr

f the Lachlan, but it was this pessimistic report that dominated the public

raphical discoverer? The Macquarie seemed a favourable subject for the exercise of his talents. Would it not lead him westward to the conquest of that mysterious inland country which had hitherto guarded its secrets with an invincible o

to him to glitter with the bright promise of a crown of success. For al

bordering on them; the one constantly receiving great accession of water from four streams, and as liberally rendering fertile a great extent of country, whilst the other, from its source to its termination is constantly diffu

LIVERPO

urse of the Lachlan was in part atoned for by the high opinion he had formed of the Macquar

ningham did not go. The expedition was on a slightly larger scale, there being, besides those already mentioned, twelve ordinary members,

, bearing a favourable despatch to Governor Macquarie. But Fate was again deriding the unfortunate explorer. No sooner had the two parties separated, one with well-grounded hopes of their ultimate success

s considerably lower, interspersed with plains clear of timber and dry. On the banks it was still lower, and in many places it was evident that the river-floods swept over them,

xley held a consultation with Evans and Harris, and it was decided to send the baggage and horses back to a small and safe elevation that stood some fifteen miles higher up the river, thus making a subsidiary depot camp. Oxley himself, with four volunteers in the largest of the two boats, would take a month's provisions and

only by the timber growing on the banks. The clear spaces whereon no trees grew were now covered with reeds, which stood at the height of six or seven feet above the surface. That night they took refuge on a piece of land which was so nearly subm

, and although fallen logs now began to obstruct their passage, they kept doggedly on for another twenty miles. There was no diminution in the volume of the current that was now bearing them onward, and Oxley felt confident that he was approaching tha

that ever burst In

spreading out in every direction amongst

ly seeking for some clue or indication by which he could continue the searc

mongst these reeds, and the dept

f continuing this search to the westward, in which direction some malignant genius seemed ever to persist in th

thereby had hampered him greatly; nevertheless he had struggled across the worst of the flat country, and in the north-east had come to a new river, which he named the Castlereagh. He was absent ten da

r coin. Ten years afterwards, Captain Sturt made an ineffectual search for this bottle. Oxley had also buried a bottle at the point o

d river this time running bank-high, having evidently risen immediately after Evans had crossed it on his return journey. Here, perforce, they had to stay until the water subsided, and it was not until August 2nd that the river had fallen enough to allow them to cross. The ground was still soaked and boggy, and the horses having had to carry

the late soaking rains, the sun shone cheerily overhead, and the horses, revelling in the abundant rich grass and succulent herbage, began to recover their strength. On September 2nd, they came to a river, which Oxley named the Peel; and here the expedition narrowly escaped the shadow of a fatality, one man being nearly drowned whilst crossing. After leaving the Peel, Oxley still continued easterly, traversing splendid open grazing country. He was now approaching the dividing water-shed of the Main Range, to the northward of that portion of it which is known at the present day as the Liverpool Range. Here the de

climbed a tall peak, and from the summit caught a glimpse of the sea. It seems to have

rs when, on gaining the summit of this mountain, we beheld Old Ocean at our feet. It insp

the remainder. But the men with him were tried and steady, and the thick tufts of grass and the loose soil afforded them help in securing a surer footing, of every chance

e or less difficulty until they reached the mouth, when Oxley, judging the entrance to be navigable, named it P

e latter stages of this weary journey to facilitate the passage of the many saltwater creeks and channels that impeded their progress. It is owing to the possession of this derelict boat that Oxley crossed the mouth of the Manning without identifying it as a river. The blacks now harassed them greatly, and it was during one of the attacks made upon the party that one of the men, named Will

ime he had sent in his last report, and their almost immediate collapse. But the discovery of Liverpool Plains compensated i

entrance; in which task he was assisted by Lieutenant P.P. King in the Mermaid. On his return to Port Jackson, in the same year, he made a short excursion to J

BRISBAN

at Moreton Bay. He was despatched on a mission to examine certain openings on the east coast, and report on the suitability of them as sites for penal esta

tion. Further along the coast, Oxley discovered and named the Tweed River. The Mermaid reached Port Curtis on the 6th of November, and cast anchor for some time, during which

ent south again, and entering Moreton Bay, anchored off the river that appeared to Flinders

h the telescope, Uniacke was struck with the appearance of one of a much lighter colour than that of his companions. The next day Oxley

open boat, being at one time, he averred, twenty-one days without water, during which time one man died of thirst. The boat was at last cast up on an island in the bay (Moreton Island) where they had joined the blacks, and lived amongst them ever since, a matter of seven months. The other survivors were named Finnegan and Pa

ad gained of the surrounding country during their enforced stay in it. On one important point both of them were confident, and t

th such a discovery, and landing, ascended a hill which he named Termination Hill. From the top he obtained a view over a wide extent of country, through which he was able to trace the river for a long dist

entertaining a strong belief that the source of the river will not be found in mountainous country, but rather that it flows from

he Mermaid set sail for Port Jackson, where she arrived on December 13th. Thi