OXLEY'S EXPEDITIONS TO THE LACHLAN AND MACQUARIE RIVERS.
The passion for exploration was not yet allowed to slumber.
Deputy-Surveyor Evans's discovery of the Bathurst Plains, with two
promising rivers, only whetted the desire for further knowledge. It was
presumed that the Lachlan and the Macquarie united their waters in some
part of their course and finally disembogued in an unknown part of the
eastern coast. But all this was mere conjecture, which required to be
cleared up by actual exploration. A new expedition was accordingly set
on foot by the Governor, and a fit person appointed to the post of
leader. This was the Surveyor-General, John Oxley, R.N., who appears to
have been both an able and amiable man, combining the _fortiter in re_
with the _suaviter in modo_. Allan Cunningham, who was his close
associate, always spoke of Oxley in terms of admiration and endearment.
Among other meritorious services he had the credit of giving to New
South Wales the first map of her immense territories, a task for which
he was well qualified by extensive colonial travel in his official
capacity.
I.
This expedition, as finally organized under the conduct of Oxley,
consisted of Allan Cunningham, as king's botanist, Charles Frazer, as
colonial botanist, William Parr, as mineralogist, and eight others. On
the 20th of April, 1817, all the members of the expedition met at a
store depôt on the bank of the Lachlan River, which had been fixed as
the point of departure. The details of their weary wanderings have been
recorded only at too great length in Oxley's published journals. The
author in the commencement of his work apologized for the uneventful
character of the narrative, and if this was necessary when enthusiasm
for exploration was at fever heat, the reader of the present day is not
likely to consider it superfluous. The fault, however, did not lie with
the writer, but is to be attributed to the uninteresting materials which
form the staple of his bulky volumes. The country he had to traverse
soon turned out to be singularly tame and tedious. The sea coast, with
its never-ending scenes of beauty, had been left far behind; the
mountain ranges, with their vast and varied grandeur, had sunk below the
horizon, and in place of both were found only the dull and dreary plains
of the Australian bush. Were it not that the whole of the country was
new, this record of daily travel would read like the diary of a
conscientious but uneventful life. It will be desirable, therefore, to
touch only on the chief points of the narrative.
Starting from the point previously indicated, the party proceeded on
their travels along the southern bank of the river. Wild fowl appeared
in large numbers, offering excellent sport. The natives also were met
with more frequently than would have been agreeable had they been
disposed to be troublesome, which, fortunately, they were not. The one
thing which surprised the explorers was the behaviour of the Lachlan,
which, after showing itself a goodly river of a hundred feet in width,
threatened to end its career in a most undignified fashion. This it very
soon did, as they believed, by resolving itself into a succession of
marshes, to which they gave the name of the Lachlan Swamps. Being unable
to trace the river any further, Oxley now resolved to abandon the
enterprise and return home by a different route. He made up his mind,
accordingly, to make for the southern coast, which he hoped to strike
about Cape Northumberland, and thence reach Sydney by sea. In this
direction the course was steered till the 4th of July, when further
progress became extremely difficult, from the sterility of the country
and almost interminable forests of mallee, which Oxley, in a play of the
imagination, named the Euryalean scrub. At last it became apparent to
all that they would have to return to the Lachlan, through the want of
water, if for no other cause, and this was now done. The retrograde
movement was singularly unfortunate. Had they proceeded only twenty
miles further the Murrumbidgee would have been discovered, with its
never-failing volume of water. But, in their ignorance, it was otherwise
determined, and a laurel lost to the wreath of this distinguished
explorer. Nineteen weary days were consumed on this return journey, at
the end of which the Lachlan was reached, a long distance below the
swamps from which it had emerged, and was flowing in a strong current
confined within high banks. Waterfowl were again seen and caught in
abundance. Fish also were plentiful, some of them--the "Murray
cod"--weighing sixty or seventy pounds. This good fortune induced the
explorers to continue their journey down the river, in the hope of
reaching some satisfactory result. This expectation was not realized.
They were again landed among swamps and marshes, which were now regarded
for certain as the termination of the Lachlan, and the exploration was
conducted no further in this direction. Here, for the second time, Oxley
narrowly missed discovering the Murrumbidgee, from which he was distant
not more than two days' journey. The Lachlan had now been followed for
about 500 miles from the place where the expedition had started, and it
was resolved to proceed no further. A return was now made to Bathurst in
an oblique direction, with the intention of striking the Macquarie at a
point considerably below the place where it had first been seen by
Evans. Some important discoveries were made during this cross-country
cut. The Elizabeth River, Bell's River, and the Rivulet were met with
and named. Most important of all was the discovery of Wellington Valley,
an extensive tract of the finest country, well suited to all the
purposes of civilized man, and diversified with scenery of great
beauty. After travelling 150 miles from the lower swamps of the Lachlan
the Macquarie was struck about 50 miles below the place where it had
been seen by Evans. It was a river of good promise, and Oxley was
strongly inclined to follow it, as he had done the Lachlan, but the
slender remnant of provisions forbade the attempt. The expedition,
therefore, made for Bathurst, which was reached on the 29th of August,
after an absence of nineteen weeks. The distance travelled from start to
finish amounted to 1,200 miles.
II.
Undeterred by the difficulties incurred on the Lachlan, Oxley, during
the following year (1818), engaged in a similar expedition for the
exploration of the lower course of the Macquarie. Tracing the unknown
stream to the westward, he found himself led out of the region of hills
into a country presenting a dead and monotonous level. Here the river
began to lose its well-defined course and to spread its waters over the
dreary expanse. With great difficulty, he succeeded in distinguishing
the river from the lake for a short distance onward, after which further
effort in a wide waste of water was to no purpose. Now, at last, he lost
sight of land and trees altogether, though again able to discern the
current of the Macquarie in a stream three feet deep winding in and out
among thickets of reeds, which here grew to a gigantic height. Oxley
conjectured he had now reached the commencement of an inland sea--a
phantom which long played fast and loose with those who loved to
speculate on the mysterious regions of Central Australia. In this pet
fancy the explorer, like many other theorists, was quite mistaken, for
this delusive expanse of water was not even the termination of the
Macquarie River. Ten years later Captain Sturt succeeded in tracing it
for 66 miles further, and found it ending its dubious career in the
River Darling.
Two courses were now open to the expedition--either to return home
disappointed, or strike out in a new direction and make fresh
discoveries. The latter alternative was adopted. During an earlier part
of the journey their attention had been drawn to a lofty range of dark
mountains lying athwart the northern horizon. The march was now towards
this prominent landmark of the unknown domain of nature. Before it was
reached, and after the expedition had been out for about two months,
progress was arrested by the discovery of a river running in high flood.
This was named the Castlereagh, and a safe passage was obtained after a
short delay. There remained a weary journey to the range which had so
long loomed in the distance, and was reached after much difficulty,
owing to the boggy character of the ground. One of the principal
elevations was ascended, from which a magnificent prospect was obtained,
and the height ascertained to be about 3,000 feet. Oxley gave to this
chain the name of the Arbuthnot Range, but it is still most generally
known as the Warrambungle Mountains. The course of the expedition was
now directed toward the east, in the hope of ultimately reaching the
coast somewhere northward of Sydney. This purpose was rewarded by the
discovery of the Liverpool Plains, the most valuable find that had
hitherto fallen to the lot of any explorer. This is a splendid area of
first-class land, consisting of level country embracing about 17,000
square miles, supposed to have formed in past ages the bed of a small
inland sea. The next discovery was the Namoi River, called after Sir
Robert Peel by Oxley, but it is still best known under the native
designation. After traversing the Liverpool Plains the expedition
entered upon the very dissimilar New England country, and experienced
fatiguing travel in mountain ranges, which was rewarded by the discovery
of another river, named the Apsley. One of the loftiest peaks in this
region was ascended by Oxley, and found to be about 6,000 feet in
height. From the crown of this mountain giant he was gratified with a
glimpse of the Pacific Ocean, and very fittingly gave to his position
the name of Mount Seaview. Shortly after the descent from this monarch
of the mountains another important river was met with. Oxley called it
the Hastings, in memory of the notorious Governor-General of India, and
here, for once, the name has stuck. This river was now followed to the
sea and the entrance named Port Macquarie, hitherto unknown to
Europeans. The exploring party, having now done their work so well,
resolved to make for home by travelling along the coast. Difficulties
undreamt of were encountered in the indentation of the shore and the
estuaries of the rivers, one of which, the Manning, was now first
discovered. These obstacles might well have proved insuperable but for
their good luck in meeting with a boat, probably the relic of a wreck,
which was stranded and half-buried in the sand. The welcome treasure was
carried on their shoulders for 90 miles, and put to use in crossing
estuaries as they came in the way. With this unexpected help in time of
need the party were enabled to reach Port Stephens. This harbour had
been discovered by Surveyor Grimes and was now well known. Thence
conveyance was obtained by sea to Newcastle, where the toil-worn
adventurers found themselves once more within the pale of civilization.