THE MAKERS OF AUSTRALASIA.
EARLY VOLUMES
(IN PREPARATION).
CAPTAIN COOK and his Predecessors in Australasian Waters, by REGINALD
FORD, F.R.G.S., Member of the British National Antarctic Expedition.
GOVERNOR PHILLIP and his Immediate successors, BY F.M. BLADEN, Chief
Librarian, Public Library, Sydney.
EDWARD GIBBON WAKEFIELD, by THE EDITOR.
SIR GEORGE GREY, by JAMES COLLIER, sometime Librarian, General Assembly
Library, Wellington.
[Illustration. Captain Charles Sturt, aged about 54 years. From the
painting by Crossland.]
THE
EXPLORERS OF AUSTRALIA
AND THEIR LIFE-WORK.
BY
ERNEST FAVENC,
Explorer, and Author of The History of Australian Exploration, The
Geographical Development of Australia, Tales of the Austral Tropics, The
Secret of the Australian Desert, etc., and Voices of the Desert (Poems).
1908.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
In presenting to the public this history of those makers of Australasia
whose work consisted in the exploration of the surface of the continent
of Australia, I have much pleasure in drawing the reader's attention to
the portraits which illustrate the text. It is, I venture to say, the
most complete collection of portraits of the explorers that has yet been
published in one volume. Some of them of course must needs be
conventional; but many of them, such as the portrait of Oxley when a
young man, and of A.C. Gregory, have never been given publicity before;
and in many cases I have selected early portraits, whenever I had the
opportunity, in preference to the oft published portrait of the same
subject when advanced in years.
There are many who assisted me in the collection of these portraits. To
Mr. F. Bladen, of the Public Library, Sydney; Mr. Malcolm Fraser, of
Perth, Western Australia; Mr. Thomas Gill, of Adelaide; Sir John Forrest;
The Reverend J. Milne Curran; Mr. Archibald Meston; and many others my
best thanks are due. In fact, in such a work as this, one cannot hope for
success unless he seek the assistance of those who remembered the
explorers in life, or have heard their friends and relatives talk
familiarly of them. Let me particularly hope that from these pages our
youth, who should be interested in the exploration of their native land,
will form an adequate idea of the character of the men who helped to make
Australia, and of some of the adverse conditions against which they
struggled so nobly.
ERNEST FAVENC.
Sydney, 1908.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
The published Journals of all the Explorers of Australia.
Reports of Explorations published in Parliamentary Papers.
History of New South Wales, from the Records. (Barton and Bladen.)
Account of New South Wales, by Captain Watkin Tench.
Manuscript Diaries of Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth.
Manuscript Diaries of G.W. Evans. (Macquarie and Lachlan Rivers.)
The Pioneers of Victoria and South Australia, by various writers.
Contemporaneous Australian Journals of the several States.
Private letters and memoranda of persons in all the States.
Manuscript Diary of Charles Bonney.
Pamphlets and other bound extracts on the subject of exploration.
The Year Book of Western Australia.
Records of the Geographical Societies of South Australia and Victoria.
Russell's Genesis of Queensland.
Biographical Notes, by J.H. Maiden.
Spinifex and Sand, by David Carnegie.
INTRODUCTION.
In introducing this book, I should like to commend it to its readers as
giving an account of the explorers of Australia in a simple and concise
form not hitherto available.
It introduces them to us, tells the tale of their long-tried patience and
stubborn endurance, how they lived and did their work, and gives a short
but graphic outline of the work they accomplished in opening out and
preparing Australia as another home for our race on this side of the
world.
The battle that they fought and won was over great natural difficulties
and obstacles, as fortunately there were no ferocious wild beasts in
Australia, while the danger from the hostility of the aborigines (though
a barbarous people) was with care and judgment, with a few exceptions,
avoided.
Their triumph has resulted in peaceful progress and in permanent
occupation and settlement of a vast continent.
Of all the Australian explorers the fate of Leichhardt -- "the Franklin
of Australia," as the author so justly terms him -- is alone shrouded in
mystery. "No man knoweth his sepulchre to this day." His party of six
white men (including Leichhardt) and two black boys, with 12 horses, 13
mules, 50 bullocks, and 270 goats, have never been heard of since they
left McPherson's station on the Cogoon on 3rd April, 1848; and although
there have been several attempts to unravel the mystery, there is
scarcely a possibility of any discovery in regard to their fate ever
being made.
There can be no doubt that the fascination concerning the work of the
early explorers of Australia will gather strength as it goes. Hitherto we
have been too close to them rightly to appreciate what was done. This
book therefore comes at an opportune time, and is a valuable record. The
author has already done a great service to Australian explorations by his
writings, and in the present instance has added to our obligation to him
by condensing the records into a smaller compass, and by that means has
brought it within convenient limits for use in schools and for general
readers.
Of the explorers of Australia, eleven have been honoured by being placed
on the Golden Roll (Gold Medallists) of the Royal Geographical Society of
London; Edward John Eyre being the first to receive the honour in 1843,
and Ernest Giles being the eleventh and last to receive it in 1880. In
the order of Nature one generation passeth away and another generation
cometh, and so it comes to pass that every one on the Golden Roll except
myself has gone to the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller
returns.
That the Australian people will always remember the deeds of those, who,
in their day and generation, under arduous and difficult conditions
devoted themselves to the exploration of the Continent goes without
saying, and I, who in bygone years had the honour of assisting in the
task, heartily wish that such fruit may be born of those deeds that
Australia will continue to increase and flourish more and more
abundantly, and thus fulfil her destiny as the great civilising and
dominating power in the Southern Seas.
JOHN FORREST.
The Bungalow,
Hay Street, Perth,
Western Australia,
January 7th, 1908.
CONTENTS.
PREFACE.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
INTRODUCTION, by Sir John Forrest.
CONTENTS.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PART 1. EASTERN AUSTRALIA.
CHAPTER 1. ORIGINS.
1.1. Governor Phillip.
1.2. Captain Tench.
1.3. The Blue Mountains: Barallier.
1.4. The Blue Mountains: Blaxland.
CHAPTER 2. GEORGE WILLIAM EVANS.
2.1. First Inland Exploration.
2.2. The Lachlan River.
2.3. The Unknown West.
CHAPTER 3. JOHN OXLEY.
3.1. General Biography.
3.2. His First Expedition.
3.3. The Liverpool Plains.
3.4. The Brisbane River.
CHAPTER 4. HAMILTON HUME.
4.1. Early Achievements.
4.2. Discovery of the Hume (Murray).
CHAPTER 5. ALLAN CUNNINGHAM.
5.1. Coastal Expeditions.
5.2. Pandora's Pass.
5.3. The Darling Downs.
CHAPTER 6. CHARLES STURT.
6.1. Early Life.
6.2. The Darling.
6.3. The Passage of the Murray.
CHAPTER 7. SIR THOMAS MITCHELL.
7.1. Introductory.
7.2. The Upper Darling.
7.3. The Passage of the Darling.
7.4. Australia Felix.
7.5. Discovery of the Barcoo.
CHAPTER 8. THE EARLY FORTIES.
8.1. Angas McMillan and Gippsland.
8.2. Count Strzelecki.
8.3. Patrick Leslie.
8.4. Ludwig Leichhardt.
CHAPTER 9. EDMUND B. KENNEDY.
9.1. The Victoria River and Cooper's Creek.
9.2. A Tragic Expedition.
CHAPTER 10. LATER EXPLORATION IN THE NORTH-EAST.
10.1. Walker in Search of Burke and Wills.
10.2. Burdekin and Cape York Expeditions.
PART 2. CENTRAL AUSTRALIA.
CHAPTER 11. EDWARD JOHN EYRE.
11.1. Settlement of Adelaide and the Overlanders.
11.2. Eyre's Chief Journeys.
CHAPTER 12. ATTEMPTS TO REACH THE CENTRE.
12.1. Lake Torrens Pioneers and Horrocks.
12.2. Charles Sturt.
CHAPTER 13. BABBAGE AND STUART.
13.1. B. Herschel Babbage.
13.2. John McDouall Stuart.
CHAPTER 14. BURKE AND WILLS.
CHAPTER 15. BURKE AND WILLS RELIEF EXPEDITIONS AND ATTEMPTS TOWARDS
PERTH.
15.1. John McKinley.
15.2. William Landsborough.
15.3. Major P.E. Warburton.
15.4. William Christie Gosse.
CHAPTER 16. TRAVERSING THE CENTRE.
16.1. Ernest Giles.
16.2. W.H. Tietkins and Others.
PART 3. WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
CHAPTER 17. ROE, GREY, AND GREGORY.
17.1. Roe and the Pioneers.
17.2. Sir George Grey.
17.3. Augustus C. Gregory.
CHAPTER 18. A.C. AND F.T. GREGORY.
18.1. A.C. Gregory on Sturt's Creek and the Barcoo.
18.2. Frank T. Gregory.
CHAPTER 19. FROM WEST TO EAST.
19.1. Austin.
19.2. Sir John Forrest.
19.3. Alexander Forrest.
CHAPTER 20. LATER WESTERN EXPEDITIONS.
20.1. Cambridge Gulf and the Kimberley District.
20.2. Lindsay and the Elder Exploring Expedition.
20.3. Wells and Carnegie in the Northern Desert.
20.4. Hann and Brockman in the North-West.
INDEX OF NAMES OF PERSONS.
INDEX OF PLACE NAMES.
[ILLUSTRATIONS.
Captain Charles Sturt, aged about 54 years. From the painting by
Crossland.
Gregory Blaxland. Statue of Gregory Blaxland, Lands Office, Sydney.
George William Evans. Discoverer of the Macquarie and Lachlan Rivers.
John Oxley. From a portrait in the possession of Mrs. Oxley, of Bowral.
The portrait was presented to Mrs. King, widow of Governor King, in 1810,
and signed by him.
The Lachlan River at the point where Oxley left it on the 4th August,
1818, and struck North-East to gain the Macquarie River and follow that
river up to Bathurst. Photo by the Reverend J.M. Curran.
Hamilton Hume, in his later life.
Allan Cunningham.
Memorial to Allan Cunningham, Botanical Gardens, Sydney.
The Darling River, at Sturt's first view point. Photo by the Reverend J.
Milne Curran.
Junction of the Darling and Murray Rivers.
Sir Thomas Mitchell.
A Chief of the Bogan River Tribe. Photo by the Reverend J.M. Curran.
Ludwig Leichhardt.
John Frederick Mann. Born 1819, died September 7th, 1907, at Sydney. The
last survivor of a Leichhardt expedition.
Edmund B. Kennedy.
Wild Blacks of Cape York signalling.
Frank L. Jardine.
Alec W. Jardine.
Statue of John McDouall Stuart, in the Lands Office, Sydney.
Edward John Eyre.
John Ainsworth Horrocks.
Sturt's Depot Glen. The Glen, eroded in vertical silurian slate, is less
than a mile long. Poole rests by the creek where the gorge opens quite
abruptly on to a vast cretaceous plain. Photo by the Reverend J.M.
Curran.
Poole's Grave and Monument, near Depot Glen, Tibbuburra, New South Wales.
Photo by the Reverend J.M. Curran.
B. Herschel Babbage. Born 1815; died 1878.
John McDouall Stuart.
Robert O'Hara Burke. From a photograph in the possession of E.J. Welch,
of the Howitt Relief Expedition.
William John Wills. From a photograph in the possession of E.J. Welch, of
the Howitt Relief Expedition.
Scenes on Cooper's Creek (After Howitt).
1. Burke's Grave.
2. Where King was Found.
3. Grave of Wills.
John King. From a photo in the possession of E.J. Welch.
Edwin J. Welch, second in command of the Howitt Relief Expedition, and
the first man to find King.
Burke and Wills Monument Statue, Melbourne.
Major P.E. Warburton.
William Christie Gosse, Deputy Surveyor-General of South Australia.
Baron Sir Ferdinand von Mueller.
A Camel Caravan in an Australian Desert.
W.H. Tietkins, 1878.
Ernest Favenc.
John Septimus Roe, First Surveyor-General of West Australia.
Sir George Grey.
Rock Painting, North-Western Australia.
Augustus C. Gregory, 1880. Photo, Freeman, Sydney.
Frank T. Gregory.
Maitland Brown.
John Forrest in 1874.
Members of the Exploring Expedition, Geraldton to Adelaide, 1874.
Standing, left to right: Tommy Pierre, Tommy Windich, James Kennedy,
James Sweeny.
Seated, left to right: Alexander Forrest (Second in Command), John
Forrest (In Command).
Alexander Forrest.
W. Carr-Boyd and Camel. Photographed at Laverton, Western Australia,
October, 1906.
Sir Thomas Elder, G.C.M.G. Photo: Duryea, Adelaide.
David Lindsay.
L.A. Wells. Photo: Duryea, Adelaide.
David Wynford Carnegie.
Frank Hann. Explorer of the North-West, and discoverer of a stock route
between South Australia and Western Australia. Photo: Mathewson,
Brisbane.
Aboriginal Rock Painting on the Glenelg River. From a photograph by F.S.
Brockman.
Typical Australian Explorers of the early Twentieth Century.
Ernest Giles.
MAPS AND PLANS.
1. Routes of Blaxland, Wentworth, and Lawson (1813); Evans (1813); Oxley
(1817, 1818, 1823); and Sturt (1828 and 1829).
2. Routes of Hume and Hovell (1824); Sturt (1829 and 1830); and Mitchell
(1836).
3. Routes of Sturt (1829 and 1830); and Hume and Hovell (1824).
4. Routes of Leichhardt (1844 and 1845); Mitchell (1845 and 1846); and
Kennedy (1847 and 1848).
5. Routes of Eyre (1840 and 1841).
6. Basin of Lake Torrens, supposed extent and formation of.
7. Route of Sturt's Central Australian Expedition (1844 to 1846).
8. Routes of Stuart (1858 to 1862); and Burke and Wills (1860 and 1861).
9. Routes of Grey (1836, 1837 and 1839); Forrest (1869, 1870, 1874,
1879); and Giles (1873).
...
PART 1.
EASTERN AUSTRALIA.
CHAPTER 1. ORIGINS.
1.1. GOVERNOR PHILLIP.
Arthur Phillip, whose claim to be considered the first inland explorer of
the south-eastern portion of Australia rests upon his discovery of the
Hawkesbury River and a few short excursions to the northward of Port
Jackson, had but scant leisure to spare from his official duties for
extended geographical research. For all that, Phillip and a few of his
officers were sufficiently imbued with the spirit of discovery to find
opportunity to investigate a considerable area of country in the
immediate neighbourhood of the settlement, and, considering the fact that
all their explorations at the time had to be laboriously conducted on
foot, they did their work well.
The first excursion undertaken by Phillip was on the 2nd of March, 1788,
when he went to Broken Bay, whence, after a slight examination, he was
forced to return by the inclemency of the weather. On the 15th of April
he made another attempt to ascertain the character and features of the
unknown land that he had taken possession of. Landing on the shore of the
harbour, a short distance from the North Head, he started on a tour of
examination, and, in the course of his march, penetrated to a distance of
fifteen miles from the coast. At this point he caught sight of the
distant range that was destined to baffle for many years the western
progress of the early settlers. Phillip, on this his first glimpse of it,
christened the northern elevations the Caermarthen Hills, and the
southern elevations the Lansdowne; and a remarkable hill, destined to
become a well-known early landmark, he called Richmond Hill. In the brief
view he had of this range, there was suddenly born in Phillip's mind the
conviction that a large river must have its source therein, and that upon
the banks of such a river, the soil would be found more arable than about
the present settlement. He at once made up his mind to try and gain the
range on a different course.
A week later he landed at the head of the harbour and directed his march
straight inland, hoping to reach either the mountains, which he knew to
be there, or the river in whose existence he firmly believed.
Disappointment dogged his steps; on the first day a belt of dense scrub
forced his party to return and when, on the morrow, they avoided the
scrub by following up a small creek and got into more thinly timbered
country, their slow progress enabled them to accomplish only thirty miles
in five days. By that time, they were short of provisions; there was no
river visible, and the range still looked on them from afar. What cheered
them was the sight of some land that promised richly to reward the labour
of cultivation.
It was not until the 6th of June, 1789, that Phillip resumed his labours
in the field of exploration. The Sirius had then returned from the Cape
of Good Hope, and he could reckon on the assistance of his friend,
Captain Hunter, to re-investigate Broken Bay with the vessel's boats.
Accordingly, two boats were sent on to Broken Bay with provisions, where
they were joined by the Governor and his party, who had marched overland.
Besides Phillip, the party consisted of Captain Hunter and two of his
officers, Captain Collins, Captain Johnston, and Surgeon White.
For two days they were engaged in examining the many inlets and openings
of the Bay, and on the third, they chanced upon a branch that had before
escaped their notice. They proceeded to explore it, and found the river
of which Phillip had dreamed. The next day, renewed examination proved
that it was indeed a noble river, with steep banks and a depth of water
that promised well for navigation.
After their return to Sydney Cove, preparations were at once made to
follow up this important discovery. On the 28th of June, Phillip, again
accompanied by Hunter, left the Cove, having made much the same
arrangements as before. There was a slight misunderstanding with regard
to meeting the boat; but, after this was cleared away, the party soon
floated out on to the waters of the new-found river. They rowed up the
river until they reached the hill that Phillip, at a distance, had
christened Richmond Hill. On traversing a reach of the stream, the main
range, that as yet they had only dimly seen in the distance, suddenly
loomed ahead of them, frowning in rugged grandeur close upon them, as it
seemed. Struck with admiration and astonishment at this unexpected
revelation of the deep ravines and stern and gloomy gorges that scored
its front, over which hung a blue haze, Phillip, almost involuntarily,
named them on the moment; the Blue Mountains. Next morning the explorers
ascended Richmond Hill, from whose crest they looked across a deep,
wooded valley to the mountains still many miles away. After a hasty
examination of the country on the banks of the river, Phillip and his
band returned to the settlement, he having now realised his brightest
hopes and anticipations.
On the 11th of April, 1791, Phillip again started on an expedition, the
object of which was a closer inspection of the Blue Mountains. He was
accompanied this time by Captain Tench and Lieutenant Dawes; the latter,
in December, 1789, had been sent out with a small party to reach the foot
of the range, but had succeeded in approaching only within eleven miles
of the Mountains, whence he was forced to retire by the rugged and broken
nature of the country. On the present occasion, they reached the river
two days after leaving Rose Hill. They followed it for another two days,
but made no further discoveries, being greatly delayed by the constant
detours around the heads of small tributary creeks, too deep to cross in
the neighbourhood of the river.
This was the last exploring expedition undertaken by Governor Phillip.
Considering that his health was not robust, and that the work entailed
was of a specially arduous nature, his personal share in exploring the
country about the little settlement was noteworthy. It proved him to
possess both the foresight and the energy necessary in an explorer.
1.2. CAPTAIN TENCH.
In the month of June, 1789, Captain Watkin Tench, who, during his short
sojourn in the infant colony showed himself as zealous in exploration as
he was keen in his observations, started from the newly-formed redoubt at
Rose Hill, of which he was in command, on a short excursion to examine
the surrounding country. This trip, inspired by Tench's ardent love of
discovery, became a noteworthy one in the annals of New South Wales. It
was made during the month that witnessed the discovery of the Hawkesbury
River. On the second day after his party left Rose Hill, they found
themselves early in the morning on "the banks of a river, nearly as broad
as the Thames at Putney, and apparently of great depth, the current
running very slowly in a northerly direction."
This river, at first known as the Tench, was afterwards named the Nepean
by Phillip, when its identity as a tributary of the Hawkesbury had been
confirmed. Two other slight excursions were made by Tench in company with
Lieutenant Dawes, who was in charge of the Observatory, and ex-surgeon
Worgan. In May, 1791, Tench and Dawes started from Rose Hill and
confirmed the supposition that the Nepean was an affluent of the
Hawkesbury, a matter over which there had been some doubt since its first
discovery by Tench. Tench returned to England in H.M.S. Gorgon, in
December, 1791.
The names of Paterson, Johnson, Palmer, and Laing are also connected with
exploration on the upper Hawkesbury.
1.3. THE BLUE MOUNTAINS: BARALLIER.
The exploration of that portion of Australia which was accessible by the
scanty means of the early settlers was for many years impeded by the
stern barrier of the mountains, and most of their efforts in the
direction of discovery were aimed at surmounting the range that defied
their attacks. Among the many whose attempts were signalised only by
failure were the gallant Bass, whose name, for other reasons, will never
be forgotten by Australians, the quarrelsome and pragmatic Cayley, and
the adventurous Hack. Amongst them there was one, however, whose failure,
read by the light of modern knowledge, was probably a geographical
success. This was Francis Barallier, ensign in the New South Wales corps,
who was encouraged by Governor King to indulge his ardent longing for
discovery. By birth a Frenchman, Barallier had received his ensigncy by
commission on the 13th of February, 1801, having done duty as an ensign
since July, 1800, by virtue of a government general order issued by
Governor Hunter. In August, 1801, he had been appointed by Governor King
military engineer, in place of Captain Abbott resigned. In February,
1802, he was succeeded by Lieutenant George Bellasis, an artillery
officer. Besides his expeditions to the Blue Mountains, he did much
surveying with Lieutenant James Grant in the Lady Nelson. In 1804, he
went to England and saw service in several regiments, distinguishing
himself greatly in military engineering, amongst his works being the
erection of the Nelson Column in Trafalgar Square, the designer of which
was Mr. Railton. Barallier died in 1853.
Peron, the French naturalist, tells us that when in Sydney in October,
1802, he persuaded Governor King to fit out a party to attempt the
passage of the mountains, and that a young Frenchman, aide-de-camp to the
Governor, was intrusted with the leadership. He returned, however,
without having been able to penetrate further than his English
predecessors.
On the following month, however, Barallier set out from Parramatta, on
his famous embassy to the King of the Mountains. This fictitious embassy
arose from the fact that Colonel Paterson having refused Barallier the
required leave, King claimed him as his aide-de-camp, and sent him on
this embassy. Barallier started with four soldiers, five convicts, and a
waggon-load of provisions drawn by two bullocks. He crossed the Nepean
and established a depot at a place known as Nattai, whence the waggon was
sent back to Sydney for provisions, Barallier, with the remainder of his
men and a native, pushing out westwards. After this preliminary
examination he returned to the depot, and made a fresh departure on the
22nd of November, and, continuing mostly directly westwards, he reached a
point (according to his chart) about one hundred and five miles due west
from Lake Illawarra. If this position is even approximately correct, he
must have been at the very source of the Lachlan River.
I give a few extracts from his diary, which was not even translated until
the Historical Records of New South Wales were collected by Mr. F.M.
Bladen. They refer to the crossing of the range.
"On the 24th of November, I followed the range of elevated mountains,
where I saw several kangaroos. This country is covered with meadows and
small hills, where trees grow a great distance apart...I resumed my
journey, following various directions to avoid obstacles, and at 4
o'clock I arrived on the top of a hill where I discovered that the
direction of the chain of mountains extended itself north-westerly to a
distance which I estimated to be about thirty miles, and which turned
abruptly at right angles. It formed a barrier nearly north and south,
which it was necessary to climb over...At 7 o'clock I arrived on the
summit of another hill, from where I noticed three openings: the first on
the right towards North 50 West; the other in front of me, and which
appeared very large, was west from me; and the third was South 35 West.
...This discovery gave me great hope, and the whole of the party appeared
quite pleased, thinking that we had surmounted all difficulties, and that
we were going to enter a plain, the apparent immensity of which gave
every promise of our being able to penetrate far into the interior of the
country...At six o'clock I found myself at a distance of about two miles
from the western passage...I was then only half-a-mile from the passage,
and I sent on two men in order to discover it, instructing them to ascend
the mountain to the north of this passage...I waited till 7 o'clock for
my two men, who related to me, that after passing the range which was in
front of us we would enter an immense plain, that from the height where
they were on the mountain, they had caught sight of only a few hills
standing here and there on this plain, and that the country in front of
them had the appearance of a meadow...At daybreak I left with two men to
verify myself the configuration of the ground, and to ascertain whether
the passage of the Blue Mountains had really been effected. I climbed the
chain of mountains north of us. When I had reached the middle of this
height the view of a plain as vast as the eye could reach confirmed to me
the report of the previous day...I discovered towards the west and at a
distance which I estimated to be forty miles, a range of mountains higher
than those we had passed...From where I was, I could not detect any
obstacle to the passage right to the foot of those mountains...After
having cut a cross of St. Andrew on a tree to indicate the terminus of my
second journey, I returned by the same route I had come."
Barallier concludes his diary by mentioning another projected expedition
over the mountains from Jervis Bay. But no record of such a journey has
ever come to light.
[Illustration. Statue of Gregory Blaxland, Lands Office, Sydney.]
[Map. Routes of Blaxland, Wentworth, and Lawson (1813); Evans (1813);
Oxley (1817, 1818, 1823); and Sturt (1828 and 1829).]
1.4. THE BLUE MOUNTAINS: BLAXLAND.
Whether Barallier succeeded or not in reaching the summit of the
mountains, the verdict accepted at that date was that they had not been
passed; and until the year 1813, they were regarded as impenetrable. The
narrative of the crossing of these mountains, and the chain of events
that led up to the successful attempt is widely known, but only in a
general way. It is for this reason that a longer and more detailed
account is given in these pages; and as the expedition was successful in
opening up a way to the interior of the Continent, it is fitting that its
leader and originator, Gregory Blaxland, should be classed amongst the
makers of Australasia.
Blaxland was born in Kent, in 1771, and arrived in the colony in 1806,
accompanied by his wife and three children. He settled down to the
congenial occupation of stockbreeding, on what was then considered to be
a large scale. Finding that his stock did not thrive so well in the
immediate neighbourhood of the sea coast, and wanting more land for
pasturing his increasing herds, he made anxious enquiries in all
directions as to the possibility of crossing the Blue Mountains inland.
Nobody would entertain such a suggestion, the failures had been too many:
every one to whom he broached the subject declared it to be impossible,
prophesying that the extension of the settlement westward would forever
be obstructed by their unscalable heights. Blaxland, however, was not
intimidated by these disheartening predictions; and, in 1811, he started
out on a short journey of investigation, in company with three Europeans
and two natives. On this trip he found that by keeping on the crowning
ridge or dividing water-shed between the streams running into the Nepean
and those that fed what he then took to be an inland river, he got along
fairly well. Some time afterwards he accompanied the Governor in a boat
excursion up the Warragamba, a tributary of the Nepean, and though there
were no noteworthy results, it convinced Blaxland that, could he follow
his former tactics of adhering to the leading ridge that formed the
divide between the tributaries of the northern bank of this river and the
affluents of the Grose, a tributary of the Hawkesbury, he would attain
his object and reach the highlands. It will thus be seen that Blaxland
acted with a definite and well-thought-out mode of procedure; and that
the ridge he selected for the attempt was chosen with judgment based on
considerable knowledge of the locality, which he gained from many talks
with the men who hunted and frequented the foothills of the range.
Finally, when he had arranged his plan of assault, he confided his
intention to two friends, Lieutenant William Lawson and William Charles
Wentworth, whose names are associated with his in the conquest of the
Mountains. They both consented to accompany him, and agreed to follow his
idea of stubbornly following one leading spur. Blaxland's former
expedition had convinced him that the local knowledge of the natives did
not extend far enough to be of any service, and they therefore did not
take any aborigines with them. They took pack-horses, however, which
proves that the party started with a well-founded faith in their ultimate
success, and gave no heed to the terrifying descriptions of former
travellers.
The besetting hindrance to their progress was the low scrub of brushwood
that greatly delayed the pack-horses. This obstacle was overcome only by
patiently advancing before the horses every afternoon, and cutting a
bridle-track for the succeeding day's stage. Thus literally, the way that
ultimately led into the interior was won by foot, and the little
pioneering band eventually descended into open grazing country at the
head of what is now known as the Cox River. The outward and return trip
occupied less than one month's time; which speaks volumes for the wise
choice of route; but what says more, is the fact that no better natural,
upward pathway has since been found.
A synopsis of Blaxland's journal is given here, commencing with a few
quoted lines of preamble:--
"On Tuesday, May 11th, 1813, Mr. Gregory Blaxland, Mr. William Wentworth
and Lieutenant Lawson, attended by four servants, with five dogs and four
horses laden with provisions and other necessaries, left Mr. Blaxland's
farm at South Creek for the purpose of endeavouring to affect a passage
over the Blue Mountains, between the Western River* and the River
Grose...The distance travelled on this and subsequent days was computed
by time, the rate being estimated at about two miles per hour."
*[Footnote.] The Warragamba.
They camped at the foot of the ridge that was to witness the last
struggle between man and the Mountains. On the first day, they did three
miles and a half in a direction varying from south-west to
west-north-west, and that night obtained a little grass for the horses,
and some water in a rocky hole.
The heavy dews in the morning retarded any attempts at early departures,
as the thick wet brush rendered it difficult to drive the horses, so
that, as a rule, it was nine o'clock before they were able to strike
camp. The ridge, still favouring the direction of west and north-west, on
the third day they arrived at a tract of land, hilly, but with tolerable
grass on it. Here they found traces of a former white visitant in the
shape of a marked-tree line. Two miles from this point, they met with a
belt of brushwood so dense that for the first time they were forced to
alter their course; but the subordinate spurs on either side ending in
rocky precipices, they had to return and again confront the scrub. In
these circumstances, they made up their minds to rely upon axe and
tomahawk to win a way, and so next morning fell to work cutting a passage
for the horses. The ascent was also now becoming steep and rough, and on
this day some of the horses fell while struggling up with their loads.
The first day's work gained for them five miles, but at the end of their
toil they had to retrace their weary way back to the last night's camp.
The next day they cleared the track for only two miles further ahead; so
much time being wasted in walking backwards and forwards to the work.
There was no grass amongst the scrub that encompassed them, and when, on
Monday, they determined to move the camp equipage forward, they packed
the horses with as much cut-grass as they could put on them. This
amounted to, according to Lawson's diary, about two hundred pounds weight
for each horse, which, in addition to their ordinary loads, must have
been a very weighty packload for uphill work. However, according to
Blaxland, "they stood it well." They obtained no water for their animals
that night, and what they wanted for their own requirements had to be
painfully carried up a cliff about six hundred feet in height. On the
succeeding day they suddenly came on what at first appeared to be an
impassable barrier. The ridge which they had so pertinaciously followed,
had, for the last mile narrowed and dwindled down into a sharp
razor-backed spur, flanked with rugged and abrupt gullies on either
slope. Across this narrow way now stretched a perpendicularly-sided mass
of rock, which seemed effectually to bar their path. The removal of a few
large boulders however, revealed an aperture which, after some labour,
they widened sufficiently to allow the pack-horses to squeeze through.
Once through they began to ascend what they estimated to be the second
tier of the Mountains. Shortly after they left camp that morning they
came on a pile of stones, or cairn, evidently the work of some European,
which they attributed to Bass. They were much elated at the thought that
they had now passed beyond the limit of any previous attempt.*
*[Footnote.] This cairn was afterwards named Cayley's Repulse by Governor
Macquarie: but recent research goes to show that Cayley followed the
valley of the Grose, and was many miles to the north of where the cairn
was found. According to Flinders, Bass was not on the high ridge
traversed by Blaxland and party.
They could now look round with triumph on the panorama spread beneath
their view, and from the superior elevation which they had obtained, they
took the bearings of several noticeable landmarks that they had seen
before only from the flat country. The labour of cutting a path each day
for the horses for the next day's march had, however, still to be
continued; but the crest of the ridge was again wider, though the gullies
on each side were as steep as before. That night, in camp, the dogs were
uneasy throughout the night, and several times gave tongue and aroused
the sleepers, tired with their day's work. From what they found
afterwards, they had good reason to believe that the blacks had been
lurking around meditating an attack.
They then passed over the locality known in the present day as
Blackheath, and soon afterwards had their course diverted to the
northward by what Blaxland terms "a stone wall rising perpendicularly out
of the side of the mountain." This they tried to descend, but without
success, and so kept on along its brow. Undergrowth still delayed them,
and they still had to spend their energies in hewing a passage, until on
the 28th of the month, they camped on the edge of the steep descent that
had lately marched beside them. The decline was, however, not quite so
abrupt, and the face no longer composed of solid rock. They paused to
overlook what lay before them and immediately below, and found the view
more gratifying than they had anticipated. What they had at first taken
for sandy barren soil proved now, on nearer inspection, to be forest-land
fairly covered with a good growth of grass. The horses not having tasted
fresh grass for some days, they cut a slanting trench across the sloping
face of the descent in order to afford the horses some sort of foot-hold,
and managed to get them down to a little feed that evening.
Next morning they were up and away early, and reached the foot of the
mountain (Mount York) at 9 a.m., having had to carry the pack-loads down
most of the way themselves, as it was too steep for laden horses to
preserve their balance with safety. The actual base of the mountain was
reached through a gap in the rocks, some thirty feet in width.
They now found themselves on what was then termed meadow land, drained by
the upper tributaries of the Warragamba; and this country presenting no
serious obstacle to their further progress, they rightly concluded that
they had now surmounted every difficulty. They followed the mountain
stream up for some distance and, at the furthest point they reached,
ascended a high sugar-loaf hill, which surveyor Evans, who followed in
their footsteps, called Mount Blaxland. From the summit they had an
extensive view all around, and Blaxland described the character of the
country they saw in the following words: "Forest and grass land,
sufficient to support the stock of the colony for the next thirty years."
Just here, let us compare this prophecy with a similar one made by Evans
a few months afterwards, on the pasture lands of the upper Macquarie:
"The increase of stock for some hundred years cannot overrun it."
The provisions of the explorers were now nearly expended; their apparel,
especially their footgear, was in rags and tatters; on the other hand,
the work that they had set themselves to do was well done. They had
vanquished the Blue Mountains. Their return was uneventful. After
breakfast on the 6th of June, they crossed the Nepean, their provisions,
with the exception of a little flour, being quite consumed. We thus see
how in the end the impenetrable range, that had so long overawed the
colonists with its frown, was overcome, with slight difficulty, when
local experience combined with method, was arrayed against it. To liken
the former expeditions to Blaxland's is to compare a few headlong
assaults with a well-conceived and skilfully worked-out attack. The men
themselves write slightingly of the feat. Blaxland says: "the passage of
the Blue Mountains might be easily effected." Lawson's opinion of the
mountain is: "that there would be no difficulty in making a good road";
and Wentworth's verdict is: "that the country they reached is easy of
access." Evans, who was hot upon their trail, gives as his opinion: "that
there are no hills on the ridge that their ascent or descent is in any
way difficult."
The tidings brought back by the party of successful pioneers created the
greatest excitement in the little colony. No longer would the mountainous
barrier stand defiantly in their western path. For over thirty years it
had laughed at their puny efforts to cross its rugged crest, but its time
had come at last; the way to the unknown west was now open, and
rejoicingly the settlers prepared to follow on the explorers' trail. What
the mysterious interior might hold, they could not imagine; but the gates
thereto being thrown wide at last, its secrets would be soon known to
them.
Blaxland died on the 3rd of January, 1853, having lived long enough to
witness the wonderful advance in settlement due to his energies.