Supposed course of the Darling.
Mr. Dixon's survey of the Bogan.
Expedition postponed.
Description of the boat carriage.
Number and description of the party.
Expedition leaves Parramatta.
My departure from Sydney.
Western part of Cumberland.
County of Cook.
The Blue Mountains.
Weatherboard Inn.
Mounts Hay and Tomah.
River Grose.
Early attempts to trace it upwards.
Intended Tunnel.
Pass of Mount Victoria.
Advantages of convict labour.
Country of Mulgoey.
Emu plains.
Township.
General arrangement of towns and villages.
The mountain road.
Vale of Clywd.
Village reserve.
Granite formation.
Farmer's Creek.
River Cox and intended bridge.
Mount Walker.
Solitary Creek.
Honeysuckle Hill.
Stony Range.
Plains of Bathurst.
The town.
Inconvenience of want of arrangement in early colonization.
Smallfarmers.
Intended Bridge.
Departure from Bathurst.
Charley Booth.
Road to Buree.
Canobolas.
Arrival at the camp of the party.
SUPPOSED COURSE OF THE DARLING.
On returning to Sydney from the banks of the Karaula my attention was
immediately drawn to other duties, and especially to those of the
department of roads and bridges, which had also been placed under my
direction.
I did however entertain hopes that I should be permitted at a subsequent
period to continue my journey towards the north-west.
In May 1833 the local authorities were informed that His Majesty's
Government judged it expedient an expedition should be undertaken to
explore the course of the River Darling, and that this service should be
performed by the survey department.
Until that time I had understood the supposed course of the Darling to
have been sufficiently evident, but from the necessity for this survey
and circumstances which I had not, until then, fully considered, I began
to entertain doubts on that subject. It seemed probable, from the
divergent courses of the Macquarie and Lachlan, that these rivers might
belong to separate basins, and that the dividing ridge might be the very
elevated range which Mr. Oxley had seen extending westward between them.
It was obvious that this range, if continuous, must separate the basin of
the Darling from that of the river Murray.
MR. DIXON'S SURVEY OF THE BOGAN.
As a preliminary step towards the exploration of the Darling, Mr. Dixon
was sent, in October 1833, with instructions to trace the ranges between
the rivers Lachlan and Macquarie, by proceeding westward from Wellington
Valley. Instead however of doing this, Mr. Dixon first followed the
Macquarie downwards from Wellington Valley, and then crossing to the
Bogan, which flowed at that time bank-high, he followed the course of
this river for 67 miles, and finally returned without having seen any of
the high land between the Macquarie and the Lachlan which he had been
sent to investigate. A season so favourable for exploring that high land
did not occur for four years afterwards, but it was within that period,
and during a long-continued drought, that the two succeeding expeditions
were sent to ascertain the course of the Darling.
EXPEDITION POSTPONED.
Preparations had been made for the departure of the expedition in the
month of March following, but my duties as a commissioner to investigate
claims to grants of land having been then urgent, the undertaking was
deferred until the next season.*
(*Footnote. A report had also been required of me by his Majesty's
government on the business of my department generally, and the duties
required under a commission for a survey and division of the Colony,
etc.)
DESCRIPTION OF THE BOAT CARRIAGE.
In the meantime two light whale boats were built by Mr. Eager of the
dockyard at Sydney; and wood was cut for the felloes of wheels which
would be required for a boat-carriage and carts, and it was laid up to
season in the lumber yard at Parramatta.
In completing the equipment for the journey, in the following year, at
the same place, I was much indebted to the zealous assistance of Mr.
Simpson of the department of roads.
The boat-carriage was constructed according to a model made by my friend
Mr. Dunlop, King's Astronomer at Parramatta, and the plan of it will be
easily understood by the accompanying figure. One boat was made to fit
within the other, the thwarts of the larger, or outer one, being taken
out. The double boat thus formed was suspended on belts of canvas which
supported it buoyant and clear of the framework. Those parts of the
canvas of the carriage most liable to friction were guarded with
sheepskin and greased hide. The smaller boat was suspended within the
larger, also on canvas, so as to swing clear of the outer boat's sides;
and the whole was covered by a tarpaulin thrown over a ridge pole.
NUMBER AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PARTY.
Besides Mr. Richard Cunningham, who was attached to the expedition as
botanist, Mr. Larmer, a very young assistant surveyor, was appointed to
accompany me; the services of the other officers of the department being
required for duties within the settled districts.
The following men composed the party:
ALEXANDER BURNETT: Overseer.
ROBERT WHITING: Carpenter.
WILLIAM WOODS, JOHN PALMER, THOMAS JONES: Sailors.
JOHN SOUTER: Medical Attendant.
ROBERT MUIRHEAD, Charles Hammond, John Baldwin, Joseph Herbert, William
Thomas, Thomas Murray, Edward Gayton, Charles King: Bullock-drivers.
William Baldock: Groom.
JOSEPH JONES: Shepherd.
John Johnston: Blacksmith.
John Bulger: Shoemaker.
ANTHONY BROWN: Servant to Major Mitchell.
George Squires: Servant to Mr. Cunningham.
Thomas Reeves: Servant to Mr. Larmer.
Nine of these men (distinguished by italics) had been under my command on
my former expedition, and were consequently well acquainted with the
service. Their subsequent steady conduct also satisfied me as to their
eligibility for the contemplated journey.
EXPEDITION LEAVES PARRAMATTA.
At noon on the 9th March, 1835 I had, at length, the satisfaction of
seeing this party leave Parramatta with an equipment fit for the
undertaking. The boats appeared to swim very well in their carriage,
which was followed by seven carts, and as many packhorses, affording the
means of carrying provisions for five months. Two mountain barometers
were borne by two men, the only service required of them while
travelling. The whole party in motion towards the unknown interior, and
prepared for sea or land, was to me a most gratifying spectacle. The
cares of preparation were at an end, and I could still count on three
weeks of comparative leisure at Sydney, during which time I could arrange
the business of my office. The cattle station at Buree, where I intended
to commence operations, was distant 170 miles from Sydney, and as it was
necessary that the party should travel slowly in crossing the mountains
with the boat-carriage, and equally indispensable that the cattle should
rest some days after arriving at Buree; I calculated that the expedition
could not be ready to advance from that point in less than three weeks
from the time at which it left Parramatta.
MY DEPARTURE FROM SYDNEY.
On the 31st of March I quitted Sydney on the important errand of
geographical discovery. My horse, which had been in training by Brown for
some weeks, seemed impatient of roads, and full of spirit, a pleasant
sensation at all times to the rider, and very congenial to the high
excitement of such an enterprise.
We soon arrived at Parramatta, where I obtained the loan of a good
chronometer from Mr. Dunlop at the observatory. Having noted various
important memoranda and suggestions, and partaken of an early dinner, I
bade my scientific and obliging friend farewell, and pursued my journey
along the western road.
WESTERN PART OF CUMBERLAND.
I arrived in a few hours at Emu ferry, on the river Hawkesbury, the
boundary there of the county of Cumberland. I had traversed the county in
its greatest width by this western route; and thus crossed by far the
best portion. Unlike the northern sandstone district, where the road
towards Wiseman's ferry could be made only by following one continuous
ridge, the surface being intersected by deep and precipitous ravines, we
were enabled here, the surface rock being trap, to travel along a
perfectly straight road over a gently undulating surface. The soil in
this district is good, consisting chiefly of decomposed trap. The land is
wholly in the hands of individuals, and, in a climate sufficiently moist,
would answer well for cultivation. The road passes near Prospect Hill,
which is the most conspicuous eminence in the county, and is cultivated
to the summit. The rich red soil derived from the subjacent trap-rock
produces crops as abundantly now as when it was first tilled, upwards of
thirty years ago.
Nearly the whole of the western portion of this county consists of soil
equally good; but it remains for the most part occupied by the original
wood. It is however very generally enclosed by substantial fencing, and
affords good pasturage. There is some rich alluvial land on both banks of
the Hawkesbury, and some of it, near this road, is let for as much as 20
shillings per acre.
The mansion of Sir John Jamieson, situated several miles above Emu,
commands an extensive view over that noble stream, the rich margins of
which are hemmed in, on the west, by the abrupt precipices of the Blue
mountains. The intermediate space beyond the ford is called Emu plains.
At the inn near this ford I passed the night, being desirous to cross the
Blue mountains next day.
April 1.
At daybreak we crossed the river in the punt. The Hawkesbury is 130 yards
broad at this ferry, being the broadest freshwater stream known in
Australia before the discovery of the Murray.
COUNTY OF COOK.
We now entered the county of Cook, so named by me in considering that its
lofty summits must have been the first land that met the eye of the
celebrated navigator on his first approach to the eastern coast.
THE BLUE MOUNTAINS.
Here again we meet with that precipitous, inaccessible kind of country
which distinguishes the sandstone formation, so extensive in Australia.
This arenaceous deposit, for a long time, confined the colonists within
the line of the Hawkesbury, and until the want of fresh pastures during
dry seasons compelled them to explore these rocky regions. One party
succeeded in penetrating the country to the westward by following the
continuous line of high land which separates the ravines of the valley of
the river Cox on one side from those which belong to the valley of the
Grose on the other. In this direction the road to the interior country
was accordingly opened by Governor Macquarie; and the ravines on each
side are too deep and precipitous to admit of any extensive alteration of
the line, although it has recently been much improved, especially in the
ascent to these mountains above Emu, and in the descent from them to the
interior country. These were the chief difficulties in making the
original road across this mountain mass, as the old passes of Lapstone
Hill and Mount York still testify. The upper region being once gained, it
presents considerable uniformity of feature, at least along the
connecting ridge. The rise is gradual from a height of about 1000 feet
above Emu plains to 3,400 feet, its maximum, near King's Tableland, 25
miles further westward.
WEATHERBOARD INN.
This mass of sandstone is intersected by ravines, deep in proportion to
the height of the surface, until the profound depth of the valleys
adjacent to the Weatherboard Inn and Blackheath, enclosed by rocky
precipices, imparts a wild grandeur to the scenery, of a very uncommon
character.*
(*Footnote. Not less remarkable is the fact that the outlets or mouths of
these stupendous and extensive valleys on each side, are extremely
NARROW; as is evident on the general map of the colony. What can have
become of the matter so scooped out? See Chapter 3.15 Volume 2.)
ROADS AND ROCKS.
The whole mass consists of a coarse, ferruginous sandstone, composed of
angular or slightly worn grains of quartz cemented by oxide of iron.
There is scarcely a patch of land along the line of road fit for
cultivation. One solitary spot, rather better than the rest, has been
wisely appropriated for an inn, and at a point very convenient for
travellers, being about halfway across these mountains. This inn is about
2,800 feet above the sea, and the clouds and temperature give it the
climate of England. Potatoes of an excellent quality grow there, also
gooseberries; and a fire is as frequently agreeable as in the latitude of
52 degrees North.
MOUNTS HAY AND TOMAH.
The only summits which meet the traveller's eye above the common horizon
are Mounts Hay and Tomah, situated about twelve miles northward of the
road--the river Grose passing between them. These heights consist of
trap-rock and grey porphyry, and like Warrawolong,* are crowned with
lofty trees.
(*Footnote. See above.)
RIVER GROSE.
Some idea may be formed of the intricate character of the mountain
ravines in that neighbourhood from the difficulties experienced by the
surveyors in endeavouring to obtain access to Mount Hay.
EARLY ATTEMPTS TO TRACE IT UPWARDS.
Mr. Dixon, in an unsuccessful attempt, penetrated to the valley of the
Grose, until then unvisited by any European; and when he at length
emerged from ravines in which he had been bewildered four days, without
reaching Mount Hay, he thanked God (to use his own words in an official
letter) that he had found his way out of them. (See the accompanying View
of the Grose; also a general view of the sandstone territory, in Volume 2
Plate 38.)
Mr. Govett was afterwards employed by me to make a detailed survey of the
various ramifications of these ravines by tracing each in succession from
the general line of road; and thus by a patient survey of the whole he
ascertained at length the ridge connected with Mount Hay, and was the
first to ascend it. Guided by Mr. Govett I was thus enabled to place my
theodolite on that summit. I found the scenery immediately around it very
wild, consisting of stupendous perpendicular cliffs, 3000 feet deep, at
the foot of which the silvery line of the Grose meanders through a green
valley into which neither the colonists nor their cattle have yet
penetrated. Having looked into this valley from the summit of Tomah also
in 1827, I was tempted soon after to endeavour to explore it by ascending
the river from its junction with the Hawkesbury near Richmond; but I had
not proceeded far in this attempt, accompanied by Major Lockyer and Mr.
Dixon, when we were compelled to leave our horses and, soon after, to
scramble on our hands and feet until, at length, even our quadrumanous
progress was arrested in the bed of the river by round boulders which
were as large as houses, and over or between which we found it impossible
to proceed.
INTENDED TUNNEL.
The object which I had then in view, with the concurrence of the
Governor, was to carry the western road along the valley of the Grose,
and by cutting a tunnel of about a mile through a ridge at the head of
it, to reach the vale of Clywd, and so avoid the mountains altogether.
The ascent to them from Emu, and the descent from them at Mount York,
were both then extremely bad; so much so indeed, at the latter pass
especially, that a grant of land was publicly offered by the Government
to whoever could point out a better. Both these obstacles have since been
overcome.
PASS OF MOUNT VICTORIA.
The pass of Mount Victoria, named by me after the youthful Princess and
opened by Governor Bourke in 1832, descends at an inclination of 1 in 15
(where steepest) and avoids the abrupt descent by Mount York.
ADVANTAGES OF CONVICT LABOUR.
The new road from Emu plains, which is still less inclined, has been made
during the government of Sir Richard Bourke, and relieves the Bathurst
teams from the difficulties of Lapstone hill, the ascent of which cost
them a whole day. The value of convict labour to a young colony is
apparent in these new passes, cut in many places out of the solid rock;
and this advantage will be permanently recorded in these works and others
now going forward in different parts of this mountain road, which must
finally make it one of the best in the colony.
COUNTRY OF MULGOEY.
The difference between the lower country on the Hawkesbury and the region
which I have endeavoured to describe is very striking. The rocks are also
different, for on the side of Cumberland they consist of trap, and on the
other or that of the mountains, of sandstone.
EMU PLAINS.
The course of the Hawkesbury above Emu plains presents a singular feature
in forcing its way through a very steep-sided ravine, and thus cutting
off a portion of the mountain mass after its channel has previously
bordered on the lower country of Cumberland where no such obstruction is
opposed to its waters, which might there pursue a more direct course to
the sea. The river takes this remarkable turn near the junction of the
Nepean, and there we find in the bed of the stream (at Cox's Basin) a
dark-coloured trap-rock, apparently containing steatitic matter, and
doubtless connected with one of the disturbing operations to which this
fractured country has been exposed.
Beyond the ferry the road crosses Emu plains, a level tract, here about a
mile in width, and intervening between the river and the base of the
mountains. This flat consists chiefly of gravel--composed of large
pebbles, for the greater part quartzose; and in sinking a well, a bed of
them was found in which many were nearly spherical.
TOWNSHIP.
A township has been marked out at the ascent of the new road, the
question as to the most eligible situation for a town on Emu plains
having led to the construction of the new pass. The growth of towns
depends very much on the direction of great roads, and must be more
certain, and the allotments consequently more valuable, when the most
eligible line of thoroughfare is ascertained and opened, in the first
instance. Such works of public convenience should precede, as much as
possible, the progress of colonisation. The plan at least should be well
considered before the capital, or the labour, which is the same thing, is
applied. Buildings and other improvements can then be commenced with
greatest certainty of permanent value.
GENERAL ARRANGEMENT OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
"Les depenses utiles sont economie," said Guibert, but in new countries
the economy will much depend on the permanent utility of works for which,
in most cases, the necessity should be foreseen. With the example of so
many old countries for our guidance, obstructions to the spread of
population in a new one should be removed, according to plans of general
arrangement, keeping in view the best distribution of towns with respect
to local advantages, and the best sites for all public buildings
requisite for the towns still in embryo. The most advantageous general
lines of direction should be ascertained for the roads--that the public
means may be applied with certainty to their substantial improvement by
removing obstructions and building bridges. On good roads there is
greater inducement to individuals to erect inns; and in well arranged
streets to build good houses--than where uncertainty as to the permanent
direction of the one, or irregularity in the plan or line of the other,
discourage all such undertakings.
It has been my duty to keep these objects in view as sole commissioner
for the division and appropriation of the territory of New South Wales;
and as head also of the department of roads and bridges I have, as far as
lay in my power, applied the means at my disposal, only to works of a
permanently useful character, guided as I have been in my judgment
respecting them by a general survey of the country.
THE MOUNTAIN ROAD.
My ride along the mountain road presented no object worth describing; but
I have frequently found that the most dreary road ceases to appear
monotonous or long after we have acquired a knowledge of the adjacent
country. The ideas of locality are no longer limited like our view by the
trees on each side. The least turn reminds us that we are passing some
antre vast, or lateral ridge, occupying a place in the map which thus
determines our position. In crossing these mountains an extensive
knowledge of the localities relieved the monotony of the road to me and,
being inseparable from it in my mind, the digressions in this part of my
journal will, after this explanation, perhaps appear less objectionable.
Twilight overtook me as I was giving directions to Subinspector Binning
for the completion of the pass at Mount Victoria; and I halted for the
night at a small inn at its foot.
April 2.
Although some heavy rain had fallen at Sydney and yesterday during my
ride across the mountains yet the grass in this valley, which at other
times had appeared green and abundant, was now parched and scanty. A
swampy hollow across which a long bridge had been erected was quite dry,
and the whole surface bore a brown and dusty aspect.
VALE OF CLYWD.
This lower country to which we had descended from Mount Victoria was
named by Governor Macquarie the Vale of Clywd from its supposed
resemblance to the valley of that name in Wales. It is enclosed by other
heights named Mount York and Mount Clarence, and is watered by a small
stream called the river Lett.*
(*Footnote. A name derived from rivulet, and a very good one, being
short.)
VILLAGE RESERVE.
A wooden bridge has been erected across this stream and the site of a
village marked out on the bank opposite it. When such a spot has once
been determined on for the establishment of a town or village, and
divided into small allotments available to blacksmiths, wheelwrights,
coopers, innkeepers, etc. The land is no longer liable to be sold in a
section of a square mile, according to the land regulations. Much
attention is necessary during the progress of colonisation to prevent the
monopoly of the land in thoroughfares where water is to be had. The
convenience of the public and the encouragement of the mechanic, who is
indeed the pioneer of colonists, cannot be sufficiently studied in
affording facilities for the establishment of inns and the growth of
population along great roads.
GRANITE FORMATION.
The aspect of this valley is very different from that of the mountain
region, and equally so from that of the lower country on the Hawkesbury.
This change is obviously owing to the difference in the rock. Granite
appears here for the first time on this road; and we accordingly find
those bold undulations and that thinly wooded surface which usually
distinguish the formation in Australia. It is at this point in general
finely grained, but the felspar partly decomposed, with distinct crystals
of felspar unchanged.
From the pass of Mount Victoria I travelled to Bathurst by an entirely
new road, opened in a direction first recommended by me in 1827.
FARMER'S CREEK.
At fourteen miles from Mount Victoria is Farmer's Creek, so named after a
useful horse which fell there and broke his neck when I was surveying and
marking out the line of road. The formation of the descent to this
mountain stream was a work of considerable labour, and at that time
several gangs of prisoners in irons were employed upon it.
RIVER COX AND INTENDED BRIDGE.
Crossing Farmer's Creek near its junction with Cox's river the road is
continued for one mile along the right bank, to the site chosen for
throwing a bridge over this river. The ascent on the opposite side has
been cut, with unnecessary labour, through a point of the hill, and upon
this the gangs were then at work. The gangs of prisoners in irons were
lodged in a stockade which had been erected here and was guarded by a
detachment of the 17th regiment. The river Cox is at this point 2,172
feet above the level of the sea. It pursues its course through a wild
inaccessible mountain country, and joins the Warragamba about twenty
miles to the southward of Emu plains. This course of the Cox could be
traced by the surveyors only by scrambling on foot, or by following out
the several extremities of the mountain ranges which abut upon its rocky
channel.
MOUNT WALKER.
Mount Walker overlooks that part of the Cox which is crossed by the new
line of road. The summit of this hill consists of a dark grey felspar. At
its base and in the bed of the river is trap, which appears to be the
principal rock of the country to some distance beyond the river.
SOLITARY CREEK.
The road reaches at three miles from the Cox a small brook, named
Solitary Creek, which waters a valley where an inn was then building.
This is the first rivulet falling towards the interior country, all the
other streams previously crossed by this road flowing to the eastern
coast; consequently the apparently low ridge between Solitary creek and
Cox's river is there part of what is termed the Coast Range, which
extends from Cape Howe to Cape York, across 33 degrees of latitude.
HONEYSUCKLE HILL.
The road beyond Solitary creek winds around the side of Honeysuckle Hill,
a summit of considerable elevation, consisting of trap-rock. The country
beyond that hill is more open and favourable for road-making. An inn has
been built on a small flat, distant about twenty-three miles from Mount
Victoria, and about halfway between that pass and Bathurst.
STONY RANGE.
The only remarkable feature on the remainder of this line is Stony Range,
distant from Bathurst fourteen miles. It is a ridge of high ground which
traverses the country from north to south and terminates on the Fish
river. The road crosses it at the very lowest part, and where the rock
consists of a dark grey felspar with grains of quartz. The soil is red
and rich, and bears trees of uncommon magnitude. The timber is found
useful by the inhabitants of the Bathurst district, who keep the sawyers
constantly at work there.
PLAINS OF BATHURST.
From Stony Range the plains of Bathurst appear in the distance to great
advantage; the eye of the traveller from Sydney having long sought, in
vain, for some relief from the prospect of so much waste mountainous
country.
THE TOWN.
We reached the open plains of Bathurst, six miles from the settlement. I
arrived early at Mrs. Dillon's inn, where I took up my quarters, in order
that I might complete, with less interruption, a report which I was
instructed to make to the Governor from this place, respecting the state
of the works along the road.
April 3.
My friend Rankin called and insisted on my accompanying him to his
residence at Saltram, which I accordingly did. The houses of the
inhabitants here are scattered over the extensive open country, and give
a most cheerful appearance to the plains of Bathurst. These fine downs
only a few years before must have been as desolate as those of a similar
character still are on the banks of the Namoi and Karaula. Peace and
plenty now smile on the banks of Wambool,* and British enterprise and
industry may produce in time a similar change on the desolate banks of
the Namoi, Gwydir, and Karaula, and throughout those extensive regions
behind the Coast range, still further northward--all as yet unpeopled,
save by the wandering aborigines, who may then, as at Bathurst now, enjoy
that security and protection to which they have so just a claim.
(*Footnote. Native name for the river Macquarie.)
INCONVENIENCE OF WANT OF ARRANGEMENT IN EARLY COLONIZATION.
The inconvenience of a want of plan for roads and streets is strikingly
obvious at Bathurst. A vast tract had indeed been reserved as a township,
but then, no streets having been laid out, allotments for building could
neither be obtained by grant nor purchase. The site for the town was
therefore only distinguished by a government house, jail, courthouse,
postoffice, and barracks; while the population had collected in 60 or 80
houses built in an irregular manner on the Sydney side of the river, and
at the distance of a mile from the intended site of the town. The
consequence of a want of arrangement became equally apparent in the line
of approach to the township, for the only road in use being very
indirect, and passing through a muddy hollow, named The Bay of Biscay,
could not be altered because the adjacent land had been granted to
individuals. Thus when the good people of Bathurst prayed in petitions
for delivery from their Bay of Biscay, and a dry and more direct line for
the road had been easily found and marked out, the irregular buildings
and private property lay in the way of the desired improvement. All these
inconveniences might have been obviated by due attention to such
arrangements in the first instance, when any plan was practicable;
whereas subsequently it has been found possible to remedy them only in a
limited degree. The streets having now been laid out a church and many
houses are in course of erection and a new road, leading over firm ground
to the site of the intended bridge, has been opened with the consent of
the owner of the property.
SMALLFARMERS.
Part of the reserved land of the township has been given to
smallfarmers--a class very essential to the increase of population, but
by no means numerous in New South Wales, and least of all at Bathurst,
where the land is laid out chiefly in large sheep farms.
INTENDED BRIDGE.
A bridge across the Macquarie has long been a desideratum. This river,
although in common seasons fordable, and in dry seasons scarcely fluent,
is liable, after heavy falls of rain in the mountains, to rise suddenly
to a great height, and cut off the communication between the public
buildings on the one side, and the peopled suburbs and great road from
Sydney on the other. The country beyond the Macquarie affords excellent
sheep-pasturage, the hills consisting chiefly of granite. A number of
respectable colonists are domiciled on the surrounding plains, and the
society of their hospitable circle presents a very pleasing picture of
pastoral happiness and independence.
DEPARTURE FROM BATHURST.
April 4.
It was not until two o'clock that I could conclude my correspondence with
the road-making, land-measuring world, and join a very agreeable party,
assembled by my friend Rankin, to partake of an early dinner and witness
my departure.
CHARLEY BOOTH.
Mr. Rankin accompanied me in my ride that afternoon, and we reached at a
late hour the house of Charley Booth, distant about 25 miles from
Bathurst. Some years had elapsed since I first passed a night at
Charley's hut or cattle station, then a resting-place for whoever might
occasionally pass; and inhabited by grim-looking stockmen of whom
Charley, as my friend called him, seemed one. Now the march of
improvement had told wonderfully on the place. The hut was converted into
a house, in which the curtained neatness and good arrangement were
remarkable for such an out-station. Mr. Booth himself looked younger by
some years, and we at length discovered the source of the increased
comforts of his home in a wife whom he had wisely selected from among the
recently arrived emigrants.
ROAD TO BUREE.
April 5.
Here I at length took leave of my friend to pursue a long and dreary ride
along the track which led to Buree. The wood consisted chiefly of those
kinds of eucalyptus termed box and apple-tree, forming a very open kind
of forest, the hollows being in general quite clear of trees. The farther
I proceeded westward the more the country exhibited the withering effects
of long drought.
CANOBOLAS.
The mountain mass of the Canobolas lay to the southward of my route; and
on crossing the lofty range which here divides the counties of Bathurst
and Wellington the summit was distant only four miles. The country in the
neighbourhood of that mass consists of trap and limestone, and is upon
the whole very favourable for sheep-farming. The region to the westward
of the Canobolas is still unsurveyed, being beyond the limits of the
county divisions.
ARRIVAL AT THE CAMP OF THE PARTY.
Before sunset I joined my men in the merry greene wood, and in my tent,
which I found already pitched on the sweet-scented turf, I could at
length indulge in exploratory schemes, free from all the cares of office.