Part 1 (1/2)

The Australian Explorers

by George Grimm

PREFACE

The story of the exploration of Australia is one which we cannot willingly let die There arealive the remembrance of such heroic deeds It is due to the memory of those men who took their lives in their hands, and, in ratitude on our part, who have entered on their labours; and it is a kind of information indispensable to every Australian who desires to know the history of his country And yet there is great danger of their being practically forgotten The time when the harvest of discovery was reaped has faded into the past, and a generation is growing up not well infor adventures and achievements Nor are the sources of information easily obtainable by those who purposely put themselves on the search The journals of the explorers, never too plentiful, have now become scarce

They are only occasionally ood reasons, held as a treasure A considerable number of these works are to be found in the Sydney School of Arts, but they have been withdrawn from circulation, and are now kept for special reference only, in a glass case, under lock and key The Government Library contains the best collection extant, but even there it has been deeulations, with the view of giving the books a longer lease of existence This scarcity of the sources of information, and these restrictions which fence in the few that remain, may be accepted as a sufficient plea for the effort here e they contain But I would warn the reader not to expect froive In no sense does it pretend to be elaborate or exhaustive I have had to study brevity for another reason than its being the soul of wit It would have been a pleasant task to write long descriptions of Australian scenery, and to follow the explorers even into the by-paths of their journeys; but the result would have been just what I have had to avoid--a bulky volume

Yet, such as it is, I hope the book will be found acceptable to the norant of this subject nor find time to enter into its minutiae; to the youth of our country, who cannot obtain access to the original sources; and to the general reader, who desires to be told in si story

Having written on a subject in no way connected with my profession, I hts came to be diverted into this channel Probably they would never have been so directed to any great extent had it not happened that the path of duty led me into the tracks of several of the most eminent explorers In earlier days it was my lot to travel, in the service of the Gospel, most extensively in the interior of Queensland, principally on the lines of the Condao rivers In these situations it was natural to wish for inforions had been opened up for settleleaned from the occupants themselves; but it fortunately happened that Sir Thomas Mitchell's journal fell into my hands when amidst the scenes of one of his most splendid discoveries, the Fitzroy Downs, and almost under the shadow of his well-named Mount Abundance The taste then obtained was sufficient to whet the appetite for more, and the prosecution of this favourite study has issued in what I may be permitted to call a tolerable acquaintance with the exploration of Australia About seven or eight years ago I wrote a series of papers on this subject for the _Sydney Mail_, bringing the history down to the expedition of Burke and Wills The proprietors of that journal have kindly permitted me to make use of my former articles in the preparation of this work; but of this permission, for which I would here record my thanks, I have availed myself only to a moderate extent The whole has been rewritten, some inadvertencies have been corrected, and the history in its h my principal concern has been with the land explorers, I have, in the introduction, given a sketch of the discoveries ators So much was necessary to the completeness of my plan, and also because the achievements of both to soeical order, except in a very few cases where a more important principle of classification will be obvious to the reader

As regards authorities, I have spared no pains to get at the original sources of information, and have succeeded in all but a few unimportant exceptions In these cases I have derived so relatives of the explorers and several very old colonists I have also been indebted for further light to works of acknowledged merit which have been for some time before the public--notably, to the Rev J

E Tenison Woods's ”Exploration of Australia,” and to Mr Howitt's ”Discoveries in Australia, Tas, Esq, MLC, for the excellent notes he has written on the discoveries

That this small volu is the earnest wish of

THE AUTHOR

BALMAIN WEST, SYDNEY, _18th May, 1888_

THE AUSTRALIAN EXPLORERS

INTRODUCTION: PIONEER NAVIGATORS

The eastern coast of New Holland, as Australia was then called, was discovered by Captain Cook, while engaged in the first of his voyages round the world Leaving Cape Farewell, in New Zealand, on the 13th of March, 1770, and steering a north-westerly course, on the 18th of April he found the new continent rise into view in one of its south-eastern headlands, which was then named Point Hicks, but is non as Cape Conran, and reckoned within the territory of Victoria Henceforward the _Endeavour_ was navigated along the coast to its most northern li-place was observed till Botany Bay was reached Here the good shi+p caest sights and scenes This brief interlude being over, the northern voyage was resumed in quest of further discoveries Scarcely had the Botany Heads faded frohted from the deck of the vessel, but, unhappily, not visited The point of observation being ator was all unconscious of his being abreast of the finest harbour of the world, and having given it the nalish friend, held on his course without pause or delay For a while all ith the navigator, but in an hour when no danger was expected a cry of ”breakers ahead”

brought to everyone on board a sense of extreme peril By dint of the captain's superior seamanshi+p, and his perfect command over the crew, the shi+p was turned from the rocks in a critical moment, and the expedition rescued from a disastrous termination The locality of this threatened cala by a conspicuous hill, to which Cook gave the respective na, positions which the reader will recognize as now for the coastal boundary between New South Wales and Queensland

But the _Endeavour_ was not to finish her voyage withoutunconsciously approached a hidden danger in the far north, she landed bodily on a reef, and sustained e It was only after the sacrifice of o that she could be floated, and then it taxed all the skill of the captain and the ute The port of safety, reached with so much difficulty, proved to be the mouth of a small river, which has since borne the name of the Endeavour The repair of the crazy vessel occupied a period of six weeks, during which ”Jack ashore” enjoyed rather exciting holidays, rotesque oddities of the Australian fauna Having again put to sea, only one stage ator reached Cape York, the extreme northern limit of this new territory Cook succeeded in his object to a degree that uine anticipations, and now took care that his labours should not be in vain, but redound to the benefit of his country All that anting was a declaration of ownershi+p, and this he accordingly made on the spot: ”As I am now about to quit the eastern coast of New Holland, which I have coasted from 38 latitude to this place, and which I am confident no European has ever seen before, I once h I have already taken possession of the whole eastern coast by the nareat similarity to that part of the principality of Wales), in the right ofof Great Britain”

This welcoift fell into the hands of the nation in a ti coh the revolt of the A filled to overfloith criminals, and a new outlet was imperatively required Somewhere in the world a place had to be found for a penal settlement The publication of Cook's discoveries came in the nick of time, and delivered the Governly to establish a crown colony at Botany Bay, which had been fully and only too favourably described by the circu of eleven shi+ps, carrying 757 convicts and 200 soldiers, was despatched under the come being somewhat circuitous, its destination was not reached till the 18th of January following Less than a week sufficed to show that Cook's picture of Botany had more of colour than correctness The shores were found to be shallow, the roadstead exposed, and the adjacent land ill suited to the purpose in view Without loss of time, the Governor, with his assistants, proceeded to examine the capabilities of Port Jackson, which had been cursorily seen at a distance by Cook and disle sentence of his otherwise copious narrative The exploration issued in unmeasured satisfaction and surprise The party returned to the encas of a harbour with a hundred coves, on the aht ride at anchor Orders to decamp were issued forthwith, and the removal of the nascent colony was the work of but a day or two

The spot selected for the peruous to the modern Circular Quay, and was recolided on its course underneath the indigenous copse The infant colony had its baptisle for existence The inauguration took place on the 7th of February, 1788, when the settlement was formally proclaimed a crown colony, in circumstances of no small state and ceremony

The passion for discovery soon took possession of the new arrivals, and the adventurous Governor placed himself in the front of this enterprise

To us who live in times when Australia has ceased to be an unknown land, their efforts in this direction nificant, but it should not be forgotten that the horizon was at that tire outline, whilst an accurate survey had scarcely proceeded a couple of miles beyond the settlement On the 2nd of May the Governor and party sailed off in the long-boat for the purpose of exploring Broken Bay, which had been seen and named by Captain Cook, but not entered It proved to be the entrance to a large river, expanding to an i in exquisite natural scenery Having crossed the bar, three distinct divisions of Broken Bay were explored, and to the last of which they gave the nalish premier

Next year this success was followed up with the exploration of the river (the Hawkesbury) which here enters the sea Large tracts of rich alluvial land were found on both sides In a short time hence these fertile flats becaricultural population, who frequently saved Sydney froe of discovery was continued as far as Rich), from which position the chasm in the uard its entrance named the Carmarthen and Lansdown Hills

It was the exploration of the coast-line, however, that principally engaged the attention of the infant colony, and for this work two men of rare ability stepped to the front In 1795, just seven years after the foundation of the colony, Captain Hunter, having been appointed Governor in succession to Captain Phillip, arrived in Port Jackson with the _Reliance_ and the _Supply_, bringing George Bass as surgeon and Matthew Flinders in the capacity of midshi+pman These adventurous and truly kindred spirits lost no ti themselves up for the work of discovery They had been barely a month in the country when the colonists saw theeneral service, and e--very suitably named the _Toe's River, which was now explored for 20 miles beyond as previously known The results were, the opening up of much available land and the commencement of a new settlement under the name of Bankstohich is still retained But the success attending this adventure was eclipsed by next year's discoveries, which were achieved under similar difficulties The tiny _Toain left Port Jackson for the purpose of exae river which was supposed to enter the ocean to the south of Botany Bay Having stood out to sea in order to catch the current, the voyagers unwittingly passed the object of their search and were carried far southward Bad weather now supervened; the little craft was tossed like a cork on the billows, and finally beached in a heavy surf with the loss ofnoant of water, the party were compelled to leave the rock-bound coast and steer still further south, in the hope of finding a more favourable locality

Eventually they cast anchor about two , in an inlet which, in commemoration of this incident, still bears the naoon The blacks, it was ascertained, called the district Allourie, which has, doubtless, been transfore Bass and Flinderslittle shelter, which they called Providential Cove, but which is now generally known by the native name, Wattamolla About fourupon the real object of their search It proved to be a large sheet of water stretching several miles inland, and presented the appearance of a port rather than a river The natives spoke of it as ”Deeban,” but it is now called Port Hacking, it is believed in acknowledg acco seah a succession of perils and privations which give to their narrative the character, not of sober history, but of wild romance