[PREFACE]
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PREFACE.
The recent expeditions of discovery into the interior and across the continent of Australia, have excited a deep interest, equally by their important results, and by the loss of the lives of some of the explorers under the most melancholy circumstances. These expeditions, however, constitute but a small link in a long chain of such undertakings, ranging over a period of several hundred years. In fact, it is clear that a southern continent was known to the Romans, and it is difficult to decide how long Australia had been known to the Chinese. But there is evidence that the Portuguese were acquainted with the north-west of Australia before the Dutch, who discovered the north of Australia in 1605. Since then, that is, for 260 years, there has been a succession of voyages of discovery to, and travels of discovery in, Australia. The names of TASMAN, DAMPIER, CAPTAIN COOK, LA PEROUSE, D'ENTRECASTEAUX, FLINDERS, BASS, OXLEY, CUNNINGHAM, CAPTAINS KING, STOKES, FITZROY, &c., GREY, LUSHINGTON, FREDERICK SMITH, THE BROTHERS GREGORY, AUSTIN, ROE, BARRAGE, HACK, WARBURTON, HUME, STURT, STRZELECKI, SIR THOMAS MITCHELL, LEICHHARDT, KENNEDY, EYRE, STUART, BURKE and WILLS, MCKINLAY, HOWITT, LANDSBOROUGH, WALKER, and many others, present to those familiar with their labours and adventures, scenes of danger and of wild romance, of heroic daring and devoted deaths, such as few countries have to show. When we consider that they at the same time constitute
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much of the history of the most extraordinary growth and development of nations, and that these nations are of our own race and kindred, bound to us by the closest ties of blood, commerce and common fortunes, it is obvious that a complete chronicle of these remarkable labours and events is not only due to ourselves and the colonies, but must possess a deep and lasting interest for the public.
This is the book which the Author has endeavoured to complete in a full and faithful manner. Having had one son engaged in these researches in Australia, as the successful discoverer of the lost expedition of Burke and Wills, and the recoverer of their remains, and having lost another in assisting to open up the interior of New Zealand, he has entered on the undertaking as a labour of love. His personal knowledge of some of the colonies concerned, and the possession of documents not yet given to the public, have enabled him to treat the subject with the greater accuracy, and have excited him to omit no research or exertion to render it attractive and complete.
The Author's best thanks are due to many friends for particular sources of information opened up to him, in the prosecution of the work, amongst whom he ventures to name the gentlemen of the Committee of Exploration of Victoria: Count Strzelecki; Edward Wilson, Esq., of the Melbourne Argus; E. E. Macgeorge, Esq., late of Adelaide; George Augustus Robinson, Esq., late Chief Protector of the Aborigines in Victoria; Alexander William Bell, Esq., secretary of the North Australian Company; Frederick Algar, Esq., proprietor of the Australian and New Zealand Gazette, etc.
LONDON, MARCH, 15th, 1865.
[CONTENTS]
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CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
CHAPTER I.
PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY TOWARDS AND IN AUSTRALIA.
Discovery of the Bahama Isles by Columbus. Discovery of the mainland of America by Vesputio and Cabot. Progress in American discovery southward. Vesputio arrives within four degrees of Cape Horn. Discovery by Gonneville of a country beyond the Cape of Good Hope, probably some island of the Indian Ocean. Magellan discovers the straits named after him. Discovers the Ladrone Isles, and reaches the Philippine Isles by the Pacific. Magellan there murdered by the inhabitants. His ships reach the Moluccas, and return by the Cape of Good Hope. The Straits of Magellan found to be very dangerous. Many succeeding voyages to the Pacific by Spaniards. Ideas of the classical nations of the Atlantis, and of another continent besides Europe, Asia and Africa. Their assertion of the rotundity of the earth and of antipodes. Them belief of a continent in the southern hemisphere. Belief in the middle ages of an Anticthone or opposite earth. Maps extant proving this. Marco Polo's indications of Australia as discovered by the Chinese. Assumed Portuguese discoveries. Mr. Major's opinions on them. Portuguese and French maps, some of them in the British Museum. Rivalry between the Spaniards and Portuguese regarding discoveries in the Indian Ocean. Prohibition of any maps of such discovery by the King of Portugal. Dutch discoveries, and Dutch concealment of them. Voyages of Schouten and Lemaire, Van Noort and Spilbergen. The Dutch prosecute discoveries on the western coast of Australia, and seize all other vessels in those seas, and their Eastern settlements. Charge against them by Sir William Temple. Defence by Mr. Major. The Portuguese commander, Don de Meneses, supposed to reach New Guinea in 1526. Don de Saavedra, a Spaniard, makes two voyages to the country of the Papous, supposed to be New Guinea, about 1528-30. Della Torre and Admiral Gaetan reach Australia in 1542. Maps of New Guinea and part of Australia in 1582. In 1598, Australia and Torres' Straits mentioned by Wytfliet before Torres discovered those straits. Discovery of the Isles of Espirito Santo, the New Hebrides, by Quiros in 1606, who claimed to have discovered Australia. His fictitious description of it. Torres the same year passed through the straits since called after him. End of the Spanish period of Austral discovery.................1
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CHAPTER II.
DISCOVERIES OF THE DUTCH.
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Dutch geographers, Ortelius, Mercator, Planchius, De Bry, Hulsius, Cluverius. Linschoten's Voyages, 1618. Establishment of the Dutch East India Company. Their settlements of Batavia, Bantam, Amboyna, Banda, &c. The yacht Duyfhen sent out by the Company reached the west coast of Australia in 1606. It reached Cape Keer Weer or Turn-again. Voyage of Spilbergen from Amsterdam in 1614 to the Pacific. Ideas of Isaac Le Maire on a great southern continent. The voyage of Schouten and James Le Maire in 1615. Plague of flies in the Pacific. Touch at New Guinea. Their ships seized at Batavia by the Dutch East India Company. Le Maire died of a broken heart at the Mauritius. Voyage of Edel. Successive voyages from 1616 to 1622. Amongst these the voyage of Dirck Hartog in the Endracht as far as Shark's Bay. His arrival there recorded on a tin plate left in Hartog's Island. This plate found there in 1697 by Vlaming, and by Hamelin in 1861. Supposed voyage to Arnhem's Land by one Zeachen. In 1618 the ship Mauritius discovers Willem's River. In 1619 Edel discovers Edel's Land. Navigators unknown in 1622 discover Leeuwin's Land, Cape Leeuwin, and Houtman's Abrolhos. Du Quesne's exploration of King George's Land in 1687. Voyage of Carstaens in 1623 to New Guinea. Massacre of himself and eight men. The vessels Pera and Arnhem discover Arnhem's Land. The south coast of Australia discovered in 1627 by the ship Guide Zeepard, and again in 1628 by the ship Vianen, and called Nuyt's Land. The Vianen discovers De Witt's Land. Voyage of Governor Carpenter's fleet, and return with gold. Shipwreck of the Batavia in the Abrolhos. Captain Pelsart's adventures. Gerard Pool murdered in New Guinea in 1636: Pietersen's voyage down the west coast of Australia. Abel Tasman's voyages in 1642 and 1643, on the coasts of New Holland. Struck the south-western corner of Van Diemen's Land first. Anchored in Frederick Henry Bay and Storm Bay. His description of Van Diemen's Land. Sailed towards Australia, but missed it, and reached New Zealand, which he named Staaten Land. Attacked by the natives, and three men killed. Called the place Murderer's Bay. Followed the north-west coast to Point Maria Van Diemen. Discovered the island of the Three Kings. Sailed north by the islands of Horne and Cacaos; discovered the island of Pylstaart, and several of the Friendly Islands. Then west to the Fejee Islands, by New Britain and New Guinea to Batavia. Supposed second voyage of Tasman to the northwest coast of Australia and Torres' Straits. Cunio's instructions to Tasman. Speculations as to the true discoverer of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Mr. Major's ideas on this head. Thevenot's statements. Supposed voyages of Governors Carpenter and Van Diemen. Idea of Dr. Lang as to the discovery of Carpentaria. Causes inducing the Dutch to suppress all knowledge of New Holland. Wreck of the Vergulde Draeck on the coast of Western Australia. Fate of the crew. Vlaming's visit to this coast. Successive wrecks on the Abrolhos. Explorations of the coast of north-west Australia by the ships Vossenback, Wager, and Nova Hollandia, to North Van Diemen's Land and Cambridge Gulf. Their misfortunes. Attempt of Commodore Roggewein to reach Australia, 1721. Discovery of the Bowman Islands. Seizure of Roggewein's ships at Batavia............28
CHAPTER III.
DISCOVERIES OF DAMPIER.
Dampier's early life. His wanderings. A logwood cutter. Joins the buccaneers to plunder the Spanish Settlements. His quick and accu-
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rate observation of the countries visited by him. In 1687 he and his buccaneer companions reached the west coast of Australia, in the part now called Dampier Land. His description of the country and people. Their low condition. The plague of flies. Lionel Wafer's narrative of this voyage. Appointed by the English Government to the ship Roebuck. His second voyage] to Australia. Touched at Shark's Bay. His description of the coast. The birds and animals. Portraits of the people. In 1699 visited the northern coast of New Guinea. Discovered that New Britain was an island. Wrecked on his return at the Isle of Ascension. His subsequent life. Between 1708 and 1711 again visited New Guinea, and in the Pacific found Alexander Selkirk on Juan Fernandez. His account of kangaroos, emus, and the splendid flower now called Clianthus Damperi.............61
CHAPTER IV.
DISCOVERIES OF CAPTAIN COOK IN AUSTRALIA, VAN DIEMENS LAND, AND NEW ZEALAND, FROM 1768 TO 1770.
Sailed from Plymouth in 1768, to prosecute discoveries in the southern hemisphere. Previous voyages of Byron, Wallis, Carteret, and Cook in the Pacific. Accompanied by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander in the ship Endeavour. Passed through the Straits of Le Maire into the Pacific, and noticed a transit of Venus, June the 4th, 1767. Sailed for New Zealand, taking with him Tupia, a native priest, and a native boy with him. October 7, touched the Northern Island at Poverty Bay. Thought they had reached the Australian continent. Striking description of the country and people. Their warlike aspect and character, and unwillingness to be friendly. Cook kidnaps two youths uselessly. Sailed westward, naming Cape Table, Portland Island, Hawke's Bay. People still hostile. Tupia's language intelligible to them. Skirmish with the natives. Natives afterwards come on board. Cook coasted along from Cape Turnagain to Tolega Bay, where they landed. Description of the people, and their mode of life. Their fenced gardens. Boys found whipping tops. Nails not valued. Visited a hippah or pah. Plants and trees of the country. Wild celery. Coasts on eastward to Mercury Bay, and Bay of Islands. People everywhere defiant or thievish. Various birds seen. The vast Kauri pines. Numerous villages on the coast. Many mountains inland. Named many heads, points, and bays on the coast. Bay of Islands. Cape Maria van Diemen. The Three King's Islands. The north-west coast to Queen Charlotte's Sound. Cape and Mount Egmont. Sojourn there in Ship Cove till January, 1770. Murderer's Bay of Tasman. Went on shore. Signs of cannibalism. Steep mountains. The woods impenetrable. Abundance of fish in the sea. Music of birds at sunrise. Natives there friendly. Purchased tattoed heads. Manners and dress of the people. Sailed through the strait between the North and Middle Islands. Named its hays and capes. Various capes and bays named by him. Character of these islands, coasts and mountains. Sailed in March, 1770, in quest of Australia. Cook's opinions of New Zealand and New Zealanders. Recent opinions regarding Captain Cook's treatment of the natives in New Zealand. Cook sighted Point Hicks and Ram Head in Australia. Liked the look of the country. Made a chart of the coast from Hicks' Point to Torres Straits. Named all the bays and points as far as Botany Bay, and laid down a chart of the coast. Delight of Banks and Solander at the prodigality of strange and beautiful flowers. Natives with their painted bodies, boomerangs, and womeras. Huts and canoes. Character of the country. Strange birds. Passed Port Jackson without examining it. Sailed northwards. Moreton Bay. Still northward to Bustard Bay, where they landed. Man-
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groves, gum-tree ants, native companions, and natives. Bay of Inlets. Cumberland Islands. Landed again. Cape Tribulation, ship runs on a coral reef. Endeavour River. Land their stores to repair the ship's bottom. New experiences of the country there. Sail for Torres Straits. Names of bays, points, islands, etc. Providential Channel. Cape York. York Isles. Crowds of Islands. Did any one traverse the east coast before Cook? Cook's voyage along the southern coast of New Guinea, and thence home by the Cape of Good Hope. Great work done by Cook in this survey. The value of his charts of the coast. Cook's remarks on Australia and its natives..................76
CHAPTER V.
VISITS OF CAPTAINS DE SURVILLE, ST. ALOUARN, AND MARION DU FRESNE TO AUSTRALIA, VAN DIEMENS LAND, AND NEW ZEALAND IN 1769 AND 1772.
De Surville and Cook crossed at the mouth of Doubtless Bay, New Zealand, without seeing each other. De Surville's treachery to the natives. Carried off one, who pined and died. De Surville drowned at Callao. St. Alouarn's visit. Marion du Fresne massacred with a number of his men. The French version of the affair. The native version of it..............104
CHAPTER VI.
THE VOYAGE OF COOK AND FURNEAUX, JANUARY, 1772 TO 1771, IN WHICH COOK REPEATEDLY VISITED NEW ZEALAND, AND CAPTAIN FURNEAUX VISITED NEW ZEALAND AND VAN DIEMEN'S LAND.
The search for the extreme continent of the south. Not to be found. Cook reaches New Zealand. Furneaux missing. Found at Queen Charlotte's Sound. Furneaux's adventures in Van Diemen's Land. Supposed, but incorrectly, to have seen Australia. Attempt of Maories to seize Furneaux's ship. Furneaux prevents Cook ascertaining the insularity of Van Diemen's Land. The commander planted garden-seeds, and put on shore goats and pigs at Queen Charlotte's Sound. Voyage to the South Sea Islands, and return to New Zealand. Furneaux lost sight of for the rest of the voyage. Cook puts on shore fresh fowls, goats, and hogs. Sailed and discovered New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, and other Islands. Returned to New Zealand. Puts more hogs and fowls on shore. Furneaux arrived in Queen Charlotte's Sound. Massacre of his boat's crew. Captain Cook's last voyage: Cook, Clarke, and King's voyages between 1776 and 1780, in the Resolution and Discovery. The objects of Cook's last voyage. Attempts to find a north-west passage. Prince Edward's Island. Van Diemen's Land. Adventure Bay. The natives. Again at Queen Charlotte's Sound. Natives crowd there. Visited by Kahoora, who headed the massacre of Furneaux's crew. Different versions of the account of the massacre. Account of the natives. Natural productions. Cook killed at Owhyhee................110
CHAPTER VII.
LA PEROUSE, AND THE VOYAGES IN QUEST OF HIM.
La Perouse sailed from Brest in August, 1785. Captain Langle. Followed Captain Cook's route to the South Seas, and Kamschatka. Sails for Aus-
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tralia. Last seen at Botany Bay. D'Entrecasteaux sent in search of him. Labillardiere's account of the voyage. D'Entrecasteaux heard at the Cape of men having been seen in the Admiralty Isles in French dresses and uniforms by Commodore Hunter. Sailed for the Admiralty Isles. Van Diemen's Land. Entrance of the estuary of the Derwent. D'Entrecasteaux's Bay. Impressions of the island. Enormous trees seen. A rich botanical harvest. D'Entrecasteaux Strait. Sailed for New Caledonia. New Hebrides. Isle of Mallicola. The real scene of La Perouse's wreck. Sailed by New Guinea, Timor, west and south coast of Australia. Named many parts of this south coast. Narrow escape of M. Riche, the naturalist. Again to Van Diemen's Land. Fresh botanical discoveries. Black swans. Excursion to the mountains. Account of the natives. Their friendliness. Further geographical discoveries of the French in Van Diemen's Land. Labillardiere suspected a passage between Australia and Van Diemen's Land. After course of the voyage. D'Entrecasteaux's death. The vessels seized and detained at Batavia. Death of eighty of the crew. Return home. Captain Dillon finds relics of La Perouse at Tercopia. Hears of his wreck at Mallicola. Commissioned by the British Government in India to go thither to clear up the matter. Seizure and ill-treatment by the authorities at Van Diemen's Land. Success of Dillon in discovering the place of La Perouse's wreck. Recovers many relics. Receives from the King of France the order of the Legion of Honour, and an annuity of 4,000 francs................123
CHAPTER VIII.
DISCOVERIES ON THE COASTS OF AUSTRALIA ANI) VAN DIEMEN's LAND BETWIXT 1788 AND 1795, OR BETWIXT THE PERIODS OF COOK AND FLINDERS.
Voyage of Captain Bligh, of the Bounty. Planted fruit-trees at Adventure Bay. Mutiny of the crew of the Bounty. Pitcairn's Island. Bligh's adventurous escape to England. Land of Arnheim visited by Lieutenant M'Clure in 1791. Discoveries of Admiral Edwards in Torres Straits, in 1791. Wreck of the Pandora. Captain Vancouver's discovery on the South Coast of Australia, in 1791. King George's Sound named by him. Recherche Archipelago. Captain Bligh's discoveries in Torres Straits. Clarence's Archipelago. Voyage of Captains Bampton and Alt. Discoveries in Torres Straits. Massacre of Captain Hill and four seamen in Dauby's Island. Martial character of the natives. Further route of Bampton and Alt. Captain Hayes names the Derwent estuary at the present Hobart Town in 1794....................142
CHAPTER IX.
THE FOUNDING OF SYDNEY, AND THE CONSEQUENT DISCOVERIES OF BASSES STRAITS, ETC., BY BASS AND FLINDERS.
The loss of America. The settlement of a convict colony in Australia. Settlement of New Holland proposed by Colonel Purry in 1723. His proposal in vain offered to England, Holland, and France. Cook's discoveries confirmed Purry's ideas. Folly of establishing convict colonies at Botany Bay predicted by the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews. Contrary views of Wedgewood and Darwin. Darwin's views of the future of Australia. Similar prescience of T. K. Hervey. His verses. These enlightened views of the artists and poets speedily realised. In 1788, Admiral Phillip and Captain Hunter sail with a squadron and a number of convicts. Port
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Jackson selected in preference. Captain Flinders' account of the settlement of Sydney. Survey of Botany and Broken Bays. Voyage of adventure by Bass and Flinders in the Tom Thumb.--Beauty and advantages of youthful enthusiasm. Bass and Flinders discover George's River. Curious encounter with natives. Adventures of Mr. Clarke and a boat's mew, wrecked near Cape Howe. Bass's attempt to get over the Blue Mountains. Shortland's discovery of the Hunter. Adventures of Bass in the Van Diemen's Land Strait. Discovery of runaway convicts. Their fate. Flinders' Voyage to Furneaux's Island, in Bass's Straits. Finds Flinders' Island and others. Vast numbers of seals and penguins. Discovery of the Tamar, in Van Diemen's Land, by Bass and Flinders. Description of Port Dalrymple. Subsequent settlement of York Town and Launceston, on the Tamar. Bass and Flinders sailed round Van Diemen's band, establishing its insularity. The strait named Bass's Strait by Governor Hunter. Examination of Glasshouse, Hervey's, and Moreton Bays by Flinders................152
CHAPTER X.
THE SURVEY OF THE SOUTH-EASTERN AND NORTHERN COASTS OF AUSTRALIA BY CAPTAIN FLINDERS.
Flinders sailed in the Investigator from Sheerness in January, 1801, accompanied by Westall the painter, Bauer, natural-history painter, and Robert Brown, the botanist. Reached Cape Leeuwin in December. Recent traces of Europeans on that coast. Recherche Archipelago. Lucky Bay. Enormous nests of a bird. Sailed along the great Australian Bight. Survey of the coast eastward to Cape Catastrophe. The loss of Mr. Thistle, master of the vessel, and a whole boat's crew. Singular prediction of this catastrophe. Survey thence to Kangaroo Island. A kangaroo paradise. Investigator's Strait. Montgomery's Pelican Island. In Encounter Bay Flinders finds Captain Baudin of the French ship Geographe. The discoveries of Flinders subsequently claimed by Napoleon I. for Baudin. The Terre Napoleon. Discoveries of Captain Grant. Cape Otway. Discovery of the harbour of Port Philip by Lieutenant Murray. Re-discovery by Flinders. Careful examination of it by Flinders. View from Station Peak by Flinders. His description of Port Phillip. Return to Sydney, Flinders proceeds up the east coast northward from Sydney. His discoveries along that coast. Enters Torres Straits. Surveys the Gulf of Carpentaria. His discoveries in the Gulf. Skirmish with the natives at Woodall Island. Discovery of the Melville Isles. The Bromley Isles. Old chart of the Gulf. Annual visits of the people of Macassar to the north coast of Australia. Wessel's Islands. Proceed to Timor and Sydney. Fresh voyage of Flinders, and wreck on the Barrier Reef. Base conduct of Captain Palmer, of the Bridgewater. The men and stores landed on a sand-bank. Return of Flinders in an open boat to Sydney. Rescue of the crew. Captivity of Flinders in the Mauritius. Base treatment of him. there. Ungrateful treatment by the English Government. Invaluable services of Flinders in these surveys. Accompanied by Sir John Franklin in some of these voyages................167
CHAPTER XI.
IMPULSE OF DISCOVERY GIVEN BY THE SETTLEMENT OF SYDNEY.
Sailing of the squadron conveying convicts. Number of these. The voyages occupying eight months. Botany Bay found unfit. Sydney founded in Port Jackson. Magnificence of the bay. Character of the environs. Progress of discovery from this centre. Middleton's Island. Mulgrave Islands. River Hawkesbury. Colonel Collins sent to found a settlement at Port Phillip, but proceeded to Tasmania and founded Hobart Town..............186
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CHAPTER XII.
THE SETTLEMENT OF TASMANIA AND SUBSEQUENT DISCOVERIES.
Small extent of the island. Opening of the interior from Hobart-Town to Launceston by Lieutenant Laycock. The chief part of the island explored by nameless emigrants. Exploration of William Sorell. Famous attempt to capture the natives. Their extradition peacefully effected by Mr. G. A. Robinson. Discovers part of the island in the course of his work. Perils of the enterprise. Mr. Frankland's discoveries in 1835............193
CHAPTER XIII.
COMMENCEMENT OF PROGRESS INTO THE INTERIOR OF NEW SOUTH WALES.--EVANSES EXPEDITION.--OXLEY'S TWO EXPEDITIONS.
Opening up a route through the Blue Mountains by Messrs. Wentworth, Blaxland, and Lawson, in 1813. Mr. Evans discovers the Macquarie and Lachlan. Road through the mountains by convict labour. Discovery of gold by them. Expedition of Oxley, accompanied by Allan Cunningham and Charles Frazer, botanists, and W. Parr, mineralogist. Find already a good house and flocks and herds at Bathurst. Reach the Lachlan. Marks of great floods. Enter vast flats. Natives numerous, but quiet. Name many hills and streams. First encounter with mallee scrub. Still vast flats, evidently flooded in winter. Allan Cunningham planted peach and other fruit stones. Tracing the Lachlan. Stopped by vast swamps. Lakes discovered. Mounts Cunningham, Melville, &c. They return. Oxley's SECOND EXPEDITION TO THE MACQUARIE: In 1818 Mr. Oxley, accompanied by Messrs. Evans and Frazer, and Dr. Harris, set out to explore the Macquarie. Fell down the river in two boats. Stopped again by swamps. Struck eastwardly from Mount Harris. Discovered the Castlereagh River. Kangaroo Hill. Loadstone Hill. Arbuthnot's Range. Mount Exmouth. Country very hilly. Fine country about Hardwicke's Range. Still fresh hills, and again fine country. Peel's River. Splendid country leading towards the coast. Sydney River. Extensive view of the coast. Beach Port Macquarie. Natives treacherous. Travellers follow the coast to Newcastle................204
CHAPTER XIV.
DISCOVERIES OF THE MURRUMBIDGEE RIVER; OF THE PORT PHILLIP DISTRICT, BY HUME AND HOVELL; OF THE PANDORA PASS AND LIVERPOOL PLAINS; AND OF THE BRISBANE RIVER.
Discovery of two rivers by Captain Rous, between Moreton Bay and Port Jackson. Discovery of the Murrumbidgee. And of Maneira Plains by Captain Currie. Discoveries by the Messrs. Hume and Mr. Meehan of Argyle. Lake Bathurst, etc. Discovery of the Port Phillip district by Messrs. Hovell and Hume. Their narrative. Discovery of the Murray, the Goulburn, etc. Scene at a native camp. Difficulties of the return. Attempt to form a settlement at Western Port. Discovery of the Brisbane River by Mr. Oxley. Also of the Pandora Pass into the Liverpool Plains, of the Gwydir and Dumaresque Rivers, by Allan Cunningham..............218
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THE TWO EXPEDITIONS OF CAPTAIN CHARLES STURT INTO THE INTERIOR OF AUSTRALIA, FOR TRACING THE COURSES OF THE MACQUARIE AND MURRUMBIDGEE, AND ENDING IN THE DISCOVERY OF THE DARLING AND THE MURRAY IN THE YEARS 1828, 1829, 1830, and 1831.
CAPTAIN STURT'S FIRST EXPEDITION INTO THE INTERIOR: Discovery of the Darling and Murray. Captain Sturt's eminent qualifications for an explorer. Necessity for discovering lands further from Sydney. Expedition of Sturt ordered to explore the farther courses of the Lachlan and Macquarie. Wentworth's idea of the course of the great rivers of Australia. Mr. Hamilton Hume and Surgeon M'Leod accompanied Captain Sturt. They enter on the vast plains described by Oxley. Mr. Oxley's death at Sydney. Channels of the Macquarie and other rivers found dry. Oxley's Table Land. D'Urban's Group. Chain of ponds. Discovery of the river Darling, but salt. Natives fired the bush. Stopped by want of water. Return to Mount Harris. Followed Oxley's course north-east to the Castlereagh river, and traced it to the Darling. Terrible condition of the natives and the country from drought. Channels of the chief rivers all running southwest. Return. Second expedition of Captain Sturt: Descent of the Murrumbidgee and Murray. Setting out of the party. Mr. Hume's station. Crossed the Murrumbidgee near Pondebadgery Plains. Hamilton Plains. Approach the Lachlan. Few natives. Find themselves in the low plains again. Reedy swamps. Some of the party descend the river in boats. Character of the river and country. Suddenly enter the Murray. Surprise at the grand scale of the river. The great alluvial fiats on its banks. Huge trees and chains of ponds. The natives numerous and bold. Attempt of the natives to stop them. A sharp crisis. Preparations for a fight. Interposition of a native. They escape. Parley with a fresh crowd of natives. Providential escape. Reward the friendly native. Discover the junction of the Darling with the Murray. Advance some distance up the Darling. Miserably diseased condition of the natives. Pass the river Rufus. Windings and high cliffs on the Murray as they descend. Great flocks of birds. Sea-gulls. Change of the river southward. The lake of Alexandrine. Attempt to reach the sea by the channel from the lake. Passage unfit for ships. Found themselves in Encounter Bay. Vast flocks of water-fowls. The Murray thus traced to the sea. The question of their return. Their provisions very insufficient, and themselves much weakened. How to pull up against the stream many hundred miles. This arduous labour, however, performed. Difficulties with the natives. Starvation on the Murrumbidgee. Failing powers of the party, rescue and return. Captain Sturt blind in consequence of his sufferings. Captain Barker on the shore of Lake Alexandrina killed by the savages...............230
CHAPTER XVI.
SURVEYS OF THE AUSTRALIAN COASTS BY CAPTAINS KING, STOKES, FITZROY, ETC.
Captain King appointed to complete the survey of the coasts left unfinished by the captivity of Captain Flinders. His instructions and companions. Sailed from Sydney in December, 1817. South-westward by Bass's Straits. Dampier's Archipelago. Cape Van Diemen. Saw and named Goulburn Islands, Port Essington, etc. Great Bay of Van Diemen. Alligator's River. Clarence Strait. Sailed to Timor. Return to Sydney. Visited
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Van Diemen's Land. Third voyage up the east coast. Discovered Rodd's Bay and Port Curtis. Torres Straits. Wessell's Islands. Discovered Liverpool River. Discovered Cambridge Gulf. Mount Cockburn. Sailed to Coepang and Sydney. Fourth voyage, again accompanied by Allan Cunningham. Again up the east coast, and through Torres Straits. Resumed their survey at Cassini Island, and continued it to Prince Regent's River. A fifth and last voyage. Again through Torres Straits. In Princess Charlotte's Bay native painting found by Allan Cunningham. Explored Prince Regent's River. Survey coast to Cape La Touch Treville. To the Mauritius. Survey of many parts of west coast. Final return.................258
CHAPTER XVII.
THE THREE EXPEDITIONS OF MAJOR, AFTERWARDS SIR THOMAS, MITCHELL FOR THE DISCOVERY OF THE RIVER KINDUR, IN EASTERN AUSTRALIA, FOR ASCERTAINING THE JUNCTION OF THE DARLING WITH THE MURRAY, AND FOR THE EXPLORATION OF THE DISTRICT OF PORT PHILLIP, NOW VICTORIA.
EXPEDITIONS OF MAJOR MITCHELL: First expedition in quest of the Kindur. Squatters fast spreading over the whole of the newly-discovered regions. A new and greater Arcadia.--Fame of a great river, north of the Dumarresque, called the Kindur, spread by a convict, George Clarke. Major Mitchell sent in quest of it. Passes the Hunter. The persons of his party. Canvas boats. George Clarke, the barber, amongst the blacks again. Wingen, the burning hill. The Peel River. The Acacia Pendula, a new tree. The Nammoy River. The Pic of Tangulda. Canvas boats found useless on the Nammoy. Following the Gwydir. The village of bowers. Intense heat. Singular interview with Natives. The River Karaula. Build a boat, which proved of little use. The River Barwan. Ferocious wasps. Watched by the natives. Murder of Mr. Finch's men, and seizure of the stores by the blacks. The party commences its return. Funeral song of a native woman. Followed by hostile natives. Scene of the massacre. Re-cross the Nammoy. The journey to Sydney....................264
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE SECOND EXPEDITION OF MAJOR MITCHELL, BEING TO THE DARLING, IN 1835.
Mr. Dixon sent to ascertain the junction of the Darling and the Murray, by following down the Darling. Reached the river Bogan, and returned. In 1835 Major Mitchell, with a strong party, sent to complete this task. Took two whale boats to navigate the Darling. His party. Came on Dixon's track on the Bogan. Native guides supplied abundance of wild honey. Their mode of tracking the bees. The younger Mr. Cunningham lost in the bush, and murdered by the blacks. Consternation and delay of the party. Advance sorrowfully. Reach the Darling, now sweet. Vestiges of poor Cunningham found. Fort Bourke. Diseased natives. Boats found useless. Sturt and Hume's furthest point. Hume's marked tree. Dunlop's Range. The spitting tribe. Native cemetery. Skirmish with the natives. Turn back. Still 400 miles from the Murray. Major Mitchell's general observations on the Darling and its productions. Rapid advance of squatters into the new country....................278
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CHAPTER XIX.
THE THIRD EXPEDITION OF MAJOR MITCHELL TO THE DARLING AND MURRAY, AND ACROSS AUSTRALIA FELIX, NOW VICTORIA, IN 1836.
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To the Darling and Murray, and across Australia Felix. The Major's party. Piper native guide. Proceeds to the Lachlan. Its appearance. The hills. Tree of Oxley and Evans. Views from Mount Granard. Drought. Diverge from the Lachlan, and return. Native accounts of Oxley's buried bottle, and Sturt's ride from the Murrumbidgee. The aboriginal widow goes as guide. Reach the Murrumbidgee. Alarm of the natives at sheep and horses. Trouble with natives. Accidents. The Murray. Lake Benanee. Followed by the hostile tribes from the Lachlan. Fight with them at Mount Dispersion. Junction of the Darling. Cross the Murray. Throngs of natives. Finer country. Rich flats, swamps, and ponds. Mount Hope. New animal. Pyramid Hill. Surprise at the beautiful and rich country. The Yarrayne and Loddon. Mountains south-west. Numerous streams. The widow sets out to return to the Lachlan. Driven back by hostile natives. Raptures of Major Mitchell over the fine country. Supposes himself the first discoverer. Mount William in the Grampians. Cold night on the mountains. The Wimmera. Mount Arapiles. The Victoria Range. The mallee scrub. Lakes to the west. Fine country. The Glenelg. Sail upon it. Beauty and fertility of the country. The Chetwynd. The Wannon. Mouth of the Glenelg. Turn homewards. Cape Bridgewater. Rifle Range. The Crawford. Portland Bay. Find the brothers Henty settled there. Fishing station. The Pyrenees. Fresh lakes and hills. Major Mitchell divides his party. Advances himself with a light detachment. Mounts Sturgeon and Abrupt. View of Port Phillip. Frighten the natives at Mount Campbell by a stratagem. Home route by the Goulburn, Broken River, the Ovens and the Murray. Stations of the Murrumbidgee. The widow married to the "King of the Murrumbidgee." Sydney................291
CHAPTER XX.
SETTLEMENT OF FORT PHILLIP BY BATMAN AND HIS ASSOCIATES.
Batman and his associates. Mr. Gellibrand. Their proposal to settle in Port Phillip. Proposal declined by the Government of New South Wales. Company formed in Van Diemen's Land to graze in Port Phillip and civilize the natives. Batman purchases land of the natives. Bargain for 500,000 acres. Views of aggrandisement avowed by these civilizers. The home government puts a quietus on the scheme. Arrival of John Fawkner. Settles Melbourne. Buckley. His story. Fate of Gellibrand and Hesse. Their remains. Hills named after them. Discovery of Gippsland by Mr. M'Millan. Strzelecki's explorations. Orr's journey across Gippsland. Botany and flocks of Victoria. Count Strzelecki's theory regarding native women. Refuted by Mr. Robinson...............311
CHAPTER XXI.
VOYAGES OF CAPTAIN WICKHAM, FITZROY, AND STOKES, IN THE BEAGLE, ROUND THE AUSTRALIAN COASTS, FROM 1837 TO 1843.
History of the Beagle. Captain Fitzroy in New Zealand. Mr. Charles Darwin with him on board the Beagle. Touched at Sydney. Captain Wickham. Ordered to survey the coasts of Australia and Van Diemen's Land. The party. Death of Mr. Musters. Swan River settlement.
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Surveys northward. Discovery of Fitzroy River. Doubtful Bay. Port George IV. Fall in with Lieutenant Grey and his party. Van Diemen's Land, Sydney. Port Essington in 1839. Surveys of islands in Torres Straits. "The Post Office." State of affairs at Port Essington and Raffles Bay. Monster eagle nest. Discovery of the River Adelaide. Attack of savages. Timor Laut. Discovery of the fate of the Charles Eaton and its crew. Subsequent rescue of Ireland and D'Oyly from the island savages. Rescue of Forbes. Discovery of Port Darwin. Also of the Victoria River. Progress up it. Much good country on Swan River. Discovery of remains of the wreck of the Batavia. Pelsart's Group. Native drawings at Depuch Island. Sailed to Timor. VOYAGE IN 1841: Exploration of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Flinders. Discover the Albert. Its scenery. The Plains of Promise. Discoveries and services of Captain Stokes.................332
CHAPTER XXII.
DISCOVERIES IN NORTH-WEST AND WESTERN AUSTRALIA BETWEEN THE YEARS 1837 AND 1840, BY LIEUTENANTS GREY AND LUSHINGTON.
First expedition of Grey and Lushington. --Founding Western Australia. Objects of the expedition of Grey and Lushington. The party. Sail from the Cape of Good Hope. Water-snakes seen. Arrive at Port George IV. Intense heat on landing. Sufferings of the party. Death of three dogs. Escape out of this burning desert to the ship. The Prince Regent's River. Its exploration. Fury of the tides. Torment of flies. Encamp, and land stores. Send to Timor for ponies. Strange rocky scenery. Surrounded by hostile natives. The gouty-stemmed tree. Ponies arrived, but too weak to carry their loads. Terrible journey amongst rocks and ravines. Attacked by natives. Mr. Grey severely wounded. Rustan's consolation to Mr. Grey on having killed a black fellow. Discover the Glenelg. New trees and scenery. Entangled amongst streams. Mount Lyell. St. George's Basin. Progress down the Glenelg. Vast trees, rocks and swamps. Paintings in a cave. Queries as to their origin. Make their way to Hanover Bay. The Beagle. Turn their remaining ponies loose, and embark for Mauritius. Mr. Grey's estimate of the discovered country. Its natural history. Malay pottery. White savages..............350
CHAPTER XXIII.
SECOND EXPEDITION OF CAPTAIN GREY, NAMELY TO SHARK'S BAY; DISCOVERY OF THE RIVER GASCOYNE.
Shark's Bay. The Gascoyne. Sojourn at Swan River. Search for Mr. Elliot. Sails from Shark's Bay. Takes whale-boats. His party. Deposit the stores on an island in Shark's Bay. Boats and stores ruined by storm on Dorre Island. The delta of the Gascoyne. Babbage Island. Attacked by natives. Miserable situation. Find nearly all their provisions destroyed by the tempest on Bernier Island. The boats useless. Determine to endeavour to reach Perth by land. Commence journey. No tent to protect them. Oppressive heat. Native villages. Mounts Victoria and Albert. The river Hutt. Fine country on the Buller. Troubles with some of the men. Menacing natives. The river Greenough. Water Peak. Captain Grey compels the men to destroy all unnecessary luggage. Only hope of life in sending on the most active to obtain food for the rest. Five or six pounds of flour per man. Collect the dew from the grass for water. Captain Grey starts forward with four men and the native guide.
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Leaves Mr. Frederick Smith very unwell. The Arrowsmith. Mount Horner. Mount Perron. Their flour exhausted. Gairdner Range. Men ill from eating zamia nuts. Miserable waterless country. Selfishness of the native guide. His melancholy song. Three days without water. Guide advises to desert the rest of the party. They reel along with failing senses on their way. Abandon almost everything they had. Haggard aspect of the party. Find a little puddle. Shoot a cockatoo. And find mussels. Native superstition. In two days more reach natives and get food. Curious dialogue with a black cook. The Captain reaches Perth like a spectre. Relief sent to the parties behind. Poor Smith dead. Affecting scene at his burial. The rest only reached in time. The native's account of finding poor Smith. Amount of discoveries on this disastrous journey................372
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE EXPEDITIONS OF MR. EYRE INTO CENTRAL AUSTRALIA, AND OVERLAND FROM ADELAIDE TO KING GEORGE'S SOUND, IN THE YEARS 1840-1.
Expedition of Mr. Eyre to Central Australia, and King George's Sound. Founding of South Australia. Mr. Eyre's previous expeditions. Proposal of an expedition overland to Swan River. Mr. Eyre shows the difficulty of it. A northern expedition resolved on. Mr. Eyre's party. Started in June, 1840. Journey to Lake Torrens. A country of drought. Lake Torrens nearly dry. Reach Mount Hopeless. Vast barren plains. Mount Distance. Blanchewater. Dreary, waterless country. He turns back. Sends the drays by Gawler's Ranges to Streaky Bay. Fresh supplies from Adelaide. The Water-Witch sent with supplies to Streaky Bay..................392
CHAPTER XXV.
OVERLAND JOURNEY TO KING GEORGE'S SOUND.
Set out from Streaky Bay the 6th of November. Cut their way with axes through the scrub. Smoky Bay. A mound-bird's nest with large eggs. Wretched waterless country. Fowler's Bay. Mr. Eyre goes with a small party to try to reach the head of the Bight. Dreadful journey. Three horses perish. They bury most of their stores. Get back exhausted to Fowler's Bay. Resolved yet to make another attempt. Mr. Eyre sent back part of his party in the Water-Witch, and again set out. Ever the same frightful country. Again turned back to Fowler's Bay. Advices from Adelaide to give up the undertaking, but he set out on horseback, with one white, three native boys, nine horses, one Timor pony, and six sheep. Still more horrible journey. Abandon pack-saddles, water-kegs, fire-arms, ammunition, etc. Brush the dew from the bushes. Cut roots for water. Kill their last sheep. Kill a horse, and dry the flesh. The overseer murdered by the black boys. Still 500 miles from King George's Sound. Specimen of native voracity. Reach Mount Ragged. Shoot a kangaroo. The black guide's supper. Traces of Europeans. A ship's name cut on a tree. Reach the Russell Ranges. The break in the country for 500 miles. Cape Arid. A pool of rain-water. Another example of the black boy's selfishness. A vessel in view in Thistle Cove. The vessel French. Mr. Eyre hospitably entertained by Captain Rossiter. Supplied with stores. The journey renewed, and Albany reached on the 26th of July. On this journey no water had been found on the surface for 800 miles, and seven days the horses were without water altogether. The great thing demonstrated was the hopelessness of the route. Captain Frome's journey to Mount Serle in 1843. Mr. Eyre's subsequent fortunes............402
