100,000 Of These
Animals Is The Usual Cargo Of Each Proa, And They Bring From 2000 To 4000
Spanish Dollars.
Notwithstanding the English had had settlements in New Holland for upwards
of 26 years, little progress had been made in exploring the interior of the
country even in the immediate vicinity of Botany Bay.
It was supposed that
a passage across the Blue Mountains, which are within sight of that
settlement, opposed insurmountable obstacles. At length, about the end of
the year 1813, the Blue Mountains were crossed for the first time, by Mr.
Evans, the deputy surveyor of the colony. He found a fertile and pleasant
district, and the streams which took their rise in the Blue Mountains,
running to the westward; to one of the most considerable of these he gave
the name of Macquarrie river; the course of this river he pursued for ten
days. On his return to the colony, the governor, Mr. Macquarrie ordered
that a road should be made across the mountains; this extended 100 miles,
and was completed in 1815. Mr. Evans soon afterwards discovered another
river, which he called the Lachlan.
As it was of great consequence to trace these rivers, and likewise to
examine the country to the west of the Blue Mountains more accurately, and
to a greater distance than it had been done, the governor ordered two
expeditions to be undertaken. Lieutenant Oxley, the surveyor-general of the
colony had the command of both. It does not fall within our plan or limits
to follow him in these journeys; we shall therefore confine ourselves to an
outline of the result of his discoveries. He ascertained that the country
in general is very unfertile: the Lachlan he traced, till it seemed to
loose itself in a multitude of branches among marshy flats. "Perhaps,"
observes Lieutenant Oxley, "there is no river, the history of which is
known, that presents so remarkable a termination as the present: its
course, in a strait line from its source to its termination, exceeds 500
miles, and including its windings, it may fairly be calculated to run at
least 1200 miles; during all which passage, through such a vast extent of
country, it does not receive a single stream in addition to what it derives
from its sources in the Eastern mountains." - "One tree, one soil, one
water, and one description of bird, fish, or animal, prevails alike for ten
miles, and for 100." There were, however, tracks, especially where the
limestone formation prevailed, of great beauty and fertility; but these
were comparatively rare and of small extent. Level, bare, sandy wastes,
destitute of water, or morasses and swamps, which would not support them,
formed by far the greatest part of the country through which they
travelled.
The second object Lieutenant Oxley had in view was the survey of the course
of the Macquarrie river; this he knew to be to the north-west of the
Lachlan. In crossing from the banks of the latter in search of the former,
they reached a beautiful valley; in the centre of which flowed a clear and
strong rivulet.
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