Atlas Page 9
By F. J. Broomfield

Two years after Cunningham had found an outlet through the Pandora Pass to the extensive plains lying north of the Liverpool Range, a private expedition of the most important character engaged in a work of exploration in a south-south westerly direction from the county of Argyle with the intention of intersecting the southern coast in a journey of from four to five hundred miles. The leaders of this expedition were Hamilton Hume and Captain W. H. Hovell. Hume was a splendid bushman, and had been engaged in exploring work from a very early age, having discovered the country called Argyle with his brother, John Kennedy Hume, in 1814. He had since then accompanied Surveyor Meehan in a journey which had resulted in the discovery of Lake Bathurst, and had also sailed with Lieutenant Johnson in the "Snapper’s" survey voyage. Captain Hovell had previously belonged to the merchant service, and was a bold and determined leader.

On their way they sighted a grand range of mountains, afterwards known as the Australian Alps. In November they came to the River Hume or Murray, but could not cross it at the point of discovery. They first proceeded down the stream, but the continual recurrence of lagoons hindered their progress, and they were compelled to return to their starting place, whence they journeyed east, still following the water-course through magnificent country. They crossed the river at Albury on November, 17th, 1824. A marked tree and a memorial, erected by the inhabitants in honour of Hume, now commemorate the incident. After fording a number of tributaries to the Murray, Hume and Hovell discovered the Ovens River on the 24th, and on the 3rd of the month following, the Hovell or Goulburn. Traversing the Julian Range and still in a south-westerly direction, Jillong, the present site of the Victorian city of Geelong, was reached on December 17th. It is remark able that neither Hume nor Hovell was certain of the identity of Port Phillip with the harbour discovered by Lieutenant Murray, and each persisted for some time afterwards in confounding it with Western Port.

This noteworthy expedition, which opened a wide field for the enterprise and the energy of the colony, was completed in sixteen weeks, and was altogether devoid of those catastrophes which have attended so many Australian exploring parties.

Subsequent to this overland journey to Port Phillip, Hume accompanied Captain Sturt on his first expedition into the interior, and Hovell was one of the early settlers that left Sydney with Wright and Wetherall’s party in the "Fly," to forestall the French in their intentions, on what is now known as Victoria, by the establishment of a depôt at Western Port.

The discoveries of Oxley and Cunningham, Hume and Hovell, greatly increased the knowledge of the interior, and subsequent expeditions were to a considerable extent divested of that keen commercial interest with which the settlers, anxious to enlarge their pastures, regarded the previous efforts to find the fabled El Dorado supposed to lie beyond the Great Dividing Range.

In the year 1831, Major Mitchell went on a northern expedition in the direction of the Liverpool Plains, and traversed the country bounded by the Namoi, Darling and Gwydir Rivers and the Liverpool Ranges, following the Gwydir as far as the Macintyre, one of the first tributaries of importance to the Darling. A volunteer named Finch, and two men had been sent by Mitchell from the Peel to the Hunter for stores, but the men were surprised and murdered by the blacks, and the stores rifled, while Finch was absent from the camp. Mitchell began his second expedition in the month of March, 1835. Setting out in command of a large party of men with drays, horses and a couple of boats, he followed the courses of the Darling and Bogan, and made an exhaustive survey of the country lying between those rivers. During this journey he was unfortunate in losing, near the Bogan, Richard Cunningham, the brother of that celebrated botanist who accompanied Oxley on his first expedition into the interior. This enthusiastic scientist, engrossed in the study of botanical specimens, wandered from his party and was found by the blacks, who murdered him when he was delirious, through fear of his strange behaviour.

A third expedition was directed to the Rivers Darling and Murray in the same year. This was the most famous of all Mitchell’s journeys inland, and resulted in the discovery of Australia Felix. After following the course of the Lachlan to its debouchure in the Murrumbidgee, he passed through the Murray scrubs, and arrived at the junction of the latter river with the Darling. In exploring up the river the mouth of the Edwards was passed without observation; but the Loddon, emptying on the opposite side, was fully examined, and its course followed south-east for three days. Leaving Pyramid Creek and Mount Hope behind him, Mitchell explored across that vast tract of country known as the Wimmera, and then proceeded to an examination of the south-west corner of Victoria, which territory was named by him Australia Felix. On the return journey, the expedition traversed a vast extent of country, making numerous discoveries in every direction. From the summit of Mount Macedon, upon which he erected a stone column, Mitchell saw the white tents of the settlement of Fawkner and Batman, and the broad expanse of Port Phillip. He returned to Sydney by a north-easterly route, after one of the most extensive surveys which had then been made of the colony of New South Wales, and one which added greatly to the knowledge of that southern district now known as Victoria.

After the discovery of Australia Felix, Leichhardt’s courageous journey to Port Essington, Sturt’s expedition to the Central Desert, and Mitchell’s through tropical Australia, are of the greatest interest. Leichhardt returned to Sydney by sea after a land journey of 3000 miles, and extending over a period of fifteen months. Sturt’s route was across the terrible desert situated on the border lines of the three colonies of New South Wales, South Australia, and Queensland. This expedition was of little commercial value, and entailed frightful suffering upon Sturt and his party. Mitchell’s expedition traversed a vast expanse of Queensland territory, and resulted in the discovery of the celebrated Barcoo or Victoria River.

A year or two after, Leichhardt set out on a journey from Harley’s Creek, taking with him a great number of sheep, goats, bullocks, horses, and mules, with the intention of making the Swan River in a line which should bisect the interior of the continent at its greatest breadth. Leichhardt was lost, and the history of eastern exploration becomes largely the chronicle of the successive expeditions sent out to find the remains or any trace of the missing scientist.

The gradual widening of the area of exploration is really the history of settlement. In the footsteps of the early discoverers followed commercial enterprise and internal development. The first pioneers were the squatters, who, driven by drought, were forced to seek fresh pastures for their flocks, and venturing beyond the boundaries, enlarged the sphere of colonial enterprise.

cont...