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.
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