Chapter 3: 14 (1)

Agreeable travelling. Appearance of the country on the Murrumbidgee. Jugion Creek. Brunonia abundant. Yass plains. The Gap, an inn. Bredalbane plains. Lake George. Soil and rocks. The Wollondilly. Goulburn plains. A garden. Public works. Shoalhaven river. Limestone caverns there. County of St. Vincent. Upper Shoalhaven. Carwary. Vast subsidence on a mountain there. Goulburn township. Great road. Towrang hill. The Wollondilly. Wild country through which it flows. The Nattai. Moyengully. Arrive at the line of great road. Convict workmen. Berrima bridge. Berrima. Trap range. Sandstone country. The Illawarra. Lupton's inn. The Razorback. Ford of the Nepean. Campbelltown. Liverpool. Lansdowne bridge. Arrive at Sydney. General remarks on the character of the settled country. Fires in the woods. Necessity for cutting roads. Proportion of good and bad land. Description of Australia Felix. Woods. Harbours. The Murray. Mr. Stapylton's report. The aboriginal natives. Turandurey. My mode of communicating with Mr. Stapylton. Survey of the Murrumbidgee. Meteorological journal. Arrival of the exploring party at Sydney. Piper. The two Tommies. Ballandella. Character of the natives of the interior. Language. Habits of those of Van Diemen's Land the same. Temporary huts. Mode of climbing trees. Remarkable customs. Charmed stones. Females excluded from superstitious rites. Bandage or fillet around the temples. Striking out the tooth. Painting with red. Raised scars on arms and breast. Cutting themselves in mourning. Authority of old men. Native dogs. Females carrying children. Weapons. Spear. Woomera. Boomerang. Its probable origin. Shield or Hieleman. Skill in approaching the kangaroo. Modes of cooking. Opossum. Singeing. Vegetable food. The shovel. General observations.

AGREEABLE TRAVELLING.

October 27.

Brightly shone the sun, the sky was dressed in blue and gold and "the fields were full of star-like flowers, and overgrown with joy,"* on the first day of my ride homeward along the green banks of the Murrumbidgee, having crossed the river in a small canoe that morning. Seven months had elapsed since I had seen either a road or a bridge although during that time I had travelled over two thousand four hundred miles. Right glad was I, like Gilpin's horse, "at length to miss the lumber of the wheels," the boats, carts, specimens, and last but not least, Kater's compasses. No care had I now whether my single step was east or north-east, nor about the length of my day's journey, nor the hills or dales crossed, as to their true situation, names, or number, or where I should encamp. To be free from such cares seemed heaven itself, and I rode on without the slightest thought about where I should pass the night, quite sure that some friendly hut or house would receive me and afford snugger shelter and better fare than I had seen for many a day.

(*Footnote. Remains of Peter Corcoran. Blackwood's Magazine.)

APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY ON THE MURRUMBIDGEE.

We had arrived on the Murrumbidgee seventy-five miles below the point where that river quitted the settled districts and ceased to form a county boundary. I found the upper portion of this fine stream fully occupied as cattle-stations, which indeed extended also, as I was informed, much lower down the river; and such was the thoroughfare in that direction that I found a tolerable cart road from one station to another. I passed the night at the house of a stockman in charge of the cattle of Mr. James Macarthur, and I was very comfortably lodged.

October 28.

With the Murrumbidgee still occasionally in view we pursued the road which led towards Sydney. Each meadow was already covered with the lowing herds for which it seemed to have been prepared; and the traces of man's industry were now obvious in fences, and in a substantial wooden house and smoking chimney, usually built in the most inviting part of each cattle run. All the animals looked fat and sufficiently proved the value of the pasturage along this river. Steep and rugged ridges occasionally approached its banks and, in following the beaten track, I this day crossed acclivities much more difficult for the passage of wheel-carriages than any we had traversed throughout those uncultivated wastes, where even the pastoral age had not commenced.

The scenery at various points of the river seen this day was very beautiful; its chief features consisting of noble sheets of water, umbrageous woods, flowery meadows, enlivened by those objects so essential to the harmony of landscape, cattle of every hue.

The gigantic and luxuriant growth of the yarra eucalyptus everywhere produced fine effects; and one tree in particular pleased me so much that I was tempted to draw it, although the shades of evening would scarcely permit; but while thus engaged I sent my servant forward to look for some hut or station that I might remain the longer to complete my drawing.

JUGION CREEK.

I arrived long after dark at a cattle-station occupied by a superintendent of Mr. Henry O'Brian, near Jugion Creek on the right bank of the Murrumbidgee, and there passed the night. Two considerable rivers join this creek from the mountainous but fine country to the southward, one being named the Coodradigbee, the other the Doomot. The higher country there is granitic although, on both rivers, limestone also abounds in which the corals seem to belong to Mr. Murchison's Silurian system. Favosites, Stromatopora concentrica, Heliopora pyriformis, and stems of crinoidea are found loosely about the surface. There is also a large rock of haematite under Mount Jellula.

BRUNONIA ABUNDANT.

October 29.

The road led us this day over some hilly country of a rather poor description, but the beautiful flower Brunonia grew so abundantly that the surface exhibited the unusual and delicate tint of ultramarine blue. I was tempted once more to forsake the road in order to ascend a range which it crossed in hopes of being able to see, from some lofty summit thereof, points of the country I had left, and thus to connect them by means of my pocket sextant with any visible points I might recognise of my former trigonometrical survey. It was not however in my power to do this satisfactorily, not having been able to distinguish any of the latter.

YASS PLAINS.

Towards evening I drew near Yass Plains and was not a little struck with their insignificance as compared with those of the south. A township had been marked out here, and the comfortable establishments of various wealthy colonists evinced, by their preference of these plains, that they considered them the best part of a very extensive district.

THE GAP, AN INN.

Mr. Cornelius O'Brien had invited me to his house and afterwards furnished me with a supply of provisions for my party; but I carried my own despatches, and a much shorter route led to the left by which I could divide the way better in continuing my ride to the Gap, a small inn where I arrived at a very late hour, the road having been soft, uneven, and wholly through a dreary wood.

The noise and bustle of the house was quite refreshing to one who had dwelt so long in deserts, although it seemed to promise little accommodation, for there had been races in the neighbourhood and horses lay about the yard. Nevertheless the waiter and his wife cleared for my accommodation a room which had been full of noisy people, and my horses were soon lodged snugly in the stable. There indeed I perceived more room than the house afforded, for while the guests were regaling within their horses were allowed to lay about to starve outside, as if so many gypsies had been about the place; no uncommon circumstance in Australia.

October 30.

In the course of my ride this morning I recognised the poor scrubby land about the southern boundary of the county of Argyle, which I had surveyed in 1828. The wood on it is rather open, consisting of a stunted species of eucalyptus, the grass, apparently a hard species of poa, affording but little nourishment. Sandstone and quartz are the predominant rocks although some of the most remarkable hills consist of trap.

BREDALBANE PLAINS.

Passing at length through a gap in a low ridge of granular quartz, we entered upon Bredalbane plains, consisting of three open flats of grassy land circumscribed by hills of little apparent height, and extending about twelve miles in the direction of this road, their average width being about two miles. Deringullen ponds arise in the most southern plain, and are among the most eastern heads of the Lachlan. The plains are situated on the high dividing ground or water shed between the streams falling eastward and westward, and had probably once been lagoons of the same character as those which still distinguish other portions of this dividing ground.

LAKE GEORGE.

The most remarkable of these is Lake George, about fourteen miles further to the south, and which in 1828 was a sheet of water seventeen miles in length and seven in breadth. There is no outlet for the waters of this lake although it receives no less than four mountain streams from the hills north of it, namely Turallo creek, whose highest source is fourteen miles from the lake, Butmaro creek which arises in a mountain sixteen miles from it, Taylor's creek from the range on the east, six miles distant, and Kenny's creek from hills five miles distant. The southern shore of this lake presents one continuous low ridge, separating its waters from the head of the Yass river which would otherwise receive them. The water was slightly brackish in 1828 but quite fit for use, and the lake was then surrounded by dead trees of the eucalyptus measuring about two feet in diameter, which also extended into it until wholly covered by the water. In that wide expanse we could find no fish, and an old native female said she remembered when the whole was a forest, a statement supported pro tanto by the dead trees in its bed as well as by the whole of the basin being in October 1836 a grassy meadow not unlike the plains of Bredalbane.

It would be well worth the attention of a man of leisure to ascertain the lowest part in the country around Lake George, at which its waters, on reaching their maximum height, would overflow from its basin.

Several lagoons, apparently the remains of more extensive waters, occur between Lake George and Bredalbane plains in the line of watershed as already observed. These are named Tarrago, Mutmutbilly, and Wallagorong, the latter being apparently a residuum of the lake which probably once covered the three plains of Bredalbane.

SOIL AND ROCKS.

The quality of the soil now found in the patches of grassy land on the margins of these lakes and lagoons depends on the nature of the high ground nearest to them. The hills to the eastward of Lake George are chiefly granitic. Ondyong point on its northern shore consists of sandstone resembling that of the coal-measures; and the rock forming the range above the western shores is of the same quality. The hills at the source of Kenny's creek consist of trap, of which rock there is also a remarkable hill on the southern side of Bredalbane plains; and these plains are bounded on the north by a ridge of syenite, which here forms the actual division between the sources of the rivers Lachlan and Wollondilly.

The water in the smaller lagoons westward of Lake George is perfectly sweet, and the pasturage on the plains adjacent being in general very good, the land is occupied by several extensive grazing establishments.

THE WOLLONDILLY.

On entering the valley of the river Wollondilly which waters Goulburn plains, I was surprised to see its waters extremely low and not even flowing. The poor appearance of the woods also struck me, judging by comparison with the land in the south; and although the scantiness of grass, also observable, might be attributed to the great number of sheep and cattle fed there, I was not the less sensible of the more parched aspect of the country generally.

GOULBURN PLAINS.

Goulburn Plains consist of open downs affording excellent pasturage for sheep and extending twenty miles southward from the township, their breadth being about ten.

A GARDEN.

I reached at twilight the house of a worthy friend, Captain Rossi, who received me with great kindness and hospitality. The substantial improvements which he had effected on his farm since my last visit to that part of the colony evinced his skill and industry as a colonist; while an extensive garden and many tasteful arrangements for domestic comfort marked the residence of a gentleman. Under that hospitable roof I exchanged the narrative of my wanderings for the accumulated news of seven months which, with my friend's good cheer, rendered his invitation to rest my horses for one day quite irresistible.

October 31.

A walk in the garden; a visit to the shearing shed; the news of colonial affairs in general; fat pullets cooked a la gastronome and some good wine; had each in its turn rare charms for me.

PUBLIC WORKS.

I had arrived in a country which I had myself surveyed; and the roads and towns in progress were the first fruits of these labours. I had marked out in 1830 the road now before me, which I then considered the most important in New South Wales as leading to the more temperate south, and I had now completed it as a line of communication between Sydney and the southern coasts. This important public work on which I had bestowed the greatest pains by surveying the whole country between the Wollondilly and Shoalhaven rivers, had been nevertheless retarded nearly two years on the representations of some of the settlers, so that the part most essential to be opened continued still in a half finished state.*

(*Footnote. A petition had been got up in favour of another line said to be more direct; and it is a remarkable fact that numerous signatures were obtained even to such a petition, although it was found at last that the line laid down after a careful survey was not only twelve chains shorter than the other proposed but also avoided the steepest hills.)

SHOALHAVEN RIVER.

The Shoalhaven river flows in a ravine about 1500 feet below the common level of the country between it and the Wollondilly. Precipices consisting at one part of granite and at another of limestone give a peculiar grandeur to the scenery of the Shoalhaven river.

LIMESTONE CAVERNS THERE.

The limestone is of a dark grey colour and contains very imperfect fragments of shells. We find among the features on these lofty riverbanks many remarkable hollows not unaptly termed hoppers by the country people, from the water sinking into them as grain subsides in the hopper of a mill. As each of these hollows terminates in a crevice leading to a cavern in the limestone below, I descended into one in 1828 and penetrated without difficulty to a considerable depth over slimy rocks, but was forced to return because our candles were nearly exhausted. A current of air met us as we descended and it might have come from some crevice probably near the bed of the river. That water sometimes flowed into these caverns was evident from pieces of decayed trees which had been carried downwards by it to a considerable depth. I looked in vain there for fossil bones, but I found projecting from the side of the cavern at the lowest part I reached a very perfect specimen of coral of the genus favosites.

COUNTY OF ST. VINCENT.

The country to the eastward of the Shoalhaven river, that is to say between it and the sea-coast, is very wild and mountainous. The higher part including Currocbilly and the Pigeon house (summits) consists of sandstone passing from a fine to a coarse grain, occasionally containing pebbles of quartz, and in some of the varieties numerous specks of decomposed felspar. The lower parts of the same country, according to the rocks seen in Yalwal creek, consist of granite, basalt, and compact felspar. Nearer the coast a friable whitish sandstone affords but a poor soil, except where the partial occurrence of decomposed laminated felspar and gneiss produced one somewhat better. This country comprises the county of St. Vincent, bounded on one side by the Shoalhaven river and on the other by the sea-coast. The southern portion of that county affords the greatest quantity of soil available either for cultivation or pasture; although around Bateman Bay, which is its limit on the south, much good land cannot be expected as Snapper Island at the entrance consists of grey compact quartz only, with white veins of crystalline quartz.

UPPER SHOALHAVEN.

The country on the upper part of the Shoalhaven river comprises much good land. The river flows there nearly on a level with the surface and resembles an English stream. The temperature at the elevation of about 2000 feet above the sea is so low even in summer that potatoes and gooseberries, for both of which the climate of Sydney is too hot, grow luxuriantly. A rich field for geological research will probably be found in that neighbourhood.

CARWARY.

In a hasty ride which I took as far as Carwary in 1832, I was conducted by my friend Mr. Ryrie to a remarkable cavern under white marble where I found trap; a vein of ironstone of a fused appearance; a quartzose ferruginous conglomerate; a calcareous tuff containing fragments of these rocks; and specular iron ore in abundance near the same spot.

But still further southward and on the range separating the country at the head of the Shoalhaven river from the ravines on the coast, I was shown an antre vast which, for aught I know, may involve in its recesses more of the wild and wonderful than any of the deserts idle which I have since explored.

VAST SUBSIDENCE ON A MOUNTAIN THERE.

A part of the surface of that elevated country had subsided, carrying trees along with it to the depth of about 400 yards, and left a yawning opening about 300 yards wide resembling a gigantic quarry, at the bottom of which the sunken trees continued to grow. In the eastern side of the bottom of this subsidence a large opening extended under the rock and seemed to lead to a subterraneous cavity of great dimensions.

GOULBURN TOWNSHIP.

November 1.

Taking leave of my kind host at an early hour, I continued my ride, passing through the new township in which, although but few years had elapsed since I had sketched its streets on paper, a number of houses had already been built. The Mulwary Ponds scarcely afford sufficient water of the supply of a large population there; but at the junction of this channel with the Wollondilly there is a deep reach not likely to be ever exhausted.

GREAT ROAD.

The road marked out between this township and Sydney led over a country shut up, as already stated, between the Wollondilly and the Shoalhaven rivers. These streams are distant from each other at the narrowest part of the intervening surface about ten miles; and as each is bordered by deep ravines the middle portion of the country between them is naturally the most level, and this happens to be precisely in the direction most desirable for a general line of communication between Sydney and the most valuable parts of the colony to the southward.

TOWRANG HILL.

At a few miles from Goulburn the road passes by the foot of Towrang, a hill whose summit I had formerly cleared of timber, leaving only one tree. I thus obtained an uninterrupted view of the distant horizon, and found the hill very useful afterwards in extending our survey from Jellore into the higher country around Lake George. This hill consists chiefly of quartz rock. At its base the new line leaves the original cart track which here crossed the Wollondilly twice. I now found an intermediate road in use between the old track and my half-formed road which was still inaccessible at this point for want of a small bridge over Towrang Creek.

THE WOLLONDILLY.

The Wollondilly pursues its course to the left, passing under the southern extremity of Cockbundoon range, which extends about thirty miles in a straight line from north to south, and consists of sandstone dipping westward. Near the Wollondilly and a few miles from Towrang a quarry of crystalline variegated marble has been recently wrought to a considerable extent, and chimney-pieces, tables, etc. now ornament most good houses at Sydney. This rock occurs in blocks over greenstone, and has hitherto been found only in that spot.

WILD COUNTRY THROUGH WHICH IT FLOWS.

The channel of the Wollondilly continues open and accessible for a few miles lower down than this, but after it is joined by the Uringalla near Arthursleigh it sinks immediately into a deep ravine and is no longer accessible as above, the country to the westward of it being exceedingly wild and broken. The scene it presented when I stood on the pic of Jellore in 1828 and commenced a general survey of this colony was of the most discouraging description.* A flat horizon to a surface cracked and hollowed out into the wildest ravines, deep and inaccessible; their sides, consisting of perpendicular rocky cliffs, afforded but little reason to suppose that it could be surveyed and divided as proposed into counties, hundreds, and parishes; and still less was it likely ever to be inhabited, even if such a work could be accomplished. Nevertheless it was necessary in the performance of my duties that these rivers should be traced, and where the surveyor pronounced them inaccessible to the chain, I clambered over rocks and measured from cliff to cliff with the pocket sextant. Thus had I wandered on foot by the murmuring Wollondilly, sometimes passing the night in its deep dark bed with no other companions than a robber and a savage. I could now look back with some satisfaction on these labours in that barren field. I had encompassed those wild recesses; the desired division of the rocky wastes they enclosed had really been made; and if no other practical benefit was derived we had at least been enabled to open ways across them to better regions beyond.

(*Footnote. My predecessor in office had declared the operation to be impracticable in such a country; but to this general survey I was pledged on accepting my appointment in London. Two other commissioners for the division of the territory were each receiving a guinea a day, but yet could do nothing until this survey was accomplished; and I therefore set about the work with the resolution necessary for the performance of what was deemed almost impossible. Universal wood, impassable ravines, a total absence of artificial objects, and the consequent necessity for clearing summits as stations for the theodolite were great impediments; but I made the most of each station when it had once been cleared by taking an exact panoramic view with the theodolite of the nameless features it commanded. The accompanying facsimile of a page of my field book includes the view between north and north-west, taken for the above purpose from the summit of Jellore, and extends over the ravines of the Nattai to the crest of the Blue Mountains. Plate 38.)

THE NATTAI. MOYENGULLY.

In the numerous ravines surrounding Jellore the little river Nattai has its sources, and this wild region is the haunt and secure retreat of the Nattai tribe whose chief, Moyengully, was one of my earliest aboriginal friends. (See Plate 39.)

Marulan, the highest summit eastward of Jellore, consists of ferruginous sandstone, but in the country to the northward we find syenite and trap-rock. Of the latter, Nattary, a small hill north-east from Towrang and distant about four miles from it, is perhaps the most remarkable. The elevation of the country there is considerable (being about one thousand five hundred feet above the sea on the level part) and, except near the Shoalhaven and Wollondilly rivers, not much broken into ravines. It contains not only fine pasture land but also much good wheat land, especially towards the side of the Shoalhaven river.

ARRIVE AT THE LINE OF GREAT ROAD. CONVICT WORKMEN.

At fourteen miles from Goulburn I came upon that part of my new line of great road where the works had not been impeded by those for whose benefit the road was intended;* and here I found that the iron-gangs had done some good service. I had now the satisfaction of travelling along a road every turn of which I had studied previous to marking it out after a most careful survey of the whole country.

(*Footnote. One of the most palpable consequences of the interruption my plan experienced was that it interfered with the prospects of an innkeeper whose inn had already been half built of brick in anticipation of the opening of the new line.)

BERRIMA BRIDGE.

On Crawford's creek I found that a bridge with stone buttresses had been nearly completed. I had endeavoured to introduce permanent bridges of stonework into this colony instead of those of wood, which were very liable to be burnt and frequently required repair. We had among the prisoners some tolerable stonecutters and setters but, until I had the good fortune to find among the emigrants a person practically acquainted with the construction of arches, their labours had never been productive of much benefit to the public. The governor had readily complied with my recommendation to appoint Mr. Lennox superintendent of such works; and on entering the township of Berrima this evening I had the satisfaction at length of crossing at least one bridge worthy of a British colony.

BERRIMA.

This town is situated on the little river Wingecarrabee, and was planned by me some years before when marking out the general line of road. The eligibility of the situation consists chiefly in the abundance and purity of the water, and of materials for building with the vicinity of a small agricultural population. I found here, on my return now, Mr. Lambie of the road branch of my department, under whose immediate superintendence the bridge had been erected. The walls of a gaol and courthouse were also rising, and a site was ready for the church.

TRAP RANGE.

November 2.

A remarkable range consisting chiefly of trap-rock traverses the whole country between the Wollondilly and the sea in a south-east direction extending from Bullio to Kiama. The highest part is known as the Mittagong range and, in laying down the new line of road, it was an object of importance to avoid this range. Bowral, the highest part, consists of quartz or very hard sandstone.

SANDSTONE COUNTRY.

On leaving Berrima the road traverses several low ridges of trap-rock and then turns to the south-east in order to avoid the ravines of the Nattai; for we again find here that ferruginous sandstone which desolates so large a portion of New South Wales and, to all appearance, New Holland, presenting in the interior desert plains of red sand, and on the eastern side of the dividing range, a world of stone quarries and sterility. It is only where trap or granite or limestone occur that the soil is worth possessing, and to this extent every settler is under the necessity of becoming a geologist; he must also be a geographer, that he may find water and not lose himself in the bush; and it must indeed be admitted that the intelligence of the native youth in all such matters is little inferior to that of the aborigines.

The barren sandstone country is separated from the seashore by a lofty range of trap-rock connected with that of Mittagong, and we accordingly find an earthly paradise between that range and the seashore. The Illawarra is a region in which the rich soil is buried under matted creepers, tree-ferns and the luxuriant shade of a tropical vegetation nourished both by streams from the lofty range and the moist breezes of the sea. There a promising and extensive field for man's industry lies still uncultivated, but when the roads now partially in progress shall have connected it with the rest of the colony it must become one of the most certain sources of agricultural produce in New South Wales.

THE ILLAWARRA.

The sandstone on the interior side extends to the summit of the trap range and its numerous ravines occasion the difficulties which have hitherto excluded wheel-carriages from access to the Illawarra.

LUPTON'S INN.

To cross a country so excavated is impossible except in certain directions, but the best lines these fastnesses admit of have been ascertained and marked out in connection with that for the great southern road, which ought to leave the present line at Lupton's Inn. I consider this the most important public work still necessary to complete the system of great roads planned by me in New South Wales; but I have not had means at my disposal hitherto for carrying into effect this portion of the general plan.

From Lupton's Inn Sydney bore north-east, yet I was obliged to turn with the present road towards the north-west and to travel eleven miles over unfavourable ground in a direction to the westward of north.

Having been engaged this day in examining the bridges and the work done along the whole line, Mr. Lambie accompanying me, I did not reach the house of my friend Macalister at Clifton until it was rather late, but at any hour I could be sure of a hearty welcome.

THE RAZORBACK.

November 3.

The Razorback range is a very remarkable feature in this part of the country. It is isolated, extending about eight miles in a general direction between west-north-west and east-south-east, being very level on some parts of the summit, and so very narrow in others, while the sides are also so steep, that the name it has obtained is descriptive enough.

FORD OF THE NEPEAN. CAMPBELLTOWN.

Around this trap-range lies the fertile district of the Cowpastures, watered by the Nepean river. On proceeding along the road towards Campbelltown we cross this river by a ford which has been paved with a causeway, and we thus enter the county of Cumberland. Here trap-rock still predominates, and the soil is good and appears well cultivated, but there is a saltness in the surface water which renders it at some seasons unfit for use. The line of great road as planned by me would pass by this township (now containing 400 inhabitants) and the town might then probably increase by extending towards George's river, a stream which would afford a permanent supply of good water.

LIVERPOOL. LANSDOWNE BRIDGE.

Passing through Liverpool, which has a population of 600 inhabitants and is situated on the left bank of George's river, I arrived at three miles beyond that town at Lansdowne bridge, where the largest arch hitherto erected in Australia had been recently built by Mr. Lennox. The necessity for a permanent bridge over Prospect Creek arose from the failure of several wooden structures, to the great inconvenience of the public, this being really a creek rising and falling with the tide. The obstacle, and the steepness of the left bank, which was considerable, have been triumphantly surmounted by a noble arch of 110 feet span which carries the road at a very slight inclination to the level of the opposite bank. The bridge is wholly the work of men in irons who must have been fed, and must consequently have cost the public just as much if they had done nothing all the while; and it may be held up as a fair specimen of the great advantage of convict labour in such a country when applied to public works. The creek is navigable to this point and, stone being abundant and of good quality on the opposite side of George's river, one gang was advantageously employed in the quarry there while another was building the bridge. Mr. Lennox ably seconded my views in carrying these arrangements into effect. He contrived the cranes, superintended the stone cutting, and even taught the workmen; planned and erected the centres for the arches and finally completed the structure itself which had been opened to the public on the 26th of January.

Before venturing on so large a work I had employed Mr. Lennox on a smaller bridge in the new pass in the ascent to the Blue Mountains, and the manner in which he completed that work was such as to justify the confidence with which I suggested to the government this larger undertaking.

ARRIVE AT SYDNEY.

At length I arrived at Sydney and had the happiness on terminating this long journey to find that all the members of my family were well, although they had been much alarmed by reports of my death and the destruction of my party by the savage natives of the interior.

...

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE CHARACTER OF THE SETTLED COUNTRY.

Released from the necessity for recording each day's proceedings I may now add a few general remarks on the character of the country traversed in these various expeditions.

FIRES IN THE WOODS.

It has been observed that the soil in New South Wales is good only where trap, limestone, or granite rocks occur. Sandstone however predominates so much as to cover about six-sevenths of the whole surface comprised within the boundaries of nineteen counties. Wherever this is the surface rock little besides barren sand is found in the place of soil. Deciduous vegetation scarcely exists there, no vegetable soil is formed for, the trees and shrubs being very inflammable, conflagrations take place so frequently and extensively in the woods during summer as to leave very little vegetable matter to return to earth. On the highest mountains and in places the most remote and desolate I have always found on every dead trunk on the ground, and living tree of any magnitude also, the marks of fire; and thus it appeared that these annual conflagrations extend to every place. In the regions of sandstone the territory is, in short, good for nothing, and is besides very generally inaccessible, thus presenting a formidable obstruction to any communication between isolated spots of a better description.

Land near Sydney has always been preferred to that which is remote, though the quality may have been equal; yet throughout the wide extent of twenty-three millions of acres only about 4,400,000 have been found worth 5 shillings per acre, and the owners of this appropriated land within the limits have been obliged to send their cattle beyond them for the sake of pasturage.

EMPLOYMENT OF CONVICTS.

From the labour necessary to form lines of communication across such a country, New South Wales still affords an excellent field for the employment of convicts; and although some of the present colonists may be against the continuance of transportation, it must be admitted that the increase and extension of population and the future prosperity of the country depends much on the completion of such public works. The dominion of man cannot indeed be extended well over nature there without much labour of this description. The prisoners should be worked in gangs and guarded and coerced according to some well organised system. It can require no argument to show how much more pernicious to the general interests of mankind the amalgamation of criminals with the people of a young colony must be than with the dense population of old countries, where a better organised police and laws suited to the community are in full and efficient operation, both for the prevention and detection of crime; but the employment of convicts on public works is not inseparable from the question of allowing such people to become colonists; and whoever desires to see the noble harbour of Sydney made the centre of a flourishing country, extending from the tropic to the shores of the Southern Ocean, rather than one only of several small settlements along the coast, will not object to relieve the mother country by employing her convicts even at a greater expense than they cost the colonists at present. Thus the evil would in time cure itself by preparing the country for such accessions of honest people from home as would reduce the tainted portion of its inhabitants to a mere caput mortuum.

NECESSITY FOR CUTTING ROADS.

With a well arranged system of roads radiating from such a harbour even the sandstone wastes, extensive though they be, might be overstepped and, the good parts being connected by roads, the produce of the tropical and temperate regions might then be brought to one common market.

PROPORTION OF GOOD AND BAD LAND.

Where there is so much unproductive surface the unavoidable dispersion of population renders good lines of communication more essentially necessary, and these must consist of roads, for there are neither navigable rivers nor in general the means of forming canals. This colony might thus extend northward to the tropic of Capricorn, westward to the 145th degree of east longitude, the southern portion having for boundaries the Darling, the Murray and the seacoast. Throughout the extensive territory thus bounded one-third, probably, consists of desert interior plains; one-fourth of land available for pasturage or cultivation; and the remainder of rocky mountain or impassable or unproductive country. Perhaps the greater portion of really good land within the whole extent will be found to the southward of the Murray, for there the country consists chiefly of trap, granite, or limestone. The amount of surface comprised in European kingdoms affords no criterion of what may be necessary for the growth of a new people in Australia. Extreme differences of soil, climate, and seasons may indeed be usefully reconciled and rendered available to one community there; but this must depend on ingenious adaptations aided by all the facilities man's art can supply in the free occupation of a very extensive region. Agricultural resources must ever be scanty and uncertain in a country where there is so little moisture to nourish vegetation. We have seen, from the state of the Darling where I last saw it, that all the surface water flowing from the vast territory west of the dividing range, and extending north and south between the Murray and the tropic, is insufficient to support the current of one small river. The country southward of the Murray is not so deficient in this respect for there the mountains are higher, the rocks more varied, and the soil consequently better; while the vast extent of open grassy downs seems just what was most necessary for the prosperity of the present colonists and the encouragement of a greater emigration from Europe.

DESCRIPTION OF AUSTRALIA FELIX.

Every variety of feature may be seen in these southern parts, from the lofty alpine region on the east, to the low grassy plains in which it terminates on the west. The Murray, perhaps the largest river in all Australia, arises amongst those mountains, and receives in its course various other rivers of considerable magnitude. These flow over extensive plains in directions nearly parallel to the main stream, and thus irrigate and fertilise a large extent of rich country. Falling from mountains of great height, the current of these rivers is perpetual, whereas in other parts of Australia the rivers are too often dried up and seldom indeed deserve any other name than chains of ponds.

Hills of moderate elevation occupy the central country between the Murray and the sea, being thinly or partially wooded and covered with the richest pasturage. The lower country, both on the northern and southern skirts of these hills, is chiefly open, slightly undulating towards the coast on the south, and is in general well watered.

The grassy plains which extend northward from these thinly wooded hills to the banks of the Murray are chequered by the channels of many streams falling from them, and by the more permanent and extensive waters of deep lagoons. These are numerous on the face of the plains near the river, as if intended by a bounteous Providence to correct the deficiencies of too dry a climate. An industrious and increasing people may always secure an abundant supply by adopting artificial means to preserve it and, in acting thus, they would only extend the natural plan according to their wants. The fine climate is worthy of a little extra toil, especially in those parts at a distance from the surplus waters of the large rivers, and in places considered favourable in other respects either for the rearing of cattle or for cultivation.

In the western portion small rivers radiate from the Grampians an elevated and isolated mass presenting no impediment to a free communication through the fine country around its base. Hence that enormous labour necessary to obtain access to some parts, and for crossing continuous ranges to reach others by passes like those so essential to the prosperity of the present colony, might be in a great degree dispensed with in that southern region.

Towards the south coast on the south and adjacent to the open downs between the Grampians and Port Phillip, there is a low tract consisting of very rich black soil, apparently the best imaginable for the cultivation of grain in such a climate.

WOODS.

On parts of the low ridges of hills near Cape Nelson and Portland Bay are forests of very large trees of stringybark, ironbark, and other useful species of eucalyptus, much of which are probably destined yet to float in vessels on the adjacent sea.

HARBOURS.

The character of the country behind Cape Northumberland affords fair promise of a harbour in the shore to the westward. Such a port would probably possess advantages over any other on the southern coast; for a railroad thence, along the skirts of the level interior country, would require but little artificial levelling and might extend to the tropical regions or even beyond them, thus affording the means of expeditious communication between all the fine districts on the interior side of the coast ranges and a sea-port to the westward of Bass Strait.

THE MURRAY.

The Murray, fed by the lofty mountains on the east, carries to the sea a body of fresh water sufficient to irrigate the whole country, which is in general so level even to a great distance from its banks that the abundant waters of the river might probably be turned into canals for the purpose either of supplying deficiencies of natural irrigation at particular places, or of affording the means of transport across the wide plains.

The high mountains in the east have not yet been explored but their very aspect is refreshing in a country where the summer heat is often very oppressive. The land is in short open and available in its present state for all the purposes of civilised man. We traversed it in two directions with heavy carts, meeting no other obstruction than the softness of the rich soil and, in returning over flowery plains and green hills fanned by the breezes of early spring, I named this region Australia Felix, the better to distinguish it from the parched deserts of the interior country where we had wandered so unprofitably and so long.

This territory, still for the most part in a state of nature, presents a fair blank sheet for any geographical arrangement whether of county divisions, lines of communication, or sites of towns etc. etc. The growth of a colony there might be trained according to one general system with a view to various combinations of soil and climate and not left to chance as in old countries or, which would perhaps be worse, to the partial or narrow views of the first settlers. The plan of a whole state might be arranged there like that of an edifice before the foundation is laid, and a solid one seems necessary where a large superstructure is likely to be built. The accompanying sketch of the limits which I would propose for the colony of New South Wales is intended to show also how the deficiencies of such a region might be compensated and the advantages combined for the convenience and accommodation of a civilised and industrious people. The rich pasture land beyond the mountains is already connected by roads with the harbour of Sydney and the system, though not complete, has been at least sufficiently carried into effect to justify the preference of that town and port as a capital and common centre not only for the roads, but for steam navigation around the coasts extending in each direction about 900 miles. The coast country affords the best prospects for the agriculturist, but the arable spots therein, being of difficult access by land, his success would depend much on immediate means of communication with Sydney by water and, on the facility his position would thus afford of shipping his produce to neighbouring colonies.*

(*Footnote. A new market for cattle and sheep has just opened on the interior side by the establishment of the new colony of South Australia, an event more fortunate for New South Wales than the most sanguine friend of that colony could have foreseen. It is to be regretted however that the colonists are so slow in availing themselves of such a market by the direct line of road already traced by my wheels along the right banks of the rivers Lachlan, Murrumbidgee and Murray, by which flocks and herds may be driven to the new colony without any danger of their wanting water or the necessity for their crossing any rivers of importance.)

It would be establishing a lasting monument of the beneficial influence of British power and colonisation thus to engraft a new and flourishing state on a region now so desolate and unproductive; but this seems only possible under very extensive arrangements and by such means as England alone can supply:

"Here the great mistress of the seas is known, By empires founded, not by states o'erthrown." Sydney Gazette, January 1, 1831.

MR. STAPYLTON'S REPORT.

Mr. Stapylton met no difficulty in following my track through Australia Felix with heavy wheel-carriages and worn out cattle, as appears by his own account of his progress in the following report, which he forwarded to me on his arrival at the Murrumbidgee.

Camp near Guy's Station,

Murrumbidgee, November 11.

Sir,

I have the honour to inform you that in compliance with your directions of the 18th of September last I quitted the depot near Lake Repose on the 3rd of October, and that I arrived at this station today. Our journey towards the located country has been most prosperous. On the 17th of October I reached the Goulburn, the numerous streams which intercepted our progress thither having been overcome with rapidity and excellent management on the part of the bullock-drivers. On the 23rd of the same month the three men whom you sent back to me from the Murray arrived at our encampment on the left bank of the Goulburn, and on the 25th the passage was effected across it without an accident of any kind whatsoever. On the 30th we encamped on the right bank of the Swampy river having been again successful in the transit of stores and cattle, and on the 2nd of November the party was established on the right bank of the King. Here we unfortunately lost one bullock, a weak and lame animal. On the 4th of November I made the Murray, and on the 5th, the provision party not being arrived, I directed that the boat, which we found in the contiguous backwater, should be got afloat, and on the evening of that day we took up our position on the right bank of the river; the cattle, horses, and equipment having been passed across in safety and in a manner highly creditable to all the men employed. The boat-carriage (which as well as the boat appeared to have remained untouched by the natives) was brought off on the following morning which being Sunday I halted. On the 7th I resumed our journey and arrived as above-mentioned, the cattle and horses having been got safely over the Murrumbidgee the same afternoon. I duly received your several communications numbers one, two, three and four; your letter by McKane and that by Burnett. Turandurey has grown enormously fat which should speak well of the care we had taken of her, and to the best of my belief no improprieties with her as a female have ever taken place. She was married last night to King Joey and she proceeds with him to her friends. Having a superfluity of government blankets I have taken the liberty of giving her one now and one formerly at the last depot.

I have to acknowledge the receipt of the letter containing your instructions of the 26th ultimo which was delivered to me by Overseer Burnett on the 5th of this month, who arrived at the moment the first boatload from the camp reached the opposite bank of the Murray. By means of casks we floated the drays over the three rivers and, after two experiments with a raft, both partial failures, and while a third raft was in progress, of a more solid and better construction, we discovered that a canoe, of very large dimensions and paddled by the native boy Tommy, would prove the most expeditious as well as a safe mode of shipment for the boxes of value, equipment, etc. I therefore caused a canoe to be used for this purpose and it answered admirably. I have to mention the loss of three of the cattle. One by death at the depot in consequence of previous over-exertion, and two by accidents of a most provoking and unlucky nature, but which could not have been foreseen or prevented.

I have the honour to be, etc.

...

THE ABORIGINAL NATIVES.

This was one of the best proofs how valuable the services of the aborigines who accompanied the party were to us on some occasions. They could strip from a tree in a very short time a sheet of bark large enough to form a canoe; and they could propel the light bark thus made through the water with astonishing ease and swiftness. By this means alone most of our effects were transported across broad rivers without an accident even to any of my papers or dried plants.

TURANDUREY.

I was now anxious to convince them how much I appreciated that assistance, but felt in some degree at a loss, especially in the case of The Widow. It was therefore not the least satisfactory part of the intelligence subsequently received from Mr. Stapylton that she was married on her arrival to Joey, the King of the Murrumbidgee.

MY MODE OF COMMUNICATING WITH MR. STAPYLTON.

Mr. Stapylton had also received my several communications Numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4, which he dug from the earth at various camps; thus we had for once eluded the keen eye of the aborigines in this kind of correspondence, although on my first journey we had not been so successful. My original plan on this expedition was to bury the letter under the ashes of my fire; cutting at the same time a cross in the turf where my tent had stood, as the mark by which Mr. Stapylton was to know that something was so deposited. But I subsequently improved on this plan and buried my letter in the centre of the cross by merely making a hole with a stick in the soft earth where the turf had been cut and dropping the letter into it.

SURVEY OF THE MURRUMBIDGEE.

In my instructions to Mr. Stapylton, sent by Burnett, I directed him to survey the course of the Murrumbidgee upwards from Guy's station until he connected our interior survey with the map of the colony. This he accomplished by measuring to the junction of the Doomot, a river he had himself previously surveyed. The direct distance between that junction and the point at which we first arrived on the Murrumbidgee was ascertained by Mr. Stapylton's measurement to be 34 3/4 miles, but according to my map of the interior country 36 1/2 miles; making an error of only 1 3/4 miles + or westward in a chain-measurement continued from the station at Buree, where the journey commenced, to the Darling, thence to the southern coast, and back to this point on the Murrumbidgee. The measurement was checked by latitudes determined nightly from observations of several stars, the difference between several amounting to a few seconds only. I availed myself of trigonometrical measurements also with a good theodolite wherever this was possible, in which case such a survey engaged my whole attention, and my route was often directed according to the position of good points.

METEOROLOGICAL JOURNAL.

The meteorological journal was kept more carefully during this journey than on the two preceding; and with the kind assistance of my friends Captain King and Mr. Dunlop it affords, in some parts at least, materials for comparing the atmospheric changes in the regions explored with those occurring simultaneously on the eastern coast.

ARRIVAL OF THE EXPLORING PARTY AT SYDNEY.

It was long before the party arrived in Sydney for, when it reached the Murrumbidgee and the apprehension of famine no longer existed, rest was so necessary for the cattle that it was indulged in for their sake chiefly, to an extent much beyond the wishes of the men. The oxen looked tolerably well therefore when the party did reach Sydney, although from so long a journey; and my men enjoyed at length the triumph among their fellows, to which they had long looked forward, on conducting the boat and boat-carriage safely once more into the yard of my office.

PIPER AND THE MEN REWARDED.