Two expeditions into the interior of Southern Australia/Volume one/Contents of the first volume
PRELIMINARY CHAPTER.
Purpose of this Chapter--Name of Australia--Impressions of its early
Visitors--Character of the Australian rivers--Author's first view of Port
Jackson--Extent of the Colony of New South Wales--its rapid advances in
prosperity--Erroneous impressions--Commercial importance of Sydney--Growth
of fine wool--Mr. M'Arthur's meritorious exertions--Whale-fishery--Other
exports--Geographical features--Causes of the large proportion of bad
soil--Connection between the geology and vegetation--Geological features--
Character of the soil connected with the geological formation--County of
Cumberland--Country westward of the Blue Mountains--Disadvantages of the
remote settlers--Character of the Eastern coast--Rich tracts in the
interior--Periodical droughts--The seasons apparently affected by the
interior marshes--Temperature--Fruits--Emigrants: Causes of their success
or failure--Moral disadvantages--System of emigration recommended--Hints
to emigrants--Progress of inland discovery--Expeditions across the Blue
Mountains--Discoveries of Mr. Evans, Mr. Oxley, and others--Conjectures
respecting the interior.
EXPEDITION DOWN THE MACQUARIE RIVER, AND INTO THE WESTERN INTERIOR
IN 1828 AND 1829.
CHAPTER I.
State of the Colony in 1828-29--Objects of the Expedition--Departure
from Sydney--Wellington Valley--Progress down the Macquarie--Arrival at
Mount Harris--Stopped by the marshes--Encamp amidst reeds--Excursions down
the river--Its termination-- Appearance of the marshes--Opthalmic
affection of the men--Mr. Hume's successful journey to the northward--
Journey across the plain--Second great marsh--Perplexities--Situation of
the exploring party--Consequent resolutions.
CHAPTER II.
Prosecution of our course into the interior--Mosquito Brush--Aspect and
productions of the country--Hunting party of natives--Courageous conduct
of one of them--Mosquitoes--A man missing--Group of hills called
New-Year's Range--Journey down New-Year's Creek--Tormenting attack of the
kangaroo fly--Dreariness and desolation of the country--Oxley's Table
Land--D'Urban's Group--Continue our journey down New-Year's Creek--
Extreme Disappointment on finding it salt--Fall in with a tribe of
natives--Our course arrested by the want of fresh water--Extraordinary
sound--Retreat towards the Macquarie.
CHAPTER III.
Intercourse with the natives--Their appearance and condition--Remarks on
the Salt or Darling River--Appearance of the marshes on our return--
Alarm for safety of the provision party--Return to Mount Harris--Miserable
condition of the natives--Circumstances attending the slaughter of two
Irish runaways--Bend our course towards the Castlereagh--Wallis's Ponds--
Find the famished natives feeding on gum--Channel of the Castlereagh--
Character of the country in its vicinity--Another tribe of natives--
Amicable intercourse with them--Morrisset's chain of Ponds--Again reach the
Darling River ninety miles higher up than where we first struck upon it.
CHAPTER IV.
Perplexity--Trait of honesty in the natives--Excursion on horseback across
the Darling--Forced to return--Desolating effects of the drought--Retreat
towards the colony--Connection between the Macquarie and the Darling--
Return up the banks of the Macquarie--Starving condition of the natives.
CHAPTER V.
General remarks--Result of the expedition--Previous anticipations--
Mr. Oxley's remarks--Character of the Rivers flowing westerly--
Mr. Cunningham's remarks--Fall of the Macquarie--Mr. Oxley's erroneous
conclusions respecting the character of the interior, naturally inferred
from the state in which he found the country--The marsh of the Macquarie
merely a marsh of the ordinary character--Captain King's observations--
Course of the Darling--Character of the low interior plain--The convict
Barber's report of rivers traversing the interior--Surveyor-General
Mitchell's Report of his recent expedition.
CHAPTER VI.
Concluding Remarks--Obstacles that attend travelling into the interior
of Australia--Difficulty of carrying supplies--Importance of steady
intelligent subordinates--Danger from the natives--Number of men
requisite,--and of cattle and carriages--Provisions--Other arrangements--
Treatment of the natives--Dimensions of the boat used in the second
expedition.
APPENDIX.
No. I. Letter of Instructions No. II. List of Stores supplied for the Expedition No. III. Sheep-farming Returns No. IV. List of Geological Specimens No. V. Official Report to the Colonial Government, (Jan. 1829.) No. VI. Ditto (April 1829.)