Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia Volume II Part 43

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 c.u.mberland. 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 pa.s.s 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.

Pa.s.sing 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 n.o.ble 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 pa.s.s 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 n.o.ble harbour of Sydney made the centre of a flourishing country, extending from the tropic to the sh.o.r.es 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 ca.n.a.ls. 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 impa.s.sable 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 gra.s.sy 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 gra.s.sy 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 gra.s.sy 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 ma.s.s 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 pa.s.ses 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 sh.o.r.e 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 Ba.s.s 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 ca.n.a.ls 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 pa.s.sage 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 pa.s.sed 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.