THE
AUSTRALIAN EXPLORERS
THEIR
LABOURS, PERILS, AND ACHIEVEMENTS
BEING A NARRATIVE OF DISCOVERY FROM THE LANDING OF CAPTAINCOOK TO THE CENTENNIAL YEAR
BY
GEORGE GRIMM, M.A.
MINISTER OF ST. PAUL'S, BALMAIN WEST, SYDNEY; AND TUTOR INAPOLOGETICS AND SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY TO THE PRESBYTERIANCHURCH OF NEW SOUTH WALES
GEORGE ROBERTSON & COMPANYMELBOURNE AND SYDNEY1888
TO THE MEMORY
OF THE LATE
JOHN DUNMORE LANG, D.D.
IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE
OF MUCH PLEASANT INTERCOURSE
THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED
PREFACE.
The story of the exploration of Australia isone which we cannot willingly let die. There aremany reasons for keeping alive the remembrance ofsuch heroic deeds. It is due to the memory of thosemen who took their lives in their hands, and, in manycases, laid their bones in the desert; it is an act ofgratitude on our part, who have entered on theirlabours; and it is a kind of information indispensableto every Australian who desires to know the historyof his country. And yet there is great danger of theirbeing practically forgotten. The time when theharvest of discovery was reaped has faded into thepast, and a generation is growing up not wellinformed on these most interesting adventures andachievements. Nor are the sources of information easilyobtainable by those who purposely put themselves onthe search. The journals of the explorers, never tooplentiful, have now become scarce. They are onlyoccasionally met with in private hands, where theyare, for good reasons, held as a treasure. A considerablenumber of these works are to be found in the SydneySchool of Arts, but they have been withdrawn fromcirculation, and are now kept for special referenceonly, in a glass case, under lock and key. The[Pg vi]Government Library contains the best collectionextant, but even there it has been deemed necessary toadopt restrictive regulations, with the view of givingthe books a longer lease of existence. This scarcityof the sources of information, and these restrictionswhich fence in the few that remain, may be acceptedas a sufficient plea for the effort here made topopularize the knowledge they contain. But I wouldwarn the reader not to expect from this small volumewhat it does not profess to give. In no sense does itpretend to be elaborate or exhaustive. I have had tostudy brevity for another reason than its being thesoul of wit. It would have been a pleasant task towrite long descriptions of Australian scenery, and tofollow the explorers even into the by-paths of theirjourneys; but the result would have been just what Ihave had to avoid—a bulky volume. Yet, such as itis, I hope the book will be found acceptable to the manof business, who can neither afford to be ignorant ofthis subject nor find time to enter into its minutiæ;to the youth of our country, who cannot obtain access