Our First Half-Century: A Review of Queensland Progress Based Upon Official InformationQueensland
History
Our First Half-Century: A Review of Queensland Progress Based Upon Official Information
Queensland
Queensland -- History
In 1878 Prout brothers, looking for country across the Queensland
border, never returned. In 1878 N. Buchanan, on an excursion to
the overland telegraph line from the Queensland border, discovered
Buchanan's Creek. In 1878-9 Ernest Favenc, starting from Blackall
in charge of the "Queenslander" transcontinental expedition, reached
Powell's Creek station, on the overland telegraph line; four years
later he explored the rivers flowing into the Gulf, particularly the
Macarthur, and then crossed to the overland telegraph line. In 1878
Winnecke and Barclay, surveyors, started to determine the border lines
of Queensland and South Australia, returning in 1880 with their work
done. In 1879 Alexander Forrest led an expedition from the de Grey
River, Western Australia, to the overland telegraph line, discovering
the Ord and Margaret Rivers.
By this time there was little left of the continent, save Western
Australia, to explore, though men in search of pastoral country still
found occupation in expeditions to discover the unknown in Queensland
and the Northern Territory. In 1896 Frank Hann, younger brother of the
explorer, who had left Queensland, traversed the country to the
north of King Leopold Range, discovering a river which he named
the Phillips, but which was afterwards renamed the Hann by the
Surveyor-General of Western Australia. Afterwards Hann travelled from
Laverton, Western Australia, to Oodnadatta, in South Australia. F. S.
Brockman is another explorer who was leader of a Kimberley expedition
a few years ago, and discovered in North-west Australia 6 million
acres of basaltic country clad with blue grass, Mitchell and kangaroo
grasses, and other fodder vegetation. The Elder expedition, projected
on an ambitious scale in 1891 to complete the exploration of the
continent, started under David Lindsay, but the results were less
valuable than its generous and enterprising originator anticipated.
From a second Elder expedition under L. A. Wells no great results were
recorded. The same may be said of the Carnegie expedition in Western
Australia. Yet the sum total of the information obtained was valuable.
Australia owes much to her adventurous explorers, as well as to
the men who, following up their tracks, placed stock on much of the
country that produced great wealth to the people, though as a rule
neither explorers nor pastoral pioneers personally benefited much by
their labours and privations.
[Footnote a: See Dampier's "Collection of Voyages, 1729."]
[Footnote b: See Cook's "Journal during his First Voyage Round
the World, 1768-71." W. J. L. Wharton, 1893.]
[Footnote c: Historical Records of New South Wales, vol. i.]
[Footnote d: See "History of Australian Exploration," 1888;
and "Explorers of Australia," 1908, both by Ernest Favenc.]
[Illustration (hand-written letter):
Victoria by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, &c.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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