Page 58 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Australia

56  INTRODUCING A USTR ALIA

Exploring the Coastline William Wentworth and William Lawson
Once the survival of the first settlement was forged a successful route across the Blue
assured, both the government and the free Mountains (see pp172–3). In 1824 explorers
settlers began to look beyond its confines. Hamilton Hume and William Hovell
Faced with a vast, unknown continent and opened up the continent further when
fuelled by desires for knowledge and wealth, they travelled overland from New South
they set out to explore the land. The 19th Wales to Port Phillip Bay, the present site
century was a period of exploration, of Melbourne.
discovery and settlement. Between 1828 and
Between 1798 and 1799 1830 Charles Sturt, a
the English midshipman former secretary to
Matthew Flinders and the New South
surgeon George Bass Wales Governor,
charted much of the led two expeditions
Australian coastline along Australia’s
south of Sydney. They also inland river systems.
circumnavigated Tasmania, On his first journey he
known at that time as Van John Batman and local Aboriginal chiefs discovered the Darling
Diemen’s Land (see p53). River. His second
In 1801 Flinders was given command of expedition began in Sydney and followed
the sloop Investigator and explored the Investigator and explored the Investigator the Murray River to the sea in South Australia.
entire Australian coastline, becoming the This arduous task left Sturt, like many such
first man to successfully circumnavigate explorers before and after him, suffering
the whole continent. from ill health for the rest of his life.

Exploring the Interior New Colonies
Inland New South Wales was opened up for Individual colonies began to emerge across
settlement in 1813, when Gregory Blaxland, the continent throughout the 19th century.
First settled in 1804, Tasmania became a
separate colony in 1825; in 1829 Western
Australia became a colony with the
establishment of Perth. Originally a colony
of free settlers, a labour shortage led to the
westward transportation of convicts.
In 1835 a farmer, John Batman, signed a
contract with local Aborigines to acquire
250,000 ha (600,000 acres) of land where
Melbourne now stands (see p385). His
Sturt’s party shown being attacked by Aborigines on their journey
to the Murray River action resulted in a rush for land in the area.

1798–9 Matthew 1808 Major Johnston 1825 Van Diemen’s 1840–41 Sheep farmer
Flinders and George leads an insur rection Land (later Edward John Eyre is the first
Bass circumnavigate against rum being Tasmania) becomes European to cross the
Tasmania abolished as currency a separate colony Nullarbor Plain
E J Eyre
1800 1810 1820 1830 1840
1801–3 Flinders 1804 Hobart Town is 1833 Port Arthur opens as a
circumnavigates established penal establishment. It remains
Australia in use until 1877
1813 The first currency,
the “holey dollar” and 1829 Western Australia is annexed,
“dump”, is introduced Holey dollar and dump, made from using convicts for cheap labour
Spanish coins