a very high hill
I left on my right hand this morning. I leave no mark here more than
cutting trees. On one situated in an angle of the river on a wet creek
bearing north I have deeply carved EVANS, 1st JUNE, 1815."*

*[Footnote.] This tree, a tall and sturdy gum, flourished for over ninety
years, and when in its prime was, unfortunately, owing to the spread of
agricultural settlement, inadvertently ring-barked and killed. It must
have been a fine tree when marked by the explorer, and though dead it is
still standing at the date of the publication of this book. In 1906, the
shield of wood bearing the inscription, was cut off by Mr. James Marsh,
of Marshdale, and is now preserved in the Australian Museum in Sydney,
New South Wales. It is the oldest marked-tree in the whole of
Australasia.

On the next morning Evans ascended the hill he alluded to, and from the
summit enjoyed a most extended view of the surrounding country, which he
compared to a view of the ocean. On his way back to Bathurst, he bestowed
upon the new river the name it now bears. A short passage in his diary,
written during his return, is of peculiar interest, as it contains the
first mention of snow seen in Australia by white men. On Thursday, the
8th of June, he writes:--

"The mountains I observed bearing north-west are covered with snow; I
thought on my way out that their tops looked rather white. To-day it was
distinguished as plain as ever I saw snow on the mountains in Van
Diemen's Land. I never felt colder weather than it has been some days
past. We have broken ice full two inches thick."

On the 12th of June the party returned to Bathurst, and Evans had by that
time accomplished two of the most momentous journeys ever made in
Australia. It was not his actual discoveries alone that brought him fame,
but the vast field for settlement these discoveries opened up. The
independent explorations of Surveyor Evans ceased after his discovery of
the Lachlan; thenceforward he served Australia as second to Lieutenant
Oxley.

2.3. THE UNKNOWN WEST.

The settlers of that day took every advantage of the new outlets for
their energies, thrown open to them by the recent successful
explorations. Cattle and sheep were rapidly driven forward on to the
highlands, and, favoured by a beautiful site, the town of Bathurst soon
assumed an orderly appearance. Private enterprise had also been at work
elsewhere. The pioneer settlers were making their way south; the t