ST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

[missing frontispiece (ripped out), probably photo of A.C. Gregory.]

F.T. GREGORY.

H.C. GREGORY.

THE GOUTY-STEM TREE, NEAR THE DOME, ON THE RIVER VICTORIA, NORTH-WEST
AUSTRALIA.

T. BAINES.

C.F. GREGORY.]

AUSTRALIAN EXPLORATIONS.

MESSRS. GREGORY'S EXPEDITION TO THE EAST AND NORTH OF SWAN RIVER.

1846.

EARLY CONDITION OF WEST AUSTRALIA.

The colony of Western Australia was established in 1829; but its
isolation from the older settlement of New South Wales rendered it
necessary to import all the horses, cattle, and sheep by sailing vessels
from Tasmania, or other remote sources, while the heavy losses and
difficulties attending long sea voyages prevented any large importations
of stock--so that, though there was a fair rate of increase, the flocks
and herds of the settlers had found sufficient pasturage for the first
ten years on the banks of the Swan River and its upper valley, the Avon,
together with the coast district southward to the Vasse Inlet; but after
1840 the stock-owners began to feel that all prospect of material
increase must be relinquished unless additional pastures could be
discovered.

Several public as well as private expeditions were undertaken for the
purpose of ascertaining whether in the interior or along the coast on
either side of the settlement there existed any available country, but
they had only encountered dense scrubs of acacia and eucalyptus, with
salt marshes and scarcity of fresh water in the interior. The coast to
the east had been traversed from Adelaide to King George's Sound by Mr.
Eyre, and found to be altogether unfit for settlement, while to the north
the coast presented a series of sandy plains for more than 200 miles.

It may now appear extraordinary that the earlier explorers in Australia
were so frequently unsuccessful in their endeavours to penetrate the
interior; but the scarcity of suitable horses, the unsuitable character
of the saddlery, cumbersome camp equipment, and deficiency of knowledge
regarding the seasons in the interior, all combined to defeat the first
explorers in districts which have since been traversed with comparative
facility.

In 1846 the known country had become so nearly stocked to the full extent
of its capability that the leading question of interest with the settlers
was, where new runs could be discovered; and, among many others, the
Messrs. Gregory proposed to attempt the further exploration of th