Page:Tracks of McKinlay and party across Australia.djvu/17

 THE

DISCOVERY, EXPLORATION, AND SETTLEMENT OF AUSTRALIA.

reader may be interested in possessing for reference a concise view of the leading occurrences in the progress of the exploration of Australia, and the settlement of its colonies. There are now five of these colonies, which, in their order as to time of establishment, are as follows:—New South Wales, West Australia, South Australia, Victoria, and Queensland. We confine ourselves to a consideration of Australia, without alluding to Tasmania, New Zealand, and other adjacent islands that are comprised under the wider area of Australasia.

1601.—Earliest authenticated discovery of Australia, by Manoel Godinho de Heredia, a Portuguese. This discovery was usually ascribed to the Dutch, in the year 1606, until Mr Major, two years ago (in 1861) had deduced the earlier date from a manuscript he found in the British Museum.

1770.—The Eastern coast made known by Cook, and called New South Wales.

1798.—Discovery by Bass that Van Diemen's Land is not a continuation of Australia, but is separated by a strait, which has since borne his name, Bass's Strait.

1802.—Completion of the coast outline by Flinders, by the discovery of Spencer Gulf, Port Phillip, and the intervening coast.

1828-31.—The Darling and the Murray, forming the largest river system of Australia, discovered by Sturt.

1840.—The Australian Alps, the highest mountain range of Australia, explored by Strzelecki.

1840.—Eyre's difficult and hazardous journey overland, from the colony of South Australia to that of West Australia.

1844-5.—Leichhardt's important journey overland from New South Wales to Port Essington in North Australia.

1845.—Sturt reaches from the colony of South Australia, the middle of Australia; dispels the notion of a great inland sea, till then prevalent, and substitutes that of a great interior desert. This unprecedently bold expedition, in connection with his previous explorations, have deservedly procured for him the distinctive title of the "Father of Australian discovery."