Australian Explorers by Kathleen Fitzpatrick

Australian Explorers

A Selection form their Writings with an Introduction

by Kathleen Fitzpatrick

Oxford University Press, 1965, hardcover, dustjacket

Very Good Condition, minor edge and shelf wear, minor rubbing and bumping to edges, corners and covers, previous owners’ stamp faded on front endpaper, call number on back endpaper, back endpaper removed, tape residue on cover, clipped dustjacket shows a little edge and shelf wear with a little rubbing, bumping and chipping, sticker to front wrap, tape residue to spine (see photographs)

“In 1788, when white settlement began at Sydney, the map of Australia showed only the coast line.  The discoverers had been seamen, who had left the vast hinterland unexplored, but once Sydney was established, the adventurous few took up and mastered the challenge of the unknown continent.  This volume of selections from the land explorers’ journals shows how the bare outline ma was filled in, little more than fifty years after the exploration of the interior was begun by Blaxland and his friends, who crossed the apparently unscalable Blue Mountains in 1813.  The more important expeditions illustrated include Hume’s and Hovell’s struggle through the bush to the southern shore and the pastoral lands of Victoria’ Sturt’s exploration of the Murray River; Mitchell’s discovery of Victoria’s richest country and the Queensland cattle plains; the exploration of the north by Leichhardt, whose attempt to cross the continent from East to West ended in disaster; the tragic expedition of Burke and Wills, who crossed the continent from South to North; Stuart’s discovery of the South-North route, where the Overland Telegraph now runs; and Gile’s trek with his camels to the West coast, under conditions that killed horses and men alike.”