Guide to the manuscripts of Australian Explorers at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Library (as filmed by the AJCP)

Gregory Blaxland. Copy of journal of expedition across Blue Mountains in New South Wales (18pp.), 11 May 1813 - 6 June 1813 (File 1)

The journal describes the journey on horseback that Blaxland made with William Lawson and William Wentworth across the Blue Mountains. On the first day they crossed the Nepean River and camped at the foot of the first ridge of mountains. The entries mainly record the distances covered, bearings in relation to Prospect Hill, Mount Banks and other landmarks, the terrain, the vegetation, and the difficulties they encountered as they ascended the mountains. There are references to discoveries of rivers, sightings of kangaroos, Aboriginal tracks, and their deteriorating physical condition of the three explorers. On 28 May they camped on the edge of a precipice (Mount York) and on 31 May they saw 'forest land all around them sufficient to feed the Stock of the colony for the next thirty years'. They began the return journey on 1 June.

A letter is bound with the manuscript:

Gregory Blaxland to James Chapman (Colonial Office), 7 June 1815: sends his journal of the expedition across the Blue Mountains; progress with his vineyard; requests a consignment of best common grapes.

A slightly variant copy of the journal is reproduced in George Mackaness, ed. Fourteen journeys over the Blue Mountains of New South Wales 1813-1841 (Sydney, 1965).

John Oxley. Journal of an expedition into the interior of New South Wales (2 parts, 102 pp., 82 pp.), 6 April 1817 - 29 August 1817 (File 2)

The exploring party comprised Oxley, the surveyor George Evans, the botanists Allan Cunningham and Charles Fraser, and nine other men. They left Sydney on 6 April 1817 and after a short stay at Bathurst set off westwards on 20 April. The journal describes Oxley's impressions of the Lachlan River, which Evans had discovered in 1815, and his journey downstream until the river divided into branches and became lost in marshes. On 16 May he decided to abandon the Lachlan and travel south-west, hoping to reach the southern coast of Australia at Cape Northumberland. The country was harsh, with impenetrable bush, and days were lost searching for water. On 6 June he changed course and headed west across desolate and barren country. On 23 June he unexpectedly reached the banks of the Lachlan River, which he followed until it again entered marshes. On 20 July he decided to return, heading north towards the Macquarie River, eventually reaching fine country suitable for sheep. He discovered the Wellington Valley and reached Bathurst on 29 August 1817.

The journal was forwarded by Governor Lachlan Macquarie to Lord Bathurst, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, on 13 December 1817.

John Oxley. Journal of a second expedition into the interior of New South Wales (151pp.), 20 May 1818 - 5 November 1818 (File 3)

The purpose of the expedition was to trace the course of the Macquarie River. Oxley was accompanied by George Evans, Charles Fraser and twelve other men. They left Bathurst on 28 May 1818 and Wellington Valley on 6 June. They followed the Macquarie River in a north-westerly direction through fine country, but by early July they had reached a vast area of lagoons and swamps. Oxley recorded his belief that they were 'in the immediate vicinity of an inland sea, or lake'. Abandoning the Macquarie River, he decided to travel eastwards to the Castlereagh River, which Evans had discovered a few days earlier. They crossed the river on 2 August and journeyed across barren plains for a month until they reached the Peel River, where the country was far more luxuriant. The party then crossed the Great Dividing Range, with its ridges, precipices and gorges, and finally reached the mouth of the Hastings River on 8 October. He named the inlet Port Macquarie. The final part of the journal describes the journey southwards, crossing numerous inlets and rivers, and encounters with hostile Aborigines. Oxley reached Port Stephens on 1 November and Newcastle a few days later.

The journal is bound with the journal kept by George Evans of an expedition in the vicinity of Mount Harris, during which he discovered the Castlereagh River, 8 - 18 July 1818. (8 pp.)

The journal was forwarded by Governor Lachlan Macquarie to Lord Bathurst, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, on 1 March 1819. The two journals of Oxley, and also the diary of George Evans (July 1818), were published under the title Journals of two expeditions into the interior of New South Wales undertaken by order of the British Government in the years 1817-18 (London, 1820).

George Evans. Sketch of Van Diemen's Land (52pp.), 1820 (File 4)

The manuscript begins with the discovery and early history of Van Diemen's Land and provides information about the colony's climate, topography, mountains, rivers, lakes and ponds, coasts, harbours and anchorages, the interior of the island, and horses, cattle, sheep and other stock. Some passages are duplicated in the early sections of Evans's book, A geographical, historical, and topographical description of Van Diemen's Land, with important hints to emigrants (London, 1822).

The manuscript was forwarded to the Colonial Office by Commissioner John Bigge in 1822.

The report is preceded by an undated letter from Evans to Governor Lachlan Macquarie submitting 'the following lines to your patronage'.

Allan Cunningham. Manuscript of 'A brief view of the progress of interior discovery in New South Wales,' published in Journal of Royal Geographical Society of London (154pp.), 1832 (File 5)

The manuscript begins with a survey of early exploration in New South Wales, including the crossing of the Blue Mountains (1813), the expeditions of John Oxley and George Evans, the penetration of the Monaro, and the journey of William Hovell and Hamilton Hume to Port Phillip Bay (1824). The bulk of the paper is devoted to the explorations of Cunningham in 1827-29, when he traversed the Liverpool Plains, discovered the Darling Downs and Gwydir River, and examined the country near Moreton Bay and the Brisbane River. His explorations were followed by the journeys of Charles Sturt of the country between the Macquarie and Darling Rivers and his descent along the Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers to Encounter Bay (1828-30). At the end of the paper Cunningham sums up the current geographical knowledge of New South Wales and suggests possible future expeditions along the Darling River and to the country north-west of Moreton Bay.

The paper, which has some deletions and corrections, was subsequently published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, vol. 2, 1832, pp. 99-132.

Peter Egerton Warburton. Journal of Messrs. Elder and Hughes' exploring expedition from central Australia to Perth (90pp.), 15 April 1873 - 18 May 1874 (File 6)

The journal is signed by Warburton and dated 18 May 1874 and appears to be a shortened copy of his original journal. The expedition, which left Adelaide on 21 September 1872, was funded by two leading South Australian pastoralists, Thomas Elder and Walter Hughes. Warburton's party comprised four Europeans, two Afghan camel-drivers, and an Australian Aborigine. After a short introduction, the daily entries begin on 15 April 1873, when the party left Alice Springs. They first followed the overland telegraph line northwards before heading west to Mount Hay. The long journey was generally in a north-westerly direction and covered extremely arid country. The entries, which are often brief, describe the terrain and refer to the constant search for water and feed for the camels, sinking wells, the gradual loss of all but two of the camels, encounters with Aborigines, dust storms, the heat, snakes and ants, shortages of food, illnesses, the likelihood of death by starvation, and the search for the Oakover River (discovered by Frank Gregory in 1861). Warburton reached the Oakover on 7 December 1873 and De Grey Station in the Pilbara on 11 January 1874.

Sir Anthony Musgrave, the governor of South Australia, sent a copy of the journal to Lord Carnarvon, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, on 8 September 1875. Warburton's journal, edited by Charles Eden, was published under the title Journey across the western interior of Australia (London, 1875).