SUMMARY 411 



east for 50 miles, striking, near the BATTLE CAMP RANGE, the 

 river now known as the NORMAN BY which here runs in a valley of 

 its own. After following the valley up for 22 miles, he turned 

 his back on its right bank and found himself in a few miles on a water- 

 shed in which the Endeavour River and a branch of Oaky Creek 

 rise close together, to flow eastward to the Pacific over beds only 

 a few miles apart. He MISSED THE ENDEAVOUR by only a mile or 

 two, and ran down OAKY CREEK for 20 miles to the east, when it 

 fell into a RIVER which came from the south and then turned east. 

 His next procedure was to follow this river for about 8 miles 

 to its mouth in WALKER BAY, firmly convinced that it was the 

 ENDEAVOUR, although he was unable to reconcile his surroundings 

 with CAPTAIN COOK'S description. The river, in fact, was distinct, 

 its mouth being about 6 miles south of that of the Endeavour, and 

 is now known as the ANNAN. 



Having observed that the ANNAN came from the south, and his 

 objective lying in that direction, Hann gladly embraced the 

 opportunity of FOLLOWING THE RIVER (the supposed Endeavour) 

 TO ITS HEAD. He succeeded, indeed, in this, but only in the face 

 of great difficulties with tangled scrub, and dropped down on the 

 mouth of the BLOMFIELD RIVER, in WEARY BAY. 



The course of the BLOMFIELD again promised a means of getting 

 away to the south, but the rugged and precipitous nature of its 

 bed and valley soon forced the explorers to climb the hills above 

 the left bank. The increasing density of the scrub and roughness 

 of the SCRUB- MAS RED COUNTRY, however, made southerly progress 

 impossible for a time. It was not till they had hewn their way 

 30 miles to the east, and were actually (although without knowing 

 it) on the head-waters of the NORMAN BY, and within a few miles of 

 the head of the PALMER, that it became possible to get away to 

 the south-east, in which direction they HOPED TO REACH THE EAST 

 COAST and find better travelling. With infinite toil some 40 miles 

 were gained to the south-east, and as the travellers heard from 

 natives of the only way to reach the sea being by canoes, they 

 were probably not far from the lower reaches of the DAINTREE 

 RIVER. At this point, Hann bowed to the inevitable, and resolved 

 to RETRACE HIS STEPS as far as he had come to the south-east. But 

 for this wise and timely decision there is no doubt that the expedition 

 would have perished in the jungle. 



Having regained to the north-west the 40 miles lost in the 

 attempt to reach the sea, Hann crossed the valley of the WEST 

 NORMAN BY and, continuing north-west, followed the LAURA RIVER 

 (which he named the HEARN) down from its head for 40 miles, not 

 very sure whether it was a " western water," or whether the appar- 

 ently impenetrable range on his left was or was not the watershed 

 of the Peninsula. The LAURA, as is now known, is a tributary of the 

 NORMAN BY. When at last it became possible to go west-south- 



