The Rev 



EVIEWS 



TBMI^BRAISCB AKD OBNJiRAZ. LIBB ASSUKANCB BVILDZSG. SWAKSTOSft 



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THE HISTORY OF THE MONTH. 



The 

 Pathfinders. 



Melbourne, Nowmlser 27th, 191 2. 

 • The movement to celebrate the cen- 

 tenary of the historic crossing of 

 the BUie Mountains b\ BLaxland, 

 I.aw.son and ^^'ent\vorth, in May, 

 1813, will excite interest throughout the Common- 

 wealth.- The.se intrepid pioneers opened up a path- 

 way which no fowl had known and vulture's eye 

 had not sgen — not the r9ugh mountain track, but 

 the blazed trail of commerce and settlement which 

 have meant so much in the great western area. 

 Prior to their exjiedition. a mere -strip of territory, 

 averaging 40 miles in width, represented the limit 

 of New South VV'ales westward, and it is sGarcelv 

 likely that either Blaxland or his brave comrades 

 recognised at the . time tliat they were virtualh' 

 " opening the door to the colonisation and settlement 

 of the whole of Australia." Yet that is the light 

 in which the achievement is viewed to-day. The 

 profwsal to celebrate the centenary of this enterprise 

 in May next is therefore to be commended. It is 

 doubtful if Australians have shown an adequate 

 appreciation of their great men, and |)articularly 

 of the pioneers. "No country,'' writes the Pre- 

 sident of the Australian Historical Society, "owes 

 so much to its i)iont_'ers as Australia does, and wi- 

 are reaj^ing the reward of their labours in the wa\ 

 of discovery, exi)loration ami .settlement of the vast 

 unknown interior, whose .solitudes, undisturlied .since 

 the creation, responded to their call. The centenarv 

 celebrations, whieh are to he carrieil out at Mount 

 \'ork<', should ai)|X'al to the national and piitriotic 

 spirit of every true .\ustriilian, for the comuiMnora- 

 tion must be .second ')iil\ in importance to th<' actual 

 fact of the discovi-rx <>( .1 passage across the iinHiii 



tains. " 



ll is an interesting coineidi-nce in.n 



the peo])|e of Bathiu'st should ha\<' 

 been celebrating their city's jubilee 

 within a few months of the cen- 

 crossing of the Blue MonnUiins. 



City of the 

 Plains. 



tenary of the 



Bathurst might Ix- termed the first-fruits of that 

 crossing. Within the comj)ass of years which repre- 

 sent a jubilee, a city has sprung into existence which 

 has come to be known as the " Pride of the West," 

 and which for beauty of situation and design, chal- 

 lenges comparison with any of the cities of Aus- 

 tralia outside the State capitals. Commercially, 

 Bathurst has hardly fulfilled its earlier promises. 

 With coal and iron at the door, Nature herself 

 .seemed to ha\-e indicated that Bathurst should be 

 the great manufacturing district of the West, but 

 somehow the city, or the people, have missed their 

 npportunhy. Bafliur.st was at one time regarded 

 as in the first running for the Federal Capital. It 

 will always have a historic interest as the scene of 

 the lirst Federal Coiixeiition. 



The facts relating to the discovery. 

 The Beginning not of Bathur.st, but of the beauti- 

 of Tilings, ful site on which the city subse- 

 quently came to Ix* built, are simple 

 but interesting. When Deputy- Surveyor of Lands 

 George William Evans was directed to make a sur- 

 vey of the track over the Blue Mountains, following 

 on the discoveries of Blaxland, Lawson ami Went- 

 vvorth, he found tlieir furthest camp three miles 

 west of the Valley of Clwydd. He pushed on 98 

 miles from that point, and discovered Bathurst 

 Plains. This was in 1813. (K>vernor M.acquarie 

 then ordered the road to be made. It was com- 

 menced in July, 1814. and finished in January, 

 1815. Lieutenant Cox, cliief magistrate at Wind 

 .sor, super\i.seil the work, which was carried forward 

 in stag<-s, to each of wliieh Macquarie gave names — 

 SpringwfxKl, Jamieson Valley, iilackhealh, Cox 

 UiM-]-.' I'ish River, Sidmoutli Valley, Campbell 

 River .Hid H.ithurst — the last after ]x>Td Bathurst, 

 Secretary of State foi the Colonies. In May, 

 1 81 5, an ollicial party set out from the coast to 

 cross the mountains, and formally open the new 

 road. '["he Ciovernor had in his entourage Mrs. 



