THE BANKSIAN BOTANICAL COLLECTORS. 
137 
To which Mr. Bladen adds, in a footnote — 
If the course given by these men, viz., due west from the junction of tlie Grose 
and Hawkesbury is correct, this cairn of stones cannot be the same as that found 
by Blaxland, Wentworth, and Lawson in 1813, and surmised by them to have 
been erected by Bass.* * * § 
A curious story belongs to an important journey westward by Caley in 1805. 
Ten years after its performance Governor Macquarie opened the Bathurst route 
in 1815, and named one spot having a cairn upon it “ Caley’s Repulse,” con- 
cluding it to mark Caley’s furthest. Blaxland, who discovered it in 1813, had 
awarded it to Bass. The Governor’s misnomer stood for eighty years, for just 
ninety years elap.sed when Gov'ernor King’s abridgment of Caley’s journal,* 
with tracing of his route, was recognised and published — Caley took the north 
side of Grose River from Richmond Hill. He found rugged, broken country, 
intersected by valleys or chasms being almost impassable, lying generally north 
and south. Ultimately crossing Table Hill he arrived on the 12th at Mount Banks, 
by near approximation, now identified with Mounts Tomah and King George. 
The Governor (King) had provided Caley with full equipment and four picked 
men, and states that Caley’s great bodily strength and enthusiasm were severely 
tried. f 
There is nothing to show why Macquarie ditiered from Blaxland, 
Lawson, and Wentworth, in thinking that the pile of stones was 
placed there by Caley. There is, however, some evidence to indicate 
that Bass was not on the ridge which divides the Grose and the Cox. 
In fact, according to Flinders (Vol. 1, Introduction, page cv, and 
■\tlas, plate 8) he seems to have been confined to the valley of the 
Grose, and the course of the river as so charted resulted from one of 
Bass’s excuisions. I am under the impression that Caley also was 
never on the highlands. He certainly penetrated very high up the 
Grose. 
Mr. F. M. Bladen informs me that he thinks it probable that the 
.stones were ])laced there by Wilson, who did a good deal of unrecognised 
and forgotten e.xploration in Governor Huntei’s time. The journal 
mentioning Wilson is quoted in a footnote, J and, speaking of it, Ernest 
Favcnc§ says : — 
Wilson was a notorious character of the early days, and his adventures amongst 
the natives, ending finally in his death at their hamis, were many and varied. 
Wilson's reputation for bushcraft led to Governor Hunter sending him out 
with two men to prove the falsity of a rumour, current amongst the convicts, 
that there was a settlement of white men across the mountains. It is on the 
strength of this trip that it is claimed for him and his companions that he ascended 
the mountains and reached western-flowing waters. The groundwork for this 
belief rests in a diary kept by a young fellow, a servant of Hunter’s, who formed 
one of the party, and was, says Hunter, an intelligent lad. 
• HiKt. Hec., V, 725. 
t '■ The Blue Mountains : Early History and Exploration by Thomas Whitely. 
t Compare Hist. Rec., Ui, 825. 
§ Sydney Morniny Herald, 25th March, 1905. 
