Activity page 11B Based on information in Chris Cunningham, The Blue Mountains Rediscovered, Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst, 1996 Note: George Caley also retraced Barralier path in July, 1806 The start and end point of some exploration trips is not certain. 36 Myths and Mysteries of the Crossing of the Blue Mountains
Activity page 11C Candidate 3: Francis Barrallier (1773–1853) Francis Barrallier, [assistant] to Governor King, led two expeditions into the foothills of the Blue Mountains in 1802. He discovered Burragorang Valley but was prevented from travelling further by a large waterfall. He was a refugee from the French Revolution, with a knowledge of engineering, surveying and navigation. Barrallier set off as an emissary from Governor King, to convey the governor’s compliments to the (Aboriginal) ‘King of the Mountains’. Leaving their depot, they descended to the Nattai River and followed it downstream to the Burragorang Valley and Wollondilly River. Heading west, they climbed a ridge south of the Tonalli River, and climbed towards Southern Peak, returning to Nattai to await the arrival of new supplies. Re-supplied, they headed back up towards Southern Peak on November 22, reaching Mootik Plateau just south of Yerranderie, and making camp at Alum Hill on the 24th. From here, they followed a route via Bindook towards the Great Dividing Range. On the 26th, two forward scouts returned to report having found: ‘an immense plain; that from the height they were on the mountain they had caught sight of only a few hills standing here and there in this plain; and that the country in front of them had the appearance of a meadow.’ What the scouts could not see was the Kowmung River gorge slashing through the ‘plain’. They hastened through Barrallier’s Pass to set up camp near Bent Hook (Bindook) Swamp. In spite of heavy rain, they were in high spirits, and after setting up bark huts, ‘they congratulated themselves with having succeeded in accomplishing the crossing of the Blue Mountains without accident’. They were now on the eastern edge of the Bindook Highlands. From here, it is an easy ridge-top journey to the Great Divide, along what was to become the Oberon-Colong Stock Route. Barrallier and his party eventually reached a point approximately 2km short of the Great Divide and within sight of it. They did not recognise this, however, due to the nature of the terrain. Had they explored south, they could have reached Mt Werong in an hour, and seen the westward flowing Abercrombie River. Having travelled as far as their supplies allowed, they returned the way they had come. Barrallier and his party had crossed the Blue Mountains, and come substantially closer to the Great Divide than Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth were to. www.yerranderie.com/explorer.htm Candidate 4: George Caley (1770–1829) George Caley, botanist and plant collector to Sir Joseph Banks, went on regular collecting excursions into the Blue Mountains to gather natural history specimens. In November 1804, Caley and party set off for the Carmarthen Hills (Mt Tomah and Mt Banks), with the intention of then continuing west or to ‘the most promising part of the country’. His companions were ‘ticket of leave men’, minimum security convicts. After travelling overland from Parramatta, possibly carrying their boat, they travelled up-river from Windsor to near the junction of the Grose River. From there, they climbed 500 metres, in the hot sticky weather, to Tabaraga Ridge near Kurrajong Heights. Caley would no doubt have noticed the Bilpin Ridge, along which Bell’s Line of Road would later be built, had he reached Tabaraga Ridge one or two kilometres further north. But Caley set a compass course for Mt Tomah, and determined to stick to it as far as the terrain would allow. The march took them over Patersons Ridge, through three ravines, then into a particularly steep sided valley which Caley named Dark Valley. They were unknowingly travelling parallel to, and a few kilometres from, the Bilpin Ridge. www.australiaforeveryone.com.au/discovery/caley.htm This candidate might be considered the first to cross the Blue Mountains because … Candidate 5: George Evans Six months later, George Evans was sent by Governor Macquarie to survey the route found by the three explorers in May 1813. He led a team which followed their route to Mount Blaxland, and then continued on, over the Great Dividing Range, to where Bathurst now stands — so over 100 kilometres beyond the achievement of the three explorers. He thus became the first European known to have reached the rich pastureland of the Western Slopes and Plains. www.infobluemountains.net.au/history/crossing_3ex.htm This candidate might be considered the first to cross the Blue Mountains because … This candidate might be considered the first to cross the Blue Mountains because … Myths and Mysteries of the Crossing of the Blue Mountains 37
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