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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Great</strong> Viestern <strong>Road</strong>. j. ment o f a new settlement. <strong>The</strong>ir product i was a determination not to acquiesce in difficulties which other Governors were, ready to accept as insuperable. <strong>The</strong>ir result is seen throughout New South Wales and Tasmania, which abound in monuments of a great roadmaker and townplanner. Fortunately Macquarie had besides his other gifts the gift o f being able to choose the right rtmn for a given task. William Cox had shown both on his voyage! from England and in the management ofj his farm, that he could preserve discipline,! and at the same time secure the goodwill of his men. h e treated his servants as if they were human beings, each with a normal share o f self respect, and in consequence was rewarded <strong>by</strong> an astonishing amount of work. <strong>The</strong> success with which he carried the road over the Blue Mountains is attested <strong>by</strong> the letter written to him after Macquarie, with his w ife and Cox, had driven to Bathurst. <strong>The</strong> difficulties of the task are shown without exaggeration, and with great modesty in Cox’s journal, which is, fortunately, still j preserved. It was an astonishing achievement to build a road 101 miles long within six months, over an uncleared range of hills, and with only thirty men. most of them unskilled. <strong>The</strong> pioneer Had to contend with a wet season, and with much sickness among his few men. <strong>The</strong> chart he had to use was in some places defective, and his appliances for blasting and bridging were extremely primitive. His difficulties were properly appreciated <strong>by</strong> Macquarie as he drove over the road down what he describes as a rugged and tremendous descent executed with skill and stability, or on to the ridge which he called Mount York. We do well to honour today the memory of these two devoted public servants. <strong>The</strong>y neither o f them could anticipate the vast and fertile areas which the new road would open up. But their labours are the foundation o f the greatest industry in this State, and their examples are such as should perpetually be kept alive <strong>by</strong> a people who wish to understand and take pride in their history. T H S R O M A N C E OP T H E G R E A T W E S T E R N R O A D — C A P T . B U L L , CDttTBIANDANT ON T H E B L U E &OUXTTAINS ZN T H E F O R T IE S . I continue m y rem in iscen ces o f C olonel Bull (see ‘ ’T ru th ’' 2 2 /5 /2 1 ). C olonel B u ll’ s con n ection w ith the Im perial and local fo rce s in A u stra lia leach ed close upon fo r ty y ea rs. I .joined the V olunteer F orce in M elbourne in 1862— there w as no, standard m easurem ent then—rand w as present w ith C olonel B ull at the first encam p m ent on the W erribee, in April, IS 62, and a w et encam pm ent it w a s; and at a sham fight, at B.ed Bluff, w h ere I nearly lost the num ber o f m$r m ess through the error o f a rear rank m an w ho discharged his m usket w ithout ! g o in g through the n ecessa ry cerem on y o f w ithdraw ing the old -fash ion ed ram rod. N o breech-loaders in those d ays. * * • Such is the life sto ry o f C olonel Bull as I knew it. But, I cou ld n ot a llow su ch an h istoric figure to be sim ply a record, w ithout m aking an effort to gain som e fu rth er p articu la rs as to his adm in istration on the Blu© M ountain s. Through the kind offices o f M r. P ascoe, T ow n Clerk o f Castlem aine ( V ic .) I g ot into com m u n ication w ith a son, M r. W illia m M cL eod Bull, o f Bendigo, and through him to other m em bers o f the fa m ily, w ho su p plied me w ith in terestin g ' hiatter con nected w ith the C olon el's w ork on the M ountains in the forties— seven ty Todd years a g o . Colonel B ull died at G oulburn, N ew South W ales, in 1900, aged 95 years, lea v in g a w idow , aged 92, w ho died three years later (r e g isterin g the sam e a ge as her late husband, 95 y e a rs4, and s is children , or rather, three sons and three d a u g h ters, lon g past child h ood a g e. C olonel B ull w as in receip t o f tw o pensions, Im perial and C olon ia l. T he C olonel’ s d om estic record is, perhaps, unique in fa m ily h istories. M r. M cL eod B u ll w rote in D ecem ber last, “ I f you warn a n y dates re m y fa th er's life, le t m e know , and I w ill find them fo r yott^ H e arrived in N ew South TVales in IS 42, and took ch arge at 18 M ile H o l lo w (first), and then on to B lackheath, a s soon as the house w as bu ilt, reliev in g Captain D ay— SOth R egim en t. I w as born there in 1847. T h ere a re s ix o f us still alive, X b ein g the y o u n g e s t". *• • • T h e old su rv eyors o f the thirties, S ir T h om as M itchell— then know n as M ajor M itchell— W illia m R om aine G o- vett, . w ho d iscovered the fa m ou s “ G ovett’ s Leap, and others, in the absen ce o f d istin ctiv e landm arks, gave the h ollow s or valleys, w ith t h e -m ile age, in all their road su rveys. T hus “ 17 M ile H ollow ” is now Linden, “ 18 M ile H o llo w " B u ll's Cam p, “ 20 M ile H o llo w " W ood ford , and “ 24 M ile H o l lo w ’ * L a w son . * * • M r. M cL eod B u ll w as so good as to send m e the nam es, ages, and addresses o f his fa m ily . Please, in th is c o n n ection, rem em ber th at Colonel B u ll
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