The Australian explorers; their labours, perils, and achievements: being a narrative of discovery, from the landing of Captain Cook to the centennial year

George Grimm

Sujets

• Australia
• Explorers

Informations

• Publié par: les_archives_du_savoir
• Nombre de lectures: 6
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 11 Mo

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DIEGOCALIFORNIA SANUNIVERSITY OF
92410032318223THE
AUSTRALIAN EXPLORERS
THEIR
LABOURS, PERILS, AND ACHIEVEMENTS
BEING A MREATIYE OF DISCOVERY FROM THE LANDING OF CAPTAIN
COOK TO THE CENTENNIAL YEAR
BY
GEORGE GRIMM, M.A.
MINISTER OF ST, PAUL S, BALMAIN WEST, SYDNEY AND; TUTOR IN
APOLOGETICS AND SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY TO THE PRESBY-
TERIAN CHURCH OF NEW SOUTH WALES
GEORGE ROBERTSON & COMPANY
MELBOURNE AND SYDNEY
1S8S
xO'w1>LL
TO THE MEMORY
OF THE LATE
JOHN DUNMORE LANG, D.D.
IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE
OF MUCH PLEASANT INTERCOURSE
THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBEDPREFACE.
ExplorationThe Story of the of Australia is
one which we cannot willingly let die. There are
many reasons for keeping alive the remembrance of
heroic deeds. It is due to the memory of thosesuch
men who took their lives in their hands, and, in many
cases, laid their bones in the desert ; it is an act of
on our part, who have enteredgratitude on their
labours and it is a kind of information indispensable;
Australian who desires to know the historyto every
there isof his country. And yet great danger of their
being practically forgotten. The time when the
of discovery was reapedharvest has faded into the
past, and a generation is growing up not well
informed on these most interesting adventures and
achievements. Nor are the sources ofinformation easily
obtainable by those who purposely put themselves on
the search. The journals of the explorers, never too
plentiful, have now become scarce. They are only
occasionally met with in private hands, where they
IcrabK'are, for good reasons, held as a treasure. A consi(
number of these works are to be found in the Sydney
School of Arts, but they have been withdrawn from
circulation, and are now kept for special reference
only, in a glass case, under lock and key. The;
VI PREFACE.
Government Library contains the best collection
extant, but even there it has been deemed necessary to
adopt restrictive regulations, with givingthe view of
the books a longer lease of existence. This scarcity
of the sources of information, and these restrictions
which fence in the few that remain, may be accepted
as a sufficient plea for the effort here made to
popularize the knowledge wouldthey contam. But I
warn the reader not to expect from this small volume
what it does not profess give. In sense does itto no
pretend to be elaborate or exhaustive. I have had to
study brevity for another reason than its being the
soul of wit. It would pleasant taskhave been a to
write long descriptions of Australian scenery, and to
follow the explorers even into the by-paths of their
journeys; but the result would have been just what I
have had to avoid—a bulky volume. Yet, such as it
is, manI hope the book will be found acceptable to the
of business, who can neither afford to be ignorant of
this subject nor find time to enter into its minutijB
to the youth of our country, who cannot obtain access
reader, whoto the original sources ; and to the general
desires to be told in simple, artless language the main
outlines of this fascinating story.
connectedHaving written on a subject in no waj'
with my profession, I may be allowed to say, in a
word, how my thoughts came to be diverted into this
have been sochannel. Probably they would never
directed to any great extent had it not happened that
the duty led me into the tracks of several ofpath of