With regard to the shipwrecked men, it may be here mentioned that
their conviction at the time they were found was, that they were to the
south of Sydney, somewhere in the neighbourhood of Jarvis Bay.
Oxley's work and his life too were now almost at a close. He died at
Kirkham, his private residence, near Sydney, on the 25th of May, 1828. He
had been essentially a successful explorer, for although he had not in
every case attained the issue aimed at, he had always brought his men
back in safety, and had opened up vast tracts of new country. [See
Appendix.]
The journey made by Messrs. Hume and Hovell across to Port Phillip has a
character of its own, being the first successful trip undertaken from
shore to shore, from the eastern to the southern coast. The expedition
originated from a somewhat wild idea that entered the head of that
unpopular governor Sir Thomas Brisbane.
Surveyor-General Oxley, not having determined the question as to whether
any large rivers entered the sea between Cape Otway and Spencer's Gulf,
excepting to his own satisfaction, Sir Thomas Brisbane bit upon the
scheme of landing a party of prisoners near Wilson's Promontory, and
inducing them, by the offer of a free pardon and a land grant, to find
their way to Sydney overland; and that they should have a better chance
of eventually turning up, it was recommended that an experienced bushman
should be put in charge of them.
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