Consequently, exploration and the ensuing occupation were,
as in the parent colony, strictly confined to the immediate neighbourhood
of the township, to the Swan River, and its tributaries, the Avon and the
Canning.
Lieutenant Roe attempted several journeys to the eastward, and discovered
many salt lakes on the tableland of the interior. Messrs. Bunbury,
Wilson, and Moore made other explorations, more or less succeeding in the
purposes they had in view; but they all embraced so small an area, and so
little details have been preserved, that they cannot take any important
rank in the history of continental explorations.
During the twenties another settlement had been formed on the northern
coast of Australia; but one not destined to drag out a very long
existence.
Captain Gordon Bremer, in the TAMAR, accompanied by two transports,
sailed through Torres Straits and anchored in Port Essington, in 1824.
The port was, however, at that time condemned as a site for a settlement,
the supply of fresh water did not come up to expectations, and the dry
months of the year had set in. Bremer sailed for Melville Island, one of
twin islands lying off the coast.
Pages:
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200