John Oxley - 1 "< When Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth crossed the Blue Mountains in 1813 they proved that Australia had an ample amount of good, fertile farmland. The Macquarie Plains, near Bathurst were quickly taken up by farmers. Farmers and communities need water to survive. Early farms and settlements had to be set up close to rivers. But where did the western rivers run to? Perhaps to a vast inland sea. Governor Macquarie (the Governor known as ‘the Builder’) gave his Surveyor General, John Oxley, the job of following the Lachlan River to its end, With a party of twelve men, some packhorses and portable boats he set out to trace the river's course on 24 March 1817. With some men in the boats and others on the bank leading the horses, they followed the river until May 1817 when it became ‘intersected by swamps and lagoons in every direction’ (near present day Condoblin) ‘Travelling overland in a southerly direction he again came to part of the Lachlan (near the current day town of Hillston) but was once again forced to turn away by the impenetrable marshes. Oxley returned to Sydney, greatly disappointed. In May 1818, Oxley made a second attempt to solve the ‘riddle of the rivers’ by following the course of the Macquarie River. Once again, the river disappeared in swamps and Oxley wrote that he believed they were ‘in the vicinity of an inland lake or sea... filing up from the higher lands’. Oxley turned eastward and after crossing the Warrumbungle Mountains, found and named Port Macquarie and the Hastings River before returning to Sydney. He was involved in several other expeditions of exploration including one to Moreton Bay, the site of modern day Brisbane. For many years, however, his belief that Australia’s centre held a huge inland sea, though not proved, was shared by many other people. If this belief was true it could mean that the area could be turned into a fertile garden. The riddle of the rivers had to be solved. wonwsicgroup.com.au 28 ric