Allan Cunningham. Manuscript of 'A brief view of the progress of interior discovery in New South Wales,' published in Journal of Royal Geographical Society of London (154pp.), 1832

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File 5

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The manuscript begins with a survey of early exploration in New South Wales, including the crossing of the Blue Mountains (1813), the expeditions of John Oxley and George Evans, the penetration of the Monaro, and the journey of William Hovell and Hamilton Hume to Port Phillip Bay (1824). The bulk of the paper is devoted to the explorations of Cunningham in 1827-29, when he traversed the Liverpool Plains, discovered the Darling Downs and Gwydir River, and examined the country near Moreton Bay and the Brisbane River. His explorations were followed by the journeys of Charles Sturt of the country between the Macquarie and Darling Rivers and his descent along the Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers to Encounter Bay (1828-30). At the end of the paper Cunningham sums up the current geographical knowledge of New South Wales and suggests possible future expeditions along the Darling River and to the country north-west of Moreton Bay.

The paper, which has some deletions and corrections, was subsequently published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, vol. 2, 1832, pp. 99-132.

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