In 1813, the prolonged drought to which the little settlement had been subjected, led to a most serious view being taken of the future. The stock had now attained dimensions, when the yearly increase was something considerable, compared to the narrow strip of grazing lands that supported the herds. It was an evident necessity to find fresh territory speedily, or great loss would inevitably ensue. Three of the settlers interested in stock-breeding, made another attempt to cross the range during this year. They were: William Charles Wentworth, whose name is so familiar to Australians, Lieutenant Lawson, of the Royal Veteran Company, and Mr. Gregory Blaxland. They crossed the Nepean at Emu Plains, and attempted to follow up a main spur forming the watershed of the Grose, and for a time successfully pursued its twists and windings, keeping to the crown of the ridge. At last, like all their predecessors, they began to get entangled in the intricate net-work of deep gullies that rendered straightforward travelling so difficult in this region. Like them, they commenced to think advance impossible, and to speak of turning back. Passages had to be cut through the thick brushwood for their pack horses, circuitous roads found around steeps too precipitous to scale, and the purpose of the journey seemed hopelessly lost. They had succeeded in crossing the first outwork of the mountains, but the Main Range had yet to be won. At length they fortunately hit upon a dividing spur, leading to the westward, and this they perseveringly followed, until they were rewarded by reaching the summit, and seeing below them a comparatively open valley, and beyond, chains of hills, broken it is true, but only trifling compared to what they had passed over. It was a work of time and much labour to gain access to this valley. The mountain they had ascended was steep and rugged, and great care had to be exercised in descending. But fatigue was not much thought of with their hopes so happily fulfilled.
At the bottom of the valley they found a running stream and good pasture, beyond this point they proceeded about six or eight miles in order to ascertain the extent of their discoveries, and then returned, having been absent one month.
The creek found by Blaxland and party was one of the tributaries of the Nepean, so that granted that a range had been crossed, access had been only obtained to the higher waters of a coast river. But although this important journey fell short of one of the great aims of western exploration, namely the discovery of a river flowing to the west, it was the immediate cause of the expedition being undertaken that led to the finding of the Macquarie.
George William Evans, Deputy-Surveyor of Lands, can certainly claim the honour of first discovering an Australian inland river; but Blaxland and his companions led the way across the hardest portion of the course.
As may well be believed, the tidings brought back by the exploring party created great excitement in the small community. No longer would the mountainous barrier frown defiance at them; for over thirty years it had successfully resisted all their attempts, but its time had come; the march to the west had at last commenced. On receipt of the news, Governor Macquarie sent out Mr. Evans with a party to at once follow up this discovery and find out what lay beyond. Evans crossed the Nepean on the 20th of November, and in six days arrived at the spot where the last party had turned back. Striking westward, he found a broken, hilly country, which was, however, well grassed and watered, presenting little hindrance to his progress, and on the 30th of the month, he struck the head of a stream holding a distinctly western course. Following this down, he found it joined by another from the south, and below the junction he gave the new found river the name of the Macquarie.
So promising was the country that he continued his course until the 18th December, when finding the river, now of a fair magnitude, still flowing steadily north-west, and not being prepared for a very prolonged absence, he turned back and retraced his steps, arriving at the Nepean on the 8th January, 1814. Strange to say, during the whole time of his absence in this hitherto untrodden waste, the only natives seen by the party were four women and two children.
This most successful termination of the work commenced by Messrs. Blaxland, Lawson, and Wentworth, and the confirmation of the hopes that had been entertained, led to more active steps being at once initiated.
Mr. Cox was entrusted with the superintendence of the work of constructing a public road across the range, following much the same route as that taken by the first explorers; and this work was completed early in the year 1815, and on the 26th April of the same year the Governor and a large staff set out to visit the new territory, and arrived there on the 4th May.
Meantime, Mr. Evans was again sent out to the south-west, and once more he was successful, returning with tidings of the discovery of the Lachlan River. He was absent nearly a month, and met the Governor and suite on their arrival at Bathurst Plains.
The course of the Lachlan being nearly due west, it was selected as the most likely river of the two to lead immediately to the navigable waters of the interior, which everybody now firmly believed in; but a delay of nearly two years occurred before an expedition was formed to carry into effect the purpose of following it down with boats.