On Suspect Terrain: Journals Of Exploration In The Blue Mountains - Ross Brownscombe

Who were the first European explorers into the Blue Mountains? Were they convicts escaping harsh punishment or looking for a paradise on the other side of the mountains? Were they naturalists and collectors, eager to observe new animals and plants and to see what other mysteries were hidden in recesses of the mountains that rose steeply on the other side of the Hawkesbury River? How many were rich, land-owning gentlemen looking for a bit of sport and a spot of fishing? More importantly, were they 'agents of empire'? Did they come at the bidding of bureaucrats in London, to appropriate the biological wealth of a wilderness untouched by Europeans?

Here, in the first-ever comprehensive study of early colonial exploration in the Blue Mountains we meet these men for ourselves. And also, published together for the first time are their journals, transcribed word-for-word to capture the flavour of the hard work and difficult country and the frontier encounters with the First Australians. In addition each journal is accompanied by extensive annotations that explain the context of each journey, provide crucial biographical detail and allow the reader to follow each journey step-by-step through the country, most of which thankfully is much the same now as it was then.

Author: Ross Brownscombe

ISBN 0 646 43876 X