Map of the discoveries in Australia copied from th…

First edition of this important and highly detailed, c.19th hand coloured engraved map of southern Australia by John Arrowsmith (1790-1873), showing the extent of geographical knowledge and inland exploration published in London on 15 February 1834.

The map delineates the nineteen counties of New South Wales, all outlined and named, and extends geographically from Moreton Bay in present-day Queensland, south and west to Coffin Bay and Spencer Gulf in South Australia. Its principal focus is the Murray–Lachlan–Murrumbidgee river system, depicted in accordance with Charles Sturt’s expeditions, including his descent of the Murray River to its mouth at Encounter Bay in 1830, an achievement that fundamentally reshaped contemporary understanding of Australia’s interior drainage.

The map records exploration routes with exceptional clarity, including a tabulated reference identifying the tracks and mileage of twelve major journeys undertaken between 1817 and 1830. These include the expeditions of John Oxley (1817, 1818), Mark John Currie (1823), Hamilton Hume (1824), Allan Cunningham (1823, 1825, 1826, 1827, 1828, 1829), and Charles Sturt (1828, 1830). Additional exploration routes not listed in the table are also engraved on the map, notably those of Thomas Mitchell during his 1831–32 journeys northwards to the Darling River via the Gwydir and Karaula rivers. Although previously misattributed in some references, these tracks correctly represent Mitchell’s work rather than Cunningham’s, who was in England at the time. Aboriginal river names, including Dumaresque (or Karaula) and Gwydir (or Kindur), are recorded alongside European nomenclature, reflecting the synthesis of Indigenous knowledge and colonial exploration.

Topographical and geological observations appear throughout, including notes on river widths, soil conditions, sulphate of lime deposits along the Murrumbidgee, sandy soils west of the Murray, and descriptions such as “low unbroken country” south of the Murrumbidgee. The Great Dividing Range is shown discontinuously, labelled variously as the Australian Alps or White Mountains and the Blue Mountains, with northern sections left unnamed, underscoring the incomplete state of contemporary knowledge. Eastern-flowing rivers are mapped in greater detail from Port Macquarie south to Broulee, while westward-flowing inland rivers are tentatively traced based on exploratory reports.

The map also incorporates an inset of south-western Western Australia, extending from Cape Leschenault on the west coast to Mount Barren on the south coast, showing the routes of Captain Bannister from Perth to Point Nuyts and Ensign Dale’s 1830 expedition eastwards to Mount Stirling. This inset remained unchanged throughout subsequent states of the map, indicating its perceived reliability and completeness at the time of publication.

In the Port Phillip region, then still part of New South Wales, the only inland detail shown is Hamilton Hume’s route from the Murrumbidgee to Port Phillip, crossing the Hume (later Murray), Ovens and Goulburn rivers. Notably, this map presents the first depiction of the upper Murray River, including a southern tributary named the Oxley River. The southern coastline from Indented Head westwards to Cape Northumberland is rendered as uncertain, reflecting ongoing coastal survey work.

Significant new information appears in South Australia, derived from Captain Collet Barker’s surveys of 1831, particularly along the eastern shore of the Gulf of St Vincent. Mount Barker replaces Mount Lofty, the Hays Range is introduced, and several streams entering the gulf are named, including the Sturt River, Ponkepurringa Creek and Waccondilly Creek. Descriptive notes such as “rich plains,” “undulating grassy forest,” and “low woody country” convey contemporary assessments of agricultural potential. Granite Island anchorage is named at the Murray mouth, and a new stream is shown entering Encounter Bay just west of the river.

Across New South Wales, numerous additions of place names appear within and beyond the settled counties, including Burruwa Plains, Cunningham Plains, Boree on the Lachlan, Bungandon on the Molonglo, and emerging settlements, inns, and river names across counties such as St Vincent, Murray, King, Roxburgh, Camden, Cook, Wellington, Gloucester, Hunter and Cumberland. These cumulative changes reflect rapid colonial expansion and consolidation during the late 1820s and early 1830s.

Arrowsmith, J. The London Atlas of Universal Geography.  London