Expanding the colonies There was much hardship in the Explorers played a big role in early days of European settlement shaping Australia in the 1800s. in Australia. There was not a lot of Their discoveries made it possible good farming land and there was to expand the colonies, find new a shortage of food for the growing grazing land, build railways and numbers of people who had roads, and set up river transport. settled in Sydney. Flinders and Sturt Some explorers were sent to make charts or maps of parts of Australia. Matthew Flinders was the first person to circumnavigate Australia. Between 1802 and 1803, Flinders sailed around Australia and was able to prove that the east and west were joined together. His charts were used to make a map Matthew Flinders Charles Sturt of Australia. Many explorers, such as Charles Sturt in 1829, went in search of an inland sea, which they thought Sample pagesmust exist. This would have made it easier to bring livestock and other supplies to inland Australia and expand the colonies. But of course there was no Matthew Flinders’s map of Australia inland sea to be found! 6 M01_EP05_REA_7707_NF2.indd 6 28/11/13 2:25 PM Hume, Hovell and Mitchell Sometimes places were named In 1824, Hamilton Hume and after the explorers that found William Hovell found land suitable them, such as Lake Eyre, named for farming and grazing in Victoria. after the explorer Edward Eyre. Their discoveries led to the Other places were named in settlement of the Port Phillip area honour of someone important. and the founding of Melbourne. For example, the Darling River In 1836, Thomas Mitchell found was named after Governor Darling grazing land in western Victoria. of New South Wales. Matthew Many people quickly moved to Flinders gave Kangaroo Island Victoria when his discoveries its name because of the large became known. number of kangaroos on the island. Charles Sturt gave the What’s in a name? Stony Desert its name because it’s Many places and rivers were a stony desert! named during explorations. Sample pages Thomas Mitchell The Sturt Stony Desert 7 M01_EP05_REA_7707_NF2.indd 7 28/11/13 2:25 PM.