A lovely copy of Clement Hodgkinson's account of the rich lands and northern rivers of New South Wales and southern Queensland. This and the earlier narrative of Oxley are the two great accounts of this region, and both were keen observers of local Aboriginal life, making it a notable and detailed record of Aboriginal life before the disruption brought by extensive European settlement and land-clearing.

A lovely copy of Clement Hodgkinson's account of the rich lands and northern rivers of New South Wales and southern Queensland. This and the earlier narrative of Oxley are the two great accounts of this region, and both were keen observers of local Aboriginal life, making it a notable and detailed record of Aboriginal life before the disruption brought by extensive European settlement and land-clearing.

Between 1840 and 1842 the government of New South Wales contracted Hodgkinson, a promising young engineer and surveyor, to explore and chart the northern river lands between Port Macquarie and Moreton Bay. His expedition was the first extensive exploration of the area since its discovery by Oxley over twenty years previously. In 1843 Hodgkinson returned to England where he published this account. After several years working as an engineer in Europe, he returned to Australia in 1851 and joined the Surveyor-General's office in Victoria where he settled until his passing in 1893. Wantrup notes the significance of this book and the scarcity of copies in fine condition: 'It is an interesting work, one of very few books relating to the exploration of this part of northern New South Wales, and it makes a suitable companion to the other Boone explorers… In fine original condition it is very scarce since the cloth is prone to splitting and fading and the text and plates often suffer from heavy foxing'.

Hodgkinson's book is readable throughout, with engaging accounts of his interactions with local Aboriginal peoples who assisted the party. In this regard the beautifully lithographed plates are of special interest, and include a corroboree, a war-dance, kangaroo hunting and a tense stand-off between two groups of heavily armed warriors. One exceptional plate depicts fishing waist deep with three-pronged spears in the Bellingen River, an evocative record of indigenous life in this unusually rich and abundant landscape.