|
Clement Hodgkinson (1818 – 5 September 1893) was a notable English naturalist, explorer and surveyor of Australia. He was Victorian Assistant Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey from 1861 to 1874. == Exploration in New South Wales == Qualified as a civil engineer, Hodgkinson left England in 1839 intending to become a pastoralist.〔Wright, R., (2002), ‘Hodgkinson, Clement, in R. Aitken and M. Looker (eds), ''Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens'', South Melbourne, Oxford University Press, p. 306.〕 After his arrival, he bought into a cattle station near Kempsey, north of Sydney. A year later, the New South Wales colonial government hired Hodgkinson to survey and explore the northeastern areas of New South Wales as far as Moreton Bay. In March 1841 he explored the upper reaches of the Nambucca and Bellinger rivers, becoming in the process the first European to make contact with the local Aborigines there. He then followed the Macleay, Clarence, Hastings, Richmond and Tweed river valleys, visiting Port Macquarie, Brisbane and Moreton Bay. After returning to England, he published an account of his explorations, ''Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay'', in 1845. In it he included observations about the Aboriginal tribal life he had witnessed and the natural history of the areas he had explored, such as this description of rainforest: "''... the peculiar appearance of the brush is principally caused by the countless species of creepers, wild vines, and parasitical plants of singular conformation, which, interlaced and intertwined in inextricable confusion, bind and weave together the trees almost to their summits, and hang in rich and elegant flowering festoons from the highest branches. The luxuriant and vigorous character of the brush, on alluvial land, in the northern part of the territory of New South Wales, cannot be surpassed in any tropical region. When this brushland is cleared, and cultivated, its fertility seems inexhaustible ...''" Hodgkinson concluded the chapter on his encounter with the Aborigines with the following observation: "''... indeed I think that all endeavours to make them adopt more settled habits will be useless, for what great inducement does the monotonous and toilsome existence of the labouring classes in civilized communities offer, to make the savage abandon his independent and careless life, diversified by the exciting occupations of hunting, fighting, and dancing.''" He described the Bellinger River valley as "contain() the finest cedar and rosewood I have ever seen" and noted the fierce defence local Aboriginal tribes would put up against encroachment from timber cutters. When Hodgkinson later returned to the valley, members of the Yarrahappinni accompanied him to assure the locals that his intentions were benign. After exploring the southwest region of Sydney, He was able to secure a foothold in the Kirkham Rise Estate, to which, after a long drawn out tender process construction of a Bazyaric home will begin. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Clement Hodgkinson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|