<P> In 1824 the Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane, commissioned Hamilton Hume and former Royal Navy Captain William Hovell to lead an expedition to find new grazing land in the south of the colony, and also to find an answer to the mystery of where New South Wales's western rivers flowed . Over 16 weeks in 1824--25, Hume and Hovell journeyed to Port Phillip and back . They made many important discoveries including the Murray River (which they named the Hume), many of its tributaries, and good agricultural and grazing lands between Gunning, New South Wales and Corio Bay, Victoria . </P> <P> Charles Sturt led an expedition along the Macquarie River in 1828 and discovered the Darling River . A theory had developed that the inland rivers of New South Wales were draining into an inland sea . Leading a second expedition in 1829, Sturt followed the Murrumbidgee River into a' broad and noble river', the Murray River, which he named after Sir George Murray, secretary of state for the colonies . His party then followed this river to its junction with the Darling River, facing two threatening encounters with local Aboriginal people along the way . Sturt continued down river on to Lake Alexandrina, where the Murray meets the sea in South Australia . Suffering greatly, the party had to then row back upstream hundreds of kilometres for the return journey . </P> <P> Surveyor General Sir Thomas Mitchell conducted a series of expeditions from the 1830s to' fill in the gaps' left by these previous expeditions . He was meticulous in seeking to record the original Aboriginal place names around the colony, for which reason the majority of place names to this day retain their Aboriginal titles . </P> <P> The Polish scientist / explorer Count Paul Edmund Strzelecki conducted surveying work in the Australian Alps in 1839 and became the first European to ascend Australia's highest peak, which he named Mount Kosciuszko in honour of the Polish patriot Tadeusz Kosciuszko . </P>

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