In 1813, a long and severe drought at Sydney threatened to cause the destruction of much cattle, and roused a number of gentlemen to attempt the enterprise of forcing a way through the Blue Mountains, which hemmed in the country round that city. These gentlemen were, Lieutenant Lawson, of the Royal Veteran Company, Mr. Blaxland, and Mr. W. C. Wentworth, the son of Mr. D'Arcy Wentworth, a gentleman who has since risen to such eminence in the colony. Their success was complete, and is expressed in the following passages from the introduction to Mr. Oxley, the Surveyor-General of the colony's account of his own expedition in pursuance of their discoveries:—

“They crossed the Nepean River at Emu Plains, and ascending the first range of mountains, were entangled among gullies and deep ravines for a considerable time, insomuch that they began to despair of ultimate success.

At length they were fortunate enough to find a main dividing range, along the ridge of which they travelled, observing that it led them westward. After suffering many hardships, their distinguished perseverance was at length rewarded by the view of a country, which at first sight promised them all they could wish.

“Into this land of promise they descended by a steep mountain, which Governor Macquarie has since named Mount York; a mountain found to be 795 feet above the valley at its foot, which was named by the Governor the Vale of Clwydd, from its resemblance to the Welsh valley of that name.