ed his first wife, Janet Melvill. In
1802 he was appointed Deputy Surveyor-General, and came to Australia in
H.M.S. Buffalo, in order to take up his official duties. It was while he
held this post that he carried out his work of exploration.

When he returned from these explorations, he resumed his duties as Deputy
Surveyor-General only, until he was permanently settled in Tasmania,
where he remained in office until the year 1825, when he resigned in
disgust at his treatment by his superiors.

Evans lived at a time when official jealousies were rife, and men in
position often heedless of the justice or veracity of their statements
when influenced by party rancour. The machinations of a cabal led by
Governor Arthur, and an effort made to deprive him of his well-deserved
pension, necessitated Evans's departure for England to defend his claims.
In this he was only partially successful, for the pension which it was
understood was for life, was stopped in 1832. He returned to Tasmania,
and passed the rest of his days at his residence, Warwick Lodge, at the
head of Newtown Bay. He died at the age of seventy-four, and is buried in
the old cemetery, Hobart; his second wife, Lucy Parris, rests in the same
grave.

Evans was a clever draughtsman, and some of his sketches of the country
explored are reproduced in Oxley's journal. He also published a book
entitled History and Description of the Present State of Van Diemen's
Land.

It was on Saturday, the 20th of November, 1813, that Evans, in charge of
five men, one of whom had been with Blaxland's party, started from the
point of forest land on the Nepean known as Emu Island. He lost no time
in following the tracks of the late expedition, leaving the measurement
until his return. On Friday, the 26th, he reached Blaxland's furthest
point, and thenceforward passed over new ground. It is somewhat amusing
to note that his opinions of the country when on his outward way and on
his homeward, are widely divergent. He candidly and ingenuously writes,
after he has been on the table-land:--

"What appeared to me fine country on my first coming to it, looks
miserable now after returning from so superior and good a country."

On Tuesday, the 30th of November, he gained a ridge that he had had in
view for some time, though he had been "bothered" by the hills in his
efforts to reach it. From this ridge he caught a tantalising view, a
glimpse of the outskirts of the vast interior.

There