reached it on his earlier trip. Both Hovell and Hume were publicly rebuked for the error of not identifying Western Port correctly since they were now implicated by association with the wasted expense of setting up a new settlement there based upon their fulsome recommendations of the value of the region. Return to Sydney Relations between the "currency lad" (first-generation Australian) Hume and the aloof Englishman Hovell had deteriorated, and they raced each other back to Sydney to claim credit for their discoveries. They arrived in January, 1825, and were both rewarded with large land grants by Governor Brisbane. They later published conflicting accounts of the journey, each claiming leadership. The Hume and Hovell expedition disproved the widely held view that the interior of Australia was an uninhabitable wilderness. They found abundant well-watered grazing land between the Murrumbidgee and the Murray, on the huge fertile coastal plains around Port Phillip, and then on the plains across North Eastern Victoria all the way to the Murray River during their return journey. It took another thirteen years for settlers from New South Wales to follow their route in 1837, and only after the richness of the territory was confirmed by Sir Thomas Mitchell in 1836. Some parts of their route formed the Hume Highway from Sydney to Melbourne via Albury. The route Monuments Within the Greater Melbourne area, monuments commemorating the route of the Hume and Hovell expedition can be found at Beveridge, Greenvale, St. Albans, Werribee and Lara. There are also monuments in other locations in north-eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales. Appin, New South Wales Myrtleford Beveridge, Victoria This Beveridge Monument and interpretive panel was built in 1999, at the foot of Mount Fraser, to mark the location from which Hume & Hovell first sighted the sea. The original monument, erected in 1924, is on private land nearby. Ebden, Victoria Ebden, Victoria Euroa, Victoria Monument at Euroa. Gunning, NSW Lara, Victoria Monument at Lara. Murmungee, Victoria Monument at Murmungee, VIC Notes References Hume and Hovell, 1824. Edited by Alan E. I. Andrews: Blubber Head Press, Hobart, 1981. 1824 in Australia 1825 in Australia Exploration of Australia History of Victoria (Australia) History of Australia (1788–1850) Australian expeditions