Mr Cunningham discovers a pass through the mountains – Pandora’s Pass
5th June 1823
On this day, 5th June 1823, Allan Cunningham and his team of men found a practicable opening in the mountains and named it Pandora’s Pass.
Although his horses were considerably reduced in strength, and his provisions were running short, by reducing the rations which gave him a little more time, he determined on pushing forward north-westerly for a short period; and at length, on the 5th June, he was rewarded for his toils and anxieties by the discovery of a practicable opening in the mountains, that afforded him the means of descending to the long-sought Liverpool plains, and which he most appropriately called Pandora’s Pass, from the hope it gave him of its ultimately becoming the great route of communication between the settlers at Bathurst and on Hunter’s River, and the future inhabitants of Liverpool plains. The latitude of [p279] his tent in the valley immediately below the pass, was 31º 43′ 45″ S., and longitude by estimation 149º 30′ E. 1