Australia Twice Traversed, The Romance of Exploration
by
Ernest Giles
Part 10 out of 11
with any expectation of getting water again, for when we left, the
water had ceased to drain in, and there were only a few pints of thick
muddy fluid left in the tank at the end of our three days' rest. The
place might well be termed the centre of silence and solitude; despair
and desolation are the only intruders here upon sad solitude's
triumphant reign. Well may the traveller here desire for more
inhabited lands; rather to contend with fierce and warlike men; to
live amongst far noisier deaths, or die amid far louder dangers! I
often declare that:--
"I'll to Afric lion haunted,
Baboons blood I'll daily quaff;
And I'll go a tiger-hunting
On a thorough-bred giraffe."
Whenever we had east winds in this region, the weather was cool and
agreeable; but when they blow from any other quarter, it becomes much
hotter, and the flies return in myriads to annoy us. Where they get
to when an east wind blows, the east wind only knows.
Leaving Buzoe's Grave, which had proved a godsend to us, with a swarm
of eagles, crows, hawks, vultures, and at night wild dogs, eating up
her carcase, in four days' farther travel we neared the spot from the
west, where the Alfred and Marie Ranges lie. The first sight of these
ranges from the east, had cost my former horse expedition into this
region so dear. I could not help believing that the guiding hand of a
gracious Providence had upon that occasion prevented me from obtaining
my heart's desire to reach them; for had I then done so, I know now,
having proved what kind of country lay beyond that, neither I nor any
of my former party would ever have returned. Assuredly there is a
Providence that shapes our ends, rough hew them how we will. These
hills were in reality much lower than they appeared to be, when looked
at from the east; in fact, they were so low and uninteresting, that I
did not investigate them otherwise than with field-glasses. We passed
by the northern end, and though the southern end was a little higher,
I could see that there were no watering-places possible other than
chance rock receptacles, and of these there were no signs. At the
northern end we came upon a small shallow kind of stony pan, where a
little rain-water was yet lying, proving that the rains we had
experienced in May, before leaving the western watershed, must have
extended into the desert. We reached this drop of water on the 25th of
June, and the camels drank it all up while we rested on the 26th.
After five days' more travelling over the same kind of desert as
formerly described, except that the sand-mounds rose higher yet in
front of us, still progressing eastwards, the well-remembered features
of the Rawlinson Range and the terrible Mount Destruction rose at last
upon my view.
On reaching the range, I suppose I may say that the exploring part of
my expedition was at an end, for I had twice traversed Australia; and
although many hundreds of miles had yet to be travelled before we
should reach the abodes of civilisation, the intervening country had
all been previously explored by myself. For a full account of my
former explorations into this region, I must refer my reader to the
chapters on my second expedition. The first water we reached in the
Rawlinson Range was at a rock-hole about ten miles eastwards from the
Circus water, the place from whence Gibson and I started to explore to
the west. His death, the loss of all the horses, and my struggles to
regain my depot on foot, are they not written in the chronicles of
that expedition?
On reaching my former depot at Fort McKellar, I found the whole place
so choked up with shrubs and bushes, that it was quite impossible to
camp there, without wasting a week in cutting the vegetation away,
although it had formerly been sufficiently open for an explorer's
camp. The spring was running as strong as ever. The bridge had been
washed away. However, at less than a mile from it, there was Tyndall's
Spring, with an open shady space, among the clump of fine gum-trees,
which gave us an excellent camping-place. Here the camp remained for
some days. A line of green bulrushes fringed this spring. While the
main party camped here, I once more tried to find some remains or
traces of my lost companion Gibson, taking with me only Tommy Oldham.
It was quite a forlorn hope, as Gibson had gone away with only one
horse; and since we reached the range, we had passed over places where
I knew that all the horses I then had with me had gone over the
ground, but no signs of former horse-tracks could be seen, therefore
the chance of finding any traces of a single animal was infinitesimal.
Tommy and I expended three days in trying to discover traces, but it
was utterly useless, and we returned unsuccessful to the depot.
Singular to say, on this attempt I found a place west from the end,
the Rawlinson Range, where there were some rock-holes on a grassy
mulga flat, but we did not require the water, as the camels would not
drink. Had I come upon this spot when I was in this region before, it
might have saved Gibson and all the horses that were lost with him. I
called this little watered spot, Tommy's Flat; the latitude of it is
24 degrees 52' 3". It bears 9 degrees south of west from a peculiar
red sandhill that is visible from any of the hills at the western
extremity of the Rawlinson Range; and lies in a flat or hollow between
the said red sandhill, and the nearest of a few low stony hills, about
four miles farther away to the west. On visiting the Circus, I found
the water-hole was full and deep. This was very different from its
state when I had seen it last. The recording eagle still was sitting
immovable on his crag, Prometheus-like, apparently chained to the
rock.
On the 11th of July, the main party having been encamped at Tyndall's
Springs for seven days, we departed for Sladen Water, at the Pass of
the Abencerrages. All the other places previously mentioned on the
range, had plenty of water running on for ever, though at the Pass the
supply was rather lower than I had seen it previously. There was,
however, quite enough for all our requirements. The little sweet-water
spring was bubbling up, and running over as of yore. Both at Fort
McKellar and here I found that the bones of the horses we had smoked
and eaten had been removed by the natives, or wild dogs. At Fort
McKellar the smoke-house frame had either fallen or been knocked down;
while here, at the Pass, the natives had removed the timber, and
placed portions of it in different places and positions. We saw none
of the natives belonging to the range, although their smokes were a
very short distance away. Sladen Water was always a favourite spot
with me, and we rested a day at it for old association's sake.
On the 14th of July we left the place, and travelled along my former
route, via Gill's Pinnacle, and all the other watering-places
mentioned in my preceding narrative. The Petermann Range looked green
and beautiful. It had evidently been visited by rains. A portion of
the Rawlinson and the Petermann Ranges were the only spots for
hundreds of miles of which this could be said. The Hull here runs near
the boundary of the two colonies of South, and Western Australia, and
crossing it, we entered the former province once more. When nearly at
the eastern end of the Petermann--that is to say, close to Mount
Phillips--we camped in Winter's Glen, where the whole tribes of the
Petermann were located. They instantly armed themselves, and
endeavoured to prevent our progress. Several of them recognised me,
and I them; for in my first visit to this range, with Tietkens, we had
three encounters with them. They evidently intended mischief again;
but they kept off until morning, and we then, being in full marching
order, with our firearms in our hands, and all walking alongside of
the camels and ready for attack, managed to pass away from them
without a collision. Leaving their country behind us, we went via the
Sugar-loaf, and thence to the Musgrave Ranges, not now revisiting the
marvellous Mount Olga; we entered the range near Glen Watson. There
was plenty of water in the glen, but the country, in general, about
the range, was in a very dry state. As, however, it has permanent
springs, we had no difficulty from want of water. When nearly at the
eastern end of the Musgrave Range, a number of natives came to
interview the caravan, and actually pulled some coats and blankets off
Nicholls's and Tommy's riding camels, and ran away with them. They had
previously begged Nicholls to shoot kangaroos for them, thereby
showing that they remembered the use of firearms, which formerly I had
been compelled to teach them.
(ILLUSTRATION: GLEN FERDINAND.)
I was away from the party when this robbery was committed. Near the
eastern end of this range it will be remembered I had formerly
discovered a large watercourse, with a fine spring running along its
bed, which I called the Ferdinand; here we encamped again. From hence
I determined to reach the South Australian Telegraph Line upon a new
route, and to follow the Ferdinand, which runs to the south. A mass of
hills that I had formerly seen and named the Everard Ranges, lay in
that direction, and I desired to visit them also. At and around the
water at Glen Ferdinand, as well as at other places on this range,
considerable quantities of dung, old tracks, and sleeping camps of
cattle were found, but no live animals were seen.
After resting a day at Glen Ferdinand we departed, following the banks
of the creek. Just at leaving, an old black man and two lads made
their appearance. This old party was remarkably shy; the elder boy
seemed a little frightened, and didn't relish being touched by a white
man, but the youngest was quite at his ease, and came up to me with
the audacity and insouciance of early youth, and pulled me about. When
I patted him, he grinned like any other monkey. None of them were
handsome; the old man was so monkey-like--he would have charmed the
heart of Professor Darwin. I thought I had found the missing link, and
I had thoughts of preserving him in methylated spirits, only I had not
a bottle large enough.
Following the channel of the Ferdinand nearly south, we came to some
limestone rises with one or two native wells, but no water was seen in
them. The country was good, grassy, nearly level, with low, sandy,
mulga rises, fit for stock of any kind. There were a few detached
granite hills, peeping here and there amongst the tree-tops. The
creek-channel appeared to run through, or close to, some of the hills
of the Everard Ranges; and I left it to visit them. At one of the
outcropping granite mounds, at about forty-eight miles from Glen
Ferdinand, Alec Ross found a large native well, which bore 12 degrees
east of south from Mount Ferdinand, a conspicuous point overlooking
the glen. We did not require to use this well, but there was plenty of
water in it. Arriving at the first hills of the Everard, I found they
were all very peculiar, bare, red, granite mounds, being the most
extraordinary ranges one could possibly imagine, if indeed any one
could imagine such a scene. They have thousands of acres of bare rock,
piled up into mountainous shapes and lay in isolated masses, forming
something like a broken circle, all round a central and higher mass.
They have valleys filled with scrubs between each section. Numerous
rocky glens and gorges were seen, having various kinds of shrubs and
low trees growing in the interstices of the rocks. Every thing and
every place was parched, bare, and dry. We searched in many places for
water without success.
At length some natives made their appearance, and showed us where
water could be had by digging. This was a most disagreeable and
awkward spot to get the camels to, but after a great deal of labour in
making a tank, and rolling boulders of rock out of the way, we were
enabled to give them a drink. There was but a very poor supply.
The water we got here was in a small gum-creek under the highest hill
in the centre of the group upon its northern face. The summit of the
hill above it bore 21 degrees east of south, from Mount Ferdinand, in
the Musgrave Ranges, and it is sixty-four miles from my camp at Glen
Ferdinand water. Alec and Tommy searched for, and found, some other
water in rock-holes at the back or south side of this central hill,
nearly three miles round. Several more natives came to the camp, and
some of them worked a little at watering the camels, but were greatly
scandalised at seeing them drink such enormous quantities, and no
doubt, in their heart of hearts, they were grieved that they had shown
us the place. And in order to recoup themselves in some measure for
their romantic generosity, they quietly walked away with several
unconsidered trifles out of the camp, such as ration bags, towels,
socks, etc. These thefts always occur when I am away. I made one old
gentleman who took some things disgorge his loot, and he and his
friend who had dined with us went away, in the last stage of
displeasure. There are apparently but few natives about here just now;
had there been more of them we might have had some trouble, as indeed
I subsequently had at the rock-holes at the back of this hill.
The following day we went round to Alec's rock-holes, intending to
have dinner, water the camels if they would drink, and fill our casks
before plunging again into the scrubs that extended everywhere to the
south. To the east a flat-topped, bluff-faced hill was visible. While
we were at dinner several natives came and assisted us, and pointed in
a direction a little west of south, where they said water existed. The
whole space round the foot of the rocks here is choked up with a thick
and vigorous growth of the native fig-trees, which grow somewhat like
banyan-trees, except that suckers do not descend from the upper
branches and take root in the ground alongside the parent stem; but
the roots of this tree run along the rocks to find crevices with soil,
and then a fresh growth springs up; in general it does not grow very
high, twenty feet is about the limit. There was a small creek channel,
and mulga scrubs to the west of it, that grew right up to the bank,
and any party camping here would be completely hemmed in. I am
particular in describing the place, as on a subsequent occasion,
myself and the party then with me, escaped death there. I will relate
the circumstances further on. Now we left the place after dinner, and
the natives accompanied us; we camped in mulga scrubs at about ten
miles from the rocks. These young darkies seemed very good, and
friendly fellows; in all wild tribes of Australian natives, the boys
and very young men, as well as the girls and women, seem to take
immediately to white men. The young children, however, are generally
very much frightened; but it is the vile and wicked old men that are
the arch-villains of the piece, and who excite the passions of the
juniors of the tribe to commit all sorts of atrocities.
These fellows were the best of friends with my men and myself; we were
laughing and joking and generally having a good time. I amused them
greatly by passing a stick through my nose; I had formerly gone
through an excruciating operation for that purpose, and telling them I
once had been a black fellow. They spoke but little English, and it
was mostly through a few words that Alec Ross knew, of the Peake,
Macumba, or Alberga tribes that we could talk to each other at all.
After this we got them map-making on the sand. They demonstrated that
the Ferdinand, which we had left, and had still on our right or west
of us, running south, swept round suddenly to the eastwards and now
lay across the country in front of us; that in its further progress it
ran into, and formed a lake, then continuing, it at last reached a big
salt lake, probably Lake Eyre; they also said we should get water by
digging in the sand in the morning, when we struck the Ferdinand
channel again. Soon after we started and were proceeding on our
course, south 26 degrees west, from the rock-water, the natives all
fell back and we saw no more of them. In twenty miles we came to the
creek, and turning down its channel eastwards we found the well of
which they had told us. There was plenty of water in it, no doubt, but
we did not require it. The well seemed rather deep. We followed the
creek for some distance, at length it became very undefined, and the
gum timber disappeared. Only a few acacia bushes now indicated the
flow of the water over the grassy mulga flats, which wound about so
much around sandhills in the scrub, that I left the creek, and pushed
on now for the South Australian Telegraph Line.
I will now give a rapid account of what I said was a narrow escape
from death at those rock-holes we had just left. I may say in passing,
that what I have recorded as my travels and explorations in Australia
in these volumes, are probably not half of what I have really
performed, only I divide them under the two headings of public and
private explorations.
In the month of December, 1882, I was in this part of the world again.
During the six years that had elapsed since my last visit in 1876, a
survey party had reached these ranges on a trigonometrical survey, and
upon its return, the officer in charge reported having had some
trouble and a collision with the natives of the Everard Range. I
suppose my second visit occurred two years after that event. I was
accompanied on that journey by a very young friend, named Vernon
Edwards, from Adelaide, and two young men named Perkins and Fitz, the
latter being cook, and a very good fellow he proved to be, but Perkins
was nothing of the sort. I had a black boy named Billy, and we had
twelve camels. I approached the Everard Range from the south-westward,
having found a good watering-place, which I called Verney's Wells, in
that direction. There, we met a lot of natives who did not belong to
the Everard Range tribes. At Verney's Wells we had a grand corrobboree
in the warm moonlight; my young men and black boy stripped themselves,
and young and old, black and white, danced and yelled, and generally
made the night hideous with their noise till early morning. After the
ball a grand supper was laid for our exhausted blackmen and brothers.
The material of this feast was hot water, flour, and sugar mixed into
a consistent skilly. I had told the cook to make the gruel thick and
slab, and then pour it out on sheets of bark. Our guests supplied
themselves with spoons, or rather we cut them out of bark for them,
and they helped themselves ad lib. A dozen pounds of flour sufficed to
feed a whole multitude. We left Verney's Wells and made up to the well
in the Ferdinand that I have just mentioned. This we opened out with
shovels, and found a very good supply of water. From thence we
proceeded to my old dinner-camp at the range, where, as I said before,
the whole space about, was filled up with fig-trees. Almost
immediately upon our appearance, we heard the calls and cries and saw
the signal smokes, of the natives. We had to clear a space for the
camp and put up an awning. The water in the two lower holes was so low
that the camels could not reach it, nor could we get enough out with a
bucket. There was plenty of water in the holes above, and as it was
all bare rock we set to work, some of the natives assisting, to bale
the water out of some of the upper holes and splash it over the rocks
into the lower. The weather was very hot, and some of the old men sat
or lay down quite at their ease in our shade. The odours that exude
from the persons of elderly black gentlemen, especially those not
addicted to the operation of bathing, would scarcely remind one of the
perfumes of Araby the Blest, or Australia Felix either, therefore I
ordered these intruders out. Thereupon they became very saucy and
disagreeable, and gave me to understand that this was their country
and their water--carpee--and after they had spoken in low guttural
tones to some of the younger men, the latter departed. Of course I
knew what this meant; they were to signal for and collect, all the
tribe for an attack. I could read this purpose in their glances. I
have had so much to do with these Australian peoples that, although I
cannot speak all their languages--for nearly every ten miles a totally
different one may be used--yet a good deal of the language of several
tribes is familiar to me, and all their gestures speak to me in
English. I could at any rate now see that mischief was brewing. Near
sundown we spread a large tarpaulin on the ground to lay our blankets,
rugs, etc., to sleep on. When I had arranged my bed, several old men
standing close by, the master-fiend, deliberately threw himself down
on my rugs. I am rather particular about my rugs and bedding, and this
highly though disagreeably perfumed old reptile, all greasy with
rotten fat, lying down on and soiling them, slightly annoyed me; and
not pretending to be a personification of sweetness and light, I think
I annoyed him a great deal more, for I gave him as good a thrashing
with a stick as he ever received, and he went away spitting at us,
bubbling over with wrath and profanity, and called all the tribe after
him, threatening us with the direst retribution. They all went to the
west, howling, yelling, and calling to one another.
Young Verney Edwards was always most anxious to get a lot of natives'
spears and other weapons, and I said, "Now, Verney, here's a chance
for you. You see the blacks have cleared out to the west, now if you
go up the foot of the hill to the east, the first big bushy tree you
see, you will find it stuck thick with spears. You can have them all
if you like. But," I added, "it's just suppertime now, you had better
have supper first." "Oh no," he said, "I'll go and get them at once if
you think they are there," and away he went. I was expecting the enemy
to return, and we had all our firearms in readiness alongside of us on
the tarpaulin where we sat down to supper. I had a cartridge-pouch
full of cartridges close to my tin plate, and my rifle lay alongside
also. Jimmy Fitz, Perkins, Billy the black boy, and I, had just begun
to eat when we heard a shot from Verney's revolver. I did not take
very much notice, as he was always firing at wallaby, or birds, or
anything; but on another shot following we all jumped up, and ran
towards him. As we did so we heard Verney calling and firing again;
Perkins seized my cartridge pouch in his excitement, and I had to get
more cartridges from my saddle. In the meantime shots were going off,
howls and yells rent the air, and when I got up the enemy had just
formed in line. Another discharge decided the conflict, and drove them
off.
When Verney left the camp he found a bushy tree, as I had told him,
stuck full of spears, and while he was deliberating as to which of
those weapons he should choose, being on the west side of the bush, he
suddenly found himself surrounded by a host of stealthy wretches, most
of whom were already armed, all running down towards the camp. Some
ran to this bush for their weapons, and were in the act of rushing
down on to the camp, and would have speared us as we sat at supper, at
their ease, from behind the thick fig-trees' shelter. Verney was so
astounded at seeing them, and they were so astounded at seeing him,
that it completely upset their tactics; for they naturally thought we
were all there, and when Verney fired, it so far checked the advance
column, that they paused for a second, while the rear guard ran up.
Then some from behind threw spears through the bush at Verney. He
fired again, and called to us, and we arrived in time to send the
enemy off, as fast as, if not faster, than they had come. It was a
very singular circumstance that turned these wretches away; if Verney
hadn't gone for the spears, they could have sneaked upon, and killed
us, without any chance of our escape. We must have risen a good deal
in their estimation as strategists, for they were fairly
out-generalled by chance, while they must have thought it was design.
After the dispersion, they reappeared on the top of the rocks some
distance away, and threw spears down; but they were too far off; and
when we let them see how far our rifle bullets could be sent, they
gave several parting howls and disappeared.
I decided to keep watch to-night; there was a star passing the
meridian soon after eleven, and I wished to take an observation by it.
I told the others to turn in, as I would watch till then. Nearly at
the time just mentioned, I was seated cross-legged on my rugs facing
the north, taking my observation with the sextant and artificial
horizon, when I thought I saw something faintly quivering at the
corner of my left eye. I kept the sextant still elevated, and turned
my head very slowly half way round, and there I saw the enemy,
creeping out of the mulga timber on the west side of the little creek
channel, and ranging themselves in lines. It was a very dusky, cloudy,
but moonlight night. I dared not make any quick movement, but slowly
withdrawing my right hand from the sextant, I took hold of my rifle
which lay close alongside. A second of time was of the greatest
importance, for the enemy were all ranged, and just ready balancing
their spears, and in another instant there would have been a hundred
spears thrown into the camp. I suddenly put down the sextant, and
having the rifle almost in position, I grabbed it suddenly with my
left hand and fired into the thickest mob, whereupon a horrible
howling filled the midnight air. Seizing Verney's rifle that was close
by, I fired it and dispersed the foe. All the party were lying fast
asleep on the tarpaulin, but my two shots quickly awoke them. I made
them watch in turns till morning, with orders to fire two rifle
cartridges every half hour, and the agony of suspense in waiting to
hear these go off, kept me awake the whole night, like Carlyle and his
neighbours' fowls.
Our foes did not again appear. At the first dawn of light, over at
some rocky hills south-westward, where, during the night, we saw their
camp fires, a direful moaning chant arose. It was wafted on the hot
morning air across the valley, echoed again by the rocks and hills
above us, and was the most dreadful sound I think I ever heard; it was
no doubt a death-wail. From their camp up in the rocks, the chanters
descended to the lower ground, and seemed to be performing a funereal
march all round the central mass, as the last tones we heard were from
behind the hills, where it first arose.
To resume: we left the almost exhausted channel of the Ferdinand, and
pushed on for the Telegraph Line. In the sandhills and scrub we came
upon an open bit of country, in latitude 27 degrees 35' 34", and found
a shallow well, at which we encamped on the evening of August 11th. In
sixty miles farther, going nearly east by north, the nature of the
country entirely altered; the scrubs fell off, and an open stony
country, having low, flat-topped ridges or table-lands, succeeded.
This was a sure indication of our near approach to the Telegraph Line,
as it is through a region of that kind, that the line runs in this
latitude. I turned more northerly for a waterhole in the Alberga,
called Appatinna, but we found it quite dry. There were two decrepit
old native women, probably left there to starve and die by their
tribe. I gave them some food and water, but they were almost too far
gone to eat. From thence, travelling south-easterly, we came upon the
Neale's River, in forty miles. At twenty miles farther down the
Neale's, which was quite dry as far as we travelled on it, going
easterly, we arrived at Mount O'Halloran, a low hill round whose base
the Trans-Continental Telegraph Line and road sweeps, at what is
called the Angle Pole, sixty miles from the Peake Telegraph Station.
We were very short of water, and could not find any, the country being
in a very dry state. We pushed on, and crossed the stony channel of a
watercourse called the St. Cecilia, which was also dry. The next water
that I knew of, between us and the Peake, was a spring near Hann's
Creek, about thirty miles from the Peake. However, on reaching Hann's
Creek, we found sufficient water for our requirements, although it was
rather brackish. Moving on again we reached the Peake Telegraph
Station on the 23rd of August, and were most cordially received and
welcomed by my old friend Mr. Chandler, Mr. Flynn, the police trooper,
and every one else at that place.
CHAPTER 5.5. FROM 23RD AUGUST TO 20TH SEPTEMBER, 1876.
Depart for the south.
Arrive at Beltana.
Camels returned to their depot.
The Blinman Mine.
A dinner.
Coach journey to the Burra-Burra Mines.
A banquet and address.
Rail to Adelaide.
Reception at the Town Hall.
A last address.
Party disbanded.
Remarks.
The end.
Being among such good friends at the Peake, we naturally remained a
few days before we left for Adelaide; nothing remarkable occurred on
the road down. At Beltana the camels were returned to their depot. The
Blinman Copper Mine is about thirty miles from there, and was then,
the terminus of the mail coach line from Adelaide. The residents of
the Blinman invited Alec Ross and myself to a dinner, presided over by
my very good friend Mr. J.B. Buttfield, the Resident Police
Magistrate. Then we all took the mail coach, and reached the
Burra-Burra Copper Mines, on the evening of the next day. Here a
banquet was held in our honour, at which a number of ladies attended,
and I was presented with a very handsome address. The Burra Mines are
a hundred miles from Adelaide.
Next day we took the train for the city. At the town of Gawler, or, as
it used to be called, Gawlertown, twenty-five miles from the
metropolis, a number of gentlemen were assembled to welcome us on the
platform. Our healths were drank in champagne, and an address
presented to me. Pursuing our journey, Adelaide was reached by midday.
A number of people were waiting the arrival of the train, and when we
alighted we were welcomed with cheers. Carriages were in attendance to
take us to the Town Hall, where we were welcomed by Caleb Peacock,
Esquire, the Mayor,--who first invited us to refreshments, and then
presented us to the citizens, who were crowded in the large hall. Mr.
Peacock made a very eloquent and eulogistic speech, and presented me
with a very handsome address on behalf of himself, the Corporation,
and the citizens of Adelaide. The next day the party was disbanded,
and the expedition was at an end.
A few closing remarks, I suppose I may make. We again joined the great
family of civilised mankind; and if I have any readers who have
followed my story throughout its five separate phases, I may account
myself fortunate indeed. A long array of tautological detail is
inseparable from the records of Australian, as well as any other
exploration, because it must be remembered that others, who come
after, must be guided by the experiences and led to places, and
waters, that the first traveller discovers; and am I to be blamed if I
have occasionally mixed up my narrative with an odd remark, anecdote,
or imaginative idea? These, I trust, will not in my reader's opinion
detract from any merits it may possess. I have collected many
thousands of plants and hundreds of entomological and geological
specimens; a great portion of the list of the former and all of the
latter have unfortunately been lost, only a list of plants collected
during my first and second expeditions now remains, which appears at
the end of these volumes.
It is with regret I have had to record the existence of such large
areas of desert land encountered in my travels in Australia. The
emigrant, however, need have no fear on that account. The scenes of
his avocations will be far removed from them. They are no more a check
to emigration now than fifty years ago. As a final remark, I may say
my former companion in the field, Mr. W.H. Tietkens, has just returned
from a fresh exploration of the country in the vicinity of Lake
Amadeus, and the report of his travels should be looked forward to
with pleasure by all who take any interest in our Colonial
dependencies.
If my narrative has no other recommendation, it may at least serve to
while away a vacant hour, and remind my readers of something better,
they have read before. It was not for what I had written, that I hoped
to reap the good opinion of the world, but for what I have done, and
that I have recorded. Any one who is sufficiently interested to read
these pages, may well understand the trials and dangers that have
beset my path. The number of miles of previously unknown country that
I have explored reaches to the sum of many thousands. The time I
expended was five of the best years of my life. As a recognition of my
labours, I have received the Patron's Gold Medal of the Royal
Geographical Society of London; and the late King Victor Emanuel sent
me a decoration and diploma of Knighthood, of the Order of the Crown
of Italy.
To a man accustomed to camels for exploration, the beautiful horse
sinks into the insignificance of a pigmy when compared to his majestic
rival, the mighty ship of the desert, and assuredly had it not been
for these creatures and their marvellous powers, I never could have
performed the three last journeys which complete my public
explorations in Australia.
I have called my book The Romance of Exploration; the romance is in
the chivalry of the achievement of difficult and dangerous, if not
almost impossible, tasks. Should I again be called on to enter the
Field of Discovery, although to scenes remote from my former
Australian sphere, I should not be the explorer I have represented
myself in these pages, if, even remembering the perils of my former
adventures, I should shrink from facing new. An explorer is an
explorer from love, and it is nature, not art, that makes him so.
The history of Australian exploration, though not yet quite complete,
is now so far advanced towards its end, that only minor details now
are wanting, to fill the volume up; and though I shall not attempt to
rank myself amongst the first or greatest, yet I think I have reason
to call myself, the last of the Australian explorers.
As a last remark, I may say the following lines may convey some of my
real feelings towards:--
AUSTRALIA.
What though no hist'ries old,
Rest o'er that land of gold;
And though no bard has told
Tales, of her clime:
What though no tow'r display,
Man's work of other days;
And, though her sun's bright rays
In the old time;
Gleam'd on no mighty fanes,
Built by the toiling pains
Of slaves, in galling chains,
In the earth's prime.
Hers is a new bright land;
By God's divine command,
Where each industr'us hand,
Willing to toil;
What though no song records,
Deeds of her martial hordes,
Who made, with conquering swords,
Heroes sublime.
Gathers the fruits of peace,
Gathers the golden fleece,
And the fair earth's increase,
From the rich soil.
Hers is a flow'ry crown;
Science and Hope look down
On each new glitt'ring town,
Whose structures rise;
And to Time's latest age,
Hers shall, the brightest page,
Written by bard or sage,
Be, 'neath the skies.
***
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
LIST OF PLANTS
COLLECTED BY ERNEST GILES, F.R.G.S.,
DURING HIS FIRST AND SECOND EXPLORING EXPEDITIONS,
1872-1874.
(ARRANGED BY BARON VON MUELLER.)
[Further arranged according to Flora of South Australia, Author:
J.M. Black and Supplement (1965).]
DILLENIACEAE:
Hibbertia glaberrima, F.M., Fragm. 3, 1.
Mount Olga, Glen of Palms.
[Brassicaceae =] CRUCIFERAE:
Menkea sphaerocarpa, F.M., Fragm. 8, 223.
Near Mount Olga.
[Lepidium oxytrichum] Lepidium papillosum, F.M. in Linnaea 25, 370.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
[Lepidium rotundum] Lepidium phlebopetalum, F.M., Plants of Vict. 1,
47.
Between the River Finke and Lake Eyre.
[Blennodia trisecta] Sisymbrium trisectum, F.M., Transact. Vict. Inst. 1,
114.
Near Lake Eyre and Mount Olga.
[Capparidaceae] CAPPARIDEAE:
Cleome viscosa, L. Sp. Pl., 938.
Rawlinson's Range.
[Capparis mitchellii] Capparis Mitchelli, Lindl. in Mitch. Three Exped.
1, 315.
MacDonnell's Range, Mount Udor.
[Pittosporaceae] PITTOSPOREAE:
Pittosporum phillyroides, Cand. Prodr. 1, 347.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga, also on Gosse's Range.
DROSERACEAE:
[Drosera indica] Drosera Indici, L. Sp., 403.
Rawlinson's Range.
[?] Drosera Burmanni, Vahl., Symb. 3, 50.
MacDonnell's Range.
[Polygalaceae] POLYGALEAE:
[?] Comesperma silvestre, Lindl. in Mitch. Trop. Austr., 342.
Between MacDonnell's and Gill's Ranges.
VIOLACEAE:
[?] Ionidium aurantiacum, F.M. in Benth. Fl. Austr. 1, 102.
MacDonnell's Range.
GERANIACEAE:
Oxalis corniculata L. Sp., 624.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
TILIACEAE:
[?] Corchorus sidoides, F.M., Fragm. 3, 9.
MacDonnell's Range.
MALVACEAE:
Hibiscus Farragei, F.M., Fragm. 8, 241.
MacDonnell's Range.
Hibiscus Sturtii, Hook. in Mitch. Trop. Austr., 363.
Rawlinson's Range.
[Hibiscus brachychlaenus] Hibiscus microchlaenus, F.M., Fragm. 2,
116.
Rawlinson's Range.
[Gossypium sturtianum] Gossypium Sturtii, F.M., Fragm. 3, 6.
On Mount Olga, also towards the Alberga, Gosse's Range, and
MacDonnell's Range.
[?] Abutilon diplotrichum, F.M. in Linnaea 25, 380.
Between Lake Eyre and the River Finke.
Abutilon halophilum, F.M. in Linnaea 25, 381.
Near Lake Eyre.
Sida cardiophylla, F.M., Fragm. 8, 242.
Rawlinson's Range.
[Sida platycalyx] Sida inclusa, Benth., Flor. Austr. 1, 197.
Rawlinson's Range, MacDonnell's Range.
Sida cryphiopetala, F.M., Fragm. 2, 4.
MacDonnell's Range.
Sida virgata, Hook. in Mitch. Trop. Austr., 361.
Mount Olga.
Sida petrophila, F.M. in Linnaea 25, 381.
MacDonnell's Range.
[Sida trichopoda] Sida corrugata, Lindl. in Mitch. Three Exped. 2, 13.
Lake Eyre, Mount Olga, Gosse's Range, MacDonnell's Range,
Lake Amadeus.
Malvastrum spicatum, As. Gr. Plant Fendl., 23.
Near Lake Eyre.
Plagianthus glomeratus, Benth. in Journ. of Linn. Soc. 6, 103.
Near Lake Eyre.
STERCULIACEAE:
[?] Keraudrenia nephrosperma, Benth., Fl. Austr. 1, 246.
Mount Olga, MacDonnell's Range.
[?] Keraudrenia Hookeriana, Walp. Annal. 2, 164.
MacDonnell's Range.
Rulingia magniflora F.M., Fragm. 8, 223.
Mount Olga.
[?] Rulingia loxophylla, F.M., Fragm. 1, 68.
MacDonnell's Range.
Brachychiton Gregorii, F.M. in Hook. Kew Mis. 9, 199.
Mount Stevenson, MacDonnell's Range, Carmichael's Creek,
Mount Udor. The specific position, in the absence of flowers and
fruit, not to be ascertained beyond doubts from the material
secured.
FRANKENIACAE:
Frankenia pauciflora, Cand. Prodr. 1, 350.
Lake Eyre, River Finke.
[Zygophyllaceae] ZYGOPHYLLEAE:
Tribulus terrestris, L. Sp., 554.
Rawlinson's Range.
Tribulus Hystrix, R. Br., App. to Sturt's Centr. Austr., 6.
Near Lake Amadeus.
[Zygophyllum aurantiacum] Zygophyllum fruticulosum, Cand. Prodr. 1,
705.
Near Lake Eyre.
SAPINDACEAE:
Atalaya hemiglauca, F.M. in Benth. Fl. Austr 1, 463.
MacDonnell's Range and Lake Amadeus.
Dodonaea viscosa, L. Mantiss., 231
Alberga, Mount Olga, Rawlinson's Range, Barrow's Range, D.
microzyga, F.M., Plants of Stuart's Exped., 1862. page 12, is
known from the Neale River.
[?] Diplopeltis Stuartii, F.M., Fragm. 3, 12.
MacDonnell's Range.
[Phytolaccaceae] PHYTOLACCEAE:
Codonocarpus cotinifolius, F.M., Plants of Vict. 1, 200.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
Gyrostemon ramulosus, Desf. in Mem. Du Mus. 6, 17, t. 6.
Glen of Palms.
[Gyrostemon australasicus] Cyclotheca Australasica, Mog. in Cand.
Prodr. 13, Sect. 2, 38.
Mount Olga, Rawlinson's Range, Barrow's Range.
[Caryophyllaceae] CARYOPHYLLEAE:
Polycarpaea corymbosa, Lam. 3, N., 2798.
Glen of Palms.
[Aizoaceae] FICOIDEAE:
Trianthema crystallina, Vahl., Symb. 1, 32.
Near Lake Eyre.
Aizoon zygophylloides, F.M., Fragm. 7, 129.
Between Lake Eyre and the River Finke.
[Portulacaceae] PORTULACEAE:
[Calandrinia balonensis] Calandrinia Balonnensis, Lindl. in Mitch.
Trop. Austr., 148.
MacDonnell's Range.
Portulaca oleracea, L. Sp. Pl., 638.
Towards MacDonnell's Range.
[Chenopodiaceae] SALSOLACEAE:
Rhagodia nutans, R. Br., Prodr., 408.
Lake Eyre.
Rhagodia spinescens, R. Br., Prodr., 408.
Lake Eyre.
Chenopodium carinatum, R. Br., Prodr., 407.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
Babbagia dipterocarpa, F.M., Rep. on Babb. Pl., 21.
Lake Eyre.
Kochia villosa, Lindl. in Mitch. Trop. Austr., 91.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
[Amaranthaceae] AMARANTACEAE:
Hemichroa mesembryanthema, F.M., Fragm. 8, 38.
Lake Eyre.
[Amaranthus mitchellii] Euxolus Mitchelli, Amarantus Mitchelli, Benth.,
Fl. Austr. 5, 214.
Lake Eyre.
Alternanthera nodiflora, R. Br., Prodr., 417.
MacDonnell's Range.
Ptilotus obovatus, F.M., Fragm. 6, 228.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga; MacDonnell's and
Rawlinson's Ranges.
[Ptilotus polystachyus] Ptilotus alopecuroides, F.M., Fragm. 6, 227.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
Ptilotus nobilis, F.M., Fragm. 6, 227.
Mount Olga.
Ptilotus Hoodii, F.M., Fragm. 8, 232.
Mount Olga.
Ptilotus helipteroides, F.M., Fragm. 6, 231.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga; also Barrow's Range.
[Ptilotus gaudichaudii] Ptilotus hemisteirus, F.M., Fragm. 6, 231.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
[Nyctaginaceae] NYCTAGINEAE:
[Boerhavia repanda] Boerhaavia repanda, Willd., Sp. Pl., 1, 22.
Lake Eyre.
[Boerhavia diffusa] Boerhaavia diffusa, L. Sp. Pl., 4.
Lake Amadeus.
[not a family] LEGUMINOSAE:
[Fabaceae (=Papilionaceae)]
Daviesia arthropoda, F.M., Fragm. 8, 225.
Mount Olga.
Brachysema Chambersii, F.M. in Benth. Fl. Austr. 2, 13.
Mount Olga; MacDonnell's Range.
Isotropis atropurpurea, F.M., Fragm. 3, 16.
Mount Olga.
[?] Burtonia polyzyga, Benth., Fl. Austr. 2, 51.
MacDonnell's Range.
[?] Mirbelia oxyclada, F.M., Fragm. 4, 12.
MacDonnell's and Rawlinson's Ranges.
Gastrolobium grandiflorum, F.M., Fragm. 3, 17.
Glen of Palms.
Psoralea patens, Lindl. in Mitch. Three Exped. 2, 9.
Between Lake Eyre and Mount Olga. P. balsamica is known
from MacDonnell's Range.
[Crotalaria cunninghamii] Crotalaria Cunninghami, R. Br., App. to
Sturt's Exped., 8.
Rawlinson's Range.
Crotalaria dissitiflora, Benth. in Mitch. Trop. Austr. 386.
Lake Eyre.
[Clianthus dampieri] Clianthus Dampierii, A. Cunn. in Trans. Hort. Soc.
Lond., Sec. Ser. 1, 522.
Mount Whitby.
Swainsona phacoides, Benth. in Mitch. Trop. Aust., 363.
MacDonnell's Range.
Swainsona unifoliolata, F.M., Fragm., 8, 226.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga; also on Rawlinson's
Range. Several other species of Swainsona, but in an imperfect
state, occur in the collection, also a species of Tephrosia.
Lotus Australis, Andr., Bot. Reg., t. 624.
Lake Eyre.
[?] Caulinia prorepens, F.M., Fragm. 8, 225.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
[?] Indigofera monophylla, Cand. Prodr. 2, 222.
MacDonnell's Range.
Indigofera brevidens, Benth. in Mitch. Trop. Austr., 385.
Between Lake Eyre and the River Finke; also Glen of Palms,
MacDonnell's Range, Rawlinson's Range, between Mount Olga
and Barrow's Range. (I. villosa is also known from MacDonnell's
Range.)
Erythrina Vespertilio, Benth. in Mitch. Trop. Austr., 218.
MacDonnell's Range, Mount Udor.
[Caesalpiniaceae]
[?] Bauhinia Leichhardtii, F.M. in Transact. Vict. Inst. 3, 50.
Occurs also in many of the central regions of the continent.
Cassia notabilis, F.M., Fragm. 3, 28.
Mount Olga, Rawlinson's Range.
Cassia venusta, F.M., Fragm. 1, 165.
MacDonnell's Range.
Cassia pleurocarpa, F.M., Fragm. 1, 223.
Between Lake Eyre and the River Finke; also between the
Alberga and Mount Olga, MacDonnell's Range.
Cassia desolata, F.M. in Linnaea 25, 389.
Mount Olga, Rawlinson's Range.
Cassia artemisioides, Gaud. in Cand. Prodr. 2, 495.
From the Alberga to Mount Olga and Barrow's Range.
Petalostylis labicheoides, R. Br., App. to Sturt's Centr. Austr., 17.
Glen of Palms; between the Alberga and Mount Olga, and
towards Barrow's Range.
[Mimosaceae]
[Acacia victoriae] Acacia Sentis, F.M. in Journ. Linn. Soc. 3, 128.
Between Mount Olga and Barrow's Range.
[Acacia maitlandii] Acacia patens, F.M. in Journ. Linn. Soc. 3, 120.
Mount Olga and MacDonnell's Range.
[?] Acacia spondylophylla, F.M., Fragm. 8, 243.
Glen of Palms; MacDonnell's and Rawlinson's Ranges.
[?] Acacia lycopodifolia, A. Cunn. in Hook. Icon., 172.
MacDonnell's Range.
[?] Acacia minutifolia, F.M., Fragm. 8, 243.
Mount Olga.
Acacia strongylophylla, F.M., Fragm. 8, 226.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga, Glen of Palms,
MacDonnell's Range.
Acacia salicina, Lindl. in Mitch. Three Exped. 2, 20.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga, MacDonnell's Range;
also towards Lake Amadeus and Barrow's Range.
Acacia aneura, F.M. in Linnaea 26, 627.
Between Mount Olga and Barrow's Range.
Numerous other species of Acacia were gathered, but not found in
flower or fruit, hence are not with certainty referable to the respective
species of this great genus.
EUPHORBIACEAE:
[?] Adriana tomentosa, Gaud. in Ann. Sc. Nat., Prem. Ser. 6, 223.
From the Alberga to Mount Olga, MacDonnell's Range, Barrow's
Range.
[Euphorbia drummondii] Euphorbia Drummondi, Boiss., Cent. Euph.,
14.
Finke's River.
[Euphorbia clutioides] Euphorbia eremophila, A. Cunn. in Mitch. Austr.,
348.
Lake Eyre; MacDonnell's Range.
[Urticaceae] URTICEAE:
Ficus platypoda, A. Cunn. in Hook. Lond. Journ. 6, 561.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga, Ayers Range, Gill's
Range.
[?] Ficus orbicularis, A. Cunn. in Hook. Lond. Journ. 7, 426.
Glen of Palms.
Parietaria debilis, G. Forst., Prodr., 73.
Mount Olga.
RHAMNACEAE:
Spyridium spathulatum, F.M. in Benth. Fl. Austr. 1, 430.
Glen of Palms.
MYRTACEAE:
[Calytrix longiflora] Calycothrix longiflora, F.M., Fragm. 1, 12.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga; MacDonnell's Range.
Thryptomene Maisonneuvii, F.M., Fragm. 4, 64.
On Mount Olga, also towards the Alberga.
[Micromyrtus flaviflora] Thryptomene flaviflora, F.M., Fragm. 8, 13.
MacDonnell's Range.
[?] Baeckea polystemonea, F.M., Fragm. 2, 124.
MacDonnell's Range.
Eucalyptus pachyphylla, F.M. in Journ. Linn. Soc. 3, 98.
Glen of Palms.
STACKHOUSIACEAE:
Macgregoria racemigera, F.M. in Caruel's Giorn., 1873, page 129.
MacDonnell's Range; between Mount Olga and Barrow's Range.
[?] Stackhousia megaloptera, FM., Fragm. 8, 35.
MacDonnell's Range.
CUCURBITACEAE:
[Melothria maderaspatana] Mukia scabrella, Arn. in Hook. Journ. 3,
276.
Rawlinson's Range.
[Cucumis melo] Cucumis trigonus, Roxb., Flor. Indic. 3, 722.
MacDonnell's Range.
LORANTHACEAE:
[Lysiana exocarpi] Loranthus Exocarpi, Behr in Linn. 20, 624.
Musgrave Range.
SANTALACEAE:
Santalum lanceolatum, R. Br., Prodr., 256.
Mount Olga, Rawlinson's Range, Lake Amadeus.
Santalum acuminatum, A. de Cand. Prodr. 14, 684.
Mount Olga, MacDonnell's Range, Mount Udor, Lake Amadeus,
Musgrave Range, Fort Mueller, Petermann's Range.
[Anthobolus leptomerioides] Anthobolus exocarpoides, F.M., Fragm.
9, ined.
MacDonnell's Range.
PROTEACEAE:
[Hakea francisiana] Hakea multilineata, Meissn. in Lehm. Pl. Preiss.
2, 261.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
[Hakea suburea] Hakea lorea, R. Br., Prot. Nov., 25.
Glen of Palms, MacDonnell's, Petermann's, and Rawlinson's
Ranges.
Grevillea stenobotrya F.M., Fragm. 9, ined.
MacDonnell's Range.
Grevillea juncifolia, Hook. in Mitch. Trop. Austr., 341.
Glen of Palms, MacDonnell's Range, Mount Olga, and towards
the Alberga.
Grevillea pterosperma, F.M. in Trans. Phil. Soc. Vict. 1, 22.
Mount Olga.
[?] Grevillea Wickhami, Meissn. in Cand. Prodr. 14, 380.
Glen of Palms, Gosse's Range, MacDonnell's Range; towards
Lake Amadeus.
[Thymelaeaceae] THYMELEAE:
Pimelea trichostachya, Lindl. in Mitch. Trop, Austr., 355.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga, Gosse's Range.
Pimelea ammocharis, F.M. in Hook. Kew Misc. 9, 24.
Between Mount Olga and Barrow's Range.
[Apiaceae =] UMBELLIFERAE:
[Trachymene glaucifolia] Didiscus glaucifolius, F.M. in Linnaea 25,
395.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
Hydrocotyle trachycarpa, F.M. in Linnaea 25, 394.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
RUBIACEAE:
Pomax umbellata, Soland. in Gaertn. Fruct. 1, 112.
MacDonnell's Range.
[Canthium latifolium] Plectronia latifolia, Benth. et Hook. Gen. Pl. 2,
110.
MacDonnell's Range.
[Asteraceae =] COMPOSITAE:
[?] Aster subspicatus, F.M., Fragm. 5, 68.
MacDonnell's Range.
[Aster stuartii] Aster megalodontus, F.M., Fragm. 8, ined.
Mount Olga.
[?] Aster Ferresii, F.M., Fragm. 5, 75.
MacDonnell's Range.
Calotis lappulacea, Benth. in Hueg. Enum., 60.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
[Pluchea rubelliflora] Pluchea Eyrea, F.M., Rep. on Babb. Pl., 2.
Mount Olga, MacDonnell's Range.
[?] Minuria leptophylla, Cand. Prodr. 5, 298.
Between Lake Eyre and the River Finke, thence to Mount Olga
and Lake Amadeus.
Flaveria Australasica, Hook., in Mitch. Trop. Austr., 118.
Lake Eyre.
[Gnephosis skirrophora] Gnephosis codonopappa, F.M., Fragm. 9,
ined.
Beyond Lake Eyre.
Angianthus tomentosus, Wendl. Coll. 2, 31, t. 48.
Between Mount Olga and Barrow's Range.
[Calocephalus multiflorus] Calocephalus platycephalus, Benth., Fl.
Austr. 3, 576.
MacDonnell's Range.
Myriocephalus Stuartii, Benth., Fl. Austr. 3, 560.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
[Pterocaulon sphacelatum] Pterocaulon sphacelatus, Benth. et Hook.,
Gen. Pl. 2, 295.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga, also on Rawlinson's
Range.
Ixiolaena tomentosa, Sond. et Muell. in Linnaea 25, 504.
Lake Eyre.
[?] Helichrysum Thomsoni, F.M., Fragm. 8, 45.
MacDonnell's Range, Mount Olga.
Helichrysum Ayersii, F.M., Fragm. 8, 167.
Mount Olga.
Helichrysum semifertile, F.M., Rep. on Babb. Plants, page 14.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
[Helichrysum davenportii] Helichrysum Davenporti, F.M., Fragm. 3, 32.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
Helichrysum Cassinianum, Gaud. in Freyc. Voy. Bot., 466, t. 87.
MacDonnell's Range; also between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
[?] Helichrysum lucidum, Henck. Adumb. Ann., 1806.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga, Glen of Palms,
Rawlinson's Range.
Helichrysum apiculatum, Cand. Prodr. 6, 195.
Rawlinson's Range.
Helichrysum rutidolepsis, Cand. Prodr. 6, 194.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
[Helipterum stuartianum] Helipterum floribundum, Cand. Prodr. 6, 217.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
Helipterum Tietkensii, F.M., Fragm. 8, 227.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
[Helipterum albicans] Helipterum incanum, Cand. Prodr. 6, 215.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
Helipterum stipitatum, F.M. in Benth. Fl. Austr. 3, 643.
MacDonnell's Range.
Helipterum Charsleyae, F.M., Fragm. 8, 168.
Lake Amadeus.
Gnaphalium luteo-album, L. Sp. Pl., 1196.
Mount Olga.
Gnaphalium Japonicum, Thunb., Fl. Jap., 311.
Mount Olga.
Senecio Gregorii, F.M. in Greg. Rep. On Leich. Search, page 7.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga, MacDonnell's Range.
Senecio lautus, G. Forst., Prodr., 91.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
Senecio magnificus, F.M. in Linnaea 25, 418.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
[Erechtites runcinifolius] Erechtites picridioides, Turcz. in Bull. de
Mosc., 1851, part 1, 200.
Mount Olga.
Sonchus oleraceus, Linne, Sp. Pl., 1116.
Mr. Giles records this in his journal as abundant on the banks of
the Finke River, towards its source.
CAMPANULACEAE:
[?] Wahlenbergia gracilis, A. de Cand. Monogr. des Camp., 142.
Mount Olga, Barrow's Range, Lake Amadeus.
[?] Lobelia heterophylla, Labill. Specim. 1, 52, t. 74.
Between Mount Olga and Barrow's Range.
Isotoma petraea, F.M, in Linnaea 25, 420.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga, MacDonnell's Range.
[Goodeniaceae] GOODENOVIACEAE:
[Brunoniaceae]
Brunonia Australis, Sm. in Transact. Linn. Soc. 10, 367, t. 28.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga, MacDonnell's Range.
[Goodeniaceae]
[?] Goodenia Vilmoriniae, F.M., Fragm. 3, 19, t. 16.
Mount Olga.
Goodenia heterochila, F.M., Fragm. 3, 142.
Between Mount Olga and Barrow's Range.
[?] Goodenia Mueckeana, F.M., Fragm. 8, 56.
Between Mount Udor and Gill's Range, also on or near Mount
Olga.
Goodenia Ramelii, F.M., Fragm. 3, 20 t. 17.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga; also on Rawlinson's
Range and towards Barrow's Range.
Leschenaultia divaricata, F.M., Fragm. 3, 33.
Lake Amadeus.
[?] Leschenaultia striata, F.M., Fragm. 8, 245.
Mount Olga.
[Catosperma goodeniaceum] Catosperma Muelleri, Benth., Fl. Austr.
4, 83.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
Scaevola collaris, F.M., Rep. on Babb. Plants, 15.
Lake Eyre.
Scaevola spinescens, R. Br., Prodr., 568.
Lake Eyre.
Scaevola depauperata, R. Br., Append. to Sturt's Centr. Austr., 20.
MacDonnell's Range.
[Velleia connata] Velleya connata, F.M. in Hook. Kew Misc. 8, 162.
MacDonnell's Range.
[Stylidaceae] STYLIDEAE:
[?] Stylidium floribundum, R. Br., Prodr., 569.
MacDonnell's Range.
[Boraginaceae] ASPERIFOLIAE:
[?] Heliotropium asperrimum, R. Br., Prodr., 493.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga, MacDonnell's Range.
Heliotropium undulatum, Vahl., Sym. 1, 13.
Near Lake Eyre.
[Cynoglossum australe] Cynoglossum Drummondi, Benth., Fl. Austr. 4,
409.
On Mount Olga and towards the Alberga.
[Trichodesma zeylanicum] Trichodesma Zeilanicum, R. Br., Prodr.,
496.
From the Alberga to Mount Olga and MacDonnell's Range.
[?] Halgania anagalloides, Endl. in Ann. des Wien. Mus. 2, 204.
MacDonnell's Range.
Halgania cyanea, Lindl. Bot. Reg. 25, App., 40.
MacDonnell's and Petermann's Ranges.
[Lamiaceae =] LABIATIAE:
Plectranthus parviflorus, Henck. Adumb., 1806.
Between Mount Olga and Barrow's Range.
[?] Microcorys Macredieana, F.M., Fragm. 8, 231.
Rawlinson's Range.
Prostanthera striatiflora, F.M. in Linnaea 25, 425.
From the Alberga to Mount Olga; also on Gosse's Range and
MacDonnell's Range.
Prostanthera Wilkieana, F.M., Fragm. 8, 230.
Between Mount Olga and Barrow's Range.
Teucrium racemosum, R. Br., Prodr., 504.
Lake Eyre, Lake Amadeus, Finke River.
VERBENACEAE:
[Newcastelia bracteosa] Newcastlia bracteosa, F.M., Fragm. 8, 49.
MacDonnell's Range; between Mount Olga and Warburton's
Range; Gill's Range.
[Newcastelia cephalantha] Newcastlia cephalantha, F.M., Fragm. 9,
ined.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
[Newcastelia spodiotricha] Newcastlia spodiotricha, F.M., Fragm. 3,
21, t. 21.
MacDonnell's and Rawlinson's Ranges.
[Dicrastylis doranii] Dicrastylis Dorani, F.M., Fragm. 8, 230.
Rawlinson's Range.
[Dicrastylis exsuccosa] Dicrastylis ochrotricha, F.M., Fragm. 4, 161.
Between Mount Olga and Barrow's Range.
Dicrastylis Beveridgei, F.M., Fragm. 8, 50.
Between Mount Udor and Gill's Range, also on Mount Olga.
Dicrastylis Gilesii, F.M., Fragm. 8, 229.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga; Glen of Palms.
[Dicrastylis lewellinii] Chloanthes Lewellini, F.M., Fragm. 8, 50.
Mount Olga; MacDonnell's Range.
[Myoporaceae] MYOPORINAE:
[Eremophila macdonnellii] Eremophila Macdonnelli, F.M., Rep. on
Babb. Plants, 18.
Between Lake Eyre and the River Finke.
Eremophila Willsii, F.M., Fragm. 3, 21, t. 20.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga; Rawlinson's Range.
[Eremophila gilesii] Eremophila Berryi, F.M., Fragm. 8, 228.
Musgrave Range.
[Eremophila goodwinii] Eremophila Goodwini, F.M., Rep. on Babb.
Plants, 17.
Beyond Lake Eyre, Glen of Palms, MacDonnell's Range.
Eremophila maculata, F.M. in Papers of the Roy. Soc. of Tasm. 3,
297.
Lake Eyre.
[Eremophila glabra] Eremophila Brownii, F.M. in Papers of the Roy.
Soc. of Tasm. 3, 297.
MacDonnell's Range.
Eremophila Sturtii, R. Br., App. to Sturt's Centr. Austr., 85.
MacDonnell's Range.
Eremophila Gilesii, F.M., Fragm. 8, 49.
MacDonnell's Range.
Eremophila longifolia, F.M. in Papers of the Roy. Soc. of Tasm. 3,
295.
Gosse's Range; MacDonnell's Range.
[Eremophila serrulata] Eremophila latifolia, F.M. in Linnaea 25, 428.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
Eremophila alternifolia, R. Br., Prodr., 518.
Mount Olga.
Eremophila Latrobei, F.M. in Papers of the Roy. Soc. of Tasm. 3, 294.
Mount Olga; Rawlinson's Range; MacDonnell's Range.
Eremophila Elderi, F.M., Fragm. 8, 228.
Rawlinson's Range.
[?] Eremophila Hughesii, F.M., Fragm. 8, 228.
Rawlinson's Range.
[Eremophila gibsonii] Eremophila Gibsoni, F.M., Fragm. 8, 227.
Between Mount Olga and the Alberga.
Eremophila scoparia, F.M. in Papers of the Roy. Soc. of Tasm. 3, 296.
About Lake Eyre.
[Myoporum montanum] Myoporum Cunninghami, Benth. in Hueg.
Enum., 78.
Glen of Palms.
[Oleaceae] JASMINEAE:
Jasminum lineare, R. Br., Prodr., 521.
MacDonnell's Range; Gosse's Range.
[?] Jasminum calcareum, F.M., Fragm. 1, 212.
MacDonnell's Range.
CONVOLVULACEAE:
Convolvulus erubescens, Sims, Bot. Mag., t. 1067.
MacDonnell's Range.
Evolvulus linifolius, L. Sp. Pl., 392.
MacDonnell's Range.
[Bonamia rosea] Breweria rosea, F.M., Fragm. 1, 233.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga, Glen of Palms,
MacDonnell's Range.
BIGNONIACEAE:
[Pandorea doratoxylon] Tecoma Australis, R. Br., Prodr., 471.
Mount Olga, Rawlinson's Range.
[Asclepiadaceae] ASCLEPIADEAE:
Sarcostemma Australe, R. Br., Prodr., 463.
Rawlinson's Range.
[Leichhardtia australis] Marsdenia Leichhardtiana, F.M., Fragm. 5,
160.
MacDonnell's Range.
ACANTHACEAE:
[Rostellularia pogonanthera] Justicia procumbens, L. Fl. Zeil., 19.
Mount Olga and towards Lake Eyre.
[Gentianaceae] GENTIANEAE:
[Centurium spicatum] Erythraea Australis, R. Br., Prodr., 451.
Between Mount Olga and Barrow's Range, MacDonnell's Range.
[Schrophulariaceae] SCROPHULARINAE:
Mimulus gracilis, R. Br., Prodr., 439.
Rawlinson's Range.
Stemodia viscosa, Roxb., Pl. Coromand. 2, 33, t. 163.
Rawlinson's Range.
[?] Stemodia pedicellaris, F.M., Fragm. 8, 231.
Rawlinson's Range.
SOLANACEAE:
Anthotroche Blackii, F.M., Fragm. 8, 232.
Between Mount Olga and Barrow's Range.
[?] Anthocercis Hopwoodii, F.M., Frag. 2, 138.
Near Mount Liebig.
Nicotiana suaveolens, Lehm., Hist. Nicot., 43.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga; Glen of Palms; Lake
Amadeus.
Solanum esuriale, Lindl. in Mitch. Three Exped. 2, 43.
Lake Eyre; thence to MacDonnell's Range.
Solanum ferocissimum, Lindl. in Mitch. Three Exped. 2, 58.
MacDonnell's Range.
Solanum ellipticum, R. Br., Prodr., 446.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga; thence to Barrow's
Range, MacDonnell's Range.
Solanum petrophilum, F.M. in Linnaea 25, 433.
Mount Olga.
Solanum lacunarium, F.M. in Trans. Phil. Soc. Vict. 1, 18.
Lake Eyre.
[Datura leichhardtii] Datura Leichhardti, F.M. in Trans. Phil. Soc.
Vict. 1, 20.
Between the River Finke and the Glen of Palms.
PRIMULACEAE:
Samolus repens, Pers. Synops. 1, 171.
Between Mount Olga and Barrow's Range.
[Casuarinaceae] CASUARINEAE:
Casuarina Decaisneana, F.M., Fragm. 1, 61.
From the Alberga and Finke River to Mount Olga; Gardiner's and
MacDonnell's Ranges; Glen of Palms; also near Musgrave's
Range and on Rawlinson's, Petermann's, and Barrow's Ranges;
Gibson's Desert.
[?] CYCADEAE:
[?] Encephalartos Macdonnelli, F.M. in Vers. Akad. Wet. Amsterdam,
15, 376.
On Neale's River, found by J.M. Stuart, and probably the same
species on Gill's Range.
[Cupressaceae] CONIFERAE:
Callitris verrucosa, R. Br. in Memoir. du Mus. Paris 13, 74.
It is supposed that it is this species, which was seen on the River
Finke, Lake Amadeus, and in the MacDonnell's, Gill's,
Rampart's, Musgrave's and Gosse's Ranges, as it is the only
one hitherto recorded from Central Australian collections.
LILIACEAE:
[?] Thysanotus sparteus, R. Br., Prodr., 283.
Between Mount Olga and Barrow's Range.
[?] Anguillaria Australis, F.M. Fragm. 7, 74.
Between Lake Eyre and the River Finke. A species of
Xanthorrhoea, reaching a height of twelve feet, was seen on the
ranges along Rudall's Creek, but no specimen for examination
was secured.
[?] PALMAE:
[?] Livistona Mariae, F.M., Fragm. 9, ined.
Glen of Palms. Height up to 60 feet.
TYPHACEAE:
Typha Muelleri, Rohrb. in Verhandl. Brandenb., 1869, page 95.
It is probably this species which is recorded in the Journal as
occurring in the swamps of Rawlinson's Range.
[Poaceae =] GRAMINEAE:
[?] Andropogon laniger, Desf., Fl. Atlant. 2, 379.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
Eriachne scleranthoides, F.M., Fragm. 8, 233.
Mount Olga.
[?] Pappophorum commune, F.M. in Greg. Rep. on Leichh. Search,
App., page 10.
MacDonnell's Range.
[?] Panicum Pseudo-Neurachne, F.M., Fragm. 8, 199.
Lake Amadeus.
[?] Eleusine cruciata, Lam. Encyc., t. 48, f. 2.
Lake Eyre; between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
[Aristida browniana] Aristida stipoides, R. Br., Prodr., 174.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
Bromus arenarius, Labill., Specim. 1, 23, t. 28.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
Festuca irritans, F.M., Chath. Isl. Veget., 59 (Triodia irritans,
R. Br. Pr., 182).
Dispersed widely through the deserts, and called Spinifex by the
explorers.
CYPERACEAE:
[?] Cyperus textilis, Thunb., Prodr. Pl. Cap., 18.
MacDonnell's Range.
[Class: Pteropsida] FILICES:
[Polypodiaceae]
Cheilanthes tenuifolia, Swartz, Syn. Fil., 129.
Rawlinson's Range; between the Alberga and Mount Olga.
Cheilanthes vellea, F.M., Fragm. 5, 123.
Between the Alberga and Mount Olga; also on MacDonnell's
Range. C. Reynoldsii, discovered by Mr. Gosse, does not occur
in Mr. Giles's collection, and is probably very local.
Mr. Giles's collection contains also species of the genera Vigna,
Tephrosia, Melaleuca, Callistemon, Haloragis, Pterigeron,
Brachycome, Dampiera, Ipomoea, Morgania, Enchylaena, and
Atriplex; as also additional species of Rulingia, Abutilon, Sida,
Dodonaea, Euphorbia, Spyridium, Acacia (many), Eucalyptus,
Scaevola, Goodenia, Eremophila, Heliotropium, Rhagodia, Ptilotus,
Hakea, and Panicum, but none in a state sufficiently advanced to
admit of ascertaining their precise specific position.
INDEX.
Acacia aneura.
Alberga Creek.
Alfred and Marie Range.
Alice Falls, the.
Alone in the desert.
Aloysius, Mount.
An expanse of salt.
Angle Pole, the.
Anthony Range.
Ants and their nests.
Appatinna.
Armstrong Creek.
Arrino.
Ashburton River.
--, head waters.
Australian grass-tree.
Ayers's Range.
Ayers's Rock.
Bagot's Creek.
Bark Coolamins.
Barlee, Mount.
Barloweerie Peak.
Bell Rock.
Berkshire Valley.
Bitter Water Creek.
Black family, a.
--oak.
Blood's Range.
Bluey's Range.
Boundary Dam.
Bowes Creek.
Bowley, Mount.
Bowman's Dam.
Brachychiton.
Bring Lake.
Briscoe's Pass.
Butterflies.
Buttfield, Mount.
Buzoe's Grave.
Callitris.
Camel Glen.
Camels decamped.
-- poisoned.
Canis familiaris.
Capparis.
Carnarvon, Mount.
--Range.
Carmichael Creek.
Carmichael's Crag.
Casterton Creek.
Casuarina Decaisneana.
Casuarinas.
Chamber's Pillar.
Champ de Mars.
Champion Bay.
Chandler's Range.
Charlotte Waters Station.
Cheangwa.
Chimpering.
Chinaman's Dam.
Chirnside Creek.
Christening natives.
Christmas Day.
Christopher Lake.
Christopher's Pinnacle.
Christy Bagot's Creek.
Churchman, Mount.
Circus, the.
Clay crabhole, a.
--pans.
Clianthus Dampierii.
Cob, the.
Cockata blacks.
Codonocarpus cotinifolius.
Colona.
Colonel's Range.
Conner, Mount.
Cooerminga.
Coondambo clay-pans.
Corkwood-tree.
Corrobboree, a grand.
Cowra man, a.
Cudyeh.
Culham.
Cumming, Glen.
Cups, the.
Curdie, Mount.
Curious mound-springs.
Currajong-tree.
Currie, the.
Cypress pines.
Davenport, Mount.
Desert oak.
Desolation Creek.
--Glen.
Destruction, Mount.
Diamond bird (Amadina).
Docker, The.
Dog-puppies.
Dongarra.
Dry salt lagoons.
Eagle-hawk.
Earthquake, a shock.
Edith, Glen.
--Hull's Springs.
Edith's Marble Bath.
Edoldeh.
Ehrenberg Ranges.
Elder's Creek.
Elizabeth Watercourse.
Ellery's Creek.
Emus.
Emu Tank.
Encounter Creek.
Eremophila scoparia.
Escape Glen.
Eucalyptus.
--dumosa.
Euphorbiaceae.
Euro Bluff.
Everard Ranges.
Fagan, Mount.
Fairies' Glen.
Ferdinand Creek.
--Glen.
--Mount.
Festuca irritans.
Fielder, Glen.
Fig-tree.
Finke, Mount.
--River.
Finniss Springs.
Fish plentiful.
--ponds.
Flies, myriads of.
Forrest's Creek.
Forrest, Mount.
Fort McKellar.
Fort Mueller.
Fowler's Bay.
Fraser's Wells.
Fremantle, reception at.
Friendly natives.
Fusanus.
Gardiner's Range.
Gascoyne River Valley.
Geelabing, Mount.
George Gill's Range.
Gerald, Glen.
Geraldton.
Gibson, Last seen of.
Gibson's Desert.
Gibson's Christmas pudding.
Gill's Pinnacle.
Glen Camel.
--Cumming.
--Edith.
--Ferdinand.
--Fielder.
--Gerald.
--Helen.
--Osborne.
--of Palms.
--Robertson.
--Ross.
--Thirsty.
--Watson.
--Wyselaski.
Glentromie.
Glowworms.
Gordon's Springs.
Gorge of Tarns.
Gosse's Range.
Gould, Mount.
Governor, the.
Grand Junction Depot.
Great Gorge.
Great Victoria Desert.
Greenough Flats.
Grevillea-trees.
Groener's Springs.
Guildford, reception at.
Gum-trees.
Gyrostemon.
--ramulosus.
Hakea.
Hale, Mount.
Hamilton Creek.
Hampton Plain.
Hann's Creek.
Harriet's Springs.
Hector Pass.
--Springs.
Helen, Glen.
Hermit Hill, the.
Hogarth's Wells.
Hopkin's Creek.
Horses badly bogged.
--fall lame.
Hostility of the natives.
Hughes's Creek.
Hull Creek, the.
Humphries, Mount.
Inderu.
Interview with natives.
Irving Creek.
Irwin House.
Irwin River.
Jamieson's Range.
James Winter, Mount.
Jeanie, Mount.
Johnstone's Range.
Kangaroos and emus plentiful.
Kangaroo tanks.
King's Creek.
Krichauff Creek.
--Range.
Labouchere, Mount.
Lake Bring.
--Amadeus.
--Christopher.
--Eyre.
--Gairdner.
--Hanson.
--Hart.
--Moore.
--of salt.
--Torrens.
--Wilson.
--Younghusband.
Laurie's Creek.
Learmonth Park.
Leguminosae, the.
Leipoa ocellata.
Levinger, The.
Lightning Rock.
Livingstone Pass.
Louisa's Creek.
Lowan or native pheasants.
Lowans' nests.
Luehman's Springs.
Lunar rainbow, a.
Lyons River.
MacBain's Springs.
Mann Range.
Margaret, Mount.
Maria, palm.
Marie, Mount.
McCulloch, Mount.
McDonnell Range.
McMinn's Creek.
McNicol's Range.
Melaleuca.
Melaleuca-tree.
Middleton's Pass.
Miller, Mount.
Mobing.
Moffat's Creek.
Moloch horridus.
Moodilah.
Mosquitoes.
Mount Aloysius.
--Ayers.
--Barlee.
--Bowley.
--Buttfield.
--Camnarvon.
--Churchman.
--Conner.
--Curdie.
--Davenport.
--Destruction.
--Fagan.
--Ferdinand.
--Finke.
--Forrest.
--Geelabing.
--Gould.
--Gould Creek.
--Hale.
--Humphries.
--James Winter.
--Jeanie.
--Labouchere.
--Margaret.
--Marie.
--McCulloch.
--Miller.
--Murchison.
--Musgrave.
--Oberon.
--Officer.
--O'Halloran.
--Olga.
--Ormerod.
--Peculiar.
--Phillips.
--Quin.
--Robert.
--Robinson.
--Russell.
--Sargood.
--Scott.
--Skene.
--Solitary.
--Squires.
--Udor.
Mowling.
Mulga apple.
--tree, its habits and value.
--wood as a poison.
Murchison, Mount.
--River.
Musgrave, Mount.
--Range.
Mus conditor.
Myal.
Native art.
Native attack at Farthest East.
--at Fort McKellar.
--at Fort Mueller.
--and rout at Sladen Water.
--at Ularring.
--beauty.
--caves.
--dam, a.
--figs.
--fires.
--gunyahs.
--huts; ancient and modern.
--interview.
--mode of wearing the hair.
--orange-tree.
--peach.
--pheasant's nest.
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