Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia and Overland from Adelaide to King George's Sound in the Years 1840-1: Sent By the Colonists of South Australia, with the Sanction and Support of the Government: Including an Account of the Manners and Customs of the Aborigines and the State of Their Relations with Europeans — Volume 01Eyre, Edward John
History
Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia and Overland from Adelaide to King George's Sound in the Years 1840-1: Sent By the Colonists of South Australia, with the Sanction and Support of the Government: Including an Account of the Manners and Customs of the Aborigines and the State of Their Relations with Europeans — Volume 01
Eyre, Edward John
Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Ethnology -- Australia
August 6.--We again passed many of those singular hollows fronted by the
high steep banks of the upper levels, and then crossed some low ironstone
ridges to a channel emanating from Mount Deception range. This I traced
through the hills to the westward without finding any water, and then
following down the Mount Deception range in its western slopes, I
examined all the watercourses coming from it; in one, which I named The
Scott, after my young friend and fellow traveller, I found a large hole
of rain water among the rocks, and at this I halted to rest and feed the
horses. The latitude of the water in The Scott was 30 degrees 32 minutes
S. Pushing on again, late in the afternoon, I reached our camp of the 2nd
August, quite tired, and the horses much fatigued, the puddle of water we
had found here on our outward course was now nearly all dried up.
August 7.--Making an early start I returned to the Depot Pool, and found
the party all well. They were, however, just preparing to move away, as
the water was nearly all gone. The drays were packed and everything ready
when I arrived; they had tried to obtain water by digging, but had
failed, having been stopped by hard rock.
I was now in a very awkward dilemma. The water where we were, had been
all used, and we must consequently remove at once,--but where to, was the
question? If I went to the permanent water to the eastward, I gained
nothing, as I only harassed my party by travelling through an almost
impracticable country, over which we must return before we could move
further to the north,--and if I went to the N. W. to The Scott, I went to
a mere puddle of water, precarious and uncertain at the best, and at
which, under any circumstances, we could not remain long:--yet move I
must, as soon as the morning dawned. Many and anxious were the hours I
spent in consideration and reflection.
Little indeed are the public aware of the difficulties and
responsibilities attached to the command of an expedition of
exploration;--the incessant toil, the sleepless hours, the anxious
thoughts that necessarily fall to the share of the leader of a party
under circumstances of difficulty or danger, are but imperfectly
understood and less appreciated by the world at large. Accustomed to
judge of undertakings only by their results, they are frequently as
unjust in their censure as they are excessive in their approval. The
traveller who discovers a rich and well watered district, encounters but
few of the hardships, and still fewer of the anxieties, that fall to the
lot of the explorer in desert regions, yet is the former lauded with
praise, whilst the latter is condemned to obloquy; although the success
perhaps of the one, or the failure of the other, may have arisen from
circumstances over which individually neither had any control.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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