Geographic Travels in Central Australia
from 1872 to 1874, Ernest Giles
Ernest Giles must have been a phlegmatic individual, for example:
Monday 1 December [1873, p127] ...
the thermometer indicating 106[F] in the shade.
Our water supply gradually decreasing.
It is evident, I must again retreat from here; for in two days
every drop will be gone. This is certainly not a delightful
position to hold; ...
The book consists of Giles' diaries kept during his
first two expeditions from
central Australia,
i.e. the area around Ayres Rock (now Uluru),
west in search of a route to the coast of
Western Australia.
He used horses and his bush skills and calm assurance
in searching for feed for them and for water for
the party and the horses are evident -
a good man to have around in a tight spot.
Giles' had difficulty getting backing -
his first expedition was financed by himself and by von Mueller.
His second was financed by some Victorians
and by the Government of South Australia.
The diaries record the day to day progress, or lack of it,
of the expeditions - perhaps a paragraph, perhaps a page, per day.
What is absolutely gripping is the terrible hardship
that they frequently faced, described calmly and even with humour!
He didn't succeed on the 1872-1874 attempts,
and in fact a companion, Gibson, died
but in 1875 he did cross from the centre to the west coast
of Australia, and back again in 1876.
This book as a "must read"
for anyone who is travelling in central Australia
or who is interested in Australian history.
- Larry Stanley - 4wd.sofcom.com/4WD.html
Ernest Giles (1835-1897),
Geographic Travels in Central Australia from 1872 to 1874,
first published M'Carron, Bird and Co, Melbourne, 1875,
first facsimile edition Corkwood Press 1993,
second facsimile edition 1995.
isbn 0 646 24262 8 -->
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