Australia Twice Traversed | Page 2

MAP OF FIRST EXPEDITION, 1872.
MAP OF SECOND EXPEDITION, 1873-4.
MAP OF AUSTRALIA, SHOWING THE SEVERAL ROUTES.
MAP OF THIRD EXPEDITION, 1875.
MAP OF FOURTH EXPEDITION, 1875.
MAP OF FIFTH EXPEDITION, 1876.

AUTHOR'S NOTES.
The original journals of the field notes, from which the present
narrative is compiled, were published, as each expedition ended, as
parliamentary papers by the Government of the Colony of South
Australia.
The journals of the first two expeditions, formed a small book, which
was distributed mostly to the patrons who had subscribed to the fund
for my second expedition. The account of the third, found its way into
the South Australian "Observer," while the records of the fourth and
fifth journeys remained as parliamentary documents, the whole never
having appeared together. Thus only fragments of the accounts of my
wanderings became known; and though my name as an explorer has
been heard of, both in Australia and England, yet very few people even
in the Colonies are aware of what I have really done. Therefore it was
thought that a work embodying the whole of my explorations might be
acceptable to both English and Colonial readers.

Some years have been allowed to elapse since these journeys were
commenced; but the facts are the same, and to those not mixed up in
the adventures, the incidents as fresh as when they occurred.
Unavoidably, I have had to encounter a large area of desert country in
the interior of the colonies of South Australia, and Western Australia,
in my various wanderings; but I also discovered considerable tracts of
lands watered and suitable for occupation.
It is not in accordance with my own feelings in regard to Australia that
I am the chronicler of her poorer regions; and although an Englishman,
Australia has no sincerer well-wisher; had it been otherwise, I could not
have performed the work these volumes record. It has indeed been
often a cause of regret that my lines of march should have led me away
from the beautiful and fertile places upon Australia's shores, where our
countrymen have made their homes.
On the subject of the wonderful resources of Australia I am not called
upon to enlarge, and surely all who have heard her name must have
heard also of her gold, copper, wool, wine, beef, mutton, wheat, timber,
and other products; and if any other evidence were wanting to show
what Australia really is, a visit to her cities, and an experience of her
civilisation, not forgetting the great revenues of her different provinces,
would dispel at once all previous inaccurate impressions of those who,
never having seen, perhaps cannot believe in the existence of them.
In the course of this work my reader will easily discover to whom it is
dedicated, without a more formal statement under such a heading. The
preface, which may seem out of its place, is merely such to my own
journeys. I thought it due to my readers and my predecessors in the
Australian field of discovery, that I should give a rapid epitome (which
may contain some minor errors) of what they had done, and which is
here put forward by way of introduction.
Most of the illustrations, except one or two photographs, were
originally from very rough sketches, or I might rather say scratches, of
mine, improved upon by Mr. Val Prinsep, of Perth, Western Australia,
who drew most of the plates referring to the camel expeditions, while
those relating to the horse journeys were sketched by Mr. Woodhouse,
Junr., of Melbourne; the whole, however, have undergone a process of
reproduction at the hands of London artists.
To Mrs. Cashel Hoey, the well-known authoress and Australian

correspondent, who revised and cleared my original manuscripts, I have
to accord my most sincere thanks. To Mr. Henniker-Heaton, M.P., who
appears to be the Imperial Member in the British Parliament for all
Australia, I am under great obligations, he having introduced me to Mr.
Marston, of the publishing firm who have produced these volumes. I
also have to thank Messrs. Clowes and Sons for the masterly way in
which they have printed this work. Also Messrs. Creed, Robinson,
Fricker, and Symons, of the publishing staff. The maps have been
reproduced by Weller, the well-known geographer.
(ILLUSTRATION: Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society of
London. "Victoria D.G. Britanniarum Regina, 1837, Patrona. Or,
Terras Reclusas, Ernest Giles, 1880.")
INTRODUCTION.
Before narrating my own labours in opening out portions of the
unknown interior of Australia, it will be well that I should give a
succinct account of what others engaged in the same arduous enterprise
around the shores and on the face of the great Southern Continent, have
accomplished.
After the wondrous discoveries of Columbus had set the Old World
into a state of excitement, the finding of new lands appears