Expeditions into Central Australia

Journals Of Expeditions Of
Discovery Into
by Edward John
Eyre

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Discovery Into
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Title: 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.
Author: Edward John Eyre
Release Date: March, 2004 [EBook #5346] [Yes, we are more than one
year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on July 2, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOURNALS
OF EXPEDITIONS ***

Produced by Col Choat [email protected]

PRODUCTION NOTES: --Italics in the book have been changed to to
upper case in this eBook. --Footnotes have been placed in brackets []
within the text. --A number of tables have been omitted or rendered
incomplete. These are indicated in the eBook at the point at which they
occurred in the book. --Plates and maps in the book have not been
reproduced. A list of plates forms part of the Table of Contents. There
were 2 maps included in the book. These indicated the extent of Eyre's
journeys.

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.
by EYRE, EDWARD JOHN (1815-1901)

TO LIEUT.-COLONEL GEORGE GAWLER, K.H. M.R.G.S. UNDER
WHOSE AUSPICES, AS GOVERNOR OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA,
THE EXPEDITIONS, DESCRIBED IN THE FOLLOWING PAGES,
WERE UNDERTAKEN, THESE VOLUMES ARE RESPECTFULLY
INSCRIBED, AS A TRIBUTE OF GRATITUDE FOR HIS
KINDNESS AND RESPECT FOR HIS VIRTUES, BY THE
AUTHOR.

PREFACE.

In offering to the public an account of Expeditions of Discovery in
Australia, undertaken in the years 1840-1, and completed in July of the
latter year, some apology may be deemed necessary for this narrative
not having sooner appeared, or perhaps even for its being now
published at all.
With respect to the first, the author would remark that soon after his
return to South Australia upon the close of the Expeditions, and when
contemplating an immediate return to England, he was invited by the
Governor of the Colony to remain, and undertake the task of
re-establishing peace and amicable relations with the numerous native
tribes of the Murray River, and its neighbourhood, whose daring and
successful outrages in 1841, had caused very great losses to, and
created serious apprehensions among the Colonists.

Hoping that his personal knowledge of and extensive practical
experience among the Aborigines might prove serviceable in an
employment of this nature, the author consented to undertake it; and
from the close of September 1841, until December 1844, was
unremittingly occupied with the duties it entailed. It was consequently
not in his power to attend to the publication of his travels earlier, nor
indeed can he regret a delay, which by the facilities it afforded him of
acquiring a more intimate knowledge of the character and habits of the
Aborigines, has enabled him to render that portion of his work which
relates to them more comprehensive and satisfactory than it otherwise
would have been.
With respect to the second point, or the reasons which have led to this
work being published at all, the author would observe that he has been
led to engage in it rather from a sense of duty, and at the instance of
many of his friends, than from any wish of his own. The greater portion
of the country he explored was of so sterile and worthless a description,
and the circumstances which an attempt to cross such a