Читать книгу Explorations in Australia - Baron John Forrest Forrest - Страница 18

At the instance of Baron Von Mueller, and assisted by a small subscription from the South Australian Government, Mr. Giles made a second attempt to penetrate westward. He reached the 125th degree of east longitude, and discovered and traversed four distinct mountain ranges, on one of which Mr. Gosse shortly afterwards found his tracks. One of his companions, Mr. Gibson, lost his way and perished in the desert, and therefore Mr. Giles turned his face eastwards, and, after an absence of twelve months, reached Adelaide. He encountered many perils, having been nine times attacked by the natives, probably in the attempt to obtain water; and on one occasion was severely wounded and nearly captured.

On the 20th March, 1874, Mr. Ross, with his son and another European, three Arabs, fourteen horses, and sixteen camels, started from the telegraph line, near the Peake station in South Australia. He was compelled to return through want of water, although, soon after starting, he had greatly reduced the number of his party by sending back three of his companions, two of the horses, and twelve of the camels.

Such, in brief, have been the results of the efforts made to cross Australia between the telegraph line and the west coast, and ascertain the probability of establishing a practicable route. I have referred to them to show how persistent has been the desire to achieve the exploit, and how little daunted by repeated failures have been Australian explorers. I now propose to relate my own experiences--the results of three journeys of exploration, conducted by myself. The first was undertaken in the hope of discovering some traces of Leichardt; the second nearly retraced the route of Eyre; the third was across the desert from Western Australia to the telegraph line in South Australia. The first journey did not result in obtaining the information sought for; the second and third journeys were successfully accomplished.