Journal of J. G. Macdonald on an Expedition from Port Denison to The
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About Google Book Search Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at http : //books . google . com/ JOURNAL HORN SCIENTIFIC EXPLORING EXPEDITION, 1894, By C. WINNECKE, F.R.G-.S., TOGETHER WITH MAPS AND PLANS; AND REPORT OF THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL AUSTRALIA, By Professor B. TATE and J. A. WATT, B.Sc. G. £. BkisTow, GOVERNMENT PRINTER, NOATH-TERRACB, ADELAIDE* 1897. W? GQEMBEI^S OH THE Y)OI$N GXPEDUFION. 1. DR. E. C. STIRLING (ANTHROPOLOGY.) 2. G. A. KEARTLAND (NATURALIST.) 3. C. WINNECKE. (LEADER.) 4. PROF. W. BALDWIN SPENCER IBIOLOQY.) 5. W. A. HORN (PROMOTER.) 6. J. A. WATT (GEOLOGY.) 7. F. W. BELT (NATURALIST.) 8. PROF. RALPH TATE (BOTANY.) • THE HORN SCIENTIFIC EXPLORING EXPEDITION. IN giving to the public the journal and maps kept and compiled by me as leader of the Horn Scientific Exploring Expedition of 1894 some explanation is due both to the public and myself respecting the form in which they are presented. In the natural order of things these should have been published in connection with the scientific and other records of the Horn Expedition, as both supplementary and complementary to them; but Mr. W. A. Horn, the organizer of the venture, for reasons not given, having first requested and arranged for their being forwarded to London for perusal, has declined to incur the expense necessary to such publica tion, and has also declined to refund the outlay incurred by me in their preparation. For general information I have included in Appendix B the valuable and interesting report of Professor Tate and J. A. Watt, B.Sc, on the physical geography of the country traversed by this Expedition, which forms a portion, of the "Report on the Work of the Horn Scientific Expedition to Central Australia, Part III., Geology, &c." Delay in publication has been incurred through the journal and maps having been forwarded to London, whence, after nine months of waiting, they have been at length received in Adelaide. It having thus become necessary to look in some other direction for publication, I have pleasure in stating that the South Australian Branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia has extended its patronage, and, in conjunction with the Department of the Minister for the Northern Territory and the Survey Department, the journal and maps appear under the Society's auspices. The information contained is pronounced by competent critics in Adelaide to be accurate, valuable, and interesting. 4 The compilation had to be subordinated to my other pressing duties as leader. Natural features hitherto unmapped have been located by triangulation, and are now shown in their true position. The whole has involved extra travel, anxiety, and labor, and is cheerfully presented to those whose desire it is to have " filled up" the map of Australia. My grateful thanks I hereby tender to those scientific members of the party who aided me in our hurried ramble through the yet unmastered wilds of Central Australia. GHAS. WINNECKE. \Copy of letter to Mr. Horn.~\ Adelaide, March 6th, 1895. Dear Sir—In compliance with your request I send you, together with maps, my journal and other records of the scientific expedition equipped by you. As defined by your self, the objects of the expedition were :— 1. The scientific examination of the country from Oodna- datta to the Macdonnell Ranges and the collection of specimens illustrative of the fauna, flora, and geological structure and mineralogical resources of that region, and the illustration by photography of any remarkable natural features of the country traversed. 2. The securing of photographs of the aborigines in their primitive state; the collection of information as to their manners, customs, and language ; and the reproduction by photography of their mural paint ings in caves and on rocks, &c, &c. You will notice that these aims were kept well in view throughout the journey. For facility of reference I have appended to my journal a summary, reviewing in the briefest possible form the work performed by the party. I am, &c, CHAS. WINNECKE. W. A. Horn, Esq., Adelaide. JOURNAL. In order to facilitate the start of the expedition from Oodna datta, I left Adelaide for that place on Monday, the 30th of April, accompanied by two camel-men (H. Edgar and R. Taylor) and the cook (C. Laycock). I reached my immediate destination late on Wednesday night, the 2nd of May. At the journey's end I was met by the Afghan Moosha, who had arrived from Farina the same evening with the camels. We all proceeded to his camp, about one mile west of the township. On the two following days I was engaged in transporting the stores from the railway station, purchasing additional rations, arranging the camel loads, making boxes, and attending to a variety of other matters, apparently minor, yet little less important. These affairs included the testing of the astronomical instruments kindly lent to the expedition by Sir Charles Todd and Sir Thomas Elder, and observing for mag netic variation and dip. On the evening of the 4th of May Mr. W. A. Horn, with Professors Tate rind Spencer, Dr. Stirling, and Messrs. Watt, Keartland, and Belt, reached Oodnadatta by special train. Saturday, May 5th.—Bar. 29'90in., ther. 57°, wind S. ; lat. 27° 33' 10" S., long. 135° 28' 0" E. Began at an early hour prepara tions for our departure northward, but, this being the first time the camels were packed, a start was not effected until 11*40 a.m. Our equipment comprises four horses, a camel-buggy, and twenty- three camels—twelve of which are pack camels heavily loaded with stores and a heterogeneous collection of boxes containing scientific instruments and collectors' instruments, and nine riding camels. To-day I employed a second Afghan and a black boy (whom I have known for many years) to go with the expedition. The party now comprehends the following members : — W. A. Horn (organizer and promoter); C. Winnecke, F.R.G.S., leader (meteorology, surveying, and exploring); E. C. Stirling, C.M.G., F.R.S., M.D. (anthropology and ethnology); R. Tate, F.L.S., F.R.G.S. (palaeontology and botany) ; W. Baldwin Spencer, M.A. (biology); J. A. Watt, M.A. (field geology and petrology); F. W. Belt and G. A. Keartland, naturalists and collectors; H. Edgar and R. Taylor, camel-drivers; C. Laycock, cook ; C. Pritchard and 6 "W. Russell, Government prospectors; Trooper Williams, of the mounted police ; Moosha and Guzzie Boolooch, Afghan camel- drivers ; and Harry, a black tracker of the native mounted police. The usual delays incidental to a first day's journey with heavily- packed camels occurred. I therefore decided to make a short stage.