Through a Land of Promise: With Gun, Car and Camera in the Heart of Northern Australia

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H. Jenkins Limited, 1927 - Aboriginal Australians - 336 pages
Trip from Katherine - Wave Hill, Victoria Downs, Gordon Downs, Fitzroy Crossing, Broome; Brief mention and pls. of Aborigines met on journey.
 

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Page 313 - W. stars, of 2° 34' 4* E.. the two observations differing by 17*. My last observation for longitude on our journey westward was at Well C. 28 near Godfrey's Tank, which I made almost exactly 126° 31' E., which is further west of the position usually marked on maps. Mr. Canning's position is about 126° 37
Page 30 - Small mills sprang up everywhere, their refuse burners providing a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of smoke by day to guide the way for new immigrants to the region.
Page 314 - ... of the car in which I travelled. Mr. Reeves handed over both these watches to me with a most satisfactory rate, but for some reason the one I wore began to give trouble as soon as we got out into the bush. This may have been due to the jars it received whenever I made the 4-foot jump to the ground out of the car, a thing I had to do fairly often to take note of the mileage between places registered by the mileometer fitted on the front wheel of each car. When the time signals began coming in,...
Page 326 - ... the sun had risen at Bull Creek in the Northern Territory on 28 July 1925. The atmosphere is intensely dry, and anything wooden is liable to shrinkage and distortion. A parallel ruler became useless almost at once, and gaping cracks appeared in the theodolite boxes, letting in much dust and dirt. LIST OF POSITIONS FIXED BY ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS IN CONJUNCTION WITH WIRELESS IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY AND WESTERN AUSTRALIA Place. S. Latitude. E. Longitude. o /
Page 56 - Two eggs, one and one-half cups of sugar, one-half cup of butter, one cup cold water, three cups of flour, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, one teaspoonful of soda.
Page 53 - ... or favourable impression of any one locality. Before leaving Darwin, the value of shortening the motor route to the upper reaches of the Victoria river was shown to me, so it was determined to take the direct stock route there and abandon the intended and easier way via Newcastle Waters. In effect this meant going along the base of the triangle formed by Katherine, Newcastle Waters, and Wave Hill, instead of traversing the two sides. Lesser-known country would also be seen, so I felt that the...
Page 239 - ... every ounce of power in the cars was needed to effect a passage. As you stood on the crest an unbroken succession of these ridges was visible to the north and south. Line upon line they stretched to the horizon, — level and uninteresting. Occasionally isolated hills broke the monotony, and sometines a belt of timber, running up the side of a ridge, across its crest, through the valley beyond, over the next and many others, helped somewhat to add a note of colour and change to the view. The...
Page 309 - ... some 2000 miles in the heart of Northern Australia, and had seen every type of country. The cars were shipped to Perth by the same boat that took the rest of the party. I flew south by the weekly aeroplane to make arrangements. As I conclude I would like to pay tribute to the men who accompanied me. Each did his utmost at the task allotted him, and by sticking to the game, often under unpleasant circumstances, showed that spirit of determination which alone has made such expeditions possible....
Page 205 - ... thin dark curly bark and a very tough wood. The trunks are straight, not more than a foot in diameter at the base, usually much less, there being one main trunk or sometimes two small ones separating at the surface of the ground. In either instance there are no branches till well up the tree ; then a number shoot out bearing long dark green petallike leaves. The lack of foliage below produces a notably bunchy top, well rounded. With a stretch of imagination one might be looking at an overgrown...
Page 171 - ... tufts from i foot to 7 or 8 in diameter, the height rarely exceeding 2 or 3 feet. Its colour varies from light green to dirty grey, being governed by its age, which in its turn is determined by the frequency of the bush fires. The grass is thin, hard, and wiry, except when a new growth springs up after a fire. The top of each tuft resembles the back of a porcupine, being a mass of thornlike projections — the sun-dried ends of the grass. A number of long thin shoots stand up from the centre...

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