Edward John Eyre
Edward John Eyre (5 August 181530 November 1901) was an English land explorer of the Australian continent, colonial administrator, and Governor of Jamaica.
Early life
Eyre was born in Whipsnade, Bedfordshire, shortly before his family moved to ...
made two expeditions into the interior of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
in 1839. At the time nobody had been any further than the head of
Spencer Gulf
The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost and larger of two large inlets (the other being Gulf St Vincent) on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. It spans from the Cape Catastrophe and ...
. The first expedition, in May, set out from Adelaide. It is not exactly clear how far north he reached before turning back, but somewhere in the
Flinders Ranges
The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain range in South Australia, which starts about north of Adelaide. The ranges stretch for over from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna.
The Adnyamathanha people are the Aboriginal group who have inhabi ...
. The second expedition, in August, sailed to Port Lincoln, and struck out west following the coast to
Streaky Bay
Streaky the Supercat is a fictional superhero cat that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #261 (February 1960) and was created by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney.
He is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Su ...
. Forced back again by inhospitable conditions, he went east and then further north than the previous attempt, eventually finding the lake that is now called
Lake Torrens
Lake Torrens (Kuyani: ''Ngarndamukia'') is a large ephemeral, normally endorheic salt lake in central South Australia. After sufficiently extreme rainfall events, the lake flows out through the Pirie-Torrens corridor to the Spencer Gulf.
Isl ...
.
Eyre made a third trip north in June 1840, this time reaching what is now known as
Lake Eyre
Lake Eyre ( ), officially known as Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, is an endorheic lake in east-central Far North South Australia, some north of Adelaide. The shallow lake is the depocentre of the vast endorheic Lake Eyre basin, and contains the ...
. A
fourth trip began in February 1841, this time determined to reach
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. The trek began at
Fowlers Bay and reached
Albany in July, a trip of 1600 km (1000 miles).
North
Having made a tidy profit of several thousand pounds from his second overlanding trip, the young Eyre (then only twenty-three years old) turned his attention to the interior, and the speculation surrounding the possibility of an inland sea. Planning a three-month expedition to the head of the
Spencer Gulf
The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost and larger of two large inlets (the other being Gulf St Vincent) on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. It spans from the Cape Catastrophe and ...
, he left
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
with five other men on May 1, 1839, taking two drays and travelling north for the coastal plain west of the
Flinders Ranges
The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain range in South Australia, which starts about north of Adelaide. The ranges stretch for over from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna.
The Adnyamathanha people are the Aboriginal group who have inhabi ...
. He named the
Broughton River after
William Broughton, the Anglican Bishop of Australia, and proceeded northward past the head of the gulf to establish camp halfway between
The Dutchmans Stern
__NOTOC__
The Dutchmans Stern is a mountain in South Australia located in the Flinders Ranges about north-west of the town of Quorn, South Australia, Quorn and north east of the city of Port Augusta, South Australia, Port Augusta.
The mount ...
and
Mount Arden at a small creek with permanent springs in it: he named this Depot Creek and was to return to it several times in future years.
From this camp he espied a low range of hills to the west, and sent his companion
John Baxter to investigate - this range he later named the
Baxter Range; it lies north of the town of
Iron Knob
Iron Knob is a town in the Australian state of South Australia on the Eyre Peninsula immediately south of the Eyre Highway. At the 2006 census, Iron Knob and the surrounding area had a population of 199. The town obtained its name from its prox ...
. Eyre himself set off north along the margin of the Flinders. Finding little water (the pools of water in Willochra Creek were salty), he made for a hill some 30 km north-west of the later town of
Hawker
Hawker or Hawkers may refer to:
Places
* Hawker, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
* Hawker, South Australia, a town
* Division of Hawker, an Electoral Division in South Australia
* Hawker Island, Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarct ...
. From the summit he had his first view of
Lake Torrens
Lake Torrens (Kuyani: ''Ngarndamukia'') is a large ephemeral, normally endorheic salt lake in central South Australia. After sufficiently extreme rainfall events, the lake flows out through the Pirie-Torrens corridor to the Spencer Gulf.
Isl ...
; he later wrote that it "seemed to be water", but he realised it was merely the "dry and glazed bed of where water had lodged" - a
salt lake
A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). ...
. To the north-east he noted that the ranges continued; "tier behind tier of very rocky appearance as far as the eye could reach". This was almost certainly the first time that a European had glimpsed the peaks of
Wilpena Pound
Wilpena Pound – also known by its Adnyamathanha language, Adnyamathanha name of Ikara, meaning "meeting place" – is a natural amphitheatre of mountains located north of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia in the heart of the Ikara-Flinders ...
.
After returning to camp and a brief foray 50 km down the western side of Spencer Gulf with Baxter, Eyre decided to return southwards. He was dissatisfied with the
saltbush Saltbush is a vernacular plant name that most often refers to ''Atriplex'', a genus of about 250 plants distributed worldwide from subtropical to subarctic regions. ''Atriplex'' species are native to Australia, North and South America, and Eurasia. ...
country (as he described it, "sandy desert interspersed with scrub"), not realising the grazing potential of the saltbush.
On his return trip he turned east after leaving the Flinders behind and instead travelled back to Adelaide down the River Murray, reaching home on June 29. The Governor soon named his northernmost point
Mount Eyre
E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plur ...
.
West and north again
Restless, Eyre dallied little before setting sail for
Port Lincoln
Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located a ...
on his 24th birthday, 5 August 1839. His small party travelled along the coast to the vicinity of
Streaky Bay
Streaky the Supercat is a fictional superhero cat that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #261 (February 1960) and was created by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney.
He is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Su ...
before Eyre struck out alone with an
Aboriginal companion. They reached their farthest point some west of the modern site of
Ceduna Ceduna may refer to:
*Ceduna, South Australia, a town and locality
*Ceduna Airport
Ceduna Airport is a public airport in Ceduna, South Australia. The airport, which is owned by the District Council of Ceduna is located adjacent to the Eyre ...
, forced back by lack of water. It was during this trip that they passed
Lake Newland, which Eyre named after his friend
Richard Francis Newland
Richard Francis Newland (died 1 August 1873) was a banker and politician in the colony of South Australia, appointed as an acting non-official member of the Legislative Council of South Australia, serving from January 1847 to July 1847.
History
...
.
Eyre then led his party across country back to the head of Spencer Gulf and their old campsite at Depot Creek, visiting and naming the
Gawler Ranges
The Gawler Ranges are a range of stoney hills in South Australia to the north of Eyre Peninsula. The Eyre Highway skirts the south of the ranges. The Gawler Ranges National Park is in the ranges north of Kimba, South Australia, Kimba and Wudinna ...
(for the Governor) on the way. Determined to explore farther, he travelled north alone, this time going about farther than Mount Eyre, reaching a peak a little south-west of modern-day
Leigh Creek. From here he saw that Lake Torrens was now filled with water, but it still blocked his path. He was compelled to return, being without any support. Back at camp he conferred with Baxter, whom he had sent east. Baxter is assumed to have crossed the
Willochra Plain, and after traveling some , he had seen what he called nothing but a "low flat sea of scrub".
Eyre returned to Adelaide directly, visiting and giving glowing reports of what was to become the
Clare Valley
The Clare Valley is a valley located in South Australia about north of Adelaide in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys council area. It is the river valley formed by the Hutt River but is also strongly associated with the roughly parallel Hill Riv ...
.
Notes
{{Reflist
References
* Mincham, Hans (1964), ''The Story of the Flinders Ranges'', Adelaide: Rigby Publishers.
* ''
Historical Records of Australia
The ''Historical Records of Australia'' (''HRA'') were collected and published by the Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, to create a series of accurate publications on the history of Australia. The records begin shortly before 1788, ...
'', Series I, Volume XX, p. 875: Note 151.
Australian expeditions
Exploration of Australia
History of South Australia
Lake Eyre basin
1839 in Australia