Wylie (c. 1825 – ?) was an

indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

originally from the

King George Sound King George Sound ( nys , Menang Koort) is a sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Named King George the Third's Sound in 1791, it was referred to as King George's Sound from 1805. The name "King George Sound" gradually came into use ...

tribe around Albany in

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 ...

. He accompanied

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 ...

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 ...

by sea in May 1840, and would have left with Eyre on his expedition to penetrate to the interior in June of the same year, but Wylie was ill. Later in the year, Eyre was at Fowlers Bay in the west, having retreated from the north, and Wylie joined him by way of the ship supplying the expedition, the ''Hero''. Wylie was subsequently one of the three aborigines to accompany Eyre and John Baxter on their final attempt to cross the

Nullarbor Plain The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of , 'no', and , 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its ...

in 1841. He deserted for a brief time with the other older aboriginal member of the party, Joey, while the party rested at the sandhills of present-day Eucla, but they returned when they failed to find any food. Several weeks later he proved loyal to Eyre when Joey and Yarry (the other aboriginal person) murdered Baxter and deserted. Despite the two aborigines accosting them and calling for Wylie to join them the following day, Wylie stayed with Eyre for the rest of the journey, impressing the French whalers they met in

Rossiter Bay Rossiter Bay is on the southern coast of Western Australia, in the Cape Le Grand National Park east of Esperance. The bay is noted as the place that the explorer Edward John Eyre and his Aboriginal companion Wylie met the crew of the French wh ...

with his voracious appetite. Joey and Yarry had been taken on by Eyre at

Gundagai Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town. Located along the Murrumbidgee River and Muniong, Honeys ...

and Yarry have been the same person as Yarri or Yarree, who saved a large number of Gundagai citizens during the flood of 25 June 1852 and was accused of at least one subsequent murder. After the completion of the journey, Wylie remained at Albany. He spent a brief time as a native policeman, and also benefited from a government pension procured for him by Eyre, who remained in contact with him for some years afterward.

References

External links

Wylie: Edward Eyre's companion
at SAmemory.sa.gov.au (with portrait of Wylie) {{Authority control Explorers of South Australia Indigenous Australians from Western Australia 19th-century Australian people