What interesting things happened on Edward John Eyre's journey?

Answer 1

Edward Eyre's journey was beset with numerous interesting events, some good and some bad.

Eyre sought to be the first to make the crossing through central Australia from south to north, but his way was blocked by saltpans. He was unlucky enough to not find any of the breaks between the saltpans, so he was convinced that a vast, horseshoe-shaped salt lake lay in central Australia, and maps of Australia reflected this error for many years. Eyre then made the choice to be the first to make the crossing west, as he did not wish to return to adelaide without having achieved anything at all.

Lack of water was a huge problem for Eyre on his initial attempt to go north, but he was helped by Aborigines of the Anangu tribe, who helped his party find and collect water. The Anangu was very generous, always sharing their food and water supplies whenever Eyre encountered them. Even after they showed Eyre's party how to dig for water, Eyre's men could not successfully dig, as the sand in the hole they dig kept falling in and refilling the hole. The Aborigines actually got into the hole for Eyre's men, with one supporting the sand wall with his back in what Eyre described in his journal as being in a cramped and uncomfortable position for some time, while he scooped out enough water for not only Eyre's men, but his horses as well.

Eyre took three Aborigines as guides with him on his trek. One, a Western Australian Aborigine named Wylie, remained a faithful companion. The other two wanted to return to their tribes in new South Wales, so they murdered Eyre's overseer, John Baxter, and took off with most of the remaining food supplies, guns and gunpowder. Eyre couldn't even bury Baxter in the hard limestone of the Nullarbor Plain, but had to leave his body wrapped in a blanket on the surface. Baxter's body was never recovered, but the site of his murder is now marked by a cairn at Baxter Cliffs, along the great Australian Bight.

At one stage, Eyre and Wylie were starving so much that, when they exited the Nullarbor and found their way to the beach west of the Bight, they feasted on a dead penguin, and Wylie then proceeded to also completely demolish a dead wallaby.

Towards the end of his journey, Eyre was saved by Captain Rossiter of a French Whaling vessel. Rossiter brought Eyre and Wylie aboard, aloowing them to rest for two weeks, and even arranged for his horses to be freshly shod, fed and watered.