Item #63126 Report and Journal of Examination of the Country North-East of Eucla. James W. JONES.
Report and Journal of Examination of the Country North-East of Eucla

Report and Journal of Examination of the Country North-East of Eucla

[Adelaide, Government Printer], 1880.

Foolscap folio, 9 pages plus a large folding map ('Plan shewing Country north east of Eucla examined by Mr James W. Jones with the view to decide upon boring operations for water', 555 × 705 mm).

Drop-title, sewn as issued; minimal expert infill to the bottom corner of the first leaf; small blank corner piece of the map slightly creased; an excellent copy.

The map embraces the entire extent of the Nullarbor Plain within South Australia covering 'an area of 16,500 square miles ... [with] a complete description of the country from the coast to the route taken by Mr Ernest Giles on his exploration trip to Perth'. It also includes 'Professor Tate's track shewn in red' (presumably relating to Ralph Tate's travels there resulting in his lengthy paper, The Natural History of the Country around the Head of the Great Australian Bight in the 'Transactions ... of the Philosophical Society of Adelaide, South Australia for 1878-9': see McLaren 15803). The journal 'gives a minutely detailed description of the country passed over ... It will be seen that this hitherto comparatively unexplored country has been thoroughly examined. I found that in many important particulars the surmises in previous reports respecting this country were not borne out'. No less interesting is the account of the discovery of the waggon and last campsite of Fairie and Woolley, who died of thirst north of Eucla two years earlier. South Australian Parliamentary Paper Number 191 of 1880; the quantity printed is not stated, but around 700 copies was usual (and this item is rarely encountered on the open market). McLaren 10540.

Item #63126

Price (AUD): $1,100.00