Surveyor General in pursuit of the rainfall |
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| Title : | Surveyor General in pursuit of the rainfall |
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| Creator : | Ball, Adam Gustavus, artist | ||
| Date of creation : | 1865 | ||
| Format : | Photograph | ||
| Contributor : | State Library catalogue | ||
| Catalogue record | |||
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| Copyright : | Reproduction rights are owned by State Library of South Australia. This image may be printed or saved for research or study. Use for any other purpose requires permission from the State Library of South Australia. To request approval, complete the Permission to publish form. |
| Description : |
In the 1850s, periods of heavy rainfall had encouraged settlement in northern country of South Australia. The reports of explorer H Babbage and Deputy Surveyor-General George Goyder supported this development. However, a severe drought in the mid-1860s forced reassessment of land use in these regions.
Goyder travelled on horseback extensively through the area to investigate the situation. He identified a line of drought which became known as 'Goyder's Line of Rainfall' - or 'Goyder's line of foolery' to his critics. Goyder's Line indicated the areas of reliable and unreliable annual rainfall, separating lands suitable for sustainable agriculture from those suitable for only pastoral use. The Line coincided with the southern boundary of saltbush country. This satirical sketch entitled The S[urveyor] G[eneral]in pursuit of the rainfall features a horseman in the outback with binoculars scanning the horizon. The sketch of Goyder is attributed to AG Ball. |
| Subjects | |
| Related names : | Goyder, G. W. (George Woodroffe), 1826-1898 |
| Coverage year : | 1865 |
| Period : | 1852-1883 |
| Further reading : | Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Search: Goyder, George Woodroffe Regional Council of Goyder See: Our region: George W Goyder |
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