Granite outcrop and cave, near Lake Deborah, in Western Australia. The Elder Scientific Exploring Expedition crossed over Lake Deborah via a narrow neck of land on 8 December 1891. They were now travelling through relatively settled lands: near this granite outcrop there was a well which gave access to good supplies of water, and an Aboriginal man tended a flock of 500 sheep. The well and others the expedition encountered were all government wells.

The country was difficult to travel through in part because of the numerous granite outcrops such as this one, and also because feed for the expedition's camels was sparse.

The Elder Scientific Exploring Expedition was financed by Sir Thomas Elder, and led by David Lindsay. Its purpose was to explore western South Australia and into Western Australia, looking for good pastoral lands and mineral resources. The expedition was equipped with cameras supplied by the University of Adelaide, and Dr FJ Elliott was expedition doctor and photographer. It was one of the first expeditions to have a full photographic program, and the photographs obtained were one of the success stories of the expedition.

Attempts had been made previously to use cameras on expeditions, but generally not successfully. Explorers, such as William Tietkensin 1889 were frustrated by the equipment and the level of training he had undergone in using the equipment. By the late 1880s gelatin dry plate photography was available, but was still, in the remote areas that explorers travelled through, only as good as the quick training and the primitive conditions that the exploration party operated in, allowed.

Newton, Gael Shades of light: photography and Australia 1839-1988 with essays by Helen Ennis and Chris Long and assistance from Isobel Crombie and Kate Davidson Canberra: Australian National Gallery: Collins Australia, 1988

Davies, Alan, Eye for photography: the camera in Australia Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Pub., 2004

Elder Scientific Exploring Expedition, (1891-1892) Journal of the Elder Scientific Exploring Expedition, 1891-2 North Adelaide: Corkwood Press, 1999

Elliott, Frederick, The Elder Scientific Exploration Expedition, 1891-2, photographs North Adelaide: Corkwood Press, 2002