In his voyage down the River Murray in 1829-30, Charles Sturt was able to observe the Aboriginal people who lived along the river. He was appalled by the diseases that afflicted them, not realising at that time that these diseases had progressed upstream from the whalers and sealers at Encounter Bay and Kangaroo Island.

Sturt recorded much of what he saw - the use of nets and fish weirs, the variety of food caught in the river and the way this was done, and the rush mats used by the women.

Sturt, Charles. Two expeditions into the interior of southern Australia, during the years 1828, 1829, 1830, and 1831 : with observations on the soil, climate, and general resources of the Colony of New South Wales, North Adelaide : Corkwood Press, 1999

Weir, Jessica. Murray River country : an ecological dialogue with traditional owners, Canberra : Aboriginal Studies Press, 2009

Ingarnendi: material culture of Aboriginal Australians

Project Gutenberg of Australia: Australian dictionary of biography: Sturt, Charles