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This is the list of officers and men of the Elder Scientific Exploration Expedition and the commencement of the instructions to the leader. The expedition members were drawn from all over Australia with many being unknown to each other. The handbook would provide advice for almost all contingencies, except the personal conflicts that affected the expedition. The handbook was carefully set out beginning with the instructions for the leader David Lindsay.

The Elder Scientific Exploration Expedition was financed by Sir Thomas Elder and managed by the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia (South Australian Branch), as Adelaide was closest to the areas to be explored and there was no branch of the Society in Western Australia. The expedition was to explore western South Australia and central Western Australia, some of the remaining unexplored spaces on the map of Australia. It was hoped the expedition would find good grazing, or possibly agricultural lands and mineral resources. For this reason a geologist and naturalist were included, and the medical officer was also to make observations of the Aboriginal peoples encountered and record their languages.

Elder, Thomas, Sir, 1818-1897

Lindsay, David, 1856-1922

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing. Taking it to the edge August 2004-