The expedition reaches Escape Cliffs |
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| Title : | The expedition reaches Escape Cliffs |
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| Creator : | McKinlay, John, 1819-1872 | ||
| Source : | Parliamentary paper (South Australia. Parliament); no. 82 of 1866, p. 21 | ||
| Place Of Creation : | Adelaide | ||
| Publisher : | Governement Printer | ||
| Date of creation : | 1866 | ||
| Format : | Magazine | ||
| Catalogue record | |||
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| Description : |
John McKinlay briefly describes the construction of and the voyage in the horse hide punt. The expedition boarded the Pioneer on 29 June and began their voyage down river and around the coast to the safety of Escape Cliffs. The men needed to bail constantly against leakage and while McKinlay omitted to say it here there was also a problem with crocodiles and sharks which were attracted by the smell of the horse hides as they began to rot. The river had also become salty more quickly than anticipated and the supply of fresh water was quickly exhausted. Coupled with the dry horseflesh that was their food supply, morale was low. McKinlay also summarised his findings on the best location for the new settlement. None of the sites he had seen had received a full recommendation from him, but in the end it was Port Darwin than won. The voyage in the punt around the coast to Escape Cliffs took seven days and when the punt came ashore at Escape Cliffs the skins disintegrated leaving only the framework of saplings. McKinlay arranged to hire the schooner Julia to conduct a coastal survey for a township site. The Daly River which flowed into Anson Bay was explored by schooner and then further upstream by boat, and they then explored the potential of Port Darwin. Both McKinlay and Edmunds were enthusiastic about this harbour and its promise, but in his report to the South Australian government he weighed the advantages and disadvantages of all the sites he had seen. In 1869 George Goyder finally pronounced that he would begin the town surveys at Port Darwin. |
| Subjects | |
| Related names : | McKinlay, John, 1819-1872 |
| Coverage year : | 1866 |
| Place : | Escape Cliffs (NT) |
| Further reading : | John McKinlay's Northern Territory explorations, 1866: South Australian parliamentary papers 1865-66 Adelaide: Friends of the State Library of South Australia, 1999 Lockwood, Kim, Big John: the extraordinary adventures of John McKinlay 1819-1872 Melbourne: State Library of Victoria, 1995 Loyau, George E. The Gawler handbook: a record of the rise and progress of that important town, to which are added memoirs of McKinlay the explorer and Dr. Nott Hampstead Gardens, S.A.: Austaprint, 1978 Browne, L. F. S John McKinlay and the Mary River mud Darwin: State Library of the Northern Territory, 1993 Kerr, Margaret The surveyors: the story of the founding of Darwin Adelaide: Rigby, 1971 Lockwood, Douglas, The front door: Darwin, 1869-1969 [Adelaide]: Rigby, [1968] Powell, Alan, Far country: a short history of the Northern Territory Carlton South, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 2000 |
| Internet links : | Dictionary of Australian biography: see McKinlay, John Historical sketch of South Australia: Inland exploration. see John McKinlay |
| Exhibitions and events : | State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing. Taking it to the edge August 2004- |
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