On 14 May 1858, an expedition of discovery led by John McDouall Stuart
departed from a copper mine located on the very edge of the known world in the
North Flinders Ranges. The Australian continent stretched for another 2000
kilometres to the north and 2500 to the west and no white man had the slightest
idea of what was there. It was to be the first of six expeditions mounted by
Stuart as he sought to uncover the mysteries of the interior and forge a path to
the north.
Ultimately he became part of a race across the continent, his rivals being
the Burke and Wills expedition. In the end Stuart was to be the first European
to cross Australia from south to north and return again, as the cumbersome
expedition of Burke and Wills turned from farce to tragedy. Yet his hero's
homecoming was shortlived.
'Mr Stuart's Track' is a fascinating study of a loner, an explorer of no
fixed abode who battled alcoholism and ill health to push himself to the limits
of endurance in crossing straight through the Red Centre to the northern seas.
With meticulous research and narrative skill, John Bailey has brilliantly
re-created the life and journey of Australia's greatest, and least understood
explorer.
Contents:
A List of Maps
Prologue: A Bushman's Burial 1858
1. Uncertain Beginnings 1815-1846
2. Finke
3. In Search of Wingillpin 1858
4. Cliffs of Quartz 1859
5. Chambers
6. The Great Northern Copper Mine
7. Rewards and Rivals 1859-1860
8. To the Centre 1860
9. Attack Creek 1860
10. Fire and Water 1860
11. The Great Race: Part I
12. The Great Race: Part II
13. Sturt Plains
14. Stuart, Burke and Wills 1861
15. Overland to India 1861-1862
16. Towards Land's End 1862
17. Homeward 1862
18. The Explorer of No Fixed Abode 1863-1866
Epilogue
Author's Note
Selected References
Notes on Sources
Index
