Media: Hardcover 288 pages
Author: by B. Hardy
Year: 1969

Used - without original dustjacket

The lands that lie west of the Darling River have awakened a spirit of adventure in Australians ever since the first explorers journeyed through the area. Today, this continuing interest focusses on the region’s history, for within its confines the saga of outback settlement has been enacted in full.

Bobbie Hardy traces the West Darling’s development through exploration, settlement, adaptation and consolidation to the present. The tragic history of the Aboriginal tribes; the courage and endurance of Sturt and his fellow explorers; the pastoralists’ struggle against drought and the rabbit; steamers on the river and the rise of the frontage towns; the mad scramble for gold, silver and opals, and the mighty bonanza of Broken Hill—these are all featured in West of the Darling.

But above all, the author’s intimate knowledge of the region enables a strong emphasis to be placed on the human aspect. Anecdotes, word-of-mouth accounts, background detail and numerous photographs are integrated with the historical material to produce a colourful evocation of life in the West Darling from pioneering days to the present.

Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction

Part 1 — Land of the Mirage
1 The Poor People of the Desert
2 River Explorers and Ovcrlanders
3 A Fearful but Splendid Enterprise

Part 2—Pastoral Pioneers 1846-76
4 River Squatters
5 Waterways to the Saltbush
6 Frontage Life
7 Into the Outback

Part 3—Silver and Sand Drift 1876-1902
8 Gold, Silver and Opals
9 The Red Dust Rises
10 Squatters, Selectors and Miners

Part 4—The Years Since 1902
11 A Slow Regeneration
Bibliography
Index