TS 5M – History of Surveying

of outback South Australia. This mark was a blaze in a kurrajong tree made by surveyor Larry Wells as part of the Elder Scientific Expedition of 1891. The blazed tree has been described as surely one the most remote explorers marks in the world. However during the attempt to find the explorers mark the adventure took an unusual turn after the discovery of an aboriginal artefact on a sand-hill. On planning a second expedition to the same area in May1986 the author joked so often that he was going to find “the lost tribe ” that he actually believed he would. In October of that year a last nomadic tribe of seven aboriginals walked out of the Great Victoria Desert. Successive harsh years made their old way of living now impossible and they surrendered to white “civilisation”. The tribal leader had deliberately steered his people away from white society for their entire lives. In contrast the Elder Scientific Expedition of 1891 encountered totally different conditions in the Great Victoria Desert even experiencing rain, mists and fog for much of their journey. Even with those freak events they just managed to reach Victoria Springs with their camels nearly dead. History has not been kind to either to either the nomadic aboriginals or Larry Wells. The nomads failed to adapt to their new confinement and they struggled to survive. The fate of Larry Wells was also sad as he died in unusual circumstances, despite nearly losing his life several times in the remote outback. The author tells the story of both parties and how they become inevitably intertwined