Providential Discovery of Water - 1841
Edward John Eyre in his later years.
Introduction
In 1840 the colonists of Adelaide, Australia asked Edward John Eyre to lead an expedition from Adelaide, South Australia, to King George Sound at Albany, Western Australia, to see if overland travel was feasible. This was a trek of more than sixteen hundred miles above the Great Australian Bight, through some of the harshest desert of the continent. Two Aborigine assistants stole the party’s guns and supplies, killing Baxter, the other European. Eyre and Wylie, an aborigine friend, continued, becoming the first men known to have crossed Australia along its east-west axis, arriving at Albany in July. The trip took them four and a half months. The country proved so sterile and the conditions so harsh that Eyre supposed no one would ever again visit those parts. Today, however, a road links the two cities. He was sustained by grit and faith and help from Aborigines he occasionally met.
Here are journal excerpts from this day March 30, 1841. The day opened with his party in great distress, having traveled one hundred and sixty miles in seven days since last encountering water.
Quote
“Getting up as soon as the day dawned, I found that some of the horses had crossed the sand ridge to the beach, and rambled some distance backwards. I found, too, that in the dark, we had missed a patch of tolerable grass among the scrub, not far from our camp. I regretted this the more, as during the night a very heavy dew had fallen, and the horses might perhaps have fed a little.
“Leaving the overseer to search for those that had strayed, I took a sponge, and went to try to collect some of the dew which was hanging in spangles upon the grass and shrubs; brushing these with the sponge, I squeezed it, when saturated, into a quart pot, which, in an hour’s time, I filled with water. …
“The horses were, however, becoming exhausted, and the day was so hot that I was compelled to halt, and even now, in sight of our long-expected goal [sand hills of a type that hold water], I feared we might be too late to save them. Leaving the boys to attend to the animals, I took the overseer up one of the ridges to reconnoitre [observe] the country for the purpose of ascertaining whether there was no place near us where water might be procured by digging. After a careful examination a hollow was selected between the two front ridges of white sand, where the overseer thought it likely we might be successful. The boys were called up to assist in digging, and the work was anxiously commenced; our suspense increasing every moment as the well was deepened. At about five feet the sand was observed to be quite moist, and upon its being tasted was pronounced quite free from any saline qualities. This was joyous news, but too good to be implicitly believed, and though we all tasted it over and over again, we could scarcely believe that such really was the case. By sinking another foot the question was put beyond all doubt, and to our great relief fresh water was obtained at a depth of six feet … Words would be inadequate to express the joy and thankfulness of my little party at once more finding ourselves in safety, and with abundance of water near us. A few hours before hope itself seemed almost extinguished, and those only who have been subject to a similar extremity of distress can have any just idea of the relief we experienced ….That gracious God, without whose assistance all hope of safety had been in vain, had heard our earnest prayers for his aid, and I trust that in our deliverance we recognized and acknowledged with sincerity and thankfulness his guiding and protecting hand. … it is when relieved from such a situation that the hand of a directing and beneficent Being appears most plainly discernible, fulfilling those gracious promises which he has made, to hear them that call upon him in the day of trouble.”
Edward John Eyre. Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia.