Some years back I bought a book edited by Tim Flannery, titled “The Explorers”, from an ABC store in Australia. It’s an anthology documenting almost four centuries of exploration and includes the work of Eyre, Giles, Hume and Hovell, Leichhardt, Mitchell, Stuart, Sturt, Wills, and many others. One episode, involving Charles Sturt, has stayed with me.

The picture above shows Sturt and his party in a desperate situation. But look closely up on the left bank: there is a native running hard and about to dive into the river. He is a “chief” who Sturt had encountered earlier and made peace with. This man had subsequently realized the danger from the next tribe further along the river and took action. His courage and timing were perfect and enabled Sturt to maintain his reputation for not killing any aboriginals. This other reference takes up the story: Continue reading →