An Australian Adventure
Tins plain, unvarnished account of a bush Odyssey undertaken by six adventurers with guns, ears and cameras, turns a bright searchlight upon a subject which for most people has been hitherto wrapt in mystery. We have been brought up to believe that Northern Australia is one vast. desert peopled only by savage aboriginals and man-eating kangiroos. On the contrary, we are told (and it is true) that the desert blossoms, not with roses, but with giant cauliflowers, succulent paw-paws, bananas, and, in many places, rich grazing food. Mr. Terry also disperses the savage aboriginal myth. He introduces us to nomad tribes who, though wild, are essentially simple and unwarlike. He has made an exhaustive study of native ritual and the almost neolithic customs' which still survive in places unhabited by white men.
From Port Darwin- in the Northern Territory to Broome on the coast of West Australia the six adventurers trekked, making a detailed survey of the country, marking out a road for future travellers, assessing the water capacity of the country and its suitability for pastoral and agricultural settlement Their notes on these matters constitute a valuable text-book for both prospective settlers in this area and those interested in schemes for Empire development. There is no end to the versatility of this-Land of Promise: It offers strange stones and ancient drawings to archaeologists, gold to the fortune-seeker, a rich abundant future to fruit- wers and farmers, landing-stages to adventtiring airmen, and teeming coverts for sportsmen. Incidentally, the book is an excellent testimonial to modern motor transport. Two creeper-track motors, which seem to be a cross between Army tonics and lorries, carried, the six adventurers for the two thousand miles of their journey. These_conunendable machines even penetrated into the vast South Esk Tablelands, which have hitherto been considered hazardous for camels:
One could wish that less space had been devoted to the rather dull witticisms of the members of the expedition. The purely personal element might well have remained in oblivion. But this is a small point. The ramparts of Australia's once impregnable North are falling. That they arc doing so is largely due to explorers such as Mr. Terry and books such as this.
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