Desert Journeys

An Account of the Arduous Exploration of the Interior of the Continent of Australia by Rival Expeditions in 1873-4

by Geoffrey Rawson

Jonathan Cape, The Australasian Publishing Co., 1948 [First Edition], includes six plates (maps), hardcover

Very Good Condition, a little edge and shelf wear, a little rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, no inscriptions, dustjacket shows a little edge and shelf wear with a little rubbing, bumping chipping and small tears, some discoloration (see photographs)

“Here are the narratives of three explorers who in the year 1873-74 simultaneously and independently attempted to cross the desert interior of Western Australia.  These men were the first to discover this vast region, covering nearly half a continent – the last continent, except Antarctica, to be opened up in modern times.  Now the region is crossed every day by aircraft, and it will soon be used for the experimental firing of long-range rockets.  But Giles, Forrest and Warburton struggled separately through the burning and unmapped solitudes, in constant peril of death from thirst, starvation, or hostile natives as primitive as men of the Stone Age.
The records of these three men, besides being important in the history of exploration, are graphic and dramatic; and the suspense naturally inherent in the exploration of a terra incognita is intensified by the competition between the three”.