Edward John Eyre ExpeditionPrint Page

The monument marks Edward John Eyre`s camp number 7 in his expedition of 1839. 

On 1 May 1839 Edward John Eyre left Adelaide with a party of five men on an expedition to the north. At that time no-one had been further north than the head of Spencer Gulf. On his way he discovered a river which he named the Broughton, but north of the gulf he found the country more barren. He continued along the edge of the ranges, first seen by Flinders in 1802, but the outlook from one of the peaks was discouraging and he turned back.

In August, Eyre again set out to explore the inland. This time he decided to sail to Port Lincoln and begin his trek from there. With four white men and two Aborigines he followed the coast to Streaky Bay where he set up a depot. He and one Aborigine rode on for another 100 miles, but finding inhospitable country and little water, they were forced back. The party then struck east across the peninsula, which now bears his name, and made for their old camping site in the Flinders Ranges. From there Eyre travelled further north than on his first trip and sighted the large lake now called Lake Torrens. He returned to Adelaide in October.

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