The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1886-03-06
ACROSS A CONTINENT.
The Adventures of n German Explorer In
Australia.


Australia.
DR.. Jules Debrincke, one of the few
white men, and the only German, who
has performed the perilous and as it
was at one time regarded the impracti-
cable feat of crossing the Australian
continent from the south to the north,
is in the CITY, The expedition, con.
sisting of the doctor and six others,
started in the beginning of March,
1875, and took an almost due north
course.
"After nine and a half months
travel" said the doctor, 1--WE reached
Palmerston without losing a man, ex-
cept a native who died of surfeit
when our party was about two weeks
ON its way. The chief object of the ex-
petition was to survey the west of
Eyre lake for the Government of
South Australia, and to report as to
the general character of the land trav-
ersed. The only incidents of note
that marked the journey occurred once
when we were led astray from our
proper route by fatGmOrgana or mirage,
and once when we had to ward off an
attack of hostile abo1gines. The
mirage appeared near Lake Eyre and
appeared to every one of the party to
be landscape exactly like what might
be expected in that neighborhoOd, con-
tanning lake, the color of which in
Dictated that it was fresh water We
went ten miles out of our course be-
fore finding out our mistake.
"The hostile tribe attacked us near
the Ashburton range in North Aus
tralia. They were armed with spears
and arrows, and l was the only one
wounded in the party, having received
spear thrust in my left arm. One
volley of our rifles served to dispense
our assailants; and we went on our
way unmolested thereafter We found
traces of blood on the trail, but we
had no particular desire to follow them
up to see whether any of the crowd
had been killed or not.
ION our second expedition in 1877,
one year after Giles had started with
| his expedition from Perth for Adelaide,
which journey he successfully carried
out, we started from Adelaide for West
Australia, but failed to reach the coast,
and after losing one of the members of
our expedition, we were compelled to
turn south and make for King George S
Sound, which we ultimately reached,
and from which we returned to AIDE
laide by steamer. E.
"Of the more notable exploring ex-
petitions which have attempted to
cross the continent may be mentioned
that headed by DR.. Leichardt in 1913,
and that of Burke and Wills in 1S60-61,
neither of which three explorers sur
vived to return, and Leichardt was
never heard of.
"McDougall Stuart was the first ia
traverse the continent from Adelaide
to the Malayan sea, which he did in
1862, and along the route taken by him
the transcontinental telegraph line
was laid. Several minor expeditions
followed, fitted out by the South Aus
tralian Government, and in some cases
by private enterprise; but ours was
the first expedition after Stuart S
which went in a compact body from
the south to the north of the continent
| intend on my return to Australia tC
form an expedition, to be led by mysel
in person, to search for Dr. Lcichardt'
remains, or at least for reliable indica
tions of his fate. San Francisco
Chronicle.