Exploration party reaching coast

Point at which the coast was first reached in Finke Bay, Van Diemen's Gulf on 24 July 1862. One of 44 sketches of the John McDouall Stuart expedition across Australia 1861-1862.

On 24 July 1862 John McDouall Stuart and his men reached the north coast of Australia. Stuart had been close the night before and in the morning, together with Thring, rode across the swampy ground to the sea. Stuart waded into the sea, honouring a promise to the Governor, Sir Richard MacDonnell while Thring called out to the rest of the party 'The sea, the sea'. Due to the boggy ground in which the horses sank up to their knees, the rest of the men came forward in small goups and on foot. After the hardship of the crossing it was their due reward.

The following day at a point some two miles further to the west, a tall tree was stripped of its branches and the British flag raised. A note which stated that the South Australian Great Northern Exploring Expedition had reached the spot on 25 July 1862 'having crossed the entire continent of Australia from the Southern to the Indian Ocean, passing through the Centre ...' was buried in a tin at the base of this tree. The tin and its note have never been found, presumably washed away by high tides or storm damage. Another tree, a little inland, was blazed with Stuart's initials.

John McDouall Stuart had left Chambers Creek in South Australia on his sixth expedition on 8 January 1862, equipped with 71 horses. His party included William Kekwick, Patrick Thring, W Patrick Auld, James Frew, Stephen King, Heath Nash, John McGorrerey, John Billiatt and Frederick Waterhouse. Stuart had made several previous attempts to reach the north coast of Australia, but had always turned back rather than risk the lives of his men in pushing beyond the limit of their resources.

This final expedition had been financed in part by the South Australian Government. The route Stuart took across the continent would subsequently be largely that used to build the Overland Telegraph Line.

View all King's sketches of the expedition.

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