508.3(942) 254 



IV. 



The Horn Expedition to Central Australia.' 



THE expedition of the results of which these volumes furnish an 

 account, was inaugurated and its expense defrayed by Mr. W. A. 

 Horn, who in order to give it a semi-national character invited the 

 Premiers of the principal Australasian Colonies to nominate scientific 

 representatives. In this way Professors Baldwin Spencer and Ralph 

 Tate, Dr. E. C. Stirling, and Mr. J. Alexander Watt were selected, 

 whilst Mr. C. A. Winnecke was chosen as surveyor and meteorologist. 

 These constituted the scientific staff, and in addition there were 

 camel-drivers, collectors, prospectors, &c., the party numbering six- 

 teen in all. The object of the Expedition was " the scientific exami- 

 nation of the country from Oodnadatta to the M'Donnell Range ; the 

 collection of specimens illustrative of the fauna, flora, and geological 

 structure and mineralogical resources of that region, and the illustra- 

 tion by photography of any remarkable natural features of the 

 country traversed ; the securing of photographs of the aborigines in 

 their primitive state, the collection of information as to their manners, 

 customs, and language, and the reproduction of their mural paint- 

 ings." How far these aims were achieved the following paragraphs 

 endeavour to show. We may arrange them under the headings of 

 the several reports. 



Narrative. 



Professor Baldwin Spencer, in the course of about 130 pages, 

 gives an account of the journey, dividing it into five sections, and treat- 

 ing of three different types of country, namely, the desert or eremian — 

 a term frequently, but erroneously, applied to the centre of Australia 

 as a whole — and the steppes, which are subdivided into lower steppes 

 and higher steppes. The lower steppes extend over the area occupied 

 by the great Cretaceous formation, and are characterised by gibber 

 plains, loamy flats, and terraced hills capped with desert sandstone. 

 " At Lake Eyre the land is 39 feet below sea level, gradually rising to 

 a height of one thousand feet at its northern limit." The higher 



1 Report on the Horn Scientific Expedition to Central Australia. Part I. 

 Introduction, Narrative, Summary of Results, Supplement to Zoological Report. 

 Pp. xii., 220, pis. xi. and map. Part II. Zoology. Pp. iv., 431, pis. xxix. Part III. 

 Geology and Botany. Pp. 204, pis. ix. Part IV. Anthropology. Pp. 200, pis. xix. 

 Edited by Professor Baldwin Spencer, of Melbourne University. London : Dulau 

 and Co.; Melbourne: Melville, Mullen & Slade. 1896. Price 21s., 30s., los. 6d., 

 and 2 IS. respectively. 



