Beadle, Forty years ago 
5 
The hotel, which provided travellers with meals at 2/6 each and a bed for 2/6 
(i.e. 10/- or Si per day), was owned by Mrs Bonnet, a delightful old lady with long 
experience in the west and a love for people in general and for her country. In 
spite of isolation and duststorms, the hotel was meticulously kept and the meals 
were beautifully cooked and served in a dining room with linoleum-covered walls. 
Mrs Bonnet told us much about the country, emphazising its one-time splendour 
and its destruction by over-grazing, mainly by sheep and later by rabbits, towards 
the end of last century. I remember in particular her description of the waters of 
Evelyn Creek, on which Milparinka stands, and bf the fish that one could catch 
there. The creek is now full of sand. In 1939, Milparinka had a population of 
five people, which dropped to four when the old lady died. However, her son 
restored the number to five when he married. /The town, built largely of stone, is 
now in ruins. ; 
We were directed to Preservation Creek, where Sturt’s party was stranded for 
6 months and James Poole died of scurvy and was buried below a Beefwood Tree 
{Grevillea striata ). There is an outlier of Gidgee (Acacia cambagei) on the creek, 
the species occurring in this area near its southern and western limit (Figure 7). 
Tibooburra lies only 20 miles [32 km] north of Milparinka, and we arrived at 
this outpost before nightfall. The town had a main street and a few other buildings. 
It seemed a long way from the rest of the New South Wales towns, but was (and still 
is) a home for a couple of hundred people and a civic centre for many more, including 
Queenslanders. Many were living in isolation in the district, using old-fashioned 
techniques to sustain life, such as donkeys as draught animals (Figure 8). The town 
is located within a granite outcrop, the granite being gold-bearing. The gold is no 
longer abundant enough to cause a gold-rush, but from time to time small nuggets 
may be found after rain has fallen. Lack of water in the area precludes panning. 
The granite outcrops support outliers of the tropical and subtropical Eucalyptus 
terminalis (Desert Bloodwood), which occurs in open woodlands or scattered clumps 
or as individual trees in the rugged terrain (Figure 9). A small gully, named at 
that time “Dead Horse Gully”, was a refuge for rare species and at the same time a 
riot of colour produced by the yellow-flowered Si da virgata and the scarlet Clianthus 
formosus. Other unusual or rare species in full flower were Prostanthera striatiflora, 
Podocoma cuneifolia among the rocks, and Gnephosis eriocarpa forming mats on the 
sand of the valley floor. 
A trip to the Grey Range, another isolated refugium, and to the border fence 
completed our stay in the area. An aboriginal water hole (Figure 10) on the range 
attracted more attention than the vegetation, with which we were now becoming 
familiar. The border fence (Figure 11) has been erected along the state border to 
restrict the migration of noxious animals, rabbits moving northward and dingoes 
southwards. The fence is over 2 m high, the lower part being small mesh wire¬ 
netting, the upper part of larger mesh. 
Our route back to Sydney took us firstly along the border fence across the Bulloo 
Overflow, a number of large claypans that fill with water when the Bulloo River 
spills out into New South Wales. There was little water to be seen and the road was 
easily negotiated—indeed even a speedway across the clay flats. 
The plant communities were similar to those we had seen to the south on our 
forward journey. Mulga dominated much of the area and Eucalyptus populnea 
began to re-appear in depressions. One major difference, as we approached 
Wanaaring, was the occurrence in this predominantly summer-rainfall zone of 
Acacia cambagei (Gidgee), forming woodlands some 10 m tall. As is usual under 
humid or moist conditions, the phyllodes were emitting their offensive odour. 
We stayed the night at a comfortable hotel at Wanaaring, and the following 
morning we lingered to examine the Paroo River. The road to Bourke led us 
through stands of Mulga, Gidgee and Belah, and we crossed the Darling River at 
Bourke into what one may call “closely settled” country. 
