Looking-into-Leichhardt_catalogue_Oct2013_Gannon+friends

LOOKING INTO LEICHHARDT New works following scientist and explorer Ludwig Leichhardt focusing on his 1844 -1845 expedition and the landscapes of north-eastern Australia.

Bill Gannon Jason Benjamin Sarah Larsen Maljah Cathy Snow

October 2013

Leichhardt's Poems (2) by Jason Benjamin pencil and watercolour on paper 25 x 25 cm 2013

From the Westbank of the Mitchell River Queensland at the crossing to Drumduff Station Near Leichhardt's Campsite No.167 of 20 June 1845 by Bill Gannon pencil and ink on watercolour paper 27 x 35 cm 2013

Front cover Looking NE Across Mitchell River Queensland Near Leichhardt's Campsite No. 167 of 20 June 1845 by Bill Gannon pencil and ink on paper 65 x 24 cm 2013

Leichhardt Dreaming (1) by Jason Benjamin 120 x 120 cm oil on linen 2013 Sandstone Sentinels (detail) by Sarah Larsen multi media on canvas 171cm x 101cm 2013

Published in 2013 by Bill andVicki Gannon

Pink Barramundis By Maljah Cathy Snow 97 x 75 cm acrylic on canvas 2013

This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the publishers.

ISBN 978-0-646-91093-2

FORWORD

Quentin Bryce Govenor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia

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ABOUT THE PROJECT History, adventure and artistic endeavour.

LUDWIG LEICHHARDT (1813-48?) Born in the hamlet of Trebatsch, Prussia (in today’s north Germany), Ludwig was a bright child who went on to study at universities across Europe. Subjects of a‘naturalist’included biology, geology, medicine and philosophy. He was competent in six languages. In his late twenties he arrived in Australia and undertook many scientific journeys and often alone he collected, measured and recorded. He then led three major expeditions. The first and most successful undertaken in 1844-45 linked east Australia to the top of today’s Northern Territory. The next two, 1847 and 1848, sought an east-west crossing of Australia. The 1847 effort failed and the party returned from the Peak Ranges. Soon after leaving ‘Cogoon Station’, in south-east Queensland in April 1848 nothing further was heard of him. His brilliant scientific work is still being unravelled. • For a good read biography – John Bailey’s Into the Unknown , Pan Macmillan, 2011 • For the early years in Australia – Leichhardt’s Diaries: Early Travels in Australia during 1842-44 , Edited by Tom Darragh and Rod Fensham – to be published by the Queensland Museum and released on 23 October 2013 • For what happened to Leichhardt – Darrell Lewis’s Where is Dr Leichhardt? , Monash University Publishing, 2013

The project has primarily sought to retrace and retell Leichhardt's epic 1844-45 expedition. Led by Bill Gannon, the exercise has run over 3 years and involved artists, writers, academic and local area historians, scientists, traditional owners, pastoralists, and all levels of government and others. Research began with the records left by Leichhardt, John Gilbert and other members of the expedition. Of particular value were the original diaries and hand drawn maps of Leichhardt at the Mitchell Library, Sydney. Then there were the various commentaries, books, novels, music scores and operas, radio plays, as well as artworks. Initial fieldwork began in mid 2011 when surveyor, Rod Schlencker, and Bill made a reconnaissance trip from Comet in Central Queensland to the Gulf of Carpentaria. That work provided confidence in trailing the Leichhardt route, finding many campsites, and gaining access permission. Field sketches were made and interest in the full project increased. Requiring one and a half years and mostly undertaken in 2-3 week periods, the main fieldwork was sometimes a solo adventure and at other times a gathering. At the AustralianWildlife Conservancy's 'Pungalina' on the west coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, Rod and Bill camped with 50 plus scientists ('cavers', 'birdies', 'froggers', and others) hosted by the Royal Geography Society of Queensland. Earlier, on the opposite side of the Gulf, the night camp included a crocodile! The project is now at the exhibition stage. The key exhibition being at the Leichhardt Town Hall, Sydney, to coincide with Leichhardt's 200th birthday on 23 October 2013. A video link is to run from that exhibition to Cottbus, Germany. Exhibitions are planned around Australia in late 2013 and 2014.

Dr Leichhardt 1846 by Charles Rodius 38 x 89 cm

Pencil and charcoal on paper National Library of Australia nia.pic-an5600270

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RETRACING THE 1844-45 EXPEDITION

The colony of New SouthWales was keen for a overland link from the east coast to the small garrison, Victoria Settlement, north-east of today’s Darwin. The British had fears of the French or other colonists claiming the north. Sir Thomas Mitchell was delayed in taking on this venture and a small rag bag team led by the unusual naturalist, Ludwig Leichhardt, took on the challenge. They left Jimbour Station in south east Queensland on 1 October 1844. See a month by month outline of the expedition starting at page 16, and a list of source documents on the inside back cover of this booklet .

Photographs of Leichhardt's 1844-45 Field Diary with extracts of text, maps and calculations by kind permission of the Mitchell Library , State Library of NSW, Sydney

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SARAH LARSEN

www.sarahlarsen.com.au

Sandstone Sentinels multi media on canvas 171 x 101 cm 2013

I was thrilled to be invited to participate in this project and follow the footsteps of this intrepid explorer. It has been a wonderful learning opportunity and I have thoroughly enjoyed experiencing places new to me as well as familiar country. Listening to great yarns and meeting new friends, I found myself absorbed by this epic narrative and slid quietly into the soul of this land and the journey. The courage, tenacity and resourcefulness displayed captivated my imagination. How they managed so well with limited resources inspired me and I wondered, would I have fared so well? My desire in the artwork is to capture the beauty of this rugged yet fragile land and reflect my response to that beauty, Leichhardt's story and feelings alluded to in the journals. I found myself imagining what it would have been like then in comparison to what I see and feel in front of me now. This comparison of what is here now and what was there then, as well as expressing the innate beauty and timelessness of the setting is my reflection on this journey. I am richer for the experience and invite you to enjoy.

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route Section covered by Sarah

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The Dip multi media on canvas 113 x 128 cm 2013

Traversing the Land - The Journals Journey multi media on canvas 100 x 80 cm 2013

Billabong Blues multi media on canvas 65 x 90 cm 2013

Echoes Mined Across the Land multi media on canvas 106 x 92 cm 2013

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MALJAH CATHY SNOW

Rock FishTrap 122 x 93 cm acrylic on canvas 2013

I am a descendant of the Gkuthaarn peoples whose traditional lands are on the south-east of today’s Gulf of Carpentaria around Normanton. I met Bill Gannon in 2011 and discussed the importance of water and what comes of it. On his second trip to the Gulf in 2012, Margaret Sailor and I showed him the‘Goosey’lagoon system north of Normanton. We sketched there. My people hunted and gathered food there for thousands of years and it is likely that Leichhardt and the other early white explorers also enjoyed food there. Today I have four books of sketches and drawings which depict my mother's stories. These books will continue to inform the art I create. Painting gives me the opportunity to share my mother's story and my older siblings' stories with people from all walks of life. Most importantly I share stories with my family, my three children and six grandchildren. My art seems to always involve water and what is in it and of it – fish, lilies, bulbs, stalks and more; all telling of movement, colour and life.

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route Section covered by Cathy

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Water Lillies 86 x 116 cm acrylic on canvas 2013

Leichardt Waterfall 94 x 124 cm acrylic on canvas 2013

Pink Barramundis 97 x 75 cm acrylic on canvas 2013

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JASON BENJAMIN

www.jasonbenjamin.com.au

Leichhardt Dreaming (1) 120 x 120 cm oil on linen 2013

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route Section covered by Jason

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Leichhardt Dreaming (2) 120 x 120 cm oil on linen 2013

It continues to be a remarkable journey for me to be included in this rediscovery of Ludwig Leichhardt. Through Bill Gannon’s passionate and academic approach I was generously asked to contribute my impressions of the tall Prussian. I was able to join Bill and Rod Schlencker at what was the bitter sweet successful conclusion of Leichhardt’s epic journey. From the mystifying descent from Jim Jim Falls to the Coburg Peninsula. Prior to my joining the expedition I immersed myself in John Bailey’s fantastic Into The Unknown and while that certainly provided a much needed background and overview of not only the man but the circumstances and landscape that shaped the figure that still for me made his presence felt. Strangely my contribution to this exhibition was developed while I was an artist in residence in a village outside of Beijing. I mention this because I had sent the half finished pieces over there for my 3 month residency to be completed. The circumstances: pollution, isolation, sickness made the work I had sent look unresolved. They had to go. I had to dig deeper. This was when I felt like (at least on an emotional level) I could access Leichhardt somewhat. Though he had successfully navigated the mammoth journey thus far and made the terrifying descent into Kakadu (what can only have felt like Eden), his men resented him. He was alone in his achievement. The further we followed this last leg of his journey to the Coburg Peninsula, it felt to me at least like he was leaving everything behind. Anglo Saxon values and expectations seemed completely insignificant. For me his greatest lesson is the respect he had for the land. He wasn’t conquering and commanding. Like the Aboriginals he learnt from, he was becoming a part of it.

Leichhardt's Poems (1) 25 x 25 cm pencil and watercolour on paper 2013

Leichhardt's Poems (3) 25 x 25 cm pencil and watercolour on paper 2013

Leichhardt Healing (1) 120 x 120 cm oil on linen 2013

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BILL GANNON

This project has taken me many miles in retracing Leichhardt’s 1844-45 trek, reading his diaries and journals, and imagining his twists and turns. I have valued that journey and the many interesting people, landscapes, and thoughts along the way. My fieldwork is mostly pencil and ink on heavy watercolour paper. Over the years required to follow the length of the overland expedition, I made hundreds of field sketches. I then prepared 15 studio oil paintings on board that correlate to the 15 month journey. Some of my works were consciously influenced by the German Romantics, notably Casper David Friedrich (1774-1840). Each painting and its title depict a key event or thought for that month of the expedition. They show landforms, waterways, biology, and skies of that part of the journey. The themes are universal and enduring – hope, collaboration, struggle, loss, grief and recommencement.

www.billgannonartist.com.au

Landscape at the Coburg Peninsula 29 x 42 cm pencil and ink on watercolour paper 2012

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route 2011 ReconnaisanceTrip 2012-13Trip

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The Camp of Three Rocks, Burdekin River 42 x 22 cm pencil and ink on watercolour paper 2012

Goosey Lagoon, Gulf of Carpentaria 42 x 22 cm pencil and ink on watercolour paper 2012

Mind Image of a Kakadu Gully and Escarpment 29 x 30 cm ink on watercolour paper 2012

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I WITH HOPE INTO THEWILDERNESS OF AUSTRALIA October 1844 It was mid-Spring 1844 when the expedition set out from Jimbour Station in south-east Queensland. Initially it consisted of 10 men, of whom the youngest was aged just 15, led by Ludwig Leichhardt, a tall, thin short-sighted Prussian, only 30 years old himself, accompanied by 17 horses, 16 cattle and several hunting dogs. Leichhardt wrote in his diary “… [we] launched buoyant with hope into the wilderness of Australia…”. Publicly, their objective was to find an overland route between eastern Australia and the Top End at Port Essington, 150 km north-east of today's Darwin. They intended to investigate inland waterways and potential grazing and farming lands. Privately, Leichhardt's motivation was scientific pursuit in this, the Great Age of gentlemen botanists astronomers, geographers and zoologists. He had studied widely at universities across Europe. In line with the great German scientist, Alexander von Humbolt, his 'naturalist's' studies covered geology, biology and other natural sciences, medicine, languages and philosophy. They had no government support, no overland maps, no knowledge of what, if any, rivers they could follow, and they knew little of each other. Yet most were familiar with the southern hemisphere's night sky. Perhaps it gave them comfort. Leichhardt had spent his previous two and a half years in Australia exploring lands between Sydney and today’s Brisbane. On this journey he preferred to sleep without a tent under the stars with the two aboriginal members of the team, Charley Fisher and Harry Brown. Later he wrote in his diary that at night Harry would “…tune his corroboree songs…”

80 x 120 cm oil on board 2013

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route

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II AWE AND CHALLENGE November 1844

The first few months were slow and arduous. The party was soon reduced to eight when two of the men turned back. By the end of November 1844 they had reached the Dawson River. This linked up with Robinson Creek, near today’s Taroom, which took them north-west up high ranges and into deep gorges. They anticipated a very demanding expedition but remained optimistic. Leichhardt and John Gilbert (described by Leichhardt as the‘talented zoologist’) climbed a precipice at Robinson Gorge about which Leichhardt later wrote “…From the extremity of the range we enjoyed a very fine and extensive view…a sunrise with light fleecy clouds to the west-north-west” .

80 x 120 cm oil on board 2013

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route

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III COCKATOO CHRISTMAS ON THE COMET December 1844 Now travelling north along the Comet River (so named because of a comet sighting), on 20th December the expeditioners made an early Christmas meal of one of their bullocks. By now their meals were increasingly bush-based. Under Leichhardt’s encouragement they had learned to dine on emu, kangaroo, bandicoots, goanna, various‘green picks’, native lime, honey, fish and birds. Young John Murphy and Fisher would often hunt with their dogs and both were good shots when it came to birds. Leichhardt went on a reconnaissance trip until late Christmas Day, whilst back at Camp No. 50 the others dined on 'stewed cockatoo and suet pudding' at Brown's Lagoon under a 'cloudy and sultry' sky.

80 x 120 cm oil on board 2013

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route

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IV HEAT AND DISORIENTATION January 1845

By early 1845 they had moved directly north from the Comet River, crossing the Mackenzie River and on to the flat lands around the visually intriguing Peak Ranges. It was now summer and extremely hot. In mid-January, Leichhardt and Brown wandered alone through the 'most wretched country' until Brown declared “…we are lost, we are lost…”, but they eventually returned safely to the main group. Soon afterwards Leichhardt and John Calvert set off to look for water and a good passage through or around the Ranges but became disorientated. The varied landscape features simply caused confusion and the exhausting heat and haze had a debilitating effect on them. Leichhardt wrote “… [we were] lost from our camp with thirst and speech unintelligible under the Peak Ranges…” .

80 x 120 cm oil on board 2013

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route

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V ARGUMENTS February 1845

Living under such arduous conditions the expeditioners often quarrelled and fought among themselves. Friendships and loyalties were challenged. Trouble could be sparked by the most trivial of issues, such as the division of native honey at mealtimes. Leichhardt and Gilbert competed with each other about who would take the credit for finding new animal species. On 22nd February Charley Fisher argued with Leichhardt, who wrote “…[Charley] burst into most violent and abusive language, and threatened to stop my jaw…” Blows were exchanged and blood was drawn. Charley was discharged. Harry Brown went with him, but sometime later they rejoined the party as it moved from the Isaac to Suttor River. Charley and Harry’s superior navigation (especially on finding a return route to campsites after reconnaissance trip), water and food sourcing skills were much needed by the others, but relationship issues continued to be troublesome and, perhaps reflecting on those, on 24th February Leichhardt wrote of a 'dreary land' with 'thunder peeling above us' .

80 x 120 cm oil on board 2013

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route

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VI WHY AREN’TWE THERE YET? March 1845

Leichhardt’s early predictions as well as his unrealistic preparations for provisions were that the journey would be completed in about six months, but by March 1845 they were already into their sixth month yet only one-third of the way towards Port Essington. There may have been some self-delusion in his diary entry for 9th March when Leichhardt wrote “…we had acquired a sort of instinctive feeling as to the course we should adopt…” Some of the party noted how easily he could be distracted by his naturalist interests. Later, Williams Phillips (the ticket-of-leave convict, a former solicitor sentenced to transportation to Australia for fraud) wrote about Leichhardt's reconnoitring absences "…or in other words his botanical and geological pursuits…" . Leichhardt’s diary contains lengthy and brilliant passages on geology, flora, fauna, hydrology, climate, native foods and observations on aboriginal culture.

80 x 120 cm oil on board 2013

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route

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VII INTO THE VALLEY OF LAGOONS April 1845 By late autumn 1845 they were battling their way north-west along the rocky edge of the Burdekin River, past today’s Charters Towers, where they encountered a valley that had recently received heavy rains. It was aptly named Valley of Lagoons. Despite their earlier hardships this interlude lifted their spirits and they described the grassed river flats as 'the most beautiful country' . The expeditioners worked, ate and slept reasonably well during this period. Sunrise and sunset colours were dramatic. Just prior to entering the valley they made Campsite No. 118 on 12 April 1845 and named it ‘Campsite of The Three Rocks’ on account of basalt on the western bank, a limestone outcrop across the river and a granite bank to the east.

120 x 80 cm oil on board 2013

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route

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VIII BRIGHTEST HOPE…DEEPEST MISERY May 1845 Leichhardt may have been a bipolar depressive. He diarised that he suffered from 'melancholy' and often wrote about his intense highs and lows. His companions remarked about his intense moods. On 24th May, just after the party began their north-west trail of the Lynd River, he wrote “…often I found myself in these different states of the brightest hope and the deepest misery…[yet] the Almighty God protects the wanderer on his journey…” . They soon reached the Mitchell River, part of their long‑awaited link to the Gulf of Carpentaria, yet their miseries and disappointments continued as they came to the end of their salt, tobacco and damper supplies.

80 x 120 cm oil on board 2013

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route

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IX GILBERT“IS DONE FOR” June 1845

By the end of June 1845, the party had made their way along the Mitchell River almost as far as the Gulf of Carpentaria. Gilbert, who had trained with and was now collecting for the great European ornithologist, John Gould, thought he had again sighted the Paradise Parrot (now extinct and easily confused with the magnificent Golden-Shouldered Parrot). Throughout the journey the party met aboriginal communities. They saw “camp smoke rising in every direction” . Gilbert noted that they had entered into a land with “…beautifully constructed ant hills…many rings of fires made by the natives, doubtless for the performance of some of their extraordinary ceremonies…'' . But they became the authors of their own tragedy when some of them sought out the company of aboriginal females in the course of which they assaulted some of the local people. On 29th June at Campsite No. 175, 'Tea-Tree Lagoon' a night attack by aboriginals armed with spears and waddies resulted in death and serious injury for both explorers and aboriginals. Gilbert and possibly one or more aboriginals were killed. Gilbert was speared and uttered his dying words “… I am done for …”

80 x 120 cm oil on board 2013

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route

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X PROVIDENCE AT THE GULF July 1845

The wounded party, now down to seven men, finally smelt salt water at the Gulf of Carpentaria. Leichhardt wrote that the first sight of the salt water of the Gulf was welcomed by all of them and they rejoiced at the 'green feed by lagoons' . Near today’s Normanton they enjoyed local food, plants, birds, fish and other marine life. Magpie geese were in abundance. Despite severe injuries that had been sustained by John Roper and John Calvert, they travelled steadily on in a south-westerly direction around the Gulf.

120 x 80 cm oil on board 2013

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route

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XI FIRES AND FARMED EMUS August 1845

Wheeling around the southern base of the Gulf of Carpentaria then moving north, the party, which was still recovering from their earlier injuries, met up with many aboriginal communities. Leichhardt described 'systematic grass burnings' as part of an agrarian practice. On 13th August he observed “…a barricade or hedge of dry sticks, leaving only one opening to allow the emus to approach the water…” . Leichhardt wrote how they 'parleyed with the natives' . His diary portrays an ordered and interesting indigenous society.

80 x 120 cm oil on board 2013

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route

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XII TERRA NUMEROUS September 1845

Moving north early in September 1845 over what is today’s McArthur River, the expeditioners were constantly in want of food, shade and clothes. In marked contrast, the numerous local aboriginals were healthy and comfortable in that coastal tropical environment. Leichhardt noted “…they were all well made, good looking men…and one young man, whose body was coloured red, was even handsome…”

80 x 120 cm oil on board 2013

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route

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XIII LOSSES October 1845

They were now one year into the journey and travelling beside today’s Roper River (named after John Roper, who had mostly recovered after being given‘Dr’Leichhardt’s remedies) when a number of serious losses occurred. The first was the death of the last and much-loved dog, Spring. Then came the drowning of four horses, including that of the crucial pack horses. This was followed by the spearing of another weak horse that had fallen and become impaled by a sharp tree. The disastrous consequence for Leichhardt was the destruction of many containers of scientific specimens (mostly plants, seeds and small animals) that both he and Gilbert had collected. This happened because the specimen packs became soaked when the pack horses drowned. Leichhardt gathered into a pile what remained of the wasted specimens and lit a fire. This would have been particularly devastating for him because he was first and foremost a scientist; he saw his role as an explorer as secondary. On 21st October he wrote “…The fruit of many a day’s work was consigned to the fire; and tears were in my eyes…”

80 x 120 cm oil on board 2013

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route

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XIV BUT I AM ALMOST DEAD November 1845

It was towards the end of the dry season and they were crossing very rough and often barren ground as they travelled along Flying Fox Creek under unrelenting heat. Dissention within the group was rife. Leichhardt wrote "…everyone is against me…" . He and his companions suffered painfully from heat boils and prickly heat sores. Melancholy and dread hit Leichhardt. They had yet to descend the steep and treacherous walls of the Arnhem Land plateau down to the flats of today’s Kakadu National Park. Leichhardt lost interest in his scientific researches and for a while found it hard to continue, declaring in scratchy writing on his map of Flying Fox Creek on 13th November “…but I am almost dead.”

80 x 120 cm oil on board 2013

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route

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XV JOURNEY’S END, JOURNEY AGAIN December 1845 Remarkably, Leichhardt’s spirits lifted and he

resumed his detailed scientific record-keeping and wrote passages in his diary appreciating the kind and attentive 'natives'. On 17th December 1845, as the wet season was moving over the Top End, their 15 month trek came to an end when they reached the then Victoria Settlement, Port Essington, on the Cobourg Peninsula. It had been an epic journey. Leichhardt wrote of his arrival “…I was deeply affected in finding myself in civilized society, and could scarcely speak…enabled by a kind providence to perform such a journey with so small means…” Commenting on their arrival, the commander of the settlement wrote of Leichhardt "…a thin, spare, weather beaten and bent down man, wearing a long beard and well worn habitments…" The small garrison settlement, with its formal cluster of brick buildings, was to be abandoned in 1848, little more than two years later. It was an isolated post on a wide harbour overlooked by a white cliff but had little fresh water.

120 x 80 cm oil on board 2013

Leichhardt, was soon to be titled by the Sydney Morning Herald as the‘Prince of Explorers’, and awarded rare medals from both the Royal Geographic Society of London and the Geographic Society of Paris. He was already planning his next: a more ambitious scientific expedition east-west across the Australian continent. The first attempt failed around the Peak Ranges in early 1847 and his strange ways and leadership came into further question. The next attempt commenced in April 1848 and was to be a journey from which he was never to return.

Leichhardt's 1844-45 route

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS FROM BILL GANNON To the many people whose interest and support underpinned this project, I give thanks. Some, but not all, are now listed: Fieldwork

Media ABCTV – 7.30 Report teams in the NorthernTerritory (notably Alison Middleton) and Queensland (notably MarlinaWhop), ABC Radio Jackie MacKay and David Lewis; and journalist Kirsty McKenzie. Exhibitions and Community Events LeichhardtTown Hall Exhibition – Leichhardt Council, Sydney, in particular thanks to BronwynTuohy, for her ideas and persistence, Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany and ChameleonTouring Systems; Queensland Schools Competition - Senator Sue Boyce and her great office; Dawson River Festival Organizers;White Gum Gallery, Chincilla;ThreeTribes Gallery, Normanton Queensland. This Publication andWebsites Graham Cleary, sponsor and one of the most unassuming people I have met; Russell Girle, who photographed work by Cathy Snow and Bill Gannon; Sandra Anastasi of Creative Avenue for graphic design; Printcraft for printing; MattTesch of Masterhead Design and Creative;Vicki Gannon for text, compilation and production. Friends and Family Bob Black (ecologist and my Ludwig Leichhardt model); Lorelle Campbell;Wal and VictoriaWalker; Steve and Anne Bundred (from critiques to website to bubble wrap) and others in the Byfield Community; David Kevin; Nick Alderson; Esthel Bridgeman; Vaughan Becker; GaryWilkins; and Lorna Bishop. Family near and far.Yes Mum I took enough food and water.Vicki, thanks heaps for heaps! Leichhardt and Companions Thanks for your stories through diaries, maps and notations. Ludwig, wishing you a happy 200th Birthday. The main documents sourced for the project were: Leichhardt, Ludwig“ Fieldbook of the Expedition to Port Essington ”Mitchell Library ML C158. (Manuscript) Leichhardt, Ludwig“ Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia, from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, a Distance of 3000 miles, During theYears 1844-45 ”. See www. ebooks.adelaide.ed.au Gilbert, John“ Diary of the Port Essington Expedition 18 September 1844 to 28 June 1845 ”Mitchell Library, Sydney A 2586 Phillips,William“ The Journal of One of the Party who Accompanied Dr Leichhardt on his First (successful) Expedition to Port Essington ”, Mitchell Library, Sydney C165. (Manuscript) Mann, JM“ Eight Months with Dr Leichhardt inYears 1846-47 "Sydney,Turner and Henderson 1888 McClaren, Glen – Fieldnotes accompanying his doctorial thesis which focused on retracing Ludwig Leichhardt’s 1844-45 expedition, as held at the Royal Geographical Society of Queensland (Brisbane)

Rod Schlencker, surveyor, resourceful and generous companion; Dr Glen McLaren for his three volume 1993 field notes identifying Leichhardt’s 1844-1845 route and most of that expedition’s 309 campsites. Governments Local Governments (Banana Shire Council, Central Highlands Regional Council, ChartersTowers Regional Council, Carpentaria Shire Council, Burke Shire Council) and the Regional Arts Development Fund; Queensland Government; Northern Territory Government; Australian Department of Foreign Affairs andTrade; Stadt Cottbus (Mayor’s Office) Germany. Institutions NSW State Library – Mitchell Library; NorthernTerritory Library; Northern Territory Archives; Queensland and NorthernTerritory National Parks; Birds Australia (Capricornia Branch); Queensland Museum; Royal Geographic Society of Queensland; Aboriginal Land Councils – NT Northern, Carpentaria, CapeYork, Qld Northern, Qld South andWestern NativeTitle Service; German Embassy Canberra and Consulates in Sydney and Brisbane. Artists Di McIntyre and Libby Raleigh(Jimbour Station to north of Chincilla); Barbara Hancock (Taroom); Sarah Larsen (Taroom, Robinson Creek and Gorges to Rolleston); Sharon Kirk, Kathy Hawkins, Chris Kirby, Del O'Neill, Karen Newman, HeatherWehl (from Brown’s Lagoon, along the Comet to the Peak Ranges); Jim Arena (Peak Ranges, ChartersTowers), Maljah Cathy Snow and Margaret Sailor, Normanton (East Gulf of Carpentaria); Reggie (BorroolaWest Gulf of Carpentaria), Jason Benjamin (from Kakadu National Park to Cobourg Peninsula);Vicki Gannon; Katherine Nix; and Frank Giacco. Local Historians Harold Rennick (Chincilla), Adam Clarke (Taroom),Trevor Kemp (Comet), Joe Bridgeman (Peak Ranges), Jim Callcott (ChartersTowers),Tim Daniel (Valley of Assoc. Prof Rod Fensham, Dr Darrell Lewis, Emeritus Professor Henry Nix, Dr Glen McLaren, Dr Clem Fisher, Dr Steve Mullins, Dr Penny Olsen, John Bailey, Dr Greg Paine, Dr Andrew Hurley and Colin James. Property Owners/Managers The many people on the land who agreed to site entry for campsite and route verification as well as sketching and camping. In particular: Peter Hughes (Dunbar Station); Mark Upton (Rutland Plains); Sharon and Rex Kirk (Meroo Station); Jack O’Brien (near Normanton); AustralianWilderness Conservancy (Pungalina); and Jim Atkinson (Greenvale). Lagoons and Mitchell River). Academics andWriters

Tree on Creek Edge Near LL Campsite No. 18 (detail) by Bill Gannon 29 x 42 cm ink on watercolour paper 2013

BILL GANNON CHARLIE SCHLENCKER FISHING, DRIVING AND CHECKINGTHEVECHICLE'S PROVISIONS ONTHE FIELDTRIPS MALJAH CATHY SNOW

SARAH LARSEN

JASON BENJAMIN