Oct 24 2010
Where Do Kangaroos Camels And Sheep All Meet?
When youre walkabout in the deserts of western Australia you can be days from any fresh water and further still from any source of help should the worst come to the worst. The Aboriginal peoples knew their way around telling legends from generation to generation that informed their culture of the signs that meat there was water in the hills or under the ground but weve lost that skill now.
When the Whiteman came they brought navigational equipment that is usually used to cross the oceans, in effect the deserts were like an ocean, vast inhospitable expanses where there was no fresh water and only the occasional island or billabong where fresh supplies might be found. As well as the all important charting equipment decisions had to be made about what sort of animal clothing, footwear and food could and should be taken on these voyages; now, in the twenty first century youre just as likely to see camels in the desert as kangaroos after a few breeding pairs escaped from the white fellas compound in the nineteenth century.
As well as precious water and pathways where roads could be built to join up the many small town and cities to the sheep stations of the outback. As well as trade and communication trails, these early prospectors were also looking for gold. Wool, and consequently mutton, was a source of income to many families in early Australia but raising a flock took time and patience, lots of land and thousands of gallons of fresh water. Prospecting for gold was high risk but the rewards, when they came, could be huge and instant, all the prospectors needed was a pan, some quicksilver a flowing stream and a mule to carry their haul back to town on.
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