Thursday, Sep 10, 2020 at 20:45
Lake Amadeus – A history
Lake Amadeus is a large salt-
lake in the south-west corner of Australia's Northern Territory, about 50 km north of Uluru (Ayers
Rock). Amadeus is 180 kilometres (110
miles) long and ten kilometres (6.2
miles) wide, making it the largest salt-
lake in the Northern Territory.
The first European to discover the
lake, the explorer Ernest Giles, encountered it in 1872. Giles originally intended to honour his benefactor Baron Ferdinand von Mueller by naming it
Lake Ferdinand. However, Mueller prevailed upon Giles to instead honour King Amadeo I of Spain (reigned 1870-1873, known in English as King Amadeus I), who had previously bestowed honour on him. The
lake's expanse proved a barrier for Giles, who could see both the as-yet undiscovered Ayers
Rock (Uluru) and The Olgas (
Kata Tjuta), but could not reach them, as the dry
lake bed wasn't able to support the weight of his horses. The next year William Gosse climbed and named both rises.
In late October 1872 Giles made several attempts at crossing the
lake to reach Mount Olga; all failed, and some were near disastrous. One foray nearly cost Giles his expedition when his horses broke through the salt crust and were immediately…
“…floundering about in the bottomless bed of this infernal
lake. We were powerless to help them, for we could not get near owing to the bog, and we sank up over our knees, where the crust was broken, in hot salt mud. All I could do was to crack my whip to prevent the horses from ceasing to exert themselves, and although it was but a few moments that they were in this danger, to me it seemed an eternity. They staggered at last out of the quagmire, heads, backs, saddles, everything covered with blue mud, their mouths were filled with salt mud also, and they were completely exhausted when they reached firm ground".
Ernest Giles – Australia Twice Traversed
The impenetrable barrier of
Lake Amadeus and the harshness of the surrounding country defeated Giles on his first attempt at crossing to the west coast of the continent.
The following year William Christie Gosse had similar difficulties, crossing Giles’ tracks several times searching for a way south, but whereas Giles followed the
lake to the north-west Gosse travelled south-east. Gosse crossed the
lake at a narrow neck, at "latitude 24° 50', longitude 131° 30'," and continued south and west to happen upon the most remarkable natural feature he had ever seen…
"…being one solid
rock (fine conglomerate) two
miles long, one mile wide, and 1100 feet high, a spring coming from its centre. I named it Ayers
Rock." (after the then Chief Secretary of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers).
In August 1886, Henry Tietkens, Giles’ second-in-command on his 1873 and 1875 expeditions, reminded members of the South Australian branch of the Royal Geographical Society that very little was known about
Lake Amadeus. "On our present maps we see a leg of mutton shaped figure, bounded by dotted lines, but the real extent of this interesting feature is unknown to us". No doubt with an eye to future employment Tietkens suggested that the Society, the Government and the citizens of South Australia had a duty to rectify this oversight. On the 22nd of July 1889, as leader of The Central Australian Exploring and Prospecting Association Expedition, he reported from
Erldunda that his expedition was safe and
well but had found no gold or grazing lands, and that "
Mount Unapproachable in Long's Range marks the western extremity of
Lake Amadeus".
The Horn Expedition crossed the eastern end of the
lake in June 1894, and noted that the surface of the
lake was found to be tolerably firm, the horses only sinking to the depth of a few inches". In October 1902, W. R. Murray, the surveyor on R. T. Maurice's expedition to the north coast, reported on the journey and had little to say about
Lake Amadeus. "We crossed
Lake Amadeus at its western end, after having made several unsuccessful attempts to get over it at its broader parts".
By 1930 the bounds and nature of
Lake Amadeus were
well enough known. The north-western extremity lay in the vicinity of Long's Range, and to the south-east it was negotiable at longitude 131° 30', and from hard experience uncrossable at its wider parts. No watercourses entered the
lake and it did not flood; no valuable minerals had been discovered in the area, and the grazing lands were ephemeral, if not risky. The
lake bed was a salt mud bog, variously described as sterile, barren and dangerous. In June 1930
Lake Amadeus was in the news when the Mackay Ariel Survey Expedition put the finishing touches to the map, finding the
lake somewhat smaller than expected, with nothing favourable to add to a forbidding record.
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