This
rockhole was shown to Explorer David
Carnegie in September 1896 by a native woman. After filtering out sticks, leaves, the rotting bodies of birds and animals, bones of rats and dingoes he managed to procure about 12 gallons of water.
The descriptions
Carnegie left for this
rockhole were very limited. He stated that it lay eight
miles from
Patience Well to the SE by E, and quote, "and has no guide whatever to its situation".
The
rockhole was re-discovered on 6th July 2008 by Alan G. McCall of
Perth.
We were fortunate enough to accompany Alan McCall and his father
John to the
Rockhole in June this year(2010). In all likelihood as only the second group of non-indigenous people to visit the site since
Carnegie, we felt immensely privileged. There is little to mark the
rock hole but for the
clearing in which it sits. The
rock hole sits in a circle of
sandstone surrounded by a small gibber and mulga plain. The hole itself is some 1.2 metres in depth and has two distinct “entrances”. The surrounding countryside is largely open spinifex plains with copses of Mulga and Acacia. This area sits slightly higher than the surrounding country and the rocky nature of the area promotes drainage to the north-west. This drainage has promoted thicker growth of flora some several hundreds metres to the north west. That this location was a significant site to the original inhabitants of the area there can be no doubt, proved simply by the fragments of grinding stones and grinding grooves left worn into the surrounding areas of exposed
rock.
The
rock hole contained a small amount of water at the time of our attendance this year. We cleared some 30 cm of silt from the bottom of the site discovering quite a few bones and a frog (who was returned once the digging was completed.
Alan has marked the track in this year more clearly in the hope that others will enjoy a visit to this significant landmark from the later stages of Australian exploration.