The Tietkens expedition of 1889 was led by William Tietkens. It covered territory west of Alice Springs to the vicinity of the Western Australian border. [1]
The Tietkens expedition of 1889 was led by William Tietkens. It covered territory west of Alice Springs to the vicinity of the Western Australian border. [1]
The expedition members were: [2]
The expedition took place from March to July 1889. [2]
Tietkens hoped to discover a supply channel to Lake Amadeus from hills to the north-west, expecting that this might open a reliable route to the north-west coast settlements. He succeeded in proving that it did not exist.
The South Australian branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia was instrumental in mounting the expedition and appointing Tietkens as leader.
This expedition discovered Lake Macdonald (Karrkurutinyja), the Kintore Range, Mount Leisler, Mount Rennie, the Cleland Hills, defined the western borders of Lake Amadeus, and photographed Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta (Mount Olga) for the first time.
Features named by Tietkens, with the source of the name, include: [2]
The attached map shows the main features of the route followed.
The caravan consisted of twelve camels, sufficient to carry the expedition members, provisions for up to four months and water for a lesser period. [2]
The expedition collected new species of plants and rock samples allowing the South Australian government geologist to compile a 'geological sketch' of the country traversed.
Specimens of 250 plant species were collected, although only 8 were new to science, [3] and in 1890, Ferdinand von Mueller and Ralph Tate named Eremophila tietkensii in his honour. [4] [5]
The following publications contain information derived from this expedition:
. Tietkens was elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society on his return.
William Ernest Powell Giles, best known as Ernest Giles, was an Australian explorer who led five major expeditions to parts of South Australia and Western Australia.
Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victora, Australia by Governor Charles La Trobe in 1853, and later director of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne. He also founded the National Herbarium of Victoria. He named many Australian plants.
Lake Amadeus is a large salt lake in the southwest corner of Northern Territory of Australia, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) north of Uluru. The smaller Lake Neale is adjacent to the northwest. It is part of the Amadeus Basin that was filled with the erosion products of the Petermann Orogeny.
Algernon Hawkins Thomond Keith-Falconer, 9th Earl of Kintore, 11th Lord Falconer of Halkerton, 9th Lord Keith of Inverurie and Keith Hall, Chief of Clan Keith,, was a British politician and colonial governor.
Kintore is a remote settlement in the Kintore Range of the Northern Territory of Australia about 530 km (330 mi) west of Alice Springs and 40 km (25 mi) from the border with Western Australia. It is also known as Walungurru, Walangkura, and Walangura.
Henry Yorke Lyell Brown FGS was an Australian geologist.
William Harry Tietkens, known as "Harry Tietkens", explorer and naturalist, was born in England and emigrated to Australia in 1859. Tietkens was second in command to Ernest Giles on expeditions to Central Australia in 1873 and on a journey from Beltana, South Australia to Perth, Western Australia in 1875. In 1889 Tietkens led his own expedition west of Alice Springs to the vicinity of the Western Australian border. This expedition discovered Lake Macdonald, the Kintore Range, Mount Leisler, Mount Rennie, the Cleland Hills, defined the western borders of Lake Amadeus, and photographed Uluru and Kata Tjuta for the first time. The expedition collected new species of plants and rock samples allowing the South Australian government geologist to compile a 'geological sketch' of the country traversed. Tietkens was elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society on his return. Specimens of 250 plant species were collected, although only 8 were new to science, and in 1890, Ferdinand von Mueller and Ralph Tate named Eremophila tietkensii in his honour.
Lake Macdonald is an ephemeral lake that straddles the border between Western Australia and the Northern Territory. It lies south of Lake Mackay, and south-west of Kintore, Northern Territory. Lying in country inhabited by Indigenous Australians for many thousands of years, it was first visited by Europeans in 1889, as part of an expedition supported by the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia. The expedition was led by William Tietkens; its activities included the first known photographs taken of Uluru. The lake is named after the secretary of the Victorian branch of the Geographical Society at that time.
Eremophila maculata, also known as spotted emu bush or spotted fuchsia-bush, is a plant in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae, and is endemic to Australia. It is the most widespread of its genus in nature and probably the most frequently cultivated Eremophila. It is a spreading, often densely branched shrub with variable leaf shape and flower colour, but the other features of the flowers such as the size and shape of the parts are consistent. The inside of the flower is often, but not always, spotted.
Eremophila latrobei, commonly known as crimson turkey bush, native fuchsia, Latrobe's emu bush, grey fuchsia bush, warty fuchsia bush and Georgina poison bush is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is an erect, highly branched shrub with usually linear leaves and red to purple-red flowers and which occurs in all mainland states, including the Northern Territory but excluding Victoria.
Eremophila mitchellii, known commonly as false sandalwood and several other names, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a glabrous large shrub or small tree with flaky bark, white or cream-coloured flowers and is capable of root suckering. It is widespread and common in New South Wales and Queensland where it is a serious pest of grazing land, however essential oils from the plant have been shown to have valuable properties and have been commercially exploited.
Eremophila clarkei, commonly known as turpentine bush, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory. It is a shrub which is variable in form, but usually with narrow leaves and white or pale pink flowers. It is similar to Eremophila georgei and Eremophila granitica.
The Sandy Blight Junction Road is a remote outback track in Australia joining the Great Central Road, Western Australia and Gary Junction Road, Northern Territory. It was built under the direction of legendary surveyor Len Beadell as part of a network of roads for the Weapons Research Establishment at Woomera, South Australia. It is located approximately 500 km (310 mi) west of Alice Springs.
Mount Unapproachable is an isolated mountain in the Northern Territory of Australia located in the locality of Petermann on the northern side of Lake Neale in the territory's southwest. It is about 505 metres (1,657 ft) above sea level. The area is remote: the nearest towns are Kaltukatjara some 116 kilometres (72 mi) away, Kintore some 135 kilometres (84 mi) away and Yulara 138 kilometres (86 mi) away. The mountain is mostly made of sandstone.
Bloods Range is a mountain range in central Australia, stretching roughly east to west across the border between the Northern Territory and Western Australia. It consists of several sets of hills, separated by valleys; the two main valleys are formed by the Hull and Docker Rivers. There are numerous ravines and gorges all throughout the hills. Bloods Range connects with the Petermann Ranges at its western end. In the centre are Mounts Harris (840 m) and Carruthers (1000 m), which are the highest peaks. Further east, the range splits into several branches, including the Rowley Range, McNichol's Range and the Pinyinna Range.
Eremophila behriana is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to South Australia. It was one of the plants collected on the 1858 - 1859 Babbage expedition to explore areas north of Adelaide and was later described by Ferdinand von Mueller. It is a small shrub, usually with egg-shaped, serrated leaves and lilac to purple flowers with hairs on the lower petal lobe.
Eremophila gibsonii is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a sticky, glabrous, rounded shrub with narrow leaves and white to lilac-coloured flowers and which occurs in Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Eremophila goodwinii, commonly known purple fuchsia bush and Goodwin's emu bush is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a small, spreading or erect shrub with most parts sticky due to the presence of resin, tapering leaves and pale lilac to mauve flowers. It occurs in New South Wales, the Northern Territory and Queensland.
Eremophila tietkensii is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a rounded to flat-topped shrub with grey-green leaves, usually pinkish-purple sepals and mauve, pink or lilac-coloured petals. It is mostly found in Western Australia but also occurs in the far west of the Northern Territory.
Mount Leisler is the highest point in the Kintore Range in the south-west of the Northern Territory of Australia. Its elevation is 897 metres (2,943 ft) AHD .