Map of Explorations & Surveys in the Northern Territory of South Australia by David Lindsay, F.R.G.S. Surveyor 1885-6.

Scarce map showing the explorations of David Lindsay’s expedition 1885-86 in the Northern Territory, in which he took seven men and twelve camels from Hergott Springs to the Gulf of Carpentaria, tracing the Finke River to its mouth and seeking information about Ludwig Leichhardt. Lindsay surveyed the country between the overland telegraph line and the Queensland border, explored the MacDonnell Ranges, made a brief foray into the Simpson Desert, and spent six months in the country between Lake Nash and Powell’s Creek.

David Lindsay (1856-1922), explorer, born on 20 June 1856 at Goolwa, South Australia. In 1873 he was apprenticed as a surveyor with the government. In 1878 he was appointed junior surveyor and clerk in the land office of the Department of the Northern Territory at Palmerston. In 1882 he began business on his own in Palmerston as a surveyor, draftsman, and land, stock and station agent. In 1883 the South Australian government commissioned him to explore the central and eastern part of Arnheim’s (Arnhem) Land where his party survived fierce attacks by Aborigines, one group numbering 300.

From Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society.

Collections:
National Library of Australia: Bib ID1336641