Map of Section 13

Area extending from Western Australia The Hanson in the south east.

In 1859, the South Australia government offered a £2000 reward to the first person who could cross Australia from south to north. With that in mind, John McDouall Stuart, already a noted explorer, began his expedition one year later, and became the first European to reach the centre of Australia in 1861 and the first to cross the continent south to north in 1862. His inland expedition from Adelaide to Port Darwin sparked a flurry of interest in the Northern Territory and there were numerous subsequent expeditions in the 1860s and 70s. These maps by John Sands contain information gathered from these explorations and depict the most up-to-date knowledge of the area.

From the first atlas of the continent issued in Australia and the only series of maps of the nineteenth century to show details of the Northern Territory counties.