Ivan Rudolph

As I was reading this book, a line from Pirates of Penzance kept spring to mind - "we are sober men and true, and attentive to our duty", which sums up Edward Eyre perfectly. Eyre was one of that calibre of men who made the British Empire - devoutly religious, determined to do their duty whatever the cost, and seemingly immune to hardship. Eyre was a young Englishman who emigrated to Australia to make his fortune, which he signally failed to do, but instead opened up the hinterland of South Australia to farming and grazing and became the first to explore the desolate Nullarbor plain between South Australia and Western Australia, under absolutely appalling hardship in a land where even the Aboriginals struggled to survive. However, perhaps his greatest contribution to Australia was his humane attitude to the native people, he virtually singlehandedly defused the dangerous confrontation that was brewing along the Murray River between cattle drovers and the local Aborigines, and established a model for peaceful co-existence which sadly was rarely followed in later years. A great book about a very good and noble individual whose contribution to the development of Australian has unfortunately been largely forgotten. A great tale of exploration well worth reading.… (mehr)