What does the search for a safe route through the East and West say?

While Bruner and Barrington were climbing over the mountains on the North and South Islands of New Zealand, suffering from torrential rain and biting cold winds, other Australian explorers were in another kind of adventure. A new adventure in a completely different environment. They extended their expedition route to the Australian outback, trying to discover more fertile land there and establish new farms and pastures. However, what awaited them was the scorching heat of the desert area and the thirst for lack of drinking water. They once again challenged nature.

By the 1840s, development work in southeastern Australia was almost complete. As a result, some explorers began to gradually shift their attention to the unknown vast areas in eastern and western Australia.

Earlier, James Starlinger was asked by the residents of Melvey Island to search for new land on the west coast. They established the city of Perth near the Swan River, and more than 10,000 British immigrants moved here. This was also one of the first development plans in Western Australia. However, due to insufficient preparation and insufficient organization, this development plan ultimately failed. Many British immigrants returned to the British Isles because they could not adapt to everything here. As the governor of Perth, Starlinger wanted to insist on staying here, but 10 years later, he took his wife and left there sadly.

In early 1837, the exploration of the west coast of Australia really began. Captain George Gray and Lieutenant Ruthington planned to go to the Northwest Territories to investigate the northern area originally known as "Dampier Land". The two young officers were full of enthusiasm, but lacked expedition experience and insufficient preparations. They had no idea that they would have to deal with the indigenous people during the expedition. After they landed at Brunswick Bay, they were attacked by the natives. With Gray wounded, the expedition came to an end. On their return, they unexpectedly discovered some of the finest art of the Apolygenes in a cave in the Campari Mountains. On the stone walls of the cave, there are painted some brightly colored giant portraits that seem to be meditating, up to 3.2 meters high. The figures in the paintings are wearing red clothes, with bright eyes, a very serious expression, and a halo around their heads.

In 1839, Gray tried again to explore this new land. He took three small whalers and a few followers and set out from Shaker Bay, 670 kilometers north of Perth. They arrived first at Banya Island. Gray planned to start his investigation from the coastline in this area and then explore all the way along the coast. However, the small whaling ship they were traveling on could not sail in the rough Indian Ocean. Not long after setting off, one of them was crushed by the waves, and the other two were also seriously damaged. Their expedition failed again.

The livestock herders living in the east are very eager to find a safe route to the west, connecting the east and west of Australia. In this way, they can take their livestock to other pasture lands for grazing.

In 1840, the cattle herders invited a young man named Edward Eyre who had experienced several expeditions, and asked him to start from Adelaide and head west to the south coast. A small city called Albany is engaged in exploration research. El flatly rejected their request on the grounds that it was impossible to transport livestock along this route. Then he proposed another expedition to the interior to find a feasible way.

On June 18, Earl set off from Adelaide with his troops. After walking for more than three months, they arrived at Lake Torrance, where they found a large lake twenty to thirty kilometers wide, with a layer of sparkling white rock formations exposed on the lake. They tried to walk over the rock formations, but the rock formations were trampled by the horses' hooves, and they all fell into the soft black mud. When they reached the northern end of the lake, another lake appeared in front of them. Ell believes: There is a huge horseshoe-shaped salt lake that separates southern Australia into two parts. In fact, he didn't know that hidden behind the sandstone mountains was another large lake - Lake El, which is 88 kilometers wide.

Lake Eyre is located in the lowest part of the Australian interior, 12 meters below sea level. Most of them are salt lakes or salt pans. Even if it rains for a while, the water will quickly evaporate, leaving only a thin film of water covering the salt layer about 40 cm thick.

El advanced about 10 kilometers on the lake. The rock formation suddenly cracked and the horse fell into the lake. Earl had to return to Spotsett Bay in despair.

In February 1841, in order to prove that his view was correct, Earl hiked along the route that he had been told to take before. Although he knew that it would be difficult to make such a long-distance expedition during the driest and hottest season of the year, he was determined to prove that there was absolutely no passable route for humans and livestock. He set out from the Gulf of Foras with John Baxter and three Apolitans. During this nearly 1,600-kilometer journey, they were tortured by the sun and blood-sucking leeches. At the same time, fresh water and food are also obviously insufficient. In the end, two Polygenes, who were almost mentally broken, killed Baxter one night while everyone was asleep, picked up the last remaining food of the expedition and fled.

In order to satisfy their hunger, El and Vali, another Apoligeneian who had no food, killed a horse, cut the horse meat into long strips, soaked it with salt lake water, and then dried it in the sun. Dried meat is used as dry food.

They walked for nearly 10 days before reaching Rosita Bay, where they stayed on a French whaling ship for two months, replenished food and fresh water, and set off again for exploration.

On July 7, 1841, El and Vali finally arrived in Albany, the southwestern tip of the Australian continent. They were the first people to come to this land from the east. At the same time, it also confirmed El's original view: livestock in the east could not move westward through this route.