Queensland

The Burke and Wills Exploring Expedition – An Account of the Crossing of The Continent of Australia from Cooper’s Creek to Carpentaria.

High quality faithful facsimile of the rare Burke and Wills publication of 1861 – Reprinted from “The Argus”.

Published by the Libraries Board of South Australia in 1963. Octavo, ive, 36 pages, folding map. Bound in deep blue leatherette, gilt titles to spine. Neat ownership signature to front ends – distinguished collector.

A super copy of this key exploration account, excellent multi-folding [vertical] map of the Track … of Burke, Wills, King and Gray and the course of Howitt and party to trace the remains of the Expedition.

Burke and Wills perished but not forgotten

$75.00

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Anakie – The Sapphire Fields of Central Queensland – Walda Scholler

Self published by Walda Scholler who lived at Anakie in Queensland which is just west of Emerald – still a reasonable drive from Rockhampton.

Card cover, 112 pages, nicely illustrated, this edition published 1990, printed at Yeppon.

Signed nicely by the author but we think they probably all were.

Some almighty special gems have been found at Annakie – they have names – The Golden Willow, Stonebridge’s Green, the Centenary Gem and the Black Star of Queensland [Biggest in the World]. That alone should get your gem hunting juices going.

Interesting content re the Kajanjian brothers of Los Angeles, gem cutters and dealers who bought the Black Star. To cement their control they purchased many of the big finds at Anakie.

Anakie Gem Fields almost a secret

$35.00

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Queensland Fossil Plants – Dicotyledon and Others – Redbank Plains Formation – 45 Million Years

A nice slab of carbonaceous shale showing numerous preserved plants from the middle Eocene era – circa 45 million years ago – a period regraded as the “dawn of modern life”.

Fossils were found in the Redbank Plains area as early as 1900 by settlers. Most of the sites have been built out which makes the having of specimens all that more cherishable.

A good example 19.0cm by 16.0cm, 3.0cm deep, weighing 1,180gms

Earliest examples of Australian modern plants – if that makes sense.

$65.00

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Snakes and Lizards of Australia – Observer Book Series – David McPhee

Published by Methuen, Sydney in 1979, an exceptionally clean copy of this respected book about Australian snakes and lizards.

Pocket sized hardback, every snake and lizard accompanied by a good coloured image clear enough to actually identify the species [this clarity issue is a problem with mots other books on the subject].

The book commences with some general information on snakes and lizards but be warned that the treatment for snake bite is no longer the preferred method – keep up to date with that!

Our not so favourite – the red-bellied black snake that we used to see in our garden in Pullenvale west Brisbane

Snakes and Lizards a perfect combo.

$30.00

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Queensland Mineral – Rain Forest Jasper [Spherulitic Rhyolite] from the Mount Hay Volcano

Mount Hay is to the west of Rockhampton in Queensland. It is an extinct volcano and it was the volcanic environment that gave rise to this unique form of rhyolite. It is called rainforest jasper because of the rainforest like colour palette.

The underlying rock form is high in silicon and the long cooling process from the volcanic activity allowed for numerous inclusions of quartz, chalcedony etc.

A sizeable example 14.0cm by 9.0cm, 1.0cm deep, weighing 390gm

Striking Mount Hay Jasper – a nice piece

$50.00

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Jardine’s Journal – Narrative of the Overland Expedition of the Messrs. Jardine from Rockhampton to Cape York – First Facsimile 1994

Originally published by J.W. Buxton, Brisbane in 1867. Compiled from the Journals of the Brothers, and edited by Frederick Byerley, Engineer of Roads, Northern Division of Queensland.

This is the first and preferred Corkwood Press (Bundaberg) facsimile of 1994 of the near impossible to get 1867 Brisbane original. Very good condition … Manfred Cross’s copy. Octavo, 88 pages after preliminaries, frontispiece of the brothers as in the original, gilt titles over blue cloth covered boards.

Includes a facsimile of the map published with that original account.

Voyager Background Note

In 1863 it was decided by Governor Bowen that a settlement should be established at the tip of Cape York at Albany. He selected John Jardine a magistrate at Rockhampton for the task who in turn thought that his sons Frank (22) and Alexander (20) could make their way overland with a mob of cattle.

They put together a party and set off in May 1864. There were ten in all including six aborigines. They all convened at Carpentaria Downs the property of J.G. McDonald beyond here the country was basically unknown. It was not until October that they finally set off with a mob of 250 head and 42 horses. They were well armed.

They moved North West along the Einasleigh River and were followed by aborigines in war paint but were not attacked – at this point. The landscape softened from large granite boulders to flat sandy beds. They reached 120 miles and decided to rest a few days where the forage was good and the cattle and horses improved.

They moved on and crossed and later named the Byerley Creek. A fire demolished their camp and much of their supplies were lost. They made on to Staaten River (named by the Dutch during their early marine explorations) and then on to find the Mitchell River having been lost a number of times.

On 20th November 1864 the first fight with aborigines took place. A number of encounters followed and they decided to move on North. Eventually they found the Mitchell which was the site of their bloodiest encounter.

As they moved into December storms rolled in and the journey became difficult – they had to resort to killing their cattle as supplies ran out. They moved quickly noting good grazing near the Archer River.

On 11th January 1865 they reached the Batavia River where several of their horses died from eating poisonous plants.

They pushed on as hard as they could and sent a scouting party out on 30th January 1865 to find their destination estimated to be 25 miles distant but were unsuccessful. The terrain was difficult, steep hills and gullies crossed by narrow deep creeks overgrown by dense tropical vegetation. It was not until 1st March 1865 that the party heard the yelling of scouts sent out from the settlement to find them.

Their journal records that a camp was made at Vallack Point and “there the weary cattle and horses at last found rest, while their drivers were able to indulge in the luxuries of regular feeding and uninterrupted sleep”

$50.00

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The Burke and Wills Exploring Expedition – An Account of the Crossing of The Continent of Australia from Cooper’s Creek to Carpentaria.

Anakie – The Sapphire Fields of Central Queensland – Walda Scholler

Queensland Fossil Plants – Dicotyledon and Others – Redbank Plains Formation – 45 Million Years

Snakes and Lizards of Australia – Observer Book Series – David McPhee

Queensland Mineral – Rain Forest Jasper [Spherulitic Rhyolite] from the Mount Hay Volcano

Jardine’s Journal – Narrative of the Overland Expedition of the Messrs. Jardine from Rockhampton to Cape York – First Facsimile 1994

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