Billy (a black-tracker from the ranks of the native police at Alice Springs)
A small native boy
Dates
The expedition took place from March to July 1889.[2]
Purpose and outcome
Tietkens hoped to discover a supply channel to
Lake Amadeus from hills to the north-west, expecting that this might open a reliable route to the north-west coast settlements. He succeeded in proving that it did not exist.
This expedition discovered
Lake Macdonald (Karrkurutinyja), the
Kintore Range,
Mount Leisler, Mount Rennie, the Cleland Hills, defined the western borders of Lake Amadeus, and photographed
Uluru (Ayers Rock) and
Kata Tjuta (Mount Olga) for the first time.
Features named by Tietkens, with the source of the name, include:[2]
Lake Macdonald, named for Mr A. C. Macdonald, the secretary of the Victorian branch of the Royal Geographical Society.
Kintore Range, named for
Lord Kintore, governor of South Australia.
Mount Leisler, named for Louis Leisler, a financial supporter of Tietkens.
Mount Rennie, named for Professor
Rennie of Adelaide University.
The attached map shows the main features of the route followed.
Means of travel
The
caravan consisted of twelve camels, sufficient to carry the expedition members, provisions for up to four months and water for a lesser period.[2]
Accomplishments
The expedition collected new species of plants and rock samples allowing the South Australian government
geologist to compile a 'geological sketch' of the country traversed.
^
abChinnock, R.J. (Bob) (2007). Eremophila and allied genera : a monograph of the plant family Myoporaceae (1st ed.). Dural, NSW: Rosenberg. pp. 425–427.
ISBN9781877058165.
^
abBrown, Andrew; Buirchell, Bevan (2011). A field guide to the eremophilas of Western Australia (1st ed.). Hamilton Hill, W.A.: Simon Nevill Publications. p. 275.
ISBN9780980348156.