This is a true story of greed, courage, exploration, murder, wasted efforts, life and death struggles, insubordination, incredible seamanship, and extraordinary bushmanship, amid government bungling and Aboriginal resistance, during South Australia's first attempt at colonising their Northern Territory in 1864.
The South Australians wanted their state to be the premier state of Australia. The new settlement was expected to open up a trading route across the country to Asia and beyond, and exploit the agricultural and mining opportunities of the interior. It was to be at no cost to the state, as the land was sold, unseen and unsurveyed, to investors in Adelaide and London, prior to the First Northern Territory Expedition even setting out.
The investors were already calculating their returns, but then, as the saying goes, the fight really started...
'A fantastic read: insightful, cohesive, sequential, and well-paced. Loved it. Plenty of photos and maps to set the scene, with the addition of well researched complementary, first-hand accounts and primary records. Pugh has captured the essence of the time, place and characters: their personalities, hardships, successes and celebrations. I wanted to read it to find out what was going to happen next. Pugh's writing style is 'alive' and easy to read.' - Jill Finch

- 242 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
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Table of contents
- Cover Page
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Illustrations
- Preface
- Timeline of the Escape Cliffs Settlement
- 1. Discovery
- 2. The Northern Territory of South Australia
- 3. The First Northern Territory Expedition
- 4. Reinforcements
- 5. Surveys and Explorations
- 6. The Forlorn Hope
- 7. Recall and Inquiry
- 8. James Manton
- 9. John Mckinlay
- 10. On the Beatrice, Waiting for Mckinlay
- 11. The Aftermath
- 12. And Now…?
- Appendices
- Abbreviations
- Bibliography
- Index
- The Author
- Also by Derek Pugh
- Fort Dundas: The British in North Australia 1824-29
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Yes, you can access Escape Cliffs by Derek Pugh in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Historical Biographies. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.