A new interactive map of explorer Ludwig Leichhardt’s 1844-45 expedition from Moreton Bay to Port Essington has been created by experts at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra.
This new version corrects the previous route, and includes entries from the explorers’ journals, as well as includes the ability to use Google Earth to explore terrain described in the entries.
“It’s amazing how interested people are in explorers’ routes, and being able to read Leichhardt’s journal entries whilst looking at an interactive map of his route is a great resource,” Christine Fernon, who led the project at ANU’s National Centre of Biography, told Australian Geographic.
Leichhardt and his team travelled 4800km over 14 months on a privately-funded east-west crossing from southern Queensland to the coast of the Top End. After running out of food seven months into the trip, they had to rely upon the land, observing local Aboriginal groups to help them survive the harsh conditions.
You can read more about the journey and the new map at Australian Geographic. You can access the online map at the Australian Dictionary of Biography.
