ACROSS AUSTRALIA.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 17986, 1 February 1924, Page 6

ACROSS AUSTRALIA.

MOTOR-CYCLE'S RECORD TRIP. On December Bth there started ont from Melbourne Messrs Armstrong and. Schiller on an Indian Superchief and sidecar, and their destination was Perth. Thrico before has Australia been crossed by motor-cycle—the first time when the late Lieutenant Mcintosh rode across country to max) ou t an aviation route —taking some nineteen days to make the trip—then when Messrs Armstrong and Schiller rode over from Perth during November, making arrangements for supply depots, etc., for their record trip; their time then was sixteen days, and now their last trip of 8 days, 23 hours, and 12 minutes. The way across Australia lies through the fearsome Coorong desert and the rough, stony Eucla Gorge. In the desert the heat was intense, and caused the motor-cyclists enormous discomfort. A strong north wind blew the sand about in blinding clouda, and the long stretch of plain before climbing the Eucla Gorge was like Hades. The- track up the gorge 'is stony and steep—the roughest climb in Australia. Dingoe3 abide in the caverns, and make the nights hideous with their howling. These wild dogs appeared to be rather afraid of the motorcyclists as - they passed through, and kept well out of their way —with the exception of one who appeared too stupefied by the noise of the machine (the exhaust was open at the time), and literally cannonaded into the front wheel. This dog and a stray wombat were the only animals which came into contact with the riders on. their record-making trip.' After they came through the gorge, and Balladonia was left behind, a sharp rain-storm was encountered, which wet the riders to the i skin. They camped, built up a huge fire, and steamed themselves dry. At daylight next day they were off again, ploughing their way through a sea of 1 mud. The long stretch of ted clay country was sticky and slippery, and finally bogged the machine, so that it had to be towed out by a horse and cart.

After a complete clean up of the machine Messrs Armstrong and Schiller set out for the run home. Until they came within 80 miles of Perth, rain and mud and slush were the order of the day. But they arrived safely—their time a little longer than they had hoped, but still, for all that, a remarkable achievement. The aboriginals they encountered on their,way overland were of two distinct types—the civilised aboriginal in white (sometimes scarcely recognisable a3 white) clothes and felt hat, and the savage who considered the wearing, of a string of beads quite a la mode. These latter, when they heard the machine, made themselves scarce as soon as possible, and watched from a very safe distance its passing. Most of the naked aboriginals seemed to have scored themselves across and across on their limbs and chests by red hot instruments; and their headdresses were weird and wonderful. Messrs Armstrong and Schiller encountered many native,camps on their way across to Perth, and, judging by the weather which followed, they say that every witch doctor must have been hard at work making rain, although they did not actually see them at the job.