A WONDER LAKE

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 80, 1 October 1924, Page 7

A WONDER LAKE

IN MID-AUSTRALIA

PROSPECTOR'S DISCOVERY,

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

SYDNEY, 25th September. Almost famished, having been without water for several days, James Wickham, a Western Australian prospector, who had wandered into central Australia, was filled with unbounded aatoniahment while molting his way towards Alice Springs late one afternoon recently to come upon a beautiful freshwater lake, In the fat' distance he hud noticed p&lohes o£ vivid pean standing out amongst the prevailing grey of those piu't*, Used iig he was to mirages and illusions he took little notion, thinking that in hi» weakened state his mind w exaggerating sorae fantwjy, But his way lay in thst diFeatten, p.nd, &g he said later, in diseuafling the matte? at Wyndhitm, whew ha has Juafr arrived fov the purpose el obtaining supplies to enable him to follew up his diaoovery of some fine gold specimens which ha had with him, ha wa-s amazed as he want aloiig to find that the chiwactet of the vegetation wap changed, becoming green and thriving, A§ he precised on through the trees birds ba^ eam§ plentiful, bright plumaged parrots sparing Boreachiug overhead, and in the open spaoeg he caught sight of unusur ally Iftvge Uftngaroos and othes garoa whiali hounded off afc his approach, Pressing on down a natural dip in the countryside hi^ smassement. becarea eupjema when these stretched put before him ft graat sti'etoh of wateu shimmering in the Betting sun, Hurrying through thick vegetation to its edge he was delighted to find that it was fresh and sweet, As he drank he noticed g, auinbev of blaoks some hundreds of yards further roqnd the edge of the lake talking excitedly [md gestioulajiing towards, him, With Hr bushman's knowledge, of the blaoU he threw off his swag and laid down 'a stout stick that he was carrying, so as to disarm any suspicions that they might have of him, and walked towards them empty=handed, As tie remurkad aftevwiu'ds, ha pinahad himself to make gure that he was fsally alive «nd (iwnke, Suoh-n, soens in the midst 0! all but desert eonntry wa§ m astonishing that he could. not grasp its reality, The blaoks however, were much more tustonisbed to nee him than he was to see them. It was noon evident that thuy had never seen a white mini . before. All crowded round him Jnbberinjr imd laughing, plucking at hla clothes, Beizing his hands, fingering his face, and displaying in a thousand ways their utter stupefaction at the existence of such a curious-looking man so different in colour from thomsolvea, At first thoy appeared to think that his olothes wore part of his body, and there was gleeful laughter when lie unbuttoned his shirt and showed the whiteness of his chest. By this timo the news had spread, and it was not long before nearly a hundred blacks, with their gins and piccaninnies, were feasting their eyes on the wonderful creature that had strayed into thoir midst. Sir. Wickham stayed several days with the blacks, and found that around the edge of the lake, which had a circumference of between 30 and 40 miles, there were hundreds of blacks living a well systcmatised community life. Tho lake; which reached a doptii of 30 or 40 feet, had an abundance of fish, whilst the surrounding country abounded, in game, so that life was pleasant and easy for the natives. The tribal customs were strict, and nothing could have been more hospitable and friendly than the treatment that Mr. Wickham received.. It was with reluctance that he parted from the lakeside, and hopes while again in that locality to vistb it again. In 1922 u> similar discovery was made by a police patrol about 100 miles from tho site of the present discovery. The lake in that case was smaller than tho one found by Mr. Wickhum, and there wore not so many blacks living around it. The existence of tho lakes is a mystery.