ACROSS AUSTRALIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18897, 20 December 1924, Page 32 (Supplement)

ACROSS AUSTRALIA.

DARWIN TO ADELAIDE.

FRIENDLY ABORIGINES.

As a feat of sheer endurance, both for man and car, the great drive made by Francis Birtles from Darwin across Australia to Adelaide, in nine days, nine hours, and 15 minutes, has never been equalled by. any motorist in Australiain fact, one may go farther and say that taking all the conditions into consideration, it has never been equalled in any part of the world. , All preliminaries having been completed, Birtles, accompanied by Muller, started from Darwin at 5 a.m. on Tuesday, November 18, and, in spite of dreadful weather conditions and almost insurmountable difficulties, the pair reached Adelaide, in the Oldsmobile Six at 2.15 p.m. on Thursday, November 27, having covered the awful journey of 2091 miles in nine days, nine hours, and 15 minutes. " As far as I was concerned personally, it was more a mental than a physical strain," said Mr. Muller. " Throughout the journey our day's sleep averaged only about throe hours. Ws were endeavouring to do 200 miles a day, so that the average speed was l'i miles an hour, which, small as it may appear on paper, was remarkable when the incessant obstructions, such as bogs, sand-hills, anthills, etc., with which wo had to contend, are taken into consideration." As an instance, Mr. Muller pointed out that,, when only 34 miles out of Darwin, between 6in. and 7in. of rain fell, and at one spot it took two hours' hard work to get the car out of the soft, sloppy earth. Mechanical troubles were few and far between. One oijcurred when the starter, being submerged in mud and slush (for rain-storms were prevalent throughout the journey), was unable to function. There ' was but two punctures, one caused by a nail in a board at Alice Springs, and another through striking a stump in the dark. The Clumsy Camel. Questioned as to their experiences with the aborigines, Mr. Muller said that the tribes were very friendly, especially on being presented' with old pipes and tobacco, which were carried in the car. The blacks, in fact, provided the only instance of outside aid. On their arrival at Alice Springs, the travellers, having already come through one storm, and noticing the approach of another, wished to cross an intervening creek before'it flooded. Driving down the bank, they, however, found an obstruction in the form of a hobbled camel. " A more clumsy and aggravatingly useless creature than a hobbled camel on slippery round is .scarcely imaginable," remarked Sir. Muller. "In the endeavour to avoid the animal, . the car went over a bank, 4ft. high, and fell into the wet quicksands, Mr. Birtles immediately returned to the township for horses. It was found that the front wheels were out of parallel, the steering • tierod haying been previously bent by bumping the granite rock. ' '"I decided," said Mr. Muller, "that the only chance of moving the car wis to.. re-adjust the wheels. Accordingly, working under water and in the dark, I scraped away the sand, withdrew the pins, and was then able to straighten the rod. While I was, doing so, a native happened to :.come along,' and brought the Afghan owner of a mob of camels, who supplied two strong poles. By this time soma 20 or 30 aborigines, sent by Birtles, hud arrived on the scene, and with their assistance the car was dislodged, a wheel at a time, after two and a half hours' work. Birtles then returned, too late, with a team of horses. "I was so pleased and relieved," said Mr. Muller, " that I presented the chief native with a shilling and a penny (my total assets at the time), and distributed three packets of cigarettes among the remainder. " To live on nothing else but tinned stuff for 10 days, I can assure you,. is no joke, and neither Birtles nor I exactlyfattened on it. As a matter of fact, I lost 141b. in weight. Condensed milk and tinned peas were our long suit, and, by Jupiter, I never want to taste either again as long as I live."