John Forrest's new exploring party leaves Perth…

John Forrest's new exploring party leaves Perth on March 30, 1870.

Forrest had been selected in the previous year to lead an expedition that will survey a land route along the Great Australian Bight between the colonies of South Australia and Western Australia.

The explorer Edward John Eyre had achieved such a crossing thirty years earlier, but his expedition had been poorly planned and equipped, and Eyre had nearly perished from lack of water.

Forrest's expedition will follow Eyre's route, but it will be thoroughly planned and properly resourced.

Also, the recent discovery of safe anchorages at Israelite Bay and Eucla will permit Forrest's team to be reprovisioned along the way by a chartered schooner, Adur.

Forrest's brief is to provide a proper survey of the route, which might be used in future to establish a telegraph link between the colonies, and also to assess the suitability of the land for pasture.

Forrest's team consists of six men: his brother Alexander, who is second in command, Police constable Hector McLarty, farrier William Osborn, trackers Windich and Billy Noongale, with sixteen horses and a number of dogs.