The unsuitability of horses and bullocks in dealing with outback conditions led to the decision in the mid 1800s to replace them with camels. In 1860, 24 camels and 3 cameleers arrived in Melbourne to join the Burke and Wills expedition.
They were followed by many others and between 1860 and the early 1900s, they formed the backbone of transportation in the outback with many of them based around Marree and the Birdsville, and Strzelecki Tracks.
Of course the Afghans brought their own culture and religion with them and this is all that remains of their mosque in Marree.
The role of the cameleers from Afghanistan in the history of the Australian outback is not widely recognised.
It really is a pity that more effort is not being made to preserve these icons of our history.
After being 3 weeks behind, I have finally caught up. My apologies for the (sometimes) 6 shots a day and for the sporadic comments but with over 4000 photos to go through and decide upon, it has been bloody hard work. I always find it very hard to separate the 365 worthy photos from the happy snaps that form an important part of the trip
I agree it is a shame they are being allowed to fall in to such disrepair. Lovely to read of these historic events and see the the places in your wonderful pictures.
I'm always interested in the connections between your history and ours, and here it is: http://www.desertusa.com/animals/desert-camel-experiment.html
Our experiment failed, and we have no historic mosques, just modern ones. This is a fascinating photo and story.
@beachdog Stay tuned barb. We have found another tour that we reckon we are going to do next year. When we get the details, I'll let you know about it.
September 26th, 2015
Leave a Comment
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
Our experiment failed, and we have no historic mosques, just modern ones. This is a fascinating photo and story.