162A. LEBRIK MOUNTAINS The.  
"The Lebriks rise in three chains, fantastically reminiscent of the lips of a once mighty volcano."

Ion Idriess, Lasseter's Last Ride. pg, 32.

The Lebrik Mountains will not be found on any modern map and it's not clear how Idriess came by the name, nevertheless he was clearly referring to Mount Liebig as described by Fred Blakeley who was deeply impressed by the mountain, "I think it is the most spectacular mountain we have in Australia. It makes a grand sight as it stands out so commandingly from the surrounding landscape". Errol Coote reckoned Mount Liebig to be the, "giant of the MacDonnells", and an unmistakable landmark. The mountain also marked the place where the First C.A.G.E. Expedition  started to unravel, Ai Ai Creek lay, "in the shadow of Mount Liebig".

The Lebrik Mountains as penned by Idriess and Mount Liebig as described by Blakeley is a fine example of collaboration between the leader of the First Expedition and the best selling Author, contrary to John Bailey's statement that Idriess had little contact with members of the Expedition. Blakeley described Mount Liebig thus,   

"There are three folds that resembled the lip of a volcano. The first fold was about 1,500 feet up, then a sharper rise led to the second fold 1,000 feet higher; then came the ragged edges of the top. Even when one was on it, the mountain still resembled the outside cone of an old volcano. The south side looked to be almost perpendicular,"

And Idriess writes,

"The Lebriks rise in three chains, fantastically reminiscent of  the lips of a once mighty volcano. The first chain of jagged points rises abruptly a thousand feet; to the south a similar broken lip rises eighteen hundred feet; then, half a mile beyond it, the third series rises three thousand in towering cliffs, from which huge rock masses have thundered down onto the plain."

The Lebrik Mountains of Idriess is the Amunurunga Range and Mount Liebig, the highest point, is not a volcano. 

LASSETERIA

© R.Ross. 1999-2006
Fred Blakeley, Dream Millions, 44,45. Errol Coote, Hell's Airport, 89, 98, 99. Ion Idriess, Lasseter's Last Ride, 31,32.

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