"They were of sufficient interest for us to spend over half a day examining them".

While admitting to losing count of the days during the South West journey, Blakeley thought it was about the first day out from Illbilla that the Expedition arrived at their main landmark, "two razor backed hills about four hundred feet high", Blakeley named them Sutherland Hills after the Expeditions 'mining expert' George Sutherland and the men spent over half a day examining the unusual formation of fine golden coloured mica.

Blakeley left no map showing the location of these hills, but the strip map at pages 55 and 56 of Lasseter's diary has a notation indicating, "promising mica", at Lasseter's Lookout and places the lookout and the mica deposit in the right place and context in relation to two quartz outcrops that the men examined on the return to Illbilla. If the map in Lasseter's Diary is authentic then the Sutherland Hills are Lasseter's Lookout and Johnston Hill, the latter is clearly marked on Terry's and McKay's maps and was probably named by Tietkins during his 1889 explorations of the area. While Blakeley was not lost on the ground he was certainly misplaced on paper. Blakiston Houston's observation that the Expedition had not bothered to acquire the latest maps appears to be correct.

Sutherland Hills or Johnston Hill as it is correctly known, is shown on the 1:250,000. National Map sheet, No. SF 52-15 (MOUNT RENNIE) at a point about 50 kilometres south west of Illbilla. A reasonable days drive in the Thornycroft.

LASSETERIA

© R.Ross. 1999-2006