July. August 51“I have no desire to profit
from it in terms of a
private collection. That’s
not what it’s about.”
Finds included a
membership of the SA
Cricket Association attached
to an open locket, which had no
photo but was full of fi ne sand.Trip three’s dig team (L–R):
photographer and friend Peter
Blakeman, NT archaeologist Malcolm
Connolly, Peter Perkins, friend Christy
Peers, Larry Perkins, friend Jim Kurtin
and archaeologist Caroline Wilby.
A small taste of the
massive amount of gear
unearthed by the Perkins
brothers – carpenters’
tools and a kerosene
lamp among it.The entire find has now been catalogued and shipped to a
Museum of Central Australia warehouse in Alice Springs.
Larry’s wish is that it stays together in perpetuity. He regards
himself as the owner of the trove – which was still being sorted
out legally at the time of going to press – and doesn’t want it
sold off or split up.
He wants it clear who owns it, not because he wants to gain
from it. “I want it on public display forever and no-one able to
profiteer from it,” he explains.
“I have no desire to store it in my back garage and I have no
desire to profit from it in terms of a private collection. That’s
not what it’s about.”
For Larry, it’s about helping modern-day Australians under-
stand their brave and self-reliant forebears. He says the find is
significant for both its size and quality, and that makes its
preservation vital.
“In many cases explorers vanished and we really didn’t know
much about what they carried,” he says.
“So it was significant to find everything and for it to be
totally untouched from the day they put it there. According to
the archaeologists, the quality of the items uncovered is superb,
just superb.”
The story attracted international attention. Michael Wells,
director of the heritage branch at the NT’s Department of Lands,
Planning and the Environment, explained to the ABC the
significance of what Larry had tracked down, describing it as“a unique insight into early European exploration of Australia
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.”T
HE STORY DOESN’T end here. Larry has since been
inundated with requests to help solve other outback
mysteries. “I’ve had many more emails than I ever got
for winning Bathurst,” he says, laughing.
The one he has become most fascinated with keeps him
linked to Barclay. Larry wants to find out what happened to
Ludwig Leichhardt.
“There’s no bigger mystery,” he says, explaining that he is
now working with colleagues in Brisbane who have searched
the outback numerous times looking for an answer.
“We are working on old documents [and] with metal detec-
tors. I am very hopeful we can put proper facts on the table.
We think we know where Leichhardt ended up, but we want
to find evidence. We have found some items that have started
stacking up, but there’s more work to be done there.”
It’s work Larry is relishing in his beloved outback.
“I love being ‘out in the field’ as the archaeologists say.
But I don’t want to just go out looking over endless sand hills
and hoping to stumble on something. The chances of finding
something are just ridiculously small,” he explains.
“So work out where to put the dot on the map and then
sea rch.”
Logical really. AG