The Australian explorer Ernest Giles (1835-1897) was the first man to cross the desert wilderness between central and western Australia both ways.

Ernest Giles was born in Bristol, England, on July 20, 1835, and educated at Christ's Hospital, London. In 1850 he followed his parents, younger brother, and five sisters who had migrated to South Australia in 1848. An adventurous young man, he was unable to settle for long in one place and after trying his hand on the Victorian goldfields and working in Melbourne as a post office clerk, he eventually found employment as a stockman on the Darling River in New South Wales. The constant need to find additional pasture took him on several expeditions, aroused his interest in exploration, and developed his knowledge of bushcraft.

The late 1860s was a period in which growing interest was being shown in the region between central and western Australia. Although the coastal...