Giles reached the telegraph line at Thomas Elder's pastoral property at Finniss Springs on 14 April where his party recuperated until he turned south to Beltana. Strangways Springs, about 80 km northwest of Finniss Springs, was the closest telegraph station (see digitized map at https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-231438553). Messages would have needed to be taken there in order to be transmitted, consistent with Giles's telegram to Thomas Elder published as 'Mr Ernest Giles's exporations (sic)', South Australian register, 21 April 1875, p. 5, reported to have been 'under date Finniss Springs, Thursday, April 15 [and] wired from Strangways Springs on April 17'.
In E. Giles (1889), vol. 2, pp 75-127, Giles describes as a 'third expedition' his journey from Fowler's Bay (SA) to Beltana (SA), from 13 March 1875 to 6 May 1875. The journal is supported by a 'Map showing the route travelled and country discovered by Ernest Giles during his Third Exploring Expedition in a portion of the Colony of South Australia', see https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00052-images/m4.jpg. There is a brief description in 'E. Giles' Reise von der Fowler-Bai zum Torrens-See, 1875', Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen, vol. 21 (1875), p. 422, an edited translation of the telegraphic account sent to Elder. See also Giles (1880) and Giles (1889), vol. 2, pp. 106-22, where the loss of the horses is described in entries on pp. 108-17.
i.e. W. H. Tietkens. Tietkens, who had been with Giles on a previous expedition, 'had been secured from Melbourne by Sir Thomas Elder' (Giles (1889), vol. 2, p. 131) for Giles's next expedition, from Central Australia to Perth, WA.
Telegram not found. The text given here is from the Herald (Melbourne), 17 April 1875, p. 3. It is introduced by 'This morning Baron Von Mueller, who has ever taken the most earnest interest in the exploration of the great interior of Australia, received from the explorer, Mr Ernest Giles, the following telegram:—'.
Please cite as “FVM-75-04-17,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on
