Tjunti is a soakage site near Kaḻṯukatjara, in the

Northern Territory of Australia The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

. It is located where the Hull River cuts through the Petermann Ranges, about to the southeast of Kaḻṯukatjara, by road along the Tjukaruru Road. Tjunti is known as the site where the famous

gold prospector Gold prospecting is the act of searching for new gold deposits. Methods used vary with the type of deposit sought and the resources of the prospector. Although traditionally a commercial activity, in some developed countries placer gold prospe ...

Harold B. Lasseter took refuge on his fatal search for

Lasseter's Reef Lasseter's Reef refers to the purported discovery, announced by Lewis Harold Bell Lasseter, Harold Bell Lasseter in 1929 and 1930, of a fabulously rich gold deposit in a remote and desolate corner of central Australia. Lasseter's accounts of the ...

. An outstation was established here in 1977, and belongs to a

Pitjantjatjara The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are v ...

family. The gap in the mountains is formed here by the Hull River, a sandy creek that remains dry for most of the year. It splits the Curdie Range in the south from the Mannanana Range in the north. There are several soaks and rockholes in the area.

Lasseter's Cave

The small cave where Lasseter took refuge is (commonly called Lasseter's Cave in English). This is an opening in a rock formation in the Mannanana Range. Lasseter took shelter here for about 25 days during January 1931, when trying to find a rich gold deposit that he claimed to have discovered in the area on an earlier expedition. His

camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

s had deserted him, and he was stranded in the bush without food. While taking shelter in the cave, Lasseter recorded his account of his journey, including the days spent in the cave. He was later found by a local Pitjantjatjara family, who provided him food and water before Lasseter decided to leave the cave and attempt to walk the to

Kata Tjuṯa Kata Tjuṯa (Pitjantjatjara: , lit. 'many heads'; ), also known as The Olgas and officially gazetted as Kata TjutaMount Olga, is a group of large, domed rock formations or bornhardts located about southwest of Alice Springs, in the southern par ...

. He was weak from

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water that disrupts metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds intake, often resulting from excessive sweating, health conditions, or inadequate consumption of water. Mild deh ...

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

and exhaustion, and he died three days later, after walking about .

References

External links

Tjunti
in the Northern Territory's Place Names Register Caves of the Northern Territory Landforms of the Northern Territory Populated places established in 1977 Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory Waterholes of Australia Bodies of water of the Northern Territory MacDonnell Region {{NorthernTerritory-geo-stub