In 1957, officers from the Welfare branch of Northern Territory Administration began patrolling the Gibson and Great Sandy Deserts. Here they found the Pintubi people, who had never been in touch with white civilisation. In 1963 Douglas Lockwood, at that time the Melbourne Herald's correspondent, was invited to join a patrol into the Gibson Desert to a point about 960 km west of Alice Springs and 320 km across the Western Australia border. The Lizard Eaters tells the fascinating story of that journey and the discovery of yet more Pintubi people. Lockwood describes the thrill he felt on meeting Aborigines who had never before set eyes on a white face - and the profound respect he developed for human beings who had lived in unbelievably harsh conditions for thousands of years.
