The Legend of Lasseter's Reef

Book excerpt: This engaging, accessible and atmospheric book tells a children's version of the famous legend of Harold Lasseter who found a fabulous reef of gold in the desert. He almost died on the return trek with his gold samples, and was rescued and nursed back to health by an Afghan cameleer and a surveyor. Years later, Lasseter returned to the interior with companions, confident he would be able to locate the site of his original find. But the expedition proved a disaster, and after weeks of searching the men lost confidence in their leader and abandoned him. Lasseter continued on with a team of camels, and he finally found the reef, and pegged it. But his camels escaped leaving him to struggle on alone. Despite the help of a family of desert nomads, he never made it back to civilization, leaving behind only a handful of clues that have tantalized treasure hunters ever since.