Elder spent money buying large properties for sheep in outback South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia. Some of these included Paratoo, Umberatana, Mount Lyndhurst, Blanchewater and Beltana. He had ridden camels while on holiday in Palestine, and thought they would be good for use in the Australian deserts. He brought 124 camels and Afghan people to breed camels at Beltana. These were used for the building of the Australian Overland Telegraph. Elder provided money and camels for exploration by Peter Egerton Warburton (1872-73), Ernest Giles (1875), John Ross (1874), Lewis (1875), and the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia (1891).