Part 1 (2/2)

”We all march on foot three or four hundred miles at all events, and the caht in provisions

”We have already done so for the last forty miles You should have seen old B----'s face, uponthat all the officers would have to act as working e for eachtwenty miles is no joke The first two days of it nearly choked poor B----, and I think he will not be able to stand it er

”I a to accept the alternative of success or disgrace, although failure is possible This self-imposed task (as you justly call it) is no sinecure, and I think will take the sting out of me if I see it out Good-bye, my dear S----

”From yours, ever sincerely,

”R O'HARA BURKE”

In William John Wills we see the real hero of the expedition He was an Englishman, born in Devonshi+re, and at his untie He was endoith an unquenchable thirst for knowledge It e out, where, in addition to his other studies, he acquired a knowledge of the science of navigation After his arrival in Victoria, in 1853, his taste for science, which was also acco spirit, displayed itself At first he obtained an appointe of astronomical and other sciences to which the Observatory is dedicated, and was then adh the influence of the Surveyor-General, into that establish Wills had frequently heard him speak of his intention to explore the unknown interior of Australia, and to be one of the first to reach the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria In 1856 a proposal wasof this, Mr Wills walked from the river Wannon to Ballarat, a distance of ninety miles, to offer his services; but the project was abandoned His scientific attainments had qualified him for an important post in the expedition of 1860, and he joined it in the capacity of astronoical observer Of his fitness for exploring, the Rev Julian Woods writes--”Having studied every journal connected with Australian exploration, and become, as it were personally acquainted with all our discoverers, I conscientiously say I have not eous, so noble, so fine an explorer as William John Wills”

[Illustration: WILLIAM JOHN WILLS

_From Photo_--HILL, Melbourne]

The other officers of the expedition were:--Mr Landells, who had brought the camels to the colony, and was appointed second in command; Dr Herman Beckler, botanist andBecker, artist, naturalist, and geological surveyor There were eleven subordinates, including three Hindoo caust 1860 the expedition left Melbourne During theof its departure crowds of holiday folks were to be seen wending their various ways to the Royal Park, on the northern outskirts of the city It was late in the afternoon before the picturesque groups of cae, were arranged in rey horse, took up his position at the head of the procession When it was about to start, the Mayor of Melbourne mounted one of the drays and delivered a short speech, wishi+ng them God-speed Mr Burke uncovered, and replied, in a clear voice that was heard all over the crowd:--”Mr Mayor, on behalf ofto return you my most sincere thanks

No expedition has ever started under such favourable circumstances as this The people, the Government, the Committee--all have done heartily what they could do It is now our turn! and we shall never do well till we justify what you have done in showing you e can do” Then, a and acclamations of the spectators, who numbered fully ten thousand, the brilliant cavalcade was put inspectacle, and the applauding cheers of the enthusiastic citizens were prolonged till the procession had faded away in the dih the settled districts to the river Darling was very slow, and even before they reached Menindie serious dissensions had broken out in their ca at that townshi+p Burke disned his position and left the party Mr Wills was then appointed second in coe of the caht, whom he had picked up at a sheep station

[Illustration: COOPER'S CREEK]

The Exploration Committee had instructed Burke to establish a depot on Cooper's Creek, andWhen the explorers reached that river the spring season was far advanced, and soon the fervid rays of the sun would wither the green grass and dry up the water-courses; therefore Burke decided to push forward to the creek without delay But some of the camels were unfit to proceed immediately, so Burke divided his party, and with seven of his coht, who offered to show him a direct and atered track, set out from Menindie on the 19th of October

They acco been fortunate in finding good feed and water on the way, Burke sent Wright back to the enca the rear party with the heavy supplies on by easy stages to Cooper's Creek

On the 11th of Noveht, Burke and his party arrived safely at the creek They then travelled slowly along the banks of the strearound On the twenty-first they pitched on a suitable locality, and there established the ht with the remainder of the company, frequent excursions were made in order to find a route to the north On one of these excursions, Mr Wills travelled ninetywater; their camels escaped from them, and he and his companions were forced to return on foot Fortunately for them they found a pool on their way back to the depot, but the ca got into a stony desert The knowledge obtained by means of these and other short excursions was not of an encouraging nature to the explorers

After waiting at Cooper's Creek for rew tired of their life of inaction, and made preparations for the journey to the Gulf of Carpentaria As Wright did not coot impatient, and decided to subdivide the few men he had with him as follows:--Four men were to remain at the depot, one of them named William Brahe in coht, and when he had arrived they were to seek aThe rest of the little party--Burke, Wills, King, and Gray--were to push forward to the Gulf, and were to take with them six of the camels, one horse, and three months' provisions

On 16th Deceood-bye, and started northwards As they proceeded, Burke and Wills walked ahead, while Gray and King followed behind, leading the horse and the six ca after taking astronomical observations, wrote his diary, and then read it to Burke, who ht necessary

Their allowance of provisions were a pound of flour and a pound of meat daily, with a little rice occasionally, and the party ca without tents In his admirable history of the _Exploration of Australia_, a work published in 1865, and containing, in addition to the adventures of the explorers, a very lucid description of the physical features of the continent, so far as they had been made known by the journeys and discoveries previous to the year 1863, the Rev Mr Woods writes in reference to this journey:--”No doubt this self-denying eous, but was it necessary? It certainly does seereat care taken to equip the party adequately, that its main work should have been done by a feeble party, badly provisioned, and subject to the disadvantage of crossing the country on foot The as done, it is true, but done in an ie six cah untrodden scrubs, and yet keep a journal and make observations No one could expect it, and it was not done The journal left is most incomplete, and to this day several portions of the route are stillquartette travelled over atered country Numerous parties of natives were met with, but they were friendly to the whites Mr Wills writes of a tribe of these:--”They pestered us to go to their camp and have a dance, which we declined

They were very troubleso but a threat to shoot thehtened; and although fine-looking reatest inclination to take whatever they can, but will run no unnecessary risk in so doing They seldoe kind of boo rats, etc Soe spear; reed spears seem to be quite unknown to the race of , and more peaceful; but in other respects I believe they will not compare favourably with them They appear to be mean-spirited and contemptible in every respect” After the explorers had passed through this fertile country, they had to cross about twenty miles of stony desert On the other side of it they came upon an earthy plain of about nine h swanificent stream The four men followed up this creek from point to point of the bends, and on the 7th of January camped ithin the tropics Afterwards they entered upon ih therass grew luxuriantly Pigeons and wild ducks were also found in abundance For five days the travellersplains Then they crossed over a series of low sandstone hills, and after passing over a stony plain cae of es On 27th of January the explorers reached Cloncurry Creek, one of the derivative streams of the river Flinders They had afterwards to travel over swa, so all of the and Gray were left behind with the bulk of the provisions, while Burke and Wills, taking the horse with them to carry supplies sufficient for three days, pushed forward towards the sea They had to cross over patches of swareat deal of it was so soft and rotten that the horse got bogged, and it was only by digging hireat difficulty and delay they ed to do this Then they came across some tableland, and beyond that a plain covered ater, which in soh several ain to dry land Further on theythe explorers, deca behind in their hurried departure some yaer of Burke and Wills A small distance beyond they reached a narrow inlet on the shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria A forest of Mangroves intercepted their view of the open sea beyond, so the two heroic h it The horse had by this time become too weak to advance further, therefore they hobbled hiallant felloere soon obliged to relinquish their atterowth They could not obtain a view of the open ocean, although they made every effort to do so 'Tis true their mission was accomplished; they had crossed the continent to within a ained! But now the necessities of the case compelled the triumphant explorers to immediately hurry back to Cooper's Creek

[Illustration: J A KING]

CHAPTER II