The following reprint (by permission) from the columns of the "Spectator" of 11th Oct. and 25th Oct., 1862, conveys so accurate an idea of the achievements of the gallant and lamented Burke and Wills, and of the mismanagement that led to their disastrous fate, that no apology is needed for inserting it here.
THE AUSTRALIAN EXPLORING EXPEDITION OF 1860.[159]
(Spectator, 11th and 25th Oct., 1862.)
"Those who are interested—and who is not?—in the history of the latest and most successful of Australian exploring expeditions will find the principal materials requisite for the satisfaction of their curiosity in the small volume now before us. The special interest attaching to this particular expedition lies in the striking contrast which it presents between the perfect success of its leaders and their melancholy end. Having accomplished their arduous task of traversing the Australian continent from south to north, Messrs. Burke and Wills returned to their starting-point, only to find that the dépôt which they had established there had been abandoned by their companions less than twelve hours before their arrival. Utterly broken down by privation and fatigue, and disappointed of the succour on which they had confidently relied, they were unable to traverse the comparatively trifling distance which separated them from the settled districts, and, after some weeks of hopeless wandering, they were literally starved to death when almost within sight of aid. The story of these few weeks, as contained in the scanty records left by Messrs. Burke and Wills, and in the statement made by their sole surviving companion, is one of the most touching narratives of human fortitude that we have ever met with. The feeling of sympathy, almost painful in its intensity, which it necessarily excites, is immediately followed by a desire to ascertain the precise quarter in
which the gross neglect which alone could have rendered such a catastrophe possible can justly be charged. It is to this point that we propose mainly to direct the remarks which we have to make on Mr. Jackson's volume; and we shall recapitulate the history of the expedition only so far as is absolutely necessary to render our observations generally intelligible.
"The exploring party left Melbourne on August 20, 1860. It was accompanied by a number of camels, which had been imported for the purpose, on the supposition that these animals would be peculiarly fitted to bear the privations incidental to such a journey. The party was headed by Mr. Robert O'Hara Burke. Mr. Landells, who had charge of the camels, was second in command; and the third officer was Mr. William John Wills, who also acted as astronomical and meteorological observer to the expedition. On September 23 they reached Menindie, on the Darling river, about 400 miles from Melbourne. Here Mr. Landells, in consequence of some disagreement with Mr. Burke, resigned his post; and Dr. Beckler, the medical officer to the expedition, declined to go any further. Hereupon Burke appointed Wills in Landells' place, and divided his party, leaving one section at Menindie, in charge of Beckler, while he, with Wills and six others, pushed on, on October 19, for Cooper's Creek, about 400 miles further north, under the guidance of one Wright, a man acquainted with the country, whom he met with on the spot. On October 31, when about half-way between Menindie and Cooper's Creek, Burke appointed Wright third officer, and sent him back to the Darling, with instructions to bring up the remainder of the party and stores to Cooper's Creek without delay. He then pushed on, and reached the Creek on November 11. He remained here about a month, and then again divided his party. Three men, six camels, and twelve horses were left at the dépôt on the Creek, under the command of Mr. Brahé, whose instructions were to remain till Burke's return, or until he was forced to retreat by want of provisions. Burke started on December 16, taking with him Wills, King, and Gray, six camels, one horse, and provisions for three months, which was the time he expected to be absent; but he told Brahé that he might be away four months, or even more. On February 11, 1861, he reached a point only a few miles from the shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and thus accomplished his
mission of entirely crossing the Australian Continent from south to north. He at once retraced his steps, and arrived at the dépôt in Cooper's Creek on April 21, accompanied by Wills and King, Gray having died a few days before. They found that Brahé had quitted his post that very morning, and started for the Darling, leaving some provisions buried at the foot of a tree, on which he had cut an inscription indicating the fact. The exhausted explorers debated what they had best do. Wills and King wished to make for Menindie; but Burke, thinking that, weak as they were, it was hopeless to try to overtake Brahé, decided to push for the nearest settled districts of South Australia, distant about 150 miles. This they did on April 23, having left a note in Brahé's cache, but without adding anything to his inscription on the tree, or leaving any distinct intimation that they had ever been there. But the enterprise was beyond their strength. They were so weak that they could not advance more than five or six miles a day; their camels knocked up, their provisions ran short; and, finally, Burke died on July 1st, Wills having succumbed a day or two earlier. King, the sole survivor, fell in with the natives, who treated him kindly; and he was rescued on September 15th by a party sent from Melbourne in search of him, under the guidance of Mr. Howitt.
"We must now return to Mr. Wright, and see how he carried out the instructions given him by his chief. Mr. Burke, as we have already said, sent him back to Menindie on October 31, 1860; and he reached that place on November 5. Here, in the teeth of Burke's orders to bring the rest of the party on to Cooper's Creek without delay, he remained inactive until January 26, 1861, when he appears to have moved northward. He never, however, got further than Bullo, a place about sixty miles south of Cooper's Creek, where Mr. Brahé fell in with him on April 29, and at once placed himself under his orders. Two days later Wright left Bullo, and moved a few miles further south, "not seeing the utility of pushing on the dépôt to Cooper's Creek for the purpose of remaining there the few weeks their stores would last." On May 3, at Brahé's suggestion, Wright and he returned to the dépôt on Cooper's Creek, taking no stores with them. They remained there a quarter of an hour, did not examine the cache, and then, seeing no signs of Burke having been there, rejoined the rest of their party, and made their way
back to the Darling, whence Brahé at once proceeded to Melbourne. On hearing his report, the Exploration Committee lost no time in despatching the relief party, under Mr. Howitt, which, as we have already said, discovered King in the following September.
"After the foregoing brief summary of the facts of the case, the reader will probably have but little difficulty in coming to the conclusion that the death of Messrs. Burke and Wills was, in great measure, owing to Mr. Wright's having so unaccountably neglected to obey the distinct instructions of his chief. Mr. Jackson, indeed, holds that no one but Wright was at all to blame in the matter. Nay, he even goes so far as to accuse Wright of having wilfully and deliberately left the leaders of the expedition to a fate which he must have known would be the natural result of his inaction. 'Can any reasonable person,' he asks, 'doubt that Wright knew perfectly well the exact nature of his instructions, and foresaw the disastrous consequences almost certain to ensue should they be disregarded.' This very serious charge is based upon a passage in a despatch from Mr. Wright to the Exploration Committee at Melbourne, dated Dec. 19th, in which he says:—'As I have every reason to believe that Mr. Burke has pushed on from Cooper's Creek, relying upon finding the dépôt stores at that water-course upon his return, there is room for the most serious apprehensions as to the safety of himself and party, should he find that he has miscalculated.' This passage seems at least to prove that Wright had fully comprehended both the meaning and the object of the instructions he had received, to return to Menindie, and bring up the stores as rapidly as possible to Cooper's Creek. In the teeth of these positive orders he remained at Menindie no less than eighty-two days, from Nov. 5th, 1860, to Jan. 26th, 1861, doing literally nothing at all. There was, as far as we can see, nothing to prevent him from reaching Cooper's Creek with a portion of the stores before the end of 1860. The distance from Menindie to the Creek is about 400 miles, and Mr. Burke had traversed it without difficulty in twenty-three days. When Burke left Cooper's Creek on December 16th, he was in daily expectation of Wright's arrival. Had this reasonable expectation been fulfilled, there would then have been no reason why Brahé should not have remained at the dépôt for six months, or even a longer time. Wright appears to have spent a considerable portion of the time which he wasted at Menindie