Here we find my son, between the 1st and 15th of December, travelling about five hundred miles, and walking from eighty to ninety. McDonough, in his examination, gave altogether a falsified account respecting the loss of the camels, as he also made a bombastic statement of his great intimacy with Mr. Burke. The real truth is, that McDonough was the least trustworthy of the party. He would not have been taken by my son, but in the morning Mr. Burke had volunteered to accompany him, so that McDonough would not have been left alone; but after travelling a short distance, Mr. Burke did not feel well, and returned. At the place mentioned by my son as having dismounted, he told McDonough that he wished to make some observations, and was going to a rising ground at a distance; that the camels should feed, but he was not to lose sight of them for an instant. Instead of attending to his instructions, McDonough set to work to light a fire and boil his pannikin. Perhaps he went to sleep; for he pointed out some stunted bushes in the distance and said they were the camels. My son then sent him to search for them, but they could not be found. King, the only survivor of the party, on his examination, said:--
Mr. Wills told me that the camels were lost through McDonough's neglect during the time he was writing and taking observations.
Question 1737. McDonough never disputed that, did he?--McDonough told me that it was while they were at supper in the evening; but I do not see how that could be, because they generally took supper, and ourselves, about six o'clock; and it was so dark that they could not see the camels, so that they were most likely lost when Mr. Wills was taking observations.
Mr. Burke, in his report from Cooper's Creek, dated December the 13th, says:--"Mr. Wills, upon one occasion, travelled ninety miles to the north, without finding water, when his camels escaped, and he and the man who accompanied him were obliged to return on foot, which they accomplished in forty-eight hours. Fortunately, upon their return they found a pool of water. The three camels have not yet been recovered. . .Mr. Wills co-operates cordially with me. He is a most zealous and efficient officer."
King, in the course of his evidence stated as follows:--
Question 667. What did you do when you got to Cooper's Creek; did you go on any of these expeditions with Mr. Burke or Mr. Wills? --Yes; when Mr. Burke made our first depot at the creek, Mr. Burke, Mr. Wills, and McDonough started one morning to try and find water some distance to the north. Mr. Burke seemed not to be well, and returned after going a mile or so, and so McDonough and Mr. Wills continued, and were away some few days; I do not know the exact number of days; they lost the camels (three in number) and had to return to the depot on foot.
668. After a few days?--Yes; after a few days.
669. Did you go out yourself on that expedition?--Not then; a few days after, Mr. Burke, Mr. Wills, and myself went to a distance of about seventy miles north; we could not find water; Mr. Wills found water when he and McDonough went before.
670. Did you go the same track as they did?--Yes; but I do not know how Mr. Wills could not find it; he seemed not to recognize the place.