Letters of sympathy and condolence; from Sir Henry Barkly; Major
Egerton Warburton; A.J. Baker, Esquire; P.A. Jennings, Esquire;
Dr. Mueller; The Council of Ballaarat East; Robert Watson,
Esquire; John Lavington Evans, Esquire
Meeting at Totnes.
Resolution to erect a Monument to Mr. Wills.
Proceedings in the Royal Geographical Society of London.
Letter from Sir Roderick Murchison to Dr. Wills.
Dr. Wills's Reply.
The Lost Explorers, a poetical tribute.
Concluding Observations.
As soon as my son's death became publicly known, and there could no
longer be a doubt on the subject, letters of condolence and
sympathy poured in upon me from many quarters. From these I select
a few as indicating the general impression produced by his untimely
fate, and the estimation in which he was held by those who were
personally acquainted with him. The afflicting event was
communicated to his mother in Totnes, Devon, by a telegram a
fortnight before the regular mail, accompanied by the following
letter from Sir Henry Barkly, Governor of Victoria:--
Government Office, Melbourne, November 26th, 1861.
DEAR MADAM,
Though you will hear of the bereavement which has befallen you
inthe loss of your gallant son from those that are near and dear
both to you and to himself, I cannot refrain, in the position I
have the honour to hold, from adding my assurance of the sympathy
of the entire community with your grief, and the universal
admiration of his abilities as displayed throughout the expedition,
and which his noble and heroic conduct to the last hour of his life
have inspired.
You may rely upon it that the name of William John Wills will go
down to posterity, both at home and in this colony, amongst the
brightest of those who have sacrificed their lives for the
advancement of scientific knowledge and the good of their
fellow-creatures.
Believe me, dear Madam,
Yours very respectfully,
(Signed) HENRY BARKLY,
Governor of Victoria.
Mrs. Wills, Totnes, Devon.
. . .
Sir Henry also moved in the committee and the motion was
carried nemine contradicente, that from the important part Mr. Wills
had taken, the expedition should be called, "The Burke and Wills
exploring Expedition." Some spiteful remarks by opposite partisans
were made in the Melbourne Argus on this very natural and
complimentary resolution. An advocate on one side said, "If the
expedition had failed would it have been called the Burke and Wills
Expedition?--We opine not." To which another replied the following
day, in the same columns, "Would the expedition have succeeded if
Wills had not been there?--We opine not." None would have regretted
these invidious observations more than the generous, free-hearted
Burke, and my gallant son, had they lived to see them. They had no
petty jealousies. Each knew his position, and they acted throughout
with unswerving confidence as friends as well as associated
explorers.
It was asserted by Burke's enemies that he was violent, and not
having sufficient command over himself, was therefore unfitted to
command others. This conclusion, sound enough in the abstract, is
more easily made than proved, and in the present instance receives
direct contradiction from the undeviating cordiality between the
leader and his second. In the cases of Landells and Dr. Beckler,
universal opinion pronounced Burke to be in the right.
. . .
FROM MAJOR EGERTON WARBURTON.
Adelaide.
MY DEAR DR. WILLS,
Vain as must be any consolation that can be offered to you under the
circumstances of almost unparalleled distress attending the loss of
your son, I cannot but avail myself of our acquaintanceship to
express my most humble and hearty sympathy in the terrible
catastrophe.
Anger and horror combine to drive us away from the contemplation of
the causes of this tragic termination of a feat of heroism and
endurance such as has been rarely before achieved; and we turn with
deep sorrow and admiration to dwell upon that noble display of
faithful, patient courage which calmly awaited an early and
unbefriended grave on the spot where the foot-prints of triumph
were reasonably to have been expected.
We all share in your grief; and would fain hope that this may
somewhat lessen its bitterness to you; but it must be a source of
pride and comfort to you to remember that your son died having DONE
his duty to his country and his companions. More than this no man
can do, live he ever so long, and few there are who do so much.
Permit me to subscribe myself a deep sympathiser with you in your
affliction,
J. EGERTON WARBURTON.
The Major had been a candidate for the office of leader, but his
conditions as to his second were objected to. The next letter is
from a gentleman who had accompanied Major Warburton as second on
some explorations from Adelaide. At Totnes I knew him when a boy.
. . .
Dorset Terrace, Adelaide.
MY DEAR SIR,
I truly sympathize with you in the loss you have met with in
so heroic and superb a fellow as your son. I cannot read his
journals without wishing that I had been with him, for his
qualities as an explorer were perfect in my humble opinion. The
news of his sad death has been a great blow to all of us, and we
sincerely feel for you in your affliction. But though dead in the
flesh, the brave spirit of your son will stand emblazoned on the
pages of our country's history as one of those heroes who have died
for the cause in which he was engaged, in the flush of victory,
cheerfully fulfilling his duties to the last.
I cannot believe that Wright and Brahe ever returned to Cooper's
Creek. If they had done so a stockman so well experienced in
tracking as Wright must be, would have detected the presence of
signs that might escape the eye of one less practised; for it is
ascertained now that the stores had been removed about the time
that Brahe left, and before, as they say, they returned in company.
I also believe that, had Burke taken his companions' advice, and
followed down Brahe's tracks, they would have been saved, for it is
well known to all travellers that animals will feel cheered in
following the footsteps of their late associates; but to attempt to
force his party to explore new country when a well-known route was
open to him was little short of madness. I have not patience to
criticize Wright and Brahe's conduct. If Brahe had even left more
stores, clothing especially, we should have had the pleasure of
welcoming the explorers home.
But God's wise providence knows what is best, and in saying, His
will be done, I pray that He may comfort you and yours in this
great bereavement. Mrs. B. and my daughter unite with me in kindest
regards, and believe me to be as ever,
My dear sir,
Your sincere friend,
ARTHUR JOHN BAKER.
. . .
FROM P.A. JENNINGS, ESQUIRE, ST. ARNAUD, VICTORIA.
St. Arnaud, December 15th, 1861.
MY DEAR SIR,
I did not like to intrude upon your sorrow before; but I
feel desirous of now testifying the sympathy of myself and friends
at St. Arnaud with you under your heavy affliction. I had the
pleasure of forming an intimacy with your lamented and gallant son
during his stay here; an intimacy which soon ripened into a true
friendship.
It was in the year 1858, from March to July, that your son stopped
in this vicinity, as the promoter of the survey of this town. I was
thrown much into his company, and soon learned to appreciate his
amiable and noble disposition. My mother and sisters, who also
found pleasure in his society, had the deepest regard and
admiration for him; and the expedition in which he was engaged
therefore possessed an unusual interest for us.
I assure you I can hardly find words to express our feelings, at
the thought of his fate, and the base desertion of Burke and
himself by those who should have endeavoured to sustain them. I had
the most profound confidence in your son's ability as an explorer,
knowing well the varied nature of his scientific attainments, his
great practical knowledge of bush life, and the clear common sense
which was his leading characteristic. Many a time we have talked
about him; and every time we mentioned his name the same feeling of
assurance in his safe return was always expressed, even to the
last. Such was our confidence in him. A week before the sad tidings
of his death reached Melbourne, I had a conversation with Mr.
Byerly, whom I then met accidentally, and who had just returned
from Queensland. Our conversation reverted to your son, and Mr.
Byerly coincided with me in my faith in him, but remarked that all
his exertions could be of little avail if not properly supported.
Mr. Byerly had at first expressed a fear that the party HAD BEEN
ALLOWED TO PERISH through the remissness of those whose duty it
should have been to use every possible means to rescue them in the
proper time. His words were, unfortunately, prophetic.
I know, my dear sir, that almost anything like consolation for you
now must come from other than man, but I could not help saying
these few words to you; and I know that no persons unconnected by
blood with your family, and enjoying such brief personal
acquaintance with your son as myself; and mother and sisters, can
be more sincerely or deeply moved at the harrowing record of his
untimely fate. Indeed, it has cast a gloom over every one; and the
hardest heart could not but be affected by such a noble spectacle
as the last days of his glorious life present.
It is proposed here to erect an obelisk to his memory, and I am
about to get one of the streets named after him. I cannot commit
myself to write further on the subject, but will conclude by
subscribing myself,
Yours, ever faithfully,
P.A. JENNINGS.
W. Wills, Esquire, M.D.
. . .
FROM DR. MUELLER.
December 11th, 1861.
MY DEAR DOCTOR,
His Excellency informed me by note last night that Mr. Heales thinks
to leave the consideration of everything connected with the great
and glorious enterprise of your son and Mr. Burke, to the
Commission, which Mr. Heales will probably have installed before
leaving office.
His Excellency adds, that every thought shall be given, that the
family who immortalized their name by the work of your lamented son
shall not be forgotten. I hope to be in town to-morrow, and will do
myself the pleasure of calling on you.
Very regardfully yours,
FERD. MUELLER.
. . .
The Melbourne Advertiser, of December the 4th, 1861, contained
the following leading paragraph:
It is the intention of Mr. O'Shanassy to place a sum of 5000 pounds
on the Estimates towards the erection of a national monument to
Burke and Wills, and it is believed a like amount will be raised by
public subscription in various parts of the colony; so that the
aggregate amount will enable us to raise a memorial worthy of
Victoria, and worthy of the heroes whom we design to honour. This
is as it should be. Burke and Wills achieved a splendid exploit:
their lives were the forfeit of their daring; and we owe it to
their reputation, as well as to our own character, to preserve a
durable record of their great achievement, and to signalize to
after-ages our admiration of its simple grandeur, and our gratitude
to the brave men who accomplished it. A time will come when a belt
of settlements will connect the shores of Port Phillip with those
of the Gulf of Carpentaria; when, on the banks of the Albert or of
the Flinders, a populous city will arise, and will constitute the
entrepot of our commerce with the Indies; and when beaten roads
will traverse the interior, and a line of electric telegraph will
bisect the continent. The happy valley of Prince Rasselas was not
more verdant or more fertile than much of the country passed
through by the explorers, whose loss we deplore; and it is certain
that these beautiful solitudes will be rapidly occupied by the
flocks and herds of the squatter. Agricultural settlements will
follow; towns and villages will be established, gold-fields
probably discovered, and waves of population will overflow and will
fertilize vast tracts of country which we have hitherto concluded
to be a sterile desert. These events will owe their initiation to
the adventurous pioneers who first crossed the continent from sea
to sea. Theirs was the arduous effort; theirs the courage,
endurance, and sustaining hope; theirs the conflict with danger and
the great triumph over difficulties; theirs the agony of a
lingering death, and theirs the mournful glory of a martyr's crown.
Defrauded, as it were, of the honours which would have rewarded
them had they lived to receive the congratulations they had earned,
it becomes the melancholy duty of their fellow-citizens to
perpetuate the memory of Burke and Wills by a monument which shall
testify to their worth and our munificence.
. . .
FROM DR. MUELLER.
Melbourne, December 21st, 1861.
MY VERY DEAR DOCTOR,
I need not assure you that I shall be but too happy to render
you any services within my power, and especially such as are
connected with doing justice to your poor and great son.
Having been duly authorized by you to secure the pistol of your
late son, I will take an early opportunity to claim it for you and
bring it to your son Thomas. I will also very gladly do what I can
in restoring to you any other property I may hear of as belonging
to your lamented son William. As soon as Professor Neumayer
returns, we can learn with exactness what instruments were your
son's. I will also inquire about the telescope. I believe I forgot
mentioning to you, that it would be a source of the highest
gratification to me to call some new plant by the name of the
family, who claim as their own, one of now imperishable fame. But I
will not be unmindful that, in offering an additional tribute,
humble as it is, to your son's memory, it will be necessary to
select, for the Willsia, a plant as noble in the Australian flora
as the young savant himself who sacrificed his life in accomplishing
a great national and never-to-be-forgotten enterprise.
Trusting, my dear and highly valued friend, that the greatness of
the deed will, to a certain extent, alleviate your grief and sorrow
for an irreparable loss, and that Providence may spare you long in
health and happiness, for your family.
I remain,
Your faithfully attached,
FERD. MUELLER.
W. Wills, Esquire, M.D.
. . .
Melbourne Botanical Gardens, January 5th, 1862.
MY DEAR DR. WILLS,
It affords me a melancholy satisfaction that the humble
tribute which I wish to pay to the memory of your lamented son, in
attaching his name to the enclosed plant, elicited such kind
recognition from yourself. I need not assure you that I shall
continue to maintain, as I have done on all previous occasions,
that only by the skilful guidance and scientific talents of your
unfortunate son, the great geographic success is achieved, which he
sealed with his heroic death.
We can only now deeply deplore the loss of SUCH a man, and award
that honour to his memory which his great exploit for ever merits.
With the deepest sympathy for you, ever dear and respected friend,
Yours,
FERD. MUELLER.
The plant is thus registered in the Fragmenta Phytographiae
Australiae:--
EREMOPHILA WILLSII:
Speciem Eremophilae Goodwinii (F. M. Report on the Plants
of Babble's Expedition, page 17) propinquam tesqua Australiae
centralis ornantem, elegi ut botanicis recordarem gloriam nunquam
obliviscendam intrepidi et ingeniosi sed infelicissimi Gulielmi
Wills, qui primo terram Australiae continentalem a litore ad litus
peragravit, sua morte praecocissima in tacito eremo triumphum
aeternum agens. [Footnote: I have chosen a species of Eremophila
resembling Goodwin's, which adorns the deserts of central
Australia, to record by botany the glory never to be forgotten of
the intrepid and talented, but most unfortunate, William Wills, who
was the first to traverse the continent of Australia from shore to
shore, winning for himself, by his too early death in the silent
wilderness, an eternal triumph.]
FROM DR. MUELLER.
June 6th, 1862.
DEAR DR. WILLS,
Once more I wish you a most cordial goodbye, and trust that in the
circle of your family you will feel some consolation for the
dreadful bereavement which has befallen you in the loss of your
son. May it alleviate your affliction to some small extent, to
remember that your son has gained by the sacrifice of his precious
life a world-wide fame, and an appreciation which will remain
unobliterated throughout all ages.
With the deepest solicitude for your health and happiness, I
remain, my very dear Dr. Wills,
Your attached friend,
FERD. MUELLER.
. . .
At an earlier period, the Municipal Council of Ballaarat East
paid me the compliment of the subjoined address:--
TO W. WILLS, ESQUIRE, M.D.
Council Chamber, Ballaarat East, November 7th, 1861.
SIR,
The Municipal Council of Ballaarat East, for itself and on behalf of
the native community of this district, with feelings of the deepest
sorrow and commiseration, beg leave to sympathize with you in the
most severe and irreparable bereavement which you are so
unfortunately called upon to bear in the loss of your worthy and
devoted son, Mr. William John Wills. It would however hope that all
possible consolation will be yours in the knowledge of his having
nobly and successfully accomplished his mission, the benefits of
which cannot be too highly appreciated by the whole of the
inhabitants of the Australian Colonies; and which must secure to
his future memory, under the unfortunate circumstances by which he
was sacrificed, not only honour and fame, but the sympathy, love,
and respect of his fellow-men in all parts of Her Majesty's
dominions, and in every civilized country throughout the world.
These considerations the Council trusts you will endeavour to bring
to your aid in overcoming the intense grief with which you must be
afflicted.
I am, sir,
In the most heartfelt sorrow,
Yours very truly,
W.B. RODIER,
TOWN CLERK.
. . .
A proclamation in a supplement to one of the Melbourne Gazettes,
towards the end of November, announced that the Governor, with the
advice of the Executive Council, had directed that the portions of
Main-street, Ballaarat East, lying between the Yarrowee River and
Princess Street, shall hereafter be designated Wills Street, in
memory of the companion of Burke.
The two following letters, written by Devonians settled in
Victoria, appeared in the Totnes Weekly Times:--
Batesford, Geelong, 25th November, 1861.
DEAR SIR,
I have sent you by this mail the sad history of poor Burke
and Wills, which I am sure will be read with painful interest by all
your fellow-townsmen. The Melbourne papers have been very severe on
the Exploration Committee, and it was my intention to have sent you
copies of the Argus, from 4th to 9th November, but they cannot now
be procured at any price. My brother will lend you his, if you
desire it.
Nothing that has occurred here for many years has thrown such a
gloom over the whole of the Australian Colonies. We are generally,
perhaps, a cold, unfeeling people, but there are few whose hearts
have not been touched by this sad event.
It is scarcely possible that you, accustomed as you are to the
green pastures, the shady lanes, and crystal springs of dear old
Devon, can realize to the full extent the sickening hardships they
had to endure, or the cruel disappointment under which even they at
last gave way. I cannot conceive a situation more heartrending than
theirs must have been on their return to Cooper's Creek, to find
the depot abandoned. They had succeeded in accomplishing the
glorious feat which so many brave men had tried in vain to
accomplish; they had endured hardships which might make the
stoutest heart quail; they had returned alive, but footsore, worn
out and in rags, to where they might have hoped for help and
succour; they were on their way to where honour and glory, well and
nobly earned, awaited them; and now they must lie down in the
dreary wilds of an almost unknown country, and die that most
horrible of all deaths, starvation, They must have felt, too, that,
worse than even this death itself, the fruits of their labours
would, in all probability, perish with them, their fate remain
unknown, and the glorious page of the world's history which they
would have written would be buried in oblivion, and all this--ALL
this because
'Some one had blundered.'
It has been decided that the remains are to be brought to Melbourne
and have a public funeral. Monuments are also to be erected to the
memory of the brave fellows:--
"These come too late, and almost mock whom they are intended
to honour."
Poor Wills! you will remember him as a boy. It has occurred to
me that Totnes may wish in some way to perpetuate the memory of one
who perished so young and with such honour in a noble cause. Should
it be so, I have asked my brother to be there with something from
me. Every good man must deeply regret his loss, and sincerely
sympathize with his relatives and friends.
Your hero has passed to no ignoble grave;
He died not ere a deathless fame was won;
And earth must count amongst her true and brave,
The brave and patient Wills, Devonia's son.
I am, dear Sir,
Yours truly,
ROBT. WATSON.
To the Editor of the Totnes Times.
. . .
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TOTNES WEEKLY TIMES.
Melbourne, November 26, 1861.
By this mail, I have sent you the public journals of this city,
containing detailed accounts of the Exploring Expedition,
despatched hence on the 20th August last, to find its way to and
return from the Gulf of Carpentaria. Only one of the party has
succeeded in accomplishing this unparalleled undertaking, three
having fallen victims to hunger and disease. R. O'Hara Burke was
the leader of the Expedition, and W.J. Wills, a native of Totnes,
and son of a physician from your locality, was the second in
command, observer and astronomer. The Expedition had visited the
Gulf, and had returned to Cooper's Creek, where a depot had been
formed, but unfortunately broken up only six hours before the
return of the weary travellers. Their disappointment at finding
such to be the case, you must gather from Wills's journal, which
was the best kept of the party, and is replete with information of
the country through which they passed. To Mr. Wills, senior, the
loss of his favourite son is a sad blow, under such distressing
circumstances; yet, amid all, young Wills was full of spirit to the
last, and his final entry in his journal must have been made just
six hours before he breathed his last. For him and for them, the
colonists in Australia have shed tears of sorrow, and the
Government have given instructions that their remains are to be
brought to the city, and interred with all the pomp and solemnity
befitting such an occasion. A sum of money is voted by Parliament
to mark specially the event by erecting an obelisk in some
conspicuous part of the city, most probably in face of one of our
Parliament Houses. A number of Devonians, however, have resolved to
subscribe, and with the consent of the municipal authorities, wish
to mark the event more especially in his native town; and it is
thought the Plains, at Totnes, is a suitable place for the erection
of such a monument. To that end, subscription lists will be opened
in our principal towns, and by next mail I hope to report that
satisfactory progress is being made. The school where he was
educated (Ashburton), conducted, too, by a Totnes man, Mr. Paige,
has not been forgotten; and as there are schoolfellows of Wills's
in this colony, they also intend bearing testimony to his worth by
placing a tablet, with the consent of the trustees, in the Grammar
School of St. Andrew's. None more worthy exists in that ancient
hall of learning.
In conclusion, I would just remark that the continent has been
traversed from north to south, but there is yet the important feat
of crossing from east to west. For whom is this wreath reserved? Is
it to be won by a Totnes or an Ashburton man, or one from this
country? Time will decide.
I remain,
Yours truly,
JOHN LAVINGTON EVANS.
. . .
A correspondent to the Bendigo Advertiser concluded a long
letter with the subjoined paragraph:--
Poor Wills, the martyr, whose history of the journey is all that
is left to us, is deserving of a nation's tears: his youth--his
enduring patience--his evenness of temper, which must have been
sorely tried--his lively disposition even in extremities--his
devotion to his leader--all tend to stamp him as the real
master-mind of the expedition, and as such let Victoria be justly
proud of him--let no false delicacy keep the memory of the noble
youth from the pinnacle it is so justly entitled to.
. . .
The Mayor of Totnes, J. Derry, Esquire, in compliance with
a requisition from many of the principal inhabitants, convened a
meeting at the Guildhall on the 31st of January, 1862, which was
most numerously attended. Eloquent speeches were made, extracts
from the letters of Mr. Watson, and Mr. Lavington Evans, were read,
and the following resolutions were unanimously passed:
1. That this Meeting is of opinion that a Memorial should be
erected in Totnes to the late Mr. William John Wills, who perished
at Cooper's Creek on his homeward journey, after, with three
others, having for the first time successfully crossed the great
Island Continent of Australia.
Perhaps when the subscriptions were received they would be able to
decide what form the memorial should assume. It had been suggested
that a tablet should be placed in the church, but he, Mr. Cuming,
the mover, rather demurred to this: the church would not be a
conspicuous place for it; and as many would subscribe who did not
attend the parish church, he thought the Plains, or some other
public site, should be chosen, but it would be well to leave this
matter for the present an open question.
2. That a committee be now formed to solicit subscriptions for the
purpose of carrying into effect the last resolution, and that such
committee consist of the following gentlemen:--The Mayor, Messrs.
Bentall, Kellock, Cuming, Presswell, Heath, Windeatt, Watson,
Michelmore, Condy, Clarke, Ough, Endle; with power to add to their
number.
3. That as soon as the subscription list is completed, and the
Devonshire men resident in the colony have communicated their
wishes and intentions to the committee, according to the
intimations expressed by them, the committee be requested to call a
meeting of the subscribers to decide on the character of the
memorial to be erected.
The subscriptions at Totnes have been very liberal, and are still
open. Mr. Watson and his family contributed most liberally. The
Duke of Somerset gave ten pounds. Each of the members, Admiral
Mitchell, and various others five pounds; but the character of the
monument has not yet been decided on. At Ashburton Grammar School a
memorial has been erected, Mr. Lavington Evans and his brother
contributing ten pounds from Australia.
At the annual meeting of the Royal Geographical Society of London,
held on the 26th of May, 1862, Lord Ashburton awarded the founder's
Gold Medal to the representative of the late Robert O'Hara Burke,
and a gold watch to King. These were handed to his Grace the Duke
of Newcastle, who attended in his public capacity as Secretary of
State for the Colonies, and undertook to deliver them to the
respective parties, with many justly eulogistic observations. Lord
Ashburton read a paper on the progress of geographical science, and
Sir R. Murchison, in the course of a notice on Australia, suggested
that that portion which had been explored by Mr. Burke should be
hereafter called Burke's Land. But it so happened that my son's
name was neither mentioned nor alluded to in the published
proceedings.
At the first meeting of the Society for the present season, held on
the 10th November, 1862, and at which I was present, Sir Roderick
Murchison introduced the subject of Australian exploration in his
address, in a manner quite unexpected by me. The next day I
received the following official communication, which embodied the
substance of what he had said, and nearly in the same words.
TO DR. WILLS.
15, Whitehall Place, 11th November, 1862.
SIR,
At the first meeting of the Council of this Society, during this
session, I brought under the consideration of my associates, a
statement of the distinguished botanist, Dr. Mueller, of Victoria,
to the effect that the friends of your deceased son were
dissatisfied on finding that Mr. Burke, the leader of the late
expedition to the Gulf of Carpentaria, had received a gold medal,
and that Mr. King had received a watch, whilst no testimonial of
the services of Mr. Wills had been presented on the part of the
Royal Geographical Society.
Permit me to assure you that when the award of the gold medal was
made, every member of the Council, as well as myself, who proposed
it, felt that to your son alone was due the determination of all
the geographical points, by his astronomical observations, and that
therefore the honour should be shared between the leader and
himself.
Continuing to entertain the same sentiments, and regretting that
the rule of the society prevented them from granting more than one
gold medal for an expedition, the Council have authorized me to
offer this explanation to you, in order that it may be preserved as
a memorial.
As nothing less than a medal could have been adjudicated to so good
a geographer as your lamented son, so I trust that this
explanation, and the words, which fell from me last evening at the
general meeting, in eulogizing his valuable services, may prove
satisfactory. Rely upon it, that his merits will never be forgotten
by my associates and myself.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your very faithful servant,
(Signed) RODERICK MURCHISON,
President of the Royal Geographical Society.
P.S. This letter shall be printed in the Proceedings of the
Society.
. . .
I replied thus:--
TO SIR RODERICK MURCHISON,
President of the Royal Geographical Society.
27 Arundel Street, Strand, 18th November, 1862.
SIR,
It was with much satisfaction that I received your letter of
the 11th instant, acknowledging the appreciation by yourself and the
Council of the Royal Geographical Society, of the merits of my
lamented son in the Burke and Wills Exploring Expedition in
Australia. That he, and he alone, was the only one who had the
least pretension to the title of geographer, is manifest;
--therefore it is not strange that Dr. Mueller and my friends in
Australia should feel somewhat annoyed in the matter of the Medal.
I am not surprised that it should have so happened under the
circumstances. The motto 'Sic vos non vobis', would be appropriate
for him in memoriam. The clothes, for the want of which he died, so
amply provided by himself, were worn by others; the land discovered
has been called exclusively by another name;--the Gold Medal should
follow.
Still I am grateful for your well-expressed remarks at the meeting
of the 10th instant, and for this written testimonial of the 11th,
from yourself and the Council.
I have the honour to be,
Sir Roderick,
Your obedient and humble servant,
WILLIAM WILLS,
Father of the late Explorer.
. . .
Several poetical tributes in honour of the adventurous dead
were published in Victoria. I select one which appeared in the
Melbourne Herald, on the 1st of December, 1861.
THE LOST EXPLORERS.
'Tis but a little lapse of time
Since they passed from out our sight;
Their hearts with hope were buoyant,
And each face with gladness bright;
And many were the fervent prayers
That in safety they might go,
Through a hidden land to the distant strand
Where ocean billows flow.
Theirs was no gay adventure
In some softly pleasant place:
They left home's quiet sanctitude
To meet a hostile race;
To carve a passage through the land,
That down its channels wide,
With a joyous start might flow a part
Of the restless human tide.
Across bleak stony deserts,
Through dense scrub and tangled brier,
They passed with hearts undaunted,
And with steps that would not tire;
Through morass and flooding waters,
Undismayed by toil and fears,
At their chief's command, with salient hand,
Fought on the pioneers.
Battled with cold and famine,
Battled with fiery heat,
Battled o'er rocks till a trail of blood
Was left by their wounded feet;
Battled when death with his icy hand
Struck down the body of Gray;--
'Onward!' they said, as they buried the dead,
And went on their gloomy way.
Now gather round your household hearths,
Your children by your knee;
'Tis well that they should understand
This tale of misery.
'Tis well that they should know the names
Of those whose toil is o'er;
Whose coming feet, we shall run to meet
With a welcome NEVER MORE.
Tell how these modern martyrs,
In the strength and pride of men,
Went out into the wilderness
And came not back again;
How they battled bravely onward,
For a nobler prize than thrones,
And how they lay, in the glaring day,
With the sun to bleach their bones.
Tell how their poor hearts held them up
Till victory was won;
How with fainting steps they journeyed back,
The great achievement done.
But of their anguish who may know,
Save God, who heard each groan,
When they saw no face at the trysting place,
And found themselves alone!
Left alone with gaunt starvation,
And its sickly brood of ills,
Stood Burke the sanguine, hopeful King,
And the hero-hearted Wills;
Sad and weary stood the pioneers,
With no hand to give relief,
And so each day winged on its way
As a dark embodied grief.
Who can guess the depth of agony--
That no mortal tongue may tell--
Which each felt when slowly dying
At the brink of hope's dry well!
Deserted, famished garmentless,
No voice of friendship nigh,
With loving care, to breathe a prayer
When they settled down to die.
Yet God be praised, that one dear life
Was held within His hand,
And saved, the only rescued one
Of that devoted band
Who went into the wilderness,
In the strength and pride of men:
The goal was won and their task was done,
But they came not back again.
We cannot break their calm, grand sleep,
By fond endearing cries;
We cannot smile them back again,
However bright our eyes;
But we may lowly bend the head,
Though not asham'd of the tears
We sadly shed, for the lowly dead,
Cut down in their bloom of years.
And laurel garlands, greener
Than war's heroes ever bought
With the blood of slaughtered thousands,
Shall by loving hands be brought;
And sanctified by many prayers,
Laid gently in their grave,
That the coming race may know the place
Where sleep our martyr'd brave.
--F.M. HUGHAN.
. . .
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.
The narrative I have felt called upon to give to the public, founded
on an unexaggerated statement of facts, with many of which no other
person could have been so well acquainted, is now concluded,--with
the natural anguish of a father for the loss of a son of whom he
was justly proud, and who fell a victim to incapacity and
negligence not his own. Still, I have no desire to claim merit for
him to which he is not entitled, or to abstract an iota from what
is justly due to others. The Report of the Royal Commission is to
be found at full in the Appendix; unaccompanied necessarily by the
mass of conflicting evidence, trustworthy, contradictory,
misinterpreted or misunderstood, on which it was based. The members
who composed that court were honourable gentlemen, who investigated
patiently, and I have no doubt conscientiously. But there were many
present, with myself, who witnessed the examinations, and wondered
at some points of the verdict. We find the judgment most severe on
the leader who sacrificed his life, and whose mistakes would have
been less serious and fatal had his orders been obeyed. There is
also a disposition to deal leniently with the far heavier errors
and omissions of the Exploration Committee; and an unaccountable
tendency to feel sympathy for Brahe, whose evidence left it
difficult to decide whether stupidity, selfishness, or utter
disregard of truth was his leading deficiency.
It now only remains to sum up a brief retrospect of the active
spirit of discovery set astir, and not likely to die away, as a
sequel to the great Burke and Wills Expedition, for by that name it
will continue to be known. We have already seen that the Victoria
steamer, under Commander Norman, was sent round to the Gulf of
Carpentaria to search for the missing explorers, had they reached
that part of the coast; and to expedite and assist land parties in
advancing, southwards, to their aid. Captain Norman suffered some
delay by the unfortunate wreck of the Firefly, a trader, laden with
horses, coals, and straw; and having on board Mr. Landsborough and
party, who were to start from the Albert river, or thereabouts.
This wreck occurred on the 4th September, 1861, on one of the group
of islands to the north, called Sir Charles Hardy's Islands. On the
7th, they were found by Commander Norman, and through his great
personal exertions, ably seconded by his officers and crew, he got
the ship off, with the greater part of the horses and coals, and
nearly all the stores.
On the 1st of October, they reached the mouth of the Albert. On the
14th of the same month, Landsborough started for the head of that
river, as far as it was navigable, in the Firefly, under the
command of Lieutenant Woods of the Victoria; and on the 17th they
were landed about twelve miles up the stream. It was past the
middle of November before Mr. Landsborough resumed his onward
course; and as his explorations had little to do with an endeavour
to discover the tracks of the Victorian Expedition, although he
gained much credit by his exertions, it is unnecessary to detail
them more minutely here. I shall merely say that he followed a
course south by east, skirting the country rather more to the
westward than the track followed by previous explorers, and
eventually reached Victoria.
Mr. Walker, despatched overland from Queensland, reached the Gulf
on the 7th of December, 1861; and reported that he had, on the 24th
of November, found well-defined traces of three or four camels and
one horse, undoubtedly belonging to the Victorian Expedition, and
making their way down the Flinders. With his usual characteristic,
he started again on the 11th of December. Mr. Walker, with his
party, consisting chiefly of natives, did good service in his
progress through Queensland; for when the report reached Melbourne,
through Captain Norman, that he had discovered the tracks of the
camels so near the sea, it furnished satisfactory evidence of the
correctness of my son's journals, although the fatal news of his
death and that of his commander had been long received. There were
not wanting ungenerous cavillers to insinuate doubts that he and
Burke had been at the Gulf. This inference they sought to establish
from an expression in one of the few of Burke's notes preserved, to
this effect: "28th March.--At the conclusion of report, it would be
well to say that we reached the sea, but we could not obtain a view
of the open ocean, although we made every effort to do so." At the
extreme point they reached, about fifteen miles down the Flinders,
the tide ebbed and flowed regularly, and the water was quite salt.
The very simplicity of Mr. Burke's remark shows that it was made by
a man not given to lying or deceit. Mr. Walker followed the return
tracks for some distance, but lost them at about 20 degrees of
south latitude, and then struck off direct east for the Queensland
district, to inquire, and get further supplies for a new start. At
Rockhampton he received the fatal intelligence which had been sent
round by sea from Melbourne; and also the news of the discovery of
King by the gallant Howitt, to whom all honour is due for his
labours in the cause.
But Mr. McKinlay, leader of the South Australian Expedition, of
whom I have already spoken more than once, has performed the most
extraordinary exploit of all, and has traversed by far the greatest
quantity of new ground, but not in the direction originally
intended by the government that sent him. Failing in finding the
traces of Burke and his expedition, McKinlay took more to the north
and north-west between the 120 and 140 degrees of eastern
longitude. Yet from some floodings which my son, it will be
remembered, pointed out in his journal as occurring from
indications on trees, McKinlay changed his course to north and by
east until he reached the Gulf of Carpentaria, and then to south
and by east, and crossed to Queensland, returning from Rockhampton
to Adelaide by water. A glance at the map will show the courses of
these respective explorers sufficiently for general purposes. Thus
Queensland, by some mysterious influences in its favour, has reaped
the whole benefit of these explorations at the least apparent cost.
The land discovered by the Burke and Wills Expedition, now named
Burke's Land, has been handed over to Queensland by the Home
Government, up to Cape York, on the extreme north, in Torres
Straits. This vast continent, west of 140 degrees, in which the
South Australian, and West Australian governments have so much
interest, is, with the exception of Stuart's Line, quite
unexplored.
It has been a subject of congratulation by some, that the
misadventures, or more properly speaking, the gross errors
connected with the Victorian Expedition, have led to results that
amply compensate for the loss sustained. It is truly painful to
hear, and not very easy for those who are deeply interested, to
believe this; and I think the majority of all readers will consider
that these losses might have been easily avoided.
The relatives of the sacrificed explorers have to mourn their fate,
and the colony of Victoria has spent large sums of money, not for
her own benefit, immediate or indirect, present or prospective.
She, too, may exclaim "Sic vos non vobis." Lucky Queensland derives
the benefit; her boundaries are extended to 140 degrees of east
longitude. A great part of this country, formerly supposed to be of
a doubtful nature, is now known to be the finest land in the
Australias, capable of producing cereals, wines, and tropical
fruits; also a vast extent of ground fitted for the growth of
cotton. A source of unbounded wealth is thus opened to that
fortunate young colony: coals had previously been discovered there.
She is also better supplied with timber and forests than the more
southern districts. Victoria, with her capital, Melbourne, will
have to wait for the extension of railways, marking her position as
the centre of commerce, and will in time reap her well-merited
reward. Melbourne will always represent the metropolis of the
various colonies of Australia.
South Australia, so happy in her abundant produce of corn, wine,
and mineral ores of copper and iron, is a most desirable colony,
but a great portion of her interior being yet unexplored, her full
capabilities cannot at present be estimated. There is no man more
likely than John McKinlay, with his robust frame, his energy and
activity, to carry out this great object, if the opportunity is
supplied to him.
The Australias altogether comprise a country capable of conferring
happiness upon countless thousands of the Saxon race. Everything is
to be found, if the right people only are selected. Let them
comprise youth, vigorous health, temperate habits, persevering
industry, and morals based on sound Christianity, and their success
and advancement in life is as certain as anything can be pronounced
in this world of uncertainty.
While these pages are going through the press, the last mail from
Melbourne informs us that Mr. Howitt was expected to arrive in that
capital towards the middle of December, 1862, with the remains of
Messrs. Burke and Wills. Arrangements are being made for a public
interment of the most imposing character. If numbers can add to the
effect, they are not likely to be wanting. Circulars have been
officially addressed to nearly 250 public bodies and societies
throughout the colony, inviting the different members to join in
the ceremony. Replies have been received from by far the greater
portion, stating their willingness and desire to join in this last
testimony of respect for the lamented explorers. The monument, for
which 5000 pounds has been voted by Government, is to be erected in
the Reserve surrounding the Parliament House.
APPENDICES.
APPENDIX A.
INSTRUCTIONS TO LEADER.
Exploration Committee, Royal Society of Victoria, Melbourne, 18th
August, 1860.
SIR,
I am directed by the Committee to convey to you the instructions
and views which have been adopted in connection with the duties
which devolve upon you as Leader of the party now organized to
explore the interior of Australia.
The Committee having decided on Cooper's Creek, of Sturt's, as the
basis of your operations, request that you will proceed thither,
form a depot of provisions and stores, and make arrangements for
keeping open a communication in your rear to the Darling, if in
your opinion advisable; and thence to Melbourne, so that you may be
enabled to keep the Committee informed of your movements, and
receive in return the assistance in stores and advice of which you
may stand in need. Should you find that a better communication can
be made by way of the South Australian Police Station, near Mount
Serle, you will avail yourself of that means of writing to the
Committee.
In your route to Cooper's Creek, you will avail yourself of any
opportunity that may present itself for examining and reporting on
the character of the country east and west of the Darling.
You will make arrangements for carrying the stores to a point
opposite Mount McPherson, which seems to the Committee to be the
best point of departure from this river for Cooper's Creek; and
while the main body of the party is proceeding to that point you
may have further opportunities of examining the country on either
side of your route.
In your further progress from Mount McPherson towards Cooper's
Creek, the Committee also desires that you should make further
detours to the right and left with the same object.
The object of the Committee in directing you to Cooper's Creek, is,
that you should explore the country intervening between it and
Leichhardt's track, south of the Gulf of Carpentaria, avoiding, as
far as practicable, Sturt's route on the west, and Gregory's, down
the Victoria, on the east.
To this object the Committee wishes you to devote your energies in
the first instance; but should you determine the impracticability
of this route you are desired to turn westward into the country
recently discovered by Stuart, and connect his farthest point
northward with Gregory's farthest Southern Exploration in 1856
(Mount Wilson).
In proceeding from Cooper's Creek to Stuart's Country, you may find
the Salt Marshes an obstacle to the progress of the camels; if so,
it is supposed you will be able to avoid these marshes by turning
to the northward as far as Eyre's Creek, where there is permanent
water, and going then westward to Stuart's Farthest.
Should you, however, fail in connecting the two points of Stuart's
and Gregory's Farthest, or should you ascertain that this space has
been already traversed, you are requested if possible to connect
your explorations with those of the younger Gregory, in the
vicinity of Mount Gould, and thence you might proceed to Sharks'
Bay, or down the River Murchison, to the settlements in Western
Australia.
This country would afford the means of recruiting the strength of
your party, and you might, after a delay of five or six months, be
enabled, with the knowledge of the country you shall have
previously acquired, to return by a more direct route through South
Australia to Melbourne.
If you should, however, have been successful in connecting Stuart's
with Gregory's farthest point in 1856 (Mount Wilson), and your
party should be equal to the task, you would probably find it
possible from thence to reach the country discovered by the younger
Gregory.
The Committee is fully aware of the difficulty of the country you
are called on to traverse; and in giving you these instructions has
placed these routes before you more as an indication of what it has
been deemed desirable to have accomplished than as indicating any
exact course for you to pursue.
The Committee considers you will find a better and a safer guide in
the natural features of the country through which you will have to
pass. For all useful and practical purposes it will be better for
you and the object of future settlement that you should follow the
watercourses and the country yielding herbage, than pursue any
route which the Committee might be able to sketch out from an
imperfect map of Australia.
The Committee intrusts you with the largest discretion as regards
the forming of depots, and your movements generally, but request
that you will mark your routes as permanently as possible, by
leaving records, sowing seeds, building cairns, and marking trees
at as many points as possible, consistently with your various other
duties.
With reference to financial subjects, you will be furnished with a
letter of authority to give orders on the Treasurer for the payment
of any stores or their transport, cattle, sheep, or horses you may
require; and you will not fail to furnish the Treasurer from time
to time with detailed accounts of the articles for which you have
given such orders in payment.
Each person of the party will be allowed to give authority for half
of his salary being paid into any bank, or to any person he may
appoint to receive the same; provided a certificate is forwarded
from you to the effect that he has efficiently discharged his duty.
The Committee requests that you will make arrangements for an exact
account being taken of the stores and their expenditure by the
person you place in charge of them.
The Committee also requests that you would address all your
communications on subjects connected with the exploration to the
Honorary Secretary; and that all persons acting with you should
forward their communications on the same subject through you.
You will cause full reports to be furnished by your officers on any
subject of interest, and forward them to Melbourne as often as may
be practicable without retarding the progress of the expedition.
The Committee has caused the inclosed set of instructions to be
drawn up, having relation to each department of science; and you
are requested to hand each of the gentlemen a copy of the part more
particularly relating to his department.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
(Signed) JOHN MACADAM, M.D.,
Honorary Secretary, E.C., R.S.V.
Robert O'Hara Burke, Esquire.
Leader, Victorian Exploring Expedition.
. . .
APPENDIX B.
VICTORIA: By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith.
To our trusty and well-beloved The Honourable SIR THOMAS SIMSON
PRATT, K.C.B., The Honourable SIR FRANCIS MURPHY, Speaker of our
Legislative Assembly, The Honourable MATTHEW HERVEY, M.P., The
Honourable JAMES FORESTER SULLIVAN, M.P., and EVELYN PITFIELD
SHIRLEY STURT, Esquire, all of Melbourne, in the Colony of
Victoria, GREETING.
WHEREAS the Governor of our Colony of Victoria, with the advice of
the Executive Council thereof, has deemed it expedient that a
Commission should forthwith issue for the purpose of inquiring into
all the circumstances connected with the sufferings and death of
ROBERT O'HARA BURKE and WILLIAM JOHN WILLS, the Victorian
Explorers: and WHEREAS it is desirable to ascertain the true causes
of this lamentable result of the Expedition to the said ROBERT
O'HARA BURKE and his companions; and especially to investigate the
circumstances under which the depot at Cooper's Creek was abandoned
by WILLIAM BRAHE and his party on the twenty-first day of April
last; and to determine upon whom rests the grave responsibility of
there not having been a sufficient supply of provisions and
clothing secured for the recruiting of the Explorers on their
return, and for their support until they could reach the
settlements; and generally to inquire into the organization and
conduct of the Expedition: also, with regard to the claims upon the
Colony of the surviving members thereof, and of the relatives (if
any) of the deceased members: NOW KNOW YE that we, reposing great
trust and confidence in your integrity, knowledge, and ability,
have authorized and appointed, and by these presents do authorize
and appoint you, SIR THOMAS SIMSON PRATT, SIR FRANCIS MURPHY,
MATTHEW HERVEY, JAMES FORESTER SULLIVAN, and EVELYN PITFIELD
SHIRLEY STURT, to be Commissioners for the purpose aforesaid: and
for the better effecting the purpose of this Commission, we do give
and grant you power and authority to call before you such persons
as you shall judge likely to afford you any information upon the
subject of this Commission: and to inquire of and concerning the
premises by all other lawful means and ways whatsoever: and this
Commission shall continue in full force and virtue; and you the
said Commissioners may, from time to time, and at every place or
places, proceed in the execution thereof, and of every matter or
thing therein contained, although the inquiry be not regularly
continued from time to time by adjournment: and lastly, that you do
report, as occasion may require, for the information of our
Governor of our said Colony, under your hands and seals, all
matters and things elicited by you during the inquiry under this
Commission.
SEAL OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA.
WITNESS our trusty and well-beloved SIR HENRY BARKLY, Knight
Commander of the Most Noble Order of the Bath, Captain-General, and
Governor-in-Chief of our Colony of Victoria, and Vice-Admiral of
the same, at Melbourne, this twelfth day of November, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one, and in the twenty-fifth year of our
Reign.
HENRY BARKLY.
By His Excellency's command,
(Signed) R. HEALES.
. . .
APPENDIX C.
TO HIS EXCELLENCY SIR HENRY BARKLY, KNIGHT COMMANDER OF THE MOST
HONOURABLE ORDER OF THE BATH, CAPTAIN-GENERAL AND GOVERNOR-IN-CHIEF
OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA, AND VICE-ADMIRAL OF THE SAME, ETC., ETC.
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY:--
In conformity with the terms of Her Majesty's commission, we
have made inquiry into the circumstances connected with the
sufferings and death of Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills,
the Victorian explorers.
We have endeavoured to ascertain the true causes of this lamentable
result of the expedition, and have investigated the circumstances
under which the depot at Cooper's Creek was abandoned by Mr.
William Brahe. We have sought to determine upon whom rests the
grave responsibility of there not having been a sufficient supply
of provisions and clothing secured for the recruiting of the
explorers on their return, and for their support until they could
reach the settlements; and we have generally inquired into the
organization and conduct of the expedition.
Our investigations have been confined to the above matters, the
Government having already taken into consideration the claims on
the colony of the surviving members of the expedition, etc.
We have examined all persons willing to give evidence who
professed, or whom we supposed to possess, knowledge upon the
various subjects of our inquiries: and we now, after mature
consideration, submit to your Excellency the following Report:--
The expedition, having been provided and equipped in the most
ample and liberal manner, and having reached Menindie, on the
Darling, without experiencing any difficulties, was most
injudiciously divided at that point by Mr. Burke.
It was an error of judgment on the part of Mr. Burke to appoint Mr.
Wright to an important command in the expedition, without a
previous personal knowledge of him; although, doubtless, a pressing
urgency had arisen for the appointment, from the sudden
resignations of Mr. Landells and Dr. Beckler.
Mr. Burke evinced a far greater amount of zeal than prudence in
finally departing from Cooper's Creek before the depot party had
arrived from Menindie, and without having secured communication
with the settled districts as he had been instructed to do; and, in
undertaking so extended a journey with an insufficient supply of
provisions, Mr. Burke was forced into the necessity of over-taxing
the powers of his party, whose continuous and unremitting exertions
resulted in the destruction of his animals, and the prostration of
himself and his companions from fatigue and severe privation.
The conduct of Mr. Wright appears to have been reprehensible in the
highest degree. It is clear that Mr. Burke, on parting with him at
Torowoto, relied on receiving his immediate and zealous support;
and it seems extremely improbable that Mr. Wright could have
misconstrued the intentions of his leader so far, as to suppose
that he ever calculated for a moment on his remaining for any
length of time on the Darling. Mr. Wright has failed to give any
satisfactory explanation of the causes of his delay; and to that
delay are mainly attributable the whole of the disasters of the
expedition, with the exception of the death of Gray. The grave
responsibility of not having left a larger supply of provisions,
together with some clothing, in the cache, at Cooper's Creek, rests
with Mr. Wright. Even had he been unable to convey stores to
Cooper's Creek, he might have left them elsewhere, leaving notice
at the depot of his having done so.
The Exploration Committee, in overlooking the importance of the
contents of Mr. Burke's despatch from Torowoto, and in not urging
Mr. Wright's departure from the Darling, committed errors of a
serious nature. A means of knowledge of the delay of the party at
Menindie was in the possession of the Committee, not indeed by
direct communication to that effect, but through the receipt of
letters from Drs. Becker and Beckler at various dates up to the end
of November,--without, however, awakening the Committee to a sense
of the vital importance of Mr. Burke's request in that despatch
that he should "be soon followed up,"--or to a consideration of the
disastrous consequences which would be likely to result, and did
unfortunately result, from the fatal inactivity and idling of Mr.
Wright and his party on the Darling.
The conduct of Mr. Brahe in retiring from his position at the depot
before he was rejoined by his commander, or relieved from the
Darling, may be deserving of considerable censure; but we are of
opinion that a responsibility far beyond his expectations devolved
upon him; and it must be borne in mind that, with the assurance of
his leader, and his own conviction, he might each day expect to be
relieved by Mr. Wright, he still held his post for four months and
five days, and that only when pressed by the appeals of a comrade
sickening even to death, as was subsequently proved, his powers of
endurance gave way, and he retired from the position which could
alone afford succour to the weary explorers should they return by
that route. His decision was most unfortunate; but we believe he
acted from a conscientious desire to discharge his duty, and we are
confident that the painful reflection that twenty-four hours'
further perseverance, would have made him the rescuer of the
explorers, and gained for himself the praise and approbation of
all, must be of itself an agonizing thought, without the addition
of censure he might feel himself undeserving of.
It does not appear that Mr. Burke kept any regular journal, or that
he gave written instructions to his officers. Had he performed
these essential portions of the duties of a leader, many of the
calamities of the expedition might have been averted, and little or
no room would have been left for doubt in judging the conduct of
those subordinates who pleaded unsatisfactory and contradictory
verbal orders and statements.
We cannot too deeply deplore the lamentable result of an
expedition, undertaken at so great a cost to the colony; but, while
we regret the absence of a systematic plan of operations on the
part of the leader, we desire to express our admiration of his
gallantry and daring, as well as of the fidelity of his brave
coadjutor, Mr. Wills, and their more fortunate and enduring
associate, Mr. King; and we would record our feelings of deep
sympathy with the deplorable sufferings and untimely deaths of Mr.
Burke and his fallen comrades.
T.S. PRATT, CHAIRMAN,
MATTHEW HERVEY,
E.P.S. STURT,
FRANCIS MURPHY,
J.F. SULLIVAN.
THE END.