TWO HEROES OF EXPLORATION.

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CHAPTER I.

ACROSS AUSTRALIA.

The Exploration Committee had some trouble in obtaining a suitable leader. Several well-known explorers were written to, but each of them declined. At last the appointment was given to Mr. Robert O'Hara Burke, a man of approved ability, and in himself actuated by an enthusiastic desire to perform the hitherto unaccomplished feat of crossing our vast continent from sea to sea.

Mr. Burke was an Irishman, born in 1821, and was, therefore, only forty years old at the time of his melancholy end. He had served in the Austrian Cavalry, and also in the Irish Mounted Constabulary, previous to his arrival in Van Diemen's Land, in 1853. After performing services as Acting Inspector at Hobart Town and as Police Magistrate at Beechworth (Victoria), he was granted leave of absence in order to go to England, where he hoped to obtain a commission in one of the regiments embarking for the seat of the war then waging between England and Russia. Being unsuccessful, owing to the termination of the war, he returned to Victoria, and shortly received an appointment as one of the superintendents of the Victorian Police Force, which position he held until the setting out of the exploring expedition. Mr. Burke diligently prepared himself for the journey across the continent. He examined the records of previous expeditions for the personal experiences of former explorers, as well as for knowledge of the interior already at hand. He also made severe walking tours, in order to qualify himself physically for the unusual hardships accompanying such a journey. The following characteristic letter, written whilst en route, will show his determination to succeed in his undertaking:—

In William John Wills we see the real hero of the expedition. He was an Englishman, born in Devonshire, and at his untimely end was but twenty-seven years of age. He was endowed with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. It manifested itself on the voyage 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 accompanied by a naturally courageous and enterprising spirit, displayed itself. At first he obtained an appointment in the Survey Department. He gained a knowledge of astronomical and other sciences to which the Observatory is dedicated, and was then admitted, through the influence of the Surveyor-General, into that establishment as an assistant. As early as 1855 the friends of young 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 was mooted to send out an expedition, and, on hearing of 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 astronomical and meteorological 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 met with so courageous, so noble, so fine an explorer as William John Wills."

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 and medical adviser of the expedition; and Dr. Ludwig Becker, artist, naturalist, and geological surveyor. There were eleven subordinates, including three Hindoo camel-drivers.

On the 20th August 1860 the expedition left Melbourne. During the morning of 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 camels and horses, with their keepers and the baggage, were arranged in marching order. Then Mr. Burke, on a little grey 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, wishing them God-speed. Mr. Burke uncovered, and replied, in a clear voice that was heard all over the crowd:—"Mr. Mayor, on behalf of myself and the expedition, I beg to 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 what we can do." Then, amidst the loud cheering and acclamations of the spectators, who numbered fully ten thousand, the brilliant cavalcade was put in motion. It was truly a fine, imposing spectacle, and the applauding cheers of the enthusiastic citizens were prolonged till the procession had faded away in the dim distance.

The progress of the explorers through the settled districts to the river Darling was very slow, and even before they reached Menindie serious dissensions had broken out in their camp. On arriving at that township Burke dismissed the foreman, and Mr. Landells resigned his position and left the party. Mr. Wills was then appointed second in command, and instead of Mr. Landells, Burke placed in charge of the camels a man named Wright, whom he had picked up at a sheep station.

The Exploration Committee had instructed Burke to establish a depÔt on Cooper's Creek, and make a line of communication between it and the Darling. When 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 companions and Wright, who offered to show him a direct and well-watered track, set out from Menindie on the 19th of October.

They accomplished more than half of the journey, and having been fortunate in finding good feed and water on the way, Burke sent Wright back to the encampment on the Darling with instructions to bring the rear party with the heavy supplies on by easy stages to Cooper's Creek. On the 11th of November, thirteen days after despatching Wright, Burke and his party arrived safely at the creek. They then travelled slowly along the banks of the stream, recruiting the animals and looking around for a camping-ground. On the twenty-first they pitched on a suitable locality, and there established the main depÔt.

Whilst awaiting the arrival of Wright 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 ninety miles without finding water; 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 depÔt, but the camels were never recovered. On another occasion Wills and King 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 more than a month, the advance party grew tired of their life of inaction, and made preparations for the journey to the Gulf of Carpentaria. As Wright did not come forward as expected, Burke got impatient, and decided to subdivide the few men he had with him as follows:—Four men were to remain at the depÔt, one of them named William BrahÉ in command; and were to construct a stockade while waiting for Wright, and when he had arrived they were to seek a more available and direct route to the Darling. The 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 December the little band of explorers bade their companions good-bye, and started northwards. As they proceeded, Burke and Wills walked ahead, while Gray and King followed behind, leading the horse and the six camels. Burke himself seldom wrote, but Wills, every evening after taking astronomical observations, wrote his diary, and then read it to Burke, who made such alterations in it as he thought necessary. Their allowance of provisions were a pound of flour and a pound of meat daily, with a little rice occasionally, and the party camped out every evening 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 mode of proceeding was very heroic and courageous, but was it necessary? It certainly does seem a pity that after the great 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 work was done, it is true, but done in an imperfect way. No one could expect four poorly-fed men to manage six camels, to force their way through 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 still matters of dispute."

For some distance the exploring quartette travelled over well-watered 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 troublesome, and nothing but a threat to shoot them will keep them away. They are, however, easily frightened; and although fine-looking men, decidedly not of a warlike disposition. They show the greatest inclination to take whatever they can, but will run no unnecessary risk in so doing. They seldom carry any weapon except a shield and a large kind of boomerang, which I believe they use for killing rats, etc. Sometimes, but very seldom, they have a large spear; reed spears seem to be quite unknown to them. They are undoubtedly a finer-looking race of men than the blacks on the Murray and Darling, 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 miles. Then another nine miles of travelling through swampy plains brought them to the banks of a magnificent stream. The four men followed up this creek from point to point of the bends, and on the 7th of January camped well within the tropics. Afterwards they entered upon immense fertile plains, with innumerable creeks coursing through them, on the banks of which gum and box-trees and splendid grass grew luxuriantly. Pigeons and wild ducks were also found in abundance. For five days the travellers marched over these flourishing plains. Then they crossed over a series of low sandstone hills, and after passing over a stony plain came upon a range of mountains, which they called the Standish Ranges. On 27th of January the explorers reached Cloncurry Creek, one of the derivative streams of the river Flinders. They had afterwards to travel over swampy ground; the camels could not be got along, so all of them were abandoned. On the 9th of February, King 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 swampy ground; a great deal of it was so soft and rotten that the horse got bogged, and it was only by digging him out that he could be extricated. After great difficulty and delay they managed to do this. Then they came across some tableland, and beyond that a plain covered with water, which in some places reached up to their knees. After wading through several miles of this swamp, they came again to dry land. Further on they met a few natives, who, on seeing the explorers, decamped immediately, leaving behind in their hurried departure some yams, which were at once appropriated to appease the sharp hunger 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 men attempted to advance through it. The horse had by this time become too weak to advance further, therefore they hobbled him, and hastened forward without him. But the two gallant fellows were soon obliged to relinquish their attempt to pierce the thick undergrowth. 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 mile or two of its northern shore—the victory was gained! But now the necessities of the case compelled the triumphant explorers to immediately hurry back to Cooper's Creek.

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CHAPTER II.

THE RETURN JOURNEY.

The two leaders returned to King and Gray on the 12th February 1861. The explorers soon afterwards recaptured all the camels, which had been greatly improved in condition by their rest. The remainder of the return journey was singularly disastrous. At first the progress was very much retarded by the incessant rain that deluged the whole country. Sickness commenced with Gray, and then Burke suffered a severe attack of dysentry, owing to his having eaten of the flesh of a large snake that he had killed. Their provisions became sadly reduced, and one camel, then another, had to be killed, in order to eke out their scanty supplies. On 6th of March one of the camels became bogged, and they were compelled to leave it. On the 20th, 60 lbs. of baggage were abandoned. They killed another camel on the 30th, and on the 6th of April they killed the horse, which had by this time become so weak that it could scarcely stand upright. By the 13th of April they had got back again to the Stony Desert. All were now nearly exhausted by their continued privations, but they slowly marched on in the hope of meeting assistance before they reached the depÔt. On the 16th they, with poor Gray strapped to the back of a camel almost as emaciated as himself, managed to travel seven miles; but during the night the unfortunate fellow succumbed under his extreme sufferings. His surviving companions, too, were all so weak in body that they could scarcely scratch a grave in the desert deep enough to cover his body. These three gaunt, emaciated, and sorrow-stricken beings rested but for a day, and then started afresh on their lonesome and weary journey, abandoning everything except the two camels, the fire-arms, and a little meat. On the 20th they made a tremendous effort by travelling all night, Burke riding one camel, and Wills and King the other. All next day they struggled manfully on, expecting soon to rest their aching limbs and worn-out bodies in the camp at Cooper's Creek. But on reaching the place where they had left the depÔt party, instead of seeing the white tents of the camp gleaming in the rays of the declining sun, they saw nothing but the stockade now deserted by its former occupants. There was no one there! On looking eagerly around their eyes fell on the word DIG, cut in the bark of a tree. They anxiously turned up the soil, and unearthed a small parcel of provisions and a bottle containing a letter from BrahÉ, in which the disappointed men read with sinking hearts that he and his party had left the depÔt only that very morning. The document ran thus:—

This was appalling news to the brave explorers, who, with their more than four months' severe travelling and unparalleled privations, were almost paralysed, and so exhausted that the slightest exertion produced in their pain-racked bodies such sensations of torture and utter helplessness as to render them more fit for a hospital than any further efforts on their part whatever. We will now leave the three abandoned men to recover from the first shock of their bitter disappointment, while we relate the circumstances that prevented the depÔt party remaining at their post.

Previous to departing from Cooper's Creek, Burke sent a despatch to the Exploration Committee. In it he writes:—"I have every confidence in BrahÉ. The feed is good. There is no danger to be apprehended from the natives. There is nothing, therefore, to prevent the party remaining here until our return, or until their provisions run short." Burke's verbal instructions to BrahÉ were very indefinite. He led him to understand that the depÔt party should remain at Cooper's Creek for three months, and that if the advance party did not return within that time the camp could be broken up, and BrahÉ and his party would be at liberty to quit the creek.

BrahÉ waited for four months and five days. The natives were troublesome for the most of the time, and confined the party to the camp. The men began to sicken and complain of scurvy, and as Wright with the rest of the company and provisions did not make an appearance, BrahÉ deemed it prudent to retrace the route from the Darling. His party went very slowly the first day, and camped a few miles down the creek. Had the ill-fated explorers of Burke's party known this and followed on their track, in all probability the fatal consequences of this desertion would have been avoided. It is deplorable to think that the three haggard men did not know that the other party were so near, and that after partaking of a hearty supper they slept all that night within a few miles of their returning companions.

Burke, Wills, and King rested for a couple of days at the abandoned depÔt. The change of diet worked wonders in improving their strength and cheering their depressed spirits, and on the 23rd of April they felt equal to the task of resuming their journey. Burke's plan was that they should make for Adelaide, by way of Mount Hopeless (an ill-omened name), where there was a large sheep station, and which he thought could not be further than one hundred and fifty miles off. Wills urged that they should return the way they came; the distance to the Darling certainly was greater, being three hundred and fifty miles, but they were sure of feed and water all the way. Unfortunately for them all, as events afterwards proved, Wills yielded to Burke's decision, and the little party started for the mount. As they were about to leave the depÔt, Burke deposited in the cache a letter from which we extract the following:—"We have discovered a practical route to Carpentaria, the chief portion of which lies on the 140th meridian of east longitude. There is some good country between this and Stony Desert. From there to the tropics the country is dry and stony. Between the tropics and the gulf a considerable portion is rangey, but is well watered and richly grassed. We reached the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria on the 11th of February." Their starting day was fine, and the agreeable warmth of the weather lent fresh hopes to the three men as they marched slowly along the green banks of the creek. They were still further elated by meeting with a few well-behaved blacks, who gave them good supplies of fish in exchange for some straps and matches. On the sixth day they had a mishap—one of the camels became bogged beside a water-hole. They attempted to place boughs and timber beneath him, but he sank too rapidly; and being of a sluggish, stupid nature, could not make sufficiently strenuous efforts towards extricating himself. They then let in water from the creek so as to buoy him up and soften the mud around his legs, but it was of no avail; the brute lay there as if enjoying himself. The next day they shot the beast dead, cut off as much of his flesh as they could, and then dried it in the sun. The following day the natives very liberally presented them with a quantity of fish and cake; the explorers returned the compliment by giving them fish-hooks and some sugar. After leaving the blacks, the three men struck a southerly branch of Cooper's Creek, which they traced down till its channel broke up into small water-courses, and was at last lost in the sand. Then for two days they travelled, looking around for some other stream, but finding none, Burke and Wills left King with the camel, and pushing ahead, found that the soil became loose and cracked up; and as it appeared to be more parched further south, they returned to King.

The prospects of the little party now looked gloomy. Their provisions were rapidly diminishing; their clothing, and especially their boots, all going to pieces; and their only remaining camel, which had been ailing for some time, now showed signs of being done up. But the two leaders determined to examine the creek more closely, and after a short rest they set out again.

They came across some natives who were fishing. The blacks, probably moved by the forlorn appearance of Burke and Wills, gave them half of the fish just caught, and promised further supplies if they would come with them to their camp. On reaching it the almost destitute explorers were treated most generously—lumps of nardoo cake and handfuls of fish were forced on them till they could positively eat no more. The hospitable blacks also offered them some stuff composed of dried stems and leaves of shrubs, which, when chewed even in small quantities, was highly intoxicating. The poor travellers could only show their gratitude to the benevolent blacks by tearing off and giving them two pieces of cloth from their tattered macintoshes. Burke now returned to King, while Wills continued for seven miles along the creek until it tended northwards; then he returned, passing through the blacks' camp on his way to rejoin his companions. The natives invited him to stay, and he was again hospitably entertained. After supplying him with fish and nardoo cake, they brought him a couple of rats baked in their skins. Poor Wills must have been hungry, for he says "the rats looked nice and were most delicious." Supper over, one of the natives offered to share his gunyah with the weary traveller, and all of them were very attentive in bringing wood and keeping up the fire during the night. Early next morning Wills parted from his black friends.

When he rejoined Burke and King he found them jerking the flesh of the camel, for the poor beast had become so weak and helpless that they had been obliged to shoot it. The three men now despaired of reaching the settled districts. The only prospect before them was to wander about the creek, living like the blacks until the arrival of a relief party. So Burke and King went in search of the natives' camp for the purpose of ascertaining where the seed grew from which the natives made their bread, and also to find their mode of preparing it. Wills remained behind jerking the camel's flesh. In his diary he cheerfully writes that he must devise some means of trapping the birds and rats, but expresses deep regret at being obliged to hang about the creek after having made such a dashing trip to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

On reaching the spot where the blacks had camped, Burke and King found the place deserted, so they came back to Wills. The three dejected men moved irresolutely in the direction of where the blacks had been. Then Burke thought it better for one of them to go back and stop with the things for a few days, so that he might get the benefit of the remains of the camel's flesh, whilst the other two should go forward in search of the blacks and the nardoo. Accordingly, Burke and King took four days' provisions and left Wills at the junction, preparing for a final effort on their return. The two unfortunate men could not find the blacks, so it was settled that the party should abandon their cumbrous baggage and make another effort to reach Mount Hopeless.

The next day, 17th of May, King found the nardoo plant. This discovery revolutionised the feelings of the weary explorers. Poor Wills, cheerful even in this extremity, records the fact with the observation that they were now in a position to support themselves without the aid of the blacks. Collecting the seeds was a slow and troublesome work, and the three men were fully occupied in it for seven days.

This plant, the seeds of which answer the purposes of flour among the natives, grows in little tufts close to the ground. It resembles clover, but is quadrifoliate instead of trifoliate, and its leaves are covered with a silver down, which is also found on the seeds when fresh. These grow upon separate short stalks springing from the roots, and are flat and oval. The gathering of them is generally done by the native women, who, after cleaning the sand from them and pounding them between two stones, bake the flour into cakes.

The little party travelled for three days, tracing a water-course until it lost itself in the flat country. Travelling then became very fatiguing; over dreary plains they struggled along almost exhausted. At last, from sheer exhaustion, they were obliged to relinquish the attempt to reach the mountain. They took an hour's rest, and then wearily retraced their steps.

In two days they reached the nearest water of the creek, and lay down their worn-out bodies under the cool shade of the box-trees growing on its fertile banks. For a meal, they boiled some of the nardoo seeds, and then made for the main creek. They came across some native huts, in one of which they found a pounding-stone left by the blacks. The poor explorers found the work of pounding the seeds so very slow and troublesome that they were compelled to mix half flour with the badly-ground seeds. The three men afterwards went back to their last camp and brought up all the dried meat they had planted there, and then remained at the deserted gunyahs, gathering and pounding nardoo seeds, and living as best they could. Whilst the poor fellows are thus living on the lower part of Cooper's Creek we will leave them, and turn back in order to find out the causes of Wright's delays.

When Wright returned to Menindie he heard that McDonall Stuart, the South Australian explorer, had almost crossed the continent. Wright thought his leader ought to know of this, so that if his own route should fail he could turn westward, strike Stuart's track, and continue the exploration northward. Two of the men and a native were sent out in the vain hope of overtaking Burke and informing him of this new discovery, but they lost their way, and sent the native back to Menindie with a slip of paper imploring assistance. A relief party was sent out by Wright. The two men were found living with the blacks about one hundred and ninety miles away, and were brought back to Menindie on 19th of December. Wright now proved his utter unfitness for his responsible position by remaining on the Darling for more than a month after the return of this party. On 26th of January he set out for Cooper's Creek, but proceeded so leisurely that it was the 12th of February before he reached Torowotto, the place where Burke and he had separated three and a half months before. It was now the hottest time of the year, and the summer sun had dried up all the surrounding country excepting the permanent creeks. Dr. Beckler and three of the men became seriously ill with the scurvy, and Wright erected a tent for them at Koorliatto Creek, about twenty miles from Bulloo. He then made for Bulloo, and from thence attempted to reach Cooper's Creek, a distance of between seventy and eighty miles; but in consequence of the hostility of the natives he was unable to finish his journey, and was forced to return. Dr. Beckler and the three men were removed to Bulloo, and reached it on the 21st of April, the day on which Burke and his two companions arrived at the deserted depÔt. A few days afterwards two of the sick men died. The natives had by this time become very troublesome, and the party were compelled to build a stockade. At last they had to open fire upon them in order to disperse them. Rats also abounded at the place, and did considerable damage, even attacking the men.

On the 29th of April Wright was astonished to see BrahÉ and the returning depÔt party, and to hear from them that they had neither seen nor heard anything of the advance party for more than four months. On the evening of the same day Dr. Beckler died, and next day was buried. Wright was undecided how to act—first he thought of returning to Menindie, and turned back to Koorliatto Creek; but when there he thought it possible that the advance party might have returned to the depÔt, so he and BrahÉ left his party in the encampment and made for Cooper's Creek.

On the 8th of May, while Burke and his two companions were down at the lower part of the creek making for Mount Hopeless, Wright and BrahÉ arrived at the depÔt, and seeing the place undisturbed they concluded that the advance party had perished in the journey northwards. Wright and BrahÉ made a terrible blunder in not digging to see if the provisions deposited by BrahÉ had been removed. After a careless look around they returned to the encampment at Koorliatto, and then the whole party set out for the River Darling. Their progress was slow, and another fatality occurred near Torowotto. On the 6th of January, Patten, who had been gradually sinking since he left the depÔt with BrahÉ, succumbed under his privations. Wright's party reached the Darling on the 18th of June, and immediately sent despatches to the Exploration Committee, begging that search might be made for the advance party.

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CHAPTER III.

SUFFERINGS AND DEATHS OF THE TWO LEADERS.

We will now take up the thread of the narrative from where we left the enfeebled explorers (Burke, Wills, and King) at the deserted gunyahs. They adopted the life of the blacks, and managed to subsist on the nardoo, although it was very innutritious. More than a month had elapsed since they had left the depÔt, and Burke thought that a relief party might have reached that place in the interval. Wills now volunteered to return and deposit, in place of Burke's former note, a letter stating that the party were living on the lower part of the creek, and also to bury there the field-books of the journey to the Gulf. He expected to be away for eight days, and took with him three pounds of flour, four pounds of pounded nardoo, and one pound of dried meat.

During his absence Burke and King had the following adventure with the blacks (we have copied the account of it from King's narrative):—"A few days after Mr. Wills left, some natives came down the creek to fish at some water-holes near our camp. They were very civil to us at first, and offered us some fish; the second day they came again to fish, and Mr. Burke took down two bags, which they filled for him; the third day they gave us one bag of fish, and afterwards all came to our camp. We used to keep our ammunition and other articles in one hut, and all three of us lived together in another. One of the natives took an oil-cloth out of this hut, and Mr. Burke seeing him run away with it, followed him with his revolver and fired over his head, and upon this the native dropped the oil-cloth. While he was away, the other blacks invited me away to the water-hole to eat fish; but I declined to do so, as Mr. Burke was away, and a number of natives were about who would have taken all our things. When I refused, one took his boomerang and laid it over my shoulder, and then told me, by signs, that if I called out for Mr. Burke as I was doing he would strike me. Upon this I got them all in front of the hut and fired a revolver over their heads, but they did not seem at all afraid until I got out the gun, when they all ran away. Mr. Burke, hearing the report, came back, and we saw no more of them until late that night, when they came with some cooked fish and called out, 'White fellow!' Mr. Burke then went out with his revolver, and found a whole tribe coming down, all painted, and with fish in small nets carried by two men. Mr. Burke went to meet them, and they wished to surround him, but he knocked as many of the nets of fish out of their hands as he could, and shouted out to me to fire. I did so, and they ran off. We collected five small nets of cooked fish. The reason he would not accept the fish from them was that he was afraid of being too friendly, lest they should be always at our camp." While Burke was cooking some of the fish during a strong wind, the flames caught the gunyah, and spread so rapidly that the two men were unable either to extinguish them or to save any of their things, except one revolver and a gun.

How the heroic Wills fared on his lonely journey is described in the following extracts taken from his diary:—

On the 27th of May he came upon three black gins and some children collecting nardoo, which was so abundant in some places that the ground was quite covered with it. The native women directed him to their camp, and he was soon afterwards overtaken by about twenty blacks, who were bent upon taking him to it, promising him nardoo and fish. One carried his shovel, another insisted in such a friendly manner on taking his swag that Wills could not refuse. They were greatly amused with various little things he had. In the evening he partook of a supper of fish and nardoo, and one of the old men shared his gunyah with poor Wills. The night was very cold. Next morning he left the friendly blacks. During the day he felt very unwell. On the 29th the tottering man saw some crows quarrelling about something near the water. He found it to be a large fish. The crows had eaten a large portion of it, but he, finding it fresh and good, decided the quarrel by eating the remainder of it. The fish proved a valuable addition to his otherwise scanty meal of nardoo porridge. That night he slept in a very comfortable mia-mia, about eleven miles from the depÔt. On the 30th of May he reached his destination, but found no trace of anybody except the blacks having been there, although Wright and BrahÉ had visited the place only twenty-two days before, at the time when Burke and himself were being treated so generously by the blacks on the lower part of the creek. He deposited the journals and a notice stating the wretched condition of himself and companions. Next day he started on his return journey, although his exertions had made him very tired and weak. In the evening he camped under some bushes in a sheltered gully, thinking he would reach the blacks' camp next day. But next day he felt altogether too weak and exhausted, and had extreme difficulty in getting across numerous small gullies, and soon was obliged to stop and rest himself. The following morning at 6.30 he again started, thinking to breakfast with the blacks, but found himself so very much fatigued that he did not arrive at their camp till ten o'clock; but his expectations of receiving a good breakfast were disappointed, for the camp was by this time deserted. He rested here awhile, and breakfasted off a few fish-bones which the blacks had left. The disappointed man then started down the creek, hoping by a late march to reach his companions, but soon found this was out of the question. By good luck he came across a large fish, about a pound and a half in weight, being choked by another which it had tried to swallow, but which had stuck in its throat. The hungry man soon made a fire, and had both fish cooked and eaten. He was awakened next morning by the encouraging sounds of cooeys, then fancied he saw smoke in the distance; and was afterwards set at ease by hearing a cooey from one of his former black friends, who also continually repeated assurances of bread and fish. With some difficulty the weary man managed to ascend a sandy path leading to the natives' camp. He was conducted by the chief to the fire, where there was a large pile of fish cooked in the most approved style. He imagined it was for general consumption by the half-dozen natives who had gathered round; but it turned out they had all eaten, and expected Wills to dispose of it all. He set to work at the task, and to his own astonishment accomplished it by keeping two or three blacks steadily at work extricating the bones for him. Fish finished, then came a supply of nardoo cake and water, till he was so full that he was unable to eat any more. The native who called Wills to the camp allowed him a short time to recover himself, and then filled a large bowl with raw nardoo flour, and mixed it into a thin paste. This mixture is a most insinuating article to the blacks, and esteemed by them as a great delicacy. They then invited Wills to stop, but he declined; although, he says, he would have liked to have stopped and lived with them in order to learn something of their ways and manners. He continued his return journey, and on the 6th of June reached Burke and King.

The three men had been so well treated by the blacks that they now decided on shifting their camp nearer to them, and set out with such things as they could carry, but found themselves very weak, in spite of the abundant supplies of food they had lately had. Poor Wills could scarcely get along, although carrying the lightest swag (about 30 lbs.). They found that the blacks had decamped from the place where Wills had last seen them, so they moved on to the camp near the nardoo field. The almost exhausted men managed to reach the nardoo field, but, greatly to their disappointment, no blacks were there. The explorers took possession of the best mia-mia and rested.

Until the 24th of June these unfortunate men lived on the field, going out daily to gather the nardoo, and then returning to the hut in order to clean and pound the seeds. After eating the last piece of dried camel's flesh, they found that although the nardoo was in abundance, it was so innutritive that by itself it could not support them. Wills it would not sustain at all, and the poor young man wrote in his diary: "I am determined to chew tobacco and eat less of the nardoo." Burke, after a few days, showed signs of caving in. King managed to live on the nardoo; it seemed to agree with him better than with his companions. However, Wills became so weak as to be unable even to crawl about, and on the 24th wrote: "Little chance of anything but starvation unless we get hold of some blacks."

The little clothing they had could not keep out the cold, and during the nights they suffered terribly from it. Wills' wardrobe consisted of a wide-awake hat, merino shirt, regatta shirt without sleeves, remains of a pair of flannel trousers, and a waistcoat, of which he had managed to keep the pockets together. His companions were better off. The three men had with them for bedding—two small camel pads, some horsehair, two or three little bits of rag, and pieces of oil-cloth saved from the fire.

It is impossible to imagine the state of mind these three unfortunate men were then in. The expedition that ended so disastrously for them had started ten months before with the most brilliant prospects, and now three of its members were on the point of starvation and dying of fatigue. Unless they received assistance very soon, the three men must undoubtedly perish. After consulting together it was agreed that Wills should be left alone in the gunyah, while his two companions went in search of the blacks. With great reluctance the two men packed up food enough to last them a couple of days, but hesitated at leaving their dying companion. They repeatedly desired his candid opinion, and he again and again urged them to go, saying, "It is our only chance." After placing the nardoo and firewood near his bed, Burke and King sorrowfully took leave of him; and then, tottering along like two worn-out beggar-men, they set out in search of succour.

Wills maintained the uniformity of his cheerful disposition, and the last entry in his diary, written without a complaint a few days before he expired, moves us to admiration of his fine, manly qualities. Here it is:—"I am weaker than ever, although I have a good appetite and relish the nardoo much, but it seems to give us no nutriment, and the birds here are so sly as not to be got at. Even if we could get fish, I doubt whether we could do much on that and nardoo alone. Nothing now but the greatest good luck can save any of us. As for me, I may live four or five days if the weather continues warm. My pulse is at forty-eight and very weak, and my legs and arms are nearly skin and bone. I can only look out, like Mr. Micawber, for something to turn up. Starvation on nardoo is by no means unpleasant, but for the weakness one feels and the utter inability to move one's self. As for my appetite, it gives me the greatest satisfaction. Certainly, fat and sugar would be more to one's taste; in fact, these seem to be the great stand-by in this extraordinary continent. Not that I mean to deprecate farinaceous food, but the want of sugar and fat in all substances obtained here makes them become almost useless to us as articles of food without the addition of something else." Soon after (perhaps a few hours) the departure of his companions, the hand of death put an end to the sufferings of poor Wills. It was a terribly hard fate for one so young and full of promise to meet there in the lonely wilderness, without the sympathetic and encouraging presence of a friendly voice to break the mournful silence, with no gentle hand to administer the last kind soothing offices of humanity.

Let us now follow the two remaining sufferers. In travelling the first day Burke seemed very weak, and complained of great pain in his back and legs. Next day he seemed better, and said he thought he was getting stronger; but on starting did not get more than two miles, when he found he could go no further. King persisted in his trying to go on, and managed to get him along several times, until Burke was almost knocked up. He said he could not carry his swag, and threw all he had away. King did likewise, and took nothing but a gun, some powder and shot, a small pouch, and some matches. They did not go far before Burke said they should halt for the night. King prevailed on him to go a little further on to a less exposed spot, where they camped. King searched about and found a few small patches of nardoo. He collected and pounded some of the seeds, and with a crow which he had shot, the two worn-out men made a good evening's meal. From the time they halted Burke grew worse, and, although he ate his supper, said he felt convinced he could not last many hours. He gave King his watch and pocket-book, and also wrote some notes. He then said, "I hope you will remain with me here till I am quite dead. It is a comfort to know that some one is by; but when I am dying it is my wish that you should leave my pistol in my right hand, and that you leave me unburied as I lie." That night he spoke very little. On the following morning he was speechless, or nearly so, and about eight o'clock he expired. Thus the gallant Burke ended his brave and noble career. King saw there was no use remaining there any longer, and wandered about in the most forlorn condition. "I felt very lonely," he says. We can well imagine that, and everything around must have sadly reminded him of his late companions in misfortune. He wandered up the creek in search of the natives, and at night usually slept in deserted wurleys belonging to them. Two days after leaving the spot where Burke died he came across some gunyahs, in one of which the natives had left a bag of nardoo sufficient to last the hungry man a fortnight. After remaining there two days he returned to Wills, taking back with him two crows which he had shot.

On his arrival King found that his fellow-sufferer, whom he had grown to love so dearly, was lying dead in the hut, and that the natives had been there and taken away some of the clothes. He buried the corpse, and remained a few days. Then, as his stock of nardoo was getting low, and he was unable to gather any more, he tracked the natives that had been in the camp by their footprints in the sand some distance down the creek, shooting crows and hawks on the road. Soon he came up to the blacks, and afterwards kept with them until rescued by the relief-party. How he lived we learn from his own narrative:—

"The natives, hearing the report of the gun, came to meet me, and took me with them to their camp, giving me nardoo and fish. They took the birds I had shot, and cooked them for me, and afterwards showed me a gunyah, where I was to sleep with three of the single men. The following morning they commenced talking to me, and putting one finger on the ground and covering it with sand, at the same time pointing up the creek, saying, 'White fellow,' which I understood to mean that one white man was dead. From this, I knew that they were the tribe who had taken Mr. Wills's clothes. They then asked me where the third white man was, and I also made the sign of putting the fingers on the ground, and covering them with sand, at the same time pointing up the creek. They appeared to feel great compassion for me when they understood that I was alone on the creek, and gave me plenty to eat. After being four days with them, I saw that they were becoming tired of me, and they made signs that they were going up the creek, and that I had better go downwards; but I pretended not to understand them. The same day they shifted camp, and I followed them; and on reaching their camp, I shot some crows, which pleased them so much that they made me a shelter in the centre of their camp, and came and sat round until such time as the crows were cooked, when they assisted me to eat them. The same day one of the women, to whom I had given part of a crow, came and gave me a ball of nardoo, saying that she would give me more, only she had such a sore arm that she was unable to pound. She showed me a sore on her arm, and the thought struck me that I would boil some water in the billy, and wash her arm with a sponge. During the operation the whole tribe sat around, and were muttering one to another. The husband sat down by her side, and she was crying all the time. After I had washed it, I touched it with some caustic, when she began to yell and ran off, crying, 'Mokow! mokow!' (Fire! fire!). From this time she and her husband used to give me a small quantity of nardoo both night and morning, and whenever the tribe were about going on a fishing excursion, he used to give me notice to go with them. They also used to assist me in making a shelter whenever they shifted camp. I generally shot a crow, or a hawk, and gave it to them in return for these little services. Every four or five days the tribe would surround me, and ask whether I intended going up or down the creek. At last I made them understand that if they went up I should go up the creek, and if they went down, I should also go down; and from this time they seemed to look upon me as one of themselves, and supplied me with fish and nardoo regularly. They were very anxious, however, to know where Burke lay, and one day when we were fishing in the water-holes close by, I took them to the spot. On seeing the remains, the whole party wept bitterly, and covered them with bushes. After this they were much kinder to me than before, and I always told them that the white men would be here before two moons; and in the evening, when they came with nardoo and fish, they used to talk about the 'white fellows' coming, at the same time pointing to the moon. I also told them they would receive many presents, and they constantly asked me for tomahawks, called by them 'bomay ho.' From this time to when the relief-party arrived, a period of about a month, they treated me with uniform kindness, and looked upon me as one of themselves. The day on which I was released, one of the tribe who had been fishing came and told me that the 'white fellows' were coming, and the whole of the tribe who were then in camp sallied out in every direction to meet the party, while the man who brought the news took me over the creek, where I shortly saw the party coming down."

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CHAPTER IV.

SEARCH PARTIES AND CONCLUSION.

We must now turn back to the time when Wright reached the Darling. As soon as it was known that Burke and the advance party had not been heard of for five months after leaving Cooper's Creek, great consternation was felt throughout all the colonies, and relief parties were organised and equipped with praiseworthy alacrity. A small contingent, under Mr. A. W. Howitt, was furnished by the Royal Society of Victoria, and started from Melbourne early in July to examine the banks of Cooper's Creek. On the 14th of August, McKinlay was sent out by the South Australian Government, with instructions to reach Cooper's Creek by way of Lake Torrens. Before the end of the same month, two other expeditions—one under Landsborough, and another under Walker—had set out to explore the region round about the Gulf of Carpentaria. These expeditions all prosecuted their search with eagerness, and through their instrumentality our geographical knowledge of the interior was greatly extended; but Mr. Howitt's party was the only one that succeeded in getting facts about the fate of the explorers.

From his diary we learn that, with the assistance of BrahÉ, the depÔt was reached on the 13th of September, and although this ill-fated place appeared to them to be still undisturbed, they succeeded in finding King on the fifteenth. He had been living with the blacks for more than two months, and now presented a melancholy appearance—wasted to a shadow, and hardly to be distinguished as a civilised being but by the remnants of clothes upon him. The poor fellow was sitting in a hut, while the natives were all gathered round, sitting on the ground and looking on with a most gratified and delighted expression.

After remaining two days to recruit King, Howitt and four of the men set off with the intention of burying the body of poor Wills. They found the corpse covered with sand and rushes just as King had left it, and when they had carefully collected the remains they interred them where they lay. Mr. Howitt showed their respect by conducting over the grave a short funeral ceremony. Afterwards the party heaped sand over the grave and laid bushes upon it, that the natives might know by their own tokens not to disturb the last repose of a fellow-being. To mark the spot the following inscription was cut on a tree close by:—

W. J. WILLS. XLV. Yds. W.N.W. —A. H.—

Mr. Howitt deferred his visit to Burke's remains, hoping that King would be able to accompany him thither; but finding it would not be prudent to remove King for two or three days, he unwillingly took such directions as King could give, and started up the creek in search of the spot where Burke had died. After travelling eight miles they found his remains lying among tall plants under a clump of box-trees. The bones were entire, with the exception of the hands and feet, and the body had been removed from the spot where it first lay, and where the natives had placed branches over it, to about five paces distant. The revolver, loaded and capped, was lying close by, partly covered with leaves and earth, and corroded with rust. A grave was dug, and the remains of the brave explorer, wrapped in the Union-jack, were gently placed therein. On a box-tree at the head of the grave Mr. Howitt cut the following inscription:—

R. O'H. B. 21/9/61. A. H.

The relief-party now went in search of the natives who had been so hospitable to the unfortunate explorers. On coming up to the blacks, Mr. Howitt displayed to their astonished gaze some of the things he intended to give them as a reward for their kindness. They examined the knife and tomahawk with great interest, but the looking-glass surprised them most. On seeing their faces reflected in it some seemed dazzled; others opened their eyes like saucers and made a rattling noise with their tongues, expressive of surprise. After a friendly palaver, Mr. Howitt gave them some sugar to taste. They made some absurd sleights-of-hand, as if in dread of being poisoned, and only pretended to eat it. They were then made to understand that the whole tribe were to come up to the camp next morning to receive the presents. On the following day, at ten o'clock, the friendly blacks appeared in a long procession, and at about a mile off commenced bawling at the top of their voices. When collected together, just below the camp, they numbered between thirty and forty, and the uproar they made was deafening. With the aid of King Mr. Howitt got them all seated round him, and then distributed the presents—tomahawks, knives, necklaces, looking-glasses, combs, etc. The blacks behaved as if they had never before experienced such happiness. The piccanninies were brought forward by their parents to have red ribbons tied round their dirty little heads. One old woman, who had been particularly kind to King, was loaded with presents. Fifty pounds of sugar was divided amongst them, and soon found its way to their mouths. Every one had a share in a Union-jack pocket-handkerchief, which they were very proud of. On fifty pounds of flour being given to them, they at once called it "white fellow nardoo." The blacks were made to understand that these things had been given to them for having fed King. Mr. Howitt then took leave of the delighted fellows, and as he had now accomplished the object of his journey, he bent his course homewards.

On his arrival at Melbourne the sad story which he had to tell moved the minds and hearts of all, and deep grief prevailed throughout Australia. In Victoria the sorrow was intense, and it was agreed that the bodies of the two gallant explorers who had forfeited their lives in the nation's service should be brought to Melbourne and accorded a public funeral. Mr. Howitt was sent on the painful mission of bringing down their remains, and returned with them at the close of the year 1862. On the 21st of January 1863 the mournful ceremony took place. By common consent the greater part of the shops in the city were closed, although no official announcement had been made intimating that the day should be held sacred to the memory of Burke and Wills. The remains of the explorers had been lying in state at the Royal Society's Hall for a fortnight, and were now placed in handsome coffins and conveyed to the grave, which is near Sir Charles Hotham's monument. They were accompanied to their last resting-place by the leading gentlemen of the colony, and a procession which extended a distance of more than half-a-mile; while the street pavements were densely thronged with spectators. The Very Rev. the Dean of Melbourne conducted the funeral service, after which three volleys were fired. The melancholy honours awarded to the brave explorers having been paid amid general mourning, the crowd dispersed and left the heroes in their quiet graves.

Honours of a more substantial kind were not forgotten. To the nearest relatives of Burke and Wills a large sum of money was voted by the Government, and King received a grant that enabled him to live comfortably for the rest of his life.

After the rewards had been given there was a less pleasing duty to be done. It was generally agreed that, with proper precautions, the disastrous termination of the expedition could have been avoided. The Government appointed a committee for the purpose of sifting out the truth, and its members examined every person in any way connected with the expedition. The following is a summary of their report:—That in dividing his party at Menindie, Mr. Burke acted most injudiciously. He made an error of judgment in engaging Mr. Wright, though a pressing emergency had arisen for the appointment of someone. Mr. Burke evinced more zeal than prudence in finally departing from Cooper's Creek without having secured communication with the settled districts, and also in undertaking so extended a journey with an insufficient supply of food. The conduct of Mr. Wright appears to be reprehensible in the highest degree. The exploration committee committed errors of a serious nature in not urging Mr. Wright's departure from the Darling. The conduct of Mr. BrahÉ in abandoning the depÔt may be deserving of considerable censure; but a responsibility far beyond his expectations devolved upon him, and his powers of endurance gave way when pressed by the appeals of a sick comrade, who died shortly afterwards. Many of the calamities might have been averted, and none of his subordinates could have pleaded contradictory orders, had Mr. Burke kept a regular journal and given written instructions to his officers. The report ends thus:—"We cannot too deeply deplore the lamentable result of an expedition undertaken at so great a cost to the country; but while we regret the absence of any systematic plan of operation on the part of the leader, we desire to express our admiration of his gallantry and daring, as well as the fidelity of his brave coadjutor, Mr. Wills, and their more fortunate and enduring associate, Mr. King; and we would record our deep sympathy with the deplorable sufferings and untimely death of Mr. Burke and his fellow-comrades."

Two years later a monument was erected in honour of the memory of Burke and Wills. It is a beautiful statue in bronze, based on granite. The sculptor was Mr. Charles Summers, an eminent Australian artist. The materials are also Australian—the bronze is composed of copper from Adelaide and tin from Beechworth, and the granite was taken from the Harcourt quarries. The bronze figures of Burke and Wills stand about 12 feet high, and are mounted on a granite pedestal, which is 15 feet high and 11 feet by 7 feet square at base. The attitude of the explorers is a very suitable and effective one. Wills is in an easy sitting posture, and Burke is standing erect with his right arm resting on his comrade's left shoulder. He is viewing the country towards the left, and is apparently drawing the attention of his companion to some of its particular features. Wills, with book on his knee and pencil in hand, is just about to make a note of them. The sides of the pedestals are adorned with bronze bas-reliefs, which represent:—(1) The starting of the expedition from the Royal Park, Melbourne; (2) the return of Burke, Wills, and King to Cooper's Creek from Carpentaria; (3) the blacks weeping over the dead body of Burke; and (4) the finding of King by Howitt's search party.

On the 21st of April 1865 this stately monument was unveiled in the presence of vast numbers of people by Sir Charles Darling, Governor of Victoria. After the uncovering ceremony was performed, Sir Charles Darling delivered the following address, which is condensed from the Argus of the 22nd of April:—

"At the conclusion of the cheering His Excellency said, 'Ladies and Gentlemen, Inhabitants of Victoria, I need not tell you that the sounds which are still reverberating are the echoes of what may be well termed a national honour to the illustrious dead. To make that honour as complete and perfect as we can, you have assembled in the vast numbers which meet the eye in every direction, and I accepted the position which I now occupy in the appointed ceremonial. On the 20th of August 1860 a gallant company, now known to all posterity as the "Burke and Wills Exploring Expedition," set forth, amidst the enthusiastic cheers of assembled thousands of their fellow-colonists, to win their way from the southern to the northern shore of the Australian continent. (Cheers.) A year had nearly passed away when the fact was entertained beyond a doubt that the victory had been nobly won, but that the leaders, in the exhausting struggle, had fallen almost in the hour of triumph. In the manner of their deaths, it seems to me that the distinguishing characteristics of each were strikingly illustrated. The calm and philosophic Wills begins his last letter to his father in these words—"These are probably the last lines you will ever get from me; we are on the point of starvation, not so much from the absolute want of food, but from the want of nutriment in what we get;" and he concludes it with the tranquilly-expressed opinion and assurance, "I think to live about four or five days; my spirits are excellent." Two days later, probably but a few hours before his death, the last words recorded in his journal are literally a scientific dissertation upon the nutritious nature of the food—the nardoo plant—by means of which they had for some time protracted their existence. "Place," said the expiring Burke, instinctively recurring to his early military days, and, as I doubt not, with the picture of a fallen warrior upon the battle-field vivid in his imagination, "place my weapon in my hand, and leave me unburied as I lie." Such was the fate of the men whom this day we mourn and honour. Then came the universal sorrow, the public funeral, the national provision for the living, and, lastly, this monument in memory of the dead. It cannot be said with truth that the people of Victoria have raised this monument in any boasting or vain-glorious spirit. It had its origin in a far more noble source. It is designed as the imperishable record of a deed which, not only on account of its intrinsic importance, but also of the high qualities which it developed in those who have achieved it, is justly believed to be worthy of high honour in the present generation and of future generations. (Cheers.) When, hereafter, shall be narrated the history of the sorrowful, yet successful adventure which this statue is intended to commemorate, it will be forgotten, or remembered only with regret, that there was once cavil and contention whether a sounder judgment, or—as men who have learned to believe that the issue of great events are little under the control of human wisdom may prefer to call it—a more fortunate judgment might not have been exercised, and a broader beam from the light of experience brought to bear both upon the inception and the execution of the exploring enterprise. Nor should we, assembled as we are, not to discuss the merits of the project, but to pay honour to the memory of those who conquered the difficulties which beset it, forget that, if it be true that amongst those difficulties were the want of previous training for, and special adaption to, the perilous task, so much more were the glory and credit of the victory enhanced. Nor will the sad tale of the fate of these men be without its beneficial influence upon the intellectual training and moral elevation of our people. For, oft as it shall be told, and ofttimes it will be told upon this very spot, Australian parents, pointing to that commanding figure, shall bid their young and aspiring sons to hold in admiration the ardent and energetic spirit, the bold self-reliance, and the many chivalrous qualities which combined to constitute the manly nature of O'Hara Burke. (Cheers.) While gazing on that more lowly and retiring form, they may teach them to emulate the thirst for science, the deep love of the Almighty's works in nature, the warm and filial family affections, the devotion to duty, self-control and submission of his own judgment to authority which he regarded as rightly conferred and exercised, and which, if I read the history of his brief career aright, pre-eminently marked the character and conduct of William Wills. (Cheers.) Better for themselves, and might haply have averted their melancholy end, if in Burke there had been more of that practical wisdom which we call prudence, and a larger measure of self-assertion and desire to sustain his own opinion, in the character of his unfortunate companion. Better, I have said, for themselves, but not for the cause of discovery and civilisation, for which they laid down their lives; for who can doubt that the knowledge of the country eastward of the line of the successful exploration, which has been acquired by the expeditions sent forth under the auspices of this and the sister colonies, to endeavour to solve the mystery of their fate, is immeasurably greater than could have been reasonably expected to follow for many years to come, had Burke and Wills returned to enjoy the peaceful laurels they had won? United in undying fame, all that was mortal of them now rests in the same hallowed grave. Well we know that "neither storied urn or animated bust" can "back to its mansion call the fleeting breath." "Honour's voice" cannot, indeed, "provoke the silent dust;" if it could, well might their dust breathe again, and be eloquent to-day. But what man can do has now been done. There in the quiet cemetery will be placed the "storied urn." Here in the thronged city we have raised the "animated bust." It shall serve to unite also in honoured memory the names and effigies—the very form and semblance of these now celebrated men, whose great exploit has shed such lustre upon the records of exploration and discovery in this our age, and engrafted so large a share of interest and glory upon the earlier annals of Victoria.'"

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