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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burke and Wills expedition | 2/9 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burke_and_Wills_expedition | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T12:39:46.567045+00:00 | kb-cron |
The Committee entrusts you with the largest discretion as regards the forming of depots, and your movements generally….
=== Members of the Exploration Committee === The Exploration Committee of the Royal Society of Victoria included:
Sir William Foster Stawell, Chief Justice of Victoria Dr David Elliott Wilkie MD., Treasurer Dr John Macadam, Honorary Secretary Professor Georg Neumayer Dr Ferdinand von Mueller, government botanist Sir Frederick McCoy, Melbourne University's first professor The Hon. Captain Andrew Clarke Dr Richard Eades, Mayor of Melbourne Charles Ligar, Government Surveyor General The Hon Sir Francis Murphy, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Lieutenant John Randall Pascoe, JP Captain Francis Cadell Alfred Selwyn Esq., government geologist Reverend Father Dr John Ignatius Bleasdale Clement Hodgkinson Esq. Dr J William McKenna Edward Wilson, editor of The Argus Dr William Gilbee Sizar Elliott Esq. Dr Solomon Iffla Angus McMillan Esq. James Smith Esq. John Watson Esq.
== Camels ==
Camels had been used successfully in desert exploration in other parts of the world, but by 1859 only seven camels had been imported into Australia. The Victorian government appointed George James Landells to purchase twenty-four camels in India for use in desert exploration. The animals arrived in Melbourne in June 1860, and the Exploration Committee purchased an additional six from George Coppin's Cremorne Gardens. The camels were initially housed in the stables at Parliament House and later moved to Royal Park. Twenty-six camels were taken on the expedition, with six (two females with their two young calves and two males) being left in Royal Park.
== Departure from Melbourne ==
The Burke and Wills expedition set off from Royal Park at about 4pm on 20 August 1860, watched by around 15,000 spectators. The nineteen men of the expedition included six Irishmen, five Englishmen, three Germans, an American, and four camel drivers from the Indian subcontinent. They took twenty-three horses, six wagons and twenty-six camels. The members of the expedition at the time of departure were:
Robert O'Hara Burke (leader) George James Landells (1825–1871) (second in command, charge of camels) William John Wills (third in command, surveyor and astronomical observer) Hermann Beckler (medical officer and botanist) Ludwig Becker (artist, naturalist and geologist) Charles Ferguson (1832–1925) (foreman) Thomas Francis McDonough (1834–1904) (assistant) William Patton (?–1861) (assistant) Patrick Langan (assistant) William Brahe (1835–1912) (assistant) John King (assistant) John Drakeford (assistant) James McIlwaine (1834–?) (assistant) Patrick Langan (assistant) Thomas Brooks (assistant) Samla (camel driver, a Hindu from India) Esau Khan (camel driver, a Muslim from Kalat) Dost Mahomet (camel driver, a Muslim from Ghazni) Belooch Khan (camel driver, a Parsi from Kanpur) The expedition took a large amount of equipment, including enough food to last two years, a cedar-topped oak camp table with two chairs, pocket charcoal water filters, rifles, revolvers, rockets, flags and a Chinese gong; the equipment all together weighed as much as twenty tonnes.
Committee member Captain Francis Cadell had offered to transport the equipment from Adelaide up the Murray River to the junction with the Darling River to be collected on the way. However, Burke declined his offer, possibly because Cadell had opposed Burke's appointment as leader of the expedition. Instead, all of the supplies were loaded onto six wagons. One wagon broke down before it had even left Royal Park and by midnight of the first day the expedition had reached only Essendon, on the edge of Melbourne. There, two more wagons broke down. Heavy rains and bad roads made travelling through Victoria difficult and time-consuming. The party arrived at Lancefield on 23 August and set up their fourth camp. The first day off was taken on Sunday 26 August at Camp VI in Mia Mia.
The expedition reached Swan Hill on 6 September, where Charles Gray joined the expedition. They arrived in Balranald on 15 September. There, to lighten the load, the expedition left behind their sugar, lime juice and some of their guns and ammunition. Burke also dismissed several members of the expedition here, including the foreman Charles Ferguson, citing lack of funds. Ferguson later successfully sued for unfair dismissal. At Gambala on 24 September, Burke decided to load some of the provisions onto the camels for the first time, and to lessen the burden on the horses he ordered the men to walk. He also ordered that personal luggage be restricted to 30 lb (14 kg). At Bilbarka on the Darling, Burke and his second-in-command, Landells, argued after Burke decided to dump the 60 gallons (≈270 litres) of rum that Landells had brought to feed to the camels in the belief that it prevented scurvy. At Kinchega on the Darling, Landells resigned from the expedition, followed by the expedition's surgeon, Dr Hermann Beckler. Third-in-command Wills was promoted to second-in-command. They reached Menindee on 12 October, having taken two months to travel 750 km (470 mi) from Melbourne—the regular mail coach did the journey in little more than a week. By this time two of the expedition's five officers had resigned, thirteen members had been fired and eight new men had been hired.