INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 15 



Without doubt he departed from his instructions by his hasty 

 advance to Cooper's Creek without taking the necessary steps to ensure 

 that the stores and equipment, which had been left behind, were brought 

 on to Menindie. Burke's disregard of this part of his instructions 

 seems to show that he was impatient of delay, and thus neglected those 

 precautions which, in compliance with his instructions, would have 

 provided against mishap. More than this : had he waited at Cooper's 

 Creek until his stores had been brought there, and meanwhile opened 

 up a line of communication with the northern settlements of South 

 Australia, he would have obtained a practicable route at all times by 

 Avhich to communicate with the committee and also to procure the 

 supplies necessary for his party. Later on, when speaking of the 

 attempt made by Burke, Wills, and King to reach Mount Hopeless, I 

 shall have occasion to refer again to this. 



The haste with which Burke pushed on — first to Menindie and 

 then to Cooper's Creek, leaving the rest of his party and the great bulk 

 of his equipment to follow as best it could — may, however, as I think, 

 be explained, as well as the rush from Cooper's Creek to Carpentaria. 

 The evidence of Sir William Stawell, given before the Royal Com- 

 mission, (2) was that Burke " attended all the meetings, and heard the 

 deliberations. • • • • If Carpentaria could not be reached, it was 

 not considered advisable to attempt exploration in a more north- 

 westerly direction so as to reach the Victoria. This, however, the com- 

 mittee did not deem expedient to press, as it was supposed that Stuart 

 had then, or would shortly have, discovered the route to the Victoria." 



Assuming, therefore, as I think we may, that Burke knew what 

 Stuart was likely to carry out, it is then a reasonable conjecture that 

 the haste with which he pushed forward was to enable him to cross the 

 continent first, for it is reported he said that " provided he crossed the 

 continent he did not care if he had only one shirt to his back when his 

 journey ended." (a) 



This impetuosity has always appeared to me to have been one of 

 the most serious of Burke's errors of judgment, and to have had the 

 most serious results. Amongst other consequences it led to the ap- 

 pointment of Wright — as it seems to me, without sufficient inquiry as 

 to his qualifications — who was to bring the rest of the party and the 

 remainder of the stores and equipment to Cooper's Creek. Wright, 

 as Burke intended and as the former promised, should have left 

 Menindie on his journey as soon as possible after his return there in 

 (z) Op. cit., question 1583. (a) Woods, op. cit.. Vol. II., p. 354. 



