INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 19 



appoint Mr. Wright to an important command • • • • without a 

 previous knowledge of him." (/) The greatest regret must he felt that 

 Brahe should have happened to leave on the morning of the day on 

 Avhich Burke returned. But there is some doubt whether Burke ex- 

 pected, when he left the depot, to go further than E}Te's Creek, or to 

 be absent longer than three months. As he did not give any instructions 

 in Avriting to Brahe when he left, it is quite possible that he did not 

 remember all that passed in conversation with those he left behind. 

 It seems to me that Brah e has been blamed too strongly for what was 

 an unfortunate mischance. 



Taking everything into consideration, I think that the unfortunate 

 occurrence of mischances was due, primarily, to errors of judgment on 

 the part of Burke, and that these arose because he did not possess 

 that kind of knowledge which is absolutely necessary to enable even 

 the bravest and most determined man to be the successful leader of 

 such an expedition as was committed to his charge. It is evident to 

 me that at no time was there the necessary means of conveying the 

 21 tons of equipment and stores from Menindie to Cooper's Creek. 

 This could only have been done if an organised train of packhorses or 

 camels, or both, had been arranged, and the most important parts of 

 the loading conveyed there first, leaving such things as spare supplies, 

 duplicates, &c., to the last. But such an organised service neither 

 Burke nor anyone else in the party was, so far as I know, competent 

 to arrange. Unfortunately, Burke had no experience of the work, and 

 Wills — the best man Burke had, a man of noble character, who seems 

 to have placed duty first — had not had the special bush training which 

 would have enabled him to see what course would be necessary, and 

 also to speak with the authority given by knowledge. Besides this, 

 his duties were sufficient to fill the whole of his time, for he was the only 

 one of the party who could take the necessary observations. It was 

 he who really took Burke across the continent and brought him back 

 to Cooper's Creek. Without Wills, Burke would have been absolutely 

 helpless. 



It is nearly half a centm'y since these events took place, and they 

 may now be considered as a matter of history calmly and without any 

 bias one way or the other. I have said that Burke on several occasions 

 showed a fatal error of judgment. If he had followed his instructions, 

 and established a depot of supplies at Cooper's Creek, he might have 

 crossed to Carpentaria and returned without difficulty. But there 

 seems to have been a complete change in his plans after the expedition 

 (I) Royal CJommission, Report, par. 1. 



