276 NORTHMOST AUSTRALIA 



time when they struck the Cloncurry they had entertained the 

 belief that that river and the Flinders were Stokes' ALBERT RIVER. 

 As it happened, the mistake mattered nothing to them, but it meant 

 a great deal to those who went out in search of them later on. 



Burke and Wills having rejoined King and Gray (i2th February), 

 no time was lost in facing southward towards the depot on Cooper's 

 Creek. The party apparently retraced their steps past the site of 

 the future township of Cloncurry (where they had first struck the 

 river), and then followed the river up to the infall of the MALBON 

 RIVER, after which it would be natural for them to shorten the 

 way by taking the chord of the arc described on the outward journey 

 in following up the Diamantina. (SEE MAP R.) Keeping on a 

 southerly course and crossing the SELWYN RANGE by O'Hara's 

 Gap, they struck a river falling to the south and now known as the 

 BURKE RIVER. Following this river they passed the site of the 

 future BOULIA township (in Sheet 12 A). 



Three of the party reached the FORT WILLS DEPOT late on 

 2 1st April, 1861. The fourth, CHARLES GRAY, had succumbed, 

 on the way, to fatigue and hunger on the I7th. The day's delay 

 caused by his obsequies had tragic consequences for the three 

 survivors. 



William Brahe and three other men had been left in charge 

 of the depot to await (i) the arrival of the second half of the full 

 expedition (with stores) and (2) the return of Burke and his com- 

 panions from their ill-advised dash to the Gulf. Neither event, 

 although long overdue, having taken place, and his own stores 

 having been dangerously depleted, he left the camp at noon on the 

 very day of Burke's arrival, having first buried a note to that effect, 

 which was found by Burke. He also left some provisions. 



Emaciated and footsore as Burke and his companions now were, 

 they judged that they could not hope for success in chasing a party 

 mounted on animals which presumably were fresh and in good 

 condition. One is inevitably reminded of the agonising moment 

 when Kennedy's party, left to starve and die at the mouth of the 

 Pascoe, saw and failed to attract the attention of the rescue ship. 



Burke, Wills and John King spent altogether about a week at 

 the depot, while in one false start one of the two camels died. 

 Another false start was made and each man carried a bundle, in 

 addition to a pack carried by the last camel ; but they had not 

 gone far when the camel knocked up and they had to return to the 

 camp. Their plan had been to go down Cooper's Creek for some 

 distance and strike west for Eyre's Mount Hopeless. The camel 

 was shot and the meat sun-dried, and for a few days the men 

 depended for food mainly on the alms given them by a tribe of 

 friendly natives, who ultimately left them to their own resources. 

 They then tried to live as the blacks did, but the time spent in 

 finding and preparing nardoo to support life left them no time for 



