Ixxii President's Address 



place, so that by their soiling and trampling the ashes into 

 the earth all traces of the excavation might be obliterated. 

 And then, on the morning of the 21st April, he left the 

 depot — on the very day on which Burke and Wills and King 

 returned to it. The Explorers opened the cache and found 

 the ample supply of food, and, as we now know from the 

 survivor, King, they debated about following the party who 

 had only a "few hours before left the spot, and which, as a 

 first day's journey is generally short, would be encamped so 

 near that the night would probably be sufficient to come up 

 with them. But, unfortunately, it was decided not to 

 follow, but to remain to recruit their strength ; and when 

 sufficiently recovered to undertake a journey, they deter- 

 mined, instead of following the obvious track home, to 

 endeavour to find a new one into South Australia, in which 

 they failed, although without knowing it they had actually 

 reached within about sixty miles of the station at Mount 

 Hopeless, when they exhausted their strength and provisions 

 by returning again to Cooper's Creek. The most inconceiv- 

 able part of this unlucky series of mischances has yet to be 

 told, and has never been clearly set down. 



Before leaving Cooper's Creek for Mount Hopeless, the 

 explorers buried their papers, &a, in the cache from which 

 they took the food, and then with fatal accuracy restored 

 everything above to the exact condition in which they found 

 it — they not only lighted their fires over the disturbed 

 ground, as Brahe had done, but actually picketed their 

 camels to the tree, to trample in the ashes and leave their 

 soil and footmarks exactly as he had left them, and finally, 

 by an almost incredible mischance, they neither defaced nor 

 altered Brake's notice on the tree, nor added any note or 

 mark or sign of their own to show that they had been there. 

 And this cost our heroes their lives. For while they were 

 on their fruitless journey towards South Australia, Mr. 



