which he
had served so well, and was awarded the gold medal of the Royal
Geographical Society. He went to reside in England, where he died in the
year 1869, on the 16th of July.

CHAPTER 14. BURKE AND WILLS.

[Illustration. Robert O'Hara Burke. From a photograph in the possession
of E.J. Welch, of the Howitt Relief Expedition.

Illustration. William John Wills. From a photo in possession of E.J.
Welch, of the Howitt Relief Expedition.

Illustration. John King. From a photo in the possession of E.J. Welch.]

We have now to deal with an exploring expedition of greater notoriety
than that of any similar enterprise in the annals of Australia, though
its results in the way of actual exploration in the true meaning of the
term were quite insignificant. The expedition could not reasonably hope
to reveal any new geographical conditions; for the nature of the country
to be traversed was fairly well-known: there was no such expanse of
unknown territory along the suggested course of travel as to justify the
anticipation of any discovery of magnitude. Both Kennedy and Gregory had
followed much the same line of route when tracing the course of the
Barcoo and Cooper's Creek, a short distance to the eastward. The only
apparent motive for the expedition seems to have been not particularly
creditable, the desire to outdo Stuart, who after nearly accomplishing
the task might well have been allowed the honour of completing it. But
Time is after all the great arbitrator: Stuart re-entered Adelaide
successful, on the same day that the bodies of Burke and Wills arrived
for shipment to Melbourne.

Robert O'Hara Burke was born in the county of Galway, in Ireland, in
1821. He was the second son of John Hardiman Burke, of St. Clerans, and
was educated in Belgium. In 1840 he entered the Austrian army, in which
he rose to the rank of Captain. In 1848 he joined the Royal Irish
Constabulary, but five years later emigrated to Tasmania. Thence he went
to Victoria, where he entered the local police force, and became an
Inspector. Such was his position when he was offered the command of the
expedition which ended in his death.

William John Wills was born at Totnes, in Devonshire. He was the son of a
medical man, and after his arrival in Victoria, in 1852, he led for a
time a bush life on the Edwards River. He was later employed as a
surveyor in Melbourne, and then became assistant to Professor Neumayer at
the Melbourne Observatory, a post