Adventures with the Natives.
Discovery of Nardoo as a Substitute for Food.
Mr. Burke and King go in search of Natives as a last resource.
Mr. Wills left alone in the Desert.
The Last Entry in his Journal.
ON the morning of Thursday, the 23rd of April, 1861, Mr. Burke, my
son, and King, being refreshed and strengthened by the provisions
they found at Cooper's Creek, again resumed their journey
homewards. It was an unfortunate resolve of Burke's, to select the
route to the Adelaide district by Mount Hopeless, instead of
returning by the Darling. King says, "Mr. Wills and I were of
opinion that to follow Brahe was the best mode of proceeding; but
Mr. Burke had heard it stated positively at the meeting of the
Royal Society, that there were South Australian settlers within one
hundred miles of Cooper's Creek in the direction he proposed to
take;" and by this very questionable assertion, without evidence,
his mind was biassed. There was, in fact, nothing to recommend the
route by Mount Hopeless, while everything was in favour of that by
the Darling. Blanche Water, the nearest police-station on the
Adelaide line, was distant between four and five hundred miles.
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