Burke & Wills: An Australian Expedition

In 1860-61 Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills led an expedition of 19 men with the intention of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north, a distance of around 3,250 kilometres. At that time most of the inland of Australia had not been explored by non-indigenous people and was completely unknown to the European settlers.

The south-north leg was successfully completed (except they were stopped by swampland 5 kilometres from the northern coastline) but owing to poor leadership and bad luck, both of the expedition's leaders died on the return journey. Altogether, seven men lost their lives, and only one man, John King, travelled the entire expedition and returned alive to Melbourne.

Using th concepts covered in class I want you to post your thoughts in a reflection piece on the following questions:

• What were some of the important features (includng equipment, technology and transportation) of a typical Australian overland explorer in the 1800's?
• How did the story of Burke and Wills unfold? Who do you think was to blame and what could have been done differently?
• What does this story tell you about early Australian exploration?

Your overall post that addresses the questions outlined above must be at least 350 words.

This post is due to be published up on your blog by Friday 4th of June.