![]() ![]() ![]() On 15 September 1861 a Victorian relief party led by Alfred Howitt and Edwin Welch found King living with the Yandruwandha. Burke and Wills, however, ate the plants raw. They carefully prepared the plant to eliminate the enzyme and gave it to the explorers. Nardoo was regularly eaten by the Yandruwandha people. The explorers contracted beri-beri by eating nardoo, a clover-like plant which contains an enzyme that breaks down thiamine They found the cache, which had enough supplies for a month, but instead of following Brahe back to Menindee or staying at the depot, on 22 April 1861 they decided to head south west to try to reach a station at Mount Hopeless.īurke and Wills died of malnutrition, which was accelerated by the onset of beri-beri – a deficiency of thiamine, vitamin B1. The tree has entered Australian folklore as the ‘Dig Tree’.Ībout nine hours after Brahe departed, Burke, Wills and King arrived. Into the tree he engraved the directions, ‘DIG 3FT NW APR 21 1861’. He buried a cache of food and a note stating his intention at the foot of a coolabah tree. Meanwhile, at the Cooper Creek depot, Brahe who had waited four months for Burke’s return, decided to return to Menindee on 21 April 1861. Wright’s supply party finally left Menindee for Cooper Creek on 26 January 1861.Įxtreme heat and illness forced the party to rest at the Bulloo River where Charles Stone, William Purcell and Ludwig Becker died of malnutrition and dysentery between 22 and 29 April. On 17 April 1861, four days before reaching their destination, Gray died from malnutrition. ![]() The party started their return journey to Cooper Creek on 12 February 1861. On about 9 February 1861 the four expeditioners reached the Bynoe River, near the Gulf of Carpentaria.īurke and Wills left the other two and tried to walk to the ocean but were unable to find a way through the mangrove swamps. The expedition’s departure from Royal Park, Melbourne on 20 August 1860 was a public spectacle watched by about 15,000 people. It was lavishly equipped with items including 50 gallons of rum to revive tired camels (there were 27 of them), and an oak table. The expedition, one of the most expensive in Australian history, was led by Robert O’Hara Burke, an Irishman with no exploration experience or skills in surveying or navigation. The Victorian Government and the Royal Society of Victoria, spurred by a desire to maintain Victoria’s position as the ‘most advanced’ colony, funded the Victorian Exploring Expedition and set it the task of being the first to traverse Australia from south to north. South Australian explorer John McDouall Stuart had already discovered productive grazing country during several expeditions from Adelaide to north of Lake Eyre by the late 1850s. They had three goals: scientific discovery, seeking new grazing land and finding a route for an overland telegraph line. Some Victorians, made wealthy from the gold rushes, were prepared to fund exploratory expeditions. In 1860 much of the interior of Australia remained uncharted. The expedition departs from the Royal Park ![]()
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