Here it had been arranged to form a depot. Although the main portion of the stores had not arrived, Burke decided on making the attempt to cross the continent without delay. With Mr. Wills, his second in command, two men, one horse, and six camels, he started on the 13th December, leaving a small party behind, with verbal instructions that they would be back in about three months. Burke's small party crossed the continent, and reached tide-water of the Gulf of Carpentaria, about miles from Cooper's Creek, on 10th February After three days delay they started to return; their provisions soon ran short, and they were rapidly overcome with the fatigue of travelling in the wet season: one of the party died of exhaustion.
Completely worn out, they with great difficulty reached Cooper's Creek on the 21st April It was deserted. The expedition left Melbourne on Monday, 20 August with a total of 19 men, 27 camels and 23 horses. They reached Menindee on 23 September where several people resigned, including the second-in-command, George James Landells and the medical officer, Dr Hermann Beckler. Cooper Creek, miles further on, was reached on 11 November by the advanced group, the remainder being intended to catch up.
After a break, Burke decided to make a dash to the Gulf of Carpentaria, leaving on 16 December William Brahe was left in charge of the remaining party. Flooding rains and swamps meant they never saw open ocean.
Already weakened by starvation and exposure, progress on the return journey was slow and hampered by the tropical monsoon downpours of the wet season. Gray died four days before they reached the rendezvous at Cooper Creek. The other three rested for a day when they buried him. After quarrelling with Burke, Landells resigned at Menindee and Burke promoted Wills to second-in-command, replacing him as third officer by a local man, William Wright, who was barely literate and proved incompetent and unreliable.
Burke's instructions were perfectly clear on one point: his base camp was to be at Cooper's Creek. Instead he divided his party, transport and provisions, dashing on to Cooper's Creek with the advance party and ordering Wright to follow him with as little delay as possible. Wright was in no hurry. He hung about Menindee for three months, and when he at last set out lost his way, half his men and still more time.
Burke had had time to go to the Gulf of Carpentaria and back before Wright, with the vital reserve transport and provisions, managed to travel the four hundred miles km to Cooper's Creek. He took provisions for twelve weeks and six camels and a horse, which he used only as pack animals. Other explorers trudged when they had to, but Burke, with the best transport in the history of Australian exploration at his command, is the only one who chose to explore on foot.
The march to the gulf was made in extraordinarily favourable conditions, after a season of heavy rain. Charles Sturt 's Stony Desert was like a garden, full of lily ponds, and Burke's expedition, in this also unique, was never short of water and was able to travel in an almost straight line to its objective, without losing time searching for water.
Even so it took four months to do the miles km. They walked from 5 a. Gray could not stand the pace and died before they reached Camp LXV. Burke wrote, 'I am satisfied that the frame of man never was more severely taxed'. It was magnificent, but it was not exploration. Burke kept no journal; there was no time for scientific observation, and nothing useful was discovered as Burke's route was only practicable in unusual weather. Spurred by intercolonial rivalry, the rich colony of Victoria financed its own scientific expedition, and the flamboyant Burke, who wanted desperately to improve his fortunes, was chosen to lead it despite his inexperience.
Equipped with camels, horses, and supplies for 2 years, 15 men left Melbourne on Aug. The party reached Menindee along the Darling River in October without mishap. Burke, with seven men, then pushed rapidly ahead to Cooper's Creek, miles north. The remainder of the expedition, conveying heavy stores, made such slow progress that the impetuous Burke decided to make a dash for the coast with three companions.
Because of exceptional rains they encountered no water shortage and in February sighted the Gulf of Carpentaria beyond impenetrable mangrove swamps.
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