PLACE OF MEMORIES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5466, 26 August 1929, Page 3

PLACE OF MEMORIES.

INNAMINCKA. THE! BURKE AND WILLS DRAMA. Innamincka, a township on Cooper’s Creek, on the border of South Australia and Queensland, is a place well known to those interested in the early history of Australia, for it was here that the concluding act in the tragic drama of the Burke and Wills expedition was played out (says an article supplied by the Australian Inland J Mission to the Sydney “Sun”). This party set out from Melbourne on August 20, 18§0, and consisted of 15 white men, three native camel drivers, 28 horses, and 26 camels Before the whole sad chapter had closed seven of the white men and the bulk of the animals had perished. The fundamental mistake committed by Burke was to divide his forces from time to time and so cut himself off from the bulk of his supplies. The last division of the party took place near Innamincka, on Cooper’s Creek. Here Burke left portion of his party, and with Wills, John King, and William Grey he made a dash for the Gulf of Carpentaria. They duly reached the Gulf, but on the return journey Grey died, and they spent nine hours burying him. This nine hours was to cost Burke and Wills their Jives. They staggered on to the depot on Cooper’s Creek, to find, to their horror, that it was deserted. Brahe had left it only seven hours before, and had gone south to try and find the balance of the party that had not yet arrived. Brahe had chiselled “DIG” on the tree under which he buried an explanation to Burke, together with a small quantity of provisions. One would have thought that the best course fcr the deserted men would have been to follow and try and catch up the main party. But they felt too exhausted to attempt this. They buried a letter in the hole from which .they had taken the provisions and t’-ied to reach some cattle stations in South Australia. After their departure, Brahe and Wright returned to the depot, but did not look again in the hole under the tree, as it did not appear to have been disturbed. Meanwhile Burke and Wills and King were wandering in the same hill country trying to make for safety. They wandered for some time, until they were reduced to eating nardro seeds, crows’ flesh, and a fish or two caught in Cooper’s Creek. Burke and Wills succumbed within a few hours of each other, but some distance apart, and King buried both of them. He later got into touch with the blacks, who treated him with great kindness until, after the expiry of two months and ten days, he was rescued in a shocking condition by Alfred W. Hewitt, the leader of one oi several relief expeditions that had been sent out from different points when the news of the disaster reached Melbourne. Such in brief is the one sad incident that will always mark innamincka as a place to be remembered in Australian history. It fell to the lot of Edwin J. Welch to rescue John King in circumstances dramatic enough to be featured in a modern “movie" sensation. Welch, a surveyor, was second in command oi Hewitt’s relief expedition He was riding a horse along Cooper s -Creek early on a Sunday morning, when he encountered a large mob of excited blacks. Upon his approach the natives withdrew hurriedly, leaving one solitary figure, apparently covered with some scarecrow rags and part of a hat, alone in the sand. “Before T could pull up I had passed it,” says Welch in his diary, “and as I passed it tottered, threw up its hands in the attitude of prayer, and fell to the ground. When I turned back the figure had* partially risen. Hastily dismounting, I was soon beside it, excitedly asking : “Who in the name of wonder are you ?" He an swered •. “T am King, sir.’* For. & Bioment I did not grasp the thought that the object of the search was attained, but soon the facts were made plain, and so the sad history was made known to the world.” ‘ . Years have passed, and still that land is one of isolation. It is a widespread area of sandhills and gibberidges, a hard land in which drought seems to be the order of the day. Innamincka township is composed of a small hotel, a police station, and one house. There is a > passing population in good seasons, as it is on a main stock route and the large heap of empty bottles beside the hotel tells of many thirsty souls who have passed that way. In this isolated district the Australian In’and Mission has established the “Eleanor Symon H me” —so named in recognition of the beneficence of Sir Josiah Symon, of Adelaide, whose generous contribution /made possible the erection of the building.