WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1861.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5, 20 November 1861, Page 2

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1861.

The simple annals of truth sometimes exceed the wildest pictures, the most fervid imagination can conceive. The whole range of romance might be searched in vain for anything so sadly, so mournfully afflicting in its every detail as the plain unvarnished story of the fate of the Victorian exploration expedition, as gathered from the lips of the sole" survivor of the party, and from the journal of one of the brave men who fell a martyr to his zeal in the cause of science. Under the auspices of a committee composed of savons learned in theory, but ignorant in practice, a costly expedition avas fitted out to explore the unknown interior of the Australian continent, and to find a passage from the southern extremity to the northern sz-aboard. A numerous party abundantly supplied with horses and camels and provisions, started from the settled districts of Victoria under the command of Mr. Burke. Arrived at Cooper's Creek, the point at which the real work of exploration commenced, Mr. Burke, with a small party, consisting of the second in command (Mr. Wills) and two men named Gray and King ; commenced his journey through the wilderness, to the north coast of the continent, the Gulf of Carpentaria. lie left a party behind, under Mr. Brahe, to await his return. From the journal kept by Mr. Vv ills, it appears that Burke did not understand that Brahe was to wait only a specified time, but intended, he should remain as long as the safety of himself and companions permitted. Brahe, however, understood, that the time was limited to a certain date, and after allowing a margin of several weeks over this period, and finding some of his party seriously ill, he fell back towards the settled districts. Before he went he left a note of his intended departure, and planted a supply of provisions. On his way towards Menindie he fell in with another contingent of Burkes original party, commanded by Mr. Wright. Before retracing their steps to Menindie, Wright and Brahe together paid a visit to the depot, where they

satisfied themselves that things were as they should he. They then took their party to JVlenindie, two of the number dying on the way. Intelligence was forwarded to Melbourne, and parties were then fitted up to go in search of the lost expedition. One was sent from Adelaide, another from Queensland, and a third, under.Mr. Ho wit t, started from Victoria. To the latter was left the rescuing of the sole survivor of Burkes party, and the gaining all the information that was left of the gallant but ill-fated expedition. Let us now follow Burke from his departure from Cooper's Creek to the termination of his journey-—the last long journey—the journey of life. After innumerable difficulties the four men gained the shores of Carpentaria, within a few miles of the sea coast. One of the party was then dangerously ill, and Burke and Wills determined to leave no doubt of their success, pushed on, on foot, through fearfully boggy and swampy land, to the coast. They came within sight of the ocean, and the object of their expedition was attained; they had now only to return in safety, to reap the rewards of their marvellous success. They had reached, from, the extreme south, the northern shores of the continent, a feat, in attempting which, many brave men had perished before them. But little did they think that fate was to be theirs, as, strong in spirit, though weak in body, they commenced their homeward route to Cooper's Creek. On the way the man Gray died, but Burke, Wills, and King, exhausted with fatigue, and starving with want, at last reached the depot—to find the companions they hoped to meet gone. Who shall compute the volumes of misery comprised in that o»e single word—gone. The Great Being who rules over all, alone can tell the feelings of those men who, buoyed up through extraordinary hardships by the one hope of meeting their companions, arrived at the spot to find themselves the sols tenants of the wilderness; and, to make their disappointment worse, they had the bitterness to learn that they were only a few hours too late; Brahe had left that very morning,—a few miles only ' separated them from him, but their condition made it impossible for them to overtake him. The solitary passenger left behind in the hurried escape from a burning ship, as he watches the boats out of hail passing out of view, may feel as Burke and his brave followers felt when they found themselves far beyond the bounds of civilization, deserted by those on whom they had relied. They indulged but little in bitter feelings ; probably each tried to sustain the others. We can only gather their feelings from a passage in Wills' journal, ■written weeks afterwards. " I feel much weaker than ever," he writes, v and can scarcely crawl out of the Mia Mia. Unless relief comes in some form or other, I cannot possibly last more than a fortnight. It is a great consolation, at least in this position of ours, to know that we have done all we could, and that our deaths will rather be the result of the mismanagement of others than of any rash acts of our own. Had we come to grief elsewhere we could only have blamed ourselves, but here we are returned to Cooper's Creek, where we had every reason to look for provisions and clothes, and yet we have to die of starvation, in spite of the explicit instructions given by Mr. Burke that the depot party should await our return, and the strong recommendation to the committee that we should be followed up by a party from Menindie." This was written two months after they, left Coopers Creek on their attempt to reach South Australia. They remained only two days at the depot, from which they procured what provisions Brahe had left them. They thought it hopeless to attempt to reach Minendie, and that they would try and make the Darling, and thence some out-station in South Australia. Surely some adverse fate attended them, or it was their destiny .to attain the object of-their journey and to perish in the hour of success, for they only missed being rescued by a few hours in time, both before their arrival at the depot and after their departure from it. Had they waited there a day or two longer—had they returned on the route to Minendie—had they even left at the depot a note of their visit to it, they would have been saved. Brahe and Wright, after they met on the road to Minendie, returned to the depot after Burke had left it, and found no traces of his having been there. Strange circumstance — fate had singled out from all those weary months, the few days during which'Brahe was

absent, for the lost expedition to arrive at the depot, and depart, l^othing more horrible could be added to the tragedy than the circumstance of the few hours, almost moments, that interfered between the rescue nearly at hand and the termination.

From the depot their journey was a slow lingering passage towards their destination, bat the whole time was occupied more in obtaining means of sustenance than by progressing on. their route. The coiled ion. of seed for food was what they had to depend on, —no hope remained to them of reaching the settled districts. Their sole chance, Mr. Wills says, was to live like the blacks, till succour could come to them. Alas it. came too late. One by one they ceased to have strength to gather the food which, though they swallowed it, imparted no sustenance. On the last day of his journal, in the paragraph to which is appended his signature, Will's writes: t; Nothing (sic) 'now but the greatest good luck can now save any of us; and as for myself, I may live four or five days, if the weather continues warm. My pulse is at forty-eight, and very weak, and my legs and arms are nearly skin and bone. I- can only look out like Mr.

Micaneber for something 'to turn up,' but starvation on Navdoo seed is by no means very unpleasant, but for the weakness one feels and the utter inability to move ones-self; for as far as appetite is concerned, it gives me the.greatest satisfaction." He lingered on a few days. First Burke perished; at his request his revolver was placed in his hands, probably because his name being on it he thought it would identify his remains, when, if ever, his white brethren should search them out. Then Wills died; and King, the survivor, was rescued.

The remains of the dead heroes are to be taken to Melbourne, splendid burial is to be given them, and costly monuments erected to their memory. They are not the first, by many hundreds, who have only had their merits recognised after death. One may grieve for their fates, but not for themselves. Some whom they have left behind may blame their own mismanagement for the end that has befallen the brave victims, and may almost envy the glorious deaths they have met. Martyrs to the cause of science, they have earned their country's gratitude, and let us hope— " After life's fitful fever, they sleep well."

An old saying informs us that " all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." If there is any truth in this (and we confess we think there is) the people of Dunedin will certainly become completely enveloped in dullness shortly, as they appear to be totally devoid of every species of amusement or recreation. Even the manly and invigorating gave of cricket finds no favour in the eyes of the men of Dunedin, who, all intent in the acquirement of riches seem unable to spare even a thought to anjr other subject. The very first newspaper ever published in Otago (now more than 3 3 'years ago) contained a challenge from the cricketers of Dunedin to the Cricket Club of Wellington—offering to play a match at any place equi-'district between Wellington and Otago ! Since that many attempts have been made to establish a Cricket Club in this town, but the} r seem all to have come to an untimely end, until at last we have almost come to the conclusion that there is something in the air of Otago inimical to such an ! undertaking. All the neighbouring colonies possess clubs of this discription, several of the Australian clubs have attained to such a-pro-ficiency as to challenge the " All England Eleven,'' and from the last news from Victoria it seems likely that several matches with, this renowned body will shortly take place. We should like to see another effort made to establish a Cricket Club in Dunedin, as we are convinced that the encouragement of innocent and healthful recreation of this description would prove beneficial, both in a social and moral point of view. In the Victorian Legislative Assembly some curious disclosures have been made relative to the trafficking that has taken place in the tendering for the conve3 ranee of mails within the colony. .Parties with no means or intention of fulfilling their contracts have been in the habit of tendering, probably at some low rate, and then extracting a douceur from honafide tenderers to withdraw. By mistake it was stated in yesterday's issue that Mr. Cutten had r_ signed his seat in the Executive Council at the instigation of the Provincial Government. It should have been at that of the General Government. The vacancy, we believe, is not yet filled. A valuable horse was severely injured in the cutting on Monday evening, owing to the furious driving of a butcher's boy. The shaft of the cart completely impaled the unfortunate animal, and we learn that it has since been destroyed. We trust that those who are in the habit of driving furiously through the streets will take warning from this accident, or else the next victim may be a human being instead of a horse. An "Awake nek."—JLast Sabbath, afternoon a worthy minister, observing by the time he reached the third head of his discourse, the drowsy disposition of several of his hearers, quietly remarked, " In the third place, those of you who are awake will notice," &c. — Scotch Paper. " Tiie present low price of wheat (says the Ballarak Slav) has induced many farmers to convert it into horse-feed by crushing, thus saving their oats, which, lire fetching a fair price in the market. They assert that wheat when crushee is quite as good as oats for horses, and that the annuals will fatten sooner on it, but they acknowledge that there is some danger in allowing a horse to take a drink of water after n feed of crushed wheat." ■ CORONER'S INQUEST. An inquest was held at the Provincial Hotel, Dunedin, on Monday the 18th inst, before 1~1. Ho worth, Esq., Coroner, on the body of Alexander Garry, late of Port Chalmers. Henry Harrison, master of the schooner " Jupiter," deposed to finding the body fioatr ing in the Harbour while on his way from Dunedin to Port Chalmers on Saturday the 16th instant.

Margaret Garry deposed to being the wife of the deceased Alex. Garry, and that the last time she saw him alive was that day fortnight. He was then going up to' D Lined in in a boat for flour. He did not return again, and on the following Wednesday, the 4th inst., she learned that the boat had capsized, and that her husband was drowned. By_ the jury—The clothes that are now on deceased's body, are th« same my husband had on the last time 1 saw him. At this stage the inquiry was postponed until the following day. Tuesday, 19th Nov. . George Rogers, on oath, deposed that he was a settler residing on the east side of the

Upper Harbour, and that he knew the deceased Alex. Garry. Went on Monday the 4th inst. He started from the Dunedin jetty in a dingey along with the deceased and three other men, that, when about half-way across the harbour, the boat sank, and they were all thrown into the water. The boat was heavily laden with flour and provisions, and a wave came in over her bows and swamped her. He did not see deceased after the boat went down. The boat afterwards came up bottom upwards, and he held on by it till rescued by another boat, which was coining up the harbour at the time. By the Jury. —It was blowing very hard at the time the accident took place. We were all sober. Before the boat sank we threw some of the flour overboard, but she only went down the faster, as the water then came in over* her stern. The passengers had tasted drink when we left the jetty, but none of them were drunk. The boat was not leaky, but she was too heavily laden, and when we felt her going down we all stood up.

The Jury then unanimously returned a verdict of accidental death, accompanied by the following presentment: —

" That the Jury do strongly deprecate the folly of men leaving the jetty in overladen boats, and wish the authorities to look into these matters in order to prevent any similar accidents for the future."

To the Editor of the Otago Daily Times. Dunedin, 19th Nov., 1861

Sir,- —I. am desirous of drawing your attention to the fact that amongst other public nuisances mentioned in your valuable paper, there exists one of some importance "which you have omitted to notice, viz., that of persons being allowed to erect tents upon the streets and unoccupied sections, to the annoyance and loss of the neighbours. It may be urged by some parties that they do no harm ; but, Sir, while admitting that the majority of these parties are very quiet and respectable, I most distinctly state that all are not so. Fencing is taken down and destroyed, and young trees are cut, causing damage in one instance of upwards of £50. Then again, upon Sunday,, if they do not choose to attend a place of worship, at all events it would be very easy to act in such a manner as not to offend the feelings of others, but this is the day upon which they collect firewood for the week, play at pitch and toss or quoits ; and some work at their usual trade, just the same as upon an ordinary day. If these parties were diggers who merely put up a tent for a day or two and then went away, it would not be of so much consequence, but nearly all are parties working in town, and some even "keep lodgers, and the majority have been occupying the tents for upwards of a month. Some time since the Government stated that a Canvas Town was being laid off near the old Cemetery. If so, why are not these people ordered there at once before another rush takes place from Melbourne ? —i am, &c. Equity.