Australia

King's Narrative. Mr. Burke and King go in search of the Natives, as a last resource. Death of Mr. Burke. King returns and finds Mr. Wills dead in the Gunyah. He falls in with the Natives and wanders about with them until 

Letters of sympathy and condolence; from Sir Henry Barkly; Major Egerton Warburton; A.J. Baker, Esquire; P.A. Jennings, Esquire; Dr. Mueller; The Council of Ballaarat East; Robert Watson, Esquire; John Lavington Evans, Esquire Meeting at Totnes. Resolution to erect a Monument to Mr. Wills. Proceedings in the Royal Geographical Society of London. Letter from Sir Roderick Murchison to Dr. Wills. Dr. Wills's Reply. The Lost Explorers, a poetical tribute. Concluding Observations.

FROM MELBOURNE TO THE GULF OF CARPENTARIA.
FROM THE JOURNALS AND LETTERS OF WILLIAM JOHN WILLS.
EDITED BY HIS FATHER, WILLIAM WILLS.

by William John Wills

1863

APPENDIX A.

INSTRUCTIONS TO LEADER.

Exploration Committee, Royal Society of Victoria, Melbourne, 18th August, 1860.

SIR,

I am directed by the Committee to convey to you the instructions and views which have been adopted in connection with the duties which devolve upon you as Leader of the party now organized to explore the interior of Australia.

In order that the importance of the work done by Flinders may be adequately appreciated, it is necessary to understand the state of information concerning Australian geography before the time of his discoveries. Not only did he complete the main outlines of the map of the continent, but he filled in many details in parts that had been traversed by his predecessors.

Charles Mathieu Isidore Decaen was born at Caen, the ancient and picturesque capital of Normandy, on April 13th, 1769. Left an orphan at the age of twelve, his education was superintended by a friend of his father, who had been a public official. At the end of his schooldays he studied law under an advocate of local celebrity, M. Lasseret.

Apart from Admiral Pasley, two officers who participated in Lord Howe's victory on "the glorious First of June," had an important influence upon the later career of Flinders. The first of these, Captain John Hunter, had served on the flagship Queen Charlotte. The second, Henry Waterhouse, had been fifth lieutenant on the Bellerophon. Flinders was under the orders of both of them on his next voyage.

At four o'clock in the afternoon of December 17th the Cumberland entered Port Louis, where Flinders learnt that Le Geographe had sailed for France on the previous day. As soon as he could land he went ashore to present himself to the Governor, whom he found to be at dinner.

The patching up of the Reliance not being surgeon's work, Bass, throbbing with energy, looked about him for some useful employment. The whole of the New South Wales settlement at this time consisted of an oblong - the town of Sydney itself - on the south side of Port Jackson, a few sprawling paddocks on either side of the fang-like limbs of the harbour, some small pieces of cultivated land further west, at and beyond Parramatta, and a cultivable area to the north-west on the banks of the Hawkesbury River.

We shall now see how a detention which had been designed as a sharp punishment of an officer who had not comported himself with perfect respect, and which Decaen never intended to be prolonged beyond about twelve months, dragged itself into years, and came to bear an aspect of obstinate malignity.