BURKE AND WILLS
ANON Portrait of William John Wills. N.p., circa 1861
Lithograph portrait, 190 x 135 mm.; trimmed to an oval shape, original printed inscription laid down, fine.
Portrait of the famous explorer who was second-in-command on the ill-fated expedition led by Robert O'Hara Burke.
The Burke and Wills expedition, to cross Australia from south to north, was the most costly in the history of Australian exploration.
Robert O'Hara Burke, William Wills, John King and Charles Gray left the main party at Cooper's Creek depot on 16 December 1860 for the Gulf of Carpentaria. Having reached the Gulf on 11 February 1861, they returned to Cooper's Creek on 21 April to find that Brahe, who had been left in charge of the depot, had left, leaving only a small amount of supplies. It was decided that they would make their way towards Adelaide despite Wills's apprehensions. This decision would cost the lives of both Burke and Wills.
The government inquiry into the tragedy criticised Burke's leadership and decisions but there was little criticism of Wills, who did not attempt to usurp his leader Burke even when his personal judgment went against Burke's. Wills's diary reveals a man of fortitude who withstood the most hostile of conditions during an expedition which had only one survivor.
See Nan Kivell & Spence, p.50 (illustration).
$A875
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