Comment: A rough summary of Burke & Wills

Submitted: Saturday, Jul 25, 2015 at 09:48

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A rough summary of Burke & Wills

Burke was an explorer in the early days of Australia. He tried to cross the continent from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpenteria, and back again in 1860. He died on the return journey.

Member - John G

I think there was one survivor, King, from the party that returned to Cooper Creek. He was found living with aborigines.

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Reply By: Robyn R4 - Saturday, Jul 25, 2015 at 14:05

Saturday, Jul 25, 2015 at 14:05

Without googling it up, I'm sure you're right.
I have a little boy presenting a speech on this at the moment-must go brush up on my facts so I can teach the kids...
:)

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Reply By: Sigmund - Saturday, Jul 25, 2015 at 14:56

Saturday, Jul 25, 2015 at 14:56

Yes. Alan Attwood wrote a semi-fictional account of King.

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Follow Up By: Sigmund - Saturday, Jul 25, 2015 at 14:57

Saturday, Jul 25, 2015 at 14:57

Burke's Solder it's called.

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Follow Up By: Sigmund - Saturday, Jul 25, 2015 at 14:58

Saturday, Jul 25, 2015 at 14:58

.... give or take an 'i' !

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Reply By: Steve in Kakadu - Saturday, Jul 25, 2015 at 21:02

Saturday, Jul 25, 2015 at 21:02

The best researched book on Burke and Wills.The Dig tree.

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Follow Up By: Sigmund - Friday, Jul 31, 2015 at 09:17

Friday, Jul 31, 2015 at 09:17

There's a new book by David Phoenix that looks promising.

An intro to his work can be found here:http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2009/01/19/2469474.htm

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Reply By: Alloy c/t - Sunday, Jul 26, 2015 at 09:57

Sunday, Jul 26, 2015 at 09:57

And the reason B + W died was because they foolishly did not follow the instructions given by the locals on how to prepare the seeds for local 'bread' rendering the 'flour' a slow but sure poison ……...

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Follow Up By: Sigmund - Friday, Jul 31, 2015 at 09:19

Friday, Jul 31, 2015 at 09:19

Indeed. Nardoo seeds need to be roasted and washed, so Burke died of vitamin deficiency. The nardoo inhibits the uptake of Vit B I think it is.

But really his arrogance killed him.

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