The Burke and Wills expedition was organised by the Royal Society of Victoria (RSV) in Australia in 1860–61. It initially consisted of nineteen men led by Robert O’Hara Burke, with William John Wills being a deputy commander. Its objective was the crossing of Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north, a distance of around 3,250 kilometres (approximately 2,000 miles).[1] Source
The other week I mentioned my book club book for last month was 👇
The Dig Tree – Sarah Murgatroyd 2002. non fiction
In 1860, an eccentric Irish police officer named Robert O’Hara Burke led a cavalcade of camels, wagons and men out of Melbourne. Accompanied by William Wills, a shy English scientist, he was prepared to risk everything to become the first European to cross the Australian continent.
A few months later, an ancient coolibah tree at Cooper Creek bore a strange carving: ‘Dig Under 3ft NW’. Burke, Wills and five other men were dead. The expedition had become an astonishing tragedy. source
The first chapter begins with descriptions of all the preparations going on in Royal Park.
What had me interested- and amused – were the paragraphs concerning the camels….needed to cover long distances of bush and desert……but never seen before by most of the people there
- .Many spectators made straight for the specially constructed stables on one side of the park. They were intrigued by the strange bellowing noises and peculiar odour emanating from the building. Those who manage to thrust their way inside were rewarded with the glimpse of four ‘ Indian’ sepoys, attired in white robes and red turbans trying to calm small herd of camels….(they) had been imported to conquer the deserts of central Australia.
- The animals were the pride of the expedition and enjoyed a level of care normally reserved for visiting English opera singers. In preparation for the journey they had each been fitted with a waterproof rug, complete with a hole for the hump, along with two sets of camel shoes ‘each made of several folds of leather and shod with iron’ designed for travelling over stony grounds
- Even river crossings had been catered for. ‘If becomes necessary to swim the camels, boasted The Argus , airbags are to be lashed under their jowls, so as to keep their heads clear when crossing deep streams’
- Every eventuality was catered for using the latest inventions. One ‘hospital camel’ was fitted with an enclosed stretcher which would ‘afford capital accommodation for invalids should sickness unfortunately visit the party’.
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And as you know I tend to get sidetracked – so after reading all that I was really interested in what happened to them in the end (the camels that is) 👇
Reprint of the original news article in The Age about the departure first published 1860👇
Good easy to read article 👇
https://www.explorebulloo.com.au/downloads/file/11/dig-tree-information-sheet-pdf
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Do many of you get sidetracked when reading……
Do you find ‘rabbit holes’ inviting…..
please tell me I’m not the only one
(To comment please click on post title and scroll down)
Still Waters 
I am a big jumper down rabbit holes – get sidetracked by tidbits too. Will read the links about the camels soon. See, I get sidetracked by the sidetracks of others.
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I definitely get side tracked. And reading one book is likely to send me down a whole range of similar ones.
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I love getting side-tracked as I read. I love to meander my way around books and ideas.
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Learning about the fate of the camels was very interesting, even with an inconclusive ending.
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I hhave read about the expedition several times before. Incredible the amount of stuff they took with them. I had never really thought about the camels. Of course I got sidetracked!
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