Subaru Legacy Outback Wagon

Admin | February 02, 2012 | Comments Off

Subaru Legacy Outback Wagon

Subaru Legacy Outback Wagon

In the mid-19th century the urge to explore Australia’s unknown interior was as keen as it was in other corners of the growing Empire. In 1860 an expedition began from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria, with the inexperienced Robert Burke as leader.

The Burke and Wills Expedition is Born

The expedition assembled with George Landells as Burke’s second in command and Wills as surveyor and navigator. The party of 19 men took 23 horses to pull six wagons laden with stores, and 26 camels newly introduced to Australia for use in desert conditions. Burke’s insistance on hauling two years’ supply of provisions from Melbourne instead of sending some ahead by ship and riverboat via Adelaide was the first of several bad decisions.

It took the expedition nearly two months to travel to Menindee in Western New South Wales, a journey the the mail coach did in little more than a week. By then, Landells and surgeon Dr Hermann Beckler had resigned and Burke had replaced most of the remaining men.

North from Coopers Creek

About halfway between Melbourne and the Gulf is Coopers Creek, South Australia. In 1860 this was the extreme inland point of European exploration. There Burke made a fateful decision. It was December and mid-summer was approaching, but he decided to press on regardless, taking seven men. Wiliam Wright was instructed to return to Menindee for more supplies.

Just inside the Queensland border, a depot was set up and Burke chose Wills, John King and Charles Gray to join him in the final push northward. The four remaining men led by William Brahe were instructed to wait for three months before assuming Burke’s party was not returning.

Despite the heat, Burke’s progress northwards was steady. In early February 1861 the party was halted by mangrove swamps just 5km from the Gulf of Carpentaria coast. Short of provisions, the four men were eventually forced to turn back without sighting the sea. The dry season of early summer was now giving way to monsoon weather, and the journey southward was much more difficult. Supplies were running out, and some of the camels had to be killed for food.

In April Burke, Wills and King staggered back to the depot. Gray had came down with dysentry and died four days earlier. Brahe had waited a month longer than instructed, but with food shortages, illness and injury among his party he had finally left – nine hours before the three survivors arrived. It was the worst of bad luck. Burke considered trying to catch Brahe but the three were simply too exhausted.