McKinlay finds other traces of Burke and Wills |
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| Title : | McKinlay finds other traces of Burke and Wills |
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| Creator : | McKinlay, John, 1819-1872 | ||
| Source : | McKinlay's journal of exploration in the interior of Australia: (Burke relief expedition), p. 12 | ||
| Place Of Creation : | Melbourne | ||
| Publisher : | F.F. Bailliere | ||
| Date of creation : | 1862 | ||
| Additional Creator : | Burke and Wills Expedition (1860-1861) | ||
| Format : | Book | ||
| Catalogue record | |||
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| Description : |
After exhuming the body McKinlay meticulously recorded details of it. He also measured the major bones of the body, as a possible guide to identity, and re-buried them. He blazed a nearby tree to show when he had been in the area. He questioned the Aboriginal man, who had shown him the grave, about the body and searched more widely for evidence of the Burke and Wills party. Horse and camel dung was found and a quantity of fish bones. They found burned bones in an old fire, and traces of a Nautical Almanac used for surveying. John McKinlay was convinced the entire party had been killed in this area. After exhuming the body McKinlay meticulously recorded details of it. He also measured the major bones of the body, as a possible guide to identity, and re-buried them. He blazed a nearby tree to show when he had been in the area. He questioned the Aboriginal man, who had shown him the grave, about the body and searched more widely for evidence of the Burke and Wills party. Horse and camel dung was found and a quantity of fish bones. They found burned bones in an old fire, and traces of a Nautical Almanac used for surveying. John McKinlay was convinced the entire party had been killed in this area. The body was identified as that of Charles Gray, who had died of exhaustion and starvation. Burke and Wills also died of these natural causes despite the assistance they had been given by the local Aboriginal people. John King had remained alive with their help long enough to be rescued by AW Howitt, leader of another search party. He was the sole survivor of the very expensively equipped Burke and Wills expedition. John McKinlay, having found Gray's body, sent a report back to Adelaide and learnt from Hodgkinson on his return of Howitt's success. McKinlay decided to continue across Australia to the Gulf of Carpentaria and return to Adelaide via Port Denison and a coastal steamer. |
| Subjects | |
| Related names : | Gray, Charles d.1861 McKinlay, John, 1819-1872 Wills, William John, 1834-1861 Burke, Robert O'Hara, 1821-1861 |
| Coverage year : | 1861 |
| Place : | Lake Massacre |
| Further reading : | Bonyhady, Tim Burke & Wills: from Melbourne to myth Balmain, N.S.W.: David Ell Press, 1991 Moorehead, Alan, Cooper's Creek London: Hamish Hamilton, c1963 Murgatroyd, Sarah, The dig tree: the story of Burke and Wills Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2002 McLaren, Ian F. The Victorian Exploring Expedition and relieving expeditions, 1860-61: the Burke and Wills tragedy [Melbourne]: Royal Historical Society of Victoria, 1960 Lockwood, Kim, Big John: the extraordinary adventures of John McKinlay 1819-1872 Melbourne: State Library of Victoria, 1995 Morphett, George C. 'Gray's grave at Lake Massacre', vol. 40, 1938/39, pp. 12-42, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Societyof Australasia (South Australian Branch) |
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