Page "Burke and Wills expedition" Paragraph 39

The expedition reached Swan Hill on 6 September 1860 and arrived in Balranald on 15 September 1860.

There, to lighten the load, they left behind their sugar, lime juice and some of their guns and ammunition.

At Gambala on 24 September, Burke decided to load some of the provisions onto the camels for the first time, and to lessen the burden on the horses ordered the men to walk.

He also ordered personal luggage be restricted to.

At Bilbarka on the Darling Burke and his second-in-command, Landells, argued after Burke decided to dump the 60 gallons (≈ 270 litres ) of rum that Landells had brought to feed to the camels in the belief that it prevented scurvy.

At Kinchega on the Darling, Landells resigned from the expedition, followed by the expedition's surgeon, Dr Hermann Beckler.

Third-in-command Wills was promoted to second-in-command.

They reached Menindee on 12 October having taken two months to travel from Melbourne-the regular mail coach did the journey in little more than a week.

Two of the expedition's five officers had resigned, thirteen members of the expedition had been fired and eight new men had been hired.