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Unfortunately, no.
Burke and Wills did not discover anything of value on their arduous trek across Australia's inland. They travelled from Melbourne, in the south, to the Gulf of Carpentaria. They found no new rivers and no new pasture land.
Their greatest claim to fame is the unfortunate fact that they embarked upon the biggest, most expensive expedition in Australia's history, and due to Burke's impatience, it ended up the most disastrous, with the loss of three lives.
What else can I help you with?
Did Burke and Wills make it to the Gulf of Carpentaria?
Yes. Burke and Wills did reach the Gulf of Carpentaria, but dense mangroves prevented them from actually seeing the ocean. Burke and Wills did not survive the journey back to Melbourne.
Did Burke and Wills make it to where they wanted to go?
Yes. Explorers Burke and Wills did reach the Gulf of Carpentaria, but dense mangroves prevented them from actually seeing the ocean. Burke and Wills did not survive the journey back to Melbourne.
What were Burke and Wills looking for?
Burke and Wills, like John McDouall Stuart in South Australia, were seeking a suitable route for a telegraph line from the southern regions of Australia to the north. A telegraph link to the rest of the world was available off Java, but it had to be linked to a centre in the north, then an overland telegraph line constructed to carry messages down to the main cities in the south. Both South Australia and Victoria were vying to be the first to make a successful crossing of the continent, and both states offered sizable rewards. Burke and Wills represented the Victorian bid to cross the continent.
What was the importance of the Burke and Wills expedition?
Burke and Wills, like John McDouall Stuart in South Australia, were seeking a suitable route for a telegraph line from the southern regions of Australia to the north. A telegraph link to the rest of the world was available off Java, but it had to be linked to a centre in the north, then an overland telegraph line constructed to carry messages down to the main cities in the south. Both South Australia and Victoria were vying to be the first to make a successful crossing of the continent, and both states offered sizable rewards. Burke and Wills represented the Victorian bid to cross the continent.
What was the goal of the Burke and Wills expedition?
Burke and Wills, like John McDouall Stuart in South Australia, were seeking a suitable route for a telegraph line from the southern regions of Australia to the north. A telegraph link to the rest of the world was available off Java, but it had to be linked to a centre in the north, then an overland telegraph line constructed to carry messages down to the main cities in the south. Both South Australia and Victoria were vying to be the first to make a successful crossing of the continent, and both states offered sizable rewards. Burke and Wills represented the Victorian bid to cross the continent.
What was the main purpose of the 1860 expedition with Burke and Wills?
Burke and Wills, like John McDouall Stuart in South Australia, were seeking a suitable route for a telegraph line from the southern regions of Australia to the north. A telegraph link to the rest of the world was available off Java, but it had to be linked to a centre in the north, then an overland telegraph line constructed to carry messages down to the main cities in the south. Both South Australia and Victoria were vying to be the first to make a successful crossing of the continent, and both states offered sizable rewards. Burke and Wills represented the Victorian bid to cross the continent.
How are Burke and wills significant to Australia?
Burke and Wills are significant to Australia, because they represent one of the most disastrous chapters in Australia's exploration history. The expedition of Burke and Wills was one of the largest to ever be undertaken in Australian history - and one of the most tragic. Robert O'Hara Burke, with William Wills appointed second-in-command, led the 1860-61 expedition to try to cross Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north - and back again. Their party was very well equipped and, because of its size, was split at Menindee so that Burke could race ahead to the Gulf of Carpentaria with a smaller group. Part of this smaller group established a depot at Cooper Creek to stock provisions for when the explorers returned from the Gulf. Burke chose the wrong tim,e of year to make the push for the north, leaving in December 1860 - Australia's summer. He took with him Wills, Charles Gray and John King. The expedition to the Gulf took much longer than Burke expected: when he returned to Cooper Creek, he found that the relief party had left just seven hours earlier, which was actually less than how much time it had taken to bury Gray, who had died on the return journey. Through poor judgement, lack of observation and a series of miscommunications, Burke and Wills never met up with the relief party. They perished on the banks of Cooper Creek. King alone survived to lead the rescue party to the remains of Burke and Wills, and the failure of one of the most elaborately planned expeditions in Australia's history. Burke and Wills, whilst possibly the first to actually cross the continent, essentially lost the race to John MacDougall Stuart who crossed Australia on his third attempt and returned alive.
Were Burke and Wills trying to prove or disprove anything?
The objective of Burke and Wills' expedition was not to prove anything: it was more to win the race across the continent. The Burke and Wills expedition had the potential to be very important to the state of Victoria. Burke and Wills, like John McDouall Stuart in South Australia, were seeking a suitable route for a telegraph line from the southern regions of Australia to the north. A telegraph link to the rest of the world was available off Java, but it had to be linked to a centre in the north, then an overland telegraph line constructed to carry messages down to the main cities in the south. This would provide a very important link for Australia to the rest of the world, and Victoria wanted to be the first state to receive overseas news, as this would be a psychological advantage for the state. It also could have been the winning card to tip the authorities in favour of making Melbourne Australia's national capital in the future, over the larger and older Sydney (as it was, neither Melbourne nor Sydney was chosen). Both South Australia and Victoria were vying to be the first to make a successful crossing of the continent, and both states offered sizable rewards. Burke and Wills represented the Victorian bid to cross the continent. In the end, due to their premature deaths, the Burke and Wills expedition sadly had no lasting importance or significance for Australia, except in history books.
Where did Burke and Wills go?
Robert O'Hara Burke, with William Wills appointed second-in-command, led the 1860-61 expedition to try to cross Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north - and back again. Burke and Wills were sponsored by the Victorian government to be the first to make such a crossing. The party travelled via Menindee, where they established a depot and split the exploration party, and Cooper Creek where they established another base camp and again sit the party before pushing on to the Gulf.
Why was the Burke and Wills expedition known as the most tragic expedition in Australian history?
The Burke and Wills expedition of 1860-61 is considered one of Australia's most tragic expeditions because of the explorers' unnecessary deaths. Burke and Wills hoped to be the first explorers to cross overland from the south of Australia to the north. They departed from Melbourne and reached the Gulf of Carpentaria, but due to a series of misunderstandings and miscommunication, the relief party never reached Burke and Wills, and the men died out in the desert, on the banks of Cooper Creek. The exact cause of Burke and Wills's death was not starvation or malnutrition, but inadvertent poisoning. The men knew that the Aborigines gathered nardoo which they had used to sustain Burke and Wills, until they were frightened off by Burke's defensiveness against the Aborigines. So, whilst awaiting the rescue that never came, Burke and Wills made their way to where they knew Aborigines collected Nardoo. Nardoo was an important bush food for Aborigines, who knew how to prepare its seedpods (or, strictly speaking, sporocaps) to make flour. The sporocarps contain poisons that must first be removed for them to be eaten safely. Studies of the explorers' journals indicate that they probably died of nardoo poisoning, after failing to follow precautions from the Aborigines of how to prepare it safely.
What was the importance of the voyage of Robert Burke and William Wills?
Burke and Wills did not go on a voyage, which implies a ship's journey. They travelled inland through the Australian desert. Burke and Wills, like John McDouall Stuart in South Australia, were seeking a suitable route for the construction of a telegraph line from the southern regions of Australia to the north. A telegraph link to the rest of the world was available off Java, but it had to be linked to a centre in the north, then an overland telegraph line constructed to carry messages down to the main cities in the south. Both South Australia and Victoria were vying to be the first to make a successful crossing of the continent. The colonial governments in both Adelaide and Melbourne realised the importance of being the first city to receive communications via the telegraph, and so both states offered sizable rewards. Burke and Wills represented the Victorian bid to cross the continent.
What benefits did the Burke and Wills Expedition have on Australia?
Sad to say, the Burke and Wills expedition did not bring any notable benefits to Australia. It could be said that their expedition added to the knowledge of the Australian interior, but more knowledge was gained by the many search parties sent out to find them. It was, unfortunately, a large and expensive expedition that, in the end, proved quite futile.
