though it would
revive the hopes of many of the friends of Burke and his party. If
the white men spoken of in the letter are where Mr. Goyder imagines
them to be, it is not very likely that Mr. Howitt's relief party
would find them; so that it may, after all, be the destiny of South
Australia not only to find men to cross the Australian continent,
but to relieve and restore other explorers who have failed in that
hazardous attempt.

Mr. Burke's party consists of himself as leader, Mr. Wills,
astronomer and surveyor, and who is second in command,--two men,
six camels, and one horse. Dr. Wills, who is now in Adelaide,
having come round from Melbourne with the additional camels, says
that the two camels which a short time since made their way into
this colony overland, and were brought to town from Truro, were two
out of the three that belonged to his son, and that they were
allowed to stray, by a man left in charge of them whilst Mr. Wills
was engaged in some astronomical pursuits. The man left the camels
to make some tea, and, on his return, the animals had disappeared.
Two of them, as already stated, have been recovered, but no tidings
have been received of the third, unless it be the one recently said
to have arrived at Fort Bourke. We hope we shall soon have further
information, not only respecting Burke and his party, but also of
Stuart, the time of whose anticipated return now draws on rapidly.

***We had scarcely written the above lines when we received a
private telegram, informing us that Mr. Stuart was on his way to
Adelaide.

This intelligence raised my sinking hopes to a high pitch. I felt
convinced that this was the missing party. The black fellow had
described the animals, which the natives called "gobble gobble,"
from the noise they made in their throats. Mr. McKinlay put little
faith in the story; and I was vexed to hear by the next report from
him that he was not hastening to the rescue. But it would then have
been too late. The white men alluded to were, unquestionably,
Burke, my son, and King, with exaggeration as to their being
without clothes, and living on a raft.

Shortly after this I returned to Melbourne, and in another week the
sad catastrophe became public beyond all further doubt. The
intelligence had reached Melbourne on a Saturday night. I was
staying at that time at the house of my kind friend Mr. Orkney. He
had gone to the opera with Mrs. Orkney and another lady, and came
home about