Wills's journal, which
was the best kept of the party, and is replete with information of
the country through which they passed. To Mr. Wills, senior, the
loss of his favourite son is a sad blow, under such distressing
circumstances; yet, amid all, young Wills was full of spirit to the
last, and his final entry in his journal must have been made just
six hours before he breathed his last. For him and for them, the
colonists in Australia have shed tears of sorrow, and the
Government have given instructions that their remains are to be
brought to the city, and interred with all the pomp and solemnity
befitting such an occasion. A sum of money is voted by Parliament
to mark specially the event by erecting an obelisk in some
conspicuous part of the city, most probably in face of one of our
Parliament Houses. A number of Devonians, however, have resolved to
subscribe, and with the consent of the municipal authorities, wish
to mark the event more especially in his native town; and it is
thought the Plains, at Totnes, is a suitable place for the erection
of such a monument. To that end, subscription lists will be opened
in our principal towns, and by next mail I hope to report that
satisfactory progress is being made. The school where he was
educated (Ashburton), conducted, too, by a Totnes man, Mr. Paige,
has not been forgotten; and as there are schoolfellows of Wills's
in this colony, they also intend bearing testimony to his worth by
placing a tablet, with the consent of the trustees, in the Grammar
School of St. Andrew's. None more worthy exists in that ancient
hall of learning.

In conclusion, I would just remark that the continent has been
traversed from north to south, but there is yet the important feat
of crossing from east to west. For whom is this wreath reserved? Is
it to be won by a Totnes or an Ashburton man, or one from this
country? Time will decide.

I remain,

Yours truly,

JOHN LAVINGTON EVANS.

. . .

A correspondent to the Bendigo Advertiser concluded a long
letter with the subjoined paragraph:--

Poor Wills, the martyr, whose history of the journey is all that
is left to us, is deserving of a nation's tears: his youth--his
enduring patience--his evenness of temper, which must have been
sorely tried--his lively disposition even in extremities--his
devotion to his leader--all tend to stamp him as the real
master-mind of the expedition, and as such let Victoria be justly
proud of him--let no fa