"I leave the hired waggons and my own behind. The accursed impediments, the ruin of so many expeditions, I am determined shall not ruin me. "We all march on foot three or four hundred miles at all events, and the camels and horses will have to carry our weight in provisions. "We have already done so for the last forty miles. You should have seen old B----'s face, upon my announcing that all the officers would have to act as working men, and that we should only carry 30 lbs. weight of baggage for each man. "Loading camels and then marching twenty miles is no joke. The first two days of it nearly choked poor B----, and I think he will not be able to stand it much longer. "I am still confident of success, and willing to accept the alternative of success or disgrace, although failure is possible. This self-imposed task (as you justly call it) is no sinecure, and I think will take the sting out of me if I see it out. Good-bye, my dear S----. "From yours, ever sincerely, "R. O'HARA BURKE." In William John Wills we see the real hero of the expedition. He was an Englishman, born in Devonshire, and at his untimely end was but twenty-seven years of age. He was endowed with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. It manifested itself on the voyage out, where, in addition to his other studies, he acquired a knowledge of the science of navigation. After his arrival in Victoria, in 1853, his taste for science, which was also accompanied by a naturally courageous and enterprising spirit, displayed itself. At first he obtained an appointment in the Survey Department. He gained a knowledge of astronomical and other sciences to which the Observatory is dedicated, and was then admitted, through the influence of the Surveyor-General, into that establishment as an assistant. As early as 1855 the friends of young Wills had frequently heard him speak of his intention to explore the unknown interior of Australia, and to be one of the first to reach the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria. In 1856 a proposal was mooted to send out an expedition, and, on hearing of this, Mr. Wills walked from the river Wannon to Ballarat, a distance of ninety miles, to offer his services; but the project was abandoned. His scientific attainments had qualified him for an important post in the expedition of 1860, and he joined it in the capacity of astronomical and meteorological observer. Of his fitness for exploring, the Rev. Julian Woods writes--"Having studied every journal connected with Australian exploration, and become, as it were personally acquainted with all our discoverers, I conscientiously say I have not met with so courageous, so noble, so fine an explorer as William John Wills." [Illustration: WILLIAM JOHN WILLS. _From Photo_--HILL, Melbourne.]