could be made of it there, 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 half-past ten.  I was surprised at their early return, and thought something unpleasant must have happened.  A servant came to say that he wished to speak with me privately, and then I received the terrible communication which had been announced at the theatre during an interval between the acts.  As soon as I had sufficiently recovered the shock, we proceeded in a car to the residence of Dr. Wilkie, the treasurer of the Committee.  He had heard a report, but was rather incredulous,