Films
The following section contains a series of films reflecting on Burke and Wills journey through the Australian desert, and the camels and cameleers that helped them along the way.
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Film - Michael Dillon, 'Andrew Harper farewells the Burke and Wills Environmental Expedition', 2010
Courtesy of Michael Dillon
Film - Michael Dillon, 'Andrew Harper farewells the Burke and Wills Environmental Expedition', 2010
- Australian Desert Expeditions represents the last living legacy of the Burke and Wills expedition, currently with 20 pack camels working in the northern Simpson desert along the Hay River with traditional owners and our ecologist doing flora and fauna surveys. And we're also the living legacy of this significant and important Afghan cultural heritage of the Afghani cameleers who shouldn't be forgotten, formed an integral part of departure here 150 years ago.
The-- It's interesting that it's come full circle. 150 years later, camels are still a very important tool in working out in the environment, the remote areas, and seeing exactly what's going on. Our environmental impact walking with a team of 20 pack camels is quite small compared to driving out there at the moment. And where we work, that's obviously very important in that fragile area.
So again, unlike Burke and Wills, we have to come back again and again, year in, year out.
I'd like to wish Jonathan all the best for his vehicle-based expedition along the original route, and I hope that we can be part of that journey next winter. Perhaps in April or May along parts of Cooper Creek.
Thank you.
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© Copyright of Michael Dillon
Courtesy of Michael Dillon
Andrew Harper of Australian Desert Expeditions speaks of the use of camels in contemporary scientific research at the official departure of the Burke and Wills Environmental Expedition at Royal Park on 20th August, 2010.
Film - Michael Dillon, '150 Years Between Camels', 2010
Courtesy of Michael Dillon and Burke and Wills Environmental Expedition
Film - Michael Dillon, '150 Years Between Camels', 2010
- Yeah. -We're at Mia Mia today reenacting the arrival of Burke and Wills for their Camp VI.
[BACKGROUND NOISE]
- Here we come. Here we are.
- Great to meet you.
- Fabulous to meet you.
- And a welcome to Mia Mia.
- Thank you very much.
- And has your-- Mr. Burke. How are you?
- Very good. Thank you, your lordship.
- And Mr. Wills?
- Wills. That's right.
- Mr. Wills.
- That's right. How are you?
- And has the traveling been well-received as you've come through?
- It's been fantastic. We left Melbourne six days ago to a wonderful reception of people saying goodbye to us.
- It's something that doesn't happen very often in the history of Australia-- where people have the bravery and the courage to take forward an expedition, though it might be well-equipped, to travel from the South to North run across our continent. What a remarkable sense of courage and achievement these people must have.
- When we look back and think about it, they were either extremely brave or extremely mad to want to go from one end of the country to the other not knowing what ahead at all. And I went live with the well wishes of Victoria. Not just local people from certain areas, but all of Victoria got behind them. And it was a great achievement for Victoria and the expedition that went out from Victoria itself.
- And those did the wonderful stump work that mounts there.
[LAUGHING]
[BACKGROUND NOISE]
[LAUGHING]
[CROWD LAUGHING]
[BACKGROUND NOISE]
- John, how brave are you?
- It actually doesn't take very much braveness. It's just--
- Oh, doesn't it?
---a bumpy ride.
- You look pretty brave to me.
- And a stinky ride.
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This media item is licensed under "All rights reserved". You cannot share (i.e. copy, distribute, transmit) or rework (i.e. alter, transform, build upon) this item, or use it for commercial purposes without the permission of the copyright owner. However, an exception can be made if your intended use meets the "fair dealing" criteria. Uses that meet this criteria include research or study; criticism or review; parody or satire; reporting news; enabling a person with a disability to access material; or professional advice by a lawyer, patent attorney, or trademark attorney.
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© Copyright of Michael Dillon
Courtesy of Michael Dillon and Burke and Wills Environmental Expedition
150 years ago the citizens of Mia Mia saw camels for the first time.
Now camels return again to celebrate along with the citizens of the Victorian town, the 150 anniversary of that special day. (Keep an eye out for the hungry camel).
Film - Michael Dillon, 'Dost Mahomet', 2010
Courtesy of Michael Dillon and Burke and Wills Environmental Expedition
Film - Michael Dillon, 'Dost Mahomet', 2010
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This media item is licensed under "All rights reserved". You cannot share (i.e. copy, distribute, transmit) or rework (i.e. alter, transform, build upon) this item, or use it for commercial purposes without the permission of the copyright owner. However, an exception can be made if your intended use meets the "fair dealing" criteria. Uses that meet this criteria include research or study; criticism or review; parody or satire; reporting news; enabling a person with a disability to access material; or professional advice by a lawyer, patent attorney, or trademark attorney.
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© Copyright of Michael Dillon
Courtesy of Michael Dillon and Burke and Wills Environmental Expedition
Dost Mahomet was one of the cameleers who came out from India to look after the 26 camels for the Burke and Wills Expedition.
Mahomet was the only cameleer to accompany the expedition as far as Cooper Creek.
After waiting at Cooper Creek in vain for Burke and Wills to return, Mahomet then spent the rest of his life in Menindee.
Each day he went to a quiet part of the town to pray. He is buried in Menindee with his grave facing East.
Film - Michael Dillon, 'Theatrical Camels', 2010
Courtesy of Michael Dillon and Burke and Wills Environmental Expedition
Film - Michael Dillon, 'Theatrical Camels', 2010
Camels are extraordinary creatures and Burke and Wills relied on them, absolutely, to get them through some difficult times. They weren't always very effective. Part of this may have been because of the fractious nature of some of these camels.
George Coppin was an impresario. And he-- At his Cremorne Gardens theatre complex, he had some camels in a play that he called, "The Demons of the Desert." So these camels had a walk-on part in his production of this play. And so they were thespians. And the exploring party paid $50-- 50 pounds each for six of these camels, and they joined a motley crew of camels that had been gathered together for the Burke and Wills Expedition.
I sometimes wonder whether the problems they had with camels were caused by one or some of these six highly strung actors who had bit parts in a play in Melbourne or Adelaide or wherever it was.
And they weren't used to the wide open spaces, and as a consequence they proved to be very hard to handle. One of them actually picked Ludwig Becker up by the seat of his pants and shook him. Other camels have been known to inflict life threatening and even fatal damage to people in that way.
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This media item is licensed under "All rights reserved". You cannot share (i.e. copy, distribute, transmit) or rework (i.e. alter, transform, build upon) this item, or use it for commercial purposes without the permission of the copyright owner. However, an exception can be made if your intended use meets the "fair dealing" criteria. Uses that meet this criteria include research or study; criticism or review; parody or satire; reporting news; enabling a person with a disability to access material; or professional advice by a lawyer, patent attorney, or trademark attorney.
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© Copyright of Michael Dillon
Courtesy of Michael Dillon and Burke and Wills Environmental Expedition
Artist Les Sprague tells us that although most of the Burke and Wills camels were imported from the Indian sub-continent, six camels had previously been owned by a Melbourne theatrical troupe.
These camels had had parts in a play and perhaps this explains why their camels were particularly temperamental.
They had been purchased from the Victorian theatrical entrepreneur George Coppin who had used them in his exotic menagerie at Cremorne Gardens.
Film - Public Record Office of Victoria, 'William Wills' survey map', Public Record Office of Victoria
Courtesy of Public Record Office Victoria
Film - Public Record Office of Victoria, 'William Wills' survey map', Public Record Office of Victoria
Right behind me is particularly interesting. It's a tracing of the route that was taken by the explorers between Cooper's Creek and the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Public Record Office has it as part of their Burke and Wills documents. It's also fascinating, not just because of its incredible details and where they're going and everything, but it was also recovered from the famous Dig Tree, where Burke had carved the sign "dig" on a tree so that the people, the relief parties, coming up would be able to find the information, where he'd gone, and this map. And of course, they didn't find it
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This media item is licensed under "All rights reserved". You cannot share (i.e. copy, distribute, transmit) or rework (i.e. alter, transform, build upon) this item, or use it for commercial purposes without the permission of the copyright owner. However, an exception can be made if your intended use meets the "fair dealing" criteria. Uses that meet this criteria include research or study; criticism or review; parody or satire; reporting news; enabling a person with a disability to access material; or professional advice by a lawyer, patent attorney, or trademark attorney.
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© Copyright of Public Record Office Victoria on behalf of the State of Victoria
Courtesy of Public Record Office Victoria
A discussion of the tracing copy of the maps created by William Wills to document the progress of the Burke and Wills expedition.
The map shows the route taken from just beyond Cooper's Creek (the location of the Dig Tree) north to the Gulf of Carpentaria.
