The mock coronial enquiry was fascinating for all those attending, as the experts argued the case for the various theories about the actual causes of the deaths of the explorers, and the contributing factors. The coroner Dr Jane Hendtlass departed from the normal procedure by allowing the audience to ask questions of the witnesses, and by the second day there was considerable audience participation as people became more and more involved in the investigation. The slideshow below gives a good impression of the atmosphere of the day (Thanks to Burke and Wills Tours for permission to use the photos).
The following summary is the view of an audience member, and may not correspond at all to the findings that the coroner will make in due course.
Cause of death
The most probable physiological cause of death for Gray, Burke and Wills is beriberi, thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency. The symptoms described in Wills diary during the last stage of the return journey from the Gulf match clinical symptoms, and analysis of their diet suggests it was deficient in thiamine. The return journey was made on very limited rations. Thiamine deficiency would most probably have affected Gray more seriously as he was the biggest of the four men. Wills and King were both small and slightly built, so they fared better on the equally divided rations. Burke, Wills and King recovered to some extent when they returned to the Cooper because the cache at the Dig Tree contained oatmeal, a good source of thiamine, but the rations left provided about a month's supply, and Burke and Wills lasted for over two months more. During this time they copied the local aboriginal tribe and collected and ate nardoo (gnardu). It is possible that failure to prepare the nardoo properly meant that the porridge they made from it contained thiaminase, exacerbating their thiamine deficiency, but the inadequacy of their rations was probably the major contributor.
As well as determining the most probably cause of death, a coroner looks at the circumstances contributing to that cause. The circumstances that were discussed during the enquiry included the choice of Burke as a leader and his fitness for the job, the decisions that he made, the actions (or lack of action) of the Royal Society of Victoria both before the Expedition left and after they learned of Wright’s appointment by Burke.
Did King shoot Burke?
This is the question that always captures press interest. The case was well made by Dr Darrell Lewis, but it rests on an article by an anonymous journalist, reporting a story by an unnamed squatter, that he had been told by an unnamed aboriginal woman that she had witnessed a shooting of one white man by another at a camp. The identification of the men as Burke and King was based only on the squatter’s recognition from the woman’s description of the two men. With no corroborating evidence from any other source, this evidence is unlikely to be given much weight by the coroner. She did suggest some avenues by which more information might be sought, particularly by those involved in the Ballarat University project to investigate the relationship between the indigenous peoples and the Expedition.
Contributing Circumstances
Actions of the Royal Society of Victoria
The Royal Society of Victoria received criticism from the experts about the following actions:
The appointment of Burke as leader, a person with no appropriate experience, and a tendency to make rash decisions.
The failure to appoint any other officers with seriously useful exploration experience to back him up
In particular their failure to appoint a second surveyor, not only from the outset, but also as requested by Wills from Swan Hill and Balranald
Frequent changes of plan prior to the expeditions commencement, which meant they lost the chance to ship supplies by boat to Bilbarka on the Darling. Burke contributed to this decision because of his lack of trust of Cadell, the steamer operator.
The Society were also strongly criticised by one audience member for their inaction early in 1861. He felt that it should have become apparent that there was a possibility that Wright would not get to the Cooper in time to be useful, or even that he would not be able to complete the journey because he was travelling at the worst time of year, without a surveyor to navigate. However, no action by the RSV at this time would have prevented Gray’s death, but it might have meant that Burke and Wills were found at the Cooper before they died. In defence of the RSV’s inaction, you could say that Burke thought Wright had the skills (he was supposed to be an experienced bushman who knew the area), and had said this in his dispatch to the RSV about Wright’s appointment. And the RSV probably assumed that Burke wouldn't leave until Wright got there and set up a proper depot, and would not leave until the beginning of the Dry season in the north of Australia. They had no way of knowing that Burke had decided to head north at the beginning of the Wet.
Burke
General Peter Cosgrove looked at Burke from the point of view of a military man planning a campaign, and felt that he should have made much more effort to establish depots and supply lines. Burke’s tendency to rash decision making was discussed by him and others, and particular decisions that Burke made that contributed to the tragic end of the expedition were highlighted in various submissions. These were
The decision to leave Wright to follow when he should have known he didn't have the resources to do so (no surveyor, insufficient pack animals, no money from RSV
The decision to leave Cooper Creek in December, rather than wait. The Gulf party left without a proper depot established, taking the bare minimum of supplies with them, and leaving the equally small Depot party there with limited supplies. From Wills diary, it is clear that Burke had decided as early as Balranald to make the journey north as soon as possible, regardless of the time of year.
The decision to bury Gray, which delayed the return journey by a day. One suggestion made was that this might have been remorse on Burke’s part for having beaten him. Witnesses noted that the burial rites of aborigines allow a body to be left unburied if the group is on the move.
Critics of Burke’s decision-making often cite as an example the decision to head toward Mt Hopeless rather than to try to follow the Depot party back to Menindee, but Dave Phoenix, President of the Burke and Wills Society, said that he felt that this decision was reasonable, given that Burke knew that Sturt had travelled to and from the Cooper via this route. As a potential source of supplies and aid, Mt Hopeless was much closer than Menindee.
Wills
Although it was not part of his witness statement, Dave Phoenix pointed out in discussions over lunch that Wills could be seen to have some responsibility for Wright’s failure to reach the Cooper. Knowing that Wright did not have a surveyor in his party, Wills was to mark the track that Burke’s party took so that Wright could follow. However once Wright reached Bulloo he was unable to discover the onward route. When Trooper Lyons tried to follow Burke he got badly lost and nearly died in the attempt.
Lack of scientific knowledge
In the mid-nineteenth century vitamins were yet to be isolated and knowledge of nutrition was limited. Although diseases such as scurvy and beriberi were well-known and well-documented, their precise causes and methods of prevention were not. This is not relevant to the deaths of Burke, Wills and Gray, but is significant for those who died at Bulloo (Patten, Becker, Stone, Purcell). They died of scurvy, partly because they were too weak and disorganised to eat the preserved vegetables they had with them, but also because they were being treated with citric acid, then thought to be a cure (we now know it is the ascorbic acid in citrus that has the Vitamin C, not citric acid). Interestingly, the reason that Burke, Wills and Gray did not suffer from scurvy is that they found and ate portulaca, aka pigweed (see below), a rich source of vitamin C. Wills identification of this plant saved the Gulf party from a quick decline from scurvy, but they were still vulnerable to the slower deterioration that comes with beriberi. Another interesting fact about beriberi is that it affects the nervous system. Initially it is peripheral nerves that are damaged, but prolonged deficiency can affect the central nervous system. It is possible that this had an effect on Burke’s capacity to make rational decisions after they reached the Cooper, and it may also explain the fact that John King, although he survived, appears to have been profoundly and permanently affected by his ordeal.
