Carpentaria, more to the westward; that he had been driven back by
the natives, but would start again immediately. The Committee
thought it advisable to forward the intelligence to Mr. Burke. This
was done by a despatch to Swan Hill, where Mr. Foster was
superintendent of police. He accordingly sent on a trooper named
Lyons, who followed in the track of the party, and arrived at
Menindie just as Wright returned with his two natives, after
escorting the expedition to Torowoto. Lyons refused to give up the
despatch, as he had been ordered to place it in Mr. Burke's own
hands. Here was a plausible excuse for Wright, no doubt, so he sent
McPherson, a saddler by trade, who had been engaged en route by Mr.
Burke, accompanied by Dick, a native, to assist Lyons in his
pursuit of the leader. Had he put himself and the whole party in
motion at once, the subsequent misfortunes would have been averted.
Lyons and McPherson lost their way, being quite unable to overtake
Mr. Burke, who had eight days' start, travelling at the rate of
twenty miles a day. Neither had they ingenuity enough to find Mr.
Burke's tracks, although accompanied by a native, which is
inexplicable, if they trusted to Dick, who had both intelligence
and energy of purpose. He found his way back to Wright, however,
and was thus the means of saving the lives of the trooper and
McPherson.

Hodgkinson, we have seen, was despatched by Wright to Melbourne,
from Menindie, on the 19th of December, with letters assuming to be
written by himself, but, in fact, by Hodgkinson. Whether the
committee knew this does not appear: if they did not, here was one
reason for confirming Wright's appointment. Hodgkinson reached
Melbourne on the morning of the 30th, riding nearly four hundred
miles in eleven days. A meeting of the committee was called on