. . .

Nothing can be clearer than the instructions herein conveyed; yet in
the face of them, Wright made no start until the 26th of January.
His answers to the Royal Commission were full of contradictions,
but to the main question of his delay he gave no answer at all.
From my own inquiries I never could make out that any one at
Menindie thought him fit for the post, or undertook to recommend
him. Captain Cadell did to the committee, but with Mr. Burke,
Captain Cadell was not on speaking terms.

Mr. Burke and my son proceeded onwards, accompanied by the reduced
party, consisting of Brahe, King, Gray, Patten, McDonough, and Dost
Mahomet, fifteen horses and sixteen camels, on the 29th of
September, 1860, and reached Cooper's Creek on the 11th of
November, a distance of about 250 miles. Here my son went out
occasionally, taking a man with him, to explore the country, far
and near. His great desire was to reach Carpentaria by the shortest
practicable cut, and he inclined to a direct northern course, or to
the eastward of north. The committee represented afterwards, as
prominently as they could put it, that Mr. Burke was left
unshackled on this point, but still suggestions were offered, which
a leader naturally considers he is expected to listen to. One of
these was, that on leaving Cooper's Creek they should proceed
towards Eyre's Creek and Sturt's Farthest (September, 1845); for
which I refer the reader to the map. My son could not see the
wisdom of this, as Sturt had declared that beyond that point he saw
nothing but an impenetrable desert. McDouall Stuart's return to
Adelaide was also reported, and that he was about to start again:
it therefore became a rival race as to who should reach the goal