been left alone; but after travelling a short distance, Mr. Burke
did not feel well, and returned. At the place mentioned by my son
as having dismounted, he told McDonough that he wished to make some
observations, and was going to a rising ground at a distance; that
the camels should feed, but he was not to lose sight of them for an
instant. Instead of attending to his instructions, McDonough set to
work to light a fire and boil his pannikin. Perhaps he went to
sleep; for he pointed out some stunted bushes in the distance and
said they were the camels. My son then sent him to search for them,
but they could not be found. King, the only survivor of the party,
on his examination, said:--

Mr. Wills told me that the camels were lost through
McDonough's neglect during the time he was writing and taking
observations.

Question 1737. McDonough never disputed that, did he?--McDonough
told me that it was while they were at supper in the evening; but I
do not see how that could be, because they generally took supper,
and ourselves, about six o'clock; and it was so dark that they
could not see the camels, so that they were most likely lost when
Mr. Wills was taking observations.

. . .

Mr. Burke, in his report from Cooper's Creek, dated December
the 13th, says:--"Mr. Wills, upon one occasion, travelled ninety
miles to the north, without finding water, when his camels escaped,
and he and the man who accompanied him were obliged to return on
foot, which they accomplished in forty-eight hours. Fortunately,