Cornish Creeks, but did not follow it down to the Barcoo, striking that
river higher up. On the Barcoo they had a slight skirmish with the
blacks, who nearly surprised them during the night.

Landsborough was now back in well-known country; some of it, in fact, he
had been over before himself, and from the number of trees they saw
marked with different initials, it was evident that before long stock
would be on its way out. He crossed on to the Warrego, followed that
river down, and on the 21st of May came to the station of Messrs.
Neilson and Williams, where they heard of the fate of Burke and Wills,
the objects of their search. From here the party proceeded to the
Darling, and finally to Melbourne.

On Landsborough's arrival in Melbourne, he found that rumour had
accredited him with being more interested in looking for available
pastoral country than in hunting for Burke and Wills. So far as can be
seen, this accusation was utterly groundless, as there was no saying to
what part of the Gulf Burke and Wills would penetrate, and he was as
likely to meet with traces of them on the Barcoo as well as anywhere
else. With the general belief then current, of the desert nature of the
interior, nobody dreamt that four inexperienced men would have been able
to cross so easily in such a straight line.

The charge lay in a newspaper paragraph that went the round of the daily
papers, an extract from which runs as follows:--


"Great credit must be given to Mr. Landsborough for the celerity with
which he has accomplished the expedition. At the same time, its object
seems to have been lost sight of at a very early stage of the journey, as