Australian History
Book Details

A Journey to Cooper’s Creek

Hermann Beckler

Edited and with an Introduction by Stephen Jeffries
Translated by Stephen Jeffries and Michael Kertesz

The account of Hermann Beckler, German medical officer and botanical collector with the Burke and Wills expedition, translated and published for the first time.

Opinion

‘Beckler recorded what he saw with emotional delight and literary skill, and his account is a worthy addition to the literature of exploration. This fine production of the Miegunyah Press Series should ensure that Hermann Beckler’s name is no longer overlooked and ignored.’
Robert Wilson, The Canberra Times

About this Title

First-hand accounts of the myth-laden Burke and Wills expedition are remarkably few, in contrast to the reams of subsequent commentary and conjecture. Wills’s journal and statements by others in the party were published at the time, but little more.

Hermann Beckler, botanical collector and doctor to the expedition, wrote the only other substantial account, in his native German. The manuscript remained with his family for nearly a century. It is now published for the first time.

This highly readable account, with drawings and maps, offers insights into the causes of the expedition’s failure—an ill-chosen leader and route, and inappropriate and excessive supplies. In increasingly desperate conditions Beckler collected and identified the native flora, and recorded vivid and positive descriptions of the landscape and the Aboriginal people. His acute observations indicate what might have been achieved had the expedition pursued its scientific brief.

Table of Contents

Editor’s Preface; Introduction; Sources and Notes; EXPEDITION REPORT: Foreword; PART ONE: Introduction; 1. From Melbourne to Swan Hill on the Murray; 2. From Swan Hill to Bilbarka; 3. From Bilbarka to Menindee; Camp at Menindee and the first journey to Duroadoo; PART TWO: Introduction; 1. From the Darling to the Mountains: Mutanié Ranges; 2, From Mutanié to Duroadoo; 3. From Duroadoo to Mudplain Camp, and our sojourn there; 4. From Mudplain Camp to Bulla; 5. Bulla; 6. Return Journey; Editor’s Notes; Appendices: 1. Beckler’s reply to Dr William Wills; 2. Beckler’s application to the Royal Society; 3. Directions from the Exploration Committee; 4. Beckler’s letter of resignation to Burke; Index

About the Author

Dr Stephen Jeffries has researched a number of German travellers and settlers in nineteenth-century Australia.

Book Preview

978-0-522-84484-9