Dost Mahomet was one of the cameleers who came out from India to look after the 26 camels for the Burke and Wills Expedition.

Mahomet was the only cameleer to accompany the expedition as far as Cooper Creek.

After waiting at Cooper Creek in vain for Burke and Wills to return, Mahomet then spent the rest of his life in Menindee.

Each day he went to a quiet part of the town to pray. He is buried in Menindee, his grave facing East.

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TRANSCRIPT

-When Burke and Wills reached Menindee here in 1860, they caused a sensation because they had so many camels. The local townsfolk, even though it was a very small population, had never seen camels before.

With those camels were cameleers, including Dost Mahomet. Now, he must've been one of the best, because he was shipped out from India with the camels and had looked after them all the way along. He must have been the best one, because Burke selected him to go to the Cooper Creek. And when they went up to the Cooper Creek, Burke broke out four men from that eight man party and made a dash for the gold.

Dost Mahomet waited for four months and four days for Burke to come back to Cooper Creek. Burke never returned. But when the party, the relief party, returned to Menindee, Dost Mohamet decided to stay here, and he got a job with a local Chinese baker.

Being a Muslim, he prayed every day facing the east. And when he was buried, they made sure that his grave faced the east.