A discussion of the tracing copy of the maps created by William Wills to document the progress of the Burke and Wills expedition.

The map shows the route taken from just beyond Cooper's Creek (the location of the Dig Tree) north to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

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TRANSCRIPT

-Right behind me is particularly interesting. It's a tracing of the route that was taken by the explorers between Cooper's Creek and the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Public Record Office has it as part of their Burke and Wills documents. It's also fascinating, not just because of its incredible details and where they're going and everything, but it was also recovered from the famous Dig Tree, where Burke had carved the sign "dig" on a tree so that the people, the relief parties, coming up would be able to find the information, where he'd gone, and this map. And of course, they didn't find it.