Burke & Wills: Heroes or Fools

In this first, full length episode of The Skeptical Historian, Juliana takes a deep dive into the legendary Burke and Wills Expedition to uncover some disturbing truths about these supposably heroic explorers. The Victorian Exploring Expedition left Victoria in August 1860, headed up by Robert O'Hara Burke. The aim was to cross the continent of Australia from south to north, and accompanying him were eighteen other men, twenty-seven camels, twenty three horses, two years worth of supplies, and approximately twenty-one tonnes of equipment. Despite this, it all went disastrously wrong and only one man would cross the continent and live to tell the tale. So what happened? Was it bad luck and a hard country, as we've often been told, or something more sinister? Listen in and find out.