Dig Tree At Cooper Creek
It’s Cooper’s Creek we’re crossing here, Willis said to Burke
We need to have a base camp and this creek ought to work
I’ll put it in the journal, November 1861
It’s been four months since we started but our venture’s just begun
From Melbourne up to lands-end, they’ve asked us to explore
We’ll camp here till it’s cooler but not a whole lot more
But Willis, he got restless, so Burke said it’s OK
So they, with King and Gary, headed north one day
They reached the Little Bynoe after two months on the trail
But swamp lands blocked their passage and they were feeling frail
So back to Cooper’s Creek they turned though provisions were at nil
Three camels and a horse they shot, their bellies so to fill
They caught and ate a python but it gave them dysentery
And somewhere back to Cooper’s Creek, they stopped to bury Gary
Then once again at Cooper’s Creek, the three men planned to rest
Regroup with all the others then get on with their quest
But the campground was deserted, no one had stayed around
Left a message carved upon a tree and provisions under ground
So Burke and King and Willis rested for a while
Then headed north towards Mount Hopeless – a trip of 150 miles
They trudged north along the creek till their camels got bogged down
They had to shoot them, lose provisions and finally turn around
While the three were gone from camp, a rescue party came
Not finding anyone around, they thought it such a shame
They assumed no one had been there and the men were probably dead
They didn’t leave a thing behind just turned around instead
Back again at Cooper’s Creek, beneath the marked “dig tree”
Burke buried notes and journals in case he ceased to be
The Abos try to help them, native cooking 101
But Burke gets mad at someone and fires off his gun
The native help then vanish, the three are left alone
With nothing to sustain them so very far from home
Malnourished and exhausted, they start hiking up the creek
Then by the Breerily Waterhole, Willis gets too weak
Burk and King continue north a couple days
Then Burke dies the next morning and there his body lays
King returned to Breerily and finds Willis has died too
But he camps with some Yandruwandha that somehow get him through
And therein lies the story of Willis, Burke and King
Set off to find Australia but lost most everything
If you’re ever down in Queensland get out to Cooper’s Creek
It’s a carved stump of the “dig tree” for provisions that you seek
Copyright ©
Mike Dailey
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