

10 Scientific Expeditions That Were Doomed From the Start - nickcobb
http://brainz.org/10-scientific-expeditions-were-doomed-start/

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The story of the expedition of Burke and Wills is also part of the History of
the camels in Australia - a story which is really something special.

In the year 1860 the ship Chinsurah arrived from Karachi in India at
Melbourne. It brought 24 dromedaries (one-humped Arabian camels) to Australia
and also some camel herders, called "Afghans". The camels were supposed to be
part of the expedition of Burke and Wills, which was financially supported by
the Royal Society of Victoria and aimed at crossing the australian continent
from south to north.

Two years earlier the Victorian Exploration Committee employed Mr. George
James Landells to buy camels for £3000 and recruit also some camel herders.

Six further camels were bought by the Victorian Exploration Committee,
imported to Australia on the ship Malta by Mr. White & Co.

On Mr. Landells explicit wishes, 60 gallons of rum were added to the supplies
of the expedition - not for himself, but for the camels! Mr. Landells had
convinced the Committee, that rum would prevent scurvy and improve the
survival of the camels in the desert.

On the 20th of August 1860 the expedition started with much public attention
from Melbourne with 26 camels, four camels stayed at home, because they were
ill.

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SkyMarshal
Drop the '10' in the title. Makes the submission sound like supermarket
tabloid linkbait. As common and effective on peoples' ape subroutines as it
is, it's not a writing style one should strive to emulate.

<http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html>

 _If the original title begins with a number or number + gratuitous adjective,
we'd appreciate it if you'd crop it. E.g. translate "10 Ways To Do X" to "How
To Do X," and "14 Amazing Ys" to "Ys." Exception: when the number is
meaningful, e.g. "The 5 Platonic Solids."_

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arethuza
Fergus Fleming has written an excellent book on some of the more daring/crazy
British expeditions of the 19th century:

"Barrow's Boys: A Stirring Story of Daring, Fortitude, and Outright Lunacy"

[http://www.amazon.com/Barrows-Boys-Stirring-Fortitude-
Outrig...](http://www.amazon.com/Barrows-Boys-Stirring-Fortitude-
Outright/dp/0802137946/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317996925&sr=8-1)

To my amazement after reading this book I discovered that one of the few
bodies recovered from the Franklin expedition is buried a couple of hundred
meters from my home in Edinburgh.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_lost_expedition>

[http://hidden-tracks-book.blogspot.com/2010/05/lt-irving-
mem...](http://hidden-tracks-book.blogspot.com/2010/05/lt-irving-
memorial.html)

