How long would it have taken to travel from Menindie to Wentworth in 1860? My gg grandparents took the excess gear of the Burke and Wills Expedition near Arumpo and then followed them into Menindie where Ellen Byrnes gave birth to Garrett on 22 Dec 1860. At this stage Menindie consisted of a hotel and its kitchen, a store, and two aboriginal huts. Yet by 1 Jan 1861 Daniel had managed to register the birth of his son in Wentworth (Informant - Daniel Burns, Father). Did this have to be in person??? There were no police/authorities in Menindie, and no telegraph. Much as it might appear that there was a regular river service to Menindie and beyond, the boat, the Mulgawaakee, that had taken up part of the Burke and Wills Expedition at Tarcoola on 8th October 1860, was the first boat to have managed to navigate the river in two years. Well before Garrett's birth it would have been dispatched from Menindie by Burke to get much needed extra funds. The next question is - how long would it have taken Daniel to get back to Menindie? He had left a wife with a four year old son, a two and a half year old daughter, and a newborn. Little two and a half year old Ellen was burnt - 24 agonising hours later she died; it was the 10th January. Would Daniel have had time to return to the family by then? The inquest records for this period are missing. Regards ...................Rusheen.