3. They were Australian explorers who were the first Europeans to cross Australia from south to north
4. They both died on the return trip from exhaustion and hunger.
5. Burke and Wills were inexperienced explorers; Burke was a police investigator and Wills was a surveyor and meteorologist.
6. Burke was chosen to lead the expedition across the inhospitable interior of Australia so that the state of Victoria could win the reward posted by the government of Australia for finding a north-south route.
7. The government wanted to build a telegraph line from Adelaide to the northern coast of Australia.