Friday, 13 August 1880, page 3.

At the request of the Entertainment Committee of the Sale Mechanics' Institute, Mr A W Howitt, our worthy police magistrate, will deliver his popular lecture on 'Exploration and the Burke and Wills Expedition.'

The mere announcement ought to fill the hall, for not only is the subject of surpassing interest, but no one is better qualified to handle it than the leader of the party which went out in successful search of the survivors of that ill-fated expedition.

Wednesday, 18 August 1880, Page 3.

Explorations in Central Australia

A lecture narrated by
A W Howitt, police magistrate and goldfields warden at Bairnsdale.

On Monday evening Mr Howitt, PM., at the [Sale] Mechanics' Institute, read his paper on Australian Exploration, making special reference to the Burke and Wills' Expedition.

The hall of the Institute was crowded. Mr Topping presided. Mr Howitt, in the course of his paper, referred to the explorations of Eyre, M'Kinley and Sturt, and dwelt eloquently on the fact that the vast interior of the continent, which was once supposed to be worthless, was now nearly all taken up for pastoral purposes.

He described the chief features of the country - its mountain ranges, rivers, and rolling sandy plains, its vegetation and geological character - interspercing his lecture with amusing anecdotes illustrative of native manners and customs.

The latter part of the paper related to the Burke and Wills Expedition. Mr Howitt was the leader of the party which ascertained the fate of the Victorian explorers, and his narration of the incidents of the discovery - the meeting with the survivor King, and the finding of the bodies of Burke and Wills was given very effectively, and was listened to with much interest.

A hearty vote of thanks was accorded by acclamation to Mr Howitt for his kindness in reading the paper, the proceeds of the evening being devoted to the funds of the Institute.