npacked all the horses at the end of
our twenty-nine mile stage; it was then too dark to reach the lower or
best water-holes. To-day there was an uncommon reversal of the usual
order in the weather--the early part of the day being hot and sultry,
but towards evening the sky became overcast and cloudy, and the
evening set in cold and windy. Next morning we found that one horse
had staked himself in the coronet very severely, and that he was quite
lame. I got some mulga wood out of the wound, but am afraid there is
much still remaining. This wood, used by the natives for spear-heads,
contains a virulent poisonous property, and a spear or stake wound
with it is very dangerous. The little mare that foaled at Mount Udor,
and was such an object of commiseration, has picked up wonderfully,
and is now in good working condition. I have another mare, Marzetti,
soon to foal; but as she is fat, I do not anticipate having to destroy
her progeny. We did not move the camp to-day. Numbers of bronze-winged
pigeons came to drink, and we shot several of them. The following day
Mr. Carmichael and I again mounted our horses, taking with us a week's
supply of rations, and started off intending to visit the high
mountain seen at our last farthest point. We left Alec Robinson again
in charge of the camp, as he had now got quite used to it, and said he
liked it. He always had my little dog Monkey for a companion. When
travelling through the spinifex we carried the little animal. He is an
excellent watchdog, and not a bird can come near the camp without his
giving warning. Alec had plenty of firearms and ammunition to defend
himself with, in case of an attack from the natives. This, however, I
did not anticipate; indeed, I wished they would come (in a friendly
way), and had instructed Alec to endeavour to detain one or two of
them until my return if they should chance to approach. Alec was a
very strange, indeed disagreeable and sometimes uncivil, sort of man;
he had found our travels so different from his preconceived ideas, as
he thought he was going on a picnic, and he often grumbled and
declared he would like to go back again. However, to remain at the
camp, with nothing whatever to do and plenty to eat, admirably suited
him, and I felt no compunction in leaving him by himself. I would not
have asked him to remain if I were in any way alarmed at his position.

We travelled now by a slightly different route, more easterly, as
there were other