. . .

FIELD BOOK 8.

CAMPS 112 TO 119. SOUTH LATITUDE 19 1/4 TO 17 DEGREES 53 MINUTES.

Lower part of Cloncurry.

. . .

FIELD BOOK 9.

Returning from Carpentaria to Cooper's Creek.

Sunday, February, 1861.--Finding the ground in such a state from the
heavy falls of rain, that camels could scarcely be got along, it
was decided to leave them at Camp 119, and for Mr. Burke and I to
proceed towards the sea on foot. After breakfast we accordingly
started, taking with us the horse and three days' provisions. Our
first difficulty was in crossing Billy's Creek, which we had to do
where it enters the river, a few hundred yards below the camp. In
getting the horse in here, he got bogged in a quicksand bank so
deeply as to be unable to stir, and we only succeeded in
extricating him by undermining him on the creek's side, and then
lugging him into the water. Having got all the things in safety, we
continued down the river bank, which bent about from east to west,
but kept a general north course. A great deal of the land was so
soft and rotten that the horse, with only a saddle and about
twenty-five pounds on his back, could scarcely walk over it. At a
distance of about five miles we again had him bogged in crossing a
small creek, after which he seemed so weak that we had great doubts
about getting him on. We, however, found some better ground close
to the water's edge, where the sandstone rock crops out, and we
stuck to it as far as possible. Finding that the river was bending
about so much that we were making very little progress in a
northerly direction, we struck off due north and soon came on some
table-land, where the soil is shallow and gravelly, and clothed
with box and swamp gums. Patches of the land were very boggy, but
the main portion was sound enough; beyond this we came on an open
plain, covered with water up to one's ankles. The soil here was a
stiff clay, and the surface very uneven, so that between the tufts
of grass one was frequently knee deep in water. The bottom,
however, was sound and no fear of bogging. After floundering
through this for several miles, we came to a path formed by the
blacks, and there were distinct signs of a recent migration in a
southerly direction. By making use of this path we got on much
better, for the ground was well trodden and hard. At rather more
than a mile, the path entered a forest through which flowed a nice
watercourse, and we had not gone far before we found pl