all his previous journeys, and
was much too valuable and faithful a creature to be left behind; besides,
she was second to none in enduring hardship and fatigue. They therefore
waited another night to give her time to recover, and Mr. Stuart named
the springs Polly Springs in her honour. On the 27th they again moved
northwards, still following the course of the Finke, and, after a short
journey of ten miles, camped at what were afterwards called Bennett
Springs. It is worthy of remark that while the horses were in this water
drinking, one of them kicked out a fish about eight inches long and three
broad--an excellent sign of the permanency of the water. Here several of
the horses were taken violently ill, and the next morning one of them
could not be found. Mr. Stuart writes:

"Thursday, 28th February, The Finke, Bennett Springs. Found all the
horses but one named Bennett. Sent two of the party out in search of him;
at 9 a.m. they returned, having been all round, but could see nothing of
him. I then sent out four, to go round the tracks and see if he had
strayed into the sand hills. At noon they returned unsuccessful. Sent
five men to search, but at 2 p.m. they likewise returned without having
discovered him. I then went out myself, and, in half-an-hour, found the
poor animal lying dead in a hole, very much swollen. Blood seemed to have
come from his mouth and nostrils. He must have died during the night. I
am afraid that there is some description of poisonous plant in the sand
hills, and that the horses have eaten some of it. As he lay he appeared
to have been coming from the sand hills, and making for the water. He
seemed to have fallen down three times before he died. I never saw horses
taken in the same way before--in a moment they fell down and became quite
paralysed. The cream-coloured horse, that was taken so ill last night,
must also have eaten the poison. We were upwards of two hours before we
could get him right. As soon as he got on his legs, his limbs shook so
that he immediately fell down. This he did for more than a dozen times.
As we were very much in want of hobble-straps, I sent Mr. Kekwick, with
three others, to take Bennett's skin and shoes off. We found no
indication of poison on opening him. This is a very great loss to me, for
he was one of my best packhorses--one that had been with me before, and
that I could depend upon for a hard push."

On the 2nd March, while still following the course of the