een feed. Made a very short journey to-day in consequence of
the horses being quite lame. In addition to their want of shoes, a stiff,
tenacious brown clay adhered to the hoof, and picked up the small round
stones, which pressed on the frog of the foot. These pebbles were as
firmly packed as if they had been put in with cement, so that we had hard
work to keep the hoofs clear. Distance travelled, sixteen miles. Weather
showery.

Thursday, 1st July, Gum Greek. The horses have had such poor food for the
last week that I shall rest them to-day. About half a mile below us there
is a large water hole a quarter of a mile long, with a number of black
ducks upon it, but they are very shy. It rained very heavily and without
intermission all last night and to-day. This creek is visited by a great
many natives. We saw them making away as we approached.

Friday, 2nd July, Same Place. The creek came down last night: it is now a
sheet of water two hundred yards broad. Started at 8.45 a.m. over a stony
plain on a bearing of 309 degrees, to the saddle in the range. I ascended
one of the highest hills in this range, but the day was too dull to see
far. I could, however, distinguish what appeared to be a wooded country*
in the distance, from south-west to north-east. (* This "wooded country"
afterwards turned out to be sand hills, with scrub.) Observing that the
country a little more to the north was less stony, I changed our course
to a bearing of 344 degrees, over a plain thinly covered with gravelly
stones, consisting of quartz, ironstone, and a dark reddish-brown stone,
with a good deal of gypsum cropping out. The soil is of a light-brown
colour, with plenty of dry grass upon it, and very little salt bush. In
the spring time it must look beautiful. The country was so boggy from the
heavy rains, that for the sake of my horse I was obliged to stop early.
Camped at a gum creek coming from the south-west, and running a little to
the east of north. Distance to-day, eighteen miles.

Sunday, 4th July, Same Place. Not the slightest appearance of a change.
It rained in torrents all night and all day, though at sundown it seemed
to be breaking a little. The creek came down in the forenoon, overflowed
its banks, and left us on an island before we knew what we were about. We
were obliged to seek a higher place. Not content with depriving us of our
first worley, it has now forced us to retreat to a bare hill, without any
protection from the weat