navigable throughout for boats. Sturt came at a period when the country
lay faint under a prolonged drought and the rivers had dwindled down into
dry channels, with here and there a parched and meagre water-hole. The
following description of his is too often quoted as depicting the usual
state of the Australian interior:--

"In the creeks, weeds had grown and withered, and grown again; and young
saplings were now rising in their beds, nourished by the moisture that
still remained; but the large forest trees were drooping, and many were
dead. The emus with outstretched necks, gasping for breath, search the
channels of the rivers for water in vain; and the native dog, so thin
that he could hardly walk, seemed to implore some merciful hand to
despatch him."

[Map. Sturt's Route. Hume and Hovell's Route 1824.]

To Sturt and his companions, who were the first white men to face the
interior during a season of drought, the scene may not have seemed too
highly-coloured; but, in common with many of Sturt's graphic
word-pictures, his description applies only to special or rare
circumstances.

In 1828, no rain had fallen for two years, and even the dwellers on the
coastal lands began to despair of copious rainfalls. Whenever their
glance wandered over their own dried-up pastures, men's thoughts
naturally turned to that widespread and boundless swamp wherein the
Macquarie was lost to Oxley's quest; and many saw in the drought a
favourable opportunity to discover the ultimate destination of these lost
rivers. An expedition to the west was accordingly prepared in order to
solve the problem under these very different existing circumstances, and
Sturt was selected as leader. To Hamilton Hume was offered the position
of second in command, and, as the dry weather had brought all farming
operations to a standstill, he was able to accept it. Besides Sturt and
Hume, the party consisted of two soldiers and eight prisoners, two of the
latter being taken to return with despatches as soon as they had reached
the limit of the known country. They also had with them eight riding and
seven pack-horses, and two draught and eight pack-bullocks. A small boat
rigged up on a wheeled carriage was also taken; but like many others
carried into the interior, it never served any useful purpose.

The country was by this time well-known, and partly settled up to and
below Wellington Vale; but when Sturt reached Mount Harris, Oxley's
former depot camp, he