shes of a large fire, indicating that
there had been a party encamped there for several weeks; several trees
from six to eight inches in diameter had been cut down with iron axes in
fair condition, and the hut built by cutting notches in standing trees
and resting a large pole therein for a ridge. This hut had been burnt
apparently by the subsequent bush fires; and only some pieces of the
thickest timber remained unconsumed. Search was made for marked trees,
but none were found, nor were there any fragments of iron, leather, or
other material of the equipment of an exploring party, or of any bones of
animals other than those common to Australia. Had an exploring party been
destroyed there, there would most likely be some indications, and it may
therefore be inferred that the party proceeded on its journey. It could
not have been a camp of Leichhardt's in 1845, as it is 100 miles
south-west of his route to Port Essington, and it was only six or seven
years old, judging by the growth of the trees; having subsequently seen
some of Leichhardt's camps on the Burdekin, Mackenzie, and Barcoo Rivers,
a great similarity was observed in the mode of building the hut, and its
relative position with regard to the fire and water supply, and the
position with regard to the great features of the country was exactly
where a party going westward would first receive a check from the
waterless tableland between the Roper and Victoria Rivers, and would
probably camp and reconnoitre before attempting to cross to the
north-west coast."

Leichhardt's track, as far as the Elsey, seems tolerably plain and
entirely in accordance with the character of the man and his intentions.
Forced to retreat from the dry country west of the Thomson, he probably
followed that river to its head, and crossing the main watershed regained
and re-pursued his track of 1845, as far as the Roper, of which river
Elsey Creek is a tributary. When he left the camp seen by Gregory, he
would, going either south-west or west, find himself in the driest of dry
country, which is even now but sparsely settled. And there came the end.

Long before the last water they carried with them had been used, their
beasts would have all died, left here and there wherever they fell. So
too would the men. Differences of opinion would have arisen, and some
would have been for turning back, and others for keeping on. Some would
have persisted in changing the direction they were following, and