ch hope deferred, finding a few scanty waterholes that
did not serve the purpose he had in view, he succeeded in striking the
head of a chain of ponds running in a northerly direction. These being
followed down, led him to the head of the creek now called Daly Waters
Creek, and finally to the large waterhole on which the present telegraph
station bearing the name of Daly Waters, stands. The creek was then lost
in a swamp, and Stuart was unable to find the channel where it reformed,
which has since been named the Birdum. Missing this water-guide, Stuart
worked his way to the eastward, to a creek he named the Strangways, which
led him down to the Roper River, a river which he had never striven to
reach, his sole aim being the Victoria. He crossed the Roper, and
followed up a northern tributary, which he named after his constant
friend John Chambers.

Scarcity of water was now a thing of the past, but his stock of spare
horseshoes had to be most jealously guarded, for his horses were
beginning to fall lame, the country he was on was very stony, and he was
far removed from Adelaide. From the Chambers he came to the lower course
of a creek called by Leichhardt Flying-Fox Creek, re-named by Stuart the
Katherine, the name it now bears. Thence he struck across the stony
tableland and descended on the head waters of a river which he christened
the Adelaide, and on following this river down he found himself in rich
tropical scenery, which told him that at last he was approaching the
sea-shore.

On the 24th of July he turned a little to the north-east, intending to
strike the sea-beach and travel along it to the mouth of the Adelaide. He
told only two of the party of the eventful moment awaiting them. As they
rode on, Thring, who was riding ahead, suddenly called out, "The Sea,"
which so took the majority by surprise that they were some time before
they understood what was meant, and then three hearty cheers were given.

At this, his first point of contact with the ocean, Stuart dipped his
feet and hands in the sea, as at last he gazed across the water he had so
perseveringly striven for years to reach.

He attempted to get to the mouth of the Adelaide River along the beach,
but found it too boggy for the horses. Wishing to husband the forces at
his command, Stuart wisely resolved to push no further; he had a space
cleared where they were, and a tall sapling stripped of its boughs to
serve as a flagstaff. On this he hoisted the