r
that was finished."

From the above extract from Wells's Journal, it is evident that the
unfortunate men lost their lives through a mistake in judgment in
returning to Separation Well, the straying away of their camels, and the
merciless rays of the desert sun.

The account of this, the first expedition to cross the great sandy desert
from south to north, confirms in every particular Warburton's experiences
of the difficulties of exploration in that region. The intense heat of
the sun, and its radiation from the red sand-ridges, the heat from both
sky and earth, render it nearly impossible to travel during day, the only
time when a man can perceive those slight indications which may
eventually lead him to water. The traveller is therefore compelled to
make night-stages, and frequently passes unheeding the very pool or well
that would have saved his life. During the night not only are the natural
physical features difficult to discern, but the birds, those water-guides
of the desert, are sleeping.

As soon as the news that Jones and Wells were missing was wired to Perth,
the West Australian Government promptly despatched W.P. Rudall in charge
of a search-party, from Braeside station on the Oakover River.

Crossing into the desert country, Rudall, guided by blacks, came upon a
camp in which footsteps, supposed to be those of the missing men, were
traceable. His camels failing him, the tracks were lost, and he was
obliged to return. A second search was likewise fruitless, but rumours
brought in by the natives of straying camels, caused a third party to be
organised. Rudall this time went south of the head of the Oakover, and
penetrated the dry spinifex country below the Tropic. Here the bodies of
two men, supposed to have been murdered by the natives, were found, but
on further investigation it was decided that the remains were not those
of the men they were searching for. On his return Rudall started out on a
final trip, and penetrated to a point sixty miles south of Joanna Spring
before returning. Though these journeys were not successful in attaining
the initial object of their search, they were of great service in gaining
much information concerning the hitherto unknown desert. Running easterly
into this dry belt, Rudall found a creek, which is now known as the
Rudall River.

[Illustration. David Wynford Carnegie.]

Four days after Wells had started, the Honourable David Carnegie, fourth
son of the ninth Earl