party; but as this
was a frequent occurrence in collecting botanical specimens, it was not
observed till we reached the creek, when he was out of sight; after
unsaddling the pack-horses I was preparing to send in search of him, when
he came up to the camp, the cause of delay having been that his horse had
knocked up. This was unfortunate, as the load of one of the pack-horses
had to be distributed among the others, in order to remount the doctor,
who requires stronger horses than any other person in the party, having
knocked up four since January, while not one of the other riding-horses
had failed, though carrying heavier weights.

Latitude by a Trianguli Australis 16 degrees 7 minutes 50 seconds.

30th July.

There being abundance of good grass at this camp, we remained this day to
shoe some of the horses and repair harness, etc., and rest the horses;
nor was I sorry to get a day of comparative rest, as I had been in the
saddle every day since leaving the Victoria on the 21st June. Eleven of
the horses were re-shod.

A SPRING OF GOOD WATER.

31st July.

Leaving the camp at 7.40 a.m., pursued a south-east course, soon leaving
the grassy flats of the creek and entering a melaleuca scrub; at 8.20
ascended the tableland by a gentle slope; the country was now sandy with
much bush of acacia, grevillia, and bossiaca, with triodia in the more
open part of the forest, which consisted of paper-bark gums. The
prevailing rock was ironstone conglomerate, and hard white sandstone
sometimes appeared; after 10.0 the country declined to the south, and we
passed through a belt of cypress scrub; at 1.15 p.m. altered the course
to east-south-east; crossed a rough sandstone ridge and came on a deep
valley with sandstone cliffs on each side; with some difficulty descended
the rocks and reached a small watercourse which was quite dry; but
observing some very green trees about a mile to the north-west at the
foot of the rocks, turned towards them and found a fine spring of water
flowing from the face of the cliff; selecting a suitable spot, encamped
at 2.30. Near this spring were several huts constructed in the rudest
manner by heaping branches together. From the summit of the hill the view
extended thirty miles to the north-east, but no marked features were
visible, the country only undulating slightly. The country too became
more open and travelling easier, but no other improvement has been
observed.

Latitude by a Trianguli Aust