t as I had originally
intended: had I adhered to my own judgment all might yet have been well.
Vain and bootless, however, now were all regrets for the irrecoverable
past; but the present was so fraught with circumstances calculated to
recal and to make me feel more bitterly the loss I had sustained, that
painful as the subject was, the mind could not help reverting to and
dwelling upon it.

Having given each of the horses a bucket of water, Wylie watched them
whilst I cooked our dinner and made some tea, after getting which we
again gave the horses another bucket of water a-piece, hobbled them out
for the night, and then lay down ourselves, feeling perfectly secure from
being overtaken by the native boys. We were obliged to place ourselves
close to the hole of water to keep the horses from getting into it, as
they were thirsty and restless, and kept walking round the well nearly
the whole night, and feeding very little. We ourselves, too, although
dreadfully tired and weak, were so cold and restless, that we slept but
little. I had also a large swelling on two of the joints of the second
finger of the right hand, which gave me very great pain.

May 4.--After an early breakfast we gave the horses as much water as they
chose to drink, and removing their hobbles gave them full liberty to
range where they liked. I then left Wylie to continue his slumbers, and
taking my rifle, walked about three miles among the sand-drifts to search
for grass, but could find none, except the coarse vegetation that grew
amongst the sand-drifts. I found two other places where the natives got
water by digging, and have no doubt that it may be procured almost
anywhere in these drifts, which extend for some miles, along the coast.
Some black cockatoos made their appearance near the sand-hills,
indicating, in connection with the change I had noticed in the
vegetation, that we were now about entering a different and less
difficult country than any we had yet traversed. These birds I knew never
inhabited that description of country we had been so long travelling
through. We had not seen one before, during our whole journey, and poor
Wylie was quite delighted at the idea of our vicinity to a better region.

During the day a strict look out was kept for the other two natives, and
at night, after watering the horses and concealing the saddles, we took
our provisions and arms up among the sand-hills, and slept there at some
distance from the water: t