untry, of
losing the greater number of my cattle. It may be said that my officers
had now removed every difficulty; but notwithstanding that Mr. Poole was
sanguine in his report of the probable permanency of the water he had
found, I hesitated whether to advance or not; but considering that under
all circumstances the water they had found would still be available for a
considerable time, and that it would enable me to push still further to
the north, I decided on moving forward at once; but the weather was at
this time so terrifically hot, that I hardly dared move whilst it
continued, more especially as we had so great a distance to travel
without water. I kept the party in readiness, however, to move at a
moment's notice. On the 27th we had thunder, but no rain fell, and the
heat seemed rather to increase than to decrease. On the 28th, at 2 p.m.,
the wind suddenly flew round to the south, and it became cooler. In hopes
that it would continue, I ordered the tents to be struck, and we left
Flood's Creek at half-past 4. As soon as I had determined on moving, I
directed Mr. Poole to lead on the party in the direction he thought it
would be best to take, and mounting my horse, rode with Mr. Browne and
Mr. Stuart towards the ranges, to take bearings from a hill I had
intended to visit, but had been prevented from doing in consequence of
the extreme heat of the weather. I did not, indeed, like leaving the
neighbourhood without going to this hill. The distance, however, was
greater than it appeared to be, and it was consequently late before we
reached it; but once on the top we stood on the highest and last point of
the Barrier Range; for although, as we shall learn, other ranges existed
to the north, there was a broad interval of plain between us and them,
nor were they visible from our position. We stood, as it were, in the
centre of barrenness. I feel it impossible, indeed, to describe the
scene, familiar as it was to me. The dark and broken line of the Barrier
Range lay behind us to the south; eastward the horizon was bounded by the
hills I had lately visited, and the only break in the otherwise
monotonous colour of the landscape was caused by the plains we had
crossed before entering the pine forest. From the south-west round to the
east northwards, the whole face of the country was covered with a gloomy
scrub that extended like a sea to the very horizon. To the north-west, at
a great distance, we saw a long line of dust, a