o the camp on the 21st, and from that period to the end of
the month I remained stationary, employed in various ways. On the 24th
and 29th we took different sets of lunars, which gave our longitude as
before, nearly 141 degrees 29 minutes, the variation of the compass being
5 degrees 14 minutes East.

The month of April set in without any indication of a change in the
weather. It appeared as if the flood gates of Heaven were closed upon us
for ever. We now began to feel the effects of disappointment, and watched
the sky with extreme anxiety, inso-much that the least cloud raised all
our hopes. The men were employed in various ways to keep them in health.
We planted seeds in the bed of the creek, but the sun burnt them to
cinders the moment they appeared above the ground. On the evening of the
3rd there was distant thunder, and heavy clouds to the westward. I
thought it might have been that some shower had approached sufficiently
near for me to benefit by the surface water it would have left to push
towards Lake Torrens, and therefore mounted my horse and rode away to the
westward on the 4th, but returned on the night of the 7th in
disappointment. Time rolled on fast, and still we were unable to stir.
Mr. Piesse, who took great delight in strolling out with my gun,
occasionally shot a new bird.

On the 4th the wind blew strong from the south; but although the air was
cooled, no rain fell, nor indeed was there any likelihood of rain with
the wind in that quarter. Still as this was the first decided shift from
the points to which it had kept so steadily, we augured good from it. On
the 7th a very bright meteor was seen to burst in the south-east quarter
of the heavens; crossing the sky with a long train of light, and in
exploding seemed to form numerous stars. Whether it was fancy or not we
thought the temperature cooled down from this period. On this day also we
had a change of moon, but neither produced a variation of wind or weather
of any immediate benefit to us. On the 14th we tried to ascertain the dew
point, but failed, as in previous instances. The thermometer in our
underground room stood at 78 degrees of Farenheit, but we could not
reduce the moist bulb below 49 degrees; nor was I surprised at this,
considering we had not had rain for nearly four months, and that during
our stay at the Depot we had never experienced a dew. The ground was
thoroughly heated to the depth of three or four feet, and the tremendous
he