d anxious journey. To
the west and north-west there were lines of heavy sand ridges, so steep
and rugged as to deter me from any attempt to cross them with my jaded
horses. To the north and north-east a dark green plain covered with
samphire bushes (amidst which the dry beds of small salt lagoons, as
white as snow, formed a singular and striking contrast) was to be seen
extending for about eight miles. This plain was bounded by distant hills,
the bright red tops of which gleamed, even in the twilight. I was here
really puzzled what course to pursue, one only indeed was open to me--the
north--unless I should determine to fall back on the creek; but I thought
it better to advance, in the hope of being able to maintain my ground,
and with the intention of halting for a few days at the first favourable
point at which we should arrive, for my mind was filled with anxiety. It
had pained me for some time, to see Mr. Browne daily suffering more and
more, and although he continued to render me the most valuable
assistance, a gloom hung over him; he seldom spoke, his hands were
constantly behind him, pressing or supporting his back, and he appeared
unfit to ride. My men were also beginning to feel the effects of constant
exposure, of ceaseless journeying, and of poverty of food, for all we had
was 5 lbs. of flour and 2 oz. of tea per week; it is true we occasionally
shot a pigeon or a duck, but the wildness of the birds of all kinds was
perfectly unaccountable. The horses living chiefly on pulpy vegetation
had little stamina, and were incapable of enduring much privation or
hardship. No rain had fallen since July, nor was there any present
indication of a change. Much as I desired it, I yet dreaded having to
traverse such a country as that into which I was now about to plunge, in
a wet state. With a soil of stiff tenacious clay, already soft from the
moisture produced by the mixture of salt in it, I foresaw that in the
event of heavy rain, I should be involved in almost inextricable
difficulties, but there was no alternative.

On the morning of the 7th I sent Mr. Browne to the westward, to ascertain
the nature of the country, and if by any chance he could again find the
creek, and in case I had inadvertently mistaken the real creek for a
tributary, I myself pushed on to the north, in the hope of intersecting
it. Mr. Browne had not, however, been absent more than three-quarters of
an hour, when he returned to inform me that he had