men wanted the two front teeth of the upper jaw, and as the former had
worn his down almost to a level with his gums like an old horse, he
looked sadly disfigured.

We halted about three miles short of the place at which we had before
stopped, but as Joseph followed some pigeons to a clump of trees across
the plain at about a mile distance, and there found a small pond of
water, we moved over to it, and remained stationary on the following day
to rest our wearied animals.

The 24th again saw us at the Fish Pond, where Mr. Browne again exhibited
his skill in the gentle craft, and caught a good dish of the finny tribe.
The mystery as to how these fish could have got into so isolated a spot,
was not yet cleared up, and I was really puzzled on the subject.

On the 27th, as we were crossing the country between the creeks, some
natives came in from the north and called out to us, in consequence of
which Mr. Browne and I rode up to them. They were in a sad state of
suffering from the want of water; their lips cracked, and their tongues
swelled. They had evidently lingered at some place or other, until all
the water, intermediate between them and the creeks had dried up. The
little water we had was not sufficient to allay their thirst, so they
left us, and at a sharp trot disappeared over the sand hill.

On the 29th our journey over the sandy ridges was very distressing. They
appeared to me to be much more numerous, and the valleys between them
much more sandy than when we first passed over them, and were thickly
covered with spinifex, although grass was also tolerably abundant in the
flats. At this stage of our journey, I was the only one of the party who
was not ill; Mr. Browne and all the men were suffering, added to which,
the men were fairly knocked up. Their labours were now, however, drawing
to a close, and I was only too thankful, that I retained my strength.

We had crossed the first or Strzelecki's Creek on the 29th, and had
halted that night without water. During it some of the horses broke loose
and wandered back; but Flood and Joseph soon overtook and brought them
back. We should have had a distance of 85 miles to travel without water,
but fortunately the precaution we had taken of digging wells in going
out, insured us a supply in one of them, so that our return over this
last long and dry tract of country was comparatively light, and we gained
the Park and joined Mr. Stuart at the stockade on the evening of th