ed the customs and prejudices of the rudest
people. I hope, indeed, that in this my last expedition, I have not done
discredit to the good opinion Sir C. Napier, an officer I knew not, was
pleased to entertain of me. Most assuredly in my intercourse with the
savage, I have endeavoured to elevate the character of the white man.
Justice and humanity have been my guides, but while I have the
consolation to know that no European will follow my track into the Desert
without experiencing kindness from its tenants, I have to regret that the
progress of civilized man into an uncivilized region, is almost
invariably attended with misfortune to its original inhabitants.

I struck Cooper's Creek in lat. 27 degrees 44 minutes, and in long. 140
degrees 22 minutes, and traced it upwards to lat. 27 degrees 56 minutes,
and long. 142 degrees 0 minutes. There can be no doubt but that it would
support a number of cattle upon its banks, but its agricultural
capabilities appear to me doubtful, for the region in which it lies is
subject evidently to variations of temperature and seasons that must, I
should say, be inimical to cereal productions; nevertheless I should
suppose its soil would yield sufficient to support any population that
might settle on it.

CHAPTER III.

CONTINUED DROUGHT--TERRIFIC EFFECT OF HOT WIND--THERMOMETER
BURSTS--DEATH OF POOR BAWLEY--FIND THE STOCKADE DESERTED--LEAVE FORT GREY
FOR THE DEPOT--DIFFERENCE OF SEASONS--MIGRATION OF BIRDS--HOT
WINDS--EMBARRASSING POSITION--MR. BROWNE STARTS FOR FLOOD'S CREEK--THREE
BULLOCKS SHOT--COMMENCEMENT OF THE RETREAT--ARRIVAL AT FLOOD'S
CREEK--STATE OF VEGETATION--EFFECTS OF SCURVY--ARRIVE AT ROCKY
GLEN--COMPARISON OF NATIVE TRIBES--HALT AT CARNAPAGA--ARRIVAL AT
CAWNDILLA--REMOVAL TO THE DARLING--LEAVE THE DARLING--STATE OF THE
RIVER--OPPRESSIVE HEAT--VISITED BY NADBUCK--ARRIVAL AT MOORUNDI.

By half past eleven of the 9th November we had again got quietly settled,
and I then found leisure to make such arrangements as might suggest
themselves for our further retreat. To insure the safety of the animals
as much as possible, I determined to leave all my spare provisions and
weightier stores behind, and during the afternoon we were engaged making
the loads as compact and as light as we could.

It was not, however, the fear of the water in Strzelecki's Creck having
dried up, that was at this moment the only cause of anxiety to me, for I
thought it more than probable th