mild and soft, with the
appearance of rain, but none fell. I was becoming anxious about the
return of my overseer and native boy, who had been absent nine tides,
when they ought to have returned in eight, and I could not help fearing
some mischance had befallen them, and frequently went back wards and
forwards to the beach, to look for them. The tenth tide found me
anxiously at my post on the look out, and after watching for a long time
I thought I discerned some dark objects in the distance, slowly
advancing; gradually I made out a single horse, driven by two people, and
at once descended to meet them. Their dismal tale was soon told. After
leaving us on the 5th, they reached their destination on the 7th; but in
returning one of the horses became blind, and was too weak to advance
further, when they had barely advanced thirteen miles; they were
consequently obliged to abandon him, and leave behind the things he had
been carrying. With the other two horses they got to within five miles of
the place we first procured water at on the 30th March. Here a second
horse had become unable to proceed, and the things he had carried were
also obliged to be left behind. They then got both horses to the first
well at the sand-hills and watered them, and after resting a couple of
hours came on to join me. Short as this distance was, the jaded horse
could not travel it, and was left behind a mile and a half back. Having
shewn the overseer and boy the camp, I sent the other two natives to
fetch up the tired horse, whilst I attended to the other, and put the
solitary sheep in for the night. By a little after dark all was arranged,
and the horse that had been left behind once more with the others.

From the overseer I learnt, that during the fifty miles he had retraced
our route to obtain the provisions we had left, he had five times dug for
water: four times he had found salt water, and once he had been stopped
by rock. The last effort of this kind he had made not far from where we
found water on the 30th of March, and I could not but be struck with the
singular and providential circumstance of our first halting and
attempting to dig for water on that day in all our distress, at the very
first place, and at the only place, within the 160 miles we had
traversed, where water could have been procured. It will be remembered,
that in our advance, we had travelled a great part of the latter portion
of this distance by night, and that thus ther