lthough I reduced the allowance of that also. The only
starving members of the party were our unfortunate dogs, which had become
almost too weak to kill a kangaroo--had any been seen there; neither did
that region contain bandicoots which, in other situations, had been
occasionally caught about dead trees, with the assistance of some of the
watch-dogs. We were obliged to shoot hawks and crows, and boil them into
a mess, which served, at least, to keep these poor animals alive.

January 29.

The cart was sent back about twelve miles for some of the callitris trees
required for planking, none having been seen nearer to our camp.

MAN LOST IN THE WOODS.

William Woods, who had gone out in search of the spare cattle early in
the morning, did not return by one P.M., and as he was a good bushman, we
began to feel apprehensive that the natives had detained or perhaps
killed him. I therefore proceeded in search with four men, and scoured
the forest within five miles of the camp without discovering any traces
either of the natives or of him. On returning however at sunset, we had
the satisfaction to find that he had reached the camp about an hour
before us, having during the whole day been unable to find his way back
to our camp through the trackless forest.

Today the river fell another inch, and this failure of the waters, as
upon the Namoi, added much to the irksomeness of the delay necessary for
the completion of a boat. In the present case however more than on the
Namoi, the expected arrival of Mr. Finch, and the exhausted state of our
cattle, disposed me to give the party some days rest at so convenient a
point, and towards which I had indeed looked forward with this view, in
the efforts we made to attain it. The characters of my men were now
better known to me, and I could not help feeling some sympathy for The
Doctor, as the men called Souter. He was also what they termed a new
chum, or one newly arrived. He left the mess of his fellow prisoners, and
cooked and ate by himself. In figure he was the finest specimen of our
race in the party, and as he lay by his solitary fire, he formed a
striking foreground to the desert landscape. In his novitiate he was most
willing to do anything his fellows required, and I felt often disposed to
interfere when I overheard such words as "Doctor! go for a kettle of
water, while I light a fire," etc. Worthington, in particular, I
overheard, telling him he had been "a swell at home;" b