14th March.
Resumed our route and followed the creek upwards from 5.50 a.m. till 1.50
p.m., when we camped about three miles south-west of camp 45 at the first
pool before the atriplex flat. A short distance above the camp we crossed
a large sandy creek, which proved to be the cause of the change in the
character of Sturt's Creek below that point. As our route was at a
greater distance from the creek than in tracing it down, it gave a better
opportunity of ascertaining the nature of the country beyond the
influence of inundation; to the north-west a vast plain traversed by low
ridges of gravel and drift sand, clothed with a scanty growth of triodia
and a few hakea bushes, rose gradually from the creek, but on the
south-east a more abrupt sandstone slope terminated in a similar plain of
somewhat greater elevation, and showed that we were still within the
bounds of the desert. Moderate breeze from the north-west changing to
north-east; passing clouds; a slight shower at 11.0 p.m.
15th March.
Resumed our route at 5.50 a.m., steering north 40 degrees east, one hour
into the triodia plain, then north 60 degrees east till 9.20 a.m., when
we reached the first large pool in the creek, and rounding the bend
camped at one of the narrow pools above the sandstone ridges. The water
in the larger pools had sunk from six inches to a foot since we had
passed downwards, and almost all the pools were now dry. The morning
clear and cool, with clouds and light showers in the afternoon
accompanied by thunder.
16th March.
As there was no water in the creek for the next thirty-three miles, we
filled the water-bags and prepared for an early start; but unfortunately
the horses had strayed farther than usual, which delayed us till 7.0
a.m., when following nearly the outward route, passed close to camp 43,
the waterhole at which was dry, and at 1.0 p.m. halted under the shade of
a few acacia-trees during the heat of the day, and resumed our journey at
3.0 p.m., following the south-east side of the plain through which the
creek flows. The ground was stony and bad travelling, but as the moon was
clear and bright we succeeded in reaching the first pool of water at 8.30
p.m.; this was one mile above Camp 42, the water at which had dried up,
though four feet deep on the 24th February. The pool at which we now
camped appears to be permanent; it is 100 yards wide and 300 long, the
water three feet deep close to the bank. Ducks were numerous, and I shot
four in the morning. An easterly breeze continued through the day, and as
usual there were a few clouds towards sunset. Unfortunately, the dry
weather had warped the scale of the thermometer to such an extent that it
broke the tube.