15th September.
At 8.15 a.m. resumed our journey north 10 degrees magnetic, over a very
level country thinly wooded with box, bloodwood, melaleuca, terminalia,
grevillia, and cotton-trees, also a small tree which we recognised as
Leichhardt's little bread-tree, the fruit of which, when ripe, is mealy
and acid, but made some of the party, who ate it, sick. Several dry
watercourses trending west were crossed, and at 2.5 p.m. camped at a
small waterhole in a sandy creek, fifteen yards wide. By enlarging the
hole we obtained, though with difficulty, a sufficient supply of water
for our horses. On the flats near the creek the grass was good, but very
dry.
Latitude by a Aquilae 17 degrees 46 minutes 11 seconds.
16th September.
Although our horses required a day's rest, none of our camps for some
days had afforded a sufficient supply of water and grass for a second
night; we therefore continued a north 20 degrees east course at 6.25
a.m.; at 7.30 a.m. came to a creek which we followed east an hour and a
half, when it was reduced to a small gully, and again steered
north-north-east, passing over much poor country with patches of
melaleuca scrub, the country perfectly level; at 2.0 p.m. came to a sandy
creek which we followed to the west till 6.5 p.m. without any water;
camped in an open grassy box flat; I then walked down the creek, and was
fortunate in finding a pool of water half a mile distant, and as soon as
the moon rose we drove the horses to the water and filled our
saddle-bags. Few parts of our journey have been through country so
destitute of animal life as the level plain we have traversed since
leaving the Flinders River--no kangaroo or even their track; emu tracks
very rare, and very few birds were at the waterholes. Many of the
sleeping-frames of the blacks have been observed, and thousands of deep
impressions of their feet in the now dry and sun-baked clay show that
during the rainy season the extremely level nature of the country causes
it to be extensively inundated.
17th September.
The supply of water and grass being sufficient, we remained at this camp
to refresh the horses, which had suffered much from the long stages.
Latitude by Capella 17 degrees 34 minutes 5 seconds; variation of compass
4 degrees 50 minutes east.