During The Homeward Journey From The Mundy, I Had Reflected Much On The Position In Which I Was Placed, And Spent Many An Anxious Hour In Deliberating As To The Future.

I had one of three alternatives to choose, either to give up the expedition altogether; - to cross to the

Murray to the east and follow up that river to the Darling; - or by crossing over to Streaky Bay to the westward, to endeavour to find some opening leading towards the interior in that direction. After weighing well the advantages and disadvantages of each (and there were many objections to them all,) I determined upon adopting the last, for reasons which will be found in my Report sent to the Governor, and to the Chairman of the Northern Expedition Committee from Port Lincoln. [Note 8: Vide Chapter IX.] My mind having thus been made up, I knew, from former experience, that I had no time to lose, now that the weather was showery and favourable, and that if I delayed at all in putting my plans into execution I might probably be unable to cross from Mount Arden to Streaky Bay. The distance between these two points was upwards of two hundred miles, through a barren and desert region, in which, though among high ranges, I had on a former occasion been unable to discover any permanent water, and through which we could only hope to pass by taking advantage of the puddles left by the late rains; I therefore decided upon halting at the depot to rest the horses even for a day; and the party had no sooner reached their encampment, than, while one portion of the men took the horses up the watercourse to water, the others were employed in digging up the stores we had buried here, and in repacking and rearranging all the loads ready to move on again immediately. By the evening all the arrangements were completed and the whole party retired to rest much fatigued.

Chapter VIII.

PROCEED TO THE WESTWARD - CHANNEL OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN LAKE TORRENS AND SPENCER'S GULF - BAXTER'S RANGE - DIVIDE THE PARTY - ROUTE TOWARDS PORT LINCOLN - SCRUB - FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR WATER - SEND DRAY BACK FOR WATER - PLUNDERED BY THE NATIVES - RETURN OF DRAY - DENSE SCRUB - REFUGE ROCKS - DENSE SCRUB - SALT CREEK - MOUNT HILL - DENSE SCRUB - LARGE WATERCOURSE - ARRIVE AT A STATION - RICH AND GRASSY VALLEYS - CHARACTER OF PORT LINCOLN PENINSULA - UNABLE TO PROCURE SUPPLIES - ENGAGE A BOAT TO SEND OVER TO ADELAIDE - BUY SHEEP.

September 13. - UPON leaving the depot this morning I was obliged to leave behind a very large tarpaulin which we did not require, and which from the extra weight we had last night put upon the drays, we could not conveniently carry. Steering to the south-west we came at twelve miles to the head of Spencer's Gulf, and crossed the channel connecting it with Lake Torrens. At this place it is not very wide, but its bed like that of the lake is soft and boggy, with salt water mixed with the mud. We had a good deal of difficulty in getting over it, and one of the drays having stuck fast, we had to unload it, carrying the things over on men's backs. A few miles beyond this we halted for the night, where there was good grass for the horses and plenty of water in the puddles around us. We crossed principally during the day, a rather heavy sandy country, but were now encamped in plains of a firmer and better character for the drays.

September 14. - Travelling on through open plains with loose gravelly stones, lying on their surface, we passed to the south of a small table-topped hill, visible from Mount Arden, and very much resembling the fragments of table land that I had met with to the north. This however was somewhat larger than those, and though steep-sided as they were it did not disclose the same white strata of chalk and gypsum, its formation being more rocky and of rather a slaty character.

September 15. - Pushing on rapidly over extensive plains very similar to those we had already crossed, we arrived, after a long stage, under Baxter's range, and encamped upon a small channel coming from it, with abundance of water and good grass. This range is high and rocky, rising abruptly out of the plains, and distinctly visible from Mount Arden, from which it is about fifty miles distant. Its formation is entirely conglomerate of rather a coarse description. Among its rugged overhanging steeps are many of the large red species of wallabie similar to those we had seen to the north at the Scott. Two of these we shot. The latitude of our camp at Baxter's range was 32 degrees 40 minutes S.

September 16. - Remained in camp to-day to rest the horses and prepare for dividing the party, as from the great abundance of rain that had fallen, I no longer apprehended a scarcity of water on the route to Streaky Bay, and therefore decided upon sending my overseer across with the party, whilst I myself took a dray down direct to Port Lincoln, on the west side of Spencer's Gulf, to obtain additional supplies, with the intention of joining them again at Streaky Bay.

Having spent some time in taking bearings from the summit of Baxter's range, I examined all the channels and gorges coming from it, and in most of these I found water. I am of opinion however that in a very dry season, the water which I now found will be quite dried up, and especially in the largest of the watercourses, or the one upon which we were encamped. [Note 9: In October 1842, this was quite dry, but water was still found in holes in the rocks in the southernmost gorge, above the waterfall, at the base of which water was also procured by digging in the gravel.]

A little further south, there is a rocky ravine winding through a gorge and terminating in a waterfall, with a large pool of beautiful water at the base, and with many large and deep holes of water in the rocks above. In this ravine I imagine water might be procured at any period of the year, and I am confirmed in this opinion by the circumstance of three well beaten native roads, coming from different points of the compass, and all converging at this place.

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