I now
scarcely knew what to do, as I was fearful if I left them there, and the
parents did not return, the poor little children might perish, and yet I
was so far away from my own party, and in such difficult circumstances,
that I knew not how I could take them with me. Upon due reflection, and
considering that I had not seen a single male native, it struck me that
the women might have gone for the men and would probably return by the
evening to see where their little ones were.
Under this impression, I put the handkerchief again round the eldest
child, and tying it firmly, I left them; I had hopes too, that some of
the natives were watching our movements from the hills, and in this case
they would at once return, when they saw us fairly depart from the
neighbourhood.
Keeping a little to the south of west, I still found the country very
much broken into hollows, with high steep banks bounding them, this
singular formation being apparently the result of the violent action of
water; but how long ago and under what circumstances I had no means of
judging. Having found a puddle of water in the plains, I halted for the
night, our stage having been about twenty miles.
August 6. - We again passed many of those singular hollows fronted by the
high steep banks of the upper levels, and then crossed some low ironstone
ridges to a channel emanating from Mount Deception range. This I traced
through the hills to the westward without finding any water, and then
following down the Mount Deception range in its western slopes, I
examined all the watercourses coming from it; in one, which I named The
Scott, after my young friend and fellow traveller, I found a large hole
of rain water among the rocks, and at this I halted to rest and feed the
horses. The latitude of the water in The Scott was 30 degrees 32 minutes
S. Pushing on again, late in the afternoon, I reached our camp of the 2nd
August, quite tired, and the horses much fatigued, the puddle of water we
had found here on our outward course was now nearly all dried up.
August 7. - Making an early start I returned to the Depot Pool, and found
the party all well. They were, however, just preparing to move away, as
the water was nearly all gone. The drays were packed and everything ready
when I arrived; they had tried to obtain water by digging, but had
failed, having been stopped by hard rock.
I was now in a very awkward dilemma. The water where we were, had been
all used, and we must consequently remove at once, - but where to, was the
question?
