30. E. Was Uninhabitable, And Useless For All The
Purposes Of Civilized Men.
"It now became my duty to make our remaining resources as extensively
useful to the colony as our circumstances would allow; these were much
diminished:
An accident which happened to one of the boats in the outset
of the expedition had deprived us of one third of our dry provisions, of
which we had originally a supply for only eighteen weeks, and we had been
consequently for some time living on a reduced ration of two quarts of
flour per man, per week. To return to the depot by the route we had come
would have been as useless as impossible; and, seriously considering
the spirit of your excellency's instructions, I determined, after the
most mature deliberation, to take such a route, on our return, as would I
hoped comport with your excellency's views, had our then situation ever
been contemplated.
"Returning up the Lachlan, I recommenced the survey of it from the point
at which it was made on the 23rd of June, intending to continue up its
banks until its connection with the marshes where we quitted it on the
17th of May was satisfactorily established, as also to ascertain if any
streams might have escaped our research. The connection with all the
points of the survey previously determined, was completed between the
19th of July and the 3rd of August. In the space passed over within that
period, the river had divided itself into various branches, and formed
three fine lakes, which, with one near the termination of our journey
westward, were the only considerable pieces of water we had yet seen; and
I now estimated that the river, from the place where it was first made
by Mr. Evans, had run a course, including all its windings, of upwards of
one thousand two hundred miles; a length altogether unprecedented, when
the single nature of the river is considered, and that its original
source constitutes its only supply of water during that extent.
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