Latitude by a Trianguli Australis 15 degrees 59 minutes 45 seconds.
29th July.
A dense fog was the unusual cause of delay in collecting our horses, as they could not be seen more than a few yards distant. At 8.45 a.m. steered south-east through scrubs of melaleuca, acacia, grevillia, and eucalypti; at 11.0 the country became more open, and entering a grassy plain extending five to eight miles to the east, where it was bounded by a low range of hills; to the south-west a level forest of white-gum ran parallel to our route. The soil was a brown clay-loam with pebbles of sandstone; a few box and bauhinia trees grew on the plain; the grass had been burnt off and sprung up again very green. At 1.20 p.m. came on a large dry creek trending north-east; it had several channels twenty yards wide with loose sandy beds, and was bordered by casuarina, melaleuca, and flooded-gum trees; following down the creek, at 1.15 camped at a shallow pool in one of the side channels. About three miles before we reached the camp Dr. Mueller had fallen some distance behind the party; but as this was a frequent occurrence in collecting botanical specimens, it was not observed till we reached the creek, when he was out of sight; after unsaddling the pack-horses I was preparing to send in search of him, when he came up to the camp, the cause of delay having been that his horse had knocked up. This was unfortunate, as the load of one of the pack-horses had to be distributed among the others, in order to remount the doctor, who requires stronger horses than any other person in the party, having knocked up four since January, while not one of the other riding-horses had failed, though carrying heavier weights.
Latitude by a Trianguli Australis 16 degrees 7 minutes 50 seconds.
30th July.
There being abundance of good grass at this camp, we remained this day to shoe some of the horses and repair harness, etc., and rest the horses; nor was I sorry to get a day of comparative rest, as I had been in the saddle every day since leaving the Victoria on the 21st June. Eleven of the horses were re-shod.
A SPRING OF GOOD WATER.
31st July.
Leaving the camp at 7.40 a.m., pursued a south-east course, soon leaving the grassy flats of the creek and entering a melaleuca scrub; at 8.20 ascended the tableland by a gentle slope; the country was now sandy with much bush of acacia, grevillia, and bossiaca, with triodia in the more open part of the forest, which consisted of paper-bark gums. The prevailing rock was ironstone conglomerate, and hard white sandstone sometimes appeared; after 10.0 the country declined to the south, and we passed through a belt of cypress scrub; at 1.15 p.m. altered the course to east-south-east; crossed a rough sandstone ridge and came on a deep valley with sandstone cliffs on each side; with some difficulty descended the rocks and reached a small watercourse which was quite dry; but observing some very green trees about a mile to the north-west at the foot of the rocks, turned towards them and found a fine spring of water flowing from the face of the cliff; selecting a suitable spot, encamped at 2.30. Near this spring were several huts constructed in the rudest manner by heaping branches together. From the summit of the hill the view extended thirty miles to the north-east, but no marked features were visible, the country only undulating slightly. The country too became more open and travelling easier, but no other improvement has been observed.
Latitude by a Trianguli Australis 16 degrees 17 minutes 5 seconds.