October 13.
Jackey, Taylor, and myself took three horses, and tried to get to the beach more to the northward than yesterday. We passed through a belt of mangroves, where the ground was pretty firm, the tide coming up only occasionally; we then proceeded along a sandy ridge to the northward, when we found it succeeded by a saltwater lagoon, surrounded by salsolaceous plants and mangroves, which it was impossible to get through. We returned to our camp, and here Mr. Kennedy abandoned the thought of going to the beach, as he felt sure H.M.S. Bramble (which was to have met us at the beginning of August) would have gone; our journey having occupied so much longer time than we could have possibly anticipated. This consideration, combined with the great difficulty which seemed likely to ensue in obtaining water and feed for our horses, determined him to take a different direction.
October 15.
We had prayers as usual this day, being Sunday, at 11 o'clock; today we finished the consumption of all our sugar, except a very small quantity, which was reserved for any particular case of sickness.
October 16.
This morning a horse fell into a rocky waterhole, and finding it impossible to get him out alive, we killed him, and cured the flesh as before, drying it in the sun on a stage; the blood, heart, and liver furnished us with a good day's food. Our meat being well dried by five o'clock in the afternoon, we sprinkled some salt upon it, and put it in bags for the convenience of carrying. We left one of our round tents, and such other things as we could possibly spare behind us at the camp, as our horses were now so weak they could not carry their loads.
October 17 and 18.
Our travelling was very uneven, our horses giving us continual trouble from their frequent falls; we had a few narrow belts of scrub to cut through, but they were not very thick.
October 19.
Several of our horses were now quite unable to carry anything but the saddle; we passed through open forest land, with a light soil, sub-soil clay, with isolated blocks of granite rock scattered about. We encamped by a rocky creek, with water in holes only; it ran westerly, and had fresh green feed on each side, the grass having been burned shortly before, and now growing up again.