Mr. Hume, with his usual perseverance, walked out when the camp was formed; and at a little distance from it, ascended a ridge of pure sand, crowned with cypresses. From this he descended to the westward, and, at length, struck upon the river, where a reef of rocks crossed its channel and formed a dry passage from one side to the other; but the bend which the river must have taken appeared to him so singular, that he doubted whether it was the same beside which we had been travelling during the day. Curiosity led him to cross it, when he found a small pond of fresh water on a tongue of land, and immediately afterwards, returned to acquaint me with the welcome tidings. It was too late to move, but we had the prospect of a comfortable breakfast in the morning.
On the 6th February we journeyed again through a barren scrub, although on firmer ground, and passed numerous groups of huts. At about eight miles from our last encampment, we came upon the river where its banks were of considerable height. In riding along them Mr. Hume thought he observed a current running, and he called to inform me of the circumstance. On a closer examination we discovered some springs in the very bed of the river, from which a considerable stream was gushing, and from the incrustation around them, we had no difficulty in guessing at their nature; in fact, they were brine springs, and I collected a quantity of salt from the brink of them.
After such a discovery we could not hope to keep our position. No doubt the current we had observed on first reaching the river was caused by springs that had either escaped our notice, or were under water. Here was at length a local cause for its saltness that destroyed at once the anticipation and hope of our being near its termination, and, consequently, the ardour with which we should have pressed on to decide so interesting a point.
We calculated that we were forty miles from the camp, in a S.W. direction, a fearful distance under our circumstances, since we could not hope to obtain relief for two days. Independently, however, of the state of the animals, our spirits were damped by the nature of the country, and the change which had taken place in the soil, upon which it was impossible that water could rest; while the general appearance of the interior showed how much it suffered from drought. On the other hand, although the waters of the river had become worse to the taste, the river itself had increased in size and stretched away to the westward, with all the uniformity of a magnificent canal, and gave every promise of increasing importance; while the pelicans were in such numbers upon it as to be quite dazzling to the eye. Considering, however, that perseverance would only involve us in extricable difficulties, and that it would also be useless to risk the horses, since we had gained a distance to which the bullocks could not have been brought I intimated my intention of giving up the further pursuit of the river, though it was with extreme reluctance that I did so.
As soon as we had bathed and finished our scanty meal, I took the bearings of D'Urban's Group, and found them to be S.58 E. about thirty-three miles distant; and as we mounted our horses, I named the river the "Darling," as a lasting memorial of the respect I bear the Governor.
I should be doing injustice to Mr. Hume and my men if I did not express my conviction that they were extremely unwilling to yield to circumstances, and that, had I determined on continuing the journey, they would have followed me with cheerfulness, whatever the consequences might have been.
EXPLORATION OF THE EASTERN RIVER SYSTEM
Source.—Expeditions in Australia (Sturt, 1833), Vol. II, pp. 6, 8-69, 85-86, 111, 151-187, 204-217, 219.
On his first expedition Sturt had proved that the interior was dry. He then attempted to find the destination of the Morumbidgee and the Darling. Travelling down the Morumbidgee he discovered the Murray and followed it to its termination, 1829.