when Mr. Poole found a creek
in a rocky basin, whose waters seemed to have a perennial flow. Sturt
moved forward, and formed his depot beside the stream; and here he was
forced to remain for six weeks. For it appeared as though he had entered
a trap; the country before him was absolutely without water, so that he
could not advance; while the creeks behind him were now only dry
courses, and it was hopeless to think of returning. He made many
attempts to escape, and struck out into the country in all directions.
In one of his efforts, if he had gone only thirty miles farther, he
would have found the fine stream of Cooper's Creek, in which there was
sufficient water for the party; but hunger and thirst forced him to
return to the depot. He followed down the creek on which they were
encamped, but found that, after a course of twenty-nine miles, it lost
itself in the sand.

Meantime the travellers passed a summer such as few men have ever
experienced. The heat was sometimes as high as 130 deg. in the shade,
and in the sun it was altogether intolerable. They were unable to write,
as the ink dried at once on their pens; their combs split; their nails
became brittle and readily broke, and if they touched a piece of metal
it blistered their fingers. In their extremity they dug an underground
room, deep enough to be beyond the dreadful furnace-glow above. Here
they spent many a long day, as month after month passed without a shower
of rain. Sometimes they watched the clouds gather, and they could hear
the distant roll of thunder, but there fell not a drop to refresh the
dry and dusty desert. The party began to grow thin and weak; Mr. Poole
became ill with scurvy, and from day to day he sank rapidly. At length,
when winter was again approaching, a gentle shower moistened the plain;
and, as the only chance of saving the life of Poole, half of the party
was sent to carry him quickly back to the Darling. They had been gone
only a few hours when a messenger rode back with the news that he was
already dead. The mournful cavalcade returned, bearing his remains, and
a grave was dug in the wilderness. A tree close by, on which his
initials were cut, formed the only memorial of the hapless explorer.

#7. Journey to the Centre.#--Shortly afterwards there came a succession of
wet days, and, as there was now an abundance of water, the whole party
once more set off; having travelled north-west for sixty-one miles
farther, they formed a new