oved forward he was slowly sinking. Towards
the end of March their provisions began to fail; they killed a camel,
dried its flesh, and then went forward. At the beginning of April this
was gone, and they killed their horse. Gray now lay down, saying he
could not go on; Burke said he was "shamming," and left him. However,
the gentler counsel of Wills prevailed; they returned and brought him
forward. But he could only go a little farther; the poor fellow breathed
his last a day or two after, and was buried in the wilderness. Burke now
regretted his harshness, all the more as he himself was quickly sinking.
All three, indeed, were utterly worn out; they were thin and haggard,
and so weak that they tottered rather than walked along. The last few
miles were very, very weary; but, at last, on the 21st of April, they
came in sight of the depot, four months and a half after leaving it.
Great was their alarm on seeing no sign of people about the place; and,
as they staggered forward to the spot at sunset, their hearts sank
within them when they saw a notice, stating that Brahe had left that
very morning. He would be then only seven hours' march away. The three
men looked at one another in blank dismay; but they were so worn out
that they could not possibly move forward with any hope of overtaking
the fresh camels of Brahe's party. On looking round, however, they saw
the word "dig" cut on a neighbouring tree; and, when they turned up the
soil, they found a small supply of provisions.

Brahe had remained a month and a half longer than he had been told to
wait; and as his own provisions were fast diminishing, and there seemed,
as yet, to be no signs of Wright with the remainder of the expedition,
he thought it unsafe to delay his return any longer. This man Wright was
the cause of all the disasters that ensued. Instead of following closely
on Burke, he had loitered at Menindie for no less than three months and
one week, amusing himself with his friends; and, when he did set out, he
took things so leisurely that Brahe was half-way back to the Darling
before they met.

#3. Sufferings.#--On the evening when they entered the depot, Burke,
Wills, and King made a hearty supper; then, for a couple of days, they
stretched their stiff and weary limbs at rest. But inaction was
dangerous, for, even with the greatest expedition, their provisions
would only serve to take them safely to the Darling. They now began to
deliberate as to their fu