ia, rejoined Gray and
King at Camp 119, where they had left them with the camels. On the
13th of February the party turned their faces to the south, and
commenced their long and toilsome march in return. The entries in
my son's journals were transcribed as follows:--

Tuesday, 19th February, 1861.--Boocha's Camp.

Wednesday, 20th February, 1861.--Pleasant Camp; 5R.

Thursday, 21st February, 1861.--Recovery Camp; 6R. Between four
and five o'clock a heavy thunderstorm broke over us, having given
very little warning of its approach. There had been lightning and
thunder towards south-east and south ever since noon yesterday. The
rain was incessant and very heavy for an hour and a half, which
made the ground so boggy that the animals could scarcely walk over
it; we nevertheless started at ten minutes to seven A.M., and after
floundering along for half an hour halted for breakfast. We then
moved on again, but soon found that the travelling was too heavy
for the camels, so camped for the remainder of the day. In the
afternoon the sky cleared a little, and the sun soon dried the
ground, considering. Shot a pheasant, and much disappointed at
finding him all feathers and claws. This bird nearly resembles a
cock pheasant in plumage, but in other respects it bears more the
character of the magpie or crow; the feathers are remarkably wiry
and coarse.

Friday, 22nd February, 1861.--Camp 7R. A fearful thunderstorm in
the evening, about eight P.M., from east-south-east, moving
gradually round to south. The flashes of lightning were so vivid
and incessant as to keep up a continual light for short intervals,
overpowering the moonlight. Heavy rain and strong squalls continued
for more than an hour, when the storm moved off west-north-west.
The sky remained more or less overcast for the rest of the night,
and the following morning was both sultry and oppressive, with the
ground so boggy as to be almost impassable.

Saturday, 23rd February, 1861.--Camp 8R. In spite of the
difficulties thrown in our way by last night's storm, we crossed
the creek, but were shortly afterwards compelled to halt for the
day on a small patch of comparatively dry ground, near the river.
The day turned out very fine, so that the soil dried rapidly, and
we started in the evening to try a trip by moonlight. We were very
fortunate in finding sound ground along a billibong, which
permitted of our travelling for about five miles up the creek, when
we camped for