east half north for five and three-quarter miles; 3.50 north-east one
mile. Distance today eighteen and a half miles.

March 14. Camp 25 situated on the left bank of a western channel of the
Flinders River.

We started this morning at 7.37. When we had come seven miles over rich
well-grassed downs we observed a great number of blacks on a level flat
which extended to the southward. Mr. Bourne and I approached them and
they all ran away except some gins and children who hid themselves in a
waterhole. We remained near them for a short time and were joined by
Jemmy and Jackey. The gins and children soon abandoned their hiding-place
and assembled on the bank, where they had their coolamons filled with
rats. The old gins repeatedly offered the wives of the men who had run
away to us. Amongst the females whom I observed was a girl about ten
years old with a large bone stuck through the cartilage of her nose. We
declined the offer, although I daresay Jackey would have liked to have
taken one of the ratcatchers with him: but Jemmy said he would not, as he
does not approve of wedded life. He has seen it, I presume, under
disadvantageous circumstances. The young gins had fine eyes, white teeth,
and good expression. The children looked particularly lively and
intelligent. Jemmy understood a few words of their language but not
sufficient to get information from them. Their word for water, cammo, I
caught while we were getting them to fill our pint pots with water. After
bidding them farewell Mr. Bourne and Jackey proceeded after the
packhorses and Jemmy and I went up the flat to a place about three and a
half miles south of Bramston Range and, having halted, I made the
meridian altitude of the sun 71 degrees 45 minutes; latitude 20 degrees
29 minutes 16 seconds. Started after the main party at 12.20. We soon
found them as they had been obliged to stop to repair a saddle. Having
started again we came one and a quarter miles over rich downs very much
overrun with roley-poley. As we had been getting too far away from the
river we steered towards it, and having reached water in two and a half
miles we encamped. The country we passed over last consists of
well-grassed downs. In the water we got plenty of mussels which made an
agreeable addition to our rations. Distance today seventeen and a half
miles by the following courses: 11.50 east-south-east seven miles; 12
south one and a half miles; 1.16 east-north-east one and a half miles;