d skirting the reeds, to take the first
opportunity of dashing through them in a westerly direction.

DOUBTS OF THE FURTHER EXTENSION OF THE RIVER.

I entertained great doubts as to the longer existence of the river, and
as I foresaw that, in the event of its having terminated we should
strike at once into the heart of the interior, I became anxious for the
arrival of supplies at Mount Harris; and although I could hardly expect
that they had yet reached it, I determined to proceed thither. Mr. Hume
was too unwell for me to think of imposing additional fatigue upon him;
I left him, therefore, to conduct the party, by easy stages, to the
northward, until such time as I should overtake them. Even in one day
there was a visible improvement in the men, and Dawber's attack seemed
to be rather the effects of cold than of any thing else. A death,
however, under our circumstances, would have been so truly deplorable
an event, that the least illness was sufficient to create alarm.

I can hardly say that I was disappointed on my arrival at Mount Harris,
to find its neighbourhood silent and deserted. I remained, however,
under it for the greater part of the next day, and, prior to leaving
it, placed a sheet of paper with written instructions against a tree,
though almost without a hope that it would remain untouched.

PERPLEXING SITUATION.

A little after sun-set we reached the first small marsh, at which we
slept; and on the following morning I crossed the plains of the
Macquarie, and joined the party at about fifteen miles from the creek
at which I had left it. I found it in a condition that was as unlooked
for by Mr. Hume as it was unexpected by me, and really in a most
perplexing situation.

On the day I left him, Mr. Hume only advanced about two miles, in
consequence of some derangement in the loads. Having crossed the creek,
he, the next morning, proceeded down its right bank, until it entered
the marshes and was lost. He then continued to move on the outskirts of
the latter, and having performed a journey or about eight miles, was
anxious to have stopped, but there was no water at hand. The men,
however, were so fatigued, in consequence of previous illness, that he
felt it necessary to halt after travelling about eleven miles.

No water could be procured even here, notwithstanding that Mr. Hume,
who was quite unfit for great exertion, underwent considerable bodily
fatigue in his anxiety to find some. He was, therefore