the bank convinced the leader that the
saltness was of local origin. Still that did not supply them with the
necessary drinking water, and on the sixth day, leaving the men encamped
at a small supply of fresh water, Sturt and Hume pushed on to look for
more, but in vain, and Sturt was compelled to order a retreat to Mount
Harris.

This shows how the exploration of the continent has ever been conditioned
by the uncertainty of the seasons. Had Sturt found the Darling in a
normal season, he would probably have followed it down to its junction
with the Murray, and the geographical system of the east would have been
at once laid bare. But it was not in such a simple manner that the great
river basin was to become known. Toil, privation, and the sacrifice of
human lives, had first to be suffered.

To the river which he had found Sturt gave the name Darling, in honour of
the Governor.

The return journey to Mount Harris continued without interruption. At
Mount Harris they expected to find fresh supplies; but as they approached
the place they could not restrain fears with regard to their safety. The
surrounding reed beds were in flames in all parts. The few natives that
were met with displayed a guilty timidity, and one was observed wearing a
jacket. Fortunately, however, their fears were groundless; the relief
party had arrived and had been awaiting their return for about three
weeks. An attack by the natives had been made, but it had been easily
repulsed. While Sturt rested at Mount Harris, Hume struck off to the
west, beyond the reeds. He reported the country as superior for thirty
miles to any they had yet seen, but beyond that limit lay brushwood and
monotonous plains.

On the 7th of March the party struck camp and departed for the
Castlereagh River. They found that the flooded stream, impassable by
Oxley, had totally disappeared. Not a drop of water lay in the bed of the
river. They commenced to follow its course down, and the old harassing
hunt for water had to be conducted anew. No wonder that Sturt could never
free himself from the memory of his fiery baptism as Australian explorer,
and that his mental picture of the country was ever shrouded in the haze
of drought and heat.

As they descended the Castlereagh into the level lower country, they were
greatly delayed by the many intricate windings of the river and its
multiplicity of channels. On the 29th of March they again reached the
Darling, ninety miles above t