n the afternoon therefore I turned
towards the hills, and ascended one of them, to ascertain if there was
any new object in sight, but here again disappointment awaited us.

The hills were more detached than in other places, and much lower. The
brush swept over them, and we could see it stretching to the horizon on
the distant plains between them. Excepting where the nearer hills rose
above it, that horizon was unbroken; nor were the hills, although
detached groups still existed to the north-east, distinguishable from the
dark plains round them, as the brush extended over all, and the same
sombre hue pervaded everything. I should still, however, have persevered
in exploring that hopeless region; but my mind had for the last day or
two been anxiously drawn to the state of the camp, and the straits to
which I felt assured it would have been put, if Mr. Poole had not
succeeded in finding water in greater quantity than that on which the
people depended when Mr. Browne and I left them. Having been twelve days
absent, I felt convinced that the water in the creek had dried up, and
thought it more than probable that Mr. Poole had been forced to move from
his position. Under such circumstances, I abandoned, for the time, any
further examination of the north-east interior, and turning round to the
south-west, passed up a flat rather than a valley between the hills, and
halted on it at half-past 6 p.m. On the 23rd, we continued on a
south-west course, and gradually ascended the more elevated part of the
range; at 2 p.m. reached the water-hole we discovered the day we crossed
the hills to the little peaks. Our journey back to the camp was only
remarkable for the heat to which we were exposed. We reached it on the
24th of the month, and were really glad to get under shelter of the
tents. All the water in the different creeks we passed in going out, had
sunk many inches, and as I had feared, that at the camp had entirely
vanished, and Mr. Poole having been obliged to dig a hole in the middle
of the creek, was obtaining a precarious supply for the men, the cattle
being driven to a neighbouring pond, which they had all but exhausted.

As the reader will naturally conclude, I was far from satisfied with the
result of this last excursion. It had indeed determined the cessation of
high land to the north and north-east; for although I had not reached the
termination of the ranges in the latter direction, no doubt rested on my
mind but that