ement of which so much depends, and the
charge of them should be committed to the second in command. The most
important articles are flour, tea, sugar, and tobacco. All should be
husbanded with extreme care, and weighed from time to time. The flour is
best carried in canvass bags, containing 100 pounds each, and should at
the termination of each day's journey, be regularly piled up and covered
with a tarpaulin. Tea, sugar and tobacco lose considerably in weight, so
that it is necessary to estimate for somewhat more than the bare supply.
With regard to the salt meat, the best mode of conveying it appears to be
in small barrels of equal weight with the bags of flour. Salt pork is
better than beef. It should be deprived of all bones and be of the very
best quality. I have heard spirits recommended, but I do not approve their
use. Tea is much more relished by the men; indeed they could not do well
without it. A small quantity of spirits would, however, of course be
necessary in the event of its being required.

LIVE STOCK.

Mr. Cornelius O'Brien, an enterprising and long-established settler, who
has pushed his flocks and herds to the banks of the Morumbidgee, was good
enough to present me with eight wethers as I passed his station. It may be
some gratification to Mr. O'Brien to know, that they contributed very
materially to our comforts, and he will, perhaps, accept my
acknowledgements in this place, not only for so liberal a present to
myself, but for his attention and kindness to my men as long as they
remained in his neighbourhood. It was found that the sheep gave but little
additional trouble, requiring only to be penned at night, as much to
secure them from the native dogs as to prevent them from straying away.
They followed the other animals very quietly, and soon became accustomed
to daily movements. They proved a most available stock; no waste attended
their slaughter, and they admitted of a necessary and wholesome change of
fresh food from the general salt diet, on which the men would otherwise
have had to subsist.

The provisions should, if possible, be issued weekly, and their diminution
should be so regulated as to give an equal relief to the animals.

For general information I have annexed a list of the supplies I took with
me on my first expedition. It may appear long, but the articles were
packed in a small compass, and their value immaterial.

As a precautionary measure I should advise, that one of the p