ly marking the day of the week in parenthesis as
("Black Thursday.")

'January' 13.--The poor condition of the horses, and the wretchedly
soft nature of the ground, making it impossible for them to be
ridden, or do more than carry the diminished loads of baggage and
stores, the party had no choice but to walk and in some cases even to
carry the packs of the horses. Mr. A. Jardine describes their
appearance this morning as "rather neat" at the starting from the
camp, the two Brothers, Mr. Binney, Scrutton, and the four black-boys
having doffed everything but their shirts and belts. It was well for
the whites that their previous habits on the journey had hardened
their feet and enabled them to travel without shoes, with but little
less hardship than their black companions. This they had acquired by
the custom on coming into camp, of going out with the boys opossum
and "sugar bag" hunting. With stout hearts and naked legs, therefore
they faced forward driving the horses and cattle before them, and by
the end of the day placed ten miles between them and "Poison Creek,"
as it was then named. This however was not accomplished without
great toil, the country traversed being red soil ridges, with black
soil tea-tree flats between them, which were so many bogs. In these
the cattle floundered and bogged at every hundred yards, and even the
spare unladen horses had to be pulled out. The latter were at length
so completely knocked up that it was necessary to leave some of them
at one side of a swamp, the party carrying their packs and loads
about a quarter-of-a-mile on to a dry ridge on the other. Here they
camped and tired as they were, were obliged to keep a vigilant watch,
as, to add to their many annoyances the natives had been following
them all day. Distance 10 miles N.E. by N. Box marked F.J. 68 cross.

'January' 14.--At daylight this morning the horses were got over
the swamp, with less difficulty than was expected, being recruited by
their night's rest. The journey was resumed at 6.30. There had been
no rain on the previous day and night, and the ground with only this
twenty-four hours of dry weather had hardened sufficiently on the
crust to allow the horses to walk without bogging. This crust,
however, once broken through, they bogged hopelessly, until dragged
out with ropes. In this the water and sludge oozing out from the
tracks were great auxiliaries, as they formed a kind of batter, in
which, by pullin