left the animal in despair, or that it had got away
from him. At all events it had evidently died for want of water; but the
fate of its unfortunate rider was still a mystery.

HIS OWN FOOTSTEPS TRACED.

It appeared from Mr. Larmer's map of Mr. Cunningham's track that he had
deviated from our line after crossing Bullock creek, and had proceeded
about fourteen miles to the north-west where marks of his having tied up
his horse and lain down induced the party to believe that he had there
passed the first dreary night of his wandering.

From that point he appeared to have intended to return and, by the zigzag
course he took, that he had either been travelling in the dark, or
looking for his own track, that he might retrace it. In this manner his
steps actually approached within a mile of our route, but in such a
manner that he appeared to have been going south while we were travelling
north (on the 18th). Thus he had continued to travel southward, or
south-south-west, full 14 miles, crossing his own track not far from
where he first quitted our route. On his left he had the dry channel
(Bullock creek) with the water-gumtrees (eucalypti) full in view, though
without ever looking into it for water.* Had he observed this channel and
followed it downwards he must have found our route; and had he traced it
upwards he must have come upon the waterholes where I had an interview
with the two natives, and thus, perhaps, have fallen in with me. From the
marks of his horse having been tied to four different trees at the
extreme southern point which he reached, it appeared that he had halted
there some time, or passed there the second night. That point was not
much more than half a mile to the westward of my track out on the 21st.
From it he had returned, keeping still more to the westward, so that he
actually fell in with my track of the 19th, and appeared to have followed
it backwards for upwards of a mile, when he struck off at a rightangle to
the north-west.

(*Footnote. These trees being remarkable from their white shining trunks,
resembling those of beech trees; a circumstance to which, as connected
with the presence of water, I had just before drawn his attention.)

It was impossible to account for this fatal deviation, even had night, as
most of the party supposed, overtaken him there. It seemed that he had
found my paper directing him to trace my steps backwards, and that he had
been doing this where the paper marked N.E.