stream-bed turned east, and we followed it until 6.0, when we were halted
for the night, having the good fortune to find a little fresh water by
digging in the sand in the bed of the river, the pools being all
brackish.

RETURN TO DEPOT CAMP.

13th October.

At 6.15 a.m., we were again in our saddles, and continued journey up the
river--the general course north-north-east. In vain we looked for some
rising ground or hill from which we might obtain a view of the country,
but the same sandy level, covered with dense thickets of wattles, still
met the eye till 11.0, when we observed a low sandstone cliff forming the
eastern side of the valley. In this direction we steered, and after
pushing through thickets of wattle growing on stony ground, with small
patches of salsolaceous plants, we arrived at the foot of the cliff,
which was about sixty feet in height, of white sandstone, full of rounded
quartz pebbles. The top was nearly on a level with the general plane of
the country, which was of a most cheerless aspect. The valley of the
river trended to the north-north-east for eight or ten miles, then to the
east; the width appeared about five miles, and one dense thicket of
wattles seemed to fill the entire space. The rest of the country was,
without the slightest exception, level in the extreme, covered with one
universal thicket of acacia and cypress, the latter indicating the sandy
nature of the soil. As no appearance of change in the character of the
country within twenty or thirty miles was visible, and we had only two
days' provisions left (not having expected the stream to extend so far),
and the camp at sixty miles distant, we were obliged to leave the farther
examination of the river to some future explorers; but we regretted it