Although I had passed over much barren ground, I had likewise noticed
soil that was far from poor, and the vegetation upon which in ordinary
seasons would, I am convinced, have borne a very different aspect.

Yet, upon the whole, the space I traversed is unlikely to become the
haunts of civilized man, or will only become so in isolated spots, as a
chain of connection to a more fertile country; if such a country exist
to the westward.

[A report of better country to the North induced Sturt to turn in that
direction.]

_Jan. 14._ Nothing could exceed in dreariness the appearance of the
tracks through which we journeyed on this and the two following days.
The creek on which we depended for a supply of water, gave such alarming
indications of a total failure that I at one time had serious thoughts
of abandoning my pursuit of it. We passed hollow after hollow that had
successively dried up, although originally of considerable depth; and,
when we at length found water, it was doubtful how far we could make use
of it. Sometimes in boiling, it left a sediment nearly equal to half its
body; at other times it was so bitter as to be quite unpalatable. That
on which we subsisted was scraped up from small puddles, heated by the
sun's rays; and so uncertain were we of finding water at the end of the
day's journey, that we were obliged to carry a supply on one of the
bullocks. There was scarcely a living creature, even of the feathered
race, to be seen to break the stillness of the forest. The native dogs
alone wandered about, though they had scarcely strength to avoid us; and
their melancholy howl, breaking in upon the ear at the dead of night,
only served to impress more fully on the mind the absolute loneliness of