river, to consult with yourself respecting the plan to be pursued in the
search for Mr. Burke and his companions, and to express my earnest desire
to have rations at the Albert River depot to make a second expedition by
the route which Mr. Gregory and I agreed to as the most likely way to
find traces to follow Mr. Burke and his companions--namely by skirting
the desert, and passing, as near as the country would admit of my doing,
to their starting-point, and also to go to a place on the Bowen Downs (a
well-watered country) to seek for a continuation of tracks seen by
Messrs. Cornish and Buchanan, which they thought were made by a South
Australian party, at a point rather less than 300 miles towards the Gulf
of Carpentaria from Burke's depot on Cooper's Creek.

On the 6th instant we left the Victoria together (as you are aware) for
the depot on the Albert River, and that evening after nine hours boating
reached our destination.

On the following morning, having proceeded up the river on the previous
day, reached the junction of the Barkly with the Albert River, near which
we found the tree marked by Mr. Gregory and Captain Chimmo, the former on
the left and the latter on the right bank; afterwards having marked lines
of trees, and marked on trees directions to lead the exploring parties to
the depot, we returned to it.

On the 15th, intending to start tomorrow on the inland expedition, I had
all the horses, in number twenty-three, brought up, the two weak ones
having died since our arrival at the Albert River, besides the five I
mentioned as having died on the voyage. We saddled and packed a few of
the wildest of the horses* to make them more tractable tomorrow, when I
hope, as I have mentioned, to start on our journey.