Tuesday December 24. Mary Lake.

Rested ourselves and horses, and put shoes on Mr. Campbell's horse with
screw nails. We found the punching and fitting of the shoes difficult and
tedious, although Mr. Gregory, who is himself a first-rate hand at that
sort of work, assured me that it would not be a troublesome operation.

Christmas Day. Mary Lake.

As ducks were abundant and the grass good this was a fine place for
spending Christmas. In the afternoon Jemmy and I went down the river in a
south-south-east direction to a fine waterhole, which I have named Lake
Frances; between Mary Lake and it, we only found shallow pools of water
from the last thunderstorm. We saw a fat old white-headed blackfellow and
his gin near the waterhole. The gin was very anxious about the safety of
her four dogs and carried one of them in her arms; but on our approach
she abandoned it and fled into the water; but afterwards seeing the old
blackfellow had gone up a tree she followed his example. Jemmy not
understanding their language we could not get any information from them.

Thursday December 26. Camp Number 22, situated on Mary Lake on Herbert
River.

We left this camp at 7.37 a.m. At 7.42 made a quarter of a mile
south-west by south to end of Mary Lake; at 7.52 made half a mile south
on left side of the river, to plains, which are slightly timbered; at 8
made half a mile south-south-east, skirting the river to Lake Frances; at
9 made three miles; at 9.19 made three-quarters of a mile south to where
we crossed a watercourse from the east which I have named the Don Creek: