Stuart was able to survey the open sea, instead of having to be content
with the sight of some mangrove trees and salt water.

Next day Stuart started on his return. His health was failing, and his
horses were sadly weakened. After leaving the Newcastle, the water in the
many short creeks coming from the range was found to be at the last gasp;
in some there was none, in others but a scanty supply. The horses
commenced to give in rapidly, and one after another they were left on
successive dry stages. Stuart, too, began to think that he would never
live to reach the settled districts. Scurvy had brought him down to a
terrible state, and after all his success, he scarcely hoped to profit by
it. His right hand was nearly useless to him, and after sunset he was
blind. He could not stand the pain caused by riding, and a stretcher had
to be made to carry him on. Slowly and painfully they crept along until
the first station, Mount Margaret, was reached, and here the leader, who
was only a skeleton, was able to get a little relief, and finally
recovered sufficiently to ride to Adelaide.

This was the last exploration conducted by Stuart. He was rewarded by the
Government of the colony he had served so well, and went to reside in
England, where he died. He never recovered from the great suffering of
his return journey.

At a re-union of returned Australians, held at Glasgow shortly before his
death, he had to speak, and it was evident to all that he had quite
broken down. He said that "his eyesight and his memory were so far gone
that he was unable to compose a speech, or, indeed, to recollect many of
the incidents that happened throughout the course of his explorations."
This was the sad ending of one of our greatest explorers. Eight full
years of his life had been spent in exploring Australia, and neither his