Water, to take down the news of his discovery, and to bring back rations
for a prolonged exploration. Meantime he remained in camp. From one old
native, with whom he had a long conversation, he obtained another version
of the supposed massacre, which evidently had a certain admixture of
truth.

This was to the effect that the whites repulsed an attack of the natives
on their return journey; that in the affair, one white man was killed;
he was buried after the fight, and the others went south. The natives
then dug up the body and ate the flesh. The blackfellow then described
minutely the different waters passed by Burke, and the way the men lived
on the seeds of the nardoo plant, which he must have heard of from other
natives.

After waiting a little over a month, Mr. Hodgkinson returned, and brought
back with him the news of Howitt's success in finding King. This
explained M'Kinlay's discovery as being that of Gray's body, the adjuncts
of the fight turning out to be exaggerations of the natives. He made an
excursion to the eastward, and visited the graves of the two men buried
by Howitt, on Cooper's Creek, then he started for the north.

The perusal of his journal, containing the account of his first few
weeks' travel, is hard work to accomplish. The native names of every
small lake and waterhole are all given in full, and as the course of each
day's travel is omitted, it becomes rather difficult to follow the track
of the expedition, excepting on the map.

A fairly northerly course was, however, maintained, and M'Kinlay speaks
highly of the country for pastoral purposes. As it was the dry time of
the year, immediately preceding the setting in of the rains, it shows