His attempts to reach the sea were, however, fruitless. He was
continually turned back by deep and broad mangrove creeks and boggy
flats, and on the 21st May the party started for the nearest settled
districts in Queensland, in the direction of Port Denison.

They were now on the country already twice described by both Leichhardt
and Gregory, and making in the same direction that Gregory did on his
return journey. Like him, too, M'Kinlay missed following up the Flinders.
He crossed on to the head of the head of the Burdekin, which river he
followed down, continually trusting to meet the advancing flocks and
herds of the settlers, then pushing forward into the new country. On
reaching Mount M'Connell, where the tracks of the two former explorers
came respectively to the river, and left it, M'Kinlay kept down the
river, crossing the formidable Leichhardt Range, through which the
Burdekin forces its way to the lower lands of the coast. Here they came
to a temporary station, just formed by Mr. Phillip Somer, where they were
received with the usual hearty hospitality. Since leaving the Gulf
country the explorers had subsisted on little else than horse and camel
flesh, and were necessarily in rather a weak condition; but whilst they
were toiling down the channel of the Upper Burdekin, suffering
semi-starvation, they were actually travelling amongst the advance-guard
of the pioneer squatters, and had they but thought of resting a day and
looking around, their wants would have been relieved long before they
sighted the gorge of the Burdekin, and their toilsome journey through
that gorge have been prevented.

The tracks of the camels had been seen by one squatter [Note, below] at
least within a few hours after the cavalcade had passed down the river,
and a very little trouble would have saved M'Kinlay much suffering.