4 P. M. 75°; at 9, 49°.

18TH MAY.--Leaving a buried letter for Mr. Kennedy we proceeded to trace,
with our cart-wheels, the best route I could find for the heavy drays
coming forward with him. The soil was sandy, but in other respects the
country was good: consisting chiefly of open forest, and being well
covered with grass. Another gap enabled me to pass very directly on to
the newly-discovered river, and it seemed that this, and the other gap
behind it, were almost the only openings in the ranges from which we had
descended. Both led in the direction of our route, and the pond we had
just left was ascertained to be the only one in the little channel. I
sought a good position for a depôt camp on the newly-discovered river,
and found one extremely favourable, on a curve concave to the N. W.,
overlooking, from a high bank, a dry ford, on a smooth rocky bed; and
having also access to a reach of water, where the bottom was hard and
firm. We approached this position with our carts, in the midst of smoke
and flame; the natives having availed themselves of a hot wind to burn as
much as they could of the old grass, and a prickly weed which, being
removed, would admit the growth of a green crop, on which the kangaroos
come to feed, and are then more easily got at. Latitude of this camp, 26°
12' 47" S. Thermometer, at sunrise, 40°; at 4 P. M., 78°; at 9, 57°.

19TH MAY.--I could now venture to halt a day without any apprehensions
about leaving sufficient water for the party who were following us; and I
had recently obtained many angles I wished to put together, in order to
learn the character of the country, which required much study. That I
should have overlooked an extensive country, without perceiving any
indication of a large river flowing through it, almost at my feet, seemed
a singular circumstance, and I was still as little aware of its ultimate
course. I found on laying down my work on paper, that the chief