Our situation, at this time, was extremely embarrassing, and the only
circumstance on which we had to congratulate ourselves was, the improved
condition of our men; for several of the cattle and horses were in a sad
plight. The weather had been so extremely oppressive, that we had found it
impossible to keep them free from eruptions. I proposed to Mr. Hume,
therefore, to give them a few days' rest, and to make an excursion, with
such of them as were serviceable, to D'Urban's Group. We were both of us
unwilling to return to the creek, but we foresaw that a blind reliance
upon fortune, in our next movements, might involve us in inextricable
difficulty.

On the other hand, there was a very great risk in delay. It was more than
probable, from the continued drought, that our retreat would be cut off
from the want of water, or that we should only be enabled to effect our
retreat with loss of most of the animals. The hope, however, of our
intersecting some stream, or of falling upon a better country, prevailed
over other considerations; and the excursion was, consequently, determined
upon.

DISTRESS FROM WANT OF WATER.

We left the camp on the 25th, accompanied by Hopkinson and the tinker;
and, almost immediately after, entered an acacia scrub of the most sterile
description, and one, through which it would have been impossible to have
found a passage for the boat carriage. The soil was almost a pure sand,
and the lower branches of the trees were decayed so generally as to give
the whole an indescribable appearance of desolation. About mid-day, we
crossed a light sandy plain, on which there were some dirty puddles of
water. They were so shallow as to leave the backs of the frogs in them
exposed, and they had, in consequence, been destroyed by solar heat, and