1.30 p.m., making it close to our camp of 13th August.  Had the distance been ten miles further, probably not more than three or four of the horses would have ever reached it, so much were they reduced in strength.  On reaching the pool, several of the horses, notwithstanding our efforts to prevent them, rushed headlong into the water with their packs on, and drank so much of it that it was with great difficulty we could drag them out again.  In the course of the afternoon Messrs. Brown and Harding came in with the horse Bob, but had not been able to get the mare on more than two or three miles; being anxious, however, not to lose her, I sent McCourt and James with two of the strongest horses, carrying four gallons of water for her, after which they succeeded in getting her into camp by midnight.  Camp 97.

6th October (Sunday).

Moved a short distance down the river to camp 57 for better feed.

Cross dry country to Sherlock river.

7th October.

As the distance from the Yule to the last known permanent water on the eastern branch of the Sherlock is over twenty-five miles, and our means of carrying water very limited since abandoning our largest pair of kegs in the retreat on the 8th September, I to-day set to work and soldered up a number of preserved-meat tins that had been carefully opened and kept for this purpose, putting a small spout to each; eight of these (4-pound tins) we found to contain something over four gallons, which, added to our water belts and the two remaining kegs, would provide for the conveyance of twelve gallons of water, which I hoped would prove sufficient to enable us to pass the dry tract of country in safety, as it would allow half a gallon to each horse and an ample supply for the party for two days.  I also succeeded in repairing the aneroid barometer, which had been crushed nearly flat by the fall of a horse; fortunately, however, without injury to the vacuum vase.

8th October.

Having rearranged the loads and lightened them by leaving hid amongst the rocks a pack-saddle and sixty pounds weight of horse-shoes and nails, at 3.45 p.m. we commenced a retreat on our outward tracks of the 13th August, travelling to 7.15 p.m., when we encamped on a patch of tolerably good grass in the plain at the foot of a volcanic range, without any signs of water near us.  Camp 98.

9th October.

We were up before daylight, and by 6 a.m. had our breakfast, and were again on our march, visiting a waterhole seen on our outward route, but now found to be quite dry.  We pushed on at the best speed of our horses, which was now not much over two miles an hour, to 10.0, when the heat of the day began to tell on the jaded animals; we therefore halted for an hour to give the horses half a gallon of water each, after which they travelled on much more briskly, so that by a little past noon we succeeded in reaching the large pool in the eastern Sherlock, near Camp 55; some of the horses were, however, so much exhausted that we had some difficulty in getting them to move for the last mile, although entirely relieved of their loads.  Camp 55a.