On the seventeenth day from the Boundary Dam, Tietkins, who judged by the appearance of the sandhills that there was water in the neighbourhood, sent the black boy Tommy on to a ridge lying south of their course.  It was fortunate that he did so, for hidden in a hollow surrounded by sandhills was a tiny lake which they were passing by unheeded until Tommy arrested their progress with frantic shouts.  Giles gave this place of succour, which he should have named after his companion, the commonplace name of Victoria Spring; and here the caravan rested for nine days.

Recruited and in good spirits, they soon found themselves amongst the distinctive features of the inner slopes of Western Australia —­ outcrops of granite mounds and boulders, salt lakes, and bogs.  Their next camp of relief was at a native well 200 miles from Victoria Spring.

The quietude of their life at this encampment was however rudely broken by the natives.  During their stay they had had friendly intercourse with the blacks, but no suspicions of treachery had been aroused.  The explorers were just concluding their evening meal when Young saw a mob of armed and painted natives approaching.  He caught sight of them in time to give the alarm to the others, who stood to their arms.  Giles says in his journal that they were “a perfectly armed and drilled force,” though military discipline was a singular characteristic to find amongst the blacks of this barren region.  A discharge of firearms from the whites checked their assailants before any spears had been thrown, and probably prevented the massacre of the whole party.

On leaving this camp the caravan travelled through dense scrub, with occasional hills and patches of open country intervening.  They were fortunate to find some wells on the way, and on the 4th of November arrived at an outside sheep-station in the settled districts of Western Australia, and Giles’s long-cherished ambition was at last fulfilled.

The result of this trip was satisfactory to Giles, who thus saw his many fruitless, though gallant efforts, at last crowned with success; but the journey had no substantial geographical or economic results.  It resembled Warburton’s in having been a hasty flight with camels through an unknown country, marking only a thin line on the map of Australia.  An explorer with the means at his command, in the shape of camels, of venturing on long dry stages with impunity, is tempted to sacrifice extended exploration of the country bordering his route and the deeper and more valuable knowledge that it brings to rapidity of onward movement.  John Forrest, for example, was able, owing to the many minor excursions he was forced to make because of the nature of his equipment, to gain infinitely more knowledge of the geographical details of the country he passed over than either Warburton or Giles.