to the north below where Oxley crossed it, for he had been unable to find it.  He had gone westward, but had seen nothing except far-stretching plains.  After a few aimless and unprofitable ramblings, they made their way again to Oxley’s Tableland, and Sturt and Hume, with two men, made a journey to the west, with only a negative result.  On the 31st of January they commenced to follow down Sturt’s New Year’s Creek, and the next day, to their unbounded surprise, came upon the bank of a noble river.  From its size and width they judged they had struck it at a point as far from its source as from its termination; but when the men rushed tumultuously down the bank to revel in the water and quench their thirst, they cried out, with disgust and surprise, that the water was salt.

Poor Sturt, whose heart was bounding with joy at the realisation of his fondest hopes in this important discovery of a river which seemed to answer all men’s dreams and anticipations, felt the sudden revulsion of despair.  One saving thought he had, and that was that they were close to its junction with the inland sea.  Meantime, although human tracks were to be seen everywhere, they saw none of the aborigines.  Hume at length found a pool of fresh water, which provided them with water for themselves and their stock.

[Illustration.  The Darling River, at Sturt’s first view point.  Photo by the Reverend J. Milne Curran.]

The long-continued absence of rain having lowered the fresh water so that the supply from the brine springs on the banks predominated, was the explanation of the saltness of the water; but Sturt did not know this, and for six days the party moved slowly down the river until the discovery of saline springs in the bank convinced the leader that the saltness was of local origin.  Still that did not supply them with the necessary drinking water, and on the sixth day, leaving the men encamped at a small supply of fresh water, Sturt and Hume pushed on to look for more, but in vain, and Sturt was compelled to order a retreat to Mount Harris.

This shows how the exploration of the continent has ever been conditioned by the uncertainty of the seasons.  Had Sturt found the Darling in a normal season, he would probably have followed it down to its junction with the Murray, and the geographical system of the east would have been at once laid bare.  But it was not in such a simple manner that the great river basin was to become known.  Toil, privation, and the sacrifice of human lives, had first to be suffered.

To the river which he had found Sturt gave the name Darling, in honour of the Governor.