It was seldom that I could go to bed before nine or ten o’clock at night, and I had to be up at four in the morning to see our tea made and sweetened, and our breakfast served out by daylight.  The meals we cut up in thirteen parts, as nearly equal as possible, and one person touched each part in succession; whilst another person, with his back turned, called out the names of the party, the person named taking the part touched.  The scrupulous exactness we were obliged to practise with respect to our provisions was increased by our misfortune in getting next to nothing to assist our scanty ration; while the extreme labour to which we were subjected increased our appetites.  Two of the party always went out at daylight to fetch the horses in, and it was necessary we should start at early morning on account of the great heat in the middle of the day.  We always endeavoured to make a fair stage by ten o’clock, and then, if in a convenient place, to halt:  sometimes we were obliged to halt at nine o’clock, but we started again generally about three or four o’clock P.M., and travelled on till six.

Twelve or fourteen natives made their appearance at the camp this evening, in the same direction as on the previous day.  Each one was armed with a large bundle of spears, and with boomerangs.  Their bodies were painted with a yellowish earth, which with their warlike gestures, made them look very ferocious.  The grass in the position they had taken up was very long and very dry, quite up to the edge of the gully; they set it on fire in three or four places, and the wind blowing from them to us, it burned very rapidly.  Thinking we should be frightened at this display they followed the fire with their spears shipped, making a most hideous noise, and with the most savage gestures.  Knowing the fire could not reach us, as there was nothing to burn on our side the gully, we drew up towards them with our firearms prepared.  They approached near enough to throw three spears into our camp, one of which went quite through one of our tents.  No one was hurt, but a few of our party fired at them; we could not tell whether any were wounded, as they disappeared almost immediately.  We kept three on watch this night for fear of the natives.

September 17 to 21.

Leaving the river, we turned north-west, and had occasionally fair travelling over stiff soil, intersected by many creeks, most of them dry, but were everywhere able to find water at intervals of a few miles.  We passed over some ironstone ridges, and rocky hills, covered with Callitris, Cochlospermum, and Sterculias.  On the stiff soil the trees were ironbark, box, apple-gum, and some large acacias, with long lanceolate phyllodia, and large spikes of golden-coloured flowers.  The grass here in the valleys between the hills had been burned, and was grown up again about eight or ten inches high.

September 22.

We crossed a creek running eastward, overhung by Melaleucas and arborescent callistemons, with plenty of grass on both sides; the soil appeared to become more sandy than that over which we had hitherto passed.