January 22.

The non-appearance of Souter occasioned me much uneasiness; fortunately the trees were marked along our line of route from the river, and it was probable that he would this morning find the line, and either follow us or retrace his steps towards the camp on the river.  The men who know him best thought he would prefer the latter alternative, as he had been desirous of remaining at the depot.

CONTINUE NORTHWARD.

This was likely however to occasion some inconvenience to us, as he was a useful hand, and I did not despair, even then, of finding some use for the tea-kettle.  Burnett had recovered; the morning was clear, with a pleasant breeze from the north-east, and the irresistible attraction of a perfectly unknown region still led us northward.

The undulations were scarcely perceptible, and the woods were disposed in narrow strips enclosing plains on which grew abundance of grass.  They occupied the lowest parts, and umbrageous clumps of casuarinae in such situations often led me on unsuccessful searches for water, until I was almost convinced that these trees only grew where none could possibly ever be.

The prospect of finding any at length seemed almost hopeless, but I had determined to try the result of as long a journey as could be accomplished this day, with the intention of giving, in the event of failure, the little water remaining in our cask to the animals; and then to retrace our steps during the night and the cool part of the following day so as to regain, if possible, the depot camp next evening.

Meanwhile my party, faint with heat and thirst, toiled after me.  In some parts of these parched plains numerous prints of human feet appeared, but the soil which had evidently been very soft when these impressions were made was now baked as hard as brick, and although we felt that: 

On desert sands twere joy to scan
The rudest steps of fellow man,

these made us only more sensible of the altered state of the surface at that time.  Water had evidently once lodged in every hollow, and the prints of the kangaroo when pursued by the natives and impeded by the mud were visible in various places.

At five miles we entered a wood of pinetrees (callitris) the first we had seen since we left the Namoi; but on passing through it we discovered no other change.  A thick wood of Acacia pendula fell next in our way, and then several patches of casuarinae.  On approaching one of these I observed a very slight hollow and, on following it to the right, or eastward, about a mile (the party having in the meantime halted) I perceived a few dry leaves in a heap, as if gathered by water falling in that direction.

WATER DISCOVERED BY MY HORSE.