COUNTRY IMPASSABLE FOR SEVERAL DAYS.

According to the bearings of several of these I found that the plundered camp was only seventeen miles distant; and as the ground was so soft that we could not move farther with the carts until fair weather had again rendered it passable, I resolved to halt the party here until after my intended excursion to Bombelli’s Ponds.

February 15.

The rain continued but not without some intermission.  At one time the wind came from the north, and in the evening the moon made her appearance amid fleecy clouds, which raised our hopes.

February 16.

The rain poured down from a sky that might have alarmed Noah.  The ground became a sea of mud; even within our tents we sank to the knees, no one could move about with shoes—­the men accordingly waded bare-footed.  The water in the pond was also converted into mud.  Ground-crickets of an undescribed species—­which perhaps may be called Gryllotalpa australis—­came out of the earth in great numbers.

At three P.M. the blue sky appeared in the west, and the nimbus clouds subsided.  Towards night the wind died away, and the full moon rising in a most serene sky encouraged us once more to indulge in the hope of getting home.

February 17.

A beautiful clear morning, but this was nevertheless a dies non to us, owing to the impassable state of the surface of the earth.  An emu came very near our tents, and by carrying a bush a la Birnam we got several shots without however having the good fortune to hit it.  We had the satisfaction to find that the ground was drying very fast.  In the evening the mountains to the eastward were seen clearly for the first time.  They appeared to be very rocky and steep, much resembling the outline of Teneriffe or Madeira; and no trees appeared on the highest pinnacles.

EXCURSION TO THE PLUNDERED CAMP OF MR. FINCH.

February 18.

The weather continuing fine it was now in my power to visit the unfortunate camp of Mr. Finch.  Leaving Mr. White therefore in charge of ours, I proceeded this morning towards that spot, accompanied by Mr. Finch and a party mounted on packhorses.  We pursued a direct line, traversing every scrub in the way, in expectation of surprising some of the natives.  After riding six miles we passed one of their encampments where they appeared to have recently been, as the fire was still burning.  In the scrubs we saw several flocks of kangaroos, eight or ten in each; and on the plains we this day saw a greater number of emus than we had before fallen in with during the whole journey.