country it is difficult to say; most of the herbs and grass and shrubs as dry as tinder and will ignite at once—­but is much more open and fit for pasture.  At sixteen miles on same bearing crossed the bed of salt lake, now dry and of no great extent, running north and south in an extensive flat; spelled and had a pot of tea.  Then on a bearing of 357 degrees for nine and a half miles to camp on west side of Siva Lake, or Perigundi Lake; found it exceedingly boggy; and what I supposed was clover, as seen in the distance at my former visit, was nothing but young samphire; little or no grass; watered the horses out of a canvas by buckets; whole distance twenty-five and a half miles; all arrived at about 7 p.m.

Tuesday, October 15.

Anxious to get off to the place reported by the natives as the abode of the white man, or men; and finding this lake won’t suit as a depot till my return, on account of its boggy nature and scarcity of feed, I started today to endeavour to find a place suitable for that purpose, and travelled over alternate heavy and high sandhills and flooded wooded polygonum flats with a few grassy patches.  At eleven miles on a bearing of about 83 1/2 degrees came to a lake, Cudye-cudyena; plenty of grass and clover but the water all but dried up, a few inches only being around its margin; all the centre and south end and side being a mudbank—­but thought it would do by digging.  On my way back came on a creek with sufficient water and grass, though dry, to suit the purpose, at two miles, and pushed on to camp.  A strange circumstance occurred this evening, showing isolated instances of gratitude and honesty of the natives.  In the evening after my return a number of natives were near the camp; amongst them, just as they were about to depart, I observed an elderly man and his son, a boy of eight to ten years who appeared to be an invalid and was about to be carried off by the father.  I stopped him and, as I was at supper, gave the youth some bread and meat and tea; when they all took their leave.  About the end of the first watch (which was regularly kept) I was awake and heard the person on watch, Middleton, speaking, evidently to a native who, to my astonishment as well as to Middleton’s, ventured up to the camp alone at night; and what would the reader suppose his errand was?  It was to bring back our axe that one of his tribe had purloined unseen from the camp during the afternoon.  On delivery of said article he at once took his leave, promising to come in the morning.

Wednesday, October 16.

In the morning a few of the natives approached the camp, but stood off at a respectable distance, not sure how they were to be dealt with for their dishonesty, till by and bye the old man with a few others came up; and gradually they that stood aloof came up also.  Amongst them were women and children to whom I made various little presents of beads and fishhooks, with which they seemed pleased.  To the old man for