Landing and distress for want of water on the route.

The necessary orders were soon given:  the boat was lowered and, whilst the party prepared themselves, I went below to arrange with the master the precise spot at which the vessel was to anchor in order that no mistake might occur upon so vital a point.  This done, I returned once more on deck, and found all ready for departure.

The party to land consisted of Mr. Lushington, Mr. Walker, and three men who were selected to accompany us.  I also brought away three of the dogs, to whom I was anxious to give a run after their long confinement on board.

The shore for which we pulled was not more than half a mile distant, and we soon gained the edge of a sandy beach, on which I sprang, eagerly followed by the rest; every eye beaming with delight and hope, unconscious as we were how soon our trials were to commence.

Distressing march.

I soon found that we had landed under very unfavourable circumstances.  The sun was intensely hot.  The long and close confinement on board a small vessel had unfitted us all for taking any violent or continued exercise without some previous training, and the country in which we had landed was of a more rocky and precipitous character than any I had ever before seen; indeed I could not more accurately describe the hills than by saying that they appeared to be the ruins of hills; composed as they were of huge blocks of red sandstone, confusedly piled together in loose disorder, and so overgrown with spinifex and scrub that the interstices wore completely hidden, and into these one or other of the party was continually slipping and falling.

The trees were small, and their foliage so scant and slight that they afforded no shelter whatever from the burning rays of the sun; which appeared to strike up again from the sandstone with redoubled heat, so that it was really painful to touch or to stand upon a bare rock:  we therefore kept moving onwards in the hope of meeting with some spot favourable for a halting place; but the difficult nature of the ground which we had to cross rendered our progress slow and oppressively laborious.

A feeling of thirst and lassitude such as I had never before experienced soon began to overcome all of us; for such a state of things we had unfortunately landed quite unprepared, having only two pints of water with us, a portion of which it was necessary to give to the dogs; who apparently suffered from the heat in an equal degree with ourselves.  These distressing symptoms I can only ascribe to the extreme heat of the sun reflected from the sandstone rocks, and our previous long confinement on board.

Loss of our three dogs.

Our small supply of water, although but sparingly used, was soon exhausted; and the symptoms of lassitude, before so excessive, now became far worse.  As usual, the endurance of the animals gave way before that of the men.  We had not completed more than a mile of our route (although it was far more if the ascents and descents were taken into account) when Ranger, a very fine young dog, dropped behind some rocks, and although we turned back to look for him directly he was missed he could not be found.