Crippled state of the men.

I nearly expired from cold and pain during this inclement night; the rheumatism in the hip in which I had been wounded was dreadful, and I lost the power of moving my extremities from cold.  Kaiber must have suffered even more for he had nothing but a shirt on, whereas I had also a pair of trousers.  The men were in somewhat better condition for they had a blanket, or rather a piece of one, between each two, and lying together they afforded one another mutual warmth.  The long starvation which we had undergone had totally unfitted us all to cope with anything like cold.

April 19.

The rain and clouds protracted the morning dawn until late, which somewhat lengthened our miseries.  As soon however as it was light enough to see our way we started, and moved slowly onwards in a south by east direction.  The men were all completely crippled from the cold of the night, and it was with the greatest difficulty I could get either them or the native to move.  My own energies were however only raised from these calls upon them, and I cheered them on as well as I could.  Corporal Coles, my faithful and tried companion in all my wanderings, could scarcely crawl along.  The flesh was completely torn away from one of his heels, and the irritation caused by this had produced a large swelling in the groin.  Nothing but his own strong fortitude, aided by the encouragement given him by myself and his comrades, could have made him move under his great agony.

Still however we advanced slowly; other lives depended on our exertions; and whenever I reminded the men of this for a minute or two they quickened their pace.  Pale, wasted, and weak, we still crawled onwards in the straight line for Perth, which I assured them they would reach on Saturday night or Sunday morning.

River of running water.  Pass the Moore river.

About two hours and a half after starting we crossed the southern branch of the Moore River, which was running strong; but the rain, which had only just ceased, prevented our being thirsty.

The whole of this day’s route lay over hills similar to those we had found yesterday.  We moved on, occasionally halting for a few minutes, until it was so dark we could no longer see, and then laid down, having again this day tasted no food.

Misery from rain and cold.

It rained hard all night and our miseries of the last one were repeated.  We were also less able to bear them, being weaker from longer abstinence.  This day we travelled about one-and-twenty miles.

DESPONDING feelings.

April 20.

This morning we rose again, weak and stiffened from the cold and wet; life had long ceased to have any charms for me, and I fancy that the others must have experienced a similar feeling.  A disinclination to move pervaded the whole, and I had much the same desire to sink into the sleep of death, that one feels to take a second slumber of a morning after great fatigue.  My life was not worth the magnitude of the effort that it cost me to move; but other lives depended on mine, so I rose up weak and giddy and by degrees induced the rest to start also.  Poor Coles however was in a dreadful state.