Issue of provisions.

Constant and most earnest attention should be paid to the issue of provisions, on the discreet management of which so much depends, and the charge of them should be committed to the second in command.  The most important articles are flour, tea, sugar, and tobacco.  All should be husbanded with extreme care, and weighed from time to time.  The flour is best carried in canvass bags, containing 100 pounds each, and should at the termination of each day’s journey, be regularly piled up and covered with a tarpaulin.  Tea, sugar and tobacco lose considerably in weight, so that it is necessary to estimate for somewhat more than the bare supply.  With regard to the salt meat, the best mode of conveying it appears to be in small barrels of equal weight with the bags of flour.  Salt pork is better than beef.  It should be deprived of all bones and be of the very best quality.  I have heard spirits recommended, but I do not approve their use.  Tea is much more relished by the men; indeed they could not do well without it.  A small quantity of spirits would, however, of course be necessary in the event of its being required.

Live stock.

Mr. Cornelius O’Brien, an enterprising and long-established settler, who has pushed his flocks and herds to the banks of the Morumbidgee, was good enough to present me with eight wethers as I passed his station.  It may be some gratification to Mr. O’Brien to know, that they contributed very materially to our comforts, and he will, perhaps, accept my acknowledgements in this place, not only for so liberal a present to myself, but for his attention and kindness to my men as long as they remained in his neighbourhood.  It was found that the sheep gave but little additional trouble, requiring only to be penned at night, as much to secure them from the native dogs as to prevent them from straying away.  They followed the other animals very quietly, and soon became accustomed to daily movements.  They proved a most available stock; no waste attended their slaughter, and they admitted of a necessary and wholesome change of fresh food from the general salt diet, on which the men would otherwise have had to subsist.

The provisions should, if possible, be issued weekly, and their diminution should be so regulated as to give an equal relief to the animals.

For general information I have annexed a list of the supplies I took with me on my first expedition.  It may appear long, but the articles were packed in a small compass, and their value immaterial.

As a precautionary measure I should advise, that one of the pack animals be kept apart for the purpose of carrying water.  Two casks of equal weight are the best for such a purpose.  In long and hot marches, the men experience great relief from having water at hand.

Intercourse with the natives.