feed was so excellent.  The water that had been lying in the bed of the lake when we arrived had now dried up, and the quantity taken by ourselves and the camels from the little dam was telling very considerably upon its store—­a plain intimation to us that it would soon become exhausted, and that for the sustenance of life more must be procured.  Where the next favoured spot would be found, who could tell?  The last water we had met was over 150 miles away; the next might be double that distance.  Having considered all these matters, I informed my officers and men that I had determined to push westward, without a thought of retreat, no matter what the result might be; that it was a matter of life or death for us; we must push through or die in the scrubs.  I added that if any more than one of the party desired to retreat, I would provide them with rations and camels, when they could either return to Fowler’s Bay by the way we had come, or descend to Eucla Station on the coast, which lay south nearly 170 miles distant.

I represented that we were probably in the worst desert upon the face of the earth, but that fact should give us all the more pleasure in conquering it.  We were surrounded on all sides by dense scrubs, and the sooner we forced our way out of them the better.  It was of course a desperate thing to do, and I believe very few people would or could rush madly into a totally unknown wilderness, where the nearest known water was 650 miles away.  But I had sworn to go to Perth or die in the attempt, and I inspired the whole of my party with my own enthusiasm.  One and all declared that they would live or die with me.  The natives belonging to this place had never come near us, therefore we could get no information concerning any other waters in this region.  Owing to the difficulty of holding conversation with wild tribes, it is highly probable that if we had met them we should have got no information of value from them.  When wild natives can be induced to approach and speak to the first travellers who trespass on their domains, they simply repeat, as well as they can, every word and action of the whites; this becomes so annoying that it is better to be without them.  When they get to be more intimate and less nervous they also generally become more familiar, and want to see if white people are white all over, and to satisfy their curiosity in many ways.  This region evidently does not support a very numerous tribe, and there is not much game in it.  I have never visited any part of Australia so devoid of animal life.

On the 10th of September everything was ready, and I departed, declaring that:—­

   “Though the scrubs may range around me,
    My camel shall bear me on;
    Though the desert may surround me,
    It hath springs that shall be won.”