CHAPTER 1.3.  FROM 6TH TO 17TH SEPTEMBER, 1872.

Progress stopped. 
Fall back on a tributary. 
River flooded. 
A new range. 
Rudall’s Creek. 
Reach the range. 
Grass-trees. 
Wild beauty of scene. 
Scarcity of water. 
A pea-like vetch. 
Name the range. 
A barren spot. 
Water seen from it. 
Follow a creek channel. 
Other creeks join it. 
A confined glen. 
Scrubby and stony hills. 
Strike a gum creek. 
Slimy water. 
A pretty tree. 
Flies troublesome. 
Emus. 
An orange tree. 
Tropic of Capricorn. 
Melodious sounds. 
Carmichael’s Creek. 
Mountains to the north. 
Ponds of water. 
A green plain. 
Clay-pan water. 
Fine herbage. 
Kangaroos and emus numerous. 
A new tree. 
Agreeable encampment. 
Peculiar mountains. 
High peak. 
Start to ascend it. 
Game plentiful. 
Racecourse plain. 
Surrounded by scrubs. 
A bare slope. 
A yawning chasm. 
Appearance of the peak. 
Gleaming pools. 
Cypress pines. 
The tropic clime of youth. 
Proceed westwards. 
Thick scrubs. 
Native method of procuring water. 
A pine-clad hill. 
A watercourse to the south. 
A poor supply of water. 
Skywards the only view. 
Horses all gone. 
Increasing temperature. 
Attempt ascending high bluff. 
Timberless mountains. 
Beautiful flowers. 
Sultry night. 
Wretched encampment. 
Depart from it.

I had come to the decision, as it was impossible to follow the Finke through the gorge in consequence of the flood, and as the hills were equally impracticable, to fall back upon the tributary I had noticed the day before yesterday as joining the river from the west, thinking I might in twenty or thirty miles find a gap in the northern range that would enable me to reach the Finke again.  The night was very cold, the thermometer at daylight stood at 28 degrees.  The river had risen still higher in the night, and it was impossible to pass through the gorge.  We now turned west-south-west, in order to strike the tributary.  Passing first over rough stony ridges, covered with porcupine grass, we entered a sandy, thickly-bushed country, and struck the creek in ten miles.  A new range lying west I expected to be the source of it, but it now seemed to turn too much to the south.  There was very poor grass, it being old and dry, but as the new range to the west was too distant, we encamped, as there was water.  This watercourse was called Rudall’s Creek.  A cold and very dewy night made all our packs, blankets, etc., wet and clammy; the mercury fell below freezing point, but instantly upon the sun’s appearance it went up enormously.  The horses rambled, and it was late when we reached the western range, as our road was beset by some miles of dense scrubs.  The range was isolated, and of some elevation.