Friday, 21st June, 1861.—­Last night was cold and clear, winding up with a strong wind from north-east in the morning.  I feel much weaker than ever and can scarcely crawl out of the mia-mia.  Unless relief comes in some form or other, I cannot possibly last more than a fortnight.

It is a great consolation, at least, in this position of ours, to know that we have done all we could, and that our deaths will rather be the result of the mismanagement of others than of any rash acts of our own.  Had we come to grief elsewhere, we could only have blamed ourselves; but here we are returned to Cooper’s Creek, where we had every reason to look for provisions and clothing; and yet we have to die of starvation, in spite of the explicit instructions given by Mr. Burke—­“That the depot party should await our return;” and the strong recommendation to the Committee “that we should be followed up by a party from Menindie.”

About noon a change of wind took place, and it blew almost as hard from the west as it did previously from the north-east.  A few cirrocumulus continued to pass over towards east.

Saturday, 22nd June, 1861.—­Night cloudy and warm; every appearance of rain; thunder once or twice during the night; clouds moving in an easterly direction; lower atmosphere perfectly calm.  There were a few drops of rain during the night, and in the morning, about nine A.M., there was every prospect of more rain until towards noon, when the sky cleared up for a time.

Mr. Burke and King out for nardoo; the former returned much fatigued.  I am so weak to-day as to be unable to get on my feet.

Sunday, 23rd June, 1861.—­All hands at home.  I am so weak as to be incapable of crawling out of the mia-mia.  King holds out well, but Mr. Burke finds himself weaker every day.

Monday, 24th June, 1861.—­A fearful night.  At about an hour before sunset, a southerly gale sprung up and continued throughout the greater portion of the night; the cold was intense, and it seemed as if one would be shrivelled up.  Towards morning it fortunately lulled a little, but a strong cold breeze continued till near sunset, after which it became perfectly calm.

King went out for nardoo in spite of the wind, and came in with a good load; but he himself terribly cut up.  He says that he can no longer keep up the work, and as he and Mr. Burke are both getting rapidly weaker, we have but a slight chance of anything but starvation, unless we can get hold of some blacks.

Tuesday, 25th June, 1861.—­Night calm, clear and intensely cold, especially towards morning.  Near daybreak, King reported seeing a moon in the east, with a haze of light stretching up from it; he declared it to be quite as large as the moon, and not dim at the edges.  I am so weak that any attempt to get a sight of it was out of the question; but I think it must have been Venus in the Zodiacal Light that he saw, with a corona around her.