At this stage of our journey, I was the only one of the party who was not ill; Mr.Browne and all the men were suffering, added to which, the men were fairly knocked up.

Their labours were now, however, drawing to a close, and I was only too thankful, that I retained my strength.
We had crossed the first or Strzelecki's Creek on the 29th, and had halted that night without water.

During it some of the horses broke loose and wandered back; but Flood and Joseph soon overtook and brought them back.

We should have had a distance of 85 miles to travel without water, but fortunately the precaution we had taken of digging wells in going out, insured us a supply in one of them, so that our return over this last long and dry tract of country was comparatively light, and we gained the Park and joined Mr.Stuart at the stockade on the evening of the 2nd of October, after an absence of seven weeks, during which we had ridden more than 800 miles.

Had it not been for the precaution of digging these wells, I do not think that two or three of the horses would have reached their journey's end.