This river they followed up till they crossed the watershed on to the head waters of the Suttor River.

They followed this stream down until it brought them to the Burdekin, Leichhardt's most important discovery.
Up the valley of this river they travelled, until they reached the head, where, at the Valley of Lagoons, they crossed the watershed on to the waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Here, for some unknown reason, Leichhardt went far too much to the north, which necessitated a long detour around the south-eastern corner of the Gulf.

It was while they were retracing a southern course along the eastern shore of the Gulf that the naturalist Gilbert met his fate.

Up to this time they had been so little troubled with the natives that they had ceased almost to think of a possible hostile encounter with them.