On the 9th of December, he hoisted the British flag and went through the ceremony of taking possession.

On the 17th of January the Lynher returned, and nearly a month later Grey and his party, which now numbered twelve, started from the coast with twenty-six half-broken Timor ponies as baggage-carriers, and some sheep and goats.
The rainy season had now set in, and many of the stock succumbed almost at the outset, whilst their route proved a veritable tangle of steep spurs and deep ravines.

On the 11th of February they came into collision with the natives, and Grey was severely wounded in the hip with a spear.
When he had recovered sufficiently to be lifted on to one of the ponies, a fresh start was made, and on the 2nd of March his perseverance was rewarded by the discovery of a river which he named the Glenelg.

He followed the course of this river upwards, and reported the country as good, being well-grassed and watered.

Sometimes his route lay along the river's bank; at other times by keeping to the foot of a sandstone ridge he was enabled to avoid detours around many wearisome bends.
[Illustration.