I still was led on by the hope, raised by the height of the range on our left, that we might find water issuing from it towards the coast, and had therefore not searched the plains which lay between us and the sea, indeed I felt fully convinced that the swamps we saw were all perfectly dry and the native coincided in my opinion; about an hour before sunset however we descended towards the plains, and turning due west we reached them in about half an hour, but found all the swamps quite destitute of water.

As soon as it became dark I lit my fire and laid down by it, advising the others to pursue the same course and to preserve their energies for the morrow.

But such advice was thrown away upon men almost perishing with thirst, and every now and then throughout the night I heard their weak husky voices as they wandered from swamp to swamp in the neighbourhood, digging holes with pointed sticks in a vain search.
NATIVE SONGS.
Poor Kaiber alone lay crouching by my fire, occasionally feeding it with fresh fuel and chanting to himself these two songs, in his own language: Thither, mother oh, I return again, Thither oh, I return again.
The other had been sung by the mother of Miago, a native who had accompanied Captain Wickham in the Beagle from the Swan River, and it had made a great impression on the natives.
Whither does that lone ship wander, My young son I shall never see again.
Whither does that lone ship wander.
EXTREME FEEBLENESS OF THE PARTY.
The night wore heavily on; sleepless sufferers were around me, and I myself began to feel very anxious as to what the next day might bring.
The men had now been already one night and two days without tasting a single drop of water or food of any kind whatever, for as the only provisions they had left was a spoonful or two of flour each it was impossible for them to cook this without water; indeed only two of them had even this small supply of flour left, and the rest were wholly destitute.
I personally suffered far less than any of the others with the exception of the native, and this for several reasons.

In the first place I had been long accustomed to subsist on a very small quantity of water, and secondly I had always kept my mind occupied and amused instead of giving way to desponding or gloomy thoughts.

When we halted and the others laid wearily down, brooding over their melancholy situation, I employed myself in writing up my journal, which was most scrupulously kept; and this duty being concluded I had recourse to a small New Testament, my companion throughout all my wanderings, and from this latter I drank in such deep draughts of comfort that my spirits were always good.
DANGER OF PERISHING FOR WANT OF WATER.
April 17.
About an hour and a half before dawn we started in a south by east direction, the native leading the way, for it was yet too dark for me to select points to march upon.