324 MR. LARMEn OVERTAKES THE PARTY. [CH. VIII. 



handkerchief which was supposed to have belonged to Mr. 

 Cunningham. 1 thought, that if that gentleman had really 

 been sacrificed, some of these fellows had been guilty of his 

 murder ; but we were still uncertain of his fate; and perhaps 

 his life had been saved by some of these very natives, whom 

 the men were now much inclined to seize as his destroyers. 

 A gin and child were brouglit to us, that we might give some 

 clothes to the latter, a practice we had foolishly encouraged 

 at the first interviews ; so that they almost persecuted me 

 with young children, expecting that they should receive some- 

 thing. This gin had an English havresack, and Burnett, by 

 my orders, examined the contents ; but he found nothing- 

 likely to have belonged to Mr. Cunningham, except a piece 

 of cloth. This search was made, after they had disap- 

 pointed us respecting a water-hole, and when the man who 

 had promised to be our guide had decamped. 



All the ponds in which we had found water before, were 

 dry, nor could we obtain it elsewhere, although Burnett had 

 examined the Bogan to Burdenda. I knew by the result of 

 our former search for Mr. Cunningham, that no water was 

 to be procured down the bed of the river for many miles; 

 and I therefore cut off four miles of this day's route, and 

 continued our journey as far as possible, having provided 

 against a night without water, by carrying as much in 

 barrels as supplied the whole party, and afforded half a 

 gallon to each of the horses and bullocks. We encamped 

 on a grassy plain, about five miles on, in our journey of the 

 ] St of May. 



Sept. 3. — I sent Burnett and two men forward to examine 

 some ponds, beyond our former camp of the 30th of April, 

 while the rest of the party followed. Mr. Larmer overtook 

 us during this day's journey, having last night been encamped 

 Avith his party only three miles behind us. lie had found 

 in Duck creek, long reaches, like canals, full of excellent 

 water, and covered with wild fowl of every description. On 

 its banks grew large gum-trees, like those on the Darling; 



