32 MEN ATTACKED WITH OPHTHALMIA. 
Williams would prevent our stirring for a day or two. Not 
only had they a return of inflammation, but several others 
of the men complained of a painful irritation of the eyes, 
which were dreadfully hlood-shot and weak. I was in 
some measure prepared for a relapse in Henwood, as the 
exposure which he necessarily underwent on the plain 
was sufficient to produce that effect; but I now be- 
came apprehensive that the affection would run through 
the party. 
Considering our situation in its different bearings, it 
struck me that the men who were to return to W ellington 
Valley with an account of our proceedings for the Governor’s 
information, had been brought as far as prudence warranted. 
There was no fear of their going astray, as long as they 
had the river to guide them ; but in the open country 
which we were to all appearance approaching, or amidst 
fields of reeds, they might wander from the track, and irre- 
coverably lose themselves. I determined, therefore, not to 
risk their safety, but to prepare my dispatches for Sydney, 
and I hoped most anxiously, that ere they were closed, all 
symptoms of disease would have terminated. 
In the course of the day, however, Spencer, who was to 
return with Riley to Wellington Valley, became seriously 
indisposed, and I feared that he was attacked with dysen- 
tery. Indeed, I should have attributed his illness to our 
situation, but I did not notice any unusual moisture in the 
atmosphere, nor did any fogs rise from the river. I there- 
fore the rather attributed it to exposure and change of diet. 
