DIFFICULTIKS OF EXPLORING AUSTRALIA. 173 
crease the consumption of food. In order to meet this 
difficulty it has been proposed to establish dep6ts, upon 
•which an expedition could fall back to recruit its supplies, 
and in ordinary cases this plan might answer; but I am de- 
cidedly of opinion that no party could long remain stationary 
in the distant interior without some fatal collision with the 
natives, which would be attended with the most deplorable 
consequences ; and I do think, considering all things, that 
the experiment is too dangerous to be tried ; for when I 
reached Mount Harris, on my first retreat from the Darling, 
I found the party who were awaiting me, with a supply of 
provisions, under very great alarm, in consequence of the 
hostile proceedings of the Mount Harris tribe. The men 
had been obliged to put the camp into a state of defence. 
The blacks had attempted to surprise them, and would, 
had I not returned, have combined in some general attack. 
It appears to me that the most judicious plan would be 
to send a supply of provisions, with an expedition, to a 
distant point, under the charge of a minor party. These 
provisions could replace those already expended, and the 
animals that carried them could be taken back. 
The number of individuals of which the expedition down 
the banks of the Macquarie was composed, was fourteen : 
that is to say, myself, Mr. Hume, two soldiers, one free 
man, and seven prisoners of the crown. The latter be- 
haved, on all occasions, as steadily as it was possible for 
men to do. Yet the circumstance of the two soldiers being 
with me increased ray confidence in the whole, for I 
