268 PROCEED AGAIN TO THE WESTWARD. 
four horses in charge of Mr. Scott and the youngest of 
the native boys, whilst I proceeded myself, accom- 
panied by the overseer and eldest native boy on horse- 
back, and a man driving a dray with three horses, to 
cross once more through the scrub to the westward. 
We took with us three bags of flour, a number of 
empty casks and kegs, and two pack-saddles, besides 
spades and buckets, and such other minor articles as 
were likely to be required. It was late in the day 
when we arrived at the plains under the sand hills ; 
and though we had brought our six best and 
strongest horses, they were greatly fagged with their 
day’s work. We had still to take them some dis- 
tance to the water, and back again to the grass. At 
the water we found traces of a great many natives 
who appeared to have left only in the morning, and 
who could not be very far away; none were how- 
ever seen. 
December 31. — We remained in camp to rest the 
horses, and took the opportunity of carrying up 
all the water we could, every time the animals went 
backwards and forwards, to a large cask which had 
been fixed on the dray. The taste of the water was 
much worse than when we had been here before, 
being both salter and more bitter ; this, probably, 
might arise from the well having been dug too deep, 
or from the tide having been higher than usual, 
though I did not notice that such had been the case. 
In the afternoon we buried the three bags of flour we 
had brought headed up in a cask. 
