*20 
BLACK COCKATOOS. 
thirsty and restless, and kept walking round the 
well nearly the whole night, and feeding very little. 
We ourselves, too, although dreadfully tired and 
weak, were so cold and restless, that we slept but 
little. I had also a large swelling on two of the 
joints of the second finger of the right hand, which 
gave me very great pain. 
May 4. — After an early breakfast we gave the 
horses as much water as they chose to drink, and 
removing their hobbles gave them full liberty to 
rang6 where they liked. I then left Wylie to con- 
tinue his slumbers, and taking my rifle, walked 
about three miles among the sand-drifts to search 
for grass, but could find none, except the coarse 
vegetation that grew amongst the sand-drifts. I 
found two other places where the natives got water 
by digging, and have no doubt that it may be pro- 
cured almost anywhere in these drifts, which extend 
for some miles, along the coast. Some black cock- 
atoos made their appearance near the sand-hills, in- 
dicating, in connection with the change I had noticed 
in the vegetation, that we were now about entering 
a different and less difficult country than any we 
had yet traversed. These birds I knew never in- 
habited that description of country we had been so 
long travelling through. We had not seen one 
before, during our whole journey, and poor Wylie 
was quite delighted at the idea of our vicinity to a 
better region. 
During the day a strict look out was kept for the 
