Nov. 9, 1857.] 
NORTH AUSTRALIAN EXPEDITION. 
for kangaroo or emeu flesh., which, wrapped in sheets of bark, was 
heated by several applications of hot stones. 
On the 30th, Mr. Gregory, with his brother, Dr. Mueller and 
Dean, with eleven horses, started for the interior ; and next day I 
selected a spot on Depot Creek, in 17° S., to form a camp, building 
a bark hut for myself and the stores, and another for the men, and 
marking a tree line to the spot where I had parted with Mr. Gregory, 
to guide him on his return to my camp. 
On the 15th of March, and forty-fifth day of Mr. Gregory’s absence, 
the blacks commenced burning the grass round us, but were driven 
off; and we were subsequently much annoyed by their attempts to 
encircle our horses with a line of fire, thinking probably that they 
were wild animals, and that of course they had a right to hunt 
them. I was obliged to ride out every day for the protection of 
our stud, and one day, after having been nearly surprised by the 
natives during our halt at noon, got near enough to send a bullet 
past them as a warning, which fortunately was understood, and 
our cattle were not again molested. 
On the 27th Mr. Gregory returned, having traced the source of 
the Victoria, and found a river, which he named Sturt Creek, 
flowing toward the south-west, as far as 20° 18' S., where it 
terminated in a salt lake. From its appearance he supposed it 
would be flooded once in three or four years, when of course it 
would enable a party to penetrate much farther into the desert. 
Taking with him his brother, myself, and Fahey, Mr. Gregory now 
rode to the eastward, and traced nearly all the tributaries of the 
Victoria. The country was mostly basaltic or trap plain, and 
Mr. Gregory calculated that he had seen three million acres of 
first-rate, well-watered pasture. While fording the main stream of 
the Victoria, Mr. Gregory’s horse trod upon the back of an alli- 
gator, which was lying just below the surface ; but the monster, 
alarmed at the interruption to his slumbers, shot straight away 
into deep water, without attempting to injure either the horse or 
his rider. 
In another branch we found a dam with a narrow opening, near 
which the natives place a large basket to receive the fish as they 
drive them through. There were also several paintings in red, white, 
black, and yellow, on the rocks, some of them representing a snake 
with two horns and two fore-legs. Beside these, we found a great 
number of rough stone-walls roofed with sticks and grass, so as to 
form a kind of hut ; but they were too small even for a man to sleep 
in, and did not appear to have been put to any use whatever. 
We saw very few kangaroos or emeus, but sometimes shot a lizard, 
