432 
Miscellanea . 
all anxiety, as regarded our retreat, from my mind, since Provi¬ 
dence had guided us, we now knew, to the only spot in these dry 
and desolate regions which could have supplied our wants; and 
it was the necessity that existed for our making out such a place 
of safety, that obliged us to the repeated and fatiguing journeys 
to which I have drawn His Excellency’s attention. 
It was about this time—the end of January—that Mr. Poole, 
Mr. Browne, and myself, began to feel the effects of scurvy. We 
had sore and almost ulcerated gums, violent headaches, a constant 
coppery taste in the mouth, with other symptoms of that virulent 
disease: I had constant, though not profuse, bleeding at the 
nose. We attributed this attack to our having been obliged, on 
our rapid journeys, to use salt meat, when weakened by the in¬ 
tense heat of the season; but as we took every precaution to 
check the disorder, we hoped it would have forsaken us. 
Feeling dissatisfied at the result of my last journey to the north, 
and both Mr. Poole and Mr. Browne being too unwell for active 
duties, I determined again to push into the interior in that direc¬ 
tion, to ascertain if possible the nature and extent of the desert 
there. Accordingly, on the 8th February, I again left the camp, 
attended by Mr. Stuart, my draftsman ; Flood, my stockman; 
and Joseph Colley, an excellent young man I have with me, 
whose moral courage and feeling I had every reason to think 
would support him in the event of his being tried in any way. 
My plan was, to proceed to the most distant water of which I 
knew, to the north; there to leave Mr. Stuart to sketch in the 
ranges, and Flood to take charge of my horse ; to take a supply 
of water in the light cart, and to push on foot with Joseph into 
the desert, in the hope that I should sooner or later arrive at, or 
see, some change of country. Having arrived at the water-holes 
we filled up our casks; and on the morning of the lltli, we pro¬ 
ceeded on our journey, leaving Mr. Stuart and Flood as I had 
proposed. I pursued a course of 5° to the west of north, which 
took me to the right of the hills on which I had been with Mr. 
Browne. We soon got into a country such as I have already 
described; as we advanced, however, the flats became narrower, 
and the sandy ridges appeared closer, succeeding each other like 
