184 
Captain Sturt's Expedition into the 
done all that man could have done. Now, under the influence of 
restored health, I feel that I did far too little. 
It was wisely left to me by the Secretary of State to pursue 
such course into the interior as I deemed best. A north course 
from Mount Arden was pointed out to me; but the basin of 
Lake Torrens presented an insurmountable obstacle in that direc¬ 
tion. I had given the subject the fullest consideration, and from 
all I gathered from the natives of the Murray, I was led to hope 
that the Williorara, or Laidley’s Ponds, was a hill stream, and 
that I should find an easier passage into the interior by running 
up the Darling and tracing the Williorara upwards, than at any 
other point, and on that 1 determined. Accordingly, on the 
19th of August, the expedition mustered at Moorundee, at which 
place Mr. Eyre had been anxiously expecting our arrival. Know¬ 
ing the great importance of native guides, he had been at infinite 
pains to secure for us the services of two of the most influential 
men on the river—Nadbuck and Camboli. 
The expedition left Moorundee on the 21st of August, under 
the charge of Mr. Poole, and was followed by myself and Mr. 
Eyre, with Tenbury, the native constable at Moorundee, on the 
evening of Saturday, the 24th. The nights, at this season of 
the year, in the valley of the Murray, were cold and frosty, but 
the noon-day temperature was delightful. On Sunday, the 25th, 
we passed the Great Bend of the Murray, and I found myself 
treading the ground over which, in 1839, I had so anxiously 
ridden in search of a lost companion, who perished in the lonely 
brushes between the river and the hills. I need not say that I 
allude to the fate of Mr. Bryan, nor would I re-kindle vain regrets 
in the breasts of those who most felt his loss; but it will be 
satisfactory to them to think that he never fell into the hands of 
the natives ; for Tenbury, to whom any event of the kind would 
most assuredly have been communicated, and who perfectly 
recollects Colonel Gawler’s visit to the Great Bend, assured me 
that neither had the poor lad been seen by any of the natives 
either alive or dead. It is more than probable, therefore, that 
his remains found as undisturbed a resting place as if they had 
been deposited in the grave. Assuredly, if we may presume to 
