258 
Captain Sturt's Expedition into the 
in the weak state in which he was it naturally subdued him. He 
saw the necessity of the measure, however, and in anticipation of 
rain, I had had every thing prepared for his departure. I had a 
tilt fixed to one of the drays, and a swing cot with props. I gave 
Mr. Poole the selection of his own men ; had their rations mea¬ 
sured out, and every thing held in readiness for the immediate 
departure of the party so soon as I should feel myself justified in 
allowing them to proceed on their homeward route. During our 
stay at the dep&t the mimimum cold was 24°, a point much lower 
than I had known it at Adelaide; thus then there was a difference 
of 133° between the extremes of summer heat and winter cold, 
the former having been 157°. The mean of the thermometer 
during the months of December, January, and February, was 
102 °, 104°, 101° ; the wind during these months blowing from 
the E.S.E. in the morning, and going round with the sun. The 
month of July—that of our liberation—set in without any appear- 
rance of rain; nor was it until the 13th that denser clouds than 
usual loaded the sky. At this time Mr. Poole had been removed 
from his tent to the underground room, in which we had had a 
chimney built for his comfort. The first drops of rain fell on him 
as he was carried to it; and it was with intense anxiety that one 
and all now looked to the weather, and prayed for that rain which 
could alone relieve us from a position so trying as that in which 
we had so long been placed, and enable us once more to take the 
field. 
It will readily be believed that our detention at the depot was 
severely felt by us all. If I say that no rain fell from the 16th of 
November, 1844, to the 13th of July, 1845,1 should be incorrect; 
rain certainly fell on two or three occasions, but never in such 
quantities as to saturate our tents. I began to fear, indeed, that 
the heartless region in which we were was subject to periodical 
droughts; and that it had been, as I now feel satisfied it was, 
our misfortune to penetrate the desert at the commencement of 
one of these visitations. I saw one of my companions rapidly 
declining in health, and suffering most acute pains. I saw my 
men consuming their provisions in idle repose, and the water 
sinking daily and steadily inch by inch. So circumstanced that 
