Brahé waited for four months and five days. The natives were troublesome for the most of the time, and confined the party to the camp. The men began to sicken and complain of scurvy, and as Wright with the rest of the company and provisions did not make an appearance, Brahé deemed it prudent to retrace the route from the Darling. His party went very slowly the first day, and camped a few miles down the creek. Had the ill-fated explorers of Burke's party known this and followed on their track, in all probability the fatal consequences of this desertion would have been avoided. It is deplorable to think that the three haggard men did not know that the other party were so near, and that after partaking of a hearty supper they slept all that night within a few miles of their returning companions. Burke, Wills, and King rested for a couple of days at the abandoned depôt. The change of diet worked wonders in improving their strength and cheering their depressed spirits, and on the 23rd of April they felt equal to the task of resuming their journey. Burke's plan was that they should make for Adelaide, by way of Mount Hopeless (an ill-omened name), where there was a large sheep station, and which he thought could not be further than one hundred and fifty miles off. Wills urged that they should return the way they came; the distance to the Darling certainly was greater, being three hundred and fifty miles, but they were sure of feed and water all the way. Unfortunately for them all, as events afterwards proved, Wills yielded to Burke's decision, and the little party started for the mount. As they were about to leave the depôt, Burke deposited in the cache a letter from which we extract the following:--"We have discovered a practical route to Carpentaria, the chief portion of which lies on the 140th meridian of east longitude. There is some good country between this and Stony Desert. From there to the tropics the country is dry and stony. Between the tropics and the gulf a considerable portion is rangey, but is well watered and richly grassed. We reached the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria on the 11th of February." Their starting day was fine, and the agreeable warmth of the weather lent fresh hopes to the three men as they marched slowly along the green banks of the creek. They were still further elated by meeting with a few well-behaved blacks, who gave them good supplies of fish in exchange for some straps and matches. On the sixth day they had a mishap--one of the camels became bogged beside a water-hole. They attempted to place boughs and timber beneath him, but he sank too rapidly; and being of a sluggish, stupid nature, could not make sufficiently strenuous efforts towards extricating himself. They then let in water from the creek so as to buoy him up and soften the mud around his legs, but it was of no avail; the brute lay there as if enjoying himself. The next day they shot the beast dead, cut off as much