Feb. 29.--It was cloudy in the morning, and became more so during the day, with easterly and north-easterly winds. As soon as our capricious horses were found, which had wandered more than eight miles through a dense Bricklow scrub, in search of food and water, we started and travelled about ten miles in a north-east direction, leaving the windings of the river to the left. The character of the country continued the same; the same Ironbark forest, with here and there some remarkably pretty spots; and the same Bastard-box flats, with belts of scrub, approaching the river. At about nine miles from Skull Creek, which I supposed to be in latitude 21 degrees 42 minutes, the Isaacs breaks through a long range of sandstone hills; beyond which the country opens into plains with detached patches of scrub, and downs, with "devil-devil" land and its peculiar vegetation, and into very open forest. The river divides into two branches, one coming from the eastward, and the other from the northward. It rained hard during our journey, and, by the time we reached the water-hole which Mr. Gilbert had found, we were wet to the skin. In consequence of the additional fatigues of the day, I allowed some pieces of fat to be fried with our meat. Scarcely a fortnight ago, some of my companions had looked with disgust on the fat of our stews, and had jerked it contemptuously out of their plates; now, however, every one of us thought the addition of fat a peculiar favour, and no one hesitated to drink the liquid fat, after having finished his meat. This relish continued to increase as our bullocks became poorer; and we became as eager to examine the condition of a slaughtered beast, as the natives, whose practice in that respect we had formerly ridiculed. As I had made a set of lunar observations at Skull camp, which I wished to calculate, I sent Mr. Roper up the north branch of the Isaacs to look for water; and, on his return, he imparted the agreeable intelligence, that he had found fine holes of water at about nine or ten miles distant, and that the country was still more open, and abounded with game, particularly emus. CHAPTER VI HEADS OF THE ISAACS--THE SUTTOR--FLINT-ROCK--INDICATIONS OF WATER--DINNER OF THE NATIVES APPROPRIATED BY US--EASTER SUNDAY--ALARM OF AN OLD WOMAN--NATIVES SPEAKING A LANGUAGE ENTIRELY UNKNOWN TO CHARLEY AND BROWN--A BARTER WITH THEM--MOUNT M'CONNEL. I was detained at this place from the 1st to the 4th March, from a severe attack of lumbago, which I had brought on by incautiously and, perhaps, unnecessarily exposing myself to the weather, in my botanical and other pursuits. On the 4th March. I had sufficiently recovered to mount my horse and accompany my party to Roper's water-holes. Basalt cropped out on the plains; the slight ridges of "devil-devil" land are covered with quartz pebbles, and the hills and bed of the river, are of sandstone formation. A yellow, and a pink Hibiscus, were frequent along the river.