He observed the country was very
open in that direction, and had passed another pond of water, deeper but
not so large as that at which we had stopped, and surprised an old native
in his hut with two of his wives, from whom he learnt that there were
both hills and fish to the north.
Whilst Mr. Browne was away, I debated within myself whether or not to
turn from the course on which I had been running to trace this creek up.
The surface water was so very scarce, that I doubted the possibility of
our getting on; but was reluctant to deviate from the line on which I had
determined to penetrate, and I think that, generally, one seldom gains
anything in so doing. From Mr. Browne's account of the creek, its
character appeared to be doubtful, so that I no longer hesitated on my
onward course; but we remained stationary for the remainder of the day.
The evening of this day was beautifully fine, and during it many flights
of parrots and pigeons came to the water. Of the latter we shot several,
but they were very wild and wary. There was on the opposite side of the
creek a long grassy flat, with box-trees growing on it, together with a
new Bauhinia, which we saw here for the first time. On this grassy flat
there were a number of the water-hens we had noticed on the little
fresh-water creek near Lake Torrens. These birds were running about like
fowls all over the grass, but although they had been so tame as to occupy
the gardens and to run about the streets of Adelaide, they were now wild
enough.
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