Hume at length found a pool of fresh water, which provided them with water for themselves and their stock.
[Illustration.

The Darling River, at Sturt's first view point.

Photo by the Reverend J.Milne Curran.] The long-continued absence of rain having lowered the fresh water so that the supply from the brine springs on the banks predominated, was the explanation of the saltness of the water; but Sturt did not know this, and for six days the party moved slowly down the river until the discovery of saline springs in the bank convinced the leader that the saltness was of local origin.

Still that did not supply them with the necessary drinking water, and on the sixth day, leaving the men encamped at a small supply of fresh water, Sturt and Hume pushed on to look for more, but in vain, and Sturt was compelled to order a retreat to Mount Harris.
This shows how the exploration of the continent has ever been conditioned by the uncertainty of the seasons.

Had Sturt found the Darling in a normal season, he would probably have followed it down to its junction with the Murray, and the geographical system of the east would have been at once laid bare.