Not a drop of water lay in the bed of the river.

They commenced to follow its course down, and the old harassing hunt for water had to be conducted anew.

No wonder that Sturt could never free himself from the memory of his fiery baptism as Australian explorer, and that his mental picture of the country was ever shrouded in the haze of drought and heat.
As they descended the Castlereagh into the level lower country, they were greatly delayed by the many intricate windings of the river and its multiplicity of channels.

On the 29th of March they again reached the Darling, ninety miles above the place where they had first come upon it, and they observed the same characteristics as before, including the saltness.

This was a blow to Sturt, who had hoped to find it free from salinity.