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FROM WATER PEAK TO GAIRDNER'S RANGE.
RETURN TO THE PARTY.
April 10.
The morning's dawn found us in the vicinity of our comrades, and, just as the thick grey mists began heavily to ascend from the low plains on which I had left the party, we emerged from the bush upon the native path down which we had travelled the preceding evening; here I turned northward, and a few minutes more placed the party in our view.

Some of them were missing.

I felt alarmed lest a new misfortune had happened and, hurrying on, eagerly asked where they were.

The answer given will describe more truly their position than the most minute detail could do; it was: "They are just gone into the bush to suck grass, Sir." This semblance of extreme thirst must however, I suspect, have been in some measure a piece of affectation upon their parts, for upon the morning of the day before they had had a plentiful supply of water: whether however their extreme sufferings were true or feigned mattered not, we fully supplied their wants; and then I immediately ordered preparations to be made for our further progress.
We moved on in the direction of the spring of water which lay about half a mile to the eastward of our true line of route.