On approaching the foot of the
first sandhill, King caught sight in the flat of some nardoo seeds,
and we soon found that the flat was covered with them. This
discovery caused somewhat of a revolution in our feelings, for we
considered that with the knowledge of this plant we were in a
position to support ourselves, even if we were destined to remain
on the creek and wait for assistance from town. Crossing some sand
ridges, running north and south, we struck into a creek which runs
out of Cooper's Creek, and followed it down; at about five miles we
came to a large waterhole, beyond which the watercourse runs out on
extensive flats and earthy plains.
Calm night; sky cleared towards morning, and it became very cold. A
slight easterly breeze sprung up at sunrise but soon died away
again. The sky again became overcast and remained so throughout the
day. There was occasionally a light breeze from south, but during
the greater portion of the day it was quite calm. Fine halo around
the sun in the afternoon.
Camp 16.
Saturday, 18th May, 1861.--[No entry except the following
meteorological entry on an opposite page, which may probably refer
to this date.
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