The evening of the second day we shot him as
he lay, and having cut off as much meat as we could, we lived on it
while we stayed to dry the remainder. Throwing all the least
necessary things away, we made one load for the remaining camel
(Rajah), and each of us carried a swag of about twenty-five pounds.
We were then tracing down the branches of the creek running south,
and found that they ran out into earthy plains. We had understood
that the creek along Gregory's track was continuous; and finding
that all these creeks ran out into plains, Mr. Burke returned, our
camel being completely knocked up. We then intended to give the
camel a spell for a few days, and to make a new attempt to push on
forty or fifty miles to the south, in the hope of striking the
creek. During the time that the camel was being rested, Mr. Burke
and Mr. Wills went in search of the natives, to endeavour to find
out how the nardoo grew. Having found their camp, they obtained as
much nardoo cake and fish as they could eat, but could not explain
that they wished to be shown how to find the seed themselves: they
returned on the third day bringing some fish and nardoo cake with
them.
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