Cooper’s creek.

9th June.

After toiling south-west a day and a half over this level surface to latitude 27 degrees 50 minutes, we approached some low ridges, at the foot of which there was a lagoon 100 yards wide, exhibiting signs of a current during flood to the north-west; and as there was an evident westerly trend in all the smaller channels previously crossed, it was evident they would soon merge in Cooper’s Creek.  Steering west-north-west, the several channels collected together, and soon formed a deep watercourse, with fine reaches of water.  The sandstone tableland closed in on both sides; the soil of the intervening plain was much firmer, but showed by the vegetation that saline nature which so often attends the development of the upper sandstones in Australia.  Grass was abundant, and it was surprising with what rapidity the horses recovered their strength.

Boundary of south Australia.

12th June.

Approaching the 141st meridian, which is the boundary of the province of South Australia, stony ridges closed in on both banks of Cooper’s Creek, forming almost a natural division, across which we followed a well-beaten native path; and here I observed the only instance which has come under my observation where the aborigines have taken the trouble to remove natural obstacles from their paths.  The loose stones had been cleared from the track, and in some places piled in large heaps.

14th June.

After passing the stony ridge the valley became wider, the hills receding suddenly, in longitude 140 degrees 30 minutes, both to the north and south; and the whole of the country to the west seemed to consist of a succession of low ridges of red sand and level plains of dry mud, subject to inundation.  Shortly before reaching the branch of Cooper’s Creek named by Captain Sturt Streletzki Creek, we observed the tracks of two horses, one apparently a cart-horse, and the other a well-bred animal, but as none of their tracks were within the last month, the rain had obliterated them to such an extent that they could not be traced up, as they had left the bank of the creek on the first fall of rain, as is the usual habit of horses whose wanderings are uncontrolled.  There can be little doubt that these horses belonged to Captain Sturt, who left one in an exhausted state near this locality, and also lost a second horse, whose tracks were followed many miles in the direction of this part of Cooper’s Creek.

16th June.

Streletzki Creek, which separates nearly at a right angle from the main channel, appears to convey about one-third of the waters of Cooper’s Creek nearly south, and, as we afterwards ascertained, connects it with Lake Torrens.  We, however, continued to follow the channels which trended west for thirty miles, but large branches continually broke off to the south and west, and at length the whole was lost