Camp 27, or Jack’s Swamp after our unfortunate horse; poor old fellow, many a score miles he carried me till some time ago he got a little lame and has never done so well since.  No dew last night.  Bell is, as he has always been, a day complaining and a day well; Davis something similar; Middleton has now got quite well and the rest of us are all pretty right but would be all the better of a change of food for the better; none of us appear very energetic on horse-food; unfortunately maggots got into it and did not improve it either in appearance or quality, but we are not over nice now.  Plenty of splendid timber in this part of the country.  Wind rather strong from north and continues steady in that quarter.  Trying today to jerk a portion of the horse to cause what we have got to spin out.  A good many fleecy clouds flying about early part of afternoon and the wind has changed a little to the west of north.  In our present state we don’t want to see any rain till we get into the stations, as now we are tentless and of course have nothing to cover the sick in case of wet.  Late in the afternoon wind considerably to the west, at sunset quite a calm, very cloudy and every appearance of rain, trust that it will blow off.  A great number of large-sized kangaroos here but rather shy.  Although there is abundance of grass of different kinds here the camels eat but little of it and do very badly; about the lakes north-east of Lake Torrens is the place for them; they eat nearly everything in the shape of grass and shrubs that grow there, but here it is quite different; but few acacias here of which they are very fond.

Wednesday, July 2.

Camp, Jack’s Swamp.  No rain last night and but little dew; the clouds have all dispersed.  Wind from north varying to east and west of that point and a beautiful hot day.  The horses appearing to do well.  Maitland improving; Kirby about the same, also Palmer.

Thursday, July 3.

Camp, Jack’s Swamp.  Little dew again last night, wind northerly and easterly throughout the day, sun rather warm but not disagreeably so.  The hills hereabouts are composed of substrata of decomposing sandstone with roots growing or dead in the fissures, the top rugged at and near the crest, with a description of stone like decaying burnt brick, broken into fragments although apparently united; very precipitous and often overhanging near the tops of the ranges, with table-tops, generally scrubby, still with good timber even on top and where it is more open, fair grass in places and spinifex in others, with heavy deep ravines down the slopes on all sides and well-grassed and timbered in the valleys.  From the top of range near our camp one has an extensive view; southward is a large valley, the receiver of all the drainage of the hills east and west of it; south the range is low and over it can be discerned several conical wooded hills of greater and lesser sizes; beyond them in the distance can be seen two