No natives had visited the camp, nor had any living thing, other than flies, been seen, while we were away, except a few pigeons.  The camp at this depot was fixed on the soft, sandy bed of the Ashburton, close to the junction of the east creek, which Alec and I had followed up.  It had been slightly flooded by the late rains, and two open ponds of clear water remained in the bed of the Ashburton.  It seems probable that water might always be procured here by digging, but it is certainly not always visible on the surface.  Once or twice before reaching the depot, we saw one or two places with dried-up bulrushes growing in the bed, and water may have existed there in the sand.  In consequence of my eyes being so bad, we remained here for the next two days.  The heat and the flies were dreadful; and the thermometer indicated 93 degrees one day and 95 degrees the next, in the shade.  It was impossible to get a moment’s peace or rest from the attacks of the flies; the pests kept eating into our eyes, which were already bad enough.  This seemed to be the only object for which these wretches were invented and lived, and they also seemed to be quite ready and willing to die, rather than desist a moment from their occupation.  Everybody had an attack of the blight, as ophthalmia is called in Australia, which with the flies were enough to set any one deranged.  Every little sore or wound on the hands or face was covered by them in swarms; they scorned to use their wings, they preferred walking to flying; one might kill them in millions, yet other, and hungrier millions would still come on, rejoicing in the death of their predecessors, as they now had not only men’s eyes and wounds to eat, but could batten upon the bodies of their slaughtered friends also.  Strange to say, we were not troubled here with ants; had we been, we should only have required a few spears stuck into us to complete our happiness.  A very pretty view was to be obtained from the summit of any of the flat-topped hills in this neighbourhood, and an area of nearly 100 square miles of excellent country might be had here.

On Friday, the 26th of May, we left the depot at this Grand Junction.  The river comes to this place from the south for some few miles.  In ten miles we found that it came through a low pass, which hems it in for some distance.  Two or three tributaries joined, and above them its bed had become considerably smaller than formerly.  At about eighteen miles from the depot we came upon a permanent water, fed by springs, which fell into a fine rock reservoir, and in this, we saw many fish disporting themselves in their pure and pellucid pond.  Several of the fishes were over a foot long.  The water was ten or more feet deep.  A great quantity of tea-tree, Melaleuca, grew in the river-bed here; indeed, our progress was completely stopped by it, and we had to cut down timber for some distance to make a passage for the camels before we could get past the place, the river being confined in a glen.  Peter Nicholls