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Rh valuable materials for future publication were also obtained in aid of the Count's barometrical survey, and his geognostic and mineralogical investigations. From this snowy range, retracing their steps for about thirty miles to the westward, the party struck for the south, through a broken and uninhabited country, opening, as it were, by their first track, perhaps a future communication with the Murray. The country, from latitude 37° 10' south, assumed the most cheering and gratifying aspect; but the rivers which beset the country, from north-west to south-east, greatly retarded the progress of the travellers, whose provisions now began to fail.

On the 6th of April it was determined to place all hands on half-rations (a biscuit and a slice of bacon per day), but new difficulties and new delays soon rendered it evident that, even with this precautionary measure, it would be impossible to make the stock of provisions last out the journey. The greatest impediment the travellers had to contend with, was the exhausted state of their horses; each day saw one or other of the party dismounted, to follow the Count on foot; but this, far from removing, only increased the impediments to their progress, for the men, unaccustomed to walk, like the horses, began to feel the effects of the wear and tear of the journey. In this situation it became necessary for the travellers to relinquish (which they did with regret) their original intention of prosecuting their researches as far as Wilson's Promontory, and thence, commencing the exploration of the sea-coast, its inlets and outlets; and to take, instead, the straight course for Western Port, the nearest point whence fresh supplies could be obtained. The open forests, plains and valleys, through which