The remaining members of the party reached Halls Creek in early December, after a journey of 149 days and .(Note 5)  On arriving at Halls Creek, the party was informed that two members of the Calvert Exploring Expedition were missing in the desert. The Calvert expedition had taken a path roughly parallel to the Carnegie expedition, but about further west. Carnegie offered to join the search for the missing men, but despite his familiarity with the search area, he was not sent out immediately, being instead put on standby in Halls Creek. He formulated a search plan and purchased three horses in anticipation of joining the search, but to the party's great frustration, they remained on standby for nearly fifteen weeks. Eventually, it became obvious that the missing men must have perished, and Carnegie retracted his offer of help.(Note 6)  Carnegie's expedition was originally intended to terminate at Halls Creek, but since they had found no gold-bearing or pastoral land, the party decided to continue exploring by returning to Coolgardie by a more easterly overland route. The party left Halls Creek on 22 March 1897, heading east then southeast, before eventually turning south. At first, the going was easier than the trip north: water and game were easily found; the natives they encountered were friendly; and the camels' loads had been lightened, enabling them to carry a large supply of water. However, the three horses that replaced the three lost camels needed regular and generous watering, leading to the party experiencing similar hardships to their northerly trip. They arrived back in Coolgardie late in August 1897, having again found no land of interest to a prospector or pastoralist.(Note 7)  Carnegie recorded the native words for a small number of common items and also produced sketches of native weapons and ceremonial implements.(Note 8) He also documented his understanding of native marriage laws.(Note 9)  Carnegie later wrote of the land:  The following publications contain information derived from this expedition:  All notes relate to .