they arrived at van diemen's gulf on 24 july 1862. on a tall tree branch they raised a union jack flag with stuart's name embroided on it which had been made by chamber's daughter, elizabeth. wood from the tree, which has since been destroyed, is in the collection of the royal geographical society of south australia's collection. the group then had to travel back to adelaide. food was becoming scarce, and the hot weather meant there was little water. many horses died, and stuart was again forced to leave behind equipment. waterhouse had to leave all his carefully collected plants and animals. the men were very hungry and even shot and ate dingos. stuart was in poor health and became blind. he was unable to speak for several days and the men thought he was going to die. he was unable to ride his horse, and they made a bed with long poles and blankets that could be carried between two horses. stuart was carried by this method. after crossing the macdonnell ranges, they discovered that rain had fallen and there was lots of grass. on reaching the settled areas, stuart learned that his friend and partner, james chambers had died. he left kekwick in charge of the group, and went ahead with auld. they got on the train at kapunda and arrived in adelaide on 17 december 1862.