RETURN TO THE CAMP.

We reached the camp about sunset and found all right there, the carts having been drawn out of the bogs, all the claw-chains repaired by the blacksmith, our hatchets resteeled, and two new shafts made for the heavy carts.  Piper had during our absence killed abundance of kangaroos, and I now rejoiced at his success on account of the aboriginal portion of our party for whose stomachs, being of savage capacity, quantity was a more important consideration than quality in the article of food, and we were then living on a very reduced scale of rations.  On my return from such excursions The Widow and her child frequently gave notice of our approach long before we reached the camp:  their quick ears seemed sensible of the sound of horses’ feet at an astonishing distance, for in no other way could the men account for the notice which Turandurey and her child, seated at their own fire, were always the first to give of my return, sometimes long before our appearance at the camp.  Piper was usually the first to meet me and assure me of the safety of the party, as if he had taken care of it during my absence; and I encouraged his sense of responsibility by giving him credit for the security they had enjoyed.  A serene evening, lovely in itself, looked doubly beautiful then as our hopes of getting home were inseparable from fine weather, for on this chance our final escape from the mud and bogs seemed very much to depend.  The barometer however indicated rather doubtfully.

September 1.

Heavy rain and fog detained us in the same camp this morning and I availed myself of the day for the purpose of laying down my recent survey.  The results satisfied me that the coastline on the engraved map was very defective and indeed the indentations extended so much deeper into the land that I still entertained hopes of finding some important inlet to the eastward, analogous to that remarkable break of the mountain chain at Mount William.

STILL RETARDED BY THE SOFT SOIL.

September 2.

We travelled as much in a north-east direction as the ground permitted but, although I should most willingly have followed the connecting features whatever their directions, I could not avoid the passage of various swamps or boggy soft hollows in which the carts and more especially the boat-carriage, notwithstanding the greatest exertions on the part of the men, again sank up to the axles.  I had proceeded with the light carts and one heavy cart nearly nine miles while the boat-carriage fell at least six miles behind me, the other heavy carts having also been retarded from the necessity for yoking additional teams to the cattle drawing the boats.  The weather was still unsettled and the continued rains had at length made the surface so soft that even to ride over it was in many places difficult.  I had reached some fine forest land on the bank of a running stream where the features were bolder, and I hoped to arrive soon at the good