Rise of the waters.  Marks of inundations.

On going down to the Glenelg the next morning I found it so swollen by the heavy rain of the preceding night as to render it impossible to get near the main bed.  The river was now far beyond its banks, and in the forks of the trees above our heads we saw driftwood, reeds, dead grass, etc., lodged at least fifteen feet higher than the present level; and which could only have been left there during some great flood.  Whether these had frequently recurred we had of course no means of judging, but during such floods the whole of the very low country which we here saw to the south-west of us must be inundated.  I need scarcely add that in a tropical country no ground could be conceived better adapted to the growth of rice than the extensive levels which border the Glenelg.

A detached party now went of to search for a route by which we could proceed.  The stock-keeper came and reported that the sheep were suffering greatly from the continued rain and exposure to wet, several of them having died during the night; only five were thus left alive out of the number we started with, and, one of these being in a drooping state, I had it killed that we might not lose the advantage of it altogether.

Natives.

Immediately on the other side of the tributary stream which lay to the south of us there rose a high precipitous sandy range, similar to those we had fallen in with on first landing.  This range completely overlooked our encampment from a distance, and on it a party of natives had posted themselves.  We saw the smoke of their fires and heard their own cries and the yelling of their dogs; and with the help of my telescope I once distinguished their dusky forms moving about in the bush.

Cockatoos.

A large flight of cockatoos which lay between us and them were kept in a constant state of screaming anxiety from the movements of one or the other party, and at last found their position so unpleasant that they evacuated it and flew off to some more quiet roosting-place.  Their departure however was a serious loss to us, as they played somewhat the same part that the geese once did in the Capitol; for whenever our sable neighbours made the slightest movement the watchful sentinels of the cockatoos instantly detected it and, by stretching out their crests, screaming, standing on their toes on the highest trees, with their wings spread abroad to support them, and peering eagerly in the direction where the movement was made, they gave us faithful intimation of every motion.

When therefore this advanced guard took unto themselves wings and flew away I was obliged to keep all hands on the alert to prevent a surprise.  Whilst we were thus occupied our detachment returned and reported the country to be utterly impracticable.  I determined however to examine it myself the next morning in order to be quite satisfied upon so important a point.