It rained a good deal during the night, but the morning turned out remarkably fine.  The day was pleasant, for however inconvenient in some respects the frequent showers had been, they had cooled the air, and consequently prevented our feeling the heat so much as we should otherwise have done, in the close and narrow glen we had now entered.

Among the natives who followed us from the last tribe, there was an old man, who took an uncommon fancy or attachment to Hopkinson, and who promised, when we separated, to join us again in the course of the day.

Face of the country.

As we proceeded down the river we found that it was confined in a glen, whose extreme breadth was not more than half-a-mile.  The hills that rose on either side of it were of pretty equal height.  The alluvial flats were extremely small, and the boldest cliffs separated them from each other.  The flats were lightly wooded, and were for the most part covered with reeds or polygonum.  They were not much elevated above the waters of the river, and had every appearance of being frequently inundated.  At noon we pulled up to dine, upon the left bank, under some hills, which were from 200 to 250 feet in height.  While the men were preparing our tea, (for we had only that to boil,) M’Leay and I ascended the hills.  The brush was so thick upon them, that we could not obtain a view of the distant interior.  Their summits were covered with oyster-shells, in such abundance as entirely to preclude the idea of their having been brought to such a position by the natives.  They were in every stage of petrification.

In the course of the afternoon the old man joined us, and got into the boat.  As far as we could understand from his signs, we were at no great distance from some remarkable change or other.  The river had been making to the N.W., from the commencement of the fossil formation, and it appeared as if it was inclined to keep that direction.  The old man pointed to the N.W., and then placed his hand on the side of his head to indicate, as I understood him, that we should sleep to the N.W. of where we then were; but his second motion was not so intelligible, for he pointed due south, as if to indicate that such would be our future course; and he concluded his information, such as it was, by describing the roaring of the sea, and the height of the waves.  It was evident this old man had been upon the coast, and we were therefore highly delighted at the prospect thus held out to us of reaching it.

Remarkable cliffs.

A little below the hills under which we had stopped, the country again assumed a level.  A line of cliffs, of from two to three hundred feet in height, flanked the river, first on one side and then on the other, varying in length from a quarter of a mile to a mile.  They rose perpendicularly from the water, and were of a bright yellow colour, rendered still more vivid occasionally by the sun shining full