patted her on the back and allowed her to depart.  To my surprise, in about an hour and a half after, seven natives were seen approaching the camp, with the slowness of a funeral procession.  They kept their eyes on the ground, and appeared as if marching to execution.  However, I made them sit under a tree; a group of seven of the most miserable human beings I ever saw.  Poor emaciated creatures all of them, who no doubt thought the mandate they had received to visit the camp was from a superior being, and had obeyed it in fear and trembling.  I made them sit down, gave them a good breakfast and some presents, but could obtain no information from them; when at length they slunk off and we never saw anything more of them.  The men were circumcised, but not disfigured by the loss of the front teeth, perfectly naked, rather low in stature, and anything but good looking.

On the 12th, about midnight, we had a violent squall that at once levelled every tent in the camp to the ground.  It lasted for about half an hour with terrific fury, but gradually subsided as the cloud from behind which it burst passed over us.  A few drops of rain then fell and cooled the air, when I called all hands to replace the tents.  I was up writing at the time, and of a sudden found myself sitting without anything above me save the blue vault of heaven.  My papers, etc. were carried away, and the men could scarcely hear one another, so furiously did the wind howl in the trees.

On the 13th I left the camp in charge of Mr. Piesse my store-keeper, and with Mr. Stuart and Flood crossed the ranges to the eastward, intending to examine the country between us and the Darling.  Immediately on the other side of the range there was a plain of great width, and beyond, at a distance of between 50 and 60 miles, was a range of hills running parallel to those near the camp.  They terminated however at a bold hill, bearing E.N.E. from me, it was evidently of great height; beyond this hill there was another still higher to the north-east, which I believe was Mount Lyell.  The first portions of the plain were open, and we could trace several creeks winding along them, but the distant parts were apparently covered with dense and black scrub.  Descending to the eastward towards the plains we rode down a little valley, in which we found a small pool of water; at this we stopped for a short time, but as the valley turned too much to the north I left it, and pursuing an easterly course over the plains halted at seven miles, and slept upon them, under some low bushes.  The early part of the day had been warm, with the wind at N.E., but in the evening it changed to the south, and the night was bitterly cold.  On the morning of the 14th we were obliged to wrap ourselves up as well as we could, the wind still blowing keenly from the south.  We travelled for more than five miles over grassy plains, and crossed the dry beds of several lagoons, in which not very long before there might