ctory conclusion, although there was undoubtedly a current in
it. Yet, as I stood upon its banks at sunset, when not a breath of air
existed to break the stillness of the waters below me, and saw their
surface kept in constant agitation by the leaping of fish, I doubted
whether the river could supply itself so abundantly, and the rather
imagined, that it owed such abundance, which the pelicans seemed to
indicate was constant, to some mediterranean sea or other. Where,
however, were the human inhabitants of this distant and singular
region? The signs of a numerous population were around us, but we had
not seen even a solitary wanderer. The water of the river was not, by
any means, so salt as that of the ocean, but its taste was precisely
similar. Could it be that its unnatural state had driven its
inhabitants from its banks?

One would have imagined that our perplexities would have been
sufficient for one day, but ere night closed, they increased upon us,
although our anxiety, with regard to the cattle, was happily removed.
Mr. Hume with his usual perseverance, walked out when the camp was
formed; and, at a little distance from it, ascended a ridge of pure
sand, crowned with cypresses. From this, he descended to the westward,
and, at length, struck upon the river, where a reef of rocks creased
its channel, and formed a dry passage from one side to the other; but
the bend, which the river must have taken, appeared to him so singular,
that he doubted whether it was the same beside which we had been
travelling during the day. Curiosity led him to cross it, when he found
a small pond of fresh water on a tongue of land, and, immediately
afterwards, returned to acquaint me with the welcome tidings. It was
too late to move, but we had, at least, the prospect of a comfortable
breakfast in the morning.

JUNCTION OF NEW YEAR'S CREEK.

In consequence of the doubts that hung upon Mr. Hume's mind, as to the
course of the river, we arranged that the animals should precede us to
the fresh water; and that we should keep close in upon the stream, to
ascertain that point. After traversing a deep bight, we arrived nearly
as soon as the party, at the appointed rendezvous. The rocks composing
the channel of the river at the crossing place, were of indurated clay.
In the course of an hour, the animals appearing quite refreshed, we
proceeded on our journey, and at about four miles crossed New Year's
Creek, at its junction with the salt rive