, and the horses did not require any, I was
curious to know whether fresh water could be procured where we were
encamped--a long, low and narrow tongue of sandy land, lying between the
sea on one side and extensive salt swamps on the other, and in no part
elevated more than a few feet above the level of the sea itself. After
tea I took the spade and commenced digging, and to my great surprise at
six feet I obtained water, which though brackish was very palatable. This
was very extraordinary, considering the nature of the position we were
in, and that there were not any hills from which the fresh water could
drain.

The night was again bitterly cold and frosty, and we suffered severely.
Now the winter had set in, and we were sadly unprepared to meet its
inclemency, the cold at nights became so intense as to occasion me
agonies of pain; and the poor native was in the same predicament.

May 11.--Upon moving away this morning, I kept behind the sea shore along
the borders of the salt swamp, steering for some sand-hills which were
seen a-head of us. A hill was now visible in the distance, a little south
of west, rising above the level bank behind the shore,--this was the
first hill, properly so called, that we had met with for many hundreds of
miles, and it tended not a little to cheer us and confirm all previous
impressions relative to the change and improvement in the character of
the country. Our horses were dreadfully fatigued and moved along with
difficulty, and it was as much as we could do to reach the sand-hills we
had seen, though only seven miles away. In our approach to them we passed
through a fine plain full of grass, and of a much better description than
we had met with since leaving Fowler's Bay. Not only was it long and in
the greatest abundance, but there were also mixed with the old grass many
stalks of new and green, the whole forming a rich and luxurious feast for
our horses, such as they had not enjoyed for many a long day. Nearer to
the sand-hills we obtained excellent water by digging, at a depth of five
feet, and only half a mile away from the grass. This place was too
favourable not to be made the most of, and I determined to halt for a day
or two to give our horses the benefit of it, and to enable us to diminish
the weight of meat they had to carry. Whilst here I gave Wylie free
permission to eat as much as he could,--a privilege which he was not long
in turning to account. Between last night's supp