hem
passing on the same side of a tree or rock at the first attempt, so that
we were continually halting to clear their tether ropes; again, one of
the beasts would now and then become obstinate, refuse to move, and this
delayed us all; for I would not allow the party to separate for fear of
the natives. In consequence of all these adverse circumstances at sunset
we had scarcely got half-way to the encampment; and just at this period
one pony became and remained so obstinate that, in despair, I had it tied
up to a tree alone. We now moved on again as fast as we could, but night
soon surprised us, and, when it became too dark to see our course, we
tethered our horses and laid down in the forest by them; but as it
rained, and we had neither warm clothes nor covering, and many of the
party had tasted nothing since dawn, our situation was not very pleasant;
indeed, the combined circumstances of cold, hunger, and obstinate ponies
had rendered some of the men more crabbed than I had ever before seen
them.

January 19.

As soon as it was light enough to find the ponies we recommenced our
march; and, all our annoyances of yesterday being repeated, did not
succeed in arriving at the ravine until noon--it took us much care and a
great deal of time to reach the bottom of this in safety; when however we
had done so, we knee-haltered the ponies and let them loose amidst very
good feed, of which they now stood much in need, for there was no grass
whatever between the encampment and Hanover Bay; the whole of the
intervening country being a mass of rock, scrub, and spinifex. I now sent
a party back to bring on the refractory pony, which I had yesterday been
obliged to tie up to a tree, and the long fast it had been subjected to
appeared to have produced a very beneficial effect on its temper, for it
now was perfectly docile.

EXCURSION UP PRINCE REGENT'S RIVER. PREPARATIONS FOR MOVING.

For the next few days all was bustle and preparation. The ponies being so
much smaller than I had expected, all our packsaddles had to be altered,
and fourteen of them, which the party had made during the absence of the
schooner, still had to be put together. Mr. Walker undertook the task of
constructing a pathway up the cliffs, by means of which the loaded ponies
could ascend; he laboured personally at making this path, occasionally
assisted by two or three others; and it would be impossible for anyone
who had not seen it at all to comprehend the o