pon our route;
but, to our misfortune, had not made more than two or three miles through
a fertile country when the rain again fell in such torrents that we were
compelled to halt. Indeed none but those who have been in tropical
countries can at all conceive with what suddenness and force these storms
burst upon us.

March 14.

We this morning made an attempt to get clear of the marshes by following
a south-easterly course, and were thus forced up into a range of lofty
basaltic mountains, the slopes of which were of the richest description.
Had our ponies been provided with shoes we could have travelled here with
great speed and facility, but the higher land was invariably covered with
sharp pebbles over which the unshod ponies could only move with pain and
difficulty. When however we had gained the summit of the range the view
from it was similar to that which I have just described. Mount Wellington
and Mount Trafalgar formed splendid objects, rearing their bold rocky
heads over St. George's Basin, which now bore the appearance of being a
vast lake. The pleasure of the prospect was however in my eyes somewhat
diminished from seeing on the other side of the range so considerable a
stream that I anticipated great difficulty in crossing it; I therefore
steered a course somewhat more southerly than our former route and,
having reached the extremity of the range, we once more descended into
the fertile lowlands.

GLENELG RIVER.

Along these our course continued through an uninterrupted succession of
rich flats, thinly wooded but luxuriantly grassed, until near sunset,
when, as we were about descending the brow of a low hill, I found that
the Glenelg, having made a sudden turn, was close to us, whilst in our
front, and completely blocking up our passage, there was a very large
tributary which joined the river from the north-east; I therefore halted
the party here for the night, and at once proceeded down to the river.

It was quite fresh and running at the rate of more than five knots an
hour; the bed was composed of fine white sand, and even close to the
margin it was 2 1/2 fathoms in depth. The trees which bordered it were of
a gigantic height and size, I think the largest that I have seen in
Australia; whilst it was almost impossible to get down to the stream,
from the denseness of the vegetation on its banks. Before we reached the
main channel of the river we had several smaller ones to cross, but of
very insignifi