sion on our minds.
Perhaps the death-like silence of the scene at that moment led us to
reflect, whilst gazing on the ravages made by the floods, how fearfully
that silence must sometimes be broken by the roar of waters and of winds.
Here, as in other places, we observed the trunks of trees swept down from
the hills, lodged high in the branches of the trees in the neighbourhood
of the creek, and large accumulations of rubbish lying at their butts,
whilst the line of inundation extended so far into the plains that the
country must on such occasions have the appearance of an inland sea. The
winds on the other hand had stripped the bark from the trees to windward
(a little to the south of west), as if it had been shaved off with an
instrument, but during our stay at the Depot we had not experienced any
unusual visitation, as a flood really would have been; for any torrent,
such as that which it was evident sometimes swells the creek, would have
swept us from our ground, since the marks of inundation reached more than
a mile beyond our encampment, and the trunk of a large gum-tree was
jambed between the branches of one overhanging the creek near us at an
altitude exceeding the height of our tents.

On the 11th the wind shifted to the east, the whole sky becoming suddenly
overcast, and on the morning of the 12th it was still at east, but at
noon veered round to the north, when a gentle rain set in, so gentle that
it more resembled a mist, but this continued all the evening and during
the night. It ceased however at 10 a.m. of the 13th, when the wind
shifted a little to the westward of north. At noon rain again commenced,
and fell steadily throughout the night, but although the ground began to
feel the effects of it, sufficient had not fallen to enable us to move.
Yet, how thankful was I for this change, and how earnestly did I pray
that the Almighty would still farther extend his mercy to us, when I laid
my head on my pillow. All night it poured down without any intermission,
and as morning dawned the ripple of waters in a little gully close to our
tents, was a sweeter and more soothing sound than the softest melody I
ever heard. On going down to the creek in the morning I found that it had
risen five inches, and the ground was now so completely saturated that I
no longer doubted the moment of our liberation had arrived.

I had made every necessary preparation for Mr. Poole's departure on the
13th, and as the rain ceased on