o a place of safety, as soon as possible; and,
as the only effectual way of doing this was to retire upon the nearest
fresh water, I resolved at once to do so. The party turned back on the
morning of the 6th; nor do I think the cattle would ever have reached
their destination had we not found a few buckets of rain water in the
cleft of a rock, to refresh them. Thus it will appear that under our most
trying circumstances, we received aid from Providence, and that the bounty
of Heaven was extended towards us, when we had least reason to expect it.

Notwithstanding we had been thus forced to a partial retreat, both
Mr. Hume and myself were unwilling to quit the pursuit of the river, in so
unsatisfactory a manner. There was no difference in the appearance of the
country to the westward of it; but a seeming interminable flat stretched
away in that direction. A journey across it was not likely, therefore, to
be attended with any favorable results, since it was improbable that any
other leading feature was within our reach. I proposed, therefore, to take
the most serviceable of the horses with me down the river, that, in the
event of our finding fresh water, we might again push forward. Mr. Hume
requesting to be permitted to accompany me, it was arranged that we should
start on the 8th, thereby giving the animals a day's rest. We had not seen
any natives since our parting with the chief horde; and as we were
stationed at some little distance from the river, I hoped that they would
not visit the camp during my absence. This was the only circumstance that
gave me uneasiness, but the men had generally been behaving so well that I
relied a great deal upon them.

EXTRAORDINARY SOUND.

About 3 p.m. on the 7th, Mr. Hume and I were occupied tracing the chart
upon the ground. The day had been remarkably fine, not a cloud was there
in the heavens, nor a breath of air to be felt. On a sudden we heard what
seemed to be the report of a gun fired at the distance of between five and
six miles. It was not the hollow sound of an earthly explosion, or the
sharp cracking noise of falling timber, but in every way resembled a
discharge of a heavy piece of ordnance. On this all were agreed, but no
one was certain whence the sound proceeded. Both Mr. Hume and myself had
been too attentive to our occupation to form a satisfactory opinion; but
we both thought it came from the N.W. I sent one of the men immediately up
a tree, but he could observe noth