d her bow to the
rapid, while the skiff floated away into the strength of it. We had every
reason to anticipate the loss of our whale-boat, whose build was so light,
that had her side struck the rock, instead of her keel, she would have
been laid open from stem to stern. As it was, however, she remained fixed
in her position, and it only remained for us to get her off the best way
we could. I saw that this could only be done by sending two of the men
with a rope to the upper rock, and getting the boat, by that means, into
the still water, between that and the lower one. We should then have time
to examine the channels, and to decide as to that down which it would be
safest to proceed. My only fear was, that the loss of the weight of the
two men would lighten the boat so much, that she would be precipitated
down the rapid without my having any command over her; but it happened
otherwise. We succeeded in getting her into the still water, and
ultimately took her down the channel under the right bank, without her
sustaining any injury. A few miles below this rapid the river took a
singular bend, and we found, after pulling several miles, that we were
within a stone's throw of a part of the stream we had already
sailed down.

The four natives joined us in the camp, and assisted the men at their
various occupations. The consequence was, that they were treated with more
than ordinary kindness; and Fraser, for his part, in order to gratify
these favoured guests, made great havoc among the feathered race. He
returned after a short ramble with a variety of game, among which were a
crow, a kite, and a laughing jackass (alcedo gigantea,) a species of
king's-fisher, a singular bird, found in every part of Australia. Its cry,
which resembles a chorus of wild spirits, is apt to startle the traveller
who may be in jeopardy, as if laughing and mocking at his misfortune.
It is a harmless bird, and I seldom allowed them to be destroyed, as they
were sure to rouse us with the earliest dawn. To this list of Fraser's
spoils, a duck and a tough old cockatoo, must be added. The whole of these
our friends threw on the fire without the delay of plucking, and snatched
them from that consuming element ere they were well singed, and devoured
them with uncommon relish.

DESERTED NATIVE VILLAGE.

We pitched our tents upon a flat of good and tenacious soil. A brush, in
which there was a new species of melaleuca, backed it, in the thickest
part of w