ary, we fell in with a large
tribe of natives, whose anxiety to detain us was remarkable. The wind,
however, which, from the time we lost the sea breezes, had hung to the
S.E., had changed to the S.W., and we were eagerly availing ourselves of
it. It will not he supposed we stopped even for a moment. In truth we
pressed on with great success, and did not land to sleep until nine
o'clock. As long as the wind blew from the S.W., the days were cool, and
the sky overcast even so much so as to threaten rain.

The least circumstance, in our critical situation, naturally raised my
apprehensions, and I feared the river would be swollen in the event of
any heavy rains in the hilly country; I hoped, however, we should gain the
Morumbidgee before such a calamity should happen to us, and it became
my object to press for that river without delay.

OBSTACLES TO THE NAVIGATION--DANGEROUS RAPIDS.

Although we had met with frequent rapids in our progress upwards, they had
not been of a serious kind, nor such as would affect the navigation of the
river. The first direct obstacle of this kind occurs a little above a
small tributary that falls into the Murray from the north, between the
Rufus and the cliffs we have alluded to. At this place a reef of coarse
grit contracts the channel of the river. No force we could have exerted
with the oars would have taken us up this rapid; but we accomplished the
task easily by means of a rope which we hauled upon, on the same principle
that barges are dragged by horses along the canals.

As we neared the junction of the two main streams, the country, on both
sides of the river, became low, and its general appearance confirmed the
opinion I have already given as to its flooded origin. The clouds that
obscured the sky, and had threatened to burst for some time, at length
gave way, and we experienced two or three days of heavy rain. In the midst
of it we passed the second stage of our journey, and found the spot lately
so crowded with inhabitants totally deserted. A little above it we
surprised a small tribe in a temporary shelter; but neither our offers nor
presents could prevail on any of them to expose themselves to the torrent
that was falling. They sat shivering in their bark huts in evident
astonishment at our indifference. We threw them some trifling presents and
were glad to proceed unattended by any of them.

PERILOUS ASCENT OF THE RAPIDS.

It will be remembered that in passing down the rive