ance was thus lighted up, displaying fine teeth and great
earnestness of manner, I was delighted to perceive what soul the woman
possessed, and could not but consider our party fortunate in having met
with such an interpreter.

THEY SWIM ACROSS.

At length the strangers proposed swimming over to us and we invited them
to do so.

AFRAID OF THE SHEEP.

They then requested that those wild animals, the sheep and horses, might
be driven away, at which The Widow and Piper's gin laughed heartily, but
they were removed accordingly. The warriors of the Murrumbidgee were
about to plunge into the angry flood, desirous, no doubt, of showing off
like so many Caesars before these females, but their fears of the sheep,
which they could not hide, must have said little for their prowess in the
eyes of the damsels on our side of the water. The weather was cold, but
the stranger who first swam across bore in one hand a piece of burning
wood and a green branch. He was no sooner landed than he converted his
embers into a fire to dry himself. Immediately after him followed a
grey-haired chief (of whom I had heard on the Lachlan) and two others. It
appeared however that Piper did not at first understand their language,
saying it was "Irish"; but it happened that there was with this tribe a
native of Cudjallagong (Regent's lake) and it was rather curious to see
him act as interpreter between Piper and the others.

THEIR REPORTS ABOUT THE JUNCTION OF THE DARLING.

We learnt that the Murrumbidgee joined a much larger river named the
Milliwa, a good way lower down, and that these united streams met, at a
still greater distance, the Oolawambiloa, a river from the north which
received a smaller one, bringing with it all the waters of Wamboul (the
Macquarie). These natives proposed to amuse us with a corrobory dance, to
which I did not object, but they postponed it until the following
evening.

SEARCH UP THE RIVER FOR JUNCTION OF THE LACHLAN.

May 13.

Having been very anxious to complete my survey of the Kalare by
determining the true situation of its junction with the Murrumbidgee, I
set out this morning with the intention of tracing this river upwards to
that point, which I thought could not be at a greater distance than ten
or twelve miles. We sought it however in vain, until darkness put a stop
to our progress after we had measured full twenty miles. We lay down by
the riverside and, although entirely without either food or shelter,