cap floating on the river. Four persons were immediately in the
water--Piper, his gin, and two whites--and at six or eight minutes at
most Piper brought the body up from the bottom. It was quite warm and
immediately almost all the means recommended in such cases were applied
by our medical attendant (Drysdale) who, having come from
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, had seen many cases of that description. For three
hours the animal heat was preserved by chafing the body, and during the
whole of that time the lungs were alternately inflated and compressed,
but all without success. With a sincerity of grief which must always
pervade the breasts of men losing one of their number under such
circumstances, we consigned the body of poor Taylor to a deep grave, the
doctor having previously laid it out between two large sheets of bark. I
was myself confounded with the most heart-felt sorrow when I turned from
the grave of poor Tally-ho, never to hear his bugle blast again.* It was
late before we commenced the passage of this fatal river which, although
apparently narrow, we could only cross in the same manner in which we had
passed the largest, namely, by swimming the cattle and horses, and
carrying every article of equipment across in the boat. We effected even
thus however the passage of the whole party before sunset; and then
encamped on the opposite bank.

(*Footnote. How this man could have died in the water in so short a time
we did not understand, but it was conjectured that he had received some
blow from the horse, until we were subsequently informed when on the
Murrumbidgee by a person there who knew Taylor that he was subject to
fits, a fact which satisfied us all as to the sudden manner of his
death.)

October 14.

As we proceeded the broad swampy bed of this river or morass appeared on
our right for a mile, the country being still covered by an open forest
of box, having also grass enough upon it. At eight miles we approached
some low hills of clay-slate, and I ascended one to the southward of our
route from which I recognised a sufficient number of previously observed
points to enable me to determine its relative position and theirs. On
this hill I found the beautiful Brownonia which we had seen before only
on Macquarie range beside the Lachlan. We here also met with the rare
Spadostylis cunninghamii, whose heart-shaped glaucous leaves so much
reminded us of the European euphorbias that it would have been mistaken
for one of