e on the point of
commencing a bloody fray, which, independently of its own disastrous
consequences, would have blasted the success of the expedition, we were
peacefully surrounded by the hundreds who had so lately threatened us
with destruction; nor was it until after we had returned to the boat,
and had surveyed the multitude upon the sloping bank above us, that we
became fully aware of the extent of our danger, and of the almost
miraculous intervention of Providence in our favour. There could not
have been less than six hundred natives upon that blackened sward. But
this was not the only occasion upon which the merciful superintendance
of that Providence to which we had humbly committed ourselves, was
strikingly manifested. If these pages fail to convey entertainment or
information, sufficient may at least be gleaned from them to furnish
matter for serious reflection; but to those who have been placed in
situations of danger where human ingenuity availed them not, and where
human foresight was baffled, I feel persuaded that these remarks are
unnecessary.

NEW RIVER, SUPPOSED TO BE THE DARLING.

It was my first care to call for our friend, and to express to him, as
well as I could, how much we stood indebted to him, at the same time
that I made him a suitable present; but to the chiefs of the tribes, I
positively refused all gifts, notwithstanding their earnest
solicitations. We next prepared to examine the new river, and turning
the boat's head towards it, endeavoured to pull up the stream. Our
larboard oars touched the right bank, and the current was too strong
for us to conquer it with a pair only; we were, therefore, obliged to
put a second upon her, a movement that excited the astonishment and
admiration of the natives. One old woman seemed in absolute ecstasy, to
whom M'Leay threw an old tin kettle, in recompense for the amusement
she afforded us.

HOIST THE UNION JACK.

As soon as we got above the entrance of the new river, we found easier
pulling, and proceeded up it for some miles, accompanied by the once
more noisy multitude. The river preserved a breadth of one hundred
yards, and a depth of rather more than twelve feet. Its banks were
sloping and grassy, and were overhung by trees of magnificent size.
Indeed, its appearance was so different from the water-worn banks of
the sister stream, that the men exclaimed, on entering it, that we had
got into an English river. Its appearance certainly almost justi