NATION.

Not many miles below the Rufus, we passed under a lofty cliff upon the
same side with it. It is the first elevation of any consequence that
occurs below the Darling, and not only on that account, but also on
account of the numerous substances of which it is composed, and the
singular formation that is near requires to be particularly noticed.
[See Appendix.] The examination was a task of considerable danger, and
both Fraser and myself had well nigh been buried under a mass of the
cliff that became suddenly detached, and, breaking into thousands of
pieces, went hissing and cracking into the river.

THUNDER STORMS.

The weather about this time was extremely oppressive and close. Thunder
clouds darkened the sky, but no rain fell. The thermometer was seldom
below 104 at noon, and its range was very trifling. The wind shifted
several times during the twenty-four hours; but these changes had no
effect on the thermometer. It was evident, however, as the sun set on
the evening of the 26th, that the clouds from which thunder had for the
last four or five days disturbed the silence of nature around us, would
not long support their own weight. A little before midnight, it
commenced raining, and both wind and rain continued to increase in
violence until about seven in the morning of the 27th; when the weather
moderated.

Two or three blacks had accompanied us from the last tribe, and had
lain down near the fire. As the storm increased, however, they got up,
and swimming across the river, left us to ourselves. This was a very
unusual thing, nor can I satisfy myself as to their object, unless it
was to get into shelter, for these people though they wander naked over
the country, and are daily in the water, feel the cold and rain very
acutely.

Observing the clouds collecting for so many days, I indulged hopes that
we were near high lands, perhaps mountains; but from the loftiest spots
we could see nothing but a level and dark horizon. Anxious to gain as
correct a knowledge of the country as possible we had, in the course of
the day, ascended a sandy ridge that was about a mile from the river.
The view from the summit of this ridge promised to be more extensive
than any we had of late been enabled to obtain; and as far as actual
observation went, we were not disappointed, although in every other
particular, the landscape was one of the most unpromising description.
To the S. and S.E., the country might be said to stretc