stantly attacked Drewyer. Fortunately as he was rushing on the
hunter shot him through the heart within twenty paces and he fell, which
enabled Drewyer to get out of his way: we then followed him one hundred
yards and found that the wound had been mortal. Not being able to
discover any more of these animals we returned to camp: here in turning
over some of the baggage we caught a rat somewhat larger than the common
European rat, and of a lighter colour: the body and outer parts of the
legs and head of a light lead colour; the inner side of the legs as well
as the belly, feet and ears are white; the ears are not covered with
hair, and are much larger than those of the common rat; the toes also
are longer, the eyes black and prominent, the whiskers very long and
full; the tail rather longer than the body, and covered with fine fur
and hair of the same size with that on the back, which is very close,
short, and silky in its texture. This was the first we had met, although
its nests are very frequent among the cliffs of rocks and hollow trees,
where we also found large quantities of the shells and seed of the
prickly pear, on which we conclude they chiefly subsist. The musquitoes
are uncommonly troublesome. The wind was again high from the southwest:
these winds are in fact always the coldest and most violent which we
experience, and the hypothesis which we have formed on that subject is,
that the air coming in contact with the Snowy mountains immediately
becomes chilled and condensed, and being thus rendered heavier than the
air below it descends into the rarified air below or into the vacuum
formed by the constant action of the sun on the open unsheltered plains.
The clouds rise suddenly near these mountains and distribute their
contents partially over the neighbouring plains. The same cloud will
discharge hail alone in one part, hail and rain in another, and rain
only in a third, and all within the space of a few miles; while at the
same time there is snow falling on the mountains to the southeast of us.
There is at present no snow on those mountains; that which covered them
on our arrival as well as that which has since fallen having
disappeared. The mountains to the north and northwest of us are still
entirely covered with snow, and indeed there has been no perceptible
diminution of it since we first saw them, which induces a belief either
that the clouds prevailing at this season do not reach their summits or
that they