ful character. Mr. Scott usually employed himself in shooting or
fishing; one of the native boys was always out shepherding the sheep, and
the only remaining man I had was occupied in attending to the horses, so
that there were generally left only myself, the overseer, and one native
boy at the camp, which was desolate and gloomy, as a deserted village.
The overseer was pretty well employed, in making boots for the party, in
shoeing the horses, repairing the harness, and in doing other little odd
jobs of a similar kind; the black boys took their turns in shepherding
the sheep; but I was without active employment, and felt more strongly
than any of them that relaxation of body and depression of spirits, which
inactivity ever produces.

For a time indeed, the writing up of my journals, the filling up my
charts, and superintending the arranging, packing, and burying of our
surplus stores, amused and occupied me, but as these were soon over, I
began to repine and fret at the life of indolence and inactivity. I was
doomed to suffer. Frequently required at the camp, to give directions
about, or to assist in the daily routine of duty, I did not like to
absent myself long away at once; there were no objects of interest near
me, within the limits of a day's excursion on foot, and the weak state of
the horses, prevented me from making any examinations of the country at a
greater distance on horseback; I felt like a prisoner condemned to drag
out a dull and useless existence through a given number of days or weeks,
and like him too, I sighed for freedom, and looked forward with
impatience, to the time when I might again enter upon more active and
congenial pursuits. Fatigue, privation, disappointment, disasters, and
all the various vicissitudes, incidental to a life of active exploration
had occasionally, it is true, been the source of great anxiety or
annoyance, but all were preferable to that oppressive feeling of listless
apathy, of discontent and dissatisfaction, which resulted from the life I
was now obliged to lead.

Christmas day came, and made a slight though temporary break in the daily
monotony of our life. The kindness of our friends had supplied us with
many luxuries; and we were enabled even in the wilds, to participate in
the fare of the season: whilst the season itself, and the circumstances
under which it was ushered in to us, called forth feelings and
associations connected with other scenes and with friends, who