the bed of the
united channel of the two watercourses, we pitched our tents, at a place
called Burandua. Bad as the water seemed to be, Jemmy soon obtained some
which was both clear and cool, by digging a hole in the sand near the
pool. This native was a quiet and sensible fellow--he steadily pursued
the course he recommended for the wheelbarrows, as he termed our carts;
and answered all my queries briefly and decidedly, either by a nod of
assent, or the negative monosyllable Bel, with a shake of the head. His
walk was extremely light and graceful; his shoulders were neatly knit,
and the flowing luxuriance of his locks was restrained by a bit of
half-inch cord, the two ends hanging, like a double queue, halfway down
his back. He was followed by his gin and a child, which she usually
carried on her back, although it seemed old enough and able to walk.

(*Footnote. A small axe used for numerous purposes by the natives of
Australia.)

The air of evening was very refreshing, and the sun set with peculiar
brilliancy. We had travelled during the whole day on good soil, and the
ploughed appearance of the surface was very remarkable in various places,
particularly a little to the south of Loder's station, where the hollows
seemed to terminate in a common channel. I noticed also that the
direction of all the watercourses was towards the north-west, and it was
evident that the streams occasionally overflowed their banks.

December 9.

This morning the party was ready to proceed soon after five o'clock, but
the barometer got out of order while I was using it in the dry bed of the
rivulet, and some time was lost in an unsuccessful attempt to repair it.
This derangement of the instrument was very unfortunate at so early a
stage of our journey.

After travelling about seven miles and a half we perceived, on our left,
an open valley in which a numerous herd of cattle was feeding; and one
mile further on, we came upon a fine little stream, which was rather
difficult to cross, owing to the steepness of the banks. As the men were
at work taking the carts over one by one, the native and I were amused
with a large black snake, which was swimming about. On his casting a
stone at it the snake glided swiftly towards him, and the poor fellow
took to his heels, cautioning me to keep off, saying it would kill my
horse. But he soon returned to the charge, and having succeeded in
stunning it with stones, it was at length cut in two with my sa