ring mosquitoes
surely found it out, and as surely drove the luckless occupant out of his
retreat. I noticed one man dressed as if in the frozen north, hold his
bag over the fire till it was quite full of smoke, and then get into it,
a companion securing the mouth over his head at the apparent risk of
suffocation; he obtained three hours of what he gratefully termed
comfortable sleep, but when he emerged from his shelter, where he had
been stewed up with the thermometer at 87 degrees, his appearance may be
easily imagined.

Our hands were in constant requisition to keep the tormentors from the
face and ears, which often received a hearty whack, aimed in the
fruitless irritation of the moment at our assailants, and which sometimes
ended in adding headache to the list of annoyances. Strike as you please,
the ceaseless humming of the invincible mosquito close to your ear seems
to mock his unhappy victim!

One poor fellow, whose patience was quite exhausted, fairly jumped into
the river to escape further persecution.

We had the wind from South-West to South-East during the afternoon, but
at 6 P.M. it veered round to North-North-West.

While getting the observations for time and latitude, some of us were
compelled to remain quiet, an opportunity our tiny assailants instantly
availed themselves of, covering our faces and hands. To listen quietly to
their hum, and feel their long stings darting into your flesh, might put
the patience of Job himself to a severe trial.

ASCENT OF THE FITZROY.

March 10.

After such a night of torment, we hailed the morning with delight; and
having partaken of an early breakfast, proceeded on our interesting
discovery. The first reach took us more than a mile, in a South-West by
West direction, the width of it being towards the latter end nearly a
quarter of a mile; the deepest water (from seven to eight feet) was on
the west side, and a dry flat of sand fronted the other for some
distance. The course of the river now changed, first to South-East then
round to West-North-West enclosing a mile of ground. We had great
difficulty, owing to the water being very shoal, in getting our boats
through the next reach, which was rather more than a mile in a West by
South direction. After threading our way through three more reaches,
trending South-South-West--South-West, and South and from half to one
mile in length, the shades of evening and fatigue attending a long and
unsatisfactory day's work,