ANT GREY.

On the morning of the 15th, Lieutenant Grey, accompanied by two of his
party, made his appearance upon the shores of Hanover Bay, after a twelve
weeks wander in the interior; during which, great hardships, fatigue, and
peril had been undergone, and much curious and valuable information
collected. Hearing of the proximity of the Beagle, he lost not a moment,
but hastened to assure Captain Wickham that the whole party was safe, and
spent the evening of the 15th--that previous to my return--among those
who sympathized with his sufferings, and heartily welcomed him once more
on board. After the first greetings had been exchanged between us,
Lieutenant Grey professed the utmost anxiety to hear whether, during our
late excursion in the boats, we had discovered the mouth of the Glenelg,
the river first seen by him on the 2nd of March. I was of course
compelled to inform him that we had found no trace of any river, although
the coast from Port George the Fourth to the bottom of Collier Bay, an
extent of nearly one hundred miles, had been examined, and with the
exception I have already noticed, too closely to admit of mistake.

AN EVENING WITH LIEUTENANT GREY.

The next afternoon I followed Lieutenant Grey round to Hanover Bay,
distant twelve miles from the Beagle's anchorage. On the passage I
noticed that the remarkable bluff, spoken of by Captain King, had been
omitted in the charts, and a low rocky point marked in its place. It was
after sunset when we reached the schooner in Hanover Bay; the greater
part of the night was devoted to an examination of Lieutenant Grey's
plans of his expedition, and the drawings with which various events in it
had been illustrated. All these were executed with a finished carefulness
one could not have expected to find in works carried on in the bush, and
under such varied circumstances of distraction and anxiety as had
followed Lieutenant Grey's footsteps: though terribly worn and ill, our
opportune arrival, and the feeling that he was among those who could
appreciate his exertions, seemed already to operate in his recovery. Upon
an old and tattered chart, that had indeed done the state some service,
we attempted to settle the probable course of the Glenelg, the knotty
question held us for some hours in hot debate; but as in a previous
paragraph, I have rendered my more deliberate opinions, I need not here
recount the varied topics discussed during that memorable evening: but it
may