hen cold, and it is therefore the only comfort he ever knows;
whereas we require both fire and clothing and have no conception of the
intensity of enjoyment imparted to the naked body of a savage by the
glowing embrace of a cloud of smoke in winter. In summer also he may
enjoy, unrestrained by dress, the luxury of a bath in any pool when not
content with the refreshing breeze that fans his sensitive body during
the intense heat. Amidst all this exposure the skin of the Australian
native remains as smooth and soft as velvet, and it is not improbable
that the obstructions of drapery would constitute the greatest of his
objections in such a climate to the permanent adoption of a civilised
life.

A RANGE VISIBLE IN THE SOUTH.

June 22.

A night of hard frost was succeeded by a beautifully clear morning. The
refraction brought the summits of a distant range above the south-east
horizon; and the sight was so welcome to us, after having found Australia
a mere desert from the want of hills, that I was at a loss for a name to
give these that should sufficiently express my satisfaction. I found the
breadth of the river at our camp to be 50 yards; and the velocity 4
chains (or 88 yards) in 127 seconds, being something less than a mile and
a half per hour; and the height of the bank above the water to be 18
inches.

PECULIARITIES IN THE SURFACE OF THE COUNTRY NEAR THE RIVER.

The entirely open country through which the nearer river or branch
continued to flow, and the lofty and remarkable trees on the banks of the
other enabled me, in chaining along our route, to survey the course of
both by fixing points on the more distant, and tracing the nearer. At
length we approached a better-wooded country where clear green hills
appeared to our right. I ascended the highest of these and discovered a
vast plain beyond which appeared to be, or rather to have been, the bed
of an extensive lake. I was now struck with the uncommon regularity of
the curve described by the hill or ridge, having previously observed the
same peculiarity in that which overlooked the lake of the savage tribe.
We passed over some slight undulations covered with luxuriant grass, and
were not sorry to see a wood of pines (or callitris) on our left. Large
gumtrees (yarra) grew beyond and, the general course I wished to pursue
leading towards them, I hoped to reach there an angle of the river. We
found however that they hung over a small ana-branch only, in which the