il, and
both its depth and its current were considerable. We calculated having
proceeded from 28 to 30 miles, though, perhaps, not more than half that
distance in a direct line. No rain fell during the day, but we
experienced some heavy squalls from the E.S.E.

THE SKIFF STRIKES AND SINKS--LABOUR IN RECOVERING ARTICLES LOST.

The second day of our journey from the depot was marked by an accident
that had well nigh obliged us to abandon the further pursuit of the
river, by depriving us of part of our means of carrying it into effect.
We had proceeded, as usual, at an early hour in the morning, and not
long after we started, fell in with the blacks who had visited us last,
and who were now in much better humour than upon that occasion. As they
had their women with them, we pushed in to the bank, and distributed
some presents, after which we dropped quietly down the river. Its
general depth had been such as to offer few obstructions to our
progress, but about an hour after we left the natives, the skiff struck
upon a sunken log, and immediately filling, went down in about twelve
feet of water, The length of the painter prevented any strain upon the
whale-boat, but the consequence of so serious an accident at once
flashed upon our minds. That we should suffer considerably, we could
not doubt, but our object was to get the skiff up with the least
possible delay, to prevent the fresh water from mixing with the brine,
in the casks of meat. Some short time, however, necessarily elapsed
before we could effect this, and when at last the skiff was hauled
ashore, we found that we were too late to prevent the mischief that we
had anticipated. All the things had been fastened in the boat, but
either from the shock, or the force of the current, one of the pork
casks, the head of the still, and the greater part of the carpenter's
tools, had been thrown out of her. As the success of the expedition
might probably depend upon the complete state of the still, I
determined to use every effort for its recovery: but I was truly at a
loss how to find it; for the waters of the river were extremely turbid.
In this dilemma, the blacks would have been of the most essential
service, but they were far behind us, so that we had to depend on our
own exertions alone. I directed the whale-boat to be moored over the
place where the accident had happened, and then used the oars on either
side of her, to feel along the bottom of the river, in hopes that b