the river was extremely broad and deep.
My servant thought it a good place for fishing and accordingly set a
night-line, one end of which he fastened to the bough of a tree. During
the night, being on guard, he saw a small tortoise floating on the
water, so near that he struck it a violent blow with a large stick,
upon which it dived: to his surprise, however, in the morning, he found
that it had taken the bait, and was fast to the line. On examining it,
the shell proved to be cracked, so that the blow must have been a
severe one. It was the largest we had ever seen, and made an excellent
dish. The flesh was beautifully white, nor could anything, especially
under our circumstances, have been more tempting than it was when
cooked; yet M'Leay would not partake of it.

The prevailing wind was, at this time, from the S.W. It blew heavily
all day, but moderated towards the evening.

I was very anxious, at starting on the 3rd, as to the course the river
would take, since it would prove whether the little old man had played
us false or not. From the cliffs under which we had slept, it held a
direct N.W. course for two or three miles. It then turned suddenly to
the S.E., and gradually came round to E.N.E., so that after two hours
pulling, we found ourselves just opposite to the spot from which we had
started, the neck of land that separated the channels not being more
than 200 yards across. I have before noticed a bend similar to this,
which the Murray makes, a little above the junction of the supposed
Darling with it.

CHART OF THE RIVER.

It may appear strange to some of my readers, that I should have laid
down the windings of the river so minutely. It may therefore be
necessary for me to state that every bend of it was laid down by
compass, and that the bearings of the angles as they opened were
regularly marked by me, so that not a single winding or curve of the
Murray is omitted in the large chart. The length of some of the reaches
may be erroneous, but their direction is strictly correct. I always had
a sheet of paper and the compass before me, and not only marked down
the river line, but also the description of country nearest; its most
minute changes, its cliffs, its flats, the kind of country back from
it, its lagoons, the places at which the tribes assembled, its
junctions, tributaries and creeks, together with our several positions,
were all regularly noted, so that on our return up the river we had no
difficul