bush.

The weather, under the influence of the wind we experienced, was cool
and pleasant, although the thermometer stood at a medium height of 86
degrees; but we found it very distressing to pull against the heavy
breezes that swept up the valley, and bent the reeds so as almost to
make them kiss the stream.

We communicated on the 6th and 7th with several large tribes of
natives, whose manners were on the whole quiet and inoffensive. They
distinctly informed us, that we were fast approaching the sea, and,
from what I could understand, we were nearer to it than the coast line
of Encounter Bay made us. We had placed sticks to ascertain if there
was any rise or fall of tide, but the troubled state of the river
prevented our experiments from being satisfactory. By selecting a
place, however, that was sheltered from the effects of the wind, we
ascertained that there was an apparent rise of about eight inches.

OBLIGED TO TAKE REPOSE.

It blew a heavy gale during the whole of the 7th; and we laboured in
vain at the oar. The gusts that swept the bosom of the water, and the
swell they caused, turned the boat from her course, and prevented us
from making an inch of way. The men were quite exhausted, and, as they
had conducted themselves so well, and had been so patient, I felt
myself obliged to grant them every indulgence consistent with our
safety. However precarious our situation, it would have been vain, with
our exhausted strength, to have contended against the elements. We,
therefore, pulled in to the left bank of the river, and pitched our
tents on a little rising ground beyond the reeds that lined it.

CHRONOMETER BROKEN.

I had been suffering very much front tooth-ache for the last three or
four days, and this day felt the most violent pain from the wind. I was
not, therefore, sorry to get under even the poor shelter our tents
afforded. M'Leay, observing that I was in considerable pain, undertook
to wind up the chronometer; but, not understanding or knowing the
instrument, he unfortunately broke the spring. I shall not forget the
anxiety he expressed, and the regret he felt on the occasion; nor do I
think M'Leay recovered the shock this unlucky accident gave him for two
or three days, or until the novelty of other scenes drove it from his
recollection.

We landed close to the haunt of a small tribe of natives, who came to
us with the most perfect confidence, and assisted the men in their
occupations. They were