d nearer, but
still I was utterly unable to account for it. I also noticed that the
river was becoming strangely agitated, and was swirling along at ever-
increasing speed. Suddenly an enormous mass of water came rushing down
with a frightful roar, in one solid wave, and then it dawned upon me that
it must have already commenced raining in the hills, and the tributaries
of the river were now sending down their floods into the main stream,
which was rising with astonishing rapidity. In the course of a couple of
hours it had risen between thirty and forty feet. Yamba seemed a little
anxious, and suggested that we had better build a hut on some high ground
and remain secure in that locality, without attempting to continue our
march while the rains lasted; and it was evident they were now upon us.

We therefore set to work to construct a comfortable little shelter of
bark, fastened to a framework of poles by means of creepers and climbing
plants. Thus, by the time the deluge was fairly upon us, we were quite
snugly ensconced. We did not, however, remain in-doors throughout the
whole of the day, but went in and out, hunting for food and catching game
just as usual; the torrential rain which beat down upon our naked bodies
being rather a pleasant experience than otherwise. At this time we had a
welcome addition to our food in the form of cabbage-palms and wild honey.
We also started building a catamaran, with which to navigate the river
when the floods had subsided. Yamba procured a few trunks of very light
timber, and these we fastened together with long pins of hardwood, and
then bound them still more firmly together with strips of kangaroo hide.
We also collected a stock of provisions to take with us--kangaroo and
opossum meat, of course; but principally wild honey, cabbage-palm, and
roots of various kinds. These preparations took us several days, and by
the time we had arranged everything for our journey the weather had
become settled once more. Yamba remarked to me that if we simply drifted
down the Roper River we should be carried to the open sea; nor would we
be very long, since the swollen current was now running like a mill-race.
Our catamaran, of course, afforded no shelter of any kind, but we carried
some sheets of bark to form seats for ourselves and the dog.

At length we pushed off on our eventful voyage, and no sooner had we got
fairly into the current than we were carried along with prodigious
rapidi