; and in the afternoon we obtained observations for rating the
chronometers: I found that one by French, which I had worn in my pocket,
had gone most admirably. Captain Wickham joined us in the gig after dark.
The evening was cloudy, and we had a sharp squall at midnight from
south-east.

November 14.

Both boats were moved off down the river at daylight, and ere it had
passed away, the ford above Steep Head was left behind. We found that the
watering boats had not got over the shallow below, so that we spent the
night together; and a merry party we made. We talked over all we had
seen, and the hills that rose around echoed back for the first time the
laugh and the song of civilized man, and our strange language was
repeated as glibly by the rocks of Australia as if they were those of our
own native land. So true is it that nature is ever ready to commune
familiarly with us, whereas by our very brethren we are looked upon as
enemies to shun, and are incapable of making ourselves understood by
them.

A DESERTER.

When the morning of the 15th broke it was discovered that one of the men
belonging to the watering party had deserted during the night. He had
been guilty of this offence once before, in order to steal the spirits
which had been buried for the use of my exploring party. What however
could have induced him to take this step a second time--risking, without
any apparent motive, the danger of being left on a strange, and almost
uninhabited coast, it would be difficult even to suggest. Parties were
immediately despatched in quest of him, and at length, after an arduous
search, he was found behind a large sandstone rock on the side of a hill;
having revisited the spot where the provisions had been concealed for the
use of my party, in the hope of obtaining possession of his god the
rum-keg. He had evidently prepared for desertion: clothing, biscuit, and
fishing-tackle being among the stores with which he had made off. This
despicable wretch--for such must everyone consider the man who would
steal his shipmates' provisions, when each had only his bare
allowance--had nothing to say, either in extenuation or explanation of
his conduct. Most fortunate for him was it that our humane exertions to
discover his retreat were successful; he could not long have subsisted by
himself, and even had he been so happy as to fall in with, and receive
hospitable welcome from the natives, he must of necessity have lingered
out a lif