Mr. White had, on the instant, managed to run her
ashore, across another sunken trunk, and thus prevented her from going
down in deep water opposite to a steep bank. By this disaster our whole
stock of tea, sugar, and tobacco, with part of our flour and pork, were
immersed in the water, but fortunately all the gunpowder had been stowed
in the first boat.

THE LEAK PATCHED.

This catastrophe furnished another instance of the activity of the
sailors; the cargo was got out, and the sunken boat being hauled up, a
rent was discovered in the canvas of her larboard bow. This the sailmaker
patched with a piece of canvas; a fire was made; tar was melted and
applied; the boat was set afloat, reloaded, and again underway in an hour
and a half.

SHE AGAIN RUNS FOUL OF A LOG.

Once more upon the waters everything seemed to promise a successful
voyage down the river, but our hopes were doomed to be of short duration,
for as I again awaited the reappearance of the second boat, a shout
similar to the first again rose, and on running across the intervening
land within the river bend, I found her once more on the point of going
down, from similar damage sustained in the STARBOARD bow.

RESOLVE TO PROCEED BY LAND.

It was now near five P.M., and the labours of the day had been sufficient
to convince me that the course of the Namoi could be much more
conveniently traced at that time by a journey on land than with boats of
canvas on the water. We pitched our tents; and on plotting my work I
found we were distant, in a direct line, only about two miles from
Bullabalakit.

December 30.

The cattle from the depot camp arrived at nine A.M., four men having been
sent there early this morning to bring them with the carts and horses to
the place where we had disembarked.

PROVISIONS DAMAGED.

The tea, sugar, and biscuit, having got wet in the sunken boat, I was
compelled to halt this day in order to dry these articles if possible, in
the sun, and the heat being very intense, we were tolerably successful.
The sugar, in a liquid state, was laid out in small quantities on
tarpaulins; the tea was also spread out thinly before the sun, and thrown
about frequently--and thus we were enabled, by the evening, to pack it up
quite dry in canisters; the whole having lost in weight two and a half
pounds. The sugar had crystallised sufficiently to be put up again,
without any danger of fermentation. During many days I had anxiously
watched the sm