Whilst waiting the tide, the note of a bird resembling the cuckoo broke
the deep stillness that prevailed. It was evening; all around was calm:
the wide extended plain dimly stretching away on every side, the waters
as they imperceptibly swelled between the curving banks, the heavens in
which the last rays of the sun still lingered, gilding the few clouds
that hovered near the horizon. A pleasing sadness stole over the heart as
these familiar sounds--the note of this Australian cuckoo, if I may
venture to name a bird from its voice--floated through the tranquil air.
Recollections of the domestic hearth, and the latticed window shaded with
vines and honeysuckles, and the distant meadows, and glades, and
woodlands, covered with the bursting buds of spring; and--pervading all
and giving a charm to all--the monotonous but ever welcome and thrilling
note of the cuckoo sounding afar off: recollections of all these things,
I say, rushed o'er each fancy, and bore us for a moment back in
imagination to our island home.

DISCOVERY OF FLINDERS RIVER.

The more rapid flow of the tide and the announcement that there was now
sufficient water for the boats to proceed, broke our reverie; and we were
soon once more cleaving the moonlit reach. I may here mention that this
bird, and another with a more mournful cry, the same before spoken of up
the Victoria River, were heard again at eventide.

Avoiding a large shoal, which threatened to arrest our further progress,
by a narrow channel close to the west bank, we continued to pursue the
upward course of this inlet or river--we were yet uncertain what to call
it--in a general southerly direction; though the reaches were singularly
tortuous, resembling the folds of a snake. The depth was now only about
one fathom, and our progress was much impeded by banks; but by the