with them. Mr. Smith and myself found that stopping in this way and
getting cold rendered our limbs so stiff and painful when we walked on
again that we could scarcely move; and I suspect that such was the case
with the other men, for when we started again I could hardly get them
along. One man of the name of Stiles, who was a stout supporter of the
new theory, made us stop for him nearly every five minutes.

THE BOWES RIVER.

After walking one mile we fortunately came to a very deep valley, having
such steep limestone cliffs on each side that it assumed quite the
character of a ravine: it was about a mile wide and in it was a
watercourse winding through deep flats. We however only found water in
pools; the course of the stream was very tortuous and its mouth was
almost blocked up by sandhills. The valley itself was both picturesque
and fertile, and the appearance of the country to the east and north-east
was highly promising. The stream I called the Bowes.

NATIVE RESTING-PLACE. NATIVE HUTS.

This spot was a favourite halting-place of the natives; and from the
number of huts and other indications which we saw the district must be
very densely populated. The huts were of the same superior construction
as those which we had seen near the Hutt, and the traces were very
recent, but the natives themselves were either at a distance or kept
carefully out of our way. The valley that we were now in, as well as the
other limestone valleys in this province, partook exactly of the
character of those in the carboniferous limestone districts of England
inasmuch as they were deep gorges, or ravines, now traversed by
watercourses or streams apparently much too insignificant to have grooved