If he had attempted to get through the gorge of this river in 1870, he
would have found it impassable; but a few river-bed flats had been
discovered above the gorge, on which there was now a shepherd's hut, and
on the discovery of these flats a narrow horse track had been made from
one end of the gorge to the other.

He was hospitably entertained at the shepherd's hut just mentioned, which
he reached on Monday, December 1. He told the shepherd in charge of it
that he had come to see if he could find traces of a large wingless bird,
whose existence had been reported as having been discovered among the
extreme head waters of the river.

"Be careful, sir," said the shepherd; "the river is very dangerous;
several people--one only about a year ago--have left this hut, and though
their horses and their camps have been found, their bodies have not. When
a great fresh comes down, it would carry a body out to sea in twenty-four
hours."

He evidently had no idea that there was a pass through the ranges up the
river, which might explain the disappearance of an explorer.

Next day my father began to ascend the river. There was so much tangled
growth still unburnt wherever there was room for it to grow, and so much
swamp, that my father had to keep almost entirely to the river-bed--and
here there was a good deal of quicksand. The stones also were often
large for some distance together, and he had to cross and recross streams
of the river more than once, so that though he travelled all day with the
exception of a couple of hours for dinner, he had not made more than some
five and twenty miles when he reached a suitable camping ground, where he