a hurricane; and the temperature of the air was extremely low. The natives
felt the cold beyond belief and kindled large fires. In the morning, when
we moved away, the most of them started with fire-sticks to keep
themselves warm; but they dropped off one by one, and at noon we found
ourselves totally deserted.

DREARINESS OF THE LANDSCAPE.

It is impossible for me to describe the kind of country we were now
traversing, or the dreariness of the view it presented. The plains were
still open to the horizon, but here and there a stunted gum-tree, or a
gloomy cypress, seemed placed by nature as mourners over the surrounding
desolation. Neither beast nor bird inhabited these lonely and inhospitable
regions, over which the silence of the grave seemed to reign. We had not,
for days past, seen a blade of grass, so that the animals could not have
been in very good condition. We pushed on, however, sixteen miles, in
consequence of the coolness of the weather. We observed little change in
the river in that distance, excepting that it had taken up a muddy bottom,
and lost all the sand that used to fill it. The soil and productions on
the plains continued unchanged in every respect. From this time to the
22nd, the country presented the same aspect. Occasional groups of cypress
showed themselves on narrow sandy ridges, or partial brushes extended from
the river, consisting chiefly of the acacia pendula, the stenochylus,
and the nut I have already noticed. The soil on which they grew was, if
possible, worse than that of the barren plain which we were traversing;
and their colour and drooping state rendered the desolate landscape still
more dreary.

On the 21st, we found the same singular substance(gypsum) embedded in the
bank of the river that had been collected, during the former expedition,