absent sixteen days. I had been anxiously expected, and was cordially
welcomed by the whole party, who were getting sadly tired of inactivity,
and especially by my young friend Mr. Scott, whose eager and ardent
disposition rendered him quite uneasy under the confinement and restraint
of a depot encampment; he would gladly have shared with me the
difficulties and hazards of exploring the country in advance, but from
the very embarrassing nature of the undertaking, I did not think it right
to take more than a single native with me, as every addition to the
number of a party, on such occasions, only tends to increase the
difficulty and anxiety of the task.

Having rested a little, and made innumerable inquiries, I was very much
gratified to find that the whole party were in good health, and that
every thing had been conducted in a satisfactory manner during my
absence. No one had been idle, and every thing that I could have wished,
had been properly arranged. The stores had been safely brought up from
the WATERWITCH, including a barometer kindly sent by the Governor, and a
large packet of English letters, at any time a highly valued prize, and
not the less so now that they were received 200 miles in the interior,
amidst the labours and anxieties of an exploring expedition.

During my absence all the harness, hobbles, tents, tarpaulins, etc. had
been fully repaired; and according to my instructions, a large deep hole
had been dug in the slope of the hill, to bury a portion of the stores
in, that if compelled by circumstances to return from the north, we might
still have supplies to fall back upon. Mr. Scott had employed his time in
collecting botanical and geological specimens, and had already made a
very fair commencement for our collections in both these departments of
science. He had also regularly kept the meteorological journal,
registering the observations three times in each day.