natives; at one of which the fires were still burning. The country was
grassy, and so open, as almost to deserve the colonial name of "plain."
This channel took me a long way northward, and to the N. N. E.; but
finally turned west, and at last south. Its bed was full of sand; and at
length we found it quite dry, so that, when I would have encamped, I
could find no water. Yet it bore all the character of a large river;
marks of high floods, Mimosae, sand, and river driftwood, like the other.
It might, and probably did, finally come out of the main channel; but
this seemed too remote a contingency for our wants then, and I crossed
it, to look for the other. In riding eastward, I found a wide plain
bounded by trees that looked like those along the river. No time could be
spared for further reconnoissance: I took the party across, and made for
the nearest part. My course was first N. E., then East, finally South, in
following the various slopes; and it was only after travelling fifteen
miles beyond the point where I met with this river, that I reached the
bank of the other, at a spot distant only FOUR miles from where I had
quitted it. This was only accomplished at forty minutes after 4 P. M.,
when we had travelled twenty-six miles. As our circuitous route was
likely, if followed by Mr. Kennedy with the heavy drays, to cause delay
and inconvenience, I resolved to halt next day, and write to him on the
subject, explaining how he could most readily fall into my track by
crossing the other channel, quitting first the other track, at a spot to
be marked by Graham, who took the letter. Nevertheless, it had been
imperative on me to follow it up as I had done; because, whether as a
separate tributary or an ana-branch only, the right bank was likely to
suit us best, provided only that water could have been found in its bed.
Near the new river, the INDIGOFERA HIRSUTA of Linnaeus, with its spikes
of reflexed hairy pods, was common; and also the MOSCHOSMA POLYSTACHYUM.
Lat. 27° 47' 57'' S. Thermometer, at sunrise, 38°; at 9 P. M., 59°;--with
wet bulb, 56°.