they should ever drink again ! Such are the perils which still remain, after the dangers of flood and field are exhausted, to try the heroism of the traveller. Probably, a slight addition of heat might have realised the uncertainty, and they might never have drunk again, but left their bones in the desert as a warning to all future temerity.

The mind of "gentlemen who sit at home at ease," surrounded by the labours of water companies, and companies of all kinds, and having light, watching, and cool streets at command, on the simple terms of paying a few shillings, yet are peevish at the state of society, and praise the times "When wild in woods the noble savage ran,"

ought to make a voyage to New South Wales, and a summer's journey through it, with the sun in the vertex, if it were only for the purpose of reconciling themselves to England, and the misfortune of having in it every thing that man can devise. They should follow this gallant soldier, man of science, and man of accomplishment, across the fiery sands of the Australian wilderness, and record their experience for the benefit of all the discontented.

The party, after watching the rolling of clouds from the north-west, with, perhaps, the same anxiety which is felt by the sailor in a famine, watching the distant sail that is to bring him bread, saw the evening fall without a shower. But the storm broke somewhere, for the next morning rose cool and with a pleasant breeze. The party now set forward, and, after travelling some miles, they entered a forest. There they heard the sound of the native's axe, and saw fires. As they advanced they surprised a native in a tree, so busily cutting out an opossum that he did not see them till they were close upon him. A woman and her child first gave the alarm, on which he stared at the strange assemblage with a look of horror, and immediately calling to the female in an authoritative tone, she disappeared in the woods. He then threw his club to the foot of the tree, and ascended to its highest branch. Major Mitchell called to him, and made some signs to give him confidence, but this attempt at peace was to no purpose. The

party then moved quietly forward, on which the wild man came down from the tree, picked up two spears which lay on the ground, and ran off. They then heard calls in various directions, and the words, "white fellow," pronounced very loudly and distinctly-a name, of course, borrowed from the settlers, but evidently conveying at the time strong feelings of either hatred or fear.

Journeys of this kind must keep the traveller in a perpetual state of excitement; sometimes, of course, not unconnected with alarm at the chance of stumbling on some horde of savagesa nest of human hornets, whose stings might make the explorers pay dear for the more formidable hazard of dying their knowledge; sometimes, too, from of famine or thirst. Still, what travel in a known country can approach the interest of treading an unknown one? They touch on the verge of a plain-it has never been touched by an European foot since its creation-it may contain a hundred plants never heard of before, and among them may supply some specific for some intrac table disease, or some incalculable addition to the nutriment of man. They reach the skirts of a mountain-they may have only to climb its summit to see some unrivalled and unexpected region of fertility-to look over some landscape of novel loveliness, or ascertain some grand and leading feature which decides the form of the continent. They cross a rivulet-it may be the little parent of some mighty stream whose course leads through the bosom of the land, a noble depositary of future national riches, and whose discovery shall immortalise the man who has merely proved its existence. Under such circumstances we feel no wonder at the eagerness with which journeys and voyages of discovery are adopted by manly and enterprising minds. Even the inhospitable wilds of the polar regions have their attraction. Even Africa, with its crafty and cruel savages, its sands and its wild beasts, cannot deter daily adventure. But of all explorations, we should conceive, that one such as the present must have excited the highest interest. The expedition wa through a soil where every portion o their progress was not only new, bu an addition to the actual territory o the explorer's country-where the se

curity from casual failure was almost complete, and where the success was sure to increase the distinctions and rewards of the manly investigator. It had somewhat of the feeling which an heir might have in taking a view of his inheritance for the first time-all before him new, and all before him his

own.

The convict's information had hitherto been "a mingled yarn," partly false, but partly so true, that the Major, with all his sagacity, at last began to think that the "Kindur" lay before him. After traversing some plains, of which the interior of Australia seems chiefly composed, they came, on the 9th January, to a fine lagoon of considerable extent, brimful of pure water, short grass growing on the brink, no reeds, and a sprinkling of water lilies. All this was favourable. Here they filled their kegs and kettles. They next crossed some rising ground, on which they perceiv. ed, to their astonishment and exultation, dry tufts of grass, old logs, and other drift matter, left high in the branches of the trees. Of course, this showed that the ground was inundated from time to time, an inundation which could proceed from nothing less than a powerful stream. "I felt confident," says Major Mitchell, "that we were at length approaching something new, perhaps the large river-the Kindur of the bush-ranger." On descending by a very gentle slope, a dark and dense line of gigantic blue gum-trees, growing amid long grass and reeds, encouraged their hopes that they had at length found "the big river." A margin of rich soil, covered with long grass and scored with deep furrows, intervened. The Major galloped over this, and saw a broad silvery expanse shaded by steep banks and lofty trees. No current was perceptible in the water, but the breadth and depth far exceeded those of the Nammoy. Nevertheless, this was not the Kindur, but evidently the Gwydir, a river previously discovered, but in a higher part of its course. Yet it may easily be conceived that the discovery, though a disappointment, was delightful. It was a new feature of the country to them, and, after so much privation, heat, and exposure, the living stream and umbrageous foliage gave them a grateful sense of abundance, coolness, and shade. Trees of great magnitude

give a grand character to any landscape, but especially to river scenery. The blue gum-tree luxuriates on the margin of rivers, and in such situations grows to an enormous size. Such trees overhung the waters of the Gwydir, forming dense masses of shade, in which, as Major Mitchell poetically observes, "white cockatoos sported like spirits of light."

He now advanced across the river, which, though, probably, in the rainy season a powerful stream, at this period was not above the ankle. Riding some miles northward over a plain, he found another channel of a river. But here he had an instance of the wilderness. As he approached a thicket he saw a kangaroo, which sat looking at him and his horse till they were near it; and as the Major was asking his servant whether they could carry it back if they shot it, the horse, suddenly pricking his ears, drew his eye to a native, apparently also speculating on the kangaroo, and with two spears on his shoulder. On perceiving the Major, the savage changed the object of his attention, stared for a moment, then took a step back, and, swinging his right arm in the air, poised one of his spears, and stood in the attitude to throw. The Major has evidently the glance of a painter, for his sketches in these volumes are very able; but he, probably, never was less delighted by the picturesque of the human form than at this instant. This Mars or Apollo of the desert was a tall figure, covered with pipe clay, which, if it did not make him, as it probably was meant to do, beautiful, yet made him piebald and conspicuous. "And his position of defiance," the Major observes, "as he had probably never seen a horse before, was manly enough." To have got out of his way would naturally be the first idea, unless the rifle could anticipate the spear. But the Major was a soldier, and little, according to our ideas, as any demand was made for the display of intrepidity under the circumstances, he chose not to retire. But he was also anxious to avoid beginning a quarrel with the natives. He, therefore, took the bolder alternative of gailoping up to the spearman's front. This charge was effectual. The sudden movement of the English centaur perplexed the savage. He turned on his heel, and went at a dog-trot into the woods.

The Major now felt that he might retreat with a safe conscience-found a convenient cover by which he could return, without showing his back to the enemy, and took up his position upon the river with all the honours of

war.

The party now turned from the northern course westward, and found a change of weather. It rained heavily, the Gwydir marked its winter course by deep and extensive hollows, and here they fell in with a specimen of an Australian Arcadia. Crossing one of these hollows, they passed among the huts of a native tribe. They were tastefully distributed among drooping acacias and casuarinæ. Some resembled howers under yellow fragrant mimosa; some were isolated under deep shades, while others were placed more socially, three or four huts together, fronting to one and the same fire. Each was semi-circular or circular; most of them were close to the trunk of a tree; and they were covered, not, as in other parts, by sheets of bark, but with a variety of materials, such as reeds, grass, and boughs. The interior of each looked clean, and to them, passing in the rain, gave some idea, not only of shelter, but even of comfort and happiness. They afforded a favourable specimen of the taste of the women, whose business it usually is to construct the huts. This village of bowers also occupied more space than the encampment of native tribes in general. Choice shady spots seem to have been an object, and to have been chosen with care.

On the 14th January the Major had on his map the Naandawar range, with the courses of the Nammoy on one side and the Gwydir on the other. He was between the two rivers, and at no great distance from either; Mount Riddell, the nearest point of the range, bore 20 S. of E., being distant fortytwo miles-the opposite bearing, or 20 deg. N. of W. might, therefore, be considered to express the common direction of these waters. In a country so liable to inundation as this between the rivers appeared to be, it was a primary object to travel along the highest or driest part, and that could only be in the above direction, or parallel to, or midway between the rivers, until he could thus trace out their junction, and so terminate thus far the survey of both, by the determi

nation of a point so important in geography.

Thus advancing, leading alternately the life of a forester, a hunter, and a man of science, the Major advanced to the conquest of his new empire at the head of his little army of a dozen convicts. The men seem all to have be haved remarkably well, and thus to give another illustration of the advantage of giving even the most unlucky in this generation something to do. This book ought to give the penitentiary system its death-blow. course, blockheads, who call themselves philosophers, and tyrants, who would pass for philanthrophists, will be still for chains, dungeons, and the air of the swamps on the Thames; but common sense will decide for Australia.

Of

The heat of the weather suddenly became once more intense; but the country was fine. It consisted of an open forest, which, gradually growing thinner, gave intervals of open plain. Still in search of water, they crossed to another plain, a beautiful one, covered with shining verdure, and ornamented with trees, which, though "dropped in nature's careless haste," gave the whole the appearance of an immense park. This will be the hunting-ground of some future Australian potentate. But now a pond, covered with the greenest weeds, would have been a more attractive prospect. The cattle were sinking with intolerable heat, and all were enfeebled and worn down. On those occasions the most common things became important. When the sun had nearly set, a black swan, high in the air, attracted all eyes. He was slowly winging his way to the southwest, with many smaller birds following in his train. "The sight of an aquatic bird," as the Major pleasingly observes, "was refreshing to us then." But even this was regarded as a bad omen for the northern quarter, for, as the swan must then have been going home, it was to be presumed that the greater body of water lay in the direction of his flight. Yet, if this might not be indicative of lakes, it evidently did not preclude the probability of rivers existing in the north, and rivers were the peculiar object.

They again advanced. "The irresistible attraction of a perfectly unknown region still led us northward."