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up to the neck in water, reached the side, and the little notch in the wall, let go the rope, and held fast to the notch. I had no trouble to cross over; being deep in the water, it supported me, so that I could hold myself up with one finger. Thus I got on to the next rock with ease, from whence I could get into the bush. I then called out to Mr. Whitcombe to throw me over the hatchet, but he could not hear me, from the roaring of the water, so I made signs to him that I wanted to chop. He understood me at once, and threw over the required article. I went then to the bank of the river where the scrub grew highest, and cut down three of the longest poles I could find, carried them down to the basin, over which Mr. Whitcombe must now cross, laid two of them across on to the point of rock I had formerly lowered myself on too. I could now cross on foot. I took the third and longest pole with me, and placed it upright by the side wall, but it was too short, and I could not find a longer one. I asked him to draw up the line, fasten the swags to it, and then lower it down. He did so, and I brought over everything in safety. Then returning, I cried out to him to lower himself to the point of the pole, to open his pocket knife and take it in his mouth. All went well: he reached the point of the pole, which I held fast. I now told him that he could easily steady himself an instant with one hand and cut the rope in two with the other. He did so: I drew it up; he pushed himself now off for good, then across, and we lost only a few yards of rope. It had got nearly dark, so it was necessary to prepare to pass the night.

It rained without ceasing; we had not one dry thread on our bodies. I tried my best to light a fire for a long time without success, but succeeded at last, and kept up a good fire all night. We made some tea and ate a little of our dough, placing the remainder near the fire to dry. Mr. Whitcombe told me he felt very weak and tired—that he had no idea the road would be so fearfully rough. He observed with his instrument, and told me we were about 2000 feet below the saddle. We chatted for a long time. He spoke of India and the war, and then lay down to sleep. I attended carefully to the fire, which threatened continually to go out, the wood being very wet and bad. I slept but little, and the night appeared very long.

At daybreak we got ready again, but our breakfast did not taste well, although we were very hungry; the dough had become very sour through the heat of the fire, and we were constrained to eat only half our usual rations, as we could see it would take us longer than we anticipated to reach the coast. We tied up our bundles, but his opossum rug, from the long continued rain and the blowflies, had become useless. On perceiving this, Mr. Whitcombe said to me, "I shall leave it behind, it is disgusting; besides, I cannot carry it any further, it makes me too tired. You have a good blanket; it is large enough, and we can sleep together; if you feel yourself able to carry it, I shall pay you extra for it." I assented, rolled up everything, and took the entire load myself. It rained continually, but not heavily. We scrambled on from rock to rock with much labour, and about ten o’clock we came to a place which entirely stopped our progress. The river fell straight down over a high rock, spreading out broad and deep at the bottom. Here was an insurmountable obstacle. Mr. Whitcombe appeared a little dismayed, and said to me, "Now, Jacob, I really cannot see what is to be done—to pass across here is quite impossible." I told him we had no choice but to ascend the north bank of the river. He said, "That is impossible; it is perpendicular." "But," said I, "the whole face is covered with scrub, which we can hold on to, and thus manage to get along." So saying, I commenced the ascent, and he followed me.

We scrambled on the whole day, going to a great height across a very dangerous point, and then down the opposite side: the sweat and rain ran down my face. When we got down again to the river bed night had come on; it had taken us the whole day, with the hardest work, to advance about 200 yards. We could not make a fire; we ate a little of the dough, which was getting worse and worse, and the last morsel of meat we had with us. We slept close together, to keep ourselves warm; I did not feel the cold much, while he trembled the whole night. In the morning I made a fire and some tea for breakfast; we reduced our allowance still more, taking only about half the usual quantity. The rain was ceaseless; everything was thoroughly soaked; we proceeded as quickly as possible still over rocks; sometimes we found cavities between them through which we could creep. It was now quite impossible to cross the river; the southern bank becomes one long perpendicular wall, the northern side presents the only possible travelling ground. The river continues in nearly the same direction with a few slight turns, towards N.W. After travelling about three miles we came to a turbulent stream coming in from the north. I tried to cross, but could not, it was too deep and rapid. I then tried another spot, with the same result. We were now obliged to ascend the river to find a better ford; after going about two miles through very dense bush we found a better looking spot, just above a waterfall, it was just as much as we could manage; we then followed down on the opposite side to the main river, and followed its course still over rocks; the mountains became somewhat lower, and the north bank no longer so very steep, the bush changing to forest, of the usual description, the rain fell incessantly, but it was not very cold.

We found a level spot, with some dry wood, where we decided to spend the night; it was then evening—we were both very tired; our supper was soon ready, consisting of tea, and a little dough which had become fearfully sour and mouldy. The rain having ceased a little, we made a large fire, lay down as close to it as possible, and slept pretty well. It rained again next morning. We started about daybreak, and in about a mile reached a level spot, apparently about three miles long, by two miles wide;