The Country round Lyell North-East 



erect two of the tents, one for ourselves and one for our 

 attendants, and to set about cooking supper. 



The work of bringing up the stores from the boats, 

 and of arranging the camp, occupied the greater part of 

 the next day, but in the evening we made an attempt to 

 explore the large cave from which the river issued. On 

 our side of the river the water washed against the wall 

 of the cave, but on the opposite bank there appeared to 

 be a ledge of rock about 2 feet above the water-level. 

 We must, therefore, enter by that side, and as it was 

 some distance to where we had left the boats, it would 

 be necessary to wait for another day. 



Next morning, after a swim in the pool and an early 

 breakfast, we crossed to the far bank and made our way 

 along the riverside to the mouth of the cave. Here we 

 found a broad flat ledge of rock between the side of the 

 cave and the water. It was smooth and water- worn, 

 showing that, in wet weather, the water rose considerably 

 above its present level, and warned us not to enter the 

 cave after heavy rains in the hilly country behind, as 

 we knew that these underground rivers often rise very 

 suddenly. Should this happen while we were at any 

 distance from the entrance, our retreat might be cut off. 



Walking along the ledge, at times able to stand 

 upright, at others having to stoop and occasionally to 

 creep on all fours, we found that we were able to pene- 

 trate for a distance which we estimated at 300 yards, 

 but at this point our onward progress was stopped by 

 the ledge narrowing, and eventually coming to an end, 

 so that the river filled the cave from side to side. 



One of our number attempted to swim up the channel 

 and succeeded in penetrating some distance farther, but 



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