ARRANGE FOR A PEDESTRIAN EXCURSION. 285 



was also arranged for a pedestrian excursion in the 

 morning, as I was determined on seeing a few miles 

 more of the interior than it was our good fortune to 

 have obtained by water conveyance. I had ordered 

 a gun to be fired in the evening to inform Mr. Fitz- 

 maurice and his party of the ship's position ; and 

 we distinctly heard it booming over the plain, for 

 the first time awakening the echoes to the sounds of 

 warfare peculiar to civilized man. May many years 

 elapse ere they be once more roused by the voice of 

 cannon fired with a less peaceful intent ! 



July 25. — The first grey streaks of the morning 

 were scarcely visible in the horizon, ere my party 

 were scrambling up the eastern bank, eager to 

 penetrate where no European foot had hitherto 

 pressed. After leaving the inlet some distance 

 behind, we took a S. |^ E. direction. The morning 

 was deliciously cool for our purpose, the temperature 

 being ^Q°', and there was a most delightful elasti- 

 city in the air, quite in unison with the buoyant 

 spirits that sustained us, as we stepped out over 

 what we felt to be untrodden ground. It had often 

 before been my lot to be placed in a similar position, 

 and I have necessarily, therefore, given expression 

 already to identical sentiments; but I cannot re- 

 frain from again reminding the reader how far in- 

 ferior is the pleasure of perusing the descriptions of 

 new lands, especially when attempted by an unskilled 

 pen, to that which the explorer himself experiences. 

 All are here on an equal footing ; the most finished 



