156 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS. 



ran between us and our future home. We made 

 forced marches, and frequently reached our camp after 

 dark, when fuel and grass had to be found, supper 

 cooked, and blankets dried. Our slow progress had 

 caused our rations to run short, and no store being 

 near, we were threatened with famine. A fortnight 

 of toiling brought us to the banks of the river Mac- 

 kenzie, which, to our dismay, we found in full flood. 

 We determined to run up the Mackenzie, and cross at 

 the junction of the Isaacs river. 



Our home lay forty miles beyond this point, and, if 

 we were only across the water, could be reached in a 

 day, and our troubles would be over. But there flowed 

 the surging river, which drains an area of country 

 equal to all Scotland. Our rations done and no sup- 

 plies obtainable, the question was, What was to be 

 done ? The country is very sparsely populated, and 

 many cattle stations are forty miles apart. We passed 

 one family of kind-hearted Scotch people, who were 

 quite willing to supply our wants, but unfortunately 

 their ration teams were delayed with the floods, and 

 they were as badly off as ourselves. 



We found there was a custom of crossing the rivers 

 in bark canoes, formed of large sheets of bark stripped 

 from gum trees, fastened at the ends, and made water- 

 tight with stiff clay. We determined to make such a 



