ANXIOUS COGITATIONS. 
67 
e fioi t . indeed it was too late for me too undertake any thing 
until the mornino-. 
The circumstances in which we were so unexpectedly 
placed, occupied my mind so fully that I could not sleep ; 
and I awaited the return of light with the utmost anxiety. 
If we were indeed on the outskirts of marshes similar to 
those I had on a former occasion found so much difficulty 
in examining, I foresaw that in endeavouring to move round 
them I should recede from water, and place the expedition 
in jeopardy, probably, without gaining any determinate 
point, as it would be necessary for me to advance slowly 
and with caution. Our provisions, however, being calcu- 
lated to last only to a certain period, I was equally reluc- 
tant to delay our operations. My course was, therefore, 
to be regulated by the appearance of the country and 
of the river, which I purposed examining with the ear- 
liest dawn. If the latter should be found to run into 
a region of reeds, a boat would be necessary to enable 
me to ascertain its direction ; but, if ultimately it should 
be discovered to exhaust itself, we should have to strike 
into the interior on a N. W. course, in search of the Dar- 
ling. I could not think of putting the whale-boat together 
in our then state of uncertainty, and it struck me that a 
smaller one could sooner be prepared for the purposes for 
which I should require it. These considerations, together 
with the view I had taken of the measures I might at last 
be forced into, determined me, on rising, to order Clayton 
to fell a suitable tree, and to prepare a saw-pit. The labour 
v 2 
