FACE OF THE COUNTRY. 
141 
It rained a good deal during the night, but the morning 
turned out remarkably fine. The day was pleasant, for 
however inconvenient in some respects the frequent showers 
had been, they had cooled the air, and consequently pre- 
vented our feeling the heat so much as we should otherwise 
have done, in the close and narrow glen we had now entered. 
Among the natives who followed us from the last tribe, 
there was an old man, who took an uncommon fancy or 
attachment to Hopkinson, and who promised, when we se- 
parated, to join us again in the course of the day. 
As we proceeded down the river we found that it was con- 
fined in a glen, whose extreme breadth was not more than 
half-a-mile. The hills that rose on either side of it were of 
pretty equal height. The alluvial flats were extremely small, 
and the boldest cliffs separated them from each other. The 
flats were lightly wooded, and were for the most part co- 
vered with reeds or polygonum. They were not much 
elevated above the waters of the river, and had every ap- 
pearance of being frequently inundated. At noon we 
pulled up to dine, upon the left bank, under some hills, 
which were from 200 to 250 feet in height. While the 
men were preparing our tea, (for we had only that to boil,) 
M'Leay and I ascended the hills. The brush was so thick 
upon them, that we could not obtain a view of the distant 
interior. Their summits were covered with oyster-shells, in 
such abundance as entirely to preclude the idea of their 
having been brought to such a position by the natives. 
They were in every stage of petrifaction. 
