186 
LABORIOUS ASCENT OF THE BOAT. 
and was as usual warm. We availed ourselves of a favour- 
able spot to haul our boat on shore under one of the cliffs 
upon the proper left of the river, and cleaned her well both 
inside and out. 
The breezes that had so much assisted us from the lake 
upwards, had now lost their influence, or failed to reach to 
the distance we had gained. Calms succeeded them, and 
obliged us to labour continually at the oars. We lost 
ground fast, and it was astonishing to remark how soon 
the men’s spirits drooped again under their first efforts. 
They fancied the boat pulled heavily, and that her bottom 
was foul ; but such was not the case. The current was not 
so strong as when we passed down, since the river had evi- 
dently fallen more than a foot, and was so shallow in seve- 
ral places, that we were obliged to haul the boat over them. 
On these occasions we were necessarily obliged to get out 
of her into the water, and had afterwards to sit still and to 
allow the sun to dry our clothes upon us. The unemployed 
consequently envied those at the oars, as they sat shivering 
in their dripping clothes. I was aware that it was more 
from imagination than reality, that the men fancied the boat 
was unusually heavy, but I hesitated not in humouring 
them, and rather entered into their ideas than otherwise, 
and endeavoured to persuade them that she pulled the 
lighter for the cleaning we gave her. 
A tribe of natives joined us, and we had the additional 
trouble of guarding our stores. They were, however, very 
quiet, and as we had broken up our casks, on leaving the 
