196 
REPASS THE RUFUS. 
which I conclude it must run, from the line of fires we 
observed amid the trees, and most probably upon its 
banks. 
We did not fall in with the natives in such numbers as 
when we passed down to the coast : still they were in suf- 
ficient bodies to be troublesome. It would, however, appear 
that the tribes do not generally frequent the river. They 
must have a better country back from it, and most probably 
linger amongst the lagoons and creeks where food is more 
abundant. The fact is evident from the want of huts upon 
the banks of the Murray, and the narrowness of the paths 
along its margin. 
We experienced the most oppressive heat about this time. 
Calms generally prevailed, and about three p.m. the sun’s 
rays fell upon us with intense effect. The waters of the 
Murray continued extremely muddy, a circumstance we 
discovered to be owing to the turbid current of the Rufus, 
which we passed on the 1st of March. It is, really, sin- 
gular whence this little stream originates. It will be remem- 
bered that I concluded it must have been swollen by rains 
when we first saw it ; yet, after an absence of more than 
three weeks we found it discharging its waters as muddy as 
ever into the main stream ; and that, too, in such quantities 
as to discolour its waters to the very lake. The reader 
will have some idea of the force of the current in both, 
when I assure him that for nearly fifty yards below the 
mouth of the Rufus, the waters of the Murray preserve 
their transparency, and the line between them and the 
