wylie’s day’s sport. 
95 
distance of 134 miles from Rossiter Bay, and as I 
calculated we ought under ordinary circumstances 
to reach the Sound in ten days more, I thought 
that we might occasionally indulge in riding, and 
relieve ourselves from the great fatigue we had hi- 
therto been subject to, especially as the horses were 
daily improving in strength and condition. 
Whilst I was engaged in making the necessary 
preparations, and throwing away some things which 
I thought we could dispense with, such as our 
bucket, some harness, ammunition, cooking uten- 
sils, and sundry other things, Wylie took the rifle, 
and went down to the watercourse to shoot. On his 
return in the afternoon he produced four teal and a 
black swan, as the produce of his day’s sport ; he 
had, however, shot away every charge of shot from 
the belt, which had been filled on board the Missis- 
sippi, and held three pounds and a half, besides 
three ball cartridges ; how often he fired at the 
swan before he got it I could never discover, but I 
heard shot after shot as fast as he could load and fire 
for some time, and he himself acknowledged to firing 
at it seven times, but I suspect it to have been nearer 
twice seven. 
To-day we were obliged to fetch up what water 
we required for our own use, from the holes in the 
granite rocks near the river, that lying on the ground 
near our camp being too salt for use. 
June 27. — Upon moving on this morning we 
passed towards the Mount Barren ranges for ten 
