Further on in this reach, I determined to occupy quarters for the night; it was wide and deep, trending East by South, but shut in about a mile above our present position by a dry patch of stones, with clear banks on either side. As we were now in what appeared to be a rather thickly populated district of the country, it was requisite to choose a position beyond the reach of sudden attack. Having consulted our security as much as possible in this particular, I took, before dark, the necessary bearings and angles for the survey, and was delighted to observe that the valley of the river again trended away to the southward. We had a cool breeze after dark from the north-west, and the thermometer went down to 90 degrees. I had scarcely secured observations for latitude and longitude, before a squall from the south-east, accompanied by heavy rain, recalled the scene of last night. CHARM OF DISCOVERY. The same screams from the same kind of birds, disturbed in their roosting places, and the same mournful howling of the wind, as it swept fitfully through the trees that overshadowed us, broke the silence that had reigned around our solitary fire, and exercised their wondrous power over the imagination. In a few moments my thoughts were borne on to the very heart of this mysterious country, over many a dreary plain, where thirst, fatigue, and hunger were all forgotten. It is impossible to define the exact nature of the charm which particular minds find in the perils and adventures of discovery, whether on the shore or over the wave. Certain, however, it is, that scarce any motive of human exertion can compete with it in the powers of endurance it supplies to its votaries. The squall served to clear the air, and was succeeded by a cool breeze from the north-west. The thermometer down to 87 degrees. THIRSTY FLAT. Yet cool, as comparatively speaking, the nights are here, still I could not but remark that the ground never became so; and this I imagine to be one of the principal causes of that fatigue from which some of our party suffered so much: during my watches I invariably noticed some poor fellow or another vainly trying to secure the rest of which he stood so much in need: rolling with restless anxiety from side to side, and sometimes in absolute despair, starting up on his feet: neither could I fail to note the wearying effect these broken slumbers produced, symptoms of which showed themselves more plainly each morning. Having provided myself with the means of calculating the latitude, I worked the observations I had taken during the night. It placed the spot of our bivouac in 15 degrees 29 minutes South. We estimated our distance from the boats, having carefully timed ourselves each march, at 23 miles; 10 in an east, general direction, and 13 North-East by North. November 10.