Page:Diary of ten years.djvu/86

 68 one side dry, any way—the side that was under me." Morning or evening, wet or dry, busy or idle, Sheridan whistled or sung incessantly: it was his duty to wheel a perambulator (an instrument for measuring distances), and off he started with it this morning, singing with stentorian voice the old drum beat, "Tither, row dow, dow, dow; and tither, ither, row, dow; tither ither, row, dow.

Nothing remarkable on this day's journey. Changed our course to wind up a steep hill; and at the end of four miles and a half reached a watered valley; stopped here, and had a pleasant bivouack, about a hundred yards from a swampy stream of good water. One of the party slept in the hollowed part of a tree, and made a tent of his blanket, tied by ropes to two of the trees called blackboys.

10th.—We passed this day over a broken hilly country; where large masses of granite appeared in several places of a tabular shape. After crossing over one of those tables, alongside which ran a strong rivulet, we came to deep and rapid streams (branches of the river Helena), and were obliged to halt until we formed a bridge. The day had been rainy, which rendered it difficult to light a fire, so that we were exceedingly uncomfortable; but the evening became moderate, and the genial warmth of a blazing fire made us soon feel comparatively happy. Here some of the party began to make small huts, like the wigwams of the natives, which often afterwards proved useful; the process of forming which is very simple. Blackboy poles are stuck in the ground, forming three-fourths of a circle, and meeting in a common point at top; these are covered with grassy tops of the blackboy: it is a good temporary shelter in rain. Next day, a sufficient bridge having been formed by placing trees and spars over the stream, we proceeded for some time over a rising ground; then descended into an extensive and rich valley, where there was good feeding for the horses, which they had not regularly had before for some days.