Page:Tracks of McKinlay and party across Australia.djvu/398

 rather a nice lively pair of eyes, belonging to a certain young lady of my acquaintance. Ah! what does Tom Moore say—let me see if I can recollect. Oh I here it is:

"'If woman can make the worst wilderness dear,'"

The other line, slightly altered,

"'Think, think, what a heaven she'd make of this here.'"

I hope we shall soon see some merry faces and laughing eyes at Port Denison. Pretty creatures, what should we do without them!

Our path is through a good deal of scrub today, and we came only about twelve miles, on account of the sick men, and camped on a lagoon, in which all those who were well had a bathe, as usual, whenever there was water enough. It was very cold; a most tremendous dew last night and this morning; everything was wet through, and McKinlay's waterproof over his bedding had a gallon of water resting on it in the hollows. I never experienced such a heavy dew in my life. There was also a thick fog; could not see ten yards ahead of you. The fog lifted between 8 and 9, when we prepared to start. Palmer ill with the fever, making four on sick-list.

"'Although this country is rather too thickly wooded to be called open forest, it is still an excellent pastoral country, the grasses sweet and plenty of water, the lagoons being covered with nymphans or water lily, and the soil sandy. We passed"