nearly a hundred pounds of the flesh, the poor horses were heavily laden
for the condition they were in. The scrubby and swampy nature of the
country behind the shore compelled us too to keep the beach, where the
sands were loose and heavy. Our progress was slow, and at eight miles I
halted. Here we found a little dry grass not far from the sea, and as the
horses did not require water, they fared tolerably well. This was the
first grass we had met with since we descended the cliffs on the 3rd
instant. The horses having entirely subsisted since then on the wiry
vegetation which binds the sand-drifts together. Although we had water in
the canteens for ourselves, and the horses did not require any, I was
curious to know whether fresh water could be procured where we were
encamped--a long, low and narrow tongue of sandy land, lying between the
sea on one side and extensive salt swamps on the other, and in no part
elevated more than a few feet above the level of the sea itself. After
tea I took the spade and commenced digging, and to my great surprise at
six feet I obtained water, which though brackish was very palatable. This
was very extraordinary, considering the nature of the position we were
in, and that there were not any hills from which the fresh water could
drain.

The night was again bitterly cold and frosty, and we suffered severely.
Now the winter had set in, and we were sadly unprepared to meet its
inclemency, the cold at nights became so intense as to occasion me
agonies of pain; and the poor native was in the same predicament.

May 11.--Upon moving away this morning, I kept behind the sea shore along
the borders of the salt swamp, steering for some sand-hills which were
seen a-head of us. A hill was now visible in the distance, a little south
of west, rising above the level bank behind the shore,--this was the
first hill, properly so called, that we had met with for many hundreds of