That arid appearance which first meets the settler on his arrival, and to which allusion has already been made, cannot but prove disheartening to him: particularly if, as is generally the case, his own sanguine expectations of a second Paradise have been heightened by the interested descriptions of land jobbers and emigration agents.

APPROACH TO PERTH.

However, when he ascends the river towards the capital, this feeling of despondency will gradually wear away; its various windings bring, to his eager and anxious eye, many a bright patch of park-like woodland; while the river, expanding as he proceeds, till the beautiful estuary of Melville water opens out before him, becomes really a magnificent feature in the landscape; and the boats, passing and repassing upon its smooth and glassy bosom, give the animation of industry, and suggest all the cheerful anticipations of ultimate success to the resolute adventurer. From about the centre of this lake-like piece of water, the eye first rests upon the capital of Western Australia, a large straggling village, partly concealed by the abrupt termination of a woody ridge, and standing upon a picturesque slope on the right bank of the river, thirteen miles from its mouth. The distant range of the Darling mountains supplies a splendid background to the picture, and the refreshing seabreeze which curls the surface of Melville water every afternoon, adds to the health, no less than comfort, of the inhabitants. The former inconvenience, caused by the shoal approach, and which rendered landing at low-water a most uncomfortable operation, has now been remedied by the construction of a jetty.

Like all the Australian rivers with which we are yet acquainted, the Swan is subject to sudden and tremendous floods, which inundate the corn lands in its vicinity, and sweep away all opposing obstacles with irresistible impetuosity.

NARROW ESCAPE OF THE FIRST SETTLERS.

The first settlers had a most providential escape from a calamity of this kind: they had originally selected for the site of their new city, a low-lying piece of land, which, during the first winter after their arrival, was visited with one of these strange and unexplained invasions from the swelling stream: had the deluge been delayed for another year, these luckless inhabitants of a new world would have shared the fate of those to whom Noah preached in vain; but, warned in time, they chose some safer spot, from whence, in future, they and their descendants may safely contemplate the awful grandeur of similar occurrences, and thankfully profit by the fertility and abundance which succeed to such wholesale irrigation. During this, our first visit, I had no opportunity of penetrating into the country further than the Darling range: in journeying thither, we passed through Guildford, a township on the banks of the Swan, about seven miles north-east from Perth, and four from the foot of the mountains. It stands upon a high part of the alluvial flat fringing the river, and which extends from half to one mile from it on either side. The rich quality of the soil may be imagined from the fact, that, in 1843, after thirteen years of successive cropping, it produced a more abundant harvest than it had done at first, without any artificial aid from manures.

SINGULAR FLIGHT OF STRANGE BIRDS.

A singular flight of strange birds, was noticed at Guildford about the year 1833, during the time when the corn was green: they arrived in an innumerable host, and were so tame as to be easily taken by hand. In general appearance they resembled the land-rail, but were larger, and quite as heavy on the wing. They disappeared in the same mysterious manner as they arrived, and have never since repeated their visit. Were these birds visitors from the interior, or had they just arrived at the end of a migratory journey from some distant country? It is to be regretted that no specimen of them was to be obtained, as it might have helped to clear an interesting subject from doubt.

THE DARLING RANGE.

The change in ascending this range, from the alluvium near its base, to the primitive formation of which it is itself composed, is very remarkable. Shells still common on the adjacent coasts were met with 14 feet below the surface, near the foot of the range, by one of the colonists when sinking a well. In the same locality deposits of sand may be seen, having that particular wavy appearance which is always noticed upon the sea beach. These appearances, as well as the general aspect of the adjacent country, seem to justify the conclusion I arrived at while on the spot, that the land which now intervenes between the mountains and the shore, is a comparatively recent conquest from the sea. The character of this land may be thus described: The first three miles from the coast is occupied with ridges of hills, from 100 to 200 feet high, of calcareous limestone formation, cropping out in such innumerable points and odd shapes as to be almost impassable. Some of these lumps resemble a large barnacle; both lumps and points are covered with long, coarse grass, and thus concealed, become a great hindrance to the pedestrian, who is constantly wounded by them. To these ridges succeed sandy forest land and low hills, except on the banks of the rivulets, where a belt of alluvial soil is to be found. The Darling range traverses the whole of Western Australia in a direction, generally speaking, north and south. It appears to subside towards the north, and its greatest elevation is nearly 2,000 feet. The cliffs of the coast at the mouth of Swan River, have a most singular appearance, as though covered with thousands of roots, twisted together into a species of network.

A SINGULAR CLIFF.

A similar curiosity is to be seen on Bald Head, in King George's Sound, so often alluded to by former navigators, and by them mistaken either for coral, or petrified trees standing where they originally grew. Bald Head was visited by Mr. Darwin, in company with Captain Fitzroy, in February 1836, and his opinions upon the agencies of formation, so exactly coincide with those to which I attribute the appearances at Arthur's Head, that I cannot do better than borrow his words. He says—page 537, volume 3, "According to our views, the rock was formed by the wind heaping up calcareous sand, during which process, branches and roots of trees, and land-shells were enclosed, the mass being afterwards consolidated by the percolation of rain water. When the wood had decayed, lime was washed into the cylindrical cavities, and became hard, sometimes even like that in a stalactite. The weather is now wearing away the softer rock, and in consequence the casts of roots and branches project above the surface: their resemblance to the stumps of a dead shrubbery was so exact, that, before touching them, we were sometimes at a loss to know which were composed of wood, and which of calcareous matter."*

(*Footnote. For more exact details the reader should consult Mr. Darwin's volume on Volcanic Islands.)

THE NATIVES.

We were much struck during our stay by the contrast between the natives here, and those we had seen on the Beagle's former voyage at King George's Sound. The comparison was wholly in favour of those living within the influence of their civilized fellow-men: a fact which may surprise some of my readers, but for which, notwithstanding, I am quite prepared to vouch. A better quality, and more certain supply of food, are the causes to which this superiority ought to be attributed: they are indeed exceedingly fond of wheaten bread, and work hard for the settlers, in cutting wood and carrying water, in order to obtain it. Individually they appear peaceable, inoffensive, and well-disposed, and, under proper management, make very good servants; but when they congregate together for any length of time, they are too apt to relapse into the vices of savage life. Among the many useful hints, for which we were indebted to Mr. Roe, was that of taking a native with us to the northward; and, accordingly, after some trouble, we shipped an intelligent young man, named Miago; he proved, in some respects, exceedingly useful, and made an excellent gun-room waiter. We noticed that, like most of the natives, he was deeply scarred, and I learned from him that this is done to recommend them to the notice of the ladies. Like all savages, they are treacherous—for uncivilized man has no abstract respect for truth, and consequently deceit, whether spoken or acted, seems no baseness in his eyes.

ANECDOTES OF THE NATIVES.

I heard an anecdote at Perth that bears upon this subject: A native of the name of Tonquin asked a settler, who lived some distance in the interior, permission to spend the night in his kitchen, of which that evening another native was also an inmate. It seems that some hate, either personal, or the consequences of a quarrel between their different tribes, existed in the mind of Tonquin towards his hapless fellow lodger; and in the night he speared him through the heart, AND THEN VERY QUIETLY LAID DOWN TO SLEEP! Of course in the morning no little stir took place. Tonquin was accused, but stoutly denied the charge. So satisfied, however, was the owner of the house of the guilt of the real culprit, that had he not made his escape, he would have been executed red hand—as the border wardens used to say—by the man, the sanctity of whose roof-tree he had thus profaned. Tonquin afterwards declared that he NEVER SLEPT FOR NEARLY A FORTNIGHT, being dogged from place to place by the footsteps of the avengers of blood. He escaped, however, with his life, though worn almost to a shadow by constant anxiety. When I saw him some years afterwards, I thought him the finest looking native I had ever seen, but he was apparently, as those who knew him best reported him to be, insane. If not the memory of his crime, and the consequent remorse which it entailed upon him, perhaps the fugitive life he was compelled to lead in order to avoid the wrath of human retribution, had been used to make manifest the anger of Heaven for this breach of one of those first great laws of human society, which are almost as much instincts of our nature as revelations from the Creator to the creatures of his will!

SUPERSTITIONS.

The natives have a superstitious horror of approaching the graves of the dead, of whom they never like to speak, and when induced to do so, always whisper. A settler, residing in a dangerous part of the colony, had two soldiers stationed with him as a guard: upon one occasion five natives rushed in at a moment when the soldiers were unprepared for their reception, and a terrible struggle ensued: the soldiers, however, managed, while on the ground, to shoot two of them, and bayonetted the remaining three. The five were afterwards buried before the door, nor could a more perfect safeguard have been devised; no thought even of revenge for their comrades would afterwards induce any of the tribe to pass that fearful boundary.

Their most curious superstition, however, remains to be recorded; it is the opinion they confidently entertain, and which seems universally diffused among them, that the white people are their former fellow countrymen, who in such altered guise revisit the world after death. Miago assured me that this was the current opinion, and my own personal observation subsequently confirmed his statement. At Perth, one of the settlers, from his presumed likeness to a defunct member of the tribe of the Murray River, was visited by his supposed kindred twice every year, though in so doing they passed through sixty miles of what was not unfrequently an enemy's country.

Their religious opinions, so far as I have been able to obtain any information on the subject, are exceedingly vague and indefinite. That they do not regard the grave as man's final resting place, may, however, be fairly concluded, from the superstition I have just alluded to, and that they believe in invisible and superior powers—objects of dread and fear, rather than veneration or love—has been testified in Captain Grey's most interesting chapter upon Native Customs, and confirmed by my own experience.

THE EVIL SPIRIT.

I used sometimes to question Miago upon this point, and from him I learned their belief in the existence of an evil spirit, haunting dark caverns, wells, and places of mystery and gloom, and called Jinga. I heard from a settler that upon one occasion, a native travelling with him, refused to go to the well at night from fear of this malevolent being; supposed to keep an especial guardianship over fresh water, and to be most terrible and most potent in the hours of darkness. Miago had never seen this object of his fears, but upon the authority of the elders of his tribe, he described its visible presence as that of a huge many-folded serpent; and in the night, when the tall forest trees moaned and creaked in the fitful wind, he would shrink terrified by the solemn and mysterious sounds, which then do predispose the mind to superstitious fears, and tell how, at such a time, his countrymen kindle a fire to avert the actual presence of the evil spirit, and wait around it—chanting their uncouth and rhythmical incantations—with fear and trembling, for the coming dawn.

I have preserved these anecdotes here, because I can vouch for their authenticity, and though individually unimportant, they may serve to throw additional light upon the manners, customs, and traditions of the Aborigines of Australia; but to all really interested in the subject, I would recommend a perusal of Captain Grey's second volume. I have as yet neither space nor materials to attempt any detailed account of the customs, superstitions, or condition of this strange people; but it would be impossible to pass them by quite unnoticed: nor can the voyager, whose chief object is to make their native land a field for the exertions of British enterprise, be wholly indifferent to the manner in which our dominion may affect them. The history of almost every colony, founded by European energy, has been one fearful catalogue of crime; and though by the side of the Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese, English adventurers seem gentle and benevolent, still cruelty and oppression have too often disgraced our name and faith.

FUTURE PROSPECTS.

Thank Heaven, with many a doubt as to the time that must elapse ere that glad day shall come, I can look onward with confidence to a period—I trust not far remote—when throughout the length and breadth of Australia, Christian civilization shall attest that the claims upon England's benevolence have been nobly acknowledged!

CHAPTER 1.4. FROM SWAN RIVER TO ROEBUCK BAY.

Sail from Gage's Road. Search for a bank. Currents and soundings. Houtman's Abrolhos. Fruitless search for Ritchie's Reef. Indications of a squall. Deep sea soundings. Atmospheric Temperature. Fish. A squall. Anchor off the mouth of Roebuck Bay. A heavy squall. Driven from our anchorage. Cape Villaret. Anchor in Roebuck Bay. Excursion on shore. Visit from the Natives. Mr. Bynoe's account of them. A stranger among them. Captain Grey's account of an almost white race in Australia. Birds, Snakes, and Turtle. Move the Ship. Miago, and the Black Fellows. The wicked men of the North. Clouds of Magellan. Face of the Country. Natives. Heat and Sickness. Miago on shore. Mr. Usborne wounded. Failure in Roebuck Bay. Native notions.

CURRENTS AND SOUNDINGS.

The solemnities of Christmas, and the festal celebration of the New Year, beneath a cloudless sky, and with the thermometer at 90, concluded our first visit to Swan River. We left our anchorage in Gage's Road on Thursday, January 4th, devoting several hours to sounding between Rottnest and the main. We bore away at 4 P.M. to search for a bank said to exist about fifteen miles north from the middle of Rottnest Island, having from twenty to twenty-two fathoms over it. Near the position assigned we certainly shoaled our water from twenty-eight to twenty-four fathoms, but no other indication of a bank was to be found.

Satisfied that we had now no further reason for delay, we kept away North-West with a fresh southerly wind, and the glad omen of a brilliant sunset.

January 5.

We were rather surprised to find by our observation at noon, no indication of a northerly current, though yesterday when becalmed between Rottnest and the main we were drifted to the northward at the rate of nearly two knots per hour. We sounded regularly every four hours, but found no bottom at 200 fathoms: the wind during the morning was light from South-South-West but during the night we had it fresh from South-East.

January 6.

We passed, at midnight, within 60 miles of the position assigned in the chart to the low coral group known as Houtman's Abrolhos,* and again sounded unsuccessfully with 200 fathoms.

(*Footnote. Subsequent observations placed these islands 30 miles more to the eastward than the position there assigned them. Our track, therefore, was really 90 miles from them.)

We continued steering a northerly course up to the 9th, keeping within from 60 to 80 miles distance of the coast, and repeating our deep-sea soundings every six hours without success.

INDICATIONS OF A SQUALL.

The wind during each day was moderate from the South-South-West and South by West, freshening during the night from South, and South by East; a heavy swell was its constant companion, and the barometer fell to 29.75. On the morning of the 9th, being in the parallel of North-west Cape, our course was altered to North-East by East; it blew hard during the night, and we had a disagreeable sea; but, as usual, it moderated again towards the morning.

We had shaped a course to make a reef in latitude 20 degrees 17 minutes, and named after its discoverer, Lieutenant Ritchie, R.N.; but owing to its being situated, as we afterwards found, half a degree to the eastward of its assigned position in the charts, we did not see it.

At 4 A.M., and with 195 fathoms, we reached a bottom of sand, broken shells, and coral, being then about 80 miles North-North-East from Tremouille Island, the nearest land. Steering East by North 1/2 North for 31 miles, brought us to our noon position in latitude 19 degrees 20 minutes South, longitude 116 degrees 16 minutes East, and into a depth of 120 fathoms, with the same kind of bottoms. South-South-West, 17 miles from our morning position, Captain King had 83 and 85 fathoms; from this we may suppose the edge of the bank of soundings, extending off this part of the coast, to be very steep. These soundings, together with those of Captain King, as above, may give some idea of the nature and extent of this bank, which seems to be a continuation of the flat extending North-North-East 40 miles, connecting Barrow and Tremouille Islands with the main: its outer edge being kept heaped up thus steeply by the constant action of the current sweeping round the North-west Cape.

DEEP SEA SOUNDINGS.

We continued steering East and by North 1/2 North, and at sunset, 14 miles from our noon position, the water had deepened to 145 fathoms, bottom a fine white sand and powdered shells. Before we were 50 miles from our noon position, we could find no bottom with 200 fathoms.

January 12.

We made but slow progress during the night, and felt delay the more tedious from the eager anxiety with which we desired sight of the land where our duties were to begin in earnest. We were not successful with our soundings till 6 P.M., when we had the same kind of bottom as before described, with 117 fathoms: 15 miles East by North 1/2 North from our noon position, which was 220 miles West by South from Roebuck Bay: 30 miles in the same direction from our noon position, we shoaled our water to 85 fathoms, the ground retaining the same distinctive character. We had the wind from South-West to South-East during the afternoon, but at 6 P.M. it chopped round to North-North-West, when, too, for the first time, we perceived lightning to the South-East—Barometer 29.92; thermometer 85.

January 13.

The preceding indications of the coming squall, which had given us full time for preparation, were realized about one o'clock this morning, when it reached us, though only moderately, from South-East. It was preceded by the rise and rapid advance of a black cloud in that quarter, just as Captain King has described.

ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE.

At noon we were in latitude 18 degrees 26 minutes South, longitude 119 degrees 18 minutes East, and in soundings of 75 fathoms, fine white sand, broken shells, and fragments of dead coral. There was only a slight variation in the atmospheric temperature of two degrees during the twenty-four hours, the highest in the day being 85, and the lowest at night 83. The water was very smooth, but as night approached it thundered and lightened heavily and vividly, and most of us noticed and suffered from a particularly oppressive and overpowering state of the atmosphere, which the heat indicated by the thermometer was by no means sufficiently intense to account for.

January 14.

During the last twenty-four hours we had made but 51 miles progress in the direction of Roebuck Bay; our noon observations placed us in latitude 18 degrees 25 minutes South, longitude 120 degrees 13 minutes East, being about 80 miles from the nearest land. We obtained soundings at 72 fathoms, yellow sand and broken shells. During the afternoon, it being nearly a calm, we found ourselves surrounded by quantities of fish, about the size of the mackerel, and apparently in pursuit of a number of small and almost transparent members of the finny tribe, not larger than the minnow.

We sounded at sunset, and found bottom at 52 fathoms, which shoaled by half-past ten to 39. The circumstance, however, occasioned no surprise, as we had run South-South-East 25 miles, in a direct line for that low portion of the coast from which the flat we were running over extends.

The first part of the night we had the wind at North-North-East, the breeze steady, and the water as smooth as glass; but as the watch wore on, quick flashes of forked lightning, and the suspicious appearance of gathering clouds in the South-East, gave warning of the unwelcome approach of a heavy squall.

HEAVY SQUALL.

At eleven we lay becalmed for ten minutes between two contending winds; that from the South, however, presently prevailed, and shifting to the South-East, blew hard: meantime, a dark mass of clouds in the East-South-East appeared suddenly to assume the form of a deep-caverned archway, and moved rapidly towards us; in a few minutes, the ship was heeling majestically to the passing gust, the lightning flashed vividly and rapidly around us, alternately concealing and revealing the troubled surface of the foam-covered sea, while the thunder rolled heavily over our heads.

The squall was heavy while it lasted, commencing at East-South-East and ending at East-North-East. It was accompanied by heavy rain. Towards the end of the middle watch, the weather began to assume a more settled appearance, and we had a moderate breeze from the north; but between five and six o'clock A.M., it shifted suddenly by the West to South-South-East, and became light. We sounded repeatedly during the night in from 32 to 35 fathoms, the same kind of bottom as before; which we found agree very well with those reported in the account of the French expedition under Captain Baudin.

From the specimens of the squalls we experienced the last two nights, and which appear to be pretty regular in their visitation, I am inclined to believe they do not extend any considerable distance from the land. They give the seaman ample warning of their approach; yet, since they always come on in the night, when their violence cannot be properly estimated, the ship's head should (if circumstances permit) be kept to the westward (West-North-West) until the short-lived fury of the storm has exhausted itself.

January 15.

We progressed with light and variable airs through the day, gradually shoaling our water till nine P.M., when the anchor was dropped in 14 fathoms, having previously passed over a rocky ledge of apparently coral formation, in 13 1/2 fathoms. The land over the south point of Roebuck Bay bore East-South-East, about 17 miles distant; but we did not see it till the following morning.

DRIVEN FROM THE ANCHORAGE.

The evening wore a threatening aspect, though not apparently so much to be dreaded as that of yesterday; however, we were disagreeably out in our anticipations, for about three o'clock A.M. (January 16) a heavy squall burst on us, veering from East-South-East to East-North-East, broke our best bower anchor, and drove us half a mile out to sea, when the remaining fluke hooked a rock and brought us up. It rained and blew till daylight, then we were again favoured with fine weather, and light westerly winds. The land was now in sight, Cape Villaret being the most northerly point, and bearing East-South-East some 16 or 17 miles. The hillock upon this cape, and two other hummocks, lying to the southward, formed the only prominent features of the low land in sight.

CAPE VILLARET.

At this anchorage the flood-tide set East and by North, from one to one and a half knots per hour. Before weighing I procured a specimen of live coral from the depth of 11 fathoms.

Light airs, and the aid of the flood-tide, carried us into the centre of Roebuck Bay, where we came to an anchor in 7 fathoms, Cape Villaret bearing South by West 1/2 West about 10 miles. The fall of the tide here was no less than 18 feet.

As we closed with the land, I had a good opportunity of speculating upon its appearance, and the probability of our investigation confirming or contradicting the opinion entertained by Captains King and Dampier, that a channel would be found to connect Roebuck Bay with an opening behind Buccaneers Archipelago, thus making Dampier's Land an island. I confess, my own impressions at first sight differed from that of those high authorities, nor did a nearer examination shake my opinion. Cape Villaret, a short ridge lying East and West, and about 150 feet high, was still the most remarkable object; the sand on its side having a curious red appearance. From the masthead the land was not visible to the eastward for the space of one point of the compass; yet its level character, and the shoalness of the water, led alike to the opinion that no such communication as supposed would be found to exist.

January 17.

Collecting materials for the chart was the chief occupation of the day. Mr. Usborne discovered a high-water inlet in the south shore of the bay, five miles east of Cape Villaret, having a dry bank of sand before it at low-water.

VISIT FROM THE NATIVES.

While the party were on shore, they were visited by six of the natives, a larger race of men than those on the south coast, naked, with the exception of a grass mat round the waist, and the hair straight and tied up behind, seemingly ignorant of the use of the throwing stick, but carrying spears ill-shapen and unbarbed. One of them had a kiley, or boomerang, and each carried a rude hatchet of stone. None of them had suffered the loss of the front tooth, which, with some tribes, is a distinction of manhood. When asked by signs for fresh water, of which our party saw no traces, they pointed to the South-East; a circumstance which I record, as it may possibly be of some service to future explorers. As the boat was leaving, one of them, supposing, I presume, that they were out of our reach, and might therefore attack us with impunity, threw a stone at the boat, which luckily did no harm, though hurled with great dexterity and force. Upon this, a pistol was discharged over their heads, when they retired with far greater rapidity than they had advanced.

AN ALMOST WHITE RACE.

Mr. Usborne mentions, in an account of this interview (published in the Nautical Magazine for 1840, page 576) that one of the party differed in several physical characteristics from the rest. After describing them in general terms as being from five feet six, to five feet nine inches tall, broad shoulders, long and slight legs, large heads, and overhanging brows—he continues, "There was an exception in the youngest, who appeared of an entirely different race: his skin was a copper colour, while the others were black; his head was not so large, and more rounded; the overhanging brow was lost; the shoulders more of a European turn; and the body and legs much better proportioned; in fact, he might be considered a well-made man, at our standard of figure." A similar instance of meeting with one of a tribe, not apparently belonging to the same subdivision of the human family as those by whom he was surrounded, is recorded by Captain Grey, who speaks indeed of the existence of a distinct race, totally different (i.e. from the other aborigines) and almost white. I cannot say that I have myself encountered any of these almost white men, whose existence, as a distinct race, Captain Grey appears to have rather hastily admitted; such variation in form and colour as Mr. Usborne alludes to, may, however, be accounted for by the intercourse which the natives on the north coast hold from time to time with the Malays.

Several very large black martins, with white or grey heads, were hovering over the ship this morning; and many flights of small white tern, and a bird, commonly called the razor-bill, passed and re-passed the ship every morning and evening, flying from the bay to seaward, and returning at sunset. Two water snakes were shot alongside the ship during the day; the largest measured four feet, and was of a dirty yellow colour. A good-sized fish was taken from the stomach of one of them. Their fangs were particularly long, and very much flattened, having no cutting edge whatever.

Some turtle also passed the ship to-day, and a day or two afterwards we were fortunate enough to shoot one which weighed 160 pounds: he had ample justice done to his merits. It was high-water at 1.50 P.M., and the stream changed at the same time, a circumstance conclusively demonstrating that we were not anchored in a strait.

January 18.

We got underweigh in the morning, but from the shallowness of the water anchored within a mile east of our former position.

THE NATIVE MIAGO.

The native Miago, who had accompanied us from Swan River, was most earnest in his inquiries about the savages, as soon as he understood that some of them had been seen. He appeared delighted that these blackfellows, as he calls them, have no throwing sticks; for though at times exceedingly valiant in conversation, and very anxious to kill one of the men, and carry off one of their gins, or wives—the great end, aim, and ambition of all Australian force or policy—he yet evidently holds these northmen in great dread. They are, according to his account, "Bad men—eat men—Perth men tell me so: Perth men say, Miago, you go on shore very little, plenty Quibra men* go, you go." These instructions appear to have been very carefully pressed upon him by his associates, and certainly they had succeeded in inspiring him with the utmost dread of this division of his fellow countrymen, which all his boasting about killing some of them and taking one of their women as proof of his prowess, back to Perth, failed to concern.

(*Footnote. i.e. Men of the ship.)

CLOUDS OF MAGELLAN.

He gave me this evening a new reason to account for the appearance of the two small clouds called after the celebrated Magellan, in the following words: "You see," said he, pointing up to the sky, "little smoke." I assented at once; for certainly the clouds have very much the appearance of that to which he compared them: he then continued: "Perth man tell me, long, long time back, he make fire, smoke go far away up, far away, stop and never go away more." Miago evidently believed that his friend at Perth had really lighted the fire, the smoke of which had thus gone up "far away, far away," to "stop and never go away more." I can easily enough comprehend why the assertion might be made, and possibly without any intention to deceive upon the part of the asserter, who may first have seen the clouds after watching the ascent of his own fire smoke through the still air, in the same direction; but that it should be implicitly believed, as it evidently was by Miago, upon the mere word of his fellow countryman, did, I own, astonish me; and seems to indicate that, in their social intercourse with each other, they may have more regard for truth than I was at first inclined to give them credit for.

USELESS BAY.

Mr. Usborne was away to-day in one of the boats, seeking a berth for the ship higher up the bay: upon his return he reported that he had been over the banks before mentioned, upon which he found the water very shoal: the face of the country he described as exceedingly low, with mud lumps not unlike ant-hills,* scattered here and there over the face of it, and several clusters of small trees. Natives also had been seen, though no opportunity of approaching them had occurred, as the moment their restless eyes, or quick ears, detected our approach, they most rapidly retreated.

(*Footnote. Subsequent experience literally verified this opinion.)

HEAT AND SICKNESS.

January 19.

Two boats were despatched this morning, under Mr. Usborne's command, to examine the eastern part of what I think may be named very properly Useless Bay. This would have been my duty, had I not unfortunately been taken ill in the evening of the preceding day: the symptoms were violent headache, and a disordered state of the stomach, caused, the surgeon says, by the oppressive and overpowering heat which we have experienced for the last few days, and the general effects of which seem more distressing to the ship's company than is often experienced under a higher range of the thermometer; the deprivation of all power, or energy, is one of its most unpleasant consequences. I am inclined to think that one reason for its great and wearying effect upon most of us—indeed, more or less, all are suffering from it—is that there is hardly any variation in temperature during the whole twenty-four hours: it sometimes does not amount to more than two or three degrees. Captain Wickham and the surgeon visited an inlet near the ship to-day, which had indeed been looked into, but not explored before. They proceeded to the south-west for about three miles, through a very tortuous channel, dry in many parts at low-water, thickly studded with mangrove bushes, over and through which the tide made its way at high-water, giving to that part of the country the appearance of an extensive morass. A slightly elevated table-topped range of land was seen from time to time, some eight or nine miles to the south-east, but in its highest elevation did not reach 200 feet. The apparent width of the inlet in no way diminished so far as the exploring party examined it; and this fact, coupled with the general character of the country hereabouts, induces me to suppose that the periodical return of the spring tide, floods the greater part of the coast between the sea shore and the base of the range I have alluded to. Vampires of a very large kind were here met with, the furthest south we had seen them.

MIAGO ON SHORE.

Miago had accompanied this party on shore, though he evidently showed no great devotion to the deed. They said he watched everything, aye, every bush, with the most scrutinizing gaze: his head appeared to turn upon a pivot, so constantly was it in motion, with all that restless watchfulness for which the savage is ever remarkable. The heat to-day either exceeded an average, or else perhaps, as an invalid, I noticed it more closely:

On shore, it was 98 degrees in the shade. On board, it was 90 degrees in the shade. Pulling off in the boats 118. During the day, it fluctuated, between 88 and 94.

A breeze from seaward blew the greater part of each night from West-South-West, hauling round to south in the morning.

January 20.

Our noon observation to-day enabled us to fix the latitude of Cape Villaret 18 degrees 18 minutes 50 seconds, which precisely agrees with that assigned to it by Captain King.

MR. USBORNE WOUNDED.

In the afternoon the boats returned with Mr. Usborne, who had been unfortunately very severely wounded by the accidental discharge of a musket. It appeared that after a careful examination of the bay, which ended as I had anticipated, in proving that no opening to the interior would be found in it, the party were returning to the boats, when, from the accidental explosion of a musket in the hand of one of the party, a ball entered Mr. Usborne's right side, near the spine, between the lower rib and hip bone, making an exit in a line with the navel. This truly unfortunate circumstance—which for some weeks deprived the expedition of the services of a most valuable officer—occurred about 10 o'clock A.M., but the time and trouble of carrying the sufferer through the mud to the boats, and then pulling some 15 miles, made it near 6 o'clock before he was on board and under the charge of Mr. Bynoe: we were all shocked to see our companion lifted apparently lifeless into the vessel he had so recently quitted full of health, and animated by an anxious desire to do all in his power to conduce to the general success; but were ere long assured by Mr. Bynoe, whose personal or professional merits need no eulogium from me—and who immediately and most carefully attended our wounded messmate—that the best results might be reasonably hoped for: a prediction shortly afterwards happily verified. At the time this unlucky accident occurred, some twenty natives rushed from the concealment whence they had been doubtless watching all the proceedings of the party, as though they designed to bear a part in what probably seemed to them, as poor Usborne went down, an approaching fray: however, the sight of the two boats in the distance, which upon deploying they had full in view, deterred them from acting upon any hostile intentions, supposing such to have existed in their minds.

LOADED PISTOLS LEFT BEHIND.

The accident, however, and their sudden appearance, could only serve additionally to flurry the little party who had to convey their disabled officer to a place of safety, and Mr. Helpman, who may well be pardoned the want of his usual self-possession at such a moment, left behind a pair of loaded pistols. They would puzzle the savages greatly of course, but I hope no ill consequences ensued: if they began pulling them about, or put them in the fire, the better to separate the wood and iron, two or three poor wretches might be killed or maimed for life, and their first recollections of the Quibra men, as Miago calls us, would naturally be anything but favourable.

Thus disastrously terminated our examination of Roebuck Bay, in which the cheering reports of former navigators, no less than the tenor of our hydrographical instructions had induced us to anticipate the discovery of some great water-communication with the interior of this vast Continent. A most thorough and careful search—in which everyone seemed animated by one common and universal sentiment, prompting all to a zealous discharge of duty—had clearly demonstrated that the hoped-for river must be sought elsewhere: and that very fact which at first seemed to lessen the probabilities of ultimate success, served rather to inspire than to daunt; since while it could not shake our reliance upon the opinions of those best qualified to decide, that such a river must ultimately be discovered, it only narrowed the ground upon which energy, knowledge, and perseverance had yet to undergo their probation, ere they enjoyed their reward!

THE BOYL-YAS.

Our intercourse with the natives had been necessarily of the most limited character, hardly amounting to anything beyond indulging them with the sight of a new people, whose very existence, notwithstanding the apathetic indifference with which they regarded us, must have appeared a prodigy. What tradition may serve to hand down the memory of our visit to the third generation, should no newer arrival correct its gathering errors, and again restore some vestige of the truth, it is hardly possible to imagine; but should any misfortune follow their possession of Mr. Helpman's pistols, that in particular will be narrated as the motive for the visit of those white men who came flying upon the water, and left some of the secret fire upon the peaceful coast: and when again the white sails of the explorer glisten in the distant horizon, all the imaginary terrors of the Boyl-yas,* will be invoked to avert the coming of those who bring with them the unspeakable blessings of Christian civilization.

(*Footnote. The natives in the neighbourhood of Swan River give this name to their Sorcerers.)

CHAPTER 1.5. FROM ROEBUCK BAY TO SKELETON POINT.

Departure from Roebuck Bay. Appearance of the Country. Progress to the northward. Hills and Cliffs. French Names and French Navigators. Tasman, and his account of the Natives. Hazeygaeys and Assagais. His Authenticity as an Historian. Description of the Natives. Marks and mutilations. Phrenological Development. Moral condition. Proas, Canoes, and Rafts. Another squall. Anchor in Beagle Bay. Face of the Country. Palm Trees. Dew. Hauling the Seine. A meeting with Natives. Eastern Salutation. Miago's conduct towards, and opinion of, his countrymen. Mutilation of the Hand. Native smokes seen. Move further to the North-East. Point Emeriau. Cape Leveque. Point Swan. Tide-races. Search for water. Encountered by Natives. Return to the Ship. The attempt renewed. Conduct of the Natives. Effect of a Congreve Rocket after dark. A successful haul. More Natives. Miago's Heroism. The plague of Flies. Dampier's description of it. Native Habitations. Underweigh. Wind and weather. Tidal Phenomenon. Natural History. Singular Kangaroo. Bustard. Cinnamon Kangaroo. Quails. Goanas and Lizards. Ant Hills. Fishing over the side. A day in the Bush. A flood of fire. Soil and Productions. White Ibis. Curious Tree. Rain water. Geology of the Cliffs. Weigh, and graze a Rock, or Touch and go. The Twins. Sunday Strait. Roe's Group. Miago and his friends. A black dog. A day of rest. Native raft. Captain King and the Bathurst. A gale. Point Cunningham. Successful search for water. Native estimation of this fluid. Discovery of a Skeleton. And its removal. The grey Ibis. Our parting legacy.

DEPARTURE FROM ROEBUCK BAY.

January 22, 1838.

Satisfied that no inland communication could be expected from Roebuck Bay, we weighed in the early part of the morning, and stood away to the northward.

APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY.

Roebuck Bay, so named to commemorate the name of Dampier's ship, is about sixteen miles across: the southern shores are low, and extensive sandbanks and mud flats are bared at low-water. Near the North-East point of the bottom of this bay, is a curious range of low cliffs, from twenty to thirty feet high, and strongly tinged with red, in such a manner as to suggest that they must be highly impregnated with oxide of iron. In the neighbourhood of these cliffs the country had a more fertile, or rather a less desolate appearance, stretching out into extensive plains, lightly timbered with various trees of the genus Eucalypti, while, on the south shore of the bay, the mangroves were numerous.

Towards the afternoon we discovered a small inlet, being then about 30 miles from our former anchorage in Roebuck Bay. We steered directly for it, and when within half a mile of its mouth, we had, at high-water, six fathoms. From the masthead I could trace distinctly the course of this inlet, which at this state of the tide appeared to be of great extent; but the bar which locked its mouth, and over which the sea was breaking very heavily, rendered it impossible to take a boat across without evident risk, by which no real good would be obtained, as the rise and fall of the tide, eighteen feet, on this low coast, was more than sufficient to account for the imposing, though deceptive appearance of this opening. From the main-top-gallant yard I was enabled to take an almost bird's-eye view of the level country stretched apparently at my feet. The shore, like the south side of Roebuck Bay, was fringed with mangroves, while to the North-North-East lay an extensive plain, over which the water seemed, at certain seasons of the year, to flow. The country around, for miles, wore the appearance of an interminable and boundless plain, with an almost imperceptible landward elevation, and thickly wooded with stunted trees.

In sailing along this part of the coast we found several inaccuracies in Captain King's chart, doubtless owing to the distant view with which he was compelled to content himself, and to the unfavourable state of the weather against which he had to contend. I was on deck nearly, indeed, the whole of the night, baffled by flying clouds in my attempts to fix our latitude by the stars: at length, however, I succeeded in ascertaining it to be 17 degrees 40 minutes South.

January 23.

The morning was fine, but the wind we had experienced the preceding night caused a rather heavy swell, which rendered the attempt to enter this inlet an impracticable task; however, it was tried. We found between the ship and the shore six, four, and two fathoms, but as the mouth of the inlet was filled with breakers, apparently on a bar extending out half a mile, I was fully convinced that further perseverance would only amount to waste of time and needless risk, and therefore, after taking a few angles to fix the position of the boat, we returned on board. It appeared at low-water to be nearly dry, and then only amounted to a collection of mud and sandbanks. The examination quite satisfied me that it partook of the same character as the one already spoken of as seen yesterday, and that they are alike useless.

We were soon underway, and standing towards, or rather along, the shore; and as the day advanced, the wind drew more to the westward, a common occurrence, enabling us to lay along the shore, North 1/2 East. By four P.M., we were within two miles of it, in nine fathoms.

The coast here is fronted with a range of sandhills, some of which are topped with verdure: several low black rocky points extend for some distance from the flat sandy beach into the sea. I have no hesitation in saying, that this is a kind of black sandstone, often found at the bases of most cliffy points, and probably coloured by the chemical action of the saltwater. The sandhills, which form the coastline, do not appear to extend more than a mile inland. Beyond, the country appeared to subside into the same dull level which is the characteristic feature of what we have yet seen of this coast, thickly studded with timber of a much finer growth than the stunted productions of Roebuck Bay. Behind the cliffy parts of the coast the land assumed a more fertile appearance; and this seemed an almost invariable law in the natural history of this new world.

PROGRESS TO THE NORTHWARD.

Five miles to the northward of Point Coulomb, we passed a reef, lying a mile from the shore, with seven fathoms one mile seaward of it. The land now trended to the eastward, and formed a large bay, the south point of which we rounded at half past four P.M. The mangroves grew right down to the water's edge, and the spring tides appear to inundate the country to a very considerable extent, the land here being lower than any we had yet seen. We anchored, at half past eight, in six and a half fathoms, and I ran below to find how our wounded messmate had borne the day.

From my usual post, the masthead, I traced the shore from point to point of Carnot Bay, so named after the celebrated French consul and engineer. A very low sandy point bore North 67 degrees, East 6 miles. Sandbanks and breakers completely fortified its shores, and effectually forbid all approach, except under the most favourable circumstances.

LAND DISCOVERED BY TASMAN.

The several French names with which Commodore Baudin has distinguished leading portions of this coast, of course, professional courtesy will willingly respect; it is, however, only right to mention, that while he contented himself with so distant a view of this part of Australia as to be sometimes completely mistaken in the most important particulars, to the celebrated Abel Tasman belongs the merit of having previously landed upon its shores in that very bay, which now bears the name of the great republican.

DESCRIPTION OF THE NATIVES.

Tasman describes the natives as being quite naked, black in colour, and having curly hair, "malicious and cruel," using for arms bows and arrows, hazeygaeys* and kalawaeys. They came, upon one occasion, fifty in number, to attack a party of the Dutch, who had landed, but took fright at the sight and sound of firearms. "Their proas," he adds, "are made of the bark of trees, and they use no houses."

(*Footnote. Hazeygaeys are synonymous with assagais, the name for the short African spear, used by the tribes between Port Natal and the Cape, and which is generally supposed to be the native term for the weapon. Captain Harris, however, states that this supposition is incorrect; and, certainly, its appearance and termination here incline me to join him in suspecting it of a Dutch origin.)

Such is the account of this distinguished and trustworthy discoverer, upon whose veracity I should be the last to attempt to affix suspicion: his very simplicity of detail, and the entire absence of rhetorical artifice, would convey sufficient internal evidence of his truth, had not the subsequent progress of Australian discovery served to confirm all the material facts of his narrative. I may, however, remark, that the natives seen upon this coast during our cruise, within the limits of Roebuck Bay to the south, and Port George the Fourth to the north, an extent of more than 200 miles, with the exception that I shall presently notice, agreed in having a common character of form, feature, hair, and physiognomy, which I may thus describe. The average height of the males may be taken to be from five feet five inches to five feet nine inches, though, upon one occasion, I saw one who exceeded this height by an inch. They are almost black—in fact, for ordinary description, that word, unqualified by the adverb, serves the purpose best. Their limbs are spare and light, but the muscle is finely developed in the superior joint of the arm, which is probably owing to their constant use of it in throwing the spear. Some tribes are entirely naked, while others wear girdles of skin and leaves, hardly sufficient, however, to serve any purpose of decency, much less of comfort.

PHRENOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT.

Their hair is always dark, sometimes straight and sometimes curled, and not unfrequently tied up behind; but we saw no instance of a negro, or woolly, head among them. They wear the beard upon the chin, but not upon the upper lip, and allow it to grow to such a length as enables them to champ and chew it when excited by rage; an action which they accompany with spitting it out against the object of their indignation or contempt. They have very overhanging brows, and retreating foreheads, large noses, full lips, and wide mouths: in some cases they want the two foreteeth in the upper jaw, and while, in any one tribe in which the custom prevails, it seems to be unanimous, it does not appear to be, by any means, universally diffused along the whole north-western coast. The unfavourable impression produced by the prevailing character of their physiognomy, is confirmed, if their phrenological conformation is taken into consideration; and certainly, if the principles of that science are admitted to be true, these savages are woefully deficient in all the qualities which contribute to man's moral supremacy. Let me, in justice, add, that while we found them ignorant and incurious to the last degree, they were generally suspicious rather than treacherous, and not insensible to such acts of kindness as they could comprehend.

Upon all this extent of coast, we saw no single instance of the use, or even existence, of any proa, or canoe; and my own opinion, strengthened by personal experience, and enforced by the authority of the most recent navigators, is, that the canoe is not used upon the north-west coast. The negative evidence, at least, is strongly in favour of this presumption; for, while we saw the canoe in use in Clarence Strait—the western boundary of the northern coast—we saw nothing but the raft to the south of that point. I cannot, therefore, avoid the conclusion, that, misled by the similarity of external appearance, Tasman mistook the raft of unbarked timber for a bark canoe, such as he may have seen upon other parts of the coast.

We had a return of the same kind of squall from the eastward, as we had experienced before our arrival in Roebuck Bay, and from which, since that time till now, we had luckily managed to escape.

January 24.

We were again at work by daylight, but were delayed, getting clear of the foul ground, lying off Cape Baskerville, on which we twice shoaled the water to three and five fathoms, five and seven miles West and by South from that headland.

BEAGLE BAY.

The land over it rises to an elevation of nearly 200 feet, and then again becomes low and sandy, opening out a bay, which from appearance promised, and wherein we afterwards found, good anchorage: it was named Beagle Bay, and may serve hereafter to remind the seamen who benefit by the survey in which that vessel bore so conspicuous a part, of the amount of his obligations to the Government that sent her forth, the skill and energy that directed her course, and the patient discipline by which, during her long period of active service, so much was done for the extension of our maritime knowledge. In the bight formed between this bay and Cape Baskerville we passed two high-water inlets; the mouths of both were fronted with rocky ledges. We anchored here, soon after midday, and had every reason to be satisfied with our berth. Beagle Bay is about three miles broad and seven deep; the country around is low and open, and traces of water deposit were visible in several spots to indicate its dangerous proximity to the sea. The smaller shrubs of the country were common; and the mangroves flourished in great abundance on the beach, and along the little creeks that diverge from it. Some large anthills, and very small palm trees, not six feet in height, were noticed for the first time so far south. During the night the wind veered round to South-West, and blew quite fresh, a circumstance which made us additionally prize our good anchorage here. We had, however, no squall, nor any dew, which I should mention falls most copiously upon certain nights, without any apparent indication; to these dews, the vegetation of this country, so far as we can judge, seems to owe its principal nourishment and support.

VISITED BY NATIVES.

January 25.

The forenoon was devoted to the examination of this excellent anchorage, and a party was also despatched to haul the seine. On landing they were met by a party of natives, who saluted them in a manner which strikingly resembled the eastern mode. They had no weapon, save one kiley or boomerang, and bowed down until they almost kissed the water.

CONDUCT OF MIAGO.

Their speech was shrill and quick, perfectly unintelligible to our friend Miago, who seemed greatly in fear of them: they seemed astonished to find one apparently of their own clime, complexion, and degree in company with the white strangers, who must have seemed to them a different race of beings; nor was their wonder at all abated when Miago threw open his shirt, and showed them his breast curiously scarred after their fashion—for this custom of cutting stripes upon the body, as other savages tattoo it, by way of ornament, seems universally to prevail throughout Australia—as a convincing evidence that he, though now the associate of the white man, belonged to the same country as themselves. When Miago had, in some degree, recovered from his alarm—and their want of all weapons no doubt tended to reassure him more than anything else, he very sagaciously addressed them in English; shaking hands and saying, "How do you do?" and then began to imitate their various actions, and mimic their language, and so perfectly did he succeed that one of our party could not be persuaded but that he really understood them; though for this suspicion I am convinced there was in truth no foundation. In general appearance this tribe differed but little from those we had previously seen. They wore their hair straight, and tied behind in a rude semblance of the modern queue; their beards were long, and two or three among them were daubed with a kind of black ochre. All of them had lost one of the front teeth, and several one finger joint;* in this particular they differed from the natives seen in Roebuck Bay, amongst whom the practice of this mutilation did not prevail. They were, I think, travelling to the southward, at the time they fell in with us, for they had no females among the party, by whom they are usually at other times accompanied. The circumstance of their being unarmed may seem to militate against the supposition that they were travelling, but it is to be borne in mind that these people universally consider the absence of offensive weapons as the surest test of peaceful intentions, and would therefore, if they desired to maintain a friendly footing with the newcomers, most probably deposit their arms in some place of concealment before they made themselves visible.

(*Footnote. A similar custom was noticed by Captain Cook at the Sandwich Islands, where it was regarded as a propitiatory sacrifice to the Eatooa, to avert his anger; and not to express, as the same mutilation does in the Friendly Islands, grief for the loss of a friend.)

NATIVE SMOKES.

The coast seems pretty thickly populated between Roebuck and Beagle Bays; as the smoke from native fires was constantly to be seen, but in all cases these signs of human existence were confined to the neighbourhood of the sea. The fishing proved unsuccessful, so we were fain to content ourselves without the promised addition to our evening meal. We found the tide rise here 18 feet.

In the afternoon we reached another anchorage, some ten miles further to the North-East. The coast along which we sailed within the distance of two miles, was chiefly remarkable for its tall, dark-looking cliffs, with here and there a small sandy bay intervening. We anchored under Point Emeriau, so named by Captain Baudin, by whom it was mistaken for an island; its tall, white cliffs, springing from and guarded by a base and ledges of black rock, and tinged with red towards their summits, render it a point not easily to be mistaken or forgotten by any who have once seen it. Beyond this the coast curved away to the eastward, forming a bight about eleven miles in length.

January 26.

Leaving our anchorage at daylight, we passed the north point of the bight just mentioned soon after noon; it is a low black rugged cliffy point, called Borda by the French, having a much more weather-beaten appearance than would have been anticipated in this latitude. Behind it the country rose obliquely, the horizon terminating in an inconsiderable, undulatory, and well-wooded elevation.

CAPE LEVEQUE.

We passed another bight in the afternoon, the shores of which were low and rocky, with a mangrove creek in its depth: from this bight the coast becomes almost straight, the line being hardly broken by rocky points and shallow sandy bays, to Cape Leveque, on the North-East side of which we found an indifferent anchorage just before sunset. Cape Leveque is a red cliffy point some sixty feet in height, with an islet of the same character lying close off it. The latter bore from our anchorage in 5 fathoms, South 56 degrees West 2 miles, and 4 1/2 West 20 degrees South from the entrance point of the inviting opening, we were now about to explore, with an interest rather stimulated than decreased by the want of success that attended our examination of Roebuck Bay.

POINT SWAN.

This point was named by Captain King, Point Swan, in honour of Captain Swan of the Cygnet, under whom Dampier first discovered it; and was an appropriate tribute of respect and admiration, from one distinguished no less than Dampier himself, by the possession of those qualities of firmness, patience, judgment and perseverance, which make up the character of the scientific and adventurous navigator, to him by whom he had been preceded in Australian discovery. The country between Point Swan and Cape Leveque has a very sandy and barren aspect; the hillocks near the latter partook of its prevailing red colour.

TIDE-RACES.

January 27.

We proceeded this morning in the direction of Point Swan, and remarked, as we approached it, the heavy tide-race which used Captain King so roughly, and which subsequent surveying operations enabled us to account for, from great irregularity in the bottom, changing almost at once from 40 to 17 fathoms. We waited, having no wish to experience the full effect of the current, for slack water, and thus passed round it quietly enough; we anchored in a small bight, South 20 degrees West 1 1/2 miles from Point Swan, in seven fathoms, which, as we rightly conjectured, would leave us in three, at low-water.*

(*Footnote. The following is Captain King's graphic account of his encounter with this race: "On my way towards Point Swan, we saw from the masthead a line of strong tide ripplings, extending from the Point in a North-West by West direction, within which we at first attempted to pass; but finding they were connected to the Point, hauled up to steer through them where they seemed to be the least dangerous. As we approached, the noise was terrific; and although we were not more than two minutes amongst the breakers, yet the shocks of the sea were so violent, as to make us fearful for the safety of our masts. A smaller vessel would perhaps have been swamped; for although the sea was in other parts quite smooth, and the wind light, yet the water broke over the bows, and strained the brig considerably.")

As we had now arrived at the point from which we anticipated carrying on our most important operations, it became of paramount interest to know whether we could rely for that indispensable article, fresh water, upon the resources of the wild and barbarous shores. The vast extent of country; the delightful verdure which clothed great portions of it; nay, even the evidences of a people living upon its shores, would, under any other circumstances, and on any other coast, have been deemed conclusively to decide this point in the affirmative: but the voyager knows, from the best authority, that upon the coasts, and within the heart of Australia, nature seems to delight in contradiction, and that she is more than usually capricious with respect to the supply of what is ordinarily her most common, as it is ever one of her most precious gifts. A few wretched mud-holes might serve for a time to content the savages trained to privation from their earliest infancy, but for ourselves it was clear, either that a reasonable supply of fresh water must be found here, or we must not calculate upon remaining beyond the time which would leave us sufficient to proceed to Hanover Bay, where this most needful commodity was, upon the authority of Captain King, to be found.

SEARCH FOR WATER.

No sooner, therefore, was the Beagle properly secured in her new berth, than a party was despatched in the boats to commence a search for water, and to fix upon a spot for carrying on the necessary observations: scarcely, however, had we pushed off from alongside, before the white ensign at our main warned us that the natives were in sight from the ship,* and, on turning our eyes to the shore, we beheld it thronged with savages: the rapidity of whose movements, as they shouted in apparent defiance, brandishing their spears, and whirling their arms round and round with windmill-like velocity, as though to threaten our advance, rendered it impossible to estimate their number with any confidence, but they were evidently in considerable force. However, we pulled to the shore, a measure against which the valiant Miago stoutly protested, and landed in a position not directly commanded by the natives. They made no attempt to prevent us, but anxious to avoid hostilities—in every event almost equally deplorable—we deferred any distant search for water; and having fixed on a spot for our temporary observatory, returned to the ship.

(*Footnote. This signal was always made when natives were seen from the ship, if any parties were away.)

January 27.

A strong party was sent on shore, early this morning, with the necessary tools for digging a well, should the search for water upon the surface prove abortive. It was at once found that this operation ought forthwith to be commenced, and accordingly a promising spot was selected in a valley not half a mile from the sea. The natives mustered again in force upon the heights, and seemed to watch our proceedings with the greatest interest: we saw nothing of them the following day, but on the third they seemed so much emboldened by our inoffensive proceedings, that they approached so near as to keep the party pretty much upon the alert.

FIRE A CONGREVE ROCKET.

It was, therefore, determined, lest familiarity should breed contempt, to give them a hint of our superiority without inflicting any injury upon their persons or property; and, accordingly, shortly after dark we fired a Congreve rocket from the ship, and in a direction immediately over their presumed position: this had the desired effect, and our well-digging operations, though ultimately unsuccessful, proceeded without further annoyance.

CONDUCT OF THE NATIVES.

Two or three days afterwards a small party came down upon the beach while we were hauling the seine; and tempted by the offer of some fish—for an Australian savage is easily won by him who comes with things that do show so fair as delicacies in the gastronomic department—they approached us, and were very friendly in their manner, though they cunningly contrived always to keep the upper or inland side of the beach. We made them some presents of beads, etc. from the stores supplied by the Admiralty for that purpose, but they received them with an indifference almost amounting to apathy. They very closely examined the heroic Miago, who submitted to be handled by these much-dreaded Northern men with a very rueful countenance, and afterwards construed the way in which one of them had gently stroked his beard, into an attempt to take him by the throat and strangle him! an injury and indignity which, when safe on board, he resented by repeated threats, uttered in a sort of wild chant, of spearing their thighs, backs, loins, and, indeed, each individual portion of the frame.

PLAGUE OF FLIES.

Their habit of keeping the eyes almost closed, and the head thrown back, in order to avoid the plague of flies, under which this country seems to suffer, adds to the unpleasant expression of their countenance, and quite justifies the correctness of Dampier's account: "Their eyelids are always half-closed, to keep the flies out of their eyes, they being so troublesome here, that no fanning will keep them from coming to one's face; and without the assistance of both hands to keep them off, they will creep into one's nostrils, and mouth too, if the lips are not shut very close; so that from their infancy, being thus annoyed with these insects, they do never open their eyes as do other people, and therefore they cannot see far unless they hold up their heads, as if they were looking at somewhat over them." We found constant occasion, when on shore, to complain of this fly nuisance; and when combined with their allies, the mosquitoes, no human endurance could, with any patience, submit to the trial. The flies are at you all day, crawling into your eyes, up your nostrils, and down your throat, with the most irresistible perseverance; and no sooner do they, from sheer exhaustion, or the loss of daylight, give up the attack, than they are relieved by the musquitos, who completely exhaust the patience which their predecessors have so severely tried. It may seem absurd to my readers to dwell upon such a subject; but those, who, like myself, have been half-blinded, and to boot, almost stung to death, will not wonder, that even at this distance of time and place, I recur with disgust to the recollection.

The natives, in all parts of the continent alike, seem to possess very primitive notions upon the subject of habitation; their most comfortable wigwams hardly deserve the name: not even in the neighbourhood of English settlements are they beginning in any degree to imitate our European notions of comfort. Among these northern people, the only approach to anything like protection from the skiey influences that I could discover, was a slight rudely thatched covering, placed on four upright poles, between three and four feet high.

Another, of a much superior description, which I visited on the western shore of King's Sound, will be found delineated in that part of my journal to which the narrative belongs.

WIND AND WEATHER.

February 10.

We remained at this anchorage until the 10th of February, in consequence of a continuance of bad weather; indeed, the rain during the three first days of that month was at times of the most monsoon-like character, while the wind, constantly blowing very fresh, kept veering from North-West to South-West. Every now and then, by way of agreeable variety, a heavy squall would take us from South-South-West, though more commonly from West-South-West. The only certainty that we could calculate upon, was, that at North-North-West the wind would remain when it got there, stationary for a few hours. The thunder and lightning, the former loud and with a long reverberating peal, and the latter of the most intensely vivid kind, were constantly roaring and flashing over our heads; and, with the stormy echoes which the rolling deep around woke on these unknown and inhospitable shores, completed a scene that I shall never cease to remember, as I never then beheld it without mingled emotions of apprehension and delight. The rain, however, certainly befriended us in more ways than one: it cooled the atmosphere, which would else have been insufferably hot, diminished for a time the number and virulence of our winged tormentors, and recruited our stock of fresh water; for, though ultimately we were not obliged to have recourse to it as a beverage, it did exceedingly well for washing purposes. We had also, during this time, one most successful haul with the seine, which amply supplied us with fresh fish for that and the two following days; the greater part were a kind of large mullet, the largest weighed six pounds five ounces, and measured twenty-five inches in length.

TIDAL PHENOMENON.

On the same day we remarked, owing to the North-West wind, a singular phenomenon in the tides here. From half-ebb to high-water the stream wholly ceased, and the water being heaped up in the bay by the force of the wind, fell only sixteen, instead of twenty-four feet.

Several sporting excursions were made during this period, but with comparatively little success. It is not a country naturally very abundant in game of any kind, except kangaroos, which are numerous, but so harassed by the natives as to be of course extremely shy of the approach of man.

SINGULAR KANGAROO.

However, Mr. Bynoe succeeded in shooting one which possessed the singular appendage of a nail, like that on a man's little finger, attached to the tail.

I regret that we had no subsequent opportunity to decide whether this was one of a new species of the Macropodidae family, or a mere lusus naturae. The dimensions and height of this singular animal were as follows:*

Length of body from tip of nose: 22 inches. Length of tail from stump to tip: 24 1/2 inches. Weight: 13 pounds.

(*Footnote. This animal has been classed by Mr. Gould as Macropus unguifer, and is now deposited in the British Museum. One precisely similar was afterwards killed on the east coast of the gulf of Carpentaria.)

We also saw some very large red or cinnamon-coloured kangaroos, but never got near enough to secure one; they were apparently identical with a new race, of which I afterwards procured a specimen at Barrow's Island.*

(*Footnote. Osphranter isabellinus. Gould.)

One day, when I had penetrated some considerable distance into the bush, farther indeed than any of our party had strayed before, I saw a large bustard, but was unable to get a shot at him; his anxious and acute gaze had detected me, at the same moment that I had discovered him, and he was off. I thought at the time that he bore a strong resemblance to the wild turkey of the colonists in the southern parts of the continent. We were lucky enough to shoot several quails of apparently quite a new species. In one particular they differed from the members of the genus Coturnis, in having no hind toe. Goannas and lizards were plentiful in this neighbourhood, and some of the latter in particular were most brilliant in colour: they ran down the tall trees, in which they seem to pass a great portion of their lives, at our approach, with a most marvellous rapidity, and darting along the ground, were soon in safety.

ANTHILLS.

But what, perhaps, most attracted our attention, was the very surprising size of the anthills, or nests. I measured one, the height of which was 13 feet, and width at the base 7 feet; from whence it tapered gradually to the apex. They are composed of a pale red earth; but how it is sufficiently tempered, I am unable to state; certain is it, that it has almost the consistence of mortar, and will bear the tread of a man upon the top.

FISH.

The fishing over the ship's side was not less successful than hauling the seine; though quite a different kind of fish was taken to reward the labour of the saltwater Waltonians, who devoted themselves to it. They generally secured (at slack water) a large fish, in shape like a bream, and with long projecting teeth.

February 6.

We made up a party on the 6th for the purpose of penetrating a little way into the interior, and got seven miles from the sea in a South by West direction. Everything wore a green and most delightful appearance; but the reader must bear in mind, how vegetation had just been forced by heavy rains upon a light, heated soil, and also recollect that to one who has been pent up for some time on board ship a very barren prospect may seem delightful.

NATIVE FIRES.

The country was more open in character than I had before noticed it, and the numerous traces of native fires which we found in the course of the excursion, seemed readily to account for this: indeed during dry seasons it not unfrequently happens, that an immense tract of land is desolated with fire, communicated, either by the design or carelessness of the natives, to the dry herbage on the surface. The moment the flame has been kindled it only waits for the first breath of air to spread it far and wide: then on the wings of the wind, the fiery tempest streams over the hillsides and through the vast plains and prairies: bushwood and herbage—the dry grass—the tall reed—the twining parasite—or the giant of the forest, charred and blackened, but still proudly erect—alike attest and bewail the conquering fire's onward march; and the bleak desert, silent, waste, and lifeless, which it leaves behind seems forever doomed to desolation: vain fear! the rain descends once more upon the dry and thirsty soil, and from that very hour which seemed the date of cureless ruin, Nature puts forth her wondrous power with increased effort, and again her green and flower-embroidered mantle decks the earth with a new beauty!

SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS.

The soil of the extensive plain over which we journeyed this day, was light and sandy in character, but the large amount of vegetable matter which it contains, and the effect of the late rains, which had penetrated some 24 or 30 inches into it, made us perhaps somewhat overvalue its real merits. This plain rose gradually before us until it reached an elevation of 180 feet above the level of the sea, and was covered with a long, thin grass, through which the startled kangaroo made off every now and then at a killing pace.

The face of the country was well but not too closely covered with specimens of the red and white gum, and paperbark tree, and several others. The timber was but small, the diameter of the largest, a red gum, 18 inches.

Ever and anon the sparkling brilliant lizards darted down from their resting places among the boughs, so rapid in their fearful escape, that they caught the eye more like a flash of momentary light, than living, moving forms. We flushed in the course of the day a white bird, or at least nearly so, with a black ring round the neck, and a bill crooked like the ibis, which bird indeed, except in colour, it more resembles than any I have ever seen.*

(*Footnote. Since ascertained to be an Ibis—the Threskiornis strictipennis.)

Among the trees seen in the course of this ramble, I had almost forgotten to mention one which struck me more than any other from its resemblance to a kind of cotton tree, used by the natives of the South Sea islands in building their canoes.

February 7.

The day following we secured several boat-loads of rainwater, deposited in the holes of the rocks, near our temporary observatory, and were the better pleased with our success, as our well-digging had proved unsuccessful.

GEOLOGY OF THE CLIFFS.

There was something particularly striking in the geological formation of the cliffs that form the western side of this bay: and which rise from 70 to 90 feet in height, their bases apparently resting amid huge and irregular masses of the same white sandstone as that which forms the cliffs themselves, and from which this massive debris, strewn in all conceivable irregularity and confusion around, appears to have been violently separated by some great internal convulsion.

Some of these great masses, both of the living cliff and ruined blocks beneath, are strangely pierced with a vein or tube of vitreous matter, not less in some instances than 18 inches in diameter. In every place the spot at which this tube entered the rock was indicated by a considerable extent of glazed or smelted surface; but I am not sufficiently versed in the science of geology to offer any specific theory to account for the appearances I have described: the cliffs were rent and cracked in a thousand different ways, and taking into consideration their strange and wrecked appearance, together with the fact that lightning is known to vitrify sand, may we not thus get a clue to the real agency by which these results have been produced?*

(*Footnote. Since this was written, I have consulted my friend, Mr. Darwin, who has kindly examined a specimen I brought away. He pronounces it "a superficial highly ferrugineous sandstone, with concretionary veins and aggregations." The reader should, however, consult Mr. Darwin's work on the Geology of Volcanic Islands page 143.)

WEIGH AND GRAZE ON A ROCK.

February 10.

The weather was thick and gloomy, and it rained fast; but, having completed our survey and observations, and the wind being favourable, it was resolved to get underweigh without further loss of time.

In the very act of weighing, the ship's keel grazed a sunken rock, of the existence of which, though we had sounded the bay, we had been, till that moment, in ignorance! He only who has felt the almost animated shudder that runs through the seemingly doomed ship at that fearful moment, can understand with what gratitude we hailed our escape from the treacherous foe.

In passing out, we named two low small rocky islands, lying north of Point Swan, and hitherto unhonoured with any particular denomination, the Twins. It should be noted, that the tide did not begin to make to the southward till 8 hours 15 minutes A.M., being full half an hour after low-water by the shore. We passed through several tide races; not, however, feeling their full force, owing to our encountering them at the time of slack water. In every case our soundings indicated great irregularity of bottom, the cause to which I have already assigned these impediments to in-shore navigation.

SUNDAY STRAIT.

We found a temporary anchorage the same morning, on the east side of the large group forming the eastern side of Sunday Strait; so named by Captain King, who was drifted in and out of it on that day, August 19th, 1821, amid an accumulation of perils that will long render the first navigation of this dangerous Archipelago a memorable event in the annals of nautical hardihood.

ROE'S GROUP.

This group we called after Lieutenant Roe, R.N., Surveyor-General of Western Australia, who had accompanied Captain King in that perilous voyage, and whose valuable information had enabled us to escape so many of the dangers to which our predecessors had been exposed.

Nothing could exceed the desolate appearance of the land near which we were now lying: rocks, of a primitive character, massed together in all the variety of an irregularity, that rather reminded the beholder of Nature's ruin than her grandeur, rose, drear and desolate, above the surrounding waters; no trees shaded their riven sides, but the water-loving mangrove clothed the base of this sterile island, and a coarse, wiry grass was thinly spread over its sides.

MIAGO AND HIS FRIENDS.

Soon after we had anchored, some natives were observed by Miago watching us from the shore; and shortly afterwards a party landed, to attempt communicating with them, and to get the necessary observations for the survey. In the first object they failed altogether; for these blackfellows, as that gallant hero called them, retired to the heights, and, while closely watching every movement, refused to trust themselves within our reach. The smallness of their number, and their want of arms, quite elevated the courage of Miago, who loudly vaunted his intention of monopolizing a northern gin, in order to astonish his friends upon our return to the south: stealing away the ladies being, as I have before remarked, the crowning and most honourable achievement of which man, in the eyes of these savages, is capable. I ought not to omit remarking here, that the natives seen to-day were accompanied by a black dog; the only instance in which, before or since, we observed the existence of a dog of that colour in this vast country. Captain King mentions that he saw one in this neighbourhood during his visit in 1821.

DAY OF REST.

The following day was Sunday, and, there being no absolute necessity to shift our berth, we remained at anchor; marking the character of this sacred festival, by giving it up to the crew, for healthful rest and harmless recreation—after morning prayers had been performed—as much as the needful discipline, upon a proper observance of which the efficiency of a ship's company entirely depends, would allow. This practice, constantly observed throughout our long voyage, was always attended with the best results.

Some rather small pigeons,* of a dark brown colour, marked with a white patch on the wings, were seen, and some specimens shot. They made a whirring sound in flight, like the partridge, and appeared to haunt the rocks; a habit which all subsequent observation confirmed.

(*Footnote. Petrophila albipennis. Gould.)

February 12.

Soon after daylight we left this anchorage, whose exact position I mention, as it may be of use to some future voyager in these seas. The eastern of the three islands north of Roe's group was just open of the north point of the bight in which we lay, and a small rocky islet close to the shore bore South-South-West one mile; we had five fathoms at low-water in the bight, and twelve immediately outside.

After making a stretch to the southward for about five miles, in soundings varying from 20 to 25 fathoms, we again closed with the shore, and anchored in five fathoms, on the south side of Roe's group, three miles from our former anchorage. A party landed in the afternoon to procure the requisite observations: the country was not quite so sterile, nor its face of so rugged a character.

NATIVE RAFT.

We found nothing worth particular attention, except a native raft, the first we had yet seen. It was formed of nine small poles pegged together, and measured ten feet in length by four in breadth; the greatest diameter of the largest pole was three inches. All the poles were of the palm tree, a wood so light, that one man could carry the whole affair with the greatest ease. By it there was a very rude double-bladed paddle.

From a distant station I looked upon the dangerous and rapid current, which divides two rocky islands, and the perils of which are fearfully increased by the presence of an insulated rock in its centre, past which (its fury only heightened by the opposition) the torrent hurries with accelerated force.

CAPTAIN KING AND THE BATHURST.

It was by this fearful passage that Captain King entered this part of the Sound, drifting towards apparently instant destruction, without a breath of wind to afford him even a chance of steering between the various perils that environed his devoted ship. As the Bathurst swept past the neighbouring shores—covered with the strange forms of the howling savages who seemed to anticipate her destruction, and absolutely within the range of their spears—drifting with literally giddy rapidity towards the fatal rocks, what varied thoughts must have flashed, crowding an age within an hour, upon the mind of her commander? It seemed that all evidence of what his own perseverance, the devotion of his officers, and the gallantry of his crew, had accomplished for the honour of their common country, would in a few brief moments be the prey of the rapid, the spoil of the deep; and yet, while many a heart sent up its voiceless prayer to HIM, whose arm is not shortened that it cannot save, believing that prayer to be their last—not a cheek blanched—not an eye quailed! But the loving-kindness of omnipotent mercy rested even upon that solitary ship, and within a few yards of the fatal rock, one momentary breath of wind, proved HIS providential care, for those from whom all hope had fled! I shuddered as the events Captain King has recorded, rose up in palpable distinctness to my view, and afterwards, in memory of that day, called the channel Escape—to the sound itself we gave the name of King's, in the full confidence that all for whom the remembrance of skill and constancy and courage have a charm, will unite in thinking that the career of such a man should not be without a lasting and appropriate monument!

February 13.

It blew a violent gale the whole of this day from West-South-West, coming on quite unexpectedly, for neither the state nor appearance of the atmosphere gave us the least indication of its approach. Exposed on a lee-shore, it may be imagined that we were by no means displeased to see it as rapidly and inexplicably depart, as it had suddenly and mysteriously appeared.

POINT CUNNINGHAM.

February 14.

Leaving this anchorage we found another in a bay on the mainland, 12 miles South from Point Swan, and 11 North-West from a remarkable headland named by Captain King, Point Cunningham, in honour of that distinguished botanist, whose zealous exertions have added so much to the Flora of Australia. I well remember when we were preparing to sail from Sydney, in May 1839, the scientific veteran seemed to enter with the utmost interest into all the details of the coming adventure. And even, though the natural force of that frame which had so often set danger at defiance, while engaged in the ennobling pursuits to which his honourable career had been devoted, was too palpably failing the mind whose dictates it had so long obeyed; the fire of the spirit that had burned throughout so brightly, seemed to leap up in yet more glowing flame, ere quenched forever by the ashes of the grave! alas! within the brief period of two months, the world had closed upon him for ever!

SUCCESSFUL SEARCH FOR WATER.

A point, fronting a small islet, almost joined to it at low-water, was selected as a fitting spot for the commencement of our well-digging operations, which we hoped to bring to a more successful termination than our former attempt at Point Swan. After sinking to a depth of eight feet our anticipations were fully justified, the water flowing in through the sides in great abundance. It was quite fresh, and in every way most acceptable to us all; but tinged as it was with the red colour of the surrounding soil, we could at once perceive that it was only surface water. As we watched it filling our neatly excavated well, we found no great difficulty in understanding why, in this continent, a native speaks of any very favoured district, as "Very fine country—much plenty water—fine country;" thus comprehending in the certain supply of that one necessary of life, the chief, nay almost the sole condition essential to a happy land.

SKELETON POINT.

We named this Skeleton Point from our finding here the remains of a native, placed in a semi-recumbent position under a wide spreading gum tree, enveloped, or more properly, shrouded, in the bark of the papyrus. All the bones were closely packed together, the larger being placed outside, and the general mass surmounted by the head, resting on its base, the fleshless, eyeless skull grinning horribly over the right side. Some of the natives arrived shortly after we had discovered this curious specimen of their mode of sepulture; but although they entertain peculiar opinions upon the especial sanctity of the house appointed for all living—a sanctity we certainly were not altogether justified in disregarding—they made no offer of remonstrance at the removal of the mortal remains of their dead brother. Whether here, as in the neighbourhood of Fremantle, they regarded us as near kindred of their own under a new guise, and so perhaps might suppose that we took away the dry bones in order to rebuild the frame of which they before formed the support, and to clothe the hideous nakedness of death with the white man's flesh; or whether, deeming us indeed profane violators of that last resting-place of suffering humanity, which it seems an almost instinctive feeling to regard with reverence, they left the office of retribution either to the spirit of the departed, or the more potent boyl-yas—to be found upon the testimony of Miago in the wicked north—I know not; certain it is that under the superintendence of Mr. Bynoe the removal was effected, and that the skeleton itself, presented by that officer to Captain Grey, was by him bestowed upon the Royal College of Surgeons, in whose museum it is now to be found.

Among the ornithological specimens obtained here was one of the curlew tribe, greatly resembling an ibis, and remarkable for its size. It measured from the extremity of the bill to the tip of the toe 27 1/2 inches, and weighed 1 pound 14 1/2 ounces. The colour, with the exception of the belly and legs, which were of a dirty white slightly mottled, very much resembled that of the common English wild duck.

KILEYS.

One of the natives seen to-day had with him a kiley, so different in shape to any we had previously seen that I preserved a sketch of it. All the party wore their hair tied up behind, and each had suffered the loss of one of the front teeth in the upper jaw: and some had endured an extraordinary mutilation; apparently in exaggeration of an ancient Jewish rite. In general appearance they resembled the natives previously seen at Point Swan.

OUR PARTING LEGACY.

They appeared to luxuriate in the water we had found, wondered at the size of our well, and expressed the greatest admiration of our skill in thus procuring this needful article; and I do not doubt but that long after every other recollection of our visit shall have passed away, this beneficial memorial of it will perpetuate the visit of H.M.S. Beagle, to this part of the great continent of Australia.

CHAPTER 1.6. POINT CUNNINGHAM TO FITZROY RIVER.

Survey the Coast to Point Cunningham. Move the Ship. Mosquitoes. Southern View of King's Sound. Singular vitreous Formation. Move to the south of Point Cunningham. Captain King's limit. Termination of Cliffy Range. Disaster Bay. An Exploring Party leave in the boats. The shore. A freshwater lake. Valentine Island. Native Fire and Food. A heavy squall. The wild Oat. Indications of a River. Point Torment. Gouty-stem Tree and Fruit. Limits of its growth. Another squall. Water nearly fresh alongside. The Fitzroy River. Tide Bore and dangerous position of the Yawl. Ascent of the Fitzroy. Appearance of the adjacent land. Return on foot. Perilous situation and providential escape. Survey the western shore. Return to the Ship. Sporting, Quail and Emus. Natives. Ship moved to Point Torment.

February 21, 1838.

We remained at this sheltered anchorage until the 21st, by which time the coast, so far as Point Cunningham, had been carefully examined. We found it everywhere indented with deep bays, in each of which good anchorage was to be found. The water's edge was in almost every place fringed with the closely twining mangrove trees, behind which the country gradually rose to an average level of about 200 feet, being thickly covered with the various sorts of Eucalypti, for which all the explored portions of this continent are more or less remarkable.

In the afternoon of the 21st, we moved into a bay North-West of Point Cunningham, and anchored in 8 fathoms (low-water) about a mile North-West from that point; having passed over a bank of 5 or 6 fathoms, with 12 on its outer, and 10 on its inner side, and lying 2 1/4 miles north from Point Cunningham.

MOSQUITOES.

I spent the early part of this night on shore, a circumstance of which the tormenting mosquitoes took every possible advantage; finally driving me from their territory with every indignity, and in a state of mind anything but placid. The poet doubtless spoke from experience when he asserted:

—there was never yet philosopher That could endure the toothache patiently.

And even could such a prodigy of patient endurance be found, I am sure it would fail him when exposed to the ceaseless persecution of these inexorable assailants.

February 22.

The greater part of to-day was spent in making a more minute examination of the bay, the shoal discovered yesterday rendering a more careful search necessary. From the summit of Point Cunningham, I had a fine view of the opposite shore of the sound; very broken and rugged it appeared to be. To the South-East and south I could see no land; a circumstance which raised my hopes of finding in that direction the long and anxiously expected river, which the geological formation of the country, and all the recorded experience of discovery, alike warranted us in anticipating. The point upon which I stood was a steep and cliffy rock facing the sea, connected with the mainland by a low and narrow neck of land, but almost insulated at high-water during the spring tides. A singular cliff, projecting on its South-East side, is called by Captain King, Carlisle Head; but we searched in vain for the fresh water, which that distinguished navigator speaks of, as having been found there by him in 1819.

SINGULAR VITREOUS FORMATION.

We remarked here, certain vitreous formations, in all, except form, identical with those already described as having been seen at Point Swan. These were small balls lying loose on the sandy beach, at the bottom of the cliff; they were highly glazed upon the surface, hollow inside, and varying in size from a musket, to a tennis ball.*

(*Footnote. Vide Mr. Darwin on "superficial ferrugineous beds" Geology of Volcanic Islands page 143.)

February 23.

We weighed early in the morning, and rounded Point Cunningham; anchoring again at 10 o'clock A.M., 8 miles north of it, in 7 fathoms (low-water); West by North, one mile from where we lay, a red cliffy head, called by Captain King, in memory of the difficulties which ultimately compelled him to leave this interesting coast, Foul Point, marks the limit of his survey of this part of the northern shore of Australia, and terminates the range of cliffs,* which, up to this point, forms nature's barrier against the sea. Beyond it, the coast assumes a low and treacherous character, and subsides into a deep bay, called by Captain King, not without reason, Disaster Bay.

(*Footnote. The cliffs at Foul Point and Point Cunningham unite the sandstone and argillaceous formation.)

From the masthead, from whence I hoped to get a wide view of the unknown waters we were about to explore, I could just see Valentine Island, bearing South-South-East about 17 miles. Its lofty extremities alone being visible, it had the appearance of two islands.

Here, then, a really most interesting—nay, a most exciting—portion of the duties of the survey were to commence in earnest; and it was reserved for us to take up the thread of discovery reluctantly abandoned by our enterprising and scientific predecessor, at the moment when the prize was almost within his grasp.

EXPLORING PARTY IN BOATS.

It was forthwith determined, that Captain Wickham and Mr. Fitzmaurice should collect the necessary materials for completing the survey, and preparing the chart of the bay in the immediate neighbourhood of the ship; while to myself the whale boat and yawl were to be entrusted; nor can I describe with what delight, all minor annoyances forgotten, I prepared to enter upon the exciting task of exploring waters unfurrowed by any preceding keel; and shores, on which the advancing step of civilization had not yet thrown the shadows of her advent, nor the voice of that Christianity, which walks by her side through the uttermost parts of the earth, summoned the wilderness and the desert to hail the approaching hour, in the fulness of which all the earth shall be blessed!