We completed about eight miles and then halted for the night on the banks of a running stream issuing from a gorge in the hills. There was a considerable portion of good land in its neighbourhood and the horses appeared not a little pleased with the excellence of the feed.

The 13th we spent in passing a portion of the Darling Range. After travelling for eleven miles over a hilly country we came upon a beautiful valley between two steep and high hills. Two streams poured down into this valley and there formed a small freshwater lake. The scenery here was so green and verdant, the tranquil little lake was so covered with broad-leaved waterlilies, and the whole wore such an air of highland mountain scenery that I could readily have imagined I was once more in Scotland. About this lake there was also much good feed.

CROSS THE DARLING RANGE.

In the course of the afternoon we travelled eight miles further in an easterly direction, and were then obliged to halt without water, which we did not again succeed in finding after we left the lake.

TO THE HOTHAM RIVER.

On the morning of the 14th we had only travelled six miles in a due easterly direction when I found we had crossed the Darling Range; our course now lay along a level fertile plain, well fitted for pastoral purposes. We travelled across this a distance of about five miles when we came upon the river Bannister, which here was nothing but a series of large pools with good feed for cattle about them. We halted for breakfast and afterwards continued in an easterly direction, when, after travelling for another six miles, we reached the Hotham. The land we passed over between the Bannister and Hotham was equal in goodness to any I have seen in Western Australia.

The circumstance of both water and feed abounding at the Hotham induced me to halt here for the night, and on the morning of the 15th we commenced our toilsome march from the Hotham to the Williams; the distance is about twenty-eight miles in a direct line; the country consisting of rocky hills, difficult to cross; and throughout the whole of this distance we could find no water: we were thus for eleven hours exposed to the sun in one of the hottest days I have ever felt, and we were not a little glad when just at sunset we found ourselves on the banks of the Williams.

CONDITION OF DISTANT SETTLERS.

We here found the establishment of an out-settler, of which it would be difficult to convey an adequate idea: the house consisted of a few upright poles, one end of each resting on the ground, whilst the other met a transverse pole, to which they were tied; cross-poles then ran along these, and to complete the building a sort of rude thatch was tied on it. It was open at both ends and exposed to the land wind, which, as the situation was high, I found a very unpleasant visitor during the night. Here we found a very large flock of sheep in fair condition, also a well-supplied stockyard, and cattle in beautiful order; upwards of twenty kangaroo dogs completed the establishment.

These settlers were, at the time I visited the Williams, four in number; consisting of one young man, two youths, and a little boy. Four soldiers were quartered about sixteen miles from them, and there was no other European within fifty miles of the spot. The distance they had to send for all stores and necessaries was one hundred and twenty miles, and this through a country untraversed by roads and where they were exposed to the hostility of the natives in the event of any ill-feeling arising on their part.

Nothing can give a more lively notion of the difficulties and privations undergone by first settlers than the fact that, when I left this hut, they had no flour, tea, sugar, meat, or any provision whatever except their livestock and the milk of the cattle, their sole dependence for any other article of food being the kangaroo dogs, and the only thing I was able to do in order to better their situation was to leave them some shot.

All other circumstances connected with their position were on the same scale. They had but one knife, an old clasp one; there was but one small bed for one person, the others sleeping on the ground every night, with little or no covering; they had no soap to wash themselves or their clothes, yet they submitted cheerfully to all these privations, considering them as necessary attendants upon their situation. Two of these out-settlers were gentlemen, not only by birth but also in thought and manner, and, to tell the truth, I believe they were far happier than many an idle young man I have seen lounging about in England, a burden to himself and his friends; for it must be borne in mind that they were realizing a future independence for themselves.

THEIR PRIVATIONS.

Many of the ills and privations which they endured were however unnecessary, and were entailed upon them by the mistaken system that has been pursued at Swan River of spreading to the utmost their limited population. I trust however that a wiser line of policy will now be pursued, and that settling will consequently become an easier, less dangerous, and far more agreeable task.

ROUTE ALONG MR. ELLIOTT'S TRACKS. TRACKING MR. ELLIOTT.

On the morning of the 16th Mr. Walker went to the Upper Williams, where the soldiers were quartered, for a further supply of provisions, whilst the native and myself tried to make off Mr. Elliott's tracks, in doing which we were not however successful. The next morning, previously to Mr. Walker's return, I renewed my search with Kaiber for the tracks with a little more success, as amidst the numerous traces of cattle and horses along the bed of the river the native was able by his acute eye to discover the footsteps of a colt. When Mr. Walker returned the little boy belonging to the establishment came back with him. He had seen Mr. Elliott start and assured me that he had heard him express his determination of keeping the bed of the river for eighteen miles. With this piece of information we moved on down the river on the tracks which we were able to distinguish for about two miles and a half, when they quitted it in a south-south-west direction; and from the hard nature of the ground the tracking from thence became excessively difficult. If the colt had traversed this route, its little foot had made no impression on the soil; and when we got on the ironstone hills, we altogether lost the traces of the horse. Both the native and myself imagined, from our seeing no tracks of the colt, from the indistinctness of those of the horse, and from the circumstance of the boy's telling us that Mr. Elliott intended to proceed eighteen miles down the river, that we had followed the wrong marks; just therefore as night began to fall I moved back to the river.

January 18.

We started at dawn, following down the river, but could see nothing of Mr. Elliott's tracks: and our evening journey was equally unsuccessful. I now became very anxious and indeed rather alarmed for the safety of the missing party, but resolved, as the best plan I could pursue, to strike across the mountains to Leschenault, making a due west course my true line of route, but constantly diverging two or three miles to the south of this, and again returning to it by another route. I should thus have every chance of falling in with the track I wished to find; and in the event of my not succeeding I should be certain, if on my arrival at Leschenault no tidings had been received of Mr. Elliott, that his party must be somewhere to the southward and eastward of the course I had taken, and that I might still, by the assistance of the Leschenault natives to whom this country was known, succeed in finding him before such a period had elapsed as would render assistance useless.

KILLING A KANGAROO.

On the 19th, in pursuance of this determination, we made a rapid push of nearly twenty miles in a westerly direction without reckoning our divergencies to the southward. Nothing however but toil and disappointment rewarded our exertions. We killed a large Boomer, or old male kangaroo, the largest indeed I had ever seen; the dogs were unable to master him he fought so desperately, and it was not until after he had wounded two of them that I succeeded in dispatching it by a sort of personal encounter in which a club was the weapon I used. The native who was carrying my gun had dropped it the instant the kangaroo was started, and I was thus unable to shoot it. We cut off as much of the flesh as the dogs and ourselves required for two days and left the rest in the forest. We halted for the night on a small stream, the only one I had seen since we quitted the Williams.

COUNTRY UPON THE HARVEY RIVER.

Our departure was delayed on the morning of the 20th for about an hour from being unable to find one of the horses which had strayed away in the night, but, the fugitive being at length discovered and brought back, we started and made nine miles before breakfast. We then travelled nine and a half miles more, when we came upon the river Harvey near its source. The character of the country we had travelled over since entering the mountains was monotonous in the extreme. It consisted of an elevated tableland composed of ironstone and granite occasionally traversed by veins of whinstone. On this tableland there was little or no herbage; the lower vegetation consisting principally of a short prickly scrub, in some places completely destroyed by the native fires; but the whole country was thickly clothed with mahogany trees, so that in many parts it might be called a dense forest. These mahogany trees ascended, without a bend or without throwing off a branch, to the height of from forty to fifty feet, occasionally much more, and the ground was so encumbered by the fallen trunks of these forest trees that it was sometimes difficult to pick a passage between them. Even at midday the forest wore a sombre aspect, and a stillness and solitude reigned throughout it that was very striking. Occasionally a timid kangaroo might be seen stealing off in the distance, or a kangaroo-rat might dart out from a tuft beneath your feet; but these were rare circumstances. The most usual disturber of these wooded solitudes were the black cockatoos; but I have never in any part of the world seen so great a want of animal life as in these mountains.

Upon our gaining the Harvey however the scene somewhat changed; the river here bore the appearance of a mountain trout-stream, sometimes gurgling along with a rapid current, and sometimes forming large pools. The tableland could no longer be distinguished as it here changed to a broken chain of hills traversed by deep valleys; the scrub was higher and entwined by a variety of climbing plants, which rendered it very difficult to traverse; the mahogany trees became less frequent, and various others were mingled with them, whilst on the banks of the river good forage abounded. We made about five miles more through a country of this description and then halted for the night.

LOSE THE TRACKS. NATIVE GRAVE.

January 21.

We did not make more than seven miles before breakfast this morning, being embarrassed both by high and tangled underwood and rocky hills. We then halted on the banks of the Harvey, where there was some beautiful grass. We had still been able to find nothing of Mr. Elliott's tracks, and had in vain looked for natives: but this evening, soon after starting again, for the first time signs of them appeared, for we found a newly-made grave, carefully constructed, with a hut built over it to protect the now senseless slumberer beneath from the rains of winter. All that friendship could do to render his future state happy had been done. His throwing stick was stuck in the ground at his head; his broken spears rested against the entrance of the hut, the grave was thickly strewed with wilgey or red earth; and three trees in front of the hut, chopped with a variety of notches and uncouth figures and then daubed over with wilgey, bore testimony that his death had been bloodily avenged.

KAIBER'S FEARS.

The native Kaiber gazed with a degree of concern and uneasiness on this scene. "A man has been slain here," he said. "And what, Kaiber," I asked him, "is the reason that these spears are broken, that the trees are notched, and that wilgey is strewed on the grave?" His answer was, "Neither you nor I know: our people have always done so, and we do so now." I then said to him, "Kaiber, I intend to stop here for the night, and sleep." "You are deceiving me," he said: "I cannot rest here, for there are many spirits in this place." I laughed at his fears, and we again moved on.

WANT OF WATER.

We now soon got clear of the hills and came out upon a plain of good land, thickly covered with grass-trees. This plain was about three miles in width and, having traversed it, we found ourselves in a sandy country abounding with Banksia trees. We crossed several swamps, now completely dried up, and having made ten miles halted for the night without water. Mr. Walker scraped a hole in one of these swamps and obtained a little putrid and muddy water which, not being very thirsty, I did not drink, more especially as we had now, or indeed for several days, had no tea or anything else to mix with it.

January 22.

We started again at dawn this morning and travelled rapidly, for we were anxious to obtain water. In six miles we came out upon the sea. If my reckoning was right we ought now to have been about ten miles to the north of Leschenault; I therefore turned due south. Kaiber however now came up and remonstrated against this, assuring me that I was wrong and that we were, at this moment, two or three miles to the south of Leschenault, and that if I persisted in going on in this direction we should all die for want of water. As I put great faith in his knowledge of the country I halted and ascended a hill to try and get a view along the coast; I could not however succeed on account of the haze; and believing then that I must be in error I turned north. We trudged on, hour after hour; the sun got higher and more intensely hot, whilst, having been four-and-twenty hours without water, the greater part of which time had been spent in violent exercise under a burning sun, the pangs of thirst became very annoying. A short period more convinced me that I was right, and that Kaiber was in error; and, as we soon after fell in with two native wells now dried up, we dug another in a promising-looking spot near them, and obtained a little water, very muddy and stinking; but I never enjoyed a draught more in my life. We here halted for breakfast and by degrees obtained water enough for the horses as well as ourselves.

ESTUARY OF THE LESCHENAULT.

The evening was consumed in retracing our steps of the morning, and at night we halted near the head of the Leschenault estuary, being again without water.

January 23.

Our route this morning was along the estuary of the Leschenault. About five miles from this place we fell in with a party of natives, who informed us that a few days before Mr. Elliott and those with him had arrived there in perfect safety, and my anxiety on this point was therefore set at rest. We passed the mouth of the river Collie at the bar, which was almost dry, and halted for breakfast on the banks of the Preston, about one mile from the house where I expected to find Mr. Elliott.

MEET WITH MR. ELLIOTT. MR. ELLIOTT'S ADVENTURES.

No sooner was breakfast despatched than I set off to see Mr. Elliott in order to hear the history of his adventures, which were not a little surprising. He had, as I before related, started on the 17th of December from the Williams, with only three days' provisions and, owing to some mistake, had taken a south-south-west course and gone off in the direction where we first saw his tracks, and had pursued this route for three days, when, seeing nothing of the coast, he suspected he must be wrong, and endeavoured to make a due west course; but from the impassable nature of the mountain range at this point was unable to do so. About this period also, owing to his powder-horn having been placed too near the fire, it was accidentally blown away, and he was thus left totally without protection in the event of any attack being made on them by the natives. His own courage and resolution however never failed, and he still made the best of his way to the southward, seizing every opportunity of making westing. For twelve days he pursued this course, subsisting on native roots and boiled tops of grass trees. About the sixth day he fell in with some natives; but they ran away, being frightened at the appearance of white men, and he thus could obtain no assistance from them. At this period the filly strayed away from the mare and was lost. His men behaved admirably; and on the fourteenth day the party succeeded in reaching Augusta, having previously made the coast at the remarkable white-sand patch about fifty miles to the eastward of it.

Notwithstanding the hardships and sufferings they had undergone this party were but very little reduced in strength and, after recruiting for a few days at Augusta, returned along the coast to Leschenault, where I had the pleasure of seeing them all in good health and spirits.

THE VASSE DISTRICT.

January 21.

Whilst the party reposed themselves this day at Leschenault I hired a horse and rode along the shores of Geographe Bay for the purpose of seeing the Vasse district. The country between Leschenault and the Vasse differs from those other parts of Western Australia that I have yet seen in the circumstance that in several parts, between the sea and the recent limestone formation, basaltic rocks are developed. A long chain of marshy lakes lie between the usual coast sandhills and the ordinary sand formations, about which there is some good land and good feed. About the river Capel also there is a great deal of good land. The mouths of two estuaries that occur between the inlet of Leschenault and the bottom of Geographe Bay are both fordable. The district near the bottom of Geographe Bay contains much good land, consisting of level plains thickly covered with wattle trees; there are also at this season of the year extensive plains of dry sand, which bear exactly the appearance of a desert.

I passed the night at the house of Mr. Bussel, a settler who has the best and most comfortable establishment I have seen in the colony, and returned the next day to Leschenault with the intention of starting the following one for Perth.

RETURN TO PERTH. RIVER ABSORBED IN SANDY PLAINS.

January 26.

Mr. Elliott this day joined us on our route to Perth, which was attended with no circumstance worthy of notice until our arrival at Pinjarra. We travelled over extensive plains which in the rainy season of the year must be completely flooded, but in vain looked for the Harvey River and the other stream which flowed from the hills to the sea. I could find no watercourse in which they might probably flow, yet we had left them both running strongly at not more than ten miles from the point where we then stood. The truth was that they were absorbed in these marshy plains before they came within several miles of the sea; and what threw a still further light upon the subject was that, although these marshes were perfectly dried up and had a hard-baked appearance at the surface, yet if a hole about two or three feet deep was scraped in them water directly came pouring into it.

On the morning of the 29th we reached Pinjarra; on the 30th Mr. Elliott and myself rode as far as the Canning; and early on the 31st we had the pleasure of entering Perth together.

CHAPTER 14. FROM SWAN RIVER TO THE SHORES OF SHARK BAY.

PLAN OF EXPEDITION.

At length, in the middle of February, after a mortifying delay of nearly five months, an opportunity occurred which held out every prospect of enabling me to complete the examination of the most interesting portion of the north coast, together with the country lying behind it.

Three whale-boats having been procured, an engagement was made with Captain Long of the American whaler Russel, of New Bedford, to convey my party and the boats to some point to the northward of Shark Bay, and there land us, together with a supply of provisions sufficient for five months. My intention was to form a provision depot in some island, and from that point to commence operations by the examination of the undiscovered portions of the bay; and, should circumstances occasionally render it desirable, I proposed to explore more minutely parts of the country as we coasted along, or to make excursions to such a distance inland as we might be able to penetrate.

Having completed the examination of the bay as far as we could with the provisions we carried from the depot, I intended to return to it and, after recruiting our stock, to make my way along the coast in the direction of North-West Cape; making excursions inland as before at such points as might seem to merit attention, and thus to continue to go northward until our provisions were so far exhausted as to compel us to return again to the depot; whence I finally proposed to continue my examination to the portion of the coast left unvisited to the southward of the depot, as far as Gantheaume Bay.

Several of the individuals who were to compose my party being now much experienced in the difficulties that attend explorations both on the coast and in the interior of the country, I felt that our enterprise was not so hazardous as at first it might appear to be, especially as Mr. Hutt had arranged with me as to a spot, to which, in the event of our not returning to Swan River within a certain period the Colonial schooner would be sent to look for us; and moreover the captain of another American whaler had promised to visit North-West Cape at the end of July, as it was his intention to remain in Exmouth Gulf during the season of the bay fishing. We had thus two chances of being discovered in case of any accident preventing us from effecting our previous return to the Swan River.

The unfortunate occurrence which frustrated my expectations of completing this design, and which threatened the eventual destruction of the whole party, will be narrated in its place.

FROM SWAN RIVER FOR SHARK BAY.

I had taken three whale-boats in order to have a spare one should any accident reduce the number; and everything being arranged I sailed in the Russel from Fremantle on Sunday February the 17th 1839 at 3 P.M. with the following party:

Mr. Walker, the Surgeon of the former expedition.

Mr. Frederick Smith, the young gentleman who had accompanied me on a former tour.

Corporal Auger and Corporal Coles, Sappers and Miners.

Thomas Ruston, Sailor.

The last three, together with Mr. Walker, had been with me on the first expedition, and to these were added:

H. Wood and C. Wood, Seamen.

Clotworthy, Stiles, and Hackney, taken as volunteers at Swan River.

And lastly, Kaiber, an intelligent native of the Swan.

Making in all twelve persons.

Our time during the voyage was occupied principally in getting the three whale-boats in order and making other similar preparations. Poor Kaiber the native was dreadfully sick from the first.

Sunday February 24 1839.

This evening we Sighted the centre of Dorre Island, and stood in to within about two miles of the shore, which we found steep and rocky with a heavy surf breaking on it; we then tacked and stood off for the night.

LAND AT BERNIER ISLAND.

February 25.

Soon after daybreak we made the north-western part of Bernier Island and, doubling the point at Kok's Island, stood in to Shark Bay. Kok's Island is very remarkable: it is nearly a tableland, about a quarter of a mile in length, terminating in low cliffs at each extremity; and on the summit of this tableland are several large rocks which look like the remains of pillars. The land is low. By noon we were all disembarked on Bernier Island. The point I had selected for landing on was a sandy beach in a little bay, the southern extremity of which was sheltered from the south-east by a reef running off the point. Captain Long of the Russel made the shore rather to the northward of the point I had chosen and, owing to his boat getting broadside on whilst they were landing the goods, he was knocked down under it and nearly drowned.

He had scarcely left us (though the Russel was then more than six miles off) when we found that our keg of tobacco had been left on board; the vessel was soon out of sight, and this article, so necessary in hardships where men are deprived of every other luxury, was lost to us. Everything else was however found correct. Whilst the men under Mr. Walker's direction were arranging the stores Mr. Smith, Kaiber, and myself started to search for water but were unsuccessful. Whilst on our return we saw three large turtles among some seaweeds in shoal water; and, after a good deal of floundering about and some tumbles amongst the breakers, we succeeded in turning them, and then brought a party armed with axes, etc. and cut them up. One part we immediately converted into soup, and the remainder was immersed in a cask of pickle as a store against unforeseen misfortunes. When these portions of the turtle were put into the brine long after the death of the animals, they quivered for several minutes, as if still endowed with the sense of feeling.

DESCRIPTION OF IT.

Bernier Island consists of recent limestone of a reddish tinge, containing many recent fossil shells, and having a coating of sand and sandy dunes which are arranged in right lines, lying south-east and north-west, the direction of the prevailing winds. The island does not afford a tree or a blade of grass, but only wretched scrubby bushes. Between the dunes regular beds of shells are forming which, when dried and light, are drifted up by the wind. The only animals we saw were kangaroo-rats, one pigeon, one small land- and many seabirds, a few lizards, mosquitoes, ants, crabs, oysters and turtle.

BURY THE STORES. INEFFECTUAL SEARCH FOR WATER.

February 26.

Early this morning we had finished burying our stores. The wind had freshened considerably about daylight, and throughout the day it blew nearly a gale from the south-east; it now looked so foul that I feared a long period of bad weather was about to commence. My own party, as well as the crews of the boats which came off from the whaler, had during the hurry and confusion incident on landing made very free with our supply of water, and as, from the appearance of the island, I felt very doubtful whether we should find any more, I put all hands on an allowance of two pints and a half a day, and then employed the men thus: one party under the direction of Mr. Walker worked at constructing a still, by means of which we might obtain fresh water from salt; another made various attempts to sink a well; whilst the native, another man, and myself traversed the island in search of a supply from the surface.

At night the result of our efforts were recounted, when it appeared that Mr. Walker had, by an ingenious contrivance, managed to have such a still constructed that we might hope, by means of it, if kept constantly working, to obtain just water enough to keep us alive. The party who had tried to sink a well had invariably been stopped by hard limestone rock in every place they had tried, and all their attempts to penetrate it by means of a cold chisel and pickaxe had proved abortive. The party which had been out with me searching for water had not seen the slightest sign which indicated its presence on the island: we had taken a spade with us, but wherever we dug had come down upon the solid rock. Under these circumstances I reduced the allowance to two pints a day.

February 27.

This morning it still blew nearly a gale of wind from the south-east. The men were occupied in the same manner as yesterday; but towards noon the wind moderated a little, and as we could find no water I resolved to make an effort to creep along shore to the southward.

LOSS OF A BOAT IN REEMBARKING.

My boat was soon launched in safety, but the Paul Pry, Mr. Walker's boat, was not so fortunate; the water in the bay deepened rapidly from the steepness of the bank, and the steersman, who was keeping her bow on whilst the crew were launching, got frightened from the depth of water and the violence of the surf, and let go his hold; when the next surf threw the boat broadside on to the sea and, there being nearly half a ton weight of stores in her, and the wind at this juncture unfortunately freshening, she was in the course of two or three minutes knocked completely to pieces. By this mischance all the stores in the boat were lost, and nothing but a few planks and some articles of clothing were recovered. I placed my own boat at anchor in a little cove for the night and, leaving two men in her as keepers, the rest of us swam ashore through the surf to render what assistance we could.

The loss of this boat was a very heavy misfortune to commence with; but as I had taken the precaution in case of such an accident to provide a spare one it was by no means irremediable; the other boat was all ready for launching within half an hour, for by not allowing the men to remain in a state of inactivity, and by treating the matter lightly, I hoped to prevent their being dispirited by this unlucky circumstance.

The wind however continued freshening rapidly, and during the evening and night we had heavy squalls accompanied by rain from all quarters, and much thunder and lightning. During the night we collected a few quarts of water in the sails.

February 28.

About ten A.M. the wind moderated so much that we ventured to launch our remaining boat, now become the second, and in a few minutes both were riding alongside one another in the little cove. We then commenced pulling along the shore of the island, making about a south by east course. Having the wind very nearly right ahead, and a heavy head-sea, and about half a ton of stores in each of the boats, it was no very enviable position that we were in; but anything appeared preferable to dying of thirst on Bernier Island; my dislike to which was much increased from the fact of Mr. Smith and myself, who slept side by side, having been nearly tormented to death in the night by myriads of minute ants crawling over us, by mosquitoes stinging us, and by an odious land-crab every now and then running over us and feeling with his nippers for a delicate morsel.

PULL FOR DORRE ISLAND.

It was nearly three P.M. when we reached the north-eastern extremity of Dorre Island and found a most convenient little boat harbour, sheltered by a reef from all winds. We therefore stepped out from the boats upon the reef and left them lying comfortably at anchor: a search for water was instantly commenced; Mr. Walker's party brought some in and we were not a little glad to get it, although we heard that it had been collected by suction from small holes in the rock and then spitting it into the keg. I laid up in store this precious draught, and those who had been otherwise employed now accompanied me, in order that each might suck from the holes in the rock his own supply of water. The point on which we had landed was a flat piece of land covered with sandy dunes which appeared to have been recently gained from the sea, and on all the landward sides of the flat rose steep rocky cliffs, which is the character of the shores of this island. After climbing these cliffs you arrive at a flat tableland which forms the general level of the surface. It was evident that at no very distant time the sea had washed the foot of these cliffs.

DORRE ISLAND. ITS CHARACTER.

This island is exactly of the same nature as Bernier Island, the only difference being that the land here was rather higher than on the former. From the top of the cliffs the prospect was not at all inviting; to the westward lay the level and almost desert land of Dorre Island, which we were on; we had the same prospect to the southward; to the northward we looked over a narrow channel which separated us from the barren isle of Bernier and was blocked up by fearful-looking reefs, on which broke a nasty surf; to the north-eastward lofty bare sandhills were indistinctly visible on the main; whilst to the eastward we could see nothing but the waters of the bay, which were tossed wildly to and fro as if by a coming storm; yet the wind had fallen perceptibly, and the only alarming sign was the peculiar look of the sky. After having made these observations, and sucked up as much bitter dirty water as I could contrive to do, I returned with the others to the boats.

WANT OF WATER.

The holes we found the water in were so small that we could only dip a spoon into a few of them; the men however got plenty to drink and then commenced hunting a small species of kangaroo-rat which is found on these islands, and searching for turtle's eggs, in both of which pursuits they were very successful. We then made blazing fires from driftwood which we found about, and retired early to rest.

A HURRICANE.

About eleven o'clock I heard a cry of one in great distress, "Mr. Grey, Mr. Grey!" I instantly sprung up and answered the call, when Ruston, the boatkeeper in my boat, said, "I must heave all overboard, Sir, or the boat will be swamped." "Hold on for a minute or two," was my answer, whilst I stripped my clothes off. I found that it was blowing a terrific gale of wind which increased every moment in a most extraordinary manner; the wind was from the south-east, and the breakers came pouring over the reef as if the bay was going to empty bodily all its waters into the little cove in which the boats were anchored. I now called Mr. Walker and Mr. Smith and desired them to follow me off to the boats with two or three hands, and then swam out to my own, which I found nearly full of water, and it was all that the boat-keeper could do to keep her head on to the sea. In a minute or two Mr. Walker and Mr. Smith, who were ever foremost in difficulties and dangers, swam off to assist me, but they could not induce any of the men to face the sea and storm, which was now so terrible that they were all quite bewildered. Mr. Walker swam to his own boat; Mr. Smith came to mine. We made fast a line to all the stores, etc. and Mr. Smith boldly plunged in again amongst the breakers and returned ashore with it, a service of no ordinary danger, for the shore was fronted with a sharp coral reef, against which he was certain to be dashed by the waves, and, after having got on it, the breakers would keep knocking him down and thus cutting his legs to pieces against the rocks. Mr. Smith however reached the shore with the line, receiving sundry severe cuts and bruises; and, to my great surprise, in a few minutes more he was again by my side in the boat, baling away: it was still however all we could do to keep the boat afloat.

BOATS DRIVEN ASHORE.

Mr. Walker now called out to me that his boat was drifting, and in a moment more she went ashore. For one second we saw her dancing wildly in over the breakers, and then she disappeared from us, and we were left in uncertainty as to her fate; for, although we were close to the beach, it was impossible, amidst the din of elements, to hear what was taking place there. An occasional vivid flash of lightning showed us dark figures hauling about some huge object, and then again all was wrapped in roar and darkness. Mr. Smith and myself in the meanwhile were baling away, and Ruston was striving with the steer oar to keep her head to sea, for the instant she got the least broadside on the waves broke over her and she filled again.

SERIOUS DANGER OF LOSING THE BOATS.

Mr. Walker, nothing daunted by the conduct of the men, having had his own boat hauled up, again swam off to us, and for the next hour or two we kept the other one not more than half full; but the gale, which had been gradually increasing, now became a perfect hurricane, and it was evident that this boat must also go ashore. We imagined that Mr. Walker's must be stove in several places; and, as to have been left without a boat would have been certain destruction to us, I swam ashore to have the party ready to try and save mine by hauling her over the reef the instant she grounded.

I arrived there with a few cuts and bruises, and found the men on shore in a most miserable state; many of them were perfectly appalled by the hurricane, never having seen anything of the kind before, and were lying under the lee of the bow of Mr. Walker's boat, which, although he had drawn it up high and dry upon the sandhills, far above the usual high-water mark, was again more than half full of water and seaweed from the waves every now and then breaking over her stern. It was with great difficulty I roused the men and got them to clear out the seaweed, which lightened her somewhat; we then hauled her up a little at a favourable opportunity, and advanced her so far that we rather gained upon the water by baling, and thus, by degrees, got her quite on land. But as the storm continued the waves still continued to encroach upon the shore, and we were obliged to repeat this operation of hauling up three successive times in the night, which was one of the most fearful I have ever passed. I lay drenched through, my wet shirt sticking close to me and my blanket soaked with water, for I could not find my clothes again after I came ashore. Whenever a flash of lightning broke I looked if the boat was drifting in, and there I saw it still dancing about upon the waves, whilst the elements were so mighty in their power that I felt shrunk up to nothing, and tremulous in my own insignificance.

The grey dawn stole on and the boat gradually became visible; she had drifted somewhat nearer shore, but there still were the three figures discernible in her, Ruston working away at the steer-oar, and Mr. Smith and Mr. Walker alternately baling. The storm now appeared to lull a little and in a few minutes (about half-past five A.M.) it suddenly dropped. The men now looked out again and I could hear Ruston saying, "I believe we are now safe, Sir;" and I immediately ordered that two men should go off and relieve Mr. Smith and Mr. Walker. They evidently feared to make the attempt and said they could not swim, which was true as far as some of them were concerned. I then ordered successively three men who I knew could swim to take advantage of the lull and gain the boat: they all attempted it, but before they got clear of the reef their hearts failed them, and they declared they could not contend with the waves.

RENEWAL OF THE STORM.

Just as the last man had failed, the wind, which had hitherto been from the south-east, shifted instantaneously to the north-west. We all quailed or fell before it, for it came with sudden and indescribable violence; the boat appeared to hesitate for one moment, in the next she came dancing wildly in on the shore. The men reached her as well as they could and we dragged her up. The storm now became so violent that even Mr. Walker, who was a heavy man, was blown about by it like a child; there was not a tree on the island, but the bushes were stripped from the ground, and I found it impossible to keep my legs.

The sea all this time kept rising, being heaped up by the wind against the shore, but whenever a momentary lull came we took advantage of it to drag the boat a little further up; indeed the sea gained on us so much that I had made up my mind it would sweep away the intervening sandhills and once more wash the face of the cliffs. In this case we should to a certainty have all perished.

DISTRESS FOR WATER.

At two P.M. the storm lulled considerably, and I immediately despatched men in all directions to collect water from holes in the rocks, and made the native and an old bushman try to light a fire; for those of us who had been all the night and morning in the pelting rain, with nothing but our shirts on, were benumbed and miserable from cold.

March 1.

The men who had gone out for water soon returned and reported that they had been able to find very little which was not brackish from the spray having dashed over the island; I therefore again reduced the allowance to one pint a day and proceeded to inspect damages. Yesterday we had started in good boats, with strong men, plenty of provisions, everything in the best order; today I found myself in a very different position, all the stores we had with us, with the exception of the salt provisions, were spoilt; our ammunition damaged; the chronometers down; and both boats so stoved and strained as to be quite beyond our powers of repairing them effectually. Moreover from want of water we were compelled to make for the main before we could return back to Bernier Island to recruit from our ample stores there.

REPAIR OF THE BOATS.

Nothing however could be done but to have the boats rendered as seaworthy as possible and, having given this order, the want the men experienced for water was the best guarantee that they would execute this task with the utmost diligence. As soon as I saw them at their work I started with a party in search of water whilst another party under Mr. Smith dug for it; and Mr. Walker superintended the rearrangement of the stores and the digging up the seaweed for the purpose of recovering lost articles. I returned just before nightfall from a vain search; Mr. Smith had been equally unsuccessful in his digging operations, and we thus had to lie down upon the sand parched with thirst, our only chance of forgetting our misfortunes being a few minutes sleep.

THE BOATS NEARLY READY.

March 2.

The men continued working hard at the boats, and it appeared that their task would be concluded this day. I once more started to look for water and to examine the island; but our search was again unsuccessful. On measuring the distance that the sea had risen I found that it had spread up in the direction of our boats fifty-three yards above high water mark; but what will give a better idea of the hurricane is the circumstance of my catching a cormorant on the beach, about seven o'clock on the morning of the 1st, and during the height of the storm, the bird not even attempting to fly, being in appearance completely appalled at the violence of the wind. It was reported to me at night that another hour's work in the morning would render the boats fit for sea.

Sunday March 3.

The men had slept but little during the night for they were oppressed with thirst; and when I rose in the morning I saw evident symptoms of the coming of another roasting day. They were busy at the boats as soon as they could see to work, whilst Mr. Smith and myself ascended the cliffs to get a view towards the main. When I looked down upon the calm and glassy sea I could scarcely believe it was the same element which within so short a period had worked us such serious damage. To the north-east we could see the lofty white sandhills in Lyell's Range; to the eastward nothing was visible; yet this was the point to which I had determined to steer, for several reasons. In the first place, the land in that direction had never been visited; and secondly, I had found the shores of Dorre Island covered with great forest trees, which must have been washed across the bay, and which from their size could only have been brought out from the continent by some large and rapid stream, which we at this moment would gladly have seen as there was only about a pint and half of water per man left.

SAIL FOR THE MAIN.

When we returned to breakfast I found the boats nearly ready for sea, and about eleven o'clock they had been all hauled down, the stores stowed away, and everything made ready for launching, and off we went, not a little rejoiced at the prospect of soon having an abundant supply of that liquid on which our lives depended. There was scarcely any wind but that little was right aft so that between sailing and pulling we made about five knots an hour. The boats were however so heavily laden that the men found it very laborious work, for they were exposed to the rays of a burning sun and had nothing to drink but half a pint of water, which was all I could allow them.

We however persevered from soon after eleven A.M. until five P.M., when the men began to get disheartened from seeing no signs whatever of land, and I ordered my boat's crew to knock off pulling for a little, and in Mr. Walker's boat, which was about a mile astern, they did the same. In twenty minutes time I made my crew again take to their oars, but the other boat did not in this instance follow our example, so that we kept dropping her rapidly astern. This was very annoying; but as I was anxious at all events to get a glimpse of the land before sundown we still pulled away, trusting that the other boat would soon follow in our wake.

GROUND ON A SANDBANK.

About half an hour before sunset we sighted the land: several low rounded hills were the first things seen; then what I conceived to be very lofty trees rose in sight, and almost at the same moment the boat grounded on a sandbank.

EXTENSIVE SHALLOWS.

I had observed this shoal several miles before we came to it and it appeared to extend as far as I could see both north and south, but, as I had no doubt that we should find sufficient water on it to enable us to cross, I had given it no attention. I now however on looking more carefully could perceive no limit to its extent in those directions and, as I thought I saw deep water immediately to the eastward of us, I ordered the men to jump out and track the boat over. This they did; but on coming to what appeared to be deep water we found it was only a continuation of the same sandbank, covered with seaweed, which gave the water a darker appearance. The men now alternately tracked or pulled the boat for about five miles over a continuation of the sandbank; a work very fatiguing to those who were already exhausted by several days' continuous exertion on a very short allowance of water in a tropical climate. It had now been for some time night, and we had taken a star for our guide which just before sunset I had seen rising over the main. I thought we had at last gained the shore, at least the boat was close to a dark line rising above the water which appeared like a wooded bank; two of the men now waded onwards to find out the best place for landing and to light a fire that the crew of the other boat might know where we were. I saw them to my surprise not ascend a wooded bank but disappear amongst the trees; and still through the silence of the night I heard the splash of men walking through water, and in a minute or two afterwards the cries and screams of innumerable startled waterfowl and curlews, who came flying in flocks from amongst the mangrove trees.

FAIL IN MAKING THE LAND.

The men returned and reported that there was no land or any sign of land hereabouts; that the mangroves were a belt of trees upon a sandbank and that the water deepened inside; that the tide evidently rose very high, from the tufts of seaweeds in the bushes; that it was then rapidly coming in (which was evident enough, for the boat was afloat) and that the other side of the mangrove bushes was an open sea.

This was unpleasant intelligence. That it was untrue I felt assured; but one man, who certainly could not have seen more than a hundred yards ahead of him on so dark a night, spoke as confidently as if he had seen fifty miles, and this discouraged the others: so by way of keeping their minds occupied I got under weigh again and stood off a little to the southward in the hopes of falling in with the other boat. We cheered at intervals of a few minutes, and fired a gun, whereupon ensued a great screaming, whistling, and flapping of wings amongst the waterfowl, but no human voices were heard in reply.

ANCHOR OFF MANGROVE CREEK FOR THE NIGHT.

When we had gone as far to the southward as I thought prudent I stood out from the shore for about a mile so as to have a good peep in amongst the mangrove bushes in the morning for the other boat, and having dropped our anchor we laid down as we best could for the night; and, speculating upon what explanation the native wise men would give to their fellows of the unknown and novel sounds they had this night heard upon the coast, I soon fell asleep.

CHAPTER 15. THE GASCOYNE RIVER.

REACH AND ENTER A MANGROVE CREEK.

March 4.

Early in the morning I had a good lookout kept for the other boat, which I was very anxious to see in order that I might have a sufficiently numerous party for the purpose of landing and looking for water; as I always held it to be better, upon first appearing amongst natives who had never before seen Europeans, to show such strength as might impress them with a certainty that we were well able to resist any attack which they might naturally feel inclined to make on such strange and incomprehensible intruders as white men must necessarily appear to them. Soon after the sun rose we descried the other boat about three miles to the southward of us; and I despatched two men to wade along the flats and communicate with Mr. Walker: they were to direct him to get under weigh and to make the best of his course, either by tracking, pulling, or sailing, until he reached the point where I might land.

The men whom I sent quickly made his boat, which I perceived moving slowly up the flats; and as soon as the men rejoined me we started. The wind was fair, being from the southward, and I wished to reach some gently elevated hills which I saw about eight miles to the north by east of our present position.

SEARCH FOR AND COMPLETE OUR WATER.

We soon came to a very promising opening which proved to be a creek, with a mouth of about two hundred yards wide, running up in a north-east direction, and having five fathoms of water inside, but with a bar entrance. When we had proceeded up it about two miles it became so narrow that there was not sufficient space left for the men to use their oars; therefore, making fast the two boats, I landed with a party to look for water.

I stepped very gingerly and cautiously on the mud, for shore there was none; and I had the satisfaction of descending at once, mid-leg deep in the odious slime; but this being endured the worst was over, and, at the head of my sticking and floundering party, I waded on, putting to flight whole armies of crabs who had taken up their abode in these umbrageous groves, for such they certainly were. The life of a crab in these undisturbed solitudes must be sweet in the extreme; they have plenty of water, mud, and shade; their abodes are scarcely approachable by the feet of men, and they can have but little to disturb their monotonous existence save the turmoils of love and domestic war.

After about two miles of wading of this description, which we considerably increased by turning and winding about to avoid soft places, we at length fairly stepped on terra firma and found ourselves at the base of some almost imperceptibly-sloping ground which gradually rose into low, red, sandy, loamy hills, thinly covered with grass, bushes, and stunted trees. Across these we bent our steps in a south-east direction, no change whatever taking place in the character of the country as far as we went or as far as we could see. But our travels in this line only extended for about three miles, when we suddenly came upon a lagoon of fresh water lying between two of the hills. All bent the knee at once, at this discovery, to plunge their faces deep in the pool, and, presently raising them up again, a black watery line, extending round the countenance, showed plainly how deeply each one had dipped.

Mr. Smith and myself laughed heartily at our dirty-faced companions, who knelt on their hands and knees round the pool; and whilst they were filling the beakers with water we rested under the shade of the bush for a few minutes, and then walked off towards the interior; but from the undulating low nature of the ground our view was very limited, and as far as we could see there was no sign whatever of any change in the character of the country. On returning again to the party we found the beakers and men equally full of water and ready for a start to the boats.

WADING THROUGH THE MUD.

When we reached again the mangrove flats a most amusing scene commenced; wading through the mud was bad enough before, but now that each man had a heavy keg of water upon his shoulders the movements became truly ludicrous, more especially as both landsmen and sailors were equally out of their element. Each desperate plunge elicited from the sufferers oaths and expressions which only those who have seen sailors completely at a nonplus on shore can conceive. They were half humorous, half pathetic, and never did I see men more thoroughly woebegone and bedaubed with mud than the party when we made the boats again.

Those whom I had left behind now greedily drank the water of which they were so much in want, and, as it was necessary to complete our stock of it here, after we had dined I despatched all hands but Mr. Smith and one man back to the lagoon. Mr. Smith was too unwell to go again and I remained with him. This party took their rations with them as they were to remain by the lagoon all night in order, as they termed it, "to have a good bouse out of water, and a good wash," and were to return to the boats as soon after daylight as possible.

We had remarked tracks of natives on shore but, as I saw by their fires that they were now at least eight or ten miles from us, I was under no apprehension of an attack from them. The mosquitoes however threatened to be very troublesome, and when I say that just about sunset we were completely blackened from the numbers that covered us I do not in the least exaggerate; we could not make a fire to keep them away, and I therefore quietly resigned myself to my fate. Poor Smith, who was already very feverish, passed a night of perfect torment, and awoke in the morning seriously ill. We soon heard the voices of the party returning and, having helped them and their loads of water out of the mud, we returned down the creek.

COAST THE LAND TO THE NORTHWARD.

March 5.

On standing out there was a fresh breeze blowing from the south-east, and when we were about half a mile from the shore the water to the northward deepened a great deal, for although it was now nearly low tide we had here two and a half fathoms with sandy bottom. All along the shoals we had met with abundance of shell and other fish, and the pearl oyster was very abundant; indeed the shellfish along these banks were more numerous and varied than I had ever before found them. I saw but few shells which I recognised as belonging to the southern portions of Australia, whilst many were identical with those which occur to the north-west.

EXAMINE ANOTHER MANGROVE CREEK. CHARACTER OF THEIR SCENERY.

There was no high land whatever in sight; but one low hill, which just appeared above the mangrove tops, bore north by east. After running north-east for about two miles with the same depth of water we came to another opening in the mangroves of a more promising character than several small ones which we had previously passed, and as, from the greater depth of the water, the extraordinary low character of the coast, and the circumstance of the driftwood upon Dorre Island, I expected to find a large river hereabouts, I determined to examine even the smallest openings most narrowly; we therefore ran straight for this one, and found that it had a shoal mouth with only four feet water at the entrance. The opening ran east 1/2 north, and after we had followed it up for about half a mile it became very narrow and shoaled to two feet, so we turned about and again pulled away to sea. This opening, as well as the first we had entered, appeared rather like a canal running through a woody grove than an arm of the sea; the mangrove trees afforded an agreeable shade, and were of the most brilliant green, whilst the blue placid water not only washed their roots but meandered through the sinuosities of the forest like a quiet lake till sight of it was lost in the distance.

We now stood north-north-west parallel to the shore, which was fronted by mangroves; and here we again had only two and a half feet of water. A very low chain of hills extended parallel to the shore and about two miles behind the mangroves. We thus continued running along the coast until we made a large opening which was about three-quarters of a mile across at the mouth. On either side of the entrance was a sandy point, covered with pelicans and wild-fowl who seemed to view our approach with no slight degree of surprise. As yet we did not know the proper entrance to the river (for such it was) so that where we ran into it we had only two feet of water. Three low hills were immediately in front of us, and I afterwards ascertained that the proper course for entering was to steer so as to keep the centre of the opening and the middle hill in the same line.

DISCOVER ONE MOUTH OF THE GASCOYNE RIVER, AND EXPLORE THE COUNTRY IN ITS VICINITY.

The opening now widened into a very fine reach, out of which the water was running rapidly, and when we had ascended about a mile I saw large trees, or snags (as they are called by the Americans) sticking up in the bed of the river; as these trees were of a very large size, and evidently had come from a different country to the one we saw upon the river banks, I felt assured that we had now discovered a stream of magnitude, and, the eager expectations which these thoughts awoke in our breasts rendering us all impatient, we hauled down our sail and took to the oars. The bed of the river however became choked with shallows and sandbanks, and when we had ascended it about three miles, the water having shoaled to about six inches, I selected a suitable place for our encampment and prepared to start and explore the country on foot.

SURVEY OF MOUTHS OF THIS RIVER AND BABBAGE ISLAND.

As soon as all had been made snug I moved up the river with three men. Its banks were here about five feet high; the bed of white sand, and about half a mile across; the centre of the channel was full of salt water, and in breadth about a quarter of a mile. We had not proceeded more than a few hundred yards when we unexpectedly came upon another mouth of the river as large as that upon which we stood, and which ran off nearly west. The river itself appeared to come from the north-east, and we saw salt water still further up than where we were.

NATIVES AND A SHARK.

Just on the eastern bank of the stream was a clump of small trees and reeds which I walked up to examine with a desire to recognise any trees belonging to known species, but to my horror, on looking into the reeds, I saw what appeared to be a huge alligator fast asleep. The men now peeped at it and all agreed that it was an alligator. I therefore retreated to a respectful and suitable distance and let fly at it with a rifle; it gave, as we thought, a kind of shake, and then took no further notice of us. I therefore took a double-barrelled gun from one of the men and drove two balls through the beast, and now feeling sure it must be dead (for it never moved) I walked up to it, when, upon examination, it turned out to be a huge shark, of a totally new species, which had been left in some hole by the tide where the natives had found and killed it, and, being disturbed by our approach, had run away, first hiding it in this clump of reeds. There were two natives and they had made off right up the bed of the river, taking the precaution to step in one another's tracks so as to conceal if possible their number.

CHARACTER OF THE RIVER.

To those who have never seen a river similar to the one we were now upon it is difficult to convey a true idea of its character. It consisted of several channels or beds divided from each other by long strips of land, which, in times of flood, become islands; the main channel had an average breadth of about two hundred and seventy yards; the average height of the bank at the edge of it was about fifteen feet, and the bed of the river was composed of porous red sand apparently incapable of containing water unless when previously saturated with it. After passing the highest point reached by the sea this huge river bed was perfectly dry, and looked the most mournful, deserted spot imaginable. Occasionally we found in this bare sandy channel waterholes of eighteen or twenty feet in depth, surrounded with tea trees and vegetation, and the driftwood, washed high up into these trees, sufficiently attested what rapid currents sometimes swept along the now dry channel. Even the waterholes were nearly all dried up, and in the bottom of these the natives had scooped their little wells.

The river channel ran up in a due north-east direction for about four miles without in the least altering its character. It was in vain that we walked over the intervening slips of land into the side channels; these in all respects except in being narrower exactly resembled the main one; and, after ranging across from bank to bank in this way, the only general conclusion I could arrive at was that the country upon the northern bank of the river appeared scrubby and covered with samphire swamps, whilst that upon its southern bank seemed rich and promising.

EXPLORE THE COUNTRY INLAND TO THE NORTH OF THE RIVER.

The river now made a sudden turn to the east by north, and we followed it in this direction for three miles and a half without finding the slightest change in its character or appearance. No high land whatever was in sight, and from a low rounded hill, which was the highest point we could see, the rise of the country towards the interior was scarcely perceptible; indeed it presented the appearance of being a vast delta; and such I then and subsequently conjectured it to be.

During our walk up the bed of the river we had seen many cockatoos, some wildfowl, and numerous tracks of natives; these all appeared to me to be indications of a well watered and fertile tract of country.

I now turned off west by south, quitting the bed of the river, which I named the Gascoyne in compliment to my friend, Captain Gascoyne, and found that we were in a very fertile district, being one of those splendid exceptions to the general sterility of Australia which are only occasionally met with: it apparently was one immense delta of alluvial soil covered with gently sloping grassy rises, for they could scarcely be called hills; and in the valleys between these lay many freshwater lagoons which rested upon a red clay soil that tinged the water of its own colour and gave it an earthy taste.

The country here was but very lightly timbered and well adapted for either agricultural or pastoral purposes, but especially for the growth of cotton and sugar, should the climate be sufficiently warm; and of this I think there can be no doubt whatever. I was so won by the discovery of this rich district that I wandered on unconscious of the fatigue of the party, roaming from rising ground to rising ground, and hoping from each eminence to gain a view of high land to the eastward, but on all sides I could see nothing but the same low fertile country. I however felt conscious that within a few years of the moment at which I stood there a British population, rich in civilization and the means of transforming an unoccupied country to one teeming with inhabitants and produce, would have followed my steps and be eagerly and anxiously examining my charts; and this reflection imparted a high degree of interest and importance to our present position and operations.

RETURN TO THE RIVER.

The darkness of night was now closing round us and Kaiber the native, with his long thin legs, put himself at the head of the party and, taking a star for his guide, led us with rapid and lengthy paces across the plains to the encampment, where we found the party anxiously waiting to hear what success we had met with. Poor Mr. Smith was very unwell tonight with a feverish attack. Mr. Walker had prescribed for him and ordered him to be kept quiet. I got a meridian altitude of Procyon which put us in 24 degrees 56 minutes 57 seconds south latitude.

March 6.

Mr. Smith was if anything worse this morning, and I learned from some of the men that he had been wandering about all night, and had bathed several times in the river. I remonstrated with him about having done so, but he excused himself, and I determined to remain stationary at this point for a day or two to give him plenty of rest before we again started on our cruise along the coast.

PLAN OF FUTURE PROCEEDINGS.

After the discovery of the Gascoyne the plan I made up my mind to follow was to examine rapidly the coast as far as Cape Cuvier, to return from that point to Bernier Island and refit; then once more to visit the Gascoyne properly equipped, and thoroughly explore the adjacent district to the distance of fifty or sixty miles inland; and lastly to examine the unknown portion of Shark Bay which lay to the southward of us.

At 6 A.M. the thermometer stood at 76 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade, and this and the temperature during our stay in Shark Bay proves that the climate there is very warm. Before breakfast I had wells sunk in several places at some little distance inland in order to ascertain the nature of the subsoil, for we were abundantly supplied with water from the lagoons. In every instance, after digging down to the depth of from six to seven feet through a rich loam, we reached a regular sandy sea beach and salt water (it must however be recollected that we dug in the deepest hollows) so that it appeared as if the whole of this flat country was a formation left upon the shoals with which the coast is bounded; and it almost seemed as if the sea still flowed in upon its old bed and under this recent freshwater deposit.

Directly after breakfast I got ferried across the river to the island lying between its two mouths, which I called Babbage Island after C. Babbage, Esquire. This island is low and sandy in all parts except where it fronts the sea; but on that side a row of high sandy dunes have been thrown up. There is no very good land on it, it being almost covered with samphire swamps and intersected by deep channels into which the sea runs; these are nearly concealed in some places by the vegetation, which rendered it impossible to avoid sundry falls and wettings in crossing it. It bears a few mangroves but I saw no other trees.

The men throughout the day were occupied in watering and in making canvas cloths for my boats to prevent the water from pouring in over the gunwales, which were very low; and my own time was sufficiently occupied in surveying. On my return in the evening I found Mr. Smith so much wore cheerful and so much better that I determined to start about noon the next day for the northward.

EXCURSION TO THE NORTH OF THE RIVER.

March 7.

I went off with a party before dawn to explore the country to the northward of the Gascoyne. We crossed the river just above the point where it separates into two mouths, and then struck off in a north by east direction. Travelling about a mile after we had crossed the river we came to seven native huts, built of large-sized logs, much higher and altogether of a very superior description to those made by the natives on the south-western coast. Kaiber examined them very carefully and then proposed that we should go no farther, as he thought that the natives must be very large men from their having such large huts. We however pushed forward and, as I had none but good walkers with me, we made about nine miles in two hours and a half: throughout the whole of this distance we saw nothing that could be called a hill, the whole country being evidently at times flooded up to the foot of a gently-rising land which we distinguished to the eastward. We did not notice a single tree but plenty of low prickly bushes, samphire, and a small plant somewhat resembling the English heath. The weather was very hot, and at the end of the nine miles we reached a saltwater inlet so broad and deep that we could not cross it. We here halted and rested a little and then made our way back to the boats.

APPROACH OF NATIVES.

I found Mr. Smith much better and, there being now nothing to delay us, we started. When we had got about half a mile down the river we saw two natives following us along the shore, jumping about in the most extraordinary way, and, from their gesticulations and manner, evidently ordering us to quit the coast. From the mountebank actions of these fellows I guessed that they were two of the native sorcerers, who were charming us away but, as I was not disposed to be so easily got rid of, we pulled near the shore and lay upon our oars to give them an opportunity of coming up to us.

ATTEMPT AT A CONFERENCE. INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES.

Upon this they mounted a little eminence, blew most furiously at us, and performed other equally efficacious ceremonies. I however felt just as well after we had been subjected to this dire sorcery as I did before; and we continued to pull gently along the shore, still trying to induce them to approach, which they at last did, having nothing but a fishing-spear in their hands. To entice them towards us I had made Kaiber strip himself and stand up in the boat; and now that they were near enough to us I told him to call out to them and say that we were friends. He hereupon shouted out, "Come in, come in; Mr. Grey sulky yu-a-da;" by which he intended to say, "Come here, come here; Mr. Grey is not angry with you." The two sorcerers, utterly confused by this mode of address, committed more overt acts of witchcraft towards us than they had even hitherto done; and Kaiber, turning round to me, said, "Weak ears have they and wooden foreheads; they do not understand the southern language." But as I was dissatisfied with his proof of their knowledge of the southern language I desired him to wade ashore and speak to them.

KAIBER'S DREAD OF THEM.

This order of mine was a perfect thunderbolt to Kaiber. He, in common with all the aboriginal inhabitants of Australia, had an utter aversion to all strange natives; and to this he joined a sort of religious horror of witches, buck-witches, warlocks, and uncanny persons generally. King James the First could never have found a more zealous and participating partner of his fears than Kaiber; he gave me a blank look of horror and assured me that these were actual sorcerers, "northern sorcerers;" and as he repeated these last words there was a mysterious, deep meaning in his tone, as if he expected to see me thrill with terror.

From his earliest infancy he had been accustomed to dread these men; every storm that occurred he had been taught to consider as arising from their incantations: if one of his friends or relatives died a natural death he had attributed that death to the spells and unholy practices of these very people with whom he was now directed to go and hold converse. I thought of all this and pitied him; for even for a native he was excessively superstitious. But I was extremely anxious to establish friendly relations with them; therefore I was positive and repeated to him my former directions that he should wade ashore, coax them up, and speak to them.

In as far as a native can turn white from fear Kaiber did turn white, and then stepping into the water he waded ashore and the two natives cautiously approached him. As soon as they were close to him I joined the party with a large piece of damper in one hand and a piece of pork in the other. The natives were dreadfully frightened; they stood in the presence of unknown and mysterious beings. No persuasions could induce them to take my hand or to touch me; and they trembled from head to foot.

FRIENDLY COMMUNICATION ESTABLISHED.

For a time they were nearly unintelligible to Kaiber and myself, but as they gained confidence I found that they spoke a dialect very closely resembling that of the natives to the north of the Swan River. They addressed many questions to us, such as, Whence we had come? where we were going to? was the boat a dead tree? but they evaded giving any direct answers to our questions. Being anxious to start I now left them to bear to their companions the strange food I had bestowed, and to recount to eager listeners the mysterious tale of their interview with beings from another world, and who were of an unknown form and colour.

SAIL FROM THE GASCOYNE.

Whilst they hurried off with some such thoughts passing through their minds we pulled down the Gascoyne in search of new lands and new adventures.

AFFINITY OF DIALECTS.

The result of this conference affords an example of the grounds upon which any similarity of the language in different portions of the continent of Australia has been denied. In this instance, had I at first taken the word of Kaiber for it, I should have left the Gascoyne with a firm conviction that the natives of that part of Australia spoke a radically different language from the natives near the Swan River; and this would have been proved by the fact of a native from the south not understanding them: whereas there is a great affinity between the two dialects, to discover which requires however an acquaintance with the general principles of language, some knowledge of the one in question, and due patience. I can only say that wherever I have been in the southern portions of the continent I could soon understand the natives.

CHAPTER 16. TO KOLAINA AND BACK TO THE GASCOYNE.

EXAMINE THE COAST TO THE NORTH OF THE GASCOYNE.

March 7.

When we got outside the mouth of the Gascoyne a fresh breeze was blowing from the south-east. We ran along the shore west by north, keeping about a quarter of a mile from it; and after having made about three miles and a half we reached the southern extremity of the other mouth of the river. The mean depth in our course along Babbage Island had been from two and a half fathoms to three fathoms; and this opening had a bar which we then conceived to run right across the mouth of the river. The northern extremity of Babbage Island is a very remarkable low point of land which I called Mangrove Point. It cannot fail to be recognised for it is the first point from the northward along the eastern shores of Shark Bay where mangroves are found, and from that point they extend almost uninterruptedly down the eastern coast of this bay to the south, as far as I have seen it.

CONTINUE THE COURSE TO THE NORTHWARD.

The coast now trended north by west and we continued to run along it. After passing Mangrove Point the sandy dunes along the shore ceased, and the land appeared to be scarcely elevated above the level of the sea: not a hill or tree could be perceived, and a low black line almost level with the water's edge was the only indication that we had of being near land.

LYELL'S RANGE.

This kind of shore continues for about nine miles, when low sandhills begin to rise parallel to the coast, and these gradually increase in altitude until they form that remarkable range of dunes which I have called Lyell's Range. When it wanted about an hour to sunset we had made about twenty-five miles, and then ran in closer along the coast to look either for a boat harbour or some spot at which we could beach them. But nothing suited to our purpose could we see: the coast was straight, sandy, exposed and lashed by a tremendous surf; the wind now freshened considerably and the sky looked very threatening; we had therefore no resource left but either to run to the northward before the breeze or to beach the boats. I chose the first alternative; and we coasted within about a quarter of a mile of the shore, just outside the surf, looking out for any spot which gave us the least hope of beaching in safety.

BEACH THE BOATS.

As the sun sank so freshened the breeze, until it blew a good half gale of wind, and everything gave indications of approaching foul weather. This was no coast to be on during a stormy night in heavily laden whale-boats; and as it now began to grow dark I determined at all hazards to beach rather than be driven out to sea in a gale of wind. I accordingly ran my boat in through the surf, leaving the other one outside to see what success we had before they made the attempt.

BOAT SWAMPED IN BEACHING.

The surf was very heavy but the men behaved steadily and well; and through it we went, dancing along like a cork in a mill-pond; at last one huge roller caught us, all hands gave way, and we were hurried along on the top of the swelling billow, which then suddenly fell under us and broke; in a moment after we had grounded, and although still upwards of two hundred yards from the shore, we all jumped out to haul the boat up, but ere we could move our heavily laden whaler beyond a few yards breaker after breaker came tumbling in and completely swamped it. We continued to haul away and presently found ourselves swimming. In fact the whole coast hereabouts was fronted by a kind of bar of sand, distant about two hundred yards from the shore, with not more than two feet water on it. Between this and the shore the water was tolerably smooth and two fathoms deep. It was upon this outer bar that we had struck, and the other boat experienced the same fate as ourselves. We of course passed a miserable night in our drenched and wretched state; but it was at all events some comfort, when we heard during the night the boisterous wind blowing outside, to feel that we were safe ashore.

DAMAGE TO OUR PROVISIONS.

March 8.

As soon as we had sufficient light for the purpose I proceeded to examine the stores. The flour was not very good at starting; it had been packed in small bags, that being the most convenient form to have it in both for stowing and transporting it on men's shoulders; and in the hurricane which we had experienced on Dorre Island this flour had got thoroughly soaked: from that period to the present time it had been constantly wet with salt water; last night's adventures completed its disasters and it was now quite spoilt and an unwholesome article of food; but having nothing else to eat we were forced to satisfy ourselves with it, and I directed it to be dried in the sun and then carefully repacked. The wind was from the south-south-west, about half a gale, and there was such a tremendous surf on the shore that to launch the boats was impossible. I therefore started to look for water and to explore the country.

SEARCH FOR WATER.

The point we had landed at was immediately at the base of some bare sandhills, about four hundred feet high. These are the hills which are visible from the high land of Dorre Island on the opposite side of the bay: it struck me that from their great height and their porous nature there was a probability of our finding water by digging, even in this apparently sandy desert; I therefore selected a spot at the foot of the highest hill, in the bare sand, and ordered a well to be opened. Our efforts were crowned with success; the well had not been sunk more than four or five feet when we came to a coarse gravelly sand, saturated with water, which was perfectly sweet and good; and when the well was sunk about two or three feet deeper the water poured in so fast that there would have been no difficulty in watering a ship at this point.

APPEARANCE OF A LAKE. EXAMINATION OF IT.

Whilst the men were engaged in filling the water kegs I ascended the highest sandhill, the summit of which was not distant more than a mile from the well. When I gained this a most splendid sight burst upon my view: to the westward stretched the boundless sea, lashed by the wind into white and curling waves; whilst to the east of me lay a clear calm unruffled lake, studded with little islands. To the north or north-east I could, even with a good telescope, see no limits to this lake, and, with the exception of the numerous beautiful islands with which it was studded, I could, even from the commanding position which I occupied, distinguish nothing like rising land anywhere between north by east and south-east. The lake had a glassy and fairy-like appearance, and I sat down alone on the lofty eminence to contemplate this great water which the eye of European now for the first time rested on. I looked seaward, and it appeared as if nature had heaped up the narrow and lofty sandy barrier on which I stood to shut out from the eyes of man the lovely and fairy-like land which lay beyond it.

At length I rose and returned to the party. The news of my discovery filled all with hope; and, our miserable breakfast having been hurriedly despatched, I selected three men to accompany me in my first examination of the shores of this inland sea. When we had gained the top of the sandhills the surprise of these men was as great as my own, and they begged me to allow them to return and endeavour by the united efforts of the party to carry one of the whale-boats over the intervening range, and at once to launch it on this body of water.

I however deemed it more prudent in the first instance to select the best route along which to move the whale-boat, as well as to choose a spot which afforded facilities for launching it. In pursuance of this determination we descended the eastern side of the sandhills which abruptly fell in that direction with a slope certainly not much exceeding an angle of 45 degrees. I now found that the water did not approach so near the foot of the hills as I had imagined, but that immediately at their base lay extensive plains of mud and sand, at times evidently flooded by the sea; for on them lay dead shells of many kinds and sizes, as well as large travelled blocks of coral. The water here appeared to be about a mile distant; it was also apparently boundless in an east and north-east direction: and was studded with islands.

REMARKABLE PLAINS. DELUSION FROM MIRAGE.

We still all felt convinced that it was water we saw, for the shadows of the low hills near it, as well as those of the trees upon them, could be distinctly traced on the unruffled surface. As we continued to advance, the water however constantly retreated before us and at last surrounded us. I now found that we had been deceived by mirage; the apparent islands being really such only when these plains are covered by the sea. In many places the sandy mud was so moist that we sank deeply into it, and after travelling for fifteen miles on a north-east course I could still see no limit to these plains in that direction, nor could I either then or on any subsequent occasion find the channel which connected them with the sea. The only mode of accounting for their being flooded is to suppose that the sea at times pours in over the low land which lies to the north of the Gascoyne, and flows northward through channels which will be seen in the chart of this part of the country; but I then believed, and still consider, that there is hereabouts a communication with some large internal water.

We saw no tracks of natives and only a few of emus and native dogs. The few portions of rising ground which lay near the edge of these extensive plains were sandy, scrubby, and unpromising; but what we saw was so little that no opinion of the country could fairly be deduced from it. We dug in several places on the flats and in their vicinity but all the water we could find was salt; whereas in the narrow range of sandhills separating them from the sea we had discovered abundance of fresh water only four or five feet below the surface of the valleys lying between these hills. As this range of more than thirty miles in length offered many geological phenomena I called it Lyell's Range in compliment to the distinguished geologist of that name; the plains themselves I named the Plains of Kolaina (Deceit).

INDISPOSITION OF SEVERAL OF THE PARTY. SICKNESS FROM DELAY AND DISAPPOINTMENT.

On my return to the boats I found that Mr. Smith was still unwell; several other men were also complaining; I myself was wearied from exertion and disappointment that my great discovery had dwindled away: the place where we were was infested by land-crabs who kept running over us continually, and the sand which drifted before the wind got into the pores of the skin, and kept most of us in a constant state of painful irritation. The night was therefore not a pleasant one.

March 9.

Throughout the night the winds had howled loudly and the surf broke hoarsely upon the shore. The grey dawn of morning brought no comfort with it: far out to seaward nothing but broken water could be seen, and half a gale of wind blew from the south by east. The bad and insufficient food I had been compelled to eat had brought on violent sickness and other evil effects, and I found myself very ill. As the daylight advanced report after report came to me that some one of the party had been attacked by the same diseases experienced by Mr. Smith and myself.

EXAMINATION OF THE SHORE TO THE NORTHWARD, AND OF THE COUNTRY TO THE SOUTH-EAST.

I was only well enough to write and survey a little, but I sent off a party to a point which lay about six miles to the north of us, and they on their return reported that there was a continuation of a similar shore for the next fourteen or fifteen miles, bordered in like manner by sandy muddy plains similar to those behind the hills where we were.

This party found one of the yellow and black water-snakes asleep upon a piece of dry seaweed on the beach and killed it. The fact of this animal being found on shore proves its amphibious character. I saw them in one instance, in December 1837, so far out at sea as to be distant 150 miles from land.

Sunday March 10.

I spent a wretched night from illness and foul weather; the roaring of the surf on the shore was so loud and incessant that to one feverish and in want of quiet and rest it was a positive distress, and both Mr. Smith, myself, and half the men were at this time seriously indisposed. We had strong gales of wind all day from south by east, but in the afternoon I walked out for five miles in an east-south-east direction with such of the men as were able to move; nothing however could be seen but a continuation of the same barren, treeless country; we observed no signs of natives except tracks in the mud of a single man who had passed some months ago.

It annoyed me now to find that the silvering of the glasses of my large sextant was so much injured from the constant wettings it had experienced that this day it was almost useless. I had hoped in the course of our walk to have fallen in with some game, but we did not see a single bird with the exception of some small ones, about the size of tomtits, which flew from bush to bush along the sandhills.

SUFFERINGS FROM HEAT AND PRIVATION.

We had a small quantity of portable soup with us, nearly all of which we used, and it in some degree restored us, but another miserable night was passed by us all and in the morning I was grieved to see how ill many of the men looked. Their situation was really deplorable and I had with me neither medicines nor proper food to give them. Abundance of these lay at our depot not more than forty miles from us, yet to reach it was impossible; and dawn this morning had only revealed to us a heavier surf and stronger gale from the southward than we had yet experienced. None of the men were well enough to undergo the fatigue of another day's walking, so I busied myself with making observations and taking bearings, and thus the forenoon wore away. The point of the coast on which we were lay in 24 degrees 30 minutes south latitude, and the mean temperature up to this period had been:

6 A.M. 76. 12 M. 83. 3 P.M. 87. 6 P.M. 78 degrees.

At noon a portion of some disgusting damper and a small piece of pork was served out to each of us and, having soon disposed of this, the men lay down under the side of the boats, seeking some shelter from the burning rays of a tropical sun which, being reflected back from the white sand, were very oppressive.

AFFRAY WITH THE NATIVES.

I was occupied in sketching in a portion of the coastline, and whilst thus engaged I thought I saw the figures of two natives moving upon a hill a few hundred yards to the north of us; they appeared to me to be behind some low bushes which were close to the summit of this hill. I watched the bushes narrowly and felt nearly confident I saw them; but however to be sure beyond a doubt I got up and took my eyes from the spot for a few seconds whilst I walked to get my telescope. I then carefully examined the hill with the glass and could see nothing but the low bushes on it. "A pretty bushman I am," I thought to myself, "to be thus deceived with two old shrubs; I should have known a native better;" and with a feeling almost of annoyance at my mistake I resumed my seat on an inverted water-keg and went on with my drawing. Within a minute's time an alarm of natives was given, and starting up I saw from twenty to thirty on some sandhills to the north of us, distant about two hundred yards; their spears were fixed in their throwing-sticks and they evidently were prepared for a fray. I therefore ran to the boat for my gun, which Ruston tried to get out for me; and at this moment, on casting my eyes upwards, I saw a native start up on the sandbank not more than fifteen yards from Ruston and myself; he poised his spear for one second, and it then came whistling at us. I dodged and the spear flew past without my seeing what became of it. I instantly gave the order to watch the bank and to fire at anything that showed itself above it; and Mr. Walker now had got hold of his gun and very gallantly ran up the bank and occupied it: in the meantime the native who had thrown the spear caught up a bag in each hand and ran off. Several shots which were fired at the distant natives scraped up the sand so near them that they found it prudent to decamp as speedily as they could.

CHASE AFTER STOLEN GOODS.

I found that Ruston was wounded slightly in the knee by the spear which the native had thrown, and we had also sustained a severe loss in the bags which they had carried off as one of them contained fourteen fishing-lines and several other articles of great value to us in our present position. I therefore determined upon a pursuit in the hopes of recovering these, and taking four or five men I gave chase. The long-legged natives had however considerably the advantage of us both in bottom, wind, and cunning; and whenever they found we gained at all upon them they strewed a few articles out of the bags upon the ground, and these it took us some time to collect; and in this manner, alternately running and stopping to pick things up, I continued the pursuit until near sunset. At this time three of us had completely outrun the rest of our party, who were far behind; the natives had also latterly made great headway, so that they were rapidly dropping us astern; we also had recovered everything but the fishing-lines (which however we could but ill spare). I therefore determined to collect my forces and return to the boats. In the ardour of pursuit I found we had come five or six miles, and it had been for some time dark when we again reached the encampment.

The natives in this attack were far too few in number to render it a very formidable affair for from five-and-twenty to thirty savages, armed alone with spears, could have availed very little against eleven resolute Europeans with fire-arms in their hands. The native who had stolen so near us was however most decidedly a noble and daring fellow: their object evidently was to possess themselves of our property; and we had had one man wounded in the fray, and had lost some fishing-lines, without gaining any reparation. I therefore felt well assured that they would pay us another visit; and thus, to the misfortunes we were already suffering under, we had the new one added of being on hostile terms with the surrounding aborigines. It moreover set in to rain hard and to blow fresher than ever just as we reached the boats. I saw that all that could be done for Ruston had been attended to, and then, lying down, tried to forget my troubles in sleep.

CONTINUED DETENTION FROM FOUL WEATHER. DESOLATE AND GLOOMY SITUATION.

From this period up to Friday the 15th of March the wind blew strong from the southward, accompanied with such a heavy sea and tremendous surf that to move was impossible. Our position was very trying; inactivity, under the circumstances in which we were situated, was most difficult to support; for the mind, ever prone to prey upon itself, does so far more when you are compelled to sit down and patiently submit to misfortunes against which there are no means of resistance. Such was the state to which we were now reduced, on a barren and unknown coast which the foot of civilized man had never before trodden: many of my party were suffering acute bodily pain from the badness of the provisions on which they were compelled to subsist; the weakness of most of them, and myself amongst the number, precluded the possibility of any distant explorations being made, and we were kept in a constant state of watchfulness in order to prevent the natives from again surprising us; for they repeatedly showed themselves in our vicinity, hovering about with no friendly intentions. All that was left therefore for us was to sit upon the lonely beach, watching the winds and the waters until some favourable moment might enable us to get off and once more engage in that task of which so small a portion was as yet accomplished.

Day after day did we sit and wait for this favourable moment until the noise of the hoarse breaking surf had become a familiar sound to our ears; but the longer the men watched the more dispirited did they become; each returning day found them more weak and wan, more gloomy and petulant, than the preceding one; and when the eighth day of constant and fruitless expectation slowly closed upon us I felt a gloomy foreboding creeping over me.