PLAN FOR RETURNING TO THE NORTH-WEST COAST. WHY ABANDONED.

On arriving at the Mauritius I found that my stay would be unavoidably protracted from the state of my wound, which the want of rest and attention had prevented from healing during the expedition, whilst my men were still suffering under the effects of the hardships and privations they had recently been subjected to; my first step therefore was to discharge the Lynher, and the next to consider a plan for future operations.

The rivers Fitzroy and Glenelg, simultaneously discovered by Captain Wickham and myself, although of considerable magnitude, were only sufficient to account for the drainage of a small portion of the vast continent of Australia, and this interesting question, far from being placed in a clearer point of view by our expeditions, was if possible involved in deeper obscurity than ever. I was therefore anxious to return to the north-west coast and solve the mystery that still hung over those regions; but, after considering various plans and suggestions, in which I was kindly assisted by the advice and opinions of Sir William Nicolay, then Governor of the Mauritius, I was induced to forego the intention of proceeding again direct to the north-west, and to bend my course in the first instance to Swan River. There I could consult Sir James Stirling, the Governor, who had been instructed on our departure from England to afford us every assistance; and, according to the means which could then be obtained, I might either proceed again by sea to the vicinity of the Glenelg or the Fitzroy; or, if a proper vessel and equipments could not be had, I might endeavour to pass the range to the north-east of that colony, ascertain the direction of the streams which must be thrown off by it to the interior, and trace the main river into which they fell (if such there was) to its outlet.

PROCEED TO SWAN RIVER.

I accordingly embarked my party and the stores in my possession at Port Louis on the 21st August 1838, and arrived on the 18th September at Swan River, where I lost no time in communicating my views to Sir James Stirling, who concurred in the plan for returning to the north-west; and it was arranged that as soon as the colonial vessel Champion, then absent on a voyage to St. George’s Sound, should come back to the Swan, it should be prepared for the conveyance to Camden Bay of myself and party, reinforced by such additional persons as might feel disposed to proceed there at their own cost for speculative purposes.

RETURN TO THE NORTH-WEST FRUSTRATED.

It was not however until the month of December following that the Colonial schooner became disposable, and then new impediments arose from her being found so much in want of repair as to be, in Sir James Stirling’s opinion, scarcely in a condition to proceed on such a voyage as we contemplated, whilst the repairs required were of a nature which could not be effected in the Colony. From these and other considerations, more especially the danger and disappointment likely to be experienced for want of proper equipment, which it was found very difficult to supply at the Swan in an effective and satisfactory manner, the expedition to the North-west was deemed unadvisable and for the present given up.

It is unnecessary here to dwell on the mortification I felt at being obliged thus to abandon my long-cherished projects. The delays I had already experienced were sufficiently vexatious, but I had endeavoured to turn the time thus lost to some profit by endeavouring to acquaint myself with the resources of the country, as well as in acquiring information of a scientific nature, and I had attained such a knowledge of the language of the natives as enabled me to form a vocabulary of the different dialects spoken in these parts, which was printed and forwarded to England at the close of the year.

My excursions into the country from Perth whilst awaiting the arrival and fitting out of the Champion were necessarily short, but the journal of one to the northward, made in company with my young friend Mr. Frederick Smith, who afterwards fell a sacrifice in the expedition to Shark Bay, will I think be interesting enough to be inserted here.

EXCURSION TO THE NORTH OF PERTH.

November 30.

Mr. Smith and myself started at noon this day, accompanied by Corporal Auger and two natives, upon a trip in a northerly direction; about 5 P.M. we reached a lake distant about fifteen miles from Perth, and called by the natives Mooloore: we halted here for the night.

The horses were scarcely tethered and our fire made when four more natives joined the party; their names were Noogongoo, Kurral, Jeebar, and Dudemurry; they brought us a present of twenty-seven freshwater tortoises, the average weight of each of which was half a pound. They said that, although the lake was called Mooloore, the name of the land we were sitting on was Doondalup.

STORY-TELLING.

As soon as supper was finished they became very talkative, and, in a sort of recitative, recounted various adventures; and, when they conceived that they had sufficiently entertained me, they requested me to give them an account of my adventures in the northern part of the country, where they had heard from other natives that I had been for some time.

Having now acquired some knowledge of their language, I was able to make myself tolerably intelligible to them, and they listened with the greatest anxiety and interest to the various misfortunes that befel me. When they heard that I had been wounded by the natives to the north no persuasions or protestations upon my part could convince them that my object in now proceeding in that direction again was merely to gratify curiosity, and not from motives of revenge; but they kept continually requesting me not to attempt to kill anybody until I had passed a spot named Yalgarrin, about ten days journey to the north, and they then advised me indiscriminately to shoot everybody I saw; and were the more urgent in pressing the adoption of this course upon me from the fact of a quarrel existing between some of their relatives and the tribe dwelling there.

After I had exhausted the theme of my northern journey they desired me to give them some information with regard to England; I therefore related various circumstances which I thought would amuse them. Amongst other things I described the track of the sun in the heavens in those northern latitudes; this they fully understood, and it excited their most unqualified admiration. I now spoke to them of still more northern latitudes; and went so far as to describe those countries in which the sun never sets at a certain period of the year.

ITS IMPRESSION ON THE NATIVES.

Their astonishment now knew no bounds: “Ah I that must be another sun; not the same as the one we see here,” said an old man; and in spite of all my arguments to the contrary, the others adopted this opinion. I wound up the night’s conversation by an account of the diminutive Laplanders, clothed in skins of the seal instead of kangaroo; and amidst the shouts of applause that this account excited I laid down to rest. I this night observed a circumstance which had often before struck me, namely, that savages care but little for narratives concerning civilized man, but that anything connected with other races in the same state is most greedily received by them.

December 1.

Before sunrise this morning the two natives Yenmar and Nganmar, who had accompanied us from Perth, came to me and said that, from what I had told them last night, it appeared that some cause of quarrel existed between myself and the natives to the north; and that, however pacifically I might now express myself, they felt convinced that, if a fair opportunity offered, I should revenge myself upon some northern native. Now they, being southern men, had nothing whatever to do with these quarrels and disputes, and therefore they should at once return to Perth.

I did my utmost by means of protestations and promises to induce them to forego this resolution, but in vain; and the only boon I could gain from them was that they would accompany me to another tribe, distant about five miles, some of whom would probably go on with me; they, at the same time, assured me that they would preserve the most profound secrecy as to the fact of my having any cause of quarrel to the northward; and advised me to hold my tongue upon this point and quietly shoot the first man I saw there.

MEETING WITH OTHER NATIVES.

Finding that the arrangement pointed out by these natives was the only one I could adopt I was obliged to follow their advice, and we accordingly moved off in a north-east, and then north-east by east direction. After travelling over about four miles of country we heard the distant cries of natives, and soon after came up with and found them engaged in the pleasant occupation of carrying two wounded men on their shoulders into Perth. These men had quarrelled and had settled the dispute to their mutual satisfaction, as well as to that of their friends, by spearing each other through their respective thighs. One of the poor fellows was very ill and told me that his intention was to sit down at my house in Perth until he was well and he kept his promise.

I had many friends amongst these natives and soon selected four to accompany me, their names were Warrup, Jenna, Dwer, and Ugat. There were five northern natives with the tribe who had never seen white men; they seemed to view us with great suspicion at first, but the present of a little bread soon placed us on the most friendly terms; and, after about half an hour’s halt, we separated, they proceeding to Perth whilst we pursued a northerly course. After having made about four miles in this direction we halted for the day at the head of the Lake Moolore.

LAKE COUNTRY.

December 2.

We started before dawn, travelling in nearly a straight line across the country, our compass course being 329 degrees from the north. After we had made about three miles we reached a swampy lake, called Nirrooba, covered with wild-fowl. We here halted and prepared our breakfast whilst the natives went out to hunt. I soon shot a brace of wild ducks, and they speared nine; I now gave little Ugat my gun, and he brought in four more ducks, making a total of fifteen. Part of these we cooked, and kept the remainder for our dinner. I forgot to mention that we yesterday shot twelve parakeets.

I wandered for some distance about the eastern side of this lake and saw some very good land, I should say at least fifty acres; and, in addition to this land of the best quality, there was plenty of good feed for cattle all round the lake.

DELAY, AND BIVOUACK.

At 2 P.M. we started again in a due north direction and, having proceeded about four miles, reached a lake called Nowoorgoop. We now changed our course to north and by west, and, after travelling six miles more, came to a lake called, by the natives, Beeulengurrinyup; the water was however so thick and muddy that I determined, although it was getting late, to proceed further; we therefore changed our course to north and by east, and after travelling for about four miles more reached another lake, called Maubeebee. This lake was about three-quarters of a mile long. Mr. Smith’s feet had latterly become so sore that he had been compelled to tie pieces of kangaroo skin over them, and thus equipped to walk without his half-boots; and, on coming in to our bivouac, I had the mortification to hear that, having been put carelessly on the horses, one of these boots had fallen down; I saw therefore that it would be necessary to let him and a native go back the next day upon the two horses we had with us for the purpose of finding it. To Europeans it would seem rather a visionary task to travel twelve or fourteen miles in a trackless forest in the hope of recovering a boot, but the natives’ eyes are so keen that their finding it amounted to a matter of certainty.

LOVELY BIVOUACK.

Our bivouac this night had a beauty about it which would have made anyone possessed with the least enthusiasm fall in love with a bush life. We were sitting on a gently-rising ground which sloped away gradually to a picturesque lake surrounded by wooded hills, whilst the moon shone so brightly on the lake that the distance was perfectly clear, and we could distinctly see the large flocks of wildfowl as they passed over our heads and then splashed into the water, darkening and agitating its silvery surface; in front of us blazed a cheerful fire, round which were the dark forms of the natives, busily engaged in roasting ducks for us; the foreground was covered with graceful grass trees and, at the moment we commenced supper, I made the natives set fire to the dried tops of two of these, and by the light of these splendid chandeliers, which threw a red glare over the whole forest in our vicinity, we ate our evening meal; then, closing round the fire, rolled ourselves up in our blankets and laid down to sleep.

December 3.

At dawn this morning Mr. Smith and Warrup started on the horses in search of his boot; and I spent the day in shooting wildfowl and various kind of game, as well as in collecting words from the natives for my vocabulary. About 4 P.M. Mr. Smith returned with his boot and we all retired early to rest.

December 4.

We started at sunrise and travelled about six miles in the direction of 17 degrees, and then halted for breakfast at a lake called Boongarrup. The whole of the country we passed over this morning was sandy and bad, being thinly clothed with Banksia trees; but immediately about the lake there was, as usual, good land. We started immediately after breakfast as the natives told us we had a long journey to make. Our course now lay in the direction of 13 degrees. The country we passed over was still of the same sandy nature; and after travelling about ten miles we made another lake.

STRANGER TRIBE. NATIVE TOILETTE.

The natives here saw the recent signs of strange blacks and insisted upon my coming to a halt whilst they painted themselves and made sundry additions to their toilette. I urged my remonstrances upon this head, but it was in vain. They said that we should soon see some very pretty girls; that I might go on if I liked, but that they would not move until they had completed their preparations for meeting their fair friends. I therefore made the best of it and sat myself down whilst they continued adorning themselves. This being done to their satisfaction, they came and requested my opinion as to their appearance; and as I intimated my most unqualified approval they became in high spirits, and gave a very animated description of the conquests they expected to make.

This weighty affair having been completed we again moved on, the natives keeping a careful lookout for the friends they expected to see. They at length espied one sitting in the rushes looking for small fish; but no sooner did he see the approaching party than he took to his heels as hard as he could, and two others whom we had not before observed followed his example.

MEETING WITH A NEW TRIBE.

Our native comrades now commenced hallooing to the fugitives, stating that I had come from the white people to bring them a present of rice and flour. Moreover Jenna shouted out to his uncle, “Am not I your nephew why then should you run away?” This and similar speeches had, at length, the desired effect. First one of them advanced, trembling from head to foot, and when I went forward to meet him and shook hands with him it reassured the others, and they also joined our party, yet still not without evident signs of fear. An old man now came up who could not be induced to allow me to approach him, appearing to regard me with a sort of stupid amazement; neither horses or any other of those things which powerfully excited the curiosity of the others had the least charm for him, but his eyes were always fixed on me with a look of eagerness and anxiety which I was unable to account for.

We explained to the strange natives that we intended to halt for the night in this neighbourhood, and asked them to show us a good spot with plenty of water and grass. At the same time those I had with me stated to the others that unless the women and children came in I would give no rice or flour. This declaration was however wholly unauthorised by my sanction, and arose from their desire of exhibiting their personal attractions to the ladies of these parts; but, feeling rather disposed to see a little savage flirtation, I raised no objection to it.

The oldest of the natives, who appeared to regard me with so much curiosity, went off for the purpose of collecting the women whilst we proceeded to our place of halt. After going about three miles in a due north direction we made a river coming from an east and by south direction, and here called by the natives Goonmarrarup; it lies in rather a deep valley, and at this point consisted of large pools connected by a running stream about 20 yards wide. There was plenty of wildfowl upon these pools and Ugat soon shot some for us.

SCENERY.

The scenery here was very picturesque: high wooded hills were upon each side of us, and the valley was open and rather thinly timbered; but the few trees it contained were of considerable size and beauty. Beneath one of these we prepared our bivouac, the strange natives doing their utmost to render themselves useful. They had never before seen white people, and the quickness with which they understood our wants and hastened to gratify them was very satisfactory.

MEETING WITH NATIVE WOMEN.

After we had tethered the horses and made ourselves tolerably comfortable we heard loud voices from the hills above us: the effect was fine for they really almost appeared to float in the air; and as the wild cries of the women, who knew not our exact position, came by upon the wind, I thought it was well worth a little trouble to hear these savage sounds under such circumstances. Our guides shouted in return, and gradually the approaching cries came nearer and nearer.

CURIOUS SUPERSTITION. CEREMONIES.

I was however wholly unprepared for the scene that was about to take place. A sort of procession came up, headed by two women down whose cheeks tears were streaming. The eldest of these came up to me and, looking for a moment at me, said, “Gwa, gwa, bundo bal,” “Yes, yes, in truth it is him;” and then, throwing her arms round me, cried bitterly, her head resting on my breast; and, although I was totally ignorant of what their meaning was, from mere motives of compassion I offered no resistance to her caresses, however disagreeable they might be, for she was old, ugly, and filthily dirty; the other younger one knelt at my feet, also crying.

At last the old lady, emboldened by my submission, deliberately kissed me on each cheek, just in the manner a French woman would have done; she then cried a little more and, at length relieving me, assured me that I was the ghost of her son who had some time before been killed by a spear-wound in his breast. The younger female was my sister; but she, whether from motives of delicacy or from any imagined backwardness on my part, did not think proper to kiss me.

My new mother expressed almost as much delight at my return to my family as my real mother would have done had I been unexpectedly restored to her. As soon as she left me my brothers and father (the old man who had previously been so frightened) came up and embraced me after their manner, that is, they threw their arms round my waist, placed their right knee against my right knee, and their breast against my breast, holding me in this way for several minutes. During the time that the ceremony lasted I, according to the native custom, preserved a grave and mournful expression of countenance.

This belief, that white people are the souls of departed blacks, is by no means an uncommon superstition amongst them; they themselves, never having an idea of quitting their own land, cannot imagine others doing it; and thus, when they see white people suddenly appear in their country, and settling themselves down in particular spots, they imagine that they must have formed an attachment for this land in some other state of existence; and hence conclude the settlers were at one period black men, and their own relations. Likenesses either real or imagined complete the delusion; and from the manner of the old woman I have just alluded to, from her many tears, and from her warm caresses, I feel firmly convinced that she really believed I was her son, whose first thought upon his return to earth had been to re-visit his old mother, and bring her a present. I will go still farther and say that, although I did not encourage this illusion, I had not the heart to try to undeceive the old creature and to dispel her dream of happiness. Could I have remained long enough to have replaced this vain impression by a consoling faith I would gladly have done it; but I did not like to destroy this belief and leave her no other in the place of it.

The men next proceeded to embrace their relation Jenna in the same manner they had before done me; and this part of the ceremony was now concluded.

The women, who had retired after having welcomed me, again came in from behind some bushes, where the children all yet remained and, bringing several of them up to me, insisted on my hugging them. The little things screamed and kicked most lustily, being evidently frightened out of their wits; but the men seized on and dragged them up. I took the youngest ones in my arms, and by caresses soon calmed their fears; so that those who were brought afterwards cried to reach me first, instead of crying to be taken away.

A POINT OF HONOUR.

A considerable time had been occupied by these various occurrences, which to me had been most interesting; but one of a more painful character was now to follow. It appears that a sister of the native Jenna had been speared and killed by a man who at present was resident with this tribe; and, although most of them were on friendly terms with this native, they conceived that Jenna was bound to revenge her death in fair and open fight. The old lady (my mother) went up to him and, seizing his merro, or throwing-stick, told him that the man who had killed his sister was at a little distance; “and if,” said she, “you are not a man, and know not how to use this, let a woman’s hand try what it can do,” at the same time trying to force it from him. All the time that she was thus pretending to wrench his merro away she indulged in a most eloquent speech to endeavour to rouse his courage. I do not know enough of the language to translate it with proper spirit or effect, as I only caught the general meaning: it had however a great effect on Jenna; and some young ladies coming in at the conclusion, his mind was instantly made up; indeed the certainty that bright eyes were to look upon his deeds appeared to have much the same effect upon him that it had upon the knights of old and, jumping up, he selected three good spears (all the men being willing to lend him theirs) and hurried off to an open space where his antagonist was waiting for him.

NATIVE MODE OF COMBAT.

The combats, one of which was now about to take place, much resemble the ancient tournaments. They are conducted with perfect fairness. The combatants fight in an open space, their friends all standing by to see fair play, and all the preliminaries as to what blows are to be considered foul or fair are arranged beforehand, sometimes with much ceremony.

Taking into account the fantastic ornaments and paintings of the natives, the graceful attitudes they throw themselves into either when trying to avoid the spears of their enemy, or about to throw their own; and the loud cries and wild motions with which they attempt to confuse and terrify their adversaries, I must confess that if any exhibition of this nature can be considered showy or attractive, this has no ordinary claims to admiration.

NATIVE DUEL. REVENGEFUL COMBAT AND MURDER PREVENTED.

I am however not fond of shows in which the safety of my fellow-creatures is concerned, and on the present occasion was very anxious that nothing of the kind should take place; for before I could induce Jenna to come with me, I had passed my word for his safety, and I could not bear the thought of his being now either killed or wounded. When therefore the natives came to request our attendance at this spectacle, which they evidently expected would afford us great amusement, I intimated my decided disapproval of it: at first they imagined that this reluctance arose from some apprehension of a quarrel upon our parts, and to remove this the greater part of the men, who now amounted to sixteen, laid down their spears by our stores. I still however would not sanction the combat and, taking up my gun, intimated my intention of seeing that nothing was done to injure Jenna; upon this my brothers proceeded in a friendly way to hold me: which is exactly what one sees in England when two men, who have not the least intention in the world of hurting one another, declare in a loud tone their fixed determination of proceeding to the most desperate extremities; whilst mutual friends stand by and appear with the utmost difficulty to prevent them from putting their threats in execution. It was just in this manner that my soi-disant brothers held me, apparently not entertaining the least doubt but that I would easily allow myself to be persuaded not to interfere. I had now recourse to another expedient, and this was to declare to those about me that, if either of the combatants was wounded, I should instantly pack up the flour and rice and proceed to the white men’s fires. This had the desired effect: those around me started off and put the holding system so effectually in force that the other natives and the two combatants soon came in.

Some of the natives who now approached told Mr. Smith that a cannon had been heard that morning in the direction of Fremantle; we therefore knew that a vessel had arrived, and this made me anxious to return to Perth; for, in the event of our obtaining canvas for the Champion’s sails, I expected that vessel would be ready to take us in a few days to the north-west coast.

RETURN TO PERTH.

My anxiety to return was also increased by other reasons. Mr. Smith had, with the exception of the first few miles, walked the whole distance from Perth in pieces of kangaroo skin, and his feet were now in a dreadful state from the joint effect of thorns and bruises; he however never complained, and so much did I admire the quietness and perseverance with which he had borne up against so serious an inconvenience, that I was the more anxious to put an end to it as soon as possible. Besides it was evident that very deadly feelings existed between Jenna and the murderer of his sister, for he (Jenna) came and requested me to call this native my friend, at the same time to give him plenty of flour and rice, “And,” added he, “by-and-bye, ask him to sleep at your fire; then, in the night, whilst he is asleep, I can easily spear him; and I will off, and walk to Perth.” I however cooled Jenna’s ardour by whispering to him that, if any quarrel was brought about by his attempting to spear this native, I should instantly shoot him; as I had no idea of running a risk of losing all our lives through his imprudence. This declaration had a very salutary effect, and my now giving the promised present of rice and flour entirely put a stop to all further differences.

The natives I had with me employed themselves in teaching the others, to whom flour was an unknown commodity, the art of making dampers; whilst Mr. Smith and myself, having arranged to start for Perth early the next morning, mixed with the groups and visited their fires; the little children now crawled to our feet and, all fear being laid aside, regarded our movements with the greatest curiosity. After various amusing conversations and recountals of former deeds the natives gradually, one by one, dropped off to sleep; and we in turn, one always remaining on the watch, followed their example.

INVITATION TO A NATIVE FEAST.

December 5.

I should have stated, in justice to the natives, that they last night brought me the head and forequarters of a kangaroo, being the only game they had with them; and of this they offered to make me a present, which however I did not accept. They were again this morning very anxious that we should delay our journey for a day or two, promising upon their part, if we acceded to the request, to give us a grand entertainment at which all their young men would dance, and that we should have abundance of kangaroos if we would give flour in return. I deemed it however most prudent to hasten my return to Perth to see what vessel had arrived; therefore, after taking a cordial farewell of our friends, we moved off on our homeward route and reached Boongarrup about the middle of the day following, by a route rather to the westward of that by which we had come out.

December 6.

This morning we started at daybreak and breakfasted at Manbeebee, and immediately after breakfast resumed our route. I left the main party with two natives and travelled up a swampy valley running nearly in the same line as the chain of lakes we had followed in going. The natives insisted on it that these lakes were all one and the same water; and when, to prove to the contrary, I pointed to a hill running across the valley, they took me to a spot in it, called Yundelup, where there was a limestone cave, on entering which I saw, about ten feet below the level of the bottom of the valley, a stream of water running strong from south to north in a channel worn through the limestone. There were several other remarkable caves about here, one of which was called the Doorda Mya, or the Dog’s House. Probably therefore the drainage of this part of the country is affected by the chain of lakes, which must afterwards fall into the river I saw to the northward. We slept at Nowoorgoop.

RETURN TO PERTH.

December 7.

We slept at Mooloore, and on the morning of the 8th we entered Perth and found that the native’s information was true, for the Britomart had arrived from England.

I have already stated that on the arrival of the Champion her condition did not enable us to proceed in her, and all prospect of being able to conduct another expedition to the north-west coast being, for the present, abandoned, I could only await further instructions from the Government at home, and in the meantime resolved to employ the interval in some scheme of exploration from the Swan which did not present the same obstacles. Having again consulted Sir James Stirling, it was first arranged that I should endeavour to explore overland in the direction of Shark Bay; but this was soon abandoned on account of the difficulty of procuring horses; and, to enable me to attempt this scheme with any hope of success, I should consequently be obliged to incur a much greater expense than I felt warranted in doing.

The same objection did not however exist to the plan of exploring the coast towards Shark Bay in boats; and I imagined, if I could obtain two good ones qualified for the purpose, that I might at a small expense have some chance of making a successful trip. But there still existed a difficulty in getting boats which occasioned a further delay.

Sir James Stirling had now (January 1839) quitted the colony, having been succeeded in the government by John Hutt, Esquire, and, as no immediate prospect was apparent of accomplishing my present design, I readily acceded to a request made to me which led to another excursion to the southward of Perth, the principal circumstances of which are narrated in the following short journal.

EXCURSION IN SEARCH OF MR. ELLIOTT. CAUSE OF IT.

In consequence of a conversation I had with his Excellency the Governor on the morning of the 8th of January I received, in the afternoon of that day, a letter from the Colonial Secretary stating that:

From accounts which had been received from the Williams and Leschenault, there appeared every reason to believe that Mr. George Elliott, who left the former place for the latter on the 17th December, had lost his way, as no accounts of his arrival have been received from the Leschenault, the Williams, or any other place.

Under such circumstances His Excellency the Governor is anxious that a party in search of him should be despatched from Perth, and he has instructed me to inform you that, if you could form such a party from your own establishment, you would be rendering a service to the local government, etc. etc.

...

As I had at this moment no matter of importance to occupy the party I resolved to follow that course which the calls of humanity pointed out to me, and within an hour from the receipt of this letter Mr. Walker, myself, and the two non-commissioned officers of the Sappers and Miners were ready to proceed. It was found however impossible to procure the necessary horses for us before the next day, and our departure was consequently delayed until the morning of the 9th.

Before entering into the details of this expedition it is requisite to give a short outline of the circumstances under which we started. The Williams River, from which Mr. Elliott had proceeded, is distant about seventy miles from Leschenault in a direct line. The Williams is in the interior, and the Leschenault on the sea-coast, and between the two places lies the Darling Range, a high chain of mountains which had never before been crossed at this point. Now, under ordinary circumstances Mr. Elliott might have been expected to have reached Leschenault in three or four days. He had therefore only carried with him a supply of provisions calculated to last for that period. His party consisted of two men besides himself, and he had with him a mare and filly.

His absence had however now unaccountably extended to a period of twenty days; and the only rational conclusion that could be arrived at was that he had either been murdered by the natives or had lost his way.

The Williams is distant from Perth in a direct line about one hundred and twenty miles, and I had thus a considerable journey to perform before I could get upon Mr. Elliott’s tracks; and as this was the bad season of the year there was but little hope that we should be able to follow them for any great distance, if we ever succeeded in finding them.

Notwithstanding these various discouraging circumstances I still however felt warm hopes for his ultimate safety. He was well acquainted with the bush, having been ten years in the colony; and the same articles of food which formed the subsistence of the natives would at least enable him to maintain life for a considerable period. He had moreover with him two horses, which past experience had taught me not only to be a nutritious, but even an agreeable article of food. I imagined therefore that no immediate danger of starvation need be apprehended; and in order that I might have the best possible chance of finding his traces three intelligent natives, Miago, Denmar, and Ninda, were engaged to accompany me.

On the morning of the 9th however, when the party were all ready to start, these natives were not forthcoming. The length of the journey and the danger of falling in with hostile tribes had frightened them, and they therefore kept themselves aloof from us; but Kaiber, one of the most intelligent natives of these parts, volunteered to supply their place. Our three horses were soon swum across the estuary of the Swan; and with no slight anxiety I started on an expedition upon the proper conduct of which would probably depend the lives of three of my fellow-creatures.

ROUTE TO THE MURRAY.

Our proceedings until we had reached Pinjarra on the banks of the Murray offer little or no interesting matter; I shall therefore pass them over in silence. We arrived in Pinjarra on the morning of the 11th, having been somewhat delayed by the weakness of a young horse; as there was however no possibility of obtaining another in its place I was obliged to take it on with us. On the afternoon of the 11th we made little more than four miles in a southerly direction along the banks of the Murray.

THE MURRAY RIVER.

On the 12th we started before dawn and travelled about eight miles in a south by east direction; we then halted for breakfast on the banks of the same river, which here issues out of the Darling Range after having found a passage through that chain of mountains. Whilst breakfast was preparing I walked up into the mouth of the gorge, which was replete with most wild and beautiful scenery at this point. The river comes streaming out from a rocky mountain pass, forming in its course a series of small cataracts. The vale in which it runs offers an interesting specimen of woodland scenery, and the high, bold, and partially bare granite mountains which rear their heads above it differ much in character from the tame mountain scenery that lies between Perth and York: this place is a favourite resort of the wild cattle, and we saw everywhere numerous recent traces of them.

WILD CATTLE.

In the afternoon we again started in a south by east direction. About a mile after leaving the Murray we came suddenly upon four head of wild cattle; two, which were distant from us, made off to the mountains, but a noble white bull and a cow followed a line lying exactly in the course we were pursuing. As we had one saddle-horse, which I was then on, I could not resist having a gallop after them. I soon brought the bull to bay, but when he had taken breath he turned and made off again and, as I had no time to spare, I gave him no further interruption; on however wishing to ascertain the hour I found that my watch had fallen from my pocket during the course of the gallop.

NATIVE TRACKING.

I now waited until the party came up, when I requested Kaiber the native to walk back and find the watch. This he assured me was utterly impossible, and I really at the time agreed in this opinion; however as it was a watch I much valued I determined to make one effort. “Well, Kaiber,” I said to him, “your people had told me you could see tracks well, but I find they are mistaken; you have but one eye, something is the matter with the other (this was really the case) no young woman will take you, for if you cannot follow my tracks and find a watch I have just dropped how can you kill game for her.” This speech had the desired effect, and the promise of a shilling heightened his diligence, and I returned with him. The ground we had passed over was badly suited for the purpose of tracking and the scrub was thick; nevertheless, to my delight and surprise, within the period of half an hour my watch was restored to my pocket. This feat of Kaiber’s surpassed anything of the sort I had previously seen performed by the natives.

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 Géographe 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 Géographe Bay are both fordable. The district near the bottom of Géographe 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.